Hong Kong: HK accelerating change: CE Chief Executive John Lee Welcome to the 2023 Asian Financial Forum (AFF). After two years of virtual AFF, this years forum is taking place in person and online. I am delighted to be here, among the more than 2,000 of you taking in this 16th edition, live, from the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre. Another 3,000 or more are following Asias premier annual financial forum online. I have learnt that more than 70 countries and regions are taking part, including nearly 20 international delegations. I am certain our incoming delegates will enjoy the dedicated tours and a host of special offers that are lined up by our forum organisers. I am delighted, too, to note that more than 100 global business leaders, policymakers, financial and wealth management professionals, entrepreneurs, technology innovators and economists will speak. They will be offering specialist intelligence and insights, exchanging views on global finance and the economy, trade, sustainability and other issues crucial to the prosperous future we all want. This years theme is Accelerating Transformation: Impact Inclusion Innovation. Ladies and gentlemen, Hong Kong is living this theme, going ahead in the fast lane to make up for time we lost in the past few years. Over the past couple of months, Hong Kong has been on the path of orderly and progressive reopening. In September, we completely cancelled the hotel quarantine requirement. In November, we successfully hosted a three-day Global Financial Leaders Investment Summit, where we welcomed over 200 international leaders from some 120 financial institutions to gather in Hong Kong, the first time in three years. Our doors have been opening wider and wider since. So, too, has our boundary with the Mainland, I am pleased to tell you. Since Sunday - just three days ago - normal travelling across the Hong Kong-Mainland boundary has begun to resume. What does that mean? That means travellers are no longer subject to hotel quarantine after entering the Mainland from Hong Kong. That means much more convenience for business people, investors, tourists and of course, Hong Kong people who have longed for reunion with their family members in the Mainland over a separation of some three years. Rest assured, we will go fast - in a safe and orderly manner - towards our shared goal of everything resuming normalcy as soon and as practicable as possible. While it is a happy and thrilling start to the year, we will not be complacent. Global forecasts for the year are not popular reading. The IMF (International Monetary Fund) says global growth in GDP (Gross Domestic Product) is likely to slow from 3.2% last year to 2.7% in 2023, adding that the outlook is also fraught with uncertainty. That external uncertainty will weigh on Hong Kong this year. A small, open and free economy, we rely heavily on external trade and investment. While our short-term prospects may be challenging, our future looks bright. Thanks to the continuing and wide-ranging support of our motherland, Hong Kongs strengths as an international financial centre linking the Mainland and the rest of the world are primed to proliferate. We offer companies and investors a business-enabling environment, internationally aligned regulations and a free flow of capital and people, as well as plentiful opportunities coming from our deepening integration with national development. That includes the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area development, fuelled by our unparalleled access to the Mainland and our unique advantages under the one country, two systems principle. Under the clear direction of the National 14th Five-Year Plan, we are actively enhancing our strength as an international financial centre. That means boosting our niche as a global offshore renminbi hub, and an international asset management and risk management centre. It includes, as well, a continuing expansion of the mutual access between the financial markets of the Mainland and Hong Kong, to the great benefit of our capital market. Hong Kong, of course, is a major global listing platform for companies, offering abundant access to capital. We are continuously modernising our listing regime, intent on capturing fresh opportunities presented by the changing global financial landscape. Last year, we revamped our listing rules for overseas issuers and established a new listing mechanism for Special Purpose Acquisition Companies. Beyond our prowess as a global fundraising centre, we are accelerating innovation in the wider economy. HKEX (Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Limited), our stock exchange, is revising its Main Board Listing Rules to enable fundraising for specialist technology companies that have yet to meet existing profit and trading requirements. HKEX is also looking into revitalising our Growth Enterprise Market, or GEM, to serve small and mid-sized issuers. Asset and wealth management is central to our financial future. We have been busy diversifying fund structures, creating an enabling tax environment, expanding the fund distribution network and promoting our real estate investment trust market. Last month, we proposed legislative amendments to provide tax concessions for family-owned, investment holding vehicles managed by single family offices here. I am confident it will attract more family offices to call Hong Kong home. Financial technology is the future. And we are determined to make it ours. Today, more than 800 fintech companies call Hong Kong home. That is up from about 180 five years ago. They provide a diverse range of services, from virtual banking, asset management and insurance technology, to robo-advisory, blockchain, digital trading, payments and cybersecurity. We are working closely with our financial regulators and public agencies to enhance Hong Kongs fintech infrastructure, provide an enabling regulatory framework, encourage financial innovation and nurture talent. Over the past two years, we have launched two rounds of the Fintech Proof-of-Concept Subsidy Scheme. It encourages fintech players to test innovative concepts that can both boost their operational efficiency and expand customer services. In 2021, the scheme approved more than 90 projects covering such key financial service areas as wealth management, regulatory compliance, insurance and payment. It also funded the trial of robo-advisors and the digitisation of anti-money laundering, risk monitoring, client authentication, insurance claims and ESG (Environmental, Social & Governance) technology assessment. Such a long list! The schemes second round is still open. To date, we have received more than 120 applications. In October, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government issued a policy statement on the development of virtual assets in Hong Kong. I can tell you we are serious about and dedicated to creating a facilitating environment for the sustainable and responsible development of virtual assets in Hong Kong. That also means incorporating the necessary guardrails to mitigate risks, so that virtual asset innovations can thrive in the city in a sustainable manner. Regarding regulations, the Government has completed the legislative work for a new licensing regime for virtual asset service providers. The Securities & Futures Commission will soon open public consultation regarding licensing conditions, including how retail investors may be given a suitable degree of access to virtual assets. Let me add that the first crypto futures Exchange Traded Fund was listed on the HKEX last month. In due course, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority will announce the next steps regarding the regulatory regime for stablecoins. We are also exploring a number of pilot projects to test the technological benefits of virtual assets and their applications in financial markets. Projects include Green bond tokenisation and e-HKD, our retail Central Bank Digital Currency. Fintech can also help promote financial inclusion and improve quality of life. The Faster Payment System, or FPS, launched in 2019, has expanded from instant payment and transfer functions. It now supports person-to-person and merchant payments, as well as account top-ups and the payment of government bills and fees using QR codes. Last year, FPS registrations reached some 11 million. More than 80% of our government departments now provide the service as a payment option. Meanwhile, we are pushing the financial service sectors digital transformation to new frontiers. The Commercial Data Interchange, launched in October, allows enterprises to share their data with banks through a central platform, enabling more convenient financial services. Traditional financial services will play an important role in our future as well. Last month, the Hong Kong SAR Government issued a Development Roadmap for the Insurance Sector in Hong Kong. The goal is to consolidate our status as a global risk management centre and insurance hub. We will also support market development in such targeted areas as insurance-linked securities, reinsurance and specialty business, offering diverse, risk management solutions. We are working towards the establishment of insurance after-sales service centres in such locations as Nansha in Guangzhou and Qianhai in Shenzhen. These will provide Hong Kong policy holders in the Greater Bay Area with support for compensation claims, policy renewals and general enquiries. We will also implement a risk-based capital regime to align with international standards and best practices. And there is more. We are conducting public consultation on proposals to establish a policyholders protection scheme, providing an additional safety net for all. We need to tell the world that, ladies and gentlemen, all these examples of the financial market transformation are underway here in Hong Kong. You will hear a great deal more about that continuing transformation over the next two days of the forum. The forums new Global Spectrum series, for example, will examine topical issues in financial services, featuring dedicated spotlights on fintech, healthcare, food and agriculture and more. In less than two weeks, we will celebrate the Chinese New Year - the Year of the Rabbit. Rabbits symbolise peace and prosperity, and the world clearly has an acute need of both. I know, too, that rabbits can run. And my team and I have a lot of running to do this year. We will be leading delegations to longstanding and emerging markets in the region, and around the world. We need to tell them - to tell the world - that Hong Kong is back on the centre stage, and what that means for the countries, economies and companies that partner with Hong Kong. What it means is opportunity - long-term, long-rewarding opportunities. Thanks to our one country, two systems principle, Hong Kong is blessed with a wealth of prospects - in financial services, in trade and logistics, in innovation and technology, in arts and culture and much more. So many good stories to tell. So many opportunities to realise. Chief Executive John Lee gave these remarks at the Asian Financial Forum on January 11. This story has been published on: 2023-01-11. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met the Indian diaspora from Gulf in 17th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) in Madhya Pradesh's Indore on Tuesday and appreciated their role and contribution in taking India's partnership in the Gulf to a higher level. Jaishankar stated that the community had also acknowledged the higher importance that the Modi Government had given to the Gulf when he interacted with the ecstatic diaspora. "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. "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. Jaishankar also added that the convention coincides with India's celebration of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav and entry into the Amrit Kaal and that it is time to honor the sacrifices and triumphs of the past as the nation gets ready for its aspirations for the future. Regarding the Youth PBD, the External Affairs Minister said that it is an attempt to capture the optimism of the next generation and that PM Modi's address provided everyone with the vision and direction for the journey that we as a country are about to take. "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. Moreover, during the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) in Indore, President Droupadi Murmu conferred Pravasi Bharatiya Samman awards to the recipients. Reena Vinod Pushkarna from Israel in Business/Community Welfare, Maqsooda Sarfi Shiotan from Japan in Education, Prof. Sanjeev Mehta from Bhutan in Education, Prof. Jagadish Chennupati from Australia Science & Technology/ Education, Darshan Singh Dhaliwal from USA in Business/Community Welfare were among many who were to receive awards from President Murmu, according to the official statement of Ministry of External Affairs. 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'.The Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Convention is the Government of India's flagship event and offers a crucial forum for interaction between the diaspora and Indians living abroad. 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 countries registered for the PBD Convention. (ANI) Peru Prime Minister Alberto Otarola on Tuesday imposed a nighttime curfew in the southern Puno region after clashes between protesters and security forces which claimed the lives of 18 people on Monday, Anadolu Agency reported. Alberto Otarola said the three-day nighttime curfew will last three days and run from 8 pm to 4 am (local time) in Puno. The decision of Peru's PM comes after a mob of some 2000 people tried to enter the airport in the city of Juliaca in the Puno region. Protests have been taking place in Peru since December 7, when the country's President Pedro Castillo was ousted and arrested after he tried to dissolve congress in an effort to avoid impeachment over allegations of corruption, as per the news report. Pedro Castillo's removal from office sparked protests which left at least 47 people dead. Protesters have called for early elections and the release of Castillo. Pedro Castillo has been serving 18 months of pre-trial detention. On Monday, Peru President Dina Boluarte said that she has already proposed to Congress to bring forward the elections. as per the Anadolu Agency report. She stressed that violence and chaos can make things "harder" and anything can be achieved during peace. Peru Prime Minister Alberto Otarola regretted the death of people. "The only thing in my hands is bringing forward elections and we have already proposed it," Anadolu Agency quoted Dina Boluarte as saying. "During peace, anything can be achieved, but amid violence and chaos it gets harder," she added. (ANI) A group of 33 Swiss tourists welcomed with a Dhobia folk dance at the Babatpur airport as they arrived today in Varanasi. The tourists from Switzerland will travel by Ganga Vilas Cruise to Dibrugarh region of Assam on January 13. Tourists were welcomed to the tune of Shehnai and Dhobia dance as they arrived in Varanasi. After arriving in Babatpur, the Swiss guests were taken to the port at Ramnagar. After boarding the cruise at Ramnagar, tourists will visit Ramnagar Fort in the evening. After visiting Ramnagar Fort, they will witness Ganga Aarti and rest through the night on Ganga Vilas Cruise. On January 11, the tourists will travel to Chunar Fort and Ghantaghar. Cultural programmes have been organized for the tourists at Ravidas Ghat. The tourist group includes 32 tourists and a German guide. Meanwhile, the Ganga Vilas luxury cruise, which left Kolkata on December 22, reached Ramnagar Port in Varanasi on Tuesday. The cruise will move from the Ramnagar port to Sant Ravidas Ghat. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually flag off the MV Ganga Vilas Cruise Yatra on January 13. The luxury triple-deck cruise will travel on the world's longest waterway from Varanasi to Dibrugarh in Assam. The cruise has a capacity of 80 passengers with 18 suits and will go on an adventurous journey for 51 days and pass through Bangladesh for 15 days. The cruise will head to Dibrugarh through the Brahmaputra river in Assam. It will cover a distance of more than 3,200 kms and pass through 5 states in India and Bangladesh. This cruise will pass through a total of 27 river systems of UP, Bihar, West Bengal, Bangladesh, and Assam. The cruise will pass through three major rivers Ganga, Meghna, and Brahmaputra. The cruise will enter the Bhagirathi, Hooghly, Bidyavati, Malata, and Sundarbans river systems in Bengal. In Bangladesh, it will pass through Meghna, Padma, and Jamuna in Bangladesh and then enter the Brahmaputra in Assam. According to an official statement, the 51 days cruise is planned with visits to 50 tourist spots including World Heritage Sights, National Parks, river Ghats, and major cities like Patna, Kolkata Guwahati in India, and Dhaka in Bangladesh. (ANI) Notably, the sixth edition of the India-US Forum is scheduled to be held in New Delhi on January 13-14. While in India, Donald Lu will hold meetings with senior Indian officials to discuss how the United States and India can further enhance ties in energy, trade, security, and human rights cooperation. During his visit to both nations, Donald Lu will hold meetings on various issues, including energy, trade, security cooperation, religious freedom, labour, and human rights. "Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu will travel to India and Bangladesh January 12-15, for meetings on a range of priorities including energy, trade, security cooperation, religious freedom, labour, and human rights," the US Department of State said in a statement. During his visit to Bangladesh, the US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs will meet with senior Bangladeshi officials and civil society leaders to discuss strengthening ties between both nations. Lu will also discuss enhancing economic engagement and hear their perspectives on labour and human rights with Bangladeshi lawmakers, according to the statement released by the US Department of State. Earlier in November, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the sidelines of the ASEAN-India summit in Cambodia. Jaishankar and Blinken discussed the conflict in Ukraine, the Indo-Pacific region and bilateral ties between India and US. Jaishankar tweeted, "A good meeting with US Secretary of State @SecBlinken. Discussed Ukraine, Indo-Pacific, energy, G20 and bilateral relations." (ANI) Alexandra Louiszoon, a G20 delegate from the Netherlands, said that India has been "very efficient" in setting the agenda under its G20 presidency. Delegates from various nations have been participating in the G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) meeting, which is being held in Kolkata from January 9-11. Speaking to ANI, Alexandra Louiszoon said, "I think India has been very efficient in setting the agenda and guiding us into the discussions. I think everything works well, I think it is very efficient and very well thought out and everything clicks together well." Calling it a marvellous experience of two days, Alexandra Louiszoon said, "It has been most interesting and India is very generous to the delegates. The hospitality is overwhelming, the programme is very well designed. We have been taken care of." She further stated that she is due to visit India again for the meeting in Hyderabad." Moreover, a G20 delegate from Indonesia lauded India's digital and financial sector and said that the country is very good. Andreas Hotmanri, a G20 delegate from Indonesia said that India can be a "good example" to the G20 Presidency. Andreas Hotmanri called digital infrastructure "very important" for Indonesia after the COVID-19 pandemic. Speaking to ANI, Andreas Hotmanri 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." Andalib Elias, G20 Delegate, Deputy High Commissioner Bangladesh, thanked India for inviting his country to the event as Bangladesh is not part of G20. He called it the right forum to exchange ideas regarding financial inclusion. "Bangladesh has done a lot in the area of financial inclusion. We have ensured mobile banking facilities for people at the grassroot of Bangladesh. This is the right forum for us to exchange ideas, to learn best practices from each other. "We understand here we are talking about digital inclusion, how we can use digital platforms for financial inclusion and this is one area where we can learn from each other. We are excited to be here," he added. Manfred Auster, a G20 delegate from Germany on Tuesday said that they are looking forward to 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. Speaking to ANI, Manfred Auster said, "We are looking for India's G20 presidency with high expectations. 'One Earth, One Family, One Future' looks promising. Germany and India have a strategic partnership. India is the best place to take an important role in investment from the world," Manfred Auster said. (ANI) The succession of Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, who was killed in a US drone strike in Kabul on July 31, remains unclear, according to a US intelligence official, reported Reuters. To a question on the Al Qaeda's 'centre of gravity' after Zawahiri's death, Christine Abizaid, Director of the US National Counterterrorism Centre on Tuesday said, "The question for Al Qaeda, that it has not answered for itself, is who follows (Zawahiri)", in an event organised by the Washington Institute. A key 9/11 plotter, Zawahiri was reported to be living in Pakistan till the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan, probably under the protection of the Pakistani intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), reported European Foundation for South Asian Studies (EFSAS). Notably, 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 US is offering a reward of up to USD 10 million for information leading to his arrest, reported Reuters. Abizaid also addressed the threat landscape in the US 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 radicalization is occurring," she said. Her remarks echoed a recent assessment by the Department of Homeland Security, which said in November that the US threat environment will remain heightened in the coming months, with lone offenders and groups motivated by a range of ideologies posing a danger, reported Reuters. Earlier in December 2022, Al Qaeda released an undated 35-minute video of its killed leader Al-Zawahiri. The group claimed that the recording was narrated by him. Meanwhile, the prospect of Pakistani involvement in Zawahiri's targeting has emerged as a contentious issue, even if neither the US nor Pakistan has publicly acknowledged such a role. EFSAS, quoting a report by the New York Times, said for many years it was believed that Zawahiri was hiding in the border area of Pakistan and it remains unclear why he returned to Afghanistan. Following the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, it is believed that Zawahiri's family returned to the safe house in Kabul. Reports quoting top intelligence sources have also claimed that Zawahiri was being sheltered in Karachi and that sometime after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, he was moved to Kabul through the Chaman border by the Haqqani network. Over the role of Pakistan in Zawahiri's killing, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), Michael Rubin said he is convinced that Pakistan had a role in Zawahiri's killing. He underlined, "Pakistan's economy is in danger, and the country is in danger of collapse." (ANI) Terrorists carried out a gun and 'missile' attack on a police station in Dera Ismail Khan region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Dawn reported, adding that no casualty has been reported in the attack that took place on Sunday. Speaking to Dawn, Syed Yaqoob Shah said the terrorists surrounded the Yarik police station at around 1 am and fired missiles at the building. He said the police responded to the attack and an exchange of fire took place between the police force and the attackers. According to a spokesperson, the police station was partially damaged. He further claimed that it was the first gun-and-missile attack on a police station in Dera Ismail Khan. The attack comes at a time when Pakistan has been seeing a rise in terrorist attacks across the country. The attacks were reported after Pakistan ended its months-long ceasefire with the Pakistan government on November 28. Recent months have seen a resurgence of terrorism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with an increase in attacks on law enforcement personnel, as per the Dawn report. Earlier on December 29, three Pakistani army officers were killed in the Arawali area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Kurram district during a gunfight with terrorists, Dawn reported, citing Pakistan's military media wing. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) in the statement identified the army officers who lost their lives as Subedar Shuja Muhammad, Naik Muhammad Ramzan and Sepoy Abdul Rehman, according to Dawn. "On 29 December 22, an exchange of fire took place between terrorists and security forces in the general area of Arawali, Kurram District. Own troops fought bravely and effectively engaged the terrorists' location," Dawn quoted ISPR saying in a statement. It further said the two terrorists were killed during an exchange of fire. According to ISPR, weapons and ammunition have been recovered from the killed terrorists. The ISPR said the killed terrorists remained actively involved in terror activities against security forces. The police personnel carried out the sanitisation of the area to eliminate any terrorists found in the area. According to the statement, the Pakistan army is determined to eliminate the menace of terrorism. (ANI) Up to four million children are still living near contaminated and stagnant floodwaters in Pakistan, risking their survival and well-being according to UNICEF, more than four months after a national state of emergency was declared in Pakistan, the Dawn reported. Many families in Jacobabad have little more than mere cloth to cover their temporary shelters by stagnant flood waters while temperatures have dropped to seven-degree celsius at night. UNICEF and partners have started providing items, including children's kits, and jackets to people living in mountainous areas, aiming to reach 200,000 children, women and men, as per the Dawn report. The children continue to live near contaminated water more than four months after a national state of emergency was declared in Pakistan. Acute respiratory infections have been witnessed among children, a leading cause of child mortality worldwide have increased in the flood-affected regions, according to Dawn. The number of cases among children suffering from severe acute malnutrition in the flood-stricken regions monitored by UNICEF nearly doubled between July to December in comparison to 2021 and estimated 1.5 million children are still in need of life-saving nutrition interventions. UNICEF's current appeal of USD 173.5 million to provide life-saving support to women and children impacted by the flood remains only 34 per cent funded, as per the Dawn report."Children living in Pakistan's flood-affected areas have been pushed to the brink," Dawn quoted UNICEF Representative in Pakistan Abdullah Fadil as saying. "Severe acute malnutrition, respiratory and waterborne diseases, coupled with the cold, are putting millions of young lives at risk," he added. UNICEF's health interventions have reached nearly 1.5 million people with primary healthcare services. Furthermore, 4.5 million children have been immunised against polio in 16 flood-hit districts. The UN agency and its partners have given more than one million people access to safe drinking water and provided hygiene kits to one million people. UNICEF will continue to respond to urgent humanitarian needs in the coming months. On January 9, Pakistan received more than USD 9 billion to help it recover from devastating floods at the International Conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan, Dawn reported. The international conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan was co-hosted by the United Nations and the Pakistani government in Geneva. During the conference, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif urged the international community to support Pakistan in rebuilding after devastating floods last year. (ANI) US President Joe Biden was employed by the University of Pennsylvania after leaving the vice presidency and was paid one million dollars a year as a professor but never taught a class. On Tuesday, at North America Leaders' Summit in Mexico City, Biden said, "The four years after being vice president, I was a professor at Penn." Notably, for two years the University of Pennsylvania paid Biden nearly USD 1 million, but he never taught a class. This revelation has been made by the Republican National Committee Research unit or RNC research which has also reported that "Biden continues to lie about being a professor". Biden was an honorary professor at the Philadelphia school from 2017-2019. According to an investigative report from the Philadelphia Inquirer, he was paid USD 371,159 in 2017 and USD 540,484 in 2018 and 2019. In 2017, Biden accepted an honorary professor position, formally referred to as "Benjamin Franklin Presidential Practice Professor". He also established the Penn Biden Centre for Diplomacy and Global Engagement in Washington, in addition to the Biden Institute at the University of Delaware, his alma mater. However, this role was honorary. He gave lectures and talks to students on campus but did not teach a full semester's course load during that time. Biden once held an honorary professor position at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn), from 2017-2021, after being vice president in Barack Obama's administration. However, he did not teach a semester's worth of courses; he primarily gave talks and lectures to students, and he led the Penn Biden Centre for Diplomacy and Global Engagement in Washington. In April 2019, as Biden became the candidate for the US presidency, the university released the a statement saying, "Biden officially announced that he will be running for President of the United States. A number of people on campus have asked in recent days how this would impact his role at the Penn Biden Centre for Diplomacy and Global Engagement. Now that he is officially a candidate, Vice President Biden, who serves as the Benjamin Franklin Presidential Practice Professor, will be taking an unpaid leave of absence from his work at the Penn Biden Centre." According to the tax forms he has released, Biden received more than USD 900,000 from the university for holding the position between 2017 and 2019. Meanwhile, responding to documents marked classified were found at the Penn Biden Centre for Diplomacy and Global Engagement in Washington, Biden said he was 'surprised' to learn there were any government documents at the office, which was opened after he served as vice president, reported CBS News. "People know I take classified documents, classified information seriously," Biden said during a press conference at the North American Leaders' Summit in Mexico City, adding, "When my lawyers were clearing out my office at the University of Pennsylvania, they set up an office for me -- when I -- the four years after being vice president, I was a professor at Penn. They found some documents in a box, in a locked cabinet, at least a closet. And as soon as they did, they realized there were several classified documents in that box." "And they did what they should have done," the president said, adding, "They immediately called the Archives--immediately called the Archives, turned them over to the Archives, and I was briefed about this discovery and surprised to learn that there were any government records that were taken there to that office." Biden said he's unaware of the contents of the documents, reported CBS News. "But I don't know what's in the documents, I've--my lawyers have not suggested I ask what documents they were. I've turned over the boxes, they've turned over the boxes to the Archives, and we're cooperating fully, we're cooperating fully with the review, which I hope will be finished soon. And there will be more detail at that time," the US President said. Earlier, Attorney General Merrick Garland assigned the US attorney in Chicago to review the documents. The roughly 10 documents are from President Biden's vice-presidential office at the centre, the sources said, and CBS News has learned the FBI is also involved in the US attorney's inquiry. CBS News has learned those documents were marked with varying levels of classification including some that were designated highly classified. (ANI) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday appeared virtually at the annual Golden Globe Awards ceremony to say that "there will be no third World War" as the tide is changing in Ukraine's ongoing conflict with Russia. At Hollywood's 80th Golden Globe Awards, which was telecast live, Zelenskyy said "The first World War claimed millions of lives. The second World War claimed tens of millions of them. There will be no third World War, it is not a trilogy." "Ukraine will stop the Russian aggression on our land" with the help of the free world, he said. "It is now 2023; the war in Ukraine is not over yet, but the tide is turning," Zelenskyy said. "And it is already clear who will win," said the Ukrainian President. At the beginning of his address Zelenskyy pointed out that the award show originated in 1943 when the World War II was nearing its end and it was clear who would win but there were still some battles to be fought. "The awards were born at a special time. The second World War wasn't over yet, but the tide was turned all knew who would win. There were still battles and tears ahead. It was then when the Golden Globe Awards appeared to honor the best performers of 1943." He thanked those who supported the freedom of Ukraine, saying "our common struggle for freedom, democracy, for the right to live, for the right to love" is unifying. The audience cheered when President Zelenskyy announced his projected victory. He concluded, "We will make it together with a whole, free world, and I hope that all of you will be with us on the victorious day -- the day of our victory. Slava Ukraini." Zelenskyy was introduced by actor-director Sean Penn, best known for his Academy Award-winning performances in 2003's "Mystic River" and 2008's "Milk." The "Gaslit" star met with Zelenskyy in Kyiv this past November to express his support for the war-torn country, where he had been filming a documentary for Vice Studios earlier in the year. "From the other-worldly courage of young Iranians rising up," Penn said to the crowd. "To the ever persevering women's movement of Afghanistan. We are reminded, in no uncertain terms, that the freedom to dream is not simply a human luxury but rather a human need that must be fought and sacrificed for. If the freedom to dream were a spear, I proudly present a human being who tonight represents that spear's most honed tip." As a gift, Penn had given Zelenskyy one of his Oscar trophies in an exchange that was shared on Twitter by Anton Gerashchenko, the advisor to the minister of internal affairs of Ukraine. In return, Penn received an Order of Merit honouring his passionate solidarity with Ukraine. Zelenskyy's Golden Globes appearance comes one week after the White House committed to sending USD 3.75 billion in military aid to Ukraine and adjacent NATO countries -- the largest assistance package to date from the US amid the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. Last year Zelensky had made a surprise appearance at the Grammys appearing virtually from a bunker and continues to speak at public events advocating for his country in its fight against Russia. (ANI) Satellite images of a number of Chinese cities have captured crowding at crematoriums and funeral homes, amid the Covid surge across the country after Beijing lifted severe pandemic restrictions, reported Washington Post. An overwhelmed funeral home in Chengdu, China, stopped offering memorial services, budgeting just two minutes for each family to say goodbye to loved ones before cremation. A funeral parlour on the outskirts of Beijing quickly cleared space for a new parking lot. Scalpers in Shanghai sold places in line at funeral homes for USD 300 a pop to grieving relatives trying to get cremation slots, reported Washington Post. The imagery captured by Maxar Technologies showed an uptick in activity at funeral homes across six different cities, from Beijing in the north to Nanjing in the east, to Chengdu and Kunming in the southwest. Social media posts, too, revealed long wait times and overwhelmed staff at additional facilities. "I have worked here for six years and it has never been this busy," said a receptionist at the Jiangnan Funeral Home in Chongqing in southwest China, describing long lines of cars waiting to get into the facility during the days just before and after Christmas. "The freezers were full and all eight incinerators were operating 24/7. The phone has basically not stopped ringing," she said. Such is the demand that at least four funeral homes contacted by the Washington Post have stopped allowing memorial services and are now offering only cremation services and storage, an indication that the majority of people waiting at these facilities were there to process recently deceased loved ones. China recently moved away from its strict 'Zero Covid' approach, which had sparked mass unrest after more than two years of tight controls on citizens' personal lives. China's strict policy shielded its population from the kind of mass deaths seen in Western nations -- a contrast repeatedly driven home by the Communist Party to illustrate the supposed superiority of its restrictions. The Chinese government continues to insist that fewer than 40 people have died in China of Covid since December 7, when 'Zero Covid' restrictions, aimed at entirely eliminating the virus were suddenly dropped and infection numbers exploded. Exactly how Chinese authorities count Covid deaths has been a point of contention since the start of the pandemic. Since December, only people who died of respiratory failure have been included in the official count, regardless of whether they tested positive for the virus, the Washington Post reported. Chinese health officials have tried to reassure the public by citing the low fatality rate, 0.1 per cent, of the omicron variant. Officially, just over 5,200 people have died of Covid in China since the beginning of the pandemic. However, 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, reported the Washington Post. (ANI) The Cultural Institute of Radical Contemporary Arts (CIRCA) has announced the broadcast of a show titled 'The Art of Hope', which conveys a message of hope from the Dalai Lama, stated a press release by CIRCA. The show packs a three-minute animation created in collaboration with CIRCA and will be broadcasted at London's iconic Piccadilly Lights starting Wednesday, at 20:23 (local time). The press release by CIRCA also said the show will be broadcasted through January on many screens across Los Angeles, Berlin, and Melbourne, apart from London. The CIRCA release quoted an official letter from the Dalai Lama as saying, "We must continually consider the oneness of humanity, remembering that we all want to be happy. And indeed, everyone has a right to a happy life. Along the way, we may be faced with problems, but we must not lose hope. We must keep up our determination without being impatient to achieve quick results." The three-minute animation by the Dalai Lama includes a message where he calls on the world to consider hope and the oneness of humanity. The 87-year-old spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 and the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal in 2006. The four life commitments of the Dalai Lama are promoting human values -- kindness and compassion, religious harmony, preservation of Tibetan culture and environment, and the revival of ancient Indian wisdom. Addressing the world in a video message recorded inside his office in Dharamshala, where he lives in exile, the Dalai Lama said, "I am trying to promote the sense of oneness of 7 billion human beings. This world, we have to live together." The CIRCA press release also mentioned that this year, a series of hopeful commissions will be broadcasted across its global platform. The organization has also invited the general public to visit the website circa.art to answer the question 'How Do We Create Hope?'. Published alongside a response from the Dalai Lama, an edited selection of contributions will comprise the first CIRCA book. (ANI) Union Commerce Ministry and Industry Piyush Goyal who is in Washington spoke about the deepening of trade engagement between India and the US. Goyal was addressing a gathering held at the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) reception and was attended by the United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai. Goyal took to Twitter to post, "Addressed an industry gathering at the @USISPForum reception in Washington DC, along with U.S. Trade Representative, @AmbassadorTai. Spoke about the deepening of India-US trade engagement and the tremendous opportunities that lie ahead for both nations." The event was also attended by Ambassador of India to US Taranjit Singh Sandhu. "Delighted to host CIM @PiyushGoyal, USTR Katherine Tai @AmbassadorTai as well as senior officials & other leaders from at India House on the eve of India - US Trade Policy Forum Ministerial Meeting," Sandhu said in a tweet. Goyal is in Washington DC to attend the 13th Trade Policy Forum (TPF) meeting. He will also hold a bilateral meeting with US Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai. In Washington DC, he will also have a bilateral meeting with US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. There will also be interaction with some captains of Industry. The minister will interact with CEOs of reputed multinational enterprises, participate in community events, join roundtable meetings with business leaders and think tanks and visit industries in New York. The 12th TPF Ministerial meeting was held on November 23, 2021 after a gap of four years in New Delhi. Working groups were re-activated after the last ministerial. TPF is a platform for continuous engagement between two countries in the area of trade and to further the trade and investment relations between the two countries. Both countries are looking forward to the meeting and are confident of making progress on the trade issues. The TPF is chaired by Commerce and Industry Minister from the Indian side and USTR from the US side. Both India and USA are natural partners and have trade complementarities, long-standing strategic and economic relationships, people to people contact, and both are vibrant democracies too. The two countries are also collaborating under the QUAD, I2U2 (India-Israel/ UAE-USA) and IPEF (Indo-Pacific Economic Framework). Regular exchanges at the leadership-level have been an integral element of the expanding bilateral engagement. The outcomes emerging from these visits have been instrumental in further strengthening the multifaceted ties between the two countries. (ANI) Nepal on Wednesday observed the national unification day or the Prithivi Jayanti paying homage to the unifier of modern Nepal by organizing various events. After a pause of about half a decade, the Himalayan nation announced January 11 as a public holiday for the celebration. This is the first time since the abolishment of the monarchy after the People's Movement-II, that Nepal is celebrating Prithvi Jayanti and has announced January 11 as a public holiday. The Himalayan nation which was divided into many factions of smaller states was united in the mid-18th Century by Prithivi Narayan Shah, now considered the founding father of unified Nepal and his birthday is marked as National Unification Day. With the end of the centuries-old monarchy in 2006, following the People's Movement-II (a political movement which started against monarchy) Nepal stopped celebrating the birthday of the Shah. In recent times voices had increased to once again celebrate the day. Taking a cue from the prevailing sentiments the new government of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal earlier this week decided to give this as a public holiday which is now welcomed by the public. Following the announcement, hundreds of pro-monarch supporters poured onto the road in front of Singha Durbar to pay tribute to the statue of Shah. "This move by the government needs to be welcomed by all. We have been celebrating Prithivi Jayanti every year, as the government has announced it a public holiday, this is a very positive step and we welcome it," a pro-monarchist Madhukar Thapa told ANI. "Prithivi Narayan Shah is the symbol of unity. He's the one who laid the foundation for this nation- as the nation earlier was divided into 24 Rajya's (states). He unified all the fractioned states and formed a single nation. It is a must that we celebrate him and rejoice on his birth anniversary," Thapa added. Several programs are being organized across the country to mark the 301st birth anniversary of the late king Prithivi Narayan Shah, the unifier of modern Nepal. Nepal's President Bidhya Devi Bhandari also paid homage to Shah's statue installed on the entrance of Singha Dubar- in the Nepali administrative complex. Issuing a statement earlier that morning, Bhandari also said that the ideals of Shah are relevant even today. In a message of best wishes on occasion Bhandari said, that the journey to today's sovereign, independent, inclusive and democratic republic of Nepal was built on the foundation of the unification campaign undertaken by Shah. "The ideals of Prithivi Narayan Shah can be the reference for building a self-reliant economy, empowering the people and making efficient foreign relations," Bhandari adds. Bhandari, in the message, also noted that the creation of modern Nepal through the unification of many principalities at that time is a unique and proud chapter of our history. "We should all recognize the historical reality that an independent and sovereign Nepal was made possible due to the campaign of nation-building initiated by the then King of Gorkha, Shah and carried ahead by our heroic ancestors for many decades". Bhandari has also expressed the belief that the National Unity Day would inspire us all to achieve happiness and prosperity by safeguarding the independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and national unity of the country. (ANI) After all flights got grounded across the US, the Transport Secretary of the US, Pete Buttigieg on Wednesday said that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is working to resolve the issue of system outage which resulted and assured that air traffic would soon resume normal operations. All flights across the US were grounded due to a technical glitch in the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) computer system, according to NBC News which reported quoting a source. In a Tweet, the US Transport Secretary, Pete Buttigieg wrote, "I have been in touch with FAA this morning about an outage affecting a key system for providing safety information to pilots. FAA is working to resolve this issue swiftly and safely so that air traffic can resume normal operations, and will continue to provide updates." Regarding the outage of the FAA, a Virgin Atlantic spokesperson said, "We're aware of the FAA's recent Notice to Air Missions system outage, and the ongoing effort to restore normal US airspace operations. We're working closely with the relevant authorities and following careful assessment, continue to operate our schedule of US flights departing from the UK. Due to FAA restrictions, some US departures may be affected by delays and we apologise in advance to affected customers. We encourage customers due to travel today to check their flight status in advance at virginatlantic.com." According to FAA, all the flights in the sky are safe to land on. Moreover, Normal air traffic operations are also gradually resuming across the US following the overnight outage that affected the computer system of the US regulatory body. Basically, the pilots check the NOTAM system before they fly as it alerts pilots of any discrepancies like closed runways, equipment outages, and other potential hazards along a flight route or at a location. "Normal air traffic operations are resuming gradually across the US following an overnight outage to the Notice to Air Missions system that provides safety info to flight crews. The ground stop has been lifted," the Official Twitter account of the Federal Aviation Administration tweeted. Moreover, the Air Traffic Control System Command Center (ATCSCC) also issued an advisory that the United States NOTAM system failed and since then no new amendments have been processed. "The United States NOTAM system failed at 2028Z. Since then no new NOTAMS or amendments have been processed. Technicians are currently working to restore the system and there is no estimate for restoration or service at this time," the ATCSCC advisory read. The Air Traffic Control System Command Center (ATCSCC) is part of the Federal Aviation Administration air traffic control system in Warrenton, Virginia. (ANI) Tidhar Wald, Deputy Managing Director of Better than Cash Alliance in Kolkata on Wednesday said that India's G20 presidency has just started but it has already been incredible. We like the inclusion, he said at the conclusion of the first Global Partnership for financial inclusion meeting. "India's G20 presidency has just started but it has already been incredible. We like the inclusion. India has made incredible progress in the last eight years in driving digital financial inclusion. A total of 1.34 billion digital IDs have been provided to the Indian population," Wald said. Mauricio Costa Maura, G20 delegate from Brazil said he is confident that India's presidency will deliver what is expected. "We expect good deliverance at the end to prove financial inclusion across the globe," he said. The G20 delegate from Switzerland Jean Baptiste Deleze said: "We would like to thank the government of India, and the government of West Bengal for the commendable work. The organisation is admirable and the conditions for work are ideal here." The G20 delegates visited Kolkata's Victoria Memorial on Wednesday. The delegates saw a picture and light show, and had a hearty meal. They appreciated Indian cuisine. 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 on Monday with a symposium through an engaging session on the role of digital public infrastructure to augment digital financial services. The State Bank of India, GTX, UIDAI and Nabard, among others, took part in the symposium highlighting India's digital innovations for advancing financial inclusion. Delegates of G20 visited the stalls in the symposium and discussed digital innovations and steps that showcased innovations of digital inclusion of the masses on Monday. Saurabh Garg, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of UIDAI said, "Through this workshop, digital innovations can help financial inclusions which in turn help in productivity gains which is being shown to all the G20 countries during this workshop. We have different organisations which are showing their products, such as Aadhaar, UPI, trade receivables, eSign or Digi Locker." "The objective is to help how India's stack can be effectively utilised by people of different countries. And, it's an exchange of information so that the people of different countries can benefit," the CEO said during a media interaction. (ANI) The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) removed its order to halt all domestic aircraft departures across the United States on Wednesday after restoring the system that provides pilots with pre-flight safety notices, CNN reported. The overnight outage caused widespread inconvenience, with thousands of flights throughout the country delayed. The US regulatory body, FAA had put a ground stop order in place after its NOTAM -- or Notice to Air Missions -- system failed. The FAA lifted the order shortly before 9 a.m.(local time) and the agency said normal air traffic operations have resumed across the country. It said it was still trying to determine the cause of the problem, according to CNN. Earlier, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) informed all flight operators about the airspace system failure, as all flights across US were grounded after a technical glitch in the computer system of the FAA. "The FAA is working to restore its Notice to Air Missions System. We are performing final validation checks and reloading the system now," FAA said. India's biggest wide-body airline Air India is the only airline that operates a maximum number of US-bound flights that may have been affected as a result of the technical glitch. "We are aware of the snag in the US and we are in touch with the concerned authority," an Air India official told ANI. "Air India's around 56 flights operate to the US in a week," the official added. As per the report, over 400 flights were delayed within, into, or out of the United States as of now and more will be affected. US-based United air said in a statement, "The FAA system that sends out important real-time flight hazards & restrictions to all commercial airline pilots - Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) - is currently suffering a nationwide outage. United has temporarily delayed all domestic flights and will issue an update when we learn more from the FAA." Air India on Wednesday said that it is in touch with the relevant authority after flights across the US were grounded due to a technical glitch in the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) computer system. According to media reports, the flights that were severely impacted were within, into, and out of the United States. Operations are normal at all the airports in India and as of now there is no impact on flights from India to the US amid a glitch in US Federal Aviation Administration's system, said a senior DGCA official. However, India-US flights were not impacted due to a glitch in the computer system of the US regulatory body, FAA. (ANI) World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday said that the organization's data on the number of deaths from COVID-19 worldwide is lowered due to the under-reporting of cases by China. "Last week, almost 11,500 deaths were reported to the WHO: about 40 per cent from the Americas, 30 per cent from Europe and 30 per cent from the Western Pacific region. However, this number is almost certainly an underestimate, given the underreporting of COVID-related deaths in China," Ghebreyesus told a briefing, according to the remarks published on the WHO website. The WHO chief urged all countries to share true statistics so as to contribute to a more effective fight against the spread of the disease. Last week, Tedros asked China for reliable data on Covid hospitalizations and deaths in the country. "We continue to ask China for more rapid, regular, reliable data on hospitalizations and deaths, as well as more comprehensive, real-time viral sequencing," Tedros said at a media briefing in Geneva. This comment came after WHO held a high-level meeting with counterparts in China to discuss the surge in cases and hospitalisation. Back in December, the Chinese government dropped its zero COVID-19 policy toward the pandemic after almost three years, leading to a mammoth rise in cases in a matter of few weeks. Later in January, obligatory PCR testing and centralized isolation for people arriving in China were canceled. The sudden spike in the covid tally of China has forced a number of countries, including the United States, Italy, Japan and South Korea, to tighten measures against passengers arriving from the country. During the media briefing, Tedros said throughout the pandemic, testing and sequencing helped WHO to track the spread and development of new variants. "But since the peak of the Omicron wave, the number of sequences being shared has dropped by more than 90 per cent, and the number of countries sharing sequences has fallen by a third," he said. The WHO chief noted that countries cannot maintain the same levels of testing and sequencing they had during the Omicron peak. However, he added that the world cannot close its eyes and hope this virus will go away. Tedros underlined that sequencing remains vital to detect and track the emergence and spread of new variants, such as XBB.1.5. "We urge all countries now experiencing intense transmission to increase sequencing, and to share those sequences," he added. (ANI) The United Nations mission in Afghanistan has condemned Wednesday's attack outside the Taliban Foreign Ministry in Kabul that killed at least five people. Kabul security department, Khalid Zadran said that the Taliban condemns such "heinous" attacks and will punish the perpetrators, TOLOnews reported. Zadran said the explosion happened on the street of the Foreign Ministry. The Afghan news agency said victims of the blast near the foreign ministry in Kabul were taken to the Emergency Hospital. In a statement, United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said expressed its condolences to the affected families and said that violence is not part of any solution to bring lasting peace to Afghanistan. "UNAMA condemns today's attack outside dfa Foreign Ministry in Kabul. Reports of numerous casualties, including civilians. Rising insecurity is of grave concern. Violence is not part of any solution to bring lasting peace to #Afghanistan. Our condolences to the families affected," UNAMA tweeted. Earlier on Tuesday, emergency hospital in Kabul said more than 40 patients were received at Emergency's Surgical Centre for War Victims in the capital city following an explosion that took place at 16:00 Afghan time, near the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "Casualty numbers are continuing to rise as the situation unfolds," the statement added. Stefano Sozza, Emergency's Country Director in Afghanistan: "the death toll is still rising." In a tweet, former Afghan President Hamid Karzai "strongly" condemned the blast and called it a terrorist act. A number of blasts have been reported in Afghanistan since the start of 2023. Several blasts were reported in the capital city this month including one year Kabul military airport. Last month, a Chinese-owned hotel was targeted in the heart of Kabul. Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021, armed groups linked to the Afghan branch of the Islamic State have carried out bombings targeting ethnic Hazaras, Afghan Shias, Sufis, and others, killing and injuring hundreds. (ANI) US Senator Dan Sullivan sent a letter to the US Commerce Committee leadership on Wednesday requesting the panel to hold a hearing on privacy and national security concerns related to the social media application TikTok and its ties to China. "I write to respectfully request that the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation hold a hearing on the persistent privacy issues, national security concerns, and troubling influence over our children associated with the social media application TikTok," Sullivan said in the letter, obtained by The Washington Examiner news outlet. Sullivan expressed concern about the availability of US user data from TikTok to China-based employees of parent company ByteDance. Although federal agencies and some state governments have taken steps to restrict TikTok on official devices, more needs to be done to address concerns about the app, he said. Sullivan addressed the letter to Commerce Committee Chairwoman Maria Cantwell and Ranking Member Ted Cruz. Democrats hold a majority in the Senate for the new 118th Congress and lead its committees. On Tuesday, the Republican-led House passed a resolution along bipartisan lines to establish a select committee on strategic competition with China, including in the technological realm. "In light of these renewed bipartisan concerns, and the repeated misrepresentations by TikTok regarding data security and its privacy practices, I urge you to hold a hearing on the risks that Americans, especially our children, face using this platform," Sullivan said. The hearing would serve as a public forum to gather information as Congress and other policymakers consider the issue, Sullivan added. US lawmaker from Wisconsin, Rep Mike Gallagher earlier this month termed TikTok as "digital fentanyl" that acts like an addictive drug China's government is providing to Americans, CNN reported. TikTok, whose parent company, ByteDance has been banned from electronic devices managed by the US House of Representatives, according to an internal notice sent to House staff. Separately, the US government will ban TikTok from all federal devices as part of legislation included in the USD 1.7 trillion omnibus bill that President Joe Biden signed. The move comes after more than a dozen states in recent weeks have implemented their own prohibitions against TikTok on government devices, CNN reported. (ANI) The Hong Kong-based publication said the Chinese suspect was among 11 persons caught in December for committing cybercrime. According to the report, the Chinese national was allegedly found sending unofficial devices to connect people by phone to communicate abroad against the extant laws of the Tanzanian telecommunications authority. A huge of electronics were seized from the suspects including 23 cell phones, 437 telephone lines of various telecom service providers, six computers, five SIM boxes, three routers and one power bank. According to The HK Post, eight other locals were also involved in the crime, including setting up social media accounts for propagating false information about Tanzanian President Dr Samia Suluhu Hassan and other senior government officials. The report further said the suspects were allegedly also posting fake and misleading information on online local television channels. The report on cybercrime comes in Tanzania after a hackers' group named "APT41" linked to the Chinese government and based out of Chengdu embezzled about USD 20 million from US Covid relief funds in December last year. Hackers linked to the Chinese government are from a Chengdu-based group known as APT41. The report published in December said other federal investigations of pandemic fraud also seem to point back to foreign state-affiliated hackers, NBC news reported citing the country's Secret Service. "It would be crazy to think this group didn't target all 50 states," Roy Dotson, national pandemic fraud recovery coordinator for the Secret Service, told the US-based NBC. The US Secret Service declined to confirm the scope of other investigations. They said there are over 1,000 ongoing investigations involving transnational and domestic criminal actors defrauding public benefits programs, and APT41 is a notable player, the NBC report said. (ANI) A mother faces a charge of neglect after her 1-year-old daughter suffered symptoms of an apparent drug overdose and had to be revived at the hospital using Narcan, Des Moines police said. The mother took her daughter, who was unresponsive, to Broadlawns Medical Center on New Years Day, according to a criminal complaint. Doctors there revived the girl with three doses of Narcan, a drug commonly used to treat opioid overdoses. On Jan. 10, the mother, 20, admitted to police that she had been using Percocet, a prescription painkiller containing the opioid oxycodone, for the last four months, the complaint said. She told officials her daughter had been in the presence of people smoking Percocet the day she was taken to the hospital unresponsive. More:Iowa church wages 4-year fight with IRS over hallucinogenic-drug ceremonies After executing a search warrant, police recovered drug paraphernalia at the mother's house, according to the criminal complaint. On Wednesday, a judge issued a no contact order barring the mother from seeing her daughter. Francesca Block is a breaking news reporter at the Des Moines Register. Reach her at FBlock@registermedia.com or on Twitter at @francescablock3. This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Des Moines mother charged after 1-year-old child revived with Narcan Former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and U.S. Representative from Mississippis Second Congressional District Mike Espy was among the assembled guests announcing details of a $2.5 million Lilly Endowment Grant Wednesday. Joining him (in rear from left) were Espys brother Tom Espy, New Horizon Church International Pastor Ronnie Crudup, Mississippi Department of Archives and History Board President Spence Flatgard, MDAH Board Member T. J. Taylor, Natchez Alderwoman Valencia Hall, Galloway United Methodist Church Pastor Cary Stockett, Natchez Mayor Dan Gibson, Natchez Alderwoman Sarah Carter Smith, and MDAH Director Katie Blount. A $2.5 million grant, announced by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History on Wednesday, will fund a study to help officials better understand the role of religion in history and culture. The grant was awarded from the Lilly Endowment Inc., an Indiana-based philanthropic foundation designed to support causes of community development, education and religion throughout the United States. The grant, presented to the Foundation for Mississippi History, is a perfect match for the state said MDAH Board President Spence Flatgard. Flatgard, who welcomed guests and officials attending the announcement Wednesday at the Museum of Mississippi History and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum on North Street, said, We are the most religious state in the country. A key component of the grant will provide $800,000 to allow free admission and tours of the Two Museums for faith-affiliated communities beginning this summer, said MDAH Director Katie Blount. Additional funds will be used to improve access to the agencys extensive collections related to religion in Mississippi. We are grateful to Lilly Foundation for this major support. The foundations generosity will help more Mississippians experience these museums, Blount said. A second component of the grant will provide $750,000 for extensive renovations at the historic T.J. Huddleston Memorial Chapel at Natchez College, a historically black college that operated from 1884 until 1989. This is tremendous, said former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and U.S. Representative from Mississippis Second Congressional District Mike Espy. Huddleston, who was Espys maternal grandfather, founded Afro-American Sons and Daughters, a turn-of-the-century organization providing insurance and economic development opportunities for Mississippis black citizens. Huddleston also opened a hospital in Yazoo City in 1924 that operated until 1975, and he was the editor of a newspaper called Century Voice, Espy said. The hospital was still standing until last November when a fire caused major structural damage, Espy said. Story continues A third component of the grant will provide $36,200 for MDAH to conduct an archeological study, create a footprint, and provide for signage at the site of Mississippis first Methodist Church, located on the grounds of the historic Jefferson College in Washington County. The church served as the site where Mississippis first state Constitution was drafted in 1817, Blount said.Eight buildings still remain at Jefferson College, which is now owned by MDAH. Long-term plans for the campus call for the agency to institute a historic preservation field school in conjunction with Mississippi State University. MDAH is one of 16 organizations nationwide receiving grants through the latest initiative of the Lilly Endowments Religion and Cultural Institutions Initiative that was begun in 2019. The endowment was created in 1937 by J. K. Lilly and his sons Eli Lilly and J. K. Lilly Jr. through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: $2.5M grant will fund study of religion in MS, restore black church 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 (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times) The Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. returned to TV after a one-year hiatus with the 80th Golden Globe Awards, back on the air on NBC, streaming on Peacock and hosted by comedian Jerrod Carmichael. Winners from the prominent nominees included top dramatic film "The Fabelmans" and director Steven Spielberg, "The Banshees of Inisherin" (wins for top comedic film, screenplay and actor Colin Farrell ) and "Everything Everywhere All at Once" (Ke Huy Quan was the night's first winner and Michelle Yeoh won) and TV series "House of the Dragon" as top drama, "Abbott Elementary" (top comedy, lead actress Quinta Brunson and supporting actor Tyler James Williams) and "The White Lotus," (which took home top honors for a limited series and an actress nod for Jennifer Coolidge). There were also memorable speeches from honorees Ryan Murphy and Eddie Murphy (not related!). Last year, NBC dropped the broadcast of the 2022 Globes after a Los Angeles Times investigation of the HFPA raised questions about the groups ethical and financial dealings and also discovered that there were no Black members of the then-87-person assemblage. The association has since approved interim Chief Executive Todd Boehlys proposal to acquire the Globes, established new bylaws, banned gifts, hired a chief diversity officer and added 21 new members plus 103 international nonmember voters. The winners: Best motion picture drama The Fabelmans | WINNER "Avatar: The Way of Water" "Elvis" Tar "Top Gun: Maverick" Best motion picture musical or comedy The Banshees of Inisherin | WINNER Babylon Everything Everywhere All at Once Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery" Triangle of Sadness Television series drama House of the Dragon | WINNER Better Call Saul "The Crown" "Ozark" Severance Television series musical or comedy "Abbott Elementary" star and executive producer Quinta Brunson won multiple Golden Globes at the 80th Golden Globe Awards. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times) Abbott Elementary| WINNER The Bear" Hacks Only Murders in the Building Wednesday Actor in a television series, drama Kevin Costner, Yellowstone | WINNER Jeff Bridges, The Old Man Diego Luna, "Andor" Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul Adam Scott, Severance Story continues Limited series, anthology series or motion picture made for television The White Lotus | WINNER Black Bird "Dahmer Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story" The Dropout Pam & Tommy Actor in a limited series, anthology series or television motion picture Evan Peters won a Golden Globe at the 80th Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times) Evan Peters, "Dahmer Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story" | WINNER Taron Egerton, "Black Bird" Colin Firth, "The Staircase" Andrew Garfield, "Under the Banner of Heaven" Sebastian Stan, "Pam & Tommy" Actress in a limited series, anthology series or motion picture made for television Amanda Seyfried, The Dropout | WINNER Jessica Chastain, "George & Tammy" Julia Garner, Inventing Anna Lily James, Pam & Tommy Julia Roberts, "Gaslit" Supporting actress in a limited series, anthology series or motion picture made for television Jennifer Coolidge, "The White Lotus" | WINNER Claire Danes, "Fleishman Is in Trouble" Daisy Edgar-Jones, "Under the Banner of Heaven" Niecy Nash, "Dahmer Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story" Aubrey Plaza, "The White Lotus" Supporting actor in a limited series, anthology series or motion picture made for television Paul Walter poses on the ground with the Golden Globe award he won at the 80th Golden Globe Awards. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times) Paul Walter Hauser, "Black Bird" | WINNER F. Murray Abraham, "The White Lotus" Domhnall Gleeson, "The Patient" Richard Jenkins, "Dahmer Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story" Seth Rogen, "Pam & Tommy" Director motion picture Steven Spielberg, The Fabelmans | WINNER James Cameron, "Avatar: The Way of Water" Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert, "Everything Everywhere All at Once" Baz Luhrmann, "Elvis" Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin Screenplay motion picture Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin | WINNER Todd Field, Tar Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere All at Once Sarah Polley, "Women Talking" Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner, The Fabelmans Motion picture foreign language Argentina, 1985 (Argentina, U.S.) | WINNER "All Quiet on the Western Front" (Germany) "Close" (Belgium) Decision to Leave (South Korea) "RRR" (India) Actress in a motion picture drama Cate Blanchett, Tar | WINNER Olivia Colman, Empire of Light Viola Davis, The Woman King Ana de Armas, Blonde Michelle Williams, The Fabelmans Supporting actress musical-comedy or drama television series Julia Garner, "Ozark" | WINNER Elizabeth Debicki, "The Crown" Hannah Einbinder, "Hacks" Janelle James, "Abbott Elementary" Sheryl Lee Ralph, "Abbott Elementary" Actress in a television series drama Zendaya, Euphoria | WINNER Emma DArcy, House of the Dragon Laura Linney, "Ozark" Imelda Staunton, The Crown Hilary Swank, "Alaska Daily" Actor in a motion picture drama Austin Butler holds aloft his Golden Globe backstage at the 80th Golden Globe Awards. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times) Austin Butler, Elvis | WINNER Brendan Fraser, The Whale Hugh Jackman, The Son Bill Nighy, Living Jeremy Pope, "The Inspection" Motion picture animated Guillermo del Toros Pinocchio | WINNER Inu-Oh Marcel the Shell With Shoes On "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish" Turning Red Actress in a motion picture musical or comedy Michelle Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All at Once | WINNER Lesley Manville, "Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris" Margot Robbie, Babylon Anya Taylor-Joy, "The Menu" Emma Thompson, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande Actor in a motion picture musical or comedy Colin Farrell, The Banshees of Inisherin | WINNER Diego Calva, "Babylon" Daniel Craig, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery Adam Driver, "White Noise" Ralph Fiennes, "The Menu" Actress in a television series musical or comedy Quinta Brunson, "Abbott Elementary | WINNER Kaley Cuoco, "The Flight Attendant" Selena Gomez, Only Murders in the Building Jenna Ortega, "Wednesday" Jean Smart, Hacks Actor in a television series musical or comedy Jeremy Allen White won a Golden Globe at the 80th Golden Globe Awards. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times) Jeremy Allen White, The Bear | WINNER Donald Glover, "Atlanta" Bill Hader, Barry Steve Martin, Only Murders in the Building Martin Short, Only Murders in the Building "Naatu Naatu" by M.M. Keeravani, Chandrabose ("RRR") | WINNER Carolina by Taylor Swift (Where the Crawdads Sing) "Ciao Papa" by Alexandre Desplat, Roeban Katz, Guillermo del Toro ("Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio") Hold My Hand by Lady Gaga and Bloodpop (Top Gun: Maverick) Lift Me Up by Tems, Ludwig Goransson, Rihanna and Ryan Coogler (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever) Original score motion picture Justin Hurwitz, Babylon | WINNER Carter Burwell, "The Banshees of Inisherin" Alexandre Desplat, Guillermo del Toros Pinocchio Hildur Gunadottir, "Women Talking John Williams, The Fabelmans Supporting actor musical-comedy or drama television series Tyler James Williams, Abbott Elementary | WINNER John Lithgow, The Old Man Jonathan Pryce, "The Crown" John Turturro, Severance" Henry Winkler, Barry Supporting actress in a motion picture Angela Bassett hugs her Golden Globe statue backstage at the 80th Golden Globe Awards. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times) Angela Bassett, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever | WINNER Kerry Condon, The Banshees of Inisherin Jamie Lee Curtis, Everything Everywhere All at Once Dolly de Leon, Triangle of Sadness Carey Mulligan, "She Said" Supporting actor in a motion picture Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All at Once | WINNER Brendan Gleeson, The Banshees of Inisherin Barry Keoghan, "The Banshees of Inisherin" Brad Pitt, "Babylon" Eddie Redmayne, "The Good Nurse" This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. The Department of the Interior includes offices like the United States Geological Survey and the Bureau of Land Management. Dont feel bad about forgetting to change your password to something more complexthe U.S. Department of the Interior isnt doing any better. A security audit published earlier this month has revealed some pretty startling password security flaws within the department, the most glaring of which is that over one-fifth of DOI passwords were easily cracked. The report was published by the Office of the Inspector General for the U.S. Department of the Interior, and it describes the multitude of security flaws surrounding the DOIs password management. Overall, the security auditors were able to crack 18,174 of the departments 85,944 passwordsthats 21%while the team was able to hack 13,924 of those passwords in less than 90 minutes. The office also reported that 288 passwords belonging to accounts with high privileges and 362 passwords for senior government employees were also cracked. Read more We also learned that the Departments password complexity requirements implicitly allowed unrelated staff to use the same inherently weak passwords and that the Department did not timely disable inactive accounts or enforce password age limits, wrote Kathleen Sedney, the Assistant Inspector General for Audits, Inspections, and Evaluations, in the report. It is likely that if a well-resourced attacker were to capture Department AD password hashes, the attacker would have achieved a success rate similar to ours in cracking the hashes. The audit says that half of the top 10 most commonly reused passwords all contained some variation of the word password and 1234, like Password1234!, Password123$, or even just Password-1234. Other commonly reused passwords include Br0nc0$2012, Summ3rSun2020!, and ChangeItN0w!. The Department of the Interior has also failed to implement multi-factor authentication on 89% of systems with high-value assets, which are assets that could have serious impacts to the Departments ability to conduct business if compromised, per the report. Multi-factor authentication is defined by the Office of the Inspector General as a known metric, like a PIN, a physical object, like an access card, or a biometric, like a fingerprint or retinal pattern. Story continues It is likely that if a well-resourced attacker were to capture Department AD password hashes, the attacker would have achieved a success rate similar to ours in cracking the hashes. The significance of our findings regarding the Departments poor password management is magnified given our high success rate cracking password hashes, the large number of elevated privilege and senior Government employee passwords we cracked, and the fact that most of the Departments [high-value assets] did not employ [multi-factor authentication], Sedney wrote. The audits methodology reveals that the Department of the Interiors passwords were tested using a system that cost less than $15,000 to build using open-access software and a custom wordlist. The recommendations Sedney and the Office recommended to the Department of the Interior include prioritizing the implementation and validation of multi-factor authentication across the departments systems, and to revamp password security standards for users who are setting a new password. More from Gizmodo Sign up for Gizmodo's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. London About 25,000 U.K. ambulance workers went on strike for the second time in less than a month on Wednesday. It was the latest in a series of industrial actions across multiple sectors of the struggling British economy as key workers face pressure to increase their output right while record-inflation shrinks the purchasing power of their income. Health officials warned that Wednesday's strike would have a worse impact than the previous ambulance worker walk-out in December, because more staff are walking out this time. They urged members of the public to call emergency services in the case of a life threatening emergency, but said non-urgent cases would not be prioritized. They made it clear that some people would have to get to hospitals on their own. The last few months have brought the biggest strikes the U.K. has seen in decades, disrupting train travel, nursing, ambulances, baggage handling, customs and border forces and other services. Inflation in Britain has risen to the highest levels since the 1980s, touching a landmark 11.1% in October and straining worker salaries in industries that critics, including political opposition parties, argue have been facing underinvestment for years. Union leaders in the U.K. have said some public health workers, including ambulance drivers and emergency telephone call operators, were close to seeing their salaries put them below the national minimum wage. "When people accuse us of putting the public at risk, I would say it is this government that has put the public at risk by refusing consistently to talk to us. There is no offer on the table," the Associated Press quoted Christina McAnea, head of the UNISON union, as telling workers in a picket line in northern England. The U.K.'s National Health Service is under strain, with record-long waiting times for procedures and even admission to hospital emergency rooms. "People are waiting longer because we can't get to them. It's a lack of capacity in every department," Assistant Ambulance Practitioner Ian Grimble told the AP. Story continues The crew at Islington Ambulance station on the picket line on January 11, 2023 in London, United Kingdom. / Credit: Getty Government officials have blamed the strain on the National Health Service on seasonal flu and the aftermath of the worst months of the COVID-19 pandemic, but critics say years of underfunding, along with a labor shortage caused by Brexit, have left the country in a public health crisis. The government, meanwhile, is planning to introduce new measures that would limit the rights of workers in certain industries to go on strike. The new rules would enforce "minimum service standards" on railways, firefighting and ambulance services, which would have to be maintained during any industrial action. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak departs 10 Downing Street for the House of Commons to attend the weekly Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) in London, January 11, 2023. / Credit: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Anadolu Agency/Getty "No one denies the unions freedom to strike, but it is also important to balance that with people's right to have access to lifesaving health care," U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Wednesday. One prominent union boss, however, said it was all a deliberate attack on working people in Britain by the Conservative government. "That is a deliberate policy of the government of this country, to lower the wages of working people right across the spectrum - especially where they have an influence - to make them poorer than they used to be," Mick Lynch, who leads a railworkers union that has held multiple strikes already this year, said according to the AFP news agency. "To me it's sabotage. And they wanted these strikes to go ahead." Suspect in police custody linked to shootings targeting elected officials in New Mexico Golden Globes try to highlight diversity as ceremony returns to television Air travel begins returning to normal following FAA outage that grounded flights Scottish independence has its supporters -- as did that of Slovakia. Jane Barlow/PA Images via Getty Images Had Scottish nationalists got their way, 2023 would have seen the country head to the polls in a second referendum over independence from the United Kingdom and they might have won. Whereas the first attempt in 2014 resulted in 55% voting no, polls suggest that after Brexit, a majority of Scots might now favor secession. But that plan for a fresh referendum was scuppered in November 2022, when the U.K. Supreme Court decided that Scotland could not hold such a vote without the consent of the Westminster Parliament. And that permission seems unlikely given that the governing Conservative Party believes the 2014 referendum settled the debate for a generation. Even a change of government is unlikely to matter, with the opposition Labour Party indicating that it too is not inclined to allow a second vote. It seems that when it comes to disentangling nations with a shared government, breaking up can be hard to do. Yet, some advocates of Scottish independence point to an event that took place 30 years ago as an example of how such a divorce can be amicably managed and beneficial for all concerned: In January 1993, Czechoslovakia ceased to exist, and the Czech Republic and Slovakia were welcomed into the United Nations as separate states. While it is tempting for some to look back to the Czech-Slovak split for comforting lessons over the long-run consequences of Scottish independence, as a scholar who has studied the politics of Central Europe, Im mindful of two things: It wasnt entirely smooth, and the circumstances were not all that comparable to Scotlands situation today. Better apart? Combined at the end of the First World War, the two national identities that made up Czechoslovakia were papered over under Communist rule and burst into the open with the return of democracy in 1989. This came to a head with elections in the summer of 1992. The decision to terminate the union was rooted in an aversion among leaders of the largest Czech and Slovak parties to sharing power and a vision of post-Communist economic reform in a coalition government. The Czech side, which had been secretly thinking through what uncoupling would entail, had no appetite for Slovak proposals of a loose confederation and insisted on a cleaner break. Story continues Demonstrators in Prague on June 18, 1992, the day before negotiations between Czech and Slovak politicians over a proposed split. AP Photo/David Brauchli In the end, a chaotic vote in the federal parliament on Nov. 25, 1992, saw a slim majority in favor of dissolving the union at the end of that year. But it was messy: The first two attempts failed, and the third attempt succeeded by just two or three votes (the votes cast and tallied did not add up). Furthermore, the legislature did not have the expressed will of the people behind it parties that months earlier had campaigned to preserve the union in some form acted without prior authorization or subsequent affirmation by a referendum. Thirty years later, polling finds that very large majorities in both successor states wish a referendum had been held. Czechs still struggle to accept the end of federation, with a plurality of 48% regarding it negatively, while 62% of Slovaks say it was the right thing. The lack of popular assent notwithstanding, the Czech-Slovak split is cited by advocates for Scottish independence as a model that minimizes the risk of violence and economic disruption. No doubt, the two new countries seem to have flourished. Both went on to become members of the European Union and the Schengen Area, which allows free movement across much of the continent. They also joined NATO and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The Czech Republic is routinely ranked among the safest countries in the world with high scores for quality of life. Its adjusted per capita gross domestic product is now ahead of those of older EU member states such as Spain, Portugal and Greece, and closing in on Italys. Slovakia had to overcome greater political turmoil and structural challenges. But since joining the EU in 2004 and the eurozone in 2009, it has matched or outpaced the Czech Republic in annual economic growth. Indeed, Slovakia has attracted so much investment by foreign automakers that it is now the worlds largest producer of cars relative to population which at around 5.5 million is almost identical in size to Scotlands. Even more so than the Czech Republic, Slovakia confirms that small states can find their way in the world. As such, it is no wonder that some Scots conclude, If Slovakia can make a success of itself after the Velvet Divorce, surely Scotland can do so too. And Slovakia did so while remaining on cordial terms with the Czech Republic. Setbacks such as the recent Czech reimposition of controls on the border with Slovakia are minor compared with what we see in nearby regions that also fractured in the early 1990s - raging conflicts in the former Soviet Union and simmering tension in the former Yugoslavia. The velvet divorce Where the utility of Czechoslovakia as a precedent ends, however, is with the actual process of splitting up. The appeal of the story of Czechoslovakias dissolution is that it seemed to be quick and easy as well as peaceful. In reality, it took years to finalize some issues, such as arrangements for citizens of one state to attend a university in the other and to acquire dual citizenship. Final settlement of the central banks balance took until November 1999 to sort out. Most of the work of dividing assets was governed by a simple 2-to-1 principle that reflected the relative sizes of the Czech and Slovak populations. Liabilities, in the way of external debt, were dispatched on the same basis, and Czechoslovakia had little of it anyway. The new international border was not agreed officially until 1996 but needed only minor adjustments. Being landlocked, the new states had no maritime issues to resolve. For several reasons, it is hard to imagine such an amicable and swift grant of independence to Scotland from the rest of the U.K. For starters, Edinburgh and London might never agree that the time had come to start discussing terms of divorce, in the way that Czech and Slovak leaders did in the summer of 1992. Scotlands first minister has said that the next U.K. general election, due to be held before the end of 2024, will be treated as a de facto referendum. The Scottish National Party might interpret a general election result as a mandate to leave, but unionist parties might see it otherwise and refuse to come to the table. Any push towards independence in the face of opposition from the U.K. government could lead to an impasse akin to that between Catalonia and the Spanish government. Even if talks did somehow get underway, there is no simple rule to hand like the 2-to-1 ratio for Czechoslovakias partition. That applied to a process of ending a country, whereas the U.K. would seek to carry on with its remaining parts. Instead, there would be hard bargaining on every major issue trade, labor, pensions, currency and banking, debt, citizenship, defense, and borders including claims to the dwindling tax receipts from North Sea oil and gas fields. In all likelihood, it would more closely resemble the United Kingdoms choppy exit from the European Union than Czechoslovakias division. Speaking of which, Brexit itself presents another potential headache. Even if Scotland and the U.K. government were to reach agreement on the terms of any split, they might have to be reopened should an independent Scotland seek to join the E.U. forcing it to choose between the single market of Europe and that of the rump U.K. This is not to say that the separation of Scotland from the United Kingdom could not be arrived at. But harking back to events of 30 years ago may not serve anyones interests, least of all Scotlands especially if the path of the referendum-free velvet divorce leaves lingering doubts about the legitimacy of the process. This article is republished from The Conversation, an independent nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Kieran Williams, Drake University. If you found it interesting, you could subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Read more: Kieran Williams 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. Officials with AES Ohio are urging homeowners to be aware of scams involving the company. AES Ohio posted on its Facebook page that people claiming to be an employee of AES Ohio are going from house to house with an offer to lower their utility bills. Company officials said AES Ohio employees and contractors who visit homeowners will have an AES Ohio ID badge for legitimacy. AES Ohio said it has received numerous customer reports about being scammed by identity theft and credit card schemes. Customers are asked to call AES Ohio if they believe they have become a victim of a utility scam involving its company. Here are some helpful tips that you should keep in mind when it comes to AES Ohios process for requesting and receiving customer information: A bleached bathtub ring is visible on the banks of Lake Mead near the Hoover Dam on August 19, 2022 in Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Arizona. Angely Mercado covers climate change for Gizmodo. She has written stories about the megadrought in the American West, how California celebrities guzzled water in 2022, and reports of mass tree deaths. She hopes to write more positive climate news in 2023. The top story: Dont be fooled by the massive storms and floods hitting California right now: The U.S. (and California in particular) was pretty damn dry in 2022, and its likely that 2023 will be another dry year. Read more The American West has wilted under a megadrought the worst drought that region has seen in over 1,000 years. Scientists have connected this drought to rising temperatures that have been partially fueled by human activity. The Colorado River, which provides water to seven states and about 40 million people, has seen dwindling water levels for years, but things got really bad in 2022. Reservoirs along the river, like Lake Mead and Lake Powell, have seen historically low water levels, receding so badly that several sets of human remains were found at Lake Mead. The drought is affecting other rivers too. The Mississippi River, which is a crucial shipping waterway, hit the lowest water levels in a decade in 2022. This caused traffic jams because shipping barges ran aground in the river. Ships have also had to carry less weight in order to traverse the waterway. Some recent rainfall has improved levels in the Mississippi, but water levels are still low in early 2023. The water shortages have given people more fodder to hate celebrities: If you thought a bunch of rich people singing Imagine during initial covid lockdown was annoying, learning about their water wasting habits has been infuriating. This is especially true for California residents who had to answer to the LA water police this past summer. Meanwhile, Kourtney Kardashian went more than 200% above her allotted water budget last spring. Story continues What were waiting for: More water restrictions . 2022 saw various water restrictions and calls for residents in states like California to voluntarily limit their water consumption. Major cities like Los Angeles also implemented outdoor watering restrictions. If the current drought continues (which it likely will), more communities across western states will have to introduce more restrictions. California 2023 snowpack assessments . At the end of winter in 2022, California Department of Water Resources officials went to Phillips Station near Lake Tahoe and only found 2.5 inches of snowpack. The average snow depth for the end of winter is supposed to be about 5 feet in that area of Sierra Nevada mountains. The lack of snowpack was alarming. It signaled that the region had a dry winterthis means that there was below average precipitation. The lack of snowfall meant less snow to melt and feed into different waterways in the state. Community water access restrictions . So many states out west are working on solutions to keep water flowing into homes despite the dry conditions. An unincorporated community in Maricopa County, Arizona called Rio Verde Foothills struggled to secure a new source of water in 2022. The community relies on the city of Scottsdale for water access, but late last year Scottsdale announced that it would cease hauling water there by early 2023. Scottsdale draws most of its water from the Colorado River, and is stopping water shipments to Maricopa County to lower their water usage. NOAAs seasonal drought outlook. Every year, this agency releases outlooks on drought in the coming season. An October forecast from the agency predicted that western and central states are expected to see developing or worsening drought this winter. One of the predictions at the time explained that California would see low precipitation, but California has seen several winter storms since late December. Unconventional wisdom: A few winter storms may help alleviate some of the dry conditions out west, but this may not make a large dent in the current drought. Take this fall for example. A November storm helped end the fire season in Northern California, and it supported especially parched ecosystems in the state, but it did not end the severely dry conditions in the state, the New York Times reported. These past few weeks are another great example: atmospheric rivers have created several winter storms over California since late December. Theyve dumped rain and snow over the state, boosting the snowpack. But state officials have explained that this doesnt mean the snow will stick around. This is a prime example of the threat of extreme flooding during a prolonged drought as California experiences more swings between wet and dry periods brought on by our changing climate, California Department of Water Resources Director Karla Nemeth recently said in a press release. People to Follow: Camille Touton, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation commissioner - Touton was sworn in as the commissioner of the Bureau in 2021 and has extensive experience in water management and managing other natural resources in the country. Shes worked for the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources and. Touton also worked as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Water & Science in the Department of the Interior, which oversees the Bureau. Sean de Guzman, manager of Snow Surveys and Water Supply Forecasting - Guzman is one of the leaders at the USDAs Snow Surveys and Water Supply Forecasting agency, that measures the snowpack at the Phillips Station near Lake Tahoe in California. Sharon B. Megdal, director of the Water Resources Research Center at the University of Arizona - An expert on water management policy, she has been quoted in the New York Times on water shortages along the Colorado River in 2021. Agencies to watch: Bureau of Reclamation - This government agency is responsible for delivering reliable water access and hydroelectric power to the American West. This is the department that has created hundreds of dams out west including the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River. It is also the second largest producer of hydroelectricity in the country, overseeing 53 power plants that power over 3 million homes. The ongoing drought challenged the Bureaus mission to get hydroelectric power and water to residents out west in 2022. Metropolitan Water District of Southern California - This is the largest provider of treated water in the entire country, serving 19 million residents. The agency declared a drought emergency at the end of 2022. It draws most of its water from the Colorado River, and if mandatory water restrictions are put into place to further lower water usage, it will affect all 19 million people served by the Water District. NOAA- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration regularly releases predictions on upcoming conditions like drought. This agency also releases reports on how weather patterns in the country will be affected by El Nino/La Nina. A longshot bet: The Mississippi River and the communities along the river will start to recover from the ongoing drought. Recent rainfall has sparked some hope for marina managers around Memphis, Tennessee according to WERG News. But the parched river basin will need more several rainfall events to support enough water for all of the states across the river. It will definitely help, but it wont be a quick recovery. Cruise ships may still run aground and some marinas along the river will still see low water levels come this summer. California will continue to see some drought recovery from these past weeks of winter storms that have dumped rain and snow onto the state. In December 2022, about 7% of the state was experiencing exceptional drought according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. As of this month, no part of the state is under exceptional drought. But its too early to say just how long the current stream of storms will alleviate drought conditions out west. More from Gizmodo Sign up for Gizmodo's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. Across the state, police chiefs are finding fewer people interested in joining law enforcement. Montgomery Police Chief Darryl Albert said this reflects a national trend that became more prevalent after George Floyd died in 2020 at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer. I think thats pretty much across the country," Prattville Police Chief Mark Thompson said. "It's hard to recruit and get to stay in law enforcement." Protests erupted after Floyd's death, widening the division between police and communities. Officers are still tasked with handling the fallout from those difficult months. Its hard to find people to put up with the ridicule and the things law enforcement put up with today," Thompson said. He later added, Its always been a dangerous job, but lately it just seems like there's a target on law enforcement." Millbrook Police Chief P.K. Johnson said that although it has become more difficult to recruit officers in the past several years, he sees this as a problem that stretches back farther than that. Its just gotten harder and harder to get officers," Johnson said. The chiefs agreed that part of the reason it has become more arduous to find people to serve in law enforcement is that competitive civilian jobs pay more. Were competing with employers not just in law enforcement but in other careers," Johnson said. Officers are also leaving police departments for careers at the federal level, said Clarence Stewart, the Auburn Police Department assistant chief. In Millbrook, starting pay for police is $18 an hour with an extra $150 a month for hazardous pay, Johnson said. In Prattville, starting pay is $44,500, or about $21.40 an hour, before benefits. The department also offers education incentives that change depending on the level of degree, Thompson said. In Auburn, officers' starting pay is up to $58,376, Stewart said. The Montgomery Police Department did not answer requests to determine how much starting pay officers receive. Story continues Montgomery has about 415 officers and about 75 open positions that the chief is trying to fill. In Prattville, the police department has about 85 officers, but the chief is looking to hire about 10 more people. Johnson has 35 officers in Millbrook and a vacant spot for one more. The Auburn Police Department has about 146 officers and is looking to fill 12 extra positions, Stewart said. Not being fully staffed puts a burden on the departments' officers. For officers, it means "a lot more overtime being worked to cover shifts when people get sick or go on vacation," Thompson said. Thompson said that the shortage of officers means too few on patrol and in special units. Having even one vacant spot can be harmful, especially for smaller departments that have 10 or fewer officers, Johnson said. In a smaller department one officer certainly makes a difference," Johnson said. Recruiting takes PD to military, schools, gyms Alabama police departments are having to compete with law enforcement agencies across the nation to get good candidates, Albert said. We will maintain high standards and get quality applicants," Albert said about the recruitment process. The Montgomery Police Department looks for potential officers in the military, at universities and even at gyms. Albert's recruitment team also arranges events where people can learn more about what it is like to be a Montgomery police officer. In Prattville, Thompson used to get between 400 to 500 applicants for police work. Today, that number has dwindled to about 170, and after the candidates go through the entire hiring process, Thompson ends up with maybe three that he hires. The Auburn Police Department is approaching recruitment in a more unique manner, calling its work the 30-for-30 initiative. The goal is to have 30% of the department be women by 2030, Stewart said. His department wants its officers' demographics to reflect the demographics of Auburn. Stewart is looking for the kind of people who care about the community. He wants them to build trust with Auburn residents and participate in community events. Alex Gladden is the Montgomery Advertiser's public safety reporter. She can be reached at agladden@gannett.com or 479-926-9570. This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Alabama police departments continue to struggle to staff up Over the holiday season, several travelers were impacted by the catastrophe of Southwest Airlines canceling flights at an accelerated rate. As a result, the airline canceled roughly 160 flights, according to CBS. From non-stop complaints from travelers being stranded to a bride that even missed her wedding day, the impact of the Southwest holiday meltdown was massive. However, amongst all the chaos, celebrity actress Raven Symone took to social media to show a different form of transportation and how she navigates her holiday travels. The Thats So Raven star took to Instagram to show off her new wheels provided by Turo. @turo had me in my feelings this holiday season. While flights were getting canceled @mirandamaday and I were cruisin in the mazii. Oh wee.., she wrote on Instagram. While every destination cant be reached by car, deciding which car rental company to book is worth researching. As an avid traveler, a few aspects I consider when booking a car rental, is price, convenience, safety, and location. Traditionally, many travelers book car rentals from known places at the airport or online. However, before you go with the big names, some alternative car rental methods are just as great and might even save you a few bucks. Check out these alternative car rental options the next time you plan a trip. Turo Turo is a peer-to-peer car-sharing marketplace where users can book any car they want, wherever they want, from a vibrant community of trusted hosts across the US, Canada, and the UK. Its like an AIRBNB but for rental cars. Turo is located in major cities such as Chicago, Boston, NYC, LA, and Miami. If youre a budget traveler, Turo rentals start at $25 USD, and they have a wild selection of vehicles to choose from. Turo is also an excellent option for those looking for convenience. Since you can book a Turo online or through the app, you cut out the wait time of waiting in long lines at the airport and other car rental locations. Story continues Getaround The mission of Getaround is simply in its name. The company wants to help travelers seamlessly get from point A to point B most conveniently and effectively. Getaround has a peer-to-peer marketplace where you can rent a vehicle from other members. With Getaround, you dont meet the person you are renting from. Travelers can rent the car, pick it up, and drop it off in a designated area, such as a parking spot or apartment building. Users can unlock the vehicles via Bluetooth within the app. Getaround is available in more than 950 cities globally. Lyft Rental Did you know Lyft also provides car rental services? In 2019, the ride-sharing service launched Lyft Rental, allowing travelers to book rentals directly through the app. Customers can expect an easy-to-use app process when booking a rental through Lyft rental. Once you pick up your rental from the designated location, an employee will finish the process. You have to rent the car for at least 24 hours. Lyft Rental has other perks, such as Lyft credits, no-fee cancellation, and convenient locations. Zipcar Zipcar launched over 20 years ago. According to the company website, Zipcars mission is to enable simple and responsible urban livinga future filled with more car-sharing members than car owners in major cities across the globe. The company also has a focus on sustainability. With Zipcar, users apply to be a member. After their membership is approved, they can easily book a car through the app. Zipcar is a car-sharing service that makes it seamless and convenient for customers to get where they need to go. In a 2021 letter to a judge related to his sentencing for fraud, an apologetic Brian Walshe pledged to be loving, have integrity, and continue to be in service to my wife and sons. I am not a threat to any members of our society, wrote Walshe in his letter dated Sept. 6, 2021 to Judge Douglas Woodlock. My only declaration and intention is to be of service to our community and beyond. I am embarrassed that it took me this long to transform, but I am committed to continuing my purpose of being in contribution, leading by example and serving everyone I come in contact with. Walshe, 46, of Cohasset, is accused of misleading police in their investigation into the disappearance of his wife, Ana Walshe, a 39-year-old mother-of-three and a real estate professional who works in Washington D.C. She has been missing since New Years Day, and had been on her way to the nations Capitol for work when she disappeared. Ana Walshe and her husband Brian Walshe Her husband faced a judge Monday and was ordered held on $500,000 bail. Brian Walshe smiled for news cameras as he appeared in court for his arraignment on charges of misleading police in the case. Walshe was earlier convicted for fraud related to stealing and selling real and fake Andy Warhol paintings. In his earlier, 2021 sentencing letter to a judge for his fraud conviction, Walshe detailed his attempts to better himself, and he apologized for his prior conduct. I am extremely sorry for my past conduct, Walshe wrote at the time. My sorrow is multifaceted. My conduct has led to others being hurt as well as to the misuse of our governments resources that could have been focused to feed the hunger or shelter the homeless. My conduct has caused and created a world that lacks deep trust and psychological safety. 25 Investigates: Hacksaw, blood-soaked rug found in search for missing Cohasset mother Ana Walshe Walshe wrote at the time that he has been in a training process for two years that supports all members of our community to be the best version of themselves. Story continues This training has changed my life, he wrote. I have opened a new company where we train others on the foundations of trust, safety, inclusion, diversity and collaboration. I have created a contract for myself: I am an honest, courageous, loving leader. I repeat this contract to myself on a daily basis. I train everyday on 100% integrity, 100% of the time, Walshe wrote. When a doctor asked Walshe how hed be able to tell the judge, that I, as a medical professional, am sure that you will never break the law again? Walshe wrote, My answer was the following: Since January of 2020 I train daily on several distinctions of leadership. One of them is integrity. Crime occurs from an incremental breakdown of ones integrity, Walshe wrote. This can occur when one becomes attached to outcomes over process. Authorities search North Shore dumpster station for evidence in disappearance of Ana Walshe Walshe wrote he was working with a small group and was involved in one-on-one mentoring that supports 100% integrity I now exemplify myself. Whether it be speeding, omitting something from their taxes or being late to a meeting, I believe that how we do one thing is how we do everything, Walshe wrote. My point is not to be strict, but to be loving. To hold others at their highest potential. To let them know that one indiscretion that is not acknowledged will only lead to others. Prior to her disappearance, and in a letter to a federal judge in June 2022, Ana Walshe showed her support for her husband and praised him for his actions in teaching their three young children, who are between the ages of two and six, how to contribute to the community. 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 at the time. 25 Investigates: Piecing together Brian Walshes alleged whereabouts the week Ana disappeared Their three children are now in state custody. Ana stands 52 and weighs 115 pounds. She has brown hair, brown eyes, and an olive complexion. It is believed that she speaks with an Eastern European accent. Anyone with information about Anas disappearance is urged to call Cohasset Police at 781-383-1055. 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 Dave Graham MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden and his Mexican counterpart this week pledged to work together to tackle drug trafficking and illegal immigration and promote economic integration - while quietly passing over a major dispute over energy. Not for the first time, the leaders of the two countries found common ground on management of their shared border, leaving questions unanswered over a rift that Mexico's nationalist energy policies have caused with the United States and Canada. Biden prefaced his visit to the Mexican capital with a trip to the U.S.-Mexico border, and during the ensuing summit thanked Mexico for helping to curb illegal crossings and trafficking in fentanyl, a deadly opioid blamed for thousands of U.S. deaths. U.S. officials had said the energy dispute would be discussed during the talks, but neither Biden nor Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador referred to it during public statements on their meetings on Monday and Tuesday. The U.S. government appears reluctant to antagonize Mexico on energy lest it interfere with cooperation on the border and security, two far bigger U.S. domestic issues, analysts said. "There's this perception the Mexican government has control over the border, and I think this has stopped the U.S. government from acting and applying pressure, where at another time as a partner it would have the right to," Sergio Alcocer, a former Mexican deputy foreign minister, said of the energy row. The U.S. State Department and the White House did not immediately reply to requests for comment. Under pressure from Republican opponents to curb record illegal crossings, the administration of Biden, a Democrat, has focused much of its dealings with Mexico on border security. Illegal border crossings hit a record in 2022, and the United States last week announced new plans that will allow it to send more migrants back to Mexico under provisions initially rolled out under Former U.S. President Donald Trump. Story continues Trump threatened Mexico with trade tariffs if it did not stem migrant flows, but he did little to upbraid Lopez Obrador over energy policies that U.S. firms say are unfair. It was only under Biden that formal steps to challenge them were launched. And the Biden administration did contact U.S. energy companies ahead of the Mexico City summit to ask them how Mexico's policies have impacted their business operations there, according to a document seen by Reuters. Lopez Obrador has made strengthening Mexico's state energy companies a cornerstone of his administration, giving priority to national power utility Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE) over private firms in connecting power stations to the grid. Washington and Ottawa say his actions discriminate against their companies and breach the United States-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade pact. CFE and state oil firm Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) depend heavily on fossil fuels, and giving them precedence over private solar and wind power firms has crimped investor appetite for Mexico amid efforts to capture business from Asia. Lopez Obrador has compromised on some economic policies, kicking a potential ban on genetically modified corn into the next administration, but he has dug his heels in on energy, casting his actions as a restoration of national sovereignty. The United States, then Canada launched dispute resolution proceedings against Mexico in July, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who held talks with Biden and Lopez Obrador on Tuesday, raised energy concerns with Mexico on Wednesday. Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard had flagged that energy would not feature prominently during the U.S.-Mexico-Canada talks, saying a resolution process was under way and the leaders did not want to turn the summit into a dispute panel. Two Mexican officials said there was little advance on the energy dispute between Mexico and Washington this week. When asked on Wednesday what progress had been made on the dispute, U.S. Ambassador Ken Salazar said consultations aimed at fixing it out were ongoing, and urged the two countries to work together on harnessing renewable energy. At a news conference after Tuesday's trilateral meeting, all three leaders were asked by a reporter whether they had discussed the energy spat as part of a series of questions. Lopez Obrador answered some of the other questions before setting off on a long speech that veered into many of his regular talking points. He then brought the news conference to a close. (Reporting by Dave GrahamAdditional reporting by Daina Beth Solomon, Matt Spetalnick, Jarrett Renshaw and Steve Holland; Editing by Christian Plumb and Alistair Bell) (Getty Images) Five-times Australian Open runner-up Andy Murray finally got his first victory of the year with a 2-6 6-3 10-2 super tiebreaker win over Zhang Zhizen at the Kooyong Classic exhibition event on Wednesday. The 35-year-old twice Wimbledon champion was ousted in the opening round of the Adelaide International warm-up event last week and looked to be heading for another defeat when he went a set down to the Chinese world number 97. The Briton rallied to level up the contest, however, and raced away with the super tiebreaker to seal the win in just over an hour. He served well and was taking my time away but I managed to gradually improve as the match went on, Murray said. Current British number one Cameron Norrie had a less straightforward day at the Auckland Open, needing nearly six hours to reach the quarter-finals with a 6-4 6-7(4) 6-3 win over Jiri Lehecka. Much of that time was spent in the dressing room waiting for the wet weather to pass and the match was concluded indoors when the rain persisted. Play had returned to the outside courts at the Auckland Open on Wednesday after being moved indoors with no crowds on Tuesday because of Cyclone Hale. Its tough on the concentration, said the world number 12, who remained unbeaten in the new season after three wins at the United Cup last week, including a victory over Rafa Nadal. The rain was not the only problem Norrie faced and he had to dig deep to subdue the Czech after the 21-year-old had played sublime tennis to win the second set on a tiebreak. Credit to him, he really took it to me, said Norrie, who was raised in Auckland. I really enjoyed the time on centre court, its good to be back in New Zealand, Im just a little bit disappointed I couldnt talk in front of (the crowd). (Getty Images) The opening second round match on the main showcourt had lasted only one set before Argentine Diego Schwartzman, who was trailing 6-1 to American Jenson Brooksby, withdrew with a leg injury. Weather permitting, top seed Casper Ruud is due to make his first appearance of the tournament against Laslo Djere in the evening session. Story continues Former U.S. Open champion Dominic Thiem also got his first win at Kooyong, beating American world number 17 Francis Tiafoe 7-6(4) 6-2. The Austrian, on the comeback trail after a serious wrist injury, said that while he was not back at his best, the win showed he was going in the right direction. In the other ATP warm-up tournament in Adelaide, top seed Andrey Rublev will face local defending champion Thanasi Kokkinakis in the second round later on Wednesday. Reuters A day after four men lost their lives in a fiery crash on Interstate 85 in University City, were learning about who the men were and how the crash happened. Troopers told Channel 9 from their initial investigation, they believe a dump truck may have run out of gas before the truck that the victims were in plowed into it. Channel 9s Hunter Saenz learned the men all worked together. He spoke with grieving family members of two of those men on Wednesday. The families were as stunned as they are broken and now, theyre hoping the community will rally around them. PREVIOUS: 4 dead in crash on I-85S in University City, police say There are no words to explain the anguish, Eric Garcia said. Garcia is the cousin of 24-year-old Kevin Turcios, who died in the crash. Kevins uncles, Mercedes Arturo Garcia and Edwin Orlando Garcia Vigil were killed as well, along with Edwins brother-in-law, Miguel Angel Portillo Arias. State troopers said the truck they were traveling in hit the back of a dumpster truck that was improperly parked in the right lane of traffic on I-85. The charred remains of the truck could be seen from Chopper 9 Skyzoom. Eric Garcia said the four family members were on their way home from work when the crash happened. Now, he and his family are finding comfort in each other as they remember their loved ones. Specifically - we learned what troopers believe may have caused a dump truck to become disabled in a lane of traffic just before the truck, that was carrying the four victims, plowed into it. Details at 5. Hunter Saenz (@Hunt_Saenz) January 11, 2023 Kevin was a very energetic guy. He didnt get into quarrels with people, Garcia said. He was very loving, very playful. His family said Turcios had just built a home in his parents backyard and was set to move in this month. His father and brother were overcome with emotion when they spoke to Saenz, as was Giovanni Garcia, who is grieving the loss of his father, Arturo. Story continues Giovanni Garcia spoke to Saenz in Spanish, but Telemundo Charlotte worked with Channel 9 to translate his answers into English. He was a hard worker, Giovanni said. An honest and responsible person. To tell you the truth, he was one of a kind -- in every aspect. ALSO READ: Friends, brothers, fathers: The men who died in the Dilworth scaffolding collapse The victims family members all want answers and in the meantime, are asking for the communitys help. Its never easy to lose a family member, better less, four, Eric Garcia said. The families of the victims are now trying to pay for funerals. If you can help, they could use your giving heart. The links to their GoFundMe pages are below: Edwin Garcias wife told Telemundo Charlotte she is seven months pregnant. State troopers said it may be days or weeks before the investigation is complete, and thats when we will know if charges or citations will be given. Troopers are still trying to learn if the dump truck driver was at the scene when the crash happened or if they left to get help. Its also unclear if the dump trucks hazard lights were on. (WATCH BELOW: Locust chase ends in Charlotte crash; driver had missing teen in car, police say) Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan (L) seen during the CSTO welcoming ceremony in Yerevan, Armenia, on November 23, 2022. Contributor/Getty Images Armenia's leader has canceled Russian military drills planned in the country for later this year. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said the drills were "inappropriate in the current situation," AP reported. Pashinyan has accused Russia of failing to help in its ongoing conflict with Azerbaijan. Armenia has refused to host Russia's military for routine exercises, another snub from a country President Vladimir Putin thought was an ally. On Tuesday, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that he had canceled military drills planned by the Collective Security Treaty Organization a Russian-dominated alliance of post-Soviet nations later this year, the Associated Press reported. "At least this year, these drills won't take place," he said at a press conference, calling the drills "inappropriate in the current situation." "Russia's military presence in Armenia not only fails to guarantee its security, but it raises security threats for Armenia," Pashinyan added, according to AP. The Armenian leader also criticized Russian peacekeepers' failure to take a more active role around the disputed separatist region of Nagorno-Karabak, saying that he will seek support from the US and the European Union to help ease the tensions with Azerbaijan. Nagorno-Karabakh has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces since a separatist war there ended in 1994. Starting last month, Azerbaijani activists have been blocking a free corridor linking Armenia to the region. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov played down the quarrel, calling the country "our very close ally," according to AP. Pashinyan's latest move is another sign of tensions growing among Russia's allies. In a CSTO summit last November, Putin was repeatedly snubbed by Pashinyan, including when the Armenian prime minister refused to be photographed in close proximity to him. Other members of CSTO include Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. Azerbaijan is not part of the group. Story continues Putin has become increasingly isolated on the world stage over his full-scale invasion of Ukraine. India's prime minister criticized the Ukraine invasion directly to Putin in September, while the Russian president also admitted last year that China has "questions and concerns" about its actions in Ukraine. Read the original article on Business Insider Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was met with a wave of apoplectic conservative criticism when she shared the dangers of gas stoves in a post on Twitter. Earlier this week, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission announced it was considering a ban on gas stoves, citing concerns that they cause indoor pollution that has been linked to asthma in children. Republican Congressman Ronny Jackson took offence to the news, and vowed to never let the government take his gas stove. "Ill NEVER give up my gas stove," he wrote. "If the maniacs in the White House come for my stove, they can pry it from my cold dead hands. COME AND TAKE IT." Though its not clear, Mr Jackson was likely joking to some degree in his response, as he clearly chose to invoke the same language gun owners use when expressing their fear that the government will try to take their firearms. Regardless, Ms Ocasio-Cortez also saw the opportunity for a joke, and quote tweeted Mr Jackson. Did you know that ongoing exposure to NO2 from gas stoves is linked to reduced cognitive performance https://t.co/1bjmHqnHVa Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 11, 2023 "Did you know that ongoing exposure to N02 from gas stoves is linked to reduced cognitive performance," she wrote next to Mr Jacksons tweet. She followed up with a second tweet telling readers they could learn more about the potential hazards of gas stoves along with a link to aVox article. The congresswomans intentions were immediately questioned by critics, with one right-wing content creator asking "what company is paying you to say that?" Nick Freitas, a GOP state lawmaker in Virginia, took his criticism in a conspiratorial direction, suggesting that the government wanted the public on electric utilities so it could control the population. Story continues "Did you know that its a lot harder for the government to arbitrarily cut off your access to power if [youre] using gas as opposed to electric?" he asked. "Or is that really the point?" Did you know that its a lot harder for the government to arbitrarily cut off your access to power if your using gas as opposed to electric? Or is that really the point? Nick Freitas (@NickForVA) January 11, 2023 There is no evidence that the government intends to "arbitrarily cut off your access to power," though law enforcement has expressed a fear that right-wing extremists are attacking the electrical grid. Mr Freitas was not the only lawmaker to get in on the stove debate. Senator Ted Cruz shared a photo of first lady Jill Biden cooking over a gas stove and included the caption "rules for thee but not for me." No action has been taken at this time, and Ms Biden is not the head of the US Consumer Product Safety Commission. Rules for thee but not for me. https://t.co/o7iRlSEVVl Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) January 10, 2023 Senator Joe Manchin, though not a Republican, was in line with their messaging regarding the stoves. "This is a recipe for disaster," he wrote in a tweet. "The federal government has no business telling American families how to cook their dinner. I can tell you the last thing that would ever leave my house is the gas stove that we cook on." He even suggested that the USCPS should be subject to "reevaluation" if stoves were its "greatest" concern. The oil and gas industry has been one of Mr Manchins top sources of donation money since 2017, according to campaign finance watchdog OpenSecrets. Richard Trumka Jr, a commissioner at the USCPSC, told Bloomberg that gas stoves are "a hidden hazard," and stated that if they "cant be made safe" they "can be banned." A study published by the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health found that using gas stoves indoors is connected to a higher risk of childhood asthma, according to CNN. The study found that nearly 13 per cent of current child asthma in the US is linked to using a gas stove indoors. Short-term exposure to NO2 is linked to worsening asthma in children, and long-term exposure has been determined to likely cause the development of asthma, lawmakers said in a letter to CSPC chair Alexander Hoehn-Saric. The legislators also wrote that it can worsen cardiovascular diseases. Apple will begin replacing its mobile devices' displays with its in-house screen technology as soon as next year, according to Bloomberg. The tech giant will reportedly start with its highest-end Apple Watches in late 2024 and will swap the devices' current OLED screens with its own microLED technology. Bloomberg says Apple's homegrown display tech will also make its way to its other devices, including the iPhone. The new display is brighter with more vibrant colors and will reportedly make it seem as if watchfaces and other content are painted on top of the glass. Plus, it can be viewed better at an angle. The publication first reported about Apple's efforts to develop its own display way back in 2018. Apparently, Apple was originally working to introduce its technology in 2020, but it was hampered by the costs and technical challenges associated with the development. Those same concerns also prevented the company from including larger displays in its plans and had prompted it to focus on making the Watch the first device with its in-house screen. Despite the delay and potential future delays Apple might push back the display's debut to 2025, Bloomberg's sources said the technology is one of the company's most critical projects. The tech giant has reportedly spent several billion dollars on its development and is already testing the new screen on an update to the Apple Watch Ultra. It's also test manufacturing the screens in its facility in Santa Clara, California, though it may ultimately outsource its mass production. As Bloomberg notes, Apple's shift to its own displays could be a big blow to its suppliers, mainly Samsung and LG. But the manufacturers may have been bracing for it for quite some time now: After all, it's no secret that Apple has been developing its own components in a bid to lessen reliance on third-party companies. It had previously moved away from Intel processors to its own chips for Mac computers and its reportedly planning to use its own wireless chipsets in iPhones by 2025. Jan. 10SOUTHERN INDIANA Four members of the Indiana General Assembly who represent areas of Clark and Floyd counties were very clear Tuesday in their support for increasing Indiana State police salaries. Sen. Chris Garten (Charlestown), Rep. Ed Clere (District 72), and Sen. Gary Byrne (District 47), all Republicans, and Rep. Rita Fleming, a Democrat, (District 71) all are working to try to make sure the budget that is being shaped in Indianapolis now will include higher salaries for the state police force. A study, conducted by the Indiana State Police Alliance, found that state troopers are among the lowest paid law enforcement officers in Indiana, Garten said in a news release Monday, Jan. 9, the day the lawmakers began work. Garten, who is the Senate majority floor leader, said in his news release he is spearheading efforts for the Republican caucus to increase the compensation and that Republican lawmakers have included the objective in their caucus agenda. "If you are a dedicated member of the Indiana State Police or one of our Department of Natural Resources Conservation Officers, know this Senate Republicans hear you," Garten said. "Senate Republicans appreciate you and Senate Republicans are committed to ensuring you are compensated at a level that mirrors your service, sacrifice, professionalism and commitment to the great State of Indiana." Clere, who is on the House Ways and Means Committee, said he fully supports the pay increase and recognizes inflation is high. "... It's about more than that, it's about supporting our state troopers who deserve every penny and more," he said. "I have the opportunity to spend time with state troopers on a regular basis and I've never met one who isn't a professional and a testament to our state." The Ways and Means committee is responsible for crafting the state's two-year budget, and vetting bills with significant fiscal impact. Story continues "The budget process is all about setting priorities and I believe that law enforcement should be a priority," Clere said. He added that the increase in pay is a necessary step to attract and retain troopers. ISP's most recent recruitment class had 23 candidates, making it the smallest class since 1946. Byrne says the pay increase is also to help get more people interested in joining ISP. In his proposed budget, the governor set $70,000 as the starting salary for new state police officers. "I think this is well deserving and an important function in our state," Byrne said. "I think it's something that I could support." Fleming said she is in support of the wage increase for the state police, saying that inflation has become a challenge for everyone. "We do not compete with neighboring states in terms of how well we pay our law enforcement officers," Fleming said. "Their service is invaluable; they keep us safe. I think they deserve a significant pay raise." Fleming added that she believes the state police have been underpaid for a long period of time. "This is the year that we need to provide what they deserve." Fleming and Byrne also said they want to look thoroughly at the state budget proposal from Gov. Eric Holcomb to try to pay off as much debt as the state can. "What my concerns are for the whole budget would be if we go into a recession ... the reserves may be something that we have to be cautious on," Byrne said. Within the first day of her term as the newly elected Republican governor of Arkansas, former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders filed seven executive orders, including one banning the use of the word Latinx in official state documents. The executive order calls for the elimination of ethnically insensitive and pejorative language, such as Latinx. It is the policy of the Governors administration to prohibit the use of culturally insensitive words for official state government business, the executive order said. The term Latinx has been used as a gender-neutral and inclusive term to describe someone of Hispanic or Latino origin, but it has become the subject of controversy and debate within the community. According to Pew Research, about 1 in 4 Hispanic people have heard of the term Latinx but only 3% use it. Under Sanders order, state offices, departments and agencies will be required to replace Latinx with Hispanic, Latino or Latina in all documents within the next 60 days. The move reflects similar initiatives adopted by other elected officials, such as Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), who banned the use of the term Latinx in all his offices communications in December 2021. When Latino politicos use the term [Latinx] it is largely to appease white rich progressives who think that is the term we use. It is a vicious circle of confirmation bias, Gallego said in a tweet in December 2021. Six other executive orders were signed Monday by Sanders, who was a press secretary in the Donald Trump administration. One order prohibits public schools from teaching critical race theory, a theoretical framework of examining the way societys perception of race shapes structures and systems. Sanders, as well as Republicans in other states, have been vocal adversaries of the theory being taught in schools. Sanders was sworn in as governor on Monday, making her the first woman to hold that office in Arkansas. Her father was a previous governor of the state. Story continues She has been a loyal supporter of former president Donald Trump and has backed his controversial actions and beliefs. She served as White House press secretary from 2017 to 2019. Related... The U.S. Border Patrol says it apprehended 12 migrants of different nationalities after a yacht arrived on a Fort Lauderdale beach Tuesday night. Fort Lauderdale police said about 25 migrants came ashore when the boat appeared just a few yards off the beach in the 700 block of Seabreeze Boulevard just before 6 p.m. Its not clear if some of those people got away or the preliminary numbers were wrong, but the Border Patrol said in a statement released on Twitter Wednesday that it encountered nine people from Haiti, two from Brazil and one from the Bahamas when its agents arrived. Neither agency could be immediately reached for comment to address the discrepancy. Around two dozen migrants landed on a Fort Lauderdale beach Tuesday afternoon, according to police. READ MORE: Florida Keys migrant landings pick up again, along with a mystery: a boat with no people News about the landing was first reported by WSVN 7 News. None of the people who came in on the boat required medical attention, although Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue had a large presence in the area, including its dive team, Assistant Chief Timothy Heiser told the Herald. The police department ran most, if not all, of the show, Heiser said. Most recent migrant journeys have been to Keys South Florida is experiencing the largest influx in maritime migration, mostly from Cuba and Haiti, in nearly a decade. Most of the dangerous maritime journeys across the Florida Straits, however, end up in the Florida Keys, much farther to the south than the Fort Lauderdale landing. And, most of the boats on which the migrants have been arriving are homemade rustic boats creatively pieced together from everyday materials like highway barriers and welded fuel drums. The boat that arrived in Fort Lauderdale that was shown by Border Patrol in its statement appeared to be a small yacht, roughly 40 feet long. A yacht that U.S. Border Patrol says brought a dozen migrants to a Fort Lauderdale beach is docked at a marina Tuesday night, Jan. 10, 2022. The migrant situation in the Keys made international headlines over the New Years weekend when around 500 people from Cuba arrived on over two dozen boats in the remote Dry Tortugas National Park, located about 70 miles west of Key West. They set up camp at Fort Jefferson on Garden Key within the parks boundaries, overwhelming the small staff of rangers assigned there and prompting federal officials to make the unprecedented move of shutting down a federal park. Story continues While the migrants were stranded in the Tortugas, meanwhile, hundreds more Cubans came ashore up and down the Keys in mostly rustic, makeshift vessels, straining both Border Patrol agents and local law enforcement, whose officers had to sit with the new arrivals for hours before federal officials could arrive to process them. The U.S. Coast Guard removed all of the migrants from the Tortugas on Thursday, and the park reopened to the public on Sunday. But, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed an executive order activating the Florida National Guard and tasking state agencies like the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the Florida Highway Patrol and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement with patrolling the Keys and its surrounding ocean, Gulf and bay waters for incoming migrants. The state operation is being run by the Florida Department of Emergency Management, the agency said in a statement Tuesday with a release of details for the first time since Fridays announcement. National Guard, law-enforcement response According to the statement, the National Guard is sending 12 aircraft and 100 to 150 soldiers to coordinate efforts with the U.S. Coast Guard and FWC aviation teams. In addition National Guard soldiers will help FWC officers on the water, the statement says. Its not clear if the soldiers and FWC will now be tasked with actually preventing migrants from reaching land, which is a federal responsibility, or if they will simply act as additional eyes in the air and water for the Coast Guard, Customs and Border Protection and Border Patrol. The FWC has sent two larger patrol boats to assist the Coast Guard, Customs and Border Patrol around the Marquesas (about 20 miles west of Key West) and the Tortugas. The FWC are also sending 16 additional personnel to the Keys and set up base camps and command posts in the Middle Keys city of Marathon and Key West, FDEM said. FDLE assigned about 24 agents to the Keys, in addition to a mobile command bus, according to the statement. The additional personnel began arriving Sunday. In one migrant landing in Key Largo Sunday morning, the Miami Herald saw a group of six FHP troopers respond. To put that in perspective, on a normal day, there are often less than six troopers patrolling and enforcing traffic laws along the nearly 120 miles of U.S. 1. Debris from a storm is washed up on a beach in Aptos, Calif. (Mario Tama/Getty Images) BERKELEY, Calif. Over the past few weeks, California has gone from extreme drought to unrelenting flooding, experiencing a form of whiplash that its governor said is proof that the climate crisis is real." Gov. Gavin Newsom, who declared a state of emergency for the state last week in response to a succession of storms fueled by atmospheric rivers of moisture, connected the dots Tuesday between climate change and the storms that have so far been blamed in the deaths of at least 17 people and are expected to result in damages of close to $1 billion. Megadroughts. Wildfires. Historic floods and atmospheric rivers. This whiplash weather is not an anomaly. California is proof that the climate crisis is real and we have to take it seriously. pic.twitter.com/XWd35aWOOj Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) January 11, 2023 The sudden juxtaposition from the worst drought in state in 1,200 years to the third rainiest 15-day period on record, behind storms that befell California in 1862 and 1866, has left many Americans wondering how climate change can be blamed for both seemingly contradictory events. Peter Gleick, a climate scientist and the founder of the Pacific Institute in Oakland, Calif., told Yahoo News that while it will take time to assess how the current storms in the state have been influenced by climate change, the switch from one extreme to another is consistent with global warming. We dont know until weve looked at the data exactly how climate change is influencing these storms that are now hitting California, but we do know that all weather today is influenced by human-caused climate change," Gleick said. We have ideas for how the current events are being influenced by climate change. We understand the mechanisms, but its often weeks or even months afterward before we can look at the data and see exactly what happened. Story continues A blue heron stands at the banks of the Los Angeles River, Jan. 10. (Sarah Reingewirtz/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images) Using historical data, statistics, climate models and comparisons of atmospheric greenhouse-gas concentrations, climate scientists have already begun examining how climate change has affected the storms that have unloaded half of California's annual rainfall average in just 16 days. But Gleick stressed that the current body of scientific knowledge already points to certain conclusions about what California is now enduring. We know that temperatures are going up around the world and we know that a warmer atmosphere holds more water. We know that the Arctic is being severely disrupted by climate change and the ice is disappearing and that is influencing the jet stream and the pressure systems in the Pacific [Ocean], he said. All of those factors make storms more extreme. So when I say that Im confident that the current storms were seeing are influenced by climate change, its because Im confident that all weather today is influenced by climate change. Im not saying climate change is causing these storms, but it is certainly influencing them. Attributing individual weather events solely to climate change is usually too simplistic, according to most climate scientists, but climate change does make extreme precipitation events more likely. For instance, a study by an international team of scientists and published Wednesday in the journal Advances in Atmospheric Sciences found that ocean temperatures in 2022 were the hottest ever recorded. That fact, in turn, has resulted in a variety of consequences for the world's weather, including the super-charging of rains like the ones battering California. Cars sitting in floodwaters in Planada, Calif., on Wednesday (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) Warmer oceans mean there is more potential for bigger precipitation events, like weve seen this past year in Europe, Australia, and currently on the west coast of the U.S. Michael Mann, a climate scientist at the University of Pennsylvania and one of the studys authors, told the Guardian. In November, prior to the arrival of the heavy rains, UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain co-authored a study that found that, thanks to climate change, the chances of a mega-flood on a par with the one that struck California in 1862, killing thousands, had doubled. I guarantee you that most people in California are not thinking that one of the biggest risks of a warming climate is the risk of extreme flooding. But that is one of the things that I would highlight as the largest risks in California, Swain told Yahoo News for its series Finding Safe Haven in the Climate Change Future. While the current California storms are not as severe as in 1862, the excess moisture in the atmosphere due to rising global temperatures has increased the possibility that a catastrophic event of that magnitude will recur, even as the risk of extreme drought is also pushed higher due in part to faster rates of evaporation. Were now no longer able to avoid some of the consequences of climate change. Its here, its not hypothetical. Its our new day-to-day reality and its going to get worse, Gleick said. Jesse Warren poses for a portrait at the Jan. 10, 2023 City Council meeting. ASHEVILLE - Four school board candidates got a second chance at a seat on the Asheville Board of Education after being passed over in the November election, and following a round of interviews Jan. 10, Asheville City Council appointed Jesse Warren to the board. Warren is a retired U.S. Marine and Asheville City Schools MCJROTC instructor. He still regularly volunteers in the school system and said appointment or not, he would never stop being a part of the ACS community. Im always going to be out there, Warren said during his 2 p.m. interview with council. The appointment was made by council at the tail end of its Jan. 10 meeting. Going down the line, all City Council members, with the exception of Sage Turner, who was attending the meeting virtually, named their pick. Mayor Esther Manheimer, Vice Mayor Sandra Kilgore and council members Antanette Mosley, Sheneika Smith and Kim Roney nominated Jesse Warren. Council member Maggie Ullman nominated Pepi Acebo. With more than four votes, Warren was appointed. There was no discussion on this item during the regular meeting. After the appointment, Warren said he would describe himself as "enthusiastic." "I got a lot of work that needs to be done, and I'm going to put my boots on the ground and start," Warren said. Previous coverage:Resignation after anti-LGBTQ attacks leaves open ACS board seat. How will it be filled? More:Asheville's 1st elected school board: Ray wins night with Thornburg, Strimer, English-Kelly Jesse Warren, a school board candidate, interviews with Asheville City Council Jan. 10, 2023. In the Nov. 8 general election, Warren came in sixth out of eight candidates, with 7,787 votes or 11.93%, just behind Acebo, who was also interviewed during the Jan. 10 afternoon session. The top four vote getters made it onto the board as the city's first elected members. For City Council to be appointing a member just two months later was not expected, something Manheimer noted earlier that afternoon. "Council tried to get out of the business of appointing school board members with the passage of legislation this last year moving the school board to an elected school board," Manheimer said. But a sudden vacancy on the Asheville school board by someone previously appointed by council pushed the responsibility back into their lap. Story continues If no other appointed school board members resigns before their term is up, this may be the last time Asheville City Council has its say in appointing a board member. If an elected member resigns, the duty of appointment will fall to the school board, Manheimer said. More:Asheville's 1st trans school board member resigns following anti-LGBTQ attacks The vacancy was caused by former board member Peyton O'Conner's Dec. 5 resignation. O'Conner, who is a transgender woman, resigned after repeated anti-LGBTQ attacks from local pastor Ronald Gates, identifying himself as an ambassador of Alliance Defending Freedom. Gates misgendered her during board public comment and pushed homophobic and transphobic rhetoric. Warren will join the school board as its seventh member, alongside Amy Ray, Sarah Thornburg, Rebecca Strimer and Liza English-Kelly, all elected in November, and Chair George Sieburg and board member James Carter, both appointed members. Sieburg, Carter and Warren will remain on the board until 2024, when all members will be elected to staggered four-year terms, ACS spokesperson Dillon Huffman told the Citizen Times previously. Along with Acebo and Warren, City Council also interviewed William Young Jr. and Miri Massachi at its Jan. 10 session, the seventh and eighth vote-getters, respectively. More:'Slap in the face;' Asheville Reparations Commission balks at proposed timeline changes During his 15-minute public interview with council, which took place in open-session in council chambers at 2 p.m. and was also livestreamed, Warren told council members that his most unique quality was his leadership. Im always going to be out there," Warren said. I like being out there in the community." He emphasized the importance of one-on-one attention being given to students and said closing the achievement gap begins with supporting families. During the interview session, Mosley noted that Warren comes to council "highly recommended" with an endorsement from Asheville City Association of Educators, and in an email to council, they said Warren has been a member of the school community for decades, with an "inside perspective on our school district that would prove invaluable to the board." Like most of the candidates, Warren identified higher pay for educators and ACS staff, as well as the search for a new superintendent, to be among his top priorities. Sarah Honosky is the city government reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. News Tips? Email shonosky@citizentimes.com or message on Twitter at @slhonosky. This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Asheville City Council appoints Jesse Warren to school board GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) A former Michigan police officer who shot a Black motorist in the back of the head during a struggle over a Taser should not have to stand trial, the defendant's attorneys argued as they urged a judge to dismiss the case. Ex-Grand Rapids Officer Christopher Schurr is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Patrick Lyoya. On Monday, Schurr's attorneys filed a motion seeking to toss out a ruling that a jury trial should be held in the case, news outlets reported. Schurr's lawyers say in the filing that Schurr acted in self-defense and that Michigan law allows police officers to use deadly force to stop someone from fleeing and to make an arrest. The district court erred in its legal findings related to the raised defenses, and the governments evidence presented at the preliminary examination failed to provide disputed facts that would leave any question open for a jury to decide or support a finding that Officer Schurr committed a crime, according to the motion that news outlets obtained from Schurr's attorneys. A jury will decide whether Schurrs use of deadly force was necessary after a full and fair trial, District Judge Nicholas Ayoub ruled in October. The trial is scheduled to start March 13. Lyoya, 26, briefly ran from a traffic stop then grappled with Schurr across a front lawn before the white officer shot him at point-blank range last April. The final moment was recorded on video by a man who was a passenger in the car with Lyoya. Schurr repeatedly told Lyoya to take his hands off the officers Taser, according to video. The refugee from Congo was on the ground when he was killed. Schurr, an officer for seven years, was fired in June after being charged with murder. Attorneys for Lyoya's family filed a federal civil rights lawsuit last month against Schurr and the city of Grand Rapids. It seeks $100 million and accuses Schurr of using unnecessary, illegal and excessive force against Lyoya and showing gross negligence. It also alleges that the citys police use-of-force policies are misguided and are largely to blame for Lyoyas death. Grand Rapids, which has a population of about 200,000, is 160 miles (260 kilometers) west of Detroit. Lyoyas killing by an officer came after numerous others in recent years involving Black people, including George Floyd, whose death in Minneapolis sparked a national reckoning on race. An attorney for the family of one of the University of Idaho students who was slain in November said victims Kaylee Goncalves and Maddie Mogen didn't know the suspect, as investigators continue to search for a motive in the killings. The attorney for Goncalves' family said that, as far as he knew, she and Mogen, whom police said died in the same bed during the Nov. 13 stabbing attack, did not know suspect Bryan Kohberger. Kohberger, 28, faces four charges of first-degree murder in connection with their deaths and the deaths of two others, Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle. "I dont know of anybody that did know him," attorney Shanon Gray said on TODAY on Jan. 11. "All those girls were social. They were involved in the college. They were working hard, waitressing and doing different things. So the idea that he may have ran across their paths I dont think is uncommon." At the time of the slayings, Kohberger was a doctoral student studying criminal justice and criminology at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington. The university is about a 15-minute drive from the University of Idaho campus in Moscow. Investigators say campus police there identified Kohberger on Nov. 29 after midnight and connected him to a Hyundai Elantra seen near the crime scene. Students at Washington State are now questioning why police waited a month to arrest Kohberger, apparently letting him remain on campus until the December break. "We find out later that hes literally a student on campus whos walking around with us," Washington State student Anne Murphy told TODAY. "It felt like they were trying to keep it from us or something." "I will 100% stand behind the way that we handled this investigation," Moscow Police Chief James Fry said at a news conference on Dec. 30. Kohberger is set to appear in court again on Jan. 12. The public defender who represented the him in Pennsylvania, where he was held before being extradited to Idaho, told TODAY earlier this month that Kohberger believes he will be exonerated. Story continues The families of the victims continue to search for answers about a motive and remain in frequent contact with investigators. An 18-page affidavit released last week by the Moscow police shared details about one surviving roommate nearly coming face-to-face with a masked man on the night of the killings, and how DNA left on knife sheath found at the scene led investigators to Kohberger. There was no information regarding a motive. Todd McLean, a family friend and former gymnastics coach of Xana Kernodle, one of the four students killed, has struggled to come to terms with the crime. "I think it comes down to just basically, 'Why?'" he said on TODAY. "Theres no sense to it." This article was originally published on TODAY.com The King of Rock n Roll or rather the actor who played him is now a king of Hollywood, too. On Tuesday, Austin Butler received the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture for his portrayal of Elvis Presley in Baz Luhrmanns Elvis. The actor, a first-time nominee, dashed the hopes of those wanting Brendan Fraser to cement his Hollywood comeback with a win for The Whale. Oh, man, all my words are leaving me. I just am so grateful right now. Im in this room full of my heroes, Butler said, singling out his Once Upon a Time in Hollywood co-star Brad Pitt and director Quentin Tarantino. I owe this to a bold, visionary filmmaker who allowed me the experience to take risks, and I always knew I would be supported, he continued. Baz Luhrmann, I love you. Thank you for believing in me in those moments that I didnt even believe in myself. Im so grateful to you. I also want to thank my dance partner, the greatest dance partner I could have ever hoped for, Mr. Tom Hanks. Austin Butler accepts the #GoldenGlobes award for best actor in a drama movie for starring in #Elvispic.twitter.com/6AnACWAEgi The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) January 11, 2023 After thanking Presley himself, Butler didnt miss a beat when the pianist began began to play him off. You could at least play Suspicious Minds or something, he quipped, referring to Presleys 1969 hit. Until Tuesday, Fraser had been widely seen as the front-runner for the award. The actor has received some of the strongest reviews of his career for The Whale, in which he portrays a reclusive gay man living with obesity. As had been expected, however, Fraser was a no-show at the Golden Globes. In 2018, he accused Philip Berk, the former president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, of having groped him at a Beverly Hills luncheon about 15 years earlier. The HFPA is the organization behind the Golden Globes. Story continues Fraser alluded to that alleged history last November, when he said he would not be attending the Golden Globes even if he received a nomination. My mother didnt raise a hypocrite, he told GQ. You can call me a lot of things, but not that. Many on social media suggested that Frasers claims hurt his chances of winning. Brendan Fraser deserved, but we already know why he didn't get it. We'll see him at the Oscars. #GoldenGlobes Ernest Owens (@MrErnestOwens) January 11, 2023 Golden Globes being petty and pathetic because they knew Brendan Fraser would not be attending their awful award show evan romano (@EvanRomano) January 11, 2023 Look, Austin Butler was amazing in Elvis, but I can't help but question if the reason Brendan Fraser didn't get the Golden Globe is out of spite/revenge. Still love that to this day, he's stood his ground and refused to attend the ceremony tonight kari (@kari143) January 11, 2023 Still, The Whale has drawn some backlash, too. Some viewers have criticized the decision to cast Fraser, who wore a fat suit and prosthetics onscreen, instead of an actor with a larger body. Fraser, however, has argued that the film avoids fatphobic tropes by presenting Charlie as a well-rounded character instead of an antagonist or a punchline. Hes not the person who we so often dismiss. Hes a man who lives with obesity, but hes also a father and hes also a teacher, Fraser told The Hollywood Reporter last month. The empathy that I think we all felt shooting this movie and telling [screenwriter] Sam Hunters story is something thats intensely personal to all of us. Need help? Visit RAINNs National Sexual Assault Online Hotline or the National Sexual Violence Resource Centers website. Related... Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) is set to become the second prominent entrant into the Senate race to likely replace Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), two sources told The Hill. Lee told members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) on Wednesday that she intends to dive into the race, according to one source familiar with the discussions. A second source close to the CBC told The Hill that she is planning to launch a bid. After the CBC meeting, Lee said she did broach the issue of the Senate race with the group but did not go so far as to announce her intent to jump into the race. She said her top priority is addressing the floods in her district and across the state. I said theres a time and a place that Ill talk about this because Im planning but not now to talk about it, that Im concentrating on working with my district and with California on the devastating floods, and, with all respect to Sen. Feinstein, that theres a time and a place to talk about it because I respect her and her decisions, Lee said. That what I said. Lee said she has spoken directly with Feinstein but did not reveal the substance of the discussion. Theres a time and a place to talk about it, and youve got to respect Sen. Feinstein for her long service, Lee said. Well talk about it when the time is right. Politico first reported the news. California deserves a Senator with a record of accomplishment and a progressive vision, Lee said in a statement. While the United States Senate is sorely lacking the presence of people of color, Black women in particular, today I am focused on helping Californians stay safe in this extreme weather and fighting the House Republicans extreme agenda. The comments come a day after Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) made her campaign for the seat official. Lee would be the first from the Bay Area Oakland to announce their candidacy in the burgeoning battle to become Feinsteins successor. Porter is based in Orange County, and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who is also widely expected to launch a campaign, is based in Los Angeles. Story continues Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who is another potential entrant, is also Bay Area-based, as he represents parts of Silicon Valley, Santa Clara and San Jose. One area where Lee will have to up her game is fundraising. While Porter enters the race with more than $7 million in cash on hand, Lee has a paltry $55,000 in her campaign account. The maneuvers also come ahead of any official word from Feinstein, who has said that she will decide whether to seek a sixth term in the spring, though she is widely expected to retire at the end of her term. Notably, Feinstein had less than $10,000 in her campaign account as of the end of September, indicating that she could be on the verge of announcing her retirement. Feinstein, 89, said on Tuesday that she would make an announcement concerning my plans for 2024 at the appropriate time but added that everyone is of course welcome to throw their hat in the ring. She noted that her attention and focus were on the mass flooding that has ravaged parts of California in recent days. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., told fellow lawmakers on Wednesday she plans to run for U.S. Senate. (Jemal Countess/UPI/Shutterstock) A day after Rep. Katie Porter, D-Calif., announced that she is running for the U.S. Senate, her fellow California Democrat Rep. Barbara Lee reportedly told colleagues on Wednesday that she, too, will mount a campaign to represent the state in the upper chamber. According to multiple reports, Lee announced her intention to run during a lunch with members of the Congressional Black Caucus. There are currently no Black women serving in the U.S. Senate. Lee told reporters that it wasnt an official announcement and that she is very sensitive about broadcasting her plans ahead of a decision by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., a five-term incumbent who has not said whether she will seek reelection. Feinstein, 89, has served in the Senate since 1992. Her advanced age and reported memory lapses have led to speculation that she might retire at the end of her current term, if not before. Last year, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that colleagues were worried that she is unfit to serve, citing conversations during which they had to reintroduce themselves to her multiple times during a policy discussion that lasted several hours. Feinstein subsequently defended her job performance and said she had no plans to step down. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., speaks at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. (Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/Shutterstock) In a video announcing her candidacy, Porter, who turned 49 on Jan. 3, said, Its time for new leadership in the U.S. Senate. The progressive firebrand was recently elected to her third term in the House, representing a district that includes Orange County. Lee, 76, is now in her 12th term, serving as the U.S. representative for California's 12th Congressional District, which includes Alameda County. Other potential Democratic candidates who could challenge Lee and Porter for an open Senate seat in California include Reps. Adam Schiff and Ro Khanna, who said Tuesday that this was not a good time for him to announce a decision on his plans. Right now, California is facing severe storms and floods, and my district is facing historic weather conditions," Khanna said. "In the next few months, I will make a decision. Stg. Chris Neal announced the Bartlesville Police Department charged and arrested a 14-year-old male with terroristic threats on Tuesday. Bartlesville Police arrested and charged a 14-year-old male with a "terroristic hoax" late Tuesday afternoon. Police said they learned there was "credible and actionable evidence" during an investigation that began Friday after reports that a student had threatened violence at Central Middle School. Police took the juvenile into custody Tuesday afternoon. "The Bartlesville School resource officers and Criminal Investigation Division and the Bartlesville Public School system worked tirelessly together and were able to come up with this information," said Bartlesville Police Sgt. Chris Neal. Police said they believe he acted alone. "At this time, we believe this was just one individual involved in custody, so at this point, we do not believe there is anything to worry about," said Neal. Earlier in the day, BPD announced that they hadn't made any arrests or found any weapons at the school as rumors swirled on social media. A number of concerned parents pulled their children from the school because of rumors that the student in question had a hit list and might have had an accomplice. This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Update: Bartlesville police arrest 14-year-old for "terroristic hoax" [Source] During her Golden Globe Awards acceptance speech, Michelle Yeoh hushed a pianist attempting to encourage her exit. On Tuesday, the Malaysian actress accepted her Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for her role as the character of Evelyn Wang in A24s indie blockbuster, Everything Everywhere All at Once. At the start of her acceptance speech, Yeoh highlighted her fight against racism, sexism and ageism in Hollywood. I remember when I first came to Hollywood, it was a dream come true until I got here, the Golden Globes winner stated. Look at this face. I came here and was told I was a minority. More from NextShark: Rare Sailor Moon soundtrack unearthed after 26 years of being lost 'And then, someone said, You speak English... And I said, Yeah, the flight over here was about 13 hours long so I learnt. I turned 60 last year, the actress continued amidst the applause. I think all of you women understand this: as the days, the years and the numbers get bigger, it seems like opportunities start to get smaller as well. Then along came the best gift: Everything Everywhere All at Once, Yeoh began in an attempt to express her love of the film. More from NextShark: K-pop girl group Dreamcatcher shares VISION of the future with EP Apocalypse: Follow us At that moment, Yeoh was interrupted in the middle of her speech as a piano began to play in the background, seemingly urging her to exit the stage. However, Yeoh refused to step down, responding with a quick, Shut up, please, which prompted laughter from the audience. I can beat you up, the actress added with a laugh. More from NextShark: 11 of K-pop group Loona's 12 members test positive for COVID-19 Yeoh then continued her speech by thanking directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, who she described as having the courage to write about a very ordinary, immigrant, Asian, woman, mother, daughter. Yeoh also thanked her costars Jamie Lee Curtis, Ke Huy Quan and Stephanie Hsu and all the shoulders that Ive stood on, all who came before me, who looks like me and all who are going on this journey with me forward. Story continues Alongside Yeoh, Quan also won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor Motion Picture for his role as Waymond Wang. Everything Everywhere All at Once was nominated a total of six times at the 2023 Golden Globes. In addition to Yeoh and Quans wins, the films nominations included Best Motion Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress (Jamie Lee Curtis). Since 1944, the Golden Globe Awards have been presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association to recognize the excellence of English and international film. The awards have a total of 25 categories for both motion pictures and television. Related stories: The Ministry of Defense of Belarus has said that it has increased air defence forces together with the Russian military, with units moving to assigned areas. Source: Press service of the Ministry of Defence of Belarus Quote: "According to the plan of the Commander of the Air Force and Air Defence Forces of the Republic of Belarus, the air defence forces of the regional joint forces of Belarus and Russia have been ramped up." Details: The Defence Ministry reported that anti-aircraft and missile units had moved to their assigned areas and taken up combat duty. Background: British Defence Intelligence reported in a recent review that while Russia maintains a significant number of troops in Belarus, they are unlikely to constitute a credible offensive force, and the new deployment of Russian aircraft does not appear to be in preparation for any additional offensive operations against Ukraine. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! NEW YORK (AP) Two Belgium women, one who lost her legs and another whose sister died, were among several witnesses who gave dramatic and sometimes emotional testimony Tuesday at the trial of a man facing terrorism charges for killing eight people and seriously injuring a dozen others in an attack on a New York City bicycle path five years ago. The witnesses, some in tears, consumed most of the second day that evidence was presented in the trial of Sayfullo Saipov, 34, who could face the death penalty if he is convicted. On Halloween day in 2017, Saipov drove a rented truck into people riding bikes along the Hudson River on a stretch where pedestrians can snap postcard-perfect pictures of the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and the World Trade Center. Marion Van Reeth, of Belgium, told the jury she had no memory of being struck by the truck as it a zig-zagged over the path. She woke up in a hospital to learn her legs had been amputated and what was left of her right leg was paralyzed. It was a terrible shock of course," she said. I couldn't believe it was true. ... When I heard my boys and husband were fine, I was relieved they were OK." Her husband, Aristide Melissas, made several loud screeching sounds and a loud banging noise from the witness stand as he recounted the sound of what he thought was a car accident behind him as he rode his rental bike. I never thought it was a terrorist trying to kill us," he said. Melissas said he was knocked unconscious and awoke to find people talking to him as he sought information about his family. I started shaking tremendously. I had tremendous headaches. ... I felt I was fighting for my life," he said. At one point, he testified, he was in an ambulance when there was crying, so much crying." And then he dipped his head into his hands and cried, raising his head to wipe tears from his eyes. He said he eventually underwent brain surgery after suffering a skull fracture. Story continues Earlier in the day, Friedel Decadt, also from Belgium, testified she was bicycling with her mother and two sisters when Saipov's truck struck a sister. She said she screamed very loudly" when she found her sister's lifeless body. She just stared up into the air," Decadt said. Her sister, Justine Decadt, testified that it was supposed to be a fun trip, a girls' trip," until it turned deadly. When a prosecutor asked if she heard anything after the truck had done its damage, she dabbed tears from her eyes and cried quietly before saying: I heard Friedel scream." Carolea Goldfarb, a lawyer, testified she was on her bicycle when she saw Saipov's truck strike four cyclists who went up in the air" and came crashing down. She said the truck came within an inch of striking her. Afterward, she said she approached one of the bicyclists who was struck, an older gentleman" who asked her to call his wife overseas with his phone. But as she tried to do so, someone whispered to her: Don't make that call. His wife did not survive." The testimony from victims occurred a day after Saipovs lawyer, David Patton, told jurors bluntly that his client is a killer. Patton said Saipov murdered eight people because he believed it was his religious obligation and he expected to die in the attack. Instead, a police officer shot him, and he was arrested and held in a federal jail until trial. Questions put to witnesses by defense lawyers in the first two days of the trial seemed aimed at persuading the jury that giving Saipov the death penalty if he is convicted would be granting his wish to die a martyr. A prosecutor said the government might rest its case next week. COTONOU (Reuters) - An opposition party in Benin won enough votes in a legislative vote last week to join the two ruling parties in parliament, although they retained a firm majority, the electoral commission announced on Wednesday. Sunday's poll was viewed as a test of democracy as opposition parties that boycotted or were excluded from previous elections returned to the ballot. The two parties already in power - the Union Progressiste le Renouveau and the Bloc Republicain - came first and second with 37.56% and 29.17% of the vote respectively, the provisional results showed. The Democrates party linked to President Patrice Talon's predecessor and rival Thomas Boni Yayi came third with 24.02%. None of the remaining four parties competing for the 109 seats gathered enough votes to meet the 10% threshold for parliamentary representation. The results are an indicator of the balance of power as political forces prepare for the next presidential election in 2026 that will determine Talon's successor if he steps down as expected. Benin's image as a bastion of democracy and stability in West Africa has been dented under Talon, who went back on a pledge not to run for a second term and oversaw an opposition crackdown since coming to power in 2016. Talon has denied has denied targeting political opponents or violating human rights. Political protests have been met with deadly police violence, while politicised prosecutions and other legal tactics have been used to stifle the opposition, U.S. democracy watchdog Freedom House said in a 2022 report. Boni Yayi's supporters led demonstrations in 2019 after opposition parties were blocked from the legislative vote for failing to meet strict new election criteria. Voter turnout was a low 38.66% on Sunday, the electoral commission said, despite analysts predicting it would be higher as more parties were involved. Talon does not belong to any party but is supported by the Bloc Republicain and Union Progressiste le Renouveau. (Reporting by Pulcherie Adjoha; Writing by Sofia Christensen; Editing by Alison Williams) hapabapa / iStock.com On Jan. 10, jobs reviews site Glassdoor posted its Best Places to Work 2023, a list of the winners of its 15th annual Employees Choice Awards. Winners were chosen based on the input of employees who voluntarily shared anonymous feedback about their respective companies on Glassdoor in 2022. The Glassdoor Employees Choice Awards recognizes the best places to work according to Glassdoor reviewers across the U.S., Canada, UK, France and Germany. See: US & Puerto Rico Are the Worst Places To Face a Layoff Explore: 5 (Really Good) Reasons You Should Quit Your Job Despite Economy Find: New Job Seekers in 2023 May Have an Advantage With These 5 Soft Skills The top 10 best places to work according to a ratings system out of five are as follows: 10. In-N-Out Burger (4.6 rating out of 5) When stepping through California and other select locations in the Southwest, meat eaters are obligated to pay a visit to In-N-Out Burger. But they may not know that its not just a purveyor of great animal-style burgers, its also a fantastic place to work even for entry level workers, who reportedly receive $2 above the minimum wage along with an array of benefits. 9. ServiceNow (4.6 rating) ServiceNow is a software company based in Santa Clara, Calif. The company employs 21,871 people, according to LinkedIn, and supports a hybrid workplace. 8. Google (4.6 rating) The company that needs no introduction, Google (also known as Alphabet) employs over 10,000 people, according to Glassdoor. The tech mammoth is headquartered in Mountain View, Calif. 7. Boston Consulting Group (4.6 rating) Boston Consulting Group is a global consulting firm that partners with business leaders. It employees over 22,000 people in more than 50 countries and is, indeed, based in Boston, Mass. 6. MathWorks (4.6 rating) MathWorks is a developer of mathematical computing software for engineers and scientists. The company, based in Natick, Mass. employs over 4,500 people, with 30% of them located outside the U.S. Story continues 5. NVIDIA (4.6 rating) NVIDIA, the technology company known for designing and manufacturing graphics processing units (GPUs), is based in Santa Clara, Calif. According to Glassdoor, over 10,000 people work here. 4. McKinsey & Company (4.6 rating) Global management consulting firm McKinsey & Company advises businesses, institutions and governments. According to LinkedIn, 44,067 people work at the company, which uses a hybrid/flexible work model and has locations around the world. 3. Bain & Company (4.6 rating) Global management consulting firm Bain & Company advises leaders on everything from strategy and marketing to IT and M&A across all industries. The company is headquartered in Boston, Mass., and employs some 15,000 people around the world. 2. Box (4.6 rating) Box, Inc. develops internet applications software. It started back in 2005, and now works with 97,000 companies, with 68% of them being in the Fortune 500 club. The company employs 1,001 to 5,000 people, according to Glassdoor, and is headquartered in Redwood City, Calif. California Big Tech Salaries Revealed: State Law Exposes How Much These Jobs Really Pay Plan: Freelancers Will Be Better Able To Save for Retirement Under SECURE 2.0 Act 1. Gainsight (4.7 rating) Gainsight is a software company specializing in customer experience and product analytics. The company employs between 1,001 and 5,000 people, according to Crunchbase, and is based in San Francisco. Its held seven rounds of funding and has raised a total of $156.3 million. More From GOBankingRates This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: What Are the Best Places To Work in 2023 According to Job Review Site Glassdoor? WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Aides to U.S. President Joe Biden have discovered at least one more batch of classified documents in a location separate from a think tank office he used after serving as vice president, news outlets reported on Wednesday, citing unnamed sources. Biden aides have been searching for additional classified materials that might be in other locations since a set of classified documents was found in November at the Washington-based think tank, according to a report in NBC News, which first broke the news, and CNN. The NBC News report said the classification level, number and precise location of the additional documents was not immediately clear. It also said it was not clear when the additional documents were discovered and whether the search for any other classified materials Biden may have from his time as vice president is complete. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters. Senator Mark Warner, the Intelligence Committee's Democratic chairman, has asked for a briefing on the first Biden document discovery, he said Tuesday. A spokesperson for Senator Marco Rubio, the committee's Republican vice chair, said Rubio and Warner had written to Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, asking for access to the classified documents. The two senators also requested a damage assessment by the intelligence community and a briefing on the retention of classified documents by both Biden, a Democrat, and Republican former President Donald Trump. The request echoed a similar one sent to Haines on Tuesday by Republican Representative Mike Turner of the House of Representatives Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. The reports come two days after a White House lawyer said classified documents from Biden's vice presidential days had been discovered in November by the president's personal attorneys at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement think tank. Story continues Biden's attorneys discovered fewer than a dozen classified records inside the office at center, and informed the U.S. National Archives of their discovery, turned over the materials, and said they were cooperating with the Archives and the Justice Department. The president said on Tuesday he and his team were cooperating fully with a review into what happened. The Justice Department is separately probing Trump's handling of highly sensitive classified documents that he retained at his Florida resort after leaving the White House in January 2021. Trump kept thousands of government records, a few hundred of which were marked as classified, inside his personal residence in Florida for over a year after departing the White House, and did not return them immediately or willingly despite numerous requests by the National Archives. When he finally handed over 15 boxes of records in January 2022, the Archives discovered more than 100 were marked as classified. It referred the matter to the Justice Department in the spring. FBI agents carried out a court-approved search on Aug. 8 of Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate. About 100 documents marked as classified were among thousands of records seized. (Reporting by Kanishka Singh, Patricia Zengerle and Steve Holland in Washington; Editing by Tim Ahmann, Heather Timmons and Jonathan Oatis) By David Brunnstrom and Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida are expected to discuss joint security issues as well as the global economy in summit talks on Friday, a senior administration official told Reuters. The talks between the close allies are likely to include control of semiconductor exports to their strategic rival China after the United States announced strict curbs last year, the official said. Washington is working closely with Japan on the issue and believes they share a similar vision even if their legal structures are different, the official said, adding that the more countries and significant players that backed the controls the more effective they would be. "There will be discussion about technology and about the importance of both preserving our own advantages and making sure that we are applying appropriate controls and safeguards to do that," the official said. Kishida has said he backs Biden's attempt to limit China's access to advanced semiconductors with export restrictions. Still, he has not agreed to match sweeping curbs on exports of chip-manufacturing equipment that the U.S. administration imposed in October. Asked if the two sides saw eye to eye on the issue, the U.S. official said: "We're working very effectively with them. I think there's a very, very similar vision of the challenges. Obviously, you have different systems, different legal structures, so it's hard to say that it will be exactly the same, but I don't think the Japanese question the basic premise that we need to be working closely together on this." The official said threats from North Korea, China's military buildup and Russia's invasion of Ukraine had prompted Japan to take a more enhanced security role, referring to sweeping Japanese defense reforms announced last month. "What's really remarkable is that 10 years ago this would have been pretty much unimaginable," he said. Story continues The official, who spoke ahead of a meeting of U.S. foreign and defense ministers on Wednesday, also said Article 5 of the U.S.-Japan security treaty will be expanded to cover space. "Essentially what we are saying is we will be announcing that our security guarantees apply in space as well," he said. On Japan's neighbor North Korea, the official said the nuclear-armed country's decision to exponentially increase its nuclear force, codify their right to first strike and harsh rhetoric had "clearly changed the strategic reality" and made the prospect of a North Korean nuclear test now "much more destabilizing." He said the U.S. view remained the same, that a test, which would be the first since 2017, could come at any time. The official said the United States had concerns about enforcement of sanctions against North Korea by Russia and China and that Washington would like to see stronger enforcement. "The reality is the North Koreans are choosing to prioritize their missile program over a lot of other things," he said. (Reporting by David Brunnstrom, Steve Holland and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and David Gregorio) President Biden accompanied first lady Jill Biden on Wednesday to Walter Reed National Medical Center for her outpatient procedure to remove a skin lesion. The first lady was scheduled to undergo Mohs surgery to remove a small lesion above her right eye after doctors recommended it be excised out of an abundance of caution following a skin cancer screening. The two arrived at Walter Reed shortly before 8 a.m. for the procedure. During Mohs surgery, surgeons cut away thin layers of skin, examining each for signs of cancer, until no signs are found. Most people can go home after surgery and dont need to stay in a hospital, the Mayo Clinic says of the procedure. The president also previously had non-melanoma skin cancers removed before taking office. The Bidens made the short trip to Walter Reed just hours after arriving back in Washington, D.C., following a two-day summit in Mexico City. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. President Biden on Tuesday responded for the first time to CBS News' reporting that documents marked classified were found at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement in Washington, D.C., saying he was "surprised" to learn there were any government documents at the office, which was opened after he served as vice president. "People know I take classified documents, classified information seriously," Mr. Biden said during a press conference at the North American Leaders' Summit in Mexico City, Mexico. "When my lawyers were clearing out my office at the University of Pennsylvania, they set up an office for me when I the four years after being vice president, I was a professor at Penn. They found some documents in a box, in a locked cabinet, at least a closet. And as soon as they did, they realized there were several classified documents in that box." "And they did what they should have done," the president continued. "They immediately called the Archivesimmediately called the Archives, turned them over to the Archives, and I was briefed about this discovery and surprised to learn that there were any government records that were taken there to that office." The president also said he's unaware of the contents of the documents. "But I don't know what's in the documents, I'vemy lawyers have not suggested I ask what documents they were. I've turned over the boxes, they've turned over the boxes to the Archives, and we're cooperating fully, we're cooperating fully with the review, which I hope will be finished soon. And there will be more detail at that time." As CBS News reported Monday, Attorney General Merrick Garland has assigned the U.S. attorney in Chicago to review the documents, according to two sources with knowledge of the inquiry. The roughly 10 documents are from President Biden's vice-presidential office at the center, the sources said, and CBS News has learned the FBI is also involved in the U.S. attorney's inquiry. CBS News has learned those documents were marked with varying levels of classification including some that were designated highly classified. Story continues The story broke while the president was abroad for the annual summit with his Mexican and Canadian counterparts. Personal attorneys for the president identified the material on Nov. 2, days before the midterm elections, Richard Sauber, special counsel to the president confirmed. Sauber said that on the same day the material was discovered, Nov. 2, the White House counsel's office notified the National Archives, which took possession of the materials the following morning. Biden docs revelation fuels Republicans as they flex new power The Republican-led House Committee on Oversight and Accountability has launched an investigation into the documents marked classified that were found at the private office once used by Mr. Biden. 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 has asked the White House to turn over all records and communications related to the material marked as classified in Mr. Biden's personal office, including the classified documents themselves, by Jan. 24. 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?" CBS News' Arden Farhi, Adriana Diaz, Andy Triay and Kathryn Watson contributed to this report What the latest Federal Reserve interest rate hike means for the U.S. economy Man accused of torturing an Oregon woman dies after standoff with police Funeral for Tyre Nichols to be held in Memphis today President Joe Biden said Tuesday that he was "surprised" to learn government documents were found at his former Washington, D.C. office space. Speaking at a news conference in Mexico, the president said his attorneys "did what they should have done" in turning over the "small number" of documents that were found in a locked closet in November at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement. "They immediately called the (National) Archives, turned them over to the Archives, and I was briefed about this discovery and surprised to learn that there were any government records that were taken there to that office," Biden said during his visit with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. "I don't know what's in the documents, my lawyers have not suggested that I ask what documents they were," added Biden. "I've turned over the boxes, they've turned over the boxes to the archives." "We've cooperated fully with the review, which I hope will be finished soon." The documents were returned to the National Archives the day after they were found, according to White House counsel Richard Sauber. RELATED: Biden's Team Returns 'Small Number' of Classified, Obama-Era Documents Found in Former D.C. Office US President Joe Biden speaks during a Hanukkah Holiday Reception in the Grand Foyer of the White House Samuel Corum/UPI/Shutterstock Joe Biden CBS News was first to report on the documents, which are now being reviewed by a U.S. attorney in Chicago at the direction of Attorney General Merrick Garland. The attorney general may appoint a special counsel to further handle the matter, The New York Times reported. 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. While the documents did not contain nuclear secrets like those found at former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago property in Florida, they did include briefing materials about foreign countries during Biden's tenure as vice president, sources told The Times. joe biden Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images President Joe Biden Story continues RELATED: Donald Trump Had 'More than 300' Classified Documents at Mar-a-Lago: Report Unlike the Mar-a-Lago documents, the newly discovered items also had not previously been the subject of any inquiries by the National Archives, according to Sauber. On Tuesday, Rep. James Comer, the new chair of the House Oversight Committee, told CNN he would be sending a letter to the Archives within the next 48 hours regarding the matter. "President Biden has been very critical of President Trump mistakenly taking classified documents to the residence or wherever and now it seems he may have done the same," Comer said. "How ironic." The Associated Press reported that the letter requests copies of the documents, as well as any communications about the discovery and a list of those who could have had access to the think tank office where they were found. The outside of 101 Constitution Ave. NW, where President Joe Biden's lawyers found classified documents inside a locked closet. Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP The closet where Biden's lawyers found classified documents was inside of a shared "general suite." Who had access to the closet and how the sensitive documents wound up there remains unknown. Experts gave Biden credit for letting National Archives know and promptly returning the documents. In September, President Joe Biden was asked about a photograph of more than 100 classified documents discovered by the FBI near Donald Trump's residence in a storage room at Mar-a-Lago. Biden said he was shocked. He wondered "how that could possibly happen, how anyone could be that irresponsible." Less than eight weeks later, Biden's lawyers informed him that he had his own problem with classified papers turning up in a place where they were not supposed to be inside a locked closet in an office at 101 Constitution Ave. NW, a short walk from the White House. The documents had apparently been sitting there for years, inside the offices of the Penn Biden Center, a nonprofit think tank that Biden established with the University of Pennsylvania after leaving the vice presidency. Among several boxes of papers were reportedly 10 classified documents, which included briefing materials about Ukraine, Iran, and the United Kingdom, along with unclassified documents that Biden was also supposed to have turned over to the National Archives and Records Administration. There were also personal Biden family documents in the closet, including arrangements for the funeral of Biden's son Beau, who died of cancer in 2015. A second batch of classified documents was discovered by aides at a separate location Biden had used, NBC News reported on Wednesday. The White House has said that the Penn Biden Center documents were discovered by chance, in the process of vacating the office, and that they notified the National Archives of the lapse immediately. Archives referred the matter to the Justice Department. Attorney General Merrick Garland reportedly asked the lead federal prosecutor in the Northern District of Illinois for a preliminary review, and must now decide whether and how to proceed. Intentionally storing classified material at an unauthorized location is a crime; Biden said he was "surprised" to learn there had been classified records at his private office. Story continues The Justice Department's deliberations over 101 Constitution will run parallel with its criminal investigation of Trump's own classified fiasco at Mar-a-Lago, complicating efforts by Democrats to paint the mishandling of classified material in starkly moralistic terms. Politics aside, the Biden documents should matter for the same reasons as Trump's, although the details of the documents and their sensitivity are not yet fully known. Both cases will test Garland's zealous focus on "equal justice under law," whether the same rules actually apply to everyone. "It's important," retired Gen. Michael Hayden, who led the N.S.A. and then the C.I.A. under President George W. Bush, told Insider via email. He expressed concern about the two-month delay between Biden's lawyers discovering the documents and the White House's public announcement. "But that said," he went on, "they're doing all the right things now." Of course, as many have noted, there are significant differences between 101 Constitution and Mar-a-Lago. Trump repeatedly (and foolishly) tried to stonewall Archives and the FBI, which then discovered additional records in the August search; Biden's lawyers say they are cooperating. Glenn Gerstell, the N.S.A.'s former general counsel, noted two other differences to Insider: Trump appears to have stashed away a greater volume of documents, and the room in which he stored them appears to have been less secure. And let's not forget that Trump's successful 2016 presidential bid was premised in part on the claim that his opponent had been unforgivably and criminally negligent in the handling of classified material. But the biggest difference is how much we know about Mar-a-Lago, thanks to months of litigation, compared to how little we know about 101 Constitution. The narrative outlined above documents discovered by chance months ago, in a locked closet, to Biden's surprise, with immediate notification to Archives comes to us exclusively from Biden's own attorneys and the White House. This is the same team that decided to withhold news of the discovery from the public for two months, a period that included the midterm elections and the naming of a special counsel for the Trump investigations. While they deserve credit for notifying Archives, the story they've constructed around the documents is, as one would expect, a very favorable one to Biden. It needs to be checked out. For starters, why did Biden keep a trove of secret documents and personal mementos locked in a closet, inside of an office that he appears not to have used for at least two years? "He has not worked at Penn for several years, although the physical space is still there," said Ron Ozio, director of media relations for the University of Pennsylvania, by email. Ozio confirmed that the Penn Biden Center shared a "general suite" with another Penn entity that uses the same address. The Penn Biden Center also hosted regular "happy hour networking" events. These details complicate what Biden said yesterday, when he called the center "my office at the University of Pennsylvania a secure office," which could be read as implying that the entire suite was for the exclusive use of Biden and his staff. And the fact that the move-out was being conducted by Biden's personal lawyers makes it harder to believe that no one had any inkling of the possibility that classified materials might turn up. There are also many unanswered questions: Who had access to the closet? Who took the documents to 101 Constitution and under what circumstances? What secrets do these documents reveal and how damaging could they be? Given that the Justice Department is still weighing how to handle the matter, some reticence around these questions is understandable. But if Biden is going to call Trump "irresponsible," responsibility demands that he eventually produce some public answers. "Politicians can make mistakes," Joel Brenner, the former inspector general of the NSA, told Insider via email. "Few of them are brought up, as intelligence professionals are, to respect the rules whether or not the rules are convenient or even stupid, as sometimes they are. If you have access to classified information, you can't just take it anywhere; you must keep it in an authorized safe. That said, people make mistakes. A classified document can get caught up in a pile of ordinary stuff. That has happened to me. Maybe it happened to Biden." Read the original article on Business Insider Police in California conducted more searches of black teens than searches of white teens in 2021. This was implemented upon vehicle, and pedestrian stops that year, as detailed in a recent state report. As attention has been drawn to police brutality and racial injustice across the country, California has taken several steps to address these issues, including establishing a Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board and requiring it to produce an annual report. This law went into effect in 2018. Officer traffic and pedestrian stops made by 58 police departments in 2021 are detailed in the boards report. This information includes officers perceptions of the race, ethnicity, gender and disability status of people they stop to help the state better recognize and assess prejudices in policing. The 58 agencies stopped more than 3.1 million cars and pedestrians in 2021, which includes the 23 largest departments in the state. Each of Californias police departments must turn in their statistics by April. Even if it differs from how the person identifies, the data includes how officers perceive a persons race or gender because discrimination is motivated by the officers perception. To change policies and attempt to lessen racial disparities and bias in policing, the boards work notifies agencies, the states police office training board and state legislators. According to the report, more than 42% of the 3.1 million stops made by those agencies in 2021 involved a person who was initially thought to be Hispanic or Latino. The majority (over 30%) were assumed to be white, while the minority (15%) were assumed to be Black. Census projections for 2021 indicate that while whites made up roughly 35% of Californians, Blacks and other people of African descent made up only 6.5% of the state. In that year, roughly 40% of the residents of the state identified as Hispanic or Latino. The data show that racial and identity disparities persist year after year. The Board remains committed to analyzing and highlighting these disparities to compel evidence-driven strategies for reforming policing and eliminating racial and identity profiling in California, the report read. Story continues At a higher rate than any other combination of perceived race or ethnicity and age group, police handcuffed, searched, or detained people they believed to be Black youths between the ages of 15 and 17 during stops either in a patrol car or curbside. Furthermore, the report found that law enforcement searched people who were perceived to be Black at a rate 2.2 times higher than the rate at which they searched people who were perceived to be white. The likelihood that police would use force on someone they assumed was Black was significantly higher than that of someone they perceived as white. Furthermore, the report showed that more often than with other racial or ethnic groups, law enforcement officials reported taking no action following stops of people they believed to be Black, suggesting that those stopped Black individuals were not involved in criminal behavior. The number of stops analyzed by this report is 246,000, higher than the number of stops analyzed by the 2020 report because it includes data from 40 more agencies. Thirteen data collectors decreased their 2021 visit count compared to the 18 that took part in both years. The report suggested that the COVID-19 pandemic may have played a role in those numbers. Earlier board reports had also shown that law enforcement engaged in racial and identity profiling during traffic stops, and these findings from 2021 were consistent with those reports. The informant detailed an outlandish allegation that the Taylors were involved in a drug and sex trafficking operation in a stash house where Drexel was present, and no evidence was presented to back it up. Milan Markovic/Getty Images A false jailhouse tip about a Black father and son in South Carolina ruined their lives for years. For 13 years, Shaun and Timothy Taylor were wrongly tied to the 2009 murder of Brittannee Drexel. The FBI trusted a phony jailhouse tip for years and in 2022, the real killer was sentenced. For 13 years, a false accusation about a gruesome rape and murder in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, haunted a Black family and destroyed the fabric of their daily lives. A deeply-reported piece by local journalist Isaac Bailey in The Charlotte Observer details the years after Shaun Taylor, 55, and his son Timothy Taylor, 26, were falsely accused of the 2009 murder of a white, 17-year-old girl, Brittanee Drexel, who was killed while on a spring break trip. Shaun Taylor, a McClellanville, South Carolina, native was never formally charged with the murder. But a year after Drexel's disappearance, frenzied media and true crime enthusiasts publicized links between Drexel's case and an unrelated kidnapping charge against Shaun Taylor, which was eventually dismissed. His name remained associated with the crime, however. And in 2016, a jailhouse informant fed the FBI a phony tip, which led them to publically name father Shaun Taylor and his son Timothy Taylor in the Drexel case further plunging the Taylor family into years of turmoil and outside harassment. How the misinformation spread The informant detailed an outlandish allegation that the Taylors were involved in a drug and sex trafficking operation in a stash house where Drexel was present, and no evidence was presented to back it up, according to The Observer reporter. "The jailhouse informant told the FBI he was at the stash house to conduct a drug deal with Shaun Taylor," Bailey wrote. "He saw Drexel run out of the house, get caught, and pistol-whipped, he told the FBI. As he was leaving, he heard gunshots, assumed Drexel had been killed, possibly by Shaun Taylor, then saw what he believed was Drexel's body wrapped in a carpet he believed was taken to an alligator pit, the informant claimed." Story continues According to ABC4 News, at a June 2016 press conference, the FBI Special Agent in Charge in South Carolina said that they were following a lead in McClellanville regarding Drexel. "We believe she traveled to this area around McClellanville, the North Charleston, south Georgetown area, and we believe that she was killed after that," the agent said in the press conference, per The Observer. Media that obtained the Taylors' names mentioned by investigators during a detention hearing helped publicize the allegation, according to The Observer. The FBI declined to comment on the matter to Insider. The South Carolina office pointed Insider to a May 2022 statement that the FBI "followed multiple leads to wherever they led us, based on the information we had at the time. We have an obligation to follow leads to their conclusion." The generational effects The family slipped below the poverty line in the years that followed. Joan Taylor, Timothy Taylor's mother and Shaun Taylor's wife, was fired from her job months after the accusation became public. Without the income to address a black mold growth in their home, her asthma and lungs worsened. Shaun Taylor's towing company was unable to secure work in his hometown or in neighboring towns. "Money for us was real scarce," Joan Taylor told The Observer. The whole family suffered, with Timothy's sister Shaunleese saying she was hounded on social media. "It really does take a toll on you. It really plays with your mind," Shaunleese Taylor told The Observer, adding that she once overheard colleagues at her job joke about "the Black guy who fed that white girl to alligators." Shaun Taylor contemplated confessing simply to end the intense scrutiny his family had been under for no reason. "If I admit to it, they'll leave my kids alone," Shaun Taylor said to his lawyer in 2016, according to The Observer. "Shaun Taylor's is an extreme illustration of the devil's bargain Black people often face," Bailey wrote, "as we grapple with how best to protect ourselves against systemic problems: blame ourselves because it's the only way to mitigate the damage and claim some semblance of control, or stand firm knowing such defiance or resilience can produce a different kind of damage." The truth comes out By May 2022, Raymond Moody confessed to law enforcement that he invited Drexel into his van near Myrtle Beach to procure weed, where he raped and killed her, later burying her body. In October 2022, Moody was sentenced to life in prison, and called himself a "monster." Afterward, the Drexel and Taylor family had a bittersweet reconciliation, according to The Observer. "For 13 years, others were blamed for your actions, and for that I am sorry for all they have endured," Drexel mother Dawn Pleckan, said during the sentencing hearing, addressing Moody. The Drexel family has also sued Moody in a civil suit, for intentional infliction of emotional distress. Timothy Taylor told The Observer he no longer travels alone because of how he and his father had been cast by the FBI in the last six years, and the enduring stigma he feels from strangers. "You know the movie '12 Years A Slave?'" Shaun Taylor told the Observer. "Living under that stuff, it felt like 13 years a slave." Read the original article on Insider This entrepreneur is keeping diversity in mind as she builds her platform. Physician Ami Kumordzie developed a fintech platform with no experience and a mission to connect consumers with IRS-compliant merchants, urging people to invest in improving their health. According to Forbes, after the Sika Health CEO observed the flaws within the healthcare system while studying at Stanford University School of Medicine, she decided not to go into residency and got her M.B.A. instead. My first job was as a management consultant working for healthcare clients at BCG, she said adding that the analytical position helped her identify the gap in the market. Kumordzie was inspired to launch Sika Health after her mother was laid off from her hotel job during the pandemic. Even though I have worked in healthcare my entire career, I had to scramble and practically become a tax expert to figure out how she [my mother] could spend these funds before she would lose them, she said. About 70 million Americans are enrolled in FSA or HSA accounts, contributing about $150 billion a year, Kumordzie said, noting the major loss consumers experience from forfeiting their FSA benefits. Thats a real tragedy because it is money people could have invested in improving their health, Kumordzie said. We need more ways to save and tools that help stretch our dollars, she said. [Using FSA and HSA dollars] effectively means that youre buying healthcare at 30% off expenses. Kumordzie raised $6.2 million in the early stages of funding. The goal was to raise $500,000, she said. Within weeks, I surpassed my goal and raised $1.2 million. Kumordzie reached $5 million later during a seed funding round led by Forerunner Ventures representative Brian OMalley. Having a brand like Forerunner as one of our backers makes a big difference when youre trying to hire, Kumordzie said. It makes a big difference when youre having a hiring conversation and trying to convince someone to leave their high-paying stable job to take a risk on an early-stage business. Story continues Kumordzie credits her non-traditional background to the success of drawing venture capitalists. The fintech founder wanted to be able to hire great tech professionals and eventually, Sika Health was able to hire the founding engineer of the payments team at Etsy. Sika is on a mission to ensure customers can access and spend their HSA/FSA funds on items they want, when they want, hassle-free, the website wrote. Jan. 10OLYMPIA Washington needs bold and inclusive leadership and action this session to address housing, behavioral health and education crises across the state, Gov. Jay Inslee said. Inslee on Tuesday delivered his first in-person State of the State address since 2020 to members of House of Representatives and Senate, all statewide elected officials, the state Supreme Court and a number of guests. After three years of remote work, the packed chamber was "a glorious site" to Lt. Gov. Denny Heck, who presided over the joint session. Since his last in-person State of the State, Inslee said Washington has emerged from two threats: to personal health and to democracy itself. "So, now, it is our blessed opportunity to fully exercise the power of democracy, not with half measures, empty gestures or platitudes, but with the boldness and ambition that is fitting to the unlimited capacity of our Evergreen State," Inslee said. Along with housing and behavioral health, Inslee touched on the importance of addressing climate change, gun safety and abortion access this session. He also noted several accomplishments from the past two years, including funding new supportive housing programs, passing climate policies that seek to lower carbon emissions from fuel and other polluters, implementing a tax credit for working families, and expanding broadband access. Following Inslee's speech, Republicans criticized the governor for a personal agenda that they said has failed for 10 years on critical issues, such as affordability, public safety and housing. "You can draw a straight line from the policies of the Legislature and the governor to many of the problems we face today," Rep. Peter Abbarno, R-Centralia, said in the Republican response to Inslee's speech. In December, Inslee released a $70 billion budget proposal, which invested heavily in homelessness and behavioral health services across Washington. The proposal will give legislators a guide for how to budget the state's revenue for the next two years. Story continues One new ask: sending a referendum to voters to increase the state's debt limit by $4 billion, which would be invested in new housing and behavioral health services. In his speech, Inslee said the referendum will "fast-forward our ability to build" at the scale and speed the state needs. Until the state fixes its housing crisis, thousands of people will remain homeless, Inslee said. "The people are with us on this," Inslee said. "Let's go big. Let's get this done." Republicans have mixed feelings about the governor's proposed referendum. House Minority Leader J.T. Wilcox, R-Yelm, said he is interested in hearing more about it, but he doesn't know whether he or others in his caucus will support it. Senate Minority Leader John Braun, R-Centralia, said he doesn't think the proposal will work to fix the problem of building enough housing quickly, but said he wants to remain open-minded to all housing solutions. "Just based on math, the proposal doesn't work," he said. One housing proposal that already has bipartisan support in the House would make it legal to build fourplexes on any residential lot in cities of 6,000 or more. On behavioral health, Inslee said the state needs to continue to build beds. His proposed budget contains funding for a new 350-bed forensic hospital at Western State Hospital. He called on the Legislature to prioritize diversion and community-based treatment rather than the criminal justice system for people who need mental health care. The criminal justice system is not an effective way to get people the treatment they need, he said Tuesday. Another top priority for lawmakers on both sides of the aisle this year is public safety. Inslee noted his commitment to lowering gun violence and improving mental health to help address it. Inslee has aid he supports banning assault-style weapons and requiring permits for people who want to purchase a firearm. "We owe our children the assurance we're doing all we can to keep them safe," Inslee said. In his speech, Inslee also called on legislators to increase investments in nurses, counselors, psychologists and social workers, as well as funding for special education. There were a number of proposals on which Republicans said they will work with Inslee and Democrats to get through this year, such as creating more law enforcement training centers, increasing funding for education, supporting the 9-8-8 crisis line for behavioral health emergencies and finding a solution to the state's drug policy. But there were a number of other issues that don't have their support. Inslee talked about the importance of protecting the right to an abortion in Washington through a constitutional amendment, which received a standing ovation from Democrats and no applause from Republicans. A constitutional amendment would require approval from two-thirds of both the Senate and the House, which would require some support from Republicans. Braun said he doesn't know if there are the votes to pass it in his caucus, but that he doesn't see a need for a constitutional amendment, given that voters approved legalizing abortion in Washington in 1970. "The people have spoken, and we're going to respect the will of the people," Braun said. Laurel Demkovich's reporting for The Spokesman-Review is funded in part by Report for America and by members of the Spokane community. This story can be republished by other organizations for free under a Creative Commons license. For more information on this, please contact our newspaper's managing editor. By Anthony Boadle and Ricardo Brito BRASILIA (Reuters) - The leader of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro's political party said on Wednesday that any member identified in videos taking part in the ransacking of government buildings on Sunday would be immediately expelled from the party. Valdemar Costa Neto, president of the right-wing Liberal Party, said his party, the largest in Brazil's Congress, condemned the rampage on Sunday in which Bolsonaro supporters vandalized the Supreme Court, Congress and presidential palace. "If members of the party are seen on videos smashing up those government buildings, we will expel them right away," he said in an interview, adding that the vandalism was caused by an extremist minority that did not represent his party. Bolsonaro, an anti-establishment populist who joined the party to have a electoral vehicle for last year's election, has yet to concede defeat to leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. He has not publicly condemned supporters who protested his loss and called for a military coup to restore him to power. Costa Neto's party has sought to distance itself from the violence as it seeks to lead the opposition to Lula. The party became the largest in both chambers of Congress thanks to Bolsonaro's popularity, though the far-right leader himself narrowly lost his bid for re-election. Lula's 11-day-old government braced on Wednesday for fresh demonstrations to "retake power" called by Bolsonaro supporters. Bolsonaro, who left Brazil for Florida 48 hours before his term ended, said on social media that he would return to Brazil earlier than planned for medical reasons. Costa Neto told Reuters he hopes Bolsonaro will return to Brazil soon to lead Brazil's political right into local elections in 2024 and become its presidential candidate in 2026. Party officials said Bolsonaro's absence from the country was squandering the political capital that he gained in the election, in which 58 million Brazilians voted for him. Story continues While the PL party has recognized the election result, Bolsonaro has suggested without any evidence that the election was stolen by manipulating Brazil's electronic voting system. Costa Neto said Bolsonaro's charisma will help the party grow further in municipal elections next year when he expects the PL to increase the number of affiliated mayors from 352 at present to at least 1,500. "All he needs to do is appear and he draws crowds," said Costa Neto, whose party is flush with 1.2 billion reais ($232 million) from a public election fund, based on the number of seats it won in the lower chamber of Congress. Bolsonaro, whose nationalist populism sharply polarized Brazil's electorate during his four-year term, has been named honorary president of the PL. He and his wife Michelle Bolsonaro will have offices at party headquarters with paid salaries. (Reporting by Anthony Boadle and Ricardo Brito; Editing by Brad Haynes and Deepa Babington) SAN DIEGO (AP) Matt Bradley had 17 points and 10 rebounds and Lamont Butler added 15 points for No. 23 San Diego State, which beat Nevada 74-65 Tuesday night to take sole possession of first place in the Mountain West Conference. We've got to hold onto it, Bradley said. We have a big target on our back now. The Aztecs (13-3, 4-0 MWC) dominated on both ends of Steve Fisher Court in a showdown between the last two undefeated teams in the conference to extend their winning streak to six games. Keshad Johnson added 11 points for SDSU, which has beaten Nevada nine straight times. Nick Davidson had 17, Kenan Blackshear 12 and Jarod Lucas 11 or Nevada (14-4, 4-1), whose six-game winning streak was snapped. SDSU led 65-43 with 9:10 left before Nevada began pressing in the closing minutes, forcing the Aztecs into turnovers and bad shots and allowing the close to single digits. SDSU didn't make a field goal in the final 5:09. That was a great performance, coach Brian Dutcher said. I thanked them after the game for the last three minutes. I said if theyd have played 40 minutes like they did the whole game, then they wouldnt need any coaching. I thanked them because now I get to coach them a little bit again. Well work on the press offense. We have to become better playmakers when we get the ball with space that we have and know what were doing, and we will," Dutcher said. "Im not overly concerned with it. The rest of the game was magnificent. The first half was probably as good as we played all year. The Aztecs marked their return to The AP Top 25 by dominating from the opening minute. Keshad Johnson had a steal and scored on an alley-oop slam dunk on a pass from Lamont Butler. Johnson and Butler hit consecutive 3-pointers to give the Aztecs a 10-0 lead and force Wolf Pack coach Steve Alford to take a timeout. Johnson had a steal and slam dunk for a 42-23 lead late in the first half. It was 44-27 at halftime. Story continues SDSU shot 50% while holding Nevada to 39.7%. The Aztecs outrebounded Nevada 33-29 and made 8 of 21 3-pointers. BIG PICTURE Nevada: The Wolf Pack committed three early turnovers in falling behind 10-0 and never recovered. They had six turnovers total in the first half and, although they enjoyed a height advantage, were outrebounded 19-13. San Diego State: The Aztecs improved to 11-0 at home against Nevada in the MWC era and to 13-1 all-time at home against the Wolf Pack. UP NEXT Nevada hosts Utah State on Friday night. San Diego State hosts New Mexico on Saturday night. ___ AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25 Damage done to the Supreme Court building in Brasilia. Mateus Bonomi/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images In Brazil, 599 people who were detained after storming the country's Congress, Supreme Court, and presidential palace on Sunday have been released for "humanitarian reasons," the Brazilian Ministry of Justice said Tuesday, as prosecutors moved to seize the assets of former President Jair Bolsonaro and a judge signed arrest warrants for two top security officials. The rioters came to Brasilia to show support for the right-wing populist Bolsonaro, who has claimed without evidence that he lost October's election to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, commonly referred to as Lula, because of voter fraud. More than 1,500 rioters were detained on Sunday, and those released Tuesday include people with health issues, mothers with children, and the elderly. The Congress, Supreme Court, and presidential palace sustained damage, with rioters breaking windows and defacing or destroying pieces of artwork and other valuable objects. Lula has accused police of colluding with the rioters, The Washington Post reports, and a senior judge on the Supreme Court ordered the arrests on Tuesday of Anderson Torres, public security secretary for the federal district of Brasilia, and Col. Fabio Augusto Vieira, commander of the military police in the district, a court official told the Post. The arrest warrants say the men did not ensure that there was adequate police presence in Brasilia on Sunday, and they allowed a pro-Bolsonaro encampment filled with his loyalists to be set up and expanded. Many of the rioters were bused to Brasilia from other parts of Brazil, and Brazilian Justice Minister Flavio Dino on Tuesday said investigators have determined that several business executives, including those in agribusiness, advertised the free bus rides on social media and then paid for the transportation. Dino did not release the names of any of the suspected financiers. Bolsonaro, who is in Florida and said on Tuesday he will be returning to Brazil sooner than expected to receive health care, has denied responsibility for riling up his base. While he has not been charged in connection with the riot, Brazilian prosecutors have asked a court to seize his assets, stating that the money should be used to cover the cost of damages to the government buildings on Sunday. Story continues You may also like Why car sales are falling in the U.S. Are the rich ruining thrifting? 7 scathingly funny cartoons about George Santos' lies This years full list of Brit nominations will be revealed on Thursday (12 January). At 4pm (UK time) tomorrow (12 January), hosts Vick Hope and Jack Saunders will be announcing the full list of nominees ahead of the ceremony in February. In the 30-minute show, Saunders and Hope will be revealing this years hopefuls, with viewers able to watch reactions from the nominated acts. The pair will also be joined by special guests, including the likes of Olympian Tom Daley, YouTubes Yung Filly, Euro 2022 winner Jill Scott and Goggleboxs Joe and George Baggs. These celebrities will be helping Hope and Saunders to reveal the nominees across their own social media accounts via locked BRIT boxes. Bring on The BRITs with Mastercard: The 2023 Nominations will be available to watch in a multi-platform stream across YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Weve had a year of brilliant music and so Im unbelievably excited to be revealing the nominees for The 2023 Brit Awards, said Hope. Its a chance for us to show love to some of our favourite established artists as well as celebrate some of the best breakthrough artists of the year and Im definitely planning on bringing the party vibes to the show!, she added. This years highly anticipated ceremony will take place on Saturday 11 February, marking the first time the event has ever been held on a Saturday. Radio 1 presenter Saunders will also be opening this years TikTok voting across the four genre awards later this month. Last month, new girlband FLO were announced as the winners of this years Rising Star award. The Brit Awards 2023 with Mastercard will broadcast live on ITV1 and ITVX - from The O2 arena. PARIS (Reuters) -French President Emmanuel Macron has invited Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to France on March 10 in order to hold a bilateral summit, the Elysee said on Wednesday, as the two countries seek to revive their ties after recent tensions. "It will be an opportunity for the two leaders to deepen cooperation ... in a range of areas, including security, climate and energy, the economy, migration, youth and foreign policy", the French presidency said in a statement sent to Reuters. Relations between France and Britain have come under stress in recent years, in particular since Britain left the European Union in early 2020. The countries have often traded blame for an array of problems, including fishing disputes and the failure to stem a flow of clandestine migrants across the English Channel. Macron and Sunak had already held talks in November on the sidelines of the COP27 climate change summit in Egypt. At the time, the two leaders had pledged 'ambitious co-operation' in the field of nuclear energy to cope with the impact on energy supplies of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and better co-ordination on migration. (Reporting by Elizabeth Pineau;Writing by Tassilo Hummel;Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta) (Photo: Levi Rickert for Native News Online) FORT DEFIANCE, Ariz. An excited crowd filled the Bee Hodzil Event Center at the Window Rock High School in Fort Defiance on Tuesday to witness the swearing in of Buu Nygren to serve for a four-year term as president of the Navajo Nation. Nygren, who turned 36 on Christmas, is the youngest president ever of the Navajo Nation. Shortly after noon, Nygren was administered the oath of office by the Navajo Nation Supreme Court Chief Justice JoAnn Jayne, as his wife, former Arizona state Rep. Jasmine Black-water-Nygren, stood behind him with their daughter. His maternal grandmother Marilyn Slim, who raised Nygren after his mother died during his early teens, held a basket with a family Bible in it. In his inaugural address, Nygren thanked outgoing President Jonathan Nez for serving the Navajo Nation during the COVID-19 pandemic, which afflicted over 80,000 Navajo citizens and caused the death of almost 2,000. Nygren committed to make every decision he makes as president based on whether or not the basic needs of the Navajo Nation will be met. I am going to ask for every decision I make as president of the Navajo Nation, does this move our Nation forward away from being like a third world country? Nygen said. Does it improve our water, streets, electricity? Nygran, who has an MBA in construction management and a Ph.D, said he wants to move the tribal economy forward for the Navajo Nation. Its about time we start saying, The grass is greener on the Navajo Nation,' Nygren said to an enthusiastic crowd. Nygren said he is ready to work together as a united nation. One of the things Ive always said as a united Navajo Nation, leadership is going to be strong. Its going to move things forward, Nygren said. We can start talking about the basic needs of our Navajo people. About the Author: "Levi Rickert (Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation) is the founder, publisher and editor of Native News Online. Rickert was awarded Best Column 2021 Native Media Award for the print\/online category by the Native American Journalists Association. He serves on the advisory board of the Multicultural Media Correspondents Association. He can be reached at levi@nativenewsonline.net." Contact: levi@nativenewsonline.net By Steve Scherer OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada and Mexico have won their challenge to the U.S. interpretation of content rules for autos under the new North American trade pact, a dispute panel ruled on Wednesday, a decision that favors parts makers north and south of the U.S. border. A year ago Canada and Mexico filed a complaint against the United States over how to apply automotive-sector content requirements under the United States-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) free trade agreement, which came into effect in 2020. The U.S. interpretation of the rules is "inconsistent" with the USMCA, the panel said in its ruling. "The decision is good for Canada and Mexico," said Flavio Volpe, president of Canada's Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association. Canada "is glad to see that the dispute settlement mechanisms in place are supporting our rights and obligations negotiated in USMCA," Canadian Trade Minister Mary Ng said in a statement. "This is excellent news," said Tatiana Clouthier, Mexico's former economy minister in a video on Twitter. "That helps the entire automotive industry in the North American region enormously." The decision is "disappointing," said Adam Hodge, a spokesperson for the United States Trade Representative's office, adding that the decision could result in "fewer American jobs". Under the USMCA, the United States must now agree with Canada and Mexico on how to apply the panel decision, or face possible retaliatory tariffs. "We are reviewing the report and considering next steps," Hodge said. The USTR will now "engage Mexico and Canada on a possible resolution to the dispute," Hodge said. "In the coming days, Mexico will begin a process of dialogue and cooperation with its trading partners," Mexico's economy ministry said in a statement after the ruling. The decision was announced amid a separate USMCA dispute centered on energy that has pitted the United States and Canada against Mexico. Ottawa and Washington argue Mexico's energy policies are putting U.S. and Canadian firms at a disadvantage, while Mexico has defended its policies and said it has broken no laws. Story continues Under USMCA, 75% of a vehicle's components must originate in North America to qualify for tax-free status, but the United States disagreed with how to calculate that number. Mexico and Canada said if a "core part," such as the engine or transmission, has 75% regional content, the USMCA allows that number to be rounded up to 100% when calculating the broader requirement for an entire car's regional content. The United States said "core part" content should not be rounded up when determining the content of the entire car. Volpe said the decision also is important because it demonstrates that disagreements can be settled under the rules of the new trade pact. "It shows that the dispute-resolution vehicle within the USMCA works," Volpe said. (Reporting by Steve Scherer in Ottawa; Additional reporting by Dave Graham and Kylie Madry in Mexico City, and David Lawder in Washington; Editing by Paul Simao and Aurora Ellis) Cardinal George Pell arrives for the consistory celebrated by Pope Francis for the creation of new cardinals in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City on Aug. 27, 2022. Cardinal George Pell arrives for the consistory celebrated by Pope Francis for the creation of new cardinals in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City on Aug. 27, 2022. Cardinal George Pell, the former chief financial officer of the Vatican and the most senior Roman Catholic leader to ever stand trial for child sexual abuse, died in Rome on Tuesday. He was 81. The cause of death was believed to be complications from a hip replacement surgery. It is with deep sadness that I can confirm His Eminence, George Cardinal Pell, passed away in Rome in the early hours of this morning, Anthony Fisher, the Archbishop of Sydney, said in a statement to The Guardian. This news comes as a great shock to all of us. Pell, the former archbishop of Melbourne, Australia, was convicted in 2018 of molesting two choirboys in 1996, but that decision was overturned by Australias highest court two years later. The initial case rocked the nation, but media outlets were forbidden from reporting on it because of secret gag orders. A panel of seven judges later ruled the conviction was unreasonable, saying the jury that convicted him on five counts had failed to take into account evidence that questioned his guilt. Pell maintained his innocence throughout the trials and returned to the Vatican after he was released from prison in 2020. The cardinal was at the center of Australias reckoning with sexual abuse allegations in the Catholic Church. A five-year Royal Commission into decades of the churchs behavior found he knew decades earlier that other priests had abused children but failed to take action. Those revelations were released only after Pell was cleared of his own abuse charges as Australia has strict rules protecting information that could influence ongoing court cases. Pell was born in Ballarat, Australia, in 1941. He rose through the ranks of the Roman Catholic Church in rural Australia, beginning as a priest, then becoming archbishop of Melbourne and later archbishop of Sydney. He was elevated to cardinal in 2003 by Pope John Paul II and became the Vaticans first finance chief in 2014, serving for five years. Story continues He later served as an adviser to Pope Francis. Related... Carrollton Exempted Village Schools board members, left to right, Rose Seck, Dan Ries, Wendy Gotschall and Steven Pridemore voted last month to accept the resignation of Superintendent David Quattrochi after he was indicted on theft in office charges. CARROLLTON A search for a new school superintendent is underway as the Carrollton Exempted Village Board of Education is seeking a successor to David Quattrochi, who recently resigned amid an indictment on theft and corruption-related charges. The final day to apply for the position will be Jan. 31. Board members made the announcement at their meeting Tuesday. No official starting date was provided. "We will want them to start as soon as possible," board President Dan Ries said. Quattrochi is facing 10 criminal charges which include eight felonies. The former superintendent and former Board of Education member Michael Pozderac and his wife, Mary Jackie Pozderac, are accused of taking part in a criminal scheme that involved using two shell vendors to sell air purifiers to the school system for $70,450. The conspirators allegedly split about $47,000 in profits. Acting Superintendent David Davis to apply Since these allegations surfaced, David Davis has been acting superintendent. Davis had been principal of Carrollton High School. "I will apply," Davis said when asked if he will seek the superintendent position. School system officials did not have a salary range for the new superintendent. "It will depend on their experience and needs," Ries said. Also, the Board of Education accepted the resignation of Mary Jackie Pozderac who had been an art teacher at the high school. New school board member sought Carrollton Exempted Village Board of Education will name a successor to Michael Pozderac at a special meeting Jan. 25. Applications to fill the Board of Education vacancy will be accepted until Jan. 20. The felony charges Quattrochi is facing are three counts of having unlawful interest in a public contract, and one count each of theft in office, grand theft by deception, telecommunications fraud, money laundering and engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity. Michael Pozderac and Mary Jackie Pozderac are facing similar charges in Carroll County Common Pleas Court. The Ohio Auditor's Office is prosecuting the case. Story continues Toward the close of the Board of Education meeting, Wendy Gotschall, a board member, singled out Davis, Assistant Superintendent Andy Reeves and Treasurer Amy Spears for their work. "We appreciate all that you are doing through this stressful time," Gotschall said. "But we will get through it." Carrollton schools to allow armed staff In other action, the school board approved a resolution that will allow certain personnel to carry firearms on school grounds. This is in response to Ohio House Bill 99 which permits school systems to set standards for arming personnel. When asked which employees Carrollton Exempted will allow to have firearms on the campus, school officials declined to provide specifics at the Tuesday meeting. "We will send you the details," Gotschall said. The school system currently has three school resource officers provided by the Carroll County Sheriff's Office. An official with the Carrollton Police Department said he is familiar with what the school system is about to implement. "Let's just say it is an abundance of staff," said Assistant Police Chief Geno Cook, who was providing security at a basketball game Tuesday evening at Carrollton High School. "I know who they are. Law enforcement knows who they are." This article originally appeared on The Repository: Carrollton Exempted Village board seeks new superintendent Jan. 10The Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce announced a new program encouraging entrepreneurs to follow their dreams. TechCelerator @Lackawanna County, a collaboration of Lackawanna County, the Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania, TecBRIDGE and the chamber, aims to inspire entrepreneurs with early-stage, tech-based ideas to start a small business in the county. Businesses that complete the program requirements will receive $10,000 in grant funding to offset start-up costs. "Lackawanna County is thrilled to help facilitate the funding for entrepreneurs to see their dreams get started right in our county," Commissioner Jerry Notarianni said. "Our goal is to see our community's base diversify and new businesses be successful from start to finish in their entrepreneurial journey." Through TechCelerator @LackawannaCounty, a 10-week, in-person program, participants have access to educational opportunities and formal mentors and experts on topics such as business formation strategies, customer discovery, marketing, financial planning and risk management. The program's goal is to help entrepreneurs build, share and present a business plan for their early-stage companies. "One of the hardest parts of starting a business is taking the initial step to do it," said Brianna Florovito, Ignite program manager for the chamber. "The TechCelerator program was created to walk entrepreneurs through the steps they need to take to establish their businesses and then provide them with the funding to grow." The program will be presented in collaboration with the University of Scranton Small Business Development Center, Carbondale Technology Transfer Center, the Penn State Scranton Launchbox and the Lackawanna College Venture Lab. Applications for the program are due by Monday and may be completed at ignite.scrantonchamber.com/techcelerator. All applicants will not be selected to participate. Story continues Contact the writer: rtomkavage @timesshamrock.com ; 570-348-9131; @rtomkavage on Twitter. Prince Harry and Chelsy Davy dated on-and-off for seven years. (Anwar Hussein/WireImage) Prince Harry has opened up about his dating history, including his relationship with ex-girlfriend Chelsy Davy, in his tell-all new book, Spare. The Duke of Sussex had a on-and-off relationship with Davy between 2004 and 2011, before going on to date Cressida Bonas and his now-wife Meghan. In the best-selling memoir, which is out now, he writes candidly about their seven-year romance and how he harboured "jealousy" after their break-up. Here is everything you need to know about Davy. Who is Chelsy Davy? Chelsea Davy is a 37-year-old Zimbabwean businesswoman who runs a jewellery brand and a travel company. Her father, Charles, is a millionaire safari operator and her mother, Beverley, is a former model. The pair first met at the Berkshire Polo Club. (David Davies/PA Images via Getty Images) Her family left Zimbabwe when she was 14, amid political and economic unrest in the country, and moved to England. Davy attended school at Cheltenham College, then Stowe for sixth form as a boarder. She first met Prince Harry at the Berkshire Polo Club around this time. Read more: Harry's book becomes 'fastest-selling non-fiction book ever' Following her A-levels, she studied philosophy, politics and economics at the University of Cape Town, then did a postgraduate degree in law at the University of Leeds. Prince Harry and Chelsy Davy's relationship Harry began a relationship with Davy, who he affectionally calls 'Chels', in early 2004. While in Africa on his gap year, the royal invited her to a barbecue in Cape Town for their first date, and then on a trip to Botswana, where they shared their first kiss. In Spare, the Duke of Sussex writes that she "seemed wholly unconcerned with appearances, with propriety, with royalty" and knew "less than nothing" about his family. In his new book, Harry praises Davy's 'carefree and authentic spirit'. (David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images) He adds: "Unlike so many girls I met, she wasn't visibly fitting herself for a crown the moment she shook my hand... Not only was she uninterested in my title, she seemed bored by it." Harry also says he "cherished Chels's carefree and authentic spirit" and says her parents were "impossible not to like". But he highlights her unease with the press intrusion into their relationship, and says he worried that the media would "would cost me another person I cared about". He also admits he "couldn't help worrying" about how the general public and the Queen perceived Davy. Why did they break up? Harry and Davy's on-off relationship was highly publicised, but the pair split for good in 2011. Davy attended Prince William's wedding to Kate in that same year. Harry admits it was "hard" seeing her again, as he still had "loads of feelings" towards her. Read more: Harry reveals what he thought of Kate when he first met her He writes: "I also felt a certain way about the hungry-looking men trailing after her, circling her, nagging her to dance. Jealousy got the better of me that night, and I told her so, which made me feel worse. And a bit pathetic." She married hotelier Sam Cutmore-Scott last year. (Photo by Pool/Samir Hussein/WireImage) In an interview with The Times in 2017, Davy said the press attention she received was "horrible". She said: "It was so full-on: crazy and scary and uncomfortable. I found it very difficult when it was bad. I couldn't cope." Davy appears to be still be on good terms with Harry. In 2018, she attended his wedding to Meghan, as well as Princess Eugenie's wedding to Jack Brooksbank. She married hotelier Sam Cutmore-Scott last year, and the couple have one son, Leo. Watch: Prince Harry's memoir Spare is 'fastest-selling non-fiction book ever' Prime Minister leaves Hanoi for official visit to Laos Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh left Hanoi on January 11 morning for a two-day official visit to Laos at the invitation of Lao PM Sonexay Siphandone, during which he will co-chair the 45th meeting of the Vietnam-Laos Inter-Governmental Committee. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh leaves Hanoi on January 11 morning for a two-day official visit to Laos. (Photo: VNA) This is the first official visit to the neighbouring country by PM Chinh and his first overseas trip this year. PM Chinh is also the first foreign leader to visit Laos since PM Sonexay Siphandon took office. The visit affirms Vietnams consistent policy of treasuring and prioritising the great friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive partnership between the two nations, as well as Vietnams support for Laos during its national renovation and integration. The two sides will review outstanding achievements in bilateral ties in 2022, lay out major orientations for 2023, and discuss measures to enhance political-diplomatic and national defence-security cooperation and effectively implement legal documents related to border and overseas Vietnamese and Lao affairs. They will also look for ways to push forward economic-trade-investment, education and culture ties, connectivity between the two economies, contributing to effectively carrying out key projects and mutual liaison at regional and global forums, particularly within the framework of ASEAN and Mekong sub-regional cooperation. The Vietnamese leader is also due to meet Vietnamese community living in Laos and commit the Party and States support for them, thus contributing to upholding the great national unity. By Yew Lun Tian, Brenda Goh and Jennifer Rigby BEIJING/GENEVA (Reuters) -The World Health Organisation said a lack of data was making it challenging to help China manage the risks of a COVID-19 surge over the Lunar New Year holiday, as the world's second-largest economy reopens after three years of isolation. The holiday, known before the pandemic as the world's largest annual migration of people, comes amid an escalating diplomatic spat over COVID curbs that saw Beijing introduce transit curbs for South Korean and Japanese nationals on Wednesday. The virus is spreading unchecked in China after Beijing abruptly began dismantling its previously tight curbs in early December following historic protests. The WHO said it still does not have enough information from China to make a full assessment of the dangers of the surge. "We've been working with our China colleagues," said Abdi Rahman Mahamud, director of the WHO's alert & response coordination department, who said the country has a number of strategies around people travelling from high-risk to low-risk areas, as well as around testing and clinics. "But to understand better we require that data," he added. That was also an issue in working with China on how to mitigate the risks of travel ahead of the Lunar New Year, which officially runs from Jan. 21, the WHO said. TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS China removed quarantine mandates for inbound travellers on Sunday, one of the last vestiges of the world's strictest regime of COVID restrictions. But worries about the scale and impact of the outbreak prompted more than a dozen countries to demand negative COVID test results from people arriving from China. Among them, South Korea and Japan have also limited flights and require tests on arrival, with passengers showing up as positive being sent to quarantine. In South Korea, quarantine is at the traveller's own cost. In response, the Chinese embassies in Seoul and Tokyo said on Tuesday they had suspended issuing short-term visas for travellers to China, with the foreign ministry slamming the testing requirements as "discriminatory." Story continues That prompted an official protest from Tokyo, while South Korean foreign minister Park Jin said that Seoul's decision was based on scientific evidence, not discriminatory and that China's countermeasures were "deeply regrettable." Deepening the spat, on Wednesday, China's immigration authority suspended its transit visa exemptions for South Koreans and Japanese. The escalating dispute may affect economic relations between the neighbours. Japanese department store operator Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd and supermarket operator Aeon Co said they may have to rethink personnel transfers to China depending on how long the suspension lasts. "We won't be able to make short-term business trips, but such trips had dwindled during COVID anyway," said a South Korean chip industry source who declined to be identified. "But if the situation lasts long, there will be an effect." China requires negative test results from visitors from all countries. COUNTING DEATHS Some of the governments that announced curbs on travellers from China cited concerns over Beijing's data transparency. The WHO also said China was still heavily underreporting deaths from COVID-19, although it was now providing more information. China's health authorities have been reporting five or fewer deaths a day over the past month, numbers that are inconsistent with the long queues seen at funeral homes. In a first, they did not report COVID fatalities data on Tuesday. China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Health Commission did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Without mentioning whether daily reporting had been discontinued, Liang Wannian, the head of a COVID expert panel under the national health authority, told reporters deaths could only be accurately counted after the pandemic was over. China should ultimately determine death figures by looking at excess mortality, Wang Guiqiang, the head of the infectious diseases department at Peking University First Hospital, told the same news conference. Although international health experts have predicted at least 1 million COVID-related deaths this year, China has reported just over 5,000 since the pandemic began, a fraction of what other countries have reported as they reopened. China says it has been transparent with its data. State media said the COVID wave was already past its peak in the provinces of Henan, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Sichuan and Hainan, as well as in the large cities of Beijing and Chongqing - home to more than 500 million people combined. 'INSULTING' On Wednesday, Chinese state media devoted extensive coverage of what they called "discriminatory" border rules in South Korea and Japan, while those posting on social media mainly targeted South Korea, whose border measures are the strictest among the countries that announced new rules. Videos circulating online showed special lanes coordinated by soldiers for arrivals from China at the airport, with travellers given yellow lanyards with QR codes for processing test results. One user of China's Twitter-like Weibo said singling out Chinese travellers was "insulting" and akin to "people treated as criminals and paraded on the streets". Annual spending by Chinese tourists abroad reached $250 billion before the pandemic, with South Korea and Japan among the top shopping destinations. (Additional reporting by Beijing Newsroom; Kaori Kaneko, Mari Shiraki and Elaine Lies in Tokyo; Joyce Lee, Hyunsu Yim and Heekyong Yang in Seoul and Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber in Geneva; Writing by Marius Zaharia and Tomasz Janowski; Editing by Gerry Doyle, Kim Coghill and Alex Richardson) In 2022, Chinese researchers published more scientific papers on artificial intelligence than any other nation. Mf3D/E+ via Getty Images By at least one measure, China now leads the world in producing high-quality science. My research shows that Chinese scholars now publish a larger fraction of the top 1% most cited scientific papers globally than scientists from any other country. I am a policy expert and analyst who studies how governmental investment in science, technology and innovation improves social welfare. While a countrys scientific prowess is somewhat difficult to quantify, Id argue that the amount of money spent on scientific research, the number of scholarly papers published and the quality of those papers are good stand-in measures. China is not the only nation to drastically improve its science capacity in recent years, but Chinas rise has been particularly dramatic. This has left U.S. policy experts and government officials worried about how Chinas scientific supremacy will shift the global balance of power. Chinas recent ascendancy results from years of governmental policy aiming to be tops in science and technology. The country has taken explicit steps to get where it is today, and the U.S. now has a choice to make about how to respond to a scientifically competitive China. Growth across decades In 1977, Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping introduced the Four Modernizations, one of which was strengthening Chinas science sector and technological progress. As recently as 2000, the U.S. produced many times the number of scientific papers as China annually. However, over the past three decades or so, China has invested funds to grow domestic research capabilities, to send students and researchers abroad to study, and to encourage Chinese businesses to shift to manufacturing high-tech products. Since 2000, China has sent an estimated 5.2 million students and scholars to study abroad. The majority of them studied science or engineering. Many of these students remained where they studied, but an increasing number return to China to work in well-resourced laboratories and high-tech companies. Story continues Today, China is second only to the U.S. in how much it spends on science and technology. Chinese universities now produce the largest number of engineering Ph.D.s in the world, and the quality of Chinese universities has dramatically improved in recent years. Producing more and better science Thanks to all this investment and a growing, capable workforce, Chinas scientific output as measured by the number of total published papers has increased steadily over the years. In 2017, Chinese scholars published more scientific papers than U.S. researchers for the first time. Quantity does not necessarily mean quality though. For many years, researchers in the West wrote off Chinese research as low quality and often as simply imitating research from the U.S. and Europe. During the 2000s and 2010s, much of the work coming from China did not receive significant attention from the global scientific community. But as China has continued to invest in science, I began to wonder whether the explosion in the quantity of research was accompanied by improving quality. To quantify Chinas scientific strength, my colleagues and I looked at citations. A citation is when an academic paper is referenced or cited by another paper. We considered that the more times a paper has been cited, the higher quality and more influential the work. Given that logic, the top 1% most cited papers should represent the upper echelon of high-quality science. My colleagues and I counted how many papers published by a country were in the top 1% of science as measured by the number of citations in various disciplines. Going year by year from 2015 to 2019, we then compared different countries. We were surprised to find that in 2019, Chinese authors published a greater percentage of the most influential papers, with China claiming 8,422 articles in the top category, while the U.S had 7,959 and the European Union had 6,074. In just one recent example, we found that in 2022, Chinese researchers published three times as many papers on artificial intelligence as U.S. researchers; in the top 1% most cited AI research, Chinese papers outnumbered U.S. papers by a 2-to-1 ratio. Similar patterns can be seen with China leading in the top 1% most cited papers in nanoscience, chemistry and transportation. Our research also found that Chinese research was surprisingly novel and creative and not simply copying western researchers. To measure this, we looked at the mix of disciplines referenced in scientific papers. The more diverse and varied the referenced research was in a single paper, the more interdisciplinary and novel we considered the work. We found Chinese research to be as innovative as other top performing countries. Taken together, these measures suggest that China is now no longer an imitator nor producer of only low-quality science. China is now a scientific power on par with the U.S. and Europe, both in quantity and in quality. On August 9, 2022, President Joe Biden signed the CHIPS and Science Act into law to support the growth of U.S. research and technology firms as a way to counter Chinas scientific growth. The White House/Flickr Fear or collaboration? Scientific capability is intricately tied to both military and economic power. Because of this relationship, many in the U.S. from politicians to policy experts have expressed concern that Chinas scientific rise is a threat to the U.S., and the government has taken steps to slow Chinas growth. The recent Chips and Science Act of 2022 explicitly limits cooperation with China in some areas of research and manufacturing. In October 2022, the Biden administration put restrictions in place to limit Chinas access to key technologies with military applications. A number of scholars, including me, see these fears and policy responses as rooted in a nationalistic view that doesnt wholly map onto the global endeavor of science. Academic research in the modern world is in large part driven by the exchange of ideas and information. The results are published in publicly available journals that anyone can read. Science is also becoming ever more international and collaborative, with researchers around the world depending on each other to push their fields forward. Recent collaborative research on cancer, COVID-19 and agriculture are just a few of many examples. My own work has also shown that when researchers from China and the U.S. collaborate, they produce higher quality science than either one alone. China has joined the ranks of top scientific and technological nations, and some of the concerns over shifts of power are reasonable in my view. But the U.S. can also benefit from Chinas scientific rise. With many global issues facing the planet like climate change, to name just one there may be wisdom in looking at this new situation as not only a threat, but also an opportunity. This article is republished from The Conversation, an independent nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Caroline Wagner, The Ohio State University. The Conversation has a variety of fascinating free newsletters. Read more: Caroline Wagner 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. SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China Southern Airlines has scheduled two Boeing 737 MAX flights for Friday, its mobile app showed, which if completed would be the first commercial services for the model by a Chinese airline since a March 2019 grounding. The scheduled flights are domestic journeys from the southern city of Guangzhou to Zhengzhou and from Guangzhou to Wuhan, the app showed. China Southern had also initially scheduled a return to commercial service for the 737 MAX in October 2022 but did not use it on the planned flights. Boeing said it would defer to airlines to comment on flight operations, while China Southern did not respond immediately to a request for comment. The 737 MAX was grounded in March 2019 following fatal crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia but has returned to service around the world with the exception of China and Russia after modifications to the aircraft and pilot training. Foreign airlines began flying the 737 MAX to China in October 2022. Chinese airlines had 97 of the planes before the grounding, according to Cirium data in 2019. Boeing in October said it had another 138 planes manufactured for Chinese carriers that were in the United States waiting to be delivered, though it had begun remarketing the jets to other carriers given there were no concrete signs that Chinese airlines would accept the planes in the near term. China's domestic aviation market, which was depressed in 2022 because of sporadic lockdowns designed to quash COVID-19 outbreaks, has begun to rebound strongly after the country recently ended its zero-COVID policy. China expects the total number of passenger trips made by travellers by road, rail, water and flight during the upcoming Lunar New Year holidays to reach 2.1 billion this year, double last year's 1.05 billion during the same period. (Reporting by Brenda Goh in Shanghai and Sophie Yu in Beijing; Writing by Jamie Freed; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Kim Coghill) [Source] Before you read: China has stopped issuing short-term visas in South Korea and Japan as reciprocal measures, citing discriminatory entry restrictions against the nation. Due to concerns regarding the recent surge of COVID-19 cases in China, many countries, including the U.S., Japan and South Korea, have announced new precautionary measures for travelers departing from China. Last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that travelers from China must present a negative COVID-19 test result no more than two days before flying to the U.S. The measure took effect on Jan. 5. More from NextShark: NYPD launches hate crime investigation into unidentified man who spat, hurled racial slurs at Asian woman South Korea and Japan have announced that they will not be increasing flights from China and will be limiting where planes can land. Travelers are also required to take pre- and post-departure COVID PCR tests. In addition, South Korea has also limited short-term visas to Chinese travelers, causing anger among Chinese officials and travelers. More from NextShark: Meet Japans First Female 'League of Legends' Champion This is a political issue, Shaun Rein, the managing director of China Market Research Group, told Squawk Box Asia on Monday. Itll take about three months for the anger to dissipate. Theres going to be massive revenge travel outside to Korea to Japan if those two countries treat Chinese properly. In a retaliatory move on Tuesday, the Chinese Embassy in South Korea announced that the embassy has suspended the issuance of short-term visas to South Korean citizens visiting China. China is firmly opposed to this and has taken reciprocal measures, Chinas Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a press conference. Story continues More from NextShark: Rep. Michelle Steel introduces bill to rename Little Saigon post office in honor of Vietnamese hero The embassy added that the measure may be adjusted depending on South Koreas cancellation of the discriminatory entry restrictions against Chinese citizens. We once again call on relevant countries to take scientific and appropriate measures based on facts to address the pandemic instead of using it to engage in political manipulation or discriminatory practices, Wang said. Normal people-to-people exchanges and cooperation between countries should not be affected. Similarly, the Chinese Embassy in Japan announced that they had suspended the issuance of ordinary visas for Japanese citizens hoping to visit China. However, Japan reportedly continues to process Chinese travel visa requests. On Dec. 27, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said that Japans latest precautionary measures are to avoid a sharp increase in the influx of new cases into the country by focusing efforts on entry inspections and airports. The Chinese embassy did not note when the travel visas would resume. Following announcements on the new COVID-19 testing requirements for Chinese travelers, Asian community advocates in the U.S. have expressed concern. Advocates said that singling out a specific group of travelers could potentially start a new wave of anti-Asian hate incidents. Stop AAPI Hate co-founder Manjusha Kulkarni suggested requiring negative tests for all travelers, no matter where they come from. Related Stories: BEIJING (Reuters) - Senior Chinese health officials exchanged views with the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday on COVID-19 via a video conference, China's National Health Commission said in a statement. Both sides exchanged views on issues including the current epidemic situation, medical treatment, vaccination and other technical matters, the Chinese health authority said. (Reporting by Ella Cao and Meg Shen; Editing by Andrew Heavens) [Source] A new study by a Chinese research team has shed new light on the presence and formation of ferric iron (Fe3+), a version of iron that contains oxygen, on the lunar surface. Surprisingly abundant traces of the compound were discovered in glassy agglutinates rock and mineral mixed with melted glasses present in lunar soil brought to Earth by Chinas Change-5 mission in 2020. Scientists assumed then that ferric iron would be rare on the Moon since its surface is known to be chemically reductive, an environment that makes forming oxidized compounds difficult. The mission sourced the 1,700 grams (approximately 60 ounces) of lunar soil from the Mons Rumker volcanic complex, a previously unexplored region on the Moon. According to the new research based on the Chang'e-5 samples published in Nature Astronomy on Monday, there may be more ferric iron on the moon than previously believed, as the compound can be formed from the constant barrage of tiny rocks called micrometeorites on the lunar terrain. More from NextShark: 'This is how you make Asians feel invisible': Business Insider changes article cover after criticism The occurrence of Fe3+ in lunar materials has been discussed for decades, the Chinese research team, led by professors Xu Yigang and He Hongping from the Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, noted in the study. How Fe3+ forms, accumulates and evolves in the reductive environment of the Moon surface is still under debate. Here we present robust evidence from a lunar sample for the formation of a large amount of lunar Fe3+ during micrometeoroid impacts on the airless lunar surface, the team added. The scientists concluded that since the Moon does not have an atmosphere like Earth, it is more vulnerable to impacts from micrometeorites. More from NextShark: Charges dropped against man who nailed Putin doll to sacred tree in Japan as part of death curse Lunar samples brought to Earth by NASA astronauts of the Apollo program in the late 60s to early 70s similarly contained amounts of Fe3+ that were only faintly detected at the time. Scientific analyses of the Apollo samples conducted with better instruments in recent years actually showed higher concentrations of the compound. Story continues In 2020, researchers from the University of Hawaii detected the presence of hematite (a form of iron oxide or rust) on the lunar surface after studying data from the Indian Space Research Organization's Chandrayaan-1 orbiter, which surveyed the Moon in 2008. More from NextShark: Family of Hawaii grandmother fatally shot at Las Vegas mall push for suspects to be denied bail The scientists posited that the oxygen in the iron compounds may have originated from lunar ice deposits or Earth due to the atmospheric gas that leaks into space. Related stories: More from NextShark: Hawaiian hula teacher Edith Kanakaole to be featured on US quarters [Source] Celebrating the 120th anniversary of the first Korean immigrants arrival in the U.S., city officials plan to unveil Korean-language street signs in Northwest Dallas, Texas. The new signs on Harry Hines Boulevard, Royal Lane and Newkirk Street will exhibit street names in both English and Korean. The installation recognizes the decades-long contributions of the Korean American community to the city. The unveiling ceremony will take place at the intersection of Royal Lane and Harry Hines Boulevard on Jan. 13, the same day as Korean American Day, which celebrates the arrival of the first Korean immigrants to the U.S. More from NextShark: Former MythBusters' Contestant Creates Gun that Shoots Face Masks Although the area has been dubbed Koreatown by many, there is no official designation. John Lee, a board member of the Greater Dallas Korean American Chamber of Commerce, has been calling on the city to designate the district as an official Koreatown. Lee wants street toppers that read Koreatown for a 1.6-mile stretch of Royal Lane. More from NextShark: Got7 makes highly anticipated comeback after JYP exit with music video for 'Nanana' It creates a sense of community and a sense of self-control, Lee told NBC News last year. When you dont have that, you dont own it as much as you want to. By doing that, we have the opportunity for our community to own an area that we can call ours. We can create that sense of belonging and sense of community, and sense of support for each other. Lee said that the new road signs are the citys first step toward an official designation. We actually refer to it as a declaration, Lee told The Dallas Morning News. Were very happy. More from NextShark: NYC is Building a 'Superjail' in Chinatown and Locals Are Desperately Trying to Stop Them Related Stories: Enjoy this content? Read more from NextShark! K-Pop Star Jaejoong Faces Backlash for Making COVID-19 April Fools Joke Tracy Kidder, left, with Dr. Jim O'Connell, who founded Boston Health Care for the Homeless. (Jessica Rinaldi / The Boston Globe via Getty Images) Pulitzer Prize-winning author Tracy Kidder is perhaps best known for his book Mountains Beyond Mountains a globe-trotting chronicle of Dr. Paul Farmer, the renowned infectious disease specialist who spent his life on a selfless mission to bring modern medicine to the worlds poorest countries. The book helped solidify Farmer's reputation as something of a saint by the time of his death. Kidder wasn't necessarily looking for another Ivy League-educated doctor to canonize. But one night in 2014, he climbed into a van stuffed with blankets, underwear, socks, soup and sandwiches and came face to face with Jim OConnell, the physician who founded Boston's Health Care for the Homeless Program. Or Saint Jim, as he is known in the close-knit medical and philanthropic circles of Massachusetts. For three decades, O'Connell has been making house calls to the streets, seeking out the hundreds of chronically homeless people who sleep each night huddled under tents and tarps in doorways and alleys and on stoops and park benches. To these men and women, and the many others who live in the city's shelters, O'Connell is Dr. Jim a beloved best friend, staunch ally, trusted confidant and dependable dispenser of sound medical advice. He has built one of the nation's most coordinated and comprehensive healthcare systems for unhoused people. Kidder couldn't resist making this mild-mannered, self-effacing, ruddy-faced man the subject of his forthcoming book, "Rough Sleepers," borrowing a 19th century British term for people who live on the streets. Kidder joins the Los Angeles Times Book Club on Jan. 26 to discuss his latest work with Times columnist Steve Lopez. "I was just astonished at the relationships that he had with these people," Kidder told me over Zoom from his home near Northampton, Mass. I mean, he's not a saint. He hates being called one because he knows that he isnt," Kidder added, noting that O'Connell is uncomfortable with praise, much less beatification. "But if you deny that you're a saint, it kind of improves your qualifications, right? Story continues For five years, Kidder followed O'Connell with a notebook in Boston, much as he did with Farmer across Haiti, Peru, Cuba, Russia and Mexico. The author tagged along in the van, watching as O'Connell and his team patiently and affably used the skills of social workers to persuade unhoused people to come in for medical treatment. Every night, the doctor carried a small bag containing basic first-aid gear, a stethoscope, a blood-pressure cuff, a pulse oximeter and ear thermometer. "His patients, and prospective patients, were sleeping in doorways, arguing drunkenly with statues in parks," Kidder writes. "I had rarely spoken to such people and congratulated myself when I had. For me, the night's tour was a glimpse of a world hidden in plain sight. I was left with a memory of vivid faces and voices, and with a general impression of harsh survival, leavened by affection between a doctor and his patients." At times, Kidder told me he felt as if he were back in Haiti with Farmer. The discarded and forgotten rough sleepers he encountered alongside O'Connell in Boston not unlike the discarded and forgotten rough sleepers of Los Angeles were plagued by ailments that shouldn't exist in a country with as much money and modern medicine as the United States. O'Connell and his team regularly treated unhoused people who hadnt seen a doctor or a dentist in years. Many had scabies, untreated hernias and pneumonia, and were infested with lice. (From "Rough Sleepers," I learned that to clean a wound of maggots another frequent condition among rough sleepers you first stuff the wound with raw ground meat to draw them out.) One man had a cancer that had paralyzed the left side of his face, the result of what had once been an easily treatable basal cell carcinoma. Others had been released from the hospital with blood pouring from their ears and eyes. Often drugs and alcohol ravaged bodies and minds alike. Some unhoused people tried and frequently failed to get clean, creating a constant churn of the same patients looking to O'Connell for help curbing their withdrawal symptoms. Others, unable to get past personal trauma, never tried to get a handle on their addictions at all. "Many of the people I met had unbelievably bad childhoods," Kidder told me. "Terrible, terrible, terrible abuse." Such patients are a far cry from those O'Connell thought he'd be treating as a new doctor. The salutatorian of his class at the University of Notre Dame, he studied philosophy and theology at the University of Cambridge in England, spent a stint learning to listen as a bartender and at age 30, entered medical school at Harvard University. Ultimately, he passed up a prestigious fellowship and career track at an equally prestigious hospital to build the Health Care for the Homeless Program. O'Connell, as Kidder put it, lived life backwards. He worked long hours, riding in the van and staffing clinics. He cared for rough sleepers and watched them die, often inebriated and in the cold, but sometimes newly sober and in their own homes. In doing so, he sacrificed his personal life. He put off having a family to the point that at age 69, when many of his peers were retired with had grandchildren, O'Connell had a 3-year-old daughter and was still working. "It seemed obvious," Kidder writes, "Jim would keep growing old with his patients for some time." To read "Rough Sleepers" is to confront not only the consequences of homelessness, but to wrestle with knowing that, as terrible as the problem is now, it would so be much worse if not for the sacrifices of people like O'Connell. If not for him, some 11,000 unhoused people in Boston might not get help every year. The Health Care for the Homeless Program is well-funded and has hundreds of employees, due to the brain trust that O'Connell spent decades of his life building. Such selflessness is absolutely something to be admired. But in that admiration, it's easy to forget that, as a society, we're basically allowing individuals to give of themselves, letting them chip away at an impossible cause to the point of being called "saints," rather than muster the will to solve what are essentially human-made problems. That so many men and women and, yes, children live in squalor on the streets is the result of decisions that leaders in government and in business made years ago and continue to make every single day. In some ways, as Kidder notes, the nation's homelessness crisis goes back to the politics of the 1980s. We're talking a dysfunctional and overly punitive criminal justice system, and a failure to provide adequate services after the mass closure of psychiatric hospitals. And there are other roots, too, including the legacy of racist housing practices that have everything to do with why Black Americans are disproportionately represented among the unhoused. We, as a society, continue to worship the almighty dollar. The gap between the extremely wealthy and the extremely poor keeps growing, but like the inequities in healthcare that Farmer railed against, it's a status quo that most Americans seem willing to endure. And yet, because of this, there's also apathy and helplessness about homelessness. There's finger-pointing, as California's governor did during his annual budget speech this month, blaming cities for not moving fast enough and spending the state's money wisely enough to "clean up" encampments. There are signs of hope, though, at least in Los Angeles. Mayor Karen Bass continues to roll out her coordinated strategy to quickly and humanely get homeless people into shelters and housing. Just as important, she has pledged to expedite the construction of more affording housing for everyone, as a way to lower rental prices that have risen faster than wages in recent years mostly because of the short supply. Ultimately, these are big problems that call for seismic shifts in society's values and political priorities. O'Connell has no time for that. He can't wait. He has rough sleepers to heal. "There is the here and now," Kidder said, explaining the doctor's philosophy. "These are people in dire need and we need to try to provide them with what they need to survive." That's "Saint Jim." "He presents some of the same problems to a writer that Paul Farmer did for me, which was what my beloved editor once called 'the problem of goodness,'" Kidder told me. "How do you persuade a cynical age that people like this actually exist?" Book Club: If You Go What: Author Tracy Kidder joins the L.A. Times Book Club to discuss Rough Sleepers with Times columnist Steve Lopez. When: Jan. 26 at 6 p.m. Pacific. Where: Live streaming online. Sign up on Eventbrite. Join us: Sign up for the book club newsletter for latest news and events. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Disney guests can expect some more bang for their bucks at Disneyland and Walt Disney World. The changes, including earlier park hopping privileges at Disneyland and free self-parking at Disney World hotels, address pain points previously expressed by guests. "As we step into this bright future it is important that we continuously evolve to help deliver the best guest experience possible," Josh D'Amaro, chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, said in a January email to cast members. "And while this doesnt address everyones feedback, these changes will increase flexibility and add value to our guests experience." Here are the biggest changes at Disneyland and Disney World: Going at lightspeed: The long-awaited TRON Lightcycle / Run will open at Disney World on April 4 What to know before booking: Is a character meal worth it at Disney World? What's new at Disney World? In January, Disney World rolled back self-parking fees at its hotels, making overnight self-parking once again complimentary for guests staying on property. It previously cost guests between $15 and $25 a night, depending on the resort. Starting March 20, Disney World guests will be able to download digital photos from attractions like Space Mountain and Test Track for free when they purchase Disney Genie+ service. That same day, Disney World annual passholders will receive several new photo perks, including Disney PhotoPass Lenses, one free Cinderella Cast Mural of Memories experience, and a new video slideshow offering. An even bigger perk begins April 18, when annual passholders will be able to visit parks after 2 p.m. without a reservation. There is one exception, though: weekends at Magic Kingdom. Pass blackout dates will still apply, too. Here for the food: You don't need a park ticket to try these 10 iconic Disney World snacks What's new at Disneyland? "World of Color" returned to Disney California Adventure Park on April 22, 2022. Disneyland Resort's new perks took effect Feb. 4. Story continues Guests with Magic Key passes or park hopper tickets can now go between Disneyland and Disney California Adventure once the clock strikes 11 a.m. two hours earlier than previously allowed. Additionally, all ticketed guests now can receive free Disney PhotoPass digital downloads of attraction photos via the Disneyland app, as part of the California resort's Disney100 celebration marking 100 years of The Walt Disney Company. For guests hoping to save money on Disneyland visits, the park is also offering nearly two months' worth of its lowest-priced tickets, which go for $104 for one day of admission throughout the year. (One-day tickets may be cheaper if there's a special discount available.) Lastly, there will occasionally be more sales of the coveted Magic Key pass, when inventory allows although the pass will still be limited. Contributing: Eve Chen, USA TODAY This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Disneyland, Disney World make changes to add value for guests Republican leaders in the House unveiled their picks for who will head committees in the chamber, handing out key assignments that will control important legislative vessels over the next two years. Democrats also named lawmakers who will serve as ranking members of the committees. Here is the landscape of the 118th Congress. House Committee on Agriculture Chair: Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.) Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.) (AP Photo) Ranking Member: Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.) who previously served as chair. The Agriculture Committee has jurisdiction over federal agricultural policies and retains oversight duty of a number of federal agencies, including the Department of Agriculture. Thompson, who has been in office since 2009, previously served as the ranking member on the committee in the last Congress. House Committee on Appropriations Chair: Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas) Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas) (AP Photo) Ranking Member: Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) One of the most powerful panels in Congress, the Appropriations Committee allocates federal funds to government agencies and regulated federal expenditures. Longtime lawmaker Granger, who has been in the House since 1997, was the first Republican woman to sit on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense Appropriations. She is a fiscal conservative who was previously the committees ranking member. House Armed Services Committee Chair: Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) (Greg Nash) Ranking Member: Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) The Armed Services Committee oversees and funds the Department of Defense and U.S. Armed Forces. It is annually responsible for the National Defense Authorization Act, which lays out the budget for Defense. Rogers made news last week for supposedly lunging at Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) during a rift over the Speakers vote. The incident was captured by CSPAN cameras. House Budget Committee Chair: Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) (Greg Nash Photo) Ranking Member: Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.) The Budget Committee has oversight over the federal budget process. Its most important act each year is the drafting of the budget resolution that sets the level of revenue and spending that is expected in a fiscal year. Arrington has made clear his wishes to address the national debt during his Congressional tenure. Republicans reached a deal during the Speaker election to set government discretionary spending levels for fiscal year 2024 to 2022 levels. Story continues House Committee on Education and the Workforce Chair: Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) (Greg Nash Photo) Ranking Member: Rep. Bobby Scott (R-Va.) The Education and the Workforce Committee (formerly the Education and Labor Committee before a Republican rebrand this year) oversees federal education and workforce programs in the U.S. Foxx has already served as chair of the committee for three terms, but was granted a waiver by Republican leadership to lead it again. House GOP rules allow members to serve only three consecutive terms as the head of a panel. House Committee on Energy and Commerce Chair: Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) (Greg Nash Photo) Ranking Member: Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) The Energy and Commerce Committee has oversight of a broad swath of issues, including telecommunications, consumer protection, food and drug safety, public health, energy supply and delivery and foreign and domestic commerce. McMorris Rodgers, who has been in Congress since 2005, is the former chair of the House Republican Conference. McMorris Rodgers has long been a proponent of domestic energy production. House Financial Services Committee Chair: Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) (Greg Nash Photo) Ranking Member: Rep. Maxine Water (D-Calif.) The Financial Services Committee is tasked with the oversight of the financial services industry, including the Federal Reserve, the Department of Treasury and the Securities and Exchange Commission. McHenry was the committees ranking member in the last Congress and supported a Trump-era policy that stated payday lenders would not have to check whether borrowers could afford to repay high-interest loans. House Committee on Foreign Affairs Chair: Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) (Greg Nash Photo) Ranking Member: Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) The Foreign Affairs Committee has broad jurisdiction to oversee legislation and investigations that concern U.S. foreign policy. It also oversees the Department of State. McCaul has been a strong proponent of American support to Ukraine during its war with Russia. He was previously the ranking member on the committee. House Committee on Homeland Security Chair: Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.) Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.) (AP Photo) Ranking Member: Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) The Homeland Security Committee has jurisdiction over legislation related to the security of the U.S. and oversees the Department of Homeland Security. The committee is slated to play an aggressive role in addressing the migration surge at the southern border, and there are plans to bring Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas in to testify. Mayorkas has already had articles of impeachment filed against him in the 118th Congress. Green is a member of the House Freedom Caucus, a group of hardline conservatives. House Committee on the Judiciary Chair: Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) (Greg Nash Photo) Ranking Member: Rep. Jerry Nadler (R-N.Y.) The Judiciary Committee oversees federal courts and issues of justice within federal agencies and law enforcement. Jordan is also a Freedom Caucus and is a fiery conservative who has made headlines in his questioning of witnesses on various Congressional committees. He is a close ally and supporter of former President Trump. House Committee on Natural Resources Chair: Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) (Greg Nash Photo) Ranking Member: Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) The Natural Resources Committee considers legislation related to energy production, mining, fisheries, wildlife, public lands and Native Americans. Wetserman, in Congress since 2015, holds a masters degree in forestry from Yale. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chair: Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) (Greg Nash Photo) Ranking Member: Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) The Oversight and Accountability Committee is the main investigative body in the House. As chair, Comer will be able to unilaterally issue subpoenas. Republicans have promised aggressive oversight of the Biden administration, inducing federal agencies. House Committee on Science, Space and Technology Chair: Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Ok.) Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Ok.) (Anna Rose Layden Photo) Ranking Member: Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) The Science, Space and Technology Committee has jurisdiction over federal scientific research and development that does not include defense. It includes oversight of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Lucas was previously the ranking member of the committee. He has said he wants to fortify American leadership in space exploration and turning back threats from China. House Committee on Small Business Chair: Rep. Roger Williams (R-Texas) Rep. Roger Williams (R-Texas) (AP Photo) Ranking Member: Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.) The Small Business Committee oversees the Small Business Administration and its programs and provides assistance to small businesses. Williams, who has been in Congress since 2013, was a car dealer before moving to politics. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair: Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.) Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.) (Greg Nash Photo) Ranking Member: Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Wa.) The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has jurisdiction over all modes of transportation in the U.S., including roads, highways, dams, skies and railroads. Graves is a pilot and is known as a strong proponent of private pilots. House Committee on Veterans Affairs Chair: Rep. Mike Bost (R-Ill.) Rep. Mike Bost (R-Ill.) (Greg Nash Photo) Ranking Member: Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) The Veterans Affairs Committee oversees the Department of Veterans Affairs and reviews legislation concerning military veterans. Bost is a Marine veteran and a former firefighter. He was previously the ranking member of the committee and has said he wants to ensure that veterans get access to the care and services they need in a timely manner. House Committee on Ways and Means Chair: Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.) Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.) (Julia Nikhinson Photo) Ranking Member: Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.) The Ways and Means Committee is one of the most powerful in Congress, as it is the chief tax-writing panel. It has jurisdiction over all taxation matters and programs such as Social Security and Medicare. Smith is a close ally of Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and had a role in writing the Trump-era overhaul of the federal tax code. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chair: Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) (Greg Nash Photo) Ranking Member: Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) The Intelligence Committee is a permanent select committee that is charged with oversight of the U.S. intelligence community, including the Central Intelligence Agency. Turned is expected to be the next chair of the committee. He was involved in the 2019 investigation that looked into whether former President Trump improperly withheld aid to Ukraine. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. A group stops to take photos in front of the historic Columns in front of Jesse Hall in a Tribune file photo during the first day of spring semester 2022 classes. A sampling of students of color on the quiet University of Missouri campus on Tuesday said they were disappointed that officials won't discipline a student who sent a racist message that became public. The three students said the lack of action was expected from MU. The chairwoman of the MU Faculty Council's Inclusion, Diversity and Equity Committee said officials condemned the speech but must respect the First Amendment. The president of the Columbia NAACP said the university is wrong not to discipline the student. The students were interviewed in the MU student center. After a review by the Office of Institutional Equity, university officials determined the racial slur was in a direct message last month to a friend and didn't harass any individual. The message became public when it was posted on Twitter by another student. The Snapchat message used a racial slur, stating that if four more Black people were killed students would have the entire week off. Taking action against racism isn't a priority for the university, said Alyssa Fritz, a senior natural resources major from Kansas City. "I think, yes, there's freedom of speech," Fritz said. "But if someone's affiliated with the university, there should be some consequences. Expulsion or something. I don't know the solution." The response is in line with other university actions, she said. "They've also done things like defend a racist statue," Fritz said of the Thomas Jefferson statue near Jesse Hall. The third U.S. president owned enslaved people, but university officials have disregarded student calls to remove it or even post a sign explaining Jefferson's multiple identities. No action was the expected action, said Marc Poland, a junior communication major from New Jersey. He knows there are free speech protections under the First Amendment, he said. "I get that, but it's kind of a cop-out for them not wanting to discipline the student," Poland said. "Disgraceful" is how Kearra Rentie, a junior business student from Kansas City, described the decision. Story continues "Even if it's protected by the First Amendment, I think they kind of pick and choose what they take action on," Rentie said. It took a very long time for the university to do anything in response to the fraternity hazing of student Danny Santulli, with state law behind them, she said. Anti-semitism would have received a bigger response from the university, she said. Rentie said the university didn't yet risk repeating the student protests of 2015. More people have to become outraged for that to happen, she said. Pam Bruzina, chairwoman of the Inclusion, Diversity and Equity Committee of the MU Faculty Council, said she understands the reasoning behind the university's decision. "It doesn't mean they're OK with what happened," Bruzina said. "When it came out, they condemned it pretty clearly." Told of the student responses, Bruzina said the university does care. "We care a lot about racism and all the other -isms," Bruzina said. "I know it could feel like the university doesn't care, but we do." Her committee works closely with Maurice Gipson, MU vice chancellor for inclusion, equity and diversity, she said. "I hope people understand that MU condemns hateful speech and hate speech, but we also value the First Amendment," said Bruzina, professor of nutritional sciences. MU chancellor and system President Mun Choi called Mary Ratliff, president of the Columbia NAACP, she said. "I am in total disagreement with him," Ratliff said of the decision not to discipline the student. "Institutions and organizations need to take a stand" against racism, Ratliff said outside Monday's Columbia Board of Eduction meeting. "We need to stamp this out." Blacks for too long have been treated like second-class citizens, she said. Roger McKinney is the Tribune's education reporter. You can reach him at rmckinney@columbiatribune.com or 573-815-1719. He's on Twitter at @rmckinney9. This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Students say lack of action on racism is on brand for MU officials Conservative pundit Mona Charen accused the GOP of normalizing far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) in her latest column for The Bulwark. Greene had, during new House Speaker Kevin McCarthys (R-Calif.) drawn-out speakership bid that finally concluded Friday, been transformed from a blight on the party into one of its prominent leaders, said Charen. In fact, the commentator noted, McCarthys very first act as speaker was to pose for a photo with the conspiracy theory-spewing Georgia congresswoman. Charen suggested Fox News Howard Kurtz had allowed Greene to attempt to rehabilitate her image during an interview over the weekend. But it was just the latest in a long line of resets, said Charen. Greene has a disordered personality and is drawn to hatred as a moth to a flame, she wrote. She is the poison that courses through the veins of parts of the right the vicious, reality-challenged right, Charen added. If she is to be normalized by the GOP, it is the party, not she, that is changed. Read the full opinion piece on The Bulwark. Related... Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/Harris County Detention Center A police officer running to be Houstons next mayor is facing criminal charges after allegedly using her department-issued baton and taser to attack her boyfriend, authorities said. Missouri City Police Officer Robin Williams, 32, was arrested on Tuesday for assaultcontinuous family violence in connection with two incidents involving her boyfriend, Germaine Taylor, over the last six months, according to a Harris County criminal complaint. The Missouri City Police Department said in a statement that Williams, who is now on paid administrative leave, was taken into custody at the police department as a result of a criminal investigation conducted by the Harris County Precinct 7 Constables Office. Williams, who launched her longshot bid for mayor last year under the slogan Back the blue but not the bullies in blue, posted $15,000 bond after being held at Harris County Detention Center. It was unclear if she had been released around midday Wednesday. Neither she nor her campaign immediately responded to a request for comment, and it was unclear if she had an attorney. Julia Williams, the officers campaign manager, told the Houston Chronicle a statement would be issued soon. Authorities say Williams assaulted Taylor using her police baton in Augustand again four months later. The complaint also says Taylor took a video of the Aug. 4 incident, where Williams could be seen in her Missouri City Police Department T-shirt yelling and hitting him multiple times with the baton. Taylor told police that sometime in August, Williams also shot him with her Taser. Bitch you broke my phone and you know that Im a police officer, Williams allegedly told Taylor in the Aug. 4 video, according to the complaint. Bitch Ill kill you hoe. Teen Posed as Cop and Pulled Over Multiple Drivers for Fake Traffic Stops, Police Say The allegations against Williams are disturbing on their own, but are especially remarkable given her mayoral candidacy is centered around combating crime and repairing police and community relations. According to her campaign website, Williams served in the United States Marine Corps for four years before joining the American Red Cross International Social Services Department in 2018. Story continues Eventually, she joined the Missouri City Police Department. Last February, Williams announced her mayoral bidlanding her among at least eight candidates hoping to replace Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner in the November 2023 election. Though she has not previously been elected to public office, her website says she hopes to lead our city in the right direction. As a Police Officer, I have seen the good and bad of our city. I want to suppress crime and ensure that the residents of Houston are safe, Williams says on her website. I truly stand by my campaign slogan Back the blue but not bullies in blue. There is no place for a bully in society and I plan on enforcing that. Our Officers do an amazing job and I want to promote the good deeds of good Officers. The allegations from the Harris County Precinct 7 Constables Office suggest she may be part of the problem she has pledged to correct. The complaint says an officer was called to Williams house on New Years Eve on reports of a domestic violence case. At the house, Taylor alleged that Williams assaulted him with her police baton after the pair got into a fight. During the altercation, Taylor said that Williams punched him in the mouth, causing a scratch on his lip, and causing him to bleed from the mouth. Officers said that on the scene, Taylor also described an Aug. 4 incident, where he alleged that Williams used her baton on him multiple timescausing Taylor to suffer knots on his body from where [Williams] struck him. The complaint states that in the video Taylor later provided of the incident, Williams is seen hitting Taylor in his body and legs. When making the complaint last month, Taylor also claimed that Williams has used her department-issued Taser on him, indicating that Williams went into their bedroom, grabbed her taser, and shot him with it. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. Colin Murray is Countdown's new host. (Getty) Colin Murray has been named the new permanent host of Channel 4's Countdown. The 45-year-old presenter has been fronting the gameshow ever since previous host Anne Robinson stepped down from the role last September. Announcing the news on Steph's Packed Lunch, Murray said: Its a career dream to be named as permanent anchor of one of televisions most iconic programmes." Read more: Everyone who has hosted Countdown He added: I have been a fan since day one, been part of the family for over a decade, appearing on Dictionary Corner, and now I get the honour of guiding it into a fifth decade." Rachel Riley, Anne Robinson and Susie Dent had been the previous permanent Countdown lineup. (Channel 4) Murray also stressed that he wants to see the long-running show continue to see its audience improve: However, I dont just want Countdown to survive, I want it to thrive. "During my caretaker stint weve seen more people tune back in, with close to a million (900,000) watching the series final in December, and I want that to just be the beginning." The news is out! And its wonderful. Congratulations @ColinMurray on nabbing the best seat on TV (I may be biased) and becoming the permanent Countdown host. We are very lucky to have you. Susie Dent (@susie_dent) January 11, 2023 He also urged people to give the show a go if they had never seen it or not watched in years. Susie Dent and Rachel Riley will continue to appear on the show as Countdown's resident lexicographer and assistant presenter respectively. Anne Robinson is the previous host of Countdown. (Channel 4) Murray is the seventh permanent presenter of the show, which premiered in 1982. Countdown was originally presented by Richard Whiteley who hosted the show for 22 years. Countdown has since been presented by Des Lynam, Des O'Connor, Jeff Stelling, Nick Hewer and Anne Robinson. Read more: Lorraine urges Vorderman to host Countdown Story continues Since Robinson left the show after just a year, Countdown has been handled by a number of guest presenters as well as Murray including Les Dennis, Trevor McDonald and Floella Benjamin. Murray is best known for his sports presenting having previously fronted Eurosport's coverage of snooker and the Football League's highlights show on Channel 5 and Quest. Watch below: Rachel Riley reveals Colin Murray gave her the nickname 'cabbage boobs' By Jennifer Rigby LONDON (Reuters) - An international meeting this week will discuss setting up a global system of wastewater monitoring for COVID-19, including at airports, after several countries said they would start tests on flights coming from China. Countries including the United States and Australia have moved to set up wastewater testing on flights and in airports amid a surge of cases in China. The European Union also recommends a similar measure and has drawn up guidelines for member states. Numerous studies have shown that such testing has been effective for tracking COVID-19 during the course of the pandemic, particularly when combined with genomic sequencing techniques to identify emerging variants. One expert said the measure was useful when countries either will not, or lack the capacity to provide information on the circulating variants causing surges in COVID-19 cases in their territories. "It lights a candle in the darkness," Bernd Gawlik, who co-authored the EU guidelines as the lead on water quality at the European Commission, told Reuters. The talks are part of a broader push to keep up momentum on wastewater sampling and bring together national efforts into a more cohesive global picture. It is also becoming more important as routine testing has waned - the World Health Organization says testing for COVID-19 has declined by 90% in recent months. There are hopes that establishing a more formal wastewater surveillance network worldwide could provide information not only on COVID-19, but also on other emerging disease threats. However, there are technical and logistical challenges ahead, Gawlik said, including how to handle samples and how to interpret and use the information gathered. (Reporting by Jennifer Rigby; Editing by Tomasz Janowski) ZURICH (Reuters) -Credit Suisse is considering a 50% cut to its 2022 bonus pool, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, as the Swiss bank presses on with efforts to revive its fortunes after a series of scandals and heavy losses. The bank, whose shares were trading up 2.03% to 3.120 Swiss francs at 1101 GMT, declined to comment on the report. The European Stoxx 600 banks index was up 0.15%. Credit Suisse, which in November flagged a fourth quarter pretax loss of up to 1.5 billion Swiss francs ($1.58 billion), cut its 2021 bonus pool by 32% after a loss for that year. Chopping that in half again for 2022 would put the Swiss bank at the sharp end of expected industry-wide bonus cuts of between 30% and 50% in London and New York, according to recruiters canvassed by Reuters. They said the drop is a consequence of last year's sharp slowdown in mergers and stock offerings as debt financing markets collapsed and stock market volatility hurt valuations. Credit Suisse's variable compensation pool for 2021 - at a time when the industry as a whole was handing out the biggest awards since 2006 as the economy roared back from COVID-19 - fell to 2 billion Swiss francs ($2.17 billion) as the bank cut regular deferred awards but sweetened pay for senior bankers Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, said outcomes for 2022 were likely to diverge widely, with some employees likely to receive no bonus at all. Discussions were, however, not yet finalised and could still change, it added. Credit Suisse has been battered by mishaps, including a $5.5 billion loss on U.S. investment firm Archegos. It also had to freeze $10 billion worth of supply chain finance funds linked to insolvent British financier Greensill. Last month it successfully completed the final part of a 4 billion Swiss franc ($4.28 billion) fundraising and said its liquidity levels had been boosted. ($1 = 0.9231 Swiss francs) (Reporting by Juby Babu in Bengaluru and John Stonestreet; Editing by Janane Venkatraman, Rachel More and Alexander Smith) The Darrell S. Freeman Sr. Incubation and Innovation Center launched Monday with support from Nashville Mayor John Cooper and Fisk University leadership. The project has been in the works for years and recently gained traction when business leaders and the mayor's office took interest in realizing the late Darrell Freeman's longtime dream of creating a business resource center in North Nashville. The new space will host tech boot camps and mentoring programs for local small business owners and entrepreneurs. Fisk University will be responsible in part for programming through the public-private partnership. For too long, Nashville paid wealthy, out-of-state corporations to bring jobs here instead of creating and growing businesses by investing in local entrepreneurs already living in our city," Mayor Cooper said. "With Burrus Hall, were investing in our own residents futures by transforming this historic building at Fisk University." Here's what you should know about the project. The center is named in honor of Darrell S. Freeman The center is named for the late Darrell S. Freeman Sr., a prominent Black business owner and mentor. Freeman's daughters Kenya and Ebony Freeman shared memories of their father at Monday's kickoff event. Kenya Freeman recites a poem and talks about the legacy of her father, Darrell Freeman, during a press conference to rebuild Burrus Hall at Fisk University in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, Jan. 9, 2023. "I remember my dad would talk about an entrepreneurship center and that idea brought immense joy to him," Ebony Freeman said. "The incubation center is a beacon of hope and innovation for entrepreneurs to come and receive the watering of their seeds." Freeman was the first in his family to attend college. He built his tech company, Zycron Inc., from the ground up and sold it for more than $20 million in 2017. Freeman died in June 2022 after a serious illness, his family said. Freeman spent years of his life mentoring other Black business owners in Nashville, including the three Tennessee State University roommates who launched Slim & Husky's Pizza Beeria chain. The project will transform a historical building on Fisk's campus Metro and Fisk University will partner to rebuild Burrus Hall and rename it the Darrell S. Freeman Business Innovation Center at Fisk University in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, Jan. 9, 2023. Burrus Hall was built in 1945 and is located within the Fisk University Historic District. It was named in honor of James and John Burrus, two of the college's first four graduates in 1875. The two-story brick building was designed by the African American architecture firm McKissack & McKissack. Story continues Historic Nashville Inc. named Burrus Hall one of Nashville's nine historically significant buildings most at-risk of demolition or disrepair in 2019. The building was most recently renovated in 1992. The project secured funding from the American Rescue Plan Act Mayor John Cooper talks about the future of Burrus Hall, to be renamed after Darrell Freeman, and the partnership with metro and Fisk University during a press conference in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, Jan. 9, 2023. The Nashville Metro Council voted unanimously to approve $10 million of federal American Rescue Plan Act funding for the project at its meeting on Dec. 20. The money will be spent on refurbishing the building. Before Metros COVID-19 Financial Oversight Committee approved the plan and sent it before council for a vote, more than 50 letters of support were gathered and presented to the committee for consideration. A panel of supporters also presented to the committee at its Nov. 30 meeting, including Fisk University Executive Vice President Jens Frederiksen. "Over the next many years, students, faculty and community founders will follow in [Freeman's] large footsteps and launch businesses and support neighborhood growth and development," Frederiksen said at the kickoff event. Leaders from entrepreneurship incubation centers have expressed strong support Support for the center also came from Corner to Corner and the Nashville Entrepreneur Center, two organizations also providing resources to Nashville small businesses. This building is at Fisk, but it is not for Fisk," Corner to Corner executive director Shanna Berkeley said. "It is for us. The communal us. You, me and anyone wanting to turn their business dreams into a money-making reality." The Nashville Entrepreneur Center has a waitlist of hundreds of businesses awaiting resources, according to chief equity and inclusion officer Brittany Cole. Resources at the new incubation center will help fill that gap. The Nashville Entrepreneur Center is proud to continue our partnership with Fisk and provide dynamic advisory and mentorship support to students and entrepreneurs in our North Nashville community, Cole said. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Fisk launches Darrell S. Freeman center to help small businesses WASHINGTON (AP) The fatal shooting of a middle-school student has sparked public uproar as the nation's capital struggles with rising tensions about violent crime and racial justice. Police said they found 13-year-old Karon Blake early Saturday morning suffering from multiple gunshot wounds after having been shot by a local resident, who said Blake had been breaking into area cars. According to the police media report on the incident, the resident heard noises and observed someone that appeared to be tampering with vehicles. The male resident went outside, armed with a registered firearm, to further investigate. There was an interaction between a juvenile male and the male resident. During the interaction, the male resident discharged his firearm striking the victim. Blake died of his injuries at the hospital, and his death has sparked a fierce community response from activists demanding that the shooter be arrested and his name be made public. The shooter has not been charged with a crime or publicly identified, but police and the U.S. Attorneys Office say the investigation is ongoing. A community meeting Tuesday night drew more than 300 angry citizens, packing a community center adjacent to Brookland Middle School, which Blake attended. I didn't know you could just kill somebody over property damage. That's just crazy, said Sean Long, the teen's grandfather. Struggling to speak over the shouts of the crowd, Assistant Police Chief Morgan Kane of the Metropolitan Police Department said she could not share the shooter's identity or any details about the investigation in progress. We want the same thing you want, Kane said. We want to find out what happened and whatever chips fall, they fall. Area resident Tracey Lucas addressed Kane and accused the MPD of taking a soft approach to what she said was vigilante violence against a young Black man. She compared the shooting to the 2012 killing of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman an event that led to the creation of the Black Lives Matter movement. Story continues I don't see why you are protecting his name, Lucas said. Knowing who the killer is does not breach this investigation. At one point, the crowd broke into a loud chant protesting D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser's absence, shouting, Where is the mayor? Earlier in the day, MPD Chief Robert Contee pleaded for patience and warned against misinformation and hysteria. "There has been too much misinformation swirling around this incident, Contee said. Too many people have made assumptions about this case and it is unfair to the grieving family. Bowser in a Wednesday press conference confirmed that the shooter is a city employee who has been placed on administrative leave, and is not a police officer or otherwise involved in public safety. The controversy comes at a delicate time for Bowser, who is regarded by Black Lives Matter and other activist groups as a staunch police defender. Last week, Bowser, who just began a third term in office, vetoed a sweeping revision of the city's criminal code that would, among other things, reduce the maximum penalties for offenses such as burglary, carjacking and robbery. In coming out against the bill, Bowser stated, Anytime theres a policy that reduces penalties, I think it sends the wrong message. The D.C. Council, which unanimously approved the revision, appears likely to override her decision. Remote payroll startup Deel has acquired fintech Capbase for an undisclosed amount in a cash and stock deal, the companies told TechCrunch exclusively. As its name suggests, San Francisco-based Capbase claims it can update a companys cap table in real time as it issues shares, signs contracts and raises money from investors. It then uses that data to build API integrations that can be used to set up bank accounts, payroll and business insurance. Greg Miaskiewicz and Stefan Nagey founded the company in 2018, and raised a total of about $6 million in venture capital from firms such as Better Tomorrow Ventures, Clocktower Technology Ventures, Great Oaks Venture Capital and Village Global, as well as a number of angel investors. We tried to make it simpler to start a company, raise money and issue equity, CEO Miaskiewicz told TechCrunch in an interview. Capbase ran a private beta until April 2021, and saw its customer base grow from 10 to more than 500 in less than 18 months, he said, though declining to reveal hard revenue figures. Alex Bouaziz and Shuo Wang started remote-first, San Francisco-based Deel in 2019 with the mission of allowing businesses to hire employees and contractors in other countries in less than five minutes. Deel also says that it gives companies the ability to pay teams in more than 150 currencies with just a click. The company raised nearly $680 million in total funding, was last valued at $12 billion and boasted it had crossed the $100 million in ARR (annual recurring revenue) threshold in March of 2022. (The company declined to reveal current numbers, saying only that it continues to grow its ARR month over month "at a very strong clip.") Over the years, Deel has evolved its model, adding more features and acquiring other startups to boost its offerings, including equity-related services to clients in a consultative capacity. For example, it advises them on how to manage their taxable events on Employer of Record employee and contractor equity, in addition to handling payroll on those events. With its acquisition of Capbase, Deel plans to pair those services with a new product dedicated to equity management and issuance. Story continues In an interview, Bouaziz said that Deels customers have struggled around where and how to start approaching equity grants, with questions such as how to grant employees and contractors equity in countries where they dont have entities and what they need to do to comply with local laws. Interestingly, Capbase was one of Deels earliest customers and Bouaziz says he was always appreciative of Miaskiewiczs thinking around compliance. So, as questions continued to come up from customers, like how to grant equity to people in other countries, especially in light of different labor laws everywhere, Deel began to search for a solution. In fact, it was a problem it had to solve for itself, especially considering that the company provides the same equity to people regardless of where they are. We looked at U.S. compliance and realized it was a very, very hard thing to do, Bouaziz told TechCrunch. Equity is such an important part of companies, so enabling other companies to grant it across geographies and at scale felt like something we should tackle. Instead of just doing it from scratch, Deel opted to work with Capbase. Put simply, in acquiring Capbase, Deel hopes to ease the complexities that come with setting up companies and growing them. It was drawn to the fact that Capbase works to help companies with incorporation and fundraising in their early days as well as with compliance filings and granting equity as they mature, according to Bouaziz. They offer technology and compliance expertise to help hundreds of businesses incorporate seamlessly in the U.S., set up bank accounts and boards, manage cap tables and, of course, grant equity, he added. All of these things complement our efforts around helping companies expand more easily, all in one place, compliantly. Image Credits: Capbase Notably, Deel believes the addition of Capbase will help it do more in the U.S. to support startups and help companies go global. This will no doubt allow Deel to better compete with others in the space. For example, last October, workforce management platform Rippling revealed a new global payroll product that its CEO Parker Conrad wasnt shy about admitting would directly compete with Deel. At that time, Conrad told TechCrunch the new offering would give Ripplings U.S.-based clients a way to pay workers all over the world whether they be full-time or contract more seamlessly. One company that Deel is not trying to compete against, though, is Carta. Capbases initial product is similar to Carta and Stripe Atlas, Bouaziz said. Were not doubling down on that product. I think cap table management is important but a lot of companies have built a product around it and reinventing the wheel is not something we really like to do. Going into this market would be reinventing the wheel. We really want to build a product solving global equity for the employer of record model for employees around the world, he added. We want to take that internal knowledge that was built in the U.S. and productize it globally. For Capbase, the offer to get acquired in an extremely challenging macro environment was more attractive than continuing down the path of fundraising in a rocky economic climate, admits Miaskiewicz. The startups 20 employees are all joining Deel. Miaskiewicz believes that with the two companies joining forces, Deel will emerge as an even stronger company. If youre trying to sell services to startups or companies that will become the next big tech companies, you want to establish that relationship and offer them services as early in the lifecycle as possible because then you can build and offer them more and more services as they scale, so that you can monetize that relationship and build the customer lifetime value, he told TechCrunch. Meanwhile, Deel anticipates that it will have a pretty solid working product available to customers -- which include companies such as Nike, Cloudflare, Shopify and Subway -- by early to mid-February. Obviously with global compliance, well be fine-tuning over time as the product gets more and more complicated and more and more tailored to the local jurisdictions and local laws, Bouaziz said. Equity management is clearly a hot area. On January 10, investment giant Fidelity announced that it had acquired Shoobx, a venture-backed fintech startup, for an undisclosed amount. Shoobx is a provider of automated equity management operations and financing software to private companies at all growth stages, up to and including an initial public offering. Services it offers include helping companies send offer letters, grant equity to new employees, manage their cap tables and get a 409A valuation report, among other things. Want more fintech news in your inbox? Sign up here. Defence Forces of Ukraine repelled Russian attacks near 13 settlements on 10 January. Source: Report of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook, information as of 06:00 on 11 January Quote: "Over the past 24 hours, units of the Defence Forces have repelled occupiers attacks near the settlements of Hrianykivka (Kharkiv Oblast), Stelmakhivka (Luhansk Oblast), and Spirne, Rozdolivka, Vesele, Bakhmut, Klishchiivka, Maiorsk, Vodiane, Nevelske, Krasnohorivka, Marinka and Prechystivka (Donetsk Oblast). At the same time, the enemy conducted 6 missile and 16 air strikes. They fired more than 50 times using multiple launch rocket systems, hitting civilian infrastructure of Kharkiv, Donetsk and Kherson oblasts particularly. The danger of enemy launching air- or missile strikes remains all over Ukraine. We call everyone to go to shelters when you hear an air-raid siren." Details: On the Sivershchyna front, the invaders used mortars and tubed artillery to attack the areas of Senkivka (Chernihiv Oblast) and Kucherivka, Oleksandrivka and Pokrovka (Sumy Oblast). On the Slobozhanshchyna front, areas of 19 vicinities came under Russian fire. This refers to Sosnivka, Zelene, Vovchansk, Khatnie, Krasne, Lopan, Krasne Pershe and Dvorichna in Kharkiv Oblast. On the Kupiansk front, Russian troops fired at areas in and around Vilshana, Orlianka and Kyslivka in Kharkiv Oblast, as well as Novoselivske and Stelmakhivka in Luhansk Oblast. On the Lyman front, the occupiers hit Makiivka, Nevske and Chervonopopivka in Luhansk Oblast, and Terny and Serebrianka in Donetsk Oblast. On the Bakhmut front, the areas of Yakovlivka, Bilohorivka, Soledar, Bakhmut, Klishchiivka, Bila Hora, Spirne, Druzhba and Paraskoviivka in Donetsk Oblast came under fire. On the Avdiivka front, Russian Forces attacked Avdiivka, Vesele, Nevelske, Heorhiivka, Marinka and Pervomaiske in Donetsk Oblast. On the Novopavlivka front, Vremivka, Velyka Novosilka and Vuhledar in Donetsk Oblast were struck. Story continues On the Zaporizhzhia front, the Russians fired at the areas of 22 settlements, including Vilne Pole and Novopil (Donetsk Oblast), and Olhivske, Zaliznychne, Mala Tokmachka, Huliaipole, Stepove, Shcherbaky and Bilohiria (Zaporizhzhia Oblast). On the Kherson front, civilian infrastructure facilities in 12 settlements underwent Russian shelling. This refers to Antonivka, Besele, Respublikanets, Dniprovske, Dudchany, Mylove, Zolota Balka and Kherson. There were casualties. Ukrainian aircraft carried out 14 strikes on clusters of Russian military manpower, as well as 4 attacks on Russian anti-aircraft missile system positions over the past 24 hours. Ukraines Rocket Forces and Artillery struck three Russian command posts and two Russian Missile Troops and Artillery positions, as well as eight clusters of theoccupiers manpower. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! An expert testifying for the defense at the Michael Wayne Jones penalty phase trial on Tuesday said Jones was hearing voices after he killed his wife, Casei. Specifically, Jones said his slain wife told him to kill the children so they could be with her. A psychologist, Dr. Harold Bursztajn, told the court the voices that Michael Jones heard came a few days after his wife's death and they became "more intense" as time went on. Jones told law enforcement officials that he killed his wife by beating her with a metal baseball repeatedly. Bursztajn said Jones was told by Casei that the four children, all younger than 12, would be safer with her. Jones said he had no choice but to obey the voices. Michael Wayne Jones:Summerfield man pleads guilty to killing wife, 4 children, may face death penalty 'Long history of depression':Defense witnesses describe problems that affected confessed killer Michael Jones Off death row: Parties agree to life in prison instead of retrial in Ocala murder case The psychologist said Jones was "a tortured soul" who "expressed remorse" about the killings. Bursztajn said Jones was "tramutized" by what he did to Casei before killing the children. Led by Executive Assistant Public Defender John Spivey, tasked with asking the questions, Bursztajn developed his analysis by examining questionnaires, conducting a video conference with Jones, reviewing various records and talking with people who knew the defendant. Michael Wayne Jones' defense team Similar to other defense experts who strongly believe the Summerfield man has a litany of mental health issues, Bursztajn said Jones is "psychotic and lacks insight." He said medication given to Jones takes time before taking effect. He said it could take months and even years before Jones makes any progress. Recovered remains In November, Jones pleaded guilty 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. At the same hearing, he pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder in the death of Casei. The girls belong to the couple, and the boys are from his wife's previous marriage. Story continues Now that he has pleaded guilty, the lawyers are focusing on the penalty phase. In the penalty phase, lawyers for the state establish a framework for aggravating factors that support capital punishment. The defense is countering with mitigating factors that support life in prison. Michael Wayne Jones The jury will make a sentencing recommendation. The 41-year-old Jones was detained in Georgia after he was involved in a single-vehicle crash in that state in September 2019. He told law enforcement officials that his wife's remains were in the vehicle. The victim's remains were in a tote, authorities. Jones was interviewed by law enforcement officials. He took them to where he left the children's remains, officials said. Located in a wooded area, officials said the remains were in a suitcase and sealed totes. He said he killed each child at different days and times by strangling or drowning them. Authorities believe the murders occurred between July 10 and the end of August 2019. Casei Jones and her four children A gruesome discovery: Georgia deputy recalls finding woman's body in defendant's van Continued testimony Spivey played snippets of interviews Jones sat for with Georgia and Marion County Sheriff's Office officials. In the chats, Bursztajn said, Jones was dominated by the voices in his head, with Casei instructing him on how to answer the questions. Bursztajn said Jones kept the five bodies with him together for days and even weeks at a time while driving around because he was hallucinating. Assistant State Attorney Rich Buxman, left, talks with Executive Assistant Public Defender John Spivey On cross-examination from Assistant State Attorney Rich Buxman, the expert said that some of Jones' records were inconsistent. Bursztajn told the prosecutor that Jones felt Casei was going to come back to life and his actions were irrational. Buxman zeroed in on Jones lying to family members about his family's whereabouts, how Jones sold the children's possessions, his concealing of the bodies in totes and his telling his ex-wife not to tell local detectives the truth on whether she had seen Casei. Bursztajn explained that Jones was not thinking clearly, as the voices had taken over. Second expert testifies Dr. Stephen Nelson, a neurologist, who took the stand for the defense, told the court that Jones had problems with decision-making. He said the man's brain was vulnerable to mental illness. Nelson said Jones has brain abnormalities that stem from a combination of head trauma, traumatic life events and a history of mental illness. Although Jones had been taking medication for his various mental problems, he had stopped taking them, according to testimony given in court. A picture of the Marion County Judicial Center The trial resumes Wednesday. Contact Austin L. Miller at austin.miller@starbanner.com or @almillerosb This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: Defense expert: Ocala family killer heard dead wife's voice in his head MUNCIE, Ind. A Delaware County taxidermist was arrested Wednesday and has been ordered to return "all property back to customers," according to a release from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. The arrest of Shawn Allen Huntington, 44, of Eaton, came after an investigation by state conservation officers. Huntington, owner of Buck Fever Taxidermy, was charged Tuesday in Delaware Circuit Court 4 with corrupt business influence, a Level 5 felony carrying up to six years in prison, and three counts of theft, a Level 6 felony with a maximum 30-month sentence. He was being held in the Delaware County jail under a $20,000 bond. According to an affidavit, conservation officers since at least July 2021 had repeatedly discussed with Huntington complaints over taxidermist jobs that were apparently never completed. The officers reportedly told the Eaton man "these matters can turn criminal when customers are not receiving the products they paid for and items belonging to customers are not being returned." At one point, Huntington reportedly indicated he was two hunting seasons behind in terms of completing taxidermic projects. The affidavit also alleged the Eaton man failed to "accurately log/tag information as required by his taxidermy license." According to the DNR release, a search warrant in the case was served on Wednesday. More:Muncie man's legal woes grow with racketeering, home improvement fraud charges A court order also directs Huntington to return "all property to customers who entered a contract with Buck Fever Taxidermy," according to the department. Customers wanting property returned should come to the Indiana Conservation Officers District 4 headquarters, at 3734 Mounds Road in Anderson, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, or 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday. They should bring any receipts, canceled checks or other items that show ownership, and a valid form of identification. Story continues The conservation office can be reached at 765-649-1062. The corrupt-business-influence charge filed Tuesday alleges Huntington engaged in "a pattern of racketeering activity" between Dec. 23, 2019 and Dec. 3, 2022. The other three charges list a total of 17 customers now alleged to be victims of theft. 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: Delaware County taxidermist arrested, ordered to return property Demi Lovatos album poster has been banned by the UKs Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for being likely to cause serious offence to Christians. The poster, which was promoting the US singers new album Holy Fvck in the UK, was displayed across London last summer before being banned. On the original poster, Lovato wears a bondage-inspired outfit while laying on a large crucifix, with the title of the forthcoming album written across the image. However, the poster has now been officially ruled against by the ASA, after the regulator predicted it was likely to insult viewers based on its link between the crucifix and sexuality. Four complainants alleged that the poster was irresponsibly placed where children could see it. The ASA said that due to the fact the poster alluded to the phrase holy f***, it was likely to result in offence. They described Lovato in the image as bound up in a bondage-style outfit whilst lying on a mattress shaped like a crucifix, in a position with her legs bound to one side which was reminiscent of Christ on the cross. They argued that this, together with the reference to Holy Fvck, was likely to be viewed as linking sexuality to the sacred symbol of the crucifix and the crucifixion and was likely to cause serious offence to Christians. The ASA said that due to the fact the poster alluded to the phrase holy f***, it was likely to result in offence (Getty Images for iHeartRadio) We therefore concluded the ad breached the Code, they weote. Lovatos label, Polydor Records defended the poster, arguing that they didnt believe it would cause widespread offence. The label also claimed that they sought approval for the poster prior to its release, and were assured that it was acceptable. Polydor told the ASA that the posters only appeared for four days around London and were removed on 23 August. The ASA has now ruled that the ad must not appear again, unless it is altered accordingly. We told Universal Music Operations to ensure their ads did not cause serious or widespread offence in future, the watchdog said. Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast Flush with victory at being elected as Speaker of the House of Representatives after failing 14 times, Kevin McCarthy immediately signaled his gratitude to MAGA extremists. He announced Republicans intent to investigate everything from active criminal investigations being conducted by the Justice Department to the withdrawal of Afghanistan [sic], to the origins of COVID, and to the weaponization of the F.B.I. A resolution to create a special House Judiciary Committee select subcommittee to get this laundry list of investigations done will be voted on later this week. The intention to make this committee the Republican answer to the Jan. 6 Committee was made clear by Rep. Chip Roys disclosure that Speaker McCarthy has promised the select subcommittee at least as much funding and staffing as was given to the Jan. 6 committee. Joe Biden and Donald Trumps Classified Doc Scandals Are Worlds Apart Do Democrats have anything to fear from this promised onslaught of investigations? Not really. The Trump era and the work of the Jan. 6 Committee itself provide a simple blueprint for Democrats in defending against these promised investigations, which may be summarized as: Comply, delay, and defy. First, Democrats should always comply with subpoenas by responding and showing up when required to do so. Responding may take the form of letters explaining why the area of inquiry is inappropriatefor example, inquiries into active criminal investigations have long been resisted by DOJ. If this gentle persuasion is not successful, the next step would be to offer voluntary appearances or meetings at which the same points could be made. After that, litigation could commence over the legality of the specific inquiry and whether it comported with a legitimate legislative purpose or violated the Separation of Powers doctrine. It took the House Ways and Means six years to get Trumps tax returnsby which time he was out office. If Bidens DOJ shows a little aggression, it can easily seek to match that record when it comes to resisting, for example, information about ongoing criminal cases. Story continues Second, Democrats should have no qualms about simply defying subpoenas, should that become necessary, because the current process for enforcing subpoenas is broken. As a reminder, Congress has three ways to enforce subpoenas through the contempt process: (1) Inherent Contempt, by which they arrest the defiant person through their own Sergeant-at-Arms and prosecute themselves; (2) Civil Contempt, where they file a lawsuit to get a judge to order compliance; and, (3) Criminal Contempt, where they ask DOJ to criminally prosecute. All three of these are essentially toothless. Trumps In La-La Land When It Comes to Executive Privilege Inherent Contempt has not been used since 1935, when aviation industry executive William MacCracken Jr. showed up at the home of the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms and challenged him to lock me up. MacCrackenafter being tried and convicted by the Senatelost his appeal to the United States Supreme Court and served a rather non-intimidating sentence of 10 days in the D.C. jail, where he was given privileges that included getting to sleep in a dormitory rather than a cell, and an improved dinner menu that included cold shoulder, cheese, fried pineapple, creamed potatoes, fruit Jell-O, and coffee. Not exactly an outcome that will keep any Biden administration officials awake at night worrying. Civil Contemptlike all civil proceedingscan take a long time, months to years. Complete with appeals to federal courts and SCOTUS, by the time such proceedings run their course the issue being investigated may be long moot. Criminal Contempt is perhaps the least fearsome tool for the House Republicans because it would require Attorney General Merrick Garlands DOJ to approve a criminal prosecution for contemptsomething it has a slow track record of doing. Even for Steve Bannona non-government employee who blatantly defied a congressional subpoena, DOJ still took a month before indicting himand he was not sentenced until more than a year after the subpoena was issued. An actual government employee (such as a member of the Biden administration) would have far more substantive legal arguments that would likely slow any DOJ decision to a glacial pace. While Democrats have little to fear legally from such investigation, they also have little to fear politically. Blatantly partisan congressional investigationslike Benghazi, which took two years and cost some $7 million while producing a dud for a reportwill do little besides play to a MAGA base. Even criminal referrals are unlikely to find a receptive audience at a Garland DOJ that is stretched to the breaking point with hundreds of Jan. 6 prosecutions, as well as Special Counsel Jack Smiths investigations centered on Trumps actions on Jan 6 and the discovery of hundreds of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. Donald Trump Cant Hide From Jan. 6 Committees Criminal Referral Indeed, Democratic strategists might welcome two years of fruitless congressional investigations that waste time and taxpayer money, while producing zero legislative progress. By contrast, the Biden administration will be able to point to their legislative achievements before the Republicans took control of the House as evidence of how real progress was blocked by the midterm election results. While Democrats and Biden officials have little to fear and little to lose from Speaker McCarthys planned investigations, the American people do have much to lose. A 118th Congress that spends the majority of its time doing purposeless investigations means that the real work for Americans will simply be put aside in a blaze of partisan wars. That is something to worry about. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. Georgia Division of Family and Children Services reports shed new light on the home life of Zyion Charles, the 12-year-old boy shot and killed near Atlantic Station in November. Channel 2s Audrey Washington filed an open records request and obtained the reports detailing a number of behavioral issues concerning Zyion. According to the reports, the boys mother, DeErica Charles, asked case workers for help with her son. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Days following the shooting, DeErica Charles went before the Atlanta City Council and said she begged different agencies, including the Atlanta Police Department, to take custody of her son. Atlanta police told Washington that Zyion was in a gang at the time of the shooting. They told me they cant do nothing, DeErica Charles said. According to a DFCS report, a case worker determined that Zyion was not in danger, recommended counseling, and then closed the case in July 2022. Zyion died four months later. RELATED STORIES: You reach out to where you know to reach out to, said Dr. LaToya Williams, a licensed clinical social worker who consults with Eastchester Family Services. Williams said after DFCS closed the case, Zyion should have been referred to a behavioral health care program. Theres some behaviors we see that we want to change, lets refer him there, Williams explained. For parents with troubled children, Williams said there are a number of resources available, including programs at the Department of Juvenile Justice. There are a lot of programs in there that keeps them from getting into more trouble than theyve already gotten into, Williams said. Channel 2 Action News reached out to DFCS for comment on the reports but did not hear back. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] Pro-abortion-rights protesters at the South Carolina Statehouse in June 2022. (Joshua Boucher/State/Tribune News Service via Getty Images) Last week, the South Carolina Supreme Court became the first state high court to find a state-level right to abortion since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last June, abolishing the federal constitutional right to abortion. When the South Carolina Supreme Court struck down the states ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, it ruled that the law was unconstitutional because there was an unreasonable restriction upon a womans right to privacy. The decision is considered a major win for abortion rights advocates in the escalating battle over reproductive rights, opening up the possibility for other states to follow. [The decision is] building on a body of jurisprudence throughout the country, holding that state constitutions do in fact recognize and independently protect abortion rights, which is absolutely crucial without federal protection, Genevieve Scott, senior counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights, told Yahoo News. (The center was among the group of litigators that represented plaintiffs in the South Carolina decision.) The ruling in South Carolina is based on a clause in the South Carolina state constitution that recognizes the right to privacy ... so that wouldnt automatically mean a womans right to choose is protected, Robert F. Williams, director of the Center for State Constitutional Studies at Rutgers University-Camden, told Yahoo News. The 3-2 South Carolina ruling left intact the states existing ban on most abortions at 20 weeks after fertilization. Republican Gov. Henry McMaster signed the abortion law in 2021. He criticized the state courts decision on Twitter, saying it found a right in our Constitution which was never intended by the people of South Carolina. Williams points out that while the South Carolina Constitution explicitly includes a right to privacy, theres no right to privacy in the text of the U.S. Constitution. In the landmark 1965 Griswold v. Connecticut ruling, which legalized contraception, the U.S. Supreme Court found there was an implied right to privacy in the Bill of Rights. Griswold then paved the way for the 1973 Roe decision on federal abortion rights. Story continues On the other side of the abortion battle, the Idaho Constitution, which doesnt explicitly declare a right to privacy, upheld its ban on abortion at all stages of pregnancy the same day the South Carolina ruling came down. In the discussion below, both Scott and Williams further explained to Yahoo News whats behind the South Carolina decision and where abortion-rights advocates go from here. (Some responses have been edited for length or clarity.) Yahoo News: Could South Carolinas decision translate to other state courts? Robert F. Williams: It certainly could. When you get state courts like South Carolina with a privacy clause making a ruling like that, certainly other states are going to look at it, but it doesn't mean they have to follow it. What does South Carolinas ruling on abortion mean for surrounding states with abortion bans? Genevieve Scott: That is part of why this is such a momentous ruling, because so many of the states surrounding South Carolina are restrictive states, and already we have seen an enormous number of patients flowing in from those states. What this means is that people who are able to afford to be able to travel will be able to access care. Could the U.S. Supreme Court overturn the South Carolina Supreme Court decision? Williams: The South Carolina decision is based on the South Carolina Constitution, so its a matter of state law. And the United States Supreme Court literally has no jurisdiction, no power over state law questions. So it's what is referred to as an adequate and independent state law ground for the decision. And the U.S. Supreme Court just doesn't have any authority to hear that kind of a case. But if the South Carolina Legislature were to propose an amendment that says, The privacy provision does not cover abortion, that could be put up for a vote of the people in South Carolina. Where are pro-abortion-rights forces going next? Scott: The Center for Reproductive Rights is challenging abortion bans throughout the country, and right now, for example, we are awaiting critical decisions from courts in North Dakota, Oklahoma, Georgia and Florida. We have just done an oral argument in Montana, and we'll be doing an oral argument at the end of the month in Kansas. So many of these cases are ongoing, and they will determine the state of abortion access, including in places like Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio. We know that many states were not in session when Roe was overturned, and so now were going to see what happens as those states come back into session and anticipate that many states will try to pass even more extreme abortion restrictions. Aside from legal action, what are other ways pro-abortion-rights forces are taking action? Scott: Of course, state constitutions will continue to be a critical vehicle to protect abortion rights. But, for example, last year we saw a ballot initiative throughout the country like the one in Michigan, where the people of Michigan established that there is a constitutional right to abortion under their state constitution. And that will be another really important path moving forward. Weve also seen that when you put the question directly to voters, pro-abortion-rights wins. We won all abortion ballot measures last year, including defeating anti-abortion measures in Kentucky and Kansas. But ballot initiatives really wont be possible in every state, and so we also are working on federal legislation like the Womens Health Protection Act to ensure protection for abortion rights nationwide. The reality is that the U.S. Supreme Courts decision has left us with a patchwork of unequal laws. And we at the Center for Reproductive Rights will keep pushing for the Womens Health Protection Act until it passes. A Berklee College of Music student was indicted by a federal grand jury on Tuesday for allegedly threatening and stalking a classmate who posted fliers supporting democracy in China. Xiaolei Wu, 25, who is a citizen of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC), was indicted on one count of cyberstalking and one count of interstate transmissions of threatening communication. Wu was living in Boston, attending Berklee at the time of the alleged crimes. The U.S. Attorneys Office says on October 22, 2022, a person was posting fliers on or near the Berklee College of Music campus that said, Stand with Chinese People, We Want Freedom, and We Want Democracy. For the following two days, court documents allege Wu made a series of threatening messages to the victim who posted the fliers. Wu allegedly told the victim, Post more, I will chop your bastard hands off, and also encouraged others to abuse the victim online by posting their email address. The charge of cyberstalking provides for a sentence up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. The charge of interstate transmissions of threatening communication provides a sentence for up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW Ambassadors patrol the streets of downtown Orlando from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. every day. But now, they have a new mission: tackling the citys homeless problem to keep families off the street. READ: Affidavit: Mount Dora elderly couple stabbed to death at senior living community The ambassadors are meant to enhance security and hospitality for anyone in downtown. However, a new contract approved by the city on Monday would change their mission. Ambassadors will still do the same things they did before, like reporting incidents downtown, but they are going to be playing a much larger role in service as a district contact with the homeless, and connecting them with the social services they need. See the full story in the video above. READ: Police release photo of man believed to have carjacked someone at gunpoint at OIA Click here to download the free WFTV news and weather apps, click here to download the WFTV Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live. A robbery victim held at gunpoint in downtown Sacramento disarmed the suspect who was found a few blocks away and arrested, police said. The incident was reported in the evening on Dec. 30 after a city parking enforcement officer heard gunfire in the area of Seventh and I streets, the Sacramento Police Department announced Tuesday afternoon in a social media post. The robbery occurred near the Sacramento County Main Jail. Police said officers arrived at the scene and learned the suspect, who was later identified as 24-year-old Faustino Becerra Corona of Chico, was armed with a gun. The victim disarmed the suspect, who ran away. Police said the victim was not injured, and the handgun used in the robbery was recovered at the scene. Officers found Corona near Fourth and I streets, where they detained him. Police said the officers later identified Corona as a suspect in two other armed robberies that occurred within a few hours in the same area. Corona was arrested on suspicion of committing the three robberies, according to the Police Department. He remained in custody Tuesday evening at the countys Main Jail, where he was being held without bail. We know that incidents such as this can be upsetting to a sense of safety in the community, police officials wrote in the social media post. Some general safety tips to consider include walking in a group, using well-lit paths of travel, limiting the amount of personal/valuable property you bring with you, and being alert to your general surroundings. Gentner Drummond is sworn in as state attorney general during the Inauguration Day ceremonies at the Oklahoma Capitol. On his first full day in office, Attorney General Gentner Drummond took back control of the prosecution case against the founders of Epic Charter Schools, a case his predecessor relinquished control of last year. Drummond notified Oklahoma County District Attorney Vicki Behenna that he would assume prosecution in the case against the school's two co-founders and its former chief financial officer, according to a letter sent to her office on Tuesday, a copy of which was obtained by The Oklahoman. "As you and I have discussed and as I have said publicly, I believe the Office of Attorney General should be responsible for the prosecution of this matter," wrote Drummond, who was sworn into office Monday. "These allegations involve tens of millions of Oklahoma tax dollars intended for public education, and the state has a strong interest in ensuring proper accountability." Last year, former Attorney General John O'Connor, who Drummond beat in a Republican primary, sent the Epic investigation to Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater. Prater, who did not seek reelection, was succeeded by Behenna this month. In June, Prater filed charges against the school's co-founders and its chief financial officer, accusing them of wrongfully pocketing millions of taxpayer dollars and spending money intended for students on political contributions and personal expenses. David Chaney, Ben Harris and Josh Brock were arrested and charged in the felony case with racketeering, four counts of embezzlement, using a computer for a fraudulent scheme, presenting false claims to the state and acquiring unlawful proceeds. Harris and Chaney also were charged with obtaining money by false pretenses and two further embezzlement counts. All three have denied any wrongdoing. Epic Charter Schools has grown into the state's largest school system, serving nearly 30,000 students across the state. During his campaign, Drummond criticized O'Connor for not doing enough to investigate corruption across the state and hinted the former attorney general might be trying to protect Epic, which has faced years of scrutiny. Story continues O'Connor is letting the Oklahoma County district attorney functionally serve as the attorney general," Drummond said during a candidate debate last year. More:Ryan Walters says he plans to 'hold folks accountable' at the Education Department This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Epic schools case taken back by Oklahoma attorney general QUITO (Reuters) - Ecuador will lower taxes on capital sent abroad and items like alcohol and trim overall value-added tax on specific shopping days this year, President Guillermo Lasso said on Tuesday. Capital sent abroad will this year be taxed at 2%, instead of 4%, Lasso said in a televised address, making imported products like machinery cheaper and attracting foreign investment. Sales tax will be cut to 8% from 12% during four long weekends this year, Lasso, a conservative former banker, added, and taxes on sugary drinks, beer, alcohol and other items will also fall an unspecified amount. "This is good news for everyone, with these actions the state is putting about $140 million in the pockets of citizens," he said. Lasso has pledged to shore up Ecuador's economy, which was battered by the COVID-19 pandemic. He reached a new trade deal with China this month and also restructured his country's debt with the Asian country, but has failed to nudge oil production to promised new heights amid protests against his government. Taxes on guns and ammunition, which can only legally be purchased by state entities and private security companies, will be cut sharply from 300% to 30%, Lasso added, in a bid to help fight a crime wave. "That way we'll facilitate the legal provision of equipment which is so necessary for the fight against crime," he said. Rising crime and violence in the streets and in prisons has drawn the worry and ire of Ecuadoreans. The government blames the violence on drug trafficking gangs. (Reporting by Alexandra Valencia; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Leslie Adler) El Paso police arrested a second man accused of harassing migrants Tuesday afternoon near Sacred Heart Church. The incident follows last week's arrest of another El Paso man who allegedly pointed a gun at migrants taking refuge at the historic church in the Segundo Barrio. El Paso police and state troopers have a large presence in the neighborhood, where scores of migrants remain sleeping on sidewalks and inside church buildings. Immigration:Texas US Sen. John Cornyn calls for 'safe, orderly, humane and legal' immigration reform Raymundo J. Maese, 52, was in the middle of the street harassing several migrants when he was stopped by police at 3:12 p.m. in the 200 block of East Father Rahm Avenue, a police news release states. When officers detained Maese on suspicion of being a pedestrian on the roadway, police found that he was wanted on a warrant on a family violence case in November, officials said. Raymundo J. Maese Maese, of Central El Paso, was booked into the El Paso County Jail on the family violence warrant. He was released Wednesday on a $3,000 bond, according to jail records. The number of undocumented migrants staying at Sacred Heart Catholic Church has been decreasing, though many remain at the Downtown church, hoping to receive political asylum in the United States. Last week, police arrested Steven Mathew Driscoll, 27, who is accused of pointing a gun at migrants outside the church on New Year's Eve and saying "he was doing it for America," according to a federal criminal complaint. El Paso police patrol the Downtown streets and sidewalks where migrants were staying Jan. 4. Driscoll, of East El Paso, remains jailed on a federal charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm for a rifle found in his pickup and state charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, evading arrest in a vehicle and disorderly conduct. Segundo Barrio history:Jesuit priest Father Rahm, the bicycle priest, honored in El Paso A half dozen Venezuelan migrants also have been arrested in the neighborhood, mostly on minor drug possession and other charges, police said. In one case, a Venezuelan couple was arrested after police stopped them driving the wrong way in a 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee that was stolen while it was left warming up. The church encampment has received international attention with President Joe Biden's visit to the El Paso border on Sunday. The president did not visit the site. This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso police arrest 2nd man allegedly harassing migrants near church Screen-Shot-2023-01-11-at-12.23.51-AM - Credit: CBS Prince Harry has been inescapable over the past couple of weeks, as the quasi-royal makes the press rounds promoting his new memoir Spare. One of the more disturbing details the Duke of Sussex shared in his book concerned his time as a soldier in Afghanistan. Prince Harry served ten years during the war in Afghanistan, starting in 2007, and eventually attained the rank of captain in the British Army. During his second deployment, he flew Apache helicopters. More from Rolling Stone In Spare, Prince Harry revealed that he killed 25 people in Afghanistan all members of the Taliban, he claimed. He called his victims chess pieces taken off a board, bad guys eliminated before they kill the good guys, and said that he did not feel ashamed for his actions because hed been conditioned by the military to not feel anything. You cant kill people if you see them as people, he wrote. They trained me to other them, and they trained me well. During a much-hyped Tuesday night appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the host clumsily asked Harry about the controversial passage. Another odd thing about it is that this is nothing new. Heres an article from I believe this is from Reuters from ten years ago describing that you had killed Afghan insurgents, the Taliban, in sorties, offered Colbert. Almost ten years to the day my face was splattered all over the front pages because someone asked me the question, while I was still in Afghanistan, if I had killed anybody from an attack helicopter. And I said yes, Harry explained to the comic. Story continues As to why he chose to share these troubling details in his memoir, Prince Harry, whos dedicated a great deal of time to helping wounded veterans manage PTSD and invited veterans to the Late Show taping said it was all part of his mission to help struggling vets. I made a choice to share it because having spent nearly two decades working with veterans all around the world, I think the most important thing is to be honest and to be able to give space to others to be able to share their experiences without any shame, said Prince Harry. And my whole goal and my attempt with sharing that detail is to reduce the number of suicides. Prince Harrys admission in his memoir that he killed 25 Afghan insurgents, and his describing them as chess pieces, has sparked a series of protests in Afghanistan including at a local university in Helmand, reported the AP. 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, Sayed Ahmad Sayed, a professor at the university, told AP during the protest. Best of Rolling Stone Click here to read the full article. BEIRUT (AP) A European judicial delegation from France, Germany, and Luxembourg has started to arrive in Lebanon to probe the country's Central Bank governor and dozens of other individuals over suspected corruption, the justice minister said Wednesday. Five European countries are probing the embattled governor, Riad Salameh on allegations of laundering public money in Europe. Switzerland first opened a probe two years ago, followed by France, Germany, Luxembourg, and Liechtenstein. Since 2019, Lebanon has been in the throes of the worst economic and financial crisis in its modern history, rooted in decades of corruption and mismanagement. Three quarters of the countrys population now lives in poverty. Once hailed as the guardian of Lebanon's financial stability, many in the cash-strapped country now hold the 72-year-old Salameh responsible for the crisis, citing policies that drove up national debt and caused the Lebanese pound to lose more than 90% of its value against the dollar. The governor, who has held the post since April 1993, still enjoys the backing of top politicians. Activists and lawyers have questioned the personal wealth Salameh has amassed over the years, though he has repeatedly insisted that he earned it prior to his appointment as governor while working as an investment banker for Merril Lynch for nearly two decades. He said his last salary was $2 million a year, and that he had a fortune worth $23 million, plus property he had acquired and wisely invested in to grow his wealth, before he became governor. Caretaker Justice Minister Henri Khoury said in a press conference that the German delegation had arrived to Lebanon, while their counterparts from France and Luxembourg are scheduled to arrive next Monday. They will leave the country four days later, he said. It is no longer a secret that Lebanon received requests for legal assistance from Germany, France, Luxembourg, and Switzerland, Khoury said, adding that Lebanon sent Switzerland, Germany, and France numerous pieces of evidence that they requested. Story continues The European judges look to question over a dozen individuals, notably the governor, his brother Raja Salameh, the heads of major commercial banks in Lebanon and the auditors of the central bank. French, German and Luxembourg authorities in March froze more than $130 million in assets belonging to five suspects linked to a money laundering investigation of $330 million and 5 million Euros. It is widely believed that the Salameh brothers are among them. The office of Switzerlands attorney general said in January 2021 that it requested legal assistance from Lebanon. A document of the request obtained by The Associated Press showed that federal prosecutors heavily inquired about the Lebanese Central Banks relationship with Forry Associates Ltd, a brokerage firm owned by Raja Salameh. Several reports have said that Riad Salameh hired the firm to handle government bonds sales by the Central Bank in which his brother's firm received about $330 million in commissions. The governor said last November that not a single penny of public money was used to pay for Forry Associates Ltd. Zeina Wakim, a lawyer who heads the Swiss organization Accountability Now that filed legal complaints against Salameh and affiliates in Switzerland, France, and the United Kingdom, said she expects limited cooperation from the Lebanese to show good face due to the countrys strong ties between the politicians, banks, and judiciary. The delegation will realize what it means to have the 18 largest banks in Lebanon controlled by the elite, Wakim told the AP. Any genuine and real cooperation in Lebanon be it a bank, public official, or judge would be a strike to the system itself because of this connection between the banking oligarchy and the political elite, and obviously the governor of the central bank. Lebanese investigative Judge Ghada Aoun has also pursued Salameh and his affiliates in 2022, freezing some of Salameh's assets, slapping a travel ban, and briefly arresting his brother Raja. In March 2022, she charged Salameh and his brother with illegal enrichment and money laundering. DW Burnett DW Burnett The car didnt stop moving. It would park and someone, a ghost, a flash, would slip behind the wheel and take it back out again. Welcome to the run-up to Performance Car of the Year 2023. This year well be running breakout stories on each of our 10 contenders twice a week, every week until the full all-out comparison goes live the third week of January. Let's get into it. It was my first time at PCOTY, and I didnt quite know what to expect. I didnt know what the days would be like, how much we would drive, how manic it might be. DW Burnett I also didnt know what itd be like to be presented with a handful of 200-odd mile-per-hour cars, set loose on tree-lined backroads, bumpy, potholed, and at times slick with the on and off rain showers you get in the Catskills. I did not love the moment when our BMW M4 CSL stepped out, hydroplaning at maybe half a mile an hour, down some greasy road almost into a one-lane bridge. On that same drenched day, I drove the bright blue Corvette Z06 Chevrolet had given us with about the same trepidation as I would carrying a bright blue faberge egg. These cars had some awe shining out of them. A vibration. Desire radiated from their engines, and fear radiated from their wide tires. Another car had that same kind of aura, but it didnt cost six figures. It was maybe the fastest car we had at the test, if you could average out how little time it spent sitting still. It was handsome but not beautiful, powerful but not overwhelming, with an engine that was hard to remember after you got out of the car. Still, it was probably the hottest thing at PCOTY, and the car nobody could leave alone. DW Burnett The thing about the Civic Type R is that everything is so well judged. You dont linger on the engine because you are so absorbed in the handling, in the way the pedals match the weight of the steering that match the weight of the gear shift. Its a car that dissolves around you until all you have is a long and winding reservoir road opening up in front of you. I jumped into the perfect red bucket seat to get a ride with Reviews Editor Mack Hogan just to get a little more time. Even if I wasnt driving it, I didnt want to be away from it. Story continues It had character. The first time I drove the CTR I got a completely different impression of the thing. Maybe it was down to how tight of a road I was on, maybe it was something else, but the car just felt dominated by the engine alone. It was just boost boost boost redline over and over, the rest of the car feeling like it was scrambling to hold on. It drove like how I always dreamed those overpowered front-drive Alfa Romeos that Id seen on mid-Aughts Top Gear were like. Again, the specs arent shocking. Its a front-wheel-drive liftback sedan with 315 horsepower and 310 lb-ft of torque. Its 2.0-liter four cylinder comes with Hondas VTEC, of course, turbocharged like the CTR before it, to say nothing of countless tuner Civics sniffing around drag strips before them both. It is not the lightest at 3150 lbs, about as much as the 1980s Volvo station wagon on which I learned to drive stick, but its not wildly heavy. Its not objectively faster than the car it replaces, hardly any more powerful. An evolutionary step, and a small one. The only dramatic departure against its predecessor is the new cars styling is dramatically toned down. Looking at the fact sheet alone, if any car at this PCOTY would be bland, you would think it would be this white Honda. William Membane But it had that ineffable magic to it. Mack said it was the closest car hed ever driven to a 911 GT3. It had that same philosophy to it, just in a front-drive package. More of my coworkers called it like a touring car than they had any right to. The Civic Type R had us questioning how we judged PCOTY. Is it the greatest car in attendance that wins? Or is it simply the car we want to drive the most? The one we see ourselves with, the one that fills our dreams? The Civic Type R quickly filled at least one of our driveways; editor-at-large Travis Okulski traded his Miata for one. Thats high praise from the guy who started his writing career with Miata: The Answer To Every Question. DW Burnett It wasnt the best-sounding car at PCOTY, nor was it the outright quickest. Other cars left you more short of breath, more taken by how they ate up the road ahead of them. I just dont know if there were cars that were more desirable. The Civic Type R gave so much and asked so little. We all could imagine ourselves with one, and I wanted to taste a little bit of that life every time I drove the thing. Related video: Its weird writing these little retrospectives. There will be more Civic Type Rs. Maybe there will be better ones, that couple brilliant handling with a more characterful engine. How will we look back on this particular Civic Type R then? Will it still have its luster? How then will I look back on these few days we spent up in the Catskills, swooning and dreaming at what will no longer be the flashiest newest most exciting car. I cant tell you what car won, I can only describe what it was all like. Ill cherish, at least, the memories of everyone arguing on a windy roadside pull-out, changing votes back and forth, some gleefully declaring it the best thing theyd driven out of everything there. All I knew is that it was the car I wanted to go home in, and I certainly wasnt the only one fighting for the keys. Hearst Owned You Might Also Like A hundred dollar bill. Illustrated | Getty Images The Biden administration has released a new student loan repayment plan that is expected to make college "more affordable and manageable than ever before." Here's everything you need to know: What are the details of the plan? The Department of Education (DOE) called the new plan a "student loan safety net" that prevents borrowers from being overwhelmed by debt, per The Associated Press. It revises one of the current income-driven payment plans known as REPAYE, where monthly payments are determined by the borrower's income and then the remaining loan is forgiven after 20 years. The Education Department's updated plan would make the process more forgiving, The New York Times explains. First, undergraduate loan payments would be reduced to 5 percent of discretionary income, compared to 10 percent in the old REPAYE plan. Discretionary income is the amount of money left over after paying expenses. Graduate loan debt would be set at 10 percent of discretionary income, but if you have both, it would be weighted. Low-income borrowers might also be eligible for $0 monthly payments if they are not making 225 percent of the federal poverty level. "That means a single borrower earning less than $30,500 a year and a borrower in a family of four making less than $62,400 would not be required to make monthly payments on their loans," The Washington Post reports. Additionally, those who took out smaller loans would also have their debt forgiven in 10 years, rather than in 20 years. The biggest change is that the borrower's loan balance would not increase over time, even if they currently are not making payments. It is not yet clear when the new plan would be implemented. What kind of savings would you see? The most significant savings would go to those with undergraduate debt, since their monthly payments would be reduced. "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," said Education Secretary Miguel Cardona. Story continues Also, low-income borrowers would pay an average of "83 percent lower per dollar borrowed over their lifetimes," writes the Times. High-income earners would see a 5 percent decrease in payments. "We are, for the first time, creating a true student-loan safety net in this country," Undersecretary of Education James Kvaal told reporters. What are the criticisms of the program? The Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) has been vocal about the pressure it would face implementing the new plan. The FSA and DOE "must now safeguard priorities ... while also scrambling to find hundreds of millions of dollars to cut from other current and future programs," according to NPR. This is because Congress' omnibus spending bill did not allocate enough for the FSA to fulfill everything on its agenda. In 2022, the FSA had a budget of $2 billion; in the original 2023 budget proposal, the Biden administration wanted to raise the budget to $2.65 billion. Republicans counteroffered with a 20 percent increase for the FSA, which was lower than what the administration wanted, but still an increase. "There was a proposal put forward to the White House to say, 'Listen, we'll give you an extra couple hundred million dollars here, in order to focus on improvements for the student loan program,'" a source told NPR. "But that came with a tradeoff." The tradeoff was that none of the funding could go to Biden's loan relief program. In turn, the Senate version of the bill provided "no new funding for the implementation of the Biden administration's student loan forgiveness plan." Democrats did not want an exception like that specifically noted, and rejected the proposal. Republicans "refused to agree to additional money for FSA without a debt relief exception," explains NPR. As a result, the agency received the same budget as last year, with more agenda items to cover. Another concern is that the debt relief program will subsidize predatory schools "because borrowers with the lowest earnings perhaps because they graduated from, or left, poor-performing programs receive some of the biggest benefits," MarketWatch explains. As Kvaal echoed, "It's time to name names about these programs and have a frank conversation about the root causes of student debt." You may also like Why car sales are falling in the U.S. China is suffering an estimated 5,000 unofficial deaths a day in brutal COVID-19 surge Are the rich ruining thrifting? By Francesco Guarascio HANOI (Reuters) - Chinese display maker BOE Technology Group Co Ltd, a supplier of both Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, plans to invest a substantial sum to build two factories in Vietnam, two people familiar with the matter said. The investment may total up to $400 million, one of them said. The plan underscores efforts by technology firms led by U.S. iPhone maker Apple and Taiwanese device assembler Foxconn to lower supply chain exposure to China amid trade and geopolitical tension between Beijing and Washington and production disruption caused by China's COVID-19 containment measures. BOE is in talks to rent dozens of hectares of land in north Vietnam to add to its relatively small plant in the south that supplies mostly television screens to South Korea's Samsung and LG Electronics Inc, the people said, declining to be identified as negotiations were confidential. BOE declined to comment. Northern Vietnam has in recent years attracted significant investment from electronics giants, becoming a major hub for the production of smartphones, computers and cameras, including flagship goods from Apple and Samsung. Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd (Foxconn) and China's Luxshare Precision Industry also make or plan to assemble a number of Apple products in the area such as laptop and tablet computers. BOE plans to rent up to 100 hectares and use 20% for a plant making remote control systems at a cost of $150 million, one of the people said. The rest would be for displays, with BOE spending $250 million to build a plant on 50 hectares while suppliers would use the remaining 30 hectares, all by 2025, the person said. BOE plans to make the more sophisticated organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) screens at the site rather than liquid-crystal displays (LCDs), the person said. Apple, which included BOE in its 2021 list of manufacturing partners, uses OLED screens for its latest iPhone smartphones. Story continues China's biggest display maker by output is set to become the largest supplier of displays for new iPhones by 2024, analyst Kuo Ming-chi at TF International Securities forecast last week. The U.S. tech giant, however, plans to start making mobile screens in-house by next year, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday. Apple declined to comment. BOE's Vietnam plan is not specifically aimed at supplying Apple, the person said. Customer Samsung, the world's largest smartphone maker, produces half of its handsets in Vietnam while LG has a large operation in the country and is planning new investment. (Reporting by Francesco Guarascio; Additional reporting by Josh Horwitz and Phuong Nguyen; Editing by Christopher Cushing) Flights across the U.S. resumed Wednesday morning, several hours after the Federal Aviation Administration suffered a computer outage that forced it to halt all departures nationwide while it scrambled to resolve the issue. The FAA said the crippling delays that affected thousands of flights appear to have been caused by a problem in the Notice to Air Missions system, or NOTAM, which sends pilots vital information they need to fly. A corrupted file affected both the primary and the backup systems, a senior government official said Wednesday evening, adding that officials continue to investigate. "The FAA is continuing a thorough review to determine the root cause of the Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system outage," the agency said in a statement. "Our preliminary work has traced the outage to a damaged database file. At this time, there is no evidence of a cyber attack." Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Wednesday evening that the FAA will further pinpoint the source and identify steps to prevent it from happening again, and he echoed the agency in saying there is no evidence of a cyber attack. "One of the questions we need to look at right now, and one of the things Im asking from FAA, is whats the state of the art in this form of message traffic?" Buttigieg told NBC News' Andrea Mitchell earlier Wednesday. "And again, how is it possible for there to be this level of disruption? President Joe Biden ordered an investigation after he was briefed by Buttigieg. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., who heads the Commerce Committee, which oversees the FAA, said it, too, will look into the matter. The No. 1 priority is safety," Cantwell said in a statement. "As the Committee prepares for FAA reauthorization legislation, we will be looking into what caused this outage and how redundancy plays a role in preventing future outages. The public needs a resilient air transportation system. Meanwhile, the top Republican on the committee, Ted Cruz of Texas, said the "FAAs inability to keep an important safety system up and running is completely unacceptable and just the latest example of dysfunction within the Department of Transportation." Story continues The delays came just weeks after Southwest Airlines caused travel chaos by canceling more than 2,500 of its flights during the Christmas season. Buttigieg acknowledged the frustrations of travelers in his interview with Mitchell but said safety always comes first. This is an incredibly complex system, Buttigieg said. So glitches or complications happen all the time. But we cant allow them to ever lead to this level of disruption, and we wont ever allow them to lead to a safety problem. The FAA lifted the ground stop around 8:50 a.m., and normal air traffic operations began resuming gradually. But by then airports across the country were already crowded with frustrated travelers and a backlog of flights. As of noon, more than 7,300 flights within, to and out of the U.S. had been delayed, according to the online flight tracker FlightAware. More than 1,100 flights were listed as canceled. Passengers stuck at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago greeted the latest air travel disruption with a collective shrug. "It kind of is what it is," Teresa Ziakas said. "I would rather be safe and sound than worry about being delayed by a couple hours." Traveler Martin Johansen echoed Ziakas. "Planes get delayed," Johansen said as he waited with his wife, Barbara. "Thats just the way life is, so you get used to it." Any person whose flight was canceled is entitled to a full refund, Transportation Department guidelines say. And major domestic carriers like American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta said they would waive the fees of travelers who want to rebook flights. The first sign that it was likely to be a massive incident came around 7:20 a.m., when the FAA sent out a tweet ordering the airlines to pause all domestic departures until 9 a.m. ET to allow the agency to validate the integrity of flight and safety information" as it worked to restore the NOTAM system. All flights already in the sky were safe to land, the FAA said. Pilots check the NOTAM system before they fly," the agency said. "A Notice to Air Missions alerts pilots about closed runways, equipment outages, and other potential hazards along a flight route or at a location that could affect the flight." As the drama unfolded, cybersecurity experts said the likeliest cause was a bad software update. Todays FAA catastrophic system failure is a clear sign that Americas transportation network desperately needs significant upgrades," U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Geoff Freeman said in a statement. "Americans deserve an end-to-end travel experience that is seamless and secure. And our nations economy depends on a best-in-class air travel system. "We call on federal policymakers to modernize our vital air travel infrastructure to ensure our systems are able to meet demand safely and efficiently," he said. Buttigieg tweeted that he had "been in touch with FAA this morning about an outage affecting a key system for providing safety information to pilots." United Airlines said earlier that it had temporarily delayed all domestic flights, while Southwest Airlines said it was "closely monitoring" the situation but warned customers to brace themselves for travel troubles. Soon, the major airports were doing the same. "An FAA system outage is causing ground stops at AUS and other airports across the country," Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas tweeted. "Arriving & departing passengers can expect delays this morning & through the day," it said, adding: "Please stay in contact with your airline & check your flight status before heading to AUS." Flights over the U.S. at 7 a.m. ET Wednesday. (Flight Aware) A number of social media users said they had been affected. Heather Allen, 32, was meant to fly from New York City to Seattle with her fiance to visit her family for a delayed holiday visit. She was watching a movie on her plane, still on the tarmac at John F. Kennedy International Airport, when she and other passengers were told to get off their Delta Airlines flight. She said she had been on the plane for about an hour before she had to get off the plane and that she learned of the outage by reading the news on Twitter. Trying to be patient, but feeling frustrated, Allen said. She said the situation at the airport was not currently chaotic, but could be if delays are longer. The flight delays in the U.S. had a ripple effect on some airports abroad. The international airport operator Aeroports de Paris, or Airports of Paris, said all flights by U.S. carriers had been delayed. It said non-U.S. airlines were flying out as normal without interruption. Air France said all of its U.S.-bound flights were not affected by the FAA computer outage and were operating as planned. It said it continued to monitor the situation. A spokesperson for Gatwick Airport in London said, "As far as we are aware, we are still operating to/from the U.S. at the moment." This article was originally published on NBCNews.com The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge is seen after sunset in a long-exposure image. (Tayfun Coskun / Getty Images) For nearly 10 years, the cascade of lights along the Bay Bridge has illuminated the San Francisco Bay. The public art installation, expected to be removed after just a few years, has become a fixture. Now the bridge may go dark for good. That is, unless Ben Davis can persuade enough millionaires to donate $10 million to keep, expand and upgrade the display. "We have to try," said Davis, founder of Illuminate. "It's important to the city, and it's beautiful." The nonprofit, which launches public works of art, teamed up with New York-based light artist Leo Villareal to create "Bay Lights" in 2013. The 1.8-mile project uses 25,000 LED lights across 300 cables on the western side of the bridge. Though the display was initially intended as a temporary installment to commemorate the bridge's 75th anniversary, the Bay Area Toll Authority agreed in 2014 to make it a permanent installation and fund the maintenance of the lights. The agency agreed to bear the maintenance cost of $250,000 a year, while Illuminate at the time announced that it had raised $2 million from philanthropist Tad Taube to help make the project permanent. SFist reported in 2014 that the entire cost for the project, expected to last 10 to 12 years, was estimated to be $12 million. Davis said the actual cost was about $6 million, although the lifespan of the lights ended up being three years less than expected. The lights have now taken a beating. The harsh environment of the bay, including strong winds, fog, salty air, lightning strikes and vehicle exhaust, has taken a toll, leaving dark patches among the lights where bulbs need replacement. The expansion of the cables and constant vibration also make it an environment where electronics are "unwelcome," Davis said, which means that the project will have to come down by March. "The current set of LEDs that are there are failing at a cost that is faster than we can repair," he said, "and they need to come down." But instead of giving up on the project, Davis said he was looking to raise $11 million by March 5, not to keep the lights but to replace them with others that can endure the environment better. He's also hoping to expand the display to both sides of the bridge. Story continues The entire project would consist of 50,000 lights and would have an expected lifespan of about 10 years, he said. The lights would be visible to drivers, to people flying over the bay, and to those viewing the bridge in San Francisco as well as from across the water in Oakland. He's already secured an Iowa-based company to make new lights specially designed for the bay's environment. To see the project through, however, requires $11 million, he says. He's looking for 10 wealthy donors to contribute $1 million apiece. Another $1 million would be raised through smaller donations and crowdfunding, he said. In the age of online viral fundraisers, why not just open up the entire financing of the project to crowdfunding? "Anyone who has done fundraising, in particular crowdfunding, understands you might get to seven figures," he said, "but it's a very challenging and consuming process." As to concerns that the money spent on the art installation could be better spent on other projects, Davis says he stands by the effort and sees the value in public art, especially a work that reaches as many people as the Bay Bridge. "There's no piece of art that's as radically accessible and touches so many lives as the 'Bay Lights,'" he said. "There's no charge. ... All you have to do is get close enough to see it." He said he believed the project was worthwhile but also a philanthropic choice. He hopes donors also "find another pocket" to fund other essential projects. "This is a way to really touch everybody and bring the joy and beauty and power of art into everyone's life," he said, "and there's a great gift in that as well." Davis added that although he's eager to fund the project however possible, he's excited about the idea of 10 benefactors helping to revive a Bay Area icon, a symbol of hope and beauty not just for the cities it connects but also the rest of the state. "At the end of the day, what matters is to keep the work shining," he said. "If we don't raise the money, the project goes away." So far, Davis said, Matt Mullenweg, the developer of WordPress, has committed $1 million. And Davis said he'd been contacted about other possible donations. The deadline is fast approaching, but he said he was hopeful the entire amount could be raised in time. "There's the option that [the lights] don't have to be there," Davis said. "But they're beautiful, and they make our world a better place." This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Kevin McCarthy. Illustrated | AP Images, Getty Images Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) held on to win the House speakership in the 15th vote, but to do it he had to give in to a series of demands from 20 far-right hardliners, including members of the Freedom Caucus. Some of the concessions could come back to haunt him, including one allowing a single lawmaker to launch a bid to oust the House leader. Others addressed more popular changes, including giving members of Congress at least 72 hours to read bills before they have to vote on them, and holding votes on all 12 spending bills, instead of lumping them all together in omnibus packages used to hide special-interest funding. After the 14th ballot, McCarthy exchanged heated words with holdout Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.). Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) lunged toward Gaetz, but was restrained by another lawmaker. McCarthy backer Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) said the challengers "degraded and just diminished and insulted" McCarthy. Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) said the extended process "was about empowering people empowering rank-and-file members." After finally winning, McCarthy said Republicans had settled their differences and would now unite. In a first test for McCarthy, the House adopted its overhauled rules despite some members' concerns about McCarthy's concessions to the hardline rebels, and then passed a bill seeking to cut IRS funding. Can McCarthy hold the GOP together, or did his fight for the speaker job weaken him too much? McCarthy won the job, but the extremists took the power The GOP really showed off its "ideological extremism" with this sad display, wrote Stephen Collinson for CNN. Nothing demonstrated this more than McCarthy's last-minute boost from former President Donald Trump, "who incited the worst attack on democracy in modern times, to get over the line in the cliffhanger final ballot" almost exactly two years after the Capitol riot. The danger McCarthy now faces goes far beyond his agreement to reinstate an old rule giving any single member the power to "call for a vote to topple him at any time." The real risk for him and his party is "that he has empowered extremists who could alienate mainstream America and in 2024 endanger the tiny new GOP majority that was built on flipping formerly Democratic seats in states like New York and California." Story continues Actually, the fight yielded some positive changes "McCarthy deserved better than a tortuous three-day floor fight," says Jonathan Turley in The Hill. The poor guy looked like he was "caught in a feedback loop stepping on the same rake over and over again." Then again, when you are fighting to be made the most powerful person in the House, second in line for the presidency, you can't always expect an easy win. Besides, a little push and pull can be a good thing. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) "tolerated little public debate or dissent. She thrilled her base with such infamous performative acts as tearing up a State of the Union Address of then-President Trump." She pushed through "a series of party-line votes with little opportunity for amendments or even to read some bills." The deal McCarthy had to make to get over the top "is meant to redefine legislative rights and it could have tangible improvements for the House." McCarthy made promises on spending limits that will hurt the military "Don't believe the happy talk that this was a healthy display of deliberative democracy," says The Wall Street Journal in an editorial. This was just a "power play" by backbenchers who "saw an opportunity to exploit the narrow GOP margin of five seats to put themselves in positions of power that they hadn't earned through seniority or influence with colleagues." Now that the rebels also demanded "seats of power for themselves," winning two Rules Committee seats, they will limit McCarthy's "maneuvering room as he tries to put together majorities for legislation." One of the concessions the far-right won was "a pledge that the top-line budget figure for domestic discretionary spending in fiscal 2024 won't exceed what it was in fiscal 2022." Well, that sounds good, but it includes defense spending. If the cuts are divided between defense and non-defense funding, the military budget "would have to fall by $75 billion." GOP defense hawks might be able to fight to get the military more, "but the pressure for defense cuts will be great." The GOP 'clown show' can't do much... except shut down the government This "Republican clown show" won't accomplish anything significant, says Bret Stephens in The New York Times, "particularly since doing so would require them to work with a Democratic president and Senate." But now we have to rely on the newly elected "squeaker of the House" to get his fellow Republicans to pass really important legislation. We're about to hit the debt ceiling. "If we can avoid another useless government shutdown, I'll consider it a minor miracle." Was the real loser here McCarthy, or Trump? McCarthy wasn't the only one who took some lumps, says The Miami Herald in an editorial. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), one of the leaders of the hardline holdouts, threw Trump's name into the mix of speaker candidates, even though the Constitution is not clear on whether someone not in Congress can fill the position. Trump got a single vote in what "undoubtedly was a symbolic dagger" in the former president's influence among his fellow Republicans. "The lack of seriousness aside, the lack of votes for Trump was a public declaration of independence by other Republicans." You may also like Why car sales are falling in the U.S. Are the rich ruining thrifting? China is suffering an estimated 5,000 unofficial deaths a day in brutal COVID-19 surge [Source] Filipino American nurses who participated in the Monday walkout of over 7,000 nurses in New York City have earned the support of the city's Philippine consulate. Nurses walked out from Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx and Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan to protest against staffing issues that have reportedly impeded them from performing their duties properly. What we are asking for is for safe staffing and quality care for patients. We dont think we are asking for too much, said New York State Nurses Association President Nancy Hagan. The strike continued for a third day on Wednesday, leaving the two hospitals operating with minimal staffs. More from NextShark: Chinese Canadian Heroine Who Lived During Chinese Exclusion Act Dies at 111 From COVID-19 On Tuesday, the Philippine Consulate General released a statement expressing support for the strikes as well as the 1,000 Filipino nurses employed in the two hospitals who were affected by the resulting shutdown. The Philippine Consulate General in New York supports the clamor of Filipino-American nurses, employed in Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx and Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan, for better wages and working conditions, the statement read. 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. For their compassion, dedication, and selflessness, their call for better employment terms and conditions should be heeded, the consulate added. More from NextShark: San Francisco Chinatown plastic bat attack victim 'pauses' lawsuit against DA Chesa Boudin Filipinos, who comprise 4 percent of nurses in the U.S. based on 2020 data, registered the highest rate of nurse deaths due to COVID-19 at 31.5 percent. A study by the Berkeley Interdisciplinary Migration Initiative found that nurses from the Philippines had a higher likelihood of infection because they made up a significant percentage of the frontline workers tasked with assisting patients at the height of the pandemic. Story continues In an interview with CNN Philippines, a Filipino nurse explained that the strike is not just about wages. "This is something that we feel very, very strongly about, Lorena Vivas, a nurse and an executive committee member of the New York State Nurses Association for Mount Sinai Hospital, was quoted as saying. It's not even about wageThat is not the case, the fight here is not the wages but for safe staffing." More from NextShark: Chinese student who praised Tiananmen Square protestors was harassed by other Chinese students at Purdue Vivas said the nurses will remain in the picket lines unless their demands for "safe staffing" are met. She pointed out that her hospital has an anomalous 550 nursing vacancy, which she argues is not due to COVID-19 as they have been systemically understaffed by the hospital for the past six, seven years." The nurses who aren't able to leave their patients reportedly end up overworking and sacrificing their breaks. According to Vivas, instead of the safe standard of handling just two patients at a time, their responsibilities are constantly tripled or quadrupled." Both hospitals reportedly offered the nurses a 19.1 percent compounded wage increase, but Vivas said their demands for safer work environments "have fallen on deaf ears." More from NextShark: Asian American lawmakers respond to the elementary school mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas NYSNA leadership walked out of negotiations shortly after 1 a.m. ET, refusing to accept the exact same 19.1% increased wage offer agreed to by eight other hospitals, including two other Mount Sinai Health System campuses, and disregarding the governors solution to avoid a strike, Lucia Lee, a spokesperson for Mount Sinai, told CNN in a statement. As of Tuesday, bargaining discussions between the nurses and managers at Montefiore have reportedly resumed while talks at Mount Sinai have reached a deadlock. Related stories: According to Yle, Finland has Leopard-2 battle tanks available but has not yet made any decisions regarding their transfer to Ukraine. Read also: Polish National Security Council discussed sending Ukraine Leopard tanks However, if a multi-country group appears to support the transfer of battle tanks, Finland will consider participating, the report says. Finlands political leadership is reportedly waiting for a decision from Germany and other major countries, and says it will not be the first to decide to send tanks. Read also: Finland adopts 11th military aid package worth EUR 28.8 million for Ukraine U.S. political news outlet Politico reported on Jan. 9 that France and Poland are pushing Germany to equip Kyiv with its powerful Leopard-2 tanks. Read also: Rosatom demands money from Finland for unbuilt nuclear power plant A French official told Politico that Paris is turning the screws on Germany in the hope of extracting an agreement from Berlin to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine ahead of a Franco-German summit on Jan. 22, the 60th anniversary of the Elysee partnership treaty between the two nations. NV On Jan. 7, Ukrainian Presidential Adviser Mykhailo Podolyak confirmed that Ukraine is negotiating with its international partners about the transfer of heavy tanks, specifically the German-made Leopard-2s. According to him, the discussions are already at the finish line. Read also: German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock visits Kharkiv U.S. newspaper The Wall Street Journal earlier reported that Poland is considering supplying Ukraine with Leopards. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki confirmed negotiations were underway, but said Warsaw does not plan to transfer the tanks to Ukraine without support from a broader coalition of allies. Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine By Gabriel Stargardter and Brad Haynes RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - When Brazilian rioters stormed government buildings in Brasilia on Sunday, the man tasked with keeping the city safe was a continent away in Florida - the same state his ex-boss, former President Jair Bolsonaro, had relocated to after losing last year's election. Anderson Torres, Bolsonaro's justice minister from 2021 to 2022, took a job as Brasilia security chief after leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took office on Jan. 1. He did not last long. Within hours of the Jan. 8 invasion of Brazil's presidential palace, Supreme Court and Congress by election-denying Bolsonaro supporters, Torres had lost his new gig - becoming the first to fall in recriminations after the worst assault on Brazil's institutions since the country's return to democracy in the 1980s. "This was a structured sabotage operation, commanded by Bolsonaro's ex-minister Anderson Torres," Ricardo Cappelli, the official leading a post-invasion federal intervention into Brasilia's public security, told CNN Brasil. "Torres took over as secretary for security (in Brasilia), dismissed the whole chain of command and then took a trip. If that's not sabotage, I don't know what is." Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes issued an arrest warrant for Torres on Tuesday. It was not immediately clear what the charges were, but Moraes cited alleged "omission" and "connivance" by Torres. Later on Tuesday, Torres said he would return to Brazil, hand himself over to authorities and prepare his defense. "My actions have always been driven by ethics and legality," he wrote on Twitter. Ibaneis Rocha, the governor of the federal district, sacked Torres amid the chaos on Sunday afternoon, just hours before a Supreme Court order suspended Rocha from office for 90 days. The shakeup of capital security highlights a wider challenge facing Lula, whose new government must now deal with a sweeping criminal investigation of the Brasilia riots while establishing a fresh chain of command among police and security forces. Story continues Many rank-and-file officers have long sympathized with the law-and-order appeal of Bolsonaro's hard-right politics, and the former president spent the past four years stacking federal law enforcement organs with loyalists. For example, the appointment of Torres, 47, at the Justice Ministry followed years of friendly relations with Bolsonaro's family. As police dug into graft allegations against Bolsonaro's sons early in his term, then-Justice Minister Sergio Moro accused the president of trying to swap the head of the federal police to protect them. Bolsonaro denied any such interference. When Moro quit in April 2020 over the alleged meddling, Brazilian media reported that the president had suggested Torres to run the federal police, but his former colleagues there resisted the idea due to his lack of seniority. At the time, Torres was in his first stint as security chief for the federal district under Rocha, where he remained until the president tapped him for the Justice Ministry in March 2021. Within a week, Torres, with Bolsonaro's approval, replaced the head of the federal police. He also replaced the head of the federal highway police (PRF) with Silvinei Vasques, whose name would hang over last year's election. During the Oct. 30 runoff between Lula and Bolsonaro, the PRF faced accusations of conducting illegal highway roadblocks in Lula strongholds in northeastern Brazil, in what critics said amounted to voter suppression efforts. Vasques, who had campaigned openly for Bolsonaro on social media, was charged in November with abusing his role to favor Bolsonaro politically and was dismissed last month. Torres came under fire for his close involvement with PRF operations during the election but did not face charges. Formally questioned by the Supreme Court about allegations of voter suppression, Torres denied interfering in the election. (Reporting by Gabriel Stargardter in Rio de Janeiro and Brad Haynes in Sao Paulo; Additional reporting by Ricardo Brito in Brasilia; Editing by Bradley Perrett) A northwest Missouri man charged in the Jan. 6 insurrection is set to go to trial Friday, the first Capitol riot defendant in the state to have a case heard by a jury. Lloyd Casimiro Cruz Jr., 40, of Polo about 50 miles northeast of Kansas City faces one charge of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building and one charge of entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds. Both are misdemeanors. Prosecutors say Cruz first denied breaching the Capitol, then later told the FBI that reviewing videos he took on Jan. 6 reminded him that he had indeed gone inside. His trial is scheduled to begin Friday morning in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Mr. Cruz maintains his innocence and wants his day in court to seek a full acquittal of these charges, his California attorney, John Pierce, told The Star in an email Tuesday morning. Twenty-three Missouri residents have been charged in connection with the Capitol riot. So far, 16 have pleaded guilty, and 14 of those have been sentenced. Eight got probation, four were ordered to serve 30 to 45 days of incarceration, one received 45 days in a halfway house and one received probation plus intermittent confinement. Cruz and two others are scheduled to go to trial, and the remaining defendants are still going through the courts. Prosecutors say Cruz entered the Capitol about two minutes after the initial breach and walked around inside for seven or eight minutes, recording with a GoPro. They said Cruz would have seen officers fighting to keep people off the northwest steps and that after those steps were breached, Cruz climbed them, filming as he went. When he went in the door two minutes after the breach as you know, it was a very violent breach, windows were bashed in, officers had to retreat the alarm was going off on the Senate wing door as he entered, then-assistant U.S. attorney Mona Furst said at a hearing in August. And there was a lot of screaming, yelling and chanting as he entered as well. Story continues Prosecutors say this photo from U.S. Capitol surveillance video shows Lloyd Casimiro Cruz Jr., of Polo, Missouri, entering the building through the Senate wing doors. According to the charging documents, records obtained through a search warrant showed that Cruzs cellphone was in the Capitol on Jan. 6. An FBI agent interviewed Cruz on May 19, 2021, at the Caldwell County Courthouse in Kingston, Missouri, the documents said. Cruz told the agent that he drove with friends to Washington, D.C., to attend the pro-Trump Stop the Steal rally. At the rally, Cruz said, former President Donald Trump encouraged the crowd to march to the Capitol, and the crowd arrived at the west side of the Capitol about 15 minutes after Trumps speech ended. Cruz told the agent he went onto the Capitol grounds because he saw tear gas and rubber bullets being deployed on protesters pushing through the barriers and wanted to help anyone who had been injured, according to the court documents. He told the agent that he walked up the northwest exterior steps of the Capitol but did not enter the building. After seeing a window break, he said, he realized the situation was deteriorating and left. He said he had recorded about 15 minutes of footage with his GoPro camera and would give it to the FBI if he could find it, the documents said. The agent interviewed Cruz again on June 1, 2021, and Cruz gave the agent a thumb drive that contained photos and videos of his trip to D.C., according to the documents. He said that reviewing the videos reminded him that he entered the U.S. Capitol building on January 6, 2021. Cruz told the agent he wore a green coat, a camouflage Trump hat and a black face mask when he entered the Capitol, the documents said. He said he later saw himself on surveillance footage from inside the Capitol that had been posted on One America News Networks website. The agent called Cruz on July 23, 2021, the documents said, and Cruz told the agent that when he marched to the Capitol, he was under the impression that Congress was in recess and that the vote to certify the presidential election results was to be later in the day. According to the documents, Capitol video surveillance recorded Cruz entering the building at 2:14 p.m. and exiting at approximately 2:21 p.m. Cruz has filed two motions to dismiss his case. In one, he said the charges were undeniably unconstitutional and that he was merely exercising his First Amendment rights when he entered the Capitol that day. U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton denied that motion on Dec. 15. In another motion, Cruz argued that the evidence obtained from the search of cellular location data should be suppressed and the case dismissed because it originated with a massive violation of the Fourth Amendment. The Fourth Amendment says search warrants cannot be issued without probable cause and must describe the place to be searched and person or things to be seized, Cruzs motion said. But when the FBI obtained the search warrant, the motion argued, The government didnt even know who they were searching for or even what specific crimes they were investigating. The charges against him, Cruz said, stemmed from an unlawful blanket general warrant of cellphone location data which lacked any specifics. The government denied that it violated the Fourth Amendment in collecting the information. Cruz had no reasonable expectation of privacy, it said, inside the Capitol building on Jan. 6 or in the location information that Google and AT&T collected in their normal course of business. But even if Cruz had standing to raise his objections, the government argued, they fail on the merits. The government obtained search warrants that were supported by probable cause and that specified their objects with particularity, the governments response said. These were not impermissible general warrants. The judge is scheduled to hear arguments on Cruzs motion at 9 a.m. Friday, and jury selection is to begin afterward, according to the court docket. Pierce, Cruzs lawyer an outspoken advocate of those accused of breaching the Capitol on Jan. 6, has made numerous headlines of his own over the past two years. At one point, he had taken on about 18 Capitol riot defendants more than any other attorney raising conflict-of-interest concerns and questions as to whether he could adequately represent them all. In August 2021, his cases came to a halt after he failed to show up at a hearing for one client and prosecutors said they couldnt find him. He reappeared in September, saying hed been in the hospital, but provided no other details. Pierce also represents Capitol riot defendant John George Todd III, of Blue Springs, who was charged with five misdemeanors on May 3, 2022, after he was allegedly captured on video making threatening remarks to police officers and illegally remaining within the building. Todds case was originally scheduled to go to trial Nov. 14, 2022. But at a pre-trial hearing, Pierce drew sharp criticism from Chief Judge Beryl A. Howell when he said he needed more time to prepare and asked for another year. A fit and healthy father diagnosed with stage four cancer says he was left looking like the Nightmare on Elm Street after a horrific reaction to chemotherapy left him too embarrassed to go to his young sons cricket matches and is now hoping to save his life with a ground-breaking vaccine. Geoffrey Seymour, 41, a procurement specialist, loved playing tennis, basketball and cricket and had always been healthy until just before his 41st birthday when he began experiencing blood in his stool. Geoffrey was aware of this being a symptom for cancer from adverts on the television, so quickly went to his GP. Geoffrey, who lives in Richmond, London, with his wife Santa, 44, and their son Marco, 10, was diagnosed with stage four colorectal cancer, which had spread from his colon to his liver a situation so severe and seemingly hopeless he likened it to being wrapped in a paper bag that is on fire. He also had a bad reaction to chemotherapy severely blistering the skin on his face and, according to Geoffrey, making him look like Freddy Krueger from the 1984 horror film, Nightmare on Elm Street. The chemotherapy stopped working however and now, in an attempt to save his life, Geoffrey has travelled to Germany for dendritic cell therapy where a personalised vaccine is created in a lab with the aim of stimulating the immune system. Research in this area is at an early stage, according to Cancer Research UK, and so the treatment was not cheap just one injection in Germany, on October 17, cost 17,000 and Geoffrey is now waiting to see if it was enough to help him, while continuing to fundraise to pay for it. He said: I couldnt even wait until the end of the fundraising to have it done just because Im so worried that the disease was going to spread. Geoffrey was determined to find a new approach after three sessions of five doses of chemotherapy didnt work and left him with side-effects so bad he no longer wanted to go out in public, even to see his little boy play cricket Story continues I had a really bad reaction in my face, it was full of painful blistering that made my face feel like it was on fire, he said. I just got to the point where I was looking a bit like Nightmare on Elm Street. Unless I went there with a bag on my head, Id have other people coming up to me and looking at me thinking, Whats wrong with this guy? when Im quite happy blending into the crowd. Geoffreys ordeal began in April 2021, just two weeks before his 41st birthday on March 4, when he got the first warning signals of cancer. After spotting blood in his stool, Geoffrey decided to visit his GP, as he knew it could be a symptom of cancer. And in late March at Kingston Hospital, he was diagnosed with stage four colorectal cancer, which had metastasized in the liver. After the diagnosis, in March 2021, he had five cycles of chemotherapy every three weeks which initially reduced the lesions in his liver. At this point he says he felt optimistic. In December 2021, he had surgery to have a third of his liver removed, and the medical team began getting him ready for radiotherapy which was going to be used on his colon he even had radio markers tattooed for the laser alignment. A month later, a scan showed more tumours in his liver, so he had another round of chemotherapy. This time it was a success and liver surgery was booked in for June 2022. But, just as things were looking up, a few weeks before the surgery, a scan revealed disease progression. Geoffrey was put back on chemotherapy with a different agent and the surgery was cancelled. After just two cycles, blood work and a scan showed disease progression again, all while the side effects were getting unbearable for Geoffrey. He said: The side effects have gotten worse, worse, worse, and now, chemotherapy is just not effective anymore, the bodys gotten used to it. Explaining why he reacted badly to a chemotherapy drug, he said: Essentially it kills all your fast-growing cells, which include your cancer cells, but also includes your hair and nails. I had a really bad reaction to that in my face. Determined to find an alternative, Geoffrey started doing his own research by looking online and found dendritic cell therapy, only to be told it would not be available to him in the UK. He decided to fly to a laboratory in Ulm, Germany to have the week-long treatment on October 17 2022. Friends and family rallied round to contribute towards his Go Fund Me appeal, which has raised over 14,000 and helped to pay for the 17,000 injection. I am still in pain, I have a lot of pain, which Im trying to find a good balance of very strong medications, he said. Geoffrey is due to meet with his oncologist on November 1 in the UK, but knows he may well need to pay for further vaccine doses and more treatment abroad and is continuing to fundraise to pay for that. Specialist cancer information nurse at Cancer Research UK Caroline Geraghty said: Dendritic cell therapy is a type of vaccine that can treat cancer. Dendritic cells help immune system recognise and attack abnormal cells, such as cancer cells. To make the vaccine, scientists grow dendritic cells alongside cancer cells in the lab. The vaccine then stimulates your immune system to attack the cancer. Its still being researched, so the evidence base is not yet strong enough for it to be available in the UK. Decisions about the best course of treatment must be based on sound evidence of benefit so its important patients talk to their doctor about any alternative treatment they might be considering. She added: Thanks to ongoing developments in research, there continues to be many new cancer drugs showing effectiveness in clinical trials, providing potential options for people with cancer. But while regulators have improved the speed at which they assess these for routine NHS use, there are still, unfortunately, times when particular drugs arent yet easily accessible for people who may benefit. We understand how frustrating this can be. (Independent) Thousands of flights have been grounded across the US after the Federal Aviation Administrations IT system suffered a major failure. The NOTAM (Notice to Air Missions) system, which keeps pilots and other airport staff updated about aviation hazards and airport facilities, has stopped processing information as of Wednesday morning. The FAA said there was no nationwide ground stop, but confirmed the NOTAM system was down, with engineers currently working on the issue. The FAA is working to restore its Notice to Air Missions System. We are performing final validation checks and repopulating the system now, said a spokesperson for the FAA. Operations across the National Airspace System are affected. We will provide frequent updates as we make progress. FlightAware data shows that at least 400 flights have been delayed into, out of or across the United States as of 5.31am ET, CNBC reports. Passengers reported sitting on the tarmac for hours, with airport schedules thrown into disarray, Coming up on the three hour mark of sitting on a grounded red eye flight from @flyLAXairport, with still no publicly available update from @FAANews love it, tweeted Taylor Brasher. Nationwide FAA computer outage has grounded flights this morning! Heres hoping we get to Disney! wrote Alexis Uremovich on Twitter. Meanwhile, US data scientist DJ Patil tweeted: Anyone one else stranded? Our @united says there is a nation wide outage of FAA @FAANews computer systems. More follows. MADRID (Reuters) - Several flights from Madrid airport to the United States were delayed on Wednesday morning, according to information released on the website of Aena, which operates the airport. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said on Wednesday it was working to restore a system that alerts pilots to hazards and changes to airport facilities and procedures that had stopped processing updated information. The glitch led to hundreds of flight delays in the United States. Flights by a range of operators, including American Airlines, were showing as delayed by up to several hours to Dallas-Fort Worth, Miami, and New York, according to Aena's website. An American Airlines flight from Barcelona to Miami due to depart at 11:00 a.m (1000 GMT) was also delayed until 13:50 p.m., Aena's website flight data showed. Reuters was not able to immediately confirm the reason for the delays, though American Airlines said on its Twitter account it was working with the FAA to minimise customer disruptions related to the system outage. Flights operated by Iberia, the Spanish airline of International Consolidated Airlines Group, were unaffected, the airline said, as it can operate with an alternative system. (Reporting by Corina Pons, Catherine Macdonald and Joan Faus, editing by Inti Landauro and Mark Potter) The big news: Some of Floridas most contentious new laws have landed in court, where the federal judiciary is considering whether certain actions highly touted by Republican lawmakers and the governor meet constitutional muster. A measure governing intellectual freedoms at public colleges and universities is in the testimony phase, with the critics attempting to demonstrate the problems with the law. On the first day, a University of Florida faculty senate leader took issue with Gov. Ron DeSantis request that all universities provide lists of resources used for diversity, equity and inclusion, the News Service of Florida reports. The next day, a University of Pennsylvania expert witness discussed the pitfalls of allowing students to record lessons without the instructors consent. Read more from Florida Phoenix. Hot topics Teacher recruitment: The Broward County school district has struggled to attract military veterans into a new certification program promoted by the state, Miami New Times reports. The Martin County school district is holding another job fair as it seeks to overcome an unprecedented shortage of teachers and other employees, WPTV reports. School board politics: National politics played a key role in local school board races in Florida and elsewhere, and appears likely to continue going forward, NPR reports. Education funding: The University of Miamis new Teaching and Learning department chairperson, education funding expert Bruce Baker, says Florida should target its money where student needs are greater, the University of Miami News Service reports. School leadership: Two Hillsborough County middle schools Giunta and Sligh will get new principals. Teachers at an Escambia County elementary school are criticizing the superintendents selection of a new principal for their campus, WEAR reports. School repairs: A 97-year-old Volusia County elementary school will get a $2.3 million repair of its water-damaged walls, the Daytona Beach News-Journal reports. A Citrus County charter school is seeking added funding from the city of Crystal River to support a construction project, without which the school might close down, the Citrus County Chronicle reports. Story continues Student news Bullying: A St. Johns County parent accused staff at her daughters high school of bullying her child, who died by suicide. District officials are investigating, WTLV reports. Enrollment: Miami-Dade County school district officials hope magnet offerings will attract students back into classrooms, reversing enrollment declines, WLRN reports. Dropout prevention: The St. Lucie County school district is expanding a non-traditional program aimed at giving struggling high school students a second chance to succeed, WPEC reports. Special education: Volusia County students with special needs can get workplace internships to help them prepare for jobs, the Daytona Beach News-Journal reports. Dont miss a story. Heres a link to yesterdays roundup. Before you go ... Be yourself. Sign up for the Gradebook newsletter! Every Thursday, get the latest updates on whats happening in Tampa Bay area schools from Times education reporter Jeffrey S. Solochek. Click here to sign up. New Year's resolutions can feel all-consuming. You can instead try our expert-recommended monthly themes for your year. New Year's resolutions can feel all-consuming. You can instead try our expert-recommended monthly themes for your year. The mantra new year, new me is long gone thanks to the realization that it puts a huge amount of pressure on individuals, and it also insinuates that you need to be new (for the record, you dont). But New Years resolutions still exist for many whether youre hoping to eat healthier or get a hold of your finances. Unfortunately, far-reaching goals can be unattainable and can make people feel bad about themselves if and when they fail and more than half of these yearlong resolutions will fail, according to Emma Mahony, a therapist at Better Life Therapy in Philadelphia and a mental health content creator on TikTok. People end up failing because [of] the intense, concrete, absolute goals that are so far off from where we are now, Mahony said. Bottom line: Its hard to stick to a strict and lofty goal. Instead, consider a different approach: Tackle smaller, monthly themes instead of one big resolution. These themes can be part of a larger goal, like improving your mental or physical health, or they can just be self-improvement themes that resonate with you. For example, maybe in January your theme is cook more at home rather than a resolution of lose weight. If your bigger goal is to improve your mental well-being, you may want spend one month doing a mindfulness exercise every day, Mahony said. The key is to pick something actionable and small rather than stumbling toward a vague ambition. Setting monthly themes can be exciting and easier than a resolution, all while fueling some positive change in your life. Heres how and why to set a monthly theme for each month in 2023, plus some more examples to try: Monthly themes take away some pressure. According to Tasha Bailey, a psychotherapist in London and a mental health content creator on Instagram, having monthly goals instead of a yearlong resolution helps ease the pressure that can come with a big New Years Day resolution. Story continues Having to sit down and decide what do I want for this whole year can feel like a really big task, Bailey said. Your life could look really different in just a few months, which could make goals established for the entire year unattainable. Instead, take the pressure off. Since monthly themes are a shorter ask, they can feel less scary. They allow for flexibility. Change is one of the only things we are promised in life, Mahony said. Therefore, making themes for your months instead of a large 2023 resolution allows you more of a flexible framework to work within those life changes. So, if you find that a months theme didnt go as planned, you can try it again a few months later. Or, if you dont know what you want your theme to be six months from now, you can leave it blank and address that months theme when the date gets closer. Mahony said you can add to this flexibility by checking in on your theme once a week to see if you need to make any adjustments. For example, if your theme is dating more and you find that the number of dates youre going on is exhausting, you can alter your actions to give yourself a break like texting with someone youre interested in instead of going out for dinner. This theme is still more actionable than get into a relationship or find love, which might be what a lofty resolution would sound like instead. They keep your goals exciting. Rather than churning on the same resolution all year, youre keeping your goals fresh by adjusting them monthly, Bailey said. Youll be less likely to get bored with a resolution if it changes 12 times in the year. Whats more, youre able to stay more innovative, Bailey added. Shorter-term goals allow you to feel more accomplished and help you move on to other pursuits, allowing you to search your brain for new goals you may have never otherwise tried. Setting monthly themes can be done to address a larger goal in your life or to manage some upcoming tough times. Setting monthly themes can be done to address a larger goal in your life or to manage some upcoming tough times. So, how do you set your monthly themes? Heres some expert advice. Bailey suggested that you look at your calendar for the new year and write in certain challenges that you expect will come up, such as big life events or struggles that affect you annually (like seasonal depression). From there, [plan] a word, theme or something that you need during that month to get you through or help you with those moments, Bailey said. So, if April is your busiest time at work, you may want to prioritize rest as your months theme. Bailey also added that you should think about what you want to do more or less of in the new year and use these ideas to plan out your monthly themes effectively. An example could be that if you want to spend more time with loved ones, you can establish monthly themes around community, family and friendship. For example, Januarys theme might be reconnection, where you try to get in touch with long-distance friends more regularly. In February, your goal might be intimacy, where you focus more on spicing things up with your partner through spontaneous dates or such. Mahony said you can also think about what went well (or not so well) for you last year and use those things as a jumping-off point for your monthly themes. If you struggled with anxiety last year, you can establish some themes that can address this whether thats starting therapy or listening to a podcast by someone certified in mental health. Take stock of how your monthly themes are going. Make a calendar reminder every two weeks [and] check in with yourself for five minutes, Mahony said. Ask yourself how your monthly theme is going and determine how you can contribute to the theme through activities or practices that week, she said. You could even use a friend, family member or therapist as an accountability partner, Mahony added. And use other tools to hold yourself accountable, too. Bailey recommended that you read books or listen to podcasts that relate to your monthly theme, which can help you work toward your theme or learn more about the subject. This could mean reading a book on rest if thats your monthly theme or listening to a podcast about anti-productivity. Youll be less likely to lose sight of your theme if you curate the material youre taking in to go along with the topic, too. And, no, you dont have to plan your monthly themes all at once. Its such a unique thing [and] its such a personal thing theres no wrong or right way to set monthly themes, Bailey said. She added that if you dont feel like setting your themes for the upcoming months at the start of the year, thats OK. You can create your themes on whatever day feels right for you, whether that is an upcoming birthday or a random day in March. Also, Bailey said, if yearly resolutions work for you instead, there is nothing wrong with that. Try to let go of the pressure to follow what everybody else is doing, and do what feels right for you, Bailey added. Mahony noted that your goals dont have to be a huge shift in your life. She said you should commit to something that feels sustainable, something you want to cultivate and something that is important to you. Youll be more likely to stick to your monthly themes if you actually enjoy what youre working toward. Any step in the right direction is a step, even if its small, Mahony added. Related... A former mayor of Atlanta and police chief were named in a lawsuit concerning the deadly shooting of an eight-year-old in 2020. Fulton County court records show the lawsuit was filed by the family friend Omar Ivery, who was driving in Atlanta when eight-year-old Secoriea Turner was killed. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] The lawsuit names former Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and former police Chief Rodney Bryant, city councilmember Joyce Sheperd and the owner of the Wendys. The lawsuit alleges that all the defendants failed to keep the area safe despite the ongoing violence. TRENDING STORIES: The lawsuit, first obtained by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, states, But for defendants lack of intervening to control or dismantle the nuisance of an armed barricade that obstructed the roads and the violence that surrounded it, Mr. Ivery would not have been injured and Secoriea would still have her life today. Following the deadly shooting of Turner, Ivey said in the lawsuit that the defendants did nothing to end the lawlessness on University Avenue weeks after Rayshard Brooks was killed outside a Wendys by Atlanta police officers. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] During the height of public unrest, Mayor Bottoms, Interim Chief Bryant, Councilmember Sheperd, and the city neglected their duty to protect the safety of the public and allowed lawlessness, vigilantism, and violence to erode and disrupt the area surrounding the Wendys at 125 University Avenue, according to the lawsuit. Ivery requested a jury trial and unspecified damages in the suit due to both physical and emotional injuries he suffered following the shooting. A previous lawsuit filed by Ivery was a dismissal without prejudice in 2021, according to court records. IN OTHER NEWS: For 10 long, excruciating months Fort Collins resident Travis Steele's children lived with the promise of a big surprise. The father can't recall how many times he and his wife's 10- and 9-year-old children begged to know what awaited them after he first told them in February of the surprise. Then came November and the long-awaited unveiling. It included new backpacks and snowshoes. Steele announced the family was a couple days away from heading to Colorado State Forest State Park to snowshoe and stay in a yurt. His kids' months of anticipation were rewarded with exuberance knowing they were just two sleeps away from playing in the abundant mountain snow and sleeping in a rustic yurt heated by firewood in the state park 75 miles west of Fort Collins. A visitor stands on the deck of a Never Summer Nordic yurt in Colorado State Forest State Park in this undated photo. Colorado Parks and Wildlife has terminated its contract with the company, leaving customers searching for refunds. And then, just like that, the excitement was swept away. Weeks before the big trip, Steele kept talking to Never Summer Nordic yurt staff, making sure everything was a go. Several days before he called to make sure the road wasn't closed due to recent big snow. All was good, staff assured. Then, just shortly after announcing the trip to his family, voice messages and emails to the company went unanswered. A day before the family was to leave, Steele remembers getting bad news from Never Summer Nordic staff. The road was closed due to snow. There was a problem with the concessionaire's contract with state parks. And the gut-wrenching conclusion: the family couldn't stay in the yurt. Steele said he didn't give much thought to the $149 annual membership he had paid in addition to the $200 to $300 for the yurt stay, not to mention taking time off from his bike repair business. "The biggest cost was the kids; they were just heartbroken," said Steele, who had been visiting the yurts for a decade. "If I would have found out much earlier their contract wasnt in place, I would have just stopped mentioning it to the kids. How do you try and spin it to your kids that you can't go because of a contract?" Story continues Steele was far from alone in losing out on a much-anticipated family outing and money. Many more shared on social media their disappointment in losing a tradition, perplexed at the sudden closure of the popular state park yurts and concerned about getting membership and reservation money refunded. Multiple phone calls and messages left via email from the Coloradoan to Never Summer Nordic were not answered or returned. Heads up:In 2023, your vehicle registration will include a fee for a Colorado parks pass State parks reveals when, why Never Summer Nordic contract terminated The contract issue between Never Summer Nordic and state parks began in August. That's when Colorado Parks and Wildlife, which oversees state parks, first notified via certified mail to Never Summer Nordic owner Greg Graves and associate Bron Austin Deal that the company was not in compliance with its contract. The agency sent a series of notices it sent to the business to the Coloradoan last week: Aug. 22: State Forest State Park interim manager Tony Johnson notified Graves he had breached the concessionaire contract by failing to pay the $1,500 annual concession fee, monthly percentage fees and sending monthly reports. The letter stated the agency would use the $5,000 performance deposit to pay the debt. Sept. 1: Graves was asked to provide required insurance forms as part of the contract and informed providing the documents required his immediate attention. Sept. 23: With no response regarding the first two letters, a letter was sent notifying Graves of the following: His concession contract was terminated due to failing to provide payment or insurance documents in addition to not properly maintaining the system's yurts and cabins. The company must notify customers with existing reservations that it no longer had a valid contract with state parks, reservations had been canceled and to refund all existing reservation payments if requested by the customer. The company was directed to remove all content on social media, websites and other communication forms referring to its services with state parks. Dec. 6: The company was notified that it must remove all of its property from State Forest State Park by June 30, 2023. Never Summer Nordic owns the system's eight yurts, cabin and hut. As of Jan. 9, the Never Summer Nordic website was still accepting reservations and its Facebook and Twitter accounts did not mention it was no longer taking reservations, or mention it was closed. However, you could not book reservations from the website, despite the site showing availability. "The information on NSNs website is false and misleading," Colorado Parks and Wildlife wrote in an email to the Coloradoan. "Neither NSN nor its affiliates have the right to accept new reservations to stay at the park or honor prior reservations at State Forest State Park. The yurts are locked and unavailable for occupancy." The Colorado State Forest State Park website includes on its home page a prominent notice of the closure and link to a letter Never Summer Nordic was to send to those with reservations but failed to. It state park's website says it is not taking reservations for early 2023 but those with questions regarding reserving later in 2023 can call the park office at 970-723-8366. In Rocky Mountain National Park:Changes coming to timed entry reservation system for 2023 Questions remain if Never Summer Nordic customers can get their money back Steele said being a small business owner himself, he was willing to work things out with Graves and believed his family vacation would end up happening despite warning signs. That ended when he received no responses from his follow-up calls and emails and then saw the many negative comments on the company's Facebook page. He said he is now trying to recoup money he paid Graves through PayPal. "What kills me about this is he had an amazing business,'' Steele said. "You would have to book two to three years in advance if wanting to stay there in winter.'' Visitors unpack gear inside a Never Summer Nordic yurt at Colorado State Forest State Park in this undated photo. Colorado Parks and Wildlife has terminated its contract with the company, leaving customers searching for refunds. Bethany Callaway, of Colorado Springs, had a yurt trip booked this year but now wonders what will happen to the $455 she paid for reservations. "I had been able to book even after they had lost their contract and they still took my money and never reached out to me," she said. "... My bank temporarily refunded my money but (Bron) has 60 days to argue it, which I don't think he will." Despite Colorado Parks and Wildlife's Sept. 23 letter stating Never Summer Nordic was to notify customers of the termination of its contract, Colorado Parks and Wildlife said the company failed to do so. The agency said it does not have the company's customer contact information and that Never Summer Nordic has refused to provide it, which is required by the contract. Thus, the agency has been unable to notify customers directly of the closure. In the letter to customers posted on the Colorado Parks and Wildlife website, the agency wrote refund requests should be sent to Never Summer Nordic, Inc., 247 Jackson County Road 41 Walden, CO 80480, online at www.neversummernordic.com/contact, calling 970-723-4070 or 970-690-5866, or emailing bron@neversummernordic.com, yurts@neversummernordic.com or gaag01@msn.com The numbers listed immediately went to messages stating the party "is not able to receive calls at this time" and your "called party is temporarily unavailable" as of Jan. 9. The agency said those paying with a credit card or travelers check may be able to obtain a refund through their bank. Another option is filing a consumer protection complaint with the Colorado Attorney Generals Office at stopfraudcolorado.gov/about-consumer-protection/report-fraud.html. In an email response to Coloradoan questions, Colorado Parks and Wildlife said Never Summer Nordic was required to pay 9.5% of its gross revenue as part of the contract. Due to delinquency of its reporting, it is unknown how much the company owes, the agency wrote. Colorado Parks and Wildlife said it has not initiated litigation over the situation and that there has been communication between the agency and the company. This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Never Summer Nordic yurts in Colorado state park closed Legal filings show that FTX has backed out of a lease for a property just opposite the White House. Tom Williams/Getty Images FTX has exited a lease for a property it rented just opposite the White House and US Treasury. A court order marked the six-year lease for the "nonresidential" property as "mutually terminated." Sam Bankman-Fried visited the White House four times between April and September. Legal filings show that FTX has backed out of a lease for a property just opposite the White House. The property is located at 655 15th Street, Washington, DC, in a building known as Metropolitan Square. According to a legal filing by FTX's attorneys from Monday, West Realm Shires the parent company of FTX's US businesses and Metropolitan Square Associates LLC agreed a lease on August 3, 2022, which was set to expire in August 2028. The legal filing described the property as "nonresidential" but didn't give further information, such as its square footage or intended use. The building is located directly opposite the US Treasury and just a few minutes walk from the White House. As the crow flies the building is around 300 meters from the seat of the president. Google Maps lists part of the property as a WeWork and the office-space company has an inactive Facebook page for the address, though 655 15th Street doesn't feature on WeWork's website. Crypto outlet Decrypt first reported on the news. The filing was included as part of FTX's bankruptcy proceedings. The crypto exchange and dozens of affiliated companies, including hedge fund Alameda Research, filed for bankruptcy on November 14. Cofounder Sam Bankman-Fried stepped down as CEO and has since been charged with eight criminal counts, including wire fraud. Former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison and former FTX CTO Gary Wang have also been charged, with both pleading guilty. "The Debtors, in exercise of their business judgment, have determined that they do not have a continuing need for the Premises and that the Lease adds no value to the Debtors' estates," representatives for FTX Trading wrote in a proposed order on Monday, which was granted by US bankruptcy judge John T. Dorsey on Tuesday. Story continues The order said that the lease "shall be deemed rejected and mutually terminated as of December 21, 2022." A legal filing from December 21 shows that FTX Trading proposed an order for West Realm Shires to also reject leases it held in Miami, San Francisco, Chicago, and Singapore. Under the order, Metropolitan Square Associates is entitled to retain the security deposit of $31,981. The order says that FTX must collect its business and financial records from the site and return third-party items to their proper owners. Beyond that, if FTX doesn't collect its other personal property, Metropolitan Square Associates is allowed to retain or dispose of it. Attorneys for FTX Trading and Metropolitan Square Associates did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment on when the lease first started and what the property was used for. WeWork did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment on whether it still has any connection to the property. Sam Bankman-Fried visited the White House four times between April and September During his time leading FTX, Bankman-Fried tried to push through changes to crypto regulation. He gave away millions of dollars in political contributions and planned to host a huge Christmas party for politicos, Insider previously reported. Guarding Against Pandemics, a lobbying group set up by Bankman-Fried, bought a roughly $3 million townhouse in Capitol Hill, Puck reported. In November, the group used the property to host a cocktail party for Republican operatives and lobbyists on one night and a similar event for Democrats the next, the publication reported. Bankman-Fried himself visited the White House four times between April and September, visitor logs show, including visits two days in a row in May. "The meetings focused on pandemic prevention related to Sam Bankman-Fried's Foundation and general information on the cryptocurrency industry and crypto exchanges," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters last week. Steve Ricchetti, who serves as Counselor to President Joe Biden, and Bruce Reed, Biden's deputy chief of staff, attended the meetings, Jean-Pierre said. Read the original article on Business Insider The FTX Arena is no more. As the contagion from the collapse of FTX continues to spread, a Florida judge stripped fallen cryptocurrency exchange FTX of its naming rights to the home of the Miami Heat on Wednesday. The news comes after a court hearing in the Bankruptcy Court of Delaware, where attorneys told the court that funds from Alameda Research funded the deal with Miami-Dade county. Theyre taking down the logo from the FTX Arena pic.twitter.com/4AxUjer31C LilMoonLambo (@LilMoonLambo) November 11, 2022 The county had already received approval to take down FTX signage after the exchange filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last November. Todays ruling was made retroactive to Dec. 31, 2022. Todays order finalized the parties' separation, and now allows the owners of the Miami Heat arena to look for new bidders and partnerships on the building. Here Are the Sports Marketing Deals Crumbling Along With FTX "Their short-term goal, both by filing their own motion and by becoming the recipients of the granting of this motion, is that it will no longer be the FTX Arena," legal analyst David Weinstein told Local 10 News. "They will have, of course, whatever remedies might be available under the contract to recover lost money. But given the nature of the way everything went down with this, I think it's one of those situations where you cut ties, put it behind you, and move on to the future." Spoke with @DavidSWeinstein this morning re: #FTXs motion asking to terminate several contracts - to include naming rights agreement at county-owned sports arena located in Miami. Money county already received from #FTX being spent on #gunviolence prevention initiatives. pic.twitter.com/QbQodTemPI Christina Boomer Vazquez, M.S. (@CBoomerVazquez) January 11, 2023 Now, Weinstein added, Miami-Dade will have to decide what the county will do with money already received by FTX in the deal or turn the money over to the bankruptcy court overseeing the FTX case. Story continues "That becomes something for the court to look into how [Miami-Dade] obtained the money, whether or not they did their due diligence, whether they were duped just like every other investor in this alleged Ponzi scheme. And whether or not they have a good faith basis to say we received that money," Weinstein said. Heres the Latest in the Sam Bankman-Fried FTX Fraud CaseAnd How We Got Here The $213 million, 18,000-seat facility opened in 1999 as American Airlines Arena. In March 2021, then FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried signed a 19-year contract with Miami-Dade, the arena's owners, for a $135 million naming rights deal. It would have provided Miami-Dade County with $2 million a year. The deal raised eyebrows in the industry, not only due to its dollar amount but also the fact that FTX was only two years old at the time, launching in 2019. "It's been a pretty good year for us. To the point where, frankly, we don't need to rely on the other 18 years to have the funds for this, Bankman-Fried told Decrypt during an interview on the GM Podcast. So, it's been a phenomenal year for a number of businesses and for the crypto industry in particular. And then I think for us, even more so. And so, that's given us a pretty big cushion." Naming rights deals were a popular move for crypto companies before the onset of the 2022 crypto winter. In November 2021, rival cryptocurrency exchange, Crypto.com, signed a deal worth $700 million with the owners of the then Staples Center, the home of the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers. FTX used to have a D.C. office across the street from the White House and Treasury Department, according to court documents. Thats closerphysically, at leastthan either the Blockchain Association or Coin Centers offices were to key lawmakers, which are 25- and 10-minute drives away, respectively. The office has come up in court filings because FTXs legal team is trying to get the judges permission to mutually terminate a lease with the property owner, Metropolitan Square Associates. Its typical for a company to terminate leases and sell property it doesnt think will be essential to its restructuring after entering Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. FTX D.C. office location. Source: Court documents, Google Maps West Realm Shires, parent company of FTXs U.S.-based businesses, signed a lease for 655 15th Street N.W. in D.C on August 3, 2022, that was set to expire August 2028. West Realm Shires paid a $32,000 security deposit for the nonresidential real property, according to court documents filed on Monday. The location, referred to as Met Square on Google Maps, appears to house a WeWork co-working location, where companies can sign leases for permanent, private work spaces. The terms being proposed by FTXs legal team would mark the lease as mutually terminated as of December 21. Metropolitan Square would keep the security deposit on the condition that it waives its rights to all other claims against FTX. FTXs draft agreement would also allow the bankrupt crypto exchange to abandon personal property at the officebut not business or financial recordsas long as some third party doesnt have a claim to it. FTX, once the second-largest centralized crypto exchange by volume behind Binance, took a big hit when a report revealed that Alameda Research, its trading desk, held billions worth of illiquid FTX Token (FTT) on its balance sheet against billions in liabilities. The ensuing rush to sell FTT, including by former FTX investor Binance, and withdraw funds from FTX eventually forced the company to admit it did not hold one-to-one reserves of customer assets, freeze withdrawals, and file for bankruptcy. Story continues Decrypt's 2022 Person of the Year: Sam Bankman-Fried Before things fell apart for FTX, the company seemed pretty optimistic about its ability to wield influence in D.C. That often meant that Bankman-Fried was stepping on others toes and talking at, rather than to, other crypto industry lobbyists, according to Blockchain Association Executive Director Kristin Smith. There was a situation when a group of lobbyists and advocates were meeting to have a strategy session, and he showed up in the middle of that and basically spoke for 45 minutes at us and then left, Smith told Decrypt in December. And so I think my understanding is that a lot of the conversations were sort of one-sided. But at the same time, I think people were very interested in Sam. They thought he was approachable. Smith was very clear in saying that neither Bankman-Fried nor FTX were ever members of the Blockchain Association. But she did get a sense of how he liked to operate in D.C.: He was diligent about creating opportunities to rub elbows with lawmakers, like hosting breakfasts with senators and going to happy hour with congressional staffers. The White House, meanwhile, has been reluctant to comment on its interactions with Bankman-Fried. In mid-December, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre refused to answer questions about donations made by Bankman-Fried to President Joe Biden's campaign. Last week, the White House confirmed four meetings with the FTX founder throughout the course of 2022, but claimed those meetings were merely about pandemic preparedness programs and "general information" regarding crypto markets. Bankman-Fried made what appeared to be his first big splash in Washington in December 2021, when he testified before the House Financial Services Committee along with Coinbase, USD Coin issuer Circle, and other industry players. Im honored to be testifying before the House Financial Services Committee today about the future of the digital asset industry, along with colleagues from Coinbase, Circle, Paxos, Bitfury, and Stellar.https://t.co/ODB285Yuvq SBF (@SBF_FTX) December 8, 2021 At the time, he shared a link to FTXs policy website on Twitter. The website, which is still live, was updated as recently as October with a blog post including a draft of a set of standards that we as an industry could enact to create clarity and protect customers. A month after the blog post was published, the FTX empire had crumbled and Bankman-Fried was days away from being arrested and charged with conspiracy, wire fraud, and campaign finance violations, among other crimes. Hes since been extradited to the U.S., where he was placed under house arrest at his parents home and pleaded not guilty to all criminal charges. His trial date was set for October 2, 2023. Deadline extensions and auctioning distressed assets are on the schedule along with Sam Bankman-Frieds attorneys entering the chat during the next FTX bankruptcy hearing. The court hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, January 11 at 9 a.m. EST in the District of Delaware Bankruptcy Court and will be livestreamed on YouTube. FTX came under fire in early November when its closer-than-previously-disclosed relationship with its trading desk, Alameda Research, lead to allegations of commingled funds, theft and fraud. By November 11, the company filed for bankruptcy and its disgraced founder, Bankman-Fried, stepped down as CEO. He now faces criminal charges from the U.S. Department of Justice, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering, in a separate case thats being held in the Southern District of New York. He has pleaded not guilty on all counts, and that trial has been scheduled to begin in October 2023. Sam Bankman-Fried Released to Parents' Palo Alto Home on $250 Million Bond Wednesdays FTX bankruptcy hearing has prompted a flurry of filings, including a motion to admit attorneys from the Montgomery McCracken Walker & Rhoads law firm to represent Bankman-Frieds interests in the case. The law firm did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Decrypt. Up until he was arrested in the Bahamas, Bankman-Fried said repeatedly in interviews and on Twitter that he wanted to help the restructuring team make things right. That runs counter to what newly appointed FTX CEO John Ray, whos overseeing the company through its Chapter 11 proceedings, has said. Ray specifically cut off Bankman-Frieds access to financial records, instructed banks not to give him access to the companys accounts, and fired his inner circle, which included FTX co-founder Gary Wang, ex-Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison, and ex-FTX Chief Engineering Officer Nishad Singh. At this point, all three of the former execs are cooperating with the justice department in its criminal case against Bankman-Fried. Story continues Caroline Ellison 'Knew That It Was Wrong,' Implicates Sam Bankman-Fried Meanwhile, Lightspeed Strategic Partners has also filed documents to have its legal team included in the FTX bankruptcy case. Lightspeed participated in FTXs July 2021 $1 billion Series B funding round at an $18 billion valuation. Then, at the start of 2022, FTX announced that Amy Wu, who had helped oversee the VC firms investment in the crypto exchange, would be joining to lead ventures, gaming, M&A and commercial initiatives, according to a press release. Wu later resigned on November 11, the same day that FTX filed for bankruptcy. FTX has also been negotiating the termination of a lease that West Realm Shires, parent company of FTXs U.S.-based businesses, signed for an office at 655 15th Street N.W. in D.C. Turns out that its an office in the same building as a WeWork coworking space, right across the street from The White House and Treasury Department. The company originally signed a 6-year lease and paid a $32,000 security deposit for the nonresidential real property on August 3, 2022, according to court documents filed on Monday. The terms being proposed by FTXs legal team would mark the lease as mutually terminated as of December 21. The landlord, Metropolitan Square Associates, would keep West Realm Shiress security deposit on the condition that the company waives its rights to all other claims. 'Grossly Inexperienced and Unsophisticated' Leadership Caused FTX Collapse, Says New CEO FTXs attorneys also filed notice that the companys newly appointed investment banker, Kevin Cofsky, would appear in person to testify on the potential value of the debtors customer list along with the marketing, sale process, [and] proposed big procedures for the more than 130 entities included in the companys Chapter 11 filing. The defunct crypto exchange also said that Edward Mosley, FTXs new financial advisor, would be in court in-person to testify on the companys ability to file a complete record of assets and liabilities within the deadline given by the court. Late last week, the Ad Hoc Creditor Committee filed an objection to FTX asking for more time to prepare the assets and liabilities list. FTX initially asked for a deadline extension on November 17, bumping the due date back to January 23. Then on December 21, FTX submitted another filing asking the deadline to be moved back to April 15. It does not appear that the Debtors will ever be able to reconcile their pre-petition books and records (or, more likely, create them in the first instance) and file accurate schedules and statements in these Chapter 11 cases, attorney Daniel OBrien wrote in the objection. The objection was withdrawn on Tuesday evening, according to court documents, meaning it could indeed take another three months before FTX produces a complete account of its assets and liabilities. The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said on Jan. 11 that Russian occupation forces exert "moral and physical pressure" on the population of the occupied territories. Nearly 1,500 employees of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, who refused to receive Russian passports and sign an agreement with Rosatom, are denied passes and access to the facilty. Russian forces are looking for new employees in Russia to bring to the nuclear power plant. According to Ukraine's military, they are reportedly preparing housing for future employees through the so-called "nationalization" of apartments of local residents who have left. The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said in its regular evening update on Jan. 11 that the Russian forces continue to focus their efforts on attempts to capture the eastern Donetsk Oblast by conducting an offensive in the Bakhmut area. According to the Ukrainian military, Russia suffered significant losses while conducting an assault on Soledar, a salt-mining town about 10 kilometers north of Bakhmut, which has been the site of the fiercest fighting. Moscow forces are trying to cut the supply routes for the Ukrainian military in the area, the General Staff said, adding that the fighting for Soledar continues. Earlier on Jan. 11, Serhiy Cherevatyi, a spokesman for Ukraine's Eastern Military Command, said that the Russian forces shelled the Bakhmut area 249 times over the past day. Cherevatyi reported that Soledar is not under Russian military control, nonetheless describing the situation as "difficult." Cherevatyi also denied earlier claims that Soledar was under Moscow's control after Russian proxies in eastern Ukraine and the Kremlin-run Wagner mercenary group said late on Jan. 10 that Russia had captured the town. In a video address on Jan. 11, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia likely made false claims about capturing Soledar to support mobilization efforts in the country and "give hope" to Russians. "Currently, the terrorist state and its propagandists are trying to pretend that some part of our Soledar fell to Russia. They already present it to their society to support mobilization and give hope to those in favor of aggression," Zelensky said. "But the fighting continues. The Donetsk direction is holding," he added. ATLANTA (AP) Startup of a nuclear power plant in Georgia will be delayed since its operator found a vibrating pipe in the cooling system during testing. Georgia Power Co., the lead owner of Plant Vogtle near Waynesboro, announced the delay Wednesday. The company said that the third reactor at the plant is scheduled to begin generating electricity for the grid in April. The unit of Atlanta-based Southern Co. had previously given a startup deadline of March. The problem was found during startup testing in a pipe that is part of the reactor's automatic depressurization system, said Georgia Power spokesperson Jacob Hawkins. He said the pipe needs to be braced with additional support. It's not a safety issue, he said. Southern Nuclear Operating Co., which will operate the reactor on behalf of Georgia Power and other owners, must get approval for a license modification from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the company said in an investor filing. The plant includes two operating nuclear reactors and the first two nuclear reactors being built from scratch in the United States in decades. The fourth reactor is still under construction and is supposed to start generating electricity sometime in 2024. The delay will cost Georgia Power and other co-owners at least $30 million. A third and a fourth reactor were approved for construction at Vogtle by the Georgia Public Service Commission in 2012, and the third reactor was supposed to start generating power in 2016. The cost of the third and fourth reactors has climbed from an original cost of $14 billion to more than $30 billion. Other owners include Oglethorpe Power Corp., the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia and the city of Dalton. Oglethorpe and MEAG would sell power to cooperatives and municipal utilities across Georgia, as well as in Jacksonville, Florida, and parts of Alabama and the Florida Panhandle. Radioactive fuel was loaded into the third reactor in October. Federal regulators gave approval after delays over faulty wiring and incomplete inspection documents. Story continues Georgia Power customers are already paying part of the financing cost and state regulators have approved a monthly rate increase as soon as the third reactor begins generating power. But the Georgia Public Service Commission will decide later who pays for the remainder of the costs. Vogtle is the only nuclear plant under construction in the United States. Its costs and delays could deter other utilities from building such plants, even though they generate electricity without releasing climate-changing carbon emissions. ___ Follow Jeff Amy on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jeffamy. TAIPEI (Reuters) - Germany will not provide Taiwan with weapons and has not been asked to do so, as the situation is different from Ukraine's, a senior German lawmaker said on Wednesday while on a trip to Taipei. Democratically-ruled Taiwan, viewed by China as its own territory, has faced increased pressure from Beijing which staged war games near the island last August. Taiwan rejects China's sovereignty claims. Wary of angering China and prompting a trade backlash, most countries do not sell arms to Taiwan. 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 a news conference in Taipei that Germany had been generous in sending weapons to Ukraine. "The situation here is a different one. Our role is less military here. It's an economic question," she said, speaking in English. Pressed on whether Western countries should be helping arm Taiwan given China's stepped up military threat, Strack-Zimmermann said Germany would not do so. "There's no question to send weapons to Taiwan. That is not the question. We talked a lot here with people, with the politics, and the question is not 'please Germany send us weapons'," she added. "It's not a question of military equipment. I think there are different partners here." Johannes Vogel, the FDP's deputy chairman, said at the same news conference there was a "moral obligation" to avoid military aggression in the Taiwan Strait. "And then one has to think what can you bring on the table, and we think the economic dimension of avoiding a horrible scenario is something we can effectively bring on the table." Both met Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen on Tuesday. China has condemned their trip. Taiwan's armed forces are mostly equipped with weapons either made domestically or by the United States, though France has previously sold fighter jets and warships to Taiwan, and the Netherlands sold Taiwan two submarines in the 1980s. Story continues Germany has traditionally had a close diplomatic and business relationship with China and, like most countries, has no formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. But Berlin has been considering a raft of measures to make business with China less attractive as it seeks to reduce its dependency on Asia's economic superpower, a strategy paper seen by Reuters last month showed. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Andrew Heavens) Watch: Austin Butler can't shake his Elvis voice Viewers of the Golden Globes were left baffled and amused by the fact Austin Butler appeared to accept his award for playing Elvis Presley in the rock n roll legend's voice. The 31-year-old star won the award for Best Actor - Drama at the ceremony on Tuesday night for his lead performance in Baz Luhrmann's musical biopic Elvis. Read more: How historically accurate is the Elvis biopic? Butler beat the hotly-tipped Brendan Fraser in The Whale to the award, as well as Hugh Jackman for The Son, Bill Nighy for Living and Jeremy Pope for The Inspection. Austin Butler won the award for Best Actor - Drama at the Golden Globes for Elvis. (NBC/Getty) The star delivered a lengthy speech from the stage of the Beverly Hilton Hotel in which he thanked the Presley family as well as his co-stars and director. He also offered special words of thanks to Denzel Washington for "your kindness and thank you for your generosity in championing me when you did not have to". Austin Butler won critical acclaim for his all-singing, all-dancing performance in Elvis. (Warner Bros) During the latter part of the speech, Butler referenced the music being piped in to play him off the stage and quipped that they "could at least play Suspicious Minds or something". Read more: Priscilla Presley praises "unbelievable" Austin Butler But it was his accent that caught the attention of viewers, with more than a trace of Presley's distinctive Mississippi drawl in the voice of the California-born actor as he spoke. Austin Butler accepts the #GoldenGlobes award for best actor in a drama movie for starring in #Elvis pic.twitter.com/6AnACWAEgi The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) January 11, 2023 In a red carpet interview with Access Hollywood before the ceremony, Butler addressed the fact his accent has noticeably shifted since he immersed himself in the role of Elvis. Story continues "I liken it to when, if you live in another country for a long time or that sort of thing, you end up soaking in many things and it becomes a part of your DNA in a way," he said. Read more: How do the stars of Elvis compare to their real-life counterparts? But viewers watching the Globes were still confused, with one writing that they are "convinced Austin Butler was hit in the head while filming Elvis and now he can only do that accent". Others stated that Butler was simply "committed to the bit" and was maintaining this accent throughout the movie's awards season run. im convinced austin butler was hit in the head while filming elvis and now he can only do that accent viv (@Iustwetrust) January 11, 2023 every day i think about austin butlers fake accent and how committed he is to the bit ilana kaplan (@lanikaps) January 11, 2023 be as committed to me as austin butler is to this accent #goldenglobes justina sharp (@bentpieceofwire) January 11, 2023 Ive been trapped in an accent rabbit hole before believe you me, but never quite as deep as Austin Butler. He cant shake it!! Still talking like Elvis lmaoo Rami (@RamiofTeaneck) January 11, 2023 Huge night for the Google search accent real? Josh Gondelman (@joshgondelman) January 11, 2023 Elvis was nominated for three awards in total at the Golden Globes, with the movie also shortlisted for Best Motion Picture - Drama and Luhrmann nominated for Best Director. In both of those categories, the movie was beaten by Steven Spielberg's clear Oscar frontrunner semi-autobiographical drama The Fabelmans. Read more: Full list of winners from the Golden Globes 2023 The Fabelmans and Everything Everywhere All at Once both scooped two awards at the Globes, with Martin McDonagh's dark comedy The Banshees of Inisherin winning the night with three prizes. Over on the TV side, there were big wins for the likes of House of the Dragon, Abbott Elementary and The White Lotus, while Zendaya won an acting gong for Euphoria. Watch: Trailer for Elvis The Banshees of Inisherin has won the 2023 Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. The film, directed by Martin McDonagh, was competing in the category against Babylon, Everything Everywhere All at Once, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery andTriangle of Sadness. At the start of the evening, Everything Everywhere All at Once had been the bookmakers favourite to take home the award, with The Banshees of Inisherin another hotly tipped contender. The Banshees of Inisherin stars Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as two former friends who abruptly fall out. McDonagh also took home the prize for best screenplay. For a full list of this years Golden Globe winners, updated live as theyre announced, click here. The Independent is also live-blogging the Golden Globes ceremony and its aftermath here. This years ceremony is the first to be televised in two years, following a high-profile scandal surrounding the Globes organsing body, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). Many high-profile celebrities have boycotted the Globes for the past two years, after an LA Times expose called out a lack of diversity among the HFPAs voting membership. (At the time, it did not have a single Black member among its ranks.) On top of the diversity scandal, the organisation also faced criticism over ethical lapses in its business conduct. In response, the HFPA expanded its membership and enforced a new code of conduct. This years ceremony went ahead as usual, with a star-studded live ceremony that was broadcast live on NBC in the US and later shown on Peacock in the UK. The night was hosted by comedian Jerrod Carmichael. Stars including Austin Butler, Colin Farrell and Jamie Lee Curtis attended the event, competing for some of the top awards. Not every celebrity has given up the HFPA boycott, however. Brendan Fraser revealed in advance that he would not be attending the ceremony, despite being nominated for a Best Actor award for his performance in The Whale. Fraser has long alleged that he was sexually assaulted by Philip Berk, the former president of the HFPA. Berk has denied the claim. From l to r: Austin Butler, Steven Spielberg, Ryan Murphy and Eddie Murphy at the 80th Golden Globe Awards. (Photo: Getty) And the award for most strenuous comeback goes to... the 80th Golden Globes. It has been nearly two years since a bombshell Los Angeles Times report helped get the show pulled from the airwaves after disclosing ethical lapses and the lack of diversity within the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the organization that hosts the ceremony. This year's telecast was supposed to be a return to normalcy, while also signaling to the industry that the HFPA had changed for the better. While some of those changes were reflected in the diversity of the winners including Abbott Elementary's Quinta Brunson and Tyler James Williams, Black Panther queen Angela Bassett, and Everything Everywhere All at Once powerhouses Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan and the quality of the speeches, some high-profile no-shows and questionable creative decisions means that the Globes' future is still cloudy. Here are the highs, lows and head-scratchers from the closely watched telecast. HIGH: The A-listers brought their A-game for the acceptance speeches Turns out Quan, Jennifer Coolidge and Yeoh aren't just great actors they're also great awards acceptors. That trio along with Ryan Murphy, who picked up the honorary Carol Burnett Award delivered the nights most moving and memorable speeches, casting their victories in personal terms. Whether it was Quan giving a shoutout to his first director, Steven Spielberg, or Yeoh speaking of her struggles in Hollywood or Murphy directing the attention away from him and onto his diverse collaborators, they all made us believe the Globes really mattered. And thats great acting. Jennifer Coolidges speech was perfect: I had such big dreams as a young person, but what happens is they get sort of fizzled by life. Mike White, you gave me a new beginning, even though this is the end, 'cause you did kill me off. Even if this is the end, you changed my life pic.twitter.com/pHNPAhhQpj Spencer Althouse (@SpencerAlthouse) January 11, 2023 MJ Rodriquez made history last year as the first trans actress to win a Golden Globe. that ceremony never happened, so tonight Ryan Murphy shouted her out during his own speech so she could get her own standing ovation. love, love, love pic.twitter.com/mJOuK3DY5w Spencer Althouse (@SpencerAlthouse) January 11, 2023 "I'm just gonna stand here and take this all in. 40 years. Not letting go of this." Michelle Yeoh accepts her #GoldenGlobe. https://t.co/IpBnF0ZqEp pic.twitter.com/EbQZk624xD Variety (@Variety) January 11, 2023 LOW: But several big winners were MIA We pretty much expected no-shows. Frankly, we were surprised how much Hollywood showed up at the 2023 Golden Globes just one year after the 2022 edition was canceled (both figuratively by critics and literally by NBC). But the absence of a handful of winners confirmed the Globes aren't back back quite yet. There were four high-profile winners who failed to show up to collect their awards. Three of those Cate Blanchett for Tar, Zendaya for Euphoria and Amanda Seyfried for The Dropout were, according to presenters, said to be working or "in production." Here's the thing, though: Successful actors are nearly always working, and in years past, it would be a very, very safe bet that the trio would have been able to call out for a day to attend. The most believable excuse belonged to Yellowstone winner Kevin Costner, whom presenter Regina Hall went to great pains to explain was stuck in Santa Barbara because of Southern California's heavy rainstorms and mudslides this week. It was something his publicist also swore to us backstage. We'll buy that one. HIGH: Brad Pitt is the new Jack Nicholson Once upon a time in Hollywood, Jack Nicholson was the king of the Oscars, acting as the life of the party for each and every ceremony. Brad Pitt served that function at this years Golden Globes, getting the laughter going for Jerrod Carmichael's uncomfortable opening monologue and clapping wildly for all the winners. Even when he lost his own Globe Quan scooped up the Best Supporting Actor statue Pitt was also up for Pitt acted like a winner. Bless Brad Pitt, sitting front center smiling attentively, not winning, literally holding international name recognition afloat. #GoldenGlobes Briggs: False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths (@BriggsHatton) January 11, 2023 After the numerous shout outs at the @goldenglobes tonight its official Brad Pitt is the new awards show front row Jack Nicholson. Dana Gee (@dana_gee) January 11, 2023 HIGH: Eddie Murphy remembered to be funny Accepting the very serious Cecil B. DeMille Award, the Saturday Night Live icon mostly kept a straight face. But it turned out that's because he was saving a haymaker of a punchline for the end of his speech. Rattling off the three things he learned over the course of his Hollywood career, Murphy finished by saying: "Keep Will Smith's wifes name out of your f***ing mouth!" That's why he's Eddie Murphy, dammit. Eddie Murphy shares three pieces of advice for up-and-comers in the cinema industry: 1) Pay your taxes. 2) Mind your business. 3) Keep Will Smith's wife's name out your fu**ing mouth. pic.twitter.com/ZJ0OzGQp8D The Hollywood Handle (@hollywoodhandle) January 11, 2023 Only Eddie Murphy can drop a Will Smith joke in an award show. #GoldenGlobes2023 #GoldenGlobes #eddiemurphy Pehpi (@simplypie03) January 11, 2023 LOW: Don't shoot the piano player Chloe Flower landed the best/worst gig possible when she was hired to serve as official Globes pianist. On the one hand, she got to perform for a celebrity-filled audience. But she couldn't have anticipated that those same celebrities would threaten to beat her up for interrupting their speeches. None of that was Flowers fault, of course, but the insults clearly took their toll. She disappeared midway through the show replaced by a DJ and when she returned, Carmichael made a point of mentioning the "hate" she was getting on Twitter and thanked her for her service. Here's hoping her tip jar was overflowing. Man that poor piano player is taking a beating tonight lol, it's not her fault!! #GoldenGlobes Jessica Parahan (@JessicaParahan) January 11, 2023 Is no one going to stand up for the piano player? The producers are the ones telling her to play off the speeches that go on too long. She's becoming a punching bag. #GoldenGlobes Jose Armand (@JoseArmand37) January 11, 2023 friendly reminder to those tweeting about the golden globes: direct your hate at the producers for rushing the show, not the piano player whose just doing her job Jack Jamieson (@JackWilly2020) January 11, 2023 LOW: The Globes cloud hasn't lifted Even as Carmichael fired shots at the HFPA, almost everyone else in the room tried to carry on as if the evening was awards business as usual. Not so on social media, where many commentators mentioned how strange it was to be celebrating a show and an organization with such a checkered profile. Towards the end of the show, current HFPA President Helen Hoehne took to the stage to give some brief remarks about how the group is trying to do better. But there's clearly a lot of work left to do before the party starts again in earnest. HEAD-SCRATCHER: Austin Butlers voice has left the building Austin Butler wrapped shooting on Elvis over a year ago, but he clearly hasn't shaken Presley's ghost. Accepting his Best Actor in a Drama statue, the actor raised eyebrows by talking like the King of Rock 'n' Roll instead of the Kid from Anaheim, Calif. Backstage, Butler told reporters he didn't realize he was speaking in his Elvis voice. Sounds suspicious (minds) to us. Have we checked on the hypnotist thats holding Austin Butler in a perpetual Elvis voice trance? #GoldenGlobes pic.twitter.com/rcD4caT30w Radhika H. (@radicalxrad) January 11, 2023 Austin Butler is like genuinely stuck with the Elvis voice forever isnt he Phoebe Rensink (@PhoebeRensink) January 11, 2023 Austin Butlers manager & agent: plz dont use the Elvis voice during ur acceptance speech Austin Butler: pic.twitter.com/5IGNCt8zrQ Taylor The Creator (@TaylorRieger) January 11, 2023 HIGH and LOW: Host Jerrod Carmichael kept the audience entertained, most of the time As any good host does, Carmichael landed a few funny jabs at the expense of the absentee Tom Cruise and Will Smith. But there were also some big misses. If Kanye West would have been there, he would have caught the misguided moment when Carmichael announced he and West had watched The Fabelmans together and told Spielberg that the director's autobiographical film "changed everything" for the embattled rapper, who has come under fire for repeated antisemitic remarks. The comedian even mocked the very awards show he was hosting as he was hosting it, bringing up the controversies that the Golden Globes has faced as of late in the first few moments of the show, which didn't go over well on Twitter. And in his biggest whiff, Carmichael caused some in the Globes audience to gasp when he attempted to crack a joke noting that Whitney Houston died at the very hotel where the awards took place. Viewers made it known on social media that they were gasping, too. Nooooooo #jarrodcarmichael. Not the #WhitneyHouston joke He said, They told me shout out the venue that we are in. So we are here, live from the hotel that killed Whitney Houston, the Beverly Hilton, thats very exciting. Poor taste. #GoldenGlobes #GoldenGlobes2023 pic.twitter.com/PiSqjyMKNZ Porscha Coleman (@PorschaColeman) January 11, 2023 Okay that Whitney Houston joke was... yikes. Not good. #GoldenGlobes2023 Trevor Barnette (@trevor_barnette) January 11, 2023 Additional reporting by Raechal Shewfelt and Taryn Ryder Stars warmed up the red carpet Tuesday as the 2023 awards season kicked off with the 80th annual Golden Globes. After scandal, backlash and a boycott put the Hollywood Foreign Press Association in the hot seat and bumped the awards show off television last year, the Golden Globes are back on NBC with a ceremony that will attempt to regain the support of viewers and attendees. Stand-up comedian Jerrod Carmichael will host the three-hour ceremony at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Los Angeles, following in the footsteps of Tiny Fey and Amy Poehler in 2021 and Ricky Gervais in 2020. Last year, NBC canned its broadcast of the show amid swirling controversy over institutional diversity issues and unethical business practices exposed in 2021 Los Angeles Times investigation. Many celebrities called for a boycott of the HFPA after the report, which included the stunning revelation that not one of its voting members was Black. In the two years since, the HFPA has announced a series of reforms in the hopes of welcoming back a star-studded collection of nominees and restoring its reputation. While the jurys still out on that front, one things for certain: The awards show wouldnt be itself without bold and beautiful fashion and dazzling red carpet moments. See all the 2023 Golden Globes red carpet looks below. Jenny Ortega "Wednesday" star Jenna Ortega. Viola Davis Salma Hayek Billy Porter Margot Robbie Jennifer Coolidge Selena Gomez Quinta Brunson "Abbott Elementary" star Quinta Brunson. Claire Danes Stephanie Hsu Stephanie Hsu of Stephanie Hsu of "Everything Everywhere All at Once." Sheryl Lee Ralph "Abbott Elementary" star Sheryl Lee Ralph. Sigourney Weaver Julia Garner Andrew Garfield Austin Butler Quentin Tarantino Michelle Yeoh Emma DArcy Seth Rogan Laverne Cox "Orange is the New Black" star Laverne Cox. Jennifer Hudson Singer and actor Jennifer Hudson. Singer and actor Jennifer Hudson. Lily James Bailey Bass Bailey Bass, who starred as Tsireya in Bailey Bass, who starred as Tsireya in "Avatar: The Way of Water." Henry Golding Crazy Rich Asians actor Henry Golding. Crazy Rich Asians actor Henry Golding. Story continues Anya Taylor-Joy The Queens Gambit star Anna Taylor-Joy. The Queens Gambit star Anna Taylor-Joy. Daisy Edgar-Jones Where the Crawdads Sing star Daisy Edgar-Jones. Where the Crawdads Sing star Daisy Edgar-Jones. Angela Bassett "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" actor Angela Bassett. Michelle Williams Sebastian Stan Marvel Cinematic Universe actor Sebastian Stan. Marvel Cinematic Universe actor Sebastian Stan. Heidi Klum Heidi Klum and Tom Kaulitz Heidi Klum and Tom Kaulitz Letitia Wright "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" star Letitia Wright. Hilary Swank Glen Powell "Top Gun: Maverick" actor Glen Powell. Jamie Lee Curtis Tyler James Williams Abbott Elementary star Tyler James Williams. Abbott Elementary star Tyler James Williams. Chloe Flower Pianist, producer and composer Chloe Flower. Pianist, producer and composer Chloe Flower. Britt Lower "Man Seeking Woman" star Britt Lower. Eddie Redmayne "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" actor Eddie Redmayne. Jenny Slate Actor and comedian Jenny Slate. Actor and comedian Jenny Slate. Colman Domingo "Euphoria" actor Colman Domingo. Lucia Hwong and Lisa Lu Composer Lucia Hwong and actor Lisa Lu. Composer Lucia Hwong and actor Lisa Lu. Kaley Cuoco "Big Bang Theory" star Kaley Cuoco Niecy Nash-Betts "Dahmer -- Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story" actor Niecy Nash-Betts. Jerrod Carmichael jokes that he has found the three Golden Globe Awards returned by Tom Cruise. (Photo: Rich Polk/NBC via Getty Images) Tom Cruise won't be making up with the Golden Globes any time soon. Host Jerrod Carmichael took sharp aim at the superstar actor and the Church of Scientology of which Cruise has been a prominent member just seconds before introducing the actors Top Gun: Maverick co-stars Glenn Powell and Jay Ellis during the awards telecast airing Tuesday on NBC. As the show returned from a commercial break, Carmichael came on stage holding three Golden Globe statues. Backstage, I found these three Golden Globe awards that Tom Cruise returned, Carmichael said to laughter in the Beverly Hilton Hotel, alluding to Cruise famously sending back his Globes in protest of the Hollywood Foreign Press Associations lack of Black voters in 2021. Im just the host but I have a pitch, said Carmichael. I think maybe we take these three things and exchange them for the safe return of Shelly Miscavige. That, right there, is more brutal than anything famed Globes Ricky Gervais provocateur ever said during his notoriously edgy hosting duties in roasting Hollywood and the HFPA. So who is Shelly Miscavige? The wife of Scientology leader David Miscavige has been not been seen publicly since 2007. Ex-Scientologist-turned-whistleblower Leah Remini has claimed that Shelly, who reportedly served as Cruises celebrity handler, is missing. Remini even filed a report with the Los Angeles Police Department in 2013. Church of Scientology leader David Miscavige dedicates a new church in Auckland, New Zealand, in 2017. (Photo: Church of Scientology via Getty Images) Amid all the speculation about Shellys whereabouts, the Church of Scientology has maintained that she is simply living a private life. The LAPD closed the case within hours of receiving her complaint, according to Remini, but in November she published a lengthy Twitter thread alleging the police was in cahoots with the religious group. On Tuesday, Remini was quick to share a video of Carmichaels bit on Twitter, thanking the host and again asking, Where is Shelly???? Powell and Ellis, meanwhile, remained pros. They proceeded with their pre-written banter about performing with Cruise before presenting Best Supporting Actress in a Television Series as if Carmichael hadnt just savaged their famed co-star on live television. Story continues Edgy Shelly Miscavige/Scientology joke into charming Top Gun: Maverick banter about Tom Cruise. You love to see it. #GoldenGlobes Caroline Siede (@CarolineSiede) January 11, 2023 OH SHIT!!!! is what I said about Jerrod Carmichael's Shelly Miscavige joke (to set up two Top Gun: Maverick, actors, no less!!!). Ok, THIS is the bravest thing that will be said all night on the #GoldenGlobes Rebecca Sun (@therebeccasun) January 11, 2023 By Diane Bartz WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Google parent Alphabet on Wednesday argued that a court should toss out a government antitrust lawsuit against it, saying that agreements it made with Apple and others to make Google the default search engine do not bar smartphone makers from promoting rivals. The statements, which were revealed in a redacted version of a motion filed last month asking the judge to toss out the lawsuit, preview the tech giant's arguments for a high-stakes court case expected to go to trial in September. If Google loses, it could be forced to spin off key assets. In December, Google asked Judge Amit Mehta of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to throw out both the antitrust case that the Justice Department filed in 2020 along with 11 states as well as a related complaint brought by 35 states led by Colorado. The Justice Department's lawsuit, filed by the Trump administration, alleged that Google violated antitrust law in how it maintained dominance in search and search advertising. For example, it pointed to billions of dollars that Google paid annually to Apple, LG Electronics Inc and others to ensure that Google search was the default on their devices. In its 51-page filing, Google argued that Mehta should throw out the Justice Department case in part because the company's agreements with Apple and others allow them to promote rivals, like Microsoft's Bing search engine. The company also argued that its search engine was popular with browsers and consumers entirely because of its quality, and that it was inappropriate for the government to require Google to refrain from competing to be the default on smartphones. "Requiring Google not to compete vigorously or requiring browser developers to alter their product designs and provide a worse experience for their customers would turn competition law on its head," the company said in the filing. The company also argued that there was no evidence that agreements that Google made related to Google Assistant or Internet-of-Things devices hurt competition. Story continues Google faces additional allegations of antitrust violations from dozens of states. The lawsuit filed by Colorado and others, which was also filed in 2020, also alleges that Google illegally limits rivals' ability to operate its Search Ads 360 tool, used by advertisers to manage online marketing campaigns. It also argues that Google broke antitrust law to hamper rivals, such as travel-oriented websites. Read more: Biden says Republicans, Democrats need to unite against Big Tech 'abuses' -WSJ (Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Alexandra Alper and Lisa Shumaker) Russian forces continue attacks on the eastern Donetsk Oblast, where the most fierce fighting is ongoing in the towns of Bakhmut and Soledar. Donetsk Oblast Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko reported that Russian forces hit the town of Lyman with S-300 missiles, damaging a school but without casualties. Russian forces shelled the frontline town Kurakhove, damaging houses and residential buildings in the town, which hosts the Kurakhove Thermal Power Station west of Russian-occupied Donetsk. The governor also reported that Russian forces shelled and struck Avdiivka several times on Jan. 11. The small industrial town of Avdiivka, five kilometers north of Donetsk, has been a target of Russian shelling since 2014. Russian forces also shelled Mariinka, Ocheretyne, Chasiv Yar, and Toretsk communities.No casualties were reported.On Jan. 10, Russian attacks killed one civilian in Bakhmut and injured another in the region, the governor said earlier. According to Kyrylenko, at least 1,296 civilians have been killed and 2,840 wounded in Donetsk Oblast since the beginning of Russias full-scale invasion on Feb. 24. These numbers dont include casualties in occupied Mariupol and Volnovakha. Jan. 10PARIS Workers in the cafe at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School quickly extinguished a grease fire on a grill Tuesday morning. There were no reports of injuries. The incident was reported shortly after 9:30 a.m. Workers threw salt on the fire and used a fire extinguisher to quickly put it out before firefighters arrived, Paris Fire Chief Mark Blaquiere said. He praised them for their quick response. Firefighters set up fans to remove smoke in the cafe area, which was closed for the day but could reopen Wednesday, Blaquiere said. The cafe, which was being used for breakfast at the time, is next to the gym and is separate from the main kitchen and cafeteria, which were not impacted. Generally, when a single insider buys stock, it is usually not a big deal. However, when several insiders are buying, like in the case of Ten Lifestyle Group Plc (LON:TENG), it sends a favourable message to the company's shareholders. Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing. Check out our latest analysis for Ten Lifestyle Group Ten Lifestyle Group Insider Transactions Over The Last Year Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by insider Henry Weatherill for UK122k worth of shares, at about UK1.16 per share. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at above the current price of UK0.74. It's very possible they regret the purchase, but it's more likely they are bullish about the company. We always take careful note of the price insiders pay when purchasing shares. As a general rule, we feel more positive about a stock if insiders have bought shares at above current prices, because that suggests they viewed the stock as good value, even at a higher price. While Ten Lifestyle Group insiders bought shares during the last year, they didn't sell. They paid about UK0.88 on average. This is nice to see since it implies that insiders might see value around current prices. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction! Ten Lifestyle Group is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket. Have Ten Lifestyle Group Insiders Traded Recently? We saw some Ten Lifestyle Group insider buying shares in the last three months. Independent Non-Executive Director Gillian Davies shelled out UK4.7k for shares in that time. It's good to see the insider buying, as well as the lack of recent sellers. But in this case the amount purchased means the recent transaction may not be very meaningful on its own. Story continues Insider Ownership Of Ten Lifestyle Group Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Ten Lifestyle Group insiders own about UK13m worth of shares. That equates to 21% of the company. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders. So What Does This Data Suggest About Ten Lifestyle Group Insiders? Our data shows a little insider buying, but no selling, in the last three months. That said, the purchases were not large. But insiders have shown more of an appetite for the stock, over the last year. Insiders do have a stake in Ten Lifestyle Group and their transactions don't cause us concern. So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. You'd be interested to know, that we found 1 warning sign for Ten Lifestyle Group and we suggest you have a look. 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. Join A Paid User Research Session Youll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here Berlin German police said their methodical operation to clear hundreds of climate change activists from a tiny town that's been sold to an energy company to dig up for coal was going according to plan on Wednesday. As Sweden's high-profile climate campaigner Greta Thunberg said she would join the demonstrators squatting in the otherwise abandoned village, Day Two of the police's effort got off to a rocky start. There were more violent clashes and even some Molotov cocktails hurled at police early Wednesday, repeating scenes that played out the previous day, but the Aachen police force said its clearance of the hamlet of Luetzerath was moving forward, and they described the scene there as predominantly peaceful. Despite the clashes early Wednesday, which first kicked off when hundreds of police started pushing into the occupied village on Tuesday morning, the police reported no arrests or injuries. They have briefly detained people to record personal information, but there was no indication that anyone was facing charges as of late on Wednesday afternoon. Police cart away an environmental activist from the settlement of Luetzerath, next to the Garzweiler II open cast coal mine on January 11, 2023, near Erkelenz, Germany. / Credit: Andreas Rentz/Getty The energy company RWE, which wants to excavate the lignite (brown coal) reserves under the village, has started erecting a roughly 1-mile fence around Luetzerath. RWE plans to demolish the village's homes and streets once it's cleared of climate protesters. When the eviction operation began, police gave the activist-squatters a chance to leave the area without facing legal ramifications, and the force said many took advantage. A spokesman said Aachen's police "welcome the fact that a large number of activists have decided to leave the area here peacefully and without resistance." Some activists, however, climbed onto high platforms strung together deliberately to give protesters a place to avoid being dragged away from the site. Around noon on Wednesday, officers started using trucks with lift platforms to get the squatters off the structures. A demonstrator is lifted from a wire scaffold by police with the help of a lifting platform during the clearing of the village of Luetzerath, Germany, on January 11, 2023. / Credit: Federico Gambarini/picture alliance/Getty Some activists offered a soundtrack to the scene, playing guitars and pianos. Story continues Officials had cleared some of the first buildings in the village Wednesday, with police bringing activists out of a former agricultural hall that was reportedly being used as a communal kitchen by the demonstrators. Police had not yet entered Luetzerath's occupied homes, however. As more barricades and fencing goes up around the site, it was expected to complicate and delay the eviction process, which police expect to take about a month. Police officers carry a demonstrator to clear a road at the village of Luetzerath, near Erkelenz, Germany, January 10, 2023. / Credit: Michael Probst/AP Roughly 300 to 400 activists were estimated to be in the village, with some small children among them. "Due to widespread dangers in the area of operation, the Aachen police appeal to guardians to leave the area immediately with their children," the local police department wrote on Twitter. A demonstration was announced for Saturday, and Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg said she would be in Luetzerath to attend. This Saturday 14/1 I will join activists in Lutzerath to defend the village and stop the coalmine. Join us at 12.00 to protect life, and put people over profit! The science is clear, the most affected people are clear: no more fossil fuels!#LutziBleibt #EndCoal https://t.co/IV3VLIZ2My pic.twitter.com/pJlmRvuNpb Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) January 11, 2023 Protests against the evictions, and Luetzerath being dug up as a coal mine, have also been announced in other German cities, including Munich and Hamburg. U.S. to hit debt limit Thursday Missing mom Ana Walshe's husband Brian Walshe to be charged with murder Greta Thunberg seen being carried away from coal mining protest by German police HONOLULU (AP) Hawaii's new attorney general said Tuesday more than two dozen elders won't be subject to another round of prosecutions for blocking a road three years ago to prevent the construction of a new telescope on a mountain summit many Native Hawaiians consider sacred. Law enforcement arrested 38 elders, mostly Native Hawaiians, during a 2019 demonstration against the Thirty Meter Telescope planned for Mauna Kea. Of these, 30 had their cases dismissed after a 2021 Hawaii Supreme Court ruling clarified the process for filing criminal complaints and said authorities had been following the incorrect procedure. Attorney General Anne Lopez had the option to refile charges but said it wasn't in the best interest of Hawaii's people to continue to prosecute the kupuna, or elders. Gov. Josh Green appointed Lopez to be attorney general after he took office last month. Green, in a news release from Lopez's office, said he appreciated her decision. The time has come to build a new pathway forward that considers all people and is respectful of our host culture, Green said. This is the kind of justice we want to see for our kupuna, who stood up for what they believe in their culture and their ancestors. I will work to find a way forward together. The protests helped convince Hawaii's leaders they needed a new approach to managing Mauna Kea. Last year, the state formed a new governing body for the mountain called the Mauna Kea Stewardship and Oversight Authority. Native Hawaiian cultural experts including one of the arrested elders have voting seats on the authority. The governing body is tasked with protecting Mauna Kea for future generations and balancing science with culture and the environment. It's common for many investors, especially those who are inexperienced, to buy shares in companies with a good story even if these companies are loss-making. Sometimes these stories can cloud the minds of investors, leading them to invest with their emotions rather than on the merit of good company fundamentals. Loss-making companies are always racing against time to reach financial sustainability, so investors in these companies may be taking on more risk than they should. Despite being in the age of tech-stock blue-sky investing, many investors still adopt a more traditional strategy; buying shares in profitable companies like Mastercard (NYSE:MA). While profit isn't the sole metric that should be considered when investing, it's worth recognising businesses that can consistently produce it. See our latest analysis for Mastercard How Quickly Is Mastercard Increasing Earnings Per Share? If you believe that markets are even vaguely efficient, then over the long term you'd expect a company's share price to follow its earnings per share (EPS) outcomes. So it makes sense that experienced investors pay close attention to company EPS when undertaking investment research. Mastercard managed to grow EPS by 15% per year, over three years. That's a pretty good rate, if the company can sustain it. One way to double-check a company's growth is to look at how its revenue, and earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) margins are changing. The music to the ears of Mastercard shareholders is that EBIT margins have grown from 54% to 57% in the last 12 months and revenues are on an upwards trend as well. Ticking those two boxes is a good sign of growth, in our book. In the chart below, you can see how the company has grown earnings and revenue, over time. For finer detail, click on the image. In investing, as in life, the future matters more than the past. So why not check out this free interactive visualization of Mastercard's forecast profits? Story continues Are Mastercard Insiders Aligned With All Shareholders? We would not expect to see insiders owning a large percentage of a US$357b company like Mastercard. But thanks to their investment in the company, it's pleasing to see that there are still incentives to align their actions with the shareholders. We note that their impressive stake in the company is worth US$366m. We note that this amounts to 0.1% of the company, which may be small owing to the sheer size of Mastercard but it's still worth mentioning. So despite their percentage holding being low, company management still have plenty of reasons to deliver the best outcomes for investors. Should You Add Mastercard To Your Watchlist? One positive for Mastercard is that it is growing EPS. That's nice to see. If that's not enough on its own, there is also the rather notable levels of insider ownership. The combination definitely favoured by investors so consider keeping the company on a watchlist. We should say that we've discovered 1 warning sign for Mastercard that you should be aware of before investing here. There's always the possibility of doing well buying stocks that are not growing earnings and do not have insiders buying shares. But for those who consider these important metrics, we encourage you to check out companies that do have those features. You can access a free list of them here. Please note the insider transactions discussed in this article refer to reportable transactions in the relevant jurisdiction. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Join A Paid User Research Session Youll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here Home Depot currently calculates the number of hours an employee has worked by rounding to the nearest 15 minutes. But on January 16, Home Depot will begin paying hourly employees to the nearest minute, the company said. The move comes after employees filed lawsuits accusing Home Depot of depriving them of pay. Home Depot is about to change its pay policy for hourly workers. Beginning on January 16, Home Depot will pay employees to the nearest minute based off when they clock in and clock out. Like many retailers, the company has rounded the total time of a shift up or down to the nearest 15 minutes to determine how much to pay employees. But after several employees filed lawsuits in recent years accusing the company of purposefully rounding down their pay, the company is changing course. "Our policy has been to round total shift time up or down to the nearest 15 minutes, which has been a common industry practice for many years," Home Depot spokeswoman Sara Gorman told Insider. "As laws, technology and workplace practices continue to evolve, we're changing our practice nationwide effective January 16, 2023, to pay hourly associates to the nearest minute based on exact time punches." Timesheet rounding, or rounding up or down based off time worked, has been used by many restaurants and retailers for years. And it is considered legal under federal laws, so long as it is neutral and favorable to employees and it does not exceed a 15-minute increment. But the concept has been challenged recently. In the case of Home Depot, California employees have taken to both state and federal courts to accuse the retailer of rounding down their time for its own gain and to seek relief for unpaid work. And in the case of Camp v. California, the California Court of Appeals ruled against Home Depot, saying in October 2022, that "if an employer, as in this case, can capture and has captured the exact amount of time an employee has worked during a shift, the employer must pay the employee for 'all the time' worked." Story continues Home Depot did not respond to inquiries about employee allegations regarding the policy and if the lawsuits served as an impetus for this change. Do you work for a retailer or restaurant that rounds up or down your pay? Contact the reporter Ben Tobin on email at btobin@insider.com or on messaging app Signal at +1 703-498-9171. Read the original article on Business Insider The Wales Trailer Park on Oaklawn Boulevard was the scene of Hopewell's first homicide of 2023. A teenager was shot to death there Monday night. Police later arrested two men in connection with the death. HOPEWELL Two men have been arrested in connection with the shooting death Monday night of a teenager, the second killing of a juvenile in Hopewell in the past two weeks. Clifford Lamont Hill Jr. of Richmond was charged with second-degree murder, and Xazavio Ja'Quel King of Petersburg was charged with being an accessory to murder, according to a Hopewell Police email. The shooting happened around 9:20 p.m. Monday at the Wales Trailer Park on Oaklawn Boulevard, police said. The victim, an unidentified 17-year-old male, was found shot numerous times and died later at TriCities Hospital in Hopewell. Witnesses provided police with a description of the suspect vehicle, and officers were able to track it down and detain the occupants. An investigation into the shooting is ongoing. Anyone with information about it is asked to contact Hopewell Police at (804) 541-2222 or Crime Solvers at (804) 541-2202. That information also can be shared through the P3Tips mobile app. The teen's death is Hopewell's first homicide of 2023 and the second time in 12 days that a juvenile was killed in the city. Eight-year-old P'aris Moore was killed Dec. 30 in what police called a drive-by shooting on Freeman Street in the city's Arlington area. Police still are looking for the person or persons responsible for that. Last week, Hopewell City Council voted to get the city enrolled in a Group Violence Intervention program, formerly called Operation Cease Fire. The program targets groups identified as known offenders and offers them a chance at rehabilitation through community intervention, with the understanding that they definitely will be arrested if they get involved in crime again. More:'P'aris radiated a light so bright:' Hundreds commemorate life of Hopewell girl killed in crossfire More:Hopewell starts process to bring 'Group Violence Intervention' to town as soon as June Bill Atkinson (he/him/his) is an award-winning journalist who covers breaking news, government and politics. Reach him at batkinson@progress-index.com or on Twitter at @BAtkinson_PI. This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Hopewell teenager is city's first homicide of 2023 Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., nominates Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., in the House chamber as the House meets for a second day to elect a speaker and convene the 118th Congress in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023. McCarthy has tapped Gallagher to lead a select committee investigating the Chinese Communist Party's growing global influence. WASHINGTON The House on Tuesday voted in sweeping bipartisan fashion to create a select committee to investigate the Chinese Communist Partys growing global influence, with congressional Republicans seeking to address concerns from some Democrats over the new committees intentions. One hundred forty-six Democrats joined Republicans in supporting the creation of the committee, which was approved on a 365-65 vote. The move solidified a chairmanship position for Wisconsin Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher, who was tapped by Speaker Kevin McCarthy last month to lead the panel and has increasingly warned of a "New Cold War" with the Chinese government. "I was very excited to see that it was overwhelmingly bipartisan," Gallagher said after the vote. "I do think, to the extent possible, if Congress can speak with a unified voice on this issue and if, to the extent possible, politics can stop at the water's edge, our foreign policy is stronger for it." The vote marked the official formation of the Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, which Republican leadership said was formed to investigate the CCP's economic, technological and security advancements and its competition with the United States. Wisconsin Democrats Gwen Moore, Mark Pocan vote against creating committee Wisconsin Democratic U.S. Reps. Mark Pocan and Gwen Moore were among the Democrats who opposed the measure. Both members indicated to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel they were concerned the committee would be used for partisan politics, and Pocan in a statement accused the committee of being set up "to score political points." "I really think that we need to have a working relationship with China," Moore said, noting the select committee cannot take legislative action on proposed bills. "And I am suspicious about what tact this committee will take." Earlier in the day, a number of Democrats raised concerns about whether the committee would foment anti-Asian hate while others questioned why the select committee was necessary when there are established committees that deal with China-related issues. Story continues "This committee cannot be used to promote policies that result in the racial profiling of Asian Americans but should directly focus on specific concerns related to the government of the People's Republic of China," Judy Chou, a California Democrat and chair of the Asian Pacific American Caucus, said on the House floor. Still, Republicans emphasized their commitment to bipartisanship when it came to the committee. McCarthy on the House floor told colleagues that the threat of China was "too great for us to bicker with ourselves." There is bipartisan consensus that the era of trusting Communist China is over, McCarthy said. You have my word and my commitment: This is not a partisan committee. It is my hope, my desire, my wish that we speak with one voice, that we focus on the challenges that we have. Gallagher: 'We have no quarrel with the Chinese people' When asked about the concerns from some Democrats, Gallagher told reporters he does not "intend the committee to be a vehicle for inflaming such hatred." Republicans edited the name of the select committee to say "Chinese Communist Party" and not China, Gallagher noted, to draw a distinction between the Chinese people and the CCP. "We have no quarrel with the Chinese people," Gallagher said. "The Chinese people are the primary victims of the CCP's Orwellian techno-totalitarian surveillance state. And so every action we take, I think we need to be cognizant of that distinction, as well as shine a light on the way in which through extraterritorial coercion, the CCP is intimidating the Chinese diaspora population in the United States or even the Asian American population." The committee, which will consist of no more than 16 members, will initially expose supply chain issues and explore the U.S.'s economic ties to the Chinese government, Gallagher previous told the Journal Sentinel. It will touch on issues like how the U.S. can support Taiwan from the threat of the CCP and will inspect the U.S.'s own potential military response to conflict in the Pacific. Gallagher has suggested he'd take an aggressive approach to dealing with China's government, advocating for a policy of deterrence by putting in place "elements of hard power." The panel plans to hold public hearings and will ultimately make policy recommendations to Congress. While the committee's membership might not be determined until next week, an overwhelming majority of Democrats voted to establish the select committee, and Gallagher previously said he has received interest in the panel from national security-minded Democrats. On Tuesday, a number of Democrats publicly expressed their support for the committee. Oregon Democratic U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer on the House floor said he was "much encouraged" by the talk of bipartisanship from Republicans. He told his colleagues that, 25 years ago, he thought China could engage with the U.S. in the world economy. "But over the course of the last 20 years," he said, "it's taken the wrong turn." "We have watched the Chinese play a cynical game," Blumenauer said. "We've watched oppression increase, and we've watched this current regime in unprecedented ways exploit opportunities." California Democrat Ro Khanna, who said he represents the only Asian-majority district in the continental U.S., said he'd never support a committee "that I thought would engage in xenophobia or attacks on the Chinese people." He indicated he does not think this committee will do that and praised Gallagher as "someone who is going to make sure that the committee is focused on the issues." "I am pleased that this committee is not directed against China but is directed against the Chinese Communist Party," Khanna said before the vote. "And I am pleased that it is going to focus on things that have been a bipartisan concern." Before the vote, Gallagher again called for unity and issued a call to action. "It is time to understand the urgency of the threat," he said. It is time to reclaim our economic independence in key areas. "The select committee will expose the CCPs coordinated, whole-of-society strategy to undermine American leadership and American sovereignty while working on a bipartisan basis and with the committees of jurisdiction to identify long-overdue, common sense approaches to counter CCP aggression. Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal. DOWNLOAD THE APP: Get the latest news, sports and more This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: House vote paves way for Mike Gallagher-led committee focused on China (Bloomberg) -- The new Republican majority in the US House is readying a fusillade of investigations into President Joe Biden, his family and his administration, upholding a key promise of the midterm election campaigns following Democratic-led inquiries of former President Donald Trump. Most Read from Bloomberg The GOP probes will be spread among several existing House committees as well as newly created panels, including one focused on the Justice Department and intelligence agencies that conservatives accuse of targeting them. In the runup to the 2024 presidential race, Biden and his allies will be forced to counter attacks broadcast during numerous televised hearings. Hunter Biden The House Oversight Committee, led by Kentucky Republican James Comer, is examining the Biden familys domestic and international business dealings to determine if they pose a threat to national security. Bidens son Hunter Biden is at the center of the investigation. The committee will begin to request interviews within the next 30 days, Comer said Tuesday. Justice Department House Republicans voted Tuesday to establish a subcommittee to scrutinize what they call the weaponization of the federal government. The panel, led by Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan of Ohio, will examine Justice Department investigations, potentially including the current one into Trump. Republicans have criticized the department following the FBIs search of Trumps Mar-a-Lago resort last August, in which the FBI retrieved classified material on national interests. Jordan said the panel will also look into whether government officials pressured social media companies to censor or limit conservative viewpoints. Story continues Afghanistan Withdrawal The House Oversight Committee and the Foreign Affairs Committee, led by Representative Michael McCaul of Texas, is expected to continue probes into the August 2021 withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. The Biden administration drew criticism for the move that resulted in turmoil. US citizens and Afghans struggled to flee the country as the Taliban swept back into power, and a suicide bombing killed 13 US service members. Republican lawmakers have pressed the State and Treasury Departments to preserve and produce documents relating to the withdrawal. A lawyer for Biden told them last month that the administration wouldnt respond to letters seeking information during the last session of Congress, when Republicans were in the minority in the House, and that those requests would have to be re-submitted. Comer said Tuesday hes coordinating with other committees on the topic, and its a priority to determine what all was left behind in the Afghanistan withdrawal. US-Mexico Border Republicans have blamed the Biden administrations border policies for the increasing number of migrants at the US-Mexico border and have singled out Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy earlier threatened an investigation into Mayorkas to determine whether an impeachment inquiry should be opened once Republicans took the House. Indeed, Representative Pat Fallon, a Texas Republican, on Monday filed articles of impeachment against him. The House Oversight Committee will coordinate with other panels on the investigation of the administrations border policies. Internal Revenue Service House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith has repeatedly pledged to investigate the Internal Revenue Service, including how the nonprofit news organization ProPublica gained access to the tax information of some of the wealthiest Americans. He has also vowed to probe accusations that the agency targeted conservatives. Republicans have also suggested that they could use the same tax code authority that Democrats used while they were in the majority to obtain Trumps tax returns to uncover the tax records of Democrats and their allies. Coronavirus Origins Republicans are directing a special committee on the Covid-19 pandemic on longstanding complaints about the nations response, including vaccine requirements, mask mandates and school closings. This 12-member panel will issue a final report no later than Jan. 2, 2025. Additional panels may probe other aspects, such as how the virus mutated and where it originated. Two peer-reviewed studies in the journal Science published last year have detailed evidence that a Chinese market is where the coronavirus crossed into the human population from wild animals. Republicans have also pledged to investigate Anthony Fauci, the former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases who has clashed with them. Fauci has said he would cooperate with any oversight hearings. --With assistance from Laura Davison. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Exposed lakebed at the Salton Sea on Dec. 29, 2022. RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images The Salton Sea spreads across a remote valley in Californias lower Colorado Desert, 40 miles (65 kilometers) from the Mexican border. For birds migrating along the Pacific coast, its an avian Grand Central Station. In midwinter tens of thousands of snow geese, ducks, pelicans, gulls and other species forage on and around the lake. Hundreds of other species nest there year-round or use it as a rest stop during spring and fall migration. At the dawn of the 20th century, this massive oasis didnt even exist. It was created in 1905 when Colorado River floodwaters breached an irrigation canal under construction in Southern California and flowed into a basin that had flooded in the past. In earlier years, the sea covered roughly 40 square miles more than its current size of 343 square miles (890 square kilometers). Since then, agricultural runoff from newly formed nearby irrigation districts has sustained it. By midcentury, the sea was considered a regional amenity and stocked with popular sport fish. Now, however, this resource is in trouble. Wasteful irrigation practices that maintained the sea have been reduced, and excess water is now being transferred to thirsty coastal cities instead. The seas volume has declined to roughly 4.6 million acre-feet, losing nearly 3 million acre-feet since the mid-2000s. (An acre-foot is about 326,000 gallons the amount of water required to cover an acre of land to a depth of one foot). As water evaporates from its surface, its salinity has spiked: The sea is now almost twice as salty as the Pacific Ocean. The Salton Sea is a large inland lake in southeastern California fed by Colorado River irrigation water from farms in the Imperial Valley. Legislative Analysts's Office, state of California, CC BY-ND In November 2022, the federal government pledged US$250 million for environmental restoration and dust suppression at the Salton Sea. Its a historic contribution, but experts agree that other critical steps are needed. We just completed more than a year of service to the California Salton Sea Management Programs Independent Review Panel, which was charged with evaluating proposals to import water to the sea. In our view, the panels recommendations represent the best path forward. They also reflect the complexity of managing water in the increasingly dry U.S. Southwest, where other water bodies, such as Utahs Great Salt Lake, share the same general challenges of net water loss. Story continues An ecosystem on the brink Theres no question that the Salton Sea desperately needs a fix. Rising salinity threatens worms, crustaceans and other organisms that make up the base of the seas food web and has killed off many of its fish species. Without intervention, the seas entire ecosystem could collapse. The seas declining water levels also threaten human health. Nearby residents, who are mostly low-income people of color, already experience high rates of respiratory illness. A recent study found that dust mobilized by wind blowing across the playa triggers lung inflammation. Without government intervention, the sea would reach a lower equilibrium size by 2045 that matches smaller inflows with evaporation losses. Even greater areas of playa would be exposed, potentially generating even more airborne dust. Many bad options The state review panel analyzed strategies for adding water to the Salton Sea as a long-term restoration strategy. Most of the proposals envisioned pulling water from Mexicos Sea of Cortez, 125 miles to the south, desalinating it and moving it north by canal. These schemes called for building immense desalination plants along the Sea of Cortez, up to 10 times bigger than Californias Claude Bud Lewis plant in Carlsbad the largest such facility in the United States. The proposals could not overcome three significant problems. First, they were projected to cost many tens of billions of dollars and take more than 20 years to complete. Second, they threatened to inflict nasty environmental consequences on the Sea of Cortez, dumping huge quantities of brine into sensitive and protected marine ecosystems and turning pristine beaches into industrial zones. Third, Mexico would derive little benefit from building a huge desalination plant in a remote area, other than some jobs from building and running the plant. Focus on salinity, not size Ultimately, the panel concluded that expanding the Salton Sea to its former size was less important than controlling its salinity. The panel made four recommendations that center on building a desalination plant at the Salton Sea to the treat water thats already there. This plant would remove 200 million gallons of high-salinity water daily from the Salton Sea and produce 100 million gallons per day of desalinated water, which would be returned to the Salton Sea. In short order, this exchange would begin to significantly lower its overall salinity. A desalination plant using reverse osmosis generates a brine stream equal to approximately half the volume of the treated seawater. Accordingly, the panel called for California to negotiate a voluntary paid transfer program in which the state would pay farmers to transfer enough water to the Salton Sea to replace the volume of brine removed at the desalination plant. The net effect would keep the sea from becoming even smaller and hasten the process of lowering salinity. The desalination plant would generate an immense quantity of salt, which would require careful disposal. The panel recommended drying out the brine in evaporation ponds and transferring dried salts from the ponds to landfills or industrial uses. Finally, the panel called for California to step up support for an aggressive program to stabilize the exposed playa. Techniques could include planting vegetation on the playa and plowing long rows of furrows to reduce dust mobilization during wind storms. The estimated total cost for this plan is $63 billion, compared with $95 billion-$148 billion for various proposals to desalinate and import water from the Sea of Cortez. Since 2020, the state has conducted pilot projects to reduce dust blowing off the playa, with promising early results. The federal governments $250 million pledge will enable this work to move more quickly. Stabilizing the playa is essential to address significant public health concerns associated with windborne dust, although more must be done regionally to fully address air quality problems. Looking forward, not backward This approach will not satisfy critics who want to restore the Salton Sea to its maximum volume. These advocates recall the mid-20th century when the sea was a tourism draw and would like to reconnect the few small towns that once bordered the sea, which are now separated by extensive playa. Expanding the sea to its original size also would address concerns about playa-sourced air pollution. In our view, however, the panels recommendations offer a genuine opportunity to solve the main problems: blowing dust and increasing salinity. This solution is more likely to actually be implemented than an enormous binational desalination project. It would happen more quickly, at about half the cost of the binational importation options. We believe that the sooner California officials accept the reality of a smaller Salton Sea, the sooner the state can move ahead, focusing on air quality improvement and ecological restoration. This article is republished from The Conversation, an independent nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Robert Glennon, University of Arizona and Brent Haddad, University of California, Santa Cruz. The Conversation is trustworthy news from experts, from an independent nonprofit. Try our free newsletters. Read more: Robert Glennon was a member of the California Salton Sea Management Programs Independent Review Panel. Brent Haddad was principal investigator of the of California Salton Sea Management Programs Independent Review Panel. He received funding from California's Department of Water Resources to carry out the review of water importation as a long-term restoration strategy for the Salton Sea. Bryan Kohberger is escorted to an extradition hearing at the Monroe County Courthouse in Stroudsburg on Tuesday, January 3, 2023. Pennsylvania Bryan Kohberger continued his routine after four Idaho students were killed. Kohberger went to a medical appointment, graded school work, and greeted his neighbors. Some who interacted with him said he remained chatty, even when fear spread in the community. PULLMAN, Washington For the man accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November, the rest of the fall semester appeared to be business as usual. Bryan Kohberger, 28, is accused of fatally stabbing 21-year-olds Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves and the 20-year-olds Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle at their off-campus housing in Moscow, Idaho, in the early hours of November 13. Four days later when many students in the college town of Pullman, Washington, were canceling their appointments and leaving the community amid fears of a killer on the loose Kohberger attended a routine medical appointment near his apartment. A receptionist at the office, who asked Insider not to name her or the business because discussing the interaction might violate medical privacy laws, told Insider that Kohberger was especially friendly at his appointment, prompting the staff to take notice. Kohberger was so friendly, in fact, her boss commented on it. "She said, 'He's so nice and charming' she never says that about anybody," the receptionist told Insider. "I was like, 'Yeah, he really was.'" At Washington State University, where Kohberger was studying for a doctorate in criminology, he continued working as a teacher's assistant on campus. On the first floor of Wilson-Short Hall, where Kohberger studied on campus, his photo used to hang in a framed display of criminology students. By Friday, a blank space in the montage with ripped paper inside indicated that his photo had been torn out. A criminology student named Emilie, who asked to be identified by only her first name, had Kohberger as a T.A. She said he had been gruff and difficult to work with early in the semester. Story continues After the killings, she said, he seemed to lose interest in teaching, assigning his students to write essays and handing back uniform high grades. "Afterward he didn't grade at all," she said. "He was not a great T.A." But at his apartment complex, Kohberger remained his normal chatty self, neighbors told Insider. Kohberger moved into a unit downstairs from Arun Dash, a 28-year-old engineering student at Washington State University, in August and immediately introduced himself. He would stop and chat with Dash and his roommate, often attempting to make plans to hang out though their schedules didn't line up. Even after the killings, when it was on the minds of most people in the Moscow-Pullman community, Kohberger continued to greet them warmly, Dash said. "Nothing suspicious ever, ever," Dash said. Kohberger was arrested at his parents' home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, on December 30. Prosecutors say they made a biological DNA match from a knife sheath left behind at the scene to his father's DNA in a trash can outside the house. He's being held without bail on four counts of murder and a charge of burglary. He's expected to appear in court for a pretrial hearing on Thursday. Read the original article on Insider PM Chinh meets Party General Secretary, President, and NA Chairman of Laos PM Pham Minh Chinh on January 11 made a courtesy call on General Secretary of the Lao Peoples Revolutionary Party and President of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith as part of activities during his official visit to Laos. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (L) and General Secretary of the Lao Peoples Revolutionary Party and President of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith. Photo by VNA Welcoming the first official visit to Laos by Chinh as the Government leader of Vietnam, the host leader greatly valued the two Governments efforts to continue developing bilateral cooperation in a substantive and effective manner. He expressed his confidence that important outcomes obtained during the trip will help both sides successfully carry out the Vietnam-Laos cooperation strategy for 2021 - 2030, the agreement on bilateral cooperation for 2021 - 2025, and agreements between the two Governments. In response, PM Chinh affirmed Vietnam always treasures and gives the top priority to the great friendship, special solidarity, and comprehensive cooperation with Laos, and considers these as priceless assets holding strategic importance to the countries revolutions. He noted the two sides consented to work together to effectively implement high-level agreements; keep bringing into play the traditional cooperation and mutual trust in terms of politics, defence, and security; and continually improve the quality and effectiveness of cooperation between Party commissions, ministries, sectors, agencies, and organizations of Vietnam and Laos. They will also push ahead with economic, trade, and investment ties, assist each other to build independent and self-reliant economies that extensively and effectively integrate into the world, and and stay steadfast in the path to socialism. During the meeting, General Secretary and President Thongloun Sisoulith also shared the view that the two sides should actively make use of the results of the Vietnam - Laos Solidarity and Friendship Year 2022 so as to step up communications about the special relations, especially among both nations young people. The same day, PM Pham Minh Chinh had a meeting with Chairman of the Lao National Assembly Saysomphone Phomvihane in Vientiane, during which Saysomphone Phomvihane welcomed and highly appreciated the first official visit to the Lao as the head of the Vietnamese Government by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh. He said the trip shows the Vietnamese Party and State' attention to the special relationship between the two nations. The top Lao legislator hailed the great and comprehensive achievements the Vietnamese people have recorded over the past time, especially the nation's efforts in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, reopening all activities, and promoting socio-economic recovery and development. He also conveyed his greetings to Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue. The Vietnamese Government chief conveyed the greetings from Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue to Saysomphone Phomvihane and his mother who is the wife of late President Kaysone Phomvihane. PM Chinh congratulated the Lao Party, State and people on their great and significant achievements they have obtained in the cause of national construction and development. He said he believes that Laos will overcome the current difficult period, successfully implement the Resolution adopted at the 11th National Party Congress and the 9th Socio-Economic Development Plan for the 2021-2025 period. Chinh also congratulated Laos on successfully organizing the 4th session of the 9th National Assembly. The Vietnamese Government leader also highly appreciated the results achieved during the official visit to Vietnam by the Lao NA Chairman in 2021, thus helping to strengthen the sound cooperative relationship between the two legislatures as a way of contributing to the success of the Vietnam - Laos, Laos - Vietnam Year of Friendship and Solidarity 2022. The two leaders affirmed that they attach great importance to and give the highest priority to consolidating and strengthening the great friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Laos. They noted with pleasure to see that despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the bilateral cooperation continued to maintain its development momentum across multiple fields, in which the legislatures of the two countries maintained the organization of high-level meetings, and seminars, shared professional experience, and increased coordination and mutual support at regional and international parliamentary forums. The Lao NA Chairman applauded the good results of the official visit to Laos in May 2022 by NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue. He expressed his wish to constantly tighten the close cooperative ties between the two legislatures, including the effective coordination and implementation of joint monitoring activities to contribute to the effective implementation of cooperation documents and high-level agreement between the two countries. The top Lao legislator suggested continuing to strengthen the exchange and sharing of professional experience, organizing conferences, and seminars to exchange experience, and continuing to closely coordinate and support each other at regional and international parliamentary forums such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA), the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF), and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Francophonie (APF). He also thanked Vietnam for its great support for his nation in recent years, including the construction of the Lao National Assembly building, while emphasizing Laos' readiness to support, strengthen and further deepen the great friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Laos. Suspected killer Bryan Kohberger spoke about on the murders of the four University of Idaho students as he was extradited from Pennsylvania back to Moscow to face charges, it has been revealed. A law enforcement source told People that the 28-year-old criminology PhD student made small talk about the case to officers, saying that it was sad what happened to Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin. He did say, Its really sad what happened to them, but he didnt say anything more. Hes smarter than that, the source said. The revelation comes as a woman who says she once went on a Tinder date with Mr Kohberger claimed he was very pushy with her and said she now wonders if it could have been so much different. Now, Mr Kohberger is charged with four counts of murder and one charge of burglary over the 13 November stabbing attack in Moscow. He is set to appear in court for a status hearing on 12 January. Key points Bryan Kohberger to appear in court this week Victims have no known connection to accused killer Kaylee Goncalves sister brands Kohberger true evil' Classmates reveal how suspects behaviour changed after murders Affidavit reveals what led investigators to criminology PhD student Suspects DNA found at the scene, police say 09:50 , Rachel Sharp The killer left a tan leather knife sheath on Mogens bed next to her butchered body, according to the court documents. Mr Kohbergers DNA was found on the sheath which features the Ka-Bar USMC and the United States Marine Corps eagle globe and anchor insignia stamped on the outside of it, the documents state. The Idaho state lab later located a single source of male DNA (suspect Profile) left on the button snap of the knife sheath. Investigators were able to trace the DNA evidence to Mr Kohberger by matching it to DNA found on trash recovered from his family home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania. The knife itself has still yet to be found. Bryan Kohbergers comments about student murders revealed 09:33 , Rachel Sharp Story continues Suspected killer Bryan Kohberger spoke about on the murders of the four University of Idaho students as he was extradited from Pennsylvania back to Moscow to face charges, it has been revealed. A law enforcement source told People that the 28-year-old criminology PhD student made small talk about the case to officers, saying that it was sad what happened to Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin. He did say, Its really sad what happened to them, but he didnt say anything more. Hes smarter than that, the source said. Mr Kohberger seemed really nervous during his extradition and spoke aloud to himself in an apparent effort to reassure himself. He was narrating to himself everything that was happening. At one point, he was saying something to himself like Im fine, this is okay. Like he was reassuring himself that this whole thing wasnt awful, he said. Masked killers chilling words 09:00 , Andrea Blanco A roommate who lived with the three female victims at the King Road residence told investigators that she spotted the killer and overheard him telling his victims Im going to help you before stabbing them to death, according to the affidavit released last week. The survivor - identified as D.M. - told investigators that the four victims had all come back to the King Road home from their respective nights out at around 2am and were in their rooms by around 4am except for Kernodle, who got up to collect a DoorDash order around that time. D.M. said that she had gone to sleep in her bedroom on the second floor of the three-floor home and was awoken by what sounded like Goncalves playing with her dog in one of the third-floor bedrooms. A short time later, D.M. said that she heard someone believed to be either Goncalves or Kernodle saying something to the effect of theres someone here. Minutes later, D.M. said that she looked out of her bedroom for the first time but did not see anything. She then opened her door for a second time when she heard what she thought was crying coming from Kernodles room, the documents state. At that point, she said she heard a mans voice saying something to the effect of its ok, Im going to help you. When she opened her door for a third time minutes later, she said she saw a figure clad in black clothing and a mask that covered the persons mouth and nose walking towards her. As she stood in a frozen shock phase, she said the man who she did not recognise walked past her and headed toward the back sliding glass door of the home. The witness said that she then locked herself in her room, the affidavit continues. Hours later, Mogen and Goncalves were both found stabbed to death together in Mogens single bed in her room on the third floor. The bodies of young couple Kernodle and Chapin were both found in Kernodles bedroom on the second floor of the property, with the 20-year-old woman found on the floor. WATCH: Moment Idaho murders suspect Bryan Kohberger appears in court for the first time 08:00 , Andrea Blanco Idaho murders suspect Bryan Kohberger appeared in court today, 5 January, for the first time since being charged for the murders of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin on 13 November 2022. Victims family friend creates tribute hoodie designs 07:00 , Andrea Blanco A friend of Madison Mogens mother partnered with a business by the name of TaraStitches to memorialise Mogen and three other University of Idaho students brutally murdered in an off-campus home on 13 November. All the proceeds from the sales of the hoodies, which have the design of Angel wings that Mogen had tattoed on her arm, will go to the families of the victims. I had my heart on this design and made it come to life ... I wanted to create something special in remembrance of Kaylee, Maddie, Xana and Ethan. Thank you for supporting the U of I students, the woman wrote on the website. On Monday, Kaylee Goncalvess mother Kristi Goncalves encouraged the public to support the business tribute to the slain students. Victims were not familiar with murder suspect, family attorney says 06:00 , Andrea Blanco Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle did not appear to have personally met Washington State University (WSU) criminal justice PhD student Bryan Kohberger prior to their 13 November slayings, the Goncalves family lawyer told Insider on Monday. Following the attack that rocked the college town of Moscow, Mr Kohberger, 28, finished his semester at WSU. Weeks later, he reportedly travelled with his father from his apartment in Pullman, Washington, around nine miles west of the victims home, to Pennsylvania to spend the holidays with his family. Law enforcement raided Mr Kohbergers family home in a surprise arrest on 30 December after weeks of mounting criticism about a lack of updates in the probe. Mr Kohberger was charged with four counts of murder and extradited to Idaho it was later revealed in the affidavit for his arrest that police linked him to the crime scene using genealogy DNA. No one knew of this guy at all, attorney Shanon Gray said. It appears from the affidavit that he was in the area of the house on several occasions ... Thats all we know. Rumours about Bryan Kohberger attending Idaho murders vigil debunked 05:00 , Andrea Blanco Rampant online speculation that the suspect arrested in the Idaho murders was in attendance at a vigil for the victims has been debunked by newly-emerged footage. The armchair detectives - who have been poring over alleged clues in the case for weeks - seized on a specific clip showing the back of a tall man with brown hair, making wholly far-fetched claims that he could be Mr Kohberger. The baseless speculation has now been discredited by new footage from Inside Edition, which appears to show the face of the same man the online commenters identified as Mr Kohberger from the back. It is clear on the outlets video that the man is not Mr Kohberger. The Independent has the story: Rumours about Bryan Kohberger attending Idaho murders vigil debunked by new video Blood-stained mattresses removed from murder home 04:00 , Andrea Blanco Investigators were seen on Friday removing mattresses with apparent blood stains from the home where four University of Idaho students were brutally murdered in November. The removal involved a bed frame and at least two mattresses, on which dark stains were visible through plastic wrap, the New York Post reports . Forensic work has been winding down for weeks at the home where Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin were killed. Grieving parents demand death penalty for murder suspect 03:00 , Andrea Blanco Kaylee Goncalves parents Steve and Kristi Goncalves spoke to NewsNation last week just hours after they came face to face with their daughters accused killer Bryan Kohberger for the first time in court in Idaho. Mr Goncalves said that justice for his daughter would mean the death penalty for the 28-year-old criminology PhD student, saying that he has to pay for what he allegedly did to Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin. If you want to play gods role, youre gonna have to go answer to him, he said. The devastated father said that he will eventually forgive his daughters killer but said that life in prison is not enough for his alleged crime. The Independents Rachel Sharp has the story: Idaho murders victims parents call for death penalty for Bryan Kohberger Bryan Kohbergers former friends claim he was a bully in high school 02:00 , Andrea Blanco Former high school classmates of the man accused of murdering four students at the University of Idaho have alleged that suspected killer Brian Kohberger was bullied before becoming a bully himself and allegedly using heroin. The former classmates made the comments on an upcoming episode of 48 Hours titled The Idaho Student Murders set to premiere Saturday on Paramount+. One former classmate knew Mr Kohberger in college at Washington State University, and recalled him being opinionated but otherwise comfortable around other people, according to a CBS News report about the episode. He was very quick to offer his opinion and thoughts, Mr Roberts said. He would describe things in the most complicated, perhaps academic way possible. Craig Graziosi has the story for The Independent: Bryan Kohbergers childhood friends say he was a bully and used heroin in high school Kaylee Goncalves sister believes Bryan Kohberger followed investigation online 01:00 , Andrea Blanco The sister of murdered student Kaylee Goncalves has said that she suspects the accused killer wouldnt have been able to resist following the investigation online so that he could watch his circus unfold. Bryan Kohberger has spent years studying criminal justice and at the time of the murders was a criminology PhD student at Washington State University. According to the affidavit, he appears to have stalked the home of the victims at least 12 times prior to the 13 November slayings. A lot of that comes from the fact that he had visited the home so many times before, late at night and early hours. Hes presented this pattern of behavior, she told NewsNation. He went back to the home the morning of, before police had been called, I think to see if his circus, so to say, had started to unfold, she said. I think he would not have been able to refrain from engaging with the online communities, the theories, the conspiracies, and everything in between. The evidence linking Bryan Kohberger to the Idaho murders 00:00 , Andrea Blanco It is currently unclear if any evidence was found on Mr Kohbergers Hyundai Elantra which was seized by authorities at the time of his arrest. Since early December, investigators had been asking for the publics help in tracking down a white Hyundai Elantra which had been spotted at the crime scene at the time of the murders. Investigators ultimately traced the vehicle to Mr Kohberger, with surveillance footage capturing the car driving from the direction of his home in Pullman, Washington state, to the King Road home in the early hours of 13 November and then back again, the affidavit reveals. The murder weapon a fixed-blade knife is yet to be found. Other chilling details about the murders were also revealed in the affidavit, showing how cellphone records had also been used to tie Mr Kohberger to the crime. Investigators believe that Mr Kohberger turned his cell phone off on the night of the murders in order to try to avoid detection. However, cellphone data shows that Mr Kohberger appears to have stalked the home at least 12 times in the run-up to the 13 November attack. The affidavit for his arrest, released on Thursday, reveals that investigators had used DNA obtained from the trash at his parents home to match Mr Kohberger to DNA evidence left behind at the crime scene. The killer had left a tan leather Kabar knife sheath, which featured the United States Marine Corps symbol, inside the bloodied home, lying on Mogens bed next to the victims butchered body. Male DNA on the sheath matches that of Mr Kohberger, the affidavit states. Bryan Kohberger changed licence plates on his white Hyundai Elantra days after Idaho murders Tuesday 10 January 2023 23:00 , Andrea Blanco The suspects car had Pennsylvania plates when it was pulled over by police in Moscow, Idaho, in August, according to a citation from the Latah County Sheriffs Office. A review of documents on CarFax by Newsweek showed that Mr Kohberger changed the registration from Pennsylvania to Washington on 18 November, five days after four students were found stabbed to death in a Moscow home. A public information request with the Washington State Department of Licensing by The Independent confirmed the car was registered in the state on 19 November. The Independents Bevan Hurley has the story: Bryan Kohberger changed licence plates on Hyundai Elantra days after Idaho murders Why Bryan Kohbergers search warrant will not be immediately released Tuesday 10 January 2023 22:11 , Andrea Blanco After Mr Kohbergers 30 December arrest in Pennsylvania, a search began at his apartment in Pullman, Washington, for evidence that could potentially further link him to the murders of four University of Idaho students. The search warrant that authorised law enforcement to proceed with the search was sealed until 1 March 2023, local news station KREM reported. Documents filed in Whitman County Superior Court state that premature public disclosure of the details of this law enforcement investigation will create a serious and imminent threat to effective law enforcement, and could result in the premature end of this investigation which could create a threat to public safety. Bryan Kohberger applied to police internship months before murders Tuesday 10 January 2023 21:30 , Andrea Blanco Bryan Kohberger applied for police internship around time of Idaho murders, arrest affidavit reveals The criminology PhD student charged with the murders of four University of Idaho students had applied for an internship with the local police department within months of the murders, according to an unsealed arrest affidavit. Kohberger wrote in his essay he had interest in assisting rural law enforcement agencies with how to better collect and analyze technological data in public safety operations, the affidavit states. The Independents Sheila Flynn has the full details: Bryan Kohberger applied for police internship around time of Idaho murders BTK compares his crimes to Idaho murders Tuesday 10 January 2023 21:00 , Andrea Blanco BTK killer Dennis Rader has said that he sees similarities between himself and Bryan Kohberger, the man accused of murdering four Idaho students. Rader, who was convicted of murdering 10 in Wichita, Kansas, told TMZ in a jailhouse email that he can relate to Mr Kohbergers dark mind and believes he may have been motivated by Fantasy Homicide to kill much like himself. [Mr Kohberger] may have killed by Fantasy Homicide. Which I did! he wrote. While Rader confessed to killing his victims in order to fulfill his sexual fantasies, a motive has not yet been revealed for the 13 November murders of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin. Mr Kohberger has not yet entered a plea in Idaho court but is said to be planning to fight the allegations. According to his affidavit, the suspect may have stalked the victims home at least 12 times prior to the murders. BTK wrote in his email that he thinks Mr Kohberger would lie in wait for the victims and stalked them and their student home in Moscow, writing that this was much like I did. He went on to point out similarities between one of his own attacks and the quadruple murder that Mr Kohberger is now charged with. In 1974, Rader murdered four members of the Otero family, strangling them to death in their Wichita home. Murder four, much like the Oteros, up close and personal stabbed, he wrote in the email comparing the two crimes. It previously emerged that BTK and Mr Kohberger have an eerie connection. Mr Kohberger gained a Masters degree in criminology in 2022 from Pennsylvanias DeSales University, where he was taught by Dr Katherine Ramsland. Dr Ramsland is the leading academic authority on the BTK killings and wrote the 2016 book Confession of a Serial Killer: The Untold Story of Dennis Rader, the BTK Killer, drawing on hundreds of hours of interviews and phone conversations with the serial killer to delve deep into his psyche. Key revelations in the Bryan Kohberger affidavit Tuesday 10 January 2023 20:30 , Andrea Blanco Stunning new details about the murders of four University of Idaho students have been revealed in an affidavit supporting the arrest of suspect Bryan Christopher Kohberger. Mr Kohberger, a 28-year-old criminology PhD student at Washington State University, has been charged in the 13 November deaths of Ethan Chapin, 20, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Madison Mogen, 21. They were killed in a rental home just blocks from the UI campus in Moscow, Idaho, right across the state border from WSU in Pullman, Washington. The suspect was arrested in his native Pennsylvania, then extradited to Idaho, where court documents were unsealed following his first appearance before a judge in the state. Portions were redacted but the remaining pages revealed chilling details about the murders - among them that a surviving roommate came face to face with the killer; Kohbergers cell phone record and police traffic stops indicate hed been casing the home; and DNA from a knife sheath was used to forensically connect the grad student to the crimes. Here are the biggest revelations from the documents: Key revelations from Bryan Kohbergers arrest affidavit Victims sister defends surviving roommate for delay in 911 call Tuesday 10 January 2023 19:59 , Andrea Blanco The grieving sister of slain student Kaylee Goncalves has defended one of her siblings surviving roommates who has faced questions about a delay in alerting police to the murders. Two roommates were also in the student home in Moscow, Idaho, when four students were stabbed to death in a brutal knife attack at around 4am on 13 November. The two women were left unharmed. At around midday, a 911 call was made to report an unconscious person in the home. Police arrived to find the bloody scene. The affidavit for Bryan Kohberger, released last Thursday, revealed that one of the surviving roommates came face to face with the masked killer as he left the home in the aftermath of the murders. Since then, questions have arisen around why the roommate did not call 911 for another eight hours. Goncalves sister Alivea Goncalves defended the roommate in an interview with NewsNation on Sunday. She was probably really, really scared, she said. Until we have any more information, I think everyone should stop passing judgments because you dont know what you would do in that situation. Suspect Bryan Kohberger threw trash in Pennsylvanias neighbours bin Tuesday 10 January 2023 19:17 , Andrea Blanco A law enforcement source has revealed that quadruple murder suspect Bryan Kohberger threw out garbage in his neighbours bins while he was visiting family in Pennsylvania weeks after the murders. The source told ABC News that Mr Kohberger disposed of the unspecified trash in the middle of the night. The incident took place in the days before he was arrested at his parents home in Albrightsville on 30 December. Mr Kohberger was surveilled for four days before he was taken into custody, and was ultimately linked to the crime scene thanks to the use of genealogy DNA, police officials revealed in an affidavit released on 5 January. Idaho murders victim had no idea she was being stalked by true evil Tuesday 10 January 2023 18:27 , Andrea Blanco The grieving sister of slain University of Idaho student Kaylee Goncalves has said that her sibling had no idea she was being stalked by true evil before she was brutally stabbed in an attack that sent shockwaves through the small college town of Moscow. Alivea Goncalves spoke out for the first time since Idaho authorities released the arrest affidavit for suspected killer Bryan Kohberger, revealing chilling new details about the quadruple murder of Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin. She said that the revelation that the 28-year-old criminology PhD student appears to have stalked the student home on King Road, Moscow, prior to the 13 November murders especially haunts her. We had no idea. She had no idea. I had no idea that true evil was genuinely watching them, she told NewsNation. Suspect had no connection to victims, family lawyer says Tuesday 10 January 2023 17:45 , Andrea Blanco Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle did not appear to have personally met Washington State University (WSU) criminal justice PhD student Bryan Kohberger prior to their 13 November slayings, the Goncalves family lawyer told Insider on Monday. Following the attack that rocked the college town of Moscow, Mr Kohberger, 28, finished his semester at WSU. Weeks later, he travelled with his father from his apartment in Pullman, Washington, around nine miles west of the victims home, reportedly to spend the holidays with his family in Pennsylvania. Law enforcement raided Mr Kohbergers family home in a surprise arrest on 30 December after weeks of mounting criticism about the lack of updates in the probe. Mr Kohberger was charged with four counts of murder and extradited to Idaho it was later revealed in the affidavit for his arrest that police linked him to the crime scene using genealogy DNA. No one knew of this guy at all, attorney Shanon Gray said. It appears from the affidavit that he was in the area of the house on several occasions ...Thats all we know. Who really is Bryan Kohberger? Tuesday 10 January 2023 17:20 , Andrea Blanco Bryan Kohberger became a household name upon his 30 December arrest in Pennsylvania for the killings of four University of Idaho students. People from his past - though shocked - build a picture of a bullied loner who could be aggressive; fellow students from his time in Idaho describe a criminology zealot who creeped people out, Sheila Flynn writes. The Independent has the story: Bryan Kohberger devoted his life to studying crime. Now, the tables have turned All the questions left unanswered after the affidavit was released Tuesday 10 January 2023 16:50 , Andrea Blanco For nearly eight weeks, the families of four slain University of Idaho students have waited in agony for answers about the unspeakable killings, Rachel Sharp writes for The Independent. But even after the arrest of a suspect and the release of an affidavit offering some insight into law enforcements investigation, many questions remain unanswered about the circumstances surrounding the brutal stabbings. Read the full story: Bryan Kohbergers Idaho murders arrest affidavit raises these new questions Washington Tulip farm sells tribute bulbs Tuesday 10 January 2023 16:30 , Andrea Blanco Before Ethan Chapin moved to Idaho along with her two triplets to go to college, he lived in Washington with his family. In the Evergreen State, Chapin worked at the Tulip Valley Farm. The tulip farm is now looking to memorialise the slain student by planting yellow and white bulbs, a mix theyve named Ethans Smile, which will be available for purchase later this Spring. All proceeds from sales will support Ethans Smiles community gardens and scholarship funds in Chapins name. Surgical gloves, trash disposal and car cleaning: Bryan Kohbergers odd behaviour after Idaho murders revealed Tuesday 10 January 2023 16:10 , Rachel Sharp Suspected killer Bryan Kohberger was caught dumping trash in his neighbours bins in the dead of the night in the weeks after four University of Idaho students were brutally murdered, it has been revealed. The 28-year-old criminal justice PhD student has been charged with the 13 November murders of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin that rocked the small, college town of Moscow, Idaho. The net had been closing in on Mr Kohberger for several weeks and he was placed under surveillance by law enforcement for four days leading up to his arrest at his family home in Pennsylvania on 30 December. The Independents Rachel Sharp has the full story here: Bryan Kohbergers peculiar behaviour after Idaho murders revealed Kaylee Goncalves sister defends surviving roommate for delay in 911 call Tuesday 10 January 2023 15:50 , Rachel Sharp The grieving sister of slain student Kaylee Goncalves has defended one of her siblings surviving roommates who has faced questions about a delay in alerting police to the murders. Two roommates were also in the student home in Moscow, Idaho, when four students were stabbed to death in a brutal knife attack at around 4am on 13 November. The two women were left unharmed. At around midday, a 911 call was made to report an unconscious person in the home. Police arrived to find the bloody scene. The affidavit for Bryan Kohberger, released last Thursday, revealed that one of the surviving roommates came face to face with the masked killer as he left the home in the aftermath of the murders. Since then, questions have arisen around why the roommate did not call 911 for another eight hours. Goncalves sister Alivea Goncalves defended the roommate in an interview with NewsNation on Sunday. She was probably really, really scared, she said. Until we have any more information, I think everyone should stop passing judgments because you dont know what you would do in that situation. Will Bryan Kohberger get the death penalty? Tuesday 10 January 2023 15:30 , Rachel Sharp Accused killer Bryan Kohberger may face the death penalty for the murders of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin. The 28-year-old criminal justice PhD student is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary over the 13 November attack. Under Idaho state law, he faces the death penalty or life in prison on each murder charge. Goncalves parents have already said that they support him receiving a death sentence, saying that life imprisonment is not enough for his alleged crimes. Bryan Kohberger devoted his life to studying crime. The Idaho murders have turned the tables Tuesday 10 January 2023 15:10 , Rachel Sharp Bryan Kohberger became a household name upon his 30 December arrest in Pennsylvania for the killings of four University of Idaho students. People from his past - though shocked - build a picture of a bullied loner who could be aggressive; fellow students from his time in Idaho describe a criminology zealot who creeped people out. As he faces trial accused of shocking crimes, The Independents Sheila Flynn asks: Who really is Bryan Kohberger? Bryan Kohberger devoted his life to studying crime. Now, the tables have turned Is Bryan Kohberger the stalker Kaylee Goncalves complained about? Tuesday 10 January 2023 14:50 , Rachel Sharp Prior to the 13 November massacre, investigators believe that Bryan Kohberger stalked the victims home at least 12 times. Cellphone records show that his phone pinged in the area of the King Road home on at least twelve occasions between 23 June and 13 November when the murders took place. The exact dates of these instances were not revealed in the documents but all bar one were in the late evening or early morning hours. One incident was identified on 21 August, when the suspect was stopped by police just minutes from the home where he allegedly knifed the four students to death three months later. A citation from Latah County Sheriffs Office, obtained by The Independent earlier this week, reveals that the traffic stop took place at around 11.40pm at the intersection of West Pullman Road and Farm Road in Moscow. The record shows he was stopped for failing to wear his seatbelt just 1.7 miles and a five-minute drive from the victims student rental home. On that occasion, Mr Kohbergers cellphone pinged in the area of the King Road home from around 10.34pm to 11.35pm, the affidavit shows. Prior to her death, Kaylee Goncalves had told friends and family members that she believed she had a stalker. The details of the stalker were unknown and, throughout the murder investigation, Moscow Police said that they had been unable to confirm or deny the claims. It remains unclear if Mr Kohberger was the stalker Goncalves was fearful of and how long he may have been surveilling the victim or victims at the home. Xana Kernodles childhood best friend says she wants answers Tuesday 10 January 2023 14:30 , Rachel Sharp Xana Kernodles childhood best friend has spoken out to say that she wants answers about her murder. I still think there are a lot of answers that I would like. Until I get those, I still am going to be a little hung up on this. So, its just about the answers, I guess, Sydney Gribnitz told NewsNation. Ms Gribnitz said that she was in shock when she heard that the friend she described as one of the funniest people Ive ever met had been brutally killed. It definitely was a shock. We were really, really close in middle school, not as much recently, she said. I guess just because I live in Florida. We were really far apart, but I always knew I could count on her. Its just a lot. Ms Gribnitz and her father who used to be Kernodles gymnastics coach have now set up a fundraiser in the slain 20-year-olds honour. Read the affidavit on Bryan Kohbergers arrest for the Idaho murders in full: Tuesday 10 January 2023 14:10 , Rachel Sharp Authorities released an affidavit in support of suspect Bryan Kohbergers arrest in the murders of four Idaho university students on Thursday as he appeared in court for his arraignment. The affidavit is filled with horror new details about the 13 November killings of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin - and what led investigators to identify Mr Kohberger as the suspect. Read the full affidavit here: Read the affidavit on Bryan Kohbergers arrest for the Idaho murders in full Victims sister believes Bryan Kohberger wouldnt have been able to resist following the investigation online Tuesday 10 January 2023 13:50 , Rachel Sharp The sister of murdered student Kaylee Goncalves has said that she suspects the accused killer wouldnt have been able to resist following the investigation online so that he could watch his circus unfold. Bryan Kohberger has spent years studying criminal justice and at the time of the murders was a criminology PhD student at Washington State University. According to the affidavit, he appears to have stalked the home of the victims at least 12 times prior to the 13 November slayings. A lot of that comes from the fact that he had visited the home so many times before, late at night and early hours. Hes presented this pattern of behavior, she told NewsNation. He went back to the home the morning of, before police had been called, I think to see if his circus, so to say, had started to unfold, she said. I think he would not have been able to refrain from engaging with the online communities, the theories, the conspiracies, and everything in between. BTK killer Dennis Rader sees similarities between himself and Bryan Kohberger Tuesday 10 January 2023 13:30 , Rachel Sharp BTK killer Dennis Rader has said that he sees similarities between himself and Bryan Kohberger, the man accused of murdering four Idaho students. Rader, who was convicted of murdering 10 in Wichita, Kansas, told TMZ in a jailhouse email that he can relate to Mr Kohbergers dark mind and believes he may have been motivated by Fantasy Homicide to kill much like himself. [Mr Kohberger] may have killed by Fantasy Homicide. Which I did! he wrote. While Rader confessed to killing his victims in order to fulfill his sexual fantasies, a motive has not yet been revealed for the 13 November murders of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin. Mr Kohberger has not yet entered a plea in Idaho court but is said to be planning to fight the allegations. According to his affidavit, the suspect may have stalked the victims home at least 12 times prior to the murders. BTK wrote in his email that he thinks Mr Kohberger would lie in wait for the victims and stalked them and their student home in Moscow, writing that this was much like I did. He went on to point out similarities between one of his own attacks and the quadruple murder that Mr Kohberger is now charged with. In 1974, Rader murdered four members of the Otero family, strangling them to death in their Wichita home. Murder four, much like the Oteros, up close and personal stabbed, he wrote in the email comparing the two crimes. It previously emerged that BTK and Mr Kohberger have an eerie connection. Mr Kohberger gained a Masters degree in criminology in 2022 from Pennsylvanias DeSales University, where he was taught by Dr Katherine Ramsland. Dr Ramsland is the leading academic authority on the BTK killings and wrote the 2016 book Confession of a Serial Killer: The Untold Story of Dennis Rader, the BTK Killer, drawing on hundreds of hours of interviews and phone conversations with the serial killer to delve deep into his psyche. Bryan Kohberger applied for police internship around time of Idaho murders, arrest affidavit reveals Tuesday 10 January 2023 13:10 , Rachel Sharp The criminology PhD student charged with the murders of four University of Idaho students had applied for an internship with the local police department within months of the murders, according to an unsealed arrest affidavit. Kohberger wrote in his essay he had interest in assisting rural law enforcement agencies with how to better collect and analyze technological data in public safety operations, the affidavit states. The Independents Sheila Flynn has the full details: Bryan Kohberger applied for police internship around time of Idaho murders Victims family plans to set up foundation in her honour Tuesday 10 January 2023 12:50 , Rachel Sharp The family of murdered student Kaylee Goncalves is planning to set up a foundation in her memory. Goncalves sister Alivea Goncalves told NewsNation that they are in the early stages of launching a foundation to honour the 21-year-old. Now that a suspect has been arrested for her murder, Ms Goncalves said that she and her family can finally begin the grieving process. We still have such a long road ahead of us. The relief that we all felt having a suspect in custody was, I cant even describe it, like the weight of the world was lifted from our shoulders, she said. Former friend believed Kohberger had turned his life around Tuesday 10 January 2023 12:33 , Rachel Sharp A former friend of suspected killer Bryan Kohberger has revealed that she believed he had turned his life around before his shock arrest for a quadruple homicide last month. On CBS News 48 hours, Bree said that she knew Mr Kohberger when they were in high school but their friendship ended when he began using heroin. You just saw him becoming more self-destructive He really stayed secluded, she said. When she saw him again sometime later, she said it appeared as if he was getting his life together. He was telling me that he wanted to get sober, that he was getting sober. And he wanted to let me know like, Im gonna do better. Im gonna be better, she said. Bree said that he wanted to do something that impacted people in a good way and that she believed that studying criminology was his way of doing this. Instead, he is now facing the death penalty for the murders of four students. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law a bill banning the sale and distribution of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines on Tuesday evening. The ban takes effect immediately. The House voted 68-41 to approve the Protect Illinois Communities Act last week, and the bill passed the Illinois Senate by a 34-20 margin on Monday before heading to Pritzker's desk. "For the past four years, my administration and my colleagues in the State Capitol have been battling the powerful forces of the NRA to enshrine the strongest and most effective gun violence legislation that we possibly can," said Pritzker in a statement. The bill had been debated for years, but found renewed support following the July 4 Highland Park parade massacre last year, which left seven people dead and dozens more wounded. The 21-year-old suspect used a legally-purchased semiautomatic weapon, prosecutors said. Under the new legislation, according to CBS Chicago, long guns will be limited to 10 rounds per magazine, and handguns cannot have more than 15 rounds. It also bans "switches" devices which convert legal handguns into assault weapons and additionally extends the ability of courts to prevent "dangerous individuals" from owning a gun through firearm restraining orders, the governor's office said. Under the new law, those who already own weapons on the banned list can keep them, but need to register them with Illinois State Police within 300 days. A makeshift memorial of flowers is left near the scene of a mass shooting during a Fourth of July parade, on July 5, 2022 in Highland Park, Illinois. / Credit: Jim Vondruska / Stringer / Getty Images Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona, who herself survived a mass shooting in 2011, also expressed support for the legislation, saying that she applauded legislators in the state "for having the courage to act to remove these weapons of war from our streets." Rep. Bill Foster of Illinois tweeted out his support for the new law as well, writing, "Proud Illinois is setting an example once again." Pritzker has signed other notable pieces of gun control legislation during his tenure as governor, including a law last year that banned "ghost guns" unregistered and untraceable homemade weapons making Illinois the first Midwestern state to do so. In 2021, he signed a law expanding background checks on gun sales statewide. Story continues Biden "surprised to learn" documents marked classified found at former office Pence discusses Biden classified documents discovery Evacuations ordered as deadly storm hits California By Ananda Teresia and Stanley Widianto JAKARTA (Reuters) -President Joko Widodo expressed deep regret on Wednesday over gross human rights violations during Indonesia's tumultuous post-colonial past, going back to the mass killing of communists and suspected sympathisers in the mid-1960s. At least 500,000 people died, according to some historians and activists, in violence that began in late 1965 when the military launched a purge of communists who they said were planning a coup. A million or more people were jailed, suspected of being communists, during the crackdown, and in 1967 General Suharto ousted President Sukarno, Indonesia's independence leader, and went on to rule the world's biggest Muslim-majority country for three decades. Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi, recently received the report from a team he had commissioned last year to investigate Indonesia's bloody history, having promised to take up the issue when he first came to power in 2014. He cited 11 other rights incidents, spanning a period between 1965 and 2003, including the killing and abduction of students blamed on security forces during protests against Suharto's autocratic in the late 1990s. "I as a head of state acknowledge that there were gross human rights violations that did happen in many events," said Widodo. "And I strongly regret that those violations occurred." There were also around 1,200 people killed during rioting in 1998 often targeting the Chinese community, a minority that is sometimes resented for its perceived wealth. Jokowi said that the government would seek to restore the rights of victims "fairly and wisely without negating judicial resolution", though he did not specify how. He also cited rights violations in the restive region of Papua and during an insurgency in Aceh province. Victims, their relatives and rights groups have questioned whether Jokowi's government is serious about holding anyone accountable for past atrocities. Story continues Rights activists note that the Attorney General's Office, tasked with investigating rights violations, have often thrown out such cases. "For me...what's important is that the president gives assurances that gross rights violations don't happen in the future by trying the suspected perpetrators in court," said retired civil servant Maria Catarina Sumarsih, whose son Wawan was shot dead in 1998 while helping a wounded student. Usman Hamid of Amnesty International said victims should receive reparations and serious crimes of the past need to be resolved "through judicial means". Winarso, a coordinator of a group that cares for survivors of the 1965 bloodshed, said that while the president's acknowledgment was insufficient it could open up room for discussion about the massacres. "If President Jokowi is serious about past human rights violations, he should first order a government effort to investigate these mass killings, to document mass graves, and to find their families, to match the graves and their families, as well as to set up a commission to decide what to do next," said Andreas Harsono, Indonesia researcher at Human Rights Watch. Jokowi's administration has faced criticism about its commitment to human rights after parliament ratified a controversial criminal code last month that critics say undermines civil liberties. (Additional reporting by Kate Lamb; Editing by Ed Davies & Simon Cameron-Moore) JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Wednesday admitted serious human rights violations had occurred across the country in recent decades and vowed to compensate victims and prevent such abuses from happening again in the future. In televised comments, Widodo acknowledged with a clear mind and sincere heart a total of 12 incidents categorized as gross human rights violations that occurred from the northernmost province of Aceh to the easternmost province of Papua between the 1960s and early 2000s. Widodo's remarks came a day before Human Rights Watch was to release its annual world report on human rights conditions in more than 100 countries and territories. I deeply regret it, Widodo said, flanked by Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Muhammad Mahfud and members of a group of academics, former military generals and activists that Widodo formed in August last year to seek non-judicial resolutions to help relieve the nation of its historical burdens. The group aims to help support physical rehabilitation, social assistance, health care, scholarship and other aid for victims of violence or their families that mostly occurred under the dictator Suharto's regime. We are trying to recover the rights of victims in a fair and wise manner, without negating a judicial settlement, said Widodo, adding that he hopes the governments efforts can heal the wounds of the nation. Southeast Asias largest and most populous country has a long, checkered history on human rights that includes mass killings in 1965-1966, also known as the Indonesian communist purge. The killings and civil unrest primarily targeted members of the Indonesian Communist Party, known by its Indonesian acronym PKI. Widodo also acknowledged the kidnapping and disappearance of anti-government activists between 1997-1998, which was later discovered to be the work of the Armys Special Force Command, known as Kopassus, led at the time by Lt. Gen. Prabowo Subianto, who currently serves as Widodos defense minister. Story continues Subianto was dismissed from military service for his role. After years in exile abroad, Subianto returned in 2004 to begin a political career. Widodo also acknowledged a shooting campaign against criminals in Jakarta and other big cities between 1982-1985, the torture of suspected rebels in Aceh in 1988-1989, a deadly raid on an Islamic community in Lampung in 1989, the killing of students and anti-government protesters in 1998, anti-Chinese attacks and alleged mass rapes in Jakarta and other big cities in 1998, and deadly raids against civilians in Wasior and Wamena in Papua province between 2001-2003. Human rights groups said they hoped Widodo's move would not pave the way to close these cases or give impunity to their perpetrators. The protracted settlement of cases of past serious human rights violations has not only caused prolonged suffering for the victims, but has also become a stumbling block for national political reconciliation for the government," the Asian Human Rights Commission said in a statement. The group urged Widodo to continue to pursue truth and justice in all the cases. (Getty Images for Hollywood Forei) The annual Golden Globes are officially back and so are the luxurious gift bags. On Tuesday, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) revealed that this years nominees will be given beauty gift bags filled with some of the most sustainable, socially conscious, and luxurious products. The actual gift bag will be Longchamps Le Pliage Green, which is made from recycled canvas. Female nominees will receive a tote version of the bag, while males will be given a briefcase version. Many high-end brands contributed products to go inside the bag, including Eisenberg skincare, which was founded by Romanian entrepreneur Jose Eisenberg. Some Eisenberg products in the bag are specifically for fighting wrinkles, including the Anti-Age Complex and the Soin Anti-Age Anti-Age. Eisenbergs Gel Contour Des Yeux, which is for lessening puffiness around the eyes, is also in the bag. The bag also has some of the brands famous makeup products, including the Eisenberg Baum Fusion, which is a creamy lip balm, and the Eisenberg Mascara Graphique. Elsewhere in the bags are a scalp serum and hair massage applicator from Better Not Younger, a face sheet mask for radiating skin called the Hangover Mask from Payot Paris, the Anti-Wrinkle Sleep Mask from luxury beauty devices site Current Body, in partnership with Dr Harris, a hair cream from Salwa Petersen, and, lastly, samples of wild-harvested herbs from Taza, which are perfectly portioned for lasting health, a handcrafted pill box from a local community in India, according to HFPA. Follow The Independents live 2023 Golden Globes coverage here. Supporters of Brazilian former President Jair Bolsonaro invade the National Congress in Brasilia on Jan. 8, 2023. Supporters of Brazilian former President Jair Bolsonaro invade the National Congress in Brasilia on Jan. 8, 2023. Credit - Sergio LimaAFP/ Getty Images We may want to believe there is something fundamentally twisted or evil about a person who storms a seat of power in insurrection (and, honestly, there is). But any Brazilian with family and friends who have been radicalized over the past years know the deeply uncomfortable and more likely scenario is this: the supporters of Jair Bolsonaro who stormed Three Powers Square in Brazil on Jan. 8, 2022, were motivated by the same North Star that guides lower-case d democrats: a call to protect Brazilian democracy. That call was underpinned, in large part, by lies, hyper-partisanship, and hate. What may have started with conservatism and indignation at corruption and economic stagnation, evolved into radicalism and destruction. It did so because of a quintessential effect of pervasive disinformationalternate realities. Understanding that Brazils right-wing insurrectionists, like those in other countries, see reality through the lens of an entirely different telescope means understanding that we cannot only arrest or punish the perpetrators of the Jan. 8 crimes. We need to dismantle the telescope entirely. In Brazils case, this means addressing distrust, the cycle of borderless uncontested communication and master disinformation narratives, and the very business models of large social media companies that exacerbate the spread of disinformation by influencers that peddle lies and toxicity. Disinformation is a symptom and byproduct of a broader crisis of trust. This crisis is underpinned by a swath of societal trends, including a shift away from consumption of reputable, traditional journalism, changing media consumption trends, and an oversaturation of irreputable, hyper-partisan news and content creators in online spaces that reward sensationalism and simple solutions to complex problems. This is not a new phenomenon, but it has certainly exacerbated an information ecosystem where disinformation thrives. Story continues According to our work at Equis Research, most people do not believe everything they see online. Many are not sure whether false narratives are true or false. As noted in a survey that we conducted with 2,400 Latinos in the United States, those that do most often see and believe false information are the more politically engaged, partisan, affluent, and college-educated. In effect, distrust must be tackled for the needle to move in any consequential way. A multi-country, multi-stakeholder, ecosystemic approach is necessary to combat uncontested communication circulating between countries. The violent attacks on Brazils National Congress, presidential palace and Supreme Federal Court did not happen in isolationthe disinformation that fomented these attacks are borderless, cyclical. Read More: Brazil Attack Reveals Trumps Insurrection Strategy Is Now a Blueprint Today, members of these radical movements are talking to each other more than ever on social media. Following the riots on Jan. 8, some prominent right-wing actors and influencers in the U.S., in both English and Spanish, supported the actions and downplayed or justified them by spreading false claims of the Brazilian election being rigged or stolen. Tucker Carlson dedicated his recent opening monologue to the defense of pro-Bolsonaro rioters. The far-right news outlet, Gateway Pundit, which was a prominent spreader of 2020 election lies, put out multiple stories that claim the election in Brazil was stolen. Spanish-language influencers and accounts, many of which Equis tracks regularly, likewise hailed the rioters and their fight against the communist mafia. Per Equis monitoring of false and misleading narratives circulating online, for months before the insurrection, Fox News segments also got co-opted and translated into Portuguese and spread on YouTube by Brazilian influencers; quotes from Italys Giorgia Meloni were used to justify the Brazilian brand of conservatism on Instagram; U.S. accounts celebrated Brazilian rioters immediately following the Oct. election, and Brazilians indignantly echoed the Big Lie to justify a false narrative about communists having stolen the 2022 election from under Jair Bolsonaro. Brazilians who today reject the mainstream news in large part because of Bolsonaros influence get their news and information from places where uncontested communication lives in an echo-chamber. These places include YouTube, WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook, and TikTok. The content they see there circulates in right-wing spaces between the platforms, meaning localized action is not enough to make a difference. A system based on regulation-forcing risk assessments that look at a range of online harms against a companys business model, akin to what we are seeing in the European Union, is key. For years, information integrity scholars have looked at what drives some people to believe in lies and misleading narratives. While influence is anything but black and white, one thing is certain: The very business model of large social media companies rewards controversial infotainment, and the algorithms that underpin these models take people on rollercoaster rides of often false or highly misleading content. Inconsistent applications of terms of service between countries and between content in different languages means non-English-language content at times stays up far longer than the English counterparts. Likewise, repeat offenders who post outright lies on social media often have arbitrary and inconsistent action taken against them, with very few being significantly or permanently punished. Malign actors are consequently adapting their tactics and tools to get around weak implementation. Self-regulation is no longer enough. False and misleading information circulating in Brazilian spaces online are not solely to blame for the violent acts of destruction we saw playing out in Brazil this week. But they were a huge part of the groundswell that drove hundreds to lay siege on Brazils democratic institutions. Many of the Bolsonaristas who lay ruin to Brazils highest democratic institutional buildings so deeply believed in a stolen election that no amount of name-calling, fact-checking, or even threat of legal punishment could deter. To them, President Lula was the criminal, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes was the censor, and the new administration was taking away their freedoms. Judging by their social media posts and online conversations, they saw themselves the patriots on a mission to save their country, and no amount of evidence to disprove the steal could convince them Brazil was not already under attack by socialist agitators. What happens now in Brazil needs to be thoughtful and precise. Brazilian authorities must not only arrest the perpetrators, but focus on addressing the key factors that led to these events. This will not require a brand-new strategyBrazil should take lessons learned from the U.S. experience with its Jan. 6 insurrection and work to address discontent and distrust, focus on uncontested communications, and look toward regulating problematic tech business models that still allow harmful content to circulate faster than it can be acted against. A lawsuit filed by a man shot and paralyzed by Waterloo police is back on track after the Iowa Supreme Court, in a case clarifying a disputed "Back the Blue" state law on qualified immunity, ruled the trial judge was wrong to dismiss the case. According to the Black Hawk County Attorney's Office, which ruled the shooting justified, the shooting occurred in April 2021 after officers responded to reports in of a man walking toward downtown Waterloo with a rifle or shotgun. When the first officer arrived on the scene, the man, Marcelino Alvarez-Victoriano, now 45, reportedly advanced on him with the gun and did not respond to orders to put down the weapon. Another officer, also arriving on the scene, shot Alvarez-Victoriano in the back. Officers later determined the weapon Alvarez-Victoriano was carrying was an air rifle. Alvarez-Victoriano sued the officers and the city in September 2021. They asked the court to dismiss the case, arguing that the complaint did not fulfill the requirements of a new state law that allowed government officials accused of misconduct to claim qualified immunity. In February 2022, Judge Joel Dalrymple agreed and threw out the case, denying Alvarez-Victoriano's attorney the opportunity to voluntarily dismiss the lawsuit and refile it to correct the procedural issues raised by the state. For subscribers:DNA, qualified immunity, COVID among upcoming topics for Iowa Supreme Court's 7-0 conservative majority Friday's decision by the state's highest court reverses that ruling. Justice Christopher McDonald, writing for a unanimous court, said the qualified immunity law does not require courts to dismiss cases before they have a chance to be considered on the merits. "Depriving a plaintiff of an opportunity to establish a viable claim against government officials pursuant to long-established pleading rules undermines the ability to hold public officials accountable when they exercise power irresponsibly," McDonald wrote. Story continues Courts differ on implementing 2021 law Friday's decision clarifies a legal question that had divided judges around the state over the past year. Qualified immunity is a legal doctrine in federal court under which officials cannot be held liable, even if they violate someone's constitutional rights, unless it was "clearly established" by prior caselaw that their conduct was wrong. At issue in the Waterloo case is the so-called 2021 "Back the Blue" law that seeks to encode those protections in Iowa statutes. The law seeks to supersede a 2018 Iowa Supreme Court decision that established a different, more plaintiff-friendly standard for qualified immunity in state lawsuits. The Iowa law matches the federal standard, but goes further by requiring plaintiffs to specify, from their very first court filings, that the defendants' actions violated clearly established law. Failure to do so, according to the law, "shall result in dismissal with prejudice," meaning cases would be dismissed without any possibility to refile. February 2022:What does Iowa's new 'Back the Blue' qualified immunity law actually mean? Judges disagree. This provision has resulted in confusion as different courts have tried to interpret and apply it to cases. In two Polk County cases, judges ruled that a plaintiff can voluntarily dismiss and refile their case to comply with the new requirements, although the two disagreed on whether the law applies to lawsuits involving alleged misconduct that predated the law. Dalrymple, in the Waterloo case, ruled not only that the law was retroactive, but that allowing plaintiffs to dismiss and refile their claims amounted to an end-run around the law. Alvarez-Victoriano's lawsuit was dead, he ruled, with no possibility to refile. Court: no foul in refiling suit before Attorney Molly Hamilton, representing Marcelino Alvarez-Victoriano, appealed, and argued that nothing in the law explicitly contradicted Iowa court rules allowing plaintiffs to voluntarily dismiss their case and refile it one time. "If youre arguing youre going to get a dismissal before the plaintiff gets a foot in the door, based on not saying these magic words, that is a complete change," Hamilton told the Des Moines Register in February. "And if you dont get to amend, you dont get to dismiss and refile, that is a substantive change to all the previous rights weve had in civil litigation." Previously:A rape, a shooting, an alleged beating: Legal shields may block lawsuits against police McDonald, in his opinion Friday, agreed. In an extended football metaphor, he said plaintiffs can "bring players across the formation, shift them, call an audible at the line of scrimmage, or even take a timeout" before the start of a play by amending or dismissing their lawsuits prior to a court ruling on a motion to dismiss. "Here, the plaintiff read the defense, did not like what he saw, and called a timeout," McDonald wrote. "The district court incorrectly threw the penalty flag; there was no penalty on the play." Supporting the Supreme Court's position was the Iowa Attorney General's Office, which filed a brief arguing that the law does not address a plaintiff's right to refile their complaint and should not be used to bar otherwise meritorious claims. "The clear purpose of the section is to incorporate federal pleading practices, enabling government defendants both to ascertain the nature of the claims against them and to dismiss nonviable claims quickly without incurring discovery costs," the Attorney General's Office argued. "Depriving plaintiffs of an opportunity to show viability serves none of these goals." A representative of Waterloo's government said the city had no comment, while Hamilton praised the court's decision. "My client and I are grateful and pleased with the expedient and just decision by the Iowa Supreme Court," she said in an email. "We are also encouraged that in the future other injured plaintiffs will no longer encounter the same legal challenge in pursuit of their Seventh Amendment Rights. Same principle applied in two malpractice suits The Supreme Court also addressed a similar issue in two other cases Friday, each involving medical malpractice lawsuits. A 2017 Iowa law requires plaintiffs to file a valid certificate from a medical expert within a certain time limit, or have their case dismissed. In two lawsuits, one against Myrtue Medical Center in Shelby County and one against Methodist Physicians Clinic in Council Bluffs, plaintiffs sought to dismiss and refile their cases to avoid running afoul of the deadline, and in both cases, the districts courts ruled against them. Justice Dana Oxley, writing for all participating justices in both cases, reversed those rulings. The law in question and the court rule permitting one free dismissal do not conflict, she wrote, because the Legislature did not specifically say they did. Authorities investigate the shooting of a man by a police officer following a report of a man with a gun at the foot of the Sixth Street Bridge in Waterloo on April 7, 2021. Marcelino Alvarez-Victoriano, who was paralyzed in the shooting, filed suit on Sept. 23, 2021, contending the shooting was not justified. Authorities say the officer shot Alvarez-Victoriano after he pointed a pellet gun that looked like a shotgun at two Black Hawk County sheriff's deputies. "Had the general assembly intended (not to permit plaintiffs to dismiss and refile their cases), we expect it would have been explicit," she wrote. William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com, 715-573-8166 or on Twitter at @DMRMorris. This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Waterloo police shooting lawsuit revived by Iowa Supreme Court DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran has sentenced a former deputy defence minister who holds dual Iranian-British citizenship to death on charges of spying for Britain, Iranian state media reported on Wednesday. Britain described the death sentence on Alireza Akbari as politically motivated and called for his immediate release. Akbari was a close ally of Ali Shamkhani, who is currently the secretary of Irans Supreme National Security Council and served as Defence Minister from 1997 to 2005, when Akbari was his deputy. "He was one of the most important agents of the British intelligence service in Iran who had access to some very sensitive centres in the country," Iran's Intelligence Ministry said. "Akbari had fully knowingly provided information to the enemy's spy service." British foreign minister James Cleverly called for Akbari to be freed. "Iran must halt the execution of British-Iranian national Alireza Akbari and immediately release him," Cleverly wrote on Twitter. "This is a politically motivated act by a barbaric regime that has total disregard for human life." Akbari, who was arrested in 2019, had been close to Shamkhani since the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s. His death sentence has been upheld by Iran's Supreme Court, Nournews, an Iranian news agency affiliated to the country's top security agency, reported. "Our priority is securing his immediate release and we have reiterated our request for urgent consular access," a UK Foreign Office spokesperson said. Iran, which has been at odds with Western powers including Britain over what it calls their interference in its internal matters during months of anti-government protests, does not recognise dual nationality status. (This story has been corrected to fix the name of ministry in paragraph 4) (Reporting by Parisa Hafezi and Dubai Newsroom, Kylie MacLellan and Alistair Smout in London; Writing by Dominic Evans; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel, Peter Graff and Bernadette Baum) CAIRO (Reuters) - Islamic State claimed responsibility for a deadly suicide blast outside the Afghan foreign ministry on Wednesday, the militant group's Amaq news agency said in an affiliated Telegram channel. A suicide bomber killed at least five people in the attack, police said, and a nearby hospital said over 40 people were wounded. Amaq claimed that the suicide bombing killed and wounded scores of people including diplomats. (Reporting by Mahmoud Mourad and Ahmed Tolba; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama) JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday invited his Turkish counterpart President Tayyip Erdogan to visit the country as he received Ankara's new ambassador in another token of the countries' recently warming ties. Last year, Herzog, whose role is largely ceremonial, was the first Israeli leader to visit Turkey since 2008, after the two countries began restoring relations and ending a more than a decade-old diplomatic rift. They agreed to mutually appoint ambassadors in August and, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won an election in November, he and Erdogan agreed to keep improving ties. "I am sure we will all work to strengthen the countries' relations," Herzog said. Netanyahu's return to power at the head of a nationalist-religious government in December has rattled Palestinians and Western and Arab allies who fear it could heighten tensions in the Middle East. Turkey last week joined a chorus of condemnation of a visit by Israel's new far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to the sensitive Al Aqsa mosque complex in Jerusalem, Islam's third holiest site and Judaism's most sacred. (Reporting by Maayan Lubell; Editing by Alex Richardson) ISW reiterated that several Russian sources had claimed that Wagner Group forces advanced into the west of Soledar on Jan. 10. However, Wagner Group financier Yevgeny Prigozhin refuted these claims, remarking that Wagner Group forces are still fighting against concerted Ukrainian resistance. Read also: Situation in Soledar remains critical, soldiers tell CNN ISW said it had only observed visual confirmation of Wagner Group forces in central Soledar as of Jan. 10. Read also: Wagners Prigozhin using success in Soledar to bolster his groups reputation, says ISW The reality of block-by-block control of terrain in Soledar is obfuscated by the dynamic nature of urban combat, however, and Russian forces have largely struggled to make significant tactical gains in the Soledar area for months, reads the report. Read also: Battles of Soledar and Bakhmut critical for liberating Donbas, Zelenskyy says Even taking the most generous Russian claims at face value, the capture of Soledar would not portend an immediate encirclement of Bakhmut. Control of Soledar will not necessarily allow Russian forces to exert control over critical Ukrainian ground lines of communication into Bakhmut, as ISW has previously assessed. Other key takeaways by ISW analysts: Russian media reported on Jan. 10 that Colonel General Aleksandr Lapin, former commander of the Central Military District and Russian forces in Kharkiv and northern Donetsk oblasts during Russias significant losses in September 2022, has been appointed Chief of Staff of the Russian Ground Forces; The news of Lapins appointment is generating further schisms in the already-fragmented pro-war Russian information space; Read also: Russian forces have nearly razed Soledar to the ground, says military Former handler for the Donetsk puppet authority and prominent milblogger Igor Girkin heavily implied that he would support the removal of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin from office, suggesting that a willingness to reduce self-censorship and directly criticize Putin may be growing among some milbloggers; Story continues The Ukrainian General Staff deviated from its normal reporting pattern about Russian forces in Belarus and near Ukraines northern border on Jan. 10, an indicator of possible Russian preparations for an offensive in northern Ukraine, though ISW assesses this course of action remains unlikely at this time; Read also: Russia launches another assault at Soledar, defense ministry says Ukrainian forces continued to make gains along the Svatove-Kreminna line; Russian forces conducted ground attacks across the Donetsk Oblast frontline and made gains around Soledar but have not captured the settlement, despite false claims; Read also: Ukrainian photographers share story of girl from Soledar whose parents refuse to evacuate The Kremlin continues to deny that Russian authorities are preparing for another wave of partial mobilization; Russian occupation authorities are struggling to contain an effective partisan movement in occupied territories. Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine Only three days after the Alabama student section gleefully taunted him with chants of Cal to Texas, John Calipari suffered an even worse indignity. This time it was a Kentucky fan urging him to take the Longhorns job. WKYTs Samantha Valentino captured video of a man with a sign that read, Please go to Texas, being escorted out of Rupp Arena on Tuesday night during Kentuckys stunning 71-68 loss to struggling South Carolina. The man chose to leave the arena rather than relinquishing his sign referencing speculation that Calipari could emerge as a candidate to coach Texas next season. The incident reflects the mounting concern throughout Big Blue Nation that Calipari is no longer the right man for college basketballs most high-profile job. Sports talk radio, social media and Kentucky fan forums are overrun with dissatisfaction over Caliparis seven-plus-season Final Four drought and his underwhelming recent body of work. Two years ago, Kentucky staggered through its worst season in almost a century, going from the preseason top 10 to a 9-16 face plant. Last year, the Wildcats endured their worst NCAA tournament loss in program history, squandering a 26-win season with a spectacular flop against lightly regarded Saint Peters. The 2022-23 preseason top-five team was supposed to stack up victories and restore order, so its underachievement has only ratcheted up the pressure on Calipari. Despite the presence of the reigning national player of the year, a pair of Rivals top 15 freshmen and a handful of accomplished veterans, Kentucky has performed more like a team that would be lucky to make the NIT than one with national title aspirations. As of Tuesday, there are 86 college basketball teams that have posted at least one quadrant 1 victory this season. Remarkably, Kentucky isnt one of them. The Wildcats (10-6, 1-3 SEC) have lost to Michigan State, Gonzaga, UCLA, Missouri and Alabama by an average of 15 points. The closest theyve come to a resume-boosting victory is a tight win over six-loss Michigan in London in early December. Story continues Until Tuesday, Kentucky at least could claim it didnt have a bad loss. Now the Wildcats have one that will weigh down their resume like an anchor. South Carolina (8-8) should have been a get-right opponent. The Gamecocks fell by 32 to Colorado State, by 24 to George Washington and by 19 to Furman. In their previous game before facing Kentucky, they hosted Tennessee and lost 85-42. Instead of coming out with something to prove after getting embarrassed by Alabama last Saturday afternoon, Kentucky fell behind South Carolina 13-2. Not until the Wildcats trailed by 11 with less than four minutes to play did they appear to finally grasp the urgency of the situation and play with the edge they had been lacking. It's been seven-plus seasons since John Calipari led Kentucky to a Final Four, and it's not looking like the Wildcats will be contenders again this season. (Ryan C. Hermens/Lexington Herald-Leader/Tribune News Service via Getty Images) Speaking with reporters in Lexington after the game, Oscar Tshiebwe repeatedly questioned whether his teammates showed enough fight. Tshiebwe, the reigning player of the year, said he urged Calipari to give the teams walk-ons a chance if the starters werent going to play with the necessary effort to win. If somebody is not willing to fight to give what we need, Im gonna ask Coach to put him on the bench, Tshiebwe said. If were gonna lose with the people who are fighting, even the walk-ons, were gonna lose with them, but at least were fighting. Of course sporadic effort alone wasnt Kentuckys only problem Tuesday night. Nor were injuries a sufficient excuse. Kentucky was without starting forward Jacob Toppin (shoulder) and lost starting guard Cason Wallace early in the game to back spasms, but the Wildcats had plenty of remaining firepower to outclass South Carolina. A huge reason Kentucky failed was that its offensive approach was as disjointed and antiquated as ever. Caliparis starting five featured a pair of paint-clogging big men and a point guard who is more comfortable attacking the rim than shooting from distance. Kentucky didnt attempt a 3-pointer until more than 10 minutes into the first half. The Wildcats didnt connect from behind the arc until four minutes into the second half and didnt sink a second one until the games final four minutes. When Kentucky isnt getting out in transition or overwhelming opponents on the offensive glass, the Wildcats typically struggle to string together baskets. Tshiebwes struggles defending ball screens also hurt. Opponents will keep forcing the 6-foot-9 center to stay in front of guards in space and make quick decisions until he proves he can do it. In his postgame news conference, Calipari preached patience and insisted he still believes this team can be good. This is a long season, he said over and over. Its a marathon. As Calipari points out, there is time for Kentucky to make necessary adjustments and salvage this season, but so far the Wildcats have offered scant evidence theyre capable of a second-half surge. Awaiting Kentucky on Saturday in Knoxville is fifth-ranked Tennessee and its smothering defense. That means its likely to get worse for the Wildcats before it gets better. KenPom now projects that Kentucky will finish 17-14 overall and 8-10 in the SEC, which almost certainly would leave the Wildcats out of the NCAA tournament for the second time in three years. Thats a scenario university officials could not possibly have foreseen in March 2019 when they awarded Calipari a massive 10-year, $86 million contract. Its difficult to imagine Kentucky firing Calipari without cause after this season because the school reportedly would owe him a $40 million buyout. Even for an SEC school, thats a huge sum to pay a Hall of Fame coach to go away. More plausible but still unlikely is Calipari electing to step away on his own to take the Texas job or to coach at another high-profile program. Does Calipari really want to start fresh at age 63? And, given Caliparis recent struggles, would the Longhorns or another suitor still be willing to pay the $8 million per year it would take to lure him from Lexington? The most realistic scenario is Calipari remaining at Kentucky beyond this season. He may no longer be the right coach for college basketballs most high-profile job, but like it or not, Big Blue Nation may be stuck with him for a little while longer. The Jacksonville City Council on Tuesday night approved thousands of dollars in emergency funding for the Jacksonville Jaguars home playoff game on Saturday night. Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry requested the money, which will help fund stadium and gameday expenses. The money is going to SMG, a subsidiary ASM Global, Inc., which is the facilities manager for TIAA Bank Field. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live. Jamie Lee Curtis, 64, rocks black jumpsuit and cape at the 2023 Golden Globes. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/FilmMagic) All eyes were on Jamie Lee Curtis's "fierce" fashion moment at the 80th annual Golden Globe Awards. Nominated for Best Supporting Actress in the movie "Everything Everywhere All at Once," the 64-year-old stunned in a strapless black jumpsuit and matching lace cape as she walked the red carpet at this year's event. Curtis completed her look with a pair of diamond cuff bracelets, black pointed-toe heels and a smokey-eyed makeup look. Jamie Lee Curtis, 64, rocks black jumpsuit and cape at the 2023 Golden Globes. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images) Fans on Twitter couldn't get enough of the eye-catching look, raving that the actress was "serving cape realness" on the red carpet. "Jamie Lee Curtis looks fierce in her cape at the 2023 Golden Globes," one person wrote. "Jamie Lee Curtis always looks absolutely great! How beautiful she is," added another fan. "What an iconic queen," one Twitter user wrote. "Can I just be Jamie Lee Curtis when I grow up?" penned another. Jamie Lee Curtis is serving cape realness on the #GoldenGlobes carpet tonight. pic.twitter.com/Un8u6ORZIC Spur Play (@spurplay) January 10, 2023 Can I just be Jamie Lee Curtis when I grow up? #GoldenGlobes pic.twitter.com/XFFDGBwopU Heather Concannon (@hmmconcannon) January 10, 2023 Jamie Lee Curtis looks fierce in her cape at the 2023 #GoldenGlobes pic.twitter.com/LEFfEfHnGY Vinay Uteriya (@VinayUteriya11) January 10, 2023 Earlier in the day, the "Halloween" star shared a glimpse into her red carpet beauty routine when she posted a behind-the scenes shot to her Instagram account. Story continues "Holy Globing Batman," she captioned the photo, where she snapped a selfie while wearing a futuristic-looking metallic sheet mask. Should the "Freaky Friday" actress win tonight's Best Supporting Actress nomination, it could become a proud family moment as Curtis follows in her mother's silver screen footsteps. Back in 1961, Curtis's mother Janet Leigh won Best Supporting Actress for her role as Marion Crane in Alfred Hitchcocks classic thriller "Psycho." Curtis spoke fondly of her mother's Hollywood legacy in an interview on the red carpet with Variety. "I have a lot of things the same as her," she said. "I have her legacy really, to lead me and she's led me for a long time." Let us know what you think by commenting below and tweeting @YahooStyleCA! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Jennifer Coolidge steals the show, of course. Ana Carballosa/Lionsgate It's a double dose of our favorite Jennifers. Prime Video just shared the first official trailer for Jennifer Lopez's new action-packed rom-com, Shotgun Wedding, which also stars newly minted Golden Globe winner Jennifer Coolidge and heartthrob Josh Duhamel. According to the studio, the film combines everyone's favorite romantic go-tos along with some unexpected twists and plenty of action movie staples. It's not quite 'til death do us part in the traditional sense, but it's sure to bring the laughs, especially with Coolidge in the equation and even a cameo from Lenny Kravitz. "In Shotgun Wedding, Darcy (Lopez) and Tom (Duhamel) gather their lovable-but-very-opinionated families for the ultimate destination wedding, just as the couple begin to get cold feet," the studio says of the flick, which was filmed in the Dominican Republic. "And if that wasnt enough of a threat to the celebration, suddenly everyones lives are in danger when the entire party is taken hostage." : Available to stream on Jan. 27, Shotgun Wedding is just the first of many projects Lopez has lined up for 2023. She has The Mother, where she'll play an ex-assassin looking to reconnect with a daughter that she left behind. That's expected to be released on May 2023 and stream on Netflix. Niki Caro, who directed Disney's live-action Mulan, heads that film. Lopez also has plans to release her ninth studio album, This Is Me ... Now, sometime in 2023. For more InStyle news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on InStyle. The Sundance Institute has announced the jurors for the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, which kicks off next week in Park City, Utah. Per usual, the teams tasked with selecting winners in the Dramatic, Documentary, World Cinema, and Short Film Competitions contain an eclectic mix of prominent artists working in film, theatre, book publishing, and visual arts. Notable jurors include comedian Jim Gaffigan, Slave Play and Zola writer Jeremy O. Harris, and Short Term 12 and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings director Destin Daniel Cretton. More from IndieWire The jury plays a crucial role in the Festival by amplifying breakthrough works and providing the audience with further opportunities for discovery, Sundance Institute CEO Joana Vicente said in a statement. We thank them for their dedication to artistic excellence and their thoughtful lens on cinematic expression and all that independent film offers. We are thrilled to welcome these esteemed and accomplished visionaries to the Festival as our jury, Sundance Director of Programming Kim Yutani added. Together they will embark on a journey through our program to highlight the artistic achievements and honor the compelling storytelling in this years Festival. We cant wait to hear what they think. The 2023 Sundance Film Festival will take place in Park City, Utah, January 19-29. Keep reading for a complete list of jurors, with biography information provided by Sundance. U.S. DRAMATIC COMPETITION JURY Jeremy O. Harris is the playwright and creator of the most Tony-nominated Broadway play ever, Slave Play. His play Daddy opened to great acclaim at the Almeida Theatre in London in March 2022, and in Japan at the Tokyo Globe Theatre and Cool Japan Park Osaka. Jeremy co-wrote A24s critically-acclaimed feature Zola alongside director Janicza Bravo, which won two 2022 Independent Spirit Awards. His television credits include HBOs Euphoria and TV adaptation of Irma Vep. Story continues Eliza Hittman is an award-winning filmmaker. Her latest film, Never Rarely Sometimes Always (Focus Features, 2020), had its U.S. premiere at Sundance, where it won a special jury prize. Hittman received the Directing Award in the U.S. Dramatic category at Sundance the year of her second feature, Beach Rats (NEON, 2017). Her debut feature, It Felt Like Love (2013), premiered at Sundance in NEXT and was a New York Times Critics Pick. Marlee Matlins first film, Children of a Lesser God, garnered her the Academy Award for Best Actress. Her 35-year career includes CODA, which broke records at Sundance and went on to win the SAG Award for Best Ensemble and the Academy Award for Best Picture. Nominated for four Emmy Awards, she also starred in the Tony Award-nominated revival of Spring Awakening. In 2023, Matlin will make her directorial debut for Sonys Accused on Fox. U.S. DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION JURY W. Kamau Bell is a comedian and director and executive producer of the Showtime documentary, We Need To Talk About Cosby. Hes the host and executive producer of CNNs United Shades of America and the author of the New York Times bestseller, Do The Work: An Antiracist Activity Book, co-written with Kate Schatz. Ramona S. Diaz is a Peabody, Gotham, IDA, and Emmy award-winning Asian American filmmaker best known for her character-driven documentaries that combine a profound appreciation for cinematic aesthetics and potent storytelling. Her films Imelda, Motherland, and A Thousand Cuts, among others have been screened and won awards at Sundance, Berlin, Busan, HotDocs, IDFA, and many other top-tier film festivals. Diaz is both a Guggenheim and a USA Fellow. Carla Gutierrez, ACE, edited the Oscar-nominated films RBG and La Corona. Her latest film, Julia, premiered at Telluride and played at the Toronto Film Festival. She edited the Emmy nominated Pray Away for Netflix. Her work has received awards at Sundance, Tribeca, Berlinale, the Critics Choice Awards, the National Board of Review, and the duPont-Columbia Awards. Gutierrez was nominated for an American Cinema Editors Eddie Award and is a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures. WORLD CINEMA DRAMATIC COMPETITION JURY Shozo Ichiyama is a film producer based in Tokyo, known for Flowers of Shanghai by Hou Hsiao-hsien and A Touch of Sin by Jia Zhang-ke, as well as the programming director of Tokyo International Film Festival. Annemarie Jacir has written, directed, and produced over 16 films with premieres at Cannes, Berlin, Venice, and Toronto. All three of her features were Palestines Oscar entries. She shot the first feature by a Palestinian woman director, the acclaimed Salt of this Sea. Founder of Philistine Films, Jacir regularly collaborates with fellow filmmakers as an editor, screenwriter, and producer. She has been a jury member for numerous festivals, including Cannes and Berlin. Funa Maduka is an award-winning filmmaker and the former head of international original films at Netflix where she worked with the worlds top global and upcoming filmmakers. She pioneered Netflixs move into international film production and her film acquisitions garnered multiple Academy Award nominations. Funa also wrote, directed, and produced the first Nigerian film to world premiere at Sundance. Alongside her own creative projects, Funas current entrepreneurial venture focuses on developing talent across the emerging markets globally. WORLD CINEMA DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION JURY Karim Amer is an Egyptian-American Emmy, BAFTA, and Academy Award nominated filmmaker. He has directed and produced several award-winning films and docuseries, including The Lincoln Project (Showtime), Flight/Risk (Amazon Prime Video), The Vow (HBO), and The Great Hack (Netflix). Additionally, he was also a producer on Ramy (Hulu), The Breadwinner, Rafea: Solar Mama, The Square, and You Resemble Me. Amer is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Petra Costa is a Brazilian documentary filmmaker whose work lives on the borderlines of the personal and political. She directed The Edge of Democracy (2019), which was nominated for the Academy Award for best documentary feature in 2020; Undertow Eyes (2009); Elena (2012); and Olmo and the Seagull (2015). Petra is associate producer of Barbara Pazs Babenco (2019), producer of Moara Passonis Ecstasy (2020), and executive producer of Rebeca Huntts BEBA (2021). Alexander Nanaus documentary, The World According to Ion B. (2009), was awarded an International Emmy Award in 2010. Toto and his Sisters (2014) premiered at the San Sebastian IFF and was a European Academy Award nominee in 2015. His latest documentary Collective (2019) premiered at the Venice IFF and was nominated for Best International Feature (Romania) and Best Documentary at the Academy Awards in 2021. Nanau is teaching and mentoring at several international film universities and film labs. NEXT JUROR Madeleine Olnek is a New York City director-playwright, Guggenheim fellow, and award-winning filmmaker, and has had four films at Sundance: Hold Up, Countertransference, The Foxy Merkins, and Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same. She wrote and directed the first onscreen portrayal of a queer Emily Dickinson in the groundbreaking Wild Nights With Emily, starring Molly Shannon. As a playwright, Madeleine belonged to the Emerging Playwrights Lab at New Yorks Public Theater; in downtown NYC performance spaces she wrote and directed over 24 of her original plays. She is a co-author of A Practical Handbook for The Actor (Vintage/Random House/foreword by David Mamet), a widely used acting text which is required reading at many universities. SHORT FILM PROGRAM COMPETITION JURY Destin Daniel Cretton was born in Maui and his short film Short Term 12 won a Jury Prize at Sundance in 2009. Following this, he wrote and directed the feature Short Term 12, winning a Jury Prize and Audience Award at SXSW in 2013. He went on to write and direct The Glass Castle (Lionsgate), Just Mercy (Warner Bros.), and Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (Marvel Studios). Marie-Louise Khondji is the founder of Le Cinema Club a free, curated streaming platform presenting one film a week, with an emphasis on short formats. Prior to Le Cinema Club, she worked in film production and distribution. She was an associate producer of Josh and Benny Safdies Heaven Knows What (2014) and Antonio Campos Simon Killer (2012). She is currently working with Robert Pattinson on his new production company. Deborah Stratman is an artist and filmmaker who makes work that investigates issues of power, control and belief, exploring how places, ideas, and society are intertwined. Her multi-disciplinary practice is anchored in the sonic and cinematic. Recent projects have addressed freedom, surveillance, sinkholes, comets, evolution, extinction, exodus, sisterhood and faith. Her 40+ films have been exhibited and awarded internationally. She lives in Chicago where she teaches at the University of Illinois. ALFRED P. SLOAN FEATURE FILM PRIZE JURY Dr. Heather Berlin is a neuroscientist, clinical psychologist, and Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. A passionate science communicator, Berlin has hosted series on PBS and Discovery Channel, and co-wrote and starred in the critically acclaimed Off-Broadway and Edinburgh Fringe Festival shows, Off the Top and Impulse Control. She appears regularly on StarTalk with Neil deGrasse Tyson, the History Channel, Netflix, and National Geographic. Jim Gaffigan is a six-time Grammy nominated comedian, actor, writer, producer, two-time New York Times best-selling author and three-time Emmy winner. A staple of Sundance, Gaffigans many indie credits range from Tesla to Troop Zero. For Gaffigans indie omnipresence he recently received the Maverick Award at Cinequest. In 2023 Gaffigan will co-star in David Lowerys Peter Pan & Wendy, Sloan Award winning Linoleum, Susie Searches, Providence, and Jerry Seinfelds highly anticipated directorial debut Unfrosted. Dr. Mande Holford is Marine Chemical Biologist at Hunter College and CUNY-Graduate Center, with scientific appointments at The American Museum of Natural History and Weill Cornell Medicine. Her mollusks to medicine research use venoms and venomous marine animals to study rapidly evolving genes and cellular communication in pain and cancer. She co-founded Killer Snails, LLC, an award winning EdTech learning games company. Honors include: A Distinguished Investigator Award from Allen Institute, an E.E. Just Fellow by the Marine Biological Laboratory, a Sustainability Pioneer by the World Economic Forum, Breakthrough Women in Science by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and NPRs Science Friday, a Wings WorldQuest Women of Discovery Fellow, and Fellow of the California Academy of Sciences. Her PhD is from The Rockefeller University. Shalini Kantayya is an Award-winning filmmaker whos film Coded Bias premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, was Emmy-nominated for Outstanding Science and Technology Documentary, a Critics Choice Award, and an NAACP Image award, and now streams on Netflix. Her debut feature, Catching the Sun, executive produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, released on Netflix and was named a NY Times Critics Pick. Her most recent film TikTok, Boom was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival and broadcast on PBS. Lydia Dean Pilcher is a Writer/Director and two-time Emmy Award winner and Oscar nominated Producer of over 40 feature films with auteur directors including twelve films in a longstanding collaboration with Mira Nair. in 2018, Pilcher co-directed the dramatic feature, Radium Girls, starring Joey King, and next directed A Call to Spy, a female-driven World War II spy thriller available on Netflix. She recently completed the sci-fi film Homing Instinct. Best of IndieWire Sign up for Indiewire's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. Jeremy Renner's sister said his family are feeling very positive about his recovery progress. (Getty Images for Disney) Jeremy Renner's sister has said he is "crushing progress goals" as she gave a positive update on his recovery from a snow plough accident. The Hawkeye star - who recently celebrated his 52nd birthday in a hospital bed - suffered severe injuries to his chest and back while clearing snow from outside his family home near Lake Tahoe, Nevada on New Year's Day. Kym Renner told People: "We are so thrilled with his progress. If anyone knows Jeremy, he is a fighter and doesn't mess around. He is crushing all the progress goals. We couldn't feel more positive about the road ahead." Read more: Jeremy Renner 911 call log reveals star 'completely crushed' in snow plough accident The Avengers star lost a serious amount of blood, suffered blunt force chest trauma and orthopaedic injuries, and underwent surgery after he was accidentally run over by a snow plough which he had been using to clear a heavy snow fall outside his home. Watch: Jeremy Renner has posted from his hospital bed Renner has been sharing updates with fans from his hospital bed, telling his 19.5m followers: "Thank you all for your kind words. Im too messed up now to type. But I send love to you all." TMZ reported that it had obtained the 911 emergency call log from the accident. It said the Hurt Locker actor was "completely crushed" by the plough and that afterwards he was having "extreme difficulty" breathing and suffered heavy bleeding. Jeremy Renner had surgery after being 'crushed' by a snow plough at his home. (Jeremy Renner/Instagram) His Lake Tahoe house had been blocked in by the heavy winter weather and ended up being air lifted to hospital after attempting to clear an exit for his family. A statement from the Marvel star's reps earlier this week read: "We can confirm that Jeremy has suffered blunt chest trauma and orthopaedic injuries and has undergone surgery today, January 2nd 2023. "He has returned from surgery and remains in the intensive care unit in critical but stable condition. Story continues "Jeremys family would like to express their gratitude to the incredible doctors and nurses looking after him, Truckee Meadows Fire and Rescue, Washoe County Sheriff, Reno City Mayor Hillary Schieve and the Carano and Murdock families. Jeremy Renner stars as superhero Hawkeye in the Marvel movies. (Getty Images) "They are also tremendously overwhelmed and appreciative of the outpouring of love and support from his fans." The Lake Tahoe area was hit by a heavy snow storm on New Year's Eve, leaving a reported 35,000 homes without power. Read more: Jeremy Renner shares 'spa day' video from hospital bed Renner has a nine-year-old daughter with his ex-wife Canadian model Sonni Pacheco. The Emmy Award-winning comedian detailed his entire thought process when he was offered the gig to host the award shows return to television. The Golden Globes just got the Jerrod Carmichael treatment! The 80th annual awards ceremony returned on Tuesday to NBC and Peacock, with the Emmy Award-winning comedian, actor, and writer immediately addressing the controversy surrounding the show and its governing body, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). Host Jerrod Carmichael speaks onstage at the 80th Annual Golden Globe Awards held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 10, 2023, in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Rich Polk/NBC via Getty Images) The Golden Globes returned to television this year after taking a year off, following significant backlash for a series of ethical lapses and persistent lack of diversity within the HFPA, as previously reported by theGrio. In his opening monologue, Carmichael wasted no time addressing the elephant in the room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. I am your host Jerrod Carmichael, and Ill tell you why Im here Im here cause Im Black! He continued to break down why the Globes did not air last year, saying the HFPA did not have a single Black member until George Floyd died. Sitting down on the steps of the stage, Carmichael then recalled the moment he got a call from a producer to host the Globes. I was like, Woah, one minute youre making mint tea at home, the next youre invited to be the Black face of an embattled white organization life really comes at you fast, you know? He explained that he had felt conflicted and expressed his concerns that he had only been asked to host the show because he is Black. While the producer assured Carmichael that his talents were the draw, Carmichael said he took his concerns to his homegirl Avery, who, for the purposes of the monologue, represents every Black person in America. While he expressed moral concerns to his friend, after learning they offered him $500,000 to host, she reportedly told him to do it. Carmichaels monologue continued to detail his acceptance of the gig, how he avoided taking a meeting with the president of the HFPA, and more. Regardless of whatever the Hollywood Foreign Press Associations past may be, this is an evening where we get to celebrate, and I think this industry deserves evenings like these, he concluded. Story continues Watch Jerrod Carmichael's full #GoldenGlobes opening monologue, in which he roasts the HFPA pic.twitter.com/GCmQQM1a2z The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) January 11, 2023 As viewers may remember, Carmichael is hosting the show after an extremely successful 2022. The performer dropped his latest comedy special, Rothaniel, on HBO to rave reviews and even hosted Saturday Night Live, which also received critical acclaim. His comedy special earned him the Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special. TheGrio is FREE on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku and Android TV. Also, please download theGrio mobile apps today! The post Jerrod Carmichael unleashes on HFPAs lack of diversity in Golden Globes opening monologue appeared first on TheGrio. The latest hearing in the high-profile hit-and-run case against Rebecca Grossman over the 2020 deaths of two young brothers took an emotional turn outside the Los Angeles courtroom Tuesday morning. Grossman, 59, of Hidden Hills, addressed a small group of supporters for the victims' family as she left the Van Nuys Courthouse. "I know you think youre doing the right thing, but you dont know all the details," Grossman said to supporters gathered in the hallway. The quick exchange appeared to leave the group in stunned silence as Grossman continued out of the building. Grossman allegedly hit and killed Mark and Jacob Iskander, ages 11 and 8, respectively, as they were crossing the street on Sept. 29, 2020, along Triunfo Canyon Road at Saddle Mountain Drive. The Westlake Village intersection is in Los Angeles County, just east of the Ventura County line. Mark and Jacob were in a marked crosswalk with their mother, Nancy Iskander, and younger brother Zachary, then 5. Grossman was driving a Mercedes-Benz SUV. Both brothers died that night. Grossman has been charged with two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter and one count of hit-and-run causing death. If convicted on all counts, she faces a maximum sentence of 34 years to life in prison, prosecutors say. Attorneys have begun the discovery process to prepare for the impending trial. Tuesday morning's pretrial conference was presided over by Los Angeles County Judge Joseph Brandolino. I want to keep this moving to trial, Brandolino said. During the hearing, Grossmans defense team, including defense attorney John Hobson and personal injury lawyer Tony Buzbee, asked the judge for additional time to contact expert witnesses for the case. Both the defense and prosecution agreed to a March 6 status conference, during which they will update the judge on their progress. If there are no further delays, the trial could start as soon as early April, though it could be later in the year. Story continues I wouldnt want to go much later than early May for the trial date, Brandolino said. Grossman is the wife of Dr. Peter Grossman, a plastic surgeon, and the daughter-in-law of Dr. A. Richard Grossman, who founded the Grossman Burn Centers, specialized medical facilities for treating burn victims in Los Angeles, Bakersfield and Kansas City, Missouri. She is the co-founder of the Grossman Burn Foundation and the former publisher of Westlake Magazine. Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Ryan Gould, the prosecutor in the case, said a lot of factors determine how quickly a case moves to trial, from the progress of discovery to coordinating scheduling conflicts among witnesses. He hopes the defense moves along with the timeline presented by the judge, but will have a better sense after the March hearing. "In a best case scenario, we're looking at May," Gould said. As Tuesdays hearing came to an end, Nancy Iskander, the victims' mother, was overcome with emotion after seeing Grossman leave the courtroom. Tell her Jacobs birthday is this Friday, Iskander said. About a half-dozen supporters of the Iskander family also attended the hearing, many wearing buttons that read Justice for Mark and Jacob with a photo of the two boys. Grossman, meanwhile, was accompanied by her husband, her attorneys and several friends and family members. Jacob, who was 8 when he was killed, would have turned 11 on Friday, Iskander said. She plans to mark the occasion by going out to dinner with her husband and two children. "I pray for every mom who's lost a son," she said. Iskander said she has been overwhelmed by the support she's received, especially from community organizers Julie Cohen and Jennifer Nagel, who coordinated a recent Christmas card drive for the family. She said anyone who wants to support Mark and Jacob's legacy can do so via the charity founded in their memory with the Ventura County Community Foundation. More information is available at markandjacobfoundation.org. Jeremy Childs is a general assignment reporter covering courts, crime and breaking news for the Ventura County Star. He can be reached at 805-437-0208, jeremy.childs@vcstar.com, and on Twitter @Jeremy_Childs. This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Judge aims for spring 2023 trial in Rebecca Grossman case A federal judge has denied a request by Todd and Julie Chrisley to stay out of prison on bond while they appeal their guilty verdict after they were found guilty in a tax evasion case. The Chrisleys took out $30 million in fraudulent bank loans to fund their lavish lifestyle and extravagant spending even before they become reality television stars. In November, Todd Chrisley was sentenced to 12 years in prison plus 36 months of supervised release. His wife, Julie, was sentenced to 7 years in prison, plus 36 months of supervised release. RELATED STORIES: On Tuesday, the judge also denied a request to extend their surrender dates by 21 dates. This comes just days before the couple is expected to report to prison in Florida. In December, the court ordered Todd Chrisley to report to prison in Pensacola, Florida, by noon on Jan. 17. Julie Chrisley was ordered to report to prison in Marianna, Florida, by noon on the same date. RELATED NEWS: By Daniel Wiessner (Reuters) - Tesla Inc has suffered another setback in its bid to challenge the powers of California's Civil Rights Department, which is suing the electric carmaker over alleged race discrimination at its flagship assembly plant. A judge in Oakland, California, in a tentative ruling late Tuesday dismissed Tesla's counter-suit claiming the agency did not notify the company of the bias allegations or give it a chance to settle before suing it last February. California Superior Court Judge Evelio Grillo gave Tesla until Feb. 3 to file an amended complaint fleshing out its claim that the agency has adopted "underground regulations" to flout the requirements it must meet before filing lawsuits. A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday morning. A Tesla representative and the agency did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The agency argues that Tesla's Fremont, California, plant is a racially segregated workplace where Black employees have been harassed and discriminated against over job assignments, discipline and pay. Tesla has denied wrongdoing and said the lawsuit is politically motivated. Grillo in August denied Tesla's motion to dismiss the case, saying its attack on the agency's practices was not a defense against the discrimination claims. Tesla filed the counter-suit in September. Also in August, a different state administrative agency declined to review a Tesla complaint arguing that the Civil Rights Department was suing businesses without conducting thorough investigations. Several lawsuits are pending in California courts that accuse Tesla of tolerating discrimination and sexual harassment at its factories. A state judge in April cut a jury award to a Black worker who alleged racial harassment from $137 million to $15 million. The worker rejected the reduced award and opted for a new trial, which is scheduled for March. (Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York; Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Kevin Liffey) Andrew Tate, his brother Tristan, and two Romanian women leaving court on January 10, 2023. DANIEL MIHAILESCU/Getty Images Andrew Tate's request for release from jail was denied by a Romanian judge. The judge cited his wealth in the decision, saying he and his brother are rich enough to flee. Tate was arrested with his brother and two Romanian women in December. The judge who denied Andrew Tate's release from Romanian jail cited his wealth as the reason, saying it made him a flight risk. Tate was arrested with his brother Tristan and two Romanian women in December and held in jail for 30 days. They appealed the decision, but their request was denied in court yesterday. Tate and the others now have to remain in detention as Romanian authorities investigate the charges against them, which include sex-trafficking and rape. The judge in the case explained his decision to force the Tates to stay in jail, arguing that their wealth meant it was possible they would try and escape. "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 judge said, according to Euro News. The lawyer hired by the Tates, Eugen Vidineac, told Romanian outlet Gandul that he was "disappointed" by the decision and that it seemed "excessive" to keep them locked up. Vidineac previously told local news that there was no evidence against the brothers. Tate, his brother Tristan, and the two Romanian women Georgiana Naghe and Luana Radu were photographed pulling up to the courthouse in a police van on Tuesday for the appeal hearing, which lasted over five hours, according to BBC. They are accused of forming a criminal group that exploited women to produce porn for their online business, including one woman who has made accusations of rape. All four defendants in the case lost the appeal and will remain in detention at least through the end of January. They could be held for up to 180 days, per Romanian law. Read the original article on Insider court illustration LAFAYETTE, Ind. Jermaine Garnes stood emotionless Wednesday afternoon as he listened to the jurors' verdicts guilty of murder; guilty of neglect of a child resulting in death; guilty of aggravated battery resulting in death; and guilty of battery of a person younger than 14 resulting in death. Garnes repeatedly punched nonverbal 3-year-old Zeus Cox the night of July 4, 2021, inflicting painful injuries on the boy, who was dead by sunrise the next morning. Then he lied about it, prosecutors said during closing arguments. Garnes grabbed Zeus by the leg and held him in the air while throwing punches that ruptured Zeus' kidney, tore four ruptures in his small intestines and broke two posterior ribs. The rupture in the intestines caused blood and fecal material to seep into the membrane that holds the intestines in place, forensic pathologist Dr. Darin Wolfe testified in May at the trial of Zeus' mother, Crystal Cox. She too was convicted of murder for being an accomplice. She currently is in prison serving a 53-year sentence. Dr. Tara Holloran, a clinical pediatrician at Riley Hospital for Children, testified Tuesday that Zeus' injuries could not be inflicted by a fall or even roughhousing with Garnes' 9-year-old son. After suffering the injuries, Zeus would have become more disoriented and disconnected to his environment the more he bled out inside his abdomen, Holloran testified, adding that Zeus' injuries would be painful. The jury began deliberating about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, and they reached a verdict about two hours later. The verdicts were read in open court about 5 p.m. Wednesday. Both the defense and prosecutors gave closing arguments before jurors began their deliberations. Alicia Pratt, one of Garnes' attorneys, argued in closing arguments that Garnes helped care for Zeus, cooperating in the police investigation. The pathologist testified about the injuries and caused Zeus' death, but the experts did not know who killed Zeus. Story continues "No one testified to seeing who caused the injuries," Pratt said as she asked jurors to find Garnes not guilty. In his rebuttal closing arguments, Tippecanoe County Deputy Prosecutor Cassidy Laux reminded jurors that Jermaine Garnes Jr. testified he saw the start of the attack on Zeus. The younger Garnes recounted how his father grabbed Zeus by the leg and began punching the nonverbal boy. "He has no reason to lie about what he saw," Laux said. As for Pratt's characterization of the elder Garnes working with the police, Laux said, "Lying over and over and over again is not cooperating with law enforcement." Garnes gave conflicting stories about performing CPR on Zeus. He told contradicting accounts of how Zeus was covered from head to toe in bruises, Laux said. Garnes told police that Zeus was up at 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. on July 5, 2021. "That child was likely dead at that point in the morning," Laux said. Garnes messaged a friend on July 6, 2021, saying that when Crystal Cox woke up screaming that Zeus wasn't breathing, he grabbed the boy and held him in a cold shower in hopes of reviving him. But neither the first paramedic on the scene nor the photos of Zeus' body from the scene indicated any signs that Zeus had been held under a shower. Almost every bottle of children's medicine was out on a counter or a nightstand in Garnes' house when police and paramedics arrived. Why, Laux asked rhetorically. "They staged the scene, and they lied, and they lied and they lied," Laux said, answering his question. Jurors clearly sided with prosecutors and convicted Garnes of all four charges. Garnes' sentencing date has not yet been scheduled. Reach Ron Wilkins at rwilkins@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @RonWilkins2. This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Jurors convict man of murder for killing nonverbal 3-year-old boy Here are area restaurants with seven or more priority or critical health code violations, with highlighted links to some original public record reports. Restaurants correct most violations at the time of the original inspection or shortly thereafter. If an inspection or follow-up report needs clarification, restaurant and grocery store owners can call Joyce Smith at 816-234-4692 or email her at jsmith@kcstar.com. The Star will post appropriate responses in the same online locations as the original report. The Kansas Department of Agriculture cited these operations for seven or more priority health code violations (direct links to the reports are not available). Oishi Sushi Japanese Cuisine & Bar, 12220 Shawnee Mission Parkway, Shawnee, had 11 priority violations during a Jan. 3 routine inspection. Margaritas, 7890 Quivira Road, Lenexa, had nine priority violations during a Jan. 9 routine inspection. Antojitos Del Peru Peruvian Food, 7809 Quivira Road, Lenexa, had seven priority violations during a Jan. 4 routine inspection. Buffalo State Pizza Co., 7901 Santa Fe Drive, Overland Park, had seven priority violations during a Jan. 4 routine inspection. Fronteras Mexican Restaurant & Cantina, 7779 Quivira Road, Lenexa, had seven priority violations during a Jan. 9 routine inspection. Maggianos Little Italy, Corbin Park, 7025 W. 135th St., Overland Park, had seven priority violations during a Jan. 4 routine inspection. Vaders Bar & Deli, 122 N. Cherry St., Olathe, had seven priority violations during a Jan. 3 inspection following a complaint. For complete Kansas health inspections, click here. The former owner of a drug addiction treatment clinic in Kansas was sentenced Tuesday to more than 11 years in federal prison for trafficking meth. Trevor J. Robinson, 46, pleaded guilty in November 2021 to one count of possessing with the intent to distribute methamphetamine. On Tuesday, he was sentenced to 11 years and three months in federal prison without parole. Robinson owned and operated an opioid addiction clinic in Olathe, Kan.He was initially arrested by Kansas City police in October 2020 after he was stopped for an outstanding warrant. After searching his 2014 Maserati, officers found 1.5 kilograms of methamphetamine, as well as cocaine, heroin, marijuana, MDMA/ecstasy, and 15 white round pills imprinted with M30. Laboratory tests later confirmed 14 of the pills contained the deadly opioid fentanyl. Police also found a digital scale, two iPhones, a leather-bound ledger notebook, and nearly $15,000 in cash. Robinson was indicted by a grand jury in January 2021 for felony possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, fentanyl and ecstasy. In November of that year, he pleaded guilty to one count of possessing with the intent to distribute meth. Just a few days before his arrest, Robinson sold a pound of methamphetamine to an undercover investigator. Inside the clinic, he also showed the confidential informant another pound of the drug, which he was in the process of converting from liquid to crystal, authorities said. He later confessed he sold meth in ounce or pound quantities. He also said he bought the drug from at least three different suppliers on a regular basis, paying $6,000 per pound and reselling it for about $700 per ounce, court documents say. Though officers cant prove Robinson sold drugs to the clients of his clinic, officers say theres evidence he distributed drugs into the same community he was trying to service with treatment. Robinson was a large-scale supplier and did not sell directly to users, who would be clients of the clinic. Therefore, the government maintains it is possible the drugs he distributed made their way to the addicts he was also treating, the U.S. attorneys office for the Western District of Missouri said in a news release. Jan. 11PLATTSBURGH Senior Celebration organizers are in the throes of planning this year's celebration. The last in-person Senior Celebration was in 2019. "We had to cancel the 2020 (event) because of COVID," Julie Stalker, JCEO senior outreach program director and chairperson of the Senior Celebration Committee, said. "Everything got shut down then. So, we are back to the planning. It is scheduled for May 5, 2023. We are going to hold it at the Senior Citizens Council. That's 5139 North Catherine Street here in Plattsburgh." Past events have featured themes such as Over the Rainbow with a "Wizard of Oz" theme. The 2023 theme is the Kentucky Derby. Seniors, start looking for the biggest hat you can find. The bigger the hat, the more luck according to Churchill Downs tradition. "Derby Days I think is what it might be technically, but I'm not sure if that's exactly the title so it may change a little bit," Stalker said. "We are always encourage the vendors that to come to dress up for the day and do their agency theme kind of stuff." The event will be held in the center's gymnasium and there will be dancing, eating, and swag bags and freebies offered by rows of vendors. "We encourage all kinds of vendors," Stalker said. "Usually, we have our non-for-profits, anybody that works in the senior community. We have booths representing the Clinton County Office for the Aging, JCEO, North Country Center for Independence. We've had Friends of the North Country be there. We've had representation from the funeral homes. We've had representation from nursing homes. RSVP is there, just to name a few." Seniors love the event and attend to connect with neighbors, friends and family. "For many years, it was a big extravaganza that we held out at the Crete Center," Stalker said. "Then because of different kinds of things, we scaled it down some. Being gone for a couple of years, though we're going to definitely look for some of that interaction with different agencies and things like that. Story continues "As an agency, they get to go out and talk about their program and meet with the people and be able to show what services are out there. I think the seniors really missed that kind of thing." Email: rcaudell@pressrepublican.com Twitter@RobinCaudell If you cant beat them, join them is the approach traditional banks in Kenya are adopting as they seek a greater slice of the mobile money market dominated by Safaricoms M-Pesa service. Because of its widespread adoption by small businesses and individuals in Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, DR Congo, Lesotho, Ghana and Egypt, M-Pesa is a dominant player in the African mobile money market. Read more However, traditional banks in Kenya are now looking to take on the market leader by growing their own mobile money offeringseither by building their own platforms or by building on the back of existing platforms, including M-Pesa itself. Covid-19 increased adoption of non-cash payments to banks This comes as a market report shows that the covid-19 pandemic had a marked impact on non-cash payments to banks, with many banks quickly improving their digital offerings to remain competitive. A massive 49% of African banks said that they had greatly increased the speed of implementation because of covid-19, the Backbase report reads in part. Some banks were already trying to transition from the traditional model before the pandemic, due to the emergence of new competition on the part of African fintech and pure digital players. Competing with M-Pesa? Kenyan banks are now looking to leverage the hard yards put in by the fintech innovators to quickly and easily tap the mobile money market, offering their customers the convenience of conducting their regular financial transactions as well as those usually reserved for M-Pesa and other mobile money apps, through their mobile banking apps. The apps offer both a broader range of financial services and more control over mobile money operations. For example, Equity mobile, which replaces the banks EazzyBanking app, uses a common merchant Till Number (a payment channel), to let subscribers choose to pay a vendor from either their Equity accounts or from Pesalink, M-Pesa or Airtel Money. Story continues Settlements for transactions are real-time and merchants can access these funds immediately, offering improved convenience. According to the bank, merchants are not charged a commission when they have the One Equity Till Number. KCB, one of Kenyas top-tier banks, now offers a suite of mobile money services, allowing clients to pay for utilities, get loans, buy airtime, send and receive money, and pay school fees. Co-operative Bank has also introduced mobile money services by partnering with existing mobile money providers to remain competitive. But despite these efforts, many banks are still struggling to keep up with the popularity and convenience of mobile money behemoth M-Pesa in its current architecture. As a result, Kenyas banks are this year looking to boost the appeal of PesaLink, launched in 2017 as an alternative to M-Pesa, to provide a fast, secure, and convenient way for customers to make interbank transactions. Unlike M-Pesa, which has a transaction limit of roughly Ksh300,000 (US$2,400), customers can move up to Ksh 999,000 ($7200) between banks through PesaLink, making it convenient for bulk cash transfers. CBK reversal on waived mobile money charges The squeeze on traditional banks, meanwhile, continues. The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) on Dec. 31, 2022 reinstated charges on mobile money transactions, with commercial banks swiftly announcing to their customers that mobile money transactions would cost more. The CBK had waived charges on March 16, 2020, to protect consumers from the economic fallout of covid-19. To cushion the blow, some banks, such as Equity Bank, KCB Stanchart, Coop Bank, and Family Bank, have reduced transaction fees for traditional transactions or are promoting the use of their bank cards through advertising campaigns on YouTube and SMS platforms. Coop and Family banks, for instance, have eliminated card charges to encourage customers to use their debit cards more and benefit from future innovations. With banks across Africa looking to offer similar services, many will be watching the Kenyan mobile money wars, closely. Whichever way this goes, however, the final beneficiary is likely to be the long-suffering African consumer. The original version of this article was published by bird-Africa no filter. More from Quartz Sign up for Quartz's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenyan LGBTQ rights campaigner Edwin Chiloba, whose body was found in a metal box on the roadside near the city of Eldoret last week, died from suffocation caused by socks stuffed into his mouth, a pathologist said on Wednesday. "(He) died from asphyxia which is caused by smothering. We found that he had a piece of jeans trouser which was tied around the mouth, and around the nose," pathologist Johansen Oduor told reporters. "There were socks which were stuffed in the mouth." Oduor said, adding that Chiloba showed no other signs of injury. Police believe Chiloba, a fashion model and designer, was killed at his home in the western Kenyan city and have named his roommate Jacktone Odhiambo, with whom he is thought to have been in a relationship, as the main suspect. Odhiambo and four other suspects are in police custody. Chiloba's death has sent shockwaves through the LGBTQ community in Kenya, where homosexuality is taboo and gay sex is punishable by 14 years in prison, although that law is rarely enforced. (Reporting by Hereward Holland; Editing by Estelle Shirbon) Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey has been keeping a low profile since a string of sexual misconduct accusations brought derailed his stellar career in 2017. The actor will be back in the headlines over the coming week, however, with a court hearing in London, followed by an honorary awards event in Italy, where he will make his first voluntary public appearance in five years. More from Deadline Londons Southwark Crown Court has confirmed that a second hearing related to seven sexual assault charges brought by a single male complainant, will take place on January 13 as previously announced. The court told Deadline on Wednesday that Spacey will not be attending in person but rather by live video-link, as was the case for the first hearing related to the case on December 16. Three days later, Spacey is set to be honored at a special event organized by Italys National Cinema Museum in the northern city of Turin on Monday, January 16. The two-time Academy Award winner will give a public masterclass, moderated by the museums director Domenico De Gaetano and then receive the institutions Stella della Mole Award for lifetime achievement. The museum says the actor has been collaborating closely on the key elements of the masterclass and that the public event sold out within five minutes of the tickets going online. Named after Turins Mole Antonelliana architectural landmark which houses the cinema museum, previous recipients of the Stella della Mole Award include actors Isabella Rossellini, Monica Bellucci, and Malcolm McDowell, as well as directors Xavier Dolan and Dario Argento. Story continues Spacey will then present a special screening of Sam Mendes American Beauty, for which he won the Best Actor Oscar in 2000. Fridays court hearing in London is related to seven Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) authorized charges that are alleged to have taken place between 2001 and 2004. They span three of indecent assault, three of sexual assault and one count of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent. The charges are in addition to five earlier charges brought by three men. Spacey pleaded not guilty at an initial hearing last July for these earlier charges. A trial date for that case has been set for June 6, 2023. In between times, a jury sided with Spacey in New York in October to find the actor not liable in a $40M sexual misconduct lawsuit brought by Rent and Star Trek: Discovery Anthony Rapp. Rapp, who has been on stage since he was a child, testified that Spacey had made unwanted advances at a party in his apartment after they met on Broadway when he was a teenager. After a two-week civil trial, the jury concluded that Spacey did not molest Rapp. Rapp responded to the verdict with a Tweet saying he was grateful for having been able to share his testimony, explaining the lawsuit was always about was always about shining a light, as part of the larger movement to stand up against all forms of sexual violence. Best of Deadline Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. An Ohio woman has pleaded guilty to a battery charge in Indianapolis that she acquired while being processed in jail upon her arrest in the kidnapping of 5-month-old twin boys from Columbus. Nalah T. Jackson, 24, on Wednesday received a one-year sentence with 60 of those days to be spent in jail after pleading guilty to battery by bodily waste, according to the Marion County Prosecutor's Office. Timeline: Search and rescue of Thomas twins, plus arrest of babies' abductor According to court documents, Jackson picked up the felony charge while she underwent processing in the Marion County Jail, following her arrest in the kidnapping of infants Ky'air Thomas and Kason Thomas. A probable cause affidavit said Jackson spit in a deputys face while they tried to put her handcuffs back on. Chance encounter and mother's intuition:How 2 Indy women helped find missing Ohio twin Indianapolis police arrested Jackson on Dec. 22, days after Ky'air Thomas and Kason Thomas were taken when the car they were in was stolen. The babies were in the back seat of their mothers running car outside a pizza restaurant when the vehicle was taken. A passerby found Ky'air Thomas early the next day in a parking lot outside Dayton International Airport. Authorities and the community continued to look for Kason Thomas, and the search heightened when the child was not with Jackson upon her arrest. 'There's no words for this':Father says of agonizing search for missing Columbus twin son Kason Thomas was found inside a car at a downtown Papa Johns after Indianapolis cousins Shyann Belmar and Mecka Curry stepped in to help the search. The 27-year-olds also led police to Jackson after they encountered her at a gas station on the northwest side of the city and later realized she was the suspected kidnapper on the news. In Ohio, Jackson faces two counts of kidnapping in the abduction of the twins. Contact Sarah Nelson at 317-503-7514 or sarah.nelson@indystar.com This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Kidnapping suspect Nalah T. Jackson pleads guilty to unrelated charge in Indianapolis A possible explosion has taken place at a chemical plant in LaSalle in Northern Illinois. A shelter-in-place order has been issued for residents in the area. Firefighters arrived at the scene after a fire prompted a plume of smoke to rise above the plant, which has been evacuated, WGN9 reported. The fire started shortly after 9am on Wednesday at Carus Chemical. The authorities sent an emergency alert to those in La Salles third and fourth wards to shelter in place. The blaze has been classified as a 4-alarm fire, according to NBC Chicago. La Salle police said an explosion took place in a shipping container at the plant, which is about 80 miles southwest of the windy city. Carus, a family-owned business started in 1915, produces supplies products and services for municipal water treatment, wastewater and air purification and soil remediation, the company site states. There was a fire at the Carus Chemical Building. Residents living nearby are asked to please shelter in place, the city authorities said in a statement. No Doubter Alert LaSalle IL - Multiple explosions reported at Carus Chemical. Heavy fire and smoke conditions are present. Carus Chemical manufactures chemicals used in water treatment. jeff chandler pic.twitter.com/2gypgk9ZvX Kyle.Taylor (@livingbyyyz) January 11, 2023 Police followed up by urging residents to avoid a green substance that had been released after the incident. Attention LaSalle residents of the 3rd and 4th Wards, due to recent events, an oxidizer (which appears green in color) has been released in the area. Do NOT touch this substance. If you see this substance near or on your residence it can be deactivated, the alert said. In order to deactivate it, you will need a 1:1:1 mixture of: 1 gallon of water, 1 gallon of peroxide, 1 gallon of vinegar. Story continues The LaSalle - Peru Township High School District 120 said in a Facebook post that as you may be aware, there was an explosion at the Carus Chemical plant on the east side of LaSalle this morning. Our school campus is safe. We have been in communication with local emergency services to determine the best course of action to maintain the safety and well-being of our students and staff. We have been advised that it is safe to continue school as usual at this time. School administrators will continue to monitor the situation. In the event anything changes, we will inform families as soon as possible, the district said. Fire chief Jerry Janick said during a press conference on Wednesday that at this time, the fire appears to be contained. We had no injuries and everyone from the building was accounted for. Right now, the city also has a Shelter In Place order for all residents to the north and west of the incident for precautionary reasons. We'll assess that shortly. And right now, we're still bringing additional equipment in to assist in the final extinguishment and investigation, he added. While the chief said there was significant damage to the structure, he was unable to confirm that an explosion had occurred. Lab-grown caviar by Caviar Biotec, an arm of the UK company Exmoor Caviar. Courtesy of Caviar Biotec Many companies are racing to stock lab-grown meat in supermarkets, but it's an expensive endeavor. Some entrepreneurs see more potential in lab-grown luxury products, where you can charge a premium. Vow Food went so far as to create a lab-grown protein called Morsel, which costs $300 a pound. The race is on to be the first company to sell lab-grown meat in a supermarket: Israel's SuperMeat is working on lab-grown poultry, as is Upside Foods in Tennessee. A rival Israeli firm, Aleph Farms, has doubled down on cell-cultured steak, and Finless Foods in California is working on animal-free tuna. They all promise to bring cruelty-free protein to the table in the next few years. Yet each futuristic firm is following the same strategy that's likely to stumble for one crucial reason: money. The economics of creating lab-grown meat makes mass-market products unviable: Put simply, it's too pricey for even the pickiest eco-minded consumer when compared with its natural counterpart. As a result, some industry experts told Insider they saw more potential in a different market: premium products like caviar or foie gras that can sell at a hefty price without consumers batting an eyelash. "It's obvious to me that we need to create something that's small volume and high value if we want to achieve profitability out of the gate," Isha Datar, the executive director of New Harvest, a nonprofit focused on the cultured-meat industry, said. Isha Datar says there's more potential for lab-grown proteins in the luxury sector. Diana Levine Lab-grown protein can have significant environmental benefits. One recent study from the University of Oxford found that the production of lab-grown meat could offer 96% lower greenhouse-gas emissions, as well as cut water and land use to 4 and 1%, respectively, of what conventional farming requires. Demand for an alternative to animal meat is high as well McKinsey predicted the market would swell to a $25 billion industry worldwide by the end of this decade, and the Food and Drug Administration approved it for human consumption stateside right at the end of last year. Story continues Ken Benning is one entrepreneur hoping to find the perfect blend of profitability and sustainability in the lab-grown market. As the CEO of the UK's Exmoor Caviar, a favorite of the British royal family, he has plans to introduce an entirely new product under the brand Caviar Biotec: lab-grown caviar. "We are replicating eggs at scale," Benning told Insider. "If you can produce the same thing, it tastes good, and it's sustainable, it's a no-brainer." Ken Benning is the CEO behind Caviar Biotec. Jemima Benning His argument, much like Datar's, is that consumers have limits to what they'll spend on everyday food items like beef but are likely willing to shell out more for a luxury item like caviar. "If it's costing you 50 per burger, they're just not buying it," he said. "But our modeling for what we're doing starts out, from the get-go, with a very large buffer for margin." Benning said he wasn't trying to radically undercut the farm price of his animal roe he's hoping to charge between $136 and $272 a pound, which is cheaper than the conventional product but far from a bargain. "We will maintain the price, and so the perceived value," he said. "We're more driven by the ethical value of the product because nowadays being ethical is the new luxury. Our goal isn't to produce cheap caviar." The Vow Food lab, where Morsel a new kind of lab-grown protein is made. Cameron Ramsay Other firms are focusing on the luxe niche for similar reasons. France's Gourmey is working on a lab-grown counterpart to foie gras and intends to grow liver in the lab harvested from duck stem cells to replace the traditional force-feeding method. London's Primeval Foods is focused on cultivating meats that would otherwise be off-limits for conservation reasons think lion, tiger, and panther. And Pearlita in Raleigh, North Carolina, is focused on oysters. (Datar said the startup had received pushback since the creatures it's replacing are naturally regenerative, rather than resource-intensive, like cows and many mammals are.) George Peppou, the founder of Vow Food, which is creating lab-grown protein. Cameron Ramsay The Vow Food founder George Peppou has taken lab-grown food a step further by trying to create an entirely new product. His argument is that when there's no real-life equivalent, you can set your own prices. Morsel, as it's called, is a protein that's a unique hybrid of two animals (he declined to say which, citing a pending patent). "But what I will say is you get the wonderful umami roast meaty flavors as well as the lovely, light, buttery aromatic flavor from seafood," he said. To come up with just the right flavor, he turned to chefs who emphasized a good mouthfeel and the ability to use 100% of the product (in other words, not needing to trim off fat or bone). Morsel, Peppou said, fulfills all these requirements. Vow Food's Morsel featured in an onion ring with broth. Anil Riard Morsel will debut in Singapore soon at a price of about $300 a pound a price comparable to uni, or sea-urchin roe, he said. It's the perfect proving ground, Peppou said, given the country's 4-year-old 30 by 30 sustainable-food initiative, where it committed to produce 30% of its food needed by 2030 a tough goal in as dense and as small a country, with scant conventional farmland, as Singapore. "We're using cultured-meat technology to make meat that is better than what animals could produce," Peppou said. "It's about having your cake and eating it, too it's delicious and enjoyable but also nutritious and sustainable at the same time." Read the original article on Business Insider Stephen J. Dennis, accompanied by lawyer Jeff Pine, appears in District Court on Monday afternoon. [The Providence Journal / Kris Craig] Editor's Note: For the most recent developments on this case read the article, 'Personal injury lawyer reaches agreement to drop spitting charge' PROVIDENCE A personal injury lawyer accused of shoving and spitting on the father of another personal-injury lawyer has brought his own charges against the alleged victim. Stephen J. Dennis, 59, who is accused of assaulting the 67-year-old father of lawyer Michael Campopiano, says that the father was the hitter and spitter. Providence police saw Dennis as the aggressor and arrested him on Dec. 3. Nine days later, Dennis lodged a private criminal complaint against Augusto Campopiano Jr., of Cranston, charging him with two counts of simple assault and disorderly conduct. (Rhode Island allows citizens to act as prosecutors and file criminal complaints for misdemeanors.) Dennis said in a notarized complaint that the elder Campopiano was the aggressor and that he was just trying to defend himself. The shoving-and-spitting match between the two men occurred at the downtown building where Dennis and Michael Campopiano both have law offices. The only thing that both sides can agree on is that the confrontation stemmed from a soured business relationship between the two lawyers. Dennis says in a recent lawsuit that Michael Campopiano owes him about $600,000 in a fee-sharing agreement that involved at least 173 clients. Campopiano says he doesn't. In his complaint, Dennis said that the elder Campopiano brought up the feud when they ran into each other in the vestibule of the office building at 127 Dorrance St. on Nov. 15. Dennis told Campopiano that his son owed him money. Campopoiano said his son felt the same. Words led to action: Dennis said in his complaint that Campopiano told him to leave his son alone and punched him. Dennis said he grabbed Campopiano's arms and the other man spit in his face. "This started and surprised me, causing me to almost lose my balance and fall back into a doorway," Dennis said in the complaint. Story continues The confrontation spilled into the hallway, where, Dennis says, Campopiano continued to harass him. He declined comment Thursday through his lawyer, Frank Orabona Jr. The two men will be back at District Court on Jan. 14 on their dueling cases. This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Lawyer accused of spitting attack says he was the victim Less than two weeks after the death of beloved metro Detroit businesswoman and philanthropist Gretchen Carhartt Valade, a Grosse Pointe Farms lawyer who oversaw her trust is facing numerous charges that he stole millions of dollars from it. David Sutherland, 57, is charged with two counts each of embezzlement of $100,000, one count of embezzlement from a vulnerable adult of $100,000 or more and one count of conducting criminal enterprises. While specific amounts were not provided in the criminal complaint, earlier civil filings cited millions of dollars missing, and the judge Wednesday called the figures "staggering." He was arraigned Wednesday in Grosse Pointe Farms Municipal Court, with Valade's son the current chairman and CEO of Carhartt, the well-known company Valade's grandfather founded sitting just feet away. Attorney James Joseph Sullivan, left, speaks with his client David Sutherland, an attorney who has been charged with embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from recently deceased Carhartt heiress Gretchen Valade's trust, after an arraignment hearing at Grosse Pointe Farms Municipal Court on Jan. 11, 2023. Embezzlement occurred during 2019 and 2020, according to the criminal enterprise count. The criminal complaint also lists dates from Jan. 1, 2017, through Dec. 31, 2022. It states that Sutherland, using the resources of his law practice, exploited his position of authority to embezzle from a clients irrevocable trust, serving simultaneously as lender, borrower, attorney and trustee over the money he took from his clients account. More:Metro Detroit businesswoman Gretchen Carhartt Valade dies at age 97 More:Gretchen Valade's jazz gift grows to $9.5 million at Wayne State David Sutherland, an attorney who has been charged with embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from recently deceased Carhartt heiress Gretchen Valade's trust, right, stands after his arraignment hearing at Grosse Pointe Farms Municipal Court on Jan. 11, 2023. Lawyer must surrender passport, wear tether Grosse Pointe Farms Municipal Court Judge Charles Berschback, in setting a $250,000 cash or surety bond, said the amount that is being alleged is staggering. The Michigan Attorney General's Office alleges that Sutherland used his position as the personal attorney and trustee to embezzle millions of dollars from Valade's irrevocable trust by issuing himself a series of loans without her permission. Mr. Sutherland abused his authority as an attorney and trusted adviser to steal millions from a longtime client and must be held accountable, Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a release. Our elderly populations are particularly susceptible to financial exploitations, and my Financial Crimes Division is prepared to hold these bad actors accountable for such egregious and illegal violations of their clients trust. Story continues Berschback ordered Sutherland to wear a GPS tether and turn in his passport. He said additional safeguards are needed because of the seriousness of the charges. Sutherlands next court date is Jan. 25. His attorney, James Joseph Sullivan, who entered a not guilty plea for his client, told Berschback that he didnt know if Sutherland could pay the bond, adding thats a lot of money I dont know if he can really post that, judge. Municipal Judge Charles Berschback, left, listens as attorney James Joseph Sullivan, right, defends his client David Sutherland, an attorney who has been charged with embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from recently deceased Carhartt heiress Gretchen Valade's trust, during an arraignment hearing at Grosse Pointe Farms Municipal Court on Jan. 11, 2023. 'A small fraction of the whole story' He said Sutherland is a resident of the area, has no criminal history and would be present. Sullivan requested a personal bond and no tether. Sullivan said "this is not something new" even though it "may be new to the media." He said "some of this is somewhat grandstanding." He said this is "a small fraction of the whole story. I think once the whole story is told, when people hear it, it's going to be a much different climate and attitude toward this, and for him, my client, than there is right now." More:Lawsuit: Van Gogh painting at Detroit Institute of Arts exhibit is stolen More:Carhartt chooses Dearborn over Kentucky, Mexico for 125 new jobs: Here's why Carhartt CEO, Valade's son attends arraignment Assistant Attorney General Dan Gunderson said he was unable to comment after the arraignment, for which Sutherland appeared in court and was escorted from the courtroom afterward by law enforcement. Each count is a 20-year felony offense. Valade died Dec. 30 at the age of 97 at her Grosse Pointe Farms home. The metro Detroit businesswoman and arts patron was the granddaughter of Carhartt Inc. founder Hamilton Carhartt. She served as chairman emeritus for the workwear company, which is still family-owned. Mark Valade, the son of recently deceased Carhartt heiress Gretchen Valade, listens during an arraignment hearing for David Sutherland, an attorney who has been charged with embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from Gretchen Valades trust, at Grosse Pointe Farms Municipal Court on Jan. 11, 2023. Her son, Mark, who is chairman and CEO of the company, attended Sutherland's arraignment. The Valade family appreciates the diligent efforts of the Attorney Generals Office in investigating David Sutherlands conduct and the filing of these criminal charges, Valade family spokesman Ron Fournier said in a statement. They are confident in the legal process and optimistic that justice will prevail and that no other members of our community will become victims of Mr. Sutherland. Gretchen Carhartt Valade, metro Detroit businesswoman, philanthropist and "angel of jazz," died peacefully in her home on Dec. 30, 2022 at age 97. Known locally as the "Angel of Jazz," Gretchen Valade established a foundation that has enabled the Detroit Jazz Festival to tout itself as the largest free jazz festival in the world. At age 74, she founded the Mack Avenue Records jazz label, which subsequently earned 11 Grammy Awards and more than 50 nominations. At age 82, she opened the Dirty Dog Jazz Cafe, an award-winning jazz and dinner club in Grosse Pointe Farms. In late 2022, Wayne State Universitys iconic Hilberry Theatre building was shut down to be transformed into the Gretchen C. Valade Jazz Center, a world-class performance hall. Valade made gifts to jazz studies and performance at Wayne State totaling $9.5 million. Allegations in prior court records, too In 2021, a complaint was filed against Sutherland; his law offices; Tuscola Energy Inc.; BP Pizzas LLC; DTS Pizza Napoli LLC, 601 Piquette Holdings LLC, and Palms Land Co. LLC in Oakland County Circuit Court by the Gretchen C. Valade Irrevocable Living Trust, which was created in 2009. It stated Sutherland was a member, partner or chairman in relation to the other listed defendants. According to that complaint, Sutherland spent years as the trusted adviser and trustee for the trust, and after establishing himself in this position he embarked on a campaign of diverting Trust assets to his own use, treating the Trust as his own personal piggy bank. That complaint alleged Sutherland lent himself more than $7.7 million and he lent a business of which he was 50% owner more than $7.6 million. It also stated that he repeatedly wrote checks to his own businesses from trust accounts even though the trust had no involvement with those businesses. Compounding those actions, Sutherland caused the Trust to borrow money at market interest rates in order to lend it to him and his affiliates at below-market interest rates," according to that complaint, which states Sutherland served as trustee until being removed in August 2020. "Now, Sutherland is unable or unwilling to repay the moneys he has borrowed, and the Trust has been otherwise damaged by his behavior." The venue of that case was changed to Wayne County, where it is currently being handled in probate court. Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter: @challreporter. Support local journalism. Subscribe to the Free Press. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Lawyer charged with 'staggering' theft from Carhartt leader's trust Rebecca Grossman leaves Van Nuys Courthouse during a break from her preliminary hearing in April. Grossman is charged with murder and other counts stemming from a 2020 crash in Westlake Village that left two young brothers dead. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) An attorney for Rebecca Grossman, the L.A.-area socialite charged with murder for running over two young boys with her SUV in a Westlake Village crosswalk, offered a preview of her defense Tuesday, disputing prosecutors' allegations of her speed and calling the pedestrian crossing a known danger. The 58-year-old Hidden Hills resident and co-founder of the Grossman Burn Foundation awaits trial on two counts of second-degree murder in the September 2020 deaths of brothers Mark and Jacob Iskander after California's Supreme Court refused last month to consider dismissing the charges. During a court hearing Tuesday, the judge did not set a trial date after the prosecutor noted that Grossman's lawyers have yet to turn over all the evidence from their experts. A hearing was set for next month, likely pushing back the trial until late spring, prosecutors said. In addition to bringing in experts to dispute the speed of Grossman's vehicle in the fatal collision, prominent Houston lawyer Tony Buzbee on Tuesday said he had gathered evidence showing that the city of Westlake Village knew the crosswalk on Triunfo Canyon Road was dangerous and described by the city engineer as a "blind curve" for motorists. Buzbee said two independent experts, "based on objective data" and supported by a witness, had determined Grossman's speed at the time of the crash was 51.9 mph, but Grossman's legal team offered no specific data. The posted speed limit on that section of Triunfo Canyon Road is 45 mph. Technical experts from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department testified in an earlier hearing that data extracted from the computers on Grossman's Mercedes-Benz showed its peak speed was 81 mph as it approached the crosswalk and was still 73 mph at the moment of impact. Buzbee on Tuesday provided city documents to reporters that he said show the pedestrian crossing was described by the city engineer as a "blind curve," along with emailed complaints from citizens. Story continues If "someone gets killed I hope the family knows that this has been reported repeatedly and sues the city for negligence," one of the emails said. Buzbee noted that the Iskander brothers' parents have sued the city of Westlake Village along with Grossman in their deaths. In September, L.A. County Superior Court Judge Joseph Brandolino rejected a motion to dismiss the murder charges against Grossman, finding there was probable cause to determine that she acted with implied malice by speeding when she struck Mark, 11, and Jacob, 8, as they crossed the street with their mother and younger brother. In upholding the murder charges, Brandolino said it was clear that Grossman not only had been driving 73 mph through the crosswalk after consuming alcohol but also was familiar with the area and knew it often had pedestrians. One deputy testified that Grossman had been ticketed for speeding on a nearby canyon road months before the fatal crash. The crosswalk was clearly marked, Brandolino noted, and Grossman was closely following an SUV driven by her friend, former Dodgers player Scott Erickson. But Brandolino in that ruling disagreed with Judge Shellie Samuels, who oversaw the preliminary hearing, on one point. "I don't believe the evidence shows she saw the children," he said. Prosecutors said evidence shows Grossman "floored it" on the suburban street behind Erickson's SUV after drinking with him, adding that Grossman's blood-alcohol level was about 0.08%, the legal limit for intoxication in California. She is not charged with DUI. Grossman also faces two counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and one count of hit-and-run driving resulting in death. L.A. County sheriff's deputies testified in a preliminary hearing that Grossman failed to return to the scene and did not render aid after the crash. Nancy Iskander, Mark and Jacob's mother, has repeatedly complained about delays in the court proceedings, saying they represent more than two years of her family's suffering. Grossman founded the Grossman Burn Foundation with her husband, Dr. Peter Grossman, whose family created the renowned medical facility. She faces 34 years to life in prison if convicted. She has pleaded not guilty and is free on $2-million bail. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Jan. 10CHEYENNE The 67th Wyoming Legislature convened for its 37-day general session Tuesday afternoon, a day ahead of Gov. Mark Gordon's annual State of the State speech. Senate President Ogden Driskill, R-Devils Tower, and House Speaker Albert Sommers, R-Pinedale, will lead the 93-member governing body through the 37-day session, which includes 27 representatives and three senators serving in the Legislature for the first time. The Legislature added three seats to its ranks as the result of the redistricting plan approved last budget session. Both Republican leaders called for decisiveness, decorum and forming strong relationships to solve the issues Wyoming faces. Newly elected Secretary of State Chuck Gray also had his own message for the Legislature before oaths were taken, in which he reflected upon his six years of public service in the House of Representatives. He said he understood the excitement and anticipation lawmakers might have as they prepare to reach their full potential. "Now is your moment to follow through on those ideas, those visions that you put forward to your neighbors that you represent," Gray told lawmakers. He offered a few lessons he learned before taking on his new executive position. He said they should cherish every moment serving in the Legislature, remember the cyclical nature of state revenues, and avoid "reckless short-termism that we've seen in policy at the federal level," and to never forget what it means to be a citizen legislator. He also alluded to the priorities of the Secretary of State's Office, which released its election integrity goals for the 2023 general session Tuesday morning. He said he looked forward to working with lawmakers to see those goals to fruition, such as ending crossover voting, increasing security and clarification in the state's voter identification requirements, banning ballot harvesting and maintaining increased transparency. Story continues Gray also identified proposed legislation he doesn't consider good for Wyoming. "Equally important to legislative changes I would like to see the Wyoming Legislature pass, there are also efforts which I believe the Legislature should resist," he said in a statement. "I oppose any efforts to introduce ranked-choice voting, a process which is inefficient, confusing and antithetical to the traditional voting process Wyoming enjoys." House leadership House Speaker Sommers said there were great challenges to face, but also great opportunities, and lawmakers need to move beyond their differences for the betterment of Wyoming and its people. He pledged to maintain the integrity of the institution, because the process depends on building relationships with constituents, fellow lawmakers and the executive branch. "At no time in my life have I seen our state so divided. We must pull back from the abyss," Sommers said. "The bitterness that divides Wyoming is spawned by fear. Fear that is fueled by the inability to discern the truth, and by feeling our voices aren't heard." He said Wyoming and the nation would survive this difficult time if residents turn toward neighbors with compassion and not judgment. "This is a representative form of government, and people send you to Cheyenne because they trust you," Sommers said. "Leadership is about doing what's right for the state and its people. You will learn more about the law and state government than your constituents will ever know, and that means you must educate your constituents about the complex issues we debate and the hard decisions you make." House Speaker Pro Tempore Clark Stith, R-Rock Springs, made his own case for respectful dialogue in the Legislature. He said when colleagues bring amendments to bills, they are not adversaries. They are friends, and they may be seeking to "avoid the unintended consequences of what we have drafted." "Politics may seem like a messy and disjointed business, but it's the business of politics and legislating. It's how we get things done," Stith said. "It's how we translate our core values and the desires of our constituents into policy that affects people's lives." Minority Floor Leader Mike Yin, D-Jackson, and Majority Floor Leader Chip Neiman, R-Hulett, were among the other leaders to give remarks in the House. While they had different priorities coming into the session, they both spoke about providing a better future for multiple generations in the state. "We can work to help lower our constituents' health care costs while increasing access to health care. We can ensure that our citizens stay in their homes with property tax relief. We can ensure that our young adults can afford that starter house and build their own equity, with the focus on affordable housing," Yin said. "All of these are possible if we work together." Senate leadership Senate President Driskill pledged to conduct the Senate's business with the utmost decorum and respect, build up manners and empower leaders at every level, as well as trust the rules and process of the institution. "Our great state has weathered a lot of ups and downs over the past several years," he said. "We faced down some of the largest budget cuts in history and enjoyed major surpluses. Throughout the highs and lows, a commitment to fiscal prudence and long-term planning has kept us on the path to pay our bills, serve our taxpayers and save for the future." Driskill reflected on the state's increase in economic diversification and how it managed the global pandemic, as well as the next steps to take. There is a surplus of revenue, and he said there is a strong consensus about the need to steward the funds for future generations. Other issues he addressed were housing, education quality and even blockchain laws. He said he will strive to roll back or cap personal property taxes without crippling the education system or local government spending. "These issues are just the tip of the iceberg. We, as the Legislature, have our work cut out for us the next 37 days, and the people in Wyoming are counting on us. Our success will depend on our ability to work together, put aside individual differences and focus on common ground and the common good." When it came to the work of the governing body, Majority Floor Leader Larry Hicks, R-Baggs, contemplated the nation's history, leading to a quote from former President John Quincy Adams. He said it was written in his diary after Adams experienced a "raucous day in the House of Representatives," which was contentious at the time. "'What good did I do today?' That's what he wrote in his diary. The next morning, he got up, but he was still plagued with the idea of 'what good did I do today,' and he made a ballad of himself," Hicks said. "From thereafter on, every morning, he would get up, and he would say: 'What good can I do today?'" Minority Floor Leader Chris Rothfuss, D-Laramie, said there needs to be a vision that's bigger than the Legislature in this legislative session one that would keep children from leaving the state. "That's always been our best export. We think of coal, oil and gas, but no what we do export that's our most valuable quantity right now is our children. Our highly educated, exceptional children, that we will end up sending off to other states," he said. "We need to change that. We need to be able to bring them back. We need to do that by hopefully making the 67th Legislature the Legislature that finally solves this boom-bust cycle, and comes up with a solution to diversify our economy and build away from that monoculture." New faces Newly elected Rep. Daniel Singh, R-Cheyenne, is among the newest members of the Legislature, and he said he recognizes his voice will have an impact on younger generations. He said he wants to make sure he is held accountable, and he hopes he sets the bar high for the next legislators coming in. "Last night, I had a lot to think about," he said. "We had a shooting in our community, and that really got me thinking about the gravity of our decisions that we're making here today for the safety of our communities, the health of our communities and future generations." Singh said he has three bills he is excited to file for the general session. One would allow for apprenticeship programs for barber shops, another would differentiate fossils from minerals for property owners, and the third focuses on election integrity. He said the latter would prevent individuals or entities from funding the election process, election training or any area of elections that is strictly the people's business. Republican Sen. Evie Brennan is another Cheyenne lawmaker who was sworn into office for the first time. She said she has dreamed of this day since she was in kindergarten, even though she chose a career in nursing. "I didn't think I would follow this dream. I am so thankful I did," she said. "Today, I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the honor and privilege to serve the people of my district and the state of Wyoming." The will reconvene at 10 a.m. Wednesday for Gov. Mark Gordon's State of the State address, to be followed by the State of the Judiciary. Jasmine Hall is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's state government reporter. She can be reached by email at jhall@wyomingnews.com or by phone at 307-633-3167. Follow her on Twitter @jasminerhphotos and on Instagram @jhrose25. Paula Vogel Paula Vogel, a Pulitzer Prize-winning lesbian playwright, warns that a Florida school district's decision to cancel a production of one of her plays is a slippery slope to dangerous censorship. Students at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts, a Jacksonville area magnet school, say they are experiencing anti-LGBTQ+ censorship 10 months after Florida's Parental Rights in Education also known as the "don't say gay" law passed. As the school's theater troupe prepared to put on Paula Vogel's acclaimed 2015 play Indecent, Duval County Public Schools board members blocked the performance, calling it "not age appropriate." The play deals with the fallout surrounding the play God of Vengeance by Sholem Asch, which got shut down on Broadway in 1923 and resulted in the producer and cast members being arrested and convicted on obscenity charges. The performance was deemed obscene at the time because it involved a same-sex relationship. "From what we've been told, they say that it's the adult sexual content in the show," 17-year-old Madeline Scotti tellsThe Advocate. "But then we rebutted that with saying that the only thing in the stage directions is a kiss and that language can be adapted from the playwright's permission." Scotti says that the district came up with additional justifications. "Then they said that it's the language, which, again, we rebutted with saying that 'no, it's not, the playwright has allowed us to change certain words to make it more fitting for high school audiences,'" the teen continues. "And obviously, we have assumptions about why this is happening at such a peculiar moment in the political climate, especially in Jacksonville," they tell The Advocate. "But that's what we miss them. So that's where we're currently at." Paula Vogel won the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play How I Learned to Drive. Vogel knows a thing or two about censorship. She wrote Indecent in 2015, and upon learning about developments in Florida, the playwright and educator tells The Advocate that she's dismayed at the rise in anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and anti-Semitism in Florida. Story continues "I'm afraid this is a measurement of how dangerous the fragmentation of our country is right now," Vogel says. "We have moved backwards to the 1920s in terms of racism, anti-Semitism, homophobia, and every day we're witnessing our rights being challenged." She says that one could argue, as the school board appears to, that children have no rights and that the concerns are parents' rights. "What I want to say is that the parents gave permission to their students to perform Indecent," Vogel says. Before students were allowed to participate in the play, they had to have written permission from their parents. She says she's heard from educators who teach Indecent in the classroom from around the country. "I'm hearing from people reaching out who have produced Indecent in high schools very recently, this past summer, and they report that there were no issues, no problems and that the cast, the students loved doing it," Vogel says. "So I fear that this is the next step in the culture wars," she adds, explaining that her main concern as an educator is ensuring that students feel supported and don't internalize the homophobia and anti-Semitism directed at them. Scotti, a senior cast in the play, had taken her frustration to Instagram but learned that kindness abounds in the world. "During rehearsal, our company was notified that the school board is shutting us down, not because of, but related to the ideal, stated in the 'don't say gay' bill," she began. "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." Scotti continued speaking directly to the camera in the video with an emotional appeal. "The 100-year anniversary of Sholem Asch's God of Vengeance being shut down on Broadway is the same week that our production of Indecent would have opened," they said. The student director and actor called attention to the school board's decision to censor the "queer Jewish love story." A request for comment to the Duval County Public Schools board went unanswered. "They are trying to tell us that this play is dirty, immoral, obscene, and of course indecent," Scotti said in her video. "By that nature, they are trying to tell me that I, myself, and my community is dirty, immoral, obscene, and indecent," she said. Since posting the video, Scotti says she has received messages of love and warmth that have surprised and overwhelmed her and the theater company. "I've received so much love from every corner of the universe," Scotti says. "It feels like, I mean, the Broadway community, the Jewish community, the queer community, um, people from all over the world have reached out with their stories. And that love is just something that I could have never expected." Vogel says there's a lesson that one can learn from her writing that gives her pause because many school boards, in addition to resisting LGBTQ+ topics, are implementing curricula that don't teach about the Holocaust. "The lesson from Indecent is that censorship of the arts is always the first step towards totalitarianism, which is in the case of God of Vengeance, the canary in the coal mine in terms of the Holocaust," she says. Vogel says that it's the loss of a community not to see the talents of the young people she met over Zoom recently. The students did a cold reading of Indecent for the play's author. "My jaw dropped," Vogel says. "My God, the two actors performing, who were to perform those roles, are really, really good. So I need to praise not only their talent, but I need to praise their parents for supporting their children's art, and I need to praise that faculty." She adds, "They're professional. Those two students I heard from last night are professional actors." Vogel encourages everyone who cherishes the arts to write to leaders in Florida to express their support for the students. "Dear companies of INDECENT: please write Diana Green to support the students and faculty at Douglas Andersen whose production was shut down in Jacksonville Florida," she tweeted. Scotti says to stay tuned but that later this week, the theater company's students expect to announce details of a forthcoming project. In the meantime, Vogel notes that anybody who wants to support the arts and see Indecent as a filmed stage production can do so online. A kindergartner meets his teacher at Baldwin Hills Elementary School on Aug. 18, 2020. (Josie Norris / Los Angeles Times) To the editor: It's unfortunate that Erin Aubry Kaplan did not contact New Los Angeles Charter Elementary School for our perspective on our co-location with Baldwin Hills Elementary. In truth, New L.A.s story isn't that different from Baldwin Hills'. Both schools: Serve students of color who live in the community. Had no choice in this campus placement. Have students, staff and involved parents committed to their school's mission. Are challenged by school facilities, preventing full enrollment. Want nothing more than for New L.A. to secure a new home. Most importantly, both schools are public schools, serving children in the community who are all deserving of the same rights, respect and resources offered though the public education system. New L.A. does not simply "claim" to be searching for a private site. We have been working tirelessly for years to find a permanent space that is not co-located on a Los Angeles Unified School District campus. As we get closer to securing a new home, we remain focused on solutions that benefit us all. Brooke Rios, Los Angeles The writer is executive director of New Los Angeles Charter Schools. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Livingstone Colleges president is responding to students who say they found mold in their dorms. Amani Hector, a student, posted pictures on social media of mold and cracked walls in Goler Hall. She says the mold is causing her and others to have breathing problems. ALSO READ: Channel 9 learns new information about Livingstone College abuse allegations Its painted over, and some girls still have mold in the vents in the back of their rooms, Hector said. She also said theres been no hot water. School President Anthony J. Davis said in a video statement he learned late Friday that a water heater failed and a new one arrived on Tuesday. Davis was at Goler Hall to answer any questions. Statement from Davis: During last semester, members of my administrative team evaluated our residence halls by assessing the living conditions for our on-campus students. ABM, our maintenance contractor, walked the residential properties with me and my administrators and assured us that they would work expeditiously to address all issues, to include those related to mold and overall cleanliness of our dormitories. In light of developments, Residence Life personnel on today executed a full assessment of every square inch of our residential spaces so that we may deploy the appropriate plan of action. If areas with mold are identified, we will immediately begin the mold abatement process. VIDEO: Livingstone College basketball player dies in car crash Recently retired Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.) joined Holland & Knight as a partner in the firms public policy and regulation practice. Perlmutter served eight terms in Congress and was a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee, where he chaired the consumer protection and financial institutions subcommittee. The firm also hired Alison Inderfurth Wright, Perlmutters deputy chief of staff and director of operations. Reggie Babin, former chief counsel to Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), joined Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld as a senior counsel. Babin joined Schumers office in 2017 and previously was legislative director for then-Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.). Miller Strategies, a firm with close ties to Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), hired Stephen Ruppel as an associate principal. Ruppel was McCarthys political director for the 2022 cycle. The firm also hired Chloe Judge, a former aide to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and Ann Hilton Buckner, who was assistant to the political director at the Republican National Committee. Jeffrey Wieand, a longtime aide to House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), joined WilmerHale as a public policy adviser. Wieand joined Scalises office in 2014 and most recently served as his counsel. The Clyde Group hired John Rizzo as senior vice president of public affairs. Rizzo comes from the Biden Treasury Department, where he served as a senior spokesperson. He previously served as communications director for Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) and deputy communications director for Schumer. Autos Drive America, a trade group representing foreign carmakers, hired Beth Schoenbach as vice president of communications. Schoenbach previously served as communications director for recently retired Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), who chaired the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The Zero Emission Transportation Association named Al Gore III, son of former Vice President Al Gore, as its executive director. Gore comes from Tesla, a prominent member of the trade association, where he led public policy and business development in the Eastern U.S. Story continues The Motion Picture Association hired Hap Rigby as senior vice president of federal government affairs and Kenneth Mallory as vice president of media policy and regulatory counsel. Rigby previously was a Republican professional staffer on the Senate Commerce Committee. Mallory most recently led Metas public policy for the mid-Atlantic region and was an adviser at the Federal Communications Commission. McCarthy Advanced Consulting added Paul Milotte to its government relations team. Milotte previously was political director of Sen. Dan Sullivans (R-Alaska) 2020 reelection campaign and most recently led lobbying at the American Moving & Storage Association. Lobbying World documents the top lobbying hires in the nations capital every week. Send tips to Karl at kevers@thehill.com. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Representative George Santos is refusing to heed calls for his resignation from top figures in the Nassau County Republican Party who have demanded he step down from Congress just days after he was sworn in to represent New Yorks 3rd Congressional District. Asked whether he would resign in light of the numerous scandals surrounding him, he told ABC News: I will not. Mr Santos defiance came as leaders from his community called on him to relinquish his seat in the House at a press conference at the Nassau County GOP headquarters. Nassau County Republican Party chairman Joseph Cairo said the campaign Mr Santos waged to replace Democrat Tom Suozzi in last years midterm election had been a campaign of lies, deceit and fabrication that had deceived the voters of the wealthy district on Long Islands north shore. He has no place in the Nassau County Republican Party, nor should he serve in public service or as an elected official. Hes disgraced the House of Representatives and we do not consider him one of our congresspeople, said Mr Cairo, who announced that he was calling for Mr Santos immediate resignation. Mr Santos, a first-term representative who previously ran unsuccessfully for the same congressional seat in 2020, has come under fire in the weeks since a New York Times report revealed that he appeared to have made up aspects of his biography out of whole cloth. His lies began with his high school years, during which he claimed to have attended the prestigious Horace Mann school in New York. School officials have said they have no record of him. He also claimed to have graduated from Baruch College, which also had no record of him at all. Nor did two banks where he claimed to have held jobs, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, have any record of him working for them at any point. Mr Santos also drew ire from Jewish groups for claiming that he was of Jewish descent and a grandchild of Holocaust survivors. The Republican Jewish Coalition says that he represented himself to them as Jewish, and he has made public comments to that effect in interviews. Then there was the position paper uncovered by Axios in which he simply refers to himself as an American Jew, removing all doubt as to what he said. But geneologists contacted by the Jewish news outlet The Forward said that there was no evidence to prove his other past claims on the issue; namely, that his grandparents on his mothers side escaped the Holocaust. They were born in Brazil. Story continues Mr Cairo was followed by North Hempstead town supervisor Jen DeSena, who said she, too, was calling on him to resign because his lies are too numerous to coiunt. She added that her true concern is for 3rd Congressional District residents because he betrayed the public's trust and given insincere, glib and insulting answers when asked legitimate questions about his finances and his background. By all accounts, he seems incapable and unwilling to take full responsibility for his lies and fabrications. Beyond all that, he is under local, state and federal investigations as serious questions have arisen about his campaign finances. There's absolutely no way Mr. Santos can be an effective member of congress of Congress and represent the people who elected him. The longer he remains in office, the longer the residents of the Third Congressional District will suffer, she said. Even one of Mr Santos House colleagues, Representative Anthony DEsposito, weighed in on a remote feed from Washington, telling reporters at the press conference that Mr Santos should quit the House. I join with my colleagues in saying that George Santos does not have the ability to serve here in the House of Representatives, and should resign, he said. The Nassau County supervisor, Bruce Blakeman, said Mr Santos does not deserve the right to serve in Congress because he is a conman and a stain on the third congressional district. Mr Blakeman said Mr Santos claim to be descended from Holocaust survivors was really tragic because many actual survivors live in Nassau County. They're children of the Holocaust, grandchildren of the Holocaust, great grandchildren. These are people whose families were decimated, and in many instances wiped out. We're talking about whole families that were shot to death that were gassed to death that were starved to death. And for him to make up this story that his parents were Holocaust survivors is beyond the pale, he said. Mr Blakeman added that he has ordered his staff to direct any federal constituent matters to Mr DEspositos office. My office will have no interaction with George Santos or his staff until he resigns, he said. Officials in Los Angeles County Tuesday approved a motion to declare a state of emergency over the region's homeless crisis. The declaration, officials say, will expedite supportive and material services for people who are unhoused. The emergency declaration, introduced in late December, and was formally green-lit by the L.A. County Board of Supervisors in a unanimous vote Tuesday. It came just about one month after a similar, citywide emergency declaration was enacted by new L.A. Mayor Karen Bass immediately after taking office. Leaders in the nearby city of Long Beach have drafted their own proposal to address homelessness there. L.A. County supervisors Kathryn Barger and Lindsey Horvath co-authored the motion that the board heard at their latest meeting, and passed it with some modifications. Their proposal mainly called for an emergency proclamation that would allow L.A. County to hire additional staff in roles focused on addressing the area's homeless crisis, and providing direct services including mental and physical health, substance use and case management services to unhoused people in the area. A homeless man stands next to his tent in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022. / Credit: Jae C. Hong / AP "This declaration will usher in a renewed sense of urgency, leading with transparency, creating the tools required to combat this humanitarian crisis," said Horvath in a tweet shared after the vote on Tuesday. In a separate post, Barger noted, "It will help us cut through red tape, accelerate our hiring of mental health professionals & streamline contracting services." The declaration intends to speed up timelines for various logistical procedures required to establish contracts between homeless services providers and the county. This would ideally mean that resources and services are given to people experiencing homelessness more quickly in the future than they are right now. Currently, the bidding and selection processes that precedes a finalized contract between L.A. County and a single services provider can take up to one year, Cheri Todoroff, executive director of the L.A. County Homeless Initiative, told the Los Angeles Times. Story continues L.A. County's Homeless Initiative, created in 2015, outlined a comprehensive 10-year plan to address homelessness. It is funded through Measure H, a quarter-cent sales tax increase approved by L.A. County voters in 2017. The sales tax generates about $355 million annually, according to the county. Although officials estimate that about 85,000 people have been housed because of these programs, the county's overall homeless population has continued to steadily climb over the past six years. An annual homeless count, conducted last February, found that more than 69,100 people were homeless in the greater Los Angeles area. Local officials agree that number is likely lower than the true number of people who are unhoused. As Barger and Horvath pointed out in their motion, the 2022 homeless count showed a 55% increase in the homeless population from a count conducted in January 2015, before the Homeless Initiative or Measure H were implemented. The 2022 count also revealed that roughly 70% of people experiencing homelessness in L.A. County or more than 48,000 people were unsheltered and living in cars or outside. That number is the highest of any county in the U.S., and the percentage has remained virtually unchanged for a majority of the past decade. A homeless man stands next to his tent in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022. / Credit: Jae C. Hong / AP "For every 207 people who exited homelessness throughout L.A. County every day in 2020, about 227 people fell into homelessness during the same period, according to the Homeless Count results for that year," according to a statement on the L.A. County Homeless Initiative's website. Pence discusses Biden classified documents discovery Evacuations ordered as deadly storm hits California California contends with flooding, power outage as severe storms batter the state Former Rep Madison Cawthorns stormy tenure on Capitol Hill is over, but the controversy surrounding his conduct in office continues. On Tuesday, Mr Cawthorns replacement in the US House Rep Chuck Edwards said in a news release that Mr Cawthorn left his office completely unaware of pending constituent casework before leaving office. Given that, Mr Edwards urged any citizen with outstanding casework to contact his office. It is common practice for outgoing representatives to transfer official constituent casework to their successors in the House so that consituents dont suffer serious disruptions in service. But Edwards wrote in the release that Cawthorn did not transfer the work by a 23 December deadline and that subsequent attempts to contact him have been unsccessful. Repeated attempts to reach Congressman Cawthorn and his staff were made over the past month, but no response or action was provided, the news release said. Mr Cawthorn has not responded to the allegations. Mr Edwards, a Republican who previously served in the North Carolina state legislature, defeated Mr Cawthorn in a combustible Republican primary last spring. After his primary defeat, Mr Cawthorn, a member of the far right, appeared to all but stop doing his job. The Ashville Citizen-Times reported last year that Mr Cawthorns office stopped answering constituent calls and that the congressman vacated his Washington DC and district offices two months before the end of his term. Mr Cawthorn apparently had other things on his mind, like, perhaps, buying a house. In a post on social media the day after his term in Congress officially ended, Mr Cawthorn wrote that he had moved to Florida as he endorsed Rep Byron Donalds for speaker of the House. There are many reasons I moved to Florida, Mr Cawthorn wrote on Instagram. One of the big contributing factors is that I know Byron Donalds is a leader in this state. That means this state will always be on offense to safeguard our future. Byron for Speaker. Story continues Mr Cawthorn is still registered to vote in North Carolina, and its unclear whether he plans to make his move to Florida permanent. Mr Cawthorn purchased a $1.1m home in Cape Coral in southwestern Florida in August, three months after losing the primary to Mr Edwards. Members of the House of Representatives are required to live in the state they represent. Mr Cawthorns brief tenure in Congress was full of drama. The 27-year-old was charged with driving with a revoked license, attempted to bring a firearm through airport security, alleged that prominent people in Washington did cocaine in front of him, and called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a thug. He used his final speech as a member of the House to attack metrosexuals, an address in line with his focus on hypermasculinity and its place in American society. Two Utah National Monuments Under Review By Department Of Interior - Credit: George Frey/Getty Images Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT), a newly elected representative from Montana, celebrated his second day in Congress with a lengthy rant about the American Deep State and the endangered American cowboy. Zinke, whose tenure as Trumps Interior Secretary lasted from March 2017 to January 2019 until he was forced to resign over ethical violations but not before gutting the Endangered Species Act, opening up off-shore drilling, and shrinking national monuments, is one of several former Trump Cabinet officials to be mired in ethical violations. His political comeback was bolstered by Trumps endorsement as he joins a new House GOP majority. More from Rolling Stone During a harangue on the floor of the House of Representatives, Zinke blamed the left for attempting to stop his election to Congress, perhaps forgetting that his own lapses of ethical behavior (confirmed by a Interior Department report) may have caused him to step on his own two right feet. Despite the Deep States attempts to repeatedly stop me, I stand before you as a duly elected member of the United States Congress and tell you that a Deep State exists and it is perhaps the strongest covert weapon the left has against the American people, announced Zinke. Zinke: Despite the deep state's attempts to repeatedly stop me I stand before you as a duly elected member of the congress and tell you that a deep state exists They want to wipe out the American cowboy pic.twitter.com/BrOiIltbMp Acyn (@Acyn) January 10, 2023 There is no doubt the federal government Deep State coordinates with liberal activists and uses politicians and willing media to carry their water, he continued. In many cases, they want to wipe out the American cowboy completely, remove public access to our lands and turn Montana into a national park. Story continues Under Zinkes tenure as Trumps first interior secretary, the Department of the Interior shrank land designated as national monument at Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante by 85 percent and opened up almost the entire U.S. coastline to natural gas and oil drilling. Zinkes Interior Department also weakened protections for animals including the Endangered Species Act and Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Its enough to question the motives of a man parading around in a cowboy hat touting his genuine concern for Montana. Best of Rolling Stone Click here to read the full article. It's possible to achieve returns close to the market-weighted average return by buying an index fund. But if you pick the right individual stocks, you could make more -- or less -- than that. The Malakoff Corporation Berhad (KLSE:MALAKOF) stock price is down 30% over five years, but the total shareholder return is -1.1% once you include the dividend. And that total return actually beats the market decline of 3.5%. So let's have a look and see if the longer term performance of the company has been in line with the underlying business' progress. See our latest analysis for Malakoff Corporation Berhad In his essay The Superinvestors of Graham-and-Doddsville Warren Buffett described how share prices do not always rationally reflect the value of a business. One imperfect but simple way to consider how the market perception of a company has shifted is to compare the change in the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price movement. During the five years over which the share price declined, Malakoff Corporation Berhad's earnings per share (EPS) dropped by 4.6% each year. Readers should note that the share price has fallen faster than the EPS, at a rate of 7% per year, over the period. So it seems the market was too confident about the business, in the past. The less favorable sentiment is reflected in its current P/E ratio of 11.89. You can see how EPS has changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values). We know that Malakoff Corporation Berhad has improved its bottom line lately, but is it going to grow revenue? This free report showing analyst revenue forecasts should help you figure out if the EPS growth can be sustained. What About Dividends? When looking at investment returns, it is important to consider the difference between total shareholder return (TSR) and share price return. The TSR is a return calculation that accounts for the value of cash dividends (assuming that any dividend received was reinvested) and the calculated value of any discounted capital raisings and spin-offs. Arguably, the TSR gives a more comprehensive picture of the return generated by a stock. We note that for Malakoff Corporation Berhad the TSR over the last 5 years was -1.1%, which is better than the share price return mentioned above. And there's no prize for guessing that the dividend payments largely explain the divergence! Story continues A Different Perspective While the broader market lost about 0.9% in the twelve months, Malakoff Corporation Berhad shareholders did even worse, losing 2.5% (even including dividends). Having said that, it's inevitable that some stocks will be oversold in a falling market. The key is to keep your eyes on the fundamental developments. Regrettably, last year's performance caps off a bad run, with the shareholders facing a total loss of 0.2% per year over five years. We realise that Baron Rothschild has said investors should "buy when there is blood on the streets", but we caution that investors should first be sure they are buying a high quality business. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Malakoff Corporation Berhad better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 4 warning signs for Malakoff Corporation Berhad (2 shouldn't be ignored) that you should be aware of. But note: Malakoff Corporation Berhad may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with past earnings growth (and further growth forecast). Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on MY exchanges. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Join A Paid User Research Session Youll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here After months of negotiations, hearings before a probate court and a failed mediation, several defendants in a multi-million dollar lawsuit over the 2019 boat crash death of Mallory Beach have reached a tentative settlement with her family. The settlement of the wrongful death lawsuit is not yet final. State Judge Daniel Hall will hold a hearing next Thursday, Jan. 19, in Lexington County, where final approval will be discussed, according to Mark Tinsley, attorney for Renee Beach, Mallory Beachs mother. Probate Judge Leigh Boan must also issue a final approval, Tinsley said. One major defendant agreeing to settle with the Beach family and who would be dropped as a defendant in the lawsuit is Buster Murdaugh, 26. He allegedly allowed his late brother, Paul, to use his drivers license to buy alcohol on the night of the boat crash, according to the lawsuit. A key component of the settlement is the pending sale of the familys property, Moselle. Under the terms of the settlement, Buster will receive $530,000 from his mothers estate once the property has been sold. The Beach family feels like Buster had suffered enough, and it was important to get Buster out of the lawsuit, Tinsley said. Other defendants in the lawsuit who agreed to settle include the estate of Maggie Murdaugh, Buster and Pauls mother. The lawsuit alleged that Maggie Murdaugh had contributed to Mallorys death by allowing Paul to drink and pilot the family outboard motorboat. Paul was at the helm of the boat when it crashed into bridge pilings on Archer Creek near Beaufort, according to the lawsuit. Maggie Murdaughs estate is largely made up of the Moselle family property, which is under contract to be sold for $3.9 million, Tinsley said. But there is already about $2 million in mortgages on that property, and lawyers fees for the various parties in the settlement were eating away at much of the remaining $1.9 million as the litigation wore on, Tinsley said. Story continues We didnt want it to become like Santiago in the Old Man and the Sea, said Tinsley, reflecting on Hemingways hero who loses a giant fish to attacking sharks when he is unwilling to let go of his prize. By the time he reaches shore, there is nothing left but its skeleton. Settlement of the lawsuit, first filed in March 2019 in Hampton County by Renee Beach a month after her daughters death, was complicated by dramatic events. In June 2021, Maggie and Paul were found shot to death near dog kennels on the Moselle estate. Disgraced lawyer Alex Murdaugh, Maggies husband and Pauls father, has been charged with murder in their deaths. He goes on trial in Colleton County on Jan. 23. Alex Murdaugh remains a defendant in the Beach lawsuit. Also remaining a defendant is Greg Parkers chain of convenience stores, one of which sold the alcohol to Paul that allegedly contributed to the drunken boat crash. In late 2021, Alex Murdaugh began facing charges in a series of large embezzlements from former clients and others. At Tinsleys request, all of Alex Murdaughs assets including inheriting Moselle from Maggie were then put under the control of two lawyer-receivers to make sure that Murdaugh did not improperly transfer any money. The two lawyer-receivers, Peter McCoy and John T. Lay, signed off on the just-announced Mallory Beach wrongful death settlements, according to court records. The partial settlement on the eve of Alex Murdaughs murder trial wraps up a portion of the sprawling civil litigation that lit the fuse on the Lowcountry legal dynastys implosion. It comes as the mounting cost of litigation, with no end in sight, was eating away at the value that could be gained from selling the property. The proceeds of selling the property, which was held in Maggie Murdaughs name, will be used to settle her estates legal fees and will be divided among multiple parties. Besides Buster, the parties include his uncle John Marvin Murdaugh, court appointed co-receivers overseeing Alex Murdaughs assets and Connor Cook, a survivor of the boat crash. The remaining balance will go to Mallory Beachs family. The sale of the Moselle property had been tangled up for almost a year in a Gordian knot of competing interests and claims, according to settlement documents. The settlement was also complicated by the allegation made by the co-receivers in charge of Murdaughs assets that he had fraudulently conveyed the property to Maggie in 2016. As part of the settlement, the co-receivers have agreed to dismiss the fraudulent conveyance claim. The mounting legal fees in the case included $290,000 for lawyers handling Maggies estate. The settlement was also motivated by current market conditions, according to documents. It also includes: $12,305.28 for John Marvin Murdaugh for personal funds that he advanced to the estate. $6,511.52 to Laura Jones, LLC, a creditor to the estate. $25,000 to resolve an outstanding creditor claim held by Palmetto State Bank. $100,000 to Cook, a survivor of the 2019 boat crash, to release a claim he has made against Buster Murdaugh. $275,000 for the court-appointed receivers, McCoy and Lay. $290,000 to settle Maggie Murdaughs estates legal expenses. John Marvin Murdaugh, who represented the estate, agreed to waive his fee as a gesture of good faith. Maggies 2021 Mercedes SUV will be signed over to Tinsley, who is authorized to sell the car and disburse the proceeds to the Beach family. Tinsley said he valued the used vehicle at $75,000. The sale of the estate certainly does not accrue to the benefit of Alex Murdaugh, according to the filed documents. In agreeing to the sale now, the parties hope to avoid a drawn out and complex fight, including litigation over whether Murdaugh fraudulently transferred to the property to his wife in 2016. However, were Murdaugh to be found guilty of murdering his wife, he would be excluded from inheriting any of her estate due to South Carolinas slayer statute. Police officers stand guard on a road after a 19-year-old assailant attacked three NYPD officers with a machete near Times Square during the new year celebrations in on Dec. 31, 2022. Anadolu Agency / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images The 19-year-old man who was accused of attacking three police officers with a machete in Times Square on New Year's Eve is facing federal terrorism charges, the Justice Department announced on Tuesday. Trevor Thomas Bickford has been charged with four counts of attempted murder in connection with his "efforts to wage jihad by killing US Government officials and his knife attack on three NYPD officers in Times Square," the Department of Justice said in a news release. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years behind bars, and the charges carry an aggregate potential sentence of 80 years in prison. The complaint, released by the Department of Justice on Tuesday, states that Bickford is currently in state custody and will be transported to and presented in Manhattan federal court at a later date to face the federal charges. The Department of Justice alleges that in summer 2022, Bickford began "accessing and consuming materials espousing radical Islamic ideology," including materials promoting the Taliban and "reflecting the teachings of Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi, a prominent radial Islamic cleric who was a spiritual mentor of al Qaeda." During the following months, the complaint alleges that Bickford radicalized and devoted himself to "violent Islamic extremism and waging jihad." By November 2022, prosecutors say Bickford was interested in traveling to the Middle East to support the Taliban and even took steps toward traveling to Afghanistan to ally himself with the Taliban and work with them. "Bickford dedicated himself to the mission of waging jihad against officials of governments that he believes are anti-Muslim, including the US Government," the statement reads. He even allegedly told a family member that he wanted to travel to the Middle East so that he could be a suicide bomber for his religion. The teenager from Wells, Maine ultimately decided he would not travel overseas. Instead, he decided to "wage jihad against the US Government from within the United States," the complaint alleges. Story continues Prosecutors say Bickford traveled from Maine to New York City in late December to carry out the attack on New Year's Eve. On the night of the attack, the complaint alleges that he went to Times Square to kill US government officials and was armed with a large curved knife similar to a machete, known as a kukri. The kukri that Bickford used in the attack Department of Justice / Via justice.gov Bickford wounded three officers on New Year's Eve. The officers suffered lacerations and other injuries. Prosecutors also stated that a bag that Bickford brought with him to Times Square contained a book by al-Maqdisi which "encourages followers to wage jihad against disbelievers and governments ruled by disbelievers" per the complaint as well as Bickford's journal. An entry from his journal from the night of the attack states, "this will likely be my last entry." A second bag he was carrying allegedly contained a book espousing violent Islamic extremism with certain parts highlighted, such as "Fight in the Name of Allah and in the Cause of Allah. Fight against those who do not believe in Allah. Wage a holy war." According to prosecutors, Bickford intended to die in the attack. The complaint states that Bickford views this attack as unsuccessful because he did not kill any officers and did not die himself. More on this Lillianna Nardlini, 4, was last seen at approximately 10:30 p.m., Jan. 9. If anyone has information, please contact Marysville Police Department. The Marysville Police in conjunction with the Port Huron Police Major Crimes Unit, Ohio State Highway Patrol Piqua Post, and FBI Task Force Lima Division were all instrumental in working nonstop today to locate and arrest Erik Nardini, a 46-year-old and reunite Lilliana with her natural mother. At 9 p.m this evening Ohio State Highway Patrol were able to take down Erik Nardini without incident or harm to Lilliana. The Port Huron Major Crimes Unit is currently responding to meet with Ohio authoritys to pick up Lilliana and transport her back to Michigan to be reunited with her mother. E rik will be held in Ohio on probable cause for kidnapping pending a felony warrants and an extradition warrant to be issued by the St. Clair County Prosecutors Office first thing in the morning. "This is outstanding police work by all jurisdictions involved. Special thanks go out to the Port Huron Police Departments Major Crimes Unit for taking the lead and working feverishly to locate Lilliana unharmed. Thank you to the press for updating the public with our investigation as we received information," the police department said. Details will follow as soon as the suspect is back in St. Clair County for court arraignment. The girl was reported missing out of Marysville Monday. This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: Man accused of kidnapping daughter arrested A man accused of felonious assault and kidnapping in Clark County was taken into custody in Indiana Tuesday. Around 4:30 p.m. dispatchers got a call from a woman in the area of Hiser Avenue saying she had been tied up and a second woman had been severely injured. Deputies arrived on the scene and heard someone yelling for help inside the home. They then forced their way into the home, according to a release. Deputies found two women imprisoned in the basement of the home. >> Man killed in industrial accident at Springfield business identified One woman was taken by medical helicopter to Miami Valley Hospital with severe injuries. The other woman was treated on scene. An investigation found that the homeowner was visited by Charles Womack, 49, who the homeowner was casually dating. During the visit, the homeowners tenant who lived in the basement of the home got into an argument with Womack. The argument escalated and Womack allegedly pushed the woman down the stairs, causing serious and life-threatening injuries, according to the release. After allegedly assaulting the tenant, Womack is said to have then restrained the homeowner, binding her with electrical cords and taking her out of her home against her will. Over the next 5 hours, Womack made several trips away from the house with the captive homeowner. He did not call authorities for help for the tenant who was injured in the basement, the release states. >> Suspect dead after attempted burglary at cellphone store in Harrison Twp. Womack then abandoned the homeowner in the basement with the injured tenant. The homeowner was able to escape her restraints, help the injured tenant and call 911. After a manhunt, Womack was taken into custody at gunpoint by the Allen County Sheriffs Office near Fort Wayne, Indiana. He is currently in their custody and awaits extradition proceedings. Womack faces kidnapping, felonious assault, and abduction charges. This is a developing story and we will update as we learn more. A man is in the hospital after police said he was shot in a road rage incident in Fort Worth on Tuesday night. Fort Worth police said officers were sent to the 1100 block of the northbound service road for South Freeway at Rosedale Street around 7:10 p.m. Tuesday after receiving calls about a person being shot. When they arrived, officers found a man with a wound in the head related to a gunshot, according to police. Police did not say if the wound was a grazing one or a result of something else like shattered glass, but did say the man spoke to them when they arrived at the scene and was taken to the hospital in stable condition. The man told officers he was driving along northbound South Freeway when there was a possible non-contact traffic incident between his vehicle and another, according to police. The driver of the other vehicle pulled out a gun and shot it, leaving the victim with a head wound. The suspect then fled the area, possibly in a dark-colored sedan. Police said the gang unit is conducting the investigation into the shooting. A former insurance agent plead guilty to defrauding Miami Valley and Cincinnati customers, and the federal government. >> TRENDING: Man accused of kidnapping, injuring 2 women in Clark County arrested in Indiana Seneca Birchmore, 45, of Cincinnati, lost his license as an insurance agent in 2019 after applying unauthorized policies to customers plans in order to collect commissions, a spokesperson for the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio stated. While he was an agent, he collected more than $8,000 in fraudulent commissions. However, after he lost his license, he continued to apply fraudulent policies by stealing the identities of two other insurance agents to continue getting commissions. Birchmore had the commissions from dozens of local customer victims deposited into his own bank accounts, the spokesperson said. He received over $93,000 in commissions during this time. Local law enforcements were alerted after victims began to complain about money automatically being withdrawn from their bank accounts for insurance policies that were never ordered, the spokesperson informed. Many of the victims were senior citizens residing in Dayton, Englewood, Middletown, and Cincinnati. >> TRENDING: 2 juveniles taken into custody in connection to stolen Kia in Trotwood In another fraudulent case, Birchmore obtained two COVID Paycheck Protection Program loans totaling over $40,000. He reported that he owned a business and stated his gross income in 2019 was more than $13 million when neither were true. >> TRENDING: Man killed in industrial accident at Springfield business identified Birchmore agreed to pay the following restitutions as a part of his guilty plea: 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 The defendant may face at least two years in prison for the crimes. Martin Lewis has shared his helpful tips for staying warm this winter without having to resort to putting the heating on. The Money Saving Experts comments come as nine out of 10 UK adults report that their living costs have increased in the last three months due to rising energy bills and food prices. In an episode of his ITV programme from November, The Martin Lewis Money Show, Lewis said his team had carried out research on ways to heat the human and not the home. It was really depressing, the fact that we needed to do it because of the way energy prices were going and the way some people wouldnt be able to turn their central heating on, Lewis said. As it turned out the research that we did has been really useful, not just for people who are in desperate states... but for many who just want to reduce their central heating. Lots of stuff from how you effectively layer clothes, but the one that really took off was small electrical items for heating the person. Lewis said his team had identified a number of cheap and cost-effective electrical items, including heated gloves, handwarmers, an electric gilet and heated insoles. Some of the items cost as little as 1p per hour based on a rate of 34p/kw. Heated gloves cost around 5, and are USB powered. Lewis said they could cost as little as 1p per hour to run. He also recommended the use of microwave wheat bags (around 4) and hot water bottles (around 5). Sharing his own personal hack, Lewis advised wrapping up in a sleeping bag and putting the hot water bottle inside while sitting at home as this traps the heat and keeps you warm for longer. The wheat bag costs around 1p per hour, while the cost of the hot water bottle is around 7p per hour. Lewis noted that while electrical gilets can be expensive to buy (they cost around 50), they can be run for as little as 1p per hour and are effective in keeping the whole body warm. Also, during the programme, Lewis urged the public to check the temperature setting of their thermostat in what he is calling the one degree challenge. Story continues He said the World Health Organization has recommended that a temperature of 18 degrees is fine for healthy adults. Its not for me to tell you what to do but Id like you to try reducing it by 1 degree, Lewis said, adding that most people have their thermostat set around 21 degrees. That could save you around 10 per cent on the heating bill, Lewis said. A fire that started at an Illinois chemical plant and sent massive smoke plumes over the city of La Salle has been contained, the city said in a statement. At around 8 a.m. Wednesday, fire officials responded to a "well-involved" structural fire at Carus Chemical, La Salle fire chief Jerry Janick confirmed. The company said that the fire began in the plant's shipping area, CBS Chicago reported. Hours later, fire officials were able to contain the fire but additional equipment was being sent to the scene to help fully extinguish the blaze and assist with the investigation, officials said. Firefighters respond to an extra-alarm fire at the Carus chemical plant in LaSalle, Illinois, on Jan. 11, 2023. / Credit: CBS There were no reported injuries and all employees were accounted for, Janick said. Officials have not identified the cause of the fire and said investigations were ongoing. Footage of the fire showed flames engulfing part of the plant with large plumes of smoke billowing into the sky. Unreal smoke inside the Carus Chemical plant in LaSalle. Firefighters say its under control now, no injures reported.@cbschicago pic.twitter.com/iEQDHhKW8x Sabrina Franza (@sabrinafranza) January 11, 2023 La Salle residents in the 3rd and 4th wards remained under a "shelter in place" order as of Wednesday afternoon, officials said. La Salle police said that a green-colored oxidizer had been released in the area and warned residents not to touch the substance. According to the company's website, Carus is a family-owned chemical manufacturer founded in 1915. It produces potassium permanganate an oxidant used to treat drinking water, wastewater and industrial chemicals along with phosphates, polymers and other chemicals, according to the website. After the fire was contained, Allen Gibbs, Carus vice president of operations, thanked fire officials for helping keep employees and others in the area safe. Story continues "We are thankful everyone is safe, and we are also grateful to the LaSalle Fire Department and crews from the surrounding area who responded to address this situation to keep the area safe." Gibbs said in a statement. "Carus' priority is to protect the health and safety of the employees, emergency personnel who are responding to this fire and the nearby community." Mike Pence discusses possible 2024 presidential bid Russia sending replacement Soyuz capsule to rescue International Space Station crew Northern California sees more rain Wednesday Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko welcomed mayors of four European capitals, the members of the Pact of Free Cities Warsaw, Prague, Budapest, and Bratislava on Jan. 11. Klitschko thanked the mayors for the support they have already provided to Kyiv, as the city continues to be the target of Russia's missile and drone attacks amid Moscow's all-out war against Ukraine. According to the Kyiv City State Administration, Rafa Trzaskowski, the mayor of Warsaw, vowed to provide 60 metro train cars to Kyiv. Bratislava, in the meantime, plans to send 25 city buses to the Ukrainian capital. Klitschko thanked his counterparts for the support and determination to help restore Kyiv and emphasized that the meeting is evidence of effective cooperation between the cities and further support of Ukraine by European partners. During the visit to Ukraine, the mayors will also visit the sites of the Russian attacks on civilian infrastructure in Kyiv, a hospital for war veterans, a rehabilitation center for children with disabilities, and an emergency help hub set up to provide aids to civilians during blackouts caused by Russia's repeated attacks on Ukraine's energy system. The Pact of Free Cities is a cooperation agreement that was created by the mayors of Warsaw, Prague, Budapest, and Bratislava in 2019. Since then, it has grown to 33 members, including Kyiv. It's been a busy Tuesday in Washington, D.C. Here are three top stories in U.S. politics to watch this week: House Speaker McCarthy clears first hurdle House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was able to muster enough votes with the Republican caucus to advance a rules package that will help set the parameters for the new Congress. However, there's now speculation and concern from moderate Republicans about just how much leverage Speaker McCarthy ceded to the ultraconservative Freedom Caucus in negotiations. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., reacts after winning the 15th vote in the House chamber as the House enters the fifth day trying to elect a speaker and convene the 118th Congress in Washington, early Saturday, Jan. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) Those concessions could be on full display during the looming debt ceiling fight expected this year. And it raises the likelihood of political volatility that could reverberate in the market, similar to the debt limit battle in 2011 when America's credit score was downgraded for the first time. Though, unlike in 2011, the U.S. faces a likely economic slowdown, if not a full-blown recession, this year. McCarthy's decision to embolden the right-wing Freedom Caucus could lead to more friction down the road with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and President Biden. It also must be squared with veteran advocacy groups many of whom are backed by Republican foreign policy hawks who are growing irate that ultraconservative partisans are pushing for defense cuts in light of recent geopolitical risk posed by Russia and China. Biden proposes new student loan policies President Biden announced new policies that could significantly reduce the cost of student loans for qualifying Americans. The White House stated the proposal, which would overhaul one of the income-repayment plans, could save qualifying Americans as much as $2,000 annually, according to CNBC. The Department of Education added that lower-income borrowers could see their payments per dollar decrease by as much as 83% compared to current levels. Biden's announcement comes as his previous plan to forgive as much as $20,000 in student loan debt is currently under review by the U.S. Supreme Court, with a decision potentially coming later this year. Story continues US President Joe Biden speaks about student debt relief at Delaware State University in Dover, Delaware, on October 21, 2022. (Photo by Oliver Contreras / AFP) (Photo by OLIVER CONTRERAS/AFP via Getty Images) U.S. attorney reviews Biden documents Republicans are pouncing on news that the Department of Justice is reviewing previously undisclosed and potentially classified documents found in Biden's former vice presidential office at a think tank in Washington. CBS News reported that U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland has asked U.S. attorney John Lausch to investigate the documents, which were found by Biden's personal lawyers last fall. The White House stated that the National Archives and Records Administration was notified after the discovery and the agency collected the documents the following morning. The Justice Department was made aware of the documents before the midterm elections. Republicans including former President Donald Trump, who is seeking office in 2024 are questioning why Garland waited until after the midterm elections to disclose the matter to the public. It's unclear what was in the documents; however, Biden's special counsel said in a statement that "documents were not the subject of any previous request or inquiry by the [National] Archives." Kevin Cirilli is a visiting media fellow at the Atlantic Council's Global China Hub and the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue. Follow him on LinkedIn here. Click here for politics news related to business and money Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance Download the Yahoo Finance app for Apple or Android Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard, LinkedIn, and YouTube Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) should not be on any top House committees after the first-term congressman came under fire over revelations that he embellished parts of his resume. No, McCarthy told reporters on Wednesday when asked if Santos should be seated on any key committees. McCarthy made the comments while walking into a meeting of the House Republican Steering Committee, which is tasked with seating members on committees. The panels under consideration at Wednesdays meeting include the Appropriations, Ways and Means, Financial Services, and Energy and Commerce committees, a source confirmed to The Hill. Asked about committee assignments on Tuesday, Santos told reporters, Ill take whatever I get. Im not a picky person, I came here to serve the people, he added. McCarthys vow comes as the pressure around Santos is mounting. Republicans from Nassau County called on the congressman to resign on Wednesday, labeling him disgraced. That group included Rep. Anthony DEsposito (R-N.Y.), who represents a district neighboring Santoss. And on Tuesday, two Democratic House members filed a complaint with the House Ethics Committee that accused Santos of failing to file timely, accurate and complete financial disclosure reports. He is also the subject of investigations by the Eastern District of New York and the Nassau County district attorney. Additionally, the Rio de Janeiro prosecutors office has said it plans to reopen a 2008 criminal fraud case involving the congressman. Santos, however, has remained defiant in his intention to remain in Congress. Shortly after the Nassau County GOP press conference, asked if he would step down, Santos told reporters in the Capitol I will not. On Tuesday, he said he has done nothing unethical. Republican leaders have remained largely mum on the topic. Asked if he had spoken with Santos, McCarthy told reporters Monday night, How I handle internal stuff I handle internally, so Im sure at times Ill come tell you. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Rep. George Santos In the wake of news that Republicans in New York called for gay GOP Rep. George Santos to resign, Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy said the congressman shouldn't be appointed to influential committees, while Santos said he would not leave. On his way to a Republican Steering Committee meeting, McCarthy responded no to a question asking whether Santos should be seated on any influential committees, NBC News reports. McCarthy's response comes as pressure mounts around Santos. Nassau County Republicans insisted Wednesday that the congressman resign, calling him "disgraced." They included Rep. Anthony D'Esposito, who represents a nearby New York district. For his part, Santos, who voted for Kevin McCarthy to become speaker 15 times, appears to be defiant. The embattled representative went to Twitter to express his intention to stay where he is. "I was elected to serve the people of #NY03 not the party & politicians, I remain committed to doing that and regret to hear that local officials refuse to work with my office to deliver results to keep our community safe and lower the cost of living. I will NOT resign!" he wrote. Some critics argue that Santos's participation on committees could be dangerous for national security. Several Republicans support McCarthy's assertion that keeping the serial fabulist off classified committees would be best. Meanwhile, Democrats have urged the Republican speaker and the rest of the GOP leadership not to seat Santos at all. Santos "probably shouldn't be on Intelligence or [House Armed Services Committee]," a House Republican with experience handling classified information told NBC News. However, he added that the Small Business Committee "would be fine." In the past, Republicans have stripped their members of committee assignments over other controversies. For example, in 2019, Rep. Steve King of Iowa was stripped of his committee assignments after making racist remarks. Story continues In 2021, the House of Representatives, then led by Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi, stripped Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of her committee assignments following comments she made that included endorsing violence against Democrats. No announcements on committee assignments regarding Santos have been made. The Advocate has reached out to representatives for McCarthy and Santos and will update this story when a response is received. 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. More from Billboard Related 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? Story continues 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 Click here to read the full article. Meek Mill has apologized after posting an exclusive preview of his new music video that caused major backlash from Ghanaians. Last month, the Philadelphia rapper visited Accra, Ghana, to perform at the Afro Nation music festival, which was held on Dec. 29 and 30. During his visit, he had the chance to meet Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo at the presidential palace, better known as Jubilee House or The Flagstaff House. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Meek Mill (@meekmill) While on the property, he shot content in various locations of the home for a new music video that included different moments from his time in the country. Not knowing how sacred the palace was to the people, the Dreams and Nightmares artist was happy to share a clip of the video on Jan. 8. Meek Mill shot a video to a new somg while in Ghana pic.twitter.com/q9ilza0B1S Wave Check (@thewavecheckk) January 8, 2023 Although his American fans loved the footage captured for the video, his fanbase in Ghana wasnt happy. They were in disbelief because they couldnt believe he was permitted to do such a thing while visiting. This is height of disrespect to the entire Ghanaians. Na because una see milk mill as your demigod FairPlay (@FairPla84478623) January 10, 2023 This is a total disgrace to all Ghanaians, if meek mill has been granted permission to do what ever he like at jubilee house then our own artists should be granted permission!! Manu A. Gideon (@ogede165) January 9, 2023 Aa h so THIS GUY WAS ALLWED TO PUT HIS HAND ON AKUFO ADDO TO TAKE A PICTURE BUT WHEN SAMINI WANTED TO RAISE AKUFO ADDO HAND ON A CAMPAIGN PLATFORM THE SUCURITY RUSHED TO STOP HIM MIDWAY HMM . pic.twitter.com/Ab4GBjylFQ JON ZWENNES @jonzwennes #JonZwennes (@jonzwennes) January 9, 2023 The former deputy minister for education and information, Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa, tweeted his thoughts as well. 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? he wrote. When the 35-year-old caught wind of how fans felt, he immediately hopped on Twitter to clear the air. 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 his apology, Ablakwa wrote on Facebook that he believed Williams was genuinely sorry for his actions and that Ghanaians should accept Mills apology, GhanaWeb reports. Williams followed up with another tweet that this moment should be used as a learning experience for all Black people. Meta rescinded full-time offers from some job candidates, a spokesperson confirmed. As we continue to reassess our hiring needs, weve made the difficult decision to withdraw offers to a small number of candidates," a Meta spokesperson told TechCrunch. "While this decision did not come lightly, it allows us to remain thoughtful as we readjust our hiring through 2023 to align with our highest-priority work. Meta did not comment on how many people were impacted or what departments had rescinded offers. Just in: Meta has rescinded fulltime offers in London, as I confirmed with devs impacted. New grads with offers due to start in February have been taken back in bulk. I know of about 20 people so far. This is the first time I'm aware that Meta is taking back signed, FTE offers. Gergely Orosz (@GergelyOrosz) January 9, 2023 According to engineer and writer Gergely Orosz, about 20 recent grads had offers rescinded to work in Meta's office. TechCrunch viewed LinkedIn posts from two rescinded candidates who had jobs lined up in software engineering. Meta previously rescinded 2023 summer internship offers at its London office. Across the whole company, Meta laid off 11,000 workers (or 13% of its workforce) in November. As Meta funnels billions of dollars into its unprofitable Reality Labs division, the company's financial outlook has inspired uncertainty in its investors. In the second quarter of 2022, Meta posted its first-ever revenue decline; the following quarter, Metas revenue declined 4% year over year to hit $27.7 billion. Meanwhile, net income was just $4.395 billion, down from $9.194 billion year over year. Reality Labs, Meta's division for augmented and virtual reality projects, lost $3.672 billion alone in Q3. Meta's situation is not helped by the overall state of the tech industry. Companies like Amazon and Coinbase have also rescinded job offers and waged large-scale layoffs. MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador pledged to work closely with Canada to ensure energy sector reforms were beneficial for both countries, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Wednesday. "President Lopez Obrador was very open to meeting with different businesses, to working with our ministers and our civil servants to make sure the (energy) issues are resolved," Trudeau told reporters in Mexico City, after a meeting with the Mexican President. (Reporting by Cassandra Garrison in Mexico City and Steve Scherer and Ismail Shakil in Ottawa; Editing by Chris Reese) Michael Dell with his wife, Susan, and two of their children, Juliette and Zachary. Zachary works in the VC world. Getty Images Robert Daemmrich Photography Inc / Contributor Michael Dell's PC company, founded in 1984, has become one of the world's largest tech companies. Much of his family followed in his footsteps, taking prominent roles in tech and venture investing. Here's which members of Dell's family count among tech's lucky so-called nepo babies. Michael Dell Michael Dell is the CEO of Dell. Dell Michael Dell is one of the most notable tech entrepreneurs from the Lone Star State. He founded his PC company in 1984 while studying at the University of Texas at Austin, and since then the company has grown to become one of the largest technology companies in the world, with a market cap of $30 billion. Forbes estimates that Michael Dell has a net worth of more than $50 billion, making him among the 25 richest people on the planet. Dell and his wife, Susan, raised their family in Austin long before it was dubbed the next big tech hub. Far from the bubble of Silicon Valley, their four children Alexa, Zachary, Juliette, and Kira have mostly avoided the scrutiny that the children of other billionaire tech moguls, like Eve Jobs and Jennifer Gates, have faced. But they still count as "nepo babies." The term popularized by a New York magazine story published last month on the nepo babies of Hollywood refers to children and family members who climbed the ranks of their respective industries with help from family connections. Nepotism also exists in tech, and several of Dell's close family members followed in his footsteps, working in the tech world and likely cashing in on their famous last name at various points in their careers. None of Dell's family members, nor Dell's investment firm, MSD Capital, immediately responded to Insider's request for comment. Meet Dell's four children and his brother, Adam Dell, and see how their connections gave them a leg up. Adam Dell Adam Dell founded and leads Domain Money. Domain Money Michael Dell's younger brother, Adam Dell, has worn many hats in the investing and tech world. Adam Dell started his career as a lawyer, but in 2000, at 30, he launched a venture-capital fund, Impact Venture Partners, with $100 million in funding. A Forbes report at the time said the fund counted MSD Capital, Michael Dell's private investment firm, as one of its major backers. Story continues Adam Dell's and his older brother's business interests crossed again in 2008 when Dell Inc. acquired the email-management service MessageOne owned by Adam Dell's Impact Venture Partners for $155 million. Because Michael Dell and other members of the Dell clan invested in Impact Venture Partners, it was a family win. A New York Times report indicated Michael Dell, Susan Dell, and their children's trust received about $12 million in total from the acquisition, while Adam Dell got $970,000 and Michael and Adam Dell's parents got $450,000. Michael Dell said he'd donate his family's proceeds from the MessageOne deal to charity. After the MessageOne deal, Adam Dell launched a personal-finance app, Clarity Money, which Goldman Sachs later acquired. Adam Dell was a partner at Goldman until 2021. Last year Adam Dell started Domain Money, a platform for investing in stocks and cryptocurrencies. The startup has raised $33 million so far. According to Crunchbase, investors include two friends of Michael Dell's: the Salesforce founder Marc Benioff and the Palantir cofounder Joe Lonsdale. Kira Dell Daniel Refoua, Kira Dell, and Zach Dell at Alexa Dell's engagement celebration in 2018. Stefanie Keenan/WireImage Kira Dell, Michael and Susan's oldest child, has strayed the farthest from the family business. After graduating from Vassar, Kira Dell worked as a teacher for several years. She then worked in product management at several social-justice-focused companies, including a nonprofit called Endeavor and a "social care technology" company called Findhelp. She now works as an independent consultant, according to her LinkedIn page. Alexa Dell Frazer Harrison/Getty Images In 2012, Alexa Dell, the second oldest of the Dell children, made headlines when, at 18, she posted a photo on Instagram of her brother, Zachary, on the family's private plane "en route to Fiji." The photo went viral on the Tumblr blog Rich Kids of Instagram, and their father's security detail had her account suspended for safety reasons, she told Insider in 2018. Alexa Dell dropped out of Columbia University in 2013 and started working at a dating company. After that, she started a tech consulting firm. She also dated Tinder CEO Sean Rad. In 2014, Alexa Dell was named in the sexual-harassment case brought against Tinder by Whitney Wolfe Herd, the former Tinder executive and Bumble cofounder. The complaint identified Alexa Dell as a confidante of Herd's and included text messages showing the two talking about Herd's problems with Tinder's cofounder Justin Mateen. In 2016 she joined Bumble based in her hometown of Austin as a company advisor and branding consultant. When Alexa Dell was 24, she got engaged to the real-estate investor Arshia Harrison Refoua, who proposed with a ring estimated to be worth $3 million. Juliette Dell Juliette Dell and Christopher Holmes at Alexa Dell's engagement celebration in 2018. Stefanie Keenan/WireImage Juliette Dell moved away from the tech world but not before taking a summer marketing and communications internship at her father's shop, Dell Technologies, in 2016, according to her LinkedIn profile. Since then she's entered the other Dell family business: fashion. Her mother, Susan Dell, founded the sportswear label Phi in 2003. The brand shuttered in 2009. According to her LinkedIn page, Juliette Dell interned at the luxury designer Hermes before getting a job with the couture designer Reem Acra. She also competes in horseback riding a sport enjoyed by her peers like Jennifer Gates and Eve Jobs. Zachary Dell Zachary Dell with his sisters Kira and Juliette at Alexa Dell and Harrison Refoua's engagement party in 2018. Stefanie Keenan/WireImage Michael Dell's son, Zachary Dell, works at Thrive Capital, which invests in internet, software, and tech companies. Previously, Zach Dell was a private-equity analyst at Blackstone for a little over a year he'd worked there as a summer analyst after graduating from college in 2019. Zach Dell attended the University of Southern California, where he studied psychology and economics and was in the Sigma Chi fraternity, according to his LinkedIn. While at USC, he was a summer intern at MSD Capital, his father's family office. While he was in high school, Zach Dell founded a dating app similar to Tinder called Thread. His LinkedIn indicates he was the chairman and founder of the company from July 2013 to January 2016. Thread, which was available only to students who had a University of Texas email address, was focused on finding relationships instead of hookups and used the tagline "Stay Classy," HuffPost reported. Though Zach Dell said his father wasn't an investor in his app, he counted among his investors Mark Benioff, the Salesforce CEO and good friend of his father's, and the Silicon Valley "super angel" investor Ron Conway. "I heard 'no' a lot," Zach Dell told Total Frat Move about fundraising. "Early on, it was tough to convince investors to roll the dice on an 18-year-old kid, but after a while, word started to spread that I was the real deal, and some of the top investors in the industry were willing to hop onboard." His father was, however, listed as a company advisor, as was Whitney Wolfe Herd, the Tinder cofounder who would go on to cofound Bumble and is a close friend of his sister's. "My dad and I are extremely close," Zach Dell told Silicon Hills News in 2014. "When I started asking him about starting his business and what it meant to be an entrepreneur, he started telling me more and more. He would give me little lessons every time we were in the car and use real-world examples, like the Bernie Madoff scandal, to teach me about insider trading." Thread failed to take off, but Zach Dell tried his hand at entrepreneurship again, founding Sqwatt, a startup that was supposed to build "low-cost sanitation solutions for the developing world," HuffPost reported. (The company now appears to be called SaniSolvr.) His LinkedIn says he was head of operations and growth for Sqwatt from September 2016 to January 2020. Read the original article on Business Insider [Source] Before you read: Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan each took home a Golden Globe Award last night for their roles in Everything Everywhere All at Once. Yeoh, 60, won Best Actress in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, besting Margot Robbie (Babylon), Anya Taylor-Joy (The Menu), Emma Thompson (Good Luck to You, Leo Grande) and Lesley Manville (Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris). In her acceptance speech, the Malaysian actor recounted the first time she arrived in Hollywood. She recalled being told, You are a minority. More from NextShark: Sandra Oh, Simu Liu, Justin Chon win awards at 2021 Unforgettable Gala, John Cho receives Legacy award It's been an amazing journey and an incredible fight to be here today, said Yeoh, dedicating her award to fellow minority actors. This is also for all the shoulders that I have [stood] on, all who came before me who look like me and all who are going on this journey with me forward. Quan, 51, bagged Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture, besting Brendan Gleeson (The Banshees of Inisherin), Barry Keoghan (The Banshees of Inisherin), Brad Pitt (Babylon) and Eddie Redmayne (The Good Nurse). In his acceptance speech, the Vietnamese-born American actor paid tribute to Steven Spielberg, who gave him his first acting role in the 1984 film Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Spielberg won Best Director last night for his coming-of-age drama film The Fabelmans. Story continues More from NextShark: Live-action Spirited Away play shows incredible artistry in Tokyo premiere I was raised to never forget where I came from and always remember who gave me my first opportunity, Quan said. Im so happy to see Steven Spielberg here tonight. Steven, thank you. When I started my career as a child actor in Indiana Jones I started to wonder if that was it, if that was just luck. Yeoh and Quan were not the only Asian winners of the night. Kala Bhairava, M. M. Keeravani and Rahul Sipligunj won Best Original Song for Naatu Naatu, which is featured in the Indian action drama film RRR. Related stories: More from NextShark: Netflix releases trailer for docuseries Midnight Asia: Eat. Dance. Dream. Rich Polk/NBC via Getty Images Im just going to stand here and take this all in, Michelle Yeoh said when she took the stage at Tuesdays Golden Globes to accept her award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. And over the next several minutes, the Everything Everywhere All at Once star relished every moment of that triumph. Forty years, not letting go of this, she added, thanking the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for giving her the award. Its been an amazing journey and incredible fight to be here today. But I think its been worth it. The rapt crowd of her peers broke into a laugh when Yeoh quipped, I remember when I first came to Hollywood, it was a dream come trueuntil I got here. Look at this face! the Malaysian-born actress said of herself. I came here and was told, Youre a minority, and Im like, No, thats not possible. Yeoh recalled that when someone marveled that she could speak English, she replied, Yeah, the flight here was about 13 hours long, so I learned. As the music started to play her off, Yeoh turned to the side of the stage and invoked her martial arts mastery as she playfully threatened, Shut up, please. I can beat you up, and thats serious! Yeoh continued by speaking graciously about her role as Evelyn in The Daniels Everything Everywhere All at Once. Jerrod Carmichael Makes Celebs Deeply Uncomfortable in Globes Monologue I was given this gift of playing this woman who resonated so deeply with me and so many people, she said. Because at the end of the day, in whatever universe she was at, she was just fightingfighting for love for her family. Then, after shouting out her co-starsincluding my hot dog lover, Jamie Lee CurtisYeoh said, This is also for all the shoulders that I stand on, all who came before me, who look like me and all who are going on this journey with me forward. So thank you for believing in us, thank you so much. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. Michigan State University Board Trustee Rema Vassar, attending via video conference, smiles after being voted chair during the MSU Board of Trustees meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023, at the Hannah Administration Building in East Lansing. EAST LANSING Michigan State University Trustees Wednesday elected Rema Vassar as the board chairperson, and Dan Kelly as vice chairperson, during their first meeting of 2023. Vassar, who voted for herself, also received votes from trustees Dan Kelly, Brianna Scott, Kelly Tebay and Dennis Denno, who attended his first meeting as a trustee after winning his seat in the election in November. With her election, Vassar becomes the first Black woman in MSU history to serve as chairperson for the Board of Trustees. "I do want to say that this moment is historic," said Vassar, who attended Wednesday's meeting remotely. "To have me sitting in this seat today is pretty remarkable. So, I just appreciate you all giving me that trust and I appreciate an opportunity to make history today. Trustee Renee Knake Jefferson, who also voted for herself, was nominated for the position and received votes from trustees Dianne Byrum and Sandy Pierce. Pierce was appointed to the board by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, filling a position left vacant when former trustee Pat O'Keefe resigned Nov. 30. Michigan State Trustee Dianne Byrum speaks during a board meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023, at the Hannah Administration Building on campus in East Lansing. Vassar replaces Byrum who did not seek re-election as chairperson. Byrum was first elected as chairperson in 2019. Votes from Scott and Tebay ultimately secured the leadership position for Vassar. Scott voted for Vassar over Knake Jefferson, but not before she spent a minute silently considering her decision. "I have all confidence that Trustee Vassar is going to lead us extraordinarily into this next phase as we go into some very important decision-making with the new presidential search and other things coming up," Scott said. "As, obviously the other Black person on the board she referred to, I do recognize the historical significance of her appointment as our new board chair and believe it's about time, quite frankly." The Michigan State Board of Trustees meet on Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023, at the Hannah Administration Building on campus in East Lansing. Kelly, the board's only Republican, received unanimous support for vice chairperson. Only trustees who are not members of the same political party as the chairperson are eligible to be elected vice chairperson, according to the Board of Trustees' bylaws, unless seven or more trustees are members of the same party. Story continues Kelly was also vice chairperson during Byrum's term. "I want to thank the board and the bylaws for me being vice chair," Kelly joked. "And I do want to work together with everybody." Faculty and faculty leaders have been at odds with the Board of Trustees in recent months, culminating in votes of no confidence from numerous student and faculty groups. Karen Kelly-Blake, chairperson of the MSU Faculty Senate, said the board has "insisted" on continuing an investigation into the forced resignation of former Broad College of Business Dean Sanjay Gupta, and is "meddling in academic matters, wasting millions of dollars in attorneys fees, and acting with the trademark lack of transparency that the board has come to be known for." The board ordered an investigation, being conducted by the Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan law firm, into Gupta's removal. Former Provost Teresa Woodruff, who is now serving as the university's interim president, forced Gupta to resign after reports that Gupta failed to report an instance of sexual misconduct to the university's Title IX office. The investigation has been completed, but trustees have not decided whether to release the results publicly. "The community needs to understand the scope of the review, its results and its cost," Kelly-Blake said. She welcomed the new trustees and congratulated Vassar and Kelly before repeating the importance of the faculty and Board of Trustees working together. "We look forward to partnering with all of you to serve the best interests of our institution," Kelly-Blake said. "Academic governance is the process by which Spartans are reminded that we are on the same team. And the university is at its best when we all work together. But as we begin this new chapter, it is important for us to make something clear about the relationship between the faculty and the Board of Trustees. The faculty is the universitys most valuable asset and we have a responsibility to speak out when the board is acting in ways that prioritizes its members interests over those shared by all Spartans. Contact Mark Johnson at majohnson2@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ByMarkJohnson. This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Michigan State Board of Trustees elects chairperson, vice-chairperson Microsoft ChatGPT does more than just act as a search and learn information dynamic it claims to be able to create what you want, in seconds. Photo: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Microsoft (MSFT) is going all in on ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence (AI) technology that could power a new search engine that could disrupt the dominance of Google (GOOG). News site Semafor reported on Tuesday that Microsoft is investing $10bn (8.2bn) in OpenAI, the artificial intelligence firm that launched the AI generative tool ChatGPT in November 2022. This will value the San Francisco-based firm at $29bn, and industry analysts say that Google should pay close attention to the deal. Microsoft spends billions of dollars every year to try to compete with Google's search engine dominance, but with comparatively low user interaction on Bing they have failed for over a decade. Read more: 2022, the year NFTs fell to earth Microsoft has so far failed to replicate the algorithm that powers Google search but if they incorporate the AI generating power of ChatGPT into Bing, or a new search engine, this could be "a game changer", an industry commentator has suggested. Web3 for enterprise expert Filippo Chisari told Yahoo Finance UK: "I believe Microsoft are most likely looking to build a search engine that will give them a competitive advantage over others. Watch: This AI tool could kill human creativity and is worrying the art world | The Crypto Mile "My experience with Microsoft has been that if they invest in something that is not a regional effort, it is usually a game changer, look at Linkedin. "As you know Google is already losing 'searchability market share' amongst younger crowds as they turn to TikTok for content search, and soon to Youtube as they evangelise their 'Shorts' function." He added: "I think Microsoft saw an opportunity to revamp a failed tool and ChatGPT adds an additional layer of user-friendliness to the search process, which is where I think they are trying to take the battle to, the UX/UI approach." The Bing search engine already utilises an older version of GPT to provide automatic search suggestions for users. Story continues GPT was integrated with Bing in the wake of a $1bn investment in the California startup in 2019. So Microsoft has been quietly supporting users since implementation. The search experience when using an AI generator would be a paradigm shift in how humans use the internet, because ChatGPT does more than just act as a search and learn information dynamic. Instead this new technology claims to be able to create what you want, in seconds. What is OpenAI and ChatGPT? ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence application with a range of articulation. It is able to create haiku, jokes, corporate emails, business plans, fix computer code, write academic essays and even piece of original fiction in the style of any writer you want, from Joyce and Dostoyevsky, to Shakespeare. Many have raised concerns that the new technology could render human creativity redundant. To get a measure of the disruptive potential of ChatGPT, Yahoo Finance UK asked the artificial intelligence itself. When asked how disruptive this new technology is to human creativity the AI application said: "ChatGPT has the potential to be disruptive to human creativity, depending on how it is used. "It is important to remember that the output of ChatGPT is only as good as the input it is given, so people should be careful to provide clear, thoughtful prompts to get the most out of it. "Additionally, ChatGPT can never replace the creative thought process of a human being, so it should be seen as a tool rather than a replacement for creative thinking." Read more: Web3 sectors to watch in 2023 This new application could mean that users don't have to do research anymore or even have to think, plan or design what they want. All a user needs to do is tell ChatGPT what to write, and given a few tweaks and parameters, await a satisfactory end result. The application can also write for any audience, the parameters can be set to write for a five-year old, or for niche audiences of specific disciplines. If Microsoft Bing is powered by the latest version of ChatGPT, then Google may need to escalate the development of an alternative AI generator that can power their own search engine. Google has been exploring the use of similar technologies, such as its own LaMDA system, to support its search product. However, Google executives warned in a December 2022 meeting that AI can make stuff up and could pose a serious reputational risk to the company. Microsoft did not immediately respond to a Yahoo Finance UK request for comment. Watch: Web3 sectors to watch in 2023 | The Crypto Mile Agape Boarding School, the embattled unlicensed Christian facility in southwest Missouri that has been dogged by abuse allegations for years, is closing its doors. The action comes as the Missouri Attorney Generals Office said it planned to continue its petition for a court injunction to close the school, which opened near Stockton in 1996. For the past 30 years Agape Boarding School has provided over 6,000 boys with an opportunity to get their life back on track and toward a bright future, the schools former director, Bryan Clemensen, said in a news release issued shortly after noon Wednesday. Agape has made the decision to stop providing services to the boys in its care effective January 20, 2023. Agapes focus is on getting the boys who remain in the program safely transitioned to their parents or to foster care, other group homes or residential programs. He said the decision to close is voluntary and due to the lack of financial resources to continue caring for the boys. Since late 2020, the school has been scrutinized by Missouri law enforcement, child welfare officials, lawmakers and former students. Several of those students testified in Jefferson City, urging lawmakers to do something about the years of abuse and protect the children still at the school. Legislators passed a law as a result that for the first time implements some regulations on such schools. Today, the many victims who have come forth can rest assured that no more children will be hurt at Agape Boarding School, said Robert Bucklin, 28, who attended the Cedar County school from 2007 to 2012 and is among those who filed a lawsuit against the school. The healing process can start for so many. After years of fighting for justice, justice has finally prevailed. Rep. Keri Ingle, D-Lees Summit, pushed for the hearings on boarding schools and co-sponsored the new law with Rep. Rudy Veit, R-Wardsville. She said she was happy about the closure, but more needs to be done. Story continues Survivors deserve justice for the harm they endured for entirely too long, Ingle told The Star. To be clear, they cannot escape accountability simply by closing their doors. I look forward to working with the Attorney Generals Office and the Department of Social Services to ensure that they are able to close facilities immediately when childrens safety cannot be ensured. In September, the Missouri attorney general and the Department of Social Services filed for an injunction saying the students safety was in jeopardy and the school should close. That case is still playing out in court. A DSS spokeswoman said Wednesday that the agency is aware of Agape Boarding Schools announced closure. And we are in consultation with Attorney General Baileys office regarding steps forward with pending litigation, said Heather Dolce of DSS. Our top priority is to ensure the safety and well-being of Missouri children, and our Childrens Division team is dedicated to completing thorough investigations into every report of suspected child abuse and neglect we have received. Dolce said the Childrens Division would continue to have 24-hour access to the Agape facility to observe the children there. Missouris new attorney general, Andrew Bailey, briefly addressed the Agape case after his inauguration in Jefferson City last week. When asked, he told reporters he planned to continue the states case against the school. The school also faces about two dozen lawsuits from former students and some have recently been settled. The amounts of those settlements are not public. The Star has investigated Agape and other boarding schools in southern Missouri since late summer 2020. Many men who attended Agape in their youth said they were subjected to physical restraints, extreme workouts, long days of manual labor, and food and water withheld as punishment. And, they said, former students endured constant berating and mind games and some were physically and sexually abused by staff and other youth. Agape is the fourth and final unlicensed Christian boarding school in Cedar County to close since September 2020. In 2021, five Agape staffers, including one who still works there, were charged with low-level felonies of physically assaulting students. At a Dec. 8 preliminary hearing for three of those staff members, Scott Dumar, the schools medical coordinator, and Everett Graves pleaded guilty to lesser misdemeanors and received two years probation. The case against Christopher McElroy was dismissed when his alleged victim did not show up to testify. Seth Duncan pleaded guilty on Dec. 14 to one misdemeanor and also received two years probation. The case against former staffer Trent Hartman is ongoing. And David Smock, a Stockton doctor who for many years treated students at Agape, was charged in late 2021 and early last year with more than a dozen child sex crimes in two counties. He remains in custody, and those cases are still in court. In the past few months, two former Agape staff members have been charged with crimes in other states. Kelly Vanderkooi, who later opened his own Christian school in Kentucky, was indicted by a grand jury in Kentucky in December on 21 counts of first-degree criminal abuse of a child 12 or under and 10 counts of fourth-degree assault (child abuse). Vanderkooi, 52, who former Agape students say ran the boot camp on the Cedar County campus until the early 2000s, has operated Pilgrims Rest Ministry of Reconciliation School in Dundee, Kentucky, since 2005. The charges came after a lengthy investigation by Kentucky State Police late last year. Vanderkoois son and daughter-in-law also were charged. And in mid-November, Steve Wukmer, 66, was charged in Alabama with 215 counts of possession of child pornography. Agape confirmed that Wukmer worked at the school near Stockton from April 2005 to February 2006 and said he left to become an assistant director of a small boarding school in Ohio. He also served as a childrens minister in that state, according to Alabama authorities. The first of the Cedar County boarding schools to close was Circle of Hope Girls Ranch near Humansville. The owners, Boyd and Stephanie Householder, shut it down in September 2020 after authorities removed the more than 20 students amid an investigation into abuse allegations against them. The Householders were charged in 2021 with nearly 100 felony counts of abuse, including statutory sodomy, rape, physical abuse and neglect. Their case is still going through the courts. Wings of Faith Academy near Stockton, a Christian boarding school for girls, closed on June 1 after 18 years in Cedar County. It was considered a sister school to Agape. And Legacy Academy Adventures, led by a former long-time Agape staffer, closed last summer. The school, which opened in May 2020, served boys ages 9 to 15. Owner Brent Jackson left Agape in 2018 after working there for 18 years, including time as the schools dean of students. CBS News has learned that more documents marked classified from President Biden's tenure as vice president were found in at least one additional location than previously known. The discovery was made after lawyers for Mr. Biden found the first batch of roughly 10 documents at a private office in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 2. It is not clear when the additional documents with classified markings were found. A source familiar with the Justice Department's review did not identify the additional location where documents were found. The U.S. attorney charged with investigating the Biden documents is aware of the additional documents, but sources couldn't say where these documents are being housed. The White House did not respond to a request for comment. Lawyers designated by Mr. Biden to handle his post-vice presidency papers did not respond to multiple phone calls. NBC News first reported that additional Biden documents with classified markings were found at another location. On Monday, a White House lawyer confirmed that personal lawyers for the president had found documents marked classified at the Penn Biden Center and immediately turned them over to the National Archives. But that lawyer, Richard Sauber, did not acknowledge in his statement classified material had been discovered in a second location. Officials are looking at the possibility that other documents may be in other locations. "Since that discovery [on Nov. 2], 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 wrote Monday. Mr. Biden said on Tuesday he was "surprised" that government documents had been found at an office he used periodically between 2017 and 2019. Sources told CBS News the material included briefings, some bearing highly classified markings. Story continues The revelations about the Biden documents occur as the Justice Department continues to review former President Donald Trump's presidential records. In August, the FBI executed a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago that yielded more than 100 documents marked classified. That search followed repeated efforts by the Archives and the Justice Department to retrieve what the government considered to be sensitive documents from Trump's personal residence that were required to have been turned over to the Archives under the law. What the latest Federal Reserve interest rate hike means for the U.S. economy Man accused of torturing an Oregon woman dies after standoff with police Funeral for Tyre Nichols to be held in Memphis today Tennis star Naomi Osaka announced her pregnancy Wednesday, explaining why she withdrew from the Australian Open a few days ago. Osaka, 25, shared a photo of an ultrasound on Twitter along with notes in Japanese and English, calling it a "little life update for 2023." She told fans that this year will be one "full of lessons" and that she hopes to see everyone at next year's Australian Open. "I know that I have so much to look forward to in the future, one thing I'm looking forward to is for my kid to watch one of my matches and tell someone, 'that's my mom,' haha," Osaka wrote. Cant wait to get back on the court but heres a little life update for 2023. pic.twitter.com/GYXRnutU3I NaomiOsaka (@naomiosaka) January 11, 2023 The tournament announced her withdrawal over the weekend without offering an explanation. Osaka has missed a few tournaments in the past year after a 2022 season riddled with injury. She withdrew from Wimbledon in June because of an injury to an Achilles' heel and forfeited the Toray Pan Pacific Open in September, citing illness. Osaka addressed her recent absence from the court in her note, saying it helped her realize she shouldn't take any moments for granted. "These few months away from the sport has really given me a new love and appreciation for the game I've dedicated my life to," she said, adding that "life is so short." Formerly ranked No. 1 by the WTA, Osaka won both the Australian and U.S. opens twice from 2018 to 2021. She made headlines in May 2021 when she announced she would not compete at the French Open, citing anxiety over post-match news conferences. I would never trivialize mental health or use the term lightly, Osaka said at the time. The truth is that I have suffered long bouts of depression since the U.S. Open in 2018, and I have had a really hard time coping with that. Story continues Osaka returned to the court later that summer for the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics to play for Japan. She was knocked out in the third round by Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic, 6-1, 6-4. Despite the tumultuous year, Osaka finished the 2021 season remaining ranked No. 12 in the world. But after an injury-ridden season, she is No. 47 in the WTA rankings. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com It was a tragic ending for the life of a Nassau County mother of two after the sheriff said she pointed what looked like a rifle at deputies. A deputy fired back and killed her. In a press conference Wednesday, Sheriff Bill Leeper said the rifle was actually a BB gun. Deputies responded to the home on Barbara Lane after 2 a.m. Wednesday for a domestic call. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] Leeper said the woman, identified as Donna Dale, 47, was in the woods and deputies had a difficult time spotting her at first. Last night, she went out and was just so irritated, and I called the police because I wanted somebody to help, James Merritt, Dales father, said. I was already on the porch and went back inside for a second and then I heard the gun shot. Leeper said she had made threats to kill herself and pointed the gun at herself and then pointed it at deputies. A deputy with seven years on the force fired back once. Read: Mental Health Awareness: How can family and friends help someone in need? I had tears enough last year, Merritt said. His son and wife died days apart in November. He said he wishes deputies used a taser. According to a police report, deputies Baker Acted Dale in December after she made threats to harm herself. On Tuesday night, just hours before deputies responded to the scene in Hilliard, Dale was cited for careless driving in Fernandina. Its hard to say whats going through peoples minds when you respond to situations like this. Deputies have to protect themselves and thats what they were doing, Sheriff Leeper said. [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] The deputy will go on administrative leave for a few days until he is cleared by the investigation. The family tells Action News Jax they have set up a GoFundMe page. Click here to learn more. Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live. Photo: The Canadian Press Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre holds a press conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. Poilievre called for a parliamentary probe into the contracts awarded to consulting firm McKinsey by the federal government. Last week, a Radio-Canada report uncovered that the Trudeau government had spent more than $84 million between March 2021 and November 2022 on contracts awarded to the consulting firm. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick Conservative party Leader Pierre Poilievre is calling for a parliamentary inquiry into federal contracts awarded to consulting firm McKinsey & Company. His comments come after Radio-Canada recently reported that the Trudeau government spent more than $84 million between March 2021 and November 2022 on contracts with the global consulting firm. Documents tabled in the House of Commons at the request of the Conservatives show that the Department of National Defence is among the departments that most often used the firm's services, hiring the company on seven contracts worth a total of more than $18 million. Poilievre says the public needs to know what the money was used for and what influence McKinsey has had on the government. He says he will table a motion with the support of other opposition parties to request that the standing committee on government operations and estimates looks into the McKinsey contracts. Poilievre says the motion will force the Liberal government to make public all the documents, text messages and emails related to its relationship with McKinsey. "We will start with a parliamentary committee," Poilievre said. "Depending on what we learn, maybe it will be necessary to have other investigations to give us the truth." Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet says an independent investigation into the matter might be necessary if the Liberal government does not hand over all of the unredacted contracts. The New Democratic Party is also calling for a parliamentary inquiry and told The Canadian Press it is concerned about the government's use of an outside company to do the work of public servants. Canada has a strong public service who can do this work at a fraction of the cost, so theres no reason for (Prime Minister Justin Trudeau) to choose to hand buckets of money to his billionaire CEO friends instead," Matthew Green, the NDP's ethics critic, said in a statement. ''New Democrats support a full parliamentary committee investigation into the millions of dollars McKinsey has received from Liberal and Conservative governments. Canadians have to be able to trust that their money is being spent to benefit real people, and not just to line the pockets of wealthy consultants who buddy up to Liberals and Conservatives. By Mark Trevelyan (Reuters) - The wife of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny appealed to prison staff to provide him with basic medicines on Wednesday as his supporters warned with increasing urgency that his life was in danger. Navalny's allies said the 46-year-old was placed in a cramped punishment cell for 15 days on Dec. 31, the 10th time he had been sent there in the space of five months for misdemeanours such as washing his face at the wrong time or failing to button up his prison uniform. Navalny posted on social media via his lawyers this week that authorities had deliberately infected him by placing a sick man next to him as a "bacteriological weapon". His allies say there is a flu outbreak in the prison colony where he is being held east of Moscow, and he has a bad fever and cough. His wife Yulia appealed to prison authorities via Instagram. "Are you human? You have parents and children waiting for you when you come back from work. What's going on in your head? How do you live, rejoicing that you deliberately infected a man and you don't treat him or pass on any medicines?" she asked. Russia's federal prison service, FSIN, did not immediately reply to a Reuters request for comment. Navalny's supporters said a legal hearing over his prison conditions went ahead on Wednesday, although he had asked for it to be postponed because of his illness. The outcome of the proceedings was not clear. "Navalny looks exhausted. He is really ill, and the prison colony is refusing him the most basic and necessary medicines. They are just slowly killing him in prison," his ally Lyubov Sobol said on Twitter. OPEN LETTER Navalny, the most prominent domestic critic of President Vladimir Putin, survived an attempt to poison him in 2020 with what scientists in several European countries said was a deadly nerve agent. Russia disputed that finding and the Kremlin denied trying to kill him. Story continues He spent months recovering in Germany, and his health has been a concern ever since. He was imprisoned after returning home in 2021 and is now serving sentences totalling 11-1/2 years on charges including fraud and contempt of court. Navalny, his allies and Western governments and rights groups say he was the victim of trumped-up charges designed to silence him. An open letter to Putin, demanding that Navalny be given access to civilian doctors, was signed by 481 medics on Facebook, with others adding their names below. "Alexander Navalny's conditions of detention and his physical appearance cause us to be hugely concerned for his life and health. The refusal of FSIN representatives to give Alexei necessary medicines creates a direct threat to the life of Russian citizen Alexei Anatolyevich Navalny," the letter said. Navalny said last month he was suffering worsening backpain from long spells in the punishment cell, and complained of being injected with unknown drugs. His supporters quoted him as saying on Wednesday that the prison authorities had deliberately placed him in a cell opposite a mentally disturbed inmate in order to prevent him sleeping. "They took a violent mentally ill person and placed him in the cell opposite," he was quoted as saying. "I've been saying for a month now that you have no right to keep a man there who literally howls at night." (Reporting by Mark Trevelyan) (Reuters) - Nearly 16 million Americans have so far signed up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act's marketplace, a 13% jump from a year earlier, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday. Enrollment for 2023 healthcare plans under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, is open between Nov. 1 and Jan. 15. (Reporting by Manas Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli) CLARK - Kai the Hitchhiker, the Canada man who gained internet fame for using a hatchet to fend off an attack of a California utility worker in 2013 and was later convicted of the murder of a Clark attorney, is the subject of a new true crime documentary. This week Netflix released "The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker," a nearly 90-minute documentary about Caleb "Kai" McGillvary, 34, who is serving a 57-year prison sentence in New Jersey State Prison in Trenton for the 2013 beating death of a prominent attorney in his Clark home. The trailer for the film focuses on how McGillvary went from being a hatchet wielding hero in February 2013, whose fame from a YouTube video gained more than 1 million views and led to an appearance as a guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live, to just months later becoming wanted for murder. Kai the Hitchhiker, the Canada man who gained internet fame for using a hatchet to fend off an attack of a California utility worker in 2013 and was later convicted of the murder of a Clark attorney, is the subject of a new true crime documentary. Several people on the Official Kai the Hitchhiker Support Group Facebook page expressed support for McGillvary since the documentary's release, while others raised questions about the attorney. McGillvary's last comment on the page was a 20-second video of a telephone call in which he sends happy New Year wishes while reminding people not to drink and drive. The page also features a recent post of a song by McGillvary. McGillvary, who was sentenced in 2019, is eligible for parole on Oct. 27, 2061, according to the New Jersey Department of Corrections website. More:'Kai the hitchhiker' found guilty of NJ attorney's murder In August 2021 a state appellate court denied McGillvary's appeal of his murder conviction. At that time McGillvary indicated he planned to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2019 following a four-week trial McGillvary was found guilty of the murder of Joseph Galfy, 73, of Clark, a U.S. Army military veteran and land use attorney who had been a partner with the Rahway-based law firm of Kochanski, Baron and Galfy. Galfy was found dead, and partially clothed beside the bed, inside his Starlight Drive home in Clark on May 13, 2013. Surveillance footage, digital cell phone data and other evidence led to McGillvary being identified as a suspect in the case. He was arrested in Philadelphia three days after the killing when a coffee shop barista recognized him and contacted law enforcement officials. Story continues More:'Kai the Hitchhiker' loses bid to overturn NJ murder conviction McGillvary claimed self defense when he testified in the trial. A medical examiner, however, said Galfy who had a stent in his chest due to a heart condition, suffered several serious blunt-force injuries to his face, head, neck, chest and arms including facial fractures, four broken ribs, severe contusions, abrasions and bleeding, injuries that contradicted McGillvary. McGillvary and Galfy met on May 12, 2013 in New York City after the two men had beer and McGillvary was invited to spend the night in Galfy's guest room. He woke up hungover the next morning and that night called Galfy to stay in the guest room again. When McGillvary woke up the next day, he found Galfy's partially naked body on top of him, McGillvary claimed that Galfy was sexually assaulting him. McGillvary fought Galfy to get away from him, according to McGillvary's Support Group Facebook page. Email: srussell@gannettnj.com Suzanne Russell is a breaking news reporter for MyCentralJersey.com covering crime, courts and other mayhem. To get unlimited access, please subscribe or activate your digital account today. This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Netflix releases "Kai the Hitchhiker" true crime documentary about Central NJ murder This is an excerpt from Incoming, BuzzFeed News morning newsletter dedicated to making sense of this chaotic world we live in. Join the club here. Illinois just became the ninth state to ban assault weapons Illinois joined eight other US states California, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Hawaii, Delaware, and Massachusetts, plus the District of Columbia in banning the sale, manufacture, and transfer of assault weapons. The Protect Illinois Communities Act, signed into law by Gov. J.B. Pritzker Tuesday night, outlaws the sale, delivery, manufacture, and purchase of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in the state. The ban also aims to expedite the start of universal background checks and broadens the state's "red flag" law. The law in Illinois had previously allowed a court to take weapons away from someone deemed a danger to others or themselves for six months, but the new law changes that to one year. Gun control advocates have turned out to support the law, as have dozens of doctors. However, some advocates have criticized the law's heavy criminal penalties, which they say will disproportionately impact urban areas and Black and brown people. Illinois ban comes six months after a 21-year-old man opened fire on a crowd during a 4th of July parade in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park, killing seven people and injuring more than 40 others. Across the US, roughly 44,000 people were killed by gun violence in 2022, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive. Soledar and Oklahoma A Russian mercenary group claimed to have captured the strategically critical city Soledar in eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian troops dispute this, and say the battle continues. Soledar "would have symbolic, military and commercial value for Russia," the Guardian's Peter Beaumont reports, especially after months of Ukrainian military victories. Ukrainian soldiers will train for months in Oklahoma to operate the Patriot missile system, BBC reports. Built by Raytheon and considered the most advanced missile defense system in the world, the Patriot blasts incoming missiles and has a radar of over 90 miles, according to Reuters. Story continues SNAPSHOTS Ke Huy Quan at the 80th Annual Golden Globe Awards on Jan. 10 in Beverly Hills, California Gilbert Flores / Variety via Getty Images The winners of the 2023 Golden Globes. NBC refused to air the awards in 2022 after the organization that runs them was accused of racism, sexism, and corruption but the show is back baby! Capitol rioter and far-right internet troll "Baked Alaska" has been sentenced to 60 days in prison. Tim Gionet stormed the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 and livestreamed inside the building. The Fisher Price Rock 'N Play Sleeper has been recalled again. About 100 infants have died while using it, eight of whom were killed after the initial 2019 recall. Andrew Tate and Tristan Tate lost their appeal against detention 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. 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. The Tate brothers and two women were arrested on Dec. 29 and have been in pretrial detention for the last 12 days. On Tuesday, the brothers appeared in court in Bucharest to appeal against their pretrial detention. The pair arrived handcuffed to each other, and Andrew, 36, was carrying the Quran in his right hand a move that provoked both praise and skepticism online. IMAGE OF THE DAY A car and a pickup truck are seen inside a sinkhole on Jan. 10, 2023, in Los Angeles. Passengers were able to escape with firefighter assistance. David McNew / Getty Images Prince Harry is becoming harder to root for Max Mumby / Indigo / Getty Images Whats clearer than ever according to Prince Harrys interviews and his new memoir, Spare, is that he holds much more contempt and blame for the presss part in his family dissolution than he does his family members themselves, Shannon Keating writes. In an ITV interview that aired Sunday, Harry suggests he doesnt actually think his family is racist at all, instead chalking up their anti-Blackness to "unconscious bias." He explicitly notes in his memoir that his problem has never been with the concept of monarchy. Even those who have been 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. 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 and not because racism is bad, necessarily, but because its hurting him personally. Still reading, eh? Seems like you might want to get this in your inbox. No pressure though. Just some food for thought. Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) waits for the start of a session in the House chamber. (Alex Brandon / Associated Press) It was highly amusing to watch then-Congressman-elect George Santos ducking and weaving to avoid the media scrum on his first day on Capitol Hill. Darting in and out of corridors, chased down the halls by reporters, he often seemed lost but he kept moving, refusing to answer questions about his resume embellishment and the lies hes told about his background. Hey George, whats your name today? one reporter shouted. You plan to resign? called another. Why did you lie on your resume? Santos wouldnt make eye contact but walked on, stone faced, often talking into his phone, although I doubt anyone was on the other end. Santos is under extraordinary pressure. Especially when you add the mounting complaints and official investigations to the ceaseless media attention. But, for the moment at least, he shows no sign of caving under the stress or of resigning. Its not that different from the situation facing Los Angeles City Councilman Kevin de Leon, who has barely been able to set foot in the council chamber for the last three months because hes dogged everywhere he goes by jeering protesters angry over his offensive comments on a leaked audio recording. De Leon is ignoring his opponents where possible (except when he physically fights with them) and, like Santos, is refusing to step down. No, I will not resign because there is a lot of work ahead, he told one interviewer. Then theres Benjamin Netanyahu, who was just sworn in for the sixth time as prime minister of Israel despite a host of ongoing bribery, fraud and breach of trust charges. His criminal trial has been underway since May 2020, but asked if hell quit, he says hes not going anywhere. I feel a deep obligation to continue to lead Israel in a way that will ensure our future, he has explained. See the pattern? Its the latest trend among politicians accused of wrongdoing: Brazen it out. Stand firm in the face of accusations that in any previous era would likely have ended your career. Pretend to be on the phone, ignore the curses and catcalls, deny the charges. Stonewall. And see what happens. Story continues Because why not give it a shot? I think of this as the Al Franken effect. Franken (D-Minn.) resigned from the U.S. Senate when he was accused of sexual misconduct in 2017 rather than stick around and fight only to conclude later that he had quit too quickly. His peers and colleagues from both parties watched closely and saw that he might have saved his job if hed just hung on. Meanwhile, they were also watching President Trump as he modeled the alternative approach, taking brazening-it-out to a whole new level. When candidate Trump was caught on tape crowing about grabbing women by the genitals, he offered a perfunctory apology and dismissed the brouhaha as locker room banter. The Teflon president then withstood two impeachments (as compared with President Nixon, who in 1974 resigned rather than face the possibility of even one), insisting that he was the victim of a witch hunt. When Trump ran for reelection, he got 74 million votes. Wait it out for as long as you can. Its the height of arrogance and cynicism, of course, to assume that you can just stonewall the voters, and that their anger will fade thanks to their short attention spans. But as often as not, it appears to be a decent strategy. President Biden himself called on De Leon, a piddling City Council member, to step down, but he paid no attention. To be clear, I dont believe politicians should necessarily resign the moment theyre accused of wrongdoing. Politicians accused of criminal behavior should have the chance to stand trial and present a defense before theyre hung out to dry. Unproven assertions should not destroy careers. But many of these cases aren't about unproven assertions. Santos, for instance, is facing facts, as far as I can tell. Schools he says he attended, jobs he said he held, property he owned, whether he's Jewish documents and straightforward fact-checking fail to back up his claims. He shouldnt get to just wait this scandal out and then proceed as if everything was normal. In the end, whether stonewalling works usually comes down not to the gravity of the transgression or even to the quality of the evidence, but to simple politics. Santos could successfully hang on until the voters forget about him or he could be forced out tomorrow. I did nothing wrong, period. I am not resigning, said New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2021, when he was facing allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct. Three months later, though, he did just that, because he had few political allies left, new allegations kept emerging and the states attorney general from Cuomos own party had issued a damning 165-page report on his misbehavior. Franken quit after losing the support of Senate Democratic leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and other key allies in the early days of the #MeToo movement. In case of De Leon, the politics are still playing out. He seems defiant, even with a recall campaign underway. Well see if he can avoid resignation. But the broader point is this: Were living in a time when not only do voters have short attention spans, but when the bar for what constitutes unforgivable misbehavior has been raised beyond previous imagining. Thanks in part to Trump but also to many others, voters are used to their leaders' bad behavior, and even expect it. Its no surprise that officials who get caught think they might as well wait and see if the voters will forget or forgive. But when it comes to serious transgressions and Santos repeated lying to voters surely qualifies they should not. @Nick_Goldberg This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Passengers believed they were being held hostage after an Amtrak train was detoured for 29 hours in South Carolina. The Auto Train was on the way to Orlando, leaving northern Virginia at 5pm on Monday. It was initially scheduled to arrive in Florida at 10am on Tuesday, according to ABC News. But after a CSX freight train was involved in a vehicle collision, the passenger train was detoured on its way through South Carolina. Passengers then had to stay put while they waited for certified backup staff authorised to run the Auto Train in accordance with regulations governing how long a train crew can work. A travel nightmare is unfolding right now on Amtrak, Sam Sweeney of ABC News tweeted shortly after 9pm on Tuesday. Passengers on the Auto Train have been stuck on board for 29+ hours, currently sitting in the woods in rural South Carolina. Passengers called the local police saying theyre being held hostage. WPDE reported that the train was on the move again shortly before 10pm on Tuesday. In footage posted by Mr Sweeney, a conductor can be heard speaking over the intercom. BREAKING: A travel nightmare is unfolding right now on Amtrak. Passengers on the Auto Train have been stuck on board for 29+ hours, currently sitting in the woods in rural South Carolina. Passengers called the local police saying theyre being held hostage. LISTEN: pic.twitter.com/Jog4PHYT7G Sam Sweeney (@SweeneyABC) January 11, 2023 For those of you that are calling the police, we are not holding you hostage, the conductor said. We are giving you all the information which we have. We are sorry about the inconvenience. As soon as more information is available, we will let you know shortly. Amtrak said in a statement on Tuesday night that the southbound Amtrak Auto Train has been impacted by significant delays due to a CSX freight derailment in South Carolina. The train was detoured off its normal route in order to continue operating south and is currently stopped in Denmark, S.C., while it waits for a new crew to arrive. Customers have been provided meals, snack packs, and beverages. Story continues A new crew is traveling to Denmark to board the train and work onboard when service resumes. A new crew is necessary because the hours of service for previous crew expired, they added. Some took to Twitter to share scathing messages for Amtrak. Hey @Amtrak my parents have been stuck on the auto train that left Lorton yesterday around 5pm. Need some answers - food is limited, bathroom facilities are gross, and children/elderly are aboard. They were supposed to arrive almost 12 hours ago, Caitlyn Crowley tweeted late on Tuesday. Any help heading towards the fully booked Amtrak auto train full of elderly passengers that is now almost 10 hours past arrival time? No food, no access to medical care, crew has disembarked, no replacement. Stuck in SC, another Twitter user asked. Amtrak told ABC News on Tuesday that the staff was working with pet owners to provide bathroom breaks. Some Twitter users appealed to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. @petebuttigieg @SecretaryPete please help. We are stuck on the @Amtrak auto train. Scheduled arrival was 10am. We havent moved since 3pm because the crew timed out. Send Pizza and Diapers, one person wrote. @Amtrak @AmtrakAlerts You need to get people stuck in train in South Carolina for over 15hrs, some type of EMS in there!!!!! Conditions are deplorable on the train! Silver Meteor 97 southbound to Florida, another individual added. Just after 6am on Wednesday, Mr Sweeney added that after 37 hours and a pizza delivery to the train in Savannah, Georgia The Auto Train has arrived at its destination in Sanford, Florida. The Independent has reached out to Amtrak for comment. NBC News President Noah Oppenheim is leaving his role at the network in a major shake-up at the news division. NBCUniversal announced Wednesday that Rebecca Blumenstein, who has been deputy managing editor for the New York Times since 2017, is joining the company in the new position of president of editorial for NBC News. The company also elevated two of Oppenheim's deputies. Janelle Rodriguez becomes executive vice president of NBC News Now, overseeing the fast-growing news streaming service. Libby Leist, the executive in charge of the "Today" morning franchise, is now executive vice president of "Today" and lifestyle for the division. The three executives will report directly to NBCUniversal News Group Chairman Cesar Conde. Oppenheim, who has been in the president's job since February 2017, does not leave empty-handed. He has a deal to develop scripted long-form productions in partnership with NBCUniversal and will be based on the West Coast. Oppenheim is a screenwriter whose credits include "Jackie," which was awarded best screenplay at the 73rd Venice Film Festival. While at NBC News, he created a studio division that specializes in scripted content based on stories reported by the division. Oppenheim let NBCUniveral management know last fall that he wanted to go back to pursuing his screenwriting career full-time, according to several people familiar with the discussions. Oppenheim already has a limited series set up at Netflix, "Zero Day," a political thriller that has Robert De Niro attached as its star. Oppenheim is finishing his second stint at NBC News. He rejoined in 2015 as executive producer of "Today," and two years later was tapped to replace Deborah Turness as president. Oppenheim guided NBC News through a major scandal during his term, as popular "Today" co-anchor Matt Lauer was fired over allegations of sexual assault and harassment, including an accusation from a former staffer who said he raped her while on assignment covering the Olympics in 2014 (Lauer denied the allegation). Story continues Oppenheim also took the brunt of journalist Ronan Farrow's accusations that NBC News refused to air his reporting on disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein. Farrow accused the networks news division of a coordinated effort to shut down his reporting in order to protect Lauer. Oppenheim described it as a "conspiracy theory." Oppenheim was rumored to be on the hot seat over the controversies. But his strong relationship with on-air talent at the network and continued ratings success for the division's programs helped keep him in place. He also oversaw the launch of NBC News Now, the free 24-hour streaming news service, and the launch of All Day Today, a streaming site that uses content from the morning program. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. WASHINGTON New York Republicans called on embattled freshman Rep. George Santos to resign following allegations he lied about his personal and professional credentials to win his congressional seat. Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Majority Leader Steve Scalise told reporters they had not seen the call from Nassau County Republicans for Santos to step down. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer did not respond to questions from reporters in the hallways of the Capitol. "Let me read it, and I'll respond," McCarthy said. Meanwhile, a defiant Santos told reporters he "will not" resign. At about 1 p.m., he issued a similar statement on Twitter: "I was elected to serve the people of #NY03 not the party & politicians, I remain committed to doing that and regret to hear that local officials refuse to work with my office to deliver results to keep our community safe and lower the cost of living. I will NOT resign!" Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., waits for the start of a session in the House chamber as the House meets for the fourth day to elect a speaker and convene the 118th Congress in Washington, Friday, Jan. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) ORG XMIT: DCAB169 Santos, who was sworn in early Saturday morning, is facing backlash and criminal scrutiny related to campaign finances and alleged lies about his personal and professional resume. Nassau County Republicans on Wednesday called for Santos' resignation during a news conference on Long Island led by county committee Chairman Joseph Cairo. The local leaders were joined remotely by House GOP Rep. and fellow congressman Anthony D'Esposito, who also called for Santos to step down. Politics:What can Congress do about Rep.-elect George Santos, who lied ahead of winning his election? Cairo said the Santos campaign was full of fabrications. "He deceived voters," he said. "His lies were not mere fibs. He disgraced the House of Representatives." Cairo added that Santos is no longer welcome at Republican headquarters in Nassau County. The latest call follows action Tuesday from New York Democratic Reps. Dan Goldman and Ritchie Torres, who filed a complaint with the House Ethics Committee and requested an investigation. During a news conference yesterday morning, Scalise said the matter was being handled through internal discussions. Story continues The New York Conservative Party is also joining the calls for Santos to resign. "Mr. Santos's profound use of mistruths as a candidate morally disqualifies him from serving in public office and exposes him to potential legal action, seriously compromising his ability to represent his constituents," party Chairman Gerard Kassar said in a statement. The options: What can Congress do about Rep.-elect George Santos, who lied ahead of winning his election? The first week: McCarthy's secret deal, George Santos, Biden and Trump docs, abortion prompt fiery debate in new Congress Candy Woodall is a Congress reporter for USA TODAY. She can be reached at cwoodall@usatoday.com or on Twitter at @candynotcandace. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: McCarthy, Scalise silent as NY Republicans push Santos to step down SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) Dane Goodwin scored 19 points and grabbed 12 rebounds and Nate Laszewski made a pair of free throws with 23 seconds left in overtime to get Notre Dame past Georgia Tech 73-72 on Tuesday night. Kyle Sturdivant scored five points in the extra period for Georgia Tech, but he missed a 3 and Javon Franklin a jumper inside in the final five seconds. Goodwin and Trey Wertz each made 3-pointers for the Fighting Irish in the extra period. It was Goodwin's fourth career double-double and first of the season. He shot 6 of 11 from the floor and made 6 of 7 free throws. J.J. Starling added 16 points for Notre Dame (9-8, 1-5 ACC). Laszewski finished with 14 points and Cormac Ryan had 11. Sturdivant scored 18 points to lead Georgia Tech (8-8, 1-5), which is 0-9 as an ACC member in South Bend. Deivon Smith had 16 points and 10 rebounds. Franklin had 12 points. Starling made a layup and a pair of free throws, and Wertz added a 3-pointer to cap a 7-0 surge that tied the game at 65-all with 53 seconds left in regulation. The Fighting Irish then forced a shot clock violation, but Starling missed a layup to force overtime. ___ AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25 Chinese flights quiet following resumption Airlines in Vietnam have reported a low number of passengers since resuming flights to China from January 8. Airlines in Vietnam have reported a low number of passengers since resuming flights to China from January 8. Illustrative photo The national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines said that they had resumed flights between HCM City to Hangzhou and Shanghai, and between Hanoi and Shanghai from December 9 last year but had seen a modest number of passengers. The airline hoped that they would receive more bookings after China removed restrictions on routine flights from January 8. At present, Vietnam Airlines is operating air routes from Hanoi to Nanjing/Shanghai; HCM City to Shenzhen/Hangzhou/Shanghai/Sichuan/Guangzhou, with six flights a week. It plans to increase the frequency from three to five flights a week to Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou from March. A representative from the low cost carrier Vietjet said that they were still following their former plan with six flights per week to China. "Vietjet Air is providing flights from Hanoi to Shenzhen/Hangzhou/Shanghai/Sichuan/Wuhan, with six flights a week," the representative said. "It takes a lot of time to prepare procedures required by Chinese authorities." Vietjet plans to provide flights from Cam Ranh to other Chinese cities from January 23. Pacific Airlines flies from Hanoi to Hangzhou/Nanning (two flights a week), and plans to fly to Guangzhou and Fuzhou from 2023 summer. Bamboo Airways flies between Hanoi and Tianjin (one flight a week) and it doesnt have any plans for the next period while Vietravel Airlines doesnt have any flights to China. Speaking to local media, vice head of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV), Dinh Viet Son explained that China had not yet loosened tourist visa policies. At present, most of the passengers flying between the two countries are students and people visiting their families," Son said. Airlines have asked CAAV to work with Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) to discuss loosening regulations on using slots for the 2023 summer flight schedule, applied to the airlines of both countries. Vietnamese and Chinese passengers are mostly tourists and the visa policies applied by the two countries will be very important. To create favourable conditions for the recovery of the aviation and tourism markets Vietnams airlines have asked the Ministry of Transport to discuss with ministries and branches the visa policies for Chinese travellers. Photo: . The appellants wanted more disclosure about disgraced VPD Det. Const. Jim Fisher. Photograph By PROVINCE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA B.C.s top court has rejected appeals by two men convicted of human trafficking in cases where they ran an escort service where at least one female was under 18. The case is connected with that of former Vancouver Police Department Det. Const. Jim Fisher, who was jailed for sex crimes against sex workers. He worked on the trafficking case. The Jan. 10 Court of Appeal decision said Kasra Mohsenipour and Tamim Albashir operated an escort service in Vancouver and Edmonton. They were found guilty of multiple offences involving three complainants who worked for them. Charges included procuring someone to become a prostitute; living off the avails of prostitution; exercising control, direction or influence over movements to aid, abet or compel prostitution; and exploitation, among other related charges. The offences were committed between May 2013 and August 2016. Mohsenipour received a total of nine years in prison while Albashir was sentenced to 10 years. The complainants were three women, one of whom was 15 and addicted to heroin. At one point, she wanted to visit her mother. Albashir confronted her with what looked like a gun. Other violence or threats of such occurred. She was told that she had to work and that she belonged to Mr. Albashir, said the ruling, written by Justice Joyce DeWitt-Van Oosten for the unanimous three-judge panel. Another woman was using methamphetamine while a third had a gun put to her head at one point by Mohsenipour. The B.C. Supreme Court trial judge said the pair and one other man, recruited girls and young women to work for them as prostitutes, exercised control and direction over them and exploited them with the intent of using the money earned by these girls and young women to finance their own lifestyles which included designer clothing, regular gym workouts, rental of luxury downtown condos, expensive cars and delivered meals. The men would drive the women to meet clients in both Edmonton and Vancouver and collect cash from them. The appeal The men raised various points of appeal including claims the trial judge erred in assessing the womens credibility, interpretation of human trafficking and interpretation of receiving a material benefit from human trafficking, among others. The trial judge said the womens decision to testify was a difficult one but Mohsenipour and Albashir said he gave too much weight to their demeanour, allowing it to overwhelm the credibility assessment. In my view, there is no merit to this ground of appeal, DeWitt-Van Oosten said. She said the trial judge was entitled to consider the complainants social context or lived realities, including: probable substance use disorders, economic desperation, exposure to violence as youth, and personal trauma arising from their involvement in sex work, an activity that is judicially-recognized to be inherently risk-laden. On the suggestion the trial judge erred in interpretation of human trafficking sections of the Criminal Code as related to exploitation, DeWitt-Van Oosten noted the men transported the women, purchased supplies and rented condos. Actual or threatened force is a factor that supports a finding of exploitation, she said. And, she said, the human trafficking convictions were sound. She said each of them facilitated exploitative acts by the other. However, DeWitt-Van Oosten also said several counts should be conditionally stayed. Det. Const. Fisher The former Vancouver cop convicted of breach of trust and sexual exploitation had his appeal denied in 2019. In August 2018, Fisher was sentenced to 20 months in prison and two years probation after pleading guilty to two counts of breach of trust and one count of sexual exploitation. Fisher was arrested and charged in 2016 after he kissed two witnesses, a 17-year-old girl and a 21-year-old woman, who were witnesses in prostitution ring cases he worked on. Mohsenipour and Albashir alleged they did not receive full disclosure regarding investigative materials surrounding the Fisher investigation. At the trial and now on appeal, they have actually received more than what they were properly entitled to, DeWitt-Van Oosten said. I am also satisfied the appellants have not established a reasonable possibility that the non-disclosure affected the overall fairness of their trial, she said. Republican officials on Long Island held a press conference Wednesday to call formally upon the embattled Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., to resign amid the firestorm over his admitted fabrications about key elements of his life story. His campaign last year was a campaign of deceit, lies and fabrication, Nassau County Republican Committee Chairman Joseph Cairo told reporters. His lies were not mere fibs. He's disgraced the House of Representatives and we do not consider him one of our congresspeople, Cairo continued. Today, on behalf of the Nassau County Republican Committee, I am calling for his immediate resignation. Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., during a leadership vote in the House chamber on Jan. 3. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters/File) The New York Times published a report last month suggesting that Santos lied to voters about his college graduation, his criminal and employment history, his family-owned business, his animal rescue charity and his relationship with four victims of the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Fla. The Forward, a New York City-based Jewish publication, subsequently published a report suggesting that he had misled voters about having Jewish ancestry. The lies George Santos told are too numerous to count, Supervisor Jen DeSena of North Hempstead, N.Y., said. He lied to me personally when he sought my endorsement, and while I'm offended and disgusted at his deceit, my true concern is for the residents of the Third Congressional District. He has betrayed the public's trust and given insincere, glib and insulting answers when asked legitimate questions about his finances and his background, DeSena continued. By all accounts, he seems incapable and unwilling to take full responsibility for his lies and fabrications. There's absolutely no way Mr. Santos can be an effective member of Congress and represent the people who elected him. The longer he remains in office, the longer the residents of the Third Congressional District will suffer, she added, before addressing the congressman directly. Mr. Santos, haven't you done enough harm? Story continues Nassau County Republican Party chairman Joseph Cairo and local GOP officials hold a news conference in Westbury, N.Y., on Wednesday. (Andrew Kelly/Reuters) Before the event started, the Doobie Brothers 1979 hit "What a Fool Believes" was played over the loudspeakers. Since arriving on Capitol Hill last week, Santos has repeatedly dodged questions from congressional reporters about the controversy. "I was elected to serve the people of #NY03 not the party & politicians," Santos tweeted on Wednesday afternoon. "I remain committed to doing that and regret to hear that local officials refuse to work with my office to deliver results to keep our community safe and lower the cost of living. I will NOT resign!" On Tuesday, Reps. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., and Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., filed a complaint with the House Ethics Committee against Santos, saying the disgraced freshman lawmaker had committed a crime and should be removed from Congress. Goldman and Torres also delivered a copy of the complaint to Santoss congressional office. Santos on Capitol Hill on Tuesday. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) We see the House Republican Conference refilling the swamp with the fraudulence of George Santos, eviscerating the Office of Congressional Ethics at a time when George Santos has entered Congress with an ethical cloud hanging over him, Torres said on Tuesday. But at a press conference with GOP leadership Tuesday, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., described Santos's future as "something that's being handled internally." And House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told NBC News on Wednesday about Santos that "the voters elected him to serve" and that the congressman would be given committee assignments despite the ongoing scandal. Meanwhile, Santos is facing multiple criminal investigations in the U.S. and in Brazil, where he was charged with and reportedly confessed to stealing the checkbook of a man his mother was caring for to make fraudulent purchases. Nurses picketed outside two major New York City hospitals for the third straight day Wednesday as their union and management from both hospitals resumed talks to reach a deal that would end the strike. Since Monday, when the strike began, Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx and Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan have gone without a combined total of more than 7,000 union nurses, who voted two weeks ago to walk off the job to secure better wages, working conditions and staffing levels. The stalemate between the New York State Nurses Association and management at the hospitals appeared to be most acutely felt at Mount Sinai, which cut off negotiations earlier this week. But informal talks between Mount Sinai and the nurses union resumed late Tuesday night and were expected to continue as of Wednesday morning, sources with knowledge of the matter told the Daily News. Formal negotiations between the union and Montefiore went until 1 a.m. on Wednesday and resumed later in the day, at 11 a.m., sources said. According to the union, the sticking point at Mount Sinai continues to be nurse-to-patient ratios. Staffing at Montefiore also continues to be an issue, as is enforcement of staffing levels there. The bad blood between the union and hospital management extends beyond that, though stemming back to staffing shortages during the darkest days of COVID-19. We were here taking care of the patients, union President Nancy Hagans said Wednesday outside Montefiore. We were the last to hold their hands. We were the last to FaceTime with their families so they could say goodbye. And today, they tell us our ratios are too rigid. Our patients deserve better. The patients in the Bronx deserve better. The rampup to the ongoing strikes at Montefiore and Mount Sinai began two weeks ago, when nurses delivered 10-day strike notices to eight hospitals in the five boroughs. Most of them including New York-Presbyterian, Maimonides Medical Center, Richmond University Medical Center, BronxCare, Flushing Hospital and Mount Sinais Morningside and West facilities have reached deals with the union. Story continues Nurses at two other Brooklyn hospitals Wyckoff Heights Medical Center and Brooklyn Hospital Center also voted to authorize walkouts. Nurses at Wyckoff delivered a 12-day strike notice to management, which means they could walk out as early as next Tuesday. Management at the Brooklyn Hospital Center and the New York State Nurses Association have reached a tentative deal, staving off a strike threat there. Mount Sinai contends that part of the staffing issue it faces stems from a shortage of nurses, whose worker rolls were depleted due to COVID. The Greater New York Hospital Association, which represents hospitals throughout the region, has also cited that as a factor. The entire world is experiencing a major nursing shortage, said hospital association spokesman Brian Conway. It is irresponsible to talk about hospital staffing issues without acknowledging the immense challenges hospitals face especially a shortage of nurses as they try to recruit and retain their nursing workforce. Montefiore decried the walkout there as unnecessary and stated it has offered to increase staffing in its emergency department by adding 115 registered nurses, as well as 34 nurses in other departments. The hospital also said its committed to eliminating all hallway patient placements except in those circumstances where the institution is mandated to do so under state rules. Nurses who work at Montefiore said Wednesday thats not enough. All patients deserve VIP care, not just the administrators when they come with their family members, Michelle Gonzalez, an intensive care unit nurse at Montefiore, said at a rally outside the hospital Wednesday. Theres something very wrong with what is happening here. If VIP patients need VIP care, all patients need VIP care. Throughout this process, we have been called unprofessional. We have been called disgusting when we are only fighting to end the practices that we find disgusting here like patients getting cleaned in the middle of the hallways. Thats disgusting, she continued. Were not disgusting for addressing the fact that it exists. What is disgusting is that patients have no dignity when they are in the hallway. While many patients support the strike, they also say the stalled contract talks are exacting a toll. Leah Stern, 19, who travels daily from New Rochelle in Westchester County to Montefiores Moses campus in the Bronx for outpatient treatment, said far fewer nurses are there now to help her. The past few days have been a little crazy, she said. Usually theres 14 nurses in my unit and now theres three. Despite that, striking nurses like Gonzalez have received an outpouring of support from elected officials and labor leaders. Both Mayor Adams and City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams (D-Queens) have been vocal in their backing of the striking nurses, and several Council members and state lawmakers were on hand at Wednesdays rally outside Montefiore. Mario Cilento, president of the New York State AFL-CIO, offered a simple message beside the striking workers outside Montefiore. You are not alone in this fight, he said. I swear to you we will be with you as long as it takes for you to get this done. Officials from the World Health Organization (WHO) are recommending that COVID-19 mitigation methods such as masking on planes be reemphasized for regions such as North America and Europe in response to the spread of the XBB.1.5 omicron subvariant, which is believed to be significantly more transmissible than previous mutations. Catherine Smallwood, senior emergency officer for the WHO, was asked during a briefing on Tuesday whether travelers from the U.S. should be subject to travel checks due to the spread of XBB.1.5. More than 70 percent of cases in the Northeastern U.S. are currently attributed to the subvariant. In terms of travel measures, yes, our opinion is that travel measures should be implemented in a nondiscriminatory manner, Smallwood said. Thats not to say that we recommend testing of passengers coming from the U.S. at this stage. Passengers should opt to wear a mask in high-risk settings such as long-haul flights. And this should be a recommendation issued to passengers arriving from anywhere where theres widespread COVID-19 transmission, she added, noting that this qualifier applies to basically the entire world at the moment. So we shouldnt be targeting any particular passengers by themselves, Smallwood said. Additionally, Smallwood said pandemic mitigation measures targeting travelers should not divert resources away from domestic measures such as virus surveillance. Hans Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, noted during the briefing that XBB.1.5 cases have been detected in Europe in small but growing numbers. He praised countries such as Denmark, France and Germany for maintaining strong genomic surveillance of COVID-19 and urged other countries to not become complacent. XBB.1.5 is believed to be causing 28 percent of cases in the U.S. at the moment. According to a recent report from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), at the end of 2022 the same subvariant only caused about 2.5 percent of cases in European countries where variant proportions could be accurately estimated. The ECDC has characterized the current situation in Europe when it comes to XBB.1.5. as having a high degree of uncertainty due to the unanswered questions regarding the subvariants growth rate. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Good afternoon, OnPolitics readers. It's been four days since GOP Rep. George Santos was sworn in, but now he's facing calls to resign from fellow New York Republicans, USA TODAY Congress reporter Candy Woodall reports. This follows allegations Santos lied about his personal and professional credentials to win his congressional seat. Santos himself has admitted he "embellished" his resume. What happened: Nassau County Republicans on Wednesday called for Santos' resignation during a news conference on Long Island led by county committee Chairman Joseph Cairo. Cairo added that Santos is no longer welcome at Republican headquarters in Nassau County. The local leaders were joined remotely by House GOP Rep. and fellow congressman Anthony D'Esposito, who also called for Santos to step down. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told reporters Wednesday he planned to put Santos on committees and that it was up to the voters of his district to decide the congressman's fate. Keep reading: 'Not mere fibs.' NY Republicans call for George Santos to resign, McCarthy won't remove him Real quick: Stories you'll want to read White House won't answer on Biden documents: Today the White House refused to answer key questions about classified documents found at President Joe Biden's former private office, citing an ongoing Justice Department review of the matter. Biden said yesterday he was 'surprised' to learn that classified docs were among his private papers. New support for long-range rockets to Ukraine: 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. More on what Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., said in an interview with USA TODAY. 'Work to be done': The Supreme Court is more diverse than ever. The lawyers who argue before it? Not so much. Biden orders FAA investigation after flights were delayed and canceled due to an FAA computer glitch. Here's the latest from our travel team. Two new House panels: House Republicans voted to establish two new investigative panels one targeting the Biden administration and the Justice Department and the other on China. What to know about the new GOP committees. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What's next for George Santos? Parler parent company Parlement Technologies has cut the majority of its staff in recent weeks, according to a new report . The Verge reports that the company has slashed close to 75 percent of staff, including several executives, in recent weeks with approximately 20 workers remaining between both entities at the end of 2022. Parler didnt immediately respond to a request for comment about the layoffs or how many staffers remain. The layoffs seem to roughly coincide with other difficulties for the free speech social media app. Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, had struck a deal to buy the service for an undisclosed amount in October . In December, Parlement Technologies announced the deal was off , with a Parler rep claiming the decision had been made in mid-November due to Yes ongoing business difficulties. Layoffs began shortly after, at the end of November, The Verge now reports. Parler was originally launched in 2018, but rose to prominence in 2020 as several high profile Republicans announced they were leaving Twitter in favor of Parler. The app billed itself as a free speech social network that eschewed the censorship of mainstream social media platforms like Twitter. It gained popularity as a free-wheeling alternative that had few rules or moderation policies. Photo: The Canadian Press Canadian Golden Globe nominee Sarah Polley is in the running for best screenplay with her female-led drama, Women Talking. Polley arrives on the red carpet at the Toronto International Film Festival, in Toronto, on September 13, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young Several big Canadian names walked away empty-handed at the Golden Globes Tuesday night as the film and TV awards made a return after a year off the air. Famed Ontario-born filmmaker James Cameron lost in the best director category for Avatar: The Way of Water, which went to Steven Spielberg for helming The Fabelmans. Spielberg's semi-autobiographical film also snagged best drama motion picture. Toronto's Sarah Polley was also up for best screenplay for her female-led drama Women Talking, but fell short to Martin McDonagh and The Banshees of Inisherin. Other Canadian contenders who lost out in the three-hour telecast included the Toronto-set coming-of-age adventure Turning Red by Domee Shi in the best-animated film category, which went to Guillermo del Toros Pinocchio. In what many considered an upset, Brendan Fraser did not win for his leading role in Darren Aronofsky's film The Whale, a prize that was picked up by Austin Butler from Elvis. Other Canadian nominees that lost out in the TV categories include Seth Rogen and Martin Short. Hollywoods biggest and brightest showed their support by attending the beleaguered film and TV awards show, hosted by comedian Jerrod Carmichael, as it attempted a comeback. Celebrities in attendance included Angela Bassett, who took home the trophy for best supporting actress in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Colin Farrell, winner of best actor in motion picture comedy for The Banshees of Inisherin, and Michelle Yeoh who won best actress for the film Everything Everywhere All at Once. After a year off the air, Golden Globes organizers the Hollywood Foreign Press Association said the group has expanded and diversified its membership and voting process and has a new strict code of conduct in place. The HFPA has historically been derided for off-the-wall picks and a lack of diversity among the contenders, but a 2021 expose by the Los Angeles Times found there were no Black members within the HFPA. It also alleged ethical improprieties. The Pensacola dentist convicted of battery for inappropriately touching an employee was arrested Wednesday morning for violating his pre-trial release agreement. Charles Stamitoles, 65, was brought back to the Escambia County Jail after he traveled to Mobile, Alabama, which violates his bond agreement while he awaits three more battery cases. "The defendant has failed to comply with the Pre-Trial Release Agreement for monitoring by Pre-Trial Services ... by failing to comply with special condition number eight, in that the defendant will not be permitted to leave Escambia, Santa Rosa or Okaloosa counties..." court records state. Dr. Charles Stamitoles arrives in court for a plea hearing on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2022. Stamitoles' next court date is scheduled for Oct. 4, 2022. Stamitoles found guilty:Jury convicts Pensacola dentist Charles Stamitoles in first battery trial Stamitoles sentenced:Pensacola dentist Charles Stamitoles sentenced to 9 months jail time for touching employee The only exception is to allow Stamitoles to travel to Tallahassee to meet his attorneys who are representing him during his conviction appeal. Gene Mitchell, Stamitoles's attorney, submitted a document to Judge Kristina Lightel stating Stamitoles had an emergency in Mobile. "Evidently, Dr. Stamitoles had an urgent situation which required him to rush to Mobile on Sunday," the court document stated, "so he went to his Pretrial Release Office to attempt to get their permission and found the place to be closed." Stamitoles was found guilty of misdemeanor battery Oct. 26 of last year for slapping an employee's buttocks, kissing her neck and grabbing her from behind without her consent. Lightel sentenced Stamitoles to 270 days incarceration in Escambia County Jail, but granted a motion for him to be released on $5,000 bond pending his appeal. Stamitoles's appeal:Pensacola dentist Charles Stamitoles granted bond while he appeals verdict, jail sentence "If (Stamitoles) sits in jail for 270 days, we all know that the appeal is going to take longer than that," Mitchell told the judge during the hearing. "If he prevails on appeal, he will effectively be denied right to appeal since his punishment will have already been served." Multiple women, both employees and patients, have accused Stamitoles of touching them inappropriately. The allegations resulted in Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo ordering an emergency restriction on Stamitoles' license in June 2022 preventing him from practicing dentistry on women. This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola dentist convicted of battery Charles Stamitoles back in jail A soldier receives a COVID-19 vaccine from Army Preventative Medical Services in Fort Knox, Kentucky. Jon Cherry / Stringer/ Getty Images The Pentagon has officially discarded its military COVID-19 vaccination mandate now that President Biden has signed the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, which required the rule's dismissal, CNN reports. The requirement to rescind the mandate was viewed as a win for conservative lawmakers who argued that the edict hampered the military's recruitment efforts, despite the Pentagon's assertions otherwise. Many GOP legislators from both chambers of Congress threatened to block the defense spending bill from moving forward unless Democrats did away with the rule. In a memo, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin emphasized that while the mandate was ending, other Department of Defense "policies, procedures, and processes regarding immunizations remain in effect." This includes guidelines for over a dozen other DOD-mandated vaccines, as well as "the ability of commanders to consider, as appropriate, the individual immunization status of personnel in making deployment, assignment, and other operational decisions, including when vaccination is required for travel to, or entry into, a foreign nation," The controversial mandate led to the expulsion of over 8,400 troops who refused to get the shot, while thousands of others sought religious and medical exemptions, per The Associated Press. Still, however, 98 percent of the U.S. military had been vaccinated as of mid-December 2022. Austin remained unapologetic about his stance on the vaccine in his memo, concluding, "The department's COVID-19 vaccination efforts will leave a lasting legacy in the many lives we saved, the world-class force we have been able to field, and the high level of readiness we have maintained, amidst difficult public health conditions." You may also like Why car sales are falling in the U.S. See the newly restored Pompeii home that was once buried by Mt. Vesuvius Are the rich ruining thrifting? The Pentagon has removed its mandate that all troops receive a vaccine against coronavirus. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in a memo Tuesday announced the official end of the requirement but said commanders will continue to "promote and encourage" COVID-19 vaccinations. The annual defense budget bill signed into law in December required that the vaccine mandate be rescinded. The Pentagon instated the mandate in August 2021 after the Pfizer vaccine was formally authorized by the Food and Drug Administration. Over 2 million service members or 96% of the military, both active and reserve status have received a COVID-19 vaccine. According to the memo, no adverse actions will be taken against service members who have been seeking exemptions to getting the vaccine, and any service members who received a letter of reprimand or some other "adverse action" will have it removed from their record. Those who refused to get vaccinated and received a general discharge can petition the Board of Corrections for Military Records to revise it, although the memo does not say what the correction to the record could be or whether those discharged could rejoin the military. The annual defense bill gave the Defense Department 30 days to rescind the vaccine mandate, and Austin complied less than 20 days after President Joe Biden signed the legislation into law. In the leadup to the passage of the bill, Austin remained a supporter of keeping the mandate. He told reporters in December he had established the vaccine requirement in the first place. "I'm the guy who put this has this requirement," Austin said, adding, "I support the continuation of vaccinating our troops. I know that doesn't surprise you." In his memo this week, Austin said that going forward, commanders will have the ability to consider vaccination status when making decisions about deployments and assignments. "The Department's COVID-19 vaccination efforts will leave a lasting legacy in the many lives we saved, the world-class Force we have been able to field, and the high level of readiness we have maintained, amidst difficult public health conditions," Austin wrote in his memo. Story continues More Biden documents marked classified found "Harry: The Interview" | Preview Remote work job postings in decline in U.S., LinkedIn report finds (Bloomberg) -- Perus Congress confirmed President Dina Boluartes cabinet on Tuesday evening, overcoming a key test for her month-long administration that has faced mass unrest and left roughly 40 dead. Most Read from Bloomberg The conservative-led Congress confirmed Boluartes cabinet with 73 votes in favor out of a total of 130 lawmakers. The confirmation gives Boluarte some breathing room just a day after the deadliest day of her short administration, when 17 civilians died in clashes with law enforcement in the Andean city of Juliaca. According to Perus constitution, Congress needs to confirm the cabinet after the president nominates its members. Otherwise, a rejection would force a reshuffle, usually weakening the head of state. Prime Minister Alberto Otarola faced noisy protests by left-wing lawmakers before making an address to Congress seeking the approval of the cabinet earlier on Tuesday, amid rising anger over the protests death toll. In his remarks, he defended the governments response and vowed to maintain order. Otarola announced a curfew in Juliaca to run between 8 p.m. and 4 a.m. for the next three days in a bid to quell unrest. This government will not back down when faced with violent blackmail, Otarola said to lawmakers. Read More: Clashes in Peru Leave 17 Dead in Andean City, Ombudsman Says Protests erupted in Peru after Boluarte took office Dec. 7, following the ouster of her predecessor, Pedro Castillo, who was impeached by Congress and then arrested following his attempt to dissolve Congress. While Boluarte came to office originally as Castillos vice president on a far-left ticket, her cabinet was confirmed on Tuesday with conservative support and with left-wing lawmakers voting in the negative. Story continues Protests are centered in Perus impoverished rural South, where demonstrators are demanding Boluartes resignation and for new elections to be called sooner than under the current 2024 timeline. Otarola is already Boluartes second prime minister since taking office. Boluarte replaced her first pick after earlier protests in December also turned deadly. (Updates with approval of cabinet by Congress in first three paragraphs. Changes headline.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. By Marco Aquino LIMA (Reuters) -Peruvians in the southern region of Puno carried coffins through the streets on Wednesday of the 17 civilians who died in protests in the area earlier this week, the worst outbreak of violence the Andean country has seen in over 20 years. Even as families mourned their dead, the country's ombudsman reported another death in clashes in the Andean city of Cusco, that of local community leader Remo Candia Guevara. "We demand an immediate investigation to find those responsible for the death and proceed to the respective sanctions," it said in a statement. The country has been roiled by protests since the abrupt ouster of leftist President Pedro Castillo in early December, with a total of 41 people killed, almost half of them in the city of Juliaca on Monday, including one police officer. Thousands of people in Juliaca paid tribute to the dead by carrying coffins through the streets before their burial along with photos of the faces of the victims, flowers, Peruvian flags, and banners blaming the new government for the violence. "The bloodshed will never be forgotten," some shouted while carrying black flags at a march in the region that borders Bolivia and was the focus of the most recent protests. The violence, a severe test for Peru's democracy, is the worst conflict since the late 1990s when the country was gripped by violence between rebel group Shining Path and the state, which left 69,000 people dead or missing over two decades. Protests in 2009 saw 33 Peruvians killed after indigenous groups in the northern jungle region clashed with police during the government of former President Alan Garcia. Protesters are calling for the resignation of new President Dina Boluarte, quick general elections, a new Constitution and the release of Castillo, who was ousted and arrested for "rebellion" after trying to illegally shutter Congress. 'LISTENING TO ALL VOICES' Story continues On Wednesday a mission from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) met Boluarte, whose Cabinet survived a confidence vote by Congress on Tuesday, to assess the crisis. "We will be verifying the human rights situation, the idea is to hear from the broadest possible range of all voices," IACHR representative Edgar Stuardo Ralon told reporters. Boluarte, facing a preliminary investigation by state prosecutors over the deaths, said in a statement after the meeting that the government would give the commission all the support needed to find out what had happened. Peruvian police and armed forces have been accused by human rights groups of using deadly firearms and launching tear gas canisters from helicopters. The army says, for its part, that the demonstrators have used weapons and homemade explosives. (Reporting by Marco Aquino; Editing by Sandra Maler) Retired Gen. David Petraeus, former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, was in Palm Beach Tuesday to give a talk for The Society of the Four Arts Esther B. OKeeffe Speakers Series. Russia and Ukraine will ultimately agree to a negotiated resolution of the war that began after Russias brutal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, retired U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus said. Petraeus, who served 37 years in the U.S. military, and is a former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, spoke Tuesday to a capacity crowd of 700 at The Society of the Four Arts in Palm Beach. He was head of the 101st Airborne in Iraq, head of coalition forces in Iraq, and commander of CENTCOM. Petraeus, 70, is a partner in the global investment firm KKR and chairman of the KKR Global Institute. In a question-and-answer session with New York Times opinion columnist Bret Stephens, Petraeus described geopolitical challenges around the world from China to Mexico. Eventually, Russian President Vladimir Putin will realize the war is not sustainable on the battlefield where more than 100,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or economically, he said. Russias economic development is estimated to be set back by a decade, and 1,200 U.S. and other western nation companies have left Russia or drawn back their operations. Ukraines infrastructure, including its electrical transmission and generation capabilities and water systems, and economy are heavily damaged, and that damage is not sustainable over time, Petraeus said. Its unlikely Ukraine will be accepted into NATO as other countries probably will not agree to that, Petraeus said. If you cant get into NATO, there has to be an ironclad security guarantee led by the U.S. If the U.S. doesnt lead it, it will not happen Petraeus said. Petraeus praised Ukraines military prowess and called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyys leadership Churchillian brilliance. A country one-third the size of Russia now has a larger and more capable army on Ukrainian soil than does Russia, Petraeus said. The entire country is in engaged in fighting its war of independence. We need to give them everything we possibly can. Story continues While Ukraine deployed drones and spies that located Russian headquarters, petroleum supply points and ammunition depots and took those out, the war is nothing like a technology-based war between two superpowers would be, he said. Petraeus predicts that future wars will include vast numbers of unmanned, algorithmically driven weaponry. But the complexity of the geopolitical system goes way beyond the current war, he said, noting that since 2019 prior to the pandemic, the world has experienced tectonic and seismic changes. When I left the CIA a decade ago, we were in an era of benign globalization, Petraeus said. It seemed as if it would go on forever. Economics determine geopolitics. Now we are in an era of renewed great power rivalries. The focus is rightly on China, its rise and its actions including economic coercions, physical intimidation and killing Indian soldiers in 2020 over a disputed border. What is unique is we have never had as many threats and challenges as we have right now, nor the complexity of the threats and challenges, Petraeus said. Petraeus compared the situation to a circus performer juggling plates spinning on a stick. China is the biggest plate, but others are North Korea, Iran, Islamic extremist groups and cyber security threats. Opposed to the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, Petraeus said there were better alternatives such as keeping 3,500 troops on the ground and beefing up the number of drones. He served as commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. While border security and illegal immigration from Mexico are big political issues, other issues are greater. Mexico is run by criminal empires that are heavily armed and financed and have taken over entire Mexican states. Despite the challenges, Petraeus said he is confident about America's future. The United States will end up being the biggest chip manufacturer as technology that originated in the U.S comes home, he said. My wife and I have invested in 25 startups over the last eight or nine years, including our daughter-in-laws. It just gets you excited. I find great young leaders who have brilliant big ideas and the capacity to scale them, Petraeus said. The United States has more of those opportunities than anywhere else in the world, he said. That is what has made America great again and again. That is what will make America great again, Petraeus said. Petraeus quoted Warren Buffets well-known saying that it never pays to bet against America. I am firmly in his camp, Petraeus said. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Petraeus: Russia and Ukraine will agree to negotiated resolution of war Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego apologized to a Wall Street Journal reporter who was interviewing people outside of a north Phoenix bank in November when police detained him. Phoenix police Officer Caleb Zimmerman cuffed and detained Wall Street Journal reporter Dion Rabouin outside of a Chase bank branch after employees there called in a trespass complaint. Rabouin was on assignment working on a story about banking and approached customers for interviews before they walked in. According to Rabouin, he talked to bank employees about what he was doing but they never asked him to leave before they called the police. Police detained Rabouin and submitted a trespass notice but never charged him. Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego Rabouin recounted on Twitter that Gallego and Chase bank officials both personally apologized for what happened. In her email, made public by ABC 15, Gallego described that she was deeply sorry for the way Rabouin had been treated. She said she had also been in touch with interim Phoenix police Chief Michael Sullivan. Chief Sullivan is aware of my displeasure, she said in the email. On Friday, Phoenix police said that the Professional Standards Bureau were conducting an administrative investigation and had received a complaint letter from the Journal's editor-in-chief, Matt Murray. Police have not commented on whether any of the officers have been put on leave. Opinion:Trespassing or doing his job? Phoenix police must explain why a reporter was handcuffed Murray accused the department of interfering with Rabouins constitutional rights to engage in journalism. According to the city's page on administrative investigations, professional standards investigators will interview the person who filed the complaint, witnesses and the police officer involved. They will also review any video or photo evidence. If they find serious misconduct, the case will be sent to a Disciplinary Review Board, which is comprised of citizens, peer employees and police commanders. The board then can recommend disciplinary action to Sullivan. Story continues It is unclear when the investigation started. Investigators will review how and why Zimmerman and two other unnamed officers detained Rabouin, as well as their treatment of Katelyn Parady, the woman who filmed most of the incident outside the bank. Wall Street Journal finance reporter Dion Rabouin is handcuffed by Phoenix police Officer Caleb Zimmerman outside Chase Bank in Phoenix on Nov. 23, 2022. In an email, Parady explained that she had started filming as Zimmerman handcuffed Rabouin. The video I took that day speaks for itself. The police created a volatile situation where no problem existed. It was wrong and it was racist, she explained. At one point in the video, an officer tells Parady to back up 8 feet, citing a recent law that was deemed unconstitutional in court after several media outlets, including The Arizona Republic, sued to have it blocked. Parady said she felt it was misleading and intimidating. On Monday, Rabouin tweeted a brief history of discrimination he said he's suffered at the hands of police. It is unclear where these episodes happened. In his thread, he recounts numerous unprompted stops, searches and arrests that he said often came with no explanation. He said that when he was 7, he called police after being hit by his dad. He said that when police arrived an officer put him in the back of a patrol car and told him it was illegal to lie to police and let him go. Rabouin also explained that when he was 17, he had parked in the alley behind his house and had just gotten out of his car when two officers cuffed him and pinned him over the trunk of his car. They searched him and finding nothing let him go without explanation, he said. At 26, walking home from a subway station, he said two officers stepped out of a car waving their badges. He said they pushed him against a wall and searched him and when they finished, they told him to "be careful." If I broke down every time I was harassed, assaulted, detained or had my rights violated by the police, all I would be is broken, he tweeted, And I refuse to let them break me. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix mayor apologizes to Wall Street Journal reporter Dion Rabouin Polish President Andrzej Duda has announced the delivery of a company of modern German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. Duda made the announcement at a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky and Lithuanian counterpart Gitanas Nauseda in Lviv on Jan. 11 as part of the Lublin Triangle format, the regional partnership established by the three in July 2020. A company of Leopard tanks will be provided as part of the coalition," Duda said at the press conference. A tank company generally consists of ten to a dozen tanks. It is not clear which countries Duda had in mind with the term "international coalition." The lack of broader coordination among European partners has been consistently presented by Germany as the reason for not taking the lead with delivering Leopards. Other European nations had previously signaled their readiness to provide the tanks, but also on condition of coordinated action between European states. On Jan. 6, Finland announced that it would be ready to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine "if Europe starts giving" them. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for U.K Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told media that Defense Secretary Ben Wallace had been given instructions by Sunak to move further and faster with our support for Ukraine including the provision of tanks, as reported by the Financial Times. The only main battle tank in service in the British army is the Challenger 2, manufactured in the U.K. since 1998, of which 227 are currently in service. On Jan 10, Politico reported that France was putting increasing pressure on Berlin to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine ahead of a Franco-German summit on Jan. 22. Poland also exerted pressure on Germany by publicly calling for a broad coalition among Western allies to hand over Leopards. Poland currently operates around 249 Leopard 2 tanks. These vehicles were aquired over the 2000s as a replacement for the country's Soviet-era t-72 tanks, of which over 230 have already been sent to Ukraine. Story continues At the Lublin Triangle meeting in Lviv, the three leaders discussed support for Ukraine against Russian aggression, as well as questions of Ukraine's EU and NATO integration. As part of Lithuanian 40 million euro military aid commitment for Ukraine over 2023, Naseda announced the delivery of more air defense systems, though the exact model was not specified. 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 50 Bradley fighting vehicles on the same day. France said it would provide light tanks. Poland said on Wednesday that it plans to transfer Leopard tanks to Ukraine. President Duda noted the move would need to happen as part of an "international coalition." The UK also signaled it may send tanks to Kyiv. As NATO allies move to send armored fighting vehicles to Ukraine so it can fend off Russia's assault, Poland and the UK have signaled they could send Kyiv a big item on its wishlist tanks. Speaking in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on Wednesday, Polish President Andrzej Duda said that "a company of Leopard tanks for Ukraine will be handed over" as part of an international coalition, adding that "such a decision is already in Poland." Duda told reporters at a press conference that transferring the German-made battle tanks will require working through a formal process and procedures as part of a larger "international coalition." He noted that Poland wants to provide a first tank package to Ukraine, which he hopes will be supplemented by additional deliveries from international partners, according to Ukrainian state-run news agency Ukrinform. In the UK, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has instructed the country's defense chief Ben Wallace to "work with partners" in the coming weeks to "go even further, and faster, on our support to Ukraine, including the provision of tanks," a government spokesperson told Insider. "We are accelerating our support to Ukraine with the kind of next-generation military technology that will win this war. It is clear that battle tanks could provide a game changing capability to the Ukrainians," the spokesperson said, adding that Sunak told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week that "the UK will provide whatever we can." According to the Financial Times, the UK is readying to send its Challenger 2 main battle tank. The UK has yet to confirm this though. It was unclear exactly how many Leopard tanks Poland wants to send to Kyiv, though Duda indicated it would be a company, which in Poland is 14 tanks. It also remains to be seen how Berlin will respond to Poland's plans. The respective defense ministries of Germany and Poland did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment. Story continues NATO allies France and Poland have pushed for Germany to send its formidable Leopard tanks to Ukraine, hoping that doing so would open the door for other countries to do the same, POLITICO reported earlier this week. Finland, one of a number of countries with Leopard tanks in its arsenal and an aspiring NATO member, has indicated it plans to wait for a decision from Berlin or to see if other countries moved to transfer Leopards before it takes such a step. Moves by Poland and the UK shift pressure to send main battle tanks to Ukraine onto Germany and other countries. A US official, however, told POLITICO that Washington has no immediate plans to provide Ukraine with Abrams tanks, which Kyiv has sought. Though there may still be obstacles to transferring Leopard tanks to Kyiv, Duda's announcement was celebrated by Ukraine, which has long sought the weapons to help it fend off Russia's continued assault. The Leopard-2, originally designed as a main battle tank in the 1970s, is equipped with a powerful 120 mm cannon, among other armaments. Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) January 11, 2023 The decision by Poland and considerations in the UK come amid a massive push by Western countries and NATO allies to send more heavy armor to Ukraine. As recently as last week, the US, Germany, and France said they planned to send Western-made armored vehicles to Ukraine for the first time since Russia's large-scale invasion giving Kyiv a significant firepower boost and increasing its ground combat capabilities. In particular, the US will provide Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, while the Germans and French will send Marder fighting vehicles and AMX-10 RC vehicles. Heavy armor could facilitate potential breakthroughs as the devastating war in Ukraine has once again become a grinding and slow-moving campaign, with fighting currently heavily concentrated around the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. US officials have described combat in that area as "really severe and savage." Read the original article on Business Insider Two students were arrested following a fight at Fitchburg High School on Wednesday morning, officials said. Officers responding to the high school took the juveniles involved in the reported altercation into custody and confiscated a knife, according to the Fitchburg Police Department. In a statement, Fitchburg Public Schools said, This morning at FHS, some students engaged in a physical fight which led to an immediate school response...All students are safe and have returned to classes. More information will be released when it becomes available, officials said. School administrators are assisting Fitchburg police with an investigation. This morning at FHS, some students engaged in a physical fight which led to an immediate school response. Two students... Posted by Fitchburg Public Schools on Wednesday, January 11, 2023 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 Photo: OPP Elnaz Hajtamiri. The last time Aysa Hajtamiri spoke with her sister was nearly a year ago. They kept the phone conversation short as Hajtamiri was driving but planned to reconnect soon. That next phone call never happened. Not long after she got home, Hajtamiri said she learned that her younger sister had been kidnapped. Ontario Provincial Police have said three men dressed in police gear snatched 37-year-old Elnaz Hajtamiri on the evening of Jan. 12, 2022, from a relative's house in Wasaga Beach, Ont., and loaded her into a white Lexus SUV. One year later, she is still missing. Her family says they've been grieving ever since Hajtamiri's disappearance but are holding out hope she could be found alive one day. "I know it is one year, but we try to keep our hope that she will come back home soon," Aysa Hajtamiri told The Canadian Press in a phone interview from her home in Melbourne, Australia. "We always think that she is alive, and that we can see her, we can hug her." Ontario Provincial Police who have been investigating the disappearance and the family have made public appeals for information that could help locate Elnaz Hajtamiri. Police have also said that Hajtamiri was assaulted with a frying pan in an underground parking lot in Richmond Hill, Ont., in December 2021, just a few weeks before she was abducted. Her ex-boyfriend, Mohamad Lilo, 35, was charged in both cases in July. Police have said he faces an abduction charge in Hajtamiri's January disappearance, and attempted murder and attempted abduction charges in the December parking lot incident. York Regional Police have also charged two other men in the December case. But investigators are still looking for the three people who dressed up as police and snatched Hajtamiri from the Wasaga Beach home, and they continue to work on finding Hajtamiri. "We will do everything in our power as the police to locate Elnaz, identify and hold accountable those responsible for her kidnapping, OPP Det. Martin Graham, who is leading the investigation, said in an interview. "The police to this point, despite the best efforts of everyone, have not been able to either locate (her) or to identify and hold accountable those responsible for that kidnapping." Hajtamiri's sister said she appreciates what the police have done so far, but argues they could have done more to help before the abduction took place. She alleges police initially told her sister not to worry about threats from her ex-boyfriend, claiming police told Hajtamiri such things were expected during breakups. Graham said he isn't aware of that conversation taking place between Hajtamiri and the police. Aysa Hajtamiri said police then told her sister to find a temporary safe place after alleged threats from her ex-boyfriend became more serious, which was why her sister moved into a relative's home in Wasaga Beach. "(Police) say they are trying, and I trust them. I am far from there, the only thing I can do is to trust them," she said. "I want my sister." Elnaz Hajtamiri didn't talk much about the troubles she was having in phone calls with her family, not wanting to worry them, her sister said. "She liked making everybody happy and she tried to solve all the problems by herself," her sister said. Aysa Hajtamiri said her sister is the topic of every conversation she has with her parents, who live in Iran. They try to lift each other's spirits and talk about hugging Elnaz Hajtamiri when she reunites with her family one day. "We believe that she will come back," Hajtamiri's sister said. Graham, of the OPP, said police are in regular contact with the family to share details of the case. While he also hopes Hajtamiri is alive, he noted that she may not be. My greatest hope has always been that Elnaz will be located alive. But obviously with time and we're coming up to one year, my greatest fear is that she is not," he said. "The reality is I do not know." Police are expected to provide an update on the case on Thursday, which will mark exactly one year since Hajtamiri was abducted. LUETZERATH, Germany (AP) Police in riot gear began evicting climate activists Wednesday from a condemned village in western Germany that is due to be demolished for the expansion of a coal mine. Some stones and fireworks were thrown as officers entered the tiny hamlet of Luetzerath, which has become a flashpoint of debate over the countrys climate efforts, on Wednesday morning. Police spokesman Andreas Mueller said the attacks on officers were not nice but noted that most of the protest so far had been peaceful. He said police would stick to their tactic of trying to avoid any escalation by offering to let any activists who leave on their own accord to do so without facing further police measures or prosecution. Still, some protesters complained of undue force by police and others said the scale of the police response with officers brought in from across the country and water cannons on standby was itself a form of escalation not justified by the peaceful protest. At least one woman screamed in apparent pain as officers used force to remove her from a roadblock outside the village. By Wednesday afternoon dozens of activists remained camped out in Luetzerath, some in elaborate tree houses, as police slowly moved through the village clearing barricades and a communal soup kitchen. Some activists read books or played accordion while perched atop 10-foot (3-meter) tripods. A few sat or stood on the roofs of Luetzerath's remaining buildings despite the chilly wind. I'm really afraid today, Petra Schumann, a 53-year-old local who had been at the site for several days, said from a top-floor window of one of the few remaining houses. Schumann said she still held out hope of preserving what's left of Luetzerath until nothing is left standing; hope dies last. Environmentalists say bulldozing the village to expand the nearby Garzweiler coal mine would result in huge amounts of greenhouse gas emissions. The government and utility company RWE argue the coal is needed to ensure Germanys energy security. Story continues However, a study by the German Institute for Economic Research calls into question the government's stance. Its authors found other existing coal fields could be used instead, though the cost to RWE would be greater. Another alternative would be for Germany to increase production of renewable power, cut demand through energy efficiency measures, or import more coal or gas from abroad, the study found. Citing the study and the urgent need to curb global carbon emissions, protesters refused to heed a court ruling Monday that effectively banned them from the area. Some activists expressed particular anger at the environmentalist Green party, which is part of both the regional and national governments that reached a deal with RWE last year allowing it to destroy the village in return for ending coal use by 2030, rather than 2038. Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck, a Green who is Germany's economy and climate minister, defended the agreement as a good decision for climate protection that fulfills many of the environmentalists' demands and saves five other villages from demolition. I think climate protection and protests need symbols but the empty hamlet of Luetzerath, where no one lives any more, is the wrong symbol from my point of view, Habeck told reporters in Berlin. Climate campaigners counter that expanding a massive open-cast coal mine goes against Germanys international commitments to reduce emissions of planet-warming greenhouse gases. The country is expected to miss its ambitious targets for the second year in a row. Luetzerath is now the European place of crystallization for the climate movement, said Lakshmi Thevasagayam, a spokeswoman for the Luetzerath Lives activist group. We know that the coal under Luetzerath isn't needed for energy security it must remain in the ground so that we can achieve climate justice. Now we can do something against the climate catastrophe, but at some point we won't be able to any more, Thevasagayam said. She accused that police of engaging in a complete escalation by moving ahead with the eviction Wednesday. RWE said in a statement that a 1.5-kilometer (nearly one-mile) fence will be built around the site. It appealed to activists to peacefully end the illegal occupation of the site it legally owns. Andreas Mueller, the police spokesman, said authorities were prepared for the eviction operation to last weeks, if necessary. The heads of several environmental organizations planned to visit Luetzerath on Thursday to express solidarity with the activists there. A large protest was also scheduled near the site Saturday, attended by prominent Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg. ___ Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report. ___ This version has corrected the surname of a protester to Schumann, sted Mueller. OTTUMWA, Iowa (AP) A male nurse practitioner who died of a drug overdose at a private hospital in Iowa sexually assaulted at least nine female patients while they were sedated or unconscious, hospital and police officials said. The assaults at the Ottumwa Regional Health Center were discovered during investigations into the death of 27-year-old Devin Michael Caraccio, of Centerville, who worked at the hospital, The Ottumwa Courier reported. An autopsy found Caraccio had died of an accidental overdose at the hospital on Oct. 15, 2022, police said. During separate investigations into his death, police and the hospital found videos and photographs on Caraccio's personal cellphone that showed him sexually assaulting the patients in 2021 and 2022, Ottumwa police and a hospital spokeswoman said in statements released Tuesday. Ottumwa Police Lt. Jason Bell said five of the nine victims have been identified and investigators were trying to identify the others. The assaults occurred while patients were sedated or unconscious. Police believe Caraccio acted alone. There are no words to describe how shocked and horrified we are by Mr. Caraccios actions, said Cara Clouse, the human resources director at the hospital. Our hearts go out to all of those affected by these heinous acts. Clouse said the hospital has made several changes to its internal controls and security measures and will work to ensure a safe environment for patients, providers and employees. The actions of one person are not reflective of the care and compassion of our staff, and we are committed to supporting and advancing the critical work they do on behalf of this community and patients every day, Clouse said. Clouse did not return messages Wednesday seeking comment on whether any of the victims have filed lawsuits against the hospital. Mariana Reva, a spokeswoman of the National Police of Ukraine, said they have opened 2,300 criminal proceedings related to charges of collaboration. "Collaboration cases are ranging from supporting the enemy in social networks, justifying aggression, and ending with holding positions under the occupation authorities," Reva said on air. "The police track all those cases and investigate them." According to data recently released by the General Prosecutors office, the government has opened more than 18,000 cases related to crimes against national security, which include treason, sabotage, assistance to the aggressor state, and encroachment on the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine. A new police report shows a man arrested in the death of a Jacksonville 13-year-old originally said he wasnt involved. Action News Jax first reported Monday when Marcel Johnson was charged with the murder of Prince Holland. The new report states that the victims car was being actively pursued by another vehicle. It also says two days later, Johnson was seen on Instagram holding a semi-automatic gun and that Johnson initially said the car he had been driving was carjacked. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] The report also lists a co-suspect but police have not announced any other arrests linked to Hollands death. Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters said there will be more arrests forthcoming, though he said he didnt want to share details as to how many since the investigation is still ongoing. [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live. Prince Harry has denied boasting about killing 25 Taliban troopers while serving as a soldier, as he cautioned against a very dangerous spin about his memoir. Protests were sparked by Spare, which on Tuesday (10 January) became the UKs fastest-selling non-fiction book, due to Harry writing he had engaged in the taking of human lives while serving as a helicopter pilot in Afghanistan. So, my number is 25. Its not a number that fills me with satisfaction, but nor does it embarrass me, he wrote. The 38-year-old told Stephen Colbert it had been hurtful and challenging watching the reactions following the books publication. Without a doubt, the most dangerous lie that they have told is that I somehow boasted about the number of people that I killed in Afghanistan, Harry said on The Late Show. He noted the context in which the reference appeared in the book, before saying: I should say, if I heard anyone boasting about that kind of thing, I would be angry. But its a lie. And hopefully now that the book is out, people will be able to see the context, and it is its really troubling and very disturbing that they can get away with it. Because they had the context. It wasnt like heres just one line they had the whole section, they ripped it away and just said here it is, hes boasting on this. "Without a doubt, the most dangerous lie that they have told, is that I somehow boasted about the number of people I killed in Afghanistan." Prince Harry tells #Colbert, adding that his "words are not dangerous," but the spin on his "words are very dangerous." #Spare pic.twitter.com/FnjEZ0QnQl The Late Show (@colbertlateshow) January 10, 2023 When as you say, youve read it and hopefully everyone else will be able to have the chance to read it , and thats dangerous. Story continues My words are not dangerous, but the spin of my words are very dangerous. Admiral Lord West, former head of the Royal Navy, had previously called the duke very stupid for giving details of his Taliban kills. The retired admiral told the Sunday Mirror that the Invictus Games which are due to be held in Dusseldorf, Germany, in 2023 will have serious security issues because of their direct connection to Harry. The international multi-sport event for wounded, injured, and sick servicemen and women, of which the duke is the patron, will be a prime target for those wanting revenge, Lord West said. The Taliban will be reading (Harrys claims about killing fighters and) thinking theres this prince calling us all chess pieces and is quite happy about killing us. And there will be a lot of people, I am sure, in Islamic State and other terrorist organisations, who will think this is something which should be avenged. (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) Harry said he was driven to discuss his kills by the goal of reducing veteran suicides. I made a choice to share it because having spent nearly two decades working with veterans all around the world, I think the most important thing is to be honest and to give space to others to be able to share their experiences without any shame, he told Colbert. And my whole goal, my attempt with sharing that detail, is to reduce the number of suicides. The Colbert interview caps off Harrys press run for his autobiography, was boosted into the record books with 400,000 hardback, e-book, and audio format copies being snapped up. The book includes claims that the Prince of Wales physically attacked him and teased him about his panic attacks, and that the King put his own interests above Harrys and was jealous of the Duchess of Sussex and the Princess of Wales. Harry said in an interview that the Queen Consort was a villain and dangerous, accusing her of rehabilitating her image at the expense of his. Follow live updates about Prince Harrys new memoir here. Additional reporting by agencies ITVs interview with Prince Harry has aired in 77 territories after a series of pre-sales deals before its broadcast. Harry: The Interview has been seen in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Australia, and parts of Asia and South America this week, following the hard-hitting 90-minute specials broadcast on ITV1 and ITVX in the UK on Sunday. More from Deadline The tell-all interview was seen by 4.1M in the UK, which, while being ITVs fourth biggest overnight title of the year, was markedly smaller the 11.1M who watch Oprahs interview with Harry and Meghan Markle last year. That simulcasted on CBS in the U.S. and this week an Anderson Cooper 60 Minutes special did 10.5M on the U.S. network, well down on the 17.1M who tuned in to the Oprah scoop. The numbers suggest at least some audience fatigue is setting in around the Harry-Meghan media circus, but ITV Studios will point to its fast dealmaking as proof thats not the case with buyers. Among the deals for the ITN Productions special, ITV Studios has brokered pre-sale deals with TF1 for France, RTL for Germany and the Netherlands, Warner Bros Discovery for Italy and Poland, TV2 for Denmark, DPG for Belgium, TV4 for Sweden, MTV3 in Finland, VGTV in Norway and CMore for Denmark, Finland and Sweden. Network Seven took Australian rights, TVNZ took New Zealand, Paramount+ grabbed rights in Canada, Globo in Brazil, Now TV in Hong Kong, Poland, VMI in Ireland and DBS in Israel. A pan-African deal with M-Net covers 54 territories and a pan-regional deal for the CEE region with CME Nova covers Czech Republic, Slovak, Croatia, Slovenia, Romania and Bulgaria. Further deals are expected. Ruth Berry, Managing Director, Global Distribution at ITV Studios said: We have been thrilled to give our global buyers the chance to show Tom Bradbys extraordinary interview with Prince Harry so soon after its original broadcast, and for their viewers to experience the story behind the headlines firsthand. Story continues The interview was broadcasted in the UK two days before Prince Harrys much-anticipated autobiography Spare published on January 10. The memoir reveals an angry text exchange between Meghan Markle and Prince Williams wife Kate Middleton, an alleged incident in which William pushed Harry on to a dog bowl, revelations about how the Royal Family leaks stories to the press, his unsuccessful request for his father, now King Charles III, to not marry Camilla Parker Bowles, and how racism has impacted him and his wife. Deadlines International Editor-At-Large and royal expert Baz Bamigboye will have a full review of Spare up this week. Best of Deadline Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. Prince Harry said he's seen recent episodes of "The Crown," which feature him and Prince William as children. Netflix While on "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert," Prince Harry confirmed he's watched "The Crown." Harry also revealed he "fact-checks" the show and has seen both older seasons and recent episodes. He also addressed claims he boasted about killing people in Afghanistan, calling it a "dangerous lie." Prince Harry's memoir "Spare" is full of major bombshells and jaw-dropping moments involving the royal family. The pages are packed with the kind of drama we've come to expect from "The Crown," Netflix's fictional dramatization of Queen Elizabeth II's reign. Harry confirmed on "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" that he's recently watched the series. The fifth season of "The Crown," which was released in November, explores King Charles' affair with Camilla and the end of his marriage to Princess Diana. At the very end of Harry's interview on Tuesday, after a couple of tequila drinks, Colbert couldn't resist asking the Duke of Sussex if he'd ever seen the show. The Late Show (@colbertlateshow) January 11, 2023 "Yes, I have actually watched 'The Crown," Harry said. "The older stuff and the more recent stuff." "Do you fact-check it while you watch?" Colbert asked. "Yes I do actually," Harry said with a laugh. "Another reason why it's so important that history has it right," he added, pointing at a copy of his memoir on Colbert's desk. Prince Harry's memoir, "Spare," was released on Tuesday. Amazon Harry's memoir was only released on Tuesday, but he's been in the headlines for the last week after leaked excerpts were published in the British tabloids. When Colbert asked Harry if he believed there was an "active campaign by your family to undermine this book," he agreed but said it was mainly one by the UK press. "They've told their side of the story, this is the other side of the story," Harry said. Harry also addressed claims that he boasted about killing 25 people in Afghanistan in the book, which he said was a "dangerous lie" pushed out by the British press. Story continues "It's really troubling and very disturbing they can get away with it, they had the context," Harry told Colbert. "My words are not dangerous, but the spin of my words are very dangerous, and that's a choice they've made." Princess Diana with Prince Harry. Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images Harry told Colbert he's felt the strong presence of his mother in the last couple days, and said it didn't go unnoticed to him that he left the British royal family when he was 36 the same age Diana was when she died. Harry discussed with Colbert how, for much of his youth, he thought his mother was still alive and "hiding, plotting, and planning to take me and William away." "This fantasy of what you thought your mother did, is what you did," Colbert replied. "Not before trying to make it work," Harry said. "Believe me, we tried." Read the original article on Insider Photo: BC Gov't B.C. Premier David Eby, in his first scheduled visit to Prince George since taking over from John Horgan as head of the provincial government, will address the 20th annual BC Natural Resources Forum banquet at the Prince George Civic and Convention Centre next Tuesday evening. It will be the first time in thee years the forum will be an in-person event, after two years as a virtual conference during the pandemic. The forum begins Wednesday morning with an opening address from Sarah Weber, president and CEO of C3 Alliance Corp, followed by short speeches from Lheidli Tenneh chief Dolleen Logan, Prince George-Peace River-Northern Rockies MP Bob Zimmer, Cariboo-Prince George MP Todd Doherty, Prince George Valemount MLA Shirley Bond and Prince George Mayor Simon Yu. Forestry is the first resource sector featured in a panel discussion Wednesday at 9:05 a.m. Big Ideas. Great Forestry. BCs story: Whats Next for BCs Forest Sector. Moderated by Linda Coady, president/CEO of BC Council of Forest Industries, the panelists include Lennard Joe, CEO of BC First Nations Forestry Council; Suzanne Gill, president/CEO of Genome BC; Jennifer Foster, senior vice-president of human resources & corporate affairs, Western Forest Products; and Jason Fisher, partner at MNP. Simon Pascoe, general manager of Rio Tintos BC Works, will then take the podium at 10:25 a.m.for the opening keynote address. Anyone with an interest in anthropology might want to attend the 10:45 a.m. discussion on Wednesday Uncovering History of Human Occupation in Central BC: An Innovative Partnership Between An Indigenous Community and Industry which will feature Mike Robertson, senior policy advisor of the Cheslatta Carrier Nation, and Kevin Dobbin, head of strategic partnerships at Rio Tinto. The second group talk of the day at 11:10 a.m. Progressive Indigenous Business Initiatives, features Saulteau First Nations Chief Justin Napoleon; chief counsellor Chris Roberts of Wei Wai Kurn Nation; chief counsellor Crystal Smith of Haisla Nation; and Lori Ackerman, and CEO of Blueberry River Resources. Scott Cavan, head of strategy and external relations of First Nations Major Projects Coalition is the moderator. Terry Teegee, regional chief of the B.C. Assembly of First Nations, will deliver the Wednesday keynote luncheon from 12:45-2 p.m. The Future of the Workforce panel scheduled for from 2:45-3:45 p.m., features Wayne Prins, executive director of the Christian Labour Association of Canada; Shelley Gray, CEO of SkilledTradesBC; Patrick Campbell, Canadian regional director, International Union of Operating Engineers; and Cara Lenoir, director of strategic projects and partner engagement, B.C. Centre of Training and Excellence in Mining. Fiona Famulak, president/CEO of the BC Chamber of Commerce, will moderate. Julie Dabrusin, parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources/Minister of Environment and Climate Change will provide the afternoon keynote speech from 4:05-4:25 p.m. Wednesday's discussions wrap up with a fireside chat at 4:25 p.m. LNG Export: Putting Canada On The Map which will involve Jadon Klein, CEP of LNG Canada and Bevin Wirzba, president of Coastal GasLink. Margaret Dovgal, managing director of Resource Works, will moderate. The conference crowd will be well-fed at the Resource Ministers Breakfast, which features six B.C. cabinet ministers - Josie Osbourne (Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation), George Heyman (Environment and Climate Change Strategy), Bruce Ralston (Forests), Murray Rankin (Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation), Brenda Bailey (Jobs, Economic Development and Innovation) and Nathan Cullen (Water, Land and Resource Stewardship). Sharon Singh, co-head of Aboriginal law of Bennett-Jones will moderate. Chris OReilly, president/CEO of BC Hydro, will provide the morning keynote speech, from 9:25-9:45 a.m. Mining will be the focus of the first Thursday panel Leaving a Positive Legacy: Mining & Indigenous Communities from 9:45-10:45 a.m. The panel includes Christy Smith, vice-president of Indigenous and Stakeholder Relations, Falkirk Mining Co; Paul Gruner, CEO of Tahltan Nation Development Corp.; Nalaine Morin, VP of sustainability, Skeena Resources Ltd; and Jessica Wood, associate deputy minister and Declaration Act secretariat, Si Sityaawks. Michael Goehring, president/CEO of MABC, will moderate. At 11:15 a.m.,Innovation in BCs Natural Gas Production, includes panelists Cam Anderson, North River Midstreams VP of new ventures and energy transition; Scott Volk, technology and innovation lead, Tourmaline; Lisa Balton, president/CEO, Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers; and Jennifer Blaney, government relations manager, Ovintiv Inc. Tracy Robinson, president/CEO of Canadian National Railway, will speak at the keynote luncheon, Thursday 12:50-2:10 p.m. The final panel of the forum Thursday at 2:45 p.m. Hydrogen Now & To The Future includes Jessica Verhagen, CEO of Hydra Energy Corp; Mary Fry, director of production assets, HTEC: Joe Mazza, vice-president of energy supply and resource development, BC Hydro; and Neil Dobson, chief sustainability officer, Hydrogen Naturally. The moderator is Matthew Klippenstein, executive director of Hydrogen BC. A pre-forum Low Carbon Leadership From Prince Georges Resource Sector tour on Tuesday from 9:45 a.m.-3:30 p.m. will showcase local industry efforts to create a low-carbon future. Registration is limited to 20 people.Workshops on employee benefit agreements and crisis communications are also planned for Tuesday. The Celebrate The North reception on Wednesday from 6:30-9:30 p.m. at the Ramada Plaza Hotel, 444 George St.,, presented by the Independent Contractors and Business Association and the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, is an opportunity to network. The event is free to attend but pre-registation is required. More information is available on the forum website. Scott Kowalchyk/CBS Prince Harrys new memoir Spare finally went on sale Tuesday and it has already been picked apart far more than most books in recent memory. And yet, somehow, there was still more to be revealed when the Duke of Sussex sat down with Stephen Colbert for a rare late-night TV appearance on The Late Show Tuesday night. It wasnt his first interview about the book, but it was the first one with cocktails. After the Harry! Harry! Harry! chants died down, Colbert asked his guest how he should address him. You can call me whatever you like at this point, the prince joked. So with that, the host poured some tequila for them both and got into what ended up being a nearly 40-minute conversation. Asked if he believes theres an active campaign by his own royal family to undermine his book as its being released, Harry replied, Of course. He said, Theyve told their side of the story, this is the other side of the story and called the last few days hurtful and challenging as excerpts have leaked out and, from his point of view, have been twisted to embarrass him. My words are not dangerous, but the spin of my words are very dangerous, Harry added, explicitly accusing his media detractors of putting a target on his head by suggesting hes done things like boasting about how many enemy combatants he killed in Afghanistan, among other allegations. Throughout the long sit-down, Colbert was an extremely sympathetic interviewer, commending him at one point for being emotionally honest in his writing. But in moments was able to lead Harry towards some introspectionespecially when it came to his very public break with his brother William. Anyone who suffers from trauma, shock, grief, loss, which we all have and all will, youve got to put on a brave face, Harry said, alluding to the fact that the photos of him and his brother out there smiling together did not reflect reality. But more recently, in the last six years, the fracture of the relationship between me and my brother has very much been pinned on my wife. Story continues Spare Is a Royal Riot. But What Does Prince Harry Really Want? Then Colbert asked a question that elicited something of a revelation from his guest. If your mother were still alive, have you ever thought about how she might handle this moment? the host asked. We wouldnt have got to this moment, Harry replied. Its impossible to say where we would be now, where those relationships would be now, but there is no way that the distance between my brother and I would be the same. It was not lost on Harry that his mother, Princess Diana, was 36 years old when she was killed and he turned 36 two years ago when all of the drama surrounding him and wife Meghan Markle fully erupted and they said enough. In the book, Harry discusses the fantasies he would have as a child that his mother hadnt died and instead was hiding somewhere, taking a break and plotting a rescue plan for her two sons. When Colbert presented the idea that he and Markle essentially reenacted that fantasy by removing themselves from their toxic situation, Harry replied, Not before trying to make it work. Believe me, we tried. And were still trying. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. The Rapides Parish District Attorney's Office has filed a motion to reconsider the sentence of Antonio Demetrius Jones, who was convicted on two counts of third-degree rape and sentenced to 10 years in prison. The state contends the sentence is too lenient. A 10-year sentence for a man convicted of rape, a case in which audio and video of the crimes presented to jurors, "deprecates the seriousness of the defendant's crime," prosecutors say in court papers asking a judge to reconsider the penalty. A hearing is set for Jan. 23 in the case of Antonio Demetrius Jones, 48, after the state filed the motion Dec. 16. Jones was convicted Nov. 17 on two counts of the third-degree rape of a Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office confidential informant who went to him Jan. 13, 2021, to buy meth while wearing equipment that recorded audio and video. Jones missed that equipment as he searched the informant when she arrived at his Texas Avenue home that day. The full video was played for jurors during the trial, showing Jones twice forcing the victim to perform oral sex. Rapides Parish Assistant District Attorney Brian Cespiva asked 9th Judicial District Court Judge Chris Hazel to sentence Jones to the maximum on each count, 25 years, and to have those sentences served consecutively. Under Louisiana law, that meant Jones would serve 50 years without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence. Instead, Hazel sentenced Jones to 10 years on each count, to be served concurrently, or at the same time. He did not give reasons for his ruling. At the time, Cespiva objected to the ruling and was asked after the hearing about the kind of message the sentence sends to rape victims, especially since he was able to present the graphic video to jurors, some of whom clearly were uncomfortable as it played. One local professional who works with rape victims believes there won't be a change in how offenders are sentenced until society changes how it views victims of sexual assault. According to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, someone in America is sexually assaulted roughly every minute, but just 25 of every 1,000 of those who commit such acts will spend time in prison. Reaction to the ruling Cespiva spoke about his disappointment immediately after the Dec. 12 sentencing, saying he respects Hazel even though he disagrees with the judge's ruling. Story continues "All we can do is continue to press on and prosecute cases," Cespiva said. "So many rapes go unreported, and it's so rare to actually have one on video for the whole world and the jury and the judge to see. We were obviously hoping for a better result." Within hours of the ruling, though, Cespiva said the state would ask for the sentence to be reconsidered. The motion notes Jones' five felony convictions in Mississippi and how he fled Louisiana to that state before his initial trial date of Oct. 17. Jones later was found and arrested in Jackson, Mississippi, then returned to Alexandria for trial. Jury selection took two days, but testimony lasted just one day, ending with the guilty verdicts. The motion states Hazel listed multiple aggravating factors and no mitigating factors when considering Jones' sentence. Antonio Jones case:Alexandria man found guilty of raping Rapides Sheriff Office confidential informant Antonio Jones sentencing:Man convicted of raping Rapides Sheriff's Office informant sentenced to 10 years The 10-year sentence "deprecates the seriousness of the defendant's crime, particularly in light of the circumstances surrounding the rapes and the defendant's prior criminal history," it reads. The motion also calls Jones' sentence inconsistent with similar convictions in Louisiana, citing three other cases in which defendants got the maximum and one lifetime sentence because the defendant was classified as a habitual offender. Rape still a cultural taboo Beth Ponthier is a training specialist at the Family Justice Center of Central Louisiana who works with victims of rape, sexual assault and domestic violence. She provides training on the subject for law enforcement, health-care workers, educators and others. She said she couldn't recall any local defendant receiving more than 10 or 15 years in prison in a rape case, unless the victim was a child, and doesn't remember people clamoring for justice on behalf of any rape or sexual assault victim. "We are essentially, as a society, enabling lenient sentences," she said. "We are enabling, to some degree, the offender." Sexual assault and rape still are still taboo subjects for many people, especially in the South, she said. It's still common for people to question a victim, asking why they put themselves in whatever situation led to the crime. Ponthier said victims already have asked themselves the same thing, but she also said people need to understand that most of these crimes aren't committed by strangers. "These are people who you know," she said. Pressures victims face Perpetrators often coerce and sometimes threaten victims. After a rape, they can manipulate victims into not reporting what happened. Victims doubt themselves and doubt that others will believe the rape wasn't consensual, said Ponthier. It causes them to retreat, to chalk it up as a life experience and try to move on with their lives, she said. That attitude takes the responsibility away from the offender. "It's essentially enabling an offender to do it again," she said. And, according to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, most offenders aren't reported. In statistics it credits to the U.S. Department of Justice, only 310 out of every 1,000 sexual assaults get reported to police. Ponthier, a former crime-victims advocate for the Alexandria Police Department, agreed it is rare to have video evidence of a rape or sexual assault, like in the Jones case. It can counter what she calls the elephant in almost every such case the idea of consent. Though it's addressed in state law, it still means different things to different people, she said. The concept of justice is much the same. Ponthier said offenders should pay for their crimes, but also tries to make sure victims understand justice and closure might very different from what they initially imagine. She said advocates try to help victims by explaining what happens in the legal system and helping them focus on their own healing and self worth, no matter what kind of sentence an offender receives. "If you base healing from a traumatic event like that on the justice system, you will be sadly disappointed every time. This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Prosecutors contest convicted rapist's 10-year sentence as too lenient LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) A Nebraska lawmaker who sponsored a failed total abortion ban last year announced Wednesday that she will introduce a new bill this week that would ban abortion once cardiac activity can be detected in an embryo, which is generally around the sixth week of pregnancy. State Sen. Joni Albrecht, of Thurston, announced at a news conference that she would introduce the bill Thursday or Friday. It will require an ultrasound to be performed before any abortion and would bar abortions if cardiac activity is detected. It will include exceptions for cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother. We heard the cry of the public last year, Albrecht told The Associated Press. Rape and incest was a big deal. The bill also will not include criminal penalties for women who receive abortions or doctors who perform them. Instead, it would subject doctors who perform abortions in violation of the measure to professional discipline, which could include losing their medical licenses. The bill also would not affect in vitro fertilization procedures, Albrecht said. The American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska immediately took aim at the proposal and said it is prepared to fight any such measure. For many Nebraskans in need of abortion care, this ban would have the exact same effect as a total ban because many people do not know they are pregnant at the point when this proposed extreme restriction would take effect, said ACLU Nebraska legal and policy counsel Scout Richters. A bevy of Republican-led states have enacted new abortion restrictions since the U.S. Supreme Court's overturned Roe v. Wade, which had guaranteed the right to abortion nationwide for nearly five decades. Abortion rights supporters need to know that it is time to speak out and show up like never before," Richters said. "We will do everything we can to stop this ban, including making sure our thousands of supporters get that message. Story continues If enacted, Nebraska would join several other states that have passed cardiac activity abortion bans, including Georgia, Iowa, Ohio, South Carolina and Tennessee. But Nebraska has recently struggled to enact tighter abortion restrictions despite its history of being a leader in abortion limits. In 2010, Nebraska became the first state to ban abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy, and the state outlawed a second-trimester abortion procedure in 2020 despite fervent protests from abortion rights supporters. But the effort to pass a so-called trigger bill that would have automatically banned nearly all abortions even those that resulted from rape and incest as soon as Roe was overturned fell two votes short of the 33 it needed to overcome a filibuster. Then-Gov. Pete Ricketts a Republican and outspoken abortion opponent declined to call a special session after Roe was overturned. Abortion rights proponents have acknowledged that the alliance behind last year's filibuster is on shaky ground. Democratic state Sen. Justin Wayne, of Omaha, is seen as a key swing vote who could give abortion rights opponents support on a bill that would be less restrictive than a total ban. Wayne was absent from the legislative chamber when lawmakers voted on the ban last April. He did not immediately return a call Wednesday seeking comment on whether he would support Albrecht's latest abortion measure. State Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha, who has been a vocal proponent of abortion rights and helped lead the effort in the Legislature last year to block Albrecht's proposed ban, vowed to fight any effort to restrict abortion rights in the state. She introduced a constitutional amendment Wednesday to protect reproductive freedom and prohibit the state from taking action against that freedom. A composite image showing screenshots from a video call between President Vladimir Putin and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov on January 11, 2023 RIA Novosti/Insider Putin publicly told off a deputy prime minister over his failure to secure contracts in time. Denis Manturov was told he was late in the task, and asked why he was "fooling around." The dressing-down happened in front of Putin's government on a video call. President Vladimir Putin gave one of his deputy prime ministers a public dressing-down in the Russian government's first video meeting of the year on Wednesday, state media reported. Putin asked Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov who is also minister for trade and industry why he was "fooling about" instead of procuring new planes for the country, per awkward video released by state-owned news agency RIA Novosti. Manturov was handed responsibility for Russia's defense industry in July. Back then he had Putin's favor, accompanying the president on various trips, according to The Associated Press. But with Russia under sanctions and demand for military equipment soaring with the war in Ukraine, the role is challenging, according to Defense News. In the clip, Putin adopted a mocking tone to tell Manturov his work had taken "tooo long much too long," then demanded that he speed up. Manturov was tasked with setting up 175 billion roubles' worth ($2.56 billion) of contracts with state airline Aeroflot, according to Reuters. Putin angrily said that none of them were ready. A clip of the meeting was shared by a Twitter account associated with RIA Novosti: (@Kremlinpool_RIA) January 11, 2023 In the footage, Manturov can be seen looking down at his desk while Putin gestures sarcastically. "So? When will this be sorted? No contracts either," Putin asked, going on to address him by name. "Denis Valentinovich, you are otherwise good to go, yet there are no contracts." The castigation continues for nearly a minute, with 12 further people on the call remaining silent, some appearing absorbed in paperwork. Story continues "Why are you fooling about?" Putin asked. "When will we have the contracts?" Putin then told Manturov that he has one month to deliver. Read the original article on Business Insider Vladimir Putin, the Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the sanctions caused by Russia's attack on Ukraine did not seem to have much effect on Russia, all the while whining that there are no orders for new planes. Source: Russian media, with reference to Putin's statement at the first meeting with the Cabinet of Ministers this year Quote from Putin: "None of what the enemy predicted has taken place. And this was done, of course, first of all, thanks to the citizens of Russia, their unity, all our unity. Last but not least, this is also the result of the government's work. [Prime Minister] Mikhail Vladimirovich [Mishustin] managed to gather such an efficient modern team of enthusiastic people, to construct this activity technologically well. And this, of course, brings appropriate results." Details: At the same time, the Russian dictator criticised the work of the enterprises placing orders for new aircraft. According to him, "there are still no orders at the factories; everything is taking too long." Putin Quote: "There are no contracts at the enterprises! The directors told me. Well, why are you fooling around? When will there be contracts? That's what I'm talking about. Everything should be done within a month. [Instead, its a] quarter, a year, what are we talking about? Do we not understand the conditions we live in? I ask you to finish this work within a month. Don't try to do your best, but do it within a month." The sanctions against the Russian Federation that were introduced in 2022 did not destroy the Russian economy, as initially expected. However, they have had a negative impact on many industries, from engineering and aviation to the export of oil and gas and other goods. Story continues During the first few months of the Russian invasion, more than 1,000 foreign companies left the Russian market. Russians lost up to a quarter of their imports, and production in technological industries fell by up to 80% due to lack of components. However, the world continues to impose sanctions against the Russian Federation. New packages and confiscation of Russian assets in favour of Ukraine will follow. So, over time, Russia will feel the consequences of sanctions more and more. Read also: "They haven't really started anything yet." Have the sanctions against Russia exhausted themselves? Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! In my opinion, any successor (you will laugh, but even Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, Im sure) will withdraw troops, sit down at the negotiating table and talk about reparations, she said. There will simply be no other way out for anyone! Kurnosova compared the situation to that after the death of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, when, even if Soviet secret police chief Lavrentiy Beria had gained power rather than being imprisoned and shot, there would have been a thaw, just as during the rule of Nikita Khrushchev, because there is no other way historically. Read also: Putin on collision course with Russias regional elites, expert says And today, only one path is possible historically: the withdrawal of troops, the payment of reparations, and recognition of defeat, the journalist added. Kurnosova also noted that it was Patrushev who was the first to speak out against recognizing Kremlin puppet republics in the Donbas at a meeting of Russias Security Council before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. He was supported by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and Foreign Intelligence Director Sergey Naryshkin. So its precisely the power bloc both Patrushev and Naryshkin perfectly understand what kind of mess Russia is in, to what extent, from the point of view of military power, Russia has lost everything, she said. Read also: Russian political analyst Preobrazhensky on shifts within Kremlins party of war And that its necessary to get out of (this situation) as soon as possible. Earlier, on Jan. 10, Ukrainian political scientist Mykola Davydiuk said Putins only chance to survive would be not to run in the 2024 presidential elections. His successor, who will be acceptable (both) to the West and to Putin, will hide Putin somewhere in a bunker, the political scientist said. And he (Putin) will live, and spend his money without leaving Russia. Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) Spencer Rattler is coming back to South Carolina. The Gamecocks quarterback posted his return on social medial Tuesday night. The video showed Rattler's highlights this season and ended with the words, He's Back." Rattler's future had been among the biggest offseason questions for South Carolina, which finished 8-5 this past season and ended the year No. 23 in the final AP Top 25 rankings. Rattler's NFL stock rose at the end of the season as he led South Carolina to consecutive wins over No. 5 Tennessee, 63-38, and No. 8 Clemson, 31-30, a week later. Rattler passed for 3,026 yards, 18 touchdowns and 12 interceptions this past year. More than a third of his passing yards came in the final three games. After a 45-38 loss at the Gator Bowl to Notre Dame, Rattler told media he'd take some time before deciding his future. Rattler helped the Sooners to a Big 12 Conference title in 2020 and was a Heisman Trophy contender at the start of the following season. However, he lost his starting job to Caleb Williams and transferred to the Gamecocks and coach Shane Beamer after the season. Rattler's top target from this past year, Antwane Juice Wells, announced Monday that he was passing on the NFL for another season at South Carolina. Wells caught 68 passes for 929 yards and six touchdowns. ___ AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/ap_top25 Sign up for the AP Top 25 newsletter here: https://link.apnews.com/join/6nr/morning-wire-newsletter-footer-internal-ads Prince Harry has not held back in his candid memoir Spare, which finally went on sale this week after copies leaked early. The ghostwritten autobiography has become the fastest-selling non-fiction book ever after hitting shelves on Tuesday, as the Duke of Sussex chronicles everything from family strife to personal trauma. Many of the most notable extracts were plastered across news sites and front pages in the days leading up to its official release, thanks to a series of leaks and the 416-page tome being accidentally released early in Spain. Prince Harry has hit back at criticism of parts of his book in a series of interviews (The Late Show with Stephen Colbert) But in interviews to promote the book, Prince Harry has hit out at the medias portrayal of multiple allegations he and the Duchess of Sussex have made. Speaking to ITV in the UK, as well as CBSs 60 Minutes, The Late Show and ABCs Good Morning America in the United States, the duke appeared concerned hit back at the backlash. Boasting about Taliban kills Among the passages that have attracted most attention is Harrys statement he killed 25 Taliban fighters during his military service in Afghanistan, where he served as an Apache helicopter pilot. The prince writes that his number is not one that fills me with satisfaction, but nor does it embarrass me, and recalled viewing his adversaries at the time as chess pieces to be taken off the board or baddies eliminated before they could kill goodies. Harrys decision to publicise both a kill count and the way in which he viewed enemy combatants following training by the British Army, was criticised in military circles previously a well of support for the prince. Harry served in Afghanistan a decade ago (AP Photo/ John Stillwell, Pool, File) He has been accused of potentially putting his family and British soldiers at greater risk of reprisals, with the Taliban. But speaking to Stephen Colbert on Tuesday, the 38-year-old denied that the passage amounted to boasting and further claimed his memoir had fallen foul of very dangerous spin. Without a doubt, the most dangerous lie that they have told is that I somehow boasted about the number of people that I killed in Afghanistan, he told The Late Show, adding: If I heard anyone boasting about that kind of thing, I would be angry. But its a lie. Story continues Hopefully now that the book is out, people will be able to see the context, and its really troubling and very disturbing that they can get away with it, he continued. My words are not dangerous, but the spin of my words are very dangerous. I made a choice to share it because having spent nearly two decades working with veterans all around the world, I think the most important thing is to be honest and to give space to others to be able to share their experiences without any shame. The book Spare has gone on sale this week (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali) Royal racism - or unconscious bias? Following their relocation to California, Harry and Meghan made global headlines during their interview with Oprah Winfrey. Most notably they made the allegation there had been conversations within the palace about how dark the colour of their babys skin would be widely interpreted as a charge of racism against an unnamed royal. But when ITVs Tom Bradby raised that Meghan had accused the royal family of racism, Harry interjected: No. The British press said that, right? Did Meghan ever mention theyre racists? Pressed on his wifes remarks to Oprah in March 2021, the duke added: Yeah, there were concerns about his skin colour. Asked whether he would not describe that as essentially racist, Harry said: I wouldnt. Not having lived within that family. Going back to the difference between what my understanding is, because of my own experience, the difference between racism and unconscious bias the two things are different. The allegation was made after Oprah asked Meghan in a question she admitted was loaded whether she believed the royal family hadnt wanted their son Archie to be a prince because of his race, to which the duchess replied: But I can give you an honest answer. In those months when I was pregnant ... we have in tandem the conversation of, He wont be given security. Hes not going to be given a title, and also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when hes born. Telling an incredulous Oprah that there were several conversations about it, the duchess said that she would not reveal who had made the remarks, on the grounds that: I think that would be very damaging to them. Critics have claimed that the apparent dialling back of the allegation allowed his family to be hung out to dry on an accusation of racism. In an interview, royal commentator Jennie Bond noted that much of what he said seemed conflicted and contradictory. Harry and Meghans interview Oprah drew headlines around the world (PA Media) Complex feelings for Camilla Harry has described his feelings towards Camilla Parker Bowles, now the Queen Consort, as complex, and this is evident in the depictions of their relationship which he has given in recent days. Writing in Spare about Camillas road to marrying his father King Charles, the duke describes his stepmother as dangerous and playing the long game in a campaign aimed at marriage, and eventually the crown. I had complex feelings about gaining a stepparent, who I thought had recently sacrificed me on her personal PR altar, he writes. Asked during the 60 Minutes interview, broadcast on Sunday, why he viewed Camilla as dangerous, Harry said: The need for her to rehabilitate her image that made her dangerous because of the connections that she was forging within the British press. 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. Harry, pictured with Charles and Camilla, in 2005 has a lot to say about his step-mother (Getty Images) Describing the narrative surrounding Camilla at the time, following the death of his mother Princess Diana, Harry added: She was the villain, she was a third person in the marriage, she needed to rehabilitate her image. But despite the strong allegations he has made against her, in another interview Harry claimed he still loves the Queen Consort and adopted a more conciliatory tone. On Good Morning America, Harry said he had huge amount of compassion for Camilla, being the third person in my parents marriage. And she had a reputation, or an image, to rehabilitate, he said. Whatever conversations happened, whatever deals or trading was made right at the beginning, she was led to believe that that would be the best way of doing it. And I don't have a problem with any member of my family needing to rehabilitate their image, but if that rehabilitation or that relationship with, in this case, the British tabloids, comes at the cost of my girlfriend or my family my close family or my larger family then I draw a line at that. As for his relationship with Camilla now, the duke said that he and his stepmother havent spoken for a long time, but that he loves every member of his family despite their differences. So, when I see her, were perfectly pleasant with each other, shes my stepmother, Harry said, adding that he views her not as an evil stepmother, but as someone who married into this institution and has done everything she can to improve her own reputation and her own image for her own sake. Photo: The Canadian Press Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., and Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., are sworn in by Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy of Calif., as members of the 118th Congress in Washington, early Saturday, Jan. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) Local Republican leaders in New York on Wednesday called for the immediate resignation of their new GOP congressman George Santos, who is facing multiple investigations by prosecutors over his personal and campaign finances and lies about his resume and family heritage. His lies were not mere fibs. He disgraced the House of Representatives," Joseph Cairo Jr., chair of the Nassau County Republican Committee, said at a news conference. Hes not welcome here at Republican headquarters." Santos, swarmed by reporters at the Capitol on Wednesday, flatly rejected the call to resign, saying, I will not. The call was an extraordinary rebuke of the freshman congressman whose election months ago flipped a Democratic House seat and was initially one of the GOP's highlights of the November election. The denunciation by local Republicans also amps up the pressure on Republicans in Congress to rebuke or sideline Santos. Cairo and other Republicans said Santos deceived voters and the Nassau County GOP and they were particularly incensed by his lies about having Jewish ancestry. Rep. Anthony DEsposito, another Republican newly elected to represent Long Island, spoke at the news conference via video from Washington and joined Cairo's call for his colleague's resignation. George Santos does not have the ability to serve here in the House of Representatives and should resign, D'Esposito said. The local party has no mechanism to remove Santos from office. He was sworn in to the U.S. House last week. The move comes a day after two Democrats from New York asked the House Ethics Committee to investigate Santos. Reps. Ritchie Torres and Dan Goldman, in a letter to the committee, said Santos also failed to file timely, accurate and complete financial disclosure reports and the reports he did file are sparse and perplexing." Earlier this week, the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center lodged a complaint with the Federal Election Commission and urged regulators to investigate Santos. The mountain of lies Santos propagated during the campaign about his life story and qualifications, the center said, should prompt the commission to thoroughly investigate what appear to be equally brazen lies about how his campaign raised and spent money. Initially, the victory by Santos, an openly gay Republican, was seen as one of his partys bright spots in an otherwise underwhelming midterm election. But as reports began to emerge that Santos had lied about having Jewish ancestry, a career at top Wall Street firms and a college degree, he turned into a distraction and an embarrassment to the party as it took control of the House. During his campaign, he referred to himself as a proud American Jew. But he later backtracked on that claim, saying his mother's family had a Jewish background, and he told the New York Post in an interview, "I said I was Jew-ish. Bruce Blakeman, a Jewish Republican and the elected Nassau County Executive, said he and other members of the sizeable Jewish population in the area take their religion and heritage seriously. He said it was ridiculous for Santos to call himself a Jew, but said it was "beyond the pale" and outrageous for Santos to have said in an interview that his grandparents survived the Holocaust. He cannot serve anymore. He does not deserve that right," Blakeman said. "He is a stain on the House of Representatives. Blakeman said his office would have no interaction with Santos or his staff until he resigns and that the county would redirect any of Santos' constituents seeking help to the office of D'Esposito in the neighboring congressional district. We do not consider him one of our congress people, Cairo said. Santos first ran for Congress in 2020, losing to Tom Suozzi, a Democrat. He ran again in 2022, facing Democrat Robert Zimmerman in a district that includes some Long Island suburbs and a small slice of Queens. Raleigh is growing and the citys criminal element is growing along with it, Police Chief Estella Patterson said Wednesday during a news conference. Homicides in Raleigh rose by nearly 50% in 2022, making it one of the citys deadliest years on record, according to data requested by The News & Observer. There were 49 reported homicides last year, compared to 33 in 2021, a 48.5% increase. Of those, 41 were fatal shootings, a nearly 58% increase from the 26 reported in 2021. And that was more than double the 19 people shot and killed in Raleigh in pre-pandemic 2019. Raleigh police chief talks crime Patterson discussed what the Raleigh Police Department is doing to fight violent crime including plans to increase community engagement and collaboration during a news conference at the Raleigh Police Department Southwest District on Hutton Street. Patterson said growth partly explains the spike in violence. I think it goes back to what were seeing, she said. Were a growing city. I think its naive to think youre not going to have a criminal element that is part of that growth. Patterson said she hopes to reduce homicides by further leaning on community resources and bolstering her offices relationship with the U.S. Attorneys office. Another major challenge is juvenile crime, Patterson said. In the final quarter of 2022, 11% of aggravated assaults were committed by juveniles with access to guns. When we see 14- and 15 year-olds committing crimes, we have to have groups of people who can really connect with them and be able to turn that around, she said. Patterson hopes to make juvenile gun safety a priority and said she plans to participate in a statewide safe store project that will provide education, training and gun locks for legal gun owners to safely store their weapons. We are seeing a greater need for this every day, she said. How much gun violence does Raleigh have? Year-end shooting data requested by The N&O shows in 2022 there were: Story continues 36 fatal shooting incidents with 41 victims. 43 homicide incidents, including non-gun related killings, with 49 victims. 92 non-fatal shootings. Durham, with about 60% as many people as Raleigh, reported the same number of fatal shootings last year, its police data shows. However, Durham reported 206 non-fatal shootings out of a total of 247 persons shot. Those shootings have decreased in the city since 2020, when 285 non-fatal shootings were reported. More young people shot in Raleigh Data tracked by The N&O shows fatal shootings and overall gun-related crimes in Raleigh have risen steadily since 2019. Among last years numbers, there were 18 juveniles (ages 13 to 17) fatally shot in 2022, compared to eight the year before. Two of the citys fatal shootings were by police. Officers shot and killed two men last year, one in January and another in May. Police have made arrests in three-quarters of the homicides, according to police spokesman Lt. Jason Borneo. Asked about the possibility of adopting ShotSpotter surveillance technology as Durham has recently done, Patterson said she is more focused on finding ways to prevent gun violence. ShotSpotter was launched last month in Durham to detect gunfire so police can get to the scenes of shootings more quickly. Part of Raleighs efforts include a Community Violence Interrupter program, with the Raleigh-Apex NAACP, that received over $2 million from the Raleigh City Council last year. The pilot program, praised by the police chief as a proactive measure, will go boots on the ground this year with individuals doing community-based work with victims of gun violence and at-risk youth, she said. Kgothatso Ngako saw a problem. He believed his neighbors in Africa would benefit from owning bitcoin, but most did not own smartphones. Internet penetration in Africa is only 30%. Millions were unable to, as the slogan puts it, be their own bank. Ngako wanted to change this. A former software engineer at Amazon, he had already worked to translate bitcoin education materials such as Satoshi Nakamotos white paper into over 20 African languages including Kiswahili, Shona and Oshiwambo. But that would only go so far. Knowledge would be worthless unless people had a way to actually own bitcoin. Luckily, on the African continent the GSM infrastructure is quite solid, says Ngako. So thanks to this network, many Africans used text-based flip phones. Could Ngako tap into the GSM infrastructure and create something bitcoin-compatible? He quit his job and built Machankura. The word doesnt have an exact translation, but Ngako says its a slang term that usually refers to money. Machankura is a text-based interface that allows for the sending, receiving and spending of bitcoin, enabled by the Lightning network. A user can create a Lightning wallet directly on their flip-phone. Over our Zoom call, Ngako held up a phone and demonstrated the functionality: A simple screen gives options for 1. Send BTC; 2. Receive BTC; 3; Balance and History; 4. Spend BTC, and so on. Machankura is still in its early beta phase, but Ngako says it has been in active use for six months. He envisions solutions like this as a way to onboard more Africans, adoption he sees as long overdue. Read more: Cory Klippsten et al. - The Ten Biggest Developments in Bitcoin in 2022 From an adoption perspective, bitcoin is not where it should be, says Ngako. He notes that Mobile Money, a digital (non-crypto) payment platform launched in 2007, has 6 million active users in Kenya. Why cant bitcoin do the same thing? Or, zooming out the lens, why isnt there more bitcoin and crypto adoption? Whats holding back the tech? The recent problems of the space have been well-chronicled the meltdowns of FTX and Celsius Network, the pop of the non-fungible token (NFT) bubble, the jitters of a recession, the whims of U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, the overall souring of the vibes. Story continues But you can also point to a shaky infrastructure. The infrastructure that is driving Web3, broadly, has some catching up to do, says Ryan Servatius, head of strategic partnerships at Mysten Labs. Many have argued that the crypto space is now where the internet was in the early 1990s. Servatius takes the analogy one step further: He argues that the internet did not flourish until its infrastructure matured. Infrastructure was the key ingredient, says Servatius. Broadband penetration was the single critical driver, as the Netflix and YouTubes would not be possible until you had sufficient broadband penetration in the United States. Servatius believes that the blockchain space is still pre-broadband, and that we still have to get that infrastructure stood up at a level that will allow the world to embrace something that is fast and cheap. Theres little consensus on exactly how the infrastructure should be improved. Or which projects will win. Ask 100 people in crypto and youll get 100 different answers. A debate between the bitcoin maximalists, Ethereum die-hards, and the many aspiring Ethereum Killers (such as Solana, Cardano or Servatius Mysten Labs) would make Kevin McCarthys Speaker of the House debacle, by comparison, look like the pinnacle of Athenian democracy. When blockchain works, itll be boring. And what even counts as blockchain infrastructure? You could make the argument that every project in crypto meme coins excluded is a type of infrastructure. Its a tricky concept. Its almost unpleasant. Compare this to the more colorful corners of the space: You can squint and visualize the virtual reality of the metaverse; its easy to imagine the artwork of an NFT; you can even understand (if not endorse) the appeal of number go up price speculation. Read more: Andrew Keys - 23 Blockchain Predictions for 2023 But infrastructure almost feels invisible, and maybe thats the point. The average person shouldnt know anything about infrastructure, says Andrew Keys, co-founder and managing partner of Darma Capital. This is how it works on the internet. When you buy a ticket on Orbitz to fly somewhere, no one gives a [damn] if you use a SQL database or a Kafka database. You just use Orbitz, says Keys. Blockchain should work the same way. When blockchain works, itll be boring, says Keys, adding that the experience should feel no different from the world of Web2, with the exception that instead of an intermediary extracting 40% for putting a driver and passenger together, a la Uber, [when] it should only cost 1%. Thats the goal. And if the space wants to emerge from crypto winter, it will take real progress on this boring, behind-the-scenes, invisible work of plumbing and wiring. Thats whats needed for widespread adoption it needs to be easy and accessible and fun. So with the understanding that this is far from comprehensive and likely to spark debate (if it didnt, wed be doing it wrong) these seven buckets are what we talk about when we talk about blockchain infrastructure: Smoother UX across the board Whats it like for a newbie to purchase an NFT? Its a train wreck, says Paul Brody, the head of blockchain projects at Ernst & Young. If you try to take a new person through buying an NFT its incredibly horrifying. You first need to create an account in an exchange like Coinbase or Binance, then open a MetaMask wallet, transfer funds, connect to OpenSea and so on. Compare that to using ApplePay to buy something online, says Brody. Its just a really terrible, terrible experience. Brody suspects that true widespread adoption, especially for large companies, will not happen without smoother software. It has to be easy enough for a typical enterprise IT developer to make use of, says Brody. They have to be able to plug it in. It cant be, Hey, I need to build a specialist blockchain team. (Brodys team at EY is working on such solutions; theyve already piloted a supply chain project with Peroni beer.) In a similar vein, other projects are trying to make it easier for Web2 companies to plug-and-play with Web3 on the consumer side. Take brand loyalty NFTs. Ive spoken to many Web3 advocates who are bullish on mainstream brands using social tokens, NFTs, or other chunks of Web3 to create super-charged rewards programs frequent flyer accounts on steroids. But the exact how this happens seemed to be a yada yada yada. Enter projects such as Dispatch, which is building ways for companies to directly communicate with crypto end users, such as zapping messages to their Ledger wallets. Then this syncs to the companys normal CRM [customer relationship management] interface, a la Salesforce. I tell everybody, this is the future, but Im going to put it in your CRM for you, says Byron Sorrells, head of Dispatch. You have to meet users where they are. We cant expect another massive behavior change for adoption. I think it will be, Im doing what Ive always done, but underneath it is the magic of Web3. In his own way, Sorrells is using the same playbook as Ngako in Africa: Expanding the crypto infrastructure by creating an easy solution for the end user. In Ngakos case, its letting Kenyans use their text-phones to get bitcoin. In Sorrells, its using enterprise software but injecting it with NFTs, or as he puts it, Mailchimp, but make it blockchain. Better (decentralized) wallets We need really great wallets, says Paulina Joskow, head of partnerships at Ramp, a project thats building payment rails connecting crypto to the global financial system. Theyre the backbone of how we use and operate in the crypto ecosystem every day. The current state of wallets? The way Joskkw sees it, Were not ready for the next wave of mainstream adoption. The Better Wallets mission is what Kgothatso Ngako is working on in Africa. The Better Wallets mission is why Ledger hired Tony Fadell, the designer of the original Apple iPod, to create its next generation devices. And the Better Wallets mission, for many in the space, is a way to bring crypto back to its decentralized roots. The scalability and the privacy provided by Zero Knowledge proofs are essential. What we learned this year is that a lot of these non-self-custody solutions centralized finance solutions had major problems, says Amanda Cassatt, founder of the Serotonin marketing agency. She points to the meltdowns of FTX, Celsius Network and BlockFi as centralized solutions that ran amuck. This highlighted the need to have really good UX, but also to enable genuine self-custody by users. The FTXes of the world might not have been safe, but they were a snap to use. Cassatt wants to see that same dead-simple experience, with a decentralized twist. I actually dont really think that someone has gotten onboarded into Web3 if theyre not custodying their own crypto, says Cassatt, formerly chief marketing officer at ConsenSys, the Ethereum development studio. Theres an understandable reluctance to go full self-custody. The average person (myself included) gets queasy at the idea of having to keep track of a 16-word seed phrase. Or to keep a hardware wallet safe. Within months of buying a car, for example, I lost the title and had to spend hours at the DMV pleading my case; maybe crypto could help me be my own bank, but I have a feeling Id be a lousy bank. So whats needed, Cassatt argues, is not a centralized solution but easier decentralized ones. Something to let even the pinheads like me feel comfortable. Cassatt is bullish on the concept of progressive sovereignty, where a user gradually becomes more of their own custodian as they learn more about Web3. The mission right now is to get as many people as possible to self-custody their bitcoin, says Alex Gladstein, chief strategy officer at Human Rights Foundation and a prominent Bitcoin advocate. Right now, we dont need any fancy software upgrades for Bitcoin to do that. Gladstein believes that the infrastructure is more on the app level. (He considers Ngakos work in Africa, as well as the self-custody Muun wallet, as prime examples.) Gladstein acknowledges that the Bitcoin network software will eventually need an upgrade, but says we havent crossed that bridge yet. While its true that newbies struggle with seed phrases, Gladstein notes that in the 1990s his parents struggled to remember curious new terms like email passwords and usernames. They used sticky notes on their monitors. Ultimately, we figured out ways to deal with that, says Gladstein, and that did not stop email from taking over the world. Building better bridges How good is one blockchain at playing nice with another blockchain? Glitches still happen. This leads to theft and a loss of trust in the system, as over $2 billion was hacked from blockchain bridges, according to an estimate from Chainalysis. I really hope we can spend the next months or years, depending on how long the bear market lasts, improving how we approach bridging between layers, says Joskow, at Ramp. Because this is something we need to do without giving it a second thought. For example, she believes that well soon be in a world where Ethereums layer 2 systems (such as Optimism and Arbitrum) will be widely used side by side, depending on the context and the application. So before we approach mainstream adoption, she says, we need to provide a secure way for people to swap tokens between layers. The primacy of privacy For those who are unfamiliar with the space, the concept of crypto privacy has the whiff of the Dark Web, illegal drugs, money laundering and the funding of terrorists. Privacy can sound a little naughty. If youre in this camp, you should have a conversation with Paul Brody, the executive at Ernst & Young. Brody explains that privacy is essential to corporate America, and this has been true since the early days of the internet. Think about e-commerce. The killer application of the internet, as it were, turned out to be commerce. Buying stuff, says Brody. For that we had to have privacy. Imagine if all of your Amazon purchases were visible for the world to see. Thanks to the boring internet infrastructure work of SSL encryption, we can shop online safely. Thats entirely missing today from the blockchain ecosystem, says Brody. Thats job #1. Just as you want to keep your Amazon splurges to yourself, companies need to keep their operations private. If a car manufacturer, for example, uses a public smart contract to buy tires from a supplier, the on-chain transactions could tip their hand to competitors. The details of corporate supply chains are very, very sensitive, says Brody, which is why supply chain projects are almost impossible on a public blockchain. (His team at EY is working on solutions, some of which will be tested in the next few months.) Web3 is vastly more transparent than the web were trying to replace, says Alex Pruden, CEO of Aleo (a privacy-focused blockchain system). If you buy your wife an anniversary gift, all of that is on-chain and recorded for all the world to see. He believes this is one reason you havent seen broader adoption, which is why the scalability and the privacy provided by Zero-Knowledge proofs are essential. Read more: Dan Kuhn - Decentralized Social Media Has the Moment Come? Zero-Knowledge poofs (or ZK proofs) let you prove that something is true without disclosing other sensitive data. It shares only whats needed. An easy example: In todays world, if you walk into a bar and are asked to show your ID, the bouncer can see details including your home address, height and drivers license number. But the only relevant data is your birthday are you over 21? In a smart ID thats powered by ZK proofs, the only thing youd show the bouncer is a field displaying Over 21. Pruden is so passionate about the importance of ZK infrastructure that he organized an open competition, called ZPrize, to goose its growth and innovation. He says that over $4 million has been awarded so far; the prizes are for extremely simple-sounding categories including Accelerating MSM Operations on GPU/FPGA, Plonk-DIZK GPU Acceleration, and Accelerating NTT Operations on an FPGA. And people think this stuff is complicated? Web3 social infrastructure Cassatt predicts that 2023 will be The Year of Web3 social, finally unlocking decentralized alternatives to the Twitters and Facebooks of the world. (Others do, too.) Whereas many grumble, with some merit, that blockchain is often a solution in search of a problem, here the problem is clear: The clout you earn on one platform cant be ported to another. This feels suddenly relevant as Twitter wobbles. Mainstream adoption of Web3 social media wont happen, says Cassatt, without more work on a protocol level. She points to Lens Protocol as her favorite example, which allows for people to build their own decentralized, censorship-resistant social media applications. Thats going to onboard a lot of users, Cassatt says, partly because this use case is less dependent on price and instead offers real utility on Web3. Indexing Data needs to be indexed to be quickly accessed. The analytics and indexing infrastructure is really, really important for developers, says Pruden at Aleo. Without getting too deep in the weeds (or drilling down into things like Plonk-DIZK GPU Acceleration), the key point is that there are different ways that indexing can be done. Centralized or decentralized. Pruden hopes to see more open-sourced, decentralized indexing solutions emerge, as these are part of the defaults for the overall system. The defaults today are hosted infrastructure and non self-hosted wallets, says Pruden. And if we dont push back against those defaults, then those forces of gravity will continue to get stronger and stronger. Finally, something crucial to just about every project in the space: More scalability Thanks to the Lightning Network, transactions that took 10 minutes on Bitcoin can now happen in a millisecond. This breakthrough in infrastructure is what enabled Strike (the mobile payments app) to launch in El Salvador, which paved the way for legal tender. While the verdict is still out on the El Salvador bitcoin experiment, its a plum example of how boring, quiet progress in infrastructure can suddenly unleash breakthroughs. Read more: Ethereum Pulled Off The Years Biggest Blockchain Event Dozens of competing layer 1 projects, of course, are all racing to deliver faster and cheaper and greener and better alternatives to Ethereum. The work at Lightning continues (such as helping developers build Lightning-friendly apps), as does the work of Ethereum itself. Ethereum does require more scaling, says Brody. The Merge doesnt solve all the problems. He views the Merge upgrade to proof-of-stake as a triumph for demonstrating that Ethereum could migrate $700 billion worth of mission-critical infrastructure without a hiccup, but its just part of a much longer journey. Ethereums short-term focus is on sharding, which the Ethereum Foundation defines as a multi-phase upgrade to improve Ethereums scalability and capacity, which should further lower fees. The full road map was sketched by Vitalik Buterin himself, containing the milestones of Surge, Verge, Purge and Splurge. Hats off to Buterin, as Merge isnt the easiest word to rhyme. And lets just hope there isnt a Scourge. (Bloomberg) -- Dissident forces in Ethiopias Tigray region began handing over heavy weapons to the national army, providing a major boost to efforts to end the nations civil war. Most Read from Bloomberg The Tigray rebels, who fought a two-year war with Ethiopian federal troops, were seen handing over tanks, artillery units and armored vehicles at an army garrison outside Agulae, about 30 kilometers (18 miles) northeast of the regional capital of Mekelle, the regional broadcaster Tigray Television reported. The disarmament was agreed under a peace accord forged in South Africa late last year. Thousands of people died and war crimes and human rights atrocities were allegedly committed by fighters on both sides of the conflict. Following the agreement reached between the federal government and the TPLF leaders in South Africa and Kenya, the first round of heavy weapons has been transported yesterday, Ethiopias army said in a statement. Selamawit Kassa, Ethiopias state minister at the governments communications service, confirmed that the disarmament process had begun. Getachew Reda, a senior TPLF member said in a Twitter posting that he hoped the move will go a long way in expediting the full implementation of the peace agreement. Since the accord was signed, tens of thousands of tons of food and medicine have been dispatched to the war-scarred Tigray region, telecommunication and banking services were restored and commercial flights resumed to the region. Troops from neighboring Eritrea, which backed the government in the war, have left some major urban areas but remain within Tigrays borders. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. Jan. 10ST. PAUL A Red Lake man has been sentenced to 37 years in prison for fatally shooting Red Lake police officer Ryan Bialke in 2021. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, David Brian Donnell Jr. was sentenced on Tuesday, Jan. 10 in U.S. District Court after pleading guilty to one count of second-degree murder for an incident that occurred on July 27, 2021, in Redby. A total of 17 members of Bialke's family, friends and former colleagues provided victim impact statements during the hearing, with deputies from the Beltrami County Sheriff's Office lining two walls of the courtroom. According to court documents, on July 27 the Red Lake Police Department responded to a call for a welfare check on Donnell at his residence. Five officers, including Bialke, arrived and found Donnell standing on his porch. Before arriving, the officers had been notified that Donnell had an active tribal warrant. When officers began to approach him, he went inside his house and wouldn't come back outside. Due to Donnell having an active warrant, the officers attempted to breach the house and take him into custody. After Bialke kicked the front door to get in, gunfire erupted from inside the house. Bialke was struck by gunfire through the door and died on the scene. Donnell fled on foot but was later arrested at a nearby residence. During Donnell's hearing, Judge John Tunheim stated that the 37-year sentence was "justified by a senseless crime," and extended condolences to the family of Officer Bialke. "When David Brian Donnell opened fire at officers on July 27, 2021, our community lost a husband, a father, a son, and a hero," Alvin Winston, FBI Special Agent in Charge, Minneapolis Division, said in a release. "Officer Bialke paid the ultimate price for his dedication to public safety, and today's sentence is a testament to the tireless efforts of our state and local partners and the Headwaters Safe Trails Task Force to ensure that violent criminals are held accountable for their heinous crimes." This case was the result of an investigation conducted by the Red Lake Tribal Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation Headwaters Safe Trails Task Force, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Beltrami County Sheriff's Office, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Travelers who book a cruise by March 31 will receive a complimentary 2-category suite upgrade. Graham Copeland/Courtesy of Regent Seven Seas Cruises Regent Seven Seas Cruises newest promotion is making a cruise with the luxury line even more opulent. Travelers who book a cruise by March 31 will receive a complimentary 2-category suite upgrade up to a Penthouse Suite, the cruise line shared with Travel + Leisure. We pride ourselves on delivering unrivaled levels of luxury for our guests aboard The Worlds Most Luxurious Fleet, as we sail some of the world's most desired ports of call, Andrea DeMarco, the president of Regent Seven Seas Cruises, said in a statement provided to T+L. Our enviable staff-to-guest ratio delivers exceptional service on board, coupled with spacious all-suite, all-balcony accommodation and outstanding culinary experiences as well as highly immersive destination experiences. Guests will take away a lifetime of memories from their Regent voyage. The Upgrade Your Horizon promotion is available on more than 400 different voyages across the companys fleet for sailings through May 2025, including to Africa, Alaska, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, Canada, the Caribbean, and more. Travel from Miami to Barbados, for example, with stops in the ABC islands on the Seven Seas Navigator; or cruise from Bangkok to Tokyo on an epic 16 night voyage aboard the Seven Seas Explorer. Travelers who are upgraded to different suite levels will also receive the added perks that go along with it, like a free 1-night pre-cruise hotel stay when upgraded to a Concierge Suite, or a personal butler when upgraded to a Penthouse Suite. As part of the promotion, travelers from the United States and Canada will also receive 50% reduced deposits, according to the company. World Cruises and Grand Voyages are not included in the promotion. All guests who book a trip with Regent Seven Seas receive perks like free unlimited shore excursions, roundtrip business class air on intercontinental flights from the U.S. and Canada, unlimited internet access, free valet laundry, included gratuities, and more. For more Travel & Leisure news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on Travel & Leisure. Families of Russian soldiers who were killed in the Ukrainian town of Makiivka on New Years Eve at night do not believe the version of events presented by the Ministry of Defence of Russia. Source: Russian BBC service Details: After interviewing the families of the soldiers killed, the BBC came to the conclusion that they do not believe in the version suggested by the Ministry of Defence of Russia, i.e., that the soldiers themselves were to blame. A sister of one of the survivors stated, "No one will say anything. They are shutting everyones mouth. All the boys (Russian soldiers ed.) are telling their mothers not to believe what is being said on the TV. I think it is all quite clear, even without a deep dive. I feel sorry for the boys who lost their lives for nothing. The mothers are suffering". A family member of one of the killed told the BBC that the statement by Sergei Sevriukov, deputy head of the main military-political directory of the Armed Forces of Russia, surprised him, as Sevriukov claimed that the main cause of the strike was the "massive use of phones by the personnel", which made it possible for Ukrainians to "detect the location of the soldiers to launch an attack on them". Quote: "The truth is, they threw away all Russian SIM cards in Rostov (Russian city ed.) on the way to Makiivka. Then their commander took them to a special place where they bought Ukrainian SIM cards. He contacted us via Telegram." More details: The BBC states that the Russian secret services are actively working with the phones of the soldiers killed in order to find evidence that would confirm the version of the Russian Defence Ministry. Background: The Defence Forces of Ukraine launched an attack on a Russian military base in occupied Makiivka in Donetsk Oblast on New Year's Eve, killing 400 and wounding 300 occupiers to varying degrees of severity. The Russian soldiers were stationed in the building of local vocational school no. 19. The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation reported that the death toll following the strike on the Russian servicemens base in Makiivka had risen to 89. The Ministry of Defence of Russia claims that the mobile phones used by the soldiers allowed Ukraine to destroy the building where they were staying. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! Months after the remains of a man were found in Clayton County, police have identified him as a 25-year-old man from Illinois. Officers found the decomposed remains off Hunter Ridge Drive on Nov. 13. The man has now been identified as Jon M. Reed. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Deputies with the Knox County Sheriffs Office in Illinois said Reed was last known to be in the Atlanta area trying to get to a homeless shelter. They say no one had heard from him since he sent text messages on Oct. 22. One of the only clues investigators were able to find with his body was Reeds red short-sleeved shirt. Last week, investigators released a sketch of Reed in the hopes it would help get him identified. TRENDING STORIES: It is unclear how Reed died. Investigators say they are waiting on results from an autopsy on Reeds body. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] A video presentation showing former President Donald Trump during a meeting of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol. Jim Lo Scalzo/Pool Photo via AP Democrats vowed on Tuesday to seat members on every House select committee and subcommittee. The Democratic Caucus chair said he doesn't want to repeat the GOP's mistake, per The Hill. The GOP chose to boycott the Jan 6. panel, which was widely seen as a tactical error. The Democratic Party vowed on Tuesday not to make the same mistake the Republican Party did when it boycotted the panel investigating the Capitol riot. "It is our intent to seat members on every select committee, every subcommittee that the leadership on the majority side advances," Rep. Pete Aguilar, House Democratic Caucus chair, said, according to The Hill. Republicans won a slim majority in the House during last year's midterms, giving the party control over establishing committees. One of the subcommittees that Democrats intend to sit on is the controversial Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, which was established on Tuesday. The panel will be led by Rep. Jim Jordan, a close ally of former President Donald Trump, and will have sweeping powers to investigate agencies of the federal government for supposed bias against conservatives. The subcommittee will scrutinize how agencies collect, analyze, and use information about US citizens, its forming resolution said. The White House referred to it as a partisan political stunt "driven by the most extreme MAGA members of their caucus," NBC News reported. Speaking to reporters, the House Democratic Caucus chair said it is in the "best interest" of the party and the public to seat Democrats on such panels, so that "Republicans don't have an opportunity behind closed doors to shape, and to add to, these conspiracy theories." Democrats also intend to sit on a new select committee focusing on competition between the US and China, which was overwhelmingly approved on Tuesday. The move to seat House Democrats is a departure from the previous GOP strategy, which saw Republican leaders boycott the select committee to investigate the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021. Story continues After seeing his partisan picks to sit on the panel vetoed by Democrats in 2021, then-Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy opted not to appoint any Republican members, though two Republicans, then-Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, ultimately joined. Trump described McCarthy's decision to not have GOP representation on the committee as "very, very foolish" when speaking to conservative radio host Wayne Allen Root last June. That same month, Republican allies in Congress told The New York Times that McCarthy's decision left the GOP without an insight into the inner workings of the panel. Political experts told Insider last year that McCarthy's decision not to participate was a "huge tactical mistake" that prevented the GOP from being able to control the narrative around the investigation. Read the original article on Business Insider INDIANAPOLIS A retired Muncie Police Department sergeant on Tuesday formally admitted to filing a false report in a bid to cover up a colleague's physical abuse of an arrestee. Joseph Krejsa, 52, pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in U.S. District Court. Kresja's guilty plea came a week after he signed a plea agreement negotiated with federal prosecutors. According to a release issued Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Justice, Krejsa on Aug. 9, 2018 "falsely deemed" MPD officer Chase Winkle's abuse of an arrestee, resulting in serious injuries, had been a "justified" use of force. A few days later, after reviewing body-camera footage which showed Winkle raise his knee and drop his bodyweight onto the man's head and neck, Krejsa issued a lengthy memo, inaccurately recounting Winkle's actions and suggesting the force used "was justified to ensure officer safety." More:Former Muncie officer Winkle pleads guilty to battering arrestees, obstruction of justice Judge Tanya Walton Pratt set Krejsa's sentencing hearing for June 27. Winkle on Dec. 5 pleaded guilty to 11 charges five counts of depriving arrestees of their constitutional rights by physically abusing them, and six counts of obstruction of justice. Winkle is scheduled to be sentenced on March 3. The assaults leading to his convictions took place between March 2018 and February 2019, when Winkle's father, Joseph, was Muncie police chief. Winkle is scheduled to sentenced on March 3. Another former city officer, Jeremy Gibson, in May pleaded guilty to civil rights and obstruction charges stemming from an assault on another arrestee. Another former officer, Dalton Kurtz, in August 2021 pleaded guilty to a count stemming from his failure to report "inappropriate use of force by Winkle." Gibson and Kurtz have not yet been sentenced. Corey Posey, the only co-defendant who remains a city officer, remains charged with filing a false report stemming from one of the incidents that saw Winkle brutalize an arrestee. 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: Ex-Muncie police officer pleads guilty to obstruction of justice Photo: The Canadian Press A Toronto Police Services logo is shown at headquarters, in Toronto, on Friday, August 9, 2019.The Toronto Police Service says it is looking for more victims after multiple people were assaulted on the subway in December by a group of teenage girls. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov Toronto police say they are looking for victims after a group of up to 10 girls allegedly assaulted several people at public transit stations last month. Police say the assaults took place on Dec. 17 between 10 p.m. and midnight at five downtown subway stations. They are describing the assaults as random. Police are asking anyone with information or who may have been a victim to contact them. The assaults took place the same night that eight teenage girls allegedly swarmed and stabbed a homeless man in the downtown core who later died in hospital. Three 13-year-olds, three 14-year-olds and two 16-year-olds are facing second-degree murder in the death. Police have said they believe the teens in that case congregated after meeting on social media and are from homes across the Greater Toronto Area. The victim was identified this week as 59-year-old Ken Lee and police previously said he had moved into the city's shelter system in recent months. Which? has has picked out some cheaper supermarket own-brand coffee that beat established brands such as Illy and Lavazza. Photo: PA/Alamy The British consume three times as much tea as coffee but for many that first sip in the morning is a ritual to get some much needed caffeine before work. But do you need to buy expensive brands or make your own instead of going to a cafe? As the cost of living squeezes consumers, here are some insights from consumer group Which? that could save you money while enjoying some tasty coffee. How much can homemade coffee save you? You might be surprised just how much buying coffee to make at home can save, compared to buying it in a cafe or using a coffee pod machine, especially if it's a daily habit. Which? compared the cost of drinking 9g the recommended serving size of its cheapest recommended "Best Buy" ground coffee, Asda Italian Style Roast & Ground Coffee, made in a Bodum French press every day with the cost of a Lavazza A Moda Mio Voicy coffee pod machine with daily pods and the price of an Americano from Costa Coffee. Initial equipment cost 18 99 0 Cost per day 10p 31p 2.20 Total cost (year 1) 54.50 212.83 803 By the end of your first year, you will already have saved hundreds of pounds, even if you only make coffee at home on weekdays. Reena Sewraz, Which? money and retail editor, said: "Many of us will be relying on coffee to get us through the dark January mornings, and yet again our taste tests have shown that supermarket own-brand products can more than stand their ground against pricier items from big brands. "Lots of households are looking for ways to cut their spending due to the ongoing cost of living crisis. Opting for supermarket own-label groceries is not only a great way to save money, but often you won't have to compromise on taste." How to make the best homemade coffee Pre-ground coffee of this type can be used in a filter coffee machine or French press. Always check the packaging when you buy ground coffee as there are different grind levels, some of which are designed for espresso coffee machines, but this should be clear on the pack. Story continues Read more: Money: How to make 1000 in 2023 To make great coffee at home: Use hot, not boiling, water. Around 60-80C is ideal to heat the ground coffee without spoiling its flavour. Don't over-brew. If you're using a French press, then around four minutes should be enough for a strong coffee that's not too bitter. If you prefer it weaker, leave it to brew for less time. Froth your milk. Once brewed, adding well-frothed milk will help you achieve a coffee shop level creamy texture. Best Italian-style ground coffee M&S was Which?'s tasters' favourite, but two other coffees also impressed them enough to gain a "Best Buy" accolade one branded and one supermarket option. If you want the best value, Lidl's ground coffee is the consumer body's "Great Value" pick. Best Buy: M&S Fairtrade Italian Coffee 71% 3.10 for 227g (1.37 per 100g) M&S's coffee led the pack in Which?'s taste test, winning the panel over with its enticing aroma that's (almost) worth getting out of bed for in the morning. Which? tasters were also impressed by its strength of flavour, with most finding it just right. It's not the cheapest that was tested, but it's not wildly expensive and is a great buy if you want a top coffee to start your day. Available from Ocado (OCDO.L). Best Buy: Taylors of Harrogate Rich Italian Ground Coffee 68% 3.50 for 227g (1.54 per 100g) The best of the branded options, Taylors isn't as expensive as you might expect from a big name, especially if you buy it from Asda, where it's currently cheapest thanks to a price rollback. It scored well across the board, and is best suited to those who don't want the punchiest coffee first thing, as four in 10 tasters found it a little weak for their palette. Available from Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury's (SBRY.L) and Tesco (TSCO.L). Best Buy: Asda Italian Style Roast & Ground Coffee 68% 2.50 for 227g (1.10 per 100g) Asda's coffee was the third cheapest in the test, and one of the best, so it's a great option if you're shopping on a budget and don't live near an Aldi or Lidl, or just want a good balance of price vs quality. Several tasters commented on its "smooth" feel, though just over a third thought it veered towards too bitter. Available from Asda. Lidl Italian Ground Coffee 67% 1.79 for 227g (79p per 100g) This coffee is the best on a budget, costing nearly three times less than the priciest brand tested. Besides M&S, it was the only brand to really wow Which?'s tasters with the smell of a freshly brewed pot. The only downside is that it didn't have quite enough of a bitter edge for nearly half the panel. Available from Lidl. How Aldi, Tesco, Illy, Lavazza and other supermarket ground coffees compare There wasn't a great deal to separate the rest, though pricier big brands came surprisingly far down the rankings. Wherever you shop, it's worth trying the own-brand option to see if you can save money. Aldi Alcafe Italian Style Arabica Ground Coffee 66% . Some would have preferred a stronger taste, but if you want the very cheapest it could be worth picking up. 70p per 100g. Available from Aldi. Tesco Italian Inspired Blend Ground Coffee 66%. Most tasters rated the level of bitterness as just right for their taste but a third found the strength of flavour lacking. 1.17 per 100g. Available from Tesco. Sainsbury's Fairtrade Italian Style Coffee 66%. Scored high marks for appearance, but otherwise Which?'s tasters didn't find much to shout about. 1.23 per 100g. Available from Sainsbury's. Waitrose Italian Style Ground Coffee 66% . This coffee was too bitter and too strong for some so it's best suited to those who like a punchier coffee. 1.37 per 100g. Available from Waitrose. Morrisons Italian Roast & Ground Coffee 65%. It wasn't Which?'s tasters' favourite, though the majority did find the level of bitterness spot on. 1.17 per 100g. Available from Morrisons. Illy Espresso Medium Roast Ground Coffee 64%. The most expensive coffee we tested may not be worth it, with four in 10 testers finding it too weak. 2.20 per 100g. Available from Sainsbury's and Tesco. Coop Italian Blend Fairtrade Roast & Ground Coffee 64% . Coop's coffee had a decent aroma and flavour but it's appearance disappointed. 1.23 per 100g. Available from Coop. Lavazza Qualita Rossa Ground Coffee 63%. This bottom-of-the-table brand was not bitter enough for a third of Which?'s panel. Nearly half wanted a stronger brew too. 1.52 per 100g. Available from Asda, Sainsbury's and Tesco. How to buy sustainable coffee If you want some reassurance that your coffee is grown sustainably and has an ethical supply chain, a starting point is to look for a certification sticker on the bag. All of the coffees tested besides Illy and Lavazza are either Fairtrade or Rainforest Alliance certified, which both cover environmental, economic and social standards. Fairtrade Ensures fair working conditions on farms, bans forced and child labour, requires responsible waste management, water use and minimal use of pesticides and sets minimum market prices for farmers and producers. Rainforest Alliance Protects biodiversity on farms (reducing pesticides, deforestation and soil erosion), band child labour and is a part of the Global Living Wage Coalition though it doesn't require a minimum price for people in the supply chain. None of the ground coffee Which? tested comes in recyclable packaging, so you'll need to dispose of it in your kitchen bin. Taylors of Harrogate says it's working on making its coffee packaging recyclable though, and its coffee is also Certified Carbon Neutral. Watch: What can I drink besides coffee or tea for more energy? Rishi Sunak with Emmanuel Macron (POOL/AFP via Getty Images) Rishi Sunak is to travel to France in March for an Anglo-French summit aimed at resetting relations with President Emmanuel Macron following rows over migration and Brexit. Plans for the summit on 10 March were announced by Downing Street following Prime Ministers Questions on Wednesday. It will be the first summit since 2018 and comes amid reports in the French media that King Charles is lining up a state visit to France later in March - his first since he acceded the throne in September. The two summits represent a push by both sides to rebuild ties which have been damaged by the UKs decision to leave the EU and tensions during Boris Johnsons time in office and Liz Trusss brief premiership. No 10 said the meetings between Mr Sunak and Mr Macron would look to deepen security relations between the two countries as well as tackling issues including migration, the economy and the environment. French government sources were quoted as saying that the talks would serve as an ice breaker ahead of the state visit by King Charles set to take place a few weeks later. "French President Emmanuel Macron will host the Prime Minister for a UK-France summit on March 10," the Prime Minister's official spokesman said. "The idea of this summit was discussed by the two leaders during their first phone call in October 2022. "It will be the first meeting of this kind since 2018 and an opportunity to deepen co-operation between the UK and France in a huge range of areas including security, climate and energy, the economy, migration and shared foreign policy goals." The spokesman said "you can certainly expect" the issue of small boats to come up "given it is high on the priority list" for the Prime Minister. Since taking office in October, Mr Sunak has been keen to rebuild bridges with Paris over the issue of migrant boats crossing the channel. Closer co-operation with France is part of the PMs broader plan to cut illegal immigration and small boat crossings - one of the five key pledges set out by Mr Sunak in his new year plan last week. Story continues There is also fresh momentum building behind an agreement on the contentious Northern Ireland Protocol, part of the Brexit treaty which keeps the region in the EU single market but sets up trade checks on some goods moving between Britain and NI. London and Brussels agreed the outline of a deal on data sharing on Monday which could unlock a wider agreement to reduce checks with Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton Harris in Belfgast today for talks with NI political leaders. Amid earlier tensions over Brexit, Presdient Macron was reported to have called Johnson a clown. Then, during the Tory leadership race to replace Mr Johnson following his resignation, Ms Truss angered Paris by saying she did not know whether the French leader was a friend or foe. Buckingham Palace is yet to confirm King Charless first state visit will be to Paris. Most readers would already be aware that Singapore Paincare Holdings' (Catalist:FRQ) stock increased significantly by 5.0% over the past month. Since the market usually pay for a companys long-term fundamentals, we decided to study the companys key performance indicators to see if they could be influencing the market. In this article, we decided to focus on Singapore Paincare Holdings' ROE. Return on equity or ROE is an important factor to be considered by a shareholder because it tells them how effectively their capital is being reinvested. In short, ROE shows the profit each dollar generates with respect to its shareholder investments. View our latest analysis for Singapore Paincare Holdings How Do You Calculate Return On Equity? The formula for ROE is: Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) Shareholders' Equity So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Singapore Paincare Holdings is: 16% = S$4.3m S$26m (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2022). The 'return' is the yearly profit. One way to conceptualize this is that for each SGD1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made SGD0.16 in profit. What Has ROE Got To Do With Earnings Growth? We have already established that ROE serves as an efficient profit-generating gauge for a company's future earnings. Depending on how much of these profits the company reinvests or "retains", and how effectively it does so, we are then able to assess a companys earnings growth potential. Assuming all else is equal, companies that have both a higher return on equity and higher profit retention are usually the ones that have a higher growth rate when compared to companies that don't have the same features. Singapore Paincare Holdings' Earnings Growth And 16% ROE To begin with, Singapore Paincare Holdings seems to have a respectable ROE. On comparing with the average industry ROE of 11% the company's ROE looks pretty remarkable. Probably as a result of this, Singapore Paincare Holdings was able to see an impressive net income growth of 25% over the last five years. We reckon that there could also be other factors at play here. For example, it is possible that the company's management has made some good strategic decisions, or that the company has a low payout ratio. Story continues Next, on comparing with the industry net income growth, we found that Singapore Paincare Holdings' growth is quite high when compared to the industry average growth of 9.4% in the same period, which is great to see. Earnings growth is a huge factor in stock valuation. What investors need to determine next is if the expected earnings growth, or the lack of it, is already built into the share price. This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. If you're wondering about Singapore Paincare Holdings''s valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry. Is Singapore Paincare Holdings Using Its Retained Earnings Effectively? The three-year median payout ratio for Singapore Paincare Holdings is 42%, which is moderately low. The company is retaining the remaining 58%. By the looks of it, the dividend is well covered and Singapore Paincare Holdings is reinvesting its profits efficiently as evidenced by its exceptional growth which we discussed above. While Singapore Paincare Holdings has seen growth in its earnings, it only recently started to pay a dividend. It is most likely that the company decided to impress new and existing shareholders with a dividend. Summary On the whole, we feel that Singapore Paincare Holdings' performance has been quite good. Particularly, we like that the company is reinvesting heavily into its business, and at a high rate of return. Unsurprisingly, this has led to an impressive earnings growth. If the company continues to grow its earnings the way it has, that could have a positive impact on its share price given how earnings per share influence long-term share prices. Remember, the price of a stock is also dependent on the perceived risk. Therefore investors must keep themselves informed about the risks involved before investing in any company. You can see the 2 risks we have identified for Singapore Paincare Holdings by visiting our risks dashboard for free on our platform here. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Join A Paid User Research Session Youll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here Russia has again replaced its military commander in Ukraine, putting army chief Valery Gerasimov in charge of its forces in the conflict, the defense ministry said Wednesday. "Army General Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian armed forces, has been appointed Commander of the Joint Grouping of Troops (Forces)," the ministry said. Sergei Surovikin, the commander of Russia's forces in Ukraine for the past three months, will become Gerasimov's deputy, the ministry said. Surovikin, lionized by Russia's pro-Kremlin press as "General Armageddon," had previously been the commander of Russia's Air Force. Commander of Russia's military operation in Ukraine General Sergei Surovikin and Russian General Staff Valery Gerasimov talk during visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to the Southern Military District, on December 31, 2022. / Credit: Mikhail Klimentyev / Sputnik via AP Meanwhile, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhaylo Podolyak said Wednesday that Ukraine will be able to win the war in 2023 if it receives more Western weapons, particularly long-range missiles and heavy tanks. Otherwise, the war will grind on "for decades," Podolyak told AFP, pointing out that the "bloodiest" fighting was currently taking place in eastern Ukraine in Bakhmut and Soledar. "Only missiles with a range of more than 100 kilometers will allow us to significantly accelerate the de-occupation of our territories," he told AFP in an interview. The United States last year supplied Ukraine with missile systems with a range of around 80 kilometers that were credited with turning the tide of the conflict in Kyiv's favor on several fronts. When HIMARS (an acronym which stands for High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) showed up in Ukraine, it changed the face of battle. "This capability has given the Ukrainians the potential to completely change the momentum and the direction of this war," retired Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, former commander of the U.S. Army in Europe, told CBS News. He said HIMARS, which fires a 200-pound warhead up to 50 miles and hits within 10 feet of its intended target, has virtually eliminated Russia's numerical advantage. Kyiv has also recently received similar French systems. But it is putting pressure on Washington to deliver US ATACMS missiles, which boast a range of around 300 kilometers. Story continues These systems would allow Ukrainian forces to target Russian arms depots deep inside Ukrainian territory controlled by Moscow but currently out of range of the weapons in Kyiv's arsenal. Ukraine could "destroy all Russian military infrastructure in occupied territories, including in Donbas" in east Ukraine and in Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014, said Podolyak. But the United States have been hesitant to offer long-range missile capacities to Ukraine, fearing an escalation that would pit the United States more directly against Russia. "We will not attack Russia," the senior advisor said. "We are waging an exclusively defensive war." Europe and the United States may soon speed up deliveries because they understand these supplies are key to "limit this war to the occupied territories" and end it, he added. Ukraine also needed armour, in particular heavy tanks, such as German Leopards and artillery, said Podolyak. "France is already delivering light tanks to us. That's very good. But we still want to get 250 to 300 to 350 heavy tanks," he added. Polish President Andrzej Duda announced later that Poland was ready to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine that Kyiv requested, but as part of an international coalition. Kyiv's other priority needs are more 155-millimetre calibre shells, combat drones capable of carrying out deep attacks inside occupied territories and anti-aircraft systems -- including German Cheetah anti-aircraft armoured vehicles, said Podolyak. New anti-aircraft defence systems, like US Patriots or the French Crotale will soon be able to neutralise the threat posed by Russian bombing campaigns against Ukrainian energy installations, he said. "We will be able to close our skies in the space of a month," he said. Ukraine would soon be able to shoot down 95% of missiles fired by Russia, instead of 75% currently, he said. Meanwhile the "bloodiest" scenes are happening in Bakhmut, an urban hub in the eastern Donbas region that Russia has been trying to seize for months, as well as in the neighbouring town of Soledar. Podolyak said Russia had deployed its best army units as well as the Wagner fighting group for the battle. "There's a lot of blood, a lot of artillery duelling, a lot of close contact fighting, especially today in Soledar," Podolyak added. He described the area as the "hottest spot in the war" and talked of "extraordinary" losses on both sides. Unlike previous urban battles in Ukraine, few civilians remain near the embattled towns of Bakhmut and Soledar. The siege of the port city of Mariupol in the first months of the war cost thousands of Ukrainian lives, Kyiv has said. "If in Mariupol 90% of deaths were civilians, in Soledar and Bakhmut it's soldiers," he said. On Wednesday, paramilitary group Wagner claimed to control Soledar, but the Russian defence ministry quickly poured water over the claim. Its fall would mark Russia's first significant territorial gains in Ukraine in months. But even a victory there would "not make any sense" strategically for Russia, Podolyak said. "For us, it's a bridgehead to advance towards Donetsk," Podolyak said, referring to the main city and pro-Russian separatist stronghold in the eponymous Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine. "But for the Russians, there is no strategic goal. It is an open space, and our positions are more advantageous," Podolyak said. "We see a completely irresponsible attitude to put it mildly from the Russian elite towards their own military personnel, who are dying there by the thousands," Podolyak said. Suspect in police custody linked to shootings targeting elected officials in New Mexico Golden Globes try to highlight diversity as ceremony returns to television Air travel begins returning to normal following FAA outage that grounded flights Starting from 9 January, Russia has restricted conscripts from leaving the country, even those who are only partially fit for military service. Source: Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine; Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov Quote: "The Russian Federal Security Service [FSB] has sent a corresponding order to all the country's border departments (border guards are part of the FSB in the Russian Federation)." Starting from 9 January 2023, from 00.00, the border department of the FSB of Russia will restrict travel outside the territory of the Russian Federation for citizens who have a statement declaring their readiness for military service from categories A, B and C [category A means fit for military service without any restrictions on the type of unit, category B foresees military service with minor restrictions, and category C means physically unfit for military service, however such individuals can be conscripted during wartime ed.]," the order states. The possibility of leaving the country at all checkpoints in all directions will be closed for the departure of the specified categories of citizens." Details: At the same time, as follows from the text of the order, citizens who fall into the C category, that is, those who are unfit for military service, will also be banned from leaving the country. Conscripts belonging to this category are exempted from conscription in peacetime, exempted from military reservicst training and enrolled in the reserve. Updated: Dmitry Peskov, the spokesman for the Russian dictator, later claimed that the information about the ban was untrue: "This is a common act of information sabotage." Earlier, it was reported that the Russian Federation was preparing for a new wave of mobilisation. It will take about two months to equip and initially train the "replenishments". Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! (Reuters) - Russia said on Wednesday that it was making progress in military operations around the small salt mining town of Soledar in eastern Ukraine and had positive momentum, but acknowledged suffering heavy casualties. Asked about the situation on the ground, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "Let's not rush, let's wait for official statements. There is a positive dynamic in progress." Ukraine said earlier its forces were holding out. The Ukrainian military's morning summary made one mention of Soledar, listing it as one of several towns being shelled in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region. Reuters was unable to verify conditions on the ground. Soledar lies around seven km (four miles) northeast of Bakhmut, which Russia has been attempting to capture for months in fierce fighting led by the Wagner mercenary group. Peskov acknowledged the high cost of the operation in terms of soldiers' lives. "Although tactical successes are also very important, they come at a high price, at the cost of the fantastic heroism of our fighters, and therefore this is another reason to be proud of our guys on the spot who spare neither life nor health to give us these tactical successes," he said. Peskov reiterated previous Kremlin statements that President Vladimir Putin remained open to talks on the war in Ukraine, now approaching the end of its 11th month, and that Russia would prefer to achieve its goals by political and diplomatic means. But he said there was no prospect of talks, given the positions of Ukraine and the West. Ukraine and its ally the United States say Putin has shown no sign he is serious about talks, suspecting a ploy by Russia to gain time to regroup after suffering a series of defeats in recent months. (Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Kevin Liffey) Aleksandr Leshkov, a mobilised serviceman, has been sentenced to 5.5 years in a strict regime colony in Russia for "beating an officer" during a military inspection, when the serviceman was outraged by the poor training and provision of the conscripts. Source: RBK and TASS, Russian news agencies Details: In November, a video was shared on the Internet, in which Leshkov, during a military inspection in Patriot Park, used foul words to complain about the quality of the training of the conscripts and their provision. The event took place on 13 November 2022. According to the case file, the soldier allegedly "deliberately blew cigarette smoke into the face" of Lieutenant Colonel Denis Mazanov during the inspection, and when Leshkov was suspended from service, he deliberately punched Mazanov in the chest. The soldier was arrested after the conflict with the officer. Leshkovs lawyer states that his client was charged with beating a superior during the performance of military service duties (Article 334.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and insulting the superior (Article 336.2 of the Russian Federation). Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! The invaders are trying to take control of the supply routes of the Ukrainian servicemen on the Bakhmut front. They also are trying to seize Soledar, and the fighting continues. Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces Quote: "The enemy is focusing its main efforts on attempts to completely capture Donetsk Oblast and is conducting offensive actions on the Bakhmut front. They [the Russians - ed.] are trying to take control of the city of Soledar and the supply routes of our units; they are suffering heavy losses, and the fighting is ongoing." Details: Also, the occupiers are conducting unsuccessful offensive actions on the Avdiivka front. The occupiers are trying to improve their tactical position on the Kupiansk and Novopavlivsk fronts, and on the Lyman, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson fronts, they are on the defensive. During the day, the occupiers launched two missile and 22 air strikes. They carried out 18 attacks from MLRS, in particular on civilian infrastructure. The threat of air and missile strikes on critical infrastructure facilities remains throughout Ukraine. The Ukrainian Air Force carried out 13 strikes on the clusters of Russian manpower and three strikes on the positions of the Russian anti-aircraft missile systems. In addition, Ukrainian defenders shot down a Russian Ka-52 helicopter and two reconnaissance UAVs, the type of which is being specified. The units of Rocket Forces and Artillery of the Ukrainian Defense Forces hit the Russian control point, four clusters of invaders' manpower and military equipment, as well as three ammunition storage points. There are no significant changes on the Volyn, Polissia, Sivershchyna and Slobozhanshchyna fronts. Belarus continues to back the Russian Federation's aggression by providing infrastructure to restore the combat capability of Russian forces. No signs of the formation of Russian offensive groups were detected. At the same time, the Russian invaders do not stop shelling the positions of Ukrainian troops and civilian facilities along the entire line of contact. Story continues On the Sivershchyna and Slobozhanshchyna fronts, the areas of Novovasylivka and Vovkivka settlements in Sumy Oblast, as well as Huriiv Kozachok, Strilecha, Ohirtseve, Vovchansk and Novomlynsk in Kharkiv Oblast, came under fire. On the Kupiansk front, the invaders fired on the areas in and around Dvorichna, Kupiansk, Kyslivka, Krokhmalne, Berestov, Vyshneve, Pershotravneve, and Ivanivka settlements in Kharkiv Oblast and Stelmakhivka in Luhansk Oblast. On the Lyman front, Terny in Kharkiv Oblast, as well as Makiivka, Nevske, Chervonopopivka and Dibrova in Luhansk Oblast, were shelled. On the Bakhmut front, Spirne, Vyimka, Bilohorivka, Rozdolivka, Bakhmut, Chasiv Yar, Ivanivske, Klishchiivka, Bila Hora and Druzhba in Donetsk Oblast came under Russian fire. On the Avdiivka front, Krasnohorivka, Avdiivka, Pervomaiske, Mariinka and Novomykhailivka of Donetsk Oblast came under fire. On the Novopavlivka front, shelling was recorded in Vuhledar and Velyka Novosilka in Donetsk Oblast. On the Zaporizhzhia front, the areas of the settlements of Vilne Pole in Donetsk Oblast and Zelenyi Hai, Huliaipole, Zaliznychne, Charivne, Bilohiria, Kamianske and Plavna in Zaporizhzhia came under fire. On the Kherson front, the Russian forces do not stop terrorising the residents of the settlements along the right bank of the Dnipro River. Dudchany, Stepanivka, and Kherson came under fire from MLRS and tubed artillery. In the settlements of the temporarily occupied territory of Kherson Oblast, the Russian invaders are intensifying security measures and checking the local population. Special attention is paid to mobile phones. The overcrowding of medical institutions in temporarily occupied settlements with wounded Russian occupiers is intensifying. So, as of 9 January, 100 additional beds were deployed only in the Markivka local hospital in Luhansk Oblast. According to available data, the Border Service of the Federal Security Service of Russia [FSB] enacted an order on 9 January of this year to ensure restrictions on travel abroad for citizens who are liable for military service. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! Smoke rises after shelling in Soledar, in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, on Wednesday. (Libkos/AP) KYIV Soledar was a relatively unremarkable city in the eastern region of Donetsk before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The name literally translates as gift of salt, and it is the location of the largest salt mines in Europe. Now those mines serve as defensive positions for Ukraines embattled military. Should the city fall to Russian forces, which consist almost exclusively of mercenaries from the infamous Wagner Group, Russia would be able to increase pressure on the Ukrainian fortress city of Bakhmut, a strategic hub that has been under a relentless Russian siege since the beginning of August. Officially, the Kremlin has remained cagey about Russias progress in the city. Putins press secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters not to rush and to wait for official statements. Wagners financier, the serially sanctioned Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, was less tight-lipped, announcing Tuesday that his militants had taken control of the entire territory of Soledar," going so far as to attach a photograph of himself and his soldiers, ostensibly in one of the citys salt mines. Sharp-eyed observers on social media and the Ukrainian military's Strategic Communications Directorate noted that the image was more likely to be of Volodymyrivka, a town less than 2 miles to the east, which is and has been securely under Russian occupation. The "press service" of Prigozhyn claims that Soledar is fully "under control of the PMC Wagner", attaching a photo of Prigozhyn himself. Obviously, this information has not been confirmed by means of objective control. pic.twitter.com/f21pAj0j4t Dmitri (@wartranslated) January 10, 2023 The Ukrainians are still holding quite a bit of Soledar, according to a Western volunteer in the city who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons. They pulled behind the railway tracks for defensive positions. The situation isn't great, but the losses Russians have arent comparable to those of Ukrainians. The Ukrainian army said they are currently fighting roughly 1 against 6. Story continues A Ukrainian army Grad multiple rocket launcher fires rockets at Russian positions in the frontline near Soledar on Wednesday. (Libkos/AP) Serhiy Cherevaty, a spokesperson for Ukraine's Eastern Military Command, further disputed Russian claims that Soledar was completely under Russian control. Ukrainian soldiers published footage of themselves still occupying positions in the west of the city this morning, using commercial drones to monitor the advancing Russian forces. Igor Girkin, a former colonel in Russias Federal Security Service (FSB) who was convicted in absentia by a Dutch court of murder in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in 2014, denied that Soledar had either been captured or encircled by Russian forces. Girkin has been searing in his analysis of Moscows military failures in Ukraine and often acts as a mouthpiece for more hawkish elements in Russia. On his Telegram channel, he wrote that Ukraines defensive lines were unbroken and that they had retreated to a new line of defense on the Western outskirts, relying on the salt mines. Those losses are hard to gauge, owing to an intense information campaign from both sides. Both sides claim the other has suffered significant casualties, while third parties, such as the British Ministry of Defense, contend that both sides have suffered high casualties. Ukrainian soldiers watch as smoke billows during fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces in Soledar on Wednesday. (Libkos/AP) With white snow above and white mineral below Soledar, the battle for this small town of just 10,000 inhabitants is entering its fifth month, mainly as a sideshow or preliminary to the bigger push to take the northeast city of Bakhmut, to the south. Bakhmut is currently the scene of intense trench warfare, reminiscent of World War I, except with drone footage showing the full extent of the carnage on the ground: fields of frozen corpses and incoming munitions killing more densely packed forces in real time. For the Kremlin, taking Soledar would cut off Ukrainian resupplies to Bakhmut and help encircle it. Bakhmut affords an easier line of attack for the Russians against the larger cities of Kramatorsk, a major industrial center, and Ukraines administration headquarters in Donetsk; and Slovyansk, which lies close to the M03 highway connecting Kyiv to Kharkiv. Soledar is not important in Ukrainian force generation, its a destroyed city, according to Phillips OBrien, a professor of strategic studies at the University of St. Andrews. Losing it will make no difference in the Ukrainian war effort, so all that matters is what Russia lost to take it and what Ukraine lost to defend it. A woman crosses a destroyed bridge in Bakhmut, Donetsk region, on Jan. 6. (Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP via Getty Images) For the Russian oligarch Prigozhin, taking Bakhmut has become an obsession, according to unnamed U.S. officials cited by Britains Guardian newspaper. For years, the catering magnate, coyly referred to as Putins chef, disclaimed any involvement in his underwriting of the Wagner Group, Russias most brutal expeditionary force. Wagner fighters have deployed to Syria to prop up Bashar Assads regime in exchange for lucrative oil contracts. Theyve fought against a United Nations-recognized government in Libya. And theyve fought rebel groups in both the Central African Republic and Mali, where theyve been accused of massacring civilians. Wagner has been subject to sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United States, which characterizes it as an Russian Ministry of Defense proxy force. Yet unlike regular Russian army units, which deny and try to conceal their war crimes, Wagner often relishes in its wanton violence. The groups fighters record and share videos of themselves torturing and killing victims almost as advertisements of their prowess. Wagner operatives dismembered and beheaded a Syrian army deserter with a shovel; they smashed in the skull of one of their own returned POWs with a sledgehammer. Visitors wearing military camouflage at the entrance of the PMC Wagner Centre in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Nov. 4, 2022. (Dmitri Lovetsky/AP) Since Russias invasion of Ukraine foundered last spring, Prigozhin has begun to position himself both as a critic of Russias formal military establishment and the wars prospective savior. He publicly revealed himself as the backer of Wagner in a string of public appearances, an allegation he had previously long denied even to the point of filing civil litigation against those making it. Prigozhin has persuaded thousands of hardened criminals from Russias prisons to sign up for a six-month tour of duty with Wagner in exchange for a pardon. He left no illusions as to the meat grinder that faced the convicts. They were about to enter hell, he reportedly told them, but the assignment could be their lucky ticket out of jail. Of some 50,000 Wagner mercenaries, the U.S. estimates, 4,100 have been killed and another 10,000 injured on the battlefield. A 28% casualty rate would be unsustainable for any normal military organization with concern for the morale and well-being of its personnel. Prigozhin belongs to Putins inner circle, one Western diplomat in Kyiv told Yahoo News. He competes with older members. Things are difficult in Soledar, but taking the town does not turn the trend broadly in Russias favor. It just turns things in Prigozhins. Photo: The Canadian Press Foreign minister of Sri Lanka Ali Sabry speaks during a media conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Monday, Sept. 5, 2022. Sri Lanka has summoned Canada's envoy over Ottawa's decision to sanction four high-ranking officials for alleged human-rights breaches.THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-STR Sri Lanka has summoned Canada's envoy over Ottawa's decision to sanction four high-ranking officials for alleged human-rights breaches. That country's government is accusing Ottawa of caving to Tamil diaspora politics in sanctioning two former presidents and two military officers. The decision "sets a dangerous precedent," the South Asian state's foreign-affairs ministry said in a Tuesday news release. Ottawa announced Monday that it was barring two former presidents from entry to Canada Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who resigned last July, and his older brother Mahinda Rajapaksa. The pair were in power when Sri Lanka's army defeated Tamil separatists who had waged a bloody, 26-year civil war with the country's majority Sinhalese population. Gotabaya temporarily fled his country last summer amid mass protests over living costs, while Mahinda resigned from his post as prime minister last spring. Ottawa also sanctioned two senior military officers. One is Sunil Ratnayake, whom a court sentenced to death for his role in a massacre of Tamils in 2000, only to be pardoned by Gotabaya. The other is navy commander Chandana Prasad Hettiarachchi, who has been accused of abducting civilians who were later killed. In addition to the entry ban, the four can no longer make financial dealings within Canada. The announcement gained substantial media attention in South Asia. Sri Lanka Foreign Affairs Minister Ali Sabry summoned the Canadian Acting High Commissioner Daniel Bood over the move Tuesday and urged Ottawa to "review the decision." Sabry said in a statement that the sanctions were based on "unsubstantiated allegations" and "domestic political compulsions" and could hinder postwar reconciliation within the country. He said the move "sets a dangerous precedent and is inimical to Sri Lanka's interest" as it tries to work with elected Tamil representatives on a devolution and peace plan. Sabry's ministry went on that the decision leaves democratically elected leaders "vulnerable to arbitrary, external decisions" that aren't based on due process. Haiti's former prime minister Laurent Lamothe made the same argument in a December court filing, contesting Canadian sanctions that Ottawa based on his alleged support for violent gangs. Global Affairs Canada and the office of Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly did not offer an immediate response to the summoning. Sri Lanka's current president, Ranil Wickremesinghe, took office last July after economic turmoil that led to a rise in child malnutrition and a shortage of medical equipment. Last month, Wickremesinghe said his country has "undergone the bleakest of times, immense hardships" due to last year's "abject economic collapse." Sri Lanka's foreign ministry said it was poor timing for Ottawa to implement the sanctions, and argued the move "was in contravention of established diplomatic practice, disregarding existing channels of regular bilateral interaction." It said that Canada has a role to play as peacemaker, given its own large population with Tamil roots. By Pavel Polityuk KYIV, Ukraine (Reuters) -Ukraine said on Thursday its troops were holding out despite heavy fighting on a battlefield littered with bodies in a salt mining town in eastern Ukraine, where Russian mercenaries have claimed Moscow's first significant gain in half a year. The ultra-nationalist contract militia Wagner, run by an ally of President Vladimir Putin outside the main chain of military command, claims to have taken Soledar after intense fighting that it said had left the town strewn with Ukrainian dead. But Moscow has held off officially proclaiming victory. "At the moment, there are still some small pockets of resistance in Soledar," Andrei Bayevsky, a Russian-installed local politician, said in an online broadcast. Ukraine has acknowledged Russian advances but Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar told a briefing on Thursday that fighting was still fierce. The Russians were "moving over their own corpses", she said. Reuters was unable to independently verify the situation. Malyar said Russia had increased the number of units in Ukraine to 280 from 250 in the past week as it seeks to regain the initiative. Kremlin-watchers were poring over Russia's latest switch of battlefield leadership, a day after Valery Gerasimov, chief of the military's general staff, was unexpectedly given direct command of the invasion. The previous commander of three months' standing, Army General Sergei Surovikin, was effectively demoted to become one of Gerasimov's three deputies. Moscow explained the decision - at least the third abrupt change of top commander in the 11-month conflict - as a response to the campaign's growing importance. Russian and Western commentators alike saw attempts to shift blame for setbacks in which Russia has lost around 40% of the territory it had seized since February. FIXER OR FALL-GUY? Gerasimov had become a target of abuse from nationalist bloggers, who have flourished even as the Kremlin has shut all independent media and jailed critics of the war. Story continues "The move is likely to be greeted with extreme displeasure by much of the Russian ultra-nationalist and military blogger community, who have increasingly blamed Gerasimov for the poor execution of the war," Britain's Ministry of Defence said. One prominent Russian military blogger who posts on the Telegram messaging app under the name of Rybar said Surovikin was being made a scapegoat for military debacles. However, Mick Ryan, a retired Australian major general, suggested in a tweet that Putin and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu had "set up Gerasimov as the fall guy for all of Russias failures". Semyon Pegov, another Russian military blogger, noted that "now the General Staff is directly and uncompromisingly responsible for absolutely everything". Ukraine's defence ministry offered mockery. "Every Russian general must receive at least one opportunity to fail in Ukraine," it tweeted. "Some may be lucky enough to fail twice." Soledar would be Moscow's biggest gain since a series of humiliating retreats in the second half of 2022 - but at immense cost, with huge losses on both sides. It had barely 10,000 inhabitants before the war. Russia has failed in repeated attempts to capture the far more important nearby city of Bakhmut, ten times as large. Donetsk governor Pavlo Kyrylenko told Ukrainian state TV that 559 civilians remained in Soledar, including 15 children, and could not be evacuated. Across Ukraine, the front lines have barely budged since Russia's last big retreat in the south two months ago. Kyiv hopes heavy armour from Western allies will allow it to resume advances. HOPING FOR TANKS With the West upping the ante in a way that seemed unthinkable a few months ago, the United States, Germany and France last week pledged armoured fighting vehicles - and the focus has now shifted to main battle tanks. Polish President Andrzej Duda, who was cheered in the Ukrainian city of Lviv on Wednesday, promised a company of 14 German-made Leopard battle tanks, part of what he called an international coalition. Despite briefly seeming blindsided, Germany, whose permission would be required, on Thursday appeared to yield. "Germany should not stand in the way of other countries taking decisions to support Ukraine, independent of which decisions Germany takes," Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck said. Britain has also said it is considering sending tanks. Putin launched the invasion on Feb. 24, saying Kyiv's ties with the West threatened Russia's security. Ukraine and its allies call it an unprovoked war to seize territory. In Kherson city, recaptured by Ukrainian forces in November, prosecutors said they were investigating at least 10 sites where Russian occupiers had tortured hundreds of Ukrainians. Oksana Minenko, a 44-year-old accountant whose husband died defending the city on the war's first day, told Reuters she had repeatedly been interrogated during occupation. Russians submerged her hands in boiling water, pulled out her fingernails and beat her in the face with rifle butts, she said last month. "One pain grew into another," she recounted, with scarring visible around her eyes from what she said was an operation to repair the damage. "I was a living corpse." Her account could not be independently verified. Moscow denies abusing civilians in occupied areas. (Reporting by Reuters bureaus; Writing by Peter Graff; Editing by Kevin Liffey) By Ece Toksabay ANKARA (Reuters) -Russia and Ukraine have agreed on an exchange of 40 prisoners of war each, Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova said on Wednesday after meeting her Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Lubinets in Turkey. Moskalkova and Lubinets were meeting on the sidelines of an international ombudsman conference in Ankara. Photos showed them sitting on opposite sides of a table. "It is very important that the ombudsmen of Ukraine and Russia, in the absence of diplomatic relations (between the two countries), take concrete actions to help people," Moskalkova told reporters. Russia and Ukraine have conducted numerous prisoner swaps - most recently on Sunday - amounting to hundreds of captives each in the course of the war, which is now in its 11th month. In a separate press appearance, Lubinets said the swap agreed on Wednesday was part of a broader arrangement by which both sides regularly exchange prisoners but underscored that they had not signed any official agreements. "We will not sign any agreements, but we have the straight connection between Ukraine ombudsman and ombudsman of Russian Federation," he said. Lubinets added that the Ukrainian side had voiced, among other issues, its concerns over alleged Russian violations of the Geneva Convention in its treatment of Ukrainian POWs. Earlier, Moskalkova said on the Telegram messaging app that she and Lubinets had also discussed the issue of servicemen missing on both sides, and civilian humanitarian issues. She said she had asked Lubinets to help Ukrainian citizens who want to visit relatives in Russia. Given the current difficulty of establishing humanitarian corridors inside Ukraine, Moskalkova said the ombudsmen should help specific people to move between regions and countries, saying Turkey could play an important role. Separately, Russia's state-owned RIA news agency quoted Moskalkova as saying "important words about the need for a ceasefire" in Ukraine had been spoken during her meeting with her Ukrainian and Turkish colleagues. Story continues Moskalkova said a ceasefire was necessary to stop human rights violations, RIA reported. She also asked Turkey, a NATO ally, to stop supplying arms to Ukraine. As Moskalkova and Lubinets met in Ankara, a fierce battle was raging for the small town of Soledar in eastern Ukraine. Both were later due to visit the Turkish presidential palace, where President Tayyip Erdogan was scheduled to make a speech for the conference. (Reporting by Ece Toksabay and Mert Ozkan in Ankara, Lidia Kelly in Melbourne;Writing by Daren Butler and Gareth Jones;Editing by Jonathan Spicer, Kevin Liffey, William Maclean) Ukrainian Air Defence Forces shot down a Russian Orlan-10 unmanned aerial vehicle in Mykolaiv Oblast on 10 January, and Russian troops fired towards Ochakiv with multiple-launch rocket systems. Source: Vitalii Kim, Head of Mykolaiv Oblast Military Administration, on Telegram, quoting the information from the district military administrations and Air Command Pivden (South) Details: According to the information from Air Command Pivden (South), Ukrainian Air Force military personnel and assets shot down a Russian Orlan-10 drone in Mykolaiv Oblast at noon on 10 January. Russians fired towards Ochakiv with multiple-launch rocket systems at 18:35 on Tuesday. There were no casualties. Russians fired on the territory of the Kutsurub hromada [an administrative unit designating a town, village or several villages and their adjacent territories ed.] in Mykolaiv district with multiple-launch rocket systems during the night from 23:34 to 02:02, launching more than 40 rockets. The aftermath of the attack is being established. Preliminary reports indicate that there are no casualties. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! After widespread failures on Ukraine's battlefield, Russians are increasing cyberattacks on civilian services such as electricity and internet a new offensive designed to break the will of everyday citizens and turn the tide of the war. While Russia has relied more on missile strikes than cyber weapons to accomplish its goals in Ukraine, the attacks against energy, government and transportation infrastructure groups show that cyberattacks are still a key part of Moscows overall strategy to break the will of Ukrainians. The longer Russia wages this war, the harder it is going to be on those Ukrainian people and the more vulnerable they'll be to destructive cyberattacks against the critical infrastructure, Rob Joyce, the director of cybersecurity at the NSA, said in an interview. I'm concerned that the Russian actors will increasingly look to amplify the things they're doing with kinetic effects in that space. The pace of cyberattacks directed against Ukraine has been unrelenting over the past 12 months. While attacks have been aimed at military targets such as a widely condemned attack on Ukrainian satellite company Viasat early in the conflict that disrupted Ukrainian military communications hackers are taking aim even more at critical utilities used in daily life. More than 2,000 cyberattacks were aimed at Ukrainian organizations in 2022, according to statistics from Ukraines Computer Emergency Response Team provided to POLITICO. While more than 300 of these attacks were against the security and defense sector, more than 400 attacks targeted groups impacting civilian life, including organizations in the commercial, energy, financial, telecommunications and software sectors. More than 500 other attacks were aimed at government groups. Arecent report from Ukraines State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection found that while the pace of cyberattacks against Ukraine slowed overall between September and December of 2022, these attacks were increasingly aimed at public services and energy instead of military targets. Story continues Moscow is attempting to make these attacks as psychologically difficult for Ukrainians as possible, insiders say. Microsoft warned in a December report that the Kremlin is coordinating cyberattacks and missile strikeson Ukrainian energy and water groups, and that these destructive cyberattacks may spread to countries, such as neighboring Poland, and private companies providing aid to Ukraine. These include organizations that provide humanitarian aid. Many of these attacks carried out were designed to affect the civilian populace rather than any military targets, said John Hultquist, vice president of threat intelligence at cybersecurity company Mandiant, which has helped support Ukraines cyber defenses. We think that some of these attempts, on power particularly, are doneto strike fear into every Ukrainian and really just up the psychological toll. Attacks have included anunsuccessful effort aimed at an electrical substation that would have disrupted power for millions of Ukrainians, an incident eerily similar to previous successful Russian-linked attacks in 2015 and 2016 that shut off the lights in portions of Ukraine. Those two earlier attacks both took place in the dead of winter, likely to cause maximum discomfort for Ukrainians, a tactic Russia is continuing to pursue during the current colder months. Weve seen the Russians target civilian infrastructure in unsuccessful attempts to undermine the Ukrainians will to fight, Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Mark Warner (D-Va.) said in a statement provided to POLITICO. Joyce said Russian hackers have successfully compromised groups in the emergency, transportation and communications sectors as well, and were targeting surveillance cameras to potentially inform troop movements. He stressed that while overall cyberattacks have not had the widespread impact predicted they would prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, this is not due to a lack of effort on Moscows part. We know they continue to try to gain access, Joyce said. Ukrainian officials are acutely aware of the increasing threats to civilians in cyberspace, and are working to defend against them. Hultquist noted that Ukrainian defenders have been hyper-vigilant at identifying and responding to intrusions, and pointed to this as a major factor in preventing many attacks. These efforts have not, however, prevented Moscow from attempting to take down systems. Victor Zhora, deputy chair and chief digital transformation officer of Ukraines SSSCIP, said that the public sector is now attacked twice as much as the military sector. The key purposes of Russias hacking activity are espionage, misinformation and damaging critical infrastructure that impacts large amounts of population, Zhora said in a lengthy statement provided to POLITICO. Russias activities in Ukraine, their unprovoked aggression in cyberspace, has the same goals as their so-called military strategy for Ukraine, i.e. terrorizing Ukrainian civilians. These cyberattacks are only likely to intensify as the conflict grinds on in 2023. Zhora said that complex attacks on power grid operators and electricity distributors were ongoing, and warned that Moscow is targeting less secure companies that provide software to critical infrastructure groups in order to gain backdoor access. Joyce said the NSA is always worried about supply chain compromises, citing the example of the SolarWinds attack in 2020, in which Russian government hackers used a vulnerability in software to infiltrate the networks of over a dozen U.S. federal agencies for months. He stressed his concern that Moscow will only become more brazen in its cyberattacks aimed at civilians if the war does not go in its favor. [Im] more and more concerned for the outcomes as they get more and more desperate, Joyce said. They will use all the different means at their disposal from kinetic through non-kinetic. Ukraine may not be the only target. Following the invasion last year, President Joe Biden warned of potential Russian cyberattacks not only on Ukraine, but on the networks of the U.S. and other Ukrainian allies, prompting a nationwide effort to strengthen critical systems. While no successful major Russian cyberattacks on the U.S. in retaliation for assisting Ukraine took place in 2022, the threat remains. We have not seen the Russians really seriously deploy the formidable cyber capabilities we know they have in an attempt to target the West in this conflict, Warner said. Should they do so, they need to know that we also have formidable cyber capabilities that could be used to respond. (Reuters) - Russia ordered its top general on Wednesday to take charge of its faltering invasion of Ukraine in the biggest shake-up yet of its malfunctioning military command structure. FIGHTING * Russian forces struggled to cement their control of the small east Ukrainian salt town of Soledar after taking heavy casualties, a day after the leader of the Wagner contract militia said the town was under Russian control. * Soledar has symbolic, military and commercial value for Russia and if its forces capture the town and its huge salt mines, it would be Moscow's most substantial gain since a series of retreats throughout much of the second half of 2022. * Russia's defence ministry said airborne units had cut off Soledar from the north and south, and the Wagner contract militia published pictures of its chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin, with fighters inside what appeared to be Soledar's mines. * Ukraine's military denied Russian forces had taken control of Soledar, and said the intensity of battles in the area could be compared to fighting in World War Two. * Russian forces shelled 13 settlements in and around Kharkiv region largely returned to Ukrainian hands in September and October, the Ukrainian military said. * Reuters could not verify the battlefield reports. POLITICS/DIPLOMACY/AID * Poland has decided to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine as part of an international coalition, the Polish president said on Wednesday, as Warsaw seeks to play a leading role in reaching a consensus among Western allies on such support. * President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged NATO on Wednesday to do more than just promise Ukraine its door is open at a July summit, saying Kyiv needs "powerful steps" as it tries to join the military alliance. * The crackle of gunfire and roar of armoured vehicles reverberated around sleepy west Ukrainian towns near the Belarusian border on Wednesday as Kyiv's forces trained for the threat of a fresh assault across a new front in the north. Story continues * Greece and Malta lag behind their European Union peers in freezing Russian assets sanctioned over Moscow's war against Ukraine, according to an EU official and an internal document, as the bloc considers using the assets to help Kyiv. * Canada will buy a U.S.-made National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) for Ukraine, a statement from Prime Minister Trudeau's office said. * Ukraine introduced emergency power cuts in eastern and southeastern regions as low temperatures and difficult weather conditions stretched its crippled energy system. * Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said a joint declaration on Tuesday by the European Union and the NATO defence alliance "confirms the complete subordination of the European Union to the tasks of the North Atlantic bloc, which is an instrument to guarantee U.S. interests by force". * The European Union is prepared for a long war in Ukraine and will support Kyiv against Russia's aggression as long as it takes, Sweden's Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom, whose country holds the EU's presidency, said on Wednesday. * Russia and Ukraine have agreed on an exchange of 40 prisoners of war each, Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova said after meeting her Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Lubinets in Turkey. ECONOMY * Russia said it would resume foreign currency interventions with the sale of yuan, underscoring the growing importance of China's currency in Moscow's efforts to ensure economic stability amid Western sanctions. * The Kremlin said it had not yet seen any cases of the price caps on Russian oil imposed by the West last month. * President Vladimir Putin said the Russian economy, financial and banking system were stable and would remain so this year. * Moldova's annual consumer price inflation hit 30% last month as the tiny country bordering Ukraine felt the economic impact of Russia's war. QUOTE "The whole land near Soledar is covered with the corpses of the occupiers ... This is what madness looks like." - Ukrainian President Zelenskiy. (Compiled by Kevin Liffey, William Maclean) Russian President Vladimir Putin. Mikhail Metzel Moscow's oil revenues have taken a hit from the EU's ban on most Russian oil imports and a $60 a barrel price cap, per a Finnish researcher. But Russia is still making $687 million each day from exporting fossil fuels. The CREA recommends the G7 and EU further cut its Russia oil price cap to $25-$35 a barrel. Moscow's oil revenues have taken a hit from the European Union's ban on most Russian oil imports and a $60 a barrel price cap but more can be done to press the Kremlin into ending its war in Ukraine, the Helsinki-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, or CREA, said in January 10 report. The report which came about a month after the EU's embargo and the price cap kicked in on December 5 determined that Russia's losing 160 million euros, or $172 million, each day, thanks to the sanctions. But the country is still raking in 640 million, or $687 million, each day from in fossil fuel export revenues down from about $1.1 billion a day between March and May 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine. The resulting war sent energy prices to a 14-year high. "The short-term windfall generated to Russia by sky-high fossil fuel prices in 2022 is starting to wear out, in part due to reductions in fossil fuel consumption prompted by the high prices," wrote the CREA researchers. Despite the damage the G7 and EU has wreaked on Russia's energy revenues, the CREA is recommending stepping up the pressure by further lowering the price cap on Russian crude oil to $25 to $35 a barrel which would slash Russia's oil export revenue by a further 100 million a day. "Further cuts to Kremlin's revenue will therefore materially weaken the country's ability to continue its assault and help bring the war to an end," said the CREA. The proposed $25 to $35 a barrel price range would still keep the business economically viable for the world's energy security, but still hit Russia financially, CREA added. International benchmark Brent oil futures are trading around $80 a barrel currently. Story continues Starting February 5, the EU is set to ban Russian refined oil exports, and apply a price cap to such products, and the CREA expects this to cut Russia's fossil fuel revenues by a further 120 million a day. "The price cap coalition has a strong leverage to push down the price caps, said the CREA. That's particularly since Russia hasn't found meaningful alternatives to Western shipping, insurance, and financial services they need to transport their energy to buyers, since such service providers are now not willing to ship Russian energy products due to fear of breaching sanctions. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov cast doubt on the CREA's estimates on Wednesday, saying it was too early to assess the impact from the price cap, and that "there is no evidence to support such conclusions," according to Russian state-owned TASS news agency. Read the original article on Business Insider Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.) says he has your back, buckaroos. (Watch the video below.) The MAGA House member ranted on the House floor Tuesday that the deep state is trying to corral cowboys for good in a speech that was far from home on the range. There is no doubt the federal government deep state coordinates with liberal activists and uses politicians and willing media to carry their water, he said. ... In many cases, they want to wipe out the American cowboy completely, remove public access to our lands and turn Montana into a national park. Not everyone was yelling yippee-ki-yay after the new Republican-led House voted to create a new committee to investigate the weaponization of the federal government. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) said the committee was designed basically to protect those who, quite frankly, are under investigation right now. Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) called the committee, likely to be led by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), a den of tinfoil hat conspiracy theorists. Zinke insisted hes been a victim of the deep state, imagined to be a cabal of hidden liberal operatives who attack right-wing interests. Despite the deep states repeatedly [sic] attempts to stop me, I stand before you as a duly elected member of the United States Congress and tell you that a deep state exists and it is perhaps the strongest covert weapon the left has against the American people, Zinke said. Zinke faced nearly 20 federal investigations as secretary of the interior under President Donald Trump before announcing his resignation at the end of 2018. During his time in Trumps Cabinet, he backed an historically large reduction of national monuments while promoting the administrations anti-environment policies. Zinke: Despite the deep state's attempts to repeatedly stop me I stand before you as a duly elected member of the congress and tell you that a deep state exists They want to wipe out the American cowboy pic.twitter.com/BrOiIltbMp Acyn (@Acyn) January 10, 2023 Related... A dean at the University of Idaho said the administration's goal is to return a sense of normalcy for students and that safety is a top priority, as the spring semester starts Wednesday, nearly two months after four students were murdered in a house near campus. "It was a shock for many of our students ... that something like this would happen here," said Dean of Students Blaine Eckles. Eckles said the sheriff's office in the county is going to have a presence on campus, which is located in Moscow, Idaho. "We've also hired additional campus security officers and we're still in very close partnership with the Moscow Police Department," he said. "Our students want to be in community. They want to be here," he added. For many students, the start of the new semester marks the first time they are back on campus since the murders of Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin at an off-campus home in mid-November. Fearing for their safety, some students did not return to campus after Thanksgiving break. That was the case for 18-year-old twins Owen and Olivia West, who are still grappling with one question. "Why them?" said Olivia West. "Some of them are just starting their new life, like, why did you take that from them?" They said the crime transformed campus life. "I had never originally walked with a knife or my keys between my fingers before," West said. Students were on winter break Dec. 30 when the 28-year-old suspect, Bryan Kohberger, was arrested for the murders. He is expected in court again Thursday morning. If convicted, he faces the death penalty. Some students expressed praise for law enforcement and a sense of relief that a suspect is in custody. "It was kind of a relief just knowing that they have someone," said 18-year-old Cole Paulik, a freshman at the university. But others, like Madeline Paulik, who is also 18, are still on edge. She said she's still keeping her guard up: "I'm very paranoid." Story continues Fasanara Capital: Fintech Lending Pioneer Suspect in police custody linked to shootings targeting elected officials in New Mexico Golden Globes try to highlight diversity as ceremony returns to television Photo: Provided by Shannon. Vancouver locals have stepped in to help out a Vancouver family after their vehicles have had 11 tires slashed within three months. A Vancouver family says they've been targeted after weeks of harassment and property damage. Shannon and Innis, who have not given their last names for safety reasons, have suffered 11 slashed tires within three months near their East Vancouver home. The incidents began in October when both of the family's vehicles' tires had been punctured four times within three weeks. "We then stopped parking at our house and would re-park our vehicles every night a block or few away," Shannon tells V.I.A. After seven weeks, on Dec. 18, someone slashed their tires again after they forgot to move the car for the night. "This is someone checking our house or driveway every night. How else would this have happened?" says Shannon. The most recent incident took place on Jan. 6 when the person had found one of the family's cars parked a block away. Shannon tells V.I.A. that the situation is terrifying. "Weve lived here for 13 years, have no neighbour issues, no personal dramas. But its definitely targeted at us specifically, which is terrifying. No one else in our entire block and surrounding blocks. Every time [it's] just us," she says. 'Never heard back' from Vancouver police The family had reported the first three incidents to the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) and says that they've received no response. After the fourth incident, Shannon tells V.I.A. that several police officers came by to collect security footage. "We just never heard back from that," she says. It wasn't until the fifth incident in December that they called VPD's non-emergency line and a police officer showed up at their doorstep that same morning. "We felt like we're on their radar now," says Shannon. A VPD representative confirmed police are investigating a series of incidents in East Vancouver involving vehicle tires being slashed. 'Stop calling,' says ICBC When it came to replacing the tires, the family says that ICBC can't do anything. "They, in fact, told me I should stop calling, as repeated calls could flag my car as problematic and have my rates raised." As of Jan. 11, the family is still using spare and summer tires to drive around town; they replaced the slashed tire on Dec. 18 with a spare tire and the slashed tires on Jan. 6, which happened to be winter tires, with summer tires. The family was able to replace one of the three slashed tires but two tires remain which they cannot afford to replace yet. 'People are wonderful' Following the Jan. 6 incident, the family set up a fundraiser to help cover the cost of replacing existing - and future - tires. The community response has been overwhelming, says Shannon. The fundraiser had already surpassed its goal of $3,000, standing at just over $4,000 as of Jan. 11, and the family has received many messages from locals offering to help. Several people have offered to replace the familys tires free of charge, and a manager at Mazda dealership, which Shannon frequents, covered the cost of replacing one of the slashed tires, says Shannon. Others have offered to assist the family in finding the culprit on their own. We're just really, really humbled by and grateful for the community response, she tells V.I.A. People are wonderful. Though the response has been positive, she adds that she isnt surprised at all. Ive lived on The Drive for over 20 years and Im like Yes, this is totally my community,' Shannon says. Shannon adds they plan to use the GoFundMe donations to cover tire costs and set up a dashcam in each vehicle as well as some kind of alarm system. Reserve a new Samsung Galaxy S23 device and get up to $100 in Samsung credit for free Recommendations are independently chosen by Revieweds editors. Purchases you make through our links may earn us a commission. Ready to get your hands on the latest Samsung Galaxy devices? Samsung is gearing up to drop new gadgets and we have the inside scoop. Right now, you can reserve your spot to pre-order the newest devices and save up to $100 while you're at it! Keep scrolling for all the details. Pre-order the new Samsung Galaxy S23 devices The newest Samsung Galaxy devices include the Samsung Galaxy Smartphone and Samsung Galaxy Book, and both are packed with top-of-the-line features. Now through Tuesday, February 1, sign up with your name, email and phone number and Samsung will reserve your spot to pre-order the newest addition to the Galaxy family. You can also expect text messages and emails around the upcoming Galaxy launch. By entering your info, you're automatically eligible for a $50 Samsung credit when you pre-order one device, and $100 Samsung credit when you pre-order two devices. That $50 could go toward a pair of the Samsung Galaxy Buds2, knocking them down to $59.99. We ranked the Galaxy Buds2 as one of the best wireless earbuds we've ever tested for their light and stylish design, good sound and solid active noise-canceling technology. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day is almost here: Shop the best early sales at Amazon, Macy's and QVC Related: Samsung debuts its SmartThings Station at Ces 2023 Along with free Samsung credit, you'll score many other perks when you buy directly from Samsung. You'll receive guaranteed trade-in credit when you purchase multiple Samsung Galaxy smartphones, including trade-in credit for phones with cracked screens. Snag Samsung Care+ extended coverage for unexpected spills, drops or broken screens, and you'll get your replacement as soon as the next business day. From Samsung expert support available 24/7 to special discounts for eligible students, military and first responders, Samsung offers perks and benefits galore. Story continues If you're in the market to upgrade your essential tech in 2023, you don't want to sleep on these Samsung deals. You'll get regular updates on your pre-order and get up to $100 to spend on tricking out the next Samsung Galaxy gadgets. It's really a win-win for tech junkies everywhere. The product experts at Reviewed have all your shopping needs covered. Follow Reviewed on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok or Flipboard for the latest deals, product reviews and more. Prices were accurate at the time this article was published but may change over time. This article originally appeared on Reviewed: Samsung Galaxy S23: Pre-order to save up to $100 on latest Samsung devices A photo of the Galaxy Unpacked invitation Samsungs next Galaxy Unpacked will take place Feb. 1, 2023. Samsung has announced the details of its next Galaxy Unpacked event. The launch event will happen in person on Wednesday, Feb. 1, at 10 A.M. P.T. / 1 P.M. E.T. in downtown San Francisco. It will be live-streamed on YouTube and Samsungs website. Were expecting that what will be unpacked is Samsungs next flagship, the Galaxy S23. If its anything like last year, three models will be offered, including a standard-sized Galaxy S23, a larger Galaxy S23+, and an ultimate package with a stylus and extra camera sensor called the Galaxy S23 Ultra. Read more What will Samsung unpack? Samsung hasnt confirmed that its the phones that are debuting. But there has already been a slew of rumors circulating about whats to come. First, the promotional materials for the Galaxy Unpacked event show three spotlights, probably referring to rear camera lensesjust like the Galaxy S22's. So-called dummy units have been floating around with similar rear-facing camera cutouts as their predecessors. The Galaxy S23 Ultra, in particular, is rumored to have a similar feature-packed camera system, including a 200-MP primary camera and dual telephoto lenses. A leak of alleged marketing materials for the Unpacked event was already floating around earlier today before the official announcement from Samsung. The teaser shows an animation with the phrase made for moonlight. Considering last years Galaxy S23 was made to accommodate its Space Zoom capabilities, its easy to see this being the slogan for the Galaxy S23 Ultra. We might also learn a little about the chip thats going to power the Galaxy S23 series. Its been said that Qualcomms Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, revealed in November, will be in these devices. They might also have vapor chamber cooling, which has moved beyond being a buzzword in todays current climate of high-powered mobile processorsrivaling flagships like the OnePlus 10T feature similar technology. Itll be interesting to see how Samsung markets it. Story continues Think youll upgrade? We cant tell you if the Galaxy S23 will be worth upgrading to from whatever phone you already have in your hand until we review the hardware ourselves. But if youre familiar with Samsungs trajectory and have your heart set on whats next from Samsung anyway, you should know about the latest discount opportunities. Samsung will officially open pre-orders starting today until the event next month. If you pre-order, youll get a $50 credit for one device or a $100 credit for two devices. You dont have to commit, either, which will give you a chance to figure out if you want to trade in what youre already wielding. More from Gizmodo Sign up for Gizmodo's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. El Paso County sheriff's detectives arrested the mayor of San Elizario on Tuesday on a charge of insurance fraud that allegedly occurred before she took office last year, sheriff's officials said. Isela Reyes, 41, was arrested by sheriff's detectives assigned to the FBI West Texas Border Corruption Task Force. She was elected in a nonpartisan election. Reyes is accused of filing a false insurance claim between $2,500 and $30,000 in March of last year, according to El Paso County Jail records. Reyes was sworn into office in May. Though the alleged fraud occurred before she was mayor, the FBI West Texas Border Corruption Task Force was involved in the investigation since Reyes is currently a public official, the Sheriff's Office said in a statement. San Elizario Mayor Isela Reyes was arrested Tuesday by the El Paso County Sheriff's Office on an insurance fraud charge. Reyes was booked into the El Paso County Jail in Downtown under a $25,000 bond. She had not made bail as of Tuesday afternoon. Community news:Thousands of cowboy boots donated to El Paso County children San Elizario has a population of about 10,000 and is a historic town just southeast of El Paso. The community, then known as San Elceario, dates back to when the region was a part of New Spain in the late 1790s. It was most-recently reincorporated as its own town in 2013. This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: San Elizario Mayor Isela Reyes arrested on insurance fraud charge Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) on Wednesday said he would not resign from Congress despite pressure from New York Republicans urging him to do so over lies and fabrication he told about his background on the campaign trail. I will not, Santos said to reporters in response to a direct question as he got on a Capitol elevator. In a later statement, Santos said: I was elected to serve the people of #NY03 not the party & politicians, I remain committed to doing that and regret to hear that local officials refuse to work with my office to deliver results to keep our community safe and lower the cost of living.I will NOT resign! Santoss determination to stay in office comes after Nassau County Republicans called on him to resign. George Santoss campaign last year was a campaign of deceit, lies and fabrication, Nassau County Republican Chairman Joseph Cairo said in a press conference Wednesday. Today I am calling for his immediate resignation. Santos has been under a firestorm as details of his lies on the campaign trail have come to light. The fabrications include falsehoods about his religion, his professional background and where he went to school. The saga has landed Santos in the middle of both local and federal investigations for possible ethics and campaign finance violations. Two Democratic House members from New York filed a complaint with the House Ethics Committee and hand-delivered a copy of the complaint to Santoss office this week, also calling on the maligned lawmaker to step down. He has a lot of work to do to regain the trust of voters and everyone who he represents in Congress, Cairo said. Santos has admitted to embellishing his resume but has remained steadfast that he did not commit any crimes. This story was not updated at 1:05 p.m. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Newly sworn-in Arkansas governor Sarah Huckabee Sander made banning the word Latinx one of her first orders of business. The former White House press secretary under Donald Trump issued an executive order prohibiting use of the gender-neutral term for Latinos in government documents after being sworn in Tuesday. I, SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, acting under the authority vested in me as the Governor of the State of Arkansas, do hereby order the following, reads her decree. That within sixty (60) days of this Order, all state offices, departments, and agencies shall revise all existing written materials by replacing the terms Latinx, latinx, Latinxs, or latinxs with Hispanic, Hispanics, Latino, Latinos, Latina, or Latinas. Unless granted an exception by Sanders, all Arkansas state agencies are ordered to review official documents for the aforementioned terms, submit a written report to her office, then make the changes the governor outlined. In her order, Sanders cited a 2019 Pew Research study that found only 3% of Latinos describe themselves as Latinx. Sanders signed six other executive orders after taking her oath of office, including one that bans teaching critical race theory (CRT) in public schools. Such studies are typically found in college-level graduate programs. Some conservatives believe the principles of CRT permeate the curricula of K-12 classrooms. Sanders did not cite any schools that teach the academic concept, which essentially suggests racism is inherent in the nations laws and legal institutions. Sanders said at her swearing-in ceremony, The people of Arkansas, in their vast wisdom, have entrusted a new generation to lead. This is our moment. The 40-year-old conservative is the daughter of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who spent more than a decade in the governors mansion. With News Wire Services SEATTLE (AP) Like the tobacco, oil, gun, opioid and vaping industries before them, the big U.S. social media companies are now facing lawsuits brought by public entities that seek to hold them accountable for a huge societal problem in their case, the mental health crisis among youth. But the new lawsuits one by the public school district in Seattle last week, with a second filed by a suburban district Monday and almost certainly more to come face an uncertain legal road. The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments next month over the extent to which federal law protects the tech industry from such claims when social media algorithms push potentially harmful content. Even if the high court were to clear the way for lawsuits like Seattle's, the district has a daunting challenge in proving the industry's liability. And the tech industry insists there are many ways social media's effects on teen mental health differ from, say, big pharma's role in pushing opioid addiction. The underlying argument is that the tech industry is to blame for the emotional state of teenagers, because they made recommendations on content that has caused emotional harm, said Carl Szabo, vice president and general counsel of the tech industry trade association NetChoice. It would be absurd to sue Barnes & Noble because an employee recommended a book that caused emotional harm or made a teenager feel bad. But that's exactly what this lawsuit is doing. Seattle Public Schools on Friday sued the tech giants behind TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat, alleging they have created a public nuisance by targeting their products to children. The Kent School District south of Seattle followed suit Monday. The districts blame the companies for worsening mental health and behavioral disorders including anxiety, depression, disordered eating and cyberbullying; making it more difficult to educate students; and forcing schools to take steps such as hiring additional mental health professionals, developing lesson plans about the effects of social media and providing additional training to teachers. Story continues Our students and young people everywhere face unprecedented learning and life struggles that are amplified by the negative impacts of increased screen time, unfiltered content, and potentially addictive properties of social media, Seattle Superintendent Brent Jones said in an emailed statement Tuesday. We are confident and hopeful that this lawsuit is a significant step toward reversing this trend for our students. Federal law Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 helps protect online companies from liability arising from what third-party users post on their platforms. But the lawsuits argue the provision, which predates all the social media platforms, does not protect the tech giants behavior in this case, where their own algorithms promote harmful content. That's also the issue in Gonzalez v. Google, the parent company of YouTube, set for argument at the Supreme Court on Feb. 21. In that case, the family of an American woman killed in an Islamic State group attack in Paris in 2015 alleges YouTube's algorithms aided the terror group's recruitment. If the high court's decision makes clear that tech companies can be held liable in such cases, the school districts will still have to show that social media was in fact to blame. Seattle's lawsuit says that from 2009 to 2019, there was on average a 30% increase in the number of its students who reported feeling so sad or hopeless almost every day for two weeks or more in a row that they stopped doing some typical activities. But Szabo pointed out that Seattle's graduation rates have been on the rise since 2019, during a time when many kids relied on social media to keep in touch with their friends throughout the pandemic. If social media were truly so harmful to the district's educational efforts, the graduation rate wouldn't be rising, he suggested. The complaint focuses on only how social media harms kids, and there might be evidence of that, said Eric Goldman, a professor at Santa Clara University School of Law in Silicon Valley. But theres also a lot of evidence that social media benefits teenagers and other kids. What we dont know is what the distress rate would look like without social media. Its possible the distress rate would be higher, not lower. The companies have insisted that they take the safety of their users, especially kids, seriously, and they have introduced tools to make it easier for parents to know whom their children are contacting; made mental health resources, including the new 988 crisis hotline, more prominent; and improved age verification and screen time limits. We automatically set teens accounts to private when they join Instagram, and we send notifications encouraging them to take regular breaks," Anitigone Davis, Meta's global head of safety, said in an emailed statement. We dont allow content that promotes suicide, self-harm or eating disorders, and of the content we remove or take action on, we identify over 99% of it before its reported to us. Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen revealed internal studies in 2021 showing the company knew Instagram negatively affected teenagers by harming their body images and worsening eating disorders and suicidal thoughts. She alleged the platform prioritized profits over safety and hid its research from investors and the public. Even if social media benefits some students, that doesn't erase the serious harm to many others, said Josh Golin, executive director of Fairplay, a nonprofit working to insulate children from commercialization and marketing. The mental health costs to students, the amount of time schools have to spend monitoring and responding to social media drama, is exorbitant, Golin said. It is ridiculous that schools are responsible for the damages caused by these social media platforms to young people. Nobody is seeing the kinds of cumulative effects that social media is causing to the extent school districts are. Both cases were filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle, but they are based on state public nuisance law a broad, vaguely defined legal concept whose origins date back at least to 13th century England. In Washington, public nuisance is defined, in part, as every act unlawfully done and every omission to perform a duty which shall annoy, injure or endanger the safety, health, comfort, or repose of any considerable number of persons. Most famously, public nuisance claims helped prompt the tobacco industrys $246 billion, 25-year settlement with the states in 1998. But public nuisance law also has been at least part of the basis for litigation by state, city, county or tribal governments seeking to hold oil companies responsible for climate change, the gun industry for gun violence, the pharmaceutical industry for the opioid crisis and vaping companies like Juul for teen vaping. Much of the litigation is ongoing. Juul Labs last month agreed to settle thousands of lawsuits including 1,400 from school districts, cities and counties for a reported $1.2 billion. The Seattle litigation has the potential to enact massive change, prompting questions about the appropriateness of addressing big societal issues in court rather than through lawmaking. Yet there is little risk to the school district because a private law firm filed the complaint on a contingency basis in which the firm is paid only if the case succeeds. Jolina Cuaresma, senior counsel for privacy and tech policy at Common Sense Media, which aims to make media safer for children, said she was thrilled to see a school district make a public nuisance claim against the tech companies. Folks have become tired waiting for Congress to do something, she said. Story at a glance King County Councilmember Jeanne Kohl-Welles introduced a proposal that would ban cashless retailers in parts of the county. Under the proposal, retailers in unincorporated parts of King County, which is home to the cities of Seattle and Bellevue, would be required to accept cash payments of up to $250 for a single transaction. The proposal would also prevent businesses from charging cash-paying customers more for goods and services. A Seattle-area lawmaker has introduced a new proposal aimed at banning cashless retailers. The proposal, introduced by Metropolitan King County Councilmember Jeanne Kohl-Welles, would require retailers in non-incorporated parts of the county to accept cash payments of up to $250 for a single transaction. Under the proposal, businesses would also be barred from charging cash-paying customers a higher price for goods and services. In recent years, many retailers have moved toward a cashless model of payment, citing improved technology, including tap-to-pay mobile applications and the emergence of just walk out payment technology, as well as the safety concerns of storing and handling cash, the proposal states. Indeed, more U.S. adults have opted to go cashless over the last decade years with 4 out of every 10 people reporting that none of their purchases in a week are paid for using cash, according to a recent survey from the Pew Research Center. In 2018, only 29 percent of U.S. adults said they did not use cash to pay for a single transaction in a typical week. But cashless payments pose a dilemma for those who do not have a bank account, credit card or other typical financial services. People that lack these services are also referred to as unbanked. People who are unbanked or underbanked, as well as those who might prefer to use cash for some purchases, might find it difficult to purchase from retailers that use a cashless model and might be limited in the food, consumer goods and consumer services they can procure the proposal adds. Story continues About 2 percent of Washington state residents are unbanked or roughly 67,000 people. That number is expected to rise to 3.1 percent over the next five years, according to a 2021 FDIC Household Survey. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries speaks after U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy was elected House speaker at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 7, 2023, in Washington. (Win McNamee / Getty Images) Advertisement No, New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries does not want to be the next Barack Obama, although sometimes it seems as if everyone is asking. A lot of people were asking after the stemwinder of a speech that Jeffries delivered in Congress as he was briefly handed the House speakers gavel, previously held by California Rep. Nancy Pelosi. Advertisement Having followed the speakers race through a staggering 15 ballots and days of stubborn gridlock, I had just about given up hope of hearing anything even faintly surprising or, heaven help us, inspirational. Democrats had little reason to celebrate the discord in GOP ranks, since the Republican Partys passions centered on how they might best block the Dems agenda. Jeffries, voted the first House minority leader from either party, had earlier fallen only a few votes short of being elected speaker in the closely divided House. Nevertheless, Jeffries cut loose with a concession speech that was part-congratulatory, part-admonishment one of the biggest showstoppers I have seen since Obamas bracing and unifying 2004 Democratic National Convention speech on The Audacity of Hope, which became the title of his second bestselling book. Extending our hand of partnership to McCarthy, Jeffries said, We extend, and intend, to try and find common ground whenever and wherever possible on behalf of the American people. Not as Democrats, not as Republicans, not as independents, but as Americans, he said, reminding me of Obamas most memorable and unifying lines from 2004: Now even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us the spin masters, the negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of anything goes, Obama intoned. Well, I say to them tonight, there is not a liberal America and a conservative America there is the United States of America. There is not a Black America and a white America and Latino America and Asian America theres the United States of America. America, divided by war and conflict overseas and back here at home, needed to hear that. Not all of us, of course. But enough of us so appreciated the fresh voice behind that message that the speech catapulted him into the national conversation and onto his path to the White House. Advertisement But this is a different time and a different Democrat, as Jeffries demonstrated by launching into what many called the ABCs of Democratic Party principles aimed directly at the Republicans in his audience. House Democrats will always put American values over autocracy, he said. 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 And on he went through his alphabet. By the time he got to Trumpland with maturity over Mar-a-Lago and quality-of-life issues over QAnon, some of the voices in the crowd were cheerfully sounding like an Amen chorus, while others were beginning to boo and jeer. Hey, nobody ever said politics was always going to be pretty. Twitter and other social media had a jolly time. Hakeem Jeffries is Obama 2.0, and WILL be president one day, would you support that? one Twitter user tweeted. They were not alone. But, alas, having built up your hopes (or dread), I must caution that this is not the first time Jeffries has found himself in this Whos the next Barack? spotlight. Advertisement When the Washington Post asked him if he was Brooklyns Barack Obama, as one newspaper already was calling him, he downplayed the situation: There is and will only ever be one Barack Obama, who was a phenomenal president. Yet, in talking about political futures, never say never or ever. I, for one, confess that I never thought Donald Trump had a chance. Until he ran. And he hasnt stopped. cpage@chicagotribune.com Twitter @cptime Netflix co-CEO Reed Hastings. Getty Images Netflix is restricting some senior staff from accessing their colleagues' salary details. Director-level employees had been able to view pay data for years, per The Wall Street Journal. Netflix has recently reviewed some of its policies around corporate transparency. Netflix is no longer allowing some senior staff to view their co-workers' salaries following a rise in disagreements about pay, The Wall Street Journal reported. Director-level employees the rank below C-suite executives had their access to colleagues' pay data revoked late last year, per the report citing unnamed sources. Such staff had been able to view this information for several years as Netflix generally offered a high level of transparency to workers. The decision came as the number of directors at the company increased significantly in recent years, leading to more spats over compensation. Sources told the Journal that some executives felt they should be paid more because colleagues at the same level were paid more, even though their roles were different. Netflix did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider. The streaming giant has given staff access to corporate information such as strategy documents, but has been reviewing its high transparency culture, according to the Journal. Netflix's co-CEO Reed Hastings wrote about this approach in his 2020 book "No Rules Rules": "For our employees, transparency has become the biggest symbol of how much we trust them to act responsibly." He said that "increasing organizational transparency and eliminating company secrets" helped employees make better decisions. Netflix started creating salary bands in early 2022 to create more consistent pay levels for people in similar roles as well as to help control costs, The Information reported. Amid slowing growth, subscriber losses and decreasing revenue, Netflix laid off hundreds of staff last year, including 150 US-based workers in May, a further 300 employees in June and dozens of staffers at its new editorial site Tudum. Read the original article on Business Insider SOMERTON Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly of Arizona, along with a bipartisan group of senators, met Tuesday with local leaders in Somerton to discuss solutions to the humanitarian, security and economic challenges facing communities along the U.S.-Mexico border. Sinema, I-Ariz., and Kelly, D-Ariz., held a roundtable discussion with local government and tribal leaders at the Regional Center for Border Health, the humanitarian nonprofit that has spearheaded migrant aid in Yuma County since 2021. Sinema touted the members of the "tri-partisan" delegation as focused on confronting issues and finding solutions. "You don't often see border tours in a bipartisan manner," Sinema said. "It's usually one party or the other only looking at what they want to look at or complaining about what they want to complain about. "This is a group of people who all are interested in getting results and solving problems, not just talking to get clicks or on Twitter," she said. The group included Republicans, Democrats and Sinema, a former Democrat who recently became an independent lawmaker. During the discussion, local leaders detailed concerns about humanitarian issues, funding, the strain on Border Patrol agents and the possibility of migrant releases into the community. All leaders present called for the federal government to step up and help handle the situation at the southern border. During the senators first stop in El Paso on Monday, Sinema announced she will continue working on the draft immigration reform framework she authored along with Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who also was present at the roundtable discussion. The last-minute proposal would have given 2 million undocumented youth, known as "Dreamers," a path to citizenship while extending the Trump-era Title 42 border restriction for another year. The bipartisan framework failed to win enough support in the Senate before Congress adjourned in December. Title 42 was set to end Dec. 21 but its future now rests with the U.S. Supreme Court until a decision is handed down, which could come in early summer. Story continues The senators' visit comes during the same week that the Border Patrol is to begin construction on four gaps along the border wall near the Morelos Dam near Yuma. The Yuma-area border wall gaps are projected to be closed with temporary mesh fencing and mechanized bollard vehicle gates by summer 2023, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Footing the bill: Doug Ducey's shipping container barrier will cost AZ taxpayers over $200M The gaps recently were left bare after former Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, ordered the double-stacked shipping container barrier torn down after a lawsuit from the Biden administration. Ducey ordered the shipping container barrier built in August, two days after Kellys most recent previous visit to Yuma when he toured the area to tout his efforts in helping to close the gaps. Duceys August announcement also came about two weeks after Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas authorized CBP to fill the gaps in the border wall near the Morelos Dam. Duceys five-month shipping container project near Yuma cost Arizona taxpayers more than $22 million, according to state contracts. The entire effort cost taxpayers more than $200 million. "I understand (Ducey's) frustration," Kelly said. "At the same time, I'm an engineer. Stuff like this should be engineered well. It should be able to last and it should be planned." U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly speaks to the media about the barrier gaps at Morelos Dam on Aug. 10, 2022, in Yuma. Kelly added that he's in favor of having the Border Patrol recommend to CBP and the Department of Homeland Security where barriers are needed, and where they are not. "Barriers make sense in a lot of places; in other places, they don't make any sense," Kelly said. Cocopah Indian Tribe Chair Sherry Cordova detailed cultural concerns during the discussion that she has heard from members of her community regarding the shipping containers that were put in the Cocopah community near Yuma. The containers blocked community members from visiting the Colorado River and practicing traditional customs, Cordova said. Cordova acknowledged the need for immigration reform and to secure communities, but underscored the taxing effect that the containers have had on her community and its elders. "For us, it was pretty bad," Cordova said in regard to the container barrier. "To not be able to go down there and do the things that we've done in the past, it affects our membership." Prior to the meeting, the six-senator delegation toured the gaps near the Morelos Dam and the area where the border wall ends at the start of the Cocopah community. This area has become a frequent crossing point for migrants to present themselves to Border Patrol agents and then request asylum. Agents see about 800 to 1,000 people arrive daily in the area. President Biden to El Paso: 'What can I do to help?' The senators visit to the Arizona-Mexico border comes a couple of days after President Joe Bidens first visit to the southern border in El Paso. Biden stopped there on Sunday before heading to Mexico City for the North American Leaders Summit, where he is meeting with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. President Joe Biden walks with Customs and Border Protection officers during his visit to the border wall in El Paso, Texas on Jan. 9, 2023. Besides Tillis, Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas; James Lankford, R-Okla.; and Chris Murphy, D-Conn., joined Sinema and Kelly on their visit to the U.S.-Mexico border. Sens. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., and Chris Coons, D-Del., also were part of the delegation but could not attend the discussion. Amanda Aguirre, CEO of the Regional Center for Border Health, Yuma County Sheriff Leon Wilmot and government leaders from Yuma, San Luis and Somerton attended the discussion. Border visit comes as Title 42's future remains uncertain Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema greets attendees during the public ceremonial inauguration ceremony for newly elected Arizona officials at the Arizona state Capitol on Jan. 5, 2023, in Phoenix. Sinema first teased the bipartisan delegation visit during a Dec. 20 Senate floor speech, one day before the pandemic-era Title 42 border restriction was set to expire. When we come back to Congress in January, one of the first things Ill do, with Senator Tillis, is convene a bipartisan group of senators who are willing and committed to get something done, Sinema said during her remarks. Were going to bring them to the border. Were going to see what Arizonans see every single day because a crisis this big should not and cannot be ignored. Immigration efforts: Sinema, Kelly commit to seek reform as clock runs out on Congress Sinemas speech came days after her immigration reform framework failed to garner enough support. The bipartisan draft aimed to please lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, extending a controversial border restriction while also providing a path to citizenship for millions of undocumented people. Arizona advocates applauded the initiative to help "Dreamers" but criticized the proposal for extending Title 42. The proposal also included at least $25 billion in increased funding for the Border Patrol and border security alongside a significant boost in resources to facilitate the processing of asylum seekers with new processing centers, asylum officers and judges. Sinema subsequently proposed a multibillion-dollar amendment during a lame-duck debate over the Senates $1.7 trillion spending package. The amendment, which fell short of the required votes, aimed to extend Title 42 until a proper plan is in place and surge resources to the border. Title 42 continues in effect after the Supreme Court blocked the Biden administration from lifting the health policy. The restriction was first invoked under the Trump administration in March 2020 and has been used to rapidly expel migrants at the nations borders more than 2 million times. Community readiness: As Title 42 policy winds down, leaders on border detail preparations Marco Antonio Tony Reyes, chairperson of the Yuma County Board of Supervisors, was scheduled to attend the discussion but did not. Reyes on Dec. 14 declared an emergency in unincorporated areas of Yuma County in preparation for the expected rise in migrant encounters at the border alongside a triple threat of COVID-19, respiratory syncytial virus and influenza as the reasoning for his declaration. The next day, San Luis Mayor Nieves Riedel proclaimed a local emergency because of the health and humanitarian crisis along the Arizona-Mexico border. 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: Sinema, Kelly visit Somerton to discuss solutions with local leaders WASHINGTON (AP) Al-Amir Dawes scored 21 of his career-high 24 points after halftime and Seton Hall beat Georgetown 66-51 on Tuesday night to extend the Hoyas regular-season conference losing streak to 27 games. Dawes went on an 11-0 run with a layup and three 3s in a three-minute stretch to break a 32-all tie and the Pirates (9-8, 3-4 Big East) were never contested again. Akok Akok, Jordan Riley and Primo Spears each scored nine points for Georgetown (5-13, 0-7). Qudus Wahab grabbed 10 rebounds for Georgetown. The Hoyas haven't won in conference since the Big East Tournament to end the 2020-21 season. Georgetown won four straight in the tournament to grab the conference title with a 13-12 record and lost its opening round NCAA Tournament game to Colorado. Georgetown is 11-38 overall since then. Seton Hall now has won four straight in a series that started in 1909. Seton Hall trails 61-55 even though Georgetown once won 17 straight against the Pirates. ___ More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25 While not a mind-blowing move, it is good to see that the Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR) share price has gained 11% in the last three months. But that doesn't change the reality of under-performance over the last twelve months. The cold reality is that the stock has dropped 36% in one year, under-performing the market. With that in mind, it's worth seeing if the company's underlying fundamentals have been the driver of long term performance, or if there are some discrepancies. View our latest analysis for Digital Realty Trust To quote Buffett, 'Ships will sail around the world but the Flat Earth Society will flourish. There will continue to be wide discrepancies between price and value in the marketplace...' One imperfect but simple way to consider how the market perception of a company has shifted is to compare the change in the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price movement. During the unfortunate twelve months during which the Digital Realty Trust share price fell, it actually saw its earnings per share (EPS) improve by 107%. It's quite possible that growth expectations may have been unreasonable in the past. It's fair to say that the share price does not seem to be reflecting the EPS growth. So it's well worth checking out some other metrics, too. Digital Realty Trust's dividend seems healthy to us, so we doubt that the yield is a concern for the market. The revenue trend doesn't seem to explain why the share price is down. Of course, it could simply be that it simply fell short of the market consensus expectations. You can see how earnings and revenue have changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values). We consider it positive that insiders have made significant purchases in the last year. Having said that, most people consider earnings and revenue growth trends to be a more meaningful guide to the business. This free report showing analyst forecasts should help you form a view on Digital Realty Trust Story continues What About Dividends? When looking at investment returns, it is important to consider the difference between total shareholder return (TSR) and share price return. The TSR is a return calculation that accounts for the value of cash dividends (assuming that any dividend received was reinvested) and the calculated value of any discounted capital raisings and spin-offs. It's fair to say that the TSR gives a more complete picture for stocks that pay a dividend. In the case of Digital Realty Trust, it has a TSR of -33% for the last 1 year. That exceeds its share price return that we previously mentioned. This is largely a result of its dividend payments! A Different Perspective We regret to report that Digital Realty Trust shareholders are down 33% for the year (even including dividends). Unfortunately, that's worse than the broader market decline of 19%. However, it could simply be that the share price has been impacted by broader market jitters. It might be worth keeping an eye on the fundamentals, in case there's a good opportunity. Longer term investors wouldn't be so upset, since they would have made 3%, each year, over five years. It could be that the recent sell-off is an opportunity, so it may be worth checking the fundamental data for signs of a long term growth trend. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Digital Realty Trust better, we need to consider many other factors. To that end, you should learn about the 3 warning signs we've spotted with Digital Realty Trust (including 1 which is potentially serious) . If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them). Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on US exchanges. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Join A Paid User Research Session Youll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here Sheryl Lee Ralph at the 80th Annual Golden Globe Awards on Jan. 10 in Beverly Hills, California. Sheryl Lee Ralph at the 80th Annual Golden Globe Awards on Jan. 10 in Beverly Hills, California. WhenSherylLee Ralph speaks, the world listens. Tuesday night on the Golden Globes red carpet, Ralph was asked to offer some words of affirmation to her 15-year-old self, and she decided to speak on a fraught issue: the Eurocentric beauty standards forced on her as a youth. Ironically, the things that made her question her beauty back then are exactly what a lot of white folks will pay to have today. And Ralph made it all the more spicy by dropping the name of the family most often accused of altering their bodies to look like Black womens. There is nothing wrong with your nose ... And there is certainly nothing wrong with your lips, because there will be some people called Kardashians, and they will pay $10,000 for your lips, she assured her tender teenage self. The teenager in all of us rejoiced when the Abbott Elementary star made it clear that Black folks have always been the blueprint. The things that Black folks create, innovate, or are naturally graced with are often demonized until someone non-Black copies it and makes it trendy. It then becomes a commodity for the masses think extreme tanning, dressing like us, copying hairstyles, the use of AAVE, the popularity of the BBL, and all the other mimicking of Black aesthetics and expression. Despite all that, many of us grew up believing we were not worthy and not beautiful because of a wide nose, full lips and a rich cultural lexicon. There has been a running joke over the past year about how weve watched various famous white women start to ditch their stolen Black aesthetic to go back to being plain white women. Black culture is not something you can wear like a dress. It is not a costume to slip into when it benefits you while you ignore the plight of the actual Black individuals who are harmed for simply existing. Story continues Thanks, Ms. Ralph, for reminding our 15-year-old selves that being Black is beautiful and you aint never had to pay for it. Related... Michelle Yeoh won a Golden Globe, and there was no way she was getting off that stage without saying everything she damn well wanted to. About halfway through her acceptance speech for Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy for her performance in Everything Everywhere All at Once, exit music began to play. Shut up, please, she snapped, with a laugh. I can beat you up, OK? Thats no joke, considering her prolific martial arts acting career. Michelle Yeoh accepting her award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture: Comedy at the #GoldenGlobespic.twitter.com/J4w3lS9FCQ Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) January 11, 2023 Yeoh, who was born in Malaysia, had started her speech by discussing the way race affected her Hollywood career. Its been an amazing journey, she said. I remember when I first came to Hollywood, it was a dream come true until I got here. Because look at this face. I came here and was told, Youre a minority and Im like, No, thats not possible. And then someone said to me, You ... speak ... English. I mean, forget about them not knowing Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Asia, India. And then I said, Yeah, the flight here was about 13 hours long. So I learned. She also suggested her winning role felt like a breakaway from Hollywoods issue with sexism and ageism. I turned 60 last year, and I think all of you women understand this: As the days, the years and the numbers get bigger, it seems like opportunities start to get smaller as well. And I probably was at a time where I thought, Well, hey, come on, girl, you had a really, really good run. You worked with some of the best people. She added: And so its good. Its all good. Then along came the best gift: Everything Everywhere All at Once. Story continues That was the moment the Globes exit music started to play. But Yeoh wasnt done. After expertly brushing off the interruption, Yeoh thanked the films writers and directors, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, who had the courage to write about a very ordinary immigrant aging woman, mother, daughter who was ... being audited by the IRS. I was given this gift of playing this woman who resonated so deeply with me and with so many people, because at the end of the day in whatever universe she was at, she was just fighting, fighting for love for her family, she said. The comedy-drama was nominated six times at the 2023 Golden Globes, including for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy and Best Director. Related... CHICAGO (AP) Left-hander Drew Smyly could earn up to $41.5 million over three years from his contract with the Chicago Cubs if he pitches 150 innings annually, and catcher Tucker Barnhart could raise earnings to $9.5 million under his two-year contract if he becomes a regular starter. Smyly is guaranteed $19 million as part of a two-year contract announced Dec. 24 that calls for salaries of $8 million this year and $8.5 million in 2023. The deal includes a $10 million mutual option for 2025 with a $2.5 million buyout. His salaries for 2024 and 2025 could increase by up to $3 million based on innings in the previous season: $250,000 each for 110 and 120, $750,000 apiece for 130 and 140, and $1 million for 150. He can earn annual performance bonuses for the same amounts at the same levels. Smyly has a conditional right out of the contract after this season to become a free agent if he pitches at least 100 innings this year. The 33-year-old went 7-8 with a 3.47 ERA in 22 starts for Chicago last season. Smyly joins a group of potential starters that includes Marcus Stroman, Jameson Taillon and Kyle Hendricks. The Cubs also have Justin Steele, Adrian Sampson and Keegan Thompson. Barnhart was guaranteed $6.5 million as part of a deal announced Dec. 29, getting salaries of $3.25 million in each of the next two seasons. His 2024 salary could increase by $1 million based on starts at catcher this year: $250,000 each for 91 and 101, and $500,000 for 111. Barnhart could also earn $1 million in performance bonuses annually for starts at catcher, with the same thresholds and amounts. He has the right to opt out of the deal after the 2023 season and become a free agent. Barnhart, who turns 32 on Jan. 7, is expected to back up Yan Gomes. Willson Contreras was the starting catcher for Chicago last season, but he signed an $87.5 million, five-year contract with St. Louis during free agency. Barnhart returns to the NL Central after struggling in his only season with Detroit. He spent his first eight seasons with Cincinnati, winning Gold Gloves in 2017 and 2020. Story continues He became the third Gold Glove winner to sign with the Cubs this offseason. All-Star shortstop Dansby Swanson, who won his first Gold Glove last season with Atlanta, signed a $177 million, seven-year contract. The Cubs also brought in Gold Glove-winning center fielder Cody Bellinger on a $17.5 million, one-year deal. Chicago also agreed last month to a $2.8 million, one-year deal with right-handed reliever Brad Boxberger. He gets a $2 million salary this year as part of a deal that includes a $5 million mutual option for 2024 with an $800,000 buyout. ___ AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African power cuts worsened on Wednesday as struggling state utility Eskom said it would extend its worst-ever outages until further notice. The "Stage 6" power cuts mean six to eight hours a day without power for most South Africans and require up to 6,000 megawatts (MW) of capacity to be shed from the national grid. They are a major source of public frustration with the governing African National Congress party, whose support among voters is sliding, and a brake on economic growth in Africa's most industrialised nation. Eskom has a nominal generation capacity of roughly 46,000 MW, but on Wednesday more than 23,000 MW of that was offline because of breakdowns or planned repairs. Eskom said in a statement that 11 of its generators had suffered breakdowns since Tuesday morning. The beleaguered utility supplies the vast majority of South Africa's electricity, relying mainly on an ageing fleet of coal-fired power stations that are unreliable and prone to faults. The country witnessed more than 200 days of power cuts in 2022, the most in a calendar year, and the situation could get even worse in 2023. Since taking office in 2018, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has been trying to reform debt-laden Eskom to make it more efficient but progress has been slow. Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter submitted his resignation last month, making him the 11th boss to leave the company in just over a decade. Police are investigating whether an attempt was made to poison de Ruyter, who has pursued a clampdown on corruption and organised criminal behaviour, including sabotage of infrastructure, at Eskom plants. (Reporting by Bhargav Acharya; Editing by Alexander Winning and Bernadette Baum) PIERRE As South Dakota continues to address issues within its court system, like improving rehabilitation efforts for young offenders and updating security infrastructure in courthouses across the state, Chief Justice Steven Jensen said Wednesday during the State of the Judiciary more needed to be done for impoverished people who come into the court system as well as for aspiring lawyers who want to be admitted to the state bar. During his address to the 98th Session of the South Dakota Legislature, Jensen said while South Dakota has recognized those without means need to have access to a lawyer for the last 100 years, it's becoming increasingly difficult for rural areas to find attorneys to represent those who cannot afford their own legal representation. Private practice attorneys often agree to represent defendants as public defenders, Jensen said. Only three counties in South Dakota Minnehaha, Pennington and Lawrence County have full time public defender offices. More:Top 5 takeaways from Gov. Noem's State of the State speech "The other 63 counties either negotiate an annual rate contract with one or more private attorneys or pay the cost as defendants and private attorneys on a case-by-case basis," Jensen said. Counties are now struggling to foot the bill, Jensen said. Typically, counties are reimbursed for the expenditure through a portion of the funds set aside from criminal fines in the state. During the 2022 fiscal year, South Dakota counties paid out nearly $21 million for indigent case funds, but were reimbursed 2%-3%. Jensen called for a bill to create a study group that would focus on the creation of a statewide public defender system. Chief Judge Steven Jensen prepares his remarks for the State of the Judiciary in front of the 98th Session of the South Dakota State Legislature. Additionally, Jensen a new study group is looking at the South Dakota Bar Exam and changes that could be made for aspiring lawyers. The exam includes a multiple choice section and an essay section, with one question on Indian law. Pass rates have dipped in the past decade, but Jensen said for University of South Dakota law students taking the bar exam, they tend to have higher pass rates than the national average. Story continues While he said it's necessary for the exam to be tough, Jensen said the group, which met for the first time in December, will be considering changes to the whole application process. "Respectfully the process to assess competence must be rigorous. Lawyers occupy a unique position with trust and responsibility," Jensen said. "Clients place their confidence in lawyers to represent them in questions concerning their property, their liberty, and in most serious cases, their very lives." Jensen also asked for funding for a fourth magistrate court judge in the Second District, which includes Minnehaha and Lincoln counties, and said a legislative resolution concerning the appointment of circuit court judges would be heavily discussed among judges in the coming weeks. This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Chief Justice Steven Jensen lays out judicial priorities for 2023 President Joe Biden speaks during a White House event to mark the second anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, in Washington on Jan. 6, 2023. (Pete Marovich/The New York Times) WASHINGTON The disclosure that classified documents were found in a private office that Joe Biden had used before beginning his 2020 campaign has prompted comparisons to former President Donald Trumps hoarding of sensitive government records, which is the subject of a criminal investigation. Based on what is publicly known, here is a closer look: Advertisement How are the situations similar? At a basic level, both involve official files bearing classification markings that improperly accompanied Trump and Biden after they left office. Under the Presidential Records Act, White House records are supposed to go to the National Archives and Records Administration once an administration departs. Private citizens generally lack authorization to hold classified documents, and regulations require such files to be stored securely. The Justice Department is scrutinizing both situations. In Trumps case, Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed a special counsel, Jack Smith, to oversee the investigation. In Bidens case, Garland has assigned a Trump-appointed U.S. attorney, John R. Lausch Jr., to conduct an initial investigation to help him determine whether to appoint a special counsel. Advertisement How are the situations different? There are key gaps in the public record about both, but the available information suggests there were significant differences in how the documents came to light, their volume and most important how Trump and Biden responded. Trump and his aides resisted the governments repeated efforts to retrieve them all, while Bidens lawyers reported the problem and the White House says it has fully cooperated. These apparent differences have consequential legal implications. Where were the files? In Trumps case, several hundred government files marked as classified along with thousands of unclassified documents and photos ended up at his Florida club and residence, Mar-a-Lago, after he left office. Some were in cartons in a locked storage closet, and the FBI discovered others in Trumps office, including in his desk, according to court filings. In Bidens case, the White House said in a statement Monday that a small number of documents with classified markings were discovered in a locked closet at an office at a Washington think tank, the Penn Biden Center. It added that Biden had periodically used the space after leaving the vice presidency in 2017 until he began his bid for the 2020 presidency. How did the files get there? As president, Trump is said to have periodically taken records from the Oval Office to the residential areas of the White House. During the chaos of his last days in office after he sought to cling to power, those files were apparently packed up with personal items like clothing and mementos and shipped to Mar-a-Lago. It is not yet known how records from the Obama administration wound up at the Penn Biden Center. On Tuesday, Biden said he took classified information seriously and that he was surprised to learn that there were any government records there that were taken to that office. How did the problems come to light? Very differently. In the case of Trump, the National Archives in the spring of 2021 realized that historically prominent files were missing and asked Trump to return them. The agency eventually retrieved 15 boxes and found that they included documents with classification markings. The Justice Department retrieved additional records after issuing a subpoena, but it developed evidence that Trump still had more. In the case of Biden, the White House has said that his lawyers discovered the files on Nov. 2 when they were packing up to vacate the office at the Penn Biden Center. The documents were not the subject of any previous request or inquiry by the archives, it also said. Advertisement How did they respond? Very differently. Bidens team reported the problem to the National Archives on the same day it was discovered, and the agency retrieved the materials the next morning, the White House said. It added that Bidens team has since cooperated with the archives and the Justice Department to ensure that any Obama-Biden administration records are appropriately in the possession of the archives. Biden said Tuesday that his lawyers had acted appropriately: They immediately called the archives to turn over the materials. Were cooperating fully cooperating fully with the review, which I hope will be completed soon, he said. By contrast, Trump and his aides for months delayed responding to the National Archives repeated requests, then failed to fully comply with the subpoena while falsely saying they had. A court filing also suggested that security camera footage shows that government records were likely concealed and removed from the storage room at Mar-a-Lago after the subpoena. Trump has repeatedly attacked the National Archives for telling the Justice Department about the matter and portrayed the investigation as illegitimate. A federal judge is considering holding his team in contempt for defying the subpoena. In each case, were the documents still classified? Probably. Advertisement Trump publicly claimed that before leaving office, he declassified everything that turned up at Mar-a-Lago. 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. (Moreover, the potential crimes cited in the affidavit used to search Trumps Florida residence do not depend on whether mishandled documents were classified.) While the executive order governing the classified information system gives vice presidents the same power to declassify secrets as presidents wield, Biden has not claimed he declassified the materials found in the Penn Biden Center closet. He said on Tuesday that he did not know what they were. How many classified documents were there? Many more classified documents appear to have been improperly stored at Trumps estate than at Bidens office. Court filings say that 184 documents marked as classified were in the 15 boxes the National Archives initially retrieved from Mar-a-Lago. The Trump team turned over 38 more such records after the subpoena, and the FBI found another 103 in its search. The Biden administrations statement said a small number of documents marked as classified were discovered in the closet at the Penn Biden Center. CBS News has reported there were about 10. When Bidens lawyers saw classified documents in the closet, they immediately cleared the room, a person briefed on the situation said. The Biden team did not conduct its own systematic audit of the files. Advertisement Were documents also mutilated or destroyed? Trump appears to have destroyed official documents. Former aides have said he ripped up files while in office, and a letter from the National Archives indicated that some of the files it retrieved had been mutilated. There has been no allegation that Biden destroyed public records. What are the legal consequences of these differences? The implications of these differences are significant, though more information could still come to light. One question is whether any mishandling of secrets was intentional. A provision of the Espionage Act, for example, makes it a crime if someone, without authorization, willfully retains a national security secret and fails to deliver it on demand to an official entitled to take custody of it. The application to search Mar-a-Lago cited the Espionage Act, as well as laws against destroying official documents and obstructing an official effort. That the FBI discovered additional documents with classification markings in its search of Mar-a-Lago has also raised the possibility that Trumps team defied the subpoena and made false statements. c.2022 The New York Times Company A growing Sunbelt uprising among GOP activists at the state and local level has emerged as a threat or at least a noisy nuisance to Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniels bid for another term. From Arizona to Florida, state parties are passing or considering votes of no confidence in McDaniel, demanding new leadership after three disappointing elections. The latest signs of rebellion are in the Deep South, in Alabama and Louisiana. State parties there rebuked McDaniel this week after rank-and-file Republicans made their displeasure known. Roger Villere Jr., an RNC member from Louisiana who supports McDaniel rival Harmeet Dhillon for chair, confirmed Tuesday that his state party approved an anti-McDaniel resolution at his urging on Saturday. "The grassroots is firmly supporting a change," Villere said. "Every vote, every call every day, I hear from people who want someone other than Ronna. We've had three cycles where we've underachieved significantly, and it's just time." On Monday, the Alabama GOP announced that its steering committee had lost confidence in McDaniel and was urging "RNC members across the country" to vote against her. Those states joined a list that already included Arizona, where Republican leaders in December passed a resolution calling on McDaniel to resign, and Texas, where the GOP executive committee called on its three RNC representatives to vote for new leadership. Floridas GOP, meanwhile, will vote on a similar measure next week. How big or consequential these votes are remains unclear. McDaniel and her allies still point to months-old endorsements from more than enough of the 168 RNC members to clinch her re-election during a secret-ballot vote this month. But the air of inevitability has been punctured by an airing of grievances about the entrenched party establishment and its losing record. The condemnations by a handful of state parties have done nothing to deter McDaniel, according to Emma Vaughn, the spokesperson for her re-election campaign. Story continues "Member support for the chairwoman has grown since her announcement and she will continue speaking with each and every member about how the party can continue building upon our investments and make the necessary improvements to compete and win in 2024," Vaughn said in a statement. McDaniel faces two main rivals for chair: Dhillon, an attorney and RNC member from California, and Mike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO and staunch defender of former President Donald Trump who has repeatedly advanced the lie of a stolen presidential election in 2020. None of the resolutions recently advanced by the state parties explicitly endorsed another candidate. Much of the organized discontent with McDaniel is concentrated in the South. Anti-McDaniel Republicans in several of the states where Republicans already have issued no-confidence votes told NBC News they were aware of similar efforts in neighboring states, but officials in those states did not respond to requests for comment. Alabamas no-confidence vote followed a survey sent to members of the state GOPs executive committee asking if they were satisfied with RNC leadership or preferred a change, said one leading party activist who requested anonymity to share candid opinions and details of internal conversations. More than 90% of respondents favored new leadership, the activist said, prompting the state partys smaller steering committee to issue a statement to vote against McDaniel. "Our record at the RNC is not good," the activist said. "Were fighting World War II with horses and cannons pulled by horses. The opposition is leaving us in the dust." The anti-McDaniel votes in Alabama and elsewhere are not binding on the RNC representatives from those states. Under RNC rules, three members from each state and U.S. territory the state or territorys party chair, one committeeman and one committeewoman cast ballots for chair, accounting for the 168 votes. "Just like the RNC, Chairwoman McDaniels decision to run for re-election was member driven," Vaughn said. "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." Alabama's three RNC members all sit on the steering committee that declared no confidence in McDaniel. But only one, Paul Reynolds, explicitly said he planned to vote against her when asked this week by NBC News. John Wahl, the state chair, "supports and respects" the decision and will take it into consideration when he votes, a party spokesperson said. Vicki Drummond, who along with 100 other RNC members signed a November letter endorsing McDaniel for another term, did not respond to requests for comment. In other states, party leaders are putting pressure on RNC members to vote against McDaniel. Louisiana's no-confidence resolution points out that its three voting members "have been elected by and are accountable to the Louisiana Republican State Central Committee." "Chairwoman McDaniel's leadership has been an 'exercise in failure,' with the Republican Party losing the majority in the House of Representatives in 2018, losing control of the Senate in 2020 and drastically underperforming in 2022 ... even though a 'wave election' was expected since an overwhelming majority of voters when polled, responded that America is on the wrong track," the resolution said. The anti-McDaniel resolutions also omitted any mention of Trump's unpopularity, which polls indicate was a drag on Republicans in the prior election cycles. Echoing other party members, Villere, the Louisiana committeeman, said activists faulted McDaniel because her job was solely supposed to be focused on the "nuts and bolts" of building party infrastructure and making sure candidates had the tools to win across the country. "Trump was the president, but she was running the party," Villere said. Tony Perkins, a member of the Louisiana GOP and president of the Family Research Council, told NBC News that he had voted against the no-confidence resolution and is standing by McDaniel because he believes she has done a good job listening to evangelical voters like himself, in part by refusing to engage in "identity politics" with LGBTQ groups. "Why would I change? Why would I want to change leadership?" Perkins said. "She has done a good job. Not every Southern Republican Party is taking action to condemn McDaniel. There is no such move afoot in Mississippi, where Chairman Frank Bordeaux backs McDaniel, according to a Republican source familiar with the state party's machinations. Jeanne Luckey, another committee member from the state, also supports McDaniel, while committeeman Henry Barbour has not made a public endorsement in the race. In Georgia, where McDaniel has not yet faced a public condemnation campaign, RNC member Jason Thompson said criticism of her tenure has been nonetheless robust. "From all the emails I've received, I have not received one email in Georgia or across the nation from someone that wants Ronna McDaniel to be re-elected," Thompson said. "People are looking into why there are losses, there are a lot of questions that's what's going on." Asked if he would support McDaniel, Thompson, who has tweeted that he shares concerns he has heard from others, declined to offer a yes or no answer. "You can probably read in between the lines." This article was originally published on NBCNews.com Sangamon County State's Attorney Dan Wright announcing first-degree murder charges against two LifeStar Ambulance Service workers at a press conference at the county complex Tuesday. Peggy Jill Finley and Peter Cadigan were both arraigned in court later Tuesday. Body-worn camera footage from three Springfield Police officers showed a man suffering from hallucinations due to alcohol withdrawal and medical personnel who were offering little assistance in the early morning hours of Dec. 18 at a residence on the northeast side of Springfield. The video was released late Tuesday afternoon by Sangamon County State's Attorney Dan Wright after two emergency medical services workers for LifeStar Ambulance Service Inc. were arraigned on first-degree murder charges in court earlier Tuesday. The man in the video, Earl L. Moore Jr., 35, of the 1100 block of North 11th Street, died shortly after being transported to HSHS St. John's Hospital. More:Two Springfield emergency medical technicians face first-degree murder charges Peggy Jill Finley, 44, of the 800 block of South Durkin Drive, and Peter J. Cadigan, 50, of the 1000 block of Green Acres Lane, were both charged with first-degree murder. They are being held in the Sangamon County Jail on $1 million bonds, which were upheld by Seventh Judicial Circuit Court Associate Judge Karen Tharp on Tuesday. Forensic pathologist Dr. John Scott Denton of Bloomington concluded Moore died from "compressional and positional asphyxia" after being placed face down on the stretcher and straps being placed across his back. Sangamon County Coroner Jim Allmon ruled Moore's case "a homicide." An original dispatch indicated there were multiple subjects at the residence with firearms, Springfield Police Chief Ken Scarlette told The State Journal-Register Tuesday. Moore made that call, but upon arrival, a female cousin of Moore's indicated to the officers that he was hallucinating and that there weren't any weapons in the house. The videos show Moore writhing on his bed, as the officers asked him a series of questions to establish his coherence. Within minutes, an officer summoned an ambulance to the residence. At one point, Moore, visibly sweating, sits up and asks for a glass of water, but then collapses back onto the bed, eventually rolling onto the floor as he was taking off some of his clothing. Story continues One of the officers was engaging Moore's female cousin about Moore's alcohol treatment history. She told the officer that he was in Day 3 of detox. Finley and Cadigan arrived at the house about 10 minutes later. Finley entered Moore's bedroom while Cadigan remained outside with the stretcher. "Quit acting stupid, Earl," Finley said, as Moore remained on the floor. Finley implored Moore several times to "sit up." Finley told Moore she was not carrying him out of the house and was "seriously not in the mood for this dumb s---." Officers assisted Moore from the bedroom to the front door, though he collapsed at least twice. Finley told Moore, "Get up or you can stay here." Moore was placed in "a recovery position," on his side on the stretcher, Scarlette said. At that point, he added, care was transferred to the EMS workers. Finley and Cadigan placed Moore face down on stretcher and secured him in with straps. An officer noted Moore was strapped in "good and tight." More:U of I professor Gerald McWorter to speak at 48th MLK Memorial Breakfast in Springfield Moore was then wheeled to the ambulance and taken to St. John's where he was pronounced dead less than an hour later. A statement released by Springfield Police late Tuesday afternoon noted that it was officers who took steps to assist Moore "when those personnel acted indifferently to (his) condition. The officers, who are not emergency medical professionals, are not trained (or) equipped to provide the necessary medical treatment or to transport patients in this type of situation. The officers turned over care of the patient to the licensed, medical professionals at the scene in accordance with Springfield Police Department policy." Scarlette said the three officers in question have remained on duty since the incident. An Illinois State Police investigation into the case continues. The president of LifeStar, which is based in Centralia and has provided service to Springfield since 1988, did not offer any comment about charges against Finley and Cadigan, citing the investigation. Both have preliminary court appearances on Jan. 19. Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788, sspearie@sj-r.com, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie. This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Springfield Police release body cam shows EMT indifference in Dec. 18 incident L.A. County supervisors on Tuesday approved a declaration of a state of emergency over homelessness. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times) The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved an emergency declaration aimed at dramatically speeding up services to the tens of thousands of people living in encampments and vehicles. The declaration started the clock: County officials with the Homeless Initiative now have two weeks to report to the board exactly what parts of the county bureaucracy can be scrapped. The declaration, crafted by Supervisors Lindsey Horvath and Kathryn Barger, aims to cut steps in three time-consuming county processes: contracting, procurement and hiring. The Homeless Initiative, which is housed within the countys chief executive office, is compiling a list of specific requests and action items for the board to take, according to its director. L.A. County Chief Executive Fesia Davenport said this could include making emergency appointments for new hires. We need to expedite and do things faster, Davenport told the board. And that means that we should no longer at least during this emergency period have a hyper focus of making sure we check off every box ... because that's what starts to slow us down. The county became the third jurisdiction in Southern California to announce a state of emergency recently over people sleeping on the streets. Both Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson began working on similar declarations immediately after taking office. All five supervisors framed the declaration as a long-overdue step to change the trajectory for the roughly 69,000 people living outdoors across the county. Despite $500 million flowing through the Homeless Initiative each year to get people off the street, some supervisors acknowledged Tuesday that not enough is being done. Honestly, it feels to me like what weve been doing hasnt really worked and hasnt brought the results that I believe the public wants to see, as well as all those folks sleeping on the streets are going to want to see, said Supervisor Janice Hahn. Story continues Carla Cunningham, who has been homeless for roughly a year, said in an interview that she was deeply skeptical that the emergency declaration, despite its lofty goals, would do much to get her out of the shelter where she has been staying with her 11-year-old son. Cunningham said she lost her apartment following a rent hike of roughly $500 and has been unable to get help to get back into housing. "They've been saying it now for years that they're going to help the homeless," said Cunningham, who attended Tuesday's board meeting. "The money's going somewhere. It is damn sure not coming to me." This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Steph Guthrie at home in Toronto on Nov. 21, 2022 Naomi Harris for BuzzFeed News In 2016, Steph Guthrie and I were both a little too infamous online. We recoiled from the internet and waited for the commotion to boil down. At the time, our mutual friend Amy took a photo of us hugging at a party and posted it on her private Facebook page with a caption that succinctly captured our public personas: I only hang out with internet fugitives. I had gotten myself into a mini Canadian scandal after some tweets I posted looking for writers to contribute to BuzzFeed News landed me in a few newspapers. But Guthrie was a much bigger deal: She was one of the complainants in what would end up being Canadas landmark Twitter harassment case. In 2012, then-27-year-old feminist activist Guthrie told Toronto police that local artist Gregory Alan Elliott had been harassing her online. (Elliott did not respond to our request for comment on this story.) He tweeted incessantly at her, calling her (and other women) a bitch, and making crude comments about womens bodies. Two other Toronto women, Paisley Rae and Heather Reilly, reported him to the police for similar behavior in 2013. Raes case was dropped; Guthrie and Reillys cases made it to trial after Elliott was charged with criminal harassment. If found guilty, Elliott, then 52 years old, faced a maximum of 10 years in prison. Guthrie was one of three complainants, but she was easily the most visible one. (In full disclosure, shes my friend, too.) The case was supposed to be a precedent-setter in Canada; it was the first of its kind, a criminal case that entirely hinged on tweets and whether they could reasonably make a woman afraid. A Canadian precedent would have little effect on American law, but the case offered valuable insight into how a court viewed the rampant issue of online harassment. (A 2021 Pew Research Center study said that women were far more likely to be sexually harassed online or stalked. Young women in particular felt the effects: 61% of women say online harassment is a big problem, compared to 48% of men.) Story continues The case could have changed the cultural understanding around online harassment. Instead, Elliott was acquitted by a judge in 2016. The trial took two long years a pretty typical timeframe for a high-profile criminal harassment case in Canada. The trial confirmed that Twitter would do little about these kinds of tweets and that Canadian courts would also be just as inactive. For Guthrie, the trial was a public lashing, a punishing way to discover that a man can say whatever he wants to you and about you online, and you either have to tolerate it or be the one willing to walk away for good. I did the thing that everyone tells you to do when youve tried everything and it hasnt worked, and I went to our friendly neighborhood police officers, she told me. I dont understand the let-the-courts-decide people. Look around you. Its not working. Now 38, she is just starting to emerge from the cocoon she made for herself after the trial ended. This is the first time Guthrie has spoken in any significant detail about the case. As the complainant, it wasnt really her trial, but the way it was covered made it seem like she was leading the charge, a representative of a larger debate she maybe never wanted to be a part of in the first place. Its been more than a decade since Guthrie and Elliott initially crossed paths as possible professional collaborators, and almost seven years since he was acquitted. Over the course of three interviews conducted throughout 2022, she relayed that she has slowly started to grapple with the trial and its outcomes. Every word that I uttered was scrutinized and creatively interpreted, she told me last September. People are going to have preconceived notions of me and they are going to take my words and have them fit whatever idea of me theyre already carved out for themselves. But I cant let go of my desire to control that. Naomi Harris for BuzzFeed News Her life has been shaped by the trial most saliently, by how she lost, and how much she lost. Theres something so isolating about the court process and about being written about and talked about, she said. Youre an atom. Theres nobody who can really be inside of that with you. Guthrie still lives in Toronto, in a second-floor walk-up in the citys West End. After the trial, Guthries friend gave her some advice. Through social media and through my constant media hits, I was putting little bits of pieces of myself out there in a constant stream, Guthrie said. [My friend] was like, What I think you need to do is go inward and take your time and then put bigger pieces of yourself out there. Guthrie ended up taking years away, her work and personal lives both shifting offline. There was a time when people in the Toronto social politics scene couldnt go a few days without seeing her name online; now, you barely hear about her at all. Meanwhile, Twitter boomed. Alongside this growth raged an argument between self-styled free speech absolutists (many of whom just wanted to be able to broadcast racist, sexist, anti-trans, and otherwise hateful sentiments) and people who yearned for Twitter to take real responsibility for moderation. The point of harassment is to shut women up, either by self-censorship through fear or by driving them away from Twitter, Debbie Chachra wrote in the Atlantic in 2017. The specific affordances of Twitter make it powerful it can amplify marginalized voices but it can also amplify harassment. Guthrie said an argumentativeness prevailed on the platform. And its permissive atmosphere exposed its public users to anyone who had an opinion, seemingly no matter how noxious. Theres a kinship to the legal system, this idea that you owe somebody an argument, Guthrie said. Sure, you could abstain from engaging, but it doesnt always feel right to stay silent in the face of insults and falsehoods. If you run away from the argument, it must mean that youre wrong, she added. The case is now a time capsule of the dominant ideology around online harassment at the time. Even now, shes sometimes asked why she didnt just suck it up and deal with it. To them I would say: Fuck you, she said. How about I send someone your way to tweet at you? Let me insert myself everywhere to drown out every conversation that youre ever trying to have? [Twitter] remains both a vital force for free expression on the web and yet also a cesspool of hate, abuse, and harassment, the Verge wrote in 2017, just after its 10th birthday. The company remains in a constant struggle for its soul against malicious trolls, harassers, and foreign government propaganda machines. These days, things are even worse. Under Elon Musk, hate speech on the platform is hitting unprecedented highs. (Antisemitic posts, for example, have jumped 61%.) Never forget: In 2015, instead of implementing more stringent measures against racist or sexist invective, Twitter changed the favorite symbol from a star to a heart. Guthrie cried sometimes when we spoke about the trial, especially when we talked about how much her internet presence has changed. She lurks online but uses her voice far less. She has never fully returned to Twitter her account is private, and her last tweet is from spring 2021. She used to think of herself as an optimist, but not anymore. You can call it an injustice, and it is, and you can call it whatever words signal at the systemic implications of it, but its also a hurt. To you, as a person, she said. Hanging on her living room wall is a piece of art gifted to her during her trial, a slogan drawn in bubble letters. I miss, it says, when the internet was just a thing I did with my friends. Naomi Harris for BuzzFeed News Guthrie and Elliott first met when she reached out to him to design a poster for one of her grassroots feminist organizations. They didnt end up working together on the project, but he continued to follow her online. Back then, most Torontonians knew Guthrie as a somewhat famous internet feminist; she hosted events for Drunk Feminist Films, a movie series where attendees would drink themed cocktails and scream at the screen every time a man said something that sucked. (I used to be one of the cohosts.) She gave TED Talks about trolling and worked in campus outreach about sexual violence. In 2012, mens rights activist Bendalin Spurr allegedly made a video game where users could assault an avatar of the media critic Anita Sarkeesian, who had been the subject of online attacks after she announced she was making a video series called Tropes vs. Women in Video Games. (Gamergate, the misogynistic harassment campaign, kicked off soon after.) So I found the Twitter account of that fuck listed as creator of the punch a woman in the face game, Guthrie tweeted. Should I sic the Internet on Him? MRA accounts started hurling cruelty toward her. Elliott was among her reply guys. (His tweets to Guthrie continued until she reported him to the police; among his many bail conditions, he was not allowed to access his Twitter account and his phone could not have a data plan or any internet capabilities through to the end of the trial.) As of this writing, Elliotts Twitter account is suspended (not for the first time). A lot of women in Toronto found his online presence unnerving. His tweets were oddly intimate and erratic, either aggressively flattering or argumentative and rude. After Guthrie blocked him, he got worse. According to a 2016 Slate article, Over the course of several months, he called Guthrie and company cunts and bitches and lewdly ridiculed Reillys fat ass. Guthrie said that when she asked him to stop, he did not. She said that she didnt attempt to report him to Twitter because the platform only recognized violence, clearly identifiable slurs, or direct threats as harassment. What scared me about his behavior wasnt so much the content of his tweets as it was their volume and persistence, she said. Twitters policies werent really built to mitigate that type of behavior. (Twitter did not respond to a request for comment.) Instead, she blocked him, but he was still able to view her public account when he logged out, and he then moved on to use hashtags associated with her work or her organizations. It continued for months, she told me. There just came a point where I was like, Am I supposed to endure this forever? There just came a point where I was like, Am I supposed to endure this forever? The trial started in January 2014. It was exhausting, especially because it seemed that the judge, Brett Knazan, didnt entirely understand how Twitter worked. When Guthrie crowdsourced the funds to buy transcripts of the case, she discovered pages upon pages explaining and contextualizing internet-speak two full pages are devoted to what the emoji signifies. It is, suffice to say, cringe. Two years later, Knazan released an 88-page decision in Elliotts favor. Knazan agreed that Guthries fear of Elliott was legitimate, but he didnt agree that her fear was reasonable. Had there been anything in the tweets of a violent or sexual nature or that indicated the irrationality that Ms. Guthrie perceived, that would support a fear of danger on the basis that he would be capable of anything, he wrote. Despite the fact that Canadian law doesnt require behavior to be sexual or directly threatening to constitute harassment the complainants fear just has to be reasonable Knazan ruled that Elliotts tweets didnt constitute criminal harassment. (Through a representative of the courts, Knazan declined to comment on this story. The Crown counsel, otherwise known as the lead prosecutor, Marnie Goldenberg, did not respond to my repeated requests for comment.) Knazan also dismissed the charges against Guthries coplaintiff, Heather Reilly. He said that because Reilly had responded to Elliott sometimes rudely, and once retweeting someone who suggested Elliott was a pedophile it showed there is no suggestion of fear in her communication. For Guthrie, the verdict came down to whether you could be fearful of a man online without a direct violent or sexual threat. For Reilly, it came down to whether you can be legitimately afraid of someone while simultaneously telling them off. (Reilly could not be reached for comment.) Most women know that such a dichotomy is very possible and perfectly reasonable especially online, since Twitter is notorious for doing very little about online harassment. How many tweets did I get from people saying they could smell my stinky cunt, or that they wanted to cut my tits off and feed them to me, or [tweets with] doctored pornography? Guthrie said about Twitter communication she received during and after the trial. The defense argued that Guthrie should have sought other ways to stop Elliotts harassment. One of those steps [was] just, dont engage him. Dont taunt him, Chris Murphy, Elliotts defense attorney, told me over the phone last November. Theyre voluntarily using the platform, and Mr. Elliott is not violating the terms of the platform. Murphy said that Guthrie could have brought a civil suit or sought a peace bond (Canadas version of a restraining order) although one of the charges against Elliott was already related to breaching a peace bond. Murphy said that Elliott lost his job and had been barred from using the internet between the time of his arrest and his acquittal. The potential consequences of a guilty verdict were severe, with a possible decade of prison time on the line. This went from [a] back and forth on Twitter to the most draconian remedy there is, he said. Meanwhile, if you look up Guthries name on Twitter or YouTube, youll still find a steady stream of men demanding that she be sued for libel, or jailed, or physically harmed for her allegations against Elliott. In these responses to Guthrie, you can see flashes of how people have reacted to Amber Heard or Megan Thee Stallion, women who also used the court system to seek protection and instead received abuse from strangers. I still feel afraid that a defamation suit will be brought against me, she said. When you have hundreds of people saying this should be done to you, and when youre watching Johnny Depp do it to his ex-partner, and youre watching Marilyn Manson do it to his ex-partner, I know were going to see a lot more men using this tool. Its having this level of visible success. I have significant sympathy for Ms. Guthrie, but that doesnt mean the judge got it wrong, Murphy told me. If you dont want to use Twitter, dont use Twitter. Steph Guthrie leaves Old City Hall in Toronto after testifying on Jan. 9, 2014. Matthew Sherwood / National Post, Postmedia Network Guthrie spent a few days in court, in January, June, and July of 2014. Theres a sort of dissociation because you have to continue living your life, to some extent, she told me. My part-time permanent employer made me use vacation days to testify. At the time, she was working in advocacy for a womens rights organization in Toronto. I know, she said, shaking her head. You have to fuckin laugh. I just dont remember the nights after I would testify, she said. Sometimes things didnt feel clear because she was in a haze; other times, she was drinking, just to take the edge off being a main character, both on and offline. During the trial, Guthrie became the target of conservative stalwarts both in Canada and stateside, but no one was more fixated than Postmedias Christie Blatchford. Blatchford was Canadas most prolific courts columnist up until her death in 2020, but she also wrote cruel, often inaccurate screeds about people she didnt agree with. Infamous to me, at least was her 2011 column titled Toronto, City of Sissies, all because she saw two boys hug. In a post from May 2014, she called Guthrie a tough cookie with the big nuts to post her opinions for the world to see. In another column, published in 2015, she fretted over what would happen to free speech if Elliott lost. Elliotts chief sin appears to have been that he dared to disagree with the two young feminists and political activists, she wrote. Christie Blatchford published her blockbuster column and blew my life up. I woke up the next morning to thousands of mens rights activists saying horrible things to me, Guthrie said. The column got picked up by InfoWars and Breitbart and all the American deranged right-wing bukkake media. From there, Guthrie became a symbol of a movement, not an individual person. The trial also painfully touched on other traumas she was still working through. My father was in and out of jail when he was a young man; it fucked him up for life, she said. This family history made Guthries relationship with the carceral system complex she hadnt really wanted to use it. I honestly just wanted [Elliott] to leave me alone, she said. Guthrie was sexually assaulted in her 20s, and memories of the assault resurfaced because of the trial and the resulting online abuse from total strangers. In 2017, Guthrie helped produce A Better Man, a documentary featuring a womans interviews with an ex-boyfriend who physically and emotionally abused her for years. Working on that project helped her connect the dots between the men in her life who had harmed her. Theres so many people out there who Im sure will be thrilled to hear me draw these connections because theyll be like, Oh, well, she just had daddy issues, she said. Thats one explanation. The other possibility is just that a lot of people do terrible, abusive things and a lot of the same motivations underpin those things. Guthries case may not have set a legal precedent that would protect subsequent victims, but women do pay attention to how other women are treated when they speak publicly about how theyre treated. There hasnt really been a comparable case like it in Canada or the US since, which is no surprise given how Guthrie fared. When I asked defense lawyer Murphy about whether Guthries case had set an unfortunate precedent in Canada, he mentioned two cases that cited it, but those cases only reference the minor point of whether tweets legally constitute communication, which they do. Youre only a victim, Guthrie said, if theyre convicted. Theres another timeline in another universe where Guthrie just kept quiet, waited until Elliott lost interest, and the world moved on. Or another where she won, where the court understood how Twitter worked and Musks current arguments about free speech absolutism wouldnt hold an iota of the weight they currently do. Was it worth it? she said. Of course not, but what the fuck else was I going to do? Who I was at the time was someone who believed the system would do something. Embarrassing. But the trial radicalized her. It undermined my faith in democratic institutions: the courts, the media, she said. I think I needed to know those things. It shifted the focus of my energy. The trouble is that the court system deals with social issues rigidly and narrowly. The complainant and the defendant are stuck in amber. Theres no acknowledgment that someone caused harm or that theres a bigger problem that needs to be addressed. Youre only a victim, Guthrie said, if theyre convicted. Naomi Harris for BuzzFeed News Guthrie only truly reemerged online during the pandemic. In spring 2021, she debuted Self Seeding on Instagram, an art project where she gathered soil from different moments of her life and tried to grow something in it. Some of that soil came from the Toronto courthouse where she lost her case. On the planter, she painted several wide-open eyes. Every time I sit down to write about the Courthouse, my brain tries to escape, she wrote in the caption. Three big yellow flowers burst up from the soil. She clipped the petals and turned them into a salve that she raffled off for a donation to the Prisoner Emergency Support Fund. Self Seeding tied together Guthries life before the trial and the trial itself. In the caption about a plant she grew from soil gathered from her childhood home, she wrote about harm, and her father. The Courthouse showed me you cant compel accountability, she wrote. The trial taught me that you can follow every rule in the book and this system will still punish you if youre the party with less power. Apart from that, Guthrie still lies relatively low on social media. Maybe she knows something that could be instructive for the rest of us who are struggling to let go. She has certainly rethought the value of the blunt exchanges that Twitter considers engagement. I think trying to argue with a stranger is a waste of your energy. For some people, it is fun, it gives them a bit of a charge, she said. I dont find it entertaining. It just sucks. It makes me really anxious. Guthrie used to enjoy a Twitter roast as much as the next person, but now feels it has diminishing returns. Twitter is the platform of dunks. Its a confederacy of dunks, she said. I asked her if she felt free now that people have started to forget her name. No, she said. Im free-ish. Guthrie says that a small army of Instagram accounts keeps harassing her online. Some of them pop up using stock images of women with feminist credos in their bios, as if that will trick her into giving them access to her private account. When she blocks one, another materializes. That, to her, is proof that people trying to rattle her isnt specific to Twitter; its a problem everywhere. Guthrie has changed; shes far from the person she was the first time I met her almost a decade ago. She remains sprightly and good-humored most of the time, but it seems like a small cloud follows her almost everywhere. I am enduring it, because theres nobody coming to save me, she said. No institution is going to help me with this. The only help Im going to find is in the people around me who love me. Royalty was received with fanfare on Tuesdays episode of The Late Show. Hollywood royalty, that is. Actor Tom Hanks joined host Stephen Colbert and Prince Harry for a cute skit that ended with Harry showering Hanks with rose petals. Watch the video here: Hanks appeared on Mondays broadcast of Colberts show. Harrys Tuesday interview with Colbert centered on his bombshell tell-all memoir, Spare. The Duke of Sussex talked with Colbert about the royal response to the book, how he watches The Crown and what he thinks is the most dangerous lie about his work. Oh, and his penis. Related... Watch: Neil Jones opens up about homeless past Strictly Come Dancing star Neil Jones has said he believes his homeless past pushed him to achieve his goals in his dance career. The professional dancer - who appeared on the Strictly Christmas Special 2022 with TV star Rosie Ramsey - lived on the streets for a time after leaving home to train as a dancer, and believes his difficult past made him a champion in his field. Jones, 40, told homeless charity Centrepoint: "My breaking point was when I was about 16-years-old, I'd moved to Finland to train as a dancer and I found myself homeless. Read more: Neil Jones tattooed himself during lockdown "I didn't want to tell anyone, I didn't want anyone to know about it, my friends didn't know about it. Neil Jones lived on the streets as a teenage aspiring dancer. (Getty Images) "I tried to make it work in order to turn up to training. And I found myself actually sleeping just outside of where I was rehearsing and then I'd get changed and take a shower there so that no one would ever know." "Even my own mum didn't know until two years when I started talking about it so that was quite a low point in my life." He went on: "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... Neil Hones with Rosie Ramsey on the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special 2022. (BBC) "I decided to make the decision to come home, back to the UK, started training and moved then to Holland where I was for about eight years. "And I progressed and I worked really hard until in the end I became a world champion. "I feel like the low time in my life was what pushed me and drove me to actually make everything happen." Neil Jones danced with Nina Wadia in the 2021 series of Strictly. (BBC) Jones - who last competed in the BBC show in 2021 partnered with EastEnders star Nina Wadia - joined Strictly in 2016 along with his then wife Katya Jones, 33. They met as professional dance partners in 2013. They fell victim to the Strictly curse after Katya was pictured kissing comedian Seann Walsh, her celebrity partner, in October 2018. Story continues After the photo of the kiss emerged, Walsh split from his actress girlfriend Rebecca Humphries. She then accused him on Twitter of being verbally abusive and controlling towards her, sparking a national debate about gaslighting. Neil Jones and ex-wife Katya Jones performing at the launch of Strictly Come Dancing in 2019. (Getty Images) Both Katya and Walsh apologised publicly for the kiss but were voted out of the BBC show a week later. Neil and Katya remained together for 10 months and continue to dance together on the BBC show. Read more: Strictly's Katya Jones reveals why she's still wearing her wedding ring despite Neil split Neil holds 45 dance championship titles, including 8 times British National. Watch: Strictly fans spot row between Katya Jones and Tony Adams NASA astronaut Frank Rubio and Russian cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin will be getting a ride home from the International Space Station but it may take a while. The trio flew to the space station in a Russian Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft in September. In December, a tiny micrometeorite strike caused a puncture no more than 1 millimeter in diameter in the Soyuz, which was enough to cause coolant to leak out into space. Russian space officials have been working with NASA since the incident to come up with the best course of action. Would the MS-22 spacecraft be able to safely deliver the crew home? Could they get a replacement vehicle to the station? Or would they need to call upon commercial partners like SpaceX for help? The Russian Space Agency gave its answer on Wednesday, announcing it would be sending up an uncrewed replacement craft, Soyuz MS-23, to replace the damaged spacecraft as a crew lifeboat. That craft is slated to launch on Feb. 20, and the MS-22 will be sent back to Earth without a crew. Analysis of the spacecraft, including thermal calculations and technical documentation, shows that the MS-22 must be landed without a crew on board, Sergei Krikalev, the executive director of Russias human spaceflight program, said during a news briefing. However, its still unclear when Rubio, Prokopyev and Petelin will get a ride home. Thats because the MS-23 spacecraft was originally planned for another crew, which will need to reach the space station before the last Soyuz crew can depart, as two crews are needed aboard the station. Neither NASA nor Roscosmos said exactly how long the mission would be extended, just that it would likely be for several months. The Russian spacecraft is currently one of two crewed vehicles attached to the space station that can carry astronauts home in the event of an emergency or at the end of their mission. Joel Montalbano, NASAs space station program manager, said the crew would be fine in the meantime. Story continues [The crew is] excited to be in space, excited to work and excited to do the research that we do on orbit, he said during a news briefing on Wednesday. So they are ready to go with whatever decision that we give them. I may have to fly some more ice cream [and other fresh food] to reward them, he added. On Dec. 14, pressure sensors inside the spacecrafts cooling loop first alerted the crew to a potential leak, which was then visibly confirmed by watching the coolant leak into space. We could see liquid going out into space, said Krikalev. We determined the leak was coming from the radiator. Ever since, NASA and Roscosmos have been working together to analyze imagery and data collected from the afflicted spacecraft to figure out the cause and how to proceed on the crew return. Space is not a safe place, and not a safe environment, Krikalev said. We have meteorites, we have a vacuum and we have a high temperature and we have complicated hardware that can fail. He added its important to always be prepared and plan for every possible scenario. To that end, NASA officials have said that the crew is in good health and that the space station has supplies to feed everyone for now, so theres no reason to send the crew home immediately. A week or two after the MS-23 arrives at the space station next month, the MS-22 will undock from the station and land in Kazakhstan. Krikalev says that while dates are subject to change, Roscosmos expected the Soyuz MS-23 to launch to the space station on Feb. 20. During the weeks following its arrival, Krikalev said that the crew will take some time to transfer things like equipment, survival gear and their personal belongings from MS-22 to MS-23 while both are docked at the space station. Then in roughly mid-March, the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft will return to Earth, where both NASA and Russian officials will study its thermal properties as the craft reenters the Earths atmosphere. Krikalev said that although they dont believe the radiator issue would pose a safety threat to the crew, they are not sure how hot it would get inside the vehicle. NASA and Roscosmos are still working out timelines, as this incident could affect other crewed missions. SpaceXs Crew-5 Dragon spacecraft is also currently docked at the space station, and its crew of four is set to return home in the February/March time frame, with their replacements, Crew-6, set to launch about a week before. The Soyuz incident could cause those timelines to shift as well. NASA will spend the next couple of weeks determining how the launch of MS-23 will impact when future NASA and SpaceX launches occur. But what happens in the meantime if theres some sort of emergency? Roscosmos says it is evaluating whether the MS-22 spacecraft can be used to rescue the crew in the unlikely event of an emergency in space where the crew would need to evacuate the station. Krikalev said that the concern is that in this scenario, temperatures in the capsule could become uncomfortable or even unsafe for the crew, reaching upward of 86 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit (30 to 40 degrees Celsius). In case of an emergency, when the crew will have a real threat to life on the station, then probably the danger of staying on the station can be higher than going down in an unhealthy Soyuz, Krikalev said. According to Montalbano, NASA was exploring whether SpaceXs Crew Dragon spacecraft could offer an alternative ride home for some space station crew members, in the event Russia was unable to launch another Soyuz. That option would be trickier, as adding crew to the Dragon means it cant take some cargo home, which could delay valuable research. Its also tricky because SpaceXs spacesuits are designed to work with the Dragon capsule, tailormade to fit each individual astronaut and act as a lifeboat inside the capsule if something were to go wrong. Not having one would be another safety issue. But that wont be an issue as long as all goes according to Russias plan. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Jan. 10A Gov. Thomas Johnson High School student is accused of assaulting a school staff member on Tuesday during a fight, police said. Some students and adults suffered cuts and bruises, but there were no serious injuries, a news release from the Frederick County Sheriff's Office said. At around 11:30 a.m., a fight with several students broke out in the high school's cafeteria, the release said. The fight stemmed from a prior argument. A school resource officer and other deputies responded to the fight, the release said. During the fight, a female student assaulted a school staff member after refusing to follow directions to leave the area, the release said. Sheriff's office spokesman Todd Wivell wrote in a text message that there were no weapons involved and that charges are pending against the girl. All other students involved in the fight will face discipline, the release said, per Frederick County Public Schools policy. "This incident provides us an opportunity to work with students on the topic of reporting and proactively resolving conflict so we can maintain a safe school," Tracey Kibler, the school principal, wrote in an email to the community. Follow Clara Niel on Twitter: @clarasniel A small passenger plane made an emergency landing in the southbound lanes of I-355 in Bolingbrook on Jan. 10, 2023. According to tollway cameras, the plane landed on the right shoulder of the roadway, snarling traffic as emergency crews attend to the plane. (NBC5 Chicago) A small passenger plane made an emergency landing on Interstate 355 Tuesday afternoon, Illinois State Police said. State police responded to the plane landing on the right shoulder of southbound I-355 near Bolingbrook in Will County around 2 p.m. Advertisement The plane was coming from Middleton, Wisconsin, and on its way to Downers Grove when it experienced mechanical problems and had to land, state police said. The planes pilot, the only occupant, was uninjured, state police said. No automobiles or objects on the interstate were hit when the plane landed. Advertisement No further information was immediately available. Grad cap on cash The changes would affect the existing Revised Pay As You Earn Repayment Plan (REPAYE Plan), which is one of four income-driven repayment plans Credit - Getty Images/iStockphoto On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Education proposed new regulations that could cut monthly payments for millions of undergraduate borrowers in half. The changes would affect the existing Revised Pay As You Earn Repayment Plan (REPAYE Plan), which is one of four income-driven repayment plans. Nearly 10 million borrowers are enrolled in an income-driven repayment plan, which uses borrowers monthly income and family size to set payments at a more affordable cost. The plan is the latest attempt by the Education Department to give student loan borrowers relief while Bidens $20,000 student loan forgiveness program remains in legal limbo. Last year, the Education Department also announced it would enact a one-time account adjustment towards eligible borrowers who were wrongfully steered into forbearance. But the amendments are not set in stone. The public is encouraged to provide feedback on the regulations in the next 30 days. The Administration will take these comments into account before changes are finalized sometime this year. The Education Department did not provide a timeline for exactly when the changes would take effect. In the meantime, many organizations have praised the suggested regulations. The proposed changes to the income-driven repayment program announced today by the US Department of Education address several of the biggest pain points experienced by distressed student loan borrowers, said Lanae Erickson, Senior Vice President for Social Policy, Education & Politics at national think tank Third Way, in a statement. We know that the borrowers who are most likely to struggle with repayment are those who did not complete a degree, and they hold lower than average amounts of debt. To that end, we are heartened to see that these proposed regulations target the greatest help to the borrowers who need it the most. Story continues Heres what we know about the proposed plan. How does the new proposed repayment plan compare to the current one? Income-driven repayment plans were first introduced as an alternative program that would offer borrowers more affordable payment options towards their student loans. But borrowers have long criticized such programs because their overall debt would accrue overtime if their monthly payments were lower than the interest charges. That is all set to improve under the proposed amendments. Should the changes be enacted, borrowers who only have undergraduate loans would pay 5% of their discretionary income, down from 10% in the existing REPAYE plan, making this the most generous income-driven repayment program yet. The changes would also allow borrowers to pay less as part of income-based repayment plans. Current regulations calculate discretionary income (money left over after paying necessary expenses like rent) as the difference between their annual income and 150% of the poverty guideline. Now, that number will increase to 225%, meaning borrowers will be able to hold on to more of their earnings per month. That means that borrowers who earn $15 or less per hour wont have to make any monthly payments towards their student loan debt. Borrowers whose household income is less than $62,400 for a family of four would also not have to make payments under the plan. The Education Departments modifications would also ensure interest does not accumulate for those who are making regular, on-time payments. Monthly payments will still first be applied to interest but if it is not sufficient to cover that amount, any remaining interest would not be charged, according to an Education Department factsheet. What does it mean for borrowers? Borrowers across all racial groups will benefit from the changes, though the Education Department estimates that Black, Hispanic, American Indian, and Alaska Native borrowers are set to see their lifetime payments per dollar borrowed cut by 50%. About 85% of community college borrowers are also set to be debt-free in the next decade of entering repayment because the Education Department is decreasing the timeframe for receiving forgiveness from 20-25 years to 10 years for those who borrowed $12,000 or less. To ensure that borrowers are not steered into forbearancetemporarily putting payments on holdor default, the Education Department is also proposing automatically enrolling borrowers who are 75 days behind on their payments into the least expensive income-driven repayment plan with the lowest payments they are eligible for Who is eligible for the new plan? Borrowers who have graduate school loans will not be impacted by the proposed changes, and will keep making the same payments. But borrowers with both graduate and undergraduate loans will pay a weighted average of between 5% and 10% of their discretionary income. Those with Parent PLUS loans, which are given to the parents of an undergraduate student, are not eligible, much to the dismay of nonprofits like the Student Borrower Protection Center (SBPC). While they praised many of the proposed amendments, the SBPC also said the Education Departments plan ignores the reality that low-income familiesespecially low-income families of colorare more likely to rely on Parent PLUS loans or need to get a graduate degree to earn the same salary as their wealthier white peers. The amendments would also give borrowers who are in default the opportunity to enroll in an income-driven repayment plan, which they were previously ineligible for. What does this mean for other income-based repayment plans? A factsheet from the Department of Education indicates that other income-driven repayment plans, such as Pay as You Earn (PAYE) and Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR), will be phased out and borrowers will no longer be able to enroll in such programs. This is because the Department believes that REPAYE will likely offer the best payment program for most borrowers. Official regulations will be finalized later this year with the goal to implement them before the end of 2023. For now, federal student loans remain frozen until 60 days after the Department of Ed is granted permission to implement Bidens student loan relief program, or litigation around the case is resolved. Payments are set to resume in August if litigation is not solved by June 30. Dozens of people witnessed an 18-year-old gunned down outside his Ohio high school as he was waiting at a bus stop, police say. The fatal shooting occurred on Tuesday, Jan. 10, following dismissal at John Adams College and Career Academy in Cleveland, police said. About 25 people were also at the bus stop. The suspect walked directly up to the victim, shot him multiple times and fled on foot, police said. Pierre McCoy, identified by the Cuyahoga County medical examiner as the fatal victim, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to police. He was shot in the head and chest. McCoy was reportedly a student at the Cleveland high school. Police have not identified the suspect as of Wednesday. Investigators said he was wearing all black, including a black puffy coat, ski mask, boots and jeans. Early reports say it was a coordinated attack on the the youth here, councilman Kevin Bishop told WJW. My heart goes out to the family and this childs loved ones. Its unthinkable what happened in this neighborhood again. The Cleveland Metropolitan School District said the school would be closed Wednesday. This will be a calamity day, the district said. Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact Cleveland police at 216-623-5464. 17-year-old dies after going into cardiac arrest, school says. How is this happening? Teen kicked out of party returns, opens fire and kills 15-year-old, Georgia cops say 18-year-old and 4 younger teens shot in targeted attack at Illinois home, cops say NAIROBI (Reuters) - Four workers from Kenya's highways agency were killed in an ambush by suspected Islamist militants on Wednesday near the country's eastern border with Somalia, police said. The workers were leading a three-car convoy from the town of Garissa to Bura when they hit an explosive device planted in the road by suspected members of the Somali insurgent group al Shabaab, according to a police report. "A vehicle with four employees of the Kenya National Highway Authority was attacked with an IED, all the four died on the spot," said John Otieno, a local government administrator. Spokespersons for al Shabaab could not immediately be reached for comment as their phones were switched off. Al Shabaab killed 166 people at Garissa University in 2015, and 67 at a mall in Nairobi in 2013, but the frequency and severity of the group's attacks in Kenya has reduced in recent years. The al Qaeda franchise's cross-border raids are part of its campaign to pressure Kenya into withdrawing its troops from the African-Union mandated peacekeeping force in Somalia, ATMIS. (Reporting by Humphrey Malalo and Noor Ali; Writing by Hereward Holland; Editing by Estelle Shirbon) ZURICH (Reuters) - Travellers from China entering Switzerland will not at present be required to undergo compulsory testing for COVID-19, the Swiss government said on Wednesday. The Omicron variants circulating in China posed "only a small risk to the Swiss population and the Swiss health system," it said in a statement. The epidemiological situation in Switzerland would continue to be closely monitored, it added. Worries over the scale and impact of the outbreak in China, where the virus is spreading unchecked, have so far prompted more than a dozen countries to demand negative COVID test results from people arriving from China. (Reporting by John Stonestreet; Editing by Miranda Murray) UPDATE (Jan. 11, 2023): An Arizona teenager this week admitted to fatally shooting her mother more than two years ago as she and her boyfriend pleaded guilty in court. Hannah Thomas, now 19, and Richard Avila, now 18, each pleaded guilty for first-degree manslaughter, a felony, for the December 2020 shooting death of Thomas' mother, Ottilia Piros, inside her Greece home, according to the Monroe County District Attorney's Office. The pair is scheduled to be sentenced to 25 years in prison and 5 years post-release supervision in Youth Part court on Feb. 28. According to Greece police, the teens were accused of shooting Piros twice in the head while inside Piros' West Parkway home sometime on Dec. 28 or 29, 2020. Thomas had been in Monroe County, visiting her mother for the holidays at the time of the homicide. The two teens, both Arizona residents, were inside Piros' car when they were stopped for speeding early on Dec. 29 by an officer on patrol as they traveled west on Interstate 44 in Saint Robert, Missouri. The pair "murdered Hannah's mother without provocation or reason," said Assistant District Attorney Kevin Sunderland, who prosecuted the case with ADA Emily Chisholm. Ottilia Piros had her life taken from her in a violent act of betrayal, District Attorney Sandra Doorley said in a news release. "It is heartbreaking that two young people made this permanent decision that also ruined their own lives and tore apart Ms. Piross family. I hope both defendants spend their time in the New York State Department of Corrections recognizing the devastating impact of their actions. --- UPDATE (Jan. 13, 2021): The Arizona teenager accused of fatally shooting her mother last month is expected to be transported to New York sometime next week, according to authorities in Missouri. Hannah Thomas, 17, in court on Tuesday signed a waiver of extradition to be transported to New York., said Lt. April Bryan of the Pulaski County Sheriff's Department. Bryan said a specific transport date was not set as of Wednesday. Story continues She could not comment on the status of Thomas' boyfriend Richard Avila, 16, also of Arizona. The teens are accused of shooting Thomas's mother Ottilia Piros inside her Greece home last month and fleeing the scene. The teens were stopped while speeding on a highway in Missouri on Dec. 29, 2020. --- ORIGINAL STORY: (Jan. 5, 2021): A teenage girl and her boyfriend have been accused of fatally shooting the girl's mother inside a Greece home last week. Ottilia Piros, 36, was shot to death and her body was found on the kitchen floor inside 43 West Parkway on Dec. 29, said Greece Police Chief Andrew Forsythe. Hannah Thomas, 17, and Richard Avila, 16, were each charged with second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, both felonies. The two teens are accused of shooting Piros twice in the head while inside Piros' West Parkway home sometime on Dec. 28 or 29, Forsythe said. "What makes this case even more egregious and sickening, is the fact that Ottilia was executed in her home at the hands of her own daughter and her daughter's boyfriend." The two teens, both Arizona residents, were inside Piros' car when they were stopped for speeding early on Dec. 29 by an officer on patrol as they traveled west on Interstate 44 in Saint Robert, Missouri. Thomas and Avila were arrested in Missouri after a traffic stop, Forsythe said. #roc @DandC pic.twitter.com/dK6fGpg44f Will Cleveland (@WillCleveland13) January 5, 2021 The teens offered police in Missouri inconsistent stories, causing the officer to contact Greece Police to check to see if Piros had given the teens permission to use her car. Also on Tuesday morning, Piros' mother called Greece Police to ask officers to check on her daughter since she had not heard from her for several days. A handgun was recovered from the vehicle, Forsythe said. Ballistic analysis showed that the weapon was the same gun used to kill Piros, he said. The teens remain in custody in Missouri and are awaiting extradition to New York. Forsythe said he was not prepared to speak about a motive. He said Thomas had been in Monroe County, visiting her mother for the holidays. Thomas waived her Miranda rights and consented to speak with police, according to the criminal complaint. Thomas lived in Glendale, while Avila was from Phoenix, paperwork revealed. Two investigators and a technician from Greece flew to Missouri to bring Piros' vehicle back to New York, "This woman, who didn't deserve this, (was killed) over the holidays at the hands of her own daughter," Forsythe said. "Think about that and the manner that this occurred. Our hearts go out to that family, to their friends because it doesn't get much worse than that." Piros lived in the home, just off Stone Road, for about 18 months. Piros' father lived with her, but he has been at a long-term care facility recently. The slaying was the town's lone homicide of 2020. Anyone with additional information about the homicide is asked to call Greece Police at (585) 865-9200. Forsythe, who has been Greece police chief for a week, became choked up as he spoke about how proud he was of his department's work. "They all just stepped up," said Forsythe, who joined the department 2.5 years ago after spending 26 years with the Monroe County Sheriff's Office. "It wasn't just like, 'I can't do it. I'm busy.' I get a little bit emotional, because of the work they've done." Contact Victoria Freile at vfreile@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @vfreile and Instagram @vfreile. This coverage is only possible with support from our readers. This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Hannah Thomas pleads guilty in death of mom in Greece NY Courtesy Daria Gusa A Romanian teenager, whose father is a former member of Parliament, said that misogynist influencer Andrew Tate DMd her and her high school friends on Instagram in 2020 when they were underage. Tate is currently in pretrial detention in Romania with his brother and two others in relation to an investigation into an alleged human trafficking ring. Tate's lawyer, Eugen Vidineac, said his client rejects all accusations against him. Daria Gusa, a 19-year-old student, told BuzzFeed News that the former kickboxer slid into her DMs in 2020 when she was just 16 years old, with a message that read: Romanian girl . Gusa provided BuzzFeed News with a screenshot of a message that shows those words from a verified account that she says was Tates. The user has been removed from Instagram, so the account name is simply shown as Instagram User. Tates official Instagram account was removed by the platform last August when he was banned from the app. Courtesy Daria Gusa Gusa said that at the time Tate messaged her, her Instagram bio included the name of her exclusive international high school and that several other classmates had also received the same message. Gusas father is Cozmin Gusa, a former member of the Romanian Parliament and a political analyst. We were just high school girls with not that many followers, Gusa said. At the time, Tate had 1.2 million followers. On Dec. 29, Tate, his brother Tristan Tate, and two Romanian women were taken into custody by local authorities in Bucharest as part of an investigation into alleged human trafficking, rape, and organized crime. They are accused of approaching women using the loverboy method, which is when the perpetrator initiates a sham romantic relationship with a vulnerable person in order to trap and sexually exploit them. Daniel Mihailescu / AFP / Via Getty Images The victims were then allegedly sexually exploited through psychological abuse and were made to create pornographic content, according to authorities The police have identified six victims so far, who they say were housed in Ilfov County just outside of the capital of Romania. Story continues Gusa said that she didnt engage with or reply to the message Tate sent in 2020, but some of her friends did. She said Tate would compliment these teen girls over DM, telling them how beautiful they are. Gusa said Tate asked to meet them and bragged about his wealth like what expensive restaurants he can take them to, what expensive cars he has, stuff like that, she said. The student said Tate then tried to meet up with the teenagers who responded to him. After a couple of messages, he will start asking where they are and when he can come pick them up, she said. None of her friends went ahead with meeting up with him, she said, and once Tate realized they werent going to, he started to insult them. The second [that] girls stopped replying to him, he starts getting a bit verbally abusive, calling them ugly and stuff like that, just to get the reaction out of them and keep engaging with them, Gusa said. From left: Gusa with her father and her uncle Courtesy Daria Gusa While Gusa says her familys privilege makes her feel comfortable talking about Tate in the media, her friends are scared to speak publicly about their experience, Gusa said, because human trafficking is a major issue in Romania and people are very fearful of repercussions. I tried communicating with them since this started because it's the biggest scandal in Romania right now, Gusa said. But my friends are just scared. They're young girls. They don't want to be involved in any way because there's also the thing, what if they [Tate and the other three people detained with him] don't get locked up, she said. What if the authorities let them go in a month? And then they're out and trying to get us because we came out with this thing? Courtesy Daria Gusa In June 2021, the Council of Europe urged Romania to effectively prosecute human traffickers and ensure access to compensation for their victims. In a report, the council said that the Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings found that sentences of human traffickers are often suspended or reduced through plea bargaining. Romania remains predominantly a country of origin of victims of trafficking in human beings, the Council of Europe said in a statement. Gusa said Tate had a very bad reputation in Romania regarding his treatment of women. In a video, Tate explained that he moved to Romania in 2017 due to the MeToo era. I'm not a rapist, but I like the idea of just being able to do what I want, Tate says in the video. I like being free. Shortly after news of his arrest in Romania, Vice reported that Tate was removed from UK Big Brother in 2016 due to a police investigation into accusations of sexual assault and physical abuse that took place in 2015. At the time, people thought it was due to old resurfaced tweets and a video of Tate consensually hitting his ex-girlfriend. One of the women who filed the police report was working for Tates webcam sex business in Luton, England, and she told Vice that Tate strangled her at least five times and that she saw him choke other women at least 10 times. Hertfordshire police confirmed to BuzzFeed News that in 2015, Tate was arrested on suspicion of assault and suspicion of rape and assault. UK police closed the case without any finding of guilt in November 2019, and no further action was taken. On Tuesday, Romanian courts denied an appeal from Tate to be released from detention. He has not been charged, and his lawyer said there is no evidence against him or his brother regarding the allegations. More on this A local official is requesting to meet with Tennessee police officers, after the Knox County Sheriffs Office used its official Facebook page in November to complain a teenage girl refused to serve deputies at a deli because they were law enforcement officers. On 21 November, three Knox County Sheriffs Office deputies entered a McAlisters Deli in Knoxville to eat dinner. The department claimed the cashier refused to take the order of one of the Deputies, and implied it was because they were police officers. This incident, unfortunate as it was, is an isolated incident here in our community, sheriff Tom Spangler wrote on Facebook. We have always been blessed by a supportive community that loves and appreciates our law enforcement and first responders. The deputies spoke with the manager at the restaurant, and a bystander reportedly called into the sheriffs office to report what happened, and the teenager ultimately lost her job in the resulting controversy. The 15-year-olds mother, meanwhile, says her daughter didnt refuse anyone service. She described her daughter as a hard working young woman, who sought a part-time job after Knoxville police killed her teenaged brother Anthony in 2021. Near the end of her shift, she faced a line of customers and still had other work to do before she could go home, so she asked her co-worker to help. She intended no offense. Our family has been traumatized by the loss of my son, Anthony. All she did was ask for help from a co-worker. Chanada Robinson said in a statement. I am proud of my daughter for holding a job while going to high school, and I am proud of my daughter for asking for help when needed, she added. Knox County commissioner Dasha Lundy has asked the officers involved in the incident to meet with the commission next week. "This is about grace and love. Its 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," Ms Lundy, the commissioners only Black commissioner, wrote in a letter to the sheriffs office, obtained by Knox News . Story continues The Independent has contacted the sheriffs office for comment. In December, the teenager, Aniya Thompson, offered her version of events at a community meeting. I do not apologize for doing my job and handling a situation with decorum and professionalism which these officers did not do, she told local commissioners . Since then I have lost my first job and then was forced to watch my name and character be drug through the mud via social media because of Kimberly Glenn, a communications director for the Knox County Sheriffs Office, who failed to do her job accurately and has still yet to face the consequences of her actions. If I was anything other than a brown girl would this have happened? she asked. Two, was I targeted because of who my brother is? And number three, where is the accountability for those who choose to spread misinformation about me when I was only doing my job? When will they be held accountable? In April of 2021, police shot and killed Anthony Thompson, Jr, 17, in a bathroom at Austin-East Magnet High School, during an attempted arrest on a domestic violence offence. Police said the teen was concealing a gun in his hoodie which went off, prompting officer Jonathon Clabough to shoot and kill the youth. The Knox County District Attorney declined to press charges, declaring the shooting justified under the circumstances, WBIR reports . Texas guard Shay Holle, left, reaches for the ball during Tuesday night's 72-59 win over No. 23 Kansas at Moody Center. It was Texas' sixth straight win at home. No. 15 Iowa State comes to Austin on Sunday. For awhile Tuesday night, Texas guard Shaylee Gonzales couldn't miss. A couple of 3-point attempts? Nothing but net. Two jumpers? Swish. A put-back off an offensive rebound and a turnover that was turned into a layup? Count em. Gonzales put on a shooting clinic against No. 23 Kansas in the fourth quarter of a 72-59 Texas win at Moody Center. That fourth-quarter flurry as well as the 26 points that Gonzales scored over the course of the game lifted Texas to its first win over a ranked opponent this season. The Longhorns, just three days removed from a disappointing 86-82 loss at Oklahoma State, improved to 12-5 with wins in three of its four conference contests. "After that loss, we were pretty upset, came into practice, worked our butts off and we knew that we wanted to come out and hit them first and win this game," Gonzales said. "I think we played really well as a team and that just shows that we can bounce back after a loss." Texas led 41-29 at halftime but made just one of the first 10 shots it took in the second half. That slump allowed Kansas to pull within four points. The Longhorns, though, extended their advantage back to seven by the third quarter's final buzzer. Then Gonzales took over. A familiar sight Tuesday night: Texas guard Shaylee Gonzales putting up a shot. The transfer guard from BYU scored a season-high 26 points in the 72-59 win over Kansas. "That basket must have looked like a trash can because she really filled it up," UT coach Vic Schaefer said. She made the first six shots that she took in the fourth quarter. A rushed 3-pointer with 18 seconds remaining was her only miss in the frame. Those six makes resulted in 14 points. As a team, Kansas scored 12 points in the fourth quarter. After the game, Gonzales credited her teammates with setting good screens during the fourth quarter. That echoed a comment made earlier by Kansas coach Brandon Schneider. "We got screened way too much," Schneider said. "Texas did a great job of setting really physical screens. You cannot run into screens, you got to do a better job of navigating that and using your teammates and credit Texas for their execution and credit her for making shots." Gonzales missed the first two shots that she took, but made 11 of her final 14. Ten of her points were scored in the second quarter as fellow guard Sonya Morris sat with foul trouble. Story continues Gonzales' 26 points were a season high. The 5-foot-10 transfer who ranks 10th on BYU's all-time scoring list exceeded that 26-point mark six times during her four years with the Cougars. "That basket must have looked like a trash can because she really filled it up," UT coach Vic Schaefer said. "We need her to obviously be like that every night." Gonzales was joined at the postgame press conference by Morris and point guard Rori Harmon. Fourteen of UT's 18 points in the first quarter were tied to Morris' four made shots and two assists. While playing 40 minutes for the second time in the last three games, Harmon distributed 11 assists. "We won tonight with guard play," said Schaefer, who also credited the scouting report put together by associate head coach Elena Lovato. Texas forward Taylor Jones, right, played just under 25 minutes in Tuesday night's win. She had missed nine straight games before getting into last Saturday's loss at Oklahoma State. The 86 points scored by Oklahoma State last Saturday were the second-most allowed during Schaefer's three-year Texas tenure. On Tuesday, Texas forced 21 turnovers and held Kansas to a .375 shooting percentage. "We were actually focused this time," Harmon said. "There's a difference between our team when we're focused and not focused and I think it's very obvious." The Longhorns recorded their 13-point win in front of an announced crowd of 4,903. Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian sat courtside with his wife, Loreal. The win was UT's sixth straight at Moody. The Longhorns never trailed and have faced just one 27-second deficit during their winning streak. On Sunday, No. 15 Iowa State comes to Austin. Notes: Kansas (12-3, 2-2) was led by Holly Kersgieter's 20 points. Taiyanna Jackson had 19 points and 12 rebounds and recorded her conference-leading 10th double-double. ... Texas committed 17 turnovers. ... Texas forward Taylor Jones played just under 25 minutes. After missing nine games with a lower body injury, she had made a brief appearance in the Oklahoma State game. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas beats Kansas for first win over ranked basketball opponent Metra announced new GPS technology Tuesday that lets customers see where their trains are and when the trains will reach the station, and the Chicago Transit Authority announced changes to its bus tracking system to create more reliable service for commuters. The Metra GPS technology was slated to start Tuesday at Metratracker.com, a new real-time train tracking website that officials said will make it easier to view schedules and plan a trip. Advertisement This new train tracking system is a major upgrade and will be a dramatic improvement in our communications to My Metra customers, Metra CEO/Executive Director Jim Derwinski said. It enables us to do a better job of tracking trains and conveying timely, accurate information, and also includes a variety of interactive new features. The sites main menu features three gray bars that lead to the main functions: station times, a real-time map and a trip planner. Users can request the BestRoute, Fewer Transfers or Less Walking and choose Leave Now, or enter their preferred departure or arrival time. Advertisement The CTA announced changes to the schedules on nearly half of its bus routes, intended to provide more reliable service. The schedule changes aim to better align scheduled service with the currently available workforce, establish more consistent intervals between buses and reduce large or inconsistent gaps in service, officials said. The temporary schedule changes to 52 bus routes throughout the network, including many of CTAs highest-ridership routes, will address the unpredictability of wait times. The CTA is facing an unprecedented shortage of workers, especially bus and rail operators. The agencys recruiting and hiring efforts attracted more than 400 new workers in 2022, but it is still short about 600 bus operators and will continue recruiting in 2023 to address the gap, officials said. As we did last year with rail schedules, were working to provide more consistency and reliability, which is what customers have asked for and what we promised, CTA President Dorval R. Carter Jr. said. We recognize there is more work to do, but we are moving in the right direction and will continue to make additional adjustments to improve service for our customers. Our ultimate goal is to build back our workforce to provide all the transit service our customers deserve. The bus schedule optimizations took effect Sunday in conjunction with the union schedule pick process. Service hours have not changed, nor have routes or days of service. The CTA said the schedule changes will improve bus tracker accuracy, and that customers should see fewer instances of so-called ghost buses throughout the system. The North is certainly living up to its name. The luxury travel company, founded by Jon Olafur Magnusson and his wife Johanna Eyjolfsdottir, unveiled a new expedition this week designed to help you see the Arctic Circle like never before. The three-week Arctic Horizon adventure will take a total of 50 explorers to the uppermost reaches of the globe. More from Robb Report As a lifelong explorer of the Arctic, my vision is to make the last frontier accessible to a select few who share my passion and respect for these rarely experienced, untouched regions, Magnussen said in a statement. Guests will travel aboard a customized Boeing 757-200 that has been refitted with 50 lie-flat seats for added comfort. While in the air, a dedicated team will cater to your every whim. In addition, youll receive a personalized iPad with a rundown of each days itinerary. The journey begins in Reykjavik, Iceland. Here, youll explore the countrys breathtaking glaciers, waterfalls and volcanoes, before heading to the city center for a welcome dinner and some shuteye. The following day, youll head to Ilulissat, Greenland, for a cruise through the towering icebergs and a spot of whale watching. Youll also partake in a guided exploration to learn more about Inuit culture. Next up is Sonora, Canada. Once a basecamp has been established, youll take a helicopter tour of the area to see its pristine coastal rainforest from the air. Then, youll head to Anchorage, Alaska, for some thrilling rafting. You might even spot a grizzly bear fishing in the same waterfalls. On the last leg, youll enjoy a Champagne toast while flying over the North Pole, then close out the epic adventure with a stay in two picturesque communities in Norway. Upon returning to Iceland, youll commemorate the voyage with a grand farewell gala at the members-only Arctic Explorers Club, before heading home. Story continues What I am sure will be a life-changing adventure for our guests is the culmination of my lifes work, Magnusson adds. I am confident our teams meticulous eye for detail will ensure an unrivaled level of service throughout these most extraordinary destinations. Sounds like a trip to the North is in order. Taking place in July 2024, the Arctic Horizon expedition starts at $187,000 per person. Best of Robb Report Sign up for Robb Report's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. A group of El Paso residents and volunteers have formed an ad-hoc night watch to monitor U.S. border agents as they arrest migrants sleeping on the citys streets. In new video taken by one of those volunteers and obtained by NBC News, migrants sleeping outside a bus station are seen being apprehended by Border Patrol officers on Jan. 4, the week before President Joe Biden arrived in the border city. In the video, several migrants are escorted off a bus by Border Patrol with their hands above their heads. In another scene filmed that night, a young boy says in Spanish, Llevaron a todos, which means, They took everyone. NBC News previously published other video shot the same week that showed arrests outside a migrant shelter run by Sacred Heart Catholic Church. A spokesperson for Customs and Border Protection in El Paso said those arrested had evaded detection when they crossed the border. CBP, which is responsible for securing the U.S. border between ports of entry, uses a layered approach that includes patrolling the border itself, nearby areas, and neighborhoods, and conducting checkpoints both stationary and temporary, Landon Hutchens said. In response to migrants evading apprehension in the El Paso area, the United States Border Patrol has increased the number of agents patrolling the area. The night watch was formed after CBP began arresting migrants outside Sacred Heart Church on Tuesday, Jan. 3, said one of the volunteers, who wished to remain anonymous. In one video from that night, a mother and children are seen being awoken in their tent. We formed a night watch, since the incident with the mother being pulled out. We made sure we document everything that happens. It has a deterrent effect on the police, we think or we hope, the volunteer said. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com A man angry that his vehicle had been towed shot and killed a tow company employee, Las Vegas police reported. Officers responding to a reported shooting at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 10 on West Wyoming Avenue found a man with a gunshot wound, police said in a news release. The man was taken to a hospital, where he died, police said. An investigation revealed the man, a tow company employee, had been arguing with a customer whose vehicle had been towed, the release said. The customer became angry when the company refused to release the impounded vehicle because of a documentation issue, police told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He pulled out a handgun and fired multiple shots at the employee, then ran away, police said. Police later arrested Jaton Terrell Herder, 27, on a charge of murder with a deadly weapon, the release said. Detectives ask that anyone with information call 702-828-3521, or email homicide@lvmpd.com. Anonymous tips can be left at 702-385-5555. Law librarian found dead near Stanford campus in 1973. Former worker pleads guilty Bystanders rescue family after mom crashes Tesla into pool, California officials say Fleeing driver calls 911, says chase violates her rights, Washington cops say Fire officials respond Tuesday to a rockslide where two 500-gallon propane tanks were washed up in Toro Canyon, Calif. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) A series of winter storms battering California has proved dangerous and deadly, causing at least 19 storm-related deaths across the state. Earlier this week, Gov. Gavin Newsom said the storms had claimed "more lives than wildfires in the past two years combined," and noted that the number of deaths "tragically is likely to grow." The Times is gathering details on those deaths and will continue to update this page as more information becomes available. Two killed by rockslide in Yosemite National Park, Dec. 27 A husband and wife were killed in a rockfall about half a mile east of the Arch Rock Entrance station in Yosemite National Park. Rocks fell from about 1,000 feet above the road, and the force of the impact pushed their Dodge Ram rental truck off the road and into an embankment of the Merced River, according to the Mariposa County Sheriff's Office. They were George Theocharous, 51, and Ming Yan, 35, of San Jose. Man killed by falling tree at state beach, Santa Cruz County, Dec. 31 Gary Yules, a 72-year-old man from Santa Cruz, was killed by a falling cypress tree at Lighthouse Field State Beach in Santa Cruz on New Year's Eve, according to the Santa Cruz County Coroner's Office. Three bodies found in floodwaters, Sacramento County, Jan. 1 Three people died in floodwaters near where levees breached along the Cosumnes and Mokelumne rivers. They were pronounced dead New Year's Day, according to the Sacramento County Coroner's Office. Steven Sampson, a 45-year-old man from McAlester, Okla. Katherine Martinez, a 61-year-old woman from Orland Mei Keng Lam, a 57-year-old woman from San Leandro Woman died after her vehicle flipped into creek, San Bernardino County, Jan. 1 Christine Flores, 65, was found dead in her flipped vehicle after she lost control driving on Arrowbear Drive in San Bernardino County, landing in a creek, according to California Highway Patrol officials and the county coroners office. She lived in Big Bear Lake. Man's body recovered from American River, El Dorado County, Jan. 3 Bruce Gordon, 33, was found dead at the South Fork of the American River, according to the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office. Story continues Child killed by falling tree, Sonoma County, Jan. 4 Aeon Tocchini, a 2-year-old boy from Occidental, was killed when a redwood tree fell on his family's double-wide trailer, according to the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office. His father was also in the trailer but survived. Woman killed in car crash, Solano County, Jan. 4 Marmsha Nash, a 19-year-old woman from Fairfield, was killed when her car hydroplaned and hit a utility pole, according to Solano County officials. Man found dead in drainage overflow, San Bernardino County, Jan. 6 Rodrigo Lucero Bonola, 41, was found in a drainage overflow area near East Highland Avenue in north San Bernardino, according to the San Bernardino Coroners Office. He was likely unhoused, officials said. Two people killed by falling trees, Sacramento County, Jan. 7 Two unhoused people were found dead in separate areas after tree branches fell onto their tents, according to the Sacramento County Coroner's Office. Rebekah Rohde, a 40-year-old woman Steven Sorensen, a 61-year-old man Man working on repair efforts killed when truck left road, Mendocino County, Jan. 7 Edgar Castillo, a 37-year-old man from Elk Grove, died during a traffic collision in Manchester. Castillo was employed by a company that was assisting the utility company PG&E with storm-related repair efforts in Mendocino County. He was driving a tree service boom truck that rolled over several times after leaving the road, county officials said. Woman killed by falling tree, Mendocino County, Jan. 9 Susan Stever, a 68-year-old woman from Fort Bragg, was killed by a tree that fell into her home on North Highway 1 while she was asleep, according to county officials. Unidentified female driver found dead, San Luis Obispo County, Jan. 9 A woman died in a vehicle on a closed road after being overtaken by floodwaters in Avila Beach, according the California Highway Patrol. Two unidentified people killed in crash, Tulare County, Jan. 10 The crash was reported around 5:55 a.m. on Highway 99 near Goshen. Lightning struck a tree, causing it to fall onto the northbound lanes. Woman found dead in submerged car, Sonoma County, Jan. 11 Daphne Fontino, a 43-year-old woman from Ukiah, was found in a submerged car in Forestville, according to the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office. The California Governor's Office of Emergency Services has reported another possible storm-related death in Santa Clara county, which The Times is still working to confirm. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. NEW YORK A New York judge on Tuesday condemned the offensive greed of the Trump Organizations Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg before sentencing him to five months behind bars. At the CFOs Manhattan Supreme Court sentencing, Justice Juan Merchan honored his promise to Weisselberg in August when he pleaded guilty to tax fraud. The sentence includes a term of five years' postrelease supervision. But the judge denied a request from his lawyer to lessen the jail term. Merchan said he would never have made the deal in the first place had he grasped the selfish nature of Weisselbergs crimes revealed in evidence at the Trump Organizations winter trial, which ended in two entities Dec. 6 convictions. Had I not made the promise, I would be imposing a sentence much greater than that, said Merchan. A check to the CFOs wife placed in evidence at the Trump Organization trial was particularly grating to the judge. Jurors heard how Weisselberg directed the payment to his wife, Hilary, who has never worked for the Trump company, so that she would qualify for Social Security. The reason that this court finds that to be so offensive is because it was driven entirely by greed, said Merchan. Perhaps nothing spoke as loudly as that $6,000 payment. The judge said the Weisselbergs didnt need it, nor were they entitled to it. He decried the executives greed, a time when so many Americans work so hard in the hopes that they may one day be able to benefit from their contributions to Social Security. No, I believe a stiffer sentence is warranted having heard the evidence, said Merchan. Wearing a Khaki green North Face fleece and sweatpants to court, Weisselberg showed little emotion at the proceeding. He closed his eyes as he hugged his lawyer, Nicholas Gravante, before officers took him to the cells in handcuffs. In asking Merchan to give Weisselberg a pass or let him serve the second half of his sentence under house arrest, Gravante said he had been punished sufficiently in the court of public opinion. Story continues He is 75 years old and far from perfect health, said Gravante. The publicity in this case ... has exponentially increased the severity of punishment that he has had to suffer under these circumstances. Weisselberg declined to comment beyond what his lawyer said, telling Merchan Gravante had adequately summarized his feelings. Hes expected to serve his sentence at the North Infirmary Command on Rikers Island, once home to bold-faced names like Tupac Shakur and Lil Wayne. The sentencing capped Weisselbergs criminal case in Manhattan and his decadeslong career working for the Trump family. As of today, Mr. Weisselberg and the (Trump Organization) have amicably parted ways. He is grateful to the (Trump Organization) and members of the Trump family for their continued support, Gravante said in a statement to the New York Daily News. The veteran sentry of the Trump Organizations coffers has worked for the Trump family since his hiring by Donald Trumps father, Fred, in Brooklyn in the early 1970s as a bookkeeper. He described himself in a 2015 deposition as Trumps eyes and ears from a financial standpoint. In pleading guilty last August and in his testimony at the trial, Weisselberg admitted to receiving more than $1.7 million in off-the-books perks over 15 years while heading the Trump Org finances, on top of his $450,000 salary and hefty bonuses. Weisselberg and the company didnt notify Uncle Sam about luxury expenses like rent-free apartments in Manhattan for him and his son Barrys young family, Mercedes-Benz car leases for him and his wife, private school tuition for his grandkids, and furniture for his holiday home in Florida. On top of agreeing to a stint at Rikers which is expected to last no longer than 100 days with good behavior Weisselberg was also required to cough up nearly $2 million in restitution and fines, withdraw all defense motions filed on his behalf, and waive any appeals when he pleaded out. Assistant District Attorney Susan Hoffinger told Merchan prosecutors had been satisfied with the CFOs testimony at the trial and that he had settled his debts with the state by Jan. 3. The case stems from Manhattan prosecutors ongoing probe into Trumps business dealings, which District Attorney Alvin Bragg has said could still result in charges against the former president. Bragg, who watched the sentencing from the courtrooms back row, said the conviction spoke volumes. In Manhattan, you have to play by the rules no matter who you are or who you work for, Bragg said. These consequential felony convictions put on full display the inner workings of former President Trumps companies and its CFOs actions. The convicted Trump Organization entities, Trump Corp. and Trump Payroll Corp., are expected to be sentenced Friday. They face around $1 million in fines, representing a fraction of the legal bills for the half dozen lawyers who defended the case. Jan. 10SOMERSET, Pa. Two Ohio gang members who witnesses said shot two local men dead in 2017 were sentenced to spend the rest of their lives in prison. Samson Washington, 30, and Marekus Benson, 32, were handed the sentence without parole, after a jury found them guilty last fall of kidnapping and torturing James Smith, of Portage, and Damian Staniszewski, of Duncansville. The case became a homicide investigation after the bodies of Smith, 32, and Staniszewski, 19, were found dumped in a wooded area near Ligonier Pike in 2017. A fellow gang member and conspirator, Devon Wyrick, 27, received 21 years for his role, a reduced punishment due to his cooperation in the case. Wyrick opted to testify on behalf of the prosecution in the multi-day trial in October. Smith and Staniszewski had allegedly robbed a "stash house" in Johnstown's 8th Ward used by the defendants. Prosecutors said the conspirators were members of the Columbus-based East Main Money Gang and discovered the pair stole their cash. Wyrick testified that he was with Washington and Benson when they used Staniszewski's truck to transport the victims to the site of their murders, where they took Smith into the woods, but forgot Staniszewski in the truck. Wyrick said Benson shot Smith in the back when he tried to run. He testified that when they realized Staniszewski was still in the truck, they brought him to where Smith was, and Washington shot them both in the head twice. Somerset County Judge Scott Bittner presided over the case. Along with his sentence Friday, he also ordered the men to reimburse the costs for the funerals of Staniszewski and Smith. Benson and Samson were also sentenced to spend decades in prison for related crimes, including kidnapping, conspiracy and aggravated assault. Those sentences will run concurrent to their life imprisonment penalties. By Lizbeth Diaz MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The United States is looking to Canada to help cope with the growing number of migrants at the United States' border with Mexico, a State Department spokeswoman said on Tuesday. A possible trilateral agreement with Canada, the United States and Mexico was on the table as the three countries met in Mexico for the North American Leaders' Summit, spokewsoman Kristina Rosales told Reuters. The agreement would help thousands immigrate through legal channels, without having to put their lives at risk at the hands of human traffickers, Rosales said. "Canada has its own specific programs for refuge and migration," Rosales said, telling Reuters ahead of the trilateral talks that the countries would discuss Canada's involvement. No such agreement was made public immediately after the talks between U.S. President Joe Biden, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador ended on Tuesday. U.S. authorities detained 2.2 million migrants at the border with Mexico in fiscal year 2022, a record not seen since World War II. Rosales also said the United States is considering including more nationalities to enter the country by air while expelling those crossing over land under an order known as Title 42. The order, launched in October for Venezuelans, was expanded to Cuban, Nicaraguan and Haitian migrants last week. Encounters of Venezuelans at the border dropped about 90% in December, and similar drops are expected for other migrants in the program. "If we see that we have to increase the number of those eligible for humanitarian parole per month and include other nationalities, we will consider it," Rosales added. Mexico's Lopez Obrador said Tuesday the nation "celebrated" the U.S. decision to award humanitarian parole and that he believed "that this plan will be extended to benefit other countries." The United States has in recent months seen a significant increase in migrants reaching the country by sea from Caribbean countries such as Cuba and Haiti. Rosales said those who arrived in the United States by sea "unfortunately will not be able to qualify" for humanitarian parole. Story continues Rosales added that the U.S. government is seeking to broaden legal methods of immigrating and sway potential migrants from paying human traffickers. "We want to broaden the legal channels so that people can apply directly from their cell phones," Rosales said. (Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz; Writing by Kylie Madry. Editing by Gerry Doyle) By Nate Raymond and Andrew Chung NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed New York to enforce a Democratic-backed gun control law adopted after the justices last year struck down the state's limits on carrying concealed handguns outside the home in a landmark ruling that expanded gun rights. The justices rejected a request by six members of the firearms rights group Gun Owners of America to throw out a lower court's decision allowing the law to be enforced. U.S. District Judge Glenn Suddaby in October blocked enforcement of much of the law but the Manhattan-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in December put that decision on hold while the state pursues an appeal. No justice publicly dissented from the decision, but Justice Samuel Alito, writing for himself and fellow conservative Justice Clarence Thomas, described the court's action as procedural "rather than expressing any view on the merits of the case." Wednesday's action may not be the last time the Supreme Court addresses New York's new gun law. Alito and Thomas noted that other challenges to the state's law are currently on a fast-track in the 2nd Circuit and invited plaintiffs to return to the Supreme Court if that appeals court does not expedite the proceedings in their case as well. An official from Gun Owners of America, Erich Pratt, called Alito's statement "reassuring," adding: "We look forward to continuing the fight against New York's draconian law." New York state Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, praised the court's decision to keep the law in effect. "Too many New Yorkers are plagued by gun violence, and we know that basic gun laws help save lives every day," James said. Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law the Concealed Carry Improvement Act on July 1, a week after the Supreme Court's landmark ruling against a New York concealed carry permit restriction. Story continues The decision declared for the first time that the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment protects an individual's right to carry a handgun in public for self-defense. The ruling also required courts to evaluate if gun restrictions were "consistent with the nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation," making it harder to regulate guns in a country where mass shootings are commonplace. The new law expanded who could seek a license to carry a handgun outside the home but required applicants to establish that they possess "good moral character," undergo additional training and submit information concerning their social media accounts and people with whom they live. It also established a long list of "sensitive locations" including churches, medical offices, public parks and theaters where carrying a gun would be a felony even for license holders. New York City's popular Times Square is one of these locations. The plaintiffs challenged the law as a violation of the Second Amendment. Suddaby, a judicial appointee of Republican former President George W. Bush, blocked enforcement of much of it, citing "unprecedented constitutional violations." The judge decided that New York could not compel people applying for a gun license to disclose the handles of their social media accounts or the names and contact details of everyone with whom they live, nor would applicants have to prove their "good moral character." Suddaby also decided that the state could not ban guns in theaters, bars and restaurants, parks, airports and other public places, though bans could remain in place in schools, courthouses and polling stations. Suddaby blocked enforcement of a provision making it a felony to carry firearms on private property without the property owner's express consent. At the request of James, the 2nd Circuit issued a stay freezing Suddaby's order while New York pursued its appeal. Separately, a federal judge on Monday blocked parts of a recently passed New Jersey law restricting the locations where people in that state may carry guns. (Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston and Andrew Chung in New York; Editing by Will Dunham) Once a UFC fighter, now a viral food critic, Keith Lee is changing lives with his authentic food reviews on TikTok. Lee is based in Las Vegas and makes a consistent effort to review local businesses in the area. Millions of people tune in to nearly each one of his food reviews, in which he sits in a Paw Patrol chair, looks straight into the camera and delivers his takes in a calm monotone. Yet, his most recent video shattered his viewership records, amassing over 32 million in just under 10 days. The review was of a local pizzeria named Frankensons. Lee received a call from one of the employees asking Lee to review the food. According to that employee, marketing was the only reason the business was struggling. Following Lees review, thats no longer the case. The former fighter critiqued eight items from Frankensons and gave the restaurant stunning reviews on the food and the service. Since Lee posted the video, Frankensons has seen an exponential boom in demand. The restaurant had to close early because of too many orders. Our phone never stopped ringing, said Frankensons owner Frank Steele to local news station KTNV with tears in his eyes. Ive sold more lemon pepper wings in the last two days than I have in the past four months. I made more garlic knots yesterday and the day before than Ive ever made. Lee first began to do food reviews to prepare for a scheduled appearance on People vs. Food, a popular food-focused YouTube channel. I was like OK, if I was to be on their show and I was a viewer, what would I look for if somebody was on a different platform? Lee told Damon Martin of MMAfighting.com. What would I look for in order for me to go to their platform and watch their videos? I was like, food reviews. I would watch somebody do food reviews all day. So let me start doing food reviews. I told my wife, I guess Im just going to start rolling out food reviews before I go on People vs. Food. That was the right move. In just over a year, Lee has gone from not being given another contract as a fighter to one of the most influential food critics in the ethos. Story continues In The Know by Yahoo is now available on Apple News follow us here! The post UFC fighter turned food critic has TikTokers crying over pizzeria review appeared first on In The Know. More from In The Know: Woman is accused of being 'heartless' for evicting sister from inherited property: 'It's unfair' Bride gets furious at sister for not attending child-free wedding: 'I can't attend if I can't bring my baby' Try these dupes for hair care on a budget Ultraboost sneakers, leggings, joggers and more are up to 60% off the adidas End of Year Sale Former Illinois Speaker Michael Madigan departs from his lawyers' office, March 9, 2022, after making his first virtual court appearance for his indictment. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune) Two months ahead of trial, federal prosecutors late Tuesday revealed new details and evidence they intend to use against four people accused in an alleged bribery scheme between Commonwealth Edison and then-House Speaker Michael Madigan. Among the new revelations: Former McPier boss Juan Ochoa is expected to testify how he enlisted the help of a member of Congress in 2017 to help repair his tattered political relationship with Madigan and ultimately secure a lucrative position on ComEds board of directors. Advertisement Though the congressman is not named in the document, multiple sources have told the Tribune he is ex-U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez. Gutierrez could not be reached for this story and it was unclear if he has a lawyer. Advertisement The filing alleged that Ochoa tapped Gutierrez to make the request because he had endorsed Madigan in the prior election cycle and Ochoa felt Madigan owed the member of Congress a political favor. Ochoa and Gutierrez met with Madigan at the speakers office, where Madigan agreed to recommend Ochoa for the $80,000-a-year ComEd board seat, according to the filing. Ochoa also asked Gutierrez to set up a meeting with another public official to discuss the ComEd board appointment at about the same time, according to the filing. Prosecutors do not name that official, either, but sources told the Tribune he is then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Mayoral calendars obtained by the Tribune via an open records request show that Emanuel and two of his aides met with Ochoa and Gutierrez at City Hall on Nov. 17, 2017, though the topic of the meeting was not included. After Madigans longtime confidant, Michael McClain, called the speaker in 2018 to tell him the Ochoa appointment was going through, Madigan said that he would reach out to Gutierrez personally so the congressman would be the first to know, according to the document. I mean, (Gutierrez is) the reason I would talk to (Ochoa), Madigan is alleged to have said on the July 17, 2018, call, which was secretly recorded by the FBI. Then-U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez talks to reporters in Chicago in 2018. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune) Gutierrez, who left Congress in early 2019, has not been charged with wrongdoing, and it was not clear if hed be a witness at trial. The Tribune first attempted to reach Gutierrez about his alleged involvement in the Ochoa appointment in July 2021, but he never responded. An attorney for Ochoa, Ricardo Meza, declined to comment specifically on the allegations Wednesday, but confirmed that Ochoa would take the witness stand. Advertisement We expect he will testify truthfully about everything he knows, Meza said. [ Michael Madigan, ComEd and corruption: Timeline of how the investigation unfolded ] McClain, 75, of downstate Quincy, was indicted in November 2020 along with former ComEd CEO Ann Pramaggiore, ex-ComEd lobbyist John Hooker, and former City Club of Chicago head Jay Doherty. All of the defendants have pleaded not guilty. Four charged in the ComEd bribery scheme are consultant Jay Doherty, from left, lobbyist and former ComEd executive John Hooker, retired lobbyist Michael McClain and former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore. (Chicago Tribune) Another defendant, former ComEd Vice President Fidel Marquez, has pleaded guilty and is expected to testify for the prosecution. McClains attorney Patrick Cotter, had no comment on the filing Wednesday. Dohertys attorney, Gabrielle Sansonetti, and Michael Monico, who represents Hooker, also declined to comment. Attorneys for Pramaggiore were not immediately available. The trial, which is scheduled to begin with jury selection on March 6, promises to be the biggest political corruption trial at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse since ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich was convicted by a jury in 2011. It will also offer a preview of many of the allegations against Madigan himself, who was indicted along with McClain last March on racketeering conspiracy charges alleging an array of corrupt schemes, including the alleged plan to use the power of his office to steer ComEd money to his cronies. That case has been set for trial in April 2024. Advertisement The new details on the alleged ComEd scheme were revealed in a 126-page filing known as a Santiago Proffer, which prosecutors are typically obliged to submit in advance of a conspiracy trial describing specific evidence, statements and actions between alleged co-conspirators they plan to present to the jury. Many of the details in the document filed Tuesday have already been revealed in other court filings. But the government proffer lays out in the highest relief so far what some of the key witnesses are expected to tell the jury, as well as some of the recorded phone calls that will be played in court. In one newly revealed wiretapped call from 2018, Madigan was captured remarking to McClain that the associates theyd helped out made a pile of money without doing much in return, including one person who made a buck-fifty a year, apparently a reference to $150,000 annually. Some of these guys have made out like bandits, Mike, Madigan allegedly told McClain. Oh my God, McClain responded, coughing. For very little work too. Prosecutors emphasized that exchange, writing in the filing that many of the Madigan subcontractors made out like thieves, just as Madigan observed. Advertisement The filing also outlines for the first time how Pramaggiores relationship with Madigan and McClain allegedly helped her further not only ComEds goals, but her own promotion to the utilitys parent company, Exelon. In one recorded call in May 2018, according to the filing, Pramaggiore thanked McClain profusely for her promotion, saying, the only reason I am in this position is because ComEd has done so well, and you guys have been my, my spirit guides ... I love you guys. Pramaggiore even explored ways to put Madigans former chief of staff, Tim Mapes, into a job where she could hide his contract in someone elses after he was ousted by Madigan following accusations of sexual harassment, the filing alleged. Mapes was charged in 2021 with lying to a federal grand jury about the case and is awaiting trial. Other revelations in the government filing include: A ComEd lawyer is expected to testify that McClain had such a long-standing and close relationship with Madigan that he was sometimes referred to within ComEd as a double agent. Advertisement Agents who searched McClains personal vehicle in 2019 discovered a handwritten ledger allegedly showing he was at Madigans beck and call 24/7, helping to manage the speakers ever-growing list of associates working as ComEd subcontractors as well as the allotment of interns Madigan was sending to the utility giant each summer. In 2016, McClain wrote a letter to Madigan saying he wanted to let his real client know he was retiring from lobbying, but still willing to do assignments for him. I am at the bridge with my musket standing with and for the Madigan family, he wrote, according to a copy included in the filing. Prosecutors also intend to call Ed Moody, the former Cook County recorder of deeds and longtime 13th Ward precinct captain, who will testify Madigan told him it was OK that he was being paid by ComEd for doing next to nothing because he was a valuable political operative and that campaign work was what was important to Madigan. Prosecutors plan to call various current and former members of the (Illinois) General Assembly to testify about the sway Madigan held over just about every aspect of political business in Springfield. And professor Dick Simpson, a former Chicago alderman, has been tapped as an expert witness who will describe for jurors the structure, method, and operation of the Chicago political machine. The ComEd conspiracy charges alleged McClain, a former legislator and lobbyist whose connections to Madigan go back to their time in the General Assembly together in the 1970s, orchestrated a scheme to funnel jobs and hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments from the utility to Madigan-approved consultants in exchange for Madigans assistance with legislation the utility giant wanted passed in Springfield. The indictment also alleged ComEd agreed to hire numerous summer interns from Madigans 13th Ward, and install Ochoa on the companys board of directors in order to curry favor with the then-powerful speaker. Advertisement ComEd, meanwhile, entered into a deferred prosecution deal with prosecutors in July 2020, agreeing to pay a record $200 million fine and cooperate with the investigation in exchange for bribery charges being dropped in three years. Former House Speaker Michael Madigan during a meeting where a replacement was chosen as the new state representative on Feb. 25, 2021, at the Balzekas Museum in West Lawn. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune) Madigan, who was dethroned from the speakership in January 2021, has pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges against him. Hes also vigorously defended making job recommendations, both before and after his indictment. Not only is helping people find jobs not a crime, Madigan wrote in 2020 to a legislative panel, its not even ethically improper for politicians to make job recommendations. To the contrary, I believe that it is part of my duties as a community and political leader to help good people find work from potential executives to college interns, and more, Madigan wrote. What an employer chooses to do with that recommendation rests solely with their discretion. According to the filing, Marquez will testify that after Pramaggiore became CEO of ComEd, she sought to build up a relationship with Madigan that she thought was poor and detrimental to the companys goals. Working closely with McClain, who often referred to the speaker as our friend but almost never by name, Pramaggiore arranged for payments to be made to Madigan-approved associates through Dohertys consulting company, Jay D. Doherty & Associates, and several other lobbying firms that served as intermediaries, the government filing alleged. Marquez is expected to further testify that while paying individuals as requested by Madigan and McClain did not guarantee legislative success, the purpose of the payments was to influence Madigan and to ensure Madigan did not act against ComEd and its legislative requests and agenda due to a failure to fulfill his hiring requests, the filing stated. Advertisement The depth of Pramaggiores relationship with Madigan, McClain and Hooker is vividly outlined in her allegedly gushing comments following her advancement from ComEd CEO to the top position at an affiliate, Exelon Utilities. In the May 2018 recorded call with McClain, Pramaggiore attributed her success to the trio and that she had made Madigan her first call when she learned of her promotion, making him one of the few people that is in the know, prosecutors said. After thanking McClain for her promotion, she allegedly told him she would need his help in a lot of different ways, including for strategizing nationally. She allegedly showed her appreciation for the Madigan team by exploring how to hire Mapes, whom Madigan tossed immediately in June 2018 following a midlevel clerks news conference in which she accused Mapes of harassment and sexual harassment. Mapes served Madigan as his chief of staff, the clerk of the Illinois House and as executive director of the Madigan-led Democratic Party of Illinois. In a recorded call on April 19, 2019, Hooker allegedly explained to Marquez that Pramaggiore wanted Mapes to work for her and wanted to pay him but hide his contract in someone elses, according to the filing. Hooker allegedly suggested to put him in as a consultant with McClain. Advertisement Prosecutors noted in the filing that McClain had suggested to Marquez a similar arrangement, suggesting that ComEd could hide things by employing Mapes as a consultant through a third party. But prosecutors wrote they expect a witness to testify that Pramaggiore abandoned her plan to hire Madigans former chief of staff after she discovered the existence of the federal criminal investigation. Even so, the method of concealment had been used for years to great effect with subcontractors, prosecutors said. The document also underscored the significant role that Hooker played in Madigans political effort to stay in power. In 2019, a group was seeking to change the process for redrawing the legislative districts every year, arguing the new maps should be fairer and not dominated by political leaders like Madigan, a master of tilting districts to favor Democrats. Prosecutors explained in the filing that the proposed change would have created an independent commission through a voter initiative on a statewide ballot, meaning Madigan would lose the ability to affect district boundaries in his favor and in favor of the Democratic Party. Advertisement Madigan opposed the proposed change, and Hooker headed a group that went to court to block the proposal. Arguing the case for Hookers group was Michael Kasper, who has served as Madigans top lawyer in government and Democratic politics. In a lengthy recorded discussion with Marquez in February 2019, Doherty noted that Hooker checked in with him about Madigans allies getting the subcontracts and that Hooker headed the group that led the opposition, according to the filing. According to the filing, Doherty suggested the arrangement is one that " I dont think Id tinker with that ... I really dont. Marquez is expected to testify that he understood Doherty to be telling him that there would be negative consequences from terminating the contract that sent payments to the Madigans subcontractors, even though they did no work. The coziness of Madigans operation with ComEd that Marquez is expected to explain to the jury is his belief that McClain asked the company to hire as an external lobbyist a friend of Madigans son, Andrew, prosecutors said. Marquez allegedly did not wish to hire him, dragged his feet and complained to Pramaggiore, who suggested that Marquez reconsider, according to the filing. Advertisement Afternoon Briefing Daily Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox each afternoon. By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy > The lobbyist was thereafter hired, the filing stated. Prosecutors also said McClain made requests that included wanting to know whether ComEds legal department was finding legal work for the father of Madigans son-in-law, and asked the utility to keep him apprised of what bond companies and litigation attorneys the company used so he could brief Madigan, according to the filing. jmeisner@chicagotribune.com Advertisement Read the filing below: LONDON (AP) Around 25,000 U.K. ambulance workers went on strike Wednesday, walking out for the second time since December in an ongoing dispute with the government over pay. The industrial action by paramedics, drivers and call handlers was the latest in a wave of strikes in recent months that has crippled the country's rail network on some days and strained the U.K.'s overburdened public health system. Health officials have warned that the impact of Wednesday's strike will be worse than the one held in December because more staff, including call handlers, are walking out. People were advised to call in cases of life-threatening emergencies such as cardiac arrest or a serious road accident and ambulances will still respond to such situations. But less urgent cases won't be prioritized and some people will have to make their own way to hospitals. Union leaders say some of the lowest-paid public health workers, including call handlers and drivers, are close to falling below the national minimum wage. When people accuse us of putting the public at risk, I would say it is this government that has put the public at risk by refusing consistently to talk to us. There is no offer on the table," Christina McAnea, general secretary of the UNISON union, told striking workers outside an ambulance station in Sheffield in northern England. Scores of other workers, including nurses, train and bus drivers and postal workers, have in recent months joined the strikes the biggest in decades in Britain to demand better salaries as inflation soars to the highest levels the U.K. has seen since the early 1980s. Inflation rose to 11.1% in October, before coming down slightly to 10.7% in November. Wages, especially in the public sector, haven't kept pace with the skyrocketing cost of living. The strike action comes at a time of severe strain for the U.K.'s National Health Service, which has reported record demand on urgent and emergency care services this winter. Story continues Officials have blamed the pressures on a surge of flu and other winter viruses after two years of COVID-19 restrictions. But the opposition Labour Party and many health workers say the problems run much deeper. Years of underfunding and staff shortages partly caused by a post-Brexit lack of European workers in the U.K. have combined to cause a public health crisis, they say. Paramedics have described waiting outside hospitals on a daily basis for patients to be seen, and patients being left in hospital corridors for hours waiting to be transferred. People are waiting longer because we cant get to them. Its a lack of capacity in every department," said Ian Grimble, an assistant ambulance practitioner. Government officials met withtrade union leaders on Monday, but there has been no breakthrough in negotiations. Union leaders have also been angered by government plans to introduce legislation to set minimum service levels for firefighters, ambulance services and railways that must be maintained during a strike. No one denies the unions freedom to strike, but it is also important to balance that with peoples right to have access to lifesaving health care, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told lawmakers on Wednesday. Posters promoting Demi Lovatos latest album were banned in the U.K. after advertising regulators ruled the image was likely to cause serious offense to Christians. The pop singers eighth studio album the title of which is a play on the expression Holy F in which the letter v replaces the letter u was released to critical acclaim in August. It debuted in the top ten album charts in both the U.S. and the U.K. A poster promoting Lovatos pop-punk record featured the 30-year-old singer-songwriter bound in a bondage-style outfit whilst lying on a large, cushioned crucifix, according to the U.K.s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The promotional material was seen on six sites in London at the time, but it was taken down after just four days, following complaints received by ASA. Altogether, the poster received four complaints, the advertising watchdog said. On Wednesday, ASA issued a final ruling on the matter. It found the ad was indeed likely to cause offense. We considered it would be clear to most readers that the ad alluded to the expression holy f, and that it appeared in an untargeted medium and public place where children were also likely to see it. Regulators also took issue with the singers outfit in the poster. We considered that the image of Ms. Lovato bound up in a bondage-style outfit whilst lying on a mattress shaped like a crucifix, in a position with her legs bound to one side which was reminiscent of Christ on the cross, the ruling said. Additionally, the title of the album, in that context was likely to be viewed as linking sexuality to the sacred symbol of the crucifix and the crucifixion [therefore the poster] was likely to cause serious offense to Christians. The ad must not appear again in the form complained of unless it was suitably targeted, regulators said. ASA also told Universal Music Operations to ensure their ads did not cause serious or widespread offense in future. KYIV (Reuters) - Ukraine's military denied on Wednesday that Russian forces had taken control of the eastern town of Soledar, and said the intensity of battles in the area could be compared to fighting in World War Two. Serhiy Cherevatyi, spokesperson for the eastern military command, told Ukrainian television that Ukrainian forces had not allowed Russian forces to break through front lines. "The town is not under the control of the Russian Federation. There are fierce battles going on now," he said. "There is a complicated situation there." He said the military command was "working now on how to stabilise the situation with the maximum impact for the enemy and minimum losses for Ukraine." Russian mercenary group Wagner has said it has taken control of Soledar, a salt-mining town near the city of Bakhmut where fighting has also been fierce as Russia tries to capture the entire Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. "The intensity of battles near Bakhmut can be compared with World War Two," Cherevatyi said. Reuters was unable to independently verify the situation on the ground in Soledar. Cherevatyi said Russian forces still had a lot of Soviet-era weapons and were using Soviet-era armoured vehicles with some modernised elements. "Our partners are providing us with more modern weapons," he said, adding that Western weapons were more precise and gave Ukraine an advantage. (Reporting by Olena Harmash, Editing by Timothy Heritage) Serhiy Cherevaty, a spokesman for Ukraine's Eastern Military Command, on Jan. 11 denied Russian claims that the town of Soledar in Donetsk Oblast is under Russian control. It is not true. Wait for details in the (upcoming) General Staff report," Cherevaty told Suspilne television. Russian dictator Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Jan. 11 neither confirmed nor denied earlier reports that Russia had captured Soledar, saying that the public should wait for official announcements. He added that Russian troops had made progress in Soledar. Russia's Defense Ministry alleged on Jan. 11 that Russian paratroopers had blocked Soledar from the north and south. Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of Kremlin-controlled mercenary group Wagner, claimed on Jan. 10 that the group had captured the whole of Soledar and encircled Ukrainian forces in the center of the town. Wagner Group posted what it claimed was a picture of its mercenaries inside the salt mine in Soledar. The Ukrainian military's Strategic Communications Directorate dismissed these claims, saying it was likely a picture from a salt mine in Volodymyrivka, east of Soledar. On Jan. 10, the U.K. Defense Ministry said that Russian troops, together with Wagner Group mercenaries, had likely occupied most of Soledar over the past four days. Soledar is located about 20 kilometers from Bakhmut. Russian troops are seeking to encircle Bakhmut by capturing Soledar. The battle of Bakhmut has gone on for more than five months as Russian forces throw manpower and artillery at the town in an effort to capture it. Both Ukrainian and Russian forces have sustained major losses, but Bakhmut has remained Ukraines main fortress in Donetsk Oblast. Bakhmut is a major transportation hub, making it a valuable target for Russia. Capturing the city would also be significant for Russias goal of occupying the entirety of Donetsk Oblast. Timmermans said while Ukraine deserves all possible support to overcome the aggression and to make its choice after the win, joining the EU while parts of the country are under Russian occupation is not an option. "No, it's impossible, he said. But the whole idea is to make sure that Ukraine comes out of this conflict victorious, sovereign, independent, free, and has the opportunity to make this choice itself. And I think Ukraine is fighting to make this happen. The European Union should support them with every means it has. EU leaders granted Ukraine and Moldova candidate status on June 23. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the granting of this status a historical moment in relationships between Ukraine and the EU. Ukraine and the European Union will hold a summit in Kyiv on Feb.3. Read also: Ukraine to implement recommendations for EU membership by 2023, Zelenskyy says The European Council invited the European Commission to report on the candidate countries implementation of membership conditions, and promised to decide on further steps as soon as all these conditions are fully met. In early December, the Minister for Climate and Europe at the German Foreign Office, Anne Luhrmann, said Ukraine has made significant progress in implementing the reforms needed to become an EU member, so accession talks could start shortly. At his speech at a meeting of the European Council on Dec. 15, Zelenskyy called on the EU to move further in Ukraine-EU rapprochement, as well as to speed up talks. Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine "EUROPEAN PRAVDA" WEDNESDAY, 11 JANUARY 2023, 12:37 Ukraine will not be able to become a member of the European Union as long as there are Russian troops on its territory. Source: Stated in an interview with European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans by German news outlet Deutsche Welle, as reported by European Pravda. "No, it's impossible. But the whole idea is for Ukraine to come out of this conflict as victorious, sovereign, independent, free and able to make that choice itself. And I think that Ukraine is fighting to make this happen. The European Union should support Ukraine in achieving this goal," Timmermans said when asked whether Ukraine can become a member of the EU if there are Russian military personnel in the country. As the European Commission pointed out, when Ukraine received the official candidate status for EU membership, it needed to fulfil the Copenhagen criteria - the conditions for joining the EU - adopted in 1993. Among them are the presence of stable state institutions, a functioning market economy and the ability to effectively fulfil EU membership obligations. In addition, the European Commission has formulated seven conditions that Kyiv must fulfil on the way to membership of the European Union. These are judicial reforms, the fight against corruption, deoligarchization and policies towards national minorities. It should be noted that opening accession negotiations (after which Ukraine will need to adapt its legislation to European law for 35 negotiation chapters, "closing" them one by one) is technically impossible before autumn 2023. As previously reported, the majority of Ukrainians believe that Ukraine may become a member of the European Union in the coming years. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! By Max Hunder RIVNE REGION, Ukraine (Reuters) -The crackle of gunfire and roar of armoured vehicles reverberated around sleepy west Ukrainian towns near the Belarusian border on Wednesday as Kyiv's forces trained for the threat of a fresh assault across a new front in the north. Ukraine fears Russia could build up forces on the territory of its ally Belarus before striking in the northwest or even try to drive towards Kyiv as it did when it invaded last February. By reopening a northern front, Russia would stretch Kyiv's forces, which have been focused for months on battles raging in the east and south, forcing it to divert troops to the north. Colonel Roman Voloschuk of the 104th Territorial Defence brigade sought to project strength on the sidelines of military drills in three secret locations in Ukraine's northwest. "They can try, but we're ready for them. We've prepared, every turn and every junction has been dug up. There will be colossal resistance from every building," he told Reuters. Soldiers from his territorial defence unit, one of hundreds of militias raised shortly before Russia's Feb. 24 invasion, said they were well prepared to face down any new threat. "They will get their comeuppance... we are waiting for them," said Artur Horodniuk, a 28-year-old machine gunner. Anticipating what kind of attack Ukraine may face, Kyiv's troops on Wednesday practised urban warfare, firing assault rifles, driving armoured vehicles and freeing hostages. In another exercise in the snowbound countryside, troops practised ambushing and destroying reconnaissance groups, a feature of the first Russian assault from Belarus that Moscow abandoned early last April. Voloschuk said the mild winter so far would help defence efforts as it had left river levels higher than usual and many of his soldiers were battle-hardened from last year's fighting. PRESSURE Despite bringing colossal pressure onto the eastern town of Soledar in recent days, Russian forces have appeared on the back foot on the battlefield for months and a sudden assault from Belarus would mark an astonishing change of dynamic. Story continues Konrad Muzyka, head of defence analysis firm Rochan Consulting, said a slow buildup of Russian forces could be observed in Belarus, but it was much smaller than the force which piled into northern Ukraine last February. Nevertheless, a Russian offensive was possible and a push into west Ukraine could jeopardise supply lines of weapons from Europe, he added. Serhiy Nayev, commander of Ukraine's Joint Forces, said Ukraine had enough troops to defend the current threat and would match any increases on the other side of the border if needed. "At present, the balance of forces and equipment between our side and the enemy is not in favour of the enemy," he said. Local Ukrainian commanders said there were 15,000 Russian troops in Belarus -- too few to launch a major offensive. There has been a slew of military activity for months in Belarus, ranging from joint exercises to the establishment of a joint regional Belarusian-Russian military force. Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko in December in a rare trip to Minsk, prompting speculation it preceded an attack on Ukraine, possibly with the direct involvement of the Belarusian army, even though Minsk has said it will not enter the war. Muzyka put the chances of Belarus joining on Russia's side at 50-50, noting the intensity of the military training exercises there was the highest since the Cold War. Belarus could send 100,000 - 200,000 conscripts to the war, but its dated equipment would not provide new capabilities, he added. Despite talking up the danger in comments last month, Ukrainian general Nayev now downplayed the threat of a new offensive from across the border. "We do not see an increase in the presence of Russian troops on Belarusian territory," he said, but he added anything was possible in future. (Reporting by Max Hunder; Editing by Tom Balmforth, William Maclean, Alexandra Hudson) Vasyl Bodnar, the Ambassador of Ukraine to Turkey, has denied the statement about the alleged provision of cluster munitions by Ankara to Kyiv, which was previously reported by the Western media. Source: European Pravda; Vasyl Bodnar in a comment to Anadolu news agency company Quote from Bodnar: "Such statements are prepared specifically with the aim of harming Ukrainian-Turkish relations as well as forming a negative international image of Ukraine and Turkey." Details: Bodnar has recalled that international law prohibits the use of cluster munitions, and Ukraine adheres to international norms, in particular during the armed conflict with Russia. The Ukrainian ambassador to Turkey has suggested that such disinformation could be "part of Russian propaganda" and that Turkey and Ukraine are "targets". "I completely deny these statements, which have nothing to do with reality. This news was created as a psychological weapon with the aim of harming Turkey's image," states Bodnar. Earlier, Foreign Policy sources reported that Turkey began sending Ukraine a form of US-designed, artillery-fired cluster bomb in late 2022 after months of Kyiv pleading with the Biden administration for the munitions These weapons are designed to destroy tanks by bursting into smaller submunitions that can remain on the battlefield for years if not detonated immediately. Each projectile scatters about 88 bombs. It is currently unclear whether Turkish munitions were used in combat operations. In December, the CNN TV channel reported that the administration of US President Joe Biden was considering Ukraine's request for the supply of cluster munitions. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! Edward Forte, chairman of Black Contractors United, voices his opinion toward Herbert Smith, Norfolk Southern regional vice president state relations, during a community meeting on Jan. 10, 2023, about NSs expansion plans in Englewood. The meeting took place at Kennedy-King College. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune) Since 2014, Norfolk Southern has hired 50 workers who lived in six ZIP codes in and around the Englewood neighborhood, according to a railroad official at a Tuesday community meeting. Overall, more than a third of Norfolk Southerns workers in the Chicago area are nonwhite, said Herbert Smith, the railroads vice president for government affairs. And these direct hires are only a part of the railroads overall impact on Chicagos Black community, he said. Advertisement Behind them, Smith said, come tradespeople and truck drivers, and $85 million in construction contracts that the railroad will begin awarding as soon as the city of Chicago approves the transfer of streets and alleys to Norfolk Southern for its expansion. About 50 people attended Tuesdays meeting at Kennedy-King College in Englewood, with a few dozen more joining virtually. The railroad plans to double the size of its intermodal yard at 47th Street and the Dan Ryan Expressway. The City Council is expected to vote on the transfer Jan. 18. Advertisement The 47th Street intermodal yard is already the biggest in the railroads 22-state network. Its a crucial stop on the high-speed tracks that connect Chicago with the East Coast. [ Truck and rail backups clogged roads last year, creating more pollution and raising health risks for Chicagoans near freight corridors ] By expanding an intermodal yard in the heart of Chicago, and not in a far-flung suburb, railroad officials say the company is boosting the citys economy, creating jobs and reducing pollution by relying on fewer and shorter truck trips. We are Chicago, Smith said. We are Chicagos railroad. As of November, only five workers from five South Side ZIP codes remained actively employed, according to a Norfolk Southern quarterly update on the expansion. This figure includes only new hires since 2014 and may not include workers whod already been hired from these ZIP codes, railroad spokesperson Connor Spielmaker said. The number also doesnt include contract workers who, for example, help staff the railroads intermodal yards. The number would likely be higher if COVID-19 hadnt caused a slowdown in hiring across all industries, Spielmaker said. At any given time, the railroad has 500 to 600 direct employees in the Chicago region, Smith said in September. During Tuesdays meeting, Smith warned repeatedly that railroad life is not for everybody. He showed a video in which workers talk about being required to work all day and all night in snow, freezing rain and blazing heat. When theyre on call, theyre required to report to work within 90 minutes no matter what time of day or night, or what kind of weather. Advertisement You just have to decide if its right for you, a worker in the video said. Norfolk Southern first started buying homes to make room for the expansion more than a decade ago. The railroad convened Tuesdays meeting at the insistence of Ald. Jeanette Taylor, of the 20th Ward, which includes the 47th Street yard. Ald. Jeanette Taylor, 20th, voices her displeasure with Norfolk Southerns presentation about its expansion plans in the Englewood neighborhood during a community meeting at Kennedy-King College on Jan. 10, 2023. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune) Herbert Smith, a Norfolk Southern vice president for government affairs, speaks during a community meeting about Norfolk Southerns expansion plans in the Englewood neighborhood, on Jan. 10, 2023. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune) At the meeting, Taylor dismissed the 50 workers hired in nine years as a bill of goods, especially when compared with the hundreds of African American families that Norfolk Southern has already bought out at what she called inadequate compensation to make way for the expansion. Norfolk Southern is also failing to protect the neighborhood from trucks that haul containers in and out of its yards, she said. These trucks crush roads that have to be repaired over and over at public expense. They also cause air pollution which in her case, she said, caused a newly discovered case of asthma. Im not OK with this, she said. This is not fair. Advertisement A participant in the meeting who identified herself as Gloria Peters said Englewood residents deserve some kind of compensation for living next to a rail yard. Theyve got tons of trucks rolling through the neighborhood, which is causing environmental harm. Air pollution is not safe, Peters said. For five months, Taylor blocked an ordinance introduced by Mayor Lori Lightfoot to transfer the streets and alleys south of Garfield Boulevard to Norfolk Southern. Afternoon Briefing Daily Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox each afternoon. By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy > She said she did so to pressure the railroad to conduct a study on the long-term health impacts of diesel soot from trains and trucks and to hire more Black contractors and employees. Last month she dropped her opposition to the vote. [ Hundreds of Englewood homes were razed for a railroad expansion. Those who remain on Chicagos South Side want clean air, green space and jobs. ] Edward Forte, owner of Precise Construction Systems, and chairman of Black Contractors United, a lobbying and training group, said the Chicago requirements that 24% of construction contracts must go to minority businesses are riddled with loopholes. He accused Norfolk Southern of exploiting them. What Im going to do is put you in the same category as all the rest of the agencies running around and giving fake reports and displacing Black people and harming Black people, and then making your money and going about your business, Forte told Smith. Advertisement Smith defended the citys reporting system and said hes looking forward, based on contracting data filed with the city, to turning frustration into opportunity and partnerships. Chicago is the countrys largest freight hub, handling half of all U.S. intermodal trains and a total of $3 trillion worth of cargo each year, according to the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning. And Tuesdays debate about the impact of such freight movements on residents likely wont be the last. Instead of just expanding the 47th Street yard to the south, Taylor said the railroad has told her it now wants to buy homes and businesses around the yards northern entrance near the Dan Ryan expressway. Denys Shmyhal, the Prime Minister of Ukraine, and Bridget Brink, the US Ambassador to Ukraine, have discussed at a meeting ways to make the Ukrainian energy system more resistant to Russian missile attacks. Source: Shmyhal on Twitter, reports European Pravda Quote: "We spoke with Bridget Brink about strengthening Ukraine's energy sustainability. Together with our partners, we are developing mechanisms to help balance Ukraines energy system under Russian shelling. Counting on the help of the US. [I am - ed.] Grateful for your strong and unwavering support," Shmyhal wrote on Twitter. We spoke with @USAmbKyiv Bridget Brink about strengthening 's energy sustainability. Together with our partners, we are developing mechanisms to help balance 's energy system under russian shelling. Counting on the help of . Greatful for your strong & unwavering support. pic.twitter.com/U0raBkywfo Denys Shmyhal (@Denys_Shmyhal) January 11, 2023 Background: In late November, the US Department of State stated that the US was providing US$53 million for the urgent purchase of equipment necessary for the restoration of the Ukrainian energy system after Russian missile strikes. In mid-December, the United States sent Ukraine the first piece of power equipment worth about US$13 million. In late December, Dmytro Kuleba, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, said that Ukraine had reached agreements with its partners on hundreds of generators and transformers. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! The Ukrainian forces repelled Russian attacks near 13 settlements, including Hryanykivka in Kharkiv Oblast, Stelmakhivka in Luhansk Oblast as well as Spirne, Rozdolivka, Vesele, Bakhmut, Klishchiivka, Mayorsk, Vodyane, Nevelske, Khasnohorivka, Mariinka and Prechystivka in Donetsk Oblast. Ukraines rocket and artillery forces hit three Russian command points, two positions of Russian rocket and artillery troops and eight areas where Russian troops had been temporarily stationed over the past 24 hours, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said in its Jan. 11 update. According to Ukrainian military, Russia also launched six missiles, 16 air strikes and over 50 attacks from multiple launch rocket systems, targeting civilian infrastructure in Kharkiv, Donetsk and Kherson regions over the same reporting period. Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraines Human Rights Ombudsman, held talks with his Russian counterpart Tatyana Moskalkova. Source: Lubinets on Facebook Quote: "A night of negotiations: within the framework of previously reached agreements, a meeting was held with Tatyana Moskalkova, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Russian Federation. We discussed a wide range of humanitarian crises and cases related to the provision of human rights assistance to citizens of the two countries." Details: Lubinets added that the sides exchanged specific proposals, and that he continues to work to help every Ukrainian. Background: On 2 January, the Ukrainian Ombudsman said that he was planning a meeting with the Russian Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova regarding the release of prisoners, including civilians. On 7 January, Lubinets said that he was planning to meet with Moskalkova in Turkey in a few days. On 10 January, it became known that the meeting of Lubinets with Moskalkova that would be focused on the release of prisoners would take place in Ankara in an expanded format, with the participation of the Turkish side. Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron! The park will bring to life its beloved characters and stories in ways that will wow even the youngest theme park goers. Courtesy of Universal Parks & Resorts Universal Parks & Resorts has announced a new theme park slated to open in Frisco, Texas. The one-of-a-kind theme park promises to be unlike any other in the world and will cater to families with young children, the company shared with Travel + Leisure on Wednesday. In the concept art shared, the park is set in a lush green landscape and will feature immersive themed lands. Universal shares that it will bring to life its beloved characters and stories in ways that will wow even the youngest theme park goers. Information regarding a timeline for opening was not disclosed. The 97 acres of land recently purchased by the company will be located in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area and will be sized for a regional audience. Factors, such as growing population, contributed to the selection of this area. We think North Texas is the perfect place to launch this unique park for families given its growing popularity within this part of the country, Page Thompson, President, New Ventures, Universal Parks & Resorts, shared in a press release. It will be full of family-friendly attractions, interactive and playful shows, character meet and greets, unique merchandise and fun food and beverage venues, Universal shares. Although scaled down from traditional theme parks, Universal ensures that it will still carry the same quality as Universals other larger resort destinations. Future plans include expansion and an adjacent themed hotel. This is part of a growing trend in the theme park industry known as micro-parks. These parks, significantly smaller in size than large-scale parks, are designed to be experienced in a shorter period of time and often are more affordable. Examples include the newly opened Peppa Pig Theme Park in Florida, and the in-development Crystal Lagoons Island Resort in Arizona. Story continues Universal Parks & Resorts currently operates five theme park resorts around the world including Universal Studios Orlando and Universal Studios Japan but this will be its first venture of this new park concept. For more Travel & Leisure news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on Travel & Leisure. By Muyu Xu and Melanie Burton SINGAPORE/MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Chinese interest in Australian coal has been limited by the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday and high domestic inventories, meaning few deals have been completed since China lifted an unofficial ban on imports last week. Thawing diplomatic relations between Australia and its biggest trading partner led to China allowing three power utilities and the country's largest steelmaker to resume Australian coal purchases for the first time since 2020. The resumption of the coal trade between Australia and its largest trading partner China after a three-year halt is being watched as a test case for the return of shipments of other Australian goods such as wine and barley which accounted for billions of dollars of trade between the two nations. Last week, one of the utilities, China Energy Investment Corp, placed an order to buy Australian thermal coal for late January. However, ample stocks and weak demand in China have doused the appetite for fresh shipments with the other utilities yet to book cargoes, three industrial sources told Reuters. An Australian mining executive said their company received enquires from Chinese coal buyers for cargoes of metallurgical and thermal coal in late November - around the time that the leaders of China and Australia met during the G20 conference - on the availability for cargoes for the first half of 2023, which he described as "tyre-kicking". However, there have been no queries this week, he said. "The easing of Australian coal import restriction coincide with the approach of Lunar New Year ... in the short term, coal purchase from Chinese utilities remains tepid ... and the impact of the return of Aussie coal still requires further observation," Zhang Huan, an analyst from China-based coal consultancy Yimei, said in a note. Average daily coal consumption at utilities in the eight Chinese coastal regions, a key indicator of coal demand, was 2.03 million tonnes as of last week, down 12% from the same period last year, according to data compiled by the China Coal Transportation and Distribution Association (CCTD). Story continues Coal storage at power plants were 30.5 million tonnes, around 9% lower year-on-year, ahead of week-long Lunar New Year celebration that starts on Jan 21st. That is too high "to generate much buying interest of Australian coal," a manager from a state-backed utility said. Analysts from China-based coal consultancy Ocoal.com said in a note on Monday that industrial power consumption is facing a double whammy of swelling COVID infections and the holiday season, causing a slow de-stocking at the utilities. (Reporting by Muyu Xu and Melanie Burton; Editing by Christian Schmollinger) BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) Federal authorities announced a blitz of arrests and indictments Wednesday against more than 100 people charged with gun and drug crimes in three U.S. states. The flurry of charges from the Justice Department in Georgia, West Virginia and New York comes as federal officials work to combat an uptick in violent crime, particularly involving guns. The Biden administration has tried to showcase federal, state and local efforts to get guns and repeat shooters off the streets. Federal prosecutors and FBI agents were particularly busy in southern Georgia, where an indictment was unsealed charging 76 people with involvement in what authorities called a gang-related network that distributed methamphetamine, fentanyl and other illegal drugs. Authorities called it the largest indictment ever filed in the 43-county Southern District of Georgia. The FBI sent SWAT teams and agents from Atlanta and neighboring South Carolina and Florida Wednesday to help round up more than 30 suspects in coastal Brunswick and surrounding Georgia communities, said Jermaine Deans, the assistant agent in charge of the FBI's Atlanta office. He said one man who fled was arrested with 122 grams (4.3 ounces) of fentanyl. Most of the others charged were already behind bars for prior crimes. Nine charged in the indictment remained at large, authorities said. The dozens indicted in Georgia included a prison guard accused of assisting with drug dealing among inmates and two men charged with selling fentanyl and methamphetamine that resulted in three overdose deaths. Make no mistake, illegal distribution of illegal drugs is not a victimless crime, said U.S. Attorney David Estes of the Southern District of Georgia. He said the three who died bear silent witness to the toll of these illegal drugs flowing into our communities. In West Virginia, federal prosecutors announced the indictment of 34 people from two Baltimore-based groups related to the sale of fentanyl, heroin and other drugs that led to a spike in overdoses, including at least two deaths. According to court documents, the operation involved the trading of guns for drugs. Story continues The drug activity occurred in rural counties in northeastern West Virginia, U.S. Attorney William Ihlenfeld said. In New York, four men accused of selling more than 50 guns to an undercover police officer in Brooklyn were charged Wednesday under a new federal gun trafficking law. They were also charged with trafficking fentanyl and crack cocaine. U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said some of the guns came from Virginia, were made from ghost gun kits or had defaced serial numbers, making them harder to trace. Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said three of the guns were traced to previous shootings in the city. Peace said it was one of the first prosecutions brought under the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law last June. The law allows prosecutors to charge gun-trafficking conspiracy as a standalone federal crime without having to show that a defendant was in the business of selling guns. The law also provides for greater penalties, with defendants facing up to 50 years in prison as opposed to a maximum of five or 10 years under other statutes. The charges brought today exemplify how the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act can be used as an effective tool in our continued battle against gun violence that plagues communities in Brooklyn, across New York City and Long Island and across the nation, Peace said at a news conference Wednesday. The guns were purchased by an undercover police pretending to be a drug dealer. NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig said one of the seized firearms had been used in six separate shootings, including one that wounded eight people during a Family Day celebration in August 2021 in Bedford-Stuyvesant. In the Georgia case, federal authorities seized 43 guns including some assault rifles. Estes said all 76 defendants were charged with conspiracy to possess and distribute illegal drugs, punishable by 10 years to life in prison. Many were charged with additional crimes. Guns have been at the center of the debate as the nation grapples with homicides that spiked nationally in 2020 and as recent polls showed that Americans are increasingly concerned about crime. The increase that started in 2020 has defied easy explanation, though. Experts point to several potential factors: the pandemic that has killed more than 1 million people in the U.S., gun violence, worries about the economy, high inflation rates and intense stress. ___ Sisak reported from New York. AP reporters John Raby in Charleston, West Virginia, and Michael Balsamo in Washington contributed. Flights across the United States resumed Wednesday morning, several hours after the Federal Aviation Administration suffered a computer outage that forced it to halt all departures nationwide while it scrambled to resolve the issue. The FAA said the crippling delays that affected thousands of flights appear to have been caused by a problem in the Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system, which sends pilots vital information they need to fly. Investigators have seen no evidence of a cyberattack, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. President Joe Biden ordered an investigation after he was briefed on the situation by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wa., who heads the Senate Commerce Committee that oversees the FAA, said they too will look into the matter. The number one priority is safety, Cantwell said in a statement. As the Committee prepares for FAA reauthorization legislation, we will be looking into what caused this outage and how redundancy plays a role in preventing future outages. The public needs a resilient air transportation system. Meanwhile, the top Republican on that committee, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, said the FAAs inability to keep an important safety system up and running is completely unacceptable and just the latest example of dysfunction within the Department of Transportation. The delays came just weeks after Southwest Airlines caused travel chaos by canceling more than 2,500 of its flights during the Christmas season. The FAA lifted the ground stop around 8:50 a.m. and normal air traffic operations began resuming gradually. But by then airports across the country were already crowded with frustrated travelers and a backlog of flights. As of noon, more than 7,300 flights within, to and out of the U.S. were delayed, according to the online flight tracker FlightAware. More than 1,100 flights were listed as canceled. Story continues Click here to follow the live coverage. Any person whose flight was cancelled is entitled to a full refund, DOT guidelines state. And major domestic carriers like American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta said they would waive the fees of travelers who want to rebook flights. The first sign that this was likely to be a massive incident came around 7:20 a.m. when the FAA sent out a tweet ordering the airlines to pause all domestic departures until 9 a.m. ET to allow the agency to validate the integrity of flight and safety information as it worked to restore the NOTAM system. All flights already in the sky were safe to land, the FAA said. Pilots check the NOTAM system before they fly, the agency said. A Notice to Air Missions alerts pilots about closed runways, equipment outages, and other potential hazards along a flight route or at a location that could affect the flight. As the drama unfolded, cybersecurity experts told NBC News that the likeliest cause was a bad software update. Todays FAA catastrophic system failure is a clear sign that Americas transportation network desperately needs significant upgrades, U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Geoff Freeman said in a statement. Americans deserve an end-to-end travel experience that is seamless and secure. And our nations economy depends on a best-in-class air travel system. We call on federal policymakers to modernize our vital air travel infrastructure to ensure our systems are able to meet demand safely and efficiently, he said. Buttigieg said in a tweet that he had been in touch with FAA this morning about an outage affecting a key system for providing safety information to pilots. Within minutes. United Airlines said earlier it had temporarily delayed all domestic flights while Southwest Airlines said it was closely monitoring but warned customers to brace themselves for travel troubles. Soon, the major airports were doing the same. An FAA system outage is causing ground stops at AUS and other airports across the country, the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport said in a tweet. Arriving & departing passengers can expect delays this morning & through the day, it said, adding: Please stay in contact with your airline & check your flight status before heading to AUS. Flights over the United States at 7 a.m. ET Wednesday. (Flight Aware) A number of social media users said they had been affected by the situation. Heather Allen, 32, was meant to fly from New York City to Seattle with her fiance to visit her family for a delayed holiday visit. She was watching a movie on her plane and still on the tarmac at John F. Kennedy International Airport when she and other passengers were told to get off their Delta Airlines flight. She said she learned of the outage by reading the news on Twitter and had been on the plane for about an hour before she had to deplane. Trying to be patient, but feeling frustrated, Allen said. She said the situation at the airport was not currently chaotic, but could be if delays are longer. The flight delays in the U.S. had a ripple effect on some airports abroad. The international airport operator Aeroports de Paris, or Airports of Paris, said all flights by U.S. carriers had been delayed. It said non-American airlines were flying out as normal without interruption. Air France said all of its U.S.-bound flights were operating as planned and were not affected by the FAA computer outage. It said it continued to monitor the situation. As far as we are aware, we are still operating to/from the U.S. at the moment, a spokesperson for Gatwick Airport in London said. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com. This article was originally published on TODAY.com [Source] A group of Americans who broke into and climbed the Merdeka 118, the worlds second tallest building located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, have reportedly been arrested and charged. Army veteran-turned-urban explorer Isaac Wright uploaded a video of their ascent to his YouTube channel on Dec. 30, 2022. Although the daredevil did not elaborate much on the details of their climb, including notably the date it occurred, a statement released by Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) Merdeka Ventures on Tuesday revealed that the break-in and illegal climb occurred on May 1, 2022. According to the statement, Wright and his group were reportedly detained and charged under Section 457 of Malaysia's Penal Code on the same day they made their climb. More from NextShark: NY Congresswoman Grace Meng Tweets Photos of Office Barricade During Capitol Riots The company announced that it would continue upgrading the Merdeka 118's security and explained that safety remains its top priority as the building, which stands at 679 meters (approximately 2,228 feet) high, is still a live construction site." Construction of the Merdeka 118 is expected to be completed in mid-2023. We wish to reiterate that stunts such as these are illegal and dangerous, and put at risk the safety of the trespassers and the hard-working personnel on site. As such, it is highly disconcerting that illegal acts that take place on our property are used for illicit commercial gain and popularity. The video shows Wright and three other men with their faces blurred entering the construction site to break into the Merdeka 118 while wearing construction worker-like vests. More from NextShark: 'I Accept Apologies': Margaret Cho Says She's Forgiven Jay Leno for His Anti-Asian Jokes After walking carefully and silently through various rooms and up a staircase, the group eventually reaches another staircase blocked off by what seems to be a locked gate and a large length of fabric covering the entirety of the handrails. Story continues Despite the obvious signs that they should not be there, Wright and his group still decide to break a small gap in the fabric for them to squeeze through. Upon reaching the top, the men were met by thunder and lightning, but that did not deter them. More from NextShark: Joe Bidens Campaign Ad Against Trump Called Out for Being Xenophobic and Racist It is unclear how long the group stayed on top of the building, but the video shows they were still up there even after sunrise. The journey was long and difficult and full of challenges, Wright wrote in his YouTube post's caption. A number of attempts had already ended in prison time for certain individuals so we knew we were up against heavy odds. The trip ended successfully and its [sic] a gift to be ending the year showing the footage. This video is an artistic expression of freedom done in and for love, I do not encourage anybody to recreate the actions shown in this video. Wright had already made headlines in the United States a few years before his Merdeka 118 break-in. Wright, an honorably retired Army veteran who served as a paratrooper in an Army Special Forces battalion, got off six felony charges against him for unlawfully entering the Great American Tower at Queen City Square in Cincinnati in exchange for entering a treatment program in November 2021 as part of a plea deal. He was later linked to other similar incidents through his online brand Driftershoots. Some of his posts include photos taken on top of skyscrapers and bridges across the country. Related stories: DETROIT (AP) The head of the National Transportation Safety Board expressed concern Wednesday about the safety risks that heavy electric vehicles pose if they collide with lighter vehicles. The official, Jennifer Homendy, raised the issue in a speech in Washington to the Transportation Research Board. She noted, by way of example, that an electric GMC Hummer weighs about 9,000 pounds (4,000 kilograms), with a battery pack that alone is 2,900 pounds (1,300 kilograms) roughly the entire weight of a typical Honda Civic. Im concerned about the increased risk of severe injury and death for all road users from heavier curb weights and increasing size, power, and performance of vehicles on our roads, including electric vehicles, Homendy said in remarks prepared for the group. The extra weight that EVs typically carry stems from the outsize mass of their batteries. To achieve 300 or more miles (480 or more kilometers) of range per charge from an EV, batteries have to weigh thousands of pounds. Some battery chemistries being developed have the potential to pack more energy into less mass. But for now, theres a mismatch in weight between EVs and smaller internal combustion vehicles. EVs also deliver instant power to their wheels, making them accelerate faster in most cases than most gas-powered cars, trucks and SUVs. Homendy said she was encouraged by the Biden administrations plans to phase out carbon emissions from vehicles to deal with the climate crisis. But she said she still worries about safety risks resulting from a proliferation of EVs on roads ands highways. We have to be careful that we arent also creating unintended consequences: More death on our roads, she said. Safety, especially when it comes to new transportation policies and new technologies, cannot be overlooked. Homendy noted that Fords F-150 Lightning EV pickup is 2,000 to 3,000 pounds (900 to 1,350 kilograms) heavier than the same models combustion version. The Mustang Mach E electric SUV and the Volvo XC40 EV, she said, are roughly 33% heavier than their gasoline counterparts. Story continues That has a significant impact on safety for all road users, Homendy added. The NTSB investigates transportation crashes but has no authority to make regulations. For vehicles, such authority rests largely with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Even apart from EVs, the nations roads are crowded with heavy vehicles, thanks to a decadelong boom in sales of larger cars, trucks and SUVs thats led to extreme mismatches in collisions with smaller vehicles. But electric vehicles are typically much heavier than even the largest trucks and SUVs that are powered by gasoline or diesel. Michael Brooks, executive director of the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety, said he, too, is concerned about the weight of EVs because buyers seem to be demanding a range of 300 or more miles per charge, requiring heavy batteries. Setting up a charging network to accommodate that may be a mistake from a safety perspective, Brooks said. These bigger, heavier batteries are going to cause more damage, he said. It's a simple matter of mass and speed. Brooks said he knows of little research done on the safety risks of increasing vehicle weights. In 2011, the National Bureau of Economic Research published a paper that said being hit by a vehicle with an added 1,000 pounds increases by 47% the probability of being killed in a crash. He points out that electric vehicles have very high horsepower ratings, allowing them to accelerate quickly even in crowded urban areas. People are not trained to handle that type of acceleration. It's just not something that drivers are used to doing, Brooks said. Also, many newer electric SUVs are tall with limited visibility that poses risks to pedestrians or drivers of smaller vehicles, he said. Sales of new electric vehicles in the U.S. rose nearly 65% last year to 807,000 about 5.8% of all new vehicle sales. The Biden administration has set a goal of having EVs reach 50% of new vehicle sales by 2030 and is offering tax credits of up to $7,500 to get there. The consulting firm LMC Automotive has made a more modest prediction: It expects EVs to make up one-third of the new-vehicle market by 2030. Discerning the inspiration for a moment of infamy can be ridiculously simple. The audacious attack by supporters of Brazils far-right ex-President Jair Bolsonaro on government buildings in the capital looked every bit as chaotic and destructive as the infamous Jan. 6, 2021, onslaught on the U.S. Capitol. The toxic mix of pent-up anger and ugly violence was eerily similar. In the case of Brasilia, rioters laid siege to not just Brazils Congress but also its presidential offices and Supreme Court. Bolsonaro loyalists filmed themselves as they clubbed police officers, smashed plate glass windows and rifled through government desks. In Brazils Congress, rioters giddily savored taking over the legislatures upper chamber, an image wholly reminiscent of Donald Trumps backers whooping it up in the Senate chamber. Advertisement Coincidence? Thats doubtful. Trump honed the template for fabricating claims of election fraud and goading hordes of supporters to turn those claims into justification for mayhem. The inevitable conclusion for Bolsonaro loyalists: If it can happen in Washington, why not Brasilia? Bolsonaro was just as reckless as Trump in churning out baseless claims of a rigged election. The former Brazilian leader has been trying to delegitimize the countrys election system for years, saying its hopelessly tainted by fraud. He has not presented evidence to back his claims. Advertisement Over time, Bolsonaro seeded among his followers the distrust in Brazils democratic institutions that led to what took place in Brasilia on Sunday. After the October presidential election, legions of his supporters camped out for weeks outside Brazils army headquarters, calling on the military to overturn the results of the presidential election and declare Bolsonaro the winner. Bolsonaro could have been much more forceful in urging his supporters to stand down instead, he allowed them to go on believing the lie of a rigged election. Like Trump, Bolsonaro refused to attend the inauguration of the rightful winner in Brazils case, leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a former president who served 17 months in prison on corruption charges that later were tossed. Strangely, or maybe not so strangely, Bolsonaro even retreated to the same place where Trump sought refuge after his loss Florida. Theres no indication that Trump or anyone in his circle had anything to do with what happened in Brasilia. But that doesnt matter. Trumps refusal to accede to the peaceful transfer of power, as well as his overt attempts to assemble a slate of fake electors and his actions to incite the insurrectionists on Jan. 6, established an ignominious precedent for Bolsonaros loyalists to follow. The lesson for America is clear. The peril posed by the insurrection at the Capitol wasnt just domestic. Countries around the world, particularly those in Latin America, are to varying degrees influenced by whatever example the U.S. sets. The Trump presidency thrived on the manufacture of misinformation. Bolsonaro, Trump-like enough to be nicknamed the Trump of the Tropics, governed in much the same way. But just as Bolsonaros supporters took a cue from Jan. 6 insurrectionists, da Silvas government should take a cue from President Joe Bidens top prosecutor, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, and prosecute Brazils insurrectionists to the fullest extent of the law. At least 950 people have been charged in connection with the attack on the Capitol. The cases have included everything from trespassing to seditious conspiracy, and the sentences range from probation or a few weeks in jail to 10 years in prison. Even more important was the House select committees deep dive into theJan. 6 attack, as well as Garlands ongoing investigation into the potential for any culpability on the part of Trump and his top aides. Accountability for what happened Jan. 6 is nonnegotiable, and da Silvas government should adhere to the same standard. So far, there is no evidence that Bolsonaro had any direct role in the violence in Brasilia on Sunday. Nevertheless, Brazils justice system should leave no stone unturned. The Wall Street Journal reported this week that Brazilian authorities are looking into whether individuals in the countrys powerful agribusiness sector helped finance the rioters, many of whom got to Brasilia in a convoy of more than three dozen buses. Bolsonaro has received strong support from Brazils wealthy farming regions. Advertisement Da Silva told Brazilians this week that authorities will pursue justice against anyone involved in the riots. What they want is a coup, and they wont have one. They have to learn that democracy is the most complicated thing we do. Thats heartening to hear because the best antidote for the kind of anti-democratic chaos that America saw two years ago, and that Brazil endured Sunday, is an unyielding commitment to ensuring it doesnt go unpunished. (An earlier version of this editorial misstated the chamber at the Capitol occupied by rioters on Jan. 6, 2021.) 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. The former school police chief in Uvalde, Texas, Pete Arredondo, told investigators he was primarily concerned with protecting those outside the classroom where a gunman had holed up with children during the massacre at Robb Elementary School last May, according to details from an interview a day after the attack. CNN on Tuesday published details from a video interview Arredondo gave to investigators after the shooting, which left 19 students and two teachers dead. Arredondo has drawn fierce criticism for treating the shooter as a barricaded subject rather than an active shooter, going against police training and protocol. It took officers more than an hour to confront the gunman, who was later killed by law enforcement. An investigation is looking into if any of those killed could have been saved had police intervened sooner. Once I realized that was going on, my first thought is that we need to vacate, Arredondo told investigators a day after the shooting. We have him contained and I know this is horrible and I know its [what] our training tells us to do but we have him contained, theres probably going to be some deceased in there, but we dont need any more from out here. Details from the interview are some of the most complete accounts of Arredondos response during the massacre. He has given few public accounts and defended himself in an interview with The Texas Tribune in June, saying he never considered himself the incident commander on site during the attack. We have decided to publish the entire Arredondo interview as part of the story. You can watch in the link below. For the first time you can watch and listen to him try to explain his actions that day in the nearly hour long interview with investigators. https://t.co/tnHOnFwVS8 Shimon Prokupecz (@ShimonPro) January 11, 2023 CNN added Tuesday that Arredondo had taken a required active shooter training three times, including the December before the attack. The course, CNN added, instructs officers to isolate, distract and neutralize attackers and that first responders will often be required to place themselves in harms way and display uncommon acts of courage to save the innocent. Story continues Arredondo failed to adhere to that training, repeatedly requested more backup, including officers who had rifles rather than handguns. He also didnt have access to his radios after dropping them and instead relied on his cellphone. Times on our side right now, he told an officer that day, according to body-cam footage also obtained by CNN. I know we probably have kids in there, but weve got to save the lives of the other ones. Arredondo was fired in August by the Uvalde, Texas, school board, which found systemic failures and egregiously poor decision making in the police response to the shooting. The former police chief called his termination a public lynching. At Robb Elementary, law enforcement responders failed to adhere to their active shooter training, and they failed to prioritize saving innocent lives over their own safety, an investigative report released in July found. The Texas Rangers, a division of the states Department of Public Safety, is conducting a criminal investigation into the shooting, including if any victims could have survived if police had intervened sooner. The district attorney for Uvalde said this week she doesnt anticipate a report on the matter for months, according to The Texas Tribune. Related... Russian President Vladimir Putin has appointed Gen. Valery Gerasimov as the new top commander of Russian forces in Ukraine. Gerasimov, who has served as the chief of general staff of Russias armed forces since 2012, is replacing Gen. Sergey Surovikin, who has overseen the invasion since October. Surovikin was accordingly demoted to a deputy serving under Gerasimov. Gerasimovs appointment comes as Russia is trying to turn the tide of the war after months of struggling to make advances amid a strong Ukrainian counteroffensive that has liberated thousands of square kilometers of Ukraine from Russian control. Russia appears to be on the precipice of making its most significant gain on the battlefield since August, having almost taken control of a small mining town called Soledar. The Russian Defense Ministry said in a Telegram post announcing Gerasimovs appointment that he was chosen to help organize closer interactions between the branches of Russias armed forces and to improve the effectiveness of leading Russian soldiers. The BBC reported in 2012 that Gerasimov joined the military of the Soviet Union in 1977, becoming a member of the Northern Group of Forces stationed in Poland. He then served in the Far Eastern and Baltic military districts before becoming chief of staff of the 58th Army in the Northern Caucasus Military District in 1999, according to BBC. The Second Chechen War began later that year when fighting broke out between separatists from the Russian province of Chechnya and Russian forces. BBC reported that Gerasimov was involved in arresting a Russian army colonel named Yury Budanov, who was convicted of murdering a Chechen girl during the war. Gerasimov was appointed commander of the 58th Army in 2001 as the conflict continued. Gerasimov served as the chief of staff of the Far Eastern Military District, where he was reprimanded for a large outbreak of illness among the soldiers, from 2003 to 2005. He also served as the commander of military districts for St. Petersburg and Moscow and the Central Military District, which makes up a large part of central Russia. Story continues The Financial Times reported in 2017 that Gerasimov is known to be taciturn and does not make many public appearances. He argued in 2013 in a Russian newspaper that the lines between war and peace in the 21st century have become blurred, as wars are no longer being officially declared. He said world actors are instead using special-operations forces and internal opposition to establish a permanently operating front. Throughout much of the war in Ukraine, Putin has refused to call the conflict a war, instead referring to it as a special military operation. He called it a war for the first time last month. Gerasimov is married and has a son, the Financial Times reported. He was born in 1955 to a working-class family in the Russian city of Kazan, about 800 kilometers east of Moscow. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. PASADENA, Calif. (AP) Milo Ventimiglia was looking to change things up after six seasons on NBC's This is Us" both physically and professionally. He found that opportunity with the upcoming ABC series The Company You Keep," a high-stakes romance story that's a remake of a Korean drama, My Fellow Citizens. Ventimiglia plays Charlie, a successful and stylish con artist who needs to pay off a large debt to a dangerous man. He meets a CIA agent named Emma (Catherine Haena Kim). Each tries to keep their identity from the other while their entanglement grows as they face external dangers because of their jobs. Speaking to journalists Wednesday at a biannual event for TV critics, Ventimiglia said it was nice to play someone closer to himself, living in the present day where he could lose Jack Pearson's facial hair and clothes. He relished the opportunity to shave and not "pull my pants up a little higher because it's the '80s. I couldnt just put on a character anymore. I just had to do this and just be myself, he said. He hasn't completely left This is Us behind, though: Ventimiglia, who is also an executive producer on the series, said he brought roughly 90% of the This is Us crew to work on The Company You Keep. The series is also executive produced by Jon M. Chu. It premieres Feb. 19 at 10 p.m. ET. KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) Santiago Vescovi and Julian Phillips each scored 15 points as No. 5 Tennessee recovered from a halftime deficit to pull out a 77-68 victory over Vanderbilt on Tuesday night. Vescovi scored 12 of his points in the second half to lead the recovery for the Volunteers (14-2, 4-0 Southeastern Conference), who won their 25th straight game at Thompson-Boling Arena. Uros Plavsic contributed 11 points. (Vescovi) helped himself a lot (in the second half), said Tennessee coach Rick Barnes. He was a little too casual (on offense) at the start. (Vescovi) plays hard and aggressive, said Vanderbilt coach Jerry Stackhouse. That's a talent and a skillset on its own. Vandy's 7-foot Liam Robbins won the battle of the big men with 18 points off the bench. Noah Shelby had 12 points (3 of 4 3-pointers) in the first half, but was silenced in the second. Jordan Wright added 13. (Robbins) had a game, said Barnes. He got the ball where he wanted it. Zakai Zeigler, Tennessee's sophomore guard, had nine assists, giving him 27 in the last three games. (Zeigler's) getting better, said Barnes. He's learning. He was never a natural point guard. I'm excited to see how good he can get. Tennessee scored the first seven points of the first half and the first nine of the second half. The second half spurt allowed the Vols to recover from an intermission deficit. Tennessee trailed at halftime, 39-37, for only the second time all season (Ole Miss was the other). Vanderbilt (8-8, 1-2) got all but three points in the first half from its starters. Shelby connected on three 3-pointers and had 12 points while Robbins had 11. I still think we had opportunities we left on the table, Stackhouse said of his team's first-half effort. We've been games for four years now. It's on me and our staff to raise our level. (The Commodores) got down but still stayed in it, said Barnes. They take on (Stackhouse's) personality. They don't quit. Story continues The Commodores attacked the Vols' suffocating defense. Vandy shot 39 percent (5 of 13) from 3-point range against a team that limits its opponents to 21 percent. Tennessee managed just 25 percent (3 of 12) from beyond the arc. POLL IMPLICATIONS Tennessee, which has now won 25 straight games at home, took a step in the right direction by moving up three spots this week. The No. 5 Vols have now won five straight games and are keeping pace with Alabama, which is one spot ahead of them. BIG PICTURE Vanderbilt: The Commodores are still searching for a signature win this season. An overtime victory over a struggling South Carolina team hardly fit the bill. Liam Robbins, a 7-foot post player, has been an intimidating force. He has blocked 38 shots this season. Tennessee: In his last two games, Vols forward Olivier Nkamhoua came into the Vanderbilt game having hit all 15 of his shot attempts. Tennessee has extended its winning streak over Vanderbilt to 11 games. Josiah-Jordan James Tuesday played in his third straight game after missing nine games this year with soreness in his knee. He was a preseason All-SEC selection this year. UP NEXT Vanderbilt: The Commodores will face their second ranked team of the week when they entertain No. 15 Arkansas Saturday. Tennessee: The Vols will go from one rival to another when they host Kentucky Saturday. LOS ANGELES, CA - (NewMediaWire) - January 11, 2023 - (InvestorBrandNetwork via NewMediaWire) - IBN, a multifaceted financial news, content creation and publishing company, is utilized by both public and private companies to optimize investor awareness and recognition. Vision Energy (OTCQB: VENG), a forward-looking energy company developing carbon reduced solutions for the commercial, industrial and transportation sector, has incorporated new Dutch subsidiaries. These incorporations are designed to accommodate strategic initiatives for prospective partners, operators and launching customers for VENG's integrated Green Energy Hub development in North Sea Port of Vlissingen, the Netherlands. According to the announcement, Vision Energy incorporated Vision Hydrogen BV as a project development company to develop, own and operate its planned Ammonia Cracking Facility. The facility will be used for back-cracking imported green ammonia to hydrogen gas as a service and will be combined with the company's import, storage and handling terminal development in Vlissingen. Vision Energy also incorporated Evolution Terminals Operating BV, a dedicated operating entity planned to jointly own and operate logistics infrastructure under a joint operating agreement, and Evolution Terminals SPV II BV, a special-purpose vehicle, which will be utilized for joint ownership of specific storage assets with a strategic launching customer or partner. To view the full press release, visit https://ibn.fm/gMxmI About Vision Energy Corporation Vision Energy is a forward-looking energy company developing assets and solutions for the commercial, industrial and transportation sectors. The company leverages 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. Vision Energy is pursuing reliable offtake relationships and operating partnerships with energy industry participants and end users seeking carbon abatements across feedstock and fuels. The company is committed to providing low-carbon energy solutions with the highest yield. 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. For more information about the company, please visit www.VisionEnergy.com. NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to VENG are available in the company's newsroom at https://ibn.fm/VENG About IBN IBN has introduced 50+ distinct investor-focused brands over the last 15+ years and has leveraged these unique brands to amass a collective audience of millions of social media followers. In conjunction with 5,000+ syndication partnerships, IBN's broad-based investor-facing brands help fulfill the diverse demands and needs of our rapidly growing base of client-partners. IBN will continue to expand our branded network of highly influential properties, harnessing the energy and experience of our team of specialized experts to exceed the expectations of each of our client-partners. Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the InvestorBrandNetwork website applicable to all content provided by IBN, wherever published or re-published: http://IBN.fm/Disclaimer Corporate Communications IBN (InvestorBrandNetwork) Los Angeles, California www.InvestorBrandNetwork.com 310.299.1717 Office Editor@InvestorBrandNetwork.com They were killed in a drug deal gone wrong. It was revenge for bullying another student found dead months earlier. A disgruntled student blamed them for him being kicked out of a fraternity. A gang of frat boys decided to carry on a fight that broke out at a party earlier that night. The list goes on and on. These make up only a handful of the countless rumours and conspiracy theories circulating online in the weeks after four University of Idaho students were found butchered to death in the small college town of Moscow. But the emerging details appear even worse than the imaginations of online sleuths: a highly intelligent, seemingly high-functioning suspect with an intense interest in the criminal mind allegedly entered the home in the dead of night, dressed all in black and a mask, and stabbed the four victims multiple times each. The suspect Bryan Kohberger had no known connection to Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin prior to that fateful night and no motive has been revealed. The victims might not have even known he existed. And yet the affidavit suggests he stalked their home in the lead-up to the attack, after spending years studying criminal justice and how criminals feel while committing their crimes. Then, that night, he allegedly executed his own crime in a matter of minutes. Perhaps most chilling, one of two surviving roommates who were unharmed in the attack, came face-to-face with the masked man thought to be the killer as he left the home. Its something straight out of a horror movie. Except this is no movie. Its real life for the families and friends of the murdered victims, for the two roommates who had a seemingly close call with the violent killer, and for the students and locals of Moscow now left to try to rebuild their lives. While America has long been fascinated with true crime, the shocking brutality and seeming randomness of the Moscow murders sent the internet sleuth community into overdrive. Story continues Conspiracy theories and rumours have dominated the investigation with thousands of people joining social media groups to discuss their take on what transpired and why. One particular group on Reddit has now amassed 123,000 members, ranking it in the top 1 percent of all groups on the platform in terms of size. Meanwhile, a Facebook group with users raising their theories about the case has topped 220,000 members. But are the online sleuths a help or a hindrance? Theres no doubt that the intentions are well-meaning and that many of the individuals spending countless hours investigating the case from the comfort of their computers had a genuine desire to catch the killer. Many who took to Reddit or Facebook to share tips about the case told how they had already called in the information to the dedicated police tipline. But, theres also no doubt that, throughout the seven-week investigation before Mr Kohbergers arrest, Moscow Police were forced to spend a considerable amount of time swatting away rumours. And the rumours werent victimless. Several innocent people, many of whom were grieving for their friends, were attacked by baseless accusations that they were responsible for the brutal crime. Hoodie guy who was spotted with Goncalves and Mogen at a food truck hours before their deaths and Goncalves former boyfriend both came in the firing line, while some of the victims families were targeted with death threats. The boyfriend of one of the surviving roommates responded to the social media critics head-on, slamming a sickening rumour that the couple and even his own father were involved in the murders. Moscow Police ended up compiling a list of individuals who had been shrouded in suspicion and who they had ruled out as potential suspects a list that the department was forced to keep adding to day by day. And yet one person who was never on the radar of the army of internet detectives was Bryan Kohberger. As well as impacting the police investigation, the online sleuths to some extent also impacted the media coverage, which was undeniably shaped by some of the more plausible tips that arose first on the likes of Reddit. Its worth noting that there have been cases in the past where internet sleuths did help get answers. When Gabby Petitos remains were found after she vanished on a cross-country trip, her mother praised the online community for their involvement. They are incredible. The sleuths, the internet sleuths, they do a great job. They really do, she said. At the very least, theres no doubt that internet sleuths can amplify a case, reaching someone who may just hold that key piece of information investigators need. Mr Kohberger is in custody, having denied the allegations against him as he awaits trial. Meanwhile, the online rumour mill around the Idaho murders hasnt stopped. Since then, sleuths have honed in on an account that regularly posted in social media group discussions about the case before his arrest with many believing Mr Kohberger to be the person behind the account. Others claim to have spotted Mr Kohberger in footage attending the victims vigil (the man in the footage has since been revealed to be a different man). And, despite police saying Mr Kohberger acted alone, the surviving roommate, who states she saw a man believed to be the killer a 19-year-old who has gone through a traumatic experience is now facing relentless accusations of being involved. With interest in the case showing no signs of dying down, its clear the online sleuths will continue to build their own investigations - for better or for worse. Volodymyr Zelenskyy made an appearance at the Golden Globes 2023. During Tuesday's ceremony, the Ukrainian president, 44, appeared via video to share a message of hope after he was introduced by actor and filmmaker Sean Penn, who filmed a documentary concerning Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine over February and March 2022. "The [Golden Globe Awards were] borne at a special time," he began. "The second World War wasn't over yet, but the tide was turned [and] all knew who would win. There were still battles and tears ahead. It was then when the Golden Globe Awards appeared to honor the best performers of 1943." "It is now 2023; the war in Ukraine is not over yet, but the tide is turning," Zelenskyy continued. "And it is already clear who will win." 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. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Sean Penn STR/AFP via Getty; Cindy Ord/Getty Volodymyr Zelenskyy; Sean Penn RELATED: Inside Kyiv's Heartbreaking, War-Torn Christmas: "My Only Wish Is Peace" And while "there are still battles and tears ahead," Zelenskyy added, "I can definitely tell you who were the best in the previous year: It was you, the free people of the free world." "Those who united around the support of the free Ukrainian people in our common struggle for freedom, democracy. For the right to live, to love, to give birth, no matter who you are, no matter where you are from, no matter who you are with. The struggle for the right of the new generations to know about the war only from movies." Volodymyr Zelenskyy Golden Globes NBC Volodymyr Zelenskyy "The first World War claimed millions of lives; the second World War claimed tens of millions of them. There will be no third world war; it is not a trilogy," Zelenskyy went on. "Ukraine will stop the Russian aggression on our land." He concluded, "We will make it together with a whole, free world, and I hope that all of you will be with us on the victorious day the day of our victory. Slava Ukraini." Story continues In December 2022, Time magazine named Zelenskyy its 2022 Person of the Year along with the spirit of Ukraine in honor of the nation's refusal to back down in the face of unprovoked Russian aggression. "Zelenskyy's success as a wartime leader has relied on the fact that courage is contagious," Time reporter Simon Shuster wrote about Zelenskyy's actions in the early moments of the invasion when he famously refused to leave Kyiv, inspiring his people to fight and earning the status of a wartime hero around the world. In November 2022, Penn, 62, gave one of his Oscar statuettes to Zelenskyy during his most recent visit to Ukraine to express his support for the country amid the Russian invasion. In a video shared to Instagram by Zelenskyy, Penn could be heard telling the Ukrainian president: "When you win, bring it back to Malibu because I'll feel much better knowing there's a piece of me here." The 80th Golden Globe Awards ceremony is currently airing live on NBC and Peacock. Colleagues applaud state Rep. Bob Morgan after the passage of a bill banning assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines on Jan. 10, 2023, at the Illinois Capitol in Springfield. Morgan, a sponsor of the bill, was present at the Highland Park mass shooting on July 4th. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune) SPRINGFIELD Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law Tuesday night a comprehensive measure that supporters called one of the nations toughest bans on military style firearms, immediately prohibiting their sale and giving current owners until Jan. 1 to register gun serial numbers with Illinois State Police. Illinois now officially prohibits the sale and distribution of these mass killing machines and rapid fire devices, said Pritzker, who was inaugurated for a second term on Monday during a ceremony in the Capitol. Im signing this legislation tonight so that it can take immediate effect and we can end the sale of these weapons of war. Advertisement Pritzker signed the bill just hours after House Democrats led final passage of the measure on a 68-41 vote, and a day after Senate Democrats approved it 34-20. Pritzker and legislators acted amid warnings from most Republicans and gun-rights advocates that the new law was unconstitutional and would face a legal challenge. The House vote on the gun ban came on the final scheduled day of action for the lame-duck 102nd General Assembly, during which Democrats also sent Pritzker a bill that would protect health care professionals and people seeking an abortion or gender-affirming care in Illinois from restrictive laws in other states. Advertisement The new 103rd General Assemblyall 118 House and 59 Senate members with Democratic supermajorities in each chamberis set to begin a new session after they are inaugurated on Wednesday. With Pritzkers signature, Illinois became the ninth state to ban military style firearms. The effort to achieve the ban accelerated following a deadly mass shooting at the Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, where the alleged shooter used an AR-15 style of weapon. We got this done for all the victims, the spouses, the children, parents and friends and loved ones who are no longer with us, and for those who have survived mass shootings but were injured, Pritzker said after reciting the names of the seven people killed at the parade. No single lawwill end gun violence once and for all. So we must keep fighting, voting and protesting to ensure that future generations will only have to read about massacres, he said. Its our burden and our mandate, one that we carry with solemn honor for our children, who will grow up in a better and safer world. The new law immediately bans the delivery, sale, import and purchase of so-called assault weapons. After Jan. 1, people who possess an unregistered firearm covered by the ban face a misdemeanor for a first offense and a felony for subsequent offenses. The new law also immediately bans the delivery, sale or purchase of large capacity ammunition magazines of more than 10 rounds for long guns and 15 rounds for handguns. As of April 10, current owners possession of large-capacity magazines will be allowed only on private property, at a firing range or a sport shooting competition or at a federal licensed gun dealer for repairs. Violations will be subject to a $1,000 fine. In addition, devices that increase the firing rates of a firearm, known as switches, to convert them from semi-automatic to automatic weapons, are immediately banned and someone in possession would face a felony count for each device. The new law also speeds up to July from January the existing requirement for universal background checks by federal firearm dealers or the State Police for private gun sales. Advertisement It also modifies the states current red flag law that allows relatives and police to seek a court approved firearm restraining order to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people. The new law extends the duration of the orders from six months to a year. Gov. J.B. Pritzker hugs gun control advocate Maria Pike after he signed comprehensive legislation to ban military style firearms on Jan. 10, 2023, at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield. Pike lost her son, Ricky, to gun violence. Advocate Delphine Cherry, third from right, who lost her children Tyesa and Tyler to gun violence, wipes away tears. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune) State Rep. Tony McCombie, an opponent of the military-style firearms ban bill, speaks to co-sponsor Rep. Bob Morgan before the legislation passed on Jan. 10, 2023, at the Illinois Capitol in Springfield. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune) Most Republicans contended the legislation would do nothing to prevent crime, would run counter to rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court involving Second Amendment rights and would face a court challenge upon becoming law. State Rep. Blaine Wilhour of Beecher City, a member of the ultraconservative Republican House Freedom Caucus, accused Pritzker and majority Democrats of continuing to allow our Constitution and our freedoms to be shredded. A government unchecked, a government willing to defy our Constitution is a government that is completely out of control, he said. You can sit here and dictate whatever you want today. Maybe the political winds are in your favor here today. But I can tell you that we will not comply and youre not going to do a darn thing about it because the law, the Constitution and the founding principles are on our side. Democratic House Speaker Emanuel Chris Welch of Hillside declared that the Democratic-controlled legislature and Pritzker reached a deal on one of the strongest assault weapons bans in the country. Its time that we protect Illinois communities. Its time that we protect Illinois families. Lets end families having to change overnight. Lets not lose any more brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, and children to gun violence, Welch said. Advertisement Two House Republicans outgoing House GOP Leader Jim Durkin of Western Springs and state Rep. Bradley Stephens of Rosemont joined Democrats in voting for the bill. Four House Democrats voted against it: state Reps. Anthony DeLuca of Chicago Heights, Michael Halpin of Rock Island, Larry Walsh of Elwood and Lance Yednock of Ottawa. House Speaker Emanuel Chris Welch speaks to Reps. Theresa Mah, center, and Denyse Wang Stoneback after the passage of the gun bill on Jan. 10, 2023, in Springfield. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune) Democrats in the Senate voted 41-16 and the House followed with a 70-39 roll call to send Pritzker a measure he supports that would extend abortion and transgender protections to patients as well as health care workers who come from other states. The measure was prompted by the U.S. Supreme Courts decision in June that overturned a federal right of women to seek an abortion and turned the issue over to the individual states. Illinois has enshrined a right to an abortion in state law, making it one of the most liberal states on the issue in the country. Pritzker also has called for the next General Assembly to submit to voters in 2024 a proposal to put the right to abortion in the state constitution. Right now there are states across the country that are trying to criminalize parents for seeking medical care for their children, seeking to criminalize pregnant people from being able to make decisions about their bodies, states that are criminalizing people who are looking for help, said state Sen. Celina Villanueva, D-Chicago. This bill provides protections to patients, families and providers and it also ensures meaningful access to health care, she said. I do believe this bill will save lives. Advertisement Outgoing state Sen. Darren Bailey of Xenia, whose evangelical Christian-based opposition to abortion was one factor in his unsuccessful challenge to Pritzker in the Nov. 8 election for governor, called the measure pure evil before reading a Bible verse. This is wrong, he concluded. God help us. The Senates legislation is closely aligned to a House proposal that passed last week. Among its aims is expanding the pool of health care providers who can perform certain abortion procedures in an effort to ease access amid increased demand for services from Illinois abortion clinics. The measure also would authorize the state Department of Public Health to partner with nonprofit groups to administer grants for abortion training programs, with underserved areas and transportation hubs given a priority. Additionally, the measure authorizes protections for the transgender community and their access to gender-affirming care. Also Tuesday, the legislature sent Pritzker a bill to create closing fund of about $400 million for use at Pritzkers discretion in an effort to seal deals to attract businesses to the state. The measure was approved on an 86-23 House vote and 40-15 Senate roll call. Advertisement The measure includes a provision that would prohibit the governor from using any of the money to help the Chicago Bears develop a new football stadium and entertainment complex if they complete a purchase agreement for the former Arlington International Racecourse property. The Bears have said they would not need public subsidies for construction of a new stadium, but would would need assistance for developing the remainder of the 326-acre property. Pritzker has shown no interest in providing direct public financing to help the Bears. If the Bears are choosing to move to Arlington Heights they cant go to the state and say give us some money out of the closing fund to do it, said state Rep. Mike Zalewski, a Riverside Democrat who sponsored the measure. I think they are going to continue to pursue sort of different avenues of relief. I dont know what that will look like in the next General Assembly. The measure also would provide additional incentives aimed at attracting electric vehicle and vehicle component suppliers to locate in Illinois. rap30@aol.com jgorner@chicagotribune.com Wallo267 has never been one to back down from sharing steps of his journey to inspire others, and this time is no different. View this post on Instagram A post shared by @wallo267 A Million-Dollar Opportunity One of the greatest things I did I made $1,000,000, [and] Ill probably make millions off was for free, he shared during an interview with the Real Social Proof podcast. She called me and she was like, Wallo, I think I got something for you. I said, How much they charging me, I mean how much Im getting? She said, Hey, you gon do a Ted Talk.' He recalls still being hung up on how much he would be paid for the opportunity. I said, What? How much they giving me? She said, Wallo, this is gon be for you. I said, What you mean its gon be for me? How much they giving me?' The Desire For Success As previously reported by AfroTech, the podcaster and Internet personality has been intentional about his pursuit of success after serving 20 years in prison. I always tell these dudes it costs too much to be a criminal, Wallo267 told The Pivot Podcast. Out of a lot of people, I was one of the people to be able to flip that time. That five minutes that it took me to get all that time, later on in life, we in Philadelphia like probably 20 blocks from here its a restaurant called Devons. I went into Devons and it took me less than five minutes to close a multi-million dollar deal. The Domino Effect It looks like that is just one of many pinnacles of success that hes achieved thus far. For Wallo267, agreeing to participate in the Ted Talk opened the door to an array of opportunities. And although he was looking to receive a payment for his time, the most that he got was hotel accommodations. However, an even greater reward was waiting for him on the other side. I went and did the Ted Talk, he explained. I lost count of how many bookings I got from that speech. Your next blessing could be on the other end of a task you might be hesitant to do. This may or may not be a sign to go for it its up to you. Canal+ has removed Warner TV from its offering after the French pay-TV giant and the channels parent company Warner Bros. Discovery France failed to agree on renewed terms. The channel, which was available exclusively via different Canal+ packages and its mobile App MyCanal, announced the news it was being taken off air by Canal+ in a curt statement on Tuesday (Jan 10). More from Deadline We regret that Warner TV is no longer available on Canal+ and MyCanal due to the lack of an agreement between the two groups. Warner TV is not stopping and will be available again in Metropolitan France soon, it read. The channel noted that it remained available in many of Frances overseas territories as well as to other French-speaking audiences in territories such as Belgium and Switzerland via other partnerships. The breakdown in talks comes as Warner Bros. Discovery France continues to prepare the ground for the launch of HBO Max in the territory in 2024 in an operation involving the winding down of individual local contracts for top HBO shows. French media reported earlier this month that around 60 HBO shows including Game Of Thrones, The Sopranos and Chernobyl would be removed from the bouquet of Orange Cinema Series (OCS) on January 1. News that Warner TV would no longer be available on Canal+ came just a.day after the latters parent company Canal+ Group announced it had signed a memorandum of understanding to acquire OCS and Orange. The contract dispute has also resulted in other Warner channels Cartoon Network, Boomerang, Boing, Toonami, TCM Cinema et CNN being removed from the Canal+ offering. These channels are available on other platforms in France such as Orange, SFR or Molotov.tv and are less impacted. Story continues Warners Eurosport 360 will continue to be available on Canal+ because it is covered by a separate agreement Warner TV draws around 3.7m viewers a month in France (according to figures released by audience monitor Mediametrie/MediamatThematik in early 2022) with popular shows including Leverage: Redemption, The Big Bang Theory, 2 Broke Girls and the original French show Visitors. Best of Deadline Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. NEW YORK (AP) A man accused of attacking police with a machete near New Yorks Times Square on New Years Eve is now facing federal terrorism charges after he became determined to wage jihad against the U.S. government, authorities announced Tuesday. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement that Trevor Thomas Bickford was charged with federal crimes in connection with his self-avowed jihad against U.S. government officials and his knife attack on three police officers in Times Square. Trevor Bickford Bickford was already charged with attempting to murder police officers, assault and attempted assault in state court in Manhattan. The 19-year-old was also indicted on terror-related charges at the state level. If convicted, he faces a mandatory life sentence. State prosecutors have said Bickford shouted Allahu Akbar at about 10 p.m. on New Year's Eve before striking one officer in the head and attempting to grab another officers gun. He was shot in the shoulder by police during the confrontation and was held without bail after he was arraigned by video from a Manhattan hospital. The Legal Aid Society, a public defender organization representing Bickford, has urged the public to refrain from drawing hasty conclusions and to respect the privacy of our clients family. Previous story:What we learned about the Wells man charged in NYC machete attack: Family had called police Bickford, 19, of Wells, Maine, began studying radical Islamic ideology last summer, authorities said. They said he decided in November to wage jihad against U.S. officials and officials of other governments he thought to be anti-Muslim. He was charged with four federal counts of attempted murder of officers and employees of the U.S. government and people assisting them. Each charge carries a potential penalty of 20 years in prison in event of a conviction. He was expected to appear in federal court at a later date. Trevor Thomas Bickford is now facing with federal crimes in connection with a knife attack on three police officers in Times Square. A criminal complaint in Manhattan federal court said Bickford told a family member in late November or early December that he wanted to go to Jordan or Afghanistan to be a suicide bomber for his religion, and he told an older brother, a soldier in the U.S. military, in text messages in mid-December that he wanted to go to Afghanistan to join the Taliban. Story continues He booked a ticket to fly to Jordan on Dec. 12 but didn't board the flight, the complaint said. The kukri that Trevor Bickford allegedly used in the attack, pictured, was recovered by law enforcement from the scene of the attack A day later, according to the complaint, the FBI conducted a voluntary interview with him in which Bickford said he had bought tickets to fly to New Delhi, India, several weeks earlier, planning to then go on to Afghanistan. There he hoped to ally with the Taliban and persuade them to help him fight the oppression of Muslims in Myanmar, formerly Burma, the complaint added. The complaint said Bickford claimed he didn't agree with the Taliban's use of violence against civilians and had no intention of joining al-Qaida. It said he began reading the Quran in May or June and attending mosques, but he didn't think the mosques were adequate, so he began following imams on YouTube. The FBI began investigating Bickford in mid-December based in part on concerns that members of his family expressed about Bickford's behavior, the complaint said. It said family members reported that Bickford had recently converted to Islam and begun frequenting mosques in and around Maine and New Hampshire, where Bickford lived with different family members. They reported that he also began researching the Taliban and expressed interest in traveling to Afghanistan to join the Taliban before buying a crossbow that he planned to bring with him to Afghanistan, the complaint said. According to the complaint, Bickford ultimately scrapped his November plans to travel overseas and instead decided he'd wage jihad against the U.S. government within the United States as part of his plan to wage jihad against officials of governments that he believes are anti-Muslim, including the U.S. Government." As part of that effort, Bickford traveled from Maine to New York City for the Dec. 31 attack, the complaint said. After the Times Square attack, Bickford disclosed in a law enforcement interview that he carried out the attack for the purpose of waging jihad and that Bickford's mission involved targeting military-aged men who worked for the U.S. Government and killing as many such officials as he could," the complaint said. Bickford told law enforcement that he walked around Times Square on Dec. 31 prior to his attack trying to figure out the right time to kill," the complaint said. It added that he said he spent a long period of time praying in the vicinity of Times Square before the attack. Bickford intended to die in the attack, in an effort to achieve martyrdom," the complaint said. Bickford believed his attack was unsuccessful, because he did not kill any officers, and he did not die himself." A bag that Bickford brought with him to the Times Square area was recovered by law enforcement from the scene of the attack. Bickfords bag contained, among other things, a book by al-Maqdisi promoting jihad and Bickfords journal. The al-Maqdisi book encourages followers, among other things, to wage jihad against disbelievers and governments ruled by disbelievers, and to use swords on the heads of disbelievers. An entry in Bickfords journal from December 31, 2022that is, the day of his attackstates that this will likely be my last entry and that Bickford believed his brother, a soldier in the U.S. military, had joined the ranks of my enemy. A second bag that Bickford was carrying, also recovered by law enforcement near Times Square, contained a book espousing violent Islamic extremism, with certain portions highlighted, including the following: Fight in the Name of Allah and in the Cause of Allah. Fight against those who do not believe in Allah. Wage a holy war. This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Wells, Maine, man in New Year's Eve machete attack faces federal charges WASHINGTON In the midst of implementing its own controversial new program for dealing with the flow of migrants across the U.S.-Mexico border, the White House on Wednesday criticized Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida for deploying the National Guard to handle the arrival of undocumented immigrants from Cuba. We are talking about people who are coming from countries, who are dealing with political strife, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at Wednesdays press briefing. Theyre trying to find asylum and hes treating them like pawns. She charged that DeSantis was not dealing with the problem. Hes actually creating a problem. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at the Republican Jewish Coalition on Nov. 19 in Las Vegas. (Scott Olson/Getty Images) Last week, DeSantis deployed the National Guard to deal with what his office described as an alarming influx of migrants landing in the Florida Keys, though it was unclear just what the Guards role would be. According to the governors office, 300 migrants fleeing Cuba and other countries landed at Dry Tortugas National Park last week, and another 45 made landfall at Key West. DeSantiss office did not answer a Yahoo News request for comment. But when he deployed the Guard, the governor lambasted the White House. As the negative impacts of Bidens lawless immigration policies continue unabated, the burden of the Biden administrations failure falls on local law enforcement who lack the resources to deal with the crisis, he said. The governors move came after President Biden announced a new parole plan that would allow up to 30,000 migrants per month from Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Haiti to receive asylum in the United States, provided they applied from their home countries via smartphone app, without making a perilous overland journey to the border. The plan also includes an agreement from Mexico to accept 30,000 deportees from those countries apprehended in the United States. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre at a briefing on Wednesday. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images) In announcing his plan, Biden blamed congressional inaction for the lack of a comprehensive immigration reform plan. Although the presidents new parole plan has been criticized by progressives and conservatives alike, it reflects what the administration believes to be a humane and orderly approach to a seemingly intractable problem. Story continues On Wednesday, the White House was content to focus on DeSantis, who has battled the Biden administration over pandemic-related measures like masking and vaccination, and whom many liberals seem to regard with the same antipathy they once reserved for the governors political benefactor, Donald Trump. Immigration is emerging as a point of intense contention between the two men, who could face each other in next years presidential election (neither has declared his intention to run so far, but both are expected to do so). Weve seen Gov. DeSantis do political stunts, Jean-Pierre said on Wednesday. She appeared to be referencing an episode in September when DeSantis transported migrants who had entered the United States without authorization to Marthas Vineyard, a liberal enclave. She also accused the Florida governor of making a mockery of Bidens good-faith attempts to at least partly address the migration crisis. DeSantis is suing the Biden administration for allegedly not doing enough to stop the flow of unauthorized migrants into the United States. Proceedings in the case began earlier this week. Mike White said he would Mike White said he would "take a bullet" for his collaborators, but "in the foot or the leg or whatever." The White Lotus creator Mike White delivered one of the most amusing speeches of the evening Tuesday when his show won the Golden Globe for best limited series. In a feat of liquid courage, White confessed he was drunk but hilariously plowed ahead. Oh, my God. Im still so choked up over Jennifers speech, said the showrunner, appearing on the verge of tears, in reference to White Lotus star Jennifer Coolidges earlier acceptance speech for best actress in a limited series. But, anyway, I was gonna give this speech in Italian but Im too drunk because theres no food, White said. The food when you got there, they were like, The food is over, you cant have any. It was just drink. White then turned his attention to the streaming service that gave White Lotus a home and his cast, which includes F. Murray Abraham, Aubrey Plaza and Michael Imperioli. So, thank you to HBO. If theres one place that gets you, let it be HBO, he said, adding a thank you to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which presents the Golden Globes. And thank you to these guys, White continued, gesturing to the other members of the White Lotus team who joined him onstage. I would take a bullet for you guys. Maybe not in the heart, but in the foot or the leg or whatever. And I want to thank all the actors. White said he had been determined to create a show with Coolidge at the center but that everybody passed. He pointed into the crowd and said, I know you all passed, you all passed on this show, adding that it was gratifying to have this moment. Coolidge had already stolen the evening, reducing audience members to tears of laughter while presenting an award and accepting her own earlier in the night. With her now-classic deadpan delivery, she thanked White for her role as Tanya in the series. Youve sort of changed my life in a million different ways, the actor said. And my neighbors are speaking to me, things like that. No, I mean it! None of those people I was never invited to one party on my hill, and now everyones inviting me! Story continues Coolidge continued: He really is one of the greatest people Ive ever met, he gives me so much excitement to be you make people want to live longer and I didnt. So I just want to say, Mike White ... I love you to death. ... I just want to say this has been a fun night. Related... LANSING, Mich. (AP) Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will travel to Europe next week for a five-day trip to promote the state's recent economic developments and with hopes of attracting new businesses in the automotive and clean energy industries. The Democratic governor will travel to Norway first before heading to Switzerland to speak at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos next week to speak on a panel to discuss The Return of Manufacturing." She will be a part of a bipartisan group of governors in Davos that includes Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker. We are taking this opportunity to tell Michigans story around the world with leaders and decisionmakers in other countries," Whitmer said in a press release Wednesday. Were building something in Michigan that everyone should want to be a part of. The trip, which will be Whitmers first in Europe to discuss the states economic development, will focus on Michigan's recent mobility and hydrogen investments, while discussing future investment opportunities in Michigan with world leaders and business executives. Michigan was one of seven Midwestern states to team up to accelerate the development of hydrogen as a clean-energy alternative for automobiles and factories that rely largely on climate-warming fossil fuels. The partnership followed a federal infrastructure law enacted in 2021 that included $8 billion for the U.S. Department of Energy to fund regional hubs that would step up clean hydrogen production and distribution. Michigan was also highlighted by the U.S. Department of Energy last week as one of three states expected to lead the nation in electric vehicle battery manufacturing by 2030. The state granted over $2 billion in tax incentives last year in an effort to win several multibillion-dollar electric vehicle manufacturing projects. In her statement Wednesday, Whitmer reiterated that Michigan would continue to compete with other states and other nations to land game changing manufacturing projects. Michigan heads into the 2023 legislative session, which began Wednesday, with nearly $6 billion in surplus funds and with Democrats holding full control of the state government for the first time in 40 years. Whitmer's appearance in Davos, where 52 heads of state and government and nearly 600 CEOs will meet, comes as her profile has steadily grown since first being elected governor in 2018. She has been mentioned as a possible future White House candidate since winning reelection in 2022 by by nearly 11 percentage points in the battleground state. LANSING Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will head to Norway and Switzerland on a trade mission and attend the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, her office announced Wednesday. The five-day trip planned for next week, with officials from the Michigan Economic Development Corp., will be Whitmer's first overseas trip since 2019, when she went on a trade mission to Israel. Whitmer's predecessor, Gov. Rick Snyder, made regular trade trips to Europe and Asia, but Whitmer has not taken one since the pandemic began. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer delivers her second inaugural speech at the Michigan Capitol on Jan. 1, 2023 The world is increasingly interconnected and its important for leaders in other countries to hear that Michigan is a key player on the global stage, especially as we work to lead the future of mobility, bring supply chains home, and become energy independent with more clean, domestic supply, Whitmer said in a news release. We are taking this opportunity to tell Michigans story around the world with leaders and decision-makers in other countries." More:Gretchen Whitmer off to Israel on her first trade mission as Michigan governor More:Whitmer pledges gun control, relief for seniors, in 2nd inaugural speech Whitmer will attend the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, Cooperation in a Fragmented World," which begins Monday in Davos, and participate in a panel, The Return of Manufacturing, joining executives from the mobility and semiconductor industries, the release said. A Michigan governor last visited Switzerland in 2016. No Michigan governor has visited Norway in recent history, her office said. Between 2018 and 2021, Michigan companies exported $895 million in goods and materials to Switzerland and Norway, with transportation equipment as the top Michigan export to both countries, the release said. While in Norway, Whitmer will meet with company and government leaders in Oslo to discuss investment opportunities and collaboration in global industries, including mobility and hydrogen, the release said. As the most abundant chemical element, hydrogen can play a significant role in accelerating Michigans clean-energy transition away from fossil fuels in the coming decades," said MEDC CEO Quentin Messer, Jr. "There has been a federal focus on hydrogen and Michigan fully capitalizing on this transition has the potential to create good-paying jobs for our fellow friends and neighbors across both peninsulas." Story continues The trip will be paid for with MEDC revenues such as the state's share of tribal gaming revenues, not from tax dollars, Whitmer spokesman Bobby Leddy said. Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Whitmer headed to Norway, Switzerland in 1st trade mission since 2019 American Airlines decision to end service in Columbus due to low demand and the pilot shortage will reduce the airports economic impact by millions of dollars. The Columbus Airport was informed that American Airlines would end service to Columbus on April 3 late last week, Airport Director Amber Clark told the Ledger-Enquirer. The airport had little notice beforehand that this might be a possibility, she said. American Airlines does not have any team members located in Columbus, said Andrea Koos, senior manager of corporate communications. The airline contracted with a third-party vendor to handle its ground operations in Columbus, she said. Before making a decision to stop servicing an airport, airlines have to determine how many aircraft they can fly, airline analyst Robert Mann told the Ledger-Enquirer. Mann, who previously worked as an analyst for American Airlines, provides analysis and consulting services to airline management and industry-related firms. In this case, its not so much how many (aircraft) you have, Mann said. Its how many you can actually find a crew to fly. Some airlines have reported that in the first quarter of 2023, the number of flights will be around 15% below what it was in the same quarter of 2022, he said. The next issue is once an airline decides on how many planes it can fly, Mann said, they then must decide where it is most economical to fly. American Airlines has three flights in and out of Columbus: two flights to Charlotte and one to Dallas. Airport officials had been watching how many passengers were on the routes and had been hopeful that the numbers were sufficient, Clark said. We have over 250,000 people that fly annually, she said. So there is enough demand. The problem was that fliers in Columbus were not using American Airlines service, Clark said. Typically, when airlines are looking to be profitable, theyre looking for about 80% of the seats to be filled, Clark said, and the community did not use it enough to get to that range. Story continues The Columbus Airport was informed late last week that American Airlines would end service to Columbus on April 3, 2023. Airport Director Amber Clark said the airport had little notice beforehand that this might be a possibility. 01/10/2023 Impact on the airport, other businesses and Fort Benning A carrier making the decision to stop servicing an airport is devastating to two kinds of revenue, Mann said. This includes the aeronautical revenue, which is money made from passenger charges, airline terminal space and security rentals and airline landing and usage fees. The second lost revenue comes from airport concessions, retail and parking. Losing the American Airlines routes will cost the airport $1 million, she said, but the economic impact on the community will be more. The Columbus Airport has an economic impact of about $94.5 million annually, according to a 2020 study by the Georgia Department of Transportation. And we just lost $3 million dollar economic impact by losing this airline, Clark said. So, we need to make sure that were supporting the service. The airport impacts Columbus economy with travelers staying at hotels and eating at restaurants when they visit the city, she said. With Fort Benning nearby, families travel through the airport during graduation, along with travelers who come to the city for business or other reasons. Fort Benning doesnt anticipate American Airlines ending service to Columbus to impact its operations, according to a statement to the Ledger-Enquirer from the Maneuver Center of Excellence and Fort Benning Public Affairs. Officials will continue to engage with their community to ensure service members needs are met. ...We work diligently to ensure they travel to and from the installation safely, the statement reads. This includes leaders knowing their soldiers leave travel plans, service organizations supporting permanent change of station moves for families and cadre of the 30th Adjutant General Reception Battalion welcoming our newest trainees. The Columbus Airport was informed late last week that American Airlines would end service to Columbus on April 3, 2023. Airport Director Amber Clark said the airport had little notice beforehand that this might be a possibility. 01/10/2023 Pilot shortage and the pandemic A regional pilot shortage contributed to the decision to end services in Columbus, according to a statement by American Airlines. The reason for the shortage began before the pandemic began, Mann said. In 2018, airlines knew that there would be a large number of pilots retiring who joined the companies when the industry was growing rapidly in the 1980s. At that point, if you go and talk to any of the airlines involved, you would have heard them say we are going to be hiring pilots forever, he said. However, the pandemic brought a long and protracted downturn to the industry. Demand was down 90% early on, Mann said, but the airlines costs continued. Its like having the store open, he said. But the cash register was closed. Thats a problem. In response, airlines decided that since labor and fuel were their largest costs, they didnt have a need for all the employees. Airlines began offering incentives to pilots who were close to age 65 to retire. Once a pilot reaches the age of 65, by law they may no longer fly commercial planes. Thousands of pilots took those deals, Mann said, and other pilots who were not close to retirement age were given opportunities to work part-time or take voluntary separation. Within a few months, we saw the industry starting to recover, he said. We saw the government providing grants and loans to the industry. When demand for flights began increasing again, Mann said, those large airlines suddenly didnt have enough pilots and began hiring pilots from regional carriers. This resulted in a shortage of regional pilots, he said. Some airlines have started their own pilot schools, Mann said, but this is not a quick solution. Since new pilots must have 1,500 hours of experience to earn their air transport pilot certificate, bringing in new pilots has been slow. So, theres this disconnect between the issue of schools and what it takes to actually go fly as a first officer at one of these airlines, he said. Delta is now the only carrier servicing the Columbus Airport, Clark said, but officials are always talking to carriers and looking for an opportunity to bring another one to Columbus. We know that were going to continue to move on, she said. We know that our community is going to continue to support this airport, and we will have more airlines to come. A Sedgwick County jury has acquitted a Wichita police officer of one count of misdemeanor disorderly conduct in a Dec. 2, 2021, off-duty incident where he allegedly became enraged, was verbally aggressive and threatened a rental car counter clerk at Eisenhower National Airport who refused to rent him a vehicle with a relatives vouchers and credit card he didnt have in his possession. Jurors found Officer Andrew Barnett not guilty of the charge Tuesday, Sedgwick County District Attorneys Office spokesman Dan Dillon said by email. The trial started Monday. The case is one of two in which Barnett was criminally charged by the Sedgwick County District Attorneys Office last year. In the other, Barnett is accused of one count of misdemeanor battery for slapping a handcuffed prisoner who was strapped into the back seat of a patrol car on May 14, 2021, following an escape attempt. District Judge Kevin Mark Smith set a Jan. 30 trial date in that matter, Dillon said. Barnett pleaded not guilty to the charges in both cases last February. He had been an employee of the Wichita Police Department for five years when authorities announced the allegations. An Elgin man accused of pistol-whipping an elderly woman and shooting two men inside a Huntley residence this summer has been arrested on attempted murder charges, authorities said. Lewis McCracken, 27, formerly of the 200 block of Villa Street, is being held without bond in the McHenry County jail Monday after being extradited from Virginia last week in connection with the July 18 incident. Advertisement Huntley police said McCracken went to a home in the 11800 block of Cape Cod Lane about 4:18 a.m., striking the woman who answered the door with his gun and then shooting a 68-year-old man in the thigh and a 29-year-old man in the elbow. McCracken fled the area but was later spotted by police, who pursued a car in which he and another man were driving. The chase ended with the vehicle being abandoned in a Bartlett field and both men taking off on foot, police said. Advertisement A warrant was issued for his arrest, and on Sept. 26 police learned McCracken was in Washington County, Virginia. Efforts to take him into custody there resulted in a two-hour standoff before he was arrested, published reports said. McCracken was arrested on a governors warrant, McHenry County Assistant States Attorney Bill Bruce said. Prosecutors filed a petition asking for no bail in the case, which was granted at McCrackens first court appearance Monday, Bruce said. Although the original warrant included $750,000 bail, he said, state statutes allow the states attorneys office to ask the discretion of a judge to have him held with no bond, Bruce said. McCrackens criminal background, the nature of the charges and his fleeing to another state were among the factors cited in the bail petition. McCracken was convicted in 2017 in Kane County for unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon and in 2013 for possession of a stolen firearm. One of the Huntley shooting victims, Mark Wahlstedt, was treated for his injuries but later died in October. No charges have been filed against McCracken in connection with the death, officials said. The investigation is ongoing, Bruce said, and as of right now McCracken has been charged by the states attorneys office with four counts of attempted murder, aggravated battery and unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon. His case will be sent to a grand jury rather than to a judge for an arraignment hearing, Bruce said. He declined to say if prosecutors might ask the jury to indict McCracken on a murder charge. Advertisement McCrackens next court hearing is scheduled for Jan. 23. Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News. New research from Pew Charitable Trusts shows many states fail to budget properly for wildfire suppression, leading to emergency spending that obfuscates state costs of firefighting. In a report published late last year, Pew spoke to wildfire budgeting experts in Alaska, California, Florida, Nevada, Texas and Washington to learn how those states budget for wildfire suppression and wildfire prevention. Pew researchers said state officials they spoke with noted in the last five to 10 years, theyve noticed their wildfire budgets falling short more frequently. While Idaho wasnt among the states studied for the report, local fire officials said the research still holds important insights for the Gem State. State forester Craig Foss said Idaho lawmakers are trying to keep an eye to the future when it comes to fire suppression, but the unpredictability of wildfires makes that difficult. Since 2011, the states share of estimated wildfire suppression costs has averaged $22.5 million annually, according to Department of Lands records. But annual totals vary wildly from that average, with the state responsible for as little as $2 million in 2011 to a record $68 million in 2021. Those are the years that can really catch you off guard from a budget standpoint, Foss told the Idaho Statesman in an interview. And its difficult because we really dont know when those fire years are going to occur. Fire costs are complex In Idaho, the Department of Lands is responsible for fire suppression costs for fires that start on state-owned land, private forest land and even some federal property in North Idaho, Foss told the Statesman. Every state handles things a little bit differently, Foss said. Pews report noted that wildfire costs are shared between state, federal and local agencies, and the ways they divvy those costs are laid out in cooperative agreements. Those agreements are the groundwork for a complex process of billing and reimbursement between levels of government to cover the costs associated with the fire, Pew said. Story continues Peter Muller, one of the authors of the report, told the Idaho Statesman in an interview that his team has been looking at disaster spending for a while, trying to hone in on state disaster expenditures which that are often more fragmented and less studied than federal spending. We know that states do spend a lot on disaster response, disaster planning, all those things, but there hasnt been good data, Muller said. We wanted to better understand what states are spending on (wildfires), how theyre thinking about it and really, how theyre planning to invest in mitigation to try and reduce the cost in the future. The Pew research team found that each state handles wildfires and their resulting costs in its own way. Idaho has a master fire agreement that lays out responsibilities for the state Department of Lands, the U.S. Department of Interior, the U.S. Forest Service and more. Muller said that cost-sharing method can make it difficult for states to know just how much they spend on wildfire suppression each year. It can take years for the federal government to reimburse states or bill them for costs, adding to the confusion. Knowing what a fire costs takes a long time to figure out because maybe you have to spend more money up front and you dont get the reimbursement until a year or two down the line, Muller said. States frequently look at previous years spending to determine future wildfire budgets, the report said. Without a clear idea of what theyre spending on fires each year, states can struggle to know how much to budget. Each of the six states Pew researched had sought out supplemental funds from state legislatures in recent years. The estimates states have used to inform their wildfire budgets have frequently proved insufficient, forcing states to cover spending gaps using after the-fact budgeting tools such as supplemental appropriations, the Pew report said. While these reactive mechanisms provide needed flexibility during emergencies, they also obscure from the state budgeting process the true costs of wildfires. Fire reimbursement takes time Sharla Arledge, spokesperson for the Idaho Department of Lands, told the Statesman in an email that the agency uses its firefighting budget for pre-suppression preparations like prescribed burns. Funding to fight wildfires instead come from deficiency funds set aside by the Idaho Legislature from the states general fund. What our governor and Legislature have been attempting to do since probably about 2016 is attempting to prefund our deficiency warrant account, Foss said. That keeps a positive balance in that account, so as we suppress fires and spend money out of that, we dont have to go make a supplemental request because we havent overspent that account. Foss said the last supplemental request the Department of Lands made was in fiscal year 2015. That means the Department of Lands budget doesnt take a hit when federal reimbursements take time. The agency is still waiting on nearly $1 million in repayments from the 2020 fire season and has only invoiced federal agencies for $1.1 million of the $8.6 million it expects to be reimbursed for the 2021 fire season. Billing for the 2022 fire season, which cost Idaho an estimated $26.6 million, is ongoing. Pew researchers encouraged state fire officials to review their wildfire budgeting processes to see if their estimates are in line with their costs. It suggested an account like Idahos could be a possible solution. A specific fund for suppression could also be an option to smooth out the spikes of wildfire funding in states with repeated significant wildfire damage, the report said. The Pew report noted that paying for fire suppression with non-budgeted funds even one like Idahos can have a negative impact on future budgets. The report said relying on supplemental funds removes the discussion of the full cost of wildfire from the regular budget cycle. The second limitation is that relying on supplemental appropriations and similar tools makes it more difficult to focus legislative interest on long-term wildfire planning, the report said. The authors of the Pew report urged state wildfire officials to track wildfire suppression cost and budgeting data and share it with other states. Muller said that could help states find a formula that best estimates their fire costs and create conversations that could put fire mitigation at the forefront for state agencies. Youre never going to budget for the most expensive year possible, Muller said. Theres always going to be a need for in some years after the fact spending, but what we noticed in our research was that in a number of states, theyre relying on that after the fact spending every year or almost every year. And when youre doing that, thats when it starts you start to think that the amount youre putting forward upfront needs to be readjusted. With Michigan State traveling to the Kohl Center on Tuesday, the Badgers were unable to get back in the win column, losing to the Spartans 69-65. Operating without leading scorer Tyler Wahl (ankle), Wisconsin had three players score in double-digits including Steven Crowl (19), Chucky Hepburn (14) and Connor Essegian (13). Crowl in particular came alive in the second half, producing 15 points (7-10 FG, 1-1 3Pt, 0-1 FT). On the opposite side for Michigan State, Stevens Point native Joey Hauser led the way with 20 points (6-8 FG, 2-3 3Pt, 6-6 FT) while Tyson Walker (13), Jaden Akins (12) and A.J. Hoggard (10) also reached double-digits. The Spartans were able to go 16-17 from the free-throw line, with the only miss coming on a questionable and-one attempt for Malik Hall late in the second half. Some may say, ball dont lie. Tom Izzos squad took a 33-31 lead into halftime and were able to gut out a two-point advantage again in the second half out scoring Wisconsin 36-34. The Spartans out rebounding the Badgers 18-7 in back half of the contest. Overall, Wisconsin was able to take advantage of turnovers in the contest, turning 14 MSU mistakes into 27 points on the opposite end, outscoring the Spartans 27-2 in that category, but it wasnt enough for the Badgers to end up on top. Michigan State made their final eight field-goal attempts and were able to eek out the 69-65 victory on the road. With the loss, Wisconsin is now 11-4 on the campaign and 3-2 versus the Big Ten. Up next for the Badgers, they will take on Indiana in Bloomington on Saturday at 12pm CT before returning to the Kohl Center on Jan. 17 to take on Penn State. Michigan State moves to 12-4 with a 4-1 Big Ten record. The Spartans will head to Champaign to face off with the Fighting Illini on Friday before heading back home Monday to face the #3 ranked Purdue Boilermakers. Story originally appeared on Badgers Wire Allison Holthoff, 37, from Nova Scotia, died on New Years eve after waiting almost seven hours to receive emergency care (Arbor Memorial ) A woman in Canada has died after waiting for almost seven hours to receive emergency care at a hospital on New Years Eve in what has been described as a senseless death. Allison Holthoff, 37, from the Nova Scotia province, was rushed to an emergency room on the morning of 31 December after her condition worsened from what was initially believed to be an upset stomach. Her husband, Gunter Holthoff, told CBS news, that she had to be carried on his back to reach the Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre in Nova Scotias Amherst town at 11am local time before they spent hours in the waiting room. She was obviously in pain, he said on Sunday, recalling his wifes excruciating pain and their ordeal. I was rolling her in the wheelchair and she could hardly sit up. Ms Holthoffs pain worsened as the two waited for more than six hours in the emergency departments waiting room. They were only able to see a doctor after 6pm in the evening, he said. By then, the doctor said, it was already too late. She underwent a preliminary examination and the nurse asked for her urine sample. Ms Holthoff then fell on the bathroom floor as she was not able to stand on her own and required the assistance of two other people to get back onto her wheelchair. Her condition deteriorated to the point where she was unable to sit in the wheelchair and ended up lying on the floor, he said. I told the nurses and the lady at the desk there a couple of times, It is getting worse, and nothing happened, Mr Holthoff said. So the security guards, in time, they brought a couple blankets out and they brought us a cup of water and I used it to put some ice on her lips. As they continued to wait, Ms Holthoff told her husband that she felt she was dying. I think that she actually started saying that she thought she was dying in the waiting room outside, Gunter continued. She said, I think Im dying. Dont let me die here. His wife was then taken to a room with a bed, but no medical equipment. A nurse checked her blood pressure and found it to be alarmingly low. Story continues She then received more urgent care and a doctor came to see her. An X-ray was prepped, but she was unable to breathe. The next thing is [her] eyes rolled back in her head and her chest started rising. Something started beeping, he said. The next thing you hear is over the PA, code blue, code blue in X-ray. Even if she would have survived at that point... she had too long a time without sufficient blood flow to the brain and vital organs. It would have been not a life worth living, he said. Mr Holthoff said the system is obviously broken and we need change as I dont want anybody else to go through this. Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin, a local MLA, wrote a letter to the provincial health minister to demand an urgent investigation into the case. Alexandra Rose, the provincial co-ordinator for the Nova Scotia Health Coalition, said the situation is scary and the provinces healthcare system is in a dire situation. Its so scary. And we have to wonder, when is the breaking point? Is this the breaking point now that somebody has passed away? It was a senseless death, she said. Dunns tumour was identified after her optician noticed abnormalities during a routine test (Brain Tumour Research / SWNS) A beautician has said that a routine Boots eye test saved her life after it led her to a brain tumour diagnosis. Katie Dunn, 30, said that the meningioma could have been both life-changing and even life-limiting if left undetected. Katies tumour was identified after her optician noticed abnormalities during a test and referred her for an MRI scan in February 2021. I feel like the eye test saved my life and eyesight, she said. "If it was left any longer, I could have lost my vision completely due to it pressing on my optic nerve." Visiting Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital, Katies results displayed a large tumour on her brain. Since then, shes had two surgeries and started radiotherapy in December 2022. Katie Dunn with her partner, James (Brain Tumour Research / SWNS) As the radiotherapy targeted the mass, she has experienced some hair loss. Her nose and throat are still recovering from her second surgery, with the surgeons having removed what they could of the tumour via her nose. Brain tumours can impact anyone at any age, killing more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer. Historically, just 1 per cent of the national expenditure on cancer research has been allocated towards brain tumours. A scan of the tumour (circled) in Katie Dunn's brain, 20 October 2021 (Brain Tumour Research / SWNS) Each year, more than 11,000 people are diagnosed with a primary brain tumour in the UK. Around half of these are cancerous. In 2022, Katie raised almost 3,000 for Brain Tumour Research. In February 2023, she and her family will be taking on the 10,000 Steps A Day Challenge for the same cause. Katie Dunn with her medal after taking part in 10k Steps a Day in February challenge in aid of Brain Tumour Research (Brain Tumour Research / SWNS) Katie Dunn after her second surgery (Brain Tumour Research / SWNS) Brain Tumour Research campaigns to increase the national investment in brain tumour research to 35 million per year, whilst fundraising to create a network of seven sustainable Brain Tumour Research Centres of Excellence across the UK. Mel Tiley, Community Development Manager at Brain Tumour Research, said: Were grateful to Katie for sharing her story with us as well as fundraising an incredible amount and we wish her well with her ongoing scans. By Gram Slattery and Moira Warburton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Embattled U.S. Representative George Santos said he had no plans to heed fellow New York Republicans' calls to step down, a plea they made on Wednesday due to what they called "lie after lie after lie" about his career and history. Top House of Representatives Republican Kevin McCarthy said he had no intention of pressuring Santos, part of his narrow 222-212 majority, despite the public plea by more than a dozen top Republicans, many of them from Santos' suburban New York City district. The New York Republicans made their plea at a news conference two days after a nonpartisan watchdog accused Santos of breaking campaign finance laws in a filing with the Federal Election Commission. "It's just lie after lie after lie. It became a pattern," said Joseph Cairo Jr., the party chairman in Nassau County. Republican Representative Nick Langworthy from western New York and Representative Anthony D'Esposito, who represents a district next to that of Santos, were also among those calling on the first-term congressman to step down. "I join with my colleagues in saying that George Santos does not have the ability to serve here in the House of Representatives and should resign," he said. Santos rejected those calls in remarks to reporters at the Capitol and elaborated on his plans on Twitter. "I was elected to serve the people of #NY03 not the party & politicians, I remain committed to doing that and regret to hear that local officials refuse to work with my office," he wrote, referring to the congressional district he represents. McCarthy on Wednesday told reporters that voters, not lawmakers, should choose who represents them. "In America today, you're innocent until proven guilty," he said. 'SIMPLY TRAGIC AND OUTRAGEOUS' Santos, who represents much of Nassau County, as well as a small slice of New York City, has admitted to fabricating much of his resume. Story continues He won his November race over Democrat Robert Zimmerman by a margin of 7.5 percentage points. But his victory was quickly overshadowed by media reports indicating that the persona he presented to voters was largely a work of fiction. Among other claims, Santos said he had degrees from New York University and Baruch College, despite neither institution having any record of him attending. He claimed to have worked at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, which was also untrue. He also falsely said that he was Jewish and that his grandparents escaped the Nazis during World War Two. "For him to make up this story that his parents were Holocaust survivors is beyond the pale. It is simply tragic and outrageous and disgusting," Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said. "He is a stain on the House of Representatives." During the news conference, officials said they would direct Santos' constituents to Representative D'Esposito in some cases, who had agreed to help residents of Santos' district. Two House Democrats on Tuesday referred the matter to the House ethics committee this week. The local district attorney has said her office is investigating Santos. If Santos were to resign, his district could make for a competitive special election. He won his 2022 election with 52% of the vote to Democrat Zimmerman's 45%, handing Republicans a seat formerly held by Democrat Thomas Suozzi. The 2022 election took place with newly-drawn district boundaries. Had those lines been in place in the 2020 presidential election, Democratic President Joe Biden would won the district by eight percentage points. Under New York and federal law, the seat would be vacant until a special election is held, which would take roughly three months. (Reporting by Gram Slattery and Moira Warburton, additional reporting by Jason Lange and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Scott Malone, Mark Porter and Aurora Ellis) (Reuters) -Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Wednesday mocked Russian claims to have taken over parts of the eastern city of Soledar, saying that fighting was still going on. Russian mercenary group Wagner on Tuesday claimed it had taken full control of Soledar but that fighting continued in the city centre. Soledar is a salt-mining town near the city of Bakhmut, which has been the focus of a Russian assault aimed at capturing the entire Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. "The terrorist state and its propagandists are trying to pretend that part of our town of Soledar ... is some sort of a Russian possession," Zelenskiy said in a video address. "But fighting continues. The Donetsk theatre of operations is holding." In a separate statement on Facebook, the general staff of the Ukrainian armed forces said the Russians were suffering heavy losses as they tried to take Soledar and cut off the supply routes for pro-Kyiv units. (Reporting by David Ljunggren and Ron PopeskiEditing by Bernadette Baum) Whats better than brewing your own beer? Being a neighbor to a homebrewer, said 151 Brew Club Vice President Stephen Goadhouse. Club members say sharing their brews with friends is the best part if you live near a homebrewer, you might get to share in the love that goes into each one-of-a-kind batch. Getting rid of its no problem at all, said club member Frank Wilson. Of the 30 or so dues-paying members of Aftons 151 Brew Club, about six are homebrewers, four of whom took home prizes for their beers from the 50 West/Ocelot 2022 Homebrew Classic competition in Dulles in December. The club placed second overall, with members taking home two first place and two second place medals among 136 other judged entries. Having a home brew operation isnt a requisite for membership in the club, though. If youre a beer enthusiast, you want to learn about beer, or you want to share it with friends which is the best way to experience beer then youre more than welcome to join our club, said club President Mike Johnson. The 151 Brew Club meets once per month, usually at WildManDan Brewery in Afton. On a warm January afternoon, club members were at the bar having a typical exchange talking beer styles, nontraditional ingredients, and types of yeast over beers. Dan and Terri Tatarka run the WildManDan Beer-centric B&B at 279 Avon Road in Afton, and Dan, a former homebrewer, mentors the club. Member Terry Withers said home brewers typically produce two and a half to five gallons in every batch; his Irish Red Ale placed second in the British Isles Ale category. WildManDan is barely a step up, brewing 10-gallon batches out of the brew barn and taproom that feels like an extension of the couples living room. Terri said she was told by a brewer at a larger facility: I pour more than that down the drain every day. Johnson called it the neighborhood pub and said youre likely to find a club member at the bar every day its open, Thursdays through Sundays. Every month, the club chooses a style of beer, and members bring in samples from commercial breweries to judge based on the Beer Judge Certification Program Guidelines, and homebrewers share their newest creations. Its really a great way to experience and learn about new styles. I was an IPA person; thats all I drank. But when I joined the club I got introduced to European beers and theres just such a big world of beer out there that I wasnt aware of until I came and experienced a club meeting where we tried all sorts of different beers, Johnson added. I really didnt have any interest in homebrewing either. I liked to drink beer. I always thought it was easier just to buy good beer and then I started talking to these guys who were having such a great time and said it was very therapeutic and it was a great experience to brew your own beer at home you can control your own ingredients, you can control your process. Other members of the club invited Johnson over to help them brew. I said, All right, Im hooked, he said. Johnsons only brewed 12 batches so far but took first place in the Homebrew Classics British Bitter category. Wilson talked about getting his start with a gifted home brewing kit and a pot on the stove, then updating his setup with a burner and kettle from Bass Pro Shop. He brought the turned wood tap handle another member made him as a prize for winning the clubs last internal competition. 151 Brew Club homebrewers will all brew a specific beer style for internal quarterly competitions, judged by other members. And I think thats the biggest benefit that I feel, being part of the club, is the fact that the enjoyment you get, first off, trying and making a new beer, and then I get more enjoyment sharing it with the other people in the club and I feel theyre the same way, club member Doug Floyd said. Watch out, youll end up with a barn, Terri Tataka cautioned with a laugh. Thats exactly why were here, because Dan loved the process, but he loved handing you one of the beers he brewed more than anything else, so here we are, she said. People ask Dan all the time, whats his favorite beer to brew, and his answer is always the next one. Its curiosity, its creativity, trying to solve a problem that he encountered before. Thats the fun of it, right? None of the homebrewers at WildManDan that afternoon were worried about running out of inspiration. Nor was Dan, despite his 15 years of homebrewing experience. Two kegs were kicked a German chocolate cake stout and a rye IPA during the conversation, and Dan said that kind of fast turnover is one of his favorite parts of having a brewery because he gets to brew lots of different beers. We sell all of our beer here and we dont have anything left to distribute. Its a good problem, Terri said. The couple isnt interested in expanding, either. You cant buy WildManDan beer at any store, though you can take a 32-ounce crowler essentially, a growler in a can home with you from the barn. The 151 Brew Club typically meets on the fourth Sunday of the month, and meeting details can be found at the clubs website, 151brewclub.org. Thats really what its about camaraderie, sharing a good beer with friends and making new friends, Johnson said. RICHMOND Months after Gov. Glenn Youngkin tapped them to work on abortion legislation, Del. Kathy Byron, R- Bedford, and Sen. Steve Newman, R-Lynchburg, filed bills to ban most of the procedures after 15 weeks of gestation. Physicians who violate the law could be charged with a Class 4 felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $100,000 fine. Delegate Kathy Byron made good on Governor Glenn Youngkins promise to try to ban abortion in Virginia by introducing this proposed legislation, said Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia president Jamie Lockhart in a statement before Newmans bill was filed. She added the proposed ban would hurt Virginians and put politicians where they dont belong: in control of peoples private medical decisions. In keeping with Youngkins position Byrons bill and Newmans include exceptions for rape, incest and when the physician determines that continuing the pregnancy will result in the death of the woman or substantially and irreversibly impair one or more of such womans major bodily functions, not including psychological or emotional conditions. Organizations that oppose abortion celebrated Byrons bill. Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of SBA Pro-Life America thanked Byron; Sen. Steve Newman, R-Lynchburg; and Youngkin in a release Jan. 11. We are ready to fight to protect babies from the pain of abortion and lawmakers will have to tell the voters where they stand, she wrote. House Speaker Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah, said this week that with divided control of the legislative chambers he does not expect substantive abortion measures to pass the legislature this year. Youngkin named Byron and Newman to work on abortion legislation alongside Del. Margaret Ransone, R-Westmoreland, and Sen. Siobahn Dunnavant, R-Henrico. The Byron and Newman bills are among a handful of measures aimed at restricting or banning abortions. With the overturn of Roe vs. Wade, which federally protected access to the procedure for 49 years, states nationwide are seeking or already enacting bans and restrictions. All 140 legislative seats are up for election in November. Though there might not be movement on abortion restrictions this session, by 2024 there could be, pending the election results. Thats why Democratic legislators are proposing a constitutional amendment that could protect abortion access. A proposed constitutional amendment must pass both legislative chambers in consecutive years, with an election in between before appearing as on ballots in a statewide referendum. Such an amendment appears unlikely to pass with Republicans in control of the House. Meantime, Senate Democrats said they are holding the line to block abortion bills that clear the House. One of Iowas largest nursing home chains is facing another wrongful death lawsuit. It is at least the fifth case that Care Initiatives has fa Hes been dead for more than 400 years, but most everyone has said or done something in the past 24 hours directly influenced by him. During the final Hawk Talks lecture at Northeast Community College this semester, students, employees and the public are invited to find out how William Shake 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. I have a serious question for the city of Portage, and Im going to acknowledge that waste treatment plants dont smell like roses before I ask it: What are you people eating?! I drive on 94 every day for work past that open sewer you call a treatment plant and while its never pleasant, lately it smells like someone lit a ten-ton diaper on fire. What on earth are you people doing? I think the entire city needs to see a doctor right away. Advertisement You would think that a lawyer would be smart enough not to admit he was in Washington on Jan. 6 and then expect a judge to say it was OK because someone called him a bad name? A smart lawyer would not bring the subject up, but he is a Republican like Trump who does not understand how to act. No one knew he was involved in the riot until he told us about it. Yes, I robbed the bank but do not call me a thief? I agree with you about the school board supposedly being non-partisan. We are electing people with a political agenda rather than candidates looking to improve our kids education. Good luck trying to find out any information about these radicals prior to the election. All you get is yard signs to use as a basis for selecting who to vote for. Somehow they figured out if they scrub Facebook of their opinions, they have a better chance of getting elected. Disclosure of their political opinions should be mandatory to even be a candidate. Advertisement There were two abortion-related bills put before the House of Representatives today. One of them was about criminal penalties for threats made to so-called pregnancy crisis centers. I wonder if there will be a similar bill protecting abortion providers from the frequent threats of violence they receive. Post Tribune Twice-weekly News updates from Northwest Indiana delivered every Monday and Wednesday By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy > I listened to Governor Holcombs State of the State Address last night. In it, he talked about going to foreign countries to attract foreign investments in Indiana. Ah, yes. Hoosiers want foreign investment, just not foreigners. They cant even handle people coming from Illinois. Ex-President Trump is keeping correctional officers and other prison support staff employed. Another longtime Trump associate CFO Allen Weisselberg just moved from Wall Street to Rikers Island prison. The Trump Organization CFO was convicted of tax fraud. Trumps longtime attorney Michael Cohen has already served time. Currently, over 14 Trump aides, donors and advisors have been convicted of crimes. Other cases are currently being investigated. By the way, I have not included the January 6 insurrectionists. Prison employees dont have to worry about a reduction in staff. Trump associates and supporters will help them maintain employment. In fact, we might see a Help wanted sign as investigations continue. I have the solution for the 7,000 nurses striking in New York. Fire them all and hire some real Americans that are willing to work for a living. Perhaps Joe can work his magic like he did for the railroad slackers! Republicans in the House think theyll defund or abolish the IRS. How do their supporters think the troops get paid? Highway funding? Food safety? Airports? Railroads? Infrastructure? Abolish the federal government? Sure, lets try anarchy. With the House of Representatives divided almost down the middle, all it would take is a handful of Democrats and a handful of moderate or establishment Republicans to band (and vote) together to restore sanity to our government. But it wont happen. The two sides are too entrenched. If you want someone to blame, besides Trump, look to Newt Gingrich, who effectively blew up any hope of bipartisanship when he was House speaker in the waning four years of the 20th century. Even today, Gingrich is all over the talk shows sowing misinformation and division. He truly is someone who knows no shame. As a kid, I delivered the Gary Post-Tribune riding a bike in the outskirts of Chesterton in all weather. I was proud to do so. Today, the Post Tribune is a shell of what it was due to its now extreme leftist political positions. The end is near for a once great newspaper unless serious changes are immediately made. Read more at www.post-trib.com/opinion. Weather Alert ...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. && We have used your information to see if you have a subscription with us, but did not find one. Please use the button below to verify an existing account or to purchase a new subscription. Nigerias Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has warned of the threat of increased violence during the election campaign, suggesting that the countrys presidential election in late February should be cancelled or postponed if the current level of insecurity is not tackled. Nigerians are due to choose a successor to President Muhammadu Buhari after two terms in office, during which his administration has failed to curb the serious security problems plaguing the country, including violent jihadist insurgency in the north-east, separatist tensions in the south and rising crime in the north-west and center regions. If the insecurity is not monitored and dealt with decisively, it could ultimately culminate in the cancellation and/or postponement of elections in sufficient constituencies to hinder declaration of elections results, said Abdullahi Abdu Zuru, INEC chairman, during a meeting in Abuja. The electoral commission had recorded at least 50 attacks, including some on its offices, he said. This scenario could then cause a constitutional crisis, hence the need to avoid it at all costs, Zuru said. In view of the 25 February vote, he stressed, all security forces and election officials must be equipped to deal with any challenge at any time and the INEC, on its part, is doing everything possible to ensure that complete security is provided for election staff, materials and processes. Nigeria, Africas most populous country, is in the grip of a severe economic crisis and numerous security problems. On Saturday night, gunmen kidnapped more than 30 people, some of whom were later released, in an attack on a railway station in the south, according to local authorities. Kidnappings are common in Nigeria, particularly in the north-west and central regions. Rwanda can no longer shoulder the burden of hosting those fleeing the deadly conflict in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwandan President Paul Kagame said this week, threatening to evict thousands of Congolese refugees living in Rwanda if the international community continues to blame his country for the conflict in the DRCs east. Stoking already high tensions between the central African neighbors, Kagame said that his country cannot keep being host to refugees for which we are later on held accountable in some way or even abused about refugees as a result of ethnic cleansing based in another country and we must be a dumping ground of those people who are being deprived of their rights. Persistent fighting in the east of the mineral-rich DRC pits federal troops against rebels from the M23 group, which has captured swaths 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 accusations, saying it is Congos internal issue. We are really prepared to be blamed, but we will be blamed for doing what we must do, Kagame said in an address punctuated by clapping and applause from members of the Rwandan Parliament. A recent UN report blames Rwanda for supporting the M23 mostly Tutsi rebel movement fighting in the east of the country against the Congo government. The M23 rebel movement, which claims to fight against persecution of Congolese of Tutsi origin, seems to have fueled even more hatred against them from other ethnic groups in several parts of the DRC. For weeks, thousands have been fleeing into Rwanda and Uganda, including hundreds who crossed into Rwanda last week. In November last year, the UN said about 72,000 Congolese refugees had crossed into Rwanda. According to the Rwandan Ministry of Emergency Management, at least 60% of Rwandas refugee population is Congolese. The United States has provided $9 million in new military aid to help Somalias ongoing campaign against al-Shabab militants, the US embassy in Mogadishu announced. The military equipment handed to the government includes weapons and vehicles and is destined to support the campaign by the Somali National Army to liberate communities from al-Shabab control. Its the first such direct military support since US forces returned to Somalia and the countrys President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud announced an all-out war against the militants. According to Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur, Somalias Defense Minister, the military donation from its US ally 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, which is a derogatory term used by Somali officials to describe al-Shabab. Somali forces have been engaged in an offensive alongside local clan militias against al-Shabab since July. The US 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. American military personnel in the US Africa Command area of responsibility have provided advise-and-assist support to forces in Somalia on an ad hoc basis traveling into the country when needed and then leaving afterward. But in May last year, Pentagon announced this ad hoc model was about to change to one of persistent presence in the country. The president has authorized the Department of Defense to return a small, persistent US military presence to Somalia, Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby said. 1337, a coding school founded by Moroccos state-owned phosphate rock miner, phosphoric acid manufacturer and fertilizer producer OCP Group and located at Universite Mohammed VI Polytechnique, ranked 3rd at CodinGame Fall Challenge 2022, a world leading coding contest, held from December 12, 2022 to January 05, 2023. The fee-free school, according to the daily Les Inspirations Eco, disrupted the order at contest dominated by Paris-based 42, another coding school. More than 250 schools and universities from around the world presented 16,661 students for the challenge held online. The website of the university notes that the Moroccan coding school is the leading computer science training center, free and open to everyone, 24/7 and no prerequisite needed. It is a complete immersion in a universe where the future is already present, where computer science and lines of code are more than a vague and boring concept, the university adds. The school uses peer-learning approaches and provides an environment for the students to unleash their potential while working on various projects. To train the coders of tomorrow, it was necessary to rethink learning, to make computer science something fun, exciting and the opposite of the restrictive vision that the general public may have, the university argues. Upon completion at 1337, one has access to the world of computer science and its associated immense possibilities. It equally means one has taken a serious option on the future of digital professions, whether they already exist or are yet to be invented, Les Inspirations Eco adds. Poland-based University of Wrocaw ranked first runner-up at the competition. Means to consolidate cooperation between Morocco and the United Kingdom in matters of defense for the promotion of peace and regional stability were discussed at separate meetings held in Rabat Tuesday by British Senior Defense Advisor to the Middle East and North Africa, Air Marshal Martin Elliot Sampson, with Minister Delegate in charge of the National Defense Administration, Abdeltif Loudyi, and Lieutenant General, Inspector General of the Royal Armed Forces (FAR) and Commander of the South Zone, Belkhir El Farouk. The meetings reviewed ways to further promote military cooperation, and to expand it to other areas of common interest, including maritime security, Special Forces, Defense Industry and Artificial Intelligence, a statement released by the General Staff of the Royal Armed Forces said. During their meeting, Air Marshal Martin Elliot Sampson and Abdeltif Loudyi expressed satisfaction at the excellence and sustainability of the special ties that unite the two Kingdoms, and highlighted their ambition to further develop these long-standing relations. The two officials also exchanged views on the regional security situation, especially in Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and the Sahel and stressed the need to consolidate cooperation in defense for peace and regional stability, the statement said. The two officials who highlighted the historic role that Morocco has always played in promoting peace and stability in the Middle East and Africa thanks to the farsighted vision of King Mohammed VI reviewed the various aspects of bilateral cooperation and ways and means to further strengthen it in areas of common interest. During their meeting that took place later Tuesday, Lieutenant General Belkhir El Farouk and Air Marshal Martin Elliot Sampson described relations between Morocco and the United Kingdom as historic, dynamic and exceptional, based on friendship and mutual trust. The two officials exchanged views on various areas of cooperation between the Royal Armed Forces and the British Armed Forces. This cooperation covers training, exchange of visits and experiences, and the organization of joint exercises, such as the Jbel Sahara drill. Lieutenant General Belkhir El Farouk expressed the Moroccan Royal Armed Forces willingness to further promote bilateral military cooperation, and to expand it to other areas of common interest, including maritime security, Special Forces, Defense Industry and Artificial Intelligence, the statement added. The British official also conferred with Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita. Moroccan-British military cooperation is governed by a Framework Agreement on Military and Technical Cooperation signed in 1993, as well as a Status of Forces Agreement signed in 2013. Bilateral activities are planned according to a schedule established by a joint commission which convenes once a year, alternately in Rabat and London. The South African military (SANDF) intervening in Mozambique against jihadists said Tuesday it is investigating the involvement of its soldiers after a video widely shared on social media showed soldiers burning dead bodies. The command is investigating the involvement of its members in this despicable act, the SANDF said in a statement. The culprits will be brought to justice. The widely shared images show soldiers throwing bodies into a fire where at least one other body is already burning. One soldier is seen pouring liquid on the remains while others, including one wearing the South African army sign, watch and film the scene with cell phones. The command believe the incident took place sometime in November 2022. According to AFP, South Africas main opposition party (DA) called the acts a disgrace for the country, recalling the existence of international rules for the treatment of the dead even in conflict zones. The northeastern province of Cabo Delgado has been facing insecurity posed by jihadists since 2017. The violence has reportedly already left around 4,500 dead, including nearly 2,000 civilians. The violence has also caused one million people to flee their homes, according to the UN. More than 3,000 African troops were deployed in 2021 to the poor, Muslim-majority region bordering Tanzania to support the Mozambican army. Themed on Harmonious Symbiosis, a biennale that showcases 122 artworks of artists from 11 countries including China, Argentina, Italy and Belgium kicked off on Tuesday in Urumqi, Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. The event, China Xinjiang International Art Biennale which will run until Feb 25, consists of three sections that respectively highlight the diversity of artistic expressions in different cultures around the globe, with observations on Central Asian people's spiritual world as well as the relation between humankind and ecological civilization. More than 70 domestic and foreign artists have been invited to express their thoughts on the abovementioned topics through varied forms such as painting, sculpture, photography and installation. The event aims to further promote dialogues among countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative and tell Xinjiang's story in a comprehensive way, says Ma Xuguo, deputy director of the region's department of culture and tourism. Tunisian authorities have issued an international arrest warrant against former Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi, reports say citing lawyer Wafa Chedly. Chedly made the announcement on Facebook without further elaborating. The regime of President Kais Saied has not made any comment on the alleged arrest warrant. Mechichi, 49, was fired in July 2021 by President Kais Saied who then seized all major powers in a move he deemed necessary to restore the country. Mechichi had been in the position for 11 months before being sacked. The Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District has finalized two long-term agreements to enhance groundwater recharge from its system of canals and laterals in Phelps, Kearney and Gosper counties. The agreements are part of the new Platte River Public Power and Irrigation District 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. Devin Brundage, Centrals general manager, said in a media release that the agreements might represent the, largest commitment to groundwater recharge ever in Nebraska, possibly the United States. 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. Brundage said in the release. Under the agreements, the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program 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. Recharge can also occur intentionally during the non-irrigation season when water is in excess of target flows, as determined by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife service. Water in the Platte River is diverted into the E65 Canal, Elwood Reservoir and the Phelps Canal. These recharge efforts are the basis for the agreements with the State of Nebraska and the PRRIP. Western Nebraskas two senior state senators have introduced bills reflecting several topics advocated by a variety of conservative advocates. District 47 Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard Tuesday offered a pair of bills to carry out the voter ID initiative voters approved Nov. 8 (Legislative Bill 230) but also require in-person Election Day voting and greatly restrict early voting (LB 228). Erdman, who last week renewed his push to replace most state taxes with a consumption tax, introduced an unrelated bill Monday (LB 177) to provide state funds for students to attend private K-12 schools. Gordon Sen. Tom Brewer and Erdman Tuesday cosponsored LB 255, which would block Nebraskas largest electric utilities from building or acquiring renewable energy facilities or using eminent domain to do so. Brewer Tuesday also reintroduced a 2022 bill, dubbed the First Freedom Act, that would keep the state from restricting religious services more strictly than other groups during a state of emergency. The District 43 lawmakers LB 277 has 19 cosponsors, including Erdman and freshman District 48 Sen. Brian Hardin of Gering. Hardin had expressed interest before the session in introducing a similar bill on his own. Wednesday will mark the halfway point of the 2023 Legislatures 10-day bill introduction period. Additional bills or constitutional amendments can be offered through Jan. 18. Following are more details of the bills noted above: Voter ID and elections Erdmans LB 228 would undo most of the evolution in Nebraskas election practices as computerized ballots, vote-counting machines and greater ability to fill out ballots at home became common. Except for registered military personnel and people living in nursing homes and assisted-living facilities, Nebraskans would have to vote in person at their polling place on the day of primary or general elections with an approved photographic ID card. All ballots shall be counted on the day of the election and shall be counted at the precinct level, according to the bills text. If passed, LB 228 also would add Nebraskas primary and general election days to the list of state holidays. Military members and people at nursing homes or assisted-living facilities could still vote by mail, but the ballot envelope would have to be postmarked prior to Election Day. LB 230 lays out more details related to implementing the 2022 voter ID initiative. It also would abolish all-mail special elections and alter the rules for provisional ballots, which are cast at polling places by registered voters whose current address doesnt match their voter registration records. Among other things, the bill would define valid photographic identification for voting as a state drivers license, ID card, photographic voter identification or U.S. passport that hasnt expired or has been expired for less than 60 days. Valid tribal identification by a recognized Indian tribe also would be accepted. Nebraskans wouldnt have to pay for state ID cards if they dont have drivers licenses, will be at least 18 by the next statewide election and are seeking the card for voting purposes. It also couldnt charge for a certified copy of a birth record obtained to get such a card. LB 230 also says polling place officials must direct registered voters whose name isnt on their precinct list to the right polling place to vote. People intending to fill out a provisional ballot but who dont present valid photographic ID would have to present it at their countys election office by the Tuesday after the election for their vote to count. Unlike LB 228, Erdmans LB 230 would limit early voting to people who are handicapped with a qualifying condition or are members of the U.S. armed forces or National Guard. People who live in nursing homes or assisted-living facilities arent mentioned. Handicapped Nebraskans likewise arent mentioned in LB 228. My Student, My Choice Act LB 177, Erdmans educational funding bill, is distinct from his consumption tax constitutional amendments (Legislative Resolutions 6CA and 7CA) and enabling bill (LB 79). It would establish the Follow the Student Fund, which would be funded by an annual amount equal to 55% of the previous years average K-12 per-pupil cost multiplied by enrollment. That money would be divided among Nebraskas enrolled students to pay for tuition, school fees, textbooks and a variety of other education-related services at private K-12 schools. Parents or legal guardians of minors would have to apply for a student account annually with the state and would be the only ones allowed to withdraw money from it. Students who are 19 or older or who are emancipated would apply for and use the account themselves. Up to 35% of the new Follow the Student Fund would be used to equalize funding to the public schools, using Nebraskas current state K-12 school aid formula. LB 177 would limit school district property tax income to 45% of a districts average per-pupil cost multiplied by its enrollment. School boards would be limited to tax-request increases of 2.5% per year. Erdmans consumption tax package would abolish property, sales, income and inheritance taxes and replace them with state and possibly separate local consumption taxes. It also would end the current systems of state aid to K-12 districts and community colleges. Wind, solar and public power Erdman and Brewer, who together represent most of the Panhandle and part of the Sandhills, target the Nebraska Public Power District, Omaha Public Power District and Lincoln Electric System in LB 255. The bill would forbid the three public power districts from applying to build solar or wind farms or plants that generate electricity with biomass, landfill or methane gas, hydropower, fuel cells or microturbines. NPPD, which developed and operates a wind farm near Ainsworth, has been under rural fire for a decade for its proposed R-Project transmission line. Sandhills foes say it would serve and open the door to wind turbines that would damage the fragile Sandhills, among other things. LB 255 also would block NPPD, OPPD and LES from pursuing community-based energy development projects meant to sell renewable energy to Nebraska electric utilities. NPPD has developed community solar farms in Scottsbluff, Ogallala and other communities. First Freedom Act The Brewer-led LB 277 says state action generally shall not substantially burden a persons right to the exercise of religion or restrict a religious organization from operating and engaging in religious services during a state of emergency to a greater extent than other organizations or businesses are restricted. Many Nebraska churches and places of worship were closed during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020. A few churches, such as North Platte Baptist Church, continued to meet while most other churches switched to offering worship online. LB 277 would allow people or religious organizations to sue if their exercise of religion or religious service has been or likely would be burdened or restricted. The bill also would allow students who belong to an indigenous tribe of the United States or another country to wear tribal regalia at K-12, college or university functions. Brewer is a registered Oglala Sioux Tribe member. ReportLinker The Global Healthcare Data Collection & Labeling Market size was estimated at USD 696.58 million in 2021 and expected to reach USD 869.96 million in 2022, and is projected to grow at a CAGR 25.27% to reach USD 2,693.06 million by 2027. New York, Jan. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Healthcare Data Collection & Labeling Market Research Report by Type, End-Users, Region - Global Forecast to 2027 - Cumulative Impact of COVID-19" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06296381/?utm_source=GNW Market Statistics: The report provides market sizing and forecast across 7 major currencies - USD, EUR, JPY, GBP, AUD, CAD, and CHF. It helps organization leaders make better decisions when currency exchange data is readily available. In this report, the years 2018 and 2020 are considered as historical years, 2021 as the base year, 2022 as the estimated year, and years from 2023 to 2027 are considered as the forecast period. Market Segmentation & Coverage: This research report categorizes the Healthcare Data Collection & Labeling to forecast the revenues and analyze the trends in each of the following sub-markets: Based on Type, the market was studied across Audio, Image/Video, and Text. Based on End-Users, the market was studied across Biotech, Dentistry, Diagnostic Centers, Hospitals, Insurance Providers, Medical Device Manufacturers & Distributors, Ophthalmology, Pharmaceuticals, Pharmacies, and R&D Centers. Based on Region, the market was studied across Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, Middle East & Africa. The Americas is further studied across Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and United States. The United States is further studied across California, Florida, Illinois, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas. The Asia-Pacific is further studied across Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. The Europe, Middle East & Africa is further studied across Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Poland, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and United Kingdom. Cumulative Impact of COVID-19: COVID-19 is an incomparable global public health emergency that has affected almost every industry, and the long-term effects are projected to impact the industry growth during the forecast period. Our ongoing research amplifies our research framework to ensure the inclusion of underlying COVID-19 issues and potential paths forward. The report delivers insights on COVID-19 considering the changes in consumer behavior and demand, purchasing patterns, re-routing of the supply chain, dynamics of current market forces, and the significant interventions of governments. The updated study provides insights, analysis, estimations, and forecasts, considering the COVID-19 impact on the market. Cumulative Impact of 2022 Russia Ukraine Conflict: We continuously monitor and update reports on political and economic uncertainty due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Negative impacts are significantly foreseen globally, especially across Eastern Europe, European Union, Eastern & Central Asia, and the United States. This contention has severely affected lives and livelihoods and represents far-reaching disruptions in trade dynamics. The potential effects of ongoing war and uncertainty in Eastern Europe are expected to have an adverse impact on the world economy, with especially long-term harsh effects on Russia.This report uncovers the impact of demand & supply, pricing variants, strategic uptake of vendors, and recommendations for Healthcare Data Collection & Labeling market considering the current update on the conflict and its global response. Competitive Strategic Window: The Competitive Strategic Window analyses the competitive landscape in terms of markets, applications, and geographies to help the vendor define an alignment or fit between their capabilities and opportunities for future growth prospects. It describes the optimal or favorable fit for the vendors to adopt successive merger and acquisition strategies, geography expansion, research & development, and new product introduction strategies to execute further business expansion and growth during a forecast period. FPNV Positioning Matrix: The FPNV Positioning Matrix evaluates and categorizes the vendors in the Healthcare Data Collection & Labeling Market based on Business Strategy (Business Growth, Industry Coverage, Financial Viability, and Channel Support) and Product Satisfaction (Value for Money, Ease of Use, Product Features, and Customer Support) that aids businesses in better decision making and understanding the competitive landscape. Market Share Analysis: The Market Share Analysis offers the analysis of vendors considering their contribution to the overall market. It provides the idea of its revenue generation into the overall market compared to other vendors in the space. It provides insights into how vendors are performing in terms of revenue generation and customer base compared to others. Knowing market share offers an idea of the size and competitiveness of the vendors for the base year. It reveals the market characteristics in terms of accumulation, fragmentation, dominance, and amalgamation traits. Competitive Scenario: The Competitive Scenario provides an outlook analysis of the various business growth strategies adopted by the vendors. The news covered in this section deliver valuable thoughts at the different stage while keeping up-to-date with the business and engage stakeholders in the economic debate. The competitive scenario represents press releases or news of the companies categorized into Merger & Acquisition, Agreement, Collaboration, & Partnership, New Product Launch & Enhancement, Investment & Funding, and Award, Recognition, & Expansion. All the news collected help vendor to understand the gaps in the marketplace and competitors strength and weakness thereby, providing insights to enhance product and service. Company Usability Profiles: The report profoundly explores the recent significant developments by the leading vendors and innovation profiles in the Global Healthcare Data Collection & Labeling Market, including Alegion, Inc., Ango AI, Inc., Anolytics, Appen Limited, CapeStart Inc., Centaur Labs Inc., Co One OU, Cogito Tech LLC, DataLabeler Inc., iMerit Inc., Infolks Private Limited, Innodata Inc., ISHIR, Keymakr Inc., Labelbox, Inc., Mindy Support, Shaip, Snorkel AI, Inc., Summa Linguae Technologies, and V7 Ltd.. The report provides insights on the following pointers: 1. Market Penetration: Provides comprehensive information on the market offered by the key players 2. Market Development: Provides in-depth information about lucrative emerging markets and analyze penetration across mature segments of the markets 3. Market Diversification: Provides detailed information about new product launches, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments 4. Competitive Assessment & Intelligence: Provides an exhaustive assessment of market shares, strategies, products, certification, regulatory approvals, patent landscape, and manufacturing capabilities of the leading players 5. Product Development & Innovation: Provides intelligent insights on future technologies, R&D activities, and breakthrough product developments The report answers questions such as: 1. What is the market size and forecast of the Global Healthcare Data Collection & Labeling Market? 2. What are the inhibiting factors and impact of COVID-19 shaping the Global Healthcare Data Collection & Labeling Market during the forecast period? 3. Which are the products/segments/applications/areas to invest in over the forecast period in the Global Healthcare Data Collection & Labeling Market? 4. What is the competitive strategic window for opportunities in the Global Healthcare Data Collection & Labeling Market? 5. What are the technology trends and regulatory frameworks in the Global Healthcare Data Collection & Labeling Market? 6. What is the market share of the leading vendors in the Global Healthcare Data Collection & Labeling Market? 7. What modes and strategic moves are considered suitable for entering the Global Healthcare Data Collection & Labeling Market? Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06296381/?utm_source=GNW About Reportlinker ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place. __________________________ Story continues CONTACT: Clare: clare@reportlinker.com US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001 KOEN VAN WEEL - Getty Images Prince Harry made an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert this week to speak about his new memoir, SPARE, where he took the time to shut down one dangerous lie. The royal was keen to explain that, in his opinion, he never boasted about killing people. In case youve been living under a rock recently, Harrys book was released worldwide this week (10 January) and quickly became the UKs fastest-selling non-fiction book. However, copies of the book were leaked in advance and published early in Spain, which caused a stir in media reporting and plenty of tea-spilling. During his most recent TV appearance, Prince Harry took the opportunity to address how he had no control over leaked copies, and that the press had taken words from his memoir out of context before anyone else could read it for themselves. Without a doubt, the most dangerous lie that they [the media] have told is that I somehow boasted about the number of people that I killed in Afghanistan, Harry said on The Late Show. "Without a doubt, the most dangerous lie that they have told, is that I somehow boasted about the number of people I killed in Afghanistan." Prince Harry tells #Colbert, adding that his "words are not dangerous," but the spin on his "words are very dangerous." #Spare pic.twitter.com/FnjEZ0QnQl The Late Show (@colbertlateshow) January 10, 2023 In his memoir, Harry wrote about his time serving as a helicopter pilot in Afghanistan, claiming he took the lives of 25 Taliban troopers. So, my number is 25. Its not a number that fills me with satisfaction, but nor does it embarrass me, he wrote. However the Duke of Sussex claims that he wasnt boasting about the number of people he killed, and has warned against this being a very dangerous spin. The royal told Stephen Colbert that this reference to his life had been taken out of context: I should say, if I heard anyone boasting about that kind of thing, I would be angry. But its a lie. Story continues Harry explains that now the book is officially on shelves, people can read it and finally see the real context. Its really troubling and very disturbing that they can get away with it Because they had the context. It wasnt like heres just one line they had the whole section, they ripped it away and just said here it is, hes boasting on this. The Prince explains to Colbert how dangerous these beliefs and leaked premature reports have been. My words are not dangerous, but the spin of my words are very dangerous. When Colbert asked if it was dangerous because Harry was now an increased target, Harry said it was a choice that theyve made. Further defending himself, Harry explained to Colbert that the reason why I decided to share this [detail] in my book was to reduce the number of suicides in the soldier and veteran communities. I made a choice to share it because having spent nearly two decades working with veterans all around the world, I think the most important thing is to be honest and to give space to others to be able to share their experiences without any shame. You Might Also Like MONTGOMERY Edward Seibold, the man found guilty of slaying three innocent girls in 1967, will remain behind bars for at least another five years until he comes up for parole again in 2028. That was the decision that came down Wednesday morning at Seibolds parole hearing. The decision was unanimous by the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles. This was the his fifth parole hearing in the past 21 years. Seibold has been locked up since 1968 when he was convicted of murdering Elizabeth Libba Sinclair, age 18, Mary Lynn Sinclair, age 9, and Mary May May Durant, age 8 on Sept 6, 1967, in Auburn. His next parole hearing is scheduled for January 2028. On Wednesday morning, one side of the court room in Montgomery was filled with supporters for the Sinclairs and the Durants. Lee County District Attorney Jessica Ventiere and Auburn Police Captain Jude Hackett both spoke at the hearing in support of the victims. Ventiere did not mince her words regarding Seibold and his actions. This man even 40 years after what he did, is gleeful in talking about what he did, Ventiere said. He takes pride and enjoyment even 40 years later talking about what he did, talking about swinging a hatchet down, talking about killing two small children with a single shotgun blast. It is disgusting. Hackett at one point called Seibold twisted. The boards decision not to grant Seibold parole was good news for the surviving family members. Cathey and Faye Sinclair, and their mother Juanita Sinclair have lived in hiding since Seibolds conviction. The verdict gives us a little sense of security, but for five years, Cathey Sinclair said after the hearing. We certainly appreciate the support that the local officials have given us. That means a lot and we thank them for coming. Over the past 21 years, the Sinclairs have fought to keep Seibold behind bars. Every five years when his parole comes up, Cathey Sinclair has rallied support to ask the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles to deny his parole. When Siebold was originally convicted in 1968, he was sentenced to death with no chance of parole. However, in 1972 the United States Supreme Court overturned all existing death penalty sentences in the country, including Seibolds. His conviction was commuted to the three lifetimes plus 20 that he is currently serving. He was also granted possibility of parole. According to Cathey Sinclair Seibolds original target on the night of the murders that should have never happened. We were told that he would be given life sentences without the chance of parole, Sinclair told the parole board Wednesday. And then we started getting notices that there would be parole hearings. We were told that he said he was going to kill the whole family starting with the little ones. We were told that hes never expressed any remorse. And we are afraid. It is only through you that we can get protection and get justice. And we do hope that you will not consider parole for him. Since Seibolds first parole hearing in 2001, the Sinclairs have continued to stand against him being released from prison. I want you to do your due diligence and understand that this is a person that should never be paroled, said Faye Sinclair. And I understand that in five years Ill be back. We will be back every five years, however long that takes. China's first commercial aerospace industrial base, with a production capacity of up to 30 rockets per year, has begun operations in the Nansha district of Guangzhou, Guangdong province, local authorities said. The base, owned by CAS Space, a Beijing-based rocket company under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is intended to help drive upstream and downstream industries including aerospace power and satellite and rocket satellite measurement to gather in Nansha, in the heart of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. After launching its PR rocket series in Nansha, CAS Space signed launching agreements worth of 1.6 billion yuan ($236.1 million) with seven partners, according to the company. Professors from Auburn Universitys College of Education and College of Sciences and Mathematics are joining forces to help reverse a glaring shortage of K-12 science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, teachers throughout the state of Alabama. An interdisciplinary team from the College of Sciences and Mathematics, or COSAM, and the College of Education will use a $3 million grant from the Alabama STEM Council to develop a UTeach program at Auburn. The team is led by co-directors Christine Schnittka from the College of Education and Stephanie Shepherd from COSAM and also includes COSAMs Katherine Buckley and Mary Lou Ewald and Paul Fitchett from the College of Education. Auburns program, AUTeach, will be generated thanks to a partnership between the Alabama STEM Council and the UTeach Institutea national network of colleges and universities working together to improve STEM teaching and learning in the United Statesdesigned to increase the number of effective STEM teachers and to diversify the pipeline of secondary STEM teachers. Alabama is facing a severe shortage in certified STEM teachers, particularly in economically disadvantaged districts. The Alabama Commission on Higher Education in 2022 identified 68 school systems that were experiencing critical teacher shortages in science and/or math, with more than 30% of science teachers lacking full certification. Many of these districts are within an hours drive from Auburn University. In some areas of the states Black Belt, 80% of science and math teachers lack full certification. Auburn graduates the highest number of STEM majors annually in the state, said Shepherd, an associate professor in the Department of Geosciences. Our graduates pursue many different career paths, from medicine to research. The AUTeach program will provide a pathway for our students to discover an important and rewarding career as a teacher. The combined training in science and education means we will be sending dynamic science teachers that can share their passion for and knowledge of science to K-12 students in Alabama. One of the central aims of Auburns AUTeach program will be to produce 60 highly skilled, certified secondary science teachers annually by year four of the five-year project. Auburns team plans to accomplish this through generous scholarships, community internships, mentoring, tutoring, early field experiences and a streamlined process that reflects current research in science teacher education. The consequences of having under-prepared educators in classrooms can be devastating and are likely to have long-term social, economic and technological impacts on the state. Teaching school is mission work. Its a noble career, a way to serve humanity, said Schnittka, a professor in the Department of Curriculum and Teaching. Teaching science is particularly important right now, when scientific and technological advances are both improving and destroying our lives, and only a scientifically literate population will be able to understand, tackle and wrestle with the challenges that we are certain to face. AUTeach offers an additional path for Auburns college students who love science to graduate in four years, certified to teach. We have a fantastic teacher preparation program in the College of Education, and now we will have an additional path in collaboration with COSAM to reach, educate, inspire, graduate and certify the science teachers that our youth need in order to grow into scientifically literate problem solvers. As the premier land-grant university in Alabama and a leader in preparing students to enter careers in both STEM and science education, Auburn is uniquely positioned to produce highly qualified middle and high school science teachers. Auburn consistently produces more graduates with STEM degrees than any other university in Alabama and certifies the second-largest pool of secondary teachers. AUTeach is an innovative partnership that will help us produce more science teachers during a time of critical need for this expertise, said Jeffrey T. Fairbrother, dean and Wayne T. Smith Distinguished Professor for the College of Education. As our lives become more and more dependent upon technology, we need to prepare future generations to work in STEM fields. Science teachers provide the foundation for children to move into these fields. Science also teaches our children analytical thinking and problem-solving skills. We are excited to receive this award so we can increase our contributions to the training of science teachers and help ensure students in Alabama receive the best science education possible. At Auburn, after three years, fewer than a third of science majors persist in their originally intended majors. However, the students who abandon a science career before the end of their third year of college chose to study it because they had a passion for it. AUTeach will offer them an alternative career path to stay immersed in the science they love and use their talents to give back and help educate the next generation. Students at Auburn University can make a difference in the critical STEM teacher shortage in the state of Alabama through AUTeach, said COSAM Interim Dean Edward Thomas Jr. These students who are majoring in science will receive additional pedagogical training to help them inspire the next generation of students as STEM teachers in K-12 schools. AUTeach will provide another critical career path for COSAM undergraduates. Students in the program will receive a degree in biology, chemistry, geosciences or physics and a second major in education. The curriculum is specially designed so that students will gain experience in K-12 classrooms early, take courses in their chosen science disciplineas well as educational theory and practiceand successfully complete the program in four years. Other universities setting up their own UTeach programs beginning this spring are Auburn University at Montgomery, or AUM, Alabama A&M University, Athens State University, the University of South Alabama and the University of West Alabama. The University of Alabama at Birmingham was the first university in the state to establish a UTeach program. About the Alabama STEM Council The Alabama STEM Council was formed on Sept. 21, 2020, by Gov. Kay Iveys Executive Order No. 721. The Council members represent leaders from Alabama businesses, education and state government. The Councils work builds on and extends Alabamas Roadmap to STEM Success by advising on ways to improve STEM education and STEM-related career awareness and workforce pathways. About the UTeach Institute The UTeach Institute works to improve secondary STEM teaching and learning through the national expansion of the UTeach secondary STEM teacher preparation program to colleges and universities. Over 15 years, the Institute has employed a comprehensive approach to successful program development in higher education settings and serves as the national hub to a networked community of 50 universities implementing UTeach programs. Learn more at www.uteach-institute.org. Did he ever go to real school or was he one of those tutor-schooled child actors? Does he know how DNA works? Reply Thread Link question: do you think he thinks that he has elvis's dna? Reply Parent Thread Link Given the woo woo actors talk about, no, I would not be surprised if he thought he communed with the spirit of Elvis so much and it was traveling through his body that DNA remnants were deposited. Edited at 2023-01-11 05:36 pm (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Maam, he couldve went to most parochial schools in America and not know how dna works. Reply Parent Thread Link I know he went to Ned Declassified School Survivor Guide high school so that probably explains a lot! Reply Parent Thread Link i guarantee that accent disappears after awards season. this is so goofy and idk anything else about him but it makes me not like him. the "it's like when someone lives in another country for a long time" is giving hilaria baldwin Edited at 2023-01-11 05:38 pm (UTC) Reply Thread Link How do you say in English thankyouverymuch Reply Parent Thread Link Nah he will keep it so people recognize him Reply Parent Thread Link Agree wit everything you said. Too bad cuz even though Im rooting for Brendan or Colin to win, I really like his performance Reply Parent Thread Link i have been dying at these tweets This is still so wild to me pic.twitter.com/Z8RPrDzZu1 Dyl #TeamAnetra (@floridakiloz673) January 11, 2023 he's very fun to make fun ofi have been dying at these tweets Reply Thread Link wait what ?? pls tell me this is a joke Reply Parent Thread Link It's truuuuueeeee that's baby Kaia Gerber Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Despite his baby face hes 31, and Kaia Gerber is only 21. Reply Parent Thread Link uggghhh Reply Parent Thread Link despite the ever present age gap discourse, people are v "i can't read suddenly i don't know" when it comes to this relationship or maybe they didn't know idk Reply Parent Thread Link See this is why I am grossed out with age gaps. This is . Reply Parent Thread Link Lmao Colins pretend disbelief look Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Oof Reply Parent Thread Link Lmao Sandler's "oh wow " is killing me omg. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link nooooooo that second one Reply Parent Thread Link men ain't shit. Just found a Buzzfeed article that details Vanessa telling that same damn story in 2019. Men will do anything to NOT give praise or credit to their partner/ex-partner. He is acting like it was some random friend and not his girlfriend of nearly a decade who is also in the industry and a singer. Reply Parent Thread Link same energy Reply Parent Thread Link Elvis is to Austin Butler as Japanese is to __________ . A) Gwen Stacy B) Gwen Stefani C) All of the above Reply Thread Link Dont stress, sweetie. I can be bought. Time to locate a rowing machine. Reply Parent Thread Link hottie is to beyonce Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I mean if he continues to talk like Elvis I don't think people would hire him so..... Reply Thread Link bc of this dumb movie, i became slightly obsessed w this song over the summer Reply Thread Link Its a great song!! Reply Parent Thread Link My Nana who passed away in 2021 was a huge Elvis fan, like jumped on the stage during one of his shows, made many pilgrimages to Graceland etc and I have so many great memories of listening to his music and watching his concerts on TV with her. I played this song for her when I saw her in the hospital before she passed and it was special before but I'll always love it even more now. She passed before this movie came out, I wonder all the time what she would have thought about it. Reply Parent Thread Link that's lovely that you got those moments together <3 Reply Parent Thread Link "I often liken it to when somebody lives in another country for a long time. My cousin has a put on accent and was putting it on after like two years of being in a new country. Shes done it so long now its passable. I have lived outside of the US now longer than I was there and still have an American accent. But, I can slip into Scottish when appropriate* *swearing Reply Thread Link lol I know someone who lived in New Zealand for like 10 months and came back "with an accent" which they gradually dropped because it was very obviously not real and idt anyone was buying it. Reply Parent Thread Link Nooooooo Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I get it if you live in a country for a long time and then take on the accent. That makes sense to me but like anything less than 3 years is just uh... that's like a girl in my neighborhood in vietnam. Went study abroad for barely a year and came back saying in english she can't remember vietnamese anymore like bro... how when you lived here for 18 years Reply Parent Thread Link My accent definitely changed since living the US. Ive lived in a few places in Europe now but i dont sound like Im from any of those places, my American accent is just less pronounced and sometimes I say something in a funny way Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I was in Ireland for a month and had a shitty accent I was lightly doing back to them at the tail end of the trip lmao Some of us are just dumbass parrots ok!! I did not bring it back with me though lol, the moment I wasnt around the accent it disappeared It also took me 24 hours to start calling my best friend a nickname Ive never used for her in 30 years just b/c I was around her friends from another state who addressed her by it Reply Parent Thread Expand Link lmao in highschool someone went to london for like a month over the summer and came back pretending to have an accent Reply Parent Thread Link I tend to mimic the way people around me speak. Some of us can't help our lack of personality! Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I can do a London accent pretty well and it definitely came from watching hours on hours of Harry Potter BTS content. I did find out that the London accent is just a sped up version of my normal accent so that explains a lot. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Austin Butler is hilarious. More actors should be more bizarre. What he's doing is so harmless. Reply Thread Link Yes! This is the kind of harmless mess we need more of lol Reply Parent Thread Link I want them to be out-of-touch and completely unrelatable. Reply Parent Thread Link Yup, this is the kind of fun PR and attention fraud I am here for lmao Reply Parent Thread Link I'd agree except for eh Kaya Gerber stuff Reply Parent Thread Link I agree, it reminds me of Gaga last year, her bizarre takes while promoting House of Gucci cracked me up Reply Parent Thread Link If this is just his voice now, does that mean hell be speaking like this in Dune 2? Reply Thread Link lol now I'm just picturing him speaking like Beetlejuice -- "Whoa, Sandworms. Ya hate em right? I HATE EM MYSELF!" Reply Parent Thread Link Elvis voice and mannerisms would be hilarious in Dune. He should totally stick to it lol. Reply Parent Thread Link "Your pelvis! It's awakening the worm!" Reply Parent Thread Link The only way I will accept him as Feyd is if he does this. Reply Parent Thread Link Someone put me in horny jail. He really comes off like a pretentious idiot but that means nothing to me, I'm still so attracted Reply Thread Link look at those jorts Reply Parent Thread Link STAND UP!!!! Reply Parent Thread Link I usually like pretentious foot lookalikes (hello RPatz) but he does nothing for me. Might be the blond hair, idk Reply Parent Thread Link listen i hate myself for it but i'm right there with you Reply Parent Thread Link I could get with his living in another country excuse, but DNA? Sir. SIR. Reply Thread Link Did he say, "Thank you, thank you very much" last night? Reply Thread Link You can make fun of him all you want but I like that he's a dum-dum. Only himbos for me! Reply Thread Link He does look like Evan lol Reply Parent Thread Link On December 29, 2022, Kazakhstani state-owned oil and gas company KazMunaiGaz announced plans to export oil to Germany starting in January 2023. Arrangements were made to export a total of 1.2 million tons of oil through the Druzhba pipeline via Russia and Ukraine (Informburo.kz, December 29, 2022). Arriving shortly after the European Unions announcement of a partial embargo and price cap on Russian oil, this news prompted discussions about whether Kazakhstan can play a larger role in the European energy market. Previously, Kazakhstani President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev had assured EU officials that the country is ready to use its hydrocarbon potential to stabilize the situation in the world and European markets (Akorda.kz, July 4, 2022). While Moscow has created its fair share of chaos in regional energy markets, it is impossible to discuss the export of Kazakhstani oil without mentioning Astanas neighbor to the north. Russia acts as the middleman for transporting Kazakhstani oil to global markets, as 96 percent of all oil exports go through Russian territory, meaning that Astanas ability to export oil is largely dependent on stable relations between the two countries (Eurasianet, June 6, 2022). In 2021, Kazakhstan exported 65.7 million tons of oil, over 50 million of which went to Europe via the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) and Druzhba pipeline (Exclusive.kz, July 14, 2022). Under normal circumstances, this dependency has not been that problematic for Kazakhstan. However, in 2022, perhaps due to numerous abnormal circumstances, including Russias all-out war against Ukraine, Kazakhstan felt the adverse effects of such dependence when the CPCs operation was temporarily suspended on four separate occasions. The Russian energy company operating the CPC, Transneft, provided bizarre explanations for halting the operations, including damages caused by unprecedented storms and floating World War II mines (Inosmi.ru, August 25, 2022). Related: Oil Prices Steady As Chinese Demand Counters Huge Crude Build The timing of these interruptions pushed many to accuse Moscow of attempting to coerce Kazakhstan into expressing explicit support for the war in Ukraine, a matter on which Astana has remained diplomatically neutral. However, a more plausible explanation for these suspensions is that Russia is attempting to limit the global supply of oil and thus inflate the global price of oil to discourage the West from implementing additional sanctions on Russian energy exports. Nevertheless, despite the CPC debacles in 2022, several key reasons support the notion that Kazakhstani oil will continue to transit to European markets more or less steadily in 2023 and beyond. First, Kazakhstan is one of the few crucial allies Russia has left, and Moscow cannot risk alienating Astana by creating further obstacles, as Kazakhstan is a critical partner in bypassing Western sanctions. Second, Russia exports some of its oil to China via Kazakhstani pipelines, and Astana could suspend these exports in retaliation for any future disruptions. Although it is not likely, such an option remains a viable countermeasure. Third, and perhaps most importantly, Astana has Beijings backing on this matter. Chinese authorities responded to the CPCs disruptions last year by freezing Sinopecs major petrochemical investment project in Russia and by increasing Beijings zeal to adhere by anti-Russian sanctions (Eurasianet, August 15, 2022). Yet, even if Kazakhstan manages to address the myriad of political complications in a way that allows for the uninterrupted flow of its oil to Europe via Russia, it still faces major logistical challenges. Although the CPC and Druzhba pipeline have the capacity to carry more oil, it is unlikely that Russia will allow Kazakhstan to take advantage of the oil embargo and ramp up exports at Moscows expense. Thus, meeting increased European demand will require additional export routes via other countries. The Kazakhstani government has already started diversifying its export routes and adding new ones. In July 2022, speaking at a special government meeting on developing transport and transit potential, Tokayev outlined that, for Kazakhstani energy exports, the priority direction is the Trans-Caspian route (Forbes.kz, July 7, 2022). Here, the Kazakhstani president was referring to the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR), or Middle Corridor, a transport and transit corridor that passes through Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Turkey. To this end, Kazakhstan has successfully completed negotiations on exporting around 5 million tons of oil in 2023 via the TITR. The plan is to use Kazakhstans western Port of Aktau to send oil to Baku via tanker and then transport supplies to ports on the Mediterranean Sea using the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) and Baku-Supsa pipelines (Kapital.kz, August 12, 2022). This export route had been available to Kazakhstan for transit as early as 2006, but Astana had not needed to use it extensively for exportsuntil now. Astana has continued to lean on routes running through Russia instead of utilizing the TITR route primarily due to severe logistical difficulties and higher expenses. The cost of transporting oil via the CPC is $38 per ton, whereas the cost for the BTC pipeline is at least $90 per ton. The higher costs are the result of logistical challenges, which involve transporting oil using train cisterns, tankers and pipelines, as well as loading and unloading shipments multiple times (Exclusive.kz, July 14, 2022). Under these circumstances, the private companies that extract and export around 75 percent of all Kazakhstani oil are naturally inclined to wait out the war in hopes of a better future. Turning the TITR into a viable export route requires a tremendous amount of investment, continuous multilateral negotiations and a considerable amount of time, all things stakeholders are eager to avoid. Thus, it would be naive to believe that Kazakhstan can fill the void left by the EUs oil embargo, especially in the near future. At the moment, Astanas prospects of playing a larger role in the European energy market remain largely dependent on Russia. While enough evidence supports the idea that Moscow will not hamper the export of Kazakhstani oil to Europe in 2023, the hope that Russia will allow the use of its pipeline infrastructure to increase foreign exports and enrich its neighbors is foolish. Kazakhstan can use alternative routes to export more oil to Europe, but the logistical difficulties and higher costs associated with them have, for now, caused stakeholders to shy away from their use and development. ADVERTISEMENT By The Jamestown Foundation More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Up to this point, the U.S. economy has proved resilient. By AGMetalminer.com U.S. steel prices hit a bottom at the beginning of December, then began to climb. Hot rolled coil prices rose over 8% from their December low. Meanwhile, plate prices traded down for the first time since September. Overall, the Raw Steels Monthly Metals Index (MMI) rose by 7.98% from December to January. Steelmakers Continue Flat-Rolled Price Hikes Eager to continue the upside momentum, Nucor announced yet another $50 per short ton increase to flat-rolled steel prices. The steelmaker previously raised steel prices by $60 per short ton back in late November. This latest increase follows a $50 per short ton price hike by Cleveland-Cliffs. The Ohio-based producer implemented its increase on December 13, bringing its minimum HRC price to $750 per short ton. Steel Prices: Has the Trend Reversed? Source: Insights, Chart & Correlation Analysis Tool Uninterrupted week-over-week increases since HRC prices inverted at the beginning of December suggest an increasingly bullish market. This signifies further upside potential, at least in the short term. Meanwhile, domestic producers have capitalized on the erosion of competitively priced imports. U.S. HRC prices now sit beneath European prices and within a narrow range of Korean prices. Chinese steel prices, however, still occupy the lowest price levels. Beyond imports, the market appears to have priced in rising steel prices. Indeed, U.S. Midwest 3-month HRC future prices currently sit at a roughly $120 per short ton premium over current HRC prices. Up to this point, the U.S. economy has proved resilient. However, compounding rate hikes from the Federal Reserve will continue to weigh on the domestic economy in 2023. This is sure to challenge the control steelmakers currently have over prices. Indeed, mill lead times remain short, suggesting supply is readily available and accessible. This supply abundance will prevent the same sharp upside steel prices saw following the pandemic, when steel was scarce. And while it may not prove impactful enough to halt any further short-term increases, demand erosion could see the macro downtrend continue further out. Nucor Keeps Plate Steel Prices Flat as Capacity Grows On Dec. 28, Nucor announced it would keep its plate prices flat at $1,480 per short ton. This was surprising considering the company lowered prices just a month before. Still, throughout the year, the plate market proved more resilient compared to other forms of steel. Prices mostly moved sideways in 2022, slowly edging downward from their peak. However, declines appeared to accelerate last month, and plate steel prices currently sit at their lowest levels since July 2021. Whether or not Nucor and other steelmakers can steady the increasingly bearish market appears more and more uncertain. Just before the new year, Nucor also announced that its Brandenburg, KY plate mill had officially rolled its first plate. They also stated that the mill will begin to ramp up its 1.2 million-short-ton-per-year capacity throughout Q1. Additional capacity will follow when Algoma Steel and JSW Steel complete mill their modernization projects. As mill lead times remain short, the market appears increasingly poised for oversupply throughout the year. This will likely continue until and unless demand picks up, which will effect steel prices. Infrastructure Projects Bolster Plate Source: Insights, Chart & Correlation Analysis Tool ADVERTISEMENT Unlike HRC, plate prices still sit considerably higher than their global counterparts. This means imports will continue to weigh on steel prices, although Buy American provisions will insulate prices to some extent. The spread between HRC and plate will also add downward pressure. Of course, opposing price directions have seen that spread narrow in recent weeks. Still, lower HRC prices have allowed a substitution opportunity at thicker grades for some manufacturers. Fortunately, infrastructure and renewable energy will continue to bolster plate for quite some time. Clearly, demand pressures poses a risk to the downside for other forms of steel. However, government-funded projects and incentives will serve as a limiting factor for future plate price declines. That said, the full extent of this demand, especially regarding wind towers, will likely begin to hit the market in the long term rather than the short. There will also be a time gap between now and the peak of construction on plate-hungry infrastructure. Amid rising domestic plate capacity, this could mean substantial downside movement for plate prices until the next trend reversal. Biggest Raw Material and Steel Price Increases Standard Korean steel prices saw the largest month-over-month increase as prices rose 21.29% to $275/metric ton as of January 1. U.S. Midwest 3-month future prices rose 11.81% to $805 per short ton. Chinese HRC prices saw an 11.59% increase to $580 per metric ton. Chinese coking coal prices continued their rebound with an 11.38% jump to $400 per metric ton. Finally, LME primary 3-month scrap prices rose 10.3% to $380 per metric ton. By The AGMetalminer team More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The collapse of Venezuelas once prolific oil industry has triggered an economic and humanitarian crisis that accelerated in 2019 after U.S. President Donald Trump implemented strict sanctions cutting the Maduro regime off from international energy markets. It isnt only Venezuelas economy and people which have suffered from a foundering hydrocarbon sector and corroding energy infrastructure, tremendous damage has occurred to the environment. Oil spills, leaking pipelines and storage facilities, noxious discharges from ramshackle intermittently operating refineries and toxic tar like slicks are commonplace in Venezuela. The OPEC members collapsing petroleum industry, along with precious metals and other mining, is a key culprit of the significant environmental damage occurring in the near-failed state. Since national oil company PDVSA ceased releasing incident data in 2016 it is extremely difficult to reliably track the number of oil spills, the volume of oil released into the environment and the damage that occurs. This is particularly worrying when it is considered that Venezuela is ranked as the eleventh most biodiverse country globally. While the lack of official data makes it difficult to track the volume of environmental incidents concerning Venezuelas oil industry there are non-government organizations tracking oil spills and other environmentally damaging incidents. Two organizations which provide regular reports and updates regarding the substantial environmental degradation occurring because of the petrostates oil industry are the Venezuelan Observatory of Environmental Human Rights (OVDHA Spanish initials) and the Venezuelan Observatory of Political Ecology (OEP Spanish initials). Related: Oil Prices Steady As Chinese Demand Counters Huge Crude Build The OVDHA published a report (Spanish) in March 2022 which shows 199 oil spills in Venezuela for the period of 2016 to 2021. In that document, the observatory noted a worrying trend; the volume of oil spills in the crisis-torn Latin American country is expanding. The data collated by the OVDHA showed only 12 incidents during the first two years of the period covered and then a whopping 68 events, or more than five times that number, during 2021 alone. Oil spills continued during 2022 with the observatory counting 35 incidents during the second half of 2022, although the OVDHA believes the actual number of spills to be far higher. An example is that for 2010 to 2016 NASA, from various news, humanitarian organizations and environmental groups, counted 40,000 to 50,000 oil spills across Venezuela. In a December 2022 OVDHA article (Spanish), Eduardo Klein, coordinator of the Center for Marine Biodiversity of the Simon Bolivar University, states, There is hardly a single day where you do not see a spill, not counting Lake Maracaibo where every day there is. Klein further that on the Paraguana Peninsula in Falcon State, the location for many of Venezuelas refineries, spills are persistent saying, those pipelines are continuously dumping and over the years, the frequency has increased considerably." Those statements indicate oil spills are far more common than the number reported by the OVDHA with them being nearly daily occurrences while Lake Maracaibo, at the epicenter of Venezuelas oil industry suffers multiple spills nearly every day. During September 2021, NASA released a satellite photo of Lake Maracaibo, considered by some commentators to be the largest natural lake in South America, showed excessive pollution, primarily from leaking crude oil that had formed large slicks. This is no surprise when it is considered that the body of water is situated in the middle of one of the worlds largest hydrocarbon producing regions and has been at the center of Venezuelas oil industry since the first well was drilled in 1914. That oil discovery, in as little as three decades, transformed Venezuela from an impoverished near-feudal agrarian state into the worlds third largest oil producer and exporter. The ensuing oil boom catapulted Venezuela onto a path of rapid modernization, which saw it become Latin Americas wealthiest country and a leading regional democracy. The Maracaibo Basin contains 15% of Venezuelas copious oil reserves, which at 304 billion barrels are the largest globally, and is responsible for around two-thirds of the OPEC members hydrocarbon production. As a result, the lake contains thousands of drilling platforms, miles of pipelines which in many cases are unmapped and scores of storage facilities as well as other industry infrastructure. Most facilities are more than half a century old and heavily corroded because of their age and an endemic lack of crucial maintenance. The OVDHA estimates up to 1,000 barrels of crude (Spanish) are being discharged into Lake Maracaibo every day due to ongoing low-level leaks from heavily corroded petroleum pipelines, storage tanks and other decaying infrastructure. Local communities, as well as scientists who study the lake, claim oil slicks are regular occurrences and are commonly found coating the shoreline. The situation is so grim fishermen frequently complain of petroleum fouling nets and catches while heavy rains cause oily slicks to from the ground to flood streets, parks and homes in nearby communities. Of considerable concern, is considerable evidence that the frequency of oil spills and other environmentally damaging incidents concerning Venezuelas oil industry is accelerating. The OEP, in a January 2023 report, claimed 86 oil spills occurred in Venezuela during 2022, which the observatory claimed was higher than the at least 73 spills it detected a year earlier. Most of those spills occurred in Falcon and Zulia states where a considerable portion of Venezuelas oil refineries, pipelines, storage tanks and wells are located. In fact, Zulia has long been a hotspot for environmentally damaging incidents because it is where Lake Maracaibo and its surrounding sedimentary basis are situated. All evidence points to the size and frequency of oil spills in Venezuela continuing to multiply as industry infrastructure disintegrates further and Caracas pushes PDVSA to expand output regardless of the dire condition of various facilities. Venezuela at the hands of its once mighty oil industry, which 70 years ago funded the country's economic miracle and rapid modernization, is suffering from an apocalyptic environmental catastrophe. The inability and unwillingness of a cash-strapped PDVSA, as well as the government in Caracas to clean-up spills, is magnifying the damage which in many areas is now irreversible. Crude oil is fouling waterways, contributing to deforestation, poisoning farmland and killing wildlife at an ever-greater rate. The environmental destruction will keep expanding as industry infrastructure deteriorates further and the authoritarian Maduro regime sets ever higher, and unachievable production targets. Nothing will change until PDVSA can access the tremendous capital required to rebuild ramshackle malfunction hydrocarbon infrastructure that regularly malfunctions and, in many cases, is damaged beyond repair. That is contingent upon Washington relaxing sanctions to such a degree that foreign energy majors are willing to invest in Venezuela. By Matthew Smith for Oilprice.com ADVERTISEMENT More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: A planned merger by two of the largest tanker operators in the worldEuronav and Frontlinehas fallen through and the two companies will not make another attempt to combine their business. We regret that we could not complete the merger as envisaged in July 2022, as that would have created the by far largest publicly listed tanker company. At the same time, both companies have independently very large fleets of crude oil and product tankers, and are already enjoying economies of scale as evidenced by our respective recent financial reports, said the chief executive of Frontline, Lars H. Barstad, in a statement. In response, Euronav issued a press release confirming the receipt of Frontlines decision to terminate the merger process and stating that Regardless of the combination taking place, the supportive and sustainable fundamental factors of the tanker markets have started to deliver (during Q3 and Q4 2022) what Euronav and most sector commentators believe will be a prolonged upcycle. Such favourable conditions coupled to Euronavs strong balance sheet, best-in-class operating system with the most developed sustainability platform in the sector positions our company well for the future, the Belgian company also said. Neither company gave reasons for the termination of the deal, worth some $4.2 billion, which would have resulted in the biggest tanker operator in the world. Reuters noted in a report, however, that Belgian Euronav had run into trouble with its biggest shareholder, Compagnie Maritime Belge, which was opposed to the tie-up with Frontline. If the merger had gone through, it would have created a company with a fleet of 146 tankers. The Wall Street Journal recalled the shareholder, controlled by the Saverys family, describing the deal as a value-destructive madness at the time it was first announced, last year. The Saverys family controls a quarter of Euronavs shares. The report also notes that the owner of Frontline, Norwegian billionaire John Fredriksen, is strongly in favor of consolidation in the tanker sector as he believes it is currently too fragmented to create sufficient shareholder value. ADVERTISEMENT By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: A Libyan court has suspended a deal for offshore oil and gas exploration that Libya and Turkey inked last year, a deal that sparked outrage from neighbors Egypt and Greece. The deal concerned waters that Libya and Turkey have declared to be theirs but that are disputed by Egypt and Greece, Reuters noted in a report on the news that cited an unnamed source. The Libyan government can appeal the ruling, the source also told Reuters. Greeces Permanent Representative at the UN, Maria Theofili described the deal as one violating the sovereign rights of Greece, is a violation of international law and a deliberate escalation that undermines stability in the region. The deal, signed in October last year, followed an earlier, security agreement, inked in 2019, that demarcated the maritime border between Libya and Turkeythe same demarcation that angered Egypt and Greece. "We've signed a memorandum of understanding on exploration for hydrocarbons in Libya's territorial waters and on Libyan soil, by mixed Turkish-Libyan companies," the foreign minister of Turkey, Mevlut Cavusoglu said at the time, as quoted by the AFP. The official noted, then, that the deal is only between Libya and Turkey, "two sovereign countries -- it's win-win for both, and other countries have no right to interfere". The eastern Mediterranean was put in the spotlight by a series of large gas discoveries off the coast of Israel in the past decade or so, as well as discoveries in Turkish and Cypriot waters. The potential of the region has become particularly relevant now when Europe is looking for new sources of gas. At the same time, the events around the deal with Turkey had contributed to the deterioration of the internal political situation in Libya, as Ankara signed its deals with the Government of National Unitythe entity recognized by the UN but not by rival political factions in Libya itself. ADVERTISEMENT By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: No one has seen yet cases of a price cap on Russian crude oil, and Russia hasnt yet seen the impact of the price cap mechanism, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday. The Kremlin is skeptical about attempts to calculate Russias losses from the price cap, Peskov said, as carried by Russian news agency TASS. Its too early to draw conclusions about the impact of the price cap, and there is no evidence to support such conclusions, Putins spokesman noted, asked to comment on a Wednesday report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA). The report says that the EU oil ban and the G7-EU price cap are costing Russia $172 million (160 million euros) per day, due to the fall in shipment volumes and prices for Russian oil. 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. Russian oil revenues are expected to drop further in February due to the EUs ban on refined oil imports, the extension of the price cap to refined oil, and reductions in pipeline oil imports to Poland, CREA said. So far, no one has really come across an oil price capso we are skeptical about such [forecast figures], Peskov said in response to the data released by CREA. The EU and G7 banned on December 5 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. ADVERTISEMENT 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. By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Chinese yuan firms to reveal upbeat economic prospects Xinhua) 08:14, January 11, 2023 File photo shows a worker counts Chinese currency Renminbi (RMB) at a bank in Linyi, east China's Shandong Province. (Xinhua/Zhang Chunlei) 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. (Web editor: Cai Hairuo, Liang Jun) The Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) will hold this year's annual conference in spring, tentatively at the end of March, at Boao of Hainan province, Li Baodong, secretary-general of Boao Forum for Asia, said on Wednesday. Li made the remarks when attending a press conference in Beijing themed on this year's BFA conference. He said that leaders and government officials from a number of countries -including China - heads of international organizations, business leaders and academia will gather at this year's conference for discussions that mainly theme on the post-pandemic development agenda for Asia and the world. "The exact date for the annual conference will be released as soon as it is confirmed," Li said. He said though COVID-19 and its impact still lingers, the world is expected to recover from the pandemic hit quite soon, and this year the BFA conference will be held offline with necessary pandemic prevention measures. "The forum looks forward to welcoming guests and friends from all over the world in Hainan," he said. According to Li, this year's conference agenda will include themes on development and inclusiveness, efficiency and security, regional and global cooperation, as well as discussions on the present and the future, with a view to promote international cooperation and consolidate consensus. Cesar Toledo, a representative from SAIC General Motors who is among the sponsorship of this year's event, shared at the Wednesday press conference that he expects this year's conference to better enhance exchanges, cooperation and sustainable development across Asia and worldwide, as these are "even more important today as we strive for global development and a shared future in the post-COVID era". Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maaden) has signed an agreement with the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund, to set up a joint company that will invest in mining assets abroad to secure strategic minerals. Under the joint venture agreement, Maaden will own 51% of the new company, while the Public Investment Fund (PIF) will own the remaining 49%, Maaden said in a statement on Wednesday. The joint company plans to initially invest in the iron ore, copper, nickel, and lithium sectors as a non-operating partner taking minority equity positions, Maaden said. This will provide physical offtake of critical minerals to ensure supply security for domestic minerals downstream sectors and positioning Saudi Arabia as a key partner in global supply-chain resilience, the company noted. Separately, Maaden announced an agreement to buy 9.9% in U.S.-based technology firm Ivanhoe Electric Inc for $126.4 million and form with Ivanhoe Electric, a Saudi-based joint venture company, to explore and develop mining projects in Saudi Arabia. According to Maadens statement, Ivanhoe Electric applies a suite of technological solutions to dramatically increase the quality and efficiency of metals-focused exploration campaigns, which aligns with Maadens strategy to gain leverage of commodities with long-term growth potential. In October 2021, the top executive of the state miner of the worlds top oil exporter said that the company plans huge investments in exploring for lithium and nickel in Saudi Arabia over the next two decades. In the next 10 to 20 years we are going to spend huge amount of money looking for those metals in Saudi Arabia, Maadens chief executive officer Abdulaziz Al Harbi told Bloomberg at the time, asked about the key battery metals lithium and nickel. ADVERTISEMENT The worlds largest oil exporter is thus betting on critical battery metals, whose demand is set to grow exponentially in the energy transition. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has no plans to ban gas stoves, the agency said, according to Bloomberg. A commissioner from the same agency, Richard Trumka Jr., earlier this week said that the CPSC had been considering a ban on gas stoves for months, with Trumka recommending in October that the agency seek public comment on the hazards of gas stoves. But the head of the CPSC, Alexander Hoehn-Saric, said on Wednesday that the agency had no such plans. I am not looking to ban gas stoves and the CPSC has no proceeding to do so, Hoehn-Saric said in a statement to Bloomberg on Wednesday, just a day after discussions of a ban set off a flurry of reactions on both sides. Hoehn-Saric added that the Commissionmade up of just four memberswas researching emissions from gas stoves. Back in August of last year, the Committee on Oversight and Reformthe principal oversight committee of the House of Representatives, asked the Commission to turn over documents and information about the CPSCs failure to establish safety standards and provide adequate warnings to consumers addressing the significant health risks posed by indoor air pollution from gas stoves. The Committee document was retrieved in Cached form, as the document can no longer be found at its original web location. The push against gas stoves has resulted in GOP backlash, with Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) also speaking out against the idea of a ban on the cooking appliance preferred by most chefs. This is a recipe for disaster. The federal government has no business telling American families how to cook their dinner, Manchin said, adding that if this was the CPSCs greatest concern, I think we need to reevaluate the commission. ADVERTISEMENT By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Former Nebraska volleyball player Kaitlyn Hord will begin her professional career in Romania. The middle blocker has signed with CSM Volei Alba Blaj in Transylvania, Romania, the Nebraska volleyball program announced on Wednesday. Hord played as a graduate transfer at Nebraska in 2022, when she led NCAA Division I in blocking (1.61 per set). Prior to that, she was a three-time All-American at Penn State. She could have gone pro last fall but decided to play one more college season at Nebraska in hopes of regaining a love for playing the sport. The people that Ive been surrounded by have made this a very positive experience, and Im very excited for what volleyball holds for me in the future, which I dont think I could have said at this time last year, Hord said in November. Photos: Nebraska faces Oregon in NCAA volleyball regional semifinals WEDNESDAY, Jan. 11, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- While COVID-19 vaccine acceptance rose around the world between 2021 and 2022, wide gaps remain, according to new research. Teams from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health in Spain (ISGlobal) and City University of New York (CUNY) also noted the need to address vaccine hesitancy with tailored communication strategies. The pandemic is not over, and authorities must urgently address vaccine hesitancy and resistance as part of their COVID-19 prevention and mitigation strategy, said lead researcher Jeffrey Lazarus, head of the health systems research group at ISGlobal. For the study, researchers surveyed people in 23 countries that were hard hit by the COVID pandemic. Collectively, those nations include more than 60% of the worlds population. Worldwide, acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccines grew from 75.2% in 2021 to 79.1% last year, the survey found. Meanwhile, vaccine acceptance decreased in eight countries: United Kingdom, South Africa, Turkey, Mexico, Kenya, Ghana, China and Brazil. Nearly 1 in 8 respondents who had been vaccinated were hesitant about receiving a booster dose. That was particularly true among younger men and women. Lazarus and Ayman El-Mohandes, dean of the School of Public Health at CUNY, started the surveys in 2020 in highly populated countries, including Canada and the United States. The new findings are from their third survey, which was conducted between June and July of 2022. About 1,000 people were surveyed in each country. Increased hesitancy varied from 1% in the United Kingdom to 21.1% in South Africa. Meanwhile, parents' willingness to vaccinate their kids rose slightly from 67.6% in 2021 to 69.5% in 2022. We must remain vigilant in tracking these data, containing COVID-19 variants and addressing hesitancy, which may challenge future routine COVID-19 immunization programs, senior author El-Mohandes said in an ISGlobal news release. The survey also turned up new information on COVID-19 treatments. It found that ivermectin, a drug used to treat or prevent parasites in animals, was used to treat COVID-19 with the same frequency as approved medications. The World Health Organization and other agencies recommend against using ivermectin. Nearly 40% of respondents reported paying less attention to new COVID information than they had before. They also had less support for vaccine mandates. Depending on the country, vaccine hesitancy was associated with female sex (such as in China, Poland and Russia); with having no college degree (in France, Poland, South Africa, Sweden and the United States); and with lower income (in Canada, Germany, Turkey and the United Kingdom). Our results show that public health strategies to enhance booster coverage will need to be more sophisticated and adaptable for each setting and target population, Lazarus said, adding that messaging should emphasize compassion over fear and be delivered by trusted individuals, especially health care workers. The researchers said the data could be useful for health system decision-makers, practitioners, advocates and researchers to more effectively address vaccine hesitancy. The findings were published Jan. 9 in Nature Medicine. More information The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on COVID-19 vaccines. SOURCE: Barcelona Institute for Global Health, news release, Jan. 9, 2023 The University of Nebraska has hired a firm to assist in a national search for the next University of Nebraska-Lincoln chancellor. In a press release, NU President Ted Carter said AGB Search will assist him in finding a replacement for UNL Chancellor Ronnie Green, who announced last month that he will retire at the end of June. Green, 61, has been UNL chancellor since 2016. In addition to hiring the search firm, Carter also said hes inviting people to submit nominations for individuals to serve on the UNL Chancellor Search Advisory Committee. Committee members will gather and provide input on what qualities the next chancellor should possess. They also will identify key opportunities and challenges facing the university. The committee also will work with AGB Search to develop a position profile, identify potential candidates and review applications. The committee is expected to include UNL students, faculty, staff and the community. Committee nominations can be made through email at president@nebraska.edu. Nominations are requested by Jan. 24. Members of the public also can provide input on the search. Carter soon will announce opportunities to do so, including a series of listening sessions. Photos: Omaha World-Herald best photos of 2022 An existing building is set to be demolished to make way for a four-story apartment building on the corner of 30th and Leavenworth Streets. The Omaha City Council approved the project, dubbed The Square, at its Tuesday meeting. The four-story apartment building would have 73 units for rent. Prices would start at $1,188 for a studio and go up to $1,973 for a two-bedroom unit. The building also would include a fitness studio, a yoga room, bicycle storage, a coffee bar and common gathering areas. Developers expect to start construction in April, wrapping up by July 2024. The developer was granted about $1.8 million in tax-increment financing for the $18 million project. Photos: Omaha World-Herald best photos of 2022 LINCOLN Nebraskans would no longer be able to cast early ballots and would have only a few options for voter identification under a pair of bills introduced in the Legislature on Tuesday. Legislative Bill 228 would require in-person voting in primary and general elections, save for military personnel or nursing home residents, who would still be allowed to vote by mail. The bill would also require all votes be counted on Election Day, and would classify primary and general election days as state holidays. Legislative Bill 230 would implement a voter-approved constitutional amendment requiring valid photo IDs for voting. The bill spells out that only a Nebraska drivers license, state identification card, photographic voter ID card, U.S. passport or tribal ID would be accepted for voting. The bill would allow people to cast provisional ballots if they do not have an acceptable ID with them, with a requirement that they present ID within a week of Election Day. It also would require in-person voting and increase restrictions on who may serve as an election official. It would allow people to get a free photo ID for voting and a free copy of their birth certificate to get an ID for voting. State Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard introduced both bills, which were among 73 introduced Tuesday. Although he wouldnt say whether he believes Nebraska has an issue with voter fraud, he said there is enough suspicion surrounding it to warrant legislation. Even if there isnt a problem, why wait until you have a problem to figure out what the solution may be? Erdman said. But Heather Engdahl, director of voting rights at Civic Nebraska, said the measures would severely limit voters and make the states elections among the most restrictive in the nation. She noted that early ballots especially have been popular, with more than 1.3 million Nebraskans voting early during the last two election cycles. Proposing a bill that would abolish a popular voting method can only be seen as an attempt to limit Nebraskans ability and opportunity to vote, she said. Rumors of widespread voter fraud have circulated in many states in recent years, particularly in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election. However, no substantial evidence has come out to prove Nebraskas elections have been impacted. Erdmans district includes Morrill County, which has held elections exclusively through mail-in voting in recent years. The county saw a 67% voter turnout in the 2022 midterm elections, which is significantly higher than the 54% turnout rate for the overall state. However, Erdman said mail-in voting is problematic, because it is difficult to verify the legitimacy of those votes. He said decades ago, in-person voting was the only option most people had to vote. Erdmans bills will likely overlap with legislation from Sen. Julie Slama of Dunbar to implement the voter ID ballot initiative that passed in November. Slama, who led the initiative, is expected to introduce a bill or bills on the subject, though she has yet to do so. Erdman said he would be willing to work with Slama to combine their proposals if there is overlap. Among other measures introduced Tuesday: Property taxes. Four bills would boost amount of tax credits provided to offset property tax costs. Sen. Tom Briese of Albion introduced three of them. LB 242 would increase the amount provided through refundable income tax credits in 2024 to $1 billion, up from the $560.7 million available this year. The credits offset a portion of the school property taxes paid. The bill also would remove the 5% cap on future growth of the tax credit program. LB 243 would raise the minimum amount provided through a separate tax credit program to $700 million, plus a percentage increase equal to the percentage increase in assessed property valuations statewide. The minimum now is set at $275 million, but the program is distributing $313 million in credits this year. The credits are subtracted from a property owners tax bill. LB 244 would create a new program to offset a portion of the property taxes paid to local governments other than schools or community colleges, for which there are existing programs. The program would make $200 million available in 2024 through refundable income tax credits. Sen. Carol Blood of Bellevue offered the fourth measure. LB 211 would create a circuit breaker program to help property taxpayers with limited incomes. It would provide refundable income tax credits for homeowners or renters with federal adjusted gross incomes of $100,000 or less for married couples or $50,000 for individuals. The income limit for farm and ranch land owners would be $350,000 or less. Roads: LB 212, introduced by Slama, would require the State Department of Transportation to pave all unpaved state highways, and would require the department to expand parts of Highway 75 to four lanes. Slama said theres about 40 miles of unpaved state highway, including parts of Highway 65 and Highway 67 in her district. The bill did not include a timeline for the projects. Slama said she would work with the executive branch on a schedule. Child abuse: LB 271 would mandate professionals who are required to report suspected cases of child abuse and neglect complete a training course within 90 days from the start of their employment, while eliminating a requirement that other Nebraskans report suspected abuse or neglect. Universal mandated reporting has been cited as a factor in the number of families investigated by state workers. The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services would also be required to have a free online training available to the public by the start of 2024. Sen. Terrell McKinney of Omaha introduced the bill. Rental property: LB 270, also introduced by McKinney, would increase protections for residents of rental properties by requiring that municipalities planning to condemn a rental property first meet with the residents and have a plan to provide housing, food and other resources to the residents. Landlords would also be required to replace lead service lines with modern pipes. Railroad crossings: LB 234, introduced by Sen. Lynne Walz of Fremont, would require railroad companies to report on complaints they receive each year about blocked railroad crossings. The reports would be compiled by the Public Service Commission, along the information about the complaints received by the commission about blocked crossings. Disabled veterans: LB 274, introduced by Sen. Rick Holdcroft of Bellevue, would allow disabled military veterans with disabled veteran license plates on their vehicles to park in spots designated for handicapped or disabled people. Such spots currently are reserved for people with limited mobility. Intense drought and powerful storms have again placed Nebraska on the unenviable list of billion-dollar disasters in 2022. On Tuesday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released its tally of 2022 weather and climate disasters that exceeded $1 billion in damage. Eighteen events made the list, totaling more than $165 billion in damage. That made 2022 the third-costliest year since 1980, when NOAA began tabulating such billion-dollar events. Costs are expected to climb as more numbers come in, especially the impact of the brutal winter storm that swept across the nation in late December. Being on the list doesnt mean Nebraska itself sustained $1 billion in damage in each individual weather system, rather that it was part of a larger whole. While state-level estimates werent immediately available, Nebraskas most impactful disaster will be the ongoing drought its worst in 10 years, since 2012 when drought caused an estimated $4 billion in damage. The 2022 drought made itself felt through deadly mega fires, stunted crops, sell-offs of cattle herds and low river levels. Nebraska was the driest state in the nation last year when compared to average annual precipitation, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information. It was Nebraskas fourth-driest year on record and Californias eighth-driest. The two states led the nation in lack of precipitation, according to the national centers. The period of record dates to 1895. In calculating the cost of drought in 2022, NOAA lumped the central U.S. with western states and included the role of extreme heat. The agency calculates that damage from drought and extreme heat totaled at least $22.2 billion. At least 136 people died, mostly due to a heat wave in the southwest. And as bad as last year was, all eyes are on the coming year. Continued drought could bring severe hardship to Nebraska, in terms of ag losses, wildfires and water resources. Hardest hit within Nebraska have been the northeast and southwest corners of the state, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, a map published by the National Drought Mitigation Center, which is housed at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. And the numbers show it. Norfolk, in northeast Nebraska, and Culbertson, in southwest Nebraska, have seen their driest year on record, according to Gannon Rush, a climatologist with the High Plains Regional Climate Center, also housed at UNL. Brian Fuchs, a climatologist with the National Drought Mitigation Center, noted that Nebraskas current drought: Comes on the heels of several wet years, including the catastrophic flood year of 2019 in which the state sustained $3.4 billion in losses. Not since the 2012-13 drought had we experienced drought of this magnitude, Fuchs said. People forget quite quickly when conditions have been as favorable as they were for such a long period of time. It could have been worse. Fuchs said Nebraska in 2022 benefited from cool weather early on. The only saving grace that made (last year) different from 2012 was that the spring and early summer were cooler than normal ... where in 2012 ... temperatures were a driving force of how rapidly (the drought) developed. In terms of wildfires, 2022 was Nebraskas deadliest year on record and its second-worst in terms of acres burned. More than 200,000 acres burned and three men died helping fight the fires: Elwood Volunteer Fire Chief Darren Krull, retired Cambridge Volunteer Chief JP Trumble and Purdum Assistant Volunteer Chief Mike Moody. Several others were severely injured and an unknown number suffered smoke inhalation and other injuries. The only year more damaging in terms of acres burned was 2012, the states hottest, driest year on record. Drought can exact a larger economic toll than flooding or severe weather such as tornadoes because it covers such a wide area, said Don Wilhite, a climatologist and professor emeritus from UNL. Almost half of the U.S. is currently in drought, according to UNLs Drought Monitor. Nebraska has been spared the full economic impact of drought because crop insurance has helped insulate farmers from losses they would have encountered due to reduced yields. Cattle ranchers have fewer protections against losses, which has meant some producers have had to sell off portions of their herd because they havent been able to afford to feed them. Summer 2022 saw the fastest pace of cattle being slaughtered on record, according to the Nebraska Department of Agriculture. Fuchs said Nebraskas drought has its origins in late spring 2021. In late May 2021, only about 2% of Nebraska was in drought. From that point forward, drought generally has expanded, so that by early February 2022, more than half of the state was in drought. At the start of this year, 99.8% of the state is in drought. Climate change is expected to make droughts in Nebraska more frequent, severe and longer lasting, Wilhite said. This is because temperatures are on the increase and precipitation is becoming more variable (less consistent), he said. Omaha World-Herald best videos of 2022 BLOOMINGTON Harmony Korean BBQ, 7 Currency Drive in Bloomington, is this weeks pick for Eats of the Week. The restaurant will be marking two years in April and is owned by Ken Myszka, founder and CheFarmer (a combination of chef and farmer) of Epiphany Farms Hospitality Group. He is also the acting executive chef at Harmony. Harmony means grandmother in Korean. Myszka was inspired to open the restaurant after visiting South Korea and learning about his wife Nanams heritage. He said he was inspired by the way of dining offered there, one that puts more responsibility on the guest. Its a really fun way to dine. South Korea is like the Midwest of Asia: They love pork belly, mushrooms, wild black raspberries, soybeans, he said. It makes a lot of sense for the area, the culture and cuisine. The building previously served as Tachibana Restaurant, a sushi and grill bar that opened in 1997, and then Hayashi, a Japanese restaurant that opened in 2005 and closed in 2013. The building then sat empty for eight years. Myszka said he bought the facility about five years ago. He completely remodeled it and installed a hood system for the Harmony grills. I think what makes Harmony unique is our authenticity. We provide an authentic version, modern take on Korean BBQ, Myszka said. This place is like Korea; we bought everything from K-town in LA. Its a really cool take and nothing like our other restaurants. Its special. Myszka added that they often consult Nanams grandmother about the restaurant as well. Popular menu items include the Wagyu, potstickers, wings and the Harmony Combo, which is offered as a special Tuesday through Thursday. The combos come with unlimited refills as well. Harmony offers a variety of meat including pork belly, chuck flap, Kobe beef as well as ramen, broths, and bop, which means steamed rice or your meal in Korean. Myszka describes the menu as Korean cuisine with Midwest style. Harmony has a separate menu called Shabu Shabu, a carryout/takeout menu that offers a variety of noodles/ramen for a quick lunch stop. Guests can order from both menus while at Harmony. Harmony also has a sushi bar. Intimidated by an unfamiliar setup? Dont worry. For first-timers at Harmony, servers will take care of the cooking, but more seasoned diners are able to cook their own food. My favorite thing about Harmony is sharing this style of restaurant with my hometown community, Myszka said. Who else would do this if not us? How long would we have to wait? In addition to indoor dining and takeout, Harmony offers private dining rooms, large banquet rooms for events, and karaoke rooms. Each table and room has a call button in case a customer needs service. All of the proteins and vegetables come from the Epiphany Farms Estate; food waste returns to the farm for composting and use as fertilizer. This is a dream come true; its a really fun, exciting and enjoyable dining experience for customers, its a performance, Myszka said. Its new, creative, healthier and familiar in a way. Customers trust an establishment like Epiphany as we are focused on hospitality. Theres a sense of comfort in our dining room. Myszka added that the success of Epiphany Farms Hospitality Group is no accident as they have a great team that works very hard. He said they are very fortunate and lucky. Editors note: In the coming months, Eats of the Week will showcase other restaurants of Epiphany Farms Hospitality Group, including Epiphany Farms, Anju Above and Bakery & Pickle. PEKIN Aaron Rossis former business partners will have the opportunity to review emails and documents involving him and his former company Reditus Laboratories as part of a lawsuit now reaching its third year in Tazewell County. Judge Stephen Kouri said Tuesday that dealing with the documents will be the next step in the lawsuit brought against Rossi, CEO of the now-closed Pekin-based lab company, by Rossis former business partners, Dr. James Davie, Dr. Malcolm Herzog, and their associated businesses. Attorneys for Davie and Herzog said they want to move forward with an additional deposition of Evans as soon as possible because of the attorneys declining health, but they said emails and documents must be disclosed first. The CEO agreement that set Rossis salary and was drafted by Evans is among the documents the plaintiffs attorneys expressed the most interest in, as well as communications that led to Rossi buying out Davies ownership in Reditus. They also filed an amended counterclaim on the civil case Tuesday, adding to two counts against Rossi and adding Rossis affiliate companies, members of his family and attorneys associated with Rossi as defendants, said Peter Lubin, one of Davies attorneys. However, the claim was filed under seal, so further details were not available. During the hearing, Lubin said the reason so many aspects of this case have been filed under seal is because Rossi marked every Reditus financial document as confidential, ensuring any subsequent document that references those finances also would be sealed. They designated all of Reditus financial statements as secret, so the amount of money that he spent on suits, the amount he spent on cars, Lubin said. ... The information is the theft and waste how much money he spent on a printer, how much money he spent on an illicit website, how much money he spent on Lamborghinis, how much money he spent on a building. Its just the financial information on the theft and waste, and theyre saying thats confidential. One of Rossis attorneys, Anne Maire St. Peter-Griffith, objected to Lubins characterization of the financial information. Kouri said he will take a motion under advisement that involves the process of placing filings under seal and will review the procedure. Howard Adelman, the attorney representing Adam Silverman, who is the court-appointed receiver overseeing Reditus Laboratories LLCs financial assets, said since Reditus announced its closure in November, The receiver is selling cold assets now. We have no reason to make an objection to everything being on the public domain now. Previously the receiver was concerned about valuations, but now what were selling is the cold metal the airplane, the fleet of cars so we cant come up with a good faith reason why they need to be held under seal, Adelman said. Lubin said his side was focused on the past what Aaron Rossi did and the financial misdeeds and just putting that into the record adding that they have had witnesses come forward based on this case reaching the public. Theres a benefit to things being public. He argued since the company has closed, Rossis team cannot claim to be protecting trade secrets because Reditus no longer has any trade secrets. Attorneys for Rossi, Evans and Silverman are expected to disclose the company documents to Davie and Herzog in the next few weeks, returning to court Feb. 2, when Kouri will address unresolved confidentiality motions. In an unrelated case, Rossi is awaiting trial on federal charges of tax fraud and mail fraud. He has been accused of filing false tax returns in 2015, 2016 and 2017, and of using funds from his former employer, Central Illinois Orthopedic Surgery, for personal deliveries. You are here: Business An all-cargo aircraft on Tuesday night took off from Diwopu International Airport in Urumqi, the capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, bound for Aktobe in Kazakhstan. It marked the official opening of the cross-border e-commerce all-cargo air route, linking Urumqi with Kazakhstan. The batch of goods totaled 15 tonnes, with a value of over 24.74 million yuan (about 3.65 million U.S. dollars), mainly including daily necessities such as clothes, shoes, and bags. The carrier of the air route, an energy development company in northwest China's Gansu Province, will operate two special flights before the Spring Festival which falls on Jan. 22 this year. How Time Flies is a daily feature looking back at Pantagraph archives to revisit what was happening in our community and region. 100 years ago Jan. 11, 1923: Bloomington appears to be on the eve of a notable year for residential building. Architects and contractors say that inquiries have been numerous and there is every indication that more new homes will be erected this year. W.D. Alexander has secured ownership of a strip of land along Kreitzer Avenue, between Grove and Washington, and proposes to erect a number of fine houses. 75 years ago Jan. 11, 1948: With 10 days elapsed since Central Illinois' damaging sleet and ice storm, workers of the Illinois Telephone Company were still laboring to restore complete phone service, while officials of the Illinois Power Company asserted that they would begin turning from temporary to permanent repairs. In the Bloomington exchange, roughly 2,200 Bloomington-Normal telephones are still out of service. 50 years ago Jan. 11, 1973: Normal's official 1972 population jumped 213 to 31,343 total with the receipt of a final Nov. 1 special census. City Manager David Anderson made the announcement. The figure is an increase of 4,947 over the 1970 number. 25 years ago Jan. 11, 1998: The Woodford County Public Buildings Committee is discussing proposed remodeling plans for the courthouse. At issue has been lack of office space, especially in probation and state's attorney's offices, and virtually no storage space left for archives. Craig Wright, of Wright and Associates of Metamora, said the courthouse attic's old crossed beams were not designed to hold stacks of paper 8 feet deep and the room needed to be sealed until alternative storage is built. 101 years ago: See vintage Pantagraph ads from 1922 Gerthart's Union Gas and Electric Co. Hoover Dr. J.A. Moore Dentists Moberly & Klenner W.P. Garretson W.H. Roland Pease's Candy Thor 32 Electric Washing Machine The Kaiser's Story of the War Ike Livingston & Sons Gossard Corsets Cat'n Fiddle 'Stolen Moments' Case Model X The Johnson Transfer & Fuel Co. The Pantagraph want ads Franklin Motor Car Co. 'A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court' Calumet Baking Powder Mayer Livingston & Co. Newsmarket 'The Emperor Jones' 'California Fig Syrup' The sheriffs of several Central Illinois counties say they will not enforce new legislation banning the sale or possession of semiautomatic weapons. In a letter posted to social media around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, Logan County Sheriff Mark Landers said he believed the law violates the Second Amendment, which he has sworn to uphold. Therefore, as the custodian of the jail and chief law enforcement official for Logan County, neither myself nor my office will be checking to ensure that lawful gun owners register their weapons with the State, he wrote, nor will we be arresting or housing law abiding individuals that have been charged solely with non-compliance of this Act. Sheriffs in DeWitt, La Salle, Woodford, Tazewell, Piatt, Grundy, Ford, Richland and Coles counties followed suit, posting letters with the same or slightly varied wording on their social media pages or via news releases. Lincoln Police Chief Joseph Meister also issued a statement, standing with Landers on the issue and saying he would not disarm the people of Lincoln. "The job of the Lincoln Police Department is not to search the homes of lawful gun owners who have not committed a crime, or ensure that they register their guns with the State Police," he wrote. "If the Legislature, or Governor, choose to enforce this law by targeting lawful gun owners in the City of Lincoln, they will have to use their own police force to do so." The law was signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Tuesday night. It makes Illinois the ninth state, as well as Washington, D.C., to prohibit the sale or possession of semiautomatic weapons. The legislation bans dozens of specific brands or types of rifles and handguns, .50-caliber guns, attachments and rapid-firing devices. No rifle will be allowed to accommodate more than 10 rounds, with a 15-round limit for handguns. Those who already own such guns will have to register them, including serial numbers, with the Illinois State Police. The new law enables merchants to sell or return current stock and Illinois-based manufacturers can sell their wares outside Illinois or to law enforcement. Critics warn the governors signature will trigger court challenges, which will ultimately overturn the law as a violation of the 2nd Amendment. The Associated Press contributed to this story. Photos: Pritzker sworn in for second term Answer: Of the hundreds of acts she hosted at Braden, Barb classifies Connick's as her "Harry Connick Jr. day from hell." In 2004, his act was late upon arrival; the road troupe brought three loads of laundry but one load was lost in laundering and thus Harry had little to wear; a heating malfunction caused Connick's dressing room in Braden to reach more than 90 degrees; there was no hot water for Connick and/or his crew to shower (so Barb booked a nearby hotel for its showers); and a ticketing company overbooked the event and 90 had no place to sit. In fact, they were still wandering around Braden when Connick appeared on stage and asked with a bit of disgust, "Are you still looking for your seat?" All that, according to Barb, was capped by a rainy night when Connick, famous for signing every last autograph request, stood outside his tour bus while Barb stood with an umbrella to shelter him and her own dress, specially purchased at Von Maur, which didn't fare very well against the driving rain. Absa bank is living up to its promise of bringing the possibilities of its customers to life. With over a century heritage in Ghanas banking sector from its erstwhile Barclays brand, the bank continues to find unique ways of entrenching its leadership in the banking and corporate sectors. From today, new and existing customers do not need to go to the branch to open an account. With a click of a button on its website, customers can now open an account without any physical intervention, anywhere, anytime and on any device. Customer needs are changing globally, fueled by fast-paced digital services and products. Progressive banks are racing ahead to find innovative and creative ways to meet these needs in a very competitive banking landscape. In Ghana, the pandemic paved the way for dynamic ways of engaging customers. Suddenly going to the branch became a challenge for some customers; who preferred to stay in the comfort of their homes and conduct transactions. The new service by Absa drastically simplifies the account opening process and provides a huge relief and convenience for, especially new customers of the bank. The platform will also enable SME customers to submit applications online for processing in a seamless manner. Absas Director of Retail Banking, Charles Addo said: We are always listening and innovating to meet the needs of our new and existing customers. The pandemic taught banks a lot of things. The age of branchless banking is here and our digital account opening platform, highlights the extent we are willing to go to make their lives better and more comfortable. A new way of banking is here, and we are excited to be an enabler. New customers can now access the digital account opening web-portal via the Absa Ghana website onhttps://www.Absa.com.gh/personal/bank and click on Tell Me More to begin the process. Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Honorary President of SOLIDAIRE GHANA, Dr. Cadman Atta Mills has projected that the new year will not bring much needed prosperity and development for the people of Ghana. According to him, the economy will continue to struggle, largely as a result of the governments failure to implement much-needed legal and institutional reforms that will help protect the public purse and also checkmate managers of the economy. In his new message to Ghanaians he said: Knowing how difficult the past year was, due to the near collapse of our economy, we would have wished to bring good tidings to the suffering masses of Ghana, ahead of the new year. The brother of Late President Prof John Evans Atta Mills who has been a strong advocate for the adoption of a new constitution blamed the government for the near collapse of the economy in 2022 and demanded that a new legal regime be adopted to avoid that situation in the future. The statement continued: we note that the paradigm shift in Ghanas body politic, that Solidaire Ghana has been calling for, is far from being tabled for a national debate. The systemic reforms underpinning the paradigm shift are condition precedents for the realization of Ghanas attempts to surmount the current economic and governance challenges and be able to build back our economy in record time. Below is the full text of his statement 2023 NEW YEAR MESSAGE Season greetings to the good people of Ghana. Knowing how difficult the past year was, due to the near collapse of our economy, we would have wished to bring good tidings to the suffering masses of Ghana, ahead of the new year. We fervently wish Ghanaians a Happy and Prosperous New Year (2023). But we note that the paradigm shift in Ghanas body politic, that Solidaire Ghana has been calling for, is far from being tabled for a national debate. The systemic reforms underpinning the paradigm shift are condition precedents for the realization of Ghanas attempts to surmount the current economic and governance challenges and be able to build back our economy in record time. We use this opportunity to call on the President Nana Akufo-Addo government, to revisit the Constitutional Reforms started by the Ghanaian government in 2011, in order to bring into fruition the many institutional checks and balances needed for rapid, sustainable and equitable growth. The recommended necessary Constitutional Reforms should be tabled for a national debate and implementation. In this context, we note that the reforms cannot await the political alternation of power! We further demand, that stakeholders be invited to prepare draft bills on Political Party Financing, develop a new Procurement Act and table an enhanced Local Government system that will enhance quality of governance in our dear country. It is our considered view, that the passage of such new laws, will go a long way to help Ghana return to the path of progress and development. Afehyia Pa. Dr. Cadman Atta Mills (Honorary President) Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Former President John Dramani Mahama has urged the citizenry to support the anti-corruption institutions to carry out their duties fairly and courageously without interference. Mr Mahama said this in a Facebook post yesterday in reaction to a recent pronouncement by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo that Akonta Mining Company was not involved in any illegal mining activities anywhere in the country. Recall President Akufo-Addo was said to have made the statement while addressing the Catholic Bishops Conference and 16th Biennial Congress of the National Union of Ghana Catholic Diocesan Priests Association in Koforidua in the Eastern Region on Wednesday (January 4, 2023). 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 activities in any part of the country as we speak, President Akufo-Addo is reported to have said. Reaction However former President Mahama in his Facebook post reaction described as unfortunate how and when President Akufo-Addo made that statement which he (former President Mahama) claimed was to exonerate Akonta Mining, which had been accused of illegal mining in the country's forest reserves. Mr Mahama said President Akufo-Addos 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," he said. Former President Mahama also described as unfortunate President Akufo-Addos penchant to absolve his appointees and other close associates of any wrongdoing that put pressure on state anti-corruption institutions investigating such individuals and entities. Source: graphiconline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video It has emerged that like women, some Ghanaian men are now undergoing cosmetic surgeries to have six packs and what is referred to as man or men boobs. A plastic surgeon at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Dr Nii Ayi Ankrah disclosed this in an interview on myjoyonline.com. He cited the trend called man boobs as one of the most sought-after surgeries by men who want to change their natural looks. Sometimes, men come with what we call men boobs or man boobs. Different reasons can account for it, but that is something that we deal with occasionally. Some do come for liposuction, the new website quoted Dr Ankrah as saying. He went further to reveal that aside from the man or men boobs, some men visit hospitals to seek liposuction to remove fat from specific areas of their bodies. From hair to toe, there are different types of cosmetic procedures. Just on the face, you could deal with, he told Doreen Avio. Explaining the circumstances that compel people into seeking to alter their natural looks to something different through cosmetic surgery, Dr Ankrah said psychological issues cause people to be self-conscious about their body shape, creating a sense of inferiority. He added that the outcomes of some of the cosmetic procedures do not meet the expectations of the patients. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Pulse Ghana (@pulseghana) Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The 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, 2023, 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: class fm Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Let Love Lead organisation (NGO) in collaboration with Peoples Medical Center has organised a free health screening for the people within Mfantsiman municipality and its environs in the Central Region. The free health screening exercise alongside free distribution of medical supplies was held over on December, 2022 attended to over 500 people, including children being screened for various diseases including malaria, hypertension and diabetes. Speaking at the event, the founder of Let Love Lead Organization, Mr. Dawood Akwesi Agyemang Also known as BIG DAWOOD who doubles Nkosuohene Nene Lartey Osakonor 1 Otwe #2 Kokobibiam of Suhum Municipality said last year the two organizations signed an MoU as part of efforts of setting the stage for a variety of health charity interventions, including health screenings for marginalised communities across Ghana and research on ways to improve the lives of disabled people requiring medical attention. He Stressed that the organizations ultimate aim is to make a difference in the lives of the less privileged people in communities by providing access to life's basic needs including healthcare, quality education and other basic human needs. BIG DAWOOD was overwhelmed about the successful outcome of the screening, emphasizing that the screening was a social responsibility of the two foundations to the community. Speaking with journalists after the exercise, Dr Henry Osei Owusu CEO of the Peoples Medical Center noted that the gesture had helped to inform the people on their health statuses. He added that, the exercise was targeted at providing an opportunity for people, especially those who could not afford frequent medical check-ups due to financial constraints, to have access to medical care. He also seized the opportunity to advise all and sundry to be concerned and interested in their health and also go for frequent medical checkups. The Peoples Medical Centre is a licensed Ghanaian healthcare entity, specializing in the provision of professional clinical and home-care health services. It has several outposts across the country and provides critical rapid-response emergency care services. Its aim is to reduce cost by getting rid of expensive consultations, improving patient satisfaction through the avoidance of negligence-induced adverse medical events and providing professional, quality healthcare services. Let Love Lead and the Peoples Medical Centre are committed to working together to save lives by conducting research and creating the necessary interventions to help the aforementioned communities through this landmark collaboration effort. 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. Featured Video Metropolitan Archbishop of the Anglican Church for the province of West Africa, Rev. Dr Cyril Kobina Ben-Smith has given the strongest backing to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo regarding the construction of the controversial National Cathedral. He encouraged the President to remain resolute and carry on with the project in spite of the pessimism and criticism that he faced for embarking upon the project. Rev Dr Ben-Smith, who serves on the Board of the Volta River Authority (VRA), described persons criticizing the project as naysayers, whom the President ought to ignore and go ahead with the project, which bears ample testimony of his devotion to God. Your Excellency, your building of the National Cathedral is a long testimony of your devotion to God and no matter the naysayers it will happen, he assured in a sermon during the Second Presidential New Year Service at the Jubilee House held on January 10, 2023. Drawing analogies from the Bible, Rev Dr Ben-Smith compared President Akufo-Addo to the biblical King David who built a house for God despite opposition. You and other world leaders, King David faced similar challenges that we are still experiencing. The murmuring of the people and lamentation of the crowd, the abuse and lack of understanding of the issues that are clear to allYet David stood resolute, in his conviction in the midst of opposition, he insisted. The building of the National Cathedral has generated considerable controversy following the Governments obfuscation of issues on it and the use of taxpayers money for its building despite initial assurances that except for some seed money, Government revenue was not going to be used. Source: ghanaweb.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video 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. A professor of history and political studies at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Professor Samuel Adu-Gyamfi,says Ghanas Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, possesses a power of personality that extends beyond the confines of his party. Professor Adu Gyamfi, speaking on the state of the NPP Presidential primary, said Bawumia is in control of the race due to his transcendent personality whilst former Trade Minister Alan Kyeremanten and other candidates play catch-up. The professor made his comments during an appearance on TV3s Midday Live on Friday, January 6. Reacting to the resignation of Trade and Industry Minister, Alan Kwadwo Kyeremanten, Adu-Gyamfi said the Minister should have resigned earlier because Bawumia has an iron grip on the primaries. Professor Adu-Gyamfi said the Vice President has a personality that transcends the party, adding he has put in tremendous grassroots work. He cited Bawumias frequent visits to various churches and mosques as part of his outreach. Recently, the Vice President was in the news for refurbishing the historic Tamale Central Mosque. Bawuwmia funded the renovation of the ground floor, second and third floors, the minarets, the penthouse, lighting, painting, and other works. He was mobbed after returning to Tamale to officially hand over the finished project to the mosques authorities. This points towards the Veeps veneration of the needs of the religious community, which is also reflected in the time he spends as a special guest at numerous church programs, all of which undoubtedly informed the Professors analysis. Professor Samuel Adu-Gyamfi is the first trained Social historian of medicine from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi-Ghana. He lectures in the Department of History and Political Studies of same university. He is currently the Head of History and Political Studies of KNUST. Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Editor of the Finder newspaper, Elvis Darko, says the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, is the best chance the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) has to win the 2024 elections. Speaking on Prime Morning Wednesday, January 11th 2022, Mr Darko said Bawumia is the best candidate the NPP can field considering he has been at the forefront of the partys electoral successes in 2016 and 2020. Darko said the NPPs strong gains posted in Northern Ghana are attributable to Dr Bawumia, adding as the Vice President and an economist, he possesses more knowledge about the economy than anyone else in the NPP Presidential primary. NPPs best chance is Dr. Bawumia because he is the Vice President and if every candidate that is coming is going to run on the record of the NPP, who is the best person to run on that record? Its the Vice President because he has been involved in the state of affairs. He is the one that has done all this that the party is going to run on in the 2024 election, he said. He added that the NPP need to break the perception of being a tribalist party due to always fielding an Akan candidate, opining Theyre on the wrong path. Darko added that Bawumias achievements make him the perfect candidate to break that perception about the NPP. The Finder Editor added that considering no Muslim has ever been elected President of Ghana, the NPP stands to gain strong Islamic support if they are brave enough to name Dr Bawumia as flagbearer. The ruling party would elect its flagbearer later this year in a keenly contested field consisting of Bawumia, former Trade Minister Alan Kyeremanten, brash Assin Central Member of Parliament, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, among others. Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video PRINCE Harry has revealed he had sex with Meghan Markle at Soho House after sneaking into the flashy venue in a freight lift. In his controversial memoir, the Duke of Sussex, 38, recalled waiting "breathlessly" outside Meghan's hotel room until she opened the door and "pulled me inside". Harry told how the couple reunited in the London hotel after spending weeks apart in the summer of 2016. The royal said he and Meghan - who were nearly two months into their relationship at the time - spent the steamy night at Soho House on the anniversary of the death of his mother, Princess Diana. Harry explained how Meghan had told him to meet her at the hotel where she was staying - and instructed him to take a secret way to the hotel and use a freight lift. He then met a friend of hers named Vanessa, who led him up to her hotel door. Harry recalled how Meghan then opened the door and reached out for him. "Her arms were reaching for me," he wrote in his book, Spare. "She pulled me inside and thanked her friend in one fluid motion, then slammed the door quickly before anyone saw. "I want to say we hung a 'Do Not Disturb' sign on the door. But I don't think there was time." He also told how he hid under the covers of their bed when room service was delivered the next morning. "Meg whispered to go into the bathroom but I preferred my hiding place," he wrote. The breakfast was delivered by the hotel assistant manager - who stayed for a chat with Meghan. "He didn't notice the prince-shaped lump under the duvet," Harry said. "He talked and talked, and caught her up on the latest, while I, in my duvet cave, started to run out of air." The pair had just been on their romantic getaway to Botswana - but had spent time apart as Harry had been a long holiday with pals. Meghan had flown into London to meet him and Harry told how she texted him while he was laying flowers on his mum's grave at Althorp with William. Harry drove back to London with William and met up with Meghan later that day. In his memoir, Harry also revealed he had a bespoke penis "cushion" made for a trip to Antarctica to protect him from frostbite. He said he was presented with the custom-made device by a "close mate" ahead of a 335km charity hike for injured veterans in 2013. Harry said his pal sent it to him after he suffered "frostnip" on his penis during a similar charity event in the Arctic in 2011. His memoir, published on Tuesday, has shocked the world - with the Duke launching savage attacks on the royal family. Source: The Sun Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Jungceylon, Patong, Phuket has prepared to celebrate its Joyful Kids Day 2023 with the theme of Secret of the Jungle, which premiered for family time. Fulfilling leisure time with exquisite creatures in the flesh and enjoying multiple activities, including Meet Jungceylons fantastic animals, Siberian Eagle Owl, one of the giant nocturnal birds of prey in the world, White-faced Scop Owl-the miniature owl, Sulcata Tortoise-African spurred tortoise, Alligator Snapping Turtle-freshwater turtle, Marmoset-the smallest monkey, Tegu-four feet large, long lizard, also Meerkat, Parrydog, Patagonian mara, Hairless guinea pig, and so on. Take a picture with the event highlight, Stellers sea eagle, one of the largest raptors overall. Amaze with its broad 2.5 meters wingspan. Enjoy workshop making Cute Animal Mask and partake in jungle games and get a chance to win prizes. Shop at kiosks exclusive for animal lovers Everyone is warmly welcome to join the Joyful Kids Day 2023 Secret of the Jungle at Jungceylon. Please be available on 12 15 January 2023, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., at The Bay Arena, Jungceylon, Patong, Phuket. For further information, please follow Jungceylons Facebook Page or phone at 076-600-111 (Free to Join!!!) 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: Statue of Mary Anning. Credit: Wikimedia Commons A short biography of pioneering scientist Mary Anning, written in the final ten years of her life, has been made public for the very first time. Penned by George Roberts (18041860), who ran a private school opposite Anning's fossil shop in Lyme Regis, and preserved in the Special Collections of the University of Bristol Library, the work has been published by Dr. Michael Taylor of National Museums Scotland and University of Leicester and Professor Michael Benton of Bristol's School of Earth Sciences. Mary Anning (17991847) of Lyme Regis has been the subject of recent books and films, such as Tracy Chevalier's Remarkable Creatures, and Ammonite, in which she was portrayed by Kate Winslet, because of her importance in the early days of palaeontology. She collected some of the first marine reptilesichthyosaurs and plesiosaursfrom the Jurassic period of the Dorset coast. Noted professors relied on her work to provide insights into the life of the past. Mary Anning has become an icon of the often-forgotten contributions of women to science, and the campaign to get children, especially girls, interested in geology. But, in her day, she was a curiosity, another poor person in the Regency seaside resort of Lyme Regis. "When the Library sent me a copy of the four-page manuscript, I found that it was based partly on a passage in Roberts's history of Lyme Regis," said Dr. Taylor. "Roberts wrote books like 'The Beauties of Lyme Regis' for tourists, and he collected interesting pieces of information. We were able to confirm Anning expert Hugh Torrens's suggestion that it was by Roberts, by identifying Roberts's handwriting, and comparing the corrections and even a mistake with a particular date which Roberts had handwritten into his own copy of his history. So, it wasn't just someone else copying from his book. It looks as if it was written as a dictionary entry or a section for a future book." "This memoir is valuable," said Prof Benton. "One or two visitors to Lyme Regis mentioned Mary Anning and her little fossil shop, and she was obviously widely known to natural scientists in London, Bristol, Oxford, and Cambridge. But normally they would not enquire into her life in any detail. Admittedly though, when she died at the relatively young age of 48, she had obituaries in various papers and scientific journals." Dr. Taylor said, "These short obituaries were often copied from one written by George Roberts. George Roberts lived in Lyme Regis and met her many times. He describes how she was struck by lightning as a baby, and then how at the age of about ten she began collecting fossils, and how she sold her first find, an ammonite to a passing lady in the street for half a crown." A page from the manuscript which includes details of Mary Anning being struck by lightning as a baby. Credit: Special Collections, University of Bristol There are further details of her discoveries of fossil reptiles, including the first ichthyosaur fossil studied by scientists. It was described by Sir Everard Home in 1818. Mary Anning was granted a government annuity of 25 per year in 1836 thanks to an intervention by Fellows of the Geological Society of London, and she died of breast cancer in 1847. "We dated the manuscript as written some time in 183747," added Dr. Taylor, "because there is an '1837' watermark in the paper, and Anning was described as a 'living worthy'. Later, Roberts took the manuscript, deleted mention of Anning as alive, and added information on her death to make it into an obituary, presumably just after she died. But it seems never to have been published at its full length." Prof Benton concluded: "We are very pleased that we are able to publish the document in full. "In the paper, we show detailed photographs of all four pages of the document, as well as our reading of the various versions and modifications. George Roberts was the locally-based author who reported the news from Lyme Regis to various newspapers and wrote his own books, so it makes complete sense that he would have written about Mary Anning as a well-known celebrity of the town." "The life of Mary Anning, fossil collector of Lyme Regis: a contemporary biographical memoir by George Roberts" by Michael A. Taylor and Michael J. Benton is published in the Journal of the Geological Society. More information: The life of Mary Anning, fossil collector of Lyme Regis: a contemporary biographical memoir by George Roberts, Journal of the Geological Society (2023). www.lyellcollection.org/doi/10.1144/jgs2022-053 Journal information: Journal of the Geological Society 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: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain As humans, we share many characteristics with bonobos, who together with chimpanzees are the ape species that are most closely related to us. There are a lot of similarities in our social behavior, but also some remarkable differences. New research from Leiden University and the University of Amsterdam, in collaboration with the Apenheul, shows that both bonobos and humans are more interested in photos of conspecifics that show emotion than neutral photos. But while our human attention is more easily drawn to photos of family members and friends that express certain emotions, the attention of bonobos is drawn to the emotion of individuals they don't know. Scientists like to study the behavior and other characteristics of bonobos and chimpanzees, in order to gain more insight into our own evolutionary history. That is also what drove Evy van Berlo when she decided to look at the evolutionary basis of emotions in humans and closely related great apes for her Ph.D. research. Van Berlo is now working as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Amsterdam but conducted her Ph.D. research at Leiden University. For one of her studies, together with lead researcher Mariska Kret of Leiden University and with assistance of the bonobo caretakers at the Dutch zoo Apenheul, she looked at how bonobos and humans react to photos of conspecifics with different types of emotional expressions. The results of that study have now appeared in the journal Emotion. Van Berlo trained bonobos in the Apenheul, a zoo fully focused on primates, to press a dot on a screen. After touching the dot, two images appeared very briefly. The images showed bonobos from the same group as well as unfamiliar conspecifics. Some images were neutral, while others showed an expression or activity clearly associated with a type of emotion, such as fear, play, or sex. A dot then again appeared behind one of these two images, and the apes had to touch it as quickly as possible. Pressing the dot was then followed by a reward in the form of a piece of apple. The system kept track of how quickly the bonobos pressed the dot that appeared after seeing the different photos. The idea behind this study was that apes would be faster at touching the dot that appears behind the photo that immediately grabs attention. 'Can you react faster than a bonobo?' Van Berlo and her colleagues also conducted a similar study with human visitors of the Apenheul. The people were presented with the same task, with photos of strangers or a person with whom they visited the zoo that day, and with varying facial expressions on the photos (neutral, happy, scared, angry, etc.). The challenge for the human visitors was, "Can you react faster than a bonobo?" Reaction time was also examined here, with a shorter reaction time being interpreted as the result of the photo shown at that moment drawing the most attention. "In these studies, we saw that both humans and bonobos react more quickly to photos of conspecifics with an emotional charge than neutral photos," says Van Berlo. "That is what we expected: it makes sense given that we are both social animals. Yet there was also a remarkable difference. We humans are mainly focused on emotionally charged photos of people we know, while the attention of bonobos is focused on studying emotionally charged photos of unfamiliar others." Evolutionary difference This finding fits with previous studies that show that bonobos are a so-called xenophilic animal species: they are more attracted to unfamiliar than familiar conspecifics. For example, unlike humans, they will share food more quickly with bonobos that are strangers to them than with individuals they know. Van Berlo says, "Scientists have suggested that this is an evolutionary difference that has arisen due to differences in the living environment. Bonobos live in a relatively stable ecological environment in Congo, where there is enough food available. Under those circumstances, there is less need for competition with other groups and peaceful interaction with strangers might even be beneficial for the conservation of the species. Early humans, on the other hand, lived in nomadic groups that had to compete with other groups of humans for food. Under such circumstances, it is probably evolutionarily more beneficial to favor individuals from your own group over strangers." According to Van Berlo, it would be interesting to repeat this study with other great apes. Bonobos are known as the most peaceful ape species. In appearance, bonobos are very similar to chimpanzeesthey were formerly known as pygmy chimpanzeesbut their social organization and behavior are very different. For example, chimpanzees are a lot more competitive. And with chimpanzees, males are at the head of a group, while in bonobo groups the females are dominant and in charge. Van Berlo says, "It would be nice to test how other primates with different social organizations view emotional expressions of familiar group members and strangers through a similar study. With chimpanzees, for example, I would expect them to be more interested in the emotions of individuals they know than the emotions of strangers." More information: Evy van Berlo et al, Attention toward emotions is modulated by familiarity with the expressor: A comparison between bonobos and humans., Emotion (2023). DOI: 10.1037/emo0000882 Journal information: Emotion 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: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain The Cayman Islands has announced it will start culling feral cats to help save a dwindling colony of brown booby birds. The islands' Department of Environment said the culling will take place in the eastern region of Cayman Brac island, where only 13 brown booby fledglings out of 42 eggs survived last year. Officials said Tuesday that they will launch a humane trap and euthanasia program to help protect a new nesting season that is underway. They said any microchipped cats caught in the traps will be returned to identifiable owners. Brown boobies breed in the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico, building nests only in the ground. They are not considered an endangered species worldwide. 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. 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: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain As China prepares to celebrate new year on January 22, luxury brands are gearing up for the year of the rabbit with an array of luxury rabbit-themed goods: a 29,000 gold and diamond-encrusted rabbit watch by Dior, perhaps, or an 850 floppy-eared hat from Burberry. Japanese streetwear brand Ambush has reportedly sold out of its 380 pink bunny balaclavas. The target market? China's 400 million-strong army of young consumers, who have the power to make or break foreign brands seeking their fortune in China. Like their western peers, China's "Gen Z" consumers are avid users of social media, but that is where the similarities end. This generation has grown up during China's rapid economic development in the 2000s and 2010s, which is a marked contrast to their peers in the west, who came of age in the shadow of the 2008 financial crisis. As a result, they have been characterized as being more confident and better educated than previous generations. Another notable characteristic of this generation has been its size, being one of the largest generations since the baby boomers in Europe and North America. The parallels between the two have been readily apparent with both enjoying significant cultural, economic and political influence, with China's Gen Z being labeled as the next "baby boomers." As a result, China's young adults are well placed to influence future decisions, which will be based on their world view. Questions about how they will use their influence have already been askedand the answer can be seen in their habits as consumers. China chic One of the most notable signs of this has been in the rise of guochao (), roughly translated as "national wave." Brands from this movement have sought to combine Chinese traditions with modern designs. This emerged from Li Ning's Wu Dao collection, showcased at New York's Fashion Week in 2018. Li's Taoist-inspired designs have marked a wider trend for Chinese consumers to embrace domestic brands. Guochao's success has been illustrative of several developments within China. Firstly, it shows how consumer habits have changed, with more younger consumers wanting to see their culture incorporated into consumer goods, favoring local brands over foreign ones. This reflects a different view of Chinese identity among Gen Z and millennials for whom China has always been a strong nation that rivals the western world. Guochao's efforts to redefine the meaning of "Made in China" strikes a chord as it aims to move away from its association with cheap, poor-quality products that were the hallmark of the early days of China's development. As a result, the consumer habits of younger Chinese have not only shaped China's perceived identity but has presented a notable challenge for foreign brands. Another development that has illustrated the influence of younger Chinese consumers has been the popularity of traditional clothing, most notably the traditional long sleeved robe, the hanfu (). The market for the costume has grown significantly and is expected to be worth US$1.85 billion (1.54 billion) in 2022. As with guochao, hanfu fever has also been driven by younger consumers, with TV period dramas and social media platforms playing a notable role in popularizing the costume. This was demonstrated by how hanfu-related content has been viewed 47.7 million times on Douyin (Tik Tok). Young Chinese consumers have popularized a costume that had once been the preserve of a small number of enthusiasts. In keeping with guochao, the popularity of the hanfu has also been illustrative of a wider effort to redefine China's identity by tapping into vintage tropes. This has been typical of newly affluent and confident societies which seek to reshape their identity into one that is in keeping with their perceived statusmost notably South Korea at the height of its cultural influence and Japan during its long postwar economic boom. A tougher customer The most obvious challenge posed by young Chinese consumers has been in how they favor domestic brands over foreign ones. This has often been interpreted as a form of "consumer nationalism," most notably in the boycotts against Nike and Adidas in 2021 over their decision not to use cotton from Xinjiang province. The fact that neither brand has fully recovered its position in the Chinese market illustrates the potency of this. Coincidentally, it was this backlash that would see Chinese brands such as Anta and Li Ning Co outpace their western rivals) for the first time since their entry to the Chinese market. In this way, shopping has become another outpost of politics. This consumer nationalism is a reflection of a broader disenchantment among young people with the west, revealed in the way many have begun to perceive nationsmost notably the USas foes. Such a change was noted by a 2022 study from the University of Oxford, which found that Chinese people born after 1990 are more likely to hold negative views of the US. It's important to note that rather than being the result of top-down anti-western state propaganda, this antipathy is largely driven by western anti-China sentiment as promulgated, for example, by former president Donald Trump during his term of office. This is likely to place greater pressure on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to take a more assertive stance towards the west. And a future politburo made up of millennials and Gen Z may also result in a more confrontational China. In both business and politics, foreign conceptsbe they fashion items or western-style democracyno longer have the same appeal that they enjoyed with previous generations. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. 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: Figure 1: African Manufacturing Trade with China. China is now the African continent's largest trading partner, accounting for US$254 billion in 2021. It's also the main country of origin for African manufacturing imports, providing 16% of Africa's total in 2018. In most African countries the influx of Chinese products has become a major concern because of the implications for industrialization. A flood of cheaper Chinese products could set back Africa's infant or domestic industries. Domestic manufacturers that couldn't compete would be forced to exit the market and would not create jobs. There are serious implications for the continent's economic development, because industrialization is widely seen as critical to improving living standards. There are also concerns about the impact Chinese manufactured exports are having on wages in importing countries. We explored these issues in a recent paper. We analyzed the relationship between Chinese import competition and labor market outcomes as they related to women and men workers in Ethiopia. We merged a rich data set on manufacturing firms with trade data between 1997 and 2010. We mapped out the effect of import surges on labor force participation and compensation. The impact of the influx of Chinese products in Ethiopia on employment and wages differed for men and women, we found. Employment levels declined overall for male and female manufacturing workers. But women bore a disproportionate burden. Manufacturing firms exposed to increased Chinese competition employed fewer female production workers than men. Our findings matter because equality in the labor market is a starting point to improve women's economic and social status. It also helps to improve their bargaining power in households. Chinese imports and gender The rise of Chinese imports has come at a time when most African countries have very low industrialization levels. Manufacturing's share of GDP in sub-Saharan Africa declined from 17% in 1995 to 10% in 2010, before recovering slightly to 12% in 2021. Participation in global value chains is another measure of industrial development. The continent's is still very low. Africa participates in global trade mostly by exporting natural resources and primary products. It's therefore important to look closely at the impact of Chinese trade relations on employment in the manufacturing sector. The comparison between male and female employment and wages is particularly notable for policy makers. Evidence shows African women lagging behind men in most measures of economic opportunity. Women's participation in the labor market is lower than men's. And women workers earn less than men. China and Ethiopia China is the largest source of imports for Ethiopia. Figure 1 shows that Ethiopia imports more manufacturing commodities from China, in terms of percentage of GDP, than any other sub-Saharan African country. Ethiopia's share of GDP spent on Chinese imports shot up from almost zero in 1996 to 15% in 2015. Under competitive pressure from imported goods, Ethiopian firms usually lay off female production workers rather than males. Also, in labor-intensive jobs, firms have a preference for men because of their physical strength. Total male employment hasn't been adversely affected by the Chinese import competition. But wages of men in firms facing greater import competition from China have decreased. This implies that Ethiopian manufacturing firms cope with competition by cutting down on female employment and reducing male wages. As low-wage competition from China has increased, Ethiopian manufacturing firms have reduced female production workers. This is most pronounced in firms that rely heavily on labor-intensive methods of production. Lessons from the Ethiopian case Africa's trade relationship with China isn't entirely negative for the continent. African countries have the potential to benefit from their trade relationship with China as well. Cheaper imports from China have the potential to generate jobs in wholesale and retail trade. Chinese import competition can potentially boost the incomes and job opportunities of women in informal retail trading in Africa. In addition, if imports from China are dominated by inputs such as capital goods or heavy industrial machines, this could potentially boost the manufacturing sector in Africa. But lessons from the Sino-Ethiopian relationship point to the need for African policymakers and leaders to be strategic in their interaction with China, to achieve mutual benefit. African industrialization must not be sacrificed on the altar of cheap consumer goods from China or a one-sided trade relationship. The Africa Continental Free Trade Area can be used to achieve Africa's industrialization, economic integration and transformation. The free trade area can address market fragmentation, the small size of national economies, the lack of industrial capacity and the exportation of primary commodities to traditional markets of the north. The industrial policies of African states must ensure that Chinese manufacturing investment diffuses technology to local manufacturing firms. It is especially important for African leaders to prevent the use of Chinese investment as a conduit to flood the market with cheap Chinese manufacturing imports that undermine local manufacturing. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. When Jia Zengguang, a business owner in Weihai, Shandong province learned that blood and platelet donations were critically needed, he took a high-speed train to Jinan on Dec 31 and donated two doses of platelets. "There was no need to hesitate," said the 32-year-old Jia, who has been donating blood and platelets regularly during the past decade. "Jinan, as the province's capital, has a bigger demand for blood than other cities," he said. Jia is not alone. Growing numbers of people are rolling up their sleeves at blood donation centers. The reasons for a previous decline in the number of blood donors included COVID-19, seasonal illnesses like cold and influenza, and chilly weather, according to notices calling for donations. January is the hardest month for Hohhot in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, said Zhang Shuo, director of the region's blood bank. "In January, Hohhot needs 150 units of blood every day, which requires 100 to 120 people to donate," said Zhang. On the Chinese mainland, each unit represents 200 millimeters of blood. People can donate one or two units. On Dec 28, a request for blood donations for a 9-month-old boy who was receiving medical treatment for leukemia in Hohhot went viral. The boy's father, Li Yue, 28, was desperate for help and so published a video online. His cry was heard, and people rushed to donate for the boy within two days. Many warmhearted residents came to help, the father said, adding that a stranger donated twice for his boy and even donated the 100 yuan ($15) he received from the blood center for nutrition. Li was grateful but expressed his concern that his boy needs regular donations and that he continues to call on people for the next transfusions. Wu Xiandeng, a doctor at Jinan Second People's Hospital, donated 400 milliliters on Jan 2. "My wife told me my blood type A is critically needed, and she encouraged me to donate," said Wu. "We are doing everything we can to increase blood donations to ensure patients can receive timely medical treatments. And more people are needed," said Geng Xiufeng, who works at the information office of the Jinan blood supply center. 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: Chinese workers are part of most Chinese government-funded projects in Africa. Credit: Wikimedia Commons China has rapidly become Africa's most important infrastructure builder, and the footprint of Chinese construction companies is seen in cities, towns and villages across the continent. With the launch of Beijing's "Go Global" policy in 2000, and President Xi Jinping's Belt and Road Initiative in 2013, the volume of roads, bridges, railways, power stations and other infrastructure built by China has increased markedly. The number of overseas contracts signed by Chinese companies more than doubled from just under 6,000 in 2004 to almost 12,000 in 2019. In 2019, Chinese companies won over US$250 billion of infrastructure contracts around the world, paid for by the Chinese government, international institutions and host governments. Chinese firms won over 30% of public works contracts funded by the World Bank, one of the world's largest infrastructure financiers. Chinese records also show that the number of Chinese citizens dispatched to work on infrastructure projects increased almost five-fold, from a global total of 79,000 in 2002 to 368,000 in 2019 (with a peak of 405,000 in 2015). Of these, around one quarter were recorded in sub-Saharan Africa, while one-third were in the Middle East and north Africa region. The presence of large numbers of Chinese workers laboring on these projects is one of the most controversial aspects of China's economic engagement with Africa and the wider world. Chinese workers have been accused of taking job opportunities from locals, undercutting labor standards by being willing to work for longer hours and with fewer rest days, and being the source of culture clashes. A 2021 meta-analysis of Chinese labor practices in Africa found evidence of tense labor relations driven in part by practices such as weekend work and dormitory systems. These are common practice in China but not in many African economies. However, the debate on Chinese workers underplays the agency of host governments. After all, they make local laws and issue work visas. Our research covering 195 countries explored whether different types of host regime were more likely or less likely to allow Chinese workers in or force Chinese companies to hire locally. We found that democratic governments were much more prone to limiting the number of Chinese workers in the infrastructure sector in the face of potential domestic opposition to those workers. The opposite was true in more authoritarian countries. This means that the long-term economic benefits that Chinese-built infrastructure brings are likely to be limited in authoritarian countries. It also gives rise to the possibility that local dissatisfaction with the lack of job opportunities complicates the political relations between China and the host country. China's overseas infrastructure builders Prior research has shown that Chinese companies like to bring their own workers because they require less training, work efficiently and help to avoid difficult labor relations issues. However, the number of Chinese workers varies a lot across different host countries. For example, Algeria has long hosted huge numbers of Chinese citizens building infrastructure. Others, like Ghana, have relatively few, despite China playing a large role in the country's infrastructure sector. There has been remarkably little quantitative research on the factors shaping the number of Chinese workers completing infrastructure projects in different countries. Our research, using data gathered from Chinese statistical yearbooks (many of which are available only in mainland China), aimed to address this gap in knowledge. The starting point of our research was that it matters how policymakers assess and pursue their interests. In democracies, governments face more pressure to ensure that construction projects deliver local jobs. They run the risk that opposition groups can use the presence of foreign workers as an issue to stir up opposition to the government. Therefore, they are more likely to force Chinese firms to hire locally, even if it means projects are completed more slowly. Autocrats, on the other hand, do not face the same electoral pressures. Instead, their interest lies in completing construction projects quickly and efficiently. Doing so boosts their "performance-based legitimacy"citizens accept them because they get things done. Foreign workers, who are politically neutral, provide a convenient way to do this. The evidence Our analysis used data gathered from 195 host countries and territories. It showed strong empirical evidence that democracies host significantly fewer Chinese workers than autocracies, all other things being equal. The results hold up using a variety of different statistical modeling techniques. We also explored two case studies: Ghana and Algeria. In Ghana, a vibrant democracy, we found that both the country's main political parties faced pressure to ensure Chinese-built projects delivered local jobs. For example, in the construction of the Bui Dam, the agreement between Sinohydro, the Chinese state-owned behemoth contracted to complete the project, and the Ghanaian government stipulated that a certain proportion of the workforce would be local. Unlike many governments, Ghana's tends to limit foreign workers in practice as well as on paper. In Algeria, on the other hand, Chinese labor has been used to quickly complete projects seen as politically expedient. Algeria is a "hybrid" regime that was ruled by a single man, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, from 1999 to 2019. Even when domestic discontent over Chinese workers prompted measures to limit their presence, the measures were not implemented. Why this matters Our findings have several important implications. First, host country agency is important. Host governments have the ability to ensure Chinese companies hire locally. Second, projects that hire locally may bring more long-term economic benefit to host countries. This can happen both directly through the jobs that they create, and via knowledge and technology transfers into the wider economy. Our analysis therefore suggests that the wider developmental benefits of Chinese built infrastructure may actually be stronger in democracies than in autocracies. Finally, there's an implication for China's foreign policy and diplomatic relations. Many Chinese citizens are in autocratic countries where they may be welcomed by leaders but resented by the local population. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. 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: Astronomers have charted the magnetic field of the Local Bubble using data obtained by Planck and Gaia. Here, the short pink and purple vector lines on the surface of the bubble represent the orientation of the magnetic field discovered. The bubble sits within the Milky Way galaxy. Credit: Theo O'Neill / World Wide Telescope Astronomers at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA) have unveiled a first-of-its-kind map that could help answer decades-old questions about the origins of stars and the influences of magnetic fields in the cosmos. The map reveals the likely magnetic field structure of the Local Bubblea giant, 1,000-light-year-wide hollow in space surrounding our Sun. Like a hunk of Swiss cheese, our galaxy is full of these so-called superbubbles. The explosive supernova deaths of massive stars blow up these bubbles, and in the process, concentrate gas and dustthe fuel for making new starson the bubbles' outer surfaces. These thick surfaces accordingly serve as rich sites for subsequent star and planet formation. Scientists' overall understanding of superbubbles, however, remains incomplete. With the new 3D magnetic field map, researchers now have novel information that could better explain the evolution of superbubbles, their effects on star formation and on galaxies writ large. "Putting together this 3D map of the Local Bubble will help us examine superbubbles in new ways," says Theo O'Neill, who led the mapmaking effort during a 10-week, NSF-sponsored summer research experience at the CfA while still an undergraduate at the University of Virginia (UVA). Scientists have unveiled the first-of-its-kind map of a magnetic field in space. Specifically, the team has charted the magnetic field of our Local Bubble in 3D. The new strategy for tracing magnetized structures in 3D will help address key questions about the influence of magnetic fields in the cosmos. Credit: T. O'Neill, A. Goodman, J. Soler, J. Han and C. Zucker. "Space is full of these superbubbles that trigger the formation of new stars and planets and influence the overall shapes of galaxies," continues O'Neill, who graduated from UVA in December 2022 with a degree in astronomy-physics and statistics. "By learning more about the exact mechanics that drive the Local Bubble, in which the Sun lives today, we can learn more about the evolution and dynamics of superbubbles in general." Along with colleagues, O'Neill presented the findings at the American Astronomical Society's 241st annual meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 11, in Seattle, Washington. 3D interactive figures and a pre-print of the research are currently available on Authorea . The research was conducted at CfA under the mentorship of Harvard professor and CfA astronomer Alyssa Goodman, in collaboration with Catherine Zucker, a Harvard Ph.D. astronomy alumna, Jesse Han, a Harvard Ph.D. student and Juan Soler, a magnetic field expert in Rome. "From a basic physics standpoint, we've long known that magnetic fields must play important roles in many astrophysical phenomena," says Goodman, who wrote her Ph.D. thesis on the importance of cosmic magnetic fields thirty years ago. "But studying these magnetic fields has been notoriously difficult. The difficulty perpetually drives me away from magnetic field work, but then new observational tools, computational methods and enthusiastic colleagues tempt me back in. Today's computer simulations and all-sky surveys may just finally be good enough to start really incorporating magnetic fields into our broader picture of how the universe works, from the motions of tiny dust grains on up to the dynamics of galaxy clusters." The Local Bubble has emerged as a hot topic in astrophysics by virtue of being the superbubble in which the Sun and our Solar System now find themselves. In 2020, the Local Bubble's 3D geometry was initially worked out by researchers based in Greece and France. Then in 2021, Zucker, now of Space Telescope Science Institute, Goodman, Joao Alves of the University of Vienna, and their team showed that the Local Bubble's surface is the source of all nearby, young stars. Those studies, along with the new 3D magnetic field map, have relied on data in part from Gaia, a space-based observatory launched by the European Space Agency (ESA). While measuring the positions and motions of stars, Gaia was used to infer the location of cosmic dust as well, charting its local concentrations and showing the approximate boundaries of the Local Bubble. These data were combined by O'Neill and colleagues with data from Planck, another ESA-led space telescope. Planck, which carried out an all-sky survey from 2009 to 2013, was primarily designed to observe the Big Bang's relic light. In the process, the spacecraft compiled measurements of microwave wavelength light from all over the sky. The researchers used a portion of Planck observations that trace emission from dust within the Milky Way relevant to helping map the Local Bubble's magnetic field. Specifically, the observations of interest consisted of polarized light, meaning light that vibrates in a preferred direction. This polarization is produced by magnetically aligned dust particles in space. The alignment of the dust in turn speaks to the orientation of the magnetic field acting upon the dust particles. Mapping the magnetic field lines in this way enabled researchers working on the Planck data to compile a 2D map of the magnetic field projected on to the sky as seen from Earth. In order to morph or "de-project" this map into three spatial dimensions, the researchers made two key assumptions: First, that most of the interstellar dust producing the polarization observed lies in the Local Bubble's surface. And, second, that theories predicting that the magnetic field would be "swept up" into the bubble's surface as it expands are correct. O'Neill subsequently carried out the complicated geometrical analysis needed to create the 3D magnetic field map during the summer CfA internship. Goodman likens the research team to pioneering mapmakers who created some of the first maps of Earth. "We've made some big assumptions to create this first 3D map of a magnetic field; it's by no means a perfect picture," she says. "As technology and our physical understanding improve, we will be able to improve the accuracy of our map and hopefully confirm what we are seeing." The 3D view of magnetic whorls that emerged represent the magnetic field structure of our neighborhood superbubble, if the field was indeed swept-up into the bubble's surface, and if most of the polarization is produced there. The research team further compared the resulting map to features along the Local Bubble's surface. Examples included the Per-Tau Shell, a giant spherical region of star formation, and the Orion molecular cloud complex, another prominent stellar nursery. Future studies will examine the associations between magnetic fields and these and other surface features. "With this map, we can really start to probe the influences of magnetic fields on star formation in superbubbles," says Goodman. "And for that matter, get a better grasp on how these fields influence numerous other cosmic phenomena." Because magnetic fields only affect the movement and orientation of charged particles in astrophysical environments, Goodman says there has been a tendency to set aside the fields' influence when building simulations and theories where gravitywhich acts on all matteris the primary force at play. Further discouraging its inclusion, magnetism can be a fiendishly complex force to model. This omission of magnetic fields' influence, while understandable, often leaves out a key factor controlling motions of gas in the universe. These motions include gas flowing onto stars as they form, and flowing away from stars in powerful jets emanating from them as they gather matter into a planet-forming disk. Even if the effect of magnetic fields is miniscule from moment-to-moment in the low-density environments where stars form, given the millions-of-year timescales it takes to gather gas and turn it into stars, magnetic effects can plausibly add up to something substantial over time. Goodman, O'Neill, and their colleagues look forward to finding out. "I've had a great experience doing this research at CfA and assembling something new and exciting with this 3D magnetic map," says O'Neill. "I hope this map is a starting point for expanding our understanding of the superbubbles throughout our galaxy." 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: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain South Florida has always been hot, rainy and vulnerable to hurricanes. So it's understandable that some longtime residents remain skeptical that climate change is doing anything to make the region's age-old problems any worse. But scientists at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) delivered a clear message Monday at the American Meteorological Society's annual meeting in Denver: Climate change isunequivocallymaking extreme weather events worse. In fact, scientists can now go a step further and show that specific weather disasters were more likely or more damaging because we live in a hotter climate. At the meeting, scientists presented case studies of heat waves, droughts and extreme rainfall events that were influenced by climate change over the past two years in the U.S., South Korea, China and other countries. A collection of these studies was also published Monday in a special report from the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. "Oftentimes extreme events are the face of climate change," said Stephanie Herring, a climate scientist at NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information and one of the editors of the report. "We may not notice in our day-to-day lives a small change in global average temperature, but those small changes in global average temperature have huge impacts on ... the frequency and intensity of these extreme events." A study published in the wake of Hurricane Ian's destructive romp across Florida, for example, claimed that the storm produced 10% more rain than it would have in a world without climate change. Sea level rise helped Hurricane Irma flood 35,000 extra Florida homes, according to another study published in 2018. The first paper to make an argument about the impact of climate change on a specific disaster examined a heat wave that gripped Europe in the summer of 2003, killing at least 30,000 people. The study, published a year later in the top scientific journal Nature, claimed that the probability of such a heat wave had doubled because of climate change. It was the first paper in the field of "attribution science," which aims to determine how climate change made specific disasters more likely or more severe. "As we look back on the 20th anniversary of this field, one of the things that has become abundantly clear is that the discussion over whether climate change impacts extreme events is over," said Herring. It does, she said, "and that debate, in our minds, has been closed." For heat waves, the science is especially straightforward: A hotter climate leads to more extreme heat. Researchers were able to show that a 2021 heat wave in South Korea, which brought on two weeks of summer weather in mid-October, would have been "effectively impossible" without climate change, according to Texas state climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon, one of the editors of the American Meteorological Society's special report. Miami-Dade County has also seen extremely hot days become more common: In the 1960s, the county got about 85 days a year when the temperature rose above 90 degrees. Now it's about 133 days a year, and that number is expected to rise to 187 days a year by mid-century. For hurricanes, the science is fuzzier. Researchers believe a hotter climate will create fewer but more powerful hurricanes. They also predict these storms will produce more rain and become more likely to rapidly intensify before making landfall. But, because we only see a few hurricanes per year, and because we've only been tracking hurricanes via satellite since the 1970s, scientists don't have much data to work with. By contrast, humans have been recording heat measurements every day for centuries. So we'll be waiting for years before scientists can pinpoint the impact of climate change on hurricanes as accurately as they can for heat waves. Attribution science has already come a long way, though. "This has been a field that has just changed dramatically over time," Herring said. "We used to say, 'Well, you can never attribute a single event to climate change.' And now we do. We had that time period where we said, 'Someday in the future, we will see events that were only possible because of greenhouse gases.' That day came and went five years ago." As the science continues to improve, Herring said, we'll get a clearer picture of how climate change is turbocharging extreme weatherand what we can do to prepare and adapt. 2023 Miami Herald. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. 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: Overfishing is a persistent threat, particularly in the Mediterranean and Black seas. Credit: Dimitris Vetsikas via Pixabay Digital advances will increase the sustainability of global fisheries and preserve marine ecosystems. Off the rugged coastline of Iceland, five fishing vessels are part of a project to test a state-of-the-art machine for capturing information about the catch of the day. A first of its kind, the initiative aims to help meet the need for more detailed data on the state of our seas. "We're living in a time of technology where everything is being scanned and registered in a database, but as far as I know it's the first time for wild fish," said Axel Freyr Gislason, head of product development at Skaginn 3X, developer of the scanning machine featuring computers and cameras. The Iceland-based company is part of the SEASCANN project. Protecting marine ecosystems around the world is an increasingly pressing issue, which has been given new impetus by international sustainability and biodiversity goals agreed at the United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP15) in Montreal, Canada, in December 2022. On the one hand, the sea is a vital source of food for people and fishing is an economic activity that supports many coastal communities around Europe and the world. On the other hand, these resources are being widely overexploited and there is a real risk that certain species numbers could collapse or ecosystems be irreversibly damaged. Clearer picture Although some progress has been made since the reform of the EU Fisheries Policy in 2013, overfishing is a persistent threat, particularly in the Mediterranean and Black Sea. Added to this are concerns about pollution and overall ecosystem health. Run-off of chemicals and fertilizers from agricultural land, in particular, has led in certain areas to excessive nutrients in the water. This in turn has resulted in algae overgrowth that depletes oxygen levels and suffocates other marine life. Gaining an accurate overview of all the factors that go into building a healthy marine ecosystem is vital. It is also challenging. This is where scientific knowledge has a crucial part to play: high-quality information is key to understanding the state of play and what actions will be the most effective in restoring ocean health. The EU is supporting a variety of research projects aimed at harnessing new technologies to increase both the quality and the quantity of information available to scientists and policy makers. Broader scope Another such project is EcoScope, which started from the principle that every aspect of the marine ecosystem is interconnected. To date, efforts to preserve fish stocks have typically focused on managing species one by one, often placing a catch limit on a particular fish species if its numbers are too low. EcoScope aims to establish a more comprehensive approach to fisheries management by tracking the health of the ecosystem as a whole. The project involves 18 countries. Its partners include universities, research institutions, non-governmental organizations and tech companies. The EcoScope team is mapping a range of factors that can affect the health of fisheries, including changes to the environment, the status of other species and the impact of human activity. The information collated is being made available through a single interoperable online platform that is also open to the general public. Hobbyist-friendly focus The depth and scope of the information available will make the database as interesting to fishers, scuba divers and surfers as to researchers and policy makers. It will, for instance, combine centralized statistical and research data with real-time information on topics of public interest such as wave height, heat waves or local marine flora and fauna. The platform also has an educational role. The EcoScope Academy will include online courses, webinars and educational games for students, young scientists and policy makers. The first chapter of the online advanced course, an introduction to ecosystem-based fisheries management, is already available online. The Eastern Mediterranean version of the Maritime Spatial Planning simulation platform, which will incorporate scenario testing, will be ready in late 2023. "If you're a young scientist struggling to access data, you'll be able to download all the information you need, for free, to put to use in experiments and research," said project coordinator Professor Athanassios Tsikliras, a marine biologist at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Citizen reporters One aspect of EcoScope seeks to harness the power of citizen science through a smartphone application. The EcoScope app will allow people to report on concerns relating to the marine environment. Reports will be transferred directly to local authorities or the relevant port police, with GPS location, pictures and details depending on the incident. Overall the information collated and mapped out by the project will provide an important resource to all those involved with the sea. "I feel very optimistic about the impact this project can have because, for a long time, lack of data has been an excuse for lack of action," said Tsikliras. "This excuse will not be there anymore." Making fisheries-related data available also supports the objectives of the Horizon Europe Mission to Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030. To meet the Mission's goals, advanced systems are needed to better monitor, forecast and evaluate the health of the aquatic system as a whole. Precision data New technology also has a vital role in gathering accurate information at source. SEASCANN's testing of the first fully automatic grading system off the coast of Iceland is a case in point. Fish pass through the SEASCANN machine, which makes a digital record of their size, color, quality and species. It sends the information in real-time to the onboard crew as well as onshore for analysis by fishery teams and organizations that monitor fishing activities. The precision automation offered by SEASCANN is a world away from the conventional time-consuming task of manually sorting through fishing nets and takes fishing traceability to new levels. The technology relies on machine learning, developed over several years spent teaching the system to recognize different species. Because the equipment is located on the deck of a boat, battling the elements, other technical challenges had to be addressed. "Most of the componentsthe computers, high-definition cameras and other itemsare not designed to work in a densely humidified and highly saline atmosphere," said Gislason. "We've had to think outside the box to find ways to overcome the elements, to develop technology that recognizes the fish in all conditions." By investing in new technologies and data tools, projects like SEASCANN and EcoScope hope to give decision makers the knowledge they need to design policies that foster greater ecosystem-based management. As a result, these initiatives improve the chances of maintaining the delicate balance between food security and a healthy ocean well into the future. More information: EcoScope SEASCANN 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: In situ image of Munidopsis girguisi new species from California. Credit: ROV SuBastian/Schmidt Ocean Institute Munidopsid squat lobsters (from the family Munidopsidae) are among the most abundant decapods found at abyssal depths of the ocean. They are the most diverse squat lobster group in the East Pacific region and make their homes in one of the harshest ocean environments. Squat lobsters, named due to the folding of the tail (or abdomen) beneath the body, are more related to hermit crabs than to well-known lobsters or crabs. There are more than 1,000 species of squat lobsters and they are found everywhere from cold Antarctic waters to tropical areas in the Indian, Atlantic, and Pacific Oceans. Their diversity is most striking, however, in the tropics of the West Pacific. Every year dozens of new species are described, especially for deep-sea squat lobsters. Yet, the real diversity of these animals is poorly known as current classification has relied historically on the morphology, or character traits, of these animals. In a new study in Invertebrate Systematics researchers in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology (OEB) at Harvard University describe five new deep-sea squat lobster species. Combining molecular data and microCT their findings show a wider species distribution range and shallower genetic diversity, calling for a revision of the current classification of squat lobsters. Lead author Paula Rodriguez Flores, postdoctoral researcher in OEB and Biodiversity Postdoctoral Fellow in the Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ) at Harvard, discovered three of the species in the Invertebrate Zoology collections of the MCZ. The specimens were collected during the last decade using remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and the human-occupied vehicle (HOV) Alvin at hydrothermal vents, cold seeps, and other seafloor habitats in the Galapagos, Costa Rica, and California, during oceanographic expeditions by E/V Nautilus and Schmidt Ocean Institute. The expeditions were aimed at exploring and characterizing deep-sea biodiversity in the East Pacific. Rodriguez Flores found the fourth and fifth species in the Benthic Invertebrate collection at Scripps Institution of Oceanography during a visit last year. The fifth species was a surprise. The specimen was collected in 1990, but was not recognized as unique until Rodriguez Flores closely examined it. "It was super exciting finding three new species in the MCZ collections and the other two at Scripps," said Rodriguez Flores. "This group is one of the few decapod crustaceans living at such depths where they are very abundant. There is a vertical distribution limit for these decapods where you don't find any more at certain depths, which makes these animals really interesting." 3D reconstruction of Munidopsis girguisi new species holotype. Credit: The Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University Rodriguez Flores, a taxonomist, was visiting several museum collections gathering material to study the taxonomy and systematics of this group found in several locations. She applied a molecular approach to the study of these animals by examining their genetics. From the genetic data Rodriguez Flores and Senior author OEB Professor Gonzalo Giribet, Curator of Invertebrate Zoology and Director of the MCZ, discovered the specimens were very evolutionary divergent and their morphology did not match their genetics. "While natural history collections host thousands of new species, it requires the eyes and the patience of trained taxonomists, like Paula, to bring them to our attention," said Giribet. "This finding rearranges the phylogeny of this group that was previously defined by morphological characteristics," said Rodriguez Flores. "The evolution of this group was not fully understood until we started to include the genetic data which showed the current classification of these animals, based on morphology alone, does not reflect their evolutionary history." The researchers reconstructed the phylogeny of approximately 170 specimens from the Pacific coast, the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean. "We found a general pattern in which specimens living below one thousand meters present shallower genetic distances and an overall wider geographic distribution range. Especially when we compare with the related species that live in four hundred meters or shallower depths," said Rodriguez Flores. From the reconstruction they found that the current systematics of squat lobsters needed a revision. For instance, their analysis showed the East Pacific Janetogalathea californiensis, currently classified in the family Galatheidae, is more closely related to munidopsids. They also found that neither the genus Munidopsis nor the family Galatheidae are monophyletic, meaning they did not descend from a common ancestral group as previously believed. "Some of these abyssal species had wider distribution ranges and shallower genetic diversity in comparison with munidopsids from continental shelves and slopes," said Rodriguez Flores, "this suggests the role of deep-sea colonization in the speciation patterns." 3D reconstruction of Munidopsis hendrickxi new species holotype. Credit: The Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University Rodriguez Flores Used the MCZ digital image facility to create three dimensional models using microCT to illustrate the external morphology of the intact new species. The models are publicly available in the MCZ's database for everyone to examine. The new species were named in honor of the researchers who led expeditions or were collaborators, the expedition ship, and the unique locations they were found. Munidopsis girguisi honors OEB Professor Peter Girguis, Chief Scientist on the E/V Nautilus oceanic expedition that collected many of the species used for the study. Munidopsis girguisi had a fuzzy coating of microbes, which matched well with Girguis' interdisciplinary deep-sea microbiology research. Munidopsis cortesi and Munidopsis hendrickxi honor deep-sea crustacean researchers Professor Jorge Cortes-Nunez at the University of Costa Rica and Professor Michel Hendrickx at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Munidopsis nautilus pays tribute to the ship E/V Nautilus, whose ROV Hercules collected the only known specimen of this species. Finally, Munidopsis testuda (Latin for "turtle") references both the scaly texture of the squat lobster's shell and the iconic giant tortoises of the Galapagos Islands, where this species was collected. "We are fortunate to have a postdoctoral program like MCZ's Biodiversity Postdoctoral Fellowship that attracts young talent to continue making these types of discoveries about the hidden diversity of our planet," said Giribet. Approximately one million species face a threat of extinction, with 40 percent of all species at threat for extinction by the year 2100. The deep sea represents more than 70 percent of Earth's surface. Traditionally considered to be a vast homogeneous environment, the inclusion of molecular data in systematic research has allowed scientists to discover regional biodiversity and endemism (limited to a small geographical area) in abyssal species that were previously considered widely distributed based on traditional morphology. "We still do not know how many species live in our world, especially marine invertebrates living in the deep sea," said Rodriguez Flores. "The problem with this species is that the ocean is very poorly sampled, so we need to continue to explore the deep ocean collecting more specimens to have a complete picture of the distribution range and evolution of animals in the abyss before they disappear." More information: Paula C. Rodriguez-Flores et al, Cosmopolitan abyssal lineages? A systematic study of East Pacific deep-sea squat lobsters (Decapoda: Galatheoidea: Munidopsidae), Invertebrate Systematics (2023). DOI: 10.1071/IS22030 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: The excavations undertaken in the autumn of 2022 revealed parts of the foundations of a structure that was 9.4 meters wide and had carefully positioned walls with a thickness of 0.8 meters. Credit: Dr. Birgitta Eder / Athens Branch of the Austrian Archaeological Institute The ancient Greek historian Strabo referred to the presence of an important shrine located on the west coast of the Peloponnese some 2,000 years ago. Remains of such an Archaic temple have now been uncovered at the Kleidi site near Samikon, which presumably once formed part of the sanctuary of Poseidon. Researchers of the Austrian Archaeological Institute in collaboration with colleagues from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), Kiel University, and the Ephorate of Antiquities of Elis unearthed the remains of an early temple-like structure that was located within the Poseidon sanctuary site and was quite possibly dedicated to the deity himself. The Mainz-based team from the JGU Institute of Geography headed by Professor Andreas Vott contributed to the investigative work with their drilling and direct push techniques. Exceptional coastal configuration of the Kleidi/Samikon region The form of the western coast of the Peloponnese peninsula, the region in which the site is located, is very distinctive. Along the extended curve of the Gulf of Kyparissa is a group of three hills of solid rock surrounded by coastal alluvial sediments in an area otherwise dominated by lagoons and coastal swamps. Because this location was easily accessed and secure, a settlement was established here during the Mycenaean era that continued to flourish for several centuries and was able to maintain contacts to the north and south along the coast. Professor Andreas Vott of Mainz University has been undertaking geoarchaeological surveys of this area since 2018 with the aim of clarifying how this unique situation evolved and how the coast in the Kleidi/Samikon region has changed over time. The famous ancient sanctuary has long been suspected in the plain below the ancient fortress of Samikon, which dominates the landscape from afar on a hilltop north of the lagoon of Kaiafa on the west coast of the Peloponnese. Credit: Dr. Birgitta Eder / Athens Branch of the Austrian Archaeological Institute For this purpose, he has collaborated in several campaigns with Dr. Birgitta Eder, Director of the Athens Branch of the Austrian Archaeological Institute, and Dr. Erofili-Iris Kolia of the local monuments protection authority, the Ephorate of Antiquities of Elis. "The results of our investigations to date indicate that the waves of the open Ionian Sea actually washed up directly against the group of hills until the 5th millennium BCE. Thereafter, on the side facing the sea, an extensive beach barrier system developed in which several lagoons were isolated from the sea," said Vott, who is Professor of Geomorphology at JGU. However, evidence has been found that the region was repeatedly afflicted by tsunami events in both the prehistoric and historic periods, most recently in the 6th and 14th centuries CE. This tallies with surviving reports of known tsunamis that occurred in the years 551 and 1303 CE. "The elevated situation provided by the hills would have been of fundamental importance in antiquity as it would have made it possible to move on dry land along the coast to the north and to the south," Vott pointed out. In autumn 2021, geophysicist Dr. Dennis Wilken of Kiel University found traces of structures at a site at the eastern foot of the hill group in an area that had already been identified as of interest following previous exploration. After initial excavation work under the supervision of Dr. Birgitta Eder in autumn 2022, these structures proved to be the foundations of an ancient temple that could well be those of the long-sought temple to Poseidon. "The location of this uncovered sacred site matches the details provided by Strabo in his writings," emphasized Eder, who is working for the Austrian Archaeological Institute. Use of the direct push system to examine the subsoil near the ancient temple at Kleidi to obtain evidence of changes to the coast and landscape. The hill in the background shows the remains of the walls of the ancient fortress of Samikon above Kleidi. Credit: Vott group, JGU An extensive archaeological, geoarchaeological and geophysical analysis of the structure is to be conducted over the next few years. The researchers hope to establish whether it has a specific relationship with a coastal landscape that is subject to extensive transformation. Hence, on the basis of the geomorphological and sedimentary evidence of the recurrent tsunami events here, the geomythological aspect is also to be investigated. It seems possible that this location may have actually been explicitly selected for the site of the Poseidon temple because of these extreme occurrences. After all, Poseidon, with his cult title of Earthshaker, was considered by the ancients to be responsible for earthquakes and tsunamis. Natural Hazard Research and Geoarchaeology team at JGU studies the processes of coastal change and extreme wave events For the past 20 years, the Natural Hazard Research and Geoarchaeology group at Mainz University, headed by Professor Andreas Vott, has been examining the development of the coast of Greece over the last 11,600 years. They particularly focus on the western side of Greece from the coast of Albania opposite Corfu, the other Ionian Islands of the Ambrakian Gulf, the western coast of the Greek mainland down to the Peloponnese and Crete. Their work involves identifying relative sea level changes and the corresponding coastal changes . Another core feature of their investigations is the detection of extreme wave events of the past, which in the Mediterranean mainly take the form of tsunamis, and the analysis of their impact on coasts and the communities living there. In connection with the uncovered fragments of a Laconic roof, the discovery of the part of a marble perirrhanterion, i.e., a ritual water basin, provides evidence for dating the large building to the Greek Archaic period. Credit: Dr. Birgitta Eder / Athens Branch of the Austrian Archaeological Institute Innovative direct push sensinga new technique in geoarchaeology Based on sediment cores that document vertical and horizontal aberrations in depositional layers, the JGU team is able to posit scenarios of what changes occurred along the coasts and within the landscape. The group now has an archive of some 2,000 core samples obtained mainly in Europe. Moreover, since 2016, they have been using an innovative direct push technique to investigate the underground. Direct push sensing involves using hydraulic pressure to force various sensors and tools into the ground to collect sedimentological, geochemical, and hydraulic information on the subsurface. The Institute of Geography at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz is the only institution of its kind in Germany that has the necessary equipment at its disposal. More information: Publication: B. Eder et al., (In Greek) New research at Kleidi-Samikon, In: , ., , ., , ., , ., , A., , . (Eds.): 2 ( 2). , , 1-4 2017. , pp. 233-245, Kalamata 2020, ISBN: 978-960-89611-8-0 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: Rangers are the real champions of this research, working under difficult conditions to protect elephants and other biodiversity. Credit: Tim Kuiper It's a grim and all too common sight for rangers at some of Africa's nature reserves: the bullet-riddled carcass of an elephant, its tusks removed by poachers. African elephant populations have fallen by about 30% since 2006. Poaching has driven the decline. Some reserves, like Garamba in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Selous in Tanzania, have lost hundreds of elephants to poachers over the last decade. But others, like Etosha National Park in Namibia, have been targeted far less. What might explain this difference? That's what we set out to explore in our new paper, now published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B. We investigated why poaching rates vary so widely across Africa and what this might reveal about what drives, motivates and facilitates poaching. To do this, we used a statistical model to relate poaching levels from 64 African sites to various socio-economic factors. These included a country's quality of governance and the level of human development in the area surrounding a park. Our findings suggest that poaching rates are lower where there is strong national governance and where local levels of human developmentespecially wealth and healthare relatively high. Strong site-level law enforcement and reduced global ivory prices also keep poaching levels down. Understanding these dynamics is crucial. The illegal wildlife trade is one of the highest value illicit trade sectors globally, worth several billion dollars each year. It poses a major threat to biodiversity and ecosystems, which are the bedrock of human well-being. And elephants are more than just a culturally significant icon. They are "ecosystem engineers" that can boost forest carbon stocks and diversify habitats through their feeding. Their presence in national parks and reserves also has economic benefits, bringing in valuable tourism revenues. The deaths of both poachers and rangers in the continent's violent biodiversity "war" also underscores our findings: when elephants lose, we all lose. Data collection We developed a statistical model using 19 years of data on 10,286 poached elephants at 64 sites in 30 African countries. These data were collected, mostly by wildlife rangers, as part of the global program for Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE), administered by the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). We then linked the poaching data to key socio-economic data related to areas around the parks, individual countries and global markets. Poaching of high-value species like elephants and rhinos is driven primarily by sophisticated criminal syndicates. So we used criminology theory and evidence from the scientific literature to generate hypotheses about factors that might drive, facilitate or motivate the decisions of these syndicates and the local hunters they recruited. We then identified datasets representing these factors, such as the Uppsala Armed Conflict Dataset and the Global Data Lab's Subnational Human Development index. Our tailored statistical model allows us to test for the effect of one hypothesized driver of poaching while accounting for the others. It also means we can look at local, national, regional and global factors together. Key findings Parks with higher levels of human development (based on health and wealth metrics from household surveys) and stronger law enforcement suffered less poaching. Poaching was also lower in countries where there was strong national governance quality. We measured this using the World Bank's governance indicators. Socio-economic and political drivers were far more common than ecological ones. A park's accessibility and size, the density of its vegetation and its elephant population did not affect its poaching levels. The strong associations we found between poaching and factors like corruption and human development do not necessarily imply that these factors directly cause poaching. Correlation does not imply causation. Deeper research at particular sites will reveal what underlying processes are at play, and offer a better understanding of cause and effect. But we do have some suggestions about what might lie behind the associations we found. These are rooted in previous studies. Solutions transcend biodiversity Why, for instance, would higher levels of local human well-being in an area be associated with lower poaching? One explanation could be that, in areas of economic deprivation and in the absence of alternatives, local residents might participate in poaching to meet their basic needs or earn extra income. Another interpretation might be that criminal ivory syndicates seeking to recruit local hunters target areas of lower human well-being because they can operate more effectively there. A number of biodiversity conservation actors, like government wildlife departments or environmental NGOs, have already recognized the value in focusing on improving human well-being around parks and reserves. A stellar example is Namibia's conservancy model. It achieves effective conservation through local communities governing and benefiting from wildlife. Our study highlights that site-based conservation action alone cannot control illegal killing. A lot of what drives and facilitates elephant poaching is beyond conservationists' remit or control. Conservationists can't be expected to solve local human development issues or hold governments accountable on their own. Wider societal action to address poverty is required. This could include empowering women, increasing access to basic education, and promoting resilience to climate change. Such action is valuable in its own right, but will likely deliver benefits for elephants too. Finally, the positive relationship that we found between poaching and ivory prices suggests that tackling demand for illegal wildlife in end-markets is a key part of the puzzle. We suggest that tackling elephant poaching, and indeed the broader illegal wildlife trade, requires dealing with the wider systemic challenges of human development, corruption and consumer demand. It is not enough to just focus on actions traditionally defined as "wildlife conservation". More information: Timothy Kuiper et al, Drivers and facilitators of the illegal killing of elephants across 64 African sites, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (2023). DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.2270 This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. 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: The fireball is estimated to have passed over Oxford in the direction of the Midlands, but was seen from much further afield. Credit: paulista/Shutterstock An orange-sized space rock which blazed across the skies January 9 probably didn't make it to Earth. Researchers believe that the rock, which originated in the outer asteroid belt, burned up before it could hit the ground. A space rock spotted falling across northern Europe on Monday burnt up as a fireball in the atmosphere, researchers believe. Observers across England, Wales and the Netherlands saw a shooting star blazing across the sky last night as the rock traveled through Earth's atmosphere. Footage captured on dashboard cameras, video doorbells, mobile phones, and dedicated camera networks was subsequently analyzed to find out more about the fireball. Following analysis by the UK Meteor Network (UKMON), researchers believe that the rock simply wasn't large enough to make it to the ground, so it can't be called a meteorite. Dr. Ashley King, an expert on meteorites at the Museum and member of the UK Fireball Alliance (UKFAII), says, "The fragment came from somewhere in the outer asteroid belt, and hit Earth's atmosphere at around 10 kilometers per second which is quite slow for these rocks." "This would normally be favorable for it to fall to Earth. However, as the rock was quite small, being around the size of an orange and weighing less than 100 grams, we think that none of the material survived its journey through the atmosphere and so it is very unlikely that any of it made it to the ground." This fireball comes almost two years after the Winchcombe meteorite fell in the eponymous Gloucestershire town. The majority of the Winchcombe meteorite, as well as the driveway it fell on, is now a part of the Museum's collections where it is improving our understanding of the early solar system. The timeline of the fireball Having been ejected from the asteroid belt, the meteorite would have traveled hundreds of millions of kilometers before coming into the vicinity of Earth. At around 20.00 GMT on January 9, it was spotted falling in the U.K. It was recorded falling on many of the UKFAII's cameras, as well as countless dashboard cameras and video doorbells. This footage suggests that it passed over Oxford and west of Milton Keynes, continuing towards Northampton where the fireball was extinguished at an altitude of around 35 km. "Had it been large enough, it probably would have landed somewhere in the Midlands, but unfortunately we don't think anything made it to the ground this time." A fireball at 8 pm last night was reported by 500+ members of the public and was recorded by 13 cameras.https://t.co/m01st2bCqT pic.twitter.com/WobbFTKIpG UK Meteor Network (UKMON) (@UKMeteorNetwork) January 10, 2023 While researchers are disappointed that the rock did not fall to Earth, they are pleased by how rapidly they were able to respond. "We should get two to three small meteorite falls in the U.K. each year, and now we have a huge network of cameras we're seeing more and more of them," Ashley explains. "This is a change from, say, 20 years ago, where maybe only a few people would have recorded them." "The proliferation of cameras and social media makes it more likely we can quickly find meteorites which do make it to the ground in the U.K. After the Winchcombe meteorite, the public are also more aware of these events, so we have a better chance to find meteorites now than we ever have before." This story is republished courtesy of Natural History Museum. Read the original story here 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: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain With short-time work programs, governments allow firms experiencing temporary demand or productivity shocks to reduce hours worked, while providing income support to their employees for the hours not worked. A new study finds that such policies can improve employment outcomes for workers during periods of crisis. By participating in these programs, firms are able to retain more workers and are more likely to survive. In the event of prolonged economic shocks, however, short-time work programs may impair efficient labor market allocation. During periods of difficulty, due to productivity shocks or widespread economic crises, firms might be forced to lay off part of their workforce as a cost-cutting solution. Through short-time work (STW) programs, governments act to prevent mass layoffs by subsidizing companies to retain their employees while reducing individual working hours. Such measures were especially popular during the COVID pandemic, when a third of the European labor force was under a short-time work scheme. To understand the effects of STW on firm and employee outcomes, in a forthcoming paper, Professors Giulia Giupponi (Bocconi University) and Camille Landais (London School of Economics) study the impact of such programs in Italy during the Great Recession. Using detailed administrative data on companies and individual workers, they exploit variation in eligibility across Italian firms for a STW program, the Cassa Integrazione Guadagni Straordinaria, to shed light on the employment, productivity, and welfare effects of the policy. Even though during the Recession employment levels decreased across the board, companies that used STW ended up having on average a 45% higher level of employment than the rest. The effect derives from their ability to retain a greater number of workers by reducing individual hours worked and thus their overall wage bill cost. Government subsidies ensure that workers' overall compensation decreases by substantially less than what would be implied by the reduction in hours. The researchers find that the take-up of STW was particularly high among firms with low liquidity or a high risk of large reductions in their labor force. Since the fundamental premise of STW programs is to aid firms unable to efficiently hoard labor during crises, these findings indicate that the program was successful in reaching its primary targets. Overall, the policy is estimated to have increased the probability of survival of firms by 10%. "The key result of the paper is that short time work works. It helps saving employment in firms that use the program and offers a substantial degree of short-term insurance to workers against the cost of hour reductions and job loss," stated Prof. Giupponi. Credit: Bocconi University The paper also investigates the dynamic effects of STW after the program ends. "Once the subsidy ends, the positive effects on employment at the firm level dissipate, as does the insurance value that the program offers to workers," said the author. In the medium and long run, workers who participated in STW programs fared only marginally better in terms of employment outcomes than those laid-off before the crisis. "There is a risk thatwhen the shock is permanentshort-time work might end up subsidizing low-productivity jobs," added Prof. Giupponi. Specifically, the researchers find thatin the Italian context during the Great Recessionlow-productivity firms had a high propensity to use the policy, even though they had limited prospects of growth once the program ended. One may worry that, by subsidizing work in low-productivity firms, short-time work may prevent workers from moving to high-productivity companies, with negative consequences for aggregate productivity. To shed light on the overall impact of the policy on the economy, the researchers exploit exogenous variation in the intensity of short-time work utilization across Italian local labor markets to understand whether a more intense use of the program translated into poorer economic outcomes. Results suggest that areas with higher STW utilization experienced slower employment growth and total factor productivity growth, even though these effects are of modest size. The authors provide compelling evidence that STW programs were effective in preventing a surge in unemployment during the Great Recession and can be an important tool to mitigate the impact of economic crises. However, the program is best employed in the face of temporary rather than permanent shocks: when shocks become persistent, short-time work can hinder the reallocation of workers to other firms and limit economic growth. To guarantee that the program's benefits are maximized, the authors propose to introduce mechanismssuch as a co-payment by firmsto attract into the program those who are willing to bear part of the cost. "This is one way by which we can improve the selection of firms and reduce the likelihood of these potential reallocation effects," Prof. Giupponi concluded. "Subsidizing Labor Hoarding in Recessions: The Employment & Welfare Effects of Short Time Work" is published in The Review of Economic Studies. More information: Giulia Giupponi et al, Subsidizing Labour Hoarding in Recessions: The Employment and Welfare Effects of Short-time Work, The Review of Economic Studies (2022). DOI: 10.1093/restud/rdac069 Provided by Bocconi University 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: Experimental populations of perennial ryegrass. Credit: ETH Zurich Corn, rice, wheat, sugar canethe grass family contains a number of species that are important food sources for humans and have been bred and cultivated for millennia. Wild and farm animals, too, depend heavily on grasses for feed: cows, sheep, horses as well as bison, deer and zebras predominantly eat grass. Almost 70% of Switzerland's agricultural area is grassland. However, breeding grasses is difficult by nature. Like many other flowering plants, grasses have evolved a mechanism that prevents inbreeding after self-pollination. Experts call this mechanism "self-incompatibility." It ensures that no pollen from the plant itself or from closely related individuals can grow towards the ovary and fertilize the egg cell. This prevents inbreeding, with all its consequences. For plant breeding, self-incompatibility can be a disadvantage. It not only complicates the development of homozygous lines but can also affect the pollination of two closely related individuals. This makes it more difficult to achieve breeding progress for desired plant characteristics by crossbreeding. To be able to exploit different plant breeding strategies, precise knowledge of self-incompatibility is essential. Self-incompatibility genes in grasses decoded for the first time Little is known about the genetic composition of self-incompatibility in grasses. In the 1960s, plant scientists discovered that self-incompatibility is controlled by two separate genome regions (loci). But with the methods available at the time, the researchers could not determine which genes are actually involved. Now, for the first time, researchers led by Bruno Studer, Professor of Molecular Plant Breeding, have been able to identify the genes responsible for self-incompatibility and to determine their nucleic acid sequence. They did this in perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.), one of the most important forage and turf grass species in the world. The study is published in the journal Molecular Biology and Evolution. Studer has devoted more than 15 years to this subject, together with collaborators from Denmark, Wales and the U.S. In 2006, he found genes that reduce the seed yield in forage grasses. He was looking for the opposite: genes that increase seed yield. The genes he identified later turned out to play a role in self-incompatibility. In 2017, Studer and his team narrowed the two loci down to a few potential candidate genes. Now they have delivered a precise description of the three genes that effectively make up the loci and control self-incompatibility. "This breakthrough was enabled by technological advances in genome analysis. It's only in recent years that these have made it possible to efficiently sequence the entire genome of an individual organism," he says. These findings are opening up new breeding possibilities not only for forage grasses but also for important, self-pollinating grass crops for human consumption such as rice or barley. If the genes for self-incompatibility are known, they can be manipulated in specific ways. Switching them off makes it possible to develop inbreed lines. Another approach is to insert the genes into the genome of grasses that have lost their self-incompatibility so as to breed genetically diverse populations. For Studer, one thing is clear: "Knowledge of these genes has given us an important foundation for controlling this mechanism and using it for breeding." In vitro pollination assay to test for self-incompatibility in perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne). Credit: ETH Zurich Interplay of two distant loci Essentially, self-incompatibility is based on the interplay of the two locithe S locus and the Z locuswhich are located on different chromosomes. The genes are the blueprint for three different proteins, which form a kind of lock-and-key mechanism that recognizes whether the pollen that has landed on the stigma is genetically similar or unrelated. This sets off a signal that either aborts the fertilization process or continues it to completion. Studer and his team are currently studying the structures of these proteins and how they interact to differentiate between foreign pollen and the plant's own pollen. For this, they use special artificial intelligence methods to model the structure of the corresponding proteins based on the gene sequence, along with models that predict the interactions between these molecules. A unique self-incompatibility mechanism In addition, the researchers have studied how self-incompatibility based on two loci could have evolved in the grass family, as all other mechanism known from other plant families are based on one locus only. It's probable that in the evolutionary history of grasses, the Z locus initially duplicated, and that the copy then underwent numerous mutations, leading to diversification. "We've now sequenced the two loci in a great many grass plants. What we've found is that the S locus tends to have lower sequence variation and is still diversifying, while the Z locus doesn't change as much. From this we conclude that the Z locus might be older in evolutionary terms," Studer explains. By tracing the phylogeny of grasses, the researchers have also learned when the locus duplication occurred and when the species diverged from one another. Moreover, the phylogenetic tree revealed which grasses did not undergo locus duplication and which species have lost their self-incompatibility, for instance through mutation. But what is the evolutionary benefit of self-incompatibility based on two loci? "At first glance, we assume that it opened up a lot more possibilities and flexibility for plants in the grass family to recognize their own pollen," Studer says. This could have been important for the grass family, whose 16,000 species are distributed across all continents, making it one of the world's largest and most successful plant families. More information: Marius Rohner et al, Fine-Mapping and Comparative Genomic Analysis Reveal the Gene Composition at the S and Z Self-incompatibility Loci in Grasses, Molecular Biology and Evolution (2022). DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msac259 Journal information: Molecular Biology and Evolution 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: The Salton Sea is a large inland lake in southeastern California fed by Colorado River irrigation water from farms in the Imperial Valley. Credit: Legislative Analysts's Office, state of California, CC BY-ND The Salton Sea spreads across a remote valley in California's lower Colorado Desert, 40 miles (65 kilometers) from the Mexican border. For birds migrating along the Pacific coast, it's an avian Grand Central Station. In midwinter tens of thousands of snow geese, ducks, pelicans, gulls and other species forage on and around the lake. Hundreds of other species nest there year-round or use it as a rest stop during spring and fall migration. At the dawn of the 20th century, this massive oasis didn't even exist. It was created in 1905 when Colorado River floodwaters breached an irrigation canal under construction in Southern California and flowed into a basin that had flooded in the past. In earlier years, the sea covered roughly 40 square miles more than its current size of 343 square miles (890 square kilometers). Since then, agricultural runoff from newly formed nearby irrigation districts has sustained it. By midcentury, the sea was considered a regional amenity and stocked with popular sport fish. Now, however, this resource is in trouble. Wasteful irrigation practices that maintained the sea have been reduced, and excess water is now being transferred to thirsty coastal cities instead. The sea's volume has declined to roughly 4.6 million acre-feet, losing nearly 3 million acre-feet since the mid-2000s. (An acre-foot is about 326,000 gallonsthe amount of water required to cover an acre of land to a depth of one foot). As water evaporates from its surface, its salinity has spiked: The sea is now almost twice as salty as the Pacific Ocean. In November 2022, the federal government pledged US$250 million for environmental restoration and dust suppression at the Salton Sea. It's a historic contribution, but experts agree that other critical steps are needed. We just completed more than a year of service to the California Salton Sea Management Program's Independent Review Panel, which was charged with evaluating proposals to import water to the sea. In our view, the panel's recommendations represent the best path forward. They also reflect the complexity of managing water in the increasingly dry U.S. Southwest, where other water bodies, such as Utah's Great Salt Lake, share the same general challenges of net water loss. An ecosystem on the brink There's no question that the Salton Sea desperately needs a fix. Rising salinity threatens worms, crustaceans and other organisms that make up the base of the sea's food web and has killed off many of its fish species. Without intervention, the sea's entire ecosystem could collapse. The sea's declining water levels also threaten human health. Nearby residents, who are mostly low-income people of color, already experience high rates of respiratory illness. A recent study found that dust mobilized by wind blowing across the playa triggers lung inflammation. Without government intervention, the sea would reach a lower equilibrium size by 2045 that matches smaller inflows with evaporation losses. Even greater areas of playa would be exposed, potentially generating even more airborne dust. Many bad options The state review panel analyzed strategies for adding water to the Salton Sea as a long-term restoration strategy. Most of the proposals envisioned pulling water from Mexico's Sea of Cortez, 125 miles to the south, desalinating it and moving it north by canal. Land managers and local residents explain how the Salton Seas decline is affecting people and wildlife. These schemes called for building immense desalination plants along the Sea of Cortez, up to 10 times bigger than California's Claude "Bud" Lewis plant in Carlsbadthe largest such facility in the United States. The proposals could not overcome three significant problems. First, they were projected to cost many tens of billions of dollars and take more than 20 years to complete. Second, they threatened to inflict nasty environmental consequences on the Sea of Cortez, dumping huge quantities of brine into sensitive and protected marine ecosystems and turning pristine beaches into industrial zones. Third, Mexico would derive little benefit from building a huge desalination plant in a remote area, other than some jobs from building and running the plant. Focus on salinity, not size Ultimately, the panel concluded that expanding the Salton Sea to its former size was less important than controlling its salinity. The panel made four recommendations that center on building a desalination plant at the Salton Sea to the treat water that's already there. This plant would remove 200 million gallons of high-salinity water daily from the Salton Sea and produce 100 million gallons per day of desalinated water, which would be returned to the Salton Sea. In short order, this exchange would begin to significantly lower its overall salinity. A desalination plant using reverse osmosis generates a brine stream equal to approximately half the volume of the treated seawater. Accordingly, the panel called for California to negotiate a voluntary paid transfer program in which the state would pay farmers to transfer enough water to the Salton Sea to replace the volume of brine removed at the desalination plant. The net effect would keep the sea from becoming even smaller and hasten the process of lowering salinity. The desalination plant would generate an immense quantity of salt, which would require careful disposal. The panel recommended drying out the brine in evaporation ponds and transferring dried salts from the ponds to landfills or industrial uses. Finally, the panel called for California to step up support for an aggressive program to stabilize the exposed playa. Techniques could include planting vegetation on the playa and plowing long rows of furrows to reduce dust mobilization during wind storms. The estimated total cost for this plan is $63 billion, compared with $95 billion-$148 billion for various proposals to desalinate and import water from the Sea of Cortez. Since 2020, the state has conducted pilot projects to reduce dust blowing off the playa, with promising early results. The federal government's $250 million pledge will enable this work to move more quickly. Stabilizing the playa is essential to address significant public health concerns associated with windborne dust, although more must be done regionally to fully address air quality problems. Looking forward, not backward This approach will not satisfy critics who want to restore the Salton Sea to its maximum volume. These advocates recall the mid-20th century when the sea was a tourism draw and would like to reconnect the few small towns that once bordered the sea, which are now separated by extensive playa. Expanding the sea to its original size also would address concerns about playa-sourced air pollution. In our view, however, the panel's recommendations offer a genuine opportunity to solve the main problems: blowing dust and increasing salinity. This solution is more likely to actually be implemented than an enormous binational desalination project. It would happen more quickly, at about half the cost of the binational importation options. We believe that the sooner California officials accept the reality of a smaller Salton Sea, the sooner the state can move ahead, focusing on air quality improvement and ecological restoration. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. 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: Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain April showers bring July harmful algal blooms (HAB) in New Jersey's largest coastal lake. A Monmouth University-led study published in the journal Urban Naturalist finds that Deal Lake is locked in a seasonal cycle that sees the system loaded with nutrients in the cold winter and early spring months, fueling bursts of cyanobacteria growth in the summer and early fall. Endowed Professor in Marine Science Jason Adolf, the study's lead author, likened HAB events to baking a cake, with a recipe requiring a few key ingredients: nitrogen, phosphorous, sunlight and warm water temperatures. The researchers found that during the cold months, stormwater runoff stocks the lake with nitrogen contained in materials such as lawn soils, fertilizers and road salts. As the waters heat up, the HAB organisms feast on the nitrogen and begin to balloon in number, clouding up the water and changing its chemistry. This in turn triggers a release of phosphorous stored in sediments along the lake bottom. According to Adolf, nitrogen tends to be consumed somewhat quickly, leaving HABs to depend on heavy rainfalls to recharge the lake in order to sustain themselves. However, he noted that phosphorous does not break down as easy, and Deal Lake likely has a heavy supply of it locked within its floor throughout the year. Like other coastal water bodies in Monmouth County, Deal Lake has seen heavy residential and commercial development along its waterfront and tributaries through the years, reducing natural buffers that would otherwise stop runoff from entering the system. Local sewer systems also funnel unfiltered stormwater straight from the streets into the lake. With a total surface area of 155 acres, Deal Lake borders seven municipalities with a combined population of over 70,000a number which swells during summer tourism season. It once flowed freely into the Atlantic Ocean between Asbury Park and Allenhurst, but today is connected via a flume gate that can be manually opened and closed to regulate water levels and allow for fish migrations in and out of the lake. The study centered on 2017 and 2018 data collected by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) and experiments conducted on water samples taken at that time by Adolf and Monmouth students. Monmouth continues to monitor Deal Lake regularly through its leadership of the Coastal Lakes Observing Network (CLONet) and other research efforts. A comparison of the modern data and that collected through a 1978 NJDEP study indicate the system has experienced significant changes. Average Deal Lake temperatures reached 84.2 degrees in July of 2017 and 82-84 degrees in July-August of 2018, versus 66.6 and 68.9 degrees reported in July and August of 1978. The authors raise two possible factors behind the rise in water temperatures: warming air temperatures in New Jersey and infilling from sediment runoff that's left the lake shallower and easier to warm. "The challenges for Deal Lake could become more serious as climate change advances, bringing warmer waters that are more hospitable to HABs," Adolf said. "Communities along the lake should focus on targeted watershed improvements, including the restoration of wetlands and natural features around waterfront areas, to control seasonal nutrient loading from stormwater runoff. They should also consider dredging to reduce the phosphorous locked in the lake bottom in the winter and bring the body closer to its historic depths." The issue of HABs in New Jersey has gained attention in recent years due to lengthy closures at summer tourist destinations such as Lake Hopatcong and Greenwood Lake that impacted their local economies. The toxins present in HAB events can make humans and pets sick upon contact, cause mass fish kills, and threaten water supplies. They are characterized by green slicks that can resemble spilled paint and foul odors. Provided by Monmouth University 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: A new study co-authored at UC Berkeley finds that women of all races, as well as Black men, who have not attended college are paid dramatically less than Asian American and white men at similar education levels. Credit: U.S. Department of Agriculture Less-educated U.S. workers often face a lifetime of financial challenges, but some among them are more disadvantaged than others: Young Asian and white men without college education are paid moresometimes far morethan both Black men and women of all racial groups, according to a new study co-authored at UC Berkeley. The study led by Byeongdon Oh, a postdoctoral researcher in the campus' Social Sciences D-Lab, found that young Black men with no college education earn barely half of what their Asian American and white counterparts make. Latinx, Asian and Black women lag even further. "Earnings are an important factor to study because they're related to other outcomes, like health, engagement with the criminal justice system and family development," Oh said. "So we focus on the non-college population at an early age. They are already disadvantaged economicallythey have very low earnings. If there's a sizable racial or ethnic earnings disparity in this population, there may be severe consequences." The study, "Inequality among the Disadvantaged? Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Earnings among Young Men and Women without a College Education," was released Dec. 21 in the journal Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, published by the American Sociological Association. It provides the first detailed look at the earnings of young adults with no college experience as their working lives take shape. In recent years, about one-third of young Americans have stopped their education after high school. That projects to roughly 1 million less-educated young people every year entering a job market that increasingly requires advanced education and training to earn even a middle-class salary. LatinX and Black people are over-represented in this group. To understand their experience, Oh and colleagues Daniel Mackin Freeman and Dara Shifrer from Portland State University studied data from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009, tracing racial and ethnic earnings disparities among men and women who had never attended college. In 2016, they were in their early 20s. "Striking" was the word the authors used to describe the earnings gaps revealed in the core data: Young Asian American men with no college education earned an average of $24,837 in 2016, followed by white men at $22,056 and Latinx men at $17,984. Young Black men averaged just $12,573barely half the wages earned by Asian Americans and whites. A similar, but less severe, disparity was evident among young women with no college experience. White women on average earned $14,766, followed by Latinx women at $12,465, Asian American women at $10,935 and Black women at $10,871. The gap between these women and men was vast, with young Black women on average earning only 44 cents for every dollar earned by Asian American men with similar levels of education. Exploring the impact of race and gender discrimination How to explain these racial and gender gaps in earning? Oh said the data did not allow the researchers to determine the causes. They did find, however, that a range of possible factorsfrom family background and home location to high school grades and criminal recordsrarely account for the earnings gaps. But, he explained, racial discrimination in the workforce cannot be ruled out as the cause. Oh suggested that complex social and economic factors may sort people of color into lower-paying job sectors, but the estimated earnings gaps among groups of people in the same occupation are still dramatic. These earning disparities, he said, may reflect employer bias against women and Black men. The findings "suggest that, like their more educated counterparts, young non-college-educated women may face pernicious earnings discrimination in the labor market, regardless of their race/ethnicity," the authors wrote. They added: "The results may indicate that employers devalue the work of young Black men without a college education to a greater degree than they do the work of white, Latinx, and Asian men without a college education." According to Oh, the pay disparity between Asian and white men on one side and Black men on the other may actually be worse than the data suggest. A disproportionate number of young men who did not go to college are Black. A disproportionate number of young Black men have been incarcerated, he explained, and incarcerated men were not tracked in the survey data. "And so our findings on the earnings gap are conservativeit may be larger," he said. The new study opens up a range of new questions for Oh and other researchers. Understanding the experience of the young workers would require more targeted surveys and in-person interviews. Those would allow the researchers to understand whether discrimination is to blame, and if so, how it works, Oh said. "I hope the contribution of our research is to make people ask why we have these striking earnings gaps," he said. "Then, rather than wasting time blaming workers' choices or attitudes, we might get further by identifying discriminatory labor market processes." More information: Byeongdon Oh et al, Inequality among the Disadvantaged? Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Earnings among Young Men and Women without a College Education, Sociology of Race and Ethnicity (2022). DOI: 10.1177/23326492221141650 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: Oregon Health & Science University and Oregon State University researchers are developing a new approach to deliver gene therapy to address blindness-causing genetic mutations. Their new method encases gene-editing molecules inside a shell of lipid nanoparticles. This scientific illustration shows the approach's lipid nanoparticle shells, which appear as fuzzy beige balls after they have been injected into the eye. Credit: OHSU/Tetiana Korzun Using nanotechnology that enabled mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines, a new approach to gene therapy may improve how physicians treat inherited forms of blindness. A collaborative team of researchers with Oregon Health & Science University and Oregon State University have developed an approach that uses lipid nanoparticlestiny, lab-made balls of fatto deliver strands of messenger ribonucleic acid, or mRNA, inside the eye. To treat blindness, the mRNA will be designed to create proteins that edit vision-harming gene mutations. In a study published today in Science Advances, the team demonstrates how its lipid nanoparticle delivery system targets light-sensitive cells in the eye, called photoreceptors, in both mice and nonhuman primates. The system's nanoparticles are coated with a peptide that the researchers identified as being attracted to photoreceptors. "Our peptide is like a zip code, and the lipid nanoparticles are similar to an envelope that sends gene therapy in the mail," explained the study's corresponding author, Gaurav Sahay, Ph.D., an associate professor in the OSU College of Pharmacy who also has a joint research appointment at the OHSU Casey Eye Institute. "The peptide ensures mRNA is precisely delivered to photoreceptorscells that we haven't been able to target with lipid nanoparticles until now." "More than 250 genetic mutations have been linked to inherited retinal diseases, but only one has an approved gene therapy," added study co-author Renee Ryals, Ph.D., an assistant professor of ophthalmology in the OHSU School of Medicine and a scientist at the OHSU Casey Eye Institute. "Improving the technologies used for gene therapy can provide more treatment options to prevent blindness. Our study's findings show that lipid nanoparticles could help us do just that." In 2017, the Food and Drug Administration approved the first gene therapy to treat an inherited form of blindness. Many patients have experienced improved vision and have been spared blindness after receiving the therapy, which is sold under the brand name Luxturna. It uses a modified version of the adeno-associated virus, or AAV, to deliver gene-revising molecules. Today's gene therapies largely rely on AAV, but it has some limitations. The virus is relatively small and can't physically contain gene-editing machinery for some complex mutations. And AAV-based gene therapy can only deliver DNA, which results in the continual creation of gene-editing molecules that may lead to unintended genetic edits. Lipid nanoparticles are a promising alternative because they don't have size constraints like AAV. Additionally, lipid nanoparticles can deliver mRNA, which only keeps gene-editing machinery active for a short period of time, so could prevent off-target edits. The potential of lipid nanoparticles was further proved by the success of mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines, which also use lipid nanoparticles to deliver mRNA. They also were the first vaccines to be authorized for COVID-19 in the United States, thanks to the speed and volume at which they can be manufactured. In this study, Sahay, Ryals and colleagues demonstrated that a peptide-covered lipid nanoparticle shell can be directed toward photoreceptor cells in the retina, tissue in the back of the eye that enables sight. As a first proof of concept, mRNA with instructions to make green fluorescent protein was placed inside nanoparticles. After injecting this nanoparticle-based gene therapy model into the eyes of mice and nonhuman primates, the research team used a variety of imaging techniques to examine the treated eyes. The animals' retinal tissue glowed green, illustrating that the lipid nanoparticle shell reached photoreceptors and that the mRNA it delivered successfully entered the retina and created green fluorescent protein. This research marks the first time that lipid nanoparticles are known to have targeted photoreceptors in a nonhuman primate. The scientists are currently working on follow-up research to quantify how much of the green fluorescent protein is expressed in animal retinal models. They're also working to develop a therapy with mRNA that carries the code for gene-editing molecules. Sahay and Ryals will continue developing their nanoparticle gene therapy delivery system with the support of a new, $3.1-million grant from the National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health. More information: Marco Herrera-Barrera et al, Peptide-guided lipid nanoparticles deliver mRNA to the neural retina of rodents and nonhuman primates, Science Advances (2023). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.add4623. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.add4623 Journal information: Science Advances 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: Spectroscopy of p-wave interactions between spin-polarized fermions. Credit: Nature (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05405-6 "Suppose you knew everything there was to know about a water moleculethe chemical formula, the bond angle, etc.," says Joseph Thywissen, a professor in the Department of Physics and a member of the Centre for Quantum Information & Quantum Control at the University of Toronto. "You might know everything about the molecule, but still not know there are waves on the ocean, much less how to surf them," he says. "That's because when you put a bunch of molecules together, they behave in a way you probably cannot anticipate." Thywissen is describing the concept in physics known as emergence: the relationship between the behavior and characteristics of individual particles and large numbers of those particles. He and his collaborators have taken a first step in understanding this transition from "one-to-many" particles by studying not one, not many, but two isolated, interacting particles, in this case potassium atoms. The result, described in a paper published today in the journal Nature, is a first, small step toward understanding natural quantum systems, and how they can lead to more powerful and effective quantum simulations. The collaborative team of experimental physicists from the University of Toronto and theoretical physicists from the University of Colorado has measured the strength of a type of interactionknown as "p-wave interactions"between two potassium atoms and found the result confirms a longstanding prediction. Physics graduate student Frank Corapi in the Ultracold Atoms Lab at the University of Toronto. Credit: Jo-Anne McArthur P-wave interactions are weak in naturally occurring systems, but researchers had predicted that they have a much higher maximum theoretical limit. The team is the first to confirm that the p-wave force between particles reached this maximum. "In our lab, we were able to isolate two atoms at a time," says Vijin Venu, a physics Ph.D. graduate of the University of Toronto. "This approach avoids the complexity of many-atom systems and allows full control and study of interactions between atoms in a pair." The team isolated pairs of atoms within a 3D optical latticea "crystal of light" as University of Toronto physics postdoctoral researcher Cora Fujiwara describes itcreated at the intersection of three laser beams at 90 degrees to each other. The intersecting beams generated stationary nodes of high intensity which trapped pairs of particles. With pairs isolated in this way, the researchers were able to measure the strength of their mutual interaction. "What we saw in our experiment was remarkable," says Fujiwara. "It's a perfect little system. And now that we have this understanding of this two-particle system, we can start to create these sorts of exotic systems which involve many, many more particles." The result has ramifications in many different technologies including the study of superfluids, superconductivity and quantum simulations. Quantum simulations are models designed to understand quantum systems like atoms, molecules or chemical reactionssystems ruled by quantum mechanics. These simulations can help understand how properties of materials emerge from particle-particle interactions. "In fact, the interactions between spin-polarized fermions that we have observed are predicted to give rise to new forms of unconventional robust superfluids, which are believed to be a potential resource for quantum calculations," explains Ana Maria Rey, an adjoint professor of physics at the University of Colorado Boulder and a fellow of JILA and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The challenge of solving quantum models with existing computers is daunting; the task has been described as teaching quantum mechanics to a computer. A promising alternative is to use existing quantum systemsin other words, actual atoms and molecules. "What's hard for us, is easy for nature," says Thywissen. "And so, we can harness the computational power of nature just 'doing its thing' to solve problems that are otherwise intractable to us." More information: Joseph Thywissen et al, Unitary p-wave interactions between fermions in an optical lattice, Nature (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05405-6. www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05405-6 Journal information: Nature 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: Coastal fog helps alleviate drought stress. Nighttime fog, in particular, is one of the best predictors of redwood growth efficiency. Credit: Steve Sillett Scientists from Cal Poly Humboldt conducted a range-wide analysis of coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) to examine growth trends and understand how these trees are responding to recent environmental changes. They found that redwoods have varying sensitivity to drought, and that rising temperatures may affect tree performance in unexpected waysresults that are both concerning and hopeful. The study, published in Forest Ecology and Management, was led by Cal Poly Humboldt Forestry Professor Stephen C. Sillett, the Kenneth L. Fisher Chair in Redwood Forest Ecology. Sillett's team was supported by the Save the Redwoods League through their ongoing Redwoods and Climate Change Initiative (RCCI). This phase of RCCI was designed to investigate how redwoods across their range are responding to the changing climate, and what these responses mean for long-term carbon sequestration and biodiversity. Sillett and team visited 45 locations spanning the redwood range from Monterey County in central California to Curry County in southern Oregon. They climbed 235 trees, measuring each one from base to top and core-sampling trunks at regular height intervals. They analyzed 1.2 million tree rings, which were cross-dated by Cal Poly Humboldt dendrochronologist Allyson Carroll. Using tree ring data and intensive measurements, the researchers reconstructed tree size back through time and modeled tree performance as functions of landscape position and climate. They found that redwoods in the north are less drought-sensitive than those in the south, but drought sensitivity is increasing across the range. Even without changes in precipitation, the redwood range is drying due to warming. The drying power of air increases exponentially with temperature, and this has important consequences for trees. While extreme daytime temperatures can lead to death of treetops, another temperature effect inhibits tree radial growth. Nighttime temperatures are becoming unusually warm. Warmer, drier nights may reduce growth but increase tree decay resistance as excess sugars are used to produce heartwood fungicide instead of wood. The name "redwood" comes from the color of the decay-resistant chemicals in the central heartwood of a tree. The more fungicide produced, the more durable the heartwood. Although redwoods occupy only a small land area, they are globally renowned for their great size, longevity, and grandeur. Credit: Marie Antoine While this could be a silver lining to climate change, it's more complicated because all redwoods aren't equal. Larger and older redwoods produce more and better heartwood. Heartwood production and fungicide content are higher in primary than secondary forests throughout the range. This means secondary forests are less effective than primary forests at long-term carbon sequestration. Only ~5% of primary redwood forests remain, and mature secondary forests are even scarcer due to repeated logging. Managing redwoods as short-rotation crops squanders the potential of a species that can live for two millennia. Long-term carbon sequestration is one issue, and biodiversity is another. These issues are interconnected because decay-resistant heartwood creates durable habitats for canopy biodiversity. Tree structural complexity promotes biodiversitythe largest and oldest trees host the bulk of arboreal life in a given forest, in addition to being carbon-sequestration champions. These "Elder Trees" are now rare on the landscape. However, designating Potential Elder Trees (PETs) can literally grow hope for the future. With this approach, some of the most robust trees in a secondary forest are chosen to become part of the long-term inventory. Future land management promotes the health and vigor of Potential Elder Trees, including selective logging of crowding neighbor trees. This means production of timber and other values such as long-term carbon sequestration and biodiversity provisioning aren't mutually exclusive in regenerating forests. "With thick fire-resistant bark and an amazing capacity for clonal reproduction, few tree species are so well equipped to persist in an uncertain future," the authors write. "Our actions now determine the quality of forests to be enjoyed by future generations." More information: Stephen C. Sillett et al, Rangewide climatic sensitivities and non-timber values of tall Sequoia sempervirens forests, Forest Ecology and Management (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2022.120573 Provided by Cal Poly Humboldt 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: Configuration of the STEREO experiment. Credit: Nature (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05568-2 After several years of operation, the STEREO collaboration published the final results of their antineutrino studies. With their data, the researchers excluded hints for the existence of sterile neutrinos, an additional neutrino state expected in many theories. The result, which appears in the January 11 issue of Nature, has important implications for many areas of fundamental physics. In modern particle physics all known elementary particles and their interactions are described in the so-called Standard Model of Particle Physics. The model includes neutrinos, particles invented 1930 by Wolfgang Pauli in order to comply with the universal energy conservation laws. Neutrinos are very light, electrically neutral and interact only via the electroweak force. Therefore, they are extremely hard to detect. A direct experimental detection didn't take place until 1956. Today three different types of neutrinos are known. These neutrinos can change their identity between these different states due to their very small, but non-zero mass. These so-called neutrino oscillations were established about two decades ago. In 2011, increased precision led to an anomaly between the observed and predicted antineutrino flux emitted by nuclear reactors. This triggered the hypothesis of the existence of a supplementary neutrino state that would be sterile i.e. not interacting via the weak interaction. This particle could also possibly explain physical phenomena that are still not fully understood, such as dark matter. To unambiguously test this hypothesis of sterile neutrinos and determine their properties, the STEREO experiment was designed and started operation in 2017 at the high-flux nuclear research reactor at the ILL Grenoble. A detector consisting of six identical elements was placed just 10 meters from the reactor core. The project profited from the experience collected over several generations of reactor neutrino experiments. Shielded from the external environment, the cells of the detector were ideally positioned to search with unprecedented precision for the signature of sterile neutrinos: position dependent distortions in their energy distribution should appear at a short distance from the reactor. Now, the STEREO collaboration, consisting of researchers from the Max-Planck-Institut fur Kernphysik (MPIK) in Heidelberg, Germany and the French institutes CEA Saclay, CNRS, the universities Grenoble Alpes and Savoie Mont Blanc as well as the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) published their most recent results combining the full data set: The physicists confirmed an anomaly in the neutrino flux emitted by nuclear reactors, but sterile neutrinos are, however, not the cause of this. "We were able to observe a total of more than 100,000 neutrinos in the years 2017 to 2020, but could not determine any trace of potential sterile neutrinos within these measurements," explains Christian Buck, one of the lead researchers of the experiment from the MPIK. "Most likely the observed anomalies result from underestimated uncertainties in the nuclear data from the radioactive decays used for the flux prediction rather than the neutrino experiments itself." While this result rejects the sterile neutrino hypothesis quite strongly, it serves as a further support of the Standard Model and its neutrino content. Besides the search for sterile neutrinos, the STEREO experiment also provides the most accurate measurement to date of the antineutrino spectrum from the fission of Uranium-235. It is intended to be used as a reference spectrum for future high precision reactor experiments, such as the determination of the mass hierarchy of neutrinos or the low-energy tests of the Standard Model. In addition, precision measurements of this kind might help to better understand the phenomena happening during a reactor shutdown, for instance. The researchers at MPIK made significant contributions, both to the construction of the STEREO detector and in the analysis of the data. For example, the very special liquids in the detector were developed, produced and characterized at MPIK. In particular, the gadolinium-loaded liquid scintillator, which forms the heart of the detector, originates from MPIK. Another crucial contribution are the very special filling systems and the light sensors for measuring the light signals after the neutrino reaction in the detector. In the field of analysis, the MPIK group was active in energy reconstruction, efficiency determination and analysis coordination. More information: David Lhuillier, STEREO neutrino spectrum of 235U fission rejects sterile neutrino hypothesis, Nature (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05568-2. www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05568-2 Journal information: Nature 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: The AstroRad vest floats in the International Space Station cupola. The garment could provide a way to mitigate radiation threats to crew members on missions to the Moon and Mars. Credit: NASA A radiation protection vest, olive oil, and sutured tissues are among the scientific samples returning from the International Space Station on the 26th SpaceX commercial resupply services mission for NASA. The Dragon spacecraft, which arrived at the station Nov. 27, is scheduled to undock on January 9, with splashdown January 11 off the coast of Florida. The cargo returns to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where scientists can make additional observations and analyses of their experiments before the effects of gravity fully kick back in. Many also conduct more in-depth analysis later in their home labs. Read more about some of the equipment and samples making the journey back to Earth: This vest is the best A special vest designed to protect astronauts from high doses of radiation caused by unpredictable solar particle events (SPEs) is returning to Earth after months of testing in space. Crew members wore the Astrorad vest while performing daily tasks and provided feedback about how easy it is to put on, how it fits and feels, and the range of motion possible while wearing it. The vest's developers plan to analyze that feedback and improve design of the garment, which could provide personal radiation protection for astronauts on the Artemis missions and future travel to Mars. Radiation exposure can cause cancers and other short- and long-term adverse health effects, and using a shielding garment allows protection of specific sensitive organs and tissues. The investigation also could support improvements to radiation protection garments on Earth. Image of olive oil samples ready for launch for EVOO in Space, an ESA investigation that studies the effects of space exposure on extra virgin olive oil, which could provide nutritional benefits for astronauts on future space missions. Credit: Stefano Polato A tasty test EVOO in Space, an investigation from ESA (European Space Agency) and the Italian Space Agency (ASI), studies the effects of exposure to the space environment on extra virgin olive oil. Researchers examined the characteristics of veiled and filtered extra virgin olive oils before flight. Space-flown samples are returning to Earth for additional analysis of those properties and comparison with controls kept on the ground. Olive oil is rich in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds, and provided the oil retains its properties when stored in a spacecraft, could be beneficial for the health of astronauts on long-term space missions. This investigation also could improve the understanding of olive oil shelf life and support development of oils with improved features for extreme environments on Earth. Red and green tomatoes grow in an XROOTS growth chamber. Researchers tested hydroponic and aeroponic methods as alternatives to traditional growth media for producing plants in space. Credit: NASA Air, water, plants XROOTS uses hydroponic (water-based) and aeroponic (air-based) techniques to grow plants without soil or other growth media. Researchers collected video and still images to evaluate growth chambers through the plant life cycle from seed germination through maturity. The plant chambers are returning to Earth for additional analysis. Current space-based plant systems, which are small and use particulate media to deliver water and nutrients, do not scale well in space and can have containment, maintenance, and sanitation issues. These new techniques could provide a way to produce crops on a larger scale for future space missions. The investigation's system components also could enhance plant cultivation and improve food security for people on Earth. Science chambers for Rhodium Microgravity Bioprospecting-1 prior to launch. This investigation explored methods for identifying valuable substances in microbes. Credit: NASA Better bioprospecting Bioprospecting is the process of identifying plants and animals that may contain substances with potential for use as drugs, biochemicals, and other commercially valuable materials. Previous studies found that the unique stressors of space can cause genetic and physiological changes that could result in microbes yielding such materials. Rhodium Microgravity Bioprospecting-1 studies a way to search for these microbes. Results could expedite the discovery of substances in plants and animals that could have a variety of uses on Earth, including in medicine and industry. The science chambers and temperature logger from the investigation are returning to Earth for further examination. Samples and hardware for ESA's Suture in Space investigation, which examined sutures and wound healing in microgravity. Credit: University of Florence Space stitches As missions travel farther from Earth, crew members need to be prepared to deal with medical emergencies, including wounds, without direct medical support. Wound healing is a complex process, and scientists are not sure why wounds often heal imperfectly or create scars. Suture in Space, an ESA investigation, examined the behavior of sutures and wound healing in microgravity, including the role of mechanical stress. Crew members monitored tissue samples with sutured wounds and measured their tensile strength. The samples were placed into cold stowage for return to Earth, where researchers can more closely examine suture structure, blood vessel function in the sutured tissues, stiffness and strength of the tissue, and other characteristics. A technique for keeping tissue biopsies alive longer, developed for the investigation, could aid future studies on transplants, cell regeneration, and surgical techniques on Earth and in space. Provided by NASA 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: By mid-century, dams and reservoirs will lose about 1.65 trillion cubic metres of water storage capacity to sediment. Thousands of the world's large dams are so clogged with sediment that they risk losing more than a quarter of their storage capacity by 2050, UN researchers said Wednesday, warning of the threat to water security. A new study from the UN University's Institute for Water, Environment and Health found that, by mid-century, dams and reservoirs will lose about 1.65 trillion cubic metres of water storage capacity to sediment. The figure is close to the combined annual water use of India, China, Indonesia, France and Canada. That is important, the researchers say, because these big dams are a key source of hydroelectricity, flood control, irrigation and drinking water throughout the world. "Global water storage is going to diminishit is diminishing nowand that needs to be seriously taken into account," the study's co-author and Institute director Vladimir Smakhtin told AFP. Researchers looked at nearly 50,000 large dams in 150 countries, and found that they have already lost about 16 percent of water storage capacity. They estimated that if build-up rates continue at the same pace, that will increase to about 26 percent by mid-century. Rivers naturally wash sediment downstream to wetlands and coasts, but dams disrupt this flow and over time the build-up of these muddy deposits gradually reduces the space for water. Smakhtin said this "endangers the sustainability of future water supplies for many" as well as posing risks to irrigation and power generation. World map showing the median age of dams per country, according to an analysis by the UN University. Part of a larger issue Accumulation of sediment can also cause flooding upstream and impact wildlife habitats and coastal populations downstream. Sedimentation is a part of a larger issue: by 2050, tens of thousands of large dams will be near or past their intended lifespan. Most of the world's 60,000 big damsconstructed between 1930 and 1970were designed to last 50 to 100 years, after which they risk failure, affecting more than half the global population who will live downstream. Large dams and reservoirs are defined as higher than 15 metres (49 feet), or at least five metres high while holding back no less than three million cubic metres of water. Global warming compounds the risk in ways that have yet to be fully measured. "Climate change extremes like floods and droughts will increase, and higher intensity showers are more erosive," Smakhtin said. This not only increases the risk of reservoirs overflowing but also accelerates the build-up of sediment, which affects dam safety, reduces water storage capacity and lowers energy production in hydroelectric dams. Most of the world's 60,000 big dams were designed to last 50 to 100 years. Alternatives To address looming challenges of ageing dams and reservoir sedimentation, the study authors list several measures. Bypass, or sediment diversion, can divert water flow downstream through a separate river channel. Another strategy is the removal, or "decommissioning", of a dam to re-establish the natural flow of sediment in a river. But addressing water storage issues is especially complex because there is no one-size-fits-all solution, Smakhtin said. "The loss of water storage is inevitable for different reasons," Smakhtin said. "So the question we should be asking is what are the alternatives?" A March 22-24 UN 2023 Water Conference in New York will provide the possibility for countries to voice concerns and make commitments for the future of water management, he said. 2023 AFP 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: An artistic rending of the star Gaia17bpp being partially eclipsed by the dust cloud surrounding a smaller companion star. Credit: Anastasios Tzanidakis By their own admission, Anastasios "Andy" Tzanidakis and James Davenport are interested in unusual stars. The University of Washington astronomers were on the lookout for "stars behaving strangely" when an automated alert from the Gaia survey pointed them to Gaia17bpp. Survey data indicated that this star had gradually brightened over a 2 1/2-year period. As Tzanidakis will report on Jan. 10 at the 241st meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Seattle, follow-up analyses indicated that Gaia17bpp itself wasn't changing. Instead, the star is likely part of a rare type of binary system, and its apparent brightening was the end a years-long eclipse by an unusual stellar companion. "We believe that this star is part of an exceptionally rare type of binary system, between a large, puffy older starGaia17bppand a small companion star that is surrounded by an expansive disk of dusty material," said Tzanidakis, a UW doctoral student in astronomy. "Based on our analysis, these two stars orbit each other over an exceptionally long period of timeas much as 1,000 years. So, catching this bright star being eclipsed by its dusty companion is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity." Since the Gaia spacecraft's observations about the star only went back to 2014, Tzanidakis and Davenport, a UW research assistant professor of astronomy and associate director of the DiRAC Institute, had to do a little detective work to reach this conclusion. First, they stitched together Gaia's observations of the star with observations by other missions stretching back to 2010including Pan-STARRS1, WISE/NEOWISE and the Zwicky Transient Facility. Those observations, coupled with the Gaia data, showed that Gaia17bpp dimmed by about 4.5 orders of magnitudeor roughly 45,000 times. The star remained dim over the course of nearly seven years, from 2012 to 2019. The sudden brightening that the Gaia survey had uncovered was the end of that seven-year dim. The star Gaia17bpp, circled in red, as shown by the Pan-STARRS1 and DSS missions. Credit: Anastasios Tzanidakis/Pan-STARRS1/DSS No other stars near Gaia17bpp showed similar dimming behavior. Through the DASCH program, a digital catalog of more than a century's worth of astro-photographic plates at Harvard, Tzanidakis and Davenport analyzed observations of the star stretching back to the 1950s. "Over 66 years of observational history, we found no other signs of significant dimming in this star," said Tzanidakis. The two believe that Gaia17bpp is part of a rare type of binary star system, with a stellar companion that isquite simplydusty. "Based on the data currently available, this star appears to have a slow-moving companion that is surrounded by a large disk of material," said Tzanidakis. "If that material were in the solar system, it would extend from the sun to Earth's orbit, or farther." A handful of other similar, "dusty" systems have been identified over the years, most notably Epsilon Aurigae, a star in the constellation Auriga that is eclipsed for two out of every 27 years by a relatively large, dim companion. The system that Tzanidakis and Davenport discovered is unique among these few dusty binaries in the length of the eclipseat nearly seven years, it is by far the longest. Unlike the Epsilon Aurigae binary, Gaia17bpp and its companion are also so far apart that it would be centuries or more before an astute observer on Earth witnesses another such eclipse. For Epsilon Aurigae and similar systems, the identity of the dusty companion is a matter of debate. Some preliminary data indicate that Gaia17bpp's companion could be a small, massive white dwarf star. The source of its debris disk is also a mystery. "This was a serendipitous discovery," said Tzanidakis. "If we had been a few years off, we would've missed it. It also indicates that these types of binaries might be much more common. If so, we need to come up with theories about how this type of pairing even arose. It's definitely an oddity, but it might be much more common than anyone has appreciated." Additional team members on this study are Eric Bellm, a UW research assistant professor of astronomy, and David Wang, a UW graduate student in astronomy. 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: US National Cardiff Violence Prevention Network Map. Credit: Cardiff University Sixteen cities across the U.S. are supporting the implementation of a UK model for tackling violence. The network of cities includes the East coast, West coast, Midwest and southeastern portions of the country, ranging from medium size cities like Albany, Georgia to large cities like Las Vegas, Nevada, St Louis, Missouri and Denver, Colorado. Devised and developed by Professor Jonathan Shepherd of Cardiff University's Security, Crime and Intelligence Innovation Institute, the Cardiff Model works by using unique intelligence gathered from injured people in hospital to prevent violence. This information reveals weapon use, gang violence and violence locations such as drug dens, schools, parks, taverns and nightclubs unknown to police. Supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the model was adopted as US policy in 2018, and led to the creation of a toolkit to aid roll out. The Model enables cities to create violence prevention boards bringing police, health, local authorities and third sector organizations together to take action based on these data. Advocated and promoted by the World Health Organization and CDC, the Model is already in use around the world, from the UK and the Netherlands to Australia and South Africa. Dr. Daniel Wu, Chief of Emergency Medicine at Grady Hospital in Atlanta, co-leads the Cardiff National Network in the U.S. He says the Model's systematic approach to data gathering, information sharing, and collective action reduces violence. "The Cardiff Model of Violence Prevention empowers communities to reduce violence in their own neighborhoods. At its core, it creates collaborations between different sectors and community partners that normally would not exist. These novel partnerships have a more complete and informed view of the violence plaguing their city, and work together to implement data-driven community-level interventions. As an Emergency Physician who cares for victims of violence everyday, the Cardiff Violence Prevention Program, gives me the opportunity to make the communities we serve safer for our patients." Dr. Stephen Hargarten, Professor of Emergency Medicine and the Senior Injury and Policy Advisor of the Comprehensive Injury Center at the Medical College of Wisconsin, said, "We are excited to see the Cardiff Model of Violence Prevention being translated in West Allis and Milwaukee, Wisconsin and being considered across the United States. The implantation of the Cardiff Model in the United States is timely and much needed. I have practiced emergency medicine for close to four decades and this is one of the best actions that we can take to help make the communities we serve safer for everyone." The model's successes are highlighted in a newly published 2022 report, The Cardiff Model for Violence Prevention, which celebrates notable public health innovations developed through the model since the late 1990s, including the use of toughened glasses in bars, real-time CCTV surveillance, information sharing with school nurses, and pedestrian areas in trouble-spots. Professor Shepherd said, "Growing interest and implementation of the Cardiff Model in the United States could not be timelier. Violence has been a hot topic throughout the recent US mid-term elections. The sixteen cities in the National Cardiff Network recognize the power of the Model to cut violence, cut costs and generate collective accountabilityincluding police accountability for preventing this major societal scourge " More information: A full copy of The Cardiff Model for Violence Prevention can be found here. A GRAPHIC MAP showing the cities can be found here. 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: The change in the percentage of women on boards by policy. A line graph illustrating the percentage of women on boards of 3 years before and after the implementation of board gender equality policies. The regulatory approach is the most effective, following legislative quotas and lastly regulatory approaches. Credit: International Journal of the Economics of Business (2022). DOI: 10.1080/13571516.2022.2133337 So-called "soft laws", such as agreements, principles and declarations, are effective in getting more women represented on corporate boards across the world, according to new research by Anglia Ruskin University (ARU). The study, published in the International Journal for the Economics of Business, examined the effectiveness of soft laws in promoting board diversity in more than 14,000 companies across 99 nations between 2000 and 2021. Soft laws are non-legally binding codes, commitments or policies that may be used by nations to achieve certain goals such as increasing the diversity of an organization. Companies not complying may be hit by sanctions such as fines, lawsuits or refilling, which is where non-compliant firms must leave a vacancy empty until a woman is found to fill the role. The new ARU study found that the average percentage of women on corporate boards is 20% in firms in jurisdictions with relevant soft laws, and 11% in firms not bound by these soft laws. Researchers found that precise rule-based approaches, with less ambiguity, were more likely to be effective in achieving their aims. Quotas, which is where a company is required to have a certain number or percentage of women on its board, were found to increase the presence of female directors by 11.7%. However, these quotas were only found to be effective when sanctions were applied to firms who did not comply. Firms were more likely to comply with policies when they had more time to implement them, and when the targets were not radically different to existing levels of board diversity. According to Deloitte, France is the country with the highest percentage of board seats held by women, at approximately 43%. However, among countries with no legal mandate, Sweden is the highest with approximately 35%. In contrast, in Qatar just 1.2% of board seats are held by women. Lead author Dr. Wei Kang, Lecturer in the School of Economics, Finance and Law at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), said, "We know from previous research that enhanced gender diversity in the boardroom provides firms with a wealth of benefits, including driving strategic change, promoting fair earnings, and driving sustainability. "Our findings suggest that some forms of soft laws introduced by countries to increase diversity in the boardroom do work, but they have varying levels of success. It appears that clear, strict rules do have more of an effect, and sanctions encourage firms to adhere by these rules. "However, we also found that firms appeared to be more compliant when targets were realistic and there was sufficient time to get their house in order." More information: Wei Kang et al, Realizing Gender Diversity on Corporate Boards, International Journal of the Economics of Business (2022). DOI: 10.1080/13571516.2022.2133337 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: Black-throated Green Warbler on a fruiting tree during autumn migration in Cape May Point, New Jersey. Credit: Alex Wiebe, Princeton University. Every autumn, billions of birds migrate across the eastern U.S. en route to their wintering sites. As the birds undertake their journeys, however, they are faced with increasing threats, including habitat loss, storms, feral cats and other predators, pesticides, collisions with buildings, and climate change. Not only are individual species impacted by these threats, but so is the migratory phenomenon itself. A new study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences presents the first comprehensive map of autumn stopover hotspots of landbirds for the eastern United States. Stopover sites are locations where birds pause between migratory flights in order to rest and refuel before resuming their journeys. The new map created by the researchers can inform where conservation efforts would be most effective. "This is the first time we've had a comprehensive picture of where songbirds are stopping over for the entirety of the eastern United States," said David Wilcove, professor of Public Affairs and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and the High Meadows Environmental Institute and a co-author on the study. "It gives us a powerful new tool for identifying the key habitats these birds are using during their epic migrations," Wilcove said. The researchers used data collected from a national network of weather radar stations to identify "stopover hotspots," or sites that consistently support a high number of migratory birds year to year. Weather radar images capture not only precipitation but also migrating birds, but separating the birds from the precipitation (and other things) requires a great deal of image processing. The study finds that landbirds migrate across a broad front through the eastern United States, with relatively more birds following the Mississippi River and, to a lesser extent, the Appalachian Mountains. By examining the migration at finer spatial scales, the researchers were able to identify hotspots that support high densities of birds from year to year on their migratory journeys. The study also reports that at these finer scales, there are high concentrations of birds in the pockets of broadleaf forests remaining in areas that have been largely deforested to grow crops, such as the Midwest. Previously, these forest fragments were seen as having relatively little value for songbirds because they do not generally support large populations of them during the breeding season. But during the fall migration, they become important rest and refueling spots. "Small pockets of deciduous forest are often neglected in conservation planning because birds have low breeding success in these spaces," said Fengyi Guo, lead author of the study and a Ph.D. candidate in the department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University. "But the entire population moves across the continent twice annually. Many of them depend on food and shelter in these forest pockets to complete their migration" Guo said. Another novel finding is that there are high concentrations of birds in the forests along the edge of the Midwest prairie region, now largely converted to farmland, suggesting that these farmlands may be an obstacle for migratory birds and that the birds are avoiding stopping over in the prairies until they reach more forested places, which provide more suitable habitat for them. Taken together, the study suggests that a network of protected forested land distributed across the eastern US is key to maintaining healthy populations of migratory landbirds. The authors urge the protection of broadleaf forests, especially the remaining forests in the agriculturally dominated Midwest. Locally based conservation efforts across the eastern U.S. will be key to protecting bird species along their migratory journeys. "A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Successful conservation of migratory bird populations requires enough habitat to be protected at all stages of its annual cycle," Guo said. The paper, "Autumn stopover hotspots and multiscale habitat associations of migratory landbirds on the eastern U.S.," was published January 9, 2023 in PNAS. The authors of the report are Fengyi Guo and David Wilcove (Princeton University) and Jeffrey Buler and Jaclyn Smolinsky (University of Delaware). More information: Fengyi Guo et al, Autumn stopover hotspots and multiscale habitat associations of migratory landbirds in the eastern United States, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2023). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2203511120 Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Provided by Princeton School of Public and International Affairs 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: Torrential downpours across much of California have caused flash flooding, closed key highways, toppled trees and swept away drivers and passengers, with at least 17 deaths reported. An enormous cyclone gyrating off California's coast was dumping rain Wednesday, threatening further floods and landslides in the already sodden state. At least 18 people are known to have died in the parade of storms that have lashed the western United States, bringing rainfall levels not seen in 150 years to some places. Communities have been washed out, powerlines toppled and roads blocked by rockslides as an endless deluge pounds the Golden State. On Wednesday a swathe of northern California was under a flood watch or winter weather advisory. "The heaviest rains are expected to impact northwestern California through the next couple of days with a few inches of rain possible," the National Weather Service warned. That rain will come on top of weeks of downpours that have left the earth saturated, with rivers fit to burst and hillsides at risk of collapse. In the town of Aptos, near Santa Cruz, residents were picking up the pieces after being inundated. "It's probably the worst flood that I've seen here since I've lived here, since 1984," Doug Spinelli told AFP. "Aptos Creek was flowing down so angrily, I thought it was going to rip out our little pedestrian walkway, and there were tree trunks being forced down the river, almost at a rate of about one every 30 seconds. Map showing rainfall in California over the last seven days, with data from NOAA to January 9. "It was amazing to watch how much debris and timber was flowing down the creek." California Governor Gavin Newsom, who visited weather-wrecked Capitola on Tuesday, said with a seemingly endless stream of storms coming in from the Pacific Ocean, even lesser downpours could prove problematic. "The number of inches of rain, and the intensity doesn't tell the entire story," he told reporters. "We're soaked, this place is soaked. And now just more modest amounts of precipitation could add as equal or greater impact in terms of the conditions on the ground." 'We will search until we find him' More than 55,000 homes and businesses were without power in California on Wednesday, according to tracking site Poweroutage.us, and there have been tragedies across the state. A five-year-old boy who disappeared in floodwaters in San Luis Obispo was still missing Wednesday. Lindsay Doan was driving son Kyle to school on Monday morning when the family car was swept into floodwaters. San Diego firefighters rescue dogs from a flooded home in Merced, California, on January 10, 2023 as a relentless series of storms ravages the most populous US state. She managed to get out of the vehicle, but could not open Kyle's door. "He was calm. He was trying to say, 'Stay calm, Mom,'" the boy's father, Brian Doan said, according to the Los Angeles Times. "She was doing her best." When she finally got him out of the car they were separated by the current. Nearby residents pulled her from the water, but Kyle had been swept down the creek. "My wife feels very terrible surviving this and not him," Brian Doan said. "She did the right thing getting him out of the car. San Miguel Fire told me they saw the car had moved and it was pushed upside down in the creek." San Luis Obispo County Sheriff said they were still searching for the child, including with underwater teams. "We will search until we find him," spokesman Tony Cipolla told The San Luis Obispo Tribune. The usually sun-baked Hollywood sign has had a drenching. Fatalities According to a tally by the LA Times, the 18 confirmed dead in the state include drivers who have been found in submerged cars, people struck by falling trees, a husband and wife killed in a rockfall and people whose bodies were discovered in floodwaters. Winter storms are not unusual in California, which tends to get most of its annual rain over a fairly short period. But the current systemswhich have brought more rain to San Francisco in two weeks than at any time since 1866are vicious. Scientists say global warming, which is being driven by human activity, is making weather events more extreme, with wet periods much wetter and dry periods much drier. Despite the misery, the storms, which are expected to continue to rake California for another week, are bringing rain to a part of the country that badly needs it after more than two decades of drought. But even the volumes of water that are falling are not enough to replenish depleted reservoirs and aquifers. Shasta Lake, the state's largest reservoir, is still only at two-thirds of its historical average for early January, water resources department data shows. 2023 AFP 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: An interactive map on the Oceans 1876 website allows viewers to follow the Challengers voyage around the globe and see the data recorded and species found at each research station the ship visited. An upgraded version of the map is under development. Credit: Fangyu Zhou/NCSA The HMS Challenger began a four-year voyage 150 years ago to explore the deep sea and the creatures that lived in it. The scientists aboard the ship discovered thousands of new species and recorded massive amounts of data about the oceans. The treasure trove of information they gathered is now available online in the first comprehensive database of the Challenger findings. A new website devoted to the expedition and the database was launched Dec. 21the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the Challenger's voyage. It is part of the Oceans 1876 project by Gillen D'Arcy Wood, a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign English professor and a historian of 19th-century environmental history and science. Wood also is the associate director of the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and the Environment, and the director of its environmental writing program. "The Challenger journey is the grand prize of scientific voyages. It is the foundation for modern marine science and oceanography," Wood said. His aim for the Oceans 1876 project was to develop a database of baseline oceanographic information to enhance marine research and increase public awareness of the Challenger expedition. The Challenger was a naval vessel converted into a research ship and floating laboratory. Between 187276, the ship sailed 70,000 miles and recorded data at more than 360 research stations worldwide. The mission identified the world's major ocean basins and currents, as well as 4,700 new species of marine creatures and plants. The HMS Challenger collected massive amounts of data about the worlds oceans during its 19th-century voyage and laid the foundation for the fields of oceanography and marine biology. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign English professor Gillen DArcy Wood led Oceans 1876, a project to create a comprehensive database of the Challenger findings. Credit: Gillen D'Arcy Wood The specific measurements recorded by the expedition are valuable to scientists today to compare with current data on ocean conditions and marine life, Wood said. "There's more interest in 18th- and 19th-century discovery voyages because they established a data baseline for various ecosystems around the world. The records they kept, the specimens they gathered and their observations are vital for creating a snapshot of the preindustrial world," he said. "It's like a time capsule of what the Earth was like 150 years ago." The Challenger's scientists recorded water temperatures and information about currents, water conditions and chemistry, and collected plant and animal specimens. After the expedition ended, it required another massive research enterprise to publish the findings, Wood said. Marine science experts around the world analyzed the collected specimens and wrote reports. It took 20 years to publish 50 volumes of the reports and data, as well as two summary volumes. A couple of hundred full sets of the volumes exist, including one in the collection of the University Library, Wood said. Illustration by Ernst Haeckel, a German zoologist and naturalist. Credit: Gillen D'Arcy Wood Wood received a 2021 Andrew Carnegie Fellowship for the Oceans 1876 project, which enabled him to partner with the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the U. of I. As the first step in a multiphase project, NCSA extracted data from the two summary reports of the expedition findings and made them available on the website via a public application programming interface, or API. The NCSA team also developed a web application that allows users to explore the data in an interactive way. An interactive map on the website provides information about the data collected at each research station around the globe. Viewers can select a location to see the air and water temperatures and water density recorded and the species found, and read the log entry for that location. The Scottish Association for Marine Science is hosting the Oceans 1876 website. The scientists aboard the Challenger were Scottish, and the University of Edinburgh was the research headquarters for the expedition, receiving the samples collected by the Challenger and overseeing the publication of the reports. The 50 volumes of reports from the Challenger mission included spectacular illustrations of some of the marine species identified on the voyage. Credit: Gillen D'Arcy Wood The Challenger mission identified 4,700 new species of marine animals and plants. Credit: Gillen D'Arcy Wood Wood and his partners on the project are working to obtain more funding to update the initial version of the website with an upgraded map of the voyage, to add analyses of the expedition's findings, and to cross-reference the species names that have changed over time. A second part of the project is a book that Wood is writing about the expedition, tentatively titled "Blue Wild: The Lost Marine World of HMS Challenger." Each chapter will focus on a different creature that the Challenger's scientists encountered that today is endangered or threatened. Wood spent two months in spring 2022 on a research trip to London's Natural History Museum, where the bulk of the Challenger specimens are housed, as well as archival documents. He discovered two journals in the museum's collection that have never been referenced in any literature on the Challenger expedition. They were written by officers aboard the Challenger, not scientists, and they provide detailed descriptions of daily life on the ship. They will provide a new perspective for his book on the expedition, Wood said. The book, scheduled to be published in 2025, will be the third of his eco-trilogy. His 2020 book "Land of Wondrous Cold: The Race to Discover Antarctica and the Secrets of its Ice" tells the environmental history of Antarctica through stories of the first explorations of the continent. He also is the author of the 2014 book "Tambora: The Eruption that Changed the World," about the rapid climate deterioration set in motion by the massive 1815 eruption of an Indonesian volcano. GLENS FALLS Glens Falls Superintendent of Schools Krislynn Dengler presented a tentative outline of how the student cabinet will be working with her on the developing a new mascot and brand identity for the district for the Board of Education to adopt in early April. Beginning the first week of February, the student cabinet and Dengler will start the process by defining the values and identity drivers of the district. The first step of the new mascot development will be to ask questions about the districts collective values, inspirations as a school community, and more. After an assembly at the high school, we will use ThoughtExchange to capture the students results and then it will be offered to the community, she said referring to an online survey platform the district uses. Student cabinet members will update Board of Education members on the process at the Feb. 13 meeting. Dengler said that will be when the top values of the district will be determined. During the week of Feb. 27, we will have break and were going to see what mascot makes sense here based on our top values. Once again we will survey the students and community, she said. Board members will receive another update in the beginning of March. At that time, the student cabinet will work towards identifying the preferred icons and mascot choices. Well do a prioritized survey with the top three or five choices where students will choose their top choices, she said. The student cabinet will finalize recommendations during the week of March 27. Members of the cabinet will meet to review all the data collected since February and determine their recommended course of action to the board. Our timeline is to bring the approval to you on April 3 for the adoption, she said. All updates on the mascot development process will be available on our website, she added Dengler reminded the audience that the new mascot doesnt change the districts history, winning seasons, records, or plaques. School colors will remain red and black and GF Nation is still deemed appropriate. Dengler also said she hopes the Board of Regents will dig deeper into letting the public wear merchandise with the districts former Native American identity on school grounds. 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. ATLANTIC CITY While their classmates were enjoying the final days of winter break, Cheyney Universitys Mohamedanwar Idress spent the past week learning about what he hopes is a future career in medicine. Idress was one of about 25 juniors and seniors from the nations first historically Black university to take part in a partnership with AtlantiCare aimed at giving them firsthand experience in the medical field. During the week, students broke off into four groups of six to explore about 25 learning stations in different departments at AtlantiCares City Campus, including emergency, intensive care, progressive care, surgical, medical application services, nursing, physical therapy, pediatrics, radiology, neurosciences and trauma. One of my career aspirations is to go to medical school and become a physician, said Idress, a junior at Cheyney. Being able to shadow in different departments and learn about specialties in the medical field will allow me to explore different specialties or an individual array of options for my future interests. Lori Herndon, president and CEO of AtlantiCare, said she hopes the program kicks off a long relationship with the Pennsylvania school, in a way that brings the best of what theyre all about to the best of what AtlantiCares all about, which is creating opportunities and making a difference to all those that we serve. Detention hearing postponed for Upper Township man charged in fatal hit-and-run CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE A detention hearing for an Upper Township man accused of fatally hitt The partnership is part of Cheyneys Institute for the Contemporary African American Experience. The institute, which was founded in 2018, has six quadrants: health care, bioscience, agribusiness, education, technology and criminal justice. The goal of the collaborative effort is to equip students to become future leaders in the professions they are pursuing, said Aaron Walton, president of Cheyney University. Three Cheyney students had already started work with AtlantiCare thanks to the program, Walton said. The institute is built on the foundation of public-private partnerships, and today is living proof of the value of the public-private partnerships, Walton said. Its opportunities like this partnership that will allow our students to immerse themselves in real world professional experiences. Cheyney has developed a model that provides our students with development opportunities and prepares students for future careers while they matriculate. Dinah Riley, a senior at Cheyney, said she chose to pursue physical therapy in seventh grade because she believes the post-operation and post-injury process is important both physically and mentally. Shes also a strong advocate for mental health awareness, which she would love to incorporate into her work. Im grateful to be here experiencing this winter break immersion experience. Im very grateful for the bridge of Black and Black African Americans to pursue medicine. Its a great opportunity within itself, Riley said. ATLANTIC CITY Every two weeks, city directors report to the public on how they have handled problems recently reported to them through the new CitiStat program, and each time the reports have become more extensive and the results more impressive. At Wednesday mornings meeting at Stockton Universitys City Campus, the fourth since the program began Nov. 16, directors reeled off reports on the removal of trash and debris from private properties, the eviction of illegal squatters and the decrepit properties demolished. CitiStat is designed to use data on problems coming in and results going out to maximize accountability in city departments, according to the state Department of Community Affairs, which got the program going here. The DCA has oversight of the city under a 2016 state takeover law. They were tying into neighbors for electricity, said Director of Licensing and Inspection Dale Finch of squatters in a three-building vacant property in Venice Park. We went in with code enforcement and closed it down. People living there had to vacate the property. A property owner who owns a construction company and has several construction vehicles parked at his Venice Park home has been issued a summons for violating city code and has a municipal court date, Finch said. The directors also took new reports of drug dealing and vagrancy on two streets, too few streetlights at Tennessee and Adriatic avenues, a deep manhole cover that is creating a driving hazard on a newly paved part of Melrose Avenue and more. CitiStat meetings are held biweekly at Stockton in the Fannie Lou Hamer Room of the Scarpa Academic Center. The next one will be held Jan. 25 at 5 p.m., to give people who cannot be there during the day a chance to attend. The city has picked a consultant to help directors maximize effectiveness of the CitiStat program and is finalizing his contract now, said Business Administrator Anthony Swan. In only one case did a citizen report poor feedback from a department. One resident said she reported graffiti on a stop sign and was told by a city worker it was not handled by a private company contracted by the city, and was offered no solution. We will make sure it is removed, Swan said of the graffiti. I will make sure in future you do not get that type of response. It should have been, We will address it. Public Works Director Crystal Lewis promised to talk to the resident and handle it. Fairmount Avenue resident Diane Bey commended the directors for doing such a good job with problems she brought up in previous meetings, and asked the city to try to persuade people to pick up after their dogs, and to stop leaving unwanted food outside that attracts pests. People take (from food pantries), and if they dont want it, they leave it around the neighborhood, Bey said, asking the city to get the word out that people should not accept food they are not going to use. We will look into both of those issues, Swan said. City Solicitor Mike Perugini reported he has drafted an ordinance to require earlier closing times for stores in parts of the city that generate a lot of police calls and other problems late at night. The idea came out of an earlier CitiStat meeting where residents complained of vagrancy and drug dealing outside some stores on Atlantic Avenue. Right now we are finalizing it and prepping data to support that ordinance, Perugini said. It wont be ready for this (months) agenda, but February is a realistic date for that. Atlantic City problem reporting system CitiStat starts getting results ATLANTIC CITY City officials reported Wednesday on how they resolved complaints about brok Human Resources Director Shanece Jones said many city jobs remain open and encouraged potential applicants to apply at acnj.gov. We strive to hire Atlantic City residents first, but when jobs remain vacant for months we take the most qualified individual candidates, Swan said. Even community activist Steve Young, who has often criticized the Small administration, said he was grateful for the program and asked how long it will continue. Thank you for these meetings. This is a place we can really get it done. Its transparent, Young said. The meetings will continue as long as Marty Small is mayor, Swan said. A Bellevue Avenue resident who reported drug dealing on his block declined to give his name but said residents there are mostly families and a multicultural mix. Its a very problematic area between Florida and Texas (avenues), with a number of vacant lots. We are trying to find out the owners. We know people who will buy them and secure them with fencing, the resident said. We want to stop all this flow through from one street to another, with drug dealing and vagrancy, which is a big problem on my block, he said, adding they are not residents but outsiders who make residents feel unsafe. Im going to task legal and Director Finch to see if we can require vacant lots to have fencing, if there is a public health and safety concern, Swan said. To report a concern or problem, visit acnj.gov and click on Report a Concern. TOMS RIVER Ocean County Commissioner Director Joseph H. Vicari is asking President Joe Biden to direct more federal dollars to the county. We need assistance to ensure that our more than 200,000 senior citizens continue to receive the best possible care, Vicari said in a letter to the president. Vicari, a Republican, sent the letter to the White House less than 24 hours after being sworn in as the county commissioner director, according to a news release. In his letter, Vicari said the countys programs for its oldest residents could improve if more money were provided from Washington. The county already funds numerous programs to keep our older residents safe and healthy, but with Washingtons help I know we can do even more, Vicari said. For the same cost as a one-day stay in the hospital, we can feed a senior through our meals-on-wheels program for an entire year. Ocean County is partly represented in Congress by U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-2nd. Egg Harbor City Council stays course despite new party split EGG HARBOR CITY A partisan shift in the city has not produced drastic changes to government. Van Drews spokesperson, Ashley Brown, said the congressman had not yet seen the letter. He has secured funding for Ocean County in the past, including $32 million from the Fiscal Year 2023 budget for beach replenishment on Long Beach Island, Brown said. Congressman Van Drew is more than happy to work with Director Vicari moving forward to secure additional funding for Ocean County, Brown said. Vicari, who is also the liaison to the Ocean County Office of Senior Services, said the county government funds multiple preventive health and nutritional programs for its older constituents. Vicari also would like to see federal dollars being used to protect Barnegat Bay. More federal funding would be used to fund the countys pump-out boat program and new initiatives to teach the public about bay protection practices, Vicari said, adding that beach preservation could also benefit from a federal boost. We have always balanced the need for preserving the bay with the desires of residents and tourists who enjoy the bay for boating, swimming and fishing, Vicari said. Hodgson named assignment judge in Ocean County TOMS RIVER Ocean County Superior Court Judge Francis R. Hodgson Jr. was chosen by state Su Whether the letter was received by the White House was unclear Wednesday morning. Attempts to reach the White Houses press team were unsuccessful. TOMS RIVER Ocean County Superior Court Judge Francis R. Hodgson Jr. was chosen by state Supreme Court Justice Stuart Rabner to lead the vicinage beginning next month. Hodgson replaces Assignment Judge Marlene Lynch Ford, who is retiring after 24 years on the bench, seven of which were served in that role, the New Jersey Courts said Tuesday. The change is effective Feb. 1. I am honored to have this opportunity to lead the hard-working staff and judges of the Ocean Vicinage and am grateful for Chief Justice Rabners confidence in my ability to continue to uphold the exceptional reputation of the Judiciary, Hodgson said in a statement. Hodgson is a graduate of Stockton, Monmouth and Villanova universities. He was first appointed to the bench in 2007 by then-Gov. Jon S. Corzine, serving in the Family Division before being assigned to the Criminal Division in 2008. In 2014, Gov. Chris Christie re-nominated him to the Superior Court. Hodgson served in the Criminal Division before he was named presiding judge of General Equity in 2015. Before joining the bench, Hodgson was employed as a law clerk for Vicinage Civil Presiding Judge Frank R. Buczynski and was in private practice for a year before joining the Ocean County Prosecutors Office in 1997. We congratulate Judge Ford on a remarkable career that encompassed all three branches of government, culminating with her impressive contributions to the Judiciary, Rabner said in a statement. Judge Hodgson is an exemplary judge with broad experience who is poised to continue the tradition of excellent leadership in the Ocean Vicinage. EGG HARBOR CITY A partisan shift in the city has not produced drastic changes to government. The city held its reorganization meeting Thursday, with three new members sworn onto City Council. The governing body now has a 4-4-1 split between Democrats and Republicans, a shift left from the 5-3-1 GOP majority that had previously controlled city government. Council President Pro Tempore Donna Heist is an independent. Mayor Lisa Jiampetti is a Democrat. Despite its new composition, the body opted for stability. Council voted 5-4 to reappoint Joseph Ricci Jr. to the position of council president. The president vote broke down on party lines, with Heist joining with Republicans to keep Ricci in the role. They then voted to reappoint Heist president pro tempore, chairing meetings in the presidents absence. Democrats voted on party lines for Councilman Karl Timbers to fill both positions. Heist was registered as a Democrat entering into 2022 according to the city website, but has since dropped her party affiliation. She told The Press of Atlantic City on Tuesday that she had always voted her conscience and thought partisan politics often worked against the interests of local government. She said she cast her vote for council president based on personal metrics rather than party loyalty. Party lines make no sense to me, Heist said. I didnt run for council because I wanted to be a great Democrat, I ran for council because I wanted to help the city. Ingrid Clark, inaugurated by Atlantic County Clerk Joe Giralo, became the first elected Latina member of the council. The city held a presentation honoring Clark on that account, gifting her a commemorative plaque. Firefighters respond to Hammonton blaze HAMMONTON A fire at a single-family home Monday was determined to have started in the sunr Clark said she was glad her mother was able to witness her inauguration onto the council and thanked her husband for his support for her campaign. She also said she had family from Puerto Rico watching her inauguration on Zoom. All the tears, all the stress, all the EVERYTHING.it was worth it! #history, Clark said in a Facebook post that featured a photograph of the plaque. She also wrote on Facebook that she would be working to highlight local businesses and promote the city. The citys professional appointments drew some consensus but occasionally broke down on partisan lines. Council appointed Polistina & Associates, the firm of state Sen. Vince Polistina, R-Atlantic, city planner on a 5-3, mostly party-line vote. Heist joined with the Republicans in the planner vote, and newly inaugurated Councilmember Nanette LoBiondo Galloway, a Democrat, abstained. The other three Democrats on the body supported the firm CME for planner. Angela Costigan of Costigan & Costigan, which has offices in Philadelphia and Hammonton, was appointed the citys municipal attorney. Her selection came on a 7-1 vote, with Timbers in dissent. Ford-Scott & Associates, of Ocean City, and Blaney & Karavan, of Avalon, were appointed city auditor and labor attorney, respectively. Along with Clark and LoBiondo Galloway, Kasey Attainese was the third new member of council, filling the unexpired, two-year term left by the late Councilwoman Robin Sefton. Incumbent Mattia Brown was ousted in the November general election for three open seats, finishing behind LoBiondo Galloway, Clark and Councilman Steve Dash. SEA ISLE CITY Three Bishop McHugh Regional Catholic School students were recently honored by VFW Post 1963 for their participation in the VFWs annual Patriots Pen Program. Representatives from Post 1963 presented awards to the students during a ceremony in Bishop McHughs gymnasium on January 6. The Patriots Pen program is a nationwide youth writing competition for sixth, seventh and eighth grade students. This years theme was My pledge to our veterans. Winners are chosen by a committee consisting of VFW, Auxiliary and community members, who do not know in advance the names of the students. First-place winners advance to the district levels, and then possibly even to state and national competitions. The third-place prize of $50 went to sixth-grader Nora McMahon, of Ocean View. The second-place prize of $100 went to eighth-grader Kimberly Velasco, of Woodbine. The first-place prize of $200 went to sixth-grader Quinn Laricks, of Sea Isle. After she received her award, Quinn was asked to read her essay aloud to the audience, which included the entire student body, faculty and family members. I pledge to honor the flag and our military, Quinn said. I will always respect the lost soldiers or any fallen people in the military. What they sacrifice for our country is beyond belief. They truly are heroes, and without them, I wouldnt be the same young and fortunate girl I am today. To learn more about VFW Post 1963 and its Auxiliary, visit vfwpost1963.com. Yashraj Films seeks to restrain Triller over content 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 Yashrajs 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 allows users to post audio-visual content or short videos using Yashrajs works. The plea read: The defendant illegally uploads, stores, reproduces, makes copies, creates new works embodying the plaintiffs works, commercially exploits, communicates to the public, makes a sound recording in respect of the plaintiffs 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 Trillers counsel, the conflict between Yashraj and the social media company has been ongoing for some time, and he will follow the companys directions in this regard. Trillers 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. IANS Virgin Orbit & the UK govt will probe the cause of failure; we should appreciate ISROs launch record: Mahindra 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. IANS FIR filed against three institutes, over 600 under scanner; involvement of many big names suspected It appears that the controversy over the CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) schools in Pune is not going away anytime soon. Recently, a fraudulent no-objection certificates (NOC) scam involving these schools has come to light. A total of three CBSE English medium schools with the state governments fake NOC and other documents were found to be bogus in Pune. The Samarth police station, under sections 465, 468, and 471 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), has registered a case against the unknown persons who sold them fake NOC in lieu of Rs12 lakh each. The complaint was filed by Sunanda Wakhare, secondary education officer of Pune Zilla Parishad. According to the written statement given to the Samarth police, the NOC for these three CBSE schools was discovered to be forged. Unknown gang members allegedly sold fake NOC in lieu of Rs12 lakh each from Creative Educational Societys Public School and Junior College, Pune; MP International School and Junior College, Shivajinagar, and Educational Career Foundations Namo RIMS International School and Junior College, Pune. Mirror, on January 10, carried a report stating that over 600 CBSE schools in Maharashtra are under the lens for allegedly obtaining fake NOCs. In its inquiry, the Education Departments special team discovered that certificates of around 666 CBSE English schools in the state are forged. In wake of an increasing number of fake schools in the city, the education administration has instructed all institutes to display the government approval number in capital letters in front of their entrance gates. Education Commissioner Suraj Mandhare said, I appealed to the parents to remain vigilant and enrol their children in governmentapproved institutions. In addition, if non-government and government officials assist in this, criminal action will be taken against them. We have initiated such action in Nanded. We have instructed all schools to display their government recognition order in bold letters at the school gates. Parents should also check to see if this approval number is present. Flourishing scam Pune, being the education hub, boasts thousands of teaching institutes not only in the city but also in Pimpri-Chinchwad and rural areas. These CBSE schools need to be approved by the state government and a NOC is issued for this. However, people with a criminal mindset prepare forged documents bearing signatures and stamps of concerned officials. They use the inward number of schools for this. This phony NOC and other certificate-giving gangs are active near schools, and offer bogus certificates for as much as Rs12 lakh. When the education department learned of this, they immediately ordered an investigation. Initially, in the first stage, three schools are being investigated. Many big fish are suspected to be involved in the scam. When Mirror contacted Harshad Gelada, principal of MP International School and Junior College, Shivajinagar, he said, We never asked for or paid for a CBSE School NOC, nor did we meet any gang members. Since 2019, we have exclusively run a junior college. We lack a primary school. In this regard, we have issued a written statement to the education department. We will help in the investigation. Mirror tried to contact the office bearers of the Creative Educational Societys Public School and Junior College Pune, and Educational Career Foundations Namo RIMS International School and Junior College Pune, for comments. However, they were not available. The eight states that will undergo the revival under the drive are Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Gujrat, Kerala and Rajasthan. Under the Central Governments Mission Amrit Sarovar the Southern Command headquartered at Pune has launched a drive to revive and redevelop 75 reservoirs across eight states, out of which four are to be revived in Pune itself. The drive is panned in line with the 75th Indian Army Day which will be held in Bangaluru this year on January 15, 2023. The Government of India launched Mission Amrit Sarovar in April last year to develop and harvest and conserve water. The southern command has identified 75 sites in different locations of which four are located in Pune. The task of reviving the reservoirs is undertaken by the troops of the Bombay Engineers Group who came forward for cleaning, widening and developing the reservoirs. The southern command press statement reads, Taking forward this initiative, the formations of Southern Command have identified 75 sites in different locations. The work towards this initiative is underway involving Armys Engineer and Public Works Department resources in conjunction with the civil administration and village panchayats. Creation of these Amrit Sarovars will also form part of the overall water harvesting scheme keeping the environmental factors in mind which will greatly assist in ameliorating the water crises of villages. The eight states that will undergo the revival under the drive are Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Gujrat, Kerala and Rajasthan. Pressure further mounted on the Shiv Sena-UBT after an MLA - who had rebelled in June last year and then changed his mind in Guwahati - has been slapped with an Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) notice, party leaders said here on Tuesday. Balapur (Akola) MLA Nitin Deshmukh has been served the ACB notice, making him the third MLA in the past two months to get such notices for allegations pertaining to holding disproportionate assets. The Sena-UBT has again cried foul at the hounding of its legislators by various probe agencies by the government. In recent months, two of its MLAs -Vaibhav Naik from Kudal (Sindhudurg) and Rajan Salvi from Rajapur (Ratnagiri) -had received ACB notices in October and December 2022, respectively. IANS A Goose Lake man who ran over his girlfriend with his truck and killed her during an argument pleaded guilty Monday in the case, according to Scott County District Court electronic records. Logan Paul Voss, 25, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and operating under the influence-first offense, during a hearing in Scott County District Court. Involuntary manslaughter is a Class D felony under Iowa law that carries a prison sentence of five years, while operating under the influence-first offense is serious misdemeanor that carries a jail sentence of up to one year. A charge of homicide by vehicle was dropped in the plea agreement. Sentencing is scheduled for April 5. According to the arrest affidavits filed by Bettendorf Police Officer Eric Poirier, at 10:30 p.m. on Feb. 15, 2022, officers were sent to the Sara Mini Mart, 931 State Street, to investigate a report of a man who had stopped a passerby on the street. The man told the passerby he needed help because he had just run over his girlfriend. Officers located Voss who had blood on his clothes, boots, and hands. Voss was crying and shaking while attempting to speak. Voss smelled of alcohol. When asked multiple times where his girlfriend was, Voss could not state from which direction he had come, and stated his girlfriend was dead. Officers located Voss 2018 Chevrolet Silverado in the area of Gilbert and 13th streets, located just west of the old I-74 bridge. On the ground behind the front passenger wheel officers found Ashleigh Nicole Decker, 30, of Goose Lake, who had an apparent head injury. She was pronounced dead at the scene. There was no damage to the truck and tracks indicated Decker had been run over by the front passenger-side tire. The couple, who have two children together, had spent the evening drinking at Treehouse Pub and Eatery in Bettendorf. They left the business at about 10 p.m. During the argument between the two, Decker attempted to get out of the vehicle, according to Scott County District Court records. The door caught Decker, and she was run over by the truck. As part of the plea agreement, Voss will pay $150,000 to Deckers estate. Photos: Davenport's truck-eating bridge claims another truck Rock Island natives Jen Thomas and Steve Thomas are bringing a bustling neighborhood bar with a "booze-infused" menu to the Quad-Cities. Thomas said she and her husband grew up in Rock Island but lived in Colorado for the past nine years. After working in hospitality and finding themselves with the desire to run a restaurant of their own, the couple decided to move back to the Quad-Cities and open a community-oriented eatery. "We wanted the neighborhood feel of our bar and grill, so we needed to know our neighborhoods," Thomas said. "We came back here to invest in Rock Island, where we were born and raised." Much of the menu, filled with original recipes from Thomas, is "dirty," she said, and has some element of alcohol incorporated into the food. She used the term "booze-infused" when describing the dirty burger with whiskey onions and dirty monkey bread with Southern Comfort sauce. The menu will expand after the grand opening, Thomas said. "I love going out and ordering a bourbon burger; it's one of my favorite things to go to a bar and order," she said. "And I was like, 'Why don't we put this in more of our menu items?'" Erin Calsyn, Thomas' sister and general manager of The Dirty Shirley, said they're making connections with other local businesses and looking for ways to become involved in the community. The business will participate in the Hand-in-Hand annual chili cook-off on Feb. 4, facing off against other restaurants to raise funds for the nonprofit. Thomas and Calsyn said the neighborhood, both residents and businesses, have been giving rave reviews of the food and drinks. "There's so many wonderful people in this city and within this area; I didn't realize the kind of family we were moving into," Calsyn said. "It's been really welcoming and really nice." The Dirty Shirley is at 4128 14th Ave., Rock Island. It is open 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday and 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Sundays. The restaurant held a soft opening Dec. 23, and will host its grand opening Feb. 10. LaSALLE Officials said a large fire that sent smoke plumes towering over a northern Illinois chemical plant has been contained and no injuries have been reported. After the fire began Wednesday morning at Carus Chemical in LaSalle, local officials sent an emergency alert advising people who live in the city's third and fourth wards to shelter in place. La Salle Fire Chief Jerry Janick said that order remains in place as officials consider next steps. LaSalle is located about 67 miles north of Bloomington and about 90 miles southwest of Chicago. Carus Chemical workers were evacuated from the plant and all them have been accounted for, said LaSalle Police Chief Mike Smudzinski. There were reports of explosions being heard at about 9 a.m. followed by smoke that was visible from the plant, the News-Tribune reported. Janick said he couldn't confirm any explosions. He said it's not known yet what caused the blaze. Kim Biggs, a spokesperson for the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, said the agency is still gathering information and will respond to the site. Live video feeds around 11 a.m. showed multiple fire engines parked near the plant, aiming hoses toward the building as gray and white smoke rose from the area. Carus Chemical produces potassium permanganate, an oxidant used to treat drinking water, wastewater, industrial process chemicals and for numerous other applications, according to the company's website. 2022 in review: The year in photos SPRINGFIELD Following two years of consequential legislating that went up to the very last day, Illinois lawmakers were sworn in for new terms Wednesday. The once-every-two-years event, held at two separate ceremonies in the capital city, bookends a week of action that started with Gov. J.B. Pritzker's inauguration and saw lawmakers make Illinois the ninth state in the country to enact a ban on semiautomatic weapons. In this new blank canvas, supermajority Democrats will wield even more power expanding their majority to 78-40 over Republicans in the House, the largest share of seats since the mid-1960s, while maintaining a 40-19 advantage in the Senate. House Speaker Chris Welch, D-Hillside, and Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, were each reelected leaders of their respective chambers. State Rep. Tony McCombie, R-Savana, was elected House minority leader, becoming the first woman to hold the position. State Sen. John Curran was elected Senate minority leader. "As legislators, were going to disagree on how to achieve a goal, or when is the right time to do it," Welch told the crowd gathered in the Sangamon Auditorium at the University of Illinois Springfield. "But more often than not, our why is very much the same." "We want to help people," he said. "We want to use the opportunities afforded to us to create more opportunities for those who come after us." The new General Assembly features many firsts, including the first two Muslim Americans state Rep. Abdelnasser Rashid, D-Justice, and Nabeela Syed, D-Iverness ever elected to chamber. State Rep. Bradley Fritts, R-Dixon, is the youngest member ever elected at 22-years-old. He's also the first born in the 21st century. State Rep. Sharon Chung, D-Bloomington, became the first Asian American person to represent McLean County in the General Assembly. And state Sen. Doris Turner, D-Springfield, was sworn in to her first full term after becoming the first Black person to be elected to represent Decatur and Springfield in the statehouse. I was appointed to this seat in February of 2021 and I dove right in and it was refreshing and interesting but now it's a whole different feeling because Im elected " Turner told Lee Enterprises. "The people of the 48th District actually chose me to be their senator. As a 10-year-old, I would walk past (the Capitol building) and say oh wow, one day I want to work there, Turner said. Everyday when I walk in that chamber, I have the same feeling that I had as a 10-year-old. Welch, the first Black House speaker, gave McCombie a shoutout for being the first woman to lead a House caucus, leading to a rousing round of applause. McCombie, leading the smallest House Republican caucus in more than 50 years, promised that "we will claw back in the wake of the worst gerrymandered maps of the country." Until then, she had a request of Welch: "Don't be afraid to bring us to the table." "We are problem solvers," McCombie said. "So use our knowledge, benefit from our talents and hear our hearts. Let us show you that any preconceived notions about Republicans is false. We want to govern. So, I ask you, please don't disregard our value." The Senate ceremony, typically held in their Capitol chamber, was moved the the Old State Capitol the spot of former President Abraham Lincoln's "House Divided" speech due to renovations. Truth be told, back in the day it was delivered, the speech bombed, Harmon said. His friends and advisors warned him that it was far too radical for the times. That probably sounds familiar to you on both sides of the aisle. But Lincoln gave it because "there was an important message that people needed to hear," Harmon said, adding that senators should take that example and "think deeply about why it is that we find ourselves here, and what we wish to accomplish for the people of Illinois in the days, weeks, months and years ahead." Supreme Court Justice Joy Cunningham swore in the senators while Justice Elizabeth Rochford administered the oath for House members. Welch was sworn in for his second term as speaker by his wife, Cook County Circuit Court Judge ShawnTe Raines-Welch, with their two children looking on. "Mr. Speaker, are you ready to take the oath of office for the House? And by the House, as the Welch children said, we mean the one here down the street with a golden roof," Raines-Welch said jokingly before administering the oath. Several new downstate members were sworn in Wednesday. In the House, this included Chung, state Rep. Bill Hauter, R-Morton; state Rep. Gregg Johnson, D-East Moline; state Rep. Kevin Schmidt, R-Millstadt; and state Rep. Dennis Tipsword, R-Metamora. State Rep. Wayne Rosenthal, R-Morrisionville, returns to the House after an eight-year hiatus. In the Senate, new downstate members include state Sen. Tom Bennett, R-Gibson City, who was appointed to replace former state Sen. Jason Barickman, R-Bloomington, following his resignation. Other new members include state Sen. Paul Faraci, D-Champaign, who fills the term of the late state Sen. Scott Bennett, D-Champaign; state Sen. Mike Halpin, D-Moline, who moved up from the House; and state Sen. Erica Harriss, R-Glen Carbon, the only Republican to defeat an incumbent Democratic senator last year. Close Republican members of the Illinois House of Representatives are sworn in during the Inauguration of the 103rd General Assembly at the University of Illinois Springfield on Wednesday. State Rep. Dan Caulkins, R-Decatur, looks on during the Inauguration of the 103rd General Assembly at the University of Illinois Springfield on Jan. 11. State Rep. Gregg Johnson, D-East Moline, votes for Emanuel Chris Welch, D-Hillside, to be Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives during the Inauguration of the 103rd General Assembly at the University of Illinois Springfield on Wednesday. State Rep. Bill Hauter, R-Morton, votes for Tony McCombie, R-Savana, to be Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives during the Inauguration of the 103rd General Assembly at the University of Illinois Springfield on Wednesday. State Rep. Chris Miller, R-Oakland, votes for Tony McCombie, R-Savana, to be Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives during the Inauguration of the 103rd General Assembly at the University of Illinois Springfield on Wednesday. Emanuel Chris Welch, D-Hillside, is sworn in as Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives during the Inauguration of the 103rd General Assembly at the University of Illinois Springfield on Wednesday. Emanuel Chris Welch, D-Hillside, speaks after being elected Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives during the Inauguration of the 103rd General Assembly at the University of Illinois Springfield on Wednesday. State Rep. Mary Flowers, D-Chicago, hugs new Minority Leader Tony McCombie, R-Savana, during the Inauguration of the 103rd General Assembly at the University of Illinois Springfield on Wednesday. State Rep. Sue Scherer applauds during the Inauguration of the 103rd General Assembly at the University of Illinois Springfield on Wednesday. Emanuel Chris Welch, D-Hillside, hugs family after being sworn in as Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives during the Inauguration of the 103rd General Assembly at the University of Illinois Springfield on Wednesday. Tony McCombie, R-Savana, speaks after being elected Minority Leader of the Illinois House of Representatives during the Inauguration of the 103rd General Assembly at the University of Illinois Springfield on Wednesday. Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias makes the declaration of the order of business during the Inauguration of the 103rd General Assembly at the University of Illinois Springfield on Wednesday. Emanuel Chris Welch speaks after being elected Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives during the Inauguration of the 103rd General Assembly at the University of Illinois Springfield on Wednesday. Emanuel Chris Welch speaks after being elected Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives during the Inauguration of the 103rd General Assembly at the University of Illinois Springfield on Wednesday. House members take the Pledge of Allegiance on Wednesday at the start of inauguration of the 103rd General Assembly at the University of Illinois Springfield. Democrat Sharon Chung of Bloomington reacts after being sworn in Wednesday as representative for the Illinois House 91st District during inauguration of the 103rd General Assembly at the University of Illinois Springfield. Photos: Illinois lawmakers sworn in for 103rd General Assembly Illinois lawmakers were sworn in for new terms Wednesday. Scenes from the day: Republican members of the Illinois House of Representatives are sworn in during the Inauguration of the 103rd General Assembly at the University of Illinois Springfield on Wednesday. State Rep. Dan Caulkins, R-Decatur, looks on during the Inauguration of the 103rd General Assembly at the University of Illinois Springfield on Jan. 11. State Rep. Gregg Johnson, D-East Moline, votes for Emanuel Chris Welch, D-Hillside, to be Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives during the Inauguration of the 103rd General Assembly at the University of Illinois Springfield on Wednesday. State Rep. Bill Hauter, R-Morton, votes for Tony McCombie, R-Savana, to be Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives during the Inauguration of the 103rd General Assembly at the University of Illinois Springfield on Wednesday. State Rep. Chris Miller, R-Oakland, votes for Tony McCombie, R-Savana, to be Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives during the Inauguration of the 103rd General Assembly at the University of Illinois Springfield on Wednesday. Emanuel Chris Welch, D-Hillside, is sworn in as Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives during the Inauguration of the 103rd General Assembly at the University of Illinois Springfield on Wednesday. Emanuel Chris Welch, D-Hillside, speaks after being elected Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives during the Inauguration of the 103rd General Assembly at the University of Illinois Springfield on Wednesday. State Rep. Mary Flowers, D-Chicago, hugs new Minority Leader Tony McCombie, R-Savana, during the Inauguration of the 103rd General Assembly at the University of Illinois Springfield on Wednesday. State Rep. Sue Scherer applauds during the Inauguration of the 103rd General Assembly at the University of Illinois Springfield on Wednesday. Emanuel Chris Welch, D-Hillside, hugs family after being sworn in as Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives during the Inauguration of the 103rd General Assembly at the University of Illinois Springfield on Wednesday. Tony McCombie, R-Savana, speaks after being elected Minority Leader of the Illinois House of Representatives during the Inauguration of the 103rd General Assembly at the University of Illinois Springfield on Wednesday. Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias makes the declaration of the order of business during the Inauguration of the 103rd General Assembly at the University of Illinois Springfield on Wednesday. Emanuel Chris Welch speaks after being elected Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives during the Inauguration of the 103rd General Assembly at the University of Illinois Springfield on Wednesday. Emanuel Chris Welch speaks after being elected Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives during the Inauguration of the 103rd General Assembly at the University of Illinois Springfield on Wednesday. House members take the Pledge of Allegiance on Wednesday at the start of inauguration of the 103rd General Assembly at the University of Illinois Springfield. Democrat Sharon Chung of Bloomington reacts after being sworn in Wednesday as representative for the Illinois House 91st District during inauguration of the 103rd General Assembly at the University of Illinois Springfield. CHICAGO 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. 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. 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%. 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. 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. A continuing joint narcotics investigation between Davenport and Bettendorf police and the Scott County Sheriffs Departments Special Operations Unit focusing on meth, heroin and synthetic opioids resulted in the arrest of three people Tuesday. In the first case, Agron Rakim Erwin-Simpson, 23, was arrested by agents with the Scott County Sheriffs Special Operations Unit for allegedly trafficking in meth and heroin. Erwin-Simpson is charged with one count of possession with the intent to deliver more than 5 grams of methamphetamine, and possession with the intent to deliver more than 5 grams of heroin. Each of the charges is a Class B felony that carry a prison sentence of 25 years. He also is charged with two counts of failing to obey Iowas drug tax stamp law and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Each of those charges is a Class D felony that carries a prison sentence of five years. Erwin-Simpson also is charged with possession of a controlled substance-marijuana-second offense, a serious misdemeanor that carries a jail sentence of up to one year. According to the arrest affidavit filed by Scott County Sheriffs Deputy Jacob Turner, at 11:48 a.m. Tuesday, agents with the Special Operations Unit executed a search warrant at Erwin-Simpsons Davenport residence in the 6200 block of Western Avenue. Before searching the house, Erwin-Simpson was seen leaving in a 2001 Ford Explorer. He was detained by authorities in the 3500 block of Elmore Circle. Officers seized 3.8 grams of marijuana from the Explorer. From the basement of the house, officers seized 98.6 grams of methamphetamine and 16.4 grams of heroin. Police have said that the normal dose of meth and heroin is one-tenth of a gram, meaning there were 986 doses of meth and 164 doses of heroin. Also seized were sleeping pills used as a cutting agent for heroin, multiple digital scales, a blender containing a powder-like residue and plastic bags for drug packaging. In February of 2021, Erwin-Simpson pleaded guilty in Circuit Court for Winnebago County, Wisconsin, to a charge of substantial battery-intend bodily harm. The charge is a Class I felony under Wisconsin law that carries a possible prison sentence of up to 3 years. Erwin-Simpson was sentenced to serve 60 days in jail and pay restitution to the victim of $6,971, plus surcharges. According to Circuit Court records, he has not paid any money toward the court-ordered restitution and owes $7,761.68. Also that month in Winnebago Circuit Court, Erwin-Simpson pleaded guilty to a charge of possession with the intent to deliver THC, also a Class I felony. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail. As a convicted felon, Erwin-Simpson is prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition. Federal authorities could take over the case filed in Scott County under Project Safe Neighborhoods. Instituted in 2001, Project Safe Neighborhoods is a Justice Department initiative that brings together law enforcement at all levels to reduce gun violence. At the federal level, a conviction of being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm carries a maximum prison sentence of 15 years. Additionally, Erwin-Simpson could be charged with using a firearm in furtherance of a drug crime that carries a minimum 5-year prison sentence that is consecutive to any other sentences imposed on drugs or other firearms charges. There is no parole in the federal system. Erwin-Simpson was being held without bond Wednesday night in the Scott County Jail on a cash-only bond of $10,000. During a first appearance on the charges Wednesday in Scott County District Court, Magistrate Eric Syverud scheduled a preliminary hearing in the case for Jan. 20. In the second case, Bettendorf Police arrested a Muscatine woman and man after more than 36 grams of meth was found in the womans car. Hannah Sue Lorraine Millett, 29, is charged with one count of possession with the intent to deliver more than 5 grams of meth, a Class B felony that carries a 25-year prison sentence. Millett also is charged with violating Iowas drug tax stamp law and conspiracy to commit a non-forcible felony. Each of those charges is a Class D felony that carries a prison sentence of five years. According to the arrest affidavit filed by Bettendorf Police Officer Wyatt Flickinger, at 2:12 p.m. Tuesday, officers were serving a search warrant at 815 E. 13th St., Davenport. Millett showed up at the residence and advised officers that her family owned the complex. Millett had been seen driving a black Chevrolet Impala from the residence just before officers began executing the search warrant. A police dog was called to perform a free air sniff around the exterior of the vehicle. The dog alerted on the Impala and it was searched. From the vehicle, officers seized 9 grams of methamphetamine from one part of the vehicle, while another 27.65 grams was seized in another part of the vehicle. That means she had 366.5 doses of meth to sell. Milletts alleged co-defendant in the case, Tanner Haine Esmoil, 25, had about $5,000 in cash on his person when he was taken into custody. Cell phone messages indicate that he and Millett were conspiring to sell meth. Esmoil was arrested on charges of conspiracy to commit a non-forcible felony and being a felon in possession of a firearm, both Class D felonies that carry a prison sentence of five years. Both Millett and Esmoil were being held Wednesday night in the Scott County Jail. Milletts bond is set at $35,000, cash or surety. Esmoils bond is set at $10,000, cash or surety. During a first appearance hearing Wednesday in Scott County District Court, Magistrate Syverud scheduled a preliminary hearing in both cases for Jan. 20. According to Scott County District Court electronic records, Esmoil already is awaiting trial on meth trafficking charges. Esmoil was arrested Nov. 10 by Davenport Police on a charge of possession with the intent to deliver more than 5 grams of meth, a Class B felony that carries a 25-year prison sentence. He is also charged with possession with the intent to deliver oxycodone pills, a Class C felony that carries a prison sentence of 10 years. According to the arrest affidavit filed by Davenport Police Officer Robert Cormier, at 5 p.m. that day, officers responded to a traffic crash at May Lane and Indian Road. Esmoil admitted to officers he was texting and driving when he struck the back of a parked two truck. Haines was driving while barred and did not have insurance. Witnesses at the scene told officers they saw Esmoil leave the scene of the crash carrying a brown object, a hat. Officers along with a police dog located the hat, inside of which was 419.15 grams of methamphetamine, or 4,191.5 doses of meth. The amount is just shy of 1 pound. Searching Esmoil, officers seized $5,365 in cash from his pants pockets. Officers also located 158 small blue pills with the inscription M on one side and 30 on the other. The pills are believed to be counterfeit 30 milligram oxycodone pills. Police have said that counterfeit pills often contain the opioid fentanyl. Esmoil also is charged in that case with two counts of violating Iowas drug tax stamp law, a Class D felony that carries a prison sentence of five years, and driving while barred, an aggravated misdemeanor that carries a prison sentence of two years. Esmoil was able to post 10% of a $25,000 bond through a bonding company on Nov. 18. He was then released from the Scott County Jail pending trial. A pre-trial conference in that case is scheduled for Jan. 20. On Sept. 20, 2018, during a hearing in Scott County District Court, Esmoil was sentenced to three years on supervised probation after pleading guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit a non-forcible felony. Charges of first-degree theft and third-degree burglary were dismissed in a plea agreement. After violating his probation, Esmoil served one additional year on probation. He was released from probation on Sept. 16, 2022. CHICAGO Two months ahead of trial, federal prosecutors late Tuesday revealed new details of wiretapped conversations and other evidence they intend to use against four people accused in an alleged bribery scheme between Commonwealth Edison and then-House Speaker Michael Madigan. Among the new revelations: Former McPier boss Juan Ochoa is expected to testify how he enlisted the help of a member of Congress in 2017 to help repair his tattered political relationship with Madigan and ultimately secure a lucrative position on ComEds Board of Directors. Though that congressman is not named in the document, multiple sources have told the Tribune he is ex-U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez. Gutierrez could not be reached for this story and a lawyer for him could not be identified. The filing alleged that Ochoa tapped Gutierrez to make the request because he had endorsed Madigan in the prior election cycle and Ochoa felt Madigan owed the member of Congress a political favor. Ochoa and Gutierrez met with Madigan at the Speakers office, where Madigan agreed to recommend Ochoa for the $80,000-a-year ComEd board seat, according to the filing. After Madigans longtime confidant, Michael McClain, called the Speaker in 2018 to tell him the Ochoa appointment was going through, Madigan said that he would reach out to Gutierrez personally so the congressman would be the first to know, according to the document. I mean, (Gutierrez is) the reason I would talk to (Ochoa), Madigan is alleged to have said on the July 17, 2018, call, which was secretly recorded by the FBI. Gutierrez, who left Congress in early 2019, has not been charged with wrongdoing, and it was not clear if hed be a witness at trial. He was not immediately available for comment Wednesday. The Tribune first attempted to reach Gutierrez about his alleged involvement in the Ochoa appointment in July 2021, but he never responded. An attorney for Ochoa, Ricardo Meza, declined to comment specifically on the allegations on Wednesday, but confirmed that Ochoa would take the witness stand. We expect he will testify truthfully about everything he knows, Meza said. McClain, 75, of downstate Quincy, was indicted in November 2020 along with former ComEd CEO Ann Pramaggiore, ex-ComEd lobbyist John Hooker, and former City Club of Chicago head Jay Doherty. All of the defendants have pleaded not guilty. Another defendant, former ComEd Vice President Fidel Marquez, has pleaded guilty and is expected to testify for the prosecution. McClains attorney Patrick Cotter, had no comment on the filing Wednesday. Dohertys attorney, Gabrielle Sansonetti, and Michael Monico, who represents Hooker, also declined to comment. Attorneys for Pramaggiore were not immediately available. The trial, which is scheduled to begin with jury selection on March 6, promises to be the biggest political corruption trial at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse since ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich was convicted by a jury in 2011. It will also offer a preview of many of the allegations against Madigan himself, who was indicted along with McClain last March on racketeering conspiracy charges alleging an array of corrupt schemes, including the alleged plan to use the power of his office to steer ComEd money to his cronies. That case has been set for trial in April 2024. The new details on the alleged ComEd scheme were revealed in a 126-page filing known as a Santiago Proffer, which prosecutors are typically obliged to submit in advance of a conspiracy trial describing specific evidence, statements and actions between alleged co-conspirators they plan to present to the jury. Many of the details in the document filed on Tuesday have already been revealed in other court filings. But the government proffer lays out in the highest relief so far what some of the key witnesses are expected to tell the jury, including Marquez, who secretly recorded conversations for investigators. The filing also outlines for the first time how Pramaggiores relationship with Madigan and McClain allegedly helped her further not only ComEds goals, but her own promotion to the utilitys parent company, Exelon. In one recorded call in May 2018, according to the filing, Pramaggiore thanked McClain profusely for her promotion, saying, the only reason I am in this position is because ComEd has done so well, and you guys have been my, my spirit guides and more on that ...I love you guys. Pramaggiore even explored ways to put Madigans former chief of staff, Tim Mapes, into a job where she could hide his contract in someone elses after he was ousted by Madigan following accusations of sexual harassment, the filing alleged. Mapes was charged in 2021 with lying to a federal grand jury about the case and is awaiting trial. Other revelations in the government filing include: A ComEd lawyer is expected to testify that McClain had such a longstanding and close relationship with Madigan that he was sometimes referred to within ComEd as a double agent. Agents who searched McClains personal vehicle in 2019 discovered a handwritten ledger allegedly showing he was at Madigans beck and call 24/7, helping to manage the Speakers ever-growing list of associates working as ComEd subcontractors as well as the allotment of interns Madigan was sending to the utility giant each summer. In 2016, McClain wrote a letter to Madigan saying he wanted to let his real client know he was retiring from lobbying, but still willing to do assignments for him. I am at the bridge with my musket standing with and for the Madigan family, he wrote, according to a copy included in the filing. Prosecutors also intend to call Ed Moody, the former Cook County Recorder of Deeds and longtime 13th Ward precinct captain, who will testify Madigan told him it was ok that he was being paid by ComEd for doing next to nothing because he was a valuable political operative and that campaign work was what was important to Madigan. And professor Dick Simpson, a former Chicago alderman, has been tapped as an expert witness who will describe for jurors the structure, method, and operation of the Chicago political machine. The ComEd conspiracy charges alleged McClain, a former legislator and lobbyist whose connections to Madigan go back to their time in the General Assembly together in the 1970s, orchestrated a scheme to funnel jobs and hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments from the utility to Madigan-approved consultants in exchange for Madigans assistance with legislation the utility giant wanted passed in Springfield. The indictment also alleged ComEd agreed to hire numerous summer interns from Madigans 13th Ward, and install Ochoa on the companys board of directors in order to curry favor with the then-powerful Speaker. ComEd, meanwhile, entered into a deferred prosecution deal with prosecutors in July 2020, agreeing to pay a record $200 million fine and cooperate with the investigation in exchange for bribery charges being dropped in three years. Madigan, who was dethroned from the speakership in January 2021, has pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges against him. Hes also vigorously defended making job recommendations, both before and after his indictment. Not only is helping people find jobs not a crime, Madigan wrote in 2020 to a legislative panel, its not even ethically improper for politicians to make job recommendations. To the contrary, I believe that it is part of my duties as a community and political leader to help good people find work from potential executives to college interns, and more, Madigan wrote. What an employer chooses to do with that recommendation rests solely with their discretion. According to the filing, Marquez will testify that after Pramaggiore became CEO of ComEd, she sought to build up a relationship with Madigan that she thought was poor and detrimental to the companys goals. Working closely with McClain, who often referred to the Speaker as our friend but almost never by name, Pramaggiore arranged for payments to be made to Madigan-approved associates through Dohertys consulting company, Jay D. Doherty & Associates, and several other lobbying firms that served as intermediaries, the government filing alleged. Marquez is expected to further testify that while paying individuals as requested by Madigan and McClain did not guarantee legislative success, the purpose of the payments was to influence Madigan and to ensure Madigan did not act against ComEd and its legislative requests and agenda due to a failure to fulfill his hiring requests, the filing stated. The depth of Pramaggiores relationship with Madigan, McClain and Hooker is vividly outlined in her allegedly gushing comments following her advancement from ComEd CEO to the top position at an affiliate, Exelon Utilities. In the May 2018 recorded call with McClain, Pramaggiore attributed her success to the trio and that she had made Madigan her first call when she learned of her promotion, making him one of the few people that is in the know, prosecutors said. After thanking McClain for her promotion, she allegedly told him she would need his help in a a lot of different ways, including for strategizing nationally. She allegedly showed her appreciation for the Madigan team by exploring how to hire Mapes, whom Madigan tossed immediately in June 2018 following a mid-level clerks press conference in which she accused Mapes of harassment and sexual harassment. Mapes served Madigan as his chief of staff, the clerk of the Illinois House and as executive director of the Madigan-led Democratic Party of Illinois. In a recorded call on April 19, 2019, Hooker allegedly explained to Marquez that Pramaggiore wanted Mapes to work for her and wanted to pay him but hide his contract in someone elses. Hooker allegedly suggested to put him in as a consultant with McClain. Prosecutors noted in the filing that McClain had suggested to Marquez a similar arrangement, suggesting that ComEd could hide things by employing Mapes as a consultant through a third party. But prosecutors wrote they expect a witness to testify that Pramaggiore abandoned her plan to hire Madigans former chief of staff after she discovered the existence of the federal criminal investigation. Even so, the method of concealment had been used for years to great effect with subcontractors, prosecutors said. The trial for a New York City man accused of murdering three people in Rapid City started with several bangs Tuesday morning, as the lead prosecutor in the case clapped his his hands and shouted, "Bang!" six times one for each shot heard by witnesses before a man and woman were found dead in a gruesome scene on Aug. 24, 2020 in a vehicle at Thomson Park. Both Charles Red Willow, 26, of Rapid City and Ashley Nagy, 29, of Greeley, Colo., had been shot in the head. The third victim, Dakota Zaiser, 22, of Rapid City was initially identified as a possible witness in the deaths of Red Willow and Nagy. His body was discovered on Sept. 24, 2020 in a forested area north of Sheridan Lake. Red Willow, Zaiser and Nagy were three of 12 Rapid City homicide victims in 2020. Assistant Attorney General Trevor Thielen delivered the state's opening statement to the 17-person jury. Thielen is helping the Pennington County State's Attorney's Office with the case. Senior Deputy State's Attorney Roxanne Hammond is the lead prosecutor and Kevin Krull is assisting. Absolu would enlist people in Rapid City to sell drugs for him, Thielen said, and he shot Red Willow over a drug debt, killing Nagy as well because she was "in the wrong place at the wrong time." Absolu's actions "centered around greed and drugs," he told the jury. Thielen said Red Willow thought he was meeting Zaiser to buy drugs, but that Absolu came along and shot the two with a "distinct" .40 caliber black and silver handgun. Absolu then killed Zaiser at a woman's Rapid City apartment where Absolu stayed because Zaiser "wouldn't be able to keep his mouth shut," Thielen said as he set the jury up for the testimony of a man who helped Absolu bury Zaiser's body in a shallow grave. Thielen's narrative started at 10:37 p.m., Aug. 24, when a resident called 911 and said he'd heard gunshots and could see a vehicle in the Thomson Park parking lot. When Matthew Macrander, a RCPD patrol officer at the time, arrived, he found Red Willow dead and Nagy with a severe wound to her head and covered in blood and brain matter. Macrander would testify Tuesday that he heard a snoring sound coming from an unconscious Nagy, which he later learned was called agonal breathing, which is a reflex quickly followed by death, he said. Nicholas Davis, who was the sergeant on duty at the time, said the heavy, irregular breathing lasted for about 45 minutes. While responding to the scene, Macrander found shell casings outside and inside the vehicle. Both Davis and Macrander said the possibility of a murder-suicide crossed their minds. However, when they were unable to find a gun in the vehicle and Davis noticed details like a cup with undisturbed liquid between Red Willow's thighs, that theory was ruled out. The prosecution plans to present video footage of Absolu and Zaiser parking at the Meadowlark Homes property management office and walking towards the park, Thielen said, along with footage of Zaiser running away and getting into the driver's seat of a rented blue Chevy Malibu before Absolu ran to catch up with him, the two leaving the scene together. Thielen said the rental car GPS tracker led to Absolu's arrest. Three other key events also led to the arrest, according to the prosecutor. The first was Absolu's mistakes and missteps, the others were the hard work of law enforcement and luck. He also noted Shamar Bennett, the man who admitted to helping Absolu move Zaiser's body, coming forward as a factor in the case. Bennett is set to testify during the trial that he also helped Absolu dispose of a bloody rug and chair from the woman's apartment. The trial is scheduled to last five weeks; however, Circuit Court Judge Robert Gusinsky said he expects it will more likely last about three weeks. The state plans to call about 50 witnesses. Absolu's defense attorney, Timothy Rensch, said he plans to make his opening statements later on in the trial. The witness list for Absolu is shorter with four people listed along with anyone on the state's witness list. A Corvallis man is facing a felony charge of driving under the influence after being pulled over for driving without his headlights on. Joshua Lee Odowd, 51, was charged with a felony count of driving under the influence of alcohol on Tuesday, Jan. 10 in Ravalli County Justice Court. Odowd had three previous DUI convictions. He is also facing two misdemeanor charges of driving with a suspended or revoked license and no insurance. According to court documents, a Ravalli County Sheriff's Office deputy initiated a traffic stop shortly after 11 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 9 after he observed Odowd driving his vehicle down Main Street in Corvallis without his headlights on. Odowd was unable to provide proof of insurance and allegedly admitted his license was suspended for DUI. When asked for his registration, Odowd allegedly stared at the document in a confused manner and then returned it to the glove box without handing it over to the deputy. The deputy observed that Odowds eyes were bloodshot and watery. He noted that Odowds speech was also slurred and his breath smelled strongly of alcohol. Upon questioning, Odowd reportedly admitted that he had just left the Corvallis Tavern and had been there since around 11 a.m. that morning. He told the deputy he had a little bit to drink but did not elaborate any further. Odowd refused to perform a standardized field test. Blood samples are currently being evaluated at the state crime lab. Justice of the Peace Jennifer Ray set bail at $10,000. Corvallis High School held a Career Day for seniors on Tuesday for exploring jobs they could get immediately or with minimal training and will continue Wednesday with a focus on careers that require further education or instruction. CHS Counselor Jennifer Gaston-Smith organized the event along with American Legion Post 91 Adjutant Pat Clover. We have about 85 seniors and over 21 opportunity booths, Gaston-Smith said. It is not huge because I wanted it to be small enough for students to have time to get to the presentation booths they want to know more about. Representatives of the military, Bitterroot Health, Ravalli County Sheriffs Office, the City of Hamilton and the U.S. Forest Service were just a few of the entities who spoke about careers available without going to college, each giving brief presentations. Clover said the American Legion is a partner with the school in organizing the event. This is my fifth year and we try to do a couple of these a year, Clover said. Initially they were designed (to give) students who werent going to college an idea of what is available in the community. The first one I went to was carpenters, plumbers and gunsmiths hands-on jobs. COVID halted the Career Day program for the last two years, he said. This is our first year back and this one is a double for graduating seniors, Clover said. Today is for careers where you dont need more advanced training. RAN Pigman, of Pigman Builders, said he came because he has a heart for the industry. I would like to have more young people realize their opportunity to enter the trades, he said. They can enter at a good wage and start learning. Within two to four years they can be at or above the average wage when others graduate from college, but without the debt. Pigman said students could end up with a career they enjoy in a field with plenty of jobs in demand. If you enjoy the work, wherever you go that skill set will help you, he said. The industry has recognized the need (to employ young workers). Our skilled workers are aging out and wages for trades have really increased. Terry Berkhouse, associate director at Bitterroot College, said they are focused on short-term job opportunities that can lead to fulfilling careers. We have a number of workforce programs that start in the spring, Berkhouse said. He listed classes for high and low-pressure boiler operators, certified nurses aids, medical assistants, certified phlebotomy technicians, commercial drivers licenses, job site readiness for short-term experience in construction, plus, in-person and online film and set design courses. With Yellowstone filming, we are teaching terminology and the basics of how to work on a film set to be a production assistant, Berkhouse said. This was offered in Butte a number of months ago and a large majority of those students were hired. He said the University of Montana Bitterroot College is starting online, self-paced courses. We have a number of offerings veterinarian assistants, dental assisting, pharmacy technicians, short-term programs three to six months, Berkhouse said. Students can be age 16 for the CNA, everything else is 18. Commercial truck driving is 18 for in-state but for out-of-state it is 21. Tod McKay with the Bitterroot National Forest and U.S. Forest Service said their focus is on recruiting wildland firefighter positions for this summer. We have each of our districts represented along with the helicopter crew that goes out in response to fires, McKay said. We have the Bitterroot Hot Shots and we have several jobs in each district that we need help with for fire crews this summer. Today the focus is on non-college degrees. Tomorrow well talk about everything else that we do that includes trail crews and recreation, engineering, wildlife biologists. Everything else that requires a post-high school education. Several of the employers talked about the career paths of former CHS seniors. Dr. Marshall Bloom talked about four CHS graduates who are now on an international platform making a difference in research and diseases. What they all have in common is that they all sat in these bleachers and all graduated in this gym, Bloom said. If they did it you can do it too. My message is that this is a terrific school with terrific faculty. After the presentations, students visited information tables and networked with employers. College-bound seniors Sydney Wolsky and Emily Barcus called the Career Day a success. I think it was very beneficial, Barcus said. It gave students the opportunity to learn about more careers in the valley than they normally would. I liked it a lot. I liked that the speakers told about the steps it took them to get to their jobs. I like that they are separating it into two days, Wolsky said. You can look at trades and work you can go into immediately and day two is for those going on to college. Some kids are going to college, others are not. I think the 911 dispatch job sounds great, so maybe when I turn 18 in March Ill check with them. Senior Sophia Jarrett said the Career Day was helpful. She checked out the cyber security booth. I was honestly just curious, Jarrett said. Its not exactly what Im interested in but is a really cool field. I just like that I got to learn about it. I see myself going into a creative field like writing. CHS Principal Cammie Knapp said Career Day continues to be a priority of the high school as they continue to find local opportunities for students. We continue to add more businesses, organizations and educational liaisons to serve the needs of our students and community," she said. This is a home to be appreciated by a lover of history and antiques. The living room is huge with curved corners and Corinthian Columns. It has both a wrap around porch and a screened back porch. It even has a screened balcony on the second floor attached to two of the bedrooms. Both central air conditioning and heating were just added in April of this year. The plumbing to all the bathrooms was completely replaced in February of this year. The lovely iron radiators and claw foot tubs remain as a reminder of the homes rich history. As with homes of that era it has a huge eat in kitchen. It needs remodeling but the structure of this home is solid. The 8 bedrooms could be remodeled to craft two en suite bedrooms with a screened in balcony to walk out on to over look the garden. Some of the other bedrooms would make an excellent office and there is even enough room for a billiards room while maintaining a dining room, living room and office. The yard is large enough for both a tennis court and a pool! View More One of the men who was wrongly accused of plotting a mass shooting in Richmond on July 4 told a Richmond television station he was attacked by other inmates in the Richmond City Jail. They just beat me, and they left me there. I couldnt defend myself and I tried to defend myself, but I couldnt, Rolman Alberto Balcarcel Ac told WTVR-TV reporter Laura French in a story published Tuesday. He said other inmates thought he was a terrorist who would hurt their families. Former Richmond police Chief Gerald Smith resigned in October under scrutiny over his public comments about the alleged mass shooting, which Smith claimed without evidence was planned for a large gathering at Byrd Parks Dogwood Dell amphitheater. Smith held a news conference on July 6 and did national media interviews in which he provided false information about what detectives found regarding a tip to police about weapons and a threat of a shooting. A caller speaking Spanish on July 1 told police about the weapons and in a tip officers initially had difficulty understanding said there was a plan for a mass shooting on July 4 in Richmond, according to police. The caller provided no known location, and authorities never verified that there was actually any plot for violence. Smith later said his experience is part of how he reached the conclusion. His boss, Mayor Levar Stoney, also repeated the claim, and the citys chief administrative officer, Lincoln Saunders, has said Smith acted logically in drawing his conclusion. Balcarcel is from Guatemala, speaks Spanish and did the interview with WTVR through a translator. I am innocent of everything the police accuse me of and what they say about me, because they are lies about me and of Julio, he said, referring to his brothers father-in-law, who Smith also named as a suspect. These are things that never, ever in our lives, had crossed our minds to do something like this, for which we have simply tried to be here in the United States, working harder and without harming anyone. Balcarcel said he wanted to clear his name and character. The only thing I would ask him is why he did it, Balcarcel said of the person who called in the tip, whom Balcarcel said was a friend. I have never liked weapons and then this, well, its the accusation they made against me. Well, I feel that it was something serious, it was a great damage that they did to my life, and I feel like my life will not be the same. He said that police let him remain at home after they arrested the other man. Then, four days later, they arrested Balcarcel at work in Charlottesville. How difficult has this been for your family? the reporter, French, asked him. Worse for my mother, because they are the ones that suffer the most, he said. She has always worried, always asked about how I am. Balcarcel was sentenced by a federal judge in November to 5 months in federal prison for re-entering the U.S. after having been deported. The Richmond City Jail, where Balcarcel said he was attacked, recently had more than 160 vacant positions, according to statements given by Sheriff Antionette Irving in July. An Amtrak trip became a grueling 37-hour ordeal for passengers traveling to Florida when their train was stuck in rural South Carolina for hours on Tuesday. The auto train trip from Lorton, Virginia, to Orlando was supposed to take 17 hours, NBC News reported. The train departed from Virginia around 5:30 p.m. on Monday, however, by 4:30 a.m. on Wednesday, passengers had still not arrived at their destination. Late on Tuesday, Sam Sweeney, an ABC News journalist, tweeted video a passenger sent of their experience after 29 hours on the train, which you can watch below. On the video, a train conductor can be heard saying, for those of you that are calling the police, we are not holding you hostage. We are giving you all the information which we have. We are sorry about the inconvenience. As soon as more information is available, we will let you know shortly. BREAKING: A travel nightmare is unfolding right now on Amtrak. Passengers on the Auto Train have been stuck on board for 29+ hours, currently sitting in the woods in rural South Carolina. Passengers called the local police saying theyre being held hostage. LISTEN: pic.twitter.com/Jog4PHYT7G Sam Sweeney (@SweeneyABC) January 11, 2023 During the stoppage in South Carolina, passengers were told they were not allowed to leave the train at any point, NBC News reported. The train was impacted by significant delays brought about by a CSX freight train that had derailed in South Carolina, an Amtrak spokesperson told NBC News. As a result, the Amtrak train was detoured to continue moving south. Passengers were given regular updates, as well as meals, snacks and beverages, the spokesperson added. While some passengers called police and posted video, others tweeted about their experience, while at least one person asked Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg for help. SAN DIEGO Even in these sharply divided times, there are still a few things the political parties have in common. Like, for instance, being completely outmatched by the complexities of the immigration issue. Republicans and Democrats both tend to be insincere, inept and inexact whenever they tackle the subject. They misrepresent facts, embrace simple solutions and put their own interests before the public good. They propose harebrained schemes that dont work, and when the schemes fall apart, they instinctively blame the other party. Recently, President Joe Biden unveiled his administrations latest plan for alleviating the crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border. And not a moment too soon. From September 2021 to September 2022, more than 2.2 million unauthorized migrants were apprehended by U.S. Border Patrol. The keywords to the Biden plan are expand and expedite. The president wants to expand his authority to deport many of those seeking asylum and expedite the process so it all takes place before they even get a hearing. Specifically, Biden wants to limit migration from four countries in particular for which he seems to have little fondness: Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Haiti. Under the plan, those countries would get a total allotment of 30,000 visas per month to be divided among the countries. The Biden plan is probably illegal, or at least is likely to be challenged in court: Anyone entering the United States has the right to apply for asylum under U.S. law and international agreements. Its also a sin against humanity and an insult to one of our nations most valuable operating philosophies. This is the message that Biden is sending the four countries: Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free and Ill give them a one-way ticket to Ciudad Juarez. Of course, if youre coming from Ukraine or Russia or some other country that is not on Bidens hit list, then feel free to come on in and roll the dice in the asylum process. For you, the United States is still open for business. This plan plays favorites. It is one ugly baby, and there is no question who the father is. Its all Biden. When it comes to how this administration deals with the immigration issue, ugly is par for the course. For the past two years, the president has recycled the repugnant immigration policies of President Donald Trump. Ironically, the Democrat campaigned for the White House on the promise that he would terminate some of these same initiatives if he were elected. But by the time Biden made it to the Oval Office and surveyed the chaotic situation on the border, Trumps hard-line approach obviously looked more appealing. Personally, what I find a tad more appealing is an earlier version of Joe Biden. In February 2020, while running for president, Biden made a feeble attempt to atone for the sins of an administration in which he served as vice president. During an interview with Univision anchor Jorge Ramos, Biden was asked about the Obama administrations record-setting number of deportations over the course of eight years. The candidate reluctantly conceded that it was a big mistake to remove all those folks, including hundreds of thousands who had no criminal records despite the claims from the Obama White House that only criminals were being deported. We took far too long to get it right, Biden told Ramos. Guess what. Its been nearly three years since that interview, and Biden who is now president still cant get immigration right. In fact, he is busy making a whole new set of mistakes. Biden also told Ramos that he planned to bolster the asylum process. Instead, once in office, the Democrat short-circuited that process if youre unlucky enough to be from the wrong country. Finally, Biden scoffed at the idea advanced by many Republicans that there is no more room at the inn. This is a big country, Biden told Ramos. He rejected the idea that we cant accommodate more people in the interest of the United States and noted that legal as well as undocumented immigrants contribute to the U.S. economy. We stand up and act like [immigration] is a burden, Biden said. It is not a burden. Its a gift. That is 100% correct. Of course, that was the old Joe. The new Joe wants to return the gift. Close 09-29-1954 (cutline): Memorial fountain also may go with building. 02-10-1984 (cutline): The building at 13th and Cary Streets, site of first restaurant in the Slip, now stands vacant. 02-27-1972 (cutline): Designation as historic landmark clouds development for Shockoe Slip downtown. 02-11-1989: Shockoe Slip 08-13-1991: Shockoe Slip at night. 10-29-1984 (cutline): Richmond turned out dressed up yesterday for Shockoe Slip's Great Pumpkin Party. 06-06-1980: Shockoe Slip 08-22-1982: Shockoe Slip 08-04-1982: Shockoe Slip 08-06-1976 (cutline): Shockoe Center at 11 S. 12th St. Mix of Victorian, commercial utility styles. 04-29-1978 (cutline): David Yeatman, construction supervisor for Heindl-Evans Inc., looks over plans for renovation of the 96-year-old Zoppa Building in historic Shockoe Slip. The building, at 15 S. 13th St. between Main and Cary Streets is to offer 26,000 square feet of usable space when completed according to the Virginia Housing Development Authority, which happens to move its offices there this summer from its present headquarters at Richmond Plaza Building. Funds for the project, which is expect to cost $690,000 including purchase of the building, were borrowed from local banks, an authority spokesman said. 08-04-1982: Shockoe Slip 08-16-1982 (cutline): Sidewalk cafes were open during the Shockoe Slip Summer Jazz Festival, part two. Cool drinks, food and flowers were for sale at the event, which drew hundreds. From the Archives: Shockoe Slip A look back at Shockoe Slip. 09-29-1954 (cutline): Memorial fountain also may go with building. 02-10-1984 (cutline): The building at 13th and Cary Streets, site of first restaurant in the Slip, now stands vacant. 02-27-1972 (cutline): Designation as historic landmark clouds development for Shockoe Slip downtown. 02-11-1989: Shockoe Slip 08-13-1991: Shockoe Slip at night. 10-29-1984 (cutline): Richmond turned out dressed up yesterday for Shockoe Slip's Great Pumpkin Party. 06-06-1980: Shockoe Slip 08-22-1982: Shockoe Slip 08-04-1982: Shockoe Slip 08-06-1976 (cutline): Shockoe Center at 11 S. 12th St. Mix of Victorian, commercial utility styles. 04-29-1978 (cutline): David Yeatman, construction supervisor for Heindl-Evans Inc., looks over plans for renovation of the 96-year-old Zoppa Building in historic Shockoe Slip. The building, at 15 S. 13th St. between Main and Cary Streets is to offer 26,000 square feet of usable space when completed according to the Virginia Housing Development Authority, which happens to move its offices there this summer from its present headquarters at Richmond Plaza Building. Funds for the project, which is expect to cost $690,000 including purchase of the building, were borrowed from local banks, an authority spokesman said. 08-04-1982: Shockoe Slip 08-16-1982 (cutline): Sidewalk cafes were open during the Shockoe Slip Summer Jazz Festival, part two. Cool drinks, food and flowers were for sale at the event, which drew hundreds. Canadian fugitive wanted for drug smuggling sent back to Ontario from Mexico Mexico City, Mexico A Canadian fugitive who has been wanted by Ontario law enforcement since 2015 has finally been extradited back to Canada. On Tuesday, the Attorney General of the Republic (FGR) reported on the extradition of Alyas R. According to the FGR, Alyas R was wanted by the Superior Court of Justice of the Province of Ontario on drug charges. The agency reported that between January and March of 2015, Alyas R and others smuggled drugs to Canada from the United States. In October 2017, Alyas R was located and detained in Mexico City where he has remained imprisoned since his arrest. After complying with the process, the Government of Mexico granted the extradition of Alyas R to the Government of Canada. He was handed over to Canadian law enforcement authorities at the Mexico City International Airport (AICM) from where he was transferred back to Canada to face charges. Six formally charged with espionage in Mexico City Sterling Case Mexico City, Mexico Two more former Mexico City government officials have been arrested and charged with espionage. The most recent detainments total six arrests in what the city has named the Sterling Case. Ulises Lara Lopez, spokesman for the Mexico City Attorney Generals Office, made the announcement. He says the latest two to be arrested, Arturo N and Gustavo N, were formally charged, bringing the total to six. The now-six arrested former government officials are accused of spying on political rivals, journalists and civilians from 2012 to 2018. Some of those they are accused of spying on include now-president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and the current head of the capitals government, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo. Arturo N and Gustavo N are both former officials of the previous head of the Government of Mexico City, Miguel Angel Mancera, who headed the government from 2012-2018. Lara Lopez said that Gustavo N served as General Coordinator of Policies, Administration of Planning and Organization of the then Attorney Generals Office, while Arturo N was deputy director of the area of the Secretariat of Government. Both are accused of actively participating in intercepting lines and listening to telephone calls, as well as reading messages and emails to follow activities of some political figures, journalists and civilians. The Sterling Case has been under investigation for several years. Its name comes from the three-story building on Sterling Street in central Mexico City that was used for their operations. Spyware found by investigators in the Sterling Case. Photo: FGR According to Mexicans Against Corruption, the Sterling Case operations was financed with public money and included 42 computers, numerous drones, 12 motorcycles and 10 cars. At least 30 people are believed to have been employed by the operation. Roanokes theater community lost one of its most beloved members Monday when Doug Patterson died peacefully at 75. Patterson had spent the past 10 years at Friendship Manor, dealing with the effects of a stroke and related health concerns. Although he hadnt trod the boards in some time, memories of the late actor remained as vivid as they were cherished this week. He just opened peoples hearts and made them laugh, said Ernie Zulia, recently retired head of the theater department at Hollins University, who directed Patterson in a number of plays at Mill Mountain Theatre. Zulia first met Patterson in 1977, when we were both young fellas. That was the year Patterson made his Roanoke debut, portraying Pseudolus in MMTs production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum at what was then the troupes transitional home at the Grandin Theatre. He gave a performance that set Roanoke on its ear, Zulia recalled. He brought the house down every night. As The Roanoke Times reported in 2005, it was not assured that Patterson would even have a shot at the part. He didnt show up for the first day of auditions in New York City, but at the urging of a friend he did make it to callbacks the next day. Being in that show ultimately led Patterson to make Roanoke his home. He would go on to perform in 75 productions, including a revival of Forum. From serious roles like Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof to more light-hearted fare like Hello, Dolly! there would be nothing Patterson couldnt do. Publicly he was very shy, but put him on stage and he took off, Zulia said. Another longtime MMT director, Jere Hodgin, also remembered that New York audition and praised Patterson as a journeyman actor. He was self-taught and intuitive, equally at home in a lead role or a secondary part and always willing to take a chance, Hodgin said. He remembered fondly the time he cast Patterson as Puck in Shakespeares A Midsummer Nights Dream. Physically, Patterson was the opposite of a tiny sprite, but he approached the role with his usual good humor about playing so far against type. He was a song and dance man by nature, and a true comic, Hodgin said. Patterson was born on Aug. 24, 1947, raised as an only child by adoptive parents in Illinois. He had hoped to study theater after high school but his family was not enthusiastic about that idea. His initial career was journalism first in Chicago, then in Pelham, New York but once he set that aside to pursue acting, he would find a longtime home with MMT. In addition to his stage work, Patterson wound up working on the administrative staff at the theater for a number of years. Once Mill Mountain Theatre moved to Center in the Square, he barely left the building, Zulia said. Hodgin noted how Patterson was a constant in the lives of his children and other children of the Mill Mountain community. He was just a wonderful person and a great addition to Mill Mountain, Hodgin said. He was a sweet soul and will be missed. Former back office colleague Michelle Bennett met Patterson at MMT in 1995. She said the two fell in love because we couldnt stop laughing. We shared a brain when it came to jokes. Bennett often watched rehearsals and observed Pattersons process. He would learn his lines and blocking but often not reveal the full expression of a role until the lights came up. Bennett recalled the time that Patterson appeared in an MMT production of the Neil Simon comedy Rumors. In one scene, he was carrying a stack of plates and did a pratfall over a couch. His mother was in the audience and stood up and screamed because she had no idea the stunt was coming and thought he was hurt. Another story Bennett shared was about a time she was doing tech support for She Loves Me, in which Patterson had the brief role of a waiter in a cafe. His scene involved running around with a chafing dish on fire. It was a one-minute part and it stole the show, Bennett said. He could always stop the show. Bennett even got to act alongside Patterson once. She was cast in The Sound of Music as Frau Schweiger, the contestant whose repeated bowing to Pattersons Max Detweiler at the Salzberg Music Festival buys time for the von Trapp family to orchestrate their escape from Nazi officials. Bennett recalls that she and Patterson milked the moment for all it was worth, at one point receiving instructions to keep the scene to under five minutes. That was a real honor, to be on stage doing a bit with Doug, Bennett said. Very involved in Pattersons care during his years at Friendship, Bennett said that despite his declining health he never lost his interest in theater, and could tell you about any show in great detail to the end. Messages have been pouring in since Bennett announced Pattersons death on Facebook. A celebration of his life is being planned for February. A shooting suspect who had been sought for months was arrested Tuesday after a brief high-speed car chase in Roanoke. On June 23, police found a man with a gunshot wound near the intersection of Dupree Street and Blaney Avenue Northwest. Detectives identified Malcolm Levort Harrison, 32, of Roanoke as the suspect of that shooting and obtained warrants to arrest him. He was indicted on shooting-related charges by a Roanoke Circuit Court grand jury on Aug. 1, according to Virginias online court case information system. On Tuesday night, police saw Harrison in the South Barrens Road area of northern Roanoke County, according to a press release. Officers followed Harrison as he drove away from the area, and initiated a traffic stop near 12th Street and Campbell Avenue Southeast. Harrison did not comply with the traffic stop and began fleeing from officers at a high rate of speed, police said. During the pursuit, Harrisons vehicle struck a Roanoke police patrol car and caused minor damages. The chase continued until Harrison got out of his vehicle in the 1200 block of Stewart Avenue Southeast, entering a nearby residence. Officers secured and entered the residence, found Harrison inside, then took him into custody without further incident, police said. Officers arrested Harrison for the June shooting, charging him with aggravated malicious wounding, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. For Tuesday nights pursuit, police also charged Harrison with felony eluding and misdemeanor hit-and-run. Harrison is being held at the Roanoke City Jail without bond. His first appearance in circuit court on his shooting-related charges is scheduled for Thursday. DRAPER A Wythe County man died in the hospital after a auto crash that occurred Monday in Pulaski County, Virginia State Police reported Wednesday. Garnie L. East, 90, of Max Meadows, was driving a 2014 Ford Focus south on U.S. 11 when a 2017 Mitsubishi Outlander crossed the centerline from the northbound lanes. The two vehicles collided at about 3:34 p.m. about a half mile north of U.S. 11s intersection with State Route 766 near Draper, according to a state police account. East, who was wearing a seatbelt, was taken to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, where he died from his injuries. The driver of the Mitsubishi, Monica C. Harder, 31, of Pulaski, also was hospitalized for what state police described as minor injuries. She was not wearing a seatbelt, state police said. Driver distraction is considered to be a factor in the crash and Harder was charged with reckless driving, state police said. Ellen Campbell, wife of the late Del. Ronnie Campbell, R-Rockbridge, will take her husbands place in the Virginia House of Delegates, according to preliminary results from a special election Tuesday night. A day before the Virginia General Assembly begins its 2023 legislative session, voters decided on someone to replace Ronnie Campbell, who died of cancer in December, as delegate for the 24th House District. As votes rolled in from around the Republican-leaning district after 7 p.m., Ellen Campbell, who has worked a career in banking, held an immediate and significant lead over Democratic challenger Jade Harris, who was previously Vice-mayor of Glasgow in Rockbridge County. With the vote of 52 of 60 precincts counted late Tuesday, Campbell held a almost a two-to-one lead over Harris. Ellen Campbell was constantly at her husbands side when he represented our District, and is ready to continue his legacy of public service, said her campaign website. Ellen is ready to go to Richmond to continue Ronnies work. The winner will be sworn in to serve out this upcoming legislative session that starts Wednesday. A regular election in November will determine who serves a two-year term in the assembly. The 24th House District includes the cities of Buena Vista and Lexington, Rockbridge and Bath counties, plus parts of Augusta and Amherst counties. Elsewhere in Virginia on Tuesday night, votes were being counted for special elections in Virginias 35th House District, and the 7th Senate District. Credit: Fernwood Publishing A new book from a Brock expert and a criminal defense lawyer explores the extension of legal labor protections to some of Canada's most marginalized workersprisoners working during their incarceration. Assistant Professor Jordan House in the Department of Labor Studies, with co-author and lawyer Asaf Rashid, published "Solidarity Beyond Bars: Unionizing Prison Labor" last month with Fernwood Publishing. "Prison laborers are exempt from basic health and safety, employment standards and labor laws, and I think we should ask why these legal exclusions exist," says House. "We argue that there aren't any good public safety, legal or moral justification to exclude prisoners from normal occupational health and safety regulations." House's interest in prison justice issues dates back to his time as an undergraduate student, when he attended a workshop at Dorchester Penitentiary in New Brunswick through the Alternatives to Violence Project. Then, while completing his Ph.D. dissertation on prison labor and resistance in Canada, he gave an interview about his research on campus radio with future co-author Rashid. When Rashid attended law school a few years later, he wrote a paper on federal prisoner unionization. After receiving positive feedback on the essay, Rashid and House decided to expand the argument into a book. It's a subject that shows many parallels to the overall labor movement, according to House, but he acknowledges that some readers may be skeptical of the need for unions among prison laborers. "The unionization of prison labor in Canada means simply getting prisoners to be covered by all those same laws and regulations that a worker outside of prison is covered by," he says. "We start the book with a discussion of some of the misconceptions around who is in prison and the function of prison in Canadian society, and then we talk about the reasons for these kinds of legal exclusions and whether they're justifiable." One common misconception is that prison labor is intended to be punitive. "If you look at correctional law and policy, prison labor in this country is supposed to be part of rehabilitation," says House. "But how does having someone work for below minimum wage or without the right to refuse unsafe work help rehabilitate them?" In the book, the authors go on to explain why a union is "not only a good idea, but a possible one" with a detailed historical example of a prison union that operated in Ontario for about ten years. "In 1977, prisoners working at a commercial abbatoir that was part of the Guelph Correctional Centre successfully unionized alongside their non-incarcerated coworkers," House says. "In the first collective agreement the union signed, they equalized wages between incarcerated and non-incarcerated workers, ensured that prisoners had the right to serve as officers in the union and even enabled temporary releases for prisoners to attend union meetings outside of the prison." House encourages readers to take a closer look at the issues related to prisoners and work, because they may be surprised by what they find. "Prison labor isn't something that many people give much thought, so they may be surprised by the fact that prisoners in Canada make pennies an hour, if anything," says House. "Canada's prisons have a stated goal of rehabilitation, but like almost all other rehabilitation programming, employment programming is shockingly lacking, and that raises questions." More information: Solidarity Beyond Bars Unionizing Prison Labour. fernwoodpublishing.ca/book/solidarity-beyond-bars Provided by Brock University FLORENCE, S.C. Celebrate the birthday of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and honor his legacy of social justice at events Thursday and Monday in Florence. King, a Georgia-born, 1964 Nobel Peace Prize winning civil rights hero and minister, is remembered annually with a national holiday on the third Monday of January Jan. 16 this year. King was assassinated in Memphis on April 4. 1968. Francis Marion University will have its 24th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. celebration at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in Chapman Auditorium on campus. Ebenezer Baptist Church Pastor the Rev. Norman Gamble is the keynote speaker. Francis Marion University Student Government Association and Campus Activities Board members will serve as masters of ceremony. Gamble is a native of Salters. He holds a masters of divinity degree in theology from Colgate-Rochester Divinity School. Gamble is a humanitarian who has spent the majority of his life serving his church and community. The Young Gifted and Blessed Gospel Choir will present music at the ceremony. The Florence Branch of the NAACP will hold its Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. commemorative celebration at 7 p.m. Monday at Majority Baptist Church, 414 N. Coit St., Florence. This years theme is If It Happened Once: It Can Happen Again. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther Quick, pastor of Cumberland United Methodist Church in Florence will be the keynote speaker. Florence Branch of the NAACP President Jerry Keith Jr. invites everyone to attend the celebration. The theme will be the same as the state conferences march on the Dome of the South Carolina House of Representatives earlier Monday, he said. The Florence branch has held a commemoration ceremony for King for more than 20 years, Keith said. However, it will be the first in-person celebration of Kings life since the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020. The last time we did it was right before COVID in 2020, Keith said, adding COVID-19 hasnt gone away. He urged people who attend Mondays event to wear a mask, though its not a requirement. Tulsi Gabbard was one of our speakers that time. Different community leaders, including the leader of the Francis Marion University NAACP Chapter, Pee Dee National Panhellenic Council and Florence City Council members LaShonda Nesmith-Jackson and Lawrence Chipper Smith, will greet those attending the ceremony prior to Quicks address, Keith said. We also will be holding a brief memoriam for deceased members who have passed since we last met when the pandemic started, Keith said. For the past two years, the Florence Branch of the NAACP King Day celebration has been conducted on Zoom or Facebook, Keith said. We are looking forward to getting together in person, he said. FLORENCE, S.C. Three defendants all of whom were U.S. Postal Service employees during this alleged fraud scheme and two of them from the Pee Dee have been charged in the District of South Carolina for their alleged roles in a fraud scheme related to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Acts Paycheck Protection Program. The scheme involved as many as 400 fraudulent PPP loan applications, the majority of which were for applicants in South Carolina. The indictment alleges the scheme resulted in more than $1 million in fraudulently obtained PPP loans, and according to evidence presented at the defendants bond hearing, that figure may be as high as $8 million. The indicted defendants are: Tiffany McFadden, 40, a former U.S. Postal Service employee from Brooklyn, New York, and Port St. Lucie, Florida; Cherry Lewis, 43, a U.S. Postal Service employee from Johnsonville; and Keisha Lewis, 33, a U.S. Postal Service employee from Hemingway. The indictment alleges that the defendants were part of a national scheme, led by McFadden, that fraudulently acquired PPP loans. The PPP loan program was administered by the Small Business Administration (SBA) and provided forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain other expenses during, and resulting from, the COVID-19 pandemic. McFadden, according to the indictment, created false and fraudulent PPP loan applications by obtaining the personal identifying information (PII) of putative PPP loan applicants. She used that information to create tax documents and other paperwork related to non-existent businesses. McFadden then submitted that information to SBA-approved lenders, and the loan recipients received PPP loans they were not entitled to. In exchange for her services, McFadden would receive a portion of the funds. The indictment alleges that McFadden would also assist in getting the loans forgiven through the SBA. Cherry Lewis and Keisha Lewis, as alleged in the indictment, assisted McFadden in the scheme. They requested and received blank and fillable tax forms from McFadden, which they used to assist others in completing fraudulent PPP loan applications. The indictment further alleges that both Cherry Lewis and Keisha Lewis also personally obtained at least one fraudulently obtained PPP loan. The defendants were arrested by the U.S. Secret Service on Jan. 6. That same day, they were arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kaymani D. West at the federal courthouse in Florence and released on bond pending trial. Any member of the public who has information related to this scheme is encouraged to contact the U.S. Secret Service, said U.S. Attorney Adair F. Boroughs. PPP loans were intended to help businesses survive unprecedented challenges. Every dollar stolen from this program was stolen from taxpayers and legitimate businesses in need of support. This office takes pandemic-related crime seriously and stands ready to prosecute such fraud in all its forms. Any member of the public who has information related to this scheme is encouraged to contact the Columbia, South Carolina, field office of the U.S. Secret Service at 803-772-4015. Each defendant faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, fines, and restitution. The case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service, with assistance from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Small Business Administration, the Florence County Sheriffs Office, and the Williamsburg County Sheriffs Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elliott B. Daniels and Winston Marosek, who also serves as the offices coronavirus fraud coordinator, are prosecuting the case. A copy of the indictment is attached. Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justices National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form. QUINBY, S.C. -- Troopers are asking for the public's assistance to locate the driver of a car that Monday night struck and killed a pedestrian on East Ashby Road. The 6:15 p.m. crash happened just east of Irby Street, said Cpl. David Jones, South Carolina Highway Patrol. The car in question should have damage to the passenger side headlight area, according to a flyer produced by the Patrol. Anyone with information on the identity of those responsible is asked to submit your anonymous tip by calling the South Carolina Highway Patrol at 843-661-4705 or 1-800-768-1505 or *HP for mobile customers, CrimeStoppers at 888-CRIMESC, online at PeeDeesWanted.com or through the P3 Tips mobile app. I havent traveled widely, but the two times I have traveled internationally as an adult, I have been aware of what a privilege it is. Approximately 40% of Americans have never left the country, and 10% have never been outside their home state. Looking back at America from across an ocean or a border grants an important, perhaps even essential, perspective. Sometimes America looks favorable from a faraway vantage. In February 2020, just before COVID, I spent two weeks working in a hospital in Tanzania with a half-dozen students from USC School of Medicine. The hospital, one of the largest in Tanzania, was decades behind those in the U.S. The wards were open (approximately 30 to a ward) and the ICU was miniscule and outdated. The radiology department had installed its first CT scanner just a couple years before. Of the deaths that occurred during our time there, several could have been prevented in the U.S. Returning to McLeod Hospital, I was grateful for the technology and expertise that I had heretofore taken for granted. My most recent trip (last November) was to Sicily, the land of my ancestors. Returning home was a more ambivalent experience. Our small, expertly-led tour group spent 10 days travelling the length of the island and sampling its bounty. We met a family of fishers and ate tuna they had caught in their restaurant, we met a family of olive famers and watched as one poured freshly pressed oil into small bottles for us to take home, and we met a family that made sausage, pasta, and cheese. We saw the patriarch make ricotta in the morning and then ate it for lunch. When I returned, my first meal in the US was at Buc-ees. It was culinary whiplash. Please dont misunderstand. There is fast food in Sicily. I bet my brother, who traveled with me, that we would not see a McDonalds in Sicily, and lost. There are families in America who produce food with the same sense of tradition and passion as those I saw in Italy. We have a farmers market in Marion where a woman, whose ancestors have been here since the town was founded in the mid-nineteenth century, sells glorious cookies and pound cakes from recipes honed through the generations. And it is of course true that many people in both countries who would eat better if they could afford it. That said, the food cultures of the two countries are different. It shows in our waistlines. Italys adult obesity rate is about 12%. Americas has topped 40%. Speed and work are valued in different ways by the two nations. Eating as part of multitasking is deeply ingrained here. We take out. We eat food in our cars or at our desks. Family members in the same house dont always eat together. In Sicily food is more often an event. Some businesses still close in the middle of the day so that pranzo (lunch) can be savored and followed by a nap. Fresh ingredients are more available and sought after. In Sicily we shopped in two sprawling outdoor markets, one in Palermo and the second in Catania. Both brimmed with riotous displays of fruits, vegetables, meat, and fish. In the Ballaro market in Palermo, I watched in awe as a woman at least in her 60s deftly and powerfully squeezed pomegranates with a manual press. With effortless squeeze after squeeze, rivers of juice flowed into the cups of her delighted customers (of which I was one). The juice of the grape is also coveted in Italy. We met a vintner whose vineyard is on the slopes of Mt. Etna. He described how just a few dozen kilometers of distance or altitude between vineyards can produce markedly different wines. The culinary spirit Im trying to describe was best exhibited as we dined at the restaurant Tritalo Mediterraneo in Palermo. We ate there twice, sitting outside, and laughed as we tried to communicate across the language barrier. On our second visit, we were welcomed like returning family. When I asked for the check, the owner instead brought out a bottle of Punagro (an orange liqueur) with four glasses and poured each of us a complimentary drink. That gift typified Sicilians approach to the table-as a place of refuge and rejuvenation, where time slows, and from which no sane person would hurry away. Its easy to believe that America has the best of everything. It is not wrong to think of our country as the shining city on a hill, as Reagan put it. But there are many different ways of living. The American way, sad to say, is not always the best. It was humbling, but necessary, for me to be reminded of that. If you are currently a print subscriber but don't have an online account, select this option. You will need to use your 7 digit subscriber account number (with leading zeros) and your last name (in UPPERCASE). Chinese President Xi Jinping holds a welcoming ceremony for Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. prior to their talks at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Jan. 4, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua] Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. visited China on January 3-5 with the aim of shifting China-Philippines relations to a higher gear. While meeting with Marcos in Beijing, Chinese President Xi Jinping said China views the Philippines as a priority in its neighborhood diplomacy and approaches its relations with the Philippines from a strategic and overall perspective. He added that he is ready "to stay in regular strategic communication with President Marcos and make comprehensive plans for the growth of bilateral ties so that the two countries will stay good neighbors helping each other, good relatives sharing affinity, and good partners pursuing win-win cooperation, delivering more benefits to the two peoples and contributing more positive energy to peace and stability in the region." Marcos expressed his readiness "for close communication with President Xi and closer cooperation on all fronts to open a new chapter in the Philippines-China relationship of comprehensive strategic cooperation, better resolve common challenges and issues facing the two countries, deliver more benefits to the two peoples, and make new contributions to reestablishing the region as a major engine of the world economy." The two leaders agreed that the two governments need to work together in the fields of agriculture, infrastructure, energy, and people-to-people exchanges as their four priority areas of cooperation. In fact, these four areas "are the main pillars for the China-Philippines relationship of comprehensive strategic cooperation, and more efforts must be made to nurture new growth areas and highlights in these fields." A new chapter To broaden their bilateral ties, the Philippines is pursuing digital cooperation with China, particularly in the area of the digital economy. There are increased opportunities for the two countries to promote cooperation in this domain by encouraging Chinese Internet companies to invest in the Philippines. To bring their people closer together in a rapidly changing world, the Philippines is also enhancing tourism cooperation with China. "As our doors open up in the new normal, I will invite our Chinese neighbors to once again return to the Philippines as tourists, as students, as investors. Aside from sharing the wonders of our archipelago with our Chinese friends, strengthened people-to-people exchanges will allow us to bridge gaps in understanding between our two countries at every level," Marcos said before his departure for China. As part of sustaining their infrastructure development cooperation, the Philippines is committed to a framework agreement with China for the ongoing construction of three bridges as part of the Twelve Priority Bridges Under the Pasig-Marikina River and Manggahan Floodway Bridges Construction Project in Metro Manila. Infrastructure development is one of the core competencies of China the Philippines can benefit from. Most importantly, the Philippines under Marcos is renewing its commitment to participating in the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by China. To this end, the Philippines is seeking grants from China amounting to 1.5 billion yuan ($218 million). Longstanding friendship Marcos is laying all the building blocks to elevate the status of bilateral ties to a higher plane, especially in the context of its participation in Belt and Road cooperation. This is logical as the Philippines since ancient times has always been an integral part of China's maritime trade activities in Southeast Asia as a permanent neighbor and an ancient friend. Before the Spanish colonial rule of the archipelago, the Chinese and inhabitants of the various kingdoms of pre-Hispanic Philippines enjoyed generally peaceful and friendly relations for more than a millennium. The Chinese and pre-colonial Filipinos liked each other and had close, mutually beneficial and reciprocal ties. Documented bilateral relations date back many centuries and were built through extensive commercial, social and cultural interactions. Ancient inhabitants of the Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao regions of the Philippines participated in Nanhai Trade recorded between the ninth and 16th centuries. Nanhai Trade was the ancient commercial network between Chinese and Southeast Asian traders. China's Tang Dynasty (618-907) left behind valuable ancient records of Chinese trading activities with the people of Butuan, Manila and Mindoro, among others. The Kingdom of Butuan was the archipelago's main trading post with records of commercial activities beginning in the ninth century, while Ma-i (Mindoro) also served as a trading center with recorded activities in the 10th century. Eventually, the Sultanate of Sulu, the Kingdom of Manila and a Kingdom in Pangasinan became active in trade activities in China's Fujian and Guangdong provinces recorded between the 11th and 15th centuries. Historical factors and geographic proximity deeply connect the Chinese and Filipinos. This extensive shared ancient history has resulted in the formation of intricate social relations and cultural familiarities between the two peoples that can facilitate the development of shared future between the two countries despite their differences on the South China Sea issue. These differences are not irreconcilable and common ground on them can be found through friendly consultation and direct negotiation for purpose of cooperation. One aspect of ties Both countries have recognized that the South China Sea is just one aspect of relations and should not set the tone of overall bilateral ties. President Marcos and President Xi reaffirmed the importance of maintaining and promoting peace and stability in the region and the freedom of navigation in and overflight above the South China Sea, and reached consensus on the peaceful resolution of disputes on the basis of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), the UN Charter and the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, according to a joint statement between the two countries released on January 5. The Philippines and China can promote cooperation in the South China Sea as mandated by the DOC. Areas of cooperation cover marine environmental research and protection, safety of navigation and communication at sea, search and rescue operations, and combating transnational crimes including but not limited to trafficking in illicit drugs, piracy and armed robbery at sea, illegal traffic in arms, and international terrorism. The two countries can also pursue cooperation on joint development of natural gas and oil projects, as they agreed in 2018 during Xi's state visit to the Philippines. For the purposes of continuity and to sustain their countries' efforts to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea, President Marcos and President Xi need to reexamine the achievements and limitations of the bilateral consultation mechanism pursued during the administration of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. Through the mechanism, the two parties were undoubtedly able to establish multiple channels of official communication to promote cooperation and avoid armed conflicts in the South China Sea. As a confidence-building measure, the mechanism allows both countries to discuss with each other their existing differences as well as their common interests in the South China Sea. It is also a tool kit for preventive diplomacy as it provides greater clarity and transparency on some details of their respective national positions, now made known candidly to each other, unlike before where details of their national positions are deliberately kept secret away from each other. Through the bilateral consultation mechanism, therefore, the Philippines and China can be more transparent and candid to discuss not only their differences, but also their common interests. The state visit of Marcos to China was an opportune time for both countries to reach the next level of their bilateral ties: from comprehensive strategic cooperation to comprehensive strategic partnership. It is through the comprehensive strategic partnership that China-Philippines relations can really shift to a higher gear. It can foster closer China-Philippines friendly relations and commit both countries to pursue mutually beneficial cooperation where their respective national interests are inextricably linked and shared with each other. The author is president of the Philippine Society for Intelligence and Security Studies and former president of the Philippine Association for Chinese Studies. "Are Schools in Prison Worth It? The Effects of and Economic Returns to Prison Education" | Main | "Just for Kids? How the Youth Decarceration Discourse Endorses Adult Incarceration" Texas completed only five executions in 2022 (and only three in 2021 and 2020), but the state already has six executions planned for the first few months of 2023. And, as detailed in this AP article, the first of those scheduled execution was carried out yesterday. Here are the basics: A former suburban Houston police officer was executed Tuesday for hiring two people to kill his estranged wife nearly 30 years ago amid a contentious divorce and custody battle. Robert Fratta, 65, received a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville for the November 1994 fatal shooting of his wife, Farah. He was pronounced dead at 7:49 p.m., 24 minutes after the lethal dose of the powerful sedative pentobarbital began flowing into his arms. For about three minutes before the execution began, Frattas spiritual adviser, Barry Brown, prayed over Fratta, who was strapped to the death chamber gurney with intravenous needles in each arm.... Asked by the warden if he had a final statement, Fratta replied: No.... Prosecutors say Fratta organized the murder-for-hire plot in which a middleman, Joseph Prystash, hired the shooter, Howard Guidry. Farah Fratta, 33, was shot twice in the head in her homes garage in the Houston suburb of Atascocita. Robert Fratta, who was a public safety officer for Missouri City, had long claimed he was innocent. The punishment was delayed for little more than an hour until the last of a flurry of final-day appeals cleared the U.S. Supreme Court and Texas highest courts, the Texas Supreme Court and Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Frattas lawyers argued unsuccessfully that prosecutors withheld evidence that a trial witness had been hypnotized by investigators, leading her to change her initial recollection that she saw two men at the murder scene as well as a getaway driver.... Fratta was also one of four Texas death row inmates who sued to stop the states prison system from using what they allege are expired and unsafe execution drugs. That lawsuit also failed late Tuesday, The Supreme Court and lower courts previously rejected appeals from Frattas lawyers that sought to review claims arguing insufficient evidence and faulty jury instructions were used to convict him. His attorneys also unsuccessfully argued that a juror in his case was not impartial and that ballistics evidence didnt tie him to the murder weapon.... Fratta was first sentenced to death in 1996, but his conviction was overturned by a federal judge who ruled that confessions from his co-conspirators shouldnt have been admitted into evidence. In the same ruling, the judge wrote that trial evidence showed Fratta to be egotistical, misogynistic, and vile, with a callous desire to kill his wife. He was retried and resentenced to death in 2009.... Fratta was the first inmate put to death this year in Texas and the second in the U.S. Eight other executions are scheduled in Texas for later this year. SINGAPORE - Media OutReach - 11 January 2023 - This month, foodpandas brand ambassador, Pau-Pau, turns one! To commemorate this milestone, foodpanda launched its brand philosophy which encourages people to live like a panda, meaning freeing up their time and energy to pursue what really matters to them. Live-like-a-panda.jpg Pau-Pau was introduced during a time when food delivery was undifferentiated with deals and discounts to personify the foodpanda brand and make it more relatable to peoples everyday lives. Since his debut, Pau-Pau has received immense love from millions of people across the region and has successfully created a positive perception in customers minds - making foodpanda their first preference for on-demand deliveries. Throughout 2022, foodpanda has also received numerous requests for Pau-Pau merchandise, which highlights his growing fanbase. Winning hearts all over the region Pau-Pau, since becoming the face of the brand, has seamlessly made his way into customers everyday lives through social media collaterals such as Telegram and LINE sticker sets as well as Instagram filters, which are used by millions daily. He is constantly featured in prominent out of home advertisements, and has his own line of plushies and exclusive collectables - to the delight of customers. In the past year, he has also been part of multiple exciting collaborations with partners such as Tinder, Coffee meets Bagel, Burger King, and McDonalds. His hyperlocal presence enabled him to be a well-loved character throughout the region, amplified through in-market campaigns and initiatives. For instance, in Thailand last year, a giant Pau-Pau mascot visited an underprivileged childrens foundation to celebrate Valentine's Day with them and also deliver delicious meals and other everyday necessities. In Taiwan, foodpanda launched a Pau-Pau promotion campaign featuring three Pau-Pau statues about 2.5m high while in Singapore, Pau-Pau has his own ice cream flavour and pink cookies! The creation of our own brand ambassador, Pau-Pau, allows us to better connect and engage with millions of people who use the foodpanda app daily in a fresh, new way. With Pau-Pau, we now have the unique opportunity and creative runway to launch campaigns that bring to life foodpandas brand personality. While Pau-Pau had an adventurous 2022, for 2023, we are very excited for him to explore even more meaningful ways to add value to our customers lives. said Monika Mikusova, Senior Director of Marketing APAC at foodpanda. Representing purpose Beyond just being an adorable mascot, Pau-Pau also champions sustainability and empowerment. In doing his part for the environment, he fronted foodpandas recent green initiatives such as Lets do our Pau-rt - a sustainability program in the Philippines, and was the face of locally-produced sustainable beer in Singapore, called "Loaf Like A Panda". Pau-Pau believes in and advocates empowerment and living life on ones own terms. On Pau-Paus first birthday, foodpanda launched its brand philosophy called live like a panda, which encourages individuals to fret less about the chores of daily life, and focus more on what matters most to them. In conceptualising the philosophy, the foodpanda team spent hours studying pandas and found that pandas eat as they want to, sleep as they want to and live life without unnecessary worries. Taking inspiration from this outlook, foodpanda believes that humans too can benefit from adopting a similar mindset, and focus their energies on things that truly satisfy them. We wanted to create a brand philosophy that will resonate with people of all ages across the region. With live like a panda, we hope to inspire our customers to look beyond their routine or chores that get in the way of doing things that they truly like, such as spending time with people they love. We want to help them free up time for things they enjoy doing so that they can find true satisfaction. said Eunha Bhang, Chief Creative Officer, Delivery Hero Asia. Watch the brand philosophy video here. Follow Pau-Paus adventures and what he has been up to here. Hashtag: #foodpanda Story continues The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. foodpanda foodpanda is a leading delivery platform in Asia dedicated to bringing consumers a wide range of food, groceries and more, quickly and conveniently. Powered by technology and operational excellence, foodpanda is spearheading the growth of quick-commerce (q-commerce) across the region with its network of retail partners, as well as pandamart cloud stores to provide more on-demand options beyond the millions of food delivery options. foodpanda operates in more than 400 cities across 11 markets in Asia - Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Pakistan, Taiwan, Philippines, Bangladesh, Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar. foodpanda is a subsidiary of Delivery Hero, a global leader of the food delivery industry. For more information, visit www.foodpanda.com. UPDATE: No place for bullying: Charles & Keith on TikTok user who got mocked for branding bag as luxury TikTok trolls can really be so mean. When user @Zohtaco, also known as Zoe, put up a video thanking her dad for her first luxury bag from local fashion brand Charles & Keith, she did not expect the reaction she received. Although most of the troll comments have appeared to be gone, the main TikTok posted on Sunday that got the tongues gagging still appears in the comment section, with over 5,000 likes. To date, the viral video racked up 4.6million views on TikTok. Gift from dad In the video, 17-year-old Zoe wrote in the caption thank you dad and it featured her receiving a minimalist black handbag from the brand. The TikTok community was also quick to defend her against the trolls but it was apparent that the negative comments had affected her that she had to put up a reply video to user @Cressys comment. In the video, Zoe opened up and shared her humble upbringing and how her family did not have a lot growing up. She also talked about how even buying something from Breadtalk was considered luxury. Your comment spoke volumes on how ignorant you seem because of your wealth, she said. She added, To you an S$80 bag may not be a luxury but for me and my family, it is a lot. She appeared to be tearful when she mentioned that she was grateful her dad was able to buy her the bag as he had worked so hard for the money. Even in materialistic Singapore, there are also some good eggs who empathized with her story and was happy for her. Spotlight on dad You might think this is a trivial matter but on the TikTok-verse, the saga spawned five videos related to the luxury bag. Perhaps the most wholesome one from the series was a Dad Appreciation video after users started complimenting Zoes father for raising her well and to be appreciative of what she has. Zoe gave what the people wanted and responded with a slideshow of pictures of her father. Story continues C&K is everyones first luxury bag We already know people can get mean on social media but if theres anything to learn from this drama, its that everyones first expensive ahem, luxury bag is from Charles & Keith. And in that moment, the whole of Singapore was united. Who is gonna tell @Cressy? FYI, Charles & Keith is in fact a fashion house and luxury goods company founded in 1996 in Singapore. In 2011, the owners sold a 20% stake to LVMHs (also known as Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton) private equity arm, L Captial Asia, for more than US$30 million. Since then, the chain has expanded across more than 30 countries with approximately 700 stores worldwide. But to be honest, no one should let anybody else define what luxury is to you. Also check out these other stories: A Singapore Ministry of Manpower housing officer sexually assaulted an 11-year-old girl after following her into her home. Loh Jin, 57, was sentenced today to one year and five months in jail after pleading guilty to one count of using criminal force to outrage the victims modesty. Another charge was taken into consideration. According to the court, the incident happened on Oct. 19 2020 when the girl was on a bus home from Bishan with her 8-year-old younger brother and alighted near her school. They then played at a nearby playground. Loh had also taken the same bus and alighted at the same bus stop. He then walked over and took a photo of them. When they were done playing at the playground, they headed back home while Loh followed behind all the way up to their flat. Upon finding out that the childrens parents were not home, Loh entered the flat. The girl told him that her parents instructed her not to let strangers into their house. Loh then showed her the photo he had taken before reaching out to touch her. Loh fled the house and took a cab home when the distressed girl cried. She called the police later that day saying: He refused to go away. He went inside the house and he touch my area. He is old, wearing white shirt, grey shorts, with spectacles. Not sure how old is he. For molesting a child below 14 years old, Loh can be jailed for up to five years and fined. He is exempted from caning as he is above 50 years old, a law that President Halimah is fighting to amend. Other stories you should check out: FILE PHOTO: Getty Images SINGAPORE A 38-year-old teacher with the Ministry of Education (MOE) was arrested under the Internal Security Act in October last year, after he was preparing to join Hamas in armed combat against the Israel Defence Forces (IDF). He is the first public servant to have been detained for terrorism-related offences. According to a media release by the Internal Security Department (ISD) on Wednesday, Khairul was self-radicalised and ready to travel to Gaza, Palestine, under the guise of humanitarian aid to join Hamas and its military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. He is the second person to be detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for wanting to carry out armed violence because he was affected by the Israel-Palestine conflict. Strong desire to defend Muslims in Gaza According to the ISD media release, Khairuls interest in the Israel-Palestine conflict began in 2007, after he viewed Facebook videos on purported Israeli acts of aggression against Palestinians, including women and children. He developed a strong desire to defend and support the Muslims in Gaza out of deep sympathy for them. His subsequent online research into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict entrenched his belief that the Israelis, particularly the IDF, were oppressing the Palestinians. Khairul was further convinced of the need to engage in armed defence of the Palestinians after he watched videos by radical foreign preachers, Ahmed Deedat and Zakir Naik, which discussed the concept of armed jihad in defence of Islam. He first considered travelling to Gaza in 2012 after coming across a poster on Facebook which called for volunteers for a humanitarian mission to Gaza. While he did not follow through on his intent, he would feel compelled to travel to Gaza whenever the conflict escalated for instance, in 2014 and 2021. Khairul also researched intensively into Hamas and AQB, including viewing materials relating to their tactics and operations. He was willing to abide by any instructions given by Hamas, and was confident of applying the weapons-handling skills and fieldcraft acquired during his national service to engage in armed combat. Story continues Apart from his support for armed violence, Khairul also holds segregationist and hard-line religious beliefs, and had attempted without success to influence his family members and children to hold such views. MOE: teacher has not taught since October ISDs investigation showed that Khairul had acted alone. There was no sign that he tried to involve others in his plans to travel to Gaza to carry out armed violence. There is also no indication thus far that Khairul harboured any intention to carry out attacks in Singapore. ISD will take firm action against any individual in Singapore who supports, promotes, undertakes or makes preparations to undertake armed violence, regardless of how they rationalise such violence, or where the violence takes place. This is particularly so if the person involved is a public servant. Given his deeply-entrenched radical beliefs and support for armed violence, Khairul poses an imminent threat and has been issued an Order of Detention under the ISA with effect from 30 November last year. MOE also released a media statement on Wednesday, saying that Khairul has not been teaching any classes since October last year. The ministry added that it regards this case very seriously, and will continue to work closely with ISD and the community to safeguard our schools and students against such threats. Supporting armed conflict is 'unacceptable', says Shanmugam Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam told reporters in a doorstop interview on Wednesday that Singapore does not tolerate individuals supporting armed conflict in other parts of the world. "There are causes around the world that many of us do, and can feel strongly about," he said. "Singaporeans can, and they do, take views on these causes, many provide moral support, financial support, and other means of support, to advance causes they believe in. There are legitimate organisations that Singaporeans can partner, to support these causes all around the world, including the cause of helping Palestinians. "But armed violence is different, unacceptable. What we cannot do is to support terrorism, support armed conflict, plan to kill people." Anyone who knows or suspects that a person has been radicalised should promptly contact the ISD Counter-Terrorism Centre hotline 1800-2626473. Do you have a story tip? Email: sgnews.tips@yahooinc.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter. Also check out our Southeast Asia, Food, and Gaming channels on YouTube. ChatGPT 100 0.5% 1.11%53% 4% 154 CPI 16.61 2.34 90% 562 4% AI 58% 58% 20172 1.63% 2.2%58% 90 19 291 110% 44657 23.49 11.6 25 2%4% 515.41 84.12 ChatGPTOpenAIChatGPT bug15 Twitter 10GPUAI 240IFC 0.86% 1.92%5% Farmers have won the right to repair with John Deere, which some advocates are calling more of a step in the right direction than a solution. The American Farm Bureau and John Deere announced on Sunday a Memorandum of Understanding that allows farmers to choose where their equipment is repaired or to repair it themselves. Previously, only authorized dealers could repair Deere equipment. Kevin O'Reilly, Director for the Right to Repair campaign with the Illinois Public Interest Research Group, said an Memorandum of Understanding is not enough. "All John Deere has to do is provide a 30-day notice, and they can pull out of this deal," he said. The Memorandum of Understanding is not legally binding. For the past several years, farmers have been fighting for legislation that will protect their right to repair. As Deere has been a vocal opponent, O'Reilly said he was left feeling skeptical. "When I first saw it, my instinct was not to jump for joy," he said. "This job is not done. We need to pass right-to-repair bills to make sure farmers have what they need to fix their tractors. According to the memo, equipment owners will now have "electronic access on Fair and Reasonable terms to Manufacturer's Tools, Specialty Tools, Software and Documentation." According to a news release from the Farm Bureau, the agreement formalizes farmers access to diagnostic and repair codes, as well as manuals (operator, parts, service) and product guides. How exactly this will impact farmers and dealers is not yet known. "It's a little difficult to say (what's coming,) but we'll know pretty quickly," said Nathan Proctor with the Public Interest Research Group. As senior director for the Right to Repair campaign, Proctor maintains a keen interest. Because the Memorandum of Understanding goes into effect immediately, he said, the public will know soon what specific tools farmers can access. "John Deere has long held that they support the right to repair, with certain exceptions," he said. Those exceptions include ignition systems, resetting immobilizers and embedded software for the programming and instruction of the equipment. At a shareholder meeting in February 2022, Deere CEO John C. May was asked about right-to-repair efforts. He said Deere supports customers' right to "safely maintain," diagnose and repair equipment but not for the idea that customers should be able to change embedded software. One reason Deere held so tightly to the right-to-repair fight, Proctor said, was for safety reasons. Specifically, when it comes to the immobilizer, which is triggered when something like low fluid levels or a transmission issue is detected. The immobilizer then sets the equipment into "limp mode," which means it can only go about 10 miles an hour until it's reset. Before the Memorandum of Understanding was signed, only a dealer could reset this. To me the thing that was really encouraging was there was a specific promise that provides the ability to reset immobilizer codes," he said. But, concern remains that there will be specific problems that only a dealer can provide a solution for. We're not fully convinced that farmers will be able to make 100% of repairs away from a dealership," O'Reilly said. "With a bill, there would be the legal system to determine what are fair and reasonable terms." With the Memorandum of Understanding, farmers will have to rely on Deere to set the prices. But, Proctor said farmers are usually not as worried about the cost of the repair as they are the downtime. As with many companies, John Deere has technician jobs open across the country. A search on Indeed for "John Deere technician" produced results from Maryland to Kansas to Texas to North Carolina. If wait times for repairs at a dealership is stretching into weeks, that can be detrimental for farmers who need to get in the fields. "But at the same time, (Deere) didn't let independent mechanics have access," Proctor said. "That six weeks could be the loss of your entire operation. They need to have another choice." Another red flag that comes from the Memorandum of Understanding is the cost. Proctor said the competition between dealerships, independent mechanics and farmers will inevitably lower repairs costs, because there are more options. But the Memorandum of Understanding does not outline what the cost of the tools will be. "For a lot of farming operations, that'll be nothing. For others, that will be pretty important," he said. O'Reilly added that the language surrounding independent repair was concerning to him. "The way this agreement is written, it seems like there are some hoops to jump through to make sure independent mechanics can get access to tools," he said. The MOU outlines that independent mechanics will have to rely on consent from the farmer to access these specific tools. O'Reilly is concerned mechanics will not be able to outright purchase the equipment without already having a customer lined up. "How can you have a business if every time you have to do the thing that makes you money, you have to call the manufacturer to get authorization?" he asked. For farmers who will try to go at it on their own, there is concern too. Proctor cited a case of a farmer in Montana who spent nearly $8,000 on a new laptop and other diagnostic equipment. Even after dropping that much, he was unable to make the changes he needed; another red flag. "If these tools are going to be available, the price is important. But what won't you be able to do?" he asked. "I'm still worried that Deere is holding all the cards." WEDNESDAY, Jan. 11, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- First Lady Jill Biden is scheduled to have surgery Wednesday morning to have a lesion removed from above her right eye. The lesion was discovered during routine skin cancer screening, the president's physician Dr. Kevin O'Connor said in a Jan. 4 memo posted on Twitter. Biden, 71, will have a common outpatient procedure known as Mohs surgery to remove and definitively examine the tissue, O'Connor added. Doctors recommended the procedure in an abundance of caution, he said. President Joe Biden accompanied the first lady to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where the surgery will be performed. The surgery typically involves removing thin layers of skin and examining each layer for cancer, continuing until there are no signs of cancer, according to the Mayo Clinic. The procedure typically takes less than four hours, the Associated Press reported. The delicate skin around the eyes is particularly vulnerable to the suns ultraviolet rays, according to the Skin Cancer Foundation. The Bidens had just returned from Mexico City on Tuesday. While the president held two days of talks with the leaders of Mexico and Canada, the first lady met with other groups, including women and children, and her counterparts, the AP reported. This is the second time the White House has announced an outpatient medical procedure for Jill Biden, the AP reported. Previously that happened in April 2021 with a procedure that was described at the time as common. An update on Jill Bidens condition was expected later Wednesday, the AP said. More information The Skin Cancer Foundation has more on Mohs surgery. SOURCE: Associated Press SIOUX CITY Although COVID-19 transmission remains "low" in Woodbury County, the number of tests coming back positive for the virus is on the rise, according to the most recent report from the Iowa Department of Public Health. The data, which was last updated on Tuesday, shows 95 positive COVID-19 tests in the county, which is up from 84 positive tests reported on Jan. 3 and 74 positive tests reported on Dec. 27. COVID-19 is circulating in the community, along with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which generally causes mild cold-like symptoms, influenza and other respiratory viruses. The State Hygienic Laboratory at the University of Iowa reported 243 cases of RSV in Iowa from Dec. 25 to 31, down from 840 cases and 1,205 cases the previous two weeks. Overall state-wide flu activity was "high," according to the respiratory virus surveillance report. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's COVID Data Tracker rates Woodbury County's COVID-19 community transmission level as low. That level was calculated on Jan. 5 using data from Dec. 28 to Jan. 3. A new subvariant of omicron now accounts for more than 27% of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States, according to the CDC. The dominant variant, BQ.1.1, currently accounts for just over 34% of the cases. When community transmission is low, the CDC recommends that individuals stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines and get tested if they have symptoms. Wearing a mask is advised on public transportation and when a person has symptoms, tests positive for the virus, or has been exposed to someone with COVID-19. The CDC says individuals may choose to wear a mask at any time as an additional precaution to protect themselves and others. Flash China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism has unveiled a series of measures to further integrate tourism with culture, including sectors such as traditional opera and traditional crafts. Minister of Culture and Tourism Hu Heping made the announcement at a Thursday meeting attended by officials of the country's culture and tourism authorities, calling for efforts to facilitate the integration more broadly and deeply, and at a higher quality, to generate new growth drivers and strength in both the culture and tourism industries. The ministry plans to support traditional opera troupes that are on the verge of extinction, revitalize traditional Chinese crafts, improve the protection and use of cultural artifacts, strengthen the preservation of intangible cultural heritage, and promote the technological upgrading of libraries nationwide, among other tasks for 2023, according to the meeting. The ministry also laid out several recovery measures for tourism, including the development of national cultural parks at major tourist sites such as the Yellow River and the Great Wall, and the promotion of new travel forms such as rural tours and camping trips. SIOUX CITY Former Iowa State Senator Richard Bertrand is suing members of the Sioux City Community School District due to comments made calling him a thief and dirt devil resulting in the loss of a land development opportunity. Bertrand, now a businessman and developer, filed a defamation lawsuit against the school district, Greenwell and Former District Operations Director Brian Fahrendholz claiming comments made by the parties resulted in the loss of over $7.9 million in profits. Bertrand claims he attempted to purchase five acres of unused land near Unity Elementary School, but the agreement was rescinded due to comments made by Fahrendholz and Greenwell, according to the court documents. The suit states during a phone call on Jan. 2, Greenwell claimed Bertrand had stolen dirt from the North High Outer Drive project and Greenwell was not interested in selling the land to the dirt devil who stole from the district. The suit also states Greenwell claimed he would not be muscled or bulled by Bertrand and was not drinking the Kool-Aid. When asked where Greenwell had heard the claims, Bertrand was told Fahrendholz had made them starting in 2018. Bertrand claims Interim Superintendent Rod Earleywine and current Operations Director Tim Paul were supportive of the sale before the call with Greenwell. Due to this, he entered into a Letter of Intent to sell some of the property to Roy Parry Construction for three apartment buildings. He also claims he began discussions with the City of Sioux City to develop 120 homes on the land and property he currently owns. After the call with Greenwell, Roy Parry Construction withdrew its offer to purchase due to potential litigation. Bertrand is suing the three entities for defamation and seeks full compensation for the $7.9 million loss in profits he claims came from the comments. A national firm will aid in the search to find a new leader at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln following Chancellor Ronnie Greens announcement he plans to retire in June. NU President Ted Carter on Tuesday said the university will once again work with AGB Search, an arm of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges, to conduct what he has described as a rigorous national search for UNLs 21st chancellor. Green, who was named chancellor in 2016, said he plans to retire after seven years leading the states flagship university campus. According to the contract between NU and AGB Search, the university will pay $95,000 for the firms services through Dec. 31. The cost reflects a 3% reduction of its standard fee provided to members of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges. NU has also agreed to pay a $5,000 client service and support fee, and will reimburse AGB Search for any approved out-of-pocket expenses, including candidate background checks (estimated at $2,250), advertising expenses (estimated at $4,000) and travel-related expenses (estimated at $7,500). AGB Search will be paid an estimated $115,000 from state appropriations and tuition revenue for its work, according to the contract. Three search consultants who previously worked on the search that led to Carters hiring will once again coordinate the upcoming search, developing a candidate profile alongside UNL stakeholders, recruiting candidates for the chancellor position, and providing due diligence on candidates. Roderick McDavis, a former president of Ohio University and managing principal of AGB, will provide services; as will Sally Mason, president emerita of the University of Iowa; and Garry Owens, founding dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Texas Tech University; and Kimberly Templeton, a principal at AGB Search. The university has relied upon AGB Search in its two most recent high profile administrator searches, after previously using the Isaacson, Miller executive search firm in the search that led to the hiring of both Green and previous NU President Hank Bounds. The Washington, D.C.-based AGB firm led the process that culminated in Carters hiring as the NU systems leader in 2019 the contracted cost for that search reached nearly $170,000 as well as the hiring of Joanne Li as chancellor of the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 2021. Carter also plans to convene a UNL Chancellor Search Advisory Committee to gather and provide stakeholder input on the qualities and characteristics the next chancellor should possess. Members of the committee will include students, faculty, staff and the community. Nominations for the committee will be open through Jan. 24 and should be submitted to president@nebraska.edu, the university said. In a statement, Carter said Greens announcement has graciously given us a runway that will allow for a smooth transition of leadership, which he said gives UNL a crucial advantage in its search process. Our flagship university plays a leading role in delivering the workforce, research and service that Nebraska needs to grow and thrive, Carter said. The chancellorship of UNL is an important and consequential leadership position for Nebraska, and Im very pleased to be underway with a rigorous search process. Ultimately, under Nebraskas public records statutes, AGB Search and the Chancellor Search Advisory Committee will be able to conduct the search under a veil of secrecy. NU, like other public schools, was previously required to publicly identify four finalists to interview for the position before a hire was made. Now, Carter will be able to name a single finalist from the pool of applicants. That individual will be required to go through a 30-day public vetting period before their hire can be finalized. A university spokeswoman said Carter wants to have UNLs next chancellor in place before Greens retirement is effective on June 30. Photos: UNL Chancellor Ronnie Green through the years 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. SIOUX CITY Sioux City police are seeking the public's help in locating a 32-year-old man. The police department said in a statement that Antonio C. Cobb's family haven't seen or heard from him since Nov. 28. Cobb drives a green 1997 Oldsmobile Supreme with no plates. Family members say he could be in the Urbandale, Iowa, area, but it is not like Cobb to not contact his family or girlfriend for this long, according to police. Members of the public are encouraged to call the non-emergency number for their local law enforcement agency if they spot Cobb. They can also contact Det. Paul Yaneff at 712-279-6386. SIOUX CITY Western Iowa Community College announced Wednesday morning it received a $2.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education. According to Western Iowa Tech, the federal money is intended to: help retain arts and sciences students, improve pathways to four-year schools, promote a culture of equity and train employees on matters of equity, diversity and inclusion. The grant is expected to cover a five-year stretch and the initial time period will involve hiring additional staff to aid in the retention plan. Western Iowa Tech also said there would be a greater focus on the retention of minority students. Following that phase, Western Iowa Tech said it plans to focus on the fostering of a "culture of equity by funding a Center for Diversity Enrichment within the college." Such a center would include student and community resources. "By improving the Colleges cultural competency as well as retention and completion through the grant, WITCC will build a campus where every learner is supported, provide degrees to more students, and ultimately increase educational attainment in our community," the school said. SPIRIT LAKE, Iowa Camp Foster YMCA received a grant from the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs to construct a new building. The $78,476 grant will be used to construct a new building for a visitors center as well as repurpose an existing building into a health lodge at the Camp Fosters location. The Strengthening Communities grant is aimed at supporting facility renovation and construction projects for youth development, healthy living and social responsibility, specifically in communities with less than 28,000 residents, according to a news release. The grant is funded by the Iowa Legislature through the Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund. A total of $250,000 was awarded from this grant, benefiting Burlington, Mason City and Spirit Lake. An Iowa State Patrol crash report said Emma Nibbelink, 18, of Luverne, Minnesota, was southbound in a Chevrolet Impala at 6:04 p.m. when she drove onto the west shoulder, which was covered with snow and ice. Nibbelink over corrected and crossed the center line and was struck broadside by a northbound Chevrolet pickup truck driven by Dylan Taylor, 25, of Le Mars, Iowa. DENVER A judge on Wednesday denied an attempt to punish authorities after the media obtained documents showing detailed allegations about the suspect in the Colorado gay nightclub shooting previously plotting to be the next mass killer" in an old case that was sealed at the time. Lawyers for Anderson Aldrich, who is charged with killing five people and wounding 17 others at Club Q in Colorado Springs in November, accused the El Paso County Sheriff's Office of leaking documents in the old case to the media. They asked Judge Robin Chittum to hold the office in contempt and order it to pay $10,000 in fines and train staff on the records sealing law. But Chittum, siding with lawyers for the sheriff's office, said the defense had not presented facts that showed that the sheriff's office was the source of the information. It is just speculation. I can't make an assumption that it was, she said. She noted that a Dec. 6 Associated Press story cited by the defense about the documents, which were obtained earlier by Colorado Springs television station KKTV, said the documents had been confirmed as authentic to the AP by a law enforcement official who was granted anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the sealed case. Chittum said that could have been done by members of a number of local or national law enforcement agencies. In 2021, Aldrich, who is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, according to court filings, was arrested after their grandparents told authorities that Aldrich threatened to kill them after becoming upset about their plans to move and get in the way of Aldrich's alleged plan to stockpile guns, ammunition, body armor and a homemade bomb. You guys die today and Im taking you with me, they quoted Aldrich as saying. Im loaded and ready. The charges filed against Aldrich in the 2021 case were dropped after the grandparents refused to cooperate with prosecutors and testify. The court file was sealed under a state law aimed at preventing people from having their lives ruined if cases are dismissed and never prosecuted. One day after the AP story ran that illustrated how the dropped case was one of the most glaring missed warnings in Americas long line of mass violence, Chittum unsealed the 2021 case at the request of the sheriffs office, district attorneys office and a coalition of media outlets including the AP. She said the profound public interest in the case outweighed Aldrichs privacy rights. BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) A court in Romania's capital Bucharest has 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 judges earlier decision to extend his arrest from 24 hours to 30 days. Tate, 36, a British-U.S. citizen who has 4.5 million followers on Twitter, was initially detained on Dec. 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 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 judges 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 has reportedly lived in Romania since 2017, was previously 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. Read more here: Flash New Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 is spreading quickly in the United States, and is estimated to account for nearly 30 percent of COVID-19 cases in the United States in the week ending Jan. 7, according to the latest data of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). XBB.1.5 is projected to comprise more than 70 percent of viruses in some northwestern regions in the country, CDC data showed. XBB.1.5 made up 27.6 percent of the total cases in the week ending Jan. 7, rising from 18.3 percent from a week before and 11.5 percent two weeks prior, according to the CDC. The XBB variant has been driving up cases in parts of Asia, drawing concerns for its high infectiousness. Another two dominant Omicron subvariants BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 accounted for about 55 percent of new COVID-19 cases in the United States in the latest week, CDC data showed. WASHINGTON Surgeons removed a cancerous lesion above first lady Jill Biden's right eye Wednesday, as well as another cancerous lesion on her chest, the White House said, while a third lesion on her left eyelid was being examined. Dr. Kevin O'Connor, the president's physician, said examinations showed the lesion over Biden's left eye and one newly discovered on her chest were both confirmed to be basal cell carcinoma. The lesion on her right eye was "fully excised, with margins, and was sent for standard microscopic examination." Biden and her husband, President Joe Biden, spent the day at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, while she underwent the scheduled outpatient procedure known as Mohs surgery to remove and examine the lesions. O'Connor said the first lady was "experiencing some facial swelling and bruising, but is in good spirits and is feeling well." She was expected to return to the White House Wednesday evening. The first lady's office announced a week ago that doctors had discovered the lesion during a recent routine skin cancer screening. She was to have a "common outpatient procedure known as Mohs surgery to remove and definitively examine the tissue," O'Connor said in a Jan. 4 memo released last week. That surgery involves cutting away thin layers of skin and examining each layer for signs of cancer, according to a fact sheet from the Mayo Clinic. Doctors keep removing layers of skin and examining them until there are no signs of cancer. The procedure takes less than four hours for most people, and they can go home afterward. Doctors recommended removing the lesion from the 71-year-old first lady "in an abundance of caution," O'Connor wrote in the memo. The Skin Cancer Foundation said the delicate skin around the eyes is especially vulnerable to damage from the sun's ultraviolet rays. The surgery was arranged for the morning after the Bidens returned from Mexico City, where the president held two days of talks with the leaders of Mexico and Canada and the first lady met with women, children and her North American counterparts. In April 2021, the first lady had a medical procedure that the White House described only as "common." Details were not provided. The president accompanied her to an outpatient center near the campus of George Washington University, and they returned to the White House after about two hours. Biden also accompanied the first lady to Walter Reed in July 2021 for outpatient treatment after she punctured her left foot while walking on a beach in Hawaii. She had stopped in Hawaii for official events after participating in opening events for the Tokyo Olympics. A new railroad museum is chugging along in a former railway-equipment shop in Silvis. Located in the railroad yard off Route 92 is a 400,000 square foot, brown-bricked building that once was the largest locomotive repair shop of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad before it shut down in March 1980 and later was taken over by National Railway Equipment. A year ago, the Railroading Heritage of Midwest America, or RHMA, a nonprofit organization, bought the former shop to use it for the preservation of rail cars and engines, leasing a portion of it for equipment-shop uses. Driving down the long gravel road to the building, one might presume the building is abandoned, collecting dust as the days go by. But on the inside, through the bright red doors, is a building that already houses historic locomotives and passenger rail cars, waiting to be restored and reintroduced to the public. It houses two steam locomotives, a diesel locomotive, and a few passenger rail cars ready to be restored to their former glory. The equipment was donated to RHMA in November by Union Pacific. Eventually, the nonprofit will transform the sprawling old building into a museum. For now, it remains closed to the public as the restoration of the locomotives begins. President and Chief Operating Officer of RHMA, Steve Sandberg, said the goal is to create an in-demand tourist attraction. The vision is eventually, someday, having a public museum where people can come, kids can come and work and ride and see some real old-fashioned trains, Sandberg said. The RHMA groups hopes to host an open house in the spring, inviting a limited number of people to see the trains, including two steam locomotives the UP Challenger steam locomotive No. 3985 that American Locomotive Co. built in 1943 and the Santa Fe type 2-10-2 steam locomotive No. 5511 built by Baldwin in 1923. During a recent visit, volunteers were wearing safety glasses and gloves and were bundled in sweatshirts, jeans, and steel-toed boots, ignoring the cold draft through the old building as they scraped grease amid flying sparks. The Challenger is in the early restoration process, which is expected to take up to three years. This was one of the most powerful locomotives that were in operation, Sandberg said while pointing to the two engines, boiler and a set of 4-6-6-4 wheels. Once the locomotive gets going, it can get up to 75 miles per hour. The locomotives were stored in a warehouse in Wyoming and have not been seen by the public since 1961. Located toward the back of the building is a bright-yellow, Union Pacific diesel locomotive. Sandberg said it is one of the worlds largest diesel locomotives, manufactured in 1961. Near the bright red door sits two business cars, Selma which is named after a farm, Sandberg said, and Stanford, named after Leland Stanford. Dave Herrell, president, and CEO of Visit Quad Cities said the sheer magnitude of the space and footprints the place has would be a unique destination asset, paying homage to all things rail. Its this beautiful old building and, yes, its kind of battle-tested but, if you can repurpose it, reimagine it, and create a space that can be used for tourism and overnight demand to help further that story, I think thats very unique, Herrell said. Known for rivers, roads, and rails, the potential museum focuses on something that has played an integral part in the Quad-City area and helps target specific industries, such as advanced manufacturing, transportation, and logistics. Its a regional asset and I think it could do things to attract a lot of awareness and notoriety for the Quad- Cities, Herrell said. It really does provide lift to tourism, economic development, and quality of place. The RHMA recently received $25,000 from the Candelaria Fund, quickly turning it into $75,000, thanks to matching-grant opportunities. The donation will be used for restoration. Silvis Mayor Matt Carter said the city has been working with RHMA and has been a mediator of sorts for lawmakers, educating them on what the museum is and what it could become. Carter said it would be an anchor for the area, tying the coasts from west to east back to the middle of the nation. Its been great to see this come in, and I think there is a lot of underlying support for this to happen, the mayor said. To help traffic flow downtown and to keep people from crossing onto train tracks, the city is looking at the possibility of adding a walking bridge over the railyard to make it easier and safer to access the museum. While the place has a long way to go before it is opened to the public, Sandberg said, the museum would be more than just looking and admiring the historic locomotives. The vision is to provide a new experience to the public while investing in the Quad-Cities economy. Photos: Railroading Heritage of Midwest America A Davenport man with a history of misusing 911 was arrested Tuesday for allegedly making at least 48 false calls to the Scott Emergency Communications Center from November to January, and threatening to beat up first responders and shoot police, Davenport Police said. Streamings latest hit show, "McCarthy Agonistes," has ended its five-day run. But the protracted vote for speaker of the House highlighted one unexpected yet welcome facet of the Republican Party: actual diversity and not just of the ideological variety. I recently wrote about how Black Republicans in the House, in doubling their numbers from just two to four, might be able to leverage their newly found prominence. I didnt expect their opportunity to come so soon. On the second day of voting, the anti-Kevin McCarthy faction settled on Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida as its preferred candidate for speaker. Donalds, elected in 2020, had announced shortly after the November election his interest in running for the Republican Conference chair position currently held by Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York. Stefanik beat back the challenge easily, but the effort immediately marked Donalds as someone to watch. Sure enough, after supporting McCarthy on the first two ballots, Donalds threw in with the insurgents. When Donalds name was put forth, the Democratic caucus didnt exactly cover itself in glory. In his speech nominating Donalds, Rep. Chip Roy of Texas observed that, with the Democrats earlier nomination of Hakeem Jeffries, for the first time in history, there have been two Black Americans placed into the nomination for speaker of the House. Republicans lept to a standing ovation. Democrats were notably slow to rise. Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri later tweeted that Donalds is not a historic candidate for Speaker. He is a prop. His name being in the mix is not progress its pathetic. Quote Progressives have long argued that diversity is a strength of U.S. society, business and culture. By nominating Donalds, Republicans were acknowledging this truth. Bushs prop language is a demeaning insult, one often made against minority Republicans. Even more, it denies Donalds agency: Hed already made it clear he wanted a significant role in the Republican caucus. Why not offer himself up for a possible major leadership position? Bushs tweet also betrays an ignorance of how diversity and opportunity work in the real world. Progressives have long argued that diversity is a strength of U.S. society, business and culture. By nominating Donalds, Republicans were acknowledging this truth. Yes, the nomination was symbolic, even quixotic, but so are many early opportunities. Indeed, McCarthys supporters immediately saw the symbolic value of the Donalds nomination. On the third day of voting, another Black Republican, John James of Michigan, stepped forward to present arguably the best McCarthy nominating speech of the week. James speech was partly about his own biography, but it was also about the GOP as the historic vehicle for African American aspirational achievement and McCarthys role over the last two elections in working to diversify the party. The racial, ethnic and gender diversity of the GOP was then highlighted over the next several votes, with nominating speeches delivered by Reps. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, Kat Cammack of Florida and Juan Ciscomani of Arizona. Republicans may not have had their act together in terms of actually naming a speaker it took them five days to settle on McCarthy (and in the end, Donalds was a supporter). But the debate showed they understand some of the broader politics of diversity. No matter how right-wing various factions in the party might be, or how much trouble they might yet cause, theyve absorbed the progressive lesson that representation matters. Nebraskans are about to learn who Gov. Jim Pillen is selecting to replace Ben Sasse as one of the states two U.S. senators for the next two years. But in a snub to citizens and the principle of open government, Pillen and his staff wont even say who has applied for the job. The appointment decision itself, which is expected any day now, is already a huge change from the normal democratic process. When Sasse was re-elected in 2020 to his current term, more than 930,000 Nebraskans cast ballots in the senate race. About 583,500 of them voted for Sasse, which put him in office for the past two years. For the next two years, in contrast, Sasses replacement will be chosen by just one voter: Pillen. (An election in 2024 will decide the final two years of the term, with Pillens appointee likely having the inside track in that race.) Like it or not, those are the established rules for dealing with an unexpected vacancy. But Pillen could have made the situation better by being more open about the replacement process. Transparency is especially important given that its widely speculated that Pillen will choose his most prominent supporter in last years governors race, former Gov. Pete Ricketts. Anything that keeps the process in the shadows gives the impression, justified or not, that the decision has already been made. The public knows that Ricketts applied for the job because he announced it on Dec. 6. But Pillen has, so far, declined to release a list of any other applicants, who had until Dec. 23 to apply. Weve been asking for a list since before that deadline. Pillens staff has said they would provide it, but only after the governor makes the appointment. They held back a similar list last month of applicants to replace Mike Hilgers, who left his legislative seat after being elected attorney general. Pillens office released the names only after Beau Ballard was appointed. The Pillen administrations approach differs from past practices that ensured transparency. Under Ricketts, for example, the governors office released lists of applicants for positions as soon as the deadline passed often along with the applicants resumes. Delaying the release of such information is unfair to Nebraskans. It keeps the public from knowing who Pillen is considering, and undermines their ability to influence the choice before the decision is made. It also prevents important information about would-be appointees from coming to light at the time when that knowledge might make a difference. The World-Herald renewed our request last week for the list of applicants to replace Sasse. We received an email from Pillens office saying that they would respond within four business days, the maximum allowed under the states public records statutes. That would be sometime this week. But theres no legitimate reason it should take that long. Pillens office has known the names of the applicants for more than two weeks, and theyve had our request for even longer. Its tempting to conclude that they are just trying to run out the clock. Nebraska has a tradition of open government and giving its citizens access to information. Both political parties have supported that. And the state has laws to enforce it, too. At their heart, such traditions and laws amount to public officials and public bodies treating Nebraskans with respect, acknowledging their standing as citizens to watch what their government is doing or plans to do. Lets hope that this rocky start in terms of transparency is just a matter of a new administration learning the ropes. Nebraskans wont agree with everything that Pillen does over the next four years. Controversial issues are sure to produce divisions and differences of opinion. And thats fine. Elected leaders cant satisfy everyone they serve. But they can treat their fellow citizens as fully deserving of information about government policies, decisions and actions. Were hoping that Pillen will meet that standard. When Australian Cardinal George Pell, the most senior member of the Catholic Church to ever be convictedand then exoneratedof sex abuse crimes, died unexpectedly in Rome on Tuesday, the public reactions were heated. Some mourned the loss of a hero of the church, and spoke of him as, already, a modern-day saint. Others celebrated his death, speaking bitterly of the pain he had left behind. Very few recent figures in the Catholic church have left such a divisive legacy as Pell, who died at age 81 from cardiac arrest after minor hip surgery. He was once considered the third most powerful person in the church, and the rise, fall, and redemption of a powerful conservative has served to both energize and muddy the conversations within the church about sex abuse and justice. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Pells legal saga began in 2017, when he was first accused of sexual misconduct. Those charges were based on claims that he had molested two teenage choirboys in 1996 and 97 while he was archbishop of Melbourne.* He was convicted of abuse in 2018, and after spending more than a year in prison on charges of child sex abuse, he was released in 2020 after the court reversed its ruling, finding insufficient evidence for the charges. After his release, some Catholics came to lionize Pell as a victim of the secular worlds anti-religious fervor, and he became a symbol of perceived anti-Christian prejudice at work in secular institutions. While in prison, he received thousands of letters of support from around the world. But there was a second layer to the narrative: Pell, who had never wavered in his hard-line stances on same-sex marriage, homosexuality, abortion, contraception, and keeping women out of the priesthood (as well as climate change denialism), also became a symbol for the cultural assault on the out-of-fashion cultural conservative. To many conservative Catholics, it seemed that Pell had never had a chance at a fair trial. Advertisement Pell was well situated to take advantage of these resentments. Widely described as a charismatic, ambitious, and savvy man, Pell stoked this image from inside prison, purportedly writing letters to his supporters proclaiming his innocence (and weighing in on Vatican affairs). While incarcerated, he wrote a three-volume memoir reflecting on daily activities, personal thoughts, love for his fellow man, and beautiful, moving prayers, according to his publisher. After his release, he appeared often in conservative Catholic media, which tended to portray him as a living martyr. (They werent alone. After the acquittal, Pope Francis compared people who suffer an unjust sentence resulting from intransigence to the persecution of Jesus.) Advertisement Advertisement In 2018, the year Pell was convicted, allegations emerged accusing American Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of sex abuse. McCarrick, considered a more progressive figure in the church, faced a significantly higher number of and more substantial allegations. McCarrick hasnt yet been convicted in a criminal courthe pleaded not guilty in 2021but the church tried and then laicized him in 2019, making him the first cardinal to ever be defrocked for sexual abuse. In the eyes of some culture war Catholics, though, it seemed that the progressive McCarrick had been treated much more gently than the conservative Pell. Advertisement Pells acquittal came as a political boost to some conservatives in the church, as it seemed to bolster their narrative of victimization. As one priest wrote in 2020 in the National Catholic Register: Sexual-abuse allegations, even those totally uncorroborated and fantastic, can be weaponized to persecute Catholic figures who run afoul of a new intolerant secularist extremism. But while Pell came out publicly against Francis attempts at dialogue within the church, to group him together with the popes enemies would be an oversimplification. The pope reportedly maintained a belief in Pells innocence. The Catholic journalist Austen Ivereigh, who has written two biographies of Francis and co-authored a third book with the pope, isnt known to hold his tongue when discussing Francis critics. But in a tweet Tuesday, he spoke admiringly of Pell: The Aussie Cardinal was tough, direct, vigorously conservative, warm, kind, down to earth, & a pioneer of Franciss financial reform. RIP. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Pell has for decades stood out as a towering figure in the Australian church. He was appointed a bishop in Melbourne in the 1980s, the archbishop of Melbourne in the 1990s, and the archbishop of Sydney in the 2000s. In the meantime, in 1990, he started taking up roles within the various Vatican offices, gathering power and influence and eventually becoming a cardinal in 2003, landing him, ultimately, on a list of potential future papal candidates. Finally, in 2014, he was named prefect of the Vaticans newly created Secretariat for the Economythe Vatican treasurer, essentiallyand was tasked with executing Francis financial reforms. He made enemies who resented his attempts to centralize its finances and hire an outside auditor. In this position, Pell was the third most powerful person in the church, and he became one of Francis closest advisers. Advertisement Advertisement (Some have argued that Pells doubters were not those in the church dedicated to reform over the abuse crisis, but instead those who resented Pell for his efforts at financial reform. Vatican politics are notoriously messy. Pell also accused Italian Cardinal Angelo Becciu of setting him up in order to quash Pells reform efforts. Becciu is now claiming his own conspiracy, as he is on trial in the Vatican for embezzlement and abuse of officethe Vaticans first-ever criminal trial of a cardinal.) Pells rise finally ended in 2017, when he returned to Australia to face the criminal charges against him. He served 13 months in prison, in solitary confinement out of concern for his safety. In 2020 Australias high court undid that conviction, arguing that there wasnt enough evidence and that the jury ought to have entertained a doubt as to the applicants guilt. The father of those two choirboys also brought a lawsuit against the cardinal. That lawsuit was still pending at the time of his death. Advertisement But its not just the allegations of criminal behavior that haunted Pell; hes also been accused of turning a blind eye to abuse. Early in his career, he sat on a committee that transferred a priest later convicted of child sex abuse. (In 2020, an Australian royal commission declared it implausible that Pell hadnt known why the priest had been moved from parishes. Pell always maintained he truly hadnt known.) In 1996, he also developed a blueprint for investigation and counseling within the archdiocese of Melbourne to deal with the decades of allegations. That system proved controversialit was heralded as a step forward at a time when so many church leaders stuck to denials, but criticized for having caps on payouts and for generally failing to acknowledge the depth of the damage done. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Few, though, have mentioned these potential leadership failures in remembering Pell. Leaders in the church have either stayed quiet or spoken admiringly of his grace while facing persecution. In these conversations, the gray areas have to do with how much his conservative values affected his treatment at the hands of the courts or press or Rome, and not whether he can be held to account for the sins of the institution. We will likely never know how much, if at all, Pell is personally responsible for any of the churchs failings. But given Pells association with the sex abuse crisis, his rebrand as a persecuted hero left many Catholics with a sour taste. Last week in Congress, Democrats were in array. As Republican Kevin McCarthy endured 14 rounds of humiliating losses before being elected speaker early Saturday morning, the Dems gleefully, repeatedly declared themselves united. And they had a marvelous time doing it. Members shared photos of themselves reveling in the GOP discord and bringing popcorn to the House chamber. They tweeted memes and insults, taunting the majority party for its infighting and lack of discipline. Rep. Katie Porter, whoincidentallyannounced her bid for Senate on Tuesday, posed for the cameras in the Capitol while reading (or pretending to read) a book titled The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck. Advertisement California Rep.-elect Katie Porter reads a book in the House Chamber during the fourth day of voting for speaker of the House. https://t.co/Umt1lRgDqH (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) pic.twitter.com/NB3mV6dNNw MSNBC (@MSNBC) January 7, 2023 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But now that Congress is in session, Democrats will actually have to reckon with the lasting effects of the GOP speaker standoff. In exchange for his final votes, McCarthy promised to confer plum committee positions to several members of the hardline Freedom Caucus and made changes to the House rules that will make it extremely difficult for the House to do much legislating. The longer last weeks fight lasted, the more concessions McCarthy made, and the more power the MAGA wing of the House GOP accrued. Advertisement In other words, popcorn time is over. The prospect of a House run by the most conservative and reckless faction of the Republican Party should be enough to dim any lingering Democratic smirks. Sure, some of the current dysfunction could redound to the Democrats advantage in the 2024 election. Ultraconservative weirdos like Reps. Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebert, the likes of whom will have disproportionate influence in this session of Congress, are not sitting with Americas popular clique right now. So if voters spend the next two years watching a handful of Trump loyalists with vile personalities take the reins of various committees and subcommitteesonly to spend their days grandstanding and pursuing political grievancesthey might not be so keen to keep Republicans in charge when control of the House is up for grabs again. (Also, when Republicans make moves on their zanier priorities, such as defunding the Internal Revenue Service, Democrats can rest easy knowing that Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer will eat his own reading glasses before allowing the legislation onto the Senate floor.) Advertisement Advertisement But there are two things that the House absolutely must do this year to keep the government running and avoid a total economic collapse: raise the debt ceiling and pass spending bills, with the Senate, that fund federal agencies and programs. Despite the calamitous consequences of failing to cross these priorities off the to-do list, they wont be easy to pull off. Advertisement It was already going to be hard to get the Democrat-controlled Senate and the GOP-controlled House to agree on appropriations measures. Now that McCarthy has promised the Freedom Caucus even more extreme spending cuts, its much worse. McCarthy additionally committed to allowing unlimited amendments on spending bills, which will let far-right members of Congress attach outrageous provisions that advance their pet causeslike preventing low-income D.C. residents from getting abortionsto must-pass legislation in order to gum up the process. This could force Democrats to choose between shutting down the government or caving on issues that are core to the partys agenda. Advertisement Republicans have also threatened to refuse to raise the debt ceiling this yeara necessary action for the country to avoid a default on the national debt and a massive economic crisisunless Democrats go along with their plan to reduce federal spending by billions of dollars, possibly including cuts to Social Security and Medicare. Advertisement Advertisement Democrats have said they will not abide any Republican attempts to pressure them into slashing essential federal programs, even if they threaten to take the global economy hostage. Chris Van Hollen, who sits on the Senate Appropriations Committee, told the Washington Post, there is a line in the sand here, and were not going to give the extreme Republicans their wish list in exchange for them simply allowing the country to pay its bills on time. Advertisement But without a majority in the House, what can Democrats do? There are some possible pathways through the mess. For one thing, not every Republican is willing to force the country into a full-on recession, trigger a government shutdown, or tell constituents back home that they wont be able to retire until theyre dead. So its possible that House Dems could band together with some semi-reasonable Republicans (likely vulnerable legislators from swing districts) on government funding bills that include some moderate, but not catastrophic, cuts. Because Republicans can only spare five votes from their narrow majority, McCarthy and his allies may have to decide whether theyd rather work with Democrats or the hardliners on the Freedom Caucus to pass crucial appropriations measures. Advertisement Advertisement And if establishment Republicans choose to deal with Dems, were not going to be a cheap date, Rep. Jim McGovern, a Democrat on the House Rules Committee, told Vox. But its not hard to imagine McCarthy caving to the right-wing rebels yet again, and not just because the speaker, not known as the brightest tool in the shed, has already shown himself to be a glutton for degradation. As part of his deal with the Republicans who spent last week blocking his ascent to the speakership, he agreed to reinstate a rule that allows any single member of Congress to force a vote to oust the speakerat any time. The same rule was employed by then-Rep. Mark Meadows in 2015 to challenge John Boehners speakership, in part because of some Republicans frustration that Boehner had worked with Democrats to pass spending bills. It raised the temperature of dissent among the House GOP and eventually led to Boehners retirement. Advertisement Relatedly, McCarthy became speaker by promising to install three hardliners on the powerful House Rules Committee, which determines what legislation comes up for a vote and which amendments are debated. So, since the committee will likely comprise six generic Republicans, three hardliners, and four Democrats, there is a chance that Democrats on the committee could opt to (or threaten to) join up with Freedom Caucus members to block bills supported by House Republican leaders and hold out for their own concessions. Still, it will be a surprise if Democrats and the Freedom Caucus work together to foil the priorities of McCarthy and his allieseven more so if McCarthy sides with the Dems. Yet with so many ultraconservative Republicans in Congress who enthusiastically prioritize their own personal brands over preserving the functions of government (see: Jan. 6, 2021), its certainly not out of the question. It may even be the only option. The tiny New College of Florida is hardly a household name, but it has a lot of heartso much that students there once rescued the rising star of the white nationalist movement from his bigotry. R. Derek Black, the son of the founder of Stormfront and the godson of David Duke, was widely considered the heir to the movement, speaking at white nationalist conferences through his childhood and co-hosting a radio show with his father. He lived a secret double life while he attended New Collegeuntil he was outed on a student-wide email thread. Advertisement Instead of ostracizing Black, some of the students tried to change his mind. And in a fascinating turn of events, chronicled in detail by Washington Post reporter Eli Saslow, they succeeded. Black renounced his former ideology and now speaks out publicly against it. Hes now a doctoral student at the University of Chicago researching proto-racism in early medieval intellectual history. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement So after Gov. Ron DeSantis announced last week that hell be targeting the school for a conservative overhaul, Black was shocked and worried for the future of the institution that transformed his life. Among DeSantis six new appointees to the 13-member board are writers and editors for right-wing publications and academics associated with the ultraconservative Hillsdale College. The most famous appointee is Christopher Rufo, a vocal transphobe who has supported DeSantis anti-LGBTQ policies, blasted queer people as groomers, and rallied the outcry against critical race theory. On Jan. 4, Rufo tweeted, Gov. DeSantis is going to lay siege to university diversity, equity and inclusion programs. The new board members have made it clear they plan on turning New College into a new Hillsdale. DeSantis communications director told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune they are there to combat trendy, truth-relative concepts above learning, and Rufo said they plan to make it into a classical liberal arts institution, and to create an institution where academics can thrive, without self-censorship. Advertisement To make sense of DeSantis campaign to remake such a small and progressive school and how its students and alumni are processing the news on a more personal level, Slate spoke with one of its most strangely notable graduates. This interview, which was conducted Monday, has been condensed and edited for clarity. Advertisement Molly Olmstead: You dont seem to fit the typical idea of a liberal arts student. What made you want to go to New College? R. Derek Black: It was actually the only school that I applied for. I was never positive about what I wanted from college. It wasnt like I thought I really had to go for my career; I thought a lot about not going to college and traveling or becoming a dive instructor. New College was the only thing that I considered, academically, at that time because they had a very strong medieval history program and classics program. Its one of the most complete and nationally recognized in the country. So I could learn Latin and spend all my time there reading medieval European texts and thinking about what I wanted to think about. And Florida state tuition back then was quite low. Advertisement Advertisement I was odd in ways that made me stand out in New Collegegrowing up in a highly engaged antisemitic and white nationalist family, and having already run for office. But there were other reasons that I just felt very comfortable there. There is this commonality: People self-select to go to New College because they want to direct their own education. Advertisement Advertisement Theres literally a whole book written about this, but can you briefly explain what your experience was like as a student there? I thought I could have these two lives. I spent the first semester there slowly realizing what a cataclysm it was going to be once people recognized my background. Students were deeply invested in the idea that this was going to be a space where you dont leave anyone out or let anybody feel threatened. And so once my white nationalist identity became known, it was going to become this deeply, deeply upsetting thing to everybody on campus. Advertisement And thats ultimately what happened. While I was studying abroad my second semester, an upper-year student identified me on the student forum. This became this massive discussion thread with thousands of posts among the students. I came back to school that next fall essentially a pariah. But I also rejoined this community that Id already spent a lot of time in. I felt like I had betrayed a lot of people Id gotten close to by not sharing that part of who I was with them and having them discover this through a big campus discussion. I ultimately came to recognize the harm and really engage on an intellectual level with articles and statistics about race and immigration. Ultimately, I condemned white nationalism at the end of my experience there and created an enormous rift from my own family that was never closed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement How much do you think New College specifically played a role in your conversion? Do you think this would have happened just anywhere? I think about that counterfactual. If I had never gone to New College, would I just be a white nationalist? I like to think I would have at least stepped back from activism. But I do feel pretty confident that, had I gone to some larger state university, I would not have felt socially challenged and called on to question myself and answer for the white nationalist community I was standing up for. The students werent there to just get their degrees and move on; they were there to pursue truth and try to understand society and challenge everything and be really rigorous about what they were studying. People felt accountable to each other. The Jewish student life organization stopped meeting for a while after I was outed. That sort of fear was not something that you could be unaware of because you knewif not everybodypeople who knew everybody. You felt an obligation to at least be aware of what was happening to other people. And I think that its a unique part of New College. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What was your initial reaction when you heard the news about the new board members? Advertisement It is a relatively tight-knit community, and a bunch of my lifelong friends were New College students, so I heard about this a few minutes after the announcement went out. People were texting each other, shocked. I was initially very surprised. It surprised me that this administration and these national figures who have made careers around attacking academia and college students were attacking New College, because its such a relatively small school. There were 800 students when I was there. I have yet to find anybody who went to a school with a smaller student population. You can never say, Oh, I went to school at New College of Florida, because even if youre in Sarasota, the answer is often, Where is that? Advertisement Advertisement And then I think my second reaction was being afraid for the students there. What Im really worried about is that theyre trying to make it so this tiny group of students dont have the resources or the space where they can make this kind of shelter for themselves. Because its really such a student-driven community. And theres a lot of ways that an administration thats hostile to that could drive out students. You get kids who are showing up who feel comfortable for the first time in their lives, and who try to find other people who will listen to them and figure out who they are together. And you can very easily destroy that for them. So I think my main fear at this point is not that theyre going to change the curriculum, but that theyre going to make a space where students who have been able to find shelter for the first time in their lives dont have that anymore. Advertisement Advertisement Why do you think DeSantis is going after such a tiny school? I honestly cant quite answer that. I mean, it doesnt seem like a good candidate for it. It was a place that was a great home to me when I still personally identified as a white nationalist. So it feels very strange to call it a place yoked to progressive ideology. Im not going to lie: Being on the left is kind of what is expected in its culture. But I think thats probably going to be true about any liberal arts college and a whole lot of universities in general. But beyond that, it is not a school that is about believing any one thing. Its about legitimately figuring out what it is you believe and what your values are. And so I almost kind of wonder whether theres some kind of misunderstanding about what kind of school this even is. The new administration came in and saw an opportunity and said, Oh, that looks like a leftist place, lets attack it, without really thinking about whether they were right to characterize it that way. In the end, it is just an academic institution that is very good at teaching people critical thinking, and I certainly dont want that to get lost by people who dont quite understand what theyre coming into. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I believe that they are feeling threatened by this institution because its cheaper as a state-funded institution and because its where students are able to find themselves and be comfortable. The main way theyre talking about changing the school is through its faculty and curriculum, though. Are you concerned about those comments? I just dont find the statements from the governors office and the new board members talking about how they are going to change the curriculum to be particularly honest. Theyre acting like the things being taught there are extremely political or ideologically driven. Thats not accurate. Like most universities, Im sure most of the faculty are probably registered Democrats. But people dont teach politics or ideology in their courses; they just teach free inquiry. New College could rebrand tomorrow as a classics or classical college without changing any of their curriculum. I was a medieval and Renaissance major. And I spent my whole time there reading ancient Latin authors and medieval theologians and looking at Renaissance art. Theres very little about the academic experience I had at New College that the people who are grandstanding about remaking this college would really object to. So the idea that theyre going to dramatically purge faculty seems not fully honest to me. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Theyre talking about wanting to make New College into a classical liberal arts institution. To me, the term classical can sometimes sound like code for a focus on European civilization. You mentioned theres already a very strong classics program at New College. How much of this conversation seems to be about strengthening a classical curriculum that already exists there, versus just being a way of saying we want to focus more on white cultures? Thats often an unspoken part of what people mean when they say theyre doing classical education. And I mean, looking at my background, I went there mainly because it was a place that I could study ancient literature and medieval literature. Which is to say, fields that were created to hold up Europe as this culture of intellectualism and enlightenment and freedom, and all these colonialist ideas. I thought I could go there and be outside of politicsthat it was both the kind of Eurocentric worldview that I held at the time, but also far in the past and not tied up in current political issues. And I suspect that the people who are making these statements about transforming the college into a classical school have a lot of that: Its a view of the world that theyre more comfortable with, that they feel is more traditional and somehow not attached to politics. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I hope those saying that this is going to be a classical school recognize how political that is. They are acting as if its some sort of neutral thing. But actually one of the big ironies of this whole thing is that theyre claiming New College is so progressive and ideologically focused, and instead they are instituting something that is inarguably more political. In 2021, you participated in a discussion at New College looking back at the administrations response to your being there. What do you think your experience reveals about these fights over higher education? Advertisement Imagine this new board of trustees saying schools have been captured by progressive ideologies, and announcing that this new version of the administration is not going to be a place for groupthink: Its going to be the kind of school where we admit even radical far-right students, and were going to really defend their rights to be a member of this community and engage in intellectual life here. I would find it somewhat ridiculous. When I was there, the administration did, honestly, way too little to engage with students and faculty who felt legitimately unsafe because I was there. Theres not a whole lot that the New College administration did when I was there that could ever be described as being driven by political activism. Advertisement Advertisement I dont want to attack New College, because I gained so much from it. But in this moment where the governors administration is attacking scholars as being so beholden to political activists, it feels very strange to have been someone who at the time felt really safe. I never felt like I would be expelled. They were upholding this sense of free expression and independence of thought. If anything, they were throwing people under the bus whose education and lives were being disrupted by me being there. I dont think the school has changed dramatically [since then]. Most of the same administration members are still in a lot of those seats. So it just feels very strange for that school to be accused of being a very dangerous recruiting ground for leftist politics. It doesnt accord with what I experienced. Advertisement You are a pretty famous case of having a really entrenched mindset changed by radical empathy and compassion. If were talking about dealing with an extremely transphobic person, such as Rufo, do you think thats a worthwhile tactic to take? Do you think its worth trying to change some of these board members with more extreme beliefs? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ive become, in some circles, a case study in being persuadedthat anyone can change their mind. And thats true. And a lot of it was very intellectual, showing me the research and making me engage on statistics and answer for myself in a very intellectual way. But the real thing that happened was being a part of the community. It was the only reason I was willing to engage with that, or hear people, or just have the conversation to begin with. I had to empathize to realize the ways that I was being blind. Advertisement And so I guess theres a chance that some of these board members who are very outspoken and have assumptions about New College become members of the community in some way. But Im not holding out for that, because I think their relationship is always going to be so hands-off and so distant. Its not the case that theyre coming into this school to try to understand the community. Theyre coming in to try to purge it, or find people they disagree with and threaten them and push them out. Most of them dont even seem to live anywhere near New College. I dont know, maybe anythings possible. It seems much more likely that theyre going to try to use it for their own careers. Theyre not going to feel like theyre personally connected to the students. The only way that I changed my mind was by being connected to the people. Advertisement Advertisement How do you see all of this playing out? It doesnt necessarily seem like the board of trustees has the unilateral power that Rufo seems to be acting like they do to summarily fire people or change the curriculum. But over the long haul, I really am worried about the kind of reforms that they can impose, particularly at the mandate from the governor, who has tied so much of his political candidacy up in the idea of education being some sort of den of leftist ideology. I think over the years, you could hollow out the community as a place where people feel safe by losing faculty, or gaining faculty who are much more outspokenly against LGBT issues, against social justice and anti-racism. That, in the long run, is really what Im worried about. I have no idea what kind of courses theyre going to eventually be teaching in five years, but I can imagine it not being the same sort of home. Why should people care about what happens to this small school? Ive seen New College get listed on top 10 lists for schools that change lives. And that feels a little corny, but that is just such a common experience of New College alums. They went in believing one thing about themselves and met a bunch of people, really thought about life, and then came out with a much different or more open view of what they wanted in life. And maybe its not a huge number of people in the total education system, but the connection that they received thereI just think it is a very special place. And if theyre going to make such a big deal about it being so dangerous, I think its kind of incumbent on the rest of us to point out how important it is to us. Flash Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Tuesday met with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. Ahmed, who extended warm congratulations on the successful conclusion of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, expressed his deep admiration for Chinese President Xi Jinping's outstanding leadership and political wisdom. Ahmed said Ethiopia looks forward to strengthening exchanges of experience in governance with China so as to unite and lead all Ethiopian people to adhere to independence and accelerate the development and revitalization of the country. He said Qin's choice of Ethiopia as the first stop of his first overseas visit since taking office fully demonstrates the profound friendship between the two countries and the importance of bilateral relations. Ahmed said Ethiopia's cooperation with China in such areas as infrastructure, green economy, agriculture and industrial park construction has been exemplary and produced remarkable results, helping Ethiopia to rank among the fastest-growing economies in Africa. Ethiopia welcomes more Chinese enterprises to invest and do business in the east African country, said Ahmed. For his part, Qin said that with President Xi at the helm, China will press ahead with its modernization with Chinese characteristics on all fronts, unswervingly follow the path of peaceful development, firmly adhere to the fundamental state policy of opening-up featuring mutual benefit and win-win outcomes, thereby adding certainty, stability and positive energy to a world in the midst of changes and turbulence, and bringing new opportunities for the development of all countries. Since China and Ethiopia established diplomatic ties more than half a century ago, the two countries have always helped each other and moved forward side by side no matter how the international situation changed, serving as a paragon of solidarity and cooperation among developing countries, Qin said. Noting that China supports Ethiopia in pursuing a development path suited to its own national conditions, Qin said leaders of the two countries have maintained close exchanges in recent years, charting the course for the development of bilateral relations under the new circumstances. As major developing countries sharing visions and joining hands in the pursuit of modernization, China and Ethiopia need to be partners that firmly support each other, pursue common development and uphold international fairness and justice, he said. Qin reiterated China's readiness to deepen and expand bilateral cooperation in various fields and encourage more Chinese enterprises to invest in Ethiopia and participate in its reconstruction drive. He expressed the hope that Ethiopia will provide a sound business environment and take effective measures to protect the security and safety as well as the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese personnel and institutions. During his visit, Qin also held talks with Ethiopian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Demeke Mekonnen. The two sides signed a memorandum of understanding on political consultation between the two foreign ministries and other cooperation documents. Update, Jan. 26, 2022, 2 p.m.: Rep. Adam Schiff has also now announced a bid for Dianne Feinsteins Senate seat. She has still not announced a decision on retirement. The 2024 California Senate race officially has one contestant, and it isnt Californias sitting senior senator. On Tuesday, California congresswoman Katie Portershe of the famed whiteboard of justiceannounced she was running for Dianne Feinsteins seat, even though the senator has not yet given any indication that she will be stepping down. Advertisement Porter wont be the only one. If Feinstein, 89 years old and in steeply declining health, does mercifully step aside, the race will be an all-out war of Californias top political up-and-comers, as well as a fundraising bonanza. The states two Senate seats come up for non-incumbent election exceedingly rarelyFeinstein has held the post since 1992, for over 30 years; the junior senator, Alex Padilla, was appointed by the governor in 2021 and will likely hold the seat until he resigns, dies, or tires of it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That other hungry California congressmen and -women, including Barbara Lee and Ro Khanna, will also jump into this race is already a near certainty. There will be more, too. Already there is grumbling about Porters move, both because she didnt wait until Feinsteins formal announcement and because she beat the others to the punch. Right away, sources in Schiffs orbit lit up the political press with anonymous sniping, saying to multiple outlets, you dont announce a campaign in the middle of a natural disaster, referring to the ongoing flooding in California. Schiff then blasted out a fundraising email for flood victims (an altruistic gesture that would just so happen to bring in more names, emails, and phone numbers for his email list, which, incidentally, would be quite useful for later donations efforts by a political campaign). Advertisement Thats an apt preview of the nastiness of the fight thats yet to come. For all those politicians and more, the seat marks a once-in-a-career chance to rise in the ranks of a state caucus where opportunity is exceptionally hard to come by. Entire generations of Democratic rising stars have come and gone without ever seeing this opening. (Consider, for example, Health and Human Services secretary Xavier Becerra, who was in Congress almost 15 years before finally becoming state attorney general and then a White House appointee, and who only ever saw one non-incumbent Senate race and chose to wait it out; that race was won by Kamala Harris.) Advertisement Replacing Feinstein will be critical for California Democrats to get right, in part because, as mentioned, those Senate jobs tend to be lifetime appointments, but more importantly because it was so botched last time. Advertisement In 2018, Feinstein, then a fresh-faced 85, came up for reelection. There was already plenty of grumbling among California political insiders that her health was not what it had been, and that she was suffering from what the New Yorker later referred to as cognitive decline. Even by 2018, Californias Democratic politics had grown much more progressive than those of the very, very moderate institutionalist Feinstein. Advertisement She met a spirited primary challenger in Kevin de Leon, who was many years her junior and well to her left. The California Democratic Party took the rare step of endorsing de Leon in the runoff, even after a late plea from Feinstein asking California Dems not to endorse either candidate. Advertisement But national Democrats overrode the state party and circled the wagons for Feinstein. Barack Obama, in his very first endorsement of the 2018 cycle, backed Feinstein. Later came the support of Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, and others (including Adam Schiff, actually). Feinstein ended up outraising de Leon by almost 20 times. (De Leon is currently embroiled in a racism scandal within Los Angeles city council.) Advertisement Advertisement Even before her 8-point Election Day triumph that year, the national-level support looked terribly shortsighted. Just before the November elections, Feinstein was partially responsible for the calamitous handling of the Brett Kavanaugh hearings: She sat for weeks on the letter from Christine Blasey Ford alleging sexual misconduct by the now-Supreme Court justice without mentioning it to her colleagues. Senate Democrats were stunned by that move, and questions about her health and fitness for the role began to grow louder. Advertisement Two years later, an even more disastrous Supreme Court confirmation hearing resulted in Feinstein hugging Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and praising him after he rammed through Amy Coney Barretts nomination just days before the 2020 election which gave Democrats the presidency and eventually the Senate. From that point on, Feinsteins declining health became a widely circulated story in American politics. It is assumed that whoever replaces Feinstein will be more progressive than she is, but there are a lot of ways this race could go. The NorCal/SoCal divide will be consequential in the race, as will Californias jungle primary system, which will see the top two vote-getters from primary season, almost certainly both Democrats, run it off in November. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The NorCal field, presumed to include Barbara Lee and Ro Khanna, will feature two prominent lefties. Khanna is a young, decorated progressive and Bernie Sanders delegate whose aspirations for higher office, perhaps as high as president, have been a poorly kept secret. Lee, who was considered but ultimately passed over by Joe Biden for vice president, is one of the longest-tenured House progressives. At 76 years old, she would be something of a bridge candidate, not expected to hold the position for multiple terms. More attention has been paid to the SoCal side of the bracket, and thats because of money. Both Katie Porter of Irvine and Adam Schiff of Burbank are among the most prodigious fundraisers in the House, with major national profiles. Advertisement During the 2022 election cycle, Porter raised more than $25 million, an astonishing figure for a House rep, riding a wave of small-dollar support after she repeatedly went viral for grilling corporate CEOs during House investigations. Her politics hew most closely to the Senates Elizabeth Warren. Schiff, meanwhile, rode the first Trump impeachment to stardom. His routine appearances on MSNBC during the January 2020 proceedings delivered him his jackpot, and he raised a similarly astonishing $24 million during the most recent cycle while, unlike Porter, running in a safe blue seat. Hes got at least $20 million in cash left over for his own Feinstein-replacement announcement. Hes the most conservative of the obvious contenders, though that title could yet be claimed by someone like San Francisco mayor London Breed, if she throws her hat in. The Senate map in 2024 looks fearsome for Democrats, who are going to have to battle back Republican advances in red states like West Virginia, Montana, and Ohio. But the California Senate race will be no less fiercely fought, and no less expensive. Still, replacing the Senates oldestand, as a longtime defender of the filibuster, one of its most old-fashionedmembers will be a boon to the Democratic agenda and the next Democratic president, be it Joe Biden, or, dare we say it, someone younger. Remember those pesky analogy questions on the SAT? Heres one for you, straight from Tuesdays U.S. Supreme Court oral argument: When concrete workers went on strike, they returned their trucks to the company yard and left them running, to prevent the concrete from becoming unusable and to avoid damaging the vehicles. Because of these precautions, the trucks were fine, but since the workers werent there to deliver the concrete, some of it couldnt be used. Advertisement Is this scenario more like a) cheese workers going on strike, and some cheese being partly ruined? Or b) security guards going on on strike, leaving federal buildings and employees unattended in the middle of a terrorist threat? This (not very difficult) question is at the heart of Glacier Northwest, Inc. v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local Union 174. The dispute is about whether employers can sue unions for economic harm, including that caused by loss of perishable products, that results from workers going on strike. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Glacier could potentially open the doors to lawsuits against unions anytime they strike, severely weakening this crucial and federally protected right. The case has drawn attention as a broad attack on the labor movement just when workers nationwide are voicing their desire for unions, organizing, and striking at levels not seen for decades. Advertisement But Glacier is also important for American democracy, both because of its implications about the Supreme Courts legitimacy as well as its threat to worker power. The case is yet another test of whether the Supreme Courts conservative supermajority will continue to act illegitimately by relying on questionable reasoning to enact partisan policies through its rulings. And a ruling in the employers favor would undermine democracy by harming the ability of working people throughout the economy to exercise collective power to counter the influence of wealthy corporations, with dire implications for the health of our economy and government. While its decision in Glacier is not a foregone conclusion, the court has already erred badly simply by accepting the case. There was no need to do so: The Washington Supreme Court had decided unanimously in the unions favor, there was no split in the circuit courts, and there was long-standing precedent that didnt need to be examined anew. Advertisement The employers argument in the case proposes a stark departure from long-standing federal labor law, while disingenuously framing its position as seeking just a wee clarification. The National Labor Relations Act, which dates back to 1935, protects workers right to strike and recognizes that when they do, economic harm to the employer may occur (and is, actually, kind of the point). The employers argument proposes a stark departure from long-standing federal labor law. Under the doctrine of NLRA preemption, the National Labor Relations Board has jurisdiction over issues related to unions and strikes. There are a few exceptions; for example, if violence or vandalism occurs during a strike, employers can still sue. But theres not (yet) been a case in which an employer has been allowed to sue a union just because perishable products spoiled as a result of a strike. Advertisement Advertisement The employer in Glacier wants to change that. In an extraordinary leap of logic and chutzpah, Glaciers attorney (former Donald Trump Solicitor General Noel Francisco) began his argument yesterday by comparing the spoilage of a partial days worth of concrete with: federal security guards leaving their posts in the middle of a terrorist threat; a ferryboat crew abandoning ship in the middle of a river; and steelworkers walking out in the middle of a molten iron pour, risking extensive damage to factory equipment. In such situations, Francisco argued, employer lawsuits would be allowedjust as, in his view, they should be in Glacier. Advertisement Advertisement These analogies wouldnt fly on the SAT, and they shouldnt prevail in the Supreme Court either. A terrorist threat is not the same as some spoiled Gorgonzola. An abandoned ferryboat in the middle of a river is not like the loss of a partial days worth of product (about $11,000 worth, in Glaciers case). The employers comparisons involve risk to human life as well as extensive damage to property; theyre nothing like the facts in Glacier. Perhaps to corporate oligarchs the thought of losing even a nickels worth of product because of striking workers is too much to bear. But their view isnt the law, at least not yet. Advertisement Franciscos core argument involved a sleight of hand: He labeled the loss of a perishable product as the intentional destruction of property. Because that phrase can also describe actions that are not protectedlike violence, vandalism, or arsonFrancisco claimed that this strike must also be unprotected. The unions attorney, Darin Dalmat, explained how ridiculous this argument is, noting that spoiled product alone has never been a basis for letting employers sue in state court over a strike. He observed that when Congress passed the NLRA, it understood that the intent to inflict economic harm is inherent in the very notion of a strike; also, certainly, Congress was aware of perishables, like cheese and milk and concrete. Justice Elena Kagan seemingly agreed, commenting, Unions do things all the time intentionally to maximize economic harm. If theres a seasonal component of a business, workers will try to time their strike in order to maximize the economic harm. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A decision in favor of Glacier could also be one more SCOTUS blow to the authority of federal agencies. Justice Kagan observed that the NLRB has seen thousands of [these cases] and can fit a case like this into a broader map of strike conduct and whats protected and whats not. She never really got an answer from the employers lawyer about why the NLRB wasnt the right forum for the case. Later, Justice Neil Gorsuch, for whom the administrative state is a lifelong nemesis, lobbed the employers counsel a softball, asking whats at stake in allowing state courts, rather than the NLRB, to hear claims against striking workers. The attorneys answer: Glacier would prefer not to be in a venue where the agency is the judge, jury, and executioner. (He really said executioner. No one died, unless you count concrete.) Disparaging agencies with overwrought terminology is a sure way to score points with this courts conservative supermajority. Advertisement This case is a serious threat to an equitable economy and functioning democracy. Logically, a loosening of federal law to allow more state involvement in union-related labor relations ought to benefit workers as well as employers. For example, workers could bring tort lawsuits in state court for damages when theyre fired for union organizing, or perhaps progressive states could pass pro-worker laws theyre currently preempted from enacting. Instead, though, the conservative majority will likely allow employers to sue workers more easily, but not the other way around. Such a skewed result would further erode the courts credibility as an institution. Advertisement Advertisement In addition to being another test of the courts legitimacy, Glacier has huge implications for whether working people, through their unions, can effectively exercise countervailing power against the immense influence of wealthy people and corporations. Strikes, or the threat of strikes, are one of the most powerful tools workers have for securing better pay, benefits, and working conditions. Advertisement Advertisement Collective bargaining by unionized workers, often catalyzed by strikes or their threat, is a key factor that kept income inequality at bay and led to the creation of a middle class in the mid-20th century. Collective bargaining doesnt just benefit union members; it has spillover effects, improving jobs across sectors and regions. It also decreases racial pay gaps and combats racial resentment among white workers. A strong labor movement strengthens democracy by increasing democratic participation too. Studies show that union members and members of their households register and vote in higher numbers. Even nonunion members who live in communities with higher concentrations of unions are more likely to vote. These effects likely stem from union members developing the skills and habits of civic participation, and from unions member education and get-out-the-vote efforts. Advertisement Through their political spending on behalf of policies and candidates that support the interests of working people, unions are also one of the few entities that have the ability to even try to counter the tsunami of money that corporations and billionaires pour into our political system. You wouldnt know from yesterdays argument that this case could be both a portent in the courts legitimacy crisis and a serious threat to an equitable economy and functioning democracy. As is often the case, what is actually at stake in a Supreme Court case goes politely unmentioned during oral arguments. But the court has the opportunity to avoid doing further harm here. It should affirm the unanimous state court decision dismissing the employers lawsuit. Of course, that would perhaps suggest that it shouldnt have accepted the case in the first place. But that problem, too, can be solved with a multiple choice: When youve made a mistake, do you a) double down or b) make it right? This story has been republished from Jill Filipovics newsletter. You can subscribe here. Theres been a viral story making the rounds over the past week about a truly egregious incident at Hamline University, a small liberal arts college in Minnesota. In a course on global art history, adjunct professor Erika Lopez Prater showed an image of a 14th-century painting that depicted the prophet Muhammad. On the class syllabus, she noted that the course would include images of religious figures, including Buddha and Muhammad, and that students could reach out if they had concernsnone did. Before showing the image, she told students that she was going to show it, and gave them the option to opt outnone did. Advertisement And yet for showing the image, she was essentially let go. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Hamline University story is a shocking one, and it deserves the outrage and attention its getting. But before we dig into what exactly happened, Id like to note that its only one in a larger body of troubling moves to cater to the authoritarian impulses of religious tyrantsthose who want to shut down the kind of intellectual inquiry, academic freedom, and general excellence that make universities what they are, in favor of kowtowing to religious fundamentalism. For example: Gov. Ron DeSantis is appointing a string of reactionary anti-intellectual nut jobs to the board of trustees of New College in Florida, a publicly funded liberal arts institution; they plan to turn this venerated institution into a right-wing Christian school. (We want to provide an alternative for conservative families in the state of Florida to say there is a public university that reflects your values, anti-education crusader Christopher Rufo, one of the new board members, told Michelle Goldberg.) Books were banned 2,500 times in 32 states, according to PEN Americaand most of these book bans were pushed by conservatives. The effort to ban books that so much as recognize the existence of LGBT people or address racism has gone international, as reactionary, often religious conservatives have been emboldened by right-wing censorship in the U.S. In North Carolina, a publicly funded charter school seeks to impart traditional values upon its studentswhich means conservative Christian values. The school requires girls to wear skirts, and seeks to teach its students chivalry, which its founder defines as a system in which women and girls are regarded as a fragile vessel that men are supposed to take care of and honor. Advertisement Advertisement This is all wholly unacceptable in any academic setting. And liberals should stand up against illiberal acts, even when those acts are carried out in the name of a minority religion in the U.S. Advertisement Many American liberals are rightly sympathetic to religious minorities in our country. And certainly people should be free to believe and worship freely without fear of harassment or discrimination (assuming, of course, that the mode of worship doesnt interfere with the lives of others). Muslims in the United States have been targeted, including by the former president; their entire religion has been smeared and slandered, and some individuals have faced discrimination and even physical violence. Liberals rightly stand against that. But standing up for a religious minoritys right to exist, believe, and worship freely does not mean leaving all your other values at the door, and allowing the most vocal and conservative members of that minority to demand censorship or compliance with their views. Advertisement Which brings us back to Hamline University. After the professor showed the image of Muhammada famous painting, and necessary to any course on global art historya Muslim student in the class complained to the administration; other students backed her up, saying that they were also offended, as a conservative but widely held interpretation of Islam bars Muslims from looking at images of Muhammad. Advertisement Advertisement As a Muslim and a Black person, I dont feel like I belong, and I dont think Ill ever belong in a community where they dont value me as a member, and they dont show the same respect that I show them, the student, Aram Wedatalla, said. But heres the thing: She was shown the exact level of respect that community members typically ask of one another. I would actually argue she was shown much more respect. She was also shown much more respect than we require professors show students in the classroom. Its what she is asking forthat images of Muhammad never be shown, and by extension that everyone else, no matter what their views or beliefs, behave according to her own conservative religious rulesthat is profoundly disrespectful, authoritarian, and anti-intellectual. Advertisement Advertisement Because of these complaints, the professor, an adjunct, was let go. According to the administration, her decision to show these imagesdespite contextualizing them, treating them respectfully, and giving students the option to opt outwas Islamophobic, and placed on par with hate and bias incidents. In this case, the apparently extremely delicate sensibilities of a handful of little religious tyrants (and their apparent inability to read a syllabus or listen to the professors words) should have superseded academic freedom, according to an email from the universitys president, Fayneese S. Miller. Advertisement The Miller email is truly a startling read. It honestly seems like it was written by a teenage Tumblr user who, having come into contact with some new and exciting ideas about social justice, seeks to impose them widely and lecture perceived wrongdoers gleefully. She writes that when we harm, we should listen rather than debate the merits of or extent of that harm and that the classroom incident is only one of several instances in which their religious beliefs have been challenged. (God forbid a college student have their beliefs challenged.) But this is where it goes really off the rails: Advertisement As a caring community, there are times when a healthy examination of expression is not only prudent, but necessary. This is particularly the case when we know that our expression has potential to cause harm. When that happens, we must care enough to find other ways to make our voices and viewpoints heard. Perspectives should be informed, mindful and critical, as befits an education steeped in the tenets of a liberal arts education. We believe in academic freedom, but it should not and cannot be used to excuse away behavior that harms others. I realize I sound like a crotchety old conservative here, but college classrooms should not be safe spaces. They cant be safe spaces. They should be respectful spaces, and professors and students alike should treat each other with consideration, but cause no emotional harm is not, in fact, a value to which academic institutions should aspire, or an ideal they can ever realistically reachespecially when this is harmful has become an easy cudgel to use in order to get ones way. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That email was egregious enough, but illiberal behavior, and the coddling of reactionary religious demands, didnt stop there. Whats different about this case, though, is that those demands cloaked themselves in the language of social justice and progressive values. Showing the image was undeniably inconsiderate, disrespectful and Islamophobic, wrote David Everett, the vice president for inclusive excellence, who also deemed the professors actions unacceptable and spelled out a plan to deal with bias and hate incidents. To help repair the apparent Islamophobia of showing a Persian masterpiece made by a Muslim for Muslim audiences in class only to students who consented to seeing it, the university would co-host a forum on Islamophobia with the Muslim Student Association. Advertisement At that forum, the primary speaker was invited from off campus: Jaylani Hussein, the executive director of the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Hussein, who as far as I know is not an art historian, declared that there was absolutely no benefit to the professor showing an image of one of the most famous pieces of Islamic art in a global art history class. The image, he said, was blasphemy. If this institution wants to value those students, he said, it cannot have incidents like this happen. If somebody wants to teach some controversial stuff about Islam, go teach it at the local library. Advertisement I am not totally sure where to start here, except to say that college absolutely should teach some controversial stuff about Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and literally anything else. When I was in college, my art history professor showed us Piss Christ, The Holy Virgin Mary by Chris Ofili (a Black Virgin Mary affixed with elephant dung and cutouts from porn mags), and this Robert Mapplethorpe image, which is about as explicit as it gets. (Dont click that at work or in front of kids, or at least know: It goes right to the image.) Part of the lesson was about art causing controversyboth of those images prompted wholesale conservative Christian freakouts, including efforts to defund the National Endowment for the Arts. And liberals, for the most part, were on the side of artistic freedom and expression, rightly pointing out the censoriousness of those who sought to have this art go unmade and un-viewed because they found it offensive. Advertisement Advertisement As far as I know, no one in my art history class whined to the administration that they felt unsafe in the classroom because of blasphemous art. And if they had, I do not think many students would have sided with them. Advertisement Advertisement In college we also read parts of the Bible and the Quran, both texts that one religion or another finds blasphemous. In law school, I took a course on feminist interpretations of Islamic law, which many Muslims surely find blasphemous. This is a good thing; this is one of the reasons the academy exists. (Also, there is no dumber crime or complaint than blasphemy; any all-powerful God can certainly handle her own business and hopefully has pretty thick skin by now.) Advertisement Take Islam out of it and similar examples make these values clear. When an Orthodox newspaper in New York photoshopped Hillary Clinton out of a famous photograph of Barack Obama and his staff watching the Navy SEALs raid that killed Osama bin Laden, there was widespread outrage. If an Orthodox Jewish student complained about seeing images of women in art history class and demanded that professors who show images of women be terminated, would we be particularly sympathetic, even if he said we were disrespecting and offending his religion? What if a Christian fundamentalist student objected to the teaching of evolution because it contradicted her belief in biblical literalism? What if a Hindu student demanded that the cafeteria be fully vegetarian because meat-eating offended his religious views? Advertisement Advertisement That is what is happening here. The student isnt saying I should have the option to not view these images. She had that option. She is saying No one should have the option to view these images, because they offend my particular religious beliefs. Sorry, but no. And yet, still, it gets worse. Advertisement College is about inquiry and ideas and testing boundaries; I bet a lot of us held views at 19 years old that we no longer hold now. If, like me, you were a young progressive person recently armed with the revelatory language of social justice, you probably did a lot of calling out and social justice showboating in college. (I sure did, and boy was I obnoxious.) But the adults in the room are supposed to be the bulwarks, who engage and listen and reflect but dont immediately cave to the most asinine of student demands. Advertisement Here, most of the adults seem to have caved. For example: Nur Mood, assistant director of Social Justice Programs and Strategic Relations at Hamline, told the student newspaper, This [incident is] much deeper and its something that in a million years, I never expected that it would happen here at Hamline. I hope this is the last time I see something similar to this. Advertisement Advertisement Not everyone lined up and agreed that being accused of blasphemy should be cause for losing ones job in the 21st century. Professor Mark Berkson, the chair of Hamlines religious studies department, wrote an essay for the Hamline student newspaper, which is called the Oracle, defending the professor and asking what, exactly, is Islamophobic about showing a great masterpiece of Islamic art. The Oracle published the essay, but then pulled it. They then published a staff editorial on Journalism, minimizing harm, and trauma, which honestly makes me pretty worried about the future of journalism. Those in our community have expressed that a letter we published has caused them harm, the editorial says. We have decided, as an editorial board, to take it down. The newspaper will not participate in conversations where a person must defend their lived experience and trauma as topics of discussion or debate. They continued: It is not a publications job to challenge or define sensitive experiences or trauma. If and when situations arise where these stories are shared, it is our responsibility to listen to and carry them in the most supportive, respectful, safe and beneficial way for the storys stakeholders and our readers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The thing is, though, it is absolutely a publications job to tell the whole of a story, even if that story involves someone who said they were harmed or traumatized, and even when that person doesnt like arguments against their requested reprisal for that harm. The kind of argument put forward by the Oracle (and, more troublingly, by the universitys president) is that any claim of harm or trauma should simply have the power to shut down all conversation or inquiry. And its a particularly powerful and insidious argument, especially coming, as it often does, not only after a stand-alone claim of harm, but after a demand that said harm result in a penalty for the person who did the allegedly harmful thing. It positions disagreeing with both a claim and a demand for action as perpetuating that harm. There is no way to respond other than to say, Yes, youre right. I am listening. Advertisement But people are human. We are often venal, selfish, stupid, power-hungry, and dishonest. And even if a person is being entirely genuine, giving any claim of any harm the total power to shut down inquiry and conversation, and the total power to allow the claimant to set the terms of recompense is a very, very bad and destructive idea. Advertisement Advertisement This isnt a right-wing fuck your feelings argument. It is instead an argument that feelings are not the sum total of reality, nor worthy of universal deference. We are in a particular cultural moment in which claims of harm and trauma are being taken much more seriously than ever before, especially within liberal and progressive institutions. For the most part, this is a good thing. But there has also been more than a bit of overcorrection. It has become clear that claims of harm and trauma can be used to demand changeto get someone fired, to make someone a social pariah, even to put someone in jail. That isnt always badthere are plenty of people who fully deserve to be fired, or be pariahs, or go to jail for their bad acts. But its not the claim of harm and trauma in and of itself that justifies punishment; its the whole story, the context, the actual wrongdoing, and not just the feelings of the person who says they were wronged. We do have to ask: Was this a reasonable act? Is this a reasonable response? Should the person accused of doing harm be penalized, and if so, how? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Unfortunately, the party line at Hamline seems to be that asking those questionsquestions that are integral and necessary for truth-finding and anything resembling justiceis itself a harmful act. Allowing any claim of harm to be both unchallenged and a catalyst for punishment quite simply puts far too much power in the hands of potential bad actorsor even good people with silly or bad ideas, who just get too far over their skis. And yet even after this story broke, the administration appeared to double down. To look upon an image of the Prophet Muhammad, for many Muslims, is against their faith, reads a statement from Miller. 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. Advertisement Thats true. But you dont show someone respect by treating them like a fragile little thing that might shatter if they have to live in the world, surrounded by people with different views and beliefs. This incident is making headlines because conservatives have latched onto it as another example of left-wing cancel culture. But how a conservative interpretation of Islam that gets a sensitive and thoughtful art history lecturer fired is left-wing is beyond me. It is true, though, that many people on the left have stayed quiet about this one, because, well, one doesnt want to aid a perceived enemy, and perhaps because we want to be sensitive to Muslims who are undeniably often mistreated in the United States. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But standing up not just for academic freedom but for freedom from religious domination in what should be secular spaces is a core liberal value. That the religious value imposed and used to punish is one that comes from a religion that is in this country a minority shouldnt actually make a difference here. The truth is that its Christian fundamentalists, not Muslim ones, who hold most of the power in the United States. And they are infiltrating public schools and universities. They are banning books. They are imposing a gender ideology that comes from their particular religious culture. They are demanding that scientific teachings be replaced or supplemented by flat-out biblical mythology. Liberals often do stand up to these encroachments, although not always particularly successfully. And there are so many of them that its hard to fight the deluge. But its still important. And its necessary to stand up for the values of secular education, academic freedom and rigor, and intellectual inquiry whenever they face a threatwhoever that threat comes from. On Wednesday, Virginia Republicans introduced a bill to criminalize abortion in the commonwealth after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The party is framing the ban as a moderate compromise: GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin praised it as a bipartisan consensus, while the Senate Republican caucus described it as practical, sensible, and reasonable. But these descriptions do not align with the actual text of the law. In addition to outlawing abortion long before viability, the proposal shares several features with the extreme abortion bans adopted by states like Louisiana and Texas. It contains extremely limited exceptions while exposing doctors to criminal liability for performing emergency abortions, including up to 10 years imprisonment. In short, the ban would ensure that reproductive health care in Virginia is dictated by criminal law rather than patients and their physicians. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The measure is unlikely to pass immediatelythe day before its introduction, a Democrat won a close race that expanded his partys control of the state Senate. But it shows voters exactly how Republicans plan to govern, should they seize control of the legislature in next years elections. The new bill, H.B. 2278, does have several features that are absent from other red-state restrictions. It allows abortions after 15 weeks for rape and incest, and includes an explicit exception for ectopic pregnancies. (Several states, including Missouri and Tennessee, lack this exceptionforcing patients with ectopic pregnancies to suffer for hours while hospitals await legal clearance to terminate.) In every other way, however, this measure is unreasonable. For one thing, H.B. 2278 outlaws abortions well before viability, which occurs around 24 weeks. This new cutoff dramatically shortens the amount of time Virginians have to learn that they are pregnant and obtain an abortion. The viability line was enshrined in Roe v. Wade for nearly 50 years, and it is currently reflected in Virginia law, which allows abortions through the second trimester. Republicans want to move back the cutoff by about nine weeks. Advertisement Which leads to the second problem: A large number of fetal anomalies can only be detected after 15 weeks, when scans can show fetal organ structures. Anomalies discovered during this period, such as anencephaly and Trisomy 18, render a fetus incompatible with life. That means the fetus will die during birth or shortly thereafter, its brief life spent in terrible pain. Patients who continue their pregnancy after such a diagnosis face heightened risks of serious medical complications. H.B. 2278s lack of an exception for even severe fetal anomalies is surely no accident. The anti-abortion movement scorns such exceptions, just as it opposes exceptions for rape and incest. Movement lobbyists support laws that force every patient to carry a pregnancy through birth even if the fetus has a life-limiting condition. Although many couples wish to spare their child the agony of a brief, torturous life, H.B. 2278 would prevent them from making that decision. Advertisement Advertisement The lack of an exception for even severe fetal anomalies is surely no accident. There is a third glaring problem with the bill: It rejects a broad exception for the patients health in favor of a narrow exception for the patients life. H.B. 2278 allows doctors to perform emergency abortions after 15 weeks only after determining that the continuation of the pregnancy will result in the death of the woman or substantially and irreversibly impair one or more of such womans major bodily functions, not including psychological or emotional conditions. The law directs doctors to use their best clinical judgment. But they are subject to incarceration if prosecutors disagree with their assessment and a jury determines that the abortion was unnecessary. This boilerplate language is found in many other states bans, and it has already led to many harrowing cases in which women in medical crises were forced to the brink of death before obtaining an abortion. Why? A number of common medical conditions can harm pregnant patients without guaranteeing their death. Under laws like H.B. 2278, doctors must wait until these conditions spiral into a crisis before terminating. And even when a crisis arises, its legally ambiguous when a life is sufficiently endangered to justify an abortion. Is a 10 percent chance of death acceptable? 50 percent? 75? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement These are not the questions doctors want to ask when a pregnant patient is experiencing a medical emergency. Yet in much of the country, they have no choice. Since Roes demise, patients have been forced to risk hemorrhage and sepsis before doctors will terminate. Even when a pregnancy is obviously failing, laws like H.B. 2278 do not allow termination. Thats why patients undergoing massive blood loss and excruciating pain have been denied care in red states, instructed to wait until they are more clearly dying. If Youngkins ban passes, Virginia would join these states in compelling doctors to risk imprisonment when performing emergency abortions after 15 weeks. Advertisement Theres one final oddity buried in H.B. 2278. Emergency abortions for minors are especially fraught because Virginia already requires parents to consent to their childrens abortions. (Alternatively, minors can petition a court for permission to terminate.) That restriction adds an extra layer of complication when a minor arrives at the hospital with a pregnancy-related medical crisis. Even outside the abortion context, parents typically have a right to make health care decisions for their children. But what if a parent cant be reached when a minor patients life is at risk? Advertisement Currently, Virginia law allows doctors to exercise their good faith clinical judgment when providing minors with emergency abortions, even when their parents do not or cannot consent. That standard provides a shield against prosecution, protecting doctors as long as they acted in good faith in line with appropriate standards of care. H.B. 2278 would revoke that standard. It would inject uncertainty into pregnant minors medical emergencies, compelling doctors to weigh their own medical judgment against the possibility of criminal charges. The night before Republicans introduced their new abortion ban, Virginia voters effectively ensured that it will never pass. On Tuesday, Democrats won a special election that flipped a seat in the state Senate, giving them a 2218 majority. The Democratic candidate, Aaron Rouse, campaigned on protecting abortion rights, and his victory all but guarantees that H.B. 2278 will die in the state legislature. Youngkin and his legislative allies appear eager to push the ban anyway. They have shown the commonwealth what maternity care would look like if the GOP had complete control of the government. Voters will decide whether to make their vision a reality. More than 20,000 lives could have been saved, study suggests. Health Minister Marek Krajci (left) and PM Igor Matovic (both OLaNO) welcome the first Sputnik vaccine doses in Slovakia. (Source: Korzar - Judita Cermakova) Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled General Prosecutor Maros Zilinka has ordered an investigation into politicians' handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. While no names have yet been mentioned, it is thought that Igor Matovic (OLaNO) who served as prime minister between March 2020 and April 2021, and his health minister Marek Krajci (OLaNO), are likely to come under investigation. Both men are mentioned in a study on excess mortality in Slovakia between 2020 and 2022, authored by the consulting firm Pazitny & Kandilaki, which has prompted the moves by the General Prosecutor. On Monday, January 9, Zilinka announced he had looked into the management of the pandemic in Slovakia to determine whether "there was any action establishing criminal responsibility". When approached by the Sme daily for further details of the investigation, the General Prosecutors Office replied only that the public has been informed "to the necessary and possible extent" about the matter. The office added that Zilinka had assigned the case to prosecutors at the General Prosecutor's Office, and it will not be delegated to any of regional prosecutor offices. Thousands could have been saved, study claims Unexpectedly warm weather in Slovakia to continue, Vlhova gets first win. Learn more in today's digest. Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled Good evening. Here is the Wednesday, January 11 edition of Today in Slovakia - the main news of the day in less than five minutes. Investigation into handling of pandemic (Source: Archive of Sme) The General Prosecutor has ordered an investigation into politicians' handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. While no names have yet been mentioned, it is thought that Igor Matovic (OLaNO) who served as prime minister between March 2020 and April 2021, and his health minister Marek Krajci (OLaNO), are likely to come under investigation. Both are mentioned in a study on excess mortality in Slovakia between 2020 and 2022, which prompted the investigation. Read more about the management of the pandemic: More stories on Spectator.sk If you like what we are doing and want to support good journalism, buy our online subscription. Thank you. Feature story for today The possibility of a snap election has become all-consuming for political parties, while President Zuzana Caputova prepares to announce whether she will run for re-election. Slovakias interim prime minister, Eduard Heger, maintains that early elections have no place in a democracy. While many experts have not questioned the legitimacy of a snap election, some even suggesting it is a way out of the current chaos and uncertainty around the country's governance, they warn that the outcome of such elections could push Slovakia, which marks 30 years of independence in 2023, away from the EUs core. Slovakia in 2023: Seeking an end to political chaos without becoming a little Hungary Read more Picture of the day Slovak skier Petra Vlhova posted her first victory of the current season, winning the slalom event in Flachau, Austria, ahead of Mikaela Shiffrin. Petra Vlhova won yesterday's night slalom in Flachau, Austria. (Source: TASR) In other news Since the start of the new year, the weather in Slovakia and in Europe has been very warm. This trend will continue in the coming days , says the Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute. At altitudes above 700 metres the daily temperatures will be between 0 to 5 degrees Celsius, while in lower areas some locations could see up to 10 degrees. The popular Strbske Pleso resort in the High Tatras was almost without snow at the beginning of the month. , says the Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute. At altitudes above 700 metres the daily temperatures will be between 0 to 5 degrees Celsius, while in lower areas some locations could see up to 10 degrees. The popular Strbske Pleso resort in the High Tatras was almost without snow at the beginning of the month. The mayors of the capitals of Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary have arrived in Kyiv. During their visit they met with Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of the Ukrainian capital. A photo from the trip was published by the mayor of Warsaw, Rafa Trzaskowski. Bratislava Mayor Matus Vallo is second from left. The Slovak Security Council might see the formation of a new committee for hybrid threats , according to a draft amendment approved by the acting Government. Slovakia plans to ban disinformation websites from spring again. , according to a draft amendment approved by the acting Government. Slovakia plans to ban disinformation websites from spring again. From Wednesday, the town of Ziar nad Hronom will limit public lighting on several streets, with only every other lamp lit in response to rising electricity costs. rising electricity costs. The avalanche danger level in the Western and High Tatras above 1500 metres has been increased to level three on the five-level international scale. There is also an increased danger of avalanches in the Low Tatras above 1400 metres while a level two warning applies to the Velka and Mala Fatra mountains. on the five-level international scale. There is also an increased danger of avalanches in the Low Tatras above 1400 metres while a level two warning applies to the Velka and Mala Fatra mountains. Plans have been announced for construction of a new tram line in Bratislava connecting the Dubravka district with the growing Bory district . The first stage of the work will see a roughly 1.8-kilometre-long extension built which will link up with track at the Pri krizi stop. . The first stage of the work will see a roughly 1.8-kilometre-long extension built which will link up with track at the Pri krizi stop. The acting government has approved the Economy Ministry's proposal for a 2 million stimulus for Eminox Slovakia. The company is preparing to set up a new plant in Svit, Presov Region, to manufacture stainless steel systems for regulating exhaust gases and emissions of buses, lorries, trains and vehicles. The investment should create 133 jobs by 2027. The company is preparing to set up a new plant in Svit, Presov Region, to manufacture stainless steel systems for regulating exhaust gases and emissions of buses, lorries, trains and vehicles. The investment should create 133 jobs by 2027. Economy Ministry State Secretary Peter Svec has said people should wait to receive corrected energy bills and not pay those already sent out by energy suppliers. The Economy Ministry last week urged producers to adjust customers' upfront payments in line with government directives to help people with high prices. Thank you for reading The Slovak Spectator. If you have suggestions on how this news overview can be improved, you can reach us at editorial@spectator.sk. One hundred US soldiers to also leave. The Patriot air defence missile system at the Sliac military airport, central Slovakia, on April 27, 2022. (Source: TASR Jan Kroslak ) Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled The US Army is planning to withdraw a Patriot air defence battery from the Malacky-Kuchyna air force base in a move which will also see 100 soldiers leave Slovakia, according to the daily Dennik N. Slovak Defence Minister Jaroslav Nad said the battery, which has been at the base since spring last year, will be moved to Germany for maintenance in the coming months. He rejected claims it would be transferred to Ukraine. Related article Related article Slovakia still isn't ready to host NATO battle groups permanently Read more US President Joe Biden recently pledged to provide Ukrainian forces with the defence system. Shortly after Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year, the Netherlands and Germany announced they would send three Patriot systems to Slovakia as part of NATOs effort to strengthen the eastern flank of the alliance. Last autumn, the Dutch battery was withdrawn. There are currently 300 US Army soldiers in Slovakia, one hundred of which operate the Patriot system. It is these who will leave, while the rest will continue to operate at the Lest military base near Zvolen, central Slovakia. Related article Related article NATO discussing ammunition production for Ukraine in Slovakia Read more Meanwhile, Italian daily La Repubblica has said that Italy could provide a replacement system for Slovakia as well as soldiers to operate it. The Italian army does not have a Patriot system, but uses a modern Italian-French system for defence against aircraft, drones, and rockets. "Italian army experts have visited potential sites in Slovakia where their system could be located, but nothing has been settled yet," said Nad. The Houston Texans are amid their search for their sixth full-time coach in franchise history, but they will have another quest on their hands after they find their new leader on the sidelines. The new coach wont have the No. 1 overall pick to work with as the Chicago Bears secured that selection with the results of Week 18. In the latest mock draft from the 33rd Team, that doesnt impact the Texans unless they were hoping to get Alabama edge defender Will Anderson, who the Bears grab No. 1 overall. Instead the Texans take Alabama quarterback Bryce Young with the No. 2 overall pick and Houstons proprietary selection of Round 1. Dont forget the Texans have another selection in the first round thanks to their offseason trade with the Cleveland Browns in 2022. According to the scouting department with the 33rd Team, the Texans use that extra Round 1 selection to grab USC wideout Jordan Addison. The Texans add a much needed weapon to support Bryce Young in the passing game. Addison, who has more than 2,400 receiving yards to go with 25 TD catches the past two seasons, is the most polished receiver in this years class. The pairing of Young and Addison would be a great way to infuse youth and talent into the passing game. Presumably if the Texans are going with a first-round receiver, Brandin Cooks may be off the team either through a release or a trade with another team. How else could Houston split up the targets between Addison, third-year wideout Nico Collins, and receiver John Metchie, who has a chance to beat leukemia and play in 2023? Addison caught 59 passes for 875 yards and eight touchdowns in his 11 games with the Trojans. List Houston Texans 2023 opponents revealed: Visit the Bengals, host the Buccaneers houston-texans-2023-opponents-bengals-buccaneers Story originally appeared on Texans Wire The Barista League is back for 2023. The Sprudgie Finalist event series that started in Sweden has gone global, and 2023 is looking to be the biggest season yet. Announced today, the interdisciplinary coffee competition will be 12-ish stops this season across four continents. And it kicks off this February back in Scandinavia, in the city of Oslo, Norway. Though the scope of the event has expanded, the heart of the Barista League remains unchanged. Each competition will feature 12 teams of two coffee professionals who will have their real-world barista skills put to the test via three fast-paced challenges. And like with previous years, the Barista Leagues aims to keep the event inclusive and open to all skill levels, with no registration fee required nor a need to bring your own equipment, fancy coffees, or even prior training. The Barista League was founded on the idea that the event should be accessible for working baristas and should be welcoming to all, states founder Steven Maloney. As we grow, we are so excited to be able to take the event to new cities and countries that often get overlooked in favor of bigger, global, centralized events. The 2023 Barista League calendar is as follows: February 18: Oslo, Norway Fuglen Coffee Roasters March 4: Mexico City, Mexico March 25: Hamburg, Germany Drilling Distilling Co. May 26: Brno, Czech Republic Industra June 17: Toronto, ON Redwood Theatre August 5: Los Angeles, CA Black Rabbit Service Co. September 9: Bristol, England Extract Coffee Roasters September 22: Melbourne, Australia Proud Mary October: Madrid, Spain October 21: Milwaukee, WI Colectivo Coffee December 2: Atlanta, GA January 2024: Dubai, UAE If that wasnt enough action, the Barista League will also be hosting La Rumba Barista at Varietale in Bogota, Colombia in February, which will be a battle royale of sorts of all the winners from the 2022 competitions who are taking part in the special prize Mystery Coffee Vacation. And there are after-parties in the works for both the SCA Expo in April in Portland as well as Junes World of Coffee in Athens. Fun times abound for those willing to answer the call. If you think youve got what it takes and you want more information on this years events, head over to the Barista Leagues official website. Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230110/canada-purchase-of-nasams-for-ukraine-ridiculous-amid-domestic-issues---russian-envoy-1106208647.html Canada Purchase of NASAMS for Ukraine Ridiculous Amid Domestic Issues - Russian Envoy Canada Purchase of NASAMS for Ukraine Ridiculous Amid Domestic Issues - Russian Envoy WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Canada purchasing the US-manufactured National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) for Ukraine is another demonstration of... 10.01.2023, Sputnik International 2023-01-10T22:47+0000 2023-01-10T22:47+0000 2023-01-10T22:42+0000 americas canada ukraine crisis military aid oleg stepanov /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/103508/81/1035088100_0:254:4928:3026_1920x0_80_0_0_5c9acebe16134040f5b22debb260414e.jpg "Prime Minister Trudeaus cabinet funneling money to fuel up war and support an illegitimate regime thousand kilometers away from Canada looks ridiculous," Stepanov said on Tuesday. Earlier on Tuesday, the Canadian government announced that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told US President Joe Biden that Ottawa would purchase NASAMS for Ukraine. Defense Minister Anita Anand said that the purchase of NASAMS is the first Canadian donation of an air defense system to Ukraine.The two leaders held a bilateral meeting on the margins of the North American Leaders Summit in Mexico City. https://sputnikglobe.com/20220802/russian-embassy-canadas-new-sanctions-demonstrate-thoughtless-position-on-ukraine-1098052217.html americas canada Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International canada, ukraine crisis, military aid, oleg stepanov https://sputnikglobe.com/20230110/center-of-soledar-now-controlled-by-russian-forces---dpr-head-1106208851.html Center of Soledar Now Controlled by Russian Forces - DPR Head Center of Soledar Now Controlled by Russian Forces - DPR Head MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Acting head of Russia's Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), Denis Pushilin, announced Tuesday evening that Russian forces had gained the center... 10.01.2023, Sputnik International 2023-01-10T23:06+0000 2023-01-10T23:06+0000 2023-01-10T23:08+0000 russia's special operation in ukraine ukraine crisis donetsk people's republic military advance /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/102399/04/1023990400_0:174:3501:2143_1920x0_80_0_0_b4ba7a8d0205da35ed2ea6895dffb9be.jpg "According to the latest information, the center of Soledar is under the control of the Wagner division, and here the guys have gained ground on one side and the other. They are already effectively moving forward," Pushilin told Channel One.Pushilin noted Ukrainian troops are suffering serious losses but have continued to resist.The Wagner Group private military company (PMC), participating in Russia's special military operation in Ukraine, has taken the entire territory of Soledar under control, with hostilities taking place in the center of the city, the companys head, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said on Wednesday."Units of the Wagner PMC have taken control of the entire territory of Soledar. A fighting cauldron has been formed in the center of the city, where urban battles are taking place. The number of prisoners will be specified tomorrow. I would like to emphasize once again that no units other than those of the Wagner PMC were involved in the storming of Soledar," Prigozhin said on Russian social network VKontakte.Oleksiy Arestovich, an adviser to the head of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's office, said on Wednesday that Ukraine's forces are fleeing the frontline in the city.Soledar and Bakhmut, also known as Artyomovsk, are located in the Kiev-controlled part of the DPR, which joined Russia last fall after the populace there held a referendum. Bakhmut has been an important transport hub for supplying the Ukrainian troops in Donbas amid Russia's special military operation.The latest comes after Donetsk officials stated on Monday that Russian forces had managed to successfully take control of the Bakhmutskoe village, which sits near Soledar. The area is known as an important transport hub for supplying Ukrainian troops stationed in Donbass. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230109/russian-forces-take-village-of-bakhmutskoe-under-control-1106154135.html Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International ukraine crisis, donetsk people's republic, military advance https://sputnikglobe.com/20230110/peru-mourns-massacre-of-17-as-calls-grow-for-us-backed-coup-regime-to-step-down-1106209437.html Peru Mourns Massacre of 17 as Calls Grow for US-Backed Coup Regime to Step Down Peru Mourns Massacre of 17 as Calls Grow for US-Backed Coup Regime to Step Down A shockingly bloody day of violence threatened to upend the new coup-borne regimes grip on power as Peruvians reacted with horror to the deadliest day so far... 10.01.2023, Sputnik International 2023-01-10T23:52+0000 2023-01-10T23:52+0000 2023-01-10T23:46+0000 americas peru massacre violence dina boluarte coup d'etat /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/01/0a/1106209647_0:56:2199:1292_1920x0_80_0_0_cf58f134bfdb146522f015758c9fa97e.jpg Thousands of Peruvians took to the streets throughout the country on Tuesday as memorial services were held in the city of Juliaca for the 17 people killed Monday in what victims families are calling a massacre by the Andean countrys security forces.At least two of the deceased a boy and a girl were reportedly children. According to a health ministry official in the Puno region of Peru, another 68 victims suffered injuries in Mondays violence.Videos showing several of the killings circulated widely on social media Monday night, as condemnations rolled in from across the globe.In the name of the sacred right to life, of the rights of indigenous peoples recognized by UN and international organizations, in the name of peace and social justice, we demand that the massacre of our brothers in Peru stop, wrote former Bolivian President Evo Morales, who was labeled persona non grata and barred from entering the country just hours beforehand.It was by far the deadliest day of the chaos that has wracked Peru since its first working-class indigenous president, Pedro Castillo, was overthrown last month. Castillo has been jailed ever since, following what leaders of countries throughout the region have condemned as a coup detat.The head of the intensive care unit of the Carlos Monge Medrano Hospital in Juliaca, Jorge Sotomayor Perales, reportedly suggested that authorities used lethal expanding bullets in the bloody crackdown. In comments given to journalists Monday evening, Sotomayor noted the gunshot victims had no exit wounds but had their internal organs destroyed.I want to call on the central government how can we have so many dead? he asked.On Tuesday, as the regional government began observing a three-day mourning period in honor of those killed, Prime Minister Alberto Otarola responded with an announcement of his own: a three-day nighttime curfew in Puno, extending from 8 p.m. local time until 4 a.m.Without providing evidence, Otarola insisted in a news conference Monday night that foreign interests and drug traffickers were to blame for the killings. The former Defense Minister Otarola ascended to his current position just weeks ago and has emerged as one of the prime beneficiaries of the coup.Observers point to his meeting with US Ambassador Lisa Kenna, just two days before Castillo was arrested, as evidence of US support for the putsch. After the coups consummation, the US Embassy immediately extended its recognition to the controversial regime, which imposed itself on Peru under the figurehead of self-styled President Dina Boluarte.As of publishing, Boluarte still had yet to comment on the spate of seemingly state-backed killings in Juliaca.However, on Tuesday evening, Perus human rights office called on all qualified institutions to investigate and punish those responsible for all the deaths that have occurred in the last hours in Juliaca.Hours beforehand, a representative for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said the international body was also very concerned at the rising violence in Peru.In a statement urging the Boluarte regime to comply with human rights standards and ensure that force is only used when strictly necessary, and insisting the rights to freedom of expression and of peaceful assembly must be respected and protected, spokesperson Marta Hurtado noted that one medical worker was killed while administering aid.The medical worker in question, Marco Antonio Samillan Sanga, was reportedly killed by the regimes forces Monday while attempting to treat other victims.In comments given to local media, his sister Milagros said that prior to his death, Sanga was on the verge of receiving his medical degree and dreamed of being the best neurosurgeon in Juliaca.He was wearing his medical scrubs when he was killed while tending to the wounded because of the goodwill and empathy that he had, she said.As Peruvians across the country awoke to the horrifying news, she was hardly the only one to demand answers.On Tuesday, the Attorney Generals office announced it was opening an investigation into the role played by Boluarte and Otarola in the apparent state-sponsored massacre following a criminal complaint by Peruvian Congresswoman Ruth Luque, who wrote in the early hours that the deaths cannot go unpunished. https://sputnikglobe.com/20221230/perus-court-reject-ex-president-castillos-appeal-upholds-18-month-pre-trial-detention-1105904056.html americas peru Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Wyatt Reed Wyatt Reed News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Wyatt Reed peru, massacre, violence, dina boluarte, coup d'etat https://sputnikglobe.com/20230111/antonov-patriot-training-courses-for-ukrainians-confirms-us-involvement-in-growing-crisis-1106212067.html Patriot Training Courses for Ukrainians Confirm US Involvement in Growing Crisis, Russian Envoy Says Patriot Training Courses for Ukrainians Confirm US Involvement in Growing Crisis, Russian Envoy Says The Pentagon's decision to train the Ukrainian military to operate Patriot missile defense systems confirms the involvement of the United States in the conflict in Ukraine, Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov said. 2023-01-11T03:25+0000 2023-01-11T03:25+0000 2023-01-11T04:14+0000 russia's special operation in ukraine us biden administration us government patriot missile system training involvement /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/0c/0e/1105436450_0:160:3073:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_ac73fea2aefe6176dd10e7562cfa5be2.jpg Defense Department Press Secretary Pat Ryder said on Tuesday the United States will begin training Ukrainian troops on the Patriot surface-to-air missile system at Fort Sill in the US state of Oklahoma as soon as next week. The training, which teaches operational and maintenance skills in classroom and simulation settings, will prepare 90-100 Ukrainian soldiers over the next several months, Ryder said. Ukrainian presidential office adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said Ukrainian troops will start using Patriot systems supplied by the West by early or mid-spring. In December 2022, the United States committed one Patriot missile system to Ukraine. That commitment was followed by another one made by Germany earlier this month. The Patriot system will be delivered to Ukraine following the training course, Ryder said, noting that the delivery will not be announced in advance. Antonov earlier highlighted that Russia has constantly informed the US audience of the dangers posed by the Biden administration's actions in Ukraine."It is noteworthy that our efforts to bring to the attention of the American audience the true danger of such a line by the White House are step by step recognized by the local expert community," Antonov said. "They noted that the administration is no longer limiting itself to strengthening the defense potential of Kiev, but is transferring new weapons to the republic in order to increase its offensive capabilities," he added.The Pentagon has focused recent security assistance packages for Ukraine on air defense capabilities amid frequent Russian missile and drone strikes. Last week, the Biden administration announced a new $3.75 billion aid package for Ukraine, including RIM-7 Sea Sparrow air defense missiles. Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine on February 24, 2022 in response to calls by the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics for protection from Ukrainian troops. The Russian Defense Ministry said the operation, which targets Ukrainian military infrastructure, aims to "demilitarize and denazify" Ukraine, and to completely liberate Donbas. Western nations have imposed numerous sanctions on Russia and have been supplying weapons to Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said any cargo that contains weaponry for Ukraine will become a legitimate target for Russia. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230110/report-us-struggling-to-supply-ukraine-with-effective-counterdrone-systems-1106182947.html Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International us involvement, us sends patriot to ukraine, ukrainian crisis, us aid to ukraine, us sends money to kiev https://sputnikglobe.com/20230111/biden-heads-to-three-amigos-summit-in-mexico-amid-discovery-of-classified-documents-1106210659.html Biden Heads to 'Three Amigos' Summit in Mexico Amid Discovery of Classified Documents Biden Heads to 'Three Amigos' Summit in Mexico Amid Discovery of Classified Documents On todays episode of The Backstory, host Lee Stranahan discussed current events including classified documents found at Joe Biden's private office, and the US... 11.01.2023, Sputnik International 2023-01-11T09:19+0000 2023-01-11T09:19+0000 2023-02-03T08:36+0000 the backstory mexico the twitter files hunter biden gop canada neuralink radio /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/01/0b/1106210528_0:0:1920:1080_1920x0_80_0_0_b66bd7af225e94aea71319d5f0441b8e.png Classified Files Found at Biden's Private Office On todays episode of The Backstory, host Lee Stranahan discussed current events including classified documents found at Joe Biden's private office, and the US threatening Africa over "Russian ties". Jamarl Thomas - Co-Host of Fault Lines | Biden Heads to Mexico, Three Amigos Summit, and CanadaJim Hoft - Founder of The Gateway Pundit | Release All the January 6th Footage, Brazil Has a Similar January 6th Incident Occur, and The Tea Party MovementIn the first hour, Lee and Jason Goodman spoke with Jamarl Thomas about Jamarl's first time in Mexico City, Canada complaining about America first policies, and President Biden's elderly walk. Jamarl discussed the Elon Musk invention Neuralink and the nature of future advances in technology. Jamarl explained the reason for the "three amigos" summit in Mexico and what all three countries discussed in the summit.In the second hour, Lee and Jason Goodman spoke with Jim Hoft about RINO Republicans, Sean Hannity insults Republican voters, and Kevin McCarthy concedes to Republican holdouts. Jim commented on the GOP elites and the changes made in the 118th Congress. Jim talked about the protests in Brazil and compared it to the January 6th riot.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. mexico canada Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Lee Stranahan https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e5/02/13/1082125222_0:0:293:292_100x100_80_0_0_a8bc846f559660e5bf7574f8a9608a1d.png Lee Stranahan https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e5/02/13/1082125222_0:0:293:292_100x100_80_0_0_a8bc846f559660e5bf7574f8a9608a1d.png News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Lee Stranahan https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e5/02/13/1082125222_0:0:293:292_100x100_80_0_0_a8bc846f559660e5bf7574f8a9608a1d.png mexico, the twitter files, hunter biden, gop, canada, neuralink, , radio https://sputnikglobe.com/20230111/biden-surprised-to-learn-classified-records-were-found-at-his-private-office-1106211331.html Biden: 'Surprised' to Learn Classified Records Were Found at His Private Office Biden: 'Surprised' to Learn Classified Records Were Found at His Private Office WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US President Joe Biden said during a news conference in Mexico City that he was briefed on the classified documents found at his private... 11.01.2023, Sputnik International 2023-01-11T02:20+0000 2023-01-11T02:20+0000 2023-01-11T02:15+0000 americas biden classified files joe biden us classified documents /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/0c/03/1104997238_0:143:2733:1680_1920x0_80_0_0_b0457e4437ca400f9b3cce8eb4fda7af.jpg "I was briefed about this discovery and surprised to learn that there were any government records that were taken there to that office, but I don't know what's in the documents," Biden said during a joint conference with his Mexican and Canadian counterparts on Tuesday. The US president underscored that he "takes classified documents and classified information seriously."The White House confirmed on Monday that a "small number" of documents with classified markings had been found at the Penn Biden Center inside a locked closet on November 2, 2022, in Washington, DC. The documents dated back to the commander-in-chief's days as vice president under the Obama administration.White House Special Counsel Richard Sauber has explained that the office space was used "periodically" by Biden during from mid-2017 to the beginning of his 2020 campaign. The National Archives were said to have been alerted to the findings on the same day of discovery, with the agency collecting the files the following day."The documents were not the subject of any previous request or inquiry by the Archives," Sauber said in a statement.Although details of the information contained in the files remain scarce, US media reported on Tuesday that the documents contained information on Ukraine, Iran and the UK. However, officials have yet to comment on the matter.The development was first reported by CBS News, and has since prompted the US Attorney General's Office to undertake an initial facts-based investigation. It's expected that Attorney General Merrick Garland will soon decide on whether or not to appoint a special counsel on the matter.The latest also comes amid an ongoing back and forth between the US government and former US President Donald Trump, who saw his Florida estate raided by FBI agents after it was determined to house boxes of classified files. Trump, who has refused to cooperate in the ongoing probe, weighed in on the Biden fiasco, asking whether a raid would be imminent. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230110/us-intel-files-on-ukraine-iran--uk-found-among-classified-docs-in-bidens-private-office---report-1106205645.html americas Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International biden classified files, joe biden, us, classified documents https://sputnikglobe.com/20230111/bidens-mexico-visit-starts-on-bad-note-neocons-threaten-south-africa-1106209187.html Biden's Mexico Visit Starts on Bad Note; Neocons Threaten South Africa Biden's Mexico Visit Starts on Bad Note; Neocons Threaten South Africa President Biden's meeting with Mexican President Lopez Obrador got off to a bad start as the Mexican leader gave him a tongue-lashing on US policy in Latin... 11.01.2023, Sputnik International 2023-01-11T09:22+0000 2023-01-11T09:22+0000 2023-02-03T08:36+0000 the critical hour mexico israel ukraine yemen pentagon uhuru kenyatta radio /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/01/0a/1106209040_0:0:1920:1080_1920x0_80_0_0_f209b48278f53ad742d1a206c5f1acec.png Biden's Mexico Visit Starts on Bad Note; Neocons Threaten South Africa; US Imperialism Fails in Venezuela President Biden's meeting with Mexican President Lopez Obrador got off to a bad start as the Mexican leader gave him a tongue-lashing on US policy in Latin America. Mark Sleboda, Moscow-based international relations security analyst, joins us to discuss Ukraine. A US Senator is arguing that the US should continue its proxy war in Ukraine until "Putin is out." Also, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister is complaining that the nation's Western sponsors are not supplying enough weapons to support victory.Jamarl Thomas, Co-host of Fault Lines, joins us to discuss President Biden's trip to Mexico. President Biden's meeting with Mexican President Lopez Obrador got off to a bad start as the Mexican leader gave him a tongue-lashing on US policy in Latin America.Dr. Gerald Horne, Professor of History at the University of Houston, TX, author, historian, and researcher, joins us to discuss foreign policy. The US is threatening South Africa due to a Russian ship docking at their naval base. Also, we discuss the US assault on the African socialist party and US imperialism in Africa overall.Ray McGovern, former CIA analyst, and co-founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity joins us to discuss Russia Gate. Ray McGovern reviews the baseless allegation that President Trump colluded with Russia to interfere with the 2016 elections. Also, Ray tells us why he is obsessed with the RussiaGate operation.Robert Fantina, journalist and Palestine activist, joins us to discuss the Middle East. A new pro-settler law has cruised through the Knesset. Also, we discuss the policies that may be soon associated with Israel's right-wing government.Professor Danny Shaw, author, activist, and professor of Latin American studies, joins us to discuss Cuba. Anti-communist fossils in Congress cling to brutal sanctions against Cuba. Also, Washington's imperialist policies are failing spectacularly in Venezuela.Ted Rall, political cartoonist and syndicated columnist, joins us to discuss the media. Authoritarian voices in the mainstream media are attacking journalists who expose government corruption through Twitter files. Also, we discuss the congressional circus that had trouble electing a new Speaker of the House.Dan Lazare, investigative journalist and author of "America's Undeclared War," joins us to discuss Yemen. Over 3.000 Yemenis were killed or injured in 2022.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. mexico israel ukraine yemen Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Wilmer Leon https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e5/02/12/1082114047_0:-1:238:238_100x100_80_0_0_4e3adef3e334e381bffe19d388f4b776.jpg Wilmer Leon https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e5/02/12/1082114047_0:-1:238:238_100x100_80_0_0_4e3adef3e334e381bffe19d388f4b776.jpg News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Wilmer Leon https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e5/02/12/1082114047_0:-1:238:238_100x100_80_0_0_4e3adef3e334e381bffe19d388f4b776.jpg mexico, israel, ukraine, yemen, pentagon, uhuru kenyatta, , radio https://sputnikglobe.com/20230111/brazilian-govt-needs-decisive-response-to-curb-rampant-riots-in-future-experts-say-1106212290.html Brazilian Gov't Needs Decisive Response to Curb Rampant Riots in Future, Experts Say Brazilian Gov't Needs Decisive Response to Curb Rampant Riots in Future, Experts Say MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Brazilian government has to respond decisively to the recent violent protests by supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro against... 11.01.2023, Sputnik International 2023-01-11T03:43+0000 2023-01-11T03:43+0000 2023-01-11T03:37+0000 americas bolsonaro supporters riot in brazil's capital jair bolsonaro brazil storming /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/01/08/1106146393_1:0:1366:768_1920x0_80_0_0_a33007b3b2971891c0c3736797aa20bb.png While protesting the results of the 2022 presidential election on Sunday, Bolsonaro followers stormed the National Congress building, Palacio do Planalto, one of the official palaces of the presidency, and the Supreme Court building in Brasilia. Lula who was sworn in and started his third term as Brazilian president on January 1, called the attacks on the government buildings barbaric and ordered the use of federal forces to restore order in the capital. Police regained control of the buildings later in the day. On Monday, security forces in Brasilia launched an operation to disperse a protest camp located near the headquarters of the Brazilian armed forces. Bolsonaro, who has been staying in Florida, also condemned the storming of the government buildings in Brasilia carried out by his supporters. Despite that, Democrat lawmakers Joaquin Castro and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez urged the US government to "cease granting refuge to Bolsonaro" and extradite him. Hour of Decision?Lula, who previously led the country from 2003-2010 during the so-called "left turn" in Latin America, won the Brazilian presidential election in the runoff on October 30, defeating Bolsonaro by a close margin. While his political comeback was cheered by many people as a welcome departure from right-wing Bolsonaro, his victory was much less decisive than projected by pollsters. Moreover, he still has to contend with Bolsonaro's Liberal Party having a significant presence in both chambers of the parliament, and a strong and energized right-wing movement that has already demonstrated that it will not suffer leftists gladly. This sentiment was echoed by Ednaldo Ribeiro, a political science professor at the State University of Maringa, who suggested that whether or not this kind of civil unrest repeats itself in the future depends on how the Lula government will choose to respond. "An energetic punishment, rigorously based on the national rule of law, is indispensable for the definitive interruption of any coup ambition. This involves punishing the financiers of these actions and holding the hard core of Bolsonarism accountable, including Jair Bolsonaro himself. His extradition to Brazil is essential at this time and must be carried out as soon as possible," Ribeiro said, while also cautioning that "any attempt at amnesty for the coup leaders could be fatal for democratic stability in the coming years." According to Lucio Renno, a political science professor at the University of Brasilia, in the past two months, there have been several other instances of domestic terrorism such as bomb threats, attacks against public transportation, as well as attempts at invading the federal police and illegal camping in front of the country's military headquarters with demands for a military coup.Thus, while the recent outburst of civil unrest does stand out as the first time the three main federal buildings have been stormed by a right-wing movement, it is not a unique case in the grand scheme of things. J6 Redux?It has not escaped the attention of many observers that the riot in Brasilia almost coincided with the second anniversary of the January 6 riot in the United States, when a group of Donald Trump supporters entered the US Capitol to protest the certifying of the 2020 presidential election results by several US states, a move the former US president claimed was fraudulent. The similarities between the two events start with Trump and Bolsonaro, both of whom portrayed themselves as populist mavericks challenging the allegedly corrupt and inefficient ruling elites of their respective countries. During their time in office, the two became natural allies and their friendly relations seemed to persist even after their electoral losses. As matter of fact, one of the reasons Bolsnaro left Brazil for Florida was to spend New Year's Eve at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort. Ribeiro also said that what transpired in Brazil involved attacks on the three branches of government legislative, executive and judicial and resulted in their offices being vandalized. "Among the organizers and financiers, the attempt to emulate the Trumpist movement is evident, but the expansion of the coup scope is more worrying," the expert said. Renno, for his part, drew attention to the fact that Bolsonaro maintained silence during the lame-duck period of his presidency, which probably helped to hold back the protests since the outgoing president was likely to have been wary of such riots taking place on his watch. When asked if Bolsonaro's denouncing of the actions of his followers could cost him their support, the experts told Sputnik that even if some of his supporters abandoned him, he would still remain the leading figure of the Brazilian far right as there is nobody to replace him at the moment. "Bolsonaro will probably lose the support of more moderate voters who voted for him in 2022," Renno said, adding that it was very unlikely that his core base will abandon him. In a similar vein, Ioris suggested that Bolsonaro-supporting groups "are more likely to continue to profess their loyalty to his agenda and to continue to stand along radical lines." Meanwhile, Ribeiro suggested that Bolsonaro's response was a deliberate effort to stir up his supporters without facing negative consequences. "Through official channels, he condemns acts that threaten democracy, with a clear intention of avoiding criminal and political accountability, but through the unofficial channels of his groups of followers, he continues to encourage coup d'etat. That is why his extradition and accountability are so important. He will not lose support from his followers, simply because they are aware of this strategy and recognize it as legitimate," Ribeiro stated. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230111/brazils-former-president-bolsonaro-reportedly-left-us-hospital-against-advice-of-doctors-1106211904.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20221124/brazils-electoral-court-rejects-bolsonaro-partys-request-to-annul-some-votes-1104616053.html americas brazil Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International bolsonaro supporters riot in brazil's capital, jair bolsonaro, brazil, storming https://sputnikglobe.com/20230111/china-vows-to-help-ethiopians-after-tigray-conflict-1106217662.html China Vows to Help Ethiopians After Tigray Conflict China Vows to Help Ethiopians After Tigray Conflict China is ready to support the people of Ethiopia, who found themselves in a difficult situation as a result of the recent armed clashes in the Tigray region in the north of the country, said Foreign Minister of the People's Republic of China (PRC), Qin Gang, during a meeting with his Ethiopian counterpart Demeke Mekonnen on Tuesday. 2023-01-11T10:16+0000 2023-01-11T10:16+0000 2023-01-11T10:16+0000 africa east africa ethiopia china qin gang humanitarian aid /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/01/0b/1106218971_0:0:3076:1731_1920x0_80_0_0_bee7766299a65b0f253f2944ab7cd4aa.jpg China is ready to support the people of Ethiopia, who found themselves in a difficult situation as a result of the armed clashes in the Tigray region in the north of the country, said Foreign Minister of the People's Republic of China (PRC), Qin Gang, during a meeting with his Ethiopian counterpart Demeke Mekonnen on Tuesday.Newly appointed Chinese FM Qin, who was Chinas ambassador to the United States, noted that the conflict in Tigray is an internal affair of Ethiopia, adding that Beijing will actively participate in the reconstruction of areas affected by the conflict.The minister clarified that Beijing hopes that the international community will increase the scale of humanitarian assistance for Ethiopia and will more actively promote the socio-economic development of the country.Qin stressed that the Horn of Africa is of great strategic importance, therefore, the security of all of Africa, as well as the Middle East, depends on stability in this region.On January 9, the Chinese Foreign Minister began a five-nation tour of Africa. After Ethiopia, Qin is scheduled to head to Gabon, Angola, Benin and Egypt. During the one-week trip, which is Qins first overseas visit, the minister visited the headquarters of the African Union in Addis Ababa and is also set to visit the headquarters of the League of Arab States when he arrives in Cairo.Qins visit to Africa this week marks the 33rd consecutive year that Africa has become the destination of Chinese foreign ministers first overseas visit of the year, according to the PRC foreign ministry.On November 2, 2022, the African Union facilitated a peace deal between Ethiopias federal government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), putting an end to nearly two years of fighting in the northern Ethiopian region of Tigray, where thousands of people were killed and millions of others displaced.The peace agreement eased the way for humanitarian aid, access to which was previously restricted, and the gradual return of public services, including banking, communications, electricity and fuel.Earlier, the Tigray rebel forces in the town of Agulae, around 30 kilometers northeast of the regional capital Mekelle, begun handing over their heavy weaponry to Ethiopias national army as part of the November peace deal. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230111/heavy-weapons-handover-begins-in-ethiopias-tigray-as-part-of-au-led-peace-process-1106215294.html africa east africa ethiopia china Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Muhammad Nooh Osman https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e4/08/0e/1080170965_2:0:2050:2048_100x100_80_0_0_1de8233c87df0979e7e74f61b6ffacad.jpg Muhammad Nooh Osman https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e4/08/0e/1080170965_2:0:2050:2048_100x100_80_0_0_1de8233c87df0979e7e74f61b6ffacad.jpg News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Muhammad Nooh Osman https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e4/08/0e/1080170965_2:0:2050:2048_100x100_80_0_0_1de8233c87df0979e7e74f61b6ffacad.jpg china helps ethiopia, china in africa, tigray crisis, crisis in ethiopia, qin gang visits africa, qin gang visits ethiopia, war in tigray, "The Joint Declaration... confirms that the European Union fully subordinates to the tasks of the North Atlantic bloc, which is an instrument of ensuring the interests of the United States by force. Under the notions of 'strengthening the transatlantic bond,' 'strengthening the strategic partnership of the EU and NATO,' the tasks set out in the new strategic concept of the alliance adopted at the Madrid summit in June 2022 are being promoted," Zakharova said. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230111/ex-trump-organization-cfo-weisselberg-sentenced-to-5-months-for-tax-fraud--1106211611.html Ex-Trump Organization CFO Weisselberg Sentenced to 5 Months for Tax Fraud Ex-Trump Organization CFO Weisselberg Sentenced to 5 Months for Tax Fraud WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Former Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Allen Weisselberg has been sentenced to five months in jail in connection to his... 11.01.2023, Sputnik International 2023-01-11T02:47+0000 2023-01-11T02:47+0000 2023-01-11T02:42+0000 americas trump organization allen weisselberg rikers prison manhattan tax fraud /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e5/07/01/1083287335_0:161:3071:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_5e580d999e75b0df971cb6cf1a1f01f9.jpg In accordance with his guilty plea, Weisselberg was immediately taken into custody and remanded at the notorious New York City jail located on Rikers Island. To date, Weisselberg has paid over $2 million in taxes and penalties and will be on probation for a period of five years. It has been reported that he may likely serve just roughly 100 days for good behavior; however, additional time could also be tacked on if it turns out that his testimony was not truthful.Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg praised the sentencing in a statement, noting that in the Big Apple, "you have to play by the rules no matter who you are or who you work for."In August, Weisselberg pleaded guilty to 15 counts, including tax fraud, conspiracy and grand larceny, and a payment of $2 million in back taxes, interest and penalties.Weisselberg pleaded guilty as part of a deal with prosecutors, which required his testimony in the tax evasion trial of the Trump Organization. The former CFO acknowledged in court that he hid payments from the company for his car, luxury apartment and other personal expenses. Weisselberg also testified that he and other executives received bonus payments as if they were independent contractors. The former Trump Organization official is said to have earned some $1.76 million in "indirect employee compensation."The charges before Weisselberg amount to up to 15 years behind bars. https://sputnikglobe.com/20210712/trump-organization-removes-weisselberg-as-financial-officer-1083371690.html americas manhattan Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International trump organization, allen weisselberg, rikers prison, manhattan, tax fraud https://sputnikglobe.com/20230111/explosion-and-gunfire-reported-near-afghan-foreign-ministry-in-kabul-1106220581.html At Least Five People Killed in Kabul Blast, Police Confirm At Least Five People Killed in Kabul Blast, Police Confirm Earlier this month, a blast outside the military airport in Kabul left several people dead and wounded 2023-01-11T11:46+0000 2023-01-11T11:46+0000 2023-02-10T09:05+0000 world afghanistan explosion gunshot blast taliban power daesh /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/01/0b/1106221113_0:160:3072:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_7de4842b83c3c51ed6bcd50907dc82ba.jpg At least five people were killed and several injured in an explosion near the Afghan Foreign Ministry in Kabul on Wednesday, police confirmed."An explosion took place today on the road to the ministry of foreign affairs as a result of which five civilians were martyred and several more were injured," said Kabul police spokesman Khalid Zadran.Earlier, conflicting reports suggested different figures: according to a Sputnik source, a total of 21 people, including 3 members of the Taliban*, were killed as a result of the explosion.In turn, a Qatar-based media outlet quoting unnamed sources as saying, seven people were killed and ten more injured in an explosion near the building of the Afghan Foreign Ministry in Kabul on Tuesday. A Western news outlet, for its part, claimed that more than twenty people were killed or wounded as a result of the blast.He added that at the moment of the blast, many employees had already left the building, which was also abandoned by foreign citizens.The developments come after Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Nafi Takoor said in early January that an explosion had occurred at a military airport in the Afghan capital of Kabul. He added that a number of people were killed or injured in the incident.There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast, but the regional affiliate of Daesh*, known as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province, has increased its attacks since the Taliban** seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021. Targets have included Taliban patrols and members of Afghanistans Shia minority.*Daesh (ISIL/ISIS/Islamic State), a terrorist group banned in Russia and a spate of other countries **Taliban, a group is under UN sanctions over terrorist activities https://sputnikglobe.com/20221212/police-two-foreigners-injured-in-attack-on-hotel-in-kabul-1105392730.html afghanistan Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Oleg Burunov https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e4/09/0b/1080424846_0:0:2048:2048_100x100_80_0_0_3d7b461f8a98586fa3fe739930816aea.jpg Oleg Burunov https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e4/09/0b/1080424846_0:0:2048:2048_100x100_80_0_0_3d7b461f8a98586fa3fe739930816aea.jpg News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Oleg Burunov https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e4/09/0b/1080424846_0:0:2048:2048_100x100_80_0_0_3d7b461f8a98586fa3fe739930816aea.jpg an explosion in kabul, a blast near the building of the afghan foreign ministry in kabul, twenty people were reportedly killed or injured in the kabul blast https://sputnikglobe.com/20230111/harry-potter-fan-strips-jk-rowlings-name-from-tomes-1106228404.html Harry Potter Fan Strips JK Rowling's Name From Tomes Harry Potter Fan Strips JK Rowling's Name From Tomes A transgender bartender decided to manually change the covers of Harry Potter series, as he considered it unethical to read works with Rawling's name on it due to latter's word about transpersons. 2023-01-11T17:12+0000 2023-01-11T17:12+0000 2023-01-11T17:12+0000 viral jk rowling transsexual scandal harry potter books covers /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/105498/87/1054988781_0:270:5184:3186_1920x0_80_0_0_b16a9c35b982805cbed3f7e04c50a863.jpg Transgender artist Laur Flom has taken to removing JK Rowling's credits from Harry Potter books, dedicating his efforts to creating a "safe space" for fans who cant tolerate her remarks on transgenders.The 23-year-old Canadian bartender turned bookbinder in January 2022, claiming that Rowlings statements regarding people who underwent sex reassignment surgery motivated his decision.The artist also clarified that: "The purpose of this project is to (...) find comfort in the books and critically engage with J.K Rowling's work. This project isn't about the 'death of the author', that's impossible."It takes 12 hours to re-bind each book. The bartender says he spends 15 hours every week on the binding and combines it with his work in the bar.It costs 140 to bind one book. If someone wants to bind all seven volumes of a series, it will cost 979, a percentage of which goes to transgender charities.According to the artist's statement to British media, "[the reactions are] mostly good, the majority of my comments are positive". Flom is also happy due to the opportunity to "enlighten" people about Rowling's statements: "'I think that it's been successful so far, just the fact that people have been interested makes me think that it's been successful."Rowling previously expressed her disapproval of the phrase "people who menstruate" in a series of social media posts in July 2020. She also argued that the abolition of the concept of gender deprives people of meaningful discussion.Later, Rowling, who has faced an enormous backlash over her views, published a 3,600-word essay on her personal website responding to criticism. She stated that she had experienced domestic and sexual abuse and that she was wary of men entering women's spaces.Although some people, including members of the LGBT+ community, agreed with Rowling's position, many began to threaten her with physical violence. Several activists published her home address on social media, prompting Scotland Yard to interfere.Amid the scandal around her statements, Rowling, along with nearly 150 other prominent western intellectuals, signed A Letter on Justice and Open Debate. As part of this letter they asked that tolerance not be turned into a weapon of totalitarianism and so-called "cancel culture." https://sputnikglobe.com/20200611/wont-bow-down-jk-rowling-strikes-back-at-accusations-of-transphobia-1079582731.html Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Egor Shapovalov Egor Shapovalov News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Egor Shapovalov rawling's bartender changing hardcovers, transperson bookbinder ripps off rawling name from books, rawling's transphobic statements https://sputnikglobe.com/20230111/how-many-nuclear-weapons-does-nato-have-1106219937.html How Many Nuclear Weapons Does NATO Have? How Many Nuclear Weapons Does NATO Have? As NATOs tensions with Russia and China show no sign of abating, people across the world become increasingly worried over the threat of the alliance being involved in a nuclear confrontation with Moscow or Beijing 2023-01-11T15:24+0000 2023-01-11T15:24+0000 2023-01-11T15:24+0000 sputnik explains us france nato nuclear weapons russia us nukes use nuclear submarine /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/04/04/1094453398_263:0:1838:886_1920x0_80_0_0_e9a6113615527da3ba3832f2bd291fe7.jpg What is NATO's Current Nuclear Stockpile?At the moment, NATO possesses a total of 5,943 nuclear warheads.Some research companies, meanwhile, remain at odds over the total number of NATO nukes, mainly referring to the so-called operational number of warheads.One western media outlet, for instance, cites about 4,178 operational nuclear warheads that the alliance possessed in 2022.According to Statista, in 2012 the figure stood at 5,406, a far cry from the number of NATO nuclear warheads registered in 2002 (11,087) and 1992 (14,498). In 1972, the alliance reportedly had a total of 27,009 nukes the biggest figure that has been registered by Statista since 1952.Which NATO Countries Have Nukes?Nuclear weapons are currently possessed by three NATO allies: the United States, United Kingdom and France. The US possesses the lion's share of all nukes.How Many Nukes Does the US Have?Currently, there are 5,428 nuclear warheads on at least 652 delivery vehicles in the US, including 400 Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles and 14 nuclear-capable Ohio-class Trident submarines, Pentagon data indicates. The currently deployed number of the US nuclear warheads stands at 1,350.According to the Washington-based non-profit organization Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, the number comprises an estimated 100 nuclear warheads that the US stored across Europe on air bases in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Turkey, in line with the so-called principle of NATO nuclear sharing.What About the UK's Nuclear Arsenal?A US news outlet argued that Britain currently possesses a total of 225 nuclear warheads.The number includes more than 100 warheads that can be part of arms of the British Vanguard-class nuclear-powered submarines.Does France Outstrip UK in Terms of Nukes' Number?There are about 290 nuclear weapons in France, which is capable of launching nukes from submarines or using missiles dropped from an aircraft, according to the global civil society coalition International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.The coalition argued that France spent an estimated $5.9 billion to build and maintain its nuclear forces in 2021. What is NATO Nuclear Sharing?According to NATOs official website, nuclear sharing is the alliances arrangements ensuring that the benefits, responsibilities and risks of nuclear deterrence are shared across the whole of NATO.The concept came to the fore late last week, when Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto announced that his country would not house nuclear weapons on its territory even after joining NATO.This was preceded by Stockholm and Helsinki making it clear in November 2022 that they dont exclude deploying US nukes on their soil, if, of course, both Sweden and Finland join NATO.Her Swedish counterpart Ulf Kristersson stressed that Stockholm shares Helsinkis approach to the issue of deploying nukes on the two countries soil.The remarks came after Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized earlier last year that Moscow has no problems with Finland and Sweden, and that the possible expansion of NATO at the expense of these two countries does not pose an immediate threat" to Russia. He, however, warned that Moscow would respond in kind to the NATO enlargement.When Can NATO Use Nuclear Weapons?The possibility of NATO using nuclear weapons was mentioned by the alliances Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in October 2022, when he singled out the topic in light of Russias ongoing special military operation in Ukraine.They also know that a nuclear war cannot be won and should never be fought, Stoltenberg added.Russia has repeatedly underlined that Moscow does not threaten anyone with nuclear weapons, with Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov telling Sputnik in November that the goal of western countries bellicose remarks is to make the global community believe that Moscow is purportedly preparing to launch a tactical nuclear strike on Ukraine.Russian President Vladimir Putin, for his part, warned that a nuclear war threat is growing and that Moscow does not want to be "brandishing" its nukes around the world. https://sputnikglobe.com/20221105/nato-not-planning-to-change-its-nuclear-deployments-stoltenberg-says--1103820829.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20220301/nato-finds-no-need-to-change-nuclear-alert-level-1093493289.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20211119/nato-nuclear-weapons-can-be-moved-to-east-from-germany-stoltenberg-1090854992.html france russia Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Oleg Burunov https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e4/09/0b/1080424846_0:0:2048:2048_100x100_80_0_0_3d7b461f8a98586fa3fe739930816aea.jpg Oleg Burunov https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e4/09/0b/1080424846_0:0:2048:2048_100x100_80_0_0_3d7b461f8a98586fa3fe739930816aea.jpg News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Oleg Burunov https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e4/09/0b/1080424846_0:0:2048:2048_100x100_80_0_0_3d7b461f8a98586fa3fe739930816aea.jpg nato's nuclear weapons, nato's nukes, nato members who have nukes, nato's nuclear stockpile, a nuclear war threat, operational number of nuclear warheads, nato's nuclear arsenal, nato nuclear sharing, how many nukes does nato have, does nato have nuclear weapons, which nato member states have nuclear weapons https://sputnikglobe.com/20230111/how-russia-is-solving-africas-food-dilemma-despite-western-sanctions-1106215774.html How Russia is Solving Africas Food Dilemma Despite Western Sanctions How Russia is Solving Africas Food Dilemma Despite Western Sanctions To contribute to the solution of the food crisis in the Global South, Moscow created a safe grain corridor in the Black Sea to ensure the transportation of agricultural goods from Ukraine to its customers. 2023-01-11T08:23+0000 2023-01-11T08:23+0000 2023-01-11T08:25+0000 africa russia ukraine africa insight /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/102665/69/1026656984_0:161:3071:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_393e8d9c80ed43d853fb6f11a8e34a9f.jpg According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the food remains beyond reach for many due to high prices and weather shocks, Ashraf Patel, senior research associate with the Institute for Global Dialogue and member of the South Africa BRICS Think Tank Network, told Sputnik.About 350 million people in Africa suffer from food insecurity, said International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Director-General Robert Mardini, while delivering a speech at the Folk och Forsvar ("People and Defense") conference that kicked off on Sunday in Sweden.Following the beginning of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine, the Group of Seven (G7) and its allies slapped sweeping sanctions on virtually all sectors of Russias economy, including the financial and banking sector, transportation, energy, and many others. The country was severed from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) and banned from making or receiving international payments using the mechanism.The Western sanctions crippled Russias food and fertilizer trade even though the European Council repeatedly claimed that the West had not imposed direct sanctions on the nations agricultural goods.Still, the Western mainstream media acknowledged in March 2022 that as sanctions hurt Russia, "fertilizer shortage imperils world food supply." The African Union, a continental union consisting of 54 member states, drew attention to the "collateral impact" of the West's unprecedented sanctions on Russia's food supplies to the Global South in May 2022.The US and its NATO allies have tried to pin all of the blame for the turbulent food market on Russias special military operation in Ukraine. However, the African nations dont buy into this, according to Dr. Frederick Golooba-Mutebi, a Ugandan independent researcher and political scientist with a special interest in political economics.According to Golooba-Mutebi, the major issues causing Africas hunger problem are disrupted supply chains and poor internal distribution. The lack of fertilizers is further exacerbating the problem, he admitted.The peaceful resolution of the Russo-Ukrainian conflict would help to restore supply chains and reinvigorate the global food trade, the Africa experts believe. However, Western countries are continuing to pour gasoline on the fire in Ukraine by stepping up arms supplies and artificially protracting the conflict, according to them.As a result, the Wests policies continue to exacerbate the global food security and nutrition crisis, with high and volatile energy, food and fertilizer prices, restrictive trade policies, and supply chain disruptions, according to Ashraf Patel.To contribute to the solution of the food crisis in the Global South, Moscow created a safe grain corridor in the Black Sea to ensure the transportation of agricultural goods from Ukraine to its customers. Russia and Ukraine concluded the so-called grain deal in July 2022 with Turkey as a mediator. Moreover, Moscow also pledged to provide hundreds of thousands of tons of fertilizer and grain for free to poor countries.However, Western countries took the lions share of food coming from Ukraine through the grain corridor and snubbed Russias gesture of good will.It took a lot of time and effort to ensure at least partial delivery of agricultural goods from Russia to developing nations. As of November 2022, Russia exported over 15 million tons of grain, as well as a large amount of mineral fertilizers within the framework of the Russo-Ukrainian grain deal, according to Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Belousov.More than 90% of deliveries go to countries in Africa and Southeast Asia, Belousov told reporters on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperations (APEC) summit in Bangkok in November 2022.All in all, Russia has the capacity to export around 50 million tons of grain between July 1, 2022 and June 30, 2023, as Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Victoria Abramchenko told journalists in mid-November.Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that he had agreed with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the possibility of sending free Russian grain and fertilizers to starving African countries.In addition to that, Russia is set to build its own dry cargo ships to become completely independent from Western maritime transportation companies and insurers. The creation of its own fleet for the export of Russian food has become a strategic task and an important factor in the development of the agro-industrial complex in Russia, according to the nation's Ministry of Agriculture. https://sputnikglobe.com/20221223/russian-ammonia-supplies-to-needy-nations-blocked-exclusively-by-ukraine-foreign-ministry-says-1105721714.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20230108/west-is-losing-influence-in-africa-says-eritrean-ambassador-to-russia-1106122351.html africa russia ukraine Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Ekaterina Blinova Ekaterina Blinova News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Ekaterina Blinova russia's grain, russia helps africa, 350 million people suffer from hunger in africa, what does russia do in africa, how does russia help african countries? https://sputnikglobe.com/20230111/japanese-governments-approval-rating-drops-to-record-low-of-33-poll-shows-1106215578.html Japanese Government's Approval Rating Drops to Record Low of 33%, Poll Shows Japanese Government's Approval Rating Drops to Record Low of 33%, Poll Shows The rating of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's government has dropped to the lowest figure of 33% among those surveyed, down by 3 percentage points compared with December 2023-01-11T07:10+0000 2023-01-11T07:10+0000 2023-04-06T12:15+0000 world fumio kishida approval rating taxes shinzo abe japanese parliament japan /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/01/09/1106149866_0:161:3071:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_94445142ab9542c4ca29087857cade53.jpg The latest decrease in the approval rating marks the lowest since the establishment of Kishida's cabinet and was at the same level for the first time in November 2022, the poll showed. Meanwhile, the number of those expressing distrust in the Japanese government has increased by 1 percentage point to a total of 45%, which is the second highest figure after 46% recorded in November last year, the survey said. Kishida's policy aimed at raising taxes to replenish the country's defense budget has caused a major disagreement, as 61% of the respondents opposed the move and only 28% approved the measures, according to the poll. Forty nine percent of those sampled said it was necessary to dissolve the Japanese parliament and ask the will of voters during new elections, while 35% were against the dissolution, it added. The survey was conducted from January 7-9 by random computer sampling among 1,250 people aged over 18. The Japanese cabinet was reshuffled in August and was reportedly considering realizing partial government staff changes in early January due to record low approval rating. Kishida reportedly abandoned his plan to carry out a broader reshuffle, since he found it difficult to select candidates to form a new government completely free of scandals or relations with the controversial Unification Church. In mid-November, the Japanese prime minister dismissed Justice Minister Yasuhiro Hanashi over his controversial statements about duties related to signing death sentences, which sparked criticism among Japan's opposition parties. Economic Revitalization Minister Daishiro Yamagiwa resigned at the end of October over his ties to the Unification Church, which has been in the spotlight following the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. https://sputnikglobe.com/20221223/japan-cabinet-approves-2023-draft-budget-at-862bln-with-record-defense-part-reports-say-1105722120.html japan Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International fumio kishida`s policy, dissolving japanese parliament, shinzo abe` death, kishida approval raiting, unification church in japan https://sputnikglobe.com/20230111/literally-insane-aoc-mocked-after-claiming-gas-stoves-linked-to-brain-damage-1106232802.html 'Literally Insane': AOC Mocked After Claiming Gas Stoves Linked to Brain Damage 'Literally Insane': AOC Mocked After Claiming Gas Stoves Linked to Brain Damage When AOC inquired whether Rep. Jackson is aware that ongoing exposure to NO2 from gas stoves is linked to reduced cognitive performance, one netizen wondered if AOCs tweet was an attack on celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay. 2023-01-11T19:08+0000 2023-01-11T19:08+0000 2023-01-11T19:11+0000 viral alexandria ocasio-cortez gas social media criticism /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e5/04/0d/1082616665_0:0:3073:1728_1920x0_80_0_0_d35598cf0b232deed1bf89d1739e6352.jpg US Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has come under fire online after attempting to mock another member of Congress, Republican Representative Ronny Jackson, over the issue of gas stoves.With the US Consumer Product Safety Commission mulling a ban on gas stoves in the country, Jackson tweeted that he will never give up his stove, adding: If the maniacs in the White House come for my stove, they can pry it from my cold dead hands.In response, AOC inquired whether Jackson is aware that ongoing exposure to NO2 from gas stoves is linked to reduced cognitive performance.Her remark quickly elicited a barrage of mockery from many social media users.Im certain you are right, one netizen wrote in a tweet featuring photos of AOC and US Vice-President Kamala Harris standing near gas stoves.Clearly Joe has been around too many stoves, another one quipped, apparently referring to President Joe Biden.Another social media user jokingly inquired whether AOCs tweet was an attack on celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, while yet another netizen simply wrote: Dems are literally insane. Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International alexandria ocasio-cortez, gas stove ban https://sputnikglobe.com/20230111/moscow-says-eu-moving-towards-geopolitical-rivalry-with-china-through-nato-partnership-1106228281.html Moscow Says EU Moving Towards Geopolitical Rivalry With China Through NATO Partnership Moscow Says EU Moving Towards Geopolitical Rivalry With China Through NATO Partnership The European Union is moving towards geopolitical rivalry with China through its deepening partnership with NATO and signing a new declaration on bilateral cooperation with the alliance. 2023-01-11T15:13+0000 2023-01-11T15:13+0000 2023-04-12T17:05+0000 russia maria zakharova russian foreign ministry nato ursula von der leyen jens stoltenberg european union (eu) /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/08/01/1097987754_0:0:3314:1864_1920x0_80_0_0_6fed9bb091cdee1f2c1966c274bd50ab.jpg On Tuesday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, European Council President Charles Michel, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen signed Joint Declaration on EU-NATO Cooperation. The document stated the allies' intention to strengthen cooperation, recognizing NATO as the basis of the collective security, and stressed the need to enhance European defense as a complement to the common safety. According to the spokeswoman, the joint declaration is "another panegyric of Western supremacy philosophy," which "notoriously states that NATO and the EU will use all political, economic and military means 'in the interests of our one billion citizens'." Meanwhile, the rest of the world is essentially considered by EU-NATO as a hostile environment, she added. Zakharova also said that aggressive and confrontational approaches of NATO and the EU towards other countries sticking to independent foreign policy, as well as attempts to divide states into "friends" and "foes" would only hinder peaceful settlement of global conflicts and weaken international security in the face of persistent challenges of terrorism. Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International maria zakharova, nato-eu relations, joint declaration, liberal world order, rivalry with china https://sputnikglobe.com/20230111/police-copenhagen-swept-by-very-worrying-wave-of-stabbings-1106214084.html Police: Copenhagen Swept by 'Very Worrying' Wave of Stabbings Police: Copenhagen Swept by 'Very Worrying' Wave of Stabbings A total of 16 people have been stabbed since December. The police said that stabbings as such are "not unusual," yet called their frequency alarming. 2023-01-11T07:47+0000 2023-01-11T07:47+0000 2023-01-11T07:47+0000 world scandinavia news denmark crime stabbing /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/08/01/1098002752_0:152:2048:1304_1920x0_80_0_0_76363daacbfdabc43ba587cc0d43ddf6.jpg The Danish capital of Copenhagen has been hit by a wave of street stabbings, the most recent of which occurred this week when a 19-year-old was knifed by a 17-year-old.A total of 16 people have been stabbed since December. Knud Hvass, deputy police inspector at Copenhagen Police, said that stabbings as such are "not unusual," yet called their frequency alarming.Most of the knife attacks were centered around the Norrebro quarter, parts of which are present in Denmarks ghetto list of neighborhoods characterized by a high percentage of immigrants, unemployment and crime.According to the police, the investigation is in full swing, which is why they were very terse about the details, only saying that the increase was "no coincidence" and that at least some of the stabbings were "connected."A special search zone was introduced in late December in parts Copenhagen after several stabbings. In the area, the police can search people and vehicles without any concrete suspicion. At the beginning of January, its duration was prolonged as the stabbings continued. According to the Copenhagen Police, a total of 160 people have been searched, resulting in seven charges for illegal weapons possession and 18 seized knives or other stabbing weapons.However, even while the situation is currently tense, it is not unusual. Jens Moller, former deputy police inspector and head of homicide at the Copenhagen Police, called it "history repeating," adding that confrontations between groups "come in waves." He cited the winter of 2021, when a prolonged conflict between professional criminal milieus took place in the Danish capital. According to Moller, such conflicts tend to end with either the police apprehending the culprits or the gangs making peace.Meanwhile, similar problems have plagued Stockholm, the capital of neighboring Sweden, which has also become the countrys main arena for gang clashes. Around a dozen acts of violence took place in the region between Christmas and the end of the first week of the new year, including three murders and several attempted murders. In 2022, Sweden saw a record increase in firearm violence, with the police noting that criminals tend to "shoot to kill."In late December, the Swedish government launched inquiries into Danish-style stop-and-search zones and a new system of anonymous witnesses in what Sweden Democrats leader Jimmie Akesson called "the biggest offensive against organized crime in modern times." https://sputnikglobe.com/20221212/sweden-sees-bloodiest-year-on-record-amid-horrible-spike-in-gun-violence-1105369053.html scandinavia denmark Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Igor Kuznetsov Igor Kuznetsov News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Igor Kuznetsov street stabbings, gang conflicts, criminal milieus, gangland wars, ghetto list https://sputnikglobe.com/20230111/putin-everything-must-be-done-to-protect-rights-security-of-new-russian-regions-residents-1106234639.html Putin: Everything Must Be Done to Protect Rights, Security of New Russian Regions' Residents Putin: Everything Must Be Done to Protect Rights, Security of New Russian Regions' Residents MOSCOW (Sputnik) - It is important to do everything possible to protect the constitutional rights and security of new Russian regions' residents, Russian... 11.01.2023, Sputnik International 2023-01-11T21:37+0000 2023-01-11T21:37+0000 2023-01-11T21:32+0000 russia vladimir putin kherson zaporozhye region donetsk people's republic lugansk peoples republic referendum /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/09/17/1101133687_0:160:3073:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_00dc9e6a40f3ee1815b931170d7fd476.jpg In his congratulations to prosecutor's office employees on their professional holiday, Putin said countering extremism and corruption, protecting the rights of entrepreneurs and environmental protection remain the key areas of work. Referendums on the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR), the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions becoming part of Russia were held on September 23-27, 2022. Most voters supported joining Russia. Putin signed relevant treaties with the territories' heads on September 30.The Russian president added that Russia's prosecutor's office should pay special attention to the rights of the military personnel, the mobilized soldiers and volunteers participating in the ongoing special military operation."It is to pay special attention to respecting the rights of soldiers, mobilized ones, and volunteers. I would like to emphasize that prosecutors have all the necessary powers to effectively address these and other important tasks. I am sure you will do your best to do so," the Russian president said in his congratulatory speech to prosecutors on their professional holiday.Putin further noted that the main aspect in the work of prosecutors is for Russians to feel that they are under the protection of the law.Russian prosecutors celebrate their professional holiday on Thursday, January 12. kherson zaporozhye region Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International vladimir putin, kherson, zaporozhye region, donetsk people's republic, lugansk peoples republic, referendum https://sputnikglobe.com/20230111/the-cost-of-climate-change-over-120-billion-in-insurance-covered-losses-reported-in-2022-alone-1106211747.html The Cost of Climate Change: Over $120 Billion in Insurance-Covered Losses Reported in 2022 Alone The Cost of Climate Change: Over $120 Billion in Insurance-Covered Losses Reported in 2022 Alone The year 2022 has become one of the costliest years on record following a number of natural disasters which ravaged the United States, Australia, and Pakistan... 11.01.2023, Sputnik International 2023-01-11T02:58+0000 2023-01-11T02:58+0000 2023-01-11T02:53+0000 world environment climate change economy world economy insurance natural disasters /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/09/1d/1101357496_40:0:2842:1576_1920x0_80_0_0_cb4227223042e60445688b1f67d4eca2.png The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released a report on Tuesday revealing that the US alone accounted for $1 billion in damages after it experienced nearly 20 extreme weather events in 2022, making it the third most expensive year on record after 2021 and 2017.Those disasters include Hurricane Ian in North America, and several floods as well as record monsoon rains in Asia and Australia triggered by melting glaciers. At least 1,700 people died as a result of floods in Pakistan which also resulted in damages costing $15 billion, most of which was not insured. Australias overall damages resulted in $8.1 billion for all of 2022. The worlds largest insurance company, Munich Re, reported the total cost in losses caused by natural catastrophesincluding those not covered by insurancewas $270 billion in 2022, which is near the average of the past five years. Hurricane Ian - the deadliest hurricane to strike the state of Florida in nearly 90 years - made up $100 billion in overall losses and $60 billion in insured losses."Weather shocks are on the rise," Ernst Rauch, chief climate scientist at Munich Re, told Reuters. "We can't directly attribute any single severe weather event to climate change. But climate change has made weather extremes more likely."According to Rauch, insured losses of $100 billion annually appear to be the new normal.Climate change is taking an increasing toll, Thomas Blunck, a member of Munich Res Board of Management, warned in a release. The natural disaster figures for 2022 are dominated by events that, according to the latest research findings, are more intense or are occurring more frequently. Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Mary Manley https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/01/0b/1092187887_0:0:2048:2049_100x100_80_0_0_0c2cc4c84f89aff034cc55bb01fb6697.jpg Mary Manley https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/01/0b/1092187887_0:0:2048:2049_100x100_80_0_0_0c2cc4c84f89aff034cc55bb01fb6697.jpg News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Mary Manley https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/01/0b/1092187887_0:0:2048:2049_100x100_80_0_0_0c2cc4c84f89aff034cc55bb01fb6697.jpg environment, climate change, economy, world economy, insurance, natural disasters https://sputnikglobe.com/20230111/tory-mp-blasts-prince-harry-says-he-should-give-up-royal-title-if-hes-going-to-trash-his-family-1106212980.html Tory MP Blasts Prince Harry, Says He Should Give Up Royal Title if He's Going to Trash His Family Tory MP Blasts Prince Harry, Says He Should Give Up Royal Title if He's Going to Trash His Family "If he hates the institution so much, why doesn't he set an example and become Mr. Windsor," Bob Seely, who represents the Isle of Wight, told British media. 11.01.2023, Sputnik International 2023-01-11T04:12+0000 2023-01-11T04:12+0000 2023-01-11T04:50+0000 viral prince harry uk royal family tory mps /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/01/05/1106062850_0:160:3073:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_9486fd28f9f9ef996cef248809760e22.jpg Bob Seely, a member of parliament for the Conservative Party, has openly criticized the Duke and Duchess of Sussex after their Netflix documentary, which features six episodes on the couple, dropped in early December.The documentary is a deeply personal, but one-sided, account of the Duke and Duchesss love story and their subsequent decision to step down from their work as senior members of the UK royal family.Seely has criticized the documentary as being narcissistic, and is now attempting to push through a piece of legislation that would strip Prince Harry and Meghan Markle of their royal titles. The Private Members Bill would apparently allow a vote on amending the 1917 Titles Deprivation Act, which was first used to strip German royal family members of their titles during World War I.The bill, which Downing Street refused to support, is similar to that which Rachel Maskell, an MP of the Labor Party, is trying to pass in order to allow the Monarch to remove titles. However, Maskell's bill is motivated by Prince Andrew, King Charles IIIs younger brother who was accused of sexually abusing an underage person in connection with serial predator Jeffrey Epstein.Prince Harry, however, has no interest in dropping his royal title. During a 60 Minutes interview with Anderson Cooper which focused on his new memoir Spare, the 38-year-old father of two asked, And what difference would that make? when asked why he and his wife have yet to renounce their royal titles.There is a political issue. As well as trashing his family and monetizing his misery for public consumption, he is also attacking some important institutions in this country, Seely claimed. Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Mary Manley https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/01/0b/1092187887_0:0:2048:2049_100x100_80_0_0_0c2cc4c84f89aff034cc55bb01fb6697.jpg Mary Manley https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/01/0b/1092187887_0:0:2048:2049_100x100_80_0_0_0c2cc4c84f89aff034cc55bb01fb6697.jpg News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Mary Manley https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/01/0b/1092187887_0:0:2048:2049_100x100_80_0_0_0c2cc4c84f89aff034cc55bb01fb6697.jpg prince harry, uk royal family, tory mps https://sputnikglobe.com/20230111/uk-japan-to-sign-most-important-defense-treaty-in-over-century-london-says--1106219489.html UK and Japan to Allow Deploying Forces in Each Other's Territories, London Says UK and Japan to Allow Deploying Forces in Each Other's Territories, London Says The United Kingdom and Japan on Wednesday will sign a highly significant defense cooperation agreement in over a century, which will allow the two countries deploy their forces on each other's territory 2023-01-11T10:36+0000 2023-01-11T10:36+0000 2023-04-06T12:15+0000 military indo-pacific uk rishi sunak fumio kishida japan /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/07/01/1096852642_0:320:3072:2048_1920x0_80_0_0_72b5ee96455028378ac6fbb11754b34c.jpg The deal will be signed by UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida in London during Kishida's five-day trip to G7 countries that began in France earlier in the week. Kishida is also scheduled to visit Canada and the United States, with the Japanese prime minister expected to hold talks with US President Joe Biden on security and defense cooperation between Tokyo and Washington. The statement added that the deal will be "the most important" defense treaty between the countries since 1902. According to the UK government, the treaty called the Reciprocal Access Agreement, is also intended to "cement the UK's commitment" to Indo-Pacific security as it allows the two sides to plan and conduct larger scale joint military exercises in the area. In early December, the UK and Japan together with Italy agreed to launch the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) to jointly develop a new generation fighter by 2035. indo-pacific japan Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International security in indo-pacific, rishi sunak, fumio kishida, uk-japan relations, kishida`s trip to g7 countries https://sputnikglobe.com/20230111/victory-in-soledar-opens-door-to-liberation-of-all-donbass-dpr-lawmaker-says-1106229686.html Victory in Soledar Opens Door to Liberation of All Donbass, DPR Lawmaker Says Victory in Soledar Opens Door to Liberation of All Donbass, DPR Lawmaker Says Russian forces have established control over Soledar, a town lying around 18 km from Bakhmut (Artyomovsk), which has recently become the linchpin of the Russo-Ukrainian standoff. 2023-01-11T16:39+0000 2023-01-11T16:39+0000 2023-01-11T16:45+0000 russia's special operation in ukraine ukraine opinion russia dpr lpr donbass ceasefire attacks offensive /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/09/12/1100922695_0:160:3073:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_4fca8bb25cdf7c8178c859e26ebfa67c.jpg "Donbass is the main direction [of offensive] now; as you can see, it goes on the Artemovsk-Soledar-Seversk line," Vladislav Berdichevsky, a lawmaker of the parliament of Russia's Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), told Sputnik. "This is now the first line of defense from this side. On the other hand, there is Maryinka, Krasnogorovka, and Avdeevka. There is also a very tense situation there now. But so far, there have been more positional battles there than in Soledar-Artemovsk. Soledar is almost under control now. A mini-cauldron was created there, closer to the west of Soledar."Acting head of the DPR, Denis Pushilin, announced on Tuesday that the Wagner Group private military company (PMC) had gained the center of the town of Soledar. Pushilin noted that Ukrainian troops had been suffering serious losses but continued to resist. On Wednesday, Russian forces managed to spread their control over the rest of the town. A fighting cauldron has been formed in the center of the city, where urban battles are taking place, according to the companys head, Yevgeny Prigozhin.The liberation of Soledar will not only pave the way to the taking of Artyomovsk (Bakhmut), but will also ensure the liberation of other parts of the former Donetsk region, including Slavyansk, Konstantinovka, Druzhkovka, Kramatorsk and further north, according to Berdichevsky.Makeevka Attack & Christmas CeasefireOn January 1, at 00:01 Moscow time (21:01 December, 31 GMT), Ukrainian artillery fired six HIMARS rockets at a temporary deployment point of a Russian military unit in the area of Makeevka, with two rockets intercepted by air defense. The attack claimed the lives of 89 Russian soldiers.Following the Kiev regime's strike, Moscow called on the Ukrainian leadership to implement a ceasefire on Orthodox Christmas Day to allow Russian and Ukrainian civilians to celebrate the sacred holiday.Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed the Defense Ministry to introduce a 36-hour ceasefire along the line of contact between the warring sides from January 6-7. However, Moscow's request was rejected by Kiev: the Ukrainian military continued to shell Russia's military positions and residential areas during the holiday.Kiev's snubbing of Russia's ceasefire initiative is hardly surprising given that the Ukrainian authorities are doing everything to keep the war going as long as possible, according to Berdichevsky. He pointed out that the Kiev regime's strings are actually being pulled by US policy-makers, who have forbidden Ukraine from conducting any negotiations with Moscow, because the goal of the US is to bleed Russia dry and to try to Balkanize it.After the Christmas holidays, the Russian military avenged the Makeevka tragedy. In the result of the retaliatory operation, over 600 Ukrainian troops were reportedly eliminated in the city of Kramatorsk, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense.Berdichevsky highlighted that the Russian military is attacking positions of the Ukrainian nationalists on a regular basis. He added that Banderites the ideological heirs of Nazi Germany collaborator Stepan Bandera are typically deploying their units in civilian facilities, including schools and kindergartens, especially old Soviet ones which have big thick walls."I just think that we need to cover this more actively in the media," Berdichevsky remarked, adding that "the enemys losses can be quite large during the day precisely from attacks on temporary accommodation points."Russian OffensiveThe Russian military is making progress on the ground, even though in the very beginning of the special military operation there were certain setbacks, according to Berdichevsky.To illustrate his point the lawmaker noted that at the initial phases of the conflict, Russian troops did not have enough unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) which had earlier been instrumentalized by both Ukrainian and Donbass military personnel.Moscow managed to quickly fill this gap: Russia-made "Geran-2" and "Lancet" drones are being successfully used in Ukraine now.Likewise, the coordination between Russia's units and the understanding of the situation on the ground has been elevated to a new level, according to the DPR lawmaker."I see great prospects for Russia," said Berdichevsky. "The mobilized units are being trained and their number at the front is somewhere around 30% of those who were mobilized. They are being trained and undergoing combat coordination. Therefore, we hope that the Russian offensive will be kicked off in the near future." https://sputnikglobe.com/20230110/battle-for-bakhmut-why-the-city-is-key-to-russias-liberation-of-donbass-1106197085.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20221223/in-search-of-big-bucks-zelensky-zips-over-to-washington-1105734105.html ukraine russia donbass kiev Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Ekaterina Blinova Ekaterina Blinova News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Ekaterina Blinova ukraine, donbass, soledar, bakhmut, who is controlling soledar, pmc wagner group, russian offensive, makeevka attack, russia's christmas ceasefire https://sputnikglobe.com/20230111/wests-oil-price-cap-to-cut-into-russian-revenues-but-not-in-major-way---expert-1106233476.html West's Oil Price Cap to Cut Into Russian Revenues, But Not in Major Way - Expert West's Oil Price Cap to Cut Into Russian Revenues, But Not in Major Way - Expert MOSCOW (Sputnik) - A price cap on Russian oil, imposed by the West in response to Moscow's military operation in Ukraine, will likely reduce the country's oil... 11.01.2023, Sputnik International 2023-01-11T20:05+0000 2023-01-11T20:05+0000 2023-01-11T20:00+0000 russia oil prices price cap revenue /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/107939/86/1079398662_0:26:2909:1662_1920x0_80_0_0_f7ac120554b65f4551d47486f3cfd816.jpg The World Bank suggested on Tuesday that the drop in Russian exports associated with the G7 oil price cap will be smaller than initially anticipated. "Given an effective price cap ban and reduction of Russian oil export, Russian revenues will most likely be reduced, albeit not in a fundamental way. Some oil may be redirected to Asia and other parts of the world, and mitigate the volume effect. Exemptions from the ban may also be given," Austvik, a professor of political economy and petroleum economics at the Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, said. At the same time, the expert warned the cap could have negative repercussions for Russia in the long run. Western countries have been seeking ways to limit Russia's income from oil and gas exports, as well as their dependence on Russian fuel since the country launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24. On December 5, the European Union placed a price cap of $60 per barrel on Russian crude oil, joined by the G7 nations and Australia. In late December, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree banning supplies of Russian oil and petroleum products if contracts directly or indirectly provide for a price cap. According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the Russian president did not consult with OPEC+ allies before signing off on the response measures. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230111/western-powers-preparing-new-price-caps-on-russian-refined-petroleum-exports-reports-say-1106230359.html Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2023 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International oil prices, price cap, revenue Page Content Our featured Student of the Month for December is 11th grader Alexa Antunez Santos, nominated by Jason Buelterman. Mr. Buelterman describes Alexa as becoming more confident throughout her time at Johnson High, while excelling at her studies. She adapted to virtual learning during COVID-19 and was able to maintain her high academic achievement. Alexa has taken up the challenge of learning Mandarin as her IB foreign language because she is already fluent in Spanish. She was born in Honduras and moved to Savannah when she was age eight. She started learning English in 3rd grade as a student at Port Wentworth Elementary. Alexa was an honor roll student and won the Principal's Award while at Rice Creek. She was a district nominee for the Governor's Honors Program in 2022. In addition to caring for her sibling after school, Alexa is involved in volunteer activities, such as the Youth Court and DEEP Center, as well as Peer Mediation at Johnson. She is also an FBLA member. Mr. Buelterman added, Alexa has overcome so many obstacles to get to where she is now. She has had to adapt to living in a new country, learned to speak a new language, endured through COVID-19 and now is on the cusp of being the valedictorian of her high school. Alexa has shown a true commitment to her education. Her parents drive her roughly 35 minutes from Port Wentworth every day to and from school so she can be a part of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program. She is extremely motivated to succeed. We are very proud of her success!" Alexa plans to study Social Science for her undergrad degree and then go to law school. She wants to graduate early so she can start law school early. Thanks to our community business partners, Alexa is taking home multiple gifts a gift card from Members First Credit Union as well as Horne Law. Additionally, she will receive a meal voucher from Chicken Salad Chick, as well as Chicken Salad Chick merchandise, and a dozen cupcakes from J's Sweet Treats. Alexa and students of her English/Language Arts class will receive printed copies of her favorite book Born a Crime by Trevor Noah from our sponsor E. Shaver Booksellers. Lastly, Alexa will take home a portrait by Upscale Photography provided by Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools. Congratulations to Alexa, her family and the staff at Sol C. Johnson High School. While the number of COVID-19 cases in Nebraska remains low, health officials have detected the state's first cases of a coronavirus subvariant that is driving an increase in cases and hospitalizations in many Eastern states. In Nebraska, COVID case numbers dropped last week. The state recorded 1,420 new cases last week, down 18% from the week before, according to figures from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nebraskas case rate is currently in the bottom fourth among the states and nearly half the national rate. Hospitalizations for COVID also dipped again last week. Cases are uniformly low throughout the upper Midwest, in the mountain states and into the Pacific Northwest. But they're much higher in the East and South, where hospitalizations also are rising. Those increases are largely being attributed to a rapid increase in the new subvariant called XBB.1.5, which the CDC says now dominates in the Northeast. The new subvariant made its first appearance on the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services' genomic report for the week ending Dec. 31, although it accounted for just a fraction of samples sequenced. Dr. James Lawler, a co-executive director of the University of Nebraska Medical Center's Global Center for Health Security, called XBB.1.5 a "pretty significant upgrade for the virus in terms of transmissibility" compared to previous variants. Combined with the low rate of people who are up to date on their booster shots, the more contagious variant is translating into more cases, hospitalizations and deaths where the variant is dominant, he said. "Its important for folks to recognize that the viruses were dealing with now are very different than the viruses we dealt with early in the pandemic," Lawler said. World Health Organization officials said in a briefing last week that the subvariant has been detected in 29 countries so far but could be more widespread. The WHO doesnt have any data yet on the severity of XBB.1.5, said Maria Van Kerkhove, the agency's technical lead for COVID-19. A WHO assessment of whether it leaves people more or less sick than previous versions of omicron is expected soon. But Lawler said anytime virus levels increase, that increases the possibility of bad outcomes, including hospitalizations and deaths. In the U.S., the CDC estimates that just over one in four virus samples that have undergone genomic sequencing have been found to be for the new variant. While that was lower than previous estimates, Lawler said, he didn't think that changes the overall trend of XBB.1.5 taking over as the dominant form of the virus. As for what steps people can take to combat a future surge, Lawler said, "The first and most important thing is to get up to date on vaccines. Theres no more important and effective intervention you can do than being up to date on vaccines." Only about a third of adults over 50 have received any dose of vaccine in the past six months, he said. Slightly under 30% have received a dose of the updated bivalent vaccines, which target some of the latest omicron variants. Those without the latest boosters have been shown to have less protection from COVID, Lawler said. "The vaccines work, but you have to stay up to date with them," he said. As the pandemic has progressed, the nation has done well at reducing hospitalizations and deaths among the elderly, he said. While they still comprise the majority of hospitalizations and deaths, they make up a smaller percentage than earlier in the pandemic. Nationally, more deaths than would normally be expected occurred in 2022 among all age groups from 0 to 64 than in 2021 and 2020. Lawler said that's mostly because people of those ages are not as well-vaccinated as those 65 and above. Nebraska has recorded more than 556,500 cases of COVID-19. The state added 38 COVID deaths last week, bringing the figure for the pandemic to 4,723. Deaths tend to be added to the state toll in bunches. But recent figures suggest Nebraska is averaging nearly a dozen COVID deaths a week. Charts that track COVID-19 variants, vaccination rates and hospitalizations in Nebraska The Scotts Bluff County Sheriffs Office issued a warning advising residents to be wary of scams circulating in the area. The sheriffs office has received multiple reports of scam/fraudulent phone calls happening recently, according to information released by Sheriff Mark Overman. In some instances, the caller ID shows the phone number of the sheriffs office. This is known as spoofing, and its very common, Overman said in the release. Crooks use various tools to decide what number shows up in your caller ID. In some instances, callers have represented themselves and given accurate names of one or more deputy sheriffs that work for the Scotts Bluff County Sheriffs Office The callers are telling citizens that either there are arrest warrants for them, or that they have missed jury duty. In both instances the callers insist that citizens must pay a fine to avoid arrest and direct citizens to purchase gift cards or transfer money at multiple retail establishments. The callers provide a call-back number that does not belong to the Sheriffs Office. If you buy a gift card and call them back and give them the numbers from that card, your money is gone, Overman said. It is extremely unlikely that law enforcement will be able to track down the perpetrators and retrieve your money. Overman advised that law enforcement agencies never phone people and ask them to purchase any type of gift or money transfer card to pay fines or fees. Law enforcement agencies also never phone people to inform them that there are arrest warrants for them. Law enforcement agencies also would never phone people to tell them theyve missed jury duty and must pay a fine to avoid arrest. Anyone with questions may call the Scotts Bluff County Communications Center non-emergency number at 308-436-6666. More information on scams is available at the Federal Trade Commission website at The movie She Said will be screened this Friday, Jan. 13 and Saturday, Jan. 14 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Jan. 15 at 1:30 p.m. at the historic Midwest Theater, located in downtown Scottsbluff. "She Said" is rated R and has a run time of 2 hours, 9 minutes. The New York Times journalists Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor publish a report that exposes sexual abuse allegations against powerful Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. The shocking story also serves as a launching pad for the #MeToo movement, shattering decades of silence around the subject of sexual assault and harassment. Movie pricing is $4 per person for ages 2-12 and for Midwest Theater members who present their member cards. Tickets are $7 per person for non-members. Doors open Friday and Saturday at 6:45 p.m., and on Sunday at 12:45 p.m. Employees at Randy Marion Ford Lincoln of Statesville led the way in Home Insteads annual Be a Santa to a Senior program (BASTAS) by providing 80 presents to nursing-home residents and 15 additional presents to seniors who are still in their homes. Overall, Home Instead of Statesvilles effort included at least 11 businesses or organizations that helped gather more than 2,400 gifts for more than 800 seniors in Iredell County and surrounding communities. Randy Marion Ford Lincoln Customer Relations Manager Erin Roosa said this was the dealerships first time with BASTAS participation. Employees who wanted to participate requested the seniors gift-tags. Once bought, gifts were collected in a Randy Marion van to be delivered. Forty-five employees took part, and five employees handled the delivery of the 95 total presents. We took most of the presents to Accordious of Mooresville on Dec. 21. Because of the COVID-19 and other influenza protocols at Accordious, we werent able to see the seniors receive their gifts. We were excited to assist in creating a special holiday for these seniors. Buying the gifts was fun and brought some Christmas joy to us as well, Erin said. Home Instead Home Care Consultant Darla Corah spearheaded the overall BASTAS organizational effort. Randy Marion Ford Lincoln of Statesville was the top sponsor, and we really appreciate its efforts. Everyone who contributed in some way are angels as far as were concerned, said Darla, a CNA who has taken part in Home Insteads BASTAS programs since joining the franchise in 2007 as a Care Professional. In addition to Randy Marion Ford Lincoln of Statesville, Darla named the other assisting businesses and organizations: Village Tap House in Mooresville Ahlara International Day Spa and Boutique in Mooresville Mooresville Chamber of Commerce Mooresville Exchange Club Kewaunee Scientific Of Statesville Grouchos Deli of Statesville Carolina Tan & Wellness of Statesville Walmart Super Center of Statesville Simply Caring of Statesville Allen Tate Realtors of Statesville Each business and organization went above and beyond. We at Home Instead want to give a huge shoutout to all who participated. While Randy Marion Ford Lincoln of Statesville delivered its presents Dec. 21, we were delivering some gifts up to two days before Christmas, Darla said. Tracey and Creighton Gibson celebrated 20 years of award-winning Home Instead franchise ownership in November. The Gibsons noted: BASTAS is a franchise tradition and always has been our biggest give-back project of the year. Its never been about how much we give. Its always been about how much we love to give and how much we love seeing the joy on those seniors faces when it is possible to do that. Those smiles are why we do what we do each and every day as an in-home senior-care company. In North America this December, more than 200 Home Instead franchises participated in BASTAS programs and collectively delivered more than 75,000 gifts. In 2002 when they started their franchise, the Gibsons knew there were seniors in their area who had no family, were isolated and had experienced the loss of a loved one. Furthermore, the holiday season finds many older adults struggling to make ends meet. The Gibsons were determined to help. Each senior receives a gift bag with essential items, including a toothbrush, toothpaste, cleaning supplies, laundry supplies, plus the things he or she requested. Among the most requested items are socks, towels, blankets, robes, pajamas and crossword puzzles. The BASTAS program generates the Christmas spirit as everyone gives without truly knowing the result, the Gibsons said. If you donated to the BASTAS effort, we want to extend our appreciation for your generosity. You made a senior very happy during this holiday season. To learn more about the Home Instead franchise in Statesville, Mooresville or Taylorsville or to inquire about services or employment opportunities, call 704-924-9909 or go online at https://www.homeinstead.com/location/455/home-care-services/. All Home Instead Care Professionals are screened, trained and insured. A Statesville man is accused of robbing and firing shots at a man he met for an online firearm sale, said Iredell Sheriff Darren Campbell. Daniel Scott Miller Jr., 18, of Sparrow Lane, was charged with felony assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, felony discharging a firearm into occupied property, felony conspiracy and felony robbery with a dangerous weapon. A magistrate set bond at $500,000. Campbell, in a news release, said that on New Years Eve, deputies were called to Fonda Road regarding an armed robbery. The victim, he said, told deputies he was robbed at gunpoint at his residence the previous day. He identified the suspect as Miller, Campbell said. Detectives Katie Campbell and Charles Davidson from the Criminal Investigations Division were called to assist. Detectives, Campbell said, learned that victim was trying to sell a firearm online and made arrangements with Miller to buy the weapon. Miller parked at the end of the victims driveway and walked to the carport area for the meeting, Campbell said. Miller took the firearm from the victim and pulled out a second firearm, pointing it at the victim, Campbell said. Miller then ran back to his vehicle, and while doing so, fired multiple shots at the victim, Campbell said. No one was injured, but the victims residence was struck multiple times and there were occupants inside, he said. Miller was located a short time later and taken into custody. Miller has no listed criminal history. The keynote speaker for Wythevilles annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration said MLK Day is designed to galvanize and re-galvanize communities over and over again, and that two pivotal MLK quotes will be central in her message of hope, justice and love for all humanity. Historically to the present there are so many things that have caused the United States to be divisive, the Rev. Mia Hash Sloan said in an email. My aim is to construct a message that will foster a heart of compassion and grace for one another. The intersections of racism, oppression and poverty are social determinants that keep this country and our local communities divided. To dismantle, to undo, these social constructs will take an understanding and acknowledgement that, quoting King, Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. When there is an understanding that this is a collective problem, then we can resolve in collective solutions from an egalitarian approach. No one group has power over another; together we can continue to build communities that Dr. King and our beloved ancestors dreamed of, Sloan said. Additionally, she said, It is vital to comprehend that our calling is compelling us to, quoting King, Make a career of humanity. Commit yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights. You will make a better person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in. Sloan, who has ties to Wytheville, is the faith project manager for the COMPASS Initiative Faith Coordinating Center at Wake Divinity at Wake Forest University. She will help celebrate Kings legacy this Sunday, Jan. 15. The annual observance includes a march down Main Street, followed by a program. The walk begins at 2 p.m. at Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, 635 E. Main St., Wytheville. The program at the Millwald Theatre begins at 2:30 p.m. Pre-registration for the Millwald program is suggested, but not required. The event is free and open to the public. Following a welcome and prayer, there will be musical selections from the Institute for Practical Living Choir, Valencia Johnson, and Josh Outsey featuring CJ Colston. Next, Sloan will take the stage, followed by remarks and closing. The Institute for Practical Living is a Christian school serving Wytheville and the surrounding communities. Valencia Johnson is a junior at Richlands High School with a passion for the performing arts. Joshua Outsey is an actor and community organizer as well as a musician, poet and outdoor enthusiast. C.J. Colston, at just 19 years old, is already a leader of praise and worship, performing throughout Southwest Virginia. Sloan is a third-generation minister and the granddaughter of Bishop R.K. Hash and Mildred Hash, founders and pastors of the former Morning Star Church of God Apostolic in Wytheville. Her father, Bishop J.C. Hash Sr., later became pastor of Morning Star Church of God Apostolic. Sloan moved from Wytheville with her family when she was a young child. Sloan said she is humbled and elated to come to the home of her ancestors and beloved family. Wytheville yielded beautiful things for both my paternal and maternal legacy, and I am enthralled to come and call forth the social justice change agents to do the collective work that must be done for the well-being and posterity of Wytheville, she said. People can expect to be challenged from the shadows of invisibility and indifference and if open and willing be transmuted into divine transformation that will greatly impact our beloved community of Wytheville, Virginia. Sloan focuses on curating spiritual well-being spaces across a broad range of religious and spiritual ideologies. She has worked within the congregation and community for more than two decades. The COMPASS Initiative Faith Coordinating Center focuses on preparing ministry and nonprofit leaders to address the needs of vulnerable populations like rural communities in Appalachia, African Americans and LGBTQ individuals. According to her biography on the center website, Sloan has made a religious, spiritual and social impact in her community. Rev. Mia specializes in holistic well-being with universal pull towards cultivating transformative, liberating space for individuals. Her scholarly interests mirror her specialty as she works toward her doctoral dissertation, Healing & Transforming Intergenerational Trauma for Black Mothers and Daughters, the website said. According to the Sloans biography on the center website, her work engages bright and inquisitive minds that keep her in alignment with growing wellness trends. She enjoys developing lasting relationships with the congregations and communities that she serves. She has committed her virtues, values and ethics to provide compassionate, non-judgmental, spiritual and emotional ministry regardless of (ones) religious affiliation, the biography said. The Millwald is hosting the 2023 Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration in partnership with Virginia Organizing, with financial support from the Wythe-Bland Foundation. The first meeting of 2023 included reorganization, annual presentations and more for the Floyd County Board of Supervisors. Chairman Joe Turman of Burks Fork and Vice-Chair Jerry Boothe of the Courthouse District both retained their leadership positions for the new calendar year during the Jan. 3 meeting. Kalinda Bechtold of Indian Valley abstained from the vote for Chairman and voted against Boothe retaining Vice-Chair. She said she would like to see change and nominated Little Rivers Linda DeVito Kuchenbuch. The nomination died on the floor for the lack of a second. Turman said hed prefer to keep Boothe in the vice-chair position. ...We can fight each other and still come out friends, Turman said. Boothe was approved for the role in a 3-2 vote. The Board voted to change the start time of the second monthly meeting to 6 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday of each month. The morning meeting will still begin at 8:30 a.m. on the second Tuesday. Chairman Turman and Locust Groves Levi Cox voted against the earlier start time. Members unanimously approved the inclement weather policy for meetings and to continue using Roberts Rules of Order. Meetings impacted by inclement weather will begin at the original time on the Thursday following the canceled meeting. Board appointments included the Floyd Chamber Board and Floyd Planning Commission for Bechtold. Turman was re-appointed to the New River/Mount Rogers Workforce Area Consortium Board of Directors, New River Valley Regional Jail (with Cox as an alternate) and the Virginia Association of Counties. The Board unanimously voted to restructure the Equipment and Vehicle Committee to include the county Transfer Station, and quarterly visits by the Chairman/Vice-Chair and the Board representative from the rescue/fire department area. Floyd County Board of Supervisors meetings are held at the county Administration Office at 120 W. Oxford St. Meetings are also live streamed and recorded at FloydCountyVirginia on YouTube. The news of Chilhowies delayed water and sewer bills didnt surprise staff in U.S. Sen. Tim Kaines office. After a situation with the U.S. Postal Service delayed bills going to 2,500 water customers and 1,300 sewer customers in Smyth and Washington counties last month, Town Manager John Clark shared his concerns with the Virginia senators office. Bills were sent out as usual by the Town of Chilhowie on Nov. 30 with a due date of Dec. 15. By Dec. 5, town officials knew something was wrong. In a description sent to Kaine, John Clark wrote that on or about the 5th, We began getting deluged with customers calling or coming by complaining that they had not gotten their bills. Over the next week or so, we literally got hundreds of calls/contacts complaining about the same thing. On Dec. 9, town officials called the Chilhowie Post Office for a second time. According to his statement to Kaines office, the cards were found in Greensboro and Clark was told customers should receive them by Dec. 12. As Dec. 16, town staff members were still hearing from customers who hadnt received their bills. This situation of customers not receiving bills for 10 to 14 days (or even more) is troublesome, to say the least, and not sustainable, Clark wrote On Monday, Kaines office told the News & Messenger: Our office hears from many Virginians about their concerns about USPS. Thats why Senator Kaine successfully pushed to pass the bipartisan Postal Service Reform Act. This bill strengthens transparency and accountability for USPS performance, saves billions of dollars, and helps ensure USPS can better serve the American people. Senator Kaine will keep looking for solutions to improve USPS delivery for Virginians. The Postal Service Reform Act was approved by Congress in March 2022 to provide stability to and enhance the services of the United States Postal Service. President Joe Biden signed the act in early April. Specifically, the Postal Service Reform Act, which was more than a decade in the making, was to ease the USPS financial burden by eliminating a prefunding requirement that the agency had to prepay retirement benefits 50 years into the future and integrating postal worker retirees health care with Medicare in 2025. Together, these two reforms were believed to create $45.9 billion in savings for the financially beleaguered Postal Service over the next 10 years. The act also required the Postal Service to maintain its standard of delivering at least six days a week. As well, the act called on the Postal Service to improve transparency by requiring it to publish easily accessible weekly local and national service performance data on the Postal Service website and issue a detailed report to Congress every six months on Postal Service finances and operations. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who has acknowledged that USPS has a great deal of work to do, has said 2023 will be a year of implementing new strategies and the reform act. In December, a report from the USPS Office of Inspector General said, The Postal Service will work with the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) to establish performance targets and create a public-facing dashboard to report on progress toward meeting them. Last spring when the act was adopted, Kaine said, The Postal Service has provided critical services for Virginians, especially throughout the pandemic including delivering mail, paychecks, and lifesaving prescription drugs. But too often, Virginians have experienced unacceptable mail delays. Im proud we were able to work across the aisle to help address this issue and stabilize the Postal Service, while saving billions of dollars. In a news release issued Friday, the USPS reported that for Oct. 1 through Dec. 30, 2022, 90.1% of first-class mail was delivered on time, while 94% of marketing mail reached customers on time. Since the beginning of 2021, the release said that the USPS stabilized its permanent workforce by converting more than 100,000 workers to full time roles since the beginning of 2021 (with more than 41,000 part time workers converted to full time since January 2022), and successfully hiring an additional 20,000 seasonal employees. 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 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. The Cowlitz County commissioners Tuesday extended a contract for security at the courthouse, jail and its Kelso buildings for another year. The agreement with Phoenix Protective Corporation to provide security services for up to $405,900 includes a 8.1% cost of living increase, said Sheriff Brad Thurman. Since April 2020, the sheriff's office has contracted with the Spokane Valley-based company for security at the Hall of Justice, juvenile detention center and jail. Sheriff's deputies had performed the work since 2009, and the switch freed them up for patrol duties and saved the department money, Thurman said. In June, the county amended the contract to add a security guard at its Administration and annex buildings, following a rise in employee complaints and safety concerns. Thurman said the security firm has been good to work with and provides "quality service" to the county. Longview crews have narrowed down 24 homes as possibly disposing hypodermic needles in city sewer systems. Public Works Director Ken Hash said employees have encountered 35 to 45 used hypodermic needles in the past two weeks in local sanitary sewer manholes and pump stations. He would not provide the suspected location. The Longview Public Works Department recently mailed letters dated Jan. 5 to residents in the affected neighborhood asking residents to properly dispose of hypodermic needles because they can prick employees and cause sewer pumps to fail and create backups. Hash said crews suspect the needles are being flushed down the toilet because manholes and other ways into sewerlines outside buildings are too difficult to access because they are heavy, in the middle of streets, or hard to find. Hash said crews believe the source is a residence, and not a public location like a park. He said John Null Park, off Pacific Way and north of Ocean Beach Highway, has locked restrooms, so that location is ruled out. Hash said staff plan to put a camera in the affected sewerline, and if they find a hypodermic needle, they can locate the source. He said Longview police will likely go to the home with a sharps container to advise residents on how to properly dispose of the medical devices. The Waste Control Transfer Station, located at 1150 Third Ave. in Longview, accepts sharps and asks people to place them into a sealed container such as a 2-liter plastic bottle with duct tape around the lid then in the facility's Household Hazardous Waste area. Hash said crews found needles recently using an industrial vacuum truck to clear out sewage in a well. He said workers are also exposed when they clean the vacuums screens that filter debris. Needles and syringes can evade the screens and make their way to the Three Rivers Regional Wastewater facility, which creates the biggest exposure to employees, Hash added. The cleaning of the pump needs to be done very carefully to avoid a needle stick if that is what has caused the pump to foul, he said. Cowlitz Family Health Center, at 621 Grade St. in Kelso, also offers a walk-in needle exchange and disposal service from 1 to 4 p.m. Fridays. People can exchange used syringes for new, sterile syringes, and receive information on how to seek drug treatment. Editor's note: This story has been updated to verify which city system needles were located in. Malaysia has become the first Asia-Pacific country to roll out Mastercard Bill Pay, a new bill management tool that combines electronic bill presentation and payment in one place. Officially launched in Kuala Lumpur yesterday (10 January 2023), the tool is available to consumers via ATXs digital wallet GoPay and web-based online payment platform PayHub2U. As reported by Bernama, Mastercard made the rollout in collaboration with ATX Fintech Holdings Sdn Bhd in our country, a partnership that Mastercard country manager for Malaysia and Brunei, Beena Pothen deemed as timely. She further shared that over USD25 billion or ~RM109.31 billion in bill payment volumes across one billion bills are paid annually in Malaysia and that more people are using e-payment services for bills since the pandemic. However, from that amount, only 50 per cent of it is digitised. Hence, that is where Mastercard comes in, whereby its Bill Pay can support the government and Bank Negara Malaysias initiative to make payments digital. With the tool, consumers would be reminded about the bill and make payments using a single sign-on. It also enables consumers to view and consolidate all their bills from multiple billers and payment could be made from the various options available. These include linking their bank accounts and saving their card credentials. Meanwhile, ATX founder and CEO Sahsi Kumar asserted that with GoPay and PayHub2Us support, Mastercard Bill Pay would provide greater efficiency, transparency, speed and accessibility for consumers. ATX has integrated 13 billers so far and is keen to expand tis network through more partnerships in the coming months. This is to enure that consumers have more choices and have access to more conveniences. So, what do you guys think of Mastercard Bill Pay in Malaysia? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below and stay tuned to TechNave for more tech news from Malaysia and bayeond. 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: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Although artificial intelligence has been present in our lives for years, 2022 served as a major proving ground for the technology. Between ChatGPT, AI art generation and Hollywood embracing AI, AI found a new kind of footholdand hypewith the general public. But it also came with a fresh wave of concerns about privacy and ethics. With all that 2022 did to raise the profile of the technology, AI experts at Northeastern University say 2023 will be an equally major year for the future of AIbut it will also face its fair share of challenges. Usama Fayyad, executive director for the Institute for Experiential AI at Northeastern, says the hype around AI wasn't the only thing that defined the technology's trajectory last year. As the public profile of AI grew in 2022, so did the misunderstandings and misinterpretations around it. "There were definitely significant contributions in terms of demonstrating what AI could do but probably not realistically explaining the limitations and what's possible," Fayyad says. He says the recent conversation around AI is defined by the tension between a fear that the technology will automate human jobs and "the more realistic understanding" that AI tools will augment, not replace, human capabilities. Educating the public about the potential and limitations of AI will be more important than ever in 2023. "It's very sad that in that discussion [about ChatGPT] we lose that a lot of this is dependent on the human in the loop," Fayyad says. "There will be a good maturation around this whole notion that it's not about automating humans out of the loop; it's about bringing people into the loop in the proper way." That doesn't mean that AI won't have a disruptive effect on specific areas of life. Fayyad says people in higher education, recruitment and creative fields are already feeling understandably threatened by the technology. Educators are already panicking about ChatGPT and its ability to let students have Open AI's chatbot write entire essays for them in seconds. It's a new kind of cheating that is potentially undetectable, and Fayyad predicts that 2023 will see new tools designed to combat this kind of behavior. A Princeton student has already designed an app to detect whether an essay has been written using ChatGPT. "That means we will see a significant growth in technologies for countermeasures and detecting when something like that happens," Fayyad says. At the same time, Fayyad and Rahul Bhargava, assistant professor of art, design and journalism at Northeastern, agree that the world of education will have to adapt to the technology, not just ban it. "Will there be new ways of writing? Sure," Bhargava says. "As a professor, am I worried about this? Sure, but we're already using AI stuff with our students in the journalism department here. We're trying that stuff and we're figuring it out, and we'll figure it out." AI could potentially be a catalyst for educators to reexamine their methods in 2023. "Is there a different artifact that you can show me that you learned [something], that isn't a two-page written essay that a computer can generate?" Bhargava says. "Why would I want a student to regurgitate information? That's not learning." Whether AI will replace human jobs is less important than more vital ethical questions that need to be addressed in 2023, Bhargava says. The more pressing concern is "who's making these things and what questions are they asking about what biases are baked into it." When tools like ChatGPT are designed by teams with limited perspectives and diversity, the result is a tool lacking in perspective. "These systems that get built are mirrors for our culture and our practices," says Bhargava. "Which way do they point and who's looking in them? No, they don't embed bias; they reflect it." There are some measures being taken to address the ethical questions around AI bias. Dakuo Wang, associate professor of art and design and computer science, says ChatGPT's real innovation is how it uses human data labelers during the process of training the AI to limit bias and increase accuracy. But even then, the technology is only as good as the data it's been trained on. Without the right data, the inaccuracies and limitations become much more obviousand potentially dangerous. Wang anticipates that cases like ChatGPT will help the public, private industry and research community learn that "data is the key." "Who has the data and how can they transform that existing data into a format that they can [use to] fine tune or jumpstart their own version of the model?" Wang says. "That part will become more and more important." Despite efforts to reduce bias in these technologies, the hazards of AI, particularly in law enforcement and the prison system, are well-documented, particularly among minority populations in the U.S. What Bhargava says is new in 2023 is how these technologies are starting to impact the majority. It's why Northeastern's experts anticipate that AI laws and regulations will start to develop in 2023even if it is at a snail's pace compared to the technology itself. Last year, New York City adopted a law that went into effect at the beginning of 2023 that restricts the use of AI in hiring practices. "It might be too early to get to that regulatory side of it, although where we are now seeing definite maturation and acceleration is when it comes to things like privacy, when it comes to the unfair use of AI or deciding who bears the responsibility when an AI algorithm grows unintended or intended bias," Fayyad says. 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: Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain US President Joe Biden on Wednesday urged Republican and Democratic lawmakers to break years of political gridlock and pass laws that would rein in the power of Big Tech. The Unites States is home to global tech giants Apple, Google, Amazon and Facebook-owner Meta but has trailed governments in Europe and Asia in drawing up more modern rules to curb their power. "The risks Big Tech poses for ordinary Americans are clear," Biden said in an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal just days after the Republican party took the majority in the House of Representatives following elections in November. "It's time to walk the walk and get something done," he said. Most of the pushback in the United States against Big Tech has come from state and local authorities or national regulators such as the Federal Trade Commission or Department of Justice. Biden said his administration was seeking to push through legislation against Big Tech on several fronts, including on protection of privacy, and that he supported a ban on targeted advertising for children. He said a law could give authorities access to the algorithms that power social media and that legislators should rethink an existing law that absolves tech companies of responsibility for content on their sites. There is bipartisan support to reform that long-standing provision, known as Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, but disagreement between political parties on how to proceed. Biden also insisted on fairer competition where "small and midsized businesses, mom-and-pop shops, entrepreneurscan compete on a level playing field with the biggest companies." "The next generation of great American companies shouldn't be smothered by the dominant incumbents before they have a chance to get off the ground," he added. Such an antitrust law is seen as a longshot, with Republicans reluctant to thwart big business. Big Tech companies have lobbied hard in recent years to counter any momentum to legislate in Washington. According to a report in December from Public Citizen, an NGO group, tech giants and their allies spent $277 million on lobbying in the past two years. 2023 AFP 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: Royal Mail worker Leila delivers mail in Balham, London, Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021. Britains postal service said it was hit Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023 by a cyber incident that's temporarily preventing it from sending letters or parcels to other countries. Credit: Kirsty O'Connor/PA via AP, File Britain's postal service said it was hit Wednesday by a "cyber incident" that is temporarily preventing it from sending letters or parcels to other countries. Royal Mail reported on its website that international export services were "experiencing severe service disruption" without providing further details. "We are temporarily unable to dispatch items to overseas destinations," the service said, adding that it recommended customers hold on to mail destined for outside the country while it works on fixing the problem. "Some customers may experience delay or disruption to items already shipped for export," Royal Mail said. The British government's National Cyber Security Center said it's aware of the incident and is working with Royal Mail and the National Crime Agency "to fully understand the impact." Services for mail coming into the country are operating with minor delays, Royal Mail said. 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. 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: Des Moines School interim superintendent Matt Smith announces that school will again be canceled Wednesday due to a cybersecurity incident, during a press conference, Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023, in Des Moines, Iowa. Credit: Zach Boyden-Holmes/The Des Moines Register via AP An apparent cyberattack on Iowa's largest school district has led officials to cancel classes for 30,000 students for a second day as technicians scramble to protect data and restore the computer system, the district's leader said Tuesday afternoon. The Des Moines school district's interim superintendent, Matt Smith, said officials received an alert Monday about a possible "cybersecurity event" that led them to cancel classes Tuesday and then to keep schools closed Wednesday. On Tuesday night, the district announced that school would reopen Thursday. "When our system is down, it impacts every aspect of our organization," Smith said, noting everything from school bus routes to lunch menus are controlled through the computer system. Smith said it wasn't clear what had happened to the computer system. "It was a cybersecurity event that we can't confirm yet until we run through all of our diagnostics and all of our protocols to get the forensics back to understand that specifically," Smith said. "What I can tell you is we are operating as if it is a ransomware attack just to be sure." Smith said federal and state authorities were helping the district respond to the problem. Although there are plenty questions about what happened, Smith said officials believe the payroll system is safe and that its nearly 5,000 teachers and staff can be paid. The district also has restored its website, which enables it to communicate updates more easily. Des Moines School interim superintendent Matt Smith announces that school will again be canceled Wednesday due to a cybersecurity incident, during a press conference, Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023, in Des Moines, Iowa. Credit: Zach Boyden-Holmes/The Des Moines Register via AP Apparent ransomware attacks have targeted many business, local governments and other school systems, most notably the huge Los Angeles Unified School District last September. The attacks often encrypt data until business or government leaders agree to pay a fee. In Des Moines, Smith said students will ultimately need to make up the days missed this week. 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. 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: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain After months of waiting, hundreds of Twitter employees laid off by Elon Musk in early November received their separation agreements by email Saturday morning. The agreements offered one month of severance pay, but with a major catchemployees must sign away their right to ever sue the company, assist anyone in a legal case against the company unless required by law, or speak negatively about Twitter, its management or Elon Musk. More striking is what the document omitted, said one former engineering manager who was laid off Nov. 4. The separation agreement does not include year-end bonuses, cash contribution for healthcare continuation, additional severance based on tenure, or the cash value of restricted stock units that are typically vested every quarter. These were all part of Twitter's general severance package prior to Musk's acquisition of the company in October, according to a previous companywide email. After opening the agreement, the manager said he immediately knew he was going to pursue legal action. So did many others in former employee groups in which he participates. Lisa Bloom, a lawyer who already has filed arbitration claims against Musk on behalf of several laid-off employees, called the terms in the separation agreement "pretty disturbing." Not only are former employees barred from voluntarily assisting in legal cases against the company, they also must assist and cooperate with Twitter in any kind of investigation or lawsuit against the company. Although they can still testify in cases under subpoena or court order, this clause can make it difficult to gather witnesses, said Shannon Liss-Riordan, a labor lawyer representing plaintiffs in three pending class-action lawsuits against the company. Signees also cede their right to any payout in these class actions, which are listed along with Liss-Riordan's contact information. (A San Francisco judge ruled in December that Twitter had to acknowledge these suits in its severance letters.) Twitter has moved to block former employees who signed arbitration agreements when they were hired from being able to benefit from these class-action suits. A federal judge will make a decision on the motion Thursday, Liss-Riordan said. Liss-Riordan said her firm filed an additional 100 arbitration claims against Twitter on Monday, bringing the total to 300, with many workers reaching out since the separation agreements were sent out. With so many claims against the company, Liss-Riordan said it's likely that many of them will be resolved without going through the actual arbitration process for each individual case, which could take years. Twitter, which no longer has a formal communications team, could not be reached for comment. Another employee, a former product designer, said they ultimately signed the severance contract for personal reasons. The offer, a copy of which The Times reviewed, states that the designer will be paid $17,250 in severance pay (minus withholdings, deductions and debts). Other employees have reportedly been offered the same amount. However, that number gets slashed to $500 if the laid-off employee resigns, obtains another job at Twitter or gets fired for causesuch as violating the agreementbefore their separation date. "Twitter has also been sloppy with some details around this," the laid-off designer said in an email. "Not everyone received it, and many people had wrong dates." For many, the separation agreement landed in their spam folders, increasing the initial confusion when they were first sent out. It also came from twitterseparation@cptgroup.coman email sender no one recognized. (CPT Group is an Irvine-based firm that provides class-action settlement administrator services.) The former engineering manager said some other ousted Twitter employees were able to confirm with what remains of Twitter's HR department that the emails were legitimate. Many employees whose roles were cut, including the designer, who was laid off in early November, have remained in a liminal state of "nonactive" employment since then: technically still part of the company and getting paid accordingly, but with no work to do or access to internal software. Although Musk's reason for this has remained unclear, it's probably an effort to comply with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, a federal law requiring a 60-day notice period when companies make big cuts. "Employees were (given few) details about the conditions of the 'nonactive' workforce," wrote the outgoing designer, who will officially stop being employed Feb. 2. "Twitter never informed people that they were able to do other professional activities during this period of time. That says something about the lack of communication and how it can affect people who are looking for a new job." Twitter employees have been concerned about severance agreements long before layoffs began roiling the tech industry, affecting Lyft, Facebook and other companies. The state of the tech job market has meant a slow job search process for many ex-Twitter employees. "I 100% would rather be interviewing right now than talking to lawyers," the former engineering manager said. "There was always the hope that Twitter would reconsider and be more generous, but clearly they did not choose that option." 2023 Los Angeles Times. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. 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: The overview of VALL-E. Unlike the previous pipeline (e.g., phoneme mel-spectrogram waveform), the pipeline of VALL-E is phoneme discrete code waveform. VALL-E generates the discrete audio codec codes based on phoneme and acoustic code prompts, corresponding to the target content and the speakers voice. VALL-E directly enables various speech synthesis applications, such as zero-shot TTS, speech editing, and content creation combined with other generative AI models like GPT-3 [Brown et al., 2020]. Credit: arXiv (2023). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2301.02111 A team of researchers at Microsoft has demonstrated a new AI system that is capable of mimicking a person's voice after training with a recording just three seconds long. The team explains developing the new app in a paper published on the arXiv preprint server. They have also posted a webpage demonstrating the app's capabilities. Artificial intelligence applications require training on massive amounts of data. But in this new endeavor, the team at Microsoft has shown that does not always have to be the case. The new app was built using Meta's EnCodec audio compression technology, and was originally intended as a way to improve the quality of phone conversations. Subsequent work showed that it is capable of far morenot only can it mimic a voice, it can also simulate tone and even the acoustics of the environment in which the original recording was made. Microsoft did not do away with the need for a massive data set, of course; instead, the researchers shifted where it was used. The app was taught to "listen" to a string of words and then to replicate its sound using Meta's Libri-light dataset, which has over 60,000 hours of recordings made by 7,000 people speaking in English. The examples Microsoft has provided demonstrate that the system works much better for some voices than others, and it has trouble with accents. But because the app is still in its early stages, it is likely its functionality will improve over time. Microsoft has not made the source code for VALL-E public and likely will not do so, noting that it could be used in less than responsible wayshoax recordings of politicians, for example. When combined with deepfake video, the results could take "fake news" to new heights. Microsoft's example has shown what is possible; thus, it would seem likely that similar systems by others will appear soon. More information: Chengyi Wang et al, Neural Codec Language Models are Zero-Shot Text to Speech Synthesizers, arXiv (2023). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2301.02111 Journal information: arXiv 2023 Science X Network 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: US President Joe Biden, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meet at the National Palace in Mexico City. The leaders of the United States, Mexico and Canada pledged Tuesday to deepen regional economic integration and boost cooperation in clean energy, setting aside simmering trade tensions. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador welcomed his US counterpart Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the National Palace in Mexico City for what is known as the "Three Amigos" summit. The three countries were working "to strengthen our cooperation on supply chains and critical minerals ... to build the technologies of tomorrow right here in North America," Biden said afterward. North America could become a "clean energy powerhouse" and a "global leader in addressing the climate crisis" through cooperation in areas such as electric vehicles, he added. Trudeau said that the region had an "enormous opportunity" to boost its economic resilience by building a "clean economy." Biden revived the "Three Amigos" talks in 2021, seeking to restore normalcy to the three-way partnership after his predecessor Donald Trump shelved the regional summit. But relations between Lopez Obrador and Biden have not been entirely smooth. Mexico faces a formal trade complaint from the United States and Canada under a North American trade deal. Demonstrators protest against mass deportations at a rally near the National Palace in Mexico City. Washington and Ottawa say Lopez Obrador's push to boost the state's role in the energy industry hurts foreign investors and hinders the development of clean energy. At their talks on Tuesday, however, the leaders put on a united front, emphasizing the potential for cooperation. Lopez Obrador said the countries had agreed to work on becoming "increasingly self-sufficient" by boosting regional trade to reduce their reliance on imports from other parts of the world. Electric cars, semiconductors The White House announced ahead of the summit that the three countries would organize "the first-ever trilateral semiconductor forum" to shape government policies and increase investment in supply chains. They will also expand resource mapping to gather details on minerals vital for clean energy technologies. Biden said that strengthening regional supply chains would mean "that no one can arbitrarily hold us up or a pandemic in Asia cause us to not have access to critical elements that we need to do everything from build automobiles to so many other things." Other steps include drawing up a plan for operating standards and the installation of electric vehicle chargers along international borders and developing a North American clean hydrogen market. On his way to Mexico, US President Joe Biden made his first trip to the southern US border since taking office. On Monday signs of discord emerged between the United States and Mexico in their approaches to dealing with surging migrant arrivals at their shared border. At the start of bilateral talks, Lopez Obrador called for increased US investment, which should help stem migration. "It is time to end this oblivion, this abandonment, this disdain for Latin America and the Caribbean," Lopez Obrador said. 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. "Unfortunately, our responsibility just doesn't end in the Western Hemisphere," he added. Protest scuffles Near the summit venue, police scuffled with protesters holding placards with slogans including "Migration is a human right" and "No more mass deportations." Amnesty International urged the North American leaders to make the rights of refugees and migrants a "top priority" at their talks and to "stop implementing inhuman shared migration policies." Demonstrators scuffle with police during a protest against migrant deportations near the National Palace in Mexico City. "As the number of people fleeing violence and persecution continues to grow, protecting the human rights of migrants and refugees is of critical importance," said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Amnesty's Americas director. Last week Biden announced an expansion of powers to expel people showing up at the border without clearance. At the same time, a legal, strictly enforced pathway will be created for up to 30,000 migrants a month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela. Another priority for Biden is tackling what he called "the plague of fentanyl," referring to the often-deadly opioid smuggled across the border by Mexican drug cartels. Biden and Trudeau also discussed the situation in Haiti, whose government has appealed for an international intervention force as armed gangs take over large swaths of the poverty-stricken Caribbean nation. "The two leaders committed to continue coordination with partners on the UN Security Council on next steps to support stability to Haiti, including support to the Haitian National Police," a White House statement said. 2023 AFP 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: Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Fear of what could go wrong is the greatest motivator when it comes to getting remote workers to protect their employer's information technology security, according to a recent study in Computers & Security. But it tends to work best when employees also have a solid understanding of the severity of potential security threats, including the knowledge of what to do when the worst happens. As millions of Americans continue to work remotely, the research provides employers with key insights to keep their valuable information safe. "Employees need to feel this is a big deal if it happens, so the number one thing employers can do is to clearly communicate what the threats are and how serious they could be," said Robert Crossler, corresponding author for the study and associate professor in the Carson College of Business at Washington State University. "Because for most people this is not their job. Their job is to make something or sell something, not to make good security choices, even if it is critical for their organization." For the study, the researchers examined and compared two approaches for motivating security compliance behaviors in a changing work environment. Protection motivation theory posits that organizations can encourage secure behaviors through fear appeals, threat messages and promoting self-efficacy, or the ability to respond to a particular threat. The practice, which often utilizes surveillance to monitor employee actions, has been used effectively for decades to deter people from engaging in risky behaviors at work and to discourage unhealthy practices such as smoking or having unsafe sex. The second approach Crossler and his collaborators examined is stewardship theory. Stewardship theory is a form of reciprocal agreement that tries to motivate the employee's behavior through a sense of moral responsibility that is not forced. In this approach, management attempts to get the employee to buy into the organization's overall vision while giving them organizational support to act independently when confronted with a security threat. For the analysis, 339 people who worked at companies with IT security policies were recruited to answer a scenario-based survey. The three survey scenarios describe common policy violations that are relevant to remote work situations, such as the use of unauthorized storage devices, logging off a sensitive account when it is not in use and refraining from sharing one's password with others. Each respondent randomly read one of three of the scenarios and then indicated their likelihood to act in a certain way based on various protection motivation and stewardship theory factors. Although working from home would seem to require relying on concepts more consistent with stewardship theory, the study showed that an approach that relied on the fear and threats emphasized in protection motivation theory was far more effective at preventing employees from violating security policy than a strictly stewardship-based approach. One novel aspect of the study was that Crossler and his collaborators also considered a security approach that integrated factors of the two theories together. The researchers found that promoting a sense of collectivism, a concept from stewardship theory that emphasizes the mutual benefits of good behavior for both the employee and the employer, helped increased the efficacy of protection motivation theory-based methods. "Basically, what we found was that the more workers felt that their organization's resources were their own, the more likely they were to respond in the desired way," Crossler said. "Instilling a sense of collectivism in employees is only going to help enhance people's likelihood of protecting security policies." The study, which was conducted in collaboration with researchers at the University of North Texas and Oklahoma State University, also showed that in some cases, a protection motivation theory approach to IT security would back-fire and result in security misbehaviors. As a result of their analysis, the authors recommend that companies should consider removing or reducing surveillance practices that are a common aspect of protection motivation theory. Where such removal is impracticable, employers should consider providing employees with contextual reasons for performing such monitoring. "This is really the first study that brings stewardship theory and protection motivation theory together in the context of IT security for people working from home," Crossler said. "While stewardship theory did not work as well as protection motivation, our results suggest that managerial decisions informed by a stewardship perspective can help to provide a further understanding of security policy violations that motivates employees to make the right decision." More information: Obi Ogbanufe et al, The valued coexistence of protection motivation and stewardship in information security behaviors, Computers & Security (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.cose.2022.102960 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: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain A questionnaire sent to South Australian households has found that more than half don't understand what a "smart city" means, despite Adelaide being one of the most wired cities in Australia with very fast internet speeds and networked sensors. A 10 Gigabit per second Adelaide fiber optic networkan Australian firstpropelled the SA capital into the world's top seven technologically intelligent communities in 2020, but this does not appear to have registered with the state's citizens. More than 45% have "never heard" of the term "smart city" and 54% do not understand the concept, according to a recent University of South Australia study. The UniSA study, published in the journal Sustainable Cities and Society, underlines the failure of local governments to explain the value of the smart city concept to residents, despite large amounts of money spent on promotional campaigns, researchers say. More than 200 questionnaires were completed by SA residents, spread across different income levels and comprising 59% men and 41% women, most with a bachelor's degree and in the 3544 age group. Lead researcher Shadi Shayan says the survey also highlights the risks of developing smart cities that isolate certain people, including women and older adults, many of whom don't use or understand modern technology. "A smart city is defined as an urban locality that uses digital connectivity to manage assets, resources and services in an efficient and sustainable way," Shayan says. "This translates to smart transportation, smart energy, and smart waste management. "Improving people's quality of life is the ultimate goal of a smart city but it is also disruptive and challenging and if not properly executed can threaten a society." The social risks of a smart city include creating a digital divide, disempowering and excluding people, and discriminating against people who are not across fast-changing technology. "It affects people in highly personal ways, depending on their age, education, gender and income level," Shayan says. Older people are disempowered because they have lower levels of digital literacy and rely on others to use smart solutions. People with hearing and visual impairments and certain health conditions also find it challenging using technology, the researchers say. "Lifelong learning is critical to re-socializing residents during a smart city transition period. Frustrated individuals who struggle to adapt and learn new norms tend to stop participating in the smart city development process. "Judging by the survey feedback we received, the SA Government and local councils are not achieving cut-through in explaining the concept. Residents are at the core of any smart city and the fact that more than 50% of people are unfamiliar with the term, poses a serious issue for authorities." The findings correlate with a 2021 U.K. study which found that more than half of Britons don't understand what a smart city entails. More information: Shadi Shayan et al, Understanding correlations between social risks and sociodemographic factors in smart city development, Sustainable Cities and Society (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.scs.2022.104320 WWE has reportedly been sold to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Reports surfaced late Tuesday night that the wrestling company was to be sold to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The figures on the deal have yet to be reported. WWE has been sold to Saudi Arabias Public Investment Fund. The company will go back to being private, tweeted DAZNs Steven Muehlhausen. Sources: #WWE has been sold to Saudi Arabias Public Investment Fund. The company will go back to being private. Unknown if Vince McMahon will return to head of creative but it is expected by some people. Steven Muehlhausen (@SMuehlhausenJr) January 11, 2023 Its been a busy few months for WWE. The companys Chairman, Vince McMahon, retired and effectively resigned from the company after disgraceful sexual misconduct allegations surfaced. McMahons ousting led way for Stephanie McMahon and Paul Triple H Levesque to assume control of the company with Nick Khan. Recently though, Vince has returned to his post. McMahon was voted in as Executive Chairman of the Board earlier Tuesday. In what is likely a corresponding move, Stephanie McMahon resigned from her post as well. So, the top of the company changed its complexion. And now, it appears probable that its owners will have as well. This is a monumental deal in the world of professional wrestling. The McMahon Family founded and owned WWE since the beginning of its existence. It was likely another market was going to acquire them at some point. Now, they must navigate through attempting to find a new media rights partner. Which could prove interesting, considering their probable new owners. [Steven Muehlhausen] The Bryan Firefighters Association and the city came to a mutual meet and confer agreement after the city council unanimously approved the contract during Tuesday nights meeting. According to the fire department, there are 152 employees and 144 sworn-in firefighters. According to Deputy City Manager Hugh Walker, almost all firefighters are union members. The agreement was originally set to expire in December before the city allotted a one-month extension to Jan. 31 for negotiations. The city and the union both proposed revisions to the agreement which included management rights, a no-strike clause, association business, public confidence, fiscal responsibility, staffing, grievances and more. Since the contract was set to expire during an election year which sparked controversy in the city the agreement will now be negotiated every three years or odd-numbered years to shy away from election years, Walker said. During the November election, the union placed political signage throughout the city with the candidates they endorsed. On the day before the 2022 November general election, the Bryan Firefighters Association posted political views on its Facebook page and stated: All candidates support public safety, but only a few are committed to building a stronger public safety through a partnership with its first responders. The City of Bryan has failed to enhance public safety to capture the population growth. They have failed to construct new stations to provide services to our annexed neighborhoods in an appropriate time. They continue to fail to add and maintain apparatuses to address the increased call volume. Your Bryan Firefighters met with every candidate on the ballot and ENDORSED those that plan to address the issues that put your family at risk. During the meeting, city staff and council members said they had received multiple calls from concerned citizens who were worried that if they had a certain campaign sign that did not align who the unions endorsements, that they would not receive care. Particularly in my race and one other, we did get a lot of complaints and I want to commend the association for agreeing to put this on our meet and confer agreement and to take it seriously, Councilwoman Marca Ewers-Shurtleff said. I think the isolated acts within the very small minority in the association unfortunately rang loudly throughout the community. In response, the city requested two articles be added to the agreement pertaining to association business and public confidence. This last year we received in our office a number of phone calls where some citizens were expressing concern about the election, the number of signs, whether or not frankly if the fire department would respond if they had a certain sign in their yard, and that really concerned us, Walker said. We shared that to the union and said we want to introduce something that provides us some confidence in some way that you are going to address that. We dont want our public, our citizens, to have a perception that they may not get the service that they need. Councilman James Edge also said he didnt want there to be an erosion of public trust. Under the association business clause, political activity is noted, and Walker said it will allow union members to share their political stances, as they are not on the clock and that the public confidence is not eroded in the fire department. Bryan Fire Chief Rich Guisiti explained to the council what the union agreed to in regard to political activity. We are talking about political activity to where if they are sponsoring a candidate or want to support a candidate and so forth, then that would not be allowed on duty for us to pay or anything else like that on that part of it, he said. It is understood by the union as well as the administration that is not supposed to be done on duty, and that we will not incur any expense for such sort of action. One point of contention not in the final agreement was a clause regarding the drug and alcohol policy. Walker said the city will pay employees and their rehabilitation treatment depending on what type of rehab and how it is brought forward. We have the ability to provide additional leave; we can provide resources to them, we already have those in place so that is what we talked about, he said. And the union seemed to agree, I dont want to speak for them, but they didnt push it and we talked through everything else that is there. Regarding political activity in the union, Walker said that is a First Amendment right that cannot be taken away. In three years we may say, We need to tighten that up a little bit more. This was the initial step to say there was a problem, he said. We shouldnt be getting all of the calls we were getting from citizens so we need to address that in some way. City staff said the first agreement between the firefighters union and the city was approved in 2017, 2020 and ratified again in October 2021 when the council approved an amendment to allow the fire chief an opportunity to appoint a deputy chief and assistant chief. One of the revisions to the agreement made by the city addressed management rights for the city, provides a no-strike clause for the union, and addresses the fire chiefs appointed positions: a deputy chief and an assistant chief. The union included one revision which will allow a union representative to be present with a firefighter during an oral or written reprimand, suspension or other disciplinary matter with a chief officer, fire marshal or city management. Regarding comparable wages, the union proposed and listed eight cities as comparable cities for a salary survey; which were revised to reflect a goal for firefighters to be paid competitively and commensurate with the cities. The cities included Carrolton, New Braunfels and San Marcos. Under fiscal responsibility, the city proposed the union submit finance requests through the fire chief, except in meet and confer negotiation years. The city also included revisions to the hiring process asking that weighted scores for firefighters go from 20% to 40% on the written exam and from 80% to 60% on the oral exam. The union requested a grievance procedure for any dispute, claim or complaint involving the interpretation, application or alleged violation of any provision of this agreement. As the motion went into effect approving the agreement, Mayor Bobby Gutierrez thanked the fire department employees. The fire department is one of the many organizations that expose themselves within our city to protect our citizens and keep them away from the hazards that we have here, he said. We deeply appreciate them. To view the proposed agreement, visit go.boarddocs.com/tx/cobtx/Board.nsf/Public. Veteran Patrick Baca needed several moments to compose himself as he stepped to the podium Tuesday during citizens input time at the Brazos County Commissioners Court meeting. Were not going away, a tearful Baca said at the Brazos County Administration Building in Bryan. This is something we need. Baca was one of three passionate speakers who expressed their desire to the Court why a Brazos County Veterans Court is a huge need for the community. Baca questioned why a workshop has not been scheduled on the matter and looks forward to meeting with the commissioners about getting a Brazos County Veterans Court in motion. What no one chooses to understand is its not just a veterans court; its a veterans treatment court, Baca said. Its treating that veterans specific needs so he can go live a healthy life. Baca explained that he still has hope both for the veterans seeking help and those in the community supporting them. I dont understand, but I do know that Im not going to stop because I believe in everybody that serves our country, he said, and even if you didnt, I believe in you, and thats why I did what I did. In Texas Statute Section 124, regarding Veterans Treatment Court programs, the state outlines the parameters of establishing a veterans court as well as who can be considered as a program participant. The commissioners court of a county may establish a veterans treatment court program for persons arrested for, charged with, convicted of, or placed on deferred adjudication community supervision for any misdemeanor or felony offense, Texas Statute Section 124.002 says. In a recent 3-2 vote, Brazos County commissioners voted against creating a veterans court advisory committee to evaluate, seek funding for and establish a Brazos County Veterans Court. The commissioners did decide to proceed with a future workshop discussion meeting where a veterans court would be considered for the county; however, a date for the workshop has not been set. I think youve heard as much detail as you need to make a decision on doing this, so Im not going to go back over the details of what the benefits are, how wonderful it is for the veterans, Bryan resident Mike Southerland told the commissioners. I thought I understood last year that three of you were advocating for a workshop in January, and I havent seen it on the agenda yet, and I just hope that thats not forgotten. Precinct 1 Commissioner Steve Aldrich has spoken in favor of a veterans court on numerous occasions. Following the meeting, he said he is looking forward to meeting with fellow veterans court advocates. I asked about when we were going to have the workshop session and was told in that meeting [on Dec. 28] that we couldnt talk about that under the agenda item as far as future agenda items, Aldrich said. I look forward to hearing from them, and Im glad that they asked for it, too, because we need to have this and move on down the road with it so we can make a decision. Veteran Lonny Masterson charged the court to keep its promise of hosting a workshop and asked that they keep this separate from a mental health court workshop. Just please keep yalls word that was given to us on the workshop, and we will be there; we will get all the information, whatever you need, Masterson said. Masterson also said the local Veterans Affairs office is on board with implementing this program and that it could be funded through grants. Following the meeting, Brazos County Judge Duane Peters said a veterans court will impact everyone from prosecutors and judges to adult probation officers; therefore, he said they need to be involved in the conversation. He added that he does not foresee a workshop happening in January as it would be difficult to schedule a meeting with all people involved, but that it will be held in the future. A workshop wont do us any good unless weve got the right people there to discuss it, Peters said. I think everybody on the court may be supportive of certainly doing what we can for veterans, and certainly I think everybodys willing to listen to the pros and cons of a veterans court, but really its going to take more than just the commissioners because it impacts a lot of folks. Peters said that while he supports holding a workshop, he does not want to rush the process to ensure it is done in a way that benefits all parties. Im willing to have a workshop, and well do that, but I think it would be better if we could vet some of these things and find out whats the best route to go and not just jump off and say, Were going to create one and try to accept some grant funds to do it, because theres a bigger picture than that, he said. In December, Peters shared with The Eagle that he was not sure how a veterans court would be funded. He also noted that he was more in favor of establishing a mental health court for all people, rather than a court specific to veterans. If there is a veteran who suffered from PTSD and has committed crimes based on that, then really to me, a mental court would make more sense because then it would open it up to anybody out there, Peters said. He echoed this sentiment Tuesday. If we could get that done by the VA, maybe we could help a lot of veterans even the ones who havent broken laws, Peters said. Im certainly open to listening, but I dont think were to a point yet of really having any productive conversation. Commissioners will meet again at 10 a.m. Jan. 17. Jennifer Shah, known for her role on the reality television series "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City," has requested to serve her 6 1/2-year prison sentence in Bryan, according to People magazine. Shah, 49, was sentenced to 78 months in prison on Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Shah was arrested in March 2021 on charges of wire fraud and money laundering in connection to a telemarketing scheme that defrauded hundreds of people, many over the age of 55, from 2012 until March 2021. Shah pleaded guilty to the charges last July. According to People Magazine, Shahs legal team has requested that she serve her sentence at the Federal Prison Camp in Bryan. The minimum-security womens facility holds around 540 female inmates, according to its website. Shah must report to a yet-to-be-determined prison on Feb. 17, according to E! News. The Federal Prison Camp in Bryan made headlines in November 2022 when Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes was recommended to spend her 11-year, 3-month prison sentence there. Holmes is expected to begin her sentence on April 27. According to People magazine, other notable inmates at the Federal Prison Camp in Bryan have included Hidalgo County, Texas, Commissioner Sylvia Handy; Jenna Ryan, who participated in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack; and Lea Fastow, a former assistant treasurer at Enron. U.S. Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Sherman, has filed articles of impeachment against U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. The resolution accuses Mayorkas of not maintaining operational control over the U.S. border. Fallon cites the secretarys attempt to eliminate Title 42, ending the Migrant Protection Protocols and terminating contracts for additional border wall construction. The articles of impeachment came in late Monday but were originally filed Jan. 3. They were delayed because of the prolonged House speaker vote. The move comes days after President Joe Biden visited the border and announced a new immigration plan that would allow 30,000 migrants from four countries Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to enter the U.S. monthly, but only if they apply from their home country and can find someone to support them economically in the U.S. Biden also announced that immigration agents would expand the use of the emergency health order known as Title 42 to expel the same number of migrants from those four countries to Mexico if they attempt to enter the U.S. illegally. Mayorkas is meeting with officials in Mexico this week on a variety of issues, including the Biden administrations shared migration agreement, in which Mexico also would accept 30,000 migrants each month from those four countries. Fallons resolution also claims Mayorkas lied to the House Judiciary Committee and the House Homeland Security Committee in 2022 by testifying that the southern border was under control. Secretary Mayorkas has violated the law and has implemented policies that undermine law enforcement activities at our southern border. His willful actions erode our immigration system, undermine border patrol morale, and imperil American national security. He must be removed from office, Fallons office said in a statement. The resolution was expected under GOP control of the House but wont move forward without further action from party leadership. AUSTIN Samantha Sorsby-Jones watched friends at her Texas high school go to great lengths to get birth control: Secretly arranging rides to clinics that didnt require parental consent and hiding phones in bushes in case parents were tracking them. Starting Tuesday, access to reproductive health care commanded fresh scrutiny before the Republican-controlled Texas Capitol, where new restrictions are on the table in the first session since a stringent statewide abortion ban took effect. Texas abortion ban is one of the nations strictest, allowing no exceptions in cases of rape or incest, and Republican leaders have been noncommittal about adding carveouts over the next five months. Nationwide, reproductive rights is poised to remain a dominant issue in other U.S. statehouses, where a patchwork of policies has spread nationwide following the fall of Roe v. Wade. The right to bodily autonomy is being taken away in so many different ways, it is really devastating, said Sorsby-Jones, 20, who as a high school student three years ago was able to get birth control at a federally funded clinic in Texas after her parents refused to help her. But a December ruling by a federal judge in Amarillo has suddenly closed that avenue to other Texas teens. U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk ruled that allowing minors to obtain free birth control without parental consent at federally funded clinics, under a program known as Title X, violated parental rights and state law. Such clinics offer an array of family planning services and served more than 182,000 people in 2020 in Texas, according to Every Body Texas, which administers the funds for the state. A bill filed by a Democrat in response to Kacsmaryks ruling could face resistance from Republicans, who have controlled the Texas Legislature for two decades and padded their majority in the fall midterms. For Republicans, new proposals include penalizing companies that help their Texas employees seek abortions elsewhere, limiting access to abortion-inducing drugs by mail and dispensing emergency contraception. Anti-abortion groups are also pushing lawmakers in the wake of Texas abortion ban to spend more money on services for pregnant and parenting Texans, including expanding Medicaid coverage for mothers. As Texas lawmakers returned to the Capitol, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and other GOP leaders did not mention further restrictions in ceremonial speeches on the opening day of session, where the Uvalde massacre and how to spend a more than $30 billion budget surplus are also poised to be major issues. John Seago, president of the anti-abortion group Texas Right to Life, said he doesnt see enough GOP support to create exceptions in the states abortion ban. If we dont respond to it this session, it kind of becomes the status quo, Seago said. After getting help from a Title X clinic, Sorsby-Jones said she spent years helping other teens find the resources to make independent reproductive health care decisions. In high school, she said, some of her peers had to hide their phones in bushes at a nearby fast food restaurant or leave them at school because of parental geolocation apps. When she volunteered with a nonprofit that helps teens access reproductive health resources, Sorsby-Jones said clients included minors in abusive households and those who faced cultural barriers in seeking parental permission for birth control. Though the main focus was contraceptive care, Sorsby-Jones said for many teens, it had to do with accessing medication without stigma for conditions such as endometriosis, which caused them to miss school due to severe abdominal pain. Rosann Mariappuram, executive director of Janes Due Process, said their organizations hotline immediately began getting calls and texts with questions from Texas teens after the court decision in December. When this ruling came down, it basically cut off reproductive rights for teenagers in Texas overnight, Mariappuram said. At least 13 states also have banned abortion at all stages of pregnancy, with various exceptions, with many set to discuss ways to limit or expand access as legislatures go back into session across the country. Several existing bans, plus others that are less restrictive, are being challenged in court. State Rep. Ana-Maria Ramos, a Democrat from Dallas, filed the proposal that would combat the Title X ruling. She was a recipient of Title X contraceptive care herself after having a child as a teenager. What this bill does is empower teens to make decisions for their own health care, but also for their future, Ramos said. 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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 The first Patch Tuesday fixes shipped by Microsoft for 2023 have addressed a total of 98 security flaws, including one bug that the company said is being actively exploited in the wild. 11 of the 98 issues are rated Critical and 87 are rated Important in severity, with one of the vulnerabilities also listed as publicly known at the time of release. Separately, the Windows maker is expected to release updates for its Chromium-based Edge browser. The vulnerability that's under attack relates to CVE-2023-21674 (CVSS score: 8.8), a privilege escalation flaw in Windows Advanced Local Procedure Call (ALPC) that could be exploited by an attacker to gain SYSTEM permissions. "This vulnerability could lead to a browser sandbox escape," Microsoft noted in an advisory, crediting Avast researchers Jan Vojtesek, Milanek, and Przemek Gmerek for reporting the bug. While details of the vulnerability are still under wraps, a successful exploit requires an attacker to have already obtained an initial infection on the host. It is also likely that the flaw is combined with a bug present in the web browser to break out of the sandbox and gain elevated privileges. "Once the initial foothold has been made, attackers will look to move across a network or gain additional higher levels of access and these types of privilege escalation vulnerabilities are a key part of that attacker playbook," Kev Breen, director of cyber threat research at Immersive Labs, said. That having said, the chances that an exploit chain like this is employed in a widespread fashion is limited owing to the auto-update feature used to patch browsers, Satnam Narang, senior staff research engineer at Tenable, said. It's also worth noting that the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has added the vulnerability to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, urging federal agencies to apply patches by January 31, 2023. What's more, CVE-2023-21674 is the fourth such flaw identified in ALPC an inter-process communication (IPC) facility provided by the Microsoft Windows kernel after CVE-2022-41045, CVE-2022-41093, and CVE-2022-41100 (CVSS scores: 7.8), the latter three of which were plugged in November 2022. Two other privilege escalation vulnerabilities identified as being of high priority affect Microsoft Exchange Server (CVE-2023-21763 and CVE-2023-21764, CVSS scores: 7.8), which stem from an incomplete patch for CVE-2022-41123, according to Qualys. "An attacker could execute code with SYSTEM-level privileges by exploiting a hard-coded file path," Saeed Abbasi, manager of vulnerability and threat research at Qualys, said in a statement. Also resolved by Microsoft is a security feature bypass in SharePoint Server (CVE-2023-21743, CVSS score: 5.3) that could permit an unauthenticated attacker to circumvent authentication and make an anonymous connection. The tech giant noted "customers must also trigger a SharePoint upgrade action included in this update to protect their SharePoint farm." The January update further remediates a number of privilege escalation flaws, including one in Windows Credential Manager (CVE-2023-21726, CVSS score: 7.8) and three affecting the Print Spooler component (CVE-2023-21678, CVE-2023-21760, and CVE-2023-21765). UPCOMING WEBINAR Learn to Secure the Identity Perimeter - Proven Strategies Improve your business security with our upcoming expert-led cybersecurity webinar: Explore Identity Perimeter strategies! Don't Miss Out Save Your Seat! The U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) has been credited with reporting CVE-2023-21678. In all, 39 of the vulnerabilities that Microsoft closed out in its latest update enable the elevation of privileges. Rounding off the list is CVE-2023-21549 (CVSS score: 8.8), a publicly known elevation of privilege vulnerability in the Windows SMB Witness Service, and another instance of security feature bypass impacting BitLocker (CVE-2023-21563, CVSS score: 6.8). "A successful attacker could bypass the BitLocker Device Encryption feature on the system storage device," Microsoft said. "An attacker with physical access to the target could exploit this vulnerability to gain access to encrypted data." Lastly, Redmond has revised its guidance regarding the malicious use of signed drivers (called Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver) to include an updated block list released as part of Windows security updates on January 10, 2023. CISA on Tuesday also added CVE-2022-41080, an Exchange Server privilege escalation flaw, to the KEV catalog following reports that the vulnerability is being chained alongside CVE-2022-41082 to achieve remote code execution on vulnerable systems. The exploit, codenamed OWASSRF by CrowdStrike, has been leveraged by the Play ransomware actors to breach target environments. The defects were fixed by Microsoft in November 2022. The Patch Tuesday updates also arrive as Windows 7, Windows 8.1, and Windows RT reached end of support on January 10, 2023. Microsoft said it won't be offering an Extended Security Update (ESU) program for Windows 8.1, instead urging users to upgrade to Windows 11. "Continuing to use Windows 8.1 after January 10, 2023, may increase an organization's exposure to security risks or impact its ability to meet compliance obligations," the company cautioned. Software Patches from Other Vendors In addition to Microsoft, security updates have also been released by other vendors since the start of the month to rectify several vulnerabilities, including Grand Island Public Schools is one step closer to hiring an interim superintendent. The GIPS Board of Education unanimously voted to authorize the board president to negotiate a contract with the boards candidate of choice. The board again voted unanimously to do the same for their second choice, should the first candidate decline. The two individuals were referred to as candidates C and F. Hours before, the board convened for a special meeting for the purpose of interviewing three candidates: Virginia Moon, Matthew Fisher and Michael Teahon. In an interview with the board members, each candidate answered a battery of questions prepared by the board. Many questions were geared toward communication skills and methods. Following the three separate interviews, which also gave the candidates the opportunity to ask the board questions, GIPS Board of Education entered executive session to discuss the candidates. Following an executive session lasting about an hour and a half, the board reconvened to vote. All members were present. Grand Island Public Schools Board of Education has a regular meeting scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 12, at Kneale Administration Building. The agenda for that meeting lists executive session toward the end, for the purpose of reviewing interim superintendent candidates, (Grand Island Education Association) negotiations and to prevent the needless injury to the reputation of an individual and to protect the publics interest. The interim superintendent will stand in for Tawana Grover, who resigned her position as GIPS superintendent in December. Her last day on the job is Wednesday. Grover will remain a GIPS employee until June 30, when the first year on her existing contract ends. Two men, one from Grand Island and the other from Bradshaw, were arrested by the Nebraska State Patrol following a pursuit early Sunday morning in Hamilton County. A portion of the pursuit extended through Aurora. Arrested were Travis Fielder, 36, of Grand Island, and Brandon Proctor, 36, of Bradshaw. The State Patrol says Fielder was the driver of a Dodge Magnum that was observed speeding on Interstate 80 near Aurora at about 12:15 a.m. Sunday. The trooper attempted a traffic stop at mile marker 329, but the vehicle accelerated and fled at a high rate of speed. The trooper then initiated a pursuit. The Magnum 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 Magnum 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, says a news release from the State Patrol. The driver and passenger were both taken into custody without further incident. Fielder was arrested on an outstanding warrant from Hall County, as well as willful reckless driving, flight to avoid arrest, driving under the influence of drugs, carrying a concealed weapon, possession of less than an ounce of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and numerous traffic violations. Proctor was arrested for a probation violation, as well as possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. As of Monday, both were lodged in Hamilton County Jail. The Hamilton County Sheriffs Office assisted in the case. NEW YORK Thousands of flights across the U.S. were canceled or delayed Wednesday after a government system that offers safety and other information to pilots broke down, stranding some planes on the ground for hours. The White House said there was no evidence that a cyberattack triggered the outage, which upended travel plans for millions of passengers. President Joe Biden said he directed the Department of Transportation to investigate. Hall County Airport Authority Executive Director Mike Olson said the scheduled early morning flight from Central Nebraska Regional Airport in Grand Island to Dallas got out on time. Afternoon flights from Dallas to Grand Island and back were on time, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware. At deadline, it was unclear if a scheduled evening flight from Dallas to Grand Island was delayed. All flights from Omaha's Eppley Airfield were delayed Wednesday morning as the Federal Aviation Administration worked to restore National Airspace System operations. On its website midmorning, Eppley listed four departing flights that had been canceled and 14 that were delayed. Of incoming flights, four were listed as canceled and 20 were delayed. By midafternoon, 14 departing flights set to leave after noon had been delayed, as had 19 arriving flights. Nationally, the breakdown showed how much American air travel depends on an antiquated computer system that generates alerts called NOTAMs or Notice to Air Missions to pilots and others. Before a flight takes off, pilots and airline dispatchers must review the notices, which include details about weather, runway closures or construction and other information that could affect the flight. The system was once telephone-based, with pilots calling dedicated flight service stations for the information, but it has moved online. The NOTAM system broke down late Tuesday and was not fixed until midmorning Wednesday, leading to more than 1,200 flight cancellations and more than 8,500 delays by early afternoon on the East Coast, according to FlightAware. Even after the Federal Aviation Administration lifted the order grounding planes, the chaos was expected to linger. More than 21,000 flights were scheduled to take off Wednesday in the U.S., mostly domestic trips, and about 1,840 international flights expected to fly to the U.S., according to aviation data firm Cirium. Airports in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Atlanta saw 30% to 40% of flights delayed. There was a systems issue overnight that led to a ground stop because of the way safety information was moving through the system, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told a news conference. Although the problem was soon fixed, he warned that travelers could expect to see some effects "rippling through the system. Buttigieg said his agency would now try to learn why the NOTAM system went down. Longtime aviation insiders could not recall an outage of such magnitude caused by a technology breakdown. Some compared it to the nationwide shutdown of airspace after the 2001 terrorist attacks. Periodically there have been local issues here or there, but this is pretty significant historically, said Tim Campbell, a former senior vice president of air operations at American Airlines and now a consultant in Minneapolis. Campbell said there has long been concern about the FAA's technology, and not just the NOTAM system. Many of those systems "are old mainframe systems that are generally reliable, but they are out of date, he said. John Cox, a former airline pilot and aviation safety expert, said there has been talk in the aviation industry for years about trying to modernize the NOTAM system, but he did not know the age of the servers that the FAA uses. Ive been flying 53 years. Ive never heard the system go down like this, Cox said. So something unusual happened. According to FAA advisories, the NOTAM system failed at 8:28 p.m. Tuesday, preventing new or amended notices from being distributed to pilots. The FAA resorted to a telephone hotline to keep departures flying overnight, but as daytime traffic picked up, the phone system became overwhelmed. The FAA ordered all departing flights grounded early Wednesday morning, affecting all passenger and cargo flights. Some medical flights could get clearance, and the outage did not affect any military operations. Biden said that he was briefed by Buttigieg. Buttigieg emphasized that "safety is going to be our North Star, as it always is. We are now pivoting to focus on understanding the causes of the issue, he said. Passengers scrambled to rearrange trips. Many said they had trouble finding out how long the delays would last. There is just a lot of frustration, a lot of confusion," said Ryan Ososki, who was trying to fly from Washington, D.C., to California for a conference. Im back to an hour and a half delayed (and) still unclear as to whether or not I should be boarding because Id now miss my connection flight. Julia Macpherson was on a United flight from Sydney to Los Angeles when she learned of possible delays. As I was up in the air, I got news from my friend who was also traveling overseas that there was a power outage, said Macpherson, who was returning to Florida from Hobart, Tasmania. Once she lands in Los Angeles, she still has a connection in Denver on her way to Jacksonville, Florida. She said there were no announcements on the flight about the FAA issue. Similar stories came out of Chicago, Washington, Atlanta and other major U.S. airports. European flights into the U.S. appeared to be largely unaffected. Carriers including Ireland's Aer Lingus and Germany's Lufthansa said their schedules were unaffected. It was the latest headache for travelers in the U.S. who faced weather-related flight cancellations over the holidays and a broad breakdown at Southwest Airlines. Passengers also ran into long lines, lost baggage, and cancellations and delays over the summer as travel demand roared back from the COVID-19 pandemic and ran into staffing cutbacks at airports and airlines in the U.S. and Europe. CARBONDALE During its regular meeting Tuesday evening, Carbondale City Council passed an ordinance amending Title 14-4-2 of the Carbondale Revised Code relating to disorderly conduct. This ordinance changes the length protesters must stay away from any medical clinic from 50 feet to 100 feet. It further restricts them from approaching anyone who does not give permission to be approached. This item on the agenda brought a group of pro-life people and organizations to the meeting to speak on the proposed ordinance changes. Before accepting comments on the issue, Chairman Pro Tem Carolin Harvey reminded everyone that citizen comments are limited to 4 minutes from each individual, with a total of 30 minutes on the issue from all individuals. Bryan Westbrook of Coalition Life spoke first. He described Coalition Life as an organization that helps women experiencing an unplanned pregnancy. Westbrook said the ordinance could affect Black Lives Matter protesters, pickets by labor unions, Girl Scouts selling cookies and impacts any group protesting near a healthcare facility. Our viewpoints matter as much as any opinion from Choices or Alamo or any other group, Westbrook said. Dawn Adams described protesters as tricking people at Choices into giving them contact information by setting up a fake check-in station. She supported the amendments to the disorderly conduct code. Scott Davis, the onsite leader for Southern Illinois Prolife said he has not seen what the council alleged has happened, like police calls for disorderly conduct and trespassing. Davis saw one episode of minor trespassing. The person was warned and has not trespassed again. Davis supports free speech and free assembly. Lee Stevens, an attorney for Coalition Life, said she was a committed advocate for life and it is within their rights to protest and offer alternatives to women. I am fully prepared to challenge the ordinance all the way to the nations highest court, she said. Dawn Hease of Coalition Life read two letters from clients they had helped. Regina Hart, a sidewalk counselor, read the first amendment and described the kinds of activities she does, such as offer women literature about other options than abortion. Harvey asked if anyone agreeing with the changes to disorderly conduct rules wanted to speak, even though those speaking against the ordinance had used the 30 minutes. Isaac Bedlington spoke in favor of the ordinance, calling the behavior of some protesters egregious. He went to Choices for gender affirming care and felt his privacy was invaded. Please find a way to stand up to the bullies and keep Carbondale welcoming, he said. Nancy Maxwell spoke about some of the pro-life advocates using Black Lives Matter protesters, Dr. Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks as justification to not pass the ordinance. My skin is black. I cant change that. Dont use Black Lives Matter as part of your opinion, Maxwell said. City Attorney Jamie Snyder answered a couple questions asked by Darrell Dunham. Snyder said changing the distance protesters had to be away from a clinic from 50 feet to 100 feet is in accordance with the Hill Act. He said it still allows protesters at Choices to do everything they are doing now and allows the clinic and its visitors more protection. He also explained that no one could be approached without their consent, and cars could not be blocked. One by one, city council members voiced their support for the ordinance. Few rights are absolute. You cant shout fire in a theater, Councilman Adam Loos said. I believe we want the same things. You want to go protest. We have a responsibility as council persons to protect those going into clinics, Councilman Ginger Rye-Sanders said. I appreciate comments on free speech. I dont appreciate threats of lawsuits, Councilman Jeff Doherty said. Loos made a motion to pass the ordinance with a Councilman Tom Grant seconding the motion. It passed unanimously. The council also: Approved an ordinance designating Attucks High School at 410 E. Main St. as a Landmark District on the Carbondale Register of Historic Places. Amended Title Two of the Carbondale Revised Code as it relates to penalties for late remittance of city instituted taxes. Reviewed Community Investment Program Checklist items for proposed new projects. During a liquor control commission meeting that preceded the council meeting, they granted a temporary liquor license to Carbondale Chamber of Commerce for its annual banquet, to be held Feb. 17 at SIU. They also spoke with Carl Martin of Chalkys about what it would take to get a liquor license renewed for this year. He needs to submit a new business plan to the city and explain exactly what he plans to do with the business. They will discuss a liquor license at the meeting Jan. 31. MURPHYSBORO On the first Friday of the new year, members of the Murphysboro Moose Lodge 1591 got a visit from an active, happy dog and volunteers from Macs Mission. The dog they saw that Friday night looked much different than she did the first time members of the lodge saw her months beforehand ... On Aug. 15, members of the Moose Lodge were gathered around and going about their business just like any other day. As the day came to an end, Neil Holley and Casey Bloodworth took the trash out - something they don't always do. When Holley threw open the door of the outside trash bin, to his surprise, he saw a little puppy staring back at him. We didnt know if she was alive or not, he said. Acting quickly, Holley and Bloodworth realized that the dog could still be alive, so they began working on getting the dog out of the trash. In just a few minutes, the dog was out, and everyone else from the Moose Lodge was outside with the her. She was very receptive to people. Bloodworth said. The staff of the Moose Lodge called the sheriffs office to dispatch animal control. The animal control officer was able to get the dog to Solid Rock Veterinary Clinic with Dr. Allen Hodapp. At that point, everyone expected the dog would be put to sleep. She was severely injured, but she continued to interact with the vet. Dr. Hodapp had worked with Mac's Mission in Southeast Missouri that only helps severely injured dogs, either with birth defects or from trauma. He called the mission and explained her injuries. They agreed to come and get her the next morning. Rachelle Steffen said that when Dr. Hodapp called, he told them he had a big mess at his clinic, but when they got there the dog was wagging her tail and giving out kisses. Macs Mission transferred the dog to the specialty clinic in St. Louis where they got a better picture of her injuries. The dog had more than 12 broken bones and her jaw had been ripped open. She also had other injuries in various stages of healing. It was obvious she had been severely abused. They took care of the dogs immediate trauma, but said she would need more medical care. Macs Mission then sent her to a specialty clinic in Lexington, Kentucky. They fixed her jaw and legs. Her other breaks had to be healed to deal with, Steffen said. The dog spent a couple months in Lexington before returning to Jackson. She was systematically tortured and abused. We dont know what it took for her to survive. This animal is a testament to life and how many people got involved, Steffen said. She wouldnt have made it through the night if it wasnt for you guys, Jen Rose of Macs Mission said to the member of the Moose lodge. Today, the young dog is active. Her best friend at the rescue is a 120-pound mastiff puppy. Steffen said they run and play like normal dogs. The "Moose Dog" has a funky walk from the old breaks in her legs, but she has no trouble running. She is a little hesitant around new people, but warmed up to the members of the lodge in a few minutes. Steffen brought the missions spokesdog, Narwal, with them on Friday. She thought he would be a calming factor for the young puppy. Narwal was rescued in 2019 and went viral because he has a small, tail-like growth coming out of his forehead. He is used to traveling and being around people. During the visit from the mission, a couple who adopted a pit bull mix dog from Macs Mission also came to visit with the volunteers and show off their dog. The Moose Dog has been listed on the missions pet adoption page. Those interested in adopting her will have to fill out an application online. Steffen said they will be very picky when choosing her adopter. A few members of the Moose Lodge also may be interested in adopting the dog. Macs Mission runs solely on donations. The best way to help the Moose Dog and dogs like her is to make a donation. Go to macsmission.org for more information or to donate. Sen. Tammy Duckworth has announced a $20,000 federal grant to make a restroom at Murphysboros Historic Liberty Theater compliant with the Americans with Disability Act. The award, part of Congressionally Directed Spending in the recent $1.7 trillion federal 2023 Omnibus Appropriations bill, will allow the theater to provide an accessible bathroom for patrons in wheelchairs or with other mobility challenges. Duckworth said the funding is part of what used to be known as earmarks. A couple years ago, both Democrats and Republicans decided to bring earmarks back, because so many of these projects that are smaller projects were struggling to receive funding because they were competing against projects in cities like New York or Los Angeles, she explained. We realize that there was a need for some form of earmarks. And so the new form of earmarks that are now in place, congressionally directed spending. Duckworth said the board of the Historic Liberty Theater had applied for funding through her office for the project. So $20,000 is not a lot of money, but this is precisely the kind of project that just gets overlooked when you're competing against a historic theater in Los Angeles or something like that, but it's no less important to the community and, in fact, I would argue that it is even more important because Liberty Theater is so vital to the you know, the cultural heritage in Murphysboro, she said. Murphysboro Mayor Will Stephens agreed. The Liberty is one of the centerpieces of our downtown. It hosts all sorts of private and public events each year, and we're just very thankful for senator backwards recognizing its importance and getting some federal dollars to help support it, he said. Historic Liberty Theater Treasurer Anna Clover said the funds will be used to adapt one of two restrooms near the facilitys lobby, widening the door and installing accessibility equipment. This will make us more accessible to the community at large, she said. Thats what we are here for. Duckworth, who uses a wheelchair herself, said projects such as this one are especially important. This hits home to me, she added. I want everybody in the community to be able to go in and enjoy the theater and understand the heritage that is there. Im pleased that we are able to do this. In all, Duckworth announced more than $182 million in funded projects across the state including $600,000 for records management software upgrades for the Carbondale Police Department, $360,000 to upgrade East Grand Avenue in Williamson County and $1.2 million to Rides Mass Transit. Photos: Murphysboro Apple Festival from years past Unlike most others, this column is not about something that happened. It's about something that's happening before our very eyes. A work in progress: the destruction of the House of Representatives as a serious, credible, legislative body unraveling in the context of this week's embarrassing attempt by House Republicans to elect a new Speaker. It didn't start with Kevin McCarthy. Republicans have been undermining the legitimacy of the House ever since Newt Gingrich. In turn, Gingrich, John Boehner, and Paul Ryan each gave more and more power to the most extreme elements of the Republican Caucus. Until Kevin McCarthy surrendered to them entirely. And now, no matter who ends up stuck with the job, it won't be the new Speaker running the House. The inmates have taken over the asylum. It's been painful to watch. Nobody deserved to be so publicly humiliated on national television. After years of sacrificing whatever was left of his manhood for the job, after begging for support and promising anybody anything they wanted, after (as of this writing) struggling through multiple agonizing ballots in which Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries got more votes than he did, he still couldn't round up 218 votes to become Speaker of the House. Nobody deserved to be so publicly humiliated. Nobody except Kevin McCarthy. Whatever public humiliation he suffered, he has nobody to blame but himself. Republican or Democrat, friend or foe, the one thing anybody who's ever served with McCarthy in Sacramento or in Washington agrees on is that he believes in nothing but himself. As a former Republican House staffer told the New Yorker's Jonathan Blitzer, his main strength is his total malleability. In McCarthy, there are no core red lines, no core beliefs, no inviolable principles. Which, in the end, meant that nobody, not even the crazies he cultivated, could really trust him. "Kevin basically is whatever you want him to be," former Congressman Bill Thomas, for whom McCarthy was a staffer for 15 years, told the New Yorker. "He lies. He'll change the lie if necessary. How can anyone trust his word?" As many members of the Republican Caucus learned, you can't. Ironically those who ended up trusting McCarthy the least were those he courted the most: Members of the Freedom Caucus. The crazies like Matt Gaetz, Andy Biggs, Lauren Boebert, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar. No matter how many QAnon conspiracy theories they spread nor how many white supremacist rallies they attended, he never criticized or disciplined them. He promised them war on Hunter Biden. He offered them committee chairmanships. He agreed that any one of them could dethrone a Speaker. But, rather than gain their trust, McCarthy only lost it. If he'd bend over so easily for us, they figured, why wouldn't he do the same thing for Mitch McConnell or Joe Biden? In the end, when he really needed them except for Marjorie Taylor Greene (who knows what he promised her privately?) all the hardline conservatives rewarded McCarthy by turning on him and eating him alive. McCarthy made the same fatal mistake with Donald Trump. For four years, he was happy to sit on Trump's lap. He took pride in Trump's calling him "My Kevin." On Jan. 6, he briefly broke with Trump, but by Jan. 28 he was in Mar-a-Lago kissing Trump's butt and absolving him of any responsibility for the assault on the Capitol. And what did his slavish loyalty to Trump gain him in the speakership battle? Nothing. As of this writing, anything could happen. McCarthy could still squeak out a win. But that's no longer the central issue. What matters now is no longer who ends up being Speaker, but what Republicans have done to the House of Representatives. They have finally succeeded in turning the House over to a handful of anti-government hardliners whose stated goal is to, in effect, shut government down entirely, not direct its power to help the American people. Look at the record of the most recent GOP Speakers: Newt Gingrich, forced to resign; Bob Livingston, chosen as Speaker but resigned before being elected because of a sex scandal; Dennis Hastert, resigned and went to prison for sex abuse; John Boehner, forced to resign; Paul Ryan, forced to resign. And whoever ends up as new Speaker, serving in name only, having surrendered all power. If this week's chaos in the House proves nothing else, it proves that Republicans are not only not interested in governing, they are incapable of it. WASHINGTON We have become so accustomed to bad news, crisis and dysfunction that it's hard to accept the ways in which 2022 was a surprisingly good year for democracy, innovative government action and even a degree of social peace. Can we build on the good news in 2023? Yes, but it will take a lot of creative work because Washington will soon become much more of a partisan battlefield and because the global forces working against democratic advances will try to recoup their losses. Accepting that things have improved is almost never fashionable. It's bad for page views and it carries the whiff of complacency. It's safer to say that things are a mess because there are always so many injustices to be confronted and so much human suffering to be relieved. There's also this: Since Donald Trump won the presidency in 2016, we've suffered from a frenzied addiction to the prospect of ruin. But supporters of democratic governments and societies will never right the world's wrongs without confidence that democracy itself can work and unless a majority of citizens sees evidence that this is true. In 2022, the evidence began accumulating. The failure of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the courageous rallying of the Ukrainian people and the remarkable unity of the world's democracies in standing against aggression is the most obvious sign that the democratic distemper of recent years is abating. The relative success of democracies in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic contrasts with a regime-challenging failure in China. This, along with Russian President Vladimir Putin's catastrophic misadventure, has quieted talk reminiscent of similarly misguided commentary in the 1930s that authoritarian governments are inevitably more "efficient" and "effective" in solving problems. In the United States, the congressional session that just ended was remarkably productive. Major investments in infrastructure, clean energy and technology showed that our government has the capacity to think ahead, not just react to political pressures and short-term problems. Government is building things again on a large scale. As it did in the era after the Soviet Union launched the Sputnik satellite in 1957, the United States is using public outlays to make the nation more technologically competitive. And the push for green energy shows there are ways to avert a planetary climate calamity while also restoring our manufacturing prowess. Finally, the skeptics who said that campaigning on democracy in the midterm elections was a foolish strategy for Democrats were proved wrong. The GOP's red wave failed to materialize for many reasons Supreme Court overreach, especially on abortion, was a factor, and the actual achievements of a Democratic president and Congress counted, too. But democracy mattered. The Republican candidates rejected by voters tended to be the most extreme, the ones especially committed to Trump's lies about the 2020 election, and those least ready for office. Still, Republicans won their narrow House majority, and this will make governing during the next two years much tougher. You can't have bipartisan legislation unless the party controlling the levers of congressional power brings it to a vote. President Biden, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., were all ready to pass legislation a significant number of Republicans could support. Pelosi pushed through bills that fell far short of the hopes of many in her caucus because she preferred progress to inertia. The new House GOP majority, well to the right of the mainstream, has little interest in any legislation Democrats could vote for. It would much prefer to use debt ceiling and government shutdown threats to try to force deep budget cuts while passing a pile of symbolic, one-party culture war bills. The Republicans' hope is to discredit Biden through nonstop hearings, plainly deeming it in their political interest to make Washington under a Democratic president look dysfunctional. Biden and congressional Democrats must try to govern anyway. By offering a realistic legislative program in areas of popular concern among them health care, housing and help to parents raising children they could challenge House Republicans to join them or offer serious alternatives. Ideally, they'd get something done. At worst, they'd expose the GOP's obstruction and investigative overreach. There should be no compromising in the battle for U.S. democracy and voting rights. The broad middle of the American electorate sent a clear message that there is no rational reason to make voting harder, let alone wage a running battle against honest election administrators. Republicans should be pressed to choose: Trumpism or democracy? And the world's democratic nations should bear in mind that 2022's advances could be reversed. The democracies must keep faith with Ukraine while understanding at home that freely elected governments are always on probation. Delivering for the common good is the only way to keep democracy on a roll. Joint Base Charleston launched 24 C-17 Globemaster IIIs to conduct a mission generation exercise that integrated Air Force, Army, and Marine forces across five operating locations, Jan. 5, 2023. This exercise marked the largest C-17 launch ever from a single base and demonstrated the wings ability to rapidly generate and project overwhelming airpower alongside joint partners. Air Mobility Command is the meaningful maneuver for the joint force, and our asymmetric advantage is our adaptable, talented Airmen, said Maj. Gen. Corey Martin, 18th Air Force commander. Every day we are learning new lessons that we want to apply in combat, so this mission generation exercise is a chance to test our capabilities at a tempo and scale that approximates combat operations. The C-17s kicked off the exercise with a show-of-force flight over the Ravenel Bridge in Charleston Harbor and then dispersed to sharpen four core capabilities: command-and-control, navigation, tempo, and logistics under fire. More than 20 red- and blue-air F-16 Fighting Falcons from Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., and McEntire Air National Guard Base, S.C., fought for air superiority while the joint forces leveraged rapid mobility to establish a simulated missile defense system. We have to fight to get to the fight, said Col. Robert Lankford, 437th Airlift Wing commander. This exercise tests our ability to accomplish the mission, while geographically dispersed and with limited communications, To better define and expand on agile combat employment concepts, aircrews practiced flexible deterrent and response options, like the ability to land in austere environments and quickly accomplish the mission at each location. This exercise is about readiness and lethality, said Maj. Zachary Barry, C-17 pilot and lead planner for the exercise. We wanted to get as many aircraft as possible off. the deck in a 48-hour timespan, to tell pacing threats that we can go anywhere, anytime. The first C-17s landed at Pope Army Airfield, N.C., where Airmen worked alongside a Join Communications Support Element to establish a tactical operations center. The TOC provided secure communication and decentralized command structures to enhance critical decision superiority and prevent disruption. Other C-17s that also landed at Pope AAF picked up special tactics Airmen, took off, and flew to nearby Holland drop zone where the Airmen accomplished a static line jump. Once on the ground, they secured the dirt landing strip for follow-on operations. At Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C., C-17 aircrews landed, quickly uploaded HIMARS rocket launchers, flew to Pope AAF, and then performed a HIMARS rapid infiltration, or HIRAIN. The C-17s that landed at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, S.C., executed an integrated combat turn to quickly refuel U.S. Army AH-64 Apache helicopters. At Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia, aircrews focused on logistics under fire. Aircrews leveraged multi-capable concepts to maneuver cargo, which means they exercised skills that are outside of their primary duties to accomplish the mission. What were practicing are flexible deterrent and flexible response options, Barry said. If we can move really quickly, it makes it harder for the adversary to respond. During the exercise, nearly 60 aircraft to include an E-3 Sentry and KC 135 Stratotankers were in the air, synchronizing capabilities to maximize lethality. Airmen also experimented with C2 equipment that will provide information for aircrews, to increase their battlespace awareness in a contested environment. This is a historic exercise for us, because we need to be able to fight tonight, Barry said. We need to be ready to answer the call, no matter what. (TBTCO) - Sau mot nam chay ua theo con uong hau nhu khong bi can tro e at uoc muc lai suat cao hon, FED ang phai oi mat voi o ga lon au tien khi cac quyet inh uoc ua ra trong hang tram cac quyet inh ieu hanh tien te se cong lai - hoac khong - dan en su hon loan trong hoat ong cua ngan hang ang inh vi lai nen kinh te. POWELL A prominent Wapiti resident who stands accused of recklessly firing a rifle during a November elk hunt has formally denied the allegation. Through her attorney, Nina Webber pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor count of reckless endangerment during a Friday appearance in Park County Circuit Court. The charge stems from a Nov. 30 incident, in which witnesses and authorities allege errant bullets whizzed over the heads of two residents near the North Fork Highway. A group of people had been hunting elk that morning, but then-Park County Sheriff Scott Steward said evidence at the scene indicated Webber was the only person in position to fire the bullets in question. For her part, Webber has said the allegations against her are false. Circuit Court Judge Joey Darrah tentatively set the case for a June 1 trial. While she awaits further proceedings, Webber will remain free on her own recognizance. In addition to standard bond conditions like obeying the law, Judge Darrah is requiring Webber to put all of her rifles in a gun safe and leave them there while the case is pending. Deputy Park County Attorney Jack Hatfield initially asked that Webber be prohibited from possessing any firearms until the matter is resolved. He cited public safety concerns, noting the allegations that Webber fired toward the highway and over a persons head. Additionally, when a sheriffs deputy approached Webber at the scene, Webber pointed the barrel of her gun at him, Hatfield said. However, Webbers defense attorney, Tim Blatt, objected, noting that his client is contesting the allegations and that shes hunted for a long time and has handled firearms all her life. As a compromise, Hatfield suggested that Webber only be prohibited from possessing rifles, acknowledging this is the only time shes been accused of mishandling firearms. Webber is currently the national committeewoman for the Wyoming Republican Party. The Wyoming Symphony Orchestra will perform at a concert on Saturday, featuring the music of Handel and Brahms two of Germanys most well-known composers and a performance by pianist Steven Lin. The orchestra enthusiastically praised the music of both composers as well as Lins prowess on the piano in a news release. In this unique, classical music concert, guests will be immersed in instruments and sounds not found anywhere else in Casper, the release said. The concert opens with fanfare, Handels Arrival of the Queen of Sheba, followed by his famed three-suite composition, Water Music. This landmark composition inspires such enthusiasm that can only be found by attending the concert. To perform Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2, pianist Steven Lin returns to join the Wyoming Symphony Orchestra. ... Steven has been an audience favorite since his debut with the Wyoming Symphony Orchestra in 2019. Lin debuted at the New York Philharmonic at age 12, the release stated. Throughout a prolific career, he has also performed at Carnegie Hall and has traveled around the world showcasing his talent. The concert will be held at 7:30 p.m., with doors opening at 7, at Natrona County High Schools John F. Welsh Auditorium. Tickets start at $28 and can be purchased on the orchestras website. The show can also be livestreamed; the orchestra requests a $10 donation for that. An inmate died Wednesday at the Wyoming Medium Correctional Institution in Torrington, the Department of Corrections said. Phillip Nelson Taylor was convicted of first-degree murder in Laramie County and sentenced to life in the First Judicial District Court in Cheyenne on Sept. 25, 1981. He was born on Jan. 19, 1951, in Battle Creek. M.I., the Wyoming Department of Corrections said. He died at the age of 71. An autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause of his death. Wyoming school districts can struggle with student discipline. In Natrona County School District, poor student behavior swelled from 12,000 recorded instances district-wide in 2018-2019 to 17,000 last year, District Student Support Services Director Chris Dresang told the school board in June Expulsions correspondingly increased from 37 in 2018-2019 to 48 during the most recent school year, Dresang said. Often districts find themselves caught between balancing the needs of an individual student with that of an entire classroom. But research suggests that exclusionary discipline, in which students are removed from school, does little to combat behavioral issues and instead harms academic achievement for those students. A 2021 study from the American Institutes for Research, a nonpartisan behavioral and social science research group, found that middle school and high school students who received in-school suspensions had fewer subsequent behavioral incidents than those who received out-of-school suspensions. Those who were handed in-school suspensions were also more likely to graduate from high school on time. The effect that suspensions and expulsions have on students is in part why the Joint Education Committee has sponsored a bill that would require the state superintendent of public instruction to develop model suspension and expulsion policies for the state. The reason for this [legislation] is our longstanding interest and concern about maximizing graduation rates and student success. One of the elements that we know that negatively impacts student success is being suspended, is being expelled, then-Rep. Cathy Connolly, D-Laramie, told the Joint Education Committee during its November meeting. We want to minimize it. Wyoming does not currently have any statewide policies that guide suspensions and expulsion procedures for school districts. Instead, state law gives districts broad authority to discipline students. Under state law, a school district can exclude a student from the classroom for up to 10 days during a suspension and expel them for up to a year. In handing out suspensions and expulsions, districts must notify the student and their parents or guardian and hold a meeting during which they can respond to the disciplinary action. Districts can suspend or expel students for a range of reasons, including disobedience, destruction of school property and any behavior which in the judgment of the local board of trustees is clearly detrimental to the education, welfare, safety or morals of other pupils. The bill proposed by the education committee would see the Wyoming Department of Education create a set of expulsion and suspension recommendations by July to promote more uniformity in the handling of student punishment across the states school districts. Essentially, [committee members] are saying lets have the experts at the Department of Education take a look and see what the good practices are and recommend them, said State Sen. Charles Scott, R-Casper, the chair of the Senate Education Committee. Especially with a smaller school district, that might be quite useful. In keeping with the states emphasis on local control, school districts would not be required to adopt the states model suspension and expulsion policies. The recommendations would simply help to guide school districts as they develop their own student discipline procedures. There are benefits to developing recommendations at a state level, Wyoming Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder said in an email. Model policies allow the Department of Education to create a shared understanding of best practices that can be carried out consistently across the state, while still allowing maximum flexibility for individual districts, Degenfelder said. If the legislation passes, the Department of Education would look to experts and stakeholder groups to ensure that its suspension and expulsion recommendations are evidence based and what is best for Wyoming, Degenfelder said. Wanda Maloney, chief policy officer for the Department of Education, told the education committee in September that only a fraction of the roughly 92,000 K-12 public school students in Wyoming ever face expulsion. On average, roughly 122 K-12 students are expelled from Wyoming schools each year, according to the most recent five years of Department of Education expulsion data. The number of expulsions remains relatively consistent across school years. The state only collects suspension data for special education students, who account for less than 20% of the overall K-12 student population, but in the 2020-2021 school year approximately 9% of the states 16,500 special education students were suspended at least once. While suspensions among special education students also remain relatively consistent across school years, the number of out-of-school suspensions that last more than 10 days has increased by nearly 200% since the 2016-2017 school year, Department of Education data shows. The bill proposed by the Joint Education Committee would help school districts to update their suspension and expulsion procedures, but many of Wyomings districts have already moved to adopt best practices around student discipline, including more caution in removing children from school, said Kevin Mitchell, the executive director of the Wyoming Association of School Administrators. As early as 10 years ago, some districts started looking at what would less than a year [for expulsion] look like? Mitchell said. In some instances, theyll put a student on a contract and say, If you do these items, then we wont expel you for a year [or] might not expel you at all. But if you fail to do these things, then the expulsion will become effective. Districts have been doing that kind of thing for quite a while, he said. While the bill may not represent a significant shift for some school districts, it would provide additional resources for districts that need or want the help, Connolly said. We understand that there are times where there are real needs for discipline, but what is it that districts can do well and do best? she said. PHOTOS: Opening day of the 67th Wyoming Legislative Session 67th Wyoming Legislative Session begins 67th Wyoming Legislative Session begins 67th Wyoming Legislative Session begins Rep. Jeanette Ward 67th Wyoming Legislative Session begins 67th Wyoming Legislative Session begins 67th Wyoming Legislative Session begins 67th Wyoming Legislative Session begins 67th Wyoming Legislative Session begins 67th Wyoming Legislative Session begins 67th Wyoming Legislative Session begins 67th Wyoming Legislative Session begins 67th Wyoming Legislative Session begins Gov. Mark Gordon used his State of the State address Wednesday to honor a Carbon County EMT and a Pine Haven volunteer firefighter who both died in the line of duty right before Christmas. Medic Tyeler Harris, a 29-year-old from Saratoga, was responding to an accident on Interstate 80 during a Dec. 21 winter storm when he was fatally hit by a semi-truck. Harris is survived by his wife, Ashley, and their three young boys, Gordon said Wednesday. Every day our first responders answer the call to help those in need, he said. The work is dangerous, but still, we count on them to pull their boots on and rush to our side when we are in need. Harriss fellow medic, Tiffany Gruetzmacher, was critically injured during the incident. She is still recovering. Gruetzmacher had been hit before while attending to a medical emergency, but that didnt stop her from returning to her work as an EMT. A GoFundMe was created for her medical bills by one of her best friends, Amber Yardley. There was a fundraising goal of $20,000, but there were 353 donations exceeding $32,000 as of Wednesday morning. In suiting up despite all, she is the personification of living each day with courage, Gordon said. Gordon also honored the first responders, who in the teeth of a blizzard attempted to rescue a person who had fallen through the ice at Keyhole State Park. Bruce Lang, a Pine Haven volunteer firefighter, died during that rescue effort on Dec. 15. Lang drove to the scene in his own utility-terrain vehicle, and eventually went out onto the ice with Pine Haven resident Jason Jerry Otto, 48, and a third unidentified man in an attempt to conduct a rescue. In limited visibility, the UTV plunged into open water. Lang, Harris and others like them have risked everything in serving Wyoming, Gordon said. Folks here know there is more to being a cowboy than simply wearing a hat it is knowing when to take it off, when to help your neighbor, and what is important to preserve for our children, he said. We are a people with grit, courage, and kindness in our souls. Though the secretary of state is responsible for a wide array of duties, the priorities that Secretary of State Chuck Gray outlined in a statement Tuesday focus solely on election reform and regulation, echoing his main campaign message of rooting out voter fraud. Gray, a 2020 presidential election skeptic, ran primarily on a platform focused on voter fraud and banning ballot drop boxes, though cases of fraud in Wyoming are exceedingly rare. Given the Legislatures ruby red composition and the significant gains that the hard-line conservative Wyoming Freedom Caucus made in the last election cycle, its likely that some of Grays priorities will gain more traction in the Legislature than they might have in previous years. His first priority for the session is to encourage legislation that would ban crossover voting. Although there isnt a bill on the books yet, Wyoming Freedom Caucus leader Rep. John Bear, R-Gillette, has previously said that someone from the conservative group will sponsor a bill to restrict crossover voting in primary elections. (Gray was previously a member of the caucus when he served in the House.) While some have called to end crossover voting, others want to go the other way, instituting open primaries in Wyoming instead. The Joint Corporations Committee considered a sweeping bill that would have done just that, but it was killed at the committees October interim meeting. Gray also called for legislation that bans what he called ZuckBucks, or private financing of government election offices. In 2020, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg donated millions to nonprofits that gave grants to local elections offices. Some say that money influenced the outcome of the presidential election that year, though the donations were not contributions to President Joe Bidens campaign, and they didnt violate campaign finance law, according to the Associated Press. Its a concern thats been echoed, among other, by Wyomings Rep. Harriet Hageman. In September, a group of lawyers sent Hageman a letter asking her to refrain from claiming in public again that the 2020 presidential election was rigged. In a statement denouncing the lawyers letter, Hageman didnt reiterate those words but instead brought up concerns about corporate spending in elections. There remain serious questions about that election, including hundreds of millions of dollars spent by Mark Zuckerberg to commandeer local elections offices in Democrat precincts..., Hageman wrote in the statement. Gray also called for legislation that would increase security and clarification in Wyomings voter identification requirements. (There are a couple bills, one in the House and one in the Senate, that concern voter-I.D.s. Both would allow Wyomingites to use their concealed carry permit as identification at the polls.) He also wants to promote legislation that bans ballot harvesting, the practice of having someone beside the voter return that voters absentee ballot. Gray reiterated in the Tuesday statement that he doesnt support legislation that would institute ranked-choice voting, which he described as inefficient, confusing, and antithetical to the traditional voting process Wyoming enjoys. Theres one ranked-choice voting bill on the books for this session. The bill would create a ranked-choice voting pilot for nonpartisan municipal races. Municipalities could opt into the pilot if they want to, but arent obligated to do so. The bill is modeled on one that Utah passed in 2018. Since then, more than 20 municipalities in that state have opted into the program. PHOTOS: Opening day of the 67th Wyoming Legislative Session 67th Wyoming Legislative Session begins 67th Wyoming Legislative Session begins 67th Wyoming Legislative Session begins Rep. Jeanette Ward 67th Wyoming Legislative Session begins 67th Wyoming Legislative Session begins 67th Wyoming Legislative Session begins 67th Wyoming Legislative Session begins 67th Wyoming Legislative Session begins 67th Wyoming Legislative Session begins 67th Wyoming Legislative Session begins 67th Wyoming Legislative Session begins 67th Wyoming Legislative Session begins New lawmakers were sworn in and leadership chosen for the 67th Wyoming Legislature on Tuesday, kicking off the session at the statehouse. The new class of lawmakers is particularly noticeable in the House of Representatives. Nearly half of the House will be made up of freshmen lawmakers this year, while three lawmakers on the Senate side are new to the Legislature. Roughly 45 minutes before the opening ceremonies began, the House gallery was already packed with family members and friends of lawmakers. Among the crowd of onlookers were the three kids, husband and parents of Rep. Sarah Penn, R-Lander, a freshman lawmaker and nurse who sits on the House Health, Labor and Social Services Committee. Its invigorating, Ill say that. A lot of people use the phrase drinking from a fire hose Penn, who has been a signatory on multiple letters alongside hard-line conservative Wyoming Freedom Caucus members, said of her first day in the Legislature. Theres a lot of really good people here with years of legislative experience whom Im able to tap into. Everybodys been very welcoming. Wyomings red Legislature became even more red over the course of the 2022 election cycle. A couple House seats formerly held by independent and Libertarian lawmakers flipped in favor of the Republican Party. Republicans also took over two formerly Democratic seats in the House. Not only that, but a number of more moderate Republicans were also ousted by hard-line conservatives, some whom have already demonstrated their sympathies for the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, a group that has its roots in the far-right U.S. House Freedom Caucus that formed in 2015. Last week, the Wyoming Freedom Caucus announced its partnership with the State Freedom Caucus Network. For the few Democrats that have managed to keep their strongholds in the House and Senate, working across the aisle in the Republican-dominated Legislature is a must to get anything done. We do reach out to our Republican colleagues, but theyve been reaching out to us too, Rep. Kenneth Chestek, D-Laramie, said. A Republican asked me to cosponsor a bill today. Happy to do it. So I am seeing a lot of work across the aisle. That is very satisfying. Chestek said hes also glad that conversations with his colleagues so far have been focused on policy, not politics. Ive had some really good conversations, really good policy-based conversations with my colleagues, both Democrat and Republican. One freshman lawmaker, Rep. Bill Allemand, R-Natrona County, who said tears of emotion came to his eyes during the days proceedings, recounted his first experience that day talking with a constituent who disagreed with him on a bill. The legislation in question, House Bill 66, is a COVID-19 bill that would block people from denying unvaccinated or unmasked individuals any public services, goods, facilities, advantages or privileges..., among other things. Another freshman lawmaker, Rep. Jeanette Ward, R-Casper, is the bills sponsor. I said, Maam, Im not gonna lie to you: I am a cosponsor on this bill you dont like, and if you can change my mind I will listen to you, but as of right now, its probably not gonna happen, Allemand recalled, standing beside fellow freshmen lawmakers Reps. Dalton Banks, R-Cowley, and Allen Slagle, R-Newcastle. The three lawmakers sit together on the House Agriculture, State and Public Lands and Water Resources Committee. Were scared, but were still having fun, Allemand said. Legislative leadership was officially voted in without a hiccup following the swearing-in ceremony, with Reps. Albert Sommers, R-Pinedale, becoming speaker, Clark Stith, R-Rock Springs, speaker pro tempore and Chip Neiman, R-Hulett, majority floor leader on the House side. On the Senate side, Sens. Ogden Driskill, R-Devils Tower, became president, Dave Kinskey, R-Sheridan, vice president and Larry Hicks, R-Baggs, majority floor leader. The votes for leadership on the House floor follow closely contested Republican caucus elections back in November. In those elections, which determined whom the Republican Party would back in the official floor votes for legislative leadership, several Wyoming Freedom Caucus members and allies vied for spots against more experienced candidates. But among those challengers, only Neiman, the House majority floor leader, who has said hes aligned with the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, prevailed. In a speech on the House floor, Sommers, the new speaker of the House, urged lawmakers to work together and act with civility. We must stand firm in our beliefs, but be willing to bend towards each other to solve the challenges facing Wyoming, he said. We are here to solve problems, and that can only be done by starting conversations, building trust and forming relationships. Building relationships is impossible if we lack civility and foment discord. We will disagree on many issues, but we must maintain decorum and civility to each other and to the public that we represent. Driskill, the new Senate president, struck a similar tone speaking on the Senate floor. Nationally, and even here at home in Wyoming, the political discourse has become dug-in and personal, Driskill said. I believe theres more common ground that unites us than differences divide us. Their words come amid legislative decorum that some say has deteriorated, and an election cycle that many have called the ugliest in Wyomings recent history. PHOTOS: Opening day of the 67th Wyoming Legislative Session 67th Wyoming Legislative Session begins 67th Wyoming Legislative Session begins 67th Wyoming Legislative Session begins Rep. Jeanette Ward 67th Wyoming Legislative Session begins 67th Wyoming Legislative Session begins 67th Wyoming Legislative Session begins 67th Wyoming Legislative Session begins 67th Wyoming Legislative Session begins 67th Wyoming Legislative Session begins 67th Wyoming Legislative Session begins 67th Wyoming Legislative Session begins 67th Wyoming Legislative Session begins 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. Your childs education should be a family priority, according to Kimarie Richardson-Thomas, who has taught for 23 years in the public school system. Richardson-Thomas is the Academic Dean at Goodwood Secondary School, and teaches English Language, English Literature, and CAPE Communication Studies. 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 A Pima County jail inmate was found dead in his cell Tuesday morning. At 9:25 a.m., a doctor responded to a housing unit at the jail to do a follow-up on Yunan Mohammed Altib Tutu, 26, after corrections officers said that he was not eating. Tutu was found unresponsive in his cell and was pronounced dead, a news release from the sheriffs department said. Detectives found no signs of trauma and no suspicious circumstances. The cause of death is unknown at this time, the news release said. Tutu was booked into the jail on July 10 on suspicion of burglary and multiple warrants. On Oct. 10, the court found Tutu unable to understand the nature of the proceedings and unable to assist counsel in his defense and was deemed incompetent, Pima County Superior Court records say. The court also found that there was substantial probability that Tutu could be restored to competency within the time frame permitted under Arizona law, court records say. As a result of the findings, it was ordered that Tutu commit to the in-custody Pima County Restoration to Competency Program so he could receive treatment. It was also ordered that Tutu be held at the jail until he had been restored to competency or it was determined to be non-restorable, court records say. A review hearing for Tutu was set for Feb. 15. The freeze on new home development in the Buckeye area west of Phoenix, due to a groundwater shortage, could be seen as the canary in the coal mine, Arizonas water director says. But the canarys early warning for Arizonans really occurred three years ago in Pinal County, said the director, Tom Buschatzke. His Department of Water Resources already refuses to issue permits for new developments there that planned to rely solely on groundwater. More to the point, he said, much of the rest of this drought-stricken state is headed that way absent some new source of water. Communities are not immune just because they have an allocation of Colorado River water from the Central Arizona Project, Buschatzke warned this week in a wide-ranging interview with Capitol Media Services. That resource, too, is limited. And cities that cant show their CAP allocations ensure a 100-year supply of water face similar restrictions. Nor, he said, can developers rely on the idea there may be treated seawater available sometime in the future to justify building projects today. And Buschatzke said his decision not to release until Monday the analysis of available groundwater near Buckeye was not an effort, as Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs said Monday in her State of the State speech, to hide it from the public so developers could keep building. He acknowledged the request to delay the report did, in fact, come from the staff of Republican Doug Ducey, Hobbs predecessor. But Butschatzke said Ducey wanted to have it released when stakeholders came up with potential solutions that would be put out into the public world at the same time. Hobbs, who took office this month, had a different idea when informed of the reports existence. We cant tackle this issue if we dont know what were facing, she said after her speech Monday. Buschatzke said the timing is legally irrelevant: Public or not, Buschatzke said whats in the report means his department isnt issuing any permits at all for new residential subdivisions for an 886-square-mile area near Buckeye. Water shortage gets worse Release of the report has created a new focus on the fact the state faces a water shortage even as people keep moving here. We have this dual challenge, right? Hobbs said. We have to balance our needs to address the housing crisis with our need to address water shortages. Lawmakers realized decades ago that the state was in a position where the amount of groundwater available would be outstripped by demand. Arizona has long been entitled to a share of Colorado River water. But it took federal legislation to authorize construction of the CAP canal system, with the idea of reducing the need to pump. And in 1980, with the CAP in place, state lawmakers approved a historic law designed to cut groundwater pumping in metropolitan areas, with the idea of safe yield by 2025, the point at which what is being taken out balances with recharge. But that Colorado River supply, allocated in unusually wet years, has recently failed to fully materialize. The result has been mandatory cutbacks, with more to come if Arizona, California and Nevada dont agree on a plan to use less water. The report from Buckeye shows that, for much of the state, groundwater is not a solution for the future as CAP water becomes more scarce. Weve been trying to take the easy way out, Hobbs said. Population growth at risk? That leaves the question of whether Arizona can continue to grow at the rate it has. I dont know the answer to that, she conceded. A lot of what were facing in terms of Colorado River shortages is that more of the snowfall is being absorbed and theres less runoff, which is caused by climate change, she said. Its not something that we can fix by using less water, Hobbs said. Its very complicated. But could development actually be stopped? Theres a lot in that question I dont have answers to, Hobbs said. It will become part of what the Water Policy Task Force she announced this week will wrestle with. What we need to do to balance our need to continue to house people and our water shortages. Buschatzke said none of this should come as a surprise. Over the years, what Ive said is that, given the fact that groundwaters a finite resource, that weve been allocating groundwater since the 1980 Groundwater Management Act for a variety of uses, that it was kind of a matter of time, he said. Buckeye wont be the last such area affected, he said. I cant exactly tell you whos next and when that will occur, but the decision will be guided by science, he said. Cant depend today on desalination, he says So what are the options for continued growth? For the Buckeye area, one is to pump water from the Harquahala Valley even farther west of Phoenix. A special law allows transfers from this basin into more water-starved areas of the state. There is also some reclaimed water that hasnt already been allocated to things like providing cooling for the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station. And the Colorado River Indian Community, known as CRIT, recently got federal permission to sign long-term leases for part of its 719,428 acre-feet a year of Colorado River water. An acre-foot, on average, supports a family of three for a year. But even that has limits. Buschatzke said the tribe is looking at leases of perhaps 25 to 30 years, too short by themselves to become part of any 100-year assured supply for a community or developer. But you could take that CRIT water, you could put it under the ground, and you could divide the volume by the appropriate calculations to make it 100 years, he said. You could pull it out over the 100 years. As for desalination, Buschatzke said the only thing that has happened so far is Arizonas Water Infrastructure Finance Authority has directed its staff to talk with IDE Technologies, an Israeli firm, about a possible plant on the Sea of Cortez in Sonora to provide water for Arizona at some future date. But that is far from a sure thing, he said. Right now I would not be able to put any potential desalinated water as an approval for anybodys assured water supply program, none, Buschatzke said. There hasnt been a plant sited, there hasnt been a plant under construction, its not producing any water, he said. You have to have water being produced. And that says nothing about it being actually available for 100 years. Desal can be part of the solution, Buschatzke said. But none of the desal being discussed ... is going into anyones assured water supply at this time. When given the assignment of carrying several tables worth of unwashed dishes to the kitchen for cleaning, a job that would put a frown on any restaurant workers face, Saffron Indian Bistros newest employee just rolls with it. More often than not, the act is met with smiles from restaurant patrons, who break out their phones to take video of the otherwise tedious task for TikTok, Facebook and other forms of social media. In those instances, all eyes are on Spice, a Servi hospitality robot, a little taller than R2-D2, that Saffron recently acquired to help its employees around the dining area. When fully charged, Spice, with its several tiers to handle multiple jobs, can deliver food, drinks, take orders and assist in clearing tables for up to 12 hours at a time. Saffron owner Mintu Sareen said they are only using their Servi for busing and bringing take-out from the back kitchen to the hosts stand. I dont want to replace people with technology, said Sareen. Saffron Indian Bistro has 53 employees. We will always have that human touch. We got this to help our staff, so they dont have to carry loads of dishes after meals. Sareen is renting the hospitality robot from Bear Robotics, a company in Redwood City, California, that specializes in self-driving technology geared to assist in restaurants, hotels, casinos, arenas and senior living facilities. Saffron, which is located at 7607 N. Oracle Road in Oro Valley, is the first business in the Tucson area to have a Servi and one of only 20 businesses in the state. The rest are concentrated in the Phoenix area, including at a Hyatt Regency hotel and a Dennys in Mesa, according to Juan Higueros, co-founder and chief operating officer at Bear Robotics. Higueros said Bear Robotics launched in 2017 and has more than 6,000 Servi robots operating in businesses in 43 states, South Korea, Ireland and Japan. Customers have the option to rent a Servi from the company, for between $699 and $899 a month depending on how long they want it. They can also buy a Servi outright for just shy of $15,000, with ongoing tech support from the company. Think of it as an additional set of hands, Higueros said. The employees are able to participate in more engaging activities instead of menial, repetitive tasks. Sometimes those trays can be pretty heavy. Carrying them for eight hours a day can be cumbersome. When a restaurant signs on with Bear Robotics, a field operator comes out to map a layout of the business, which is then programmed into the Servi, setting the parameters on where it can and cannot go within a designated area. If Table 6 needs to be cleaned, a server will enter the number of the table into a tablet built into the robot. Once the Servi finds its way to the table, the server loads it with dishes. The robot then heads back to the kitchen while the server moves on to help the next customer. Higueros said Bear Robotics is working on more advanced hospitality robots that will be able to take elevators and work on multiple floors of hotels and office buildings. They will be able to deliver Amazon packages dropped off at the front desk, groceries, Uber Eats deliveries, everything and anything, he said. It has taken us a few years to get here. Now, you are hopefully going to start seeing more of these in your everyday life. Bear Robotics can access all Servi robots through its online network, which means any updates to the software can be made off-site. On a recent Tuesday, Saffrons Servi had to be rebooted several times, a bug that the company fixed remotely, Higueros said. The system glitches shook Sareens confidence in his new employees abilities, but he is opting to stick with it, for now. It is a new technology, Sareen said. It is going to take time. Sareen said when the Servi is working, which has, so far, been the vast majority of the time, it is both helpful to his human employees and entertaining for the guests. People love it, Sareen said. It has a cool factor. I want kids to say to their parents, I want to go to that robot restaurant. Much is routine about an Arizona governors state of the state speech, whether the officeholder is a Republican or Democrat. They talk about improving education. They say we have a good business climate, but it still needs to improve. They reference the federal governments failures on immigration and at the border. The approaches and details vary, of course, but the broad swaths tend to stay the same. After reading about Mondays state of the state speech in the Capitol and watching a new version at the Tucson Convention Center on Tuesday, I noticed two new details, though: One is about Republican legislators, the other is about perhaps the states biggest issue water. When Hobbs spoke in Phoenix, she was met by protests from some Republican legislators, including the three from the Tucson areas new Legislative District 17. State Sen. Justine Wadsack joined Sen. Anthony Kern, a Glendale Republican, in standing and turning her back on Hobbs. Other GOP legislators, including LD 17 Reps. Rachel Jones and Cory McGarr, walked out of Hobbs speech. It was a deeper level of dissent in the Legislature, where Democrats sat sullenly on their hands during Republican Gov. Doug Duceys eight state of the state speeches but stayed put. McGarr said this in a subsequent statement: For the sake of my constituents, I cannot and will not be a pawn in (Hobbs) attempt to appear legitimate while at the same time further disrespecting Arizonans by preparing them for more wokeness that they do not want. Enough is enough! Jones referenced Hobbs first-day executive orders when explaining via Twitter: It took 5 seconds for Katie Hobbs to begin legislating from the 9th floor, so I will not listen to her rhetoric for even 5 seconds. There are too many questions left unanswered, litigation still moving through the courts, and many concerns about the border, not pronouns. None of the explanations I read for the protests made much sense to me. They boiled down to the governor having different policies and opinions than these legislators, which is to be expected. If they think shes seizing too much power, the answer is to sue and some of their allies have already said they will. So...? This may sound like a bad start for Hobbs, and it certainly isnt to be wished for, but when I spoke with her for a few minutes after her state of the state speech Tuesday in Tucson, Hobbs said its not her problem. I think its more of an issue for Republican leadership than it is for me, she said. Its immature antics. Im focused on the work in front of us and what we need to do to move our state forward. In her speech, the area where Hobbs broke the most new ground was on water not just talking about the overused-and-abused Colorado River, as Gov. Doug Ducey also did, but taking on Arizonas antiquated groundwater law. No real progress was made on the overpumping of Arizonas groundwater, outside the states active management areas like Phoenix and Tucson, during the Ducey administration. The water table dropped in places like Cochise County, where out-of-state dairies took advantage of unregulated pumping, and western Arizona, where a Saudi company did the same. Lets close this water-poaching loophole, Hobbs said during her speech. Hobbs said she will propose providing funding to communities that want to establish active management areas. Thats something that only one community, the Sulphur Springs Valley near Douglas, has done, and they only did it in an election last year. For years, even as some Republican legislators proposed minor changes to groundwater law, such as measuring the pumped water, one legislator has stood in the way. Gail Griffin, of Hereford, has chaired the committees overseeing water laws in both the House and the Senate. Now shes back in the House and holding the gavel in the Natural Resources, Energy and Water Committee. I asked Hobbs how she would deal with Griffin in trying to push through changes to water law. Its really unfortunate that she has stood in the way of that kind of progress, Hobbs said of Griffin. Its critical to our state continuing on its path of growth, if we want to maintain that, we have to do something about groundwater management. Hobbs went on: She should stop standing in the way of communities that want to control their own destiny. On Tuesday, I pressed Hobbs on how shes going to get GOP members like Griffin to move on this issue. Its going to take acknowledgment that were in this crisis and that we all have to come together to deal with it, Hobbs said. I dont know how anyone in a leadership position, especially someone who has been there as long as Gail, could refuse to acknowledge that this is part of the solution to the problem. There is no mechanism for making people move on this issue when they havent before, Hobbs acknowledged. Finding those levers, those grounds for deals, will be the challenge Hobbs faces as she tries to press her priorities: How to get Republican legislators interested in making a deal, even if, in a case like water, the issue seems so important that no dealing should be necessary. Hobbs can at least take some solace in the fact that Griffin did not turn her back or walk out of her speech. NEW YORK Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson is working on a memoir. Jackson, the first Black woman appointed to the court, is calling the book "Lovely One." "Mine has been an unlikely journey," Jackson said in a statement released by Random House. "But the path was paved by courageous women and men in whose footsteps I placed my own, road warriors like my own parents, and also luminaries in the law, whose brilliance and fortitude lit my way. This memoir marries the public record of my life with what is less known. It will be a transparent accounting of what it takes to rise through the ranks of the legal profession, especially as a woman of color with an unusual name and as a mother and a wife striving to reconcile the demands of a high-profile career with the private needs of my loved ones." No release date has been set for "Lovely One." Jackson, 52, was born Ketanji Onyika Brown. The book's title comes from the English translation of Ketanji Onyika, the name suggested by an aunt who at the time was a Peace Corps worker in West Africa. Jackson joined the court last year after President Joe Biden named her to succeed the retiring Stephen Breyer. She had previously been a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. "My hope is that the fullness of my journey as a daughter, sister, wife, mother, litigator, and friend will stand as a testament for young women, people of color, and dreamers everywhere," Jackson added, "especially those who nourish outsized ambitions and believe in the possibility of achieving them." "Lovely One" is Jackson's first book, but not the first by a current member of the Supreme Court. Justices Neil Gorsuch and Sonia Sotomayor are among those who have released books in recent years. Justice Amy Coney Barrett has a deal with the Penguin Random House imprint Sentinel. Financial terms for "Lovely One" were not disclosed, although interest in her makes it likely her advance is at least comparable to the 7-figure deals negotiated in the past for memoirs by Sotomayor and Justice Clarence Thomas. In announcing Jackson's book, Random House called it a story she tells with "refreshing honesty, lively wit, and warmth." "Justice Jackson invites readers into her life and world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her," the announcement reads in part, "from growing up in Miami with educator parents who broke barriers during the 1960s to honing her voice as an oratory champion to performing improv and participating in pivotal student movements at Harvard to balancing the joys and demands of marriage and motherhood while advancing in Big Law and, finally, to making history upon joining the nation's highest court." 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 doesnt 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. 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 havent stopped as the government appeals the case. Dus 43-page ruling cited much of Hartzlers 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 Departments 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 laws 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 Hernandezs findings on Section 1326s 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 decades 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. Dus 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. 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. 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. The second edition of the Eko Anime festival took place in Nigeria this weekend, with thousands of fans attending the event in Lagos. It is one of the few anime conventions in Africa despite the genre's growing popularity on the continent. As featured on Watch Now: NASA reveals incredible timelapse of the Sun, and more of today's top videos NASA has turned over 100 days of the Sun into an incredible timelapse, watch some of the bes Coney Island Hot Weiners shop announced its opening with a full-page ad that ran in the Jan. 8, 1926, edition of the Tulsa World. The shop officially opened for business the next day, at 311 S. Boulder Ave., right next door to the Tulsa World's offices. While the shop has moved around the downtown area a few times since then, it has continued to serve its signature hot dogs topped with mustard, onions, finely shredded cheese and its unique chili on steamed buns ever since. However, said Chris Economou, grandson of the business's founder, the restaurant now operating at 107 N. Boulder Ave. isn't planning on doing anything extravagant to mark its 97th anniversary. "To be honest, we're just happy we've been able to survive," Economou said. "The government money, the Payroll Protection funds, did a lot to keep us going during the COVID pandemic. And when the restrictions were lifted, we were lucky because we have a lot of space in this location, and it was easy for us to spread out seating out to accommodate the social distancing requirements. "Fortunately, we have a lot of customers who have followed us wherever we go," he said. "It's not like it was when downtown was full of people working, but business has been pretty good." Economou's grandfather Christ Economou came to the United States from Greece in 1911, and in 1919 he opened his first hot dog restaurant in Pennsylvania. He and two business partners would open similar restaurant around the country, sell them and move to a new location. However, once Economou came to Tulsa, he decided to settle here after opening what was his 27th store. Members of the Economou family have been involved with the business ever since. "I started out as a kid," Chris Economou said, pointing to himself in one of the many black-and-white photos that adorn the walls of the restaurant. "Then I took a break of about 40 years to be a lawyer. I retired, and then COVID hit. We were having difficulty keeping staff, so I came back to work." The menu has not changed a great deal over the course of 97 years. Economou said the most popular order is a trio of coneys topped with mustard, chili, cheese and onions, though a recent addition, the "Frito Burrito" (essentially a chili pie wrapped in a tortilla), has proven popular. And while the current location is a new space, it does contain a good deal of Coney Island Hot Weiners history. Economou points to the wooden chairs with their armrest tables that fill the dining area. "Some of these chairs are at least 100 years old," he said. "The dark wood ones go back that far. They were in our first Tulsa location, and knowing my grandfather, he probably bought them used. The lighter colored chairs go back to about 1946. He got the idea to have this style of chair from seeing them in those old Automat restaurants in New York." And Economou said he is confident that Coney Island Hot Weiners will be around for its 100th anniversary. "A lot of things we started doing because of the pandemic we likely will continue to do, because they make sense," he said, referring to using such delivery services as DoorDash and GrubHub. "But also, it took a lot of faith to persevere through the past couple of years. We're still dealing with staffing issues, but we've managed to keep things going. So I feel pretty confident we'll get to that 100th birthday." Most members of the Oklahoma State Board of Education have just been replaced. Gov. Kevin Stitts office announced four new appointments in a press release about 5:15 p.m. Tuesday. It was the second day of Stitts second term and second day in office for new State Superintendent Ryan Walters, whose candidacy Stitt championed. The only members carrying over into Stitts second term are his two most recent appointments to the board, Trent Smith and Sarah Lepak. Lepak will continue to represent Congressional District 2. Smith has now been appointed to represent Congressional District 5, replacing Jennifer Monies. Smith previously served as the board member for Congressional District 3, but recent redistricting changed his residency. Donald Burdick, chief executive officer of Olifant Energy II, replaces Carlisha Williams Bradley in the District 1 seat. For Congressional District 3, Marla Hill, a home school teacher of her five children, will replace Smith. For Congressional District 4, Kendra Wesson, owner of Operation Accounting Inc. in Norman, will replace Brian Bobek. Wesson ran for election to District 46 in the Oklahoma House of Representatives but lost with 45.5% of the vote in the Nov. 8 general election to 54.5% for incumbent Democrat Jacob Rosecrants. Suzanne Reynolds, a licensed pharmacist who has served in higher education at different universities, including the University of Oklahoma College of Pharmacy, will serve as the at-large member. That leaves Estela Hernandez, who has served as the at-large member, as no longer on the state board, although she was not mentioned by name in the governors press release. Reynolds offered public comments at the July State Board of Education meeting in support of a Tulsa teacher who filed a House Bill 1775 complaint against Tulsa Public Schools and urged the board to assess the strongest possible penalty. That complaint resulted in state sanctions against TPS accreditation status. This person was acting as a whistleblower about her experience as a teacher. The complainant was harassed in an attempt to silence her in revealing her identity. I commend her for her courage and her brave act. I was especially motivated to come before you because I am an educator who experienced this attempt at indoctrination, Reynolds told the board at the video recorded meeting. I have some sense of the humiliating task the complainant had to endure. As a health care provider and former faculty member at the University of Oklahoma, I endured diversity, equity and inclusion training during a two-hour faculty webinar entitled Unlearning Your Transphobia and Homonegativity, in which I was told that I was socialized into believing there are only two sexes when there are actually 10. I was also urged and shamed into using what they call `inclusive language, a firm belief in the gender unicorn and explained fabricated genders and experiment with pronouns. I found this to be a direct assault on my civil rights, my freedom of religion, speech and thought. Senate confirmation is typically required for State Board of Education appointments. New cancer-fighting technology developed by University of Tulsa researchers is one big step closer to reaching the market and becoming available to patients, school officials said. The university announced Tuesday that a licensing arrangement has been made with FortySix Venture Capital LLC for commercialization of the technology, which has the capability, TU said, to radically change the time and expense required to target therapeutics for the deadliest forms of cancer. Its an outstanding day when the University of Tulsa takes a big step forward in making our inventors intellectual properties accessible to everyone. (These) findings can literally save lives, said Bill Lawson, TU director of technology commercialization. The technology was developed by TU associate professors Angus Lamar and Robert Sheaff. The pair, assisted by teams of students, have been researching cancer for several years through a grant from the Oklahoma Center for Advancement of Science and Technology. This latest development involves a novel process for synthesizing and using sulfonamides and testing their efficacy and selectivity against human cancer cells. The process could help doctors better target therapeutic treatments for individual patient applications, officials said. TU and FortySix will begin working together immediately to commercialize the technology, officials said. Under the licensing arrangement, FortySix will build a business team, secure the necessary regulatory approvals and, ultimately, bring the technology to market. This agreement provides an opportunity to see our research efforts lead to better, more effective chemotherapeutics targeting hard-to-treat cancers, Sheaff said. Tracy Poole, co-founder and managing partner of FortySix, said: We are very fortunate to have such a great research university in Tulsa. As early investors, we feel like we are in the right place at the right time to help push this technology forward. TU President Brad Carson said the agreement demonstrates TUs ongoing support of its faculty and students in their research and inventions. Great cities have great research universities, and Tulsa is no exception, Carson said. Video: Lung cancer myths OKLAHOMA CITY After millions of dollars in dark money flowed into Oklahoma elections last year, the states Republican Party chairman is seeking campaign finance reforms. A.J. Ferate asked the Oklahoma Ethics Commission on Wednesday to consider updating campaign finance rules so political parties can raise more money and provide additional assistance to state candidates. The changes could help level the playing field so political parties can attempt to compete with dark money groups, Ferate said. Corporations and other entities can contribute unlimited sums of money to influence elections through dark money groups that dont have to report their donors. Political parties, on the other hand, have to report their campaign fundraising and political spending. In a letter to the commission, Ferate pointed to more than $30 million in independent expenditures dark money groups spent against Gov. Kevin Stitt or in favor of his Democratic opponent last year. He also noted State Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd faced an intraparty challenger who raised just $2,350 but benefited from significant dark money spending. Citing the U.S. Supreme Courts Citizens United decision that allowed corporations and other special interest groups to spend unlimited money on elections, Ferate said the state cant do anything about dark money groups that are deemed legal under the ruling. This letter is not written to suggest that case law should be undone, nor would I support that, Ferate wrote. But we also cannot stick our heads in the sand and force regulated entities to play by rules that effectively handcuff them. Such is the way political parties are treated under the Oklahoma Ethics Commission rules in todays environment. Oklahoma Democratic Party Chairwoman Alicia Andrews declined to comment on the letter. Ethics Commission Executive Director Ashley Kemp said she appreciates Ferate raising his concerns and expressing a willingness to work toward finding solutions. Although Kemp did not comment on the specific recommendations Ferate put forth, she said there is no question the amount of dark money has increased every election cycle. Some entities are intentionally evading campaign finance disclosure requirements in Oklahoma. The underfunding of the Ethics Commission has allowed some groups to take advantage of the situation to advance their own interests, she said. The GOP-led Oklahoma Legislature has cut Ethics Commission funding in recent years. While laws can always be improved on, the strength of the law does not matter when the funding does not exist to adequately enforce those laws, Kemp said in a statement. The effect of not enforcing those laws does not just deprive Oklahomans of the information they are entitled to, but it places those entities who do follow the campaign finance laws at a disadvantage. Ferate makes four requests of the five-member commission that he said could better align state campaign finance rules with federal law. He wants the commission to consider scrapping contribution limits for political parties. Donors can contribute up to $10,000 to a political party in a two-year election cycle, Ferate said. That cap could lead some donors to turn instead to dark money groups that can take unlimited amounts of money, he said. Ferate also asked that the commission reconsider language in the state constitution that bans corporations from influencing elections through campaign contributions. Specifically, he wants corporations to be able to help fund political parties operational costs. For example, Ferate envisions local companies being able to write a check to a political party that party leadership could turn around and spend on building improvements, electric bills or other operational costs. He also wants state candidates to be able to transfer money to the party during a campaign, which is allowed for federal candidates. Postage rates for political parties are typically cheaper than those for candidates, which means a candidate could save money by transferring cash to the party to issue campaign mailers on their behalf. Ferate also is asking the commission to reconsider requiring state political parties to report contributions auxiliary political groups make to candidates. Contributions made by political groups like the Tulsa County Republican Party and the Republican Womens Club of Tulsa are reported by the state party as opposed to the groups filing their own campaign finance reports, he said. In todays world of independent expenditures, re-approaching the existing desire to stifle political party speech must end, Ferate wrote. Oklahomas political parties must be given wider latitude under the Ethics Commissions rules. Ferate asks the commission to submit the proposed rule changes to the Oklahoma Legislature this year. The commission will discuss Ferates request at its February meeting, Kemp said. September 2022 video: Bill would target dark money in politics The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Wednesday morning that DaNa Carlis is the newly named director of NOAAs National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman. Carlis is a third-generation Oklahoman, a native Tulsan and a graduate of Booker T. Washington High School. He is excited to return to his home state after living in Boulder, Colorado, for the past two years and working as the deputy director at NOAAs Global Systems Laboratory. It means everything to me to return home. It is such a full-circle moment, Carlis said in a Tulsa World interview. When I left Oklahoma at the age of 17, I like to say I took Oklahoma with me. Everyone that knows me knows that I am from Oklahoma and from Tulsa. I love my home state. As the newly named director, Carlis said he cant wait to get started at the National Severe Storms Laboratory, which is a federal research laboratory under NOAAs domain. The lab conducts research on such weather phenomena and technology as weather radar, tornadoes, flash flooding, lightning, damaging winds, hail and winter storms. Observing, understanding and forecasting severe thunderstorms is a large part of the research. Im excited about the opportunity to lead this team of dedicated and accomplished scientists, Carlis said. Im looking forward to getting out into the field to see the research that has been making a real difference in peoples daily lives. According to Steve Thur, NOAA assistant administrator for oceanic and atmospheric research, Carlis has guided a variety of NOAA projects that have furthered the forecasting within the organization and aided in earlier warnings for natural disasters. His leadership experience and passion for research will help NSSL continue to fulfill its mission to help forecasters provide advance warnings of extreme weather and save lives, Thur said. Carlis also brings a wealth of knowledge when it comes to leading NOAAs efforts on advancing diversity, equity and inclusion within the organization. This includes co-founding NOAAs Diversity and Professional Advancement Working Group in 2014. I never shy away from those difficult conversations, Carlis said. Having those conversations with senior leadership and working to hire and recruit from diverse backgrounds are a priority for me. After earning a bachelors of science in chemistry at Howard University in Washington, D.C., Carlis went on to obtain a masters degree and a doctorate in atmospheric sciences and meteorology, also from Howard. He begins his new role at the end of the month. Featured video: Fresh cyclone to hit California after historic storms kill at least 17 Asked to explain his decision to replace four of six State Board of Education members, Gov. Kevin Stitts office said Wednesday that two now-former members actually resigned recently and Its a new day. About 5:15 p.m. on Tuesday, which was the second day of Stitts second term and second day in office for new state Superintendent Ryan Walters, the Governors Office issued a press release announcing four new board appointees. The only members carrying over into Stitts second term are his two most recent appointments to the board, Trent Smith and Sarah Lepak. The after-hours press release offered no explanation for the decision, so the Tulsa World followed up Wednesday. Kate Vesper, a spokeswoman for Stitt, revealed two replacements occurred because of new vacancies as former board member Brian Bobek actually resigned on Dec. 17 and former member Jennifer Monies followed suit on Dec. 29. The members of the board are appointed, selected and serve at the pleasure of the governor. The former board members were all appointed by Governor Stitt, and he is thankful for their service to the state, Vesper said. Its a new day in the Stitt administration. We are eager to have a board who shares the governors vision to put parents first, break out of our bottom ranking in education, and give every student across the state regardless of economic status or zip code the opportunity to attend a school that fits their unique needs. The Governors Office did not respond specifically when asked why Stitt retained Lepak and Smith rather than replace all six of his appointees. Smith has now been appointed to represent Congressional District 5, replacing Jennifer Monies. Smith previously served as the board member for Congressional District 3, but recent redistricting changed his residency. Donald Burdick, chief executive officer of Olifant Energy II, replaces Carlisha Williams Bradley in the District 1 seat. When reached Wednesday afternoon, Williams Bradley said she was notified earlier in the week that she would not be reappointed. My term was slated to end this year, she told the Tulsa World. My departure wasnt necessarily a surprise, but I appreciate the opportunity to serve in this capacity. Im looking forward to finding new ways to be an advocate for public education. For Congressional District 3, Marla Hill, a home school teacher of her five children, will replace Smith. For Congressional District 4, Kendra Wesson, owner of Operation Accounting Inc. in Norman, will replace Brian Bobek. Wesson ran for election to District 46 in the Oklahoma House of Representatives but lost with 45.5% of the vote in the Nov. 8 general election to 54.5% for incumbent Democrat Jacob Rosecrants. Suzanne Reynolds, a licensed pharmacist who has served in higher education at different universities, including the University of Oklahoma College of Pharmacy, will serve as the at-large member. That leaves Estela Hernandez, who has served as the at-large member, as no longer on the state board, although she was not mentioned by name in the governors press release. Reynolds offered public comments at the July State Board of Education meeting in support of a Tulsa teacher who filed a House Bill 1775 complaint against Tulsa Public Schools and urged the board to assess the strongest possible penalty. That complaint resulted in state sanctions against TPS accreditation status. Walters, the newly elected state superintendent, serves as the chief executive officer of the Oklahoma State Department of Education and the voting chairman of the state Board of Education. I am looking forward to serving with the new proposed state board, he tweeted Tuesday evening after Stitts press release went out. We have big items that we are going to tackle this year and our top priority is ensuring that kids, teachers, and parents are well served. He is a former McAlester High School teacher who left the teaching profession in 2019 to work in education policy advocacy for an initiative of the State Chamber of Oklahoma in Oklahoma City. He later became CEO of Oklahoma City-based Every Kid Counts Oklahoma, a nonprofit fully backed by national school privatization and charter school expansion advocates. Stitt appointed Walters as his secretary of education in 2020 to act as liaison to various state education boards and commissions, including the Oklahoma State Board of Education, various higher education boards of regents and trustees, the Office of Educational Quality and Accountability and the CareerTech board. He will continue in that advisory role to the governor during Stitts second term. Stitt championed Walters 2022 candidacy for state superintendent and in November, he defeated Democratic challenger Jena Nelson to succeed Joy Hofmeister, who was term-limited. Staff writer Lenzy Krehbiel-Burton contributed to this story. OKLAHOMA CITY When Oklahomas legislative session gets underway next month, its unclear whether a special legislative committee will continue digging into a sweetheart deal a state agency inked with a local barbecue chain. The House Special Investigative Committee examining the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Departments previous relationship with Swadleys Bar-B-Q to operate state park restaurants was paused until new Attorney General Gentner Drummond takes office, House GOP spokesman Daniel Seitz said Friday. House Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka, on Friday released a list of committees for the upcoming legislative session. The bipartisan investigative committee wasnt included. Seitz said thats because the investigative committee, which meets as needed, is different from permanent legislative committees. If theres work that the committee needs to do, it can be revived whenever, he said. The committee met publicly twice last year after it was formed in April. McCall tasked the panel with getting answers about the Swadleys deal and determining whether the Legislature needs to change state law to prevent a similar situation from happening again. Its unclear whether the committee has held additional meetings since its last public meeting in June. Chairman Ryan Martinez, who did not return a call for comment, previously said the committee may hold private meetings to hear from whistleblowers who wanted to remain anonymous. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation is still investigating allegations of possible criminal conduct between the state and Swadleys. There is no timeline on when that investigation will be complete. Former Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater requested the investigation. But the Attorney Generals Office could play a greater role in the Swadleys probe because Prater recently retired. In a Monday news release, Drummond said his office will investigate recent allegations of government scandal and corruption, although he did not cite specific examples. He also said his predecessor, former Attorney General John OConnor, shirked his responsibility when he left government corruption investigations to district attorneys. Drummonds office on Tuesday did not respond to questions specifically about the Swadleys case. April 2022 video: Oklahoma House to look into possibly fraudulent Swadleys contract with state Tourism office Many airlines of Vietnam and China will reopen air routes between the two countries, bringing Chinese travelers to Khanh Hoa Province, south-central Vietnam, during the upcoming Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday. During the Tet holiday, lasting from January 18 to 26, there will be four flights from China to Vietnam and four others in the opposite direction," Le Thi Hong Minh, director of Cam Ranh International Terminal Joint Stock Company, which operates the airport of the same name in Cam Ranh City, Khanh Hoa Province, said on Sunday. The frequency of flights will depend on passengers demand and the developments of the COVID-19 pandemic. There will be 150-180 passengers on each flight. Vietnams budget airline Vietjet Air will be the first one to resume charter flights from its northern neighbor to Cam Ranh City after the Chinese government announced the reopening of its doors from January 8, Minh added. According to Vietjet Airs plan, it will operate nine flights between Chinese cities and Vietnam from January 11 to 31. Welcoming back Chinese tourists not worrying Tran Minh Duc, chairman of the Khanh Hoa Travel Association, said with Chinas relaxed policies, such as no restriction on the numbers of international flights and passengers, many Chinese people have planned to travel abroad. China is a familiar source market of Khanh Hoas tourism, so there will not be many obstacles in welcoming back tourists from this market," Duc said. However, many units specializing in serving Chinese guests have shut down over the past two years due to the pandemic. Therefore, enterprises should review and upgrade their services, while preparing human resources and vehicles." He added that tourism firms should come up with new tourism products to attract Chinese visitors. Khanh Hoa will begin welcoming back Chinese tourists this quarter. Photo: Minh Chien / Tuoi Tre In 2019, South Korean and Chinese tourists made up the majority of international visitors to Khanh Hoa and most of them chose low-cost tours. However, travelers now prefer independent and family tours. Ecosystems for low-cost tours will no longer exist. Local travel companies should create more high-quality activities instead of focusing on tours prices. Key foreign travelers at the beginning of 2023 may remain South Koreans. Although China reopened its borders in January, it will take more time to bring Chinese tourists to Vietnam," Duc assessed. Tourism enterprises in Khanh Hoa should prepare infrastructure facilities and services to serve Chinese tourists. Photo: Minh Chien / Tuoi Tre Taking anti-COVID measures while welcoming back Chinese tourists Ton That Toan, deputy director of the Khanh Hoa Center for Diseases Control, said the province had applied regulations on COVID-19 prevention and control for immigrants in line with the Ministry of Healths directions. In particular, it will not require foreign travelers to take COVID-19 tests and declare their health conditions before entering Vietnam, which will facilitate them. However, the number of international tourists coming to Vietnam will increase sharply in the coming time, which will pose a high risk of a pandemic resurgence in the community. The Khanh Hoa Department of Health has asked for the General Department of Preventive Medicines directions on anti-COVID measures for immigrants, and professional instructions and support in the pandemic prevention and control," Toan said. The department has also got ready for the prevention of the pandemic, especially at Cam Ranh International Airport, and has drawn up plans to handle possible pandemic situations." According to Nguyen Thi Le Thanh, director of the provincial Department of Tourism, Khanh Hoa has piloted a plan to welcome foreign travelers after the COVID-19 pandemic is kept at bay. It is experienced in pandemic control and has a high vaccination rate, so the province is ready to welcome a large number of foreign travelers in 2023. The department has repeatedly reminded enterprises to strictly apply anti-epidemic measures. In addition, it has joined hands with other agencies to conduct Khanh Hoa tourism promotion programs in the Chinese market," Thanh said. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Many airlines of Vietnam and China will reopen air routes between the two countries, bringing Chinese travelers to Khanh Hoa Province, south-central Vietnam, during the upcoming Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday. During the Tet holiday, lasting from January 18 to 26, there will be four flights from China to Vietnam and four others in the opposite direction," Le Thi Hong Minh, director of Cam Ranh International Terminal Joint Stock Company, which operates the airport of the same name in Cam Ranh City, Khanh Hoa Province, said on Sunday. The frequency of flights will depend on passengers demand and the developments of the COVID-19 pandemic. There will be 150-180 passengers on each flight. Vietnams budget airline Vietjet Air will be the first one to resume charter flights from its northern neighbor to Cam Ranh City after the Chinese government announced the reopening of its doors from January 8, Minh added. According to Vietjet Airs plan, it will operate nine flights between Chinese cities and Vietnam from January 11 to 31. Welcoming back Chinese tourists not worrying Tran Minh Duc, chairman of the Khanh Hoa Travel Association, said with Chinas relaxed policies, such as no restriction on the numbers of international flights and passengers, many Chinese people have planned to travel abroad. China is a familiar source market of Khanh Hoas tourism, so there will not be many obstacles in welcoming back tourists from this market," Duc said. However, many units specializing in serving Chinese guests have shut down over the past two years due to the pandemic. Therefore, enterprises should review and upgrade their services, while preparing human resources and vehicles." He added that tourism firms should come up with new tourism products to attract Chinese visitors. Khanh Hoa will begin welcoming back Chinese tourists this quarter. Photo: Minh Chien / Tuoi Tre In 2019, South Korean and Chinese tourists made up the majority of international visitors to Khanh Hoa and most of them chose low-cost tours. However, travelers now prefer independent and family tours. Ecosystems for low-cost tours will no longer exist. Local travel companies should create more high-quality activities instead of focusing on tours prices. Key foreign travelers at the beginning of 2023 may remain South Koreans. Although China reopened its borders in January, it will take more time to bring Chinese tourists to Vietnam," Duc assessed. Tourism enterprises in Khanh Hoa should prepare infrastructure facilities and services to serve Chinese tourists. Photo: Minh Chien / Tuoi Tre Taking anti-COVID measures while welcoming back Chinese tourists Ton That Toan, deputy director of the Khanh Hoa Center for Diseases Control, said the province had applied regulations on COVID-19 prevention and control for immigrants in line with the Ministry of Healths directions. In particular, it will not require foreign travelers to take COVID-19 tests and declare their health conditions before entering Vietnam, which will facilitate them. However, the number of international tourists coming to Vietnam will increase sharply in the coming time, which will pose a high risk of a pandemic resurgence in the community. The Khanh Hoa Department of Health has asked for the General Department of Preventive Medicines directions on anti-COVID measures for immigrants, and professional instructions and support in the pandemic prevention and control," Toan said. The department has also got ready for the prevention of the pandemic, especially at Cam Ranh International Airport, and has drawn up plans to handle possible pandemic situations." According to Nguyen Thi Le Thanh, director of the provincial Department of Tourism, Khanh Hoa has piloted a plan to welcome foreign travelers after the COVID-19 pandemic is kept at bay. It is experienced in pandemic control and has a high vaccination rate, so the province is ready to welcome a large number of foreign travelers in 2023. The department has repeatedly reminded enterprises to strictly apply anti-epidemic measures. In addition, it has joined hands with other agencies to conduct Khanh Hoa tourism promotion programs in the Chinese market," Thanh said. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! 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. 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. 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. 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. Doctors at a hospital in Tay Ninh Province, southern Vietnam have saved a construction worker who had his neck pierced with an iron bar due to a labor accident. The 30-year-old man was recently admitted to Xuyen A General Hospital with an iron bar about four centimeters in diameter and 30 centimeters long piercing through his neck. The patient previously fell on the scaffolding and had his neck and lower jaw pierced with the iron bar. He was taken to a nearby medical facility for first aid before being transferred to Xuyen A General Hospital. The patient was in a critical condition and was diagnosed with internal bleeding, splenic rupture, and a complicated penetrating wound in the neck. Doctors performed a surgery to remove the iron bar and suture the complicated wound in the patients neck. He was then taken to the digital distraction angiography (DSA) room where doctors stopped bleeding of the splenic artery and preserved the spleen, before he was brought to the intensive care unit. His health is gradually stabilizing. According to Nguyen Thanh Sang, a senior doctor at Xuyen A General Hospital, construction workers need to be equipped with proper tools and protection and comply with regulations on occupational safety to avoid unfortunate and life-threatening accidents. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Doctors at a hospital in Tay Ninh Province, southern Vietnam have saved a construction worker who had his neck pierced with an iron bar due to a labor accident. The 30-year-old man was recently admitted to Xuyen A General Hospital with an iron bar about four centimeters in diameter and 30 centimeters long piercing through his neck. The patient previously fell on the scaffolding and had his neck and lower jaw pierced with the iron bar. He was taken to a nearby medical facility for first aid before being transferred to Xuyen A General Hospital. The patient was in a critical condition and was diagnosed with internal bleeding, splenic rupture, and a complicated penetrating wound in the neck. Doctors performed a surgery to remove the iron bar and suture the complicated wound in the patients neck. He was then taken to the digital distraction angiography (DSA) room where doctors stopped bleeding of the splenic artery and preserved the spleen, before he was brought to the intensive care unit. His health is gradually stabilizing. According to Nguyen Thanh Sang, a senior doctor at Xuyen A General Hospital, construction workers need to be equipped with proper tools and protection and comply with regulations on occupational safety to avoid unfortunate and life-threatening accidents. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! It was recently voted Worst International Show by readers (ouch) but for reality fans who cant get enough, Love Island UK is fast-tracked to 9Now with new host Maya Jama from next week. Returning after its inaugural season in 2020, the winter edition of the series will see eleven singles leaving the cold behind to jet-set to a hot luxury villa in Cape Town, South Africa. This season will also see the introduction of a new host, TV star Maya Jama, taking over the reign of the villa alongside narrator Iain Stirling, who returns with his commentary on all that unfolds as the Islanders flirt, date, re-couple, break up and make up. It will be a sizzling winter of fun, romance and drama, with shock eliminations and bombshell arrivals. Islanders must couple up to secure their place in the villa or risk being dumped and sent packing. They must also win the hearts of the public, as viewers will crown their favourite couple after facing one final twist. Entering the villa this season are: payroll administrator Anna-May (20), TV salesman Haris (21), science and PE teacher Kai (24), makeup artist Lana (25), ring girl and actress Olivia (27), financial advisor Ron (25), airport security officer Shaq (24), student (biomedical science) and influencer Tanya (22), hair stylist Tanyel (26) and farmer Will (23). Love Island UK fans are in for a double dose of love in 2023 with the winter edition turning up the heat before the summer series returns later in the year. Wednesday January 18 on 9Now. ABC has been voted Best Free to Air Network by readers in the TV Tonight Awards. ABC outranked 10, Seven, Nine and SBS for the third year running. ABC Managing Director David Anderson said, Its an honour for the ABC to be recognised as Free to Air network of the year by TV Tonight readers. In 2022 the ABC celebrated 90 years of entertaining and informing Australians and its wonderful to see our programs were enjoyed and valued by audiences. In 2023 the ABC will continue to bring the best Australian stories to audiences at home and around the world. Netflix was again voted Best Subscription Service and FOX Showcase as Best Foxtel Channel. This year Aaron Chen (pictured) has tied with Sam Pang as Most Underrated Performer. Both appear on two shows: Fisk for Chen and The Front Bar for Pang -and together on Have You Been Paying Attention? New names include Tim McDonald and Melanie Bracewell, both from The Cheap Seats. Coverage of the death of Queen Elizabeth II was 2022s Story of the Year, overtaking votes around the rollercoaster year for Neighbours. With so much content streaming there are fewer and fewer votes for International Show We Need to See each year, but The Kelly Clarkson Show topped the list. It debuts on the new 7Bravo channel this Monday. * denotes runaway winner Best Free to Air Network: ABC * 10 Seven Nine SBS (2021: ABC) Best Subscription Service: Netflix * Disney+ Foxtel Stan Binge (2021: Netflix) Best Foxtel Channel: FOX Showcase Lifestyle FOX Footy FOX Sports FOX8 (2021: FOX Showcase) Most Underrated Performer: Aaron Chen, Sam Pang (tie) Jackie Woodburne Tim McDonald Melanie Bracewell (2021: Sam Pang) International Show We Need to See Here: The Kelly Clarkson Show Quantum Leap Dancing with the Stars USA, General Hospital, Hollyoaks. (2021: La Brea) Story of the Year: Coverage of death of Queen Elizabeth II Neighbours is axed (and then renewed) Death of Shane Warne, Olivia Newton-John The Project exodus: Carrie Bickmore, Lisa Wilkinson, Peter Helliar Shaun Micallef wraps Mad as Hell (2021: Death of Bert Newton) There were 421 completed surveys, the highest in 4 years. 90% voted the site Excellent or Very Good, up from 86% the previous year, with just 1% choosing Disappointing. 66% visit More than Once a Day or Once a Day, also up on 2021s 62%. Thanks once again to all who participated! David. TV Tonight Awards: Best of 2022 TV Tonight Awards: Worst of 2022 Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne is set to unveil a highly sensitive pension overhaul aimed at pushing up the retirement age that has already prompted vigorous criticism and calls for protests from leftist opponents and worker unions. The minimum retirement age to be entitled to a full pension is expected to be gradually increased from 62 to 64 or 65, in line with a longstanding pledge by President Emmanuel Macron. Details are to be released by Borne at a news conference on Tuesday evening. The government argues that French people live longer than they used to and therefore need to work longer to make the pension system financially sustainable. All French workers receive a state pension. Center-left and hard-left worker unions unanimously expressed their disapproval of the proposed changes after talks with Borne last week. Some are in favor of an increase in payroll contributions paid by employers instead. The countrys eight main worker unions are gathering on Tuesday to set the date of a first protest day against the pension changes. A heated debate at parliament also is to be expected. Macrons centrist alliance lost its parliamentary majority last year -- and most opposition parties are opposed to the changes. Macrons lawmakers hope to be able to ally with members of the conservative The Republicans party to pass the measure. Otherwise, the government may use a special power to force the law through parliament without a vote -- at the price of much criticism. The pension reform is an electoral promise from Macron, who failed to implement a similar measure during his first term. The proposal at that time sparked nationwide strikes and protests, before the COVID-19 crisis led the government to postpone the changes. Macron was reelected for a second term last year. Story continues Frances Retirement Guidance Council issued a report last year showing that the pension system is expected to have a deficit over the next decade, with the government having to compensate. The minimum retirement age applies to people who have worked enough years to qualify. Those who do not fulfil the conditions, like many women who interrupt their career to raise their children and people who did long studies and started their career late, must work until 67 to retire without penalty. The average pension this year stands at 1,400 euros per month ($1,500 per month) once taxes are deducted. But that average masks differences across pension schemes depending on professions. Over the past three decades, French governments have made numerous changes to the system but each reform has been met with massive demonstrations. 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. Parthenon Marbles (British Museum) THERE were reports last week that a deal between Greece and the British Museum over the Parthenon marbles could be close. It was said that talks were in advanced stages and the stones could begin moving sooner rather than later. But now the Greek ministry of culture has hit out at the idea of a long-term loan of the sculptures, saying they do not accept they belong to the museum to lend to anyone. We repeat, once again, our countrys firm position that it does not recognize the British Museums jurisdiction, possession and ownership of the Sculptures, as they are the product of theft the ministry was reported as saying in Greek newspaper Kathimerini last week. Former Chancellor George Osborne is now Chairman of the museum. The institution is planning a regeneration that is set to start with the rooms the marbles are stored in. There have been leaks in the ceilings of those rooms, meaning they have had to be shut at various times. The stones were taken from the Acropolis in Athens by Lord Elgin in the early 19th century. It is not clear if the British Government would try to stop the stones leaving the UK. Turkish Airlines plane returns to Uganda's airport after bird strike during take-off Xinhua) 09:28, January 11, 2023 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. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) HA NOI UK pharmaceutical exports to Viet Nam witnessed a strong growth rate of 32 per cent in the first nine months of 2022, according to British Ambassador to Viet Nam Iain Frew. The ambassador was speaking at the workshop 'UKVFTA commitments and implications for the pharmaceutical sector in Viet Nam' on January 10. He said under the UK-Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA), UK pharmaceutical companies enjoy lower tariffs, increased access to the public procurement market for pharmaceutical products, and enhanced protection of intellectual property rights in Viet Nam. "UKVFTA has helped deliver regulatory changes that have allowed British pharmaceutical companies to obtain foreign-invested enterprise (FIE) status in the country," said Iain Frew. The ambassador expressed his appreciation for the Ministry of Health's efforts to revise the legal regulations on pharmaceutical registration and management, especially the issuance of Circular 08 which removed additional requirements on the certification of pharmaceutical products. He also appreciated the decision by the National Assembly to allow the extension of the expired marketing authorisation until 2024. He hoped that the ministry would be able to issue the list of pharmaceutical products under this resolution soon to ensure the continuity of supply and patient treatment. o Xuan Tuyen, deputy minister of Health, revealed that the National Assembly had approved a resolution, under which the marketing authorisation (MA) of certain drugs and medicinal ingredients is extended to December 31, 2024. He said his ministry had been working on the above-mentioned list of pharmaceutical products and would soon publish it to avoid a disruption of medical supply chains. He also said his ministry had drawn up a revised version of the Law on Pharmacy 2016 and submitted it to the Government for approval. The version offers five big changes to the original law. One of the changes involves the replacement of five-year-periodically approved extensions of MA by automatic extensions of MA. Another change centers around the reduction of clinical trial requirements in favour of developed countries. "Another change involves the decentralisation of MA to local pharmaceutical authorities," said Tuyen. The deputy minister expected the version to be approved and sent to the National Assembly for discussion in October 2024. Harry Rawicz-Szczerbo, head of Trade & Investment, British Embassy in Ha Noi, underlined several opportunities for UK pharmaceutical products under UKVFTA. The first opportunity involves preferential tariffs, with more than 71 per cent of UK pharmaceutical products enjoying tariff-free access to Viet Nam immediately. The remainder is slated to benefit from tariff elimination in the next four to nine years. The second opportunity involves the access to Vietnamese public procurement market. After a transitional period of two years from the entry into force of UKVFTA, UK suppliers will secure access to a pre-determined portion of the market. The third opportunity is about the FIE status. The free trade agreement will allow UK pharmaceutical companies to set up FIE status, which entitles them to build warehouses and facilities, hire health experts, and carry out marketing activities in the country. The fourth opportunity is the improvements in intellectual property rights. For example, Viet Nam will provide regulatory data protection to pharmaceutical products every five years. "Competitors are prohibited from relying on submitted test data in support of an application for MA for at least five years," said Rawicz-Szczerbo. The fifth opportunity centers around clinical trials. Under UKVFTA, Viet Nam will withdraw existing clinical trial requirements that are not in line with international norms and standards, including the International Conference on Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Registration. VNS HA NOI The Republic of Koreas Speaker of the National Assembly (NA) Kim Jin-pyo will visit Viet Nam from January 12 to 18, at the invitation of his Vietnamese counterpart Vuong inh Hue. This is his first official visit to the Southeast Asian country since taking office in July last year, and the first of a South Korean senior State leader since the two countries upgraded their relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership in December. Viet Nam and the Republic of Korea (RoK) officially established diplomatic relations on December 22, 1992. Since then, on the foundation of political trust, cultural similarities and geographical proximity, cooperation for economic growth and shared strategic interests, the two countries have made significant and practical achievements in their bilateral ties. Speaking of the development in Viet Nam - RoK relations in December, Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc said: The new heights of the two countries comprehensive strategic partnership is a source of encouragement, trust and powerful motivation for the progressively successful cooperation between their businesses. That is also the success of the comprehensive strategic partnership. South Korean high-level officials also said that RoK always sees Viet Nam as a key partner in its foreign policies in Southeast Asia and Indo-Pacific strategy. Against this background, Viet Nam and RoK have become each others leading partners in multiple aspects, in which economics, trade and investment are both major pillars and a driving force in their cooperation. RoK currently ranks first in terms of direct investments into Viet Nam, second regarding official development assistance (ODA), labour and tourism, and third in trade cooperation. Viet Nam is also the largest economic partner of RoK in ASEAN, accounting for 30 per cent of investment and 50 per cent of total trade turnover between the East Asian country and the region. The two countries leaders have agreed to promote stable growth of bilateral trade, with the aim to have two-way trade turnover reaching US$100 billion in 2023, and $150 billion in 2030. People-to-people and cultural exchanges are also of great significance to Viet Nam - RoK relations, with approximately 200,000 citizens of one country residing in the other. There are also around 80,000 South Korean-Vietnamese families and 70 locality-to-locality partnerships. In recent years, bilateral ties continue to grow despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. RoK was one of the first countries to provide vaccine and medical equipment support to help Viet Nam effectively control and prevent the disease. Viet Nam has also created favourable conditions for South Korean businesses to continue their production and operation, ensuring the supply chain amid the current obstacles in the global economy. Legislative bodies cooperation The ties between the Vietnamese and RoK legislative bodies have been strengthened and developed based on the 2013 cooperation agreement, contributing to the relations between the countries. High-level exchanges and online conferences have been held on a regular basis, which focus on regional and international issues of mutual concern, as well as experiences in parliamentary operations including legislation, supervision, and voter meeting. During Vietnamese NA Chairman Vuong inh Hues official visit to RoK in December 2021 - the first high-level delegation exchange between the two countries after two years of COVID-19, NA leaders from both sides agreed to further develop their relations, aiming to become a model of parliamentary cooperation and effectively implement their 2013 agreement. The two legislative bodies continue to work closely together and offer support on international and regional parliamentary forums such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF), Asia-Europe Parliamentary Partnership Meeting (ASEP), Meeting of Speakers of Eurasian Countries' Parliaments (MSEAP) and ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA). With a strong foundation and high ambitions for the two countries cooperation, RoK NA Speaker Kim Jin-pyos visit in January is expected to further strengthen the effective and practical relations between the legislative bodies, which will greatly contribute to Viet Nam - RoK relations. VNS HA NOI During a visit to the northern province of Thai Nguyen on Tuesday, Party Chief Nguyen Phu Trong told leaders to closely identify potentials and advantages of the locality to make breakthrough policies as part of efforts to reach its target to become one of the modern industrial and economic centres of the northern mountainous region by 2030. The party chief said Thai Nguyen should also pay attention to further developing regional linkage to facilitate the development of the province in a rapid and sustainable way while improving infrastructure, making it a modern industrialised province. He also stressed the need to further enhance the leadership of the Party organisations and highlighted the requirement to ensure economic development, culture and heritage preservation as well as social security while continuously improving the locals lives. The province should also improve the quality of education and training, health services and pay attention to vocational training and job creation, especially in mountainous, rural areas and locations where new investment projects are based. The province should also pay attention to developing housing projects for workers on low income and having policies for people having contributed to the revolutions as well as ethnic people. He ordered the locality to have support for disadvantaged people, workers and contributors to the revolution especially when Tet (Lunar New Year) is approaching. With a strategic location, ensuring defence work and maintaining social and political security and safety was an important task of Thai Nguyen, he said, noting that it must also actively handle and prevent criminals and social evils to ensure safety, creating a favourable environment for investment and socio-economic development. The Party leader also stressed the importance of building a transparent and strong political system as well as resolutely preventing and handling wrongdoings. During his working session in the province, Party chief Trong also visited a tea cooperative in Tan Cuong Commune in Thai Nguyen City, which produced an average of 1,000 tonnes of fresh tea in 2022. Thai Nguyen is located in the centre of the northern mountains and midlands region, which is 75km from Ha Noi. It is also an intersection point through a system of roads, railways, and fan-shaped rivers connecting with provinces and cities. Located on significant economic axes, with a convenient location adjacent to the Red River Delta, the province has the potential to become a centre of logistics, trade and investment with a number of industrial parks. Over the past decade, Thai Nguyen has evolved into a leading magnet for attracting foreign direct investment, thanks to its investor-friendly business environment, transparent policies, and strategic location. Many major businesses have enjoyed great success in the province, including Masan Group and Samsung Electronics, which have made significant contributions to the countrys socio-economic development. Samsung Electro-Mechanics has raised its total investment in the Yen Binh industrial park in Pho Yen Town to nearly VN52 trillion (US$2.27 billion). VNS Vietnam is filled with a joyful and bustling atmosphere around every corner as Lunar New Year approaches. The transition between the old year and the new is always a wonderfully meaningful time for people to gather with their loved ones. It can be even more special when such occasions happen in the grand surroundings of the Pan Pacific Hanoi hotel. The Pan Pacific Hanoi is a great choice if you are looking for a special place to enjoy a reunion with your loved ones during the festive period. The hotel is decked out with a refreshing sense of celebration to give a warm welcome to Lunar New Year 2023. Motifs related to the country's biggest festival permeate the Pan Pacific, where staff are ready to take you on a culinary journey with numerous special offers to help you recharge your batteries for the coming year. Situated on the edge of the city centre, Pan Pacific Hanoi provides a haven of tranquillity away from the bustling streets of the capital. With 324 fully furnished rooms and suites presenting magnificent views of the poetic West Lake, and an array of recreational facilities, the hotel is full of thoughtful touches for your complete relaxation. The Pan Pacific is especially well known for its delectable fusion of western and eastern gastronomy, and, as a New Year gift, a series of incentives will be on offer from the hotel over the holiday period. All-day dining at the Pacifica Restaurant, Cantonese cuisine at Ming Restaurant, the famed Song Hong Bar, and the panoramic rooftop views of The Summit bar all promise the finest dining experience during your stay. Ming restaurant serves a dim sum buffet lunch with over 70 delights showcasing a variety of flavours, while Song Hong Bar serves the Pacific Breakfast Menu. Night Cap Hours at The Summit Bar on the 20th floor are filled with refreshing drinks, and the panoramic view of Pearl Island surrounded by Truc Bach Lake and West Lake. This Lunar New Year at the Pan Pacific Hanoi will be full of excitement with music, high-class wine and beers, cocktails, and food waiting for guests. Tet cuisine highlight at Pan Pacific Hanoi Take a break in February and visit Pan Pacific Hanoi to reunite with family and relish culinary masterpieces crafted by talented chefs to celebrate the New Year of the Buffalo. Pan Pacific Hanoi wins 2021 Tripadvisor travellers' choice award Pan Pacific Hanoi announced that it has been recognised as a 2021 Travelers Choice award winner. Pan Pacific Hanoi: Pacifica buffet is officially back in town The Pacifica buffet will be ready to delight diners' sophisticated appetites until November 10. The CTe AQUA system can supply up to 170,000 cubic metres of water per day. It consists of pumping stations in and outside the dike to transport water to Aurora IP through a well-designed 16km-plus long pipeline system, ensuring all construction, production, and operation needs in the IP. Together with the nation's largest wastewater treatment system with a capacity of 110,000 cubic metres per day, Aurora IP can apply advanced technology to ensure water exploitation and wastewater treatment standards before discharging. CTe AQUA pumping station Aurora IP is one of the core projects of Cat Tuong Group, which plans to become a smart eco IP focusing on textile and dyeing. It seeks to deepen the sustainability footprints of Vietnam's textile and garment industry. Aurora IP covers 14,000ha in Nghia Hung district, Nam Dinh province - the cradle of the Vietnam textile and garment industry, right in Ninh Co Economic Zone. It owns a strategic location directly connected to most roads in the northern key economic region. With the vision to become the nation's largest industrial-residential-service complex in the industry, Aurora IP is one of the few IPs in Vietnam with resources, a legal basis and synchronous infrastructure to build high-tech factories that meet international standards and strict process requirements. Cat Tuong Groups Board of Directors inaugurated CTe AQUA system Following its missions, Aurora IP aims to localise the production of 1 billion metres of fabric annually, strengthening Vietnam's textile and garment industry while promoting the local and national economy. Textile and garments is one of Vietnam's key industries, with the second largest export value in the country. In 2022, amid global economic uncertainties post-pandemic, the textile clothing sector generated $44 billion in total export value. Vietnam, however, still has bottlenecks in fabric production, stemming from the need for more textile and dyeing infrastructure. Aurora IP has successfully signed large-scale projects in the high-tech textile dyeing field with investors from Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan with a total investment value surpassing $300 million. Determined to find a solution, Cat Tuong Group has established the first green-clean-sustainable IP in Nam Dinh province, envisioned to provide a promising investment destination, ready to welcome the wave of textile production shift into Vietnam. Aurora IP has successfully signed large-scale projects in the high-tech textile dyeing field with investors from Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan with a total investment value surpassing $300 million. Towards the goal of humanity and sustainability, at Aurora IP, Cat Tuong Group has encouraged manufacturers to prioritise energy-saving solutions, using renewable energy and environmentally friendly raw materials. The IP has also offered attractive investment support policies and long-term commitment to investors. The inauguration ceremony of CTe AQUA pumping station and pipeline system is an important milestone in the development of Aurora IP, said Nguyen Van Tuan, standing vice chairman of Cat Tuong Groups Board of Directors. Cat Tuong Group will continue to improve Aurora IP infrastructure, serving clients' burgeoning production needs and ensuring the quality of the surrounding environment, committed to a green - clean - sustainable IP model. With Aurora IP, we are steadfast in our mission of laying the foundation for sustainable development of the textile industry and contributing to making Nam Dinh the textile centre of northern Vietnam. Textile groups at pains to regather momentum Orders of textile and garment exporters in the last months of the year have been falling sharply compared to production capacity, combined with fluctuating raw material prices, leaving many businesses to prepare for a bumpy year ahead. Phil Rodrigues, head of Security Asia Pacific & Japan Commercial at Amazon Web Services (AWS) However, while it is easy to get distracted by eye-catching headlines about cybersecurity lapses, capabilities are also being continuously enhanced with new and exciting technologies to help us address the ever-changing threat landscape. Security is also as much about soft skills as the specialised technical skills typically associated with the field. According to the Information Systems Audit and Control Associations research, soft skills in communication, flexibility, and leadership represent the most significant skills gap identified by cybersecurity professionals. In such a dynamic environment, it is always difficult to make predictions, but we can provide our insights about the future for 2023 and beyond. Cybersecurity will be the cornerstone of everything Recently, we have seen a rapid acceleration of digital transformation in a short time that has forced organisations to manage disruptions to their business, such as the impact of remote working. Cybersecurity has always been a priority for some enterprises but as security and risk management leaders handle the recovery and renewal phases from the past two years, we will see this focus expand. Cybersecurity is likely to become a top priority for all businesses operating in the digital economy. Moving forward, instead of conducting periodic cybersecurity reviews, we see a future where organisations will shift to continuous automated methods. This will create an environment where it is easier to make the best cybersecurity decisions earlier in the development of business processes and digital products. Cybersecurity will thus be truly built into everything organisations do, which is the right approach. This new culture of security will drive more automation, allowing companies to innovate and scale safely. The cloud provides an exciting opportunity to help drive this and to secure data in ways that were not possible on-premise. For example, it will simplify the automation of cybersecurity tasks such as patching, logging, monitoring, auditing, and integration with existing toolsets. As a result, we will see widespread benefits for businesses and governments of all sizes, including improvements in data protection. Around the world, the public is becoming more discerning about how personal data should be gathered, stored, and processed and governments are responding by creating new legislation to protect it. By 2024, 75 per cent of the world will have introduced data protection legislation, and large organisations are expected to budget $2.5 million for investments into privacy technology, such as encryption, advanced access control, and more granular logging. This is why AWS has prioritised data protection capabilities in the cloud since day one. AWS security predictions 2023 New ways to address the skills gap Cybersecurity professionals are not just needed for the workforce of tomorrow there are millions of job openings ready to be filled today. There was a global shortage of 3.4 million cybersecurity practitioners in 2022. While the number of security threats continues to increase, we can be better prepared to address them by training todays workforce in soft skills, cloud computing, and security awareness. We predict there will be a trend towards prioritising diversity and finding new and innovative perspectives for recruiting cybersecurity professionals. We also expect that organisations that do this will outperform in cybersecurity compared to those that do not. In practice, this will mean prioritising hiring people with diverse educational and career backgrounds, people from different cultures, and people who are neurodiverse to benefit from diversity in the human brain and cognition. For us, diversity in cybersecurity is about more than just equality. It is about optimising defensive and offensive capabilities by having access to the widest possible range of problem-solving abilities. Diverse hiring is a key part of our culture at AWS, and that means we also hire people for cybersecurity roles who do not have a background in the industry. There is also a growing recognition that the mounting costs of university education and lack of access to the right cybersecurity training can hamper the ability of economically disadvantaged individuals to access formal qualifications, limiting their involvement in the cybersecurity sector. This is why AWS Training and Certification provides a wide range of free and fee-based cybersecurity courses available in multiple languages. In addition to the free foundational course, AWS offers advanced instructor-led cybersecurity training which includes threat detection, data protection, and strategies to secure computing workloads on the AWS cloud, all validated by the AWS Security Specialty Certification. New technological horizons for cybersecurity In 2023 and beyond, we predict that new and emerging technologies will continue to strengthen cybersecurity. These innovations will not only make existing cybersecurity processes easier and more efficient but will also drive new cybersecurity approaches for organisations. Automation is rapidly emerging as essential to effective cybersecurity practices. Artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) approaches will extend this, adding a critical layer of automation to cybersecurity in cloud environments. Cloud-based AI/ML offers predictive capabilities derived from collected information that can play a significant role in making cybersecurity more proactive by identifying outliers and offering recommendations about how to address vulnerabilities. Quantum computing will continue to develop rapidly and will become ubiquitous in practical use cases. In the long run, that will help make data more secure by prompting organisations to reconsider their current encryption algorithms and processes. We also believe that mechanisms such as multi-factor authentication (MFA) will become fully normalised as core components of practical cybersecurity across all organisations. Future MFA approaches will move towards biometric and multimodal forms of authentication. These approaches will greatly increase the security of authentication for organisations. Stronger on the cloud Wider access to cloud technology will allow organisations to build cybersecurity practices into their everyday operations more effectively. A range of cybersecurity tools are made available natively in the cloud and they are continuously updated to respond to the evolving threat environment, in line with industry best practices. At AWS, we are making significant investments to make it easier for people to gain the skills they need to grow their careers in cloud computing, including cybersecurity. Amazon is investing hundreds of millions of dollars to provide free cloud computing skills training to 29 million people globally by 2025. In the two years since we announced this commitment, AWS has helped over 13 million people gain access to cloud computing skills through our free workforce programmes. Cybersecurity is becoming a central pillar in how governments and businesses plan and execute new digital initiatives. Cloud computing tools will be at the forefront of helping enterprises adapt to the changing cybersecurity landscape and can play an integral role in empowering organisations to leverage emerging technologies to safeguard societys most important data. ASEAN countries rush to address digital skills gap Amazon Web Services (AWS) has been cooperating with countries across ASEAN in upskilling to meet their digital transformation needs. AWS expands in Asia-Pacific with launch of Infrastructure Region in Thailand Amazon Web Services (AWS) on October 24 announced plans to open an infrastructure Region in Thailand as a move to boost its footprint in the Asia-Pacific region. Amazon SageMaker benefits tens of thousands of customers Amazon SageMaker has opened the dawn of a new era in machine learning since its launch in 2017, helping tens of thousands of customers create millions of models, training models with billions of parameters, and generating hundreds of billions of monthly predictions. Vietnam's Timo builds with AWS to scale business Timo, Vietnam's digital bank, has built and launched its cloud-native core banking platform on AWS, aiming to scale its business and serve 5 million new customers over the next three years. Imai Masanori, president of Toda Corporation, held a meeting with the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) at the end of last December, proposing the construction of a wind measuring station in the south-central province of Binh Thuans waters to gain specific data on the provinces offshore wind potential. The Japanese government has provided funds for Toda to conduct studies on the potential of offshore floating wind power in Vietnam, he said. Toda can help Vietnam deal with financial problems when developing offshore wind power at seaports, or small islands, at a low cost. We are the first company licensed to produce floating wind power offshore in Japans deep sea, and are building a wind farm to locally produce electricity, Masanori said. Energy security deemed more likely with appropriate offshore wind strategy, Photo Le Toan Vietnam and Japan have pledged to be carbon-neutral by 2050. Vietnam, which has no experience in offshore wind power development, plans to develop 7,000MW of offshore wind power by 2030, according to the draft Power Development Plan VIII by the MoIT. In October, Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) also proposed to the government to create a mechanism to develop about 4,000MW of offshore wind power in the north of the country to ensure electricity. The north currently accounts for nearly half of Vietnams electricity demand. EVNs updated calculations on electricity supply and demand in 2022 showed that new power sources in the north are expected to operate very little, and additional power sources are in Vietnams central and southern parts (mainly renewable energy) can only partially support the north as the transmission capacity through the 500kV lines is technically limited to a level that ensures safety and stability of the system. In addition to EVN, some localities such as Quang Ninh, Ho Chi Minh City, Haiphong, Thai Binh, and Nam Dinh have asked the government to develop offshore wind power sources as more and more domestic research also leads to the possibility of wind power development. According to a survey by the Energy Assessment Programme for Asia of the World Bank, Vietnam has the largest wind potential in Southeast Asia with an estimated capacity of over 513,000MW 200 times the capacity of Son La Hydropower Plant and more than 10 times the total forecasted capacity of Vietnams electricity industry by 2020. According to the General Department of Meteorology and Hydrology under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, sea areas have the best potential for exploiting wind energy in Vietnam. In particular, the wind potential is at a good to excellent level in the coastal areas from Ninh Thuan to Ba Ria-Vung Tau provinces with an annual average wind speed of 8-10m/s, and an average annual energy density of 600-700W per square metre. Cao Thi Thu Yen, renewables and environment expert at the Power Construction Consulting Company 1, said, Vietnam has great potential for offshore wind power development thanks to its long sea route. However, exploiting these potentials depends on many factors, including development policy, and marine and coastal resources. Yen added that offshore wind power development in Vietnam should soon have an overall assessment, meeting the two urgent goals of power supply and policy improvement. In Vietnam, the equipment and components for the construction and installation of onshore wind power are still mainly imported, so the price of electricity from these sources remains high, she said. Offshore wind power investment is decreasing rapidly but also remains high. A 1,000MW project in Vietnam can currently cost about $3.15 billion, forecast to decrease to $2.15 billion by 2030. Offshore wind power development in Vietnam requires large investment and is dependent much on a projects capacity, scale, and technology type, Yen said. Nguyen Anh Tuan, former deputy director of the Institute of Energy, said the underwater foundations of offshore wind turbines can act as artificial reefs, attracting some species of krill and fish, thus directly affecting the food chain of large organisms. If wind power projects do not strictly manage the undersea cables connected to the turbine towers and the power station system far away from the transmission system, many problems can occur, such as cable breaks, Tuan warned. He believes that offshore wind power can be a breakthrough to ensure national energy security, but must proceed to develop a national master plan on offshore wind power development. Its especially important to develop supportive policies and mechanisms for offshore wind power development in association with the implementation of the Vietnam Maritime Strategy, Tuan concluded. - EVN has asked the prime minister to soon consider and approve the Power Development Plan for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2045, as well as amendments to Decision No.28/2014/QD-TTg from 2014 regulating the structure of electricity retail tariffs. This includes considering amending relevant decrees to create favourable conditions for state-owned enterprises to mobilise capital sources to complete the planned tasks in 2023. - The national electricity demand in 2023 is forecasted by SSI Research to dip by 5 per cent, with a GDP growth rate in the range of 6-6.2 per cent. In 2022, growth in electricity demand hit 6.4 per cent. - The World Bank forecasts that energy prices in 2023 will decrease by 11 per cent after increasing by 60 per cent in 2022 due to factors such as the Ukraine conflict and the pandemic. What are the highlights in the performance of British companies in Vietnam in 2022? From my perspective, generally British companies and British-owned companies in Vietnam have coped very well in the post-pandemic period, with most sectors showing growth from pre-pandemic levels. Kenneth Atkinson, chairman of the British Chamber of Commerce Vietnam However, some sectors in the country have not performed too well, particularly in the furniture manufacturing sector, and some others are starting to feel strong headwinds with many expecting reduced orders for the first quarter and possibly the second quarter of 2023, for example footwear and garments. Headline statistics from the UK-Vietnam bilateral trade in the first nine months of 2022 improved significantly (14.5 per cent on-year) with exports to Vietnam increasing by 17 per cent on-year. There were great results across a wide variety of sectors medicinal and pharmaceutical product exports to Vietnam increased 43.8 per cent on-year in this nine-month period, for example. Exports of whisky also massively increased (123.4 per cent on-year). Vietnamese exports to the UK increased, particularly in garments, footwear, seafood, and agricultural products. Financial services and banks have also performed well with accounting firms, legal firms, and investment funds showing good rates of growth. There is also optimism in energy projects, particularly renewable energy as well as green loans and bonds. A shining example of education collaboration between the two nations, meanwhile, is the 12,000 Vietnamese students studying in the UK and the increasing number of schools and higher education institutions beating a path to Vietnams door. Bilateral relations have grown to include technology, digital transformation, climate change response, and green growth in addition to more conventional industries like finance, professional services, and insurance. The UK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (UVFTA) has been in effect for one year. How has it contributed to strengthening trade between the two countries? It is clear that the UVFTA has contributed to growth in trade and also acted as a base for increased investment. Two-way trade increased at double-digit rates of growth over the first nine months of 2022 compared to last year. This is directly supported by the UVFTA. For example, the pharma sector has really benefitted from the FTA. Vietnam revised the Law on Pharmacy to ensure legislation would comply with commitments made in the FTA, and this allowed British pharma companies to obtain foreign-invested enterprise status in Vietnam. This allows them to sell to wholesalers in the country, build their own warehousing facilities, and hire health experts to carry out marketing activities. Under the agreement, British pharma companies have also been benefiting from significantly lower tariffs, and been able to reclaim tax based on these lower tariff rates as well. The UVFTA allows for increased access to the public procurement market for pharmaceutical products, as well as increased protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights, especially of pharma patents. Meanwhile, when it comes to a product like whisky, under the UVFTA the 45 per cent import tariff is being gradually reduced, and Scotch whisky is protected as a geographical indicator. Vietnamese businesses are, of course, benefitting too. Growth is impressive in percentage terms but still modest in absolute in numbers for live poultry, frozen fish and aquatic products, handbags and travel goods, surveying and navigating instruments, dairy products like cheese, and tea. Both sides can use the FTA and its provisions to advance business interests and remove barriers to market access, with negotiations hopefully being finalised for market access for meat products from the UK. What will be the possible trends in British business and investment in Vietnam in 2023? The major event for British business and the British community in Vietnam will be the celebration of 50 years of diplomatic relations, which will be a key pillar of the celebrations alongside education and sustainability. I expect continued growth in our trade relationship and investments and the UK will continue with the process to accede to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, which will be another major boost to UK-Vietnam trade. This will of course likely lead to high level bilateral visits both to Vietnam and the UK. I expect to see continued visits by trade missions looking at the sectors which are favoured by UK companies like energy, smart cities, education, healthcare, pharma, and fintech. We expect a particularly exciting time for growth in renewable energy and sustainability linked trade too, following the agreement of the Just Energy Transition Partnership with Vietnam. The Vietnamese government took a number of actions to create a more enabling environment for foreign businesses and investors. How many issues facing British businesses have been looked at, and what are the expectations for 2023? Stability, predictability, and transparency are critical for businesses and for attracting investment. The UK business community very much appreciate the governments efforts to create a more enabling environment and the drive for transparency and governance, which will be crucial for Vietnams development and drive to ensure it will not be caught in the middle-income trap. The early opening of Vietnams borders was vital, in enabling companies generally recover from 2020 and 2021. Whilst the UK appreciates the visa waiver granted to the UK together with four other European countries, we would really like to see the exemption extended to 30 or even 45 days with a right to return to Vietnam in that period. However, a greater issue for British and other investors currently is the strict application of the rules concerning visas, work permits, and temporary residence cards for workers and investors alike. This is really causing a loss of confidence on the part of investors in Vietnams commitment to encourage foreign funding and facilitating the entry of non-nationals employed by British companies. We are pleased that we are making progress with key access issues in different sectors, from food and drink to healthcare. We look forward to seeing more progresses in legislative change in these sectors for example, the upcoming revision of Law on Pharmacy to bring Vietnam regulation more in line with international practices. Furthermore, we also need to see a development of the capital markets with stronger regulations and a diversification of products. More British investors look at Vietnam to cash in on free trade agreements Many British investors are seeking investment opportunities in Vietnam in the hope of cashing in on free trade agreements (FTAs) that Vietnam has signed with the UK and other economies worldwide. British University Vietnam opens scholarship and financial support fund 2023 The BUV Scholarship and Financial Aid Fund offers prestigious scholarships, helping talented students benefit from a British education environment of international standards to pave the foundation for a successful career in the future. Buc-ees, the eager beaver of roadside gas, snacks and clean restrooms, has announced it will open a 74,000-square-foot travel center in Hillsboro, about 33 miles north of Waco and an hour or so from the Buc-ees in Temple. So Waco residents and local motorists will face a coin-flip as they choose between the two locations when the Hillsboro center opens. A groundbreaking is scheduled Jan. 24 to be attended by Hillsboro officials, including Mayor Andrew Smith and Hill County Judge Justin Lewis. The store will bring at least 200 jobs to the area, with starting pay beginning well above minimum wage, full benefits, a 6% matching 401k, and three weeks of paid vacation, according to a press release the Luling-based chain distributed Tuesday. They bought a 35-acre parcel. Part of the site is within the existing city limits, and by the time it opens, the whole site will be within the city limits, Hillsboro City Manager Megan Henderson said by phone. Henderson said annexation was a commitment Hillsboro made to Buc-ees, which has 44 locations across Texas and the South. A visit to the Buc-ees Facebook page reveals pleas from residents nationwide to be included in future plans. Hillsboro is one of the best forks in the road weve ever seen, and they have a beautiful, historic courthouse as a bonus, Buc-ees real estate director Stan Beard said in the press release. Whether youre headed to Fort Worth and West Texas or Dallas and East Texas, you can make Buc-ees your stop, coming and going. The city of Hillsboro and Hill County have been such great partners, and we look forward to being a great neighbor for years to come. Henderson, formerly executive director of City Center Waco, became Hillsboro city manager in 2021. She said Hillsboro and Buc-ees had been talking even before she arrived, at least three years ago. The original targeted location just south of Hillsboro just did not work out, said Henderson. Buc-ees went with 165 Highway 77, near where Interstate 35 splits into I-35W and I-35E. Henderson said Buc-ees will not use all 35 acres it bought, and the city expects other business to piggyback on their expected success. Buc-ees was founded in Texas in 1982, beginning its multi-state expansion in 2019. It has opened travel centers in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina and Tennessee. The press release says the company is headed West, with openings planned in Colorado and Missouri. We have really found them good to work with, communicative, Henderson said. They know what business theyre in and what they need. They are very professional. She said Buc-ees is known for paying employees well and likely will pull employees from all Hill County and beyond. She said Hillsboro gave Buc-ees a package including sales tax breaks. We feel we negotiated an agreement with Buc-ees to both our advantage, Henderson said. She said its presence should boost the citys sales tax revenue, but did not offer an estimate of the degree. Downtown Hillsboro, populated by antique stores and small shops, has grown from 47% occupancy to 93% occupancy in seven years, she said. Walmart and several auto dealerships also operate in the city limits. A lingering negative is the outlet mall along Interstate 35, once a magnet for travelers and a tourist destination, now home to only a handful of tenants. We dont own it, Henderson said, noting the citys options are limited. She said the ownership group remains current on taxes owed. Regarding the rivalry between Hillsboro and Temple, Henderson said, The way I understand it, people who want to go to Buc-ees want to go to all of them. Their road trips include Buc-ees and some other location. Theyre planning includes a stop at Buc-ees for a brisket sandwich. If youre on your way to Dallas-Fort Worth, you stop at the Buc-ees in Hillsboro. If youre going to Austin, you stop at the Buc-ees in Temple. Besides, the Buc-ees in Hillsboro will be newer and bigger than Temples, which she said checks in at about 60,000 square feet. The Hillsboro Buc-ees will have 120 fueling positions and sell barbecue, homemade fudge, kolaches, Beaver Nuggets, jerky, fresh pastries and other snack items, the press release says. McLennan County deputies shot a woman armed with a shotgun Tuesday after she ignored calls to drop the weapon during a disturbance, according to sheriffs office affidavits. The woman, Aurora Victoria Whitman, also known as Steinhauer, was ignoring commands given to drop the weapon when deputies fired their duty weapon(s), the affidavits say. Chief Deputy David Kilcrease confirmed at 4:15 p.m. Wednesday that Whitman remained in an area hospital recovering from her post-shooting surgery. After the incident Tuesday, the sheriffs office charged Whitman, 59, of Moody, with two first-degree felony counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon upon a public servant. A day before the shooting, Whitman had pleaded guilty in Wacos 54th State District Court to aggravated assault of a public servant in a 2019 case involving a jail nurse. Deputies were responding at 10 a.m. Tuesday to a call reporting a disturbance at 300 Freedman Drive in China Spring. In the affidavit, the lead detective wrote the person who called in the disturbance told deputies Whitman was at the address and she was tearing up the house, being very violent. The reporting person left the home in China Spring and met with deputies elsewhere, the affidavit says. Reporting party told deputies the female had a shotgun, swords and knifes in the house, she stated she is not going to jail and will hurt officers, the affidavit says. Uniformed deputies arrived at the home in marked vehicles and saw Whitman outside the home walking towards them wearing a shirt holding a shotgun in her hands. The deputies gave verbal commands to drop the weapon, the affidavit says. As Whitman walked toward deputies, ignoring commands given to drop the weapon, (she) continued to display the gun in a threatening manner. The deputies fired their duty weapon(s) striking Aurora, the affidavit says. McLennan County Sheriff Parnell McNamara said Tuesday that emergency medical services took Whitman to an area hospital where she survived surgery. Procedure in cases with injured suspects calls for the hospital to treat them and give medical clearance before authorities book them into jail. When medically cleared, Whitman will be taken to McLennan County Jail, booked and receive a bail hearing. The guilty plea Whitman entered Monday on stems from a July 2019 incident in which officials say Whitman kicked a jail nurse who was tending to her. She also has a felony conviction in August 2008 for burglary of a habitation. Whitman entered the guilty plea Monday as an open plea to the court, without any sentencing recommendation from the prosecutor, Kristi DeCluitt, with the McLennan County District Attorneys Office. Judge Susan Kelly of the 54th State District Court accepted the plea, set conditions of bond and ordered a pre-sentencing investigation. The Texas Penal Code calls for a sentence of 2 to 20 years in prison for an offender convicted of assault of a public servant charges at trial. By entering a guilty plea, Whitman was allowed to apply for probation. Whitman could face 5 to 99 years if convicted of the aggravated assault charges she faces after her Tuesday confrontation with deputies. 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. A woman who pointed a shotgun at deputies before they shot her Tuesday morning in China Spring survived a surgery at an area hospital, McLennan County Sheriff Parnell McNamara said. I know she survived the surgery, but we dont know her current medical condition, McNamara said Tuesday afternoon. Deputies responding to a disturbance call at about 10:45 a.m. Tuesday shot the woman in front of a house in the 300 block of Freedman Drive in China Spring north of Waco. She absolutely did point the weapon at my deputies and they had no choice but to respond as they did, McNamara said later Tuesday after talking with the responding deputies. She will be charged with several counts of aggravated assault of a public servant with a deadly weapon. Only the woman, who McNamara did not identify, was injured in the incident, he said. When the deputies approached the trailer house, a woman armed with a shotgun, a loaded shotgun, came out and confronted them, McNamara said. Deputies called emergency medical providers, who took the woman to an area hospital, he said. McNamara did not provide details of the call that brought deputies to the area but said the disturbance reported was inside the residence. Texas Rangers are assisting the McLennan County Sheriffs Office in the investigation, at the sheriffs offices request, Texas Department of Public Safety spokesperson Sgt. Ryan Howard said. Waco police crime scene technicians also were working at the scene. AUSTIN The 88th Texas Legislature kicked off Tuesday with McLennan Countys delegation focusing on the states $32.7 billion budget surplus, how to leverage it for tax relief, the southern border and Texas growing population and infrastructure needs. The biennial legislative session officially started at noon, when both the Texas House of Representatives and Senate met, took roll, elected speakers and set rules that would govern their work for the next 140 days. Sen. Brian Birdwell, whose District 22 includes McLennan County, and Rep. Charles Doc Anderson, whose District 56 includes central and western McLennan County, gave interviews after the days ceremonies. Rep. Angelia Orr, a freshman in Austin whose newly redrawn District 13 includes all of McLennan County not covered by Andersons district, declined to give an interview. With the Legislature in session, more formalities and procedures unlikely to garner headlines remain before the heavy lifting starts. Birdwell said the Senate will pass a resolution laying out each committee and how many members each will have, but those positions will not be assigned for at least a week. He said Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick told the Senate he and Gov. Greg Abbott likely will assign committee positions late next week, after their joint inauguration Jan. 17. Thats my estimation, not a promise, Birdwell said. Anderson said over the last few weeks he and other representatives have submitted their preferred committee assignments to Speaker of the House Dade Phelan, a Beaumont Republican. Anderson said representatives with seniority get priority for one assignment, and he expects to serve on committees on livestock and county affairs, just like the last session. Birdwell said he expects to keep his assignments as chair of the Committee on Natural Resources and Economic Development and the Committee on Border Security, as well as his assignment to the Committee on State Affairs. During the first day of the session, Abbott addressed the Senate and House, comparing Texas growing population and budget surplus to Californias population decline and budget deficit. Being attractive has its own challenges, with roads and everything else, but (were) keeping it attractive, Birdwell said. Birdwell and Anderson both said the governor named lowering property taxes as a top priority for the session. I think he intimated that property tax relief was probably the number-one thing, Birdwell said. Certainly border priorities and education, and a bunch of other things are going to compete for the bulk of the attention of the Legislature. Anderson said Abbott and Patrick have both suggested using much of the states projected $32.7 billion budget surplus to buy down property taxes by providing direct state funding for schools maintenance and operation budgets. District-level property taxes funding that portion of schools budgets make up about 60% of the average homeowners taxes, Anderson said. That remains to be seen, he said of how much goes toward property tax measures. Going through the legislative process those numbers go up and down. But I think hes definitely committed to that. Anderson also said he wants property tax relief extended to small businesses, which do not qualify for homestead exemptions the Legislature expanded two years ago. Birdwell said Abbotts immigration policies have stayed within the bounds of federal law, but he wants the federal government to contribute more manpower and funding. He said the Biden administrations current immigration and border policies represent malicious malfeasance of the federal government. This is not incompetence. This is deliberately failing America, Birdwell said. How long can we sustain what were doing? Anderson said the Trump administration purchased right of way along Texas and Arizonas southern border and built a partial barrier. Last session, Texas bought right of way and began expanding the barrier. The difference there is that previously DPS couldnt arrest illegals coming across, but once the state put up that property and put up the fence, then it became aggravated trespassing, Anderson said. He called the current administrations border policies dereliction of duty. The Waco City Council publicly interviewed eight applicants Tuesday to fill the vacant District 4 seat, but it left the decision until the Jan. 17 meeting. The appointed member will serve the North Waco district until the May election, serving out the term of Kelly Palmer, who resigned in October. Mayor Dillon Meek said the city council is seeking someone with a high value for team membership and has an on-the-ground understanding of District 4. David Schleicher, a Waco attorney, pointed to his six-year experience as at-large member of the Waco Independent School District board as an example of his ability to work on a board similar to the council. Schleicher focused on sustainable economic growth for all and the opportunity to give each person a voice. He said approval of affordable housing projects is a wish of his, as he had advocated for affordable housing while on the school board and now lives across the street from the old Waco High School building which has since been converted to affordable housing. In short, Id want to have left a very brief legacy of continuing to promote growth, as you all have done, while making sure that no one was left behind, Schleicher said. Rory Partin, recording artist and small business owner, moved to Waco just over two years ago and lives on Colcord Avenue, serving as vice president and president-elect of Sanger Heights Neighborhood Association. Partin emphasized that the people of Waco are the city. Im a leader who believes in serving, and that is the foundation of our government of, by and for the people, Partin said. Partin said he hopes to take advantage of the many opportunities already in play, including providing needed infrastructure, addressing food deserts and putting to use historic buildings and houses. Partin suggested the idea of business villages, utilizing empty buildings in neighborhoods as a source of employment and pride for residents. David Horner moved to Waco in 1967 to attend Baylor University and has since held numerous positions in the community, including Waco Foundation director, Waco Business League president and director, chair of Tax Increment Financing Zone No. 1 board and chair of the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce, on top of a 30-year career at Citizens National Bank. Horner, who lives on Austin Avenue, said he believes it is the responsibility of the city government as a legislative body to ensure citizens have water, maintain infrastructure, look for affordable housing opportunities and encourage all citizens to participate in creating a shared vision for Waco. Although Im sure its tempting sometimes to give direction to some of the city managers and such that is not the purpose of the city council, that is the job of the city manager, Horner said. I think that is one thing that I would be very careful with. Anthony Johnson, real estate agent and former president of Lake Brazos Rotary Club, called himself a city kid. A Waco native, Johnson went to elementary school in District 4, graduated from Waco High School and has been been an ambassador and welcoming committee member of the Waco Chamber of Commerce. Johnson, who lists a Sanger Avenue address, said his vision for Waco is for every part of the city to be the good side of town. He said Waco has always been a manufacturing community, and he sees opportunity for growth in manufacturing, including space technology. Emily Hinojosa, director of academic excellence initiatives at Baylors Office of Engaged Learning, rested on her background in sociology. Hinojosa worked as director of research and community impact of Prosper Waco in 2020. A resident of Maple Avenue, she headed the restart of the Dean Highland Neighborhood Association as president in 2021. In this past decade that Ive been here I think its changed dramatically and I think that its almost just beginning. With fast growth come all kinds of challenges and those are experienced differently by different people, she said. Hinojosa said she hopes to support the council in its next couple of meetings with the operating budget still in mind. Chris Matthews, owner of The Palladium event center in downtown, enrolled in Baylors aviation program 30 years ago. Matthews said after graduation, he and his wife had discovered the subtle charm of Waco and acquired over 20 housing units, extending their stay. The family lives in downtown Waco. Matthews said he believes the role of anyone in politics is to listen to staff and constituents for the betterment of all. He said the downtown portion of District 4 is unique and he sees opportunities to move downtowns growth into undeveloped areas between Franklin Avenue and Waco Drive. He said he would also strive to preserve the historic Castle Heights neighborhood. Joan Supplee, a retired Baylor professor and historian who lives on Parrott Avenue, emphasized her experience working in multiple states and countries as well as her knowledge of government as some of her key qualities. Supplee has served as president of Sanger Heights Neighborhood Association twice and at Baylor served as adviser for the Native American Student Association as well as director of Latin American studies. Supplee said she brings a new perspective to the council through her work with first-generation students and others in her community, particularly Latin Americans, who are not always heard in government or understand how to participate. Supplee said an opportunity would be to address neglected code enforcement and gentrification in District 4. Noe Israel Loachamin, associate pastor of Spanish ministry at First Baptist Church of Waco and director of the nonprofit La Puerta Waco, said he understands the plight of Spanish-speaking members of Wacos community. A native of Quito, Ecuador, Loachamin said Waco has become a home for his family, which lives on North 12th Street. He said he hopes to be a voice and represent District 4s growing Hispanic population and expand the citys Spanish-speaking network. Loachamin said he sees opportunities to create safe spaces, offer resources for legal immigration and help low-income families or families moving to the area to thrive. A ninth applicant dropped out before Tuesdays interviews. Food giveaway Saturday St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, 1312 Dallas St., will host a food giveaway from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday. For more information, call 254-495-5292. MCC closed Monday McLennan Community College will be closed Monday for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. Classes resume Tuesday. For more information, call 254-299-8622 or visit www.mclennan.edu. Waco Calligraphy Guild The Waco Calligraphy Guild will meet from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday at St. Matthew Lutheran Church, 800 N. New Road. Roxanne Glaser, known as the SuperDoodleGirl, will demonstrate the drawn to gratitude process in which participants will learn to sketch letters and calm the mind with breathing exercises and mindful doodling. While Were Waiting meets The Waco While Were Waiting Support group for bereaved parents will meet at 10 a.m. Saturday. The group warmly welcomes parents who have lost a child at any age. For more information, email wacowhilewerewaiting@yahoo.com or go to whilewerewaiting.org. 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. Monday. 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. Mayborn Community Day Monday 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 and show an EBT card can receive $1 per person admission for up to two adults and all the children in the household. November and December were particularly bloody months in Ukraine's 11-month conflict. Russia lost more troops in November than the United States combined in more than 20 years in Afghanistan and Iraq. It also lost more soldiers than the Soviet Union during its decade-long Afghanistan invasion in the 1980s. According to the official Ukrainian claims, suffered over 60,000 were wounded in action, which means that Russia has lost an estimated 150,000 dead and as many as 300,000 wounded since invading Ukraine in February of 2022 (common military practice is to account for two to three wounded for every soldier killed). In December alone also lost 266 vehicles and fuel tanks, 198 armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles, 184 tactical unmanned aerial vehicles, 180 ballistic and cruise missiles, 114 tanks, 112 artillery pieces, and 28 Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (MLRS). The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense issued a press release listing Russian the casualties it has inflicted on the Russian forces across the country's bitfields. Is it just propaganda from Ukraine? No, but there is a good probability that the Ukrainian figures are off due to the fog of war or because of a concerted disinformation operation to demoralize Russia and bolster Western military and financial support for Ukraine. Subscribe 100% Free to Wall Street Rebel.com and receive access to investment tools worth $17,500! Kyiv has claimed to have inflicted a total of between 330,000 to 440,00 casualties on the Russian forces, While Western intelligence agencies estimate that 150,000 casualties and 300,000 wounded, assuming twice the number of dead to the wounded ratio of killed to wounded. This means that between the original invading force of 200,000 men and the 300,000 conscripted and new volunteers added that Putin's recent call to increase its military ranks by another 500,000 just as Ukraine is also receiving all sorts of new advanced weaponry from the west, could result in another 450,000 additional dead and wounded Russian soldiers in the next several months. The Russian people cannot ignore these casualties, the number of wounded, and the degradation of Russia's weapons of war much longer as the growing international economic sanctions strangle the country's economy into a deep recession or even an outright depression. Vladimir Putin is ironically repeating the mistakes made by Czar Nicholas during the 1st World War and the Soviet Union's leaders during its Afghanistan invasion that triggered both the 1917 and 1991 Russian revolutions. As each day passes, Putin's longevity as the President of Russia is being put at greater and greater risk. His attacks on the civilian energy infrastructure and population have just served to toughen Ukrainian resolve to win this war. His hope of help from an especially bitterly cold winter is also fading. So far, the Winter in Europe has been mild. Putin is losing his Ukrainian war, and his days are numbered. There's currently a war premium of about $15 on the price of oil that would vanish within days of Putin's death. This could aid the Federal Reserve in its attempt to navigate a "soft landing" for the U.S. economy. Assuming, of course, that the Republicans in the House of Representatives don't trigger a debt default in the fall. No subsequent Russian president would continue this war with Ukraine in the aftermath of Putin's demise or banishment. Instead, a new Russian President will blame the death, destruction, and economic free-fall his country has suffered on Putin and pull Russian troops out of Ukraine, including Crimea and ask for an armistice agreement in which it will likely have to pay a few trillion dollars over the next 30 years to Ukraine. Ukraine will also likely become a member of NATO and the European Union. Subscribe 100% Free to Wall Street Rebel.com and receive access to investment tools worth $17,500! Massive Attack from Ukraine: Russian fortress is Falling Down! If you always thought those American Girl dolls were up to something, youll love M3gan. Part Chucky, part Terminator, the wickedly smart movie follows a state-of-the-art robot whos expected to rock the toy market, particularly since she has the ability to befriend kids who have been through crises. Gemma, her developer, takes her home to see if she might help her niece Cady, whose parents were killed in a car accident. Quickly, Cady (Violet McGraw) opens up to M3gan and shares her concerns including ones about Gemma (Allison Williams). When Gemma tries to limit their, um, share time, Cady becomes difficult. M3gan does, too. Because she can process lots of information, the doll (who looks a bit like one of the Olsen twins and moves like Bruce Lee) begins to erect her own barriers. She doesnt shut down when Gemma asks or excuse herself when matters become difficult. Even worse, she isnt afraid to silence neighbors and their dogs. Creepy? Oh, yeah. While Chucky had a mean streak, too, he wasnt child-sized. That means he could possibly be silenced. But M3gan is kid-sized and capable of killer moves. When shes about to be introduced to the world, all hell breaks loose and M3gan becomes a film you cant resist. M3GAN From left, Tess (Jen Van Epps), Cole (Brian Jordan Alvarez) and Gemma (Allison Williams) in "M3gan." Directed by Gerard Johnstone, the soon-to-be-cult fave works because Williams is so unflappable and M3gan is like every kid you cant stand. Always trying to one-up the humans in her midst, she wins plenty of arguments and exercise a hold over Cady thats hard to break. Johnstone includes plenty of familiar situations and gives us a boss (Ronny Chieng) who deserves everything M3gan tosses his way. Brian Jordan Alvarez gets great moments as one of Gemmas co-workers and a particular target of M3gans. He gets one of those Jurassic Park moments; she gets a chance to show off her dancing skills. Because Johnstone used a real girl as M3gans double, theres an unsettling quality that doesnt end when shes put on a shelf. Her dancing went viral on social media; her comebacks should fuel plenty of memes. M3GAN Cady (Violet McGraw) and Gemma (Allison Williams) talk things over while M3gan listens in. Horrific though it may be (M3gan makes like Regan in The Exorcist at one point), this is very much a film that can be admired for its ability to cruise so closely to reality. If a M3gan doll isnt already on the drawing board, it certainly will be. Parents who wonder if their children spend too much time with electronics will want to pull the plug and embrace board games. M3gan is just what we needed after a battery-draining holiday. 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. WATERLOO A Waterloo man has been sentenced to prison for shooting at a woman who sprayed him with bear spray in 2021. Tyler Everett Williams, 25, pleaded to one count of intimidation with a weapon, a felony, and on Friday was sentenced to up to 10 years in prison. A charge of reckless use of a firearm was dismissed. According to court records, Williams was exiting the Family Dollar store on Broadway Street on June 6, 2021, when he was approached by Kynesha Corrien Harrington in the parking lot. Harrington sprayed him and his vehicle with bear spray and then climbed into a van. Williams pulled out a handgun and fired twice at the van as it exited the lot. One bullet hit the van, and a second struck the window of the nearby Kwik Star convenience store. Harrington pleaded to misdemeanor assault in the attack in 2021 and was fined $300 plus costs and surcharges. She was later arrested in August 2022 for allegedly making threats and spraying a woman with bear spray from her vehicle in the area of Dawson Street and Grandview Avenue. Trial for that case is tentatively set for later this month. WATERLOO A teen who suffered a gunshot wound late Tuesday is expected to survive, according to police. The 18-year-old male arrived at MercyOne Waterloo Medical Center by private vehicle shortly after 10 p.m. Doctors found a single wound to his left torso, authorities said. Details werent immediately available, and the victims identity hasnt been released. Investigators photographed a vehicle in the hospitals emergency department parking lot, apparently the vehicle the victim arrived in. Officers are trying to determine where the shooting occurred, and several patrol cars were sent to a Peoria Street address as part of the investigation. JERUSALEM, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- Israel has sold 10-year green bonds valued at 2 billion U.S. dollars in international markets, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement on Tuesday night. Green bonds are securities that allow governments and businesses to finance initiatives such as renewable energy projects and energy-saving programs. This is the first Israeli green bonds offering. This issuance is part of the Israeli government's moves to achieve climate goals by reducing carbon emissions, the ministry said. Demands in the bonds offering amounted to 12 billion dollars from about 200 investors in 35 countries, it added. Meanwhile, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the broad participation of major entities in the issuance shows the great confidence of foreign investors in Israel, particularly in the strength of its economy. WATERLOO Two flights were delayed while two were canceled Wednesday at the Waterloo Regional Airport, Director Keith Kaspari said, most likely due to an outage involving a computer system known as the Notice to Air Missions System, or NOTAM. The issue affected air travel across the nation. One flight coming into Waterloo from Chicago was scheduled to arrive with three passengers at 10:08 a.m. and then leave with another 34 passengers to Chicago at 10:55 a.m. Instead, it came in at about 12:15 p.m. and departed soon after with the second group of travelers. Among them possibly was the University of Northern Iowa dance team with a final destination of Orlando, said airport officials. Envoy Air, a subsidiary of American Airlines Group, was the carrier. An afternoon flight scheduled from Chicago to Waterloo was cancelled, and vice versa, with 28 passengers between the two flights. The airport provides twice-daily service to Chicago with departure and arrival times varying throughout the year. The Federal Aviation Administration lifted an order to ground all flights across the United States shortly before 8 a.m. after the system broke down late Tuesday. Before commencing a flight, pilots are required to consult NOTAM, which lists potential adverse impacts on flights, from runway construction to the potential for icing. Were no different than any other airport, said Kaspari. Its unfortunate it happened after the snafu around the Christmas holiday. Im very confident the FAA will get everything back to normal. Such instances sometimes leading to a snowball effect, he added. He was hopeful everything would be back on track beginning Thursday and confident those impacted would be accommodated appropriately. It may have even been the first time the FAA grounded all U.S. flights since the tragedy on Sept. 11, 2001, said Kaspari. Today was an adventure, said Sarah Amonett of Marion, Indiana, after arriving in Waterloo. I havent flown in 14 years, and what a day it was to fly. She flew into Waterloo to visit her boyfriend who was working in the area. She was followed by Linda Jeske of Sumner. Both faced additional challenges associated with flying, but Jeske said the experience wasnt all bad. She spent more time with her family as a result and engaged with helpful and courteous staff along the way. The White House initially said that there was no evidence of a cyberattack behind the outage that ruined travel plans for millions of passengers. President Joe Biden said Wednesday morning that hes directed the Department of Transportation to investigate. The Associated Press contributed to this story. Photos: Missing children in Iowa Jade Colvin Fredrick Workman Benjamin Roseland Erin Pospisil Marc Allen Eugene Martin John Gosch Kimberly Doss Colleen Simpson Fatima Conteh Daquan Nelson Diomarix Crespo WATERLOO A Waterloo man was who was sentenced to a halfway house for having sex with a teen in 2018 has been arrested again. WATERLOO The teens at Tuesdays after-school program at the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Cedar Valley had questions for U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst and she had answers. Ernst took her first tour of the Teen and Educational Center on East Fourth Street. Bryan Burton, interim chief executive officer, was there along with George Phillips, the centers director, and their staff and board. Ernst visited with them about the clubs programming and facility over the decades, including the ever-popular gymnasium, before heading upstairs to a classroom area where about 25 kids were waiting to greet and learn from her. Coming to the Boys & Girls Club, its about understanding what they do for the community and the impact that it will make not only on this generation, but future generations as well, said Ernst. Sam Edmondson, a Youth of the Year recipient, leapt right into action and told Ernst how he wants to be a teacher someday and asked for her thoughts on improving the public education system. She responded that the best solutions come from the local levels of government. That got the ball rolling, as there was no shyness from the teens, who asked questions ranging from whether she needs a degree to run for office to how she deals with the stress of the job. The senator also explained her upbringing in Iowa and other points along her lifes journey, like while with the military. One of the very last questions came from Giana Phillips about whether Ernst had met President Joe Biden. Ernst explained how shes met multiple presidents and told a story about her first interaction with then-President Barack Obama after she transferred what was, at the time, an unknown phone number to her voicemail. She did not want to be interrupted while watching a volleyball game. Ernsts visit to the safe bridge between school and home lasted about 90 minutes after a day of visiting high schools and businesses in other parts of Iowa. She will will be hosting a 12:30 p.m. Wednesday town hall meeting at the Independence Public Library, 805 E. First St., which is open to the public. But, back in Washington D.C., she said shell be able to emphasize to her colleagues how important organizations like the Boys & Girls Club are by lending support and assistance that some parents cant provide in the evenings, and how it gives incredible teens exposure to various potential career fields. Specifically, she noted that the federal government provides a lot of different grant opportunities with funds distributed by the state to organizations like the Boys & Girls Clubs. Burton said one challenge is the minimum amount families pay to come to the club. Families with 6- to 12-year-old children pay $30 each while the teens pay $10 for their own memberships. It costs us about $2,000 per kid per year to serve them with what we do, so that $1,990 we have to raise somehow, either through grant funding, local foundations or private giving, he said. Photos: Missing children in Iowa Jade Colvin Fredrick Workman Benjamin Roseland Erin Pospisil Marc Allen Eugene Martin John Gosch Kimberly Doss Colleen Simpson Fatima Conteh Daquan Nelson Diomarix Crespo Beef and noodle dinner Saturday WATERLOO A beef and noodle dinner is from 4 to 6:30 p.m. Saturday a St. Pauls United Methodist Church, 207 W. Louise St. The all-you-eat dinner features beef and noodles, potatoes, coleslaw and beverages, served as plated meal, plus choice of dessert. Cost is $11 for adults and $5 for children under 12. The church is one block south of UnityPoint Health-Allen Hospital. Vets post hosts breakfast, fish fry Saturday WAVERLY The Waverly Area Veterans Post will host its monthly breakfast Saturday. Serving is from 7:30 to 10 a.m. at 1300 Fourth St. N.W. A free will offering is requested for the meal. On the menu are scrambled eggs, sausage, cheesy potatoes, rolls and drink. On Jan. 20, WVAP will host a fish fry at the post. Carry-out is from 5 to 6 p.m. with upstairs/front door delivery. Dine-in is from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in the lower level. The menu is cod loin, baked beans, homemade potato salad and coleslaw. Cost is $14. Reservations for carry-out only can be made at (319) 483-9287 or www.waverlyvets.us by 4 p.m. Jan. 19. No reservations required for dining in. Waterloo Schools closed Monday WATERLOO Waterloo Community Schools buildings including the Education Service Center will be closed on Monday in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Schools and normal business hours will resume on Tuesday. Library closed Monday WATERLOO The Waterloo Public Library will be closed Monday in observance of the Martling Luther King Jr. Holiday. The library will reopen for regular hours at 9 a.m. Tuesday. Impact Church to host free dinner WATERLOO Impact Church of Hope, 710 Broadway St., will host its monthly community dinner Tuesday. Serving is from 4:30 to 6 p.m. The meal is free. Call the church with questions at (319) 233-7664. Cedar Falls DAR to meet Jan. 21 CEDAR FALLS On Jan. 21, the Cedar Falls Chapter of Daughters of American Revolution will host its monthly meeting at First United Methodist Church, 715 Clay St. The program, Creating Your Family History, will be presented by member Joyce Stout. Social time will begin at 9:30 a.m., followed by a 10 a.m. meeting. DAR welcomes any woman over 18 to join the organization. If you think you can prove direct lineage to a Revolutionary War patriot, contact the group at cfchapterdar@gmail.com or (319) 277-7514. OTTUMWA Nine female patients were sexually abused by a certified nurse practitioner while sedated at Ottumwa Regional Health Center, police and hospital officials say. The assaults were uncovered as the Ottumwa Police Department investigated the unattended death of 27-year-old Devin Michael Caraccio, of Centerville. Caraccio died of an accidental overdose at the hospital on Oct. 15, 2022, according to the results of an autopsy shared by police. Caraccio was a medical staff provider at the hospital at the time of his death. Through the investigation that followed his death, videos and photographs were uncovered from Caraccio's personal cell phone showing him sexually assaulting nine female patients in 2021 and 2022. The hospital and police department have conducted separate investigations into the incident and have uncovered the same findings, the Ottumwa Police Department and a hospital spokesperson said in separate statements released to The Courier. Ottumwa Police Lt. Jason Bell told The Courier that five of the nine involved patients have been identified thus far, and said the hospital continues to cooperate fully in the investigation with attempts to identify the others. Both police and hospital investigations remain ongoing, spokespeople said. "There are no words to describe how shocked and horrified we are by Mr. Caraccio's actions," said Cara Clouse, the human resources director at ORHC. "Our hearts go out to all of those affected by these heinous acts." Individuals who have been identified thus far are being notified by law enforcement and hospital staff. The hospital pledged its "sincerest apologies and support." The Ottumwa Police Department says the videos were taken while patients were sedated or in a state of unconsciousness without their consent. Police have said they believe Caraccio acted alone. Last November, the private hospital confirmed to The Courier that they had parted ways with CEO Dennis Hunger and named an interim chief executive while beginning a nationwide search for a permanent replacement. At the time, the hospital did not respond to questions of whether Hunger's departure was related to Caraccio's death or the ensuing investigation. "We take any allegation related to employees or providers very seriously, make timely reports when necessary, and cooperate fully with investigating authorities," Clouse told the Courier in November. "As a matter of practice, we maintain confidentiality on all matters relating to our employees and providers." In a new statement Tuesday, Clouse said the hospital has already made many changes to strengthen security measures. "We have already made a great many changes at our hospital in the last several weeks to further strengthen our internal controls and security measures," Clouse said. "We will continue to take all available actions to prevent bad actors and ensure a safe environment for our patients, providers and employees." Clouse said the hospital will be working hard to regain trust in the community. "The actions of one person are not reflective of the care and compassion of our staff, and we are committed to supporting and advancing the critical work they do on behalf of this community and patients every day," Clouse said. Counties with the most motor vehicle fatalities in Iowa Counties with the most motor vehicle accident fatalities in Iowa #19. Linn County, Iowa #18. Black Hawk County, Iowa #17. Polk County, Iowa #16. Dallas County, Iowa #15. Woodbury County, Iowa #14. Scott County, Iowa #13. Warren County, Iowa #12. Pottawattamie County, Iowa #11. Marion County, Iowa #10. Boone County, Iowa #9. Mahaska County, Iowa #8. Lee County, Iowa #7. Cedar County, Iowa #6. Mills County, Iowa #5. Plymouth County, Iowa #4. Hardin County, Iowa #3. Iowa County, Iowa #2. Madison County, Iowa #1. Adair County, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds on Monday announced more than $443,000 in federal pandemic money has been awarded to five projects involving 11 businesses in the state that will help create 77 new child slots. The money will be used to support partnerships between employers and child care centers to expand available slots. Projects awarded funding include: Versova Management, Sioux Center (15 new slots). HNI Corp., Muscatine (eight new slots). MercyOne Medical Center, Waterloo (36 new slots). Siouxland DQ, Sergeant Bluff (10 new slots). Mason City Chamber Foundation, Mason City (eight new slots). Grant funding provided to awarded employers will be used to fund part of the cost of child care for employees. All projects were required to provide a plan for sustainability of the outcome beyond the grant funding. The last round of funding in September created nearly 1,800 new child care slots in 23 communities across Iowa, said Iowa Department of Health and Human Services Director Kelly Garcia. REYNOLDS TOUTS SCHOOL CHOICE IN TV ADS: 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. CONDITION OF THE STATE: Gov. Kim Reynolds will deliver her annual condition of the state address at 6 p.m. Tuesday from the House chambers at the Iowa Capitol in Des Moines. Reynolds address to the Iowa Legislature will be aired live by Iowa PBS. Reynolds, who has been Iowas chief executive since 2017 and is the states first female governor, is coming into the legislative session off her second election victory. The governors Condition of the State address kicks off a series of similar addresses to state lawmakers. On Wednesday, Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Susan Christensen will deliver the condition of the judiciary address, and on Thursday, Iowa National Guard Adjt. Gen. Ben Corell will deliver the condition of the Guard address. Iowa PBS will stream Christensens and Corells speeches live online at iowapbs.org. 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Donald Trump rallies for support in Sioux City (full speech) WATCH NOW: Gov. Kim Reynolds speaks at Trump rally WATCH NOW: Sen. Chuck Grassley speaks at Trump rally ROJ CAMP, Syria A woman who ran away from home in Alabama at the age of 20, joined the Islamic State 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 extremists. 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 won't fight against it," the 28-year-old told The News Movement. "I'm hoping my government looks at me as someone young at the time and naive." It's a line she's repeated in various media interviews since fleeing from one of the extremist group's last enclaves in Syria in early 2019. But four years earlier, at the height of the extremists' power, she had voiced enthusiastic support for them on social media and in an interview with BuzzFeed News. IS 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 U.S., 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 IS supporters. Muthana was born in New Jersey to Yemeni immigrants and once had a U.S. passport. She was raised in a conservative 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 born a rare revocation of birthright citizenship. Her lawyers have disputed that move, arguing that the father's 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 Muthana's citizenship, and last January the Supreme Court declined to consider her lawsuit seeking re-entry. That has left her and her son languishing in a detention camp in northern Syria housing thousands of widows of Islamic State fighters and their children. Some 65,600 suspected Islamic State members and their families both Syrians and foreign citizens are 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 IS and their minor children are largely housed in the al-Hol and Roj camps, under what the rights group described as "life threatening conditions." 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. Calls to repatriate the detainees were largely ignored in the immediate aftermath of IS' bloody reign, which was marked by massacres, beheadings and other atrocities. But with the passage of time, the pace of repatriations has started to pick up. Human Rights Watch said some 3,100 foreigners mostly women and children have 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 U.S. has repatriated 39 American nationals. It's unclear how many other Americans remain in the camps. These days, Muthana portrays herself as a victim of the Islamic State. 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. "I've 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 can't 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 Muthana's 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. The recent increase this last year of Cyber Nasties out of the USA, this upon a huge issue, that only has grown daily for many past years. Has prompted me to get very very serious about severing all cyber ties with the west Contrary with western propaganda, the issue of cyber crimes issuing only from just the USA and the UK, outshine the rest of the world flatfooted. Yes I know that you will scream and whine about Russia, North Korea, China and several other demons that are trying to destroy your internet and cyber you into hell itself..except, you got it backwards It is us internet users in the East that is fighting against an unlimited and nasty cyber enemy of huge proportions within the western system itself My poor Sweetpea is working day and night to salvage her sites. She has a language site that teaches English from a Russian point of view, to the world and it has been destroyed. Right now it is even being moved to a new server and all files had to be scrubbed for malware We personally have endured over ten years of constant Cyber Attacks from the West Huge attacks, based out of GOV computers, computers located at military bases and multiples of GOV offices around the USA, UK and the Western World. Even hospitals located within the USA have banks of computers that are being used to attack our and many other websites in the East So should I care that the Collective West sees my website? Not really, for it is exactly what the west wants. They are severing the ties with the real world and they want to keep their people all living in a fantasy land of mental midgets WtR Four legislative special elections - three in Virginia, and one in Mississippi - are being contested Tuesday, January 10. Polls close at 7:00 PM in Virginia and 8:00 PM in Mississippi (all times Eastern). Virginia State Senate District 7 Democrats hold a narrow 21-18 edge over Republicans in the Virginia State Senate. Members serve four-year terms, with all 40 seats to be contested in 2023. As this special election will complete a term last contested in 2019, it will be conducted using boundaries prior to redistricting. Norfolk area District 7 was vacated in November by Republican Jen Kiggans after she was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. The nominees, Republican Kevin Adams and Democrat Aaron Rouse, were chosen in party-run primaries. The race has drawn national attention (and money) as the General Assembly is expected to consider a proposal by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin to further restrict abortion in the state. This is a competitive district: Kiggins was elected by less than a 1% margin in 2019. Virginia House of Delegates Districts 24 and 35 Like the State Senate, the Virginia House of Delegates is also closely divided. Here, Republicans hold a 51-47 edge over Democrats. Members serve two-year terms, with all 100 seats up this November. Note that redistricting was not finalized until after the 2021 elections, so these special elections will be conducted under the boundaries used that year. District 24: This district borders West Virginia, extending east toward Charlottesville and southeast toward Lynchburg. Serving in his second term, Republican Ronnie Campbell died in December. His widow, Ellen Campbell, was unopposed for the party's nomination. Democrats chose Jade Harris in a party-run primary. Both are political newcomers. Ronnie Campbell won by 73% to 27% in 2021. District 35: Democrat Mark Keam resigned from this suburban Washington, D.C. seat in September. He had served since 2010 and ran unopposed from 2015 through 2019. In 2021, he defeated his GOP opponent by a 69% to 31% margin. The nominees are Democrat Holly Seibold and Republican Monique Baroudi. Mississippi State House District 23 Republicans dominate the Mississippi State House, holding 76 of 122 seats. There are 42 Democrats and three independents. Members serve four year terms, with all seats up this November. As this special election will complete a term last contested in 2019, it will be conducted using boundaries prior to redistricting. District 23 is in the northcentral part of the state. Republican Charles Jim Beckett resigned in September. He had been in the State House since 2004 and was unopposed in the two most recent cycles, 2015 and 2019. As a special election, all candidates will appear without partisan affiliation. There are three candidates on the ballot. If none of them gets a majority of the vote, a runoff will be held January 31. Upcoming Special Elections Israeli security forces gather at the site of a stabbing attack near a settlement south of the West Bank city of Hebron, on Jan. 11, 2023. A knife-wielding Palestinian man stabbed and wounded an Israeli settler before being shot and killed at the settlement in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, Israeli authorities said. (Photo by Mamoun Wazwaz/Xinhua) JERUSALEM, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- A knife-wielding Palestinian man stabbed and wounded an Israeli settler before being shot and killed at a settlement in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, Israeli authorities said. The Palestinian, a resident of ad-Dhahiriya city near the flashpoint city of Hebron, stabbed a 30-year-old Israeli man in the southern West Bank, Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service said in a statement. The Israeli casualty sustained moderate wounds and was taken to a hospital, the rescue service said. The assailant was shot and killed by a civilian passer-by, state-owned Kan TV news reported. The attack took place at the Yehuda Farm, an illegal outpost near Hebron. Earlier on Wednesday, Israeli troops killed a 21-year-old Palestinian man during an arrest raid in the Balata refugee camp in the northern West Bank, according to a statement issued by the Palestinian Health Ministry. The incidents were the latest in a surge of violence in the West Bank, a territory captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war. Israel has kept controlling the territory despite a Palestinian struggle and international criticism. Israeli security forces gather at the site of a stabbing attack near a settlement south of the West Bank city of Hebron, on Jan. 11, 2023. A knife-wielding Palestinian man stabbed and wounded an Israeli settler before being shot and killed at the settlement in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, Israeli authorities said. (Photo by Mamoun Wazwaz/Xinhua) Israeli security forces gather at the site of a stabbing attack near a settlement south of the West Bank city of Hebron, on Jan. 11, 2023. A knife-wielding Palestinian man stabbed and wounded an Israeli settler before being shot and killed at the settlement in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, Israeli authorities said. (Photo by Mamoun Wazwaz/Xinhua) We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form I-80 over Donner Summit has reopened to traffic after earlier whiteout conditions. It had been closed for much of Tuesday. No chains are currently required on the highway, according to Caltrans. Numerous highways are expected to have chain control requirements, so make sure to check before heading out the door. SR 208 remains closed after a rock slide near Yerington in the Smith Valley. There's no current estimate on when the roadway will reopen. More below. 0:40 +4 NDOT to Open Portion of SR 208 Through Wilson Canyon in Lyon County In coming weeks, NDOT will work to open the section of highway to travel during additional daytime hours. Meanwhile, California saw little relief from drenching rains Tuesday as the latest in a relentless string of storms swamped roads, turned rivers into gushing flood zones and forced thousands of people to flee from towns with histories of deadly mudslides. At least 14 people have died since last week. The storm prompted a few tornado warnings early Tuesday and brought heavy snow to the Sierra Nevada a day after dumping up to 14 inches (36 centimeters) of rain at higher elevations in central and Southern California. Miles of Sierra highways were subject to chain requirements and closures due to whiteout conditions, and avalanche warnings were posted in the backcountry. The Eastern Sierra's Mammoth Mountain ski resort reported 4.5 to 5.5 feet (1.4-1.7 meters) of snow, with more expected. After a brief respite, another storm was expected to barrel into parts of the state beginning Wednesday, adding to the misery and further saturating areas already at risk of flooding. The storms threatened coastal and riverside towns and left more than 200,000 homes and businesses without power early Tuesday, according to the website poweroutage.us, which tracks utility reports. 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 sliding off denuded hillsides that have yet to fully recover their protective layer of vegetation. The storm the latest extreme weather event to kick off 2023 was expected to bring enough rain to exacerbate ongoing flooding and heighten the risk of mudslides, forecasters said. Forecasters also warned that southwestern California could see 60 mph (97 kph) wind gusts at the peak of the storm, while some areas could receive up to a half-inch (13 millimeters) of rain per hour. The death toll from the storms that began last week climbed from 12 to 14 on Monday, after two people were killed by falling trees, state officials said. California state highway authorities said late Monday 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. Evacuation orders were issued in Santa Cruz County for about 32,000 residents living near rain-swollen rivers and creeks. The San Lorenzo River rose to 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 boys mother was driving a truck when it became stranded 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 became too dangerous for divers, officials said. The boy had not been declared dead, said spokesperson Tony Cipolla of the San Luis Obispo County Sheriffs 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 McLeods 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. 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 (8 meters) on Monday. Firefighters using helicopters rescued more than a dozen people trapped on an island in the surging waters. The water level quickly dropped to minor flood stage levels overnight. 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 Monday night in the Chatsworth area. Two people escaped by themselves, and firefighters rescued two others who had minor injuries, authorities 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. (The Associated Press contributed to this report.) Kathryn Nance was sworn in as Reno Police Chief on Friday. The Reno City Council unanimously confirmed Kathryn Nance as Reno's newest police chief at a public meeting last month. Today is a monumental day for the Biggest Little City, said Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve said at the time. With over 26 years of law enforcement experience, Chief Nance will be an invaluable member of our public safety team. I am thrilled to have her vision and heart leading the charge at the Reno Police Department as we take important steps to continue making Reno a safer place for all. I am incredibly proud to start my role as Renos Chief of Police, said Chief Nance. I look forward to jumping right in and working with the RPD team to support the communitys needs, while also strengthening the department and providing stability for staff. Im overwhelmed by the genuine kindness and sense of community Ive experienced in Reno thus far, and I could not be more excited to get to work. Nance replaces former Police Chief Jason Soto who announced his retirement, effective January 2023. I would like to extend my sincere thanks and gratitude to our former Chief of Police, Jason Soto, for serving our community with passion and grace for over two decades. Reno is a better and safer place because of his leadership, said Reno City Manager Doug Thornley. I cant think of a better person than Chief Nance to pick up where hes leaving off. The Reno City Manager previously nominated Nance for the role. About Kathryn Nance With 26 years of law enforcement experience, Nance is currently the Stockton Police Departments Deputy Chief of Operations, responsible for nearly 400 sworn and professional employees and a $107 million budget. Prior to this role, she served as the Stockton Police Departments Deputy Chief of Logistics, Police Captain of Strategic Operations, Patrol/Special Investigations Police Lieutenant, and Patrol/Investigations/Task Force Sergeant. Nance has a bachelors degree in criminal justice and is currently pursuing a masters degree in education (expected completion in 2023). Nance is a member of Women Leaders in Law Enforcement, the National Association of Women Law Enforcement Executives and the American Leadership Forum. "My leadership skills, extensive police experience, and commitment to organization wellness fit the expectations for Renos next Chief of Police, said Nance. As Chief, I will use data-driven policing to enhance deployment and create crime reduction strategies. I will also work to develop a department-wide mission and overall plan that supports the department and community needs, while strengthening the department and providing stability for employees. Nance and her husband, James, have a blended family of four children ranging in age from 30 to 23 and a five-year-old grandson. According to Nance, theyve always dreamed of relocating to northern Nevada. With family, including their oldest son living in Nevada, they are ready to make this transition. They look forward to the active outdoor lifestyle and sense of community that Reno offers. For more information about the hiring process and the latest updates, please visit Reno.Gov/ChiefofPolice. (City of Reno contributed to this report.) Sun Cable Pty Ltd announced it has made the decision to enter voluntary administration. The company is currently developing the AAPowerLink, which aims to harness and store solar energy from the Northern Territory in Australia and transmit it to Darwin and Singapore via a high voltage direct current (HVDC) cable transmission system. The company claims the voluntary administration process "will now unlock a path forward for the Company to access additional capital for continued development of its marque project, the Australia-Asia PowerLink (AAPowerLink) and progress the next stage of its development portfolio in a strong market". Christopher Hill, David McGrath and John Park of FTI Consulting have been appointed as voluntary administrators of the Company. The administrators have not been appointed to any of the Companys subsidiaries. According to Sun Cable, the Administrators intend to work with the Companys management team and key stakeholders to determine appropriate next steps for the business. It outlined that that will likely involve a process to seek expressions of interest for either a recapitalisation or sale of the business. Sun Cable confirmed that the appointment followed the absence of alignment with the objectives of all shareholders. It revealed whilst funding proposals were provided, consensus on the future direction and funding structure of the company could not be achieved. Founder and CEO of Sun Cable, David Griffin said: Sun Cable has made extraordinary progress in developing the AAPowerLink. This project remains well placed for completion. As we have progressed our work, the demand for delivering reliable, dispatchable 24/7 renewable energy in the NT and the region has risen materially. Sun Cable looks forward to developing and operating the projects to meet this demand. Chair of Sun Cable, Mike Cannon-Brookes said: Sun Cable has achieved so much since it was founded in 2018. Im confident it will play a huge role in delivering green energy for the world, right here from Australia. I fully back this ambition and the team, and look forward to supporting the companys next chapter. For more information on interconnector and subsea cable projects worldwide, click here . You can also view projects worldwide on 4C Offshore's Interactive map . JERUSALEM, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- Turkish Ambassador Sakir Ozkan Torunlar presented his credentials to Israel's President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday, marking the latest step in rebuilding relations between the two countries after years of acrimony. In a statement issued on his behalf, Herzog underscored the importance of relations between Israel and Turkiye. "Today we complete another important step, reaching another milestone in the strengthening of our relations and deepening of the friendship between Turkiye and Israel," Herzog said after the ceremony. The Israeli president also conveyed an invitation for Turkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to visit Israel, Herzog's office said. In December, the Israeli new ambassador to Turkiye, Irit Lillian, presented her credentials to Erdogan. The exchange of ambassadors follows an agreement signed between the two countries in August, in which they agreed to restore full diplomatic ties. The ceremony in Jerusalem came weeks after Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu, who served as prime minister from 2009 to 2021, returned to power at the helm of the country's most far-right government. Once close allies, Israel-Turkiye relations have gone through a string of crises. In 2010, Turkiye cut its diplomatic ties with Israel after Israeli commandos raided a Turkish flotilla that was bringing aid to the blockaded Gaza Strip, led by the Mavi Marmara ship. Ten Turkish activists were killed. Ties were restored in 2016 after Israel agreed to pay 20 million U.S. dollars to families of the Mavi Marmara victims. But the short-lived normalization lasted for two years. In 2018, bilateral relations were strained again and the two expelled each other's top diplomats amid a quarrel over the Israeli killing of 60 Palestinians in Gaza during their protests against the opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem. The recent string of gunfire attacks on the homes of local elected leaders is a direct assault on democracy and a cause of concern for everyone. With the increasing attacks on our democratic institutions in recent years, its alarming to see this violence brought directly to our doorsteps here in New Mexico, Mario Jimenez, executive director of Common Cause New Mexico, said in a statement Monday. The first shooting occurred the late afternoon of Dec. 4 at the southeast Albuquerque home of Bernalillo County Commissioner Adriann Barboa, which was sprayed with eight bullets. Some went through her front door. The second shooting was on Dec. 11 at the home of then-Bernalillo County Commissioner Debbie OMalley. More than a dozen bullets struck the front wall of her North Valley home. The third shooting occurred after midnight Jan. 3 at the southwest Albuquerque home of state Sen. Linda Lopez, which was hit by 12 bullets. Lopez said she was home at the time with her son and 10-year-old daughter, and that three bullets passed through her daughters bedroom. Its amazing no one was hurt in that shooting, or the others targeting elected leaders. The fourth shooting occurred the morning of Jan. 5 in the area of the Downtown law office of state Sen. Antonio Moe Maestas. The fifth occurred the early morning of Dec. 10 when multiple shots were fired at the former campaign office of Attorney General Raul Torrez, who had already vacated the office on Park Ave. S.W. After these reports were made public last week, incoming House Speaker Javier Martinez decided to inspect his own Albuquerque home. Sure enough, Martinez discovered damage from gunfire that he had heard in early December. If record-setting, triple-digit annual homicides in the Duke City over the past two years didnt grab the publics attention, these shootings at the homes of political leaders sure have. APD Chief Harold Medina has noted that all of the elected officials targeted are Democrats, but former Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Ronchetti reported in late September that someone had shot his homes garage door with pellets. Criminals typically arent partisan people. Medina announced Monday that a suspect in one of the shootings was in custody. A male under 50 years old was being held on unrelated charges and police had recovered the firearm used in one of the shootings, he said. The police chief says the shootings may be connected and all documents have been sealed while the investigation continues. Anyone with information about any of the shootings is asked to call police at 505-242-COPS or Crime Stoppers at 505-843-STOP. Crime is literally hitting home in Albuquerque and at the homes of some of the most influential people in town. Crime dominated last years legislative session, and its poised to do so again this year. Perhaps this series of attacks could spark an enhanced focus on fighting gun crimes as lawmakers prepare for the 60-day session starting next week. Medina says more guns on the streets, whether stolen from homes or vehicles or bought legitimately, have led to more violence. Enhancing the penalties for using a gun in the commission of a crime or for stealing a firearm, or a law requiring safe gun storage, may help. Shootings have been a scourge in Albuquerque for years, often claiming the lives of innocent victims who werent the intended targets. Even a simple house party in Albuquerque promoted on social media can readily turn into a shooting incident. But the rash of shootings targeting elected leaders is a troubling trend that requires vigorous police action and public cooperation. These public servants have been willing to offer their time and skills to make society a better place and deserve better. And if they are being targeted, is anyone safe? 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. Police found a Bengal tiger in a dog crate after following a trail of blood from a shooting Tuesday afternoon in Southeast Albuquerque that left a man injured. Rebecca Atkins, an Albuquerque police spokeswoman, said the tiger was found in a mobile home near Louisiana and Zuni. She shared a photo and video of the tiger, which appears not much bigger than a dog. Atkins said police detained Kevin Mercado near where the initial gunshots were heard, but it is unclear if he is at all connected to the tiger. She said Mercado had a pistol with an extended magazine. Atkins said police responded around 2:15 p.m. to reports of gunfire in the 300 block of Indiana SE and a person at the nearby Allsups reported someone had been shot outside. She said police found a man who had been shot in the leg. Preliminarily it appears the shooting victim who was located at the Allsups was standing outside while the incident occurred and was struck by a stray bullet, she said. Atkins said another gunshot was heard and police found Mercado and detained him without incident. She said police spotted a blood trail and followed it to an unlocked trailer. Officers made entry to attempt to render aid to anyone who may have been wounded, but did not locate anyone and have yet to locate the individual, Atkins said. While inside the trailer, a (Bengal) tiger cub was found inside a dog crate. Atkins said police got a search warrant to retrieve the tiger and the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish took custody of the animal. It is unclear if the tiger is the same one authorities were searching for months ago, or if it is a second tiger. Its an ongoing investigation to see whether its the same tiger or not, Atkins said. In September, the Department of Game and Fish asked for the publics help finding a young tiger that had been whisked away from a house in the Valley where police found drugs, guns, cash and a small alligator. The agency at the time said the tiger was believed to be less than a year old, likely weighed 30-60 pounds and was believed to be in or near New Mexico. Copyright 2023 Albuquerque Journal In the 24 hours leading up to April Trujillos death in a detox pod at the county jail in late November, a medical team was called three times. The 41-year-old mother of three was reportedly throwing up repeatedly, had collapsed at least twice, and had several seizures. Multiple people in the room at the time have said that both the correctional officers and the medical staff were dismissive of Trujillo, telling her she was faking it or was just detoxing and would be fine. Two witnesses told the Journal that they heard medical or correctional staff say something like this is what happens when you do drugs. If you dont want to feel this way, dont do drugs, dont come to jail. Both witnesses have since been released and spoke to the Journal alongside attorney Parrish Collins, who is representing Trujillos family. It wasnt until the last time nurses were called that they attempted to take Trujillo to the medical unit for treatment. It was too late. Trujillo collapsed as they put her in the wheelchair. She died Nov. 30 on the floor amidst rows of low plastic beds called boats where inmates are held while they detox from drugs or alcohol. In response to questions about the witnesses accounts of Trujillos treatment, whether she should have been taken to the medical unit earlier and whether anyone had been disciplined, a Bernalillo County spokesman replied repeatedly: Still an ongoing investigation. As to what the county had done to address detox deaths and prevent more from happening, county spokesman Larry Gallegos said medical care of inmates is a top priority. The county manager and jail leadership are actively addressing concerns, he wrote in a statement. In response to similar questions, a spokeswoman for YesCare the jails medical provider said Trujillos death was an unfortunate and tragic event. Our deepest sympathy goes out to her loved ones, the spokeswoman wrote in a statement. Due to HIPAA patient protections,YesCare is not able to comment further at this time other than to say our commitment and focus is to continuously monitor and improve every facility in which we provide patient care. Plagued by understaffing Trujillo was the 18th person to die in custody of the Metropolitan Detention Center since the beginning of 2020, several of whom were also detoxing or in withdrawal. Three months earlier, a 41-year-old man died while detoxing from fentanyl at the jail. An expert tasked with evaluating medical care at the jail as part of an ongoing settlement agreement found in August that the medical team was not screening or managing inmates withdrawal symptoms adequately, and the process for getting sick inmates help was not reliable. The facility has been plagued by understaffing among correctional and medical staff. Attorney Kate Loewe, who represents people in MDC on behalf of the McClendon settlement agreement mandating jail reforms, said many of her clients have told her that Trujillo was so sick she crawled on her hands and knees to the water fountain, and still was not taken to the medical unit. How can the county let this happen again, Loewe asked. MDC is 20 minutes from any hospital. Its understaffed with security and medical. It really seems like they need to be erring on the side of caution and getting people help immediately. Loewe said she, too, has heard from witnesses that staff told Trujillo she was just detoxing. It is appalling at this point that those words would pass anyones lips, given the number of people over the past 2 years who have died while on a detox pod at MDC, Loewe said. Lawsuit to be filed Trujillo was arrested for drug possession after a bike patrol officer found her with one partially melted blue pill, a pipe, foil and lighter in the parking lot of Total Wine & More liquor store in Uptown on Nov. 27. Her case was dismissed two days later due to an insufficient amount of suspected controlled substance available for scientific testing by both parties. She still spent the night in jail, and died there early the next morning. Gallegos said the jail releases people when we receive the documents from the courts. He said the investigation into why Trujillo was still in custody at the time of her death is ongoing. At 7:10 a.m. on Nov. 30, a correctional officer called in a medical emergency because Trujillo was lying on her bed perpendicular and seemed lethargic, according to an incident report from the Bernalillo County Sheriffs Office that was released to the Journal in response to an Inspection of Public Records Act request. The medical team asked for a wheelchair for Trujillo so they could take her to the medical area. Instead, she became limp and lost consciousness, prompting the nurse to administer a dose of Narcan, which had no effect. She wasnt breathing. The staff moved inmate Trujillo from the wheelchair to the floor and began CPR, the incident report states. Medical and MDC staff performed CPR until paramedics arrived at approximately 0750 hours. CPR was administered for approximately twenty minutes with no signs of life or heart function. She was pronounced dead at 8:12 a.m. An investigator with the Office of the Medical Investigator noted a small cut on the back of Trujillos head and stated the laceration could have been caused by a seizure. No drugs were found in her area. Her family has told the Journal that Trujillo had a seizure disorder. Collins, the attorney representing the family, said he plans to file a lawsuit in the next couple of months. They were cruel to her In his report, the deputy who responded to the jail said a correctional officer told him the medical unit had been called regarding Trujillo three times in 24 hours twice on the swing shift and once during the graveyard shift. The deputy was unable to speak to anyone who knew what inmate Trujillos condition was at the time the medical emergencies were called. However, the two women who were in the detox unit at the time told the Journal that Trujillo was clearly having seizures and was in need of serious medical help that was not provided. They both described other inmates trying to get her help, while correctional officers and medical staff insisted Trujillo was fine or was faking her seizures. Emma Bordegaray, 31, was booked into jail a couple of days after Trujillo. She said Trujillo was in the boat in front of her and, although everyone else in the detox unit was sick and throwing up, she seemed to be in particularly bad shape. Bordegaray said Trujillo collapsed and other inmates said she was having a seizure as she was getting dinner and the nurses who responded took her pulse, and told her she was fine and to go back to her bed. Later that night, Bordegaray was awoken by inmates screaming and saw that Trujillo had collapsed again, this time by the water fountain. The medical staff were called again. Then they were like, Get up and she couldnt get up. Theyre like, Fine, you want to stay on the ground, April, fine, you can stay on the ground. Were going to go ahead and just leave you on the ground until youre ready to get up and walk the way you came. You were able to get up, youre able to go back, Bordegaray recalled, tearing up. And she wasnt. So they, like, picked her up by her clothing and, like, dragged her back to her cot and, like, threw her on top of it. Another woman, Elizabeth Castaneda-Abarca, 50, who said she was a combat war veteran who had also been a medic, corroborated much of Bordegarays account. Castaneda-Abarca told the Journal that Trujillo had three serious seizures leading up to her death and, by the end, her whole body had shifted a quarter turn. She was foaming from the mouth, Castaneda-Abarca said. We started trying to do chest compressions we did do chest compressions and were yelling, the three of us, were yelling and then even the girls that were behind us in the cells started banging and kicking, get help, get help. She said the correctional officer said Trujillo was faking it and it was some time before medical help was called. Bordegaray said she feels like a very different person after that night. When she got home, she looked up Trujillos family on social media to tell them what she saw. The heartbreak and the anger, for me, comes from the fact that they didnt even try Bordegaray said. Maybe she would have died still, I dont know, but they didnt even try. I feel like if they had taken her to medical or, you know, listened to her, or, I dont know, listened to everybody else, and she still died, I think that would have been different not only did they not do anything, they were cruel to her on top of that. Im just kind of, like, lost now When her three kids were little, Trujillo was strict about rules and OCD about cleaning the house. Her children say they always came first and she was the kind of mother you could tell anything. In more recent years, she was struggling, but always tried to give them presents or new clothes. She loved going out and doing stuff, and she was very energetic, her youngest, 15-year-old Charlee Ridenour, said. The only time she was down and in bed is when something would happen and, like, shed take it really hard. But anybody that knows her or met her, its always like, you know, something good. You never hear something bad. The last time Ridenour saw Trujillo was the Saturday before her mother was arrested, when the two met up at a Circle K convenience store. She just got paid, so she was happy she could eat Ridenour said. She was really in a good mood. She told me she loved me and she just wanted to come home. Ridenour had been staying with her grandparents in Bernalillo after the two had lost their apartment last year. Then, a couple of days later, when neither Ridenour nor her sister, Kali Gonzalez, nor anyone else had heard from Trujillo, the whole family began to get worried. So, I went looking around for her, 18-year-old Gonzalez said. I cleared my whole schedule just so I could go look around for her. I couldnt find her. It wasnt long before Gonzalez got a call from the Office of the Medical Investigator telling her Trujillo had died. The family held a funeral Friday with relatives from around the state and country. In conversations with her granddaughters, Trujillos mother has wondered if anyone in the jail feels guilty for what happened in her final hours. Ridenour and Gonzalez still cant quite believe their mother is gone. Everyone always said my mom wasnt my mom without me, and that I wasnt me without my mom, Ridenour said. So Im just kind of, like, lost now. RABAT, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- Moroccan King Mohammed VI has pardoned 991 prisoners on the occasion of the Proclamation of Independence Day, the Ministry of Justice said in a statement on Wednesday. A total of 696 inmates had their prison terms reduced, 10 were granted freedom and one had a death sentence lowered to a life sentence, according to the ministry statement. The others who are not currently jailed had their prison terms or fines or both annulled. The Proclamation of Independence Day is celebrated on Jan. 11 every year to commemorate Morocco's proclamation of independence on Jan. 11, 1944. Copyright 2023 Albuquerque Journal Brian Moore, who Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham appointed in December as one of three new members of the state Public Regulation Commission, unexpectedly resigned on Tuesday and was replaced by a seasoned energy industry expert, James F. Ellison Jr. Moore submitted a letter of resignation to the governor stating that he did not meet the statutory educational requirements, which mandate that all commissioners hold at least a bachelors degree in a relevant field, such as business administration, finance or engineering. Moore apparently did study at the University of Denver, where he majored in business, finance and statistical analysis, according to his application for appointment to the PRC. But he never actually graduated, said Governors Office spokesperson Nora Meyers Sackett. Its unclear how that disqualifying factor got past the seven-member PRC nominating committee. The committee included Moore on a list of nine potential candidates it sent to the governor, who then chose three of the nominees, including Moore, to serve staggered terms on the new commission. We werent involved in the nominating process, Sackett told the Journal. In a news release Tuesday afternoon, the Governors Office said nominees applied through, and were independently vetted by, the PRC nominating committee. Cydney Beadles, a nominating committee member and clean energy program manager for the environmental group Western Resource Advocates, said she, and likely other committee members, assumed from Moores application that he had graduated from the University of Denver, although he didnt explicitly state that. Theres no reason to believe that this was anything other than an honest mistake on all fronts, Beadles told the Journal. Moore is a Republican and former state legislator who represented eastern New Mexico from 2000-2008. He also served as deputy chief of staff for former Gov. Susana Martinez from 2011-2012, and is currently president and CEO of the Ranch Market supermarket in Clayton. A Jan. 6 story in the industry publication California Energy Markets did question Moores educational qualifications, but the author, Abigail Sawyer, said Moore declined to comment on his degree status in a telephone interview. Its unclear why Lujan Grisham chose Moore to serve on the commission. But the state statute that mandates the PRCs conversion this year from a five-member elected body to a three-member commission appointed by the governor and subject to confirmation by the state Senate requires that no more than two of the three appointees be from any one party. The other two new appointees former federal energy official Gabriel Aguilera and utility engineer Patrick OConnell are both Democrats. They both have extensive experience in the electric industry, Aguilera as a former senior policy adviser and industry analyst with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and OConnell as former resource planning director for Public Service Company of New Mexico, and, more recently, as deputy director of Western Resource Advocates clean energy program. Aguilera is a graduate of New Mexico State University and holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Maryland. OConnell has a civil engineering degree from the University of New Mexico. In the announcement about Moores resignation Tuesday, the Governors Office said Lujan Grisham has now chosen Sandia National Laboratories employee James F. Ellison Jr. as the new appointee to replace Moore. Ellison has three decades of experience in electric utility operations and power markets, currently serving as the principal grid analyst for Sandias Grid Modernization Group, according to the announcement. He previously worked as well with two other Sandia analysis groups studying power grids, the implementation of renewable energy and analyzing the impact of natural disasters on energy infrastructure. Ellison holds a bachelors degree from Clemson University, two masters degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a masters from Stanford University. Politically, he is a registered voter who declined to state a party affiliation, Sackett said. The new three-member commission was supposed to take office on Jan. 1, and was expected to preside over the PRCs first open public meeting Wednesday, but its unclear if Ellison will be sworn in in time to sit on the bench, PRC spokesman Patrick Rodriguez told the Journal on Tuesday evening. Both OConnell and Aguilera have been sworn in by notaries, although the Senate must still confirm their appointments as commissioners in the upcoming legislative session, which starts next week. Copyright 2023 Albuquerque Journal About 400,000 people in New Mexico, mostly in rural parts of the state, have no internet access. Thanks to a federal grant of $5.74 million, as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, New Mexico is taking a step toward filling that gap. The grant allows officials throughout the state to plan for another federal award of more than $100 million, expected to be provided in early 2024 for installation of the hardware required to bring internet connectivity to parts of the state where there is none now. The planning grant was announced Tuesday in a joint news conference attended by Barbara Cottam, senior adviser for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce; Kelly Schlegel, director of New Mexicos Office of Broadband Access and Expansion; and Catherine Nicolaou, broadband program manager for the city of Albuquerque. The internet is now the essential tool, not only for communications, but really for access to work, access to economic opportunity, and access to mobility, education and health care, said Cottam. In traveling around the country to learn about the challenges of connectivity, Cottam said she found that underserved communities are ready to be connected and understand the value of high-speed internet, and that internet providers are ready to partner with these communities to develop solutions, and that people shouldnt have to choose between living in a community they love and a job located elsewhere. New Mexico is well on its way to providing internet access to all. In the past year, Cottam said, the NTIA has invested more than $150 million in the state, which included funds for building out 336 miles of new optical fiber infrastructure. As part of the Tribal Broadband Program, $57 million went to the Santa Fe Indian Schools Public Education Network to connect hundreds of students to the internet; $44 million went to the Mescalero Apache tribe for a project to bring internet service to more than 800 unserved families; and $3 million to New Mexico Highlands University for creating a digital workforce development curriculum to help reach underserved populations in northern New Mexico. Generations that have come before us have brought water and electricity across America. Theyve built the Interstate Highway System. This is our generations infrastructure moment and it is transformational, Cottam said. Its our opportunity to connect everyone in America with the tools they need for their own lives. Schlegel said the $5.74 million grant will be used to forge strong collaborative relationships with state, federal agencies, local governments, schools and tribes. Ultimately, the goal is to collect data and put a very detailed, comprehensive plan together to bring internet to every rural pocket across New Mexico, she said. Part of the effort is a Connect New Mexico survey to map areas in the state that have no internet service and to determine what kind of internet delivery system is available in areas that do have access, as well as the provider and the internet speed, Schlegel said. That information will be used to update a national broadband map. To fill out the survey, visit connectnewmexico.org. Also present at the Wednesday news conference were representatives from Teeniors, an organization that matches technology-savvy teens with older adults and seniors trying to learn how to use their personal devices and navigate on the internet. The Albuquerque Police Department is investigating a string of shootings that may have targeted the homes and offices of a number of elected officials over the last month. Police are remaining tight-lipped on most details, but heres whats currently been made public: What do we know about the suspect? A suspect in at least one of the shootings a man under 50 has been arrested and is in custody on unrelated charges. Police are not saying what those charges are or providing any other details about the case while they continue the investigation. Police also have a firearm in their possession that they say was used in one of the shootings. Who are the politicians who have been targeted? All six politicians are Democrats who live in Albuquerque. Most have served in elected office for many years. Debbie OMalley is a longtime local legislator and progressive Democrat. She served on the Albuquerque City Council from 2003 to 2012, then won election to the Bernalillo County Commission where she represented the North Valley and part of the West Side until she was term-limited out at the end of 2022. Adriann Barboa is in her first term on the county commission, having been elected in 2020 to represent the central Albuquerque district. She has been among the most progressive voices on the commission since taking office. State Sen. Linda Lopez, a Democrat, oversees Senate District 11 in Southwest Albuquerque. She has served in the senate since 1997 and was previously the majority whip but lost that position last fall. State Rep. Javier Martinez, a Democrat, is the current nominee for House speaker and the representative for District 11 in Southwest Albuquerque. Martinez was previously the majority floor leader, and has been a member of the House since 2015. State Sen. Antonio Moe Maestas, a Democrat, is a former representative who in November 2022 filled the senate seat vacated by Jacob Candelaria. He oversees Senate District 26 on the West Side. Raul Torrez, a Democrat, is the attorney general of New Mexico. Torrez is the former district attorney for the Second Judicial District. When did the shootings happen? On Dec. 4 around 4:41 p.m. eight shots were fired at Barboas home in Southeast Albuquerque. Barboa said bullets went through her front door as her family was preparing to celebrate Christmas. On Dec. 8, Martinez reportedly heard gunshots outside his home near the North Valley and, after the investigation was announced a month later, found damage presumably from gunfire to the house. On Dec 10 in the early morning hours gunshots were fired in the area of Torrezs former campaign office in East Downtown. Torrez had recently moved out of the office after winning the AGs race. On Dec. 11 in the early morning hours gunshots were fired at O Malleys home in the North Valley and more than 12 bullets struck the house. On Jan. 3 just after midnight, eight shots rang out at Lopezs home in Southwest Albuquerque. Lopez said that three bullets went through her daughters bedroom as the 10-year-old slept. On Jan. 5 around 11:30 a.m., hours after the investigation was announced, a gunshot detection device reported three shots fired near the Downtown building where Maestas has his office. There was no damage to the building. What steps are being taken to keep other politicians safe? The state Legislature removed lawmakers home addresses and phone numbers from its website and is working with them to determine what public contact information theyre OK with publishing. The Legislative Council Services director has been in touch with the Albuquerque Police Department and New Mexico State Police ahead of the upcoming legislative session, which starts next week and State Police officers will have a presence at the Roundhouse, as they do every year. Journal reporters Matthew Reisen, Elise Kaplan, Jessica Dyer and Dan Boyd contributed. ABC Celebrity Despite backlash, the Duke of Sussex insists he has no regret about opening up in his autobiography about his experience while serving as a soldier in Afghanistan. Jan 11, 2023 AceShowbiz - Prince Harry has no remorse about "expressing and detailing" his military experiences in his new memoir. After revealing in "Spare" that he killed 25 people while serving in Afghanistan, the 38-year-old prince has now explained why he decided to be so candid about his time in the British army. "I don't know that you ever fully reconcile the painful elements of being at war. 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," he said. "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." Harry has been widely criticised for speaking so openly about the number of Taliban fighters he killed. But the prince insists there's "no right or wrong way to try and navigate" his military experiences. He told PEOPLE, "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, but 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." In his memoir, Harry likened killing Taliban fighters to "chess pieces [being] removed from the board." The prince also revealed that he relished his time in the military, explaining that it allowed him to escape the pressures of royal life. He said, "I was no longer Prince Harry, I was Second Lieutenant Wales of the Blues and Royals, second oldest regiment of the British army." You can share this post! Cover Images/Vince Flores Celebrity While the 'Hawkeye' actor's sister Kym and other members of the family are feeling optimistic about the actor's recovery, she's also aware that there's still a long road ahead of him. Jan 11, 2023 AceShowbiz - Jeremy Renner's family are "thrilled with his progress." The "Hawkeye" actor is currently recovering in hospital after being crushed by a snowplow and Kym Renner, Jeremy's sister, has revealed that she's been encouraged by the progress he's made over recent days. She told PEOPLE, "We are so thrilled with his progress. If anyone knows Jeremy, he is a fighter and doesn't mess around." She added, "He is crushing all the progress goals." While Kym and other members of the family are feeling optimistic about his recovery, she's also aware that there's still a long road ahead of him. She said, "We couldn't feel more positive about the road ahead". Similarly, Colin Farrell recently revealed that Jeremy is "doing well" as he continues his recovery. The Hollywood star confirmed that he'd been in touch with the 52-year-old actor after he was airlifted to hospital for surgery. Colin said, "Yeah, I've been in touch. He's doing good, I believe. All prayers are with him." Meanwhile, Jeremy recently paid tribute to the medical team who have been looking after him. The actor, who is best known for playing Hawkeye in the Marvel movies, shared a photo on Instagram of himself in his hospital bed, with a number of medical professionals standing around him. Jeremy captioned the photo, "Thank you Renowned Medical ICU team for beginning this journey". Jeremy was injured when he tried to remove a stranded family member's car from the snow near his home. "The Hurt Locker" star was struck by a snowplough and left "completely crushed" by the vehicle, according to a 911 call made after the incident. A doctor - who lived nearby - fixed a tourniquet to his leg, which was bleeding heavily, until the actor was airlifted to hospital, where he was kept in an intensive care unit in a critical condition. He subsequently underwent surgery for blunt chest trauma and orthopedic injuries. You can share this post! Cover Images/Sara De Boer Celebrity The host of 'Judy Justice' weighs in on the explosive tell-all during her appearance on 'Good Morning America', noting that she would be hurt if her family does that to her. Jan 11, 2023 AceShowbiz - Judge Judy isn't a fan of Prince Harry's explosive memoir "Spare". The host of "Judy Justice" weighed in on the tell-all book, in which the Duke of Sussex made several bombshell allegations against his British royal family members, including brother Prince William and sister-in-law Kate Middleton. In response to reports that the Institution were "outraged" by the book, Judy thought it was unsurprising. If anything, she revealed in the Tuesday, January 10 episode of "Good Morning America" that she would react the same. "I will tell you that I would be furious, and would think that that child or grandchild was a selfish, spoiled, ungrateful one," she said. "That's what I would feel and be really hurt." The 80-year-old star, whose real name is Judy Sheindlin, also said that writing a book against your own family didn't seem to be the best idea. "I think anybody-anybody with a brain-would see that it's disingenuous," she explained. "It's biting the hand that fed you, it's unseemly." Released on Tuesday, Harry's bombshell memoir "Spare" ranked No. 1 on Amazon's nonfiction bestseller list and Barnes & Noble's top 100 sellers on release day. It earned mixed responses from celebrities and fans alike as hashtag #ShutUpHarry began trending after excerpts from the book surfaced online. In the 416-page tome, Harry explores his strained relationship with brother William and how he initially reacted his father King Charles III's second marriage to Camilla Parker Bowles. The book also sees Harry detailing tension between his wife Meghan Markle and Kate, including the infamous tearful drama over bridesmaid dress. 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." Harry shares that 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?" However, Kate allegedly asked all the dresses to be "remade" and even discussed the issue with her own wedding designer, who agreed with her. When Meghan asked if Kate was aware of the drama surrounding Meghan's father, the Duchess of Cambridge said that she was aware but still insisted that she wanted the dress issue to be solved immediately. A report claimed that the Princess of Wales is "outraged and hurt" by the allegations. You can share this post! AP/Cover Images/Media Punch Movie The 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' star is among early winners at the 80th annual ceremony along with 'Everything Everywhere All at Once' actor Ke Huy Quan and 'Abbott Elementary' star Tyler James Williams. Jan 11, 2023 AceShowbiz - Angela Bassett can pop the champagne early as the 80th annual Golden Globe Awards is currently underway. The actress has scored an award from the televised event, being named best supporting actress in a motion picture for her role as Queen Ramonda in "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever". "My heart is beating!" Bassett said as she began her acceptance speech. "I'm so nervous. I stand here grateful." She quoted her mother as saying, "Good things come to those who pray." The 64-year-old actress went on remembering her late co-star Chadwick Boseman. "Weeping may come in the evening, but joy comes in the morning. We embarked on this journey together. With love, we mourned, we loved, we healed and we were surrounded each and every day by the light and the spirit of Chadwick Bosman," she said. The actress, who won her first Golden Globe in 1993 for her portrayal of Tina Turner in biopic "What's Love Got to Do with It", continued, "We have joy in knowing that with this historic 'Black Panther' series, it is part of his legacy he helped lead us to, we showed the world what black unity, leadership and love looks like beyond, behind and in front of the camera." Earlier that night, Ke Huy Quan won the first award presented at the show. He's named best supporting actor in a motion picture for his role in "Everything Everywhere All at Once", which marks his acting comeback. The actor was first discovered in Steven Spielberg's epic sequel "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" in 1984 and he didn't forget to thank the director for giving him the opportunity. "I was raised to never forget where I came from and to always remember who gave me my first opportunity," he said. "I am so happy to see Steven Spielberg here tonight. Steven, thank you!" "When I started my career as a child actor in 'Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom', I felt so very lucky to have been chosen," he continued. "As I grew older, I started to wonder if that was it, if that was just luck. For so many years, I was afraid I had nothing more to offer, that no matter what I did, I would, never surpass what I achieved as a kid. Thankfully, more than 30 years later, two guys thought of me. They remembered that kid and they gave me an opportunity to try again." Tyler James Williams was then presented with an award for best supporting actor in a TV series for his role on "Abbott Elementary". He thanked series creator Quinta Brunson, adding, "I pray that this is a win for Gregory Eddie and for his story and stories like his that we may understand that his story is just as important as all of the other stories that have to be told out here. Thank you so much for this." More winners will be announced at the 2023 Golden Globes, which is airing live on NBC from The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California. Jerrod Carmichael is hosting the show. You can share this post! HBO TV Julia Garner, meanwhile, is among the honorees as she receives an award for Best Supporting Actress - Television Series/ Musical-Comedy or Drama Series for her role on 'Ozark'. Jan 11, 2023 AceShowbiz - This year is also a big, successful year for Zendaya Coleman. The 26-year-old actress finally took home a Golden Globe statuette after winning Best Television Actress - Drama Series for her excellent portrayal of fan-favorite character Rue Bennett on "Euphoria". The victory rectified the snub for her and the hit HBO series at the 2022 Golden Globe Awards. The "Spider-Man: No Way Home" actress, however, was not in attendance to personally collect the honor. Jay Ellis, who presented the acclaimed award, alluded to Zendaya's absence while accepting the award on her behalf. "She's busy, she's working, y'all," he said. "It's a good thing." Julia Garner was also honored with an award at the annual event, which took place on Tuesday, January 10 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. The actress won Best Supporting Actress - Television Series/ Musical-Comedy or Drama Series for her role on "Ozark", besting fellow nominees such as Elizabeth Debicki ("The Crown"), Hannah Einbinder ("Hacks"), Janelle James ("Abbott Elementary") and Sheryl Lee Ralph ("Abbott Elementary"). The night also saw Ryan Murphy, the creator of many hit TV series including "Glee" and "American Horror Story", receiving the Carol Burnett Lifetime Achievement Award. "So I had the joy working with Carol Burnett on 'Glee', long ago when she was one of my idols. And tonight's award makes me reflect on what a lifetime of achievement really is," he said during his speech. "You get there, I think, by being fearless." Billy Porter, who was tapped to present the award, also had a way to celebrate the award. He donned Christian Siriano ensemble as a homage to his iconic custom Christian Siriano tuxedo gown that he wore to the 2019 Oscars. "I'm giving you full on Christian Siriano, again," Porter said. "We have to have another moment. I'm giving the Lifetime Achievement Award to Ryan Murphy tonight, the Carol Burnett Lifetime Achievement Award, and he wanted me to wear the Oscar dress." As for Best Supporting Actor - Television Limited Series/Motion Picture, the award went to Paul Walter Hauser for his role on "Black Bird". The victory marked the first Golden Globe win for the veteran actor, who portrayed a serial killer behind bars on the Apple TV+ mini series. You can share this post! Cover Images/BauerGriffin Celebrity The 67-year-old actor isn't able to attend the award ceremony despite being nominated in the Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama for his role as John Dutton III on 'Yellowstone'. Jan 11, 2023 AceShowbiz - Kevin Costner is one of the celebrities who skipped the 2023 Golden Globes. Taking to his social media platform, the "Yellowstone" star revealed the real reasons why he wasn't able to attend the award ceremony. On Tuesday, January 10, the 67-year-old actor, who's nominated in the Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama for his role as John Dutton III on "Yellowstone", unveiled in an Instagram video that massive flooding in Southern California prevented him and his designer wife Christine Baumgartner from attending the event. "Hi everyone, look, I'm so sorry for everyone who might've been turning to watch the golden globes. Chris and I aren't going to be able to be there," Kevin said to the camera as he stood outside. "Yesterday, we had to pull the kids out of school in Santa Barbara. For the second time in five years, the freeways are flooded outWe couldn't get back to the house with the freeways closed. No one is sadder than us that we can't be there at the Golden Globes." Kevin went on stressing that he and his wife had prepared for the event but something undesired happened. "Chris had a beautiful dress, and I was looking forward to walking down the red carpet with her and the people of 'Yellowstone', my castmates, directors," he continued. Kevin apologized to his fans once again as stating, "Just so sorry that I can't be there. I really wanted to, and I know how badly Chris wanted to support me." The "Waterworld" actor continued sharing, "She went out and bought me some gold, yellow, black, and silver balloons, so we're going to sit and watch on television and see what happens. But thank you for your support, and I'm really sorry to the Golden Globes and the International Press." Over the past 48 hours, Southern California has been battered by powerful rainstorms that caused heavy flooding in some areas. The coastal community of Montecito in Santa Barbara County, home to celebrities including Prince Harry, Ellen DeGeneres and Oprah Winfrey, was ordered to evacuate on Monday. Also skipping the award ceremony was Zendaya Coleman, who won Best Television Actress - Drama Series for her excellent portrayal of fan-favorite character Rue Bennett on "Euphoria". Jay Ellis, who presented the acclaimed award, explained why Zendaya was absence while accepting the award on her behalf. "She's busy, she's working, y'all," he said. "It's a good thing." Kevin himself has been nominated for seven Golden Globes over his decades-long career. He won Best Actor in a Limited Series, Anthology Series or Television Motion Picture for his performance in 2013 and took home the Best Director trophy for his 1991 film "Dances with Wolves". You can share this post! Netflix/HBO Max TV 'Abbott Elementary', meanwhile, leads TV winners at this year's Golden Globes as the ABC series collects three victories, including the coveted Best Musical/Comedy Series award. Jan 11, 2023 AceShowbiz - The full winners of the 2023 Golden Globes, which was held on Tuesday, January 10 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, have been unveiled. At the event, Evan Peters snagged one of the coveted awards that night, winning the prize for Best Actor - Limited Series, Anthology Series, or Television Motion Picture. The "American Horror Story" actor was honored with the award, thanks to his portrayal of real-life serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer on Netflix's controversial series "DAHMER - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story". Thanking Hollywood Foreign Press Association, Netflix and series creator Ryan Murphy during his speech, Peters also showed gratitude to production crew and his fellow cast members. "I wanna thank my family, friends and loved ones who helped pick me up when I fell and carry me to the finish line," he added. "And last and more importantly, I wanna thank everyone out there who watched the show. It was a difficult one to make, a difficult one to watch. But I sincerely hope some good came out of it." Jennifer Coolidge looked so enthusiast when she bagged the Best Supporting Actress - Television Limited Series/Motion Picture for her role on HBO Max's "The White Lotus". The "Legally Blonde" actress was bleeped multiple times during her hilarious speech that brought laughter to the audience. Jennifer's win wasn't the only victory for "The White Lotus". The HBO Max series was then named as the winner of Best Limited Series, Anthology Series, or Television Motion Picture. "Yellowstone" actor Kevin Costner also had one thing to celebrate that night. He took home the Best Television Actor - Drama Series award, thanks to his role of John Dutton, the owner of the Yellowstone Ranch. Other big winners at the ceremony were ABC's "Abbott Elementary" and HBO's "House of the Dragon". The sitcom, created by star Quinta Brunson, took home the award for Best Musical/Comedy Series. This was Brunson's second award as she previously took the stage to receive Best Television Actress - Musical/Comedy Series award. The win also made the show the leading TV winner at this year's Golden Globes as it collected 3 victories, including Best Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Television Series for star Tyler James Williams. As for the prequel series of award-winning "Game of Thrones", it was presented with Best Drama Series award. The medieval drama beat AMC's "Better Call Saul", Netflix's "The Crown", Netflix's "Ozark" and AppleTV+'s "Severance". See here for the full list of winners in the movie department. Full winners of the 2023 Golden Globes in TV department: You can share this post! Sacca Lafia (C), the president of the Autonomous National Electoral Commission of Benin, announces the provisional results of the legislative elections of Jan. 8 at the headquarters of the Autonomous National Electoral Commission in Cotonou, Benin, on Jan. 11, 2023. The Progressive Union for Renewal (UP-R) garnered 928,947 votes in the legislative elections held Sunday and won 53 seats of the 109-member assembly, according to the provisional results announced Wednesday by the Autonomous National Electoral Commission of Benin. (Photo by Seraphin Zounyekpe/Xinhua) COTONOU, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- The Progressive Union for Renewal (UP-R) garnered 928,947 votes in the legislative elections held Sunday and won 53 seats of the 109-member assembly, according to the provisional results announced Wednesday by the Autonomous National Electoral Commission of Benin. The announcement said that the UP-R, which allied with President Patrice Talon, acquired 37.56 percent of the total votes, and the Republican Bloc (BR) came in second place with 29.17 percent, winning 28 seats, while the radical opposition Democrats garnered 24.02 percent of the votes, also winning 28 seats. According to early poll results, out of the 6,600,572 registered voters, only 2,551,547 people cast their ballots, a turnout of 38.66 percent. Instagram Celebrity During a red-carpet interview at the 2023 Golden Globe Awards, the 'Abbott Elementary' star shares a strong message to her younger self while shading the famed family in the process. Jan 11, 2023 AceShowbiz - Sheryl Lee Ralph wanted her younger self to love herself better. During a red-carpet interview at the 2023 Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Tuesday, January 10, the "Abbott Elementary" star shared a strong message to her younger self while shading the Kardashian family in the process. "What would you want to tell your 15-year-old self?" the interviewer asked. To the question, the actress responded, "To my 15-year-old self?" Insinuating that she hoped she embraced herself more, she added, "There's nothing wrong with your nose. There's nothing wrong with the shade of your skin. There's nothing wrong with the way your hair grows out of your head." Sheryl, who was nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical-Comedy or Drama Television Series for her role on "Abbott Elementary", went on to name-drop the famed family, saying, "And there's certainly nothing wrong with your lips because there will be some people called Kardashians and they will pay ten thousand dollars for your lips." Concluding her message, she assured, "Hang in there, 15-year-old Sheryl Lee Ralph. You're good!" People were loving her message with one writing in an Instagram comment, "Said what she SAID!" Echoing the sentiment, someone else added, "And she said what TF she said!! Not a stutter in sight!!!!!!" "A lot of people would be scared to say that on national television," one other noted. Applauding the TV star, another user wrote, "Lmaoo one thing a Jamaican is gonna do and that's spit pure unfiltered facts." That aside, the Barbara Howard depicter looked stunning while gracing the red carpet as she donned a custom Aliette gown, which she claimed was "heavy, heavy" thanks to all those embellishments. "I just think it's quite spectacular - I love it," she told InStyle about the dress, which took Jason Rembert 960 hours to make. "It really, in some ways, puts me back to the strength that I had to have to carry a 20-pound gown back in the day of [the Broadway musical] 'Dreamgirls'." "I wanted to be able to collaborate with a designer that I knew absolutely understood my figure, my shape, and my spirit as a person," she said of partnering with Jason. The actress also excitedly talked about having her own daughter, Ivy-Victoria Maurice, as her stylist. "I am so happy that I chose her as my stylist because she has just been so right on it," Sheryl elaborated. "I have made every best-dressed list, right up to this weekend. And when I tried on my gown for the final fitting, I said, 'Thank God for every birthing pain it took to bring her to life for this moment.' " You can share this post! Cover Images/Axelle Woussen Movie The 35-year-old 'Crazy Rich Asians' actor is asked if he's spoken to producer Barbara Broccoli about allegedly taking over the Bond role from Daniel Craig in the next movie. Jan 11, 2023 AceShowbiz - Henry Golding would love to join the James Bond "universe." The actor has been tipped to replace Daniel Craig as 007, but Henry insists he's not in the running to become the next Bond. Asked if he's spoken to producer Barbara Broccoli about the role, the 35-year-old actor replied, "No, I haven't. I think there have been a few guys that have spoken to Barbara. Sadly, I'm not one of them. But, I do know for a fact that ... the cogs are in motion for Barbara. I just wish them the best. They're gonna choose the right, and most appropriate, Bond." Despite this, Henry would love to join the Bond franchise in some capacity. Speaking prior to the Golden Globes at the The Beverly Hilton hotel in Beverly Hills on Tuesday, January 10, Henry told Variety, "I'd love to be in the Bond universe. Not specifically Bond, but ... let's play in that sandpit." Henry also joked about some of the qualities that he could bring to the long-running film franchise. The actor - whose previous film credits include "Crazy Rich Asians" and "Snake Eyes" - quipped, "A sense of mystery, a sense of charm, good looks ... we've done some action films - it wouldn't be too hard." Henry previously described being linked to the role of Bond as an "honour". The actor also believes the world is ready for a non-white Bond. He shared, "It does seem to be a question that always comes up. It was definitely from 'Crazy Rich,' maybe [the scene with] the white suit coming out the park. I'm Asian and everybody's fighting for a diverse Bond - sorry, white guys. Isn't it great that we're having that conversation? Isn't it great that people are like, 'Ok, now it's time, why the hell can't we have a black Bond, an Asian Bond, a mixed-race Bond, a non-distinct Bond?' I don't know ... It's an honour to even be in the conversation." You can share this post! Instagram Music When announcing his new independent album, the 32-year-old emcee admits that he 'was not really feeling [hip-hop] for a while,' but it's not about the music, just the 'bulls**t of the industry.' Jan 11, 2023 AceShowbiz - Logic is preparing something big for his fans. Taking to his social media page, the "Sucker for Pain" rapper announced that he will release his independent debut album called "College Park" in February. The 32-year-old broke the news by sharing an animated trailer on Instagram. Alongside the clip, he could be heard saying, "I just want to thank y'all so much for coming out tonight. I'm so excited to see where the journey takes us." On Tuesday, January 10, Logic shared a photo of himself in front of his desk. He captioned it, "My independent debut album College Park available everywhere February 24th #RattPack." Meanwhile in a YouTube video, Logic declared, "I love y'all and I'm making s**t from the heart. I'm loving hip-hop." He added, "I was not really feeling it for a while. I don't really mean the music, I just mean the bulls**t of the industry." "But I realize now more than ever that none of that s**t matters," the rap star, whose real name is Sir Robert Bryson Hall II, continued. "I've missed you guys and I'm here and I just want to have fun and I'm so excited for College Park." Logic previously signed to Def Jam, but he decided to leave the label after releasing seven studio albums. His final project, "Vinyl Days", arrived in June 2022. Logic has previously gotten candid of working with the label. "I think for me I've had a relationship that's been very up and down, but it's been a lot of ups, it really has. I can't sit here and just go in on Def Jam, when it's not Def Jam, it's major labels in general," he told Apple Music. You can share this post! ABC Celebrity The 'Scary Movie' actress couldn't stop giggling when finding out the 'Yellowstone' actor was not able to attend the awards due to flooding in his Santa Barbara neighbourhood. Jan 11, 2023 AceShowbiz - Regina Hall has poked fun at Kevin Costner over his Golden Globes absence. The 52-year-old actress presented best actor in a drama which was won by the 67-year-old star for his role in "Yellowstone", but he and his wife Christine Baumgartner were unable to attend after his Santa Barbara neighbourhood was rocked by unprecedented weather and flooding this week. "Yesterday, we had to pull the kids out of school, and in Santa Barbara - this is the second time in five years - the freeways flooded out," he said in a video on Twitter, minutes before the ceremony on Tuesday, January 10, 2023. "We found ourselves on the wrong side of the town, and we couldn't get back last night. We couldn't even get back to the house this morning in time with the freeways closed. Nobody's sadder than us that we can't be there at the Golden Globes. Chris has a beautiful dress, I looked forward to walking down the red carpet with her." On stage, Regina couldn't help but laugh as she started to read from the teleprompter. She said, "Kevin Costner, he so much wanted to be - I always like how they write this. It's like, 'He so much wanted to be - ' no, I'm sure he did." She continued, "But because of the - it's been raining - the unprecedented weather and flooding, he has to shelter in place in Santa Barbara." At this point she smacked her forehead and said "Jesus," before trying to push on despite struggling to hold back her giggles. She added, "No, this is a sad story right now. He's stuck in Santa Barbara. Let's pray everyone. Everyone, we do, we pray and we hope everyone affected by these storms remains safe. I'm gonna set that award right there, on your behalf, Kevin." Taking to Twitter to accept his win, Kevin paid tribute to his fellow stars, the crew, and producers. He wrote, "Thank you to the Hollywood Foreign Press and @goldenglobes for this tremendous honor and to the @Yellowstone team for bringing John Dutton's world to life. I share this recognition with my castmates, the producers, and our incredible crew." You can share this post! Cover Images/Dutch Press Photo Celebrity The Duke of Sussex calls accusation that he bragged about killing Taliban fighters a 'dangerous lie' and finds it 'very disturbing' that his comments have been twisted by media. Jan 12, 2023 AceShowbiz - Prince Harry insists the comments he made about his time in Afghanistan have been taken "out of context." The 38-year-old royal - who served in the British Army for a decade - penned in his new memoir, "Spare", that he killed 25 Taliban fighters during a tour in Afghanistan and even likened the Taliban fighters to "chess pieces removed from the board" but has now branded the media coverage of the story as a "dangerous lie." "Without doubt, the most dangerous lie that they have told is that I somehow boasted about the number of people that I killed in Afghanistan. I would say that if I heard anybody else or heard anyone boasting about that kind of thing, I would be angry," he said. "But it's a lie and hopefully now that the book is out, people will be able to see the context. It's really troubling and very disturbing that they can get away with it because they had the context. It wasn't like here's just one line." "They had the whole section. They ripped it away and just said, here it is, he's boasting on this and that's dangerous. And my words are not dangerous but the spin of my words are very dangerous." The Duke of Sussex - who tied the knot with Meghan, Duchess of Sussex in 2018 and later fled from royal duties to move to the US with her in 2020 - went on to explain that he merely wanted to "reduce the number of suicides" with the comment. Speaking on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert", he added, "My whole goal and my attempt with sharing that detail is to reduce the number of suicides!" Harry - who undertook two tours of the country -initially wrote, "It seemed to me essential not to be afraid of that number [of people killed]. So my number is 25. It's not a number that fills me with satisfaction, but nor does it embarrass me." You can share this post! Singapore: Kantar, the worlds leading marketing data and analytics company, today announces the appointment of Cheong Tai Leung as CEO of its Insights Asia Pacific business. Reporting to Chris Jansen, Kantars Chief Executive, Ms Leung will lead Kantars regional team in growing our relationships with some of the worlds most dynamic brands; partnering with them as they redefine their growth strategies for the most challenging period in recent history. Ms Leung takes over the leadership role from Wayne Levings, who will now focus exclusively on his role as Kantars Chief Client Officer. Cheong Tai Leung Biography Most recently, Ms Leung served as Regional President, Asia Pacific at GfK, responsible for driving transformation, growth and profitability for the company's portfolio that included market intelligence and digital solutions across the region. During her 5-year tenure at GfK, Cheong Tai successfully built relationships across the region and profitably grew the APAC business year-on-year. Before GfK, Cheong Tai was with The Nielsen Company for 9 years. She joined in 2008 as Chief Operating Officer before becoming the Region President in 2010, responsible for Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa markets. Prior to Nielsen, Cheong Tai held leadership roles at GE Consumer Finance and GE Healthcare. On her appointment, Cheong Tai commented: Kantars expertise in understanding consumers, its technology and artificial intelligence capabilities are shaping the brands of tomorrow. In our ever-changing, complex world, Kantar offers true strategic partnership to brands to help them connect with consumers and build the trust that will fuel the next wave of growth. I look forward to joining Kantars executive team to help drive a positive impact for brands and consumers across the region. Chris Jansen, Chief Executive, added: Cheong Tai brings more than 20 years of international leadership and business management experience across emerging, developing markets and Asia Pacific. She will be a huge asset to our business as we continue to build our relationships and push for growth in this most dynamic of regions. On Mr Levings contribution, Mr Jansen continued I would like to also express my sincere thanks to Wayne for his commitment and endeavours over the past two years. Successfully leading the APAC organisation and delivering double digit growth in the region, in addition to his Chief Client Officer responsibilities. Ms Leung will take up her leadership role in the first half of 2023. NAIROBI, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- The food crisis in Kenya's arid counties could escalate amid suppressed October to December 2022 rainy season that led to crop failure, and drying of pasture and water sources, a senior official said Wednesday. Rebecca Miano, the cabinet secretary in the Ministry of East African Community, Arid and Semi-Arid Lands and Regional Development, said that the latest projections indicate that hunger, malnutrition and water stress are likely to escalate countrywide this dry season. "The drought situation remains critical in 22 out of the 23 arid and semi-arid counties following poor rains through October to December when the short rains season usually appears," Miano told journalists in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital. Drought-related livestock mortalities had spiked in the arid lands, worsening hunger, malnutrition and income losses for herders, noted Miano, warning that delayed and poor rainfall distribution coupled with fall armyworm infestation have worsened food insecurity and childhood malnutrition in the country's arid northern outposts. Miano said the national government had partnered with devolved units, relief agencies and the private sector to scale up a humanitarian intervention for the 4.35 million people affected by drought. Some of the interventions to help alleviate suffering among drought-affected communities include the provision of relief food, cash transfers, screening and treatment for malnutrition, water trucking, supply of livestock feeds and livestock offtake, said Miano. She revealed that as of December 2022, 14,300 households in five arid counties had received emergency food aid following President William Ruto's appeal for assistance from the private sector and bilateral partners. Miano stressed the government's commitment to building the resilience of communities in the drylands already reeling from climate-induced recurrent droughts. ULAN BATOR, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia's National Agency for Meteorology and Environmental Monitoring on Wednesday issued a warning of extreme cold as well as dust and snow storms. Overnight temperatures are expected to reach minus 40-45 degrees Celsius across large parts of Mongolia from Thursday until the beginning of next week, the agency said in a statement. In addition, strong snow and dust storms are expected to hit southern Gobi Desert areas and eastern steppe parts of the country in the coming days, it said, urging the public to take extra precautions against possible disasters. DHAKA, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- The Bangladeshi government has approved a proposal to import more than 2 million tonnes of refined fuel oil in the first half of 2023. Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase in a meeting with Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal in the chair approved the purchase on Wednesday. The state-run Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) will spend 182.15 billion taka (1.75 billion U.S. dollars) to buy fuel oil from seven state-owned enterprises in countries including China, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates. The refined fuel oil will be imported from Petrochina of China, UNIPEC of China, BSP of Indonesia, ENOC of the UAE, IOCL of India, PTLCL of Malaysia and PTTT of Thailand. The committee also approved the BPC's proposal to import 60,000 tonnes of diesel at 5.45 billion taka from India's Numaligarh Refinery Ltd this year. (1 U.S. dollar equals about 100 taka). Ordinary people have extraordinary power. Don't believe me? Watch what happens if tens of millions ever decide to close their bank accounts all at once. Or critical sectors of the workforce decide to stay home for weeks. Or a sizable percentage of the population refuses to obey arbitrary and capricious government orders. When citizens become fed up enough to take matters into their own hands, those with government-bestowed titles learn quickly how little power those vaunted titles actually have. If you were to ask a collection of random people what governments do, you would hear a multitude of answers: they make and enforce laws, collect taxes, regulate industry, police citizens, and mobilize militaries. In actuality, what governments do, first and foremost, is prevent citizens from ever understanding the above paragraph. Their first order of business is to convince the vast majority of people not in positions of authority to obey the cumulative will of the small minority in charge of the government. For most of human history, this magic act, in which so few control so many, has been accomplished through intimidation, violence, and other forms of coercion. "Nothing is so certain as death and taxes," the old proverb goes, but it might just as accurately be said of almost all governments throughout history that those in charge will extract from those under their thumb either death or taxes and often both. Force is the only language most governments know, although that force is often disguised as being performed for the people's "own good." As it turns out, force is generally sufficient for corralling humans into their government-controlled pens, especially if there are carrots or other treats inside to keep them content, if not particularly happy. When those pens have nothing attractive to offer and become overrun with filth, however, then those doing the corralling must resort to more and more force in order to make their captives obey. The rejection of this coercive paradigm formed the intellectual backbone of American independence. Aside from some notable Greek city-states and a few mostly forgotten tribes, America's Enlightenment experiment in self-determination set itself apart from all other past forms of governance precisely because its guiding principles sought to level the playing field between the governing and governed and replace the confines of the government's animal pen with a shared freedom to roam. "We the people," the U.S. Constitution begins, before articulating common ideals uniting all Americans, including a determination to "secure the blessings of liberty" for "ourselves and our posterity." The people, as the architects of the American system of government, alone control the limits of their liberty and perpetually hold the keys to any artificial pen constricting their free will. Now, depending upon your level of cynicism, this revolutionary articulation of human self-government either never truly succeeded or has achieved periods of relative success while enduring its share of failures, as all human institutions invariably do. Putting America's scorecard to the side, however, by far its most powerful contribution to human liberty has been the passing down from one generation to the next both a shared understanding of what freedom means and a shared commitment to pursuing American freedom doggedly, however incomplete. America's civic bonds have prevailed through challenging times by sustaining a common determination to preserve individual rights and to protect those rights from the treacherous dilutions of government decree. The inviolable sanctity of the individual the acknowledgment that each human has special worth that cannot be indiscriminately erased for some utopian and misguided "greater good" provides the foundations for American equality. In America, no person's life, liberty, or property can be said to be more important than any other's. This has been the shared truth, even when Americans have failed to live up to the standard, keeping the people in charge of their own pen and government force in check, if not at bay. Although President Truman will always be remembered for embracing the notion that "the buck stops here," ultimately, the buck stops at all times with the American people. They are, as William Ernest Henley would attest, alone the masters of their fates and the captains of their souls. That's the American way. It is not the American way, however, for citizens to live higgledy-piggledy under the ambiguous reign of one government dictate to the next. It is not American for an unelected bureaucracy to create rules out of thin air and enforce them upon the people through agency prerogative and regulation. It is not American for presidents to legislate through executive order. It is not American for congresses to conduct show trials against American citizens or to demand that tech companies censor points of view. It is not American for courts to scribble over the Constitution whenever expedient. It is not American for the Department of (in)Justice to persecute citizens for their political beliefs or for the FBI to act as a lethal enforcer against the regime's political enemies. It is not American for there to be so many criminal statutes that no American could possibly know them all, let alone confidently act without fear of sanction. It is not American for there to be so many government agencies and divisions that no American could capably draw a diagram listing their roles and functions. It is not American for the government to champion its secular religion over the moral tenets of Americans' spiritual faiths. It is not American for the government to ignore the will of its citizens and subvert immigration law by leaving its borders unprotected and wide open. It is not American for an amorphous Intelligence Community to spy on American citizens with neither warrant nor probable cause. It is not American for the news media to be so co-opted by the State that they almost universally support the government's talking points no matter how ludicrous and unsupported while taking aim at dissenting citizens' debate. It is not normal for a "government of the people" to regularly denigrate its citizens as racists, extremists, deplorables, terrorists, misogynists, bigots, and rubes. It is not normal for any government claiming to be "for the people" to declare half the nation "enemies of the State." These are the acts of a government committed to using intimidation, violence, and other forms of coercion in order to get its way. In short, they are everything the American system revolted against when American independence rejected top-down force for equality, individual liberty, unassailable rights, and freedom of thought beyond the reach of the government's say. That so many Americans still fail to see how distorted their acting government has become from what their Constitution affords is proof that those who corral humans into pens for a living have done their jobs exceptionally well. Like too many generations before them, Americans have allowed themselves to be rounded up with a little prodding, some tasty carrots, and reassuring words along the way. Too many look at the barbed wire surrounding them and assume that life must always be endured behind the government's enclosure. Obedience in exchange for the government's promises of safety, welfare, and happiness has created a narcotic bliss. What happens, though, if enough Americans decide they are not safe, comfortable, or happy? What happens when the American government runs out of carrots, and those in cages realize they are surrounded by nothing but filth and decay? Perhaps then ordinary people will realize what extraordinary power they actually possess. Perhaps then sleeping Americans will reawaken. Perhaps the descendants of those who once turned the world upside-down will remember how to reject government tyranny and demand a return to the American way. Image via Public Domain Pictures. After widespread outcry against the most rigorous COVID-19 control measure, i.e. the notorious Zero COVID policy, China decided to abruptly scrap the policy altogether in December. Hundreds of millions of Chinese citizens were freed overnight from three-year virtual house arrest. What is more thrilling to the ordinary Chinese is that Chinas border clamping policy aimed at curtaining COVID-19 infection by blocking cross-border movements was formally taken down as this piece is being composed. The world, once so worried that Chinas Zero COVID policy could have a deep dent in the global economy due to a disrupted supply chain, is now facing a new, but not less pressing, issue to deal with. Waves of freed Chinese citizens are pouring out of Chinas border and arriving at the doorstep of any country that happens to be on their itinerary. But the longed-for arrival of Chinese goods after the resumption of regular supply activities is still months away. Given the current outbreak of the supposed COVID-19 variant, many countries (the U.S., Japan, Spain, France, etc.) have imposed strict border regulation measures that require travelers from China (Hong Kong and Macau included) to provide COVID-negative proof at port of entry. This time around, Italy was the first western country that implemented these restrictions. This action reminds the world a painful past. Exactly three years ago, when the whole world was uneasy about receiving tourists from China where a mysterious infectious disease was spreading and killing people like wildfire, Italy opened its arms to Chinese tourists, and literally embraced many of them in Italys streets. Within less than three months, Italy became the first non-China country hit hard by the COVID-19 virus, and was among the countries that suffered the heaviest casualties due to COVID-19 infection. The 2020 lesson is learned. But the measures taken now by the world might not be adequate. Most of the current COVID-restriction measures implemented by the above countries only require COVID-negative documentation originated from China. But any documentation from this source is highly untrustworthy. Chinas public COVID-19 testing system, which employed the common polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method that detects specific DNA sequence of the COVID virus, is notoriously fraudulent. Collected samples often were randomly designated positive as needed without even going through testing, and discarding collected samples without testing is so common that this practice no longer enraged the ordinary Chinese for quite some time. The other COVID-detection method commonly used in China is the self-detection kit that detect fragments of the COVID virus protein. Although households would not throw away the kit without using it, the detection accuracy of those kits is actually worse than tossing a coin, as evaluated by some biomedical laboratories in 2020. The reason for this low quality and reliability is that these self-detection kits were almost unexceptionably manufactured by unknown biotech firms that were registered in a gold rush since 2020 to catch the COVID-19 economic windfall. Documentation derived from using these fraudulent means would not provide intended protection to host countries where Chinese travelers are trying to get in. Even if a host country is cautious enough to require on-site COVID tests at port of entry, this seemingly shrewd measure is still not a guarantee that a new wave of infection will be stopped at the border. China had quietly halted mandatory COVID testing, which had been imposed upon its entire population for almost three years, at the same time it ended the Zero COVID policy less than a month ago. While Chinas daily official tally of new infection cases have surpassed the one hundred thousand mark since then, there is no reliable source confirming that those new infection cases are caused by the COVID-19 virus or its variants. Using the old detection criteria for a new, unverified infection is no different from shooting at the footprint left by a prey when the real target is already miles away. What is more worrisome is that the picture of the latest eruption of infection waves in China is just as murky as it was three years ago when the original COVID-19 virus started to spread viciously, first in China, then worldwide. Although Chinas official daily briefing on deaths from the new wave of infection is within single digits, funeral services in many Chinese megacities have been deluged with unprecedented numbers of cremation demands despite operating at full capacity already. The current rapid spread of infection and the unexplainable massive death in particular resemble nothing characteristic of the latest COVID-19 variant. Instead, what is happening in China at present is like a playback of the scenes in early 2020 in Wuhan, where the outbreak of COVID-19 was first reported. Could the culprit of the current outbreak in China be the same original strain of COVID-19 virus, which has gone through a string of rapid evolution for three years in the rest of the world? WHO chief Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has pleaded in vain with China to release the true data regarding its current outbreak, so that the world could be better equipped than three years ago for outbreak control. Without Chinas cooperation, the worlds efforts to contain China-originated infectious waves will always be ineffective at best, and more akin to shooting in the dark. Image: Ming Xia At Bidens press conference last Thursday about border security and enforcement, conservatives probably hoped to hear about clamping down on the illegal immigration that enriches Mexican cartels while killing Americans, jeopardizing their safety, or wreaking havoc in border communities. Instead, they heard how Biden will make it easier to be a legal immigrant. To achieve that goal, hell abuse the status of immigration parole more than he already does to bypass refugee and immigrant quotas. Hes also rewriting the criteria to make it easier to be a refugee. In one year, he is granting legal immigration status to an additional 380,000 people, and countless more will have an inside track because they have a U.S. anchor. Incredibly, the left complained that Biden wasnt doing enough for immigrants, while the right questioned what was being done to help the American people and restore rule of law. If you didnt hear him say all that, thats because, as always, the devil is in the detailsand the details are stunning. The Biden administration has announced that it will make it easier for citizens of Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti, and Nicaragua to be paroled in the United States because the U.S. will, in future, automatically accept 30,000 people per month from these four countries. This is on top of the government having already allotted 24,000 parole process spots in October for Venezuelans. Determining eligibility for parole is arbitrary, but it is supposed to be done on a case-by-case basis, not granted based on someones nationality. A person who is subjectively judged to have an urgent need for humanitarian assistance or a person who offers significant public benefits to the United States can qualify. Significant is a bit of a gimmick because the significant benefit for the United States typically accrues to a single citizen, noncitizen, or family living in the United States. However, once someone is paroled, there are special programs in place to facilitate paroling family members under the age of 21 who are still in Haiti, Cuba, and Nicaragua. These additional parolees are not counted in the monthly quota. Image: Illegal aliens swarming the southern border. YouTube screen grab. Although the administration has said people from these countries who do not apply for parole will be turned back at the border, something that caused alarm to the left, thats just a smokescreen. Thats because people from places other than Cuba can immediately qualify for a different statusTemporary Protection Status (TPS). TPS is granted to people from certain countries where humanitarian assistance is deemed appropriate. Its another subjective criterion. TPS is granted for 18 months, but it can be renewed indefinitely. Many TPS immigrants have been here for over 10 years. In July 2022, it was estimated that 343,000 Venezuelans in the United States are eligible for TPS, and 393,255 people from Central America and Haiti are TPSers are already residing in the United States. Biden said all these people will be vetted. Really? Good luck getting data from our friends in Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, and the dysfunctional state of Haiti. But fear not; the government has a Plan B. Candidates can personally attest to their own good character and the absence of addictions and certain diseases. Do you know how good our vetting process was with Afghan refugees? After these paroleesnot refugeesarrived, 31 Afghan refugees were found to have red flags. The Department of Homeland Security could only locate three of the 31. Another 50 indicated potentially significant security concerns. This meant their fingerprints were found on improvised explosive devices, and they were known or suspected terrorists. The administration also plans that, in both 2023 and 2024, it will accept 20,000 refugees from the Caribbean and Central America, a number allegedly triple the number currently eligible. They are classifying people from these countries as refugees when most are not. Someone who is a refugee or asylum seeker technically qualifies because he or she cannot return to the home country because of a well-founded fear of persecution due to the persons race, membership in a particular social group, political opinion, religion, or national origin. Asylum is not given to poor people tired of crime and violence. It couldnt be. Billions would literally seek asylum in the United States. Nonetheless, the administration is classifying as refugees poor people who are understandably tired of the crime and violence in their broken nations. You can hear people from dozens of countries that experience a lot more crime and violence asking for equal treatment. Being a refugee in the United States is like winning the lottery for a poor person. Since Biden came to office, the numbers being let in under the premise of being legitimate asylum seekers are astronomical. As of December 2022, 1,565,966 people were living in the United States waiting for an asylum hearing. People with an asylum court hearing are about 60% likely to show up for their hearing, which should be no surprise because most are rejected, which means they will be asked to undergo voluntary deportation. No-shows and voluntary deportees often join the ranks of other illegals. Between January 2021 and December 31, 2022, illegal immigrants increased by an estimated 1.28 million . Based on the asylum backlog, it looks like we probably have another 800,000 soon-to-be illegals. Last Thursday, the left went crazy because Biden claimed he will clamp down on the farcical asylum process. They know that asylum is central to the expanding population of illegals. That Biden is disappointing his base this way may be because his administration is acknowledging that it has allowed so many ostensible asylum seekers into the United States to wait for a hearing that even the administration realizes its gotten out of hand. Tripling the cap on the number of refugees from the Caribbean and Central America also relies on the administrations five-card Monty trick for counting refugees. Did you know the United States only accepted 24,500 refugees in 2022? The 68,000 Afghan refugees who came in were counted as parolees, and the same was done for 82,000 Ukrainians. Unaccompanied minors (under 21) are another parlor trick to hide numbers. They are immediately designated as refugees, but they are not counted as refugees. Under Biden, over 274,000 unaccompanied minors have been processed, of whom 92% were from Central America. (Between 2014 and 2017, the total was 3,092.) A 2015 study showed that criminals sponsored 12% of the minors , including human traffickers. In 2021, 66% of the unaccompanied minors were males, and 72% were 1517 years old. The average age of a gang member is 17-18. How many of the new admissions will join gangs or work for cartels is unknown because post-release follow-up is optional. Latinos make up 18.5% of the population, but they are estimated to be 46% of gang members. Gangs are responsible for 13% of all murders, 48.9% of violent crimes, 42.9% of property crimes, and 39.9% of drug sales. TPS, parole, and fake refugee status are all end runs around the normal immigration quotas and vetting process. In 2021, more temporary immigrants became citizens than new arrivals. The Biden administration is also committed to addressing the problem of drug smuggling, although everyone was light on details. For example, Biden explained, Since August of last year, Customs and Border Patrol have seized more than 20,000 pounds of deadly fentanyl. Thats enough to killkill as many as 1,000 people in this country. Really? Well, no. Bidens administration might be doing more if its members knew that 20,000 pounds of fentanyl are enough to kill every American. In 2021 alone, lesser amounts of fentanyl killed about 71,000 Americans. But where the administration really was light on details was the claim that Were going to get these [border]communities more support. Then again, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris arent concerned with addressing the border crisis, including overwhelmed border communities, increased crime, and Americans dying from drug overdoses. Theyre too busy recruiting future Democratic voters. In a recent Rasmussen Reports poll, 39 percent of Americans consider other Americans to be Americas greatest threat. Thats more people than consider China our greatest threat (25 percent). Its almost twice as many as those that consider Russia our greatest threat (20 percent). Of those polled, 22 percent say Democrats are our greatest threat. That would include people like myself, who believe the Dems have become the American communists -- determined to destroy everything that makes us exceptional -- as a necessary measure to marshal in a socialist utopia. Another 17 percent say that Republicans are the greatest threat. Those would be our fellow citizens who have bought Bidens semi-fascist baloney and Merrick Garlands white supremacist propaganda. So much for returning comity and normalcy to the American conversation. Meanwhile, the world is full of threats. Russia wants to reconstitute the Soviet empire, and is chipping away at eastern Europe to do it. Islamic fundamentalists want to create a caliphate, and seem to think that enough murder and mayhem will convince the worlds population to join the religion of peace. Or maybe they just want to kill the nonbelievers for the fun of it. Its hard to tell. China just wants everything. But they arent resorting (yet) to the grotesque methods of Russia or the Islamic fundamentalists. Theyre simply trying to buy it all with their Belt and Road initiative. They seem to think that world domination is a simple real estate deal. Hopefully theyre wrong -- but who knows? Regardless of those external threats, if we think internal threats are a greater danger, they are. We are experiencing a national identity crisis, and our distrust of one another is one of its manifestations. The Right wants a country of maximum freedom and minimal government control. The Left wants a country of collective security, with centralized control by elites, and citizens serving the needs of the hive. We are in no position to respond to global threats while that conflict is ongoing. Our polarization is indeed the greatest threat we face currently. Just like an ER doctor, we have to triage our national security. The doctor doesnt treat the cancer, until he stops the arterial bleeding. Similarly, we cant respond to the worlds bad actors while were fighting with each other. A divided nation cannot respond effectively to a global threat. If you doubt that statement, consider how the war on terror turned out. We were united for about a nanosecond after 9/11. Then our unity turned into Bush lied, people died. Our war against the terrorists ended when a president of the Left surrendered to a bunch of 7th century thugs, simply because a president of the Right wouldnt. Well never know if the war could have been won by a united country, because it was waged by a divided one. Well have only limited influence internationally until we resolve that internal conflict. It isnt going to happen quickly due to the nature of the conflict. The Right wants to debate and make its case to individual citizens. The Left is uninterested in debate. Their worldview renders the wishes of individuals irrelevant. Only the collective matters -- and theyre the voice of the collective. The Left stifles debate with phrases like: The science is settled Words are violence Freedom of speech is not freedom to spread disinformation The American contest of ideas has devolved to: personal freedom advocated by the Right vs statism advocated by the Left. Open dialog advocated by the Right, vs no dialog commanded by the Left. There will be no quick compromise or resolution. Its no exaggeration to point out that unless theres a sudden outbreak of sanity and reason, we are approaching a national breakup. Americans are already beginning to sort themselves between red and blue states on the basis of ideology. If this trend continues, there will eventually be a winner and a loser, and the breakup will not be pretty. Hopefully well find a peaceful resolution, but achieving ideological alignment will take years. In the meantime, the global rot festers and America struggles. China is flooding America with spies to steal our technology and money to keep our politicians compliant. Vlad the Mad Russian is laughing his butt off as he tests the resolve of neighboring countries and we abandon our weapons and run -- while imposing LGBTQ+ pronoun discipline on our troops. Through it all, the Left is more concerned about the climate than advancing global tyranny. The Left wanted to weaken America -- and they have. We lack the political will for a strategic (long-term) campaign, and the military strength for credible deterrence. Peaceful countries the world over have come to take America for granted. Theyve pursued their commercial and social interests -- confident that America would maintain world order. Theyre going to get a painful lesson in what a world without America looks like -- at least for a while. There is a slight glimmer of hope. A year ago, 54 percent of citizens considered their fellow Americans to be our greatest threat. Perhaps were slowly deciding what kind of country we want to live in. But we have a long way to go before we approach anything resembling consensus. John Green is a political refugee from Minnesota, now residing in Idaho. He has written for American Thinker, and American Free News Network. His work has been featured on The Dan Bongino Show, World View Weekend Broadcast with Brannon House, and Steel on Steel with John Loeffler. He can be followed on Facebook or reached at greenjeg@gmail.com. Image: Ealdgyth The New York Times is not merely the carrier of articles fouled by false news. The Times is also a spreader of political hate speech. For Exhibit A in this regard, I offer the comments of Bret Stephens, in his January 10 colloquy with Gail Collins appearing on the "Opinion" page of the paper. Here is the headline: Had enough? In his third paragraph, we find this description of Republicans: "A few honorable exceptions aside, the G.O.P.is basically split between reptiles and invertebrates." (And who are the "honorable exceptions"? Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw, who calls his fellow Republicans "terrorists"? Or, the execrable Senate Republican Leader who sandbags MAGA Republicans to ensure minority status for Senate Republicans and his own hold on power?) The mean-spirited remarks of Stephens, in the January 10 edition of the print edition of the Times go beyond anti-Trump excoriations to the Republican party at large. Stephens proceeds to claim that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy "hated Liz Cheney because of her backbone." Boy, does Stephens have that wrong -- Liz Cheney is now an ex-congresswoman because the House GOP conference successfully resisted her plan to stab in the back the conference members, one by one. Another added gibe at the House GOP from Stephens dismissed the entire group at large as a "Republican clown show." By his vile comments, Stephens supports the notion that no one exceeds in venom the attacks of an apostate against the community he has deserted. Behold, then the gift of Stephens to punditry: The Rancid Remarks of a Political Apostate. No doubt, venom of this tone will gladden the spirits of the disgruntled, derisive, defiant "elites." But when does the bombast of bitterness ever lead to calm, rational, persuasive discussion? There is, however, a lesson to be discerned for Republicans, from this latest example of political hate speech, from Stephens: The attacks from the totalitarians on Donald J. Trump encompass all who do not march in lockstep with the haters. Indeed, Mr. Biden made this quite clear, the evening of Sept. 1, 2022, when, in Philadelphia, he ranted: "Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic." "Moderate" Republicans ignore the rancid declamations from the totalitarians to our peril. Last week, we all watched our Congress in an upheaval, largely because a few courageous conservatives refused to auto-endorse a swamp creature to be speaker of the House. Although Kevin McCarthy ultimately prevailed, the conservatives are heralded for enforcing compromises to obtain their votes. That's all good as far as it goes... But did any of the concessions the House conservatives were requesting include mandates that the integrity of our elections be restored? If so, many of us out here beyond the Beltway have yet to hear anything about it. Funny how those already elected to office don't seem to care a whole lot about discussing whether the elections that put them there were honest. Meanwhile, the much-lauded election integrity case brought by the Brunson brothers was not surprisingly turned away at the door by the Supreme Court. Again, the message the justices are sending us is clear. If there is any election cheating going on anywhere out there in any of the 50 states, the Supreme Court just doesn't seem to care and doesn't want to even hear about it. Such is the present state of our national affairs, and certainly this cannot be very encouraging to folks like Kari Lake in Arizona...or, for that matter, any of the rest of us patriot types out here in the hinterlands who, like Ms. Lake, are also keen on the thought that our elections must be fair and honest, or they are worthless. And so, where does all this leave us? It would seem we have two alternatives. Either we just move on and try to do better in 2024, or we can trust and pray that God has planned something even better to rectify the cheats that occurred in 2020 and 2022. We can only hope the latter of these options is true, and that whatever that divine fix is will come to pass before 2024. It really is the only option that will enable us to preserve America's democratic republic. For if such an intervention by God fails to take place, any pretend election that may occur in 2024 won't really matter, now, will it? All that said, our current state of affairs brings to mind the pastor who once asked an older farmer to say grace for a Sunday-morning church breakfast. "Lord, I hate buttermilk," the farmer began. The visiting pastor opened one eye to glance at the farmer and wonder where this was going. The farmer loudly proclaimed, "Lord, I hate lard." Now the pastor was growing concerned. Without missing a beat, the farmer continued, "And Lord, you know I don't much care for raw white flour." The pastor once again opened an eye to glance around the room and saw that he wasn't the only one to feel uncomfortable. Then the farmer added, "But Lord, when you mix them all together and bake them, I do love warm fresh biscuits. So Lord, when things come up that we don't like, when life gets hard, when we don't understand what you're saying to us, help us to just relax and wait until you are done mixing. It will probably be even better than biscuits. Amen." Within that old farmer's prayer, there is great wisdom for us when it comes to our processing of some of the complicated situations like what we are experiencing in America today. So stay strong...and hold true to the hope that today we are watching our Lord use a variety of events that we don't really care for to bring about something even better than we could have ever dreamed of, when all is said and done. Such is the rock upon which America has been placed to take a stand as it weathers out the cultural storm that has been brought upon us by the communists among us who would steal our elections to see this nation brought to its knees and destroyed. Cliff Nichols is an attorney, the author of A Barrister's Tales, the curator of The American Landscape, and the drafter of The Declaration of Liberty. Image: MarkBuckawicki. Rep. Eric Swalwell is a notorious bully in the House, politicizing his work on the House intelligence committee, never missing an opportunity to drive the knife into President Trump, mouthing pieties about democracy, and expressing glee when Democrats in the last congressional term kicked Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and a few others off their committees. Well, now he's learning the hard way what that means for himself. House Speaker made good on his promise to kick Swalwell, and Reps. Adam Schiff and Ilhan Omar off their prestigious intelligence and foreign affairs committee. Bye bye and good riddance. Omar and Schiff have responded in their own way, with Omar voting against creation of a committee to investigate the weaponization of government, calling it politicized before it's even gotten started. (Inform much, Ilhan?) But Swalwell's reaction is something else -- he's quite the bully-turned-crybaby. And man is he unhappy about it. Here are a few of his choice tweets: Byron, you strike me as an independent guy. If FBI *repeatedly says that McCarthys claims are bullshit (below), dont you think you should have a better reason than the Dems did it to kick me off Intel? Otherwise, why shouldnt I throw you off yours when we take retake House? https://t.co/t6YKv3RppS pic.twitter.com/0OJz2o1c2o Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) January 11, 2023 Yeah? So? Who started this? Who set the precedent? And why did you think Republicans would roll over this time after all that cheering from your side on ousting Marjorie Taylor Greene? Remember these mockings and pieties? Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) called for Greene to be expelled from Congress in a tweet on Monday, while Reps. Veronica Escobar (D-Tx.), Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) and Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) also condemned her statements. and this was BEFORE Kevin McCarthy's boss, @RepMTG, mused about leading an armed insurrection on J6 that would have resulted in the widespread death of law enforcement officers like these heroes. https://t.co/92nUXz9lPx Eric Swalwell (@ericswalwell) December 12, 2022 When you arent on any committees you can propose stunts like this. https://t.co/0b9SNU0bLS Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) April 15, 2021 As @potus spoke about his late son, Beau, @RepMTG repeatedly shouted over him. No one on her side will condemn her indecency. They dont have ideas they have vitriol. We are better than this. #SOTU Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) March 2, 2022 O.K., he's had it in for MTG for a long time now, as well as Kevin McCarthy. Surprise, Eric. The shoe is on the other tootsie now. Swalwell was clearly upset about being thrown off the intelligence committee and started tweeting nyaah, nyaah, nyaah, nyaah-style tweets directed at Republicans, which ought to have embarrassed him to make. Dear MAGA Nation: I know this is your daily faux outrage letting the steam out of the pot if you will but no one wants your stoves. **But please check if its leaking. Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) January 11, 2023 This one's really whiny: Reagan would have remembered he is from California and would have stepped up during the greatest weather disaster the state has ever seen. You havent said a word about it. No moment of silence on the House Floor for the scores dead. Nothing. Because its all about Qevin. https://t.co/xxgCSHPPc1 Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) January 11, 2023 Note the childish spelling. It's kind of like elementary school, isn't it? This episode reveals to us something that hasn't been discussed much: That Swalwell is immature. Perhaps that's why he shouldn't be around national security secrets, particularly, as many respondents noted on Twitter, he had an ill-advised love affair with Fang Fang, whom the intelligence community identified as a suspected Chinese spy. No judgment whatsoever from that guy about whom to bang, not when the, uhh, little head is talking. His allies were whining, too: I know both Eric Swalwell and Adam Schiff. They are both good men who care deeply about our country & health care. Kevin McCarthy is a spiteful, disgusting, 14x crybaby whose only desire is POWER and to hold Social Security & Medicare hostage to achieve this. This is NOT over. pic.twitter.com/XeRynKL5Uv Peter Morley (@morethanmySLE) January 11, 2023 Payback, Eric. And payback is a beach. Play schoolyard bullying games, get schoolyard bully results, which is effectively what happened on the political front as he ran crying wee wee wee all the way home. McCarthy had his choice of Democrats to boot from their committee assignments in the wake of the Democrat precedent, with many, many candidates who would have been fine choices for the boot -- from Rep. Al Green, to Rep. Maxine Waters, to Rep. Jerry Nadler, to Rep. Luis Gutierrez, to Rep. Katie Porter, to Rep. Pramila Jayapal, to Rep. Raul Grijalva, to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and scores of others. So much far-left obnoxiousness to choose from. None made the cut for the top three, the way Swalwell did. The guy clearly has no temperament for a committee intended to guard secrets. He can't even disguise his adolescent-style tantrums. Image: Twitter screen shot The news has three more terrible stories about the inroads so-called transgenderism is making in society. This madness destroys our children and our countryand the Ur source of its power is Justice Neil Gorsuch. Now, there are only three ways to get ourselves out of the mess he put us in. As you contemplate the inroads so-called transgender madness is making in America, dont lose sight of the fact that there are no studies that Im aware of that prove that people can be born in the wrong body and that gender is just a societal construct. Instead, as my most recent review of the literature available at the American Academy of Pediatricians shows, every article is predicated on the assumption that transgenderism is real. The fact that transgenderism is an academic chimera hasnt slowed institutions from embracing it. Three recent stories illustrate the madness: First, last week in Maryland, a federal judge ruled that a Catholic medical center must remove a womans healthy uterus so that her body more closely aligns with her gender dysphoria. In other words, a religious institution must mutilate a healthy body in the service of mental illness. The judge, Deborah K. Chasanow, is a Clinton nominee. Image: Neil Gorsuch takes the oath of office. Public domain. Second, word recently emerged that Harvard Medical School, a once reputable institution, is offering an elective course entitled Caring for Patients with Diverse Sexual Orientations, Gender Identities, and Sex Development. In a reality-based world, that class would teach physicians how to be sensitive when dealing with patients suffering from gender dysphoria, even while helping them become reconciled to their biological bodies. This class is different (emphasis mine): This elective is a four-week multidisciplinary clinical-and-scholarly experience that trains students to provide high-quality, culturally responsive care for patients with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities, and sex development. Many of these patients identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex or asexual (LGBTQIA+). Clinical exposure and education will focus on serving gender and sexual minority people across the lifespan, from infants to older adults. Infants! Cant walk, cant talk, need diapers, but they know their gender identity. Ludicrously, the course description insists that it incorporates Basic Science Content and Evidence-Based Medicine. Transgender madness has also entered the military in a way that will certainly drive down future enlistment (emphasis mine): The U.S. Army has prepared extensive guidance for how to integrate transgender soldiers into its ranks, including instructions for group showers and how to respond to pregnant men, newly revealed training documents show. [snip] One slide in the Tier Two training materials addresses how an officer should respond when a soldier approaches to discuss his newly confirmed pregnancy. [snip] Soldiers have to accept living conditions with little or no privacy, including in open-bay showers, where women might find themselves bathing alongside a female who has male genitalia or vice versa. A military that cannot distinguish a boy from a girl and that is incapable of affirming that only women get pregnant cannot win wars. The left understands that transgenderism is the perfect wedge issue to take over institutions, destroy families, and sever peoples connections with their own bodies. It is a cult behavior that our institutions have embraced to further power. And its all Justice Neil Gorsuchs fault. The Civil Rights Act of 1964, to the extent it uses the word sex, quite clearly means biological sex. There was no gender identity back in the day, and it was not referring to sexual behaviors. But thats not what Gorsuch read into the act. No wonder CNN celebrated his 2020 ruling: Justice Neil Gorsuch, President Donald Trumps first nominee to the Supreme Court, delivered an opinion Monday that will change how more than 7 million LGBTQ individuals will live and work in the United States. It is a watershed moment from an unlikely author that means gay, lesbian and transgender workers are protected by federal civil rights law. It is a stunning defeat for judicial conservatives who worked to ensure Gorsuchs nomination and Republicans, including Donald Trump, who stymied President Barack Obamas nominee for the Supreme Court, liberal Merrick Garland in 2016. The ruling puts Gorsuch in the history books. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, Gorsuch wrote, which bars discrimination because of sex, also covers claims based on sexual orientation and gender identity. There are only three ways to roll back what Gorsuch did: (1) Get the Supreme Court to reverse his decision (unlikely); (2) get Congress to amend the Civil Rights Act (very unlikely); or (3) amend the Constitution to make biological sex the law of the land (impossible to imagine). We must fight the madness in every way possible but, when the fight is hard, remember that an ostensible conservative made the most activist decision possible. The same Court that paved the way for killing 61 million babies has now paved the way for destroying the lives and bodies of many of those who survived the Supreme Courts baby purge. ULAN BATOR, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia exported 16,100 tons of meat and meat products in 2022, the country's Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry said Wednesday. The majority of the exports were meats of horse, sheep and goat, it said in a statement. Mongolia currently exports meat and meat products to 11 countries, including China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Qatar and Vietnam. The Asian country resumed the export of live livestock in October 2022. By the end of last year, the country exported a total of 28,503 heads of live livestock, mainly sheep, according to the ministry. According to its National Statistics Office, Mongolia, one of the last nomadic countries in the world, had 71.1 million livestock animals at the end of 2022. Promoting livestock husbandry is one of the most viable solutions to diversify the landlocked country's mining-dependent economy. You may soon be able to transfer your eSIM profile from one Android phone to another. Mishaal Rahman of Esper.io discovered some strings hinting at this possibility within Android 13 QPR2 Beta 2, which rolled out to supported Pixel devices earlier this week. Google hasnt officially announced this feature yet. Android currently doesnt support transferring eSIM profiles between two phones. If youre switching phones, you have to first deactivate your eSIM profile on the old device and activate it on the new device. Since activation of eSIM usually requires you to contact your wireless service provider, this process isnt seamless. On the other hand, iOS comes with a built-in tool that lets you seamlessly transfer your eSIM profile from one iPhone to another. No need to reach out to your carrier. It appears Google is taking inspiration from Apple and developing a similar feature for Android. According to Rahman, Android 13 QPR2 Beta 2 contains a new system property called euicc.seamless_transfer_enabled_in_non_qs. Here, euicc stands for embedded universal integrated circuit card, which is the software component of eSIM. The qs at the end stands for QuickSetup. In simpler terms, this system property hints at a new feature that will allow seamless transfer of eSIM profiled between two Android phones. Rahman further reveals that Google could allow Android users to convert a physical SIM card into an eSIM profile when switching phones, as long as their carrier supports eSIM activation. However, he notes that this ability may be limited to select devices. Perhaps Google could keep it within the Pixel ecosystem. Transferring of eSIM profiles, meanwhile, may be available on GMS (Google Mobile Services) compatible devices from other brands as well. We dont yet have the full compatibility list, though. Advertisement Android 14 may support transferring eSIM profiles between two phones As said earlier, Google hasnt officially announced anything about supporting transferring eSIM profiles between two Android phones. Since the work appears to be in the early stages, we may not see it before Android 14. However, there are still two about two months left for the next Feature Drop for Pixel phones. We will let you know if the March 2023 Feature Drop brings it. Apart from these eSIM-related features, Android 13 QPR2 Beta 2 also contains an experimental feature that allows apps to automatically generate themed icons if they dont already have one. Its unclear if this feature will be available on the stable update. The latest beta release from Google brings support for Unicode 15 emoji as well. Google may be readying a new product with Fuchsia OS installed out of the box. A now-deleted company document revealed the plans. The internal document suggested that the first-ever Fuchsia-powered device may launch as early as this year. The first-ever Fuchsia-powered device may launch in 2023 According to a 9to5Google report, Fuchsia developers recently submitted a new document detailing an upcoming project. The document was briefly published publicly last week before being taken down or hidden. However, the publication had already seen it. The developers said that Fuchsia will soon gain support for JavaScript development. This makes it easier to manage and control a devices features, the publication notes. But that isnt all. The internal document mentioned factories support, which hints at a device with Fuchsia OS installed out of the box. After all, companies initially test new products in factories during production. Eventually, Fuchsia will be used as the operating system on devices when they are manufactured in factories, an excerpt of the document said. Moreover, it mentioned that JavaScript support should be ready in the first half of 2023. This is to ensure the timely development of the first product. Advertisement Having a generally working solution ready by 1H2023 so the solution is available for Fuchsias first factory build, another excerpt of the document reads. This is a big clue that Google is readying a Fuchsia-powered device with plans to launch it before the end of this year. Unfortunately, we still dont have concrete evidence supporting the existence of such a product. Maybe we will soon see something more. After all, Google has ramped up the Fuchsia OS development in recent months. Google has already updated a couple of Nest products to Fuchsia Google has been working on the Fuchsia project since at least 2016. After several years of work behind the scenes, the new operating system finally made it into consumer products in 2021. Over the past couple of years, the company has seeded Fuchsia OS to the first-gen Nest Hub (originally Google Home Hub) and the Next Hub Max. Both products shipped with Linux-based Cast OS out of the box. Going forward, Google seems to be readying Fuchsia for a couple of smart speakers. The Nest Audio appears to be the first in the pipeline. The other could be the upcoming ultra-wideband (UWB) enabled smart speaker codenamed Buckeye. Considering the timing of its rumored launch late 2023 or early 2024 and the information revealed by this leaked internal document, the Buckeye may be the first device to ship with Fuchsia. We should hear more about this in the coming months. For content moderation in East Africa, Meta relies on the services of Sama, a content-review service provider. But, in recent times, the African firm has decided to stop working with Meta. The social media giant says that this decision made by Sama is in light of the economic problems. These difficulties have pushed Sama to lay off 3% of its staff and step out of the content moderation industry. This move bothers users of Facebook and Instagram in East Africa, as they fear that these platforms will see an influx of inappropriate content. Meta, on its part, assures users that all posts will go through a proper review, even with the exit of its east African partner. Meta and Sama go from a court case to terminating their partnership contract Back in the month of May 2022, a staff member at Sama took the company and its partner to court. According to the former staff member, he was suing for the damage working with Meta and Sama has brought to his mental health. The former staff members job involved reviewing and deleting inappropriate posts from Facebook for the East African region. While carrying out his job, this employee complained about coming across certain disturbing image posts. These include beheading and child abuse, seeing such images greatly disturbed this former Sama staff. More to this, the former Sama employee Daniel Motaung, also claims that he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Advertisement Sama called this court case disappointing and inaccurate., but Daniel said that the job description didnt warn of such extreme content. This case puts the work of Meta and Sama in East Africa on slippery ground. Just a few months after that case, Sama finally parted ways with Meta as they focus on labeling work. The staff affected by this action would receive 12 months of well-being support. Also, Meta says that the termination of its work with Sama will not impact content moderation on its social media apps. Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 are officially dead. As of this Tuesday, January 10, 2023, Microsoft has dropped support for these two versions of its PC operating system. They will no longer receive security updates, let alone feature updates from the company. This has been a long time coming. Microsofts support policy mandates ten years of security updates and technical assistance for all major Windows releases. Launching in October 2009, the promised support period for Windows 7 ended in 2019. The company formally dropped all official coverage for Windows 7 on January 14, 2020. However, Windows 7 has been so popular that many users hadnt moved on to Windows 8.1 or Windows 10 at that point, including some business customers. Thats despite Microsoft offering Windows 10 as a free upgrade. To ensure security coverage for those enterprise users, the company decided to offer them an Extended Security Update (ESU) program for Windows 7. It came at a cost but provided three more years of security updates and technical support. Those three years have lapsed this week, meaning that Windows 7 is finally down and out. Microsoft isnt reviving it anymore. Most enterprise customers must have moved on to Windows 10 or Windows 11 by now. Thats because Windows 8.1 is also no longer supported. Launching in August 2012, Windows 8 completed its ten years in August last year. After offering a few more months of support, Microsoft is pulling the plug on it this week. Advertisement Note that Windows 8.1 launched in October 2013 but Microsofts support policy extends ten years from the launch of a major version. So it counts ten years from the point Windows 8 went official, even though Windows 8.1 arrived a year later. And since this version wasnt as popular as Windows 7, the company didnt offer any ESU program for it. Users must upgrade to Windows 10 or Windows 11 to continue getting official support from Microsoft. Windows 7 and 8.1 users can still upgrade to Windows 10 for free Microsoft dropping official support for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 doesnt mean your PC will suddenly stop working if youre still on either of these versions. However, your computer is at greater risk for viruses and malware as it isnt getting the latest security updates and fixes. Youre also missing out on all the latest features. Thankfully, you can still upgrade to Windows 10 for free. Microsoft launched Windows 10 in July 2015, so it is still under official support for at least two and a half years. You will probably need to buy a new PC if you want to upgrade to Windows 11 from Windows 7 or Windows 8.1. A fresh rumor coming out from Samsungs homeland says the company may not launch the Galaxy S24+ next year. Sources have told the reputed Korean publication The Elec that we could only see the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Ultra in 2024. Poor sales of the Plus model might be to blame for this decision. Samsung is mulling canceling the Galaxy S24+ Samsung has been releasing three models of its Galaxy S flagships every year since the Galaxy S10 lineup in 2019. It launched the Galaxy S10e, Galaxy S10, and Galaxy S10+ that year, following the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ in 2018. Since 2020, we have been seeing a regular S, an S+, and an S Ultra. Likewise, the company will soon launch three models of the Galaxy S23 series. However, Samsung is reportedly planning to launch the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Ultra next year. According to the new report, these two devices have entered early development stages with internal codenames DM1 and DM3, respectively. The company has forfeited the development of the DM2, i. e. the Galaxy S24+, which was originally in the plans. Of course, theres still plenty of time for Samsung to reconsider this. Its also possible that the Galaxy S24+ still exists in plans but its development hasnt commenced. However, the South Korean media gives a reason why there may only be two flagship Galaxy S models next year. The Plus model has always sold poorly. The Galaxy S22+ reportedly accounted for only 17 percent of all Galaxy S22 sales last year. The vanilla Galaxy S22 (38 percent ) and Galaxy S22 Ultra (45 percent) attracted more buyers. Advertisement The Plus model essentially only features a bigger screen and battery than the base model. Most buyers seemingly dont find it worth paying extra for that. The Ultra model, meanwhile, is in a league of its own. It brings the best of Samsung, including the best cameras, the brightest display, and even S Pen support. It kind of makes sense for Samsung to only launch the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Ultra next year. We will still have to wait for confirmation about this, though. Samsung seems to be further shrinking its smartphone portfolio Shortly after entering the foldable smartphone market, Samsung discontinued the Galaxy Note series. The company started offering Note features such as the S Pen and a boxier body on the Ultra model in the Galaxy S lineup. It appears the Korean behemoth is preparing to further shrink its flagship lineup by discontinuing the Plus model next year. Moreover, reports are that Samsung will cancel the Galaxy A7x lineup as well. There may not be a Galaxy A74 this year, with the Galaxy A54 topping its mid-range offerings. All this suggests that the company is streamlining its smartphone portfolio and getting rid of less popular models. Samsung certainly needs to rework its smartphone strategy if it wants to remain at the very top. According to 9to5google, the Chinese video-sharing app TikTok has fixed its vulnerability that allowed for bypassing two-factor authentication. The issue was first found on the app in 2020. This is not the first time that TikTok is dealing with security holes that put users safety and private information at risk. Back in September, a hacker claimed to have access to over 1 billion TikTok users personal data. However, the apps latest glitch allegedly allowed hackers to easily bypass the two-factor authentication by brute-forcing the login page. In simple terms, you can try to log in to a page repeatedly, and after multiple attempts, the app allows you to enter without asking for 2FA. Bypassing the 2FA was applicable in both Android and Web versions of TikTok. The company says the issue required access to the users email/password or phone number/code linked to the account. A vulnerability was found where a random timeout issue on a Two-Step Verification endpoint could have resulted in a potential bypass of authentication if multiple incorrect attempts were entered in quick succession, TikTok said to explain the issue. Advertisement Hackers could reportedly skip TikTok two-factor authentication In October 2022, TikTok became aware of the issue and patched it in mid-December. The issue is now fixed, and no one can bypass the 2FA to sneak into your account. Of course, there might be a red flag here. Even with bypassing TikToks 2FA system, the attacker needs to have your correct username and password to log into the account. For extra safety, we suggest you change your TikTok account password. You can also enable the 2FA system if its not active yet. The ByteDance-owned app has recently come under fire for allegedly tracking US-based journalists to find the employees who leak the company news to the media. The numerous allegations against TikTok caused the US government to ban the app on every government device. Meanwhile, the ban comes after some US states, and the House of Representatives imposed similar restrictions on the app. So, maybe its time for you to start looking for TikTok alternatives. The Google Pixel Watch is official. Like, officially official. Yes Google showed it off at Google I/O back in May. But that was merely a teaser. This morning Google officially announced the Pixel Watch at its Fall Pixel event. And while we still have to put in some time with it for a proper review, we now know all there is (basically) to know about the Google Pixel Watch. Whether youre looking to move away from Apple or just another Wear OS option, Google is giving you another choice. And as a consumer thats a good thing. Especially if you like the smooth domed glass design Google is offering. Its also potentially the best smartwatch option for Pixel owners. Even more so for those looking to upgrade to the Pixel 7 or Pixel 7 Pro. So lets break down the Google Pixel Watch and all its nitty gritty details. Or at the very least, the most important parts of the device that you may be wondering about. What is the Google Pixel Watch? Advertisement Its Googles first actual smartwatch. It was designed in-house and like the companys Pixel phones, the Pixel Watch is meant to be the flagship device. Its the posterchild for Wear OS and is a showcase of how seamless, feature-rich, stylish, and functional Google wants the platform to be. The watch has actually been rumored for years but nothing of substance ever came up. That is not until earlier this year when Google teased it. Now Pixel fans have something tangible they can wrap around their wrists. As soon as it ships, of course. Speaking of shipping When does the Google Pixel Watch launch? Technically, it launches today if you want to think about it like that. But in reality it launches later this month, officially on October 13. You can pre-order the watch starting today and as it stands it shows that deliveries will be made between October 14 and October 19. Although that all depends on the color you choose. Some seem to be shipping out earlier than others. We would say dont let that sway your decision. But we get it if it does. When youre excited about a product you tend to want it as soon as possible. Update: November 9, 2022 The Google Pixel Watch officially launched on October 13, 2022. Advertisement How much does the Google Pixel Watch cost? This will depend on which you model you buy. There are two available models of the watch. A Bluetooth/Wi-Fi-only model, and one that will connect through Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or LTE. The Bluetooth/Wi-Fi model retails for $349.99, and the LTE model retails for $399.99. The color you choose has no impact on the cost. Keep in mind though that if you go with the LTE model, you might as well consider the additional cost of adding an LTE data plan to it. Which will be a recurring monthly fee you need to pay for as long as you want to use the LTE feature. You can buy it directly from Google or from third-party retailers like Amazon and Best Buy. Where will it be available? For starters it will be available in 9 different counties. This includes the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Taiwan, and the UK. Google may launch the watch in other regions in the future, but it doesnt confirm this. As for what stores or retailers you can buy it at, in the US you can grab the watch directly from Google, or from retailers like Amazon and Best Buy as weve linked above. It will probably be available from carriers as well in the LTE model. Outside of the US, availability may vary and youll need to check with your local retailers. Advertisement What are the available colors? Google will offer the Pixel Watch in three colors. Matte Black, Polished Silver, and Champagne Gold. And then the bands will come in a multitude of colors and styles, made from various materials. The band that comes with the watch is called the Active Band. This is essentially the Infinity Band that comes with the Fitbit Sense and Fitbit Sense 2. It has infinity-shaped loops and is made from a soft-touch silicone/rubber material. Itll be available in Hazel with the Champagne Gold case, Obsidian with the Matte Black case, and either Chalk or Charcoal with the Polished Silver case. You can also pick it up in Lemongrass as a standalone band option. Additional band styles, you say? Advertisement Yep. Google has actually designed and is releasing a handful of different band options for Pixel Watch owners. The one big downside is that you cant use the Pixel Watch with third-party bands or straps. Due to the Pixel Watchs unique twist and click locking mechanism for the bands. This means youll have to buy the bands from Google. At least for now, unless Google ends up working with partners to allow officially licensed bands for the watch. Though we dont see that happening unless the watch is popular enough and other brands want to make accessories for it. As for the official Google options, right now theres the Active Band, a Stretch Band, a Woven Band, a Crafted Leather Band, and a Two-Tone Leather Band. As for colors, you can find them listed below. Google Pixel Watch Band colors Active Band Charcoal, Chalk, Obsidian, Lemongrass, Hazel (Price: $49.99) Stretch Band Linen, Rose, Obsidian (Price: $59.99) Woven Band Lemongrass, Coral, Ivy (Price: $59.99) Crafted Leather Band Obsidian, Ivy (Price: $79.99) Two-Tone Leather Band Linen, Charcoal, Chalk (Price: $79.99) Metal Mesh Band Matte Black, Polished Silver, Champagne Gold (Price: $129.99) Metal Links Band Matte Black, Brushed Silver (Price: $199.99) Thats all of the officially available Pixel Watch bands for now. But it is worth mentioning that Google will offer both a metal link band and a metal mesh band at some point next year. Theyre expensive though, so be prepared to spend a lot. They arent available to purchase yet, but Google does show them off in an official photo and they were shown off during todays event. What are the biggest features? There are two big feature categories well split things up into. Help features, and Health features. The help features include everything youve come to know and love from Google. Including Google Assistant, Maps, Calendar, Wallet and more. The watch also has an Emergency SOS for fall detection coming in 2023. Advertisement The Health features are everything that revolves around your health and fitness. And its all handled by Fitbit. The big features on the health side of things include Fitbits famous Active Zone Minutes, an ECG app for AFib detection, Sleep Score and Sleep Stages, Mindfulness Sessions and a whole lot more. In fact theres a good bet that a lot of the features available on the Sense 2, are available on the Pixel Watch also. Google does own Fitbit now after all. Users will also get third-party app support from Adidas, MyFitnessPal, Calm, Strava, Spotify and others. And when you buy a Pixel Watch from Google you get 3 months free of YouTube Premium, and 6 months free of Fitbit Premium. How big is the watch? Its not a massive chunky boi if thats what youre wondering. It measures 41mm in diameter which is actually kind of small. Though certainly not the smallest smartwatch on the market. Its also 12.3mm in height, and without the band it weighs 36g. Obviously, the band you choose will change the weight. And each band is going to alter that slightly based on the material. Advertisement For example, the leather and metal bands probably weigh the most. So with those on the watch likely weighs more than when you use the Active Band, Stretch Band, or Woven Band. How long is the battery life? Ah yes, the point of contention for literally every smartwatch on the planet. How long is going to last me? Its an important question to ask. Because you definitely need to know if youre going to have to charge the watch up every night. Or in the morning if it charges quickly enough to be done before you need to jet off to work or school. Or anywhere else you need to go during the day when you finally leave the house. Unfortunately, the Pixel Watch battery life isnt great. Googles official statement and spec sheet lists that it lasts up to 24 hours on a single charge. Which, is quite honestly very disappointing. Especially when you consider the competition. The Galaxy Watch 5 lasts for up to 50 hours on a single charge. And the Pro model boosts that up to a surprisingly long 80 hours. Though we never experienced times that long ourselves. As for charging speeds, Google says the Pixel Watch can charge up to 50% in just 30 minutes. A full 100% will take about 80 minutes. Or if you dont need quite the full amount, 80% will take about 55 minutes. All things considered, the charge times are quick enough. So even if the battery only lasts a day on a single charge, if youre not averse to either brining your watch charger with you or buying a second one for travel, you can easily give it some juice when needed. What are the specs? We did a full breakdown post of all the Google Pixel Watch specs and you can find that here. But the key highlights are as follows. It has a 292mAh battery, 32GB of storage, 2GB of RAM, and it runs on the Exynos 9110 System On Chip with a Cortex M33 co-processor. It also has an altimeter, a compass, an optical heart rate sensor, a blood oxygen sensor, a multi-purpose electrical sensor, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, and an ambient light sensor. It also comes running on Wear OS 3.5. Is it waterproof? It has a 5ATM rating, so, no. Its not waterproof. Its water-resistant. It can withstand being in up to 50 meters of water. Though not for more than 24 hours. So you can probably take it swimming, itll be fine in the rain, and it should hold up nicely to sweat. If you drop it in a shallow pool, it should be ok there too. But Google does recommend keeping it away from soapy water or other liquids. It also states that the watch shouldnt be used during high-speed or high-impact water sports. What about scratches? The Pixel Watch comes with custom 3D Corning Gorilla Glass. Which is scratch-resistant. So it should be just fine if you stick it in a pocket with things like keys, coins, or accidentally bump it against stuff from time to time. That being said theres no guarantee that continuously bumping it against walls or other hard surfaces wont damage the display. So treat it like you would any other piece of electronic equipment you own. With care. This isnt the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro or the Apple Watch Ultra. Or any of the numerous watches from Garmin. All of which are built to withstand harsher conditions. How long will Google support the Pixel Watch with updates? At least three years. Google has officially guaranteed that the Pixel Watch will receive software support for three years. That means you can expect it to go from Wear OS 3.5 to how ever many versions Google can stuff into a three-year time frame. After that, theres no more guarantees that the watch will be updated with newer versions of the OS. Or that it will receive any updates at all after that point. Can you customize the watch face? Of course. This is a Wear OS watch after all. Out of the box though, it will have 19 customizable watch face options. And it supports Google Photos for watch faces too. And dont forget, you could just install Facer on it. Which has endless options for you. Will it support the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro only? Nope. It will support those phones, and Google does highlight that it will work seamlessly with the Pixel portfolio. But it will also work with any Android phone that runs on Android 8.0 or later. That should be most phones by now. Regardless of manufacturer. That being said, it wouldnt be surprising if it worked best with a Pixel phone. Just as the Galaxy watches work best with Samsung Galaxy phones. Google Pixel Watch VIENTIANE, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone met with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in the Lao capital Vientiane on Wednesday, with both pledging to enhance relations and comprehensive cooperation between Laos and Vietnam. The Vietnamese prime minister is paying an official visit to Laos, the Lao News Agency reported. During the talks, the two leaders agreed to continue to work together to push ahead with comprehensive cooperation in all areas. The two prime ministers also witnessed the signing of several cooperation agreements. Estonia to expel 21 Russian diplomats, staff In order to "reach parity" between the two nations' (ANSA-AFP) - TALLINN, JAN 11 - Estonia on Wednesday said it was expelling 21 Russian diplomats and embassy staff in order to "reach parity" between the two nations' diplomatic personnel. Tensions between Russia and its European neighbours have spiked since Moscow invaded Ukraine last year. The number of positions at Russia's embassy in Tallinn and Estonia's outpost in Moscow would now be equal, the foreign ministry added. The expelled individuals will have to leave Estonia by the end of the month. (ANSA-AFP). Copyright ANSA - All rights reserved Kosovo: Belgrade outlines three key 'red lines' Respect for accords, no to independence, Serbian security, Dacic (ANSAmed) - BELGRADE, JANUARY 10 - Serbia is strongly committed to look for a solution to the crisis of Kosovo, which can only be reached through a political agreement of compromise, preserving peace and stability in the region, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said on Wednesday. Addressing a joint press conference in Budapest with Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto, Dacic stressed at the same time that Serbia has three "red lines" on Kosovo that cannot be ignored. "First of all, every agreement signed so far must be respected and implemented", he said. "Secondly, we cannot recognize Kosovo's independence, accepting its admission within the United Nations since the problem of our reciprocal relations has not been solved yet. Thirdly, the security of the Serbians of Kosovo is an absolute priority". "If KFOR (the NATO force in Kosovo) and Kosovan police will not guarantee their protection, don't force us to deploy the army and Serbian police to do it. It's something we don't want to do. We want peace and the implementation of international agreements", noted Dacic, who once again criticized 'double-standard politics' over territorial integrity, specifically of Ukraine and Serbia. In Kiev's case, he observed, the violation of territorial integrity by Russia is condemned, but there is silence on the violation of Serbia's territorial integrity, which has been deprived of part of its territory, he added. Kosovo's independence is illegal - said Dacic - and the issue of Kosovo has not been solved yet, nor policies with double standards can be accepted. Minister Szijjarto assured for his part that Hungary will vote against Kosovo's membership in European international organizations. "We believe that the possibility of reaching a compromise would be endangered if some European organizations welcomed Kosovo before an agreement is reached", stated Szijjarto, whose country has recognized Pristina's independence. (ANSAmed) Increasing number of migrants will return to Syria, Erdogan Thanks to cooperation between Ankara, Moscow, Damascus (ANSAmed) - ISTANBUL, JANUARY 11 - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that an increasing number of Syrian refugees who have fled to Turkey over the past few years due to the war will return home. After revealing that "about 550,000 refugees have returned from our country to the regions we have cleaned from terrorism" in northern Syria, as reported by Anadolu news agency, Erdogan said that "diplomatic contacts that have been ongoing with Russia, Syria and Turkey will bear fruit and the number will increase". Some 3.7 million Syrians currently live in Turkey. (ANSAmed). LISBON - Seven officers of Portugal's military police, the Guarda Nacional Republicana were sentenced by a court of first instance to terms of up to six years in prison on charges ranging from abduction to torture and abuse of power against migrants. Only one of the seven officers, Ruben Candeis, who was handed the highest term (six years), is expected to serve time in jail, while the others received suspended sentences. Three of them were described as repeated offenders by the prosecutor as they had already been found guilty of similar charges in a different trial and their sentence had been suspended. The crimes recognized by judges of the tribunal of Beja, the main city of the southern region of Alentejo, were committed between 2018 and 2019 and came to light when judicial police seized the phones of the officers under investigation and found videos of the violent acts they committed while in service. Over the past few years, this region has recorded a growth in greenhouse cultivation and, as a consequence, an increase in the number of low-cost foreign workers. Last November, in the same region, a large-scale police operation uncovered a human trafficking network that led to the arrest of about 40 people. GENEVA, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- The current COVID-19 epidemiological situation "does not presently warrant compulsory testing for travelers from China," according to Swiss health authority. The Omicron variants presently circulating in China pose only a small risk to Switzerland, it has said. The Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) said in a statement that the Swiss Federal Council had discussed the latest European Union (EU) recommendations, which would require passengers flying from China to the EU to have a negative COVID-19 test before boarding. The Swiss authority has, however, decided that "travelers from China should not be required to undergo compulsory COVID-19 testing at the present time." "People in Switzerland currently have strong protection against developing severe COVID-19: many of them have already been vaccinated or have already been infected and recovered," it said. The present infection trends in China "are not expected to pose an increased risk to the Swiss population or the Swiss health system," the statement said. The FOPH also said that the Omicron variants currently circulating in China "are already extensively distributed in Switzerland or are already on the decline." The circulation of the virus in Switzerland is currently so high that "compulsorily testing the relatively small number of persons arriving in the country from China directly by air would have minimal impact on the virus's current spread," it noted. "The risk of new virus variants of concern developing is also no higher in China than elsewhere," it added. According to local media, around 97 percent of the Swiss population have developed antibodies against the virus via vaccination or infection. The numbers of both new infections and people being tested have been steadily falling in the country. Around 100,000 civil servants are to stage a 24-hour strike next month in an escalation of a bitter dispute over jobs, pay and conditions. The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union announced that its members in 124 government departments and other bodies will walk out on February 1. The union said it will be the largest civil service strike for years and signals a significant escalation of industrial action after a month of strikes by its members, including Border Force staff. The stoppage will coincide with the TUCs protect the right to strike day, which was announced in reaction to the Governments controversial legislation on minimum service levels during industrial action. This government is attacking the right to strike. Ministers have gone from clapping our key workers to threatening them with the sack. On February 1st we'll hold events across the country against this spiteful new bill. Save the date more info coming soon. Trades Union Congress (@The_TUC) January 10, 2023 A further 33,000 PCS members working in five more departments, including HM Revenue & Customs, are next week re-balloting to join the unions national strike action. PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: During the last month, when thousands of PCS members across a range of departments took sustained industrial action, the Government said it had no money. But it managed to find millions of pounds to spend on managers and military personnel in a failed attempt to cover the vital work our members do. We warned the Government our dispute would escalate if they did not listen and were as good as our word. The Government said it will not create a specific offence for spiking despite committing last year to look at new legislation. Home Office minister Sarah Dines said a new law is unnecessary because there are already several offences which cover incidents of spiking and the Government has not found any gap in the law that a new spiking offence would fill. The minister confirmed the Governments position in a letter to Labour MP Dame Diana Johnson, who chairs the Home Affairs Committee, written in December but published by the committee on Wednesday. She also said the Government plans to consult on the potential changing of statutory guidance to include explicit reference to spiking being illegal and give examples of such spiking. The committee previously said a specific spiking offence would have several benefits, including increasing reporting of incidents, facilitating police work by improving data and sending a clear message to perpetrators that this is a serious crime. Miss Dines said the Government carefully considered the case for legislation. But she said: We have concluded that there are already several offences which cover incidents of spiking and we have not found any gap in the law that a new spiking offence would fill. We have therefore concluded that a new offence is not required and will not be bringing in new legislation. She continued: The existing offences cover all methods of spiking, including by drink, needle, vape, cigarette, food or any other known form. Police are yet to encounter a case where they could not apply an existing offence. Miss Dines added: Introducing a new specific spiking offence would not capture any new criminal behaviour, it would not reduce the evidential burden to prosecute such offences, it would not increase the sentencing powers available to judges in such cases and it would not increase the likelihood of charging or prosecuting an offender for spiking offences. We therefore concluded that a new offence is unnecessary and the Governments focus should remain on non-legislative measures to tackle spiking. But the letter does say the Home Office said it will be undertaking a consultation on amending the Licensing Act 2003 so the guidance could include explicit reference to spiking, providing a government definition of the crime, highlighting the existing offences which can be used to prosecute incidents of spiking, including examples of spiking and providing signposting to resources for venues. The minister said the change could also allow the Government to direct local licensing authorities to send a strong and explicit message that no matter how you spike someone whether it is by a drink, needle, food, cigarette or vape it is against the law'. Priti Patel told the Home Affairs Committee in February last year, when she was home secretary, the Government was looking into making spiking a specific offence. She told the committee then that she had asked her officials to look at how we can and youll know that there are already a list of offences in terms of drugs that can be applied but how we can prepare a specific criminal offence to target spiking directly. So we are looking into this, absolutely, so we are working towards that, but it doesnt mean tomorrow, she said, adding: We still have to understand the genesis, the details, the evidential base, also the prevalence of this too. Later that month, Kit Malthouse, then a Home Office minister, said the Government was exploring the need for a specific criminal offence to target spiking directly. The National Police Chiefs Council said at the end of last year almost 5,000 cases of needle and drink spiking incidents were reported to police over 12 months. Conservative MP Richard Graham, who has previously called for a specific spiking offence, addressed the Governments response in a Westminster Hall debate on the issue, saying in almost 13 years as an MP I have not read such an extraordinary letter. He called for the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 to be amended to make spiking a named legal offence and said the letter puts up various straw man arguments. This could be the Government and the Parliament that makes spiking completely illegal for the first time. That is what other ministers understood, I believe, and I now call on ministers of the Home Office today to finish the job, he said. Elsewhere in the debate, Ms Patel also called for existing legislation to be amended. As a Government there has to be a coherent approach that is taken in terms of how to address spiking, and also the criminalisation, through law, through amendments to existing legislation, we do not need to reinvent the wheel here folks, she said. Dame Diana said: I am very disappointed that the Government are not going to accept the arguments around a new specific offence, as the Government say there is sufficient legislation on the statute books already. But this is clearly not working, its not being used. Reporting is low, and prosecution rates are very rare indeed. Labour shadow Home Office minister Sarah Jones said: We should call a spade a spade in this case and introduce a specific offence for spiking. Home Office minister Tom Tugendhat gave hope to campaigners that the Government could be open to revisiting the issue, suggesting he would take away the suggestion of amending existing legislation for further consideration by the relevant minister. There is clearly more that has come out today. There is clearly a strength of feeling in this House and a voice that is coming from so many parts of this chamber that I think do require listening to, he said. But when asked by Dame Diana to clarify whether he was moving away from the Government position that there will be no change to the law, Mr Tugendhat said the Governments position was that Miss Dines has written very clearly to the honourable lady but that new ideas should be responded to. The Duke of Sussex has denied boasting about killing 25 Taliban while serving as a soldier, as he cautioned against very dangerous spin about his memoir. Protests were sparked by Spare, which on Tuesday became the UKs fastest selling non-fiction book, due to Harry writing he had engaged in the taking of human lives while serving as a helicopter pilot in Afghanistan. So, my number is 25. Its not a number that fills me with satisfaction, but nor does it embarrass me, he wrote. The 38-year-old told Stephen Colbert it had been hurtful and challenging watching the reactions following the books publication. Without a doubt, the most dangerous lie that they have told, is that I somehow boasted about the number of people that I killed in Afghanistan, Harry said on The Late Show. He noted the context in which the reference appeared in the book, before saying: I should say, if I heard any one boasting about that kind of thing, I would be angry. But its a lie. And hopefully now that the book is out, people will be able to see the context, and it is its really troubling and very disturbing that they can get away with it. Harry with his brother and father (Yui Mok/PA) Because they had the context. It wasnt like heres just one line they had the whole section, they ripped it away and just said here it is, hes boasting on this. When as you say, youve read it and hopefully everyone else will be able to have the chance to read it , and thats dangerous. My words are not dangerous, but the spin of my words are very dangerous. Admiral Lord West, former head of the Royal Navy, had previously called the duke very stupid for giving details of his Taliban kills. "Without a doubt, the most dangerous lie that they have told, is that I somehow boasted about the number of people I killed in Afghanistan." Prince Harry tells #Colbert, adding that his "words are not dangerous," but the spin on his "words are very dangerous." #Spare pic.twitter.com/FnjEZ0QnQl The Late Show (@colbertlateshow) January 10, 2023 The retired admiral told the Sunday Mirror that the Invictus Games which are due to be held in Dusseldorf, Germany, in 2023 will have serious security issues because of their direct connection to Harry. The international multi-sport event for wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women, of which the duke is the patron, will be a prime target for those wanting revenge, Lord West said. The Taliban will be reading (Harrys claims about killing fighters and) thinking theres this prince calling us all chess pieces and is quite happy about killing us. And there will be a lot of people, I am sure, in Islamic State and other terrorist organisations, who will think this is something which should be avenged. Harry said he was driven to discuss his kills by the goal of reducing veteran suicides. I made a choice to share it because having spent nearly two decades working with veterans all around the world, I think the most important thing is to be honest and to give space to others to be able to share their experiences without any shame, he told Colbert. And my whole goal, my attempt with sharing that detail, is to reduce the number of suicides. Camilla has faced criticism from Harry (Jonathan Brady/PA) The Colbert interview caps off Harrys press run for his headline-grabbing autobiography, was boosted into the record books with 400,000 hardback, e-book and audio format copies being snapped up. The book includes claims that the Prince of Wales physically attacked him and teased him about his panic attacks, and that the King put his own interests above Harrys and was jealous of the Duchess of Sussex and the Princess of Wales. Harry said in an interview that the Duchess of Cornwall was a villain and dangerous, accusing her of rehabilitating her image at the expense of his. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will head to France for a major summit with Emmanuel Macron in March. The two leaders will meet in Paris for talks covering issues including security, the economy and measures to tackle the small boats carrying migrants across the English Channel. It will be the first UK-France summit since 2018 and marks the two leaders efforts to repair relations which have been strained by Brexit and disputes over the Channel issues. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron will meet for a summit in March (Stefan Rousseau/PA) French President Emmanuel Macron will host the Prime Minister for a UK-France summit on March 10, the Prime Ministers official spokesman said. The idea of this summit was discussed by the two leaders during their first phone call in October 2022. It will be the first meeting of this kind since 2018 and an opportunity to deepen co-operation between the UK and France in a huge range of areas including security, climate and energy, the economy, migration and shared foreign policy goals. The spokesman said you can certainly expect the issue of small boats to come up given it is high on the priority list for the Prime Minister. Relations between Mr Sunak and Mr Macron appear to be much more cordial than those between the French president and his predecessor Liz Truss. During her campaign to be Tory leader and prime minister she said the jurys out when asked whether Mr Macron was friend or foe. A woman has told a court that her former partner made a post on social media threatening the assassination of Scotlands First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. William Curtis, 70, is on trial accused of sending threatening messages to Ms Sturgeon and sending or causing a threatening message to be sent to former MSP Stewart Stevenson. Alyson Gould, who was Curtiss partner in March 2019, said that he had a Facebook account in the name of William Patrick Curtis with a profile picture showing him holding a cup of tea. She was shown an image of a Facebook post from March 3 2019 relating to Ms Sturgeon from an account in the name William Patrick Curtis which was previously shown to the court on Monday. It read: We have reason to believe while it is my intention to citizens (sic) arrest her (Ms Sturgeon) to answer her treason, over the last three years, serious people who feel the abuse to the electorate by her criminal activities warrants assassination of her and sevreal (sic) of her ministers, on down to even civilians who work in all these agenices (sic) who have repeatedly lied to the electorate and conspired with the First Minister. The trial is taking place at the High Court in Glasgow (Jane Barlow/PA) Prosecutor Chris McKenna asked Mrs Gould whose Facebook profile it came from, to which she replied Williams. Asked who posted the message, she said William, confirming that she was referring to William Curtis. The court previously heard that a direct message was sent on Facebook to Mr Stevenson from a person called Carole Curtis which read: Your turn is comming (sic) of that you can be sure. The message also contained a YouTube video link with reference to former Labour MP Jo Cox, who was murdered by a far-right extremist. Curtis, who is on trial at the High Court in Glasgow, denies all charges against him and has lodged a special defence of incrimination, claiming someone else committed the allegations involving Mr Stevenson. Mrs Gould said in March 2019 she had a Facebook account in the name of Carole Curtis but denied sending the message relating to Mr Stevenson, which came from her gold Samsung device, and said that Curtis knew the code to unlock her phone. Mr McKenna asked her whether she sent the message, to which she replied no. He went on: Do you know who did?, to which she replied well if I didnt, Billy did. She told the court that while she had no interest in politics, Mr Curtis did and that she constantly had to listen to his views. Cross-examining Mrs Gould, Curtiss defence agent Gareth Jones KC said the 70-year-old had his own black Vodafone and his own laptop. A message was also sent to former MSP Stewart Stevenson (David Cheskin/PA) He said: As he had his own laptop and mobile phone, there was no reason for him to use your mobile phone to access the internet. In fact, you did not witness him using your phone to send that message. Mrs Gould replied: No. He asked her whether if Curtis did not send the message anyone else could have done so, to which she answered: I didnt send it, he did. Curtis is accused of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner which was likely to cause a reasonable person to suffer fear or alarm by sending emails and posting messages on social media in which he made threatening remarks towards Scotlands First Minister on various occasions between February 27 and March 6 2019. He is further accused of allegedly sending or causing a message to be sent through social media on March 9 2019 to Stewart Stevenson MSP which threatened him and contained a link to a video relating to the murder of the MP Jo Cox. Curtis also faces two other charges of posting messages of a threatening and abusive nature on social media in October 2020 and June 2021. Curtis and another man, Philip Mitchell, 60, have also been accused of assaulting and abducting a sheriff in a car park in Banff, Aberdeenshire, in June 2021. All the alleged offences happened in Aberdeenshire. Curtis has denied the charges while Mitchell, who said the trial is unlawful, has had not guilty pleas entered on his behalf by the court. Later on Wednesday, the court heard from police sergeant John Hampton, who was on duty on March 10, 2019 and was involved in searching Curtiss home in Aberchirder and arresting him during investigations into the message sent to Mr Stevenson. Referring to his police notebook from that day, he told the court that after he was arrested, Curtis said: All this for sending Stewart Stevenson an email, not an email, a message or whatever you call it. The police officer said Mr Stevenson had not previously been mentioned. During cross-examination, Mr Jones said Curtis denies making the comment. Mr Hampton replied: I can say categorically that is untrue. The trial before Lord Weir continues. Sinn Fein dramatically withdrew from roundtable talks with Foreign Secretary James Cleverly over the Northern Ireland Protocol, after party leader Mary Lou McDonald was excluded from attending. The Belfast talks, which included Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris and also focused on the Stormont powersharing crisis, were overshadowed by the row. Ms McDonald accused the British Government of Tory petulance and said the situation was bizarre and unprecedented. But unionist representatives instead suggested it was a diplomatic issue and that Mr Cleverly could not meet Ms McDonald, who is the leader of the opposition in the Republic, ahead of meeting his counterpart in Ireland. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly (left) with Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris before a meeting with political members of the Democratic Unionist Party, Ulster Unionist Party and Alliance at government buildings in Belfast city centre. (Peter Morrison/PA) Mr Cleverly insisted Sinn Fein had been very welcome to attend, and the partys vice president Michelle ONeill had been invited to the meeting. He stressed the meeting was to hear from political representatives in Northern Ireland, and he would meet Irish politicians when he goes to Ireland in the near future. During a visit to Saintfield Garden Centre on Wednesday afternoon, he told media: Sinn Fein were very welcome. My meeting here this morning was to meet with the elected representatives of the people of Northern Ireland. I will of course be going to Ireland in the near future and Ill be meeting Irish politicians, but I very much wanted to hear from representatives of Northern Ireland. Michelle ONeill was invited as was her deputy, they chose not to come but it was a very useful meeting and I did get to hear voices that had concerns, serious concerns, about the protocol, the impact it is having on people and businesses in Northern Ireland. This is a time for inclusive, good faith engagement. It is regrettable & bizarre that the British Govt chose to exclude the leader of Sinn Fein from today's party leaders meeting. I remain determined to work constructively with all to get the Executive & Assembly working for all Mary Lou McDonald (@MaryLouMcDonald) January 11, 2023 The two Government ministers had been expected to meet representatives of all the main parties in Northern Ireland to discuss the impact of the post-Brexit protocol. Instead the meeting went ahead with the unionist DUP and UUP and the cross-community Alliance party present. The nationalist SDLP joined Sinn Fein in refusing to attend. Ms McDonald spoke to the media in Belfast while the talks were taking place nearby in the city. She said: We are in a very important time when progress needs to be made on the issue of the protocol, on getting the executive back up and running, getting the Assembly into action and ensuring people have government. Comment on British government exclusion of Sinn Fein President Mary Lou McDonald from todays roundtable meeting with the British Secretary of State and Foreign Secretary https://t.co/48idxV71HV Sinn Fein (@sinnfeinireland) January 11, 2023 We had hoped to make progress on those issues at todays leaders meeting. I travelled for that meeting because I believe it is an important meeting and bizarrely, and in an unprecedented way, the British Government choose to seek to exclude the leader of Sinn Fein from a leaders meeting. The whole thing is absolutely bizarre and unacceptable. We need politics which is civil, which is based on respect, which recognises the democratic mandate and the responsibility of every party including Sinn Fein. She added: We had a chance this morning to mark progress, to exchange views, to be constructive, to work together, to listen to each other. This is a time for inclusion, dialogue and engagement. There is serious and urgent work to be done. This is a time for mature and civil politics. Theres no room for bad faith and petulance from the British government. Michelle ONeill (@moneillsf) January 11, 2023 But rather than having that kind of meeting, a kind of British Tory petulance has emerged. I think that is a terrible shame. Sinn Fein Stormont leader Michelle ONeill in a tweet accused the British Government of bad faith. A UK Government spokesman said: This meeting is for Northern Ireland politicians to talk through issues around the Northern Ireland Protocol with SOSNI and the UK Foreign Secretary. The leader of Sinn Fein in the Assembly (Michelle ONeill) was invited and remains invited. Her attendance is a matter for Sinn Fein but she was not excluded. DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson (right) and party member Gordon Lyons MLA arrive at government buildings in Belfast (Peter Morrison/PA) Speaking after the meeting, DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said he did not want to get drawn into the row, but that no party had been excluded. He said: That is a matter between the Northern Ireland Office and Sinn Fein. My understanding is the NIO didnt exclude any party. There was an issue around the protocol of Mary Lou McDonald meeting the Foreign Secretary ahead of the Foreign Secretary meeting his counterpart in Dublin. That is not a matter for me. I am not going to get drawn into this. It is better when all parties are at the table. I want to see all parties in Northern Ireland putting their views across, particularly to the Foreign Secretary. Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party Doug Beattie (Peter Morrison/PA) I hope next time the parties will be back at the table. Sir Jeffrey said he believed Mr Cleverly recognised that any deal on the protocol had to be acceptable to unionists. He said: This was an invaluable opportunity for us to put forward our concerns about the ongoing negotiations. They talked about getting a deal that works for everyone and works for Northern Ireland, and I think that is fundamentally important, they recognise a deal with the EU which doesnt work for unionists just isnt going to fly. It was good we had the opportunity to input our views on how the negotiations should go forward and on the areas that need to be addressed in the negotiations. Ulster Unionist leader Doug Beattie said he pushed for more input from local politicians in the negotiations between the EU and the UK Government over the protocol. He said: We need to be in a position that if they are going to agree something, we have the ability to say that is not going to work. That is a red flag and I made that point quite strongly to the Foreign Secretary. Devolution in Northern Ireland has been in flux since last February when the DUP, the regions largest unionist party, withdrew its first minister from the ministerial executive in protest at the protocol. The party has made clear it will not allow a return to powersharing until radical changes to the protocol are delivered. It claims the treaty has undermined Northern Irelands place within the United Kingdom by creating economic barriers on trade entering the region from Great Britain. However, earlier this week progress between the EU and the UK on post-Brexit data-sharing was hailed as a positive step in ongoing talks to find a solution to the row. Mr Cleverly and Mr Heaton-Harris are also due to meet business groups as part of their efforts to understand the impact the protocol has had on trade. Speaking earlier, Mr Cleverly said: I am listening to the concerns of people and businesses in Northern Ireland and am keenly aware that the current situation isnt working. We need to address those issues with the protocol that risk and undermine the place of NI in the UK. Solicitors have threatened the Government with legal action in a row over fees. The Law Society of England and Wales said it has called on the Justice Secretary to rethink the rates criminal defence solicitors receive for legal aid work, or face a judicial review. A pre-action legal letter sent to the Government is challenging its decision as unlawful and irrational, the body which represents solicitors said on Wednesday. It comes after the Law Society last year accused Dominic Raab of imposing a real terms pay cut on solicitors, warning this could lead to chaos in the justice system, with lawyers quitting and firms forced to close down. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said in November that it was giving solicitors the biggest boost to their pay in decades, amounting to an overall 11% rise in legal aid fees at a cost of 85 million a year. But the Society claimed Mr Raab had completely rejected the advice of the Governments own independent review into the legal aid system, which recommended an immediate 15% rate rise. In the wake of strikes by criminal barristers, the body warned that the Governments decision could see solicitors also resorting to disruptive tactics and said it is considering a legal challenge to the plan. Law Society president Lubna Shuja said: We argue the Lord Chancellors decision not to remunerate solicitors by the bare minimum 15%, which the independent review said was needed immediately over a year ago to prevent the collapse of the criminal defence sector, is unlawful, as is the decision not to take action to address the risk of local market failure. We are seeking a commitment by the Government to withdraw both decisions and reconsider them within a mutually agreed timetable. If not, we will issue a judicial review seeking an order to quash them. We urge the lord chancellor to either rethink his decision not to increase #CriminalDefence solicitors #LegalAid rates by the recommended bare minimum 15% or face a judicial review. (1/5)https://t.co/lz2vNbQ7VS pic.twitter.com/eM4PDnjlBu The Law Society (@TheLawSociety) January 11, 2023 We argue both decisions are irrational and inconsistent with the constitutional right of access to justice. Government officials have stressed that, even though the overall percentage rise is lower for solicitors, they will receive double the money provided to barristers who were given a 15% rise (43 million). But the Law Society said this was because there are more solicitors. In findings published in 2021, the now Lord Christopher Bellamy KC recommended increasing criminal legal aid funding which pays for representation during police investigations and in court for suspects who cannot afford their own by at least 15% for solicitors and barristers as soon as possible. His report warned that the sum was the minimum necessary as the first step in nursing the system of criminal legal aid back to health after years of neglect. I do not see that sum as an opening bid but rather what is needed, as soon as practicable, to enable the whole criminal justice system to function effectively, to respond to forecast increased demand, and to reduce the backlog. He added: I by no means exclude that further sums may be necessary in the future to meet these public interest objectives. There is, in my view, no scope for further delay. An MoJ spokeswoman said: We expect our reforms to criminal legal aid will increase investment in the solicitor profession by 85 million every year, including a fee increase of over 15% for solicitors work in police stations and magistrates courts. It would be inappropriate to comment further ahead of our response to the Law Societys letter. Steven Spielbergs The Fabelmans and The Banshees Of Inisherin win big at Globes American director Steven Spielberg and Irish actor Colin Farrell were among the big winners at the Golden Globes as the awards show returned in person for its milestone 80th year. One of the first major events of the award season calendar, it saw several wins for Martin McDonaghs The Banshees Of Inisherin, a dark comedy about a fractured friendship between Farrells character and that of his co-star Brendan Gleeson. Spielberg won best director, as well as the best drama motion picture trophy for his semi-autobiographical film The Fabelmans, with other top awards going to Austin Butler and Cate Blanchett. Last years Golden Globes was turned into a private event at the last minute by organisers, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), after it faced heavy criticism over its lack of black members. But kicking off the 2023 show, host Jerrod Carmichael addressed the diversity controversy directly. The FINAL Golden Globe of the night goes to @thefabelmans for Best Picture Drama. A huge congratulations to everyone involved in such an amazing film! #GoldenGlobes pic.twitter.com/kELA8EFdJt Golden Globe Awards (@goldenglobes) January 11, 2023 Ill tell you why Im here, Im here because Im black, the US comedian told audiences as he opened the show in Los Angeles on Tuesday evening. He said: Ill tell you whats been going on. This show, the Golden Globe Awards did not air last year, because the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which I wont say they were a racist organisation, but they didnt have a single black member until George Floyd died do with that information what you will. And here is your host for the 80th Annual #GoldenGlobes Its Jerrod Carmichael! pic.twitter.com/tc8KIyt1E5 Golden Globe Awards (@goldenglobes) January 11, 2023 He added: I took this job assuming they hadnt changed at all. (But) regardless of whatever the Hollywood Foreign Press Associations past may be, this is an evening where we get to celebrate. And I think this industry deserves evenings like these. And Im happy to be here. Following the fallout, the HFPA subsequently vowed to overhaul its bylaws and implement changes addressing ethics and inclusion. The event took place at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Los Angeles and saw the return of multiple famous faces. The Golden Globe for Best Actress Motion Picture Drama goes to Cate Blanchett for her role in @tarmovie! Congratulations! #GoldenGlobes pic.twitter.com/m3PDXvILoI Golden Globe Awards (@goldenglobes) January 11, 2023 Several big British names, including Dame Emma Thompson, Olivia Colman, Bill Nighy and Daniel Craig, were also tipped for top awards but all lost out. Blanchett triumphed in best performance by an actress in a motion picture: drama category, for her performance in Tar as ferocious, celebrated orchestra conductor Lydia Tar. In the parallel category of best performance by an actor in a motion picture: drama, Elvis star Butler took home the trophy. Austin Butler poses in the press room with the award for best performance by an actor in a motion picture: drama for Elvis (Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP/PA) The US actor paid tribute to his heroes in the room, including Brad Pitt, Quentin Tarantino, as well as director Baz Luhrmann and the King Elvis Presley. You were an icon and a rebel. I love you so much, he said. Irish star Farrell took home the award for best performance by an actor in a motion picture musical or comedy for his role in The Banshees Of Inisherin and thanked his entire cast and crew. Martin McDonagh I owe you so much man, he said during his acceptance speech. 14 years ago you put me working with Brendan Gleeson and you changed the trajectory of my life forever in ways that I, begrudgingly, will be grateful to you for the rest of my days. Soak in the WIN! Congratulations to our winner for Best Actor Motion Picture Musical/Comedy, Colin Farrell! Watch the #GoldenGlobes LIVE on NBC and Peacock now! pic.twitter.com/TDgxB9rPZy Golden Globe Awards (@goldenglobes) January 11, 2023 Addressing Gleeson, he continued: Brendan, I just, I love you so much. I love that I get to cohabitate this creative space with you every day. All I did when I came to work every day was aspire to be your equal. Im not saying I even got there but the aspiration kept me going. And Ill thank you for that for the rest of my days also. Congratulations Martin McDonagh for WINNING Best Screenplay Motion Picture for @banshees_movie! #GoldenGlobes pic.twitter.com/dk3hWT1PX8 Golden Globe Awards (@goldenglobes) January 11, 2023 McDonagh previously cast Gleeson and Farrell as a veteran hit man and trigger-happy protege in his foul-mouthed 2008 crime caper In Bruges. The Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri director went on to win the award for best screenplay for The Banshees Of Inisherin, thanking its stars as well as the wider cast. The film also won in the best motion picture, musical or comedy category and The Fabelmans won best motion picture, drama the final award of the evening. MM Keeravani with the award for best original song, motion picture for Naatu Naatu from RRR (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP/PA) Earlier, Naatu Naatu, from the film RRR, overcame pop music heavyweights Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga and Rihanna, to claim the Golden Globe for best original song. A slew of celebrities took on presenting duties throughout the evening including Letitia Wright, Jennifer Hudson, Salma Hayek, Hilary Swank and Ana de Armas. The evening also included a message from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who said that it was clear that the tide was turning in the ongoing war in his country, and that Ukraine would be triumphant in its struggle. Steven Spielberg says he never had the courage to tell his own story, brought to life in his new semi-autobiographical film, The Fabelmans, but is glad to have finally done it. The multi-award winning director said he had told the story in parts and parcels throughout his lengthy career but had been hiding from it since he was a teenager. The film, which stars Gabriel LaBelle, Paul Dano and Michelle Williams, won Spielberg best director at the 80th Golden Globe awards on Tuesday night. An amazing moment for Steven Spielberg! Congratulations on your WIN for Best Director Motion Picture for the film @thefabelmans! Tune in to the #GoldenGlobes LIVE on NBC and Peacock! pic.twitter.com/M7xT6HkDdw Golden Globe Awards (@goldenglobes) January 11, 2023 It later went on to scoop one of the evenings top prizes: best motion picture, drama. Accepting the award for best director, Spielberg said: Ive been hiding from this story since I was 17-years-old. I put a lot of things in my way with this story. I told this story in parts and parcels all through my career but I never had the courage to hit the story head-on. He continued: The fact that everybody sees me as a success story, and everybody sees all of us the way they perceive us based on how they get the information Later, accepting the award for best drama motion picture, Spielberg thanked his entire production team, including producer Kristie Macosko Krieger (right) (Jordan Strauss/AP) But nobody really knows who we are until were courageous enough to tell everyone of who we are, and I spent a lot of time trying to figure out when I could tell that story. I figured out when I was about 74-years-old, I said: You better do it now. So Im really, really happy I did. Thank you, Hollywood Foreign Press for this honour. The Fabelmans tells the story of aspiring filmmaker Sammy Fabelman, 16, and features Michelle Williams as his mother Mitzi and Paul Dano as his father Burt. The film documents Spielbergs early years, with an official synopsis describing it as a coming-of-age story about a young mans discovery of a shattering family secret and an exploration of the power of movies to help us see the truth about each other and ourselves. Later, accepting the award for best drama motion picture, Spielberg thanked his entire production team, including producer Kristie Macosko Krieger. Secondary schools across Scotland will be closed on Wednesday as teachers take part in a second day of strike action in a pay dispute. It comes after last-ditch talks between the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT) and the Scottish Government failed to find a solution. Unions have demanded a 10% pay increase but the Scottish Government has offered 5%, including rises of up to 6.85% for the lowest-paid staff. While they would much rather be in class working with children, teachers have turned out on picket lines in some terrible weather to send a very strong & very clear message to Scot Gov & COSLA that they must do better on pay. #PayAttention #EISStrikehttps://t.co/soZf8lLfEM EIS (@EISUnion) January 10, 2023 Primary schools around Scotland were shut on Tuesday as teaching union members walked out. The January action comes after SSTA and NASUWT members took two days of action in December and EIS members walked out on November 24. Speaking on BBC Radios Good Morning Scotland programme on Tuesday, Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: Well continue discussions with the unions. I think the challenge that we have is we remain some distance apart on what the Scottish Government and local government can afford and can put on the table from the union demand, which is, of course, a 10% increase in pay. If that had been accepted, if the 5% had been accepted, you wouldve actually seen teachers have a 21.8% cumulative rise since 2018. Members of NASUWT in Glasgow (Jane Barlow/PA) Striking teachers gathered outside Coslas headquarters in Edinburgh on Tuesday afternoon where the EIS general secretary accused the local authority umbrella group and the Scottish Government of Tory tactics in trying to weaken the strike action. Andrea Bradley told members of the union she was confident of victory in the dispute, but said employers were dampening aspirations. She said: The employers body knows, if teachers are paid more fairly for the work that they do, that will raise the aspirations of other workers too. Cosla and the Scottish Government, they dont want that. They want to tie one set of negotiation arrangements to another, doing all that they can to dampen aspirations. Overall we have lost 20-25% of the value of our pay since 2008. Thats unfair and thats unacceptable. Nicola Sturgeon also spoke to journalists about the strike on Tuesday. Nicola Sturgeon (Andrew Milligan/PA) The First Minister said: I deeply regret that we have industrial action in our schools. I dont think thats in the interest of young people at all. That said, I understand the strength of feeling of teachers and we highly value the teaching profession. I cant create additional funding that we dont have and Ive tried to be really honest with unions across the public sector. Were trying to be as fair as possible while maximising pay increases. Teachers have thanked parents for their phenomenal support as strike action closed secondary schools across Scotland resulting in exams being rescheduled for some older pupils. Andrea Bradley, general secretary of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), highlighted the support given to teachers on picket lines as she said the Scottish Government has miscalculated the mood of parents towards the teachers. She said the National Parent Forum had found in excess of 80% of parents back the strike action being taken as part of a dispute over pay despite the disruption caused to learning. Ms Bradley said this would cause some consternation with the Government and local authority leaders in Cosla. Teaching unions are demanding a 10% pay rise (Jane Barlow/PA) She said: I think as well miscalculating the mood of teachers and miscalculating that we would not pass the threshold in the ballot, as well as miscalculating that we actually meant it when we said we would go on strike in pursuit of 10%, they have also miscalculated the mood of parents towards the teachers who serve the school communities the length and breadth of this country. Theres a series of miscalculations by the Scottish Government. She insisted politicians need to show more urgency in pay talks with the Scottish Negotiating Committee For Teachers which brings together the Scottish Government, Cosla and teaching unions. Prior to teacher strikes in November, Ms Bradley said Government ministers had been nonchalant at best in their attitude to the negotiations. She added that the failure to put forward an increased offer is an indication of a lack of seriousness with which the Scottish Government and Cosla have taken Scottish teachers. Ms Bradley said: The conversations on Monday of this week, and even on Friday of last week, with the Cabinet Secretary, albeit outwith the structures of the SNCT, give us some hope, a tiny chink of optimism that perhaps they are beginning to listen up, theyre beginning to wise up and to think about the next offer theyre going to bring to the table. Wednesdays action involves members of the EIS, the Scottish Secondary Teachers Association and NASUWT, and comes after a strike by primary school teachers across Scotland on Tuesday. The unions rejected the latest offer which would see most teachers get a 5% pay rise and the lowest earners receive 6.85%. Instead they are demanding 10%, with the EIS scheduled to begin a rolling programme of strike action next week which will see members walk out in two council areas a day over a 16-day period. The strike has closed secondary schools across Scotland (Andrew Milligan/PA) Earlier, Mike Corbett of the NASUWT union told how Wednesdays action would impact on some exams. He told the PA news agency: A lot of schools have their prelims in January and theres no doubt that there will be some schools around who will have had some preliminary exams scheduled for today, that they have had to shift. Scotlands Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville on Tuesday said she will leave no stone unturned to bring about a quick resolution to the teacher strikes. Mr Corbett said: We noted the Cabinet Secretarys statement to the Scottish Parliament about leaving no stone unturned in seeking a resolution. We will take her at her word and hope to see a revised offer, and hope to see a resolution of the dispute. EIS general secretary Andrea Bradley, left, joined the picket line outside a school in South Lanarkshire on Wednesday morning (Andrew Milligan/PA) First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has previously spoken about her regret that there is industrial action in schools. I dont think thats in the interest of young people at all, the First Minister said. That said, I understand the strength of feeling of teachers and we highly value the teaching profession. But with the Scottish Government having dismissed the claim for 10% as unaffordable, Ms Sturgeon added: I cant create additional funding that we dont have and Ive tried to be really honest with unions across the public sector. Were trying to be as fair as possible while maximising pay increases. Up to 25,000 ambulance workers across England and Wales have gone on strike in a dispute with the Government over pay. Paramedics, call handlers, drivers and technicians from the Unison and GMB unions are taking part in staggered strikes across a 24-hour period. It comes as 14 health unions, representing more than a million NHS staff, said they will not submit evidence to the NHS pay review body for the next wage round while the current industrial disputes remain unresolved. Instead, the unions, which represent ambulance staff, nurses, porters, healthcare assistants, physiotherapists and other NHS workers in England, called for direct pay talks with ministers. NHS Providers has warned the NHS will be hit harder by Wednesdays strike than one held in December as more staff, including call handlers, go on strike. Saffron Cordery, NHS Providers interim chief executive, said on Wednesday lunchtime it was too early to determine what the impact would be but that she expected pressure to mount during the day. Speaking to BBC Radio 4s World At One programme, Ms Cordery said: It is still emerging about the picture of what is going on. Of course there will be disruption today but once again we have seen on the ambulance strike day reduced demand for ambulance services. I think that it is fair to say that as the day goes on, the pressures will mount. Thats what we saw last time round with the industrial action. We know that there will be disruption but the scale of it is hard to see at the moment. Ms Cordery said the NHS was able to step forward and manage through industrial action, but that it was having a knock-on effect on waiting lists (and) treating people that need it in a timely fashion. Unison has balloted around 15,000 of its members who are striking in London, Yorkshire, the North West, North East and South West. More than 10,000 GMB ambulance workers are also walking out, with their ambulance services covering the South West, South East coast, North West, South central area, North East, East Midlands, West Midlands, Yorkshire and Wales. NHS England has told patients to continue to call 999 for life-threatening emergencies but to use 111, GPs and pharmacies for non-urgent needs. It said some people may be asked to make their own way to hospital, though it urged people to seek medical advice from 111 or 999 before doing so. Speaking on Sky News, Health Secretary Steve Barclay was asked whether he agreed with comments by Business Secretary Grant Shapps that striking paramedics were being reckless. Mr Barclay said: If there are delays to ambulances, then it is concerning in terms of our ability to get that care. It is clearly a concern as to the impact it has on patient safety. (PA Graphics) Asked about pay talks to break the current deadlock, Mr Barclay said he does not think it is right to retrospectively go back to April when it comes to reviewing this years pay offer to NHS staff. It comes amid reports he is considering backdating any 2023/24 pay rise, due to be finalised in the spring, to this month in order to boost the current years settlement offer. Asked on BBC Radio 4s Today programme if he is considering reopening the current years negotiations, Mr Barclay said: The purpose of the meeting on Monday was to look at this coming years pay review body and the evidence going in. But, of course, it was an opportunity to listen to the trade unions in terms of their points on last years settlement. I dont think it is right to go all the way back to April and retrospectively look at April when were already under way in terms of this years pay review body. But, of course, the unions made representations about that and what the Prime Minister said at the weekend is nothing is off the table. Mr Barclay also urged people to use their common sense regarding what activities they do during a strike. Ambulance responses are split into categories, with category 1 being the most life-threatening such as cardiac arrest, while category 2 covers conditions such as stroke, heart attack and sepsis. Ambulance workers on the picket line outside Longley Ambulance Station in Sheffield (Danny Lawson/PA) No blanket agreement has been reached on responding to category 2 calls, with unions and trusts agreeing locally which category 2 calls will receive a response during the strike. Mr Barclay condemned unions for failing to agree national minimum safety levels during strikes something that would be fixed by legislation presented to Parliament on Tuesday. Unisons head of health Sara Gorton told the PA news agency that unions have been wanting to talk with ministers for more than a decade about putting minimum legal staffing requirements in place, without success. The Governments new focus on the issue appears to be an attempt to vilify health workers and a distraction from the job in hand, she said as she stood on the picket line outside the London Ambulance Service (LAS) headquarters in Waterloo. She said the situation within the NHS seems to be worsening day by day and the ball is in the Governments court to fix it. She added: If we are going to get a resolution to the current dispute and the wider staffing crisis across the NHS, then whats going to be needed is for the Government to commit to having those direct talks. Asked about pay, Jon Richards, assistant general secretary at Unison, said the Government tone had changed since Christmas. I think weve seen a chink of light, to be honest. Thats something were pleased about, he told BBC Breakfast. The Government have started talking about pay, so, yes, we see some progress, but we havent had an offer we havent had anything in writing yet and we need to have that before we can make progress. Meanwhile, Dr Adrian Boyle, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, told Times Radio there had been a state of crisis in the NHS for the last month and problems going back several years. He called for perspective, adding: Yes, (the strike) will be disruptive, and actually, in a way, what were more concerned about is not what happens on the day, but we know that it creates disruption in the following days. We talk about a rebound effect because there is a pent-up demand, all sorts of problems occur in the system later. The Governments proposed legislation on minimum service levels during strikes is unlikely to work because employers will not want to sack their staff over industrial action, legal experts have said. Under the draft Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill, bosses would legally be able to fire employees who ignore a work notice requiring them to work on strike days. But lawyers from several UK firms have said that employers will have multiple options available for dealing with such workers, and it is unlikely they will want to choose the most draconian approach. Danielle Parsons, an employment partner at Irwin Mitchell, said bosses could issue written warnings or other forms of disciplinary action. She said: Employers who want to send a firm message to a workforce might take the draconian approach and dismiss staff without prior warning. However, if all required staff ignore the notice, it is hard to imagine a situation where employers will be able to make numerous dismissals, and this would make the legislation entirely self-defeating. There is a skills shortage in many of the sectors covered by this proposed legislation, so dismissing staff will only exacerbate this issue. Unison general secretary Christina McAnea with ambulance workers taking industrial action on Wednesday (Danny Lawson/PA). Ms Parsons said the legislation could also drive workers out of their jobs and make it even harder for sectors affected by the legislation, which include the NHS, to recruit. Nobody will want to be in a job that they can effectively be forced to perform against their will when they want to strike, she said. Ms Parsons added that the right to strike is protected by Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and the Governments belief that the new law is compatible with this is likely to be tested if the legislation passes. Melanie Stancliffe, an employment law specialist at Cripps, said employers could turn a blind eye to those who breach the new law. She said: Its unlikely that employers affected by the new laws will want to lose staff who strike when theyre not supposed to. Its very possible they will end up turning a blind eye to employees who choose to ignore a work notice even if it would constitute a sackable offence under the changes. As to whether the Government really has the power to sack workers if they refuse to comply en masse legally, yes, but practically, it would make no sense and be entirely counter-productive to do so. Gita Patel, an employment solicitor at SA Law, highlighted how employers who want to fire staff for breaching a work notice would have to give them a full and fair disciplinary first. She added that dismissing a whole group of employees is likely to have adverse effects on the organisation in the long term. Health Secretary Steve Barclay (Stefan Rousseau/PA) Health Secretary Steve Barclay declined to directly answer questions about what would happen if workers ignored the strike laws, during an interview with Sky News on Wednesday. Asked for a third time about how the law would be implemented, he said: Were going to debate this. It will probably take about six months for the legislation to pass and this will be scrutinised, we will debate this in Parliament. Its about the behaviour of the unions more than the individual members. The Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill was introduced by Business Secretary Grant Shapps on Tuesday. Kevin Costner attends the 28th Screen Actors Guild Awards, in Santa Monica, California, U.S., February 27, 2022. REUTERS/Aude Guerrucci Kevin Costner is sharing his Golden Globes thank-yous after missing Tuesday's ceremony due to the California flooding. The Yellowstone star won for Best Actor in a TV Drama, but wasn't in attendance at the Beverly Hilton. He explained in a social media video just prior to the show that the Santa Barbara flooding prevented him from getting to L.A., so he and his wife, Christine Baumgartner, watched the ceremony from home. After he won and faced ribbing from presenter Regina Hall over him having to "shelter in place" in Santa Barbara he posted a statement online reacting to the news. "Thank you to the Hollywood Foreign Press and @goldenglobes for this tremendous honor and to the @Yellowstone team for bringing John Dutton's world to life," he wrote. "I share this recognition with my castmates, the producers, and our incredible crew. Most of all, thank you to our show's fans, who love Yellowstone Ranch as if it were their own." Shortly before, Costner shared a video explaining his absence. "I'm so sorry for everyone who might have been tuning in to watch the Golden Globes," he began. "Chris and I aren't going to be able to be there. Yesterday, we had to pull the kids out of school in Santa Barbara. This is the second time in five years that the freeway is flooded out. We found ourselves on the wrong side of the town and we couldn't get back last night. We couldn't even get back to the house this morning in time, with the freeways closed. Nobody's sadder than us that we can't be there." He said his wife of 18 years "had a beautiful dress" ready and he was "looking forward to walking down the red carpet with her." Instead, his wife "went out and bought me some gold and yellow and black and silver balloons, so we're going to sit at the television and see what happens." He ended by thanking people for their support and adding, "I'm really sorry to the Golden Globes and the international press. I hope we're invited back." During the awards show, presenter Regina Hall announced Costner's category and went off-script as she shared his excuse for not being there. The comedic actress poked fun at the Oscar winner for having to "shelter in place" in posh Santa Barbara, home to many millionaires. Regina Hall finding out why Kevin Costner couldnt be at the #GoldenGlobes just won next years #GoldenGlobes for Best Actress in a TV Comedy pic.twitter.com/5WjI6zosdn Jarett Wieselman (@JarettSays) January 11, 2023 "Kevin Costner, he so much wanted to be..." the Girls Trip actress began before breaking into laugher. "I always like how they write this," she said, referring to what was on the teleprompter. "It's like, 'He so much wanted to be...' No, Im sure he did ... But because of the it's been raining the unprecedented weather and flooding, he has to shelter in place in Santa Barbara." At the mention of Santa Barbara, she smacked her forehead and quipped, "Jesus. No, this is a sad story right now," she continued to joke. "He's stuck in Santa Barbara. Let's pray, everyone. No, that's awful." Hall, amid laughter in the room, end with, "This is true: Everyone, we do, we pray and we hope that everyone affected by these storms remains safe. I'm gonna accept that award right there, on your behalf, Kevin." Costner has long maintained a residence in Santa Barbara, buying the 10-acre property, set on the Pacific Ocean, in 2006 for $28.5 million. He listed it for $60 million in 2017, but ultimately took it off the market. California residents have faced heavy rain, floods and landslides with nearly 50,000 people under evacuation orders and more than twice that number of people without power. Earlier this week, Ellen DeGeneres, who resides in Montecito near other celebrities including Oprah Winfrey, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle shared a video of the flood waters near her home. She explained that Montecito was under mandatory evacuation, but she had been advised to shelter in place because her house was on higher ground. She also pointed out that the storm fell on the fifth year anniversary of the 2018 mudslides there that resulted in 23 people dying and more than 100 homes in the coastal enclave. WASHINGTON President Biden used a Tuesday press conference with the leaders of Mexico and Canada to address the revelation that a dozen classified documents had been stored at his former office at a University of Pennsylvania policy center. The documents are from his time as vice president in Barack Obamas administration, a position he held from 2009 until 2017. Speaking after a meeting with Justin Trudeau of Canada and Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of Mexico, Biden said he was surprised to learn that classified documents had been stored at the Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement in Washington, D.C. Attorneys for the president discovered those documents on Nov. 2 and notified the National Archives and Records Administration, which by law has custodianship of presidential papers. President Biden on Tuesday during a meeting with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Mexico City. (Nicolas Asfouri/AFP via Getty Images) The revelation has caused a furor among conservatives, who instantly drew comparison to last summers federal raid at former President Donald Trumps resort and residence in South Florida, Mar-a-Lago, which was executed to recover several boxes of classified materials. Speaking from Mexico City, Biden said that his attorneys did what they should have done and were cooperating fully with the National Archives. I dont know whats in the documents, Biden said. My lawyers have not suggested I ask what documents they were. The classified documents reportedly included briefings on foreign countries. FILE - Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro looks on after speaking from his official residence the Alvorada Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, Nov. 1, 2022. His absence on Inauguration Day will mark a break with tradition and remains unclear who, instead of him, will hand over the presidential sash to Brazilian President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at the presidential palace on Jan. 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres, File) MIAMI (AP) The Biden administration is under growing pressure from leftists in Latin America as well as U.S. 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 U.S. 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 U.S. soil, drawing parallels between the rampage in Brazil and the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection by allies of Donald Trump who stormed the Capitol to try to overturn the U.S. 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 U.S. Capitol was attacked by fascists, we see fascist movements abroad attempt to do the same in Brazil, the New York City lawmaker said. The U.S. 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 U.S. 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 U.S. 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 U.S. 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. - AP Writers Matt Lee in Washington and Colleen Barry in Milan contributed to this report. The Pentagon plans to bring Ukrainian troops to Oklahoma to train them on the Patriot missile defense systems starting as soon as next week. Well share what that will entail and how long its expected to take, plus more on the Ukrainian town on the verge of being taken by Russia and what it would mean, as well as details on the GOP fight with itself over possible defense cuts This is Defense & National Security, your guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond. For The Hill, Im Ellen Mitchell. A friend forward this newsletter to you? Close Thank you for signing up! Subscribe to more newsletters here The latest in politics and policy. Direct to your inbox. Sign up for the Defense and National Security newsletter US to train Ukrainians on missile system The Pentagon plans to bring Ukrainian troops to Oklahoma to train them on the Patriot missile defense systems starting as soon as next week, the Pentagon confirmed Tuesday. The training, first reported by CNN, will happen at Fort Sill, Defense Department press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters. The details: The U.S. military 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. Once fielded, the Patriot will contribute to Ukraines air defense capabilities and provide another capability to the Ukrainian people to defend themselves against Russias ongoing aerial assaults, he added. Why Oklahoma?: Fort Sill one of the Armys four basic training locations, located 90 miles southwest of Oklahoma City already teaches troops the operation and maintenance of the Patriot system and is also the location of the Armys field artillery school. Trimming the timeline: Patriot training typically takes up to a year, but Ryder said the Pentagon is looking at how it can speed up the timeline for the Ukrainian forces. We recognize . . . that the longer those troops are off the line, theyre not actually engaged in combat, and so [were] trying to work with the Ukrainians to see what we can do to accelerate the training timeline, he said. He added that training will consist of classroom instruction, training on the Patriot systems themselves and work in a simulation lab before Kyiv can use the system on the battlefield. More to come?: Asked whether there will be further groups of Ukrainian troops brought to the United States for such training, Ryder said the current focus is on this initial class but the two countries will keep an open dialogue. Im not aware of any additional forces, but again, that will be an ongoing discussion based on the needs of Ukraine, he said. Read the full story here Russia nears biggest gain in Ukraine since summer Russian forces have nearly taken full control of Soledar, a small mining town in eastern Ukraine, placing Moscow on the verge of its most significant gain since August. The town is located just north of Bakhmut, where Ukraine has so far held strong despite some of the worst fighting in the war. Fierce fighting: In the past few days, Ukrainian troops in Soledar were defending against a vigorous assault from the Russian mercenary company Wagner Group, and fierce fighting was reported in the towns administrative center on Monday. The latest signs are that Russian and Wagner forces are now in control of Soledar after a four-day advance, Britains Defense Ministry said in an intelligence update on Tuesday. Largely destroyed: Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said in a statement on Tuesday that fighting is ongoing in Soledar, which has been largely destroyed by Russian shelling, according to the Kyiv Independent. Ukrainian President Voldymyr Zelensky has acknowledged that fighting in Soledar was a difficult and hard battle for his troops. It is extremely difficult there are almost no whole walls left, Zelensky said in his nightly address on Monday. Why its significant: Russia is likely to use Soledar in its effort to surround Bakhmut, which is roughly six miles away, and to disrupt Ukrainian lines of communication, U.K. intelligence said. Seizing Bakhmut would allow Russia to advance onto other key locations in the eastern province, which Putin illegally annexed last year. Read more here GOP battles with itself over potential defense cuts 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. By the numbers: 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. A real possibility: 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. 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. A warning?: 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. Limited backing: 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. Read the rest here ON TAP FOR TOMORROW The Surface Navy Association will hold Day 2 of its annual National Symposium, with Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.) and Rep. Robert Wittman (R-Va.) delivering remarks on the View from Capitol Hill and Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro giving a keynote address, at 7:30 a.m. The Atlantic Council will host a virtual discussion on The Case for Ukraine Retaking Crimea, with retired Army Gen. Wes Clark, former NATO supreme allied commander Europe, among other speakers, at 8 a.m. The Intelligence and National Security Alliance will discuss ONIs assessments of foreign naval capabilities and its application of naval intelligence to global geopolitical challenges, with Office of Naval Intelligence Commander Rear Adm. Michael Studeman, at 9 a.m. The Stimson Center will hold an event on Voices from Japan: Japans Security Policy Transformation, with Itsunori Onodera, the 12th, 17th, and 18th minister of defense of Japan, at 9:30 a.m. The National Defense Industrial Association will discuss The State of the Space Industrial Base, at 10 a.m. Brookings Institution will host a conversation on Reflections on U.S. defense policy from Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), at 4 p.m. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada will hold a joint press conference following a meeting of the U.S.-Japan Security Consultative Committee, at 5 p.m. WHAT WERE READING OP-EDS IN THE HILL In the Middle East, Americas security stick is no match for Chinas carrots Thats it for today! Check out The Hills Defense and National Security pages for the latest coverage. See you tomorrow! For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Several House Democrats with military backgrounds warned on Tuesday that Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) poses a direct threat to national security and urged Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to block Santos from accessing sensitive information while in Congress. Mr. Santos has exhibited, time and time again, that the American people cannot trust him, and the voters who once placed their trust in him were deceived, Reps. Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.) and Jeff Jackson (D-N.C.) wrote in a letter to McCarthy. We cannot put our nation at risk by allowing Mr. Santos to sustain access to classified information or appointment to any Congressional Committee that may require this information, they added. We cannot put our nation at risk by allowing Mr. Santos to sustain access to classified information or appointment to any Congressional Committee that may require this information.House Democrats Santos admitted last month to lying about his heritage, education and professional background on the campaign trail. Several of Santoss other claims about his background have also failed to check out amid increased scrutiny. In particular, the freshman lawmakers finances have raised concerns. The Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan ethics watchdog, filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission on Monday, alleging that Santos violated campaign finance laws. Two House Democrats also filed a complaint with the House Ethics Committee on Tuesday, urging an investigation into Santoss financial disclosure reports. Santos was already facing probes from the U.S. attorneys office for the Eastern District of New York and the Nassau County district attorney, and Brazilian authorities recently reopened a criminal fraud case against Santos from 2008. The group of Democratic lawmakers noted in Tuesdays letter that Santoss lies are are particularly alarming given that members of Congress receive access to highly sensitive, national security information. As you work to usher in the 118th Congress, we ask that you do so in a way that protects our nations security, and the classification of sensitive information on which it depends, they added. Mr. Santos has repeatedly proven that he cannot be entrusted with this same responsibility. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. FILE - Demonstrators block a road at the base of Hawaii's tallest mountain, in Mauna Kea, Hawaii, on July 15, 2019, to protest the construction of a giant telescope on land that some Native Hawaiians consider sacred. Hawaii's new attorney general said Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023, that several dozen elders won't be subject to another round of prosecution for blocking a road three years ago to prevent the construction of the new telescope. (AP Photo/Caleb Jones, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS) HONOLULU (AP) Hawaii's new attorney general said Tuesday more than two dozen elders won't be subject to another round of prosecutions for blocking a road three years ago to prevent the construction of a new telescope on a mountain summit many Native Hawaiians consider sacred. Law enforcement arrested 38 elders, mostly Native Hawaiians, during a 2019 demonstration against the Thirty Meter Telescope planned for Mauna Kea. Of these, 30 had their cases dismissed after a 2021 Hawaii Supreme Court ruling clarified the process for filing criminal complaints and said authorities had been following the incorrect procedure. Attorney General Anne Lopez had the option to refile charges but said it wasn't in the best interest of Hawaii's people to continue to prosecute the kupuna, or elders. Gov. Josh Green appointed Lopez to be attorney general after he took office last month. Green, in a news release from Lopez's office, said he appreciated her decision. The time has come to build a new pathway forward that considers all people and is respectful of our host culture, Green said. This is the kind of justice we want to see for our kupuna, who stood up for what they believe in their culture and their ancestors. I will work to find a way forward together. The protests helped convince Hawaii's leaders they needed a new approach to managing Mauna Kea. Last year, the state formed a new governing body for the mountain called the Mauna Kea Stewardship and Oversight Authority. Native Hawaiian cultural experts including one of the arrested elders have voting seats on the authority. The governing body is tasked with protecting Mauna Kea for future generations and balancing science with culture and the environment. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law a bill banning the sale and distribution of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines on Tuesday evening. The ban takes effect immediately. The House voted 68-41 to approve the Protect Illinois Communities Act last week, and the bill passed the Illinois Senate by a 34-20 margin on Monday before heading to Pritzker's desk. "For the past four years, my administration and my colleagues in the State Capitol have been battling the powerful forces of the NRA to enshrine the strongest and most effective gun violence legislation that we possibly can," said Pritzker in a statement. The bill had been debated for years, but found renewed support following the July 4 Highland Park parade massacre last year, which left seven people dead and dozens more wounded. The 21-year-old suspect used a legally-purchased semiautomatic weapon, prosecutors said. A makeshift memorial of flowers is left near the scene of a mass shooting during a Fourth of July parade, on July 5, 2022 in Highland Park, Illinois. (Jim Vondruska/ Getty Images) Under the new legislation, according to CBS Chicago, long guns will be limited to 10 rounds per magazine, and handguns cannot have more than 15 rounds. It also bans "switches" devices which convert legal handguns into assault weapons and additionally extends the ability of courts to prevent "dangerous individuals" from owning a gun through firearm restraining orders, the governor's office said. Under the new law, those who already own weapons on the banned list can keep them, but need to register them with Illinois State Police within 300 days. Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona, who herself survived a mass shooting in 2011, also expressed support for the legislation, saying that she applauded legislators in the state "for having the courage to act to remove these weapons of war from our streets." Rep. Bill Foster of Illinois tweeted out his support for the new law as well, writing, "Proud Illinois is setting an example once again." Proud Illinois is setting an example once again. We need to protect innocent lives from senseless gun violence. https://t.co/ZpAEleR0aL Congressman Bill Foster (@RepBillFoster) January 11, 2023 Pritzker has signed other notable pieces of gun control legislation during his tenure as governor, including a law last year that banned "ghost guns" unregistered and untraceable homemade weapons making Illinois the first Midwestern state to do so. In 2021, he signed a law expanding background checks on gun sales statewide. Biden "surprised to learn" documents marked classified found at former office Pence discusses Biden classified documents discovery Evacuations ordered as deadly storm hits California By Ece Toksabay ANKARA (Reuters) -Russia and Ukraine have agreed on an exchange of 40 prisoners of war each, Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova said on Wednesday after meeting her Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Lubinets in Turkey. Moskalkova and Lubinets were meeting on the sidelines of an international ombudsman conference in Ankara. Photos showed them sitting on opposite sides of a table. "It is very important that the ombudsmen of Ukraine and Russia, in the absence of diplomatic relations (between the two countries), take concrete actions to help people," Moskalkova told reporters. Russia and Ukraine have conducted numerous prisoner swaps - most recently on Sunday - amounting to hundreds of captives each in the course of the war, which is now in its 11th month. In a separate press appearance, Lubinets said the swap agreed on Wednesday was part of a broader arrangement by which both sides regularly exchange prisoners but underscored that they had not signed any official agreements. "We will not sign any agreements, but we have the straight connection between Ukraine ombudsman and ombudsman of Russian Federation," he said. Lubinets added that the Ukrainian side had voiced, among other issues, its concerns over alleged Russian violations of the Geneva Convention in its treatment of Ukrainian POWs. Earlier, Moskalkova said on the Telegram messaging app that she and Lubinets had also discussed the issue of servicemen missing on both sides, and civilian humanitarian issues. She said she had asked Lubinets to help Ukrainian citizens who want to visit relatives in Russia. Given the current difficulty of establishing humanitarian corridors inside Ukraine, Moskalkova said the ombudsmen should help specific people to move between regions and countries, saying Turkey could play an important role. Separately, Russia's state-owned RIA news agency quoted Moskalkova as saying "important words about the need for a ceasefire" in Ukraine had been spoken during her meeting with her Ukrainian and Turkish colleagues. Moskalkova said a ceasefire was necessary to stop human rights violations, RIA reported. She also asked Turkey, a NATO ally, to stop supplying arms to Ukraine. As Moskalkova and Lubinets met in Ankara, a fierce battle was raging for the small town of Soledar in eastern Ukraine. Both were later due to visit the Turkish presidential palace, where President Tayyip Erdogan was scheduled to make a speech for the conference. (Reporting by Ece Toksabay and Mert Ozkan in Ankara, Lidia Kelly in Melbourne;Writing by Daren Butler and Gareth Jones;Editing by Jonathan Spicer, Kevin Liffey, William Maclean) A grocery store in Cheverly, Md., posts a sign to apologize for the increased price of their eggs, Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) OMAHA, Neb. (AP) Chickens may not be able to fly very far, but the price of eggs is soaring. A lingering bird flu outbreak, combined with soaring feed, fuel and labor costs, has led to U.S. egg prices more than doubling over the past year, and hatched a lot of sticker shock on grocery aisles. The national average price for a dozen eggs hit $3.59 in November, up from $1.72 a year earlier, according to the latest government data. That's putting stress on consumer budgets and the bottom lines of restaurants, bakeries and other food producers that rely heavily on eggs. Grocery prices that were up 12% in November are driving inflation higher, even though the overall pace of price increases slowed a bit through the fall as gas prices eased. But egg prices are up significantly more than other foods even more than chicken or turkey because egg farmers were hit harder by the bird flu. More than 43 million of the 58 million birds slaughtered over the past year to control the virus have been egg-laying chickens, including some farms with more than a million birds apiece in major egg-producing states like Iowa. Everyone who approaches the egg case a Hy-Vee grocery store in Omaha, has a sour face, said shopper Nancy Stom. But even with the cost increases, eggs remain relatively cheap compared to the price of other proteins like chicken or beef, with a pound of chicken breasts going for $4.42 on average in November and a pound of ground beef selling for $4.85, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Its still an inexpensive meal, Stom said. But the 70-year-old said that at these prices, shell watch her eggs more closely in the fridge and try not to let them go bad before they get used. If prices remain this high, Kelly Fischer said she will start thinking more seriously about building a backyard chicken coop in Chicago because everyone in her family eats eggs. We (with neighbors) are contemplating building a chicken coop behind our houses, so eventually I hope not to buy them and have my own eggs and I think the cost comes into that somewhat," the 46-year-old public school teacher said while shopping at HarvesTime Foods on the citys North Side. For me, its more of the environmental impact and trying to purchase locally." In some places, it can even be hard to find eggs on the shelves. But egg supplies overall are holding up because the total flock is only down about 5% from from its normal size of around 320 million hens. Farmers have been working to replace their flocks as soon as they can after an outbreak. Jakob Werner, 18, said he tries to find the cheapest eggs he can because he eats five or six of them a day while hes trying to gain weight and build muscle. For a while, I just stopped eating eggs as they got more expensive. But since theyre my favorite food, I came back to them in the end, said Werner, who lives in Chicago. So I think for like a few months I just stopped eating eggs, waited for the price to come down. It never did. So now Im buying again. Purdue University agricultural economist Jayson Lusk said he believes the bird flu outbreak is the biggest driver in the price increases. Unlike past years, the virus lingered throughout the summer and made a resurgence last fall infecting egg and poultry farms. Bird flu is not the only factor, but in my view its the main driver of what were experiencing at the moment, Lusk said. But the president and CEO of the American Egg Board trade group, Emily Metz, said she believes all the cost increases farmers have faced in the past year were a bigger factor in the price increases than bird flu. When youre looking at fuel costs go up, and youre looking at feed costs go up as much as 60%, labor costs, packaging costs all of that ... those are much much bigger factors than bird flu for sure, Metz said. Jada Thomson, a University of Arkansas agricultural economist, said there may be some relief coming in egg prices in the next couple months because egg farmers have been steadily replacing their flocks lost to bird flu last year and demand will ease a bit now that people are done with their holiday baking. But she said bird flu remains a wildcard that could still drive prices higher if there are more sizeable outbreaks at egg farms. Farmers are doing all they can to limit the spread, but the disease is easily spread by migrating wild birds and the virus can be picked up on clothing or vehicles. But there are some things that are just outside of our control, Thompson said. You cant control nature sometimes. Food producers and restaurants are hurting because it's hard to find a good substitute for eggs in their recipes. Any decrease in egg prices would be welcome at Patti Stobaugh's two restaurants and two bakeries in Conway and Russelville, Arkansas, because all of her ingredients and supplies are more expensive these days. For some of her baked goods, Stobaugh has switched to a frozen egg product that's not quite as pricey, but she's still buying eggs for all the breakfasts she serves. A case of 15 dozen eggs has gone from $36 to $86 over the last year, but flour, butter, chicken and everything else she buys is also more expensive. Stobaugh said that has her hyper vigilant about every little item. She's already increased her prices 8% in the past year, and she may have to soon increase them again. It's a delicate balance of trying not to make it too expensive for people to eat out and hurting sales, but she doesn't have much choice while trying to provide for her 175 employees. We have a lot of employees that work for us and were responsible for making payroll every week and supporting their families. We take that very seriously. But it certainly has been tough, Stobaugh said. After following a trail of blood outside a mobile home, officers found a Bengal tiger cub in a dog crate, New Mexico police said. Officers initially responded to southeast Albuquerque on Tuesday, Jan 10 after reports of gunfire, a news release from the Albuquerque Police Department said. As they were en route police said they learned someone had been shot outside an Allsups Convenience Store. Officers found a person whod been shot in the leg by what police believe was a stray bullet. While one scene, an additional gunshot was heard coming from a mobile home just to the north of the Allsups, police said. Officers made their way toward the gunfire and found a man armed with a semiautomatic handgun, police said. He was taken into custody. Police said they followed a trail of blood that led inside an unlocked trailer. Upon entering, officers did not find an injured person, but instead found a Bengal tiger cub inside a dog crate. Police obtained a search warrant for the home and rescued the tiger, police said. Even though Im a Ravens fan, Im glad we saved this Bengal, police Chief Harold Medina said on Twitter. The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish took over care for the cub, police said. The shooting is under investigation, police said. Secretive creature evades capture for weeks in Kohls shoe department in Colorado Mystery creature rescued from the cold escapes PA rescue center. We are dumbstruck! These new California laws will protect animals in 2020, and could change the way you shop Rishi Sunak and the Japanese prime minister will sign what the UK Government said will be the most significant defence agreement between the two nations in more than a century. The Prime Minister and his counterpart Fumio Kishida will sign a defence agreement at the Tower of London on Wednesday which will allow the UK and Japan to deploy forces in one anothers 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 UKs 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. The access agreement has been years in the making, with former prime minister Boris Johnson agreeing a deal in principle in May during Mr Kishidas first official visit to Britain. Mr Sunak said the accord would cement the UKs commitment to the Indo-Pacific and bolster economic security. Officials said the defence agreement would allow both forces to plan and deliver larger and more complex military exercises and deployments. Mr Sunak said: In the past 12 months, we have written the next chapter of the relationship between the UK and Japan accelerating, building and deepening our ties. We have so much in common: a shared outlook on the world, a shared understanding of the threats and challenges we face, and a shared ambition to use our place in the world for global good, ensuring our countries prosper for generations to come. Rishi Sunak and Fumio Kishida will meet at the Tower of London (Kirsty OConnor/PA) This reciprocal access agreement is hugely significant for both our nations it cements our commitment to the Indo-Pacific and underlines our joint efforts to bolster economic security, accelerate our defence co-operation and drive innovation that creates highly skilled jobs. In this increasingly competitive world, it is more important than ever that democratic societies continue to stand shoulder to shoulder as we navigate the unprecedented global challenges of our time. Mr Kishidas 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 will visit Japanese armour on display. A deal was agreed in principle on the reciprocal access agreement in May when Fumio Kishida visited London (Dan Kitwood/PA) It was presented to King James VI in 1613 by the then-Shogun Tokugawa Hidetada of Japan. The military gift was given to King James to mark the first ever trade agreement between England and Japan. Putting pen to paper at the Tower will come weeks after the UK and Japan agreed, along with Italy, to develop the next generation of combat air fighter jets under the Global Combat Air Programme. Last month, the UK and Japan also launched a new UK-Japan digital partnership to strengthen co-operation across cyber resilience, online safety and semiconductors. As well as meeting to discuss defence and security challenges, the leaders are expected to discuss trade and the G7 response to Russias invasion of Ukraine, with the conflict approaching its first anniversary. Irish premier Leo Varadkar said he hopes the decision to exclude Mary Lou McDonald from a meeting with Foreign Secretary James Cleverly is not a new precedent. The Sinn Fein leader was told she could not attend the meeting to discuss the Northern Ireland Protocol and the Stormont political deadlock. Mr Cleverly insisted Sinn Fein were not excluded from a meeting with him in Belfast, stating that the party vice president Michelle ONeill was invited to attend but opted not to. The party withdrew from the roundtable talks with Mr Cleverly on Wednesday. Sinn Fein Party leader Mary Lou McDonald (left) with Sinn Fein vice president Michelle ONeill (Peter Morrison/PA) The decision to exclude Ms McDonald from the talks was criticised by the Irish government, with Mr Varadkar saying it is not usual practice to tell other parties who should be on their delegation. I know when I visit Northern Ireland tomorrow (Thursday) to meet with the different political parties, Deputy McDonald will be part of the Sinn Fein delegation, Mr Varadkar said on Wednesday evening. Its never been our practice to tell other people who should be on their delegation. If you ask to meet somebody or somebody comes to meet you, it really should be for them to decide whos on their delegation and who leads it. Thats the approach that we take, it had been the approach that the British Government took in the past, so I hope this was a one off and that doesnt represent a change of policy. Mr Cleverly defended the decision, stating that the meeting was to hear from political representatives in Northern Ireland and he would meet Irish politicians in the near future. Deputy Irish premier Micheal Martin said the decision by his British counterpart was unfortunate. Mr Martin said: I dont know the background to it at all, but that said I dont think it will be an impediment. I had a good discussion with Michelle ONeill earlier in the week. I think everyone is up for working constructively to try and resolve these issues and get the Executive up and running. Our objective of this government is to have the mandate that was given in the last Assembly elections fulfilled in terms of the Assembly being convened and also the Executive being established in line with the results of the election. I would hope that, notwithstanding what happened today, that it will not act as an impediment. I dont think it will. The two leaders will travel to Northern Ireland on Thursday. Mr Varadkar is to meet with representatives of Stormonts five political parties, while Mr Martin will hold talks with Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris. remaining of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. Marysville, CA (95901) Today Clear skies. Low around 45F. Winds NNW at 15 to 25 mph.. Tonight Clear skies. Low around 45F. Winds NNW at 15 to 25 mph. YEREVAN, JANUARY 11, ARMENPRESS. Russias Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova said on her Telegram channel on Wednesday she had met with Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmitry Lubinets to discuss humanitarian aid. "Today I had a pre-arranged meeting with Ukrainian ombudsman D. Lubinets," TASS quoted the Russian ombudsperson's statement as saying. "We discussed issues of humanitarian assistance to citizens of the two states." The meeting was supposed to take place in Ankara, where Moskalkova was expected to arrive to take part in a forum, headlined "Future of Human Rights In The 21st Century, TASS reported without elaborating where the meeting eventually took place. Earlier, Lubinets said he might meet with Moskalkova in January to discuss the issue of mutual swap of civilians facing criminal prosecution. Moskalkova said last December that Russia and Ukraine were negotiating the possibility of swapping such persons. Prachanda is back in power for a third time. He wants friendly relations with China and India, both of which are vying for influence in the Himalayas. In Nepal, the parties in the ruling coalition have different views on foreign policy. In the past, the Nepali Congress slammed encroachment by Chinese troops into Nepal. Beijing (AsiaNews) Pushpa Kamal Dahal (commonly known as Prachanda) is Nepals new prime minister. His foreign policy will be pro-Nepal, based on "balanced, trustworthy and friendly " relations with all other states, including neighbouring China and India. For the former Maoist rebel, this is his third time he won the confidence of parliament to lead the government. His appointment breaks the political logjam that followed last Novembers elections, when no one was the clear winner. For years, Nepal worked at strengthening its ties with China to counterbalance Indias traditional influence. China and India have opposing interests in the Himalayan region. Prachanda now heads a coalition government of seven parties. His Maoist Centre is not even the largest in parliament; thus, finding unity of purpose in foreign policy will be a challenge. The Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) is the main force in the ruling coalition. Like Prachanda, its leader, KP Oli, is on very good terms with China, but unlike the prime minister, he is hostile to any accommodation with India. In 2019, as prime minister, Oli launched a tough anti-India campaign, accusing Nepals big neighbour of violating Nepali territory in the Kalapani region. Since 2017, Nepal has been a partner in the Belt and Road Initiative, Chinese President Xi Jinpings megaproject to boost Chinas geopolitical role through infrastructural development in different parts of the globe. On 1 January, Nepali authorities inaugurated an airport built with Chinese funds in Pokhara. Beijing immediately asked Prachanda to assess the possible construction of a trans-Himalayan railway line between Kathmandu and Kerung, in Tibet. The previous government led by the Nepali Congress had not been very open to China. According to a report last February, Chinese troops crossed into Nepali territory in Humla district, on the border with Tibet, where the population depends heavily on trade with China. In November 2020, Nepali Congress MPs (then in the opposition) slammed Chinese encroachment in the area, noting that Beijing had annexed tens of hectares of Nepali territory. According to several observers, Beijings interest in this stretch of the border is explained by security considerations. China would like to limit the risk of Indian infiltration, and, at the same time, block escapes to Nepal from Tibet. Between 20,000 and 30,000 Tibetans live in Nepal, but many others have used it to get to India and elsewhere to flee Chinas repression against their Buddhist religious and cultural traditions. China has long been urging Nepal to sign an extradition agreement that would endanger the Tibetan community that fled to the small Himalayan state. Pressed by humanitarian and Tibetan liberation organisations, Nepali authorities have so far resisted Chinas demand to sign a treaty. by Vladimir Rozanskij Moscow signed it in 1999. Corruption became a 'social norm', a behaviour not liable to punishment. About 10 years ago, Aleksej Naval'nyj's anti-corruption protests began. Putin completes the campaign in defence of his supporters. It is genetic mutation of the penal code with new forms of 'immunity' for the powerful. Moscow (Asia) - President Putin has proposed that the Duma approve a new draft law on the 'denonsatsija' (denunciation-rescinding) of international agreements arising from the Convention on Criminal Liability for Corruption. It is the first of the 48 countries that signed it in 1999 to pull out, accentuating international isolation, but above all accepting corruption as a 'social norm', a behaviour not liable to punishment. Putin's war, which today rages in Ukraine, had begun 10 years ago at home against the youth protests, animated by Aleksej Naval'nyj's Anti-Corruption Fund, which today languishes in the Melekhovo lager, in increasingly poor health. The corrupt system of oligarchs and criminal gangs is the real reaction to the 'Western depravity', which forced people to submit to very strict rules in order to be admitted to international markets. In fact, the new law states that the reason for the rejection of the convention lies in Russia's marginalisation from the 'Greco', the Group of States Against Corruption, decided by the Council of Europe on 23 March, a month after the invasion of Ukraine. The members of the group are the countries that signed the 1999 agreements, but the aggression deprived Russia of the right to assess the activities of other countries. The new Putin law denounces such 'discrimination' against Russia, which leads to 'false accusations' against its officials and entrepreneurs. It also puts an end to all investigations against the misdeeds of the power caste in Russia, after stifling and persecuting any media that denounced them with laws on 'foreign agents', and the closure of associations active in the social field. The campaigns against 'Putin's palaces', Medvedev's shoes and villas and the luxury of so many powerful people have thus provoked the regime's internal and external 'revenge'. The latest scandal in recent days had been the expose of secret funds belonging to the family of the governor of St. Petersburg, Aleksandr Beglov, and in recent weeks the hidden properties worth several million of the commander of Russian troops in Ukraine, General Sergei Surovikin, had been revealed. On New Year's Eve, Putin had already given a 'gift' to his most loyal subjects by releasing state officials from the obligation to file tax returns 'during the course of the special military operation'. As the current head of the Naval'nyj Fund in exile, Ivan Zdanov, wrote on Twitter, 'the next step will be the inclusion of corruption as a constitutional norm'. According to the Navalnists, the current generation in power is growing increasingly depressingly old, and 'they have no other methods of keeping themselves in power, they don't need democratic mechanisms,' Zdanov comments. The purpose of the Anti-Corruption Convention was to unify criminal sanctions against this social scourge, allowing member countries to help each other find the means to fight it across borders, but today 'all these mechanisms have been thrown into the pit', notes Ilja Sumanov, director of Transparency International-Russia, assuring that 'we can forget about any exchange of information'. The Greek will no longer have any way of monitoring Russia's compliance with even the minimum standards of fairness in financial transactions and business schemes, a further sign of Russia's 'non-submission to international standards' at all levels. The denonsatsija comes into force three months after the announcement, and by spring the real consequences of Putin's decision, which will deprive Russian citizens of any means of defence against the prevailing corruption, will begin to be seen. It will be a 'genetic mutation of the penal code', assures Sumanov, with new forms of 'immunity' of the privileged and powerful. The ban on humanitarian work does not apply only to women, but could touch everyone, at least in a south-western Afghan province. While the United Nations looks at how to respond to the new restrictions, cash transfers to Afghanistan have been suspended. The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan notes that aid money does not go to the Taliban. Kabul (AsiaNews) Not only have the Taliban decided to prevent women from working for non-governmental organisations, but in Nimruz province, in the south-western part of the country, they have banned all NGOs from hiring staff without the approval of the authorities. This additional restriction will complicate humanitarian assistance, already difficult and precarious after the Taliban seized power again in August 2021. Since then the assets of the previous government in US banks were frozen because the international community, including less democratic countries, is opposed to recognising the Taliban government. Since 2021, Afghanistans economic situation has worsened. As a result, it is estimated that about 20 million people, about half the population, will suffer acute hunger by March this year, while almost the entire country has fallen into extreme poverty. Meanwhile, the UN Security Council is getting set to hold an extraordinary meeting to decide how to proceed in response to the ban on women working for aid agencies. International money transfers that can help alleviate the suffering of the Afghan population have been temporarily halted, with an immediate depreciation of the Afghani, the national currency, and a rise in costs. Yesterday, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) issued a statement explaining how foreign aid is managed. This follows a report in late December 2022 by the US magazine Foreign Policy (FP) accusing the Taliban of stealing funds earmarked for the population and diverting it in favour of their supporters. This is aimed at financing a series of illegal activities and keeping people onside with the faction-divided Taliban; otherwise, disappointed with measures taken so far, some might consider joining the local branch of the Islamic State, the Islamic State-Khorasan Province (ISKP). According to sources cited by FP, the money never reaches those who need it; instead, some goes into the Taliban-controlled Central Bank, and some gets deposited in the Afghanistan International Bank, where UN agencies hold private bank accounts. UNAMA has a different take on the matter. In its statement, it says: All cash brought into Afghanistan is placed in designated UN accounts in a private bank for use by the United Nations. All these funds are then distributed directly to the United Nations entities, as well as to a small number of approved and vetted humanitarian partners in Afghanistan. None of the cash brought into Afghanistan is deposited in the Central Bank of Afghanistan nor provided to the Taliban de facto authorities by the UN. Since December 2021, the United Nations has managed to bring in only US$ 1.8 billion to Afghanistan. It launched an appeal for US$ 4.4 billion in January 2022, raising it to US$ 4.6 for 2023. The High Commissioner for Human Rights slams the brutal use of force by the Islamic Republic. Irans deputy prosecutor general contradicts Khamenei and calls for harsh measures against women who do not wear the headscarf correctly. From Evin prison, an activist describes torture and brutality. A 38-year-old Christian arrested before Christmas has been released. Tehran (AsiaNews) The Iranian government has weaponised the courts and the death penalty to "punish" pro-democracy protesters, suppress dissent, and strike fear" in a population fighting for freedom and rights, this according to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk. In a statement yesterday, the UN official strongly condemns brutal state repression by the Islamic Republic against street protests. Widespread unrest began four months ago, triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, after she was taken into custody by the morality police for not properly covering her hair. For Turk, the execution of four young protesters last month, after expedited trials that did not meet the minimum guarantees of fair trial and due process violated international human rights law. 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, he added. This can be done by ensuring 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. Despite repeated appeals and condemnations by much of the international community, human rights groups and advocacy organisations, Irans iron fist continues to strike at protests that, after the latest executions and death sentences, is now silenced. A few days ago, Irans Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, used conciliatory words about head covering, perhaps in an attempt to stem the wave of protest. He stressed that even women who do not wear it correctly are "our daughters" and should not be marginalised. Irans chief prosecutor apparently disagrees. He recently ordered police to deal "decisively" with women who fail to properly wear the headscarf in public in accordance with Sharia and the Islamic Republics "hijab and chastity" law, which require women and girls over the age of nine to cover their hair in public. The crime of removing the hijab is one of the obvious crimes, and law enforcement officers are obliged to arrest the perpetrators of obvious crimes and introduce them to the judicial authorities for punishment," semi-official Mehr news agency quoted Deputy Prosecutor General Abulsamad Khorramabadi as saying. Now, trials, death sentences, public hanging and displaying lifeless bodies from cranes have instiled enough fear in people to keep them off the streets after months of protests, led by women fighting for their rights and freedom. For some observers, the crackdowns success on the worst political turmoil in years is likely to reinforce a view among Iran's hardliners that suppression of dissent is the way to hold on to power. This, however, may prove short-lived, as state violence may merely drive dissent underground, while deepening the anger felt by ordinary Iranians, especially the young, in a country in the grips of a serious economic crisis, high unemployment and few prospects. Violence is also the leitmotif of one of the rare prison stories that made it through Irans censorship. A jailed student studying law was able to smuggle out a letter. She is in Evin prisons cultural wing. This is also where she takes her exams, but also where "torture and interrogation" take place. "The exam room is filled with young boys and girls and the shouts of torturers can be heard," she writes, adding that she witnessed young detainees being interrogated, threatened, pressed with questions, and subjected to physical and psychological violence. So far, at least 519 protesters, including 69 children, have been killed and 19,300 arrested, this according to the Human Rights Activists' News Agency (HRANA). A 38-year-old Christian woman, Bianka Zaia, was recently released on bail; she was arrested in late November for involvement in street demonstrations and "propaganda against the State. She too ended up in Evin prison. An Oxfam report confirms the use of Western-made weaponry used in Saudi-led Arab coalition attacks. A quarter of the 1,700 raids between January 2021 and February 2022 saw the exclusive use of weapons sold by London and Washington. 87 civilians were killed, 136 others wounded. Oman delegation tries to mediate the resumption of the fragile truce. Sana'a (AsiaNews) - A new report published in recent days by Oxfam activists, entitled "Fuelling Violence", once again confirms the extensive use of weapons and bombs sold by the United States and the United Kingdom to Riyadh and used to target the civilian population in Yemen. The data collected by the NGO speak of hundreds of attacks launched by the Saudi-led Arab coalition against the Houthis, supported by Tehran, and which end up causing innocent victims. A spiral of violence only partly contained by a fragile truce signed on 2 April last year, but which was not renewed on 2 October due to a lack of agreement on the payment of civil servants' salaries in rebel-held territories. An agreement on which UN, US and Omani envoys are mediating. A delegation from Mascate has arrived in the last few days to try to revive the ceasefire between the parties and avert further - and more substantial - bloodshed of civilians, including minors. The Oxfam report accuses London (and Washington) of fuelling a renewed 'climate of violence against civilians' in the Arab country through the sale and trade of arms to the Saudi-led coalition. Activists counted more than 1,700 attacks against the population between January 2021 and February 2022 - before the introduction of the ceasefire - and at least a quarter of these were carried out using only US and British-made weapons. In the reporting period, Oxfam says the coalition is responsible for at least 87 civilian deaths and a further 136 injured, as well as 19 attacks on hospitals, clinics and ambulances; these are joined by 293 raids that have forced civilians from their homes. "The sheer number of attacks on civilians is stark testament to the terrible tragedy the people of Yemen have suffered," said Martin Butcher, Oxfams policy advisor on arms and conflict and author of the report, in a statement. "Our analysis shows there is a pattern of violence against civilians, and all sides in this conflict have not done enough to protect civilian life, which they are obligated to do under International Humanitarian Law." The conflict flared up in 2014 as an internal clash between pro-Tehran Houthi rebels and Saudi-backed government forces; over the months it escalated into open warfare with the intervention of Riyadh in March 2015 at the head of a coalition of Arab nations and has claimed almost 400,000 lives in recent years. According to the UN, it has caused the 'worst humanitarian crisis in the world', on which the Covid-19 has had 'devastating' effects; millions of people are on the brink of starvation and children - 11,000 dead in the conflict - will suffer the consequences for decades. There are over three million internally displaced persons, most of them living in conditions of extreme misery, hunger and epidemics of various kinds, not least cholera. In the past, London has been at the centre of harsh criticism for its decision to continue arms sales to Saudi Arabia, despite concerns about human rights violations. In this regard, the Campaign Against the Arms Trade (Caat) was founded, which challenges the arms trade in the courtrooms and attempts to limit its sales. A ruling of the British High Court is expected at the end of the month, while a previous court action (in 2019) obtained a suspension - but only temporary - in the sale of arms, which was resumed in 2021. According to estimates by Caat experts, the real value of the trade between the parties is almost EUR 30 billion. After a short period of relative calmness, it seems that the Hot Wheels gold rush is on again. We've already gotten a glimpse of the new case of mainline cars, a set of premium vehicles and that's not all. Chances are that in a few days from now, Red Line Club members will be able to make an exclusive purchase but more on that soon. Meanwhile, we thought we'd give you more information on the upcoming Corvette mix which we knew was coming out for about two months now. 28 photos Photo: Ministry of Diecast EV AMG The W460 soldiered on until 1992. Two years prior, the W463 entered the scene with significantly revised everything. Assembled by contract manufacturer Magna Steyr in Austria, the W463 would receive a ground-up redesign in 2018 for the 2019 model year. The mid-cycle refresh is due to arrive in late 2023 for 2024, and with it, a full-electric G under the EQG nameplate will also roll out. Recently spied winter testing, the EQG has already been shown as a design study and pre-production prototype.Still a work in progress, the latest prototype wears black-and-blue camo with a topographic motif up front and anmotif out back. Although camouflaged like theres no tomorrow, the front grille is obviously different from the Gelandewagens internal combustion-powered variants.Be that as it may, the body-on-frame chassis of the EQG is closely related to that of its fossil-fuel brothers. The front bumper is also different, only a lil bit, and the same can be said about the rear bumper.The oval-shaped openings in the rear fenders are somewhat intriguing, but more intriguing still, theres no spare wheel attached to the side-opening tailgate. As far as the concept is concerned, the spare wheels place is taken by a square-ish storage box designed specifically for the charging cable. Given that Mercedes promised G-Class levels of off-road capability from the EQG, the real deal is expected with a spare wheel.Reportedly going on sale in 2024, the all-electric overlander is also expected to be priced higher than the G-Class. Estimates range from a starting price of $150,000 to $200,000 or thereabouts, which is top dollar for an electric vehicle that certainly wont blow your socks off in terms of driving range. The G 550 for the U.S. market, for example, tips the scales at 5,554 pounds or 2,519 kilograms if you prefer the metric system. Its pretty good compared to the 9,063-lb (4,111-kg) GMC Hummer EV, but still heavy, and the battery-electric variant is certain to be a lot heavier.On the upside, nobody is expected to take the EQG off the beaten path for hundreds of miles at a time. Battery aside, the additional weight also comes courtesy of no fewer than four electric motors. The Stuttgart-based automaker is coy on specifics, but we do know that different power levels are in the offing, including a full-blown performance model from Emmerich Schiller , the big kahuna of Mercedes-Benz G GmbH, let it slip that the 2024 Mercedes-AMG EQG will match the straight-line acceleration of the G 63 on the blacktop. To whom it may concern, the G 550 needs 5.6 seconds to reach 60 miles per hour (97 kilometers per hour), whereas the G 63 is listed with 4.5 seconds by the German automaker. Following a similar approach to other modern-day vehicles made by the Munich company, the all-new 2024 BMW X3 features a curved display, which is the dominating feature inside. Chances are that it mixes the 14.9-inch infotainment system with the 12.3-inch digital dials, which would be an improvement compared to the current screens that measure a little over 10 inches each in its predecessor.Another novelty represents the tiny gear selector positioned on the new center console. The switchgear has been revised, and there is a new flat-bottom steering wheel, with buttons controlling various functions of the car on it. The air vents were under wraps here, just like the entire dashboard panel, and the door cards for that matter. Nonetheless, everything will be new, including the seats, and some of the upholstery and trim.Expect a similar footprint for the Mercedes-Benz GLC, Alfa Romeo Stelvio, Porsche Macan, and Audi Q5 rival from BMW, which will look like an evolution of the current one . This prototypes exterior was heavily camouflaged, but we can still make out the shape of the grille, which wont be oversized and thank God for that. It is hard to tell if the headlamps are the final production units, but the taillights do seem to be provisional. The rear overhang appears to be a tiny bit shorter, and the roofline slightly more arched. Still, thanks to the cleverer packaging, it should offer more legroom for those sitting at the back, and a bigger cargo area behind them.Those who are not into electric vehicles will be glad to know that the next generation BMW X3 will still offer internal combustion units. As a matter of fact, it is said to be the last of its kind to feature motors powered by dead dinosaurs, and the list will likely comprise the usual 2.0-liter four-cylinder and 3.0-liter inline-six units. These will be joined by a few electrified assemblies, with plug-in capabilities, and by zero-emission variants that will add the i prefix. In terms of power, performance, and pricing, the family should still be topped by the sporty X3 M, which might be introduced a few months after the normal X3 models premiere.The unveiling date is yet unknown, but the all-new premium compact high-rider could be due in the coming months, and it should launch as a 2024 model stateside. However, Apple seems committed to improving Apple Maps on this front, so today, the company announced a free Business Connect tool whose purpose is to make it easier for businesses to customize their presence in Apple products.Including Apple Maps, that is, with Apples navigation app, therefore, getting capabilities that have been around for Google Maps users for quite some time.Starting today, businesses in the United States are allowed to customize their information cards on Apple Maps with key information, while also providing advanced options to customers, including ordering and reservation support.Furthermore, restaurants are now allowed to embed their menus right into the Apple Maps interface, while others will let customers buy tickets, see showtime information, and chat directly with a specific business.While some of these capabilities have been around for some time in Apple Maps, including ordering takeout, Apple is now making it a lot easier for businesses to add additional details and customize the way they look in the navigation app . This way, Apple hopes, it would eventually be easier for users to discover certain places and therefore no longer leave the app for common tasks.But as with everything Apple Maps, this new update comes with a series of shortcomings. First and foremost, the new options are only available in the United States, as Apple continues to focus on its home market more than on any other region. The company, however, promises to bring the same features to the rest of the world in the coming months, but of course, youd better not hold your breath for this right now.In some ways, these updates appear to suggest that the end of the Yelp integration into Apple Maps is just around the corner. Apple seems to be working non-stop on reducing its reliance on third-party companies, not only when it comes to services, but also in terms of software and hardware.The development of the iPhone is living proof in this regard. Apple is hard at work on creating its very own 5G modem chip, with people familiar with the matter revealing that the first iPhone with in-house silicon is projected to go live in 2024. At the same time, Apple also wants to give up on Samsung displays and therefore equip the iPhone with its very own screens. For now, however, all of these are long-term plans, so expect a similar approach in terms of other products, including software and services, as well. We experience the same thing, kind of, in the auto industry, where every four-or-so years, car models get refreshed with new generations and, implicitly, new technologies. Unlike what happens in the auto industry though, upgrades to military planes seem a bit more chaotic in terms of timing.The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is one of the newer planes around, and one of very few fifth-gen aircraft ever produced. It was first flown in 2006 and entered service with various U.S. military branches at different times and in different configurations: the U.S. Marine Corps got their F-35B in 2015, the U.S. Air Force received the F-35A one year later, and the U.S. Navy started flying the F-35C in 2019.By all accounts, the plane is not one youd think is in need of updating, being so young and all, but youd be wrong. In fact, it has been constantly improved and work on it is unlikely to stop anytime soon, given current global challenges.There are many ways the military is planning to improve the capabilities of the plane, including by giving it better sensor suites, better electronic warfare features, and equip them with more long-range precision weapons. All of these and more (to a total of 75 upgrades) are part of the Block 4 suite of changes coming to these planes over the following years.But before the planes start receiving the new hardware, their operators have to make sure theyll be able to handle it. For that, something the USAF calls computational horsepower had to be devised.Officially called Technology Refresh 3 (TR-3), the suite updates the planes core processing power and memory capacity to be able to handle the upcoming software needed to operate Block 4.Were only now learning of this, but on January 6, an F-35 Lightning flew out of Edwards Air Force Base in California with TR-3 installed. It was the first flight ever of an F-35 in this configuration.According to the USAF, the flight lasted for 50 minutes and was performed with a specially instrumented flight test aircraft flown by pilot with the 461st Flight Test Squadron. The F-35 flew at heights of 35,000 feet (10 km) and reached speeds just under the speed of sound (767 mph/1,234 kph), heading out over the Mojave Desert.The mission was the first of what the Air Force calls an extensive flight test campaign that will continue throughout the year to ensure safety and prove warfighting capabilities. When fully operational, TR-3 and Block 4 should turn the F-35 into an almost unbeatable beast, capable to survive against all odds when faced with air, ground, and cyber threats.We only hope these planes and the pilots flying them will never get to use this power. EV kWh If you ask people why they still avoid buying an electric vehicle, chances are they would mention the limited range and the long time needed to recharge as the key reasons. The high prices and the limited charging infrastructure are likely two other reasons to postpone joining therevolution. With such preconceptions, its no wonder people still mock electric vehicles as not real cars.Nissan tries to change this perception with the most unlikely challenge: going pole to pole in an electric vehicle. This is a 27,000-km (16,777-mile) journey, which has never been attempted before in any kind of vehicle. The Japanese carmaker partnered with the British adventurer Chris Ramsey and his wife, Julie Ramsey, and put a Nissan Ariya e-4ORCE on the table to demonstrate that electric vehicles can be as good as any other at taking long trips.If youre unfamiliar with the Ramseys, they are the couple that took a Nissan Leaf on a 56-day journey from the United Kingdom to Siberia in 2017. Because a similar trip is not possible today for obvious reasons, the couple will attempt a pole-to-pole expedition, which is arguably more challenging. For this, they will use a heavily modified Nissan Ariya e-4ORCE , toughened up to resist the most extreme conditions from pole to pole and everything in between.Nissan will fit the Ariya e-4ORCE with a custom rugged exterior , complete with raised suspension and flared wheel arches to accommodate larger off-road tires. The additional protective plates are aimed at offering protection in the most extreme conditions. The Ariya and its crew will likely face torrential rains, mud fields, steep mountains, and temperatures ranging from -30 degrees Celsius (-22 degrees Fahrenheit) to 30 degrees Celsius (86 F) in its path.The car is not yet ready, although Nissan promised to reveal it in February, about a month before the pole-to-pole adventure is planned to start. The 27,000-km journey will follow the American continents from the northernmost regions of Canada all the way to Antarctica. The e-4ORCE all-wheel drive system is crucial in completing the trip, thanks to its impressive balance between powerful performance and unprecedented control.If youre wondering how on Earth the Ramseys will be able to charge the Ariya during their trip, dont forget theyve already accomplished a similar feat with a less competent EV . Whenever an electrical grid and charging infrastructure are in place, the couple will use them. Solar and wind energy will be used to charge the battery for the broad swathes of land and ice where electricity does not exist. Since Ariya has a 65-battery, it might take a while to recharge, but it will eventually have enough charge to continue the trip. SUV Euro NCAP had the busiest-ever year in 2022, with dozens of car models tested for crash safety. The end of the year has been particularly packed as carmakers rushed to have their new cars tested according to 2022 regulations. As tougher rules were enacted in 2023, many feared their cars would not qualify for a five-star rating under new conditions. With so many car models tested, it was harder than ever to name the best-in-class vehicles.The winners achieved the highest overall scores based on their results in the Adult Occupant Protection, Child Occupant Protection, Vulnerable User Protection, and Safety Assist categories. Unlike previous years, the 2022 list of achievers surprisingly includes several cars from one carmaker and newcomers to the European market manufactured by Chinese companies. Even more surprisingly, no European or Japanese company managed to gain a top spot in their respective car segments.2022 has been one of Euro NCAPs busiest years yet, and we have seen a lot of new car makers and new technologies, said Michiel van Ratingen, Euro NCAPs Secretary General. Its clear a good Euro NCAP rating is seen by car manufacturers as critical to success in Europe. This can only mean better safety equipment and safer cars for European consumers all around.Tesla is the big winner of the 2022 Best-in-Class award, having scored three wins in the Small Off-Roader category with the Model Y and Executive Car and Pure Electric categories with the Model S. Tesla has positioned itself from the start as a safety champion, with the Model 3 also winning the top spot on the safest cars in Europe in 2019. For 2022, Tesla Model S and Model Y are both high achievers in Adult Occupant Protection, and both vehicles achieved the highest score of 98% in Safety Assist of all the cars in this list.Euro NCAP has a special mention for Chinese carmakers , which impressed throughout 2022 with their safety scores. Its no wonder that two Chinese vehicles are on the 2022 Best-in-Class list, a result that is even more impressive after Chinese manufacturers struggled in the safety department in the past. Several five-star Chinese vehicles are selling in Europe now, showing that Chinese companies can compete on safety with well-established European brands.Not only that, but they can be even better, considering that no European brand is on 2022s list. The ORA Funky Cat is the Small Family Car category winner, thanks to its exceptional safety equipment. The Chinese car outperformed several familiar brands to get at the top of its class. WEY Coffee 01 also won in the Large Off-Roader category after a brilliant performance in all categories. The Chineseoutperformed the Lexus RX as far as safety is concerned, which is no small feat.Hyundai Ioniq 6 is the fifth model on the Best-in-Class 2022 list, becoming the safest Large Family Car tested last year. The fully-electric sedan impressed with an Adult Occupant Protection score of 97%, achieved thanks to the latest safety technologies. The Ioniq 6 also provided good protection for all critical body regions of both the six- and ten-year dummies in the frontal offset and side barrier tests and scored maximum points in the child occupant assessment. Trikala to pilot use of 'delivery droids' in its city centrehttps://t.co/RhnRLD5oqx pic.twitter.com/W1lBWEbTKl ANA-MPA news (@amna_newseng) January 8, 2023 That Sci-Fi vision that was reflected in so many movies and even cartoons over the last decades is slowly becoming reality. We have four-legged robots accompanying troops or even walking on a leash in city centers, androids that create art, drones that deliver cargo, and all kinds of robots kindly offering services in various public venues (even onboard cruise ships). In other words, robots moving in different ways will soon be swarming everywhere.By the end of last year, Amazon was ready to finally kick off drone deliveries, after years of planning. Its MK30 drone for the Prime Air service is only one of the most recent examples of delivery unmanned aircraft, which are not limited to the commercial sector (the military has also been testing various cargo drones for years).Things get a bit more complicated when unmanned machines are supposed to perform the same type of tasks on the ground. They face similar challenges to robotaxis, on a smaller scale ground-based delivery robots dont typically need to deal with traffic regulations, but still need to make their way through crowded pedestrian areas that are full of potential obstacles.This is why any kind of outdoor robot meant for public services needs to be introduced gradually, after several tests. One of these cute little guys is currently showing what it can do in the Greek town of Trikala.It aims to carry and deliver various goods in multiple city centers someday. For now, it practices delivering newspapers, mail, and small packages, from suppliers to local shops in Trikala. And it started out with something even easier delivering letters from kids to Santa Claus, before Christmas (a mission organized by the local Elves Mill).These are the initial phases of a pilot project carried on within a European program called SHOW, which supports automation in urban transport. e-Trikala, the citys Development Agency, is working with two universities (the Research Institute of Communication and Computer Systems EPISEY and the University of Geneva) to test and implement this delivery droids operation.The robot itself comes from YAPE Mobility, an Italian brand. Its been around for several years, and has proven its worth by working with important customers, including multiple airports.A two-wheeled machine thats about the height of a wheelchair, YAPE can carry up to 20 kg (44 lbs) in its safe container that can only be accessed via a face recognition system. Its batteries are enough to ensure a 40-km (25 miles) range, and a speedy delivery at maximum 20 kph (12.4 mph). And thats only in stock form, because when modified, most of the time, the Iron turns into an even more aggressive beast. True, we dont get to see modified bikes from this family all that often, but when we do, such projects are bound to stick with us, at least for a while.And heres an Iron now. Its not a 2022 model year, but one made back in 2019. And despite its makers, the guys over at Spanish shop Lord Drake , saying this is one of the simplest custom motorcycle modifications that we have made, it looks so out of place and weird to a stock Iron that it made us cringe.The main reason for that is the fuel tank. Were not talking about some convoluted piece of hardware made from scratch, or some piece found in some junkyard and slapped in there. Its the stock one, and because of that its weird not in design, but in the way it was positioned on the bike, and how it relates to the other elements.You see, the stock Iron 883 has a solid image because of all the elements that go into making it flow one into another and fit great together. The Lord Drake custom ride, simply called Iron Red, is a bulky, muscular build that holds together just right only until the bike is viewed from the side.The reasons for this are the modifications made to the tank itself, but also to the rear end. The tank, still retaining the candy red paint it came with, was raised by an undisclosed distance, making it look like it did not come with this particular motorcycle, but was hastily slapped onto the frame from elsewhere.Theres nothing wrong with it per se, but the shop trimmed everything that comes aft of the tank to such a degree that theres now a huge disconnect when it comes to visual coherence.The seat was replaced with a Biltwell piece (the same crew supplied the grips), a move made possible as a result of a subframe trimming, and the original fender was replaced with a tiny one. These elements fit the rest of the bike nicely, but they do tend to make the fuel tank stick out like some huge red mole on its back.Aside from the changes mentioned above, the Iron received a Rough Crafts air filter, a side license plate holder, massaged front fender, and front indicators located inside the drag bar handlebars cones. The engine is still the stock one, remapped to undisclosed levels of performance and spinning the stock wheels.The price of this weird conversion is not known. For reference, a 2022 Iron 883 sells new and unchanged for $11,249. At the time of writing, the Japanese offer American riders a solid mix of two-wheelers, covering almost all the segments and genres, from minomotos to adventure and from scooters to cruisers. This weeks announcement concerns existing bikes from the sport, standard, adventure, dual sport and cruiser segments making a comeback.In essence, we dont get news of some exciting new model being introduced, but theres a certain comfort in knowing some of the most appreciated bikes around will still be available for the next 365 days or so.In all, eight models have been confirmed to still be on the table in 2023 (more will be announced at a later date, probably), from the CB and XR ranges, but also the Fury. None of the eight seems to come with significant upgrades, but pricing info was released, so at least now we know what to expect to spend on some Honda motorcycles this year.The cheapest model announced for 2023 is the standard/naked CB500F, which is celebrating its tenth anniversary on the market this year. Priced at $6,799 (a $100 bump from this years prices), it will be available starting next month in Matte Gray Metallic and with the same twin-cylinder engine in its frame.The bike coming to the market the fastest in the 2023 model year configuration is the XR650L dual-sport, to be sold starting later this month. It is priced the same as before, $6,999, and is available only in white, also like before.We'll see next month, aside from the introduction of the aforementioned 2023 Honda CB500F, a flood of other bikes that are being kept in production. The CBR650R sport middleweight is returning in February $100 more expensive (priced at $9,899), but now offered in Grand Prix Red, and so is the CB650R standard, with the same $100 price bump to $9,399, and draped in Matte Gray Metallic.Hondas adventure CB500X will continue to bring a mix between urban riding and off-road thrills for $7,299 and wearing Peal Organic Green overalls from February too, and so is the CB1000R . The naked is the most expensive ride announced by Honda for the new model year, retailing from $12,999 and available for now only in black.Although introduced this week, the 2023 CBR500R will only become available next summer, for a price that starts at $7,299 (presently $7,199). Unlike the others on this list, the sport bike will be offered in two color combinations, Grand Prix Red and Sword Silver Metallic.Last on the list, but certainly not last in riders hearts, is the 2023 Honda Fury, the perfect ride for the ultimate cruiser experience as Honda likes to say. Currently priced at $11,449, it gets only a $50 price bump and no other changes (and were happy the Pearl Yellow color remains).And thats about all there is to Hondas first 2023 update. Given whats going on in the world, going for $100 price bumps for the new model year motorcycles, even without them making significant changes, doesnt seem all that exaggerated. Were looking forward to what the Japanese have planned next. The vessel in question is the latest build from luxury shipyard Oceanco, previously known as Y721 or Project 721 . Its a sailing yacht, a three-mast schooner on its way to becoming the largest of its kind in the world once its delivered, and the largest vessel to have been built in the Netherlands. It is also famous because its (allegedly) commissioned by none other than Jeff Bezos, at a mind-blowing cost of $500 million. Y721 is often described as a megayacht because of its size. At 127 meters (417 feet) in total length, it ranks among the worlds largest builds, and if online reports are anything to go by, it will also match the megayacht title in terms of luxury amenities. Since its a sailing yacht, it cant carry too many toys so, in typical billionaire fashion, Bezos (or whoever the owner is) also commissioned a shadow vessel: a very capable superyacht explorer that is actually a luxury vessel on its own.Last time we reported on Y721, it was back in Rotterdam, moored at the Oceanco dock and awaiting delivery to the owner. The shipyard never pinpointed an exact date for that, but reports say it should happen in the first two months of the year.Further indication that delivery is nearing comes from the fact that Y721 has turned on AIS (automatic identification system) and is broadcasting its position. AIS is mandatory for ships of 300 gross metric tons and larger, during international travel, because it makes them visible to authorities and other vessels. If Y721 is broadcasting its position, its probably preparing for its maiden voyage.Moreover, Y721 is now broadcasting its position under a new name, which is one more clue that its nearing the delivery date . It is now called Koru, a Maori word used for the spiral shape of the unfurling fern frond, which symbolizes new beginnings, but also harmony and balanced growth. On January 2, Bezos himself hinted at the name in a now-deleted post on his Instagram, including a photo of the spiraled plant and a caption that spoke of personal growth, renewal, rebirth, and paying attention to each moment in your life. The message ended with Bezos urging his followers to Celebrate and grow.Theres a saying about how there are no such things as coincidences in this world, and the fact that Bezos posted about Koru at about the same time that his alleged megayacht Y721 changed name to Koru is probably not going to get you believing in them. But more details on this should come to light very soon, as delivery of the already-iconic and controversial Y721 goes through. Lectric eBikes CEO Levi Conlow has revealed on a social media post that the company has been working on an electric trike, the first three-wheeler in its portfolio. The post comes accompanied by just one photo of the upcoming product, but a sticker on the e-trike seems to suggest it will be launched as part of the XP line, bearing the name Lectric XP Trike.Though its a relatively new player in the e-bike industry, Lectric has established itself as a market leader by offering its electric mobility solutions at a highly competitive price. For instance, the XP 3.0 Long-Range Series, which provides a range of up to 65 miles, is available for $1,199, while the XP Lite Series starts at just $799, offering value that is very hard to match. And there is also the Lectric XP 3.0 e-bike, a dual-passenger e-bike that costs just $999.True to its reputation, it appears the e-bike manufacturer plans to adopt an equally economical approach with its upcoming XP Trike. According to the short announcement on Facebook, the e-trike will be offered with a price tag of just $1,499. If we were to compare this to the latest major e-trike launch, the RadTrike from Rad Power Bikes , Letrics upcoming offering will be $1,000 cheaper.Though details on the Lectric XP Trike are scarce for the moment, it is already clear that it has so much more to offer compared to its competitors. For instance, it has a 14 Ah battery (voltage is not mentioned) and hydraulic brakes front and rear, helping provide higher performance. Moreover, it is equipped with a rear hub motor that drives both wheels through a differential axle instead of a front hub motor for single-wheel front drive.As Lectric eBikes fans already know, the companys e-bikes are fully foldable. The same is valid for the XP Trike. The three-wheeler will be fully foldable, but will arrive fully assembled, so you wont need any tools or technical knowledge to put it together.It might have a few inconveniences, though, like the fact that it does not have suspension and also lacks a larger tractor seat saddle, but the sharp design and killer price might make up for those.According to Levi Conlows Facebook post , more details on the Lectric XP Trike will be revealed on January 13, so well keep an eye out for the official reveal. South Africa: Back to school for learners in inland schools The 2023 academic school year for the majority of learners in inland schools has commenced today with a number of leaders conducting oversight visits to various schools to monitor their overall readiness. Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, is today monitoring the opening of schools in Johannesburg, Gauteng. The Minister is currently visiting Cosmo City Primary School, Cosmo City Secondary school, Diepsloot Primary school and Sunrise Secondary school. Speaking at Diepsloot Primary School, Minister Motshekga welcomed learners back to school while encouraging them to study hard and focus on academics. The Minister pleaded with parents to assist their children with homework and reading. I wish you a successful academic year. This is the most important phase in our education. When you get home, you must assist our learners and check if they have done their homework. When we assist each other with the teacher and school governing body, nothing will defeat us, Motshekga said. The Deputy Minister of Basic Education, Dr Reginah Mhaule, accompanied by MEC for Transport and Community Safety, Florence Radzilani, will be monitoring the opening of schools in Limpopo today. Meanwhile, the Gauteng Provincial Government, led by Premier Panyaza Lesufi, will today lead the school reopening programme to mark the start of the 2023 academic year. Premier Lesufi and Education MEC Matome Chiloane will activate the Back-to-School campaign and officiate the handover of Mapenane Secondary School in Ga-Rankuwa, Tshwane. Members of the Executive Council are also participating in oversight visits at several schools across the province to observe the first day of teaching and learning and conduct oversight visits to Early Childhood Development Centres (ECDs) to gauge their preparedness. In terms of learner placements, Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane yesterday said the department is working as quickly as possible to place Grade 1 and 8 learners who have yet to be assigned a school. He was speaking at a media briefing to provide an update on learner placements and the departments readiness for the new academic year. The department has already placed at least 290 751 learners with some 1 394 remaining. Chiloane urged parents especially those in pressure areas to be patient as the department works through the applications. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2023-01-11. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. AWD Lexus launched the RC coupe and the RC F performance coupe in 2014, which means the coupe has grown a little long in the tooth. The Japanese luxury carmaker is not yet ready to replace the aging duo, but this doesnt mean it plans to neglect it altogether. For the 2023 model year, the Lexus RC and RC F receive a mild update , with the biggest change being on the inside. The luxury coupe also introduces new colors, appearance packages, and minor tweaks, not to mention a $1,500 price bump.The standard RC coupe continues to be available as RC 300 and RC 350, both in RWD andvariants. The RC 300 counts on a 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-four engine delivering 241 horsepower to the rear wheels via an eight-speed Sport Direct-Shift automatic transmission. The RC 300 AWD pairs a 260-horsepower 3.5-liter V6 engine with a six-speed automatic transmission.The same engine delivers 311 horsepower thanks to a dual direct and port fuel injection in the RC 350 and RC 350 AWD. The former relies on an eight-speed Sport Direct-Shift transmission, while the AWD version features a six-speed automatic transmission.The F Sport trim of the RC 350 also offers an optional Torsen limited-slip rear differential to help maximize drivers ability to power out of corners. New for the 2023 model year, an exclusive F Sport Special Appearance Package is available with a bi-tone exterior color combination, including an optional Incognito body color paired with an Obsidian roof/hood and 19 dark-finish Enkei alloy wheels.The Lexus RC F continues in 2023 with GT3-inspired looks and a naturally aspirated 5.0-liter V8 producing 472 horsepower. This impressive powerplant pairs with an eight-speed Sport Direct-Shift transmission with downshift rev-matching. The current RC F Track Edition will continue in 2023, but will feature the new optional Incognito body color, as well as new Hitachi shocks. As before, an RC F Carbon Package will be offered for the 2023 model year.As nice as all these modest updates are, they are obscured by the modifications to the infotainment system. The new touchscreen, in particular, will make future RC owners very happy, considering that the touchpad interface hasnt made many fans along the way. Standard, an 8-inch screen is offered on the RC and RC F models, although a bigger 10.3-inch screen will also be available to order.Pricing for the 2023 Lexus RC starts at $45,470 for the rear-wheel drive RC 300, which is $1,500 more expensive than the 2022 equivalent. The RC 350 starts at $48,400, whereas the sporty RC F will set you back $67,845. If youre a true Lexus fan, you can opt for the RC F Track Edition, which is considerably more expensive at $100,720. Photo: Boeing Photo: Mark Hodson/flickr Airplanes are the safest way to travel across the world and the U.S. airspace . But in order to stay this way, all the systems have to work flawlessly. Most of the time, these systems are doubled by other safety measures that help airplanes reach their destination in the safest possible way. This time, though, one of the most important systems failed. It's crucial and cannot be safely doubled by anything else, at least not for the heavy air traffic over the U.S.This key system is known as NOTAMS, or Notice to Air Missions. It helps ground control to communicate with pilots while flying. Thanks to it, there is harmony in take-off and landing as well as coordinating flights all over the U.S.-controlled air space. Through it, pilot find out if there is an available landing slot or not or if a guidance system on their way to the next airport is working properly or not.Meanwhile, the FAA is struggling to find a solution. At the time of the press, they announced that they have already started to work on it and repopulate the system. But these things are very time-consuming and cannot be rushed by any means. That's why there are tens of thousands of delays, and the situation might get worse before will get better. Moreover, after the system will be completely back online and provide the necessary information, the whole timetable will be turned upside down due to the previous delays. Therefore, it is safe to say that some flights might even be canceled today since the airplanes cannot reach their next departure airport in time to prepare for the next take-off.Another big problem is with the aircraft that are coming from abroad and need to land at U.S. airports. While some might be rerouted to Canada, others will have to land. Fortunately, thanks to radars and other radio altimeters, these planes can still land as long as there is no heavy traffic in the sky.From take-off to landing, airplanes rely on various systems. Besides the GPS-guided routes, pilots need to know about cloud formations long before they'll meet them to either change altitude or their course. If, at the same time, there are other airplanes in the area that are trying to do the same, and they don't know about each other, that may lead to serious problems.In addition, when approaching an airport, pilots need to know on which runway and when they can land. There is a specific timing between aircraft, known as a slot, that cannot be reduced. Also, an aircraft cannot stay too much in the air until it can land. So it's not like they can park them in the sky and wait for an empty slot.Considering that a Boeing 737 lands at about 145 knots (167 mph or 269 kph), there is little room for error. Different aircraft have to land at a higher or slower speed, so there might be a chance that one can catch up with the one in front of it, leading to a disaster. To avoid that, the NOTAMS system is crucial. Still, FAA announced that aircraft in the air should rely on other safety systems, which will work better if fewer airplanes are in the U.S.-controlled air space.Meanwhile, the Department of Transportation (DOT) started an investigation into the matter. According to White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, "there is no evidence of a cyberattack at this point, but the President directed DOT to conduct a full investigation into the causes." As expected, there might be many reasons why this is happening, and a cyberattack cannot be dismissed by default.This problem came after other issues happened in the previous weeks when a winter storm hit and caused massive disruptions at the end of 2022, during the end-of-the-year holidays.The system was slowly getting back online later on, and FAA announced that it resumed operations in the Atlanta and Newark airports "due to air traffic congestion in those areas. We expect departures to resume at other airports at 9 a.m. ET."More than 32,500 flights were affected by the NOTAMS outage, and everything will get back to normal, but don't expect miracles. Fortunately, no accidents were reported, so the aircraft still remained the safest way to travel. Still, if you have other ways of transportation, you might go out and find a car to rent before they go out of stock.And don't rush to a supercar dealer since the chip shortage left them out of cars as well long before this outage happened, and car sellers are adding huge markups over the MSRPs. VTOL Its funny to think about the fact that helicopters were once the new type of aircraft that people looked at with suspicion and admiration. That was way back in the twentieth century, with the American Helicopter Society founded in 1943, in support of the young industry. Today, helicopters are slowly starting to become outdated, even if there are still some attempts to come up with fresh concepts here and there.According to the current trends, helicopters are too polluting, noisy, bulky, and expensive to maintain. This is why they should retire, and make way for their electric counterparts the sleek, quiet, zero-emission eVTOLs . Keeping up with these changes, the old American Helicopter Society changed its name to VFS, a more generic title that allows it to embrace all the hybrid or entirely new machines that have sprung from the helicopter legacy.Almost a decade ago, VFS was almost in the same position as it had been half a century ago. It was in 2014 when it organized the first eVTOL in the world. The idea of an aircraft that combines the capabilities of a helicopter with those of an airplane, while powered only by electric motors, was still very new.Fast forward to the beginning of 2023, and VFS claims to have more than 760 eVTOL concepts cataloged in its unique World eVTOL Aircraft Directory. Its also worth noting that 120 of these were registered in 2022 alone. This clearly shows the growing momentum in this emerging industry. In just a couple of years, weve seen a huge number of new eVTOL designs, as well as eVTOL-related developments, such as vertiport concepts and specific air traffic management software.Also, almost 50 new companies in this sector have joined VFS last year, with the nonprofits company membership now adding up to 183. Almost half of them have joined only in the last five years again, demonstrating the rapid expansion in this aviation field.Since that first event that was only a simple meeting for folks in the eVTOL community, VFS has also come to hold the worlds largest and oldest eVTOL industry event. This is the Annual VFS ElectricSymposium, reuniting not just industry players, but also government officials.This year, the Symposium is taking place in Mesa, Arizona, by the end of this month (January 24-26). In addition to eVTOL manufacturers, such as Archer , Joby, Overair, Wisk, Lilium, attendants can also expect to hear from government representatives, including NASA and DARPA. SUV Seats deliveries fell 18.1% compared to 2021, from 470,000 to 385,600 cars, and the main reason for this decrease was supply shortages. Faced with continuing semiconductors and parts shortages, Seat made the strategic decision to prioritize higher-margin Cupra models over Seat vehicles. Even though that affected the sales of Seat cars, the move turned out to be beneficial for Cupra. The company believes this switch was essential for its long-term stability.Cupra currently has five road cars available and two track machines, with future models planned. Cupra sales nearly doubled compared to the previous year 152,900 units were delivered, a 92.7% difference from the 79,300 offered in 2021. That means its models accounted for 39.6% of the total Seat sales. Since its creation in 2018, Cupra has sold around 300,000 vehicles.The brand cemented its position as one of Europes fastest-growing brands. Since the brand's models are either all-electric or hybrid, it fits in perfectly with the electrification trend the automotive industry is currently experiencing.Out of all Cupra models, the Formentor was the best-selling vehicle in 2022. The brands first standalone model sold 97,600 vehicles, accounting for 63.8% of Cupras sales and more than a quarter of the parent companys sales. The second most popular Cupra model was the all-electric Born introduced in 2021, 31,400 units were delivered.The most significant sales increase experienced by Cupra in Europe was in Austria the brand sold 5,400 cars, a 157.6% growth compared to 2021. Globally, it enjoyed a staggering 879.6% increase in Turkey, albeit were talking about a small number of 2,800 units sold last year. Other key markets are Germany (58,400), the UK (14,400), France (7,600), and Switzerland (5,000).Seats high-performance brand isnt slowing down in 2022, it expanded to the Australian market and set up new City Garages in Lisbon, Rotterdam, and Sydney. Future plans include branching out its global network to Paris, Madrid, and Berlin. Furthermore, this year, Cupra will release its first all-electric sporty, the Tavascan , and will increase the offering for its existing models.36 years after being publicly listed as an independent car manufacturer, in 1986, Seat was sold by the Spanish government to the VW Group. This move is still reflected in todays regional sales. Germany continues to be Seat's leading market. 105,300 cars were sold, a tiny 1.2% increase from 2021 (104,100).However, Seat continues to be popular in Spain , the companys second-largest market, where it sold 62,900 vehicles, a 23.1% decrease compared to the previous year (81,800). Then, theres the UK, with 36,600 units sold.Next up, Italy surpassed France as Seats fourth-largest market 25,300 vehicles sold, 8.6% less than in 2021 (27,600). Sales in France have taken quite a drastic fall of 31.1%, from 31,200 to 21,500. The Seat Arona maintained its position as the best-selling model, followed by the Ibiza and the Leon.Seats range of vehicles will also enjoy upgrades and updates, and two new eScooters will be launched: the Seat MO 125 Performance and a new version of the Seat MO 50 EV Teslas first attempt to get rid of the serious accusations was a direct request for the Alameda County Superior Court judge to throw out Californias complaint. Themakers main argument was that the civil rights department did not try to solve the situation with Tesla before suing and did not provide enough information about what was wrong in the companys plants and offices in the state. It did not work.The second attempt not to face a judge was to use an opposing lawsuit arguing that the DFEH legal action was unlawful, but that also did not go as planned. According to Bloomberg, judge Evelio Grillo filed a tentative ruling throwing out Teslas counterclaims. He also told Tesla it could revise and refile its claims until February 3, possibly trying to give the EV maker another chance to present a more convincing case.It does not seem that Tesla will manage to dismiss the racism accusations. The company is facing several other lawsuits based on the same problem. In at least two of them, it already lost. Owen Diaz initially won $136.9 million, but the EV maker appealed the decision, managed to reduce the damages to $15 million, and will face a new jury trial to define new compensations to the former contractor. Tesla tried to overturn the racism conviction, but the court said that has already been proven: the only dispute is defining how much it owes Diaz for what he went through in Fremont.Apart from racism, Tesla is also facing a lawsuit for allowing sexual harassment on its premises. The Rolling Stone magazine managed to talk to five of the seven women who are suing the EV maker, and what they shared was terrifying. Having to build a fortress with boxes in the workstation, or running from a drunk co-worker in a parking lot are just two examples of things these female Tesla employees had to endure to keep what they deemed good-paying jobs. They eventually gave up, some of them suffering from depression and other health issues.In common, all racism and sexual harassment cases were reported to Teslas human resources department, but nothing changed. The EV makers Vice President of People at the time was an Afro-American lady who defended the company when it was convicted in Diazs case. Valerie Capers Workman left Tesla about one year ago. In the end, the DFEH lawsuit which Bloomberg (requires subscription) reported may be just another one. Tesla may have to write more blog posts to cope with all of them. kWh Photo: Tevva EV Tevva is a British technology company and truck manufacturer focused on leading the electric charge with various vehicles that meet a vast range of duty cycles and applications. The company also focuses on optimizing green hydrogen solutions and claims its hydrogen fuel-cell range extension technology allows its EVs to do all the work of a diesel.The brand currently has two products available: the 7.5t Electric and the 7.5t Hydrogen Electric. The difference between these two is the range extension tech I mentioned above. The rest of the specs, such as dimensions and maximum power, remain the same, while the payload capacity is just slightly decreased.So, let me tell you more about the truck. It offers up to 140 miles (227 km) of range from its 105battery. Of course, given its relatively small range, the vehicle is ideal for urban and last-mile delivery fleets. This electric vehicle resulted from seven years of engineering and more than 200,000 miles (350,000 km) of in-fleet trials.The 7.5t Electric has already hit the roads, as deliveries started in Autumn 2022. Tevva claims the vehicle has a body and payload allowance of 2,718 kg (5,992 lbs.) and a platform capacity of 15 Euro Pallets. Furthermore, the truck's battery takes about five hours to charge to 90%.The hydrogen range extender really makes a difference to the truck's range it more than doubles it to a maximum of 354 miles (570 km). But you might think, "Why hydrogen?" Well, hydrogen fuel complements battery electric charging the cells produce electricity by combining hydrogen and oxygen atoms. They only emit water vapor and warm air and are easy to refill. Hydrogen technology is currently used across the globe, but we're very far from mass adoption, and electrification seems to lead the charge toward an emission-free future.Tevva recognizes that customers face various challenges when using hydrogen, such as estimating needs or finding refueling stations. That's why customers can sign up for Tevva Hydrogen Services and benefit from a simple, turnkey solution. The company will help them identify if hydrogen use is a good fit and help implement its zero-emission trucks where needed.The European Community Whole Vehicle Type Approval marks a significant step in Tevva's growth the brand can now produce and sell in volume across Europe and the UK. It was no easy feat, as theunderwent 30 systems tests, including electric safety and electromagnetic compatibility, to get the green light.The Founder and CEO of Tevva, Asher Bennett, said, "We are on a mission to make sustainable trucks accessible at scale and believe our technology will empower the transport sector and the governments of Europe to meet their net-zero goals. By embracing both hydrogen and electric fuel sources, we can rethink the energy mix in transport, reduce strain on our electricity grid and accelerate electric truck adoption."Tevva expects to sell up to 1,000 vehicles in 2023 and continue to scale up. The hydrogen-electric trucks will follow later this year. If you'd like to find out more about their range of products and technologies, you can check out Tevva's official website Photo: Detroit Bike Photo: Detroit Bike Photo: Detroit Bike This is the DB-E, the first electric bicycle from Michigan-based maker Detroit Bike. The name stands for Detroit Bike Electric, and while its not the most original, at least it gets straight to the point: this a relatively standard-looking Detroit Bike product, infused with European tech to render it more efficient on the daily commute In the early months of the nightmare year that was 2020, when social distancing and all types of restrictions were the norm and e-bikes became more popular as people were looking for faster, more convenient ways of getting around town, there was some beef between real cyclists and cheaters who rode electric. Perhaps the beef is still happening today, but its definitely less bitter because e-bikes have become standard in crowded urban environments from all over the world.In those early days, it was somewhat of a goal for bike makers to build e-bikes that closely resembled a traditional, pedal-powered bike, and whenever they did, it made headlines around the world. Again, given the way e-bikes have inserted themselves into our daily commute, this is probably not the case anymore with manufacturers. But if Detroit Bike wanted, they could claim an achievement in this sense.That said, the DB-E comes with a much higher goal, that of changing the way you think about electric bikes. It aims to do that by means of a conventional-looking frame and a sleek silhouette, a very light weight, and all the functionality of an e-bike . Its having your cake and eating it: an e-bike that looks like a regular bicycle, but will save you the sweat and the effort of pedaling when you dont want to.Introduced earlier this year and available for pre-order right now, with an estimated delivery date of mid-March (just in time for some spring riding!), the DB-E is the result of a partnership with Italian company ZEHUS. If the latter name rings a bell, its because its pretty famous on the Old Continent, due to its revolutionary ZEHUS AIO Bike+ system, an all-in-one solution favored by bike manufacturers who want a sleeker, lighter product.The same system and ZEHUS tech are integrated into the Vello Titanium bike , which we covered on a previous occasion, after its introduction as the folding bike with unlimited range. Unlike that one, the DB-E wont break the bank.The DB-E is basically a Detroit Bike frame welded, powder-coated, and assembled in Detroit, so its the closest thing youre going to get to a USA-made bicycle as ever with Bike+ tech and a Veer belt drive. The 250 W motor and the battery are integrated into the rear hub, which comes with wireless connectivity. The Bitride app is integrated, and all control and customizing of each ride is done on the phone, so there is no need for a display on the handlebars. Due to the ZEHUS Bike+ system, the bike is free of cables and protrusions, so you could almost mistake it for a conventional one. As long as you dont look at the rear wheel, that is.The Veer belt drive is cleaner and more reliable than a chain, while also lighter. According to the maker, it sits on case-hardened, nickel-plated cogs that are two times harder than regular steel, so it should have a longer lifecycle as well.The Bike+ also integrates Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS), which extends the range by as much as 20%. Detroit Bike says the estimated per charge range is 20 miles (32 km) in the strongest power mode or 35 miles (56 km) in Eco mode. In total, there are four modes: no motor assistance, Eco, Turbo, and Turbo Custom, which is customized (duh) by each rider within the app.The biggest downside to using the Bike+ system is the maximum speed, at least for U.S. riders. Over in Europe, you can only ride an electric bicycle without an additional license if its top speed is electronically capped at 25 kph (15.5 mph), so this is also the top speed of the DB-E. To compensate, Detroit Bike promises plenty of torque and very smooth motor assistance But the highest selling point of this bicycle remains its very low weight, at a reported 32 pounds (14.5 kg). Its clearly not as lightweight as a non-motorized model, but its featherweight compared to other e-bikes, so it should be ideal for city-dwellers or office workers whose daily commute involves at least one flight of stairs.The 32-lb Detroit BikesElectric is the smile-machine that you've been waiting for, the manufacturer says. The DB-E eliminates the weight, complexity and clunky spaceship looks that we have come to expect from electric bikes while highlighting the style, fun, flexibility, and fun. Did we say fun twice? Actually, three times!The DB-E is offered in three frame sizes and just two colors (gloss black and emerald green), and the price is $2,099, including the $500 pre-order deposit and the pride of riding an American-built bicycle, but not including $99 for shipping. Also not included are lights, fenders, and a kickstand, from what we can tell. But even so, for a ZEHUS Bike+ powered bicycle , this one is on the affordable side. SUV Sometimes, two worlds collide, and something disastrous comes out. Other times, the blunt force enables the release of incredible creative powers, and something cool gets born. Well, as far as the rotary-powered Mazda RX-7 is concerned, it seems that every time a bonkers idea comes up, a new pinnacle of the imagination threshold is easily attained and even superseded.Remember, the iconic platform has been used for just about anything, from drift heroes to restomod wonders, and from Zonda-snatched M120 Mercedes-Benz V12 engine-swapped widebody creations to Coca-Cola Zero liveried tributes to the Moby Dick Porsche 935 . Wait, what, arent the latter two figments of imagination?Well, they are, as everything is born inside our mind, at first. True, they were also cooked up by the dreamy realm of virtual automotive artists, at least in part. But they are also as real as you and me or at least they will be pretty soon. We have talked in the past about the Zonda Mazda RX-7 already, so now let us focus on the rotary-powered Coca-Cola Zero RX-7. What? If Mazda can get away with an MX-30 electricwith a rotary engine, so can the aftermarket world with a unique perspective on all RX-7 things, right?So, the reason I came up with this LB Super Silhouette Mazda 935FD RX-7 kit in the first place is simple. It is because Ish Babaria - a self-taught automotive artist better known as ish_babaria_design_v2 on social media, has cooked up a second version of his recent 1972 Dodge Challenger R/T that so nicely blended digital American muscle with the Japanese works tuning style. Now, his Dodge is also black and ready to sip some Coca-Cola Zero.But it was all because the pixel master had helped Apoorv Chandrawanshi, a visual/art director better known as apoorvdidthat come up with the tasty design for this amazing kit car that will soon travel down the CGI-to-reality route on its way to a feisty apparition at the 2023 Tokyo Auto Salon . The styling is all original, of course, but the inspiration is also as real as you and me. So, on the one hand, they had the Coca-Cola Zero beverage, and on the other, they had the world-renowned and always outrageous Liberty Walk Super Silhouette widebody kit to look up to.Plus, not to mention the Porsche 935/78 Moby Dick tribute, which at the time was the most powerful car developed from the 935 series. By the way, it also finished the 6 Hours of Silverstone race with a seven-lap lead mostly thanks to its aero works and after flaunting a 3.2-liter six-cylinder boxer turbo engine capable of churning out no less than 833 hp for a top speed of 366 kph (227 mph)! SUV The move would be a significant step forward in the company's plans to establish a manufacturing presence in the U.S. and take on homegrown electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla on its own turf. Bloomberg reported in November a Q2 IPO could raise as much as $1 billion or more for VinFast, depending on interest, of course.No final decision has been made regarding the timing of an IPO offering, and VinFast has declined to comment on the latest news. A VinFast IPO has been rumored since 2021, and papers filed in April indicated the plans were moving forward.VinFast is a subsidiary of Singapore-based conglomerate Vingroup and was established in 2017 by Vietnam's richest person Pham Nhat Vuong. The company manufactures its vehicles at an 828-acre (3,350,000 m2) industrial complex on Cat Hai Island near the industrial city of Haiphong, Vietnam.The company is posturing to challenge Tesla with a line of vehicles that were designed with the help of Pininfarina, BMW, and Magna Steyr. It was the first Vietnamese company to participate in an international auto exhibition at the 2018 Paris Motor Show, where its gas-powered LUX SA2.0and the LUX A2.0 sedan, both designed by Pininfarina, were introduced.In subsequent years, VinFast transformed into an all-electric vehicle manufacturer by introducing its VF8 and VF9 SUVs, and took its first step in establishing a U.S. presence last July, with the opening of VinFast showrooms in six California cities.That same month, the company secured financing to the tune of $4 billion (3.7 billion euros) from Credit Suisse and Citigroup to build a facility to manufacture batteries and vehicles in North Carolina.Europe is also on the automaker's radar as the company introduced the VF8 and VF9 at IFA Berlin in September and suggested the company would have 50 dealerships in Europe when 2024 rolls around, with 25 being in Germany.However, the big fish lies in the U.S., and in late November, the company reached a significant milestone by shipping the first batch of 999 VF8 SUVs bound for U.S. shores. They had expected to begin making deliveries to awaiting customers by the end of the year but delayed deliveries due to the holidays.In the months since, the company has unveiled the smaller VF5, VF6, and VF7 models and showcased its entire line at the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.VinFast aims to make electric vehicles more affordable to a wider range of households, reducing the initial acquisition cost of a VinFast vehicle by removing the cost of the battery. Buyers will then enter into a battery subscription agreement whereby they would pay a monthly fee for the unit. For its part, VinFast would be responsible for the maintenance, replacement, and repair of the battery for the life of the vehicle. The agreement would also be transferable in the event of a sale.This unique angle may just be a home run in the U.S. market. Americans love subscriptions and memberships and it certainly comes with a significant upside by not having to worry about the condition of their car's battery.It remains to be seen what transpires in the coming months with regard to the IPO , but the company seems to be moving in that direction and it may become a reality quicker than initially expected. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian announced the Armenian governments decision to call off the exercises at a news conference held on Tuesday. He again accused the CSTO of refusing to defend Armenia against Azerbaijani attacks in breach of its statutes. Pashinian said his defense minister, Suren Papikian, has already formally notified the CSTOs Moscow-based Secretariat and Joint Staff that holding the planned drills in Armenia is not expedient. The CSTO spokesman, Vladimir Zaynetdinov, said, however, that they have received no such notification yet. We understand the current situation in the Republic of Armenia, which may not allow a full-fledged conduct this year of the planned CSTO peacekeeping exercises, Zaynetdinov told reporters in Moscow. He expressed confidence that Yerevan will meet its obligations regarding exercises of the coalition peacekeeping forces. He did not elaborate. A spokesman for the Armenian Defense Ministry insisted, meanwhile, that Papikian did inform the CSTO in writing on January 5 that Yerevan will not host the drills given the current military-political situation in the region. 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. Russia as well as Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan declined to openly side with their South Caucasus ally. 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. Seyran Ohanian, a former Armenian defense minister who now leads the parliamentary group of the main opposition Hayastan alliance, criticized Pashinians unprecedented decision to cancel the CSTO drills. His remarks that they could cause additional tensions suggest that the current authorities have some agreements with the Azerbaijanis and the Turks that we must not improve our capacity in terms of not only our army but also the alliance through which we constantly strengthen our army, Ohanian told reporters. Its not that we are all very happy with the CSTOs actions, he said. But it doesnt mean that we should not use the CSTOs capacity for increasing our military potential. The CSTO must react to Azerbaijans military aggression against its member Armenia, countered Armen Khachatrian, a senior lawmaker from Pashinians Civil Contract party. Otherwise, any actions, including exercises, will be meaningless. Pashinian said on Tuesday that the international community has always regarded Karabakh as an integral part of Azerbaijan. He also declared that the Armenian government must only deal with Armenias problems and that the authorities in Stepanakert should settle the conflict on their own. Perhaps we were not quite pragmatic when it seemed to us that the four UN Security Council resolutions [on the Karabakh conflict] are just pieces of paper which we can ignore, Pashinian told a news conference. Karabakhs president and top security officials as well as leaders of its main political factions expressed serious concern over Pashinians comments during an emergency meeting held in Stepanakert. In a joint statement issued after the meeting, they said the comments run counter to the position adopted by the Republic of Artsakhs population and authorities. We reaffirm our position that Artsakhs sovereignty and right to live in the historical homeland freely and independently are absolute values, read the statement. No coercion or threat can hold us back from our decision to continue our struggle. The statement urged Yerevan to continue to champion the Artsakh peoples right to self-determination in the international arena. Pashinians administration appears to have stopped doing so after the 2020 Armenian-Azerbaijani war. Over the past year the Armenian premier has spoken instead of the need to ensure the rights and security of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh. In April 2022, Pashinian said the international community is pressing Armenia to lower the bar on Karabakhs future status and signaled his readiness to do that. The statement prompted strong criticism from Karabakhs leadership and the Armenian opposition, which staged antigovernment protests in Yerevan. Pashinian rekindled tensions with Stepanakert in October when he moved to sign a peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan that would commit the two states to recognizing each others territorial integrity. His critics portrayed this as further proof of his readiness to recognize Azerbaijani sovereignty over Karabakh. Karabakh leaders travelled to Yerevan later in October to seek clarification over the issue. Pashinians latest remarks, which came amid a continuing Azerbaijani blockade of Karabakhs land link with Armenia, were also denounced by Armenian opposition leaders. Some of them argued, in particular, that the United States, Russia and France for years advanced a peace deal that would allow the Karabakh Armenians to determine the disputed regions status in a future referendum. According to the local power grid operator, Artsakhenergo, an Azerbaijani-controlled section of the high-voltage transmission line stretching from Armenia was knocked down almost one month after government-backed Azerbaijani protesters blocked the sole road connecting Karabakh to Armenia. Azerbaijani is not only not letting us bring in food and medication but also preventing our specialists from visiting the site of the accident to restore electricity supplies, Ruben Vardanyan, the Karabakh premier, said at an emergency meeting with other officials. The authorities in Stepanakert suspect that the disruption, which resulted in power shortages in Karabakh, was an act of sabotage. Both the line and all other necessary equipment were refreshed recently, Artsakhenergos deputy director, Tigran Gabrielian, told RFE/RLs Armenian Service. This is why we believe that should not have happened by accident. The Azerbaijani side has still not commented on the accident which forced Karabakh to rely only on electricity generated by local powers and resort to rolling blackouts. The two-hour power cuts are especially challenging for residents of Stepanakert and other Karabakh towns who use electricity to heat their homes. We wrap ourselves in blankets and lie in bed for two hours, artificially warming ourselves, said Irena Harutiunian, one such resident. We have no other option because we dont use gas heaters. We expected such a thing, said the 60-year-old woman. Why didnt our authorities take necessary steps [in advance?] The blackouts compounded growing shortages of food and other essential products that were imported to Karabakh from or through Armenia. Earlier this week, the authorities decided to ration some of these items to ensure their even distribution to the population. Vardanyan again charged on Wednesday that the Azerbaijani blockade is aimed at forcing the Karabakh Armenians to leave their homeland. But we keep fighting for our right to live in our land, he said. It is very encouraging that our people agree with this approach. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. A gardener trims plants in the courtyard of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) secretariat building in Jakarta, April 20, 2021. ASEAN chair Indonesia will set up a special envoys office to deal with the post-coup crisis in Myanmar and not allow that country to hold the regional bloc hostage, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said Wednesday. As holder of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations chairmanship for 2023, Indonesia will work according to the five-point consensus, she said, referring to the blocs plan for putting Myanmar back on a democratic path, but that analysts have called a failure. An Office of Special Envoy will be formed and headed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Retno said in a statement. [As] chair and in accordance with the mandate of the 5PC [five-point consensus], Indonesia will make every effort to help Myanmar out of the political crisis. Only through engagement with all stakeholders, can the 5PC mandate regarding facilitation for the creation of a national dialogue be carried out. Indonesia will take steps based on the fundamental principles and values of the ASEAN Charter, including adherence to the rule of law, good governance, as well as the principles of democracy and constitutional government, Retno said. The Myanmar military, which toppled an elected government on Feb. 1, 2021, reneged on the consensus that it had agreed to in April that year. The agreement was meant to be a roadmap that would take Myanmar back to peace and democracy. The consensus called for an end to violence, the provision of humanitarian assistance, the appointment of an ASEAN special envoy, all-party dialogue, and mediation by the envoy. Many regional observers and analysts, as well as the previous foreign minister of Malaysia, have said it was time to junk the consensus and devise a new plan that was time-bound and included enforcement mechanisms. However on Monday, Indonesian President Joko Jokowi Widodo and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said the five-point consensus was the best route to resolving the crisis in Myanmar. I and the President [Jokowi] agree that the ASEAN-approved process, especially the implementation of the 5PC, is the best place to seek a peaceful settlement in Myanmar, Anwar said during a meeting with the Indonesian leader in Bogor. Since the coup, the Burmese junta has carried out a widespread campaign of torture, arbitrary arrests and attacks that target civilians, the United Nations and human rights groups have said. More than 2,700 people have been killed and More than 17,000 have been arrested in Myanmar, according to the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi (right) looks on as Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn speaks during the Special ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting at the ASEAN secretariat general building in Jakarta, Oct. 27, 2022. [Handout/ASEAN/AFP] Meanwhile, much is expected from Indonesia as ASEAN chair, especially in resolving the crisis in Myanmar, but analysts say that little will change unless Jakarta spearheads a hardline collective stance against the Burmese junta. Indonesia is aware of the burden on the 10-member bloc, especially over the situation in Myanmar, and acknowledges that little progress has been made in implementing the five-point consensus. ASEAN is disappointed, Retno said. Despite all the efforts of the chair and all ASEAN member countries, the implementation of the 5PC by the Myanmar military junta has not made significant progress. But Indonesia, which is ASEANs largest member, would not let that define the regional bloc, Retno noted. Indonesias chairmanship will also ensure that building the ASEAN community will remain a key focus, she said. The issue of Myanmar will not be allowed to hold hostage the process of strengthening the ASEAN community development. A stable Indo-Pacific Peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific will be another area of focus for Indonesia as this years ASEAN chair, Retno said. In September, she signaled that ASEAN would not be a pawn in a new Cold War, referring to tensions between the United States and China, whose rivalry is playing out in the Southeast Asian region. Many countries have an Indo-Pacific concept. This is where a synergy is needed, so that the various concepts will not exacerbate the rivalry, Retno said. Indonesia will continue to emphasize that the Indo-Pacific must be approached not only from a security aspect, but also from an inclusive economic development aspect. The centrality of ASEAN must be strengthened in order to be able to maintain peace, stability, prosperity in Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific, Retno said. For this reason, the implementation of AOIP will be a big step in implementing the priorities of the Indonesian chair, Retno said, referring to the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific. A peaceful and stable Indo-Pacific region, respect for international law, and inclusive cooperation are the keys for ASEAN to become the epicentrum of growth. Parents who lost children during the political turmoil of 1998 take part in a silent protest against violations of human rights, outside the presidential palace in Jakarta, May 17, 2018. Indonesias president expressed profound regret on Wednesday for the states past human rights violations that resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths over decades. But apologies arent enough for rights activists and some victims families, who say perpetrators of past atrocities need to be brought to justice to end the impunity that Indonesian security forces appear to enjoy in the fledgling Southeast Asian democracy. President Joko Jokowi Widodo listed 12 gross rights violations that occurred between the mid-1960s and 2003, and promised compensation for the abuses. These violations included an anti-communist crackdown in 1965-66, when an estimated 500,000 people were killed. With a clear mind and a sincere heart, I, as head of state of the Republic of Indonesia, acknowledge that serious human rights violations did occur in various incidents. And, I deeply regret these gross human rights violations, he said at a press conference in Jakarta. I and the government are working really hard so that gross human rights violations will not happen again in Indonesia in the future. The president added that he and the government were making efforts to restore the rights of the victims in a just manner. Jokowi is the second president to acknowledge gross human rights violations committed by the state, after Abdurrahman Gus Dur Wahid in 2000. At that time, Abdurrahman specifically apologized to the families of the victims of the anti-communist purge in the 1960s. Gus Dur was Indonesias second president after the largest nation in Southeast Asia transitioned to democracy after 32 years of dictatorship under President Suharto, the former army general who rose to power after that bloody purge. Other rights abuses include the kidnapping of activists in the dying days of Suhartos rule in 1997-1998, riots that targeted ethnic Chinese at the height of the Asian financial crisis in May 1998, and widespread torture by security forces in Aceh during a separatist conflict from 1989-1998. Last year, Jokowi formed a team for the non-judicial settlement of past human rights violations, led by Mohammad Mahfud MD, the top security minister. In an interview with BenarNews in October, team member Makarim Wibisono said it would provide recommendations on compensation for the victims and their families, including physical rehabilitation, financial assistance, health insurance and scholarships. Salt to the wounds Still, rights activists said the culture of impunity remains embedded among security forces in Indonesia, and more needs to be done. Late last year, a court found a retired Indonesian military officer not guilty of charges stemming from security forces fatally shooting four teenage protesters in Papuas Paniai regency in 2014. Andreas Harsono, an Indonesia researcher at Human Rights Watch (HRW), welcomed Jokowis statement but said the government should do more, including bringing perpetrators to justice in a human rights court. Thats a good statement, but more steps are needed, such as revealing where the missing victims are or where their graves are, he said. Many children [of abuse victims] dont know where their parents are buried. They have no closure over what happened, Andreas told BenarNews. Anis Hidayah, a member of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), said she hoped victims of rights abuses would finally get justice We call on the president to commit to law enforcement so that cases of gross human rights violations that have been investigated by Komnas HAM can be acted on through legal proceedings at a human rights tribunal, he said. Maria Catarina Sumarsih, the mother of a student protester who was killed by security forces along with 16 others during 1998 anti-government rallies in Jakarta, said Jokowis expression of regret was not enough. Whats the point of apologizing if violence by security forces keeps happening? If cases are not brought to court, violations will continue to occur, Sumarsih told BenarNews. Usman Hamid, executive director of Amnesty International in Indonesia, concurred. An acknowledgment without bringing to justice those responsible for past human rights violations will only add salt to the wounds of the victims and their families. Simply put, the presidents statement is meaningless without accountability, said Usman. If the president is truly committed to preventing the recurrence of abuses, authorities must effectively, thoroughly and impartially investigate all those allegedly involved, he said. Ending impunity through the prosecution and punishment of perpetrators is the only way to prevent the recurrence of human rights violations and provide truth and justice to victims and their families, he said, adding that perpetrators should not be given government positions. Jokowi counts former generals linked to past abuses as his closest aides, including former special forces commander Prabowo Subianto, now defense minister, and former armed forces chief Wiranto. Human rights groups say Indonesia has suffered a democratic backsliding under Jokowis leadership. They cite rampant restrictions on civil liberties and police surveillance. In a report last October, rights NGO KontraS said the climate of freedom had worsened in the three years of Jokowis second term, with cases of arbitrary arrests and attacks on government dissidents. In 2020, 5,198 students were arrested with no clear charges, 87 of them imprisoned, said KontraS. In December, rights groups blamed Indonesian police and soldiers for scores of extrajudicial killings in the past year, including many in the troubled Papua region. Amnesty International said 36 people were killed by security forces and separatist rebels in the Papua and West Papua provinces last year, an increase from 28 in 2021. The Papua region, at Indonesias far-eastern tip, has been the site of a decades-old separatist insurgency where both Indonesian security forces and rebels have been accused of committing atrocities against civilians. Papua New Guinea will close its trade office in Taiwan, but has denied the move is a concession to China at the same time as it boosts its defense relationship with Australia. The office, established in 2015, didnt have sufficient economic benefit and the poor behavior of Papua New Guineas representatives in Taiwan had tarnished the South Pacific countrys reputation, Foreign Affairs Minister Justin Tkatchenko told reporters on Tuesday. We have done a full analysis over the last 12 months on the aspects of the office to see if it was working, if it was viable to keep economically, he said. We did a full assessment and have come to a conclusion that the office was no longer needed. China and the United States are vying for influence with Pacific island nations as the global economic and military rivalry between the two powers escalates. Over the past two decades, Beijing has amassed substantial goodwill with economically lagging Pacific countries by building infrastructure and providing other assistance. China signed a security pact with the Solomon Islands last year, a possible precursor to a Chinese military presence in the region that has alarmed the United States and countries such as Australia. For Papua New Guinea, China has become an important export market and source of imports. China is funding construction of a hospital for Papua New Guineas military, Australias ABC reported in December. Tkatchenkos announcement that the Papua New Guinea Trade Office in Taiwan will be closed comes ahead of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albaneses visit to Papua New Guinea on Thursday. Australia and Papua New Guinea have been negotiating a defense treaty and Tkatchenko said a document related to those talks will be signed during the visit. Tkatchenko said the closure of the Taiwan trade office was not in response to pressure from the Chinese government. The government has been reviewing all foreign missions and will decide which are viable or not, he said. Papua New Guinea is the most populous Pacific island country but also among the poorest and struggles to fund its embassies. Taipei has not justified the amount of money we are spending to keep the office open, Tkatchenko said. Only 14 nations recognize Taiwan, which Beijing regards as a rebel province, but many have de facto diplomatic representation in the form of trade or economic offices. In the Pacific, the number of countries that recognize Taiwan dwindled to four from six after the Solomon Islands and Kiribati switched their recognition to Beijing in 2019. Papua New Guinea has recognized China since 1976, a year after it became independent from Australia. The Papua New Guinea Trade Office in Taiwan will be replaced by a PNG Taipei Economic Office, staffed by a business liaison official and located in Papua New Guineas capital Port Moresby, according to Tkatchenko. Two of Papua New Guineas representatives in Taiwan were involved in drunken altercations last year that included one of the men assaulting his wife. One of the officials was recalled to Papua New Guinea. As you know we were completely embarrassed and ridiculed by the behavior of certain officers last year, Tkatchenko said. This photo taken on Feb. 15, 2018 shows a general view of the Rock Islands in the Pacific island nation of Palau. The U.S. military plans to install over-the-horizon radar in Palau by 2026, adding to its early-warning capabilities for the western Pacific. The U.S. military plans to install over-the-horizon radar in Palau by 2026, adding to its early-warning capabilities for the western Pacific as Chinas military strength increases, according to documents released by the Pentagon. The Department of Defense awarded a U.S. $120 million contract in late December for construction of reinforced foundations and pads in Palau for Tactical Mobile Over-the-Horizon Radar equipment, which provides greater range than line-of-sight radar. Technical documents show details of two sites a receiver and transmitter at opposite ends of the island chain. The United States is responsible for Palaus defense but has not had forces stationed there in recent decades. This new facility will likely have a very light U.S. military footprint, but its clear that the Pentagon sees significant value in using Palaus unique geography to employ this particular radar system, Brian Harding, an Asia expert at the United States Institute of Peace, said Wednesday. Chinas military spending has grown rapidly in the past two decades, reaching about 30% of the annual U.S. military budget in 2021, and its capacity to strike U.S. forces in its neighborhood has increased. Palau, located between the Philippines and Guam a base for U.S. bombers is one of three Pacific island countries including the Marshall Islands and Federated States of Micronesia that have ceded defense and security to the United States in exchange for economic assistance and other benefits under compacts of free association. Chinas efforts to build influence in the Pacific have largely scored success with South Pacific island states. But any weakening of the relationship between the United States and the compact states would be a potential opening for Beijing in a militarily strategic part of the region, analysts have said. Palau and the Marshall Islands are among the 14 countries that still give their diplomatic recognition to Taiwan, which Beijing regards as a breakaway province. Two other Pacific island nations Kiribati and the Solomon Islands switched their diplomatic recognition to China from Taiwan in 2019. Officials in Palau, home to about 20,000 people, have previously encouraged the United States to build military bases in the country as a way of boosting its small economy. The United States enjoys broad rights to develop defense facilities in the country, something that Palau has often encouraged but to date the United States has taken little advantage, said Harding, a former Pentagon official. Department of Defense technical documents, released as part of the contracting process for the project, indicate less than 11 defense personnel would be routinely stationed at the radar facility. Budget documents show the Palau facility has been in the works since at least 2017 and is described as needed to support air domain awareness and maritime domain awareness requirements over the Western Pacific region. Chinas military buildup, its expansive claims to the South China Sea, a busy global shipping route, and its forays into Taiwans air defense identification zone have contributed to heightened tensions in East Asia and the Pacific for several years. Southeast Asian nations are emerging as middle powers capable of ensuring stability in the South China Sea amid a rivalry between China and the United States, the Philippines top diplomat said Wednesday. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations has a large role in ensuring peace in the region, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo said according to official transcripts of a televised interview with CNBC. We, the countries surrounding the region, were growing into middle powers, middle-income countries and we have a very important role to play, especially in the context of ASEAN centrality, Manalo said during the interview. ASEAN has a very big role to play in trying to ensure that the region maintains a modicum of peace and stability and so that we can all develop and promote economic growth. He gave the interview a day after the Philippine Supreme Court declared that a South China Sea oil exploration deal struck between Manila, Beijing and Hanoi in 2005 was unconstitutional. The Joint Seismic Marine Undertaking deal was illegal because it went against a constitutional provision that sought to safeguard the Philippines natural resources, the court ruled. The pact, which covered about 80% of Philippine territorial waters, was designed to allow for seismic exploration in an area encompassing nearly 150,000 square km (57,900 square miles) of the waterway west of Palawan island. [T]heres been no official response yet. In fact, we are still waiting for the official feedback from the Supreme Court. But of course, we are aware of this decision, Manalo told CNBC, referring to the Chinese response to the ruling. He noted that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. returned to Manila with a host of agreements after his state visit to Beijing last week. Those agreements included deals on agriculture, renewable energy and infrastructure. [T]here was a general understanding that we would resume talks in oil and gas development. But of course, there were no details, Manalo said. So well have to see how this fans out with respect to oil and gas development. Competition Despite a geopolitical rivalry between the two superpowers, the foreign secretary stressed that the Philippines seeks to gain from its ties with China, which Manila sees as an economic benefactor, as well as with the United States, its longtime main military and defense ally . [T]he competition between the United States and China affects not only the Philippines, but I suppose every other country in the region, he said. But I suppose competition is much better than conflict. And in the case of the Philippines, we, of course, are a very close partner of the United States, we have traditional ties with them. And at the same time, we have equally close relations with China, especially in the economic field, so these are areas which we are seeking to exploit, he said. China claims nearly all of the South China Sea on historical grounds, including territories within the exclusive economic zones of Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan. It also claims historic rights to areas of the waterway that overlap Indonesias EEZ as well. Beijing has continued to ignore an international arbitration courts 2016 ruling for the Philippines that invalidated Chinas claims to the sea region. Marcos brought up the issue when meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the state visit, resulting in the leaders agreeing to set up a direct hotline to avert miscommunication in the South China Sea. Pro-democracy protesters commemorate the first anniversary of the disappearance of Thai activist Wanchalearm Satsaksit, who went missing in Cambodia in 2020, with a candlelight vigil in Bangkok, June 4, 2021. The Royal Thai Police have asked the justice ministry to delay implementation of a law that guards against torture and enforced disappearances, saying officers need more time to prepare for it. Adopted by the Thai parliament in August, the law scheduled to take effect on Feb. 22 would require police and military officers to videotape and record interrogations of suspects in custody. In a letter to the ministry dated Jan. 6 and released online, police officials said they did not have the budget for equipment and needed more time to train personnel, but human rights advocates accused law enforcers of stalling. Angkhana Neelapaijit, a Ramon Magsaysay Award winner and former member of the National Human Rights Commission, questioned the police request. This letter shows that police are reluctant to obey this law. The United Nations has trained many officers on the prevention of torture and enforced disappearance, she told BenarNews. If they need more training, they could have invited experts, they simply cannot claim there is no budget to procure recording equipment for interrogations, Angkhana said, adding that officers could use mobile phones if nothing else was available. The letter from national police chief Gen. Damrongsak Kittipraphat to Justice Minister Somsak Thepsutin listed the reasons for requesting the delay. He said police could not allocate 3.47 billion baht (U.S. $103 million) to purchase cameras for officers. He was concerned that 250,000 officers lacked training to comply with the law, and added that its provisions were vague and without a standard operating procedure. Lawmakers passed the Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearance Act on Aug. 24, 2022, and announced it in the Royal Gazette on Oct. 25, 2022, to take effect in 120 days (Feb. 22). The act defines torture, enforced disappearance and victims. It declares that direct commanders could be held criminally liable. It also does not allow secret detention and protects those filing complaints from retaliation. Two months before that act was passed, six police officers were sentenced to life in prison for the in-custody death of a drug suspect. His brutal interrogation in which the suspect was handcuffed, with plastic bags over his head was caught on video in 2021 and released on social media. The officers included former police Col. Thitisan Utthanaphon, nicknamed Jo Ferrari because of his fleet of expensive cars. Benefits of recording interrogations Retired police Lt. Col. Songsak Thitithanwat, former deputy director of the Phayao Provincial Police Station, said officers would benefit from the act. Recording footage of the interrogation is a good thing because it will protect the rights of the people. The RTP should not delay the process any longer, Songsak told BenarNews, using an acronym for the Royal Thai Police. The best practice is to conduct interrogations in the presence of a lawyer. All in all, I believe that police intend to follow the law. Pornpen Khongkachonkiet, director of the Cross Cultural Foundation, said that recording interrogations would benefit both law enforcers and suspects. If they cannot purchase a camera, they can use a cell phone if there is no cell phone, they can still arrest and interrogate anyway, Pornpen told BenarNews. But if they receive a complaint, police will not have important evidence to show that the officer did not beat or harm the suspect. Meanwhile, Worachat Awipan, a guest lecturer at the Institute of Religion, Culture and Peace Lab at Payap University, said the lack of readiness to implement the new law could be a legitimate concern, but he questioned preparation efforts. The Royal Thai Police have made no attempt to show that this bill is important. Therefore, they did not feel the urgency to train personnel in a timely manner, he told BenarNews. If you'd like to leave a comment (or a tip or a question) about this story with the editors, please email us We also welcome letters to the editor for publication; you can do that by filling out our letters form and submitting it to the newsroom. 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. PITTSFIELD Kika Oncken Cook Dubin, 45, couldnt believe her eyes when she saw images of rioters storming government buildings in Brazils capital Sunday. We fought so hard for our right to vote after being under a military regime for 20 years [which ended in 1985], said Oncken Cook Dubin, a Sao Paulo native who lives in Pittsfield. Its very sad to see people using violence to gain whatever they feel theyre entitled to. For some Brazilian natives living in the Berkshires, scenes of protestors storming the countrys Congress to contest what they claim was a stolen presidential election brought back memories of events in Washington two years ago. President Joe Biden last week marked the second anniversary of the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol complex, when supporters of Donald Trump tried to prevent congressional certification of Bidens 2020 election victory. Five people were killed during or after the attack, and around 140 officers were injured. The rioters in Brasilia also lashed out at what they claimed was a stolen election from a far-right candidate. Like Trump, Jair Bolsonaro suggested in the months leading up to the countrys election in October that if he lost, it would be rigged. After he lost a runoff election to Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Bolsonaro allowed a peaceful transfer of power. Brazil, like the United States, is a bitterly polarized country, Oncken Cook Dubin said. People were arguing and fighting all the time, she said. You see families that had to ... split because people were just fighting all the time and arguing. Steve Bannon, Trumps former White House chief strategist, cast doubts on the results of the 2020 election in the U.S. and made similar statements about Brazils presidential election. Given that connection, its not a coincidence that Bolsonaro supporters also attacked the Brazilian Congress and Supreme Court, said Roger Kittleson, professor of Latin American studies at Williams College. However, Kittleson also pointed out differences. Unlike Trump, who was in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021, Bolsonaro fled to Miami before the inauguration in Brasilia. Congress was not in session when the government buildings were attacked on Sunday, so unlike in the U.S. lawmakers were not put in harms way. He said supporters of Bolsonaro had been camping out around Brasilia and Rio de Janeiro for the past two months, with the former presidents blessing. Karen Kaveney-Murray, 41, who lives in Pittsfield and is from Sao Paulo, said she saw the events coming. We knew they would do something like that. We just didnt know that it was going to be so terrifying, she said. I think opposition needs to be done in a more democratic manner. They should respect the laws and the constitution, she said. Now, Kaveney-Murray and Oncken Cook Dubin expect accountability for what happened Sunday in Brazils capital city. I believe the future is very uncertain now, but I hope everyone involved will be punished and educated, said Mariana Melo, 22, who is from Rio de Janeiro and works at her familys restaurant, Espetinho Carioca, in Pittsfield. Most people who were involved in the attack dont believe theyre wrong. Theyre so alienated that they dont understand how terrible it was, she said. The BBC reported Monday that around 1,500 people have been arrested in connection with the riots in Brasilia. Clarkston, WA (99403) Today Mostly cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. Low 36F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Mostly cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. Low 36F. Winds W 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 Jem's Birding & Ringing Exploits in the Eastern Province and elsewhere in Saudi Arabia Luxury conglomerate LVMH has appointed Pietro Beccari, who has headed Christian Dior Couture since 2018, as chairman and chief executive officer of flagship fashion brand Louis Vuitton. Pietro Beccari, incoming chairman and CEO of Louis Vuitton. Source: LVMH Beccari succeeds Michael Burke, who will take up new responsibilities reporting directly to LVMH chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault, after spending 10 years at the head of Louis Vuitton and guiding the successful integration of Tiffany. Arnault commented on the organisational changes: Pietro Beccari has done an exceptional job at Christian Dior over the past five years. His leadership has accelerated the appeal and success of this iconic maison. Monsieur Diors values of elegance and his innovative spirit have been given fresh intensity, supported by very talented designers. The reinvention of the historical boutique at 30 Montaigne is emblematic of this momentum. I am sure Pietro will lead Louis Vuitton to the next level of success and desirability. I want to extend my warmest thanks to Michael Burke, who has led the extraordinary success of Louis Vuitton during the past 10 years. He has done a tremendous job developing this exceptional maison. He has extended Louis Vuittons lead over competitors and promoted the heritage of Louis Vuitton while anchoring it in modernity. The cultural strength of Louis Vuitton has been fully affirmed. Michael attracted the most outstanding designers and professional teams and helped them acculturate to the world of Vuitton. In addition to Louis Vuitton, he has overseen the successful integration of Tiffany within the LVMH Group. I am delighted that Michael will continue, by my side, to share his experience and talent for the benefit of our companies. Christian Dior, Tiffany and Repossi Delphine Arnault, executive vice president of Louis Vuitton since 2013 with responsibility for supervising all Louis Vuitton product-related activities, succeeds Pietro Beccari and becomes chairman and chief executive officer of Christian Dior Couture. Charles Delapalme, executive vice president of Christian Dior Couture in charge of commercial activities since 2018, has been named managing director of Christian Dior Couture. Stephane Bianchi, chairman and chief executive officer of the watches and jewellery division, will now also oversee Tiffany and Repossi, which join the watches and jewellery division of the LVMH Group. Arnault said, The appointment of Delphine Arnault is another milestone in a career journey in fashion and leather goods defined by excellence, first during 12 years at Christian Dior and then at Louis Vuitton for the past decade where she was number two with responsibility for all of the maisons product activities. Under her leadership, the desirability of Louis Vuitton products advanced significantly, enabling the brand to regularly set new sales records. Her keen insights and incomparable experience will be decisive assets in driving the ongoing development of Christian Dior. I am delighted with the promotion of Charles Delapalme at Christian Dior. He has pursued an admirable career within the LVMH Group for the past 17 years. After several years at Louis Vuitton and Fendi, Charles has been in charge of international development at Christian Dior, working with Pietro Beccari since 2018. He has made a significant contribution to the growth of the maison thanks to his commercial expertise and remarkable strategic vision. Charles will work closely with Delphine to write a new chapter in the extraordinary history of Maison Christian Dior. Arnault also commented on the completion of the watches and jewellery division organisation: The inclusion of Tiffany in the watches and jewellery division is a natural step following the companys successful integration within the LVMH Group. Stephane Bianchis leadership skills, his understanding of products and markets, and his organisational acumen have enabled the maisons in the division to achieve remarkable results under his management. This includes the successful revamping of Tag Heuer, the acceleration of Chaumet, Fred and Zenith, along with continued excellent performance by Hublot and Bulgari. Stephane will further heighten the unique appeal of each of these Maisons while developing effective synergies among them. Daily Maverick is a unique blend of news, information, analysis and opinion delivered from our newsrooms in Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa. There are many ways to describe exactly what we do (and for the price of a cup of coffee were capable of talking your ears off about it), but the best way to understand the end result is to experience it. Every part of Daily Maverick is free-to-air and no payment is required, although free registration is required for a small subset of functions and pages. Daily Maverick is run by an independently owned, private company with no affiliation to any other media group (or political party or religious organisation.) Follow Daily Maverick on Twitter at @dailymaverick. Go to: https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/ A New Haven pleaded guilty this week before U.S. District Judge Omar A. Williams in Hartford to possession of ammunition by a felon, according to federal authorities. Tyriq Martin, 22, now faces up to 10 years in federal prison when he is sentenced, which is not yet scheduled, according to federal authorities. Authorities, citing court documents and statements made in court, said a court-authorized search of Martins Snapchat account in the spring of 2022 revealed numerous photos of Martin in possession of firearms. Then, in June, 2022, New Haven police arrested Martin an outstanding state warrant for firearm and narcotics offenses, authorities said in a statement. At the time of his arrest, Martin possessed a loaded Polymer 80 privately made firearm. A subsequent search of the car Martin was seen driving revealed 11 rounds of 9mm ammunition, authorities said. Martin was convicted in state court in July 2021 of conspiracy to commit first-degree assault, and was sentenced to five years in prison, suspended after 16 months served, and three years of probation, the statement said. Authorities noted that it is a violation of federal law for anyone previously convicted of a felony to possess a firearm or ammunition that has moved in interstate or foreign commerce. Martin has been detained since his arrest. Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane says the department is working as quickly as possible to place Grade 1 and 8 learners who have yet to be assigned a school. Image source: Getty Images He was speaking at a media briefing to provide an update on learner placements and the departments readiness for the new academic year. The department has already placed at least 290,751 learners with some 1,394 remaining. Chiloane urged parents especially those in pressure areas to be patient as the department works through the applications. We are working around the clock; we are engaging our schools. We are continuing to place our learners. When we started we had 292,145 complete applications. These are the parents who were able to provide all the necessary documentation and also met the deadline. We also had incomplete applications. To those parents [whose children have not been placed]...I am assuring you that your children will be in class. We know that patience is not endless but allow us, work with us and be patient with us. Its a very delicate process but just know that we are aggressive in ensuring that we get these learners in classrooms, he said at Tuesdays briefing. Unplaced learners Chiloane explained that the majority of unplaced learners are from the Olifantsfontein and Kempton Park area. In Olifant, we have engaged a church where they have given us space to ensure that we close off the remaining 236 Grade 1 applicants and also theres an additional three mobile units that will be provided to increase school capacities so that we can place all the learners. In Grade 8, Kempton Park area...we are still left with 501 unplaced learners. We are continuing to speak to our schools...to work together to ensure that we close off things, he said. The Tshwane West district is another pressure area with some 223 Grade 8 learners unplaced with a further 434 Grade 8 learners unplaced in the Johannesburg West District. According to the department, a satellite high school is being built to accommodate those learners in Tshwane and in Johannesburg, the department is negotiating to occupy some 10 classrooms at the Robinhood College. The right to education Chiloane said the department is aware that some schools have reached capacity but emphasised that childrens right to education will not be compromised. This is a double edged sword. We are left with a situation where some of our schools will be overcrowded or we are going to have a situation where some of our learners...will be at home, not being in school. So we have to make a choice there and we are making a choice that every child must be in a school. We will deal with everything else when a child is wearing a uniform in school. That is a priority...we are determined that we deliver on that, he said. Other placement interventions by the department include: The 2023 academic school year for the majority of learners in inland schools has commenced today with a number of leaders conducting oversight visits to various schools to monitor their overall readiness. Image: Deputy Minister Dr Reginah Mhaule has met with the SMT and SGB members of Ben Hlongwane Secondary School. She has also addressed the learners and teachers of the school, wishing them a good start to the 2023 school year. Source: @DBE_SA on Twitter Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, is today monitoring the opening of schools in Johannesburg, Gauteng. The Minister is currently visiting Cosmo City Primary School, Cosmo City Secondary school, Diepsloot Primary school and Sunrise Secondary school. Speaking at Diepsloot Primary School, Minister Motshekga welcomed learners back to school while encouraging them to study hard and focus on academics. The Minister pleaded with parents to assist their children with homework and reading. I wish you a successful academic year. This is the most important phase in our education. When you get home, you must assist our learners and check if they have done their homework. When we assist each other with the teacher and school governing body, nothing will defeat us, Motshekga said. The Deputy Minister of Basic Education, Dr Reginah Mhaule, accompanied by MEC for Transport and Community Safety, Florence Radzilani, will be monitoring the opening of schools in Limpopo today. Meanwhile, the Gauteng Provincial Government, led by Premier Panyaza Lesufi, will today lead the school reopening programme to mark the start of the 2023 academic year. Premier Lesufi and Education MEC Matome Chiloane will activate the Back-to-School campaign and officiate the handover of Mapenane Secondary School in Ga-Rankuwa, Tshwane. Members of the Executive Council are also participating in oversight visits at several schools across the province to observe the first day of teaching and learning and conduct oversight visits to Early Childhood Development Centres (ECDs) to gauge their preparedness. In terms of learner placements, Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane yesterday said the department is working as quickly as possible to place Grade 1 and 8 learners who have yet to be assigned a school. He was speaking at a media briefing to provide an update on learner placements and the departments readiness for the new academic year. The department has already placed at least 290,751 learners with some 1,394 remaining. Chiloane urged parents especially those in pressure areas to be patient as the department works through the applications. The Universum data sourced from our syndicated survey for 2022 has shown a marked increase in a change of considered employers* among students, with less among professionals. What this means is that more student participants in our survey are identifying the Most Attractive Employers in South Africa across all our main fields of study i.e. Business/Commerce, Law, Sciences, Engineering/Technology; our professional participants the other hand are not seeing a lot of attractive employers, which shows that they have decreased interest through the main fields of occupation too. Pabi Mogosetsi, Country Manager for Universum Global South Africa With all the many trends that have come and gone, especially in the IT industry - where South Africa is losing more skills as we breathe. Change is constant. Diversity, culture, and values have become quite important to the South African talent landscape in general. Diversity, inclusion, equity, and the feeling of belonging are crucial factors to the South African talent population in general, with many students aspiring to be different when they enter, while ethical standards are still important to both groups. Why? Changing how you view your business and the people involved in your organisation. Your EVP and employer brand are your most significant assets within your business arsenal. Understanding how to leverage your people promise to make your people experience more inviting and more authentic to your identity will not only enhance your brand, but will ensure the correct people have confidence in it and help build and carry you further. What? Data will assist in understanding the fundamentals of who you are and what the talent population think of you as an organisation. Simply putting your head in the sand and hoping for the best, or going with the good old tried-and-tested will not work this time; it will exacerbate and delay the actions that need to be taken to build a robust organisation with its own rhythm and corporate identity people can believe in. It is imperative to ask about the ways in which you are and arent viewed as an ideal brand, so it is objective and easier to work through the rubble. How? Building on your successes and understanding how to move from that point by using data is crucial. Understand how you are viewed so that you can make the necessary changes to build your employer brand to new heights. Strategising HR by bringing human back to HR The pandemic highlighted the HR team's importance, especially with the right tools and support. They have been the backbone and driven the changes that brought individuals back to where they were needed while supporting them toward returning to the office. Find your ambassadors Celebrate your ambassadors! Highlight your people-promise and show that your organisation is not all talk without action. When you celebrate your people, they, in turn, celebrate you and appreciate your efforts for being with them and keeping them with you. Your people-promise (EVP) is important and affects everyone in your company and those who want to be part of your company. In summary, do not shy away from being different and diversifying your skills and talents; who knows, your next job availability could be divided among individuals in your organisation or could be waiting for someone who already has the skills but is afraid to speak up because of red tape within the organisation. Simply, learn and grow! The One Club for all Creativity is calling for entries. TDC69, the Type Directors Club's annual competition has its next deadline on 17 January 2023. The deadline for the One Show 2023 is 27 January 2023, as well as the ADC 102nd Annual Awards. The entry fees for each contest will increase as they progress toward the final submission deadline on 3 March 2023. The contests end at 11:59pm PT on their respective days, with entry fees increasing thereafter. A "robot" lawyer powered by artificial intelligence will be the first of its kind to help a defendant fight a traffic ticket in court next month. Joshua Browder, CEO of DoNotPay, said the company's AI-creation runs on a smartphone, listens to court arguments and formulates responses for the defendant. The AI lawyer tells the defendant what to say in real-time, through headphones. The artificial intelligence firm has already used AI-generated form letters and chatbots to help people secure refunds for in-flight Wifi that didn't work, as well as to lower bills and dispute parking tickets, among other issues, according to Browder. All told the company has relied on these AI templates to win more than 2 million customer service disputes and court cases on behalf of individuals against institutions and organizations, he added. It has raised $27.7 million from tech-focused venture capital firms, including Andreessen Horowitz and Crew Capital. "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 MoneyWatch of recent advances. "We spoke live [with companies and customer service reps] to lower bills with companies; and what we're doing next month is try to use the tech in a courtroom for the first time." If youre tired of censorship, cancel culture, and the erosion of privacy and civil liberties subscribe to Reclaim The Net. Reviver says its mission is to modernize the driving experience, and the way it does that is by developing the worlds first digital license plate and connected vehicle platform. But security researchers looking into how safe that modernization is have found a way to poke significant holes in this design. Some of the vulnerabilities discovered show that malicious outside actors can track GPS location of digital license plates owners. Reviver rolled out digital license plates last October and is still the only company that sells them in California. They are being marketed as legal to use across the US, while it is also becoming legal to buy them in more and more states. Those who own such plates, or plan to do so, will be interested to hear that researcher Sam Curry shared in a blog post that it is possible for hackers to access the super user admin mode of any user, and from there on effectively remotely take over. Some of the things a hacker could do with Reviver plates is update or delete them, and track them via GPS. And if the attacker was in a mood to have even more fun with digital plates users, they could access the administrative account even just to change personalized messages displayed at the bottom to read whatever they wished, reports note. Drivers who opt for digital plates, meanwhile, can choose to pay $20-25 per month (battery or wired powered, respectively). But why would anybody do that? The marketing around Reviver seems to focus on customer experience trinkets such as the ability to display those personalized messages, not available with old school plates but also some potentially more useful features, such as an app that would detect movement when a vehicle is supposed to be parked. In that case, the plate would show the word, stolen. Now with some pretty serious vulnerabilities coming to light, such as full access to GPS data, Revivers message, shared by Motherboard, is that this particular vulnerability has been patched. And the company assured everyone that there is no evidence it had been exploited. Theres more promises: Reviver said it took further measures to prevent this from occurring in the future. If youre tired of censorship, cancel culture, and the erosion of civil liberties subscribe to Reclaim The Net. A Boston judge sentenced a New Haven man to nearly four years in prison on Tuesday for cyberstalking his ex-girlfriend and her family and sending them death threats through anonymous social media and email accounts. Marshall Nicholas Fain, 32, appeared in court in Boston on Tuesday and was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release for sending repeated threats to a Massachusetts woman he had once dated via Facebook and Instagram messages, according to the office of Rachael S. Rollins, U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts. According to the U.S. Attorneys office, Fain was in a relationship with the victim for about two years. The couple broke up in August 2021 and about one month later, Fain began sending her messages threatening to make her disappear and to kill her and members of her family. He used anonymous email addresses to send her messages that said: When the time is right you gonna be one of the girls going missing. Ima torture the [expletive] out of you when I catch you and By now you know I dont give a [expletive] about my own life so I really dont mind taking yours. Through anonymous Instagram and Facebook accounts he sent messages that said things like Ill kill you and You gonna get yours if its the last thing I do, according to the U.S. Attorneys office. Rollins said in a statement released Tuesday that Fain terrorized his former girlfriend because he was unable to move on after their relationship ended. Joseph R. Bonavolonta, special agent in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigations Boston division, said in a statement that Fain used his words as weapons. His actions were intended to inflict emotional harm and the fear of physical violence and thats exactly what they did. We thank the victim for her bravery in helping us put him behind bars, said Bonavolonta. He vowed that the bureau would continue to work to identify others who commit cyberstalking through similar channels. Stalking and violently threatening others whether online or in person is a serious, federal crime. Thanks to the victims strength and immediate action, Mr. Fain is now a convicted felon, Rollins said in a statement. Although todays sentence cant erase the pain and suffering Mr. Fains caused, we hope it brings the victim and her family solace in knowing he has been held accountable and will be removed from our community. A Stonington man, who sent sexually explicit messages to an FBI employee who was posing as a 14-year-old girl, pleaded guilty to soliciting child pornography, according to the U.S. Attorneys office. Matthew X. Smith, 28, of Stonington, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Jeffery A. Meyer in New Haven. Smith allegedly used the Kik social media application to initiate contact with an FBI Online Covert Employee who was posing as a 14-year-old girl on Aug. 12, 2021, according to court records. He sent sexually explicit messages, requested sexually explicit pictures and discussed meeting to have sexual relations, court records said. The Kik communication continued for a few days when investigators learned Smith, using a different Kik account, had engaged in sexually explicit exchanges with the OCE in 2020, according to court records. Smith agreed to meet with the person he believed to be a teenage girl on Aug. 18, 2021. Upon arrival at the location, Smith was arrested by New London police on state charges. He was charged by federal criminal complaint in February 2022, according to the U.S. Attorneys office. Smith faces a mandatory minimum term of five years in prison and a maximum term of 20 years for the charge. Smith was released on a $100,000 bond pending sentencing. His sentencing is scheduled for April 4, the U.S. Attorneys office said. To report cases of child exploitation, please visit www.cybertipline.com. A number of Australian companies including top-tier law firm Clayton Utz, Atlassian, National Australia Bank and some local fintechs have been dragged into FTXs US bankruptcy proceedings, as investigators seek more information about the crypto groups global activities. Documents filed in Delawares bankruptcy court in late December show hundreds of businesses and government departments globally that have been contacted by corporate investigation firm Kroll, which is seeking more information about FTX and its debtors after its spectacular collapse in November. The collapse of FTX has rattled the crypto industry. Credit: Bloomberg FTX, which had been among the worlds largest crypto exchanges, filed for bankruptcy protection in the US last year in one of the highest profile crypto blow-ups after traders pulled $US6 billion ($8.7 billion) from the platform in three days and rival exchange Binance abandoned a rescue deal. Founder Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas on December 12 after US prosecutors filed an indictment accusing him of spearheading a years-long fraud through the cryptocurrency exchange. He has pleaded not guilty to criminal charges and is likely to face trial in October, which is expected to be one of the most high-profile white-collar fraud trials in recent years. When it came to books about Harry, it was predicted to rival J.K. Rowlings epics. But it seems the boy who was spare wont be outshining the boy who lived any time soon, with Prince Harrys much-hyped memoir failing to garner a royal rush in Australia. Prince Harrys book Spare on sale at Dymocks Melbourne on Collins Street. Credit: Joe Armao Anticipating lines out the door, Sydneys Dymocks bookstore opened half an hour early and ordered a mammoth 2000 copies of Spare, ahead of the books global release date on Wednesday. Instead, those eager to grab a copy on Wednesday morning were greeted by an abundance of neatly stacked piles of the tell-all autobiography. The stores general manager, Jon Page, described the morning as a slow burn. Cardinal George Pells death has left a void in Australias influence in the Vatican, as those who saw him close-up recalled a complex man who was sharp-witted, surprisingly compassionate, and both admired and hated by many. Former Sydney barrister John McCarthy, who was Australias Ambassador to the Holy See from 2012 to 2016 and who knew Pell personally for more than 40 years, said he exercised a strong leadership role in Australia and was responsible for the 2008 World Youth Day festivities, clergy reform and the churchs response to sex abuse. Cardinal George Pell kisses Pope John Paul IIs hand during a Mass at the Vatican in 2003. Credit: Osservatore Romano It is unlikely that in the near future anyone will have as much standing in Rome as much as Cardinal Pell had in the Australian hierarchy, McCarthy said. He was Australias best known priest and was a world figure. He had credibility of an enormous order in Rome for his integrity in respect to administration and money. 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. Former Sydney barrister John McCarthy, KC, who was Australias Ambassador to the Holy See from 2012 to 2016 and who had known Pell personally for more than 40 years, remembers Pell as a towering figure in Sydney, Australia and Rome. It is unlikely that in the near future, anyone will have as much standing in Rome as much as Cardinal Pell had in the Australian hierarchy, he said. It is clear that he remained - both in church terms and for the wider media and world - a very strong and positive asset to the Holy Father and the administration of the Holy See. I also note that he was a very strong and early supporter to Pope Francis. McCarthy said he never believed the cardinal was guilty of sex abuse. Pell was the first cardinal in the world to be jailed for child sex offences and served a year in prison before the High Court dismissed the charges. I thought the sentence that he had been given and time in prison was one of the most extraordinary in Australian history. His response to imprisonment, in terms of his spirit as shown by his writings, was also extraordinary and full of Christian spirit and love. McCarthy said Pell had exercised a strong leadership role in Australia and was responsible for World Youth Day, clergy reform, the churchs response to sex abuse. He was Australias best-known priest and was a world figure, he said. He had credibility of an enormous order in Rome for his integrity in respect to administration and money. Pope Francis signs a cricket bat he received from Cardinal George Pell in 2015. Credit: AP There is no doubt that many things were made difficult for him in Rome because he did not approach this with anything other than the criteria of absolute integrity and proper administration. McCarthy, who chairs the Catholic Church Anti-Slavery Taskforce, said Pell had been a strong supporter of the campaign to end modern slavery. He also remembers Pell as a great admirer of artist Michelangelo and a generous supporter of young Australian seminarians in Rome. McCarthy said his family, including his Catholic priest son James, were shocked and in mourning. We express our solidarity and condolences to his brother David and his other relatives, he said. I was in the class of people who thought he was virtually indestructible. He will be in my thoughts and prayers over the coming days and weeks. Hip replacement surgery is considered safe and effective by scientists and surgeons, with data suggesting patients are actually less likely to die soon after surgery than the general population. Elective total hip replacement surgery, which switches in an artificial joint for the ball-and-socket in the hip where the femur bone rotates within a socket formed by the pelvis is one of Australias most common surgeries. More than 52,000 replacements are performed every year. Cardinal George Pell died of cardiac arrest in Rome following hip replacement surgery, the Catholic Church announced Wednesday morning. Other details of the surgery have not been released, but Pell was 81 and had a history of heart issues, factors known to increase a patients risk of death from the procedure. All surgeries carry risk, but death during or soon after a standard hip replacement is extremely rare, Australian and international data shows. London: Pope Francis has praised the late George Pell for persevering even in the hour of trial, a reference to the year he spent in prison on child sexual abuse accusations before he was fully acquitted. In a telegram sent to the dean of the College of Cardinals following the Australian Cardinals death, Francis also thanked Pell, who served as his economy minister and laid the groundwork for financial reform at the Vatican with determination and wisdom. Pope Francis with Cardinal George Pell in 2015. Credit: AP Pell, who was Australias highest ranking Catholic and a fierce traditionalist, died of cardiac arrest in Rome on Tuesday night while at Salvator Mundi hospital where he had hip replacement surgery. He was 81. Francis called Pell, who always maintained his innocence, a faithful servant who, without vacillating, followed his Lord with perseverance even in the hour of trial. Pells convictions were eventually overturned in 2020, when the High Court unanimously ruled in his favour and he was released after more than 400 days of imprisonment. Loading Pell was a daily visitor at the County Court for months throughout 2018, first in a trial that resulted in a hung jury and no verdict, and the subsequent retrial, where he was found guilty. Every day, a large white car dropped him and one of his solicitors at the corner of Lonsdale and William streets, and a protective security officer escorted them to the buildings entrance. Some days, Pell was just another figure, a tall man in a black suit among all the other grey-haired men in long black robes. On other days, passers-by did double takes. But because of the suppression order, Pells presence was a momentary curio, unlike Borce Ristevski and James Gargasoulas, whose cases were reported daily across William Street, at the Supreme Court, and whose appearances brought a gaggle of photographers, reporters and camera crews. Inside the County Court, Pell had a small entourage everywhere he went. He nodded to security staff who ushered him past the entrance, and to those who opened doors. During breaks in court times, he sat in a small room with the door closed, usually with his friend and assistant, Katrina Lee, and a member of his legal team. Over sandwiches, they would discuss the case, but sometimes Pell played cards for a break. One day, he strolled up and down the corridor outside the courtroom, stretching his long legs, until he realised reporters were watching, and he went back into the meeting room. Pells trial attracted groups of onlookers, all with competing interests. A group of loyal churchgoers sat in court every day. On the other side of the room, there were a handful of advocates for victims of clerical abuse, a quiet truce between the two sides. Barristers with no connection to the case made time to come in and watch, and a couple of off-duty judges unobtrusively took chairs in the back row. Richters standing as the citys pre-eminent defence barrister was a bonus for the legally interested. Tim Fischer, previously Australias deputy prime minister and a one-time ambassador to the Holy See, attended to support Pell, and shook hands with him after the verdict. Fischer, at least, waited until the jury left the room before he approached Pell, unlike one witness, who offered his hand to the cardinal after giving his evidence, in full sight of the jury, which angered the judge. Cardinal George Pell leaves the County Court in 2018. Credit: Simon Schluter When the suppression order was lifted, news of Pells guilt brought a tidal wave of fury. In February 2019, when Pell returned to court for a pre-sentence hearing, hordes of protesters screamed abuse at him outside the court, held back by protective service officers and police. Far from the figure who was able to whip in and out of the court building months earlier, people screamed at Pell to rot in hell and the sheer volume of antipathy meant it took Pell several minutes to make his way from the car to the buildings entrance. By that stage, he knew jail was inevitable and the verbal abuse had no visible effect on him. In March 2019, when Kidd imposed a six-year sentence, Pell bowed to the judge and walked out in the custody of the guards. The packed courtroom didnt see a skerrick of emotion. Outside, in the shade of the plane trees, crowds broke into applause. Like all Victorian cases involving allegations of sexual crimes, Pells trial was closed to the public and media when his accuser gave evidence. In 2018, the complainant was a man in his 30s, and he alleged that in the mid-1990s, he and his friend, then both teenage choirboys, were sexually abused by Pell in St Patricks Cathedral. The complainant also gave evidence on behalf of his friend, who died as a man from an accidental heroin overdose, having never made allegations against Pell. Many observers privately conceded they didnt hear evidence strong enough to convict Pell: there were no eyewitnesses and the circumstances appeared implausible. The jury, however, was clearly convinced by the strength of the evidence of one man: the complainant. In 2019, the Victorian Court of Appeal also found enough in the complainants evidence to uphold Pells conviction, albeit in a 2-1 majority. But Pells convictions were overturned in 2020, when seven High Court justices unanimously ruled in his favour. Released from prison, Pells car was followed along the Hume Freeway by media crews and he was filmed at a service station. Within months, the royal commission released damning findings of Pells inaction about his knowledge of paedophile priests and the abuse of children in Victoria. He returned to the Vatican, where he found relative calm, away from the condemnation in his homeland. Loading Pell was Australias highest-ranking Catholic and his loss will be mourned by millions. But for many, his death will also rekindle painful memories of their dealings with him. As archbishop of Melbourne in the 1990s, he was the architect of the Melbourne Response, the controversial compensation scheme that initially capped payments at $50,000. His preparedness to play hardball with some claims, and be legally aggressive when defending other claims as archbishop of Sydney is estimated to have saved the church many millions of dollars. The blind eye Pell turned against paedophile priests in his flock devastated countless young lives. A man who has been missing since November was found dead in a wooded area along the Farmington River in Simsbury on Tuesday, according to police. Members of the Connecticut State Police Emergency Services K9 unit and the Simsbury Police Department were searching for a missing person in a wooded area of the Farmington River near Tariffville Road in Simsbury on Tuesday morning. A state police K9 found the body of a man, identified as 57-year-old Bernard Soldate, who had been missing since Nov. 23, 2022. Soldate was last seen on New Britain Avenue in West Hartford, Simsbury police said in a missing persons report on Dec. 22, 2022. He was operating a blue 2004 Jeep Cherokee with no registration plates. The Jeep had tinted windows and two missing hub caps, police said at the time. The vehicle was previously recovered by police. Soldates body was transported to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Farmington to determine a cause of death, Simsbury police said. The Simsbury police said his death does not appear criminal in nature. The department notified the family and offered continued services, according to a release on Wednesday. The investigation into his death is ongoing, Simsbury police said. Nagle argues Pell must have known more about what went on in churches in the 1970s. Now these secrets, Nagle fears, will be taken to the grave. Loading There had been an expectation from some Pell would give evidence at an upcoming civil case being brought against him by the father of one of the boys allegedly abused by Pell at St Patricks Cathedral. A criminal conviction for these allegations was overturned by the High Court. Many Christians and conservatives laud Pell as a generational leader and see his pursuit in the courts as politically tainted. For victims and opponents of the church, he is a totem of the institutions failings. Victim groups say news of Pells death prompted a flood of emotions from survivors, whose memories of being assaulted had been enlivened. The December 2017 findings of the royal commission stated Pell was conscious of child sexual abuse by clergy as early as 1973 and failed to act on complaints about priests. He told the royal commission he was deceived in a world of crimes and cover-ups and did not know about the abuse. The commission found that was implausible. Catholic Cardinal George Pell. Credit: James Alcock Pell accused the commission of making findings not supported by evidence. The inquiry did also reject several claims made about Pell, including that he offered a bribe to an abuse survivor to silence them. Clare Leaney, chief executive of In Good Faith Foundation, which works with survivors of institutional abuse, said Pells death was a difficult moment. For many survivors of clerical abuse, particularly here in Australia, George Pell was a symbol of a system that repeatedly put the interests of the Catholic Church above the interest and safety of individuals, she said. Loading While I acknowledge the passing of Cardinal Pell, my thoughts today are with every survivor of abuse from within the Catholic Church and for all those still seeking justice. Leaney anticipated an increase in individuals disclosing their experiences of institutional abuse. I encourage anyone that is affected by this to seek support available and for them to know that the entire survivor community is here and ready to stand with them, she said. Loud Fence Inc, a victim-survivor group that started an initiative to place coloured ribbons on the fences in front of churches, also expects the coming days to be difficult. Stay safe by reaching out to loved ones, friends and support services, the group said. Lawyers who helped victims battle the church in the courts expressed anger towards Pell. Maurice Blackburn lawyer John Rule, who has represented people abused by church clergy, said the former financial controller of the Vatican will be remembered for absolutely failing survivors. He was a smart and effective administrator who prioritised the Catholic Church over everything else, including children whod been raped by priests, Rule said. Michael Magazanik, whose firm RightSide Legal has won record settlements for victims of child sexual abuse, was scathing of church leaders veneration of the cleric. Loading The Olympian hypocrisy and double standards of the church hierarchy are on full display: an outpouring of love for a man who at the very least turned a blind eye to massive child abuse, dreamt up a legal scheme which ripped off abuse survivors and personally seemed incapable of empathy with victims, he said. For Nagle, Pells death represents an important milestone for Ballarat survivors, even if their journey to heal the wrongs of the past through improving mental health and support services was ongoing. I reckon theyll be drinking champagne, he said. For us survivors, the Cardinal George Pell chapter is over. 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. A diplomatic feud between Australias biggest trading partner and closest friend in the region is escalating after China stopped issuing visas for Japanese travellers as a punishment for the introduction of COVID-19 testing rules for Chinese arrivals. The move has infuriated Tokyo, with Japans embassy in Australia demanding Beijing lift the freeze on Japanese visa applications on the grounds the measure has nothing to do with the management of COVID-19. Chinese Ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian said Japan posed a bigger security threat to Australia than China. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen China has also suspended visa applications from South Korea. Australia and most other nations have so far been spared from retaliation from Beijing for imposing testing requirements on Chinese travellers, but Australian officials are watching the downturn in Japan-China relations with trepidation. We are going to see the ripple effects from that, this mornings delays through the system during the day, said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in an interview on CNN. Now we have to understand how this could have happened in the first place. Why the usual redundancies that would stop it from being that disruptive did not stop it from being disruptive this time. Longtime aviation insiders could not recall an outage of such magnitude caused by a technology breakdown. Some compared it to the nationwide shutdown of airspace after the terror attacks of September 2001. Periodically, there have been local issues here or there, but this is pretty significant historically, said Tim Campbell, a former senior vice president of air operations at American Airlines and now a consultant in Minneapolis. A message board shows departures at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington. Credit: AP Campbell said there has long been concern about the Federal Aviation Administrations (FAA) technology, and not just the NOTAM system. So much of their systems are old mainframe systems that are generally reliable but they are out of date, he said. John Cox, a former airline pilot and aviation safety expert, said there has been talk in the aviation industry for years about trying to modernise the NOTAM system, but he did not know the age of the servers that the FAA uses. He couldnt say whether a cyberattack was possible. Ive been flying 53 years. Ive never heard the system go down like this, Cox said. So something unusual happened. According to FAA advisories, the NOTAM system failed at 8.28pm on Tuesday preventing new or amended notices from being distributed to pilots. The FAA resorted to a telephone hotline to keep departures flying overnight, but as daytime traffic picked up it overwhelmed the telephone backup system. The FAA ordered all departing flights grounded early Wednesday morning, affecting all passenger and shipping flights. Some medical flights could get clearance and the outage did not impact any military operations or mobility. Flights for the US militarys Air Mobility Command, were not affected. Biden said on Wednesday morning that he was briefed by Buttigieg. I just spoke to Buttigieg. They dont know what the cause is. But I was on the phone with him about 10 minutes, Biden said. I told him to report directly to me when they find out. Buttigieg said on CNN that the order to ground all departing flights was done out of an abundance of caution, but said mass disruptions to U.S. air travel are not acceptable. We need to design a system that does not have this kind of vulnerability, Buttigieg said. Julia Macpherson was on a United Airlines flight from Sydney to Los Angeles on Wednesday when she learned of possible delays. As I was up in the air I got news from my friend who was also travelling overseas that there was a power outage, said Macpherson, who was returning to Florida from Hobart, Tasmania. Once she lands in Los Angeles, she still has a connection in Denver on her flight to Jacksonville, Florida. She said there have been no announcements on the flight about the FAA issue. Macpherson said she had already experienced a delay in her travels because her original flight from Melbourne to San Francisco was cancelled and she rebooked a flight from Sydney to Los Angeles. Similar stories came out of Chicago, Washington, Atlanta and other major US airports. European flights into the US appeared to be largely unaffected. Carriers from Irelands Aer Lingus to Germanys Lufthansa said there was no impact on their schedules. It was the latest headache for travellers in the US who faced flight cancellations over the holidays amid winter storms and a breakdown with staffing technology at Southwest Airlines. They also ran into long lines, lost baggage, and cancellations and delays over the summer as travel demand roared back from the COVID-19 pandemic and ran into staffing cutbacks at airports and airlines in the US and Europe. AP Hyderabad-based Adishwar Auto Ride India (AARI) on Wednesday introduced the Italian bicycle brand Benelli Bike in India and also launched Superbike Keeway SR250 at Auto Expo 2023. Priced at Rs 1.49 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi), SR250 is the eighth product offering of the Hungarian brand in the Indian market. It has classic design elements with modern-day features, making it a perfect Neo-retro offering for urban commuting. Commenting on the development, AARI Managing Director Vikas Jhabakh said: "With the exceptional response, we have been receiving for the earlier launch SR125, we have decided to add another member to the Keeway SR series, allowing customers to opt for more options within the brand". Powered by a single-cylinder 4-stroke 223 cc engine, SR250 produces 16.08 HP of peak power. Deliveries of SR250 will start in April 2023. Also Read Auto Expo returns after 3 years; some prominent firms to skip event Ducati India to hike prices of entire range of motorcycle from Jan Hero MotoCorp to invest $60 mn in Zero Motorcycles to develop e-bikes Superbike-maker Ducati lines up 9 motorcycle models for India in 2023 Jitendra New EV inks pact with FAE Bikes to supply 12K e-scooters Tata showcases 14 EVs and concepts, launches vehicles in several segments Between FAME and fortune, EV players worried about their investments Cummins India to start production of fuel-agnostic engines this year Ashok Leyland showcases 7 new advanced mobility solutions at Auto Expo 2023 Hyundai India to invest Rs 4,000 cr for developing 6 EVs by 2028: CEO Besides, AARI announced the arrival of Benelli Bike, popularly known as BB Bike, offering a range of mountain, gravel and road-focused bicycles, along with electric-powered bicycles. AARI is looking at the growing popularity of the athleisure and fitness segment in India as more people have become fitness enthusiasts, making it the perfect time to introduce BB Bike here, Jhabakh said. "There is a huge demand and great potential for international bikes and B Bike with its exciting range, comes across as the perfect blend of innovation and technology," he said. It will also offer accessories that include protective gears, spares and components. Mahavir group, one of the leading automobile dealers in the country, also spearheads operations of Benelli and Keeway brands through AARI. These brands are operating over 50 dealerships. The worlds largest aircraft fleet was grounded for hours by a cascading outage in a government system that delayed or cancelled thousands of flights across the U.S. on Wednesday. The White House initially said that there was no evidence of a cyberattack behind the outage that ruined travel plans for millions of passengers. President Joe Biden said Wednesday morning that hes directed the Department of Transportation to investigate. Whatever the cause, the outage revealed how dependent the worlds largest economy is on air travel, and how dependent air travel is on an antiquated computer system called the Notice to Air Missions System, or NOTAM. Before commencing a flight, pilots are required to consult NOTAMs, which list potential adverse impacts on flights, from runway construction to the potential for icing. The system used to be telephone-based, with pilots calling dedicated flight service stations for the information, but has moved online. The NOTAM system broke down late Tuesday, leading to more than 1,000 flight cancellations and more than 6,000 delayed flights by 11 a.m. Wednesday, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware. The chaos is expected to grow as backups compound. More than 21,000 flights were scheduled to take off in the U.S. today, mostly domestic trips, and about 1,840 international flights expected to fly to the U.S., according to aviation data firm Cirium. Longtime aviation insiders could not recall an outage of such magnitude caused by a technology breakdown. Some compared it to the nationwide shutdown of airspace after the terror attacks of September 2001. Periodically there have been local issues here or there, but this is pretty significant historically, said Tim Campbell, a former senior vice president of air operations at American Airlines and now a consultant in Minneapolis. Campbell said there has long been concern about the Federal Aviation Administrations technology, and not just the NOTAM system. So much of their systems are old mainframe systems that are generally reliable but they are out of date, he said. John Cox, a former airline pilot and aviation safety expert, said there has been talk in the aviation industry for years about trying to modernize the NOTAM system, but he did not know the age of the servers that the FAA uses. He couldnt say whether a cyberattack was possible. Ive been flying 53 years. Ive never heard the system go down like this, Cox said. So something unusual happened. According to FAA advisories, the NOTAM system failed at 8:28 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday preventing new or amended notices from being distributed to pilots. The FAA resorted to a telephone hotline to keep departures flying overnight, but as daytime traffic picked up it overwhelmed the telephone backup system. The FAA ordered all departing flights grounded early Wednesday morning, affecting all passenger and shipping flights. Some medical flights could get clearance and the outage did not impact any military operations or mobility. Flights for the U.S. militarys Air Mobility Command, were not affected. Biden said Wednesday morning that he was briefed by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. I just spoke to Buttigieg. They dont know what the cause is. But I was on the phone with him about 10 minutes, Biden said. I told him to report directly to me when they find out. Julia Macpherson was on a United Airlines flight from Sydney to Los Angeles on Wednesday when she learned of possible delays. As I was up in the air I got news from my friend who was also traveling overseas that there was a power outage, said Macpherson, who was returning to Florida from Hobart, Tasmania. Once she lands in Los Angeles, she still has a connection in Denver on her flight to Jacksonville, Florida. She said there have been no announcements on the flight about the FAA issue. Macpherson said she had already experienced a delay in her travels because her original flight from Melbourne to San Francisco was canceled and she rebooked a flight from Sydney to Los Angeles. Similar stories came out of Chicago, Washington, Atlanta and other major U.S. airports. European flights into the U.S. appeared to be largely unaffected. Irish carrier Aer Lingus said services to the U.S. continue, and Dublin Airports website showed that its flights to Newark, Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles were running on schedule. Aer Lingus plan to operate all transatlantic flights as scheduled today, the carrier said in a prepared statement. We will continue to monitor but we do not anticipate any disruption to our services arising from the technical issue in the United States. It was the latest headache for travelers in the U.S. who faced flight cancellations over the holidays amid winter storms and a breakdown with staffing technology at Southwest Airlines. They also ran into long lines, lost baggage, and cancellations and delays over the summer as travel demand roared back from the COVID-19 pandemic and ran into staffing cutbacks at airports and airlines in the U.S. and Europe. AP writers Zeke Miller and Tara Copp contributed to this report from Washington, D.C. AP Business Writer Kelvin Chan contributed from London. AP reporter Freida Frisaro contributed from Miami. AP Airlines Writer David Koenig contributed from Dallas. Fuel-agnostic engines can run on hydrogen, bio-diesel, ethanol, CNG, LNG, and other fuels. A diesel truck can be retrofitted with a fuel-agnostic engine by swapping its existing diesel engine, said Ashwath Ram, managing director of the firm. Most of the investments have happened at the site, and these qualify for the PLI (production linked incentive) scheme as well, he added. Cummins India will soon start producing fuel-agnostic engine systems at the Tata-Cummins plant in Phaltan in Satara district of Maharashtra, senior officials at Cummins India said. The firm will start limited production by the end of 2023 and mass production will likely begin by 2024, the officials said. Cummins is also in talks with other CV original equipment manufacturers in the country. Cummins has tied up with Tata Motors to power the latters commercial vehicles with the fuel-agnostic engine systems. Engines have been fitted in prototype vehicles, which are now ready for field-testing, mileage testing, etc. These can then go for commercial production, Ram said. Initially, Cummins will start with a LNG-hydrogen platform and then make the CNG-hydrogen platform. Once the hydrogen fuel infrastructure matures in the country, it will start producing hydrogen variants of these engines, said Anjali Pandey, chief operating officer of Cummins India. She added that India will become a sourcing hub for Cummins globally, especially for the B6.7H engine platform. Apart from Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland and Daimler Trucks too are focusing on hydrogen-powered trucks. According to industry estimates, hydrogen-powered trucks and buses will emerge as a commercially viable, self-sufficient green solution in the next five years. Also Read Govt's ethanol blending programme faces supply and pricing problem Fuel prices today: Check the prices of petrol, diesel in your city Uttar Pradesh crosses Rs 12,000 crore mark in the ethanol economy Cabinet hikes ethanol prices, approves subsidy for non-urea fertilisers Reduce sugar production, focus on ethanol: Gadkari tells sugar mills Ashok Leyland showcases 7 new advanced mobility solutions at Auto Expo 2023 Hyundai India to invest Rs 4,000 cr for developing 6 EVs by 2028: CEO Atul Auto forays into EV space, launches two electric three-wheelers Suzuki Motor turns to Toyota for lessons on small EVs, other technologies BYD unveils luxury BYD Seal, ATTO 3 limited edition at Auto Expo 2023 Ram said large fleets of medium and heavy commercial vehicles (MHCVs) will initially adopt the hydrogen-powered engine systems on some routes. He added that grey hydrogen (92-97 per cent purity) is a by-product of petroleum production, and thus such routes may be viable near refineries. The US and the EU are trying to reach net zero emissions faster than most countries, and thus we expect demand from these markets, Pandey said. Cummins has manufacturing hubs in India, the US, and China. With its Destination Zero strategy Cummins aims to reduce its products greenhouse gas (GHG) and air quality impact and reach net-zero emissions by 2050. The group will pursue a dual-path approach acting today to reduce emissions from internal combustion engines while simultaneously investing in new, zero-emission products. We are around 5-10 years away from higher adoption of hydrogen-powered engines. India has set a goal of net zero emissions by 2070, he said. Ram said the cost of a hydrogen fuel engine system would be 1.5-times that of a diesel engine, while a fuel cell electric vehicle system would cost five times more than diesel engine systems. Hydrogen-powered engine costs will reduce as storage tanks are mass produced, he added. The firm also plans to launch electrolysers that make green hydrogen from water it will build one of the largest proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysers for GAIL at Vijaipur, Madhya Pradesh. A KPMG report released last year said the costs of green hydrogen in India could fall by half to as low as Rs 160-170 a kg by 2030. At present, green hydrogen production costs between Rs 320 and Rs 330 per kg in India. Production costs of grey hydrogen are lower. According to a NITI Aayog report released in June 2022, hydrogen demand in India could grow more than fourfold by 2050, representing almost 10 per cent of global demand. In the longer term, steel and heavy-duty trucking are expected to drive demand growth, accounting for around 52 per cent of total demand by 2050, it said. First Published: Jan 12 2023 | 12:37 AM IST Over 59 products unveiled, launched on first day of Auto Expo 2023 Meta partners with FADA to upskill auto dealers to build social presence MG Motor expecting 70-80% growth in India in 2023: MD Rajeev Chaba No new launches in 2023; Kia India to consolidate gains: VP Hardeep Singh Auto Expo 2023: Ashok Leyland to expand scope of its connected network IPL 2023: Updated squad list of all teams after the mini-auction in Kochi Ashok Leyland showcases six commercial vehicles at the Auto Expo 2023 No near-term boost likely for auto stocks from Expo 2023, say analysts Budget 2023: A look back at some major announcements in previous Budget From internal combustion engines (ICE) to hydrogen, Tata Motors has taken the big leap forward in meeting customer requirements. With six new electric vehicles (EVs), the automotive player is also looking to become the largest player in the fastest-growing EV segment., president, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, in conversation with, talks about the companys plans of meeting consumer expectations across segments. Edited excerpts: We are bringing personalised and customised interventions to appeal to certain groups of customers. To read the full story, subscribe to BS Premium now, at just Rs 249/ month. Key stories on business-standard.com are available only to BS Premium subscribers. Already a BS Premium subscriber?LOGIN NOW Register to read more on Business-Standard.com The announcement came at the Auto Expo 2023, where Meta announced the launch of Move with Meta, a skilling and enablement program in partnership with FADA to upskill more than 3000 auto dealers across the country to build a social presence and digitise using Meta Platforms. FADA currently represents 15,000 auto dealers across the country. Meta on Wednesday announced a strategic partnership with the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) to digitally enable thousands of auto dealers across the country to reach consumers digitally. Over the last two years, we have enabled more than 2600 dealers to digitise their outreach and experiences through our unique solutions and tools. Were thrilled to now be joined by FADA on this journey to further unlock growth for auto dealers and in turn for OEMs across India, said Bhowmik. While explaining why Meta is training auto dealers, Saugato Bhowmik, director - Auto, CPG, and D2C, Meta India said, with people increasingly relying on digital touchpoints to decide on their automobile purchases, auto dealers have felt an urgent need to become discoverable to customers online. They were not able to reach their target audience. With digital penetration increasing, our endeavour is to help scale Indias auto dealers across geographies and demographics to connect with customers online. With Metas wide reach across the country including in smaller towns, and adoption by people across age groups, its among the strongest platforms for auto dealers to leverage and generate leads online, Singhania added. Commenting on the partnership, FADA president Manish Raj Singhania said that Meta has done path-breaking work by helping dealers create a social presence and generate online leads with minimal investment. Also Read Dealers and automakers have a tumultuous relationship, says FADA President We're reading too much into weak two-wheeler demand: Hero Moto exec Will post highest ever domestic sales in 2022: Hyundai's Tarun Garg Massive growth in reels in past two years, says Meta's Ajit Mohan Indian auto industry should aim for higher quality: Maruti Suzuki's Ayukawa Over 59 products unveiled, launched on first day of Auto Expo 2023 Electric vehicles steal the limelight on first day of Auto Expo 2023 EV alone can't achieve India's net-zero aim: Suzuki president Toshihiro Auto Expo 2023: Automakers go all out with green offerings on day 1 Auto Expo 2023: VECV unveils intercity electric bus to cover 500 km Maruti Suzuki launched the Maruti Suzuki hyperlocal program in July 2018 for its dealer partners, where highly targeted marketing is done based on a specific geographic location of the dealer. At present, we have more than 2500 live outlets under this initiative and a majority of them are live with media, said Shashank Srivastava, executive director of Maruti Suzuki India. The program will incorporate knowledge from global teams and provide dealers with easy and low-cost access to best-in-class global digital expertise. Meta will also leverage FADAs scaled forums such as state-level dealership workshops known as Vyapaar and its initiatives for under-35 dealers to enhance the reach of the program. We collaborate with Meta to enable customers to discover dealers near them in their auto purchase journey, digitise dealerships, set up online storefronts, and set up a direct online lead generation channel for them and help dealerships build a local brand and engage with customers on Meta, Srivastava added. Meta has partnered with Maruti, Hyundai and Hero Motocorp. MG Motor India increased its sales from about 40,000 units in 2021 to about 50,000 units in 2022. "In 2022, the growth was stifled due to the shortages of chips. This year, we are hoping that our supply should improve from the chips' perspective. Also, we have launched facelifted Hector (today) and we are launching another EV (in 2023)," he told Business Standard in an interview. MG Motor India is expecting to sell about 80,000-100,000 units, marking a growth of about 70-80 per cent, in 2023 due to the introduction of a new electric vehicle (EV) priced between Rs 10-15 lakh, improved semiconductor chip supply and high demand for existing products, said its President and Managing Director Rajeev Chaba on Wednesday. The company has already announced that it will be launching one EV, priced anywhere between Rs 10-15 lakhs, this year. "We are not Hyundai and Maruti. For a company of our size, if we are able to launch one new vehicle per year, that is good," Chaba said. He said the company is showcasing seven new energy vehicles -- four EVs (including MG4) and three hybrids (including MG EHS) -- at the Auto Expo 2023 here. "We are evaluating all the cars and one of these cars will be launched next year," he mentioned. "We are expecting our growth to be anywhere between 70-80 per cent growth this year. Our volume should grow up to 80,000-100,000 cars this year," Chaba said. When asked if an EV priced below Rs 10 lakh could be launched for the Indian market, he replied: "Some players may be planning that. As far as we are concerned, we are taking a step at a time. So, right now, we are going for a price segment that is between Rs 10-15 lakh and that will be quite low in my opinion." Tata Motors launched Tiago EV, India's most affordable electric car, in September last year at an introductory price of Rs 8.49 lakh (ex-showroom). Also Read No near-term boost likely for auto stocks from Expo 2023, say analysts Maruti Suzuki unveils concept electric SUV 'eVX' at Auto Expo 2023 Chinese carmaker BYD drives into Indian e-SUV segment with Atto 3 Kia unveils EV9 concept electric SUV, Carens ambulance at Auto Expo 2023 Ashok Leyland showcases six commercial vehicles at the Auto Expo 2023 No new launches in 2023; Kia India to consolidate gains: VP Hardeep Singh Meta partners with FADA to upskill auto dealers to build social presence Over 59 products unveiled, launched on first day of Auto Expo 2023 Electric vehicles steal the limelight on first day of Auto Expo 2023 EV alone can't achieve India's net-zero aim: Suzuki president Toshihiro "We are still making more enhancements and improvements and re-layout certain areas. So, hopefully, by the end of this year, we can take the capacity to up to 135,000-140,000 units per year," he mentioned. MG Motor sells brands such as Gloster, Astor, Hector and ZS EV in India. Talking about the company's plant in Gujarat, Chaba said massive changes have been done last year to increase its production capacity from 70,000 units per year to about 120,000 units per year. MG Motor India's component supply is going as usual and it has not been impacted as yet due to the resurgence of COVID-19 in China, he said. What kind of investment would this expansion need in 2023? "It is difficult to quantify but is obviously in the hundreds of crores because it is not only the capacity enhancements but also the localisation, the new product launches, etc. We will be investing in all that on a yearly basis." Regarding chip supply, he said the situation has improved for sure. "One can not say that supply will be 100 per cent okay (this year). There are still some disruptions. It is an allocation issue also from the chip manufacturer," he said. The company sold about 5,000 units of its only electric car, the ZS EV. "We should double ZS EV's sales this year," he said, adding that the waiting period currently for ZS is about 3-4 months. "It will accelerate further between 2025 and 2030 as more and more EVs will come from all car companies so it may go anywhere between 15-25 per cent. It all depends on the number of entries. Consumers will become more and more ready to drive EVs," he added. Out of about 3.8 million passenger vehicles sold in India in 2022, only about one per cent were EVs. "This year, it will probably become 2.5-3 per cent. It has the potential to become 7-8 per cent by 2025." A two-member Bench of Justice Rakesh Kumar, member (judicial), and Alok Srivastava, member (technical), said Googles appeal against the CCI order was subject to the tech giant depositing 10 per cent of the penalty imposed on it by the antitrust regulator. Penalty to be deposited with the Registrar in four weeks. The matter is listed for a final hearing on April 17. No interim order, NCLAT said. The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Wednesday refused to stay the second Competition Commission of India (CCI) order imposing a penalty of Rs 936.44 crore on Google for abusing its dominant position through its Playstore policies. Appearing for Alphabet (the parent of Google) on Wednesday, senior advocate Harish Salve argued that CCIs order finds various examples of abuse by the tech giant without discussing appreciable adverse effects on competition (AAEC) of such alleged abuse. This goes against the Competition Act and case laws, he said. Google had approached the NCLAT seeking a stay on the CCIs October 25 order that imposed a fine of Rs 936.44 crore on it and asked Google to cease and desist from abusive practices in the Playstore. Salve said that if Google complies with the CCI order, it would prompt deep systemic changes in the tech giants policies (Playstore and third parties) and leave Google in a difficult position, as it would have lost revenue due to the implementation of the directions. Explaining AAEC, Naval Chopra and Yaman Verma, partners, competition law, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas, said: Section 3 of the Competition Act prohibits agreements if they cause or are likely to cause an appreciable adverse effect on competition. Importantly, Section 4 which deals with abuse of dominance, the section under which Google has been found guilty, does not have any AAEC requirement. While the NCLAT has previously held that the effect of abusive conduct must be looked at, when a super-dominant gatekeeper like Google imposes clauses that exclude competitors, the effect on the market is apparent. Also Read NCLAT directs Google to pay 10% of Rs 1,337 crore penalty imposed by CCI Google dials NCLAT against CCI's Android order, Rs 1,337-crore fine Indian developers benefit from Android, Play: Google on CCI penalty Google may face a third CCI fine in less than a month. Now for Android TV CCI likely to appeal against NCLAT order in DLF matter: Sources Govt extends tenure of SBI MD Challa Sreenivasulu Setty by 2 years Piramal Capital aims to increase retail loan book to more than Rs 1 trn Tata Group to make significant investments in e-mobility: N Chandrasekaran Adani Group to invest Rs 60,000 crore in MP over the next few years Adishwar introduces Benelli Bikes, launches new model of Keeway Superbike The case pertains to a Google Playstore policy that requires all app developers to only use Google Plays billing system (GPBS) to charge customers. GPBS was not only used for receiving payments from apps but also for in-app purchases. On the other hand, advocates Samar Bansal and Manu Chaturvedi, appearing for CCI, said Google admitted that it was in the process of implementing similar directions as contained in CCIs order in other jurisdictions such as Europe in some instances involving antitrust findings, without pressing for a stay. However, in India, Google/Alphabet has chosen to appeal and press for a stay of such directions, which shows discriminatory conduct of Google between India and other jurisdictions, they said. Last week, the NCLAT also declined to stay another CCI order, in which it had slapped a penalty of Rs 1,337.76 crore on Google for anti-competitive practices in relation to Android mobile devices. In this matter, the tech giant has approached the Supreme Court. After Google started charging a 30 per cent commission in 2020 for Playstore transactions, some app developers filed a complaint with the CCI, prompting the action. SC to hear appeal The Supreme Court will hear on Monday an appeal by Google against another CCI order in the Android devices case. While admitting Googles appeal, NCLAT asked it to deposit 10 per cent of the penalty amount of Rs 1,337.76 crore imposed by the CCI, thereby granting some relief on the monetary front. The next hearing on the matter is scheduled for April 3. Google had three months to comply with the CCIs directions, which ends on January 19. The NCLAT on January 4 refused to grant an interim stay on the order directing the tech giant to change its business model in India. Google on Wednesday mentioned its legal challenge against the CCI order that will force the US company to change how it markets its Android platform. If a stay is not granted in time and Google fails to comply with the directions of the CCI by January 19, the commission can prosecute Googles top executives. Additional penalty could also be charged for each days delay, legal experts said. Reliance Jio Infocomm has invested Rs 40,446 crore as it expanded the footprint in the Tamil Nadu with the unveiling of True 5G services in five cities, a top company official said on Wednesday. Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd State Business head Hemanth Kumar Guruswamy said 45 people out of every 100 people were using Jio services in the State. The company today rolled out True 5G services in Coimbatore, Madurai, Tiruchirappalli, Salem, Hosur and Vellore in addition to the facility already being available in Chennai. Minister for Information Technology and Digital Srrvices T Mano Thangaraj launched the 5G services in the five cities at an event in the city. Kumar said the company would generate one lakh jobs directly and indirectly. According to him, over 20,000 towers were deployed across cities while optic fibre cables were laid in about 77,000 km across Tamil Nadu for the service. Also Read Reliance Jio Prepaid Plan, Independence Day Offer: Free perks worth Rs 3000 Reliance Jio 6th Anniversary: Check the plan, offers and benefits Rolls-Royce names Ex-BP executive Tufan Erginbilgic as CEO to succeed East Reliance Jio Cloud-linked laptops likely to cost less than Rs 10,000 Reliance Jio to start beta trial of 5G services in 4 cities on Wednesday SpiceJet passengers wait long at Delhi; airline says delay from crew Auto Expo 2023: Ashok Leyland to expand scope of its connected network Flipkart opens its 3rd and largest fulfillment center in Unnao district JSW Paints expects its revenue to touch Rs 5,000-crore mark by FY26 Start-up funding dips 33% YoY in CY22, early-stage funding grows: PwC India "The plan was to launch the 5G services in Coimbatore and Madurai today. But our colleagues ensured that three more cities Tiruchirappalli, Salem and Hosur were also covered with the 5G deployment," he said. Kumar said the company would gradually expand the 5G rollout to other cities of the State as it aims to connect every town and villages by December 2023. "We are excited to expand Jio True 5G in six more cities in Tamil Nadu. Soon, Jio True 5G network will be present across the length and breadth of Tamil Nadu. By December 2023, every village and town of TN will have Jio's True 5G Services." Users of Jio in these cities would be invited to a 'Welcome Offer' to experience unlimited data of up to 1 Gbps-plus speeds, at no additional cost, the company said. Thousands of dollars worth of large tools and a new boiler system were stolen from a Habitat for Humanity building project on Capitol Avenue in Hartford on New Years Day, according to the organization. The Hartford Police Department was dispatched to 315 Capitol Avenue around 8 a.m. on Jan. 1 for a report from a person who lives in a neighboring building of a potential break-in at the building around 6 a.m. The neighbor reported that the rear door appeared to be forced open. Upon arrival, police found the rear door open and the door latch lock and a basement window broken. Habitat for Humanity North Central Connecticut Director of Construction Kris McKelvie responded to the home after he was informed of the break-in. He told police that over $2,500 worth of tools were stolen, according to police. McKelvie estimates that damages totaled at least $10,000. He told the Courant that a table saw, a top saw, several batteries for tools and the boiler system were taken during the break-in. The perpetrators also broke a stained glass window pane in the front door and cut the locks off the back door and a box truck that the crew was using as a tool trailer. A boiler stolen from a Capitol Avenue home being renovated by the Habitat for Humanity North Central Connecticut. The boiler was stolen during a break-in on New Years Day. (Photo courtesy of Kris McKelvie of Habitat for Humanity North Central Connecticut) The property, a historic Victorian-style, five-bedroom home, was being renovated by Habitat for Humanity to be purchased on a 0% interest-rate mortgage by a veteran family. The home is nearly finished and is set to be shown to the public on March 30, McKelvie said. The loss of tools and equipment, property damage is heartbreaking for all of our volunteers who have worked so hard to renovate this home, McKelvie said. He said there was a significant number of community members who helped renovate the home, including the family who is set to purchase it. Its had a lot of individual folks giving their Saturday up to come and work with us, so I feel like its just kind of holds a place in everybodys heart thats been a part of this project, McKelvie said. McKelvie said anyone looking to help make up for the loss can donate money or gift cards to hardware stores to the organization at its website by selecting the Build Hope drop-down menu. Police said there were no security or video surveillance cameras on the property. The organization said further security measures have been increased in a Facebook post Tuesday. The Major Crimes and Crime Scene Divisions were notified of the break-in. The investigation into the incident is ongoing, police said. Reliance Retail plans to sell groceries, value fashion and electronics at these outlets. It also has plans to onboard these stores on the JioMart shopping app, a senior industry executive aware of the plans told the publication. After acquiring Metro AG's India wholesale business, Reliance Retail is planning to turn the stores into destination retail outlets, The Economic Times reported. These stores will then cater to both trade and consumers. The report said some of the stores will also have cafes. Reliance Industries' subsidiary Reliance Retail Ventures, the holding company for Reliance Retail, signed definitive agreements last month to acquire all of Metro Cash & Carry India for Rs 2,850 crore. The report said some of the stores will also have cafes. Reliance got 31 large format stores in 21 cities as well as a real estate portfolio as part of the deal. So far, Metro sold only to business customers such as neighbourhood stores, hotels, restaurants, caterers and others with a business or goods and services tax (GST) licence as its German parent had to comply with Indias norms that only allow 100 per cent FDI in cash-and-carry or wholesale trade. Reliance got 31 large format stores in 21 cities as well as a real estate portfolio as part of the deal. Also Read Reliance Retail's JioMart begins a month-long festival season sale What's behind the fall in India's FDI inflows? Meta partners with Reliance Jiomart to offer grocery shopping on WhatsApp Can Reliance repeat its brick-and-mortar success in e-commerce? TMS Ep311: India's FDI Inflows, Second-hand Car, Auto Stocks, India Stack Bharti Airtel falls by over 4% after JP Morgan downgrades its stock EnKash gets RBI's in-principle nod to operate as online payment aggregator Ashok Leyland showcases six commercial vehicles at the Auto Expo 2023 Flipkart Internet gets $90 million cash infusion from Singapore parent Reliance set to disrupt live streaming market with free IPL broadcast The startup ecosystem in eastern India, particularly West Bengal is improving, NASSCOM (East) chairman Sanjoy Chatterjee said here on Wednesday. NASSCOM, the premier trade body of IT and ITeS sector, has so far incubated 221 start ups in the region so far, he told a press conference here. It set up the warehouse for mentoring the largest start up ecosystem in the eastern part of the country seven years ago. Out of the 221 incubated start ups, 79 were funded, including 49 with the second series. These start ups included both technology and non-tech ones in the MSME and large enterprises space. "The start up ecosystem in the east, particularly West Bengal, is improving.A large number of IT and ITeS firms are going to start operations from the city," Chatterjee said. Besides NASSCOM, the other major incubators in West Bengal are IIM Innovation Park and IIT Kharagpur among others. Also Read Cosmetics firm L'Oreal ties up with Nasscom to innovate business operations Funding in startups drops by 17% to USD 6 billion in April-June: Nasscom Google Cloud, Nasscom partner to skill students for entry-level Cloud jobs Nasscom to train up to 50,000 product managers by 2025: Narayanan Building 5G use cases needs strong public-private alliance: Nasscom study Indian startup funding dropped by 33%, may become normal after 2-3 quarters India's startup funding in 2022 double the pre-pandemic level: PwC With $10.8 billion, Bengaluru top city on start-up funding in 2022: Report Startup movement picked up momentum in India: Union Minister Jitendra Singh Indian start-ups take 5 yrs to cross $100 mn revenue mark: Redseer Elaborating on NASSCOM's efforts in Bengal, he said it will hold the first Bengal Entrepreneurs Summit on Technology in the city on January 19 and more than 400 start ups are expected to attend the event. Among the participants will be start ups from the tech, IoT, blockchain, data science and fintech, besides venture capitalists and angel investors, he said. Currently, nearly 16 start ups are being mentored at the NASSCOM warehouse and many of them remotely, Chatterjee added. Arunachal Pradesh's tableau for the Republic Day celebrations this year in Delhi will feature the prospect of tourism in the northeastern state, an official said on Wednesday. The tableau will highlight various initiatives taken by the state government to build infrastructure such as road, rail and air connectivity that has facilitated tourism boost in the state, he said. It will feature newly constructed Donyi Polo Airport, the Shingpho festival and the 1962 War Memorial of Tawang, said the official of the state Information and Public Relations (IPR) department. During the Republic Day parade on January 26, as many as 36 artistes donning the traditional attire of various tribes of the state will be part of the programme, he said. The Donyi Polo Airport' in the state capital opened in November last year and has facilitated the arrival of domestic and international tourists into the state. The upgradation of advanced landing grounds with civil terminals has also improved the lives of the people residing in the border state immensely, the official claimed. Also Read No Karnataka tableau on Republic Day parade this year, says govt BSF camel contingent for next Republic Day parade will include women Number of operational airports in country rises to 140 from 74 in 2014 Dharamshala all set to host conference of tourism ministers today Boston marks first India Day Parade to celebrate 75th anniversary of I-Day Delhi court reserves order on bail plea of accused urinating midair TN Guv's 'guest' recorded House proceedings, issue goes to privileges panel PM Modi to inaugurate National Youth Festival in Hubballi on Thursday Not tobacco ban, new therapies key to combating lung cancer: Nobel laureate Indian fighter jets welcomed in Japan with traditional water cannon salute Even the remotest border areas have been connected by all-weather roads to facilitate movement of civilians and defence personnel and tourists as well. These initiatives will be highlighted in the tableau, he said. As many as 10 flights, scheduled to depart from Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI), was delayed because of dense fog, sources informed on Wednesday. Among the flight routes affected by the severe fog were Delhi-Shimla, Delhi-Kathmandu, Delhi-Chennai, Delhi-Jaisalmer, Delhi-Bareilly, Delhi-Mumbai, Delhi-Varanasi, Delhi-Srinagar, Delhi-Jaipur, and Delhi-Guwahati, the airport sources informed. Already reeling under a cold wave since the beginning of the new year, residents in the national capital on Wednesday woke to a chilly morning with a thick layer of fog. Safdarjung recorded a minimum temperature of 5.9 degree Celsius around 6.10 am. According to the Met department, the visibility in Palam was recorded at 100 meters at 6.10 am. 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. Also Read How do planes take off, land in dense fog, and is Delhi airport prepared? Dense fog, cold wave grip swathes of north, northwest India, says IMD Dense fog disrupts air travel; 100 Delhi flights delayed in past 3 days North to western India to get scattered rainfall during next five days: IMD Delhi logs 50 hours of dense fog in January, highest since 2019: IMD India efficient in setting agenda under G20 presidency: Netherlands Four K'taka universities enter into pact with universities of Pennsylvania Top headlines: World Bank cuts economic growth forecast, DESH Bill deadlock IAEA to send monitoring missions to Ukraine's nuclear plants amid war PM Narendra Modi lauds railways coach production under 'Make in India' "Dense/Very Dense Fog layer (in the white patch) extends from Punjab to Bihar across Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh," tweeted the India Meteorological Department. On the other hand, the Northern Railway informed on Wednesday that 26 trains were running late due to fog. Meanwhile, the national capital continued to reel under worsening air quality, with the overall AQI breaching the 'severe' category, at 421. On Monday, the AAP government in the national capital 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, from 300 to 400 is very poor and 400 to 500 or above is considered severe. The Centre on Wednesday said it will expedite the payment of a Rs 540 crore claim of the kharif 2021 season to eligible farmers of Barmer district, Rajasthan. The decision was taken in a high-level meeting chaired by Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar. Minister of State for Agriculture Kailash Choudhary, CMD of Agriculture Insurance Company (AIC) and Agriculture Commissioner in the Rajasthan government were present at the meeting. On the central government's initiative, AIC had last week said it has settled partial claims amounting to Rs 311 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY). "Following the review meeting held today, the insurance company will pay an additional claim amount of Rs 229 crore to the farmers," an official statement said. A total claim payment of Rs 540 crore to the eligible farmers of Barmer will be expedited, it added. Also Read Overall kharif sowing improves even as paddy and arhar remain muted Kharif acreage nears last year's level, except for paddy and pulses IFC invests Rs 300 cr in agro-chemical firm Crystal Crop Protection Chhattisgarh gets approval for pulses procurement at MSPs in kharif season States peg kharif rice procurement at last year level despite output worry Operations normal at Indian airports amid US air traffic disruptions: DGCA Three major launches in next 3 months, says ISRO chairman S Somanath PM Modi, Israeli PM Netanyahu discuss bilateral cooperation over phone call NCLAT refuses to stay CCI's order of Rs 936 crore penalty on Google Patrolling along LoC strengthened ahead of Republic Day: BSF officer Addressing the meeting, Tomar said PMFBY has provided better financial security cover to crores of farmers in case of crop loss. "By taking decisions in the interest of the farmers, the Government of India is trying to make it easier for the farmers so that they do not face any problem while taking crop insurance," he said. Under the PMFBY, the central government will soon initiate prompt steps to give proper benefits to the farmers on the issue of small claims after discussing with the state governments and insurance companies, he added. During the meeting, there was a comprehensive discussion on the ease of the crop insurance scheme and the proposed solutions for small claims, in which it was also decided to make consolidated payment for all eligible applications while paying claims to farmers in future, the statement said. Launched in 2016, the PMFBY provides comprehensive risk insurance against crop damage due to non-preventable natural risks from pre-sowing to post-harvest for the crops/areas notified by the concerned state government. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said that the Global Investors Summit which is being organised in Indore on January 11 and 12 will prove to be a milestone for the state's $550 billion economy. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually inaugurate and address the seventh Global Investors Summit. The President of Suriname Chandrika Prasad Santokhi and the President of Guyana Dr Mohammed Irfan Ali will also attend the inaugural session and they will address the summit. "The Global Investor Summit (GIS) is a global in true sense as representatives of 82 countries are participating and there are 10 partner countries in it. The President of two countries, several foreign ministers, finance ministers and mineral ministers of different countries will be participating in the summit.There are many international industries and trade organisations also participating in it," CM Chouhan said. "There are buyers, sellers, over 5000 industrialists, and 70 big industrial houses are participating in the summit. There is an immense enthusiasm for investment in Madhya Pradesh, not only among domestic investors but investors across the world. I feel our efforts will bear fruit. I have to make the state a $ 550 billion economy by 2026 and this summit will be a milestone in this direction," Chouhan added. The CM has left no stone unturned to make the Summit a success. He held road shows in Delhi, Mumbai, Pune and Bengaluru to invite investors to the state. He held regular one-to-one discussions with industrialists and also met industrialists every week. In addition, he also interacted with potential investors from different countries. Also Read Prez Droupadi Murmu, CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan visit tribal museum in Bhopal Madhya Pradesh set to organise global investors summit in Indore Biden talks about inflation, Russia-Ukraine war in '60 Minutes' interview Yogi 2.0 to showcase MSME bandwidth at UP Global Investor Summit 2023 BJP pushes MBBS in Hindi; Madhya Pradesh Congress questions timing of move Tribals to hold fast on Jan 30 for Parasnath hills movement in Jharkhand Delhi air quality remains in 'severe' category with an overall AQI at 421 England rugby great David Duckham passes away at age of 76 years Indian passport 85th most powerful in the world, slips two spots from 2022 PM Modi to virtually inaugurate Global Investors Summit in Madhya Pradesh Environmental conservation has been taken full care of in this summit which is going to be held on the theme "Madhya Pradesh - a future ready state". It will be completely based on 'Carbon Neutral' and 'Zero Waste'. In order to bring investors from the country and abroad to the state in the Investor Summit, various scenarios of a favourable environment for industrial investment in Madhya Pradesh will be demonstrated. The objective of the summit is to promote the policies of the state, create an investor friendly environment in the state in consultation with industrial associations to formulate industry friendly policies, enhance cooperation opportunities and export potential. Since 2007, Global Investors Summit of Madhya Pradesh has become a great opportunity for the investors and business community from all over the world. Megabus Wednesday launched its first day of service back in Hartford, the company said. The company, which previously operated here, initially announced in December that this would be possible through a new partnership with Peter Pan Bus Lines, which is one of the largest privately-owned bus companies in the United States. Megabus said the partnership would allow for expanded service options to connect New York City with Hartford and New Haven, in Connecticut, and then to Providence, RI, Worcester, and Boston, Mass.. The new service is expected to nearly double the number of weekly trips between New York City and Boston sold on megabus.com. The companys goal is to city to city express bus service across North America, according to Megabus. Colm Lynch, director of revenue and schedules for Megabus North America, said Wednesday that having the service back in Hartford is the start. Its the start of reinstatement of Hartford to Boston we want to get more destinations on the Megabus map in the very near future, Lynch said. Were exploring opening up other destinations from Hartford in the future, he said.. For now, trips will vary from five to 10 a day from Hartford to NY to and the same to Boston, he said. The trip is Boston to NYC, with a stop in Hartford, he said. Lynch said Megabus had a presence in Hartford until the pandemic, and the Peter Pan partnership helped it get service reintroduced. The company was started in 2009, he said. The Peter Pan Megabus partnership put Hartford back on the Megabus map, he said. Lynch said benefits of bringing back the service is offering options to its customer base in Boston, NYC and Hartford as we are able to offer to tap into customer base in Hartford. Lynch said pricing is dictated by a number of factors, including when trips are booked and whether there is a holiday involved. An example would be booking a trip to NYC from Hartford next Wednesday, for which prices would start at $35, he said. Booking in advance, lets us manage, helps us plan accordingly, with additional seat and service, he said. This partnership will allow us to expand our growing network once again, said Linda Burtwistle, CEO of megabus.com, in a statement. Its very exciting to be able to team up with Peter Pan to offer even more travel options to our customers in the new year. Peter Picknelly, CEO of Peter Pan Bus Lines, said This new venture opens additional travel opportunities to passengers. Peter Pan Bus Lines is pleased to be partnering with megabus to be able to offer increased service for travelers between Boston and New York City, as well as destinations throughout the Northeast Picknelly said. Schedules are available and tickets can be purchased for travel beginning today, January 11 at https://us.megabus.com/. Other elements of service the company noted: Real time tracking on buses; more eco-friendly travel, reducing carbon footprint when possible.(seven times more energy and fuel-efficient than single-occupancy automobiles. The Pentagon formally dropped its COVID-19 vaccination mandate Tuesday, but a new memo signed by Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin also gives commanders some discretion in how or whether to deploy troops who are not vaccinated. Austin's memo has been widely anticipated ever since legislation signed into law on December 23 gave him 30 days to rescind the mandate. The Defence Department had already stopped all related personnel actions, such as discharging troops who refused the shot. "The Department will continue to promote and encourage COVID-19 vaccination for all service members," Austin said in the memo. "Vaccination enhances operational readiness and protects the force." Austin said that commanders have the authority to maintain unit readiness and a healthy force. He added, however, that other department policies including mandates for other vaccines remain in place. That includes, he said, the ability of commanders to consider, as appropriate, the individual immunization status of personnel in making deployment, assignment, and other operational decisions, including when vaccination is required for travel to, or entry into, a foreign nation. The contentious political issue, which has divided America, forced more than 8,400 troops out of the military for refusing to obey a lawful order when they declined to get the vaccine. Thousands of others sought religious and medical exemptions. Austin's memo ends those exemption requests. Austin, who instituted the mandate in August 2021 after the Pfizer vaccine was approved by the Food and Drug Administration and as the coronavirus pandemic raged, was staunch in his desire to maintain it insisting the vaccine was necessary to protect the health of the force. He and other defense leaders argued that for decades troops, particularly those deployed overseas, had been required to get as many as 17 different vaccines. No other vaccine mandates were affected by the new law. But Congress agreed to rescind the mandate, with opponents reluctantly saying that perhaps it had already succeeded in getting the bulk of the force vaccinated. Roughly 99 per cent of active-duty troops in the Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps had gotten the vaccine, and 98 per cent of the Army. The Guard and Reserve rates are lower, but generally are more than 90 per cent. Also Read 2,203 cows vaccinated by BMC against lumpy skin disease virus in Mumbai Vaccinated people now make majority of Covid deaths in US: Report Catching coronavirus again increases your risk of getting long Covid Efforts needed to get routine immunisation back to pre-Covid times: WHO Flu vaccine that can protect against all 20 known influenza virus developed No immediate Covid-19 outbreak threat from China, says WHO Europe director Acceptance of Covid vaccines increased globally to 79.1% in 2022: Study Govt panel may decide on Covovax as heterologous booster dose for adults India reports 121 Covid-19 cases, one death; active cases decline Ocugen announces positive data for Bharat Biotech's Covaxin in US trials Austin's memo was unapologetic in his continued support for the vaccine, and his belief that the mandate kept the force healthy and able to protect America. The Pentagon's vaccine efforts, he said, "will leave a lasting legacy in the many lives we saved, the world-class force we have been able to field, and the high level of readiness we have maintained, amidst difficult public health conditions." In addition to ending efforts to discharge troops who refuse the vaccine, Austin's memo says that those who sought exemptions and were denied will have their records updated and any letters of reprimand will be removed. Those who were discharged for refusing to obey a lawful order to take the vaccine received either an honourable discharge or a general discharge under honourable conditions. Austin's memo says that anyone who was discharged can petition their military service to request a change in the "characterization of their discharge" in their personnel records. It does not, however, say what possible corrections could be awarded. Austin's decision leaves some discretion to commanders, allowing them to decide whether they can require vaccines in some circumstances, such as certain deployments overseas. Military officials vividly recall the overwhelming crisis of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, the Navy aircraft carrier that was knocked out of duty and sidelined in Guam for 10 weeks in early 2020 as the emerging virus swept through the ship. More than 1,000 crew members eventually became infected, and one sailor died. Military leaders worry that if troops begin to refuse the vaccine in large numbers, similar outbreaks could occur. The risk is particularly high on small ships or submarines where service members are jammed into close quarters for weeks or months at a time, or on critical combat missions, such as those involving special operations forces that deploy in small teams. According to data compiled by the military as of early December, the Marine Corps leads the services with 3,717 Marines discharged. There have been 2,041 discharged from the Navy, 1,841 from the Army and 834 from the Air Force. The Air Force data includes the Space Force. What's not clear is if the services, who are facing recruiting challenges, will want or be able to allow any of those service members to return to duty, if they still meet all necessary fitness and other requirements. Lawmakers argued that ending the mandate would help with recruiting. Defense officials have pushed back by saying that while it may help a bit, a department survey during the first nine months of last year found that a large majority said the mandate did not change the likelihood they would consider enlisting. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the inaugural leaders' session at the two-day 'Voice of Global South' summit on Thursday. The theme of the session is 'Voice of Global South - for Human-Centric Development'. The virtual summit being hosted by India, in which more than 120 nations will participate, will be held on January 12 and 13. Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra had told mediapersons last week that the theme of the summit would be 'Unity of Voice and Unity of Purpose'. He had also informed that two lead sessions would be hosted by the Prime Minister. The conference, Kwatra said, envisions bringing together nations of the global south and to provide them a platform for sharing their views. Also Read When sending a WhatsApp voice message, what you should or shouldn't do Open-source platform 'Home Assistant' to get new voice assistant in 2023 PM Modi to leave for 8-nation SCO summit in Uzbekistan Thursday evening Meta-owned WhatsApp working on voice status updates on iOS beta: Report CES 2023: Amazon, Disney partner to launch new voice assistant 'Hey Disney' CBI books Amrapali CMD, 8 more for Balika Vidyapeeth's ex-secy murder PAN as single business ID set to get legal backing in Budget 2023-24 32 foreign tourists to be part of MV Ganga Vilas cruise in Varanasi Find balance, decide who will control services: SC on Centre-Delhi row Hundreds go homeless during 2nd day of eviction drive in Assam's Lakhimpur The conference is inspired by India's philosophy of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' (The world is one family), the Foreign Secretary had said. India's ongoing presidency of the G20 provides a special and strong opportunity to those countries that are not part of the G20 process to share their ideas and expectations from the G20 through this conference, an official statement said. The summit envisages 10 sessions, four on Thursday and six on Friday. Each session is expected to witness the participation of leaders and ministers from 10 to 20 countries. The inaugural and concluding sessions would be at head of state or government level to be hosted by the Prime Minister. In addition, there would be eight ministerial sessions on the following themes: Finance Ministers' session on 'Financing People-Centric Development', Environment Ministers' session on 'Balancing Growth with Environment Friendly Lifestyles', Foreign Ministers' session on 'Priorities of the Global South - Ensuring a Conducive Environment', Energy Ministers' session on 'Energy Security and Development - Roadmap to Prosperity', Health Ministers' session on 'Cooperation to Build Resilient Healthcare Systems', Education Ministers' session on 'Human Resource Development and Capacity Building', Commerce Ministers' session on 'Developing Synergies in the Global South - Trade, Technology, Tourism and Resources', and Foreign Ministers' session on 'G-20: Suggestions for India's Presidency'. --IANS ans/arm 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. Also Read India to contribute $500,000 for UN Trust Fund for Counter-Terrorism NIA raids 2 locations, arrests ISIS operative in Voice of Hind module case Phulwari Sharif case: NIA conducts searches at multiple locations in Bihar 2 of Jaggu Bhagwanpuria gang arrested in Moosewala murder case Lucknow Bench sentences Mukhtar Ansari five-year jail in Gangster Act case Apple to begin making in-house screens in 2024 in shift away from Samsung Google warns Android growth in India will stall due to antitrust order Avoid sending correspondence on behalf of Jet: JKC to panel member Bhopal gas tragedy: SC expresses concern over non-payment of compensation Companies protest WHO guidelines to increase taxes on soft drinks 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". --IANS atk/sha MANCHESTER Community and cultural spaces or centers, direct services, housing, education programming or a schools were among ideas pitched for uses for the towns three vacant buildings: Nathan Hale, Washington, and Robertson schools. The Manchester School Repurpose Task Force shared those ideas at the latest Board of Directors meeting. Board of Director Jessee Muniz Poland is one of the three directors who is also on the schools task force subcommittee and said that the overall outreach has been a two-year process and the consulting company hired to assist with this process, Mirage, had recently completed its Engagement report. Muniz Poland said the subcommittee allocated $250,000 to hire the company, and hired them at $75,000 for six months, as they hope to adopt the companys way of engaging the community in the future, as it prioritized engaging individually with groups of individuals who have been historically marginalized, who may not speak the language, and/or may be intimidated by the process of surveys. Examples the company used included holding coffee hours, during which fluent speakers of Bhangra and Spanish spoke to individuals about what they wanted to see done with the schools making sure that they had interpreters present at each session. Muniz Poland also said that she and the directors held an additional town hall for the MARC, Inc., community not traditionally reached, as it was important to make sure that they engaged as many people as possible. They didnt just focus on Squire Village, but I also wanted to make sure that Squire Village was represented, because whatever happensit will affect people in all different communities, she said. Whether its Squire or the Senior Center, or MARC, Inc., its going to affect people in our whole town and they deserve a voice. Whether its a school or a rec center housing, whatever it is, we want to acknowledge peopleand I feel that Mirage did that. However, Muniz Poland noted that not everyone is going to agree and that this is only the first phrase, as they are still in talks of what the next phrase will be. Manchester town hall Task Force member and Board of Directors Secretary Tim Bergin said some of the top categories of interest included the community and cultural spaces and/or centers, direct services, housing, educational programming, another public school, or a charter school. Task Force Zachary Reichelt said that he, Muniz Poland, and Bergin at this point understand the communitys requests, and that there were a lot of commonality in answers among various groups of individuals. He also said the next phrase includes recognizing the building is under the direction of the Board of Directors it is no longer a Board of Education building. We need to move on and give the general manager the tools he needs to start providing us with practical use of the space, with the three of us engaging continually with the information we know and providing feedbackso that the engagement is there in the decision making process, he said. Reichelt also said that the next step would be working with General Manager Steve Stephanouto develop practical solutions that go along with the engagement, and then, coming up with a decision. Stephanou said he recommends taking the engagement report results and working with staff to formulate an action plan to present to the Board of Directors on what to do with the schools. Theres gonna be various options and a lot of moving parts, because theres three schools and theres multiple options when you start considering what could be at which school. So I think the sooner that theres a consensus from this board on that, the quicker that we can move on, actually implement and make sure that were bringing fruition to these facilities and the benefits to the neighbors that they serve, he said. Mayor Jay Moran said he would like to see action soon on at least one of the buildings, and he leans more towards starting with the Nathan Hale school building, at 160 Spruce St. Bergin said they have already reached out to the town managers office about community spaces and talked about what it would take to open and have those operate in all three vacant school buildings. Overall, he said he feels optimistic and hopes to have more refined concepts over the next few months, along with fleshing out a lot more details and being in a place where they are doing more than just opening up community rooms. As an original member of the previous Repurposing Committee, Board of Director Pamela Floyd-Cranford said that they are getting close to figuring out, not just what to do with the vacant school buildings, but also in creating something that can truly be the hub of their perspective communities. Inaugurating the seventh edition of the two-day Invest MP Global Investors Summit (GIS) in Indore, Modi said with multiple global institutions reposing immense faith in the country, the coming century will be of Indias. Rephrasing the iconic tagline of Madhya Pradesh (MP) tourism, Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi on Wednesday said MP ajab bhi hai, ghazab bhi aur sajag bhi when it came to attracting investment. He said the state would play a pivotal role in the development journey of India. Painting an optimistic picture, he said the path of reform, transform, and perform undertaken since 2014 never stopped even when the world was in the pandemics vice-like grip. India is receiving record foreign direct investment (FDI). This is due to democracy, demography, and a stable political climate, Modi told the industry titans who were present in the states commercial capital. Modi said that the green hydrogen mission is aimed at attracting investment of at least Rs 8 trillion over the next few years. The PM called upon industrialists to take advantage of the production-linked incentive schemes, particularly for pharmaceutical and textile. Also Read Private companies lap up Esri's GIS software for multiple uses Yogi 2.0 to showcase MSME bandwidth at UP Global Investor Summit 2023 MP local body polls: Contemplation call for BJP as Cong gains vital thrust Madhya Pradesh set to organise global investors summit in Indore Elections not a factor for monetary policy: RBI governor at BFSI Summit Cabinet clears Rs 2,600 cr to promote RuPay debit card, BHIM transactions Andhra releases Rs 395 crore towards interest-free loans for traders India, Japan to unite for digital transformation in green mobility: Gadkari Hiring activity in white collar professional segment rise by 4% in Dec Cabinet approves setting up of 3 new multi-state cooperative societies Modi cited examples of reforms related to recapitalisation and governance in the banking sector, creating a modern resolution framework like the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, creating a system like One Nation One Tax in the form of goods and services tax, making corporate tax globally competitive, exempting sovereign wealth funds and pension funds from tax, and allowing 100 per cent FDI through the automatic route in many sectors. He said the national single window system had given over 50,000 clearances in the past few months, of which substantial approvals had been granted for MPs projects. Highlighting the modern and multimodal infrastructural developments in the nation that have given rise to investment possibilities, the PM said that the speed of construction of the national highways had jumped twofold in eight years. He further added that labour laws had been incorporated into four codes. Addressing delegates, MP Chief Minister (CM) Shivraj Singh Chouhan said 10 partner countries Guyana, Suriname, Japan, Canada, the Netherlands, Mauritius, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Panama, and Fiji have joined the GIS, along with Ambassadors and Consulate Generals from 33 countries and business delegates from 84 countries. The PM also touched upon digital infrastructure, stating that new opportunities are being created for every industry and consumer with the help of 5G, Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence. He said this would only accelerate the pace of development in India. Earlier the contribution of the state to Indias gross domestic product (GDP) was 3.6 per cent. This has since increased to 4.6 per cent. He said there was a time when MP was a bimaru (sick) state. Today, its growth rate is 19.76 per cent the highest in the country and is ready to run like a cheetah. The per capita income, which was once Rs 13,000, has increased to Rs 1.37 trillion. Chouhan said the target is to make MP a $550-billion economy by 2026-27. The states total GDP was Rs 1 trillion. It has since crossed Rs 12 trillion. The Golden Globe award for Best Television Actor -- Musical/Comedy Series was conferred upon Jeremy Allen White. Jeremy was feted for his work in the comedy drama series 'The Bear'. In the show, Jeremy essayed the role of Carmen "Carmy" Berzatto, an award-winning New York City chef de cuisine, who returns to his hometown of Chicago to run his late brother Michael's failing restaurant. The Best Television Actress -- Musical/Comedy Series award went to Quinta Brunson for her work in 'Abbott Elementary', which bagged another Golden Globe in the form of Tyler James Williams winning Best Supporting Actor -- Television Series. She said in her speech, "I have to say thank you to Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacher, my co-producers who are just incredible and support my vision," Brunson said during her speech. "It's just worth everything to be able to have two people support you. They're very white men, and they said, 'Okay, Quinta'. "They let me get away with a lot." Also Read Jean Smart wins Best Actress in a Comedy title for 'Hacks' at Emmys 2022 Actress Vaishali Takkar of 'Sasural Simar Ka' dies at 29, suicide suspected Ke Quan wins Best Supporting Actor for 'Everything Everywhere All At Once' Squid Game's Lee Yoo-Mi makes history by winning Creative Arts Emmys award Sushant Singh death: NCB charges actress Rhea Chakraborty in drugs case Ke Quan wins Best Supporting Actor for 'Everything Everywhere All At Once' AR Rahman congratulates team 'RRR', says 'incredible, paradigm shift' 'RRR', 'Kantara' and 'Gangubai Kathiawadi' in Oscar reminder list 'RRR', 'All That Breathes' enter the BAFTA film awards long list 2023: Box office set to cash in on Khans, southern giants, Hollywood Golden Globe Awards 2023 are streaming on Lionsgate play. --IANS aa/khz/ Pakistan's Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said on Wednesday that almost 90 per cent of pledges made by the international community for the flood-hit country were project loans that will be rolled out over the next three years. His remarks came two days after the international community at a donors' conference in Geneva pledged more than USD 10 billion to help the cash-strapped country rebuild in a climate-resilient manner after last year's ravaging floods. Officials from some 40 countries as well as private donors and international financial institutions had gathered for the daylong meeting, co-hosted by Pakistan and the United Nations in Geneva on Monday. There was confusion about the nature of monetary support and Dar had to clarify that USD 8.7 billion of the pledges were loans. He did not reveal what the terms of these loans were. Addressing a press conference, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the cash-strapped country "expects the terms to be lenient, adding that the promised amount will be rolled out over the next three years. The finance minister said that project loan financing had already crossed USD 8 billion, including pledges by the Asian Development Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and the World Bank. Also Read Pakistan media watchdog imposes ban on ex-PM Imran Khan's live speeches T20 World Cup 2022, Pakistan's road to final: Fortune favours the brave Pakistan raises power prices amid energy crisis despite rampant inflation Heavy rains in Pakistan's central, northern parts; internet disrupted Asia Cup India vs Pakistan Highlights: All-round Pandya wins it for India World Bank slashes Pakistan GDP growth projection to 2% as crisis worsens Russia's 2022 budget deficit accounts for 2.3% of GDP: Finance Minister S Korea's job additions hit 22-year high in 2022, 28.08 mn employed Federal Reserve has only narrow role to play on climate change: Powell WEF Davos summit to call on world leaders to address economy, food crises "I am not incorporating the pledge made by the Saudi Development Bank on purpose here because it is not clear whether their announcement of USD 1 billion pertains to programme lending or project loan, Dar said. Earlier, the prime minister at the start of the briefing, declaring the Geneva conference as a success, promised that money provided by the international community would be spent for the welfare of the flood-hit people. The devastating floods in Pakistan last year killed 1,739 people and affected 33 million people. Sharif said the Islamic Development Bank (ISDB) held a major share of USD 4.2 billion of the total financial commitments, adding further that Saudi Arabia committed USD 1 billion followed by China USD 100 million, Qatar USD 25 million, Canada USD 18.6 million, Denmark USD 3.8 million, European Union 87 million euros, France 380 million euros, Germany 84 million euros, Italy 23 million euros, and Azerbaijan USD 2 million. "Every penny will be spent in a very transparent manner and a third-party audit will be conducted to ensure transparency, he said. He also praised Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari for his efforts in meeting foreign dignitaries and raising the case of Pakistan effectively. In his address, Bilawal said the government achieved two targets with a single shot by getting help for the flood-affected people and dispelling a myth that Pakistan was isolated. He added that the mission was not over as the condition of flood-hit people was dismal as scores of them were living under the open sky without basic necessities. "We are striving harder to restore their lives to pre-flood time at the earliest, he said. Meanwhile, Dar also said that his team had a detailed meeting with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) team on the sidelines of the Geneva conference. Though, the finance minister did not provide details of the parley but said the government would not burden the masses. Pakistan is trying to convince the IMF to hold the 9th review of the USD 6 billion loans agreed upon in 2019 but the agency has delayed it as the cash-strapped country is not willing to fulfill certain conditions that would increase taxes. The Geneva conference has increased confidence in Pakistan's economy but its woes are not over as the reserves of the central bank have fallen to USD 4.5 billion or equivalent to less than four weeks of imports. Similarly, the key issue of controlling the prices of commodities is still unresolved. President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday pledged their resolve 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 Andrs Manuel Lpez 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 Lpez 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. 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. Also Read Canada announces new sanctions against Russia, funds two Ukraine projects Canadian PM Trudeau calls Saskatchewan stabbing attacks 'heartbreaking' Canadian PM Trudeau visits indigenous community rocked by mass stabbings Thousands protest across Haiti as UN to discuss troops deployment US Prez Biden, Lopez Obrador open Mexico meetings with brusque talk Earthquake of 7.5-magnitude destroys more than 100 houses in Indonesia TikTok boss Shou Zi Chew meets European officials as scrutiny intensifies Uganda ends WHO's mandatory 42-day countdown to be declared Ebola-free Amazon plans to shut three UK warehouses; 1.2K likely to lose jobs Richard Branson's Cosmic Girl fails to put UK into orbit; Virgin sinks 30% In addition, Canada and the U.S. accuse Lpez 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 Lpez Obrador are concerned about Biden's efforts to boost domestic manufacturing, creating concerns that U.S. 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-Lpez 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 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. 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 U.S. 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 Lpez 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 Lpez 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 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. China renewed its threats Wednesday to attack Taiwan and warned that foreign politicians who interact with the self-governing island are playing with fire. A spokesperson for China's Taiwan Affairs Office said the country was recommitted in the new year to safeguarding sovereignty and territorial integrity and smashing plots for Taiwan independence on the self-governing democracy that separated from mainland China in 1949. The malicious support for Taiwan independence among anti-China elements in a few foreign countries are a deliberate provocation, Ma Xiaoguang said at a biweekly news conference. China views Taiwan as a Chinese territory that must be brought under Beijing's control, by force if necessary. A string of visits in recent months by foreign politicians to Taiwan, including by then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and numerous politicians from the European Union, spurred displays of military might from both sides. This week, Taiwan's military is staging drills intended to reassure the public of its ability to counter China's threats ahead of this month's Lunar New Year holiday. The most important thing is to maintain the safety of our airspace and national security, air force Lt. Col. Wu Bong-yeng told reporters at Hsinchu Air Base just south of the capital, Taipei. Also Read 'We come in peace': Nancy Pelosi in Taiwan as Chinese jets enter Taipei Chinese military holds large-scale joint strike drills aimed at Taiwan 47 Chinese military aircrafts enter air defence zone, claims Taiwan 21 warplanes, five naval ships from China tracked around Taiwan Strait Explained: Taiwan international status, & can China take control by force? Joe Biden was paid $1 mn a year to teach but never taught a single class Golden Globes 2023: Zelenskyy says 'there'll be no WWIII, not a trilogy' Top US diplomat Donald Lu to travel to India to attend bilateral forum Biden surprised over records at old office post calls for damage assessment France to unveil pension norms that upset workers, unions call for protest The drills coincide with a visit from German and Lithuanian lawmakers the latter Baltic state being a particular target of Chinese ire for upgrading its ties with Taiwan. We call on the relevant countries to cease sending the wrong signals to Taiwan independence separatist forces and cease playing with fire on the question of Taiwan," Ma said. China has responded to foreign visits by holding large-scale military exercises seen by some as a rehearsal for a blockade or invasion. Beijing sends airplanes and warships toward Taiwan on a near-daily basis, often crossing the midline of the 160 kilometer (100 miles) Taiwan Strait dividing the sides. At the end of December, China sent a record 71 planes and seven ships toward Taiwan the largest such scale exercise in 2022. China's efforts to isolate the island diplomatically have left Taiwan with just 14 official diplomatic partners, although it retains robust unofficial relations with key ally the U.S. and more than 100 nations around the world. Lawmakers and union leaders hope to end the teacher shortage crisis with higher wages for educators and accelerated grant funding for school districts as part of a bipartisan plan to tackle the states educational woes this legislative session. Members of the Connecticut Education Association, American Federation of Teachers and the Connecticut House of Representatives met in Hartford Tuesday to outline several proposals to reduce burnout and increase support for public school staff. The lengthy plan includes incentivizing reduced class sizes, providing more support for children with behavioral issues, implementing play-based learning for kindergarten through third grade, securing uninterrupted planning time, and removing barriers to teacher certification. In addition, legislators placed a particular emphasis on reintroducing a bill that would accelerate the states distribution of Education Cost Sharing grants a motion supported by both Republicans and Democrats. We have districts that are underfunded to the tune of tens of millions of dollars, and so you have teachers that are stressed to the max, said Education Committee Chair Rep. Jeff Currey, a Democrat. We are looking to once and for all provide that student-centered funding model in fiscal year 25 at a cost of $275 million. Another look at ECS Connecticuts ECS grants contribute more than $2 billion to local school districts. The program started in 1989, but in 2017 legislators adjusted the formula to phase in larger grants for underfunded districts with more students with greater need, and phase out funding for wealthier areas over a 10-year period. A bid to move up the timelines end date to the 2024-25 fiscal year died before going to a House vote last session because Senate support was uncertain. Last week Currey, joined by House Majority Leader Jason Rojas and House Speaker Mathew Ritter, introduced a bill that would repeal tuition and introduce a need-based, weighted-formula funding system for the states magnet, charter and regional schools as well as provide schools with fully funded ECS grants. It would also increase accountability by ensuring that funding increases be spent on supporting students and teachers, improving student achievement, recruiting and retaining high-quality teachers and engaging parents, families and community partners. Currey said that the current plan is to speed up the phase-in by two years, but keep district phase-outs on the original schedule. When asked about special education funding, Currey said that there may be conversations about adding additional weight to the ECS formula for special education students. He said fully funding districts now at a time when they need it the mos, will aid schools as federal pandemic-era funding dries up. Currey fears that loss of revenue will be a slap in the face for Connecticut public schools. Rep. Kathleen McCarty, a Republican ranking member of the Education Committee, said she supports the acceleration of ECS grants. We do have an opportunity as a legislature to set a tone that we dont want to look at and put more unfunded mandates on the teaching profession, McCarty said. Im not sure we really give enough thought when we put these extra unfunded mandates that do have a rippling effect on the property tax locally. Rep. Rep. Kathleen McCarty, a Republican ranking member of the Connecticut General Assemblys Education Committee, speaks at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford on Tuesday. Behind McCarty, from left to right, stands Connecticut Education Association Vice President Joslyn DeLancey, House Speaker Matthew Ritter, Education Committee Chair Rep. Jeff Currey and CEA President Kate Dias. McCarty and others hope that a bipartisan plan to accelerate Education Cost Sharing grants to local districts will help to alleviate the burden on educators. Highlighting retirement, salary and class size concerns, McCarty said that this session, lawmakers need to consider union proposals to provide more support for educators. We need to get this right. We have to elevate the teaching profession to the level where they deserve, McCarty said. Im very pleased to learn that all of the caucuses are coming together to recognize the importance of education and what it means to workforce development, to having a bright future for all of our students. And it begins by recognizing our teachers and being sure that we address these shortages that are in our state. I know that bringing all the education stakeholders together in a collaborative way, we will find the solutions that we can all agree to. At the Capitol, Currey said that Education is a top priority for every single caucus in this building. With bipartisan support, House Speaker Ritter said Tuesday that he is hopeful the legislature will look back on accomplishments in education this June. The state should make sure that all kids, no matter where they live, know [that] the state is supporting them and their educational pursuits and not leaving it to Hartford or some small town that cant afford it, Ritter said. COVID-19 did a lot of things to this country and a lot of things to people, but it also made us reemphasize and refocus on whats most critical. Salaries and hero pay Teacher union leaders hope that the funds will be earmarked for higher pay as a means to retain current educators and attract new recruits, something they believe Connecticuts voters are not opposed to. According to a survey of 800 Connecticut voters released by the Connecticut Education Association Tuesday, 65% of respondents felt that teachers are not paid enough and 75% supported more state funding for teacher funding. Mary Yordon, the AFT vice president for teachers, said that teachers make 20% less than professionals with the same level of college education who work outside the field. Her colleague, the Vice President For Paraprofessionals and School-Related Personnel Shellye Davis, noted that for paraprofessionals, the average salary is $24,000 a year. She said that many paras work multiple jobs just to afford health care or meet the states living wage. In addition to raising salaries, CEA President Kate Dias suggested that educators receive compensation for their efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic through an increased contribution to pension funds. Dias said that this deferred benefit would allow the state to budget for the cost. Teachers have not been acknowledged in the Heroes Pay or any sort of pandemic acknowledgment, and that has not been missed by a single educator. Theyve been specifically carved out of opportunities. And so what were really working on is how do you acknowledge the pandemic work effort through the pension, and that would be [by] giving additional percentage credit to educators for the years work during the pandemic, Dias said. Teacher certification Union leaders said that low pay within public schools has been a deterrent for many would-be teachers. Katie Cummings, the state chair of the CEAs Aspiring Educator Program, agrees. The program builds a network across the states colleges and universities to support and prepare students entering the field. College classrooms are full of students who want to become teachers, yet theres still a teacher shortage, Cummings said. As future teachers of Connecticut, we have firsthand experience with the issues that are preventing youth from entering this profession. Cummings said that for her peers, the financial burden of working an unpaid student teaching position, coupled with expensive test fees and the stress of the Teacher Performance Assessment, has hindered the path to becoming an educator. Dias and Currey said that legislators are in talks with the governors office, and Connecticut State Department of Education to accomplish an overhaul of the teacher certification system. The hope is that easier access to certification will increase the number of new educators and attract a more diverse workforce. Our goal is to facilitate certification without lowering expectations and standards, Dias said. We do not have any interest in going down that road. Weve seen in other states that just sort of said, Sure, go ahead and teach. We have far too much respect for the profession in the state of Connecticut to see that The stakeholders are really talking about Are there any unnecessary barriers? Are there alternate ways to meet the criteria and the expectations of the certification process? And are there ways that we can, um, take out unnecessary costs associated with that process?' Currey said that the Connecticut State Department of Education has already made some gains, issuing 1,000 new certifications through the states Northeastern Reciprocity Initiative. But he said the CSDE, which has only 104 of its 276 positions filled according to Currey, is in desperate need of support itself. After starting the school year with 1,200 vacancies, Dias said that open positions in the states public schools continue to burden districts as well, particularly in the most underfunded towns. Every single district continues to suffer, continues to have shortages, Dias said. You see this constant flow of resignations, retirements. One of the real anomalies is that we see movement in schools in the middle of the year, and you never used to see that. Dias said that the burnout that plagues educators and drives resignations is not a terminal situation. This is a problem we solve today so we dont have to solve it again in 10 years, Dias said. Alison Cross can be reached at across@courant.com. The movie RRR was also nominated for the category 'best picture-non English'. However, the Telugu Blockbuster lost the best picture award in a foreign language to Santiago Mitre's historical drama "Argentina, 1985". India bagged its first-ever Golden Globe award on January 11, Wednesday for the song "Natu Natu," from SS Rajamouli's "RRR". 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. US 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 US 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. Also Read TikTok to hire nearly 3,000 engineers across globe as competitors shed jobs Tiktok employees 'improperly accessed' data of two journalists: ByteDance ByteDance-owned TikTok inching toward US security deal to avoid sale DCW chief asks Thakur to ensure Sajid Khan's removal from 'Bigg Boss 16' After blocking 23.4 mn websites, Taliban to ban TikTok, Pubg in 3 months Amazon plans to shut three UK warehouses; 1.2K likely to lose jobs Richard Branson's Cosmic Girl fails to put UK into orbit; Virgin sinks 30% China to top global equity market performance in 2023: Morgan Stanley 7 mn people laid off in Pakistan textile industry amid dwindling exports Italian PM Giorgia Meloni reaffirms commitment to EU recovery plan 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. A senior official of the WHO has urged countries to take science-based precautionary Covid-19 entry restrictions that are proportionate and non-discriminatory. Hans Kluge, WHO's Regional Director for Europe, made the appeal at a press conference here on Tuesday. "For those countries in our region introducing precautionary travel measures at this time, we are calling for such to be rooted in science, to be proportionate and non-discriminatory," Kluge said. "Scientifically, there is no immediate threat for the European region at this point in time based on the information we have from China, because the (virus) variants that are circulating in China are also circulating in Europe," Kluge told Xinhua. "We share the current view of the European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC) that the ongoing surge in China is not anticipated to significantly impact the Covid-19 epidemiological situation in the WHO European Region at this time," he said. Kluge reiterated the importance of scientific surveillance and criticised certain countries in the region for having significantly reduced their surveillance capacity for Covid-19 detection, Xinhua news agency reported. Also Read Two women sue Elon Musk's Twitter alleging discriminatory layoffs DGCA lifts 50% cap restrictions on SpiceJet, to operate with full capacity EU wants India to prohibit 'discriminatory buy national practices': Report Covid travel curbs against Chinese visitors 'discriminatory': Report Winzo sues Google to stop new gaming policy, calls it discriminatory Republicans request Intelligence 'damage assessment' of Biden documents 14 dead as storms persist with deluges, mudslide threats in California 'RRR' bags first Golden Globe with 'Naatu Naatu' winning best original song Biden, Trudeau talk Haiti, trade, unrest in Brazil at Mexico City summit Earthquake of 7.5-magnitude destroys more than 100 houses in Indonesia According to Kluge, it might be risky to ignore other significant aspects of the evolution of the virus, such as the Omicron XBB.1.5 recombinant variant, which has rapidly spread throughout the US and is currently expanding in the European region. He called on countries to take on even more responsibility, including increasing vaccine uptake in general populations, providing additional vaccine doses to priority groups, promoting mask-wearing both indoors and on public transportation, ventilating crowded and public spaces, and providing early and appropriate treatment to patients at risk of severe diseases. --IANS int/khz/ ICICI Prudential, Aditya Birla Sun Life, and Nippon India were among the first fund houses to launch silver ETFs in January-February 2021. There are now seven such offerings with Axis MF, HDFC MF, Kotak Mahindra AMC, and DSP Investment Managers also entering the space. The number of folios (investment accounts) stood at 69,000 at the end of November, or 1.5 per cent of total folios in gold ETFs. Silver exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have gained modest traction in their first year, with assets under management (AUM) of around Rs 1,500 crore at the end of November. According to investment advisors, such products have a place in asset allocation and flows will pick up once they register a good showing on the returns chart. Investors generally go by past returns. Silver ETFs will catch investors' fancy once they deliver exceptional returns. I am not recommending any silver ETF as I prefer low allocation towards commodities and gold is the first preference there, said Dev Ashish, a Lucknow-based investment advisor. Silver ETFs are an interesting addition to the list of MF offerings. But I am not recommending them to clients as yet because theyre still new and there are better opportunities elsewhere, said Tarun Birani, founder of TBNG Capital Advisors. According to the aforementioned fund houses, the product has received a good response considering that it is a new offering. Despite 2022 being a choppy year, investors added to their silver holdings which is an encouraging trend. This shows that Indian investors have matured and are adding commodities to their portfolio as part of their overall asset allocation requirements, said Chintan Haria, head-product development and strategy, ICICI Prudential AMC. Also Read Silver ETFs gain modest traction in first year with AUM of Rs 1,500 crore Near-term outlook bleak: Enter silver with a horizon of at least 2-3 years Module producers, project developers at loggerheads over solar policy Bharat Bond ETFs cross Rs 50,000 crore AUM mark, says Edelweiss MF SIP's share in MF AUM hit new high of 17% in October, shows data Sebi imposes securities market ban on 8 entities for misusing client funds Sebi allows active to passive ELSS switch for asset management companies 'Vanishing act' by more than two dozen listed cos; BSE reaches out to firms RBI urges bond market players to use tool to prevent gilt auction errors Govt to invite EoIs for Concor privatisation this month, say officials Silver prices are likely to move higher, outperforming gold as the silver market is likely to remain in deficit for a second consecutive year. Demand in the industrial sector is likely to grow amid electrification of vehicles, 5G technology, and commitment to green infrastructure, ICICI Direct said in a report. Brokerages have an upside bias for silver in 2023 as they see strong demand for the metal amid the global green energy push and rising industrial demand. Also Read Will low exports pause the rally in auto stocks? Bajaj Auto Q2 preview: Ebitda may rise up to 34% YoY, margins seen flat What are web intelligence tools that Sebi wants to use for surveillance Karnataka govt bans Ola, Uber, Rapido auto services; terms them 'illegal' Uber, Ola, Rapido continue auto services despite Karnataka govt's ban 4 govt-owned general insurers restructuring ops based on PPTs: Unions Made-in-India brands under one umbrella, announces Bacardi in India Infosys Q3 growth may be muted on higher furloughs; PAT may rise 9-15% YoY OMCs trade firm in a range-bound market; IOC, HPCL, BPCL surge up to 5% Dr. Lal PathLabs said that CARE Ratings has assigned "CARE AA" rating with 'stable' outlook to the long-term bank facilities of the company worth Rs 229 crore. CARE Ratings said that the rating assigned to the bank facilities of Dr. Lal Pathlabs (DLPL) derives comfort from the company's leading position in the pathology laboratory (path lab) industry in India coupled with a strong brand image, dominant share in the organised diagnostic industry which has been supported by an established market position in business to customer (B2C) segment, thriving franchisee model and a robust network of laboratories, patient service centres and pickup points spread across India. The rating also factors in the promoters' long track record of operations in the industry of more than seven decades and the company's healthy scale of operations with steady operating margins which is expected to be sustainable on the back of a large customer base complimented by inorganic growth focused on penetration to new geographies. The rating also takes into account the company's network expansion arising from acquisition of Suburban Diagnostics India Private Limited (SDIPL) and the expected operational efficiencies as well as geographical diversification from the said acquisition. The rating takes cognizance of the company's healthy financial risk profile marked by healthy debt coverage indicators, strong net worth and Nil net debt as on 31 March 2022, and 30 September 2022, coupled with a strong liquidity profile of the company which is expected to continue on the back of healthy cash accruals and no debt-funded capex in the medium term. Also Read Healthcare shares gain Healthcare shares gain Healthcare stocks rise Yes Bank receives upgrade in LT issuer ratings Healthcare shares gain PC Jeweller records more than 38% YoY growth in Q3 turnover RITES signs MoU with IIT-Kanpur for sustainable future Cupid rises on bagging order from UNFPA BSE SME: Aartech Solonics hits the roof ahead of board meeting Metal shares gain However, the rating is constrained by the company's presence in a fragmented industry with increasing competition from online aggregators providing diagnostics services. Dr. Lal Pathlabs Limited is a flagship company for the Dr. Lal Pathlabs Group and is engaged in business of providing diagnostic and related healthcare tests. The operations of the company are spread across the nation, majorly focused on Northern part of India. Along with operating within India, the group also operates its path labs in Nepal, Bangladesh, Kenya etc. through its subsidiaries which accounts for less than 1% of the total income of the company. The diagnostics service provider's consolidated net profit declined 24.53% to Rs 71.7 crore despite of 7.1% rise in revenue from operations to Rs 533.8 crore in Q2 FY23 over Q2 FY22. The scrip shed 0.93% to currently trade at Rs 2210.70 on the BSE. Powered by Capital Market - Live News Zydus Lifesciences said that CRISIL Ratings has reaffirmed its 'CRISIL AA+/Positive/CRISIL A1+' ratings on the bank facilities and debt programme of the company. CRISIL Ratings said that the company's consolidated revenue grew 5% on-year in fiscal 2022 (adjusted for the sales of the animal healthcare business), supported by growth in the domestic formulations and emerging markets even as revenue from the US degrew due to continued intense pricing pressure. With improved performance in the US formulations market (13% on-year growth) on the back of new product launches as well as growth in the consumer wellness segment after the pandemic, revenue grew by 4% in the first-half of fiscal 2023, constrained to some extent by the high one-off sales of Covid-related products in the domestic market in the previous fiscal. The recent resolution of the United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) warning letter to the group's plant at Moraiya (Gujarat) will pave way for higher number of product launches in the US market in the next fiscal. Revenue is expected to grow 9-11% annually over the medium term on the back of new product launches and ramp up in sales of biosimilars and new chemical entities. CRISIL Ratings notes the sales of the Zydus group's Covid-19 vaccine - ZyCoV-D - has been modest since its launch, as demand waned, resulting in lower than anticipated revenue growth in fiscal 2023 and 2024. Consolidated operating margin remained healthy at 22.1% in fiscal 2022, supported by cost-control measures undertaken by the group. However, with sustained high input prices and provision of approximately Rs 160 crore towards ZyCoV-D and other covid-related drugs, margin declined to 20.1% in the first-half of fiscal 2023. Also Read CRISIL reaffirms ratings of Shankara Building Products CRISIL reaffirms rating of Sundram Fasteners' debt instruments CARE reaffirms its rating on bank facilities of Vinati Organics; revises outlook to 'positive' India Ratings reaffirms ratings of debt instruments of Spandana Sphoorty Zydus Life gains on USFDA nod for Mirabegron tablets Piramal Pharma slips as US FDA issues Form 483 with six observations RVNL gains on bagging LoA for construction order Hindalco Industries Ltd up for third consecutive session National Aluminium Company Ltd soars 1.5%, rises for third straight session Tata Motors Ltd spurts 1.26%, gains for third straight session Going forward, the operating margin is expected to remain healthy at 20-22% supported by ability to pass on majority of input cost increase to customers, softening pricing pressure in the US market and price hikes in the domestic market. The ratings continue to be supported by sustained improvement in financial risk profile with gross debt significantly reducing to Rs 2,419 crore as on September 30, 2022, from Rs 4,653 crore as on September 30, 2021, with strong cash accrual. Also, with high liquid surplus from the sale of the domestic animal healthcare business in the second quarter of fiscal 2022, net debt reduced below Rs 1,434 crore as on 30 September 2022, and net debt/Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) was 0.4 times in the first-half of fiscal 2023. The ratings continue to reflect the established position of the Zydus group in the branded generics market in India and the expected benefits from growth in the wellness segment; the ratings also factor in the growing presence in international markets, particularly the US, and strong financial risk profile. These strengths are partially offset by exposure to risks related to unfavourable regulatory changes, increasing competition and price erosions in the regulated generics US market. Zydus Life is one of the top five pharmaceutical companies in India. It also has growing presence in the regulated markets, particularly the US, and is one of the top 5 players in the US generic market. Other segments include emerging markets formulations, consumer wellness, animal healthcare and bulk drugs. For the first six months of fiscal 2023, the company reported profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 1,041 crore on net sales of Rs 8,207 crore compared with PAT of Rs 3,590 crore on net sales of Rs 7,762 crore, respectively, during the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. The scrip shed 0.84% to currently trade at Rs 453.70 on the BSE. Powered by Capital Market - Live News Hindalco Industries Ltd is quoting at Rs 487.9, up 2.17% on the day as on 12:49 IST on the NSE. The stock is down 2.02% in last one year as compared to a 1.78% slide in NIFTY and a 18.99% slide in the Nifty Media index. Hindalco Industries Ltd is up for a third straight session today. The stock is quoting at Rs 487.9, up 2.17% on the day as on 12:49 IST on the NSE. The benchmark NIFTY is down around 0.15% on the day, quoting at 17888. The Sensex is at 60080.58, down 0.06%. Hindalco Industries Ltd has gained around 5.62% in last one month. Meanwhile, Nifty Media index of which Hindalco Industries Ltd is a constituent, has gained around 0.84% in last one month and is currently quoting at 6741.7, up 0.34% on the day. The volume in the stock stood at 60.12 lakh shares today, compared to the daily average of 68.36 lakh shares in last one month. The benchmark January futures contract for the stock is quoting at Rs 487.8, up 1.95% on the day. Hindalco Industries Ltd is down 2.02% in last one year as compared to a 1.78% slide in NIFTY and a 18.99% slide in the Nifty Media index. The PE of the stock is 21.35 based on TTM earnings ending September 22. Powered by Capital Market - Live News Alex Jones lawyer Norm Pattis lost an attempt Wednesday to win postponement of a six-month suspension of his law license for sharing confidential medical files with Texas lawyers involved in Jones Sandy Hook defamation cases last year. Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis, who presided over Jones Connecticut defamation case and ordered the suspension for violations of her confidentiality orders, denied a stay of punishment in a short order made public Wednesday afternoon. Pattis had asked for a postponement in order to appeal the suspension and continue as part of the defense team in a federal seditious conspiracy prosecution in Washington, D.C., against five members of the far right Proud Boys organization charged in the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Pattis, who was in court in Washington Wednesday where the Proud Boys trial was about to begin, had been on the sidelines while U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly awaited Bellis decision on a stay. Pattis moved to withdraw from the case Wednesday, but Kelly did not rule on the motion, suggesting concern over whether the withdrawal could disrupt the multi-defendant prosecution. In Connecticut, Pattis said his lawyer was preparing to appeal Bellis order against postponing the suspension. Bellis presided over the contentious, four-year long Sandy Hook defamation suit that ended last year in a $1.4 billion verdict against Jones, a case during which Pattis vigorously challenged her rulings against Jones and at one point tried to disqualify her. In ordering Pattis immediate suspension on Jan. 5, she said his failure to protect highly sensitive medical and psychiatric records belonging to relatives of Sandy Hook victims caused the records to be carelessly passed around from one unauthorized person to another in violation of her repeated orders. Bellis said it was the second time during Jones case that Pattis had not complied with a confidentiality order. The records at the center of the suspension, about 4,000 pages of medical records that were among about 390,000 pages of other records provided to Pattis office by relatives of Sandy Hook victims, were never disclosed publicly. Pattis has acknowledged that he set in motion a series of exchanges that distributed the records between his law office in Connecticut and three others in Texas all of which were involved in some fashion in lawsuits by Sandy Hook relatives against Jones. In his filing in Washington Monday, Pattis said none of the recipients of the records, contained on a computer hard drive, ever looked at them. The final recipient said he destroyed them. Pattis had not previously been the subject of professional discipline. Bellis wrote in a long order imposing the suspension, that Pattis sharing of the records with Texas lawyers was a willful violation of confidentiality orders she issued to protect the Sandy Hook families forced to share the records with Jones from misuse of the material in an effort to discredit them. Had the records become public, Bellis said the families faced potentially stunning harm. The suspicion took immediate effect and applied to the federal courts in Washington, which have a reciprocity agreement with Connecticut concerning lawyer discipline. Pattis spent part of this week trying to convince the District Court set to hear the seditious conspiracy trial of Biggs and four other Proud Boys to postpone the suspension. The outcome was not immediately clear. The start of the Proud Boys trial was delayed this week for a variety of reasons. FILE Proud Boys leader Henry Enrique Tarrio wears a hat that says The War Boys during a rally in Portland, Ore., on Sept. 26, 2020. The seditious conspiracy trial of Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and four lieutenants is coming at a pivotal time for Justice Departments investigation and prosecution of the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection. (AP Photo/Allison Dinner, File) In Connecticut, lawyers for Pattis had asked Bellis to postpone the suspension to allow him to appeal it. Unless Pattis can persuade an appeals court to delay Bellis denial of a postponement, Pattis ability to appeal will be effectively vitiated because the six months likely will have expired before an appeal can be heard. Judicial branch disciplinary counsel Brian Staines, who Bellis appointed to press misconduct charges against Pattis, opposed a postponement in a court filing Tuesday. Coincidentally, Pattis office and his former colleague, John R. Williams, formally filed notice this week that Jones intends to appeal the potentially record-setting verdict against him last fall in the Connecticut defamation suits by relatives of Sandy Hook shooting victims. In her suspension order, Bellis said Pattis disclosure of the records was inexcusable, that it was part of an abject failure to safeguard the plaintiffs sensitive records, and that it caused the records to be carelessly passed around from one unauthorized person to another in violation of multiple court orders. Pattis was just as critical of the judge in his court filing in federal court in Washington, where he moved earlier this week for an emergency order delaying Bellis suspension. In the Washington filing, Pattis implied the suspension was retribution for his criticism of Bellis rulings and his attempt to disqualify her during the bitter Jones litigation. He had previously moved to disqualify the trial court for a pattern of abuse of discretion and an appearance of bias against his client, Alex Jones, who stood trial in Connecticut for comments he made about the shooting deaths of school children at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, the filing said of Pattis. The trial court denied that motion. He believes it was improper for the court to hear an issue involving him after he had challenged its competence and impartiality in a public pleading. Elsewhere, Pattis questioned whether Bellis could be impartial toward him after he criticized her understanding of the first amendment after she imposed sanctions on Jones for his comments on his Infowars broadcast about a lawyer for relatives of the Sandy Hook victims. Pattis also wrote that Bellis had pressed for possible discipline against him even earlier in the Jones trial for his alleged failure to properly supervise the use of a power of attorney in the signing of an affidavit. Pattis said he decided to report himself to a disciplinary committee and was ultimately exonerated. Prior to his exoneration by an independent panel on the judges earlier referral involving the aforesaid affidavit, the judge called him to the bench for a private discussion in which it expressed its disappointment in him, telling him that she had previously highly regarded him, the filing said. This comment suggests that the court had prejudged a decision involving him before he had even had a chance to address the allegations in an evidentiary hearing. The Executive Committee (EC) meeting of National Mineral Exploration Trust (NMET), Ministry of Mines was held under the chairmanship of Sh. Vivek Bharadwaj, Secretary, Ministry of Mines. Projects of mineral exploration and enhancing institutional capabilities in exploration worth Rs.154.84 crores were approved. The mineral exploration project includes Graphite, Iron, Coal, Zinc & associated minerals, Bauxite, Basemetal (Pb, Zn & Cu), Phosphorite/Glauconitic sandstone, PGE & associated minerals (Chromium, Nickel, Cobalt), Tin & associated minerals, Manganese and Limestone to boost the mineral exploration in the country. Financial assistance for enhancing mineral exploration and institutional capabilities of Geological Survey of India (GSI), Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) and State DGMs/DMGs was also approved. These mineral exploration projects and financial assistance to the exploration agencies will provide auctionable mineral blocks to the nation and will help in realizing the Aatmanirbhar Bharat in mining sector. Powered by Capital Market - Live News For exploring opportunities in areas of sustainabilityRites signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT-Kanpur) for mutual assistance and cooperation to strengthen and develop a sustainable future by Transforming to Green. The umbrella MoU pertains to exploring opportunities in the areas of Sustainability, including ESG and carbon-related works like carbon neutrality etc. in sectors such as steel, cement, and power among others. The MoU also includes R&D-related works on air quality sensors to align RITES with the vision of MoEFCC and MoHUA to address air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and solid waste management. One such R&D initiative from RITES & IIT-Kanpur is a Dynamic Hyper-local Source Apportionment for Real-Time Policy Action. The team will deploy sensor packages at 3-4 locations and fully instrumented mobile lab will be deployed at each site for 10 days in 2 seasons. Thus, collected data will be used to collect source information which will be shared with Municipal Corporations, para-statal departments, stakeholders, Central & State Governments for taking suitable measures to control air pollution in the Non-Attainment Cities (NACs), including Kanpur, Lucknow, and Bengaluru. RITES and IIT-Kanpur also have the onus to work on a pathway to Carbon Neutrality to contribute to our country's Paris Agreement. Hence, both the institutions will be supporting each other to set goals for reducing carbon footprint and set a framework to achieve ESG milestones. Powered by Capital Market - Live News Utilties stocks were trading with losses, with the S&P BSE Utilities index decreasing 25.05 points or 0.7% at 3560.57 at 13:47 IST. Among the components of the S&P BSE Utilities index, Adani Transmission Ltd (down 2.11%), Orient Green Power Company Ltd (down 1.14%),NTPC Ltd (down 1.1%),KPI Green Energy Ltd (down 1.08%),Adani Power Ltd (down 1.07%), were the top losers. Among the other losers were JSW Energy Ltd (down 0.9%), Adani Green Energy Ltd (down 0.56%), SJVN Ltd (down 0.29%), and Tata Power Company Ltd (down 0.05%). On the other hand, Va Tech Wabag Ltd (up 1.85%), Gujarat Industries Power Co Ltd (up 1.69%), and Reliance Infrastructure Ltd (up 1.01%) turned up. At 13:47 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 60.45 or 0.1% at 60175.93. The Nifty 50 index was up 0.55 points or 0% at 17914.7. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 34.84 points or 0.12% at 28829.73. Also Read Utilties stocks slide Utilties stocks slide Utilties stocks slide Utilties stocks slide Utilties stocks slide FMCG shares edge lower Telecom shares fall Chennai Petro climbs 13% in three days CRISIL reaffirms rating on the debt instruments of Zydus Life Piramal Pharma slips as US FDA issues Form 483 with six observations The S&P BSE 150 Midcap Index index was down 16.07 points or 0.18% at 9002.78. On BSE,1881 shares were trading in green, 1523 were trading in red and 151 were unchanged. Powered by Capital Market - Live News Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party of unleashing 'politics of fear', the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) slammed the Enforcement Directorate-Income Tax Department (ED-ITD) raids on senior Nationalist Congress Party leader Hasan Mushrif and his aides in Kolhapur and Pune since dawn on Wednesday. Top MVA leaders, including state NCP President Jayant Patil, Leader of Opposition (Assembly) Ajit Pawar, Dilip Walse-Patil, Chief Spokesperson Mahesh Tapase, state Congress President Nana Patole, Chief Spokesperson Atul Londhe, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, Leader of Opposition (Council) Ambadas Danve, and others condemned the raids on Mushrif. Patil said attempts are made to 'defame' the Opposition leaders while Patole said its part of the BJP strategy to create 'fear among the Opposition leaders' with a blatant misuse of the probe agencies, making a mockery of democracy and "the people will teach the BJP a lesson through the democratic process". Claiming there are systematic attempts to target sugar factories since 2014 and crush the cooperative movement which has benefitted the farming community, Londhe said why "only the Opposition leaders are being hounded" and why Somaiya is not talking about those who have walked over to the BJP. Claiming that Mushrif is being framed for speaking out against the BJP, Raut asked why the tainted leaders who joined the BJP are not being touched by Somaiya or the probe agencies. Swooping at dawn, the ED-IT teams of nearly two-dozen officials swarmed the Kolhapur home in Kagal (Kolhapur) and some other locations linked to Mushrif, his aides in Kolhapur and Pune and others for alleged corruption and money-laundering cases. Also Read ED searches Raut's residence; MP tweets 'will die but won't quit Sena' ED summons Sanjay Raut for questioning again in money laundering case Why does ED want to investigate Sena's Sanjay Raut repeatedly: Ajit Pawar Mumbai court to pronounce order on Sena MP Raut's bail plea on Nov 9 Not expecting miracles in Asia Cup, preparing for T20WC: Shakib Al Hasan Bihar CM Nitish likely to expand his Cabinet after Makar Sankranti Bharat Jodo Yatra raising issues of hatred, unemployment, inflation: Rahul India is about brotherhood, unity, that's why BJY is successful: Rahul Hearing of rival Shiv Sena pleas in Supreme Court on February 14 Aam Adami Party most corrupt party in the country, says BJP leader The action came after BJP former MP Kirit Somaiya levelled allegations of financial irregularities, corruption and money-laundering of hundreds of crores pertaining to deals through defunct companies, grabbing a sugar mill, besides amassing huge properties, against the former Minister. On the radar of the probe agencies for some time, Mushrif has vehemently denied Somaiya's accusations and said people of a 'particular community are being targetted'. "The countdown for Mushrif has begun... Why does Hasan-Miya remember his religion now? After Miya Hasan Mushrif, there are many other leaders who will face the consequences," warned Somaiya, naming Congress former Minister from Mumbai Aslam Shaikh as the next probable target. He cited several instances and reeled off figures of alleged money deals involving Mushrif, his associates, and others through shell or bogus companies, how the funds were reportedly routed for other illegal deals worth hundreds of crores of rupees. Soon after the ED-ITD started its operations, a large number of NCP activists gathered outside Mushrif's home and staged angry protests, raised slogans against the BJP, the government and the probe agencies, and gave calls for 'Kolhapur shutdown' Wednesday. Mushrif is the third senior NCP leader after Anil Deshmukh and Nawab Malik, besides Shiv Sena (UT)'s Raut, facing the heat of the various probe agencies in the past couple of years. --IANS qn/dpb Connecticut is a healthy state by most health measures, yet a substantial number of our uninsured residents lack access to health care coverage and places to get ongoing, high quality, comprehensive health care in their neighborhood and from people they trust. We routinely refer to the safety net in health care. Malta House of Care, Inc., is one of a handful of free clinics in the state, a subset of nonprofit clinics in the state that carry a special designation from the federal government, as free clinics. We are the safety net of the safety net. Malta collaborates with partners in the health care delivery system, including hospitals and community health centers. Malta provides comprehensive primary care via a model that avoids the complications of billing and misaligned payment incentives that dominates the health care delivery system. We coordinate care that provides over 5,000 patient visits a year, through team-based care, and we do it with a small cadre of clinical staff and a pool of dedicated volunteer providers, including MDs, APRNs, PAs, behavioral health providers, nurses, and students in training for all roles. We also include medical interpretation, comprehensive medication management, and patient navigation. Our patients face extreme barriers to well-being poverty, unstable housing, unstable employment, food insecurity, high chronic disease burden, and much higher rates of disparities in access to services and health outcomes than insured residents experience. Our patients represent over 50 countries of national origin and speak over 25 languages. Free clinics like Malta House of Care in Hartford serve residents who are ineligible for Medicaid, Medicare, or health insurance on their own or from an employer. We do not receive a regular source of funds from the state or the federal government. Malta cannot (under federal law) charge or accept payment from our patients for our services. We are free to our patients; Malta is one of a small group of clinics that comprise the safety net of the safety net. You might be wondering; how can that be true? Doesnt everyone have access to Medicaid or Medicare? Anyone can go the emergency room, right? Well, those are good questions with complicated answers. No, not everyone is eligible for Medicaid or Medicare. Emergency rooms are one of the most expensive sources of care, and they are not free, unless one qualifies for financial assistance or has health coverage. They are not equipped to be ongoing sources of care for people. While there are more options for health coverage than there used to be, coverage is not available to everyone. Malta focuses our resources on comprehensive primary and preventive care we focus on trying to promote health by providing care and addressing social, economic, legal, and other drivers of health. We provide these services at a stationary site in Hartford and at our mobile medical clinic locations in Hartford and East Hartford. We know that people with a usual source of care have better outcomes. Malta is the medical home for our patients, coordinating their care among other providers, and navigating other barriers to our patients well-being. We collaborate with community health centers and providers in our area and hospitals for referrals for patients for ongoing specialty care or urgent specialty care. We complement the existing fabric of clinic sites that accept coverage and are obligated to charge uninsured patients for care. We exist to ensure access for people who cannot pay for health care. Free clinics are an absolute necessity because meaningful access to health care is a human right. This necessity comes with its own challenges and rewards raising funds for operations, including reliance on individual donors, philanthropy, and corporate giving for services; partnerships with local providers, industry, community organizations, and the towns where are our patients live; competition for precious dollars to keep the lights on, and a much larger need than apparent to most of us who are well-insured and well off. Tens of thousands of uninsured patients in the Greater Hartford area need the services of Malta. Until we offer health coverage for everyone, free clinics will be here to offer access to high quality, ongoing care for our uninsured residents. Victoria Veltri is the executive director of Malta House of Care, Inc. in Hartford, CT. Samsung on Wednesday officially confirmed the launch date of its upcoming smartphone Galaxy S23 series on February 1 at the tech giant's Unpacked event. This will be the first in-person edition of the event after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020. It will also be live streamed on the tech giant's official website. "A new era of Galaxy innovation is coming. Our innovations are designed to enable incredible possibilities for people today and beyond. The new Galaxy S series will be the epitome of how we define the ultimate premium experience," said Samsung. As per the rumours, the Galaxy S23 series may feature an overclocked version of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip. It will likely come in four colours -- Cotton Flower, Mistly Lilac, Botanic Green, and Phantom Black, reports 9To5Google. Meanwhile, Samsung will reportedly reveal its next-generation Galaxy laptops alongside its Galaxy S23 series at the Unpacked event. Also Read Samsung Galaxy Z fold 4 and Galaxy Flip 4 - Price, Features and Specs Samsung to reveal next-gen Galaxy laptops alongside Galaxy S23: Report Samsung may launch upcoming Galaxy S23 smartphone series on Feb 1 Samsung delaying Galaxy Tab S9 Series launch amid economic slowdown: Report Samsung unveils One UI 5 for Galaxy, expanded collaboration with Google Microsoft's next Surface Duo smartphone may feature foldable screen TPV Technology launches Philips ANC headphones with swipe touch controls Meta updates policies to limit ads targeting teens on Facebook, Instagram Apple iPhone 16 Pro may feature under-display Face ID next year: Report Netflix adds new game 'Shredder's Revenge' on iOS, Android smartphones The company is expected to refresh its Galaxy Book laptop lineup with improved hardware specifications and better software, according to SamMobile. The exact specifications of the upcoming Galaxy laptops are still unclear, but the Galaxy Books are expected to feature Intel's 13th Gen processors. Some models could have the built-in S Pen stylus, while others could have a dedicated graphics processing unit (GPU). --IANS shs/ksk/ Family, friends and admirers of late state Rep. Quentin Q Williams gathered in Hartford Wednesday to honor Williams memory on his final ride to the state Capitol building. The Capitols shadow projected over the north lawn, casting a tinge of gray over the services on what was otherwise a sunny January afternoon. Legislators linked arms on their journey down the Capitol steps to the memorial for their beloved colleague, joined by top state government officials, the Connecticut State Police Honor Guard and members of the public. The hearse carrying Williams, who died in a wrong-way car crash at age 39 on Jan. 5, stopped before the crowd of mourners. His family, headed by his wife Carrissa Williams and mother Queen Williams, followed in the processional, exiting the motorcade to hear words from Deputy Chaplain of the Connecticut General Assembly Pastor AJ Johnson, and join in a three-minute moment of silence. A hearse carrying the body of State Rep. Quentin Q Williams arrives at the State Capitol during a special procession from his home in Middletown, Connecticut, for a three-minute moment of silence before fellow legislators and staff Wednesday, January 11, 2023. Williams was killed in a crash involving a wrong-way driver on Rt. 9 in Cromwell last Thursday. Photo by Cloe Poisson/Special to the Courant During the sermon, mother and daughter-in-law held tight to each others hands. Queen Williams closed her eyes, rocking back and forth in her folding chair. Carrissa Williams sat stoic. Behind a pair of black sunglasses, tears streamed onto her cheeks. It haunts me every second that Q never made it home despite being so close. The accident took place less than 3 miles from our house, Carrissa wrote in a Facebook post before the service. This ritual feels so meaningful for me for so many reasons, but mostly I feel comforted by the opportunity to be close to him one last time. Before arriving at the Capitol, Williams hearse stopped at his home. In the same Facebook post, Carrissa Williams said that the door was opened to give his spirit a chance to come home one last time. Through the procession, Carrissa Williams said she passed the site of her husbands fatal crash for the first time, but that she felt at peace. The final ride to the capitol gave the public the opportunity to mourn Williams. The family is holding a private funeral on Saturday. Rep. Quentin Williams was a unique and amazingly talented young man, Pastor Johnson said at the service. He remembered Williams for his bright style, bellowing laugh and beautiful smile. A Hartford firefighter rings a bell three times during a ceremony honoring the late State Rep. Quentin Q Williams honoring his memory and legacy at the State Capitol in Hartford Wednesday, January 11, 2023. Photo by Cloe Poisson/Special to the Courant Before a three-minute moment of silence, which was pierced by three bell tolls to represent Williams three years in office, Johnson asked that Williams memory fill us with the passion to pursue justice. Let his legacy inspire us to create a more equitable future and let his work carry on through our hands. Earlier in the day, Gov. Ned Lamont also spoke of Williams infectious smile and the outpouring of love shown by the public. He hopes Williams policy ambitions will carry on this legislative session, Lamont said that he hopes that Williams passion for affordable housing and education will continue. Those are things that we believe, its something that Q believes in, that he reminds us every day, Lamont said. Christina Quaranta, executive director of the Connecticut Justice Alliance, worked with Williams through the organization. She watched as the procession drove away. His shoes will go unfilled, Quaranta said. Were ready to keep pushing for justice and finish what he started. Jordyn Wilson, a former member of the Alliance who worked closely with Williams, called the moment bittersweet. She said she drove an hour to come to the service because she knows Williams definitely wouldve done the same thing for us. I cant believe that were up here for something like this. I remember coming out here for happier moments, press conferences and things, Wilson said. Q was an amazing light and he was sent off in a beautiful way. Faced with the possibility of being left behind in the shift towards EVs, Toyota has announced a radical shift in company policy and directi... Cement Industries (Sabah) raises cement prices 11 January 2023 Cement Industries (Sabah) Sdn Bhd has increased the price of cement by 5-15 per cent effective from the 4 January 2023. The price hike was made after taking into consideration the rise of raw materials and freight shipping costs. Local media states that the price of cement in Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia has increased dramatically in recent months. In Peninsular Malaysia, for example, the price of cement had risen 30 per cent last year, reports Borneo Post. Cement Industries (Sabah) Sdn Bhd said its cement plant is not an integrated one like others in Malaysia. It has to import raw materials from outside Sabah and this has been greatly affected by external factors such as shipping costs and the increase in the US dollar. Published under The Austin Hatcher Foundation for Pediatric Cancer is hosting its third annual Bubbles of Fun Run presented by U.S. Xpress on Feb. 25, 2023. This family friendly event will be held at the Tennessee Riverwalk and consists of a 5K, 10K, and one-mile Fun Run. All funds raised go back to the Foundations efforts in erasing the effects of pediatric cancer. The run will begin at 8 a.m. at the Tennessee Riverpark Shelter #4. The 5K and 10K events will be timed and winners receive local gift cards. All participants will get medals awarded at the finish line, event t-shirts and special swag bags filled with goodies from sponsors and the Austin Hatcher Foundation. "The Bubbles of Fun Run event is a celebration of joy and hope as runners help raise funds to provide a brighter future for families with pediatric cancer," organizers said. "In keeping with the foundations logo, bubbles will be blown at the finish line, filling the course with an uplifting and hope-filled atmosphere. Runners are encouraged to bring their families, as there will be activities for children throughout the morning." The Bubbles of Fun Run is one of our favorite events as it invites the whole family to come out for an exciting and hope-filled morning, said Austin Hatcher Foundation President and CEO Amy Jo Osborn. It's a chance for us to come together as a community and make a tangible impact on the lives of those facing pediatric cancer. Whether you're a seasoned runner or just looking for a fun way to give back, we hope you'll join us in the fight to make a difference by committing to run or raise money with us on Feb. 25. Participants and spectators are encouraged to create a personal fundraising page for this event. "Everyone can make an impact by sharing their page on social media and among friends and family to raise awareness and additional funds for the Austin Hatcher Foundation," organizers said. Those who cannot come to the race in Chattanooga can still register and run virtually anywhere in the world. Registration is open now. For those running in-person at the Tennessee Riverpark, the race will be held at Shelter #4, located near the entrance of the riverwalk found at 4301 Amnicola Hwy, Chattanooga, Tn. 37406. Lola Beans Coffee will be in attendance providing hot chocolate and coffee. This years event is presented by U.S. Xpress. Other sponsors include Rise Partners, CityScope Magazine and HealthScope Magazine. Businesses, individuals and companies are still encouraged to sponsor the run. Sponsorship options are still available in a variety of levels from $500 to $7,500. If you are interested in sponsoring, contact Melanie Hammontree at melanie@hatcherfoundation.org. Funds raised through the Bubbles of Fun Run directly impact and provide services for children and families with the tools to cope in the present and thrive in the future after childhood cancer. Families of the foundation are provided with services such as Mental and Behavioral Health Therapy, Occupational Therapy, NeuroPsych Testing, Family Programs and more at absolutely no cost to them. To learn more about the annual Bubbles of Fun Run, register for the event, or create a personal fundraising page, visit www.HatcherFoundation.org/run. BrightBridge Capital, a community development financial institution, is partnering with the city of Chattanoogas Department of Equity and Community Engagements Supplier Diversity Initiative in a workshop designed to educate entrepreneurs and small businesses on how to successfully apply for funding. The Ask the Underwriter workshop will give individuals and small business owners an opportunity to hear from featured panelist Mike Matousek, senior loan officer with BrightBridge Capital, as he provides insights into the underwriting and business funding process. The workshop will take place on Thursday, Jan. 26, from 6-7:30 p.m. at DNS Business Center located at 5811 Lee Highway, Suite 401. Participants for the event include: Karen Collins, director of supplier diversity with the city of Chattanooga, TyQuan Glaze, community development specialist with BrightBridge Capital, Demetria Jordan, owner of DNS Creative Spaces and featured panelist, and Mr. Matousek. As a CDFI, BrightBridge is not a traditional financial institution; however, we work with banks to provide non-traditional funding to entrepreneurs and small business owners to meet their needs," said Bill Pollard of BrightBridge Capital. "Its work weve been doing for more than four decades and were proud of the success of those we serve. We are grateful for the relationship with the city of Chattanooga that allows us to reach out to diverse audiences to encourage development of small business in the city." Ms. Collins noted the importance of the upcoming workshop. The city of Chattanooga is committed to supporting real systemic change through supplier diversity by actively seeking to educate, engage, and do business with vendors and suppliers from diverse backgrounds. Our commitment is further solidified by providing workshops that can assist in leveling the playing field so that small business owners and entrepreneurs can be supplied with the critical knowledge they need to obtain funding no matter what stage of business development they are in. This partnership with BrightBridge Capital is an excellent example of providing resources to further this goal. Reservations may be made through Eventbrite until Jan. 24 at 5 p.m., or until the workshop space reaches maximum participation. Space is limited to 75 guests. Local McCallie student Benjamin Yang was chosen for his project, "Inflammatory Effect of Microplastics on Human Lung Cells," in the top 300 scholars in the Regeneron Science Talent Search 2023, the nations oldest and most prestigious science and math competition for high school seniors.Each scholar receives a $2,000 award with an additional $2,000 going to their respective school, resulting in $1.2 million in total scholar awards from Regeneron. The 40 finalists chosen to compete in March will be announced on Jan.24.The Regeneron Science Talent Search scholars were selected from 1,949 applications from 627 high schools across 48 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and four other countries. Scholars were chosen based on their outstanding research, leadership skills, community involvement, commitment to academics, creativity in asking scientific questions and exceptional promise as STEM leaders demonstrated through the submission of their original, independent research projects, essays and recommendations. The 300 scholars hail from 194 American and international high schools in 35 states and China.Congratulations to the top 300 scholars in this years Regeneron Science Talent Search, said Maya Ajmera, president and CEO, Society for Science and Publisher, Science News. The enthusiasm and quality of projects from this year's participants were just outstanding. Each year, I am tremendously impressed by the ingenuity that the students bring to the competition. Their hard work, creativity and perseverance should be applauded.Officials said, "The Regeneron Science Talent Search recognizes and empowers our nations most promising young scientists who are generating innovative solutions to solve significant global challenges through rigorous research and discoveries. It provides students with a national stage to present new ideas and challenge conventional ways of thinking. Now in its 101st year, Society for Science has played a significant role in educating the public about scientific discoveries as well as in identifying future leaders in science, technology, engineering and math. Regeneron has sponsored the Science Talent Search since 2017 as part of its deep commitment to STEM education and to supporting young scientists."This year, research projects cover topics from analyzing the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war, to developing eco-friendly biofuel and improving methods used to detect diseases and neurological disorders such as Alzheimers, bladder cancer, monkeypox, autism and more. Other students chose to focus on social issues, such as exploring ways to reduce social media-induced emotional distress and violence, as well as studying how mask mandates impact how accurately people can recognize emotion on others faces. With a total of 21 research categories, the top five categories among scholars projects this year include:Top 5 Category Scholar Stats:Behavioral and Social Sciences -16%Medicine and Health - 12%Cellular and Molecular Biology - 10%Neuroscience - 8%Environmental Science - 7%We celebrate this years scholars for their exceptional work and unmatched motivation to use the power of science, technology, engineering and mathematics to make a meaningful mark on the world, said Christina Chan, senior vice president, Corporate Communications & Citizenship at Regeneron. Through our partnership with the Society for Science, it is our goal that the Regeneron Science Talent Search elevates young scientists and underscores the significance of STEM in solving societys biggest challenges. We commend the scholars inspirational and thought-provoking projects and look forward to what the future has in store for each of these budding innovators.On January 24, 40 of the 300 scholars will be named Regeneron Science Talent Search finalists. The finalists will then compete for more than $1.8 million in awards during a week-long competition in Washington, D.C., taking place March 9-15."For over eight decades the Science Talent Search has rewarded talented high school seniors who dedicate countless hours to original research projects and present their results in rigorous reports that resemble graduate school theses. Collectively, STS alumni have received millions of dollars in scholarships and gone on to be awarded Nobel Prizes, Fields Medals, MacArthur Fellowships and numerous other accolades," official said. Nokian Tyres announced Wednesday the company will double its tire production capabilities by investing $174.1 million to expand operations at its Dayton facility. Nokian Tyres, which opened its first U.S. factory in Dayton in 2019, will create an additional 75 new jobs in Rhea County, increasing its total headcount in Southeast Tennessee to approximately 475 people. With the additional employment and construction of a 600,000-square-foot tire warehouse, Nokian Tyres will strengthen the companys nine-warehouse network across the U.S. and Canada by reaching full production capacity of up to four million tires per year by 2024. Hiring at the Dayton factory will begin in March. Founded in Finland, Nokian Tyres develops, manufactures and distributes its premium tires worldwide with operations in Europe, North America and Asia. Since establishing a presence in Rhea County three years ago, Nokian Tyres will have invested more than $400 million and created 475 new jobs in Tennessee once this expansion is complete. Governor Bill Lee said, Tennessees business climate and unmatched workforce continue to attract world-class brands to the Volunteer State. These 75 new jobs will greatly benefit Tennesseans in Rhea County and across the region for years to come, and I thank Nokian Tyres for placing its confidence in Tennessee. Nokian Tyres will create 75 new jobs at its Dayton, Tennessee factory in 2023, as the company aims to double tire capacity at the award-winning facility. The company celebrated the start of the capacity expansion, which also includes an on-site storage warehouse, at an event on Wednesday with state, local and company officials. Starting pay ranges from $17 to $21 per hour. As demand for our tires grows in the United States and Canada, our expanded Dayton Factory will supply customers with a rising number of safe, sustainable all-season and all-weather products, said Nokian Tyres Vice President of Sales Tommi Heinonen. We are happy to see the factory provide more jobs for North American workers and more tires for North American drivers. We strive to be an employer of choice in Southeast Tennessee, and that has been our focus since day one of our operations, said Dayton Factory Operations Director David Korda. As we grow, were excited about providing fulfilling opportunities for professional growth that will also help our factory and company grow. Nokian Tyres has been a valued partner to the State of Tennessee since 2019, and todays announcement is proof that our states workforce and business-friendly climate are clear advantages when recruiting global companies to Tennessee, said Tennessee Commissioner of Economic and Community Development Stuart McWhorter. We believe Dayton and Rhea County will continue to be the ideal location for this companys growth and future success. The factory set production records with existing equipment in 2022, and the company has begun installing additional infrastructure inside the factory to meet its goal of producing up to four million tires per year a milestone it plans to reach in 2024. The company makes all-season and all-weather tires at the facility, which is the epicenter of its growth plan in North America. The expansion will enable Nokian Tyres to add light truck tires to the Dayton Factorys product mix in 2023. In its first three years of operations in Dayton, the company has earned recognition for its workplace culture, operations and sustainability. Nokian Tyres was the Chattanooga Regional Manufacturers Associations Company of the Year in 2021, and the company was the first in Rhea County to receive the prestigious Tennessee Governors Environmental Stewardship Award. Nokian Tyres is such a great fit for this community, and were excited to be a part of their journey, said Rhea County Executive Jim Vincent. This expansion proves that Nokian Tyres is deeply invested in this community, and we are pleased to have them as part of our Rhea County family. The Dayton Factorys production building is the only tire production facility in the world to possess LEED v4 Silver certification, and its LEED v4 Gold-certified administration building is fully powered by energy generated from onsite solar panels. Steven Cade has partnered with Brent Yates, author/founder of The Gravity of Up, to raise awareness of the importance of music by donating guitars to inspire those in need. His Giving Guitars Tour visits shelters and agencies across the country that offer housing and services to families, youth and individuals experiencing homelessness and those in need. Mr. Cade visits the facilities, interacts with the residents, donates a guitar and holds live performances. This month, Mr. Cade will visit a shelter in Chattanooga to bring new hope and healing through music for this New Year. He will be visiting The TN Baptist Childrens Home on Wednesday to donate a guitar where he will visit with children and deliver a guitar and do a mini concert. Following, Mr. Cade will perform live at Pucketts downtown at 2 W Aquarium Way at 6 p.m. bringing awareness to the TN Baptist Childrens Home. Music changes lives and the guitar is such a powerful tool," said Mr. Cade. "Music is healing and allows you to express your stories and brings joy. I give back to homeless shelters because it's part of my story, my family has been homeless as well. Mr. Cade is a Nashville-based, award-winning, modern country artist and songwriter who has been considered for nine GRAMMY nominations. He won the Josie Award for Best Modern Country Artist of the Year at the Grand Ole Opry. He is also a California Music Hall of Fame inductee. He tours nationally and has been featured with Blake Shelton, Carrie Underwood, Eric Church, Gavin DeGraw and many others. His top original songs on Spotify are Better Me, Two Less Lonely People, and Cool in California. He is the founder of Giving Guitars. Taylor Guitars is the official guitar sponsor for Giving Guitars. For more information visit www.stevencade.com and for donations to support Giving Guitars, please go to https://www.givingguitars.org/. Pi Omega and Zeta Kappa Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. continues their commitment to Soaring to Greater Heights of Service and Sisterhood through their annual MLK Day of service. Chapter members will collaborate with Matthew 25 Ministry of Olivet Baptist Church to serve the homeless in the community. They will provide to-go meals and backpacks with winter supplies to the homeless community. (i.e. - blankets, gloves, masks, hand sanitizer, ponchos, socks, etc.) The event will take place on Monday at Olivet Baptist Church from noon-1 p.m. Officials said, "Statistics show that over 4,000 individuals experience homelessness each year in Chattanooga, with over 1,000 homeless children in public schools. Members of the local chapter work year round to make a difference in the community through projects like this one." University of Minnesota researchers have invented new catalyst technology that improves the process and substantially reduces the cost of manufacturing renewable chemicals that can be used in a wide range of products including paints, coatings and diapers. A team led by University of Minnesota Twin Cities researchers has invented a groundbreaking new catalyst technology that converts renewable materials like trees and corn to the key chemicals, acrylic acid, and acrylates used in paints, coatings, and superabsorbent polymers. The new catalyst technology is also highly efficient, which means lower costs for manufacturing renewable chemicals. The new catalyst formulation converts lactic acid-based chemicals derived from corn to acrylic acid and acrylates with the highest yield achieved to date. The technology exhibits substantially higher performance when benchmarked against other classes of leading catalysts. The research is published online in the Journal of the American Chemical Society Gold (JACS Au), a leading open access journal of the American Chemical Society. The research team was supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation through the NSF Center for Sustainable Polymers, a multi-university collaborative team with a mission to transform how plastics are made, unmade, and remade through innovative research. The public is most familiar with acrylic acid and associated acrylates through its uses in everyday items from paints and coatings to sticky adhesives to superabsorbent materials used in diapers. These chemicals and materials have been made for the last century from fossil fuels. But in the last few decades, the corn industry has been growing to expand beyond food and livestock feed to manufacturing useful chemicals. One such corn-derived chemical is sustainable lactic acid, a key ingredient in the manufacturing of the renewable and compostable plastic used in many everyday applications. Lactic acid can also be converted to acrylic acid and acrylates using catalysts. However, until this new catalyst discovery, traditional catalysts were very inefficient achieving low yields and making the overall process too expensive. Our new catalyst formulation discovery achieves the highest yield to date of acrylic acid from lactic acid, said Paul Dauenhauer, professor in the University of Minnesota Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science. We benchmarked the performance of our new catalyst to all prior catalysts, and the performance far exceeds previous examples. The new catalyst formulation substantially reduces the cost of manufacturing renewable acrylic acid and acrylates from corn by improving yield and reducing waste. For the first time, this could reduce the price of renewable acrylic acid below fossil-derived chemicals. The economic opportunity generated by the new catalyst is being pursued by Lakril Technologies, a startup company that aims to manufacture low-cost renewable acrylic acid and acrylates. By licensing the catalyst technology from the University of Minnesota, Lakril Technologies will develop the technology beyond the laboratory. Chemical manufacturing has relied on a class of catalysts called zeolites for half a century, says Dr. Chris Nicholas, CEO of Lakril Technologies. Because the new catalyst discovery is based on a zeolite formulation already available at scale, our new process to make acrylic acid and acrylates will achieve low cost with low risk. Lakril Technologies, located in Chicago, already has received $1.4 million in pre-seed financing to scale the process. The Iowa Corn Growers Association led the financing with participation from the Kentucky Corn Growers Association along with grants from the Minnesota Corn Research and Promotion Council, Indiana Corn Marketing Council, Corn Marketing Council of Michigan, along with Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) awards from both the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Energy. At the University of Minnesota, the research team plans to continue their basic research on catalyst design to understand the fundamental aspects of the chemistry with financial support from the Center for Sustainable Polymers headquartered at the University of Minnesota. This is a wonderful example of how addressing important basic research questions that are at the heart of fundamental catalysis can lead to innovative new processes that have true technological promise, said Marc Hillmyer, director of the Center for Sustainable Polymers and a professor in the University of Minnesota Department of Chemistry. A grand challenge in the Center for Sustainable Polymers is the efficient and sustainable conversion of biomass to polymer ingredients, and this work represents a groundbreaking solution to that challenge that will have lasting impact. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Cheshires School Building Committee met three times in December of 2022, foreshadowing a busy 2023 for the group that is responsible for overseeing the building of two new elementary schools in town. The groups initial meeting of Dec. 5 saw new members sworn in and briefed by Town Attorney Jeffrey Donofrio about some of the legal aspects of their duties. On Dec. 14, the group made a visit to the two properties where the new buildings are slated for construction. The first stop was the undeveloped parcel of land once owned by the Casertano family, located at Marion Road and Jarvis Street. Members of the Committee were joined by ex-officio members Superintendent of Schools Dr. Jeff Solan and Town Manager Sean Kimball, along with Town Planner Michael Glidden. Questions about existing sewer, electric, water, and gas lines were briefly discussed, as were wetlands and existing trees forming natural boundaries around the proposed site. It was suggested that these features could be integrated into any design to the extent it is feasible. As Solan put it, I think the more trees we could keep, the nicer it is, but he added that the Committee would have to work that through with the architect. At Norton School, located on at 414 North Brooksvale Road, Committee members discussed some of the logistical issues that will face the development. The construction site, it was suggested, will not be accessed via North Brooksvale Rd., but rather by a right of way from Sharon Drive. The current plan calls for the new school to be constructed on existing fields, while the current Norton building will be demolished after the project is complete. Solan acknowledged that construction work would impact the neighbors, but he said steps will be taken to minimize and mitigate that. Ever the educator, Solan also remarked that the temporary construction wall could have some visibility so that kids can see whats happening. It would be kind of a neat learning experience for them. The group agreed that getting an in-person look at the sites was beneficial. Committee Member Denis Rioux, an architect himself, commented toward the end of the visit that, Looking at the two properties, theyre so different and they have unique challenges. That could lead me towards two architects instead of just one. Its not the same project. Solan agreed, saying, You couldnt design one building and drop it on the properties. As to the possibility of having one firm design both, Rioux quipped, If we do one firm with two teams, theyll deliver both late. The Committee got together again for a meeting on Dec. 19, where all members were in attendance along with Donofrio and District Chief Operating Officer Vincent Masciana. The first order of business was selecting leadership and Richard Gusenberg was selected as Chair, Gregory Rosenblatt as Vice-Chair and Sarah Stevens-Morling as Secretary. The meeting then moved to the task of developing the Requests for Qualifications (RFQs) for architecture and construction services. Donofrio provided draft versions to the Committee and most of the rest of the meeting was dedicated to going through those line by line and page by page. Most of the changes to the language in the draft were minor corrections or clarifications, but questions for further discussion did arise, including the issue of whether to hire an Owners Representative. Donofrio recommended that an Owners Representative be on site for when problems arise. Theres defective work that gets accepted by the design team and the CM (Construction Manager). Theres lack of coordination between trades. Theres out of sequence work. Theres all kinds of things that happen where you need the Owners Rep to advise you, and if the Owners Rep isnt present in the field and doesnt know these things are going on, the advice is pretty much useless, Donofrio cautioned. He added that, while having an Owners Rep for school projects isnt currently the law in Connecticut, unlike in some other states, the Owners Rep concept is finally being somewhat embraced by OSCGR (Office of School Construction Grants & Review), in order to help school building committees composed of volunteers especially those who may have less experience than Cheshires has to navigate the technical details of the construction process. The Committee developed a preliminary timeline for the first quarter of 2023. Among these provisional dates was Jan. 9 for the release of the first RFQ. A meeting schedule was approved as well. The School Building Committee will have regular public meetings on the second and the fourth Thursdays of each month, and a public comment opportunity is likely to appear on the agenda for next months meeting. As a Brazilian, I will remember January 8, 2023, as one of the worst days for my countrys democracy. As an evangelical, I will remember it as one of the darkest days for my countrys church. This Sunday, dozens of angry citizens arrived in Brasilia and stormed the National Congress, the Supreme Court, and the Planalto Palace, ripping apart furniture, damaging paintings, smashing windows, and beating up journalists. The extremists are supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro and erroneously believe that the 2022 election was rigged. Video footage of Sundays attack shows the violence of these vandals. But it also reveals some protesters carrying Bibles, praying before they entered Congress, and singing hymns while being detained by federal policeactions that suggest many were evangelicals, an important electoral base for the former president. Brazil belongs to the Lord Jesus. The Congress is our church. The Congress is the church of God's people. If you are a Christian, come to the Congress. The Congress is ours, the people of God, until military intervention. From a video filmed in the National Congress originally uploaded by Clayton Nunes. Unfortunately, the seed of this extremism that reached its peak Sunday was planted and cultivated, in part, by evangelical churches that supported and campaigned for Bolsonaro in the last elections, amplifying polarization, hate speech, and radicalization. In their extravagant stumping for Bolsonaro, some evangelical leaders christened a rude, violent, and greedy politician into a man of God. Beyond the ways in which many in the evangelical church cultivated an inappropriately intimate relationship with Bolsonaro throughout his presidency and reelection campaign, many Christian leaders have struggled to demonstrate significant fruit of the Spirit when engaging in politics. While publicly calling the church to defend family values, too many pastors themselves struggle with hatred, rancor, violence, division, and pride toward political opponentsworks of the flesh that Paul suggests deny entry to the kingdom of God (Gal. 5:1921). In recent years, churches have had a loose relationship with the truth and have too often irresponsibly shared conspiracy theories. This past year, some Christians claimed that leftist groups were fighting for the legalization of pedophilia. Since Lula claimed victory in Octobers runoff, Christians have joined many of their fellow countrypeople in suggesting that the elections runoff was the result of voter fraud. Article continues below In the aftermath of Sundayss attack, a January 10 poll from Instituto Atlas found that 67.9 percent of evangelicals in Brazil believe that Lula did not actually win the election, 64.4 percent believe the attack was justified, and 73.8 percent think Bolsonaro is not responsible for it. Following the elections, Bolsonaristas set up camps in front of barracks around the country, asking for the military to intervene and remove Lula from power. A few days ago, as the Belo Horizonte police dismantled one camp, a man prayed to God in bad Hebrew, Yauh, Yauh, please don't allow it, Yauh. The prayer was fervent and desperate. It also sounded sincere and revealed a theology that had fostered despair, fanaticism, and a revolutionary postureperhaps acquired encouragement from someone in a pulpit. The ingredients for demolishing a democracy and tarnishing Christian witness on display. A harbinger of the tragedy to come. I fear we saw the fruits of the churchs worst tendencies on display this Sunday, including resentment toward the president and fellow Brazilians, an aversion to the truth, and a willingness to embrace violence rather than nonviolent protest when things did not go the desired way. But avoiding this outcome in future fraught elections wont be achieved by swinging the results to a different party. Instead, for Christians of all political persuasions, it will start by seeing ourselves in the life and example of the apostle Peterand then embracing his advice for us as we navigate living out our faith in adverse circumstances or in contexts in which we do not always agree. Peter, passion, and a change of heart The Bible holds the stories of humans who make mistakes, sin, and yet are called by God to repentance and conversion. The apostle Peter is one such person. Peter shows up in the Gospels as someone who fiercely loves Jesus but is prone to making rash announcements, selfish statements, and sometimes violent decisions. Peter frequently and passionately misses the point, he fights with James about who will sit at the right hand of Jesus one day, he tells Jesus he will never deny him, and he cuts off a mans ear when Jesus is arrested. Even after Jesus forgives him for his denial and Peter spreads the gospel during the first Pentecost, he subsequently struggles to overcome his xenophobia about sharing Jesus with Gentiles. Article continues below Never shy about wearing his emotions on his sleeve, some years removed from his emotional and misguided outbursts, Peter later writes to Christians his advice for those who seek to boldly live out their faith. In your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. (1 Pet. 3:1516) The exhortation to in your hearts revere Christ as Lord immediately orders our priorities and asks us to check ourselves for idolatry. Notably Peter is writing to people who believe in Jesus, and yet he is still asking Christians to make sure that they have centered the Lord. This includes not only believing in Jesus but also following his word and example in our actions. Relevant to our current situation, Jesus did not condone nationalism or seditiontwo political trends expected in part of the messianism of the time. On the contrary, Jesus not only praised Samaritans but also added Zealots and tax collectors among his disciples: anti-colonials and colonialists. Speaking to Christians living in a hostile world, the apostle Peterthe same Peter who earlier, believing in an aggressive and cowardly faith, had cut off Malchus's ear and denied Jesus three timesexplains how we ought to answer the person who asks the reason for our hope. Peter uses two nouns: gentleness (), which means humility and meekness, and respect (), which means reverence or fear. When used to refer to people, gentleness conveys an attitude of humility or submission. Likewise, respect refers to a feeling of deep consideration for another. Having a clear conscience is a common theme in 1 Peter; the word conscience appears in some versions of 1 Peter 2:19 and again in 3:21. In both cases, the context is the attitude of submission and respect that Christians should have, even when they are mistreated or persecuted. Article continues below When we feel wronged, we can often feel justified in bending the rules, distorting the truth, or adopting an ends justify the means mantra. But if we take a moment to reflect, we can quickly see that these are the very actions that discredit Christians to the rest of the world. In fact, Peter wants our character to be so sterling thatits worth repeating these words againthose who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. So what is the relationship between Peter and Christians who either ransacked the capital on Sunday or bear some responsibility for the attack because of their influence? The lives of both reveal that religious zeal can assume exaggerated proportions and become idolatry, taking the place that belongs only to the Lord. As Peter teaches us, living according to the teachings of Jesus means placing him as the supreme Lord in our lives. Even those of us Christians who may (naively) believe we would never take part in something like last Sundays attack can acknowledge that we regularly fall short in this area. Evangelicals need to experience the same metanoia, or spiritual conversion, that the apostle Peter went through. Perhaps this transformation happened when he started to follow two instructions from his Master: instead of cutting off ears, put your sword away (John 18.11), and instead of denying Jesus out of fear or cowardice, take care of my sheep (John 21:16). Guiterres Fernandes Siqueira is a journalist and theologian. He is the author of five books, including Quem tem medo dos evangelicos? (Whos Afraid of Evangelicals?) (Editora Mundo Cristao.) He lives in Sao Paulo and is a member of the Assembly of God (Ministerio do Belem) in the same city. With additional reporting by Marisa Lopes and Mariana Albuquerque [ This article is also available in espanol, Portugues, and Francais. ] 5 things to know about rule changes in the 118th Congress The United States House of Representatives adopted a rules package that will govern how the body does business during the 118th U.S. Congress. The approval of the rules package in a 220-213 vote fell along party lines, with all Republicans except Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas supporting the implementation of the rules and all Democrats voting in opposition. In many cases, the rules package for the 118th Congress will leave the rules from the 117th Congress in place. However, the new rules package also contains several changes reflecting the priorities of the new Republican majority. Here are five things to know about the recently adopted rules package. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next 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." 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. Pastor barred from execution chamber over anti-death penalty activism, arrests An Oklahoma inmate on death row is not allowed to have his minister inside the execution chamber on Thursday when he is scheduled to receive lethal injection after the state denied the minister access over his history of anti-death penalty activism. The Oklahoma Department of Corrections denied 61-year-old Scott Eizember permission to have The Rev. Jeff Hood of Arkansas inside his execution chamber during his lethal injection as Hood's history of anti-death penalty activism includes an arrest. "Out of respect for the families of victims, ODOC will not allow the outbursts of activists to interfere, regardless of that activist's declared role in this process," Josh Ward, a DOC spokesperson, wrote in a statement shared with media. "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." Eizember is sentenced to die at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester after his conviction for the murders of an elderly couple in eastern Oklahoma in mid-October of 2003. Ward said Hood, an Old Catholic priest, is still allowed to meet with Eizember during the time leading up to his execution, according to The Associated Press. Additionally, Ward said Hood could view the execution through a closed-circuit feed in a different part of the facility. Hood and Eizember filed a lawsuit in federal district court on Monday, hoping that Eizember's execution will be held or postponed until Hood is permitted to enter the chamber. Eizember claims the DOC's decision violates his First Amendment right to religious exercise. Hood was arrested for peacefully protesting outside a Texas prison in 2016. He said he received a deferred sentence, and the case was expunged from his record. "We really think this is certainly not just a violation of religious liberty, but also a violation of other First Amendment protections," Hood said. Eizember's lawyer, Randall Coyne, told The Washington Post that Hood has been arrested three times in connection with social justice activism but assured that Hood would not interfere with Eizember's execution if he is allowed to attend. "He's never disrupted an execution," Coyne said. "There's a difference between his advocacy as a human rights activist and his work as a spiritual adviser." States are to allow clergy to be present inside the death chamber during executions after a 2021 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of a death row inmate in Alabama who was denied the presence of his pastor in the execution chamber. Faith groups such as The Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, the National Association of Evangelicals and many others issued briefs in defense of death row inmates' right to have clergy present during their executions. Eizember's execution sentencing was upheld in 2007 by a 3-2 vote of the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals. AP reports that Eizember committed multiple crimes in his lifetime, including a multi-state crime spree where he became the focus of a 37-day manhunt. Eizember was also convicted of shooting with intent to kill the then-16-year-old son of his ex-girlfriend and assault with a dangerous weapon against the mother of his ex-girlfriend. On Nov. 23, 2003, Eizember was discovered hiding in a Depew church after a 75-year-old volunteer found him there. Eizember escaped from the church by stealing the church volunteer's vehicle. Eizember was later captured outside Lufkin, Texas, after he kidnapped an Arkansas physician and his wife and held them hostage at gunpoint for six hours as he forced them to drive him to Texas. The physician shot Eizember four times with a gun his wife kept in their vehicle. The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 3-2 in December not to grant clemency for Eizember. The Oklahoma appellate court produced an 84-page majority opinion upholding Eizember's sentencing written by Judge Gary Lumpkin of Madill, which rejected Eizember's claims that his death sentence should be reversed. "It is clear from their responses, both written and oral, that each of these jurors could be a fair and impartial juror, consider all three penalty options and follow the law and instructions given by the court," reads the 2007 opinion. In a six-page dissenting opinion, Judge Charles Chapel of Tulsa reportedly wrote that the death penalty "should be set aside" because Eizember's trial "was tainted when biased jurors who sat on his jury should have been excused." "Biased jurors were allowed to serve on Eizember's trial, even though he requested they be removed for cause, and despite clear pretrial statements indicating their biases," the decision reads. "A capital juror must be able to fairly consider all three punishment options." Judge Arlene Johnson of Oklahoma City joined Chapel in dissent of the execution. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signs executive order prohibiting critical race theory in schools On her first day in office, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed an executive order declaring that critical race theory "indoctrination" should not be allowed in schools. Shortly after being sworn in on Tuesday as Arkansas' first female governor, Sanders, the daughter of former Gov. Mike Huckabee and former White House press secretary, signed an "Executive Order to Prohibit Indoctrination and Critical Race Theory in Schools." The order, one of several signed by Sanders Tuesday, declares that "CRT, discrimination, and indoctrination have no place in Arkansas classrooms." "Critical Race Theory (CRT) is antithetical to the traditional American values of neutrality, equality, and fairness. It emphasizes skin color as a person's primary characteristic, thereby resurrecting segregationist values, which America has fought so hard to reject," reads the order. "Government policies must empower parents to make decisions for their children and foster curriculum transparency in classrooms across the state." The order directs the secretary of the state's Department of Education to review all materials "to identify any items that may, purposely or otherwise, promote teaching that would indoctrinate students with ideologies, such as CRT, that conflict with the principle of equal protection under the law or encourage students to discriminate against someone." "The Secretary is further instructed that if any items are found to conflict with the principle of equal protection under the law, then the Secretary is instructed to amend, annul, or alter those rules, regulations, policies, materials, or communications to remove the prohibited indoctrination," continued the order. Sanders' order clarifies that it does not prohibit "the discussion of ideas and history of the concepts" like CRT or "prohibit the discussion of public policy issues of the day and related ideas that individuals may find unwelcome, disagreeable or offensive." "No communication by a public-school employee, public school representative, or guest speaker shall compel a person to adopt, affirm or profess an idea in violation of Title IV and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (P.L. 88-352, 78 Stat. 241), including that: People of one color, creed, race, ethnicity, sex, age, marital status, familial status, disability, religion, national origin, or any other characteristic protected by federal or state law are inherently superior or inferior to people of another color, creed, race, ethnicity, sex, age, marital status, familial status, disability, religion, national origin, or any other characteristic protected by federal or state law." In a statement, the Arkansas Democratic Party commended Sanders' plans to increase teacher salaries and expand preschool but expressed concern over Sanders' CRT order. "The beginning of Governor Sanders's term will also be remembered for attacking Arkansas schools for 'indoctrination,' a charge she has repeatedly levied against Arkansas teachers," stated the party. "Arkansas Democrats stand with our teachers and know they are first and foremost much too busy grading papers, buying their own supplies, and making lesson plans to indoctrinate anyone." Sanders also signed other executive orders on a host of issues, including a moratorium on hiring new state employees, a measure aimed at reducing government regulations, and a curbing of the official use of the term "Latinx" in favor of "Latino," "Latina" and "Hispanic." Critical race theory emerged in the 1970s as activists and law students at the time responded to what they believed was the reversal of the civil rights movement gains from the 1960s. Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic wrote in the 2001 book Critical Race Theory: An Introduction that CRT is a "movement" of "activists and scholars interested in studying and transforming the relationship among race, racism, and power." "Unlike traditional civil rights, which embraces incrementalism and step-by-step progress, critical race theory questions the very foundations of the liberal order, including equality theory, legal reasoning, Enlightenment rationalism, and neutral principles of constitutional law," Delgado and Stefancic wrote. While proponents have argued that CRT is necessary to better understand systemic racism and promote diversity, conservatives say it wrongfully vilifies the U.S. and is divisive. In 2020, President Donald Trump, who Sanders once served as White House press secretary, signed an executive order banning the usage of CRT materials in federal government programs. President Joe Biden repealed the order upon taking office. Texas Legislature to consider parental rights in education bills in response to trans indoctrination Texas lawmakers are returning to work Tuesday for the 88th legislative session and are expected to take up a bill that would prohibit schools from teaching elementary and middle school students about sexual orientation or gender identity. Similar to a controversial bill passed by Florida lawmakers last year, House Bill 631, introduced by Rep. Steve Toth (R-The Woodlands), would expand restrictions on teaching such curriculum by school personnel or third parties from kindergarten through the fifth grade or in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards. HB 1155, authored by Frisco Republican Rep. Jared Patterson, would extend that restriction until the eighth grade. Both bills are among several set to be taken up by lawmakers as the 88th Texas Legislature reconvenes Tuesday for its new session, including property tax relief and other proposals amid a record $32 billion budget surplus. Much like legislation signed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, both Texas bills focus on parental rights and would require school districts to notify parents in the event school officials provide services involving a students mental, emotional, or physical health or well-being. They also call for the Texas Education Agency to review and revise best practices for school counselors and educators ahead of the 2024 school year. There is also no explicit reference to homosexuality in either HB 631 or HB 1155, similar to Floridas version. HB 631 requires any school district which administers a well-being questionnaire or health screening form to any student in kindergarten through fifth grade to provide a copy of the form and obtain parental permission prior to doing so. HB 1155 goes even further, prohibiting any school district employee from discouraging or prohibiting parental knowledge of or involvement in critical decisions affecting a student's mental, emotional, or physical health or well-being. The Christian Post was awaiting a response from both Reps. Patterson and Toth as of Tuesday afternoon. In a tweet Tuesday, Patterson called out what he sees as the main arguments from opponents of his legislation: Opposition to my HB1155 from various far left groups? 1/ teachers wont be able to share their sex lives with kids 2/ schools wont be able to hide important health info about the kids from their parents. Not unlike the Florida law, the American Civil Liberties Union and other progressive and LGBT activist groups have warned the language in the Texas versions as potentially harmful. Last March, Amy Turkel, the interim executive director of the ACLU of Florida, told CP the Florida law is unconstitutional because it silences discussions about teachers' and students' LGBT family members and friends. "Banning talk about parents serves no legitimate educational purpose and in fact, is detrimental to students," Turkel said. "All young people deserve an inclusive and accurate education, free from censorship or discrimination." The bill was backed by the Florida Family Policy Council, which argued that the bills opponents are making deliberately false allegations about the legislations content. 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 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. 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. Kamala Harris to visit Texas border 3 months after being put in charge of immigration crisis Vice President Kamala Harris will visit the U.S. southern border about three months after she was put in charge of handling the illegal immigration crisis. The Office of the Vice President sent out an email to the press on Wednesday confirming that Harris will visit El Paso, Texas, on Friday, with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas joining her. Earlier this year, the President asked the Vice President to oversee our diplomatic efforts to address the root causes of migration from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, stated the email. As a part of this ongoing work, the Vice President traveled to Guatemala and Mexico earlier this month and will travel to El Paso on Friday. Harris will be nearly 800 miles away from the cities and towns affected by the border crisis, such as Mission and McAllen. The vice president also won't be meeting with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott or Border Patrol agents, mayors and residents who are most affected by the surge of migrants. "Vice President Harris is ignoring the real problem areas along our southern border that are not protected by the border wall and are being overrun by the federal government's ill-thought-out open border policies," Abbott said in a statement about Harris' visit to El Paso amid the ongoing border crisis. "She will fail in her mission if she refuses to speak to residents of the Del Rio sector whose homes and ranches are being overrun by gangs and smugglers," the governor added. "The vice president was named border czar over 90 days ago, and in that time Texans have had their homes broken into, property damaged, and guns pointed at their heads as cartels, smugglers and human traffickers profit off the Biden administrations reckless open-border policies," he continued. "I launched Operation Lone Star in March to combat this record-high influx of people and crime, and since then DPS has arrested over 1,700 criminals, apprehended over 41,000 migrants, and seized enough fentanyl to kill over 21 million people." President Joe Biden tapped Harris to be border czar on March 24, saying she was the most qualified person to do it" due to her experience as attorney general of California. She has since faced criticism for not accepting repeated requests that she visit the southern border to see the crisis for herself. The Biden administrations approach to dealing with mass migration and the border crisis was also criticized by Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei. He noted that despite telling people not to come to the U.S. months after the crisis began, as Vice President Kamala Harris did during her recent visit to that country, the administration's policies are making it easier for cartels to traffic people into the U.S. I want to be clear to folks in this region who are thinking about making the dangerous trek to the United States-Mexico border do not come, do not come, said Harris at a press conference in Guatemala. There are legal methods by which migration can and should occur, but we, as one of our priorities, will discourage illegal migration. And I believe if you come to our border, you will be turned back. Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., who recently went to the border to see the immigration crisis, criticized the Biden administration for its border policies that he says are enabling cartels to profit from human trafficking. "The answers arent down there in Guatemala because the cartel is actively recruiting. Theyre making about $5 billion this year trafficking people across our southern border," Donald said in an interview with Fox News earlier this month. "And so you dont have to go down to Guatemala to know whats actually going on. Whats going on is the administrations weak policies allow the cartels to make billions of dollars. Its that simple." On his first day in office, President Joe Biden signed an executive order to halt border wall construction, a move Republican lawmakers say is unauthorized since funds for construction had already been appropriated. When Harris was tasked with resolving the border crisis in late March, she described it as a challenging situation and said the root causes of the border problems must be addressed. And while we are clear that people should not come to the border now, we also understand that we will enforce the law, Harris said at the time. We will collaborate with Mexico and other countries throughout the Western hemisphere," Harris added. "And as part of this effort, we expect that we will have collaborative relationships to accomplish the goals the president has and that we share. Data released by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection show there were 180,034 land encounters between illegal border crossers and immigration officials in May, making it the highest monthly tally in 21 years and the 13th consecutive month that the number of illegal border crossings increased. Customers and Border Patrol statistics show that there have been 1.1 million enforcement actions with immigrants illegally entering the U.S. in fiscal year-to-date at the border. These encounters include " ... arrests of individuals with criminal convictions and individuals who have been apprehended multiple times crossing the border illegally." Recently, Harris has faced questions from multiple reporters for her apparent hesitation to visit the southern border, having previously said that it would serve little purpose. The issue of root causes is not going to be solved in one trip that took two days, said Harris earlier this month, as reported by The Daily Wire. This is an issue that is long standing, is in many cases generational. It is not a new issue for the United States, to feel the effects of those root causes on our shores. The day before the trip was announced, a bipartisan group of Texan legislators urged Harris to visit their border with Mexico in light of a sharp influx of immigrants entering the U.S. illegally over the past several months. The momentum for this crisis has been building for months, but no significant action has been taken to address it, they said in an op-ed piece published by The Dallas Morning News. The president and vice president have yet to even visit the border. Disagreeing with prosecutor, police chief says megachurch pastor should have been tried for prostitution Insisting the case against Rock Church International Pastor John Blanchard remains strong enough to convict him of prostitution charges, Chesterfield County Police Chief, Col. Jeffrey S. Katz of Virginia, publicly disagreed with the decision of Commonwealth Attorney Stacey Davenport to drop the charges against the pastor, arguing that the case should have gone to trial. Blanchard was among 17 men accused of solicitation of prostitution after an online sting operation by police on Oct. 29, 2021. The married father of two was charged with solicitation of prostitution of a minor and use of a vehicle to promote prostitution which are both felonies. He was arrested at a hotel where he was supposed to meet a detective posing as a 17-year-old girl. After almost a year of legal maneuvering, the charges against Blanchard were withdrawn or nolle prossed ahead of a criminal trial in October. A case that is nolle prossed means prosecutors could potentially bring those charges again. A report from the Chesterfield County Police Department said Davenport cited a lack of evidence in not moving forward with the case against Blanchard, WRIC reported. In a statement posted on Facebook Tuesday, Katz revealed that he felt compelled to make a public statement about the case because Blanchards attorney filed a motion to seal all police or court records, transcripts, and investigative records associated with this case and has decided to consent to render these records unavailable to the public, which upon approval by a judge would make sharing of these transcripts, the report, or any other documents, previously released under FOIA a crime. Katz called the move bewildering particularly because his investigators have presented cases with less compelling evidence that led to a conviction. When someone: 1. Rents a car, 2. Texts a phone number posted on a known sex worker website, 3. Solicits a qv (John lingo for a quick visit), 4. Makes multiple inquiries if the person hes texting is affiliated with law enforcement, 5. Drives two and a half hours to a hotel and knocks on the hotel room door as directed by our undercover 17-year-old, I believe a jury of Chesterfield County residents deserves to weigh in on the matter of criminal culpability, he wrote. Davenports decision to abandon the case, however, has deprived the public of the chance to weigh the case in court. He also insisted that Davenports decision had nothing to do with a lack of evidence. I want to be clear; this is NOT due to a lack of evidence or a substandard investigation. We know what we are doing, we do it very well, and we will continue to proceed with such investigations in the future. Any assertion to the contrary needs to be articulated by the Commonwealth Attorney, Katz said. Despite numerous convictions on cases with similar and in some cases less compelling evidence we have not been given any guidance as to where this investigation fell short of prosecutorial expectations. Moreover, the public has not been provided an explanation. As I have shared with our Commonwealths Attorney, I believe a public articulation of her rationale is warranted. Absent a reasonable explanation, any discontent associated with the handling of this case should be directed to the Commonwealth Attorneys Office, he added. We did our duty. In an Oct. 11 statement on Facebook, Rock Church officials announced that Blanchard was cleared of all charges by prosecutors from the Chesterfield County Courthouse. We have always believed in Johns innocence. His humility and submission to those over him during this time has been a testimony to his character, Bishop Anne Gimenez, who is currently leading the church along with Blanchards wife, Robin, said. He has spent the time in fasting and prayer and has invested much of his time in his family and education. We anticipate his resumption of church duties in the near future. That plan, however, was interrupted when details of Blanchards arrest were shared publicly in documents online by attorney Tim Anderson. The documents show Blanchard negotiating for a quick visit in a chat he initiated by responding to an advertisement presented as a 19-year-old girl on a website that obtained pornographic images. Rock Church, which has a weekly attendance of more than 2,000, wrote in a statement published on its website that Blanchard would voluntarily step away from ministerial duties. Under the guidance of our legal counsel, we cannot make a statement or comment concerning the accusations against Rev. John Blanchard at this time. We are all committed to walking in integrity and truth at Rock Church International and will continue to take steps to do so, the church said. Pastor Blanchard has voluntarily stepped back as lead pastor and from all his ministerial duties until this present situation is totally resolved. The Christian Post reported in November that Blanchard was still preaching at Christian conferences. Theres nothing the devil can do to steal what God has ordained for your life, Blanchard told the audience at the Global Fellowship Church in Richardson, Texas. I want you to know, you are a child of destiny. Inside CP's Refusal To Bow To Twitter, Critics On Biden's "Photo-Op" Border Visit, Influencer Andrew Tate Arrested link to download the audio instead. link to download the audio instead. 08:25 08:25 For months, The Christian Post was precluded from using Twitter after the social media platform accused the news outlet of violating its standards with a tweet about U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine, a man who identifies as a woman. 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. An anti-sexual exploitation group says the alleged details surrounding social media influencer Andrew Tate's arrest suggest he and his alleged co-conspirators are accused of employing a method commonly used by sex traffickers. Pastor James Meeks handed over the reins of the 10,000-member Salem Baptist Church of Chicago on Sunday after 38 years of service. 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." Subscribe to this Podcast 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 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 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. Christian woman tied to a tree, beaten by village leaders in Mexico A Christian woman who suffered severe internal injuries after being tied to a tree and beaten by traditionalist Catholic elders in her village in Mexicos Hidalgo State is now hospitalized in critical condition. Police have made no arrests, according to a report. The victim, identified as Maria Concepcion Hernandez Hernandez from the Great Commission Baptist Church in the community of Rancho Nuevo in Huejutla de los Reyes Municipality, was attacked on Dec. 21 by a group of people, all belonging to the Roman Catholic majority in the village, the U.K.-based group Christian Solidarity Worldwide reported last week. Immediately before the attack, the bells of the local Roman Catholic church were ringing, CSW continued. She was visiting her land as a neighbor had asked her to remove two trees because the local authorities had prohibited members of the religious minority from accessing or using their land for cultivating crops, the group said. The pastor of the womans church, Rogelio Hernandez Baltazar, was also detained for two hours after he sought to intervene to stop the attack, and threatened by the same authorities who declared they will not allow the victims body to be buried in the village if she does not recover from her injuries. The pastor and other villagers are prohibited from meeting her, the group said, adding that no arrests had been made despite complaints having been filed with the Hidalgo State Human Rights Commission and the Hidalgo State Prosecutor's Office. The attackers have been identified as Benito Rocha, Fermin Hernandez Hernandez, Octaviano Gutierrez Hernandez, Margarito Gutierrez Hernandez, Francisco Wenses, and catechist Juan Hernandez Hernandez. The life of a woman hangs in the balance and a community is living in fear because, despite ample evidence of serious violations of freedom of religion or belief in Rancho Nuevo for more than seven years, the Mexican authorities have failed to intervene, CSWs Head of Advocacy, Anna Lee Stangl, said. Instead, Hidalgo State government officials, under the previous governor, have for years publicly denied the existence of cases of religious intolerance in the state, Stangl continued. This is not a one-off incident of Christian persecution in Mexico, which has risen due to drug cartel violence, persecution by traditionalist Catholics and violent discrimination by anti-Christian left-wing groups, Open Doors USA previously reported. In rural indigenous communities, anyone who turns away from traditional religious beliefs can face rejection and punishment in the form of fines, imprisonment, and forced displacement. Non-discrimination laws mean that any links between Christian faith and politics are placed under very strict legal scrutiny, says the ministry on its website. Unlike Christianity, traditionalist Catholicism relies on giving gifts to pagan gods in exchange for health, good fortune and protection from evil. They often participate in animal sacrifices to the gods and worship saints, incorporating practices from pagan Aztec beliefs. In areas controlled by criminal groups or drug cartels, young men are exposed to indoctrination and forced recruitment. Those who do not accept it for reasons of Christian faith or otherwise face threats, potential abduction and even death, says Open Doors USA. Families, too, are bribed and intimidated to force their children to obey the gangs. Church leaders are often victims of extortion because they are assumed to have access to church funds. Mexico also has the highest rate of human trafficking in the world, and women are easy targets for illegal armed groups to recruit or abduct. Last May, 16 indigenous Protestant Christian families in the southern state of Chiapas were pressured to pay illegal fines for the fourth consecutive year for not participating in a syncretic Roman Catholic festival that involves alcohol, CSW reported at the time. In September 2021, two evangelical families from the First Baptist Church in the La Mesa Limantitla area in Hidalgo states Huejutla de los Reyes Municipality were threatened with being cut off from essential services or expelled from the community if they continued to refuse to deny their faith and pay a fine illegally levied against them, CSW reported at the time. 1 child or youth died every 4.4 seconds in 2021: UN report Xinhua) 10:43, January 11, 2023 A woman holding a child in her arms is seen in a drought-affected village in the town of Laisamis, Marsabit County, Kenya, Aug. 26, 2022. (Xinhua/Dong Jianghui) UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- An estimated 5 million children died before their fifth birthday and another 2.1 million children and youth aged between 5 and 24 years lost their lives in 2021, according to the latest estimates released by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation on Tuesday. In a separate report also released on Tuesday, the group found that 1.9 million babies were stillborn during the same period. "Every day, far too many parents are facing the trauma of losing their children, sometimes even before their first breath," said Vidhya Ganesh, UN Children's Fund director of the Division of Data Analytics, Planning and Monitoring, in a press release. "Such widespread, preventable tragedy should never be accepted as inevitable. Progress is possible with stronger political will and targeted investment in equitable access to primary health care for every woman and child." The reports show some positive outcomes with a lower risk of death across all ages globally since 2000. The global under-5 mortality rate fell by half since the start of the century, while mortality rates in older children and youth dropped by 36 percent, and the stillbirth rate decreased by 35 percent. This can be attributed to more investments in strengthening primary health systems to benefit women, children and young people. However, gains have reduced significantly since 2010, and 54 countries will fall short of meeting the Sustainable Development Goals target for under-5 mortality. Unless swift action is taken to improve health services, almost 59 million children and youth will die before 2030, and nearly 16 million babies will be lost to stillbirth, warn the agencies. Children continue to face wildly differentiating chances of survival based on where they are born, with sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia shouldering the heaviest burden, the reports show. Though sub-Saharan Africa had just 29 percent of global live births, the region accounted for 56 percent of all under-5 deaths in 2021, and Southern Asia for 26 percent of the total. Children born in sub-Saharan Africa are subject to the highest risk of childhood death in the world -- 15 times higher than the risk for children in Europe and Northern America. Mothers in these two regions also endure the painful loss of babies to stillbirth at an exceptional rate, with 77 percent of all stillbirths in 2021 occurring in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Nearly half of all stillbirths happened in sub-Saharan Africa. The risk of a woman having a stillborn baby in sub-Saharan Africa is seven times more likely than in Europe and North America, the reports show. Access to and availability of quality health care continues to be a matter of life or death for children globally. Most child deaths occur in the first five years, of which half are within the very first month of life. For those youngest babies, premature birth and complications during labor are the leading causes of death. Similarly, more than 40 percent of stillbirths occur during labor, most of which are preventable when women have access to quality care throughout pregnancy and birth. For children that survive past their first 28 days, infectious diseases like pneumonia, diarrhea and malaria pose the biggest threat, according to the reports. While COVID-19 has not directly increased childhood mortality, with children facing a lower likelihood of dying from the disease than adults, the pandemic may have increased future risks to their survival. In particular, the reports highlight concerns around disruptions to vaccination campaigns, nutrition services, and access to primary health care, which could jeopardize their health and well-being for many years to come. In addition, the pandemic has fuelled the largest continued backslide in vaccinations in three decades, putting the most vulnerable newborns and children at greater risk of dying from preventable diseases. (Web editor: Cai Hairuo, Liang Jun) The charity investment arm of the Church of England has announced a 100m funding pot to atone for its links to transatlantic chattel slavery. A report released yesterday by the Church Commissioners revealed that the Queen Annes Bounty, a predecessor fund of its 10bn endowment, had significant investments in the South Sea Company, which was involved in the transatlantic slave economy in the 18th century. It said that the establishment of the bounty in 1704 and its funds in the company was coincident with the rapid expansion of transatlantic chattel slavery. The charity apologised for the links, saying that the 100m investment will aim to redress its shameful past. Links to transatlantic chattel slavery According to the report, one of the bountys primary sources of income for the fund was benefactions, which made up just over 14% (308,440) of all income between 1708 and 1793. Many of the individual benefactors were, or may have been, linked to transatlantic chattel slavery (for example, Edward Colston was a benefactor) and so to some extent their benefactions may have been derived from the profits of transatlantic slavery or the plantation economy, it said. The fund was invested in financial assets and used to buy land augmentation, some of which may still be held by the Church Commissioners today. Although, the asset tracing exercise found that for the majority of benefactions sampled the augmented land appeared to have eventually been sold, evidence was identified that certain mineral rights may still be held in the Church Commissioners portfolio, the report added. When the South Sea Company ceased trading in enslaved people in 1739, it was estimated that Queen Annes Bounty had investments in the companys annuities that were worth around 204,000, the equivalent of about 443m in todays money. Response to the findings The Church Commissioners said that the 100m funding will be delivered over a nine-year period starting this year as part of a programme of investment, research and engagement. This will include the creation of a new impact investment aimed at communities affected by historic slavery, the funding of specific projects for these communities and further research into the commissioners historic links with slavery. In addition, a new oversight group composed of people impacted by historic slavery will be set up this year to help the charitys work on its response plan and to hold it accountable. It will also continue to use its voice as an investor to address and combat modern slavery and human rights violations in the companies in which it holds shares. The Church Commissioners began researching the origins of its endowment fund in 2019 to see whether there were any links to the transatlantic slave trade. It then published an interim report last year that confirmed these links. Were deeply sorry The Bishop of Manchester, David Walker, deputy chair of the Church Commissioners, said: Its important for the Church Commissioners to understand and be transparent about our past so we can best support the mission and ministry of the Church of England, today and in the future. Discovering that the Church Commissioners predecessor fund had links to transatlantic chattel slavery is shaming and we are deeply sorry. Walker said that the funding commitment should help create a lasting positive legacy, serving and enabling communities impacted by slavery. We recognise this investment comes at a time when there are significant financial challenges for many people and churches, and when the Church has commitments to address other wrongs from our past, he said. We remain fully committed to our work to support the mission and ministry of the Church of England and we believe that this research and our planned response will help us to do so today and into the future. sign up to receive the Civil Society News daily bulletin here . For more news, interviews, opinion and analysis about charities and the voluntary sector, (CNN) -- Disney CEO Bob Iger is clamping down on remote workers. Iger, who recently returned to Disney's helm after a brief hiatus, ordered employees to return to corporate offices four days a week beginning March 1. In an email sent to employees obtained by CNN, he said that employees work better together in-person. The memo was first obtained by CNBC. "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 wrote in the memo. "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 said that employees will have to be in offices from Monday to Thursday. Iger returned to Disney in November 2022, replacing predecessor Bob Chapek after a tumultuous, brief tenure. In a recent town hall, Iger discussed multiple problems facing the company, including Disney's current hiring freeze and large losses attributed to the Disney+ streaming platform. He also highlighted his No. 1 priority as he takes back the reins: creativity. Many large companies are enforcing strict back-to-work edicts after remote work became commonplace during the first couple years of the Covid-19 pandemic. Apple, for example, has called for its corporate workers to be in the office at least three days a week, sparking tensions with some of its staffers. Snapchat's parent company recently asked workers to return to the office 80% of the time, or the equivalent of four days a week, beginning in February. Workers may have less leverage to push back amid a growing number of mass layoffs. After billionaire Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter closed, he quickly fired more than 50% of the social platform's staff and reversed course on the company's flexible remote-work policy. However, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy isn't looking to force the company's workers back into the office anytime soon saying in September 2022 that it "doesn't have a plan to require people to come back." This story was first published on CNN.com "Disney CEO Bob Iger orders workers to return to the office 4 days a week." Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 11) Globe Telecom urged mobile subscribers to reject offers posted online for SIM registration assistance as these might compromise their personal data. The telco issued a statement on Tuesday warning its customers against individuals who take advantage of the implementation of the SIM registration law. According to the company, it received reports that some malicious individuals have offered subscribers help for free or for a fee in registering their SIM. They would then ask for personal information, including name, photo, valid ID, birthday, cell phone number, and address. Globe said customers might become vulnerable to fraudulent activities, such as stealing the user's money and identity. "We want to remind our customers to be wary of these types of offers and to only use official channels for their SIM registration," said Irish Salandanan-Almeida, Globe chief privacy officer. "Your personal information is valuable and we urge you to protect it from those who may want to use it for unlawful purposes," she added. The company reiterated that subscribers could register for free at https://new.globe.com.ph/simreg. Registration through the GlobeOne app will begin this month. Globe is also preparing to roll out by February assisted registration sites for senior citizens, persons with disabilities, pregnant women, and users of basic or feature phones. Over seven million Globe SIMs have been registered so far. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 11) The Office of the Ombudsman said it would proceed with its own investigation into the supposed illegal issuance of Sugar Order Number 4. This after Malacanang's decision to clear former agriculture and sugar regulators over the matter. READ: Ex-DA, SRA officials absolved from sugar import mess "We are not affected by whatever the president says because we are investigating, we are an independent body," Ombudsman Samuel Martires told CNN Philippines. The controversial order would have allowed the importation of 300,000 metric tons of sugar without the approval of the president. Martires said he initiated the probe sometime last year, around the same time the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee carried out its own probe on the sugar importation order. "Parang COA, 'pag sinabi ng COA na meron kang notice of disallowance [It's like COA, when the COA says you have a notice of disallowance], not even Malacanang can say no. That's why we are independent constitutional bodies eh," Martires explained. On surging onion prices Martires is seeking an explanation from officials of the Department of Agriculture and Food Terminal Incorporated on what may have caused a spike in the farmgate prices of onions. "We're just getting some info from the senior usec (undersecretary) ng DA and from the FTI. Then from there we would know sino mga dapat kasuhan, sino yung mga involved [who should be charged, who are involved]," Ombudsman Samuel Martires said. He said he gave them three days upon receipt of the letter to submit their response with supporting documents. The letter was sent on Tuesday. "Titignan namin iyon [We will look into that]. They have to tell us the reasons why mataas ang prices [prices are high]. We will just wait for their explanation," Martires said. The Ombudsman is hoping individuals asked to explain the issue will respond accordingly. Otherwise, he would have no choice but to take legal remedies available to his office. "We can cite you in contempt, we can file case of contempt against you or we can file obstruction of justice. We are investigating eh you cannot disregard us," Martires explained. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 11) A Filipino beauty expert joins a powerhouse, all-female selection committee for the much-anticipated Miss Universe pageant. Olivia Quido-Co, owner of California-based O Skin Med Spa, was tapped as a member of the 10-woman panel, which was announced by the Miss Universe organization on Wednesday. Other members of the committee include former titleholders Ximena Navarrete and Wendy Fitzwilliam, as well as Miss USA 2015 Olivia Jordan. Meet the other members of the selection committee below: Quido-Co started her career as an esthetician in the US back in 2003. She has since cemented her place in the beauty industry, having earned numerous accolades including as one of the top woman entrepreneurs in Los Angeles. Her O Skin Med Spa's past clients also include beauty queens, Filipino celebrities, and Hollywood stars alike. Over 80 hopefuls, including Philippine bet Celeste Cortesi, will vie for the coveted Miss Universe crown during the pageant slated for Jan. 14 (Jan. 15 Manila time). Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 10) From 24-hour shifts with no breaks to a nurse-patient ratio of 1:20, a Filipino nurse said the massive strike at two major New York City hospitals is not about wages. Lorena Vivas, a nurse and an executive committee member of the New York State Nurses Association for Mount Sinai Hospital, told CNN Philippines the protesting nurses will continue their strike until they get the "safe staffing" that they are fighting for. "This is something that we feel very, very strongly about. It's not even about wageThat is not the case, the fight here is not the wages but for safe staffing," Vivas said in an interview on The Final Word. The strike involves more than 7,000 nurses at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan and Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx. Vivas explained why medical staff are protesting at Mount Sinai Hospital: "What people have to understand is we have an anomalous 550 nursing vacancy, and that is considerable for a hospital. It is not because of COVID, I wanted to make that clear. We have been systemically understaffed by the hospital for the past six, seven years." Vivas said nurses are overworked and have been sacrificing their breaks, as they "had no heart to leave" their patients. "We're only supposed to handle two [patients] at a time. And that's the legally safe standard for this country. We are constantly being tripled or quadrupled," she added. Vivas also told CNN Philippines that the hospitals have offered a 19% increase in wages - "which they are likely to accept" - but their demands for better and safer working environment for the staff "have fallen on deaf ears." The Philippine Consulate General in New York earlier expressed support for Filipino American nurses who joined the strike. "For their compassion, dedication, and selflessness, their call for better employment terms and conditions should be heeded," the consulate said. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 11) President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday promised aid for communities hit by heavy rains and floods over the past weeks. In a statement, Malacanang said the president has ordered the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) to closely monitor concerned areas and "render assistance" to local government units. Earlier in the day, the chief executive visited parts of Northern Mindanao affected by the Christmas weekend rains. He said officials are already coordinating with the National Housing Authority to address residents' needs. "'Yung mga bahay na totally destroyed, hahanapan natin ng resettlement area para magkaroon ng tirahan," he said at an event in Tudela, Misamis Occidental. [Translation: Those whose houses were totally destroyed, we would find a resettlement area for them for their new houses.] Assistance in the form of relief goods, potable water, clothing, and temporary shelter are also being provided to evacuees, according to local officials. Fast-track rehab, more aid given In a briefing in Ozamiz City, also in Misamis Occidental, Marcos told the Department of Public Works and Highways to fast-track the rehabilitation of damaged infrastructure and conduct a study on how to address flooding. The agency, in response, said assessment is underway to see what repairs need to be done. Heading to Misamis Oriental, Marcos led the distribution of a 5,000 cash aid to affected fishermen. He also ordered the release of more than 3 million for the repair of damaged school buildings in the province. The president said while more long-term solutions were being fleshed out, "band-aid" or temporary ones like the possible use of modular structures to replace bridges to allow foot traffic should be done to allow people to move more freely. As of NDRRMC's latest report, 185,826 families (743,956 people) in 10 regions were affected by the floods and rains due to the shear line. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 11) Government regulators announced Wednesday that water concessionaire Maynilad will provide rebates to customers affected by prolonged service interruptions. In a statement, MWSS Regulatory Office said it found that Maynilad violated its obligations of ensuring the availability of an uninterrupted 24-hour water supply, following service disruptions affecting customers served by the Putatan Water Treatment Plants since late December of 2022. The regulator noted that it met with Maynilad on Jan. 6, where the latter accepted the findings. The MWSS has yet to identify the final rebate amount. "The MWSS RO has ordered Maynilad to fast-track the resumption of normal water supply to the affected customers, especially during this time of the pandemic when water is most essential for safeguarding public health," it added. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 11) - After undergoing rehabilitation for six years, Mt. Pico De Loro will once again welcome hikers and tourists alike, according to the regional Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). Starting Jan. 12, Mts. Palay-Palay/Mataas-na-Gulod Protected Landscape, which covers Mt. Pico De Loro, will be open from Wednesdays to Saturdays. However, it will only allow a maximum of 90 hikers per day. Visitors will also have to register online and pay onsite. In October 2016, solid wastes were found scattered in the area and there were uncontrolled vendors along the trail, campsite, and summit, along with an unregulated number of hikers. They also found soil erosion in the mountain. The mountain was then closed to the public to give way to the clean-up, rehabilitation, and improvement projects. Food and souvenir stalls are now located near the jump-off point. Concrete steps were also built along the eroded portions of the mountain to avoid further soil erosion. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 11) A lawmaker and a farmers' group on Wednesday questioned the timing of importation of onions approved by President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. as the government hopes to address the high prices of the commodity. "I think this is a wrong timing because farmers of onions said that yung kanilang paga-ani ay (their harvesting period is) January to February up to March. Sana ginanap yan noong (This should have been done) November or December," ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro told CNN Philippines' The Source. She also asked if Marcos, who is also Agriculture chief, consulted the farmers prior to approving the importation of 21,060 metric tons (MT) of onions. The imported supply is expected to arrive anytime between later this month to the first week of February. Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) president Rosendo So made the same comment and pointed out that harvest season for onion farmers is expected to peak from third week of January to April, with a projected local harvest of around 18,000 to 20,000 MT enough for local consumption. READ: PH to import 21,060 MT of onions, fewer than earlier eyed Allowing imports should have been done during the latter part of 2022 when only 2% of the farmers harvested, he added. So said imports will be of no help since they really expect prices to drop as more onions are harvested. READ: EXPLAINER: Why onions in PH are now more expensive than meat Castro and So also said this move will only put local farmers at a disadvantage since this can lower their profits. "Kung bumaba yan ng 40 farmgate price, lugi na ang magsasaka. Yung 40 is around, per hectare mga 400,000 ang makukuha lang nila pero ang puhunan umaabot ng 650,000 per hectare so malulugi ang magsasaka," the SINAG executive explained. [Translation: If that will decrease by 40 at farmgate price, farmers will be at a loss. That 40 is around, per hectare what they will get is only 400,000, but the capital reaches 650,000 per hectare so farmers are really at a loss.] Castro said the House of Representatives will look into the problem for possible manipulation of prices and the existence of a cartel. So said SINAG will try to ask DA not to import a large volume of onions since farmers are set to harvest. He also said he supports a probe by lawmakers because there are indeed traders who manipulated the prices. On Tuesday, Ombudsman Samuel Martires said his office will investigate the high cost of onions, including the possible involvement of traders in price manipulation. Reacting to the Ombudsman's move, Castro said in a statement this should have been done earlier not only for onion, but also for other commodities like sugar, fish, and rice. The issue is nothing new, with previous investigations revealing that the commodity sector in the country is prone to anti-competitive behavior, she added. The lawmaker also noted that cases filed in the past and recommendations made including amending the import permit system seem to have led to nothing since the "onion cartel is back again in full force and raking in humongous profits." "We hope that the Ombudsman's probe would be more thorough and those responsible would truly be held to account," Castro added. Slow down Amid the rushed importation spurred by soaring prices, Senator Risa Hontiveros on Wednesday reminded authorities to slow down and be cautious on the targeted amount of imported onions in the country. Its best to wait and see," Hontiveros said. "Malapit na ang anihan ng ating mga magsasaka at magpapatuloy ito hanggang Abril. Kung maganda ang ani tulad noong nakaraang taon, baka hindi naman kailangan na 22,000 metric tons ang sibuyas na aangkatin." [Translation: It's best to wait and see. Our farmers' harvest is almost here and it will continue until April. If the harvest is as good as last year, it may not be necessary to import 22,000 metric tons of onions.] Baka naman pwedeng kalahati lamang ng authorized amount ni Presidente ang dapat ma-import, lalo na kung maging masagana ang makukuha natin sa Nueva Ecija at Mindoro," the senator added. "Pwede namang hindi itodo." [Translation: Maybe only half of the President's authorized amount should be imported, especially if we get plenty from Nueva Ecija and Mindoro. Maybe not that much.] On Monday, Senate Minority Leader Koko Pimentel also warned that onion importation will coincide with the local harvest season. READ: Pimentel: Importation will coincide with local onion harvest Hontiveros said it may be best for authorities to observe local farmers onion harvests next week before making any drastic moves. Based on the latest price monitoring of the Department of Agriculture (DA), the price of local red onion as of Jan. 11 is from 350 to 550 per kilogram. The senator also said the authorization to import came in too late, more than two months after the Noche Buena food planning of families. A few weeks ago, during the holiday season, the price of onion climbed to 500 to 600 per kilogram in some local markets. The importation is obviously being done belatedly," Hontiveros also said. "The imports should have been authorized two months ago in time for the holidays. This error is unforgivable. The BPI (Bureau of Plant ndustry) and the DA wrongly predicted that the December domestic supplies would be enough to cover the demand." Pimentel and Hontiveros urged agricultural authorities to improve their data collection on onions and thoroughly study the national demand for the product. They (the DA) should give us accurate data kasi kung mali ang information, mali ang numbers, mali rin po ang decisions natin, Pimentel said. [Translation: They (the DA) should give us accurate data because if the information is wrong, the numbers are wrong, our decisions are also wrong.] Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 11) The Ukrainian government on Wednesday said it has been waiting for the Philippines' response to its proposed phone conversation between the presidents of the two countries. In a press briefing, the Ukrainian Embassy in Malaysia, which also has jurisdiction in the Philippines, said a formal request was made in June last year for a phone meeting between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, but Manila has yet to reply. "We are requesting for a phone call with the president of Ukraine and at that time we haven't got a reply from the presidential office yet. No response yet, we have been following it up regularly, twice a month," said Denys Mykhailiuk, Charge d'affaires of the Ukrainian Embassy. Ukraine said it hopes both sides can discuss a number of bilateral issues. "If there will be a discussion between our president and the president of the Philippines, they will definitely be discussing the participation of the sponsoring of the Republic of the Philippines in the peace plan of the United Nations," the Ukrainian official added. In a clarificatory message sent to reporters, Mykhailiuk said they hope the Philippines will co-sponsor Ukraine's peace plan in February to achieve its goals. The Ukrainian official added that the setting up of embassies in Manila and Ukraine's capital Kyiv may also be discussed in the proposed phone call. CNN Philippines reached out to the Department of Foreign Affairs, which declined to give a comment. Marcos had called for an end to the war between Ukraine and Russia, which he described as "unacceptable," saying its effects have been "so far-reaching and profound, to the detriment of many economies." Russia's invasion of Ukraine began in February last year, with thousands of civilians killed according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. READ: Why Russia's invasion of Ukraine means for Filipinos Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 11) Senators will work double time to amend the law that set a fixed three-year term for ranking officials of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in the hopes of appeasing grumblings in the military. Senate President Juan Miguel Migz Zubiri on Wednesday said there is a technical working group studying possible changes. If it were up to him, he said only the AFP chief of staff should be covered by the law. "Napakaraming colonels and even the low-ranking generals they cannot anymore resume the position, walang promotion. Titigil ang promotion. Kaya definitely magkakaroon ng problema so we are now hell-bent on amending the law," he said in a Kapihan sa Manila Bay media forum. [Translation: There are too many colonels and the low-ranking generals who cannot resume the position anymore because there is no promotion, so there will definitely be a problem, so we're now hell-bent on amending the law.] He wants the amendments passed within the first quarter of the year, saying it can help bring back stability among troops. Lt. Gen. Bartolome Bacarro was supposed to be the first AFP chief to be covered by the fixed term law signed by former President Rodrigo Duterte in April 2022. But in a surprise move, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. reappointed Gen. Andres Centino, sparking talks of unrest. Ending the "revolving door" policy in which military chiefs serve for only a few months before their mandatory retirement, Republic Act 11709 states that the following will have a fixed tour of duty of three years: Chief of Staff, Vice Chief of Staff, Deputy Chief of Staff, Commanding General of the Army, Commanding General of the Air Force, Flag Officer in Command of the Navy, Unified Command Commanders and Inspector General. Meanwhile, Zubiri said Centino who previously served as AFP chief from November 2021 to August 2022 before being succeeded by Bacarro is expected to breeze through the Commission on Appointments. "I dont think he will have a difficult time. He did not have a difficult time the last time when he was there last Congress, but Im sure there will be some questions asked about the grumblings within the AFP," he said. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 11) Senate President Juan Miguel "Migz" Zubiri said Wednesday he has invited economic managers to brief senators on the proposed Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) later this month. At the Kapihan sa Manila Bay media forum, Zubiri said Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno and Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman will conduct the briefing on Jan. 24. No senator has filed a counterpart bill to the measure passed by the House of Representatives in December. Zubiri does not expect his colleagues to file a new version, saying the Senate Committee on Banks, chaired by Sen. Mark Villar, may work on improving the House bill instead. READ: Zubiri: Senate to study Maharlika fund bill with 'fine-tooth comb' While some senators have expressed reservations about the proposal, Zubiri said the Senate remains open to the MIF, guaranteeing enough safeguards against abuse and corruption. Zubiri said the government should use the sovereign wealth fund to nationalize assets, including the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP). He stressed that this is his personal idea, calling it a "safe investment." "Kung sasabihin nila sa akin, bibilhin nila 'yung 40% share ng Chinese government sa NGCP, aba, pipirma na ko sa batas. Pabor na ko diyan. Ibig sabihin ibabalik po natin, we can renationalize some of our assets that we feel are very important," Zubiri said. [Translation: If they tell me that they will buy the 40% share of the Chinese government in the NGCP, then I will sign the measure. I will be for it. It means we will have it back, we can renationalize some of our assets that we feel are very important.] The NGCP was privatized through Republic Act 9136 or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) of 2001. It officially started operations as a power transmission service provider in 2009. The NGCP consortium, which holds the 25-year concession contract and the 50-year franchise to operate the power transmission network, is comprised of Monte Oro Grid Resources Corp. led by Henry Sy Jr., Calaca High Power Corporation led by Robert Coyiuto Jr., and the State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC) as technical partner. RELATED: Carpio: Chinese 'control' of national power grid a cause for concern (CNN) Chinese authorities have stopped issuing certain visas to South Korean and Japanese citizens as Beijing retaliates against recent COVID entry restrictions on arrivals from China. "Visas for business, tourism, medical treatment, transit and general private affairs will be suspended for South Korean citizens effective today," the Chinese Embassy in Seoul said in a statement on Tuesday. The measures will be "adjusted" if South Korea cancels its "discriminatory" entry restrictions on China, the embassy added. The Chinese embassy in Tokyo later that day said it would suspend issuing ordinary visas to Japanese citizens, with resumption of the service "notified in the future." The restrictions mark China's first retaliation against restrictions and screenings placed on travelers from China. A number of countries moved to require testing from travelers from China in recent weeks, citing concerns over the country's recent surge of infections -- and limited data about the outbreak -- after Beijing dropped its stringent Covid controls last month. South Korea went a step further on January 2 by suspending short-term visa applications from its consulates in China until the end of the month. It also requires people traveling from China to take a PCR test within 24 hours of arrival and remain in isolation until receiving negative results. From January 5, it has also asked people traveling from China to present a negative PCR test taken within 48 hours of departure or a rapid antigen test taken within 24 hours. Since last Saturday, South Korea has also required people traveling from Hong Kong and Macao to show proof of a negative Covid-19 test result -- either from a PCR test taken within 48 hours before departure, or a rapid antigen test taken within 24 hours before traveling. Japan initiated requirements for all people who have traveled from or were in mainland China in the previous seven days on December 30, with anyone who tests positive being required to quarantine for seven days and undergo further testing. On Monday, the government also announced that from January 12 all travelers coming from the Chinese territory of Macau by direct flight would be required to submit a negative Covid-19 test result conducted within 72 hours of departure and take a Covid-19 test on arrival. Diplomatic spat China's move follows a Monday phone call between Foreign Minister Qin Gang and his South Korean counterpart Park Jin, during which Qin "expressed concern" over the restrictions and urged Seoul to take an "objective and scientific" approach, according to a readout from the Chinese side. Both countries made official comments on the situation during regular briefings Tuesday, with the South Korean side saying their Covid-related restrictions on travelers from China were "based on scientific and objective grounds." South Korea's Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Lim Soo-suk said the government had been "transparently sharing relevant information with the international community, and has continued to communicate with the Chinese side." China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin echoed China's previous language, saying the country "resolutely objects" to "discriminatory" entry restrictions imposed on Chinese travelers and "will take proportionate countermeasures." "A few countries, with disregard toward scientific facts and actual epidemic situation in China, continued on imposing discriminatory entry restrictions ... We call on these countries to come up with appropriate pandemic control measures based on facts and science, not engage in political manipulation, discriminatory measures, and impact normal personnel exchange and cooperation," he said. Variant concerns The move comes just days after China significantly eased strict border controls that had required all entrants to the country, whether Chinese nationals or eligible foreign nationals, to undergo multiple Covid-19 tests and mandatory hotel quarantine. In recent weeks, more than a dozen countries including the United States, France, Canada, Japan and Australia have mandated Covid-19 testing for travelers from China, citing concerns about the level of data reporting from the country and the potential for new variants of the virus to emerge there. No such variants have yet been reported. Some health experts around the world have also criticized targeted travel screening as ineffective and voiced concern such measures could fuel racism and xenophobia. Top global health officials on Tuesday repeated calls for China -- as well as the rest of the world -- to provide details about the circulating coronavirus sequences. "We need more sequences to be shared on publicly available databases like GISAID so that there can be an analysis by experts around the world," Maria Van Kerkhove, the World Health Organization's technical lead on Covid-19, said at a regular press briefing. She noted that many of the "high-income countries" that have been "critical" of China also need to share sequences in order for the scientific community to be able to track the coronavirus. (CNN) Cardinal George Pell, the most senior Catholic official to be convicted of child sex abuse before the ruling was overturned in 2020, has died, according to his secretary. He was 81. Father Joseph Hamilton confirmed Pell's death on Tuesday evening local time after being admitted to a Rome hospital for hip replacement surgery. Hamilton said while the operation was successful, Pell subsequently suffered a cardiac arrest. Born in the regional city of Ballarat, Australia, on June 8, 1941, Pell rose through the ranks of the Roman Catholic Church to become Vatican treasurer, considered by many to be the third most senior position within the church. He served in that role from 2014 to 2019 in charge of Pope Francis' financial reforms, which largely stalled when he was called back to Australia to face allegations of historical sex abuse. Pell was convicted of those charges in 2018 and served 13 months in prison before Australia's High Court overturned his conviction in April 2020. Pell strenuously denied the charges, which he dismissed in a 2016 police interview as a "product of fantasy." In its two-page summary of the ruling, the High Court said that the jury "ought to have entertained a doubt as to the applicant's guilt" and ordered that the convictions be quashed. In a statement, the Archbishop of Sydney Anthony Fisher expressed sadness at Pell's death. "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 are grieving him at this time," he said in a Facebook post. Pell is a divisive figure in Australia and many on Twitter used the occasion of his death to express their support for the survivors of child sex abuse. Rise through the church Pell was ordained a Catholic priest in December 1966 and subsequently studied in Rome, Oxford, and Cambridge. He returned to Australia in 1971 and for the next two decades served as a priest in small parishes in Victoria and New South Wales. In 1996, Pope John Paul II made him archbishop of Melbourne, where Pell put in place one of the earliest programs in the Catholic Church to address sex abuse accusations, called the Melbourne Response. Critics say it was geared to prevent scandal and could have been more generous to victims. Pell became archbishop of Sydney in 2001 and cardinal in 2003, both under John Paul II, and he was part of the papal election that elected the late Pope Benedict in 2005 and Pope Francis in 2013. In 2014, Pell moved to Rome after Pope Francis handpicked him to serve as treasurer of the Vatican and one of nine advisers on the Council of Cardinals to the Pope. Pell was also outspoken about his views against same-sex marriage, abortion and contraception. At the Fota VIII International Liturgy Conference in Cork, Ireland, in 2015, Pell said Western society was abandoning many of its Christian legal foundations by passing same-sex marriage laws. During his time in Rome, Pell was called to give evidence before Australia's Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse regarding his knowledge of and his role in handling Catholic Church sex abuse cases in Australia. In unredacted findings published in 2020, the commission found that Pell had known about sex abuse in the church but did not report it to the police. Announced in 2012 under former Prime Minister Julia Gillard, the royal commission interviewed almost 8,000 survivors of child sexual abuse over five years, and referred more than 2,500 matters to police. As early as 1973, Pell "was not only conscious of child sex abuse by clergy but that he also had considered measures of avoiding situations which might provoke gossip about it," according to the report. Conviction In 2017, Victoria police announced that Pell had been charged with multiple historical sexual assault offenses. His first trial ended in a hung jury when the 12 jurors failed to reach a verdict after several days of deliberation. The second trial led to a six-year prison sentence that started on March 13, 2019, sending shockwaves through the church. The prosecution's case hinged on the testimony of one man, who said Pell sexually abused him and a fellow choirboy after mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Melbourne one Sunday when Pell was Archbishop. At the time, the boys were 13 years old. The second man didn't tell anyone about the attack and took his own life in 2014 before the allegations surfaced. The sole alleged witness claimed that Pell cornered them in the priest's sacristy and forced them to perform sex acts. No one witnessed the alleged attack and there was no physical evidence. The alleged victim's testimony has never been released, but the jury found him so convincing they reached an unanimous guilty verdict. During his time in prison, he wrote a diary that was later published in Italian by Cantagalli Publishing House. He said he was kept in solitary confinement for his own protection and called sex abuse within the church "a kind of spiritual and moral cancer," Vatican News reported. In 2020, an Australian High Court unanimously overturned his conviction on five counts of historical child sex abuse and ordered that the convictions be quashed and that verdicts of acquittal be entered in their place. On Tuesday, lawyers representing the family of the deceased former choirboy said they would be pursuing their civil claim over the allegations against the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne and Pell's estate. "A civil trial likely would have provided the opportunity to cross-examine Pell, and truly test his defense against these allegations," the statement from Shine Lawyers said. "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," it added. (CNN) Among the items from Joe Biden's time as vice president discovered in a private office last fall are 10 classified documents including US intelligence memos and briefing materials that covered topics including Ukraine, Iran and the United Kingdom, according to a source familiar with the matter. Attorney General Merrick Garland has received a preliminary report on the documents inquiry, a law enforcement source said, and now faces the critical decision on how to proceed, including whether to open a full-blown criminal investigation. John Lausch Jr., the US attorney in Chicago, has briefed Garland multiple times. No additional briefings are scheduled but would be conducted if necessary, a source said. The classified documents were dated between 2013 and 2016, according to the source familiar. They were found in three or four boxes also containing unclassified papers that fall under the Presidential Records Act. The vast majority of the items in the office contained personal Biden family documents, including materials about Beau Biden's funeral arrangements and condolence letters, the source told CNN. It is not clear if the boxes with classified documents contained personal materials. Attorney General Merrick Garland has assigned the US attorney in Chicago, a holdover from the Trump administration, to investigate the matter, CNN previously reported. Garland made this move after receiving a referral from the National Archives and Records Administration. The documents were discovered on November 2, just six days before the midterm elections, but the matter only became public Monday due to news reports. The source told CNN that a personal lawyer for Biden was closing out the downtown DC office that Biden used as part his work with the University of Pennsylvania. The lawyer saw a manila folder that was labeled "personal," opened the envelope and noticed there were classified documents inside. The lawyer closed the envelope and called NARA, the source said. After making contact with NARA, Biden's team turned over several boxes in an abundance of caution, even though many of the boxes contained personal materials, the source said. Biden said Tuesday that he did not know that some classified documents had been taken to his private office after he had left the vice presidency and that his attorneys "did what they should have done" by immediately calling the National Archives. "I was surprised to learn there were any government records that were taken there to that office," Biden said in response to a reporter's question at a news conference in Mexico City, where he was attending a trilateral summit with the leaders of Mexico and Canada. The documents, the president said, were found in "a box, locked cabinet or at least a closet." "People know I take classified documents, classified information seriously," he said. US attorney has submitted preliminary findings to Garland Lausch has already completed the initial part of his inquiry and provided his preliminary findings to Garland, a law enforcement source said. That means Garland now must decide how to proceed. Garland was also personally involved in some of the key decision-making related to the Trump documents investigation and the decision to send the FBI to search Mar-a-Lago. In the Trump matter, Garland tapped special counsel Jack Smith to take over both the criminal investigation into Trump's post-2020 election activities and the inquiry into classified documents the former president had taken to his Florida resort. The Biden probe is nowhere near that stage. Garland chose to have Lausch conduct the Biden documents investigation because he is one of two remaining Trump-appointed US attorneys, and to avoid the appearance of conflict of interest because he wasn't appointed by Biden, people briefed on the matter said. In addition to Garland, Lausch has also conducted additional briefings with other Justice Department officials. At this point, the source said, Lausch is not expected to undertake additional "fact gathering." In an awkward moment on Monday, Garland was sitting alongside Biden at a diplomatic summit in Mexico while reporters shouted questions about the probe. Both men ignored the questions. Lausch was one of the rare Trump-era holdovers who wasn't told to resign after Biden's inauguration in 2021, and Illinois' two Democratic senators supported the decision to keep him at his post in part because he was handling the politically sensitive investigation of Michael Madigan, the former Democratic Illinois House speaker indicted on corruption charges. Political consequences The turn of events with classified documents found at Biden's former office has forced some politicians into a tough spot. Trump has responded with a spate of social media posts lampooning Biden and publicly egging on the FBI to search Biden's offices and even the White House for mishandled documents. Key Democrats on Capitol Hill have expressed confidence in Biden's handling of government materials, even though classified records turned up in a place where they weren't supposed to be. Newly empowered House Republicans have already pledged to broaden their oversight probes to include the Biden documents matter, and some are eying NARA as a target of additional scrutiny. Rep. James Comer, the Kentucky Republican who now chairs the House Oversight Committee, swiftly sent letters to the White House Counsel's Office and the National Archives, which his committee oversees. Among the requests made in the letters were: All documents retrieved from Biden's personal office where the classified documents were found; a list of people who had access to that office; all documents and communications between the White House, Department of Justice and National Archives regarding the documents that were retrieved; and all documents and communications related to the handling of classified material by Biden's personal lawyers, including their security clearance statuses. The Kentucky Republican asked that documents and other information be turned over no later than January 24 and that NARA General Counsel Gary Stern and NARA Director of Congressional Affairs John Hamilton be made available for transcribed interviews with committee staff no later than January 17. Also on Tuesday, the new GOP chair of the House Intelligence Committee asked the Director of National Intelligence to conduct a damage assessment for the classified records found at Biden's private office. "Those entrusted with access to classified information have a duty and an obligation to protect it," Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio wrote. "This issue demands a full and thorough review." CLARIFICATION: The story has been updated to specify where the classified documents were found in Biden's office. This story has been updated with additional details. This story was first published on CNN.com, "Exclusive: US intelligence materials related to Ukraine, Iran and UK found in Biden's private office, source tells CNN." (CNN) The US and Japan are set to announce a significant strengthening of their military relationship and upgrading of the US militarys force posture in the country this week, including the stationing of a newly redesignated Marine unit with advanced intelligence, surveillance capabilities and the ability to fire anti-ship missiles, according to two US officials briefed on the matter. The announcement sends a strong signal to China and will come as part of a series of initiatives designed to underscore a rapid acceleration of security and intelligence ties between the countries. The news is expected to be announced on Wednesday as US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken meet with their Japanese counterparts in Washington. The officials are coming together as part of the annual US-Japan Security Consultative Committee meeting, days before President Joe Biden plans to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the White House. The newly revamped Marine unit will be based on Okinawa and is intended to bolster deterrence against Chinese aggression in a volatile region and provide a stand-in force that is able to defend Japan and quickly respond to contingencies, the officials said. Okinawa is viewed as key to the US militarys operations in the Pacific in part because of its close proximity to Taiwan. It houses more than 25,000 US military personnel and more than two dozen military installations. Roughly 70% of the US military bases in Japan are on Okinawa; one island within the Okinawa Prefecture, Yonaguni, sits less than 70 miles from Taiwan, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. It is one of the most significant adjustments to US military force posture in the region in years, one official said, underscoring the Pentagons desire to shift from the wars of the past in the Middle East to the region of the future in the Indo-Pacific. The change comes as simulated war games from a prominent Washington think tank found that Japan, and Okinawa in particular, would play a critical role in a military conflict with China, providing the United States with forward deployment and basing options. I think it is fair to say that, in my view, 2023 is likely to stand as the most transformative year in US force posture in the region in a generation, said Ely Ratner, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs, at the American Enterprise Institute last month. The news follows the stand-up of the first Marine Littoral Regiment in Hawaii last year, in which the 3rd Marine Regiment in Hawaii became the 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment a key part of the Marine Corps modernization effort outlined in the 2030 Force Design report from Gen. David Berger. As the service has described them, the Marine Littoral Regiments are a mobile, low-signature unit able to conduct strikes, coordinate air and missile defense and support surface warfare. The Washington Post first reported the soon-to-be-announced changes. Japans biggest military buildup since World War II The announcement comes less than a month after Japan unveiled a new national security plan that signals the countrys biggest military buildup since World War II, doubling defense spending and veering from its pacifist constitution in the face of growing threats from regional rivals, including China. China has been growing its naval and air forces in areas near Japan while claiming the Senkaku Islands, an uninhabited Japanese-controlled chain in the East China Sea, as its sovereign territory. In late December, Japan said Chinese government vessels had been spotted in the contiguous zone around the Senkakus, known as the Diaoyus in China, 334 days in 2022, the most since 2012 when Tokyo acquired some of the islands from a private Japanese landowner, public broadcaster NHK reported. From December 22 to 25, Chinese government vessels spent almost 73 consecutive hours in Japanese territorial waters off the islands, the longest such incursion since 2012, the NHK report said. China has also been upping its military pressure on Taiwan, the self-governing island, whose security Japanese leaders have said is vital to the security of Japan itself. In August, that pressure included Beijing firing five missiles that landed in Japans exclusive economic zone near Taiwan in response to the visit of then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taipei. Before the announcement was even made public, Chinese government officials were reacting to reports in Japanese media. US-Japan military cooperation should not harm the interests of any third party or undermine peace and stability in the region, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a regular press briefing Tuesday in Beijing. A State Department official explained that the Ukraine war and strengthening of the China-Russia relationship have spurred the US and Japan to come to a series of new agreements that have been under consideration for some time. Russias invasion of Ukraine, sort of moved things on warp drive a little bit, the official said. The relationship between Putin and Xi Jinping that we saw in the lead up to the Beijing Olympics, that kind of showed, wait a minute, the Russians and the Chinese are working in new ways. Were facing new challenges. This story was first published on CNN.com, "US and Japan to strengthen military relationship with upgraded Marine unit in attempt to deter China" Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Are you a current print subscriber to Columbia Gorge News? If so, you qualify for free access to all content on columbiagorgenews.com. Simply verify with your subscriber id to receive free access. Your subscriber id may be found on your bill or mailing label. Many current doctors say that they would resign from their posts if the ban is not overturned. (Representational Image/ DC File) Hyderabad: The number of medical graduates and postgraduates applying for positions at medical colleges and government hospitals has substantially reduced due to the governments decision to ban the private practice of doctors in such posts. In addition to this, many current doctors say that they would resign from their posts if the ban is not overturned. Last week, the Healthcare Reforms Doctors Association (HRDA) filed a writ petition in the Telangana High Court challenging the ban. According to HRDA president Dr K. Mahesh Kumar, as per the provisional merit lists, the ratio of the number of seats to applicants for recruitment to Civil Assistant Surgeon posts under the Directorate of Public Health was about 1:8 during the previous years, but this year, it had reduced to 1:5. Similarly, the ratio for Assistant Professor posts had reduced from 1:8 to 1:2, he said. An Assistant Professor from a government hospital in the state, who wished to remain anonymous, said he earlier had an additional private practice at his native village, about 50 km from the hospital. The doctor completed his graduation and PG from government institutes and wanted to reciprocate by working for them, while his private practice was motivated by his wish to provide healthcare in his village, which does not have any hospitals nearby. By imposing the ban, the government is discouraging doctors like us to practice in peripheral areas. I, along with many other doctors, will resign if the ban is not overturned. Our salaries are low considering we spend so many years to qualify (Assistant Professors in the state earn Rs 1.25 lakh), so we would rather join corporate hospitals, where not only is the pay higher, but the private practice is also allowed, the doctor said. Another doctor working on a contract basis in a government medical college said she had applied for the post of Assistant Professor in 2022 but was not sure if she will take up the job, owing to the ban. So many doctors are in this dilemma and many of them did not even apply for the posts because of the ban, saying they preferred to take up jobs at private hospitals, the doctor said. The Missourians Opinion section is a public forum for the discussion of ideas. The views presented in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Missourian or the University of Missouri. If you would like to contribute to the Opinion page with a response or an original topic of your own, visit our submission form Vijayawada hoteliers have expressed concern over their business turning unviable with authorities permitting night food courts from 8:00 p.m. onwards unlike earlier timing of 10:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. (Representational image) VIJAYAWADA: Vijayawada hoteliers have expressed concern over their business turning unviable with authorities permitting night food courts from 8:00 p.m. onwards unlike earlier timing of 10:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. A senior Greater Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (GVMC) official too pointed out that while they have earmarked stalls at Eat Street for food vendors, many are starting their business at 6:30 p.m. itself and continuing till 2:00 a.m. Moreover, they leave a mess that makes cleaning up tough for the municipality in the morning. Hoteliers are sore that when nearly 5060 of their hotels are located in and around Indira Gandhi Stadium road, about 60100 stalls are being set up at the Eat Street to sell hot non-vegetarian food, south Indian tiffins, and other food items and ice creams. The prices of food items at Eat Street are lesser. So people automatically get attracted to them. Hoteliers claim they are losing business of 1015 lakh per day as per conservative estimates, while the state government is losing the corresponding GST revenue worth of about 2.50 crore per annum. In addition, state government is also incurring indirect revenue loss by way of property tax, trade license fee, garbage tax, labour fee, water charges, food license fee and income tax. Night food courts had started at Vijayawada in December, 2014 to help travellers coming from other places by buses, trains, cars and other means of transport to find food. The timings of these courts had been from 10:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. The recent change in their timings has become a bone of contention. Taking up cudgels against Eat Street vendors, hoteliers maintain that they ensure supply of quality food by using all raw materials that meet the norms of food safety and standards. But there is no supervision on what the small vendors do, which could be harmful for the health of people. Hoteliers suggest that the state government allow night food courts from 11:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. and permit regular hotels and restaurants to remain open up to 12:00 midnight, instead of closing business at 11:00 p.m. This would mean regular visitors can visit hotels and restaurants and those who come late into the city can have their food in night courts. Vijayawada Hotel Owners Association president P. Ravi Kumar said, Our business has become unviable with night food courts starting their business from 8:00 p.m., as people are rushing there because food is available at a relatively cheap price. We invest a lot of money in establishing hotels and restaurants and pay a host of taxes while running them. Street food vendors have upset our business. We want night food courts permitted only late in night as per previous practice. Vijayawada city police commissioner Kanthi Rana Tata said, We want night food courts closed early, as we are getting complaints of street fights and road accidents under influence of alcohol. There are also cases of mobile phones being snatched from people at night food courts. We will examine timings once again to avoid any trouble to various stakeholders. By Sarah Slayman Staff Writer In 2013, one of South Americas wealthiest nations collapsed economically and politically. Venezuela unraveled into rampant crime and unaffordable living causing millions to flee. For many, this left them with nowhere safe to retreat to and no one to help them rebuild. Dennys Romero and Johana Garcia Aponte fled their home country of Venezuela in 2019 with their two small children to spare themselves from the recent economic and political collapse of the nation. They were escaping a dramatic increase in violent crime, a decline in basic living conditions, and shortages in medication, gasoline, and water. Doors were closed to many schools, hospitals, and grocery stores leaving them uncertain if their basic needs would be provided for. They lost resources and no longer felt safe, but Venezuela wasnt always this way. We had no plans of ever leaving our home, said Romero. In an effort to protect their family, the Garcias fled to Ecuador with the help of a refugee crisis organization in May 2019. They attempted to work there for years, but Ecuador ended up being a similar and debatably worse experience than from where they had come. We could not secure employment. Aponte said. Job security as foreigners became nearly impossible and this resulted in them struggling to feed their children at times. After three years of attempting to rebuild in Ecuador, the family began seeking other options. CRIS, Community Refugee and Immigration Services, was a resource that helped them apply to immigrate to the United States with the help of a sponsor family where stable employment was more likely. This began the Garcias process of finding a better future in the United States. Around the same time, Davids United Church of Christ in Canal Winchester, was doing a series on refugees and Jesuss teachings on welcoming the stranger with their congregation. The church developed a desire to sponsor a family, so staff member, Kathy Brownfield, contacted CRIS to learn more about what it took to become a sponsoring host. In May 2022 training began and by August they welcomed the Garcias after their legal immigration. In later months, Johanas brother, Alejandro, joined them. The congregation has supplied the Garcias with a furnished apartment, babysitting needs, seasonal clothing, English lessons, and secured schooling for both children, as well as cultural context. The church provides transportation to work and a variety of appointments, and enjoy spending time with the family. Thank God we have had unconditional support from the church, said Aponte. They have helped us so much by having someone to trust like family. All resources have been provided in full. Theyve furnished our house, nursed our kids back to health, food, transportation, etc. Theyve become family. Both parents found it troubling to be ripped from another place they had made their home, in Ecuador, but ultimately knew that coming here would provide a safer and more economically stable living environment for them and their growing children. We have not come to take opportunities from anyone, but to work hard and find a better life for our family, said Aponte. It is not easy to immigrate from another country with a language barrier. The Garcias still have a lot of family in Venezuela and they do their best to support them with what income they have here. The church will continue to help the family establish their own life in the United States and potentially continue sponsoring other families. The days when migrating from an Android device to an Apple iPhone was characterized by frustration, complexity, and lost data are for the most part behind us. Which means when youre ready to make the leap to the Apple ecosystem, as many are, the process should be straightforward and even easier if you follow this guide. Theres an app for that: Move to iOS Apple has created Move to iOS, an app to soothe the pain when moving to an iPhone. The app is available in the Google Play Store and automates much of the migration process for you. Apple The Move to iOS app makes it easy to transfer data and apps from an Android device to an Apple iPhone. Specifically, what the app does is help move your contacts, message history, photos, albums, videos, bookmarks, schedule, Google/mail account, and accessibility and display settings to your new device. It does not move music, books, or PDFs, which you must transfer manually, as explained below. Its also essential that you take note of all your passwords (or begin using a password manager such as 1Password), as those are not carried across by this app. Security is important. To keep your information safe during the migration, everything is transferred across a temporary, secure, private Wi-Fi network the app creates between the two phones; that means your information does not need to be uploaded or downloaded from the cloud. The bottom line? Once youve purchased your new Apple device, download Move to iOS to your Android handset before you proceed. (If you dont use the app, you could lose information, since doing this manually can be time-consuming and tedious. Thats why Apple made the app.) Dont begin setting up your iPhone until youve installed the app and are ready to begin this process. (Too late? See What to do if something goes wrong below.) Dos and donts when moving from Android to iOS Make sure you have enough storage on your iPhone to hold all the data youre moving over. If you try to transfer more data than the iPhone can hold, the process will fail. One way around this is to upload photos and videos to an online storage service or computer, then add them your collection later. If you receive a phone call or use another app on your Android device before the transfer finishes, the whole operation will fail. You can protect against this by switching off your cellular data connection on the Android device before you start. You should also turn off apps or settings that might affect your Wi-Fi connection on the Android. You can also find Wi-Fi in Settings on your Android, touch and hold each known network, and forget the network. Its smart to back up your old device before you begin. You can buy 100GB of Google One space for $2/month, for extra peace of mind while you transfer your data. You can cancel the subscription once youre sure all the important items have been moved successfully. Google service users can grab a copy of all their data from takeout.google.com. Here you can download everything the company keeps about you. You might need to use a computer and external drive to do so, as you may find the company has quietly kept an enormous volume of data related to you. But it is a good way to make sure you keep all your photos and videos to upload independently to iCloud. Getting the Android-to-iPhone migration started When youre ready to migrate, grab your Android device, reach for that new-to-you iPhone, connect both devices to power, and check that you have Wi-Fi enabled on the old smartphone. This is how to use the app: Keep both devices close together, open your new iPhone and begin the setup process, which you should follow until you come to the Quick Start screen. On that screen, tap Set Up Manually and follow the instructions given. You may need to activate your eSIM at this point. The Set Up Manually screen provides you with a series of different options, but the one you need is Move Data from Android. Now launch the Move to iOS app on your Android device. Once you launch the app and agree to the endless terms and conditions, you should see a Move to Android screen appear on the iPhone. (Note: You do need to allow the app to access the devices location for the purposes of this transfer.) Tap Continue and after a short delay youll see a 10- or six-digit code appear on your iPhones screen. An input box for that code should now be available in Move to iOS on your Android. You might see a weak internet connection alert on your Android, but Apple says you can ignore it just enter the code that appears on your iPhone into the input box. If you haven't already, you should turn off any apps or settings that could affect your Wi-Fi connection. (Apple cites Smart Network Switch as one example.) The code authorizes your iPhone to create a temporary Wi-Fi network between the two devices, and your Android will ask to let it Connect to the Network. Once you do so, the Transfer Data screen will become visible on the device. At this point, select the items you want to transfer from the list shown on your Android. Tap Continue. As long as you perform all these steps correctly, all your data should begin to transfer. How long will an Android-to-iPhone migration take? With the transfer under way, go grab a coffee, set up your personal Mastodon server, or do whatever you usually do when you need to keep an eye on your technology doing its thing. The important thing is to keep your devices close together and connected to power, as the transfer can take some time. Apple When you're ready to move data from your Android to your iPhone, launch the Move to iOS app on your old device. As a very inaccurate rule of thumb, you can expect around 10 minutes for each 500MB of data being moved. In the case of large photo and video collections, that time soon mounts up. The key device to monitor during this process is the iPhone you should see a loading bar on its screen as data is transferred. Its important to stress that the iPhone calls the shots in this process, so even if your old Android tells you transfer is complete, the process isnt truly complete until that iPhone loading bar tells you so. Eventually, the loading bar will finish on your new iOS device. When it does, tap Done on your outgoing Android and tap Continue on your Apple hardware. Youll now go through the rest of the iPhone setup process, including creating or entering an Apple ID, enabling Touch ID or Face ID, and being pestered to set up Apple Pay. With the eSIM enabled (see How to activate your eSIM below) and most of your data in place, your iPhone is now completely usable, but you will still want to transfer music, books, and PDFs. Youll also want to ensure your app collection is as complete as possible. Where do you get iOS apps? Apple Since Android apps don't automatically transfer to iOS, you'll need to get them from Apple's App Store. Once you, as an Android refugee, become accustomed to finding apps using the search bar, Home Screen, or App Drawer, youll want to install all the ones you use. In general, most popular apps are available for both Android and iOS systems. However, apps dont automatically transfer when you migrate; you must find and download them yourself. In most cases its simple: download the relevant app from Apples App Store and enter the account details you used on your Android device to get up and running. You might find it necessary to ensure that youve saved any recent changes made in games and creative apps on your Android before beginning your journey. Games and other apps that use an account to log in probably save your in-game status, so you should regain access to that once you download the app and log in on your iPhone. How to move music, books, and PDFs from Android to iOS You can use the Android File Transfer app on a Mac or PC to download music, books, or PDFs from your Android phone to the computer just connect the device and use the app. You can then add these items to iTunes and sync them with your iPhone. Just connect the iPhone to the computer with a USB cable and use iTunes (Windows) or the Finder (Mac) to begin dropping content onto the device. (Another approach is to upload data to iCloud Drive or an external storage service such as Box or Dropbox, then download the files to your new device when you require it.) The process for books and PDFs is similar. If you use a cross-platform online service such as Kindle or Google Play Books, then it should be as simple as installing the relevant app and logging in. Otherwise, connect your Android device to your computer and search for your books and PDFs in the Documents folder. (On a Mac, you can use Android File Transfer for this.) Drag these items to a folder on your computer, and then drag items into the Books app on a Mac, or to iTunes if you use a PC. Of course, if you use Netflix, Prime, or even Apple TV+ (coming soon) on your Android device, then all you need to do is install the appropriate app and log in. How to move documents from Android to iOS Its likely youre already using an online service for many of the documents you keep on your Android device. In most cases, you just need to download the relevant app and log in to your account to access your content. Apples Files app also supports multiple such services, giving you an elegant space in which to handle docs. To set this up, open Files on the iPhone. Once its open, tap Browse > More Locations and turn on the service you use. In the future, youll be able to access those items in Files, as well as via the online services app. This works for most online storage services, though enterprise users will certainly need to work with tech support to enable a new device. That leaves any documents or files stored solely on your Android device. Once again, the secret is to use Android File Transfer on a Mac or iTunes to transfer the item, or to email it to yourself, or upload it to a cloud service you can access from the new device. How to manually transfer contacts and more from Android to iOS Apple The easiest way to manually transfer contacts is to add a Gmail account with contacts and reminders to your iPhone. You can manually transfer contacts. At its most basic, the easiest way to do this is to add a Gmail account with contacts and reminders to your iPhone. Open Settings > Mail > Accounts and tap Add Account to do so. This will also work with any Google account or service. When you set up the new account, you can also choose to sync Contacts, Calendars, and Notes; that will bring your Google stuff into the equivalent apps on iOS. Google apps and services work on iOS If youve become accustomed to Android, you likely use Googles own apps and services, including Chrome, Gmail, Google Drive, and Maps. The good news: all these apps are also available for iOS just download them, enter your Google Account details and password, and youll be able to continue using them as if you never migrated. Can third-party apps handle the Android-to-iOS process? There are numerous alternative apps to help you migrate to iOS, with one of the most widely used called AnyTrans. The downside to some of these options is that the user will be exposed to numerous ads. And the use of unsanctioned third-party apps from smaller developers could inadvertently make any company data you need to transfer vulnerable to exfiltration. That said, most of these apps will automate many of the more complex data transfers. What to do if something goes wrong If the data transfer fails, you should restart both devices and try again. If youve begun setup on your iPhone, youll probably need to erase your iPhone to kick the process into starting over. Reminder: you need as much storage space on your iPhone as on your old Android device; trying to transfer more data than the iPhone can hold will cause the process to fail. How to activate your eSIM (if needed) Apple is in the process of migrating most iPhones to eSIM, a non-physical digital SIM that replaces physical cards. iPhones can have multiple eSIMs installed on the device and can use up to two of these at once. Setting up the eSIM usually just requires you to start up the device, once the eSIM is installed, or transfer the eSIM to the device. Apple is ahead of the curve in eSIM adoption, so Android users will likely need to contact their network provider to transfer the number using eSIM Carrier Activation or a QR code. (This is explained in additional detail and for multiple usage scenarios in this Apple tech note.) Hand-picked tips for new Android-to-iPhone switchers Get to the Home screen: Swipe a finger up from the bottom of the display to get to the Home screen. How to search: To search, swipe down from the middle of the screen. Control Center: The Apple equivalent of Androids Quick Action menu is Control Center. To access this, just swipe down from the top right corner. Customizing the screen: You have limited customization choices on iPhone, but you can choose widgets when you press and hold the Home screen. You can also set the wallpaper (Settings > Wallpaper > Choose Wallpaper). There, you can select stock images Apple supplies or your own image. Simpler screenshots: On Android, taking a screenshot usually means you must press a combination of buttons on the side of the device. Its the same on an iPhone, though the combination varies depending on which model you have. But theres a simple trick to make the process easy, a feature called Back Tap. Open Settings > Accessibility > Touch and tap Back Tap. Youll find two options, Double and Triple Tap. Set one of these to Screenshot, and the other to one of the many other choices there I like to set it to Control Center. Once you master the tap its the swiftest way to grab a screenshot. Back to the top: Reading a long document or web page and want to zoom back to the top? Just tap the clock at the top of the display to zip back immediately. Apps and calls: Yes, you can use an app during a call, just swipe up to reach the Home page and access the app. To return to the call, just tap the green icon. Blue and green SMS messages: When you use iMessage to handle incoming messages, youll soon see that some communications show up blue, while others are green. Blue shows that messages are being transferred (encrypted) between iPhone iMessage users, while green messages indicate that SMS or MMS protocols are in use. In case you want to go back to Android: If you make the switch from Android to iPhone and then later decide you want to go back, youll want to rely on our guide to moving from iPhone to Android. Assuming you stick with the iPhone, here are a few more tips to get the most from your new device: The Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system, a centralized database operated by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that provides key safety information for all air travel nationwide, was back online Wednesday morning after an outage that grounded flights across the country. NOTAM provides an automated, central source of critical flight data for aviators, noting information like closed runways at particular airports, equipment outages, and hazards along travel routes. The FAAs first public notice of the outage was in a tweet sent at approximately 6:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, but its unclear at what point, overnight, that the system actually went down. As of 9 a.m. EST, the FAA said in a follow-up tweet, the system was fully restored. Flights already in the air at the time of the outage were deemed safe to land, but the outage snarled air travel across the country, as the FAA implemented a ground stop at all airports in response. Newark and Atlanta both began to resume departures even earlier, the FAA said, due to air traffic congestion in those areas. A spokesperson for Atlantas Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, said that 13,000 passengers locally, and 43,000 nationwide, had been affected by the ground stop, according to the New York Times. An industry group, Airlines for America, warned that the ground stop would cause significant operational delays around the country, and the full impact of the NOTAM outage is still being assessed. Root causes of the outage are were still unclear shortly after flights resumed, though nothing, including a cyberattack, has yet been ruled out. US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigiegs latest statement said that, while the system has been restored, the search for the direct cause of the outage is still under investigation. As of 9:30 a.m. EST, data from FlightAware indicated that almost 4,600 flights in the US had been delayed, with another 832 cancelled. Flights from some airports were apparently still affected by local ground stops, including one at Chicago OHare, a critical air travel hub. United Airlines has pledged to waive change fees and rebookings for delayed and cancelled flights resulting from the outage. The likely consequence of this is obviously a series of delays and cancellations across the US with perhaps some impact into longer-haul international flights, said John Grant, chief analyst at OAG, a travel data analysis company. The outage comes amid a push to modernize the NOTAM system and transform it into a modern, fully automated framework, which has been under way since 2018. A Concordia project cataloguing the diversity of the urban forest in a Montreal residential neighbourhood 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. More species the better The researchers solicited residents and institutions such as schools and churches around Concordias Loyola Campus in the Notre-Dame-de-Grace neighbourhood. 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 neighbourhood and used the City of Montreals 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 per cent 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 lands mostly schools and churches were 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 Concordias 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 per cent 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 neighbours yards. Its a nice way to create a more diverse population of trees within the landscape and to have that promoted across our neighbourhoods. Read the cited paper: Private trees contribute uniquely to urban forest diversity, structure and service-based traits. After giving birth to a baby boy Swarna died due to fits and after some time the baby also died. (Representational Image/ANI) HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court took up the death of a woman and newborn infant from Amrabad in Nagarkurnool district due to the lack of medical equipment and non-availability of eligible doctors in a primary health care (PHC) centre, as a suo moto taken up PIL. The division bench, comprising Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice N. Tukaramji, on Wednesday issued notices to the state government and medical and health department to submit their version on the issue by March 28. Charagonda Swarna (24) from Yelmapalli village in Amrabad mandal, Nagarkurnool district, went to her mothers house for delivery. Suffering from labour pains, her parents have taken her by 108 ambulance to the PHC at Padara. The medical staff conducted tests and sent her to Amrabad PHC hospital situated 10 km away. From there she was rushed to a hospital in Achampet as they did not have the required equipment and medical staff. Her problems did not end as having developed BP complications, she was referred to a hospital in Nagar Kurnool only to be told that she had to go to the general hospital at Mahabubnagar, where doctors performed a normal delivery. After giving birth to a baby boy Swarna died due to fits and after some time the baby also died. Incidentally, she had to travel 124 km for the delivery, when she was in labour pains. This incident was widely reported in the media and the court took the incident as suo moto petition. Chittoor districts Pasuvula Panduga has been in vogue for the past 150 years. (Representational Image/DC) TIRUPATI: Many villages in Chittoor region are getting ready for the traditional bull-taming sport -- a cultural variant of Tamil Nadus Jallikattu locally known as Goppa Mylaru Panduga or Pasuvula Panduga. Some villages have already held the event while it normally happens on the third day of the Sankranti festival. Though the police have imposed a ban on the bull-taming sport or bull-race by citing the danger it posed to bulls and the tamers, preparations are in full swing in several villages with able backing from local politicians. Usually, the Pasuvula Panduga or cattle festival takes place on the third day of Sankranti festival. However, this time it was held two weeks before Sankranti by the people of Buttireddy Kandriga in Vadamalapet mandal and Patha Sanambatla village in Chandragiri mandal. Sanambatla and Nuthiguntapalle villages have hosted bull-races in the past two weeks. Several people were injured when they tried taming the bulls. Chittoor districts Pasuvula Panduga has been in vogue for the past 150 years. This sport involves the chasing of bulls and cows, which were made to run amok through a narrow passage, while people lined up on both sides compete with each other and chase the cattle to snatch trophies tied to their horns. While the organisers claim this cattle festival is an inferior version of Tamil Nadus Jallikattu and not aimed at hurting cattle, but only to revere them. The sport was being held in the erstwhile district on a par with that of Tamil Nadu for the past few years. Animal lovers allege cattle are being fed with alcohol and other intoxicants to prepare them for the bull-race. DIG Ravi Prakash issued instructions to all police districts under Anantapur range on Tuesday, asking them to keep vigil and take strict measures to prevent indulgences like Jallikattu, cockfighting and gambling. Police would hold meetings with village elders to thwart such situations. The DIG directed all DSPs to arrange pickets in areas where cockfights and Jallikattu are likely to take place. He also asked them to detain persons who faced cases related to cockfights and Jallikattu in the past. "Police Act 30 is in force in all subdivisions of the range and any violation to the code will lead to severe action, he said. The cattle festival organised last year in villages like Ramireddygaripalle, Pullaiahgaripalli, Adusipalle, Rangampet, Baireddipalle etc in Chandragiri, Kuppam, Palamaner areas caused injuries to nearly 30 persons. [Editor's note: This article originally appeared on the Le Monde Informatique website.] More than 10,000 beneficiaries of a local branch of the French social security agency CAF, or Family Allowance Fund, saw their data exposed for about 18 months, after a file containing personal information was sent to a service provider. The mistake, discovered by France Info Radio France's news and investigation service just before the year-end holidays, could hit the CAF hard. The investigation found that the CAF in Gironde (Nouvelle-Aquitaine) sent a file containing sensitive and personal information of 10,204 beneficiaries to a service provider responsible for training the organization's statisticians. The provider denies having asked to work with real information, and the Gironde CAF apparently failed to specify that the data that was sent included information on current benefit recipients. For the transmission of the file, beneficiary surnames and first names were removed as well as their postal codes, but a lot of other information remained: address (number and street name), date of birth, household composition and income, amounts and types of benefits received (disabled adult allowance, etc.), according to the France Info inquiry. Posted data allowed identification of benefit recipients For each file folder, no less than 181 variables were available. The deletion of surnames and first names has not hindered identification of the recipients. Investigating journalists were able to find the identity of most of them. Another error, in this case made by the CAF service provider, was the posting of the file on its website in March 2021, the date of the training. Accessible to everyone, both to CAF agents and to any visitor to the site, and without any encryption protection, the file could be downloaded in one click. Contacted during the investigation, the service provider defended itself by stating that it did not know that the CAF file contained real, and not fictitious, information. It added that it then forgot to remove it, until last week. This news elicited a reaction from digital rights advocacy group La Quadrature du Net, which already had CAF in its sights for a few months, concerning its algorithm for rating recipients. "This data transfer therefore seems to reveal the disregard CAF has for our personal data. Or rather a feeling of ownership of our personal data on the part of its managers, who seem to find it normal to transfer them without any reason to private providers... Or to use them to develop a scoring algorithm targeting the most precarious," wrote La Quadrature du Net in a commentary on its website. Thus CAF seems to ignore the basic principles of anonymizing personal data. Proper anonymization requires much more processing so that it is not possible to identify the individuals to whom the data is attached. For example, it is necessary to delete, or at least modify, the directly identifying information (date of birth and address for example)," according to the commentary. It is very likely that French data protection agency CNIL will lead an investigation that could ultimately result in a sanction for breach of the GDPR. On its part, CNAF the National Family Allowance Fund, which oversees the local CAFs told France Info that "this data should never have been put online by the service provider" and the document in question was to have a strictly internal use. The CAF Gironde will therefore be subject to an internal investigation. Farmers have resolved to step up their protest as the deadline for submitting objections to the master plan for the proposed industrial zone ends on January 11. (File Photo: DC) Hyderabad: Farmers of at least seven villages in Kamareddy have geared up for an agitation on Wednesday to push their demand to scrap the master plan for the proposed industrial zone. While the Kamareddy district police issued prohibitory orders under Section 30, which forbids people from gathering, holding rallies or protesting without permission, the joint action committee of farmers from the merged villages in Kamareddy municipality has decided to stage a day-long protest in front of the municipal office. They disseminated dharna information through social media and other channels to farmers and members of the general public in the area. Farmers have resolved to step up their protest as the deadline for submitting objections to the master plan for the proposed industrial zone ends on January 11. The JAC had given time to the government to withdraw the master plan by Wednesday. BJP municipal councillors on Tuesday submitted a petition to Kamareddy municipal commissioner Devender demanding a special municipal council meeting on January 12. They urged that a resolution be passed to amend the scrap the master plan for the proposed industrial zone. Seven BJP municipal councillors have come forward to support the farmers' agitation. According to BJP municipal members who spoke to the media, the special municipal council meeting would pass a resolution against the master plan. Balraj, a farmer from Adloor Yellareddy village, told Deccan Chronicle that they will hold a dharna in front of the municipal office on Wednesday. 'We are prepared to face all challenges during the agitation programme since it is a matter of life and death for us,' he said. Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao will arrive in Mahbubabad today and will inaugurate the collectorate complex. (File Photo:DC) Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao will visit Mahbubabad and Bhadradri Kothagudem districts on Thursday to inaugurate the newly-constructed Integrated District Collectorate Complexes. The Chief Minister will arrive in Mahbubabad at 10 am and inaugurate the collectorate complex. He will interact with district officials of various departments and guide them on the effective implementation of welfare schemes and development programmes. The Chief Miniser will later proceed to Bhadradri Kothagudem and inaugurate the collectorate complex in the evening. The Chief Minister is expected to conduct review meetings with officials in both the districts to speed up pending projects and the new projects and funds that need to be sanctioned. The Chief Minister resumed district tours after a gap of one month. In December, the Chief Miniser visited Mahbubnagar and Jagtial and inaugurated the new collectorate complex besides TRS district offices. His last visit was on December 7 to Jagtial district. However, his district tours were put off later as the Chief Minister was busy launching the BRS on December 9 following Election Commission approval for changing TRS to BRS on December 8. Thereafter, the Chief Minister left for Delhi to inaugurate the BRS national office on December 14. A recently-passed Oregon gun control measure is blocked following a slew of lawsuits and concerns from sheriffs, but activists are still confident the measure will succeed. Measure 114 passed with slim margins last November and was the closest Oregon ballot measure race in 2022. Less than 25,000, or about 1.3% of the total votes, made the difference between the measure passing and not, according to election results gathered by the Oregon Secretary of State. It requires local law enforcement agencies to develop a permit-to-purchase process for buying firearms, requires applicants to complete safety training and a criminal background check and prohibits magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition. But, with the issue of funding and staffing the permit-to-purchase program falling on local law enforcement agencies, Oregon sheriffs say they are unprepared to fill the requirement. Currently, there is no state-organized funding plan for this measure, so it falls on local agencies to develop their own. Deschutes County Sheriff and Oregon State Sheriffs' Association president Shane Nelson said one of the main reasons for the OSSAs dissatisfaction with the measure was it will redirect resources away from protective law enforcement services toward completing background checks and issuing permits in a video on the OSSA website. Nelson said OSSA did an in-depth analysis of the financial impact implementing Measure 114 would have on local police departments and sheriffs offices throughout the state. OSSA estimates the implementation would cost local law enforcement agencies just over $49 million annually, with expected permit fees covering $19.5 million. Measure 114 will require local law enforcement agencies to create and fund a firearm permit process out of local budgets, Nelson said in the video. We [OSSA] have serious concerns about how this measure will adversely impact public safety in our communities around the state. Lane County Sheriffs Office public information officer Tom Speldrich told the Emerald that the statement put out by the OSSA was a good representation of where the Sheriffs Office stands at this point. Lane County Sheriff Clifton Harrold said his office does not have the personnel or resources to provide for the permitting process as proposed by Measure 114. After the measure was passed last November, opponents to gun restrictions were quick to file lawsuits against it. Four lawsuits were introduced in federal court and one in Harney County Circuit Court fighting the measures stipulations on large magazine restrictions and the permit-to-purchase clause. A lack of personnel was cited as one of the major obstacles for implementing the permit-to-purchase clause in the lawsuits. As of 2022, Oregon has the lowest number of police officers per capita in the United States, with 284 law enforcement employees per 100,000 people, according to World Population Review. Opponents of the measure, including Gun Owners Foundation and Gun Owners of America, filed a restraining order in a Circuit Court in Harney County to halt the implementation of the measure on Dec. 2, 2022, arguing the measure goes against Oregons constitutional right to bear arms. Harney County Circuit Court Judge Robert Raschio granted the initial restraining order, citing Article 1, Sec. 27 of the Oregon Constitution, which says, The people shall have the right to bear arms for the defence [sic] of themselves, and the State, but the Military shall be kept in strict subordination to the civil power[.] The ballot measure is currently blocked from taking effect due to this Harney County lawsuit. On Dec. 23, Raschio heard arguments about whether or not the background check provision in the measure could go forward while the other portions were blocked by the court. The language of the measure specifically says that other provisions can go into effect if one is blocked. That background check provision would close the Charleston Loophole in Oregon, which is a provision of federal law that allows gun dealers to sell guns to customers before their background checks are completed. This loophole was what allowed Dylan Roof to carry out a mass shooting in a church in Charleston, North Carolina in 2015. Raschio denied the implementation of the provision, saying in his order that the language of the ballot is inexorably linked to the permit-to-purchase program. To find otherwise requires the court to ignore the operative language linking each provision on background checks to the permit-to-purchase program," he said in his order. "The court would be separating sentences at commas and considering the phrase 'permit holder' surplusage. It is not surplusage." A full trial on the measure's constitutionality has not been scheduled yet. In another lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Karin J. Immergut ruled against a restraining order suggested by the prosecution. Immergut said in her ruling that the burden imposed by Measure 114 on the core U.S. Constitutions Second Amendment right is minimal. But the federal ruling does not affect the Raschios ruling because his argument is based in Oregons Constitution. The office of Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum stated that the states attorney general would file a mandamus petition asking the Oregon Supreme Court to review the lower court's ruling. Late afternoon on Dec. 7, 2022, hours before Measure 114 was to be enacted, Oregon Supreme Court chief justice Martha Walters denied the state attorney generals petition to throw out the Harney restraining order. Reverend Mark Knutson, an activist and preacher at Augustana Lutheran Church in Portland who helped pass the measure, said despite the conflicting court rulings and the stay on the implementation of Measure 114, he is not worried about its future. We know all four components of this law are constitutionally valid, Knutson said. I fully trust the implementation process, which is critical for this to be done justly and equitably. The Lincoln County Sheriffs Office is one of the few Oregon police agencies planning to implement the permit-to-purchase clause of the measure, but Sheriff Curtis Landers said his office is unsure how big of a demand for permits there will be. Landers said the office anticipates a large surge initially with the pace slowing over a few months. We do not have additional personnel to accomplish this so it will cause delays, and we will need to prioritize our services to our citizens, Landers said in an email to the Emerald. Either the permit applications will slow to a manageable pace some time after the measure enacts or LCSO will determine if they need to add personnel, Landers said. Lane County Sheriffs Office is likely to use its existing Concealed Handgun Licensing staff to meet the increased demand for gun permits, Speldrich said. Speldrich said Lane County Sheriffs Office has three staff assigned full-time to the Concealed Handgun Licensing and Renewals section, and the CHL section typically has 20-35 initial licensing or renewal appointments every weekday except Wednesday. Wednesdays are walk-in CHL renewal days, and there are typically applicants in line in the lobby all day that day, Speldrich said. There are roughly 25,000 CHL holders in Lane County currently, Speldrich said. If someone applied for a CHL permit in December of 2022, Speldrich said, it would likely take staff until this May to process it. The rapidly increased number of applications caused by the measure would prolong that timeline even further. Oregon is a shall issue state, which means law enforcement officials are required to permit to anyone who meets certain minimal statutory requirements, including having no outstanding warrants for their arrest and completing a mandatory gun safety training course. The Oregon State Police saw an increase in background check requests in November 2022 by more than 300%, according to agency data, a response by gun purchasers to the unsure nature of the gun market after the passing of this measure, Speldrich said. Oregon State Police Superintendent Terri Davie told members of Oregons Senate Judiciary Committee that the agency was finalizing temporary rules to implement Measure 114, and a form has been drafted for those wishing to voluntarily complete the permit-to-purchase process. For President Zelenskys forces to repel a new Russian offensive and then mount a counter-offensive to win the war Britains contribution of about a dozen Challenger II tanks to Ukraine could prove vital. But, although British Challenger tanks are seriously superior to their Russian counterpart, the T-72, sending just 12 is not enough to have a significant military impact or to rouse our allies into following our lead. A dozen tanks is barely more than a token gesture. I believe we need to commit at least 30, and probably as many as 50 Challenger IIs and a comparable number of Warrior infantry fighting vehicles too. These dont have the same destructive capacity as a tank but are vital for providing firepower and protection for the infantry when they join the rest in an attack. GENERAL LORD DANNATT: For President Zelenskys forces to repel a new Russian offensive and then mount a counter-offensive to win the war Britains contribution of about a dozen Challenger II tanks to Ukraine could prove vital. File image of a challenger 2 Main Battle Tank General Lord Richard Dannatt was Chief of the General Staff between 2006 and 2009 Their potential impact cannot be overstated. All our military intelligence indicates that Russia is preparing a desperate offensive during the next few weeks. Moscow has conscripted between 200,000 and 300,000 recruits, who have been given little equipment and less training. This large but badly organised army will be hurled into an assault which Ukraine must weather. Once the Russian rank and file realise that they are not winning, their morale will slump lower still. At this point, which I expect to see in the early spring, Zelensky has to be in a position to launch a decisive counter-offensive. And unless the West ensures his troops have the weapons they need, Ukraine will not be able to land that knockout blow. To hope for a negotiated settlement, now or in the future, is unrealistic. There is simply no common ground for opening talks. Zelensky has vowed from the start that nothing less than complete sovereignty for Ukraine is acceptable. He cannot cede any part of his country to the Russian aggressors and continue to face his own people with honour. And Putin cannot be seen to lose the war, or even to compromise. His only hope of holding on to power is a military victory. For the West, that is unthinkable. If negotiations are not an option, there must be a decision on the battlefield. One side or the other must win outright. So far, Britain has provided invaluable military aid to Ukraine but stopped short of sending tanks, for fear of embroiling us in open war with Russia. The time for that caution is over: 2023 must be the decisive year. Already, our anti-tank weapons have helped to break up the initial Russian attacks on Kyiv and other cities, and the USs Starlink satellite system has transformed Ukraines command-and-control capability. Long-range artillery such as the Himars system has wreaked havoc on Russias logistics and supplies. But what the Ukrainians are now crying out for is offensive power, to take the fight to the enemy. That means more artillery and air defence weapons, but most of all it means tanks and armoured vehicles. And there is none better than the Challenger II. Putin cannot be seen to lose the war, or even to compromise. His only hope of holding on to power is a military victory. For the West, that is unthinkable (pictured on January 6) This large but badly organised army will be hurled into an assault which Ukraine must weather. Pictured are destroyed Russian armored vehicles in the city of Bucha on March 4 During the Cold War, the West was wary of the Soviet T-72 tank. Its self-loading weapons technology appeared to make it lighter, faster and more deadly than British tanks, and enabled it to operate with a crew of just three, instead of the usual four. But the Ukraine war has exposed its shocking vulnerability. The self-loading system means the ammunition is stored in the turret and a direct hit from a shell will make the whole thing explode. Its a death-trap for its crew. The British Challenger II, by contrast, is superbly protected by its modern armour, capable of withstanding a hit from a T-72. And we have plenty to spare, given the current plans by the Ministry of Defence and the Army to wind down our tank regiments and armoured infantry battalions. We have in excess of 200 Challenger IIs, but the MoD has plans to upgrade only 136 of these for use. That leaves more than 50 on the side-lines. If we dont need them, the Ukrainians certainly do. By the same logic, our Warrior fighting vehicles are destined for the scrapheap, because the Army does not have the budget to refurbish them. Surely, its far better to give them to Zelensky than to dump them? For 20 years Britain has been conducting tank exercises in Poland. Shipping 50 Challengers and Warriors to Eastern Europe would present no insuperable logistical problems. And though Ukrainian crews would have only a few weeks to learn how to manoeuvre and maintain the tanks, they will be highly motivated. Our instructors can quickly make them sufficiently battle-ready. The US, France and Germany have already pledged to provide Ukraine with armoured fighting vehicles, but seeing our commitment could spur them to be braver and send even more weapons. I predict this equipment can enable Zelensky to mount a counter-offensive that ends the war. That in turn will have major benefits for Britain, not only by halting Russian aggression and probably ousting Putin, but by reducing the international tensions that have created the energy crisis. If Russian gas and oil start to flow to the West again at sensible prices, our cost of living pressures will ease. For everybodys sake, and most of all for the innocent families in Ukraine, we have to do all we can to end this terrible war. General Lord Richard Dannatt was Chief of the General Staff, 2006-2009 Finding fault with the contention of Somesh Kumar (in picture), Suryakaran Reddy informed the court that Mohanty retired from AIS service on June 1, 2014, and the list was prepared consisting of officers who were in service as on June 1, 2014. Twitter HYDERABAD: The Union government accused the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), Hyderabad bench and Telangana government of messing up the issue of cadre allocation of All India Services (AIS) officers to Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Additional solicitor general T. Suryakaran Reddy representing the Union government on Tuesday submitted to this effect before a division bench of the High Court comprising Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice Surepalli Nanda, which was hearing a batch of petitions filed by Department for Personnel Training (DoPT), challenging the CAT orders in allotting 16 AIS officers to their choice of state, by setting aside their allocation orders issued by the Union ministry. Out of the batch petitions, the bench took up Somesh Kumars allocation orders, as the first case. Putting forward the objections of the Union government against the CAT orders, Suryakaran Reddy submitted that the CAT unilaterally took the authority of AIS cadre allocation, which was actually vested with the DoPT. Somesh Kumar challenged the decision of the DoPT before the CAT on the grounds that non-inclusion of P.K. Mohanty, the then Chief Secretary of United AP in the list of officers to be distributed amongst residuary Andhra Pradesh and newly-carved Telangana state. If Mohantys name was included in the list of to be distributed officers, he could have been allocated to Telangana State. Non inclusion of Mohantys name deprived him of his chance is Someshs contention. Finding fault with the contention of Somesh Kumar, Suryakaran Reddy informed the court that Mohanty retired from AIS service on June 1, 2014, and the list was prepared consisting of officers who were in service as on June 1, 2014. As the Union governments arguments were concluded on Tuesday, the bench adjourned the case to April 4 for submissions of the senior counsel representing Somesh Kumar. You can hardly spend ten minutes in Britain these days without being told by some defeatist police chief, or by some greedy lobbyist for legal drugs that there is a 'war on drugs', and that it has 'failed'. If the British Ingrowing Toenail Support Association, or the Retired Lighthouse Keepers' League publishes a vague two-page document calling for cannabis legalisation, the BBC will call it a 'report' and shove it near the top of its bulletins. By contrast, if a serious academic study says that marijuana use is increasingly correlated with incurable mental illness, most British media will bury or ignore the story. The argument is always the same. Decades of severe and cruel prohibition have failed to stop the use of illegal drugs. So let's legalise them. Millions of people I know some of them and they appear to be intelligent and awake accept this tripe. Prince Harry exhales cigarette smoke at a friend's wedding in London in 2009 And this could be why the most astonishing revelations in Prince Harry's silly book have made so little impact. So let me suggest that they are more important than most people seem to think they are. By his own account, one of the close heirs to the throne of a major, law-governed country has been breaking that country's drug laws since he was at school. If he has stopped doing so, he does not say. He was certainly still smoking marijuana two and a half years ago by his own account. This is a person who has had, for much of his life, pretty close police protection. Did the officers charged with his safety, who must surely have been aware of where he went, what he did and who he met, not know? There is very little doubt that several members of the Royal Family, courtiers, Palace servants and senior members of the Armed Services must have been aware of it too. Did they believe it did not matter? Can we be expected to believe that the elite school which Harry attended did not also know? 'They unofficially decriminalised marijuana many years ago, without bothering to consult Parliament.' File Image: Marijuana joints and buds on a stone table Remember that the possession of marijuana, under the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act, carries a maximum prison sentence of five years and an unlimited fine. If he had broken any other parts of the criminal law, would he have been immune from the attentions of the police? If so, it would be disgusting. The monarchy is the fount of laws and honours. The royal signature turns pieces of parchment into the law of the land. The royal Crown is on the cap badges of every police officer and hangs over the judges' bench in every courtroom. I might add that every prison is also 'His Majesty's' and is emblazoned with the Royal Arms. The Crown is the law, and the law is the Crown, and it is the law that makes Charles King and makes Harry more important than most other young men in the realm. And yet the Spare to the Throne blithely boasts, in a publication he cannot blame on anyone else, of his long career of deliberate, conscious law-breaking. I suppose there must have been parental harangues and pleadings. It is all too easy to imagine the future King Charles who escaped the drug frenzy of his generation thanks to a unique upbringing baffled and miserable over his son's stupidity. As His Majesty will have found, he is very nearly on his own. Harry knows full well, from his fashionable circle of friends, that the police would not touch him even if he was an ordinary teenager. They unofficially decriminalised marijuana many years ago, without bothering to consult Parliament. Many of the super-wealthy parents with whose sons Harry mixed at Eton took drugs themselves, or still do, and have no difficulty in allowing their children to do the same. 'The most astonishing revelations in Prince Harry's silly book have made so little impact. So let me suggest that they are more important than most people seem to think they are.' Pictured: Prince Harry on Stephen Colbert's Late Show, January 10, 2023 But it goes beyond that. It is not just that Harry's unrestrained lawbreaking undermines the institution he is inevitably part of. What about the effect of his drug abuse on himself, and on society as a whole? We have all read and perhaps laughed at his account of the time he ended up holding conversations with a bathroom bin and a lavatory pan after taking 'magic mushrooms'. But it is not very funny, in those families where a young member has become irreversibly mentally ill following the use of marijuana. For them, the onset of wild rages, the persecution mania, the educational failure, the character transformation, and then the delusions, are anything but amusing. Nor are the powerful, life-changing anti-psychotics these ruined children need to take for the rest of their days. In many cases these young men used dope in the hopelessly wrong belief that it is 'soft' a view held by many opinion-formers. This belief destroys lives. We should be just as horrified by marijuana use as we are about heroin or cocaine. Could it even be that Harry's erratic, angry and mistrustful behaviour, his personality change between his Sandhurst days and now, are connected with his drug use? If this country had a proper Establishment, there would be more anguish about this part of his revelations. But I fear his actions, and the general soft reaction to them, show that we are no longer really grown-up enough to be a monarchy, or anything else much. 'It is not just that Harry's unrestrained lawbreaking undermines the institution he is inevitably part of. What about the effect of his drug abuse on himself, and on society as a whole?' Pictured: Prince Harry in Belize, March 2, 2012 Ian MacDonald, in his extraordinary examination of The Beatles, Revolution In The Head, thought the foundations cracked in 1969, with the song Come Together. MacDonald said: 'Enthusiastically received in campus and underground circles, Come Together is the key song of the turn of the decade, isolating a pivotal moment when the free world's coming generation rejected established wisdom, knowledge and behaviour for a drug-inspired relativism which has since undermined the intellectual foundations of Western culture.' It is horribly true. The shared rite of the rolled spliff passed from hand to hand and mouth to mouth was the unholy communion of the post-1960s generation. Their unholy trinity, likewise, was sex, drugs and rock and roll. While the late Queen Elizabeth continued to reign with her head full of notions of duty, service, family, patience and forbearance, her subjects, and then her own family, were seduced into a completely different world. It was a revolution in the head which separated effort from reward, and dissolved the old idea that pleasure should be deferred until duty was done, in a cloud of sickly sweet dope smoke. Nobody needed to storm Buckingham Palace, batter down its doors, smash its windows or drag the monarch off to the dungeon or the guillotine. The whiff of marijuana in the royal corridors betokened a huge revolt which has left an ageing King perched on a shabby throne from which he cannot even govern his own younger son. We Brits may be known as a nation of tea drinkers, but a whopping 80% of UK adults are coffee drinkers*, making us a country of devoted coffee fans. The high street barista boom of the last few decades has created a buzz for caffeine; from the mild, milky latte of the nineties to the hugely popular flat white of the noughties, our appetite for discovering the hottest new brew shows no sign of slowing down. And now, in a move set to thrill coffee lovers, M&S brings us the biggest thing to happen in coffee culture since the flat white: the Magic Coffee, an absolute must-try for 2023 billed as the perfect coffee creation. Launching exclusively in the UK in M&S Cafes on 11th January, Magic Coffee lands straight from Melbourne, Australia, the coffee capital of the world, where its optimum balance of bold coffee and velvety steamed milk with less bitterness has taken the cafe scene by storm. As the coffee of choice of top Melbourne baristas, the highly anticipated arrival of the Magic Coffee into M&S Cafes is a first for UK high street coffee shops and looks set to be the next big Australian trend to take over the country. Launching exclusively in the UK in M&S Cafes on 11th January, Magic Coffee lands straight from Melbourne, Australia, the coffee capital of the world Naturally, its no surprise that M&S is the one bringing this rising sensation to the UK. As the first retailer to sell pre-packaged sandwiches (selling over 4 billion sandwiches since the 1980s), as well as the chicken Kyiv and Indian and Chinese ready meals, M&S is always ahead of the curve when it comes to innovation. So, what's the story behind this secret brew? Coffee-mad Melbourne has more coffee shops per person than any other city on the globe and where Melbourne goes, the rest of the world follows when it comes to the caffeinated cup. Its latest coffee phenomenon was said by some to be invented by chance by trademark researcher Zenon Misko when he combined his daily order of a double ristretto with three quarters of a takeaway flat white; he described the resulting beverage as magical to the barista and between them, Magic Coffee was born. Today it is made using that same formula. Its a short 6oz drink with a double ristretto, which uses less water and has a shorter extraction time than an espresso - topped with the perfect amount of velvety steamed milk. The shorter extraction time means that while the coffee is bold and deliciously aromatic, it has less of the bitterness of espresso-based coffee and its unique deliciousness has led to legions of coffee connoisseurs and foodie insiders searching out the off-menu concoction across Melbourne cafes and beyond. M&S Cafes Head of Coffee Development Tom Rawlinson says: '10,000 miles is a long way to go for the latest coffee style, so were absolutely delighted to be bringing it exclusively to M&S Cafes from today.' When M&S Cafes Head of Coffee Development Tom Rawlinson heard rumours of Magic Coffee in insider coffee circles he knew he had to find out more, and flew to Melbourne to get to grips with the secret recipe himself. As a self-proclaimed coffee obsessive (he even built his own roastery in his garage), Tom knew that Magic Coffee was going to be big news for the UK coffee scene after his first sip in Melbourne. He says: 'An M&S Magic Coffee is made with a double ristretto, topped with the perfect amount of velvety steamed milk. Its a short coffee with a bold, intense flavour, but because its made with a double ristretto rather than a double espresso, it doesnt have as much bitterness as other shorter coffees like a Flat White or Cortado. Its called a Magic as it is quite literally the magic ratio of coffee to milk! 'I visited Melbourne in November to better understand the hype behind this coffee style. Its a really popular coffee choice in Melbourne, and you often hear coffee lovers asking for A Magic. '10,000 miles is a long way to go for the latest coffee style, so were absolutely delighted to be bringing it exclusively to M&S Cafes from today. 'At M&S Food were full of firsts and now our Cafes get their very own first and our expert baristas, who weve been training secretly over the past few months, literally cant wait to start making Magic for customers.' Musician, TV personality and coffee devotee Matt Willis discovered Magic Coffee while on tour supporting One Direction in Oz and has been searching for the magical beverage ever since. He says: 'We went to a coffee shop in Melbourne, and we were talking to the barista, and Harry and I from the band are mad about coffee, so he said, have you tried a Magic? 'It was like nothing wed ever tasted before - it was perfect. Ive not had it for nearly eight years so Im so excited its now available in M&S Cafes across the UK.' Musician, TV personality and coffee devotee Matt Willis discovered Magic Coffee while on tour supporting One Direction in Oz and has been searching for the magical beverage ever since And after all, this is not just coffee, this is M&S Magic Coffee which cant be found anywhere else on the high street, so retail insiders expect its popularity to explode in the same way as M&S viral Percy Pig Slushee and the famous Chicken Pot Pie Soup. M&S Marketing & Hospitality Director, Sharry Cramond, has previously lived and worked in Melbourne. She says: 'Melbourne is known as the coffee capital of the world and is always first for coffee trends, from experimenting with coffee styles, to exploring more sustainable sourcing and packaging. Coffee culture is so engrained into peoples lives, many dont go a day without visiting a coffee shop! 'Im lucky enough to be leading M&S Cafe's at a time when the UK is going that way too. Were fast becoming a nation of coffee lovers with 80% of UK adults drinking coffee! So, its exactly the right time to bring a brand-new style of coffee and launch it FIRST into M&S Cafe - I cant wait to hear what our customers think of it!' Try NEW M&S Magic Coffee for just 3.15! It's available to enjoy in or take-away now in 330 M&S Cafes across the UK, as well as 18 of M&S newest Foodhall self-service coffee machines. It's the future of coffee. *(Mintel, Coffee UK 2022) As Jenny Saft was getting ready to have her eggs retrieved, she was expecting words of reassurance from her anaesthetist. Instead, he asked her if she would like to pay by cash or invoice. 'This was just one of the odd moments that punctuated my egg freezing journey', Jenny, 32, tells Metro.co.uk. 'I decided to pursue egg freezing in 2019. Id been living in San Francisco for almost three years, where the procedure was the norm for women my age and is often funded by peoples employers.' Jenny Saft was shocked when she saw the eye-watering fees that came with egg freezing But on moving back to Europe, Jenny realised that this wasn't the case everywhere. 'In the States, doctors are used to selling their services and delivering a standard of care worthy of the eye-watering cost. But my doctor in Berlin was quiet, and seemed surprised by my questions, offering little in the way of reassurance, information or support.' 'I left the clinic unclear as to how many cycles I would need, how they might make me feel, or how much it was all going to set me back.' Still, despite the discomfort she felt, Jenny went ahead with it and ended up with eight healthy eggs ready for freezing. The Berlin-based entrepreneur now wants to make the process easier for other women While the Berlin-based entrepreneur thinks the process can be empowering, for her it wasn't wholly positive. 'It speaks volumes that the hormones, procedure and recovery werent the worst bit for me, not by a mile: it was the lack of support and empathy I experienced from the clinic that left me wanting. 'For example, when I went to my first appointment, the nurse at reception asked me if I was there with my husband but I was single. Then all the forms I needed to fill out asked for information about me and my husband.' This was made harder to stomach by the fact that she was paying a hefty sum to have her eggs frozen. 'I paid around 7,500 all in including a second cycle but nearly paid more when they overcharged me for blood tests that never happened. 'I was billed for each procedure in turn, receiving countless invoices every week in the post, which charged me individually for everything from diagnostics through to storage and cryopreservation fees (345).' 'I will always believe that the process was worth it. And if I had to, Id do it all over again', Jenny told Metro.co.uk The whole experience led Jenney to want to improve it for other women considering going down the same path, and she's since set up a company, Apryl, to fill in the gaps in care and hold patients' hands through the process. 'Everyone deserves to access treatment on their terms, armed with knowledge, facts and resources, so they can make informed decisions about which treatment feels right for them. 'I still havent touched my eggs, and theres a chance Ill never need to. 'But I will always believe that the process was worth it. And if I had to, Id do it all over again'. Visit Metro.co.uk to read the full version of this article READ MORE: I will never depend on a man I'm freezing my eggs at 37 so I can have a baby whenever I please We kept six IVF embryos frozen for years... only to realise we could never afford a brother of sister for our son Most common age for having children over the last 250,000 years is 27 - while fathers are consistently older than mothers, study finds Prince Harry's explosive memoir has left many cringing over its intimate detail - with scenes ranging from the moment he lost his virginity to his frostbitten penis. The Duke of Sussex's memoir Spare was released yesterday, following its accidental release in Spain last week, and the prince certainly provided ghost writer JR Moehringer with some florid quotes. For instance the duke, 38, recounts the first time he laid eyes on Meghan while she was using a dog filter on Snapchat - saying he was blown away by her 'luminous, angelic face'. Other eyebrow-raising passages include a 'very saucy' moment in Waitrose where 'beside the fruit and veg I felt her stroll past me'. Prince Harry's explosive memoir has left many readers cringing over its intimate detail and shocking contents - with scenes ranging from the moment he lost his virginity to his frostbitten penis 1. 'An older woman who liked macho horses treated me like a young stallion' Prince Harry recounted losing his virginity to an unnamed older woman at the age of 17 in his explosive autobiography. The Duke explained how his anonymous first lover treated him like a 'young stallion' and that the steamy exchange took place in a field behind a 'very busy pub'. In 2001, the royal was still a student at Eton College in Windsor when one of the Royal Family's bodyguards Marko paid him a visit. At the beginning of the meeting, Prince Harry says he suspected Marko had heard about the one-night stand - which he described as a 'humiliating' experience. Over lunch in a cafeteria in the city centre, the bodyguard - who had a 'sombre look' on his face - told the Prince that he had been sent to 'find out the truth'. The father-of-two wrote: 'I suspected he was referring to my recent loss of virginity, a humiliating episode with an older woman who liked macho horses and who treated me like a young stallion. 'I mounted her quickly, after which she spanked my ass and sent me away. One of my many mistakes was letting it happen in a field, just behind a very busy pub. No doubt someone had seen us.' Prince Harry pictured months before his 17th birthday in July 2001 at Cirencester Polo Club 2. 'What was the universe trying to say to me by depriving me of both my penis and my brother?' In one of the more bizarre revelations buried in his memoir, Prince Harry confessed to suffering from a frostbitten penis. In Spare, the duke confessed he was impacted by the early stages of the condition during William and Kate's wedding in April 2011. It followed his Walking with the Wounded 200-mile expedition in March 2011, which saw him embark on a trek to the North Pole alongside four ex-servicemen who were injured in Afghanistan. The frostbite affected his cheeks, ears and genitalia, he claimed. At Prince William's wedding, Prince Harry details how he 'felt totally helpless. And also like a eunuch'. He continued: 'What was the universe trying to say to me by depriving me of both my penis and my brother?' He goes on: 'My penis was oscillating between extremely sensitive and borderline traumatised. The last place I wanted to be frostbitten. 'I'd been trying some home remedies, including one recommended by a friend. She'd urged me to apply Elizabeth Arden cream. 'My mum used to use that on her lips. You want me to put that on my todger...' Harry goes on to describe his 'todger' as 'softened' by the cream. Harry also secretly visited a Harley Street doctor, after fearing he may have to undergo a partial penectomy - a removal of part of the penis. But the medic told the prince the 'most feasible cure was time', he wrote. Prince Harry discusses his penis in the memoir on a number of occasions - including detailing how he tried to treat frostbite with Elizabeth Arden night cream. Pictured on his Walking with the Wounded expedition, where he developed frostbite. 3. 'I got all that from her face. Her luminous, angelic face.' In a section of the book entitled 'She is the captain of my soul', Prince Harry writes about the first moment he sees Meghan - on a friend's Instagram page. He details: 'I was sitting around Nott Cott, scrolling through Instagram... They were playing with a new app that put silly filters on your photos. Violet and the woman had dog ears, dog noses, long red dog tongues hanging out. 'This woman with Violet...my god. I watched the video several time, then forced myself to put the phone down. In a section of the book entitled 'She is the captain of my soul', Prince Harry writes about the first moment he sees Meghan - on a friend's Instagram page 'Then picked it up, watched the video again. 'For thirty-two years I'd watched a conveyor-belt of faces pass by and only a handful ever made me look twice. This woman stopped the conveyor belt. This woman smashed the conveyor belt to pieces. 'I'd never seen anyone so beautiful. 'There was an energy about her, a wild joy and playfulness. There was something in the way she smiled, the way she gazed into the camera. Confident. Free. She believed life was one grand adventure, I could see that. What a privilege it would be, I thought, to join her on that journey. 'I got all that from her face. Her luminous, angelic face.' 4. 'Thats love, I thought, though I managed to keep the words inside.' After inviting Princess Eugenie, her then-boyfriend Jack and their friend Charlie over for dinner, Harry writes he was awoken by Meghan being violently sick into the loo. He writes: 'I rubbed her back and eventually put her to bed. Weak, near tears, she said shed imagined a very different end to Date Four. '"Stop," I said. Taking care of each other? Thats the point. Thats love, I thought, though I managed to keep the words inside.' 5. Beside the fruit and veg I felt her stroll past me 5. 'Beside the fruit and veg I felt her stroll past me' In one section of the book, Harry writes about planning a meal with Meghan after spending the night together at Soho House in London. The two decided to meet in a local Waitrose, dressing up in disguises to do so. The duke writes: 'Equally anonymous, I grabbed a basket, walked casually up and down the aisles. Beside the fruit and veg I felt her stroll past me. Actually, it was more a saunter than a stroll. Very saucy. We slid our eyes towards each other, just an instant, then quickly away.' 6. She really is magic, I thought. Even the seals know it.' During a trip to Scotland, Prince Harry details how he and Meghan walked down to the beach, where they encountered several seals. He writes: 'Just as Pa instructed, I ran to the waters edge, sang to them. Serenaded them. Arooo. No answer. 'Meg joined me, and sang to them, and now of course they sang back. She really is magic, I thought. Even the seals know it.' 7. I read them as a citation, a remembrance, a proclamation. I read them as a decree.' Towards the end of the book, Harry writes how he helped a doctor deliver his daughter Lilibet. He writes that the family quickly returned home and settled into life as a family of four. He details one intimate moment with Meghan, saying they were 'skin to skin' when she told him: 'Ive never been more in love with you than in that moment.' He continues: 'She jotted some thoughts in a kind of journal. Which she shared. I read them as a love poem. I read them as a testament, a renewal of our vows. I read them as a citation, a remembrance, a proclamation. I read them as a decree.' He goes on to say Meghan calls him 'her love' and 'not a spare'. 8. 'Time, as the doctor predicted, would fix my todger. When would it work its magic on my heart?' Prince Harry describes his brief romance with model Florence Brudenell-Bruce, now Florence St George Prince Harry describes his regrets over his break-up with Chelsy Davy and admits it was difficult seeing her at Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding. 'I also felt a certain way about the hungry-looking men trailing after her, circling her, nagging her to dance,' he said, admitting he'd felt jealous and told Chelsy as much. 'Time, as the doctor predicted, would fix my todger. When would it work its magic on my heart?' the Prince mused. His friends were trying to help by setting him up with other women and one of them was model Florence Brudenell-Bruce. They went out for drinks with a group of friends and then back to Clarence House for a nightcap. After the party broke up he offered to give 'Flea' as she was nicknamed, a lift home to Notting Hill. Seeming to allude to something happening between the pair that night, he wrote: 'She invited me up for a cup of tea. Sure, I said. I asked my bodyguard to drive around the block a few hundred times.' 9. 'I could take out a cactus from three miles away with a Hellfire missile but I couldnt quite find her lips' Prince Harry describes one of his first dates with ex-girlfriend Cressida Bonas, who he was set up with by his cousin Princess Eugenie, after which he gave her a lift home. 'She didnt invite me in. I didnt expect her to, didnt want her to. Take it slow, I thought,' he recalled. However he decided that the time was right to attempt a kiss. 'I leaned in to give her a kiss, but my aim was off. I could take out a cactus from three miles away with a Hellfire missile but I couldnt quite find her lips. 'She turned, I tried again on the return trip, and we managed something like a graze. Painfully awkward.' He spoke to Eugenie the next day who had already heard Cressida's report that the encounter was 'awkward' but luckily she was willing to try again. She once slammed 'news media' for 'trying to capitalize on violence' The snapper is passionate about various cases like the BLM movement She has worked with a slew of famous faces like Greta Gerwig and Emily Blunt Prince Harry is being ridiculed over his new People magazine cover - with many social media users accusing the outlet of photoshopping his bushy hair, bright blue eyes, and full beard - but who is the photographer behind the controversial new shoot? Los Angeles-based 'news media'-hating photographer Jenna Jones was the one who snapped the photos, and she built up quite the portfolio before working with the Duke of Sussex, 38 - snapping a slew of A-list celebrities like Olivia Wilde and Mandy Moore over the years. Other famous faces that she's worked with in the past include Greta Gerwig, Emily Blunt, Colman Domingo, Kiki Layne, Lily Rabe, Madeline Brewer, Austin Crute, and Megan Ferguson. According to her website, Jenna specializes in 'portraits, fashion, beauty, behind-the-scenes, and brand photography.' Prince Harry is being ridiculed over his new People magazine cover - with many social media users accusing the outlet of photoshopping his bushy hair, bright blue eyes, and full beard Who is the photographer behind the controversial new shoot? Los Angeles-based 'news media'-hating photographer Jenna Jones (seen) was the one who snapped the photos Jenna (second from right) built up quite the portfolio before working with the Duke of Sussex, 38 - snapping a slew of A-list LA celebrities like Olivia Wilde and Mandy Moore over the years She has also photographed projects for big brands like True Botanicals, Garnier, Eddie Bauer, and Caudalie. Jenna appears to be very outspoken about the things she's passionate about, and back in 2020, she announced that she was launching a project supporting the Black Lives Matter movement. At the time, she slammed the 'news media,' accusing them of 'trying to capitalize on violence' in a scathing post. 'I choose to share images of peaceful protesting. The news media is trying to capitalize on sensationalizing the violence, further dividing us as a country,' she wrote on her Stories. She also said at the time that she was going to donate all the proceeds she made from people buying her prints to Color of Change, a company that designs campaigns to 'end practices that unfairly hold black people back,' as well as The King Center, a nonprofit organization founded by Martin Luther King Jr.'s wife Coretta Scott King, which is dedicated to 'educating on nonviolent social change.' Jenna hosted her first gallery show in Los Angeles, California, for one day only last year - on September 28 - entitled Spiral. 'This collection of images means so much to me and Im forever grateful to the folks who made it all possible,' she gushed at the time, while promoting it on Instagram. Her latest project is called Modern Witch, which she teased on social media last October. 'So incredibly excited to start this new project. Stay tuned,' she wrote alongside a dark and ominous photo that showed model Andrea Amez posing in the woods. While promoting her new shoot with Harry, Jenna said that she was 'so honored' to 'capture and get to know' him. In 2020, Jenna slammed the 'news media,' accusing them of 'trying to capitalize on violence' in a scathing post According to her website, Jenna specializes in 'portraits, fashion, beauty, behind-the-scenes, and brand photography' She has photographed projects for big brands like True Botanicals, Garnier, Eddie Bauer, and Caudalie She also called the prince 'so funny, warm, charming, and deeply caring' in a gushing post on Instagram. People shared a sneak peek of the cover via Twitter this morning, with the full issue set to drop on January 23, but many people on the web quickly started to mercilessly mock the way that Harry looked on it. On the front of the magazine, a tanned Harry could be seen smirking towards the camera in a button-down blue shirt. Other photos from the shoot showed him starring deeply into the distance, as well as laughing with his arms crossed. But his sun-kissed skin, exceptionally vivid eyes, and extraordinarily long hair seen throughout the shoot left many social media users wondering if the pictures 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,' one person joked. Another added: 'Y'all should get an award for the amount of photoshop that went into this pic.' Someone else 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?' a different person asked. 'The photoshop,' another wrote with a skull emoji, while someone else chimed in: 'How many hair plugs is he wearing in his pic? And who does he think he's fooling?' 'Does he wear a wig?' another tweet read. Harry's sun-kissed skin, exceptionally vivid eyes, and extraordinarily long hair in the cover shoot left many social media users wondering if the images 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. He is seen in 2018 On the other hand, some people gushed about how 'good' Harry looked in the shoot. 'Dashing,' one supportive tweet read, while another said: 'OK, Harry looks like a snack.' In his sit-down interview with People, the father-of-two defended his brand new memoir Spare, which dropped on January 10 and was filled with a series of bombshell accusations about his family members and intimate details about his time as a royal 'Handsome prince,' a different user wrote. In his sit-down interview with People, the father-of-two defended his brand-new memoir, Spare, which dropped on January 10, and was filled with a series of bombshell accusations about his family members and intimate details about his time as a royal. He called the book 'a continuation of his mental health journey' and explained 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,' Harry said. '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.' The first time Daisy found herself in the same room as both of her birth parents, her father was being tried for raping her mother. She had always known that she was adopted. Yet it was only when she turned 18 that she discovered the true, terrible circumstances of her conception. Her birth mother was just 13 when she was raped by 29-year-old Carvel Bennett a fact known to social services and reported to police in 1975, though no action was taken. It is only thanks to Daisy's dogged determination that Bennett was finally sentenced to 11 years' imprisonment for his crime at Birmingham Crown Court in 2021. Though it may sound like the script for a courtroom drama, sadly Daisy, now 47, has been denied her Hollywood ending. Daisy and her birth mother are not currently in contact. The first time Daisy found herself in the same room as both of her birth parents, her father was being tried for raping her mother 'There were no hugs or celebrations when he was finally convicted,' says Daisy, wistfully. 'I told my birth mother how proud I was of her on the day she gave evidence to the court, she showed incredible courage and dignity. 'That was devastating, and I really wish she hadn't had to relive her ordeal, but I don't regret pursuing the case. The sense of injustice was too strong and the evidence compelling I'm living, breathing proof of the crime he had committed.' It was the painful knowledge that she like any child conceived from rape was also a victim of her father that propelled Daisy to ensure he was finally put behind bars. Yet had her birth mother refused to co-operate, or passed away, she would have been denied recourse to justice. Even now, she is entitled to no state-funded legal or therapeutic support. While exact figures are hard to come by, research by the Centre for Women's Justice, a legal charity which supported Daisy's case, estimates between 2,080 and 3,356 babies were conceived through rape in 2021 in England and Wales alone. Of women who conceive through sexual violence, around 30 per cent opt to have abortions, while around another 30 per cent give the child up for adoption. In July, Alison Thewliss, MP for Glasgow Central, told the House of Commons that 1,830 mothers in the UK had declared 'a child born of rape' in official child benefit forms submitted to the Department for Work and Pensions, during the previous year. 'That's a lot of people living in pain and shame through absolutely no fault of their own,' says Daisy, a social worker. 'I'm legally forced to hide my identity publicly because my birth mother has the right to anonymity, as a rape victim. It makes me feel as if my very existence is still shrouded in shame.' Daisy tried to spare her mother the anguish of a court appearance by arguing that, given sex with a child under 16 is statutory rape, her DNA alone should have been enough to secure an 'evidence-based conviction'. But she was told repeatedly by police officers that this is not the case. A year after the conviction, this clever, articulate woman, who has seen 'very dark days' and years of therapy, is fighting to see others conceived through rape treated as 'secondary victims' enabling them to become complainants in criminal investigations. And her efforts have not been in vain. She has now won the backing of the Commons Justice Committee for the introduction of Daisy's Law, which would do just that, and provide them with access to both legal and psychological support. In November, she appeared before MPs and peers to secure further support, and is now waiting on the Government's response. 'My whole life has been determined by the crime he committed I wouldn't be here now if a 29-year-old man hadn't raped a 13-year-old child,' says Daisy. Yet she has been treated in law as a mere 'product' of rape, a term she calls 'insulting and hateful'. Alison Thewliss, MP for Glasgow Central, told the House of Commons that 1,830 mothers in the UK had declared 'a child born of rape' in official child benefit forms 'We need a change in that law to ensure those of us born in these circumstances are given all the support we deserve.' Daisy was 13 when her adoptive parents first let her see the social services documents that showed her mother was just 14 when she was born and her birth father 'between 30 and 35'. It wasn't until she reached adulthood that it began to dawn on her that her conception was a crime scene. Further documents referred to her traumatic start as 'sexual intercourse without consent' but stopped short of calling it by its criminal name: rape. She was 20, and at university, when she traced her biological mother and exchanged letters and photographs with her before going to visit. 'I remember stepping off the train and my birth mum and I looked so alike, even down to our hairstyles. Her youngest child, who was only a toddler, was very confused,' recalls Daisy. 'He was looking from one of us to the other and saying: 'Mummy? Mummy?' This was no big emotional reunion. 'I think we hugged later on but she's not outwardly affectionate. I guess she learnt early in life to suppress her emotions.' It transpired that Daisy's mum was seven months pregnant before she told anyone she was expecting, meaning she missed out on most of her pre-natal care and abortion was no longer an option. It was also the first her family knew of the rape. Although social services were involved, no one has been able to explain why no police action was taken against Bennett. In her mid-20s, Daisy plucked up courage to send her birth mother a letter asking about her biological father. She pointed out that if she wanted to pursue a prosecution, her existence would be irrefutable DNA evidence. Unhappy at the prospect, her mother asked her to forget the idea. However, ten years later, in 2012, when there was much talk in the media about historical child sex abuse cases, Daisy decided to pursue her father in the hope of bringing an evidence-based prosecution, sparing her mother a court ordeal. The Centre for Women's Justice estimates between 2,080 and 3,356 babies were conceived through rape in 2021 in England and Wales alone (stock image) She requested more information about her birth family and, after finally finding an address for her father, knocked on his door in 2015, wearing a hidden camera. 'My boyfriend at the time went with me, thankfully, as my heart was pounding,' she says. 'I said: "I think I'm your daughter" and he sort of smiled and invited us in.' When she asked Bennett if he'd had sex with her mother, his reply sickened her: 'Just because you have sex with someone doesn't mean you make a baby.' Daisy was determined he would face justice, but it was another six years by which time her mother agreed to give evidence via video before the case came to trial. Bennett pleaded not guilty. Yet so compelling was the evidence, it took the jury just two hours to find him guilty. 'The conviction was 46 years too late and the result of huge courage on my mother's part and nine years of hard work from me and my overriding feeling was utter relief,' says Daisy. 'His sentence was longer because I had been born as a result of his crime. Finally, justice had been done.' But the consequences of Bennett's crime on Daisy's childhood and the rest of her life can never be undone. Although she enjoyed many of the privileges of middle-class life with her adoptive parents a lovely home in a village in the South-East and annual holidays in the Mediterranean Daisy says that, partly because they are white and she is black, she always felt like an outsider. 'Until I met my birth mother I'd never seen someone who looks like me,' she says. 'I lost touch with my genealogical links, cultural links, community links, everything. My whole life was determined by his act of violence.' And while many people who are adopted long for their own children, Daisy couldn't contemplate it. 'If my own beginnings hadn't been so messy and complicated, I would probably have felt differently,' she says. Rachel*, 34, is all too familiar with the consequences of this most inauspicious start in life. Her mother was 20 when she was raped, at gunpoint, by a friend of her older sister in his flat. Although she discovered she was pregnant six weeks later, she was too scared to report the crime to police and her family, when they discovered she was pregnant a few months into the pregnancy, 'brushed the circumstances under the rug'. Rachel's mother decided to keep her, and loved her, but couldn't protect her from the trauma of discovering she was conceived from rape. 'I found out in the most awful way,' says Rachel. 'I was 14 and arguing with my mum about something trivial when I blurted out: 'You never tell me where my dad is! You probably pushed him away with your nagging!' And she just screamed at me: 'I was raped!' 'It felt like time stood still. I couldn't speak. All I wanted was to be alone to process this horrific news.' It was years before her mum discussed it with her again. 'That's when I found out it happened at gunpoint.' Rachel's mum has gone on to become a successful lawyer and, acutely aware of how difficult it would be to prove, all these years later, that the sex was unconsensual, will not contemplate legal action against her attacker. Rachel has enough information, if she wanted, to trace her biological father, whose name was not included on her birth certificate. If Daisy's Law comes into effect, she would be able to explore the possibility of a criminal prosecution being brought against him, with her as DNA evidence, even if her mother does not want to give evidence. 'A mother's stress can impact a baby from the moment of conception and my mother is still traumatised,' says Rachel. 'Having a genetic link to someone who could do something so horrific has created an identity crisis. We're both victims of this crime.' Suffering with depression and anxiety for years, she has long self-medicated with alcohol. 'How I came into the world has negatively impacted my whole life,' she says. Although she would love to have children, she adds: 'I struggle to trust men, which means I've never had a serious relationship.' Such fears of long-term effects plague Susan*, 52, who gave up her career as a nurse to become legal guardian to her granddaughter, now aged six, who was also conceived in rape. Her daughter was 18 and living alone in London in early 2016 when a friend asked if her uncle, who was about to be released from prison, could stay at her flat until he found somewhere more permanent. The ex-convict held her hostage, raping her repeatedly, for a month. Although she spoke to her family on the phone, she was too terrified to tell them what was happening. It was only when one morning she escaped in her pyjamas and fled to a petrol station, where police were called, that Susan learned of her daughter's horrific ordeal. Her attacker was arrested but claimed they had a consensual sexual relationship and denied keeping her hostage. He was released as the Crown Prosecution Service did not believe there was enough evidence to secure a conviction. This was despite police, who were aware of his criminal history, warning that he was such a 'dangerous man' that they installed panic buttons in Susan's home, while her daughter was moved to a safe house. Susan's daughter discovered she was pregnant while being examined by a doctor at the rape centre where she was taken. Too traumatised to contemplate a termination, she decided to keep the baby, but began experiencing seizures and self-medicating with alcohol and cannabis after the birth. Susan stepped in before social services took the baby into care, and, following several failed attempts for her daughter to resume parental care, has been her granddaughter's special guardian for three years. 'My daughter is deeply traumatised tragically, her own daughter represented something very unpleasant that had happened to her,' says Susan. 'Having been born from that, my granddaughter is traumatised, too. She has meltdowns where she screams and can be aggressive and has a condition called RAS reflex anoxic seizures whereby in times of sudden stress, pain or fright she can collapse and temporarily stop breathing while her heart rate slows down and has even stopped on terrifying occasions. 'There is a lot of evidence about the impact on neurodevelopment in a baby when a mother experiences a stressful pregnancy, followed by poor attachment in their early months, and the impact is ongoing. 'Although she hasn't yet asked about her 'father' I know the day will come when I have to break the terrible news of how she came into the world.' Susan's granddaughter occasionally still sees her mum who retains parental responsibility as that would only be rescinded were she adopted. And as a 'looked after child', she has access to the Adoption Support Fund for any therapeutic help she might need. Were greater provisions made under Daisy's Law for children conceived in such bleak circumstances, her granddaughter would be entitled to compensation and ongoing financial and therapeutic state support. Hearing stories like Susan's helps spur Daisy on. 'The judge presiding over my mother's rapist's trial told me 'I see you as as much of a victim of this crime as your birth mother', words I'd waited decades to hear,' she says. 'The next step now must be a recognition of this in law.' To support the Daisy's Law campaign visit crowdjustice.com/case/forgotten-victims * Some names have been changed An independent bookshop in Swindon has gone viral after its quirky display of Prince Harry's memoir Spare - event catching the attention of the Greek royals. Bert's Books' displayed the memoir alongside UK-based author Bella Mackie's novel How to Kill Your Family. The display gained thousands of likes and numerous comments when it posted on social media, including from Crown Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece, whose late father-in-law is Prince William's godfather. On Tuesday, the 54-year-old royal shared a pictured on her Instagram story of the Duke of Sussex's newly released book, in the Bert's Books' display. Crown Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece took to Instagram to share this cheeky books display from Bert's Books' in Swindon. The independent bookshop has displayed Prince Harry's memoir Spare alongside Bella Mackie's novel How To Kill Your Family Marie Chantal posted the picture without any text. But it certainly attracted a lot of attention, with many people subsequently re-sharing her story. Crown princess Marie-Chantal is married to Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece, whose father King Constantine II was one of Prince Williams godparents. Meanwhile, the Prince of Wales is a godfather to Pavlos eldest son Prince Constantine Alexios. Author of How To Kill Your Family, Bella Mackie has reveled in the attention and has enjoyed the cheeky display put on by the Swindon bookshop. Princess Marie-Chantal (pictured) shared the quirky display on her Instagram story, but did not include any text Prince Harry's memoir hit UK bookshops' shelves earlier this week. However, Bert's Books' has revealed that they only had a small amount of pre-orders The 39-year-old, who is married to Radio 1's Greg James, responded to the bookshop's post saying: 'Thank you to the 8,000 people who've sent me this today. 'And thank you @bertsbooks, what an honour', followed by a knife emoji. How To Kill Your Family follows protagonist Grace Bernard, 28, who attempts to eliminate family members to exact revenge on her father for abandoning her and her mother when Grace was a baby. Shop owner Alex Call, 35, told the BBC that his staff thought the display was 'quite light-hearted and [would] make a few people smile.' Bert's Books' thought it would be 'light-hearted' to display Spare with Mackie's novel, which follows protagonist Grace Bernard, 28, attempt to eliminate her family members to exact revenge on her father In the post - which coincided with the book's release - the shop tweeted: 'Anyway, we do have some spare copies of Spare if you want one', alongside a photo of its window display which shows copies of Spare next to Bella Mackie's book How to Kill Your Family. It was later told that despite Spare dominating headlines for the past week, the shop didn't expect it to be a bestseller for long. While Bert's Book' had received only a small number of pre-orders, which they speculated was due to its 'steep' price of 28. Prince Harry pictured with brother Prince William, who is godfather to Crown Princess Marie-Chantal and Crown Prince Pavlos' son The Greek royals were close with Queen Elizabeth II and when she died Crown Prince Pavlos, who was her third cousin said she was 'one of the most wonderful people ever.' Speaking on the BBC, Prince Pavlos, 55, said the Queen, who was his third cousin twice removed, always supported his family and showed them great kindness. He said: 'The Queen has always been a very kind person to my famiy. Always received with a smile. 'My parents were very well taken care of by her when we left Greece and lived in England for years after.' Prince Pavlos added his father was a 'confidant' for the Queen throughout their years in the UK, after he was forced to flee the country with his family following a coup. READ MORE: Prince Harry mocks the monarchy: Duke ridicules royal tradition (with the help of Hollywood star Tom Hanks) as he kicks off latest interview on The Late Show with skit featuring trumpet fanfare and heralds in uniforms Writer Bella Mackie: I ran from misery and towards happiness with Radio 1 DJ Greg James SARAH VINE: Flinching every time I walk past a pub garden, ringing in the ears at the mention of bridesmaids' dresses. Argh! Prince Harry has given me PTSD - that's Post Traumatic Spare Disorder She is a successful society businesswoman and mother-of-five whose children are already forging their own successful paths in life - but now, following the death of King Constantine of Greece, Princess Marie-Chantal can also add Queen to her list. The fashion designer, 54, married Pavlos in 1995 but despite her husband being Greece's crown prince, he will never take the throne because of the Greek monarchy was deposed and scrapped in 1973. However she's worth an incredible 2billion herself - thanks to a fortune which springs from her American investor father Robert Miller, 83, who is the duty free shopping king of Asia and America after setting up a single shop in Hong Kong in 1960. Here FEMAIL reveals the extraordinary life of Marie-Chantal... She is a successful society businesswoman and mother-of-five whose children are already forging their own successful paths in life - but now, following the death of King Constantine of Greece, Princess Marie-Chantal can also add Queen to her list Born in London, she was raised in Hong Kong until the age of nine, went she went to boarding school in Switzerland. Her father Robert would later set up an investment business that would make him and his family even more money - 420million in 2018 alone. In the Eighties she attended a bilingual school in Paris before transferring to the Masters School in New York for her senior year of high school. Marie-Chantal married Pavlos in 1995 but despite her husband being Greece's crown prince, he will never take the throne because of the Greek monarchy was deposed and scrapped in 1973 (pictured with their five children) Marie-Chantal has a long history of associating with the rich and famous; before she married into the royal family, the London-born blonde worked for Andy Warhol Marie-Chantal has a long history of associating with the rich and famous; before she married into the royal family, the London-born blonde worked for Andy Warhol. She began a degree in History of Art at NYU in 1993, and it was in the city that she met Prince Pavlos for the first time. The couple met on a blind date set up by New York investment banker Alecko Papamarkou, a mutual friend who was convinced they would hit it off. 'We clicked,' the Princess told Vanity Fair in 2008. 'It was love at first sight. I knew that he was the person I would marry.' She began a degree in History of Art at NYU in 1993, and it was in the city that she met Prince Pavlos for the first time (pictured) Her fortune springs from her American investor father Robert Miller, 83, who is the duty free shopping king of Asia and America after setting up a single shop in Hong Kong in 1960 (pictured, Robert) Their wedding was the largest gathering of royals in London since Queen Elizabeth's wedding to Prince Philip in 1946. Among those who attended were the royal families of Britain, Spain, Sweden, Belgium, Romania, Jordan and Bulgaria. The couple moved to Manhattan, where they had Olympia, before moving to London in 2002 so their children could have a European education. The couple now have five children: daughter Olympia, 23, and four sons: Constantine, 21, Achileas, 19, Odysseas, 15, and 11-year-old Aristidis. Marie-Chantal's wedding was the largest gathering of royals in London since Queen Elizabeth's wedding to Prince Philip in 1946 Fashion model and socialite Princess Olympia was once rumoured to have had a fling with Prince Harry. In 2000, she launched her luxury childrenswear brand Marie-Chantal, which has since gone on to amass celebrity and royal fans including Kate Middleton. The Greek royals have lived between New York and London since 2004, with Marie Chantal running a children's clothing line out of the UK. Together the family enjoy a life befitting of the world's mega wealthy, splitting their time between their stunning Upper East Side New York home and holidays around the world. The Greek royals have lived between New York and London since 2004, and often attend royal events in the UK (pictured, at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding in 2018) As well as the New York home, the Greek royals have four other properties around the world including a house in London, a Cotswolds estate, a holiday home in the Bahamas, as well as a country retreat in Yorkshire As well as the New York home, the Greek royals have four other properties around the world including a house in London, a Cotswolds estate, a holiday home in the Bahamas, as well as a country retreat in Yorkshire. These days, Marie-Chantal runs her own eponymous children's clothing label, which is stocked in boutiques and stores worldwide. The princess's designs have proved popular among celebrities with Nicky Hilton's flower girls famously wearing her creations in July 2015. In 2016, the glamorous royal teamed up with Marks & Spencer for an exclusive 33 piece collection of clothing, accessories and gifting designed for baby and children. Marie-Chantal regularly shares snaps of her family's holidays on her Instagram page, where she has amassed over 240k fans Meanwhile Marie-Chantal, whose own family was arguably even wealthier than the royal one she married into, also shares photos snuggling up with her husband The mother-of-five's capsule collection was influenced by the signature style seen in her high end line of kids clothes which retails up to 250 for a fraction of the price. Prices start at 6 for socks, and up to 60 for the shawl, clothing starts at 18 for the top and goes up to 36 for the dress. Meanwhile in 2020, she released a book, Manners Begin at Breakfast: Modern Etiquette for Families. But while Marie-Chantal, whose own family was arguably even wealthier than the royal one she married into, has always enjoyed the finer things in life, she explained that when it comes to parenting things are surprisingly simple - and do not change based on how much money you have in the bank. As well as her successful children's clothing line, in 2020, she released a book, Manners Begin at Breakfast: Modern Etiquette for Families For the well-heeled society supermum claims the key to raising successful children is to simply teach them the value of having good manners and conducting themselves in a courteous fashion. 'It's statistically proven that children who have beautiful manners do better in life,' she explained in an interview with Hello! magazine. 'That child will be remembered for being polite.' In her interview with Hello!, she explained that it is important to start teaching children these lessons from a young age. She said: 'I believe children should be taught from a young age how to behave in a caring and mindful way. They need to be taught to be aware of others and to be instilled with these simple values when they are still so sponge-like. Marie-Chantal's daughter Olympia has become a socialite and model, who is rumoured to have once dated Prince Harry 'Once children are older the lessons are much harder to just accept. I certainly like to think Olympia has taken it all on board,' she said, referring to her eldest. Meanwhile Marie-Chantal has certainly amassed a wealth of fans online, with an incredible 213K followers on Instagram. There, she shares snapshots of her family's lavish lifestyle - from jaunts aboard in Greece to photographs of her brood at one of their many homes. Recent images show the group of seven posing in black tie at Christmas, while another photo reveals the lavishly decorated Thanksgiving table. The couple remain a fixture at royal events across Europe, and were recently snapped at a jubilee event for Danish Queen Margrethe Meanwhile in September, they attended the funeral for the Queen in Westminster Abbey alongside Queen Anne-Marie Even though Greece hasn't officially been a monarchy since the Seventies, Marie-Chantal and her husband are still known as Their Royal Highnesses the Crown Prince and Crown Princess - and their children, too, are given these titles. King Constantine and his son the Crown Prince have no official remit, but are still active participants in royal life around Europe. The family is closely connected with the British royals as Prince William is Constantine godfather's. Prince Charles hosted a gala at Highgrove to celebrate King Constantine's 60th birthday in 2000. Read more: Will it be a happier 2023 for Denmark's royal family? They're all smiles as they arrive for glamorous New Year's dinner after rift over Queen Margrethe stripping four of her grandchildren of their titles The glamorous European royals you've never heard of! As Luxembourg's Sebastien is named as one of Britain's 'most eligible bachelors', FEMAIL reveals the other little-known catches - from Beatrice Borromeo to Prince Donatus of Schaumburg-Lippe Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece says the Queen was 'one of the most wonderful people ever' as he confirms he will represent his father King Constantine II at the funeral Sky News presenter Anna Botting has been 'stumped' by another of her daughter's maths homework questions. Reaching out to her Twitter 32,000 followers, the Oxford-educated host asked for help with the latest head-scratcher brought home by her 10-year-old. In response to Rishi Sunak's pledge to make maths compulsory for every student up to the age of 18, adults have been sharing children's maths quizzes online and Ms Botting shared another last week after the PM made the announcement. The maths homework question that Sky News' Anna Botting needed help to solve Sky News presenter Anna Botting reached out for help on Twitter with her 10-year-old daughter's maths homework which left her 'stumped' So MailOnline asks, can you solve a 10-year-old's maths homework? The maths question clearly kept Sky News at 10 presenter Ms Botting up all night as she pleaded for help on Twitter at 3.15am this morning. 'Stumped on another one (they've not yet been taught algebra) #mathshelp,' she tweeted. What is the question? There are 5 times as may pens in box A than box B. Tom moves 76 pens from box A to box B. Both boxes now have the same number of pens. How many pens are in box A now? What is the internet saying? Not long after the post Twitter user @jleuchtman posted that he though the answer was 95. A few minutes later he posted his second guess of 76. Both his answers were incorrect. A pilot, who goes on Twitter as 'plane driver plane talker', didn't even try to answer the question, writing: 'I fly planes for a job, and this hurts.' Another Twitter user Ivan Rai posted that he thought the answer was 95. Also incorrect. But TV director Jonathan Glazier posted a proof showing the correct answer - 114. What is the answer and how do you work it out? One way to work out the answer is to turn the question into simultaneous algebra equations. In the equations use a to be the initial number of pens in box A and b to be in the initial number of pens in box B. As there are five times as many pens in box A than B and when you take 76 pens out of box A and put them in box B they are equal, to get the two equations. a = 5 x b a - 76 = b + 76 From here you add 76 to both sides of the equation on the right, so that both equations equal a,which results in: a = b + 152 As both equations now equal a, you can then merge the equations to: 5 x b = b + 152 As 5 x b is really just b + b + b + b + b you can take away one b from both sides: 4 x b = 152 If you then divide 152 by four you get the value of b: b = 152 / 4 b = 38 As the number of pens in both boxes is just b (the initial number in box B) plus 76, we can easily work this out. 38 + 76 = 114 The answer is 114 pens in both boxes, but if you want to be extra sure you can also work out a, and therefore what that number is when you take out 76 pens. a = 5 x b a = 5 x 38 a = 190 190 - 76 = 14 'Mrs H' on Twitter came up with an ingenious alternative way to solve the problem But if algebra is not your strong suit, Twitter user 'Mrs H' figured out an ingenious way to model the problem using a graph. She drew box A as five equal squares and box B as one square which has two squares from box A with 76 pens in total between them transferred over. Therefore boxes A and B both have three equal squares representing a number of pens. As two of the squares are 76 pens, she figured out that one square is worth: 76 / 2 = 38 As both boxes now have three squares and she knows one is worth 38, she multiplied 38 by 3. 38 x 3 = 114 Therefore, boxes A and B both now have 114 pens each. Rishi Sunak's 'big idea' of making maths compulsory to the age of 18 was mocked last week as a 'dead cat' to distract from the NHS crisis and winter of discontent It comes after Mr Sunak's 'big idea' of making maths compulsory to the age of 18 was mocked last week as a 'dead cat' to distract from the NHS crisis and winter of discontent. In his first major speech as PM on January 4, Mr Sunak promised to equip children for the 'jobs of the future' by combating high rates of innumeracy in the UK. Young people will be forced to take 'some form' of maths delivered either through new courses or existing qualifications such as A-levels, T-levels and Core Maths. For most the drive is likely to involve practical skills rather than algebra. But Opposition parties dismissed the initiative as 'empty' - while Tories urged Mr Sunak to focus on tackling illegal immigration instead. Nigel Farage swiped that 'quadratic equations' would not help fix 'broken Britain'. Nigel Farage swiped that 'quadratic equations' would not help fix 'broken Britain' Former Cabinet minister John Redwood urged Mr Sunak to focus on tackling illegal immigration and the Channel crisis Around eight million adults in England have numeracy skills expected of primary school children, according to Government figures. Currently only around half of 16 to 19 year-olds study maths in some form. The problem is particularly acute for disadvantaged pupils, 60 per cent of whom do not have basic maths skills at age 16. Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson said the Prime Minister 'needs to show his working', as 'he cannot deliver this reheated, empty pledge without more maths teachers'. She added: 'Yet the Government has missed their target for new maths teachers year after year, with existing teachers leaving in their droves.' A Labour source said: 'In their desperation to ensure Sunak's speech doesn't happen after Keir's, No 10 have revealed they have nothing to offer the country except double maths. 'As the health service falls to pieces after 12 years of Tory rule, criminals terrorise the streets, and working people worry how their wages will last the month, the country is entitled to ask: is this it?' Former Cabinet minister John Redwood tweeted: 'As the Prime Minister turns his attention to maths teaching he should not forget his choice as most pressing priority was to stop illegal migration. 'Parliament needs to legislate urgently on small boats and public services.' Mr Farage also waded in, saying: 'So Rishi Sunak's big idea to save the nation is maths until the age of 18! How will quadratic equations help to solve broken Britain?' Adds to revelations about the pair's frosty relationship described in Harry's book Harry reveals tension was brewing between Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle from the get-go as the Duchess of Sussex's joke at her first Trooping the Colour led to a 'yawning silence'. In his explosive memoir Spare, which went on sale yesterday, Prince Harry spoke of one of his first public appearances with his wife at the celebration of the Queen's official birthday in 2018. But Harry describes how the bright atmosphere took a turn when Kate asked Meghan what she thought of the occasion and the new royal family member jokingly responded with 'colourful'. Speaking about the ensuing uneasiness, the duke writes that 'a yawning silence threatened to swallow us all whole'. Harry reveals tension was brewing between Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle from the beginning (pictured at Trooping the Color in 2018) as Meghan's joke left a 'yawning silence' Revelations of the encounter come as Harry has divulged details of the long-standing tension between the Duchess of Sussex and the Princess of Wales in his new book and across a series of interviews. During his ITV interview with Tom Bradby on Sunday, the Duke of Sussex, 38, recounted an awkward meeting that took place in summer 2018 in Kensington Palace between him, Meghan Markle and the Prince and Princess of Wales. The father-of-two claims they had organised to meet in an attempt to clear the air following a series of disagreements, including Meghan commenting on Kate's 'baby brain', which William labelled 'rude'. Meghan joked that the event was 'colourful' at one of her first public appearances with Prince Harry as newly weds Kate had asked Meghan what she thought of her first Trooping the Colour, the celebration of the Queen's official birthday Later on, the Duke describes how Kate was gripping the edges of her leather chair so tightly that her 'fingers turned white'. Commenting on the interview, royal expert and the Daily Mail's Diary Editor Richard Eden said: 'What came across was Harry's desire to change the image that we have of Catherine. We have this image of her being very poised, elegant, calm. 'But no no, he was saying she was so angry that she was gripping the edge of the furniture so hard that her knuckles were going white.' Elsewhere in his memoir, Prince Harry alleges that William 'attacked' him over his relationship with the former Suits actress in the grounds of Kensington Palace. Prince Harry had a 'desire to change the image that we have of Catherine', the Daily Mail's Diary Editor Richard Eden claimed. Pictured in December 2018 Prince Harry told Tom Bradby that the Princess of Wales was among members of the Royal Family who 'stereotyped' his wife Meghan Markle when they first started dating The expert added: 'He also makes it sound like Catherine wanted to strangle Meghan! It's really dramatic stuff.' During the ITV interview, Prince Harry opened up about his family's initial reaction to his relationship with Meghan Markle in an interview with his friend Tom Bradby. Although the Duke claims the Prince and Princess of Wales were 'religious viewers' of Suits, he agreed with Tom Bradby that it was 'fair' to say that his family 'didn't get on' with his wife 'almost from the get-go'. He explained: 'There was a lot of stereotyping that was happening, that I was guilty of as well, at the beginning.' He said the 'stereotyping' of Meghan, in part by William and Kate, was causing a 'barrier' to his family, preventing them from 'welcoming her in.' Prince Harry said the Royal Family 'weren't expecting him to get into a relationship with someone like Meghan Markle'. Pictured: the couples in November 2018 At first, the then Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the newly engaged couple were dubbed the 'Fab Four' by the British press. However, Prince Harry said during his ITV interview that it was a challenge adding Meghan into the dynamic he already shared with William and Kate. When asked why Meghan 'didn't get on' with his family from the 'get-go-', he explained: 'Lots of lots of different reasons but I look, as I again detail a lot, I had put a lot of hope in the idea that, you know, it'd be William and Kate and me and whoever. 'I thought the you know, the four of us would, you know, bring me and William closer together, we could go out and do work together, um, which I did a lot as the third wheel to them, um, which was fun at times but also, I guess slightly awkward at times as well. 'But um yeah, I think I don't think they were ever expecting me to get or to become to get into a relationship with with someone like Meghan who had, you know, a very successful career.' The Princess of Wales and Duchess of Cambridge pictured attending the Wimbledon women's singles final together in 2019 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' January 2023: Harry's memoirs reveals new rifts between the Sussexes and the Wales' Advertisement What's more, Prince Harry backed up Meghan Markle's claim that her sister-in-law made her cry ahead of their May 2018 wedding in his memoir. In October 2018, it was reported that a conflict over Princess Charlotte's bridesmaid dress had left Kate in tears. One unnamed friend claimed Kate wanted to follow 'protocol', with the bridesmaids, including Charlotte, then three, wearing tights but Meghan disagreed. In his book Revenge, Tom Bower claimed unnamed sources told him the Duchess of Cambridge and Duchess of Sussex disagreed over the length of Princess Charlotte's hemline and the fit of her dress. He also claimed Meghan's 'insistence' was 'supported' by bridesmaid Jessica Mulroney, adding: 'Some would say that Meghan compared Ivy [Mulroney's daughter] favourably against Charlotte'. The Duchess of Sussex later disagreed in her bombshell Oprah Winfrey interview, claiming it was the other way around and adding: 'She [Kate] was upset about something, but she owned it, and she apologised. And she brought me flowers'. Asking Harry about Kate and Meghan's disagreement, Tom Bradby said: 'Your version of it in this book is it was the other way round, Meghan was the one left in tears, Kate came round the next day with flowers to apologise and youre careful to say theres a witness.' In response, Prince Harry admitted that 'tensions were high' at the time and blasted the Palace for not issuing a statement regarding the story. He continued: 'They were more than happy to put out statements for less volatile things. My understanding is the reason they didnt want to come out and say it wasnt true would therefore lead to Well if it wasnt that, was it the other way round? When in fact you didnt need to confess that it was the other way round. Right, tensions were high.' Shortly before Harry and Meghan quit the Royal Family in January 2020, the Duke of Sussex alleged the Prince of Wales grabbed him by the collar and threw him to the floor, shattering a dog bowl with his back. The furious row allegedly broke out in the kitchen of his London home, Nottingham Cottage, in the grounds of Kensington Palace in 2019. William is said to have branded Meghan 'difficult', 'rude' and 'abrasive' and insisted he was trying to help his younger brother during a meeting about 'the whole rolling catastrophe' of their failing relationship and Harry's rows with the Press. Harry claims William was not being rational during their argument about Meghan, leading to a shouting match (Pictured: Harry and William arrive to hold a vigil in honour of Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Hall in September last year) Harry accused his brother of 'parroting the Press narrative' about his American wife before a screaming match ensued, ending in a physical altercation, the book claims. He says he gave the heir to the throne a glass of water and said: 'Willy, I can't speak to you when you're like this'. Describing what he claims happened next, and insisting he was scared, the former soldier said: 'He set down the water, 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 dog's 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'. Harry claims that William had then urged him to fight back, saying that is what would happen when they scrapped as children. But the duke claims he refused, claiming that William left and then returned 'looking regretful, and apologised'. William then 'turned and called back: "You don't need to tell Meg about this".' Harry claims he said: 'You mean that you attacked me?', to which William replied: 'I didn't attack you, Harold'. Harry says that the first person he spoke to about it was his therapist, on the phone. But he claims Meghan would see the cuts 'scrapes and bruises' on his back from the dog bowl. He claims his wife 'wasn't that surprised, and wasn't all that angry. She was terribly sad'. Read More: Will there be any way back for Harry and Charles after his searing attack on Camilla? Prince branded Queen Consort 'dangerous' and accused her of plot to marry his father in Tom Bradby sit down despite King 'warning him criticising his wife was a red line' Harry suggests he and Meghan will NEVER give up their royal titles after Anderson Cooper asked why they don't renounce them and live privately during explosive 60 Minutes interview: Prince blasts 'what difference would that make?' Royal family were horrible to him on the day the Queen died, Harry claims in score-settling ITV interview The march has so far covered more than 3,300 km. The Congress is planning to take out another Bharat Jodo Yatra, starting from Porbandar in Gujarat on October 2. (Photo: PTI) New Delhi: As the Bharat Jodo Yatra heads towards its conclusion, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has written a letter to the presidents of 21 like-minded political parties inviting them to the closing ceremony of the Bharat Jodo Yatra on January 30. Bouyed by the success of the Rahul Gandhi-led yatra, the Congress is planning to take out another Bharat Jodo Yatra, starting from Porbandar in Gujarat on October 2. Citing that MPs of several political parties have walked with the yatra at different stages on the invitation of Mr Gandhi, the Congress president in his invitation letter averred, "At this event, we will commit ourselves to fighting hatred and violence, to spreading the message of truth, compassion and non-violence and to defending the constitutional values of liberty, equality, fraternity and justice for all. At this time of crisis for our country, where public attention is systematically diverted from people's issues, the yatra has emerged as a powerful voice. I hope you will participate and further strengthen its message." In view of the success of the Kanyakumari to Jammu & Kashmir yatra led by Mr Gandhi so far, the party is planning to take out another Bharat Jodo Yatra that will start from Porbandar in Gujarat on October 2 and will end in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh. The yatra is expected to cross Gujarat and then enter the poll-bound states of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Thereafter, it will move to West Bengal and Bihar. The Hath se hath jodo campaign will kick off in February. This campaign will see Congress workers going to every booth in their respective constituencies and spreading the message of the party. The details of the yatra are currently in the planning stages, though insiders claim that public contact till the Lok Sabha elections in 2024 is the main aim of the party. The proposed yatra will see extensive interaction with stakeholders in places where it passes through. Also, the participation of alliance partners will be discussed. Meanwhile, the state units of the party are already taking out local yatras. Last week itself, Mr Kharge flagged off the statewide Bharat Jodo Yatra in Bihar. The current yatra, which began on September 7 in Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, will end on January 30 in Srinagar, with Mr Gandhi hoisting the national flag. The march has so far covered more than 3,300 km, passing through Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. Prince Harry will have left the Prince and Princess of Wales 'feeling angry and betrayed' after the Duke shared Kate's personal text messages to Meghan Markle in his bombshell book, an expert has claimed. In his new memoir Spare, which hit shelves yesterday, the father-of-two detailed messages that were exchanged between the sisters-in-law ahead of Harry and Meghan's wedding in May 2018 over Princess Charlotte's bridesmaid dress. Princess of Wales allegedly Meghan over text that her daughter had been left in tears over her French couture dress which was 'too big, too long, too baggy'. In response, Meghan curtly asked the mother-of-three to take Charlotte to the tailor who had been 'standing by since 8am' at Kensington Palace. Prince Harry (pictured during his Stephen Colbert interview) has been labelled 'child-like' for publishing Kate and Meghan's text messages in his bombshell memoir Speaking to the Mirror, royal expert Ingrid Seward described the Duke of Sussex as 'childlike' for publishing the texts. The expert - who is the editor of Majesty magazine - said: 'His aggression with Kate, the sister-in-law with whom he was once so close, is just a childlike payback for what he considers is her being disloyal to Meghan.' Following their disagreement over the bridesmaid dresses, Prince Harry backed up Meghan's claim from her Oprah interview last year that her sister-in-law then sent her a bouquet of flowers to apologise. However, Ingrid said it would take much more than this for Harry to 'make it up' to the Prince and Princess of Wales following his book's publication. The Princess of Wales pictured for the first time in public today since Prince Harry's bombshell memoir Spare went on sale Kate and Meghan exchanged a series of texts (re-created, above) about the bridesmaid dress, according to Harry She added: 'They are surely feeling angry and betrayed that Harry decided to make money out of his immediate family in this disloyal way.' Before delving into Meghan and Kate's texts, Prince Harry reveals in his biography that his wife didn't reply to the Princess of Wales' query about the bridesmaid dresses 'straight away' as she had been 'dealing with the chaos surrounding her father'. On 14 May 2018, just five days before the wedding, Thomas Markle announced that he would not be attending due to health reasons. In the weeks leading up to the nuptials, the bride's father had posed for staged photos near his home in Mexico, which showed him being measured for a wedding suit and researching Windsor at an internet cafe. After informing Kate that she had arranged a tailor to sort Charlotte's dress, the Princess of Wales allegedly told Meghan that her 'own wedding gown designer' agreed with her that the frocks should be remade. 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!' Royal expert said the Prince and Princess of Wales have been left feeling 'angry and betrayed' by Prince Harry's new book Pictured: Princess Charlotte in her bridesmaid dress after the Sussex wedding in 2018 Prince Harry's new memoir Spare went on sale yesterday. In the book, he describes how the Princess of Wales was among those in the Royal Family who 'stereotyped' his wife '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. 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. There have been several different versions over the years of who made whom cry. It was initially claimed that Meghan made Kate weep, a suggestion that so incensed the Sussexes they went to war with their press office and demanded they put out a correction. When officials refused, saying it would spark more questions about the incident and set a precedent for speaking about private family matters, the couple decreed that it was another example of how the palace was unwilling to stand up for them. Harry and Meghan celebrate their wedding day in May 2018 despite tensions within the family and drama with Meghan's father 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' January 2023: Harry's memoirs reveals new rifts between the Sussexes and the Wales' Advertisement Earlier this week, the Daily Mail's Diary Editor Richard Eden claimed Prince Harry is 'determined to trash the Princess of Wales' poised reputation in his book. During his ITV interview with Tom Bradby over the weekend, the Duke of Sussex, 38, recounted an awkward meeting that took place in summer 2018 in Kensington Palace between him, Meghan Markle and the Prince and Princess of Wales. The father-of-two claims they had organised to meet in an attempt to clear the air following a series of disagreements, including Meghan commenting on Kate's 'baby brain', which William labelled 'rude'. Later on, the Duke describes how Kate was gripping the edges of her leather chair so tightly that her 'fingers turned white'. Commenting on Prince Harry's latest UK television interview, Richard Eden said the royal appeared 'determined to change views' of his sister-in-law and 'trash her reputation'. The expert said: 'What came across was Harry's desire to change the image that we have of Catherine. We have this image of her being very poised, elegant, calm. 'But no no, he was saying she was so angry that she was gripping the edge of the furniture so hard that her knuckles were going white.' The expert added: 'He also makes it sound like Catherine wanted to strangle Meghan! It's really dramatic stuff.' Read More: Prince William 'recoiled' from Meghan Markle's hug and was 'completely freaked out' by sister-in-law during their first meeting, Prince Harry reveals Royal family were horrible to him on the day the Queen died, Harry claims in score-settling ITV interview Harry suggests he and Meghan will NEVER give up their royal titles after Anderson Cooper asked why they don't renounce them and live privately during explosive 60 Minutes interview: Prince blasts 'what difference would that make?' Harry appeared on The Late Show in the Us on Tuesday in a pre-recorded interview with host Stephen Colbert The 38-year-old said he had a system for coming away with the store's best bargains - including methodically checking every garment Prince Harry reveals in Spare, released on Tuesday, that he frequently used to hit up his local T K Maxx to pick up bargains on brands such as Gap and J Crew Prince Harry has revealed he was once so fond of bagging a designer bargain at his local branch of T K Maxx that he developed 'a system' to ensure he got the best deals. Writing in his bombshell memoir Spare, which was released globally on Tuesday, the Duke of Sussex, 38, will leave fans perhaps a little surprised that a member of the royal family might once have been rifling through the racks at the popular cut-price store. Harry, who yesterday appeared on The Late Show in the US with Stephen Colbert, reveals in the book that he liked T K Maxx, known as T J Maxx across the pond, because there were often discounted garments from brands such as J Crew and Gap. The High Street Kensington branch of the chain is just a few minutes' walk from Kensington Palace, including Nottingham Cottage, the home Prince Harry shared with Meghan Markle from 2017 to 2019. Scroll down for video Prince Harry reveals in Spare, released on Tuesday, that he frequently used to hit up his local T K Maxx to pick up bargains on brands such as Gap and J Crew (The Prince pictured in casual attire in 2013 at the High Street Kensington branch of T K Maxx) The prince describes in the book how while clothes for formal functions were covered by an allowance given to him by his father, his more casual attire was down to him to purchase. He writes: 'For my everyday casual clothes I'd go to TK Maxx, the discount store. I was particularly fond of their once-a-year sale, when they'd be flush with items from Gap or J.Crew, items that had just gone out of season or were slightly damaged. If you timed it right, got there on the first day of the sale, you could snag the same clothes that others were paying top prices for down the high street!' He then describes how he developed a system to optimise his chances of going home with a bargain. Harry says he would methodically check each rack, garment by garment, would never try anything on and if he liked the look of something he would put it in the store's 'red bucket' basket. Before moving into Nottingham Cottage with Meghan, the Prince lived in a one-bedroom modest apartment in Kensington Palace, with shopping street High Street Kensington on his doorstep. A branch of the discount high street store in London's Oxford street. The 38-year-old said he had a system for coming away with the store's best bargains - including methodically checking every garment Prince Harry's memoir Spare pictured on sale at a Barnes & Noble store in Chicago this week In a pre-recorded interview which aired in the US last night, Prince Harry accused the monarchy of trying to 'undermine' his explosive memoir Spare because its controversial contents have 'perhaps made them feel uncomfortable and scared' as he launched another furious attack on the royal family in the latest in a line of TV interviews to promote his book. The 38-year-old held nothing back as he took aim at his family during an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Tuesday, where he lurched between hurling more barbs at his family and making light-hearted jokes including about his 'frost-nipped' genitals while swigging a glass of tequila. Harry also took part in a skit with Tom Hanks and clinked glasses with Colbert as he praised America as a 'great place to live' and said how much he loves 'beautiful California', sparking cheers from the audience. He whipped up the crowd on several occasions, offering them all some tequila and talking about his Army career, asking: 'Are there any veterans in the house?' One of the more serious moments during the lengthy sit-down saw Harry rounding on his relatives over the backlash to his memoir, with Colbert questioning whether he believes the royals have an 'active campaign to undermine this book'. Harry's wide-ranging sit-down with Colbert saw him flitting between slinging barbs at the royals and making light-hearted, cringeworthy jokes - including poking fun at his 'frost-nipped' penis The 38-year-old's latest attack on his family came during an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Tuesday - the latest in a line of interviews that the duke has done to tout his bombshell book Prince Harry has sensationally accused the monarchy of trying to 'undermine' his explosive memoir Spare because its controversial contents have 'perhaps made them feel uncomfortable and scared' 'Of course,' the duke responded - adding that 'the British Press' has also been complicit in the 'campaign', with Colbert chiming in: 'But aided and abetted by the Palace.' 'Again of course,' Harry confirmed. 'But this is the other side of the story, right? After 38 years, they have told their side of the story. This is the other side of the story.' The father-of-two then suggested that what he perceives as the royals' 'campaign' against his memoir has come as a result of them being 'uncomfortable and scared' over its contents. 'There is a lot in there that, perhaps, makes people feel uncomfortable and scared,' he continued. The wide-ranging interview with Colbert saw Harry address a number of topics ranging from the farcical to the furious, with the duke launching several tirades against the British Press - accusing it of 'abusing' his wife Meghan and bizarrely suggesting that it was 'embarrassing' for the media when he chose to quit the Royal Family and relocate to the US. A clip of the Duchess of Sussex with a playful dog filter has resurfaced on social media after Prince Harry described seeing her for the first time online. Writing in his explosive memoir Spare, the Duke of Sussex, 38, recounts coming across a video of Meghan with their mutual friend Violet Von Westenholz and being immediately drawn to her 'angelic face.' 'I'd never seen anyone so beautiful,' he said, saying it felt like a 'punch in the throat' because of Meghan's 'wild joy'. After the release of the royal's book yesterday, a fan tweeted an old clip, thought to be from July 14 2016, of Meghan and her Suits co-star Sarah Rafferty using a dog filter. After the release of Prince Harry's memoir Spare yesterday, a royal fan shared a clip of Meghan and Suits co-star Sarah Rafferty using a dog filter ahead of an appearance on the Today Show on July 14 2016 In the clip, the filter gives Meghan and Sarah dog ears and noses, with long pink tongues being revealed when they smile. The pair were messing around ahead of an appearance on the Today Show, on which they discussed the upcoming sixth season of legal drama Suits. At that point, Meghan had met Prince Harry twice, with their second date taking place in London ten days previously, on July 4. Prince Harry, 38, recounted that he first saw Meghan in a video where she used the social media filter with his friend Violet Von Westenholz. Pictured: a similar snap of Meghan In the short clip, Meghan and Sarah sport virtual dog ears and noses, with long pink tongues emerging as they smile The video is very similar to the one Harry came across on Instagram which led to the couple's first meeting. In the couple's explosive Netflix docu-series, released in December, Prince Harry revealed that the first time he laid eyes on Meghan, she had used a social media dog filter in a video. He also has recounted the moment in his memoir, Spare. He said his friend Violet Von Westenholz shared a video of herself with Meghan with the canine look on Instagram. Prince Harry came across the clip while scrolling on the app. The Duke of Sussex said the short clip stopped him in his tracks and he kept returning to it. 'There was an energy about her, a wild joy and playfulness,' he said. 'There was something in the way she smiled, the way she interacted with Violet, the way she gazed into the camera. Confident. Free. She believed life was one grand adventure, I could see that. What a privilege it would be, I thought, to join her on that journey.' The couple also talked about the dog filter video in their explosive Netflix docu-series Harry and Meghan with the Duchess of Sussex, 41, saying the story was 'ridiculous' He immediately asked his friend who she was, and asked her to pass Meghan his Instagram handle. When the Duke of Sussex recounted the moment in the couple's Netflix documentary, his wife giggled and said it was 'ridiculous.' 'Oh gosh, isn't that whole thing, it's got like doggy ears,' a laughing Meghan said, before Harry added: 'That was the first thing, "I was like who is that?".' His wife countered: 'That's ridiculous.' Harry messaged the friend they had in common and she mentioned it to Meghan, who stalked the Prince's Instagram feed to see 'what he was about'. However, Harry and Meghan have previously claimed they met on a blind date. In 2017 Harry told the BBC: 'It was definitely a set-up - it was a blind date. It was a blind date for sure.' Viewers questioned the variation, with one person writing on Twitter: 'Harry and Meghan are remarkably bad at remembering which lies they have told.' During the segment, Meghan also revealed the email the mutual friend sent her, which read: 'Between you and I, thought you might want to know this, being newly single and all. 'I put our Snapchat on Instagram and Prince Haz follows me (he's a friend) he called me last night dying to meet you. I just might have to set you up,' the message added. Meghan admitted she asked to see the royal's social media feed: 'So that's the thing. People say "did you Google him?" "No." 'But that's your homework. You're like "Hmm let me see what they're about in their feed," not what someone else says about them but what they are putting out about themselves. That to me was the best barometer,' she explained. 'Then we got each other's numbers. We were just constantly in touch, and I went "let's meet",' Harry added. A friend of Meghan's named Silver Tree said that Meghan texted her saying: 'Silver, you're not gonna believe this. And basically told me that she was going out on a date with him. We thought it was really funny. Like "In what world does this happen?". Read more: Crown Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece shares a cheeky picture of Prince Harry's Spare on display alongside novel How To Kill Your Family 'Time fixed my todger, when would it work its magic on my heart?': The most toe-curling quotes from Prince Harry's book - from a 'very saucy' moment in Waitrose to Meghan singing to seals Jessica Mulroney stays silent in the wake of Spare: Stylist who was Meghan's BFF before being embroiled in a race row gets no mention in Harry's book - despite Duke using publicity blitz to defend Susan Hussey In an emotionally-charged acceptance speech at last night's Golden Globes, for her role in The White Lotus, Jennifer Coolidge left the audience dabbing away tears after she paid tribute to those who'd given her all the 'little jobs' that kept her career going. The actress, 61, who was born in Massachusetts but now lives in New Orleans, scooped her second major award, following a 2022 Emmy for the same role - as Best Supporting Actress - in a career that has spanned four decades. During her moment on stage, she told the audience that the 'dreams and expectations' she had in her youth has been 'fizzled out by life' and thanked those who'd kept her career alive with 'little jobs for 20 years'. The star, who has appeared in bit-part roles in everything from Seinfeld to Friends, as well as roles in teen flicks Legally Blonde and American Pie in the early noughties, has been candid about her battles with infertility, depression and weight-gain during the lockdown. Scroll down for video A delighted Jennifer Coolidge, 61, scooped Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe for The White Lotus in LA on Tuesday - she thanked all those who'd given her the 'little jobs' along the way that had kept her career going Certainly reaching for a tissue was The White Lotus creator Mike White, who cast her in the role of Tanya McQuoid in the series which has been described as a 'social satire following the exploits of various employees and guests' at a hotel in Sicily over the course of a week. White said that the actress had inspired the whole series, telling The New York Times: 'I just wanted to write something for her and I just adore her.' Coolidge, who is officially single but is thought to be dating long-term love Tom Mahoney, said the success of her most recent role had 'changed my life in a million different ways' - joking that she was suddenly getting party invitations galore from her neighbours. She also thanked pop star Ariana Grande, who featured her in the video for her 2019 hit Thank U, Next, saying the appearance had 'changed a lot for me, sort of overnight'. She joked: 'I blame her, and I (dont know) maybe people are just like "Shes still alive, whoa, give her a salute"'. Coolidge as privileged - and selfish - Tanya McQuoid in the HBO Max series The White Lotus Her show-stopping turn as Tanya McQuoid, a hard-to-like rich woman lost in the grief of losing her mother, in the HBO Max series almost didn't happen; Coolidge has previously revealed that she almost turned the part down due to depression and weight gain following the pandemic lockdown. Speaking to The Australian last year, the 61-year-old admitted that she was 'depressed and massively overeating' while quarantining throughout 2020. She explained: 'I just felt like it was the darkest time and I never thought we would really come back from it. I was just thinking, "Who do I leave my things to?"'. Coolidge also revealed that she and her assistant were eating four vegan pizzas a day during quarantine, and the weight gain made her feel self-conscious about filming the programme. Dreams: In her acceptance speech at the Golden Globes on Tuesday, Coolidge revealed how the dreams she had as a young actress didn't materialise in the way she thought they would. Pictured: Coolidge as a student at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City While a drama student in the Big Apple, Coolidge waited tables with fellow aspiring actress Sandra Bullock Jodi in Seinfeld: In her twenties Coolidge's career was all about bit-parts and cameos In 2001, the comedy character actress was cast as Stifler's mom in American Pie That same year came another teen hit, Legally Blonde, starring as Paulette Bonafonte with Reese Witherspoon And three years later, another similar minor role, playing Fiona Film in A Cinderella Story The One With Ross' Tan: Coolidge played Amanda Buffamonteezi in a single episode of Friends in 2002 - and also picked up a role in Friends spin-off Joey She told The Guardian: 'Id been gorging and self-destructing at home for months, eating pizza all day. There was no way I wanted to be on film unless they shot me from the neck up. Im sort of vain, so there was no f***ing way,' she said. Referencing her early 'dreams' for stardom as a young actress in her acceptance speech, Coolidge added that she thought last night's success might never come as she got older. Born in Plymouth County, in Massachusetts in 1961, the aspiring actress pinned her hopes on being a major Hollywood star early on, enrolling at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City in her late teens. Whilst in the Big Apple, she worked as a waitress alongside another aspiring star, Sandra Bullock. In 2013's Austenland - it would be almost another decade before Coolidge would hit the big time in her seventh decade, after being cast in The White Lotus After her dreams of being a dramatic actress derailed, she plumped for comedy, joined improv troupe the Groundlings. Moderate success eventually came but not in the way Coolidge might once have hoped; a cameo as Jodi in Seinfeld paved the way for bigger comedy character roles, with the actress cast as Stifler's mom in American Pie making her a familiar face with teenagers everywhere. Similar roles followed in Legally Blonde, 2001, and she headed to Central Perk in 2002 - Coolidge played Amanda Buffamonteezi in The One With Ross' Tan in 2002 - and also picked up a role in Friends spin-off Joey. The actor featured in both the first and the second series of The White Lotus The show has been described as a 'social satire following the exploits of various employees and guests' at a hotel over the course of a week Sicilian drama: Coolidge picked up an Emmy for her role as Tanya - and now adds a Golden Globe to her collection The star, who's now set to get the pick of roles following her Golden Globe success has spoken honestly about her fertility; describing herself as 'barren' in an interview with Buzzfeed. She told the publication: 'I don't have any children. I was barren.' When it comes to romance, she remains officially single, although is thought to have been in a long-term relationship with Tom Mahoney. Previous dalliances, although never confirmed, include dating Chris Kattan - he referenced her in his Baby, Don't Hurt Me memoir, writing that she was a 'tall, messy, sexy, tough, charmingly crass Boston native bombshell.' It is the two series of The White Lotus that have propelled her to a new level of fame though, with a Golden Globe to add to her Emmy. Read more: Golden Globes 2023 WINNERS: Jennifer Coolidge the comeback queen leads big night for The White Lotus and House Of The Dragon scores too... 'The Oscar goes to': Nervous Jennifer Coolidge makes hilarious flub as she presents at Golden Globes in bombshell Dolce & Gabbana dress Golden Globes best dressed! Margot Robbie, Lily James, Angela Bassett and Jessica Chastain lead A-list glamour on red carpet A Prince Harry lookalike has said is now disguising himself in public after the royal's recent revelations of his Taliban 'kill count'. Rhys Whittock, 39, has worked as a Prince Harry lookalike since 2017 and has travelled all over the world with his uncanny likeness to the fifth-in-line to the throne. But after Harry revealed in his book, Spare, that he killed 25 members of the Taliban while serving the the army in Afghanistan, it was feared he may have impacted his security and that of other Royals. Now, the Prince's panicking lookalike is going incognito after his mother begged him to make sure he isn't mistaken for Harry. Rhys Whittock, 39, has worked as a Prince Harry lookalike since 2017 and has travelled all over the world with his uncanny likeness to the fifth-in-line to the throne Mr Whittock (pictured left, with other royal imitators) said: 'People mistake me for Harry every single day so it is a worry when you're the lookalike of someone facing a sudden increase in security threats' Most recently, fresh questions raised over the accuracy of Prince Harry's explosive memoir amid an error in the book over his royal ancestry. US fans of the prince have lapped up the claims in his book, which he discussed on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Elsewhere, the Princess of Wales was seen today for the first time since a slew of claims emerged in the book about an alleged argument with Meghan Markle. Mr Whittock, who is originally from Cardiff, but doesn't want to reveal where in the UK he currently lives said: 'I started to feel uneasy when I heard that Harry was talking about his time in the army. 'My mum texted me and it left me with goosebumps. It just said: "Because of Harry's admission in the army he is now a target. You need to wear glasses in public." 'People mistake me for Harry every single day so it is a worry when you're the lookalike of someone facing a sudden increase in security threats. 'Experts agree it was a mistake to release this information. He has put himself and family at extra unnecessary risk. 'I think his memoir should have been run past British security first. It's quite bizarre that it never had been, as he will require extra security in future in the UK at the coronation this year for example. Mr Whittock (pictured with a Meghan lookalike) has been playing Prince Harry at events since 2017 and was even voted 'Lookalike of the Year' by easyJet 'He will require lots of extra security for some time now. While I do look a lot like him, I'm not surrounded by an entourage when I'm out and about so I would think it should be clear to most people I'm not the real Harry but there are crazy people out there. 'I haven't been offered any security before for jobs that I carry out but I would be very hesitant to do one in the current climate without security for being mistaken as the tea Prince Harry 'Normally it's quite nice to run into people who think I'm Harry, but I've made sure I've kept my hat on over the last few days. 'As you can imagine, I've always been a big fan of Prince Harry, but I think everybody, including me, by the constant private family revelations.' Rhys claims he is still being booked for regular work, including being asked alongside a Meghan Markle lookalike to re-enact parts of their infamous Oprah interview for TV stations around the world. And he hopes he will still be able to work alongside pals who work as lookalikes for the Prince and Princess of Wales - although he admits they'll probably be posing for 'family at war' photoshoots. Mr Whittock added: 'I've always really liked Prince Harry but he needs to move forward with his life. 'The problem I see though is the constant, seemingly never-ending drip-feeding speaking out is now losing impact with the public with every new detail. 'We're tired of it and just want something much more positive. 'I am often now asked not to smile as much when I am doing lookalike work - Harry used to always be grinning, but now, people don't believe it's him if I turn up with a smile. 'Many people are concerned for Harry's wellbeing. He strikes me as being deeply unhappy, angry, paranoid and isolated. 'I have to rein-in my smiles at work because Harry doesn't smile nearly as much as he used to. People do comment I smile more than he does. The public too have noticed Harry appears less happy in public. 'I really want to see Harry smile more and be at peace with himself. 'I think much better surely would have been to vent your grievances all in one go on the Oprah interview and then move forward in life.' Prince Harry told Tom Bradby that he felt 'slightly awkward' being a 'third wheel' to Prince William and Kate Middleton before meeting Meghan. The trio pictured in 2012 The Princess of Wales and Duchess of Sussex at the Wimbledon women's singles final together in 2019 Mr Whittock added: 'Last year, when Coronavirus restrictions ended, it was the first time we'd get to experience what type of reaction the public would have towards us since the "Megxit" announcement. 'People's opinion of them seems to be split but I wondered how that would translate to public appearances for us. 'We filmed at various locations around Windsor for a promotional night club video for the Queen's Jubilee celebrations where we interacted a lot with the public, who were all happy to see us. 'When I started this lookalike career, Prince Harry was universally loved and frequently noted as the nation's second favourite royal, behind our much-loved Queen. 'He had a wicked sense of humour, seemed to have a great human touch with people - like his mother Diana - and a very good relationship with not only his brother William, but also with Catherine. 'They always appeared very close at public engagements so it's been very sad to witness these previous close family relationships break down and in a very public fashion.' A gushing post praising the Duke of Sussex for his 'courage, honesty and humor' following the release of his explosive memoir has been shared on the Duke and Duchess' official website Archewell. Prince Harry's biography Spare went on sale officially around the world yesterday, while the royal took part in a series of bombshell interviews during a PR blitz for the tome. Meanwhile a post was shared on the Duke and Duchess' website Archewell, where they share news about recent charity work as well as having information about their production company and podcast series. The statement was accompanied by a photograph of the jacket cover, along with the words: 'Congratulations Prince Harry. A gushing post praising the Duke of Sussex for his 'courage, honesty and humor' following the release of his explosive memoir has been shared on the Duke and Duchess' official website Archewell 'A huge congratulations to Prince Harry on the release of his memoir, Spare. 'As your team, we are proud to stand beside you, and celebrate you as the world finally hears your story in your words. 'Thank you for your courage, honesty, humor, and light. Youve inspired us all.' It was signed off: 'With admiration, Your staff and team at Archewell and The Private Office of The Duke & Duchess of Sussex.' In the rare update to the site, the post offered a congratulatory message to Prince Harry and praised his 'courage, honesty and humor' It was a rare update for the site, which saw it's last post almost a month ago on 19 December and bears no mention of the Duke and Duchess' explosive Netflix series. It also did not promote the Live to Lead Netflix series, which was listed as being made by New Zealand-based production company Blackwell & Ruth in association with the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the Sussexes' production company, Archewell. In December, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex lost two more members of staff from their organisation - their thirteenth and fourteenth in just a few years. Rebecca Sananes quit as head of audio at Archewell after just 18 months in the role, according to the Daily Telegraph and US gossip website Page Six. The Duke last night finished off his PR blitz by appearing on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert She was hired to produce Meghan Markles Spotify podcast, Archetypes, in July 2021, but was then replaced by media executive Serena Regan. It has not yet been decided whether a second series of Archetypes will be commissioned. Mrs Sananes is the latest in a string of senior women to have left Archewell. Mandana Dayani recently quit as president and will not be replaced. Catherine St Laurent joined Archewell as director in April 2020 but left after a year. And Toya Holness, their global secretary who joined in October 2020, left in May 2021. An Archewell spokesman said of Mrs Dayani departure: 'Her transition was mutually planned, with intent for the Duke and Duchess to now take full lead of their company. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex lost a key aide at the end of last year, The Mail on Sunday revealed (Pictured: Meghan with former Archewell president Mandana Dayani) 'There will be no replacement, and Mrs Dayani is fully supportive of the Duke and Duchess in their new leadership roles.' The latest update on the Archewell site comes as Prince Harry sensationally accused the monarchy of trying to 'undermine' his explosive memoir Spare because its controversial contents have 'perhaps made them feel uncomfortable and scared.' The 38-year-old held nothing back as he took aim at his family during an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Tuesday, where he lurched between hurling more barbs at his family and making light-hearted jokes including about his 'frost-nipped' genitals while swigging a glass of tequila. Harry also took part in a skit with Tom Hanks and clinked glasses with Colbert as he praised America as a 'great place to live' and said how much he loves 'beautiful California', sparking cheers from the audience. He whipped up the crowd on several occasions, offering them all some tequila and talking about his Army career, asking: 'Are there any veterans in the house?' One of the more serious moments during the lengthy sit-down saw Harry rounding on his relatives over the backlash to his memoir, with Colbert questioning whether he believes the royals have an 'active campaign to undermine this book'. 'Of course,' the duke responded - adding that 'the British Press' has also been complicit in the 'campaign', with Colbert chiming in: 'But aided and abetted by the Palace.' 'Again of course,' Harry confirmed. 'But this is the other side of the story, right? After 38 years, they have told their side of the story. This is the other side of the story.' The father-of-two then suggested that what he perceives as the royals' 'campaign' against his memoir has come as a result of them being 'uncomfortable and scared' over its contents. 'There is a lot in there that, perhaps, makes people feel uncomfortable and scared,' he continued. Read more: Prince Harry reveals the necklace William ripped off his neck during blazing row - and charms of his kids' heartbeats and tiger's eye stone made for him by friend in Botswana Prince Harry shares VERY intimate tale about having sex with Meghan Markle at Soho House in the early days of their relationship Prince Harry snubs entire royal family in acknowledgements section of memoir but mentions mother-in-law Doria Ragland gives 'thanks and hugs' to famous names including Oprah Winfrey, Chris Martin and James Corden Hunter, was convicted of murdering his wife Lynda in 1987 and died in 1993 A former neighbour of a convicted murderer who strangled his wife to death has revealed he used to watch her breastfeed her baby through the window. Sandra Midler and her husband Dennis, from Dundee, used to live next door to Andrew Hunter, who was given a life sentence for murdering his second wife Linda in 1987. Channel 4 documentary In the Footsteps of Killers investigates the theory Hunter may also have been responsible for one of the unsolved Templeton Woods murders in 1979 and speaks to journalists and cops involved in the case at the time, as well as people who knew the wife-killer. While speaking about her ex-neighbour, Sandra recalled telling her husband Dennis that she didn't 'feel safe' with Hunter living next door. Speaking to Professor Wilson, Sandra Midler recalled how Andrew Hunter would watch her breastfeed while he was living next door She told criminologist Professor David Wilson: 'I was breastfeeding and he walked past a path. He had no reason to be looking in at me but he used to watch me breastfeed while I was feeding a young baby. 'You know how you get the feeling at the back of your neck? He'd be sitting watching me from his window and I used to come in and say, "I don't feel safe with him watching me all the time."' Meanwhile her husband Dennis branded Hunter 'creepy' as he admitted he and Sandra rarely had anything to do with their neighbour. 'Everything about him - you felt he was a creep,' he recalled, adding he thought Hunter had been involved in the murder of Carol Lannen eight years earlier. In the Footsteps of Killers returns to Channel 4 at 10pm this evening and investigates the Templeton Woods murders of Carol Lannen (left) in 1979 and Elizabeth McCabe (right) in 1980. Presenters Emilia Fox and professor David Wilson investigate the cold case, for which no one has ever been convicted The Templeton Woods murders, as they have since been dubbed, took place in 1979 and 1980 claiming the lives of 18-year-old mother-of-one Carol Lannen and 20-year-old Elizabeth McCabe. Within 11 months of each other, Carol and Elizabeth's bodies were found in Templeton Woods in Dundee, but despite strong speculation and a murder trial, no one has ever been convicted over their deaths. The fact that both bodies were found in the woods has led to speculation over the years that Carol and Elizabeth were victims of the same serial killer, but after going over the details of the case, hosts Emilia Fox and Professor Wilson concluded it was more likely that the women were targeted by two different murderers. Over the course of the program they interviewed other criminologists, police officers who had investigated the cases at the time, and a defence lawyer to determine what may have happened to the two women. The documentary explored the theory that Andrew Hunter, who was convicted of killing his wife Lynda in 1987, also murdered Carol Lannen (Andrew and Lynda pictured on their wedding day) One interviewee was investigating officer in the Carol Lannen case, Bob Donaldson. He recalled: 'People didn't like this murder. It was bad weather, I remember them searching the snow in their old raincoats, welly boots... that negated any evidence we found.' He revealed Carol's body had been found by two dog walkers, naked and uncovered, with little attempt to disguise it. Bob also said Carol had last been seen in an area of Dundee known for 'kerb crawling' and where men would often pick up sex workers. A witness had reported seeing her get into a red Ford Cortina at around 7.30pm the night before her body was found in the woods. Carol Lannen's family has always strongly denied the mother-of-one, who left a three-month-old son behind when she died, was involved in sex work. As the hosts tried to piece together the cold case, David also interviewed George Donnelly, a defence lawyer for Vince Sampson who was charged with both murders in 2005 and later acquitted. Sandra's husband Dennis said he thought Hunter was 'a creep' and suspected he had been involved in Carol Lannen's murder eight years before he murdered his wife Lynda He revealed there was a lot of speculation in legal circles over the years that Andrew Hunter, in fact, was responsible for Carol's murder. Hunter died in jail 1993 after serving just five years of his life sentence. Later in the programme David spoke to Alexander McGregor, a journalist who covered the murder of Linda Hunter, Andrew's second wife. He revealed that Hunter's first wife Christine, whom he'd met through the Salvation Army, had taken her own life. David cast doubt on the idea she had killed herself, but McGregor replied the story was 'accepted at the time'. He explained that Hunter had strangled Linda to death using a dog lead after the pair had had an argument in the car on the way to Linda's mother's house, at which point David noted Carol had also been strangled with a ligament. McGrecor recalled the chilling detail that, after murdering his wife, Hunter returned home to go on a work night out, before going home and putting on a blonde wig before driving the car he shared with his wife down to Manchester and leaving it there. He speculated that this was a 'red herring' to make it look like Linda driven the car. He said: 'You've got to remember that Andrew Hunter wasn't on the police radar at the time of Carol Lannen's death it was only 8 years later after he murdered his wife that people like me started to think "wait a minute".' The former reporter added that, at the time of his wife's death, Hunter had been linked to a 22-year-old prostitute called Betsy - and told a chilling story about the fate of the young woman. He said: 'On the day that the police came to the house to say they'd found Linda's body over at the woods in Fife he was with Betsy. And the very next day, Betsy's found dead.' After writing an article about Hunter and Betsy, the ex-reporter recalled receiving a letter from Betsy's mother who claimed she had no idea about her daughter's sexual relationship with Hunter, and instead believed he was her social worker. Professor Wilson then posed the question of whether Hunter may have known Carol Lannen through his career as a social worker, as Carol had also been in the care system. After doing some digging and speaking to Carol's family (who did not want to appear on camera), the professor told his co-host he had managed to establish a connection between Hunter and Carole, in a care home called Harring House where Carol had stayed while pregnant and Hunter had worked. He concluded: 'They could have met each other in the care system long before Andrew hunter was a convicted murderer.' Although the program does not draw any complete conclusions, the hosts said it was likely the Templeton Murders were not the work of a serial killer and that Elizabeth McCabe and Carol Lannen had been killed by different people. However, professor Wilson said it could not be ruled out that Hunter was a serial killer and had murdered his wife Lynda, Carol Lannen and 22-year-old Betsy. Read more: It's happy news for the Monaco royal family as Charlotte Casiraghi is expecting her third child, reports have claimed. The daughter of Princess Caroline of Monaco, 36, has a son Raphael, eight, who she shares with her ex-boyfriend, Gad Elmaleh, and welcomed his brother Balthazaar, four, with her husband Dmitri in October 2018. According to French publication Voici, the niece of Prince Albert is expected to give birth later this year. The royal mother-of-two recently described the 'liberating' nature of her relationship with her mother ever since having children of her own, explaining that it opened up an opportunity to get 'feel closer'. It's happy news for the Monaco royal family as Charlotte Casiraghi is expecting her third child, reports have claimed Charlotte reportedly met Dimitri, a film producer, in Paris shortly after the breakdown of her relationship with Italian filmmaker Gad Elmaleh, with whom she has a eight-year-old son, Raphael. Rumours of a romance between Charlotte and Dimitri first started swirling in early 2017. One of their first public appearances together was at the civil marriage ceremony of Charlotte's half brother, Prince Christian of Hanover, and his wife, Alessandra de Osma, in London in November 2017. In November, she told Town & Country Magazine that parenthood has unleashed a 'transmission of the maternal link'. The daughter of Princess Caroline of Monaco, 36, has a son Raphael, eight, who she shares with her ex-boyfriend, Gad Elmaleh, and welcomed his brother Balthazaar, four, with her husband Dmitri in October 2018 'Of course, you have more empathy and you understand more things,' the 36-year-old told the outlet. 'When you become a mother there is the fact that your mother accepts that she's not the only one who's a mother.' The niece of Prince Albert of Monaco added: 'A lot of women feel that they have that power as well, to give life, and it's not something that they just owe to their mother.' Charlotte added that motherhood is 'hard to sum up', saying: 'I think every day has hard and amazing moments'. According to French publication Voici, the niece of Prince Albert is expected to give birth later this year 'Every day you go through moments when you worry for your children or when they exhaust you, and then you go through moments when you share so much with them and you don't even question the fact that they're the most important thing in your life.' Touching more on the 'complex' relationships between mothers and daughters, she explained that she tries not to speak about the 'very private' relationship with hers. 'I don't necessarily want to reveal everything that's going on between us, but it's always ambivalent,' she said. 'I feel that even when you have your own kids, you're still struggling to have your own space.' Charlotte is the second child of Princess Caroline of Hanover and the late Italian businessman Stefano Casiraghi, who died in 1990. Last year , the socialite wowed Paris Fashion Week attendees as she rode her horse around the designer's runway, cantering down the catwalk on a horse while resplendent in its signature black tweed She is accomplished equestrian and one of Chanel's most recent ambassadors. Last year, the socialite wowed Paris Fashion Week attendees as she rode her horse around the designer's runway, cantering down the catwalk on a horse while resplendent in its signature black tweed. Anna Wintour and Pharrell Williams were among the A-listers watching. Read more: Prince Albert's VERY complicated love life: As Monaco royal is seen with his two love children for the first time, how his dalliances led to multiple paternity claims before his troubled marriage to Princess Charlene Princess Charlene looks sombre in a mantilla as she joins Prince Albert for the funeral of former Archbishop of Monaco who officiated their 2011 wedding Prince Albert and Princess Charlene appear with their children in new year video message as the Monagasque royal acknowledges 'tribulations' in 2022 A woman has revealed she has never kissed her boyfriend of two years, insisting that they are waiting until marriage before engaging in anything 'physical.' Kyndel Grove, 23, based in the US, left users shocked when she dished on her two-year relationship with her beau in a video, which has amassed seven million views, disclosing that because of her Christian faith, she and her boyfriend have yet to lock lips. She explained to her more than 136,000 followers that her partner - whom she doesn't name - is her 'first boyfriend' and added that the two are waiting until they tie the knot instead of relying on 'anything physical' to maintain their relationship. Kyndel Grove, based in the US, revealed she has never kissed her boyfriend of two years 'So Im almost 24 and my boyfriend and I hes my first boyfriend weve been dating for almost two years and weve never kissed. 'And before yall call me weird and all that nonsense, because I get that all the time, were Christian,' she explained in her video. Kyndel went on to share that they have specific boundaries in their relationship, and no kissing is one of them. 'We are saving ourselves for marriage, and we have boundaries,' she said. 'For me, I never want to kiss anybody unless hes my husband because I feel like thats a special thing.' The 23-year-old then explained that she was grateful her relationship doesn't 'rely on anything physical.' Kyndel went on to share that they have specific boundaries in their relationship and no kissing is one of them 'I think thats neat,' the 23-year-old said, before explaining that she didn't care about anyone else's opinion. 'And I dont give a frick what any of you guys think, because I get hate all the time about it, but the only person Im pleasing is God, OK? 'And our marriage will be blessed, let me just say that,' she said at the end of her video. In a follow-up video, the couple clapped back at trolls who questioned if they 'shake hands' when seeing each other by filming themselves both high-fiving and shaking hands. And while social media users criticized Kyndel, she's not the first woman to come forward and reveal she had yet to become physical with her boyfriend. Kaytlin ONeall, 22, from Little Elm, Texas, shared that she and her beau had been dating for almost two years and they still haven't kissed, insisting that the lack of physical touch has positively impacted their 'balanced, healthy, and loving relationship.' Many users praised Kyndel for sticking behind her beliefs, while others couldn't believe the couple had yet to share a smooch Many users praised Kyndel for sticking behind her beliefs, while others couldn't believe the couple had yet to share a smooch. 'That's beautiful,' one user said. 'I am Christian and 100 per cent support this and so awesome to see a beautiful young lady honoring God,' another person wrote. Someone else added: 'Her- we don't rely on anything physical, me - only talks to my ex because we hook up.' Another said: 'Reminder that this is fine and its your choice but it doesnt make you any better or more valid than other type of relationships.' If you enjoyed this article... Scientists develop simple questionnaire 'that can diagnose autism with up to 95% accuracy' Kate is seen for the first time since release of Harry's memoir: Princess emerges after duke shared text messages between her and Meghan and accused her of 'stereotyping' his wife 'I'd never seen anyone so beautiful': Prince Harry reveals setting eyes on Meghan for the first time was like a 'punch in the throat' because of her 'wild joy' and 'angelic face' - even behind a funny dog filter! Prince Harry has revealed how he was criticised by his former nanny Tiggy and one of King Charles' friends following his bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey last year. In his explosive new memoir Spare, which hit shelves yesterday, the Duke of Sussex, 38, opened up about how some of those closest to him reacted to him and Meghan's television special. During the two-hour interview, which aired in March 2021, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex claimed a member of the Royal Family raised concerns about how 'dark' his son Archie's skin tone would be. Elsewhere in the interview, Prince Harry claimed the Prince of Wales and King Charles 'stopped taking his calls' in the lead-up to Megxit and sensationally revealed his family 'literally cut [him] off financially' - meaning he had to rely on his inheritance from his late mother Princess Diana. In his new memoir Spare, Prince Harry has said that his nanny Tiggy was among those who didn't understand why he gave an interview to Oprah last year. Pictured: the pair in 1997 After the interview aired, Prince Harry describes in his memoir how King Charles' close friend Emilie van Cutsem and one of her four sons was mystified by his actions. On top of this, his childhood nanny Tiggy Legge-Bourke - who looked after Harry and William following their parents' divorce in 1993 until 1999 - was also among those who questioned why he had given the interview. The Duke wrote: 'Several close mates and beloved figures in my life, including one of Hugh and Emilies sons, Emilie herself, and even Tiggy, had chastised me for Oprah. 'How could you reveal such things? About your family? I told them that I failed to see how speaking to Oprah was any different from what my family and their staffs, had done for decadesbriefing the press on the sly, planting stories.' Emilie van Cutsem was another family friend who questioned Prince Harry about his reasons for giving an interview. Pictured: Emilie (centre) next to Jack Brooksbank at Harry and Meghan's wedding in Mary 2018 Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's two-hour television with Oprah Winfrey special aired in March 2021 Further justifying his actions, the Prince claimed his father co-operated with Jonathan Dimbleby's 1994 biography of the royal - arguing that his and Meghan were just 'upfront' about wanting to put their side of the story across. Although he didn't reveal which one of Emilie van Cutsem's sons it was, Prince Harry is the godfather of Major Nicholas van Cutsem's daughter Florence - who was also one of Meghan Markle's bridesmaids. Elsewhere in his book, Prince Harry has shared personal text messages between Meghan and Kate from the lead-up to the royal wedding in May 2018 - a move royal expert Ingrid Seward said left the Prince and Princess of Wales feeling 'angry and betrayed'. Speaking to the Mirror, royal expert Ingrid Seward described the Duke of Sussex as 'childlike' for publishing the texts. The expert - who is the editor of Majesty magazine - said: 'His aggression with Kate, the sister-in-law with whom he was once so close, is just a childlike payback for what he considers is her being disloyal to Meghan.' Prince Harry and Meghan Markle pictured with the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Charles, the Duchess of Cornwall, Prince William, the Duchess of Cambridge and their extended wedding party. Prince Harry's goddaughter Florence van Cutsem (second left, front row) Although he didn't reveal which one of Emilie van Cutsem's son it was who made a comment about the Oprah interview, Prince Harry is the godfather of Major Nicholas van Cutsem's daughter Florence. Nicholas and wife Alice pictured in London in 2013 Following their disagreement over the bridesmaid dresses, Prince Harry backed up Meghan's claim from her Oprah interview last year that her sister-in-law then sent her a bouquet of flowers to apologise. However, Ingrid said it would take much more than this for Harry to 'make it up' to the Prince and Princess of Wales following his book's publication. She added: 'They are surely feeling angry and betrayed that Harry decided to make money out of his immediate family in this disloyal way.' Before delving into Meghan and Kate's texts, Prince Harry reveals in his biography that his wife didn't reply to the Princess of Wales' query about the bridesmaid dresses 'straight away' as she had been 'dealing with the chaos surrounding her father'. On 14 May 2018, just five days before the wedding, Thomas Markle announced that he would not be attending due to health reasons. In the weeks leading up to the nuptials, the bride's father had posed for staged photos near his home in Mexico, which showed him being measured for a wedding suit and researching Windsor at an internet cafe. 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 Royal expert said the Prince and Princess of Wales have been left feeling 'angry and betrayed' by Prince Harry's new book After informing Kate that she had arranged a tailor to sort Charlotte's dress, the Princess of Wales allegedly told Meghan that her 'own wedding gown designer' agreed with her that the frocks should be remade. 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. 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'. Read More: 'It was no palace': Prince Harry admits he was 'EMBARRASSED' to show Meghan his Nottingham Cottage home and reveals the Suits actress likened it to a 'frat house' Prince Harry left Prince and Princess of Wales 'angry and betrayed' after his 'child-like payback' of sharing Kate's personal texts to Meghan Markle in bombshell book, expert claims Meghan and Kate's tension at Trooping the Colour: Harry reveals how his wife's joke to her sister-in-law about the event being 'colourful' fell flat and led to 'yawning silence' An actress who paid $100 for headshots over a decade ago found herself on the cover of an erotic novel after failing to read the terms of her contract. Christian Demeritt, 38, from Miami, shared her wild story on TikTok, explaining that she had hired a photographer to take the professional shots after she graduated from college in 2010. She was hoping to book work as an actress, but what she didn't anticipate was landing on the cover of Samantha Drake's sexy adult novel titled 'His Big Childhood Sweetheart.' 'Thinking about that one time I didn't read the fine print on my headshots contract and my photographer sold my pics to stock photo sites,' she captioned footage of herself looking dismayed. Christian Demeritt, 38, from Miami, went viral on TikTok after detailing how one of her professional headshots ended up on the cover of an erotic novel Demeritt is pictured smiling next to a hunky man on the cover of Samantha Drake's sexy adult novel 'His Big Childhood Sweetheart' TikTok's viral 'Oh, No' song was playing as the clip cut to a screenshot of the Amazon listing for the $2.99 Kindle book. The photoshopped cover shows Demeritt smiling and standing next to a hunky man who is flaunting his ripped abs. The book, which is part of a series, is described as being a BWWM (black woman, white man), BBW (big beautiful woman), plus-size, childhood sweetheart, and billionaire romance. Demeritt's video has been viewed more than 448,000 times, and commenters were both horrified and amused by the unexpected turn of events. The actress admitted that she didn't read the fine print of her contract, and the photographer sold her pictures to stock photo sites The $2.99 Kindle book is dubbed a BWWM (black woman, white man), BBW (big beautiful woman), plus-size, childhood sweetheart, and billionaire romance Demeritt's video has been viewed more than 448,000 times, and commenters were both horrified and amused by the unexpected turn of events 'I just laughed so hard What in the world!?!?? Way to wake up in the morning!! How you gonna explain that to your boss? To your kids? To your SO?' one person asked. 'I meanyou look good tho,' Random House Books shared. 'Wait so you basically paid them to sell your pics? They made money off of you 2x?!? Girl they should be paying you!!!' someone else insisted. Others recalled how they ended up on billboards and advertisements after finding themselves in a similar situation. Demeritt shared more details about her now-famous headshots in a series of follow-up videos, saying the photographer in question was referred to her by another actor in South Florida. Demeritt shared more details about her now-famous headshots in a series of follow-up videos, saying the photographer in question was referred to her by another actor in South Florida She paid the photographer a discounted rate of $100 for the photo, which were taken at Bayside Marketplace in Miami in 2010. They took the images at Bayside Marketplace in Miami nearly 13 years ago, and he gave her a discounted rate. After paying him $100 and thanking him for his services, she thought they were done. Demeritt wasn't sure if it was a few months or a few years later, but her friends started noticing her picture being used in ads, newspapers, and training courses. She recalled how someone she knew in Sacramento, California, was walking by a newsstand and saw her face. 'The Sacramento News & Review used my picture and turned me into the Mona Lisa,' she explained. 'It was an article about whether or not Sacramento's art scene was too white. 'I thought it was an interesting way to use the picture. I actually liked it,' she noted. 'However, I didn't know how they got it. Like what's going on?' Demeritt's friends started noticing her picture being used in ads, newspapers, and training courses. The Sacramento News & Review used her picture and turned her into the Mona Lisa Demeritt's image has been featured in a number of online ads over the years. She also found an anonymous author who has been using her picture in her Amazon profile One friend spotted her on a billboard advertising breast reduction surgery in another country. Ironically, she had gotten a breast reduction after this photo was taken Shortly after, another friend alerted her to the fact that her image was being used for a breast reduction ad in another country. Ironically, she had gotten a breast reduction after the headshots were taken. Demeritt added that her image has also been featured in articles published by MadameNoire, a training course on elder affairs, and an Amazon profile of an author who wanted to remain anonymous. 'This picture has made its rounds,' she said. The buzz surrounding her original video led her to look up the photographer to see if she could dig up her contract. She ended up finding his name and looked him up, confirming that he was still making money off of her image. 'People keep saying, "How much money did you make?" Here's the sucky part about this whole thing. I ain't make no money,' she said. 'I made $0 matter of fact. The photographer is still making money on my pics though.' The buzz surrounding her original video led her to look up the photographer, and she found he was still making money off her image 'Here's the sucky part about this whole thing. I ain't make no money,' she said. 'I made $0 matter of fact. The photographer is still making money on my pics though' As for the author's book featuring her photo, she hasn't read it, and she doesn't have any intention of reading it. 'Apparently, she writes very specific, niche, slightly fetishist books about plus-size black women falling in love with white millionaires and billionaires,' she explained. 'Nothing that I will typically read. [But] I know that there's a market for it, apparently.' Demeritt noted that the adult novel is part of a series, and there is a different woman on every cover. 'So I'm guessing that they don't know about this either,' she said. 'Maybe this video is telling them about it for the first time.' If you enjoyed this article... Romance novelist is accused of FAKING her own suicide Millions are on table as book publishers and movie studios line up to recreate the gruesome story behind University of Idaho murders Bookbinder removes J.K. Rowling's name from Harry Potter novels amid furor over author's 'transphobia' and replaces them with new covers Amy, 27, has been single for six months VITAL STATISTICS Single for six months, no children. CURRENT ROLE PR Manager. WOULD LIKE TO MEET A career-driven guy who likes his food and a drink. He must have good hygiene. Fussy Eaters and clingy types don't do it for me. Advertisement Amy, 27 Dating Past I was in a relationship for four years until I was 23. Since then, I have been dating on and off but nothing serious. Wherever I am, I'll always check the dating apps to see if there's anyone in the area you never know. Pre-Date Nerves? My friends were convinced I would be nervous, but I wasn't. I framed the experience as something I'll look back on and share with loved ones. It was pouring with rain, so I wore trainers instead of heels, with fake leather trousers and a green jumper. First Impressions? It's so awkward being British do you shake hands, hug or go in for kisses when you meet someone new? Fortunately, Marco announced he's Italian and they do the double kiss one on each cheek. Physically he wasn't my usual type he has that slim boy-band look and I didn't get that 'OMG I want to marry you' feeling. But I could tell he's a sweet and friendly person. Easy To Talk To? Yes and that's a rarity on a date guys can be so drippy. They don't understand the art of conversation and give you nothing to go with. Luckily that wasn't the case with Marco. In summary, more friends than lovers. I didn't want to pounce on him sorry, Marco. I discovered he's from a village outside Rome, a city I love. He's funny, too. I'm not talking Alan Carr level of humour, but he did make me laugh. AMY'S VERDICT: 7.5/10 LIKED? It was a very relaxed evening. REGRETS? No, it was fun. COFFEE OR CAB? Cab Advertisement Embarrassing Moments? We were in talk-talk-talk mode and had to ask the waiter to come back on four occasions. I'd have loved the prawn curry, but I couldn't face the prospect of de-shelling in an intimate dating environment. Did Sparks Fly? In summary, more friends than lovers. I didn't want to pounce on him sorry, Marco. See him again? I'd see Marco again purely on a friendship basis. We didn't exchange numbers but did hug goodbye. What do you think he thought of you? We were laughing a lot, so I doubt he thought I was hell on earth. I always think if you want to cut short a date, then you don't order a dessert . . . but we had a lovely creme brulee together. Would your friends like him? My friends would agree that Marco is a nice guy, but they'd say, 'Amy, you'd walk all over him.' I need someone a little more fiery and independent. Marco, 29, has been single for a year VITAL STATISTICS Single for a year; a daughter, six. CURRENT ROLE Chef. WOULD LIKE TO MEET Someone attractive and intelligent, Im not interested in overly religious women who focus solely on their career. Advertisement Marco, 29 Amy's attractive but not for me. She talks a lot, which can be a bit off-putting. Dating Past I've had three long-term relationships. A four-year one; then a live in relationship which also lasted for four years; followed by a one year relationship. Yes, you could say I'm a serial monogamist. Pre-Date Nerves? Yes! I've never been on a blind date before, it's a first for me. First Impressions? As I'm Italian, I went to greet Amy with a kiss. I think she was going to offer just the one cheek, but I said that in Italy it's two kisses, which broke the ice and we started chatting. Easy To Talk To? Yes but that's because Amy had lots of questions: my job, my life, where I live, where I worked and every time I finished one reply she launched into the next question. But it does explain why I didn't get to ask Amy much about herself. I did find out she lives with her mum. Like Amy, I'm focused on my career as a chef and work long hours. Amy asked me to order the wine and, of course, I went for an Italian red. Embarrassing Moments? It happened the following day. My manager had been in the same restaurant and, as it's quite a posh one, he wanted to know who I was with so everyone at work found out I was on a blind date. Did Sparks Fly? MARCO'S VERDICT: 7/10 LIKED? Amy even though she talked a lot. REGRETS? No. COFFEE OR CAB? Cab. Advertisement A little bit. Amy's attractive but not for me. She talks a lot, which can be a bit off-putting. You do come across that London style of girl who talks at a million miles an hour in the 'yes-but-no, oh really?' style. It's exhausting. See her again? I don't know, I'd need to think about it. At the end of dinner, I wanted to order a coffee but she asked for the bill. I'd have preferred to spend more time with her. What do you think she thought of you? At the start of the evening, she seemed interested in me but I'm not sure if something happened during the date because we left so promptly. Would your friends like her? I think so. Amy is a smart, cute girl, but I don't know if I'm shooting too high with someone like Amy. She's known for her fashion prowess - and Queen Letizia of Spain didn't disappoint today as she stepped out in a statement floral skirt for an event in Madrid. The royal, 50, was effortlessly elegant in a chic jumper with trumpet sleeves, teamed with a textured midi-skirt, as she attended an event for the 'Proyecto Promociona' initiative, aimed at getting more women into senior management positions. The mother-of-two sported some stylish stilettos to finish the look off, keeping her accessories to a minimal. Letizia wore her chestnut tresses down, styled in loose waves, and opted for a glam make-up look with lined lashes and a mauve lipstick. She's known for her fashion prowess - and Queen Letizia of Spain didn't disappoint today as she stepped out in a statement floral skirt for an event in Madrid The Proyecto Promociona is committed to support and mentor companies looking to promote women. Since 2013, more than a thousand women have taken part in the project. The queen appeared to be delighted to be surrounded by attendees at the initiative's event as she smiled and waved at guests. It comes as the King and Queen of Spain looked relaxed as they stepped out for their first engagement of the year last week. The royal couple marked the country's Epiphany Day with a military parade followed by a reception at Madrid's Zarzuela Palace. The royal, 50, was effortlessly elegant in a chic jumper with trumpet sleeves, teamed with a textured midi-skirt The mother-of-two sported some stylish stilettos to finish the look off, keeping her accessories to a minimal Letizia renewed her commitment to sustainable fashion for the occasion, by wearing two pieces she's worn multiple times before. Donning a daring form-fitting gown from Spanish designer Felipe Varela, the Spanish royal, who enjoyed the break with her family away from the spotlight, looked well rested at the event to mark the Spanish holiday. Tradition has it that the Queen always has to wear a floor-length number for her first engagement of the year, and Letizia looked as regal as ever in the lacy floor-length gown which highlighted her waist and svelte silhouette. As always, she kept her look simple, and paired the gown with a black cape she has worn on several occasions to wrap up in the cold. Letizia smiled as she strolled through the event, looking chic in a textured midi skirt and jumper The royal opted for earthy tones as she matched the khaki floral print on her skirt with her stiletto heels Letizia clapped at the event, looking stylish as ever with minimal jewellery to accentuate her look She accessorised with a small pair of gold earrings and her beloved Karen Hallam ring for the event. Her brown locks were styled in a luscious straight blow-dry curling up on her shoulders. She donned a healthy glow, enhanced with well placed brushes of makeup, with a dash of bronzer highlighting her cheekbones and a sculpted brow and eye liner to bring definition to her hazelnut eyes. Meanwhile her husband Felipe, 54, Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, donned his full military regalia for the event. Letizia wore her chestnut tresses down, styled in loose waves, and opted for a glam make-up look with lined lashes and a mauve lipstick Letizia appeared to sport lashings of rosy blush on her cheeks for the event, bringing out a dewy glow The queen styled her glossy chestnut locks in loose waves, and opted for a simple yet elegant make-up look The Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez also attended the celebrations and looked dapper in a sober black suit and white shirt. Known in Spain as El Dia de los Reyes (Day of the Kings), it is celebrated with presents and colourful parades, the oldest of which takes place in Valencia. The biggest and most important, however, is Madrid's - thanks in no small part to the presence of a real king at the procession. Considered almost as important as Christmas Day itself, Epiphany marks the moment when baby Jesus, at just a few days old, was seen for the first time by the Magi or Three Kings. Letizia appeared in high spirits at the event for The Proyecto Promociona, which is committed to support and mentor companies looking to promote women The royal family kicked off the event by watching a military palace in front of the royal Palace, before heading inside to host a reception. It also marks the sovereigns' return to public duties after a two-week-long Christmas break with their daughter Princess Leonor, 17 and Princess Sofia, 15. Read more: Regal in red! Queen Letizia of Spain stuns in recycled crimson gown as she joins King Felipe to celebrate Epiphany Day on first royal engagement of 2023 How Hippy Harry inherited a love of psychics from Diana: Late royal regularly consulted mediums - including one who was with her the day she recorded Panorama interview Princess Charlene takes the US! Olympic swimmer is elegant as she celebrates opening of aquatic centre in Fort Lauderdale with Prince Albert The Princess Royal has cast aside the controversy surrounding her nephew the Duke of Sussex's new book and carried on with her royal duties by visiting British soldiers serving with a United Nations peacekeeping force on Cyprus. Princess Anne, 72, planned to meet members of the Royal Logistic Corps, the army unit which she serves as colonel-in-chief, to recognise their service as one of the UN's longest-serving peacekeeping forces. The peacekeepers invited Anne to visit and planned to lead her on a tour of a section of the UN-controlled buffer zone that separates the island nation's breakaway Turkish Cypriot north from the internationally-recognised Greek Cypriot south. The visit came the day after Prince Harry's explosive memoir Spare went on sale around the world. Princess Anne shaking hands with Major General Ingrid Gjerde (R), Force Commander of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus Earlier on Wednesday, Anne met with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades. They discussed climate change-related issues, the energy crisis spurred by Russia's war in Ukraine and efforts to restart stalled talks to reunify Cyprus, a government statement said. Mr Anastasiades gifted the princess a silver copy of a cup from the fourth century BC and a photo album of Cypriots who volunteered to fight with British forces during the Second World War. Anne reciprocated with a portrait of herself. The princess was also scheduled to meet with soldiers and their families at Dhekelia Garrison, one of two military bases that the UK retained after Cyprus gained independence from British rule in 1960. Princess Anne (pictured), 72, planned to meet members of the Royal Logistic Corps, the army unit which she serves as colonel-in-chief, to recognise their service as one of the UN's longest-serving peacekeeping forces The Princess Royal posing for a photo with Major General Ingrid Gjerde (R), Force Commander of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus, and an official during her visit to the UN Protected Area in Cyprus' divided capital Nicosia The princess will also lay a wreath at a cemetery in the buffer zone where many Commonwealth soldiers who died in conflicts including both world wars are buried. Media access during her visit was limited to Anne's brief meeting with Mr Anastasiades. She did not make any public remarks. British High Commissioner to Cyprus Irfan Siddiq said in a statement that the visit was 'an important opportunity to showcase the strength of the enduring links between our two countries'. The Princess of Wales today also stepped out in public for the first time since Harry made a slew of claims about her fractious relationship with Meghan Markle. The Duke of Sussex gave his first full account of the infamous bridesmaid dress fitting, claiming Princess Charlotte 'cried when she tried it on at home' and insisting 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 royal meeting with UN peacekeepers during her visit to the UN Protected Area in Cyprus Princess Anne being escorted by Major General Ingrid Gjerde (C-L), Force Commander of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus, during her visit to the UN Protected Area in Cyprus 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. Harry also used an interview with ITV journalist, and old friend, Tom Bradby to accuse Kate of 'stereotyping' Meghan because she was an American actress and is divorced and biracial, saying it prevented them from 'welcoming her in'. Asked what he meant, the duke said: 'Well, American actress, divorced, biracial, there's there's all different parts to that and what that can mean but if you are, like a lot of my family do, if you are reading the Press, the British tabloids, at the same time as living the life, then there is a tendency where you could actually end up living in the tabloid bubble rather than the actual reality.' Meghan was previously married to American TV producer Trevor Engelson for three years from 2011 until 2014. Before meeting Harry, Meghan starred in US legal drama series Suits in which she played paralegal-turned-lawyer Rachel Zane. Bradby said that Harry saw his brother's wife as 'the sister you never had', with the pair having known each other since soon after William and Kate started dating in 2003. The pair are believed to have got on well, with Harry joining her and William on engagements before he met Meghan - although he told Bradby that while the events were 'fun', he sometimes felt 'slightly awkward' being the 'third wheel'. Harry also said the idea of himself, his wife and the Prince and Princess of Wales being the 'fab four' was 'something the British Press created' and it 'creates competition'. He told Bradby: 'The idea of the four of us being together was always a hope for me. 'Before it was Meghan, whoever it was going to be, I always hoped that the four of us would get on. But very quickly it became Meghan versus Kate. 'And that, when it plays out so publicly, you can't hide from that, right? Especially when within my family you have the newspapers laid out pretty much in every single palace and house that is around.' Read more: Advertisement Sasha Obama was spotted on campus at the University of Southern California on Tuesday after spending her holiday break in Hawaii with her family. The 21-year-old, who is the youngest daughter of former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, kept warm in a bubblegum pink sweatshirt from OC BikeFest, a motorcycle rally in Ocean City, Maryland. The souvenir hoodie featured an intricate heart design on the back, and she paired it with jeans and Nike Dunk Low sneakers as she braved the dreary Los Angeles weather. California has been battered with a series of torrential storms over the past two weeks, and while it poured most of the day on Tuesday, it didn't seem to be raining while she was between classes. Sasha Obama, 21, was spotted heading to class at the University of Southern California on Tuesday The college student was fresh off her family's annual holiday vacation in Hawaii, where they have a home Sasha's long dark hair was center-parted and pulled back in a claw clip. She was wearing headphones and had her cellphone in her hand as she walked, suggesting that she was listening to either music or a podcast. Like most students, she carried a slouchy bag that likely held her books for class. At one point, she appeared to be catching up with another student as she walked through campus. The winter semester ended on December 15, and classes didn't resume until nearly a month later on January 9, the day before the former first daughter was seen at USC. Sasha and her sister Malia, 24, spent part of their holiday vacation in Hawaii giving back to the community before ringing in the new year. They were seen handing out towels and food to the homeless, less than a half mile from their family's new beachfront mansion in Oahu on December 27. California has been battered with a series of torrential storms over the past two weeks, and while it poured most of the day on Tuesday, it didn't seem to be raining while she was between classes Sasha kept warm in a bubblegum pink sweatshirt from OC BikeFest, a motorcycle rally in Ocean City, Maryland The former first daughter's souvenir hoodie featured an intricate heart design on the back The Obamas purchased the $8.7 million home in 2015, despite the protests of environmentalists and native Hawaiians. A seawall was found on the property, which environmentalists believe is aiding erosion. After years of construction, it was reported last February that the mansion was finally nearing completion. On Christmas Day, the former president posted a rare throwback photo of his wife and daughters together. 'Merry Christmas, everybody! One of the best parts of the holiday season is getting to spend time with the special people in our lives. I hope you all have a wonderful and joyful Christmas,' he wrote in the caption. Michelle opened up about spending the holidays in paradise during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! last month. Sasha paired the hoodie with jeans and Nike Dunk Low sneakers as she braved the dreary Los Angeles weather At one point, she appeared to be catching up with another student as she walked through campus Sasha's long dark hair was center-parted and pulled back in a claw clip, and she wore her headphones around her neck while they were talking When the host asked if she enjoyed visiting Hawaii, she replied, 'Uh duh... That's why I married Barack. He was from Hawaii.' 'I was like, "Yeah, you're kind of cute, ears are a little big... And you're from where? I think I love you,"' she joked. The 44th president was born in Honolulu and spent most of his adolescence living in the state's capital with maternal grandparents, Madelyn and Stanley Dunham, whom he lovingly called Toot and Gramps. Michelle recalled how Barack had invited her to come to Hawaii and spend Christmas with him and his family after they 'officially started dating.' 'I was a second-year associate at a law firm in Chicago. Winters in Chicago are deadly dreary,' she noted. 'So the thought of leaving my family who I love and going to spend Christmas with the love of my life in Hawaii? I was like, "Sign me up."' The winter semester ended on December 15, and classes didn't resume until nearly a month later on January 9, the day before Sasha was seen on campus Sasha and her sister Malia, 24, spent part of their holiday vacation in Hawaii giving back to the community before ringing in the new year The Obama sisters were seen handing out towels and food to the homeless, less than a half mile from their family's new beachfront mansion in Oahu on December 27 Former President Barack Obama shared a rare throwback photo of his wife and daughters together on Christmas Day. 'One of the best parts of the holiday season is getting to spend time with the special people in our lives,' he wrote in the caption She had never been to Hawaii before, but she thought it would be comparable to what she had seen on The Brady Bunch episodes that were filmed on the island of Oahu. 'I'm thinking we are gonna have mai tais and long walks on the beach,' she explained. 'We drive in from the airport on the highway. We go into the city. I don't see the beach anywhere. I don't see Greg Brady. I see nothing that I was expecting.' She admitted she was initially disappointed, but then she realized Barack was giving her something more than just a tropical vacation. 'I thought romance and love were mai tais and sunsets on the beach, but Barack was showing me that family was important, that he showed up for his family, and he continued to show up for our family in the same way,' she said. Spending Christmas in Hawaii has become an annual tradition for the Obamas, who have been going there since their daughters were born. The mom reminisced about how her children would have two Christmases because Santa would leave presents for them in both Hawaii and their home in Chicago. 'I am a Christmas mother. We did it all,' she said of taking her daughters to see Santa Claus at the Ala Moana mall in Honolulu. 'It's a different Santa. It's a beach Santa, not as chubby... But that's what they know Christmas to be.' If you haven't heard of Andrew Tate, but have a teenage son, ask him, 'Who's this Tate guy everybody's talking about?' His answer will have you worried. Very worried indeed. All that time you've spent raising your boy to be polite, kind, thoughtful and, most important, fully on board with the idea that women and girls are to be treated as absolute equals with the right to education, opportunity and physical autonomy. Your heart will sink as you realise that time was wasted, as your beloved boy reveals himself to be one of the millions of young followers of 'this Tate guy'. Andrew Tate has been a huge influence on young boys since he appeared on Big Brother in 2016. In 2015 he had been accused of rape and physical abuse in the UK, but no charges were brought. He and his brother had set up an online business which saw women perform sexual acts on webcams. Growing his brand online, he became a hero to young men thrilled by his advice on how to get rich quick, own flashy cars and attract and keep women by operating with what can only be described as 'toxic masculinity'. Andrew Tate (centre) has been a huge influence on young boys since he appeared on Big Brother in 2016. In 2015 he had been accused of rape and physical abuse in the UK, but no charges were brought. He and his brother (right) had set up an online business which saw women perform sexual acts on webcams His online 'lessons' argue rape does not exist because women are responsible for their sexual assaults. Ah yes, the old argument, 'She was asking for it'. He tells his followers women are the property of men, that they should stay in the house the bedroom or the kitchen and submit to the will of their husbands, controlled with physical violence. He tells his followers he speaks only the truth as a 'freedom fighter' and explains how they should defend themselves from any trouble they might get from following his ideas. On the question of fighting for freedom, he's not doing so well. He's in prison in Romania accused of rape, human trafficking and forming an organised crime group to exploit women. He denies the allegations but his toxic influence continues online on TikTok, YouTube and Instagram. He gives entrepreneurial advice on how to be confident and financially successful and reassures boys, in the era of #MeToo, that they needn't worry because, 'Females don't have independent thought. They don't come up with anything. They're just empty vessels, waiting for someone to install the programming.' Such Andrew Tate videos have been viewed more than 12.7billion times, the misogyny then copied by others. He has an online 'Hustlers' University' for which he charges 41 a month. At the time of writing this, the website was up and running and it was still easy to find his vile videos online. It's not difficult to see why anxious, unsure teenage boys might be attracted to the idea of making loads of money, driving fast cars and getting girls by whatever means with no fear of censure. But it can't continue. Violence against women is illegal. Rape is never the fault of the woman. One teacher said interest in him had made boys more hostile. 'You used to have to deal with sexist stuff,' she told The Times. 'But now it is explicitly connected to Andrew Tate the boys do not stop talking about him.' My advice if you're dealing with the Tate problem. Express how much it pains you that they might think you should be kept in the kitchen or bedroom and beaten to make you comply, says Jenni (pictured) Schools clearly have a role in tackling such vile promotion of sexual violence, coercive control or rape, but the women closest to these vulnerable boys are their parents and, since Tate's arrest, Mumsnet has been buzzing with mothers concerned that their sons have been brainwashed by Tate. One posted, 'I had no idea my son had been following this influencer and he's almost a hero figure to my 17-year-old. It seems he made his money from producing pornography and he rails against everything we stand for as a family. How should I handle this? My son is not easy to deal with at times. Withdrawn, taciturn, the usual teenage stuff. I don't think removing his phone is the answer. I need him to stay onside and see what his icon is really like.' What a nightmare and one which I, mercifully, don't have to face. My two boys are grown-up men and would be no more likely to view Tate as a hero than I would. The pleas of women going through it now took me back 20 years when I was in the midst of mothering taciturn, withdrawn teenage boys with an interest in women. There was not much internet at home and phones offered nothing but calls, but it was the time of the lads' mags. Inevitably, pictures of naked women started to go up onto bedroom walls and I hated it. How could my sons think it was OK to objectify, stereotype and, in my view, oppress my sex? I explained I was upset that such images should hang in my house. I didn't think they were being dirty, just thoughtless. They asked if a woman in a bikini would be OK? Just one, I agreed. The naked ones came down and they grew up to respect women as I do. My advice if you're dealing with the Tate problem. Express how much it pains you that they might think you should be kept in the kitchen or bedroom and beaten to make you comply. Remind them you're a woman. What son wants to hurt or upset his mother? Why I'm a fan of BA's new jumpsuit Designed by Ozwald Boateng, the jumpsuit is beautifully tailored, practical, professional and fits the term flight attendant I love the new British Airways jumpsuit uniform, as, I'm sure, would an old friend of mine who used to be a BA air hostess or 'air hostitute' as she called herself. She'd return exhausted after a long-haul flight, describing how she had 'walked across the Atlantic', fighting off lewd approaches from passengers and comments about the loveliness of her legs in the short skirt. Designed by Ozwald Boateng, the jumpsuit is beautifully tailored, practical, professional and fits the term flight attendant while not inviting any flirting. She'd have adored it. Harry's so wrong about Camilla Far from wicked, Camilla's a complete delight and, frankly, there has been no greater pleasure than to see two older people, once denied their love for each other, united at last in glowing happiness So many of Harry's revelations have infuriated me. None more so than his critique of his stepmother the Queen Consort. Far from wicked, she's a complete delight and, frankly, there has been no greater pleasure than to see two older people, once denied their love for each other, united at last in glowing happiness. Nor do I have any difficulty with King Charles's attachment to his teddy bear. I still have mine from 1951. Proof Walt Disney couldn't draw Don, too, was a wonderful cartoonist. He asked Disney to draw Mickey Mouse for a picture to accompany the interview. 'Ah, I'm no good at drawing,' Walt confided. 'You do it and I'll sign it.' It's the 100th anniversary of Disney and it's always been assumed that Walt Disney was a brilliant cartoonist. My old TV editor in Southampton, Don Osmond, let out a secret, long after Disney's death in 1966. As a young reporter on the local newspaper, he was sent out to interview his hero on a great ocean liner as it came into port. Don, too, was a wonderful cartoonist. He asked Disney to draw Mickey Mouse for a picture to accompany the interview. 'Ah, I'm no good at drawing,' Walt confided. 'You do it and I'll sign it.' READ MORE: JENNI MURRAY: A moron on a moped drove me off the road on Christmas morning... Finally, men are standing up for women and about time too... writes JENNI MURRAY I'm a proud state school girl, so why did my boys go private? Asks JENNI MURRAY Fashionistas have rushed to purchase a knit dress from Target Australia causing the midi-length ensemble to sell out in a number of sizes. The $45 Lily Loves Knit Midi Dress, which is currently on sale in all four colourways for $33.75, is the perfect 'essentials' dress for summer, and appears to have hit all the write fashion notes for customers. The dress can be purchased in brown, lilac, cream and lime green in sizes XXS to XXXL and closely resembles a number of variations rocked by the queen of midi length dresses herself Kim Kardashian. The $45 Lily Loves Knit Midi Dress, which is currently on sale in all four colourways for $33.75, is the perfect 'essentials' dress for summer, and appears to have hit all the write fashion notes for customers The dress can be purchased in brown, lilac, cream and lime green in sizes XXS to XXXL and closely resembles a number of variations rocked by the queen of midi length dresses herself Kim Kardashian Instagram influencer Life of Georgia was pleasantly surprised by the quality and fit of the dress, after she purchased it in the lilac shade and posted a video to social media putting together her 'budget look'. 'Love your work Target,' one happy commenter wrote beneath Georgia's video, while another said 'These dresses are amazing' and 'Come and get this entire outfit with me! Bag included. We can match.' @Heysavvy_au showed off the new style in her 'Target Try On' reel and received comments including 'The purple knit dress' and 'Absolutely love the dress'. @Heysavvy_au showed off the new style in her 'Target Try On' reel and received comments including 'The purple knit dress' and 'Absolutely love the dress' The Target viral dress has flown out of the doors with most of the sizes sold out just days after it was posted online, with customers already asking when it will be restocked. It features a singlet-like design, perfect for the warmer months, and a keyhole cut out in the back for when you want to show off some skin. Some customers did caution that the fabric is delicate so best kept away from jewellery to avoid snagging it. Others also made mention that it 'runs a little bit small' so it might be worth sizing up. A TikToker has shared his shock after discovering that a well-known door knock has a name. UK-based podcast host and radio presenter Calum Di Lieto posted a video saying that he was 'today years old' when he discovered that the knock, featuring five consecutive knocks, a pause and then another two, has a title. He revealed that the knock is called 'shave and a haircut' with each of the hits representing a syllable of the phrase: 'shave and a haircut...two bits'. Calum explained: 'I was watching Netflix with the subtitles on which is a new thing for me. TikToker Calum Di Lieto shared his discovery that the famous knock is called 'shave and a haircut...two bits' 'Lots of people do that. Why? Why do you do that? Anyway, I've started to do it and someone knocked like that. 'They knocked like that and it came up in the subtitles, the name of that knock. I have since researched it, and it has a name. Apparently, the name of said knock is the shave and a haircut. He then demonstrates the knock on his table, singing the words 'shave and a haircut...two bits' to each tap. Calum researched his new discovery and told his followers: 'Two bits back in the day was American for 25 cents and then in the UK, it was shave and a haircut...five bob which was I dont know, shillings, something in shillings.' Calum asked his viewers to help him find out the origin of the name, saying: 'Now that I know some of it... I want to know where that name came from, okay? He added that explanations differ for the origin of the name, with some referencing Morse Code while others say it was part of a song in the 1890s. He makes a final plea to viewers saying: 'Now that I know some of it, now that I know it has a name, I want to know where that name came from, okay? Where has it come from?' Singing again to the beat of the knock, he says: 'Where did you come from?...Tell me!' Viewers flooded into the comment section to share their surprise with one saying: 'I didn't know the knock was called that, I just thought the beat was the same'. Another TikTok user said: 'Never ever have I heard that' while one simply described the discovery as 'wild'. Viewers took to the comments section to share their surprise with one admitting: 'Never ever have I heard that' Meanwhile other users said they had known the name of the knock for a long time and shared their ideas of where the name came from. Commenting on the video's revelation, one user said: 'I thought this was common knowledge.' Another said: 'I mean I don't know about anyone else but Who Framed Roger Rabbit taught me this.' One comment referred to the history of the name saying: 'I remember watching a YouTube clip about it being a jingle advertising a barbershop in America.' Another said: 'I always heard it was a knock used during prohibition - people outside tapped the first part, people inside the last part. Code!' Other users said they were familiar with the title and some even suggested where the phrase came from If you enjoyed this story... These are the things ALL millennials do that give away their age - from using the laugh/cry emoji to adding filters on Instagram Bus driver reveals why they refuse to open the doors again once they've closed at a stop (but people are still fuming about it) I ordered a 64 pizza from Domino's with 25 toppings - but baffled TikTok users branded it 'wrong' Another woman admitted she can't stand it when men use bath towels outside She got hundreds of messages - including a woman who hates men who tip toe Influencer 'Winnie Blues' asked her fans to share their 'oddly specific icks' again Blogger 'Winnie Blues' asked her fans to reveal their 'oddly specific icks' Single women have revealed their oddly specific 'icks' which include men who tip-toe through puddles, use bath towels at the beach or block their nose before jumping in water. The icks were published by Aussie Winnie Blues who admits she was inundated with hundreds of messages when she asked what turns women off. Winnie offered people the opportunity to agree and disagree with each ick - with most people confirming which acts belonged on the list. Women agreed short men who prefer driving huge trucks gave them the ick, while men who use windscreen wipers on the highest setting or indicate for too long also made the list. Food icks were also high on the list. One woman said men who say they are 'gluten intolerant' need to grow up - and 80percent of Winnie's followers agreed. 'Grown men who don't like onion,' wrote another. One woman said she can't handle it when people try to scoop ice cream but fail and slip. Others maintained physical icks were the worst. A lot of women agreed people who block their nose to jump into the pool were 'icky' while others can't stand men who don't bend their knees to lift things. 'Men who kick their toes and then bend down in pain,' wrote another savage entrant. While another admitted she cuts off contact if they sneeze more than twice in a row. But not all of the icks were accepted by the audience - one woman complained about men who pat dogs with bare feat - but 80percent of people disagreed. Winne included she said: 'But when they are just out of reach and your comfy on the couch.' One woman said she hates when men climb trees but 70 percent of people disagreed. What were some of the most popular icks? Short guys who drive big trucks Gluten intolerance Men who don't like onion Windscreen wipers on faster than necessary When they kick their toe and bend in pain Guys wearing ripped jeans and thongs When guys pick things up off the floor but don't bend knees Serenading Not having Spotify premium but connecting to speaker Doing a shoey Using bath towels on beach High fiving after the gym When they block their nose before jumping in the pool When theY sneeze more than twice Indicating for too long before turning Men who wear neck pillows walking around airport Showing their ankles Putting a shirt but no pants on after sex Joggers jogging in place at the pedestrian crossing When they sing along but don't know the words When the boss kisses three particular women good morning Men who walk on their tip toes through puddles When they cannot start a lawn mower Filming a concert Owning an electric scooter When the can't use chopsticks Watching someone try really hard to scoop ice cream When automatic doors don't open for them Drinking Moscato When he says your body is absurd When baby's cry near them When he uses baby hand gestures to ask for something Rubbing your eyes too hard Advertisement Other people defended men who plant multiple small kisses, blow on their food and order milkshakes at a cafe or restaurant. One woman said people who go to Bali are her turn off - but most respondents disagreed and said there was nothing wrong with the holiday destination. The incredible, and very specific list, comes after a Canadian expat revealed she hates when Australian men wear thongs. Ioana, an expat who has been in Australia for six years, made a video outlining all the things that give her the 'ick' Down Under. Her aversion to men wearing thongs in restaurants was her biggest pet hate, saying they should only be worn at the beach. 'There's something about grown men wearing thongs that makes me want to 'bleugh',' she said. The next thing on her hit list were bindis, or prickles. 'Why do I have trust issues every spring?' she asked pointing to a dense patch of them. Ioana, an expat who has been in Australia for six years, made a full video outlining all of the things that give her the 'ick' down under Cherry Ripes were the next thing on the woman's 'ick list' - she said they are the 'devil's candy'. She also singled out a sign on the M1 near the Gold Coast - and asked why it exists before offering up a vomit sound effect. Poll Do men wearing thongs (flip flops) give you 'the ick'? Yes, ew. No, this is weird. Do men wearing thongs (flip flops) give you 'the ick'? Yes, ew. 400 votes No, this is weird. 795 votes Now share your opinion She also hates the phrase 'Budgie Smugglers', RM Williams boots and mullets. Even Australia's wildlife was targeted in the video. 'Cockatoos and crows, they are so annoying,' she said. She started her video claiming it was just for fun and begging people not to be mad at her. But one man said her first ick had him throwing his phone 'across the room'. Many of the people commenting on the video pointed fun at the young woman. One man said: 'Bindies aren't a problem if you wear thongs.' She said mullets also give her the ick To which she responded with an enthusiastic 'lalala can't hear you'. Others said she lost them at 'RM Williams' and admitted they were fighting words. 'I ate a Cherry Ripe today, it was so good,' teased one chocolate lover. While another person asked why she needed to 'drag cockatoos into it'. This comes after Aussie women shared their very specific 'icks' which ranged from men not being able to scare birds to 'looking pathetic' in the shower. Winnie, who blogs under the username Winnie Blues on Instagram, asked her 36,000 followers what their 'oddly specific' ick was Winnie, who blogs under the username Winnie Blues on Instagram, asked her 36,000 followers what their 'oddly specific' ick was. 'The ick' is when attraction to a current or potential partner suddenly changes to a feeling of disgust because the individual did something either disturbing or annoying. There were problems with men using umbrellas, calling into a radio station just to have a chat, the thought of a man being locked out of his house and when they get a telemarketing call and have to say they aren't interested. 'The ick' is when attraction to a current or potential partner suddenly changes to a feeling of disgust because the individual did something either disturbing or annoying Another woman argued that seeing someone run for a bus gave her the 'ick' in a more general way, which was met with rapid approval. Sleeveless puffer jackets, dark blue bedroom sheets, people who preach about saunas and men sitting cross legged on the floor also made the cut. 'I tried so hard not to laugh in the Uber on the way home reading these,' one man replied to the thread. There were problems with men using umbrellas, calling into a radio station just to have a chat, the thought of a man being locked out of his house and when they get a telemarketing call and have to say they aren't interested 'I will never forget the bird chasing one,' said another. A third said: 'Absolutely get the telemarketing thing. Like grow a pair and hang up'. Another said she hates the thought of a man being 'locked out of his house'. A penny pinching bride-to-be has split opinion after revealing that she is considering asking her wedding guests to pay for their meal instead of buying a gift. The mum-of-two, from Brisbane, is trying to save some money on the expensive day, and explains that neither her nor her partner are too interested in presents. Many people have slammed the bride for having 'bad manners', but others think it is perfectly acceptable and have shared the clever ways they saved money on their own big day. A bride-to-be has split opinion after revealing that she plans to ask wedding guests to pay for their meal instead of buying a gift (stock image) 'Lets chat weddings! Newly engaged and looking for your best saving tips,' the mum said in a post to a popular budgeting Facebook group. 'I have considered asking guests to pay for their meal in lieu of presents. Is this a thing?' Poll Is it okay to ask guests to pay for their own meal at a wedding instead of giving a gift? Definitely! No way! Is it okay to ask guests to pay for their own meal at a wedding instead of giving a gift? Definitely! 197 votes No way! 182 votes Now share your opinion She explained that her and her fiancee are both in their thirties and 'don't really care about gifts'. However, she is worried it wouldn't be fair to ask of her friends who are travelling interstate. The mum is having a dry wedding, and was considering getting food trucks or a spit roast for catering, which will also cut down on costs. Hundreds have weighed in on the issue, and many shared their outrage at the suggestion. 'If youre inviting people you should feed them. They also shouldnt have to give a present as flights and accommodation just to get there is enough in my opinion,' one woman said. 'Definitely bad manners to ask guests to pay for their own meal,' another said. 'Oh no thats really rough asking people to pay for their own meals. Maybe you will have to save in another area to pay for the food,' another wrote. Many people have slammed the bride for having 'bad manners', but others think it's perfectly acceptable and have shared the clever ways they saved money on their own wedding day (stock image) 'Yes I think meals is definitely one thing not to ask guests to pay for,' another agreed, saying she would 'skimp out' on other areas of the wedding instead. However, more people weighed in to say they see no problem with the idea. 'If anyone thinks its rude or bad manners then they dont need to be included in your day. Those who love and understand you will understand your reasons for this,' one woman said. 'We are in our thirties and the same. We dont need presents, and I have spoken to a few friends who think its a great idea also. It is one of those things that is either loved or loathed,' another agreed. Many commenters shared other thrifty wedding hacks the couple could try out to save money. Ways to keep wedding costs low: * Buy your own flowers at a wholesale price from a market * Hire a spit roast or food trucks for catering * When booking beauty and hair appointments don't mention that they are for a wedding * Keep the guest list small * Making your own centrepieces, decorations and guest invitations * Buy a second hand dress or order it to be custom made abroad * Buy a professional camera and do the photography yourself or ask a friend to do it * Have a meal at lunch instead of dinner * Book a restaurant instead of a venue * Don't have a big group of bridesmaids Advertisement 'Think of the three most important things each and spend your money there,' one woman advised. 'We did our own flowers and it saved me over $5000,' another commented. Another said she ordered her dress cheaply from Vietnam where they custom made it from her measurements. Several people opted for a spit roast or food truck style catering instead of the traditional sit down dinner. One woman suggested not mentioning the word 'wedding' when making hair or beauty appointments as it 'instantly doubles the price'. Other people saved by buying a second hand dress, doing the photography themselves, buying flowers wholesale at a flower market, having lunch instead of dinner, booking a restaurant instead of a venue and keeping the guest list low. This blog covers software patent news and issues with a particular focus on wireless, mobile devices (smartphones, tablet computers, connected cars) as well as select antitrust matters surrounding those devices. Research has revealed which dog breed is the smartest and two of Australia's most beloved dog breeds scored surprisingly low. The Border Collie has long been thought of as the smartest dog in the world but a recent study from University of Helsinki in Finland found it is actually the Belgian Shepherd Malinois. More than 1,000 dogs from 13 different breeds were put through rigorous intelligence testing with the Labrador coming in ninth and the Golden Retriever taking last place. The Belgian Shephard Malinois (pictured) has been found to be the world's smartest dog breed after a recent study More than 1,000 dogs from 13 different breeds were put through rigorous intelligence testing with the Labrador (pictured) coming in ninth and the Golden Retriever taking last place. Study author Dr Katriina Tiira told The Telegraph one breed stood out among the rest throughout the testing. 'The Belgian Shepherd Malinois stood out in many of the cognitive tasks, having very good results in a majority of the tests,' she said. Top four smartest dog breeds 1. Belgian Shepherd Malinois 2. Border Collie 3. Hovawart 4. Spanish water Dog Advertisement Belgian Malinois are popular choices for those looking for a canine to make a good sniffer, guard or police dog but they proved themselves to also be independent, good problem solvers, quick to respond to and good at reading humans. Border Collies proved their smarts and performed outstandingly in the tests but the Belgian Shepherd Malinois pipped them at the post. Saara Junttila, study author and a PhD researcher in canine cognition at the University of Helsinki, said most breeds studied had their own strengths and weaknesses. 'For example, the Labrador Retriever was very good at reading human gestures, but not so good at spatial problem-solving ability,' she said. 'Some breeds, such as the Shetland Sheepdog, scored quite evenly in almost all tests, i.e., they had neither very high nor very low scores for any test.' One of the dogs' tasks in which they were presented with two food bowls, one full, one empty, to see if they could identify which was empty yielded no results as there was no difference in behaviour between each breed. Border Collies (pictured) proved their smarts and performed outstandingly in the study's intelligence tests but the Belgian Shepherd Malinois pipped them at the post However three tasks which measured a specific aspect of dog cognition were more telling including one where the subjects had to navigate their way around a V-shaped fence. Another presented the animals an 'unsolvable task' - food placed in a box that couldn't be opened - to see how quickly they would seek a human for help, determining how independent they were. The third measured how the dogs were able to read humans, rating how they responded to five gestures: constant pointing, brief pointing, pointing with the foot, pointing at something while facing another direction and following a gaze. Out of a potential 39 points, Hovawarts (left), were a close third behind the Border Collie with 25 points, and the Spanish Water Dog (right) was one point off with 24 Top ten most popular dog breeds in Australia 1. Cavoodle 2. Labrador Retriever 3. Greyhound 4. Border Collie 5. Golden Retriever 6. Goldendoodle 7. Labradoodle 8. German Shepherd 9. English Staffordshire Bull Terrier 10. French Bulldog Source: Scratch Advertisement The Beligian Malinois came out on top for both the human gestures and the V-shaped fence tasks scoring 35 points out of 39 beating the second-placed Border Collie who scored 26 points. Hovawarts, which is an old German working breed descended from the Newfoundland and Leonberger, were a close third with 25 points, and the Spanish Water Dog was one point behind with 24. Vet Ben's top five picks Mongrel/mixed-breed Labrador Hungarian wire-haired vizsla Border terrier Greyhound Advertisement The beloved Labrador and Golden Retriever scored well on the gesture test but fell behind on the other two tasks coming in at ninth and 13th respectively. The study comes after online-famous veterinarian Ben the Vet, from the UK, took the internet by storm when he listed the five dog breeds he would consider owning as pets in a viral TikTok clip. Scroll down for video Ben said he favours mongrels or mixed breeds as they are less prone to diseases and genetic issues. Also in his top five were the Labrador, Hungarian wire-haired Vizsla, Border Terrier and the Greyhound. Starting from five and working backwards, he listed the greyhound at number five. 'They may not look very cuddly but they are really gentle and there are so many of them needing homes after their racing careers end,' Ben said. He added they often suffer from bad teeth so Greyhound owners need to 'put in the effort from the beginning to get their teeth brushed'. The study comes after online-famous veterinarian Ben the Vet (pictured), from the UK, took the internet by storm when he listed the five dog breeds he would consider owning as pets Ben said he favours mongrels or mixed breeds as they are less prone to diseases and genetic issues 'They will happily plod along on a walk but they would like the opportunity to sprint around so make sure you give them that opportunity,' the animal doctor said. Border terriers were Ben's fourth pick and would be his top choice if he were to get a small dog because of their loyalty, 'robust' health and affectionate nature. 'In my experience they are quite affectionate little dogs and compared to other terriers maybe they form slightly strong attachments with people,' he said. Starting from the bottom, Ben put Greyhounds at number five saying: 'They may not look very cuddly but they are really gentle and there are so many of them needing homes.' Border terriers were Ben's fourth pick and would be his top choice if he were to get a small dog because of their loyalty, 'robust' health and affectionate nature Ben did advise people to speak to the breeder about any potential health conditions in the line as Border Terriers are prone to luxating patellas where the knee cap dislocates or moves out of place. For their 'really lovely temperament', Ben said the Hungarian wire-haired Vizsla comes in as his third choice. 'This is a little bit of a niche choice because there are not many of them around but the ones I met have a lovely temperament,' he said adding they can often suffer from hip dysplasia For their 'really lovely temperament', Ben said the Hungarian wire-haired Vizsla comes in as his third choice wile he dubbed 'loyal', 'funny' and 'gentle' Labradors as second 'They do need lots and lots of exercise and stimulation so I would only get one if I had the time to take them out for two long walks a day.' Ben said Labrador's 'affectionate', 'loyal', 'funny' and 'gentle' personalities earn them the second place on his list. 'They are moderate in their appearance, they are not exaggerated in anyway, exaggerated is bad for health so that's good, however I am slightly conflicted about them because they are unfortunately to a few different problems,' he said. Finally, Ben's top choice of pooch is the mixed breed but said: 'the downside is the unpredictability of adult size, temperament and activity levels that you get with a pedigree dog 'They are also very prone to getting fat so I would be extremely careful to keep them trim.' Finally, Ben's top choice of pooch is the mixed breed or mongrel. 'When I say mongrel I mean proper liquorice all-sorts mixed breed where you cant tell what they are. The downside is the unpredictability in terms of adult size, temperament and activity levels that you get with a pedigree dog,' the vet said. 'But what you do get is diverse genetics who is, by virtue if being less in-bred, is less prone to diseases that have an inherited component and for me as a vet that's very important.' Ben clarified that he is 'definitely not telling everyone to go out and get these five dog breeds' but in his experience as a vet believes they are the 'possible five healthiest'. 'These are also not the only five I would consider. Remember it is just my opinion and you are fully entitled to disagree.' Children's prescriptions for antipsychotic medicines have doubled in the last 20 years, a study found. The drugs, which have a tranquillising effect, are typically used in adults to treat major mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia. NHS watchdog NICE approved the use of some antipsychotics in under 18s with psychosis or with severely aggressive behaviour from a conduct disorder. But researchers found they are also regularly dished out for an increasingly broad range of reasons - including autism and ADHD - to children as young as three. A team from the University of Manchester's Centre for Women's Mental Health examined primary care records of 7.2 million youngsters, aged 3 to 18, registered at GP surgeries between 2000 to 2019 They described the trend as 'worrying', adding further research is urgently needed into the safety of these medications for children. A team from the University of Manchester's Centre for Women's Mental Health examined primary care records of 7.2million youngsters, aged 3 to 18, registered at GP surgeries between 2000 to 2019. The overall percentage prescribed antipsychotics was relatively small 0.06 per cent in 2000 and 0.11 per cent in 2019 but rising every year. Each age group saw rises, with boys and older children, aged 15 to 18, more likely to be prescribed antipsychotics, such as risperidone and aripiprazole, than girls and younger children. Twice as many boys as girls received antipsychotic prescriptions for almost every year, with boys more likely to be diagnosed with autism, according to the findings published in Lancet Psychiatry. Children living in deprived areas had a greater chance of being prescribed an older class of antipsychotics which have been linked to side effects such as movement disorders like Parkinson's, they found. Dr Matthias Pierce, who jointly lead the study, said the findings demonstrate 'a concerning trend in antipsychotic prescribing in children and adolescents'. He said the increase in prescriptions among children had happened steadily, suggesting it was not linked to changes to prescribing guidelines. More information is needed on the potential effects of regular use of these drugs among children and their developing minds, he said. 'We do not think the changes in prescribing necessarily relate to changes in clinical need, rather, it may be more likely to reflect changes in prescribing practice by clinicians,' he said. 'We need more information on the conditions that these are being prescribed for and what other options might be available that are preferable. 'Then we need more research into the effects of these drugs as there has been little to date.' Professor Emily Simonoff, of the Institute of Psychiatry Psychology & Neuroscience at King's College London, said the rise would come as no surprise to clinicians. She said there was 'good evidence for their benefits for other conditions such as irritability in autism spectrum disorder' and that they often formed part of a wider treatment plan including psychological or behavioural interventions. She said: 'This study was not able to determine whether such recommendations were being followed or medication was being used on its own. 'The authors point to longer duration of prescribing and rightly highlight the need for high-quality, longer-term studies on efficacy and, most importantly adverse effects. This should be a research priority.' There has been a widespread increase in the number of under 18s suffering from mental health conditions in recent years. NHS Digital figures show the number referred for mental health treatment on the NHS reached 1,169,515 in 2021-22. An NHS spokesperson said: 'The NHS is treating an increasing number of children and adolescents with mental health conditions with around 175,000 more children and young people receiving NHS funded support than before the pandemic thanks to initiatives such as mental health teams in schools to provide immediate support to pupils. 'For people with a learning disability or autism, the number of antipsychotics prescribed has actually fallen each year since 2017 thanks to NHS England's Stopping Over Medication of People with a learning disability or autism campaign, and clinicians should only prescribe medication where appropriate and in line with NICE clinical guidance and alongside other therapies.' In other health news... Is wild swimming all it's cracked up to be? Middle-class women, celebs and weekend adventurers all swear by its supposed health benefits - but there's a darker side to the 19th-century pastime, as this nurse found out... Get an 'artificial pancreas' on the NHS: 100,000 type 1 diabetes sufferers are set to get pioneering gadget that may spell end of finger-prick blood tests Are 'Kraken' fears overblown? Experts say XBB.1.5 variant is NOT spreading as quickly as feared Good news, everybody. The ozone layer is probably going to heal. And thats not all: by the time my (future) grandchildren grow up in the late 2050s, the world could be greener, healthier, cleaner, kinder, more peaceful and more equal if we allow it. Why do I think this, when doom-and-gloom activists are always telling us to panic about climate change and some young people are so pessimistic they are refusing to have children? Because thats what the data clearly shows. Many of the indicators of planetary and human health are going in the right direction. The new United Nations report on the ozone layer is indeed good news, though not in the way most of the Press has reported it. Its a bit misleading to say, as the UN does, that the ozone hole over Antarctica which re-forms each year is slowly improving. After all, the hole in 2021 was one of the biggest ever recorded. Good news, everybody. The ozone layer is probably going to heal. And thats not all: by the time my (future) grandchildren grow up in the late 2050s, the world could be greener, healthier, cleaner, kinder, more peaceful and more equal if we allow it But the optimism it will now heal in the next four decades comes from the fact that the chemicals that harm ozone chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) used in fridges and aerosols are at last declining fast. It wasnt until 2018, when environmentalists exposed Chinas continued illicit production of these chemicals, that the Chinese government was shamed into cracking down. (Strangely that fact did not make it into the recent UN press release, presumably lest it annoy President Xi Jinping.) Progress The UN likes to credit an international agreement reached in Montreal in 1987 for the forecasted good news on ozone, but it also teaches the importance of innovation. Without new chemicals to replace CFCs, it would have been impossible to get agreement on phasing these out. And I am equally convinced that we will ultimately solve climate change by finding affordable and reliable ways to generate emission-free energy, not by telling people to stop flying or heating their homes. Innovation, not austerity, is the way to solve problems. Despite what the activists may say, the number of people killed in floods, droughts and storms around the world continues to decline every decade. This is largely thanks to progress in disaster responses. We passed peak farmland a few years ago and are on track to release an area of land the size of India back to nature by the 2050s, according to research by Rockefeller University. Snoqualmie Falls near Bellevue, Washington is pictured above Slowing down climate change, meanwhile, looks increasingly possible thanks to more efficient and safer versions of nuclear power in the short term. In the longer term, nuclear fusion now looks likely to meet the UKs national demand within a decade or three. It promises limitless energy from relatively small amounts of water and lithium. Imagine what we could achieve with limitless cheap energy: desalinated water to irrigate the desert, LED lighting to grow food indoors without chemicals, emission-free transport, cheaper housing and heating. More good news: even with eight billion people on the planet, mass famine has been largely eradicated thanks to improvements in agriculture. Were feeding the world better and better but from a smaller and smaller acreage each year. We passed peak farmland a few years ago and are on track to release an area of land the size of India back to nature by the 2050s, according to research by Rockefeller University. Theres tons of good news about wildlife, too. Wolves, sea eagles, beavers, otters, ospreys, peregrines and red kites are now far more abundant than when I was young, partly because we got rid of DDT (a harmful chemical in insecticides) and partly because we started conserving them. Tigers are holding their own at last in India, pandas are recovering in China and African elephants are currently increasing while poaching ivory for the Chinese market has largely ceased (for now). Walruses are thriving in the Arctic, too, which is why they are starting to turn up regularly in Britain. So are polar bears and humpback whales. Six years ago, I visited South Georgia in the Antarctic Ocean to find booming populations of whales, fur seals, elephant seals, king penguins and other birds, all of which had been driven to the brink of local extinction a century ago. Sure, theres plenty of worrying declines in wildlife as well, but lets take note of the successes that conservationists are achieving if only to inspire young people into helping. Wolves, sea eagles, beavers, otters, ospreys, peregrines and red kites are now far more abundant than when I was young, partly because we got rid of DDT (a harmful chemical in insecticides) and partly because we started conserving them Globally, net forest cover is growing again. Even countries like Bangladesh are reforesting fast. Only the very poorest countries still cut down more trees than they regenerate. Satellites have shown that there is more green vegetation on the planet every year. An area equivalent to twice the size of the United States has been added since the 1980s. This is only partly because of reforestation, and mainly because the extra carbon dioxide in the air makes plants grow faster and resist drought better. This CO2 fertilisation effect is seen most strongly in arid areas such as the Sahel region of Africa, which has grown markedly greener. Then theres the extinction of species. There have been two terrible waves of it, in the late 19th and the mid-20th centuries, mainly caused by invasive rats, cats and diseases introduced accidentally by people travelling on big ships to foreign islands. But in recent years the pace of extinction has slowed. Conservationists have learnt how to eradicate alien species from islands and how to protect the rarest birds and mammals. Take the black robin of the Chatham Islands off New Zealand. By 1976, its population was down to seven birds on a small islet. They were moved to a larger island where the rats and cats had been removed. But by 1980 two of the birds had died and none had bred. Just one female survived, Old Blue. Fortunately she was coaxed into laying two clutches in one year. Today, there are 300 black robins, all descended from Old Blue. Similar heroic conservation stories are increasingly common: the California condor, the bald ibis, the Lord Howe Island stick insect all rescued from the brink of extinction. Its more than 150 years since a European breeding bird species has gone extinct (the last recorded sighting of a great auk was in 1852). Can we go one better and revive extinct species? Not yet, but the technology to achieve this is getting closer. Weve already managed to sequence the DNA genomes of many extinct species, including the great auk. Weve developed techniques for editing these genomes that may soon enable a cell with the genome of an extinct species to be implanted in a domestic birds ovaries. A goose could lay a great auk egg in my lifetime. This is by no means the end of the good news which extends from nature to humankind. Indeed, improvements in medicine heading our way are remarkable. We have seen a step change in the speed of development of vaccines, thanks to the messenger RNA technology that was utilised in our Covid jabs. Innovation Cancer treatments have come on by leaps and bounds, too, both in survival rates and in terms of less brutal therapies. And the day when we can cure or prevent Alzheimers disease may not be far off after recent developments. Malaria mortality, the scourge of Africa, is falling steeply thanks to insecticide-treated bednets. New medical problems will, of course, emerge as the pandemic reminds us. But perhaps if we stop fiddling with bat viruses in city-centre laboratories that need not be so often. So heres my message to the grandchildren I hope one day to have. Ignore prophets of doom like Greta Thunberg. By the 2050s you could be living in a world that is greener, cleaner, less polluted and richer in wildlife, while enjoying abundant energy to support a comfortable lifestyle with vaccines and drugs to prevent or cure many of todays diseases. What could prevent that? Human folly, thats the main threat. Whether it comes from bellicose autocrats like Vladimir Putin, misguided opponents of biotechnology innovation like Greenpeace, or the many complacent bureaucratic enemies of growth, there are plenty of people trying to make the future worse. Dont let them! Matt Ridley is a former Tory peer and author of How Innovation Works. Health Secretary Steve Barclay has criticised how ambulance unions have handled today's industrial action across England and Wales. When asked whether he agreed with comments made by Business Secretary Grant Shapps that striking paramedics were being 'reckless', Mr Barclay replied: 'If there are delays to ambulances, then it is concerning in terms of our ability to get that care. 'It is clearly a concern as to the impact it has on patient safety.' His comments to Sky News comes amid a union revolt against the independent NHS Pay Review Body with 15 now saying they will boycott the process. Up to 25,000 ambulance staff held strike action today in an ongoing dispute with Government about pay. Pictured: Ambulance workers on the picket line outside East Midlands Ambulance Service today Health Secretary Steve Barclay has been critical of how unions have organised the strike, claiming patients have been put at risk Ambulances parked outside Wellington Barracks waiting to be used by military personnel stepping in to cover striking NHS workers Unison's 120,000-a-year general secretary Christina McAnea joins ambulance workers on the picket line outside Longley Ambulance Station in Sheffield today as staff across England and Wales walk out for 24 hours Awkward! Steve Barclay says he's meeting BMA later today... but union says he cancelled 9am sit-down so he could do media interviews Health Secretary Steve Barclay said he was due to speak to doctors unions on Wednesday to discuss industrial relations, but the British Medical Association (BMA) said the he has actually cancelled the talks so he could give media interviews. Addressing the current pay negotiations, Mr Barclay told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: 'I met with the unions again on Monday, Im meeting further with the doctors unions later today. 'We want to work constructively with the trade unions in terms of this years coming pay review body.' But the BMA tweeted that the meeting had actually been cancelled by Mr Barclay. 'We see that Steve Barclay has told BBC R4 Today programme he is meeting with doctors later today,' the union wrote. 'Actually he cancelled the 9am meeting we agreed so he could do media, and a further meeting is not yet agreed. 'Hopefully it will be soon.' The BMA is currently balloting junior doctors on potential strike action over pay, promising a 72-hour walkout if members vote yes. It is demanding junior medics get a 26 per cent pay rise. The union claims this is justified by years of below inflation pay rises. A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said they had not cancelled the meeting but 'postponed' it, adding that they had offered the BMA several alternative times to meet and work was ongoing to reschedule the talks for later in the day. Advertisement Also asked about if the Government's recently announced anti-strike legislation would look to prosecute striking workers, Mr Barclay said: 'It is about the behaviour much more of the unions than individual members. 'For example, there is a marked difference between what weve seen with the RCN (Royal College of Nursing), who put national arrangements in place to guarantee safety, and what weve seen with the ambulance strikes, where even up to midnight last night I was getting calls in terms of what arrangements would be in place in terms of the local cover, the minimum safety levels that would be in place, because ambulance unions had refused to do that at a national level.' But unions have hit back, claiming the proposed law will 'poison' the relationship with Government and lead to further walkouts. The row comes as the public were urged to avoid calling 999 during today's ambulance strike, with health leaders fearing it will leave the health service in an even worst position than the December walkouts. Up to 25,000 paramedics and support staff - including call handlers - will walk out across the country for the second time this winter in an ongoing dispute over pay. The GMB union, one of two behind today's strike, said that lives were being put at risk in the NHS 'every single day' by current staffing levels and not just as a result of strike action. 'I think what weve actually seen is across the NHS and the ambulance services, day in and day out, is that people are suffering, patients are suffering,' the unions national secretary Rachel Harrison told Sky News. 'Thats regularly reported by the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives, who report that patient safety standards are suffering as a result of the crisis that our NHS is facing. 'Lives have been put at risk every single day, not because of these strikes. I absolutely disagree with what Grant Shapps has said.' She challenged the Government to define what it considered to be safe staffing levels. Mr Shapps had accused ambulance unions of behaving in a way that was not acceptable in a civilised society. He said: I dont think any civilised society should have a situation where we cant get agreement to, for example, have an ambulance turn up on a strike day for the most serious of all types of ailments. Today's strike comes as unions covering a host of NHS staff groups including cleaners, porters, nurses and doctors announced they will be boycotting the NHS Pay Review Body and called for direct negotiations instead. The independent body, set up under Margaret Thatcher, is a Government-appointed group tasked with making recommendations on pay for staff in the health service. This map shows where ambulance staff are striking today, and which unions are behind the action Striking ambulance workers on the picket line outside Huddersfield Ambulance Station GMB ambulance workers on the picket line outside Bromsgrove Ambulance Hub in Bromsgrove Only 13% of Brits trust an ambulance to get them to hospital in time with 69% preferring a car driven by themselves, friends or family As some 25,000 ambulance staff go on strike a poll suggests Britons' faith in the emergency service is at a low. But rather than workers, most members of the public think the Government is to blame. Good Morning Britain had YouGov poll 1,836 people for their opinions on the ambulance workers strike. Results revealed that only 13 per cent of people surveyed would most trust an ambulance to get them to hospital if they needed to be seen urgently. In contrast 69 per cent would most trust a car driven by themselves, friends or family. The survey also found that over half (57 per cent) aren't confident that the NHS would be able to treat them or their family quickly and efficiently. The same proportion of people surveyed blamed the government for frontline health workers going on strike. Responding to the findings, Health Secretary Steve Barclay said: 'It is about the consequence over the last three years of the pandemic. 'If you look at ambulance handover times before the pandemic, it wasnt a problem in the same way, it was slightly over target So we have seen huge pressure' He added: 'I think the public can see that the NHS is under severe pressure and also see that the staff that work incredibly hard themselves are under severe pressure. I see that myself.' The survey was carried out between 6th - 8th January 2023 by YouGov. Advertisement Unions and NHS employers submit evidence on what salaries are needed to improve staffing numbers while the Government tells the body what the nation can afford. But unions have increasingly criticised ministers for using the system as shield to avoid discussing pay concerns as well as the lengthy system being too inflexible to sudden shifts in inflation. And today 15 unions announced they will boycott this year's evidence review and instead called for direct pay talks with ministers. Unison, representing 14 of the unions which include, GMB, Unite, The Royal College of Nursing, the Royal College of Midwives, and more, announced the joint move. Sara Gorton, Unison's head of health, said: 'The pay review body process doesnt fit the current context. 'The NHS staffing crisis is so acute only prompt action on pay both for this and the next financial year can start to turn things around. 'The public knows ambulance response times are worsening and hospital waiting lists growing because the NHS no longer has the necessary staff to meet demand, nor provide safe patient care. 'Ministers must seize the initiative, get everyone around the table and negotiate a way to the best deal for staff, patients and services.' Unite union general secretary Sharon Graham said the Pay Review Body was 'long past its sell-by date'. 'Its no longer independent of Government and it doesnt have powers to make major decisions about pay. So what is the point of it?' she said. 'The fact of the matter is the review body has presided over more than a decade of real wage cuts for almost all NHS staff. It has been a smokescreen which has allowed Government to drive the NHS to the point of collapse.' And the doctors' union, the British Medical Association (BMA), has also announced its intention to boycott the pay review process. Writing in The Times, the union's chair of council Professor Philip Banfield said: 'The medical profession has long lost faith in the fairness or independence of this process. 'Neither junior doctors nor consultants will even submit evidence this year, knowing the process is rigged from the start.' It comes as NHS mangers said staff deserve a pay increase of at least 5 per cent in their submission to the pay review body. Ambulance workers on the Unison union picket line outside Longley Ambulance Station in Sheffield Ambulances parked outside London Ambulance Service HQ in London this morning as Unison members of the service take part in strike action Poll Do YOU support the striking NHS ambulance workers? Vote here and tell us why... Support the strikes Do not support the strikes Don't know Do YOU support the striking NHS ambulance workers? Vote here and tell us why... Support the strikes 6162 votes Do not support the strikes 14745 votes Don't know 267 votes Now share your opinion Health service chiefs demand at least 5% pay rises for staff in bid to end to NHS strikes NHS staff deserve a pay increase of at least 5 per cent, NHS managers said in a submission to pay review bodies. Up to 25,000 GMB and Unison ambulance workers are striking today after rejecting a 4.75 per cent average pay increase as hopes rise that further strikes might be called off. The public has been told to dial 999 only in 'life and limb' emergencies today as doctors are drafted in to help direct ambulances to patients as efficiently as possible. Government sources have suggested that there are concerns about safety during today's strikes, emphasising that there is a lack of agreement over emergency protocols. Ministers are currently working on proposals for the pay review bodies for the next pay round and have suggested pay could be improved if unions commit to productivity goals. Today's strikes come after NHS workers in England and Wales rejected a pay rise averaging 4.75 per cent. All were guaranteed an increase of at least 1,400 a year - more than 7% for the lowest paid. But a recent survey of NHS Providers members for the 2023/2024 pay review saw 75 per cent of staff demand at least a 5 per cent increase. Thirty one per cent of NHS Providers members surveyed said an uplift of five per cent would be appropriate as a starting point for the 2023-2024 pay round, with only one respondent to the survey suggesting a figure below this. Nearly 30 per cent of respondents supported increases of between six and eight per cent and 16 per cent said more than 10 per cent was necessary, the document, which was published before Christmas, says. The survey also suggested that the vast majority of trusts are concerned about staff burnout and morale. Advertisement A recent survey of NHS Providers members - a body representing NHS organisations - for the 2023/2024 pay review saw 75 per cent of staff demand at least a 5 per cent increase. Thirty one per cent of NHS Providers members surveyed said such an uplift would be appropriate as a starting point for the 2023-2024 pay round, with only one respondent to the survey suggesting a figure below this. Nearly a third of respondents supported increases of between 6 and 8 per cent and 16 per cent said more than 10 per cent was necessary. The survey, published just before Christmas, also suggested that the vast majority of trusts are concerned about staff burnout and morale. Ministers are currently working on proposals for the pay review bodies for the next pay round and have suggested pay could be improved if unions commit to productivity goals. As the dispute rolls on Mr Barclay also urged the public to use their 'common sense' today and avoid risky behaviour during the ambulance strike. He told Times Radio: 'People can see that today is going to be a very challenged day for the ambulance service.' 'The focus will be on those life-threatening incidents and ensuring those are addressed, but there will be strain on the rest of the system. 'So, we are just saying to people, use their common sense.' He added that the public should still call 999 in genuine life-threatening emergencies. NHS managers have also expressed concerns that the new wave of walkouts would cause more 'significant disruption' than December strikes, leaving the health service in 'an even more precarious position'. And experts have warned of a 'rebound' effect similar to December's strike which saw the public put off calling for medical help during industrial action only to swamp the health service in the subsequent days. While union leaders have promised life and limb cover, Government sources have expressed concerns about a lack of agreement over emergency care. They said said requirements for agreements on contingency planning could be included in the minimum-service legislation the government is considering. Today's 24-hour walkout involves paramedics, drivers, and - in contrast to December's action - call handlers, raising fears more patients could die while waiting for help. Callers are likely to face longer waits for 999 and 111 calls to be answered and there will be far fewer ambulances on the road. The NHS has drafted doctors into control rooms to help identify the most critical patients as bosses are forced to ration ambulances. Some callers will be told to make their own way to hospital, potentially using a bus or taxi. And Britons will face a postcode lottery of emergency care as unions have refused to commit to a national level of service, with deals done locally instead. Miriam Deakin, interim deputy chief executive of NHS Providers, said her members were worried because Unison was telling call handlers and ambulance dispatchers, who remained in work during the December strike, to walk out. Unison has balloted 15,000 of its members who are striking in London, Yorkshire, the North West, North East and South West. NHS data showing ambulance delays when handing over patients to A&E departments in the week to January 1. More than a quarter (18,720) were forced to queue for more than 60 minutes before handing over their patients to A&E Graphic shows the average response times for Category 1, 2, 3 and 4 calls to ambulance services across England (left), and, right, the average response time for each call (red) compared to the target response time (blue) across all services Graphic showing the average time it takes for ambulance services across England to pick up 999 calls Barclay declares he uses the NHS after PM Rishi Sunak refuses to say if he goes private Health Secretary Steve Barclay has said he does not use private healthcare and is treated on the NHS. His declaration comes after his boss, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, came under fire for refusing to say if he or his family use private healthcare. Mr Sunak repeatedly declined to clear up the issue when questioned by the BBC at the weekend on if he pays to skip NHS queues to see a doctor. It followed reports that the PM is registered with a private GP practice in west London that guarantees patients with urgent concerns will be seen 'on the day'. While Mr Barclay defended those who choose to go private he added he was not among them. 'I dont subscribe to a sort of GP private thing,' the Cabinet minister told LBC. Pressed on whether he has NHS care, Mr Barclay replied: 'Yes, I dont subscribe to private provision. 'But I dont have a problem with people, with their own money, who wish to spend that money on private healthcare. 'I think that is a perfectly reasonable thing for people to want to do.' The Prime Minister today admitted that he has used private healthcare 'in the past'. Labour has said Mr Sunak gives the impression of being a leader who 'not only doesnt use the NHS but doesnt understand the scale of the challenges'. Conservative former prime minister Margaret Thatcher spoke of exercising her 'right as a free citizen to spend my own money in my own way' to seek private care. Speaking to BBC Ones Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme, the PM said: 'As a general policy I wouldnt ever talk about me or my familys healthcare situation. 'But its not really relevant, whats relevant is the difference I can make to the country.' Mr Barclay admitted to broadcasters on Wednesday that the NHS is under pressure as it battles Covid backlogs, complicated hospital discharge arrangements and a particularly bad flu season. Advertisement Up to 10,000 ambulance workers who are members of the GMB are expected to strike in areas including the South West, South East coast, North West, North East, East Midlands, West Midlands, Yorkshire and Wales. Members who are striking will stagger their walkouts, which each striker not working for between six and 12 hours, to allow trusts to maintain a critical level of cover. Ambulances will respond to category one incidents, which include where a patient is not breathing or their heart has stopped, but may not travel to patients having heart attacks, strokes, burns or falls. The Army has been called in to drive some ambulances, similar to last month's industrial action. And in at least some areas, unions have agreed to take members off the picket line and back to work if demand for life and limb saving care becomes too high. Daniel Elkeles, chief executive of London Ambulance Service, said he expected only half of the capitals ambulances will be available. He added: It is still really, really busy in the NHS and hospitals are really, really full so I would just ask the public to be really helpful again tomorrow and only phone us if they have a life and limb-threatening emergency.' Ben Holdaway, director of operations at the East Midlands Ambulance Service, said: Where possible, our 999 control rooms will carefully assess and prioritise an ambulance response for those who need it most, and this may only be where there is a threat to life. Yorkshire Ambulance Service said crews will still be able to respond during the strike but this will only be where there is an immediate risk to life. In the North West, ambulance bosses have urged the public to ensure ambulances are available for life-threatening cases, with other patients likely to be asked to take alternative transport, such as a taxi or get a lift from family or friends. Paramedics on the front line have said low pay is forcing them to make tough choices amid the cost of living crisis. Vimal Mistry a paramedic for seven years who attended the GMB picket line at East Midlands Ambulance Service said he is having to limit the heating in his home because of poor pay. 'I'm now having to think about how much heating I have on in the house I have it on for two hours now,' he said. Another paramedic, mother-of-two Jenny Giblin who was on the picket line at Birkenhead said: 'I've been here long enough that I am on a better wage than some but I'm still sitting at home timing how long I've got the heating on for. 'I've got two children under three. If I'm struggling, I don't know how people on lower wage bands cope. People are living on overtime. 'We have got families and an ambulance strike is worrying for us, but if we don't do anything about these conditions there won't be an ambulance service and there won't be an NHS.' The dispute between unions and Government has rumbled on since December when staff first took to the picket lines over pay and staffing. Unions claim pay failing to keep pace with inflation is forcing workers to leave the NHS, exacerbating staffing pressures. There are currently more than 3,300 vacancies in ambulances services in England, according to the latest data. In November, unions voted to strike over the Government's 4 per cent pay award for NHS staff last year. GMB says it wants a 'catch-up settlement' for its members to restore 'a decade of lost earnings and a retention package that properly rewards existing staff'. Meanwhile, Unison says it wants an above-inflation pay rise, which currently sits at about 9 per cent. Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting said today's walkout could prevent people getting the care they need. He tweeted: 'People may not get an ambulance today when they need one.' But he added: 'An even greater tragedy is that this was also true yesterday and will be true again tomorrow.' Further strike action is planned for later this month with Unison, and fellow NHS ambulance union Unite, set to hold co-ordinated industrial action on January 23. The Government also has an ongoing dispute with other NHS staff groups such as nurses who are set to strike this month. Junior doctors could also join them with the British Medical Association currently balloting its members on strike action. In other health news... Phil Tuftnell! Cricket legend 'Tuffers' gets hair transplant to turf over his 'thinning wicket' Once frostbitten, twice shy! How Harry got a bespoke penis cushion to stop him suffering repeat injury during trip to Antarctica Twerking classes, '75-soft' and brutal 12-3-30 workouts: Top fitness trends set to dominate 2023, according to exercise experts Ambulance workers are out on strike today in an ongoing protest over pay and conditions. Up to 25,000 ambulance staff, including NHS paramedics and emergency call handlers, will will stage walk outs. This follows similar strike action that took place in the run up to Christmas. Today's disruption was organised by the unions GMB and Unison, who have demanded the Government pay workers more amid the cost-of-living crisis. MailOnline readers were today asked if they support the striking NHS ambulance workers. Here's 20 of the best-rated comments... Answers to MailOnline's poll as of 11.40pm GMT today NHS data showed that ambulances record delays when handing over patients to A&E departments in the week to January 1. More than a quarter (18,720) were forced to queue for more than 60 minutes before handing over their patients to A&E (shown in graph) Poll Do YOU support the striking NHS ambulance workers? Vote here and tell us why... Support the strikes Do not support the strikes Don't know Do YOU support the striking NHS ambulance workers? Vote here and tell us why... Support the strikes 6162 votes Do not support the strikes 14745 votes Don't know 267 votes Now share your opinion No I don't agree with them striking. They're just bandwagon jumping. In fact they're well paid already. The Conned, Fox, United Kingdom I have great admiration for them. But they are not badly paid. Wendyquay, Somewhere in Scotland, United Kingdom No 100%. The NHS itself is the problem. It can't be resolved by giving it more and more and more. They can resolve their own problems with the enormous amount of money they already get. RH6mre2, The South, United Kingdom Compared to many other jobs I believe they are paid adequately. But then this is not about pay. It is nothing but political. Many unions striking together just want to bring the government down. So I am glad the government are retaliating by bringing in new strike laws. Acestrike, Leicester, United Kingdom Personally I have never supported strikes. The simple truth is that they are counterproductive. Even if the strikers demands are achieved in the short term, serious damage is done to reputations and the finances of the organisation or company. There will be a price to pay later in terms of job security and investment. Shed13, Swindon, United Kingdom No, absolutely not. They've had two raises of 3% and 4% in the last two years and the NHS has had more cash injected in the last few years than ever before. Nurses are quite reasonably paid already and they get a very generous pension, far better than most people. Andy, Manchester No I don't support any of the strikes and urge the government to stand firm DaileyDel, Leicester, United Kingdom Absolutely. The money available should go to them first, long before the overpaid train drivers! Jock Tamson, The Athens of the North, United Kingdom No, I don't. They took an oath to assist those in serious predicaments and striking is a dereliction of duty. Even if they didn't take the oath nobody should be left in pain to potentially die. Hans.Muller, Hanover Graphic shows the average response times for Category 1, 2, 3 and 4 calls to ambulance services across England (left), and, right, the average response time for each call (red) compared to the target response time (blue) across all services I'm at a loss to understand why ambulance personnel, train drivers and nurses are supposed to be the only ones hit by the cost of living? Especially when they are all pretty well paid to start with. Gobsmacked, Kent somewhere, United Kingdom No I never support strikes. If you are unhappy in your job, change it.. Crochetcrafter, Colechester, United Kingdom No - do another job if you don't like the pay and conditions. Mark from Manchester, Manchester Good companies with good management don't strike as they don't need to strike G.P.Cody, London, United Kingdom Absolute not. The NHS is over funded as it is. It needs to stop wasting OUR money. Cut out the non jobs and wokism. TheUnbeliever, Bromsgrove, United Kingdom How many ambulance workers are striking? And will my area be affected? EVERYTHING you need to know about today's NHS 999 strike Ambulance staff have returned to the the picket lines today, in the second full day of strike action over pay following December's industrial action Advertisement The ambulance service has been hopeless for years and they dont deserve more money. 5 years ago my 92 year old mother fell outside and had to lay on concrete for 5 hours after we called an ambulance. An elderly neighbour of ours fell 4 years ago on a frosty winter night and lay on concrete for 6 hours waiting fir an ambulance with a broken shoulder. A neighbour died this week after falling outside and being told there was a 36 hour wait for an ambulance! Penny, East Anglia, United Kingdom This NHS service needs complete reform, with an independent efficiency review Im positive (from what friends who work in the service tell me) that we could identify savings that would enable us to review wages. The levels of management have not kept step with the flatter management structures now found in industry. The police and fire service should also be reviewed, why do we need sergeants, inspectors, chief inspectors, superintendents, chief superintendents, ACCs and chief constables? Somebody has to grasp the nettle and tackle the nationalised businesses that are holding us back. However with our current crop of politicians I wont be holding my breath. Mike_C, Manchester, United Kingdom They should get the people of Dragons Den to sort out the N H S . Get rid of over paid and under productive management. There's bound to be many levels that are not needed. It's such a waste There's more management than front line staff and the money could go to them . Michael D Webb, Warrington, United Kingdom No. I do hope they get a 'fair' pay rise, but never in 44 years of continuous employment, did I ever feel the need to go on strike! I always left and / or got a better job, or worked overtime to support my family. Why can't they? Snorkylll, CryBabyRemoanLand, United Kingdom Don't like doing the job or feel you're under paid?.......Go and try your hand at another job then. No one is holding a gun to their heads. I guarantee that if you left and went to work in a warehouse or a factory on minimum wage you'd soon go running back. Pennykid27, Staffordshire, United Kingdom In the days when people saw work in teaching, medicine, and caring as a vocation, ideals would have come before the politics behind the current wave of strikes. Disgruntled dinosaur, Cardiff, United Kingdom In other related news... Health secretary Steve Barclay accuses ambulance unions of putting patients at risk with chaotic plans for handling emergencies during strikes - as Brits are told to use their 'common sense' and only ring 999 for a 'life or limb' emergency Only call an ambulance for a life or limb emergency, public are warned as 999 crew begin latest strike that will bring even MORE disruption than the previous walkout 'It's worse than Ukraine': Doctor says hospitals are so overrun they are struggling more than medical centres in warzone Senator Bernie Sanders has blasted Moderna for 'unacceptable corporate greed' after DailyMail.com revealed the firm's plan to jack up the price of its Covid shot. In a letter sent this week to Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel, Sen. Sanders asked the drugmaker not to go ahead with the from $26 to $130 price increases on its Covid vaccine, saying it could make the shot unaffordable for millions of Americans. He added that raising the price of the shot was particularly offensive given that the US government provided more than $2billion in taxpayer money to fund the development of the vaccine. Moderna - which turned an estimated $39 billion in profit last year - benefitted from a multi-billion-dollar taxpayer-funded support package for designing and testing its Covid shot as part of the Trump administration's Operation Warp Speed. US Senator Bernie Sanders blasted Covid shot maker Moderna for its 'unacceptable corporate greed' in its plans to raise vaccine prices. Sen. Sanders is set to become chairman of the Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions later this month Sen. Sanders said: 'You propose to make the vaccine unaffordable for the residents of this country who made the production of the vaccine possible. That is not acceptable.' Mr Bancel told DailyMail.com last week that Moderna intends to charge between '$110 to $130' per dose for the vaccine when it hits the open market later this year, in line with its rival Pfizer. The top end of that range is around eight times the price in the earliest US contracts for the vaccine and five times the $26 a dose the government paid for booster shots last year. Sen. Sanders wrote: '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.' Last year, Modernas Covid vaccine sales were around $18.4 billion. Its profits are expected to fall sharply this year even with the price increases, as demand for the shots has dropped off. The drug company said Monday it expects a minimum of $5 billion in revenue from the shots this year. In an emailed statement, the biotech giant said: '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 added that under the Affordable Care Act, its Covid shots will remain available at no cost for most Americans. Covid vaccines have been free to Americans regardless of insurance status during the pandemic. This is thanks to Operation Warp Speed, which was adopted in the early weeks of the pandemic to accelerate the development of Covid vaccines and treatments. The Trump administration shelled out more than $12 billion to biotech companies including Moderna, Janssen, and Novavax to compress the timeline for a viable vaccine. 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. In July 2022, the US government awarded a $1.74 billion agreement to secure more than 65 million additional doses of Moderna's Covid vaccine, bringing the total number of shots procured to more than 560 million. When Jonas Salk invented the polio vaccine, he refused to patent it. That decision cost him an estimated $7 billion. When Stephane Bancel, Moderna's CEO, got taxpayer funding for the COVID vaccine he became a billionaire overnight and is now worth $6.2 billion. End this greed. Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) January 11, 2023 When those run out, the negotiation of the cost of vaccines will soon be down to insurance companies and private purchasers - in the absence of the federal government buying up additional doses at a reasonable price. The subsidized shots have thus far been free for all Americans regardless of whether they have health insurance. And while insured Americans likely won't see a difference when they go to get the shots, those without coverage will be saddled with a high price. Insurance premiums will cover the price hike, meaning Americans will not actually pay out-of-pocket, but it will still push up premiums all around. A recent Kaiser Family Foundation analysis of 2023 premium filings showed that some insurers expect the commercialization of vaccines to push up premium costs across the board. And those costs could continue to put upward pressure on premiums for years to come. Mr Bancel's comments confirmed lawmakers' fears that Pfizer's price hike would prompt other Covid shot makers to also raise their price. Democrats Sen Elizabeth Warren from Massachusetts and Sen-elect Representative Peter Welch of Vermont accused Pfizer of 'unseemly profiteering' and 'pure and deadly greed' in a scathing letter to its CEO Albert Bourla last month, and urged him to change course. Unlike Moderna, Pfizer and its partner company BioNTech did not accept federal money to fuel research and development of a covid vaccine. Still, that is not to say that Pfizer did not receive backing from the US government. First Lady Dr Jill Biden, 71, underwent a common surgical procedure that successfully removes tumorous skin tissue in 99 per cent of all cases. The White House physician updated the public on the First Lady's condition on Wednesday, announcing that the executive branch's medical team had removed a small lesion above her right eye that turned out to be basal cell carcinoma. Doctors also found and removed a basal cell carcinoma on the left side of her chest. A third area of concern was spotted on Dr Biden's left eyelid. Doctors excised the lesion there, though did not say publicly that it was also basal cell carcinoma. Dr. Kevin OConnor, Physician to the President, said that in all cases, 'All cancerous tissue was successfully removed. 'As anticipated, the First Lady is experiencing some facial swelling and bruising, but is in good spirits and is feeling well.' Last week, Dr OConnor, said that doctors at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center would extract the lesion above Dr Biden's eye 'in an abundance of caution.' The procedure, called Mohs surgery, is used to remove certain types of skin cancers including some melanomas, basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and other less common skin cancers. The news of her procedure comes just a couple of years after Dr Biden underwent 'a common medical procedure' at George Washington University Hospital though the purpose for the procedure was not disclosed by the White House. Dr. Kevin OConnor, Physician to the President, said the First Lady had three separate excisions: one above her right eye, one on her left eyelid, and another on her chest Dr Jill Biden, 71, went to Walter Reed Military Medical Center on Wednesday to a cancerous skin leasion abover her right eye removed. She will undergo a Mohs procedure, which successfully excises skin cancers in 99 per cent of cases Dr Biden and her husband the president arrived at the hospital on Wednesday morning at around 8am. The White House issued the status update on Wednesday afternoon. Mohs surgery is performed in an outpatient setting and typically takes a few hours. Dr Biden was able to remain awake for the surgery, which requires just local anesthesia to numb the area. The objective of a Mohs procedure is to excise as much cancerous skin tissue as possible while also doing as little damage to the surrounding healthy tissue as possible. It's a gradual process and layers of skin are removed in steps. First, the surgeon uses a scalpel to remove the surface level cancerous skin tissue with the understanding that there might be more cancerous tissue beneath the surface. Skin cancer is like an ice berg. The bulk of it is usually hidden under the surface. The surgeon maps out where on the body the cancerous tissue was extracted, takes that tissue sample to the lab, dyes it, and cuts it into sections. Specialized technicians place those tissue samples on slides to be investigated under the microscope. Dr Biden and her husband Joe arrived at Walter Reed at approximately 8am on Wednesday. The procedure is straightforward and relatively quick. The White House will issue an update on Dr Biden's condition later on Wednesday Letter from the office of the Physician to the President to Press Secretary to the First Lady and Special Assistant to the President Vanessa Valdivia regarding Jill Biden's Health Jan 3 2022During a routine skin cancer screening, a small lesion was found above the First Lady's right eye. Memo here from Dr. Kevin O'Connor, Physician to the President, with more information on the First Lady's upcoming outpatient procedure to have it removed and examined.https://twitter.com/vvaldivia46/status/1610778481264295936/photo/1 The doctor painstakingly examines the edges of each section of tissue for evidence of remaining cancer. If the surgeon finds cancer cells under the microscope, their location is marked on the map. The process is repeated until the doctor can find no evidence of cancer in the sampled tissue. Some wounds will be big enough to require sutures to close. They typically heal within a couple of weeks. Smaller wounds can heal by themselves in about a month. Typically people are able to leave between two and six hours after the outpatient surgery, though the timing depends on the size of the area effected. The procedure is extremely common. Mohs surgery is performed on over 876,000 tumors per year in the United States. Certain types of skin cancers treated by this procedure - basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas - are on the rise. Roughly 1.8 million cases of squamous cell carcinomas are reported annually. Over the past 30 years, incidences of squamous cell carcinomas have spiked 200 per cent, according to the Skin Cancer Foundation. Basal cell carcinoma, meanwhile, is the most common form of skin cancer and the most frequently occurring form of all cancers. An estimated 3.6 million cases are diagnosed each year in the U.S. alone. The rising rates of skin cancer are likely due to better detection and diagnosis capabilities as well as increased exposure to ultraviolet light, more time spent on outdoor activities, changes in clothing style, increased longevity, ozone depletion, genetics and in some cases, immune suppression. 'I will parade in my pants for as long as I like!': Sarah Jayne Dunn hits back at trolls as she is slammed for posing in lingerie as 'a mother in her 40s' Banks, fintech firms and shadow banks are all about trust, so it is never a good look if published accounts are delayed. Tax campaigner Dan Neidle fairly asks why Revolut, valued at 27.5billion at its last fund raising, is breaking the law by failing to file its accounts for the financial year ending September 30, 2022, on time. Not surprisingly, the delay has raised alarm bells given the past involvement of the challenger bank in the distressed bitcoin sector. A pall has descended over the whole thriving fintech sector as a result of the failures of former heroes Greensill, Wirecard and FTX. A pall has descended over the whole thriving fintech sector as a result of the failures of former heroes Greensill, Wirecard and FTX The delay in the release of Revolut accounts looks to be more prosaic. The bank, which claims to have more than 25m customers across the globe, has been caught in the crossfire between its auditors BDO and the accounting watchdog, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC). The audit of Revolut has been called in by the regulator. There has also been a series of mishaps among its clients, which include the housing-for-the-homeless investment group Home REIT, the concierge firm Quintessentially and Revolution Beauty. Special measures require auditing firms to provide a series of detailed reports on how the key metrics in company accounts are arrived at. BDO finds itself in distinguished company after KPMG was in a similar position following faulty audits at the Co-op Bank, Carillion, Conviviality and others. In the Revolut case, it is understood that BDO has now largely provided the reports and data requested by the FRC and the long delayed accounts should be released in the next two weeks or so. They are expected to show that Revolut was profitable over each of the last two years. Most of the income has been generated by its rapid-speed foreign exchange services, which offer the customer currency at spot rates. Among the concerns about Revolut is that even years or so after it was founded in London by Nikolay Storonsky and Vlad Yatsenko, it has still failed to win Bank of England approval and operates under a Lithuanian banking licence. Reassurance about its stability has been provided by the presence at the helm of City grandee Martin Gilbert, formerly of Aberdeen Asset Management. Revolut is still being scrutinised by the Bank as its seeks Authorisation with Restrictions, or AwR, the preliminary to obtaining a full banking licence. If the accounts hurdle is passed then the initial approval from the Old Lady could come through later this spring. Hope springs eternal. Good value My son Gabriel recently noticed that of all the funds he holds, the only one showing a gain is Fundsmith. It is disappointing that founder Terry Smiths remuneration ends up in Mauritius, almost certainly beyond the reach of HMRC. There is a lesson there for Keir Starmer as he eyes up an estimated 3.5billion from abolishing non-domiciled tax status. Labour is set on a dangerous course unless its aim is to drive UK strivers overseas. Yes, 2022 was a down year for Fundsmith and nobody wants to see 14 per cent wiped off their savings. As long as it isnt the start of a trend, then Smiths followers, who have seen gains of 478.2 per cent over the last 13 years, are not going to grumble. Smith again chooses to make Unilever a big feature of his letter to investors and seems unembarrassed that the FTSE 100 stalwart actually outperformed Fundsmith last year. He has no mercy, describing the explanation for Alan Jopes pending departure as chief executive as coming from Miracle On 34th Street and poking fun at the woke marketing of Lux. Nevertheless, as a 13-year shareholder in the Marmite and Ben & Jerry colossus, he is not for selling. If only such long-term thinking were more common among UK asset managers. Grant aid Britains financial communications industry is a great export to the rest of the world. So congratulations to Andrew Grant and colleagues at Tulchan in securing a remunerative 70million deal linking it to cleaned-up US-based outfit Teneo, which is backed by private equity behemoth CVC. It would have been preferable if the traffic were the other way. But when it comes to equities, the pull of New York is irresistible. No one should underestimate the prospect of clashing egos as two peoples enterprises are brought together. Well worth watching. Revolut has come under fire after failing to file its accounts on time. The challenger bank missed its September deadline to file its figures for 2021 and was given an extension to the end of last year. But it also missed that deadline, meaning its figures are almost two weeks overdue. The failure to file its accounts to Companies House on time has raised fears over its financial position. Delays: Revolut missed its September deadline to file its figures for 2021 and was given an extension to the end of last year. But it also missed that deadline It drew scorn from Dan Neidle, founder of the non-profit tax advice and policy group Tax Policy Associates, who said the companys behaviour would be unthinkable for traditional banks such as Barclays or HSBC. Why does a major company like Revolut think its OK to break the law and fail to file its accounts on time? Neidle wrote on Twitter, adding that obeying the law isnt a choice. However, a Revolut spokesman said its accounts were finalised and it expected the figures to confirm previously reported news that the group was profitable. We are very proud of this and intend to file the accounts in the new year, the spokesman added. The central bank of Lithuania fined Revolut 61,840 last year after one of its European subsidiaries failed to submit audited accounts to the countrys regulator. It is understood the delay in the UK is connected to a dispute between Revoluts auditor BDO and the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), the accounting sectors watchdog. BDOs audits are under scrutiny by the watchdog, meaning additional paperwork is required before accounts can be signed off. BDO was criticised by the FRC last year for an inadequate audit of Revoluts accounts. Despite the delays, the numbers for 2021 are expected to confirm Revoluts profitability and reveal it is raking in money from its foreign exchange business and drawing in around 20m clients, which would make it one of the biggest financial tech companies in the world. Crypto exchange Coinbase will slash 20 per cent of its workforce as the crisis gripping the industry deepens. The firm will cut 950 jobs as part of a restructuring plan. It is the third round of layoffs in a year, with the group cutting more than 60 jobs in November and 1,100 staff back in June. Coinbase said its business has enough cash to keep going, but admitted it has been hit by fallout from unscrupulous actors in the industry and warned there could be further contagion. Crypto jobs: Coinbase will cut 950 jobs as part of a restructuring plan. The group cut more than 60 jobs in November and 1,100 staff back in June The company also said it would shut down several projects as part of the job cuts programme. In November, rival exchange FTX collapsed and the following month its founder Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested. The former crypto wunderkind has since been extradited to the US to face allegations he orchestrated what officials have dubbed one of the biggest financial frauds in American history. If found guilty, he could be sent to prison for up to 115 years. FTXs collapse has led to calls for tougher oversight of the industry, sparking fears companies such as Coinbase could see their business constrained. Sosandar hailed a record quarter of sales as women snapped up suits and dresses in the run-up to Christmas. The sexy and chic womenswear brand said customers brushed off the spiralling cost of living crisis and turned to more expensive products. In the last three months of the year Sosandars sales hit 11.6million, a 30 per cent jump from a year earlier. Record Christmas: Sexy and chic womenswear brand Sosandar hailed a record quarter as sales hit 11.6m, a 30% jump from a year earlier The firm did not disclose its profits but said it was in the black for the fifth quarter in a row. Sosandar said its average order was worth 106.37, an 11 per cent jump in a year as women opted for pricier items such as outerwear, suits and party dresses. Sosandar was founded by Ali Hall and her co-chief executive Julie Lavington in 2015 after they quit their jobs running fashion magazine Look. It is one of the UKs fastest growing fashion brands, with Hall and Lavington believing it could become one of the biggest fashion brands. But shares in the business slipped 2.3 per cent, or 0.5p, to 21.5p as the pair warned they are highly vigilant amid a challenging economic outlook. The founders of a London-based tech firm could see a windfall of around 280million after it was bought by the Germans. Entrepreneurs Karim Beguir and Zohra Slim set up artificial intelligence (AI) company InstaDeep in 2014 in Tunisia. The company has been sold to German vaccine maker BioNTech for 562million. It is unclear how much Beguir and Slim still own with a spokesman simply saying it is less than 25 per cent of the company each. Windfall: Entrepreneurs Karim Beguir and Zohra Slim set up artificial intelligence (AI) company InstaDeep in 2014 in Tunisia But that could see them separately make up to 140million from the sale. Chief executive Beguir, an engineer who was born in France but lives in London, said he was very excited to join forces and become one team with BioNTech. InstaDeep provides AI powered decision-making systems for companies, which includes everything from helping shipping firms work out transport routes to determining the best technology to fight cancer. As well as the firms London HQ, it has offices in Paris, Tunis, Lagos, Dubai, and Cape Town, employing 240 people. The acquisition of yet another UK based tech firm also marks BioNTechs biggest deal to date following its own Covid windfall. The pharma giant said it agreed to pay 362million in cash and cash equivalents, as well as a further 200million based on InstaDeeps future performance. The best places to work have been revealed - and there are some surprising names on a list dominated by tech firms and consultancies. The overall top workplace in the UK is consultants Bain & Company, according to the latest Best Places to Work survey from workplace ranking firm Glassdoor. Bain & Company won after employees praised the companys culture, work-life balance and learning opportunities. A good working culture and a great team are two key components to a top workplace, according to Glassdoor findings Workers said the firm had 'genuinely some of the finest people to work with, smart and empathetic in spades' and an 'amazing culture'. In second place is software provider ServiceNow, which was the 2021 winner, then another consultancy - Boston Consulting Group. But move further down the list and there are some household names, such as Google, Microsoft, Apple - and even Heathrow airport. Overall 21 technology companies made the list of best workplaces, as well as nine finance firms, seven consultancies and four manufacturing employers. The top 50 places to work in 2023 Bain & Company ServiceNow Boston Consulting Group Equinix Ocado Technology Mastercard Google Arup Salesforce Version 1 Softcat BlackRock Microsoft Adobe Novuna Imagination Technologies Johnson & Johnson SAP Wise Capgemini Invent Office for National Statistics Cromwell Tools Mott MacDonald SUSE Cisco Systems Dell Technologies Baringa Partners Schroders Bloomberg L.P. S&P Global Syngenta Deloitte VMware Awin Diageo Apple RBC Fidelity International Kainos Dishoom Goldman Sachs Siemens NFU Mutual Avanade McKinsey & Company Heathrow Airport Expedia Group Computacenter Accenture Procter & Gamble What makes a great place to work? Glassdoor's five criteria were: Work-life balance A good team and culture Great pay and perks Strong leadership Good career growth Glassdoor chief executive Christian Sutherland-Wong said: 'The past year brought extreme highs and lows for job seekers and employees, but despite an increasingly uncertain job market, Glassdoor data shows there are still companies hyper-focused on creating outstanding employee experiences.' According to separate research by recruiter Hays, electrical engineers, sustainability managers and cyber security experts could pocket some of the biggest pay packages if they decide to move jobs this year. Over half of workers intend to look for a new job in 2023, it said, and with more than 1.1million unfilled jobs in the UK those who are looking for a new challenge are likely to see plenty of opportunities. Skills-short areas such as engineering, construction and technology are set to continue to be in high demand in the coming months, along with energy and sustainability managers as the drive for green jobs continues. The top salary increases went to salesforce solutions architects, who have seen their average annual pay jump by nearly 19 per cent to 107,000, along with systems design engineers and product managers, which saw their average pay rise 18 per cent. >> These are the jobs that saw the biggest pay rises in 2022 REVEALED: TOP 20 SALARY INCREASES IN 2022 Job Industry Salary (average 2022) % Salary increase since 2021 1 Salesforce solutions architect Technology 107,000 18.50% 2 Systems design engineer Engineering & manufacturing 65,000 18.20% 3 Product manager Technology 71,091 16.50% 4 SAP basis consultant Technology 61,800 16.20% 5 Head of talent/resourcing HR 79,000 14.90% 6 Newly qualified solicitor Legal (private practice) 67,577 14.60% 7 Aerodynamics engineer Engineering 65,000 14.50% 8 Cyber security analyst Technology 56,136 14.10% 9 Cyber security engineer Technology 73,125 13.90% 10 Fabricator/welder Engineering and manufacturing 32,250 13.70% 11 Clinical research associate (senior level) Life sciences 54,000 13.70% 12 Data scientist Life sciences 58,750 11.90% 13 Platform engineer Technology 60,455 11.80% 14 Marketing analyst / CRM analyst Marketing 38,909 11.50% 15 Diversity, equality, and inclusion manager HR 55,833 11.30% 16 Machine learning manager Life sciences 81,000 11% 17 Data engineer Technology 57,364 11% 18 Engineering operative Engineering & manufacturing 26,000 10.60% 19 Financial director Accountancy & finance 126,042 10.60% 20 Automation engineer Engineering & manufacturing 49,500 10.30% Source: Hays, based on the analysis of over 10,000 salaries, alongside survey data of over 13,500 employers and professionals. How the rankings work Glassdoor looks at anonymous feedback from workers reviewing companies on its website, then works out the most popular firms among staff. The workplace rating firm asks workers for some of the best reasons to work for their employer, any downsides, how satisfied they are with their job and for details on working culture, among others. Firms must have at least 1,000 staff to be part of the Glassdoor rankings, and must have at least 30 reviews from staff. Tamara Reynolds had just started to prepare for dinner on Christmas Eve when a letter arrived from a debt collector. It said she owed 2,387 to mobile firm O2 and her details had been sold to debt collectors, who could turn up at her door at any time. The 26-year-old administrative manager from Croydon, South London, was terrified and furious. Demands: Tamara Reynolds was told she owed 2,387 after fraudsters took out four O2 mobile contracts including two iPhone 13 phones using her name and address Terrified at the idea that someone might turn up to take her possessions away. And furious because she didn't owe a penny to O2 in fact, she has never even been a customer. That alarming Christmas Eve letter arrived almost two months after Tamara had alerted O2 to the fact that she'd been a victim of identity fraud. In November, she had discovered that fraudsters had taken out four O2 mobile contracts including two iPhone 13 phones using her name and address. Tamara made dozens of calls to O2 over the proceeding weeks in order to get the accounts closed, but the bills kept coming. When she called O2 on Christmas Eve, it recommended telling the debt collectors that the payments were 'under investigation'. They 'should' then leave her property, O2 promised. 'I was living in fear of someone turning up at my door,' Tamara says. 'This was ruining my life and O2 didn't seem to care.' Tamara also discovered her credit rating has been trashed. On Experian, her score nearly halved from an 'excellent' 992 to a 'very poor' 546 between October and December. This would make it near-impossible for her to get a mortgage or borrow money from a mainstream lender. She says: 'It's impacted so much of my life. I was thinking about buying a house, but my financial adviser told me not to because no one will lend to me at the moment, so it could just leave more marks on my credit file. 'I was also meant to upgrade my phone contract before Christmas, but I wasn't approved for that.' After Money Mail intervened, a spokesman for O2 said it had updated Tamara's credit file and would stop chasing her for payment. Security: To open a contract with O2, you need to give a name, address and date of birth, as well as your bank details. You also have to show a form of ID like a driving licence or passport But Experian said that although Tamara would now have a 'good' rating, her score won't bounce back to 'excellent' straight away. If Tamara's case sounds familiar, that's because Money Mail revealed in February last year that security flaws were allowing fraudsters to take out O2 contracts in innocent people's names. Almost a year later, we can reveal the fraud loophole still hasn't been closed with devastating consequences. To open a contract with O2, you need to give a name, address and date of birth, as well as your bank details. You also have to show a form of ID such as a driving licence or passport. Other mobile phone providers ask for proof of address, too, such as a utility bill. In Tamara's case, she discovered the crooks gave the wrong date of birth and bank account details (used for a credit check) but were still allowed to open four accounts in her name. Jake Moore, global cybersecurity adviser for software company ESET, says: 'The minimal details needed to open a phone contract can be bought in bulk on the dark web [a hidden part of the internet used by criminals] for as little as 1.' Those who have their identities stolen often find out only on receiving letters chasing late payments. Shopkeeper Tracey Galbraith, her husband Chris and their 27-year-old son all received letters demanding payments from O2 last October. None of them had ever been customers of the telecoms giant. They rang O2 separately and discovered their names and address had been used to buy iPhone 13s in August. Threats: Those who have their identities stolen often find out only on receiving letters chasing late payments They were assured that the contracts would be closed within 30 days. But last week, the family, from Manchester, got a letter from debt collection agency Lowell, which had been instructed by O2 to recover a debt of 1,744.53 from Chris, 66. Tracey, 58, started to panic that they might get a knock on the front door at any moment. When she rang O2 to complain, she was told to escalate the complaint and wait for a response which could take another four weeks. Tracey says: 'This has been an extremely distressing start to the year. We're just so desperate to get it sorted.' O2 is now investigating why Chris is being chased by debt collectors. Tracey says: 'The letter was a huge shock, but it became really concerning when we realised O2 couldn't call off the debt collectors.' The family has since been offered a paltry 30 in compensation. David Byrne, from London, says he spent 30 hours on the phone to O2 customer services after delays in fixing his credit score put his job as a chief financial officer at risk. He has to keep a clean record as part of company policy. The 46-year-old saw his credit rating plummet to a 'poor' score because of repeatedly 'missed' payments for O2 contracts that he'd never signed up for again for iPhone handsets. Despite reporting the fraud at the beginning of August, David says O2 continued to tell credit agencies that he was missing payments until December, and it has still not amended the errors. He says his details were also used to take out Vodafone contracts, but Vodafone fixed the issue within 48 hours. 'People have been ordering iPhones to be sent to completely different addresses under my name it's insane that they've managed to get away with it,' David says. A spokesman for Virgin Media O2 says: 'We take fraud and security incredibly seriously and have prevented multi-million-pounds worth of fraudulent activity this year alone. 'We're committed to doing the right thing by victims investigating cases, closing accounts quickly and always writing off debt when fraudulent activity is uncovered.' l.purkess@dailymail.co.uk The opening of a new 'beach' in Sydney Harbour, just minutes from the city's sprawling CBD offices, was met with excitement by sticky workers sweating in the summer humidity - and I was no exception. The ocean pool opened to the public at Marrinawi Cove, at the northern end of Barangaroo Reserve, for the first time this week. I rushed to try the new secluded spot - conveniently located just a 12 minute walk from my own office - and quickly realised I wasn't the only one. When I arrived at the cove at 11.30am on Tuesday, the area was already buzzing with locals eager to take a dip while enjoying panoramic views of the Harbour Bridge. But while the new spot offers incredible views, there are a few aspects of the city's newest 'beach' that could do with some fine-tuning. Daily Mail Australia reporter Olivia Day (pictured) took a dip in Sydney's newest saltwater swimming spot located just minutes from the CBD The enclosed ocean pool (pictured) opened to the public at Marrinawi Cove, at the northern end of Bangaroo Reserve, for the first time this week Children on boogie boards and inflatables were seen testing out the new pool on Wednesday Poll So would YOU take a dip in Sydney's newest 'beach'? Yes No So would YOU take a dip in Sydney's newest 'beach'? Yes 105 votes No 124 votes Now share your opinion The first is the slippery rocks. While moss is to be expected at a saltwater pool, getting into the water via the rocky foreshore, with no stairs or railings, can be slow-going. It's also tricky to gauge the depth of the pool as the water is murky, and after a paddle around the perimeter I found I couldn't touch the bottom - even in the shallows. While diving is prohibited due to shallow rocks, swimmers quickly found that a high platform at the 'deep end' provided a great place to jump into the water. A child on a boogie board was particularly delighted when the enclosure suddenly became a wave pool as a boat passed by - however, others were less than impressed when their belongings were soaked with the wash. Another drawback is the lack of sand - swimmers can either perch on the large slabs of rocks around the water's perimeter or nab a space on a limited grassy area. Cyclists and runners gratefully took a chance to cool off in the saltwater while others lay around reading, chatting and soaking up the city sun A shower and male and female bathrooms are located just metres from the swimming spot for office workers low on time Swimmers should take caution when entering the water on slippery rocks such as this one PROS AND CONS OF SYDNEY'S NEWEST 'BEACH' PROS Located in the CBD Amenities like toilets and showers Shark net Cafes and scenic walks nearby Grass to lie on Views of the Harbour Bridge CONS Slippery rocks No sand Wave pool effect Murky water Limited space to lie down comfortably No ladders to get in water safely Advertisement However, the opportunity to enjoy a refreshing lunchtime dip in one of Australia's most iconic waterways is one I won't be passing up. On my visit, the space had naturally divided into two camps - one side for families and the other for people looking for a quiet place to soak up the views. When I returned with a friend at 4pm, it appeared word had travelled fast about the trendy new swimming hole. There were at least 30 people perched around the water's edge - however low tide meant the water level had dropped and more slippery rocks had been exposed. This made it even harder to get into the water, however this problem would be easily solved with the addition of a few metal ladders. The NSW government has promised to boost the space with decking and ladders if the spot proves popular. For now, signage around the space warns visitors of the slippery surfaces. Workers low on time or mums on the go will enjoy the full-equipped bathrooms just metres from the waters edge as well as an outdoor shower. The swimming spot also benefits from being located just minutes from the city, with cafes, restaurants, pubs and public transport all in close proximity. The area is the first swimming spot to be opened to the public west of the Harbour Bridge in 50 years and has so far gone down a treat with residents A sign beside the watering hole warns swimmers of the slippery and uneven surface On my visit, the space had naturally divided into two camps - one side for families (pictured) and the other for people looking for a quiet place to sit and read their books In good news for those keen to have a splash, the NSW government hopes the popular watering hole will be the first of many new public swimming spots. Minister for Infrastructure Rob Stokes, who jumped in the harbour pool on Monday, said it was the first to be built in over half a century. 'Our city stopped building ocean and harbour pools more than half a century ago - it's past time to provide more great, safe public places to swim,' he said. 'Being able to swim at Marranawi Cove is only possible because we have invested in cleaning up our harbour from industrial wastelands to aquatic playgrounds.' The new swimming experience has sparked a divided community response. A swimmer is seen floating in the cove on Wednesday, despite the grey skies overhead While diving is prohibited due to shallow rocks, keen swimmers quickly found that a high platform at the 'deep end' provided a great place to jump into the water (pictured) Those with a space on the grass stretched out in the sun as curious office workers still in their corporate wear came to dip their toes in the water 'How awesome. I would have loved to have a lunchtime swim when I worked in the city,' one Sydneysider commented. Another added: 'Looks like an extra place to swim which is great, as long as it has shark nets. I wouldn't call it a beach though, as it doesn't have sand.' The NSW government will review patronage levels at the end of summer. The government also plans to explore more ways to increase public access swimming spots in Barangaroo spots, Blackwattle Bay and Bays West. Furious customers are calling a best-selling Ford model 'a lemon' after seeing their new cars suffer multiple problems within months of purchase. Issues have included the car engine's dying, electronics malfunctioning and in one alarming case the brakes 'slamming on' without warning while a vehicle was doing 80km/h. Compounding the issue have been long repair times and difficulty in getting Ford to provide loan or replacement vehicles. Bianca Fitzsimmons, a 26-year-old from Newcastle along the NSW central coast, vows she will 'never buy another Ford' again after her Next-Gen Ranger died three times within months of purchasing the $77,000 vehicle. More terrifyingly the pregnant tradie claims the Ranger's brakes 'slammed on' without warning due to a impact collision system malfunction while the car was travelling at 80km/h. 'Being pregnant I'm lucky I didn't sustain any injuries,' Ms Fitzsimmons told A Current Affair on Tuesday. 'It just slammed its breaks on.' The mother-to-be said she was so thrilled to buy her first 'really nice' car she posed for a quintessential photo standing beside it in the dealership, complete with blue ribbon. But Ms Fitzsimmons' dream ride has spent more time at the repair shop than in her garage. Bianca Fitzsimmons (pictured), 26, from Newcastle, said she will 'never buy another Ford' again after her brand new Next-Gen Ranger died three times within months of purchase Ms Fitzsimmons, heavily pregnant, said she was 'lucky' to not suffer any injuries when the car suddenly activated its breaks while travelling at 80km/h Just a month after she bought the ute it broke down half-way through a road trip to Queensland, while she along with her partner and their two dogs, spent four days days stranded in Taree, with a 14km walk to the nearest shop. The vehicle had to be towed a second time but that wasn't the end of the nightmare ordeal. Ms Fitzsimmons said the ute malfunctioned for a third time when the electronics in the dashboard stopped working. 'No speedo, no blinkers, no fuel gauge, nothing,' she said. Ms Fitzsimmons, now 'furious', believed she would be protected by Australian Consumer Law but was in for a rude shock when she received a letter saying her situation did not warrant a replacement. 'It's not like it's a pair of jeans,' Ms Fitzsimmons said. She was forced to threaten protesting outside the Ford dealership before the company provided her with a new vehicle, which she finally received five months after warning the company of the car's failures. Her 'lemon' car is still in the repair shop. Dozens of customers have complained of problems with their 'lemon' Next-Gen Ford Rangers, with many new owners being forced to sign legal waivers while waiting for replacement vehicles Ms Fitzsimmons is one of dozens of customers who have complained of problems with their Next-Gen Ford Rangers, with many new owners being forced to sign legal waivers as they wait for replacement vehicles. For Alex Tomlinson his Next-Gen Ranger 'was a dream' but after a litany of issues, is something he 'never wants to see again'. Mr Tomlinson, a 22-year-old who lives in Ballarat in central Victoria, said he took his vehicle back to get fixed shortly after buying it and had to wait a month and a half. After picking it up he noticed there were still problems and the next day the vehicle died altogether. 'I was shocked,' Mr Tomlinson said. He has demanded a new car waiting which Ford has promised if he waives legal action against them, but the replacement vehicle is yet to appear. Ford issued an apology to both the aggrieved customers. 'We understand Ms Fitzsimmons and Mr Tomlinson experienced difficulties with their vehicles last year and together with our dealer teams we worked to diagnose the vehicle issues,' a Ford spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia. 'We recognize there were delays during that process and we apologize for the inconvenience this caused. Ford's website describes the Next-Gen Ranger as the 'best' it has built that is 'tough, smart and versatile'. The Ranger was the second highest selling vehicle in Australia last year. Prices range from $36,180 to almost $90,000. Real corpses used as props. No script. A scrupulous director. These were just some of the surprising components that culminated into the 1979 seminal war epic Apocalypse Now. A sprawling, visually striking masterpiece, the film - set in late 60s Vietnam - serves as Francis Ford Coppola's crowning achievement, which, with an oeuvre that includes both the Godfather I and II, is no small feat. That said, the film's production was famously riddled with roadblocks that threatened to see its celebrated final cut left unseen, including an actor's on-set heart attack, a typhoon, and the fact that filming took place during an actual war. Financed by the director himself, the film - after going wildly over budget - made it to theaters in 1979, but only after three long years of filming in the Philippine jungle, during which time tensions between cast and crew ran high. What's more, Coppola was even forced to mortgage his home to even finish funding the eventual masterpiece, which has long held the distinction of boasting one of cinemas most troubled behind-the-scenes sets. When asked about went wrong during filming, Coppola - who has reportedly encountered similar issues on the set of his new film Megalopolis - blamed his crews' woes on the same attitude that cost US forces a victory against the Vietcong. The director said: 'We were in the jungle, there were too many of us, we had access to too much money, too much equipment, and little by little we went insane.' Now, DailyMail.com can reveal the exact extent of that chaos - as onlookers wait and see if the 83-year-old filmmaker can somehow duplicate his efforts with his latest self-financed project, which reports indicate is facing somewhat similar pitfalls. A sprawling, visually striking masterpiece, the film - which stars Martin Sheen and is set in late 60s Vietnam - is Francis Ford Coppola's crowing achievement as a filmmaker. However, it was hampered by issues during filming in the Philippines that threatened its eventual 1979 release 'Chaos' was the word used by a then 36-year-old Martin Sheen to describe the set in Southeast Asia he walked into shortly after Coppola, also in his late 30s, fired his predecessor, A-lister Harvey Keitel. Having hired the recent Taxi Driver standout based on his work in Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets, Coppola - at the time emboldened by success wrought by the first two Godfather installments - fired him after watching the first weeks footage. When Sheen arrived on set, the movie - which had an allotted budget of $12million all from Coppola's personal stash - already millions of dollars over budget. The sudden firing of Keitel and his quick replacement served as the first proverbial monkey wrench hurled into the film's slow, grinding production schedule, which would soon see Coppola's millions - largely garnered from the first two Godfather films - exhausted. Mayhem: Apocalypse Now was as chaotic behind the camera as it was on screen It also yielded the first dramatic headlines for a production accepted as one of the most problematic of the past half-century, rivaling the likes of famously difficult-to-make aquatic disaster flicks such as Jaws and Titanic. Coincidentally, 'chaos' was the word used to describe the current state of the filmmaker's new $120million pet project, which is currently also over budget even after the director sold several of his Northern California wineries to finance it, according to a Monday report from the Hollywood Reporter. The hectic environment described by the insiders was eerily similar to accounts offered by Sheen and other stars depicting the environment they were exposed to during the three years of filming. The hectic environment described by the insiders was eerily similar to accounts offered by Sheen and other stars depicting the environment they were exposed to during the three years of filming in the jungles of Manila During this span, the now 83-year-old director at the reportedly worried the film would be a 'failure' due to a litany of difficulties that beset his crew during its arduous production - during which he even contemplated taking his own life. The issues began right from the start, when Coppola - who decided on a Vietnam film after being infuriated by taunts from the arty elite in Hollywood that he wasn't capable of making a serious film - had trouble casting the lead role of Captain Willard. Willard, the officer who goes in search of a mad Colonel Kurtz - played by a mesmerizing, aging Marlon Brando - would eventually be played to perfection by Sheen, then a young upstart with few notable film credits. However, the unappealing prospect of four months on location in a remote jungle had deterred some of Hollywood's best from taking the part, with Robert Redford, Jack Nicholson, and Steve McQueen all turning Coppola down. Even Al Pacino, who owed his stardom Coppola's casting of him in The Godfather, said no, spurring the jilted director to famously hurl his five Oscars out the window of his San Francisco home, losing all but one of them. After the sudden, almost reflexive nixing of Keitel, a well-known, albeit second-tier, star at the time, the little-known Sheen was brought in, flying in on a private plane to the Philippines for the scheduled four months - a timeframe that would quickly burgeon to three years as problems piled up. Financed by the director himself, the film - after going wildly over budget.- made it to theaters in 1979, but only after three long years of filming in the Philippine jungle, and after Coppola was forced to montage his home to finish funding it For starters, the plane Coppola had chattered to fly in Sheen was almost brought down by torrential rain after the notoriously stubborn director decided to ignore weathermen's warnings that annual monsoon was about to hit. The waterlogged conditions would then plague the cast and crew for months on end, forcing them to film in the rain on some days and in the dry on others - with several cuts of the drenched actors making it into the film's final cut. At the time, Coppola reportedly prayed that the different, jarring conditions could be smoothed out during the editing process. But the chaos was far from over, with Sheen almost immediately adding his own dose of mayhem to the unrest - in the form of a severe alcohol binge that transferred over from his personal life in posh Los Angeles to the jungles of the Philippines. The alcoholic episode was so severe, that it actually culminated in a near-fatal heart attack for the actor, with Sheen's diminished state actually making it in the opening scenes of the movie. Famously, the plane Coppola had chattered to fly in Sheen to the set in the Philippines was almost brought down by torrential rain - after the notoriously stubborn director decided to ignore weathermen's warnings that annual monsoon was about to hit At the film's start, Willard undergoes a violent mental breakdown presumably brought on by heavy drinking and the horrors - or as Col. Kurtz would say, 'The horror...the horror' - that came with being a soldier during the Vietnam War. Sheen, who would get cleaned up after ascending to superstar status upon the film's eventual release, played the part most convincingly, emanating all the realism of a man who himself was actually in the midst of a 24-hour birthday bender. The documentary Hearts of Darkness, made by Coppola's wife Eleanor, highlighted the chaos of the production and offered insight into Sheen's state of mind during the iconic opening scene in particular. Sheen recalled shooting the scene where Willard smashes a mirror in his hotel room: 'I was so drunk, I couldnt stand up, frankly. I was so intoxicated, I didnt realize how close to the mirror I was.' Despite bleeding profusely, Sheen insisted on continuing filming. Eleanor added that Sheen was so unpredictable at that point, she felt as if he might lunge at the camera or attack her husband or other crew members as he directing him from behind the camera. Other staffers reportedly shared her concerns. The film also featured stars such as Dennis Hopper (seen at left on location next to Coppola) - who had a fierce on-set beef with notoriously difficult actor Marlon Brando Hardly able to stand up, the actor was so drunk, Eleanor and others said, that he didn't realize his hand was streaming blood. Shortly afterwards, Sheen - who appeared alongside Brando, Dennis Hopper, and a young Robert Duval in the picture - would collapse with a heart attack, despite being just 36 years old. Compounded by the jungle humidity and heat, the attack saw Sheen crawl out of his room at 2 am local time before making it to a quarter mile away down a local highway before he was discovered by crew members. His condition was bad, Eleanor and other witnesses said, that he received his last rites from a local priest. 'He had suffered a serious heart attack and even received last rites from a priest who did not speak English,' Eleanor said in her Emmy Award-winning documentary The actor was then forced to take six weeks off, while Coppola sought to keep the event under wraps - as the actor, not wanting to further halt the already over-budget production, told the press that he had suffered from heat stroke. After Marlon Brando showed up to filming vastly overweight, Coppola used clever filming - such as shadows and smoke - to eclipse his figure. As a result, one of the outstanding features of Apocalypse Now became the physical aura of mystery surrounding Brando's Kurtz While the jungle heat may have contributed to the actor's condition - which can be seen in the opening scenes depicting Willard's hungover aggression in a nondescript room while on leave in Saigon - it is commonly accepted that Sheen's real-life drinking contributed the fact that he was woefully out of shape for such a demanding role. When Coppola heard the news, he had a fit of his own, blaming himself and ordering a news black-out on Sheen's illness. 'Even if he dies, he's not dead until I say so,' he told startled studio bosses back in Hollywood at the time. In Hearts of Darkness, co-producer Tom Sternberg offered further insight into Coppola's impromptu cover-up, which was likely leveled to save him from losing more money after shelling out a reported $13million for the project himself. Sternberg recalled how, following Sheen's episode, he got a phone call from his secretary. Sheen - who starred alongside Brando in the picture - suffered a heart attack on set, despite being just 36 years old She said: 'Martys had a heart attack and Francis doesnt want to admit it.' A recording of the exchange captures Coppola's voice later on in the tape, in which the director ominously states, 'If Marty dies, I want to hear everything is okay, until I say, "Marty is dead."' After taking a six weeks sabbatical, Sheen reportedly expressed unease about making his return. 'Idon't know if I'm going to live through this,' the actor was tabbed as saying. Despite eventually making his returned, Sheen's initial absence served to further embroil the film's already embattled schedule, which by then was delayed indefinitely. Cynics soon became skeptical the film - which at the time was lauded by Coppola as his magnus opus - mockingly labeling the project as 'Apocalypse When?' and 'Apocalypse Never.' Sheen's initial absence served to further embroil the film's already embattled schedule, which had previously been held back weeks due to various on set antics from the famously difficult Brando The director was then forced to put millions more into the project in order to receive some backing from studios back in Beverly Hills while still allowing him creative control - a luxury he had insisted on. Facing personal bankruptcy, Coppola remained steadfast with his efforts - but secretly grew self-conscious that the project would fail to achieve the artistic prowess he had been striving for. That, coupled with a typhoon that saw the crews' newly-built first set destroyed, delayed filming for a full two months - a small hindrance when compared the difficulties brought on by the antics of several of the movie's more high-profile stars. One such instance revolves around the late Brando - who in the film plays the unhinged, AWOL Colonel Walter E. Kurtz - and the also deceased Dennis Hopper. In an interview unearthed by The Hollywood Reporter, Hopper - who died in 2010 - revealed that the two men hated one another after one simple misunderstanding. 'We had a lot of problems together,' Hopper began, after revealing had only agreed to do the film on the condition he get one line onscreen with Brando - to which Coppola agreed. the unappealing prospect of four months on location in a remote jungle had deterred some of Hollywood's best from taking the part, with Robert Redford, Jack Nicholson, and Steve McQueen all turning Coppola down for roles 'He refused to be on the set the same time I was,' recalled Hopper, who played an unnamed American photojournalist and disciple of Brandos Kurtz in the film. 'I like to think he was doing me a favor, honestly,' the actor told Bob Costas in the 1990s sit-down, in which described how Brando, who was notoriously difficult work with, arrived to set weeks after he was scheduled to begin, forcing the rest of the cast and crew had to wait on him. 'When Brando finally arrives, I had been down there a month and a half,' explained Hopper, whose crazed character appeared only briefly toward the climax of the film, but is still considered on of its most indelible components. Speaking to Costas, Hopper - who at the time fit the profile of the quintessential Seventies hippie stoned on marijuana, cocaine, speed or any of the other drugs routinely used by actors in those days - described how he and other actors were getting into character as Kurtz's disciples at the encampment Willard is sent to to assassinate the officer. 'I have this crack unit; were doing drills, were doing karate, were doing Jiu-Jitsu, were climbing trees, were scouting were a crack unit,' Hopper said of he and his fellow actors and extras. During this 'training,' Hopper described how he had been given a special services 'little red book' that he claimed was used by actual Green Berets. The book would come into play one night after the Brando had arrived, when the cast all went to dinner. Real dead bodies provided by locals littering the set were another indication of the blurring edges between art and reality Hopper explained how during that dinner, Coppola had been hounding a notoriously difficult Brando, then 54, for not reading the movie's source material, the 1899 novella Heart of Darkness. 'I didnt know this, but Francis had been on him for not reading the book,' Coppola told Costas, adding that the actors made to do an exhaustive conference at the meal to, again, cover the film's story. 'And I say to Brando, sitting across from him at dinner, I bet you havent read the book,' Hopper said, having been referring to the Green Beret book. Brando, mistaking the comment for a jab at his expense, proceeded to lay into Coppola, then 54, for Hopper's behavior. 'He gets up and says "I dont have to listen to this! I dont have to take this!" And he is screaming and yelling "Why do I have to hear it from him? I have to hear it from this punk!" And he storms out of the house,' Hopper recalled. 'He thinks I am talking about Heart of Darkness, but I dont know this at the time,' the late actor explained. At that point, a permanent beef between the actors was born - and Hopper, then in his early 40s, made it a point to fan an already notoriously fiery Brando for the rest of his time on set. They eventually had to shoot their shared scenes in separate shots. During this span, the now 83-year-old director at the reportedly worried the film would be a 'failure' due to a litany of difficulties that beset his crew during its arduous production - during which he even contemplated taking his own life One particular scene, where Kurtz throws the Green Beret book at Hopper's character and calls him a 'mutt,' likely served as one of Brando's many improvisations. And then there was Brando, a walking - or, rather, waddling - legend who served as one of the primary sources of struggle for Coppola's quest to make the quintessential Vietnam film. Enigmatic and eccentric to the point of being barking mad, Brando had a commanding presence during his few weeks on set, being one of the most iconic actors at the time. But in that sense, the role of Kurtz - a renegade Special Forces officer who leaves his unit to start a pseudo colony in the jungles of Vietnam - fit him like a glove, unlike the uniform he was expected to squeeze his ballooning 290-pound body into. Before he even arrived, Brando almost derailed the already way-over budget movie, by arriving on location in Manilla several weeks late, without any explanation. What's more the Streetcar Named Desire star was extremely overweight, forcing Coppola to edit around the character and change much of his initial plan - costing him more time and money. Both his fee and his waistline were so huge that the playwright Tennessee Williams joked that Brando - who was paid $3million for four weeks of filming - was clearly being paid by the pound. Coppola attempted the downplay the actors noticeable weight by dressing him in black, shrouding his face in shadows and silhouettes to make his character seem more mysterious. The unrest in the final stages of the film's production hearks back to how Coppola famously sent his cast into the heart of the Philippine jungle on the set of the film, which famously features a young Robert Duvall as a surf-loving officer To compound things further, due the actors unexpected weight gain, his entire wardrobe had to be scrapped as Coppola expected Brando to arrive in closer shape to his heyday as a leading man. An increasingly enigmatic figure, Brando was open in admitting that he did the filme solely for a check, with his contract stating that he would be paid $3 million for four weeks of work on weekdays only, and would not be required to work past 5:30pm.' What's more, once Brando was eventually on-set and ready to perform, the actor refused to show up for the first four days of production, instead heading to Coppolas trailer instead to discuss various subjects and collect his acting fee. It is also said that the somewhat reclusive star had not even wanted the part initially. To begin with, he wouldn't even take Coppola's phone calls. When he finally relented, it was for an astronomical fee. (Later he gave some of the money back - in return for a substantial share of the profits.) The conditions were that he was to lose weight for the part and also read Joseph Conrad's Africa-based novel on which the film is based. A CLASSIC WAR FILM 'Apocalypse Now' won a best picture Golden Globe but just two Oscars for sound and cinematography. 'Apocalypse Now' won a best picture Golden Globe but just two Oscars for sound and cinematography. However, it is now regarded as one of the most influential war films of all time and in 2000 was chosen for preservation by the U.S. National Film Registry. The interactive game will involve role playing with gamers taking on the character of U.S. army Captain Willard (played by Martin Sheen in the 1979 movie), who is on a secret mission to assassinate renegade Colonel Kurtz (played by Marlon Brando), the director said in a statement. 'In order to maintain the creative freedom and integrity that this daring and intense tale demands, the project is being financed outside the traditional video game publishing system,' he added. Advertisement The great man had managed neither in the months since signing the contract. When he turned up on the set, he lied about having read the book but could not disguise his elephantine size. 'You couldn't see around him,' said a shocked producer. Since his character was supposed to be a lean and hardened soldier, slimming would have to be achieved by clever filming. As a result, one of the outstanding features of Apocalypse Now became the physical aura of mystery surrounding Brando's Kurtz. He is dressed in black and his face is always in shadow. Smoke swirls around him, giving him the demonic air of a tribal god. The effect is as chilling as it is iconic. However, in reality, it was done that way less for artistic reasons - and cost Coppola valuable filming time and money. In scenes where the whole of his body had to be seen, a double was used. Using a houseboat as his location dressing room, Brando eventually finally got round to reading Heart Of Darkness - and from that moment on, he would grow even more difficult. When Sheen arrived on set, the movie - which had an allotted budget of $12million all from Coppola's personal stash - already millions of dollars over budget Demonstrating just how difficult Brando proved to be, in conversation with Coppola regarding how Kurtz should be played, the actor rejected each of the directors ideas, except his suggestion to follow the original book and shave Brandos head. After days of arguing and disagreement, Brando reportedly said he would 'sleep on it,' before showing up the next day with a shaved head, stating that hed read Conrads book and now agreed with Coppola. The director, meanwhile, described Brandos presence on set, noting 'he was like an irresponsible kid,' and could not even get the actor to memorize a script. Coppola spent several days before shooting a single scene getting Brando to start improvising as an alternative. Cue cards were also pasted all over the set because Brando often forget his lines. True to his roots as a 'Method' actor who needed to get totally inside the characters he played, he now wanted to explore every nuance of motivation. The 900-man cast and crew stood idle for weeks on end while Brando and Coppola struggled with the proper interpretation of his role. They pored over Conrad, books about mythology and T. S. Eliot's poem of destruction and rebirth, The Waste Land. All the while, the meter was ticking, the costs escalating. Those issues, along with a typhoon that saw the crews' first set destroyed, delayed filming for months - a small hindrance when compared the difficulties brought on by the antics of several of the movie's high-profile stars, including a 'crazy' Hopper (pictured) and, of course, Brando There was still no proper script, and so, for the crucial scenes where Willard confronts and kills Kurtz, Brando invented his own lines and mumbled and slurred them in that incoherent but unmistakable Brando way. Eventually, having put his heart and soul into the interpretation, Brando dried. 'Francis, I've gone as far as I can go,' he told the director. 'If you need more, get another actor.' It wasn't necessary. Brilliant editing did the job as 18 minutes of rambling were cut to two. The result was electrifying. 'The horror, the horror,' were Kurtz/Brando's apt final words (and also those of Conrad's Kurtz). They encapsulated both the film's mighty themes about the Vietnam War but also the nightmare of the way it had been made. President Joe Biden's unofficial re-election campaign has begun with a series of events that can showcase his campaign message and address his weaknesses. The president, 80, hasn't formally announced he will seek a second term in the White House. But, since the new year began, Biden's schedule has been filed with events that serve a dual function, letting him be presidential while easily translating into a campaign message that emphasises bipartisanship, governing, and the strenghtening economy. 'It's been pretty much the case - in recent decades at least - that the unofficial opening of the reelection campaign is the congressional midterm elections,' said Russell Riley, a presidential historian at the University of Virginia's Miller Center. President Joe Biden's unofficial re-election campaign has begun - even as he hasn't formally announced a second term yet (above Biden at a November 2022 campaign rally in Maryland) Biden went to the Southern border on Sunday - Republicans have repeatedly hammered him for not visiting the area amid a record number of crossings The unofficial campaigning comes as questions continue about Biden's age and as House Republicans launched a series of investigations into his administration, including the discovery of classified documents at his D.C. think tank, a select committee on China and a panel to probe the 'weaponization' of the federal government. Biden, meanwhile, has spent the past few weeks promoting his bipartisan infrastructure law with Republican leader Mitch McConnell in Kentucky, announcing new immigration policies, touting the unemployment rate falling to 3.5%, and visiting the Southern border. 'He's taking a leadership role on a tough issue like immigration that [shows] he's a hands-on guy, is going to be working hard,' Democratic strategist Simon Rosenberg told DailyMail.com. 'People have to recognize that there is an element' of a second presidential bid in that, he added. But before any formal announcement about his future plans, Biden tackled one subject that he's been heavily criticized upon. He visited the southern border on Sunday ahead of the 'Three Amigos' Summit in Mexico City, where immigration was a top topic in his meetings with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. His visit to El Paso, however, was highly controlled with the city clearing out the streets and the border area before his arrival. Biden spent about three hours on the ground and talked to border agents but he did not speak with any migrants. And while he visited a section of the border wall, there were no migrants waiting to gain entry into the U.S. He did not visit a Border Patrol station, where migrants are processed. Biden made his first visit to the southern border since becoming president 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 In fact, El Paso mayor Oscar Leeser gave him a book of photos he took to make sure the president understood the magnitude of the situation. El Paso has declared an emergency to handle the migrant influx. For two years Republicans have hammered Biden on the record number of crossings at the border and pushed him to visit. And his Sunday stopover didn't quell his critics. Ronna McDaniel, the chair of the Republican National Committee, called the visit a publicity stunt. 'Since day one of his presidency, Joe Biden has put drug smugglers and human traffickers before American families, allowing deadly fentanyl to pour across the border, and abandoned our brave Border Patrol agents,' she said in a statement. 'Simply put: Biden's visit is nothing more than a photo op.' And it may not do anything to silence questions about his handling of the migration issue. David Head, an historian at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, said many people probably didn't even notice the president went to the border. 'His visit to the border seems more of a typical presidential event, important if you follow those things but unlikely to make much impact on a broader audience,' he said. The White House defended the trip, saying it was informative for the president. 'What he is has really looked for in this trip to the border was deeper insight on the real practicalities of how the US programs dollars. And the elements of the US migration policy that are going to provide the necessary services. That's where he wanted to focus his attention. That's what he was able to do,' National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters during Biden's trip to Mexico. There were more than 2.38 million migrants stopped at the border during the year that ended Sept. 30, the first time the number topped 2 million. Biden announced a series of policies last week to bring those numbers down but many of them are Trump-era holdovers or expansions. Another vulnerable area for Biden is his age. If he wins a second term, he would be 86 at the end of it. He is the oldest president in American history. Some Democrats had been calling for a new generation of leadership but the 2022 midterm election results quieted some of those complaints. Republicans won control of the House but with only a scant, five-seat majority - not massive win many predicted. 'Yes, Biden's age is a factor and makes not running more likely than for past presidents, but at this stage, with so much time before the 2024 election, I can't imagine many voters think Biden's running is in doubt,' Head, the presidential historian, said. In fact many Democrats credited Biden's presidency with holding back a red wave in November. 'One of the main reasons is the midterm election was so good for us was that he's been a good president, and the country is better off,' Rosenberg said. 'Things are better, and he's gonna continue to make that case and he's gonna make that case because it's his legacy.' President Biden also held an event in Kentucky on infrastructure with Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell President Biden with Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House Biden has said he intends to run for a second term but hasn't given any clue on when he'll make a formal announcement. 'In time,' he said this week when asked when he would announce his reelection bid. Some suspect it could be in the Spring, some where around the annual State of the Union Address, which would be another chance for Biden to tout his presidency in a way that would translate easily into campaign messaging. 'I think it's all about timing at this point,' one Biden ally told The Hill newspaper this weekend. 'It seems like he's all in. It's not really 'if' he runs anymore.' The mother of missing Massachusetts woman Ana Walshe has told of her disbelief that her daughter may have been killed by her husband because he saved her life when she suffered a stroke 14 months ago. Brian Walshe dropped everything and rushed Milanka Ljubicic to the hospital, where she had to stay for a month, Ljubicic told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview. 'I had a very bad pain in my head and I started bleeding from my mouth and nose,' Ljubicic, 69, said, speaking in her native Serbian at her home in the nation's capital, Belgrade. 'I was crying for help. He heard me. He called my daughter and drove me to the hospital.' Ana Walshe's mother Milanka Ljubicic told DailyMail.com that her son-in-law Brian Walshe saved her life after she suffered a stroke a year ago 'I can say he saved my life then and that is why I can't believe he is responsible I just can't believe it,' she said Ljubicic was staying at the Cohasset, Massachusetts, home of her daughter and son-in-law when she suffered the stroke on November 9, 2021. Ana was away working in Washington, DC at the time. 'I can say he saved my life then and that is why I can't believe he is responsible I just can't believe it.' She said Ana, 39, visited her in Belgrade in November and December last year and she never said a bad word about her husband. But she knew there was some strain on their marriage because Ana had to spend so much time in Washington, where she worked, and her husband could not leave Boston because he was under house arrest for a 2018 scam when he sold fake Andy Warhol paintings on eBay for $80,000. Ljubicic said Walshe would not let his wife take their three sons with her to the nation's capital, which increased Ana's sense of loneliness and isolation. At one point, she claimed, Ana didn't see her children for almost an entire year because she was away so much. 'She was upset because she was traveling but she didn't blame him.' She had earlier said that Ana had begged her to fly to the United States to visit her just a week before she vanished, which made her think there were some problems in her daughter's life. She told Fox News Digital: 'She just said, ''Please, mama. Come tomorrow''. Clearly, there must have been some problems. 'Now I can't forgive myself for not just letting things fall where they may, and just go, and whatever happens to me, happens.' Brian Walshe is charged with impeding the investigation into his wife's disappearance. He pleaded not guilty Ljubicic said Ana visited her in Belgrade in November and December last year and she never said a bad word about her husband Ana was reported missing by co-workers on January 4 and Brian claims he last saw her on New Year's Day at 6am Ana Walshe has been missing since early on the morning of January 1, when she supposedly took a car to Boston's Logan Airport to fly to DC. Ride-share services show no pickups at the family home, according to WCBV, and Ana's cellphone continued pinging from there for two days after she allegedly left the house. She was not reported missing until January 4, after her office called the police when she failed to show up for work. Ana vanished on January 1. Her employer reported her missing on January 4 Since then, cops have been combing the seaside town of Cohasset for any sign of her. They have also scoured a waste facility in West Wareham. Brian Walshe, 47, has been arrested and charged with misleading a police investigation and it has since been revealed that he Googled 'How to dispose of a 115lb woman's body' just days before her disappearance. Police also found traces of blood, a hatchet, hacksaw, a rug and cleaning supplies in a dumpster in Peabody, Massachusetts, not far from Brian's mother's home in Swampscott. The Norfolk County District Attorney's office has said those items will undergo forensic testing. Police were also seen in the parking lot of the apartment complex in Swampscott, where Walshe's mother, Diane, lives. Dumpsters were hauled away with a police escort to the transfer station in Peabody to be searched. It has also been revealed that Brian Walshe bought $450 worth of cleaning supplies from a Home Depot. Despite her unwillingness to believe he could be responsible for her daughter's disappearance, Ljubicic admits things don't look good for her son-in-law. She said she knew Ana and Brian had had a friend over for New Year's Eve dinner. That friend has now been named as Gem Mutlu, who told WBZ-TV there was no indication of tension between the couple. He said the atmosphere at the home was 'festive' and said that Brian had cooked 'an elaborate meal'. Brian and Ana lived in this house in Cohasset. Brian Googled how to dismember a 115-pound woman's body before his wife vanished Police scoured a nearby dumpster station after removing a container from Brian's mother's property in Swampscott 'We hugged and celebrated and we toasted just what you do over New Year's,' Mutlu said. 'There was a lot of looking forward to the New Year. There was no indication of anything other than celebrating. 'She was sitting next to me at the barstool at their kitchen. There was absolutely no indication that any modicum of a tragedy, of disappearance, or anything else could have happened that night.' Ljubicic said she knew that Mutlu didn't leave the home till 1.30am on New Year's morning, just three hours before her daughter was due to leave, to catch the plane to Boston. 'Maybe they had a fight, but I don't know that,' Ljubicic said. 'Maybe they had too much to drink. 'Police searched the whole area around the house and woods and a river nearby and the pulled the car from the garage and they found the blood and a bloody knife. 'The question is: "Whose blood is that?" I don't know. They need to do DNA tests. She also said police have searched the home in Washington where Ana lived and found nothing suspicious. 'They said there was nothing in that house. They said they searched the whole house. I half-think they did that and half-think they did not. 'My only wish is that my daughter is still alive. And I have only one message for her. "Ana, call me. Call me, Ana, please, if you are alive." 'And that is the question. Is she alive?' TIMELINE LEADING TO DISAPPEARANCE November 2016: Brian Walshe is 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 books a rideshare car to take her to Logan International Airport at 4am, but it is unclear if she ever gets 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 is caught on surveillance footage buying $450 worth of cleaning supplies in Home Depot. Ana's phone pings 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 are taken away in a separate vehicle. Officers execute a search warrant at their home and find blood in the basement, along with a broken knife. The officers load a Volvo SUV onto the back of a truck while others search the grounds of their home. Police arrest Walshe on suspicion of 'misleading' authorities but do not charge him with anything else. January 9: Walshe grins at reporters as he is transported to his arraignment at Quincy District Court. He is held on $500,000 cash bail. Police search a garbage facility in Peabody and find potential evidence. Advertisement . A former senior director at the National Security Council was under an espionage-related investigation for months before he joined the White House, sources have told DailyMail.com. Dr. Andrew Peek, NSC senior director for European and Russian affairs under President Trump, was marched out of the White House amid a reported 'security investigation' in January 2020. The details of the spy probe have remained a mystery until now. Sources close to the investigation claimed his alleged suspicious activity that sparked the probe in 2019 included persuading a State Department staffer to forward him her high-ranking boss's emails, diverting official trips to unrelated destinations in the Czech Republic and Qatar, and even buying a 'swastika pendant' for his then-girlfriend on one Doha trip. Dr. Andrew Peek, NSC senior director for European and Russian affairs under President Donald Trump, was escorted from the White House grounds in January 2020 amid a reported 'security investigation Peek (pictured with Kurdistan Prime Minister Masrur Barzani) had been working at the State Department as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Iraq and Iran when he was suddenly tapped to join the National Security Council to oversee Russian and European affairs A spokesperson for Peek told DailyMail.com the claims were 'false' and 'salacious mud-slinging'. Peek was working for the State Department at the time of the October 2019 probe, when he was suddenly tapped by Donald Trump's National Security Advisor (NSA) Robert O'Brien to join his White House team in a highly sensitive role: leading the Russia desk. Two sources who were in senior positions in the State Department and White House at the time said O'Brien would have been briefed on the investigation by Diplomatic Security Services but decided to hire Peek anyway. They were surprised Peek was able to keep the top security clearances necessary to do his job despite being the target of an espionage-related probe. 'There were incidents that began to arouse my suspicions,' one former White House source close to the investigation told DailyMail.com. 'His personal scheduler was one of the people who flagged to their boss that he was taking these extended trips. 'Every place he spent a great deal of time was an absolute hive of either Iranian or Qatari officials. 'There were women in the department that he'd sort of date. But it was more getting them to do things for him and provide information for him. 'The Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs is probably the most powerful position besides Secretary of State at the department. Trump's National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien would have been briefed on the investigation into Peek by Diplomatic Security Services but decided to hire him anyway, sources told DailyMail.com 'He had a girl in that office who had access to all of her boss's [David Hale] emails and she often sent them to Andrew. Their relationship was quite strange. 'She was sending him these very sexual messages.' The source said State Department security officials were particularly interested in one disturbing gift Peek allegedly gave one of his Jewish girlfriends a swastika necklace because it proved he had visited the Qatari capital Doha at a certain time relevant to their investigation. 'When he came back from his trips he would always bring some kind of gift. It would frequently be from a particular market in Doha,' the source said. 'Towards the end of one particular relationship he gave the girl a necklace. It was a swastika. It's not a normal item people sell at the airport, and it's a very weird thing to give to a Jewish girlfriend. A White House source said security officials were interested in the necklace because it was allegedly evidence of Peek having been in Doha at a specific period of time. Peek was said to have dated women in the State Department who would 'provide information' to him However, a source close to Peek who was also briefed on the investigation told DailyMail.com the Trump staffer never bought a swastika necklace, and denied that he had inappropriately obtained others' emails. Peek's ex-girlfriend, who allegedly received the necklace, declined to comment. The source close to Peek said he took commercial flights to Baghdad for his job that had layovers in Doha, and that all his official travel was approved by the State Department. Sources said security officials also interviewed witnesses about Peek's alleged trips to Prague, and his relationship with a Czech model. One source with direct knowledge of the relationship who was interviewed by investigators said that Peek's conversations with the model were mainly about foreign policy and national security issues. 'He had a ton of different apps for communicating with people overseas, two different WhatsApp accounts, and there was constant communication with this girl in the Czech Republic,' the source said. 'So he had this hot Czech supermodel girlfriend who happened to be really interested in foreign policy. The source close to Peek said all the claims against him had been fully investigated by law enforcement, and said that Department of Justice officials had told Peek's lawyers they were declining to prosecute. The State Department did not respond to a request for comment from DailyMail.com. A spokesperson for Peek also claimed the espionage-related probe was dropped. 'Dr. Andrew Peek has served his country honorably in military service in Afghanistan, at the White House, State Department, and as foreign policy advisor to U.S. senators,' the spokesperson said. 'The Daily Mail's reporting is based on salacious mud-slinging and has dredged up false allegations, which were investigated years ago and have not been pursued.' Before his NSC job, Peek's expertise was in Iran and Iraq at the State Department. He is pictured far left during a meeting with the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq Masrour Barzani A source close to Peek said all the claims against him had been fully investigated by law enforcement, and said that Department of Justice officials had told Peek's lawyers they were declining to prosecute A Trump White House official with knowledge of the Peek probe said O'Brien would have been briefed on the investigation. 'There is no way that Robert O'Brien would not have known there was a Diplomatic Security investigation into Peek,' the official said. 'There's no question they were investigating him while he was at State. 'To this day I don't understand why O'Brien posted him at the Russia desk. You can argue it was one of the most sensitive international jobs they have. And they gave it to Peek, who essentially was a nobody.' O'Brien did not respond to a request for comment. Before his NSC job, Peek's expertise was in Iran and Iraq at the State Department. He graduated from Princeton in 2003 then Harvard Kennedy School in 2005, and worked as national security and foreign affairs advisor to Republican senators Gordon Smith and Mike Johanns, helping craft an Iran sanctions bill. He served as a US Army intelligence officer, where family friend General David Petraeus personally requested Peek for his Commanders' Initiatives Group in Afghanistan. Peek served as personal advisor for direct action, foreign internal defense, intelligence, and Pakistan for Petraeus's successor, General John Allen. Naval War College International Relations and National Security Professor David Burbach wrote on Twitter when Peek's NSC move was announced in October 2019 that his CV was 'not the resume you'd usually expect for Senior Director for Russia'. When the story broke in January 2020 that he had been put on leave in a security investigation and escorted out of the White House, rumors began swirling that he had been involved in a foreign spy 'honey trap'. Intelligence community newsletter editor and former Washington Post reporter Jeff Stein tweeted on January 19, 2020: 'Rumor inside NSC is that Peek 'had relations with Russian hookers and could not locate his government cell phone,' insider source tells me.' The rumors were also spread by DC think-tank staff with links to Iran, and used to criticize the Trump administration. Reza Marashi, research director for the Iran regime-linked National Iranian American Council, wrote: 'One of Trump's top Iran advisors got suckered into a honey trap, had their laptop/iPhone stolen and hacked before they woke up, and the White House refused to take precautionary measures regarding their security clearance. Ladies and gents, I give you the Trump administration.' But ex-White House sources close to the investigation said the probe had nothing to do with Russia or Russian prostitutes. 'He spent such little time in that position,' one said. 'I don't think there was anything to do with Russia,' said another. Peek replaced Tim Morrison (right), who left the position after testifying in the House impeachment inquiry Peek served as a U.S. Army intelligence officer who worked under General John Allen in Afghanistan The former Director of National Intelligence, Richard Grenell, also dismissed any of Peek's rumored Russian espionage links in a statement to DailyMail.com. 'I have seen firsthand how phony Russian collusion narratives have ruined people's reputations with false and exaggerated allegations. It happened to many Republicans and it happened to Andrew. I look forward to serving with him in government again,' Grenell said. Sources did, however, highlight Peek's indirect ties to Qatar. 'He had a relationship with Doha during the administration,' said one of Peek's former close associates. 'There would be a constant back and forth. He would brag about knowing a lot of officials there and had a great deal of trips there.' Sources said he was close with his boss O'Brien, who developed business contacts with the Gulf state when he left government. 'They were almost always on the same trip, even if it had absolutely nothing to do with Andrew's portfolio,' an ex-State Department source said. 'He would brag about it, saying he's his favorite buddy so he gets to go on all these trips.' The source close to Peek said that 'he wouldn't be doing his job right' if he didn't have relationships with Qatari officials, as well as Saudi, Yemeni, Iraqi and others and added that invitations by the NSA on foreign trips was a mark of how trusted Peek was by senior administration officials. A former colleague, Ester Kurz, who was Director of Legislative Policy and Strategy at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, called Peek a 'patriot'. 'I have known and worked with Andrew for close to 15 years and always found him to be a professional of the highest integrity and a patriot,' Kurz said. O'Brien founded consultancy American Global Strategies LLC with his NSC chief of staff Alex Gray the day after the Trump administration ended. Gray then also began working for Ballard Partners, a prolific lobby shop hired by Qatar. O'Brien also founded law firm Larson LLP, which was hired in 2021 to represent a Qatari travel company Mosafer in its lawsuit against Elliott Broidy, an outspoken Qatar critic and top Republican donor. Broidy claimed in legal filings that Mosafer was a front for the Qatari government, which the firm denied. In his final days as NSA, O'Brien gave the Qatari ambassador the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service, the highest award given by the US to its officials and allies. Peek's former boss, General Allen, was accused by the Justice Department of secretly lobbying for Qatar and lying about it to federal agents, though was not charged with a crime. An FBI warrant claimed he flew to Doha in June 2017 to advise them on how to win favor in Washington and told them to pursue a 'full spectrum of info ops black to white'. His spokesman said he 'has never acted as an agent of the Qatari government' and 'never had an agreement (written or oral) with Qatar or any other Qatar-related individual or entity.' Most small towns said they need better infrastructure to cope Eden, south NSW, has seen a boom for going Instagram viral Frustrated locals have accused 'hidden gem' influencers and Instagram-focussed boutique businesses of stripping the colour and culture from their small towns. Sleepy communities from Eden on the New South Wales south coast to 1770 in Queensland have seen an influx of city tourists looking for the 'next Byron Bay', causing a massive backlash. Residents of scenic spots around Australia say their colourful town hubs have been replaced with beige businesses appealing to aesthetic-minded visitors. Small coastal Queensland town Agnes Water used to be a quiet getaway but is now overrun with visitors while locals struggle to keep hold of its hippie-inspired origins. One resident told Daily Mail Australia about the moment she first noticed the town suffering from its own popularity. Agnes Water residents were overrun by tourists looking to get an Instagram-famous shot at a local bushwalk (above) Seaside residents said their colourful local stores are being replaced by bland boutiques aimed at tourists (pictured, left: a shop in Victoria's Port Fairy, right: a hotel in Byron Bay) 'Agnes used to be this quiet little town you'd duck over to if you wanted to go surfing or spend a day on the beach,' she said. 'But then this 10-minute bush walk blew up on Instagram, everyone wanted a photo on these little stools that stand above the old creek bed. 'Every weekend the walk's tiny carpark is clogged with tourists trying to get their photo. There were times the walk felt more like a queue for an Instagram shot.' Hundreds more living in the area agree and blamed council for not building the right infrastructure to cope with the sudden wave of visitors. 'I'm someone who was born and raised in Agnes and have been here on and off for 25 years,' one resident said. 'I don't have a problem with a town growing but it needs to be done correctly. 'I remember growing up and being told my kids will have to go to school in Rosedale or Miriam Vale like I did, and look at Agnes now!' Another said: 'I don't mind that it's growing and accepting new things after all these years but they're going the wrong way about things and building the wrong things first.' Eden, on NSW's south coast, has seen a recent influx of tourists after its colourful cliffs (above) went viral on social media Eden is another small town that's seen a massive boom of tourism since it went viral on Instagram. The town's colourful cliffs and sea baths have shot to fame with influencers, seeing many flock to the spot for the perfect picture. But locals have already begun to notice visitors disrespecting their town with several residents writing about tourists littering and hooning in the main street. Other residents said the tourist influx is welcome business, so long as the town can build infrastructure to keep up. 'You can't stop development altogether but you can do a lot to ensure the town develops and progresses in a way that preserves the beauty and uniqueness of not only the paradise that it is, but the lifestyle it offers,' one local wrote online. 'It would be sad to see Eden cloned into another tourist town, but it would also be nice to grab some of their dollars as they pass through,' another said. In Crescent Head, a small surfing town on NSW's north coast, residents are furious over plans for a hotel they believe will turn their slice of paradise into a tourist trap. Locals said they've already noticed their town hosting more tourists every summer with fashionable hotels and boutique shops popping up to satisfy the visitors. But the tipping point for many is a newly renovated hotel set to open later this year. Many small town locals said more tourism is a positive for their town's economy but noted councils need to keep up with infrastructure to support more people (pictured, Crescent Head) Locals said new boutique hotels and businesses are replacing local hubs and 'drain the town of it's soul' (pictured, tourists in Crescent Head) Upset small town coastal locals said waves of tourists often take advantage of their home (pictured, littering in Queensland's Agnes Water) The vintage-surf inspired accommodation called Sea Sea will be run by famous designer and hotelier George Gorrow, who started the brand Ksubi, and his German model wife Cisco Tschurtschenthaler. The pair have spent the last decade living in Bali and running successful hotel The Slow. '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.' About a quarter of Crescent Head's 2,200 residents are part of a group that monitors the progress of development in the area. And Mr Gorrow's plan - along with other Instagrammable 'boutique' hotels that have appeared in the last few years - has come under heavy fire from group members. Famous designer and hotelier George Gorrow and his German model wife Cisco Tschurtschenthaler (together above) are building a new boutique hotel in Crescent Head The Sea Sea hotel is already available for bookings ahead of its May opening (pictured, a room in Sea Sea) Crescent Head locals are unhappy with more hotels being built in their small town (pictured, comments under an article about the Sea Sea hotel) 'Crescent Head will be the next Byron Bay or Noosa. These communities are dealing with a rise in popularity of "van life". Byron is a mess, too many people plus tourism and development beyond capacity of land and lifestyle to cope,' one person wrote. '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!' However, their town is just one of many that have fallen prey to the 'Byron Bay effect' which sees small coastal towns lose their charm in favour of what's trendy, with one upset Crescent Head local noting the process starts with thoughtless tourism. 'There is a big difference between holidaymakers who come each year, who make friends with locals and who treat the town with love and respect and tourists who are selfish, demanding and drain the town of its soul,' they said. Extraordinary photos have emerged showing 'hero' truck drivers powering through floodwaters to bring food and supplies to towns cut off by once-in-a-century deluge. Outback communities in Northern Western Australia are still reeling from the havoc caused by ex-tropical cyclone Elli after torrential rain flooded remote road networks. The Kimberley region experienced its worst flooding in history as endless rainfall lifted the Fitzroy River to its highest level ever recorded and flooded the Fitzroy bridge causing it to collapse. Meanwhile, remote communities in central Northern Territory were cut-off by floods after ex-TC Elli U-turned back into the state. Western Australia Senator Glenn Sterle shared photos on Twitter on Wednesday showing truck drivers crossing the flooded Roebuck Plains as they deliver food and supplies to Broome. Freight trucks carrying food and medical supplies powered through flood waters on Roebuck Plain, Western Australia (pictured) The trucks, bound for Broome, (pictured) are on a restricted road permit and are carrying essential supplies for areas cut-off by floodwater. Supplies will then be flown to isolated communities, where road access is unavailable 'Amazing shots of Broome bound freight crossing the flooded Roebuck Plains under strict main road permits,' Mr Sterle wrote. 'Thank you to all of the emergency support workers, transport workers and people on the ground assisting with the recovery effort in the Kimberley.' One user labelled the truck drivers as 'heroes', while another commented 'amazing was an understatement.' Fire and Emergency Services Commissioner Darren Klemm said over 110,000 kilograms of food on barges is expected to arrive in Broome on Wednesday. Mr Klemm said additional supplies will be brought in by the trucks, on restricted road permits, and will later be flown to communities without road access. 'This will allow us to bring in additional supplies via the pilgrim and more than 20 aircrafts are based in the Kimberley to fast track re-supply efforts,' Mr Klemm said. About 200 Australian Defence Force personnel are assisting on the ground across the region, with Emergency services receiving over 60 requests for help since Monday afternoon. Ex-Tropical Cyclone Ellie was declared on December 22, forming off the northern Kimberley coast causing catastrophic rainfall (pictured, flooding at Fitzroy Crossing) The Fitzroy Crossing Bridge, which is the region's arterial route, collapsed after unprecedented rainfall flooded the river and damaged the Bridge's structure (pictured) More than 280 people were forced to evacuate their homes while at least 100 homes were damaged in Fitzroy Crossing and surrounds. Over 60 Main Roads inspectors arrived on Wednesday to assess damage to local infrastructure, with Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan stating repairing the collapsed Fitzroy Crossing Bridge - the region's arterial route - could take years. Ex-Cyclone Ellie dumped Rain dumped between 200mm and 600mm in the region since late December. The heavy rainfall caused the Fitzroy River to peak at 15.8 metres at the Fitzroy Crossing on January 5. The torrential rainfall has caused the worst flooding in the state's history. Flooding caused the Fitzroy River to peak at 15.8m and an inland sea, measuring 50km at it's widest point, to form (pictured, Aerial images showing the extent of the Fitzroy River flooding) At its peak, the Fitzroy River had enough water to meet Perth's water needs for 20 years. At its widest point the river is measuring 50km across, despite water levels dropping. The state and federal governments released recovery assistance for flood-affected communities on Tuesday. Flood-affected Australian's will be given a grant of up to $10,000 for housing repairs and essential household items and can access a 13-week disaster relief allowance. Freight subsidies will also be provided to primary producers in flood-affected areas. An American woman living in Australia has called out the country for how pricey its seafood is - even though the nation is surrounded by water. The expat took to social media complaining that she was craving a lobster roll - or a shrimp cocktail or crab cakes - after a hot summer's day at the pool. But she simply couldn't satisfy her many cravings because 'lobster is like $60 a pound - it's ridiculous and it's a freakin' island.' It comes as rock lobsters made a killing on the Chinese market, as the country exported almost a whopping $400million worth of Aussie seafood to China, including the crustacean delicacy between 2020 and 2021 (pictured, lobsters for sale at the Sydney Fish Market in December last year) She griped that when she grew up in New England on the US north east coast the seafood was 'cheap and plentiful'. 'I had seafood all the time ... maybe not super cheap but it was not like Australian prices,' she said. TikTokker who goes by the name of baal.and.chain (pictured) listed her cravings that were on the top of her list that day including, 'shrimp cocktail, crab cakes, fritters and chowder'. 'But you can't get it over here ... lobster is like $60 a pound - it's ridiculous and it's a freakin' island,' she raged 'And I just spent a day at the pools and it's hot and I just want a freakin' lobster roll, or a shrimp cocktail, some crab cakes, fritters and chowder.' Social media commenters were quick to correct her American English and made suggestions of where she should go to get good seafood. 'Not a shrimp cocktail it's a prawn cocktail,' one said, while another advised, If you're in Australia it's crayfish , prawns and kgs'. 'You need to try bugs. Moreton bay bugs are the best. They are like a mini lobsters. Trust me,' another said. But others suggested she go back to the US if she didn't get the food she wanted here. She said when she grew up in New England on the US north east coast seafood was 'cheap and plentiful' (pictured, a lobster roll in New York state, in the US) 'I had seafood all the time ... maybe not super cheap but it was not like Australian prices,' she said (pictured, clams in chowder broth in New York) 'Well you know what you can do?', one responded, possibly hinting for her to go back to the US after her complaint. Some online commenters suggested she go back to the US if she didn't get the food she wanted here (pictured, the TikTokker under the name baal.and.chain) 'We are not America', another commenter added. 'You think the seafood is pricey, try buying a house,' another quipped. Local seafood importers have had to switch tactics after trade disruptions stymied Australia's supply to China, its number one customer. Australia was cranking out rock lobsters for export to the tune of $750million between 2018 and 2019, most of it being sent as live supply to China. But China's trade bans on the Aussie favourite in 2020 prompted sellers to target other markets, like Hong Kong, Vietnam, Japan and the US. Since then seafood exports to China dove to just under $400million in 2020 to 2021, according to Australia's Seafood Export Outlook in 2022. Seafood importers have had to switch tactics after trade disruptions have stymied Australia's supply to its number one customer in China since 2020 (pictured, fresh lobster in Sydney) 'Ongoing COVID-19 outbreaks and movement restrictions, and uncertainty in the China market have hampered the recovery of rock lobster exports,' the outlook said. 'Exports are unlikely to return to the 201819 highs until these issues are resolved.' Matt Rutter from Geraldton Fishermen's Co-operative, a rock lobster exporter, told SBS last year its exports have been affected. 'Before COVID roughly 95 per cent of our product was exported to China,' he said. Geico will not have to pay a Missouri woman $5.2 million after she said she got HPV while having sex in the car of a man insured by the company. The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled unanimously to overturn a lower court's decision that favored paying the woman, identified only as M.O. In her opinion on the case, Justice S. Margene Burnette wrote that Maryland-based Geico should have had a chance to weigh in sooner, and she sent the case back to the lower court for further deliberation. The decision comes after the woman, without Geico's knowledge, entered legal talks with her then-lover in 2021 and reached an agreement in state court where she would receive the money. That decision was then enforced by the Missouri Court of Appeals by a three judge panel, despite the fact that one of those judges admitted Geico hadn't been given a 'meaningful opportunity to participate in the suit.' The Missouri Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Tuesday to overturn a lower court's decision ordering Geico to pay $5.2 million to a woman who said she got HPV while having sex in the back of a car of a man insured with the company. Justice S. Margene Burnette (pictured) said Geico did not have a proper chance to weigh in on the case The woman, known as, M.O., claimed the man's auto insurance provided coverage for her injuries and losses after they had sex in his vehicle - a 2014 Hyundai Genesis (above) Geico filed a counter lawsuit against the woman claiming her legal proceedings were part of a scheme to score a big payout. Pictured: Geico CEO Todd Combs According to court documents, the woman, identified as M.O., and a man, M.B., who were in a relationship, had sex his car. She contends she contracted HPV, human papillomavirus, because the man did not tell her he had the disease. HPV can cause cervical cancer, certain other cancers and genital warts. In February 2021, M.O. notified Geico that she planned to seek a $1 million insurance settlement against the man. She argued the man's auto insurance provided coverage for her injuries and losses. The insurance company refused the settlement, saying the woman's claim did not occur because of normal use of the vehicle, according to court documents. An arbitrator eventually determined she should be awarded $5.2 million for damages and her injuries, and Geico sought to intervene in the case but was denied by an appeals court. That decision was made by Appeals Court judges Karen King Mitchell, Edward Ardini and Thomas Chapman. But the legal groundworks for M.O.'s case have been called into question given revelations about her sexual activities with M.B. Both of the defendants admitted they had sex in the man's home as well as other locations around the time of the questioned copulation - raising the issue of when and where the virus was actually transmitted. According to Geico, the woman raised none of these issues at her arbitration with M.B. back in 2017 - which resulted in the $5.2 million award that a Kansas state court confirmed. GEICO contends that these proceedings were nothing more than a collusive effort by the pair to score a significant payout. While former couple also admitted they did not use protection when engaging in the sex acts - which occurred across state lines in eastern Kansas - the woman feels that Geico owes her compensation due to the fact that her then-lover's car was insured in his name. The State Supreme Court ruled that Geico was not given a proper chance to intervene in the case, striking down an Appeals Court ruling M.O. has said the company acted in bad faith when it failed to defend the M.B. in court, despite multiple requests, even though she said the man was 'insured against his personal liability arising from his negligence in actions involving his automobile.' Geico, however, has since filed a counter suit to get the case dismissed, citing that M.O.'s car insurance only covers injuries that happen 'out of the ownership, maintenance, or use of' the car. According to the company, the incident in question does not come close to fitting that category. The firm is accusing the couple of conspiring to capitalize on a sordid situation that they themselves created, and is questioning why the pair refuse to make their identities public. What's more, the court has also questioned the pair's proclivity for privacy - especially since they were having sex in public, in the backseat of a car. Both M.O. and M.B. contend that the case involves personal and intimate details of their sexual relationship, that have no business being made public. However, it can be argued that the public's interest in the prospective proceedings is necessary to making a judgment. GEICO has since filed a counter suit to get the case dismissed, citing that the policy on the vehicle in question only covers injuries that happen 'out of the ownership, maintenance, or use of' the car There is also a federal case about this issue concerning whether GEICO can be held liable for the consequences of two adults voluntarily having unprotected sex in an insured automobile. What's more, the case's outcome could have persuasive value on a wide range of other insurance coverage disputes. Nonetheless, the court has allowed the defendants 'to proceed anonymously until the court rules on M.O.'s motion to dismiss' for lack of personal jurisdiction; but within seven days of the ruling on personal jurisdiction (presumably if the court doesn't grant the motion), GEICO would need to file a complaint 'that names the remaining defendant(s) by their real names.' The judge has yet to make a ruling in the federal case. Medical students at Harvard are being taught how to care for infant patients who identify as LGBTQIA+, according to a publicly available course description. Students at the school, considered one of the foremost medical schools in the world, will be given: 'Clinical exposure and education will focus on serving gender and sexual minority people across the lifespan, from infants to older adults.' In Western medicine, an infant is considered from birth to 12 months old. According to the description for Caring for Patients with Diverse Sexual Orientations, Gender Identities, and Sex Development, students will work in both hospitals and communities with LGBTQIA+ youth. Among the hospitals involved in the program is Boston Children's Hospital, home to the first pediatric and adolescent transgender health program in the United States. The directors of the program are Dr. Alex Keuroghlian and Dr. Alberto Puig. Students will work in the areas of Adolescent Medicine, Endocrinology, Family Practice, Infectious Disease, OBGYN, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, Psychology, Primary Medical Care and Plastic Surgery. In addition, students learn about 'advocacy' with regard to LGBTQIA+ issues. Program director Dr. Alex Keuroghlian, left, who in 2022 said that he did not believe those seeking gender reassignment required a mental health screening, and the other director, Dr. Albert Puig, who has been assistant Dean at Harvard Medical School since 2019 A spokesperson from Harvard Medical School provided DailyMail.com with this statement: 'As part of our MD curriculum, HMS offers a four-week elective course that educates and trains medical students to provide high-quality, culturally responsive care for patients with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities, and sex development across the age spectrum. In this context, care for infants refers specifically to physical variations in sex development that arise in utero and are present at birth. These include chromosomal, gonadal, and anatomical variations, all of which are relevant to medical care and treatment to ensure healthy development. This course aligns with Harvard Medical Schools Sexual and Gender Minority Health Initiative, and its educational framework is based on recommendations of the Association of American Medical Colleges, which together aim to address the health needs of patients who are LGBTQIA+, gender-nonconforming, or born with differences in sex development.' The Harvard course promises to 'focus on serving gender and sexual minority people across the lifespan' Speaking about the course to The College Fix, an ethicist at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, Nathanael Blake said: 'Harvard medical students should be taught the basic scientific truth that a man cannot become a woman, or vice versa.' He added: 'Those experiencing psychological distress regarding their biological sex need to be treated with compassion, which does not mean subjecting them to dangerous chemical and surgical treatments to mold them into a facsimile of the opposite sex.' In an interview with the New York Times in January 2022, one of the program's directors Dr. Alex Keuroghlian argued against mental health screening for transgender people. He said: 'Im really not a believer in requiring that for people. Being trans isnt a mental health problem.' Keuroghlian is the director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Psychiatry Gender Identity Program. The Boston clinic sees children as young as two and three usually up to the age of nine. New patients come to the clinic and meet with psychologists to discuss their issues with the sex they were born into During the same interview, Keuroghlian said that mental health screening is not necessary for nose jobs, breast augmentations or hysterectomies. Dr. Alberto Puig, a native of Spain and graduate of Baylor's medical school, has been working on the design and content of Harvard Medical School's curriculum since 2015, according to his profile on Mass General's website. The profile says that over the course of his career, Puig has received over 20 teaching awards and is an 'avid student' of medical history. Since 2019, he has been the associate dean at Harvard Medical School. In October 2022, the Boston Children's Hospital, which is affiliated with the Harvard program, suggested some babies know they are transgender 'from the womb.' In a now-deleted video, the Boston Children's Hospital suggested an even larger number of minors know 'as soon as they can talk.' The hospital also faces claims it rushed under-18s into life-altering sex change surgery. This map shows the proportion of children aged between 13 and 17 years old that identified as transgender by state. The darker colors indicate a higher proportion of youngsters. In New York and New Mexico, it is as high as three per cent This map shows the proportion of the population identifying as transgender by state. Those with the darkest color have almost one per cent of their population in this category In the clip posted to the Boston hospital's official YouTube page in August, psychologist Dr. Kerry McGregor explains the type of patients she sees. She says: 'So most of the patients we have in the clinic actually know their gender, usually around the age of puberty. 'But a good portion of children do know as early as - seemingly - from the womb. 'And they will usually express their gender identity as very young children, some as soon as they can talk... kids know very, very early.' It comes as several states begin to clamp down on puberty blockers being prescribed to children. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has previously likened it to 'child abuse'. While the main meeting location for students for the 2022-23 academic year is Massachusetts General Hospital, which provides 'gender-affirming surgical procedures,' for those older than 18. The Mass General guide includes lines such as: 'Being transgender is not a phase' and 'Being transgender is not a disease or something that needs to be cured. It is a normal human experience.' It also states that, 'A person usually knows that they are transgender from a young age, especially when the feelings are persistent, consistent and occur over a prolonged period of time.' The guide goes on to stay that a toddler's 'gender identity is very fluid' as boys like to play dress up and girls like to play with trucks. According to the informational page, by a person's teenage years they should have a grasp on their gender identity. A mysterious note plastered to a supermarket fridge has exposed a deep-rooted rift between the owner of a local store and his Dare Iced Coffee provider. Locals in Albury, on the NSW-Victorian border, expressed their dismay at finding the shelves of their local IGA devoid of the coffee-flavoured milk following the spat. Gary Evans, the owner of the Norris Park IGA, posted a note on the empty fridge to explain the absence of the popular drinks. 'Dare Milk NOT being delivered as the SOLE supplier in ALBURY has had his feelings hurt,' the notice read. A local posted a photo of the note to the Facebook page 'Meanwhile in Australia' and asked if anyone had more information. A mysterious note plastered to a supermarket fridge has exposed a deep-rooted rift between the store owner and their Dare Iced Coffee provider The owner of the Norris Park IGA in Albury, a town in southwest NSW, posted a note on the empty fridge to explain the absence of the popular drinks (pictured is the IGA) They were quickly provided with an update on the mysterious saga, in the form of yet another notice posted to the same refrigerator door. 'DARE MILKS,' the note began. 'Apologies... milk will be in on Thursday due to the unprofessional and rude attitude of the distributor. They have the monopoly and don't give a "Hoot".' IGA boss Gary Evans told Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday: 'Bega has stepped in and Bega milk will be back on our shelves as of Monday'. He elaborated on the rift on 2GB radio, saying the distributor of the flavoured milk, Juicy Cow, was the only company with the rights to sell the drinks in his local area. Locals have expressed their dismay at finding the shelves of their local IGA devoid of the coffee-flavoured milk following the spat (pictured) 'They have the sole rights. No one else can deliver it,' he told host John Stanley. 'Even if we've gone to a different distributor or a different dairy, we can't get it because they also have to buy it from him [the distributor]. 'The biggest issue with all this is communication. We will ring, we will email, but we don't get any return phone calls, or anything like that.' Mr Evans said his beef with the distributor began back in October, when the store failed to receive any flavoured milk ahead of a busy weekend. He claimed the provider had told one of his employees they were short-staffed. 'It's a really great milk. It's popular with the locals, with the tradies, we've gone across to another brand which is Oak and that's selling rather well,' he continued. 'Again it's a good milk, he's the only distributor, and he won't even talk to us.' Social media has been littered with hilarious puns after the spat was shared on social media. 'I was thinking they have a moonopoly' another joked. 'So much drama! Udderly ridiculous,' a second wrote. 'I Dare ya to hold off on deliveries for a month. I double espresso dare ya,' another commented. 'Now everyone's gonna go hungry thirsty,' a fourth joked. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Juicy Cow for comment. The current most eastward In-N-Out is located in Texas The company announced it will open locations in Tennessee by 2026 In-N-Out is 'double-doubling' down on plans to expand its business. Officials with the California-based fast food chain announced Tuesday their plans to open a corporate office in Tennessee as well as multiple restaurants by 2026. The move to the state is the most-eastward expansion yet for the company, whose current eastward most state is Texas. It's a change of tune for In-N-Out, whose president once said they didn't plan to expand any further towards the east coast in her lifetime. The fast-food chain announced it will expand to Tennessee by 2026 This map shows where In-N-Out currently has locations The company's owner, Lynsi Snyder, said in 2018 in an interview with Forbes she believed putting restaurants in every state would take away 'some of its luster.' 'I dont see us stretched across the whole U.S. I dont see us in every state. Take Texasdraw a line up and just stick to the left. Thats in my lifetime,' Snyder said. In spite of Snyder's previous statements, the company has now solidified plans to bring a corporate office and multiple locations to the state by 2026, she said. 'We are very excited to provide Tennesseans with our quality burgers, fries and shakes, said Snyder, the sole granddaughter of Harry and Esther Snyder, the company's founders. 'In every decision I make, I always consider what my family would want. I have no doubt that my grandparents, dad and uncle would be proud of this decision to grow our Associate family and serve even more amazing Customers beginning in Nashville and the surrounding areas,' the president continued. Currently, In-N-Out has 385 locations in the U.S. across California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Oregon, Colorado and Texas. The California-based company is located in just seven states There are currently 385 locations nationwide Snyder said in a statement Tuesday the company expects to begin construction on a corporate office in Franklin, Tennessee late next year. The office will oversee the 'Eastern territory' according to the owner. Snyder told the Tennessean Nashville is at least one possibility for a location, but it's too early to announce anything. 'When we've opened in new states, we get overwhelmed with customers so we generally try to open two in one day when we are first stepping into a state,' she said 'We will start with two and probably have a third one shortly after,' Snyder continued. Lynsi Snyder is the owner and president of In-N-Out and is the sole granddaughter of the company's founders Snyder told the Associated Press the company may also expand across the region as deliveries from the Texas warehouse cross through multiple states. It's a far cry from the burger joint's 1948 origin when it opened as a 10' x 10' stand in Baldwin Park, California. 'This expansion is significant for our Company,' Snyder said. 'For many years, weve heard requests from our Customers in Tennessee to consider opening locations near them, further east than weve ever been,' she said, calling the customers the company's 'most important asset.' 'This expansion is significant for our Company,' Snyder said Tennessee Governor Bill Lee welcomed In-N-Out to the state on Twitter Tuesday in a video sharing the news. 'I'm proud to welcome In-N-Out Burger, an iconic American brand, to the Volunteer State,' Gov. Lee said in a statement. State officials said In-N-Out's office in Tennessee is expected to be a $125.5 million investment. An estimated 277 jobs will be created in Williamson County, where the office is slated to open. 'Tennessee's unmatched business climate, skilled workforce and central location make our state the ideal place for this family-run company to establish its first eastern United States hub,' Lee said. Tenneseeans responded eagerly to the governor's news with dozens weighing in on the impending arrival of the 'double double.' 'I approve of this message,' replied one person who attached a picture of themselves at In-N-Out. 'Tennessee is about to level up,' another person wrote. 'OH MY GOD this is one of the very few things I missed about Southern California,' said another person in a tweet. It's a big year for the company which also plans to celebrate its 75th anniversary in the fall. Snyder announced last year In-N-Out will hold an anniversary bash at the Pomona Dragstrip in Southern California on October 22. The party will include drag racing, musical performances, drinks, and an In-N-Out Burger food truck supplying menu staples. Snyder also announced the racetrack will be named the In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip for the foreseeable future. In a video on the In-N-Out website, Snyder said the burger joint would be throwing a 'shindig' for the massive celebration. 'We're having a giant shindig at Pomona Raceway,' she said. 'We're going to have drag racing. We're going to have a car show. We're going to have concerts. We're going to have food, fun. You're not going to want to miss it. The owner explained the location has a sentimental value as its where her grandfather, Harry Snyder, would take her as a child. 'Pomona racetrack is very nostalgic for me because I came here as a little girl to watch my dad race,' explained Snyder. 'It's one of those things that fits right into In-N-Out's culture.' Former British Army commander Colonel Richard Kemp accused the Duke of trying to 'distort' the truth with his descriptions of the Taliban His revelation drew furious criticism from military veterans and politicians, who warned that Harry has 'undermined his own security' Prince Harry has slammed accusations that he 'boasted' about killing 25 Taliban fighters in his memoir Spare - while accusing his critics of 'spinning' his words and spouting 'lies' about the revelation, which he says have put his family 'in danger'. The 38-year-old vehemently defended his decision to share the information as he sat down for an interview with The Late Show host Stephen Colbert - a pre-taped chat that was recorded on Monday night and was aired last night. In a teaser clip for the show, Harry hit back at accusations that he 'undermined his own security' by writing about his Taliban kills, while blaming his critics for spreading 'dangerous lies' and 'spinning his words'. 'I think one of... the most dangerous lies that they have told is that I somehow boasted about the number of people I have killed in Afghanistan,' he told Colbert. 'I would say that if I heard anybody else, anyone, boasting about that kind of thing, I would be angry. But it's a lie. He added: 'My words are not dangerous, but the spin of my words are very dangerous to my family.' Prince Harry slammed accusations that he 'boasted' about killing 25 Taliban fighters in his memoir during an interview with Stephen Colbert Harry, 38, faced serious criticism from politicians and former military members after leaked excerpts from his book revealed his recollections of killing 25 Taliban members while he was serving as an Apache helicopter pilot The Duke of Sussex faced serious criticism from politicians and senior former military members after leaked excerpts from his book - which were published after the book was accidentally released early in Spain - revealed his recollections of killing25 Taliban members while he was serving as an Apache helicopter pilot. After the excerpts were published last week, former British Army commander Colonel Richard Kemp described Harry's comments as 'ill-judged' warned that his admissions could cause pro-Taliban sympathizers to be 'provoked to attempt revenge' against him and possibly 'incite some people to attempt an attack on British soldiers anywhere in the world'. Meanwhile, former Royal Marine commando Ben McBean suggested the duke had broken an 'unwritten rule' with his revelation. However, Harry insisted to Colbert that it was not his words that were dangerous but rather the 'spin' that his critics have put on them, with the duke saying it is 'a choice they have made', which has put his family in danger. He went on to insist that that the reason he chose to write about his kill count was to 'reduce the number of suicides' among military veterans. 'I made a choice to share it because, having spent nearly two decades working with veterans all around the world, I think the most important thing is to be honest and to give space to others to share their experiences without any shame,' he said - while receiving applause from the audience, which included several veterans. 'And my whole goal, my attempt with sharing that detail is to reduce the number of suicides.' The duke continued to speak about his time in the military - and his decision to write so publicly about his experiences - during a series of interviews in which he has been plugging his memoir, which was published yesterday. Yesterday, People magazine published an interview with Harry in which he justified his decision to share his kill count, saying it was part of his own personal 'healing'. "Without a doubt, the most dangerous lie that they have told, is that I somehow boasted about the number of people I killed in Afghanistan." Prince Harry tells #Colbert, adding that his "words are not dangerous," but the spin on his "words are very dangerous." #Spare pic.twitter.com/FnjEZ0QnQl The Late Show (@colbertlateshow) January 10, 2023 'I think one of... the most dangerous lies that they have told is that I somehow boasted about the number of people I have killed in Afghanistan ,' he told Colbert The duke enjoyed a glass of tequila alongside Colbert as the pair recorded their chat He told the magazine that he believes it is important for veterans and active service members to 'talk about the parts of our service that haunt us - the lives lost, the lives taken'. However, Colonel 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 has 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,' Colonel Kemp said. '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 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.' Harry, who was known as 'Captain Wales' in the military, wrote in Spare that he did not think of those killed as people but instead 'chess pieces' he had taken off the board. The father-of-two, who during his second tour flew an Apache attack helicopter, said it was 'not a fact that filled me with satisfaction but I was not ashamed either'. Harry took part in two tours in Afghanistan, the first from 2007 to 2008 and the second from 2012 to 2013. In Spare, the prince said that he flew on six missions that resulted in the 'taking of human lives'. While many soldiers do not know how many enemies they have killed in combat, the duke wrote that 'in the era of Apaches and laptops' he was able to say 'with exactness' the number of insurgents he killed. As well as facing backlash from military members, Harry has also been accused of revealing his Taliban kill-count as a means of getting extra security at the expense of the British taxpayer. The Duke of Sussex is locked in a legal battle with the Home Office over his security detail in the UK - and critics suggested that Harry may have thought it would benefit his case to detail his exploits during two tours in Afghanistan. Dr Alan Mendoza, from the Henry Jackson Society think-tank, told The Sun the comments seem 'calculated'. 'Prince Harry's claims about the number of Taliban he may have killed - whether true or not - seem calculated to achieve just one objective: to secure extra security for himself at the UK taxpayer's expense,' he said. 'All he has succeeded in doing is to allow a despicable regime a free PR hit in response to his poorly framed comments.' Harry took part in two tours in Afghanistan, the first from 2007 to 2008 and the second from 2012 to 2013 The duke posed for a backstage selfie with Colbert, which the late night host shared on his Twitter account ahead of the interview's broadcast Harry is at the end of his transatlantic TV blitz promoting his memoir, which was released yesterday after an embarrassing blunder saw it being put on shelves in Spain almost a week before its intended publication date, despite publisher Penguin Random House going to great lengths to keep it under lock and key. The duke addressed the leaks in his interview with Colbert, telling the late-night host: 'Look I'm not going to lie, the last few days have been challenging and hurtful, not being able to do anything about those leaks that you referred to.' An earlier trailer for Harry's sit-down with Colbert saw the acerbic late-night host focusing his silver-tongued wit on the royal family and the duke himself. 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 teaser 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. And then 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.' After a series of serious TV interviews the prince chose to do The Late Show, in what appears to be an attempt to tout his memoir in a more light-hearted manner. Harry's PR blitz has seen him sling barbs at the royal family - a move that has prompted a slew of criticism, even from the liberal media. The New York Times called his remarks 'repetitive and tiresome' and suggested the 'tide seems to be turning in US attitudes towards the Sussexes. The state has seen rental prices rise by more than 10 per cent in the last year A real estate agent has been slammed for hiking the asking price on a rental property based solely on how many people had registered for an inspection - saying it 'indicates we may have priced the property incorrectly'. In a post to Reddit, a user named 'glittergiraffe' shared an email from the real estate agent notifiying that the open home had been cancelled and the price scaled up. The Queensland property was initially listed at $470 a week but has since been raised to $495 - an extra $100 per month - after more than a hundred people registered to attend the inspection. The email read: 'We have experienced an overwhelming demand for this property and have 100 groups booked for the inspection tomorrow at 12pm with many more requesting to attend'. A real estate agent has employed a sneaky tactic hiking up the rent of a property set for an inspection when more than a hundred prospective tenants expressed an interest sending an email to those who were set to turn up to a house inspection (pictured) The Queensland property was initially listed at $470 a week but has since been raised to $495 after more than a hundred people expressed an interest to attend an open home 'The volume of interest indicates we may have priced the property incorrectly. 'We therefore have to cancel the inspection tomorrow. 'The new weekly rent is to be $495 per week. This will be reflected in the marketing of the property.' Reddit users called the move 'disgusting' and said this is why the rental crisis is at such a tipping point. 'Incorrectly priced.. "We accidentally almost gave someone a fair price, then we realised we could gouge someone instead. Soz for the error",' one person commented. 'There should be some kind of law against this kind of price gouging. I'm a landlord and when I advertised my property I kept being asked why is it so cheap is it rental assisted,' another wrote. 'Outrageous! Pure scumbags, I cant believe theyre allowed to do this,' a third said. It comes as new data from realestate.com revealed rent in Brisbane went up by more than 10 per cent for both houses and units in the last 12 months New data from realestate.com revealed rent in Brisbane went up by more than 10 per cent for both houses and units in the past 12 months. The increase in the 2022 calendar year was the largest recorded increase in the city's history. By comparison, Sydney and Melbourne only saw single digit increases despite having their own severe shortages of rental homes. House rents in Brisbane surged by 11.6 per cent, with median rent sitting at $530 a week, while unit prices saw a 10 per cent rise, with median rent at $440 a week. Ukraine's foodstuff exports reach 17 mln tons under grain deal Xinhua) 11:09, January 11, 2023 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. (Web editor: Cai Hairuo, Liang Jun) The Church of England will spend 100million in a bid to atone for its historical links to the slave trade. Its investment arm, the Church Commissioners, will set up a new fund intended to help communities which suffered from the 'shameful and horrific sin'. Profits from the fund will be ploughed into grants to help groups affected by transatlantic slavery. Senior clerics have admitted that the 100million investment, to be made over the next decade, is a huge sum at a time when parishes and congregations are struggling but insisted the church had to 'address past wrongs'. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, said: 'I am deeply sorry for these links. It is now time to take action to address our shameful past. Pictured: Justin Welby at Canterbury Cathedral on April 17, 2022 The Church has also vowed to keep probing its history and on Thursday an exhibition at Lambeth Palace will display items including a letter written 300 years ago by a slave in America begging an archbishop for freedom. The move comes after research into the funds managed by the Church Commissioners found that some wealth originally came from investments in firms running the slave trade as well as donations from slave traders including Edward Colston, whose statue in Bristol was toppled at the height of the Black Lives Matter protests. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, said: 'The full report lays bare the links of the Church Commissioners' predecessor fund with transatlantic chattel slavery. I am deeply sorry for these links. It is now time to take action to address our shameful past. 'It is hard to do this at a time when resources in many parishes are so stretched, but by acting rightly we open ourselves to the blessing of God.' The Bishop of Manchester, David Walker, added: 'We will seek to address past wrongs by investing in a better future, which we plan to do with the response plan announced today, including the 100million funding commitment we are making.' The report published today detailed the full links to slavery of the forerunner of today's 10billion Church Commissioners' endowment fund. Research into the funds found that donations were made from slave traders including Edward Colston, whose statue in Bristol was toppled at the height of the Black Lives Matter protests June 7, 2020 The move comes after research into the funds found that some wealth originally came from investments in firms running the slave trade. Pictured: Sir Thomas Guy (statue outside Guy's Hospital) made his fortune through ownership of a very large amount of shares in the South Sea Company, whose main purpose was to sell slaves to the Spanish Colonies Experts scoured through the ledgers of a scheme known as Queen Anne's Bounty, set up in 1704 to support poor clergy, and found that it had invested heavily in a British firm that shipped African slaves to the Americas. During the 18th century, about 30 per cent of the fund's income came from interests and dividends from the South Sea Company. The fund also received 'benefactions' from wealthy individuals including many who made their money from 'the profits of transatlantic slavery or the plantation economy'. Researchers tried to work out if any land bought with these donations were still held by the Church. They found one case where evidence was 'inconclusive' and five others where the Church may still own 'mineral rights'. The original ledgers will go on display at the library of Lambeth Palace, the Archbishop of Canterbury's London home, this week along with a 1723 letter from a slave in Virginia. Addressed to the 'Archbishop of London', it begs for people of 'mixed race' to be freed, pleading: 'Release us out of this cruel bondage.' Labour was accused of putting lives at risk last night by vowing to block new strike laws. In angry clashes in the Commons, Opposition MPs attacked legislation designed to guarantee minimum safety levels during disputes like todays walkout by ambulance drivers. Business Secretary Grant Shapps said it was extraordinary that Sir Keir Starmer had vowed to repeal the laws before even examining the detail. Labour MPs who object to minimum safety levels will need to explain to their constituents why, if they had a heart attack, stroke, or life-threatening illness on a strike day, there were no minimum safety standards in place, said Mr Shapps. Labour confirmed it would oppose the legislation and unions warned they would fight the measures in the courts Labours deputy leader Angela Rayner said the rotten proposals would serve to inflame rather than resolve disputes. But Downing Street said ambulance unions had refused to give an across the board reassurance that all emergency calls would be answered. Miriam Deakin of NHS Providers said that hospitals were braced for another day of significant disruption and knock-on effects. The warning came as: Only a life or limb-threatening emergency would warrant a 999 call today, according to the head of the London Ambulance Service; The National Education Union refused to rule out school strikes during this years exam season; Whitehall sources said ministers were considering an offer of 10 per cent over two years to rail workers; The GMB union said more than 10,000 ambulance staff would strike today but insisted crews would respond to the most grave emergencies; The Treasury ruled out extra cash for one-off bonuses or backdated payments to settle the disputes crippling parts of the public sector. The new strike law, which faces a tough battle in Parliament, would potentially cover millions of workers in health, education, transport, the fire brigade, border security and the nuclear industry. It would allow ministers to impose minimum service levels during walkouts, although the Government says it is planning to do so only for ambulance staff, rail workers and firefighters. Bosses will be able to sack staff who refuse to cross picket lines to provide vital services. And they will be able to sue unions for potentially crippling damages if they fail to reach agreements on strike cover. Business Secretary Grant Shapps said it was extraordinary that Sir Keir Starmer had vowed to repeal the laws before even examining the detail Labour was accused of putting lives at risk last night by vowing to block new strike laws Unions reacted with fury and warned the new laws could trigger even more strikes. Last night the TUC called for a national day of action on February 1 in protest at the spiteful proposals, although union leaders have stopped short of threats to stage a general strike. Mr Shapps said the strike laws were needed to protect life and limb during health disputes, rather than leaving it to a postcode lottery. And he said Labour needed to explain why their leader has already promised without hearing any of these details to stand in the way of this legislation and to repeal minimum safety levels. He accused union bosses of staging forever strikes, and said the Government had a duty to try to limit the impact. The new legislation gives ministers wider powers than had been expected. In angry clashes in the Commons, Opposition MPs attacked legislation designed to guarantee minimum safety levels during disputes like todays walkout by ambulance drivers Where minimum service levels are imposed, employers will be able to issue unions with work notices requiring them to ensure that specified individuals continue to work during disputes. The proposals have a retrospective element to allow ministers to impose minimum service levels in existing disputes, even if strike ballots are held before the law passes. Labour confirmed it would oppose the legislation and unions warned they would fight the measures in the courts. Mr Shapps said similar laws were already in place in France, Spain and Germany. But TUC chief Paul Nowak said: If passed, this Bill will prolong disputes and poison industrial relations leading to more frequent strikes. Sharon Graham of the Unite union said it was totally false to suggest ambulance workers had refused to guarantee life and limb cover. This Bill is another dangerous gimmick from a Government that should be negotiating to resolve the crisis they have caused, she added. Mrs Rayner said ministers had gone from clapping nurses to sacking nurses with an outright attack on the fundamental freedom of British working people President Joe Biden on Tuesday said he was 'surprised to learn' he had classified government documents at his D.C. think tank and he is 'cooperating fully' with a Justice Department investigation. He said he doesn't know what was in the documents. He also defended having the cache of classified material - reported to be on the Ukraine, Iran and the United Kingdom - as House Republicans formally announced an investigation into the matter. 'People know I take classified documents classified information seriously,' Biden said at a press conference in Mexico City with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. 'I was briefed about this discovery and surprised to learn that there are any government records that were taken there,' President Joe Biden said of the classified documents President Joe Biden, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meet at the 10th North American Leaders' Summit He said his lawyers found 'some documents in a box locked cabinet, or at least the closet' when they were clearing out the office, which was located in Washington D.C. and was used by Biden as he served as an honorary professor at the University of Pennsylvania. He noted that as soon as they realized there were classifed documents in the material 'they did what they should have done' and 'immediately called' the National Archives. 'I was briefed about this discovery and surprised to learn that there are any government records that were taken there,' he said. 'I don't know what's in the documents. My lawyers have not suggested I ask what documents they were.' 'We're cooperating fully,' he added. It was Biden's first public statement on the matter. Earlier, he ignored questions shouted at him when he was meeting with Trudueau. And he ignored additional questions shouted at him Tuesday evening at the end of the press conference. 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. 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. The files date back to when Biden served as vice president. Biden's team turned over several boxes out an abundance of caution, even though many contained personal materials, a source told CNN. U.S. President Joe Biden, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrive for a joint statement 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 Meanwhile, Republicans on Tuesday announced a formal investigation into the president's possession of the material. GOP Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, who is the new House Oversight Chairman, announced Tuesday night he is launching a probe. He's sent letters to the National Archives and the White House Counsel's Office. He asked the Archives for all communications with the Biden team and asked the Counsel's Office for all information related to the White Houses handling of this matter. Republicans also want to know why Biden's team didn't announce the discovery of theclassified documents 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. President Biden ignored questions on the classified documents discovery at a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday afternoon 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' 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. The House Oversight Committee launched a pair of investigations on Tuesday tied to President Joe Biden's handling of classified records that were recovered from an old office of his late last year. Oversight Chairman James Comer, a Republican from Kentucky, sent a pair of letters to the White House Counsel's Office and the National Archives and Records Administration, respectively, looking for more information into the matter. 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, and Biden's lawyers notified the National Archives and Justice Department that same day. In his letter to the National Archives, Comer suggested 'political bias' was at play in its handling of Donald Trump's possession of classified documents - which culminated in an FBI raid on his Florida property - versus the more low-key situation with Biden. Rep. James Comer is using his new power leading the House Oversight Committee to probe President Biden's handling of 10 classified documents Biden said he was 'cooperating fully' with the Justice Department's investigation into the matter Republican lawmakers have raised questions about the timing of the documents' recovery shortly before the 2022 midterms and why it was not made public immediately - suggesting the motivation may have been political. Comer bashed the National Archives for having 'failed to disclose' its receipt of the classified documents and Biden's earlier possession of them. He demanded the body provide all communications between itself, the White House, the Justice Department and Biden's lawyers regarding the records. 'NARAs inconsistent treatment of recovering classified records held by former President Trump and President Biden raises questions about political bias at the agency,' the letter states. In the letter to White House Counsel Stuart Delery, Comer points to previous reporting claiming that at least some of the 10 classified files recovered contained 'highly sensitive information obtained from intelligence sources.' 'The Committee is concerned that President Biden has compromised sources and methods with his own mishandling of classified documents,' the second memo states. Comer requested, among other items, all of the documents retrieved from Biden's old office; a list of people who had access to the office; documents and communications involving Biden's lawyers regarding the files; and the security clearance status of the president's attorneys. 'The Committee expects President Biden will receive equal treatment under the law given that he maintained classified documents in his unsecured office for several years with access to an unknown number of people,' the letter to Delery states. This is the letter that House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer sent to the White House Counsel's Office This is the letter that House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer sent to the National Archives 'President Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, also planned to share an office with an individual affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party, which raises questions about who else had access to these highly sensitive documents because of President Bidens totally irresponsible actions.' The classified documents include intelligence memos and records regarding Ukraine, the United Kingdom and Iran, according to CNN. 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. Once they realized the nature of the classified files, Biden's lawyers reportedly turned over boxes of personal files as well out of an abundance of caution. Biden said on Tuesday that he is 'cooperating fully' with the investigation in his first comments on the matter after earlier ignoring reporters' questions. The president said he was 'surprised to learn there were any government records that were taken there to that office.' He said he takes the investigation 'seriously' and asserted that he did not know the nature of the documents. Sir Keir Starmer was accused of breaking yet another of his ten leadership pledges yesterday after it was confirmed the party would not scrap Universal Credit. The Labour leader has previously admitted that his policy promises which include climate justice, common ownership of utilities and raising taxes on the most wealthy may not be feasible due to the state of the public finances after the pandemic. Yesterday, shadow work and pensions secretary Jonathan Ashworth refused to endorse Sir Keirs pledge to replace the benefits system, saying that Labour wanted only to fundamentally reform Universal Credit. The pledges that Sir Keir made when he was running for the Labour leadership in 2020 are still listed on his website. Sir Keir Starmer was accused of breaking yet another of his ten leadership pledges yesterday after it was confirmed the party would not scrap Universal Credit (pictured on January 8) Keir Starmer has been accused of abandoning at least four of his pledges. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is pictured on December 14 But he has since been accused of abandoning at least four of them, prompting critics to claim this shows Labour cannot be trusted. Mr Ashworth told the Centre for Social Justice yesterday: We actually agree with the concept behind Universal Credit, which was to bring six different benefits together into a unified system of support. His private school plot ramps up Labour will today try to force a Commons vote on its plans to hit private schools with a tax double whammy. Sir Keir Starmer wants to charge independent schools VAT and scrap the 80 per cent relief they receive on business rates. His party will argue today that ending the tax breaks could raise enough money to recruit 6,500 more teachers to drive up standards. But Labour was warned last night that attempts to pit private schools against state schools would not achieve that goal. Around 15 per cent of the countrys mainstream private schools could be forced to close as a result of the plan. Others, meanwhile, would pass on the VAT to parents, pricing out many middle-class families. Advertisement That is the right thing to have done. And actually, towards the end of the last Labour government, we were looking at a way of unifying those different benefits together. I dont think anybody thinks its sensible to go back to those six different benefits today. 'I think the problem with Universal Credit is both the adequacy of the levels and the levels of complexity that have been added to the system. 'What we are consulting on at the moment is how we simplify Universal Credit and fundamentally reform it. He refused to go into specific Labour policies on the benefit when questioned. A Tory Party spokesman said: These are yet more cynical announcements from Labour, a party that has never left office with unemployment lower than it was when they were elected. Once again, Labour have broken more of Starmers promises... It just goes to show that you cant trust Labours word. On Sunday, Sir Keir struggled to explain major policy U-turns over his pledges to defend EU free movement and ban the NHS from using private sector capacity. He has also retreated from his pledges to nationalise public utilities and abolish university tuition fees and has warned against tax rises, even on the richest. In 2020, he said Universal Credit should be scrapped and replaced with a social security system fit for the 21st century. Some 18 months later, he said his party would replace Universal Credit in the long term and bring in something better. 'He's been given a notice to appear, why is he not here?' magistrate asked lawyer Magistrate questioned why his client had not appeared in person on Wednesday A high-profile man charged with two counts of rape stemming from an alleged incident in Toowoomba was a no-show at his court appearance. Defence lawyer Rowan King instead appeared on the man's behalf when the charges were first mentioned in Toowoomba Magistrates Court on Wednesday. The man cannot be named at this stage under Queensland laws that prohibit the identification of those charged with alleged sexual assault or rape offences. On Wednesday Mr King handed up bail conditions and medical documents while asking for an adjournment. Magistrate Kay Ryan demanded to know why his client was not appearing in person. 'He's been given a notice to appear, why is he not here?' she asked. The court was told the man is interstate. Defence lawyer Rowan King instead appeared on the man's behalf when the charges were first mentioned in Toowoomba Magistrates Court (pictured) on Wednesday His bail conditions which included a non-contact order and surrendering his passport were not opposed by police. Ms Ryan ordered a brief of evidence be delivered by February 15. The man will return to the committal call-over court on February 22. Mr King did not comment to waiting media outside court. Earlier, a Queensland Police Service spokesman said Toowoomba Criminal Investigation Branch detectives charged the man with the alleged rape of a young woman in October 2021. The man cannot be named at this stage under Queensland laws that prohibit the identification of those charged with alleged sexual assault or rape offences (stock image) Last year, the second Hear Her Voice report which highlighted the experiences of women and girls across the criminal justice system was handed down. The report made 188 recommendations, including educational campaigns aimed to dispel rape myths, among others. One of the key recommendations was the ability to name people charged with sexual offences in Queensland, bringing it into line with other states and jurisdictions. One of Sydney's most popular bookstores was near deserted on Wednesday morning as Prince Harry's tell-all autobiography hit the shelves across Australia. Dymocks Sydney opened its doors earlier than usual at 8.30am on Wednesday, but the anticipated crowds were nowhere to be seen as people seemingly shunned the Duke of Sussex's new release, Spare. Dymocks was offering free hot drinks to anyone who purchased Spare between 8.30 and 9am, but despite the excitement brought by Australian and British media broadcasting from the shop, little foot traffic was seen. Dymocks was near deserted on Wednesday morning as Prince Harry's tell-all autobiography hit the shelves across Australia. The store had plenty of books to spare after the dismal turnout The bookstore still expected to sell out its 2000 copies of the royal rebel's autobiography over the day, Dymocks Books Sydney general manager Jon Page told Nine's Today show. 'We are hoping to sell out today, we have more on order if that does happen. The demand before today was huge,' Mr Page said. 'Pre-orders have doubled since Friday, so while there's not a lot of people here at 8.30 in the morning, we are expecting a surge throughout the day.' The first 25 Dymocks customers to purchase the book were set to go into the draw for a $250 digital Dymocks gift card The first 25 Dymocks customers to purchase the book were set to go into the draw for a $250 digital Dymocks gift card, the bookstore said. Prince Harry's memoir reached No.1 spot on the UK Amazon bestseller charts ahead of its UK release on Tuesday. The publisher, Transworld Penguin Random House, said Spare was the fastest-selling nonfiction book of all time. 'We always knew this book would fly, but it is exceeding even our most bullish expectations,' Transworld managing director Larry Finlay said. 'As far as we know, the only books to have sold more in their first day are those starring the other Harry (Potter).' The bookstore still expected to sell out its 2000 copies of the royal rebel's autobiography over the day, according to Dymocks Books Sydney general manager Jon Page Prince Harry's memoir reached No.1 spot on the UK Amazon bestseller charts ahead of its UK release on Tuesday. The publisher, Transworld Penguin Random House, said Spare was the fastest-selling nonfiction book of all time Sales had topped 400,000 copies in the UK across the hardback, e-book and audio formats after the first day. The memoir has attracted worldwide attention after the outspoken Prince Harry levelled accusations against fellow royals and detailed his childhood trauma and ensuing struggles following the death of his mother, Princess Diana. The memoir has attracted worldwide attention after the outspoken Prince Harry levelled accusations against fellow royals and detailed his childhood trauma and ensuing struggles following the death of his mother, Princess Diana The Duke of Sussex also attracted criticism for extensively detailing his military exploits, including his 'kill count' of 25 Taliban fighters, which experts have slammed as disrespectful and dangerous. British Major General Chip Chapman told Times Radio that Harry's comments were 'naively stupid' and could place a huge target on his back. 'Harry is not serving but those things are still sensitive,' he said. 'And for him, who wants privacy and security, he's just opened himself up to every jihadist and nutcase out there.' They were given to a jury to examine, offered to three Supreme Court judges to try on, and used by George Pell to prove he had not molested two teenage choirboys. The heavy vestments worn by the cardinal made it impossible for him to have exposed himself to the boys in Melbourne's St Patrick's Cathedral, he always said. Cardinal Pell died on Wednesday, aged 81, in Rome following complications stemming from hip replacement surgery. Pell was cleared of any wrongdoing against children in 2020 when the High Court quashed his convictions for sexually abusing the 13-year-olds in 1996. He had been found guilty by a Victorian County Court jury in December 2018 of one count of sexual penetration of a child and four counts of committing indecent acts. The assaults were found to have taken place in the sacristy of St Patrick's, where Cardinal Pell was then archbishop, and happened straight after he had celebrated Sunday mass. Much of his High Court appeal focused on whether he could possibly have abused the choirboys in a window of five or six minutes. Scroll down for video Cardinal George Pell always maintained it would have been physically impossible for him to expose himself to a pair of 13-year-old choirboys. His vestments included an alb, chasuble, stole and cincture Pell was been found guilty of five sexual offences against two 13-year-old boys committed in the sacristy of Melbourne's St Patrick's Cathedral when he was archbishop there in 1996. Those convictions were overturned by the High Court in 2020 Cardinal Pell's barristers had long argued it was not possible for him to be alone in the sacristies only a few minutes after the end of Mass. Numerous witnesses took to the witness box at his trial to back the notion the crimes could not have been committed. But the High Court agreed the evidence ought to have provided the jury with a reasonable doubt. Through two County Court trials, a Court of Appeal hearing and up to the High Court, Cardinal Pell's lawyers maintained it was impossible for him to have committed the crimes alleged against him. A key argument in the cardinal's defence was that he could not have assaulted the boys in the robes he was wearing on the day of the main alleged offences. Cardinal Pell's vestments that day included an alb - a white tunic which reached the feet and had two slits to allow access to trouser pockets but no zips or buttons. The alb was secured tightly around the waist with a knotted rope cincture, which also secured a stole hanging around his neck, and over the alb was a decorative heavy chasuble which had no splits or openings. Only one of Cardinal Pell's accusers gave evidence at trial against the man who rose to become the Vatican's treasurer. The other alleged victim had died of a heroin overdose and had denied ever having been abused. The living complainant's evidence was not given in public but some of it was revealed from the bar table during the course of Pell's County Court trial. George Pell in his cardinal's regalia when he was Archbishop of Sydney celebrating Easter Sunday Mass in 2011. He was the most senior Catholic figure to be convicted of child sex crimes Pell was originally found to have exposed himself and forced a boy to perform oral sex on him inside the sacristy of St Patrick's Cathedral in Melbourne (pictured). He always maintained his innocence The surviving choirboy had alleged Pell caught him and his friend swilling altar wine and said something like 'What are you doing here?' or 'You're in trouble'. 'There was this moment where we all just sort of froze and then he undid his trousers or his belt, like he started moving underneath his robes,' he said. How Cardinal Pell argued for freedom The timing of the alleged assaults was impossible. It was not possible for Pell to be alone in the sacristies only a few minutes after the end of Mass. It was not possible for Pell to be robed and alone in the priests' sacristy after Mass. It was not possible for two choir boys to be sexually assaulted in the priests' sacristy after Mass by Pell undetected. It was not possible for two robed sopranos to leave an external procession without being noticed. The criminal acts attributed to Pell were physically impossible. No one corroborated the second incident though the complainant said it happened in the midst of a 50-person choir. County Court Chief Judge Peter Kidd erred in not allowing Pell's defence to present a video in his closing arguments, and that there was a 'fundamental irregularity' in how Pell was arraigned at trial. Advertisement 'He pulled [the other boy] aside and then he pulled out his penis and then grabbed [the other boy's] head.' He said the other boy struggled while Pell's hands were around his head and shoulders. The surviving choirboy said Pell then turned his attention to him and put his penis in his mouth. 'Archbishop Pell was standing. He was erect and he pushed it into my mouth.' Psychologist and former priest Terry Laidler sat through almost all of the trial and told ABC's Law Report a set of robes was produced and sent to the jury room. Cardinal Pell's trial barrister Robert Richter QC described the complainant's version of events as a 'far-fetched fantasy'. He said his client's cumbersome multi-layered robes would have prevented access to his genitals. The prosecution had argued it was still possible for Cardinal Pell to expose his penis to the boys while robed because of the slits in the alb. Sacristan Max Potter told the County Court that Pell would never have worn the alb on its own. Rather it would be under a chasuble and possibly a dalmatic, another thick layer of liturgical clothing. 'The weight of those vestments are not light,' Mr Potter had said. It would be 'inhumanly possible' for Cardinal Pell to have exposed himself through the robes. Cardinal Pell's former Master of Ceremonies Monsignor Charles Portelli also disagreed with the suggestion the then archbishop could have exposed himself through the secured alb. 'The whole point of the cincture is to keep the alb in place.' As an archbishop, George Pell was required to wear heavy vestments which a retired priest told broadcaster Alan Jones would make it impossible for him to easily expose his genitals The vestments were so heavy that Cardinal Pell required help robing and disrobing and Monsignor Portelli could recall only two occasions the senior cleric had not required his assistance in five years. In 2019 an 86-year-old priest gave an insight into how Cardinal Pell's robes would have restricted him in a note he sent to 2GB broadcaster Alan Jones. The priest said any Catholic cleric celebrating mass wore so many vestments it was difficult to even go to the toilet. The cardinal's vestments were so layered and cumbersome the jury's finding that he forced a 13-year-old boy to perform oral sex upon him was 'ridiculous'. 'The cardinal archbishop has so many clothes on at the exact time of the offence that it would be physically impossible to do what he's charged with,' the priest said. Even a 'lowly priest' was required to wear several layers of liturgical clothing when celebrating mass. 'And all this is tied around my waist tightly with a cincture,' he said. 'Standing still just waiting to be told to enter the sanctuary every morning I am praying that I might not have a quick call of nature and have to rush to the toilet. 'Simply because it is almost impossible to get to my belt and zipper under the weight of all these clothes. That is the basic reason the charge is so ridiculous.' Cardinal Pell, pictured leaving the Victorian Supreme Court in August 2019, had served 13 months of a six-year sentence which had a minimum term of three years and eight months Cardinal Pell had risen to be the most senior Catholic in Australia and the third most senior in the world. He was the highest ranking cleric in his church to be found guilty of sexual offences against children. The High Court's decision to quash the convictions overturned an earlier ruling by the Justices Anne Ferguson, Chris Maxwell and Mark Weinberg of the Court of Appeal. All three Court of Appeal judges had examined Pell's robes. Christopher Boyce QC for the Crown had even suggested they try them on but it is unclear if they did. Justices Ferguson and Maxwell both voted to uphold Cardinal Pell's convictions, while Justice Weinberg voted to partly grant his appeal. Jesuit priest, lawyer and academic Father Frank Brennan addressed the vestments issue in a piece he wrote for Catholic publication Eureka Street in February 2019. Fr Brennan attended some of Pell's court case and wrote at the time that he was 'very surprised' and 'devastated' by the original guilty verdicts. 'Witnesses familiar with liturgical vestments had been called who gave compelling evidence that it was impossible to produce an erect penis through a seamless alb,' Fr Brennan wrote. 'An alb is a long robe, worn under a heavier chasuble. It is secured and set in place by a cincture which is like a tightly drawn belt. 'An alb cannot be unbuttoned or unzipped, the only openings being small slits on the side to allow access to trouser pockets underneath. 'The complainant's initial claim to police was that Pell had parted his vestments, but an alb cannot be parted; it is like a seamless dress. 'Later the complainant said that Pell moved the vestments to the side. An alb secured with a cincture cannot be moved to the side. 'The police never inspected the vestments during their investigations, nor did the prosecution show that the vestments could be parted or moved to the side as the complainant had alleged.' Cardinal Pell had served 13 months of a six-year sentence which had a minimum term of three years and eight months. Host Stephen Colbert said that the change was made because of 'security' Guests on The Late Show usually appear on the same day with a live audience Prince Harry took the unusual step of filming his interview the day before it aired Usually it is filmed for a two-hour period - but it ended after just an hour CBS audience members were left disappointed after the show was cut short Furious audience members of The Late Show have slammed Prince Harry for failing to appear in front of the usually scheduled audience. Disappointed fans of the CBS talk show visibly bristled when they were told by the host that the Duke of Sussex, 38, was not going to appear in front of them. One loudly said, 'are you serious' after Stephen Colbert apologized to the audience for not telling them Harry was not going to be in attendance before claiming it was for security reasons. Many of the audience had traveled to the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City from all over the state to see the royal, with one woman telling DailyMail.com that it 'wasn't worth' waiting out in the cold. The Late Show host Stephen Colbert apologized to audience members at the end of the show for not telling them Harry wouldn't appear - before blaming security reasons Harry's memoir is published today, and his interview with Colbert will air tonight. Many of the audience had traveled to the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City from all over the state to see the royal The recording of the show, which is set to be aired at 11.30pm tonight, usually lasts for two hours - including a warm-up act. But those hoping to catch a glimpse of Harry were left disappointed and bewildered when Colbert ended the show an hour before advertised. One told DailyMail.com: 'Security issues? Really? It's not like he's Prince William or anything he's not properly in line to the throne. 'Who is trying to kill Harry? I've been to a lot of these and this has never happened. I'm really surprised.' Another was heard loudly saying 'f*** Prince Harry' as they left the show, with others questioning why the filming had ended so early. Others said that the filming 'wasn't worth waiting an hour in the cold for', with one woman adding: 'Who needs prince Harry anyway? Those hoping to catch a glimpse of Harry were left disappointed and bewildered when Colbert ended the show an hour before advertised The Duke enjoyed a glass of tequila alongside Colbert as the pair recorded their chat - where he slammed claims that he had 'bragged' about killing members of the Taliban Harry left his Manhattan hotel on Monday and headed to record an episode of Stephen Colbert's show - accompanied by an armed guard with a Glock gun lock box Another was heard loudly saying 'f*** Prince Harry' as they left the show, with others questioning why the filming had ended so early. 'They are just creating their own drama now for the sake of it. 'If it's about your family and your safety why are you doing the interview in the first place?' Harry is currently in the midst of a media blitz to promote his memoir, for which he was reportedly paid a $20 million advance. His publishers also claimed that Spare became the fastest-selling non-fiction book in the UK on the day it was released. Staff at the theatre insisted that it had been filmed with a live audience, with a preview clip released by CBS showing Harry referencing working with veterans - before gesturing to the audience. He even asked if there were some 'veterans in the house', which was received by cheers. The Duke of Sussex also enjoyed a cameo with Tom Hanks at the beginning of the show, with Colbert rolling out a red carpet with trumpets. The recording of the show, which is set to be aired at 11.30pm tonight, usually lasts for two hours - including a warm-up act The prince is seen waving to fans as he left the Late Night studios in New York City on Monday, wearing a different outfit He was once again escorted by a guard back to his car as he left the studio, a day before his interview is set to air 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 However, the host told Prince Harry to move out of the way, before bowing to Tom Hanks as the royal threw rose petals over him. In his opening monologue Colbert poked fun at the royal for being the 'King of Gingers' and added that the decor was 'looking royal'. Before ending the show he quipped 'maybe next time we could have the King', with audience members being shown a clip from an upcoming M. Night Shyamalan skit in the studio. They were not given a sneak preview of the interview, which has been kept under tight wraps by CBS. Harry was seen on Monday entering the studio with armed bodyguards and drinking tequila with the host before leaving several hours later. Some fans who did attend the live show previously said that Harry answered a series of questions from the late-night host in his Colbert Questionert segment. The quiz devised by the liberal comedian and TV host is 15 questions that he says 'cover the full spectrum of human experience'. It is not known what Harry answered but people at the studios managed to film a glimpse of the segment where Harry was talking with two tequila shots in front of him which he later downed. The interview is just the latest the Duke is doing as he works to promote his bombshell memoir, Spare, released on Tuesday. Harry was accompanied to the Late Night studios on Monday night by a guard carrying a Glock lock-box, used to carry his gun and ammunition. The prince has become increasingly concerned for his security since moving to the United States, and has frequently said he feels vulnerable. Dressed in a grey suit and navy shirt, Harry strode from his SUV into the studios to meet Colbert. The prince was spotted earlier on Monday leaving his luxury Manhattan hotel, where rooms start at $400, rising to $3,500 a night for a suite. There was no sign of his wife or children, who are believed to be at home in California. The broadcaster insists that the show is a 'robust' investigation into Begum The 23-year-old tells a journalist about her life in a refugee camp in Syria The BBC released a 10-part podcast about Shamima Begum and her life in ISIS The BBC has released a 10-part podcast about Shamima Begum in which she tells her story of how she joined ISIS and about life in a refugee camp. In 2015, Begum, then 15, and her school friends Kadiza Sultana, 15, and Amira Abase, 16, fled their East London homes to join IS. Begum, now 23, was found in a refugee camp in 2019 and soon after the UK withdrew her citizenship and banned her from entering Britain. She now lives at the al-Roj camp in northern Syria, run by the Syrian Democratic Forces, which she described as 'worse than a prison' on the podcast. The BBC Sounds podcast follows an investigative journalist who has been talking to Begum for a year and it gives 'her full account of what really happened after she disappeared'. The BBC has released a 10-part podcast about Shamima Begum in which she tells her story of how she joined ISIS In 2015, Begum (centre), then 15, and her school friends Kadiza Sultana (left), 15, and Amira Abase (right), 16, fled their East London homes to join IS. Her two companions are believed to have died while there In the first episode, journalist Josh Baker meets Begum in the Syrian detention camp to discover how she joined ISIS and eventually ended up stranded. She told him about being stuck in a camp: 'This is, I feel, worse than a prison I think it's because at least with prison sentences you know that there will be an end but here you don't know if there's going to be an end.' On the topic of public anger aimed at her, she said: 'I don't think it's actually towards me. I think it's towards Isis. 'When they think of Isis they think of me because I've been put on the media so much but what was there to obsess over? 'We went to Isis, that was it. It was over, it was over and done with.' In the podcast the 23-year-old claims that the refugee camp in Syria she is in is 'worse than a prison' Josh Baker said: 'There are different ways to tell the Shamima Begum story. There's the one about a 15-year-old schoolgirl who was groomed and lured to a war zone by ISIS and now needs saving from a Syrian detention camp. 'And there's the one about a traitor, who fled Britain to join ISIS and became known the world over as a terrorist and must be stopped from coming back to Britain. 'As Shamima challenges the removal of her British citizenship by the UK government, I've examined her accounts to give listeners a definitive narrative on this complex, nuanced and shocking story.' The series says it is aiming to 'separate fact from fiction' as it tries to answer the question 'who is Shamima Begum?' Other topics that will be explored include how she got to Syria and what did she did when she got there. The broadcaster also states that the podcast is not an opportunity for Begum to tell her story unchallenged, but is a 'robust public interest investigation'. Episode 1 of 'I'm Not A Monster': The Shamima Begum Story is available to listen to today on BBC Sounds. New episodes will be available and will also be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 from 11am. A 56-year-old Californian woman has fallen to her death while attempting to scale one of the most popular mountain trails in the Los Angeles area - the second person to die on the route in two weeks. Crystal Paula Gonzalez, a mother of four described as 'the dancing hiking queen', filmed her final video on Sunday for Facebook - where she often updated friends about her adventures. In the pre-dawn darkness, wearing a head torch, she said: 'It's go time! Lots of people out today.' The ice could be heard crunching beneath her feet, and Gonzalez slipped shortly after, plunging 700ft down the Baldy Bowl. Crystal Paula Gonzalez, 56, filmed her final video for Facebook on Mount Baldy, shortly before falling to her death Gonzalez, a mother of four from Covina, was passionate about hiking, mountain biking and being outdoors San Bernardino Sheriff's Department said they received a call from California Office of Emergency Services, which was alerted via a Garmin emergency device. A helicopter was immediately dispatched, and soon found Gonzalez 'down on a steep and icy hillside, surrounded by numerous helpful hikers assisting in any way they could,' according to their incident report. The medic on board the helicopter requested Sheriff's Air Rescue, but Gonzalez died of her injuries before she could be airlifted from the scene. Four days before falling to her death, she posted a video of the treacherous conditions. 'This stuff is dangerous!!!!!! Beware hikers.,' she wrote, with the hashtags: #MountainLessons #Learning #DangerousTerrain #Bowltrail #Mountbaldy. Gonzalez frequently shared photos of herself in extreme terrain, hiking and exploring The mother-of-four was remembered 'for her fearless hikes, and daily dose of inspiration' She also posted a video of snowboarders, captioned: 'So unfortunately, I had to turn around safety comes first.' On January 3, she wrote: 'Don't know where I'm headed just know that I am living a great story' On a GoFundMe page set up by her family, Gonzalez was remembered 'for her fearless hikes, and daily dose of inspiration.' Her daughter, Jasmine Rosado, wrote: 'More importantly she was an amazing mother of four, a sister and a friend to everyone she met. 'She is the personification of strength, love, and beauty. 'She was a beacon of light to everyone who knew her and was always ready to lend a helping hand.' On her Instagram page, Hiker 4 Life, Gonzalez described herself as: 'At 56 I hike, jog, run and ride a MOUNTAIN bike love the great outdoors and I have 4 amazing children! LIVING,LOVING AND ENJOYING LIFE!!!' Gonzalez shared inspirational quotes, including this one about hiking in the dark Gonzalez, from Covina, is the second person to die on the mountain in two weeks. On December 28, Jarret Choi, 43, from LA, was hiking the Ice House Canyon trail when he fell near the Ice House Saddle ridge line. He was found two days later, after a search hampered by extreme weather conditions. On December 17, four people had to be rescued by helicopter from the mountain after icy conditions made it impossible to move. Authorities are stressing that hikers must wear appropriate clothing for the cold weather and have proper snow and ice gear. During his 13 months of solitary confinement, Cardinal George Pell almost lost hope of appealing his prison sentence but encouragement came from an unlikely source - the jail's boss. Pell, who died overnight in the Vatican at age 81, revealed this in his three-volume memoir Prison Journal, which recounts his experiences incarcerated in two Victorian jails before the High Court overturned his conviction for child sex offences in 2020. After losing an appeal against his six-year conviction in the Victorian Supreme Court, Pell says he considered not appealing to the High Court despite always maintaining his innocence. He explained fear judges would 'simply close ranks', and that he didn't want to participate in an 'expensive charade'. Cardinal George Pell (pictured centre), who died overnight at age 81 in the Vatican, is lead from court to begin serving a six-month sentence for child sex abuse However, he says the 'boss' of the Melbourne Assessment Prison - who was 'a bigger man than I and a straight shooter' - urged him to carry on seeking his appeal. 'I was encouraged and remain grateful to him,' he wrote. Following his conviction in March 2019, Pell was forced to relinquish his church vestments for a green prison uniform tracksuit, although later in Barwon jail he was give a red one in recognition of his cardinal rank. In the Melbourne jail, where he spent 10 months, Pell was placed in a solitary confinement cell on the same ward as 11 other inmates who he never saw - but certainly heard from down the corridor. Pell (pictured centre front) arrives at County Court in Melbourne in 2016 as he was fighting the child sex charges that later saw him serve 13 months in jail before all the convictions were overturned by the High Court 'I celled in the Toorak end, named for a rich Melbourne suburb, exactly the same as the noisy end but generally without bangers and shouters,' he wrote. The former Archbishop of Melbourne said he would 'marvel at how long they could bang their fists, but a warder explained that they kicked with their feet like horses'. 'Some flooded their cells or fouled them,' he wrote. 'Once in a while the dog squad was called, or someone had to be gassed. On my first night I thought I heard a woman crying; another prisoner was calling for his mother.' As a convicted child sex offender Pell was separated from other prisoners for his safety but was personally confronted on one occasion. The Melbourne Assessment Prison where Cardinal George Pell spent 10 months in solitary confinement When exercising alone during one of his two half-hour periods allowed outside he was walking around a walled yard when he passed an opening at head-height. 'Someone spat at me through the fly wire of the open aperture and began condemning me,' Pell wrote. 'It was a total surprise, so I returned furious to the window to confront my assailant and rebuke him. 'He bolted from the front line out of my sight but continued to condemn me, as a "black spider" and other less-than-complimentary terms.' After telling guards he would not go out in the yard again if the 'young offender' was next door, Pell was told the inmate had been moved for doing something 'worse to another prisoner'. During the almost 16 hour lockdowns in his spare cell, which only contained a shower, desk and bed, Pell said he heard other prisoners abusing him but also some 'fierce' arguments over whether he was guilty. According to Pell one of the guards said the consensus among the 'career criminals' was that he had been 'snitched up'. The guard added 'that it was odd that criminals could recognise the truth but not judges', according to Pell. Cardinal George Pell arrives at the Seminary Of The Good Shepherd in Sydney after the High Court acquitted him of the child sex abuse convictions that put him behind bars 'Most of the warders in both prisons recognised I was innocent,' Pell writes and he said even the guards who were hostile to him acted in a professional manner. Although his faith in Australia's criminal justice system was shaken Pell wrote his Christian belief was not during his confinement. 'I never felt abandoned, knowing that the Lord was with me even as I didn't understand what he was doing for most of the 13 months,' he wrote. He even discovered some redeeming features of life inside despite the humiliations of being strip searched and even being denied the simple request of getting a broom to sweep his cell. 'Prison life removed any excuse that I was too busy to pray, and my regular schedule of prayer sustained me,' he wrote. When he saw a former occupant has scrawled the word 'home' on the windowpane of his cell, he wondered if it is meant to be bitter lament. 'I suspect not, as this is my home for the moment and it is not a terrible place,' he wrote. A secondary school has banned all physical contact between pupils and romantic relationships - even hugging and holding hands. Chelmsford secondary school, Hylands School, said they 'do not allow' romantic relationships in a 'draconian' crackdown on physical touch. Other strict rules include that students who are caught using mobile phones could have them locked in a safe for the rest of the day. Parents have slammed the rules and questioned the school's explanation that it encourages children to behave 'professionally'. The letter sent by the Chelmsford school says forms of physical contact which are not tolerated include 'any aggressive physical contact, hugging, holding hands, slapping someone, etc' Executive headteacher Margaret Callaghan said most parents had been supportive of the policy A letter sent by assistant headteacher Miss Catherine McMillan, seen by EssexLive, says staff do not tolerate 'any physical contact' between members of the school community. One parent at the school claimed that parents had not been told about the new policy prior to the letter, which was sent on January 9. Instead, they heard about the new rules from their children. The individual, who did not want to be named, said: 'I couldn't believe it. In this day and age, I agree that inappropriate touching - hitting and punching - of course has to be dealt with. But they're not teaching students how to have a healthy relationship. 'The inference is that you can't touch anyone, children won't know what is or isn't appropriate, and the ability to empathise with their peers is being taken away. 'I have a daughter and her and her friends greet each other with a hug, but if they do that now they'll [face being] put into isolation.' The letter sent by the Chelmsford school says forms of physical contact which are not tolerated include 'any aggressive physical contact, hugging, holding hands, slapping someone, etc.' It continues: 'This is in order to keep your child safe. If your child is touching somebody else, whether they are consenting or not, anything could happen. 'It could lead to an injury, make someone feel very uncomfortable, or someone being touched inappropriately. 'While we want your children to make really positive friendships, hopefully lifelong ones, we don't allow romantic relationships at Hylands. Your child is of course able to have these relationships with your permission outside of school. 'We want your child to focus on their learning while in school and we don't want them to be distracted by relationship issues. The letter reads: 'This is in order to keep your child safe. If your child is touching somebody else, whether they are consenting or not, anything could happen' (file image of children playing in a school playground) 'In your child's Personal Development lessons we learn about positive, healthy relationships and your child can still talk to a trusted adult in school for advice and support if they need to.' The parent added: 'Human instinct is that if your friend fell over you might help them up. 'But now they're having their privileges threatened such as losing their lunch or morning breaks, or even isolation for the day - which is all so draconian. 'There's been a huge outcry from other parents. Partly because of the lack of communication with parents, all we've been told is what students tell us. 'But it's also such an archaic approach and is not needed in this day and age. After the pandemic, where everyone was starved of human contact, you are now setting everything back. It's not going to help students' mental health either.' Ms Margaret Callaghan, 54, executive headteacher at Hylands School, responded: 'We always seek to work closely with parents in order to ensure that our pupils are safe and happy. 'Most parents and pupils support this policy which engenders mutual respect and encourages pupils to behave professionally as any future employer would expect.' Critics say the 105billion firm has become obsessed with woke social issues The company said its Lux body wash can give armour to protect from misogyny Unilever was blasted for saying its soap inspired women to rise above sexism Unilever has been blasted as truly bonkers for claiming one of its soap brands can inspire women to rise above sexism. The unashamedly woke corporate giant says its Lux body wash can help women who are bombarded with sexist judgments. It claims a bathing ritual using the century-old brand can give women armour to protect them from misogyny. Critics say the 105billion firm, which also makes Hellmanns mayonnaise, Ben & Jerrys ice cream and Domestos bleach, has become obsessed with woke social issues. Corporate giant Unilever says its Lux body wash can help women who are bombarded with sexist judgments Hypocrisy over Russia The companys brands have become increasingly involved in trendy social causes. Ice-cream makers Ben & Jerrys called UK proposals to send Channel migrants to Rwanda ugly, inhumane and racist. Unilever also claimed that its Hellmanns mayonnaise brand had a purpose beyond adorning salads and sandwiches. But as one of the few western firms refusing to fully shut up shop in Russia over the invasion of Ukraine, it has been accused of hypocrisy. It claims to be selling only essential items, but Magnum and Cornetto ice creams are still on sale. Mark Dixon, of the Moral Rating Agency, declared: Its continuing support of the economy that is funding Putins war shows that Unilever is a wolf in woke clothing. Advertisement Fund manager Terry Smith, 69, one of its biggest shareholders, said: Soap, when I last checked, was for washing. However, apparently that is not the purpose of Lux. He called on the firm to switch its focus to running its brands well. And Gwen Rhys, head of Women in the City, which promotes female business talent, called the Lux claim laughable and truly bonkers and pointed out that Unilever had never had a female chief executive. They are stretching the imagination to think that a soap brand is going to lift women out of misogyny. And before telling women what their products are going to do they should take a look at themselves first. Tory MP Nickie Aiken said: Ive always chosen my brand of soap on whether it smells pleasant and makes me clean. Perhaps Unilever should stick to making hygiene products and stop patronising women. Lee Anderson of the Common Sense Group of Conservative MPs said: I am sure that the scientists at Unilever will ensure their soaps produce enough lather to help wash away all forms of sexism. Meanwhile, in the real world I have never heard such a load of b****cks. Unilevers campaign says that the Lux woman is constantly bombarded with judgments, adding: The bathing ritual with Lux gives women a powerful moment of self-care that helps nurture her inner strength. This makes womens beauty an armour, a positive source of strength and power. Unilever declined to comment yesterday. The Pentagon has officially dropped the U.S. military's COVID-19 vaccine mandate nearly 17 months after it was first imposed by the Biden administration under Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. The controversial policy has been under fire from Republicans since its inception, amid an increasingly dire recruiting crisis for new troops. Defense officials' latest order follows through on language in the 2023 defense budget bill, which President Joe Biden signed into law in late December. According to Defense Department data cited by Reuters, 3,717 Marines, 1,816 soldiers and 2,064 sailors have since been discharged for refusing to get vaccinated. Austin encouraged all service members to still get vaccinated and boosted but announced the military would no longer discharge troops who refuse the shot. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced the formal repeal of the military's COVID-19 vaccine mandate in a Tuesday evening memo Biden ordered all military members to get vaccinated against COVID-19 in August 2021 'No individuals currently serving in the Armed Forces shall be separated solely on the basis of their refusal to receive the COVID-19 vaccination if they sought an exemption on religious, administrative, or medical rounds,' the Pentagon chief said. 'The military departments will update the records of such individuals to remove any adverse actions solely associated with denials of such requests, including letters of reprimand.' In August 2021, Biden ordered all 1.3 million active members of the U.S. armed forces to get fully vaccinated. Service members who refused to get the shot were threatened with loss of pay, among other disciplinary measures. Defense officials blamed such resistance on vaccine misinformation. But nevertheless Austin pointed in his memo to the high rate of vaccinations among troops across all branches. 'The Department has made COVID-19 vaccination as easy and as convenient as possible, resulting in vaccines administered to over two million Service members and 96 percent of the force - Active and Reserve - being fully vaccinated,' Austin wrote. Preventative Medicine Services NCOIC Sergeant First Class Demetrius Roberson administers a COVID-19 vaccine to a soldier on September 9, 2021 in Fort Knox, Kentucky The mandate has survived lawsuits and much GOP criticism, but Democrats agreed to include language in the annual National Defense Authorization Act to end it in order to get enough Republicans on board with the must-pass legislation. 'Because of the hard work of House Republicans the Department of Defense has finally rescinded the harmful COVID-19 vaccine mandate for service members,' Armed Services Committee Chair Rep. Mike Rogers said on Wednesday. He added, 'Our work is not done. We will be looking into the impacts the COVID-19 vaccine mandate had on our readiness especially its impact on the recruitment and retention of service members.' 'I am thrilled to report that the military COVID vaccine mandate is finally OVER thanks to the hard work of conservatives in Congress,' GOP Rep. Mary Miller of Illinois said on Tuesday night. 'Some said an NDAA rescinding the [vaccine] mandate would never pass. I am so happy we fought and won this victory for our TROOPS!' Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky cheered, 'One of the worst policy decisions affecting military readiness is finally over.' In his Tuesday evening memo, Austin pointed out that it's still up to military commanders whether they deploy unvaccinated troops. 'Other standing Departmental policies, procedures and processes regarding immunizations remain in effect,' Austin wrote. 'These include the ability of commanders to consider, as appropriate, the individual immunization status of personnel in making deployment, assignment, and other operational decisions.' Cardinal George Pell died after suffering heart complications from a hip replacement surgery in a hospital less than 15 minutes away from an Italian health facility dubbed 'the third Vatican' and the 'pope's hospital' for its string of high-profile guests and its close ties to Catholic leaders. Cardinal Pell died in Rome at the age of 81, the Vatican confirmed on Wednesday, and was understood to be awake and appeared well after the surgery before going into sudden cardiac arrest. He'd been receiving care at the Salvator Mundi Hospital and is believed to have been chatting to his anaesthetist when he suddenly fell ill, with medics unable to revive him. Salvator Mundi, while having once had Mother Teresa as a patient in 1992, is just eight kilometres away from the luxurious Gemelli Polyclinic hospital, which has its own suite reserved for popes and high-profile Catholic leaders. Cardinal Pell died in Rome at the age of 81, the Vatican confirmed on Wednesday The Gemelli Polyclinic hospital, otherwise known as the 'pope's hospital' is pictured. Cardinal Pell was staying at another health facility In July last year, Pope Francis was recovering at the health facility following a surgery on his colon. Gemelli is considered to be 'the pope's hospital', with the late Pope John Paul II spending a stint there after an assassination attempt in May, 1981. Pope John Paul II also received care at the facility on about ten other occasions, with his fondness of the hospital reportedly leading to it being dubbed 'the third Vatican'. Pope Benedict XVI's brother Georg Ratzinger was also a patient in the hospital in August, 2005, after undergoing heart surgery. Pell had been receiving care at the Salvator Mundi Hospital (pictured) and is believed to have been chatting to his anaesthetist after his surgery when he suddenly fell ill, with medics unable to revive him The Salvator Mundi hospital has 82 beds, and is 15 minutes away from the high-profile Gemelli facility Pope Benedict paid a visit to the facility while his brother was receiving care. Gemelli is one of the largest and highest ranked hospitals in Europe and holds 1,575 beds, along with housing for medical students. Salvator Mundi Hospital, which is also private, has just 82 beds. Physicist Stephen Hawking was also hospitalised at Gemelli in December, 2016. He'd been visiting Rome to attend a conference at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences when he suddenly started feeling ill. Cardinal Pell's death has sparked mixed responses from many around the world, some remembering him as a 'man of great integrity', while others paid tribute to child sexual assault survivors. In July last year, Pope Francis was recovering at the Gemelli Hospital after he received colon surgery He was ordained a priest in 1966 and became a bishop in 1987. He was appointed Archbishop of Melbourne in 1996 and Archbishop of Sydney in 2001 before he was made a cardinal in 2003. However, his lengthy career came under a cloud in 2018 when a jury convicted him of historic child sex incidents - which he strenuously denied. Pell spent 404 days behind bars until his conviction was quashed on appeal to the High Court in 2020. Oxford University's new vice-chancellor has vowed to be a 'defender of free speech'. Professor Irene Tracey, 56, who began the role yesterday, said she tried to teach students to understand views from 'many different perspectives'. Her pledge comes amid calls to crack down on 'campus wokery', which has seen speakers banned from institutions. Professor Irene Tracey, who has begun her new role as Oxford University's new vice-chancellor, has vowed to be a 'defender of free speech'. She is pictured ahead of the ceremony to officially name her as the 273rd Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford, January 10, 2023 She told Radio 4's Today: 'I'm very clear that I'm the defender of free speech.' The professor, who was previously warden of Merton College, said accepting different views 'prepares you best for what is the real world'. She added: 'You're going to have to grapple with different opinions and different views and views that you're not necessarily comfortable with. 'The other part of that is the ability to deliver and receive criticism. 'I'm a defender of free speech, and I will be championing that as part of my role as Vice-Chancellor.' Prof Tracey, who is the first comprehensive school-educated Vice-Chancellor of Oxford, also said private school pupils will not be restricted from getting places at the university. Professor Irene Tracey, 56, who began the role yesterday, said she tried to teach students to understand views from 'many different perspectives'. The institution has faced backlash recently from private school heads amid concerns Oxbridge assessment methods favoured state school pupils. At her inaugural ceremony at the Sheldonian Theatre, Prof Tracey announced her intention for Oxford to be a centre of interdisciplinary research on finding climate solutions. She also said she would commission an independent analysis of pay and conditions for the university's staff, after several days of strikes in November. Public told to dial 999 only in 'life or limb' emergencies during ambulance strike Up to 25,000 ambulance staff walkout today after rejected four per cent offer Survey by NHS Providers showed three quarters voted for increase of at least 5% NHS staff deserve a pay increase of at least five per cent according to managers NHS staff deserve a pay increase of at least five per cent, NHS managers said in a submission to pay review bodies. Up to 25,000 GMB and Unison ambulance workers are striking today after rejecting a 4.75 per cent average pay increase as hopes rise that further strikes might be called off. The public has been told only to dial 999 in 'life and limb' emergencies today as doctors are drafted in to help direct ambulances to patients as efficiently as possible. Government sources have suggested that there are concerns about safety during today's strikes, emphasising that there is a lack of agreement over emergency protocols. Ambulance workers take part in a strike, amid a dispute with the government over pay on December 21 Up to 25,000 GMB and Unison ambulance workers are striking today after rejecting a 4.75 per cent pay increase Ministers are currently working on proposals for the pay review bodies for the next pay round and have suggested pay could be improved if unions commit to productivity goals. Today's strikes come after NHS workers in England and Wales rejected a pay rise averaging 4.75 per cent. All were guaranteed an increase of at least 1,400 a year - more than 7% for the lowest paid. But a recent survey of NHS Providers members for the 2023/2024 pay review saw 75 per cent of staff demand at least a 5 per cent increase. Thirty one per cent of NHS Providers members surveyed said an uplift of five per cent would be appropriate as a starting point for the 2023-2024 pay round, with only one respondent to the survey suggesting a figure below this. Nearly 30 per cent of respondents supported increases of between six and eight per cent and 16 per cent said more than 10 per cent was necessary, the document, which was published before Christmas, says. The survey also suggested that the vast majority of trusts are concerned about staff burnout and morale. Health Secretary Steve Barclay suggested over the weekend that there may be space for further pay increases if unions agreed to productivity measures Interim CEO Saffron Cordery told The Telegraph that: 'We surveyed our members and the majority said at least five per cent. That's what our members think would be reasonable.' NHS Providers is a membership organisation for hospital, community, mental health and ambulance services. It has all trusts in England in voluntary membership, accounting for 104billion annually and employing 1.2 million people. But Treasury sources have warned against increases of more than 3.5 per cent and of increase public sector wags more than private sector pay packets. Meetings between the health secretary Steve Barclay and unions bosses will continue this week after negotiations on Monday failed to halt today's strikes. NHS medical director for secondary care Dr Vin Diwakar said that patients who needed emergency care should still call for help, using both 999 and 111 It is currently taking up to three times longer than normal to respond to emergency calls although the service did see lower demand during the strike on December 21. NHS medical director for secondary care Dr Vin Diwakar said that patients who needed emergency care should still call for help. 'This means continuing to call 999 for life-threatening emergencies as well as using 111 online for other health needs, where you will receive clinical advice on the best next steps to take.' Other health service strikes are planned in the coming days, with the Royal College of Nursing set to walkout on Wednesday and Thursday next week, causing further disruption. Junior doctors are voting this week on whether to walkout in a historic 72-hour strike in March, with demands of a jaw-dropping 30 per cent pay increase. Physiotherapists are also expected to announce strike dates later this week despite Monday's talks. Ambulance staff in Northern Ireland have also been striking and in Scotland the unions have a mandate for action but no dates have yet been set. In his first televised interview since being elected to Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy revealed his agenda and joked that his bruising fight to become Speaker of the House was 'entertaining.' McCarthy, who was elected Speaker on January 7, insisted that the rollercoaster ride to secure his election was healthy democracy in action, and vowed to lead the House for all Americans. He insisted, however, that he had been chosen to bring government back 'under control', and restore confidence in the FBI and Justice Department. He says he will spend the next two years investigating the origins of COVID and a possible Chinese coverup; look into the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, and explore the potential 'weaponization' of the FBI and Justice Department. 'We've watched them get out of control with no check and balance,' said McCarthy, speaking to Fox News host Sean Hannity. Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday spoke to Fox News host Sean Hannity Sean Hannity, Fox News host, spoke to Kevin McCarthy within the Capitol He said the DoJ had been 'weaponized', and vowed to rein the department in. McCarthy, 57, said that he intended to orchestrate a full investigation into the origins of COVID, and whether the Chinese had covered up its real origins. Asked by Hannity if McCarthy's group would investigate the work of Dr Anthony Fauci, the retired chief medical advisor to Joe Biden, who served as NIAID Director from 1984 to 2022, McCarthy said that would form part of their work. 'Why don't we know where COVID started?' McCarthy asked. 'They won't have any hearings on it. 'Why shouldn't we know what happened in Afghanistan those last two months? Thirteen gold star families have a right to know. But more importantly, this nation has a right to know so it never happens again. 'We should know what happened with China and where the money is going. We know the documents are there. 'I think the country has a right to know that as well. But the weaponization of what the FBI -' Hannity then interrupted, and asked: 'Fauci?' McCarthy replied: 'That goes right into COVID. We have our own ability to oversee that and look into it.' McCarthy was joined on Tuesday night by Steve Scalise and Elise Stefanik The California representative said he intended, as Speaker, to 'hold government accountable.' He added: 'For the whole time Democrats have been in power, all they've done is increased spending.' He said the Republicans intend to make the U.S.-Mexico border more of a priority, and introduce a Parents' Bill of Rights to increase oversight of schools. 'We've got to get our country under control financially,' McCarthy continued. 'How do we do that? Energy policy. 'They made the price of gas go up but made us weak around the world. We will become energy independent.' McCarthy said that he and his fellow Republicans intended to 'audit' all government spending, and reduce wastefulness. He said the era of 'blank checks' was over, and vowed to analyze every dollar spent, to ensure value for money. 'One of the greatest threats we have to our nation is our debt,' McCarthy said. 'It makes us weak in every place that we can. 'We have never been at this high level of debt to GDP except during World War II. 'What are we funding? Wasteful Washington spending much of the time.' McCarthy likened it to a child who had been given a credit card, and kept on maxing it to the limit. He explained: 'This is our moment to change the behavior to make sure hardworking taxpayer, that we're not wasting their money. You gonna tell me there's not waste out there? We're gonna look at every single dollar spent. We're going to audit it.' Scandal plagued French fashion house Balenciaga is expected to report devastating profits this week after TikTok users showed that the brand was marking down its high-end items for as much as 70 percent off. This comes as one of the brand's biggest ambassadors, Kim Kardashian, slashes prices on her the brand on her clothing resale site, Kardashian Kloset. Like many, Kardashian cut ties with Balenciaga in December. In December, the company's creative director and chief executive officer were forced to apologize for an advertising campaign that featured children with teddy bears in BDSM clothing and allusions to child pornography. Creative director Denma said: 'I want to personally apologize for the wrong artistic choice of concept for the gifting campaign with the kids.' Last year, Balenciaga was accused of participating in a pedophile ad campaign which has resulted in sales across the country Among the items being resold by Kim Kardashian is this rate Belanciaga dress that has been marked down from $13,000 to $10,000 According to HSBC, the fourth-quarter results for Balenciaga's parent company Kering are likely to be 'as bad as it gets' with the controversy severely impacted the company's holiday sales. The report is due out on February 15. The HSBC report, first referenced by WWD, points to slowing growth in the UK, US and China. In December, numerous TikTok personalities took video showing the massive markdowns taking place on Balenciaga goods at department stores and the company's own flagship stores. Reality star and TikToker Holly Scarfone posted a clip showing a collection of Balenciaga purses bundled together on a table inside of a Bloomingdale's store. It's unclear where the store is located. She titled the video: 'Never thought I'd see the day.' Scarfone says: 'I don't think I've ever seen a designer being so heavily marked down.' While another social media user, @St3vensuniverse, posted a video showing sneakers and leather shoes, including high heels, bearing the Balenciaga name being marked down at Nordstrom. That video was titled: 'Would y'all still buy Balenciaga?' Fine Britches, another TikToker, posted a video showing a collection of Balenciaga sneakers on table at Neiman Marcus advertising: 'Save up to 50 percent off!' He wrote in the caption: 'Balenciaga really taking Ls.' Hulu star Kim Kardashian has slashed prices on her Balenciaga clothing on her resale site in recent weeks The markdowns on Balenciaga goods are felt across the country in department stores and in the brand's flagship shops One TikTok user showed a Balenciaga store dimly lit and understaffed despite advertising a sale Reality star Holly Scarfone posted a video showing Balenciaga's purses scattered around a department store in the wake of the scandal Prior to the fire sale, many TikTok users had gone viral as the posted videos showing them destroying their Balenciaga wears Department stores appear to be following the lead set up one of the brand's former figure heads, Kim Kardashian, who cut ties with Balenciaga following the scandal In an actual Balenciaga store, TikToker Hannah Emerson posted a video in early December showing the location advertising a 'Holiday Sale.' Emerson noted in her video how dimly lit the store was, showing that it looked closed and how few staff were working. Prior to the fire sale, many TikTok users had gone viral as the posted videos showing them destroying their Balenciaga wears including KamillonT who burned her sneakers as another, Gianna Avalos, cut up a tote bag. Department stores appear to be following the lead set up one of the brand's former figure heads, Kim Kardashian, who cut ties with Balenciaga following the scandal. On her resale site, Kardashian Kloset, the reality star has slashed prices on items such as a Balenciaga hoodie, where she knocked $200 off the original price and sweater, marked down from $895 to $445. Another sweater is down from $495 to $295 while a coat marked as 'RARE' is marked down from $12,995 to $10,395. Meanwhile on social media, disenchanted consumers are burning their Balenciaga goods in protest Retailers such as Lyst are selling a pair of Balenciaga sunglasses for $200, after they were originally priced at $685. On the same site, a belt that retailed at $475, now costs $285. The website Children Salon is charging $237 for a pair of Balenciaga shoes, marked down from $475. Over on Nordstrom, a Balenciaga button down shirt that once cost $1090 now costs $436. At SSense, a plain white t-shirt from the brand that once cost $750, now costs $345. In November, Kardashian's former husband, Kanye West, a former Balenciaga rep, was also cutting prices. Balenciaga discontinued their relationship with the rapper following his anti-Semitic remarks. West posted a video online in which he advertised Balenciaga hoodies that he was selling for just $20. The sale did not appear to have anything to do with the campain. West said in the clip: 'So what we do here is, I've cut up 100 hoodies. From Yeezy, from Balenciaga, from stuff we did with Gap, from stuff we did with Adidas, and everything we do is gonna cost $20.' Vandalism on an empty store on Rodeo Drive last night in a clear protest against the brand, whose own store is nearby The photographer who took pictures of children carrying teddy bears wearing S&M gear for Balenciaga's adverts said that the kids who modeled for him were children of employees - who were present when the photos were taken. Italian documentary photographer Gabriele Galimberti, 45, has insisted he did not think the images he took were disturbing - despite receiving death threats and being called a pedophile when the photos were published. Galimberti, whose work has been featured in National Geographic, Le Monde and Marie Claire, said that he was shocked by the virulent response, but stressed that he had nothing to do with styling the shoot or selecting the theme. 'I can recognize if we are going too far or not, but in that occasion I trust them and I didn't see anything so wrong,' he told The Guardian. He said the children in the photos were the offspring of Balenciaga employees, who accompanied them to the shoot and did not raise any concerns. 'When they saw those bags, everybody was telling them they were punk,' he said. 'Nobody ever mentioned BDSM.' In a statement following the initial fallout, Balenciaga apologized and said that investigations into the ad campaigns were ongoing. It said the papers featuring the legal text on child pornography were props from a third party and that it had filed a complaint against the inclusion of the 'unapproved documents.' Kering CEO Cedric Charbit said the label had decided not to pursue litigation. 'I want to personally reiterate my sincere apologies for the offense caused and take my responsibility,' said Charbit. Police are hunting for a mysterious man after a teen sunbather reported being sexually assaulted by him on a popular beach on New Year's Eve. The woman had been lying on a beach towel on Thomson Bay Beach, on Rottnest Island off the coast of Perth, Western Australia, on December 31. Police say the teenage girl was assaulted by an unknown male between 10:15am and 12:30pm on the busy beach. The woman had been lying on a beach towel on the sand on Thomson Bay Beach, at Rottnest Island (pictured) off the coast of Perth, Western Australia, on New Year's Eve The teenager had been wearing a black bikini with a white sundress over the top at the time of the alleged attack and had been sitting north of the ferry jetty. Police say 'numerous' people were in the area at the time, as crowds gathered to ring in the new year on the picturesque beach. They would like to speak to anyone who remembers seeing the woman or a man acting suspiciously in the area on December 31. Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. Do you know more? Email charlotte.karp@hotmail.com However, it can now be revealed that Mr Lehrmann has been working at a winery Mr Lehrmann has stayed out of the public eye since trial was dropped last year First trial was aborted and the second was dropped by the ACT public prosecutor Pictured: Bruce Lehrmann working at a winery Bruce Lehrmann, who was once accused of raping Brittany Higgins, has a new life picking grapes at a boutique winery in Tasmania - after prosecutors sensationally dropped the case against him. Mr Lehrmann was accused of sexually assaulting Ms Higgins, his former colleague, in Parliament House after a night out in Canberra in March 2019. He pleaded not guilty and endured an almost four-week trial in the ACT Supreme Court in October. However, the trial was aborted due to misconduct by a jury member. On December 2, the ACT's Director of Public Prosecutions announced he would not go ahead with a second trial amid fears it could be detrimental to Ms Higgins' mental health. Despite appearing in court every day during the trial, Mr Lehrmann vanished from the public eye immediately after the trial was terminated in early November. It was previously reported that Mr Lehrmann has spent the last few years cooped up at home - afraid to go outside for fear strangers will recognise him as an accused rapist. However, Daily Mail Australia can now reveal the one-time Liberal staffer has been living and working on a nine-acre property in the island state's hinterland. Bruce Lehrmann (pictured) has been living and working at a winery in the Tasmanian hinterland The trial against Bruce Lehrmann (pictured outside court) was derailed by misconduct from jurors and prosecutors dropped the charges citing Ms Higgins' health A photo uploaded to Facebook in March last year - seven months before the trial - showed Mr Lehrmann smiling with a group of his peers, having just finished picking a batch of pinot sparkling. In December, Daily Mail Australia revealed Mr Lehrmann's family was his saving grace during the trial - flying to Canberra to support her only son. She was intentionally shielded from the media and didn't go into the courtroom, but stayed with him in his temporary accommodation, prepared his meals, and gave him a shoulder to lean on. 'She was probably one of the key reasons he was able to keep his head together during the trial,' a source said. During his initial interview with police last year, which was played before the court in October, Mr Lehrmann said he grew up in a 'small family unit'. Brittany Higgins (pictured outside ACT Supreme Court) alleged Bruce Lehrmann raped her in parliament in a TV interview on the Project His father died when he was two, leaving his mother to raise him and his sister on welfare. His sister has since moved to the US, but sources say she supports him from afar. Within a week of the trial being dropped, Mr Lehrmann retained one of Australia's most respected defamation specialty law firms, Mark O'Brien Legal. It is understood the intention was to file lawsuits against several media companies and Twitter identities, including Lisa Wilkinson, the production company behind The Project (Rove McManus's Roving Enterprises), Network Ten and parent company Paramount. The ABC was also expected to be in the firing line over comments made during the National Press Club appearance in February 2021 during an address by Ms Higgins and Grace Tame. Principal solicitor Paul Svilans previously told Daily Mail Australia his firm was looking to assess whether there was an 'actionable' matter. Canadian police have released the identity of a homeless man who was stabbed to death by a pack of teenage girls last month. Ken Lee, 59, an immigrant from Hong Kong who was trying to find housing in Toronto, was beaten and stabbed by eight girls ranging in age from 13 to 16. It is believed Lee was attacked while defending a friend of his who the girls were trying to steal a bottle of liquor from. Each of the girls were arrested and charged with second degree murder, with Detective Sergeant Terry Browne of the Toronto Police calling the brutal murder 'shocking' and 'disturbing.' Ken Lee, 59, an immigrant from Hong Kong who was trying to find housing in Toronto, was beaten and stabbed by eight of girls ranging in age from 13 to 16 The horrific stabbing occurred near where York Street, University Avenue and Front Street West meet at around 12:15 a.m. on Sunday. It's believed that the girls, who had met on social media earlier, were trying to steal the victim's alcohol when they attacked him Lee was pronounced dead upon arriving at a Toronto hospital after the vicious attack. Authorities have been working to notify his next of kin about the tragedy, according to CBC News. A vigil was held for Lee at the Toronto Homeless Memorial downtown. He was remembered by visitors as a quiet person and devoted friend. 'Nobody was surprised that he would stick up for somebody like that,' Sanctuary Toronto spokesperson and pastor Johnson Hatlem said of Lee. Pictured: The homeless shelter where the victim was staying before he was knifed. Police believe that all eight teenage girls are 'equally culpable' in the dreadful street murder Browne said Lee started living in Toronto's shelter system in September. 'He does have a very supportive family in the area so I wouldn't necessarily call him homeless. Maybe just recently on some hard luck,' he said. Roberto Sanchez, who often holds the door open at a nearby Tim Hortons, told CTV News 'He was friendly. He was generous. He was a kind-hearted person. Everyone has their issues. But all in all, I didn't see him as a threat to no one.' 'For those youths to do that to him - it's heart-wrenching. I can't believe it.' Detective-Sergeant Terry Browne said that the killing was 'shocking.' He revealed that a total of eight teenage girls had been charged with murder after the man, believed to be homeless, was stabbed to death on the streets of Toronto, Canada One resident of the nearby Strathcona Hotel where Lee was staying told CTV News Toronto that the teenagers were drinking, and tried to steal Lee's friends alcohol. Lee was with a female friend in a plaza northwest of the intersection of University Avenue and York Street when he was attacked. 'They were sitting on a bench, sipping booze out of a mickey and having a cigarette,' said witness Ken Webber. 'I saw the aftermath of the attack.' The teens were 'standing outside the Union Station stairwell there, arguing, screaming and yelling,' he added. One police source told The Toronto Sun the girls were 'like wild animals'. 'They're all young offenders. They attacked this guy like a bunch of wild animals. He tried to fight them off and they just kept coming back,' the source said. 'He was just minding his own business, he wasn't bothering a soul.' Browne said the victim started living in Toronto's shelter system in September. He said they haven't been able to reach certain family members and until they do they won't release his name Browne said the crime even shocked the police. 'I've been in policing for almost 35 years and you think you've seen it all,' he said. 'Anyone who isn't shocked with hearing something like this has clearly just thrown in the towel and just said that anything is possible in this world. 'Eight young girls and most under the age of 16. If this isn't alarming and shocking to everyone, then we're all in trouble quite frankly.' Browne said the same girls got into an altercation earlier in the night in the area. He declined to release more details - but confirmed that they had met on social media. The teens came from 'varying parts of the city,' according to police. 'We don't know how or why they met on that evening and why the destination was downtown Toronto.' Browne added. 'We don't know how long they were acquainted with each other. I wouldn't describe them as a gang at this point.' Mayor John Tory called the murder 'unacceptable', and said he was 'extremely troubled' by the young age of the accused girls. 'While we are continuing to learn details of this murder, I am deeply disturbed by the allegations made public so far. Everyone in our city deserves to be treated with dignity and respect,' he said. 'I am so saddened to know that a man has lost his life in this way. Toronto Police have made several arrests in this case I am extremely troubled by the young age of those accused and by the number of people allegedly involved in this murder.' A witness said Kenney, who was named locally as the deceased, was sitting with a female friend in a plaza northwest of the intersection of University Avenue and York Street (above) when they were attacked Browne said they took part in a 'swarming.' He declined to say if they videotaped it - and added that they are checking if similar attacks have been posted online. 'Maybe these were eight young women that wanted to make a name for themselves and see if they could become socially famous. They are all equally culpable,' he said. 'There is no doubt in our minds that they were all working as a singular entity in a swarming mob mentality when they chose to attack this man.' 'All eight were together. All eight were involved,' he said. 'I won't say what each one individually did, but all eight were together and participating in this event, which is disturbing.' He said said a number of weapons were seized, but he declined to say what kind. He added that three of the girls had prior encounters with the police. 'It's bizarre that they would all have hooked up together and found their way to downtown Toronto. Their primary residences are all over the place. I can tell you it was a shock to find out that their children were involved in an event like this.' Canadian authorities cannot release the girls' names by law because they're underage. Browne said they are asking anyone who saw the the group of teens that night to contact police. He said 20 or 30 years ago in Toronto young teenage boys would swarm others and try to steal Dr. Martens boots or Air Jordan shoes, but the trend faded away. 'Has this happened recently that we are not aware of? Have people been posting this stuff online that we weren't aware of?' he said. 'It's something that we are going to try to find out.' Mohamed Ahmed, the co-executive director of the non-profit youth group Success Beyond Limits, said they've never seen teenage girls accused of such a crime. 'When we see young people in difficult situations it's usually been males, unfortunately,' he told The Toronto Star. If girls are involved in violence it is usually far more mild - 'it's not to the level of what I just read,' he said. Australian holidaymakers have revealed the one thing that infuriates them in the tourist mecca of Bali - and they are putting the blame on fellow tourists. Posting on the Bali Bogans Facebook group this week, traveler Fiona said she just returned from a 'fantastic time' on the Indonesian island despite almost getting shortchanged by a money changer and 'paying too much for things and loving it.' '(But) what annoyed me is the arrogance of people walking on the footpath,' she said. Bali's tourist strips can become absolutely packed with holidaymakers (stock image) One holidaymaker said other 'arrogant' tourists who weren't considerate annoyed her 'If you are walking side by side please go single file when others need to get through. Please and thankyou are also free,' she said. Other commenters agreed that the rudeness of their fellow foreign tourists, who venture to Bali in their millions each year, was the main thing that tarnished their trip. 'Yes it's the other foreigners who annoy me the most. I don't know how the beautiful Balinese people put up with us all,' one person said. 'I agree with you on the footpath situation especially when you move over and people don't even say thank you. Little bit of manners goes a long way,' another said. 'Try doing it in a wheelchair and they still don't move,' a third said. 'Sometimes I think it's just newbies overwhelmed plus the heat and looking down to avoid slipping they just inadvertently forget the manners thing,' a fourth added. Poppies Lane II Street in Kuta, Bali is a particularly popular place for tourists to visit but has very cramped footpaths Another person wondered how the local residents managed to keep their calm Travel to Bali is back in full swing after the Covid lockdown but not without hiccups. A little more than a week ago Jetstar apologised after a flight from Melbourne to the island was turned back hours after take-off because of a miscommunication with Indonesian authorities. Flight JQ35 made it as far as the Timor Sea near Broome, about four hours into the flight to Bali, when it was suddenly diverted back to Australia. The plane arrived back in Melbourne the next morning after passengers had spent about eight hours aboard to go nowhere. The popular and cheap holiday destination is back full capacity after three difficult years The airline has confirmed the issue was due to the type of aircraft it used for the flight. It switched the plane from an Airbus A321 to a Boeing 787 because it could carry more passengers, but the swap had not been approved by Indonesian authorities. 'We've begun a review to understand how the miscommunication happened so we can prevent it from occurring again,' the company said. The airline said passengers had been booked on another flight to Denpasar and all those affected were given hotel rooms, meal vouchers and a $200 travel voucher. 'We know this has been an extremely frustrating experience for customers and sincerely apologise for what happened,' Jetstar added. A teaser clip from the chat saw the duke slamming accusations he 'boasted' about killing 25 Taliban fighters In a trailer for Harry's interview Colbert, 58, made fun of the monarchy, telling viewers to 'bring your corgis and colonial treasures' It shows him being greeted at the CBS studios by two trumpeters in uniform - before Colbert tells him that they are in fact there for Hanks, 66, a fellow guest Advertisement Prince Harry has kicked off the latest in a long line of TV interviews to promote his memoir Spare by ridiculing royal tradition and mocking the monarchy - with the help of Hollywood A-lister Tom Hanks. The 38-year-old Duke of Sussex poked fun at royal pomp and circumstance during an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, for which he pre-filmed a skit that showed him being greeted at the CBS studios by two trumpet heralds wearing regal uniforms. In the video, Harry is seen rounding a corner and walking along a red carpet while the trumpeters begin their fanfare, with the duke telling Colbert in a show of mock humility: 'Woah, woah, woah, stop, stop. Stephen, not needed, but thank you, I appreciate it.' 'What are you talking about? This isn't for you!' Colbert, 58, responds, before urging Harry: 'Get out of the way, he's coming!' At that point, Hanks, 66, who was a guest on the late-night show on Monday - when the interview with the duke was filmed - comes around the corner, jokingly exclaiming: 'I'm back! Where's my fanfare?' while Harry throws rose petals at him. Prince Harry has kicked off the latest in a long line of TV interviews by ridiculing royal tradition and mocking the monarchy - with the help of Hollywood A-lister Tom Hanks The 38-year-old Duke of Sussex poked fun at royal pomp and circumstance during an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert last night The episode kicked off with a skit featuring Harry and Hanks, 66, being greeted by royal fanfare as they entered the CBS studios The trumpeters featured on The Late Show were sporting uniforms that appeared to be replicas of the official garb worn by the State Trumpeters of the Household Cavalry - who perform the fanfare at official state events such as Harry's wedding and Prince Philip's funeral - however in place of the royal standard, they had the letters 'L' and 'S' embroidered on their jackets. Harry's pre-taped interview with Colbert has already resulted in several explosive moments which were brought to light courtesy of teaser clips shared on the CBS show's Twitter account. In those trailers, the duke furiously denied that he 'boasted' about killing 25 Taliban fighters, while taking aim at his critics for 'spinning' his words and putting his 'family in danger'. He also confirmed to the TV host that he watches controversial Netflix series The Crown, admitting that he has even seen 'more recent' episodes, which portray dramatized versions of his late mother Diana's battle with bulimia and his parents' bitter divorce. Another trailer for the episode saw Colbert ridiculing the Royal Family, comparing the duke to Harry Potter and joking that his book is available as a commemorative plate. 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?' After Colbert tells Harry that the trumpeters were not in fact for him, but rather for Hanks, the duke begins throwing rose petals at the laughing actor After a series of serious TV interviews the prince chose to do The Late Show in what appears to be an attempt to tout his memoir in a more light-hearted manner The trumpeters featured in the show were wearing replica uniforms of the official garb sported by the State Trumpeters of the Household Cavalry who perform the fanfare at official state events, including Harry's wedding and Prince Philip's funeral. Right, the State Trumpeters during preparations for Harry and Meghan's wedding in 2018 In another teaser 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. And then 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's book also contains anecdotes that appear to poke fun at his family including hanging a trinket likeness of the Queen on a Christmas tree. In Spare, the prince reveals that Meghan gave him an ornament of the Queen that she had bought from a local store in California. Harry writes that it was Grannys face to a T and he hung it on the 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. After a series of serious TV interviews - which some critics claim failed to properly question contradictions in his book - the prince chose to do The Late Show, in what appears to be an attempt to tout his memoir in a more light-hearted manner. During the interview Harry slammed accusations that he 'boasted' about killing 25 Taliban fighters The species is responsible for the most snake-bite deaths in Australia each year The Eastern Brown Snake is the second-most venomous snake in the world A receptionist has suffered the shock of her life after discovering one of the world's most venomous snakes lurking inside the office printer. Jade Bowen was refilling the printer paper at the Windsor Toyota dealership, in Sydney's north west, on Monday when she spotted a snake inside the paper tray. Ms Bowen initially thought her colleague Joel Aquilina, who is known to be the office prankster, had placed a rubber snake inside the printer as a practical joke and was going to take it out. A Sydney Toyota receptionist found an eastern brown snake in the paper draw of the office printer. Professional snake catches used a long snake hook to coax the reptile out of the printer (left and right) However she began to shake when she realised the reptile was a real eastern brown - the second most venomous snake in the world. The dealership promptly called Australian Snake Catchers for help. Professional snake catcher Sean Cade moved the entire printer to the outside of the building to be safe before extracting the reptile. In footage shared to the company's Facebook page on Tuesday, Mr Cade is seen opening the paper draw and using a long snake hook to manoeuvre the snake out of hiding. A Toyota employee is heard exclaiming 'Oh my god' as more of the snake comes into view. Mr Cade is then seen hooking the snake from the back of the printer before grabbing hold of its tail. As Mr Cade starts to pull the metre-long snake out of the printer he is heard saying: 'It's bigger than you think.' 'All is well that ends well,' Australian Snake Catchers captioned the video. 'This could have been quite a different and dangerous outcome. Lottery Ticket Required.' Professional snake catcher Sean Cade hooked the one-metre long snake before grabbing its tail and pulling it out from the back of the printer (pictured) Ms Bowen's colleague Joel Aquilina said he believed the snake had been at the business for 10 days. 'It's pretty crazy... we had some cleaners tell us they saw a snake and we couldn't find it,' Mr Aquilina told the Hawkesbury Gazette. The Used Car Assistant Manager said the dealership was the last place you would expect to find a snake, despite the property backing on to bushland. 'We obviously get rodents and mice. But if you walked through here, you wouldn't think the snake was in the printer - we've been printing paper off all the time,' Mr Aquilina said. The video has received over 200 likes, with many commenting Ms Bowen deserves a day off. 'I bet the poor receptionist will have a panic attack every time she has to open the paper tray from now on,' one user wrote. 'They would have done the Toyota jump, but not from the feeling of a new car, that's for sure,' another commented. 'They [snakes] come up with some crazy ideas about where they want to have a nap,' a third wrote. Windsor Toyota (pictured) used car assistant manager said the property was the last place you would think to find a brown snake A fourth person joked: 'What's the printer error code for an EB [Eastern Brown]?' The Eastern brown snake, known as the common brown snake, is native to eastern and central Australia and southern New Guinea. Considered the second-venomous snake in the world, after the inland taipan, and an untreated bite can kill an adult human within half an hour. The species is responsible for 60 per cent of snake-bite deaths in Australia every year. Eastern brown snakes frequent shrublands and woodlands but are regularly spotted in highly populated areas and will strike if threatened or surprised. Mr Cade advised the public to treat every snake they encounter as venomous - do not touch it or approach it - and call professionals to relocate the reptile. Prince Harry has confirmed he still wears the necklace he accused his brother of breaking in 2019 - showing off the 'now fixed' jewelry in a television interview. Harry, 38, was asked by The Late Show host Stephen Colbert, in an interview that aired on Tuesday, which necklace Prince William ripped off him. Harry said it was the one he was wearing at that moment, and pointed out the symbolism of each of the three objects attached to the leather strap. 'There is a lot of talk about the physical fight that the two of you had, where he pushed you down in the kitchen and broke the dog bowl, when you fell on it,' Colbert began. 'It says it broke your necklace. What necklace was it that he broke?' Harry replied: 'This one. Which is now fixed.' Prince Harry on Tuesday night showed off the necklace which he claims William ripped in 2019 The leather string features a silver pendant tied onto the end Harry and his older brother in July 2021. Harry has written of feeling distant from William and said he was angry the press blamed their estrangement on Meghan Colbert asked him to describe the three pendants. 'It's got my kids' heartbeats, which my wife gave me,' said Harry, showing off silver plaques with the cardiograms of his children engraved. 'And then a friend of mine in Botswana made this for me, which has got tiger's eye in the middle.' Tiger's eye is said to bring power, inner strength, healing and courage. Some cultures believe it wards off the evil eye. It is an inexpensive stone, mainly found in South Africa, but with deposits also found in Namibia, Australia, India, and Thailand. Harry has been seen wearing the necklace for many years, giving rise to speculation it was a gift from his ex-girlfriend Chelsy Davy, who he dated from 2004-10. Chelsy Davy, pictured with Harry in 2007, is believed to have given him the leather pendant when they started dating Harry, in his memoir Spare, writes about the bruising encounter with his furious brother in 2019. '[William] grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and he knocked me to the floor,' he writes. The furious row allegedly broke out at his London home, Nottingham Cottage, in the grounds of Kensington Palace. William is said to have branded Meghan 'difficult', 'rude' and 'abrasive' and insisted he was trying to 'help' his younger brother, during a meeting about 'the whole rolling catastrophe'. Harry speaks to The Late Show host Stephen Colbert, who asked about the necklace Harry accused his brother of 'parroting the press narrative' about his wife, before a screaming match ensued, the book claims. Harry claims that William then urged him to fight back, saying that is what would happen when they scrapped as children. But the Duke of Sussex says he refused, claiming that William left and then returned 'looking regretful, and apologized'. William then 'turned and called back: "You don't need to tell Meg about this".' Harry claims he said: 'You mean that you attacked me?', to which William replied: 'I didn't attack you, Harold.' The Duke of Sussex says that the first person he spoke to about it was his therapist on the phone. But he claims Meghan later saw the 'scrapes and bruises' on his back from the dog bowl. He claims his wife 'wasn't that surprised, and wasn't all that angry. She was terribly sad'. Former chief of the Uvalde school police Peter Arredondo told investigators he decided not to breach the classroom where a shooter was holed up with children because he wanted to save the lives of students in other classrooms. In newly emerged footage from Arredondo's interview with the Texas Department of Public Safety after the deadly May shooting, the cop said he thought 'there's probably going to be some deceased in there,' and described deciding not to engage the shooter and instead focus on evacuating the school. The decision went against his department's active shooter protocols, and essentially left students trapped in the classroom with shooter Salvator Ramos, 18, for dead. In the massacre, 21 people died 19 students and two teachers. Arredondo was fired from the Uvalde police force shortly after the shooting, and has been blamed by authorities for the botched response to the shooting which saw heavily armed cops waiting outside the classroom where Ramos was holed up for more than an hour before engaging him. Former Uvalde school police chief Peter Arredondo speaking with Texas Department of Public Safety investigators less than 24 hours after the May shooting Footage showing Peter Arredondo directing armed officers inside the Uvalde elementary school In footage obtained by CNN, the disgraced police chief told investigators he made the decision not to engage Ramos when he saw that other classrooms in the school were still full of children. 'Once I realized that was going on, my first thought is that we need to vacate. We have him contained and I know this is horrible and I know it's [what] our training tells us to do but we have him contained, there's probably going to be some deceased in there, but we don't need any more from out here,' he told investigators in the footage. The decision went against the department's protocol, which directs any armed officer on the scene of an active school shooter to engage, regardless of the risk to themselves. Arredondo was one of the first to arrive at the school after the shooting began, and was armed with a handgun. He told investigators that he wanted to wait until officers with rifles were scene before attempting to engage Ramos. Arredondo telling the Texas Department of Public Safety how he chose to prioritize the lives of students in other classrooms Arredondo told the DPS he figured there were casualties in the classroom with the shooter Arredondo directing heavily armed officers outside the classroom where the shooter was holed up In footage from the day, Arredondo could be seen trying to negotiate with the shooter through the closed classroom door, which also went against his training, according to CNN. He told investigators that while he was trying to speak with Ramos he heard him reload his weapon, saying 'I'm certain I heard him reload.' Arredondo also talked about his apprehension to open the classroom door, telling investigators 'I know that I wasn't going to be able to grab that door. That's my thought.' It is unclear whether he meant he would be unable to do so because he thought he would be shot by Ramos, or because he believed the door to be locked. During the investigations, Arredondo often repeated that one of his reasons for not trying to breach the classroom was because he couldn't find a key to the door. A split view of the hallway before the dozens of other cops arrived shows the officers with their rifles drawn, standing behind shields, thirty minutes after the shooting began, yards away from the classroom Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Police Chief Peter Arredondo Arredondo has long maintained that he was not the incident commander during the shooting, despite multiple authorities confirming that he was in fact in charge of the scene after the fact. In the DPS interview, Arredondo said when he saw armed officers who he assumed were Border Patrol agents arrived at the school, he thought they were organizing themselves to breach the classroom. 'I did let them know we're taking these kids out first. We need to preserve the life of everybody around him first,' he said. However, those legions of armed officers were waiting on word from him to make their move. The scene descended into chaos as the officers were left leaderless. 'We're right in there, I wasn't aware of what was going on outside,' he told DPS. Salvador Ramos, 18, barricaded himself in classroom full of students. Arredondo told officers to wait over an hour before engaging the gunman Salvador Ramos is shown entering the school at 11.33am on May 24 with his AR-15 style weapon in his hand Salvador Ramos, 18, (pictured) shot and killed 19 students and two teachers while cops held back for over an hour during the Uvalde massacre on May 24 The interview was conducted less than 24 hours after the shooting took place. It was the only interview Arredondo gave with the DPS, who stopped cooperating with the department when its director blamed him for the botched response. During the interview, Arredondo told DPS officials he knew at the time of the shooting that his decisions were going to be closely examined. 'We're going to get scrutinized, I'm expecting that. We're getting scrutinized for why we didn't go in there,' he said. He then reiterated his rationale from the day. 'I know what the firepower [the shooter] had, based on what shells I saw, the holes in the wall in the room next to his. I also know I had students that were around there that weren't in the immediate threat besides the ones I know were in the immediate threat and the preservation of life around, everything around him, I felt was priority,' he said. 'Because I know there's probably victims in there and with the shots I heard, I know there's probably somebody who's going to be deceased.' During the interview, Arredondo was asked what advice he would give to the next police department that had to deal with a school shooting. 'Never minimize your training, never minimize your equipment, and never minimize your communication,' he said. Ron DeSantis warned Chinese real estate speculators to stay out of the Sunshine State - calling China a 'hostile nation' - as he threatened to emulate Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and ban foreign investors. In a speech on Tuesday, the Republican presidential hopeful said: 'We don't want to have holdings by hostile nations. If you look at the Chinese Communist Party, they've been very active throughout the Western Hemisphere in gobbling up land and investing in different things.' He also said that it was not in his state's best interests to have 'the Chinese Communist Party owning farmland, owning land close to military bases.' He then asked why Americans would want the Communist Party owning 'residential developments or subdivisions.' In Florida, foreign investors own 5.7 percent of privately owned farmland, according to the US Department of Agriculture. Earlier this month, Trudeau banned foreign investors from buying homes in Canada as a means to cool down its overheated housing market. Most of the country's foreign investors are from China and India. The ban came into effect on January 1. Trudeau implemented the ban after immigrants pushed property prices up 38 percent. Census data released in October revealed immigrants now make up 23 percent of Canada's population, with most coming from Asia. During his speech Tuesday, DeSantis went on to say that, under his governorship, the state Legislature has passed laws forbidding the China-backed Confucius Institutes from funding research at state colleges. The Republican argued that China's funding efforts are part of a plan to 'bring propaganda' to Florida. The governor continued: 'I think we're going to go even further on that. The Legislature only went so far a couple years ago. I think they're going to have an appetite to do more because [China's] influence on our society has been very insidious.' DeSantis accused Chinese investors of hurting Florida's economy and security. He went on: 'When Covid hit, people needed all these supplies; I think like 100 percent of it was made in China. Why would you want to rely on a hostile nation for things that are integral for our quality of life and security?' He described 'disentangling' from China as being 'very, very significant going forward.' DeSantis also took aim at Chinese toys following the holiday season saying: 'Santa Claus may need to not do Chinese toys. Make it here. Make it, honestly, anywhere. But not China.' Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, pictured with President Joe Biden, on Tuesday, has banned Chinese investors from buying property in his country Speaking about the president of the Chinese Communist Party, Xi Jinping, DeSantis said the leader had 'taken a much more Marxist, Leninist turn since hes been ruling China.' He went on: 'Obviously if someone comes in and buys, its not the CCP thats signing this, these are holding companies and all that. But, yes, we do not need to have CCP influence in Floridas economy.' DeSantis talked up his own state saying: 'I think we have the 13th biggest economy in the world. If we were our own country in Florida, you know, were a force to be reckoned with.' The Florida governor shares similar views to countries such as New Zealand and Australia, as well as Canada, which have imposed taxes on foreigner buyers purchasing property. New Zealand, where Chinese investment has been blamed for a huge spike in home property prices, now charges a 15 percent tax to non-resident buyers. The July study found that Chinese nationals were the largest foreign buyer of US homes in dollars between March 2021 and March 2022 During his speech, DeSantis said: 'When Covid hit, people needed all these supplies; I think like 100 percent of it was made in China. Why would you want to rely on a hostile nation for things that are integral for our quality of life and security?' Australia imposes a 12.6 percent tax on any foreign buyer purchasing a home valued higher than $750,000 and has done so since 2017. And in Canada, the government takes 50 percent of any sale as a withholding tax. The US, however, does not impose tax restraints on foreign buyers, according to the Wharton Business Journal of UPenn. Around half of all properties that foreigners buy are used as primary residences, with the remainder used as vacation homes, second homes or a pied-a-terre that the owner will occasionally visit. Data from the National Association of Realtors further showed that 58 per cent of Chinese buyers paid for their American properties entirely with cash. The same survey showed 52 per cent of Chinese people intend to use their US homes as a primary residence - with a further 25 per cent using it as a vacation rental. Meanwhile, the most popular type of properties for Chinese buyers were detached single family homes, with 66 per cent opting for that. Chinese buyers mostly bought primary residences, while eight percent bought it for student use A report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) published in July 2022 found that Florida ranked behind California and New York in terms of popularity among Chinese investors. The 2022 study found that Florida was most popular with Brazilian, Mexican and Colombian investors. Between 2021 and 2022, the state also saw a rising number of Canadian investors. At the time, DeSantis, 43, was quoted as saying Chinese influence was a 'huge problem.' The July study found that Chinese nationals were the largest foreign buyer of US homes in dollars between March 2021 and March 2022. Investors from China bought $6.1billion worth of American land during that period, up 30 percent. Roughly one in ten preferred townhouses, with the same figure favoring condominiums. The land the Fufeng Group purchased is 20 minutes, approximately 16 miles, from the Grand Forks Air Force Base In October, Florida Congressman Brian Mast issued a statement urging the Biden administration to take action against Chinese interests purchasing land close to US military installations. A few months earlier, China-based food producer, Fufeng Group, purchased hundreds of acres of North Dakota farmland mere minutes from a major US Air Force base, prompting national security fears as the communist country adds to its nearly 200,000 acres of US agricultural land worth $1.9billion. The company plans to build a corn-milling plant on its newly acquired 300 acres of land in Grand Forks, just 20 minutes from the Grand Forks Air Force Base, where some of the nation's most sensitive drone technology is based. The purchase raised suspicions from military officers, national security experts and lawmakers alike. Harry then sat down for a wide-ranging interview with Colbert which saw him flitting between hurling barbs at his family and making light-hearted jokes, at one point even discussing his 'frost-nipped' penis It showed him being greeted at the CBS studios by two trumpeters in uniform - before Colbert told him that they were in fact there for Hanks, 66, a fellow guest Harry, 38, opened the show with a skit featuring Tom Hanks , which mocked royal pomp and circumstance Advertisement Prince Harry has sensationally accused the monarchy of trying to 'undermine' his explosive memoir Spare because its controversial contents have 'perhaps made them feel uncomfortable and scared' as he launched another furious attack on the royal family in the latest in a line of TV interviews to promote his book. The 38-year-old held nothing back as he took aim at his family during an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Tuesday, where he lurched between hurling more barbs at his family and making light-hearted jokes including about his 'frost-nipped' genitals while swigging a glass of tequila. Harry also took part in a skit with Tom Hanks and clinked glasses with Colbert as he praised America as a 'great place to live' and said how much he loves 'beautiful California', sparking cheers from the audience. He whipped up the crowd on several occasions, offering them all some tequila and talking about his Army career, asking: 'Are there any veterans in the house?' One of the more serious moments during the lengthy sit-down saw Harry rounding on his relatives over the backlash to his memoir, with Colbert questioning whether he believes the royals have an 'active campaign to undermine this book'. 'Of course,' the duke responded - adding that 'the British Press' has also been complicit in the 'campaign', with Colbert chiming in: 'But aided and abetted by the Palace.' 'Again of course,' Harry confirmed. 'But this is the other side of the story, right? After 38 years, they have told their side of the story. This is the other side of the story.' The father-of-two then suggested that what he perceives as the royals' 'campaign' against his memoir has come as a result of them being 'uncomfortable and scared' over its contents. 'There is a lot in there that, perhaps, makes people feel uncomfortable and scared,' he continued. Prince Harry has sensationally accused the monarchy of trying to 'undermine' his explosive memoir Spare because its controversial contents have 'perhaps made them feel uncomfortable and scared' The 38-year-old's latest attack on his family came during an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Tuesday - the latest in a line of interviews that the duke has done to tout his bombshell book Harry's wide-ranging sit-down with Colbert saw him flitting between slinging barbs at the royals and making light-hearted, cringeworthy jokes - including poking fun at his 'frost-nipped' penis The wide-ranging interview with Colbert saw Harry address a number of topics ranging from the farcical to the furious, with the duke launching several tirades against the British Press - accusing it of 'abusing' his wife Meghan and bizarrely suggesting that it was 'embarrassing' for the media when he chose to quit the Royal Family and relocate to the US. During the interview, Harry also: Furiously slammed accusations that he 'boasted' about killing 25 Taliban fighters, while blaming his critics for 'spinning' his words and putting his 'family in danger'; Revealed he still wears the necklace he says his brother Prince William broke during a fight over Meghan, having had it repaired; Confirmed that he has watched 'old and more recent' episodes of The Crown despite it featuring depictions of Diana's bulimia battle and divorce from Charles; Made a thinly-veiled dig at his father and the royals by saying that the 'Spencer gene is very strong' in reference to his children and their ginger hair; Discussed his 'frost-nipped' penis while laughing at Colbert's jokes about his 'royal jewels'; Shared his fondest memories of the Queen, praising her 'sharp wit' and 'sense of humour'; From the get-go, it was clear that the interview - which comes at the end of a transatlantic PR blitz to tout his memoir - would 'spare' nobody in the monarchy, with the opening seconds of the show featuring a mocking skit that ridiculed royal tradition. The show opened with a clip showing Colbert standing alongside two trumpeters wearing replicas of the uniforms traditionally worn by the State Trumpeters of the Household Cavalry. As Harry strolled down a red carpet they began their fanfare, with the duke putting on a mock display of humility and telling the TV host such pomp 'wasn't necessary'. Then Harry leaned on Colbert's Hollywood pulling power, with actor Tom Hanks joining the prince as the host proclaimed that the trumpets had in fact been intended not for the duke, but for the 66-year-old star all along. Colbert then performed his traditional opening monologue ahead of his lengthy chat with Harry began, but not before the host poured each of them a glass of tequila. Harry sipped on a glass of tequila throughout the interview, having been offered a 'cocktail' by Colbert when he sat down At one point Colbert asked about a section in Harry's memoir in which he accuses his brother, Prince William, of physically attacking him and 'breaking his necklace' - which he revealed he has had repaired and still wears In another sign that Harry has adopted a 'Hollywood' personality, the duke made several attempts at comedy throughout the interview 'I know that you yourself are a very private person for being a public figure,' he said, while brandishing a copy of Harry's book. 'You are revealing a lot of things in here. It must be on a certain level kind of nerve-wracking to be out there publicly, physically representing the book... Would you like a cocktail before we begin?' 'Yes please!' Harry responded as Colbert pulled out a bottle of liquor. In the first of many audience interactions, the duke turned to the group of spectators - which he revealed later included several veterans - to ask whether the late-night host 'ever makes you guys a drink'. In another sign that Harry has adopted a 'Hollywood' personality, the duke made several attempts at comedy during the interview, trading banter with Colbert and - in one of the most cringeworthy moments of the sit-down - gleefully expressing mock regret that his frostbitten penis didn't turn into a rock-solid icicle. While the interview elicited plenty of laughs from the audience, it is sure to have had Palace insiders rolling their eyes and gritting their teeth as the duke laid bare several intimate stories, ranging from the eye-wateringly awkward to the bitterly brutal - with Harry pulling no punches when it came to his observations about his family. For the most part, the sit-down addressed many of the same topics that Harry has covered in his other interviews - which have included on-air chats with ITV's Tom Bradby in the UK and, in the US, with 60 Minutes and Good Morning America, as well as a cover feature and photoshoot for People magazine. Harry traded banter with Colbert and - in one of the most cringeworthy moments of the sit-down - gleefully expressed mock regret that his frostbitten penis didn't turn into a rock-solid icicle Some critics have claimed these more serious interviews failed to properly question or address contradictions in Harry's book, yet the prince chose to wrap up his media blitz with The Late Show, in what appears to be an attempt to tout his memoir in a more light-hearted manner. As he has done in every other interview, Harry addressed his sensational claim that his brother, Prince William, physically attacked him during a fight over Meghan - with Colbert taking particular interest in the necklace that the duke accused his sibling of breaking during the altercation. Harry revealed that he has since had the necklace fixed and pulled it out of his shirt, revealing that it now holds three pendants - two of which were presents from Meghan and are engraved with the heartbeats of their children, Archie and Lilibet, while the other was made for him by a 'friend in Botswana' and features a tiger's eye stone at its center. Prince Harry mocks the monarchy: Duke ridicules royal tradition (with the help of Hollywood star Tom Hanks) as he kicks off The Late Show with skit featuring trumpet fanfare and heralds in uniforms Prince Harry kicked off the latest in a long line of TV interviews by ridiculing royal tradition and mocking the monarchy - with the help of Hollywood A-lister Tom Hanks. The 38-year-old Duke of Sussex poked fun at royal pomp and circumstance during an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to promote his memoir Spare, for which he pre-filmed a skit that showed him being greeted at the CBS studios by two trumpet heralds wearing regal uniforms. In the video, Harry is seen rounding a corner and walking along a red carpet while the trumpeters begin their fanfare, with the duke telling Colbert in a show of mock humility: 'Woah, woah, woah, stop, stop. Stephen, not needed, but thank you, I appreciate it.' 'What are you talking about? This isn't for you!' Colbert, 58, responds, before urging Harry: 'Get out of the way, he's coming!' At that point, Hanks, 66, who was a guest on the late-night show on Monday - when the duke filmed his own interview - comes around the corner, jokingly exclaiming: 'I'm back! Where's my fanfare?' while Harry throws rose petals at him. Prince Harry kicked off the latest in a long line of TV interviews by ridiculing royal tradition and mocking the monarchy - with the help of Hollywood A-lister Tom Hanks The 38-year-old Duke of Sussex poked fun at royal pomp and circumstance during an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert The episode of The Late Show kicked off with a skit featuring Harry and Hanks, 66, being greeted by royal fanfare as they entered the CBS studios The trumpeters featured on The Late Show were sporting uniforms that appeared to be replicas of the official garb worn by the State Trumpeters of the Household Cavalry - who perform the fanfare at official state events, such as Harry's wedding and Prince Philip's funeral. However in place of the royal standard, they had the letters 'L' and 'S' embroidered on their jackets. Harry's pre-taped interview with Colbert has already resulted in several explosive moments which were brought to light courtesy of teaser clips shared on the CBS show's Twitter account. In those trailers, the duke furiously denied that he 'boasted' about killing 25 Taliban fighters, while taking aim at his critics for 'spinning' his words and putting his 'family in danger'. He also confirmed to the TV host that he watches controversial Netflix series The Crown, admitting that he has even seen 'more recent' episodes, which portray dramatized versions of his late mother Diana's battle with bulimia and his parents' bitter divorce. Meanwhile a trailer for the episode saw Colbert ridiculing the Royal Family, comparing the duke to Harry Potter and joking that his book is available as a commemorative plate. 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?' After Colbert tells Harry that the trumpeters were not for him, but rather for Hanks, the duke begins throwing rose petals at the laughing actor After a series of serious TV interviews the prince chose to do The Late Show, in what appears to be an attempt to tout his memoir in a more light-hearted manner The trumpeters featured in the show were wearing replica uniforms of the official garb sported by the State Trumpeters of the Household Cavalry who perform the fanfare at official state events, including Harry's wedding and Prince Philip's funeral. Right, the State Trumpeters during preparations for Harry and Meghan's wedding in 2018 In another teaser 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. And then 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's book also contains anecdotes that appear to poke fun at his family including hanging a trinket likeness of the Queen on a Christmas tree. In Spare, the prince reveals that Meghan gave him an ornament of the Queen that she had bought from a local store in California. Harry writes that it was Grannys face to a T and he hung it on the 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 reveals he still wears 'fixed' necklace William 'broke' during physical row - and shows charms of kids' heartbeats and tiger's eye pendant made by friend in Botswana Harry confirmed that he is still wearing the necklace he accused his brother of ripping from his neck during a physical attack in 2019 - showing the now fixed jewelry to the cameras. In one of the most extraordinary lines in his memoir, Harry writes that his brother branded Meghan 'rude' and 'difficult', resulting in what he says was William attacking him, alleging: '[William] grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and he knocked me to the floor.' Harry said he has now fixed the necklace that he accused his brother William of breaking and revealed that it holds three charms - two that are engraved with Archie and Lilibet's heartbeats and another that was made by a friend in Botswana The story prompted a storm of controversy - one that Colbert brought up during the interview when he asked Prince Harry about 'the physical fight', questioning: 'There is a lot of talk about the physical fight that the two of you had, where he pushed you down in the kitchen and broke the dog bowl, when you fell on it. 'It says he broke your necklace. What necklace was this that he broke?' 'Uh, this one, which is now fixed,' Harry replied, pulling out a black leather cord from his shirt and showing off three silver pendants that dangled from it - two of which are engraved with heartbeats of his two children, Archie and Lilibet, and the third of which he says 'a friend in Botswana made for me and which has got a tiger's eye in the middle'. A tiger's eye is said to bring power, inner strength, healing and courage. Some cultures believe it wards off the evil eye. It is an inexpensive stone, mainly found in South Africa, but with deposits also found in Namibia, Australia, India, and Thailand. Harry has been seen wearing the necklace for many years, giving rise to speculation it was a gift from his ex-girlfriend Chelsy Davy, who he dated from 2004 until 2010. Duke denies he 'boasted' about killing 25 Taliban fighters - and blames critics for 'spinning' his words and putting his 'family in danger' Prince Harry furiously slammed accusations that he 'boasted' about killing 25 Taliban fighters in his memoir - while accusing his critics of 'spinning' his words and spouting 'lies' about the revelation, which he says have put his family 'in danger'. The 38-year-old vehemently defended his decision to share the information, hitting back at accusations that he 'undermined his own security' by writing about his Taliban kills, while blaming his critics for spreading 'dangerous lies' and 'spinning his words'. 'I think one of... the most dangerous lies that they have told is that I somehow boasted about the number of people I have killed in Afghanistan,' he told Colbert. 'I would say that if I heard anybody else, anyone, boasting about that kind of thing, I would be angry. But it's a lie. During the interview Harry furiously slammed down accusations that he 'boasted' about killing 25 Taliban fighters He added: 'My words are not dangerous, but the spin of my words are very dangerous to my family.' He went on to insist that that the reason he chose to write about his kill count was to 'reduce the number of suicides' among military veterans. 'I made a choice to share it because, having spent nearly two decades working with veterans all around the world, I think the most important thing is to be honest and to give space to others to share their experiences without any shame,' he said - while receiving applause from the audience, which included several veterans. 'And my whole goal, my attempt with sharing that detail is to reduce the number of suicides.' Prince Harry laughs as he CONFIRMS he watches The Crown - hinting he's even seen 'more recent' episodes that dramatize Diana's bulimia battle and bitter divorce from Charles Prince Harry confirmed that he watches Netflix's controversial series The Crown - laughing as he revealed that he has watched the 'more recent' episodes that portray allegedly 'sensationalized' accounts of his late mother Diana's bulimia battle and her bitter divorce from Charles. The duke laughed while joking to host Colbert that he 'fact checks' the highly-criticized show. 'Yes I have actually watched The Crown,' Harry - who has a production deal with Netflix that is reported to be worth $100million - told Colbert after the late night host asked if he had seen the series. 'The older stuff and the more recent stuff.' Harry then burst into fits of laughter and mimed taking notes as Colbert questioned whether he 'fact checks' the show - before admitting: 'Yes, I do actually.' He then said that The Crown does not offer an entirely factual version of events - before pointing at his bombshell memoir Spare as an apparent example of accuracy, saying: 'Which is why it's so important that history has it right.' The 38-year-old's admission that he has watched more recent episodes of The Crown suggests he has seen the show's highly-dramatized portrayal of his parents' bitter divorce. Above, actors Dominic West and Elizabeth Debicki depict his parents in the most recent series Despite his jovial response to the question, the duke's admission that he's watched multiple episodes of the show will likely prompt questions about why he and wife Meghan have continued to work with Netflix despite its brutal portrayal of the Royal Family - and Harry's parents in particular. Season five of the series - which is the most recent - drew bitter backlash over its 'malicious' storylines, which included agonizing portrayals of the breakdown of Charles and Diana's marriage, as well as a fictional scene in which the future King is seen plotting to overthrow the Queen. The latest storylines have been widely slammed for their 'malicious' and 'lurid' content with critics branding Harry a 'hypocrite' for refusing to pull the plug on his Netflix deal in response to the streaming giant's portrayal of his family. Mike Cannon-Brookes and Andrew Forrest could not decide on new funding Sun Cable in voluntary administration after billionaire investors failed to agree A $30billion project to capture solar power in the Australian outback and deliver it to Singapore is in jeopardy after a disagreement between its billionaire investors, Mike Cannon-Brookes and Andrew Forrest Sun Cable, the company behind the project's vast Northern Territory solar farm and 4,300km undersea cable system, entered voluntary administration on Wednesday. Construction on the Northern Territory-based operation, touted as the world's biggest green energy project, was due to begin in 2024. It was originally hoped the project could create 2000 jobs, $2billion worth of Australian exports, and supply 15 per cent of Singapore's electricity. The $30billion project to capture solar power in the Australian outback and send it to Singapore is in jeopardy after a disagreement between its billionaire investors, Mike Cannon-Brookes (pictured left, with wife Annie) and Andrew Forrest Construction on the Northern Territory-based operation, touted as the world's biggest green energy project, was due to begin in 2024. Pictured, an artist's impression of the solar farm But Mr Cannon-Brookes and Mr Forrest disagreed on several major issues about the project, known as the Australia-Asia PowerLink, the ABC reported. They argued over the funding and direction of the company, the amounts of money that Sun Cable was spending and its failure to achieve key milestones linked to its venture capital funding agreement. Mr Forrest's privately owned Squadron Energy vetoed $60million worth of fundraising proposed by Mr Cannon-Brookes. His alternative plan would have seen Squadron take over Sun Cable management. The shareholdings of the company's founders could also have been diluted. The plan was rebuffed by shareholders and Mr Cannon-Brookes. The Australia-Asia PowerLink was to include world's longest undersea cable to carry the solar-generated electricity to Singapore, with Indonesia to be added at a later date After Sun Cable failed to meet key milestones, Mr Forrest pitched a new plan that would have seen his company Squadron Energy take over the project's management. Shareholders and Mr Cannon-Brookes rejected it The collapse comes less than a year after the two billionaires invested $210million to bankroll the undersea cable. The project involved building a 20 gigawatt (GW) solar farm on 12,000 hectares on a cattle station near Tennant Creek and capturing 42 gigawatt hours (GWh) of energy storage in the world's biggest battery network. Then the world's longest undersea cable would carry the solar-generated electricity to Singapore, with Indonesia to be added at a later date. The company issued a statement that suggested the project is far from over. It spun the announcement as an opportunity. 'The voluntary administration process will now unlock a path forward for the Company to access additional capital for continued development of its marque project', the statement said. The project's voluntary administrators, FTI Consulting, are likely to seek new investment or could sell the business. 'This project remains well placed for completion,' claimed Sun Cable's founder and CEO David Griffin. It was hoped the massive project, based on a cattle station near Tennant Creek, could create 2000 jobs, $2billion of Australian exports and supply 15 per cent of Singapore's electricity. Pictured, a stock photo of the NT Mr Cannon-Brookes remains chairman of Sun Cable and in the statement he reaffirmed this commitment. 'Sun Cable has achieved so much since it was founded in 2018. I'm confident it will play a huge role in delivering green energy for the world, right here from Australia. 'I fully back this ambition and the team, and look forward to supporting the company's next chapter,' he said. His personal investment company, Grok Ventures, said it has been prepared to make additional investments in Sun Cable. 'In the circumstances, including where all but one shareholder agreed with the companys funding strategy the board was left with no other option, but to enter into voluntary administration,' a statement from Grok said, 9 Newspapers reported. There was no official comment from Mr Forrest or Squadron Energy with the Sun Cable announcement. The project was formally recognized by the Northern Territory Government in 2019. Daily Mail Australia approached Mr Forrest's company Squadron Energy for comment. Golden Globes host Jerrod Carmichael pulled no punches in alienating Tom Cruise from the awards ceremony during Tuesday's ceremony. Prior to introducing two of Cruise's Top Gun: Maverick co-stars, Carmichael, 35, appeared clutching three Golden Globe awards. In 2021, Cruise returned his three awards in protest of the lack of black Golden Globe voters. He said: 'Backstage, I found these three Golden Globe awards that Tom Cruise returned.' The comedian - who began the show by poking fun at the Hollywood Foreign Press's race issues - added: 'Im just the host but I have a pitch. I think maybe we take these three things and exchange them for the safe return of Shelly Miscavige.' Cruise did not attend the ceremony. Shelly, the wife of Scientology leader David Miscavige has not been publicly seen since August 2007. It's not clear if Carmichael was insinuating that Cruise might have some knowledge of Shell's whereabouts. The actor has been a Scientologist for 30 years. Jerrod Carmichael offered to exchange three Golden Globe awards in exchange for Shelly Miscavige Shelly Miscavige, the wife of Scientology leader David Miscavige has not been publicly seen since August 2007 In 2013, Scientology defector Leah Remini filed a missing persons report for Shelly with the Los Angeles Police Department. The department was later satisfied that the mysterious first lady of the religion was fine. At the time, Scientology said in a statement Remini's actions were 'ill-advised, ludicrous self-promotion.' Following Carmichael's joke, Remini retweeted a Twitter thread she wrote in November 2022 in which she alleged that the LAPD was in cahoots with Scientology. Scientology has long claimed that Shelly is not a missing person. DailyMail.com has reached out to the organization for comment on Carmichael's joke. The King of Queens star tweeted: 'WHERE IS SHELLY????' In separate message she said: 'Thank you, Jerrod Carmichael!' Carmichael was introducing Glen Powell and Jay Ellis when he made the gag. The pair were about to hand out the award for Best Supporting Actress in a Television Series and went through with their job like professionals, not acknowledging the slight against their co-star. Carmichael made the joke prior to introducing Cruise's Top Gun: Maverick co-stars, Glen Powell and Jay Ellis David Miscavige served as Cruise's best man during his 2006 wedding to Katie Holmes David Miscavige served as Cruise's best man during his 2006 wedding to Katie Holmes. Cruise's three Golden Globes came for actor in a comedy or musical for Jerry Maguire, supporting actor for Magnolia and actor in a drama for Born on the Fourth of July. SlateCulture's Sam Adams tweeted about the Carmichael joke saying: 'Lol Jerrod making a Shelly Miscavige joke to utter silence before introducing two actors from TOP GUN MAVERICK.' It wasn't the only joke that drew silence from the crowd at the Beverly Hills' Hilton It wasn't the only joke that drew silence from the crowd at the Beverly Hills' Hilton. Carmichael opened the show by saying: 'I am your host Jerrod Carmichael and I'll tell you why I'm here I'm here... because I'm black.' 'I'll tell you what's been going on this show, the awards, did not air last year because the Hollywood foreign press association, which I won't say they were a racist organization. 'But they didn't have a single black member until George Floyd died so do with what information what you will I'll tell you how I got here why am I here on the stage with you guys tonight well, I was at home. 'And I got a phone call from my man Stephen Hill. Stephen Hill is a great producer and he said, "Jerrod, really I'm honored to be making this phone call he said I'm producing the 80th Golden Globes and it would be an honor if you would agree to join as the host. 'I was like, "whoa, like one minute you're making minute tea at home, the next you're invited to be the black face of an embattled white organization". Life really comes at you fast, you know so I said, "Stephen, I'm torn, I'll be honest with you, I'm a little torn because, you know, one, it's a great opportunity, thank you for the call but I'm only being asked to host this, I know, because I'm black." And Stephen said, let me stop you right there, Jerrod. He said you are being asked to host this show because you are talented, you're being asked to host this show because you are charming he said you're being asked to host this show because you are one of the greatest comedians of a generation but Stephen's black, so what does he know? Like, he's only producing this show because -- they're not going to tell him why he's here so I said, Stephen, this is a lot for me, let me call you so I did what I do when I have a moral, racial dilemma. ' I call the home girl Avery who, for the sake of this monologue, represents every black person in America. And I said to Avery, I said, Avery, they asked me to host the Golden Globes. And I said, you know, what should I do? And she said, oh, bookie, I'm so proud of you now remind me which awards show is that again? 'And I told her what the show was, and I told her about how last year didn't air because of the no-black people thing. And she was, like, well how much are they paying you? And I said, well, Avery, it's not about the money honestly, it's about the moral question of - and she said, Jerrod, enough all that, how much are they paying you? And I said $500,000. 'And she said, boy, if you don't put on a good suit and take some white people money... And I kind of forget that, like, where I'm from, like, we all live by a strict take-the-money mentality. 'I bet black informants for the FBI in the '60s, like, their families were still proud of them like they were like did you hear about Clarence's new job they're paying him $8 an hour just to snitch on Dr. King. 'It's a good government job and I called Stephen back, and "I said I'm happy to do this". And I was really proud of that decision. 'I was really proud of that decision, until I got an email from a publicist saying that Helen [Hoehne], the president of the HFPA, wanted to have a one-on-one sit down with me. 'I said, "No thanks, I know when I hear a trap." Then they came back like, "Well, theyre not really asking, theyre insisting that you take the meeting." And Im like, "Or what?! Theyre gonna fire me?!" Then havent had a Black host for 79 years and theyre gonna fire first one? Im unfire-able. 'And it came back again, a third time: "Helen really just wants to educate you on the changes that the organization has made in regards to diversity. And Ill be totally honest with everyone here tonight: I dont really need to hear it. I took this job assuming they hadnt changed at all. 'I heard they got six new black members, congrats for them, whatever, sure. Im here, truly, because I look out into this room and I see a lot of talented people. Prince Harry tried to channel his inner joker after days of 'moaning' by swigging tequila and joking with a studio audience in his latest appearance to promote his controversial memoir. In a far more relaxed sit-down than his discussions with Tom Bradby and Anderson Cooper, the Duke of Sussex received huge cheers as he appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert overnight. As hardback copies of his autobiography, Spare, finally hit store shelves yesterday, Harry came under fire from some readers for 'moaning' in his recent publicity blitz as well as in the book itself. But the tone of his latest interview appeared to be much lighter, with the duke making the host laugh at the start of the show by labelling the extra chair next to him in the studio as 'the spare'. Prince Harry tried to channel his inner joker after days of 'moaning' by swigging tequila and joking with a studio audience in his latest appearance to promote his controversial memoir In a far more relaxed sit-down than his discussions with Tom Bradby and Anderson Cooper, the Duke of Sussex received huge cheers as he appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert overnight Colbert then asks him about the 'lot of different names' he is referred to in the book - including his birth name Henry, Harold, as he is sometimes referred to by King Charles and Prince William, H and Haz, which the hosts jokes: 'Is that short for hazardous?' The duke replies: 'My wife calls me Haz, so you can't call me Haz,' before reeling off his full list of nicknames: 'Harry, Haz, Baz, Bazza, Spike, Bazzarooney, it's all there.' After introducing the book, Colbert then offers Harry a cocktail, telling him: 'I hear you like tequila.' As the audience cheers and applauds, Harry turns and points to them and asks: 'Does he ever make you guys a drink or not? Everyone wants a drink, everybody wants a drink.' The presenter replies: 'They're already on your side, man, you don't have to get them drunk.' On several occasions throughout the 40-minute broadcast, the pair are seen 'clinking' their glasses together, to more cheers from the audience. As the prince reflects on his decision to leave the UK for California with wife Meghan, Colbert asks him: 'Do you think the intent was to make her leave or to break her spirit so she would be easier to control?' As the crowd falls quiet, Harry looks at them and chuckles before replying: 'This is a little bit like group therapy. You didn't know, did you? You're sitting there going 'I've got dinner reservations, what is this'?' The duke and the host then hold hands across the table and look into each other's eyes as the audience laughs and applauds. As the crowd falls quiet, Harry looks at them and chuckles before replying: 'This is a little bit like group therapy. You didn't know, did you? You're sitting there going 'I've got dinner reservations, what is this'?' The duke and the host then hold hands across the table and look into each other's eyes as the audience laughs and applauds The duke made the host laugh at the start of the show by labelling the extra chair next to him in the studio as 'the spare' Later, when audible sympathy is heard from someone across the studio, Harry interrupts and says: 'I heard someone go 'aww'... Whoever that was, thank you, I will give you a hug later,' before turning to the audience and joking: 'Stop doing that.' Harry was then quizzed by Colbert about his trip to the North Pole where his penis was frost-nipped. The host says: 'You write a lot about your brother. You write about him with love. You call him Willy. But there is a different Willy that also gave you some pain and trouble...frostnip on a delicate part of your anatomy.' Harry replies, referring to the audience: 'Now they're interested,' to which Colbert asks: 'Can you explain how it is that the Royal Standard got frost-nipped?' The duke asks the CBS host 'can I have a drink?' before adding: 'How long have you been waiting to ask that question?'. He then added: 'We've taken quite a leap from grief and trauma to my todger.' Harry then appeared to use an expletive which was bleeped out by the show when describing a piece of equipment he did not have on his expedition to the North Pole. The broadcaster insists that the show is a 'robust' investigation into Begum The 23-year-old tells a journalist about her life in a refugee camp in Syria The BBC released a 10-part podcast about Shamima Begum and her life in ISIS The BBC was criticised today for 'giving terrorists a platform' after Shamima Begum landed a 10-part podcast to 'retrace her journey'. Poll Should Begum be allowed back to the UK? Yes No Should Begum be allowed back to the UK? Yes 167 votes No 1843 votes Now share your opinion The 23-year-old, who packed mint chocolate for the trip to Syria to join the brutal death cult, says 'I'm just so much more than ISIS'. Critics accused the BBC of 'wasting licence fee payers' money' and said the families of ISIS victims would be 'mortified'. Wasiq Wasiq, a fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, tweeted: 'While the victims of grooming gangs are still trying to be heard and get justice, Shamima Begum manages to land 10-part podcast on the BBC.' The BBC said the podcast would provide Ms Begum's 'full account' of 'what really happened' when she disappeared from London in 2015 to become a jihadi bride. But it insisted her story would not be 'unchallenged', describing the podcast as a 'robust, public interest investigation'. The BBC has released a 10-part podcast about Shamima Begum in which she tells the story of how she joined ISIS In 2015, Begum (centre), then 15, and her school friends Kadiza Sultana (left), also 15, and Amira Abase (right), 16, fled their east London homes to join IS. Her two companions are believed to have died there In 2015, a 15-year-old Begum and her school friends Kadiza Sultana, also 15, and Amira Abase, 16, fled their east London homes to join IS. Begum, now 23, was found in a refugee camp in 2019 and soon after the UK withdrew her citizenship and banned her from entering Britain. Poll Should the UK take Begum back? Yes No Should the UK take Begum back? Yes 873 votes No 13413 votes Now share your opinion She now lives at the al-Roj camp in northern Syria, run by the Syrian Democratic Forces, which she described as 'worse than a prison'. The BBC Sounds podcast follows an investigative journalist who has been talking to Begum for a year and it gives 'her full account of what really happened after she disappeared'. In the first episode, journalist Josh Baker meets Begum in the Syrian detention camp to discover how she joined ISIS and eventually ended up stranded. She told him being stuck in a camp 'is, I feel, worse than a prison I think because at least with prison sentences you know that there will be an end but here you don't know if there's going to be an end.' Begum told the BBC she accepts she joined a terror group, but on the topic of public anger aimed at her says: 'I don't think it's actually towards me. I think it's towards ISIS. 'When they think of ISIS they think of me because I've been put on the media so much but what was there to obsess over? 'We went to ISIS, that was it. It was over, it was over and done with.' In the podcast the 23-year-old claims that the refugee camp in Syria where she lives is 'worse than a prison' Critics accused the BBC of 'wasting fee payers' money' and said the families of ISIS victims would be 'mortified'. Pictured are some of the critical tweets Begum also details her journey to Syria, and how she was given detailed instructions by IS members. Poll Should the BBC have given her a platform? Yes No Should the BBC have given her a platform? Yes 337 votes No 5356 votes Now share your opinion But she also researched information herself including looking for IS members online to help her and her friends plan their journey. The podcast reveals Begum and her friends hid their luggage in advance and game-planned for scenarios such as being quizzed or caught out. She said: 'There were people online... advising us on what to do and what not to do. 'Just like how to get the money to buy the tickets, where to buy the tickets, which airport to go to, what to bring, what to wear, when you're going to the airport, who to talk to, who not to talk to, what excuse to make if you do get caught.' When asked how she decided what items to take, Begum says: 'It's the same as when you go on vacation, you're just [thinking] what do I need for a vacation, it's pretty basic items.' 'I don't know, people used to say... pack nice clothes so you can dress nicely for your husband.' The BBC said the podcast is not an opportunity for Begum to tell her story unchallenged but is a 'robust public interest investigation' She also packed items she knew she wouldn't find in Syria, including mint chocolate: 'I took candy. I just like bought candies that I knew I wouldn't find in Syria. Mint Aero, mint chocolate, like a lot. You can find a lot of things in this country but you cannot find mint chocolate. It's a tragedy.' Asked about how she felt about potentially never returning to the UK, she says: 'Really at that time, I just was not thinking, my mind was like completely blank but I guess yes I thought this is the last time I'm going to see the UK. I mean in a way I felt kind of relieved.' Begum also says: 'I've always been a more secluded person. That's why it's so hard the way my life has turned out being all over the media because I'm not a person that likes a lot of attention.' 'My family thought I was too weak to do something so crazy so they did not think in a million years I could do that because of who I am, because of my personality.' Josh Baker says: 'There are different ways to tell the Shamima Begum story. There's the one about a 15-year-old schoolgirl who was groomed and lured to a war zone by ISIS and now needs saving from a Syrian detention camp. 'And there's the one about a traitor, who fled Britain to join ISIS and became known the world over as a terrorist and must be stopped from coming back to Britain. 'As Shamima challenges the removal of her British citizenship by the UK government, I've examined her accounts to give listeners a definitive narrative on this complex, nuanced and shocking story.' The series says it is aiming to 'separate fact from fiction' as it tries to answer the question 'who is Shamima Begum?' The podcast will also explore how she got to Syria and what did she did when she arrived. The broadcaster also states that the podcast is not an opportunity for Begum to tell her story unchallenged, but is a 'robust public interest investigation'. A knifeman has attacked and wounded six passengers at the Gare du Nord station in Paris. The 'indiscriminate' frenzy, which was carried out with a homemade blade, started at 6.40am local time inside Europe's busiest railway station. An off-duty police officer who was returning home at the end of his shift shot the attacker and 'neutralised' him. The suspect was taken to hospital in a critical condition after being shot three times, while six people are believed to have been injured in the rampage, including a border police officer. A knifeman has attacked and wounded several passengers at the Gare du Nord station in Paris. Pictured: police at the scene One of those injured is 'more serious' than the others but is not 'in absolute emergency', officials said. The attacker had no identity documents on him at the time and his motive has not been established. The weapon is believed to be a kind of awl, altered with duct tape. Jaffar, who was passing through the transport hub at the time, told Le Parisien: 'It was 6.45am. I had just crossed the hall and was heading for my train to Calais. It happened behind me. I didn't immediately pay attention to the cries, it was quite confusing. 'Controllers shouted at travellers to get on the trains and then the police intervened and fired several times.' Minister of the Interior, Gerald Darmanin, said this morning: 'An individual has injured several people this morning in Gare du Nord. French police secure the area after a man with a knife wounded several people at the Gare du Nord train station in Paris 'He was quickly neutralised. Thanks to security forces for their effective and courageous reaction.' The incident has cased major delays to trains at the station in the early morning rush, according to the live departure board of operator SNCF. Rail network TER Hauts-de-France said in a statement: 'Traffic is disrupted on departure and arrival from Paris Nord. 'The police have opened fire against a threatening person who is said to have injured customers in Gare du Nord. 'The person was brought under control, the emergency services intervened and the person evacuated. 'A security perimeter has been established but the station continues to operate normally.' France remains on a state of heightened security alert after a spate of deadly attacks since 2015. The contradiction raises questions over whether Putin still controls Prigozhin The boss of the feared Russian Wagner mercenary group has gloated to Ukraine by posing in a salt mine in a key battleground. Yevgeny Prigozhin stood defiantly alongside Vladimir Putin's private paramilitary fighters in the Soledar pit as he claimed his mercenaries have single-handedly taken control of the eastern Ukraine town, which has been razed by brutal fighting. However, the claim prompted the Russian army to issue a statement saying fighting for the town is still on-going, thus denying Prigozhin's brazen claim. The unusual contradiction from Moscow raises questions over whether the Russian president has lost control of the Wagner warlord and his men, amid suggestions that Kremlin officials are growing dissatisfied with Putin's leadership. The boss of the feared Wagner mercenary group has gloated to Ukraine by posing in a captured salt mine a the centre of a key battleground in the country (pictured) Yevgeny Prigozhin stood defiantly alongside Putin's private paramilitary fighters in the Soledar pit, claiming to have captured the town. This was quickly denied by Russia's military, which said fighting was still on-going against Ukrainian forces Kyiv said its forces are still holding out while Russia said 'urban battles' are still being fought in the town whose capture would represent a major victory for Moscow after a series of humiliating setbacks in recent months. 'Assault squads are fighting in the city,' the Russian army said in a statement. It added that its forces 'blocked Soledar from the northern and southern areas of the city' and that its air force was striking 'enemy strongholds.' Found in the Donetsk region, Soledar lies nine miles from the city of Bakhmut, which Russia has been trying to seize for months, and its capture is reported to have been made a key objective for the Kremlin. But analysts have questioned the tactical advantage of taking the town, with Russia's efforts to seize the city - at any cost necessary - confounding many. Thousands of Russian soldiers have been sent to their deaths in the attempt. At the end of last year, the Washington Post reported that members of Putin's inner circle have become disgruntled, feeling that the Russian despot is unsure what his next steps are in Ukraine as his troops fail to make any significant ground. Should Putin ever be deposed as leader, a huge power vacuum would be left. Speculation about the growing dissatisfaction around him, as well as his 'ailing health', has also added to speculation about who would replace him. Bakhmut has a network of cavernous mining tunnels below the ground which can hold troops or tanks, but it is also home to a series of salt mines. Some analysts have suggested Prigozhin is hell-bent on taking the town in order to capture its salt mines. Whether he intends to use the mines for his own personal gain, while using his battlefield exploits as a means to demonstrate his leadership credentials to fill any potential power vacuum, remains to be seen. Some analysts have suggested that Wagner warlord Prigozhin (right) is hell-bent on taking the town in order to capture its salt mines as a resource Pictured: Yevgeny Prigozhin (right) pictured with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Prigozhin has been dubbed Putin's chef for providing catering services to the Kremlin Putin has a 'squadron of liquidators' who publicly execute deserters: Click here to read more A view shows military uniform amid debris of a destroyed building purported to be a vocational college used as temporary accommodation for Russian soldiers Advertisement This feeling of growing dissatisfaction in Putin's leadership will likely have been compounded this week with the appointment of Colonel-General Alexander Lapin as chief of staff of the country's ground forces. Lapin, previously commander of Russia's central military district, was blasted last October by hawkish allies of Putin after Russian forces were driven out of the city of Lyman in eastern Ukraine, a key logistics hub. Prigozhin was among those to publicly criticise Lapin at the time, agreeing with Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov when he said: 'All these b**tards should be sent barefoot to the front with automatic guns,' in reference to the commander. Oligarch Prigozhin, dubbed Putin's chef for providing catering services to the Kremlin alongside heading up the notorious private army, said: 'This was all done by PMC Wagner with no other help.' It comes amid a power struggle between the Wagner Group, who have been accused of a litany of war crimes across global battlefields at arm's length from the Kremlin, and the Russian military. He said: 'Wagner units took control of the entire territory of Soledar. A cauldron has been formed in the centre of the city in which urban fighting is going on. 'The number of prisoners will be announced tomorrow.' 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 The British Defence Ministry earlier said Russian troops and Wagner fighters had probably taken control of most of Soledar after four days of advances. But Prigozhin's comment that fighting continued in Soledar's centre suggested Russian control was incomplete, despite his statement that all of the town was in Wagner's grasp. The Russian state RIA news agency later issued a report saying that Wagner Group took over Soledar's 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 area's mines. In his address, Volodymyr Zelensky said there was a 'difficult situation' in the Donetsk region and praised the 'bravery' of Ukrainian soldiers defending Soledar. Earlier this week he said Soledar had been flattened by fighting: 'Everything is completely destroyed.' He said no walls were left standing and the dead bodies of the invading Russian soldiers decaying on the streets. 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 Zelensky repeated his call for more Western weapons, saying Russia was gathering its forces to intensify its campaign. He did not provide details. But Ukraine's Defence Ministry tweeted late on Tuesday, '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 onto positions in Soledar, withstanding assaults by wave after wave of Russian forces seeking their first battlefield victory for months. Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar on Tuesday evening said 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.' Firefighters work to put out a blaze at a fireworks storage facility after it was struck by a Russian missile in Kharkiv yesterday An apartment block destroyed by a Russian missile strike is seen, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in the frontline town of Bakhmut Earlier, some prominent Russian military bloggers urged caution about the situation in Soledar and said that intense combat in the town's centre and its outskirts continued during the night. Ukraine's military said its forces had repelled enemy attacks in the areas of 13 settlements in Luhansk, Kharkiv and Donetsk regions, including Bakhmut. Seizing Soledar would be Russia's most substantial gain since August, after a series of humiliating retreats throughout much of the second half of 2022. Russian forces have been fighting for months to capture Bakhmut. 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. The Kyiv government 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 the Donetsk region, one of four provinces it claimed to have annexed three months ago. Local residents remove debris and carry belongings out of a shop destroyed in recent shelling in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in Donetsk Near Bakhmut, a team of Ukrainian soldiers fired 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 one 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. Hours after German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock visited the northeastern city of Kharkiv, Russian strikes late on Tuesday hit a fireworks factory, the regional governor said, adding that no one was hurt. The potential fall of Soledar came as Russian strikes hit the major city of Kharkiv further north, just hours after a surprise visit by Germany's foreign minister Annalena Baerbock. Kharkiv has faced heavy bombardment during the war, but the frontline has moved east since a Ukrainian counter-offensive last year retook territory from Russian forces. Interview with Colbert saw him flitting between hurling barbs at his family and cracking jokes He was then cheered on to stage with chants of 'Harry, Harry, Harry' for chat he branded 'group therapy' Advertisement Britons today told America they can 'keep' Prince Harry and again urged him to give up his royal titles after he toasted the US as a 'great place to live' with tequila shots in an extraordinary interview with Stephen Colbert. The Duke of Sussex launched a charm offensive as the US public and its liberal media also tired of his complaints about his gilded life in his new book Spare and the resulting transatlantic PR blitz. Harry told The Late Show that he and Meghan were 'forced' to flee 'our home country' of Britain for 'beautiful California' because of 'abuse and harassment'. He then said: 'We have created a fantastic life here in California, which by the way is beautiful, and America is a great place to live,' before clinking glasses with Colbert to wild cheers. He later joked: 'It feels a little bit like group therapy,' before doing some meditation with the chat show host. His fulsome praise for his new life after Megxit came after the exiled royal said that he and Meghan will never move back to the UK and become working members of the Royal Family again. Viewers on both sides of the Atlantic have reacted to his declaration. One British viewer said: 'Please America keep Harry, we don't want him back. Thank you'. Another tweeted: 'Well if Americans love Harry so much you can keep him. If hes so against the institution give his titles back'. A final critic said: 'Please keep him. He is not welcome in the UK'. Prince Harry with host Stephen Colbert during an interview on The Late Show where he lavished praise on the US Brits watching the interview have reacted by urging America to 'keep' Harry there There were Americans who welcomed him. One wrote: 'The shoutout to America... we love having you, sir. You are welcome. Another said simply: 'He's our prince now'. The Duke of Sussex's tour to promote his memoir Spare rolled on with an informal interview where he lurched between describing the Queen 's death and the fractured relationship with his brother to anecdotes about his frostbitten 'todger' and a 'custom c**k cushion' to protect it. He then said: 'We have created a fantastic life here in California, which by the way is beautiful, and America is a great place to live,' before clinking glasses with Colbert to wild cheers. He later joked: 'It feels a little bit like group therapy,' before doing some meditation with the chat show host. The royal arrived on stage to chants of 'Harry, Harry, Harry' before he whipped up the crowd again, offering them tequila after admitting: 'I need a drink.' There was more whooping when he denied he boasted about killing 25 Taliban fighters in Afghanistan and broke off to ask the audience: 'Are there any veterans in the house?' He also asked the audience if they were 'surprised' by his rift with his brother, to yells of 'yes'. There were many other bizarre and contradictory moments where he claimed not to fully understand the 'fascination' with his family before later hinting that he is among the millions to have watched The Crown from start to finish, including episodes charting his mother's battles with bulimia and his parents' painful divorce. Dailymail.com revealed last night there was also a row when Americans queued up to join the CBS talk show's audience only to be told by Colbert that Harry was filmed a day early for 'security reasons'. Furious fans who braved the New York cold slammed the prince for failing to appear in front of them, sparking theories on social media that the audience may have been handpicked to be supportive, including veterans to cheer him on. Experts have said the US public and its liberal media is tiring of Prince Harrys complaints about his gilded life. But Americans hit back and said: 'We love you too!' The Duke of Sussex laughed as he played to the audience on a number of occasions, including offering them all a drink The Duke of Sussex arrived on stage to chants of 'Harry, Harry, Harry' and involved the audience in his jokes Harry took part in a skit with Tom Hanks where a fanfare he appears to think is for him is actually for Hanks One irate person was heard loudly saying 'f*** Prince Harry' as they left the show without seeing him, with others questioning why the filming had ended so early. Others said it 'wasn't worth waiting an hour in the cold for', with one woman saying: 'Who needs Prince Harry anyway?' In his fourth major TV interview to promote Spare, Harry: The 38-year-old held nothing back as he took aim at his family during the interview, where he lurched between hurling barbs at his family and making light-hearted jokes including about his 'frost-nipped' genitals while swigging a glass of tequila. Harry also took part in a skit with Tom Hanks and clinked glasses with Colbert as he praised America as a 'great place to live' and said how much he loves 'beautiful California', sparking cheers from the audience. One of the more serious moments during the lengthy sit-down saw Harry rounding on his relatives over the backlash to his memoir, with Colbert questioning whether he believes the royals have an 'active campaign to undermine this book'. 'Of course,' the duke responded - adding that 'the British Press' has also been complicit in the 'campaign', with Colbert chiming in: 'But aided and abetted by the Palace.' 'Again of course,' Harry confirmed. 'But this is the other side of the story, right? After 38 years, they have told their side of the story. This is the other side of the story.' The father-of-two then suggested that what he perceives as the royals' 'campaign' against his memoir has come as a result of them being 'uncomfortable and scared' over its contents. 'There is a lot in there that, perhaps, makes people feel uncomfortable and scared,' he continued. At one point Colbert asked about a section in Harry's memoir in which he accuses his brother, Prince William, of physically attacking him and 'breaking his necklace' - which he revealed he has had repaired and still wears Prince Harry has sensationally accused the monarchy of trying to 'undermine' his memoir because its controversial contents have 'perhaps made them feel uncomfortable and scared' The 38-year-old's latest attack on his family came during an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Tuesday - the most recent in a line of interviews that the Duke has done to tout his bombshell book Harry's wide-ranging sit-down with Colbert saw him flitting between slinging barbs at the royals and making light-hearted, cringeworthy jokes - including poking fun at his 'frost-nipped' penis The wide-ranging interview with Colbert saw Harry address a number of topics ranging from the farcical to the furious, with the duke launching several tirades against the British Press - accusing it of 'abusing' his wife Meghan and bizarrely suggesting that it was 'embarrassing' for the media when he chose to quit the Royal Family and relocate to the US. From the get-go, it was clear that the interview - which comes at the end of a transatlantic PR blitz to tout his memoir - would 'spare' nobody in the monarchy, with the opening seconds of the show featuring a mocking skit that ridiculed royal tradition. The show opened with a clip showing Colbert standing alongside two trumpeters wearing replicas of the uniforms traditionally worn by the State Trumpeters of the Household Cavalry. As Harry strolled down a red carpet they began their fanfare, with the duke putting on a mock display of humility and telling the TV host such pomp 'wasn't necessary'. Then Harry leaned on Colbert's Hollywood pulling power, with actor Tom Hanks joining the prince as the host proclaimed that the trumpets had in fact been intended not for the duke, but for the 66-year-old star all along. Colbert then performed his traditional opening monologue ahead of his lengthy chat with Harry began, but not before the host poured each of them a glass of tequila. Harry sipped on a glass of tequila during the interview, having been offered a 'cocktail' by Colbert when he sat down In another sign that Harry has adopted a 'Hollywood' personality, the duke made several attempts at comedy throughout the interview 'I know that you yourself are a very private person for being a public figure,' he said, while brandishing a copy of Harry's book. 'You are revealing a lot of things in here. It must be on a certain level kind of nerve-wracking to be out there publicly, physically representing the book... Would you like a cocktail before we begin?' 'Yes please!' Harry responded as Colbert pulled out a bottle of liquor. In the first of many audience interactions, the duke turned to the group of spectators - which he revealed later included several veterans - to ask whether the late-night host 'ever makes you guys a drink'. In another sign that Harry has adopted a 'Hollywood' personality, the duke made several attempts at comedy during the interview, trading banter with Colbert and - in one of the most cringeworthy moments of the sit-down - gleefully expressing mock regret that his frostbitten penis didn't turn into a rock-solid icicle. While the interview elicited plenty of laughs from the audience, it is sure to have had Palace insiders rolling their eyes and gritting their teeth as the duke laid bare several intimate stories, ranging from the eye-wateringly awkward to the bitterly brutal - with Harry pulling no punches when it came to his observations about his family. For the most part, the sit-down addressed many of the same topics that Harry has covered in his other interviews - which have included on-air chats with ITV's Tom Bradby in the UK and, in the US, with 60 Minutes and Good Morning America, as well as a cover feature and photoshoot for People magazine. Harry traded banter with Colbert and, in one of the most cringeworthy moments, gleefully expressed mock regret that his frostbitten penis didn't turn into a rock-solid icicle Some critics have claimed these more serious interviews failed to properly question or address contradictions in Harry's book, yet the prince chose to wrap up his media blitz with The Late Show, in what appears to be an attempt to tout his memoir in a more light-hearted manner. As he has done in every other interview, Harry addressed his sensational claim that his brother, Prince William, physically attacked him during a fight over Meghan - with Colbert taking particular interest in the necklace that the duke accused his sibling of breaking during the altercation. Harry revealed that he has since had the necklace fixed and pulled it out of his shirt, revealing that it now holds three pendants - two of which were presents from Meghan and are engraved with the heartbeats of their children, Archie and Lilibet, while the other was made for him by a 'friend in Botswana' and features a tiger's eye stone at its center. Prince Harry mocks the monarchy: Duke ridicules royal tradition (with the help of Hollywood star Tom Hanks) as he kicks off The Late Show with skit featuring trumpet fanfare and heralds in uniforms Prince Harry kicked off the latest in a long line of TV interviews by ridiculing royal tradition and mocking the monarchy - with the help of Hollywood A-lister Tom Hanks. The 38-year-old Duke of Sussex poked fun at royal pomp and circumstance during an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to promote his memoir Spare, for which he pre-filmed a skit that showed him being greeted at the CBS studios by two trumpet heralds wearing regal uniforms. In the video, Harry is seen rounding a corner and walking along a red carpet while the trumpeters begin their fanfare, with the duke telling Colbert in a show of mock humility: 'Woah, woah, woah, stop, stop. Stephen, not needed, but thank you, I appreciate it.' 'What are you talking about? This isn't for you!' Colbert, 58, responds, before urging Harry: 'Get out of the way, he's coming!' At that point, Hanks, 66, who was a guest on the late-night show on Monday - when the duke filmed his own interview - comes around the corner, jokingly exclaiming: 'I'm back! Where's my fanfare?' while Harry throws rose petals at him. Prince Harry kicked off the latest in a long line of TV interviews by ridiculing royal tradition and mocking the monarchy - with the help of Hollywood A-lister Tom Hanks The 38-year-old Duke of Sussex poked fun at royal pomp and circumstance during an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert The episode of The Late Show kicked off with a skit featuring Harry and Hanks, 66, being greeted by royal fanfare as they entered the CBS studios The trumpeters featured on The Late Show were sporting uniforms that appeared to be replicas of the official garb worn by the State Trumpeters of the Household Cavalry - who perform the fanfare at official state events, such as Harry's wedding and Prince Philip's funeral. However in place of the royal standard, they had the letters 'L' and 'S' embroidered on their jackets. Harry's pre-taped interview with Colbert has already resulted in several explosive moments which were brought to light courtesy of teaser clips shared on the CBS show's Twitter account. In those trailers, the duke furiously denied that he 'boasted' about killing 25 Taliban fighters, while taking aim at his critics for 'spinning' his words and putting his 'family in danger'. He also confirmed to the TV host that he watches controversial Netflix series The Crown, admitting that he has even seen 'more recent' episodes, which portray dramatized versions of his late mother Diana's battle with bulimia and his parents' bitter divorce. Meanwhile a trailer for the episode saw Colbert ridiculing the Royal Family, comparing the duke to Harry Potter and joking that his book is available as a commemorative plate. 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?' After Colbert tells Harry that the trumpeters were not for him, but rather for Hanks, the duke begins throwing rose petals at the laughing actor After a series of serious TV interviews the prince chose to do The Late Show, in what appears to be an attempt to tout his memoir in a more light-hearted manner The trumpeters featured in the show were wearing replica uniforms of the official garb sported by the State Trumpeters of the Household Cavalry who perform the fanfare at official state events, including Harry's wedding and Prince Philip's funeral. Right, the State Trumpeters during preparations for Harry and Meghan's wedding in 2018 In another teaser 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. And then 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's book also contains anecdotes that appear to poke fun at his family including hanging a trinket likeness of the Queen on a Christmas tree. In Spare, the prince reveals that Meghan gave him an ornament of the Queen that she had bought from a local store in California. Harry writes that it was Grannys face to a T and he hung it on the 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 reveals he still wears 'fixed' necklace William 'broke' during physical row - and shows charms of kids' heartbeats and tiger's eye pendant made by friend in Botswana Harry confirmed that he is still wearing the necklace he accused his brother of ripping from his neck during a physical attack in 2019 - showing the now fixed jewelry to the cameras. In one of the most extraordinary lines in his memoir, Harry writes that his brother branded Meghan 'rude' and 'difficult', resulting in what he says was William attacking him, alleging: '[William] grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and he knocked me to the floor.' Harry said he has now fixed the necklace that he accused his brother William of breaking and revealed that it holds three charms - two that are engraved with Archie and Lilibet's heartbeats and another that was made by a friend in Botswana The story prompted a storm of controversy - one that Colbert brought up during the interview when he asked Prince Harry about 'the physical fight', questioning: 'There is a lot of talk about the physical fight that the two of you had, where he pushed you down in the kitchen and broke the dog bowl, when you fell on it. 'It says he broke your necklace. What necklace was this that he broke?' 'Uh, this one, which is now fixed,' Harry replied, pulling out a black leather cord from his shirt and showing off three silver pendants that dangled from it - two of which are engraved with heartbeats of his two children, Archie and Lilibet, and the third of which he says 'a friend in Botswana made for me and which has got a tiger's eye in the middle'. A tiger's eye is said to bring power, inner strength, healing and courage. Some cultures believe it wards off the evil eye. It is an inexpensive stone, mainly found in South Africa, but with deposits also found in Namibia, Australia, India, and Thailand. Harry has been seen wearing the necklace for many years, giving rise to speculation it was a gift from his ex-girlfriend Chelsy Davy, who he dated from 2004 until 2010. Duke denies he 'boasted' about killing 25 Taliban fighters - and blames critics for 'spinning' his words and putting his 'family in danger' Prince Harry furiously slammed accusations that he 'boasted' about killing 25 Taliban fighters in his memoir - while accusing his critics of 'spinning' his words and spouting 'lies' about the revelation, which he says have put his family 'in danger'. The 38-year-old vehemently defended his decision to share the information, hitting back at accusations that he 'undermined his own security' by writing about his Taliban kills, while blaming his critics for spreading 'dangerous lies' and 'spinning his words'. 'I think one of... the most dangerous lies that they have told is that I somehow boasted about the number of people I have killed in Afghanistan,' he told Colbert. 'I would say that if I heard anybody else, anyone, boasting about that kind of thing, I would be angry. But it's a lie. During the interview Harry furiously slammed down accusations that he 'boasted' about killing 25 Taliban fighters He added: 'My words are not dangerous, but the spin of my words are very dangerous to my family.' He went on to insist that that the reason he chose to write about his kill count was to 'reduce the number of suicides' among military veterans. 'I made a choice to share it because, having spent nearly two decades working with veterans all around the world, I think the most important thing is to be honest and to give space to others to share their experiences without any shame,' he said - while receiving applause from the audience, which included several veterans. 'And my whole goal, my attempt with sharing that detail is to reduce the number of suicides.' Prince Harry laughs as he CONFIRMS he watches The Crown - hinting he's even seen 'more recent' episodes that dramatize Diana's bulimia battle and bitter divorce from Charles Prince Harry confirmed that he watches Netflix's controversial series The Crown - laughing as he revealed that he has watched the 'more recent' episodes that portray allegedly 'sensationalized' accounts of his late mother Diana's bulimia battle and her bitter divorce from Charles. The duke laughed while joking to host Colbert that he 'fact checks' the highly-criticized show. 'Yes I have actually watched The Crown,' Harry - who has a production deal with Netflix that is reported to be worth $100million - told Colbert after the late night host asked if he had seen the series. 'The older stuff and the more recent stuff.' Harry then burst into fits of laughter and mimed taking notes as Colbert questioned whether he 'fact checks' the show - before admitting: 'Yes, I do actually.' He then said that The Crown does not offer an entirely factual version of events - before pointing at his bombshell memoir Spare as an apparent example of accuracy, saying: 'Which is why it's so important that history has it right.' The 38-year-old's admission that he has watched more recent episodes of The Crown suggests he has seen the show's highly-dramatized portrayal of his parents' bitter divorce. Above, actors Dominic West and Elizabeth Debicki depict his parents in the most recent series Despite his jovial response to the question, the duke's admission that he's watched multiple episodes of the show will likely prompt questions about why he and wife Meghan have continued to work with Netflix despite its brutal portrayal of the Royal Family - and Harry's parents in particular. Season five of the series - which is the most recent - drew bitter backlash over its 'malicious' storylines, which included agonizing portrayals of the breakdown of Charles and Diana's marriage, as well as a fictional scene in which the future King is seen plotting to overthrow the Queen. The latest storylines have been widely slammed for their 'malicious' and 'lurid' content with critics branding Harry a 'hypocrite' for refusing to pull the plug on his Netflix deal in response to the streaming giant's portrayal of his family. Woolworths sells about 1920 tonnes of mud cake annually, around three A380's Shoppers are urged to be quick to try the new flavour as it won't be here for long Limited edition Mint, Cookies and Cream mud cakes will hit shelves this week Australian shoppers are licking their lips after supermarket giant Woolworths confirmed a new flavour of their famous mud cake. Woolworths confirmed the new Mint, Cookies and Cream flavour will be hitting shelves this week for $6.50, stirring up a frenzy of excitement and skepticism. Woolworths described it as being a 'cookies and mint white choc mud cake covered in mint whit choc ganache, dark cookie pieces and mint choc drizzle'. Woolworths confirmed the new Mint, Cookies and Cream flavour will be hitting shelves this week for $5.75 Australia's largest supermarket said customers will have rush as the special limited edition flavour won't be around for long. 'Customers need to be quick to try our latest minty fresh mud cake flavour hitting the shelves this week for a limited time only,' a Woolworths spokesperson said. A video posted to TikTok by user, TheMacroFoodBlogger, hyped up the release of the new mudcake, with users swarming to the post to have their say. 'OMFG get out of the way,' one excited commenter wrote. 'It is SO F***** GOOD,' another user wrote who'd already gotten then hands on one. 'It's better than the choc mud!' They claimed. However some users were skeptical about the inclusion of mint flavouring to the Australian classic. 'Mmm, cake that tastes like toothpaste,' one wrote. Another wrote, 'ruined by the mint flavour'. In May 2022, Woolworths released a limited edition Rocky Road mudcake flavour for to massive fanfare, following on from launch of flavours such as Caramelised White Choc, Mint Chocolate and Chocolate Orange. Woolworths sell around 1920 tonnes of mud cakes every year, the original chocolate flavoured mud cake (pictured, bottom) cemented as an icon of Australian dessert Woolies' humble chocolate flavoured mud cake has been a staple of Australian desserts, birthdays and get togethers since its release in 2001, cementing itself as an Aussie icon. In a video posted to the Woolworths TikTok account in 2021, worker Liam Kirley listed numerous facts about the mud cake to commemorate 20 years of production. Mr Kirley claimed that Woolworths sell 'about 1920 tonnes of mud cakes each year - which is about three Airbus A380s.' He also said that 'on Mother's Day and Father's Day, we sell three times more mud cakes than usual'. Her son Aydin C. insisted to German media his mother acted out of 'desperation' She was arrested on manslaughter charges in November after staff reported her Hatun C., 73, was arrested on November 30 A 73-year-old woman who allegedly switched off a hospital roommate's ventilator because she was annoyed by the sound it made was 'high on medication' and 'meant no harm', her son told German authorities. Accused Hatun C., 73, a patient in the Covid ward of Mannheim's Diako Hospital, is reported to have twice turned off the oxygen machine used by 79-year-old Hilal K. in the adjacent bed because the noise was keeping her awake. After noticing her oxygen machine had been turned off for a second time, medics revived Hilal, but she later died from complications due to oxygen starvation. Hatun C. was jailed on suspicion of attempted manslaughter following the incident on November 30, but her son Aydin C., 41, told German media his mother acted out of 'desperation' after being kept awake for so long by the sound of the ventilator. 'My mother couldn't close her eyes there because the oxygen device of her bed neighbour made such a loud noise, like a tractor. 'She was exhausted and high on medication. But she didn't want to harm the woman. It was an act of desperation,' Aydin insisted to German media. Image shows the Diako general hospital in the German city of Mannheim where Hatun C. turned off her roommate's ventilator He added: 'My mother worked as a toilet attendant for over 30 years, raised five children, and was never at fault. 'Now she is in prison as an old, frail woman with a serious heart condition. I'm afraid she'll die there. She had no idea what she was doing.' Aydin said his mother contracted Covid while on holiday in her native Turkey and had been admitted to Mannheim hospital on her return in a 'miserable mental state'. Hatun C. was arrested on November 30 for attempted manslaughter after medics reported her actions to authorities. Hatun C. was arrested on manslaughter charges after she allegedly turned off her ward mate's oxygen machine twice (A ventilator is pictured during an instruction of doctors at the Universitaetsklinikum Eppendorf in Hamburg, on March 25, 2020) Victim Hilal had been hospitalised for atrial fibrillation - a heart condition that causes an irregular and often abnormally fast heart rate. But she had then contracted Covid while in the hospital and had to be moved to the Covid wing and placed on a ventilator. Staff at the hospital had reportedly given Hatun a stern warning after she turned off her ward mate's oxygen for the first time. But her son excused her subsequent attempt, claiming there was no way his mother could've understood what the nurse was saying as she only spoke Turkish. He said: 'My mother can neither read nor write, she only understands Turkish, how should she have understood this announcement by the German nurse? 'In addition, she has no idea about machines. Otherwise, she would never have done something like this.' The Mannheim skyline is pictured in Germany. The woman was jailed on suspicion of attempted manslaughter following the incident at a hospital on Tuesday He added: 'My mother should have been moved to another room, and at the very least, we should have been informed immediately, then it would never have come to this.' But Aydin went on to apologise to the victim's family, saying: 'I would like to apologise for all the suffering my mother brought to the 79-year-old's family. 'My mother herself was a victim of these intolerable circumstances in the clinic. 'She deeply regrets everything and asks for forgiveness.' The deceased's daughter - 48-year-old Sadet O. - has no time for Aydin's excuses for his mother. She told German media: 'That woman probably killed my mother. I can't forgive her for that.' Coroners are conducting post-mortem examinations on Hilal's brain to determine whether Hatun's actions did in fact cause her death. Virgin said the flight was aborted due to a technical issue The plane was scheduled to fly from Perth to Brisbane A Virgin Aus flight has had to make an emergency landing A Virgin Australia plane has been forced to make an emergency landing at the same airport it took off from after 'technical issues'. Flight VA469 was scheduled to depart from Perth for Brisbane after 1pm on Wednesday. But shortly after takeoff something went wrong with the passenger jet and it started circling the city below to burn off excess fuel before landing just after 3pm. Passengers were told there was a problem with the hydraulic flaps on the Boeing 737's wings. Virgin flight VA469 was forced to make an emergency landing in Perth after flying in the same airspace for more than an hour (pictured, a Virgin Australia passenger plane) The Boeing 737 circled around Rottnest Island and the ocean near Perth's coastline to burn off fuel before landing The plane circled around Rottnest Island and off the coast of Perth to burn off fuel and wait for clearance to land. Due to the nature of the technical issue, the pilots could only use their brakes upon landing. Airport fire crews were on the scene in the off chance the plane caught on fire. The Boeing 737 landed back at the airport without issue at around 3:05pm. Engineers are now looking at the aircraft, which will remain grounded. Virgin Australia said the passengers onboard the aborted flight would be put on a new flight that's scheduled to leave Perth Airport at 7:05pm local time A Virgin Australia spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia: 'We are working to recover guests on another flight to Brisbane today.' 'The safety of our guests and crew is our top priority. We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience.' Passengers onboard the flight will be put on a new flight that is scheduled to depart the airport at 7:05pm local time. A woman who served jail time for killing her mother has been rapped by the courts again after threatening to dismember her former friend while making sinister use of a 1973 soul classic. 'Obsessed' Rebecca Durkin, 28, fell out with Georgia Partridge and made the latter feel scared out of her wits after vowing to 'chop her into pieces and put her in a bag.' The former carer followed up the threat by sending Miss Partridge an eerie message of an image of a black rucksack, along with a link to Gladys Knight and The Pips' song Midnight Train to Georgia. Miss Partridge, who shares her given name with the song's title, interpreted the communication as a threat that Durkin was 'coming for her'. Rebecca Durkin, 28, from Liverpool, was jailed for four years in 2014 for smothering her mother Clancy to death with a pillow. She has now been handed a suspended sentence after threatening to chop her former friend Georgia Partridge 'into pieces' Durkin (pictured) sent Miss Partridge an eerie message of a black bag, along with a link to Gladys Knight and the Pips' song Midnight Train to Georgia. Miss Partridge, whose first name is Georgia, interpreted the message as a threat At Sefton magistrates court, Durkin admitted breaching a restraining order. She was sentenced to 16 weeks in jail suspended for 12 months and given a new order prohibiting her from contacting Miss Partridge for five years. Miss Partridge said: 'I felt extremely harassed and very sick and fearful.' 'It made me scared to leave my house and very fearful when I am driving, in case I was being followed again. 'She had said she would kill me and chop me up in pieces and put me in a bag and I was hoping that I would never hear from her again. 'It has been over three years and I am fearful that she may never get over her obsession with me. 'She made my life hell and followed me for years. She slapped me and shoved me in the past. She knows me and she knows that I will take seriously her threats to kill me at some point.' Durkin, from Liverpool, had previously been locked up for four years and eight months in 2014 for manslaughter after she suffocated her mother Clancy with a pillow during a row at their home in Southport. Durkin was jailed for manslaughter in 2014 after smothering her mother Clancy (pictured) with a pillow. It is understood she was released in 2018 At Sefton magistrates court, Durkin admitted breaching a restraining order. She was sentenced to 16 weeks in jail suspended for 12 months and given a new order prohibiting her from contacting Miss Partridge for five years She was charged with murder but was cleared by a jury after claiming she had lost control due to suffering years of verbal abuse from her mother, who worked as a hospital cleaner. Durkin was thought to have been freed in 2018 and befriended Miss Partridge but the pair fell out for undisclosed reasons and she was banned from contacting the victim later that same year. In 2021 she was made subject of a Domestic Violence Protection Order after she was accused of beating up a former boyfriend and had flouted another restraining order relating to a man who lives in Croxteth, Liverpool. Prosecutor Angela Conlan said Miss Partridge had received a series of messages by Facebook messenger on May 25 of last year. 'One of the messages was a link to the song Midnight Train to Georgia,' the prosecutor said. 'She also sent a photo of a black bag. She took those messages to mean that the defendant was basically coming for her. 'She received the last of those messages quite late, it was 11.20pm. 'Miss Partridge was in fear that Durkin was going to visit her. The Gladys Knight and the Pips song had her name on it, she said, and the black rucksack was a bag she had given to Durkin after she had been released from prison. Since being freed from prison in 2018, Durkin has had two restraining orders made against her as well as a domestic violence protection order Durkin taunted Georgia Partridge, who had a restraining order against her, with a link to Gladys Knight and the Pips (pictured) 1973 hit Midnight Train to Georgia 'Durkin had made threats to kill her when she had the restraining order made against her. The complainant goes on to say that the defendant is a violent person. She refers to her previous record which includes her prison sentence for manslaughter.' The court heard that Durkin had further convictions following her release from prison for manslaughter. They were for criminal damage and malicious communication in 2018, and for battery in 2020 , both of which related to her two restraining orders. There was a breach of a domestic violence protection order in June 2021 and a breach of a restraining order in August 2021, for which Durkin was given a community order. And in August 2022 she was in court for failing to comply with a community order. The court heard Durkin had an issue with alcohol and was attending Alcoholics Anonymous twice a week. As part of her sentencing, she must attend 20 days of rehabilitative activity with the probation service, participate with a six-month alcohol treatment programme and pay a victim surcharge of 248. District Judge James Hatton told her: 'Your record shows that on a number of occasions you have breached a court order and you have continued to do it... I do not know if you will ultimately have to go to prison to learn this lesson - you must do what the court tells you to do. 'If you do not work with the probation service or commit any other offences, the starting point will be to activate the 20 weeks prison sentence.' During Durkin's murder trial, prosecutors said that her mother, a hospital cleaner from Southport, had told relatives that she believed her daughter was going to kill her. But Durkin told jurors that her mother was an alcoholic who was emotionally abusive and would become violent when drunk. On the night of the death, she said her mother had attacked her by trying to smother her, and she had fought back by grabbing her neck and didn't let go.' India's population is set to overtake China on April 14 this year to become the world's biggest, a UN report has predicted. The South Asian country currently has a population of 1.41billion compared to China's 1.45billion, but the higher birth rate and more youthful population will see it take the crown from Beijing for the first time since around 1950. The trend is set to continue over the rest of the 21st century, as India continues to rapidly grow and China's population starts to dwindle, experts say. The UN estimates that at the start of April 15, India's population will be 1,425,775,850, having surpassed China at some point the day before. India's population is set to overtake China on April 14 this year to become the world's biggest, a UN report has predicted. Pictured: people crowd a Mumbai beach In India, nearly half of the current population is under 25, and a quarter is under the age of 15. But in China, only a quarter of the population is aged under 25. Dr. Audrey Truschke, an associate professor of South Asian History at Rutgers University, told Yahoo News: '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. 'The Indian subcontinent has always supported a robust human population.' In China, the Communist party enforced birth limits since 1980 to restrain population growth and conserve resources. But leaders started to worry after the working-age population peaked at 925million in 2011 and started to drop earlier than expected. Authorities eased birth limits starting in 2015. But couples are put off by high costs, cramped housing and job discrimination against mothers. The trend is set to continue over the rest of the 21st century, as India continues to rapidly grow and China's population starts to dwindle By 2050, India's population will be 300million more than China's, the UN estimates Demographers say the working-age share of the population might fall to half by 2050. The current birth rate in China is 1.2, well below the rate to maintain a sustainable population. A slowing population growth means younger working people will likely have to care for more of their elderly relatives. But India is expected to provide more than a sixth of the world's population of working age people by 2050. In November, the UN confirmed the global population had surpassed eight billion for the first time. But the growth rate is actually at its slowest since 1950, and dropped below one per cent for the first time in 2020. In China, a slowing population growth means younger working people will likely have to care for more of their elderly relatives It took 12 years to get seven to eight billion people, as fertility rates are now below the amount required to maintain the population in much of the world, or the 'replacement rate'. In 2021 the average fertility rate was 2.3 births per woman over a lifetime, but in 1950 this was five births per woman. The UN claims it will take until 2037 for the world's population to reach nine billion. Half of this next billion is expected to come from just eight countries, with five of them in Africa; the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Tanzania. Our booming global population is thanks to increasing life expectancy and decreasing mortality rate as a result of improvements in healthcare, according to the UN. The UN claims it will take approximately 15 years until 2037 for the world's population to reach nine billion. Half of this next billion is expected to come from just eight countries, with five of them in Africa; the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Tanzania The UN's World Population Prospects report revealed that the pace of mortality slowing means the world's population will reach 8.5 billion by 2030 and 10.4 billion by 2100. Pictured: The world's population growth over the years The latest data from the UN's Population Division gives a global life expectancy for men of 70.8 years and for women of 75.6 years, while in 2010 it was 68 and 73 respectively. Females are expected to outlive males in all regions and countries in the world, ranging from 7 years in Latin America and the Caribbean to 2.9 years in Australia and New Zealand. Our increasing population is not a result of increasing fertility, as World Population Prospects 2022 states this has fallen markedly in recent decades for many countries. Global population is projected to reach a peak of around 10.4 billion people during the 2080s and to remain at that level until 2100. Some scientists estimate that the Earth's maximum carrying capacity - the amount of people the resources available can support - is between nine and ten billion people. Just Stop Oil has refused to rule out disrupting King Charles' coronation and the UK's local elections later this year - and may target strike days amid plans to ramp up its protests. The eco-group hailed last year a 'success' that has led to a 'significantly increased' membership and 'more active members' after a series of stunts that caused widescale disruption across 2022. Eco-zealots brought large parts of London and the south east to a standstill after embarking on more than 30 days of continuous protests that included blocking roads in the capital and scaling gantries over the M25 on multiple occasions. One pair of protesters also suspended themselves from the Dartford Crossing in October, causing more than 36 hours of chaos on one of the UK's busiest roads. Just Stop Oil has refused to rule out disrupting King Charles' (pictured) coronation in May later this year Just Stop Oil eco-zealots pictured holding a banner as they block a road in London in October last year But Just Stop Oil has vowed to go 'further and faster' this year. The group's spokesperson Alex De Koning told LBC: 'It is [the plan], indeed]. We are facing the extinction of the human race, why would we slow down now? 'If it is not in the public sphere, then it is not in the public conversation. Unfortunately the actions will be disruptive because, as history has shown, that is how change is most likely to happen. 'Unfortunately we are going to have to do more because we need more change and we need it faster.' Asked whether this would mean an increase in the number of days targeted or a rise in the level of disruption, he said 'potentially both'. He added: 'When two people threw soup at the Van Gough painting, that got more people talking about the climate crisis than when 33 million people in Pakistan got displaced because of the floods.' Mr De Koning also said the group is exploring a new tactic of targeting strike days, adding that the group is in 'full solidarity' with workers taking industrial action. He has also refused to rule out organising demonstrations to disrupt key events. This includes the UK's local elections, due to be held on May 4, and King Charles' coronation two days later. But Lord Stephen Greenhalgh, former Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime in London, said the plans are 'completely irresponsible'. He told LBC: 'There is no step that is too far for them. They are prepared to really ramp up the misery to make a point. Why do they need to mess up all our lives? Haven't Just Stop Oil done enough damage? Police officers consult a Just Stop Oil protester after he sprayed the MI5 building in London with orange paint Traffic builds on the M25 after two Just Stop Oil protesters scaled the Dartford Bridge in October 'I think it is completely irresponsible. We have got the finest public order policing in the world bar none. The motorways are our arteries, the arteries of our economy, and they need to flow in order for this country to thrive, grow and prosper. 'Quite frankly, the police should use absolutely every tool in their armamentarium to bring these protesters the book if they cross the line and look to disrupt the lives of others.' Meanwhile, Rishi Sunak will give police new powers to stop protesters from disrupting traffic in a move seemingly targeting the eco-zealot group. 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'. Mr Sunak had previously promised to give police chiefs 'whatever they need' to put an end to the disruptions that have been plaguing the London streets. 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. Plans to target strike days come as the UK is already enduring industrial action by ambulance unions today. Lord Stephen Greenhalgh, former Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime in London, said Just Stop Oil's plans are 'completely irresponsible' Rishi Sunak will give police new powers to stop protesters from disrupting traffic in a move seemingly targeting the eco-zealot group The public has been urged to avoid calling 999 during today's strike with health leaders fearing it will leave the health service in an even worse position than the December walkouts. Up to 25,000 paramedics and support staff - including call handlers - are walking out across the country for the second time this winter in an ongoing dispute over pay. The GMB union, one of two behind today's strike, said that lives were being put at risk in the NHS 'every single day' by current staffing levels and not just as a result of strike action. And while major strike action on Britain's railways has finally wound down, there will be further walkouts in a number of industries in the coming week, with driving examiners and school workers all set to hold industrial action, too. A convicted drug dealer turned comedian has trolled police by launching a website that encourages criminals to anonymously detail their successful drug shipments. Andrew Hamilton, 36, was arrested on charges of commercial supply of magic mushrooms (psilocybin), LSD and MDMA in June 2021 and spent four months on maximum security remand in two prisons in NSW. Two years after his release from jail, Mr Hamilton is taking a new look at the drugs business - a satirical one - with a new website, drugwins.com. Andrew Hamilton, 36, was arrested on charges of commercial supply of magic mushrooms (psilocybin), LSD and MDMA in June 2021 and spent four months on maximum security remand Two years after his release from jail, Mr Hamilton is taking a new look at the drugs business - a satirical one - with a new website, drugwins.com A visit to the page urges users to 'anonymously report successful drug importation'. His 'tongue-in-cheek' web page allows anyone to upload the location, year, drug type and quantity of drugs that police did not manage intercept. In a video announcing his website, Mr Hamilton cheekily boasts the site is 'an encrypted anonymous platform for the reporting of successful drug importation'. 'When you see news come out about arrests and drugs busts and seizures of large amounts of drugs, I reckon people always wonder about the times [criminals] get away with it,' he told Daily Mail Australia 'I thought if there was an anonymous web portal when people could report the times they did get away with it that would be pretty funny.' Convicted drug dealer Andrew Hamilton reckons there is too much news about drug shipments being apprehended so he decided to change that His 'tongue-in-cheek' web page allows anyone to upload the location, year, drug type and quantity of drugs that police did not manage intercept 'We only usually hear the tragic news of a drug bust, so isn't it about time we heard a story about when the good guys win?' The former Brooklyn Crispy pizza shop owner hopes the police and the public will see the funny side of the website. 'Theyve probably see it as being idiotic and also clearly a waste of time for them to look into because they wouldnt believe anyone would be so foolish to use it as a legitimate ay of recording their exploits. 'I can't really see anyone in an Australian police force saying 'we'd better look into this site', but I guess stranger things have have happened.' He believes 'most Aussies will se it as a p***take'. 'I think plenty of people out there will see the humour in what I'm trying to do.' Trolling the criminal justice system has become Hamilton's stock-and-trade since he was released two years ago. The poster produced for Mr Hamilton's debut at Melbourne International Comedy Festival has a highlighted recommendation from NSW Police that reads 'one to watch' He has used social media to review prison food and shared prison documents that he said tell inmates the best way to take drugs. Hamilton shared confronting insights from his short spells in prison, uploading a video explaining the actual advice given to inmates by bosses about safely using drugs and having sex. He shared several pages of the men-only Parklea prison's Inmate Induction and Orientation Manual from 2021, which has a section titled 'how to protect yourself'. The suggestions included are to 'use condoms for sex' and not to 'smoke, swallow, snort or shelve drugs'. To 'shelve' drugs means to insert in the anus. Hamilton makes his debut at the upcoming Melbourne International Comedy Festival, in April, with an aptly-named solo show called Jokes About The Time I Went to Prison. The poster produced for his comedy show has a highlighted recommendation from NSW Police that reads 'one to watch'. The Princess of Wales has been seen out in public today for the first time since Prince Harry made a slew of claims about her fractious relationship with Meghan Markle in his bombshell memoir. The Duke of Sussex gave his first full account of the infamous bridesmaid dress fitting at the heart of 'Megxit', claiming Princess Charlotte 'cried when she tried it on at home' and insisting 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. Harry also used an incendiary interview with ITV journalist, and old friend, Tom Bradby to accuse Kate of 'stereotyping' Meghan because she was an American actress and is divorced and biracial, saying it prevented them from 'welcoming her in'. Asked what he meant, the duke said: 'Well, American actress, divorced, biracial, there's there's all different parts to that and what that can mean but if you are, like a lot of my family do, if you are reading the Press, the British tabloids, at the same time as living the life, then there is a tendency where you could actually end up living in the tabloid bubble rather than the actual reality.' A stern-faced Princess Kate has been seen out in public today for the first time since Prince Harry made a slew of claims in his bombshell memoir Prince Harry has claimed the Princess of Wales was among the members of his family who 'stereotyped' his wife Meghan. The royal wives are pictured in June 2018 It comes as Princess Anne met President Nicos Anastasiades of Cyprus in Nicosia today, as part of a two-day visit. Meghan was previously married to American TV producer Trevor Engelson for three years from 2011 until 2014. Before meeting Harry, Meghan starred in US legal drama series Suits in which she played paralegal-turned-lawyer Rachel Zane. Bradby said that Harry saw his brother's wife as 'the sister you never had', with the pair having known each other since soon after William and Kate started dating in 2003. The pair are believed to have got on well, with Harry joining her and William on engagements before he met Meghan - although he told Bradby that while the events were 'fun', he sometimes felt 'slightly awkward' being the 'third wheel'. Harry also said the idea of himself, his wife and the Prince and Princess of Wales being the 'fab four' was 'something the British Press created' and it 'creates competition'. He told Bradby: 'The idea of the four of us being together was always a hope for me. 'Before it was Meghan, whoever it was going to be, I always hoped that the four of us would get on. 'But very quickly it became Meghan versus Kate. 'And that, when it plays out so publicly, you can't hide from that, right? Especially when within my family you have the newspapers laid out pretty much in every single palace and house that is around.' Harry added that his brother William 'raised some concerns' about his marriage to Meghan before their wedding in May 2018. He said: 'He never tried to dissuade me from marrying Meghan, but he aired some concerns very early, and said 'this is going to be really hard for you' and I still to this day don't truly understand which part of what he was talking about. Maybe he predicted what the British Press's reaction was going to be.' It comes as Harry revealed details of the bridesmaid dress fitting row in his book. Harry also used an incendiary interview with ITV journalist, and old friend, Tom Bradby to accuse Kate of 'stereotyping' Meghan, saying it was causing a 'barrier' to his family and preventing them from 'welcoming her in' The Duke of Sussex gave his first full account of the infamous bridesmaid dress fitting at the heart of 'Megxit', claiming Princess Charlotte 'cried when she tried it on at home' and insisting 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 Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades talks with Princess Anne after their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia, Cyprus Princess Anne meeting with Cyprus' President Nicos Anastasiades 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. 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 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 says Kate then replied: 'No, all the dresses need to be remade.' Harry says Kate added that 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. Harry also says 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. Harry says 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'. Kate and Meghan exchanged a series of texts (re-created, above) about the bridesmaids dress, according to Harry The Princess of Wales and Duchess of Sussex at the Wimbledon women's singles final together in 2019 Prince Harry told Tom Bradby that he felt 'slightly awkward' being a 'third wheel' to Prince William and Kate Middleton before meeting Meghan. The trio pictured in 2012 In his memoir, Prince Harry said William and Kate were 'religious viewers of Suits'. Pictured: the Duchess of Sussex playing Rachel Zane in 2012 He suggests his point was proven when the then Duchess of Cambridge came round the next morning with flowers and a card to say sorry. There have been several versions over the years of who made whom cry. It was initially claimed that Meghan made Kate weep, a suggestion that so incensed the Sussexes they went to war with their Press office and demanded they put out a correction. When officials refused, saying it would spark more questions about the incident and set a precedent for speaking about private family matters, the couple decreed that it was another example of how the palace was unwilling to stand up for them. Indeed, it was one of the first issues to be tackled by Meghan in her Oprah interview, with Harry subsequently insisting in their Netflix docuseries last month that it demonstrated how the institution was willing to lie to protect his brother but not tell the truth for them. He recounted the event again in his Good Morning America interview when asked for examples of how the palace put a negative spotlight onto Meghan in order to protect other royals. Harry told the interviewer: 'It's so petty but the bridesmaids' dresses. 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.' It comes as Harry last night toasted the US as a 'great place to live' with tequila shots in an extraordinary interview with Stephen Colbert. The Duke launched a charm offensive as the US public and its liberal media also tired of his complaints about his gilded life in his new book Spare and the resulting transatlantic PR blitz. Harry told The Late Show that he and Meghan were 'forced' to flee 'our home country' of Britain for 'beautiful California' because of 'abuse and harassment'. He then said: 'We have created a fantastic life here in California, which by the way is beautiful, and America is a great place to live,' before clinking glasses with Colbert to wild cheers. He later joked: 'It feels a little bit like group therapy,' before doing some meditation with the chat show host. Prince Harry with host Stephen Colbert during an interview on The Late Show where he lavished praise on the US The Duke's tour to promote his memoir Spare rolled on with an informal interview where he lurched between describing the Queen 's death and the fractured relationship with his brother to anecdotes about his frostbitten 'todger' and a 'custom c**k cushion' to protect it. He then said: 'We have created a fantastic life here in California, which by the way is beautiful, and America is a great place to live,' before clinking glasses with Colbert to wild cheers. He later joked: 'It feels a little bit like group therapy,' before doing some meditation with the chat show host. The royal arrived on stage to chants of 'Harry, Harry, Harry' before he whipped up the crowd again, offering them tequila after admitting: 'I need a drink.' There was more whooping when he denied he boasted about killing 25 Taliban fighters in Afghanistan and broke off to ask the audience: 'Are there any veterans in the house?' He also asked the audience if they were 'surprised' by his rift with his brother, to yells of 'yes'. There were many other bizarre and contradictory moments where he claimed not to fully understand the 'fascination' with his family before later hinting that he is among the millions to have watched The Crown from start to finish, including episodes charting his mother's battles with bulimia and his parents' painful divorce. EXCLUSIVE: Tailor caught in the middle of Meghan and Kate's bridesmaid dress row breaks his silence: Ajay Mirpuri reveals he's NOT surprised it led to tears - and his dismay that the furore overshadowed the big day 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 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) Prince Harry and Meghan 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.' 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 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 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 The gowns were created - as was the wedding dress - by British designer Clare Waight Keller, artistic director of Givenchy. But they were made from measurements only and without 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. When it emerged yesterday that Boris Johnson had been airbrushed from a photo with Grant Shapps, there were immediate cries of foul play. Whilst the Business Secretary insisted that he had no knowledge of which of his staff had been responsible for the image, it was immediately noticed online how the move to 'delete' the former PM had rather sinister connotations. Many pointed out the link with Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, who often retouched images to remove former allies who had fallen foul of his reign of terror. Most famously, he had former secret police official Nikolai Yezhov deleted from an image that had originally showed the pair with two other officials standing next to the Moscow Canal. And China's Chairman Mao also used the tactic to get rid of his political enemies from old photographs. Slide me Stalin famously edited his political enemies out of photographs. One such enemy was Nikolai Yezhov, a secret police official who oversaw Stalin's purges. When he fell out of favour in 1938, Yezhov was removed from an image in which he was seen standing next to his boss on the Moscow Canal Slide me When it emerged yesterday that Boris Johnson had been airbrushed from a photo with Grant Shapps, there were immediate cries of foul play, with critics pointing out the links with Stalin's tactics. Above: Mr Shapps tweeted an image of him meeting and greeting staff at Spaceport Cornwall. The version issued by Downing Street in 2021 showed an identical scene, but with the then-PM Mr Johnson in the middle Yezhov had been one of Stalin's right-hand men but fell out of favour with the dictator in 1938. He was denounced, arrested, tried in a secret court and then executed. The retouchers simply replaced him with new water. Stalin used similar tactics on dozens of other party officials. The editing of photographs was largely part of Stalin's Great Purge, which saw an estimated 750,000 people murdered between 1936 and 1939 as he looked to remove any remaining influence of his former comrade Leon Trotsky and any other political rivals. Slide me Mao Zedong had a 1936 image of him with his comrades edited to remove rival Po Ku (left) As well as using the editing tactic to remove his new enemies, Stalin also had himself put into an image of an ailing Vladimir Lenin in 1922. In the re-touched photo, he was seen sitting next to his then leader, with the depiction intended to show how Stalin had visited Lenin before his death in the hope it would boost his prospects of succeeding him More than a million other victims were sent to remote areas of Russia to do hard labour in gulags. Some of Stalin's enemies vanished from their homes, whilst others were executed in public after show trials. Another famous use of editing came with an image of Stalin with Communist party comrades Nikolai Antipov, Sergei Kirov and Nikolai Shvernik in 1926. One by one, as the men fell foul of his psychopathic tendencies, Stalin had them removed from the image, until only he remained. And an image of Lenin addressing a crowd of troops in Moscow in 1920 was later altered under Stalin's orders to remove Stalin's bitter enemy Leon Trotsky. Slide me This image of Vladimir Lenin addressing a crowd of troops in Moscow was later edited by censors to remove Leon Trotsky and Lev Kamenev As well as using the editing tactic to remove his enemies, Stalin also had himself put into an image of an ailing Vladimir Lenin in 1922. In the re-touched photo, he was seen sitting next to his then leader, with the depiction intended to show how Stalin had visited Lenin before his death in the hope it would boost his prospects of succeeding him. But the dictator was not the only leader to make use of editing, with both China's Chairman Mao and Italy's Benito Mussolini doing the same. Mao Zedong had a 1936 image of him with his comrades edited to remove rival Po Ku. And as part of efforts to present himself as a man of strength, Mussolini had an image of him on a horse edited to remove the person tending to the horse. Traditionally a stronghold of support, they are now changing their tune on Harry Prince Harry's popularity among young people in Britain sank to a record low in the days leading up to the publication of his bombshell memoir, a new poll has shown. Members of 'Generation Z' appear to be changing their tune on the duke, with those aged 18-24 having neither a negative nor positive view of the King's youngest son, according to a YouGov survey conducted between January 5 and 6. Traditionally, Harry has relied upon the younger generation as a stronghold of support that helped to fuel his popular image, and just a month ago he held a 20 per cent net approval rating among the group. But by the end of last week, with just days to go until the publication of 'Spare', this support had slumped to zero - suggesting the group's opinion on the duke had nosedived. Prince Harry 's popularity among young people in Britain sank to a record low in the days leading up to the publication of his bombshell memoir, a new YouGov poll suggests Almost two-thirds of Britons have a negative view of the Duke of Sussex, up from 58 per cent in May, with just a quarter seeing him in a positive light, the YouGov survey shows. Harry's net favourability among the public is at an all-time low of -38, with his wife Meghan recording -42. Despite the duke's popularity slipping, his wife still boasts a positive net favourability score of 10 among 18-24-year-olds, but this has dropped from a high of 55 in 2017. Harry has also come under attack from younger social media users following his explosive revelations and deeply personal attacks on the royal family. Members of 'Gen Z' appear to be changing their tune on Prince Harry, with those aged 18-24 having neither a negative nor positive view of the King's youngest son, according to a YouGov survey conducted between January 5 and 6 Traditionally, Harry has relied upon the younger generation as a stronghold of support that helped to fuel his popular image, and just a month ago he held a 20 per cent net approval rating among the group Harry's book has sparked headlines amid claims he was physically attacked by the Prince of Wales, his revelation he killed 25 Taliban members during the Afghanistan war, admissions of taking drugs including cocaine, cannabis and magic mushrooms, and losing his virginity in a field behind a pub to a cougar 'horse enthusiast' when he was 17. Regarding his father, Harry said his 'Pa' was 'never made' for single parenthood but had tried, and told Tom Bradby in an interview broadcast on ITV on Sunday night, that he will 'always love' his father. Narrating his autobiography, the Duke said: 'Over dinner one night at Highgrove, Pa and I spoke at some length about what I'd been suffering. 'I gave him the particulars, told him story after story. Towards the end of the meal he looked down at his plate and said softly ''I suppose it's my fault. I should have got you the help you needed years ago''. I assured him that it wasn't his fault, but I appreciated the apology.' He also questioned whether Charles had the 'patience' and 'time' for parenthood. 'He'd always given an air of not being quite ready for parenthood: the responsibilities, the patience, the time. 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,' he wrote. Almost two-thirds of Britons have a negative view of the Duke of Sussex, up from 58 per cent in May, with just a quarter seeing him in a positive light, the YouGov survey shows Harry, Meghan, William and Kate at Windsor Castle in September last year King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla attending the Christmas Day service Speaking of his affection for Charles, Harry told Bradby: 'Of course, he's my father. I will always love him.' Harry describes the King as liking 'his routines', adding: 'He wasn't the kind of father who played endless rounds of tag, or tossed a ball long after dark.' But when a picture of Harry romping naked in Las Vegas, just weeks before his deployment to Afghanistan, was splashed across the newspapers, he said Charles, to his surprise and relief, was gentle. 'He felt for me, he said, he'd been there, though he'd never been naked on a front page,' said Harry. The King's youngest son's net favourability score among 2019 Labour voters is minus seven, while among 18-24-year-olds, the proportion of positive and negative views of him was equal (41 per cent). Meghan holds a score of -11 among 2019 Labour voters and -30 among Remain voters, with -81 and -72 among 2016 Conservative voters and Leave voters, respectively. In television interviews, the Duke has said he is 'not texting' his brother, described the Queen Consort as 'the villain' and criticised 'family members' for a 'really horrible reaction' when the Queen died. He spoke to Bradby, denying branding the royals racist and accusing his family of 'getting into bed with the devil'. YouGov surveyed 1,693 adults in the UK at the end of last week. A banking executive 'fell like a plank of wood' after a stranger fatally punched him in a row over a stolen phone, a court heard. Paul Mason, 52, was chief executive officer at Qatar National Bank and had spent the evening at the Ivy Club in London's West End when he was confronted by Steven Allan, who knocked him to the ground. Allan, 34, had been drinking in a number of bars when he bumped into Mr Mason, accused the banking boss of stealing a mobile phone and launched a vicious attack, the Old Bailey heard today. As Mr Mason tried to get up from the floor, Allan connected with an uppercut - with witnesses describing the 'sickening crunch' as Mr Mason's skull collided with the pavement. Allan was traced by CCTV and admitted killing Mr Mason but denies murder. Doctors battled to save Mr Mason and carried out a procedure to replace part of his skull with a sheet of titanium, but he died six months later on 4 June 2021. Banking boss Paul Mason, 52, had been at the Ivy Club in London's West End when he was confronted by Steven Allan who hit him with a deadly punch The Ivy, a well-known haunt for celebrities and executives in the West End Mr Mason had put a female friend in a black cab after they had spent the night at the Ivy Club and was making his way home when he was confronted by Allan on December 15, 2020. Allan, who had been drinking with two friends, marched across the road to him and tried to grab his phone. Mr Mason tried to continue his journey but Allan followed him and punched him with his right fist, knocking him to the ground. Witness Gary McGuinness told the court how he watched the 'dramatic-looking scuffle' unfold in the middle of the street. 'It looked like some sort of lads banter in some weird way because it was so dramatic I couldn't equate why it would be happening otherwise,' he told the Old Bailey. He described Mr Mason falling the floor during the fight, before the 'decisive hit' that was followed by an 'audible noise of his head hitting the ground'. After knocking Mr Mason to the ground following his third punch, Allan screamed: 'Where's your fight now?' as his victim lay senseless, the Old Bailey heard. 'He [Mr Mason] didn't do anything to break his own fall, he was completely rigid and fell down like a plank of wood', Mr McGuiness added. 'His head hitting the ground appeared to make a squelching noise, a horrible noise really. Doctors battled to save Mr Mason (above) and carried out a procedure to replace part of his skull with a sheet of titanium, but he died six months later on 4 June 2021 '[Allan] took the phone out of his hands and said "this is my friend's phone, the guy had my friend's phone." 'When I moved over there he was struggling to breathe, there was a kind of gurgling sound which was very disturbing. Three other gentlemen said we should move him onto his side.' He said Allan then disappeared from the scene while members of the public tried to help Mr Mason. Jane Bickerstaff, KC, prosecuting, told the court: 'He appears then to lean down towards Mr Mason, who is at the same time trying to shrug him off and move away from the defendant. 'The defendant then punched Mr Mason a second time while he was trying to get back to his feet. 'He then punches him a third time with an upper cut that causes Mr Mason to fly back and land on his back with his head hitting the pavement. 'The defendant then appears to take Mr Mason's phone from him and makes off. 'It appears as if, having appreciated that Mr Mason was lying unconscious on his back on the pavement, the defendant approaches him again and may in fact put back whatever he took. 'Certainly, there is no evidence of any property missing from Mr Mason.' Registered nurse Laura Gil Selva saw Allan aggressively shouting at the victim and described him throwing a forceful punch and causing the victim's face to bleed. 'She saw that as Mr Mason went to the floor for the final time, his head hit the floor making a loud sound,' said Ms Bickerstaff. 'She recalls that as she sought to help the victim, the defendant said to her, something like, "Don't touch him or help him. You don't know what he did. He's kidnapped my nephew."' Mr Mason had been the chief executive officer at Qatar National Bank (pictured) at the time of his death Another witness, Vaki Dhaval, who was on his way home after having a meal with friends, saw Mr Mason with his hand in front of him in a defensive manner telling Allan to 'stay away'. 'He continued to watch, and it appeared to him that it was all over as both men seemed to be walking away in different directions, but then, for no apparent reason the defendant punched Mr Mason, knocking him off his feet,' Ms Bickerstaff said. 'He saw the assault and heard Mr Allan say, after he had punched the victim to the ground, 'Where is your fight now? Show me your fight now!' 'He saw that the defendant continued shouting as if he was trying to see if there was any possibility to continue the attack.' Allan, of Hook, Hampshire, admits manslaughter but denies murder. The trial continues. Taiwan's ship-killer missile to attack PLAN warships has a rumple as it needs to be sent for repairs in China. Taiwan's Ship-Killer Missile Encounters Malfunctions The National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology in Taiwan created and produced the lethal Hsiung-Feng III (Brave Wind III) anti-ship missile (NCSIST), reported The EurAsian Times. This supersonic projectile does have a 250-mile range, which is enough to encompass both the width and length of the Taiwan Strait and can attack both land and sea targets. Due to its supersonic velocity, the rocket has also been named "Carrier Killer" and can carry a 500-pound warhead that can pierce armor. Theodolites used to fine-tune the rockets, which had been transported to China by a Swiss manufacturer to be fixed due to system failures, as shown by the Mirror Media on January 4, mentioned Defense Aerospace. The action can reveal important potential information from missile tests, jeopardizing Taiwan's national defense, as said by Taiwanese media. This element in question is produced by the Swiss company Leica Geosystems. It is commonly used in shipbuilding, aerospace, and other manufacturing industries to quantify large objects precisely. Leica Builder T100/T200 would be the company's top-of-the-line electronic theodolite with exceptional telephoto lens optics, allowing it to efficiently and precisely assess a wide range of azimuths only in 0.5 seconds. As reported by Taiwan News, the Ministry of National Defense has lately increased the number of new spanning theodolites it purchases for artillery pieces. Read Also: Volodymyr Zelensky Children: Does the Ukraine President Have Kids? The NCSIST found that the connecting pins of two Leica theodolites had already become loose. A company distribution company in New Taipei City's Xindian District sent gear back to Switzerland in early December 2021 and late February 2022, so Leica Geosystems could perform maintenance. However, as said by people who are acquainted with the situation, the repair work has been made easier, and the two theodolites were handed back to NCSIST in February and May of 2022, including both. Theodolites' measurements of the Hsiung Feng missiles were standardized after the equipment was repaired. Even so, it was not until September 2022 that NCSIST staffers glanced over the import customs declaration and other papers provided by Leica Geosystems' maintenance center and started to notice there needed to be something corrected. Paperwork demonstrates that the equipment had already been brought back to Taiwan from the Chinese city of Qingdao in Shandong Province. It implies that the instrument was either repaired in China or sent to Taiwan via China, in which case the Chinese military would have access to data on missile systems or other requirements. Taiwanese Missiles Designed To Target PLAN Warships In a press statement on January 4, the NCSIST mentioned that theodolite is an optical correction tool used to measure the missile body, launch box, frame, and other elements on its manufacturing production line. It does not restrict the continuing position of the Hsiung Feng projectile. The confidentiality of Taiwan's weapons program was a matter of concern in the earlier days. For using Chinese products for manufacturing missile parts destined to be manufactured by US businesses, three staff members of two Taiwanese suppliers have been given sentences spanning from four to ten years behind bars through 2022. Taiwan's ship-killer missile had some problems and needed to be repaired to be effective against PLAN warships. Related Article: Japan's Self-Defense Forces Prepare Ways To Defeat Chinese Electromagnetic Pulse Weapons on Its Military Bases by 2029 @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. He was famously photographed with a 180 smart mug as he drew up a mini-Budget during the height of Covid chaos. But Rishi Sunak has been inadvertently caught with what appears to be a throwaway coffee cup in footage from his 'broadcast to the nation'. A teaser for tonight's party political broadcast shows the PM seated at a desk with the cup visible next to him. It will bring back memories of a 2019 episode when an aide snatched a coffee cup out of Boris Johnson's hands on camera at Tory conference - telling him he could not have 'disposables'. The government has long pushed for a reduction in the use of disposable coffee cups - although many are now made from recyclable material. Rishi Sunak has been inadvertently caught with what appears to be a throwaway coffee cup in footage from his 'broadcast to the nation' Mr Sunak was famously photographed with a 180 smart mug as he drew up a mini-Budget during the height of Covid chaos In July 2020 Mr Sunak - known as one of the richest MPs - was pictured looking over his mini-Budget plans with a Ember Travel Mug displayed prominently on his desk. The mug, worth around 180, is said to keep drinks warm for three hours. A smart phone app also allows the user to set the exact temperature they want their beverage to be kept at, while the cup is powered by an electronic 'charging coaster'. It was reportedly a Christmas gift from Mr Sunak's wife. A Lib Dem source told MailOnline: 'Rishi Sunak is treating the public like mugs. Hiding away his 180 coffee cup doesn't change the fact that he's totally out of touch with people struggling to get a GP appointment or pay their bills. 'At the next election, we hope Conservative MPs will turn out to be just as disposable as Sunak's new coffee cup.' Mr Johnson's entertaining episode happened as he was walking through the Tory conference venue in 2019, and was given a hot drink by his press secretary Rob Oxley. The Prime Minister could be heard thanking Mr Oxley for the beverage as they walked through the centre in Manchester. But the cup was barely in Mr Johnson's hands before Shelley Williams-Walker, Number 10's operations chief, snatched it away from the PM. The trio continued to walk as a seemingly frustrated Mr Johnson raised his hands in the air. Ms Williams-Walker reportedly said 'no disposable cups' after she took the drink away from the premier and tried to get it out of shot of the TV cameras. The June 2022 incident was described as 'an abuse of power' by the opposition The former chief of Australia's navy has been slammed for treating a military vessel as his 'personal love sub' after proposing to his girlfriend during an overnight voyage. Then-Vice Admiral Michael Noonan granted Samantha Heighway approval to board the HMAS Waller on June 23, 2022, where they spent a romantic night at sea together off the coast of Western Australia. He used his authority as boss of the navy to allow Ms Heighway, a civilian, to make the trip on board the Collins Class submarine, during which the couple took personal photographs. The former chief of Australia's navy Michael Noonan, has been slammed for treating a military vessel as his 'personal love sub' after proposing to his girlfriend, Samantha Heighway, during an overnight voyage (pictured together) Then-Vice Admiral Michael Noonan granted Samantha Heighway approval to board the HMAS Waller on June 23, 2022, where they spent the night at sea together off the coast of Western Australia. Pictured, an Australian Collins Class submarine It is understood Mr Noonan got down on one knee during the controversial trip and asked for Ms Heighway's hand in marriage. The war boat at the time was at sea as part of a PR exercise to gather Defence Force Recruiting footage. The Coalition's defence spokesman Phillip Thompson labelled the incident an 'abuse of power' and 'unbecoming' of any leader. 'The Navy is a professional outfit, this isn't the chief of Navy's personal love sub,' Mr Thompson told the Daily Telegraph. It is understood Mr Noonan got down on one knee during the controversial trip and asked for Ms Heighway's hand in marriage. The Coalition's defence spokesman Phillip Thompson labelled the incident an 'abuse of power' 'He had the unilateral power to approve the (civilian trip) and that leaves all the sailors in a very uncomfortable position because the most senior person in their branch is the one doing the questionable thing.' While it is understood the trip did not break any rules, civilians are not usually allowed on board naval vessels. 'It is not routine for Defence members to take a civilian partner, spouse (or) relative on an overnight sea ride,' a Department of Defence spokeswoman said. In a move unrelated to the indiscretion Mr Noonan was replaced as navy chief five days later Vice Admiral Mark Hammond. Mr Noonan retired from Defence in September 2022 after a 38 year career. He attended Royal Australian Naval College in 1984 and after a distinguished career that included coalition anti-terrorism operations, was appointed Deputy Chief of Navy in 2016, then Chief of the Navy two years later. Ms Heighway congratulated him on his career in a Facebook post at the time. 'Michael Noonan congratulations on your service to our county, your selfless leadership and on inspiring the next generations that will selflessly serve to protect our country. 'So to say, this person, Michael Noonan, I adore and am truely inspired by would be an understatement.' Daily Mail Australia contacted Michael Noonan for comment. Criminals were given six-month war contracts to pardon their sentences They say comrades have been publicly executed by their own commanders Russian inmates were sent to the front lines in Ukraine with the Wagner Group Vladimir Putin has a 'squadron of liquidators' to publicly execute deserters, former convicts who were drafted into the Ukraine war have claimed. Inmates who were transferred from their prison cells to the war's front lines with the Wagner Group of private mercenaries say they have witnessed disobedient comrades being killed by commanders. Former convict Yevgeny Novikov said in a report by Polygon Media and the independent Mozhem Obyasnit outlet: 'Those who disobey are eliminated and it's done publicly.' He said the 'squadrons of liquidators' deal with troops considered to be problematic. Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin is pictured pardoning former inmates who served six months fighting in Ukraine He recalled: '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.' Another ex-convict, Alexander Drozdov, a former inmate who was recruited by the Kremlin's private army, said many in his ranks are 'completely insane', with killers, rapists and drug addicts fighting Putin's war. He said some prisoners disobey orders but others are 'just f***ed up and bulldoze their way through'. Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin recruited inmates by offering them freedom from Russia's hellish jails in return for joining the country's failing invasion of Ukraine. Last week, the first batch of Russian prisoners to be pardoned after fighting in Ukraine returned home, and Prigozhin offered them the bizarre advice 'Don't rape women, drink too much or get up to no good'. Last week, the boss of Putin's Wagner mercenaries released the first batch of Russian prisoners to be pardoned after fighting in Ukraine A view shows military uniform amid debris of a destroyed building purported to be a vocational college used as temporary accommodation for Russian soldiers Having survived six months of Putin's meatgrinder war, the inmates have now been released with Prigozhin saying the ragtag group of convicts should be 'treated with deepest respect by society'. It means the start of convicted murderers, rapists and robbers being allowed back onto Russian streets with their sentences wiped out. With Russian casualties continuing to mount to staggering numbers, Putin employed the Wagner Group to recruit prisoners to bolster troop numbers. The scheme pioneered by Prigozhin - a Putin fixer now rapidly turning into a major populist political and military figure in Russia - has led to tens of thousands of prisoners being allowed out of jail. The men are formally pardoned by Putin, as president. Prigozhin said of the ex-convicted who have survived six months at the front: 'It is necessary to understand that they are fully capable members of society.' Critics in Russia say many convicts were strong-armed to join Putin's war in an abuse of human rights - then used as cannon fodder. Prigozhin told critics that if prisoners were not fighting, their own sons would be called to the war. Last month, a Ukrainian military advisor said Russian prisoners were being 'killed in big quantities' after being pushed to the front lines. A senior US military official also said the convicts are being used to 'take the brunt' of Ukrainian fire to clear a path for 'better trained forces'. Among Wagner ex-prisoners killed were Vadim Medvedev, 23, jailed for theft and drugs offences. Ukrainian military fire an anti-aircraft weapon, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Bakhmut Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of Wagner Group private military company, went to a penal colony in Mordovia to offer prisoners a chance of freedom in exchange for fighting in Putin's war in September He told the inmates they will be pardoned if they survive six months in the war against Ukraine. They should take their own lives instead of being taken prisoner, he said Drug trafficker Dmitry Chuikin, 47, was killed in Ukraine seeking to earn his freedom by staying alive for six months. Another convict Vadim Grigoriev - whose crimes were not revealed - was posthumously ordered the Order of Courage. Wagner fighters have been at the forefront of Moscow's offensive in Ukraine. The group's presence has also been reported in conflict zones including Syria, Libya, Mali and the Central African Republic. In September, Prigozhin was seen in a jail courtyard, offering contracts to prisoners to fight in Ukraine with a chilling set of conditions. 'If you arrive in Ukraine and decide it's not for you, we will regard it as desertion and will shoot you. Any questions, guys?' said the man. 'No one gives themselves up,' he said, adding recruits should have grenades on them in case of capture. 'If you die, your body will be repatriated to the place you wrote down on the form.' Rishi Sunak has been warned his bid to introduce new strikes legislation could be delayed as Labour peers readied for a fight in the House of Lords. The Government yesterday unveiled plans to give ministers the power to impose minimum service levels in key public services during strike action by unions. But the Prime Minister is facing a huge battle to get the legislation through Parliament, with opposition peers suggesting they could hold up the laws for at least a year. They are also set to fight the Government over its plans to allow ministers to decide themselves what level of service should be provided during strikes. The Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill is part of Mr Sunak's response to the ongoing 'winter of discontent'. Nurses, ambulance drivers, rail workers, and border officials - as well as many other workers - have all brought widespread disruption to Britain with walkouts in recent months. In an attempt to guard against future chaos, the PM is aiming to introduce a legal requirement for minimum service levels during strike action across a number of sectors. The strikes bill seeks to give the Government the power to set minimum service levels for NHS, fire, education, transport, nuclear decommissioning and border security services. Rishi Sunak has been warned his bid to introduce new strikes legislation could be delayed as Labour peers readied for a fight in the House of Lords The Prime Minister is facing a huge battle to get the legislation through Parliament, with opposition peers suggesting they could hold up the laws for at least a year. The Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill is part of Mr Sunak's response to the ongoing 'winter of discontent', which has seen ambulance workers joine many others in staging walkouts But the plans are being bitterly opposed by trade unions and Labour, with ministers set for a fierce fight in the Lords over the legislation. Opposition peers have dismissed suggestions the Lords should not be able to reject the strikes bill due to a long-standing parliamentary convention. The Salisbury-Addison Convention means legislation passed by the Commons and that carries out a manifesto commitment of a ruling party should not be voted down by the Lords. Although the Tories' 2019 manifesto promised to introduce minimum service levels during transport strikes, the bill unveiled by Mr Sunak seeks powers over a much wider range of sectors. If Government legislation is defeated in the Lords, peers can delay the passage of a bill by a year under the Parliament Act. This would threaten the PM's intended aim to pass the strikes bill before the end of the year. A senior Labour source in the Lords told MailOnline: 'Any notion of Salisbury being in play is fanciful - and no doubt being pushed by those in Government for whom it's probably the only thing they remember about the Lords from their politics A-level course.' The source predicted resistance would focus on the broad powers for ministers to set the rules without further parliamentary scrutiny. The bill introduced to the Commons yesterday does not set out what minimum service levels should be, or what they should be based on, but gives ministers the power to impose minimums through secondary legislation. This is a change from the Governments previous proposals, published in October, which involved employers negotiating with trade unions and, if no agreement could be reached, going through an arbitration process. However, the Labour source conceded the Government was likely to get its way in the end, due to the large number of Tory peers in the Lords. 'Government sets the business timetable... the reality is that they can draw from a much deeper well of peers in Lords to get stuff through,' they added. It has also been noted how the strikes bill could lay a trap for Labour, should they win power at the next general election. The draft legislation suggests that ministers' ability to use provisions to amend, repeal or revoke the new powers would only last until the end of the current session of Parliament. It means Labour, which has vowed to repeal the Government's bill if they win the next election, could face a more complicated path - such as having to bring forward its own bill - to remove the legislation. Vladimir Putin has begun handing out medals to reward violent convicts who were recruited from Russian prisons for their 'courage' fighting in Ukraine. Hayk Gasparyan, a convicted armed robber, was freed from his maximum security jail to serve in pro-Kremlin forces illegally invading their neighbours in a scheme reminiscent of the 1978 WWII film Inglorious Bas***ds. The Armenian MMA fighter, 31, had only served a few months of a seven-year sentence in a lockup in Ryazan, south-east of Moscow, for armed robbery but he is now officially a free man after being pardoned by Putin for completing six months of service at the front. Gasparyan was also seen in a recent state TV broadcast of Putin meeting and greeting various soldiers at an event in Rostov-on-Don, a city in southern Russia located just 50 miles from the Ukrainian border. Also present at the heavily-staged ceremony were several individuals who have previously been identified as actors from other Kremlin propaganda videos. Gasparyan is pictured receiving his Order of Courage from the Russian president Putin is pictured meeting fighters in Rostov-On-Don, some of whom are criminals released from prison to go and serve on the frontlines. Gasparyan is circled. Some of the individuals in this image, including the blonde woman standing directly in front of Putin, have been identified as actors who've appeared in several Kremlin propaganda pieces Gasparyan served with the infamous Wagner group, a band of Russian mercenaries set up by one of Putin's cronies which has embarked upon a mass recruitment drive among Russian prisons. 'I serve Russia and Wagner,' he told Putin, who awarded him an Order of Courage for battlefield bravery. The armed robber was convicted one year ago of stealing 3,500 at gunpoint from a man outside a Moscow bank. In the coming weeks thousands of murderers, rapists and robbers are likely to receive similar pardons from Putin. Wagner was founded by Putin's 'chef' Yevgeny Prigozhin, himself a former convict who once organised major Kremlin banquets for the Russian president, in 2014. Since then Prigozhin has developed a fearsome army to aid Putin's struggling soldiers in the fight against Ukraine by scooping up an estimated 40,000 violent prisoners, promising them a full pardon from their sentences if they can survive six months on the frontline. Prigozhin's utilisation of hardened prisoners to conduct major wartime operations in Ukraine harks back to the 1978 film Inglorious Bast***ds, one of the inspirations behind Quentin Tarantino's acclaimed 2009 flick Inglorious Basterds. Wagner was founded by Putin's 'chef' Yevgeny Prigozhin, himself a former convict who has conducted a mass recruitment drive in Russian prisons to bolster Russia's war effort in Ukraine Putin's chef Yevgeny Prigozhin is filmed recruiting inmates in one of Russian colonies in October 2022 In the film, a band of degenerate American soldiers who are court-martialed for committing a series of crimes including robbery, mutiny and murder, go on to launch a daring mission to steal some of Germany's most precious military hardware - a V2 rocket - and return it to Allied powers. The concept of releasing hardened criminals from their cells to go to war is by no means novel. During the Second World War, Hitler's feared paramilitary group, the SS, created a division made up almost exclusively of violent convicts, mental patients and disgraced soldiers from other units. The 36th Waffen Grenadier Division - better known simply as the Dirlewanger Brigade - ranks among the worst of an already deplorable bunch of units that constituted the SS. The Dirlewanger brigade was formed in 1940 and named after its commanding officer, Oskar Dirlewanger, who fought in WWI and by all accounts was a drug-addicted sex offender with a penchant for violence and brutality who bounced in and out of prison. Nazi Lieutenant General Gottlob Berger - a close comrade of Holocaust architect Heinrich Himmler - managed to get him out of jail and after Dirlewanger impressed by fighting on the side of General Francisco Franco in the Spanish civil war, he was welcomed back into the Nazi fold and handed an SS unit to command as a reward. Nazi troops thought to be members of the Dirlewanger brigade are pictured in Poland in 1944 en route to quell the Warsaw uprising The mercenaries of Yevgeny Prigozhin (left), a close Putin ally and financier of the Wagner Group, have committed heinous war crimes on populations on several continents. Their methods bare a striking similarity to those of the Dirlewanger brigade, an infamous SS unit commanded by Oskar Dirlewanger (right) At its inception, Dirlewanger's brigade was nothing more than a small rag-tag group of criminals - mostly poachers renowned for their hunting skills - who were deployed primarily to help round up Jews and root out resistance fighters. Many SS commanders strongly disliked the convicted rapist and his group of degenerates, but they proved effective in their work and as the war raged on and the demand for manpower increased, Dirlewanger was given carte blanche to expand his ranks. Life expectancy in the brigade was not high. They were afforded little equipment, were sent into very hostile conditions, and it was common for fellow 'wangers to kill each other over minor disagreements. Nevertheless, over the course of the war the brigade grew from a group of a few dozen poachers to a thousands-strong battalion comprised of savages scraped from the bottom of the barrel. As their reputation for brutality grew, the brigade switched from pursuing Jews and manning concentration camps and transformed into a unit of pure exterminators. They were sent into occupied countries to quell civilian uprisings and terrorise local populations by massacring huge quantities of people in the most savage and brutal ways imaginable. Police have been slammed over posting photo of elderly woman Police have been slammed after posting a photo of an elderly woman to Facebook in relation to an alleged stealing incident at a supermarket. Sydney's St George Police Area Command on Wednesday shared an image of the mystery woman they believe may be able to assist with their inquiries in the wake of the alleged theft at a Coles in Ramsgate on December 21. But Many social media users who saw the blurry photo showing the woman with glasses and disheveled hair in the supermarket aisle, rushed to her defence assuming what had allegedly been stolen was essential supplies and not cash. The St George Police Area Command have come under fire after posting the above photo, unblurred, of an elderly woman in relation to an alleged stealing at a Coles on December 21 'Times are tough and to splash the elderly lady's picture on social media doesn't help. Who knows what her situation is,' one commenter wrote. 'She appears super dangerous,' another said ironically. 'So good of you to splash her face across social media to protect the public.' 'Judging from her body language, she's not a criminal, she's desperate for help probably because the economy at the moment,' a third speculated. 'What did she steal from a supermarket that her picture was posted!' another said. 'When someone steals food to eat you have to ask why and try and help. Very sad world we live in.' Police responded to backlash and accusations they were shaming her but by explaining: 'a considerable amount of money was stolen. The lady is being asked to assist with enquiries'. Sydney's St George Police Area Command on Wednesday shared an image of the mystery woman they believe may be able to assist with their inquiries in the wake of the alleged theft at a Coles in Ramsgate (pictured) on December 21 Many social media users who saw the blurry photo showing the woman with glasses and disheveled hair in the supermarket aisle, rushed to her defence assuming what had allegedly been stolen was essential supplies and not cash. Not everyone felt sympathy for the woman in the photo. One social media user said police should do everything they can to track down thieves and those who can assist inquiries. 'No excuse to steal,' the person said. Anyone with any information is urged to contact police. All flights across America were grounded today for the first time since 9/11 after an as-yet unexplained, FAA computer system failure. The first complaints by passengers that their flights had been grounded started at around 4am EST, but it wasn't until 6.30am that the FAA announced it had grounded all flights as a result of an overnight crash of its NOTAM system - which pilots use to receive hazard warnings and safety updates. By 9am, the issue had been resolved and flights were beginning to take off again. But the hours-long pause sent the day's travel into chaos that is expected to last hours - if not days. Already, more than 8,000 flights have been delayed and 1,000 flights have been canceled. The FAA is yet to explain how the catastrophic glitch came about or why there was no back-up system in place to ensure planes could continue to fly. All that the White House has said is that there is no evidence of a cyber attack 'at this point', but no further details have been given. As chaos spread throughout the country's airports, airline industry experts slammed the Biden administration and specifically Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg for the debacle. Buttigieg failed to explain the outage during a press conference, saying only that flights were grounded 'out of an abundance of caution'. Scroll down for video Miami: Passengers at Miami International Airport on Wednesday after a 'computer failure' halted all flights for several hours and delayed 8,000 planes Miami: More passengers left stranded at the airport Some said there is 'no excuse' for the failure that is the latest in a string of embarrassing transport headaches since he took office. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre tweeted that there was 'no evidence of a cyberattack at this point' but failed to say what had caused the collapse. Michael Boyd, Chairman of The Boyd Group, an aviation research company, told CNBC's Squawk Box: 'The FAA has fallen off the trolley in terms of keeping up their system. 'There is no excuse for this. We need qualified aviation-related people in charge of the FAA, not people who know people in Washington.' Passengers at Chicago O'Hare airport on Wednesday after a 'computer failure' halted all flights for several hours and delayed 5,000 planes Boston: A passenger waits for updates for her flight at Boston's Logan Airport All flights have been grounded until at least 9am EST which will have a knock-on effect on the 45,000 flights the FAA handles every day Donald Trump Jr. said the outage made America look 'like a third world country' while Governor Ron DeSantis' deputy press secretary tweeted: 'Mayor Pete is having another great day as Secretary of Transportation! 'Maybe we should spend less time on racist roads and more time on our critical infrastructure.' The last time we had all airplanes grounded was, I hate to say it, but back in 9/11. No airplanes move, so that's what we're looking at today... the impact will be huge Southwest Airlines Pilots Association Vice President Cpt. Michael Santoro Southwest Airlines Pilots Association Vice President Cpt. Michael Santoro told Fox Business the impact would be 'huge'. 'The last time we had all airplanes grounded was, I hate to say it, but back in 9/11. 'No airplanes move, so that's what we're looking at today,' he said. Zach Griff, senior writer at travel experts The Points Guy, told DailyMail.com: 'Once the system became operational again, flights were theoretically allowed to resume but and this is the kicker airlines cant simply just restart their operations. 'Many planes were already delayed and in the wrong place, while flight crews operating these planes were already thrown off schedule. 'Flight crews can only legally work a certain number of hours, and specific planes were already scheduled for flights thatve since been delayed. 'Together, this domino effect will continue to lead to a slew of delays and cancellations throughout the U.S. today and likely into Thursday. President Biden told reporters the cause of the outage was not yet known but that he had ordered the Department of Transportation to conduct a full investigation. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is yet to be seen Newark: People wait at Newark Airport, New Jersey. 11 January 2023, after the FAA outage grounded all flights for several hours Newark: More passengers wait for updates after severe flight delays as a result of the outage Tampa: Elspeth Nairn (left) told DailyMail.com she was on her way to Hawaii to help her sister who recently broke her hip. Im very disappointed. My sister had fallen and broken her hip and the purpose of my trip is to help her. Daryl Leak (right) is an electrical safety inspector who was due to travel to Denver for work. 'It looks like everything will have to be pushed back. Its incredibly annoying,' he said Denver: Passengers wait at the gate for updates after their flight is delayed Los Angeles: Passengers waiting to board a grounded Alaska Airlines flight at L.A.X. Tampa: A passenger stranded at Tampa's International Terminal 7a on Wednesday morning 'American and Delta have preemptively implemented their own delay programs to help minimize the effects of this mornings stoppage of flights, while Southwest continues to fare the worst with over 1,600 delayed flights and more than 300 canceled ones today In the meantime, thousands of people are stranded at airports across the country. Airport lounges quickly filled up as news of the outage spread, while some passengers were told by their airlines to simply 'go home'. Disgruntled travelers have told DailyMail.com they are having to cancel long-standing plans because of the FAA systems failure chaos. Airlines cant simply just restart their operations...this domino effect will continue to lead to a slew of delays and cancellations throughout the U.S. today and likely into Thursday Zack Griff, senior travel writer for The Points Guy Elspeth Nairn was meant to be heading out of Tampa International Airport this morning to help her sister who lives in Kona, Hawaii and has broken her hip. Im left with no choice but to cancel everything and rebook for Friday, retired Nairn, of Bradenton, Florida, said. My flight was meant to go through Phoenix and that one was also cancelled. So Im leaving the airport and going home now. Im rebooking for Friday, because that looks like the earliest I can make it. Its better to cancel and let this hubbub clear. Im very disappointed. My sister had fallen and broken her hip and the purpose of my trip is to help her. Electrical safety engineer Daryl Leak, waiting for a flight to Dallas and a connection to Denver, Colorado, told DailyMail.com: This is my second delay in five days. 'If its not sorted within the next 20 minutes Im going to be forced to cancel and go home because Im not going to make any connection. Tampa: Passengers stranded at Tampa airport in Florida on Wednesday Tampa: More passengers waiting for their flight at Tampa's International Terminal 7A on Wednesday JFK: Grounded planes are shown at New York's JFK on Wednesday morning as the delays continued Chicago: Grounded planes in a row at Chicago O'Hare Airport on Wednesday Atlanta: Two Delta planes sit on the tarmac at Atlanta's airport - the largest in the US and one of the busiest in the world - on Wednesday Chicago: Passengers wait for updates at Chicago O'Hare Airport on Wednesday morning Im an electrical safety inspector and Im working. What is the FAA Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system? Wednesday saw thousands of flights across the US grounded by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), due to a failure in the Notice to Air Missions (NOTAMs) system. In the world of aviation, NOTAM is an unclassified notice that contains vital information for those concerned with flight operations, while not being delivered far enough in advance to be in the public realm through other means. A NOTAM is filed with a country's aviation authority - in the case of the US, the FAA - to alert other pilots of any hazards on their route. The authority then distributes these notices to relevant pilots. A NOTAM 'states the abnormal status of a component of the National Airspace System (NAS) not the normal status,' the FAA website explains. Among the hazards flagged by NOTAM include air shows, parachute jumps, rocket launches, as well as changes in operations such as runway closures or airspace restrictions caused by military exercises. Criticism has ben leveled at NOTAMs which can go up to 200 pages for long-haul international flights. In 2017, an Air Canada flight nearly crashed into four other airlines as it attempted to land in San Francisco. The flight misidentified a taxiway as a runway. Information about the adjacent runway being closed was buried in the NOTAM. Advertisement 'But it looks like everything will have to be pushed back. Its incredibly annoying. Leak, from Tampa, said his previous delay eventually saw him driving 650 miles from Raleigh, North Carolina, to his home. I was at Raleigh-Durham airport and they cancelled me at 9pm. The next flight was 4.30pm next day so I drove nothing else for it. As the morning wore on at Tampa International, more and more passengers were being processed through TSA security but with no flights to board. It is the latest headache for US air travel after a woeful holiday period which saw the collapse of Southwest Airlines which left thousands of people stranded over Christmas and New Year. In the first mention of the problem this morning, the FAA said in an alert: 'The FAA is working to restore its Notice to Air Missions System. 'We are performing final validation checks and repopulating the system now. 'Operations across the National Airspace System are affected. 'We will provide frequent updates as we make progress.' At 7am, the agency said: 'The FAA is still working to fully restore the Notice to Air Missions system following an outage. 'While some functions are beginning to come back on line, National Airspace System operations remain limited.' Shortly before 7.30am, the FAA announced all flights were on hold until 9am. 'The FAA is still working to fully restore the Notice to Air Missions system following an outage. 'The FAA has ordered airlines to pause all domestic departures until 9 a.m. Eastern Time to allow the agency to validate the integrity of flight and safety information.' NOTAM notices contain information essential to personnel concerned with flight operations, but not known far enough in advance to be publicized by other means. Information can go up to 200 pages for long-haul international flights and may include items such as runway closures, general bird hazard warnings, or low-altitude construction obstacles. The outage comes after federal officials said on Tuesday that they will require charter airlines, air-tour operators and plane manufacturers to develop detailed systems for identifying potential safety problems before accidents occur. Pictured: A passenger takes to Twitter to give their own updates on her situation, saying she has been receiving updates from the pilot, and that many passengers were either stranded and had missed connecting flights The Federal Aviation Administration said safety-management systems have made travel on large airlines safer since their adoption was required in 2018. 'Expanding safety management systems to other players in the aviation industry will reduce accidents and incidents and save lives,' acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen said in a statement. The National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates crashes, has pushed for wider adoption of such systems. In 2020, Congress directed the FAA to require them for aircraft manufacturers after two fatal crashes involving Boeing 737 Max planes. The FAA said its proposal Tuesday went further by including smaller passenger-carrying operators. In justifying expanding the requirement to smaller air operators, the FAA cited incidents including a 2015 crash of a float plane near Ketchikan, Alaska, that killed the pilot and all eight passengers. The NTSB blamed pilot error and the company's lack of a formal safety program. The FAA said Tuesday that if its proposed rule had been in effect, the company would have taken steps that might have prevented the accident, including having a manager responsible for assessing safety risk. The FAA has an explainer on safety-management systems, which have been a growing trend in aviation in recent years. California is scrambling to clean up the aftermath from powerful storms that slammed into the West Coast and killed at least 17 people. More than half of California's 58 counties were declared disaster areas, Gov. Gavin Newsom said, as he expected the death toll to rise. 'It's remarkable and we're not out of the woods,' Newsome told reporters on Tuesday as the northern half of the state is forecasted to see more devastating storms hit the state later on Friday. 'We expect these storms to continue until at least the 18th. We expect, at minimum, three more of these atmospheric rivers in different shapes and forms. The magnitude of this is not isolated,' he warned. Along with widespread damage, the latest storms also caused Yellowstone star Kevin Costner to miss the 2023 Golden Globe Awards, where he won Best Performance by an Actor in a TV series. 'This is the second time in five years that the freeway has flooded out,' Costner said in a Twitter video explaining his absence. 'We found ourselves on the wrong side of the town and we couldn't get back last night.' Californians are working around the clock to clean up and repair the damage from a series of powerful storms that hit the West Coast. Pictured: Homes destroyed on Capitol Avenue in Sacramento, with a crew on the crumbling roof Fifty-eight counties were declared disaster areas due to the storm. Pictured: properties along Beer Creek were flooded in Merced Pictured: A car and pickup truck were sucked into a sinkhole following floods on Monday Pictured: Firefighters are pictured helping Humberto Maciel rescue his dog in Merced Marcial Calleja Aguirre runs with son Oliver Calleja as it starts to rain at the Silvas crossing at Uvas Creek, where it overflow on the road after another wave of storms in Gilroy Costner, 67, noted that he and his wife, Christine Baumgartner, had to pull their kids out of school in Santa Barbara on Monday due to the severe weather. He said his family was safe, but sad that they couldn't attend the Golden Globes and celebrate Yellowstone's success. 'Nobody's sadder than us that we can't be there at the Golden Globes,' he said. I'm just so sorry that I can't be there. I really wanted to, I know how bad Chris wanted to support me.' As Costner noted the increasing frequency of flooding in his town, Newsom warned that storms were getting worse in the Golden State. 'We are soaked. This place is soaked. Now modest precipitation can have equal or greater impact in terms of conditions on the ground,' Newsom said. 'These conditions are serious and they are deadly.' The governor ultimately placed the blame on the intensity of the storms to climate change, saying the state will see hotter and drier summers and cold and wetter winters. 'This weather whiplash is that new reality' he said. 'In this state, emergency mindset is ever-present. 'This has happened in the middle of a mega drought. The dries are getting drier, and the wets are getting a lot wetter.' Newsom (right) warned of more storms to hit the state as he visited devastated areas, including the Paradise Beach Grille restaurant in Capitola Pictured: The Riviera Holiday Mobile Estates/Senior Community was flooded in Merced Residents in Carmel Valley were seen helping each other clear out floodwaters Talen Ricardo (left) and Dave Winans (right) take some sandbags prepared by the California Conservation Corps ahead of more storms forecasted for later in the week This undated photo provided by the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office shows a photo of five-year-old Kyle Doan who the authorities are searching for after he was swept away A pickup truck driver and a motorcyclist were killed early Tuesday in the San Joaquin Valley when a tree that had been struck by lightning fell on them, authorities said. A 5-year-old boy also vanished after he and his mother were stranded in a truck in the raging floodwaters. Kyle Doan was swept away on the central coast near San Miguel and while his mother was rescued, searches thus far have only turned up one of his Nike shoes. A break in the weather Tuesday allowed officials to continue to look for Doan. 'It's still very dangerous out there,' said San Luis Obispo County sheriff's spokesperson Tony Cipolla. 'The creeks are very fast flowing.' Following days of rain in the Golden State, floodwaters surround homes and vehicles in the Planada community of Merced County Pauline Torres is pictured carrying her belongings our of her flooded home in Merced In Merced, Bear Creek overflowed its banks, flooding dozens of homes and vehicles Brenda Ortega, 15, salvages items from her home in the county following the floods Nick Enero (above) wades through floodwaters while helping his brother find his belongings The latest storm that hit Monday was one in a series beginning late last month and Repairing the damage may cost more than $1 billion, warned Adam Smith, a disaster expert with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Los Angeles Times reported. Crews worked to reopen major highways that were closed due to rockslides, swamped by flooding or smothered with mud while more than 10,000 people who were ordered out of seaside towns on the central coast were allowed to return home. They included Montecito, a wealthy Santa Barbara County community that is home to Prince Harry and other celebrities where 23 people died and more than 100 homes were destroyed in a mudslide five years ago. Yet thousands of people living near rain-swollen creeks and rivers remained under evacuation orders. The state has issued thousands of evacuation orders in some of the hardest hit counties Jesus Torres (above) carries belongings from his flooded home in Merced Howard Burman looks at mud that washed through his garage after the San Lorenzo River overflowed in the Felton Grove neighborhood Satelliteshowing a large area of low pressure out over the Pacific. This will be our next rain maker tomorrow (Wednesday).#cawx pic.twitter.com/ERcUQijP9X NWS Bay Area (@NWSBayArea) January 11, 2023 In the San Joaquin Valley, raging waters from Bear Creek flooded parts of the city of Merced and neighboring Planada, a small agricultural community along a highway leading to Yosemite National Park. All 4,000 residents of Planada were ordered to leave Tuesday morning. Neighborhoods were under water with cars submerged up to their roofs. Residents ordered to evacuate carried whatever they could salvage on their backs as they left in the rain. Other evacuations were ordered because of levee breaches in parts of Monterey County. In total, nearly 37,000 people were evacuated from the hardest hit areas of the state. The National Weather Service warned yet more rain was set to hit San Francisco on Wednesday. Firefighters clear away a fallen tree in Montecito, California, the village home to many celebrities, including Prince Harry and Meghan Markle A resident keeps watch on Fredonia Drive in Studio City, where a mudslide is blocking the road during a rain on Tuesday Debris from a mudslide blocks a street in the Laurel Canyon section of Los Angeles The most recent atmospheric river - a long plume of moisture stretching into the Pacific that can drop staggering amounts of rain and snow - has eased in some areas. Light to moderate rain with some thunderstorms was forecast to arrive Wednesday in Northern California. A longer storm system was predicted to last from Friday until Jan. 17. Despite the rain, most of the state remained in extreme or severe drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. The storms may help locally 'but will not resolve the long-term drought challenges,' said Rick Spinrad, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Damage from the storm included washed-out roads and seaside businesses flooded by 20-foot (6-meter) surf that pounded Santa Cruz County. Many areas saw unprecedented amounts of rain coupled with furious winds and even hail and lightning that knocked down trees and damaged electrical lines. More than 75,000 homes and businesses around the state were without power as of late Tuesday night, according to the website Poweroutage.us. Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a 58 counties disaster areas following the storm In this image taken with a drone, a vehicle is stuck in a sinkhole in Chatsworth Exposed roofing tops a South San Francisco, Calif., apartment building as storms battered the state on Tuesday, with more forecasted for the end of the week A vehicle is trapped by mud and debris at Jameson Lane near Highway 101 in Montecito Mudslides damaged some homes in pricey Los Angeles hillside areas, while further up the coast a sinkhole damaged 15 homes in the rural Santa Barbara County community of Orcutt. In San Francisco, a tree fell on a commuter bus on Tuesday without causing injuries and lightning struck the citys iconic Transamerica Pyramid building without damage. High winds also ripped away part of the roof on a large apartment building. Some people found themselves stranded in small communities inundated with water and mud. 'Were all stuck out here,' Brian Briggs said, describing a scary night during which the deluge unleashed mudslides in remote Matilija Canyon that buried one house and cut off the only road to nearby Ojai. The canyon creek began to flood yards and the surrounding hills, which were stripped of vegetation in the 2017 Thomas Fire, began to tumble down in the dark. Brandon Ammon is pictured sweeping mud that washed through his garage in Felton Kim Ochoa, of Merced, is seen wading through water on the way to her car on Tuesday A resident attempts to help a vehicle stuck on Fredonia Drive in Studio City In an aerial view, a flooded area by the overflowing San Ysidro creek on Jameson Lane is seen near the closed Highway 101 in Montecito. California saw little relief from drenching rains Tuesday as the latest in a relentless string of storms swamped roads Mudflows dragged sheds, gazebos and outhouses into the creek, Briggs said. After helping neighbors get to higher ground, he returned home to find his fence destroyed by waist-deep mud. A helicopter dropped ten sheriff's deputies Tuesday to help the residents of dozens of canyon homes. The wet and blustery weather left Californias large homeless population in a precarious situation. At least two homeless people in Sacramento County died and more than a dozen people were rescued from a homeless encampment on the Ventura River. Theo Harris, who has lived on San Francisco's streets since 2016, fortified his shelter with tarps and zip ties Tuesday and took in his girlfriend after her tent flooded. 'The wind has been treacherous, but you just got to bundle up and make sure you stay dry,' Harris said. 'Rain is part of life. Its going to be sunny. It's going to rain. I just got to strap my boots up and not give up.' Matt O'Brien (above) shovels mud from a friend's driveway after floods overtook their Felton Grove neighborhood on Tuesday Those with homes in Montecito also had to clear out mud caused by the flooding A work crew (pictured) cleans up a flooded road in Montecito, clearing up debris an mud A man who posed on Instagram with two Rolexes was murdered after two women used the date rape drug GHB in an attempt to rob him of the watches - before he was fatally stabbed in the thigh by one of their two male accomplices. Saul Murray, 33, had been targeted by Surpreet Dhillon, 35, and Temidayo Awe, 21, who seduced and stripped him after meeting up at his Luton home on February 27 last year. Mr Murray was found naked in a pool of blood in the communal entrance to the flats in New Town Street, after the two men working with the women - Ikram Affia, 31, and Cleon Brown, 29 - entered his home to snatch his valuable items. CCTV played to the jury at Luton Crown Court showed the women leaving the flat, followed 19 seconds later by the two men. A large knife was in the right hand of Affia. All four defendants were convicted of conspiring to rob Saul Murray (pictured in a swimming pool while sporting a Rolex) between February 8 and February 28 last year. Ikem Affia was also found guilty of having a blade Mr Murray was found naked in a pool of blood in the communal entrance to the flats in New Town Street, after the two men working with the women - Ikram Affia, 31, and Cleon Brown, 29 - entered his home to snatch his valuable items (Pictured: One of the targeted Rolexes) A jury found Affia, of Hackney, London, guilty of murder on Tuesday. Dhillon, of London; Brown, of South Hackney and Awe, of Gillingham, were convicted of the manslaughter of Mr Murray. They will be sentenced at a later date. All four defendants were convicted of conspiring to rob him between February 8 and February 28. Ikem Affia was also found guilty of having a blade. Prosecutor Jane Bickerstaff KC said: 'Mr Murray can be seen just a few seconds after the men. He is hobbling and completely naked. He opens the communal door and falls over and dies.' She said a night shift worker dialled 999 after returning home to the flats an hour and a half later and saw Mr Murray in a pool of blood. Saul Murray (pictured), 33, had been targeted by Surpreet Dhillon, 35, and Temidayo Awe, 21, who seduced and stripped him after meeting up at his Luton home A post mortem found he died from a deep wound to his thigh. It penetrated his femoral artery and he bled out. Opening the case, Ms Bickerstaff said the murder took place in the very early hours of Sunday February 27 last year. She said: 'The prosecution's case is that Surpreet Dhillon made contact with Saul Murray via Instagram on 9th February after he posted pics of himself wearing two Rolex watches. The contact then moved to WhatsApp.' The four defendants travelled to Luton from London late on Saturday February 26 in a Mercedes A Class car that Brown had hired. The prosecutor said: 'They went to steal items from Mr Murray that they believed were of high value. They were mob handed and armed. Ikem Affia had a knife. 'They were aware that Saul Murray would be present in his home and could not have expected he would give up his watches and other high value items he had without any resistance. Mr Murray was found naked in a pool of blood in the communal entrance to the flats in New Town Street, after two men working with the women - Ikram Affia and Cleon Brown - entered his home to snatch his valuable items (Pictured: Investigators on the scene following Mr Murray's murder last February) A jury found Ikem Affia, 31, of Hackney, London, guilty of murder on Tuesday. Surpreet Dhillon, 35, of London; Cleon Brown, 29, of South Hackney and Temidayo Awe, 21, of Gillingham, were convicted of the manslaughter of Mr Murray. They will be sentenced at a later date. (Pictured: Tributes left outside Mr Murray's home) 'They agreed to use force and threats and agreed to the use of a sedative substance - the GHB that was given to Mr Murray to knock him out.' The jury was told Mr Murray met the two women outside his flat. The two male defendants went off in the car and used a Drive-thru McDonalds. Samples taken from the victim's body showed he had drunk alcohol that would have given him only a 'mild degree of intoxication.' He had also consumed cannabis. The prosecutor said: 'Traces of GHB, which has potent sleep-inducing properties, was found. It is only prescribed in limited circumstances and is more usually obtained in the illicit drugs market. 'The level found in Mr Murray would support the scenario that it had been administrated some time before he died.' She said it was the prosecution's case that the two women had shared brandy with Mr Murray and 'they gave him GHB to knock him out.' The prosecutor said: 'Ms Dhillon and Ms Awe admit entering the flat with GHB and giving it to him. They admit they have done this before - setting up men and stealing items from them, including watches, while those men are asleep. The men set up were also given GHB.' She said at some point there was plainly some degree of sexual activity between the two women and Mr Murray. Swabs from both sides of his face and neck contained DNA from both women. Judge Michael Simon will sentence all four at a later date. They were remanded in custody. Rishi Sunak tonight made a Covid-style 'broadcast to the nation' in which he vowed to 'fix the challenges' facing Britain - but made no mention of strikes crippling the nation. In the three minute and 40 second political broadcast the Prime Minister vows to tackle problems including the economy, the NHS and migrants crossing the Channel in small boats. But on the day when NHS paramedics were on the picket line in a dispute over pay, and after rail strikes that have hammered services for months, there is no mention of industrial action. Instead the PM, sitting at a desk in Downing Street, talks about how he wants to restore 'pride in the United Kingdom' by focusing on 'the people's priorities. In the three minute and 40 second political broadcast the Prime Minister vows to tackle problems including the economy, the NHS and migrants crossing the Channel in small boats. But on the day when NHS paramedics were on the picket line in a dispute over pay, and after rail strikes that have hammered services for months, there is no mention of industrial action. UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea joined ambulance workers on the picket line outside Longley Ambulance Station in Sheffield today The broadcast also reminds viewers of the public outpouring of support for the NHS during the pandemic Mr Sunak says: 'Every family worries about getting the NHS care they need, for themselves, their parents, grandparents or children. But Covid has done huge harm to the NHS. 'It's created massive backlogs, which we are working through. But Britain's heroic response to Covid shows that where the political will exists to really grip a problem, we can bring everyone together and achieve the unthinkable.' Up to 25,000 ambulance workers across England and Wales have gone on strike in a dispute with the Government over pay. Paramedics, call handlers, drivers and technicians from the Unison and GMB unions are taking part in staggered strikes across a 24-hour period today. It comes as 14 health unions, representing more than a million NHS staff, said they will not submit evidence to the NHS pay review body for the next wage round 'while the current industrial disputes remain unresolved'. Addressing the Channel boats crisis, the PM outlined extra steps ministers are taking to prevent the influx, which saw more than 40,000 people cross the busy international waterway in 2022 Instead, the unions, which represent ambulance staff, nurses, porters, healthcare assistants, physiotherapists and other NHS workers in England, called for direct pay talks with ministers. NHS Providers has warned the NHS will be hit harder by Wednesday's strike than one held in December as more staff, including call handlers, go on strike. Unison has balloted around 15,000 of its members who are striking in London, Yorkshire, the North West, North East and South West. Addressing the Channel boats crisis, Mr Sunak outlined extra steps ministers are taking to prevent the influx, which saw more than 40,000 people cross the busy international waterway in 2022. 'Its unfair on those who follow the rules, on those who really deserve our help. And above all it is unfair on British taxpayers. It must stop, and under my government it will stop,' he says. 'Britain will always be a place for global talent and those in dire need. But basic human decency must be accompanied by hard headed common sense.' India and France might be on the edge of signing a defense deal for French Rafale-M Fighters during French President Emmanuel Macron's state visit in March. Macron To Ink Defense Deal with India A deal for more than 26 Rafale fighters might be approved during President Macron's March 2023 trip to Delhi, based on a report issued on January 4 in the French publication La Tribune. The exact dates of the presidential visit have yet to be announced. The document conjectured that the Indian side had certainly been working on the proceedings for signing a contract through March 2023, since that year marks the 25th anniversary of the strategic collaboration between the two nations. to be announced. But nothing is verified as the Indian government or the Indian Navy has not confirmed any commitment, reported The EurAsian Times. Former French Defense Minister Florence Parly told the press in December 2021 that Dassault Aviation could win a request for "26 to 57 Rafale jets in Navy variant." Even so, an agreement could now be approved for 26 Rafale Marine fighter jets rather than 57 units. The Indian Navy previously assessed the French Dassault Aviation Rafale-M as well as the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet to augment its shrinking and infirm fleet of carrier-based MiG-29K fighters. These aircraft were evaluated months apart at a shore-based testing facility in Goa, India. Read Also: Xi Jinping: 5 Things To Know About China's President For the Defense Ministry to make a final determination on the purchase, the Indian Navy completed a comprehensive summary on Rafale and Super Hornets just after the testing, as reported in The Times of India. Based on the report, the Rafale is "more appropriate" to acquire and can meet the operations and maintenance criteria and requirements than the Super Hornets. Previously, military experts tried to claim that the Rafale wings could not be tucked, causing them to take up additional space on the aircraft carrier's deck. The F/18 Super Hornet, in contrast, had one slight edge due to its foldable wing system. However, other characteristics of the marine version of the jet were observed in the report, giving it an advantage. These 26 carrier-based planes are temporary until the country develops and generates its twin-engine deck-based fighter (TEDBF). The remaining aircraft will be provided by the Indian company Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd., not the United States, by a document in another local French media outlet, BFM TV. Based on best guesses, the Indian Navy will acquire the HAL Tejas Mark-2 multi-mission aircraft, which is expected to be operational between 2024 and 2026 and cannot be independently verified as accurate claims. Rafale-M Fighters with the Tejas Mark-2 The LCA Mark 2 multirole fighter jet is a more extreme form of the indigenous LCA Tejas jet fighter. Tejas Mk-2, a 4.5th generation fighter created by the Aeronautical Development Agency, is anticipated to become the most sophisticated Tejas version designed and built indigenously. Based on the previous arguments, it is implausible that the Indian Navy would have been keen on the Tejas Mk-2 because it does not require eligibility as a carrier-based airframe. This defense deal between India and France for a tender Rafale-M Fighters could be feasible during the Macron state visit. Related Article: Iran Presents Its Newest Suicide Drone on Simulated Naval Base Attack in Zolfaghar-1401 Military Drills @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A bouncer who was the victim of a woman's racist rant has broken his silence and said he hopes the culprit has learned her lesson. Police said yesterday that a 51-year-old woman, named as Justine Morrison, has been cautioned after accepting responsibility for the ugly spat. She was filmed jeering 'you black man' at doorman Dally Whylie outside of Vine Bar, in Halifax, West Yorkshire, on Friday. Morrison, a mother-of-two and said to be a trained accountant, made the comments after being ordered out of the bar, which is situated among the historic mills of the Yorkshire town. Dally White, who was racially abused by Justine Morrison, 51, outside Vine Bar in Halifax, says he is 'glad' there has been consequences after she was handed a police caution The incident happened on Friday night outside Vine Bar, set among Halifaxs historic mills, after Ms Morrison was escorted out of the venue for upsetting other customers Speaking out for the first time following the incident, Mr Whylie, in his 50s, said he is glad there has been 'consequences'. He said: 'In this day and age everyone should be getting on with each other - no matter your race or ethnicity. 'Colour shouldn't come in to any argument. I'm happy to see she is having to deal with the consequences for her actions.' Mr Whylie, who has worked in security for over 30 years, claims Morrison began making racist comments and threw a drink in his direction after a row in the bar. In the video, Morrison, wearing a blue blouse, says to the bouncer: 'Oh my god you must be so proud. You're working on a door,' clapping her hands in mock applause. A man standing behind her, believed to be her husband Anthony, tells her: 'Come on, let's go.' Justine Morrison, a married mother-of-two, burst into a finger-jabbing, racist rant as she left an upmarket cocktail bar. Pictured with her husband, Anthony Vine Bar in Halifax, where the racist attack took place VINE BAR: 'ABUSE OF HOSPITALITY STAFF IS FAR TOO COMMON' Vine Bar, Halifax, West Yorkshire Vine Bar owner Lynda Gionotti said in a statement that staff were 'truly appalled', 'shocked' and 'saddened' over the abuse. The statement read: 'All the staff and management at Vine are truly appalled at the behaviour of the customer who racially abused our doorman last Friday evening. 'This kind of behaviour towards our staff will not be tolerated and we are thankful that West Yorkshire Police took swift and decisive action. 'Abuse of hospitality staff is unfortunately a problem that needs stamping out. No one should have to go to work and endure abuse it's just not acceptable.' Advertisement Before walking off, she points her finger at the doorman and says: 'You, black man.' As she walks away, staggering on her heels, she turns and spits out the word black before continuing: 'That's why you get a name. Black.' Mr Whylie, a dad-of-two, posted the video on Facebook the next morning where it was viewed thousands of times, with viewers appalled by her attitude. Laura Corrigan wrote: Cant believe this still happens in 2023, disgusting! What a role model for her two daughters. Karen Holt posted: No doubt shell say shes not racist and say her third cousin on her husband's side has a black boyfriend. And Heidi Molloy added: Wonder if she's clapping hands now, oh you must be so proud Justine hope you enjoyed your night in the cells. West Yorkshire Police confirmed a woman was arrested and received a conditional caution after admitting responsibility. Mr Whylie said he's happy to see her get punished but admits the incident has weighed on him. He said: 'I feel down about it. It shouldn't have happened in the first place. 'Colour shouldn't be brought up no matter what the disagreement is about and, to be honest, I don't feel happy about the caution. 'She should have got more punishment in the eyes of the law. But at least she has suffered some other deserved repercussions.' Morrison is said to have worked at Shine Theatre Arts, from which she has since reportedly been sacked. On her Twitter profile Ms Morrison writes that she loves Schofe, the Twitter handle for Philip Schofield. She has also posted a picture of herself and her sister with Schofield and Holly Willoughby at a This Morning event 51-year-old Ms Morrison lives with her husband and two daughters on farmland outside Halifax in West Yorkshire A spokesperson for Shine told MailOnline: 'This is all really, really upsetting. I have been told by the police that I should make no comment about this. I can't say any more.' But Mr Whylie added: 'I think it is in the best interests of everyone she was working with at the dance company that she [has been] dismissed from her role there. 'She has been exposed as a racist woman and the world knows that now. The abuse hasn't put me off my job but it has played with my head a bit. 'I've been working as a doorman for over 30 years and nothing like this has ever happened before. 'The fact it has happened towards the end of my career when society is meant to have come on from this type of thing is shocking. 'I just hope she has learnt her lesson and will think more carefully before she opens her mouth in the future.' Ms Morrison is understood to be the daughter of a retired policeman. Her Twitter profile says she has been married to Anthony for '23 wonderful years' and that she loves Schofe, the Twitter handle for Philip Schofield. It reveals a love of Jersey and family holidays abroad. A spokesperson for West Yorkshire Police confirmed: 'A 51-year-old woman was arrested and interviewed in relation to an incident of causing racially aggravated harassment, alarm or distress which took place at Vine Bar, in Stainland Road, West Vale, Halifax on Friday 6 January. 'She admitted the offences and received a conditional caution, as a criminal justice outcome with conditions. 'This includes taking part in the restorative justice programme and accepting responsibility for her actions.' A British mother died suddenly on the morning of her dream wedding in Trinidad. Nadia Joseph-Gosine, who was described as 'beautiful', 'caring' and 'happy' by her distraught partner and sister, passed away on December 7, 2022, due to liver failure. The 33-year-old from Beckton had travelled to Trinidad to get married to her partner of five years Devon Gosine, 37. She had spent a few weeks in the country with Devon and her 10-year-old son Emari, but perished just hours before her wedding while her fiance slept next to her. Nadia's devastated sister Isha Daley, 37, knew she had struggled with liver and kidney problems in the past but was under the impression she had recovered. Nadia Joseph-Gosine, who was described as 'beautiful', 'caring' and 'happy' by her distraught partner and sister, passed away on December 7, 2022 due to liver failure Nadia, pictured with her partner Devon Gosine, 37, had spent weeks in Trinidad but died in her sleep hours before the pair were due to get married Isha remembers Nadia as 'a mini rebel' who was 'very lively and feisty', telling MyLondon that her sister was a 'very entertaining person'. 'She just wanted to be happy. A little fire cracker. She was very beautiful. Absolutely stunning. And she loved life, loved to travel.' Nadia's fiance Devon told MyLondon she was 'the most loving, caring, and genuine person' and the love of his life. Nadia was described as 'beautiful', 'a little fire cracker' and 'always happy' by her grieving family and partner Fighting back tears on the phone from Trinidad, he said: 'She would go all out for you and she was the most hard-working. She was always happy. Whatever she was going through she was always happy. 'She was the love of my life. She was always the best part of my life.' He added: 'I can't stop being reminded of what happened. Seeing everything and still I'm in disbelief. After all that time we were finally getting married. 'We were preparing for the rest of our life and all of a sudden it gets taken away. It was the toughest thing.' On the night before what was supposed to be their wedding day, Devon says he and Nadia were up late talking after some friends had called and wished them all the best ahead of the ceremony. Devon said Nadia was struggling to sleep, but he thought she was just anxious about the big day. He says he cuddled her and she fell asleep, but when he happened to wake up at around 2am, he kissed her on the cheek only to find she was completely unresponsive. Nadia is pictured with her partner Devon, centre, and her son Emari Realising something was wrong he called for help, but paramedics who arrived on the scene spent 45 minutes trying to resuscitate Nadia, to no avail. 'It just happened all of a sudden,' said Devon. 'At least she didn't have to suffer.' Nadia's death came as a surprise but Isha, who works in the NHS, has since said she was told by doctors that her liver was so damaged she would have died two weeks later, even if she had got medical help. Devon meanwhile is looking after Nadia's son Emari in Trinidad as if he was his own. Emari has a different father, but he is not in contact with the family. Isha said she was prepared to look after Emari once he returns to London along with her 16-year-old daughter, and is now trying to raise funds to book Emari's flight home and have his mother cremated. Nadia had cancelled her life insurance just three months before her death and didn't have travel insurance. Isha added that she doesn't think Emari has processed his mum's death yet, but 'he does know she is no longer here and everyone keeps him distracted'. Isha told MyLondon that she is still in 'hopeful denial' and it won't be until Nadia is back home that she will fully come to terms with her loss. The Church of England's 'first' non-binary vicar said today that discovering new ways of understanding gender makes 'perfect sense for a God who loves variety'. Bingo Allison, 36, who defines as gender-queer and uses the pronouns 'they/them', experienced an epiphany seven years ago while reading the story of Adam and Eve. The vicar, who works in Liverpool, said they came to terms with their gender identity while reading Genesis 1-3 in the Old Testament and came out to their wife and three children. Bingo appeared on ITV's This Morning to discuss the issue with hosts Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby. The Church of England's 'first' non-binary vicar said today that discovering new ways of understanding gender makes 'perfect sense for a God who loves variety' Bingo Allison, 36, is gender-queer and to their knowledge the Church of England's first openly non-binary priest Schofield told her: 'The point you make, which I thought was lovely when I read it this morning is the fact that you have male and female, and that God created night and day but he also created the times in between - dawn and twilight.' The vicar replied: 'Creation is full of variety. That's what we learn from creation, is that God loves variety. 'God creates all these different animals, we're still discovering new animals, and the fact we're still discovering new ways of understanding gender makes perfect sense for a God who loves variety.' Bingo came out seven years ago, halfway through the Church of England's vicar training programme. They explained how the language which the bible originally used in Genesis 1:27 spoke about 'from maleness to femaleness' as opposed to men and women. 'I was sitting there in the middle of the night when I realised I might need to run my life upside down it was a deepening spiritual experience,' they said last week. At that point Bingo had only met two openly gay people and no trans people, and there were times when they questioned their new gender identity. Now they visit schools and speak to youth groups to encourage other LGBTQ+ people they have a place in the church. Speaking to BBC Radio Merseyside, Bingo described coming out as a 'gradual process for me and my family.' They said: 'I'm married and I've got three children, and it was really important to come out to them, give some time letting them understand about me before I emerged on the world.' 'My children are young and when you're little really you accept most things and they've been lovely about it. 'We taught them about trans people before I came out so it wasn't a completely alien thing for them.' Bingo continued: 'It was difficult for my wife to begin with obviously you marry what you think is a straight guy and suddenly things are more complicated than that. 'But I'd like to believe you marry the person someone becomes as much as you marry the person that they are.' Bingo uses social media to spread their message and in one playful post wrote how 'Jesus loves sparkly eyeshadow' Bingo, who previously trained to become a priest in Durham, said the Church of England was 'open to me coming out' but added that it was 'difficult' for some people they had worked with 'because for them I was the first transgender person they had worked with closely'. They have since moved to the Liverpool Diocese 'which does so much to support and empower LGBT people' and they have found their new congregation 'wonderful'. Talking about how it has received them, Bingo added: 'On the outside you might think "oh, they're quite a traditional church so they might have traditional views", but I've always been treated as a person and as a priest.' Bingo is now vocal about gender issues and uses social media to spread their message including posting selfies with captions saying Jesus 'loves sparkly eyeshadow'. The parent of three grew up in a 'strongly religious' household in West Yorkshire and was raised to believe being gay was 'sinful'. But a 15-year journey, which included meeting other LGBTQ+ Christians, completely changed their 'very traditional and conservative' outlook on life, they told the Liverpool Echo. 'My views used to be very traditional and very conservative certainly. Some might call them bigoted and there was a lot of ignorance and a lot of ''othering'',' they said. 'I didn't take the time to learn from other people's experiences. I was definitely in a lot of denial and some of that denial came out in denial of other people's identities.' They came out seven years ago, halfway through the Church of England's vicar training programme, after having an epiphany while reading the Old Testament Now they visit schools and speak to youth groups to encourage other LGBTQ+ people they have a place in the church Bingo is ordained at St Margaret's Toxteth in the Diocese of Liverpool in 2020 In a speech to a panel on making churches more inclusive, Bingo said Christianity had historically been guilty of prioritising the views of 'rich, white, straight, cisgender, able-bodied, neurotypical men'. Explaining that they are also autistic and dyspraxic, Bingo wrote: 'I am passionate about fully including neurodivergent people in the life and faith of the Church, particularly in our telling and retelling of stories from the Bible. 'The history of biblical interpretation is littered with the opinions of rich, white, straight, cisgender, able-bodied, neurotypical men assuming that everyone in the passages that they read thought like them and perceived the world like them. 'The biases that this creates exclude anyone who doesnt fit from fully engaging with the Bible, and often lead the church to miss out on vital perspective on all sorts of biblical narratives. 'So if Biblical scholars tended to be neurotypical and tended to assume that everyone they read about in the Bible was like them unless specifically informed otherwise, what would happen if I assumed the opposite? 'What if a neurodivergent hermeneutic started with the assumption that, unless specifically informed otherwise, certain characters were neurodivergent?' A photo from the ordination in September 2020. Bingo believes they are the first non-binary Church of England vicar Bingo says that during their educational work they are constantly impressed by how 'open-minded' younger people are. A recent survey by Stonewall found that more than a quarter of younger people now identify as LGBT. The LGBTQ+ charity claimed 71 per cent of Gen Z respondents those aged 16 to 26 identify as straight. The figure is a contrast to the Baby Boomer generation those aged 56 to 75 in which 91 per cent described themselves as straight. Of the next generation, Gen X, described as being those aged 43 to 56, Stonewall said 87 per cent said they were straight. The figure was 82 per cent for Millennials those aged 27 to 42 according to the charity. In its report, which uses data from polling company Ipsos UK, Stonewall said the results show Britain is becoming a 'rainbow nation'. The owner of an art gallery in San Francisco who was caught on camera spraying a homeless woman with a hosepipe has defended his actions. In footage shared on social media, Collier Gwin, who runs Foster Gwin Gallery in the Financial District, leans against the gate of a restaurant and continues to spray the woman, despite her yelping with discomfort. Local businesses were quick to condemn his actions, while scores of enraged social media users left dreadful reviews online - causing the gallery's rating on Google to plunge to just one star. Discussing the incident, which took place on Monday, Gwin said: 'I've been here for 40 years. We have tons of homeless [people]. But they haven't been in a situation where they get that violent [within] 10 days of the neighborhood trying to do something. We have been able to get them taken to a shelter, which they leave immediately.' Pictured: Collier Gwin, who runs Foster Gwin Gallery in the Financial District I just went down and confronted him during an interview with the chronicle pic.twitter.com/BMuQMJaoHl Darren Mckeeman (@tjcrowley) January 10, 2023 Collier Gwin was seen in a now viral video spraying a homeless woman in San Francisco with a hose. The incident occurred on Monday as weather hit a low of 49 degrees The reporter in the video said: 'I've listened to her talk to the people and saying, "No, this is the way I want to live. My idea of cleanliness is not your idea of cleanliness."' Gwin replied: 'That's fine, as long as she knows what she's saying.' After admitting to being the man in the hosepipe video, Gwin also tried to defend his actions yesterday, claiming the woman had become psychotic and was turning over garbage cans. 'I said you have to move, I cannot clean the street, move down,' Gwin told The San Francisco Chronicle. 'She starts screaming bellingent things, spitting, yelling at me... at that point she was so out of control... I spray her with the hose and say, "Move, move. I will help you."' He also noted that he has previously been a 'champion' of trying to help her. The chef of Brioche Cafe, who captured the video, said he saw the scene unfold while making an early morning delivery around 6am. 'I was shocked,' Edson Garcia told The Chronicle. 'I know that lady.' Gwin insisted that he is not sorry for his actions and was trying to 'help' her. He said the woman had been staying in front of his gallery for days The video has since amassed millions of views. But despite the widespread backlash, Gwin stuck by his actions. 'You know, spraying her's not the solution, but spraying her was something that woke her up, and that calmed her down,' Gwin said. 'So am I sorry? I'm only sorry that... my way of helping her countlessly has gotten nothing done.' Gwin added that before the incident he had allowed her to stay on the sidewalk for days and attempted to call the police and other government services to get her help. His art gallery has been running since 1984 and has brought in A-list clients, such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, according to SocketSite. DailyMail.com reached out to Gwin for a comment but he wasn't immediately available. And it now appears the firm's social media pages have been shut down. The gallery shares a wall with a restaurant called Barbarossa Lounge, which is where Gwin was seen leaning against a gate in the video. The gallery shares a wall with a restaurant called Barbarossa Lounge, which is where Gwin was seen leaning against a gate in the video. Gwin is not associated with the restaurant Internet sleuths seeking to identify the perpetrator had at first assumed Gwin was associated with the restaurant. But owner Arash Ghanadan debunked the claim as mountains of hate messages flooded in. 'Barbarossa Lounge has been made aware of a video that has begun to circulate on social media, which was filmed outside of our small business,' Ghanadan told DailyMail.com. 'We are extremely disappointed in this individual's behavior and in no way support such actions. We have been informed that further formal and media investigation is underway.' Ghanadan added: 'It's been a hard time for our business in the past three years with a pandemic. We barely survived that and now our reputation is being ruined by a video that everyone is falsely assuming relates to our business.' Rows of homeless tents are seen near the City Hall of San Francisco outside residential properties and small business premises earlier this year About 8,000 homeless people were reported in the city in February The video comes amid a growing homelessness crisis in the city. The number of homeless people in San Francisco was tallied in February at almost 8,000, the second highest figure of any year since 2005, according to the official government count which takes place every three years. Business owners in San Francisco's Castro neighborhood have threatened to stop paying taxes if politicians don't start cleaning up streets of litter and stopping people from openly taking drugs. In a letter to city officials in August, The Castro Merchants Association said some of the homeless people in the streets outside their stores had been harassing customers and needed help. 'They need shelter and/or services and they need them immediately,' the Merchants Association said. 'Our community is struggling to recover from lost business revenue, from burglaries and never-ending vandalism/graffiti (often committed by unhoused persons) and we implore you to take action.' Prince Harry has been accused of hypocrisy and U-turning on a number of controversial subjects - including his pleas for 'privacy' - during his media blitz while promoting his bombshell tell-all memoir. In his autobiography Spare, and interviews to plug the book, the Duke of Sussex has launched a slew of 'truth bombs' including allegations that his estranged brother William attacked him during a row over Megxit and branding Queen Consort Camilla 'dangerous'. Amid the media firestorm, however, the prince has come under fire for appearing to openly contradict himself and even backtrack on bombshell claims that he - and Meghan - have previously made. Here, MailOnline takes a look at what critics claim are examples of the Duke's hypocrisy and U-turning... Prince Harry has been accused of hypocrisy and U-turning on a number of controversial subjects - including his pleas for 'privacy' - during his media blitz while promoting his bombshell tell-all memoir In his autobiography Spare, and interviews to plug the book, the Duke of Sussex has launched a slew of 'truth bombs' including allegations that his estranged brother William physically attacked him during a row over Megxit and Queen Consort Camilla was 'dangerous' 1) Harry tells Tom Bradby how he hopes any talks with his family 'will be in private'... AFTER revealing salacious details about the Royals in his memoir In his incendiary interview with ITV journalist, and old friend, Tom Bradby, the Duke sensationally said that he hoped any reconciliation with the Royal Family would be in private. The prince made his plea despite having launched a media blitz on both sides of the Atlantic to promote Spare and having just appeared on a tell-all Netflix docu-series with his wife, Meghan. Harry said: '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.' Hundreds of royal fans took to social media to blast the Duke's bewildering plea for privacy. The Duke of Sussex made his plea for privacy despite having launched a media blitz on both sides of the Atlantic to promote 'Spare' and having just appeared on a tell-all Netflix docu-series with his wife, Meghan Markle Ex-BBC broadcaster Jon Sopel and Vanity Fair's royal correspondent Katie Nicholl both tweeted their disbelief at Harry's pleas for privacy Ex-BBC broadcaster Jon Sopel tweeted: 'Please tell me I misheard this: 'I hope what I say to my father and brother remains private'.' Vanity Fair's royal correspondent Katie Nicholl shared her thoughts in just two words in her own tweet: 'The irony!' Another person quipped online: 'Private? Not a word in Harry's vocabulary.' One user tweeted: 'Harry literally turning the British Monarchy into an episode of The Kardashian's. This is cringe.' Another said: 'If you want communication with your family to be private, why are you doing this interview?! So contradictory. A third added: 'He wants any future conversation to stay private but is sitting here telling us what other 'private' conversations they have had.' There was disbelief when Harry told ITV's Tom Bradby that whatever he says to William in future will remain 'private', despite using his memoirs, TV interviews, a Netflix documentary as well as an Oprah special to spill the beans on what his family said to him and Meghan behind closed doors 2) Harry accuses Diana's former butler Paul Burrell of 'milking' his mother's death in a tell-all book... after the Duke wrote extensively about the late Princess of Wales in his OWN memoir The Duke condemned Diana's former butler for releasing a book that made a series of private revelations about his mother - even after writing extensively about the late Princess in his own memoir. In his controversial autobiography, Harry said Paul Burrell was 'milking' Diana's 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 his memoir, Harry said Paul Burrell made his 'blood boil' by releasing a book about Princess Diana called A Royal Duty 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 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.' Appearing on Australian breakfast show Sunrise yesterday, 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.' The Duke of Sussex accused Mr Burrell of 'milking' Princess Diana's death for money (pictured together in 1997) Speaking from his home in Florida, he said the Duke 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 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]... 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.' 3) Critic accuses 'self-proclaimed feminist' Harry of 'breathtaking hypocrisy' by making personal attacks on Queen Consort Camilla 'Self-proclaimed feminist' Harry has been accused by a critic of 'tremendous' and 'breathtaking' hypocrisy for making 'nasty potshot' attacks on the character of his stepmother Queen Consort Camilla. In an interview to plug his explosive autobiography Spare, the Duke branded the King's second wife the 'villain' and 'dangerous', accusing her of rehabilitating her image at the expense of his. Later, he appeared to row back the comments by saying that he had 'huge compassion' for Camilla. However, royal sources indicated Charles considers the prince's attacks on the Queen Consort to have crossed a 'red line'. Speaking to ITV's Good Morning Britain, Camilla's friend and journalist Petronella Wyatt blasted Harry's fierce criticisms, accusing the Duke - who she called a 'self-proclaimed feminist' - of hypocrisy by 'taking a very nasty potshot at a 75-year-old woman who can't answer back'. Though she claimed that Charles will be 'devastated' by Harry's charges, Ms Wyatt said that the King 'will forgive his son anything' because he feels responsible 'for the way he's turned out'. 'Self-proclaimed feminist' Prince Harry is facing charges of 'tremendous hypocrisy' for making extraordinary and 'nasty' attacks on the character of his stepmother Queen Consort Camilla in his bombshell memoir 'I think Harry is a tremendous hypocrite because he's a self-avowed feminist and yet he takes this very nasty potshot at a 75-year-old woman who can't answer back. So where is his feminism?', Ms Wyatt said. 'If anyone accused Meghan of scheming her way into marriage for the Royal Family... that creates howls from Harry, so why is he doing the same thing to Camilla? And why is he taking absolutely no responsibility for his own mistakes which were not leaked to the Press by Camilla?'. She continued: 'There was one example of a leak by one of her aides that was unintentional, and the aide was immediately sacked. But she has never ever briefed against her... she would never do that, she's a very very kind person, she's very sensitive where both the princes were concerned, and she's completely without ambition.' Though she claimed that Charles will be 'devastated' by Harry's charges, Ms Wyatt said that the King 'will forgive his son anything' because he feels responsible 'for the way he's turned out' 4) Harry calls Camilla 'dangerous' in one interview... then used another interview to say he had 'huge compassion' for her Harry made yet another sensational U-turn in his attacks on the Royal Family - claiming he has 'huge compassion' for his father's wife Camilla, less than 12 hours after he branded her 'dangerous' and a 'villain' in a 60 Minutes interview to promote his explosive new book. The 38-year-old's comments about the Queen Consort - whom he reveals in Spare that he once thought of as an 'evil stepmother' - came in a new sit-down with GMA, his third pre-recorded interview in less than 24 hours. Speaking to host Michael Strahan, who 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'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 '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, 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 told Cooper that the Queen Consort was content with bodies being 'left in the street' as she tried to rehabilitate her image after her long affair with Charles while he was married to Diana. Referring back 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.' 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.' 5) Harry DENIES accusing the Royal Family of racism in bombshell Oprah interview... where he and Meghan alleged an unnamed royal asked about the skin colour of their unborn son Archie Harry was accused of having 'hung his family out to dry' after he 'failed to correct' accusations of racism made about the Royal Family in his bombshell Oprah interview and the recent Netflix series. The Duke of Sussex denied calling the Royal Family racist in his interview with Bradby, but said they were guilty of 'unconscious bias' while discussing Meghan's controversial claim to Oprah that an unnamed royal had expressed 'concern' about Archie's skin colour. Ms Winfrey asked Meghan in 2021: 'They were concerned that if he were too brown, that would be a problem? Are you saying that?' Ms Markle 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?' 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 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 It prompted a worldwide guessing game about the senior royal who said it and hours later Harry's estranged brother, Prince 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 in an incendiary interview to plug his new memoir, he told Bradby that the Royal Family is not racist. Bradby was visibly stunned - as were millions of viewers - by his screeching U-turn from previous incendiary claims. 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'. Bradby appeared taken aback by the answer - while experts said that Harry clearly didn't understand the term he was now using. 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 The husband of missing mother-of-three Ana Walshe was a 'long-term patient' at a psychiatric center and had been diagnosed as a 'sociopath', a friend of his father has claimed. Brian Walshe, 46, had received treatment at Austen Riggs Psychiatric Center in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, before being discharged a few years ago, Jeffrey Ornstein alleged. Ornstein, who was a friend of Walshe's neurologist father, Dr Thomas Walshe, for 35 years, aired the claims in an explosive 2019 affidavit. He also claimed Walshe had been estranged from the rest of his family after he had been accused of stealing millions of dollars from Dr Walshe's estate following his death. Brian Walshe, 46, had been a patient at Austen Riggs Psychiatric Center in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, before being released a few years ago, a friend of his father alleged The news comes as the search for Walshe's missing wife Ana, 39, enters its 11th day. She vanished from their home in Cohasset early on New Year's Day The news comes as the search for Ana, 39, enters its 11th day. She vanished from the family home in Cohasset early on New Year's Day. Cops have recovered a hack saw, a hatchet, and a rug, and found blood at a waste disposal site near her husband's mother's house. On Monday, Walshe pleaded not guilty to misleading investigators in the hunt for his missing wife, but remained in jail on $500,000 bond. Walshe's cousin, and two close friends of his father, aired the accusations against him in the scathing 2019 court documents following the death of Dr Walshe in 2018. Ornstein said he had known Brian Walshe since he was 13, but said father and son had been estranged since 2009. He claimed that, when Walshe was released from Austen Riggs after around 12 years and attempted to contact his father, Dr Walshe turned him down. Orenstein quoted Dr Walshe as saying: 'You're my son and I will always hope for the best for you, but I do not want to re-engage. 'If I did, I know that I would be letting mayhem back into my life, and I can't have that.' Ornstein claimed that, when Walshe was released from Austen Riggs (pictured) after around 12 years and tried to contact his father, Dr Walshe turned him down Thomas Walshe died in India, aged 71, in 2018 The documents claim Walshe tried to manipulate his father out of cash after he suffered a stroke. DailyMail.com this week revealed he was accused by his family of stealing nearly a million dollars from his father before the pair became estranged in 2009. Thomas Walshe died in India, aged 71, in 2018. His lawyer contacted the son to inform him of the news. Legal documents show Walshe asked for a key to the family's $710,000 beachfront property in Hull, Massachusetts. They add the younger Walshe raided his father's home, stealing thousands of dollars worth of artwork and luxury items including paintings by Salvador Dali and Joan Miro as well as a car. The father-of-three then allegedly tried to sell his father's home for $140,000 more than it was worth, after he was wrongly named executor of the will. Walshe (pictured with Ana) was seen on surveillance video buying heavy-duty cleaning supplies, despite telling cops he had been home around the time his wife was last seen alive Walshe tells authorities that he only left the family home (pictured) in Cohasset to take his son for ice cream 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. Ana's phone pinged in the area of the house on Jan 1 and 2. January 4: Ana's employer reports her 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. Advertisement He was also accused in the papers of trying to sell the other items online, advertising a sale in January months after his father's death. Walshe failed to inform other family members of his father's passing, and the discrepancies were only caught after his cousin, who had been named the executor of Dr Walshe's will, contacted a friend in 2019 to discover the news. Another family member took over the estate in July of that year, and a month later a probate court ordered Walshe to submit an inventory of the items he took from the property, which he has refused to do. Meanwhile, Walshe was also previously charged with fraud after selling two fake Andy Warhol paintings for $80,000 in 2016, and was on house arrest ahead of sentencing. The fraudster is accused of 'misleading' the court regarding his assets in the Warhol case. Court documents show he failed to inform probation about two IRAs one of which he contributed $91,000 and left off a 2014 Fiat and 2015 Maserati, which his wife Ana drove. She posted that the car, worth $120,000, was the 'best Valentine's present of her life' in a post online, adding 'kiss to my husband who makes all of my childhood dreams come true'. In a letter to the judge overseeing the Warhol case, Ana said that she was 'grateful' to him for allowing her husband to spend the 'last eight months at home supporting his children and closest family members.' She wrote: 'During these eight months, our family was able to be together during many milestones. 'On December 21, 2021, my mother suffered a major neurological event which caused a heavy hemorrhage. 'Brian was the one who heard my mother's sighs (sic) for help within seconds and immediately called me and emergency. 'She keeps repeating that she wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her son-in-law. 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. 'Brian has been working consistently on breaking the past habits of his family and we are all looking forward to the new chapter of his life.' Walshe failed to inform other family members of his father's passing in 2018 Legal documents show that serial fraudster Walshe asked for a key to his father's $710k beachfront property in Hull, Massachusetts Walshe is accused of taking a Salvador Dali painting - The Horseman of Death - from his father's property in Hull The legal documents say of his Warhol fraud: 'The crime was devious, complicated and planned' Legal documents show that the younger Walshe raided his father's home, stealing thousands of dollars worth of artwork and luxury items Among the items Walshe allegedly stole from his father's home were paintings by Salvador Dali and Joan Miro and a car Walshe was seen cracking a smile as he was handcuffed and led out of the station by officers Walshe is accused of 'misleading the court' and Ana is accused of 'benefiting from the fraud' her husband transferred $115,000 to her, which the court says links back to his victims. The court claims he stole more than $100,000 from his dead father's bank accounts, and the other assets were quickly 'converted to cash'. A ruling said he 'was not legally entitled' to any of the items that he took, adding that it was to 'sustain his lavish lifestyle.' Court documents also show Walshe used the funds from the Warhol fraud to go shopping with his wife in Prada while in France. Money also allegedly went towards paying credit card debt, which included charges for travel and restaurants. Walshe has still not told the FBI what he did with the Warhol Shadows paintings, and led the Bureau on a protracted investigation because of his 'multi-year crime spree.' His victim in that case, Ron Rivlin, the owner of Revolver Gallery in Los Angeles, found Walshe selling two Andy Warhol paintings for $100,000 each in November 2016. Walshe told Rivlin he was selling the works at a great loss in order to pay for home renovations, and Rivlin agreed to purchase both paintings for $80,000. Brian Walshe, 46 (pictured with Ana), Googled how to dismember a 115-pound woman's body before his wife vanished Cops have found blood, a hatchet, a hack saw, a rug and used cleaning supplies in the search for missing Massachusetts mother-of-three Ana Walshe Court documents linked to Walshe's Warhol fraud claim that his wife Ana benefited from the the fraud Court documents show that he failed to inform probation about two IRA's at Fidelity one of which he contributed $91k and left off a 2014 Fiat and 2015 Maserati, which his wife Ana drove Court documents also show that Walshe used the funds from the Warhol fraud to go shopping with his wife in Prada while in France - after receiving $145,000 from a victim He failed to list his 'substantial' assets that were linked to his wife, with court documents claiming that he should have listed them accordingly The pair signed a contract, which explicitly stated Rivlin had three days to get a full refund, according to the Massachusetts DA's office. Rivlin made several attempts to contact Walshe after discovering they were inauthentic, and informed the authorities after Walshe only refunded him $30,000. The legal documents say of his Warhol fraud: 'The crime was devious, complicated and planned. 'He traveled to multiple countries. He enlisted multiple artists to prepare fake paintings, with multiple lies. 'He involved private galleries, auction houses and even eBay in his scheme. He manipulated and stole from people who trusted him, welcomed him into their homes, and considered him a close friend. 'He crafted stories and lies about the paintings to make the fraudulent sales believable. 'Walshe proved so successful, in fact, that the FBI has not yet recovered the artwork despite an investigation of several years and the defendant's guilty pleas.' The Walshes have three sons, believed to be aged two, four, and six The couple owned several properties together including their home in Cohasset and a $1.3million house in DC (pictured) Ana was reported missing to police on January 4 by her employer in DC - three days after her husband last saw her on January 1. She worked for real estate behemoth Tishman Speyer, and the couple owned several properties together including their home in Cohasset and a $1.3million house in DC. They also owned another property in Massachusetts, worth $1.4million which they sold last year before she went missing. The building went up in flames days after she vanished, but cops investigating the matter believe the fire is not linked to her disappearance. On Monday, cops said they had found blood on a damaged knife and in the basement of their home in Cohasset. Officers searching two waste facilities on Monday night found further potential evidence. They trawled through security footage at West Wareham after finding blood, a hatchet, a hack saw, a rug and used cleaning products in a Peabody dumpster. The first facility is an hour south of Ana and Brian Walshe's home in Cohasset, while the other is 15 minutes from his mother's house in Swampscott. Walshe told officers he last saw his wife on January 1 at 6am, when she left to catch a flight to Washington DC for work. Police told a judge he was spotted spending $450 on cleaning products in a nearby Home Depot on January 2. Ana Walshe (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 Police scoured a nearby dumpster station after removing a container from Walshe's mother's property in Swampscott He claims he only left the house once on January 2 the day after she vanished to take his son for ice cream. Authorities say it would have allowed him time to clean up evidence and dispose of it, setting his bail being at $500,000 in cash. Prosecutors at Quincy District Court say Walshe's statements, including claiming that he didn't leave the house, delayed the investigation. 51 items are being returned to India, Nigeria and two tribes in South Dakota, US Seven objects on the way to New Delhi in historic first agreement with India Glasgow has become the first city in the UK to start send stolen artefacts which are now museum exhibits back to India. Seven objects are on the way to New Delhi as part of a historic agreement, including a ceremonial Indo-Persian tulwar (a type of sword), believed to be from the 14th century, and an 11th century carved stone door jamb from a Hindu temple in Kanpur. A total of 51 items are being returned to India, Nigeria and two tribes in South Dakota, US, but Glasgow first began the initiative in 1998. Glasgow Life Museums has become the first UK museums service to commit to returning heritage items, which were carefully packed into crates at the Resource Centre yesterday, before being transferred to the Archaeological Survey of India, where they will go on display. One of the items being is a ceremonial Indo-Persian tulwar (pictured), a type of sword, which is believed to date back to the 14th century Indian Artefacts are being packed up by Glasgow Life Conservator Steph de Roemer and Crown shipping agency staff today at the Glasgow Museums Resource Centre before they are shipped to the Archaeological Survey of India Artefacts including this 10th century black chlorite stele of Surya - the Sun God - from Bihar, were removed from temples and shrines in Northern India during the 19th century Glasgow Museums is the first UK museum to repatriate stolen artefacts to India. Pictured: One of the seven items set to be returned - a carved sandstone relief of a male fiture and a dog In August Glasgow Life welcomed dignitaries from the High Commission of India in London for a transfer of ownership ceremony to return the seven items. Delegates visited Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum to sign an agreement confirming the repatriation of the objects, six of which were stolen from temples and shrines across India during the 19th century, the other was bought after a theft from the owner. All were gifted to Glasgow's civic museum collections. The transfer of ownership took place after Glasgow City Council approved a recommendation made in April 2022 to return 51 items to India, Nigeria and the Cheyenne River and Pine Ridge Lakota Sioux tribes in South Dakota, US. Bailie Annette Christie, Chair of Glasgow Life and Convenor for Culture, Sport and International Relations for Glasgow City Council, said: 'The physical return of these Indian items marks a milestone for Glasgow. 'Glasgow has led international repatriation efforts since 1998, when an agreement was reached to return the Lakota Sacred Ghost Dance shirt to the Wounded Knee Survivors' Association. 'We must thank the High Commission of India, the British High Commission and the Archaeological Survey of India for their help and cooperation in ensuring the safe return of these objects from Glasgow's museum collections.' The tulwar was stolen in 1905 from the collection of the Nizam (ruler) of Hyderabad by his prime minister, who then sold it to the British general Sir Archibald Hunter India's Deputy High Commissioner to London Sujit Ghosh (pictured left with Duncan Dornan and Baillie Annette Christie) said in August he was 'delighted' at the decision to return the artefacts to India Glasgow Life Museums is also repatriating 19 Benin bronzes to Nigeria. This work has been ongoing since it was established the artefacts - acquired from auctions and as gifts - were taken from sacred sites and ceremonial buildings during the British Punitive Expedition of 1897. Glasgow Life Museums welcomed a delegation from Nigeria's National Commission for Museums and Monuments to Kelvingrove Museum in June 2022 to discuss the transfer of ownership and future dates. Some 25 Lakota and Oceti Sakowin relics sold and donated by George Crager, an interpreter for the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show who visited Glasgow in 1892 - will also be handed back to the Cheyenne River Sioux and Oglala Sioux tribes of South Dakota. Artefacts were taken from the Wounded Knee Massacre site following the battle of December 1890, while others were named ancestors' personal belongings or are ceremonial artefacts but encompass beliefs, history and values of the Oceti Sakowin. The Culture Secretary has defended Jeremy Clarkson's right 'to be able to say what he wants' after he faced a huge storm over his newspaper article about the Duchess of Sussex. Michelle Donelan insisted she did not 'align' herself with the TV presenter's comments about Meghan, but vowed to 'always champion' the freedom of the press. Both Clarkson and The Sun have apologised over his newspaper column, published last month, in which he claimed he 'hated' the Duchess of Sussex. The former Top Gear presenter also wrote that he dreamed of Meghan being paraded through British towns and publicly shamed. Clarkson's column quickly became the Independent Press Standards Organisation's most complained-about article ever. In a round of TV interviews to promote his controversial memoirs this week, Prince Harry also lashed out at the 'cruel' remarks about his wife. The King's youngest son branded Clarkson's article 'horrific' and 'hurtful' and suggested it encouraged other people 'to go and think that it's acceptable to treat women that way'. Jeremy Clarkson and The Sun have apologised over his newspaper column, published last month, in which he claimed he 'hated' the Duchess of Sussex In a round of TV interviews to promote his controversial memoirs this week, Prince Harry also lashed out at the 'cruel' remarks about his wife, Meghan Michelle Donelan insisted she did not 'align' herself with the TV presenter's comments about Meghan, but the Culture Secretary vowed to 'always champion' the freedom of the press Prince Harry also claimed the Royal Family's silence over attacks on his wife was 'deafening'. But, in an interview with the BBC, Ms Donelan insisted Clarkson 'had the right to say what he wanted to say'. 'I think that he had the right to say what he wanted to say,' she said. 'But obviously it was going to get the reaction that it got and it was going to concern a number of people. 'I wouldn't have said what he said and I don't align myself with the comments that he made, categorically no, of course I don't.' Asked whether the article provided evidence for Prince Harry's fierce complaints about the British press, the Cabinet minister added: 'No, we do have to have a freedom of press. 'We do have to have a position where people can air opinions that we don't all agree with, that is the nature of our media sector and press. 'It's important for democracy, it's important for exposing things, it's important for challenging democracy, holding politicians to account. 'I would always champion journalists' freedom and their ability and right to be able to write that content. 'Of course that shouldn't stray into illegal content, or go in certain directions, but - yeah - I defend his right to be able to say what he wants.' Clarkson said he was 'horrified to have caused so much hurt' with his 'clumsy reference' to a scene in TV's Game of Thrones The Sun removed Clarkson's article from its website last month. The motoring journalist himself said he was 'horrified to have caused so much hurt' with his 'clumsy reference' to a scene in TV's Game of Thrones. A spokeswoman for Prince Harry and Meghan previously dismissed the newspaper's apology as 'nothing more than a PR stunt' and claimed it had not contacted the Duchess of Sussex personally to say sorry. Miss Marten recently gave birth and there are concerns baby needs to see a GP Police searching every hotel and B&B in Colchester - where they were last seen A search for a missing mother and her newborn child has entered its sixth day, with every hotel and B&B in the city of Colchester being checked. Police are concerned about the fact that Constance Marten, 35, may have financial resources as she is from a wealthy landowning family. Miss Marten and her partner Mark Gordon disappeared after the car they were travelling in broke down on the M61 near Bolton, Greater Manchester, on Thursday evening, before leaving on foot with their baby boy. The family was last seen in Colchester, with Essex Police confirming they have had a number of confirmed sightings in the city. A search for a missing mother Constance Marten (pictured), 35, and her newborn child has entered its sixth day, with every hotel and B&B in the city of Colchester being checked Constance Marten (left), who is missing along with her newborn baby, is descended from wealthy landowners with close links to the Royal Family. Police have issued an urgent appeal for help to find Miss Marten and the baby's father Mark Gordon (right) Yesterday, officers worked through the night to visit every hotel and bed and breakfast in Colchester to establish whether the couple and their baby had recently stayed. The search is continuing today and leaflets are being handed out to help members of the public identify Miss Marten and Mr Gordon. Miss Marten is from an aristocratic landowning family in Dorset with 'ties to the Royal Family'. But it is understood that she has not been in close contact with them for a considerable time. She is the granddaughter of Mary Anna Marten, whose godmother was the late Queen Mother. The family used to own the Crichel estate in Dorset. Miss Marten's great-grandfather was Captain Napier Sturt, the third and final Baron Alington. Her father, Napier Marten, was a page to Queen Elizabeth, and gave up the 115million family fortune, saying a voice in his head told him 'to shave my head and go to Australia'. After her car broke down on the M61 near Bolton on Thursday evening, Miss Marten is believed to have been spotted wrapped in red blanket in Harwich Port, Essex on Saturday at 9am A map showing where Constance Marten was seen and where police are searching The car the couple were in had been purchased six days before they went missing. The vehicle broke down near junction four of the M61 near at Farnworth on January 5 and they left the motorway by walking towards Anchor Lane bridge, which links the Highfield and Little Hulton areas. Evidence suggests that Miss Marten had only recently given birth to the couple's child, and has not been assessed by medical professionals. Intelligence provided by taxi drivers suggests that the couple paid cash to travel first to Liverpool and then to Essex. They later stayed at a hotel using false names. They were spotted in Harwich Port in Essex at around 9am on Saturday morning. Amid growing concerns for their welfare, a CCTV image was released of Miss Marten wearing a red shawl near Harwich Port at 9am on January 7. Police said they were later seen in Colchester and enquiries are ongoing. In police statements, Mr Gordon is described as wearing dark clothing while Miss Marten is said to have a southern accent and was wearing a burgundy coat. The baby is swaddled. Constance's ancestors: Lt. Cdr George Marten with wife Mary and daughters Victoria, Charlotte and Georgina In a statement, Detective Chief Inspector Rob Huddleston said: 'As we have said previously, from our perspective this search is about the young child's welfare. 'We know some elements of the public may see police involvement as unwelcome and I would seek to assure you that we do not wish to impose ourselves for any reason other than to make sure the newborn baby is alive and well.' He added: 'I am a parent myself and I know the bond a mother and father have with their child, but I would appeal directly to Mark and Constance to put the welfare of their child first. 'To you, Constance, medical professionals still need to assess your baby to make sure he or she is medically well and there are no underlying issues for which he or she may need help for. Indeed, medical professionals would like to examine you for the same reasons. 'Please, get in contact any way you would like to. We are here and ready to help you.' Anyone with information is urged to contact 101 immediately. A Christian maths teacher accused of 'misgendering' a transgender pupil, calling Muhammad a 'false prophet' and saying men in today's society 'are not masculine enough' has denied misconduct. Joshua Sutcliffe is accused of referring to a transgender student as 'she' while working at a secondary school in Oxford, as well as making 'inappropriate' comments about gay marriage and masculinity at another school in London. The teacher, who is an evangelical Christian, is facing allegations of misconduct by the Teacher Regulation Agency (TRA). At a misconduct hearing in Oxford this week Andrew Cullen, representing the TRA, said Mr Sutcliffe had a 'strong belief and unshakeable conviction' that gender cannot be changed from the one assigned at birth. Teacher and evangelical Christian Joshua Sutcliffe (pictured) is accused of referring to a transgender student as 'she' while working at a secondary school in Oxford In 2017 Mr Sutcliffe was suspended by Cherwell School (pictured) after he said 'well done girls' to a group of pupils, including one who identified as a boy Mr Sutcliffe is accused of misgendering the student, known only as Pupil A, at The Cherwell School in Oxford in 2017. Mr Sutcliffe admits he used the wrong pronoun but denies it was due to his beliefs and says he apologised for the mistake. The tribunal heard that after Mr Sutcliffe was suspended and later left the school, he appeared on ITV's This Morning to speak about the incident. Mr Cullen said Mr Sutcliffe misgendered the pupil again during the segment, and also misgendered the student in an email to the school in December 2018 - which the TRA say also amounts to misconduct. Mr Sutcliffe is also accused of expressing his views on gay marriage and homosexuality during maths lessons - including making a comment that his roommate had 'stopped being gay through God' - which he denies. From September 2018, the maths teacher went to work at a boys St Aloysius' College in Islington, north London, where he is accused of showing students videos that were 'inappropriate and had the potential to cause pupils distress'. He allegedly played his own video to pupils at the boys-only Roman Catholic school in which he said Muslims have a 'false understanding of God' and that Muhammad was a 'false prophet'. Mr Sutcliffe is also accused of expressing his views on gay marriage and homosexuality during maths lessons - including making a comment that his roommate had 'stopped being gay through God' - which he denies He is also accused of making comments about masculinity, including that there is a 'growing problem in today's society that men are not masculine enough' and that women 'want real men' and are 'not attracted to passive men'. Mr Sutcliffe also allegedly said children who grow up without a father are more depressed than their peers and are at 'far greater risk of incarceration, teen pregnancy and poverty'. Mr Sutcliffe accepts the videos are on his Youtube account but denies showing them to students or making the comments in class, the tribunal heard. Mr Cullen said: 'All these issues are at the tip of public debate at the moment and issues that are hotly contested. 'It is not that a teacher can't hold personal beliefs or that one may not express their beliefs in an open way or in a public way - but context is vitally important.' Michael Phillips, representing Mr Sutcliffe, said the teacher's views on gender are 'controversial but upheld and protected in law'. Mr Phillips claimed there was no policy, risk assessment, or report from a social worker or psychologist to require teachers to use Pupil A's preferred pronoun, and Mr Sutcliffe would usually avoid using pronouns by referring to Pupil A by their name. On his YouTube channel, Mr Sutcliffe posted a video called: 'What does the Bible say about false prophets?' Mr Phillips added: 'There's nothing to suggest he must [use male pronouns] except for a brief conversation with a colleague that "if you don't do this, Pupil A will get mad".' He said Mr Sutcliffe did not believe he had to use Pupil A's preferred pronouns on This Morning or in an email to the school in 2018 as the student was 'not privy to those conversations'. In response to allegations he showed pupils in Islington his Youtube videos, Mr Phillips said: 'He does have a YouTube channel and he would endorse the comment of the video but he didn't show it. 'It may be that pupils looked him up... found out who he was, saw what he was about.' Mr Phillips said even if Mr Sutcliffe had shown the videos, the point of view expressed was something 'wholly in keeping with the Christian faith' and 'upheld' by the Catholic school. The tribunal continues. Sweden's NATO bid is now casting uncertainty as Ankara's demands may not be completely adhered to as stated in the agreement signed by the two countries. Ankara's Demands Cast Uncertainty in Sweden's NATO Bid It has been contingent on Stockholm to comply with Istanbul's demands which should be adhered to become a member of the military bloc, reported Republic World. Sweden Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson admitted that his country would not fulfill all of Turkey's conditions which it allegedly is stalling. He added only some of the stipulations could be met if they were to be admitted, noted VOA News. In May of last year, Stockholm and Helsinki would see NATO membership as the Russia-Ukraine conflict blew up in the Donbas. But Tukey will not allow them an easy pass, along with Hungary, who is stalling the inclusion of these Nordic nations. The Swedish PM stated that Turkey has confirmed what they have complied with and done, but not all are acceptable, citing Euronews. He added that it is up to Tayyip Erdogan to make the final decision, which he did on Sunday. He attended a security conference alongside NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. During the symposium, the Swedish Prime Minister spotlighted the trilateral joint statement negotiated between Turkey, Sweden, and Finland through 2022 but also pointed out that Stockholm had worked closely with the Erdogan government to a significant extent. Both nations acknowledged the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) as a terrorist organization in the accord, among many other commitments. Read Also: [Report] Kim Jong Un Orders To Execute North Korea's Ex-Minister as Clampdown Continues Sweden's NATO Bid Stalled As stated by NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg sincerely hope that both states join NATO "as early as this year." Even Sweden's Prime Minister has expressed confidence about the deadlock. The Swedish PM stated that Turkey would decide but not when. According to Stockholm, one of the factors that the political situation will influence in Ankara is when the final decision is rendered. But the situation is more challenging to read, and the bid of Stockholm will not be easy to predict. In the meantime, Finland has also made it abundantly clear that it is in no rush to join the coalition. Finnish Foreign Minister contended that even though Finland's proposal gets acknowledged before Sweden, the nation will still reserve judgment for its Scandinavian neighbor. Pekka Haavisto stated that Finland does not appear to be in such a rush to join NATO that they cannot wait until Sweden receives the go-ahead, retaining the pledge of joining the North Atlantic coalition "hand in hand." Hungary and Turkey have yet to vote to approve their bids, despite the fact that 30 other NATO countries have already done so. Nevertheless, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has pledged that his parliament will endorse Sweden and Finland's admission applications in 2022. Consequently, the ball is in Turkey's court, as Istanbul is the main dissident in the Nordic bid. Sweden's NATO Bid might not pass as Ankara's demands will be casting uncertainty in its approval. Related Article: Sweden Enacts Legislative Changes To Satisfy Turkiye's Condition in Joining NATO or Ankara Will Block Membership Bid @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Jared Leisek, the founder of Adventures with Purpose - a team of search and recovery divers that help families track down their missing loved ones - was arrested on January 5 for allegedly raping a child twice in 1992. Leisek, 47, was booked into Sanpete County jail in Utah after being initially charged in November over the three-decade old crime. It is claimed the girl was a relative aged between nine and ten at the time, while he was seven years her senior. A court hearing for the case had been scheduled for December but was canceled after YouTubers attempted to livestream the proceedings, which is against state law. Oregon-based Adventures with Purpose was founded in 2019, and has helped solve at least 23 missing person cases - and discovered teenager Kiely Rodni's body and car in Prosser Lake, California, last summer. Jared Leisek, 47, the founder of Adventures with Purpose, was arrested on January 5 for the alleged rape of a relative 30 years ago Adventures with Purpose is a volunteer team of divers that have assisted in at least 23 missing person cases since being founded in 2019 It is unclear if Leisek remains in police custody, and there was no bail amount listed alongside his booking record. It also remains unclear why Leisek was first charged with two counts of rape in November, but not arrested until January. Dailymail.com has consulted the Sanpete Sheriff's department, county attorney's office and Ephraim, Utah dispatcher regarding this question. The alleged rape occurred in 1992 in the victim's bedroom at the house of a family member of Leisek's in Utah. According to an Inside Edition report Previous reports indicate that he has since told his alleged victim that he has 'made peace' with 'all things bad' in his life, 'including this.' In an email exchange with the alleged victim, during which he blamed his family's history of fringe Mormonism, Leisek is said to have written: "I am so very sorry for the things that we cannot change. 'It is unfortunate that the Leisek and Juhasz lineage experienced the s**t that you, I and many of the other cousins were brought into,' he continued, making reference to his and another larger family unit. 'Like yourself, I was once a victim by multiple people both in and out of the family. It is unfortunate when families like ours experience molestation. 'I have myself tried to apologize to you and to have an open conversation with you about it to answer any questions you may have,' he allegedly wrote. The email was signed 'Jared' and sent from an official Adventures with Purpose email address. He added that he has previously attempted to apologize to this family member, 'not to clear my own conscience, but to help you heal and help with any struggles you may have been having as many of us had to learn how to overcome and move forward.' He then wrote that making a 46-year-old man 'live with the mistakes' of a child is 'not realistic. 'Thank God we are not forever judged for our actions as youth, and I'm grateful that many of us cousins acknowledged and stopped those sins which happened to us and those sins we once committed as a result of grooming,' he continued. Notably, the dive team burst open the case of missing teenager Kiely Rodni, who disappeared on her way home from a party over the summer. The crew found her car and body submerged in water Fans of the group began to note Leisek's absence from videos in the aftermath of the Rodni discovery and suspected something may be amiss Adventures with Purpose documents its efforts on its YouTube channel, which has 2.8million subscribers. Its discovery of the body of missing teenager Kiely Rodni, 16, as well as her truck, broke open the missing persons case, which police previously believed may have been an abduction. According to the group, they are 'dedicated to helping families of missing loved ones.' However, in the wake of Leisek's arrest, several members have announced their resignations via a series of video statements posted to YouTube. Doug Bishop, one of the volunteer divers, said the alleged crime from 30 years ago coming to light has 'been affecting everybody involved with this'. Josh Cantu, a content and video editor for the organization, who also quit, said: 'I will live my life with integrity and morale and knowing that I did the right thing, which I hope you guys can support'. Leisek's attorney, Randall Richards, filed a motion in December to dismiss the rape case - though the arguments were sealed. In 2013, Utah removed its statute of limitations for serious sex crimes. But in some cases it may be argued that charges for sex crimes committed before 2013 should be dropped. It is not known if this defense is what Leisek's legal team tried to argue. In November, Richards told Inside Edition that his client 'dispute(s) the allegations.' 'We say that this never happened and it is difficult to work on a case like this but we do have evidence to prove that he didn't do what she claimed.' The failure of a system that alerts pilots and other flight personnel about key information including hazards led to the temporary grounding of all US domestic flights on Wednesday morning. From about 7am to 9am, the FAA halted all US domestic departures, a disruption that affected at least 4,000 scheduled flights, in the first nationwide ground stop since September 11, 2001. The FAA said the chaos was caused by an outage in the NOTAM system, which had stopped processing updated information. 'The FAA is working to restore its Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) System,' the FAA said in a statement at 6.29am. 'Operations across the National Airspace System are affected.' Travelers wait in the terminal as an Alaska Airlines plane sits at a gate at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles on Wednesday during a nationwide ground stop The national ground stop was lifted shortly before 9am, with the FAA saying in a statement that it was investigating the origin of the outage. Here is what is known so far about the outage, its origins, and potential impact: What is the NOTAM system? The halt on takeoffs was prompted by a failure in what is known as the Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system. A NOTAM is a notice containing information essential to pilots and other flight personnel, but not known far enough in advance to be publicized by other means. Before commencing a flight, pilots are required to consult NOTAMs, which list potential adverse impacts on flights, from runway construction to the potential for icing. Information can go up to 200 pages for long-haul international flights and may include items such as runway closures, general bird hazard warnings, or low-altitude construction obstacles. The NOTAM system is seen above, with a list of advisories for JFK Airport in New York. Advisories issued prior to the disruption still appeared during Wednesday's outage The system used to be telephone-based, with pilots calling dedicated flight service stations for the information, but has now moved online. The NOTAMs sent by the FAA are part of a global safety system managed through the United Nations' aviation agency. In an advisory, the FAA said its NOTAM (Notice to Air Missions) system had 'failed'. There was no immediate information about the cause of the outage, though NOTAMs issued before the outage were still viewable. The outage caused widespread disruption and led to a nationwide ground stop. All aircraft are required to route through the system, including commercial and military flights. In response to questions from DailyMail.com regarding the cause of the outage, and whether there are backup systems in place for the NOTAM system, the FAA shared its previously issued statements. 'Normal air traffic operations are resuming gradually across the United States following an overnight outage to the FAAs Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system that provides safety information to flight crews. The ground stop has been lifted,' the most recent statement said. 'The agency continues to look into the cause of the initial problem.' Why were all US flights grounded? With the NOTAM system offline, air traffic controllers couldn't risk allowing pilots to take off without potentially key information about hazards on their route. In the past, pilot lapses in reviewing information in NOTAMs have nearly led to deadly incidents. In July 2017, an Air Canada jet landed on the wrong runway at San Francisco's airport and came within seconds of colliding with four other planes. The notice of the closure of one of the two runways at the airport had been flagged in the pre-flight NOTAM - on page eight of a 27-page briefing - and missed by the pilots. Since then, the UN Civil Aviation Organization has been leading an effort to overhaul the system to make it easier for airlines and pilots to filter the most important warnings and present them in clearer language. A display shows flights, many delayed, at LaGuardia Airport in New York on Wednesday. A computer outage at the FAA brought flights to a standstill across the US After Wednesday's NOTAM outage, the FAA ordered all US flights to delay departures until 9am Eastern, though airlines earlier said they were aware of the situation and had already begun grounding flights. At 8.40am, there were more than 4,000 delayed flights within, into or out of the United States, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware, exceeding the number of all delayed flights on the previous day. More than 1,900 flights have been canceled, and those numbers are likely to grow. More than 21,000 flights were scheduled to take off in the US today, mostly domestic trips, and about 1,840 international flights were expected to fly to the US, according to aviation data firm Cirium. Zach Griff, a senior writer at travel experts The Points Guy, told DailyMail.com that disruptions from the widespread delays and cancelations could last through Thursday. 'Once the system became operational again, flights were theoretically allowed to resume but and this is the kicker airlines cant simply just restart their operations,' said Griff. 'Many planes were already delayed and in the wrong place, while flight crews operating these planes were already thrown off schedule. 'Flight crews can only legally work a certain number of hours, and specific planes were already scheduled for flights thatve since been delayed. 'Together, this domino effect will continue to lead to a slew of delays and cancellations throughout the U.S. today and likely into Thursday,' he added. Could this be a cyber attack? The White House said that there is no evidence of a cyber attack, but President Joe Biden directed the Department of Transportation to investigate the cause of the disruption. Biden addressed the FAA issue Wednesday before leaving the White House. He said he had just been briefed by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who told him they still had not identified what went wrong. Grounded planes at Washington Reagan airport on Wednesday morning after an FAA systems failure grounded all flights across the country 'I just spoke to Buttigieg. They don't know what the cause is. But I was on the phone with him about 10 minutes,' Biden said. 'I told him to report directly to me when they find out. Air traffic can still land safely, just not take off right now. We don't know what the cause of it is,' the president added. Buttigieg said in a tweet that he is in touch with the FAA and monitoring the situation. Has this ever happened before? The last time the FAA issued a nationwide ground stop, halting all departures from US airports, was in the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Regional or airport-specific ground stops have been issued since then, primarily over security incidents, though even those are quite rare. Tampa: Passengers stranded at Tampa airport in Florida on Wednesday For instance, on January 10, 2022, the FAA issued a ground stop for the West Coast and Hawaii. Though officials gave no explanation for the halt in takeoffs, it was widely believed to be related to a North Korean missile test. Experienced pilots call the outage of the NOTAM system unprecedented, and cannot recall a similar technical incident with such widespread impact on flights. However, Wednesday's disruption follows a software meltdown at Southwest Airlines that led to the cancellation of more than 16,700 flights last month. In that incident, Southwest's software that matches crew with planes collapsed under the weight of rescheduling requests as staff were stranded across the country due to a massive winter storm. He was a top editor at Foreign Policy and Politico before joining the NYT A New York Times political journalist has died at 44 'after a long and courageous battle with depression,' his family said. Blake Hounshell, who was a top editor at Foreign Policy magazine and Politico before moving in 2021 to The Times, passed away in Washington DC on Tuesday. A police official has said his death will be investigated as a suicide. After joining The Times he 'quickly distinguished himself as our lead politics newsletter writer and a gifted observer of our country's political scene,' Joseph Kahn, its executive editor said in a memo to staff. 'We've lost a valuable colleague and this is a heartbreaking loss to our team,' it read. Tributes to the late journalist included one from Pennsylvania senator John Fetterman, who commended him for his compassion during an interview after Fetterman's stroke last year. Hounshell is survived by his wife, Sandy, and two children. New York Times journalist Blake Hounshell has died at 44 'after a long and courageous battle with depression,' his family said Hounshell was hired by The Times in 2021 and oversaw its newsletter 'On Politics' 'It is with great sorrow that we have to inform you that Blake has suddenly died his morning after a long and courageous battle with depression. His wife, Sandy, and two children are in our thoughts and prayers, and ask for respect and privacy at this time,' his family shared in a statement. 'Many of us worked closely alongside Blake since he joined The Times in 2021. Blake was a dedicated journalist who quickly distinguished himself as our lead politics newsletter writer and a gifted observer of our country's political scene,' Kahn wrote. A piece in Politico Magazine, which he started, commended him for his 'encyclopedic' knowledge of the world and his intuitive understanding for how technology could impact journalism. Hounshell was born in California in 1978 but grew up in Delaware and Pittsburgh, and graduated from Yale in 2002. His start in journalism came after spending time in Cairo, where he studied Arabic. He was a finalist for the Livingston Awards for Young Journalists in 2011 for his reporting on the Arab Spring. Between 2009 and 2013 he was a managing editor at Foreign Policy and oversaw its adaptation to the internet era. Hounshell then worked for eight years at Politico, in a number of senior roles and as editor-in-chief of its magazine. Between 2009 and 2013 he was a managing editor at Foreign Policy and oversaw its adaptation to the internet era He was then hired at The Times to pioneer a newsletter - an increasingly popular medium that he had become experienced with at both Foreign Policy and Politico. 'The Times is making significant investments in newsletter talent,' wrote The Times when it announced it was hiring him. It added: 'Now, with a firehose of political news for our readers to make sense of each day, we're turning to an expert on both newsletters and political coverage, Blake Hounshell.' In his last On Politics newsletter, published on Monday, Hounshell looked at the death penalty in California and the political pressure the issue was exerting on its governor Gavin Newsom. On Friday he wrote about how the Republican party is struggling to draw young voters. John Harris, a founding editor of Politico, wrote on Twitter commended Hounshell for his curiosity and intuition His death prompted an outpouring of grief and admiration from fellow journalists, as well as politicians. 'The @politico newsroom is in anguish. Blake Hounshell had a dazzling mind, full of original insights about a vast array of subjects,' John Harris, a founding editor of Politico, wrote on Twitter. 'He was a deeply idealistic and curious man with an exhilarating ability to perceive both patterns and contradictions in the news.' Hounshell (center) speaks onstage during the Concordia Annual Summit in September 2021 John Fetterman recalled an interview with Hounshell after he suffered a stroke in May Newly elected Democratic Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman recalled an interview with Hounshell after he suffered a stroke in May. 'Blake Hounshell was a fellow stroke survivor, and one of the first interviews I did when I returned to the campaign trail and struggled to find my words,' Fetterman tweeted Tuesday. Scott Jennings, a conservative commentator and political analyst, said he had just spoken to Hounshell last week on a story about the Kentucky governor's race. 'Always considered him to be a good reporter and good guy,' he wrote. 'A reminder that you never quite know what people are dealing with in the background.' The Times' congressional correspondent Annie Karni tweeted she wished Hounshell 'could see all these tweets of his colleagues who feel indebted to him for where they are.' Auctioneer says comments reminiscent of those made by Harry and Megan Edward vented his frustrations to avid fan Lillian Boraston in a series of letters He and American divorcee Wallis later moved to France where they lived in a villa King Edward VIII's letters to a royal fan accusing Britain or trying to 'humiliate and misrepresent' him and Wallis Simpson - in what an auctioneer calls 'a parallel of today's Royal Family' - are set to fetch 500 when they go under the hammer. The controversial monarch caused a constitutional crisis when he abdicated the throne in 1936 so he could marry the American divorcee. The events caused a deep and long-lasting rift between Edward and his young brother and successor George VI, who had been the 'spare' to the heir. Edward and Wallis later moved to France, where they lived in a historic and luxurious villa in Paris. The controversial monarch caused a constitutional crisis when he abdicated the throne in 1936 so he could marry the American divorcee (pictured together, circa 1942) Edward, who was then the Duke of Windsor vented his frustrations to avid fan Lillian Boraston in a series of letters sent as he travelled around the world in the months after his abdication How King Edward VIII caused a constitutional crisis when he abdicated the throne George VI, known as the 'reluctant king', was crowned following his brother Edward VIII's abdication. His coronation was held at Westminster Abbey in May 1937. In the run-up to the ceremony, he enlisted Lionel Logue to help him conquer his stammer after his private secretary introduced him to the Australian. One month after George's coronation, Edward VIII married American socialite divorcee Wallis Simpson at the Chateau de Cande in Monts, France. Four months into their marriage, the couple went to visit Nazi Germany as Adolf Hitler's guests. Meanwhile King George's popularity soared as a wartime monarch and he became a figure of stability despite previously being marred by his speech impediment as well as a reputation for being unprepared. The boon to his reputation was aided by his decision to remain in London as the bombs of the Blitz rained down on the capital. George died of ill health in 1952, leaving his daughter Elizabeth, 25, to take over as Queen in a spell that saw her become Britain's longest-reigning monarch. Advertisement Edward, who was then the Duke of Windsor vented his frustrations to avid fan Lillian Boraston in a series of letters sent as he travelled around the world in the months after his abdication. Mrs Boraston, who lived in Surrey, was a keen royal fan who regularly sent letters and poems to Edward. She kept all of her correspondence with the Duke safe in a box of family papers which has only recently been rediscovered, and are now being sold by a granddaughter at auction. The most insightful letter reveals the sense of betrayal which Edward felt after travelling to the US and before his controversial visit to Nazi Germany. Mrs Boraston sent the Duke a poem and her hopes that he was not missing home too much. In September 1937, his private secretary responded: 'I am desired by the Duke of Windsor to acknowledge your letter of August 30th. 'His Royal Highness thanks you for the poem and your kind wishes, but asks me at the same time to assure you that the information that His Royal Highness is homesick is entirely without foundation. 'His Royal Highness wishes me to add that quite apart from rumours in the press, it is not very likely that he would be missing the country which in every possible way, tried to humiliate and misrepresent both himself and the Duchess of Windsor.' The parallels to Harry and Meghan's dramatic move to America are 'clear to see'. They were written between June 1937, six months after his abdication, through to Christmas 1939. The vendor, who wishes to remain anonymous, said: 'My grandmother died when I was five years old, but these letters were mentioned occasionally. 'They give a great insight into the Duke's life in the 1930s - where he stayed, where he went on honeymoon etc. 'All things that we would now learn from TV or social media.' Lillian Boraston (pictured) who lived in Surrey, was a keen royal fan who regularly sent letters and poems to Edward Auctioneers say the 'parallels with today's Royal Family are clear to see'. Pictured: Harry and Meghan with the Queen The archive is expected to make 500 when it goes under the hammer at Catherine Southon Auctioneers of London. Auctioneer Catherine Southon said: 'It's amazing that these letters have just come to light and the parallels there are with today's Royal Family are clear to see. 'People are still totally fascinated with them - the drama surrounding the Duke and Duchess of Sussex or the death of the Queen last year.' The letters will also come with nine scraps of newspaper cuttings relating to the Duke of Windsor from 1936 to 1941. All of the letters will be on sale on February 8. Police have launched a hunt for a man and his dog who have been compared to Tintin and Snowy after two people were bitten by the animal on a train. A train guard and a young girl were both bitten by the same animal on different days last year, the British Transport Police said. They have released images of white dog being carried by a man wearing a shirt and backpack who they wish to trace. British Transport Police have released an image of a man they wish to trace One social media user commented on the appeal and said: 'Tintin looks like he's gone to s**t...' This could be as the dog bears a resemblance to Snowy - the cartoon character's faithful companion. British Transport Police said anyone with information about the 'dangerous dog out of control' incidents should get in touch. The force said the girl was bitten at Henley-on-Thames station on July 14 and the driver was bitten on a Frome to London Paddington service on October 27. All flights across America were grounded today for the first time since 9/11 after a crucial Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) system crashed overnight. The first complaints by passengers that flights had been grounded started at around 9am GMT (4am on America's east coast). It wasn't until 11.30am that the FAA (the US equivalent of the UK's Civil Aviation Authority) announced it had grounded all flights. The grounding was the result of an overnight failure of its NOTAM system, which is used by pilots to access flight plans and communicate with air traffic control, and is used to warn other pilots of hazards along flight paths. By 2pm GMT, the issue had been resolved and flights were beginning to take off again. However, the hours-long pause sent the day's travel into chaos that is expected to last throughout the day, and could have a large knock-on effect. A handful of flights from France and Spain were also affected by the outage, although the issue wasn't as wide-spread in Europe as some airlines use a different system. It is still too early to say how the knock-on effect will impact European travellers in the long-run. TAMPA, FLORIDA: Stranded passengers are seen in Tampa International airport on Wednesday, after flights across America were grounded today for the first time since 9/11 after a crucial Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) system crashed overnight LOS ANGELES: Passengers The first complaints by passengers that flights had been grounded started at around 9am GMT (4am on America's east coast) ORLANDO: Stranded passengers wait at the Orlando International Airport, as flights were grounded after FAA system outage. The grounding was the result of an overnight failure of the FAA's (the US equivalent of the CAA) NOTAM system , which is used by pilots to access flight plans and communicate with air traffic control More than 21,000 flights were scheduled to take off in the US today, mostly domestic trips, and about 1,840 international flights expected to fly to the US, according to aviation data firm Cirium. Already, 6,000 flights have been delayed as a result of the outage with some pilots warning the ripple effect from the computer failure would be 'huge'. The stop order by the FAA impacts almost all flights of shippers and commercial airlines. The FAA is yet to explain how the catastrophic glitch came about or why there was no back-up system in place to ensure planes could continue to fly. The UK's CAA told MailOnline that it was aware of the issue, and was monitoring the developing situation, but that it was too early to assess any knock-on effect. It said last week, there were an average of 111 daily flights between the UK and US. The agency reminded airlines that in the event of cancellation, they have a duty to their passengers to help passengers find an alternative flight or provide a refund. London's Heathrow Airport said US flights had continued to operate on Wednesday, with both British Airways and Virgin Atlantic confirming this. WASHINGTON DC: Grounded planes at Washington Reagan airport on Wednesday morning after an FAA systems failure grounded all flights across the country NEW YORK CITY: Grounded planes are shown at New York's JFK on Wednesday morning as the delays continued TAMPA: Passengers waiting for their flight at Tampa's International Terminal 7A on Wednesday Irish carrier Aer Lingus said services to the US continue, and Dublin Airport's website showed that its flights to Newark, Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles were running on schedule. 'Aer Lingus plan to operate all transatlantic flights as scheduled today,' the carrier said in a prepared statement. 'We will continue to monitor but we do not anticipate any disruption to our services arising from the technical issue in the United States.' Meanwhile, Several flights from Madrid airport to the United States were delayed on Wednesday morning, according to information released on the website of Aena, which operates the airport. An American Airlines flight from Barcelona to Miami due to depart at 11:00am (1000 GMT) was also delayed until 13:50pm, Aena's website flight data showed. Paris international airports were also expecting flight delays, a spokeswoman for Aeroports de Paris (ADP) said on Wednesday. 'We have been informed of a technical incident. At this stage there have been no flight cancellations but some delays are to be expected,' she said. ADP operates Paris Charles de Gaulle aiport and Orly airport. Separately, an Air France spokesman said the airline is currently operating its flight schedule to and from the United States as normal, but continues to monitor the situation closely. The Arrivals board is seen at JFK airport on January 11, 2023 in New York City American Airlines flights parked at gates after flights were delayed nationwide after a Federal Aviation Administration computer issue caused a nationwide ground stop on all US flights at Logan Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, 11 January 2023 Passengers wait in lines at the JetBlue counter after flights were delayed nationwide after a Federal Aviation Administration computer issue caused a nationwide ground stop on all US flights at Logan Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, 11 January 2023 What is the FAA Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system? Wednesday saw thousands of flights across the US grounded by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), due to a failure in the Notice to Air Missions (NOTAMs) system. In the world of aviation, NOTAM is an unclassified notice that contains vital information for those concerned with flight operations, while not being delivered far enough in advance to be in the public realm through other means. A NOTAM is filed with a country's aviation authority - in the case of the US, the FAA - to alert other pilots of any hazards on their route. The authority then distributes these notices to relevant pilots. A NOTAM 'states the abnormal status of a component of the National Airspace System (NAS) not the normal status,' the FAA website explains. Among the hazards flagged by NOTAM include air shows, parachute jumps, rocket launches, as well as changes in operations such as runway closures or airspace restrictions caused by military exercises. Criticism has ben leveled at NOTAMs which can go up to 200 pages for long-haul international flights. In 2017, an Air Canada flight nearly crashed into four other airlines as it attempted to land in San Francisco. The flight misidentified a taxiway as a runway. Information about the adjacent runway being closed was buried in the NOTAM. Advertisement Some medical flights could get clearance and the outage did not impact any military operations or mobility. Flights for the US military's Air Mobility Command had not been impacted, said Air Force Col. Damien Pickart, a spokesman for Air Mobility Command is responsible for all the troop movement and supply flights, such as the C-17s that carry the president's motorcade vehicles when he travels, but also all the flights that transport troops from one base to another. Air Mobility Command was working with the FAA on the issue. While the White House initially said that there is no evidence of a cyberattack, President Joe Biden said 'we don't know' and told reporters he's directed the Department of Transportation to investigate the cause of the disruption. Biden addressed the FAA issue Wednesday before leaving the White House to accompany his wife to a medical procedure at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center outside of Washington. He said he had just been briefed by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who told him they still had not identified what went wrong. 'I just spoke to Buttigieg. They don't know what the cause is. But I was on the phone with him about 10 minutes,' Biden said. 'I told him to report directly to me when they find out. Air traffic can still land safely, just not take off right now. We don't know what the cause of it is.' Buttigieg said in a tweet that he is in touch with the FAA and monitoring the situation. Airline industry experts slammed the Biden administration and Buttigieg, saying there's 'no excuse' for the failure that is the latest in a string of embarrassing transport headaches for the US. The FBI did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment when contacted by the Associated Press news agency. Passengers wait for the resumption of flights at O'Hare International Airport after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had ordered airlines to pause all domestic departures due to a system outage, in Chicago, Illinois, US, January 11, 2023 Delays and cancellations that began on East Coast quickly spread west, with disruptions at almost all major US airports. The FAA said in a statement it was working on restoring its NOTAM system. 'We are performing final validation checks and reloading the system now,' the FAA said. 'Operations across the National Airspace System are affected.' The agency said that some functions are beginning to come back on line, but that 'National Airspace System operations remain limited.' The system that failed is part of a nearly century-old practice originally known as Notices to Airmen, that was originally modeled on a system for notices to mariners. The system, which was changed to be called 'Notices to Air Missions' in 2021, is meant to alert pilots to hazards - from snow, volcanic ash or birds near an airport. It also provides information on closed runways and temporary air restrictions. The NOTAMs sent by the US Federal Aviation Administration are part of a global safety system managed through the United Nations' aviation agency. Pilots are required to review the notices, either printed on paper or on an iPad, before take-off. The information provided can run up to 200 pages for long-haul international flights. NOTAMs are written in a kind of encoded shorthand that had been originally designed to make communication more efficient. Breakdowns in the NOTAM system appear to be rare. 'I don't ever remember the NOTAM system going down like this. I've been flying 53 years,' said John Cox, a former airline pilot and now an aviation-safety consultant. According FAA advisories, the NOTAM system failed at 8:28 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday preventing new or amended notices from being distributed to pilots. The FAA resorted to a telephone hotline in an effort to keep departures flying overnight, but as daytime traffic picked up it overwhelmed the telephone backup system. Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said the US military flights were not impacted because the military has its own NOTAMS system separate from the FAA system and the military's system was not affected by the outage. This is just the latest headache for travelers in the US who faced flight cancellations over the holidays amid winter storms and a breakdown with staffing technology at Southwest Airlines. They also ran into long lines, lost baggage, and cancellations and delays over the summer as travel demand roared back from the COVID-19 pandemic and ran into staffing cutbacks at airports and airlines in the US and Europe. The FAA said that it would provide frequent updates as it made progress. A former Houston-area police officer was executed 30 years after hiring two hitmen to kill his wife as their divorce turned bitter while they fought for custody of their three sons. Robert Fratta, 65, spent 27 years on death row for orchestrating his 33-year-old wife Farah Fratta's murder in 1994. He was executed on Tuesday at Huntsville prison in Texas, and was pronounced dead at 7.49pm, 24 minutes after the lethal dose was injected. Fratta refused to give a final statement. When asked by the warden if he had anything to say, Fratta replied: 'No.' His spiritual adviser, Barry Brown, prayed over him for about three minutes prior to the execution. Brown, who held Fratta's right hand while he prayed, asked for prayers for 'hearts that have been broken...for people who grieved and those who will grieve in days ahead.' He asked God to 'be merciful to Bobby.' Brown resumed praying as the lethal drugs began and Fratta closed his eyes and took a deep breath and then snored loudly six times. Then all movement stopped. Fratta's eldest son, Bradley Baquer, was among witnesses watching Fratta die. The death row inmate did not acknowledge or look at him as he stood at the window to the death row chamber. Robert Fratta, 65, spent 27 years on death row for orchestrating his 33-year-old wife Farah Fratta's murder in 1994. He was executed on Tuesday at Huntsville prison in Texas, and was pronounced dead at 7.49pm, 24 minutes after the lethal dose was injected His wife, Farah, 33, (pictured) was ambushed in her garage and shot in the head in November 1994 At the time of the killing, Fratta and his wife were going through a custody battle over their three kids (pictured). One of their sons, Bradley, witnessed his father's execution Prosecutors say Fratta organized the murder-for-hire plot in which a middleman, Joseph Prystash, hired the shooter, Howard Guidry, to ambushed Farah. She was shot twice in the head in her home's garage in the Houston suburb of Atascocita and neighbors called the police after witnessing the shooting. Fratta, who was a public safety officer for Missouri City, had long claimed he was innocent, but investigators grew suspicious after finding out they were going through a custody battle over their three children. Court documents also revealed his 'sexual appetites' was the reason the pair were getting divorced. His lethal injection on Tuesday was delayed for little more than an hour until the last of a flurry of final-day appeals cleared in the US Supreme Court and Texas' highest courts, the Texas Supreme Court and Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Fratta's lawyers argued unsuccessfully that prosecutors withheld evidence that a trial witness had been hypnotized by investigators, leading her to change her initial recollection that she saw two men at the murder scene, as well as, a getaway driver. Prosecutors have argued the hypnosis produced no new information and no new identification. They had also said that Fratta had repeatedly expressed his desire to see his wife dead and asked several acquaintances if they knew anyone who would kill her, telling one friend: 'I'll just kill her, and I'll do my time and when I get out, I'll have my kids,' according to court records. Prystash and Guidry were also sent to death row for the slaying, but their execution dates have not been set. Fratta was also one of four Texas death row inmates who sued to stop the state's prison system from using what they alleged were expired and unsafe execution drugs. That lawsuit failed late Tuesday, He spoke out about the death penalty prior to his execution, calling the process 'torturous.' 'I never gave any thought to the death penalty, even though I was a police officer, and now that Im going through it, I can understand how its so ridiculously tormenting for the inmates to be put through this,' he told the Death Penalty Action group on Sunday. The hitmen hired by Fratta, Joseph Prystash and Howard Guidry, are both on death row for the murder of Farah Fratta Fratta (pictured) was executed on Tuesday at Huntsville prison in Texas. Ahead of his execution, Fratta said: 'To have you knowing the day and time and everything that youre gonna die, and its prolonged and everything that they put you through beforehand. This is torturous. I guess at my age, Ill be 66 next month if I make it, but Im kind of ready to go, so thats how Im doing it also...Im just tired of 27 years of suffering' Fratta's son Bradley was there to witness his father's death, but said his dad never looked him in the eye, nor apologized 'To have you knowing the day and time and everything that youre gonna die, and its prolonged and everything that they put you through beforehand. This is torturous. 'I guess at my age, Ill be 66 next month if I make it, but Im kind of ready to go, so thats how Im doing it also...Im just tired of 27 years of suffering.' The Supreme Court and lower courts previously rejected appeals from Fratta's lawyers that sought to review claims arguing insufficient evidence and faulty jury instructions were used to convict him. His attorneys also unsuccessfully argued that a juror in his case was not impartial and that ballistics evidence didn't tie him to the murder weapon. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles last week unanimously declined to commute Fratta's death sentence to a lesser penalty or to grant a 60-day reprieve. Fratta was first sentenced to death in 1996, but his conviction was overturned by a federal judge who ruled that confessions from his co-conspirators shouldn't have been admitted into evidence. In the same ruling, the judge wrote that 'trial evidence showed Fratta to be egotistical, misogynistic, and vile, with a callous desire to kill his wife.' He was retried and resentenced to death in 2009. Fratta was one of the few inmates who tried to sue Texas for allegedly using expired drugs, but his case failed. He also said in an interview on Sunday that the death penalty is 'torturous,' but 'Im kind of ready to go, so thats how Im doing it also...Im just tired of 27 years of suffering' Andy Kahan, the director of victim services and advocacy for Crime Stoppers of Houston, said that Farah's father, Lex Baquer, who died in 2018, raised Robert and Farah's three children with his wife. Betty Baquer said in 1996 that he 'cannot wait for the day when I see him laying on that table, waiting to get the injection.' 'That will be justice for me,' she said at the time. Kahan, Fratta's son Bradley Baquer, and Farah's brother, Zain Baquer, were among witnesses watching Fratta die. Fratta never acknowledged them or looked at them as they stood at a window to the death chamber. 'Bob was a coward in 1994, when he arranged the murder for hire of his estranged wife,' Kahan said after the execution. 'And 28-plus years later, he still was a coward tonight. When he was offered an opportunity to at least extend an olive branch to his son that he knew was watching this. 'And he still chose the coward's way out. He could have said: "I'm sorry."' Fratta was the first inmate put to death this year in Texas and the second in the US. Eight other executions are scheduled in Texas for later this year. Rep. James Comer hit the ground running as chair of the powerful Oversight committee with letters Wednesday morning pressing the Treasury and Twitter for information regarding the Biden family's business deals. Comer, R-Ky., wrote one letter to Treasury Sec. Janet Yellen pressing her on the Biden family's 'suspicious business transactions.' Comer requested to see the Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) that were flagged by U.S. banks regarding the financial activity of Hunter Biden, President Biden's brother James and other Biden family associates. Comer, R-Ky., wrote one letter to Treasury Sec. Janet Yellen pressing her on the Biden family's 'suspicious business transactions' Comer requested to see the Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) that were flagged by U.S. banks regarding the financial activity of Hunter Biden , President Biden's brother James and other Biden family associates Comer's committee is probing the president's knowledge and role in the financial activity and 'whether he has compromised our national security.' Last Congress Republicans - then in the minority - requested the SARs from the Treasury, which informed staff it would only provide the documents if they were requested by committee chairs. Comer also sent letters to former Twitter executives Vijaya Gadde, who served as chief legal officer, Yoel Roth former global head of trust & safety and James Baker, former general counsel, telling them their testimony was requested at a February 6 hearing. 'Your attendance is necessary because of your role in suppressing Americans' access to information about the Biden family on Twitter shortly before the 2020 election,' Comer wrote. 'For years, the Biden family peddled influence and access around the world for profit, often at the expense of our nation's interests. The American people must know the extent of Joe Biden's involvement in his family's shady business deals and if these deals threaten national security and his decision-making as president,' the congressman told DailyMail.com in a statement. Comer claimed on 'Meet the Press' on Sunday that his investigation into Hunter Biden's laptop is not 'political' and focuses on the president himself and his involvement. 'There are emails and text messages that show Hunter Biden complaining about having to spend so much money keeping his dad up. I mean, that's a concern because Hunter Biden's only source of income was from our adversaries in China and Russia for influence peddling,' Comer said. 'So this is something that we should look into. This isn't political. We want to know, was the president truthful when he said he didn't have any knowledge or involvement of his family's shady business dealings? Once we've determined that, we'll move on,' he added. Last month with the takeover of Elon Musk came the 'Twitter Files' which revealed how a group of top executives at Twitter came to the decision to censor the Hunter Biden laptop story first reported by the New York Post. Comer's letters follow Tuesday when the Oversight Committee launched a pair of investigations into President Biden's handling of classified files that were found at his think tank office just before the midterms. 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. Comer sent letters to the White House Counsel's Office and the National Archives and Records Administration, respectively, looking for more information into the matter. Six people were arrested and four were stabbed at an Airbnb in North Carolina Four people were hospitalized after a stabbing at an Airbnb rental in North Carolina that led to the arrest of six others on drug charges, including a Bible-quoting Christian and a stay-at-home mom. Madison County Sheriff Buddy Harwood confirmed those involved were vacationing at an off-road rental near the Tennessee border when the incident incident occurred around 3.20am on Monday. Police arrived at the scene to find the wounded vacationers along with a stash of cocaine, mushrooms and marijuana. Jay Caleb Bell, Daniel Mansilla-Perea, Richard Vincent Sakowski, Cassi Deann Sakowski, Christopher Lyn Boles and Jodi Michelle Douthit were identified as the suspects. There were others present when police arrived but they weren't involved. Six people were arrested and four were stabbed at an AirBnb in North Carolina on Monday around 3am. Jodi-Michelle Douthit is a Bible-quoting Christian who was arrested on drug charges All the suspects were arrested on drug possession of cocaine and mushrooms. Suspects Cassi and Richard appear to be married and share three kids. Cassi is a stay-at-home mom It's unclear if the suspects were on drugs when the incident unfolded, but each of them were charged with possession of the substances. Aside from the drug charges, Bell was charged with assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury with intent to kill, according to Harwood. Suspects Cassi and Richard appear to be married and share three kids, according to her Facebook page. Cassi is a stay at home mom but also works as a secretary at Grace Roofing and Construction where her husband is the owner. Several photos show off their happy life and family adventures. Both Cassi and Jodi appear to be Bible-quoting Christians, but it is unclear how the vacationers know each other. Jodi is a massage practitioner who runs on the motive of 'trust' and 'faith,' according to her Facebook page. Suspects Cassi and Richard appear to be married and share three kids. Their connection with the rest of the vacationers remains unclear Several photos show off their happy life and family adventures The home is located in a secluded area at 183 Gid Flynn Road At the time of the incident, police were on the hunt for a white sedan with an Illinois license plate that they believed belonged to Mansilla-Perea. Harwood later confirmed the vehicle was found but gave no further explanation. The names of the victims weren't immediately released. Chief Harwood didn't immediately respond to an inquiry from DailyMail.com. AirBnb removed the home located at 183 Gid Flynn Road from its website as the investigation continues. The home was last purchased in April 2022 for more than $1 million dollars and features a glorious hill top view and a massive 13,500 gallon swimming pool, according to Zillow. The two bedroom and one bath home appears to be off a 1.2 mile driveway and in a secluded area surrounded by trees. 'Our specialized Safety team is investigating this incident, including taking action to remove the booking guest from our platform and providing support to our impacted Host,' a spokesperson told News 13. Jay Bell was charged with assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury with intent to kill Christopher Lyn Boles and Daniel Mansilla-Perea were also arrested and charged with drug possession The mayor of a hard-hit Arizona border city delivered his verdict on President Joe Biden's crackdown on illegal immigration: Meh. In an interview with DailyMail.com, Douglas Nicholls, the mayor of Yuma, said measures unveiled last week would not be 'moving the needle a whole lot.' And what's more, he added, the removal of container barriers had left holes in the border wall that would make it only harder for Border Patrol to prevent people entering across the Colorado River from Mexico. His concerns were backed by the scene at the border wall as night fell. Luis and Luisa Zumba completed their month-long journey from Ecuador by picking their way over the Morelos Dam, and then walking through a container-sized gap in the wall alongside fields of lettuce just outside Yuma. 'This can't be America,' said Luisa, such was the ease of the final leg of their seven-country trek. Luis and Luisa Zumba completed their month-long journey through seven countries from Ecuador on Tuesday, walking through a gap in the border wall outside Yuma, Arizona They were quickly detained by waiting Border Patrol agents, before being driven away for processing. Arizona is trying to move fast to plug gaps in the 30ft wall built by Donald Trump Douglas Nicholls, Republican mayor of Yuma They had found one of the holes in the 30ft-high border wall left when contractors last week removed containers that Republican Gov. Doug Ducey had used to plug gaps. And they arrived amid a wave of fresh scrutiny of U.S. border policy. Last week Biden unveiled new measures to try to stem a surge in arrivals before visiting the southern frontier on Sunday. And on Tuesday a delegation of senators drove past the exact spot where the Zumbas later arrived on American soil. Biden's new push means his administration will deny people from Cuba, Nicaragua and Haiti the chance to apply for asylum if they cross the Mexican border without authorization between official ports of entry. The measure already applied to Venezuelans. But Nicholls said it ignored dozens of other nationalities who were finding their way in. A coyote, or smuggler, can be seen guiding the Zumas alongside the Morelos dam as they cross from Mexico into the United States on Tuesday evening 'It's gonna help marginally, but it's, it's three more countries out of, I think 45 to 50 nationalities that cross every week in Yuma,' he said. 'So, it's not moving the needle a whole lot.' The Republican mayor said it was a step in right direction, but without freeing up agents to properly patrol the frontier it would make little difference. 'It needs to be more holistic; it needs to be greater,' he added. 'And really, until we get down to enforcement, you're not going to discourage anyone from coming here.' He has been on the sharp end of the crisis. Last month he declared a public health emergency to help his city deal with a surge in arrivals as well as spikes in winter respiratory diseases, such as flu. The city came close to having to simply having to release detained migrants on to its streets. Each area of the border is different. Each comes with its own issues. In Arizona, officials are working out how to deal with new gaps in the wall. This is how the border wall outside Yuma looked in December. Gaps were filled with shipping containers stacked two high in places, installed by Gov. Doug Ducey's administration Containers were removed from the wall last week following a Biden administration lawsuit BIDEN'S PLAN TO ADDRESS HISTORIC MIGRANT CRISIS President Joe Biden last week unveiled plans for dealing with migrants arriving at the border with Mexico Accept 30,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela every month Can come to the U.S. for two years if they are sponsored, have background checks and receive work authorization Expel migrants from those countries who try to cross the border illegally and impose a five-year ban on reentry Individuals from Mexico and Panama will not be eligible for parole in the U.S. Mexico has agreed to accept 30,000 expelled migrants a month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela Welcome 20,000 refugees from Latin America and Caribbean nations in 2023 and 2024 Migrants will have to set up an appointment using a cell phone app for appointments at border entry points U.S. giving $23 million in humanitarian assistance to Mexico and Central America Increasing funding available to border cities and those receiving an influx of migrants Advertisement Ducey installed at least 900 containers at a cost of $80 million to fill in holes. His measure was quickly challenged by the Biden administration, which said the action amounted to trespassing on federal land. His measure was quickly challenged by the Biden administration, which said the action amounted to trespassing on federal land. But Ducey was voted out of office last November and the state agreed to back down in December, and remove the containers, as it prepared for the new Democratic administration of Katie Hobbs. Nicholls said he was pleased that the federal government had agreed to begin work this week on a new permanent barrier in the busiest section of wall. 'And that'll protect quite a bit of our agricultural industry,' he said. 'So, from that perspective, it's just a timing issue. 'The rest of the border we do have concerns that that'll end up having increased access now.' On Tuesday evening, a steady stream of arrivals made their way through a gap in the border wall outside Yuma, close to the Morelos Dam, where migrants can cross from Mexico The gaps can be seen clearly at several stretches of wall. The federal government is due to begin filling in several key areas this week ANALYSIS The Biden border crackdown with NO money for the wall: President's plan to bring down migration from Cuba, Haiti and Nicaragua by 90% - that doesn't have funds to plug gaps where thousands of 'gotaways' enter President Biden on Thursday announced crackdown on illegal border crossings It extends restrictions on claiming asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border Instead, people from Cuba, Nicaragua, and Haiti must now apply for travel permit But critics said it would do nothing to secure the border itself And human rights groups blasted Biden for aping Republican policies The Biden administration announced last week it was expanding Trump-era restrictions to rapidly expel Cuban, Haitian, and Nicaraguan migrants caught illegally crossing the southern border. Instead, it will accept 30,000 people per month from those three countries, as well as Venezuela, so long as they arrive legally. It represents an attempt both to head off Republican criticism that it has allowed record numbers to cross the U.S.-Mexico border, and to address concerns from within the Democratic Party that President Joe Biden has been too slow to shake off Trump-era restrictions that prevent those in need from seeking asylum. The administration is preparing for the end of Title 42, a public health regulation that allows the expulsion of migrants before they can claim asylum in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19. With the pandemic over, there is little legal justification in keeping it in place although the Supreme Court has ruled it must stay while it hears an appeal. Even in announcing the plan, Biden acknowledged that it was far from perfect. 'The actions we're announcing today will make things better ... will make things better but will not fix the border problem completely,' he said. And both left and right were quick to reup their longstanding complaints about the administration's immigration policies. Here's what the Biden plan does and doesn't do: Expand legal pathways for 'safe, orderly, and humane migration' No one should have to put their lives in the hands of 'coyotes' or people smugglers to get to safety, runs the argument. And so, the administration is extending what it said was a successful scheme for Venezuelans to people from Nicaragua, Haiti and Cuba. It means that up to 30,000 people, who have a sponsor and can pass background checks, can come to the U.S. to work for two years, under a process known as 'parole.' It involves a fully online process to give people advance approval to travel to the U.S. Migrants from Nicaragua and Ecuador wait at a door on the border wall waiting to be picked up by United States Border Patrol in El Paso, Texas, U.S., January 4, 2023 'Do not just show up at the border,' said Biden. 'Stay where you are and apply legally from there.' If approved, they can even use an app to schedule an appointment at a port of entry. Officials say when this was introduced for people fleeing unrest in Venezuela it reduced the number of attempted legal crossings by Venezuelans by 90 percent. A similar program is in place for people fleeing the conflict in Ukraine. Mexico will take 30,000 illegal arrivals from Venezuela, Nicaragua, Haiti and Cuba The flip side of that is that anyone from those four countries who 'irregularly' crosses the Panama, Mexico or U.S. border will not be eligible for the new pathway, and will be subject to expulsion to Mexico, which will accept returns of up to 30,000 migrants from those four countries. 'This is important: If individuals from these counties attempt to cross the U.S. border without authorization, or the Mexico or Panama borders, after today they will not be eligible for this new legal pathway,' said Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in a press conference. 'So, the message is clear: Individuals should stay where they are and apply for these processes from there.' Enhanced use of 'expedited removal' Other aspects include preparations for what happens after Title 42 is lifted, and for those who are currently not covered by its provisions, such as unaccompanied children. They are processed under different provisions, known as Title 8. 'For those processed under Title 8, we are increasing and enhancing our use of expedited removal, which allows for the prompt removal of those who do not claim a fear of persecution or torture or are determined not to have a credible fear after an interview with an asylum officer, in accordance with established procedures,' said the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Thursday in a fact sheet on the new policy. 'This enhanced expedited removal process will include: dedicating additional resources including personnel, transportation, and facilities; optimizing processes across DHS and [the Department of Justice]; and working with the State Department and countries in the region to increase repatriations.' Migrants from Venezuela are in line to be processed at the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso, Texas on Wednesday. Biden will travel to El Paso Sunday ahead of the 'three amigos' summit in Mexico Monday and Tuesday No money for the border wall Conservatives, who want more focus on securing the border, said Biden's proposals simply offered an additional amnesty rather setting out how it would stop people slipping across the border. They pointed out that there were no details on funding for the get-tough aspects of the proposals, and that it would do nothing about people who evade border patrols. 'The Biden administration is arguably more focused on monitoring Twitter posts than catching suspected TERRORISTS crossing the southern border,' tweeted the Republican group on the House Judiciary Committee. Mark Morgan, former acting Customs and Border Protection (CBP) commissioner said: 'His continued attempts to deflect responsibility for the disastrous and deadly crisis are just as dishonest as the non-sensical 'solutions' he put forward in this speech today. 'Rather than be honest with the American people and set forth a strategy to reverse course to defend our nations borders, he doubled-down on his failed open-border policies.' The number of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border has risen dramatically since Biden took office. There were more than 2.38 million people stopped during the past fiscal year, the first time the number has been higher than two million. A new rule to expel migrants who did not claim asylum in a third country en route to US The Department of Homeland Security also announced it was seeking a new regulation that would allow it to reject migrants who travel through a third country without trying to claim asylum there. The idea was developed under Mr. Trump, allowing migrants to be denied asylum if they had passed through Mexico, for example, without trying to claim asylum there before reaching the U.S. The Department of Homeland Security said its proposal would make migrants ineligible for asylum if they 'fail to seek protection in a country through which they traveled on their way to the United States.' Migrants who violated the rule would be barred from seeking entry to the United States for five years. That infuriated members of Biden's own party. Democratic Sens. Bob Menendez (N.J.), Cory Booker (N.J.), Ben Ray Lujan (N.M.) and Alex Padilla (Calif.) released a statement condemning what they said amounted to a 'transit ban' making it almost impossible for some people to claim asylum. 'We are also concerned about the administration's new transit ban regulation that will disregard our obligations under international law by banning families from seeking asylum at the border, likely separating families and stranding migrants fleeing persecution and torture in countries unable to protect them,' they said. Immigration reformers said Biden was continuing to rely on ideas pushed by Trump's hardline immigration adviser Stephen Miller. 'Continuing to rely on, and expand, Stephen Millers Title 42 and proposing expanding an asylum ban advances chaotic and ineffective policy while trampling on some of our proudest traditions as a welcoming nation,' said Vanessa Cardenas, executive director of Americas Voice. 'We should be finding ways to fix and fully resource our asylum process, not devising ways to prevent people seeking safety from accessing the asylum process under our laws.' Villages in Jharkhand, India, are in the grip of terror as a man-eating leopard kills five people in separate attacks. Man-Eating Leopard Kills Five Villagers Recent attacks by a bloodthirsty leopard have left 150 villagers in fear as locals are wary not to expose themselves to becoming victims of the feral predator, reported India.com. Villages in Jharkhand have been subjected to constant terror and fear because of the predator's threats, which get worse as it begins to consume human flesh in the areas they roam. About five people were attacked and killed by this leopard in 25 days in the territories involved. It especially has impacted the resident close to the Palamu Tiger Reserve area and Garhwa district, and many are afraid of the predators, noted the Deccan Herald. Villagers in the area where attacks have occurred that most would not leave their houses when the sun set after dark. The big cats would stalk their prey. All stay indoors at night because of this. Children who were supposed to attend school have been affected by the panic caused by the ferocious animals. Working in fields alone is not allowed; they go in groups wherever they leave their homes, citing the Dailyhunt. Leopards in India Are Getting Bold According to sources, the Forest Department says that only one animal has gotten the habit of hunting people and has killed these five people. Many believe that more than one animal is making all the killing of late. Read Also: Is Vladimir Putin Fighting Cancer? Rumors Spark Anew After Russia Video Goes Viral Most wildlife experts have thought the spate of these big cats hunting and killing humans is a grave concern. Typically these predators stay away from human habitations and hunt other animals for their prey. One of the reasons for such a shift in big cat behavior is an imbalance in the habitat and food sources which affects them. Details were given to IANS by the Garhwa Southern Forest Division officer Shashi Kumar; he added that it's just one leopard in the area which has been going to villages to attack people. He gave the information. Kumar also remarked that they would start a search to tranquilize the big cat and capture it. Details were released that the Hyderabad-based wildlife expert and shooter Nawab Shafat Ali Khan, with his son Haider Ali Khan, and Telangana-based shooter Sampath were engaged in patrolling where the animals were last spotted. Indicated that shooting the animal dead is the last option but trapping it is the objective of the hunt for the man-killing leopard. About 50 to 60 cameras were spread out to see where the beast would be next. A total of 50 to 60 forest workers are involved in the search for the elusive animal. Trappers have set four cages where the big cat would probably go. Traps in other places weren't able to catch the animal too. Last December 10, a 12-year-old girl was attacked at Ukamad village in Latehar district. The second attack occurred on December 14, when a 9-year-old child was attacked in Rodo village of Garhwa district. The third incident happened in Ranka block, where a 7-year-old girl died in a leopard attack on December 19. On another occasion on December 28, a leopard killed a 12-year-old boy at 6 pm at Kushwaha village.In the first week of January, an older man got killed close to the Palamu Tiger Reserve. A spate of incidents wherein man-eating leopard in Jharkhand, India kill five people is alarming to experts. Related Article: Leopard Mauls, Gores To Death 1.5-Year-Old Girl in Goregaon on the Way To Local Temple @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. They claimed 'something was off' in the six months leading to her disappearance Friends said Walshe texted on January 2, but did not mention his missing wife Missing Ana Walshe kept promising a 'big surprise' in the New Year and was in a hurry to sell off her assets for cash, friends have claimed. Mike and Mandi Silva told NBC Washington that in the last six months something seemed off about their friend, who was last seen early on New Year's Day. The couple said Ana, 39, had been rushing to offload assets for cash on December 28 or 29, including a car, and their apartment, which the Silvas had been renting out. 'Nothing is adding up,' Mandi Silva said. She added that in the last text received from Brian on January 2, he wrote: 'Happy new year. Sorry for the delay. I miss [sic] placed my phone and my son just found it.' There was no mention of Ana at that time, although she was already missing. The same day, Walshe was spotted on security video at a juice bar in Norwell, Massachusetts, where he placed an order for three kid's smoothies and two large smoothies. Six days later, police arrested Walshe on suspicion of 'misleading' authorities - a charge he denies - but still have not charged him with anything else. He remains in jail on $500,000 bond. New security video obtained by 7NEWS shows Brian Walshe, 46, at the Press Juice Bar in Norwell, Massachusetts, placing an order around mid morning The Silva couple said in the last text received from Brian on January 2, he wrote: 'Happy new year. Sorry for the delay. I miss [sic] placed my phone and my son just found it.' But there was no mention of Ana, though she had been missing since the day prior Ana was last seen leaving her home in the early morning hours of January 1, purportedly to take a ride-hailing vehicle to Logan International Airport for a flight to Washington, police and prosecutors said. But police have found no indication that she either took a vehicle or boarded any flight. The couple own a home in Washington DC and Walshe commutes during the week for work at a real estate company, her friends said. While police searched for Walshe last Friday, there was a fire at a home in Cohasset that she had owned until last year. The home was sold in March, and State Police and local investigators determined the cause of the fire was accidental. The current occupants escaped safely. Earlier on Tuesday it emerged that cops had found traces of blood, a hatchet, a hacksaw, a rug and used cleaning supplies while searching dumpsters near her mother-in-law's home. Brian Walshe had been on home confinement while awaiting sentencing in a fraud case involving the sale of fake Andy Warhol paintings, according to federal court records. Cohasset police said Ana's disappearance and her husband's case seem to be two very separate things. Massachusetts State Police and local police took Brian Walshe into custody after concluding they had 'probable cause' to believe he had misled investigators in the search for his wife. He as been accused by prosecutors of not giving a full account of his activities in the days after his wife vanished while the search for her was underway. One of those activities was the trip to Norwell on Monday, January 2 - a day after Ana was last seen. Walshe had earlier said he'd only left the house to get his children some ice cream. The couple have three sons, believed to be aged two, four, and six. Ana worked for real estate behemoth Tishman Speyer in Washington DC Police arrested Walshe on suspicion of 'misleading' authorities but have not charged him with anything else. Walshe pleaded not guilty on Monday but remained in jail on $500,000 bond The Walshes have three sons, believed to be aged two, four, and six According to a receipt provided by the juice bar, at 9.57am, Walshe ordered three kid's sized chocolate peanut butter smoothies and two large peanut, banana and honey smoothies, 7NEWS reported. Hannah Connors, the juice bar's manager, told the news outlet it was not Walshe's first visit and that the employees think of him to be somewhat of a regular. 'I remember he was staying towards the door, towards the entrance,' Connors said. 'Usually, people will go sit down and hang out but he didn't go over there. He was just waiting for it and he left as soon as he got it. 'We know our regulars and stuff, but we were just too busy,' Connors added. 'I didn't have a conversation with him, but just to think he was here is absolutely mind-blowing.' Mike and Mandi Silva told NBC Washington that in the last six months something seemed off about their friend, who was last seen early on New Year's Day On the same day as his trip to the juice bar, surveillance footage showed him at at a Home Depot in Rockland, authorities learned. Walshe did not tell police he had been to the home improvement store, where he bought $450 worth of mops, buckets, tarps, tape and cleaning supplies on January 2, Assistant Norfolk District Attorney Lynn Beland said at the hearing in Quincy District Court. Walshe did tell police that he had been to a supermarket and a pharmacy - though there is no evidence he had been to either store, she said. He misled investigators so he could either clean up or dispose of evidence, she added. Prosecutors said Walshe misled police by telling them Ana had left for the airport in an Uber or Lyft on January 1 to fly to Washington DC, where she works for real estate behemoth Tishman Speyer. Walshe was seen cracking a smile as he was handcuffed and led out of the station by officers 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 a vehicle or took a flight. 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. Ana's phone pinged in the area of the house on Jan 1 and 2. January 4: Ana's employer reports her 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 are taken away in a separate vehicle. Officers execute a search warrant at their home and found blood in the basement, along with a broken knife. The officers load a Volvo SUV onto the back of a truck while others search the grounds of their home. Police arrest Walshe on suspicion of 'misleading' authorities but do not charge him with anything else. January 9: Walshe grins at reporters as he is transported to his arraignment at Quincy District Court. He is held on $500,000 cash bail. Advertisement However, officials said there was no evidence she left the house, and that her phone pinged at her home location on January 1 and 2. The couple own several properties together including their home in Cohasset and a $1.3million house in DC. They also owned another property in Massachusetts, worth $1.4million which they sold last year before she went missing. That was the building that went up in flames days after she vanished, but cops investigating the matter believe the fire is not linked to her disappearance. This week, a friend of Walshe's father claimed he was a 'long-term patient' at a psychiatric center and had been diagnosed as a 'sociopath.' Walshe had received treatment at Austen Riggs Psychiatric Center in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, before being discharged a few years ago, Jeffrey Ornstein alleged. Ornstein, who was a friend of Walshe's neurologist father, Dr Thomas Walshe, for 35 years, aired the claims in an explosive 2019 affidavit. He also claimed Walshe had been estranged from the rest of his family after he had been accused of stealing millions of dollars from Dr Walshe's estate following his death. Walshe's cousin, and two close friends of his father, made the claims against him in the scathing 2019 court documents following the death of Dr Walshe in 2018. Ornstein said he had known Brian Walshe since he was 13, but said father and son had been estranged since 2009. He claimed that, when Walshe was released from Austen Riggs after around 12 years and attempted to contact his father, Dr Walshe turned him down. On Monday, cops said they had found blood on a damaged knife and in the basement of their home in Cohasset. Officers searching two waste facilities on Monday night found further potential evidence. They trawled through security footage at West Wareham after finding blood, a hatchet, a hacksaw, a rug and used cleaning products in a Peabody dumpster. The first facility is an hour south of Ana and Brian Walshe's home in Cohasset, while the other is 15 minutes from his mother's house in Swampscott. Prosecutors at Quincy District Court say Walshe's statements, including claiming that he didn't leave the house, delayed the investigation. A Texas high school student has been charged with capital murder in the death of a 16-year-old runaway during a suspected drug deal gone wrong. Victoria Duron, 17, claims her boyfriend, who is a minor and has not been named publicly, shot Tyrone Fiamahn dead, The Houston Chronicle reported. Deputies from the Harris County Sheriff's Office were called to the motel in West Houston after a report of a possible death in one of the rooms around 8pm on December 16. When they arrived they found Fiamahn with multiple gunshot wounds to his head, neck, back and arm. Police believed he had been dead for several days, according to the Harris County Sheriff's Office. Duron told investigators she knew Fiamahn as Knox and that he was her boyfriend's drug supplier. She said her boyfriend sold narcotics he got from him. Tyrone Fiamahn, 16, was found with multiple gunshot wounds to his head, neck, back and arm Victoria Duron, 17, is the Cypress High School student who now faces capital murder charges in the death of 16-year-old Tyrone Fiamahn Harris County Sheriff deputies were summoned to the motel - located on Farm to Market Road in West Houston - after a report of a possible death in one of the rooms around 8pm on December 16 Duron said the pair had met with the victim several times before the fatal shooting, court records reveal. The night of his death Duron claimed Fiamahn accused her and her boyfriend of stealing drugs, which the couple denied. She said her boyfriend then shot Fiamahn multiple times, court records obtained by DailyMail.com show. Before fleeing, the pair rummaged though Fiamahn's belonging stealing $1,000 and taking THC vapes from his backpack and the victims phone and rifle. Duron said the pair went to her boyfriend's uncles house where they both confessed to the killing. She said the uncle helped the pair burn the clothing they were both wearing during the day of the shooting. On December 16, video surveillance taken from the motel shows a man and a woman - wearing hooded jackets - getting dropped off in a Ford F150 Lyft truck. The pair are seen knocking on the door, someone on the other side opens the door - the couple enter in the same room Fiamahn was found in, court records reveal. Around 10.50pm, a man and woman - with their heads down and faces covered - leave the room. Court documents state 'the man appeared to have something in his pants keeping him from moving in a normal manner,' the news outlet reported. The pair are then seen leaving in a Lyft vehicle - a Kia Optima. Both Lyft vehicles and the rides were traced back to Duron's father's phone number. According to court documents, cellphone records show Duron was near the motel at the time of the murder. Duron gave a voluntary statement to police - that was made available in court documents on Tuesday - but investigators said in those documents she gave partial truths and lied several times in her statement. It was still unclear which of Duron's statements were considered false by authorities, and how that was determined. There was no further information provided on Duron's alleged boyfriend, according to Harris County District Attorney's Office. Duron (pictured) is holding her cellphone told investigators she knew Fiamahn as Knox and that he was her boyfriend's drug supplier. She said her boyfriend sold narcotics he got from him A GoFundMe has been created by a family member of Fiamahn to help with funeral expenses. 'Tyrone was a very energetic individual since he was a child. His smile would stretch from ear to ear leaving you no choice but to smile back and even laugh. 'A smart, outgoing and courageous person; Tyrone never seemed to ever be bothered by his surroundings no matter the situation or condition, he always made the best of what he had,' they wrote. 'He cared for his family and friends dearly. Sadly his life was cut short in the most tragic way one could imagine. 'He had a bright future ahead of him with his family right behind. Unfortunately, we will not get to see our brother, our cousin, or our friend graduate from high school or achieve any of his life goals,' they said. As of Wednesday, nearly $2,000 has been raised towards their goal of $20,000. Progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took a shot at Republican Rep. Ronny Jackson from Texas on Tuesday evening after the Texas lawmaker lashed out against the Biden administration for considering a ban on gas stoves. Federal officials are weighing the significant step, which would have a sweeping effect on new building regulations, over the growing evidence of their risk to people's heath. Jackson, known for his fiery tirades against the Biden administration on Twitter, made clear where he stood on the matter. 'Ill NEVER give up my gas stove,' Jackson wrote on the social platform. 'If the maniacs in the White House come for my stove, they can pry it from my cold dead hands. COME AND TAKE IT!!' New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez appeared to mock a Republican lawmaker who is against the possible gas stove ban Texas Republican Rep. Ronny Jackson said the federal government would have to 'pry' his gas stove 'from my cold dead hands' Ocasio-Cortez retweeted the Republican's statement, writing, 'Did you know that ongoing exposure to NO2 from gas stoves is linked to reduced cognitive performance.' Jackson responded with what appeared to be a screenshot from the New York congresswoman's Instagram story, showing her kitchen. '[Ocasio-Cortez] says gas stoves cause reduced cognitive performance - yet she uses a gas stove? Is this a self-diagnosis?' the conservative lawmaker wrote. 'AOC, as a medical doctor, I can tell you this: whats wrong with your head IS NOT caused by stoves. Something WAY BIGGER is causing your decreased cognitive function!' Consumer Product Safety Commissioner Richard Trumka, Jr. said a ban on gas stoves is 'on the table' in a Bloomberg interview published on Monday. Trumka called gas stoves, which have been a fixture in American homes since the early 1920s, a 'hidden hazard.' 'Products that cant be made safe can be banned,' he said. Four in every 10 American homes has a natural gas stove. Ocasio-Cortez said gas stoves are linked to 'reduced cognitive performance' Jackson responded with a screenshot from what appears to be Ocasio-Cortez's Instagram, with a photo of her own gas stove They've been linked to childhood asthma in multiple studies, and gases produced such as nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide have been linked to cancer as well as other health conditions. A study out of California published late last year indicates that gas stoves also leak carcinogens such as benzene. Arizona conservative Rep. Andy Biggs blasted the potential ban as 'woke.' 'The Biden Administration is now weighing a nationwide ban on gas stoves. Tens of millions of Americans use gas stoves. They're affordable, practical, and popular,' Biggs wrote on Twitter. 'Enough with this woke garbage!' It's become another debate dividing conservatives and progressives. Moderate Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia joined the right in panning the move. 'This is a recipe for disaster. The federal government has no business telling American families how to cook their dinner,' Manchin said. 'I can tell you the last thing that would ever leave my house is the gas stove that we cook on.' It coincided with the anniversary of deadly attacks on Charlie Hebdo in 2015 Iran and other Muslim groups condemned the magazine last week after it published a series of cartoons mocking Islamic leaders as part of a competition The leader of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has threatened France and the editors of the Charlie Hebdo with the same fate as Salman Rushdie after the satirical magazine doubled down on its ridicule of supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei. Charlie Hebdo's cover image this week featured a drawing of dishevelled Islamic religious leaders squeezing out of a naked woman's body. 'I advise the French and directors of the Charlie Hebdo magazine to take a look at the fate of Salman Rushdie,' the IRGC's Commander-in-Chief Hossein Salami said yesterday, according to Iran's Mehr news agency. 'Do not play with Muslims - Salman Rushdie insulted the Quran and the holy Prophet of Islam 30 years ago and hid in dangerous places,' he said, adding that Muslims would 'sooner or later' take revenge for the cartoons. Rushdie, author of the novel 'The Satanic Verses' which Muslim critics say paints a blasphemous and deceitful portrayal of Islam, was stabbed in the neck at an event in New York last year. Maj. Gen. Salami's threat comes a week after the magazine courted more harsh criticism from the Muslim world when it published a series of winning cartoons from a competition that called on readers to depict the Ayatollah in the most offensive manner possible in support of ongoing protests in Iran. Demonstrators burn a French flag during a protest to condemn the French magazine Charlie Hebdo for republishing cartoons insulting Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in front of the French Embassy in Tehran, Iran This handout picture provided by the office of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei shows him giving an address before visitors from the city of Qom in the capital Tehran on January 9, 2023 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Commander-in-Chief Major General Hossein Salami told the editors of Charlie Hebdo they may meet the same fate as Salman Rushdie Sea of protesters in London show solidarity with women of Iran - Click HERE to read more Protesters gather at Marble Arch in London before they march to Trafalgar Square to protest against the Islamic Republic in Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini Advertisement 'The mullahs aren't happy. The caricatures of their supreme leader... do not seem to have made them laugh,' Charlie Hebdo's editor, known as 'Riss', wrote. 'Laughing at themselves has never been a strong point of tyrants,' he added. The paper was hit by a cyber attack last week after publishing the offensive caricatures of Khamenei, which came as part of a special edition to mark the eight-year anniversary of the 2015 attack on its Paris offices that left 12 dead. One of the finalists depicts a turbaned cleric reaching for a hangman's noose as he drowns in blood, while another shows Khamenei clinging to a giant throne above the raised fists of protesters. Others depict more vulgar and sexually explicit scenes. '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.' Earlier on Tuesday, Hezbollah, the pro-Iranian movement in Lebanon, also condemned the cartoons, arguing Khamenei was not just a ruler but 'a religious symbol for tens of millions of believers'. Charlie Hebdo's publication director, cartoonist and writer Laurent Sourisseau, known as Riss, attends a commemorative ceremony marking the 8th anniversary of the 2015 deadly Islamist terror attack on the Hyper Cacher Jewish supermarket in Paris French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin (C) lights a candle for victims during a commemorative ceremony marking the 8th anniversary of the 2015 deadly Islamist terror attack on the Hyper Cacher Jewish supermarket in Paris, on January 9, 2023 A protester holds a picture of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, during a protest to condemn the French magazine Charlie Hebdo for republishing cartoons insulting Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Author Salman Rushdie is tended to after he was attacked during a lecture, Friday, Aug. 12, 2022, at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, N.Y. The militant political group called publishing the cartoons an 'ugly act by the magazine' and hit out at the French government for allowing the content to be publicised. 'We call upon the French government to take decisive measures to punish those behind the act for attacking dignitaries of a whole nation,' Hezbollah said in a statement. 'The French government... should not be a partner in this offence.' Iran also issued an official warning to France over the 'insulting and indecent' cartoons in last week's Charlie Hebdo, to which the French government is yet to respond, and summoned the French ambassador. Charlie Hebdo has a long history of publishing vulgar cartoons mocking Islamists, which critics say are deeply insulting to Muslims. Two French-born al-Qaida extremists attacked the newspaper's office in 2015, killing 12 cartoonists, and it has been the target of other attacks over the years. Demonstrators burn a French flag during a protest to condemn the French magazine Charlie Hebdo for republishing cartoons insulting Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in front of the French Embassy in Tehran, Iran, January 8, 2023 French Charlie Hebdo cartoonist Riss (3nd L) stands beside candle lit for victims during a commemorative ceremony marking the 8th anniversary of the 2015 deadly Islamist terror attack on the Hyper Cacher Jewish supermarket in Paris, on January 9, 2023 Slogans written on the wall of the French Embassy in Tehran on January 10, 2023 in Tehran, Iran Laicite, the French word for secularism, is a fundamental part of France's political and social fabric. The government is officially neutral when it comes to matters of faith and there is no state religion in France. Supporters argue the policy allows for freedom of thought and expression, as well as freedom of religion because no one faith holds ascendancy. But critics say the policy disproportionately affects Muslims, particularly given French laws that prevent items of religious significance or symbolism, such as hijabs, to be worn in public. Charlie Hebdo, which has published similarly offensive cartoons about dead child migrants, virus victims, neo-Nazis, popes, Jewish leaders and other public figures, presents itself as an advocate for democracy and free expression. But it routinely pushes the limits of French hate speech laws with often sexually explicit caricatures that target nearly everyone. 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. The ex-vice president said it was 'incredibly frustrating' that the FBI raided Trump's home, while the media was 'papering over' the story with Biden Pence pushed that President Joe Biden as getting off easier for retaining classified documents compared for former President Donald Trump Former Vice President Mike Pence called out the 'double standard' he was seeing during a radio interview Tuesday with conservative host Hugh Hewitt Former Vice President Mike Pence called out the 'double standard' he believed was at play, suggesting President Joe Biden was getting off easier for retaining classified documents compared to former President Donald Trump with the Mar-a-Lago raid. Speaking to conservative radio show host Hugh Hewitt Tuesday, Pence said the FBI's August search of Trump's Florida home and club for government documents a 'massive overreach' and a 'massive overreaction.' 'But having now created that standard and now abandoned that standard when the current president of the United States is found to have had classified documents in his possession after leaving office, I think it just, I have no words right now. It's just incredibly frustrating to me,' Pence said. 'But the original sin here was the massive overreach,' the former vice president added, though he noted that the media was 'papering over this.' Former Vice President Mike Pence called out the 'double standard' he believed was at play, suggesting President Joe Biden was getting off easier for retaining classified documents compared to former President Donald Trump with the Mar-a-Lago raid Hewitt chimed in saying he believed that the kerfuffle over the Trump and Biden classified documents was 'nonsense.' 'Every former president ends up with a mix-up in the papers, it just happens,' the radio show host said. But Hewitt also argued that since the Justice Department appointed a special counsel to oversee the Trump investigations, that same individual should have been charged with looking at the Biden docs. 'I can't understand for the life of me how the same issue for people who are both running for president - Biden and Trump - does not end up with the same special counsel,' Hewitt said. 'I think it's egregious that it did not go, the Biden papers matter did not go to Jack Smith,' he added, referencing the Trump special counsel. Pence said he 'couldn't agree more.' 'It's deeply troubling to me, but again, the action last summer was wrong,' he reiterated. 'But the willingness of the national media to just turn away and turn a deaf ear to the Biden - to the disclosures that when Vice President Biden left office, he left with classified documents as well, it just shows you, it's like I said before, if they don't have double standards, they'd have no standards at all,' Pence said. President Joe Biden said he was 'surprised' that classified documents were found in his former office at the Penn-Biden Center, a think tank in Washington, D.C. The D.C. office building where 10 classified documents were found at a former office of now President Joe Biden Since the White House said Monday that Biden's attorneys had found 10 documents with classified markings at an old office at a Washington, D.C. think tank, the president has been peppered with questions about the discovery. Biden was asked about the documents at the top of his trilateral press conference Tuesday in Mexico City, alongside Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The president said he was 'surprised' to find out classified documents were discovered in a box in a locked cabinet. But said his lawyers 'did what they should have done.' 'They immediately called the Archives - immediately called the Archives, turned them over to the Archives,' the president said. The documents were discovered on November 2 and handed over to the Archives on November 3. Biden said he didn't know the content of the documents and that his lawyers suggested he not ask. 'And we're cooperating fully with the review,' the president added. Biden's Attorney General Merrick Garland is having Chicago U.S. Attorney John Lausch review the documents. Former President Donald Trump wants the home of President Joe Biden to be 'raided' after classified papers were found in a locked closet in an old office that Biden used The collection of documents seized by the FBI from former President Donald Trump's estate at Mar-a-Lago in August. Pence said the raid was 'massive overreach' and a 'massive overreaction' At the same time, the president's Democratic allies are pushing back on Republicans like Pence making apples-to-apples comparisons of Trump and Biden's treatment of classified 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,' Senate Intelligence Committee Chair, Sen. Mark Warner, said in a statement Tuesday. '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 said. 'But again, that's why we need to be briefed.' Pence has continued to defend Trump despite the two men having a falling out over Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 election results. The former vice president briefly referenced that on Hewitt's program when talking about all he had accomplished during the Trump-Pence administration, 'which obviously didn't end well,' Pence said. A skydiver caught on the camera the horrifying moment he thought he had been left paralyzed after smashing into the ground and breaking his spine while trying out a 'deadly' new stunt. Josh Poly was skydiving with friends near his home at the time in Los Gatos, California, when the freak accident occurred. The 33-year-old said he was trying a more advanced 'swooping' maneuver when a series of mistakes resulted in him crashing into the ground and being thrown into a 'washing machine cycle-like' tumble. As well as attempting the 'dangerous' maneuver, Josh admits that he misjudged his altitude as he was coming in to land. Josh Poly was skydiving with friends near his home at the time in Los Gatos, California. The 33-year-old said he was trying a more advanced 'swooping' maneuver A series of mistakes resulted in him crashing into the ground and being thrown into a 'washing machine cycle-like' tumble Josh admits that he misjudged his altitude as he was coming in to land Josh had also failed to test out new gloves before the jump, which meant that he struggled to steer his parachute in the way that he normally does He had also failed to test out new gloves before the jump, which meant that he struggled to steer his parachute in the way that he normally does. But miraculously - despite suffering three fractures to his spine and snapping his tailbone in half - he was sent home from hospital the same day and made a full recovery just four months later. The warehouse worker has now shared shocking footage of the accident in October 2020 to warn other new skydivers to take extra care and progress slowly. Josh, from San Jose, California, said: 'It was the very first jump of the day, there was no wind really so you're going to be flying in to land a lot faster - usually you want a little bit of a headwind to slow you down a bit. 'I had been swooping where the idea is to speed up your parachute, maneuver a turn and then as you're coming in you try to glide close to the ground - when you start getting into that it can be a lot more dangerous.' Despite suffering three fractures to his spine and snapping his tailbone in half, Josh was sent home from hospital the same day and made a full recovery just four months later The warehouse worker has now shared shocking footage of the accident, from October 2020, to warn other new skydivers to take extra care and progress slowly Josh, from San Jose, California, said: 'It was the very first jump of the day, there was no wind really so you're going to be flying in to land a lot faster - usually you want a little bit of a headwind to slow you down a bit' He added: 'I misjudged the altitude slightly - I checked on the video and I was about 100 feet lower than I thought I was - so when I started this maneuver I was already low and out of position. 'As I was turning into my final landing turn I was coming in really fast and I saw how close the ground was and that was my "oh s***" moment. 'I reached up for my risers to try and level my parachute out but I also had some gloves on that I had never jumped with so I couldn't feel my toggles as much as I could've. 'I tried to pull down on them and that just didn't do anything, the parachute was still diving very steeply at the ground. I barely had any time to react. 'Before I knew it I hit the ground and it was like a washing machine cycle after that - just tumbling and tumbling. 'The only person that really saw it was a girl that drives and picks us up. She came over and she was hysterical and that's when I knew that I had messed up. 'I didn't know how bad it was at first. The pain didn't really come in until later on because of the adrenaline and shock of it all.' Josh hit the ground with his feet, followed by his buttocks He then tumbled, shredding his clothes and battering his body against the rough terrain A friend waiting nearby who witnessed the crash called an ambulance and waited around 25 minutes with Josh before he was rushed to Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital in Hollister The avid skydiver hit the ground with his feet, followed by his buttocks, before 'tumbling', shredding his clothes and battering his body against the rough terrain. A friend waiting nearby who witnessed the crash called an ambulance and waited around 25 minutes with Josh before he was rushed to Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital in Hollister. A CAT scan then revealed that he had compressed the L3 and 5 vertebrae and 'burst' the L4 vertebrae in his spine with multiple fractures, as well snapping his tailbone in half and splintering parts of his ankle bones. He claims hospital doctors told him that his injuries were too severe to be treated there before he was transferred to Stanford Hospital in Palo Alto via medical helicopter. But - despite fearing he would be paralyzed - he was discharged the same day and sent home to recover with a wheelchair, back brace and doughnut cushion for his painful tailbone break. After four months of wearing the back brace constantly besides showering - even while sleeping - he miraculously made a full recovery without the need for surgery. A CAT scan revealed that Josh had compressed the L3 and 5 vertebrae and 'burst' the L4 vertebrae in his spine with multiple fractures, as well snapping his tailbone in half and splintering parts of his ankle bones off. But - despite fearing he would be paralyzed - he was discharged the same day and sent home to recover with a wheelchair, back brace and doughnut cushion for his painful tailbone break Josh said: 'Once I got to the hospital and the days following that's when the pain got really bad. 'That was probably one of the scariest moments. I was thinking, "I just hope it doesn't mean that I'm not going to be able to walk or lose feeling in my legs." 'The tailbone was broken in half and that was probably the most painful one. I couldn't sit down or do anything without excruciating pain and it took a while to heal. 'I had to have help doing everything. It was really hard to walk and sit up or even roll out of bed.' He continued: 'It seemed like it took forever but it slowly got better and better until I was able to get out of bed and go to the bathroom by myself. 'I was really lucky because I've had X-rays taken of my spine since and the nerves in my spinal cord are so close to where those breaks are - the doctor didn't know I didn't have nerve pain.' Despite his terrifying experience, Josh says he was back skydiving as soon as he recovered and still jumps every couple of weeks to this day. He now hopes to warn others new to the sport to take extra care to avoid the same mistakes he made. Josh advised: 'Take your time when you're progressing, you don't want to rush into anything and get complacent because that's how I was getting. 'Just take it slow and if you're out of position or something feels off in your gut then listen to that gut feeling. Also always test new equipment out first before getting up there. 'When you're trying to progress quickly you want that small, fast parachute and stuff but that stuff can kill you. I know a few people have died doing that swooping as well.' Under-fire Prince Harry is facing growing calls to either voluntarily abandon his royal titles or be stripped of them after launching a string of attacks on the Monarchy in his bombshell memoir, interviews and Netflix docuseries. The Duke of Sussex has deepened the rift in the House of Windsor by making a slew of allegations against the Royal Family, including claims that his estranged brother William attacked him in a row over Megxit, in his autobiography Spare and primetime TV interviews to plug the book. But with new polls showing his popularity in Britain nosediving, including among young people, Tory MPs have warned that the prince - who quit royal duties and moved to California with his wife Meghan - should give up his official Sussex title or be stripped of them. Conservative MP Bob Seely told MailOnline that he is still intending to press ahead with an attempt to pass legislation to allow Harry and Meghan's royal status to be downgraded. He is planning a Private Member's Bill that would allow a vote on amending the 1917 Titles Deprivation Act - last used to strip the German royal family of their UK titles during the First World War. Mr Seely said his 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 bluntly asked: 'What difference would that make?' Under-fire Prince Harry is facing growing calls to either voluntarily abandon his royal titles or be stripped of them after launching a string of attacks on the Monarchy in his bombshell memoir, interviews and Netflix docuseries. Right, Tory MP Bob Seely With new polls showing his popularity in Britain nosediving, including among young people, Tory MPs have warned that the prince - who quit royal duties and moved to California with his wife Meghan - should give up his official Sussex title or be stripped of them 'I think most people are fed up to their back teeth of this and wish he would stop invading his privacy,' he said. 'America is going to get fed up, we are fed up. California is going to get fed up with him soon.' Tory MP Scott Benton added that Harry's comments on anti-monarchist Stephen Colbert's The Late Show - where he declared the US his home - and other TV interviews this week including with ITV's Tom Bradby has sparked fury from his Blackpool South constituents. He told MailOnline: 'Many of my constituents are instinctive supporters of the Monarchy and I suspect that they will feel badly let down by Prince Harry and his comments. So much so, that a number of them have written to me demanding that he is stripped of his titles. 'His comments have reflected badly on the institution, and by virtue of that, have harmed the reputation of this country around the world. The Monarchy is one of the things that makes our country so special and by washing his dirty laundry in public, he has not only come across as spoilt and petty, but has let down the institution which so many of us cherish so much'. Last month Mr Seely said Harry's 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 Member's 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'. Harry last night accused the Monarchy of trying to 'undermine' his explosive memoir Spare because its controversial contents 'perhaps made them feel uncomfortable and scared'. The 38-year-old held nothing back as he took aim at his family during an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Tuesday, where he lurched between hurling more barbs at his family and making light-hearted jokes including about his 'frost-nipped' genitals while swigging a glass of tequila. Prince Harry with host Stephen Colbert during an interview on The Late Show where he lavished praise on the US Harry also took part in a skit with Tom Hanks and clinked glasses with Colbert as he praised America as a 'great place to live' and said how much he loves 'beautiful California', sparking cheers from the audience. He whipped up the crowd on several occasions, offering them all some tequila and talking about his Army career, asking: 'Are there any veterans in the house?' One of the more serious moments during the lengthy sit-down saw Harry rounding on his relatives over the backlash to his memoir, with Colbert questioning whether he believes the royals have an 'active campaign to undermine this book'. 'Of course,' the duke responded - adding that 'the British Press' has also been complicit in the 'campaign', with Colbert chiming in: 'But aided and abetted by the Palace.' 'Again of course,' Harry confirmed. 'But this is the other side of the story, right? After 38 years, they have told their side of the story. This is the other side of the story.' The father-of-two then suggested that what he perceives as the royals' 'campaign' against his memoir has come as a result of them being 'uncomfortable and scared' over its contents. 'There is a lot in there that, perhaps, makes people feel uncomfortable and scared,' he continued. The wide-ranging interview with Colbert saw Harry address a number of topics ranging from the farcical to the furious, with the Duke launching several tirades against the British Press - accusing it of 'abusing' his wife Meghan and bizarrely suggesting that it was 'embarrassing' for the media when he chose to quit the Royal Family and relocate to the US. From the get-go, it was clear that the interview - which comes at the end of a transatlantic PR blitz to tout his memoir - would 'spare' nobody in the monarchy, with the opening seconds of the show featuring a mocking skit that ridiculed royal tradition. The show opened with a clip showing Colbert standing alongside two trumpeters wearing replicas of the uniforms traditionally worn by the State Trumpeters of the Household Cavalry. Prince Harry kicked off the latest in a long line of TV interviews by ridiculing royal tradition and mocking the monarchy - with the help of Hollywood A-lister Tom Hanks The episode of The Late Show kicked off with a skit featuring Harry and Hanks, 66, being greeted by royal fanfare as they entered the CBS studios As Harry strolled down a red carpet they began their fanfare, with the duke putting on a mock display of humility and telling the TV host such pomp 'wasn't necessary'. Then Harry leaned on Colbert's Hollywood pulling power, with actor Tom Hanks joining the prince as the host proclaimed that the trumpets had in fact been intended not for the duke, but for the 66-year-old star all along. Colbert then performed his traditional opening monologue ahead of his lengthy chat with Harry began, but not before the host poured each of them a glass of tequila. 'I know that you yourself are a very private person for being a public figure,' he said, while brandishing a copy of Harry's book. 'You are revealing a lot of things in here. It must be on a certain level kind of nerve-wracking to be out there publicly, physically representing the book... Would you like a cocktail before we begin?' 'Yes please!' Harry responded as Colbert pulled out a bottle of liquor. In the first of many audience interactions, the duke turned to the group of spectators - which he revealed later included several veterans - to ask whether the late-night host 'ever makes you guys a drink'. In another sign that Harry has adopted a 'Hollywood' personality, the duke made several attempts at comedy during the interview, trading banter with Colbert and - in one of the most cringeworthy moments of the sit-down - gleefully expressing mock regret that his frostbitten penis didn't turn into a rock-solid icicle. While the interview elicited plenty of laughs from the audience, it is sure to have had Palace insiders rolling their eyes and gritting their teeth as the duke laid bare several intimate stories, ranging from the eye-wateringly awkward to the bitterly brutal - with Harry pulling no punches when it came to his observations about his family. For the most part, the sit-down addressed many of the same topics that Harry has covered in his other interviews - which have included on-air chats with ITV's Tom Bradby in the UK and, in the US, with 60 Minutes and Good Morning America, as well as a cover feature and photoshoot for People magazine. Some critics claimed these more serious interviews failed to properly question or address contradictions in Harry's book, yet the prince chose to wrap up his media blitz with The Late Show, in what appears to be an attempt to tout his memoir in a more light-hearted manner. As he has done in every other interview, Harry addressed his sensational claim that his brother, William, physically attacked him during a fight over Meghan - with Colbert taking particular interest in the necklace that the duke accused his sibling of breaking during the altercation. Harry revealed that he has since had the necklace fixed and pulled it out of his shirt, revealing that it now holds three pendants - two of which were presents from Meghan and are engraved with the heartbeats of their children, Archie and Lilibet, while the other was made for him by a 'friend in Botswana' and features a tiger's eye stone at its centre. The five times Harry was accused of hypocrisy: From feminism to 'privacy' pleas and spat over 'milking his mother's death for money' Prince Harry has been accused of hypocrisy and U-turning on a number of controversial subjects - including his pleas for 'privacy' - during his media blitz while promoting his bombshell tell-all memoir. In his autobiography Spare, and interviews to plug the book, the Duke of Sussex has launched a slew of 'truth bombs' including allegations that his estranged brother William attacked him during a row over Megxit and branding Queen Consort Camilla 'dangerous'. Amid the media firestorm, however, the prince has come under fire for appearing to openly contradict himself and even backtrack on bombshell claims that he - and Meghan - have previously made. Here, MailOnline takes a look at what critics claim are examples of the Duke's hypocrisy and U-turning... Prince Harry has been accused of hypocrisy and U-turning on a number of controversial subjects - including his pleas for 'privacy' - during his media blitz while promoting his bombshell tell-all memoir In his autobiography Spare, and interviews to plug the book, the Duke of Sussex has launched a slew of 'truth bombs' including allegations that his estranged brother William physically attacked him during a row over Megxit and Queen Consort Camilla was 'dangerous' 1) Harry tells Tom Bradby how he hopes any talks with his family 'will be in private'... AFTER revealing salacious details about the Royals in his memoir In his incendiary interview with ITV journalist, and old friend, Tom Bradby, the Duke sensationally said that he hoped any reconciliation with the Royal Family would be in private. The prince made his plea despite having launched a media blitz on both sides of the Atlantic to promote Spare and having just appeared on a tell-all Netflix docu-series with his wife, Meghan. Harry said: '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.' Hundreds of royal fans took to social media to blast the Duke's bewildering plea for privacy. The Duke of Sussex made his plea for privacy despite having launched a media blitz on both sides of the Atlantic to promote 'Spare' and having just appeared on a tell-all Netflix docu-series with his wife, Meghan Markle Ex-BBC broadcaster Jon Sopel and Vanity Fair's royal correspondent Katie Nicholl both tweeted their disbelief at Harry's pleas for privacy Ex-BBC broadcaster Jon Sopel tweeted: 'Please tell me I misheard this: 'I hope what I say to my father and brother remains private'.' Vanity Fair's royal correspondent Katie Nicholl shared her thoughts in just two words in her own tweet: 'The irony!' Another person quipped online: 'Private? Not a word in Harry's vocabulary.' One user tweeted: 'Harry literally turning the British Monarchy into an episode of The Kardashian's. This is cringe.' Another said: 'If you want communication with your family to be private, why are you doing this interview?! So contradictory. A third added: 'He wants any future conversation to stay private but is sitting here telling us what other 'private' conversations they have had.' There was disbelief when Harry told ITV's Tom Bradby that whatever he says to William in future will remain 'private', despite using his memoirs, TV interviews, a Netflix documentary as well as an Oprah special to spill the beans on what his family said to him and Meghan behind closed doors 2) Harry accuses Diana's former butler Paul Burrell of 'milking' his mother's death in a tell-all book... after the Duke wrote extensively about the late Princess of Wales in his OWN memoir The Duke condemned Diana's former butler for releasing a book that made a series of private revelations about his mother - even after writing extensively about the late Princess in his own memoir. In his controversial autobiography, Harry said Paul Burrell was 'milking' Diana's 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 his memoir, Harry said Paul Burrell made his 'blood boil' by releasing a book about Princess Diana called A Royal Duty 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 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.' Appearing on Australian breakfast show Sunrise yesterday, 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.' The Duke of Sussex accused Mr Burrell of 'milking' Princess Diana's death for money (pictured together in 1997) Speaking from his home in Florida, he said the Duke 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 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]... 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.' 3) Critic accuses 'self-proclaimed feminist' Harry of 'breathtaking hypocrisy' by making personal attacks on Queen Consort Camilla 'Self-proclaimed feminist' Harry has been accused by a critic of 'tremendous' and 'breathtaking' hypocrisy for making 'nasty potshot' attacks on the character of his stepmother Queen Consort Camilla. In an interview to plug his explosive autobiography Spare, the Duke branded the King's second wife the 'villain' and 'dangerous', accusing her of rehabilitating her image at the expense of his. Later, he appeared to row back the comments by saying that he had 'huge compassion' for Camilla. However, royal sources indicated Charles considers the prince's attacks on the Queen Consort to have crossed a 'red line'. Speaking to ITV's Good Morning Britain, Camilla's friend and journalist Petronella Wyatt blasted Harry's fierce criticisms, accusing the Duke - who she called a 'self-proclaimed feminist' - of hypocrisy by 'taking a very nasty potshot at a 75-year-old woman who can't answer back'. Though she claimed that Charles will be 'devastated' by Harry's charges, Ms Wyatt said that the King 'will forgive his son anything' because he feels responsible 'for the way he's turned out'. 'Self-proclaimed feminist' Prince Harry is facing charges of 'tremendous hypocrisy' for making extraordinary and 'nasty' attacks on the character of his stepmother Queen Consort Camilla in his bombshell memoir 'I think Harry is a tremendous hypocrite because he's a self-avowed feminist and yet he takes this very nasty potshot at a 75-year-old woman who can't answer back. So where is his feminism?', Ms Wyatt said. 'If anyone accused Meghan of scheming her way into marriage for the Royal Family... that creates howls from Harry, so why is he doing the same thing to Camilla? And why is he taking absolutely no responsibility for his own mistakes which were not leaked to the Press by Camilla?'. She continued: 'There was one example of a leak by one of her aides that was unintentional, and the aide was immediately sacked. But she has never ever briefed against her... she would never do that, she's a very very kind person, she's very sensitive where both the princes were concerned, and she's completely without ambition.' Though she claimed that Charles will be 'devastated' by Harry's charges, Ms Wyatt said that the King 'will forgive his son anything' because he feels responsible 'for the way he's turned out' 4) Harry calls Camilla 'dangerous' in one interview... then used another interview to say he had 'huge compassion' for her Harry made yet another sensational U-turn in his attacks on the Royal Family - claiming he has 'huge compassion' for his father's wife Camilla, less than 12 hours after he branded her 'dangerous' and a 'villain' in a 60 Minutes interview to promote his explosive new book. The 38-year-old's comments about the Queen Consort - whom he reveals in Spare that he once thought of as an 'evil stepmother' - came in a new sit-down with GMA, his third pre-recorded interview in less than 24 hours. Speaking to host Michael Strahan, who 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'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 '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, 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 told Cooper that the Queen Consort was content with bodies being 'left in the street' as she tried to rehabilitate her image after her long affair with Charles while he was married to Diana. Referring back 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.' 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.' 5) Harry DENIES accusing the Royal Family of racism in bombshell Oprah interview... where he and Meghan alleged an unnamed royal asked about the skin colour of their unborn son Archie Harry was accused of having 'hung his family out to dry' after he 'failed to correct' accusations of racism made about the Royal Family in his bombshell Oprah interview and the recent Netflix series. The Duke of Sussex denied calling the Royal Family racist in his interview with Bradby, but said they were guilty of 'unconscious bias' while discussing Meghan's controversial claim to Oprah that an unnamed royal had expressed 'concern' about Archie's skin colour. Ms Winfrey asked Meghan in 2021: 'They were concerned that if he were too brown, that would be a problem? Are you saying that?' Ms Markle 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?' 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 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 It prompted a worldwide guessing game about the senior royal who said it and hours later Harry's estranged brother, Prince 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 in an incendiary interview to plug his new memoir, he told Bradby that the Royal Family is not racist. Bradby was visibly stunned - as were millions of viewers - by his screeching U-turn from previous incendiary claims. 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'. Bradby appeared taken aback by the answer - while experts said that Harry clearly didn't understand the term he was now using. 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 A British-Iranian ex-government official been sentenced to death by Tehran for allegedly spying for MI6. Alireza Akbari, who has been behind bars for three years, is facing execution after being found guilty of espionage on behalf of the UK, which he has denied. Britain's Foreign Office has requested the dual national's immediate release. Mr Akbari's wife Maryam said an official asked her to visit her husband in prison for a 'final meeting' before the state killing. Alireza Akbari, a British-Iranian former deputy in Iran's defence ministry, has been sentenced to death by Tehran for allegedly spying for MI6 He has also been transferred to solitary confinement, a sign that the execution is imminent after the death was sentenced issued by the Revolutionary Court. But there are no details about the specific charges and court proceedings he underwent. An audio message received by BBC Persia from Mr Akbari claims he has been tortured and forced to confess on camera to crimes he did not commit. He says he was forced to take psychedelic drugs and was interrogated for ten months. Iran's Ministry of Intelligence described the politician as 'one of the most important agents of the British spy service'. He previously worked in Iran's military and security institutions and has joint citizenship of Iran and Britain. He then served as the international deputy of the Ministry of Defence under two-star general Ali Shamkhani, who served from 1997 to 2005. Shamkhani is the current secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, a key decision-making body. Iran's Ministry of Intelligence described the politician (pictured) as 'one of the most important agents of the British spy service' Some believe the charges against Mr Akbari may be politically motivated by rivals of Shamkhani. Iran claims that after Mr Akbari was identified as a spy, he was used by Tehran authorities to mislead Britain with 'directed information'. At one point, Mr Akbari was in Europe but he said he left Iran legally and was involved economically in several companies on the continent. But Iran accused him of 'running away' and having a 'front company', and his financial lawyers have been accused of being intelligence agents. A spokesperson for the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office said: 'We are supporting the family of Mr Akbari and have repeatedly raised his case with the Iranian authorities. 'Our priority is securing his immediate release and we have reiterated our request for urgent consular access.' Shamima Begum told a podcast her fellow teenage ISIS bride was 'stupid' for leaving behind a 'shopping list' scrawled on a school planner which detailed items needed for their escape. Poll Should Begum be allowed back to the UK? Yes No Should Begum be allowed back to the UK? Yes 167 votes No 1843 votes Now share your opinion The list, which featured make-up, boots, 4 socks and 100 for a taxi fare, was found at Begum's house. But, speaking to the BBC, she denied the list was hers and insisted it had been left by Amira Abase, one of the other girls. 'We tried so hard to clear up our tracks and just one of us was stupid,' she said. The 23-year-old also recalled how she packed mint chocolate for the trip to Syria and 'felt relieved' to leave the UK. The BBC has been criticised for 'giving terrorists a platform' with the 10-part podcast, while the Taxpayers' Alliance accused the corporation of 'wasting' public money. The BBC has released a 10-part podcast about Shamima Begum in which she tells the story of how she joined ISIS In 2015, Begum (centre), then 15, and her school friends Kadiza Sultana (left), also 15, and Amira Abase (right), 16, fled their east London homes to join IS. Her two companions are believed to have died there Dr Paul Stott, Head of Security and Extremism, Policy Exchange said: 'It's legitimate in media terms to ask her questions and indeed to allow her to state her case, but a 10 part podcast is clearly way more than that. 'It's hard to imagine that someone who, for example, had allegedly joined a far-right terrorist group would be given a 10 podcast series from which to pontificate. 'I do hope the BBC will balance this series with an equally detailed series devoted to some of the victims of ISIS, or indeed those like the Kurds, who are managing this problem at the sharp end?' The BBC said the podcast would provide Ms Begum's 'full account' of 'what really happened' when she disappeared from London in 2015 to become a jihadi bride. But it insisted her story would not be 'unchallenged', describing the podcast as a 'robust, public interest investigation'. Poll Should the UK take Begum back? Yes No Should the UK take Begum back? Yes 873 votes No 13413 votes Now share your opinion In 2015, a 15-year-old Begum and her school friends Kadiza Sultana, also 15, and Amira Abase, 16, fled their east London homes to join IS. Begum said of her departure: 'My mum walked me to the bus stop. I feel guilty for not giving her a better goodbye knowing I wouldn't see her again.' Begum, now 23, was found in a refugee camp in 2019 and soon after the UK withdrew her citizenship and banned her from entering Britain. She now lives at the al-Roj camp in northern Syria, run by the Syrian Democratic Forces, which she described as 'worse than a prison'. The BBC Sounds podcast follows an investigative journalist who has been talking to Begum for a year and it gives 'her full account of what really happened after she disappeared'. In the first episode, journalist Josh Baker meets Begum in the Syrian detention camp to discover how she joined ISIS and eventually ended up stranded. She told him being stuck in a camp 'is, I feel, worse than a prison I think because at least with prison sentences you know that there will be an end but here you don't know if there's going to be an end.' Begum, who said she does squats in her tent to keep fit, told the BBC she accepts she joined a terror group, but on the topic of public anger aimed at her says: 'I don't think it's actually towards me. I think it's towards ISIS. 'When they think of ISIS they think of me because I've been put on the media so much but what was there to obsess over? 'We went to ISIS, that was it. It was over, it was over and done with.' In the podcast the 23-year-old claims that the refugee camp in Syria where she lives is 'worse than a prison' Critics accused the BBC of 'wasting fee payers' money' and said the families of ISIS victims would be 'mortified'. Pictured are some of the critical tweets Begum also details her journey to Syria, and how she was given detailed instructions by IS members. Poll Should the BBC have given her a platform? Yes No Should the BBC have given her a platform? Yes 337 votes No 5356 votes Now share your opinion But she also researched information herself including looking for IS members online to help her and her friends plan their journey. The podcast reveals Begum and her friends hid their luggage in advance and game-planned for scenarios such as being quizzed or caught out. She said: 'There were people online... advising us on what to do and what not to do. 'Just like how to get the money to buy the tickets, where to buy the tickets, which airport to go to, what to bring, what to wear, when you're going to the airport, who to talk to, who not to talk to, what excuse to make if you do get caught.' When asked how she decided what items to take, Begum says: 'It's the same as when you go on vacation, you're just [thinking] what do I need for a vacation, it's pretty basic items.' 'I don't know, people used to say... pack nice clothes so you can dress nicely for your husband.' Kadiza Sultana - who was killed in an airstrike - and Amira Abase, whose whereabouts are unknown She also packed items she knew she wouldn't find in Syria, including mint chocolate: 'I took candy. I just like bought candies that I knew I wouldn't find in Syria. Mint Aero, mint chocolate, like a lot. You can find a lot of things in this country but you cannot find mint chocolate. It's a tragedy.' Asked about how she felt about potentially never returning to the UK, she says: 'Really at that time, I just was not thinking, my mind was like completely blank but I guess yes I thought this is the last time I'm going to see the UK. I mean in a way I felt kind of relieved.' The BBC said the podcast is not an opportunity for Begum to tell her story unchallenged but is a 'robust public interest investigation' Begum also says: 'I've always been a more secluded person. That's why it's so hard the way my life has turned out being all over the media because I'm not a person that likes a lot of attention.' 'My family thought I was too weak to do something so crazy so they did not think in a million years I could do that because of who I am, because of my personality.' Josh Baker says: 'There are different ways to tell the Shamima Begum story. There's the one about a 15-year-old schoolgirl who was groomed and lured to a war zone by ISIS and now needs saving from a Syrian detention camp. 'And there's the one about a traitor, who fled Britain to join ISIS and became known the world over as a terrorist and must be stopped from coming back to Britain. 'As Shamima challenges the removal of her British citizenship by the UK government, I've examined her accounts to give listeners a definitive narrative on this complex, nuanced and shocking story.' The series says it is aiming to 'separate fact from fiction' as it tries to answer the question 'who is Shamima Begum?' The podcast will also explore how she got to Syria and what did she did when she arrived. The broadcaster also states that the podcast is not an opportunity for Begum to tell her story unchallenged, but is a 'robust public interest investigation'. A Labour MP has questioned whether delivery firm Evri should be investigated over its 'poor customer service' after the parcel firm apologised for ongoing UK-wide delays. Carolyn Harris asked Prime Minister Rishi Sunak today if he should 'take action' and probe Evri, which previously operated under the name Hermes, after the company received more than 40,000 complaints. Mr Sunak, noting that other Government ministers had 'looked into this issue,' seemingly dismissed the request, saying he would be 'happy to write' to other leaders once 'we learn more about the situation.' Ms Harris' remarks come after Evri apologised to customers across the UK who are still waiting for delayed Christmas deliveries. The firm attributed staff shortages, Royal Mail strikes and bad weather to its problems and said it is working to sort them out. Labour MP Carolyn Harris (pictured today) has questioned whether delivery firm Evri should be investigated over its 'poor customer service' after the parcel firm apologised for ongoing UK-wide delays Evri, which previously operated under the name Hermes, received more than 40,000 complaints. Several customers across the UK are still waiting for delayed Christmas deliveries During Prime Minister's Questions earlier today, Ms Harris asked: 'Does the Prime Minister believe that over 40,000 interactions by either social media, email or letter regarding the poor customer service and working conditions at the delivery company Evri warrants an investigation by the relevant Government department? 'His ministers in BEIS (Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy) think not. But I'm sure the Prime Minister would want the general public to believe that he at least is interested enough in this problem to take action.' Mr Sunak responded to the query, saying: 'I am aware that other Government ministers have looked into this issue and are currently considering the matter at hand. 'I would be happy to write to her when we learn more about the situation.' Several Evri customers are still waiting on their Christmas deliveries, but the company claims the backlog 'should be cleared over the next few days.' The company acknowledged 'our service has not been as good as we would have liked' and apologised for the problems that have directly impacted customers. The apology came after several complaints and customers attempting to take matters into their own hands. One business owner has revealed that she pretended an Evri driver had set her house on fire in desperate bid to get the company to call her back after it 'ignored for a month over her customers' missing parcels' Rishi Sunak, (pictured today) noting that other Government ministers had 'looked into this issue,' seemingly dismissed the request, saying he would be 'happy to write' to other leaders once 'we learn more about the situation' Evri apologises for Christmas parcel chaos after customers' parcels went missing, were stolen off doorsteps - or sold at car boot sales: Click here to read more A mother of two, who wishes to remain anonymous, claimed her Evri parcel was found at more than 60 miles away from her Great Yarmouth home after a delivery driver's wife took packages to sell at a car boot sale (pictured) Advertisement The number of late deliveries between Black Friday and Christmas was up by around one third on the same period the year before, according to new evidence. Delivery companies have been accused of 'ruining Christmas' after customers' parcels went missing, were stolen, and even sold off at a car boot sale. The postal regulator Ofcom has put the industry on notice that customer service around late and missing items is so bad that it is considering taking enforcement action. Strikes at Royal Mail saw a number of retailers divert deliveries to Evri, previously known as Hermes, and DPD, which struggled to cope. An Evri spokeswoman said: 'We are sorry that some customers are experiencing short, localised delays in receiving their parcels,' an Evri spokeswoman said. 'We continue to be impacted by high demand, staff shortages and bad weather conditions but, due to the hard work of our local teams, we successfully delivered over three million parcels each day over recent weeks. 'Despite incredible efforts from all of our people, our service has not been as good as we would have liked in some areas, and we are committed to redoubling our efforts this year, including a focus on recruitment. 'In some local areas there are still some delayed parcels that should be cleared over the next few days and we apologise for any inconvenience and disappointment. 'However, in the unlikely event that a parcel hasn't been delivered within 10 days, we would advise customers to contact their retailer/seller who will in turn contact us if necessary.' The firm's apology comes after Evri was branded the worst-performing parcel firm for the second year running, according to Citizens Advice. Evri - alongside Yodel, DPD and Amazon Logistics - failed to secure even a three-star overall rating out of five after being scored against criteria including customer service, parcel problems and accessibility needs, such as people needing longer to answer the door. Evri - previously Hermes (pictured) - was branded the worst-performing parcel firm for the second year running. The firm failed to secure even a three-star overall rating out of five after being scored against criteria including customer service, parcel problems and accessibility needs, such as people needing longer to answer the door Today's comments are not the first time Ms Harris has taken aim at the parcel service. In December, she accused the courier of causing 'misery' to people in the run-up to Christmas. In a letter to Evri chief executive Martijn De Lange, Ms Harris called for an 'urgent explanation' for the firm's 'inadequate' service, with parcels being delayed, cancelled and in some cases going missing. 'With thousands of households already struggling during the current cost-of-living crisis, few will be in a position to replace parcels that do not arrive,' she wrote. 'Many will have already stretched their budgets to buy gifts for family and friends, ensuring they purchased in good time for Christmas deliveries. 'A number of well-known and respected retailers have chosen Evri as their delivery partner with the understanding that demand can be met. Yet seeing images from your depots with parcels being sorted on the street, and reading endless social media posts about missing deliveries, suggests that this is far from the case.' A retired Indian Army tankman revealed all the armor destroyed by AFU is not actual but simulated battlefield victories to make it seem Kyiv is winning in a social media war. Simulated Battlefield Victories Shows Abandoned Russian Tanks Several videos of Russian armor getting devastated have discrepancies and contradictions that were pointed out by a retired Indian Army tankman, particularly the ones where customized UAVs drop simple bombs on vehicles, reported The EurAsian Times. The T-90S is a similar variant of the MBT used by the Indian Army but is not equipped with the Shtora Active Protection System (APS). New Delhi got the tank but was not equipped with the APS, noted Defense-Update. Special Kherson Cat (@bayraktar1love), a top Ukraine war tracker, posted a picture of a T-90S taken from the front, with the barrel blown out and lying-in front of the tank. The T-90s has been rebranded as the Bhishma in India, per Army Recognition. Consequently, one of the pictures from the same comment stream shows a major engine hit. The chutes above the turret and the undercarriage in which the driver settles are both open, implying that the destruction to the powerplant rendered the tank inoperable and compelled the squad to escape. The only situation in which the crew might not have sufficient time to escape is if the tank is obliterated by an artillery piece or a top-attack anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) shot above it. In these instances, the tank's steel body is entirely charred and turns greyish. As said by Colonel Rajendra Bhaduri (retd), it is here that a few discrepancies appear. Read Also: Xi Jinping: 5 Things To Know About China's President Why Is Kyiv Demolishing Russian Abandoned Tanks? Bhaduri highlighted the numerous videos of customized drones for use by Ukraine dropping bombs on Russian tanks as contrived. As a bomb falls in, the hatches are accessible, and no crew tries to escape. Trying to say why the crew would leave the chutes open was strange. Also, these commercial drones have no guidance systems and lob unguided bombs that are so crude with poorly made fins. As previously stated, the AFU dropping these unguided bombs into a small hatch on a moving tank from a height is nearly impossible. Small arms can destroy the UAV quickly. Nor are the tiny bombs designed to destroy a tank weighing over 50 tons. In specific videos, an explosive device is seen having failed to access the hatch, sliding backward, and touching down on the drivetrain. Bhaduri continued stating that its explosive charge could even be lightweight at five kilograms. How will it decimate it by blowing up just above the tank engine? Ukraine annihilates disused tanks as a public affairs gimmick. Russian Tank Crews Escape The crew escaping is an old tactic, especially during this war, in which many of its tanks, armored vehicles, and trucks have been said to have been neglected since the beginning. The abandoning of tanks serves two purposes. One involves the pragmatism of not fighting a losing fight and being able to afford equipment write-downs, mainly if the defense industry could handle keeping cranking out and replenishing the lost armaments. Another purpose was revealed by President Vladimir Putin last year when he stated that "conscripted soldiers" would not be used in the war but only professional soldiers to fulfill "fixed objectives." An Indian Tankman remarked that abandoned Russian tanks are all simulated battlefield victories staged by the AFU. Related Article: US Aid To Kyiv Might Lessen US Military Capacity Against Constantly Rising Chinese PLA in East Asia @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A tiny Arkansas town has made U.S. history by electing the country's youngest black mayor, Jaylen Smith, 18, who believes he can achieve greatness without leaving his hometown. Earle, Arkansas, is a blink-and-you'll-miss-it town in western Crittenden County just off U.S. Route 64 which leads to Memphis, Tennessee. Its population is just over 1,800 people, according to census data collected in 2020. Constituents of the small town, where the once lucrative shoe factory has closed and the supermarket pulled out, voted Smith into office early December hopeful his 'youthful energy' will boost the city's fortune. Smith told the New York Times, he had no plans to leave his hometown, where generations of his family have lived and where he hoped to make a real difference in the lives of his community. A tiny Arkansas town has made U.S. history by electing the country's youngest Black mayor, Jaylen Smith, 18, who believes he can achieve greatness without leaving his hometown 'Why should I have to go somewhere else to be great when I can be great right here in Earle, Arkansas?' Smith mused a few days after his inauguration last week. Smith, beat his opponent 235 votes to 183 in a campaign he started while still in high school and promised to focus on transportation, public safety, and reopening a grocery store in the small town. The 18-year-old who has described himself as a 'go-getter' identifies as a Democrat although the mayoral race itself is nonpartisan. His much older opponent, Nemi Matthews Sr., who turns 60 this year, and Earle's street and sanitation superintendent, said their two families knew each other and that 'everything [had] been cordial,' during the race for the top job. His victory made him one of the youngest African American mayors ever elected in the country a point of enormous pride to his family and supporters. 'It's an asset because he's motivated, and he has fresh ideas,' Tyneshia Bohanon, a city councilwoman who came to know Smith while substitute teaching in Earle's public schools, said to the New York Times. 'He's thinking of others, as he always has. He chose to stay and get his city where he knows it can be.' Constituents of Earle, where the once lucrative shoe factory has closed and the supermarket pulled out, voted Smith into office early December hopeful his 'youthful energy' will boost the city's fortune Smith is an active member of his community and is seen here delivering dinners to some of the elderly residents in Earle in July 2022 prior to becoming mayor The supermarket plan was a pillar of Smith's campaign, as was building up the Earle Police Department so it can operate 24 hours a day an issue he told slate.com was personal to him. 'I knew issues like public safety weren't getting any better. I'm looking at all the avenues, like grant funding, that I can get to make sure we have the best policy to hire more officers,' he said. 'Public safety is very personal to me, because in 2016, my cousin was killed, and my house was robbed, and no one was on duty. 'It was so crazy, and it's still happening today - people's houses are getting broken into, people are burning down houses, people are stealing here and there, and we need that public safety. Not only 24 hours a day, but seven days a week.' Earles population is currently declining at a rate of 3.38 percent annually and has decreased by 23.78 percent since the most recent census, according to worldpopulationreview.com as of Jan 11. The average household income in Earle is $40,726 with a poverty rate of 42.35 percent, according to the outlet. While, the median age in Earle is 36.2 years, 35.2 years for males, and 38.1 years for females with a 72.9 percent of residents identifying as black or African American. Smith said he won over his constituents by talking about patching up streets, tearing down rundown buildings and lifting the community's morale. 'I'm young, and I have fresh ideas. And I'm passionate, and I was driven and dedicated to getting things done,' Smith said of why he ultimately won. Although he'll be a busy community leader, he'll also have to be a student. Smith said he had no plans to leave his hometown, where generations of his family have lived and where he hoped to make a real difference in the lives of his community Earle, Arkansas, is a blink-and-you'll-miss-it town in western Crittenden County just off U.S. Route 64 which leads to Memphis, Tennessee. Its population is just over 1,800 people, according to census data collected in 2020 Smith recently graduated from Earle High School, in a class of 43 students, and now attends the Arkansas State University Mid-South in West Memphis. Becoming mayor has always been a personal goal of his. 'It all started in high school with the Student Government Association. We were so passionate about advocating for students to get better opportunities,' he told the outlet. 'We also made a difference in the community by advocating for senior citizens who don't have transportation to the grocery store or to the doctor. 'We went to the city council meetings, and we advocated for public safety, public transportation, and better housing within the community. That organization drove me to where I am today.' Not everyone was ready to entrust him with leading the city. One of his biggest obstacles as a candidate was persuading sceptics who cited his age and lack of experience. But his supporters argued that they were not asking voters to put their city in the hands of any 18-year-old, but a trustworthy and well-known member of the community who had become a fixture at City Council meetings and community events. 'Sometimes, when the City Council members didn't show up, Jaylen was there,' Angela Jones, a councilwoman told the New York Times. 'He attends the school board meetings, the water commission meetings,' she added. 'He was young, and he was doing this who does that? At a young age, he had purpose.' Earle, whose population is largely Black, sits about 28 miles from Memphis amid farmland where cotton and beans are grown, Smith describing it as a 'family town.' Not everyone was ready to entrust him with leading the city, but his supporters argued that they were not asking voters to put their city in the hands of any 18-year-old, but a trustworthy and well-known member of the community who had become a fixture at City Council meetings Although Smith's attention is on Earle, he said he's hoping to one day see this position as a stepping stone to the White House He joins a small group of young mayors from over the years. Michigan town of Hillsdale elected 18-year-old Michael Sessions in 2005. Sam Juhl, the 20-year-old mayor of Roland, Iowa, caucused for the first time in 2008. Ben Simons won the race with 148 votes in 2018 in Yoncalla Oregon. While Brandon Paulin was made the mayor of the town of Indian Head, Maryland at 19 years old. In 2019, a 7-month-old boy became mayor of a small town in Texas, but the role was purely ceremonial. There are no comprehensive records collecting the ages of municipal leaders, but the Association of African American Mayors told the New York Times that when Smith officially joins, he will be its youngest member by more than a decade. During his campaign, Smith door knocked nearly every home in Earle and spent days shadowing mayors in other Arkansas cities, including Little Rock and West Memphis. He also scheduled video calls with mayors outside the state, eager to learn what the job entailed. 'You have to have the knowledge,' Mr. Smith said. 'You have to have the character. You have to be disciplined.' On New Year's Day, in a government building in Marion, about 17 miles away from Earle, judges swore in mayors, council members and incoming law enforcement officers from several towns. Each received a certificate attesting to the oath they had just taken. But no other municipality had a crowd like Earle's, with many people wearing T-shirts emblazoned with Smith's face. Although Smith's attention is on Earle, he told ABC News he's hoping to one day see his position as a stepping stone to the White House. 'I'm praying to become the President of the United States one day,' he said. Two passengers aboard a flight to Singapore were injured after a portable charger caught fire as the plane was preparing for takeoff yesterday. Alarming footage taken from an unnamed passenger's phone and circulated on social media shows flight attendants attempting to keep distressed people calm as the fire and smoke begins to cause panic. The fire started when a power bank spontaneously ignited and quickly filled the air with smoke, forcing all 189 passengers and crew to evacuate the aircraft which was taxiing to depart from Taoyuan International Airport in Taiwan at around 7:35pm local time. Two people aboard Flight TR993 received minor burns, but all other passengers were evacuated unharmed. Panicked passengers watch on as the cabin fills with smoke after a portable charger exploded One of the victims was the owner of the rechargeable power bank, which exploded when it overheated, causing the fire. The other person injured was reportedly his companion. Passengers described seeing bright orange flames burst out on row 16 where the pair were sitting, forcing pilots to abandon takeoff. Both burn victims received a medical evaluation after the evacuation which concluded they did not require any hospital treatment and they were cleared for travelling. The plane, which managed to return safely to the gate after the fire was put out, underwent proper inspections and then resumed its flight later that evening. Further investigations into the incident are underway according to a statement released by the airline Scoot. The statement added: 'Scoot sincerely apologises for the incident. The safety of our customers and crew is our top priority.' One of the victims was the owner of the rechargeable power bank, which exploded when it overheated, causing the fire on row 16 (pictured) Cabin crew remained calm and professional throughout, escorting people away from the fire while other attendants located the fire extinguisher Meanwhile, passenger Angie Ton told Channel News Asia that Scoot's air stewards deserved praise for handling the dangerous situation in such a professional manner. 'Props to those flight attendants because they knew exactly what to do,' she said. 'They deserve recognition for their training, hard work, and calm attitude.' The flight attendants first told passengers to step back from the fire and calm down as they escorted people away from the blaze. Another flight attendant then brought a fire extinguisher and the fire was put out within three minutes, said Ms Ton. By that point the cabin had been filled with smoke but the crew turned on ventilators and the smog was quickly cleared before evacuations began. Crisis-hit Royal Mail has blamed a 'cyber incident' for severe disruption to its international export service. In a statement released today, the company apologised to its customers and said it was temporarily unable to despatch export items including letters and parcels to foreign destinations. The news comes as a fresh blow to customers following weeks of strikes over the busy festive period as the postal and courier service wrangles with staff over jobs, pay and working conditions. Letters went undelivered and parcels piled up after more than 115,000 Communication Workers Union opted to walk out - costing the company more than 100million, it was reported. Royal Mail has blamed a cyber incident for severe disruption to its international export services. [File image] Royal Mail's workers inflicted misery on those posting gifts and cards in the run up to December 25 Royal Mail said it plans to work with external experts as it launched an investigation into the incident and 'sincerely apologised' to customers for the disruption. The firm's import services remain operational, but are experiencing minor delays, reports Sky News. Royal Mail sends thousands of items abroad each day - with 152 million parcels sent to foreign recipients in the year to March. MailOnline understands the National Cyber Security Centre and regulators have both been made aware of the incident. The company said in a statement today: 'We have asked customers temporarily to stop submitting any export items into the network while we work hard to resolve the issue. 'Some customers may experience delay or disruption to items already shipped for export. 'Our import operations continue to perform a full service with some minor delays. 'Our teams are working around the clock to resolve this disruption and we will update customers as soon as we have more information. 'We immediately launched an investigation into the incident and we are working with external experts. 'We have reported the incident to our regulators and the relevant security authorities. 'We would like to sincerely apologise to impacted customers for any disruption this incident may be causing.' It comes hours after all flights across America were grounded today for the first time since 9/11 after an unexplained Federal Aviation Administration systems failure. The hours-long pause sent the day's travel into chaos that is expected to last hours - if not days. Already, more than 6,000 flights have been delayed and 1,000 flights have been canceled. All flights across America were grounded today for the first time since 9/11 after an unexplained Federal Aviation Administration systems failure Passengers at Chicago O'Hare airport on Wednesday after a 'computer failure' halted all flights for several hours and delayed 5,000 planes JFK: Grounded planes are shown at New York's JFK on Wednesday morning as the delays continued The FAA is yet to explain how the catastrophic glitch came about or why there was no back-up system in place to ensure planes could continue to fly. All that the White House has said is that there is no evidence of a cyber attack 'at this point', but no further details have been given. The latest disruption to Royal Mail's service comes as piles of undelivered post were pictured stacked up at depots across the country as a fresh wave of strikes caused havoc over Christmas. Images shared in December showed mail bags piling up in North West England, South West London and Essex. More than 100,000 Royal Mail workers chose to strike across seven days during December, one of the busiest periods for the postal service. It comes as delivery giant Evri apologised for festive delays amid evidence of wider chaos across the courier network and Royal Mail. The number of late deliveries between Black Friday and Christmas was up by around one third on the same period the year before, according to new evidence. Delivery companies have been accused of 'ruining Christmas' after customers' parcels went missing, were stolen, and even sold off at a car boot sale. Postal regulator Ofcom has put the industry on notice that customer service around late and missing items is so bad that it is considering taking enforcement action. He admitted to four counts of selling or transferring ammunition Graham will be sentenced at a later date after appearing in court today His co-accused sergeant major Kirtland Gill has been found not guilty by a jury A former Coldstream Guard is facing a jail term for selling army ammunition to an underworld armourer. Rajon Graham, 34, was responsible for the ceremonial kit used by the elite regiment which protects the monarchy and parades with swords and bearskins at Wellington Barracks, near Buckingham Palace. He sold 300 9mm bullets wrapped in Bacofoil bags for 5,800 and called them 'sweets,' Southwark Crown Court heard. Graham admitted four counts of selling or transferring ammunition. He was arrested along with Kirtland Gill, 42, who was the first black Regimental Sergeant Major in the elite unit. Rajon Graham (pictured), 34, is facing a jail term after admitting four counts of selling or transferring ammunition Gill worked at the Victoria Barracks, near Windsor Castle in Berkshire and both men had access to the bullets, issued for firing practice. Gill, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, denied any knowledge of the plot and said he did not know his friend was selling bullets to an undercover officer, posing as a criminal. He claimed Graham planted a gun, that turned out to be a replica pistol, in his shed. Gill was cleared by a jury of conspiracy to sell or transfer ammunition and possession of a prohibited weapon. Judge David Tomlinson is due to sentence Graham at a later date, still to be fixed. Speaking from behind a screen, the undercover detective who set up the sting told how four transactions took place between 7 December 2020 and 28 January 2021. The officer claimed Graham tried to call his regimental sergeant major as the deal was done. 'For me, I was nervous of being on a military camp, the way I was portraying myself as a criminal, especially with soldiers in the vehicle,' the officer said. 'I explained I was nervous and I also said I thought it was too hot, which I meant it was too risky. He kept saying that it was fine, that I was with him and that everything would be okay. 'Shortly after he was saying that I could go with him into the armoury to view the rifles. Kirtland Gill (pictured), who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, denied any knowledge of the plot and said he did not know his friend was selling bullets to an undercover officer, posing as a criminal. He was found not guilty 'I decided that was a bad idea. It was a challenge to go on the army base but now to go into an armoury with live weapons was what I perceived to be a serious criminal [sic] and I was not prepared to do that.' Asked what he gave Graham in return for the ammunition, D said: 'I gave him 1,000 in cash'. On another occasion, in January 2021, D called Graham to find out if he could still get 'the sweeties'. 'Graham said he could and he said he could the next day but not early,' the officer said. 'He called back to say he would do me a deal, 100 rounds for 1,900. I agreed to it provisionally but said I would need to confirm.' The two agreed to meet the next day at 5pm and Graham supplied D with the ammunition for 1,900 cash. They met again a couple of weeks later, at the end of January 2021, where D agreed to move the excess ammunition via his 'links'. Describing their last meeting, on 28 January, D told the court how he'd set up a call with another undercover officer known as 'Dave'. 'Dave told me he wanted ammunition, so I asked Graham if he could do more. He wanted it as soon as possible, right away. 'He said he could do more. Another 100, so he could provide 200 rounds of ammunition. 'In total, the price agreed for 200, [Graham] said 3.8, which I understood to be 3,800.' Graham and Gill were arrested on January 28, 2021. The prosecution claimed Bacofoil zipper bags recovered at Gill's address were from the same batch of bags used to wrap the ammunition Graham sold to 'D'. When police searched Gill's home in Windsor they found a pistol in his shed. But Gill said he put it there when Graham had left it in a Ford Galaxy he was stripping for parts. He said of Graham: 'He was living a double life. I question whether he's mentally stable.' 'I will NOT resign!' Santos tweeted as pressure mounts on him to do so Rep. George Santos is refusing to heed the calls of Republican leaders of New York, who are calling on him to resign from Congress as the lies and investigations pile up around him. 'I was elected to serve the people of #NY03 not the party & politicians, I remain committed to doing that and regret to hear that local officials refuse to work with my office to deliver results to keep our community safe and lower the cost of living. I will NOT resign!' 'George Santos's campaign last year was a campaign of deceit, lies and fabrication,' said Nassau County GOP chairman Joseph Cairo at a news conference. Fellow new Rep. Anthony D'Esposito joined the group remotely to call on his colleague to resign. Shortly after the news briefing, the Conservative Party of New York State released a statement, also demanding Santos stand down. 'Santos's profound misuse of mistruths as a candidate morally disqualifies him from serving in public office and exposes him to potential legal action, seriously compromising his ability to represent his constituents,' said party chairman Gerard Kassar. George Santos was eviscerated in a press conference held by Republican leaders of Nassau County, who called on their fellow New Yorker to resign from Congress After former GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger told Santos to 'resign now' on Twitter, Santos shot back: 'Go on @CNN and cry about it.' Santos has not returned to his office since his defiant tweets announcing he would not resign. An aide, who was earlier found walking with Santos as he left his office, was seen checking out reporters parked outside the office waiting for him, appearing to take a photo of the scene and then walking away. Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said that his office would have 'no interaction' with the GOP congressman from New York's Third District until he resigned. He said that Santos calling himself a Jew was 'ridiculous' and 'really tragic' given the number of descendants of Holocaust survivors who live in his district. New York state senator Jack Martin confirmed he will not be working with Santos's office either. However, he admitted it was unlikely Santos would heed their call - noting it is 'probably impossible to shame the shameless.' 'But here we stand united in sending a message that until he is removed by one way or another, we will continue to move forward,' Martin added. Nassau County Republicans stand together to call on Santos to resign Nassau County Republican Party chairman Joseph Cairo admitted that the county's political arm did not properly vet Santos before propping him up The group of officials called Santos's response to his piling lies 'insincere, glib and insulting.' Republican Hempstead town supervisor Donald Clavin said: 'He's unified the country in their opposition to him. He's a national joke. He's an international joke, but this joke's gotta go Resign immediately. Not tomorrow. Not next week. Today.' Pamela Panzenbeck, the mayor of Glen Cove, NY - in Santos's district - said: 'We were all duped, and we're appalled and angered. 'It's time for you to resign, George,' Panzenbeck said. 'He's making a mockery out of entire congressional system.' Blakeman even suggested that Santos seek out psychological help. 'He needs help. This is not a normal person,' he said, calling Santos's lies 'pathological.' Cairo said that Santos would not be welcome at future meetings or public events at the Nassau GOP headquarters. 'He's disgraced the House of Representatives, and we do not consider him one of our Congress people.' Cairo admitted that the county's political arm did not properly vet Santos before propping him up. George Santos' claims that are now believed to be lies or misrepresentations Having Jewish grandparents who fled Nazi persecution Graduating from Baruch College Attending New York University Running an animal charity Mother dying from 9/11 Losing employees in the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting Working at Citigroup and Goldman Sachs Owning rental property His 'family firm,' Devolder, managing $80million in assets and paying him $750,000 salary Advertisement 'Shame on me for believing people,' he said. 'We are now going to change our process.' Cairo said he has not spoken to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Santos was a safe vote for McCarthy at a time he needed every vote he could get to win the Speaker's gavel. So far, at least, three members of McCarthy's conference - Reps. Mike Gallagher, R-Wisc., Nancy Mace, R-S.C., and Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., have publicly said Santos should not get committee assignments. McCarthy said Wednesday Santos would not be seated on any of the top committees, whose members will be decided today. He said Santos will get some committee assignment. He did not shrug off the idea of an Ethics probe and Cairo said that when he was vetting Santos, as he was prepping a run for office, he knew the 34-year-old was into sports - he had claimed to be a volleyball star at Baruch, and helped lead the team to the league championship. The Baruch men's volleyball team did win the league championship in 2009 but Santos could not have been on the team because there is no record of him ever attending the college. Watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) said in a statement that Santos should resign and, if he does not, he should not get security clearance. The call for resignation came after a pair of New York Democrats filed a complaint against Santos with the House Ethics Committee on Tuesday, and nonprofit Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed a complaint with the SEC on Monday. Reps. Ritchie Torres and Daniel Goldman called Santos' 2020 and 2022 financial disclosures 'sparse and perplexing.' They claimed he broke Ethics rules by failing to submit 'timely, accurate and complete financial disclosure reports.' CLC accused the New York Republican of illegally using campaign donations for personal expenses, including to pay rent, and for concealing the origins of the $700,000 Santos said he loaned to his campaign. The complaint said that the circumstances indicate that Devolder - Santos's 'consulting company' - was used to illegally funnel money to his campaign. The FEC complaint said that the possible scheme could include foreign election meddling. It also took issue with the dozens of expenses Santos' campaign lists at $199.99 - just one penny below the $200 threshold when itemized receipts are required by the FEC. Cops have launched a manhunt for a brute who stabbed his ex-girlfriend multiple times at her workplace. The NYPD is searching for Raiken Figueroa after he attacked the unidentified 39-year-old at the Brooklyn restaurant. He is accused of smashing his way into Cava on Adams Street using a chair before launching his knife rampage at 8am on Thursday. The NYPD is searching for Raiken Figueroa after he attacked the unidentified 39-year-old at the Brooklyn restaurant He is accused of smashing his way into Cava on Adams Street using a chair before launching his knife rampage at 8am on Thursday The woman, whose name has not been released, had been working at the time, officers said. Figueroa allegedly then fled to scene and has not been seen since. The NYPD told DailyMail.com on Wednesday the victim was stabbed throughout her entire body. The spokesman said she was rushed to hospital where she was said to be in a stable condition. The woman, whose name has not been released, had been working at the time, officers said. Figueroa allegedly then fled to scene and has not been seen since Police called for witnesses to come forward and anyone who knows Figueroa's whereabouts to hand him in. They also released two photographs of the suspect, including what appeared to be a former mugshot. Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS. Education Secretary Gillian Keegan today highlighted how more than one in 10 Labour MPs were privately educated as the opposition made a fresh bid to charge VAT on school fees. In a tetchy House of Commons debate, Ms Keegan pointed to research that showed 14 per cent of Labour MPs attended private schools - which she said was double the UK average. The Cabinet minister accused Labour MPs of attempting to 'destabilise the sector that has provided the opportunities afforded to them' by pushing for the removal of tax breaks for private schools. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer this afternoon led his party's latest effort to overhaul the tax status of private schools. The opposition have repeatedly claimed that putting VAT on independent school fees could fund a 1.7billion cash boost for the state education system. Using Commons time allocated to his party today, Sir Keir forced a vote on whether a new parliamentary committee should be formed to consider Labour's policy. This was defeated by 303 votes to 197, majority 106, as Tory MPs voted en masse to reject Labour's Opposition Day motion. Education Secretary Gillian Keegan pointed to research that showed 14 per cent of Labour MPs attended private schools - which she said was double the UK average. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer led his party's latest effort to overhaul the tax status of private schools The opposition have repeatedly claimed that putting VAT on independent school fees could fund a 1.7billion cash boost for the state education system Research by the Sutton Trust has revealed that 29 per cent of all MPs elected at the 2019 general election attended independent schools In the debate prior to the vote, Ms Keegan was scathing of Labour's 'ill-thought-through' policy, which she described as 'the politics of envy'. 'Its pulling the rug out from under good independent schools, in a weakly-veiled, politically-motivated, economically incoherent policy that will not help what is in our mission to ensure every child can reach their potential,' the Education Secretary said. Ms Keegan warned Labour's plan could lead to the closure of some private schools - or a reduction in bursaries - that would put more pressure on the state sector. She also highlighted the educational background of many of the party's own MPs, as well as Sir Keir's schooling at Reigate Grammar School. The Labour leader's secondary school became fee-paying while he was there, although Sir Keir was exempted from being charged. It currently charges around 20,000-a-year for pupils. Ms Keegan told the Commons: 'In fact, 14 per cent of Labour MPs elected in 2019 attended private schools, double the UK average. 'I will be interested to see which of those honourable members decide to vote to destabilise the sector that has provided the opportunities afforded to them. 'Now as someone who did not benefit from such a prestigious educational background, I stand here not focused on the less than 7 per cent of children who are attending independent schools, but rather much more focused on the 93 per cent who attend state funded schools as I did.' Research by the Sutton Trust has revealed that 29 per cent of all MPs elected at the 2019 general election attended independent schools. Some 41 per cent of Conservative MPs and 14 per cent of Labour MPs attended private schools, the analysis showed. Labour's shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson earlier told MPs that protecting tax breaks for private schools 'isnt about aspiration for all of our children, it's about ensuring exclusive opportunities remain in the hands of a privileged few'. She urged the Commons to support Labour's proposals, adding that asking the public to 'subsidise a tax break for private schools is inexcusable' at 'this time of economic uncertainty'. They are a threat to the ecosystem and known to eat mammals and humans Pythons are found in China but popped up due to the 'release of captive animals' A wildlife photographer captured a massive 15-foot Burmese python slithering across the road and toward Everglades National Park in Florida. Most people would've feared approaching the lethal snake, but Kym Clark saw it as an opportunity to add the reptile to her Instagram portfolio. Clark posted the chilling video of the python on January 2 while out on a New Year adventure with her friends. 'No, Siri, we dont want to proceed to the route,' Clark joked in the caption of the video that showed her outside of her car and several feet away from the snake. Burmese pythons are problematic new habitants of the park that popped up in recent years 'due to accidental or intentional release of captive pet animals,' according to the National Park Service. A massive 15-food Burmese python slithering across the road and toward Everglades National Park in Florida Pythons are generally found in China or India but have been a recent threat to Florida as officials continuously seek ways to remove from the Everglades Park. The most common way to kill pythons are by capturing and euthanizing them. About 300,000 pythons reside in Florida with another 17,000 removed since 2,000, according to a U.S. Geological Survey obtained by the Sun Sentinel. It's unclear to know how many pythons are in the state since they tend to reproduce quickly. The snakes can weigh more than 100 pounds and hunt mammals, alligators, birds and even humans. Clark claimed that she had dropped a pin to alert park officials of the python's location. Commenters were amazed by the sighting and questioned why Clark didn't run it over. 'That thing was begging to be run over,' one person wrote. 'You could have pinned it under your tire and waited for reinforcements!!! Think of all the wildlife you could have saved!' Photographer Kym Clark caught a close up view of a Burmese python in Florida while on a New Years trip Commenters were amazed by the sighting and questioned why Clark didn't run it over. But hunting in the park is illegal While others seemed to agree, Clark called herself unqualified for the mission. 'Even if I was the most experienced snake hunter, I could not have taken out a gun, shot it in the head and killed it humanely, in a populated part of a national park,' she told the news outlet. 'For them to think I could have stopped on a dime and pinned it under my tire and not hurt anybody in my car or any other cars is crazy. I feel like we did what we could.' According to Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, the pythons can be killed without a permit. But officials claimed that hunting the reptile is illegal in Everglades Park, the news outlet reported. Last November, a five foot alligator was removed from an 18ft Burmese python. The reptile had been euthanized after being caught by field workers, which is required on sight in the state of Florida due to the predation. Geoscientist Rosie Moore, 26, and a team of scientists shared the shocking footage on social media. When the gator was found during a necropsy of the python, Moore said: 'It's definitely shocking, it was my first time ever seeing an event like that, I've never seen a python with something like that in it.' The pythons reproduce quickly and are able to camouflage in their surroundings, which means according to Moore: 'It's impossible for anybody to really know where they're at or how many are out there.' The sheriff at an inquiry into a fire which killed a Come Dine With Me producer and his partner has said the Scottish Government should consider making sprinkler systems mandatory for when historic buildings are converted. Richard Dyson, 38, and his partner Simon Midgley, 32, from London, died in a blaze at the five-star Cameron House Hotel on the banks of Loch Lomond in December 2017. Dyson, who worked on Channel 4's Four in a Bed and Come Dine With Me, and Midgely, a PR manager, were on a romantic break away together. The fire started after hot ashes were placed in a concierge cupboard in the main reception area of the property. Richard Dyson (left), 38, and his partner Simon Midgley (right), 32, from London, died in a blaze in December 2017 Firefighters at the scene following a fire at the Cameron House Hotel on the banks of Loch Lomond in Scotland An inquiry into the fire has recommended that 'robust procedures' should be in place to ensure ash from fires is disposed of safely. In a report released on Wednesday, Sheriff Thomas McCartney ruled all operators in Scotland should 'have in place up to date and robust procedures, informed by an assessment of risks, to ensure that ash from open fires in hotels is removed and disposed of in a safe manner, thereby avoiding the risk of fires being started by the careless disposal of ash'. In his 122-page determination, Sheriff McCartney also recommended that the Scottish Government should consider introducing a rule for a sprinkler system - or 'active fire suppression system' - to be made a requirement when historic buildings are converted into hotels. The hotel operator Cameron House Resort (Loch Lomond) Ltd has already been fined 500,000 following the incident. Night porter Christopher O'Malley was given a community payback order for his role in the fire, after he put ash and embers into a cupboard with kindling and newspapers, causing the couple to die from smoke inhalation. A fatal accident inquiry was held last year to establish if lessons could be learned from the incident. The inquiry was previously shown footage of the terrifying moment when O'Malley opened the concierge cupboard in the morning of 18 December 2017 to discover flames and smoke spewing out of the small room just off the reception area. It also heard that Dyson and Midgely had tried to smash a window to escape the blaze - but had only managed to break one pane. The inquiry was shown security camera footage of the moment night porter Christopher O'Malley opened the concierge cupboard in the morning of December 18 that year to discover flames and smoke spewing out of the small room just off the reception area More than 200 guests were evacuated from the building during the fire, including a family of two adults and a child who were rescued by ladder and taken to hospital PR manager Simon Midgley, 32, and his partner TV producer Richard Dyson, 38, from London, died following the blaze at the five-star Cameron House Hotel near Balloch on the banks of Loch Lomond, in December 2017 The report said that at Cameron House Hotel, there were 'a number of defects in systems of working which contributed to the accident resulting in the deaths'. These included the 'careless disposal of ash' on the night of the fire. Sheriff McCartney ruled that both Mr Midgely and Mr Dyson died as a result of the 'inhalation of smoke and fire gases due to the hotel fire'. He said a 'reasonable precaution' would have been for the hotel to have a 'clear system of work for the safe cleaning and removal of ash from the open fires', and for 'appropriate training' in this to be provided. He also said a delay in obtaining a guest list after the fire had resulted in a 'delay in carrying out an accurate roll call' of people who had been in the building. Sheriff McCartney went on to recommend hotel operators in Scotland should 'ensure that clear and robust arrangements are in place for promptly ensuring all persons are accounted for in the event of evacuation'. Mr Midgley's mother Jane (pictured) told an inquest in Wakefield that her son had phoned her from the hotel the night before the blaze Dumbarton Sheriff Court heard in January 2021 that the fire started after O'Malley emptied ash and embers from a fuel fire into a polythene bag, and then put it in a cupboard which contained kindling and newspapers. The hotel firm admitted failing to take the necessary fire safety measures to ensure the safety of its guests and employees between January 14, 2016 and December 18, 2017. The company admitted two charges of breaching the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005. O'Malley admitted breaching sections of health and safety laws which relate to the obligation on an employee to take reasonable care for the health and safety of people affected by their acts or omissions at work. Since the hotel reopened in September 2021, the inquiry was told, there have been revised fire safety procedures in place and new fire safety measures including sprinklers and updated alarms. An inquest held in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, where the men grew up, heard from Mr Midgley's mother Jane in April 2021. She said her son had phoned her from the hotel on December 17, 2017, saying the couple were 'having a fabulous time' at the Scottish retreat. Mrs Midgley, from Pudsey, Leeds, told the inquest: '(He told me) I'm drowning in dreams, mother dear. And I promise you life is going to be good from now on '(He said) I'm so looking forward to spending Christmas with you. Don't forget my pigs-in-blankets.' Firefighters at the scene following a fire at the Cameron House Hotel on the banks of Loch Lomond in Scotland Jane Midgley previously said her son had phoned her from the hotel on December 17, 2017, saying the couple were 'having a fabulous time' at the Scottish retreat 'Everything was normal, he was so excited.' The court heard just hours after the call, at around 6:39am on December 18, 2017, an alarm sounded after staff noticed smoke coming from a cupboard. As fire tore through the hotel, an evacuation of more than 200 guests was carried out before it was established at 8am that Mr Midgley and Mr Dyson were missing. Firefighters recovered them from the second floor, but the couple were found to have died as a result of smoke and fire gas inhalation. Firefighter Phillip Douglas told the Fatal Accident Inquiry that him and his colleagues were told to flee the hotel, situated on the banks of Loch Lomond, near Balloch, over fears it might collapse. When the 35-year-old and his team were allowed back in, he could see very little in the corridors and was using his feet and hands to check the area. At one point, he kicked what he thought was debris and was actually the leg of Mr Dyson who was lying on the floor unconscious. A Royal Navy warship is tracking the movements of a Russian frigate armed with 'unstoppable' hypersonic Zircon missiles as it sails towards the UK. The Royal Navy has released a statement saying that HMS Portland is monitoring Russian warship Admiral Gorshkov and its accompanying tanker Kama as they sail into the North Sea. The Russian vessel is armed with new Mach 9 nuclear-capable Zircon missiles, which travel at speeds of nearly 7,000mph, as well as Kalibr missiles. As the warship sails towards Britain, footage released yesterday shows the capabilities of the vessel when it took part in a series of military exercises. The Royal Navy released images of HMS Portland tracking the Russian vessels in the North Sea on Monday, January 9, 2023 HMS Portland is seen tracking the Russian vessels in the foreground, as Admiral Gorshkov (left) and its accompanying tanker Kama (right) sail into the North Sea Footage released yesterday shows the capabilities of the vessel when it took part in a series of military exercises. Pictured: Launch of an 'unstoppable' Zircon nuclear-capable hypersonic missile from the Admiral Gorshkov Following the announcement today, the Navy released images of HMS Portland tracking the Russian vessels in the North Sea on Monday, meaning that the operation has been underway for several days already. Norwegian Coast Guard vessel Bergen was already tracking the Russian warship as it sailed south through the Norwegian Sea, the Navy said. HMS Portland then joined the vessels as they entered the North Sea. The Navy's vessel is carrying a Merlin helicopter, both equipped with 'cutting-edge sonars, sensors and torpedoes for specialist operations', the Navy's statement said. In the statement, HMS Portland's Commanding Officer Commander Ed Moss-Ward said: 'Escorting warships in UK territorial waters and the adjacent sea areas is routine activity for the Royal Navy.' Russia warns the West by releasing chilling new footage showing the launch of an 'unstoppable' Zircon nuclear-capable Mach 9 hypersonic missile from the Admiral Gorshkov frigate in the Barents Sea, May 28, 2022 A Russian frigate armed with 'unstoppable' hypersonic Zircon missiles is staging war games as it sails towards Britain The Russian frigate 'Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov' armed with Zircon hypersonic weapons leaves the naval base in Severomorsk, January 4, 2023 HMS Portland's Commanding Officer added: 'By maintaining a visible and persistent presence, the Royal Navy ensures compliance with maritime law and deters malign activity to protect our nation's interests. 'Escorting the Russian task group alongside forces from our NATO allies has demonstrated the UK's commitment to the alliance and to maintaining maritime security.' The Navy said that HMS Portland departed her home port at Plymouth on Saturday, January 7. Admiral Gorshkov set sail from Severomorsk, on the north-western tip of Russia last week, on its very first deployment. It is understood that the ship is on its way to play war games in the Mediterranean, but Moscow has not revealed 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 desperate time for Russia after multiple setbacks in Ukraine, with nearly 3,000 troops lost already this year. The despot 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.' 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. 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 The chilling footage released yesterday showed the extent of the warship's capabilities and its missiles. Commentary over the Zvezda TV launch video said: '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.' The tasks were 'achieved', said the channel. 'The ship is ready to repel air attacks from different altitudes and directions.' Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has officially broken a Guinness World Record for the largest-ever loss of personal fortune. The publication said the tech mogul had lost $180 billion since November 2021. Musk's cumulative losses greatly exceed the previous record of $58.6 billion, established by Japanese tech billionaire Masayoshi Son in 2000, according to Guinness World Records, even though the wealth is an estimated number. How Did Elon Musk Lose Lots of Money? In its blog, Guinness World Records noted: "Although the exact figure is almost impossible to ascertain, Musk's total losses far surpass the previous record of $58.6 billion, set by Japanese tech investor Masayoshi Son in 2000." The dot-com meltdown destroyed Softbank, the firm of Masayoshi Son, whose net worth fell from $78 billion in February 2000 to $19.4 billion in July of the same year, according to Guinness World Record. The company was able to recover thanks to a series of acquisitions of IT firms in the United States and Britain, per Mint. Bernard Arnault (France), the founder of luxury goods company LVMH (Louis Vuitton Mot Hennessy), is projected to be worth $190 billion, surpassing Elon Musk net worth. Despite Elon Musk net worth dropping more than any other person, he still ranks as the second wealthiest individual on the planet. Elon Musk has lost $182 billion of personal wealth since 2021, the highest amount of anyone in historyhttps://t.co/PcQY7FGB1W Guinness World Records (@GWR) January 6, 2023 As a result of the poor performance of Tesla stocks, Elon Musk net worth fell from a high of $320 billion in 2021 to $138 billion as of January 2023, as reported by Forbes. Shares of Tesla, of which Musk is the CEO and biggest shareholder, dropped by 65%, per Forbes. After Musk announced his $44 billion takeover of Twitter in April, Forbes said the stock price dropped by about 20 percent. To help pay for the purchase of the social media firm, Musk unloaded $7 billion in Tesla shares in August and another $4 billion in November. Since April, he has sold almost $23 billion worth of shares, including $3.58 billion last month, The Hill reported. Read Also: US Nuclear Scientists Targeted by Russian Hackers in Cyber Espionage Attempts Elon Musk Believes 'Unhinged' Conspiracy Theory In another related news, Elon Musk concurred with a journalist's assertion on Monday that Russiagate, the slur given to the idea and extensive probe into whether Donald Trump and Russia conspired to rig the 2016 election, was one of the most ridiculous and "unhinged conspiracy theories" in recent times," per Fox News. Glenn Greenwald, writer and co-founder of The Intercept, responded to an article by Tim Starks in the Washington Post titled "Russian trolls on Twitter had little influence on 2016 voters." According to Greenwald, the great majority of media corporations,' scholars,' think tank frauds, and NYT/'disinformation NBC's divisions all contributed to the spread of the Russiagate conspiracy theory. In reaction to Greenwald's tweet, Elon Musk typed the word "true." The Washington Post's story centered on research that revealed Russian influencers in the 2016 election only reached a small number of people on Twitter, and those who they did contact were probably partisan Republicans predisposed to support Donald Trump. The notion that Trump conspired with Russia to hijack the 2016 presidential election was relentlessly promoted by major media sources during his administration. His first term was mostly consumed with the Robert Mueller probe, which was constantly pushed forward by liberal media. Related Article: Georgia Grand Jury Concludes Probe on Donald Trump, Could Bring Criminal Charges Against Former President @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A TikTok creator has stoked controversy by revealing Shamima Begum is his 'celebrity crush' after her 'crazy glow up'. The clip has resurfaced on the social media platform today after the BBC released a 10-part podcast with Begum to 'retrace her journey' from London schoolgirl to ISIS bride. In the video, TikTok host @amiribrahh, from the Last of the Real podcast, had two fellow creators, known as @acexmb, on his show. When one of the men asks the group 'who is your celebrity crush?', another answers: 'Now? I'd say Shamima Begum... I seen her when she came on the news.' He clarified that she would only be considered his celebrity crush 'after the glow up'. In the video, TikTok host @amiribrahh, from the Last of the Real podcast, had two fellow creators, known as @acexmb, on his show The BBC has released a 10-part podcast about Shamima Begum in which she tells the story of how she joined ISIS Poll Should Begum be allowed back to the UK? Yes No Should Begum be allowed back to the UK? Yes 167 votes No 1843 votes Now share your opinion 'That glow up was crazy... top 10 biggest glow ups for a female... Honestly, I'd give my passport right now. I'll tell her my passport number.' The answer attracted laughter from the other two men, before the host conceded that he agreed, adding: 'You know what, I hear it.' Begum revealed she does 'steps and squats and runs on the spot in her tent' at her Syrian refugee to keep fit and pass the time. In the extended version of the video on YouTube, he questioned whether such an answer would get him 'cancelled', after his fellow host revealed his own celebrity crush was Ruby Rose. The footage, which was released to TikTok on November 30, further exacerbates fears the BBC's 10-part podcast series could be 'giving terrorists a platform'. The 23-year-old, who packed mint chocolate for the trip to Syria to join the brutal death cult, said in one episode: 'I'm just so much more than ISIS'. In 2015, Begum (centre), then 15, and her school friends Kadiza Sultana (left), also 15, and Amira Abase (right), 16, fled their east London homes to join IS. Her two companions are believed to have died there During the podcast, Shamima Begum was described as having had a 'glow up' in recent years Critics accused the BBC of 'wasting licence fee payers' money' and said the families of ISIS victims would be 'mortified'. Wasiq Wasiq, a fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, tweeted: 'While the victims of grooming gangs are still trying to be heard and get justice, Shamima Begum manages to land 10-part podcast on the BBC.' The BBC said the podcast is not an opportunity for Begum to tell her story unchallenged but is a 'robust public interest investigation' The TikTok video attracted almost 1,500 comments - many of which were incredulous at the answer. 'No way bro just said Shamima,' one said. Another wrote: 'He could've said anyone but chose Shamima', while a third described it as 'top five wildest things I've heard this year'. 'There are some things you should never say out loud,' one critic said, while another asked if he was 'tying to end up on a watch list'. But many others saw the humour in the video. 'A 2/10 that went to a 8/10 is a 10/10, but a 8/10 is a 8/10,' one person reasoned. The BBC said the podcast would provide Ms Begum's 'full account' of 'what really happened' when she disappeared from London in 2015 to become a jihadi bride. But it insisted her story would not be 'unchallenged', describing the podcast as a 'robust, public interest investigation'. In 2015, a 15-year-old Begum and her school friends Kadiza Sultana, also 15, and Amira Abase, 16, fled their east London homes to join IS. In the podcast the 23-year-old claims that the refugee camp in Syria where she lives is 'worse than a prison' Begum, now 23, was found in a refugee camp in 2019 and soon after the UK withdrew her citizenship and banned her from entering Britain. She now lives at the al-Roj camp in northern Syria, run by the Syrian Democratic Forces, which she described as 'worse than a prison'. In the first episode, journalist Josh Baker meets Begum in the Syrian detention camp to discover how she joined ISIS and eventually ended up stranded. She told him being stuck in a camp 'is, I feel, worse than a prison I think because at least with prison sentences you know that there will be an end but here you don't know if there's going to be an end.' Begum told the BBC she accepts she joined a terror group, but on the topic of public anger aimed at her says: 'I don't think it's actually towards me. I think it's towards ISIS.' Episode 1 of 'I'm Not A Monster': The Shamima Begum Story is available to listen to today on BBC Sounds. Prince Harry has been accused of rubbing salt in his familys wounds with his sweeping accusations and campaign of blame. In his latest television interview to plug his explosive memoir, the prince claimed that the Royal Family had launched a war against him with the collusion of the British Press - to undermine the credibility of his book. Speaking on The Late Show in New York, the fifth in line to the throne - who has used his ghost-written memoir and accompanying interviews to launch a series of vitriolic attacks on his family claimed that his so-called truth-bombs made them feel uncomfortable and scared. Asked by host Stephen Colbert whether there is an active campaign by the rest of your family, the royal house, as it were, to undermine this book and you as you support it, Harry replied: Of course. And mainly by the British Press because they.... The fifth in line to the throne - who has used his ghost-written memoir and accompanying interviews to launch a series of vitriolic attacks on his family claimed that his so-called truth-bombs made the royal family feel uncomfortable and scared Buckingham Palace has consistently refused to react to the princes provocation, believing there is nothing to be gained Colbert interrupts: But aided and abetted by the Palace? Harry replies: Again, of course. This is the other side of the story, right. After 38 years they have told their story and this is the other side of the story. And theres a lot in here that perhaps makes people feel uncomfortable and scared. Buckingham Palace has consistently refused to react to the princes provocation, believing there is nothing to be gained - particularly when it comes to the hope of one day healing family relationships - from getting into a public tit for tat with the angry prince. But those with knowledge of the break-down of his relationship with his family - who have held back from criticising him out of respect to the King - believe he has now crossed a line. They are particularly angry at Harrys refusal to take any responsibility for his own actions and of his wilful ignorance in refusing to acknowledge how hurtful his increasingly bitter attacks on family members have become. One source, who did not wish to be named, said: His is a one-sided truth, unfortunately. Harry clearly believes what he says. His latest US television appearance saw Harry appear on one of Americas most popular talk shows, taking part in an embarrassing skit which poked fun at royal tradition The reason why he and Meghan left was not because they were forced out, as they claim, or that they dramatically fled for their lives,' one royal source said The trouble is that no-one else recognises very much of it, particularly when it comes to events surrounding his and Meghans departure from the Royal Family. The reason why he and Meghan left was not because they were forced out, as they claim, or that they dramatically fled for their lives. It was simply because the Royal Family and the institution wouldnt do everything they wanted them to do. This latest interview is just another salvo in their campaign of blame. Another added: Aside from how much of what he alleges is even correct, this constant trashing of his family is just rubbing salt into their wounds. Its really terribly unfair. 'At the heart of it all is the story of a very sad family breakdown Harrys own included and one that will never have a happy ending unless he allows people some time and space to heal. His latest US television appearance saw Harry appear on one of Americas most popular talk shows, taking part in an embarrassing skit which poked fun at royal tradition. Prince Harry's book, Spare, was released on January 10 and quickly became one of the fastest selling non-fiction books ever Another royal source said: Aside from how much of what he alleges is even correct, this constant trashing of his family is just rubbing salt into their wounds The prince arrives at the New York studios to be greeted on a red carpet by two regal trumpeters wearing replicas of the State Trumpeters of the Household Cavalrys uniforms. The prince yells at Colbert in a show of mock humility: Woah stop. Stephen, not needed, but thank you, I appreciate it. What are you talking about? This isnt for you! the host responds, before urging Harry: Get out of the way, hes coming! At that point, actor Tom Hanks comes around the corner, jokingly exclaiming: Im back! Wheres my fanfare? while Harry throws rose petals at him. In the hot seat, Harry, 38, agrees to drink shots of tequila to calm the nerves he must feel as a private person for having to be such a public face for his book. Prince Harry suggests that both the media and monarchy felt threatened by the very existence of the couple He receives a notably warm reception from the audience, especially when he invites them to join him. Colbert says: Theyre already on your side, man, you dont have to get them drunk. Harry describes writing the book as a cathartic experience and one that brought up old memories I didnt even think I had, before veering off into several rambling monologues about the British Press. He also claimed that abuse and harassment from the media, which was endorsed by Buckingham Palace, was the reason he and Meghan were forced to leave. We fled my home country, he said dramatically, of their decision to move to California and buy a multi-million pound mansion. He suggests that both the media and monarchy felt threatened by their very existence, adding: That is when I realised that actually our mere existence outside that institutional control was more of a threat. And a similar thing... happened to my mum as well. 'They always knew that my wife was going to leave because of the way they were abusing her but the most embarrassing thing was when I decided to go with her. At one point he describes the interview during which he was asked no questions challenging his version of events as being like therapy and held his interviewers hands jokingly. He also plays to the audience, telling them what a great place America is to live, to loud whoops and cheers. Harry also confirmed that many newspaper stories about the breakdown of his relationship with his brother denied at the time by the Palace on his behalf were true, but said they were wrongly pinned on his wife. The prince also showed off the now-famous necklace which was broken when he claims William physically attacked him in a row over Meghans difficult behaviour but has now been mended. He showed off two silver tags hanging from it that Meghan gave him engraved with images of his children's heartbeats, plus a third showing a tigers eye that a friend in Botswana made for him. In an interview with ITV's Tom Bradby on Sunday evening, Prince Harry expressed doubt at the official account of the death of his mother Asked what his mother would have thought of the estrangement between the two brothers, Harry says he believes it would never have got to that point had she been alive. The prince talks a great deal about the extensive therapy he has received and how it has unlocked memories he had buried. Remarkably, he says he has been using Dianas favourite perfume as part of his treatment, saying: Her scent, her perfume and spraying it and being able unlock memories that I never thought I had... but there are memories pre-12-year-old Harry that I will never be able to unlock and that sucks. He added that when he started therapy he realised that he was speaking a different language from the rest of his family and palace officials. M. Zuhdi Jasser is the founder and president of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, a former U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander and author of the book, A Battle for the Soul of Islam: An American Patriot's Fight to Save His Faith. Islam, my beloved faith, is under attack in America. But the threat does not derive from so-called Islamophobes or right-wing extremists. No, the danger to Islam is much more insidious, because it comes from those who proclaim to be our allies, the woke left. As the son of Syrian immigrants who came to the U.S. in pursuit of religious and political freedom, I read about the firing of an adjunct faculty member at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota with disgust. Erika Lopez Prater was punished for the thought-crime of showing treasured 14th and 16th century paintings of the Prophet Muhammad to her art history students. Despite her repeated warnings to the class about the potentially offensive content and despite multiple opportunities for students to opt out of the lecture, a firestorm erupted. One Muslim student, who is also a member of the university's Muslim Student's Association, complained to school officials that she was 'blindsided,' by the October 2022 class, finding it 'Islamophobic', 'offensive', and 'disrespectful' to Muslims. Never mind that the Prophet Muhammad has been depicted in countless historic Islamic paintings, or that images of the Prophet are displayed by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, or that a statue of the Prophet adorns the U.S. Supreme Court chamber, some Muslims find any depiction of the Prophet to be blasphemous, so the university retreated. The school and its Dean of Students cowardly caved, parroting the line that the instructor was 'undeniably inconsiderate, disrespectful, and Islamophobic' and Prater lost her job. Sadly, this is not isolated. Firing people for no good reason has become standard operating procedure across academia in America. The school and its Dean of Students cowardly caved, parroting the line that the instructor was 'undeniably inconsiderate, disrespectful, and Islamophobic' and Prater lost her job. (Above) Hamline President Fayneese Miller In May 2020, the American Islamic Forum for Democracy broke the story of Scottsdale Community College Professor Nick Damask who had to go into hiding. His offense? Giving a quiz that asked a few questions about the perceived influence of Islam on Al Qaeda or ISIS. He became the target of global outrage, fed by the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and amplified by the Left. Damask was later vindicated by a settlement against the university and CAIR's lawsuit against him was thrown out of court. But the damage was done, Damask's life was momentarily derailed and the chilling threat of censorship was sent to educators everywhere. Of course, oppression by Islamist theocrats is nothing new. A battle between fundamentalists and reformists has raged for decades. You can see it today as women march in cities across Iran demanding equality with men. But what has changed in America is that the Islamists have forged a new alliance with the woke. Take Hamelin University as an example: In 2009, the school's Journal of Law and Religion published excerpts from a 'fatwa' written by an influential Islamic scholar, albeit a renowned Islamist apologist, in defense of the image of the Prophet Muhammad displayed in the U.S. Supreme Court. 'What I have seen in the Supreme Courtroom deserves nothing but appreciation and gratitude from American Muslims,' wrote Sheik Taha Janet al-Alwani, 'This is a positive gesture toward Islam made by the architect and other architectural decision-makers of the highest Court in America.' So, what happened at Hamelin? Unfortunately, in America today, Islamists have found sanctuary in a progressivist culture that values identity over reason, meritocracy, history, and truth. Fundamentalists and the woke are kindred spirits, united by a hatred of Western values. Under wokism, identity defines its adherents. If you are a victim, then you are in the favored caste. And in this victim-hierarchy, Islam towers over all other religions. In the streets of Iran, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, and Saudi Arabia, dissenters are silenced by the gun or club. But in America that dirty work is done with a word. When you hear, Islamophobia, beware. The word is invoked as a weapon to silence. What the Islamists at CAIR understand and the campus activists and oppressive progressive left may not fully realize is that they are working on behalf of the powerful, not the weak, when they silence free thought. One Muslim student, who is also a member of the university's Muslim Student's Association, complained to school officials that she was 'blindsided,' by the October 2022 class, finding it 'Islamophobic', 'offensive', and 'disrespectful' to Muslims. (Above) Hamline student, Aram Wedatalla, who complained to university My family and other Muslim families like mine fled from and fought against Muslim theocrats, who spouted the same oppressive ideologies that the woke left now defend. But free thought is not incompatible with Islam - that is what the mullahs of Iran would have you believe. Of course, no one is denying that bigotry against Muslims exists, but free thought is not bigotry. If there is rampant anti-Muslim bigotry, it's the left's 'bigotry of low expectations'. Why isn't Islam permitted to reform? Why is Islam the only religion condemned to remain in the past? How many university professors or speakers need to be fired or canceled before we recognize what is at stake for our country? The very essence of America, debate, critical thinking, and learning is under threat. And American Muslims suffer from this beside their countrymen. America was once a laboratory of reform for Muslims, it has instead become a place where our own universities cut us off at the knees. Our academics side with the fundamentalists, who hate America and everything it stands for. The Islamist-woke alliance spells doom for Islam and the American way of life King Charles has stepped out in public today hours after the Princess of Wales also broke cover for the first time since Prince Harry's bombshell memoir hit the shelves. The King looked stony-faced as he got behind the wheel of his car near Birkhall, Aberdeenshire. It marked the first time he has been seen in public since his youngest son appeared on US talk shows downing tequila shots and mocking royal protocols to promote his controversial autobiography. Harry told The Late Show that he and Meghan were 'forced' to flee 'our home country' of Britain for 'beautiful California' because of 'abuse and harassment'. He then said: 'We have created a fantastic life here in California, which by the way is beautiful, and America is a great place to live,' before clinking glasses with Colbert to wild cheers. His Majesty has maintained a dignified silence throughout the onslaught of attacks from the Duke of Sussex . The King looked stony-faced as he got behind the wheel of his car near Birkhall, Aberdeenshire He and Camilla reportedly arrived at their 'marital home' in Scotland last week for a 'well-deserved' break. Birkhall is where Charles and Camilla became engaged, and where they honeymooned in 2005. The King has previously revealed he finds the property 'calming and peaceful'. He told The BBC: 'One of the most marvellous things about [Birkhall] is it's by this river called the Muick, and it has this wonderful sound of rushing water. 'When you are in the house, it's very calming and peaceful, I think. It also was the first place that Queen Victoria and Prince Albert bought in 1848 before they bought Balmoral it has a very special atmosphere. 'The house is rather wonderful because it was built in 1713 and there have been extensions put on ever since, but it is its setting and its atmosphere.' It marked the first time he has been seen in public since his youngest son appeared on US talk shows downing tequila shots and mocking royal protocols to promote his controversial autobiography The Princess of Wales today also stepped out in public for the first time since Harry made a slew of claims about her fractious relationship with Meghan. The Duke of Sussex gave his first full account of the infamous bridesmaid dress fitting at the heart of 'Megxit', claiming Princess Charlotte 'cried when she tried it on at home' and insisting 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. Harry also used an incendiary interview with ITV journalist, and old friend, Tom Bradby to accuse Kate of 'stereotyping' Meghan because she was an American actress and is divorced and biracial, saying it prevented them from 'welcoming her in'. Asked what he meant, the duke said: 'Well, American actress, divorced, biracial, there's there's all different parts to that and what that can mean but if you are, like a lot of my family do, if you are reading the Press, the British tabloids, at the same time as living the life, then there is a tendency where you could actually end up living in the tabloid bubble rather than the actual reality.' A stern-faced Princess Kate has been seen out in public today for the first time since Prince Harry made a slew of claims in his bombshell memoir Prince Harry has claimed the Princess of Wales was among the members of his family who 'stereotyped' his wife Meghan. The royal wives are pictured in June 2018 Meghan was previously married to American TV producer Trevor Engelson for three years from 2011 until 2014. Before meeting Harry, Meghan starred in US legal drama series Suits in which she played paralegal-turned-lawyer Rachel Zane. Bradby said that Harry saw his brother's wife as 'the sister you never had', with the pair having known each other since soon after William and Kate started dating in 2003. The pair are believed to have got on well, with Harry joining her and William on engagements before he met Meghan - although he told Bradby that while the events were 'fun', he sometimes felt 'slightly awkward' being the 'third wheel'. Harry also said the idea of himself, his wife and the Prince and Princess of Wales being the 'fab four' was 'something the British Press created' and it 'creates competition'. He told Bradby: 'The idea of the four of us being together was always a hope for me. 'Before it was Meghan, whoever it was going to be, I always hoped that the four of us would get on. 'But very quickly it became Meghan versus Kate. 'And that, when it plays out so publicly, you can't hide from that, right? Especially when within my family you have the newspapers laid out pretty much in every single palace and house that is around.' Harry also used an incendiary interview with ITV journalist, and old friend, Tom Bradby to accuse Kate of 'stereotyping' Meghan, saying it was causing a 'barrier' to his family and preventing them from 'welcoming her in' Harry added that his brother William 'raised some concerns' about his marriage to Meghan before their wedding in May 2018. He said: 'He never tried to dissuade me from marrying Meghan, but he aired some concerns very early, and said 'this is going to be really hard for you' and I still to this day don't truly understand which part of what he was talking about. Maybe he predicted what the British Press's reaction was going to be.' The Duke's tour to promote his memoir Spare rolled on with an informal interview where he lurched between describing the Queen's death and the fractured relationship with his brother to anecdotes about his frostbitten 'todger' and a 'custom c**k cushion' to protect it. He joked: 'It feels a little bit like group therapy,' before doing some meditation with the chat show host. The royal arrived on stage to chants of 'Harry, Harry, Harry' before he whipped up the crowd again, offering them tequila after admitting: 'I need a drink.' Prince Harry told Tom Bradby that he felt 'slightly awkward' being a 'third wheel' to Prince William and Kate Middleton before meeting Meghan. The trio pictured in 2012 There was more whooping when he denied he boasted about killing 25 Taliban fighters in Afghanistan and broke off to ask the audience: 'Are there any veterans in the house?' He argued that the section had been taken out of context, adding: 'My words are not dangerous, but the spin of my words is very dangerous.' He also asked the audience if they were 'surprised' by his rift with his brother, to yells of 'yes'. There were many other bizarre and contradictory moments where he claimed not to fully understand the 'fascination' with his family before later hinting that he is among the millions to have watched The Crown from start to finish, including episodes charting his mother's battles with bulimia and his parents' painful divorce. Harry also took part in a skit with Tom Hanks and clinked glasses with Colbert as he praised America as a 'great place to live' and said how much he loves 'beautiful California', sparking cheers from the audience. One of the more serious moments during the lengthy sit-down saw Harry rounding on his relatives over the backlash to his memoir, with Colbert questioning whether he believes the royals have an 'active campaign to undermine this book'. 'Of course,' the duke responded - adding that 'the British Press' has also been complicit in the 'campaign', with Colbert chiming in: 'But aided and abetted by the Palace.' 'Again of course,' Harry confirmed. 'But this is the other side of the story, right? After 38 years, they have told their side of the story. This is the other side of the story.' Prince Harry with host Stephen Colbert during an interview on The Late Show where he lavished praise on the US EXCLUSIVE: Tailor caught in the middle of Meghan and Kate's bridesmaid dress row breaks his silence: Ajay Mirpuri reveals he's NOT surprised it led to tears - and his dismay that the furore overshadowed the big day 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 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) Prince Harry and Meghan 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.' 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 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 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 The gowns were created - as was the wedding dress - by British designer Clare Waight Keller, artistic director of Givenchy. But they were made from measurements only and without 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. However, the animal was in fact a family's pet Bengal cat which had cost $1,300, according to its owner Rodrigo Calil Firefighters responded to the call and found the animal in a staircase, where they trapped it and later released into the woods near the building A fire department nearly lost a family's seven-month-old spotted pet kitten after mistaking it for a jaguar and releasing it into the wild. Veterinarian Rodrigo Calil said tenants at his condominium in southeastern Brazilian state of Minas Gerais called 911 Tuesday morning after they spotted the cat, Massinha, wandering around the building. When firefighters arrived at the building and found the seven-month-old cat in the stairs and mistook it for a wild animal, according to Brazilian newspaper Metropoles. The firemen then used a net to trap the cat and proceeded to a forest area near the family's home where they released her. Massinha had gone missing from her Brazilian family's home Tuesday morning and was found and removed by the local fire department after residents called 911 and reported that there was a jaguar in the building. The seven-month-old cat was trapped with a net and then released into the woods near the home, where the family found her Tuesday evening Rodrigo Calil and his daughter carry a cage with their pet bengal cat in it moment after they found him in the woods Calil said he woke up around 7am and noticed the Bengal cat, which he purchased for $1,300 as a gift for his seven-year-old daughter, was missing. He then discovered through a WhatsApp group chat that Massinha has been found and removed from the grounds. 'What happened was surreal,' Calil said. 'In the period between me getting up and seeing it was gone, I joined the condominium group and saw that people were desperate thinking it was a jaguar.' The family searched the vicinity for almost eight hours before his daughter found her in the bushes Tuesday evening. 'I chose to bring her so that she could see that I was committed to finding the cat,' Calil told O Tempo newspaper. 'She had been very sad and even cried when she heard the news of the disappearance. As soon as my daughter called for her, the cat listened and left the bush' Calil was bemused that the fire department and building staff could make such a poor error in judgment. Massinha is a Bengal cat who was purchased for $1,300 by Brazilian veterinarian for his seven-year-old daughter Massinha did not roam far away from where the firefighters left her and was hiding in the bushes when her owners found called out her name Tenants at a condominium in Brazil thought that the pet cat that was wandering in the building premises was actually a jaguar (stock image) 'It's surreal, it's a sequence of mistakes one after another,' he said. 'A lack of preparation by a large condominium, a lack of preparation by a team from the fire department, who assumed it was a wild animal and released it in the Belvedere forest, a residential area.' The fire department said the responding unit acted in accordance with their guidelines and removed the cat that has been roaming around the building for two days. 'They (building security) reported that the said animal did not belong to any local resident,' the fire department said in a statement. 'After being captured safely and unharmed, since she had no injuries and was apparently healthy, and because she had the characteristics of a domestic animal, she was released in a more remote location outside the condominium in a forested area, according to standard protocol.' The US power grid was physically attacked 107 times in the first eight months of 2022, more than in any other year in the last decade. The damage, caused mainly by gunfire, triggered power outages affecting tens of thousands of Americans. Now, security experts are warning that the likelihood of a more significant attack is higher than ever - one that could see domestic terrorists cause a blackout spanning weeks and affecting entire swathes of the country. The US power grid was physically attacked 107 times in the first eight months of 2022, more than in any other year in the last decade. Security experts warned that the likelihood of a more significant attack is higher than ever Duke Energy workers inspect what they said was one of three bullet holes that crippled an electrical substation after the Moore County Sheriff said vandalism caused a power outage 'If you have a physical attack that damages equipment, it can take weeks, months or years to replace that equipment,' Michael Mabee, a former U.S. Army command sergeant major and an expert in power infrastructure vulnerabilities, told Newseek. 'If enough of these transformers were destroyed in a physical attack, we would have a long-term, wide-scale blackout, and the deaths would be in the tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands or millions,' he added. Although for many of these attacks those responsible have not been identified. However, Newsweek identified manifestos and manuals produced by radical groups throughout the county detailing how such acts of sabotage can be coordinated. An intelligence memo issued in October by the California State Threat Assessment Center detailed dozens of examples of domestic radical plots. Many were associated with far-right and neo-Nazi groups that see the county's vulnerable power grid as a means to cause chaos. More than a decade ago the vulnerability of the grid was noted by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which indicated that damage to nine substations and a domestic transformer manufacturer could cripple the entire US power grid for 18 months. A bullet hole at one of the Moore County substations that crippled the power being delivered to nearly 50,000 people Many of the attacks to power infrastructure have been linked to domestic extremists On December 3, attacks on two substations in Moore County, North Carolina, left nearly 50,000 without power some for days. But that may just have been a small warning of what could be. 'I was very, very concerned - extremely concerned - in 2013,' Jon Wellinghoff, head of FERC at the time, told Newsweek. 'And I would say, after Moore County, that I'm still extremely concerned.' He warned that there still exists 'some limited number of critical nodes within the US grid that could have severe consequences' if damaged. 'The threat is real,' he told the publication. 'Americans should be concerned.' Emily Rainey, a former Army Captain, told police the damage was caused by God, who was 'chastising Moore County' because a drag show was being hosted nearby at the time In days after the Moore County attacks authorities were investigating former Army Captain Emily Grace Rainey, who led a group during the January 6 riots and is also director of the group Moore County Citizens for Freedom. After a post on Facebook indicating she knew something about the attack, Rainey told police she was implying the damage was caused by God, who was 'chastising Moore County' because a drag show was being hosted nearby at the time. Just a few weeks later in December, on Christmas morning, around 14,000 were left without energy after a variety of attacks in four different cities in Pierce County, Washington. Matthew Greenwood, 32, and Jeremy Crahan, 40, were arrested and charged with conspiracy to damage energy facilities and possession of an unregistered firearm. Jeremy Crahan, 40, was one of the two men arrested and charged for attacking Washington state power substations on Christmas Workers make repairs after an act of vandalism left thousands across southern Oklahoma without power in March In March, a shooting attack on an electrical substation in Oklahoma (above) temporarily disrupted power for more than 1,000 customers In the months before that, more than six substations were vandalized in both Washington and Oregon, including an unsuccessful attack in the early hours of Thanksgiving day. Earlier in the year in February, three white supremacists were arrested for planning to attack power grids in an attempt to stoke racial division. Their ploy involved fentanyl-filled suicide necklaces and assault rifles. In March there was a shooting at a Red River Valley Rural Electric Association site in southern Oklahoma, that left 1,200 of people without power and resulted in a major oil leak. A transformer, which usually costs between $800,000 and $1 million, had to be replaced. In July shots were fired at a transmission site in Wasco, California, causing power outages and hundreds of gallons of hazardous chemicals to leak onto nearby soil. That same month a transformer serving the Keystone pipeline near Huron, South Dakota, was vandalized, reducing the oil artery's rate of operations. Few details have been released about that incident, with officials saying only that the transformer was 'vandalized' in a 'deliberate act'. The FBI is investigating. On November 11 a substation near Maysville, North Carolina, went offline after it was damaged in an incident of vandalism, according to the Carteret-Craven Electric Cooperative, which operates it. Over 12,000 members of the Carteret-Craven co-op lost power for approximately two hours. Mohammad Mesmarian, 34, was arrested for allegedly ramming his Toyota Camry in a generator pit and setting it on fire to damage the Invenergy solar plant in Las Vegas Mesmarian (above) was arrested 30 miles from the scene of the crime. Police said he told them he attacked the plant 'for the future' In the beginning of January a man was charged with terrorism after police said he rammed his car into a Las Vegas solar plant and set it on fire. Police responded to a call about a trespasser at the Invenergy solar plant north of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and when the officers arrived, they found a car ablaze in a generator pit. Las Vegas Metro police alleged that Mohammad Mesmarian, 34, had snuck into the plant and set his Toyota Camry on fire as he sat and watched the blaze. He reportedly told police that he had burned the car at a Tesla plant and that he did it 'for the future.' Creating a more resilient grid is also made difficult by legal limitations. 'The regulations for physical security and in cybersecurity are not written by any federal regulators,' Wellinghoff added. 'They are instead written by the utilities themselves, and those regulators only can adopt or reject them.' Her husband Brian Walshe, 47, has pleaded not guilty to 'misleading' police during the investigation into her disappearance The mother spent her time commuting from Cohasset, MA, for her job as a real estate executive Friends of Ana Walshe, 39, say that she was excited for her sons to come and stay with her in Washington DC Worried friends of missing Massachusetts mother Ana Walshe say she 'couldn't wait' for her three sons to join her in her DC home after she set up their bedrooms. The mother-of-three was last seen alive on January 1, as the search for her reached its 11th day after cops scoured the family home in Cohasset and a garbage disposal facility in North Boston. Close pal Alissa Kirby says that Ana would clean the boys' rooms in their $1.4million home in Chevy Chase, Washington DC, even though they hadn't been there yet. Court documents also indicate that there may have been trouble within her marriage to Brian Walshe, 47, despite Ana writing a letter to thank a judge for allowing the fraudster to stay home. The mother-of-three was last seen alive on January 1, as the search for her reached its 11th day after cops scoured the family home in Cohasset and a garbage disposal facility in North Boston Friends say that she was 'desperate' for her three son's to join her at a $1.4million property in Washington DC which she bought Kirby told WCVB: 'She set up all the rooms for the boys, even though they hadn't been there yet, and on a weekly basis, she would clean the rooms. 'She could not wait for her children to be here with her.' A court transcript from last year also revealed that Ana had 'moved out of the jurisdiction' of Cohasset after her husband pleaded guilty to fraud charges. Art-swindler Walshe was on house arrest after pleading guilty to stealing $80,000 Andy Warhol paintings and then selling fakes to a friend. Anas mother Milanka Ljubicic told DailyMail.com that she cant believe that Walshe has anything to do with her daughters disappearance. She admitted that there was some strain on their marriage because her daughter had to spend so much time away in DC and Walshe was on house arrest. In a letter to the judge overseeing the Warhol case, Ana said that she was 'grateful' to him for allowing her husband to spend the 'last eight months at home supporting his children and closest family members.' The court documents show that she had addressed the letter from the Washington DC address rather than the home they shared. She wrote: 'During these eight months, our family was able to be together during many milestones. 'On December 21, 2021, my mother suffered a major neurological event which caused a heavy hemorrhage. Worried friend Alison Kirby said Ana 'couldn't wait' for her three sons to join her in her DC home A court transcript from last year also revealed that Ana had 'moved out of the jurisdiction' of Cohasset after her husband pleaded guilty to fraud charges. Art-swindler Walshe was on house arrest after pleading guilty to stealing $80,000 Andy Warhol paintings and then selling fakes to a friend The couple met after Ana moved from Belgrade, Serbia, aged 25 while she was working at the Wheatleigh Hotel in the Berkshires 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, cops say. 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. Ana's phone pinged in the area of the house on Jan 1 and 2. January 4: Ana's employer reports her 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. Advertisement 'Brian was the one who heard my mother's sighs (sic) for help within seconds and immediately called me and emergency. 'She keeps repeating that she wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her son-in law. 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. 'Brian has been working consistently on breaking the past habits of his family and we are all looking forward to the new chapter of his life.' The couple's three children are being looked after by government services, and the family dog, Hans, has also been placed in a shelter until a member of the family can take care of him. DailyMail.com previously revealed that Walshe was also facing the prospect of 30 months in prison for the alleged theft of money from his estranged father's estate as well as breaking into his property and destroying his will after his death. It is unclear if his wife was aware of the allegations being made by his family, with a friend of his father Dr Thomas Walshe say he tried to manipulate him after a stroke which led to Walshe being cut out of the will. Legal documents show Walshe asked for a key to the family's $710,000 beachfront property in Hull, Massachusetts. The papers add the younger Walshe raided his father's home, stealing thousands of dollars worth of artwork and luxury items including paintings by Salvador Dali and Joan Miro as well as a car. He then allegedly tried to sell his father's home for $140,000 more than it was worth, after he was wrongly named executor of the will. Walshe failed to inform other family members of his father's passing, and the discrepancies were only caught after his cousin, who had been named the executor of Dr Walshe's will, contacted a friend in 2019 to discover the news. A friend of Dr Walshe claimed in an affidavit that his son had been diagnosed as a 'sociopath' after being treated at Austen Riggs Psychiatric Centre before being discharged a few years ago. The couple met after Ana moved from Belgrade, Serbia, aged 25 while she was working at the Wheatleigh Hotel in the Berkshires. She met him after she cleaned his apartment, with Walshe becoming her second husband after she split with Mark Kripp. The real estate executive for Tishman Speyer was also the manager of a building luxury Washington DC building where two fake Homeland Security agents lived, DailyMail.com revealed. It comes as police continue to search for the missing real estate executive, who was last seen at her home on New Year's Day at around 6am after throwing a bash the night before. Walshe was seen on surveillance video buying heavy-duty cleaning supplies, despite telling cops he had been home around the time his wife was last seen alive. The couple have three sons, believed to be aged two, four, and six New security video obtained by 7NEWS shows Brian Walshe, 46, at the Press Juice Bar in Norwell, Massachusetts, placing an order around mid morning Security footage shows her husband at a juice bar ordering three children's smoothies and two large ones on January 2, the day after Ana disappeared. The couple has three sons, believed to be aged two, four, and six. Thomas Walshe died in India, aged 71, in 2018 Ana was reported missing to police on January 4 by her employer in DC - three days after her husband last saw her on January 1. Walshe told cops that he had only left the apartment to take his son for ice cream and also to visit his mother Diana in Swampscott, but claims he got lost in the Peabody area. Officers spent hours searching through trash at a disposal unit in Peabody, with the Norfolk District Attorney's office confirming that they found a 'number of items'. Sources said law enforcement found a hatched, hack saw, blood and a rug that had been in the basement of the couple's property while searching the rubbish. They also hauled off several dumpsters from outside Walshe's mother's apartment block to the disposal unit with a police escort. Cops have found blood, a hatchet, a hack saw, a rug and used cleaning supplies in the search for missing Massachusetts mother-of-three Ana Walshe Walshe was seen cracking a smile as he was handcuffed and led out of the station by officers Walshe also googled 'how to dispose of a 115-pound woman's body' after his wife vanished, according to police sources. Friends of Ana claimed that she had been promising a 'big surprise in the New Year' and appeared to be in a hurry to sell of her assets for cash. The couple owned several properties together including their home in Cohasset and a $1.3million house in DC. They also owned another property in Massachusetts, worth $1.4million which they sold last year before she went missing On Monday, Walshe pleaded not guilty to misleading investigators in the hunt for his missing wife, but remained in jail on $500,000 bond. Walshe was also caught on surveillance footage showed at a Home Depot in Rockland, purchasing $450 worth of cleaning supplies, including mops, a bucket, and tarps. Prosecutors at Quincy District Court say Walshe's statements, including claiming that he didn't leave the house, delayed the investigation. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre wouldn't tell reporters Wednesday when President Joe Biden was informed of the discovery of classified documents in an old D.C. office or say why the revelation was withheld from the public until this week. She told CBS' Ed O'Keefe 'we don't need to have this kind of confrontation' after repeatedly saying she couldn't provide details to journalists because the documents were under Department of Justice review. O'Keefe, among other things, had asked the press secretary why it took more than two months after the discovery of the documents for the White House Counsel's office to reveal that to the American people. 'Why didn't he or someone in the White House inform the American people when these documents were discovered on November 2?' O'Keefe asked. 'They didn't have anything to do - because people are asking this part of it - have anything to do with the fact that the election was just a few days away?' White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre wouldn't tell reporters Wednesday when President Joe Biden was informed of the discovery of classified documents in an old D.C. office or say why the revelation was withheld from the public until this week CBS News' Ed O'Keefe asked Wednesday if the November 2 discovery of classified documents in Biden's old D.C. office wasn't immediately disclosed because the midterms were just days away Jean-Pierre stuck to her answer. 'Again, this is under review by the Department of Justice,' she said. She pointed to the White House Counsel's office if O'Keefe wanted a more substantial answer. 'Then we welcome them to the briefing room, we hope they can come soon to discuss this,' the CBS reporter said. 'But here's another thing, there was nothing from stopping the president of the United States from disclosing the discovery of these classified documents in his former office before it was under Justice Department review.' 'So why didn't he disclose it?' O'Keefe pressed. Jean-Pierre said the only thing she could share is what the president said in Mexico City Tuesday - that he was 'surprised' by the discovery and that he 'takes classified documents very seriously.' At one point, O'Keefe said the journalists in the room would keep asking these questions 'because it's our job.' 'So you're the one here talking to us about this, that's why we're asking you, so let's just remember that,' he added. 'And what I can tell you is that I'm not going to go beyond what the President laid out. I'm not going to go beyond what my White House Council colleagues have stated,' Jean-Pierre answered. 'We don't need to have this - we work very well together - we don't need to have this kind of confrontation.' 'You don't need to be contentious with me here, Ed,' she added. Jean-Pierre, again, pointed to the DOJ review when O'Keefe asked if the president had asked for a damage assessment from Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, as some top Republicans have requested. 'The Department of Justice does not handle national security,' O'Keefe scoffed in response. Denis Manturov was blasted for failing to procure military and civilian planes An enraged Putin also publicly humiliated one of his deputy prime ministers He was replaced by his heavily criticised understudy Gen. Valery Gerasimov Sergei Surovikin was demoted yesterday after just three months in command Vladimir Putin ordered yet another shake-up of his war cabinet yesterday, demoting the head of his forces in Ukraine after only three months on the job. General Sergei Surovikin, who earned the fearsome nickname 'General Armageddon' for employing brutal tactics during Russia's intervention in Syria, was named as Russia's overall military commander on October 8. Putin yesterday replaced Surovikin with General Valery Gerasimov, Russia's chief of the general staff who was seen by many as the top architect of the invasion. But critics have already blamed him for Moscow's military setbacks. He also humiliated one of his deputy prime ministers on a video conference call, blasting the official for failing to procure civilian and military planes and accusing him of 'fooling around'. General Sergei Surovikin, who earned the fearsome nickname 'General Armageddon' for his brutal tactics in Syria, was demoted after just three months in command of Russia's military Russia's chief of the military General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, has been criticised for some of Moscow's military failures in Ukraine. Despite this, he was promoted to overall commander yesterday Ukrainian strike 'sends more than 100 Russian soldiers to Hell': Kyiv military says large number of Putin's men who grouped together during Battle of Soledar are wiped out in coordinated attack - Click HERE to read more The Ukrainian army fires rockets at Russian positions in the frontline near Soledar, Donetsk region, Ukraine, on Wednesday Advertisement During his short time overseeing the troops in Ukraine, Surovikin was credited with strengthening coordination, reinforcing control and introducing a campaign to knock out the invaded country's public utilities as a pressure tactic. But he also announced a humiliating withdrawal in November from Kherson, the only regional center Russian forces had captured, just weeks after the Kremlin illegally annexed the area - likely one of the failures that led to his demotion. Britain's Ministry of Defence (MoD) said promoting Gerasimov above Surovikin is 'an indicator of the increasing seriousness of the situation Russia is facing, and a clear acknowledgement that the campaign is falling short of Russia's strategic goals.' The MoD added in a tweet that Russian ultra-nationalists and military bloggers critical of Gerasimov are likely to greet the news with 'extreme displeasure'. The Russian Defence Ministry's formal explanation for the reshuffle was that expanded military tasks and the need for 'closer interaction between branches of the military as well as increasing the quality of supplies and the efficiency of directing groups of forces' prompted the leadership changes. The move appeared to buttress Gerasimov's standing with Putin amid growing resentment and dissent in the army. Gerasimov is seen as a loyalist with no political ambitions, likely to side with Putin on any strategic decisions - presumably the reason for his promotion. Surovikin meanwhile was made deputy in an announcement by defence minister Sergei Shoigu, who has also been widely criticised for his bungling of Moscow's operations in Ukraine. 'The increase in the level of leadership of the special operation is linked to the expansion of the scale of the tasks at hand and the need for closer interaction between troops,' said the defence ministry. General Armageddon's embarrassing demotion came as Putin raged over Russia's collapsing economy amid the failing war effort, publicly humiliating one of his deputy prime ministers. The angry despot blasted Denis Manturov in a government video conference for failing to procure military and civilian planes. Putin (right) blasted Denis Manturov (left) in a government video conference for failing to procure military and civilian planes, January 12, 2023 The video shows an aggrieved Putin telling off his deputy PM, the minister of trade and industry Denis Manturov Putin accused Manturov (pictured) of playing the fool after the politician, the deputy PM and trade and industry minister, holidayed in Turkey over New Year He accused him of playing the fool after the politician, a deputy PM and trade and industry minister, holidayed in Turkey over New Year. The video shows an aggrieved Putin declaring: 'There are no contracts. What are you going to tell me? I know there are no contracts at the companies, the directors told me. 'Why are you really fooling around?' He told the hapless minister that he had one month to sort out the mess which has led to a shortage of military planes for the air force and a failure to supply new aircraft to civilian companies hit by Western sanctions. Putin stormed: 'This all must be done within a month, I am asking you, within a month Don't we understand in what conditions we're living?' The chastened Manturov bowed his head. A Ukrainian officer near the embattled town of Soledar in Donetsk told The Associated Press the pattern is that first the Russians send one or two waves of soldiers, many from the private Russian military contractor Wagner Group, who sustain heavy casualties as they probe the Ukrainian defences. When Ukrainian troops are exhausted, the Russians send a fresh wave of highly-trained soldiers, paratroopers or special forces, said the officer, who insisted on anonymity for security reasons. Ukrainian officials have denied Russian claims that Soledar has fallen but the Wagner Group's owner repeated the assertion of a breakthrough late on Wednesday. 'Once again I want to confirm the complete liberation and cleansing of the territory of Soledar from units of the Ukrainian army,' Yevgeny Prigozhin - leader of the Wagner group - wrote on his Russian social media platform. 'Civilians were withdrawn. Ukrainian units that did not want to surrender were destroyed.' He claimed about 500 people were killed and that 'the whole city is littered with the corpses of Ukrainian soldiers'. Ukraine's military meanwhile said late on Wednesday that Russian forces had suffered 'huge losses' in the fighting. Soledar, known for salt mining and processing, has little intrinsic value but it lies at a strategic point six miles north of the city of Bakhmut, which Russian forces want to surround. Delivering victory in Soledar and Bakhmut after months of Russian frontline difficulties would help Prigozhin, who has criticised the newly promoted General Gerasimov, to increase his clout in a rivalry among Russia's military leadership. Russian troops have struggled to gain control over Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and another Ukrainian province the Kremlin illegally annexed in September after incorporating the Crimean Peninsula in 2014. When Russian forces withdrew from Kherson, the battle heated up around Bakhmut. A man made a Facebook post threatening the assassination of Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, his former partner has testified. William Curtis, 70, is on trial at the High Court in Glasgow. He is accused of sending threatening messages to Ms Sturgeon and sending or causing a threatening message to be sent to former MSP Stewart Stevenson. Curtis wrote in his post that he intended to conduct a citizen's arrest of Ms Sturgeon in attempt to force her 'to answer her treason.' He also sent a message to Mr Stevenson warning 'your time is comming' (sic) and included a YouTube video link with reference to former Labour MP Jo Cox, who was murdered by a far-right extremist. Curtis denies all charges against him and has lodged a special defence of incrimination, claiming someone else committed the allegations involving Mr Stevenson. William Curtis, 70, (pictured) is on trial accused of sending threatening messages to Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and sending or causing a threatening message to be sent to former MSP Stewart Stevenson Curtis wrote in his post that he intended to conduct a citizen's arrest of Ms Sturgeon (pictured last month) in attempt to force her 'to answer her treason' Alyson Gould, who was Curtis's partner in March 2019, said that he had a Facebook account in the name of William Patrick Curtis with a profile picture showing him holding a cup of tea. She was shown an image of a Facebook post from March 3 of that year relating to Ms Sturgeon from an account in the name William Patrick Curtis which was previously shown to the court on Monday. It read: 'We have reason to believe while it is my intention to citizens (sic) arrest her (Ms Sturgeon) to answer her treason, over the last three years, serious people who feel the abuse to the electorate by her criminal activities warrants assassination of her and sevreal (sic) of her ministers, on down to even civilians who work in all these agenices (sic) who have repeatedly lied to the electorate and conspired with the First Minister.' Prosecutor Chris McKenna asked Mrs Gould whose Facebook profile it came from, to which she replied 'William's'. Asked who posted the message, she said 'William', confirming that she was referring to William Curtis. The court previously heard that a direct message was sent on Facebook to Mr Stevenson from a person called Carole Curtis which read: 'Your turn is comming (sic) of that you can be sure.' The message also contained a YouTube video link with reference to former Labour MP Jo Cox, who was murdered by a far-right extremist. Curtis, who is on trial at the High Court in Glasgow, (pictured) denies all charges against him and has lodged a special defence of incrimination, claiming someone else committed the allegations involving Mr Stevenson Mrs Gould said in March 2019 she had a Facebook account in the name of Carole Curtis but denied sending the message relating to Mr Stevenson, which came from her gold Samsung device, and said that Curtis knew the code to unlock her phone. Mr McKenna asked her whether she sent the message, to which she replied 'no'. He went on: 'Do you know who did?', to which she replied 'well if I didn't, Billy did'. She told the court that while she had no interest in politics, Mr Curtis did and that she constantly had to listen to his views. Cross-examining Mrs Gould, Curtis's defence agent Gareth Jones KC said the 70-year-old had his own black Vodafone and his own laptop. He said: 'As he had his own laptop and mobile phone, there was no reason for him to use your mobile phone to access the internet. In fact, you did not witness him using your phone to send that message.' Mrs Gould replied: 'No.' He asked her whether if Curtis did not send the message anyone else could have done so, to which she answered: 'I didn't send it, he did.' Curtis is accused of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner which was 'likely to cause a reasonable person to suffer fear or alarm' by sending emails and posting messages on social media in which he made threatening remarks towards Scotland's First Minister on various occasions between February 27 and March 6 2019. He is further accused of allegedly sending or causing a message to be sent through social media on March 9 2019 to Stewart Stevenson MSP which threatened him and contained a link to a video relating to the murder of the MP Jo Cox. Curtis also faces two other charges of posting messages of a 'threatening and abusive nature' on social media in October 2020 and June 2021. Curtis also sent a message to Mr Stevenson (pictured in 2007) warning 'your time is comming' (sic) and included a YouTube video link with reference to former Labour MP Jo Cox, who was murdered by a far-right extremist Curtis and another man, Philip Mitchell, 60, have also been accused of assaulting and abducting a sheriff in a car park in Banff, Aberdeenshire, in June 2021. All the alleged offences happened in Aberdeenshire. Curtis has denied the charges while Mitchell, who said the trial is unlawful, has had not guilty pleas entered on his behalf by the court. Also today, the court heard from police sergeant John Hampton, who was on duty on March 10, 2019 and was involved in searching Curtis's home in Aberchirder and arresting him during investigations into the message sent to Mr Stevenson. Referring to his police notebook from that day, he told the court that after he was arrested, Curtis said: 'All this for sending Stewart Stevenson an email, not an email, a message or whatever you call it.' The police officer said Mr Stevenson had not previously been mentioned. During cross-examination, Mr Jones said Curtis denies making the comment. Mr Hampton replied: 'I can say categorically that is untrue.' The trial before Lord Weir continues. Satellite images in China showed that people were flocking to crematoriums in several cities in the Asian nation as the country continues to fight a surge of COVID-19 cases following the lifting of its "zero-COVID" policies. The images were taken by Maxar Technologies in late December and early January and were reviewed by CNN. They show a funeral home that was located on the outskirts of Beijing and appears to have constructed a brand-new parking area. It can also be seen with lines of vehicles outside of funeral homes in Kunming, Nanjing, Chengdu, Tangshan, and Huzhou. China's COVID-19 Death Toll The situation comes after Chinese officials recently moved away from the stringent health protocols after widespread protests from people who were tired of the two years of draconian measures. The policies shielded the nation from the kind of mass deaths seen in Western nations, a factor that the Chinese Communist Party used to defend its decisions. Since the lifting of those rules, Chinese citizens have regained some semblance of freedom in their personal lives to travel around the country. The satellite pictures were found to be consistent with reporting and witness accounts that have been shared on social media platforms regarding overcrowding in funeral homes and crematoriums, as per CNN. There have been several reports in Beijing on the makeshift facilities that were being used to store the deceased. This came as overworked staff tried to keep up with the volume of crates that contained yellow body bags, and families reported that they had to wait for days to bury or cremate their loved ones. On the other hand, China's official COVID-19 death toll since the lifting of the zero-COVID policies remains strikingly low, with only 37 deaths since December 7, 2022. Now, with reports of overwhelmed hospitals and funeral homes pouring in, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United States have accused China of under-representing the severity of the recent outbreak. Read Also: China's COVID-19 Crisis Highlights Beijing's Healthcare Gaps, Forcing Families To Burn Bodies in Streets Withholding Accurate Data Top global health officials have urged Beijing to share more information regarding the explosive spread of infections. During a news briefing in Geneva on Wednesday, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that they continued to ask China for more rapid, regular, reliable data on hospitalizations and deaths. According to the Washington Post, one overwhelmed funeral home located in Chengdu, China, allegedly stopped offering memorial services and allotted only two minutes for each family to say goodbye to their loved ones before cremation. There were also reports of scalpers in Shanghai who sold places in lines at funeral homes for $300 each to grieving relatives to get cremation slots. These were only some of the issues that the Chinese government has been facing but has not reported to the global community. One receptionist who worked at the Jiangnan Funeral Home in Chongqing said that in the six years they have worked there, it has never been this busy. The situation comes as there have been reports that roughly 90% of citizens in Henan, China, which is the country's third most populous province, have become infected by the deadly virus. Provincial official Kan Quancheng was the one that revealed the figure, coming in at 88.5 million people, BBC reported. Related Article: Laid-off Chinese Workers of COVID-19 Antigen Kit Factory Engaged Police in a Protest [VIDEO] @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The father of slain University of Idaho student Maddie Mogen said he felt relieved when a suspect was arrested but is heartbroken over the details of her death. Ben Mogen, who had been patiently waiting for weeks for news about his 21-year-old daughter's murderer, had a big smile when telling Good Morning America about the moment an investigator told him they had arrested suspect Bryan Kohberger. 'He said, "Ben, this is the moment we've been waiting for,'" Mogen recalled. The grieving father, however, said he could not bring himself to read the full police affidavit describing how they believed Kohberger killed Maddie and her best friend Kaylee Goncalves, 21, as well as Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, both 20. 'I just broke down, and I just cried,' Mogen said about the document. 'I could only take so much of that. I still haven't read the rest of it.' While details of the affidavit have been made public, an Idaho judge recently sealed a search warrant for Kohberger's Washington apartment because it risked causing a premature end of the investigation. Ben Mogen (above), father of slain University of Idaho student Maddie Mogen, described his relief when investigators told him they had finally arrested a suspect Suspect Bryan Kohberger (pictured) faces the death penalty for the quadruple murder New details emerge in the Idaho college murders. Suspect Bryan Kohberger is due in court tomorrow as investigators reveal more about his alleged actions just before his arrest. @MolaReports has more.https://t.co/YiembVerb4 pic.twitter.com/iGg0j4BCGb Good Morning America (@GMA) January 11, 2023 As he spoke with GMA, the grieving father also described is daughter as 'an angel' who always made him proud. Along with Mogen, Kaylee's sister, Alivea Goncalves, spoke about how the two best friends did everything right when going out that night before meeting their grisly end. 'They went out together, they called for a ride, went to a known establishment,' Alivea listed. 'They did everything you would want your daughter, or your sister, to do in that situation.' She added that her family and the Mogens are still reeling from the tragedy that claimed their loved ones' lives on November 13. 'We're left with not only missing them, exactly who they were, but wondering who they were going to become,' Alivea said. Kohberger, 28, was arrested in the early hours of December 30 at his family's home in Pennsylvania and subsequently charged in connection to the quadruple murder of the Idaho students. Kohberger's apartment in Pullman, Washington, was combed by police for evidence into the ongoing investigation. The suspected murderer is a Pennsylvania native and was studying criminology at the University of Washington's Pullman campus, which is a 15-minute drive from Moscow, Idaho, where the murders took place. Kohberger has claimed he's innocent while being locked up at the Latah County jailhouse in Idaho. Ben (pictured with his daughter) said he could not bring himself to read the full affidavit detailing how police believe Kohberger killed Maddie and her friends Alivea Goncalves (above), sister of Kaylee, noted the duo had done everything right to avoid danger that night but still met a tragic end Kohberger has been charged in connection with the quadruple murder of Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen (left), both 21, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, both 20 (right) According to the police affidavit, Kohberger allegedly staked his victims' home 12 times and was even at the home the morning of the murder. His DNA was also found on the knife sheath that was left lying next to one of the victim's bodies. The document also shows that on that night, Kohbergers phone pinged a cell tower close to his apartment in Pullman. It then is seen leaving the area of his residence at 2:47am and traveling south through Pullman which cops have confirmed lines up with the movements of his white Hyundai caught on camera. His phone then stops reporting to the network, with FBI experts confirming that it is consistent with the phone being turned off, on airplane mode or in an area without phone coverage. Court documents show that his phone is not active again until 4.48am, in the southbound lane of Highway 95 just south of Moscow. Police believe the victims were slain between 4am and 4:25am. Search warrant documents - filed the same day as his arrest - state that 'compelling circumstances warrant the temporary sealing ordered in this matter.' The information will remain secret until March 1. Language used in the court document has left some questioning what the 'threat to public safety' and 'threat to the privacy of witnesses, victims and victim families names in the affidavit' could be. The documents were filed before Kohberger's identity was widely reported. The court documents emerged following a gag order released by the Moscow Police Department last week. Latah County Magistrate Judge Megan Marshall issued a nondissemination order on January 3 in regard to the murder case against Kohberger. 'The order prohibits any communication by investigators, law enforcement personnel, attorneys, and agents of the prosecuting attorney or defense attorney concerning this case,' police said in a release. 'Due to this court order, the Moscow Police Department will no longer be communicating with the public or the media regarding this case.' Court documents filed the same day as his arrest state 'compelling circumstances warrant the temporary sealing ordered in this matter.' The information will remain secret until March 1 Bestfriends Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, both 21, were murdered along with roommate Xana Kernodle and her boyfriend Ethan Chapin, both 20 in an off-campus home in Moscow Kohberger has been charged with four counts of first degree murder and one of felony burglary, prosecutor Bill Thompson said at the time of the arrest. Idaho is a death penalty state. Fry defended the scarcity of information released during the investigation. Providing more, 'might have alerted the suspect of our progress,' he said. Kohberger's arrest is the culmination of an investigation that has dragged on for more than a month and left the Moscow Police Department facing a barrage of criticism. Cops have also been criticized for describing the murders as 'targeted' while refusing to release any information to explain why. The Santa Fe District Attorney's Office is set to deliver a decision regarding who was at fault for the shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on a film set last year - with lead actor Alec Baldwin potentially facing criminal charges as a result. The anticipated announcement is said to be due in the next few weeks - and comes as part of an ongoing legal saga surrounding the shooting death on Baldwin's Rust set in October 2021. Hutchins was killed by a live round fired by the actor on October 21, 2021. The Santa Fe set, overseen by Baldwin's production company, was subsequently shut down and an investigation was launched. The cinematographer was shot by a gun Baldwin was holding, but the actor insists he didn't pull the trigger and blames prop managers for not checking if the gun was loaded. Criminal charges have yet to be filed - though a judge recently ruled Hutchins' family could move forward with a civil claim against Baldwin and El Dorado Pictures Inc, ruling that negligence from both parties led to the staffer's death. Alec Baldwin potentially faces criminal charges as a result of the shooting The anticipated announcement from Santa Fe's First Judicial District Attorney's Office is said to be due in the next few weeks - and comes as part of the ongoing legal saga surrounding the death on set. Pictured: Bonanza Creek Ranch, where Baldwin shot Hutchins The local DA's office had insisted the deal would not impact its criminal investigation into the death and added: 'No one is above the law.' Months later, charges have yet to be leveled at Baldwin and other staffers who handled the gun before Hutchins' death - though, according to a statement from the office given to TMZ Wednesday, that could change within the next few weeks. Halyna Hutchins was fatally shot on October 21, 2021 on the set of the movie According to the outlet, the city's DA, Mary Carmack-Altwies, is set to make an announcement about whether she'll pursue criminal charges against those parties - which includes Baldwin and the film's assistant director and armorer - by the end of the month. Last year, in an interview with George Stephanopoulos, Baldwin said he did not believe he would face criminal charges in the accident. 'I've been told by people who are in the know, in terms of even inside the state, that it's highly unlikely that I would be charged with anything criminally,' he stated. Among other documents released by the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office were accounts of interviews with witnesses including text messages and emails from crew and cast members, sometimes detailing chaotic and acrimonious conditions on set prior to Hutchins' death. Baldwin speaks on the phone in the parking lot outside the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office in New Mexico after he was questioned about the shooting A distraught Alec Baldwin lingers in the parking lot outside the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office in Santa Fe following the October 2021 killing The documents still offer no conclusive answers on how live ammunition got onto the movie set and into a replica Colt .45-caliber revolver that was fired by Baldwin and killed Hutchins. Baldwin was handed the gun during a rehearsal at a ranch outside Santa Fe. A live round hit her and movie director Joel Souza, who survived. Baldwin is among up to four people who may face criminal charges for the death of the cinematographer, New Mexico District Attorney Carmack-Altwies said in September. Carmack-Altwies' office had no comment on Thursday. Baldwin has denied responsibility for Hutchins' death and said live rounds should never have been allowed onto the set of the low-budget movie. In this image from video released by the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office, Alec Baldwin stands in costume and speaks with investigators following the fatal shooting last year In police interviews and lawsuit filings, the film's armorer, first assistant director, prop supplier and prop master all denied culpability for the shooting. New Mexico's worker safety agency in April fined the film's production company the maximum amount possible for what it described as 'willful' safety lapses leading to Hutchins' death. An FBI report said five live bullets were found on a props trolley and in a bandolier and holster near the movie-set church where Hutchins was shot. The Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office said it will release more files on the case by December 20. Late last year, the local district attorney's office said it would conduct a 'thorough review of the information and evidence to make a thoughtful, timely decision about whether to bring charges.' New Mexico District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said Baldwin is among up to four people who may face criminal charges for the death of the cinematographer Among others who have been blamed for the shooting are armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who Baldwin claims didn't check the gun properly, and assistant director Dave Halls, the last person to handle the revolver before Baldwin Baldwin/El Dorado lawyers, meanwhile, maintain that the gun held by Baldwin 'accidentally and unexpectedly discharged a live round, injuring [assistant] director Joel Souza and leading to the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.' During that time, several lawsuits have been filed in civil court including one filed by Hutchins' widower, Matthew Hutchins, against Baldwin and the rest of the production, this time in California. He sued them for wrongful death, but they settled out of court for an undisclosed amount. As part of the behind-closed-doors agreement, Matthew will now serve as a producer on the film, once it resumes production later this year - this time in California. Baldwin and Hutchins on the set of Rust last year. He maintains he never pulled the trigger Baldwin is not the only person in the frame. Among others who have been blamed for the shooting are armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who Baldwin claims didn't check the gun properly, and assistant director Dave Halls, the last person to handle the revolver before Baldwin. By the time Halyna was killed, many of the film's crew had walked off set in protest over conditions and pay. Baldwin, serving as a producer and starring actor in the movie, has since avoided criminal charges, even after being ruled partially responsible for the tragedy. The civil settlement does not affect Santa Fe's current criminal investigation. Halyna Hutchins, 42, was accidentally shot and killed by Baldwin on the set of the western In the days and weeks following the shooting, Baldwin texted Matt Hutchins to tell him of a possible 'sabotage' angle. He and his wife and son are pictured in photos from her Facebook page. He has reached an undisclosed settlement with the actor On the anniversary of Hutchins' death last week, the DA issued a warning to all of those involved. 'On the anniversary of the tragedy on the Rust film set in Santa Fe County, District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altweis remains committed to pursuing justice for the victims, and getting answers for the community. 'As soon as the District Attorney receives the full report from the Santa Fe County Sheriff, she and her team of professional attorneys and investigators will thoroughly review all the evidence and make a thoughtful decision about whether to bring charges against those involved. 'No one is above the law and every victim deserves justice,' she warned. A Portland lawyer has been sentenced to eight years in prison for defrauding clients out of $3.8million to fund her extravagant tastes - including stays at a Palm Springs nudist resort, an African safari, and $220,000 worth of cigars. She also splashed out $35,000 on taxidermy - resulting from the big game hunting trips. Lori E. Deveny, 57, was also ordered to pay $4.5million in restitution to her 135 victims, after she pocketed their insurance payouts, leaving many of them destitute and unable to pay for medical expenses. She was convicted on Monday of mail, bank, and wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, money laundering, and filing a false tax return between May 2019 and April 2011. Deveny practiced as an injury lawyer, and won millions in payouts for clients who had been in car accidents or suffered other serious injuries. The money she won was meant to provide for their healthcare treatment. Lori E. Deveny, 57, was also ordered to pay $4.5million in restitution to her 135 victims, after leaving many destitute and unable to pay for medical expenses In total, she stole $3.8million in insurance proceeds to 'bankroll a lavish lifestyle,' including $173,000 for an African safari, $50,000 for a Cadillac, and more In total, she stole $3.8million in insurance proceeds to 'bankroll a lavish lifestyle' - which included spending $173,000 on an African safari, $60,000 on trips to the Desert Sun nudist resort in Palm Springs, and $50,000 for a Cadillac, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ). She spent $150,000 in total on domestic and foreign airline tickets, $58,000 on pet boarding and veterinary costs, $125,000 on home renovations, and $195,000 on mortgage payments. 'Its hard to overstate the extraordinary impact Ms. Devenys crimes had on the many innocent and vulnerable victims who trusted her,' Ethan Knight, Chief of the Economic Crimes Unit for the US Attorneys Office, said in a statement. Kieran L. Ramsey, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Portland Field Office, said: 'Ms. Deveny brazenly stole money that should have gone to pay for health care for her clients for serious injuries and ailments. Instead, that money funded things like big game hunting trips to Africa and home remodeling. 'She took advantage of people who were physically and emotionally hurting by forging insurance checks, stealing the funds and lying to her clients about the payouts.' One of her clients, who was not named, wrote in their victim impact statement said she was 'referred to Ms. Deveny following a car accident' and the lawyer advised her that she would 'deal with everything.' 'I was instructed not to answer phone calls from insurance companies, and refer anyone interested in the matter directly to her. At first this gave me ease of mind. But it soon became clear the only purpose of this was to keep me in the dark with the progress of the claim,' she wrote, according to court documents obtained by DailyMail.com. 'The mental impact Ms. Deveny left on me has led me to be too anxious to stand up for myself in legal situations.' The victim, however, did not recommend prison as it would be 'taking MORE money from people' and suggested the court leave her to 'go free and struggle and go hungry.' She also spent patients' money to go to nudist resort Desert Sun in Palm Springs, spending $60,000 there 'This woman doesn't deserve the slightest decency that prison will provide,' the victim wrote. 'I heard the Burnside Bridge provides nice shelter and life ruining substances just to say warm.' She was referring to the bridge across the Willamette River, which serves as a shelter for many homeless and has been the site of several suicides. Several of her victims said Deveny appeared to be the perfect lawyer, and would offer to take their medical bills off their hands and do the dirty work. But as it got closer to a payday, the lawyer would then stop contacting them or say the funds were on 'hold.' Another victim, Gabriella Davidson, then 18, was planning on using the insurance money to afford college tuition, but she said the money never came. Fellow victim, Aubrey Hunter, who was in a head-on collision, said he had to dip into his retirement funds after losing his job, and said the injury lawyer was full of excuses. Another client, Nancy Freyer, said doctors removed her big toe without her permission and had hired Deveny to represent her, but said all the lawyer did was 'prey on me at my most painful, vulnerable time in my life.' 'She used me,' she said. 'She told me I was a model client, but she failed me.' Deveny was convicted to eight years in prison for mail, bank, and wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, money laundering, and filing a false tax return Deveny intends to sell her $1M home in Portland to help pay the restitution, her lawyer said Due to her crimes, several institutions had to pay partial restitution. The Oregon State Bar Client Security Fund (CSF) paid Deveny's victims $1.2million - one of the largest losses for the Oregon State Bar in its history, according to the DOJ. Wells Fargo Bank also lost $52,000 because of a forged check, and the IRS sustained tax losses of more than $621,000 when she failed to report the money she stole from clients. US District Judge Michael W. Mosman called the lawyer's actions 'calculating and predatory.' He also said he believed her downfall stemmed from her husband's suicide in 2018. Her defense lawyer tried to place the blame on Deveny's 'controlling husband', who was 16 years older than her and said he made her do things she never would have done. Deveny intends to forfeit her $1million home in Portland, to help pay the restitution, her lawyer said. The lawyer apologized to her victims in court on Monday, saying: 'If I could go back, I would choose a different path.' A cyberattack is likely not behind the outage, the White House has said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said it was done 'out of an abundance of caution' after a key safety system failed Thousands of flights across the country were delayed on Wednesday morning Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg called Wednesday morning's nationwide flight outage a 'data point' to learn from as Republicans demand answers about back-to-back airline crises. He also told MSNBC that flights were grounded or delayed 'out of an abundance of caution' while a glitch in a key Federal Aviation Administration safety feature was resolved. The Biden official also said he did not believe the origin of the outage was 'nefarious.' 'This gives us a really important data point at a really important moment to understand what we're going to need moving forward,' Buttigieg told reporters today. In his MSNBC interview, Buttigieg conceded that 'glitches' such as these happen but vowed his department would be investigating the matter. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg vowed that his department was investigating the outage that forced the FAA to ground and delay flights Transportation Sec. Buttigieg on FAA system outage, as normal air traffic operations resume: "Complications happen all the time, but we can't allow them to ever lead to this level of disruption, and we won't ever allow them to lead to a safety problem." https://t.co/RdYLvfum24 pic.twitter.com/vDnwTZpxrF MSNBC (@MSNBC) January 11, 2023 'The most important thing I want passengers to know is my number one priority is safety,' Buttigieg said. 'We need to understand whether this reflects a systemic issue, and what would be required so that there's no single point of failure here.' He added, 'This is an incredibly complex system, so glitches and complications happen all the time, but we can't allow them to ever lead to this level of disruption and we won't ever allow them to lead to a safety problem.' Meanwhile Republican lawmakers were quick to call out the Biden administration for the back-to-back issues. 'ALL domestic flights are grounded for the 1st time since 9/11. Its just one transportation crisis after another under Biden,' GOP Rep. Nicole Malliotakis of New York wrote on Twitter before the flights resumed on Wednesday morning. Cancelled flights are seen on the billboard at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington D.C., United States on January 11, 2023 Passengers at Miami International Airport on Wednesday after the system failure halted all flights for several hours and delayed 5,000 planes across the United States 'Instead of worrying about racist roads & gas-powered cars, he should focus on REAL transportation & cyber security upgrades.' GOP Rep. Dusty Johnson signaled to reporters at the Capitol on Wednesday that an investigation by lawmakers was warranted. 'Shame on Congress if we don't ask the right questions,' Johnson said. Washington Rep. Rick Larsen, the top Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, signaled on CNN's morning show that Congress would need to examine whether updates were critically needed at the FAA. 'I think the situation begs the question about the current state of the technology infrastructure at the FAA,' Larsen said. 'Members of Congress will want to see the results of that after action report.' President Joe Biden called on Buttigieg to launch a full investigation into the outage on Wednesday morning. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had asked all airlines to temporarily hold domestic flights on the ground until 9 a.m. ET as officials frantically search for what led to the disruption of a key safety system. President Joe Biden told reporters early on Wednesday that he's already been in contact with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg Biden told reporters early on Wednesday that he'd already been in contact with Buttigieg and indicated he would be keeping a close eye on the developing matter. 'I told them to report directly to me when they find out,' the president said shortly before 8 a.m. ET. 'Aircraft can still land safely, just not take off right now. They don't know what the cause of it is, they expect in a couple of hours they'll have a good sense of what caused it and will respond at that time.' It comes a little over a week after the Department of Transportation opened an investigation into Southwest Airlines for its broad cancellation of flights over the Christmas holiday. Buttigieg released his own statement an hour earlier announcing that he was working with FAA officials to investigate. 'I have been in touch with FAA this morning about an outage affecting a key system for providing safety information to pilots,' the Transportation Secretary said. 'FAA is working to resolve this issue swiftly and safely so that air traffic can resume normal operations, and will continue to provide updates.' All flights currently in the sky are safe to land, according to the FAA. The body announced at 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday that its Notice to Air Missions system was not operating properly. It 'alerts pilots about closed runways, equipment outages, and other potential hazards along a flight route or at a location that could affect the flight,' according to the FAA. As of now, its National Airspace System operations remain 'limited' with the Notice to Air Missions system still not fully restored. People wait at the Denver International Airport, as flights were grounded after FAA system outage in Denver, Colorado, U.S., January 11, 2023 In this file photo taken on December 28, 2022, a display shows cancaled flights in the Southwest Airlines luggage area at Los Angeles International Airport. The airline's holiday travel meltdown happened just before this morning's outage There's currently no evidence that a cyberattack caused the outage, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. However, she said Biden ordered the Transportation Department to launch a 'full investigation into the causes.' Buttigieg echoed her doubts about a cyberattack on CNN today but added he was 'not going to rule that out until we have a clear understanding.' The new air travel crisis comes hot on the heels of Southwest Airlines' holiday season meltdown, which led to roughly 16,000 of the company's flights being canceled between December 21 and December 31. Scenes of long airport lines and stranded passengers sleeping on chairs or canceling plans to see family altogether gave a grim undertone to the first holiday season largely without COVID-19 restrictions since 2019. Buttigieg warned Southwest at the tail end of the crisis that his department would 'use the fullest extent of its investigative and enforcement powers to hold Southwest accountable if it fails to adhere to the promises made to reimburse passengers.' Four young brothers have been crushed to death when their house in Argentina collapsed after their mother's boyfriend reportedly stored five tonnes of rubble on its roof. Four-year-old twins Benicio and Noah Nisi and their brothers Lorenzo del Rio, six, and Santino Hardoy, 10, were crushed in the cave-in on January 9. Accused Catalino Daniel Lopez, 51 - who owned the house in El Jaguel, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina - is said to have used the property's flat roof for storage. But police say the roof collapsed under the strain on January 8, crushing the brothers to death. The family had only moved into Lopez's house two weeks earlier. Four-year-old twins Benicio and Noah Nisi and their brothers Lorenzo del Rio, six, and Santino Hardoy, 10, were crushed in the cave-in on January 9 A builder who stored five tonnes of rubble on the roof of his house has been seized by police after it caved in, killing his girlfriend's four sons Investigators later found that around 'five tonnes of rubble' had been stored on the home's concrete slab flat roof, which they said had likely caused the collapse. Lopez is facing charges of aggravated manslaughter and, at the time of reporting, was exercising his right to remain silent. The boys' grieving mother, Pamela Nisi, 37, wrote on social media: 'My four children have died, I feel like I'm dying. I don't want to live anymore. 'My twins Benicio and Noah, and Lolo and Santino all went to Heaven..' 'They left me, mummy's angels. Tell me it's all just a nightmare. For God's sake, my children, no' 'Who can take this pain away from me?' She went on: 'I can't take it anymore, why is life unfair to me? Please, I can't take it anymore. I miss you, my Lolo, my Santi, and my babies.' Pamela has two other children, aged 15 and 18. The eldest lives in San Justo but Valentine, 15, was outside the room and notified emergency services. He survived because he had noticed dust falling from the ceiling and had got up to tell his mum what was happening before the roof of the house gave way. The boys' grieving mother, Pamela Nisi (pictured), 37, wrote on social media: 'My four children have died, I feel like I'm dying. I don't want to live anymore' Investigators later found that around 'five tonnes of rubble' had been stored on the home's concrete slab flat roof, which they said had likely caused the collapse. Pictured: The damaged property The twins were reportedly sleeping while Santino Hardoy and Lorenzo del Rio were playing with their phones in bed. Three of the boys were said to have died instantly, while the fourth passed away on route to the Santamarina hospital. Santino's father Pablo Ezequiel told local media: 'On Sunday, they put rubble on the roof and we believe that's why the structure gave way. 'They wanted to clear the patio and instead of putting it on the street, they put it on the roof. That weight - we think - made it collapse.' Meanwhile, family members and neighbours have launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for the victims' funeral expenses. Investigators told how Lopez had stored the building material directly above the boys' bedroom just hours before the cave-in. He had been planning to make an extension to the home. He and Pamela had known each other through work for eight years but had only started dating a few months ago. The investigation continues. Governor Ron DeSantis could consider expanding Florida's law barring public school education of gender identity up to the sixth grade from the current third grade level. The controversial Parental Rights in Education Act, which was signed by the Florida governor in March 2022, prevents the teaching or 'classroom instruction' of gender identity or sexual orientation in children between kindergarten and third grade. But a staffer for Florida's Senate President Kathleen Passidomo told DailyMail.com that the state's legislature is considering expanding the provisions of the law to include fourth, fifth and sixth graders, as well. DeSantis spokesperson said the Florida governor is open to the legislation expansion. 'The governor would certainly consider the merits of such a bill in final form if it comes to his desk as a product of the forthcoming legislation session,' DeSantis Press Secretary Bryan Griffin told DailyMail.com. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is open to considering expanding Florida's Parental Rights in Education Act to the sixth grade from the current third grade cap He specifically pointed to DeSantis frequently saying: 'The purpose of our education system is to educate kids, not indoctrinate kids.' Opponents of DeSantis' landmark Parental Rights in Education Act dubbed it the 'don't say gay law'. They argue that the act discourages healthy discussion about gender identity and sexual orientation in the classroom. Passidomo's office insists, however, that the law is only applicable to official course work and does not prevent students from having these conversations amongst themselves. Middle school, which can sometimes include sixth grade in certain public school districts, is usually around the age where students begin learning sexual education and health as part of their official curriculum. Passidomo said during a press availability on December 15 that she is looking at having the law include three more grades than originally included in the legislation but said she wouldn't want to expand to high school because kids that age are 'more mature.' Florida's Senate President Kathleen Passidomo said last month that the state's legislature is considering expanding the law to include three more grades 'The one thing that I think could be looked at is, you know, we ended it at grades one through three. I don't think I'd be supportive of high school because kids in high school are, hopefully, a little more mature, or at least they should be,' Passidomo said when a reporter asked if the Sunshine State could see an expanded version of the bill in the next session. 'But, you know, the middle school, maybe go up to 6th grade or something like that,' the Florida Senate president added. The relatively new Florida law reads: 'Classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.' A spokesperson for Florida State Senator Corey Simon, who serves as chairman of the state's Senate Education Committee, did not respond to a request for comment from DailyMail.com. The Florida Department of Education also did not say whether it would support expanding the cap to 6th grade. Governor DeSantis made a cornerstone of his inauguration speech last week education, protecting parents' rights in schools and keeping Florida a 'family friendly' state. DeSantis, after taking his oath of office on January 3, detailed during 20-minute remarks that his second term as governor of the Sunshine State will make education and family issues a top priority. DeSantis also warned 'woke' people not to come to Florida. DeSantis detailed his blueprint for Florida at his second inauguration last week where he vowed to focus on families and education. He was joined by his wife and Florida's first lady Casey DeSantis and their three children Madison, Mason and Mamie 'We seek normalcy, not philosophical lunacy,' DeSantis said during his approximately 20-minute speech. 'We will not surrender to the woke mob. Florida is where woke goes to die.' The speech was widely viewed as a blueprint for what he plans to focus on should he make a presidential run. He vowed to enact more 'family friendly' policies to defend children from people who want to 'rob them of their innocence.' Just days before inauguration, DeSantis' team also sent a letter demanding that universities in the state detail their expenditures on university classes and programs related to diversity, equity, inclusion and critical race theory. This includes laying out how much is paid on staff who teach, advise and oversee these programs and classes. DeSantis spokesperson Griffin told DailyMail.com that the memo sent last month is part of 'a fact-finding initiative to determine how many public dollars are going towards such things.' 'Governor DeSantis believes that funding for higher education should go towards education academics and truth and not trendy ideologies,' he added. After thousands of travelers were stranded during an an hours-long FAA computer outage, many are seeking to rebook, or refunds if they no longer wish to travel. More than 2,700 US flights were cancelled on Wednesday and a further 8,000 were delayed, according to the tracking site FlightAware - and the disruptions could extend for days. Anyone whose flight was cancelled is entitled to a full refund if they no longer wish to travel. For passengers who are experiencing delays, remedies vary by airline and could include options to rebook or seek a refund. Staying calm and knowing your rights can go a long way if your flight plans are disrupted, experts say. Airline customers who believe their rights as passengers have been neglected can submit written complaints to the Department of Transportation. Here travel experts share their advice for dealing with a flight delay or cancellation, and the latest information from each airline on refunds and rebooking: After thousands of travelers were stranded during an an hours-long FAA computer outage, many are seeking options to rebook, or refunds if they no longer wish to travel What is each major airline doing to to assist travelers? Most major US airlines are allowing anyone who planned to fly on Wednesday the option to rebook a ticket between the same two cities at no cost, even if their flight was not cancelled or delayed. Southwest Airlines offered the most generous rebooking window, allowing anyone ticketed for Wednesday to rebook for a flight on or before January 25 at no additional cost. Southwest also said in a statement to DailyMail.com that it will issue refunds to customers who 'choose not to travel due to a cancellation or significant delay.' Likewise, United Airlines issued a wavier for all flights on Wednesday, allowing travelers to switch to another flight departing on or before next Monday at no extra cost. United also said it is 'offering refunds for customers who no longer want to travel' and directed travelers to its website to request refunds. Delta Air Lines also issued a fare difference wavier for all of its flights on Wednesday, allowing travelers to switch to another flight on or before Friday at no added cost. Travelers wait in long TSA Checkpoint line at United Airlines Terminal 1 at O'Hare International Airport on Wednesday A traveler looks at a flight information board at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Wednesday in Arlington, Virginia The airline said that the FAA disruption led to the cancelation of more than 130 Delta flights. 'We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience. Delta remains connected with our partners at the FAA at all levels as we work to mitigate impact,' the company said in a statement. American Airlines had not released any information about rebooking policies on Wednesday afternoon, and did not immediately respond to a request for comment from DailyMail.com. 'We're closely monitoring the situation and working with the FAA to minimize customer disruptions,' the company said in a tweet, its only apparent comment on the matter. My flight was canceled. Can I get a refund? Yes. If your ticketed flight was canceled and you no longer wish to travel, you are entitled to a full refund, even if you bought non-refundable tickets. You're also entitled to a refund of any bag fees, seat upgrades or other extras. Kurt Ebenhoch, a consumer travel advocate and former airline executive, stressed that travelers are eligible for a cash refund for canceled flights, not just vouchers for future travel. If you do take a voucher, make sure you inquire about blackout dates and other restrictions on its use. If you still want to get to your destination, most airlines will rebook you for free on the next available flight as long as it has seats, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. Passengers at Miami International Airport on Wednesday after an FAA 'computer failure' halted all flights for several hours and delayed thousands of flights across the United States. If my flight was delayed, can I get hotel or meal vouchers? Typically, no. There are no federal laws requiring airlines to provide passengers with meal vouchers or other compensation when their flights are delayed. But each airline has its own policy, so if you are experiencing a long delay, you should ask if you can get a meal voucher or a hotel room. If your flight was delayed for so long that you no longer wish to travel, you may be able to get a refund. The US Department of Transportation says travelers are entitled to a refund if there is a 'significant delay,' but it does not define 'significant.' The refund depends on many factors, including the length of the delay and the length of the flight. It's decided on a case-by-case basis. Both Southwest and United proactively said they would offer refunds to customers impacted by the FAA ground stop, including for long delays. Can I ask to be rebooked on another airline? Yes. Airlines aren't required to put you on another airlines flight, but they can and sometimes do, according to the DOT. Jeff Klee, CEO of CheapAir.com, recommends researching alternate flights while you're waiting to talk to an agent. Agents are typically under a lot of pressure when a flight is canceled, so giving them some options helps. Ebenhoch also suggests looking for alternative airports that are close to your original destination. If you're facing a lengthy wait as you try to rebook your flight, there are a few tactics you can use to speed up the process. If someone in your traveling party is at a higher level in a frequent flier program, use the number reserved for that level to call the airline, Ebenhoch said. You can also try calling an international help desk for the airline, since those agents have the ability to make changes. To avoid future travel disruptions, Ebenhoch said nonstop flights and morning flights are generally the most reliable if you can book them. If you're worried about making it to the airport in time for a morning flight, he said, consider staying at a hotel connected to the airport the night before. Klee recommends comparing airlines' policies on refunds and rebooking using the DOT's service dashboard. He also suggests reserving multiple flights and then canceling the ones you don't use, as long as the airline will refund your money or convert it into a credit for a future flight. Idaho murders suspect Bryan Kohberger attended a routine medical appointment in the days after the killings and 'charmed' staff by being 'chatty'. Kohberger, 28, attended a medical appointing just four days after Kaylee, 21, Maddie Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, were murdered in their off-campus home on November 1. He has since been charged with their murders. A receptionist at the doctor's office, who spoke to Insider on the condition of anonymity, said the murder suspect was so friendly her boss took notice. The receptionist said her boss commented that he was 'so nice and charming'. A neighbor, Arun Dash, who lived in the same apartment complex as Kohberger in Pullman described him as 'chatty' in the days after the murders but added that there was 'nothing suspicious ever' about him. Bryan Kohberger, 28, attended a medical appointing just four days after he allegedly slayed four University of Idaho students on November 13 A receptionist at the doctor's office, who asked for anonymity, said the murder suspect was so friendly her boss took notice. 'She said: "He's so nice and charming." She never says that about anybody,' the receptionist said. 'I was like: "Yeah, he really was"' Kohberger is accused of killing Kaylee, 21, Maddie Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, were murdered in their off-campus home Dash told Insider that Kohberger had always been friendly and he often attempted to make plans, despite their schedules not lining up. 'He asked me what I was studying, where I am from. He would make just friendly small talk. Another student described Kohberger in a similar way, saying: 'He talked to everybody, he was a very chatty person not charming, but outgoing.' Kohberger, who worked as a teaching assistant at Washington State University's Pullman campus while studying his criminology PhD, also 'stopped caring' after the murders, claims a student of his. 'He was not a great TA,' criminology student Emilie, who asked to go by her first name only, told Insider. She said Kohberger had been a difficult teacher prior to the November 13 massacre and seemed to lose interest in teaching after it. Kohberger is being held without bail in prison in Idaho after he was extradited from Pennsylvania, where he was arrested for the murders on December 30. He has been charged with four counts of murder and one count of burglary. An explosive police affidavit claimed they matched Kohberger's DNA to a sample taken from the button of a leather knife sheath left behind at the scene of the crime. That sample was then matched to his father's DNA taken from trash outside the family's home, police said. Kohberger's apartment in Pullman, Washington, was combed by police for evidence into the ongoing investigation, however a judge recently sealed the warrant until March 1 On Wednesday, the father of victim Maddie Mogen - Ben Mogen - told Good Morning American he broke down when he was told a suspect had been arrested. 'He said, "Ben, this is the moment we've been waiting for,'" Mogen recalled. He added that he could not bring himself to read the full police affidavit describing how they believed Kohberger killed Maddie and the others. 'I just broke down, and I just cried,' Mogen said. 'I could only take so much of that. I still haven't read the rest of it.' While details of the affidavit have been made public, an Idaho judge recently sealed a search warrant for Kohberger's Washington apartment because it risked causing a premature end of the investigation. Search warrant documents - filed the same day as his arrest - state that 'compelling circumstances warrant the temporary sealing ordered in this matter.' The information will remain secret until March 1. The students were in their home (pictured) when Kohberger allegedly snuck in and kill them with a knife Language used in the court document has left some questioning what the 'threat to public safety' and 'threat to the privacy of witnesses, victims and victim families names in the affidavit' could be. The documents were filed before Kohberger's identity was widely reported. The court documents emerged following a gag order released by the Moscow Police Department last week. Latah County Magistrate Judge Megan Marshall issued a non-dissemination order on January 3 in regard to the murder case against Kohberger. 'The order prohibits any communication by investigators, law enforcement personnel, attorneys, and agents of the prosecuting attorney or defense attorney concerning this case,' police said in a release. 'Due to this court order, the Moscow Police Department will no longer be communicating with the public or the media regarding this case.' A second batch of classified files from Joe Biden's Vice Presidency have been found at another location, according to a bombshell report on Wednesday night that put the White House under more scrutiny. The latest discovery comes just days after the first set of sensitive files were found at a D.C. office for his think tank and as the Biden administration dodged questions on whether they were tracking down any other records. The report by NBC on Wednesday night did not include the location or the contents of the latest documents. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was hounded by reporters during her Thursday briefing shortly before the article was published - and insisted that Biden takes classified documents and their retention 'seriously'. President Joe Biden said he was 'surprised' that classified documents were found in his former office at the Penn-Biden Center, a think tank in Washington, D.C. On Wednesday, Jean-Pierre was asked by reporters whether Biden had looked into whether he might have possibly taken other documents to any other office he has or his homes in Wilmington and Rehoboth, Delaware. She refused to provide an answer. 'I'm just not going to speak to this. I'm going to let the process continue. It's an ongoing process. And so, I'm just not going to, to speak to this from here. It is more prudent and more appropriate for my colleagues at the White House Counsel.' Earlier in the week, it was reported that in November 2022, attorneys for the president discovered documents at his former office in the Penn-Biden Center in Washington, D.C., which he used after his time as vice president. The documents were discovered in a locked closet while the lawyers were cleaning out the office to move out. The White House acknowledged that Biden's attorneys had found 10 documents with classified markings at an old office at a Washington, D.C. think tank, the president has been peppered with questions about the discovery. The classified documents that appeared to be from the Obama administration were found on November 2 - before the midterm elections - though news of the documents did not come out until months later. The D.C. office building where 10 classified documents were found at a former office of now President Joe Biden White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre would not go into further detail at a press briefing about classified documents found at a think tank office formerly used by President Joe Biden - U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, who sanctioned the FBI's search warrant served at former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, is being asked to do the same for President Biden and his handling of classified documents. Sen. Lindsey Graham said on Fox News on Wednesday that Attorney General Merrick Garland should appoint a special counsel to handle the matter, as he did for the Trump investigations. 'Garland, if you're listening, if you thought it was necessary, attorney general, to appoint a special counsel regarding president trump, then you need to do the exact same thing regarding President Biden when it comes to handling classified information,' the South Carolina Republican said. Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri reacted to the news by simply tweeting out the words: 'Special counsel.' 'My question is with regard to the first batch, what did Merrick Garland know when they were discovered November 3, and he declared a special counsel for Trump on November 18?' Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., said to DailyMail.com. 'Obviously, he had some knowledge and yet chose a special counsel, announced it, you know, had this entire rollout and no mention. What did he know?' Waltz also questioned 'who knew' about the documents between November 3 and November 8, midterm Election Day. 'The timing is incredibly suspicious,' Waltz continued. 'It's got to be one of the world's biggest coincidences, if not, politics, were involved.' Biden was asked about the documents at the top of his trilateral press conference Tuesday in Mexico City, alongside Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The president said he was 'surprised' to find out classified documents were discovered in a box in a locked cabinet. But said his lawyers 'did what they should have done.' 'They immediately called the Archives - immediately called the Archives, turned them over to the Archives,' the president said. The documents were discovered on November 2 and handed over to the Archives on November 3. 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, Florida while the FBI searched portion of his home for classified files taken from the White House Former President Donald Trump says that Biden's home should be 'raided' like his Mar-a-Lago estate in search of classified documents. Garland appointed a special counsel to oversee the Trump investigation on November 18. Biden said he didn't know the content of the documents and that his lawyers suggested he not ask. 'And we're cooperating fully with the review,' the president added. Republicans have cried of a 'double standard' saying that Trump's possession of classified documents made him the subject of a raid on Mar-a-Lago in August. The Biden team has pointed out that in Trump's case, the FBI was aware that Trump had not fully complied with a subpoena from the Archives to return all classified documents. In Biden's case, the Archives was unaware of the missing documents. Rep. Mike Turner from Ohio, the freshly appointed chair of the House Select Committee on Intelligence, contacted the 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.' Colombia Vice President Francia Marquez has revealed how her security team foiled an 'assassination attempt' after she was targeted by a roadside bomb. Marquez said Tuesday that her security guards were alerted Monday of suspicious movements along a rural road near her home in the southwestern province of Cauca. The South American country's first Black vice president added that a sniffer dog led agents to more than 15 pounds of explosives buried on the side of the road. According to a police report shared by Marquez on her Twitter account, she had been scheduled to spend January 7 to 9 at her home in the Cauca municipality of Suarez. As part of her security team's protocol, the area was canvassed ahead of her arrival. Colombian Vice President Francia Marquez revealed Tuesday that her security team found more than 15 pounds of explosives buried next to a rural road that leads to her home in the southwestern province of Cauca A bomb squad unit agent holds a stick with the wiring that was connected to more than 15 pounds of explosives that were buried under a road as part of a failed plot to bomb the motorcade of Colombia's Vice President Francia Marquez The bomb was composed of ammonium nitrate, powdered aluminum and shrapnel - and a bomb squad was able to safely detonate it in a controlled explosion. No arrests had been reported as of Wednesday by Colombian authorities. Vice President Marquez, who in the past had received death threats, tweeted that the latest attempt would not deter the government's plan from seeking peace in Colombia. 'We will not stop working, day after day, until we reach the #TotalPeace that (Colombia) dreams of and needs,' she wrote. 'We will not give up until in each territory it is possible to live in true harmony.' Marquez was elected in September, running alongside President Gustavo Petro, an economist and former guerrilla fighter, who is attempting to raise taxes on the wealthy, increase government spending and start peace talks with the nation's remaining rebel groups. The bomb contained ammonium nitrate, powdered aluminum and shrapnel Then Colombian President-elect Gustavo Petro (right) with his running mate, Francia Marquez (left) at a ceremony that certified their election victory. Marquez is Colombia's first Black vice president Aerial view of Suarez, the hometown of Colombian Vice President Francia Marquez Before entering politics, Marquez led protests against mining companies and illegal miners operating in Cauca and was forced to leave her Suarez home due to death threats. The environmental activist rose to fame last year when she participated in presidential primaries, and helped President Petro secure votes in the nation's Afro Colombian communities and among women and young people inspired by her life story. Marquez currently heads the Ministry of Equality, a new agency that seeks to ensure women and ethnic minorities have equal access to the government's social programs. Allen Weisselberg, a former Trump executive, has been sentenced to five months in jail in relation to a tax fraud scheme that last year led to the conviction of the Trump Organization. The businessman, who was known to be one of the former president's most loyal lieutenants, will spend nearly half a year at the Rikers Island jail complex. The sentence was handed down by a state court judge after the 75-year-old, who worked for the Trump family for the past half-century, testified as the prosecution's star witness at the trial of the Trump Organization. Tax Fraud Scheme Weisselberg worked as the company's chief financial officer and had been facing years in prison in connection with the case. Under a plea deal, he agreed to testify truthfully in exchange for a punishment that, with good behavior, might last no more than 100 days. However, Nicholas A. Gravante Jr., Weisselberg's lawyer, pleaded with the judge in State Supreme Court in Manhattan on Tuesday. He wanted the judge to impose a lighter sentence on his client, citing the former Trump executive's military service, lack of a criminal record, and the many hours that he spent with prosecutors preparing for the testimony, as per the New York Times. Gravante said that each month would make a difference when you are a 75-year-old individual who has been sentenced to prison. However, Judge Juan Merchan rejected the defense's request, arguing that had he not promised the sentence of five months in August, the evidence at trial would have prompted him to impose a significantly longer sentence. Weisselberg will be assigned initially to the North Infirmary Command, which is a jail on Rikers Island that houses individuals with serious medical conditions as well as a portion of the general population. After the hearing concluded, the former Trump executive, who was seen wearing an olive North Face jacket and dark sneakers, hugged his lawyer and was placed in handcuffs by court officers and taken into custody. District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg was inside the courtroom for the sentencing and sat near the back with a sober expression on his face. Read Also: Georgia Grand Jury Concludes Probe on Donald Trump, Could Bring Criminal Charges Against Former President Trump Organization According to the Associated Press, Weisselberg was convicted for dodging taxes on $1.7 million in job perks, causing the judge to call his sentence too lenient for a case "driven entirely by greed." Judge Merchan said that he was especially appalled by Weisselberg's testimony where the former Trump executive gave his wife a $6,000 check for a no-show job so that she could qualify for Social Security benefits. The judge promised a five-month sentence when Weisselberg agreed to plead guilty to 15 tax crimes and to be a witness against the Trump Organization. Merchan said that he was not going to deviate from the promise but noted that he believed a stiffer sentence was warranted after he heard the evidence. The Trump Organization was convicted for paying the personal expenses of some executives without reporting them as income. The company also compensated its high-ranking officials as independent contractors instead of full-time employees, ABC News reported. Related Article: Report: Chicago Receives More Than 500 Sexual Harassment Complaints Against Public School Employees @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Twitter is reportedly considering proposals to auction off user names as a means of generating new revenue. Employees at Twitter have held internal discussions about the idea of a user name auction since at least December, according to a New York Times report on Wednesday, citing two people familiar with the matter. Since his $44 billion purchase of Twitter in October, new owner Elon Musk has actively searched for new revenue streams such as his new vision for the Twitter Blue subscription service. Musk took on $13 billion in debt as part of the deal, meaning that Twitter's annual interest expenses have ballooned from about $50 million to nearly $1 billion, increasing the pressure to boost cash flow for debt service. Since his $44 billion purchase of Twitter in October, new owner Elon Musk has actively searched for new revenue streams However, after slashing costs at Twitter, including laying off more than half the workforce, Musk said last month that the company is 'not in the fast lane to bankruptcy anymore.' It is unclear whether the proposal to auction user names would apply to all user names, or only those that are unclaimed or otherwise inactive. Twitter, which appears to have disbanded its public relations department after Musk's takeover, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from DailyMail.com. Musk has previously said that he wants to clear out old Twitter accounts that have remained inactive for years, a move that could potentially free up some 1.5 billion user names. On Twitter, user names are signified by the @ symbol followed by letters or numbers. Likely only user names reflecting celebrities or brands would fetch a significant price at auction. There is also demand for so-called 'OG' user names, which consist of a short word or phrase, or even a single letter or number. Twitter is reportedly considering proposals to auction off user names as a means of generating new revenue Meanwhile, Twitter on Wednesday launched a new feature inspired by rival TikTok, which gives tweets promoted by an algorithm more prominence. Twitter users on iOS will automatically land on a new tab on the homepage called 'For You' when they open the app. For You the same name as a feature on TikTok shows tweets from accounts users do and don't follow, all out of order and boosted by an algorithm. Twitter users on iOS can also now swipe their phone screen to switch between For You and the alterative tab option, called 'Following'. Twitter rival TikTok is a hugely popular video-sharing app owned by Chinese company ByteDance. When TikTok users open the app, they are presented with the For You feed - a stream of recommended videos. From today, Twitter users on iOS will automatically land on the 'For You' tab on the homepage when they open the app, although they can swipe the screen to opt for the 'Following' tab, which shows tweets the old-fashioned way - from accounts followed in reverse chronological order, with those most-recently posted at the top For You is powered by an algorithm that makes personalized recommendations based on several metrics, including viewing behavior and interactions with videos. Twitter has also taken the name 'For You' for its algorithmic feed of tweets, which is now the default when iOS users open the app. The 'Following' tab shows tweets from accounts users follow in reverse chronological order, with those most-recently posted at the top. Both of these tab options were available previously under different names, but users had to click on a star icon in the corner of the app. Who would have guessed it? Britain and Japan have signed a defence agreement which could lead to our troops being sent to Japan. Maybe well soon see Japanese soldiers in uniforms marching up the Mall. Some people may resent this close military alliance with a former barbaric enemy, whose troops inflicted unspeakable brutalities on British servicemen during World War II. Around 30,000 Allied military personnel and civilian detainees, including women and children, died in Japanese custody. In recent years, politicians in Tokyo have issued apologies for their predecessors excesses without exactly abasing themselves. And yet, of course, Britain has been a close ally of our erstwhile deadly foe, Germany (before reunification, West Germany), for some 70 years. Past adversaries, however inhumane, become our friends, and former friends sometimes turn into enemies. It is the way of the world. A defence deal has been signed with Australia, and yesterday Rishi Sunak and the Japanese prime minister, Fumio Kishida, ratified an historic agreement between their two countries at the Tower of London Moreover, Japan is a major investor in the UK. Many of us cheerfully drive Japanese cars, or buy Japanese electrical equipment, without giving a second thought to the sins of the past. No, my qualms about the deal with Japan have little or nothing to do with the war. I simply feel that it is unwise for Britain to be drawn into an alliance with a nation that is increasingly at odds with a rising superpower: China. The two countries went to war in the late 19th century and again from 1937 to 1945. China suffered terrible punishment, especially on the second occasion, though the Japanese were ultimately defeated. Times have changed, and the relative power of the two nations has been reversed. Chinas economy is at least three times the size of Japans, and Beijing spends much more on defence than its smaller neighbour. As China grows ever stronger and makes threatening noises towards Taiwan, which from 1895 to 1945 was a Japanese colony the government in Tokyo grows increasingly nervous. It recently announced a massive 26 per cent hike in its defence budget. The Government believes, following Brexit, Global Britain should widen its horizons beyond Europe, and specifically to the Indo-Pacific region. Prime Minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida is pictured leaving the Tower of London Since the end of World War II, the United States has been Japans main protector, and remains so. But the Japanese government is looking around for additional allies. A defence deal has been signed with Australia, and yesterday Rishi Sunak and the Japanese prime minister, Fumio Kishida, ratified an historic agreement between their two countries at the Tower of London. This is my question. Why does the Government believe that it is in our interests to sign a defence deal which will inevitably increase the chances of the UK being drawn into a conflict with China in the Indo-Pacific? I think there are two main reasons. One is that Uncle Sam is, as always, grateful to its dependable junior partner, Britain, for any military support it can offer in Americas various conflicts around the world. But there is more to it than that. The Government believes, following Brexit, Global Britain should widen its horizons beyond Europe, and specifically to the Indo-Pacific region. In 2016, when he was Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson declared that Britain is back East of Suez. He was referring to the decision by the Labour government in the 1960s to wind down our military commitments in the Arabian Peninsula and South-East Asia. As China grows ever stronger and makes threatening noises towards Taiwan, which from 1895 to 1945 was a Japanese colony the government in Tokyo grows increasingly nervous. It recently announced a massive 26 per cent hike in its defence budget In the past few years, Britain has opened a permanent base in Bahrain for up to 500 military personnel, and secured a long-term lease on docking facilities in Oman. The RAF has been operating out of Qatar. Meanwhile, in 2021 one of our two new aircraft carriers, the Queen Elizabeth, twice sailed with a flotilla (largely made up of Allied, rather than British, ships) into the South China Sea. The Chinese were apoplectic. Now, as a Brexiteer who believes that our ruling class has often exaggerated the extent of British decline over the years, Im in principle delighted to see the Government making new alliances beyond Europe. Yet there is a terrific mismatch between Britains enormous pretensions and the reluctance of the Government to raise military spending, which remains stuck near an historic low of about 2 per cent of GDP. Neither Rishi Sunak nor the Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, shows any appetite for increasing it. When Britain withdrew from East of Suez during the 1960s on grounds of cost, it was spending around 6 per cent of GDP on defence about three times its current outlay. Our tiny Army is being reduced still further to 73,000 personnel. The RAF has been cut back savagely, while the Navy has little more than a handful of frigates which is why, when one of our aircraft carriers goes to sea, it must rely on the ships of allies to make up a credible escort. I say goes to sea, though the newest of the two carriers, the Prince of Wales, is in dry dock for the foreseeable future because its starboard propeller shaft went kaput while it was heading to America. This was an embarrassing mechanical failure, which is a not unusual event among the Navys dwindled fleet. Even if our Armed Forces werent so depleted, Id question the wisdom of our trying to cut a figure in the Indo-Pacific since China, which has formidable military resources, regards it as its own bailiwick. As it is, we have the worst of both worlds. A combination of vaingloriousness and a desire to ingratiate ourselves with our American masters is leading us to take on commitments which we are in no position to fulfil on account of our greatly reduced capabilities. The alliance with Japan is a case in point. Do we really want to increase the risk of our servicemen being embroiled in a conflict with China, thousands of miles from home? Britain is a significant European power but it doesnt have the resources of a world power. There is a war raging on our own continent, not muchmore than 1,000 miles from our shores, which should be occupying most of our attention. Moreover, the new arrangement with Tokyo appears to be rather one-sided since it seems probable that our troops and weaponry will be more use to the Japanese than theirs can be to us. It is also noteworthy that, despite pressure from the Government, the Japanese have insisted that any British troops who commit capital crimes in Japan when off-duty will be subject to their death penalty. That does not sound very friendly. Twice already this century, we have become involved in Americas ill-conceived and futile wars, in Iraq and Afghanistan. They have cost this country a great deal in blood and treasure. If only our politicians had learnt what happens when we over-extend ourselves in the service of Uncle Sam, but they havent. The nightmare is that, if China invades Taiwan, Britain will be dragged in which will be more likely if we have a military alliance with Japan. Of course, the Taiwanese have the right to self-determination, even though China has genuine historical claims to the island. We should make the case for Taiwanese independence. But it is not a cause for which British soldiers should die. Our Government, despite starving the Armed Forces of adequate resources, is possessed by boundless vanity. Global Britain isnt a global power. The deal with Japan takes us one step closer to calamity. Ministers are considering a new offer to health workers in a bid to head off NHS strikes next week. Health Secretary Steve Barclay is set to hold a new round of talks with union leaders in the coming days ahead of planned strikes by nurses. Whitehall sources said ministers were working on options for resolving the strikes, which could include a one-off payment to reflect cost of living pressures. One source said there was a recognition that union leaders have to get something for this year before they will consider calling off the current wave of industrial action. However, talks about what level of payment might be offered, and how it would be funded, remain at an early stage. Whitehall sources said ministers were working on options for resolving the strikes, which could include a one-off payment to reflect cost of living pressures. Pictured: Kate Bell, newly appointed assistant of general secretary of Trades Union Congress, gives a solidarity speech to the emergency service workers on strike, Waterloo, London, January 11, 2023 Health Secretary Steve Barclay is set to hold a new round of talks with union leaders in the coming days ahead of planned strikes by nurses, January 10, 2023 No formal proposal has been put to the Treasury, and a Government source said there were no plans at this time to provide extra funding, meaning ministers would have to secure efficiencies to pay for it. There are also concerns that any payment to resolve the health dispute would set a precedent for other sectors facing industrial strife, including education and transport, potentially landing the taxpayer with a bill running into billions of pounds. The moves came as 25,000 ambulance workers staged a second day of walkouts yesterday, and unions warned they could boycott talks on the next pay round, due in April. Fourteen unions representing more than a million health staff said yesterday that they would not be submitting evidence to the independent NHS pay review body for the next wage round while the current disputes remain unresolved. Sara Gorton, of Unison, said: The pay review body process doesnt fit the current context. The NHS staffing crisis is so acute only prompt action on pay, both for this and the next financial year, can start to turn things around. Government sources said the pay review process would continue with or without input from the unions, but urged them to reconsider. Downing Street said the unions had originally campaigned for the pay review process to be set up. A spokesman said: It is disappointing they have taken this step. No formal proposal has been put to the Treasury, and a Government source said there were no plans at this time to provide extra funding. Pictured: Ambulances in the grounds of Wellington Barracks, London, January 11, 2023 Ambulance bosses yesterday urged people to only dial 999 for life or limb emergencies and admitted non-life-threatening cases were unlikely to get a call out. The two striking unions Unison and the GMB said members would respond to the most life-threatening category one calls, where someone is not breathing or their heart has stopped. But there was no guarantee that callers would receive a response to lower categories of calls, such as heart attacks, strokes and falls. Soldiers were drafted in to drive ambulances yesterday as paramedics, drivers, technicians and call handlers in England and Wales went on strike. Ambulances were pictured in the grounds of Wellington Barracks, central London, and the South Western Ambulance Service confirmed it would be receiving military support. The same limitations remained from the previous strike last month, with military personnel unable to provide clinical care, drive through red lights or turn on blue lights. Speaking during Prime Ministers Questions, Rishi Sunak said: Whats terrifying is right now people not knowing whether when they call 999 they will get the treatment that they need. There are also concerns that any payment to resolve the health dispute would set a precedent for other sectors facing industrial strife. Pictured: An ambulance worker lights a camp fire, Waterloo, London, January 11, 2023 NHS Providers, which represents health trusts, warned that the NHS would be hit harder by yesterdays strike than last months as more staff, including call handlers, took action. It would have to deal with pent up demand in the next few days. Saffron Cordery, NHS Providers interim chief executive, said the NHS was able to step forward and manage during industrial action, but that it was having a knock-on effect on waiting lists and treating people that need it in a timely fashion. Some NHS trusts in London yesterday warned that women giving birth at home might need to make their own way to hospital in case of emergency. Meanwhile, only one in eight people (13 per cent) would now trust an ambulance to get them to hospital in an emergency due to the crisis in NHS care, a survey of 1,836 adults for ITVs Good Morning Britain found. In other health news... Distinguished BBC broadcaster Joan Bakewell reveals she's been diagnosed with colon cancer - as she vows to 'get on with life and not let it interfere' What MailOnline readers REALLY think about today's ambulance strike... so do YOU agree with 20 of the top-rated comments? Robot scans that can spot bowel cancer humans miss: Scientists hope integrating AI technology into existing colonoscopy equipment could help save more lives Shylah had been working at the show and had been on her break at the time She is now awake and has been moved out of intensive care but is unable to talk Victoria Police has dropped theft charges against tragic rollercoaster victim Shylah Rodden without explanation - as it's revealed cops were pursuing her over an allegedly stolen phone. Shylah remains bedridden at the Royal Melbourne Hospital where she has been recovering since a rollercoaster ploughed into her at the city's Royal Show on September 24. On Wednesday, a police prosecutor failed to explain why the charges were dropped. It can now be revealed police alleged Shylah stole a Samsung S20 mobile phone valued at $1000 in August 5 - a little over a year before she was struck by a rollercoaster while retrieving a phone. Detectives had also charged her with committing that offence while already on bail. Shylah was not made to appear at the Melbourne Magistrates' Court for the brief hearing. 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 Nor were her lawyers, who had asked Magistrate Fran Medina to deny media access to the police charge sheets outlining the allegations against their client. Ms Medina refused the application, ruling the now withdrawn charge sheets be made public. While no formal explanation has been offered as to why the charges against Shylah were withdrawn, Daily Mail Australia understands she may have been wrongly identified as the thief. A police spokeswoman refused to comment on Shylah's case when questioned by Daily Mail Australia earlier this week, 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 expected to come as some relief to Shylah's devastated family, who continue to conduct 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. 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 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 $26,000, with one kindly person donating more than $2000 after Daily Mail Australia revealed Shylah's charge debacle on Monday. 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. It will now be removed - but it still won't be laid to rest despite calls to do so A skeleton of an Irish giant will be withdrawn from a London museum due to 'sensitivities' but it still won't be laid to rest. Charles Byrne, an Irishman who measured 7 feet 7 inches tall due to a gene mutation, became a celebrity in 18th century London due to his immense size. Byrne died in 1783 at the age of 22 and for more than 200 years his skeleton was displayed at the Hunterian Museum at Lincoln's Inn Fields, central London. The museum closed in May 2017 for renovation work and is finally set to reopen in March 2023 without the skeleton on display. The skeleton, left, of Charles Byrne, nicknamed the 'Irish Giant' who stood about 7 feet, 7 inches (2.3 meters) tall, and died in 1783 aged 22, is displayed in London's Hunterian Museum prior to its redevelopment. The skeleton is being removed from the museum in time for its reopening in March 2023, but Byrne's desire to be laid to rest at sea is still not being fulfilled Who was the Irish Giant? The Irish Giant is the named given to Charles Byrne (1761-1783), a man who had a condition called acromegalic gigantism. Byrne had an undiagnosed adenoma, a benign tumour in his pituitary gland, which caused acromegaly (overgrowth of the bones) and gigantism. Due to his condition he measured 7 feet 7 inches tall became a London celebrity. But his health declined and after he died at the age of just 22 his body was stolen when it was on the way to being buried at sea. For more than 200 years his skeleton was displayed at the Hunterian Museum in central London. Advertisement Byrne had an undiagnosed adenoma a benign tumour in his pituitary gland, which caused acromegaly (overgrowth of the bones) and gigantism. According to a statement from the Royal College of Surgeons, which runs the museum, Byrne's skeleton will not be displayed any more due to 'sensitivities', but it will still be available for 'bona fide medical research'. However, it means Byrne's dying wish of being buried at sea will still not be fulfilled, despite repeated calls to do so. The Hunterian Museum is named after Scottish surgeon and anatomist John Hunter, who arranged for the giant's body to be snatched when it was on the way to its sea burial. 'During the period of closure of the Museum, the Board of Trustees of the Hunterian Collection discussed the sensitivities and the differing views surrounding the display and retention of Charles Byrne's skeleton,' the college said. 'The Trustees agreed that Charles Byrne's skeleton will not be displayed in the redeveloped Hunterian Museum but will still be available for bona fide medical research into the condition of pituitary acromegaly and gigantism.' Instead of being displayed, Byrne's skeleton will from now on be kept in store at the Royal College of Surgeons grounds at Lincoln's Inn Fields, as per Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) guidelines. However, some experts are concerned that students will still be able to see the bones during private viewings, which would still go against Byrne's wishes. Born in County Derry in 1761, Charles Byrne set off for Britain in pursuit of his fortune in his late teens. Skeletal evidence shows he grew to be 7 feet 7 inches (2.31 metres) tall, although some sources put his height at anywhere up to 8 feet 4 inches. Our late Queen, Elizabeth II, visits the skeleton of the Irish Giant at the Hunterian Museum in central London in November 1962 Charles Byrne is depicted here (centre) in a John Kay etching (1784), alongside the 'giant' Brothers Knipe and dwarfs What is gigantism? Gigantism is abnormal growth due to an excess of growth hormone (GH) during childhood. Gigantism is very rare. The most common cause of too much GH release is a noncancerous (benign) tumor of the pituitary gland, although there are other causes. Gigantism is treatable, but early diagnosis is crucial to prevent excessive height and other complications. Source: NIH/Cleveland Clinic Advertisement In the last years of his life, he made a living exhibiting himself as the Irish Giant, entertaining paying audiences. However, his health declined and he descended into alcoholism before a tragic early death at the age of just 22. Byrne went to great lengths while he was alive to ensure his skeleton was not put on display after his death a fate then usually reserved for executed criminals. He made arrangements with friends that when he died his body would be sealed in a lead coffin and taken to the English coastal town of Margate and then to a ship for burial at sea. However, Byrne's wishes were thwarted when John Hunter arranged for the body to be snatched on its way to Margate, allegedly after bribing Byrne's friends. Byrne's skeleton appeared in Hunter's private collection four years later and stayed on public display for the next couple of centuries at the Hunterian. More recently, the museum has faced calls to lay the skeleton to rest, and after it temporarily closed for refurbishment in 2017 the Royal College of Surgeons said it would be 'discussing the matter during the period of closure'. However, the college's decision, announced on Wednesday morning, may lead to fresh calls to give him a respectful burial. Royal College of Surgeons said the skeleton will not be laid to rest partly because 'no written evidence exists' of Byrne's wishes. The college also said Hunter and other surgeons of the time acquired specimens 'in ways we would not consider ethical today'. The skeleton used to be pride of place at the Hunterian, which is named after Scottish surgeon and anatomist John Hunter, who arranged for the Giant's body to be snatched when it was on the way to its sea burial The late Dame Hilary Mantel, who wrote a fictionalised account of Byrne called 'The Giant, O'Brien', told the Guardian in 2020 that 'it's time Charles went home' and that his remains were taken back to Ireland. Irish Giant had a rare gene mutation Back in 2011, researchers determined the cause of Byrne's gigantism by extracting DNA from the skeleton's teeth. Byrne had a rare mutation in a gene called the AIP gene, which is involved in pituitary tumours. Byrne had an undiagnosed adenoma, a benign tumour, in his pituitary gland, which caused acromegaly (overgrowth of the bones) and gigantism. The gene is still causing excessive growth in families in the same area of Northern Ireland where Charles Byrne was born. Advertisement 'I think that science has learned all it can from the bones, and the honourable thing now is lay him to rest,' said Mantel, who died in September last year. 'It would suit the spirit of the times, and I don't see a reason for delay. He's waited long enough. 'I hope there would be a welcome party for him [in Ireland], and I hope I can come and join it.' In 2011, Len Doyal, emeritus professor of medical ethics at Queen Mary University in London, and Thomas Muinzer, a lawyer at University of Aberdeen, wrote an article in the BMJ advocating grant Byrne's wish and giving him a peaceful burial at sea. Today, in a joint statement to MailOnline, they said: 'We are delighted to hear the news that the battle that we and others have fought to have Charles Byrne's skeleton removed from the Hunterian has finally be won. 'There was never a coherent argument for the museum to do otherwise, given Byrne's explicit decision for his body not to fall into the hands of John Hunter for fear of what then precisely happened. 'This said, we can see no justification for the Hunterian to retain the skeleton for "further research"; there is no obvious justification for this since DNA from the skeleton has been obtained and it is entirely unclear what further research the Hunterian has in mind. 'Our suspicion is that the museum still wants medical students simply to see the skeleton in private, which again would go against Byrne's documented wishes. 'Byrne's wishes should at last be honoured and his skeleton should be buried at sea, we think with great fanfare.' Charles Byrne had gone to great lengths while he was alive to ensure his skeleton was not put on display after his death - a fate then usually reserved for executed criminals Back in 2011, researchers determined the cause of Byrne's gigantism by extracting DNA from the skeleton's teeth. Byrne had a rare mutation in a gene called the AIP gene, which is involved in pituitary tumours. The gene is still causing excessive growth in families in the same area of Northern Ireland where Charles Byrne was born. Read similar stories here.... Medieval murder victim was killed by multiple sword blows to the head Fountain in Turkey's ancient 'City of Gladiators' is finally restored Study of Europe's 'bog bodies' unearths people who met 'gruesome' end Virgin Orbit has claimed it will 'be back in orbit soon', just one day after its historic rocket launch from Spaceport Cornwall ended in failure. Sir Richard Branson's space firm tweeted optimistically that its team 'are committed to correcting [their] systems' and 'eager to launch again'. On Monday night, a modified Boeing 747 jet, named 'Cosmic Girl', took off from Newquay carrying the 70-foot-long (21 m) LauncherOne rocket under its wing. While it successfully thrust LauncherOne into space, a technical 'anomaly' meant the rocket - which was carrying nine satellites ready for deployment - was never able to reach its target altitude. Virgin Orbit has claimed it will 'be back in orbit soon' just one day after the historic rocket launch from Spaceport Cornwall 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 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 As it never entered orbit, LauncherOne could not release its payload of satellites, and was ultimately lost. While it has yet to be confirmed, the 6.6 million ($10 million) rocket is thought to have either burned up in the Earth's atmosphere or broken apart over the north Atlantic. A Virgin Orbit spokesperson told MailOnline: 'The telemetry indicates that LauncherOne stayed on its course throughout its flight, within the safety zone over water west of Africa. 'We are continuing to process the data over the coming days and weeks, however we understand that the upper stage would have experienced largely destructive heat loads as it re-entered the atmosphere.' Matt Archer, the agency's launch programme director, told reporters at Spaceport Cornwall: 'In effect the rocket has not reached the required altitude to maintain its orbit or deploy the satellites and therefore the mission was unsuccessful. '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.' Disappointment was rife among the hundreds of spectators who travelled to watch the take-off in person, and 75,000 people who watched its livestream. Melissa Thorpe, head of Spaceport Cornwall, said she was 'feeling awful' and that 'there were tears' when her team got together. 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.' A probe has begun to understand exactly what went wrong during the devastating mission, named 'Start Me Up' after the 1981 hit from The Rolling Stones. 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.' 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 get it into orbit However, at some point during the firing of the rocket's second stage engine, the system 'experienced an anomaly'. The second stage was unable to reach the required altitude to maintain low-Earth orbit or deploy its satellites Spectators (pictured) 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: The moment the rocket ignited VIRGIN'S SPACE FAILURES 2007 - Three people were killed and several others seriously injured when a tank of nitrous oxide detonated and destroyed a Virgin Galactic test stand. 2011 - Virgin Galactic's 'SpaceShipTwo' malfunctioned during re-entry, although its pilots managed to correct the problem. 2014 - SpaceShipTwo crashed in California's Mojave Desert, killing co-pilot Michael Alsbury and seriously injuring pilot Peter Siebold. 2016 - Virgin Galactic faced two minor setbacks involving attempts to carry out the first glide flight for the company's Virgin Space Ship (VSS) Unity space plane. 2020 - Virgin Orbit's first test launch of the LauncherOne rocket over California's Mojave Desert went wrong a few seconds after ignition. It was blamed on a premature shutdown of the first stage engine, and meant the rocket did not reach orbit. Advertisement Business Secretary Grant Shapps added that the Government would 'work closely' with Virgin Orbit to investigate the failure 'the coming days and weeks'. The mission is estimated to have cost more than 164 million ($200 million), and caused shares in Virgin Orbit to plummet by as much as 30 per cent. The nine satellites that were lost were insured so their manufacturers and operators will be compensated. Once the cause of the failure has been established, the site is targeting two unmanned commercial space flights in a year's time, but it has a licence for up to 12. In a statement to MPs, Mr Shapps said: '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.' The Newquay launch site is one of three spaceports in the UK that aim to start satellite launches this year, with two more planned in Scotland. Virgin Orbit, which has performed three commercial flights in the US, wants Spaceport Cornwall to be its first base outside America. British taxpayers' money was among the 20 million that has so far been thrown at the site, from a consortium including the local council, Virgin and the UK Space Agency. 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. However, the failure of 'Start Me Up' has somewhat poured cold water over such aspirations. British taxpayers' money was among the 20 million that has so far been thrown at Spaceport Cornwall, from a consortium including the local council, Virgin and the UK Space Agency 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 Mr Hart previously told MailOnline that human spaceflight was 'not currently part of the company's plans' for the Spaceport Cornwall. But he said it 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. Sir Richard Branson also has Virgin Galactic, which is based in the US and focused on space tourism. In 2021, he 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. If you enjoyed this story, you might like... What other space launches will take place in 2023? MailOnline looks at the exciting missions blasting off this year. Why haven't aliens contacted Earth yet? Scientists say it's because there's no sign of intelligence here! Stargazers will have a once-in-a-generation chance to see a new comet at the end of January. It was the first ever orbital space launch from British soil but ultimately ended in failure as Virgin Orbit's rocket was lost. The 70ft-long LauncherOne rocket suffered an 'anomaly' during the second stage of its ascent to space and never reached the required altitude to deploy its payload of nine satellites into orbit. It is thought the rocket then either burnt up in the atmosphere or broke apart over the Atlantic Ocean. Footage of that dramatic moment has now emerged after an observer captured the main part of LauncherOne plummeting back to Earth following re-entry. Devastating: Britain's historic first ever orbital space launch on UK soil dramatically failed on Monday night, after Virgin Orbit revealed that an 'anomaly' had prevented its rocket from reaching orbit. Pictured is the moment the rocket ignited 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 ** 23:18 GMT: Ramon Lopez who is a collaborator with the Spanish Meteor Network films a fiery blob in the night sky over Lanzarote, which experts later say is LauncherOne. ** 23:50 GMT: It 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 It was filmed from Lanzarote, one of the Canary Islands off the west coast of Africa, and matches both the launch trajectory and timing of Virgin Orbit's rocket, experts say. The booster was successfully launched from the wing of a modified 747 jumbo jet, which had taken off from Cornwall Spaceport in Newquay on Monday night. Virgin Orbit's mission appeared to be going smoothly, only for the rocket to suffer an 'anomaly' as it made its ascent from just off the south coast of Ireland towards Portugal while accelerating to space at 11,000mph. It never reached its target altitude to release a payload of nine satellites into orbit and was ultimately lost some time around 23:15 GMT. Just minutes earlier, Ramon Lopez who is a collaborator with the Spanish Meteor Network spotted a fiery blob in the sky as LauncherOne's second stage came crashing back to Earth along with its satellites at 23:18 GMT. He posted a video on Twitter and YouTube of the moment it happened. Experts including Netherlands-based scientist and satellite tracker Marco Langbroek then confirmed that the fireball would have been LauncherOne. 'The timing, viewing direction (W-NW), and direction of movement match well with the launch trajectory for the "Start me Up" mission, which passed about 380 km to the west of Lanzarote,' he wrote on his blog. 'The low sky elevation also shows that the object is in fact well below orbital altitude, consistent with reentry into the atmosphere. 'Had it been in the 555 km altitude orbit aimed for, it would have passed much higher in the sky as seen from Lanzarote, and been invisible, as that part of the orbit was not sun-illuminated. 'The fact that it is visible, already shows it was burning up by this time, creating the slow fireball visible in the video.' Footage of that dramatic moment has now emerged after an observer captured the main part of LauncherOne plummeting back to Earth following re-entry It was filmed from Lanzarote, one of the Canary Islands off the west coast of Africa, and matches both the launch trajectory and timing of Virgin Orbit's rocket, experts say Ramon Lopez who is a collaborator with the Spanish Meteor Network spotted a fiery blob in the sky as LauncherOne's second stage came crashing back to Earth along with its satellites at 23:18 GMT on Monday Dr Langbroek added that the location was 'too far south in latitude to be the first stage', which had a designated splash-down area around 250 miles (400 km) off the coast of Portugal and 620 miles (1,000 km) north of Lanzarote. 'Hence, it must be the second stage and attached payloads,' he said. 'So, from the available evidence it looks like the second stage of the rocket underperformed.' Dr Langbroek also said that the rocket's second stage and its payload of satellites 'most likely will have completely burned up during the re-entry'. 'If any parts survived at all, they are now on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean,' he added. Virgin Orbit has so far not revealed too much about what happened beyond saying that an 'anomaly' occurred but the UK Space Agency said an 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 on Monday. 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 The Virgin Orbit mission to deploy satellites into space failed on Monday night after an 'anomaly' prevented the rocket from reaching its destination height '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.' Dan Hart, the CEO of Virgin Orbit, said: '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.' 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. The first ever orbital space launch to take off from UK soil failed dramatically on Monday night 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 If you enjoyed this article... How the historic first orbital launch from British soil FAILED after Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne rocket suffered an 'anomaly' What other space launches will take place in 2023? MailOnline looks at the exciting missions blasting off this year Stargazers will have an amazing chance to see a new comet at the end of January A young girl received a 'once-and-a-life' Christmas gift when she stumbled upon a large megalodon tooth while combing a Maryland beach for fossils. Molly Sampson, 9, asked her mother, Alicia Sampson, for a pair of insulated waders to stay warm in the 10-degree weather as she searched in the waters of the Chesapeake Bay. Sampson told DailyMail.com that when her daughter left that morning, she said 'I was going to look for Meg.' The artifact, larger than her hand, once belonged to a 50-foot-long megalodon that lived more than 2.6 million years ago. Sampson said her daughter found over 400 teeth, but the five-inch one pulled from the water last month is the largest. Molly Sampson, 9, strapped on a pair of fishing waders Christmas Day and headed out to the Chesapeake Bay to search for 'the Meg'. She found a five-inch tooth in the shallow waters Sampson shared several images of Molly holding her discovery, beaming with a smile from ear to ear. 'My husband has looked for them his entire life! We've always lived close to the bay so all of our kids have done it since they were little,' she told DailyMail.com. 'The main thing that Molly really wanted was insulated chest waders so that she could go out in the water when it was cold and look for sharks' teeth.' Sampson said she was not there for the hunt, but heard all about the discovery when Molly, her other daughter Natalie, 17, and her husband Bruce returned home. 'Molly said she wanted to start screaming when she found the tooth because she was so excited!' she said. 'I wasn't there because it was too cold for me, but my husband said she started shrieking, saying, 'look what I found!' 'This is something she's always wanted to find.' 'Molly is a super shy kid, so she isn't one to like the spotlight, but she also knows it's more about this amazing tooth.' The young girl has been hunting for sharks since she could walk on the beach, but she always keeps an eye out for 'the Meg.' This is the sixth megalodon Molly has found, but it is the largest, Sampson said. Molly has found over 400 teeth of all different types. Molly told her mother that she hopes other kids see how fun exploring is and will go on their own adventures. The Sampson family also shared their discovery on Facebook. 'I'm pretty sure Molly is feeling like this is the best Christmas ever,' her mom wrote in the post. '... This tooth was in the water, so thanks to the waders, she got the best part of her present!' The family also shared an image of the trove all three uncovered on Christmas Day - they found a total of 22 shark teeth. Molly, her sister Natalie, 17, and her father Bruce strapped on winter gear before heading out to the Bay to hunt for fossils Molly has collected over 400 shark teeth, but the latest find is the largest one she has found to-date. Alicia Sampson, her mother, shared several images of Molly holding her discovery, beaming with a smile from ear to ear The five-inch tooth was taken to the Calvert Marine Museum, which confirmed the fossil's identity. According to the museum, Molly took the tooth to their paleontology department but will have access to marvel at the discovery anytime she wants. For more than a century, scientists have attempted to decipher the appearance of the megalodon, the largest shark that ever lived. Scientists admit they still have no idea what the legendary creature looked like when it swam the seas roughly 15 to 3.6 million years ago. In a new study, experts say all previously proposed body forms of the gigantic megalodon remain 'in the realm of speculations'. The massive tooth belonged to a creature that was at least 50 feet long But the academics are hopeful that a complete megalodon skeleton what they describe as the 'ultimate treasure' will one day be found, which could conclusively reveal what it looked like. 'The study may appear to be a step backward in science, but the continued mystery makes paleontology, the study of prehistoric life, a fascinating and exciting scientific field,' said study author Kenshu Shimada at DePaul University in Chicago. 'The fact that we still don't know exactly how O. megalodon looked keeps our imagination going. 'This is exactly why the science of paleontology continues to be an exciting academic field. We'll continue looking for more clues in the fossil record.' The family also shared an image of the trove all three uncovered on Christmas Day - they found a total of 22 shark teeth. Top row is Molly, the middle is Natalie and the bottom is Bruces. The five-inch tooth was taken to the Calvert Marine Museum, which confirmed the fossil's identity. According to the museum, Molly took the tooth to their paleontology department but will have access to marvel at the discovery anytime she wants The megalodon, whose name means 'big tooth,' is typically portrayed as a super-sized, monstrous shark in novels and films such as the 2018 sci-fi film 'The Meg.' While there is no dispute that they existed or were gigantic, the megalodon (officially called Otodus megalodon) is known only from ancient fossilized teeth and vertebrae. Based on this evidence, studies suggest they reached lengths of at least 50 feet and possibly as much as 65 feet. In 1843, Swiss naturalist Louis Agassiz gave this shark its initial scientific name, Carcharodon megalodon, based on tooth remains. But more than 150 years later, additional fossil evidence to conclude their bodies, such as a complete skeleton, has not yet been discovered. If you enjoyed this article... Budding paleontologist, 8, digs up 5-inch prehistoric shark tooth on a fossil hunt with his family Massive tooth that's likely from extinct megalodon shark - that had a jaw large enough to eat a killer whale - is discovered 10,000 feet beneath the Pacific Ocean in a protected area Megalodon ate sperm whales for breakfast! Prehistoric predator feasted on their enormous NOSES which are packed with oily saturated fats, study claims Excavations have unearthed the 'lost grave' of a Skye terrier who played the fabled dog 'Greyfriars Bobby' in the 1960s Disney film of the same name. The dog's tiny coffin was discovered in the grounds of a house in Dolphinton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland following an 18-month search. Also called Bobby, the little actor was buried outside the house which is now set to be bulldozed after he passed away in 1974. Bobby depicted the legendary dog Greyfriars Bobby, who became known in 19th-century Edinburgh for guarding the grave of his deceased owner for 14 years. The lost grave of a film star dog who played Greyfriars Bobby in a 1960s Disney movie has been found after an 18-month search. The Skye terrier, also called Bobby, enjoyed a period of fame after the film was released in 1961. Pictured are the discoverers of the little coffin that was buried in 1974, draped in a Scottish flag (from left to right, Paul Aitken, George Gordon, David Hunter and Paul Macdonald) Bobby, a Skye terrier from Scotland, is pictured with Walt Disney having put his paw print to a movie contract. The pooch portrayed Greyfriars Bobby, a dog who became known in 19th-century Edinburgh for guarding the grave of his deceased owner for 14 years. The coffin of the actor dog has just been found in Dolphinton, South Lanarkshire after an 18-month search Greyfriars Bobby and the dog that portrayed him on screen Greyfriars Bobby was a Skye terrier that guarded the grave of his owner for 14 years in 19th-century Edinburgh. The dog was written about in the 1914 true story novel of the same name by American author Eleanor Atkinson. It was this book that inspired the 1961 Disney film, also called Greyfriars Bobby, which brought the story to life. The film starred a dog called Bobby in the title role, who died in 1974. His resting place was lost, but it's finally been found by determined excavators. Advertisement Bobby the fluffy actor enjoyed a period of fame after the film was released and raised thousands of pounds for charity through a string of special appearances. The Dolphinton house where Bobby was buried in 1974 was once owned by former Chief Constable William Merrilees of Lothian and Borders Police. Mr Merrilees, who had become personal friends with Walt Disney as the film went into production, was gifted Bobby after the movie was released. From 1963, Bobby lived with Chief Inspector John Turner and his family in Morningside, Edinburgh, until the dog's death in 1974, but his body was laid to rest in Dolphinton. John Turner's nephew David Hunter, 54, has led the search for Bobby's grave after learning the Dolphinton site was set to be bulldozed and built on. After more than 18 months of searching the grounds with friends, Bobby's tiny coffin was found on Saturday. 'To be honest, the fact that we finally found Bobby is still sinking in,' Mr Hunter said. 'We were in the final 10 per cent of the search area and the edge of Bobby's tiny coffin appeared. 'There was silence for a few seconds, then some jubilation and then we spent some time reflecting of what we had been through to find it and what had just happened.' Paul Aitken and George Gordon carry the flag-draped coffin. The Skye terrier, called Bobby, enjoyed a period of fame after the film was released and raised thousands for charity The final dig at Dolphinton, South Lanarkshire, where Bobby was buried in the 1970s before being lost - and eventually refound After more than 18 months of searching the grounds of the house in Dolphinton, South Lanarkshire, Bobby's tiny coffin was found on Saturday The original Greyfriars Bobby was born in 1856 and lived with his owner John Gray a dedicated nightwatchman for the Edinburgh City Police Force for two years. Talks are now underway to have little actor's remains reburied in Edinburgh alongside those of the real Greyfriars Bobby. The original 19th century dog was laid to rest just inside the gate of Greyfriars Kirkyard, not far from his master John Gray's grav After John's death in 1858, the dog refused to leave his grave until his own death in 1872. The 19th century pup was written about in the 1914 true story novel of the same name by American author Eleanor Atkinson. It was this book that inspired the 1961 Disney film, also called Greyfriars Bobby, which brought the story to life. Talks are now underway to have little actor's remains reburied in Edinburgh alongside those of the real Greyfriars Bobby, which are just inside the gate of Greyfriars Kirkyard, not far from his master John Gray's grave. Mr Hunter has held initial talks with the Church of Scotland and the City of Edinburgh Council to have Bobby reinterred there. Today, a statue in his honour stands opposite Greyfriars Kirkyard and is visited by millions of tourists every year. An IT manager from Edinburgh, Mr Hunter described Bobby as a placid dog unlike how he was portrayed on screen. 'I remember Bobby vividly,' he said. 'The way that Disney wanted him was to be quite yappy but I don't remember him like that he was a very placid dog.' Mr Hunter had been motivated to search for Bobby's final resting place so he could tell his grandchildren that Bobby hadn't been forgotten. He first visited the Dolphinton house in June 2021 and appealed on social media for any information about Bobby's grave. He was told the gravestone and a memorial statue to the dog had been sold off by an earlier landowner. A lobby card for the 1961 film Greyfriars Bobby, which also starred (from left) Laurence Naismith, Andrew Cruickshank and Donald Crisp The synopsis of the 1961 film, adapted from the 1912 novel, is: 'Bobby the Skye terrier is totally devoted to his owner, a kindly old shepherd known only as 'Old Jock'. When Jock passes away Bobby keeps a vigil by his grave, and such is his devotion to his late master that the dog is eventually made a freeman of Edinburgh' Today, a statue in his honour stands opposite Greyfriars Kirkyard, near the Greyfriars Bobby pub, and is visited by millions of tourists every year 'I really just felt this was a very unfitting end to this film star of his day and I wanted to make an effort to find him,' Mr Hunter said. 'We had lots of discussions about whether moving Bobby to Edinburgh was the right thing was to do, when Merrilees had buried him at Dolphinton. 'But we thought by returning him to Edinburgh, to Greyfriars Kirkyard, he would be immortal.' Although Greyfriars Bobby is generally assumed to have been a Skye terrier, a book published last year said he was more likely to have been a Dandie Dinmont terrier. While Skye terriers tended to be confined to the Isle of Skye, around 255 miles away from Edinburgh, Dandie Dinmont terriers were bred in the Borders, just 45 miles away from the Scottish capital. If you enjoyed this article... Here are the least intelligent dog breeds according to science Dogs' tails play no role in running and are used for communication, study says Dogs prefer electric cars as they give a smoother ride, scientists discover Naturalists teach her about the evolution of the species unique to the Galapagos Travel writer Jo Kessel filmed the 'ultimate wildlife cruise' aboard Hurtigrutens newest addition to its fleet, Santa Cruz II. The footage shows how an expedition voyage differs from a conventional one, zipping between islands on inflatable zodiac boats and going on hikes with expert naturalists who help spot the 15 iconic species unique to the Galapagos islands, including sea lions, giant tortoises and the very rare red-footed booby. Plus, it reveals how passengers can drive the ship and gives the inside scoop on how to extend your adventure with a post-cruise stay at Mashpi Lodge, an award-winning eco-retreat deep in the Ecuadorean Cloud Forest. When Norwegian cruise line Hurtigruten started sailing along Norways coastline back in 1893 it was more a ferry than a cruise, servicing the countrys remote fishing communities. But the past 130 years have seen Hurtigruten expand its offering and its now an international liner to be reckoned with. But its not a conventional cruise line. Its 16 ships are small to mid-size (the largest carries 528 passengers) and offer itineraries for travellers craving adventure at sea - but not on a big ship. Its voyages span the globe, including in the Galapagos thanks to its recent acquisition of the 90-passenger expedition ship the Santa Cruz II. Jo Kessel boards Santa Cruz II for a 10-day Hurtigruten expedition to the Galapagos Islands Expedition ship Santa Cruz II, pictured, is Hurtigruten's latest acquisition I was excited to be one of the first people on the new ten-day expedition to this Ecuadorean archipelago and decided to capture the voyage on camera, including a post-cruise stay in the Cloud Forest. There are no direct international flights to the Galapagos and so the adventure as well as the film - starts by exploring Quito which, at 9,186ft (2,800m) is the worlds second-highest capital (behind La Paz in Bolivia, which sits at 3,869m/12,693ft). We visit plazas and churches and a colourful local market which, as well as selling fruit and veg, has shamans who heal for a fee. Mine swats me with a bouquet of herbs and bizarrely I do feel better afterwards! Quito is circled by volcanoes, many of which are active and Cotopaxi is its showstopper. It last erupted in 2015 and its snow-capped summit soars to 19,685ft (6,000m). The expedition takes us hiking around the base and is the last adventure before we board a plane for a two-hour flight to the Galapagos. Jo's journey begins in Quito, Ecuador which, at 9,186ft (2,800m), is the worlds second-highest capital In Quito, a colourful local market has shamans who heal for a fee Jo goes hiking around the base of the Cotopaxi volcano - its snow-capped summit soars to 19,685ft (6,000m) This remote South Pacific archipelago is 621 miles (1,000km) west of the mainland and aerial views from the plane as we approach show the desolateness of these tropical, volcanic islands there are 13 major ones as well as a plethora of smaller isles and islets, only three per cent of which are inhabited. The 90-passenger Santa Cruz II is our expedition ship for the next six nights and is waiting for us out at sea. Cabins are smart and comfortable, with large picture windows and impressive facilities for a vessel this size. The view from Jo's two-hour flight from Quito to the Galapagos Jo describes her sleeping quarters on the ship as 'smart and comfortable' Everywhere comes with a view, from the gym to the hot tubs to the sun deck (the perfect spot for a tipple) to the terrace decked with loungers. Its here on a sun bed that I read a book gifted to all expeditioners called The Galapagos Big 15. It lists the 15 iconic species unique to the archipelago and encourages us to put a tick next to each one once its been spotted. Unlike a conventional cruise, an expedition involves getting in and out of inflatable zodiac boats to explore and the film features the famous Galapagos handshake required to board one its a way of holding crew members arms to help you step in and out safely. Everywhere on Santa Cruz II comes with a view, according to Jo, including the hot tubs Jo reads a book gifted to all expeditioners called The Galapagos Big 15, which lists the 15 iconic species unique to the archipelago Its exciting to follow in the footsteps of Charles Darwin and these islands still look exactly as they did when he visited in 1835. Guides lead us on daily hikes as we search for the Big 15. The moment we step onto land its clear that every inch of these islands teams with wildlife, all brilliantly camouflaged, so much so that we must be careful where we tread. Galapagos sea lions are everywhere (they resemble rocks) including on the white-sand beach of our first port of call, the island of San Cristobal. Here there are red-footed boobies, which dont exist anywhere else on the planet. Elsewhere we see blue-footed boobies, the Nazca Booby, hawks, frigates, mating albatrosses and several different species of iguanas. Galapagos sea lions are everywhere, including on the white-sand beach of Jo's first port of call, the island of San Cristobal (above) The accompanying naturalists explain how these species adapted to their environment over time. Take the marine iguana it evolved from drinking freshwater to saltwater in order to survive. The Unesco-protected Galapagos are one of the worlds best examples of responsible tourism. Strict rules visitors mustnt disturb or get too close to the animals allow the Big 15 to thrive. Ive a soft spot for the islands giant tortoises, especially the very large (and very old) one I capture on film who moves bang on cue albeit very slowly! The Santa Cruz II offers a host of water-based activities, from kayaking to paddle boarding to snorkelling and my favourite marine life to spot are green sea turtles. Theyre not one of the Big 15, but theres something wondrous about swimming and paddling alongside them. Other exciting non-Big-15 sightings include sharks and dolphins. Jo spots greater frigates - one of the Big 15 - flying above the ship Theres something wondrous about swimming and paddling alongside the wildlife of the Galapagos Islands, Jo reveals 'Ive a soft spot for the islands giant tortoises,' Jo admits. Above is the 'very large (and very old) one' that she encounters on the trip SANTA CRUZ II AND THE GALAPAGOS BY THE NUMBERS Santa Cruz II has 50 cabins and can sleep 90 passengers. It has five decks and is 235ft (72m) long. The Galapagos has 15 iconic animal species found only in this archipelago -the flightless cormorant; red-footed booby; Galapagos hawk; marine iguana, Galapagos flamingo; Galapagos albatross; blue-footed booby; Nazca booby; Galapagos sea lion; Santa Fe iguana; Galapagos penguin; greater frigate bird; Galapagos fur seal; land iguana and the Galapagos giant tortoise. The archipelago consists of 13 major islands as well as hundreds of smaller isles and islets, only three per cent of which are inhabited. Charles Darwin spent five weeks in the Galapagos when he visited in 1835. He didnt publish his world-renowned On the Origin of Species book until 20 years later in 1859 - it was an instant bestseller. Giant tortoises can live up to 250 years and weigh up to 300 kilos (661lbs). Advertisement This is an active holiday and we constantly need refuelling. Food on board is seriously good, be it kebabs barbecued on the sun deck to creative, waiter-served Ecuadorean feasts, from Galapagos Bluefin tuna to the chicken in coffee sauce featured in the film. Theres an intimacy about being on a small ship. The Santa Cruz II operates an open bridge, which means you can say hello to the captain at any time. Get lucky and you might be allowed to steer the vessel. You might even get to don the captains hat while you do it! Its great fun, although I must confess to being petrified about crashing. The expedition is so exhilarating that nobody wants it to end and happily Hurtigruten offers an option to extend your trip. You can say hello to the captain at any time on Santa Cruz II - and you might even be allowed to steer the vessel, Jo reveals Jo says: 'The expedition is so exhilarating that nobody wants it to end' That option includes a stay at an eco-retreat called Mashpi Lodge deep in the Ecuadorean Cloud Forest. Ever since watching an episode of BBCs Amazing Hotels (which featured this luxury hideaway) Ive longed to visit - tacking it onto the end of a Galapagos cruise proved the perfect opportunity. Mashpi is made of glass which means that wherever you are in it be it your room, restaurant or communal areas you feel like youre in the jungle. Hurtigruten offers an option to extend your trip, Jo reveals. Post cruise, she stays at an eco-retreat called Mashpi Lodge (pictured) deep in the Ecuadorean Cloud Forest The great thing about the Galapagos and the Ecuadorean Cloud Forest (pictured) is that youre witnessing nature untouched since time began, Jo reveals Guests of Mashpi Lodge can go swimming in remote waterfalls, Jo reveals Jo tries pedalling on Mashpi Lodge's Sky Bike above the clouds TRAVEL FACTS An all-inclusive 10-day Hurtigruten expedition cruise to the Galapagos Islands on MS Santa Cruz II costs from 7,721pp, full board. Price includes return flights. For more info visit hurtigruten.com/en-gb/expeditions. Advertisement Theres wildlife here too, spotted during night hikes with guides, including spiders (tarantulas included) and countless different frogs, most no bigger than a tuppence, all of them very rowdy and some of them newly discovered. Better still, the hotel offers adventure, from pedalling its Sky Bike above the clouds to hiking through the jungle basin river to swimming in remote waterfalls. By day its like being on Im A Celebrity, by night you get to enjoy a gourmet meal and sleep in a luxury bed. A wildlife expedition cruise is the ultimate adventure. And the great thing about the Galapagos and the Ecuadorean Cloud Forest is that youre witnessing nature untouched since time began. Its a life-affirming experience that'll leave you changed forever. For more from Jo, visit Go with Jo. The Galapagos archipelago consists of 13 major islands as well as hundreds of smaller isles and islets, only three per cent of which are inhabited 'Theres an intimacy about being on a small ship,' Jo says of Santa Cruz II Santa Cruz II has 50 cabins and can sleep 90 passengers. Above is the Darwin Suite The United States House of Representatives voted unanimously on Tuesday in support of the creation of a select committee on China that would work to counter Beijing's growing international influence. The vote is the first win of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy after a tumultuous start of Republican control of the House. Lawmakers voted 365 to 65 in favor of a resolution to establish the Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party. It will work on investigating the issue and make policy recommendations. Select Committee on China All of the 65 lawmakers who voted "no" came from Democrats, some of whom argued that they were concerned that the Republican-led panel would be too partisan. On the other hand, 146 Democratic officials voted in favor of the new committee. Democratic Rep. Jim McGovern, who is a co-chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, which is a grouping of House members and senators that studies China policy, said that he would support the creation of the select committee despite concerns that the GOP would be too partisan, as per Reuters. McGovern said that they did not want it to turn into a place that perpetuates anti-Asian hate, citing past rhetoric, including that of former US President Donald Trump's labeling of COVID-19 as the "China virus." McCarthy insisted that the committee would not be partisan, noting that it was his commitment. The House speaker said that the proposed committee would address certain issues such as bringing jobs back from China to the United States, securing intellectual property, and bringing supply chains back to the American nation. Furthermore, there has been growing tension in US-China relations. over the huge trade deficit with Beijing, Chinese pressure on Taiwan, and Beijing's transparency over its handling of the COVID-19 crisis. Read Also: House Republicans Vote To Cut Roughly $71 Billion in IRS Funding; Will it Pass in the Senate? China's Growing International Influence According to Fox News, McCarthy said that they have spent decades passing policies that welcomed China into the global system. However, he said that Beijing responded with oppression, aggression, and anti-Americanism. He also noted that China's military and economy are growing at the expense of freedom and democracy worldwide. The House speaker said that the situation did not start under the current administration but noted that it was made worse. He argued that policies have weakened the country's economy and made the U.S. more vulnerable to the threat of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). McCarthy said that there was a bipartisan consensus that the era of trusting communist China is over. McGovern also argued that Trump mislabeled the COVID-19 pandemic with racist language, arguing that such hate-based rhetoric coincided with acts of violence and discrimination against people of Chinese or Asian descent across the U.S. The committee will have 16 members, nine of whom will be Republicans while the remaining seven will come from the Democratic Party. It will be chaired by Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, who is a leading voice in the GOP caucus on Chian issues. Gallagher signaled the committee's bipartisan approach right from the top, leading off his statements by quoting President Joe Biden's top diplomat. Citing Secretary of State Antony Blinken's remarks last year, China is the only nation with the intent to reshape the international order, CNBC reported. Related Article: Allen Weisselberg, Former Trump Executive, Sentenced to 5 Months in Jail in Relation to Trump Organization Tax Fraud Scheme @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. 'The region received a decent dusting of snow earlier this week,' he says Tom Chesshyre takes a ski break with the Austrian village of Leogang as his base Perhaps it is a bit of a mouthful, but Skicircus Saalbach Hinterglemm Leogang Fieberbrunn in the Austrian Alps is one of the most convenient resorts to enjoy a long weekend on the slopes. New BA flights from London City Airport arrive at around 10am at Salzburg Airport and transfers are an hour. So skiers can be on the mountain by lunchtime on Friday enjoying the pistes. If you ignore the ludicrous name, its a brilliant way to get your ski legs back. Or simply enjoy the Alpine scenery while staying at one of its top-class spa hotels. Expect hot tubs and saunas galore (clothing optional in some). Unlike many resorts in the French Alps, the region received a decent dusting of snow earlier this week and has consistently low temperatures. Skicircus Saalbach Hinterglemm Leogang Fieberbrunn (above) in the Austrian Alps is one of the most convenient resorts to enjoy a long weekend on the slopes, says Tom Chesshyre The village of Leogang, one part of the tongue-twisting resort which has four village bases, hence the name makes one of the best places to stay, being closest to Salzburg. After dumping bags in rooms, you are soon on the slopes, sliding downhill amid delightful pine forests. The Skicircus part of the resorts title comes from being able to ski in a massive circuit round the villages. Those who complete it in a day will have covered 40 miles, known as The Challenge. People who are not quite so keen can enjoy a few leisurely morning runs the majority of pistes are suited to intermediates and then do what Austrians like to do: relax at one of the mountain huts (restaurants). This is an integral part of Skicircus Saalbach Hinterglemm Leogang Fieberbrunn. And there is no better place to enjoy it than Hendl Fischerei hut, which translates as Chicken Fishing as its menu consists largely of roast chicken. The resort lies close to the city of Salzburg, pictured, so if you arrive at Salzburg Airport at 10am you can be on the mountain by lunchtime This is simply delicious, served with a barbecue sauce along with champagne. That is almost all thats on offer, aside from oysters (4 each). Leogangs centre is little more than a handful of rental shops and spa hotels; if you want a knees-up apres ski life, the village of Saalbach is the place to stay. However, this is all part of Leogangs secretive charm, and the top hotel for those keen on indulging on the hot and bubbly side of things is Naturhotel Forsthofgut. You realise this as soon as you enter the labyrinthine chalet-style hotel, as guests roam about wearing gowns heading for various hot tubs and a steamy outside pool. Lying back in the top-floor sauna, guests (clothed and otherwise) gaze across jagged mountains. This is in the adults-only section of the spa; theres also a family section where all must wear swimming costumes. 'All in all, Leogang is a winner,' writes Tom. Above are skiers on the resort's slopes The top hotel for those keen on indulging on the hot and bubbly side of things is Naturhotel Forsthofgut (above) For an evening out, another hut provides a culinary treat on a par with Hendl Fischerei. About a 20-minute taxi from Leogang is Priesteregg, tucked up a mountain lane and offering hat eating. You may wonder what this is and you soon discover that it refers to a barbecue shaped like a witchs hat placed on your table. On this hat you put pieces of beef and pork on little spikes and watch it grill. Then you collect it to eat along with potatoes and garlicky sauces. The setting is a log cabin with a picture of Arnold Schwarzenegger on a wall. I cannot recommend hat eating enough. All in all, Leogang is a winner. The word lassig means relaxed and cool. It is Skicircus Saalbach Hinterglemm Leogang Fieberbrunn's motto and it is how you feel after a weekend away. The HPFA overhauled its organization following a racism row and other scandals The Golden Globe awards were slammed as 'boring' and 'politicized' as viewers turned off following the ceremony's return to TV on Tuesday. The event's return to air was the hope of a fresh start for the embattled Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HPFA) - which puts on the Globes - after it overhauled its organization following a racism row. However, many viewers were quick to label the ceremony as a 'snoozefest' as they flocked to social media to lament over changes to the show. One Twitter user wrote: 'Okay, this show should have stayed off the air. So boring...' The Golden Globe awards were slammed as 'boring' and 'politicized' as viewers turned off the ceremony hosted by Jerrod Carmichael The comedian delved right into the controversy surrounding the HFPA in his monologue, but not everyone found the moment entertaining GOLDEN GLOBES 2023: Winners at a glance FILM: Best Picture - Drama: The Fabelmans Best Picture - Musical/Comedy: The Banshees of Inisherin Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama: Cate Blanchett - TAR Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama: Austin Butler - Elvis Best Actress - Motion Picture - Musical/Comedy: Michelle Yeoh - Everything Everywhere All At Once Best Actor - Motion Picture - Musical/Comedy: Colin Farrell - The Banshees of Inisherin Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture: Ke Huy Quan - Everything Everywhere All At Once Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture: Angela Bassett - Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Best Director - Motion Picture: Steven Spielberg - The Fabelmans Best Screenplay Motion Picture: Martin McDonagh - The Banshees of Inisherin White Lotus' Jennifer Coolidge accepting her win for Best Supporting Actress - Television Limited Series/Motion Picture TELEVISION: Best Drama Series: House Of The Dragon Best Musical/ Comedy series: Abbott Elementary Best Limited Series, Anthology Series or Television Motion Picture: The White Lotus Best Actress - Limited Series, Anthology Series or Television Motion Picture: Amanda Seyfried - The Dropout Best Actor - Limited Series, Anthology Series or Television Motion Picture: Evan Peters - Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story Best Television Actress - Drama Series: Zendaya - Euphoria Best Television Actor Drama Series: Kevin Costner - Yellowstone Best Television Actress Musical/Comedy Series: Quinta Brunson - Abbott Elementary Best Television Actor Musical/Comedy Series: Jeremy Allen White - The Bear Best Supporting Actress - Television Limited Series/Motion Picture: Jennifer Coolidge - The White Lotus Best Supporting Actor - Television Limited Series/Motion Picture: Paul Walter Hauser - Black Bird Best Supporting Actress - Television Series: Julia Garner - Ozark Best Supporting Actor - Television Series: Tyler James Williams - Abbott Elementary Advertisement Another agreed: 'I'll just go ahead and say it, the @goldenglobes it's the most boring TV awards show I've ever seen.' 'The Woke Globes replaced the Golden Globes. Embarrassing,' another commented. Another wrote: 'Congratulations to the boring woke awards #GoldenGlobes.' One viewer stated: ' Man the @goldenglobes has hit a all new low right out of the gate. Is Hollyweird capable of doing anything without cramping racism/wokeism! Give one 10min to preach.' Comedian Jerrod Carmichael, 35, delved right into the controversy surrounding the Golden Globes as he began his monologue. Viewers took to Twitter to share their thoughts about the awards return to TV Jerrod Carmichael opening monologue part 1 pic.twitter.com/pFJf4vGj9r Breaking Trends News (@btrendsnews) January 11, 2023 The actor was quick to highlight the fact he has become the first Black host for the event as he told the audience of Hollywood elites: 'I'll tell you why I'm here. I'm here 'cause I'm black.' He went on to say he was sipping tea when he was asked to become 'black face of an embattled white organization. Life really comes at you fast.' But, ultimately, he said, he decided to 'take the white people money.' While some viewers enjoyed the tension created by the comedian's dry sense of humor, others were left wishing for host from previous years. One Twitter user stated: 'I turned on the #GoldenGlobes to see how much distance there would be from this monologue and the last one @rickygervais did but I dont even think it can be measured. This is boring AF. Many were left disappointed by Carmichael's 'boring' monologue 'It seemed like a dress rehearsal that nobody was paying attention to. This guy hosting the Golden Globes is boring.. Sorry, youre supposed to capture the audience immediately & I fell asleep in the first 5 seconds #Snoozefest.' Another commented: 'Well that was a very unfunny, boring monologue.' 'I was really looking forward to the @goldenglobes tonight. Sadly, this host and the boring acceptance speeches, its a snooze fest ! #GoldenGlobes #boring #slowstart #boringhost,' one viewer lamented. Another wrote: 'Boring people, boring show, boring politicized demagogical monologue... Nothing new nowadays.' While one viewer tweeted: 'I know no one is probably watching the Golden Globes or could care less, but this was one of the most boring opening monologues in the history of Golden Globes! It was all downhill after Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) stopped hosting the show! #GoldenGlobes2023.' Stars like Jennifer Coolidge made lengthy speeches while presenting awards during the broadcast, and in celebration of their wins Michelle Yeoh and Colin Farrell were two of the stars who refused to be played off stage during their speeches Elsewhere, the show was plagued with extremely lengthy speeches by award winners, with many including Michelle Yeoh and Austin Butler, ignoring musical prompts to cut their speeches short. The awards returned to screens on Tuesday - following a one year break from screens amid controversy over ethical lapses and a lack of diversity. The HFPA scandal erupted in 2021 when it emerged there were no black members among the 87-person association - with the 2021 awards show held virtually. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler called out the association live during their 2021 opening monologue in February of that year. 'The Hollywood Foreign Press Association is made up of around 90 international no black journalists who attend movie junkets each year in search of a better life. Viewers were quick to complain about the amount of time stars were thanking to celebrate their wins 'We say around 90 because a couple of them might be ghosts,' Fey said. Stars threatened to boycott the awards and Tom Cruise, who had won three Globes in the past, vowed to return them all unless the association changed its ways. In April, the association's former president Phil Berk was fired for his resistance to BLM. He sent an email to other members with a link to an article in which the organization was compared to cult murderer Charles Manson. The article in Frontpagemag.com claimed BLM was trying to incite a 'race war'. The new season of Married at First Sight is set to launch in a matter of days. And while last year's experiment was filled with drama and scandal, the 2023 iteration appears to be focused on the contestants' search for true love. A new trailer obtained by Daily Mail Australia showcases several glamorous brides and hunky grooms on their wedding day. While last year's Married At First Sight was filled with drama and scandal, the 2023 season appears to be focused on the contestants' search for true love The promo begins with a glimpse of the show's first Indian bride, Sandy Jawanda, who is seen hugging her sister dressed in a traditional wedding attire. 'Marriage is extremely important in Indian culture,' she says in a voice-over. Pint-sized blonde bride Alyssa Barmonde is then shown walking down the aisle with her mother. A new trailer for the anticipated series obtained by Daily Mail Australia showcases several glamorous brides and hunky grooms on their wedding day Pint-sized blonde bride Alyssa Barmonde is shown walking down the aisle with her mother 'It's something I've never felt before,' an excited Barmonde says. Brunette bride Bronte Schofield is then seen laughing with joy before flashing her wedding ring and screaming: 'I'm married!' Viewers are offered a blink-and-you'll-miss-it look at several grooms turning to their brides at the end of the altar. Brunette bride Bronte Schofield is then seen laughing with joy before flashing her wedding ring and screaming: 'I'm married!' Viewers are offered a blink-and-you'll-miss-it look at several grooms turning to their brides at the end of the altar Grooms Duncan James and Shannon Adams are seen in the ad. The trailer concludes with bride Lyndall Grace looking up at her groom and saying: 'I guess to put it plainly, I'm not here to f**k spiders.' Season 10 will begin with the biggest shock ever to rock a wedding, followed by interstate and overseas honeymoons. The trailer concludes with bride Lyndall Grace looking up at her groom and saying: 'I guess to put it plainly, I'm not here to f**k spiders' While previous years have featured controversial topics, the 2023 season will feature a 'twisted' challenge from the experts: encouraging the cast to swap partners. An insider let slip: 'They've really upped the ante this year. They made different couples swap partners for three days and it was hell for all involved. 'I don't know if it was because there were too many couples in the end and they just wanted to test who was genuine or not, or they just wanted to shake things up. Season 10 will begin with the biggest shock ever to rock a wedding, followed by interstate and overseas honeymoons 'Some participants refused to do it. They didn't see the point of it and were like, "No way this would happen on the outside world."' The insider claimed the partner-swapping task was given the green light by relationship experts John Aiken, Alessandra and Mel Schilling. Married At First Sight premieres on January 30 at 7.30pm on Channel Nine Since appearing on The Bachelor back in 2020, Bella Varelis has carved out a lucrative career for herself as a professional influencer. And this week, the 27-year-old was hard at work promoting Glasshouse Fragrances' Tutti Frutti candle collection. Bella was joined by fellow influencer Olivia Grivas to film social media content for the popular brand. Bella Varelis (right) and Olivia Grivas promoted Glasshouse Fragrances' Tutti Frutti candle collection on Instagram this week The genetically-blessed pair spruiked the scented candles by having an outdoor picnic featuring plenty of fruit to tie-in with Glasshouse's Tutti Frutti branding. Bella took a whiff of the Lychee Lime Fizz and Mango Bellini candles, before using the brightly-coloured jars as part of the decor in her picnic tablescape. The candles were surrounded by the same fruits used to create the scents, including mangoes and lychees. The genetically-blessed pair spruiked the scented candles by having an outdoor picnic featuring plenty of fruit to tie-in with Glasshouse's Tutti Frutti branding Bella then uploaded the photos and some short videos to Instagram and tagged the brand. She also shared a few smiling selfies alongside Olivia, who was glowing in dark orange linen loungewear and a white bra. Early last year, Bella accidentally shared her bank statement, which revealed that she'd saved up almost $100,000 at just 26-years-old. Bella took a whiff of the Lychee Lime Fizz and Mango Bellini candles, before using the brightly-coloured jars as part of the decor in her picnic tablescape Bella has raked in big bucks as influencer by promoting major brands like Mecca Beauty and Fresh (pictured) Despite placing as runner-up on Locky Gilbery's season of The Bachelor, the Sydney-based socialite was able to leave the show with almost 110,000 loyal Instagram followers. She's now a beauty influencer who is paid to promote major brands like Sephora, Mecca, and Fresh. Bella is also known for her love of designer fashion, and is often seen wearing luxury brands like Armani and Dior on Instagram. The fresh-faced star has since become a designer herself after launching her own line of resort wear called House of Eave. Former CNN news anchor and Real Housewives of Melbourne alum Anjali Rao has set her sights on becoming the 'biggest villain' in the history of Australian Survivor. The 49-year-old media veteran features in a new promo for the upcoming season, which will premiere on Channel 10 on Monday, January 30. The trailer shows Anjali on location in Samoa as she taunts her fellow contestants while they participate in a series of physical challenges. Former CNN news anchor and Real Housewives of Melbourne alum Anjali Rao has set her sights on becoming the 'biggest villain' in the history of Australian Survivor 'Newsrooms are a cut-throat environment; I can be savage,' she said. '[As] villains, we don't really care about rules, we love the taste of blood... hero blood is our favourite.' In the new season, she is expected to go head-to-head with a mix of celebrity contestants and returning players. Some of the big names include actress Sharni Vinson, former Miss World Australia Sarah Marschke, and author Benjamin Law. It comes after Channel 10 announced that former contestants Shonee Bowtell, George Mladenov, Nina Twine, Hayley Leake, Shaun Hampson, and Jordie Hansen would return to the series. The trailer shows Anjali on location in Samoa as she taunts her fellow contestants while they participate in a series of physical challenges Last month, an official promotional photo was released which showed Anjali posed next to a palm tree with a huge smile on her face. Fans of the series can expect some format changes from the U.S. version of the show. Over the years, Anjali has landed multiple high-profile gigs including a CNN newsreader which led to her being cast in Real Housewives of Melbourne in 2021. She is also known for co-hosting the Anj, Rob and Robbo web series. The Walking Dead may be over after the series finale in November, but the zombie apocalypse world it created is thriving. AMC announced on Tuesday during the Television Critics Association winter press tour that there will be three new spin-offs. Walking Dead favorites Norman Reedus, Lauren Cohan and Jeffrey Dean Morgan will be back for the shows. Spinoffs: The Walking Dead ended its 11 year run in November, but the world it created is alive and well. AMC announced three new spin-offs Tuesday Negan and Maggie will travel into a post-apocalyptic Manhattan which has been cut off from the mainland. The network revealed that the crumbling city is filled with 'the dead and denizens who have made New York City their own world full of anarchy, danger, beauty, and terror.' The show is set to debut in June, but an exact date and time have yet to be determined. TWD: Dead City: Lauren Cohan and Jeffrey Dean Morgan will be reprising their characters Maggie Rhee and Negan in The Walking Dead: Dead City. Negan and Maggie will travel into a post-apocalyptic Manhattan which has been cut off from the mainland Norman Reedus will headline The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon sometime after the roll out of Dead City. The plot follows Daryl after he washes ashore in France and struggles to figure out how he got there and why. As he travels across a troubled but resilient nation, he forms connections along the way that may complicate his plan to return home. The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon: Norman Reedus will headline this spinoff set to roll out later this year. The plot follows Daryl after he washes ashore in France and struggles to figure out how he got there and why and tries to return home The untitled TWD spinoff starring Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira as Rick Grimes and Michonne is set to begin production this year and debut sometime in 2024. The two will take part in 'an epic love story of two characters changed by a changed world,' according to AMC. 'Rick and Michonne are thrown into another world, built on a war against the dead And ultimately, a war against the living.' In some sad news for fans, AMC also revealed that Fear the Walking Dead, will conclude at the end of its upcoming eighth season. The adventures of Sophie and her beloved group of friends continue on season two of How I Met Your Father. A new trailer for the series, set to return to Hulu on January 24, depicts all the antics the group find themselves in as Sophie continues looking for love in New York City. Among the surprises teased in the trailer include the addition of John Corbett, who joins the cast as Hilary Duff's on-screen boyfriend. Whoa! A new trailer for How I Met Your Mother teases a new love interest for Hilary Duff's character, actor John Corbett Now age 30, Sophie declares: 'We all want to meet the love of our life. But the world is not that simple anymore.' Love really is in the air this season - as is plenty of drama. Sophie's ex Jesse (Christopher Lowell) canoodles with his on-again girlfriend Meredith (Leighton Meester), whom he reunited with at the end of season one after his humiliating proposal to her went viral. As Jesse and Meredith revel in their newfound love for one another, his best friend Sid watches on disapprovingly from the bar. Looking for love! Now age 30, Sophie declares: 'We all want to meet the love of our life. But the world is not that simple anymore' Back on! Sophie's ex Jesse (Christopher Lowell) canoodles with his on-again girlfriend Meredith (Leighton Meester), whom he reunited with at the end of season one after his humiliating proposal to her went viral Not a fan: Sid watches Jesse and Meredith pack on the PDA with a look of disapproval - and even breaks a glass in anger Just friends? Valentina (Francia Raisa) and Charlie (Tom Ainsley) remain friends after calling off their romance So upset he is at the sight of the couple, he unintentionally breaks the glass he is cleaning. Meanwhile, Valentina (Francia Raisa) and Charlie (Tom Ainsley) have also called off their romance. However they struggle to keep their hands off one another. 'We're not a couple anymore!' Valentina insists to Ellen (Tien Tran). Skeptical: Ellen (Tien Tran) is not convinced it's completely over It gets complicated: Valentina and Charlie get hot and heavy on the couch despite officially ending their romantic relationship Oops! After an embarrassing introduction, in which Ellen inadvertently refers to him as an 'old guy', John gives Sophie a romantic kiss in front of all her friends Ellen is skeptical they can really shut down their attraction for one another: 'Can you guys really just turn it off like that, your dynamic is incredibly sensual!' she points out. It turns out she's right - the exes are then seen sharing a couch, where Charlie firmly places a hand on Valentina's upper thigh. After several moments of sexual tension, they passionately pull each other in for a kiss. Antics ensue! Jesse attempts to help Sophie make left hand turns Cast of characters: A spin-off of the hit series How I Met Your Mother, the series debuted on Hulu in January 2022 and also starred Kim Cattrall as Sophie in the year 2050 And John Corbett also makes an appearance as Sophie's older boyfriend. After an embarrassing introduction, in which Ellen inadvertently refers to him as an 'old guy', he gives Sophie a romantic kiss in front of all her friends. Sophie and Jesse also manage to remain friends despite their messy split last season. 'We work well together,' Sophie tells him. 'I couldn't agree more,' he replies. A spin-off of the hit series How I Met Your Mother, the series debuted on Hulu in January 2022 and also starred Kim Cattrall as Sophie in the year 2050. That's what friends are for! Sophie shares an embrace with her best pal An Australian influencer has revealed why she prefers travelling alone, saying visiting foreign countries without a partner makes you 'hot, sexy and mysterious'. Cassidy McGill, 27, who first found fame on Love Island Australia before gaining nearly 400,000 Instagram followers, has visited cities in the UK, Italy, Greece, Spain and France by herself. Taking to her Instagram Stories on Tuesday, she wrote: 'Being a female solo traveller is mysterious and hot and sexy.' Australian influencer Cassidy McGill has revealed why she prefers travelling alone, saying visiting foreign countries without a partner makes you 'hot, sexy and mysterious' 'The world is your oyster. You have the opportunity to meet so many interesting people [and] experience beautiful cities and countries,' she added. 'Solo travel is magical and invigorating, and I'm telling you once you start you'll feel the energy to just naturally embrace it.' Cassidy added she often asks strangers to take her holiday snaps because it's a great way of meeting people. The influencer, pictured in Greece, has travelled all over the world by herself Cassidy, 27, who first found fame on Love Island Australia, has visited cities in the UK, Italy, Greece, Spain and France by herself. (She is pictured here at Disneyland Paris) It comes after Cassidy revealed she is seeing a therapist to help manage her mental health following her recent white-powder scandal. The ex-reality star said in an Instagram post on Tuesday things had been 'pretty rough' for her lately, and admitted regular therapy sessions were helping her cope. 'I've been focusing on dealing with weaknesses in my mental state that revealed themselves when I was at my lowest,' she wrote. Cassidy revealed in an Instagram post on Tuesday things had been 'pretty rough' for her after her recent white-powder scandal, and said regular therapy sessions were helping her cope 'I genuinely thought my mental health was in better condition. I'm in consistent therapy to make sure I can cope in the future,' she added. Cassidy said she had been targeted by hateful trolls recently and told them to stop. 'I'm human, I made a mistake. Choosing to harass and bully a stranger online isn't kind,' she wrote. Cassidy said she had been targeted by hateful trolls recently and told them to stop Earlier this month, Cassidy issued an apology after an image of her holding a plate with white powder circulated on social media. 'I made a mistake, which I do not take lightly. This behaviour is out of character and I am truly sorry to have let you all down,' she said. 'I am sorry to my friends, family, my team and the brands I represent.' The white-powder photo was accidentally uploaded to Instagram by Cassidy before being deleted shortly afterwards. In the image, she is seen grinning with her mouth and eyes closed as she holds a plate that appears to have two lines of a white substance on it, along with a small bag of powder. Fans were quick react to the image on social media, with one writing: 'That's just disappointing.' They recently sparked dating rumours by wearing matching costumes to a New Year's Eve party in Brighton. And Gogglebox's Tom Malone Jr and Strictly's Saffron Barker have continued to set tongues wagging about a possible romance as they attended an event together. Tom, 29, and Saffron, 22, made a joint appearance at Disney+'s Welcome To Chippendales launch in Soho, London, on Tuesday night. Dating? Gogglebox's Tom Malone Jr and Strictly's Saffron Barker have continued to set tongues wagging about a possible romance as they attended an event together on Tuesday The pair had their arms around each other as they posed for pictures, as Saffron flashed her toned abs in a stylish red and pink suit. She completed her look with a white crop top, pointy heels and wore her blonde tresses in loose waves while opting for a bronzed makeup look. Meanwhile Tom opted for a double denim ensemble, white T-shirt and comfortable trainers as he cosied up to the beauty. Cosy: Tom, 29, and Saffron, 22, made a joint appearance at Disney+'s Welcome To Chippendales launch in Soho, London, on Tuesday night The pair both took part in The Real Dirty Dancing which aired on E4 last year where they got to know each other. And last week they sparked dating rumours by wearing matching costumes to a New Year's Eve party in Brighton. Tom and Saffron both dressed up as characters from Grease in leather T-bird jackets, just like Danny Zuko and Sandy Olsson. Close: The pair had their arms around each other as they posed for pictures, as Saffron flashed her toned abs in a stylish red and pink suit Pose: She completed her look with a white crop top, pointy heels and wore her blonde tresses in loose waves while opting for a bronzed makeup look Party: Meanwhile Tom opted for a double denim ensemble, white T-shirt and comfortable trainers as he cosied up to the beauty (pictured with Chyna Mills and Neil Jones) Tom shared the photos on Instagram with the smiling pair engaging in a cosy embrace. He captioned the imaged with the words: 'Just a couple T Birds and a Karate Kid. New Years was a madness.' Saffron responded to Tom's content with a hand over the mouth emoji - and then she shared the pictured to her own account. New romance: It comes after last week they sparked dating rumours by wearing matching costumes to a New Year's Eve party in Brighton New Year: Tom captioned the images with the words: 'Just a couple T Birds and a Karate Kid. New Years was a madness' Their followers took to the comments section to question if Tom has broken up with girlfriend Bryony Briscoe. They wrote: 'No more Bryony then?' Another then said: 'It's typically a couple's costume though.' Someone else then commented: 'Please say you are together.' What's going on? Many fans have wondered if Tom has split up with his girlfriend, Bryony Briscoe (pictured together) A fourth said: 'Need answer are you too an item WHAT ??? If so it's great.' However a spokesperson for Saffron told MailOnline that she and Tom are simply friends. Tom and Bryony previously lived together and regularly shared content with each other on social media. Bryony has now wiped any trace of Tom for her Instagram page and vice versa. Giving it some: Tom pictured on the same reality dance show which was filmed in 2021 and aired last year The big lift: Saffron and Tom both appeared on The Real Dirty Dancing show on E4 but were not paired with one another Kimberley Garner showcased her incredible physique in a black mini dress as she hit the beach in Miami, Florida on Tuesday. The former Made In Chelsea star, 31, turned heads in the figure hugging ribbed number as she carried her beige loafers in her hand along the sandy beach. She showed off her glowing tan while hiding behind a dark pair of sunglasses and toted her belongings around in a chic black bag. Leggy display: Kimberley Garner showcased her incredible physique in a black mini dress as she hit the beach in Miami, Florida on Tuesday Kimberley styled her long blonde locks loose as they cascaded down her back and she applied a radiant palette of makeup to showcase her beauty. The TV personality accessorised the day time look with a simple silver bangle and a gold chain necklace. Kimberley did not seem particularly relaxed as she constantly checked her phone while wondering along the beach. Wow: The former Made In Chelsea star, 31, turned heads in the figure hugging ribbed number as she carried her beige loafers in her hand along the sandy beach Coordinated: She showed off her glowing tan while hiding behind a dark pair of sunglasses and toted her belongings around in a chic black designer bag She was joined walking along the beach with a pal who donned a pair of dark swim shorts and a crisp white T-shirt. The TV star was later spotted sitting on a sun lounge under an umbrella with pals as she removed her sunglasses to relax during the day. It comes after Kimberley 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 Sensational: Kimberley styled her long blonde locks loose as they cascaded down her back and she applied a radiant palette of makeup to showcase her beauty Sizzling: The TV personality accessorised the day time look with a simple silver bangle and a gold chain necklace Looking good: She was joined walking along the beach with a pal who donned a pair of dark swim shorts and a crisp white T-shirt The reality star 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. The UK based reality star launched swimwear line Kimberley London in 2013 and it has continued to flourish over the years. Relaxing: The TV star was later spotted sitting on a sun lounge under an umbrella as she removed her sunglasses to relax during the day Soaking up the sun: She seemed in high spirits as she spoke with pals who lounged next to her Vacation: Kimberley flew into Miami yesterday after soaking up the sun in Anguilla 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.' High spirits: The reality star was all smiles as she walked around the beach club Pals: She waited for a male pal before departing who hit behind a black cap and sunglasses 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.' Incredible: The UK based reality star launched swimwear line Kimberley London in 2013 and it has continued to flourish over the years A Ukrainian soldier battling in the eastern village of Soledar stated that the current death toll is so high that "no one counts the dead." The fighter is a member of the 46th air mobile brigade, which is leading Ukraine's defense of Soledar against a large assault by Russian forces and Wagner mercenaries. Ukraine War Death Toll He depicted a dynamic battlefield in which structures shift hands everyday and units are unable to follow the rising death toll. As of Tuesday night, the soldier stated that it was unknown how much of the city was held by the Russians: "No one can definitively tell who moved where and who has what since nobody knows for certain. In the city, there is a vast grey region that everyone claims to manage, [but] this is only meaningless hype." The Ukrainians have suffered significant losses in Soledar, but their numbers are being reinforced as the battle for the mining city continues. Per CNN, the soldier stated that he anticipated Ukraine's military authorities would ultimately leave the Soledar battle and questioned why they hadn't done so yet. Tuesday, the 46th air mobile brigade reported on its Telegram channel that the situation in Soledar was "very challenging, but controllable." In his evening address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky commended the brigade's members "for their valor and perseverance in protecting Soledar." There appears to be no proof that Russia killed hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers over the weekend in response to a devastating offensive launched by Kyiv during the New Year's holiday. TASS stated that Moscow says it killed around 600 Ukrainians in a missile attack on temporary outposts in the eastern city of Kramatorsk on Sunday. There appears to be little evidence, however, to back the Russian assertion. Multiple journalists from major organizations visited the location and stated that there were no signs of mass casualties. According to a Reuters investigation, there were no visible indicators that soldiers had inhabited the building. Additionally, Ukrainian officials have denied Moscow's assertion. The mayor of Kramatorsk stated that no troops were killed or injured, while Serhii Cherevatyi, a spokesman for the Ukrainian military, told CNN that Russia's claims are "nonsense." Read Also: [Report] Kim Jong Un Orders To Execute North Korea's Ex-Minister as Clampdown Continues Russia Fabricates Evidence of Failure Even Russian mil-bloggers have questioned the Kremlin's claims and criticized Moscow's military leadership for fabricating evidence to make it appear that Russia successfully retaliated for a recent Ukrainian attack that killed dozens of Russian troops, according to an analysis by the Institute for the Study of War in Washington. According to ISW, critics asserted that Russia's defense ministry often makes false statements and criticized the leadership for constructing a tale of retribution rather than addressing the shortcomings that led to Russian casualties. According to TASS, the Kramatorsk offensive was conducted in retaliation for a deadly Ukrainian assault on Russian soldiers over the New Year's holiday. Using a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) supplied by the United States, Kyiv attacked Russian troops in the captured city of Makiivka. In an unusual acknowledgment of military fatalities, the Kremlin reported that the onslaught killed roughly 90 Moscow forces. The Ukrainian military provided a far higher death toll, alleging that up to 400 soldiers were killed and another 300 were injured. Both estimations could not be independently confirmed. The strike quickly prompted widespread condemnation of Russia's military leadership and calls for the punishment of prominent officials. Later, Moscow blamed the attack on the usage of smartphones by its own forces, which, according to Russia, allowed the Ukrainians to pinpoint their location and launch the attack. Many in both Russia and Ukraine disregarded this story. The Russians' casualties at Makiivka have been linked to their commanders' grave errors in stationing soldiers in close proximity to ammo stores within shooting range. These acts are seen as egregious errors. Related Article: US, Germany To Send Infantry Fighting Vehicles to Ukraine Following France's Military Support for Kyiv @YouTube @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Dame Emma Thompson and her husband Greg Wise were in good spirits as they attended the press night after party for On The Ropes at Park Theatre in London on Tuesday. Actress Dame Emma, 63, cut a casual figure as she wore a pair of pink denim dungarees with a matching cotton shirt and white knitted cardigan. Her actor husband Greg, 56, stood with his hand around his partner while wearing a blue denim jacket with a pair of darker jeans. Out and about: Dame Emma Thompson, 63, and her husband Greg Wise, 56, were in good spirits as they attended the press night after party for On The Ropes at Park Theatre in London Dame Emma, who completed her look with a pair of comfortable white trainers, could be seen grinning from ear-to-ear as she stood next to her one-time Strictly Come Dancing star partner. They were seen posing alongside fellow actor Don Warrington, 71, at the event, with the Death in Paradise star wearing a navy blue shirt under a lavender jacket and coat. On the Ropes tells the story of Vernon Vanriel (Mensah Bediako) who arrived in Britain at the age of six with his family as part of the Windrush Generation. Happy couple: Actress Dame Emma cut a casual figure as she wore a pair of pink denim dungarees with a matching cotton shirt and white knitted cardigan Strike a pose: Her actor husband Greg stood with his hand around his partner while wearing a blue denim jacket with a pair of darker jeans Famous friends: They were seen posing with fellow actor Don Warrington, 71, at the event, with the Death in Paradise star wearing a navy blue shirt under a lavender jacket and coat He rose to prominence as one of the most influential Black British boxers of the 70s and 80s. Having lived in London for 40 years, he later found himself trapped in Jamaica fought a bare-knuckle fight for his right to citizenship with the British Home Office. Elsewhere, former EastEnders and Coronation Street actress Michelle Collins, 60, showed off her chic sense of style as she wore a long black coat with a faux fur trim for the night. Screen star: Former EastEnders and Coronation Street actress Michelle Collins, 60, showed off her chic sense of style as she wore a long black coat with a faux fur trim for the night Fashion focus: She wore a black skirt with a matching belt and opted for a black turtle neck jumper Looking good: The soap actress wore lashings of make-up and carried a black handbag with her Keeping it casual: Actor David Morrissey, 58, wore a green jacket and a navy blue pair of jeans for the evening She wore a black skirt with a matching belt and opted for a black turtle neck jumper. Elsewhere, actor and comedian Sanjeev Bhaskar, 59, was joined by his former The Kumars at No. 42 co-star Meera Syal, 59. Funnyman Sanjeev wore a blue and black jumper with a pair of black trousers while Meera opted for all black attire. Radio presenter Jackie 'O' Henderson has opened up about her weight loss and recent health woes, which have seen her off the air since November. The mother of one, 47, said that while she had to step back from work at the end of last year to recuperate from Covid, she is now feeling better than ever - in part thanks to WW, formerly known as Weight Watchers. 'As soon as I went on the program, my weight started to drop off. It pretty much works for anyone,' she told Sunrise presenter Monique Wright. Radio presenter Jackie 'O' Henderson (pictured) has opened up about her weight loss and recent health woes, which have seen her off the air since November 'I don't want anyone obsessing about weight or junk food. It's not about calories; it's just about being healthy.' The KIIS FM personality added a well-deserved trip to Fiji with her daughter Kitty, 12, in late 2022 had helped her feel physically and mentally refreshed. Jackie said she'd picked up some healthy living habits over the past two months, which will come in handy when she returns to the airwaves on Monday. The mother of one, 47, said that while she had to step back from work at the end of last year to recuperate from Covid, she is now feeling better than ever - in part thanks to Weight Watchers 'Cold showers, meditation, exercise and eating healthy is going to be a huge benefit for me,' she said. She announced in November she was stepping down from KIIS FM's The Kyle and Jackie O Show for health reasons. Jackie, who had been coughing and sounding unwell on air for weeks, explained she had been suffering from poor health since contracting Covid-19 a few months ago and needed proper rest to recover. 'As soon as I went on the [WW] program, my weight started to drop off. It pretty much works for anyone,' she told Sunrise presenter Monique Wright 'I've been not very well ever since I've had Covid I've been struggling with this fatigue,' she told listeners. 'I've been to the doctor several times and he said because I've been pushing myself every day, after the show all I've been doing is sleeping and I'm not getting better.' 'I just have to take some time off,' she added. 'I'm ending the show today. As in now.' Podcast host Brittany Hockley, who presents the Life Uncut radio show for KIIS FM on weekends, filled in as co-anchor while Jackie recuperated. Newlyweds Tayla Damir and Nathan Broad recently returned home after enjoying a romantic honeymoon in the Maldives. And on Tuesday, the Love Island Australia alum, 25, was faced with one of the realities of married life - your partner's annoying habits. Tayla was very impressed when her husband destroyed her homemade lasagna by slathering it in BBQ sauce. Disgusting moment AFL star Nathan Broad (left) destroyed his wife Tayla Damir's (right) homemade lasagna by slathering it in BBQ sauce Tayla shared a video to Instagram of Nathan covering his lasagna with the sauce before eating it. 'Don't do it, I'll divorce you,' she jokingly warned Nathan as he picked up the sauce bottle. After slathering the lasagna with the BBQ sauce, Tayla burst into laughter before saying: 'Give me your ring.' Tayla and Nathan tied the knot in October in the Gold Coast hinterland. Tayla shared a video to Instagram of Nathan covering his lasagna with sauce before eating it The couple married in front of their family, friends and fellow influencers, all of whom were banned from using their phones as the bride walked down the aisle. She previously told the Herald Sun she and the Richmond player were planning to follow the 'unplugged' wedding trend by asking guests not to use recording devices. 'When I walk down the aisle, I want to see everyone's face rather than the back of phones so in that case it probably will be a no-phone wedding,' she explained. 'Don't do it, I'll divorce you,' she jokingly warned Nathan as he picked up the sauce bottle Rather than banning phones altogether, the couple seem to have allowed guests to take photos at certain times during the wedding and reception, and it also appears guests were asked to refrain from posting until after the festivities. After the wedding, Tayla and Nathan enjoyed a romantic honeymoon in the Maldives. She announced her engagement to Nathan in June 2021, posting a video to Instagram of the moment her boyfriend proposed. Mikaela Testa is on the hunt for a new boyfriend and isn't shy about flaunting the goods in a bid to attract one. The TikTok and OnlyFans star, 22, showed off her incredible figure on Wednesday while modelling a very skimpy black bikini in a racy video. Risking a wardrobe malfunction in the barely there two-piece, the busty brunette strutted down a hallway before twirling around to highlight all her best angles. TikTok and OnlyFans star Mikaela Testa, 22, showed off her incredible figure on Wednesday while modelling a very skimpy black bikini in a racy video With her long dark locks pulled back into pigtails, Mikaela finished off her risque look with a pair of thigh-high black socks and a black choker with a long gold chain. The first part of the footage begins with the Aussie influencer sashaying her hips as she plays with her hair and preens for the camera. She is then sent a DM by a fan asking her to 'make it a 360', to which she replies: 'Fine.' Risking a wardrobe malfunction in the barely there two-piece, the busty brunette strutted down a hallway before twirling around to highlight all her best angles In the next video, she obliges the request by turning around to show off her famously curvy derriere. It comes after Mikaela revealed she'd been flooded with responses on Tinder after demanding a man with 'seven inches' who is willing to quit his job and follow her around the world taking photos. Her eyebrow-raising dating requirements were so outrageous that she was forced to take to Instagram to confirm the Tinder profile was in fact hers. Risking a wardrobe malfunction in the barely there two-piece, the busty brunette strutted down a hallway before twirling around to highlight all her best angles Sharing a screenshot of the Tinder profile confirming its authenticity, she wrote: 'To all my DMs right now, yes this is me.' The model also revealed she'd received quite a racy response from a handsome possible suitor. 'I'll gladly be your munch. I'm 6 foot 1, hung, and produce music so I travel the world, plus I'm European so you get that euro citizenship,' he wrote. It comes after Mikaela revealed she'd been flooded with responses on Tinder after demanding a man with 'seven inches' who is willing to quit his job and follow her around the world taking photos 'Sounds okay,' Mikaela replied, adding: 'I'm really chasing U.S. citizenship though.' Mikaela, who earns seven figures a year selling racy photos on OnlyFans, recently joined the dating app after splitting from cryptocurrency investor Atis Paul. Atis is the brother of Anna Paul, one of the most popular Australians on TikTok. Margot Robbie solidified her reputation as one of Hollywood's most glamorous actresses as she arrived at the Golden Globe Awards on Tuesday night. And while the Babylon star was a picture of elegance on the red carpet, a small detail on her face serves as a reminder of her wilder years. A closer look at the 32-year-old's near-flawless visage shows she has a small scar on her nostril from where she used to have a stud piercing in her teens and twenties. A small detail on Margot Robbie's face served as a reminder of her wilder years during her red carpet arrival at the Golden Globe Awards on Tuesday night Margot, who began her career on Australian soap opera Neighbours before her big break in The Wolf of Wall Street, removed the stud about 13 years ago, just as her star was starting to rise in Hollywood. Margot previously revealed she decided to get her nose pierced as a teenager while she was 'drunk' on a school trip to Italy. 'If I'd known then that I was one day going to be an actor I definitely would not have got my nose pierced,' she told her mother Sarie Kessler during an interview published in Australian Vogue in 2019. The 32-year-old has a small scar on her nostril (circled in red) from where she used to have a stud piercing in her teens and twenties 'It's so annoying; I see the nose ring hole all the time on screen and I always think of that time I was a drunk stupid teenager in Italy thinking it would be hilarious to get my nose pierced,' she added. Margot, who boasts several tattoos on her feet and ankle, previously detailed her love for body modifications in 2016, telling Vogue: 'I have a bit of a morbid fascination with needles. 'There've been a few instances when I've given piercings.' Margot, who began her career on Australian soap opera Neighbours before her big break in The Wolf of Wall Street, removed the stud about 13 years ago, just as her star was starting to rise in Hollywood. (She is pictured with her nose ring in Melbourne in 2009) Margot previously revealed she decided to get her nose pierced as a teenager while she was 'drunk' on a school trip to Italy. (She is pictured with her nose ring in 2009) Despite her regrets, Margot still looked a million bucks as she walked down the Golden Globes red carpet in a dazzling halterneck gown by Chanel. The soft pink dress featured a ruffled hem and extra sparkle came in the form of a diamond broach pinned to the bodice. Margot's choice of pink appears to be an homage to her upcoming role as Barbie in the upcoming Greta Gerwig comedy. 'If I'd known then that I was one day going to be an actor I definitely would not have got my nose pierced,' she told Australian Vogue in 2019. (She is pictured with her nose ring in 2009) Despite her regrets, Margot still looked a million bucks as she descended upon the Golden Globes red carpet in a dazzling halterneck gown by Chanel The soft pink dress featured a ruffled hem and extra sparkle came in the form of a diamond broach pinned to the bodice Ronnie Wood has made a fortune on his incredible paintings as he pockets over 1 million in a year. The Rolling Stones star, 75, filed new accounts for his art company revealing he made a massive 1,437,277 in profit last year. With the guitarist work being snapped up around the world it is the first time his art has passed the million pound mark. Amazing: Ronnie Wood has made a fortune on his incredible prints and oil paintings as he pockets over 1 million in a year Ronnie has created oil painting and prints of his bandmates and has had exhibitions in London. He discovered his talent for painting at Ealing Art College in the 60s alongside fellow stars Freddie Mercury and Pete Townshead. After finding fame, Ronnie picked up a paint brush again in the 80s. Talented: The Rolling Stones star, 75, filed new accounts for his art company revealing he made a massive 1,437,277 in profit last year He previously said: 'When I am painting, I lose track of time. I get engrossed. It's great'. It comes after The Rolling Stones are reportedly set to release their first album of new music later this year. The album would be Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie's first album in 18 years and the first since the death of drummer Charlie Watts two years ago. Following a traumatic year, the trio are reportedly set to look forward to the future, with a source stating; 'Theyve had a knock in recent years, but the show goes on.' Incredible: With the guitarist work being snapped up around the world it is the first time his art has passed the million pound mark The group, who released Live Kicks in 2004 and A Bigger Bang in 2005, are said to have got together for studio sessions in New York over the past two weeks, and were joined by drummer Steve Jordan and bass player Darryl Jones. A source told The Sun: 'After Charlies passing there was some uncertainty about what to do next. They had stadium dates scheduled so pressed ahead, but afterwards it wasnt clear what the future looked like. 'But now theyve had time to reflect they all feel its the right thing to keep doing what theyve always done as a band, make new music and hopefully hit the road again to perform it to their fans. 'Theyve had a knock in recent years, but the show goes on and The Stones always do.' The insider went on to add that the rockers are planning on a 'major tour' after the album, which will likely include countries in the US, South America and Europe. MailOnline have contacted The Rolling Stones representatives for comment. A former Bachelorette star has publicly slammed the new suitors from The Bachelors, Felix Von Hofe, Jed McIntosh and Thomas Malucelli, calling out their 'disrespectful behaviour' on the show. Michael Turnbull, who was the runner-up on Sam Frost's debut season 2015, took to social media to express his disappointment in the three new men. 'The behaviour of the men is so disrespectful to women... it's not cool,' the 41-year-old shared with his 106,000 Instagram followers on Tuesday. Former Bachelorette star Michael Turnbull (pictured) has publicly slammed the new suitors from The Bachelors, calling out their 'disrespectful behaviour' on the show He then took another swipe at the new season, writing on his Instagram Story: 'R.I.P. Romance 10th Jan 2023.' During Tuesday's episode, Felix, a professional athlete from Melbourne, was seen packing on the PDA with a number of different girls in a matter of minutes. Fans flocked to social media to slam Felix's behaviour, describing him as a 'red flag'. 'The behaviour of the men is so disrespectful to women... it's not cool,' the 41-year-old shared with his 106,000 Instagram followers on Tuesday 'Felix is the reason women hate men. We have absolute no chance while we have him as our representative,' one viewer wrote. 'Watching @TheBachelorAU and Felix is so gross. I'd run away from him in a bar because of his aura,' commented another. 'The fact that Felix is 27 and acting like this. Man's frontal lobe is fully formed, there aint no changing him now. Closer to 30 but acting 18,' wrote a third. During Tuesday's episode, Felix, a professional athlete from Melbourne, was seen packing on the PDA with a number of different girls in a matter of minutes It comes after Daily Mail Australia revealed that Michael was the infamous 'Bachelor contestant' Tash Candyce dated for two years before she joined The Bachelors. Tash and Michael went public with their relationship in September 2018, before getting engaged two months later. 'I was so surprised, I didn't know what to expect,' Natasha told WHO magazine after her then-boyfriend proposed. It comes after Daily Mail Australia revealed that Michael (left) was the infamous 'Bachelor contestant' Tash Candyce (right) dated for two years before she joined The Bachelors They ended their engagement in February 2019, but had reconciled by August. In July 2021, she made headlines when she announced her engagement to Agostino 'Aggi' Guardiani, who appeared on Becky and Elly Miles' season of The Bachelorette. She shared a photo on Instagram of herself with Aggi, 31, along with the caption: 'Just Married!!!!' She famously plays Princess Diana in The Crown. But Elizabeth Debicki channelled another fashion icon on Tuesday as she arrived at the Golden Globe Awards in a Marilyn Monroe-inspired gown. The Australian actress, 32, appeared to take inspiration from Marilyn's look in Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend as she sashayed down the red carpet in a floor-length pink gown with a sparkling diamond necklace. She famously plays Princess Diana in The Crown, but Elizabeth Debicki channelled another style icon on Tuesday as she arrived at the Golden Globes in a Marilyn Monroe-inspired gown The star's dress bore a striking resemblance to Marilyn gown from 1953 film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes The Great Gatsby star enhanced her natural beauty with heavy eye makeup, including eyelash extensions and a sparkling powder shadow. Her pink dress was cut off at the shoulder and cinched under the chest, drawing attention to Elizabeth's slender frame. The Golden Globes is being held once again at The Beverly Hilton hotel in Los Angeles following a one-year break from screens amid controversy over ethical lapses and a lack of diversity. Now the embattled Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which puts on the Globes, is seeking a prime-time comeback. The Great Gatsby star enhanced her natural beauty with heavy eye makeup, including eyelash extensions and a sparkling powder shadow The Golden Globes is being held once again at The Beverly Hilton hotel in LA following a one year break from screens amid controversy over ethical lapses and a lack of diversity Elizabeth was nominated for her role as Princess Diana in The Crown, while Jonathan Pryce was nominated for his role as Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh. Yellowstone finally made the list of nominees after repeated snubs from the film and TV industry, with a Best Actor in a Drama Series nomination for star Kevin Costner. The Banshees of Inisherin starring Colin Farrell won the most nominations - eight - while Everything Everywhere All At Once won six. Elizabeth was nominated for her role as Princess Diana in The Crown, while Jonathan Pryce was nominated for his role as Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh Elvis, Avatar: The Way of Water and Top Gun: Maverick were all nominated for Best Picture, while The Crown won an array of nominations. The White Lotus swept the Limited Series categories, with Jennifer Coolidge and Aubrey Plaza winning nominations for Best Supporting Actresses. Brendan Fraser was nominated for Best Actor for his role in The Whale; however, he previously vowed to boycott the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. He previously accused Philip Berk, the now-banned former HFPA president who once described BLM as a 'hate movement', of groping him at a luncheon. The 2023 awards marks a return to air for the embattled HPFA since it overhauled its organisation following a racism row in 2021. The scandal erupted in 2021 when it emerged there were no black members among the 87-person association. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler called out the association live during their 2021 opening monologue in February of that year. The 2023 awards marks a return to air for the embattled Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HPFA) since it overhauled its organisation following a racism row in 2021 Ben Fogle: New Lives In The Wild Rating: ***** Bradley and Barney Walsh: Breaking Dad Rating: ** That Ben Fogle, what a charmer he is. If he ever switches career to enter politics, one rueful smile and a couple of soulful gazes will send him straight into Downing Street. Ben makes a career of coaxing grumpy curmudgeons to love him, employing the self-deprecating wit of Louis Theroux, with the cheeky twinkle of Ant and Dec. Later in this series of New Lives In The Wild (C5), he returns to the lawless Slab City in California, where he has befriended its population of junkies and weirdos. This time, though, he was in the rainforests of northern Australia to meet an eco-hermit named Bette. This time on New Lives in the Wild, Ben Fogle was in the rainforests of northern Australia to meet an eco-hermit named Bette Bette was 79 and what the locals called a colourful character. When construction companies tried to drain the Queensland swamps, it was Bette who lay down in front of the bulldozers and, at first, she took the same obstructive attitude to Bens arrival. If he wanted to eat while he was her guest, she declared, hed have to cook for himself. He could make her meals, too, while he was about it. And though her house in the wetlands had only holes in the walls for its windows and doors, Ben wasnt allowed to sleep there. He got a mosquito net, a mattress and a sheet of corrugated tin for a roof. Bettes idea of hospitality was embodied by Sid Vicious, her mongrel terrier: Hes got a bit of a personality problem, she warned, so dont touch him. Sid had an undershot jaw, which gave him a permanent snarl. Even Ben looked wary. But it takes more than a canine punk to undermine his amiability. Ben headed straight for the kitchen, rustling up boiled pasta and a dollop of Vegemite. Do you cook at home very often? sneered Bette. Is everybody still alive in your family? Undaunted, benign Ben set about the household repairs. He checked the pulleys that hoist Bettes furniture off the floor whenever her home floods. And he set to work with a shovel, clearing vegetation and spreading gravel. Grudgingly, and with more than a hint of sarcasm, Bette said it was looking beautiful. Ben is immune to sarcasm. Beautiful? he beamed. Me, or the gravel? That did the trick. No woman, however cantankerous she pretends to be, can resist Ben when hes flirting. You can always take your shirt off, she encouraged him. Bette was 79 and what the locals called a colourful character. By the end of the hour, Bette was pouring out her heart to him, revealing traumas in her past that had driven her to become a recluse By the end of the hour, Bette was pouring out her heart to him, revealing traumas in her past that had driven her to become a recluse. All that charm had a purpose. No other interviewer on telly could have drawn those secrets from her. Bradley Walsh has a cheeky charm, too, but it serves little purpose on his roving adventure holidays with son Barney on Breaking Dad (ITV1). Brad and Barnes are simply tourists. They treated the people they met in Mexico as human guidebooks, barely bothering to ask their names. Most of their daredevil activities appear to be no more than expensive excursions a dawn ascent in a hot-air balloon, a trek into a cave filled with bats and snakes, that sort of thing. Bradley Walsh has a cheeky charm, too, but it serves little purpose on his roving adventure holidays with son Barney on Breaking Dad Even the centrepiece, an ascent up the sheer face of the Pena de la Tanda mountain, turned out to be a disappointment when heavy cloud came down, obscuring the view A trip to a waterpark seemed especially pointless. Why go to Mexico for that? Blackpool has far better. The supposedly haunted Island of Dolls was just a shoddy scam, where bits of plastic toys were displayed in jars. Even the centrepiece, an ascent up the sheer face of the Pena de la Tanda mountain, turned out to be a disappointment when heavy cloud came down, obscuring the view. I felt like asking for my money back. Fowl play of the night: Si King and Dave Myers revealed a hidden talent on The Hairy Bikers Go Local (BBC2). Visiting a Norfolk farm, they herded a flock of free-range geese from one field into another. Never mind One Man And His Dog... its Two Men And Their Birds. Nearly 40 years after his first screen role as Short Round in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Ke Huy Quan has won his first Golden Globe for his comeback performance in Everything Everywhere All At Once. The 51-year-old actor beat out Brendan Gleeson (The Banshees of Inisherin), Barry Keoghan (The Banshees of Inisherin), Brad Pitt (Babylon) and Eddie Redmayne (The Good Nurse) for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture. The Vietnam native who immigrated to the United States in 1979, delivered a heartwarming speech after winning the first award of the night on Tuesday. Comeback: Nearly 40 years after his first screen role as Short Round in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Ke Huy Quan has won his first Golden Globe for his comeback performance in Everything Everywhere All At Once. Winner: The 51-year-old actor beat out Brendan Gleeson (The Banshees of Inisherin), Barry Keoghan (The Banshees of Inisherin), Brad Pitt (Babylon) and Eddie Redmayne (The Good Nurse) for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture The actor took to the stage and started kissing the award before starting into his speech. 'I was raised to never forget where I came from, and to always remember who gave me my first opportunity. I am so happy to see Steven Spielberg here tonight. Steven, thank you!' he said, as they cut to Temple of Doom director Spielberg who blew kisses towards the actor. 'When I started my career as a child actor in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, I felt so very lucky to have been chosen. As I grew older, I started to wonder if that was it, if that was just luck,' Quan added. Kissing: The actor took to the stage and started kissing the award before starting into his speech Child: 'When I started my career as a child actor in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, I felt so very lucky to have been chosen. As I grew older, I started to wonder if that was it, if that was just luck,' Quan added GOLDEN GLOBES 2023: Winners at a glance FILM: Best Picture - Drama: The Fabelmans Best Picture - Musical/Comedy: The Banshees of Inisherin Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama: Cate Blanchett - TAR Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama: Austin Butler - Elvis Best Actress - Motion Picture - Musical/Comedy: Michelle Yeoh - Everything Everywhere All At Once Best Actor - Motion Picture - Musical/Comedy: Colin Farrell - The Banshees of Inisherin Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture: Ke Huy Quan - Everything Everywhere All At Once Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture: Angela Bassett - Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Best Director - Motion Picture: Steven Spielberg - The Fabelmans Best Screenplay Motion Picture: Martin McDonagh - The Banshees of Inisherin White Lotus' Jennifer Coolidge accepting her win for Best Supporting Actress - Television Limited Series/Motion Picture TELEVISION: Best Drama Series: House Of The Dragon Best Musical/ Comedy series: Abbott Elementary Best Limited Series, Anthology Series or Television Motion Picture: The White Lotus Best Actress - Limited Series, Anthology Series or Television Motion Picture: Amanda Seyfried - The Dropout Best Actor - Limited Series, Anthology Series or Television Motion Picture: Evan Peters - Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story Best Television Actress - Drama Series: Zendaya - Euphoria Best Television Actor Drama Series: Kevin Costner - Yellowstone Best Television Actress Musical/Comedy Series: Quinta Brunson - Abbott Elementary Best Television Actor Musical/Comedy Series: Jeremy Allen White - The Bear Best Supporting Actress - Television Limited Series/Motion Picture: Jennifer Coolidge - The White Lotus Best Supporting Actor - Television Limited Series/Motion Picture: Paul Walter Hauser - Black Bird Best Supporting Actress - Television Series: Julia Garner - Ozark Best Supporting Actor - Television Series: Tyler James Williams - Abbott Elementary Advertisement 'For so many years, I was afraid I had nothing more to offer. No matter what I did, I would never surpass what I achieved as a kid,' he continued while getting emotional. 'Thankfully more than 30 years later, two guys thought of me. They remembered that kid, and they gave me an opportunity to try again,' Quan added while getting choked up, referring to Everything Everywhere All At Once directors Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert. 'Everything that has happened since has been unbelievable. Dan Kwan, Daniel Scheinert, thank you so, so much for helping me find my answer. You have given me more than I could have ever hoped,' he added. Afraid: 'For so many years, I was afraid I had nothing more to offer. No matter what I did, I would never surpass what I achieved as a kid,' he continued while getting emotional Thought: 'Thankfully more than 30 years later, two guys thought of me. They remembered that kid, and they gave me an opportunity to try again,' Quan added while getting choked up, referring to Everything Everywhere All At Once directors Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert He went on to thank the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, distributor A24, producer Jonathan Wong and co-star Stephanie Hsu. 'And last but not least, I want to thank the most important person in my life, the one person that has never stopped believing in me. My wife, I love you with all my heart. Thank you, thank you, thank you!' he concluded. Quan started his acting career with Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom as Short Round and The Goonies as Data, before moving to the small screen, playing Jasper Kwong in Head of the Class and the 1992 movie Encino Man. Thanks: He went on to thank the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, distributor A24, producer Jonathan Wong and co-star Stephanie Hsu While finding it difficult to get acting work as an adult, he enrolled in the film program at USC and transitioned to a life behind the camera after graduating. He served as an assistant fight coordinator on the original X-Men movie and an assistant to second unit director Cory Yuen on Jet Li's The One. After seeing the success of 2018's Crazy Rich Asians, he decided to return to acting, and landed his now-award-winning role of Waymond Wang in Everything Everywhere All At Once. Behind-the-scenes: While finding it difficult to get acting work as an adult, he enrolled in the film program at USC and transitioned to a life behind the camera after graduating Success: After seeing the success of 2018's Crazy Rich Asians, he decided to return to acting, and landed his now-award-winning role of Waymond Wang in Everything Everywhere All At Once At least 47 people have died amid violent protests in Peru following the arrest of the country's former president, Pedro Castillo, over his attempts to dissolve Congress to maintain power. Supporters of Castillo clashed with security forces in southeastern Peru, resulting in dozens of injuries on Monday in the city of Juliaca. The recent demonstrations are considered some of the worst violence since the former president was taken into custody last month. Violent Protests in Peru Castillo's supporters have been protesting his arrest and have blockaded roads for several weeks. They argued that the new president, Dina Boluarte, who was formerly Castillo's vice president, must step down and have called for snap elections. In a statement, Peru Prime Minister Alberto Otarola denounced the clashes in Juliaca, describing them as organized attacks on law enforcement personnel. The official said that several thousands of people tried to overrun the city's airport as well as a local police station. On the other hand, one protester said that the police began shooting at them during the violent clashes. The demonstrator added that they were calling on Dina to resign and accept the fact that the people of Peru did not want her as president, as per BBC. The city of Juliaca is located in the Puno region of Peru, which has been a hotbed of anti-government demonstrations. For several years, the South American nation has gone through political turmoil, with the most recent incident coming to a head after Castillo announced he was going to dissolve Congress and introduce a statement of emergency in December. However, Congress proceeded to vote unanimously to impeach the president, who is now in detention and is being investigated on charges of rebellion and conspiracy. Castillo continues to deny all the accusations and insists that he is still the country's legitimate president. According to the New York Times, the latest victims of the violence in Peru include a young medical student who wanted to help injured protesters, a 22-year-old man who finally had enough savings to study mechanics and an ice cream vendor who was just going home after a long day of work. Read Also: Ukraine War: Soldier Admits 'No One Counts the Dead' in Ukraine Town Under Heavy Attack by Russia The Arrest of Former President Pedro Castillo None of these individuals took part in the protests but all were killed on Monday in southern Peru. In only a few hours, at least 17 civilians and one police officer were killed in the violent clashes. The killings drew widespread criticism of Peruvian security forces, which appeared to be responsible for most, if not all, of the deaths. Protesters and human rights groups have accused them of using lethal force indiscriminately against civilians. Milagros Samillan, the 27-year-old sister of the deceased medical resident, said that her brother was wearing his uniform so that they would be recognized and not be harmed by security forces. The victim was identified as 31-year-old Marco Samillan. The Andean Airports of Peru, which is responsible for operating the Juliaca airport, said that airport services were suspended due to the "violent acts and lack of security" in the area. In December, protesters forced the temporary closure of three airports in Peru, Al Jazeera reported. Related Article: Andrew Tate, Others Lose Appeal To End Detention in Romania Over Rape, Trafficking Charges Pending Investigation @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt's 'spontaneous' on-screen kiss in comedy-drama Babylon has had everyone in Hollywood talking. And the co-stars had plenty of chemistry as they sat next to each other in the audience at the Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills on Tuesday evening. Margot, 32, looked ultra-glamorous in a sheer halterneck sequinned gown by Chanel as she watched the ceremony alongside the 59-year-old Bullet Train star. Margot Robbie (right) and Brad Pitt (left) sat next to each other at the Golden Globes in Beverly Hills on Tuesday evening. They starred together in the comedy-drama Babylon, in which their character's shared a kiss that the actors claim was a 'spontaneous' improvisation on set The Australian actress wore her blonde locks out in soft waves and opted for minimal makeup. Meanwhile, Brad looked dapper in a black tuxedo, white shirt and black bow tie. It comes after Margot confessed to being responsible for the show-stopping kiss with Brad in Babylon. The two-time Oscar nominee, who plays an unhinged starlet taking advantage of every debauched opportunity in 1920s-era Hollywood, told E! News last month the smooch wasn't part of the original screenplay by director Damien Chazelle. The Australian actress wore her blonde locks out in soft waves and opted for minimal makeup. Meanwhile, Brad looked dapper in a black tuxedo, white shirt and black bow tie Instead, the Wolf of Wall Street star pitched the kiss with Brad as a chance to check off a long-standing bucket-list desire. 'That wasn't in the script,' she explained, 'but I thought, "When else am I going to get the chance to kiss Brad Pitt? I'm just going to go for it."' When asked for her reaction to the kiss, she let out a laugh and said: 'It was great!' It comes after Margot confessed to being responsible for the show-stopping kiss with Brad in Babylon (pictured in the movie) She explained how she sold Chazelle, who won the Best Director Oscar for his hit Hollywood musical La La Land, on adding in a kiss between her and Brad. 'I said, "Damien, I think Nellie would just go up and kiss Jack,"' she said. 'And Damien was like, "Well, she could - wait, hold on, you just want to 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."' The two-time Oscar nominee, who plays an unhinged starlet taking advantage of every debauched opportunity in 1920s-era Hollywood , told E! News last month the smooth wasn't part of the original screenplay by director Damien Chazelle. (Pictured: Brad Pitt in Babylon) Although Margot thought of the kiss almost as a lark, Chazelle was convinced it was the right move after the first take - so he made her repeat it. 'He was like, "No, do it again. That really works,"' she said with a laugh. 'I was like, "Oh, great!"' Margot also revealed Brad wasn't the only co-star she kissed while filming Babylon. 'I actually kissed Katherine [Waterston] as well,' she shared, 'but I don't know if that made the cut.' Following the ceremony, Margot joined a host of celebrity guests at an after party at Soho House West Hollywood, where she was joined by the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Coolidge, Dakota Fanning, Austin Butler, and Kaia Gerber. The Wolf of Wall Street star pitched the kiss with Brad to director Damien Chazelle as a chance to check off a long-standing bucket-list desire Jennifer Hudson turned heads as she stepped onto the star-studded red carpet wearing a figure-hugging, gold sequin dress while attending the 2023 Golden Globe Awards in Los Angeles on Tuesday. The talented star, 41, flashed a smile as she showcased her one-of-a-kind, dazzling gown as she joined other celebrities at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. The award-winning beauty later stepped onto the glitzy stage during the ceremony to present the Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture award to Ke Huy Quan. Stunning: Jennifer Hudson, 41, turned heads in a show-stopping gold dress as she attended the 2023 Golden Globe Awards on Tuesday in Los Angeles Jennifer, who has received a Golden Globe win in the past, opted to wear an eye-catching, gold sequin gown from New York-based fashion designer, CD Greene. The back portion of the dress comprised of the same, rectangular sequin material as well as a sheer, tan-colored tulle. The stunning ensemble contained capped sleeves along with a low, V-neck cut. The Dreamgirls actress slipped into a pair of classy, closed-toed black heels with a gold trim to coincide with the color scheme of her red carpet dress. The mother of one accessorized her look with a pair of thin, dangly earrings along with gold bracelets on each of her wrists. Her locks were slicked back into a stylish, retro-inspired up do. Her makeup was classically done for the glamorous evening, and comprised of a layer of black mascara along with darker, smoky eyeshadow. The performer chose to add a nude-colored lipstick to allow the vibrant dress to be the main focal point. Unique dress: Jennifer, who has received a Golden Globe win in the past, opted to wear an eye-catching, gold sequin gown from New York-based fashion designer, CD Greene Glammed up: The mother of one accessorized her look with a pair of thin, dangly earrings along with gold bracelets while her locks were slicked back into a stylish, retro-inspired up do For an edgy addition to the Golden Globes outfit, Jennifer chose to have her bold, pointed nails painted in a matte black nail polish. The TV personality had the chance to show off her dress once again by stepping onto the stage during the ceremony in order to present Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture, which went to Ke Huy Quan for his role in Everything Everywhere All At Once. She was pictured handing the statue over to the excited actor, and the two shared a quick embrace before he gave his acceptance speech. Jennifer officially became the winner of an 'EGOT' last year in 2022, meaning she has been the recipient of an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and most recently, a Tony Award. Presenter: The talk show host had the chance to show off her dress once again by stepping onto the stage during the ceremony in order to present Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture Special moment: The two stars were seen on stage sharing a quick embrace before the actor gave his acceptance speech Talented: Jennifer officially became the winner of an 'EGOT' last year in 2022, meaning she has been the recipient of an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and most recently, a Tony Award Jennifer recently opened up to People about her feelings becoming the owner of all four awards, admitting to the publication, 'I'm still figuring that out.' 'It's something, obviously, that I aspired to, but it takes a long time to process,' further adding that, 'It puts me in a better position to be able to lend more support.' At the time of being honored with a Tony award last year in June 2022, prompting her to become an EGOT, she shared a heartfelt Instagram clip along with a caption stating, 'Wow !!! I am overwhelmed by all the outpouring of love and support that I am Still receiving and Im still processing this whole new ground.' Alongside appearing on the big screen or performing on stage, the talented star recently launched her own syndicated talk show last year in September called The Jennifer Hudson Show. Recognition: Jennifer recently opened up to People about her feelings becoming the owner of all four awards, admitting to the publication, 'I'm still figuring that out' Honored: At the time of being honored with a Tony award last year in June 2022, prompting her to become an EGOT, she shared a heartfelt Instagram clip She discussed the experience as a host, stating, 'I can't say I knew what to expect. I'm still learning as I go. I think seeing how huge of a machine it is, how many departments it has, meeting the crew and the staff.' Jennifer has a few upcoming projects up her sleeves, including the action film, Breathe, which also stars Resident Evil alum, Milla Jovovich. The premise follows, 'a mother and daughter who fight to survive' in a world where, 'air-supply is scarce,' according to IMDB. The beauty appeared to be in good spirits at the 2023 Golden Globes, which officially resumed to being in person after a two year hiatus. The host was comedian, Jerrod Carmichael, and other celebrities in attendance at the Hollywood ceremony included Austin Butler, Michelle Williams, and Jennifer Coolidge. Hugh Jackman is looking to rent out his USD$3.5million (AU$5million) holiday home in The Hamptons, New York. The Wolverine star, 54 and his wife Deborra-Lee Furness, 67, are seeking a mammoth USD$166,666 (AUD$241,300) per month from tenants during the winter months, reports the New York Post. Located in East Hampton, known as the summer playground for NYC's wealthy elite, the 460sqm ultra-chic pad has five bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms. Hugh Jackman is looking to rent out his USD$3.5million (AU$5million) holiday home in The Hamptons, New York. The Wolverine star, 54 and his wife Deborra-Lee Furness, 67, are seeking a mammoth USD$166,666 (AUD$241,300) per month from tenants during the winter months Highlights include a private gym, home cinema, swimming pool and hot tub. The waterfront home comprises two dwellings, with the guesthouse boasting two bedrooms with a kitchen bar and loft bed. Inside the main home, there is a gourmet kitchen with Gaggenau appliances and a dining room featuring a hand-carved walnut dining table. The three bedrooms in the main home feature ensuite bathrooms with floor-to-ceiling glass doors at each entrance. Located in East Hampton, known as the summer playground for NYC's wealthy elite, the 460sqm ultra-chic pad has five bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms The property is adorned with artwork from American artist James Turrell. Located on the top of a wide escarpment, the home overlooks Gardiner Bay on the Atlantic Ocean. Their rental listing is the latest in a series of market moves in Hugh and Deborra-Lee's property portfolio. Highlights include a private gym, home cinema, swimming pool and hot tub The Hollywood couple purchased the property for $3.5million in 2015. After sealing the deal, they embarked on a six-year journey to transform it into the perfect 'dream home'. Stelle Lomont Rouhani Architects collaborated with Hugh and Deborra-Lee to achieve 'the utmost Zen tranquility'. Before buying in East Hampton, Hugh spent AU$30million on a penthouse in NYC. This move came after the X-Men star listed his nearby triplex for for AU$56million. Cate Blanchett took home the Golden Globe for her portrayal of disgraced composer Lydia Tar in Todd Field's TAR. Blanchett beat out Olivia Colemam, Viola Davis, Ana de Armas and Michelle Williams in the Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama category. The Australian star, 53, was not present at the awards show to accept the trophy as she is currently filming a new movie in the UK. Cate Blanchett took home the Golden Globe for her portrayal of disgraced composer Lydia Tar in Todd Field's TAR British actor Henry Golding accepted the award on her behalf after presenting the category. In the film, Cate plays troubled high-profile composter Lydia Tar, who is days away from recording the symphony that will elevate her career. After one of her former students commits suicide, Lydia is accused of having inappropriate relationships with her female protegees and her world begins to unravel. TAR was written and directed by Todd Field, 58, and was his first film in 16 years. British actor Henry Golding (pictured) accepted the award on her behalf after presenting the category She told W magazine on the filmmaker writing the script just for her: 'Todd sent me this script, and I inhaled it.' 'He wrote it at the beginning of the pandemic,' she said. 'Todd was a musician first, so there was a musical quality to the script, and not just because it's set in the classical music world.' Then, the star - who won the coveted Best Actress award at the Venice Film Festival for her performance in the film - touches on the moral of the story. 'It could just as easily have been about an architect or a painter or a writer - anyone in a position of top institutional power, and the way that being in that position gets in the way of their sense of self and ability to relate to people,' she said. 'In a creative job, you have to be quite brutal with yourself and disciplined,' Cate continued. 'And when, like a conductor, your instrument is a human instrument, how do you maintain that sense of rigor and brutality? 'It's a complicated thing, balancing being a musician, an artist, and also being a human. I'm trying to learn how to be a human.' In the film, Cate plays troubled high-profile composter Lydia Tar (pictured), who is days away from recording the symphony that will elevate her career Despite the critical acclaim that TAR is receiving, a real-life award-winning female conductor has called it an 'offensive' portrayal of a life similar to her own. Marin Alsop, 66, has slammed Tar, directed by Todd Field, which portrays the life of narcissistic conductor and composer Lydia Tar. Blanchett plays the titular character who is fictional, however after reading about the film Marin claims there are 'superficial aspects' about the protagonist which she recognised from her own life. Claiming the film's play on 'pseudo-reality' was 'slightly dangerous' she added viewers might not be able to distinguish the difference between true portrayals and fictional aspects. Her criticism follows confusion over the true basis for the film after the production company clarified its protagonist Lydia Tar was a fictional character (despite having her own Wikipedia page for a short time). After one of her former students commits suicide, Lydia is accused of having inappropriate relationships with her female protegees and her world begins to unravel Speaking to the Sunday Times, Alsop slammed the presentation of Tar as an 'untouchable genius' and a narcissist who berates and humiliates others around her. In one scene, Blanchett's character Lydia Tar mocks a young male student with whom she disagrees, and throughout the film, uses her sexuality to manipulate and control her assistant. Lydia also dismisses the idea of all-female fellowships, arguing they are not needed in an age of gender equality. Alsop said the filmmakers had been given an opportunity to portray a woman in a role they rarely assume in real life and, instead of making her inspiring, she accused them of turning her into 'an abuser'. Adding the character of Lydia Tar was 'heartbreaking', she argued it could lead people to question the suitability of women taking leading positions in society. Award-winning female conductor Marin Alsop (pictured) has slammed the film for its negative portrayal of the titular character, fearing that it could have a real-world impact on women in leadership positions Bindi Irwin has asked fans for help in naming Australia Zoo's newest koala joey. The wildlife warrior, 24, took to Instagram on Wednesday to share adorable pictures of the newborn marsupial cuddled up to their mum. 'Crikey! Wildlife Warriors, we need your help,' she wrote. Bindi Irwin has asked fans for help in naming Australia Zoo's newest koala joey 'Our darling koala joey needs a name. Comment below your best naming suggestions and tag a friend to do the same. 'Together with #AustraliaZoo we will be choosing the very best.' Fans suggestions included Clara, Pip, Joey, Euie short for Eucalyptus, Snuffles, Bubbles and Coco. While many gushed over the 'cuteness' of the baby animal, others suggested naming him Steve, after Bindi's late father, or Olivia, after Aussie icon Olivia Newton-John. The wildlife warrior, 24, took to Instagram on Wednesday to share adorable pictures of the new-born marsupial cuddled up to their mum 'He is a Joey and you already have a Chandlerso Ross, Phoebe, Monica or Rachel,' one fan joked, referring Bindi's husband. It comes after Bindi's fans have gushed over the star's latest family photo amid rumours she is expecting her second child. The mum-of-one shared a photo alongside brother Robert, mother Terri, husband Chandler and her daughter Grace Warrior on Tuesday - with the famous clan all beaming. It comes after Bindi 's fans have gushed over the star's latest family photo amid rumours she is expecting her second child. Pictured: Robert, Terri, Bindi, Chandler, and Grace 'Such a beautiful family. Each of you are beautiful inside and out. You are all so blessed,' one wrote. Another added: 'They are really growing a beautiful family.' While another wrote: 'What a sweet, loving beautiful family. And very kind.' It comes amid rumours Bindi is pregnant and will soon make an announcement alongside Chandler. The couple celebrated Chandler's 26th birthday on November 14, with fans pointing out Bindi was hiding her stomach behind a strategically-placed birthday cake. Pictured here with his family from Florida The couple celebrated Chandler's 26th birthday on November 14, with the eagle-eyed followers pointing out Bindi was hiding her stomach behind a strategically-placed birthday cake. Woman's Day sources close to the pair have alleged the lovebirds will be announcing the big news 'any day now'. The publication alleged the conservationist duo were waiting for Chandler's US-based parents, Chris and Shanna, to arrive in Australia for his birthday to spill the happy news to them first. 'They're hoping to officially announce another baby is on the way any day now,' an insider allegedly told the publication. 'They also can't wait to give Grace a sibling close in age. They really want a boy, given that both Bindi and Chandler grew up with a brother each and loved it.' The insider went on to claim that 'Bindi's sad the infant months are over' and is hoping to give her 20-month-old daughter Grace Warrior a sibling 'sooner rather than later'. 'Bindi's already hinted to her mum that she might be a grandma for the second time and [her mum] Terri's over the moon at the mere thought of it,' they claimed. Radio and television presenter Yumi Stynes may be forced to confront her ex-husband in court following his decision to fight a proposed restraining order brought by police. Stynes was at Bondi Beach with her two youngest children on Wednesday afternoon after the case was mentioned briefly at Downing Centre Local Court. Her former husband Martin Bendeler had instructed a solicitor to indicate he would oppose a police application for an apprehended violence order. If the matter goes to hearing it would pit Stynes and Bendeler against each other and likely require they give evidence in front of a magistrate. An interim AVO was imposed on December 20 after Stynes allegedly told police she had fears for her safety. That came 14 months after she announced the couple's split. Radio presenter Yumi Stynes could find herself facing off against her ex-husband in court following his decision to fight a proposed restraining order. She is pictured at Bondi Beach on Wednesday after the case was mentioned in Downing Centre Local Court Police have taken out an AVO on behalf of Stynes against her ex-husband Martin Bendeler after she claimed his alleged behaviour led her to fear for her safety. The former couple is pictured Under the terms of the order Bendeler must not assault, threaten, stalk, harass or intimidate Stynes, damage her property or harm any pet she owns. He has not been accused of doing any of those things and was not present when the interim order was approved. Bendeler is a former adviser on environment and aid policy with the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and has worked with UNESCO. Stynes announced her separation from Bendeler, her second husband, in October 2021 after almost a decade of marriage. They are both 47. The former Channel [V] host married Bendeler in 2012 and they share two children. Stynes announced her separation from Bendeler, her second husband, in October 2021 after almost a decade of marriage. They are both 47. She is pictured at Bondi Beach on Wednesday It is understood the former couple was trying to co-parent their children until Stynes, who co-hosts a radio show on KIIS FM, made a complaint to police. Stynes broke down in tears live on KIIS FM's 3pm Pick-Up in late October of 2021 as she shared heartbreaking details of the split. She said she had moved out of the marital home and into her own apartment and told her co-hosts it was daunting being a single mother for the second time. 'I'm going through a separation at the moment and there's kids involved and my ex is involved so I don't want to say anything that hurts these people,' she said. 'I have had to find an apartment, had to move my stuff, all my crap is in boxes and bags... I had to change my address, throw out the keys that don't work anymore... 'It's been a lot. I spent the weekend moving and I feel like I'm starting my new life now as a single mum. Here I am again.' It is understood the former couple (pictured) was trying to co-parent their two children until Stynes, who co-hosts a radio show on KIIS FM, made a complaint to police Stynes said she was not ready to tell the full story of the break-up, but expected she would still be processing her grief for another year. 'I have hundreds and thousands of words to say but I don't think I'm ready yet,' she told listeners. 'Break-ups aren't over quickly. I'll probably be in this process for another year... I probably will be up and down in the future.' Stynes asked Bendeler to marry her on a February 29, the 'leap day' which occurs every fours years on which women traditionally propose to men. Stynes broke down in tears live on KIIS FM's 3pm Pick-Up in late October of 2021 as she shared heartbreaking details of her split from Bendeler She was previously married to Ben Ely from Brisbane rock band Regurgitator from 2000 to 2008. They have two children, Anouk and Dee Dee. Stynes wrote an article for the ABC in 2020 about how to stay friends with an ex-partner based on her experience co-parenting with Ely. She encouraged people to 'take time apart when it first happens, encourage mutual respect and redraw the boundaries of your relationship'. 'Breaking up 'well' isn't something you think about when you're in the flush of new love,' she wrote. 'And when it all falls apart, staying friendly isn't necessary - unless you share something vital, like a business, friends, a creative project or, in our case, children.' The AVO application returns to court next month. Eddie Murphy's Aussie fiancee Paige Butcher appeared less than impressed when comedian Tracy Morgan roasted the actor for having 10 kids with five women at the Golden Globes on Tuesday. Tracy made a gag about the actor's 'pull-out game' before presenting the Coming To America star with the Cecil B. DeMille Award. 'You got 10 children. Your pull-out game is weak,' the comedian joked as the crowd burst into laughter. Eddie Murphy's Aussie fiancee Paige Butcher looked awkward as comedian Tracy Morgan said actor's 'pull-out game is not strong' while roasting him for having 10 kids with five women 'I know you're trying to break Bob Marley's record. You look at Paige and you get her pregnant,' he added as Paige laughed awkwardly. Paige shares two children, Izzy and three-year-old Max, with her comedian fiance. Eddie also has eight other children from past relationships: five with ex-wife Nicole Mitchell and one each with former flames Mel B, Tamara Hood Johnson and Paulette McNeely. Tracy made a joke about the actor's 'pull-out game' while presenting the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Golden Globe Awards on Tuesday evening Paige and Eddie, who rose to fame as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1980 to 1984, have been in a relationship since 2012. The pair first met on the set of Big Momma's House 2 in 2006. Eddie said last year he feels 'blessed' none of his 10 children has grown up to be a 'Hollywood jerk'. 'I am going to be 60 in April and I have all these babies. I love fatherhood. That is the centre of everything,' he told The Mirror. 'You got 10 children. Your pull-out game is weak,' the comedian joked as Paige laughed awkwardly The whole idea of being out there and doing three movies a year, that s**t is over. I have got all these babies. 'I found it over and over again and along the way I realised that if you put your children first, you never make a bad decision. When you hit a crossroads moment or you have got some s**t, you think, 'Well, what is best for my children?'' He added: 'I am so blessed with my kids. I don't have one bad seed. I don't have any like, 'Oh, you are the one.' I don't have any of that. 'My kids are so great, normal people and nobody is like the Hollywood jerk kid. My kids are smart and are trying to do stuff. I am blessed with my kids. I really, really got lucky.' Fitness guru Tammy Hembrow has hinted at an exciting new project in a series of videos on her Instagram stories. On Wednesday, the 28 year-old's followers caught a glimpse of her on-set in Los Angeles, after she travelled to the US earlier in the week. Crew members were seen in the background of what appeared to be a photo shoot. Wearing a black tube top with a matching skirt, Tammy had her blonde hair tied back and was made up with a heavy makeup palette. She appeared in a few outfits in different settings, suggesting she was part of a large project. One video showed her posing in a tightly-fitted burgundy frock, followed by an intimate moment with her daughter Posy in-between takes. Fitness guru Tammy Hembrow has hinted at an exciting new project in a series of videos on her Instagram stories 'Sneak peek, something exciting coming,' she teased her fans. On Sunday, her former partner Reece Hawkins shared a rare image to Instagram Stories which revealed he was spending time with the children they share - Saskia and Wolf. Tammy recently revealed she's split with her fiance Matt during a photoshoot in Sydney. On Wednesday, the 28 year-old's followers caught a glimpse of her on-set in Los Angeles after she travelled to the US earlier in the week Rumours the couple had split arose in August, just three months after welcoming their daughter Posy in June. The pair had began dating in 2020 before they became engaged in November 2021. Just two weeks after announcing their big news, the pair found out they were also expecting their first child together. Jennifer Coolidge brought Mike White, the creator of her hit series The White Lotus, to tears after winning her first Golden Globe for her portrayal of Tanya McQuoid. The 61-year-old actress won Best Supporting Actress - Television Limited Series/Motion Picture, beating out Claire Danes (Fleishman Is in Trouble), Daisy Edgar-Jones (Under the Banner of Heaven), Niecy Nash (Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story) and her White Lotus co-star Aubrey Plaza. The beloved actress - who sparked romance theories after sharing a White Lotus cast photo last month - brought the house down with her eccentric speech, which also brought The White Lotus creator Mike White to tears. Jennifer wins: Jennifer Coolidge brought Mike White, the creator of her hit series The White Lotus, to tears after winning her first Golden Globe for her portrayal of Tanya McQuoid Tears: The beloved actress - who sparked romance theories after sharing a White Lotus cast photo last month - brought the house down with her eccentric speech, which also brought The White Lotus creator Mike White to tears 'Thank you, thank you so much, wow and thank you Hollywood Foreign Press. It really means a lot. Thank you. Wow. I can put this down, right,' she said, while putting her award down on the stage floor, joking, 'I don't work out, you know what I mean I can't hold it that long.' 'But, you know, this is such a great night. I'm so glad to be here and be in the company of all of you, and Hollywood Foreign Press, thank you. I just want to say, you know, so many people in this room, there were like five people that kept me going for, you know, 20 years with these little jobs and Ryan Murphy, you were one of them it's these little jobs that kept me going,' she said. 'I didn't know anybody, and it just was sort of this thing that wasn't going anywhere anyway, and then there were these people who would give me these cute little jobs and it would just be enough to get to the next one, Michael Patrick king, you kept me going for a long time and Reese you got me in Legally Blonde,' she added. Thank you: ' Thank you, thank you so much, wow and thank you Hollywood Foreign Press. It really means a lot. Thank you. Wow. I can put this down, right,' she said, while putting her award down on the stage floor, joking, 'I don't work out, you know what I mean I can't hold it that long' GOLDEN GLOBES 2023: Winners at a glance FILM: Best Picture - Drama: The Fabelmans Best Picture - Musical/Comedy: The Banshees of Inisherin Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama: Cate Blanchett - TAR Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama: Austin Butler - Elvis Best Actress - Motion Picture - Musical/Comedy: Michelle Yeoh - Everything Everywhere All At Once Best Actor - Motion Picture - Musical/Comedy: Colin Farrell - The Banshees of Inisherin Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture: Ke Huy Quan - Everything Everywhere All At Once Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture: Angela Bassett - Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Best Director - Motion Picture: Steven Spielberg - The Fabelmans Best Screenplay Motion Picture: Martin McDonagh - The Banshees of Inisherin White Lotus' Jennifer Coolidge accepting her win for Best Supporting Actress - Television Limited Series/Motion Picture TELEVISION: Best Drama Series: House Of The Dragon Best Musical/ Comedy series: Abbott Elementary Best Limited Series, Anthology Series or Television Motion Picture: The White Lotus Best Actress - Limited Series, Anthology Series or Television Motion Picture: Amanda Seyfried - The Dropout Best Actor - Limited Series, Anthology Series or Television Motion Picture: Evan Peters - Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story Best Television Actress - Drama Series: Zendaya - Euphoria Best Television Actor Drama Series: Kevin Costner - Yellowstone Best Television Actress Musical/Comedy Series: Quinta Brunson - Abbott Elementary Best Television Actor Musical/Comedy Series: Jeremy Allen White - The Bear Best Supporting Actress - Television Limited Series/Motion Picture: Jennifer Coolidge - The White Lotus Best Supporting Actor - Television Limited Series/Motion Picture: Paul Walter Hauser - Black Bird Best Supporting Actress - Television Series: Julia Garner - Ozark Best Supporting Actor - Television Series: Tyler James Williams - Abbott Elementary Advertisement She also joked the Weitz brothers kept her going with, 'five different sequels of American Pie,' adding she's, 'milked that to the bone' but she'd be there, 'tomorrow for six or seven, whatever they want.' She went on to thank her agents, but then went on to say something she couldn't when she won Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie at the Emmy's in September. 'I didn't get to say what I really wanted to say at the Emmys, which is I didn't get to say Mike white, you know, I just -- truly, I just want you all to know that I had such big dreams and expectations as a younger person but what happened is they get sort of fizzled by life and whatever I thought I was going to be queen of Monaco even though someone else did it. But I had these giant ideas,' she said, as they cut to White wiping back tears. Mike: 'I didn't get to say what I really wanted to say at the Emmys, which is I didn't get to say Mike white, you know, I just -- truly, I just want you all to know that I had such big dreams and expectations as a younger person but what happened is they get sort of fizzled by life and whatever I thought I was going to be queen of Monaco even though someone else did it. But I had these giant ideas,' she said, as they cut to White wiping back tears 'And then you get older and, oh s**t's going to happen. And, Mike White, you have given me hope -- you've given me a new beginning. Even if this is the end, you changed my life in a million different ways,' she said. Coolidge added, 'my neighbors are speaking to me and things like that,' adding, 'I was never invited to one party on my hill now everyone's inviting me and I just -- you know, it's to you, Mike White.' She added, 'If you don't know Mike White, this is what you should know. It's like, he is worried about the world, he's worried about people, he's worried about friends of his that aren't doing well he's always worried about people you're worried about animals and I just -- he really is one of the greatest people I've ever -- he gives me so much excitement to be -- you make people want to live longer, and I didn't.' Changed: 'And then you get older and, oh s**t's going to happen. And, Mike White, you have given me hope -- you've given me a new beginning. Even if this is the end, you changed my life in a million different ways,' she said This is Mike: She added, 'If you don't know Mike white, this is what you should know. It's like, he is worried about the world, he's worried about people, he's worried about friends of his that aren't doing well he's always worried about people you're worried about animals and I just -- he really is one of the greatest people I've ever -- he gives me so much excitement to be -- you make people want to live longer, and I didn't' 'I just want to say Mike White,' she added, before getting BLEEPED by the censors, concluding with, 'Mike, I love you to death. I just want to say, this is a real fun night thank you. Thank you!' Coolidge first portrayed Tanya McQuoid in the first season of The White Lotus, and she, along with her love interest Greg (Jon Gries), were the only characters from Season 1 - set at a White Lotus resort in Hawaii - to be brought back for the second season, set at a different White Lotus resort in Sicily. She earned her first Golden Globe nomination last year for her performance in the first season, but took home her first Globe on Sunday night. Fun: 'I just want to say Mike White,' she added, before getting BLEEPED by the censors, concluding with, 'Mike, I love you to death. I just want to say, this is a real fun night thank you. Thank you!' Jennifer's role: Coolidge first portrayed Tanya McQuoid in the first season of The White Lotus, and she, along with her love interest Greg (Jon Gries), were the only characters from Season 1 - set at a White Lotus resort in Hawaii - to be brought back for the second season, set at a different White Lotus resort in Sicily After party: Jennifer Coolidge poses with Heidi Klum at the Golden Globes after party at the Beverly Hilton Jennifer and Mike: Jennifer Coolidge poses with The White Lotus creator Mike White at the Golden Globes after party Smiles: Mike White smiles between Jennifer Coolidge and Heidi Klum at the Golden Globes after party Party time: Jennifer Coolidge poses with Mike White and Heidi Klum at the Golden Globes after party at The Beverly Hilton Winner: Jennifer Coolidge shows off her first Golden Globe at the after party After party carpet: Jennifer Coolidge poses at the red carpet for the Golden Globes after party Following the awards ceremony, Jennifer attended a host of after parties, including one event at Soho House West Hollywood, where she was joined by a slew of other stars, including Margot Robbie, Leonardo DiCaprio, fellow winner Austin Butler, and his girlfriend Kaia Gerber. One insider told DailyMail.com that Jennifer was the toast of the town at the Soho House event, revealing: 'Jennifer arrived with a guest, and her table quickly grew as people came up to congratulate her. 'There was a sweet exchange between Jennifer and Julia Garner, who was among those that went to say hello.' The starlet dazzled on the red carpet earlier in the evening, sporting a shimmering black gown and showing off voluminous blonde curls, which were styled by celebrity beauty pro Janine Thompson, who used Better Not Younger hair products to create the look. According to Janine, the key to the bouncy curls was the brand's Lift Me Up Hair Thickener, which helped to create plenty of volume from the roots, while the No Remorse Heat Protection and Taming Spray helped to ensure her locks 'would not be frizzy' during the awards show. Isla Fisher has poked fun at Prince Harry's claims his brother William broke his necklace after the pair fought over Meghan Markle. The Australian actress, 46, shared a photo to Instagram looking thoughtful while modelling a top from New York boutique La Ligne. 'Me wondering what Harry's necklace looked like before it got broken?' she wrote in the caption, referencing the Duke of Sussex's claims his brother snapped his jewellery off in a fight. Isla Fisher has poked fun at Prince Harry's claims his brother William broke his necklace after the pair fought over Meghan Markle Harry described 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 in his new memoir Spare. William then allegedly declared: 'I didn't attack you, Harold'. The furious row allegedly broke out in the kitchen of his London home, Nottingham Cottage, in the grounds of Kensington Palace in 2019 shortly before Megxit. William is said to have branded Meghan 'difficult', 'rude' and 'abrasive' and insisted he was trying to help his younger brother during a meeting about 'the whole rolling catastrophe' of their failing relationship and Harry's rows with the Press. The Duke of Sussex, pictured in 2021, wearing the pendant that may have been 'ripped' during a fight with Prince William Harry accused his brother of 'parroting the Press narrative' about his American wife before a screaming match ensued, ending in a physical altercation, the book claims. He says he gave the heir to the throne a glass of water and said: 'Willy, I can't speak to you when you're like this'. Describing what he claims happened next, and insisting he was scared, the former soldier said: 'He set down the water, 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 dog's 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'. Harry has been pictured wearing the same necklace over the past decade, a silver pendant on a leather string, with previous reports stating it was a gift from ex-girlfriend Chelsy Davy. Prince Harry, pictured with the Duchess of Sussex in 2021, has continued to wear the leather pendant over the last decade Harry and Chelsy - who met while attending schools in London - dated on-and-off for six years from 2004 after Harry travelled to Zimbabwe during his gap year. The duke is believed to have started wearing the necklace at the end of that year, and was pictured at a rugby match that November with the leather pendant round his neck. He was seen wearing the necklace throughout their relationship, and continued to wear the pendant after the split in 2011. Prince Harry's Spare has become 'the fastest selling non-fiction book ever' according to publisher Transworld Penguin Random House Chelsy said she did not want to become a princess because she wanted a career and a private life. Harry's book - which was accidentally released early in Spain - finally went on sale internationally on Wednesday, with his publisher claiming it's the fastest selling non-fiction book of all time. 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. Chelsy Davy, pictured with Harry in 2007, is believed to have given him the leather pendant when they started dating 'As far as we know, the only books to have sold more in their first day are those starring the other Harry (Potter).' 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 US 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'. After a judge ruled in November that the trial was a mistrial, Danny Masterson will need to go back to court to address his rape charge. The case will proceed to trial again, according to Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller's confirmation on Wednesday. 'That '70s Show' Actor Danny Masterson to Get Second Trial Mueller informed the courtroom that "our office has chosen to retry this case. It would be unfair not to give these victims a second opportunity with a jury that can sit there and weigh all of the evidence-win, lose, or draw." According to The Wrap, during the hearing, Judge Charlaine Olmedo declared her intention to seek justice. After a court set a March retrial date, Masterson's defense counsel Philip Cohen submitted a request to have the rape allegations dismissed. Olmedo brought up the fact that only 16 of the 36 prospective witnesses were summoned by the prosecution at the hearing on Tuesday. As a result, the judge said, "a different result in a retrial is at least possible," USA Today reported. The date for the retrial has been set on March 29, with jury selection coming first. After the trial's seven-week run concluded on November 30, the jurors were unable to agree on anything. On October 18, opening remarks were read. According to Mueller's testimony, the ladies reportedly felt dizzy and fainted before waking up to discover Masterson having sex with them. And while Masterson's defense lawyer begged jurors not to take the actor's association with Scientology and its connection to the case into account, Mueller claimed it provided insight into why the ladies delayed reporting the occurrences for so long. In court records and during a hearing on Tuesday, when Superior Court Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo denied a defense move to dismiss the charges, the LA County District Attorney's Office laid out the prosecution's strategy. Read Also: Prince Harry Memoir: Duke's Most Shocking Claims from Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle Argument to Queen Elizabeth II's Concern Danny Masterson Rape Accusation Per The Independent, the action was taken despite the fact that prosecutors were unable to persuade even half of the prior jury to find Masterson guilty of any of the counts against him. Masterson is accused of raping three women, including his ex-girlfriend, at his house between 2001 and 2003. The case was provisionally scheduled to start in late March by the court. After the hearing on Tuesday, the 46-year-old Masterson declined to talk to reporters outside of court, and his attorney did not answer a message seeking comment. He has entered a not guilty plea, and according to his attorney, all of the activities were consenting. The Church of Scientology, of which Masterson was a member and all three women were former members, played a significant part in the month-long trial. The church denies that it prevented them from going public for years as claimed by the prosecution. The accusations are related to a time when Masterson was most well-known for playing Steven Hyde on Fox's 'That '70s Show' from 1998 to 2006. Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis, and Topher Grace all rose to fame on the program, and 'That '90s Show' will be a Netflix revival of the original. Related Article: Jeremy Rener Update: 911 Call Log Reveals Horrifying Detail on 'Avengers' Star's Snow Plow Accident @YouTube @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Skye Wheatley has revealed she makes as little as $100 for posting YouTube videos. The 28-year-old Gold Coast influencer confessed that the lowly pay was due to the fact her clips don't rate high views on the platform. 'The more views, the more you get paid, basically,' the sometimes controversial Big Brother star explained on an Instagram question and answer session on Wednesday. Gold Coast influencer Skye Wheatley has revealed she makes as little as $100 for posting YouTube videos. Pictured: The former Big Brother star Telling a fan she didn't get paid much, after the follower asked about her influencer fees on YouTube, Wheatley continued: 'Last payment I got was $100 I'm pretty sure. 'But that's because I don't have high views.' Wheatley added that she planned to post more videos in 2023. The voluptuous beauty has her own YouTube channel, which has so far attracted 249,000 subscribers. Four of her most recent videos have failed to crack more than 20,000 views. The 28-year-old Gold Coast social media star confessed that the lowly pay was due to the fact her clips don't rate high views on YouTube. Pictured: Wheatley's Insta post on Wednesday Meanwhile, Wheatley's Instagram account boasts 650,000 followers. Skye recently returned to social media after she received backlash for posting an 'insensitive' video of the deadly Sea World helicopter crash. Sydney mother Vanessa Tadros, 36, and British couple Ron, 65, and Diane Hughes, 57, died when a helicopter collided with another chopper near the Sea World theme park on the Gold Coast. Pilot Ash Jenkinson, 40, originally from Birmingham in the UK, was the fourth person killed in the crash. Following the backlash, Wheatley posted a tribute to the four people who died in the tragic incident and said she'll be taking a break from social media. The voluptuous beauty has her own YouTube channel, which has so far attracted 249,000 subscribers. Four of her most recent videos have failed to crack more than 20,000 views 'Can everyone please pray with me for the families affected by yesterdays devastating events, I feel sick to my stomach today and I am praying for everyone in hospital that they are going to make it,' she wrote. '[I'm] taking the day off social media, counting my blessings and want to be present with family. This could happen to anyone and it really makes you take a step back and realise how lucky we are to wake up each day ALIVE.' 'Love you all! Go give your loved ones a big kiss and cuddle. We are so lucky to be here on each so whatever you're struggling with please try and see the beauty in today.' Wheatley posted a video she filmed of the aftermath of the tragic crash to her Instagram Story Wheatley ended: 'I know a lot of families are hurting badly today and I'm sending them all my love and prayers.' She wore the daring outfit to the Marina Mirage Shopping Centre. 'Sprinkle your sparkle, kids, the world needs it,' she wrote in the caption to the clip showing her strutting into the shopping centre. Wheatley, 28, was slammed after she posted a video she filmed of the aftermath of the tragic crash to her Instagram story on Monday. Sydney mother Vanessa Tadros, 36, and British couple Ron, 65, and Diane Hughes, 57, died when a helicopter collided with another chopper near the Sea World theme park on the Gold Coast at 2pm on Monday. Just a day after Gerard Butler and Morgan Brown were spotted outside NBC studios in New York City, the happy couple of over nine years hit the red carpet for the Plane premiere in the Big Apple. The 53-year-old actor and his 51-year-old girlfriend were spotted at the premiere, held at AMC Lincoln Square Theater in Manhattan. They were joined by Butler's 46-year-old co-star Mike Colter and his wife of 20 years, Iva, ahead of the film's debut in theaters on Friday, January 13. Happy couple: Just a day after Gerard Butler and Morgan Brown were spotted outside NBC studios in New York City, the happy couple of over nine years hit the red carpet for the Plane premiere in the Big Apple Mike and Iva: They were joined by Butler's 46-year-old co-star Mike Colter and his wife of 20 years, Iva, ahead of the film's debut in theaters on Friday, January 13 Butler stepped out with a blue polo shirt with a silver necklace dangling from his neck, sporting a trimmed beard. He rocked a dark grey suit coat and matching pants for the premiere, closing out his look with a pair of Vince Camuto boots. Brown was all smiles in a white blouse with a sash that fell to her thighs, under a brown tweed coat with knee-high brown leather boots and gold link earrings. Gerard's look: Butler stepped out with a blue polo shirt with a silver necklace dangling from his neck, sporting a trimmed beard. He paired his look with Vince Camuto boots Butler's co-star Mike Colter stepped out with a buttoned-up black dress shirt under a maroon suit coat, with matching maroon pants and black dress shoes. His wife Iva, who he shares two young daughters with, stepped out with a stunning two-tone maroon dress while accessorizing with diamond earrings. Gerard and Mike also posed alongside a large cardboard plane cutout for the premiere event. Mike and Iva: Butler's co-star Mike Colter stepped out with a buttoned-up black dress shirt under a maroon suit coat, with matching maroon pants and black dress shoes Gerard and Mike: Gerard and Mike also posed alongside a large cardboard plane cutout for the premiere event Plane follows an airplane pilot named Brodie Torrance (Butler), who is forced to make an emergency landing of his commercial aircraft during a storm. What he doesn't realize at first is he's landed the plan on a remote island of the Philippines that is run by anti-government militias. Brodie is forced to team up with Louis Gaspare (Colter), a convicted murderer, to save the passengers who have been taken hostage and get off the island alive. Team: Brodie is forced to team up with Louis Gaspare (Colter), a convicted murderer, to save the passengers who have been taken hostage and get off the island alive After Plane hits theaters, Butler has films All-Star Weekend, directed by Jamie Foxx, and Kandahar in post-production, though no release dates have been set yet. He also has sequels to Den of Thieves and Greenland in the works, while also voicing King Kula in Naya Legend of the Golden Dolphin. Colter currently stars in the CBS series Evil and he also has the upcoming movie Murder City in post-production. Coming soon: After Plane hits theaters, Butler has films All-Star Weekend, directed by Jamie Foxx, and Kandahar in post-production, though no release dates have been set yet Sequels: He also has sequels to Den of Thieves and Greenland in the works, while also voicing King Kula in Naya Legend of the Golden Dolphin Premiere: Gerard Butler poses with girlfriend Morgan Brown at the Plane premiere Vlada: Vlada Roslyakova attends the Plane premiere in New York City Rachael Finch is one of the country's best known catwalk queens. And the star, 32, proved she certainly knows how to court attention as she headed to the dry cleaners in Coogee on Wednesday. Rachael, who recently celebrated her ninth wedding anniversary with husband Michael Miziner, flaunted her lithe figure in the skimpy ensemble. Model Rachael Finch, 32, (pictured) made a style statement in a skimpy orange singlet and leopard print shorts as she headed to the dry cleaners in Coogee on Wednesday The model opted for a tight-fitting orange singlet along with leopard print shorts that stopped at her thighs. The star finished her look with a sun-smart and stylish hat along with a pair of brick-hued Birkenstocks. Rachael had her washing casually slung over her shoulder in a Toys R Us plastic bag. It comes after Rachael celebrated her wedding anniversary on a boat in Noosa. The model opted for a tight-fitting orange singlet along with leopard print shorts that stopped at her thighs. She finished her look with a wide-brim hat and Birkenstocks Rachael had her washing casually slung over her shoulder in a Toys R Us plastic bag The pair, who met on Dancing With The Stars in 2010, proved stronger than ever as they celebrated the milestone. The couple could barely keep their hands off each other as they basked in the sun while sitting on the deck of the vessel. Rachael took to Instagram to share a gushing tribute to her husband. 'The best decision I ever made in my life is you. 9 years married, 12 together, feels like 5 minutes,' she captioned a photo of the couple looking as loved-up as ever. 'The best decision I ever made in my life is you. 9 years married, 12 together, feels like 5 minutes,' she captioned a photo of the couple looking as loved-up as ever Rachael shared a photo of the couple ringing in the new year alongside their two children Dominic, three, and daughter Violet, seven. The former Miss Universe Australia recently told fans that compromise and communication are key for a successful marriage. 'What are ways to create and support a happy marriage?' one fan asked Rachael. She explained: 'Work together, learn to compromise, communicate, continue to evolve as a couple, take time out for just the two of you, to keep an open mind and find fun in every day.' Emily Ratajkowski looked incredibly stylish as she stepped out in New York on Tuesday. The model and swimwear designer, 31, turned heads in a bright tangerine coat and racy $2,122 Balenciaga boots as she went for a stroll in SoHo. The outing comes after the brunette beauty was spotted on a date with comedian Eric Andre, 39, in the Big Apple, after outings with Pete Davidson, Jack Greer, and DJ Orazio Rispo. Turning heads: Emily Ratajkowski cut a VERY stylish figure in a tangerine coat and a pair of racy $2,122 Balenciaga boots in New York on Tuesday - after enjoying a 'date' with comedian Eric Andre Emily kept things simple underneath her coat, wearing a black singlet and leggings which highlighted her trim physique. She wore her long, dark locks out and over her shoulders and teamed the look with a pair of black sunglasses and earrings. Emily clutched her phone in her hands and carried a bag of goods. Showing off her model figure: Emily kept things simple underneath her coat, wearing a black singlet and leggings which highlighted her trim physique On Saturday night, she was spotted on a 'date' with comedian Eric Andre in New York City. The pair certainly seemed comfortable with each other as they strolled around the Big Apple with their arms wrapped around one another. It was a busy night for the two stars as they shared a meal at a Japanese restaurant before heading to a bar together. Eric is no stranger to celebrity romances as he dated actress Rosario Dawson for a year from 2016 to 2017. Emily has emphatically jumped back in the dating pool despite saying she thinks she 'attracts the worst men'. Single and ready to mingle: On Saturday night, she was spotted on a 'date' with comedian Eric Andre in New York City Speaking on her High Low podcast she said: 'That's what I hate with dating men in particular. 'They're like, 'OK, yes, you're special. You've done it.' And they love it and love it, and then slowly they get emasculated and don't know what to do with those feelings, and then they resent you. 'They start to tear you down, and then you're back to square one. And it's so f**ked up and unfair, because I feel like a lot of men who truly think they want a strong woman actually don't know how to handle it and what it means for their own identity.' 'I said to my girlfriend, 'I feel like I attract the worst men,' she continued. 'Sometimes I'm like, 'f**k.' Because I want a confident man. I don't want an overly confident man who has something to prove and is trying to prove it through me. That is not what I want.' Back in the dating game: Emily has emphatically jumped back in the dating pool despite saying she thinks she 'attracts the worst men' Her recent outing with Eric continues Emily's red hot dating streak as she has been seen out with multiple men over the past few months since her split with her husband. Back on December 21, Emily was seen enjoying a steamy kiss with artist Jack Greer outside of her apartment in New York. She was previously linked to comedian Pete Davison but they split in December after a month of dating. Emily was previously spotted kissing Orazio Rispo back in October, just a month after she filed from divorce from film producer Sebastian Bear-McClard. 'They're like, 'OK, yes, you're special. You've done it.' And they love it and love it, and then slowly they get emasculated and don't know what to do with those feelings, and then they resent you,' she said Over: Emily was previously spotted kissing Orazio Rispo back in October, just a month after she filed from divorce from film producer Sebastian Bear-McClard (pictured) Emily and estranged husband Sebastian share son Sylvester Apollo, who turns two on March 8, 2023. Emily filed for divorce in September after four years of marriage, according to Page Six, after he allegedly cheated on her. News of the cheating allegations came in July, with a source close to the outlet claiming he's a 'serial cheater,' 'gross' and a 'dog.' She married actor and producer Sebastian in 2018 on February 23, 2018 in a New York City courthouse. Mandalorian star Gina Carano has hit out at claims she ruined her own career following her controversial social media posts. Back in February 2021, actress and former MMA fighter Gina Carano was fired from the cast of The Mandalorian, following online outrage over a social media post that likened the murder of Jews during the Holocaust to the US political climate. Since severing ties with Disney, Gina has worked on several smaller projects which not as much success as the Disney+ Star Wars series, and a film journalist described this downfall as Gina 'fumbling the bag'. Hitting out: Mandalorian star Gina Carano has hit out at claims she ruined her own career following her controversial social media posts Richard Newby wrote on Twitter on Tuesday: 'll never stop laughing at the fact that she couldve had her own Star Wars series, toys, books, comics, apparel. 'She was that close. She didnt just fumble the bag, she dumped it out, put it over her head and cut off her air supply.' Gina snapped back: 'Here is a contributor of @THR who repeatedly joins in an online mob of mostly anonymous accounts harassing me. 'Are you aware that we released Terror on the Prairie exclusively on the @realDailyWire & you didnt know that? Or are ignorance & spreading hate your only purpose here?' Star: Back in February 2021, actress and former MMA fighter Gina Carano was fired from the cast of The Mandalorian, following online outrage over a social media post that likened the murder of Jews during the Holocaust to the US political climate (pictured in the series) 'Fumbled the bag': Since severing ties with Disney, Gina has worked on several smaller projects which not as much success as the Disney+ Star Wars series, and a film journalist described this downfall as Gina 'fumbling the bag' In a thread, Gina added: 'I didnt fumble the bag I just didnt go along with the sell out narrative, the online mob couldnt handle that so they petitioned to have me fired & won. 'Im not sorry for that. I stood for what I believe the right thing to do was & the more time that goes by the better I feel.' Another tweet from Gina read: 'The genuine bag fumble is sell out journalists like you who sold out America and stopped asking questions to be liked by a fickle manipulated mob. 'That is what you valued and that will be your legacy.' Disagree: In a thread, Gina replied: 'I didnt fumble the bag I just didnt go along with the sell out narrative, the online mob couldnt handle that so they petitioned to have me fired & won' A spokesperson for Lucasfilm said in a statement at the time in early 2021 that Carano is not currently employed by the production company with 'no plans for her to be in the future.' 'Nevertheless, her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable,' the statement read. Talent agency UTA has also dropped Carano as a client following the controversy, according to Variety. Carano's post (right) likened the experience of Jews during the Holocaust to the current U.S. political climate. Lucasfilm called the post 'abhorrent and unacceptable' Carano fell under heavy criticism after she posted on Instagram Stories that 'Jews were beaten in the streets, not by Nazi soldiers but by their neighbors.... even by children.' The post continued: 'Because history is edited, most people today dont realize that to get to the point where Nazi soldiers could easily round up thousands of Jews, the government first made their own neighbors hate them simply for being Jews. How is that any different from hating someone for their political views?' Carano, who played the recurring character Cara Dune on the 'Star Wars' series, deleted the post but it was widely shared online and spurred the #FireGinaCarano hashtag to trend. Her character appeared in several episodes of the second season of 'The Mandalorian,' a series about a bounty hunter and his quest to unite a powerful, young user of the Force with a Jedi Knight. Dune, who in the second season is a lawperson on a frontier planet, frequently teams up with the title character to fight an old nemesis: remnants of the evil Galactic Empire. Carano, a former mixed martial artist whose Dune character used a mix of heavy weapons and her fists to best opponents, had been criticized online for social media posts. Cast: Carano is seen with cast of The Mandalorian at the show's 2019 premiere (pictured centre) In some, she mocked mask wearing during the pandemic and promoted claims of voter fraud during the 2020 presidential election. On Wednesday- before news of her termination was announced - Carano posted a picture to her Instagram story that included the phrase 'Jeff Epstein didn't kill himself' - a reference to conspiracy theories that the pedophile billionaire was murdered. She also mocked the use of gender pronouns, listing 'beep/bop/boop' in her social media bio after some expressed outrage that she did not list any pronouns in her bio. Jenna Coleman looked chic in a fur-trimmed coat dog tooth as she departed the rehearsals for Lemons, Lemons, Lemons in London on Tuesday. The actress, 36, continued to show off her new blonde hair as she shielded her eyes with a quirky pair of Chanel sunglasses. She layered a tan and black striped jumper beneath her jacker and opted for some relaxed joggers for her busy day. Stylish: Jenna Coleman, 36, looked chic in a fur-trimmed coat dog tooth as she departed the rehearsals for Lemons, Lemons, Lemons in London on Tuesday Jenna carried her belongings in a Chanel bucket bag and oversize tote, before completing her look with some white leather trainers. The upcoming West End play, Lemons Lemons Lemons, is a revival of the 2015 rom-com, written by Sam Steiner. She will star in the play alongside Poldrak's Aidan Turner, with the opening show at the Harold Pinter Theatre taking place on Wednesday January 18. New do: The actress continued to show off her new blonde hair as she shielded her eyes with a quirky pair of Chanel sunglasses The upcoming play's offical synopsis reads: Lets just talk until it goes. Youre going to speak more than 123 million words in your lifetime. What will you do when they run out?' 'Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons is a tender and funny rom-com about what we say, how we say it, and what happens when we cant say anything anymore'. Jenna first debuted her new hairdo at the press night performance of One Woman Show at The Ambassadors Theatre last month. Out and about: She layered a tan and black striped jumper beneath her jacker and opted for some relaxed joggers for her busy day In style: Jenna first debuted her new hairdo at the press night performance of One Woman Show at The Ambassadors Theatre last month The actress, who was previously brunette, sported a lighter colour of hair and dressed in chic attire for her outing. Written and performed by actress Liz Kingsman, One Woman Show will run at the The Ambassadors Theatre near London's Cambridge Circus from Wednesday 14 December until Saturday 21 January. The production is described as 'a bold, irreverent, raw, moving and triumphant celebration of adjectives, this blurb will nail down nothing. This is a show so unflinching youll be begging for a flinch'. Sylvia Jeffreys and Peter Stefanovic enjoyed a date night at Sydney Opera House on Wednesday. The two lovebirds, who married in April 2017, looked calm and relaxed as they enjoyed a balmy night in the Harbour City. Sylvia shared photos of the pair as they enjoyed a drink together at Opera Bar, which faces the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Sylvia Jeffreys and Peter Stefanovic enjoyed a date night at Sydney Opera House on Wednesday, taking in Amadeus at the iconic venue. Both pictured 'Bae beneath the sails,' Sylvia wrote, sharing a candid photo of Peter. She then shared photos of the Opera House and one at the bar. Peter looked handsome wearing a crisp white shirt, teal blazer and chinos for the night out with Sylvia. 'Bae beneath the sails,' Sylvia wrote, sharing a candid photo of Peter Meanwhile, Sylvia opted for a white ensemble for the night out. 'Culture selfie... An oxymoron, I know,' she began. 'But 2023 is the year of seeing stuff so here we are at the Opera House for Amadeus, which was superb,' she added. Pete and Sylvia recently returned from Fiji with their young sons, Oscar, three, and Henry, two Pete and Sylvia just recently returned from Fiji with their young sons, Oscar, three, and Henry, two. His social media is filled with adorable photos and videos of his young sons. Last year, Peter shared a sweet clip of his youngest boy climbing up a staircase in the family home, tagged his wife. 'Oh oh.. @sylviajeffreys,' Peter wrote in the caption. The Sky News host here with sons Oscar and Henry. All pictured In the clip, Stefanovic amusingly had the song 'Climbing Up the Walls' by British rock band Radiohead playing in the background. Sylvia and Peter began dating in 2013 after meeting at Nine and were engaged in 2016 while on holiday in France. The couple tied the knot at the Ooralba Estate in Kangaroo Valley on April 1, 2017. Colin Murray has been named the new permanent host of Countdown after acting as 'caretaker' for the Channel 4 show for the past half-year. The TV star, 45, has fronted the long-running game show since Anne Robinson stepped down last summer. The news was announced on Steph's Packed Lunch on Wednesday, with Colin admitting 'it's a career dream.' Staying put: Colin Murray has been named the new permanent host of Countdown after acting as 'caretaker' for the Channel 4 show for the past half-year Channel 4's head of daytime and features, Jo Street, said the broadcaster had 'listened to the fans' and decided to keep him on as its 'permanent host'. Before joining Countdown full-time, the presenter appeared in its Dictionary Corner. He then stood in for Nick Hewer as host during the second coronavirus lockdown in England as Hewer, now 78, was unable to travel to the set. Colin returned to Countdown as host in July 2022 following Robinson's departure. Anne, 78, joined the show in 2021 and became the first main female presenter. After the news was announced Colin said: 'It's a career dream to be named as permanent anchor of one of television's most iconic programmes. 'I have been a fan since day one, been part of the family for over a decade, appearing on Dictionary Corner, and now I get the honour of guiding it into a fifth decade. However, I don't just want Countdown to survive, I want it to thrive. Permanent: The TV star, 45, has fronted the long-running game show since Anne Robinson stepped down last summer 'During my caretaker stint we've seen more people tune back in, with close to a million (900,000) watching the series final in December, and I want that to just be the beginning. 'Countdown is a special show, and its stars will always be the letters and the numbers, but it's more than that. 'Great afternoon company for people of all ages from all across the UK.' Colin said he, mathematician Rachel Riley and lexicographer Susie Dent are 'very excited for the year ahead', adding: 'If you haven't watched in a while, drop by and join us. Everyone is welcome.' Welcome: Sharing an adorable selfie with her arm wrapped around Colin's shoulder, Rachel wrote: 'Yep, it's true! By popular demand, the man from County Down has moved from caretaker manager to full time official host Rachel and Susie both soon sent congratulatory messages following the news that Colin's appointment on the show had been made permanent. Sharing an adorable selfie with her arm wrapped around Colin's shoulder, Rachel wrote: 'Yep, it's true! By popular demand, the man from County Down has moved from caretaker manager to full time official host. 'Congrats, welcome to the team properly! We couldn't be happier to have you.' Rachel later poked fun at the new host by sharing a snap of him in the dressing room, sporting a brown wig with a fringe. She quipped: 'Claudia Winkleman looks very different before makeup...' Ha! She quipped: 'Claudia Winkleman looks very different before makeup...' Meanwhile, on her own socials, Susie wrote: 'The news is out! And it's wonderful. Congratulations Colin Murray on nabbing the best seat on TV (I may be biased) and becoming the permanent Countdown host. We are very lucky to have you.' Anne, 77, revealed she quit Countdown over a pay dispute, admitting that despite being offered a pay rise she did not want to join Channel 4's payroll after being employed on a freelance basis. It was revealed that she was leaving Countdown after just one year by The Daily Mail's Alison Boshoff, with Anne adding that she has since smoothed over the rift with her co-stars Rachel and Susie. Meanwhile, on her own socials, Susie wrote: 'The news is out! And it's wonderful. Congratulations Colin Murray on nabbing the best seat on TV (I may be biased)...' Departure: Anne, 78, joined the show in 2021 and became the first main female presenter before stepping down in July 2022 Speaking to The Sun, she confessed: 'I come from a long line of alcoholic, Irish bandits so to suggest I go PAYE is a bit like asking Philip Green or Richard Branson to join the company payroll. 'I wasn't interested in any offer on that basis. Even if it included financial parity. I will, however, miss out on the Channel 4 luncheon vouchers, which is a big regret.' Speaking with Emma Barnett on Radio 4's Woman's Hour, she admitted of the rift with her co-stars Rachel and Susie that she had been annoyed by their time-keeping and noisiness. But later said: 'They're both brilliant at what they do. I mean they really, really are. Channel 4 are incredibly lucky to have them. And there isn't a rift. 'It was me wanting everyone to be quiet in the studio. I like everyone turning up on time and quiet, quiet, quiet. So we did have to iron that out. But that's it.' Anne continued: 'I think we all came to an agreement that we would have mics off before we went into a record, which gave me time to have a chat with the contestants - that's all - and remind them what their hobbies are.' Describing Rachel, she said: 'She is brilliant at those numbers, what else can I say.' Jess Wright has put her incredible physique on display in sexy holiday selfies catching some rays on the sunbed. The former TOWIE star, 37, posed for some photos wearing two swimsuits of the same style but different colours, with both the lime green and beige complimenting her sunkissed glow perfectly. She has been enjoying a luxurious getaway to Barbados with her husband William Lee-Kemp and their son, Presley. Wow! Jess Wright has put her incredible physique on display in sexy holiday selfies catching some rays on the sunbed while holidaying in Barbados Posting to her 1.5million followers on Instagram, the reality TV star captioned the pictures: 'Same but different', with a green and brown emoji to match her costumes. Jess appears to go makeup-free for the snaps as she holds the camera up above to get her body on show. The scoop-neck of the swimsuit showed off her ample assets and the high-leg put her slender pins on display. In one snap wearing the beige swimsuit, she opted for a pair of oversized black square lens glasses and a thin pearl necklace. Looking good: The former TOWIE star, 37, posed for some photos wearing two swimsuits of the same style but different colours, with both the lime green and beige complimenting her sunkissed glow perfectly While in the other, where Jess wore the lime green costume, Jess gave a sultry stare to the camera and wore a name pendant necklace and some Ray Bans sunglasses. Earlier this week, Jess wished her fans a happy new year and said the holiday is something she'd 'dreamt of for many years' as she posed alongside her husband and baby while stood on the beach together. Jess penned: 'Happy new year from me & my little family. 'We have been away enjoying time with family & had our feet in the sand when the clock struck midnight which is something Ive dreamt of for many years. Wishing you all a wonderful 2023.' Stunning: Jess Wright looked sensational as she showed off her slim physique in a stunning green swimsuit in Barbados with son Presley and husband William on Instagram on Sunday Idyllic: The former TOWIE star, 37, has been enjoying a luxury getaway in Barbados with husband William Lee-Kemp and their son Presley Jess looked sensational in the snap as she showed off a leggy display and accentuated her tan with the bright green swimsuit. Husband William, 39, and eight-month-old Presley looked adorable as they donned matching blue swimming trunks. Jess also shared some more pictures of Presley and the idyllic scenes from her luxury getaway. Among them was a fireworks display from New Year's Eve and stunning sunsets on the island. Sweet: Sharing the snap on Sunday, she wished her 1.5M followers a happy new year and said the holiday is something she'd 'dreamt of for many years' Prior to their holiday, Jessica couldn't contain her smile as she shared a sweet family Christmas snap with husband William Lee-Kemp and their son Presley on Instagram . She looked incredible in a crisp white jumper and black mini skirt which she teamed with sheer tights and towering boots. She beamed as she held her eight-month-old baby boy in her arms while her businessman beau, 39, and her mum Carol, 62, beamed at Presley. William cut a casual figure in a grey sweatshirt which he teamed with black skinny jeans while his son was dressed in a festive checked romper and knee high socks. Dreamy: Jess also shared some more pictures of Presley and the idyllic scenes from her luxury getaway. Among them was a fireworks display from New Year's Eve and stunning sunsets on the island Meanwhile, Carol looked sensational in an eye catching red long sleeved maxi dress which she teamed with comfy brown fluffy sliders. The family posed up a storm in front of Jess's lavish tree as she gave fans a glimpse into Presley's first Christmas. Jess later swapped Presley for a glass of fizz and also held a white Christian Dior handbag as she posed in front of her Christmas tree. Festive: Jessica couldn't contain her smile as she shared a sweet family snap with husband William Lee-Kemp, their son Presley and her mum Carol on Instagram on Tuesday She styled her long dark tresses in loose curls which cascaded past her shoulders and she applied a radiant palette of makeup to showcase her beauty. The former Only Way Is Essex star was joined by her brother Josh's family as she shared an adorable snap of his son Joshua James, 10 months, with Presley. Joshua and Presley twinned in coordinated navy pyjamas with their names written across the front as they relaxed on the sofa during the family get together. The Banshees Of Inisherin and Everything Everywhere All At Once were among the most nominated feature films as the nominations for the 2023 Screen Actors Guild Awards were announced on Wednesday morning. Among the television nominees, Better Call Saul and Ozark scored several nods. The White Lotus star Haley Lu Richardson and Ashley Park from Emily In Paris appeared remotely on Instagram Live to announce the nominees. The SAG Awards, voted on by members of the SAG-AFTRA acting union, are scheduled to be handed out at a ceremony in Los Angeles on February 26, which will be broadcast live on Netflix's YouTube channel. Honored: The Banshees Of Inisherin (pictured) and Everything Everywhere All At Once and topped the feature film nominations announced for the Screen Actors Guild Awards on Wednesday morning Arthouse hits: Both films scored nominations for their acting ensembles, as well as nods in most of the individual actor categories after scoring rave reviews; still from Everything Everywhere All At Once SAG president Fran Drescher provided a low-key introduction ahead of the nominations announcement, and before the main nominees were revealed, the actors Elizabeth McLaughlin and Jason George shared stunt nominees. The Banshees Of Inisherin, Martin McDonagh's film about two Irish men's fractured friendship among that country's civil war, earned a nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, along with individual nods for Colin Farrell in the lead male actor category and Brendan Gleeson and Barry Keoghan in the supporting male category. Kerry Condon was also nominated in the supporting female actor category. The Michelle Yeohstarring Everything Everywhere All At Once, which has grossed more than $100 million against just a $14 million budget, was also a hit with SAG voters. Welcome: SAG president Fran Drescher provided a low-key introduction ahead of the nominations announcement, and before the main nominees were revealed, the actors Elizabeth McLaughlin and Jason George shared stunt nominees Recognized: Michelle Yeoh, who scored a major career comeback with Everything Everywhere All At Once, was nominated for lead female actor, while Jamie Lee Curtis and Stephanie Hsu earned supporting nods He's back! Ke Huy Quan, best known as a child actor in Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom and The Goonies, cemented his return to Hollywood with a nomination for supporting male actor Yeoh, who scored a major career comeback with Everything Everywhere All At Once, was nominated for lead female actor. Ke Huy Quan, best known as a child actor in Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom and The Goonies, cemented his return to Hollywood with a nomination for supporting male actor. Stephanie Hsu, who plays the actors' daughter in the film, was nominated in the supporting female actor category, as was Jamie Lee Curtis, who plays a villainous IRS agent. Another comeback film, the Darren Aronofskydirected drama The Whale, scored a lead nomination for its star Brendan Fraser, while his costar Hong Chau was nominated in the supporting female actor category. Ana de Armas, who was nominated at the previous night's Golden Globe Awards ceremony for her fictional Marilyn Monroe film Blonde, scored another nomination for the controversial drama. Cruising to the Oscars: Another comeback film, the Darren Aronofskydirected drama The Whale, scored a lead nomination for its star Brendan Fraser (pictured), while his costar Hong Chau was nominated in the supporting female actor category Another try: Ana de Armas, who was nominated at the previous night's Golden Globe Awards ceremony for her fictional Marilyn Monroe film Blonde (pictured), scored another nomination for the controversial drama Other nominees for feature films included Angela Bassett for supporting female actress for her Marvel superhero film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Eddie Redmayne was a surprise supporting male actor nominee for his creepy performance in The Good Nurse, and Adam Sandler scored a lead male actor nomination for Hustle, despite the film barely having an awards season profile. There was more variety in the male and female lead actor categories, with several nominees being the only representatives of their films. Cate Blanchett's acclaimed performance in Tar was recognized, as was Viola Davis for The Woman King and Danielle Deadwyler for the Civil Rights Movement drama Till. Austin Butler scored a lead male actor nomination for playing the title role in the music biopic Elvis, while Bill Nighy scored a nomination for the drama Living. The Fabelmans, which won Best Picture, Drama, award at the Golden Globes, was nominated for the Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture category, while Paul Dano was nominated in the supporting actor category for playing a fictionalized version of director Steven Spielberg's father. Despite not receiving any individual nominations, the early Hollywood dramedy Babylon and Women Talking both received nominations for their full casts. Surprises: Eddie Redmayne was a surprise supporting male actor nominee for his creepy performance in The Good Nurse, and Adam Sandler scored a lead male actor nomination for Hustle (pictured), despite it barely having an awards season profile Singles: There was more variety in the male and female lead actor categories, with several nominees being the only representatives of their films. Cate Blanchett's acclaimed performance in Tar (pictured) was recognized, as was Viola Davis for The Woman King Stage sensation: Austin Butler scored a lead male actor nomination for playing the title role in the music biopic Elvis, while Bill Nighy scored a nomination for the drama Living Globes approve: The Fabelmans was nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, while Paul Dano was nominated in the supporting actor category for playing a fictionalized version of director Steven Spielberg's father Among the television nominees, Ozark scored several nods. Jason Bateman and Laura Linney were both nominated in the lead categories, as was their costar Julia Garner. Garner also received a second nod in the limited series category for her work in Inventing Anna. Better Call Saul received several nominations for lead actors Bob Odenkirk and Jonathan Banks in the same category, along with the ensemble award. Adam Scott was nominated for his performance in Apple's Severance, and the show also received an ensemble nomination. Elizabeth Debicki's nomination for playing Princess Diana on The Crown wasn't exactly a surprise, but Jeff Bridge's nomination for The Old Man flew under the radar. Nominees: Ozark (pictured) and Better Call Saul were among the major TV nominees. Jason Bateman and Laura Linney were both nominated in lead drama categories Double trouble: There costar Julia Garner was also nominated in the lead female actor category for Ozark, while Garner got a second nomination in the limited series category for Inventing Anna Finale: Better Call Saul received several nominations for lead actors Bob Odenkirk and Jonathan Banks in the same category, along with the ensemble award Expectations: Elizabeth Debicki's nomination for playing Princess Diana on The Crown (pictured) wasn't exactly a surprise, but Jeff Bridge's nomination for The Old Man flew under the radar The awards favorite The White Lotus earned two nominations, one for actress Jennifer Coolidge and one for the whole ensemble cast. Only Murders In The Building did well among the comedy series nominees with nods for stars Steve Martin and Martin Short in the male actor category, along with a full cast nod. Quinta Brunson, who won a Golden Globe for Abbott Elementary, was nominated for the series along with the rest of the cast in the ensemble category. Barry scored ensemble and individual nominations for stars Bill Hader and Anthony Carrigan. Other ensemble nominees included The Bear (which also got a nomination for star Jeremy Allen White) and Hacks (which got an additional nod for its star Jean Smart). Christina Applegate and Rachel Brosnahan rounded out the female nominees for Dead To Me and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, respectively. Multiple stars: Only Murders In The Building did well among the comedy series nominees with nods for stars Steve Martin and Martin Short in the male actor category, along with a full cast nod Repeat performance? Quinta Brunson, who won a Golden Globe for Abbott Elementary, was nominated for the series along with the rest of the cast in the ensemble category HBO hit: Barry scored ensemble and individual nominations for stars Bill Hader and Anthony Carrigan Television movies and limited series actors were also honored, though only with individual nominations. Taron Egerton and Golden Globe winner Paul Walter Hauser scored nods for Blackbird, while Evan Peters and Niecy Nash were both nominated for the chilling thriller Dahmer. Sam Elliott's work on the Yellowstone prequel 1883 was also recognized, as were Emily Blunt for The English and Amanda Seyfried for The Dropout. Rounding out the A-lister nominations in the categories were Oscar winner Jessica Chastain for George And Tammy and Steve Carrell for the thriller The Patient. Limited series: Jessica Chastain was nominated for the limited series and TV movie category for George And Tammy (pictured), while Amanda Seyfried was nominated for The Dropout and Steve Carrell was nominated for The Patient Two aid programs that provided rent and food assistance to Utahns during the pandemic are set to expire in March. Since March 2020, states have been able to extend short-term SNAP emergency allotments under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act to offer benefit supplements to homes in need and households where children are missing school meals. Expiration of Food and Rental Assistance Programs in Utah If the state has declared an emergency or a disaster and the federal government has declared a public health emergency, states may choose to offer these benefits. The expiration date for SNAP emergency allotments, which is February 2023, was recently included in an omnibus package enacted by Congress. According to Yahoo, the monthly hike ranged from $175 to $200 per home. In Utah, 74,000 SNAP families will be impacted by this move. Utah SNAP beneficiaries will get the same monthly benefit amount as they did prior to the outbreak. Everything else about SNAP, including qualifying requirements, won't change. Federal Emergency Rental Assistance funding totaling $344 million were provided to Utah, according to the press release. By December 31, 2022, the program had processed over 97,000 applications and distributed $287 million in rent and utility assistance to qualified households. After February 5, 2023, applications for emergency rental assistance will no longer be accepted, and funding will likely run out by the end of March. First-come, first-served application processing will continue until all applications have been processed or until funds are exhausted. The emergency monthly boost for food stamps, formally known as the SNAP, will come to an end in March. The average increase for each qualifying household was between $175 and $200. All 74,000 Utah households who receive SNAP benefits will be affected by the change, but nothing else about the program will change, as per UPR. Read Also: 3 Most Powerful Passports in 2023 Revealed - US, UK Not Even on Top 5 Other Programs Remain Available Other aid programs, such as the HEAT program for electricity and water assistance, education support, and job assistance, are still accessible to Utahns in need. For further information, call 211 or speak with your local community action organization. Under the American Rescue Plan, Utah first received $344 million in federal rental assistance funding. Only around $30 million, according to the Utah Department of Workforce Services, are available. The agency has processed 97,000 applications and disbursed $287 million in rent and utility assistance to Utahns since the program's March 2021 launch. Affordable rent, according to Tara Rollins of the Utah Housing Coalition, was a problem even before the pandemic. "What will happen to those who lose the money?" she asks. "People had financial instability and spent more than half of their salary on housing. several persons. seventy five percent. Therefore, stability is not possible," Rollins added. According to Nate McDonald, deputy director of the Department of Workforce Services, this was especially a reaction for the pandemic and was intended to assist individuals stay in their homes during the pandemic. By the end of March, the government monies are anticipated to be exhausted, Fox13 reported. Until money runs out or all completed applications are processed, all applications received by February 5 will be handled in the order they are received. Related Article: Higher SNAP Benefits Will Be Given to Some; Others May No Longer Receive Food Stamps by February @YouTube @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Emily Ratajkowski flaunted her fantastic physique as she strutted the streets of New York City on Wednesday. The 31-year-old supermodel showed off her toned stomach while wearing a bright yellow crop top and carrying several bags on her shoulders. She continued her dating hot streak after being spotted on a 'date' with comedian Eric Andre, 39, in NYC, after having been on outings with several other stars in recent weeks. Casual figure: Emily Ratajkowski flaunted her toned stomach as she made her way around New York City in a bright yellow crop top The beauty stepped out wearing a pink and black puffer jacket over her crop top and paired it with black sweatpants and white sneakers. Her hair was down and straightened, and she had on a very natural makeup look. She also carried two different bags with her, one of which had a Classic Penguin Books logo on it. On Saturday night, Emily was seen walking around the Big Apple with Eric and the duo looked very cozy with their arms wrapped around each other. It was a busy night for the two stars as they shared a meal at a Japanese restaurant before heading to a bar together. Eric, who is a stand-up comedian, actor, producer, television host, and writer, is best known for his creation of the Adult Swim comedy series, The Eric Andre Show. Natural beauty: The 31-year-old model was seen out after recently being spotted on a 'date' with comedian Eric Andre New flame: Eric Andre, 39, is a stand-up comedian, actor, producer, television host, and writer. He is best known for his creation of the Adult Swim comedy series, The Eric Andre Show; seen at the Jackass Forever premiere in February 2022 The Bad Trip actor is no stranger to celebrity romances, as he dated actress Rosario Dawson for a year from 2016 to 2017. The Gone Girl actress was married to film producer Sebastian Bear-McClard, for four years before their split in 2021. They originally announced their marriage to the world on the same day they tied the knot, after Sebastian initially proposed without a ring. The pair have one son together, Sylvester, who will turn two on March 8, 2023. Since their split, the Victoria's Secret model has been on her fair share of dates. Quick run: The Gone Girl actress reportedly dated former SNL star Pete Davidson for a month before calling it quits The end: Emily was married to film producer Sebastian Bear-McClard for four years before the two announced their divorce in 2021; seen at the 2020 Vanity Fair Oscar Party The beauty has been seen with Jack Greer, DJ Orazio Rispo, and former SNL star Pete Davidson. Pete and Emily reportedly dated for about a month before calling it quits. After her month-long stint with Pete, Emily was seen enjoying a steamy kiss with artist Jack Greer outside her New York apartment. Their PDA-packed rendezvous came hours before she took to TikTok, where she implied she wanted to date multiple people. She mouthed the words of audio for a TikTok video that said: 'I would be with multiple men, also some women as well, um, everyone's hot but in an interesting way.' Angelina Jolie cut a sophisticated figure in a structured black jacket over a form-fitting dress with a thigh-high slit to dinner at Eleven Madison Park in New York City. While her ex-husband Brad Pitt, alongside some of Hollywood's most famous stars gathered together to attend the Golden Globes on Tuesday evening, the 47-year-old actress dressed to impress at the first plant-based three Michelin-starred restaurant. For the occasion, the Oscar winner nothing short of sensational in her elegant black frock, which she paired with matching leather boots. Glamorous: Angelina Jolie cut a sophisticated figure in a structured black jacket over a form-fitting dress with a thigh-high slit to dinner at Eleven Madison Park in New York City Although it is unknown who she dined with, following a recent coffee date with Normal People star Paul Mescal last week, the mom-of-six spent four and a half hours at the celebrity hotspot. The restaurant, which has a 15,000 people on the wait list, according to Bloomberg, offers a $335 plant-based tasting menu and a bar tasting menu of six courses for $175 per person. Upon exiting the building, Jolie looked glamorous as her sleek brunette locks gently blew in the wind as she sauntered back to her car. Skipping the ceremony: While her ex-husband Brad Pitt, alongside some of Hollywood's most famous stars gathered together to attend the Golden Globes on Tuesday evening, the 47-year-old actress dressed to impress at the first plant-based three Michelin-starred restaurant Leggy display: For the occasion, the Oscar winner nothing short of sensational in her elegant black frock, which she paired with matching leather boots As she dined on cuisine made by Swiss chef, Daniel Humm, her former spouse, 59, seemed to have the time of his life attending the 80th Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel. During the Golden Globes, he was inundated with loving messages from his famous peers, including Austin Butler and Abbott Elementary creator Quinta Brunson, who mentioned him in their acceptance speeches. Despite losing the Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Babylon to Ke Huy Quan, Pitt was in high spirits throughout the night as he exchanged laughs with Margot Robbie. Night out: Although it is unknown who she dined with, following a recent coffee date with Normal People star Paul Mescal last week, the mom-of-six spent four and a half hours at the celebrity hotspot Yum: The restaurant, which has a 15,000 people on the wait list, according to Bloomberg , offers a $335 plant-based tasting menu and a bar tasting menu of six courses for $175 per person 'Brad looks relaxed and smiling,' an insider told ET from inside the show. 'Brad has a Voss water bottle and cheers [Babylon] co-star Margot [Robbie] with it.' The source also witnessed the Bullet Train actor have a sweet exchange with Ozark's Julia Garner. After telling the actress, 28, it was 'nice to meet' her, she adorably gushed 'stop it, oh my god' and was described as looking star struck. Glowing: As she dined on cuisine made by Swiss chef, Daniel Humm, her former spouse, 59, seemed to have the time of his life at attending the 80th Annual Golden Globe Awards (pictured above on Tuesday) Leah Remini gave a big thumbs up to the Golden Globes host Jerrod Carmichael on Tuesday after he referenced a controversy close to her heart. The 35-year-old comedian delivered jokes during the ceremony aimed at Top Gun: Maverick star Tom Cruise, who had previously returned his Globes to protest the Globes' lack of Black voters, while also referencing Scientology leader David Miscavige and his wife Shelly Miscavige. Shelly has been alleged to be missing and has not been seen in public since August 2007, though police have been satisfied that she is not missing. Remini who previously filed a missing persons report for the long-unseen Shelly tweeted her support for Carmichael's joke, which occurred just before he introduced members of Top Gun: Maverick's cast. Pet issue: Actress and Scientology defector Leah Remini, 52, gave Golden Globes host Jerrod Carmichael, 35, a thumbs up after he poked fun at noted Scientologist Tom Cruise and Scientology leader David Miscavige's allegedly missing wife Shelly on Tuesday; seen in 2019 'Backstage, I found these three Golden Globe awards that Tom Cruise returned,' Carmichael said while carrying the awards in his arms. The comedian who began the show by poking fun at the Hollywood Foreign Press's race issues added: 'I'm just the host but I have a pitch. I think maybe we take these three things and exchange them for the safe return of Shelly Miscavige.' Cruise did not attend the ceremony. It's not clear if Carmichael was insinuating that Cruise might have some knowledge of Shell's whereabouts. The actor has been a Scientologist for 30 years and is close friends with David Miscavige. 'Thank you Jerrod Carmichael!' Remini, 52, enthused in a tweet posted on Tuesday night. 'Where is Shelly??' she added, before including hashtags for the Golden Globes. Poking fun: 'I think maybe we take these three things and exchange them for the safe return of Shelly Miscavige,' Carmichael joked about Tom Cruise's returned Globes. Cruise did not attend the ceremony Got his back: Remini tweeted approvingly about Carmichael's joke before reposting a threat she wrote late last year about her suspicions that the LAPD was in cahoots with Scientology In 2013, Remini, a Scientology defector, filed a missing persons report for Shelly with the Los Angeles Police Department. The department was later satisfied that the mysterious first lady of the religion was fine. At the time, Scientology said in a statement Remini's actions were 'ill-advised, ludicrous self-promotion.' Following Carmichael's joke, Remini retweeted a Twitter thread she wrote in November 2022 in which she alleged that the LAPD was in cahoots with Scientology. Loaded up: 'Backstage, I found these three Golden Globe awards that Tom Cruise returned,' Carmichael said while carrying the awards in his arms Out of sight: Shelly Miscavige, the wife of Scientology leader David Miscavige has not been publicly seen since August 2007. Scientology has long claimed she is not a missing person Scientology has long claimed that Shelly is not a missing person. DailyMail.com has reached out to the organization for comment on Carmichael's joke. Carmichael was introducing Glen Powell and Jay Ellis when he made the gag. The pair were about to hand out the award for Best Supporting Actress in a Television Series and went through with their job like professionals, not acknowledging the slight against their co-star. Awkard! Carmichael made the joke prior to introducing Cruise's Top Gun: Maverick co-stars, Glen Powell and Jay Ellis Close friends: David Miscavige served as Cruise's best man during his 2006 wedding to Katie Holmes David Miscavige served as Cruise's best man during his 2006 wedding to Katie Holmes. Cruise's three Golden Globes came for actor in a comedy or musical for Jerry Maguire, supporting actor for Magnolia and actor in a drama for Born on the Fourth of July. SlateCulture's Sam Adams tweeted about the Carmichael joke saying: 'Lol Jerrod making a Shelly Miscavige joke to utter silence before introducing two actors from TOP GUN MAVERICK.' Anna Kendrick modeled two chic outfits in New York City on Wednesday morning. The actress, 37, donned a colorful skirt suit then another set, this time in beige plaid, while on a promo tour for her film Alice, Darling. The thriller drama follows a young woman facing psychological abuse from her partner - which, she recently divulged, holds several comparisons to her own past experience with a toxic ex-boyfriend. Multiple looks: Anna Kendrick, 37, modeled two eye-catching matching jacket and skirt sets while on a promo tour for her film Alice, Darling in New York City on Wednesday morning While arriving at CBS Studios to talk about her recent film - which premiered on December 30 - the Pitch Perfect star wore a neutral plaid, mid-length jacket with neon yellow details and black buttons from LE SUPERBE. The Emmy-nominated actress sported the matching miniskirt and a pastel yellow top for her appearance on CBS Mornings. The Twilight alum donned camel, suede, and pointed-toe heels and carried a navy-and-white, patterned clutch. Chic: While arriving at CBS Studios to talk about her recent film - which premiered on December 30 - the Pitch Perfect star wore a neutral plaid, mid-length jacket with neon yellow details and black buttons The star of A Simple Favor styled her brunette tresses with loose waves and a blowout. She wore a simple makeup look with emphasis on full lashes and a coral pink lip. Later, the Portland native was spotted leaving the morning talk show in a Moschino cropped jacket with the matching geometric-print midi skirt. Bold: Later, the Portland native was spotted leaving the morning talk show in a Moschino cropped jacket with the matching geometric-print midi skirt She wore a high-neck top - similar to the one she wore previously but in black. To match, she carried an Alexis Bittar black crocodile purse with gold hoops as the handles. She also changed into a pair of patent black platform heels with a T-strap. Her latest film: In Alice, Darling, Kendrick plays a young woman stuck in a toxic relationship with a psychologically abusive boyfriend On the talk show: She talked about how psychological abuse gets less attention than physical abuse. In Alice, Darling, Kendrick plays a young woman stuck in a toxic relationship with a psychologically abusive boyfriend. The star - who also executive produced the film - has candidly revealed that she drew from her own experience for the film. On the talk show, she talked about how psychological abuse gets less attention than physical abuse. Drawing from her experience: The thriller drama follows a young woman facing psychological abuse from her partner - which, she recently divulged, holds several comparisons to her own past experience with a toxic ex-boyfriend 'I think part of the reason people don't talk about is [because] it feels embarrassing,' she said. 'I think it's something so difficult to even put into words and the challenge of creating a film that put you in that experience was a really bold endeavor,' she added. 'Halfway through the movie, [viewers are] not sure what to believe,' she said. 'And that's a big part of that experience. 'Your mind starts to play tricks on you and you don't know if you can trust your own perception and your [own] experience, and the movie kind of puts you in that place.' Christina Hall can't wait to begin a new decade and celebrate her 40th birthday. The HGTV star, 39, recently shared her excitement about her upcoming birthday in July and said she's 'actually excited' for the milestone marker. However, the Flip Or Flop vet received criticism earlier this week from an Instagram user who said she was self-centered and it was 'all about her' before her husband Josh Hall came to her defense in response to the 'insulting' comment. A new decade: Christina Hall, 39, can't wait to begin a new decade and celebrate her 40th birthday The Christina On The Coast reality star told People: 'I'm approaching 40 in a few months and I feel like what I've heard is - in your forties - you're the most confident and comfortable in your own skin. 'I don't feel like I'm 40,' she added. 'Not at all. I feel like I'm 32. I don't know what happened.' However, she said that she's 'actually excited' to turn 40 and plans to celebrate with a 'real big fun trip' - on her birthday. Her 40th birthday: The HGTV star recently revealed her excitement about her upcoming birthday in July and said she's 'actually excited' for the milestone marker Another exciting plan coming up for the real estate investor is the debut of her spin-off reality show. On January 12, the first episode of Christina In The Country will premiere on HGTV. This time, Hall will be taking her California-based home renovation reality show - Christina On The Coast - to Tennessee. Still youthful: 'I don't feel like I'm 40,' she added. 'Not at all. I feel like I'm 32. I don't know what happened.' She also revealed that she has other upcoming projects she plans to focus on in her 40s. 'I really want to start my own home line - like a Christina collection-type thing,' the reality star said. 'So that's something we're working on right now, getting that into a big box store,' the mother-of-three continued. 'Hopefully that comes into fruition next year.' Upcoming plans: She said that she's 'actually excited' to turn 40 and plans to celebrate with a 'real big fun trip' - on her birthday She hinted at potential future projects on the horizon: 'And then also an online seminar course in manifesting, creating wealth in your dream life. 'I think that would be pretty cool,' the former partner and Flip Or Flop co-star of Tarek El Moussa said. On the topic of why Tennessee, she said, 'Up until now, Tennessee has always been a quick getaway, but with every trip I'm just loving it more and more. I'm always looking for more reasons to spend time here.' Alessandra Ambrosio appeared on Instagram in a trio of new photos promoting jewelry from Jacquie Aiche. The 41-year-old Brazilian supermodel - who enjoyed a recent Mexican vacation - wore a plunging black bodysuit for the photo shoot and piled on layers of diamond-encrusted jewels. In a caption to her 11.5 million followers, the stunner wrote, 'Made for magic,' and included black heart and wand emojis. New post: Alessandra Ambrosio appeared on Instagram in a trio of new photos promoting jewelry from Jacquie Aiche In the simple and sensual photo set the longtime fashion model looked great as ever, showing off her youthful beauty. Her dark, honey-highlighted hair was parted down the center and tucked behind one ear as the locks fell in loose waves. Alessandra posed against a solid oatmeal-colored backdrop as she donned large hoop earrings and smaller delicate ones behind them. Her necklaces ranged in length, beginning with a draping choker and continuing with longer pieces, including a body chain that reached down to her midriff. Her look: She wore a plunging black romper for the photo shoot and piled on layers of diamond-encrusted jewels Additionally, Ambrosio showed off a milky, nude manicure as her fingers were covered in multiple rings. Her wrists were not left out, nor were her ankles the runway regular wore anklets and bracelets in the same Bohemian-inspired aesthetic as the other stones and trinkets. For the campaign the mother-of-two wore a face of flattering, light makeup in warming tones. She showed off her ample cleavage in the sleeveless shorts set she wore, also flaunting her long and toned legs in one photo. Gorgeous: She showed off her ample cleavage in the bodysuit, also flaunting her long and toned legs in one photo One day prior Alessandra was active on Instagram as she continued to share special moments from her Mexican getaway. The bombshell looked incredible, baring most of her enviable figure in a show-stopping patterned red bikini. She wore a straw sun hat as she enjoyed a cocktail with friend Rachel Dobriner in a clip shared in the platform's Stories feature. Ambrosio went barefoot and styled her look with the addition of a pair of round sunglasses. Vacation outtakes: One day prior Alessandra was active on Instagram as she continued to share special moments from her Mexican getaway Joining in the fun was her young nephew, who she didn't name but proudly showed off in fun pictures. Ambrosio cradled the smiling tot in her lap in one snapshot, as they sat together in the ocean. The tot matched his superstar aunt as he wore a pair of red swim trunks and played with a yellow shovel. The former Victoria's Secret Angel used a GIF that read 'Auntie Life' inside an animated heart in one photo. India enjoyed its first-ever Golden Globe win on Tuesday night as Naatu Naatu, a viral production number from the Telugu film RRR, took home best original song. Directed by the wildly successful filmmaker S S Rajamouli, RRR stars Ram Charan and Jr. NTR in a splashy action musical about Indians resisting British rule. Prominent Indians ranging from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to movie stars like Amitabh Bachchan and Priyanka Chopra rejoiced at their country's triumph. Success: India enjoyed its first-ever Golden Globe win on Tuesday night as Naatu Naatu, a viral production number from the Telugu film RRR, took home best original song RRR was also nominated in the best foreign language film category but lost to the acclaimed Argentine movie Argentina, 1985. However Naatu Naatu - with lyrics by Chandrabose and music by M M Keeravani, both Telugu cinema staples - sailed to awards glory stateside on Tuesday. The composer, who is a cousin of RRR's director, took the stage solo to accept the prize and showered praise on his collaborators. Chandrabose's fellow boldface names celebrated on Twitter, including the Hindi film legend Amitabh Bachchan, who shared his congratulations in English and Telugu. Premise: Directed by the wildly successful filmmaker SS Rajamouli, RRR stars Ram Charan (left) and Jr. NTR (right) in a splashy action musical about Indians resisting British rule Blockbuster: RRR's director Rajamouli, who has cited such Hollywood movies as Braveheart and Kung Fu Panda as his influences, has become a reliable hitmaker in India Priyanka Chopra hailed an 'Amazing win for Indian cinema!' while Prime Minister Modi declared: 'This prestigious honour has made every Indian very proud.' Anupama Chopra, one of the best-known film critics in India, tweeted of Keeravani: 'An artist who has given us memorable music for decades - so heartening to see him and the brilliant #NaatuNaatu score big.' On the red carpet before the ceremony, Ram Charan expressed his joy that an Indian movie was being 'appreciated' in Hollywood, which he called the 'Mecca of films.' He shared: 'I would love to work with one of the top directors here. I want them to experience us, and the world is coming together.' Face-off: Naatu Naatu sees the two main characters, played by Ram Charan and Jr. NTR, teaming up for a dance-off against an English rival Award winners: Naatu Naatu features lyrics by Chandrabose and music by M M Keeravani, both Telugu cinema staples, and took 19 months to write Setup: When one Britisher sneers at 'these brown buggers' for not knowing western 'art' and 'finesse,' the two leads show him up by dazzling all the women in the crowd with the 'naatu' Rahul Spiligunj, who sang the song alongside Kaala Bhairava, told the Press Trust Of India he was marking the victory by serving all his houseguests Hyderabadi biryani, a popular dish from the Telugu-speaking Indian state of Telangana. RRR's director Rajamouli, who has cited such Hollywood movies as Braveheart and Kung Fu Panda as his influences, has become a reliable hitmaker in India. He is particularly famous in his home country as a pioneering force for 'crossover' or 'pan-Indian' cinema, meaning movies that break across India's various regional and language barriers to become nationwide hits. His latest movie had added cross-cultural appeal in India, as it was primarily cast with Telugu actors but also featured supporting performances by Alia Bhatt and Ajay Devgn, two major stars from Hindi-speaking Bollywood. Place to be: Naatu Naatu is set at the Delhi Gymkhana Club, an ultra-exclusive private members establishment started by the British in 1913 that stands to this day Sign of the times: However Jr. NTR revealed in a press conference that their director was unable to film the sequence in Delhi because of the COVID-19 restrictions of the time Details: Naatu Naatu was ultimately shot at the Mariinskyi Palace, an 18th century Romanov edifice that is now the official residence of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky When RRR arrived on Netflix last year, Rajamouli thundered through another boundary as his film became a social media sensation in the west. Many Indians have taken enormous pride in the attention the movie has garnered in America, to the point that there was outrage on social media in India when RRR was not selected as the country's Oscar submission. Naatu Naatu sees the two main characters, played by Ram Charan and Jr. NTR, teaming up for a dance-off against an English rival. When one Britisher sneers at 'these brown buggers' for not knowing western 'art' and 'finesse,' the two leads show him up by dazzling all the women in the crowd with the 'naatu,' choreographed by Prem Rakshit. Keeravani's victory: The composer, who is a cousin of RRR's director, took the stage solo to accept the prize and showered praise on his collaborators The team: Keeravani is pictured at Billboard's Golden Globes afterparty with the movie's star Jr. NTR (center) and its director SS Rajamouli The number had a long and tortuous road to completion - the lyricist has informed the Indian news outlet NDTV that the writing process lasted 19 months. 'It took me two months to choreograph it,' Prem Rakshit revealed to India Today. 'We shot for 20 days and did 43 retakes.' Naatu Naatu is set at the Delhi Gymkhana Club, an ultra-exclusive private members establishment started by the British in 1913 that stands to this day. Boldface names: Prominent Indians like Prime Minister Narendra Modi, movie stars Priyanka Chopra and Amitabh Bachchan and critic Anupama Chopra have cheered RRR's victory However Jr. NTR revealed in a press conference that their director was unable to film the sequence in Delhi because of the COVID-19 restrictions of the time. 'You know, because of the pandemic, we couldn't shoot here in India, so he took us all the way to Kiev in Ukraine and tortured us there,' joked Jr. NTR. Naatu Naatu was ultimately shot at the Mariinskyi Palace, an 18th century Romanov edifice that is now the official residence of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. A TV news anchor has offered her brutal assessment of former prime minister Tony Abbott's tribute to the late George Pell, who died aged 81 on Tuesday. Abbott, a Catholic and staunch Pell supporter, described the cardinal as a 'saint' and compared the sexual abuse charges that effectively ended his ecclesiastical career to 'a modern form of crucifixion'. While this statement was welcomed by many Australian Catholics, some argued it was insensitive given the allegations faced by Pell in his lifetime, including that he helped cover up abuse by other members of the clergy. Reacting to Abbott's statement on Instagram, former 7News Melbourne host Jacqui Felgate summed up the anger felt by Pell's critics with a brutal, three-word response. TV news anchor Jacqui Felgate (pictured) has offered her brutal assessment of former prime minister Tony Abbott's tribute to the late George Pell, who died aged 81 on Tuesday 'Beyond the pale,' she wrote. Many of Felgate's followers agreed, with some, including actress Olympia Valance, questioning if Abbott's gushing statement was even 'real'. Former Bachelor star Matthew Johnson also said of Abbott's statement: 'This is absolutely abhorrent and really puts into perspective what type of person [he is].' It comes after Abbott labelled Cardinal George Pell 'a saint for our times' and likened his jailing on child abuse charges to 'a modern form of crucifixion'. Abbott (pictured), a staunch Pell supporter, described the cardinal as a 'saint' and compared the sex abuse charges that effectively ended his ecclesiastical career to 'a modern crucifixion' The former PM led tributes after Pell died at the age of 81 on Tuesday from heart complications following hip surgery. But talk quickly turned to the former Catholic archbishop of Melbourne and Sydney and papal adviser's 2018 conviction for molesting two teenage choirboys in 1996. The conviction was quashed in a unanimous decision by the High Court in 2020. Having labelled the cardinal a 'great son' and 'great leader', Mr Abbott said his jailing was a 'modern form of crucifixion, reputationally at least a kind of living death'. Reacting to Abbott's statement on Instagram, former 7News Melbourne host Felgate summed up the anger felt by Pell's critics with a brutal, three-word response: 'Beyond the pale' 'He strikes me as a saint for our times. Like everyone who knew him, I feel a deep sense of loss but am confident that his reputation will grow and grow and that he will become an inspiration for the ages,' the former Liberal leader said. 'The cardinal was a committed defender of Catholic orthodoxy ... as an ecclesiastical and cultural conservative, he attracted praise and blame from all the expected quarters.' Liberal leader Peter Dutton agreed and took aim at the Victorian government, suggesting it had led to Cardinal Pell's 'political persecution'. 'The fact he spent a year in prison for a conviction the High Court of Australia unanimously quashed should provide some cause for reflection for the Victorian Labor government and its institutions that led this modern-day political persecution,' he said in a statement. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said it was a 'difficult day' for many Australians, having expressed the nation's condolences to Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher on Wednesday morning. While Abbott's statement was welcomed by many Australian Catholics, some argued it was insensitive given the allegations faced by Pell (pictured) in his lifetime, including that he helped cover up abuse by other members of the clergy 'For many people, particularly of the Catholic faith, this will be a difficult day and I express my condolences to all those who are mourning today,' he told reporters in Rockhampton. He said the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade would assist in bringing Cardinal Pell's body back to Australia for a burial service at St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney after the funeral in the Vatican. Mr Albanese, who is Catholic, declined to say whether he would attend the Sydney event, adding only that 'further announcements will be made when they are finalised'. Former prime minister John Howard said a person of enormous influence had been taken from the nation. 'His deep and compassionate faith sustained him during more than 400 days in prison for alleged crimes which many, me included, believed should never have been the subject of charges,' he said. Child protection advocate and former senator Derryn Hinch was more scathing of the Catholic leader. 'I wish he had lived for another 10 years of deserved public opprobrium,' he tweeted. They enjoyed a family holiday to Barbados for New Year to ring in 2023. And Jess Wright shared a glimpse at her idyllic trip with her husband William Lee-Kemp and their son Presley, nine months, as she posted to Instagram on Wednesday. The former TOWIE star, 37, wowed in one shot where she wore a busty white dress and cosied up to the beau as they beamed for the camera. Glam: Jess Wright has shared a glimpse at her New Year trip to Barbados as she posted to Instagram on Wednesday with her husband William Lee-Kemp and their son Presley Jess showed off her sense of style in the number that flashed her toned midriff and had pretty tired detailing on the skirt and was teamed with a Dior handbag. Beside her William looked handsome in a blue shirt and white shorts, while other shots in the album showed adorable Presley wearing a cute New Year hat. The husband and wife doted on their little one amid the celebrations and also shared sweet pictures of him in his pram as well as the fireworks. Family: Another shot in the album showed adorable Presley wearing a cute New Year hat as they doted on him Jess penned in the caption: 'One for us to remember! #newyears #2023.' Prior to their holiday, Jessica couldn't contain her smile as she shared a sweet family Christmas snap with husband William and their son Presley on Instagram. She looked incredible in a crisp white jumper and black mini skirt which she teamed with sheer tights and towering boots. She beamed as she held her eight-month-old baby boy in her arms while her businessman beau, 39, and her mum Carol, 62, beamed at Presley. First ever New Year's Eve: The husband and wife doted on their little one amid the fun celebrations William cut a casual figure in a grey sweatshirt which he teamed with black skinny jeans while his son was dressed in a festive checked romper and knee high socks. Meanwhile, Carol looked sensational in an eye catching red long sleeved maxi dress which she teamed with comfy brown fluffy sliders. The family posed up a storm in front of Jess's lavish tree as she gave fans a glimpse into Presley's first Christmas. Looking back: Jess penned in the caption on Instagram: 'One for us to remember! #newyears #2023' Dressing up: They enjoyed a family trip to Barbados for New Year to ring in 2023 Jess later swapped Presley for a glass of fizz and also held a white Christian Dior handbag as she posed in front of her Christmas tree. She styled her long dark tresses in loose curls which cascaded past her shoulders and she applied a radiant palette of makeup to showcase her beauty. The former Only Way Is Essex star was joined by her brother Josh's family as she shared an adorable snap of his son Joshua James, 10 months, with Presley. Joshua and Presley twinned in coordinated navy pyjamas with their names written across the front as they relaxed on the sofa during the family get together. Adorable: Jess also shared sweet pictures of him in his pram as she gave her followers an update Whitney Houston's estate is not pleased by a joke made at the expense of the late music icon at the 2023 Golden Globes. Host Jerrod Carmichael, 35, referred to the Beverly Hilton - the venue the ceremony was being held at and the same location Houston died at in 2012 - as the 'hotel that killed Whitney Houston' on Tuesday night. Speaking with TMZ through a rep, Pat Houston, Whitney's manager and sister-in-law, said: 'The Whitney Houston Estate is disappointed in the joke, and felt it was in poor taste.' 'Poor taste': Whitney Houston's estate is not pleased by a joke made at the expense of the late music icon at the 2023 Golden Globes Audience members reacted audibly when Jerrod cracked the controversial Whitney joke. 'We are pressed for time but they wanted me to shout out the venue that we're in. So we are here live from the hotel that killed Whitney Houston, the Beverly Hilton, you guys, so that's very exciting,' he told the crowd before introducing the next speakers to the stage. It's unknown whether or not NBC was aware of the joke beforehand, however the remark could also have been spontaneous. Insiders told TMZ Whitney's camp was not told about the comment prior to the show. Houston was found unresponsive in the bathtub of the suite where she'd been staying in the Beverly Hilton hotel in 2012. Shocking: Audience members reacted audibly when Jerrod referred to the Beverly Hilton as the 'hotel that killed Whitney Houston' Venue: The Golden Globes were being held at the Beverly Hilton, the same place Houston died at in 2012 Her death was ruled an accident, caused by drowning, as the result of a heart attack. She had traces of cocaine in her system, that a coroner ruled was a contributing factor to her death. The Whitney Houston remark was not the only shocking comment made by Jerrod that evening. Elsewhere during the night, Carmichael couldn't resist taking a swipe at Tom Cruise's beloved Scientology, with the star coming out with three awards, saying: 'Hey, guys backstage I found these. Three Golden Globe awards that Tom Cruise returned. Tragedy: Houston was found unresponsive in the bathtub of the suite where she'd been staying in the Beverly Hilton hotel in 2012 'I'm just a host briefly, or whatever, but I have a pitch, I think maybe we take these three things and exchange them for the safe return of Shelly Miscavige' - referring to the missing wife of Scientology leader David Miscavige, who has been missing since 2006. He later took aim at Kanye West - whose career and net worth has gone into freefall amid his anti-Semitism scandal - saying: 'Can I take a second? Real quick everybody be quiet, be quiet I want to take a second and shout out Steven Spielberg who's here incredible. 'It's an honor, sir congrats on The Fabelmans [which is based on Spielberg's upbringing in a Jewish family]. I actually saw it with Kanye and it changed everything for him. So that's how good you are you changed Kanye West's mind.' US President Joe Biden spoke up for the first time Tuesday about the issue of classified materials found in his personal office at the Penn Biden Center. He expressed surprise that they had been located there and said he was fully assisting the Justice Department's investigation. At the North American Leaders Summit in Mexico City, Biden started answering reporter queries with, "Let me get rid of the easy one first," stressing that he takes confidential documents seriously, per Fox News. The Joe Biden classified documents were uncovered by his lawyers while they were vacating the office, the POTUS said. According to Richard Sauber, senior counsel to the White House, the Joe Biden classified documents were found on November 2 at the Penn Biden Center and were from during Biden's term as vice president. From the middle of 2017 until the start of the 2020 campaign, Joe Biden utilized the think tank as his office. In a statement on Monday, Sauber said that the confidential documents were "not the subject of any previous request or inquiry by the archives." He added that Biden's attorneys had already coordinated with the Justice Department and the National Archives for the proper handling of the highly sensitive Joe Biden classified documents. US Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois and Trump appointee John Lausch has been enlisted by Attorney General Merrick Garland to analyze the matter. Biden Defends Handling of the Classified Docs On Tuesday, the President expressed optimism that the probe on the latest Joe Biden scandal would conclude shortly. Joe Biden defended how the documents were handled. He noted that they were found "in a box in a locked cabinet or at least a closet." When his lawyers realized that "several classified documents" were in the box, they "immediately called the Archives." Read Also: Russiagate: Elon Musk Agrees Conspiracy Theory Is 'Deranged and Unhinged' The POTUS remarked, "I was briefed about this discovery and surprised to learn that there were any government records that were taken there to that office, but I don't know what's in the documents," as per Reuters. He said that his legal team had advised him against investigating the contents of the materials in the Joe Biden scandal. Some lawmakers have been put in a difficult position as a result of the discovery of secret papers in Biden's old office. Republicans To Investigate Joe Biden Scandal CNN reports that Donald Trump has openly encouraged the FBI to search Biden's offices and possibly the White House for mismanaged records, and he has replied with a series of social media postings mocking Biden. Even though Joe Biden classified documents were discovered in an inappropriate location, many Democrats on Capitol Hill have voiced faith in Biden's ability to handle sensitive government information. House Republicans, fresh from their electoral victory, have already promised to expand their oversight inquiries to include the Biden records issue, with some considering NARA as a prime target for further investigation. Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH), a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, has written to US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, requesting "an urgent investigation and "damage assessment" of the Joe Biden classified documents situation. President Joe Biden might be in breach of national security laws after the discovery of secret material, according to a statement released by Turner on Tuesday. These statutes include the Espionage Act and the Presidential Records Act. Related Article: House of Representatives Vote To Create China Committee To Counter Beijing's Growing International Influence @ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. He recently starred in the Stan Original series Eden and has also co-hosted major awards shows. And Christian Wilkins is about to take another big step in his career by moving to Los Angeles to work on his acting and presenting prospects. The socialite son of Channel Nine veteran Richard Wilkins told Who magazine he hopes to secure opportunities in Hollywood this year. Christian Wilkins (pictured) is about to take another big step in his career by moving to Los Angeles to work on his acting and presenting prospects 'I just think there's an opportunity to go there and see what might happen, and I'd love to try to explore that,' said Christian, 27. 'I've always wanted to be an actor or a late-night TV host. That would be a dream... so let's try and manifest that and see if it happens.' Elsewhere in the interview, Christian said he feels like he has finally 'found my own identity within the queer community' and is more confident. The socialite son of Channel Nine veteran Richard Wilkins told Who magazine he hopes to secure opportunities in Hollywood this year 'As a little kid for Halloween, I would dress up as the Wicked Witch of the West and I loved that, but as I got older, a little part of that diminished because you get nervous as a teenager,' he added. 'As I made queer friends and found my own community, it became safe to explore my own identity through fashion.' A lover of the limelight, Christian has stepped out of his father Richard's shadow in recent years thanks to his growing catalogue of statement-making red carpet appearances. Elsewhere in the interview, Christian said he feels like he has finally 'found my own identity within the queer community' and is more confident Christian, who came out as gay in 2018, never shies away from bold colours, textures and patterns, pushing the envelope in terms of both style and gender stereotypes. He also often wears gender-defying skirts and frocks. 'People used to call me a girl all the time because I was a gay guy who was very flamboyant, and did dance and singing,' he previously said on his podcast, Radical Fashionism. 'People always used to call me a girl, and I always found that such a strange diss, because I feel like in order to be offended by something, what they're calling you needs to be offensive.' Tatjana Patitz died at the aged 56 from breast cancer on Wednesday morning in California, her agent confirmed to DailyMail.com. And soon after tributes came pouring in for the beauty who worked for Vogue and Valentino, and starred in George Michael's music video Freedom! from 1990 with Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington, Linda Evangelista and Cindy Crawford. Fellow models Crawford, Campbell, Eva Herzigova, Helena Christensen and Elaine Irwin as well as Vogue editor Anna Wintour were the first to share their remarks. Pretty woman: Tatjana Patitz died at the aged 56 from breast cancer on Wednesday morning in California, her agent confirmed to DailyMail.com on Wednesday. And soon after tributes came pouring in for the beauty Iconic: Hamburg-born Patitz starred alongside (L-R) Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington,and Cindy Crawford - with Patitz in the center - on the cover of British Vogue for the January issue in 1990. George Michael saw the cover and invited all of the girls to star in his music video Crawford shared flashback photos with Patitz on Insta Stories and a two broken heart emojis over the images. The mother of two then shared an Instagram post on her her page with the throwback photo of the women on a beach. 'So sad to hear of the passing of the beautiful @tatjanapatitz,' began the wife of Rande Gerber. 'We were babies together in the fashion industry and I feel like we grew up together. We were in so many shoots together and backstage at shows. From Helena: 'This is deeply deeply sad,' Christensen shared. She also wrote, 'Beautiful spirit she was' as she added two broken heart emojis Sincere and sweet: Later she shared a post on her Instagram page with a carousel of throwback photos and a tender note. 'Beautiful Tatjana, you were such a divine spirit inside out ,' she began 'I found her soft-spoken, sensitive, kind, inquisitive and, who could ever forget those piercing eyes. Her love of animals and nature was infectious. Sending my condolences to her family especially the son she adored. RIP.' Campbell shared several icons for a dove, broken heart and prayer on Twitter. Amber Valletta, who worked for Vogue and Versace and has acted in films like What Lies Beneath and the TV series Blood And Oil, said, 'So so sad.' A lot of emojis: Her freedom co-star Naomi Campbell shared several icons for a dove, broken heart and prayer Her heart is broken: Amber Valletta, who worked for Vogue and Versace and has acted in films like What Lies Beneath and the TV series Blood And Oil, said, 'So so sad' Herzigova said, 'An angel has left us, Tatjana Patitz hearing about your passing is the saddest news I could have imaginedI miss your dearly RIP.' 'This is deeply deeply sad,' Christensen shared on Twitter. She also wrote, 'Beautiful spirit she was' as she added two broken heart emojis. And she added a flashback photo where she said over the post that she was 'heartbroken.' Later she shared a post on her Instagram page with a carousel of throwback photos and a tender note. 'Beautiful Tatjana, you were such a divine spirit inside out ,' she began. 'Always graceful and calm with that those wonderful smiling eyes. We went on so many trips together from such a young age and shared incredible memories. I loved being around you, it felt so peaceful and we always laughed a lot.' And she let followers know they stayed close: 'I am grateful we kept in touch till the end, it made me smile just now reading through our texts realizing theyre mostly about our love for nature. I hope youre riding on a horse in endless meadows with that smile on your face and the wind blowing in your hair RIP beautiful angel.' 'Forever treasured Tatjana. With love to @tatjanapatitz and family,' shared Elaine Irwin. Yasmeen Ghauri shared a throwback photo as she wrote, 'Rest in peace dear Tatjana. We didnt know each other well but your presence always struck me. Your authenticity, grace, kindness and inner strength shone through. You will be missed.' fellow model Elaine Irwin posted a picture of their joint Paris Vogue cover and said: Forever treasured Tatjana. With love to Tatjiana Patitz and family' From a fashion executive: Valentino's partner Giancarlo Giammetti called the late star a 'beautiful woman' adding 'she was one of the extraordinary top models but never seemed to be a part of the group... she wanted to be a part, her and her son Jonah! Rip beautiful friend!' The image was courtesy of Patrick Demarchelier for V advertising Anna Wintour, chief content officer of Conde Nast and global editorial director of Vogue, said: 'Tatjana was always the European symbol of chic, like Romy Schneider-meets-Monica Vitti. 'She was far less visible than her peersmore mysterious, more grown-up, more unattainableand that had its own appeal.' Makeup artist Pati Dubroff said, 'Gutted to hear of the passing of this beauty. @tatjanapatitz was one of the first models I met and connected with when we were both in our early 20s. She was already a supermodel and i was just an assistant. She was kind, cool and so down to earth. 'As I write this I realize that not only have we lost this light, also the photographer @therealpeterlindbergh and hairdresser #davidbabaii from this shoot are no longer with us on this earthly existence.' No clothes: Seen second from left with, from left, Fabienne Terwinghe, Campbell, Heather White and Emma Sjoberg Valentino's partner Giancarlo Giammetti called the late star a 'beautiful woman' adding 'she was one of the extraordinary top models but never seemed to be a part of the group... she wanted to be a part, her and her son Jonah! Rip beautiful friend!' The image was courtesy of Patrick Demarchelier for Valentino advertising. Photographer Peter Lindbergh's team shared on Twitter, 'We are deeply saddened by the passing of Tatjana Patitz, a long-time friend of Peter's. We would like to salute Tatjana's kindness, inner beauty and outstanding intelligence. Our thoughts go to her loved ones and particularly Jonah. She will be immensely missed.' The star was born in Germany but raised in Sweden. She got her start in the modeling business as a teenager but only found international fame when she was photographed by acclaimed shutterbug Peter Lindberg. Later the cover girl moved to California to be near her horses. She was married to Jason Johnson for six years, and the pair had a son, Jonah, together in November 2004 - who she describes as her 'source of happiness'. 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Ireland United States Minor Outlying Islands United States of America 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 Another class action lawsuit has been filed against Apple for allegedly gathering and transferring analytics data from iPhone customers without their consent. This class action case, which was filed last week in the Pennsylvania Eastern District Court, is a companion to one that was filed in November, 9to5 Mac writes. The Suit Revolves Around Apple's Data Analytics Collection Practices According to security researcher and developer Tommy Mysk's research, Apple apps are collecting and sending data whether or not the user gives permission. Users are prompted to provide their agreement to Apple gathering analytics data every time they set up a new iPhone, and if they decline, no analytics data will be shared to the company. However, Mysk discovered that regardless of this option, Apple apps were still gathering and delivering this data. Additionally, Mysk claimed that even with consent, the amount and quality of the data would be excessive because it contained all the information required for device fingerprinting. Companies like Meta frequently employ this method as an evasion of App Tracking Transparency, but it's important to note that Apple's developer rules expressly disallow such. Because of this, a class action lawsuit was filed against Apple soon after the Mysk findings were made public, and another one has since been filed against it. The outcome of these actions is still uncertain, although they will probably eventually be combined into a single class action lawsuit. Read More: MacBook Pro Owners Receive Emails About $50 Million Settlement For Faulty Butterfly Keyboards The Lawsuit Focuses Mostly On The Findings By Mysk Apple has been silent for months about what appears to be a clear violation of its privacy policies, despite years of PR efforts highlighting the company's dedication to data security. According to Gizmodo, this lawsuit was filed on behalf of a group of consumers to demand justice for Apple's repeated transgressions of state wiretapping, privacy, and consumer fraud laws. This case involves a blatant invasion of privacy on Apple's part, since the company illegally logs and makes use of users' personal data and activities on its consumer mobile devices and applications. Simply put, the complaint alleges that Apple illegally collects and makes use of user data and activities on its consumer mobile devices and applications. According to Mysk's tests, disabling the setting had no impact on the analytics data received from Apple apps, 9to5 Mac reports. Despite Apple's assertions to the contrary, the information is linked to your name, email address, and phone number via a permanent ID number associated with your iCloud account. In recent weeks, the Cupertino tech giant is under increasing investigation for collecting personal data, and suspicious mishandling of such. In connection to that, Apple was penalized last week in France with a $8.5 million fine for gathering user data for targeted advertising without their consent. It is unusual for privacy authorities to criticize Apple, and to be fair, its privacy policies frequently protect consumers better than those of many of its tech rivals. However, as Apple expands its booming advertising business, a venture that requires data acquisition, that may soon change, according to Gizmodo. Related Article: Brazil Fines Apple $19 Million for Not Including Chargers with iPhones China-Australia relations at critical stage of turnaround: Chinese ambassador Xinhua) 11:22, January 11, 2023 A grand national flag-raising ceremony is held as part of the celebrations for the New Year's Day at the Tian'anmen Square in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 1, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhang Chenlin) "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," Chinese Ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian said. CANBERRA, Jan. 11 (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." The Sydney Opera House is lit up for the Vivid Sydney in Sydney, Australia, on May 27, 2022. (Xinhua/Bai Xuefei) 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. (Web editor: Cai Hairuo, Liang Jun) Meta is launching a new ad distribution system in the US after the company agreed to settle a Department of Justice (DOJ) lawsuit last year, The Verge reported. The company was accused of illegally allowing discrimination against its users in connection with race and other characteristics in its housing advertising system. Meta announced on its website that they are creating Variance Reduction System (VRS). The new system seeks to help advance the equitable distribution of ads on the company's technologies, according to Meta. Meta Launches VRS for Housing Ads After more than a year of collaboration with the DOJ, Meta has now launched the VRS in the US for housing ads. The VRS is a new machine learning technology that will distribute advertisements in more equitable ways. Likewise, according to Gizmodo, it would reduce algorithmic discrimination. While VRS is currently being used for housing ads, Meta said that they are planning to use it for US employment and credit ads over the coming year. With the use of VRS, Meta can ensure that the audiences on its platform will see ads that are more closely targeted to the eligible target audience for those ads. In order to measure the aggregate age, gender, and estimated race or ethnicity distribution of the users who have seen the ad, VRS uses a method of measurement called Bayesian Improved Surname Geocoding. All the aggregate demographic info, which is verified by the Census statistics, is then matched to the demographic distribution of a targeted audience based on the advertiser's selection. According to the DOJ, these changes should "substantially reduce the variances between the eligible and actual audiences along sex and estimated race/ethnicity in the delivery of housing advertisements." Moreover, according to Meta, they have discontinued the use of Special Ad Audiences. This is also an additional commitment in the settlement with DOJ. Read Also: Meta Hit With $3.2 Billion Lawsuit: Did Facebook Exploit 44 Million User Data in the UK? Meta Creates VRS as Part of the Settlement with DOJ For years now, Meta has been facing accusations that it is discriminating against users when it comes to race. But the court started to be involved when the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) filed a lawsuit against the company in 2019. The DOJ, representing HUD, reached a settlement with the company. The department required Meta to develop a new system that will "address racial and other disparities caused by its use of personalization algorithms in its ad delivery system." With this, Meta created the VRS. In response, the DOJ noted in a press release that Meta will be subjected to court oversight until June 27th, 2026. In accordance with the company's agreement with the DOJ, a third-party reviewer will assess if Meta's new VRS satisfies the terms reached in the settlement. In addition, the company must also meet certain milestones within a specific period of time. For instance, by December 31, 2023, the company should be able to reduce variances to less than or equal to 10% for 91.7% of those ads for sex. In addition, Meta should be able to reduce variances to less than or equal to 10% for 81.0% of those ads for estimated race/ethnicity. Related Article: Meta's Facebook Is in Hot Water for Neglecting the Mental Health of Kenyan Employees Prime Minister Narendra Modi (PTI) HYDERABAD: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's proposed visit to Hyderabad on January 19 has been postponed, the state BJP has said. Telangana BJP president Bandi Sanjay Kumar said on Wednesday that fresh dates would be known once the Prime Minister's Office communicates Modi's revised programme to visit Hyderabad The Prime Minister was expected to take part in a slew of programmes including inaugurations and laying of foundation stones for various projects during his visit. He was also expected to flag off the 8th Vande Bharat Express in the country. The high speed train is expected to run between Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam. Angry farmers, draped in green kanduvas stage protest in front of the municipal office in Kamareddy on Wednesday. (DC) Kamareddy: Despite police prohibitory orders in the district, hundreds of farmers rallied in front of the Kamareddy municipal office on Wednesday to protest the draft master plan for the proposed industrial zone, chanting slogans against Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and the BRS government and demanding that the master plan be scrapped. Farmers from merged villages of the municipality took part in the agitation, which was spearheaded by the Joint Action Committee (JAC), even as police forces were deployed in large numbers near the Kamareddy municipal office. The gates of the municipal office were closed and access to the building was restricted. Prohibitory orders banning the gathering of people were imposed in Kamareddy, a day ahead of the farmers' planned dharna at the municipal office. Farmers, draped in green kanduvas, squatted in front of the municipal office. A large number of women farmers too participated in the dharna. Angry farmers raised anti-CM-BRS slogans and chanted 'Jai Jawan Jai Kisan,' demanding that the draft master plan for the industrial zone be cancelled immediately. Farmers stated that they were forced to hold agitations on the streets due to the state government's reluctance to rethink its decision to build an industrial zone in their farmlands. "We would have worked in farm fields had we not come forth for agitation to defend our agricultural lands," they added. They stated that no government could survive by causing hardships to farmers, and that Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao will suffer the same fate as former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, who was defeated after adopting anti-farmer policies. On the final day for submitting objections, Wednesday, roughly 2,313 were lodged against the proposed master plan. US Consul General Hyderabad Jennifer Larson (left) seen with US charg daffaires and acting interim ambassador A. Elizabeth Jones at the Paigah Tombs in Hyderabad on Tuesday. (Photo: R. Pavan) Hyderabad: The US will fund the restoration and conservation of the Paigah tombs complex, while the Aga Khan Trust for Culture will implement the work, Charge dAffaires, and acting interim Ambassador, A. Elizabeth (Beth) Jones said on her visit to the necropolis on Tuesday. The US Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation will provide a grant of $250,000, making the tomb restoration the fifth project to be funded by the US Consulate in Hyderabad. On her first visit to the city, Jones said, We are proud to be part of the government of Telanganas efforts to conserve these magnificent monuments. Consul General Jennifer Larson, who accompanied Jones on the visit, said, 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. Jones was also accompanied by Ratish Nanda, the CEO of Aga Khan Trust for Culture India, as she took a tour of the Paigah tombs. The tombs, belonging to the highest-ranking nobility of the Paigah family under the rule of Nizams, are a work of lime and mortar, built with white marble. The intricately designed interiors, especially the jail works, are exemplary works of architecture. The Paigah tombs are an incredibly unique site with no comparison to any site in India. About two years ago, the state government gave us the responsibility to conserve the tombs and do the landscape restoration of the complex. This work will take a couple of years and once its done, the Paigah Tombs would rightly be recognised amongst the foremost and unique cultural heritage assets in Hyderabad, Ratish Nanda told Deccan Chronicle. Hill Fort Palace, a heritage precinct, at Basheerbagh (DC file image) Hyderabad: A two judge bench of the Telangana High Court on Tuesday adjourned a PIL seeking protection, preservation and maintenance of Hill Fort palace. The bench comprising Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice N. Tukaramji was dealing with a PIL filed by the Hyderabad Heritage Trust. The petitioner complained that the government was not taking any action for preserving the monument. Advocate-General B.S. Prasad informed the court that the National Academy of Construction had formed a committee consisting of a professor from the IIT-Hyderabad, two from NIT Warangal and a heritage restoration expert and architect. He submitted that the committee visited Hill Fort Palace in December last and gave an opinion that laboratory tests must be carried out. Consequently, two companies were given work to do laboratory tests, and that the report would be available in three weeks. The panel adjourned the matter to March 23 for further hearing. HC orders protection for magistrate A two judge bench of the Telangana High Court directed the Rachakonda police commissioner to provide adequate protection to XVI Additional Metropolitan Magistrate, Ibrahimpatnam. The bench comprising Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice N. Tukaramji was dealing with a suo motu writ petition on a complaint lodged by the magistrate. The magistrate had complained against the adverse behaviour of one M. Srinivas, a practising advocate, in open court. The magistrate complained that during the Womens Day celebrations, Srinivas was following her and stared at her from the window of the court hall. The bench, observing the seriousness of the issue, directed the police commissioner to provide police security to the official. The bench ordered notice to the Bar Council of Telangana, president, Bar Association, Ibrahimpatnam, and to Srinivas. The bench will continue to hear the matter on February 10. CM K Chandrashekhar Rao welcomes special secretary A Santhi Kumari as new Chief Secretary. (Photo By Arrangement) Hyderabad: Senior IAS officer A. Santhi Kumari has become the first woman Chief Secretary of Telangana State. The state government on Wednesday issued a GO appointing the 1989 batch IAS officer to the top post. She will be in service for two years and four months as she is due for retirement in April 2025. She succeeded Somesh Kumar, a day after the Telangana High Court quashed a 2015 order of the Central Administrative Tribunal that allowed Somesh to work in the Telangana cadre although he was allotted to the Andhra Pradesh cadre in 2015 and Centre's DoPT issuing orders within hours after HC verdict directing him to join AP cadre by January 12. In a brief interaction with the media after assuming the charge, Santhi said, "The CM has reposed faith in me and appointed me as the Chief Secretary. I thank him for entrusting me with the key responsibility. I will live up to his expectations. The state government is implementing several novel welfare schemes and development programmes. I will put up my best efforts to take them forward more effectively." "It is a proud moment for me. I will work in close coordination with the officials and public representatives to ensure that the flagship programmes of the state government as envisioned by the Chief Minister are implemented properly." A. Santhi Kumari is currently serving as special chief secretary in the forest and environment department. Official sources in the CMO said that the Chief Minister zeroed in on Santhi considering her impressive career graph as an IAS officer, sincerity, dedication and commitment in her previous stint in Chief Minister's Office for four years as secretary. She is known as a 'non-controversial' and a 'no-nonsense officer' in bureaucratic circles. Santhi assumed charge as the Chief Secretary at the BRKR Bhavan at the auspicious time of 3.15 pm on Wednesday after meeting Chief Minister at the Pragathi Bhavan and thanked him for giving her the opportunity. She became the first Telugu woman IAS officer to occupy the Chief Secretary's post in Telangana. She also became the second Telugu IAS officer in Telangana to become CS, the first being Pradeep Chandra, who served as CS only for a month in December 2016. A post-graduate in marine biology, she pursued MBA in the United States and also worked in the United Nations programmes for two years. During three decades of her service, she served in various positions in the departments of education, health, poverty alleviation, skill development, and forests. After K. Chandrashekar Rao assumed office in 2014, he appointed Santhi as principal secretary in the CMO and as special secretary in the Telangana State-Industrial Project Approval and Self Certification System (TS-IPASS), to grant online approvals for setting up industries in a time-bound period. She played a crucial role in the creation of TS-IPASS. The CM had appointed her as special secretary of the Industry Chasing Cell in the industries department to attract investments into Telangana. She succeeded in getting major investments into Telangana by regularly holding meetings with investors, speeding up government approvals for setting up industries, constantly following up the progress of investment proposals, clearing hurdles in the process of approvals in coordination with various departments etc. As special chief secretary of the health department, she handled the Covid situation effectively during the first wave in 2020. In undivided Andhra Pradesh, she served as the backward classes welfare commissioner, where she played a key role in implementing the welfare schemes meant for BCs, especially fee reimbursement and scholarships for BC students, extending BC Corporation loans to BCs to set up units under self-employment schemes etc. In Undivided Andhra Pradesh, there were two women Chief Secretaries, Sati Nair and Minnie Mathew. After bifurcation of the state, Nilam Sawhney became first woman CS of AP in 2019 and now Santhi Kumari became first woman CS of Telangana. The tour kickstarted at 'Veer Soudha', a memorial where Mahatma Gandhi had presided over the Congress session in 1924, after paying tributes to the father of the nation. (Twitter/@DKShivakumar) Belagavi: Hitting the road in poll-bound Karnataka, the Congress on Wednesday began its statewide bus tour called 'Praja Dhwani Yatre', jointly led by party state unit President D K Shivakumar and Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Siddaramaiah. The tour kickstarted at 'Veer Soudha', a memorial where Mahatma Gandhi had presided over the Congress session in 1924, after paying tributes to the father of the nation. AICC General Secretary In-charge of State Randeep Surjewala, and senior leaders including campaign committee chief M B Patil, were among others present. The tour covering 21 districts will see the party sharing its ideas with the people and assuring all-round development of the state, while attacking the BJP government with a "charge sheet" it has prepared, Congress leaders said. As part of the bus yatra, both Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah, who are nursing chief ministerial ambitions in the event of the Congress coming to power, will travel in the same vehicle until January 29. Thereafter, in the second week of February, two separate teams would be formed, with one headed by Siddaramaiah set to tour Assembly constituencies in north Karnataka region, while Shivakumar will be leading the way in southern districts. Congress leaders symbolically swept the street with a broom and said they will "wipe out the corrupt" BJP government from the state, where elections are due by May. Siddaramaiah said, the Congress is beginning the Yatre from Belagavi to "wipe out the BJP government's corruption and its misrule" from the state. "Our intention is to place before the people a charge sheet against the BJP government in the state, because the entire government is submerged in corruption, there is growing misrule, and they are indulging in a politics of hate. If anyone questions, they are being intimidated with false cases and arrests," he said, adding that "corruption is rampant and people are fed up". Shivakumar said the BJP government has been a "curse" for this state as "scandals are coming out every day", and to wipe it out, the Congress is taking up this yatre. "The BJP has made Karnataka the capital of corruption, this has to be ended and people need to be given a good administration, they should have confidence towards the government, so we are taking up this yatre with a promise of good governance," he said. Listing out "various corruption and scandals" in the state and accusing the government of giving a clean chit to those involved by filing a b-report in such cases, he alleged, "estimates have been doubled in PWD and irrigation contracts, everything will be looked into, all scandals and B report will be inquired into on Congress coming to power." Andhra Pradesh water resources minister Ambati Rambabu. (File photo: DC) Vijayawada: The Guntur district court on Wednesday directed the police to file a case against water resources minister Ambati Rambabu and hold an inquiry. Jana Sena leaders had lodged a complaint with the police alleging that the minister, along with his supporters, was selling tickets in the name of YSR Sankranti Lucky Draw in violation of the norms at Sattenapalli. However, the police did not register a case. Later, Jana Sena leader Gade Venkateswara Rao filed a petition in the court. Accordingly, the court directed the police to book a case and take up an inquiry. The farmers filed the petition on Saturday, contending that the draft master plan was prepared without consensus. (File photo: DC) Hyderabad: Hearing a petition filed by Kamareddy farmers opposing the master plan of the proposed industrial zone, the Telangana High Court declined to stay the master plan on Wednesday, instead directing the Telangana government and municipal department to file a counter affidavit by January 25. Justice C.V Bhaskar Reddy, dealing with a petition filed by 40 farmers of Rameshwarpally village in Kamareddy district who appealed to the court to direct the Telangana government to scrap the master plan of the proposed industrial zone, declined to give a stay. The farmers filed the petition on Saturday, contending that the draft master plan was prepared without consensus. Farmers from at least seven villages have been protesting against the Kamareddy district administration and the municipality, opposing the government's plan to take over their fertile farmland for an industrial zone. When the petitioners counsel repeatedly requested status quo orders, Justice Reddy was unwilling to issue any stay or status quo orders to direct the government not to proceed with the procedure. The court stated that it could not issue status quo orders without first hearing from the other party and made it plain that courts must also hear from the opposing party. The judge observed that master plans prepared for Hyderabad, Warangal, and other cities more than 40 years ago was not implemented. Further, the judge observed that if the government did not apply their mind in issuing the original master plan, the court would undoubtedly interfere to defend the people's rights. B.S. Prasad, Telangana advocate general (AG), told the court that the case brought by the farmers is premature because the authorities have only issued a draft notification and are hearing public objections to the draft plan. Further actions will be taken after evaluating the objections voiced by farmers, according to the AGs submission to the court. US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP) After 14 failed attempts to win the Speakers gavel, Kevin McCarthy finally succeeded in bartering his authority to win in the 15th attempt the coveted prize of leading Americas House of Representatives. It was tamasha at its best. Over 150 years ago, the House of Representatives had voted 133 times to elect Nathaniel Banks as Speaker in 1856. There have been other times when it took the majority party in the House several votes to settle on who would be Speaker, the last being in 1923. It was also an extraordinary event: to get a Speaker elected from the party that holds a wafer-thin majority in the House of Representatives, namely the Republican Party, it required the candidate, Mr McCarthy, to promise turning himself over to those who held him to ransom. It meant bartering his authority, power and control over running the House to half a dozen far-right Republicans, who have been variously described as Nihilists, Anarchists or Insurrectionists, without anyone raising any objections. The obvious pride of these far-right members in holding the House and an orderly transition, from a Democratic Party under Nancy Pelosi to the Republican McCarthy as Speaker, hostage for four days is the degree of dysfunction within the Republican ranks, as well as of the American system of legislative democracy, with its fragile but enduring checks and balances and separation of powers. The model adopted by America of keeping powers separated and in check became the template for other political systems, including India. As the House reconvened to resume working as the legislative arm of the government, work that had stopped till Mr McCarthy was elected, it became apparent that the far-right, labelled as the Freedom Caucus, would continue to play the newly-elected Speaker like a puppet on a string. Mr McCarthy bargained away his authority to win the job, as the new House Rules reveal. He can be ousted by just one member calling a snap vote. The power of one versus the power of the majority may sound like an extremist version of the principle of democracy, where the minority has as much clout as the majority, but in reality, as the vote over the House Rules package revealed, it is effective, however bizarre the bargain. The tail wagged the dog, which is not democracy in action at its best. It was history. Unprecedented and dramatic as the event was, the American political system has normalised insurrection as part of how it handles dissent and denial of facts. By making it sound ordinary that the legislators who perpetrated the hostage-taking of Congress as nihilists, anarchists and insurrectionists, it confirmed that it was willing to ignore the obvious contradiction. Government and governance in American will now be in the hands of nihilist, anarchist legislators who ideologically despise the established order, be it social, political and government. Insurrection is the new way of doing things. It started with the carefully orchestrated and coordinated attack on Congress on January 6, 2021, when violent groups almost succeeded in preventing the orderly transition of power from the President who lost the election, Donald Trump, to the President who won, Joe Biden. For the next two years, the radical Republican fringe will get to decide on how the government functions, regardless of who is the President. By capturing the leadership of the House, the Freedom Caucus will decide on how budgets are designed, the size of the US government deficit which will have enormous impact on the crisis-ridden global economy, how America fulfils its promises to keep the world safe in a period of unprecedented tensions, from the Russian invasion of Ukraine and its implications for the rest of Europe to the aggressive moves by China and more. The election reveals the deep divisions within the body politic and the Republican Party. The process laid bare the degree of dysfunction of the American political system. It was an outstanding example of how freedom, without accountability and responsibility, can be expanded within the democratic political system to create chaos. Confusing as the American system may appear to be with those more acquainted with the Westminster parliamentary model, it is rather inappropriate that an ex-President of America, who continues to challenge the fact of his defeat, is involved in the insurrection that disrupted the orderly conduct of legislative business. It was a planned exercise to subvert the legislative arm of government, an insurrection against the system rather than for an agenda or a charter of demands that reflected a specific ideological position. It was the sort of political theatre that India would love to see, but would hate to enact, because it upended the stodgy, conservative and orderly way of doing things. Not everyone in the majority party in the Lok Sabha or in the state Assemblies believes that the partys choice is the best decision. But the Westminster parliamentary system does not tolerate defiance of party whips, which are tantamount to misdemeanours and an open invitation to some sort of punishment, including sacking. In the naam ke vaste coalitions that have officially been in power for decades, the choice of Speaker is decided in advance and the voting is usually incident-free. The question is: Was the bargain that was eventually struck between freedom and order on the one hand, and negative politics, nihilism and disorder, that is anarchy, on the other? Was it a point when the majority wins principle in democracy shifted to a rule by the minority? It was certainly an exercise of freedom of choice within a party, signalling the depths of inner-party democracy. The outcome was, however, outlandish. The edge-of-your-seats tension, hard and up to the very end bargaining that went on to get Kevin McCarthy voted in as Speaker, is not entirely unfamiliar. Speakers in India have been in a fix on the rarest of rare occasions. Recall 2008, when the CPI(M) bloc in the Lok Sabha pulled out and Somnath Chatterjee, the Speaker, had to make a difficult choice that ended with his very bitter exit from the party. He was found guilty of violating the CPI(M)s whip and expelled. The freedom to vote against party interests is insurrection against the orderly system that governs the conduct of legislators everywhere. To disallow the freedom is, unfortunately, necessary to pre-emptively prevent the sort of theatre that enthralled the entire world while 20-odd legislators held Kevin McCarthy and his ambition to become Speaker of the House of Representatives to ransom. Users of Microsoft 365, previously known as Office, may soon be able to use OpenAI's ChatGPT technology in order to generate text using simple prompts, according to Search Engine Journal. According to The Information, the company has discussed its plans to incorporate OpenAI's artificial intelligence in Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, and other apps. If this is true, this move can potentially improve the efficiency and productivity of users since it will allow them to perform tasks in Office apps more accurately. What ChatGPT Could Bring to Office Apps One of the main features of ChatGPT, OpenAI's chatbot technology, is its capability to help users when it comes to language processing. For instance, if incorporated into Microsoft Word, ChatGPT could help users write more accurately. Similarly, it could help users write with fewer errors by suggesting alternative words and phrases as they type. Likewise, it could help summarize long documents as well as highlight key points. With this ability, OpenAI's chatbot technology can make it easier for users to understand and analyze information. In addition, Microsoft could integrate ChatGPT in Outlook. The chatbot can help write replies to emails or summarize email threads. These all sound beneficial to productivity. For more than a year now, engineers and researchers at Microsoft have been working on developing tailored AI tools for writing emails and documents. They used OpenAI's machine-learning models on customers' private data. The tricky part is figuring out ways to train the models using customer data without exposing it to other customers or used for compromising purposes. In a report of The Information, Microsoft says that it has big plans to use AI to enhance its already robust productivity applications. Read Also: Did You Know That Bill Gates, Microsoft Saved Apple from Bankruptcy? Microsoft May Face Many Challenges in Bringing ChatGPT Into its Office Apps According to The Verge, Microsoft will face many challenges in its attempt to bring more advanced AI text-generation features to its current Office apps. One of the primary problems that it will face is accuracy since ChatGPT still has a tendency to present incorrect information as fact. This would make document creation or advanced integration difficult. The other major challenge is privacy since the company will need to customize its models for individual users but it must not compromise the users' data. According to news reports, the tech company has been working on privacy-preserving models and they are using GPT-3 and the yet-to-be-released GPT-4. Based on the report of the new outlet, Microsoft engineers and researchers have already achieved early successes when it comes to training large language models on private data. If all these reports are true and Microsoft will indeed move ahead with GPT-powered versions of Word, Outlook, and PowerPoint then, it will lead to rapid commercialization of OpenAI's GPT models. It seems that Bing is also ready to join Microsoft Office Apps which are integrated with OpenAI's chatbot technology. Reports said that it is ready to have its AI-powered search results soon. When this happened, it would put a lot of pressure on Google, which currently dominates search engine technology. Related Article: Microsoft Woke Feature Launching For Appropriation, Inclusivity of Word Choices Like Whitewash, Blacklist and More! Two years, American software major Microsoft launched Android-powered Surface Duo. Unlike the Galaxy Fold or Flip series, which have full-fledged wide screens with the bendable capability, Microsoft's device had two screens held by a hinge at the centre. The design language was a bit flawed, as the split screen and the user-interface software were not fully optimised and this had an effect on several apps and were not able to fully operate on the phone. Now, reports are coming that Microsoft has decided to forego the dual screen concept and go for a more practical device form factor and use the flexible display we see in the current crop of foldable phones. Surface Duo 2. Credit: Microsoft Community blog Windows Central reported that Microsoft engineers had actually finalised the Surface Duo 3 with two screens and had upgrades such as bigger dimensions, wireless charging capabilities, and more, over the predecessor. It was supposed to hit stores in the second half of 2023, but, at the last moment, the company scrapped the plan. Now, Microsoft is said to bring a truly foldable phone and come with 180-degree flexible hinge at the centre. There is no word on specific internal hardware details such as processor, RAM, screen size, or battery capacity as such, but will be a competitive phone on par with premium foldable phones in the market. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4. Credit: DH Photo/KVN Rohit Also, there is a probability of Microsoft dropping the Surface Duo branding and instead, coming up with a new modern name for its flagship foldable phone. Must read | Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 review: Refined and better And, the company is said to be focused on adding several value-added features, optimisation of Android software for seamless interoperability with Windows PC, and also Microsoft's productivity suite of apps such as Office, Word, and more, to make its foldable phone stand out among peers. There is no definitive information on when Microsoft's true foldable phone would launch, but speculations are rife that it may come only in 2024. Must read | Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 review: Iterative, but retains stylish appeal Get the latest news on new launches, gadget reviews, apps, cybersecurity, and more on personal technology only on DH Tech. Samsung on Wednesday (January 11) announced that it will host the first edition of the Galaxy Unpacked 2023 event next month. South Korean technology major after a long time will be conducting an in-person product showcase program and it is happening in San Francisco, US. Others who won't be able to make it to the event will be able to watch it online, as the company has made arrangements to stream it live on the official website at 10 am PST (11:30 pm IST). Here's what to expect at Samsung Unpacked 2023 (1st Edition): Like all the previous years, the company is slated to unveil the new generation Galaxy S series smartphone, and as per the latest reports, it will most probably be called Galaxy S23. Samsung is expected to offer the Galaxy S23 in three variants-- a regular Galaxy S23, a slightly upgraded Galaxy S22 Plus, and the top-end Galaxy S22 Ultra. Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2023 Media Invitation. Credit: Samsung Word on the street is that Samsung will set a new storage standard for phones with the Galaxy S23. All the new upcoming models will come with 256GB as the base variant. Read more | Samsung may set new storage standard with Galaxy S23 series Also, Samsung will be bumping the camera hardware at least in the Ultra model with a whopping 200MP sensor. Also, cameras in the other two variants too, will have a significant upgrade, particularly in terms of low-light, night mode, and stable video recording over the respective predecessors. And they will be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset and also promise to deliver longer battery life. Must read | Snapdragon 8 Gen 2: Key features of Qualcomm's latest chipset Get the latest news on new launches, gadget reviews, apps, cybersecurity, and more on personal technology only on DH Tech. A day after the deadly metro accident, Bengaluru police launched criminal investigations against three BMRCL officials and six representatives of Nagarjuna Constructions Company (NCC) Ltd, the contractor for the 38.44-km KR Puram-Airport line. Police also identified a few reinforcement cages of metro piers that are taller than necessary and asked Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) to reduce their height. For its part, the BMRCL has suspended the in-charge deputy chief engineer, executive engineer and site engineer pending an enquiry. On Tuesday morning, an under-construction metro pier buckled and fell on a four-member family travelling on a motorcycle along the Outer Ring Road in HBR Layout. Tejaswini L Sulakhe, a woman techie, and her toddler son, Vihan L Sulakhe, died in the accident. Her husband Lohit Kumar V Sulakhe and toddler daughter Vismita L Sulakhe escaped with minor injuries. Also Read What caused the unfinished Namma Metro pier to fall? Although Govindapura police registered an FIR over the incident on Tuesday, they didn't name any individual because Lohit hadn't taken any names in his complaint. Bheemashankar S Guled, Deputy Commissioner of Police (East), said the immediate priority was to clear traffic and check the safety of other piers on the line. Police later wrote to the BMRCL and sought a list of officials responsible for the work at the metro site. The BMRCL gave the names on Wednesday, Guled added. Another police officer said nine individuals had been named in the FIR. The first name on the list is the contractor (NCC Ltd). The company's joint director Prabhakar, director Chaitanya, senior project manager Mathai, project manager Vikash Singh and supervisor Lakshmipathi have also been named. The suspects from BMRCL are deputy chief engineer Venkatesh Shetty, executive engineer Mahesh Bandekari and joint engineer Jaffer Sadiq. Guled said all nine individuals had been summoned for questioning. "We will question them on the basis of inputs given by experts from the IISc, the Forensic Science Laboratory, the BMRCL and officials from the BBMP's road and flyover departments," he added. Guled inspected the accident scene along with a BMRCL chief engineer and officials from the BBMP's road and flyover sections. The aim, he said, was to get officials' opinions about what might have caused the accident and whether human negligence had played a role. Lohit Kumar V Sulakhe, who lost his wife and son to the metro accident in HBR Layout on Tuesday, said no one should go through his experience. I dont know what to do now... I wish I had died too, he said. The road was relatively free when the structure collapsed. Usually, the stretch is filled with vehicles... had that been the case, I cant imagine how many would have been affected, he said. A bigger tragedy was averted as a BMTC bus passed through the spot just seconds before the reinforcement cage fell. Also Read | Bengaluru metro tragedy: Act against senior officials, says Bommai The couple was on their way to drop their twins to a preschool. Lohit usually drops wife Tejaswini at her workplace before going to his office in Vijaynagar. She would work for half a day, pick up the children from school and work from home later. On Tuesday, the family left home around 10 am on their two-wheeler. Their daughter Vismita sat in the front while Vihan sat behind Lohit. Tejaswini was at the back. Everything happened in a fraction of a second. I only saw my wife falling down and the structure hitting her head, Lohit recalled. Lohit is from Gadag while Tejaswini was from Davangere. The couple was married for six years. The family had moved to a new flat on Kane Road, Kalkere, Horamavu, three months ago. The state government and the BMRCL have announced compensation, but Lohit said no amount of money will help. I hope they (authorities) take precautions to ensure that such incidents do not recur. No one should experience what we are going through. No amount of money will help, he said. In his police complaint, he blamed unscientific metro work and poor safety. He demanded that the police take action against the officials responsible. Bheemashankar S Guled, Deputy Commissioner of Police (East), said forensic experts have collected samples from the scene. Lohits father Vijay Kumar Sulakhe, a retired commissioner of Gadag Urban Development Authority, and mother Nirmala had come to Bengaluru a few days ago to visit the family. The negligence of officials and shabby work ruined the happiness of our family, Vijay lamented. Nirmala said the children were admitted to the school only 10 days ago. Tuesday was their sixth day, she said. Tejaswinis colleagues described her as a kind soul. Naveen Kumar M H said they were shocked to hear about the incident. We used to interact often in the office, he said. Traffic jam Vehicular movement was disrupted on one side of the Outer Ring Road towards Hebbal after the accident. 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. A day after a section of lawyers at Calcutta High Court carried out protests outside the courtroom of a Calcutta High Court judge, West Bengal Governor Dr CV Ananda Bose on Tuesday asked the state government to protect the judiciary and uphold its independence, a well-placed source in the Raj Bhavan said. Following an instruction from the Governor, Chief Secretary HK Dwivedi, Home Secretary BP Gopalika and Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal reached the Governor's House and briefed him on the situation. A group of lawyers held demonstrations outside Justice Rajasekhar Mantha's courtroom in protest against some of his orders. "The Governor took stock of the situation in the Calcutta High Court. During the meeting, he told them that everything possible should be done to uphold the dignity and security of the judiciary," the source told PTI on condition of anonymity. During the one-hour-long meeting, he also told the three officers that "the judiciary cannot be intimidated". He was informed by the officials that the state "believes that no stones should be unturned to protect the judiciary". The protests held outside the courtroom of Justice Mantha on Monday were taken note of by Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava who has ordered the preservation of photos and videos of the incident. Posters were also found pasted with similar allegations over some orders on the entrance door and walls of Justice Mantha's residence at Jodhpur Park area in south Kolkata, as also on the walls of several other houses in the neighbourhood. On Tuesday, a section of the agitating lawyers said they will not participate in proceedings before the court of Justice Mantha. The court of Justice Mantha, however, functioned normally on Tuesday with petitions being heard in a usual manner. Similar protests were seen outside the courtroom of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay, another judge of the Calcutta High Court, in April last year. The government of India is making efforts to attract industries that plan to diversify their production base from Europe due to impending recession, geopolitical crisis and other challenges in the region, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday. The world has been talking about China-plus-one. Can that plus one be India? Now I am hearing EU-plus-one as well. So, the people who have invested in China may want to continue there, but may also want to find another source from where they can produce and be a part of the global value chain, Sitharaman said while addressing a session at the 17th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas convention in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. Read | 'Amrit' showering on MP during Azadi ka Amrit Kaal: CM Chouhan We would like to pit India as that plus one country when it comes to consideration of those manufacturers who want to get out of China or want to have one more place from where they can produce, she added. While the China-plus-one strategy has gained currency among major global manufacturers, EU-plus-one is a new development. China-plus-one refers to a business strategy in which companies avoid investing only in China and diversify their businesses to alternative destinations. According to Sitharaman, a similar strategy is being considered among the companies that have manufacturing bases in Europe. China-plus-one, we are actively making sure that India becomes that successful plus-one. But the European Union as well. If they are going to go through recession, which is a probability, which many people are now saying is highly probable, so there is this temptation of many of the manufacturers who are located in Europe also to look at plus one, she said. China plus one is ongoing. European Union plus one, and that plus one again, can India fit in that role, is the effort of the government of India to make sure that we are able to attract industries which are also looking for setting up elsewhere other than being in Europe, the finance minister said. Sitharaman noted that some big companies have already committed to setting up manufacturing bases in India. She said Airbus would soon start producing C-295 transport aircraft from its manufacturing facility in Vadodara, Gujarat. Airbus has tied up with Tata Group for setting up a manufacturing facility in Gujarat. The foundation stone of the project was laid in October 2022. The total estimated cost of the project is Rs 21,935 crore. The United States-based Lockheed Martin has set up a manufacturing facility in India to produce F-16 wings. Lockheed Martin has also tied up with Tata group for its India manufacturing facilities. From here they will export wings to all the F-16 assembly points, Sitharaman said. The finance minister said India is poised to become an important player in chip manufacturing in the world. One in every 10 semiconductor design engineers in the world is Indian. She noted that the largest number of semiconductor design engineers are located at the outer ring road area of Bengaluru. You will find the concentration of 50,000 to 70,000 design engineers who are in semiconductor designing, all of them present at the outer ring road area of Bengaluru alone, she said. They are the semiconductor design engineers, who are at the heart of the semiconductor industry, she added. The total number of semiconductor design engineers in the world stands at around 6-7 lakh. Nearly one-tenth of these are located in Bengaluru alone. A day after Rahul Gandhi targeted the RSS, Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij on Tuesday hit out at the Congress leader, saying he should attend an RSS 'shakha' for a few days as he knows nothing about the organisation. Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said even Congress leaders are perplexed by Gandhi's remarks. "He remains a Pappu," Khattar said referring to the term which means naive and ignorant and is often used by the BJP leaders to target Rahul Gandhi. Attacking the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Rahul Gandhi on Monday, during a corner meeting in Ambala as part of his Bharat Jodo Yatra, had called its members the "21st century Kauravas". Vij lashed out at Gandhi, saying he was talking about the poor but sleeping in a "palace on wheels" during his Yatra. "He has no right to comment on RSS about which he knows nothing," the BJP leader said, adding that "today the country stands because of RSS". Rahul Gandhi should go to an RSS 'Shakha' for a few days to know about RSS, he said. Vij also took a swipe at Gandhi for saying he decided to wear only T-shirts during the foot march after meeting three poor girls "shivering in torn clothes" in Madhya Pradesh. "Rahul Gandhi should have at least gone to the house of those girls to see how they live, where they sleep... he sleeps in a palace on wheels, which has all luxuries and is part of a fleet of vehicles which accompany him," the minister said, Vij said millions of rupees are being spent on his travel and asked about the source of the funds. On Gandhi's remarks, Khattar told reporters, "The kind of remarks he makes, one does not understand what philosophy he follows...." "Sometimes he becomes Shiv Bakht (Lord Shiva follower) and then asks who raises (Har Har Mahadev) Jaikara, sometimes he targets Pujaris. One is not able to understand what is his direction... it is not that only we are perplexed. Even Congress people are perplexed. "Anyway, he remains a Pappu," the chief minister said. Gandhi on Monday alleged that RSS people never say "Har Har Mahadev" and "Jai Siya Ram" as they are against India's values and "tapasya". The Bharat Jodo Yatra, which started from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu on September 7, will conclude in Srinagar by January 30, with Gandhi hoisting the national flag there. It moved to Punjab on Tuesday after it passed seven Haryana districts in two phases, with the Haryana leg concluding in Ambala district. The march has so far covered Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. The Congress on Wednesday termed as "totally bogus and unacceptable" the reported remarks made by AIUDF leader Badruddin Ajmal against the party leadership, and dubbed him as nothing but a "mouthpiece for the BJP". In a statement, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh accused the AIUDF of working with an understanding with the Assam chief minister in the last assembly elections. The two worked out a relationship between themselves with the sole purpose of maligning and defaming the Congress and its leadership, he alleged. Ajmal has reportedly alleged that Congress leaders in Assam have been receiving "packets" from the Assam chief minister at night. "Badruddin Ajmal, MP has made the most unacceptable and totally bogus remarks against the Congress leadership in Assam. These are blatantly defamatory," Ramesh said in the statement. He said it is true that the Congress and the AIUDF fought the last assembly elections as an alliance. That decision had not been an easy one to take for the Congress, he noted, saying it was taken in the belief that Ajmal will be a consistent and reliable partner and who would strengthen secular forces in the state and in the country. "After the election results it became very clear that Shri Ajmal had worked out an understanding with the Chief Minister of Assam. The two worked out a relationship between themselves with the sole purpose of maligning and defaming the Congress and its leadership. "Shaken by the extraordinary success of Shri Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra as well as that of the Bharat Jodo Yatra-Assam, the Chief Minister of Assam and Shri Ajmal have mounted this latest attack," Ramesh said. "Ajmal is nothing but a mouthpiece for the BJP like some other parties like the AIMIM. He has nothing whatsoever to do with the UPA as he claims," the Congress leader also said. Ajmal has been claiming that he continues to be a part of the UPA, but has been attacking the Congress. 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 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. Dear Ma'am, 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 brining this to our notice. Air India (@airindiain) January 8, 2023 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. 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. Seven months after laying off 1,100 employees, Coinbase is now letting another 950 workers go due to the worsening downturn of the crypto market. It announced on Tuesday that it would reduce its workforce by around 20% as part of a reorganization strategy in the exchange's third round of layoffs since last year. Coinbase CEO Is Taking Accountability For The Layoffs The company's CEO, Brian Armstrong, informed the workforce that he had decided to terminate the positions as a result of cutting operating expenses by 25% on a quarterly basis. Coinbase is laying off around a fifth of its workforce, which is stated to be more than 4,700 on its website, according to Engadget. Armstrong said he took full responsibility for the layoffs, even though he acknowledged that some of the contributing circumstances were beyond the company's control. In retrospect, he continued, Coinbase should have permitted more individuals to return in June, and said that the FTX collapse and clearer rules could benefit the company in the future. "We need to make sure we have the appropriate operational efficiency to weather downturns in the crypto market and capture opportunities that may emerge," Armstrong says. The leadership at Coinbase determined that cutting costs will improve our chances of succeeding in every scenario when planning for 2023. This is the first time, according to the CEO, that the cryptocurrency market and the larger economy have declined at the same time, Engadget reports. Coinbase is dropping some projects that had a lower chance of success as a result of the layoffs, and other teams will need to adjust to having a smaller staff. According to Armstrong, the employees who are being let go will be told today, and those affected US employees will get compensation. The company also says that the employees who were let go will receive at least 14 weeks' base pay plus an additional two weeks for each year of service, health insurance, and other bonuses. Additionally, those with work visas would receive "extra transition support," and Coinbase will provide comparable assistance to terminated employees abroad. Read More: BTC.com Suffers Cyberattack, $3 Million Worth of Cryptocurrency Stolen A Number Of Issues Have Been Affecting The Company Recently The sharp decline in the price of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has severely hurt Coinbase, along with numerous other publicly traded and privately held cryptocurrency businesses. According to CNN Business, after reaching a peak close to $65,000 in late 2021, the price of bitcoin is currently languishing around $17,000. However, the strong start that bitcoin has had in 2023 has inspired some cryptocurrency enthusiasts with bitcoin up for more than 4% since the beginning of the year. The hope is that the price of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies may begin to settle, particularly if financial regulators begin to offer more direction and clarity regarding their position on cryptocurrencies. Despite this, Coinbase shares, which went public in April 2021 and later that year reached an all-time high of over $370 per share, have since fallen to roughly $43 in a nearly 90% decline from its peak. Additionally, the Securities and Exchange Commission was reportedly looking into whether or not the company sold unregistered securities in July. Moreover, in response to accusations that it left the platform open to severe criminal activity, Coinbase settled with a New York financial regulator earlier this month for $100 million. Related Article: Japan Will Lift Its Ban on Stablecoins in 2023 The Congress-led UDF opposition on Wednesday accused the CPI(M) of being behind the drug mafias in the state after a vehicle belonging to one of its local members was caught smuggling pan masala worth around Rs 1 crore. The party member, Shanawas, was subsequently suspended by CPI(M) pending an internal enquiry against him. In the wake of the party decision, Shanawas came to the fore and told the media today that he had no idea that the vehicle he had rented out was going to be used to smuggle pan masala. Also Read: Kerala government's spending spree raises questions Shanawas -- who is a municipal councillor and the chairperson of the Alappuzha Municipality's Welfare Work Standing Committee -- said that he has been suspended pending an enquiry by the party into the allegations against him. He said that the charges levelled against him by the party were that he did not disclose purchase of the vehicle, which was used in the illegal activity, and he did not exercise proper caution while giving it out on rent. "However, the party has not said I had anything to do with the smuggling of pan masala. The party is looking into all aspects of the matter," he told reporters in Alappuzha. Kerala Fisheries Minister Saji Cheriyan said there is no evidence before the party that he was involved in the smuggling activity. "We are looking into the matter as he is an area committee member. But there is no evidence of wrongdoing by him. A person has been appointed to carry out the internal enquiry. Police are also investigating the matter. "He has been suspended as being an area committee member, he did not exercise proper caution while giving his vehicle on rent," the minister said. Shanawas claimed that he was an honest man, who prays five times a day, runs a legitimate business of laying optical cables for some telecom companies and therefore, has no need for resorting to drug smuggling to earn a living. "I do not need such sources of revenue. The police are investigating it. The party is also looking into it. The party inquiry will be over within 90 days and my innocence will be proved and I will be back," he said. On the other hand, the Congress-led UDF opposition said that while the Left government runs a state-wide anti-drug campaign, its own party members were allegedly indulging in such illegal activities. Leader of Opposition in the state assembly V D Satheesan, in a release, alleged that Shanavas' purported role in the pan masala smuggling indicates that CPI(M) leaders were behind the drug trafficking mafias in the state. He further contended that the opposition had raised the issue in the state assembly last month as well as earlier and had demanded strong action against drug mafias. Pan masala worth around Rs 1 crore was seized a few days ago from Kollam district of the state from a vehicle which was owned by Shanawas. He claimed before the media that he had recently bought the vehicle and had given it on rent to one of the accused on the basis of a recommendation by one of his acquaintances. Beyond that he had no connection with what had happened, he said, and added that he now realises he should have been more careful. On being asked how he sees the reports about an ED probe being possibly launched against him based on complaints by some of his party colleagues, he said that he has nothing to hide as he pays all taxes on time. He said if he is proved wrong or guilty of any offence, he would accept the consequences with open arms. Shanawas also said that actions of some individuals cannot be seen as that of the entire party and he accepts the decisions taken by CPI(M) in the instant case. He, however, said that he regrets the fact that the party was embarrassed on account of his name being dragged into the controversy. Essential engineering works are taking place on the Portadown and Derry train lines this weekend (January 14 & 15) with bus substitutions in operation. This is part of a programme of works across the rail network this January and February which are being carried out at weekends to minimise disruption. On Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 January, the line between Belfast Great Victoria Street and Portadown will be closed. A bus substitution will operate between Belfast Great Victoria Street and Portadown. Cross-border Enterprise passengers will be taken to Newry by bus from Lanyon Place Station to meet the train while those travelling to Dublin Connolly from Portadown can catch the Enterprise at Portadown station. Return trains from Dublin will connect with bus substitution services at Newry for Belfast Lanyon Place. Translink said: "Passengers are advised to check bus substitution times in advance as they may differ from train timetables. Bus arrival times at Lanyon Place station are likely to be later than the train schedule. "The Derry line will be closed between Yorkgate and Great Victoria Street stations in Belfast on Sunday 15th January. "Passengers should use bus substitution services from Belfast Great Victoria Street or Lanyon Place to Yorkgate station, where they can connect to trains for the North West Transport Hub in Derry. "Services between Belfast and Bangor and on the Larne line will operate as per the Journey Planner." For more information on the upcoming line closures and the associated projects please visit www.translink.co.uk/ lineimprovements and all timetables are available on Translinks website: www.translink.co.uk and on the Journey Planner. Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content. Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist. If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter . Support our mission and join our community now. Reacting to the publication of the Independent Review of Invest Northern Ireland, Derry Chamber President Selina Horshi said: We welcome the publication of the Independent Review of Invest Northern Ireland. "The findings that relationships are strained within the organisation at the highest level are deeply concerning and paint an uncertain picture of the organisations ability to successfully attract strong levels of inward investment to Northern Ireland and support local start-ups. In particular, the Chamber welcomes the acknowledgment that more should be done to promote Northern Ireland on a sub-regional basis and to strengthen and bolster sub-regional Invest NI offices. "We are pleased that one of the reviews key findings is that the agency must be a better partner on a sub-regional level. The Chamber also strongly agrees with the reviews recommendation that Invest NI regional offices should have a more strategic role and staff, resources and powers allocated to them should be reviewed. This echoes our experience of Invest NI on a sub-regional level and reflects the recommendations the Chamber delegation made when we engaged with Sir Michael Lyons and his review team in 2022. "Derry and the North West has vast economic potential, with a young and skilled workforce and a growing reputation for emerging industries like health and life sciences, fintech, and tech. "This review must act as the springboard for a renewed and rejuvenated Invest NI, one which is much less Belfast-centric, which recognises the strength and potential of regional areas like Derry and the North West, and one which delivers equally and proportionally for all economic areas across Northern Ireland. The Chamber agrees that an economic development agency is crucial for Northern Ireland, to create jobs and attract companies to set up here as well as empowering local start-ups and entrepreneurs. "We would strongly urge the senior leadership within Invest NI to ensure that work is now swiftly undertaken to improve the organisation, to take immediate action to take forward the recommendations in this report, and to deliver greater economic prosperity for all corners of Northern Ireland. Northern Irelands criminal bail and remand system is disjointed and leads to prison being used as the default revolving door, a report has found. The Chief Inspector of Criminal Justice in Northern Ireland Jacqui Durkin has called for consultation on legislative reform to improve the system. She has highlighted the length of time suspects are remaining on bail or in prison on remand before their cases are dealt with in court. The report said Northern Ireland has one of the highest rates for remanding suspects in custody in Europe double compared with England and Wales. It said: Nearly 80% of all prison committals were remands and nearly 40% of our prison population are unsentenced prisoners. The report stated: The current system of bail and remand in Northern Ireland is out of step with the rest of the United Kingdom. Legislation is disjointed, information is fragmented and in the absence of any alternatives, prison is too often the default revolving door. If there was ever a time to grip avoidable delay in our criminal justice system it is now, the pandemic has left a backlog of cases that need to progress to conclusion as soon as they can. Ms Durkin said: The operation of bail and remand are essential parts of the criminal justice system. However, she added: Victims are left waiting and too often are not kept informed of changes made to bail conditions or case progress. Court lists and judicial, court staff, prosecutor and defence time and costs, are spent dealing with recurring bail and remand hearings. At the same time our prisons are dealing with high numbers of men and women, neither convicted nor sentenced, some who are with them for long periods while others are in and out in a few days if they get bail. Deputy chief inspector James Corrigan said: Unlike England and Wales, the use of police bail in Northern Ireland has not been the subject of any recent significant review, consultation, or legislative change. Inspectors found the use of statutory time limits for police bail by the PSNI, particularly at 28 days, had ceased to be relevant with time extensions becoming standard practice. Mr Corrigan added: With the current position becoming increasingly difficult to justify and the Covid-19 pandemic increasing the backlog of criminal cases that need to progress to conclusion, inspectors have recommended the Department of Justice (DoJ) and the PSNI should develop an options paper for police bail to include the use of time limits, scrutiny arrangements and enhanced protections for victims and witnesses. Inspectors have also called for movement on the longstanding proposal to introduce a Bail Act for Northern Ireland. The need for a Bail Act for Northern Ireland was first recommended by the Northern Ireland Law Commission a decade ago, said Ms Durkin. We accept there have been competing legislative priorities and three years without an Assembly in the intervening 10 years. However, based on the evidence gathered in this inspection and our assessment of it, we recommend the DoJ should go further than its proposed changes to legislative provisions for the operation of bail for children and young people and undertake a public consultation on more wide ranging, ambitious reforms to bail for all defendants to inform the legislative programme in the next Northern Ireland Assembly mandate. A spokesperson for the Department of Justice welcomed the report. He said: This issue has far-reaching implications across the justice system, and for people who come into contact with it. The department is committed to identifying why remand in Northern Ireland is higher than in other jurisdictions and work is already under way to seek alternatives to remand. Almost 75,000 non-domestic properties in Northern Ireland are to receive new valuations for their business rates bills from April. Known as Reval2023, the process by Land and Property Services (LPS) will result in a new non-domestic valuation list based on an assessment of the market rent for the property. Non-domestic rates currently generate around 650 million a year in Northern Ireland. Business rates are charged on most non-domestic premises, including shops, offices, warehouses, factories, hotels and pubs as well as utilities such as gas, water, electricity and wind farms. The outcomes of the LPS revaluation include: Many hospitality businesses will see values going down. There is a broad decrease in the value of pubs of 15% across Northern Ireland, and hotels are seeing a decrease of 24% on average. The value of retail property is down on many high streets and shopping centres, while neighbourhood supermarkets and smaller multiple supermarkets are generally up. The office sector across Northern Ireland shows an overall increase in rateable value of 10%. Warehouse and storage property is up by 12% across the region. Manufacturing property is up by 11%. Renewable energy assets are seeing an increase of on average 70%. This revaluation has been delivered only three years since the last valuation list was published in March 2020. To find out how Rates Revaluation 2023 impacts your business visit https://t.co/s2wV5xal18 RetailNI (@retail_ni) January 11, 2023 This is the shortest time between revaluations ever delivered in any UK jurisdiction and is a response to calls by business ratepayers in Northern Ireland for more frequent revaluations, the LPS said. Almost two-thirds (64%) of properties will see no change or their rateable value decreasing under Reval2023. LPS commissioner of valuation Angela McGrath said: The revaluation means that, from April, ratepayers will contribute to the funding of essential public services such as health, education and infrastructure as well as a wide range of council services relative to their 2021 rental value, instead of 2018 values as at present. The amount of money raised through rates will not change as a direct result of Reval2023. The purpose of this revaluation is to maintain fairness in the rating system, not to raise more revenue. She added: Ratepayers can view the draft schedule of values on the Spatial NI platform. I would encourage business ratepayers to go online and view the new draft values for their properties ahead of rate bills issuing in the spring. Retail NI chief executive Glyn Roberts said: Retail NI will be engaging with its members on the impact of this and will provide guidance to any independent retailer that sees an increase in their valuation. If business owners are unhappy with their valuation, they can appeal, and we would encourage them to do so. Detectives are appealing for information following a report that a man was sexually assaulted by three males in Belfast. The incident occurred at the Woodvale Avenue area in the north of the city on Saturday. We are appealing for information following a report of a serious sexual assault which occurred at the Woodvale Avenue area of North Belfast on Saturday 7th January: https://t.co/9UkwVnQQgk pic.twitter.com/zs3a1cTucA Police North Belfast (@PSNIBelfastN) January 11, 2023 A PSNI spokesperson said: At around 7:30pm, it was reported that a man in his 40s was walking in the area with his two dogs when he was approached by three unknown men and sexually assaulted. All three men are described as being in their 40s and approximately 5ft 8 in height. The first man is of stocky build, bald and wearing a multi-coloured top. The second, of slim build with stubble and wearing a black top and the third also of stocky build, believed to be wearing a grey tracksuit top, grey tracksuit bottoms and white trainers. This man is also believed to have a spiral design tattoo on his inner forearm. Enquiries are continuing and we would appeal to anyone who may have seen men in the area matching these descriptions around the time of the reported assault to contact police on 101, quoting reference number 291 08/01/23. Profound change and reform are required within Stormonts business support agency Invest Northern Ireland, an independent review has found. The external assessment of the agencys performance said research suggested it was having little, if any impact in increasing productivity in Northern Ireland. The review panel also raised serious concerns about damaged relationships at the senior leadership level of the organisation, particular in the dynamic between the board and executives. It said these issues must be addressed urgently as they are harming the performance of the organisation. The panel said there was widespread concern that the board, and in particular chairwoman Rose Mary Stalker, had at times, become too operational, although the review team also noted a lack of understanding among some very senior managers who wrongly believed the board only had an advisory function. The review team, which engaged with more 300 stakeholders in examining the performance of Invest NI, concluded that the agency was still best placed to undertake Stormonts economic development activities, but only if significant changes were made to how it works. Panel chairman Sir Michael Lyons said: We were encouraged to be challenging, and we havent flinched from reflecting back what we found. The agency receives around 160 million each year to fund its work supporting local businesses and attracting foreign direct investment. The panel highlighted the need for improvements in leadership, structure, operation, control and public accountability. Sir Michael, former chairman of the BBC Trust, said Stormonts Department for the Economy also needed to provide stronger governance and oversight of the agency and give it better strategic and policy direction. The panel raised concerns about the effectiveness of Invest NI at a sub-regional level across Northern Ireland and questioned whether decision-making was too centralised in Belfast. It also identified issues with the agencys client/company model whereby enhanced support is offered, often on a repeating basis, to a small group of businesses that meet certain criteria. The panel said this was the source of frustration among many other companies that found it difficult to secure the same level of support. The review was commissioned last January by former economy minister Gordon Lyons. At the time, he said the move was required to ensure the operations of Invest NI aligned with his departments economic strategy, 10X. A commitment for Stormont departments to review the effectiveness of all their arms-length bodies was included in the New Decade, New Approach agreement that led to the restoration of powersharing in 2020. Stormont is currently without a ministerial executive amid a political stand-off over Brexits Northern Ireland Protocol. Sir Michael said the lack of an executive should not prevent reforms of Invest NI being implemented, though he acknowledged it would make it more complicated. The publication of our report comes at a time when Northern Ireland, like other parts of the UK, is facing huge economic challenges, he said. Having a robust economic development agency that can open up new opportunities, boost trade, foster growth in key sectors, attract inward investment and support the emergence and growth of indigenous businesses is crucial if Northern Irelands frail economy is to be transformed for the better. Following the review process we have identified recommendations across 17 broad areas, and whilst our report found Invest NI to be the best-placed organisation to take this work forward, there remains a need for profound change and reform within the agency in terms of how it is run, the way in which it operates, and how it is perceived across its wide programme of work. If there was one issue that were trying to pull out here and to shine a light on, it is the fact if there is going to be public investment in the economy, you absolutely have to be confident that its bringing about changes that wouldnt otherwise have taken place. And thats a weakness at the moment. The indicators that the agency works to are its own indicators, its to some extent marking its own test papers, and the Department for the Economy has to lay down some very clear KPIs (key performance indicators) for the future. In a statement, the chair and board of Invest NI said changes were already taking place within the agency. We recognise the need to be a more outgoing and better partner with the wider NI public and private sector to deliver sustainable and inclusive economic growth throughout Northern Ireland, they said. The board is committed to the transformative change needed for Invest NI to become a more efficient, agile and outcomes-focused organisation delivering an even greater impact throughout the economy. This change has already started. The review will help us move forward with renewed focus and accelerated pace to reshape Invest NI into the economic development agency it needs to be to deliver on the Department for the Economys 10X Vision. Driving transformational change, new emerging policy direction and ambiguity on roles and responsibilities has led to challenges on priorities, and divisions among leadership. We accept this working and with DfE will urgently reshape and refocus leadership so that we can drive forward the necessary change with clarity and unity, and rebuilt confidence. The statement said the agency had delivered strongly over the past 20 years. Many individuals and families are much better off and we have supported the emergence of new sectors where NI either has, or has the potential to have, world-leading capability, it added. The statement concluded: We are determined to transform this organisation, building on its strengths and working in partnership with the department and our stakeholders to build an ecosystem that delivers a growing economy that works for all. Irish premier Leo Varadkar said he hopes the decision to exclude Mary Lou McDonald from a meeting with Foreign Secretary James Cleverly is not a new precedent. The Sinn Fein leader was told she could not attend the meeting to discuss the Northern Ireland Protocol and the Stormont political deadlock. Mr Cleverly insisted Sinn Fein were not excluded from a meeting with him in Belfast, stating that the party vice president Michelle ONeill was invited to attend but opted not to. The party withdrew from the roundtable talks with Mr Cleverly on Wednesday. The decision to exclude Ms McDonald from the talks was criticised by the Irish government, with Mr Varadkar saying it is not usual practice to tell other parties who should be on their delegation. I know when I visit Northern Ireland tomorrow (Thursday) to meet with the different political parties, Deputy McDonald will be part of the Sinn Fein delegation, Mr Varadkar said on Wednesday evening. Its never been our practice to tell other people who should be on their delegation. If you ask to meet somebody or somebody comes to meet you, it really should be for them to decide whos on their delegation and who leads it. Thats the approach that we take, it had been the approach that the British Government took in the past, so I hope this was a one off and that doesnt represent a change of policy. Mr Cleverly defended the decision, stating that the meeting was to hear from political representatives in Northern Ireland and he would meet Irish politicians in the near future. Deputy Irish premier Micheal Martin said the decision by his British counterpart was unfortunate. Mr Martin said: I dont know the background to it at all, but that said I dont think it will be an impediment. I had a good discussion with Michelle ONeill earlier in the week. I think everyone is up for working constructively to try and resolve these issues and get the Executive up and running. Our objective of this government is to have the mandate that was given in the last Assembly elections fulfilled in terms of the Assembly being convened and also the Executive being established in line with the results of the election. I would hope that, notwithstanding what happened today, that it will not act as an impediment. I dont think it will. The two leaders will travel to Northern Ireland on Thursday. Mr Varadkar is to meet with representatives of Stormonts five political parties, while Mr Martin will hold talks with Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris. Pianist Lim Dong-hyek, who was sued by his former wife for sending obscene photos to her during their divorce process, has been acquitted by the prosecution, judicial officials said Wednesday. The Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors Office dropped the case against 39-year-old Lim on Dec. 27 last year, citing insufficient evidence to prove the charges, the officials said. Lim's ex-wife sued him in June last year, alleging the pianist sent obscene pictures to her via mobile messenger KakaoTalk during their divorce proceedings in 2019 and again sent obscene messages by e-mail after the divorce in 2021. Seoul's Songpa Police Station transferred Lim's case to the prosecution last October, but prosecutors eventually dismissed the charges. (Yonhap) J. Robert Oppenheimer once said, we know too much for one man to know too much. Today, we are living in a world where artificial neural networks behind AI Chatbots like ChatGPT can be trained to analyze large amounts of data that would be physically impossible for a person to grasp. Not only that, these AI language models can memorize, find patterns, and spew results at stupendous speeds. They dont even suffer from a patchy brain like us. So, in a crux, ChatGPT and the likes really know too much and like any technology, it too can be used for both good and bad purposes. We have already gone in depth about the various use cases of ChatGPT, but here, we will step over to the other side. The dark side of ChatGPT: How is it being used to develop malicious tools Check Point Research (CPR), a leading player in the cybersecurity research space has discovered some cases of bad actors employing ChatGPT for various cybercrimes. The findings of CPR classify ChatGPT-related cybercrimes into 3 kinds: 1. Using ChatGPT for creating Infostealer ChatGPT has been demoed to have the capability of cooking up info-stealers, and malware strains and performing activities that you could easily read in books and publications about malware. How these works were outlined in a thread titled ChatGPT - Benefits of Malware, which popped up on one of the deep web hacking forums on December 29, 2022. 2. Using ChatGPT for creating malicious Python scripts A few days before the aforementioned post, i.e., on December 21, 2022, a Python script with malicious intent was posted by a supposed threat actor called USDoD. He mentioned it was the first script he ever created, and he had got a nice [helping] hand [presumably from ChatGPT] to finish the script with a nice scope. So, perhaps with some programming skills, one could code multi-layer encryption tools and hell, even ransomware. 3. Using ChatGPT for fraud activities Taking things even further is the case of an alleged cybercriminal who used ChatGPT to build Dark Web marketplace scripts. For the uninitiated, such marketplaces are where illegal or stolen goods are traded against crypto payments. Well, this is only one of the ways AI applications like ChatGPT are being misused. In the past, we have come across many instances where the internet and AI have been put to illicit purposes by cyber crooks. Other examples of AI technologies used for bad purposes 1. Deepfake AI is used to digitally alter the face or body of a person in a video and the result would be convincing enough to manipulate the viewer to believe it's real. Deepfake videos of politicians, celebs, and famous personalities are used for misinformation and pornographic purposes. 2. Social media bots AI-powered bots are prevalent on most social media platforms. Seemingly real, but these fake social media accounts are also employed to disseminate false information and manipulate public discourse. You must already know about AI bots being used for getting likes and followers on socials. Elon Musk had raised the massive bots problem on Twitter. Even, the 2016 US elections were allegedly influenced by Russian-funded AI bots on Facebook. 3. Phishing scams AI is also used for phishing scams through email and messages, tricking people into revealing their sensitive information or many times, money. Since there is hardly any learning curve required, scam artists can easily concoct scam emails using Generative AI apps like ChatGPT. 4. Fraud Detection Evasion Although there are Fraud Detection Systems wherein AI models are put to reverse engineer and bypass these systems, cybercriminals get an easy pass. In our own test, we found although ChatGPT initially tries to avoid responding to queries/prompts (being a responsible AI model) that are bad or about bad topics, with some rephrasing and convincing, we can get it to respond. Basically, we could trick it and so should anybody else. Having said that, we agree that essentially, technology isn't good or evil and it depends on how its put to use. Take our man Oppenheimer, the father of the Atomic Bomb, as an example. When he worked on the scientific project, he would not have predicted the ungodly use of his creation. And as Berkely Connect Physics Director Bernard Sadoulet puts it, Science may be neutral, but its use in society is not, and scientists work often has unintended consequences that must be considered carefully, we think so is the case with a potent technology like ChatGPT. Today, we have iQOO 11 and the OnePlus 11 and well be pitting them against each other to see which device comes out on top. The iQOO 11 was recently launched in India and it was the first phone to roll out with the latest Qualcomm chipset, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. On the other hand, the OnePlus 11 has already launched in China and it will launch in India on February 7th. Lets check out the specifications of both phones. OnePlus 11 vs iQOO 11: Design The OnePlus 11 has a glass body and a metal mid-frame within. It has a circular camera island on the back with three small camera rings and one small flash ring. The Oneplus 11 has also brought back the alert slider. The device will come in two colour options; Green and black. The iQOO 11 comes in three colours and all three variants have different body materials. Lets talk about the Legend variant that has vegan leather and the BMW M stripes on the back. It has a big rectangular camera island which holds a triple camera setup and flash. OnePlus 11 vs iQOO 11: Display The OnePlus has a 6.7-inch LTPO3 AMOLED display with 120Hz refresh rate support. The display of the OnePlus 11 also supports Dolby Vision and HDR10+. In the tests, the display gave 1300 nits of output at the peak brightness. The iQOO 11 has a 6.7-inch LTPO4 AMOLED display with 1B colours. It supports a 144Hz refresh rate and HDR10+ as well. The lab tests of the display resulted in 1800 nits at peak brightness. OnePlus 11 vs iQOO 11: Performance In terms of performance, both phones are powered by Qualcomms latest and most powerful chipset yet; the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. Both phones run on Android 13OS as well. OnePlus 11 or iQOO 11: Camera OnePlus has confirmed that the OnePlus 11 is going to feature Hasselblad cameras. The OnePlus 11 has a triple camera setup which carries a 50-megapixel primary camera, a 32-megapixel telephoto lens for optical zoom and a 48-megapixel ultrawide lens for wide-angle shots. It has a 16-megapixel selfie shooter. The iQOO 11 also has a triple camera setup which includes a 50-megapixel primary camera and along with that a 13-megapixel telephoto lens and an 8-megapixel ultrawide lens. iQOO 11 has a 16-megapixel selfie camera as well. Also read: Comparison of iQOO 11 vs OnePlus 11 vs Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra vs Xiaomi 13 Pro and the winner is OnePlus 11 vs iQOO 11: Battery OnePlus 11 packs a 5000mAh battery with 100-watt of fast charging support. Whereas, iQOO 11 packs the same 5000mAh battery but with 120-watt of fast charging support. Both companies have claimed that their devices can be charged from 1% to 100% in just 25 minutes. OnePlus 11 vs iQOO 11: Price The OnePlus 11 will come in three storage options; 12GB/128GB, 16GB/256GB and 16GB/512GB. The price of these variants is RMB 3,999 (approx 48,000), RMB 4,399 (around 52,900), and RMB 4,899 (approx 59,000) in China, respectively. On the other hand, iQOO 11 comes in two variants; 8GB/256GB and 16GB/256GB. The prices of these variants are 59,999 and 64,999, respectively. For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in or head to our Google News page. Samsung unveils new tech at the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event, and after weeks of wondering when the event will take place, the brand has finally confirmed that it will take place on February 1, Wednesday, at 1:00 PM ET. Of course, this has been known for a while now, however, the brands comments make it more official. The Samsung Galaxy S23 will launch on February 1 As is the case with last years Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event, the brand will be revealing its flagship lineup for the year. This means well finally get to see the Samsung Galaxy S23 - a device thats been making headlines for a long time now. This will be a live launch, which makes it more exciting. The Samsung Galaxy S23 event will be taking place in San Francisco, CA, at the Masonic Auditorium. The event will also be live-streamed on Samsung.com, YouTube, and a few other channels for free. So, you can watch the event if youre interested in seeing the product for yourself. Samsung Galaxy S23 pre-order offer The Samsung Galaxy S23 comes with an exciting pre-order launch. The brand will offer free Galaxy Buds 2 Pro if you pre-register for the Samsung Galaxy S23. A leaked image for Samsung Estonia revealed this offer, and it is believed that such offers will be available in other countries too. For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in or head to our Google News page. After weeks and weeks of waiting, the Redmi Note 12 series is finally going on sale in India today. The series includes the Redmi Note 12 5G, Redmi Note 12 Pro 5G, and Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G. Redmi Note 12 price in India The base variant of the Redmi Note 12 5G (with 4GB RAM + 128GB) is available for 17,999. The 6GB RAM + 128GB variant is available for 19,999. The smartphone is available in Frosted Green, Matte Black, and Mystique Blue. The base model of the Redmi Note 12 Pro 5G ( 6GB RAM + 128GB storage) is available for 24,999 while the 8GB RAM + 128GB storage model is available for 26,999. The top-end variant, which comes with 8GB RAM + 256GB is available for 27,999. The smartphone comes in Glacier Blue, Stardust Purple, and Onyx Black shades. The top-end Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G (with 8GB RAM + 256GB storage) is priced at 29,999, while the 12GB RAM + 256GB storage model is priced at 32,999. It is available in Arctic White, Iceberg Blue, and Obsidian Black colour variants. Redmi Note 12 offers You can get an instant discount of 1,500 by using ICICI bank cards and EMI transactions as well as HDFC Bank credit card and EMI transactions. This instant discount is capped at 3,000 for the Redmi Note 12 Pro 5G and Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G. You can also avail an exchange bonus of up to 4,000. Customers can also enjoy no-cost EMI and exchange options via retail channels. Where to buy the Redmi Note 12 in India? All the smartphones in the Redmi Note 12 lineup can be purchased via Mi.com, Mi Home stores, Flipkart, Amazon, and offline retail partners starting today. For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in or head to our Google News page. Reliance Jio launched its True 5G services in Assam today. It was inaugurated by the state's Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma at an event held in Guwahati. Along with 5G service in the state, Jio also launched a Free Wifi service powered by True 5G for all devotees coming to the Maa Kamakhya Temple. At the event, they even spoke about Revolutionary solutions such as the Jio Community Clinic medical kit, AR-VR-based healthcare with JioGlass, and Smart Healthcare Solutions like Tele Radiology, Connected Ambulances. Jio also promised to bring 5G across the northeastern state by the end of the year, December 2023. Commenting on the new launch, a Jio Spokesperson informed, "With the blessings of Maa Kamakhya, Jio is launching True 5G services in Assam today. Jio will offer free True 5G-powered Wi-Fi inside the temple premises to all the devotees visiting Kamakhya temple." Not just in Assam, Jio 5G was also launched in a few other states today as well. This includes 4 states, Karnataka (Hubli-Dharwad, Mangalore, Belgaum), Kerala (Chertala), Telangana (Warangal, Karimnagar) and Maharashtra (Solapur). Starting today, Jio users in these cities will be invited to the Jio Welcome Offer. This will allow users to avail the benefits of 5G and they will be able to enjoy Unlimited Data at up to 1 Gbps+ speed. This will come bearing no extra costs with the Welcome Offer only. Jio also revealed its standalone 5G recharge voucher recently which is worth 61 and can be purchased along with the users existing plan and will come with the same validity as the existing plan. This voucher offers 6GB of 5G data. Jio 5G was launched in October last year. After the launch in Assam today, the telecom giant is now sharing its facilities in about 93 cities and towns in the country. For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in or head to our Google News page. Actor Lee Dong-hwi in a scene from the film "Maybe We Broke Up" (tentative title) / Courtesy of 26 Company By Kwak Yeon-soo An anti-romantic film, starring Lee Dong-hwi and Jung Eun-chae, will hit local theaters in February. Directed by Hyung Seul-woo, "Maybe We Broke Up" (tentative title) follows the story of a young couple who are in a long-term relationship. They are in the process of breaking up as they no longer share the same beliefs about life and love. Lee takes on the role of Jun-ho, who moves into girlfriend Ah-young's house to keep studying for the civil service exam. Things start to crumble when he loses hope in life and places blame on his girlfriend. "I instantly fell in love with the script. I liked how it portrays the struggles of young adults in a realistic way. I'm sure that the film can gain the audience's sympathy," Lee said. Jung stars as Ah-young, who gives up on her dream and becomes a real estate agent to support Jun-ho financially. She gradually grows tired of sacrificing for Jun-ho. "Ah-young is smart and very self-aware. I focused on depicting her conflicting emotions and how she acts one way in public and then turn into a different character when facing Jun-ho," Jung said. Lee rose to fame through the 2015 drama series "Reply 1988" and 2019 film "Extreme Job," the second-highest-grossing film in Korea. He is currently starring in Disney+ original series "Big Bet." Up next he will star in "The Roundup: Punishment," the fourth film in "The Outlaws" franchise, as a new villain. Jung made her acting debut with "Haunters" (2010) and since then has starred in many hit dramas such as "The King: Eternal Monarch" (2020), "Pachinko" (2022) and "Anna" (2022). AstraZeneca to acquire CinCor Pharma in a deal worth $1,8 bn British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company AstraZeneca has agreed to acquire CinCor Pharma Inc, a US-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, in a deal worth $1.8 billion. AstraZeneca has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Under the terms of the agreement with CinCor, which is focused on developing novel treatments for resistant and uncontrolled hypertension as well as chronic kidney disease, Under the terms of the agreement, AstraZeneca will initiate a tender offer to acquire all of CinCors outstanding shares for a price of $26 per share in cash at closing, plus a non-tradable contingent value right of $10 per share in cash payable upon a specified regulatory submission of a baxdrostat product. The upfront cash portion of the consideration represents a transaction value of approximately $1.3 billion and a 121 per cent premium over CinCors closing market price on 6 January 2023. Combined, the upfront and maximum potential contingent value payments represent, if achieved, a transaction value of approximately $1.8 billion and a 206 per cent premium over CinCors closing market price on 6 January 2023. As part of the transaction, AstraZeneca will acquire the cash and marketable securities on CinCors balance sheet, which totalled approximately $522 million as of 30 September 2022. The acquisition will help AstraZeneca access global rights to baxdrostat, a novel aldosterone synthase inhibitor in development for blood pressure lowering. It will in turn bolster AstraZenecas cardiorenal pipeline by adding CinCors candidate drug, baxdrostat (CIN-107), an aldosterone synthase inhibitor (ASI) for blood pressure lowering in treatment-resistant hypertension, the company stated in a release. Baxdrostat is stated to be highly selective for aldosterone synthase and spares the cortisol pathway in humans. B4sides, it has the potential for combination with Farxiga and complements AstraZenecas strategy to provide added benefit across cardiorenal diseases, where there is a high unmet medical need. Acquiring CinCor supports our commitment to cardiorenal disease and further strengthens our pipeline with baxdrostat. Excess levels of aldosterone are associated with hypertension and several cardiorenal diseases, including chronic kidney disease and coronary artery disease and being able to effectively reduce this would offer a much-needed treatment option for these patients, Mene Pangalos, executive vice president BioPharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca, said. We are excited about the proposed acquisition of CinCor Pharma by AstraZeneca as we believe it offers the prospect of accelerating the development timeline and expanding the breadth of benefits patients with cardiorenal diseases might obtain from baxdrostat, if approved. CinCor is committed to ensuring a smooth transition of the development responsibilities to AstraZeneca once the acquisition is consummated, Marc de Garidel, CEO of CinCor, said. The closing of the tender offer will be subject to certain conditions, including the tender of shares representing at least a majority of the total number of CinCors outstanding shares, and other customary regulatory clearances. Upon successful completion of the tender offer, AstraZenecas acquisition subsidiary will be merged with and into CinCor, and any remaining shares of common stock of CinCor will be cancelled and converted into the right to receive the same merger consideration (including the contingent value right) per share payable in the tender offer. Subject to the satisfaction of the conditions in the merger agreement, the acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter of 2023. Financial Services Commission (FSC) Chairman Kim Joo-hyun, left, speaks with employees of KB Kookmin Bank at one of the bank's branches in Seoul, Jan. 5. Yonhap Consumers increase complaints over shortened bank operation hours By Anna J. Park Aiming to minimize customer inconvenience, the heads of financial authorities and the local bank association plan to normalize the country's bank operation hours to pre-pandemic standards. Since July 2021, banks nationwide have been operating from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., which is an hour shorter than their previous operating hours of 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. before the pandemic. According to the banking industry this week, the Korean Financial Industry Union (KFIU) and the Korea Federation of Banks (KFB) will launch a taskforce to discuss the normalization of local bank operation hours. Originally, banks and the financial workers' union agreed to start discussing whether to restore the pre-pandemic operating hours once the country's mandatory indoor mask rule is completely ended. Yet, the discussion has to begin before mask rule is lifted, as it is still uncertain when that will be. In addition, customers' growing complaints over the shortened bank operation hours have led the financial authorities to pressure banks to restore their operation hours. "While it was fully understandable that banks decided to shorten their operation hours to fight the pandemic, restoring the pre-pandemic operating hours would now be measuring up to customers' expectations, given that the pandemic situation is stabilizing," Financial Services Commission (FSC) Chairman Kim Joo-hyun said last Thursday during his visit to a local bank branch in Seoul. "Normalizing the bank operation hours will not only resolve customer inconvenience, but will also contribute to improved public awareness of banks as a service provider," he added. "Banks could earn public trust and sustainable transactions from them, if they provide what customers want." Supporting the FSC chief's message, Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) Governor Lee Bok-hyun also urged banks to normalize their operating hours. "Amid the public's inconvenience over the shortened bank operation hours, the FSS called on the banking federation and the financial union to smoothly reach an agreement to normalize bank operation hours as soon as possible," he said during Tuesday's executive meeting. Responding to the messages from the top financial regulators, KFB head Kim Gwang-soo said the banking federation will discuss the normalization of operating hours with the union. "The banking federation will discuss the normalization of bank operation hours to stimulate economic vitality," he said. It is expected that the banking association and the financial industry union will decide the specifics of when and how the normalization of bank hours will be conducted. NCMC holds emergency meeting as Uttarakhand's Joshimath area starts sinking The National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) under the chairmanship of cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba held an emergency meeting on Tuesday to assess the emerging situation in Joshimath in Uttarakhand in the wake of the strange phenomena of land caving in an entire area, leaving wide cracks on the surface and in buildings. The state government has shifted the entire population of the affected areas to safer places in order to avert any catastrophy. Uttarakhand chief secretary said that relief shelters have been identified in Joshimath and Pipalkoti to accommodate the affected families. Besides, he said, the state government is providing appropriate compensation and relief to the affected residents. The operation of the Joshimath-Auli ropeway has been discontinued and all civil construction works in and around Joshimath Municipality area have been suspended. NDRF and SDRF have been deployed to help the district administration in relief and rehabilitation operations. In Uttarakhand's 'sinking' town of Joshimath, hotels and other buildings that have developed dangerous cracks, will be demolished within a week, a top official said. An NDTV report quoted senior officer Himanshu Khurana as saying that every affected family will be given Rs 1.5 lakh immediately as compensation for losing their home. However, angry residents blocked the planned demolition of two hotels and several houses on Tuesday saying that they were not given notice and demanded compensation. The administration today met with the residents. "We are not demolishing the hotels - we will dismantle them in one week. We had a positive discussion with hotel owners," NDTV quoted Khurana as saying. Meanwhile, a team of experts from CBRI, GSI, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, NIDM and the National Institute of Hydrology visited the affected areas on 6 and 7 January to assess the situation. The team also interacted with the district administration to understand their requirements. Member Secretary, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) informed the committee that Union home secretary apprised the committee that a high level central team of MHA led by secretary, Border Management is at Joshimath for assessment of the situation. The cabinet secretary stressed that the immediate priority should be complete and safe evacuation of all residents in the affected zone. Priority may be accorded to demolition of vulnerable structures in a safe manner. All the studies and investigations, viz. geotechnical, geophysical and hydrological, should be completed in a coordinated and time bound manner. The Cabinet Secretary assured the Chief Secretary that all Central agencies will continue to be available for necessary assistance. The meeting was attended by the union home secretary, chief secretary of Uttarakhand, secretaries to the ministries of power, information and broadcasting, border management, water resources, mines, besides members of NDMA, Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee, scientific secretary to chairman Isro, chairman of Central Water Commission, DG-NDRF, DG-Geological survey of India, Scientist(SG)-National Remote Sensing Centre, CMD-NTPC, Director, National Centre for Seismology and DG Border Road Organisation. The Irish government provided consular aid in 1,504 new cases last year. That's according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), which provided the assistance in 2022 in addition to support provided to others on an ongoing basis. The figure marks an overall increase of 21% in newly recorded consular cases, which includes situations such as child abductions (15 cases), missing persons (51), victims of crime (96) and issues regarding Covid-19 (48). The department was also notified of 340 deaths abroad, marking a a 55% increase in comparison with 2021. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the department established a dedicated crisis response team at the Embassy in Kyiv and other embassies, to support more than 100 Irish citizens seeking to leave Ukraine in February and March. Tanaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Micheal Martin, said, "One of the main priorities of the Department of Foreign Affairs is to provide effective travel advice and consular assistance and services to Irish citizens. The department provides a range of help and support to citizens in distress abroad, relating to a variety of situations - including arrest, imprisonment, missing persons, serious injury, mental health difficulty and death. "The 2022 statistics show a consistently high level of demand for our services, with my department and mission network providing consular assistance in a number of complex cases last year. This includes issues that have become more prevalent, such as travel bans, forced marriage, and complications arising from medical procedures abroad. The Tanaiste is encouraging all citizens to carefully study the DFA Travel Advice before going abroad, and advises contacting the nearest Irish embassy or consulate if assistance is required while abroad. He said, "In 2022, my department also provided significant levels of support to citizens impacted by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. We are aware of a number of citizens who continue to enter Ukraine, for example with the purpose of engaging in surrogacy arrangements. The situation across Ukraine remains extremely dangerous, and I strongly advise against all travel to Ukraine, for any purpose." As part of the supports provided by the DFA, over 54,000 Irish documents were authenticated for business or personal use overseas, and over 2,700 civil letters of freedom were issued to Irish citizens marrying abroad last year. The department reportedly handled over 6,000 calls and 8,000 emails on international travel from the public in 2022. The Tanaiste said, "While most people enjoy trouble-free trips abroad, it is important to prepare properly in advance of travel. I advise all Irish citizens to ensure they have a valid passport, take out travel insurance, consult our Travel Advice, and carry an EHIC (European Health Insurance Card) if travelling within the EU. "I also would like to acknowledge the invaluable support provided by our close partners, including government agencies, the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust, the Irish Council for Prisoners Overseas, Crosscare, the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, Safe Home Ireland and the many Irish support organisations overseas. "These continue to do great work in supporting citizens and their families who experience difficult and in some cases tragic situations overseas." An incident outside a shelter for migrants in Ballymun was intimidation and not a protest, according to Justice Minister Simon Harris. Videos emerged over the weekend of a crowd of people outside a building in Ballymun where families were living, chanting get them out, with one person holding a sign saying Ireland is full. Weve to be very careful calling these protests. In my mind, thats not what they are. In my mind, when people turn up outside a building that is providing temporary shelter to people, including women and children, and start saying things like shout to get them out, out, out, out, thats not a protest, in my view. In my view, thats intimidation. In my view, it is not in any way, shape or form reflective of the communities in which these accommodation facilities are in. Mr Harris praised Dublin Lord Mayor Caroline Conroy, a Ballymun native, for showing excellent leadership on this. She very clearly and articulately made the point about, of course, the importance of working with communities, of course, the importance of keeping communities informed, of course, the importance of providing information, but not allowing anybody to hijack the viewpoints of a community. Ms Conroy said the scenes were embarrassing and upsetting, and she believed the protests had been orchestrated, adding: Its not what were about in Ballymun. It is a statement of the blinding obvious that there are certain individuals who travel from one part of our country to the next part of our country to the next part of our country, added Mr Harris. He said he was aware that gardai are taking these matters very seriously. As Minister of Justice, my primary responsibility is to ensure the safety of all individuals in this country and that includes safety of people who have come here seeking refuge under the international protection agreement. Mr Harris said that in response to the 70,000 people from Ukraine who have arrived in Ireland since last February, communities have embraced them and held demonstrations in solidarity. I think theres a balance to this. Im not willing to go down a road where I suggest that the so-called protests are in any way reflective of the broader scenario, he said. Speaking at the same event, Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe confirmed that his department was in discussions about how to fund security for parliamentarians, after cow excrement was thrown at two TDs at a public meeting in Galway. Anything that needs to be done to strengthen the security that is available to members of the Oireachtas will be made available, Mr Donohoe said. When we talk to the Oireachtas regarding changes that will need to be made, members of the Oireachtas will need to know how much funding will be available, under what circumstances and how this will be done. And this is what were engaging with. Great news that @WeAreTUDublin has been approved to progress to the next stage of development under the Technological Sector Strategic Projects Fund (TSSPF). Expansion of this kind will hugely benefit students, help address skills shortages& positively impact Cabra & D7 pic.twitter.com/rsegevemzP Paschal Donohoe (@Paschald) January 11, 2023 Mr Harris and Mr Donohoe were at the launch of a sustainable building centre on the campus of Technological University Dublin (TUD). The project will see the multi-disciplinary teaching facility at TUDs Broombridge campus used for students in architecture, engineering and construction. The proposed new building is to accommodate 1,400 people learning key climate skills such as retrofit, low-carbon technologies, modern methods of construction and energy efficiency. It is anticipated that its creation would be a beacon for sustainability and climate action, creating a retrofit hub in one of the largest residential areas requiring retrofit in the city, Mr Harris said. The minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science is overseeing the Justice portfolio while Helen McEntee is on maternity leave. Cllr Sean Kelly raised concerns from residents about continuous localised flooding after heavy rain in the Pearse Park area at Januarys meeting of Dundalk Municipal District. Raising the matter at the January meeting, Cllr Kelly commented that since resurfacing works have taken place at Pearse Park last summer, "there have been ongoing issues with flooding in the estate after heavy rain. This flooding is leaving footpaths impassable, and people are being prevented from leaving their homes unless they wade through the water." The Dundalk councillor says that "Irish Water have cleared the gullies on several occasions, but the issue still persists. Im asking that the Operations section of the Council along with Water Services and Irish Water to visit the estate and carry out a full inspection to ascertain the source of problem and rectify it as soon as possible. People should not be prevented from leaving their homes or forced to walk on the centre of the road because of ongoing drainage issues." Responding to Cllr Kelly's request, the Council stated that it would carry out the inspection as soon as possible. Over 500 people were waiting for beds in hospitals across the country this morning, Wednesday, including eight in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, as the overcrowding crisis continues. As many as 528 admitted patients were waiting for beds this morning with 422 patients left in the emergency department, while 106 are in wards elsewhere in the hospital, according to todays Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO). There were 17 patients waiting for beds in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital on Monday, with it dropping to eight people today. The hospitals worst affected today include Cork University Hospital with 55 people waiting, St Vincent's Hospital with 40 and the Mater Hospital with 34. Last week, Ireland recorded its highest ever number of patients waiting for a hospital bed on a single day at 931. The INMO said the overcrowding problems in Irish hospitals should be treated as a national crisis. They began to consult with its members this week ahead over the possibility of taking industrial action amid claims of unsafe staffing levels. Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) will host an information session for students and families on Saturday 21st January in advance of the CAO application deadline. The CAO information day is the last major student recruitment event before the standard CAO deadline closes on February 1st and it is open to school-leavers and their parents, students progressing from further education and mature applicants. The focus of this on campus event is to help you understand and navigate your CAO application with the greatest of ease, a DkIT spokesperson said. Staff from our admissions team, student services, academic courses and student ambassadors will be on hand to answer any questions you may have about CAO and completing your application. In addition, students from Northern Ireland will receive specific guidance about completing their CAO application forms and DkIT staff will be available at the event to answer questions about entry criteria, student finance and more. DkIT is one of the only Higher-Level Institutes in the Republic of Ireland to recognise and accept A-Levels and BTEC qualifications, or a combination of them both. DkIT said it prides itself on being a fully inclusive college and is a participating institute in both the Higher Education Access Route (HEAR) and Disability Access Route to Education (DARE) which are nationally coordinated access schemes aimed at boosting equality in and access to Higher Education in Ireland. Applications to the HEAR and DARE schemes must be made to CAO by February 1st, 2023, and a range of available informational resources about these schemes will be available during the DkIT CAO information day. A DkIT spokesperson said the Institute has been at the forefront of delivering excellence in higher education to meet the academic, economic, social and cultural needs of the region for over 50 years and they are delighted to report that 97% of their graduates are in employment or further education within 12 months of graduating. The Institute would align these graduate successes to their small classroom sizes and their dedicated and award-winning staff who supply high quality personalised and accessible education which is academically focused on practical work skills and employability, the spokesperson continued. Register now online to attend this event which will help you demystify your CAO college application. For more information and to register visit www.dkit.ie/open-days Trainer Tom Mullins made in two winners from just five runners in 2023 when Not Too Real Bad (11/4jf) landed the Find Us On Facebook @dundalkstadium Handicap last Friday night. Ridden by Jack Cleary, the daughter of Exceed And Excel had finished second or third in each of her last three runs at Dundalk so was hardly winning out of turn. For good measure, she is owned by the trainers wife, Helen. Jack then made it a quick double on the card when Nevada Brave (4/1 fav), who is trained, owned and bred by Luke Comer, won the Irishinjuredjockeys.com Handicap. This win made it three winners from just five rides at Dundalk in 2023 for Jack. The cards opening race saw Shabaaby (15/2) secure a first Dundalk win since arriving in Ireland. He looked set to win cosily in the Floodlit Fridays Return To Dundalk Handicap before the 6/4 favourite Zig Zag Zyggy staged a late rally. But the winner kept on well in winning by half-a-length under Donagh OConnor. This was trainer Johnny Levins first runner of 2023, so he certainly got the year off to a flying start. The way apprentice/conditional jockey Daniel King switched seamlessly between riding over hurdles or fences and back to the flat scene in 2022 was quite eye catching and he did nothing to change that positive view by winning the Book Online At DundalkStadium.com Handicap on Cursory Exam (4/1jf). The winner is trained by Ger OLeary, who took his record at Dundalk in 2023 to two winners and a second from just four runners by virtue of this win. All three of Cursory Exams career wins have come at Dundalk over the trip of ten furlongs and 150 yards. Trainer John McConnell enjoyed a superb 2022 with around 80 winners between flat and jumps racing, both in Ireland and the UK. And he notched his second winner of the year when Aces Wild (11/2) won the Join Us On Instagram @dundalk_stadium Maiden in the hands of Siobhan Rutledge. In the last eleven days, John has had a Dundalk winner plus winners at the Leopardstown and Limerick Christmas Festivals, along with success at Musselburgh in Scotland. That is quite a display of versatility. Siobhan then completed a double on the card when Dutch Glory (14/1) won the first division of the Racing Every Week At Dundalk Handicap for trainer Ross OSullivan. Racing for just the seventh time, the daughter of Cotai Glory was winning for the first time, having shown promise over six furlongs at Dundalk on December 7th on her most recent run. Todays race distance was seven furlongs. The second division of the race went to Bronze River (10/1), who was ridden by Sean Bowen. Winning trainer Denis Hogan is another to have ended 2022 in good form, with two Limerick Christmas Festival winners plus one at Punchestown. Champion calendar-year trainer at Dundalk for the last five years, Joseph OBrien made it three winners already this year at the Stadium when Anann (5/1) made all to win the DundalkStadium.com Maiden under promising apprentice rider Hugh Horgan. It was Josephs only runner on the card and, for good measure, Anann is owned and was bred by his mother, Ann-Marie. The next fixture at Dundalk is on Friday January 13th. The card is provisionally set to begin at 4.30pm, but this will become 3.55pm or 4pm if a race divides, which is likely given the demand for racing at the Stadium. This photo shows containers at a port in Busan, 453 kilometers south of Seoul, Jan. 10. Yonhap Korea's exports slipped 0.9 percent on-year in the first 10 days of January, data showed Wednesday, as demand for chips and precision machinery slowed. The country's outbound shipments stood at $13.86 billion in the Jan. 1-10 period, compared with $13.98 billion a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Imports, on the other hand, moved up 6.3 percent on-year to $20.13 billion during the cited period, resulting in a trade deficit of $6.2 billion. By sector, exports of chips, the mainstay export products, fell 29.5 percent on-year to $2 billion. Overseas shipments of steel and precision machinery also decreased 12.8 percent and 11.5 percent to $1 billion and $300 million, respectively, the data showed. Exports of petroleum products, on the other hand, advanced 26.9 percent to $1.28 billion, with those of automobiles soaring 51.7 percent to hit $1.27 billion over the period, it added. By destination, exports to China slipped 23.7 percent on-year over the first 10 days of 2023, reaching $2.93 billion. Those to the United States, on the other hand, jumped 17.6 percent to $2.28 billion, the data added. Exports to the European Union gained 21.8 percent, while those to Vietnam lost 5.1 percent. In December, monthly exports fell 9.5 percent on-year at $54.99 billion, extending the losing streak to the third consecutive month. Imports went down 2.4 percent on-year last month to $59.68 billion, and the monthly trade deficit came to $4.69 billion. Imports have exceeded exports in Korea since April, and December was the first time since 1997 that the country has suffered a trade deficit for nine months in a row. (Yonhap) Bae Hye-ja, the owner of the restaurant "Old Noodle House," greets customers in Yongsan District, Seoul, in 2017. Screenshot from tvN's YouTube By Lee Yeon-woo Bae Hye-ja, the founder of a noodle restaurant that has been in operation for 42 years and which became famous after President Yoon Suk Yeol stopped by for lunch in May last year, died on Sunday. She was 83. Her oldest son, Kim Yong-joo, said that his mother died of a chronic illness at a nursing home. Bae was buried in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday. She opened the restaurant, "Old Noodle House" (direct translation), in Yongsan District, Seoul, in 1981 to help raise her four children after her husband died of cancer. Her affordable noodles became popular among many office workers. The eatery shot to fame last May when Yoon went there to eat with his aides, just days after he was inaugurated. President Yoon Suk Yeol has lunch with his aides at "Old Noodle House," on May, 2022. Courtesy of the presidential office Above all, Bae is remembered for showing compassion to a homeless man during the Asian financial crisis. On a winter day in 1998, a man dressed in shabby clothes entered the restaurant and ordered a bowl of noodles, which cost just 2,000 won at the time. Bae later recalled that she sensed instantly that the man was homeless. So she refilled the bowl after he finished it. After the meal, the man asked for a cup of cold water and ran away without paying. Instead of chasing after the man for money, Bae was concerned about him getting hit by a car and shouted at him in front of her restaurant, "Watch out! You don't need to run. Walk all the way down. I am afraid you will fall and hurt yourself." Her caring words caught the public's attention. This episode was broadcast by local media 10 years later. The man, who was able to recover financially and became a businessman, sent a letter to the producer of the program and said Bae was the one who gave him "hope and the courage to live" during hard times. "I was treated with such generosity simply for making some noodles for a hungry man. I am very thankful that he didn't forget me," Bae said at the time. The restaurant offers unlimited refills. Bae's oldest son has taken over the restaurant. Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Defense, is seen answering questions during a daily press briefing at the Pentagon in Washington in this captured image, Jan. 10. Yonhap The United States continues to keep a close watch on North Korea and others for possible use or proliferation of illegal chemical and biological weapons, a Pentagon spokesperson said Tuesday. Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder also said the U.S. will take all necessary measures to hold any country accountable should they use or spread such weapons. "When it comes to chem-bio capabilities worldwide, it's something that the Department of Defense monitors very closely," the defense department spokesperson told a press briefing. The remark comes after Ian Watson, deputy assistant secretary of defense for chemical and biological defense, highlighted the increasing threats posed by chemical and biological weapons of China and Russia. When asked about possible cooperation between China, Russia and North Korea, Ryder said it was something that is definitely "concerning" and "something that we will continue to keep a close eye on." North Korea is believed to possess one of the world's largest stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons. Pyongyang also used a nerve agent to kill leader Kim Jong-un's estranged half brother, Kim Jong-nam, at a Kuala Lumpur airport in 2017. Ryder said the U.S. will continue to work closely with its allies in the region to counter any potential proliferation of chemical and biological weapons. "When it comes to things like chemical-biological weapons, there are a variety of tools at our disposal to address," the department spokesperson said, adding, "Those can include non-military capabilities, for example, sanctions and things like that." The Pentagon spokesperson also noted the U.S. continues to be in discussions with South Korean defense companies to purchase ammunition, but declined to comment when asked if those shells could become part of U.S. security assistance to Ukraine. "So we have been in discussions, and we have talked about this publicly before, with Korea in terms of purchasing non-government ammunition from the defense industrial base," Ryder said. "Certainly, South Korea maintains a very robust, very capable defense industry, and so (we are) in discussions with the South Korean government in terms of purchasing ammunition to replenish U.S. stocks. But beyond that, I don't have any additional information," he added. (Yonhap) Gardai had to go to the Dacent Munch restaurant at Mayfield shopping centre as a 33-year-old man was so intoxicated he could not get up off the floor. Garda Mary Gallagher arrived at the scene on November 16 2022 and saw Alan McCarthy of Bay 1 Spring Lane halting site, Cork, on the floor of the premises. He was struggling to walk. There was a strong smell of intoxicants from him, Garda Gallagher said. The accused man did not turn up in court. Sergeant Gearoid Davis said the accused had 15 previous convictions for the same offence of being drunk to the extent that he was a danger to himself or others. Judge Olann Kelleher convicted and fined him 200 for the offence at Cork District Court. Mobile apps are convenient and ubiquitous, and theyre becoming a central way that people interact with brands. Just having an app is not enough, however. Because they live on the ecosystem of mobile devices, people expect them to be user-friendly and instantly accessible. If theyre to attract and keep users, apps must deliver a seamless, simple, and intuitive experience. The E-Commerce Times spoke with several experts in the fields of mobile apps and customer experience (CX) to get their take on what makes for a winning app design, and where apps are headed in the future. CX is integral to the future of brands, because it allows businesses to maintain solid relationships with their customers, wherever they are, Leena Iyar, chief brand officer for Moxtra, told the E-Commerce Times. The key thing to consider when it comes to e-commerce apps is that they provide value to the customer as much value as they would receive from any other engagement with your business. When customers have a great experience on the app, they will continue to use that as a dedicated channel to interact with your business. The more convenient an app is for customers, the more loyal a customer will be to your business, she noted. Ultimately, app design isnt just about engaging customers; its about keeping them. Its important to consider CX when designing and implementing e-commerce apps, because the cost of a bad experience will literally translate into lost revenue, and even worse, lost customers, Britt Mills, senior director of customer experience for Mobiquity, explained to the E-Commerce Times. Accessibility, flexibility, and an increased expectation of convenience are becoming increasingly important when it comes to the CX of e-commerce apps, she added. The KISS Principle Apps, perhaps more than any other digital interface, must be simple and easy-to-use in order to engage people. Keep it simple, Arpit Jain, chief client services officer for Nerdery, told the E-Commerce Times. No one wants complex experiences. Make it so frictionless for consumers that they dont have to think too much about navigating through the experience when they are buying something. The simpler an app is, the more transparent it seems, giving users the sense that the app is an extension of their own digital lives. Its important to always start with the human perspective when designing and building an e-commerce app, said Mills. Start first and foremost with identifying what customers want and need out of the app, she suggested, and then design an experience that ensures users are able to accomplish their goals in simple, delightful ways. Personalized offers that use an individuals data and buying trends to customize each shoppers experience are key to loyalty and return visitors. Make It Fun App designers are looking for new and creative ways to make their apps engaging, and one technique is to incorporate gamification into their design. Everybody loves games, Vladimir Lastovsky, CEO of InAppStory, told the E-Commerce Times. Everybody loves prizes. Thats why many B2C companies experiment with gaming mechanics to engage more users during massive promotion. The benefits come when the game play is merged with action-related boosters. For example, the user increases his or her chances to win the prize when making purchases, providing contact details or via social sharing. From our experience the in-app game can onboard more than 30 percent of users, which makes it the one and the only engagement tool for communication with customers. Incorporating content like stories can also help to draw in users and keep their attention within an app. CX is one of the leading ways that brands seek to differentiate themselves today, explained Lastovsky. Because of intense competition today, its not enough for users to have good quality product or service. They need more and better experience while onboarding, surfing, or checking out. Stories bring the CX that is both familiar and native for the majority of customers, he observed. Today users of Instagram spend more time in stories versus feed. The rich visual format of stories allows to engage more, keep user attention and, as a result, communicate in the way needed for business. The format of storytelling is ideal to talk about promo campaigns, product features, lifestyle and entertainment. Put the Data to Work Apps provide companies with a wealth of data about their users, and apps can, in turn, use that data to create a meaningful experience for their users. In a vast, competitive marketplace, brands strive to create a unique human experience and deliver on evolving customer expectations, Sav Khetan, head of product strategy for Tealium, told the E-Commerce Times. Customer data plays a big role in customer experience and customer retention. Data can provide brands with an understanding of what their customers desire, helping them predict behavior such as whether theyre more likely to shop online or in-store, and which deals will attract them the most, he explained. Even as they collect and use this data, however, its important to be transparent with users about the process. Brands need to be transparent about their data collection to uphold a strong customer relationship, advised Khetan. A value-exchange marketing strategy in which customers understand how their data is being used is one of the best ways to do this and enhance the customer experience. By telling customers upfront the story of how and why their data is being used, customers are more likely to share data with the brand. Looking Ahead Apps are constantly evolving, and they must keep up with changing customer demands and expectations. That means understanding those customers and what they want and need. Ensuring that we know who those end users are, and whats important to them, allows us to design better features that make their lives easier and their businesses stronger, Megan Stillerman, vice president of professional services and customer success for Miva, told the E-Commerce Times. This is going to be the driving theme behind some of the trends were seeing, which is a rapid move to cross-channel personalization powered by CDPs [customer data platforms], the blending of B2B and B2C shopping experiences, and the need to empower growth hacking by merchants to raise conversion and AOV [average order value] as they compete with Amazon and other large marketplaces for purchase dollars, she concluded. In the midst of the global Covid-19 pandemic this spring, entrepreneurs Rebecca Cahua and Vivian Qu joined forces, skills, and teams to create and bring to production an innovative new product the O2 Nano Mask, a reuseable nanofiltration mask that combines a high level of filtration with unique breathability and comfort. Together, Cahua and Qu founded a O2 Brands, Inc., and the two used their combined skills and experience in textiles and technology to bring the O2 Nano Mask to Kickstarter in May. The campaign was successful, and the mask is currently in production. Before they joined forces, the two women had been running their own successful companies Cahuas DaD Sewing House and Qus Viaex Technologies. Their experience with these companies inspired and continues to inform their vision for O2 Brands. 02 Nano Mask CreatorsVivian Qu (L) and Rebecca Cahua (R) The E-Commerce Times spoke with Cahua and Qu to hear their story, learn about the impulse behind their new mask, and get a glimpse into their plans for the future. E-Commerce Times: Could you describe your career trajectory? How did you get to where you are today? Cahua: I started in the fashion industry, and when I left college, my first project was providing merchandising to nonprofits. Thats when I got the idea of designing for a difference, and ultimately creating employment in the Bay Area and sustainable domestic manufacturing in San Francisco. Thats been my business for the last three years, working with small brands to large corporations. Vivian met me through my business. She came in right before the shelter-in-place order happened here, and we quickly decided to collaborate, since we were both separately working on a mask project. People were reaching out to me since I had the ability to sew. We both had people reaching out to us to figure out how to make masks. We thought we would partner together and start O2 Brands Inc. to create products together. Qu: My background is in material science engineering. We have been very interested in using biopolymers in new products. Viaex Technologies has been working on biopolymer solutions for anti-microbial applications in water and air. The main thing about working together with Rebecca is that we have good synergy, since she has specific textile experience and is used to sourcing materials from all over the world. On our end, weve been looking for good applications for our materials. Were able to piece that together and do something greater with it, which has cumulated in our initial product. ECT: Where did the idea for O2 Brands, Inc. come from? What inspired you to start this company? Qu: For us it was clear that we could make premium PPE not in the medical sense, but something everyone could use to protect themselves. We thought that if we wanted to do this, instead of doing it in a rushed or oversimplified way, we could do a better job by combining our backgrounds in technology and design to make a better product. The products available today are not all that comfortable, and we thought there needed to be a better product, and thats why we created it. Cahua: We wanted to produce a product that we could be proud of. We couldnt do it alone, but when we worked together, we were able to make a premium product that could really protect and help people during this time. Before Covid-19 happened, we never would have done this. Weve basically launched a company and a brand in a month, which is amazing. We trust each other and believe in what were doing. Our goal is to grow O2 Brands, and thats our newfound passion. Right now, our focus is to see where this path takes us. Its something we both wanted, to get behind a product we really wanted. It was exciting for both of us to find someone to work with. ECT: What is your companys mission? Qu: Our mission is to integrate materials, technology, and the supply chain to create amazing products that focus on sustainability. Because of these unique times, were doing the Good Mask Project, where were donating masks. Thats been part of our DNA, even before we met. Its something that drives us, and were excited to work more on the social responsibility side. ECT: What makes the masks your company is producing unique? Qu: It has to do with our design and technology. A lot of the cloth masks and bandanas we see arent that effective, but if you have a premium filter inside, the material will block much more. The efficiency of our mask is around 80 percent. Our goal was to create a product that has the fit and comfort of a casual mask, with premium filtration material inside. What we want to do for our customers is to maximize their protection. Even though N95 masks are very good, theyre created for professionals, and theyre not very comfortable to wear for the entirety of a day. That prevents people from doing so. We wanted to bring that much higher level of protection to the average user. Cahua: What makes our product unique is the science that went into creating it. In particular, the higher filtration level makes it unique. At a time when you couldnt find filters on the market, for Vivian to have that kind of filter accessible made me jump on this project right away. Anyone can make a cloth mask, but the combination of the two is what takes it to a higher level. We did at least fifty samples of the mask, testing for breathability and fit. We feel like weve achieved one of the highest levels of filtration and comfort that weve seen, and the response has been amazing. Each mask almost looks like its handmade, with the detail it has, and you can be heard and seen while you speak through the mask. We put a lot of thought into the mask, and we worked hard to make sure our mask is a premium mask that we can really be proud of. ECT: Why did you decide to launch the Kickstarter campaign for your masks? Qu: We found that we have a story that is uniquely suited to Kickstarter. The fact that we were still iterating and making this a better product made it especially good for Kickstarter. Kickstarter is very supportive of human-made products that are in a pre-product phase. Weve enjoyed communicating with the community, as well as having the chance to improve the product before we send it out. Cahua: Kickstarter was a great platform that we both understood would be the best way for us to respond at the highest capacity to get masks out to the market as quickly as possible. We understood there was a need for consumers and essential service workers. Our Buy One Give One project, we figured, would be effective using Kickstarter, since we are able to engage the community through that platform. ECT: How would you describe the response to the Kickstarter campaign? Has it been successful? Qu: Its been successful in many ways, but a couple that are especially meaningful. Its meaningful to interact with the community and hear from future users about what their needs are, and weve heard a lot of things from them. It gave us the courage to incorporate that right away, and we continued to improve the product. Cahua: The human-to-human interaction was great, since its not very often that you get that kind of community engagement when youre developing a product at this level. ECT: How do you see your business evolving? Whats in the future? Qu: We have a good vision of where we want the next set of masks to be. Broadly, we want to integrate our own materials into the next major product. What we mean by that is using some sort of recycled biowaste fibrous materials. Thats something were excited to do, and we have a customer base that cares about the same things. We will still be focused on consumer protection and textile products, and we will make premium and user-friendly version of those products and incorporate our sustainable materials into them. Were also looking forward to increasing the convenience of our products for customers. If youre going to wear something anyway, we want to make this experience better. Were not ready to launch those ideas formally, but we know, for instance, that people like bandanas and scarfs, and those are things were interested in. We also found that lot of masks represent something, almost like a piece of real estate. Were interested in helping customers make masks more their own. We also want to have the similar attention to detail before launching our next product, so its even more sustainable and user-friendly, and we hope that by being successful with this product we can reinvest to make a good next product. ECT: In what ways has the coronavirus pandemic changed the world of business and technology? How can innovators and entrepreneurs most effectively respond to these changes and be successful in this new era? Qu: For us, its about being able to dig down on our locally-based supply chain. A locally-based supply chain is better for the environment, because it reduces our carbon footprint. Now because of the fact that Covid-19 hit the entire globe in phases, the global supply chain has been affected. A lot of our focus has been to shed light on the fact that we have a globalized supply chain and not much recourse if something disrupts that supply chain. Thats one thing well focus on. As a small company, we will continue to invest in our locally-based supply chain to ensure that were providing a premium product and will continue to be able to do so. Cahua: For designers or other entrepreneurs, my advice to pivot is to listen to the consumer pay attention to societys needs and be aware of any gaps. The supply chain has been disrupted, so theres someplace your business. Qu: Another major point that Ive thought about is how weve been relying on essential workers during this time. Hopefully in the future, the business community will be more appreciative of these essential workers, acknowledging the fact that it is those people who make everything possible. We want to find ways to support that community in the short term and continue to play a role in helping service workers in the future. 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. Quick Key Facts: PFAS are a group of synthetic chemicals. There are thousands of different types of PFAS, and these chemicals can be found in products we use or interact with every day. Studies on PFAS have found links between higher exposures and impacts on human health. PFAS do not break down in the environment, thus earning the name forever chemicals. Studies suggest PFAS can take 8 to 9 years to leave the human body. PFAS have been found in human blood, soil, air, seafood and drinking water. Scientists are working to find ways to destroy PFAS, but existing options are still a challenge to scale up. Some governments and companies are enforcing bans on PFAS production moving forward. What Are PFAS? You may have heard them by many names: forever chemicals, PFAS, toxins they all fall under the technical terms per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances. Called PFAS for short, these chemicals have earned the nickname forever chemicals because they are long-lasting, taking incredibly long times to break down. In the environment, like in soil or water, PFAS may never fully break down. PFAS are ubiquitous, and humans come into contact with these substances every single day. In fact, PFAS have been found in human organs and blood, as well as in ecosystems and even remote environments. So we know these forever chemicals are all around us, and they tend to live on endlessly, but what does that mean for human and planetary health? Types of PFAS PFOA is found in non-stick cookware. Beyond Images / iStock / Getty Images There are thousands of types of PFAS, but there are a handful of types that are more present in our society and have been studied more extensively. Some of the most commonly studied PFAS include polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS) and perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA). PTFE Many people have heard the horrors of the brand Teflon, which is made of PTFE. Its popular in many applications, from computer wiring to cookware, because it is a good electrical insulator and is non-stick. Virgin-grade PTFE is currently FDA-approved. PTFE may present mild to severe toxicity concerns, but more research is required to determine its impacts on human health. PFOA Like PTFE, PFOA is widely found in non-stick cookware as well as stain-resistant products, food packaging and fire-fighting foam. But there are some serious concerns over this type of PFAS. According to the American Cancer Society, PFOA exposure may increase the risk of liver, testicle, breast and pancreas tumors. PFOS The use of PFOS in commercial products started in the 1940s. This chemical is popular for stain-, grease- and water-resistant products. But exposure to PFOS may be linked to birth defects and increased cancer risks. Even still, it is often one of many PFAS detectable in the human body. PFHxS This chemical is another component of fire-fighting foam, food packaging, paint additives and other commercial and industrial products. Exposure may lead to developmental issues in fetuses as well as liver and thyroid effects. PFNA Sometimes referred to as C9, this chemical is similar to PFOA and is common in non-stick and stain-repellent products. It may present similar risks as other common PFAS, including increased risk of cancer, hormone disruption, developmental issues, liver damage and effects on the immune system. Where Are PFAS Found? PFAS are found all over the world and are ever-present due to their inability to break down. PFAS are in the air, the rain, the soil and more, where they wont break down. Even as some governments and companies work to ban PFAS or phase out PFAS production, these chemicals will remain ubiquitous in the world for years to come. Because PFAS are common in cookware and food packaging, these chemicals may be found in our food and can accumulate in the human body. PFAS have been detected in human blood and even in human breast milk. In 2022, an investigation found PFAS in beef from Michigan, and these forever chemicals may be contaminating cropland in the U.S. PFAS can accumulate in groundwater, so it is frequently found in drinking water. Aside from their use in non-stick cookware and food packaging, PFAS also work in a variety of other applications. Their water-repellent qualities make them popular for outdoor gear, such as rain jackets and umbrellas, carpeting and other clothing. Forever chemicals can also be found in fire-fighting foam, paints, electronics, cleaning products and personal care products, like makeup. How Are Humans Exposed to PFAS? Humans can be exposed to PFAS in various ways, whether they are breathing in dust, cooking food in a non-stick pan or simply drinking tap water in their own home or at a restaurant. PFAS are found in both public drinking water supplies as well as private wells, and they can accumulate in groundwater and soil to contaminate crops and livestock. PFAS may be present in fish that reside in PFAS-contaminated water sources, so humans may be exposed to PFAS by consuming seafood. These chemicals are also found in many manufacturing processes and consumer products, so humans can be exposed to forever chemicals through wearing water- or stain-repellent clothing, using electronic devices, painting a room, or breathing in household dust. Forever chemicals are an active ingredient in fire-fighting foam, but they dont have to be disclosed in the active ingredient list or on safety data sheets. Those who handle this substance, such as firefighters who those in the military, may have higher and prolonged exposure to PFAS. Aside from people in these professions, pregnant people and children are also vulnerable to PFAS exposure. PFAS may increase risk of developmental issues in fetuses and ongoing health problems for pregnant people and children, such as preeclampsia, low birth weights and bone variations. What Are the Risks of PFAS on Human Health? Because there are so many potential sources of PFAS exposure, and these chemicals can build up without breaking down over time, experts are concerned about how they may impact human health. More research is needed to determine the extent of how these chemicals may affect our lives, but some studies already show concerning links between forever chemicals and human health. Reproductive Impacts PFAS may impact hormones and can act as endocrine-disrupting chemicals, according to Endocrine Society. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals can mimic hormones or block hormones, having the potential to cause issues with fertility. Additionally, PFAS may alter menstruation cycles and affect reproductive tissues in the body. A 2021 study found a link between perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA) and PFOS exposure and late-onset preeclampsia in pregnant people. Preeclampsia is a top cause of morbidity and mortality in pregnant people in the U.S. Research from 2021 also noted a possible correlation between PFOA and PFOS exposure and lowered sperm quality and decreased sperm counts in different population studies, although additional PFAS and other factors could impact the results of such studies. Developmental Impacts in Children Fetuses may be exposed to PFAS through the umbilical cord. For infants, PFAS can be present in a parents breast milk or in water used to mix formula. Toddlers and children may come into contact with PFAS through the food they eat or toys they play with. As children are still developing, experts suggest PFAS could have bigger impacts on their bodies compared to adults. A report from the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) found a link between chronic PFAS exposure in children and higher risks of lower birth weights, reduced vaccine response, higher cholesterol and dyslipidemias. Cancer Risks The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has listed PFOA as a possible carcinogen since 2017, but other PFAS may have links to elevated cancer risks. PFOA has been associated with higher risk of kidney cancer, particularly for people exposed to this type of PFAS in industrial settings or in a residential area near chemical plants that may contaminate local drinking water. The National Cancer Institute Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics is also conducting additional studies to determine potential associations between PFAS exposure and testicular cancer, prostate cancer, ovarian cancer, endometrial cancer, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, thyroid cancer and childhood leukemia. Effects on the Immune System While more research is needed on this phenomenon, previous studies have found concerning associations between PFAS exposure and the immune system. In one study, children with higher PFAS exposure had worse antibody responses to vaccines, such as vaccines for tetanus and diphtheria. Another study noted that increased PFAS exposure in fetuses lead to higher risks of children being hospitalized for infectious diseases. Further, one study found PFOA and PFHxS exposure were associated with higher instances of diarrhea or gastric flu for children under 7, while exposure to PFOS, PFOA, PFHxS or perfluoroheptane sulfonic acid (PFHpS) for children 3 and under could be linked to increased rates of bronchitis or pneumonia. COVID-19 Because the human body may experience worse antibody responses to vaccines with elevated PFAS exposure, this may impact response to COVID-19 vaccinations. Not only that, but PFAS exposure could lead to worse cases of COVID-19. A recent study also found that even lower PFAS exposures, particularly for perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA), could lead to higher risk of severe COVID-19 infections. Thyroid Health Because PFAS can act as endocrine disruptors, they may impact thyroid functioning. Some PFAS types may accumulate in thyroid cells and disrupt thyroid hormones. The National Cancer Institute Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics is conducting studies to evaluate PFAS exposure and its links to childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia, thyroid cancer and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. How Forever Chemicals Impact the Environment Firefighter foam remains on the surface after firefighters placed a Class B fire under control at an off-ramp of the Interstate I-95, in Bensalem Township, Pennsylvania, on February 7, 2019. Aqueous film-forming foams used in fighting fires of flammable liquids or flammable gases, oils, solvents, and alcohols can contain sodium alkyl sulfate, fluorotelomers, PFOA, or PFOS. Bastiaan Blabbers / NurPhoto / Getty Images PFAS exposure can have many potential impacts on human health, but their inability to break down also means these chemicals can build up in the environment. They may have impacts on wildlife as they accumulate in water and soil. PFAS have been found in the organs of seabirds and are present in everything from plankton to alligators to whales. Unfortunately, there is still a lot more research to be done to determine not just how PFAS impact human health but how these forever chemicals are affecting plants, fish, soils and other wildlife. Many scientists are already on the case, noting interesting phenomenon such as a lack of breeding in marine life near chemical plants or changes in hormones and lipids in animals with PFAS exposure. How to Clean Up Forever Chemicals Cleaning up all types of pollution on Earth is an ongoing conundrum for humanity. It can be especially tricky to remove PFAS from the environment, and the EPA is still investigating how to do so. But there is promise. A study published in April 2022 found potential for breaking down one class of PFAS into mostly harmless components just by using lye. Activated carbon may also be useful in collecting PFAS from water, since typical wastewater management facilities cannot remove PFAS, although the chemicals still need to be destroyed to actually get rid of them. Some methods of destruction that are being tested include supercritical water oxidation and the use of efficient plasma reactors. The challenge with such methods, though, is that they can be difficult to scale up for industrial, widespread use. Minimizing PFAS Exposure For consumers, its incredibly difficult to avoid PFAS. They are likely in the water you drink, the seafood you eat and even the air you breathe. Education is key to minimizing PFAS exposure. Those concerned can consult their local water utilities and government agencies for more information on PFAS levels in drinking water and waterways where they may source seafood. Consumers can also shop for products that are explicitly labeled as being free from PFAS. Its not just up to individuals to minimize the prevalence of PFAS, though, which is why some companies and governments are working to phase out the production and use of these chemicals. Businesses Several businesses have vowed to phase out PFAS. VF Corporation, which owns major fashion and outdoor gear companies like The North Face, Vans and Timberland, announced in 2021 that it would mostly phase out PFAS from its products by 2025. Home improvement stores, like Lowes and Home Depot, have also committed to stop selling products, particularly carpeting, that contain PFAS. These chemicals are popular for their stain-resistant and water-repelling qualities that can keep carpets clean, but they expose humans to these toxins inside their homes. Most recently, 3M grabbed headlines when it announced it would stop using and manufacturing PFAS by the end of 2025. This decision came just months after the EPA designated two PFAS, PFOA and PFOS, as hazardous substances. Governmental Restrictions In August 2022, the EPA designated PFOA and PFOS as hazardous substances, although the agency did not outright ban the chemicals. The move made much lower health risk thresholds for these two specific types of PFAS found in drinking water. Prior to this designation, Maine was the first U.S. state to ban PFAS in all products by 2030. Other states are following suit, with over 200 PFAS-related bills introduced in 31 states. Lawsuits Aside from restricting PFAS to various degrees, some states and individuals are suing for issues related to PFAS. As Bloomberg reported, over 6,400 PFAS-related lawsuits have been filed since 2005, and that number is only expected to keep growing as more information about PFAS comes out. In 2021, over 1,235 PFAS-related lawsuits were filed. States are suing polluters for millions in compensation for PFAS contamination in the environment, while experts expect to see increases in individuals suing for personal injury claims. Takeaway PFAS are forever at least for now. These chemicals are just about everywhere, and it can be nearly impossible to avoid them. There are ways for consumers to minimize their exposure, whether by seeking out products that are explicitly free of PFAS (like PFOA-free cookware) or following fish consumption guidelines. In the meantime, scientists are working vigilantly to learn more about how PFAS affect human health and the environment. With further research and testing, we can also expect to see existing methods for PFAS removal scale and new methods come to the table to help filter out and ultimately destroy PFAS. Until then, many governments and companies are banning or phasing out PFAS production to limit the amount of these chemicals in our world. 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. The UK government announced Monday that it would cut subsidies to help businesses weather the energy crisis by 85 percent, arguing that the current level of support was unsustainably expensive, as Reuters reported. However, the cuts could threaten sustainability of a different kind. Energy consultancy Cornwall Insight said that asking businesses to pay more for their energy bills could make it harder for them to spend money on greening their practices in line with the UKs goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050. [A]side from the impact on the financial integrity of businesses that will arise from the EBDS [Energy Bill Discount Scheme], the government must also weigh up the constraints on capacity of the UK business sector to invest significantly in the decarbonisation of business and industry, Cornwall Insight CEO Gareth Miller said in a Tuesday response to the news. The government have announced that the Energy Bill Relief Scheme will be replaced by a less supportive Energy Bill Discount Scheme from April 2023. Our CEO Gareth Miller has shared his thoughts on the consequences of the new scheme for business: https://t.co/yAOqGHaBhR Cornwall Insight (@CornwallInsight) January 10, 2023 In the midst of an energy price spike largely instigated by Russias invasion of Ukraine, the UK is currently supporting businesses under a measure known as the Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS). This has capped energy bills at 211 per megawatt (MWh) hour for electricity and 75 per MWh for gas for six months concluding March 31, for a total price tag of 18 billion, the Financial Times explained. However, extending this arrangement into April would have cost the government tens of billions of pounds, the Independent reported. It is not sustainable for the Exchequer to continue to support large numbers of businesses at the current level, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury James Cartlidge told Members of Parliament, as the Independent reported. Instead, the government will replace EBRS with something called the Energy Bill Discount Scheme (EBDS), according to Cornwall Insight. This gives businesses an electricity discount of 19.61 per MWh at wholesale prices of more than 302 per MWh and a gas discount of 6.97 per MWh when prices are more than 107/MWh, according to the Financial Times. All told, the scheme should cost the government 5.5 billion and last through March of 2024, Reuters reported. It will apply to all non-domestic energy users including schools and charities, The Guardian said. Small businesses especially expressed concerns about how the reduced support would impact them. Many small firms will not be able to survive on the pennies provided through the new version of the scheme, Britains Federation of Small Businesses National Chair Martin McTague said, as Reuters reported. While energy costs have fallen to about their level during the same time last year, they are still much higher than at the start of 2021. Even for businesses that dont face an existential threat, the reduction in support could compel them to cut back on decarbonization funding, Miller noted, arguing that reducing emissions from businesses will require massive investments over the next 10 years. Some larger and more financially resilient firms will still be able to continue their plans. But many may now be unable to create borrowing capacity or free cash flow, at least over the coming few years, whilst they face this cocktail of cost challenges, he wrote. Miller suggested that the government could compensate for the lack of energy support by incentivizing decarbonization with taxes, investments and other rewards while altering the structure of energy markets. Record soybean harvest expected in Belize Belize's soybean production is expected to reach record totals as soybean oil and soymeal are now exported from the country, Breaking Belize News reported. After producing a record 38 million pounds of soybeans from over 28,000 acres planted in 2021, Belize expects to produce a record breaking 50 million pounds of soybeans from nearly the same acreage planted in 2022 due to a much better yield per acre, according to the country's Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security, and Enterprise (MAFSE). Having export market outlets is essential at this point because the current soybean crop in Belize is expected to produce an excess of 10 million pounds of soybean. Belize is exporting soymeal in addition to soybean oil. Since exporting soybean oil for the first time to Guyana in 2017, Belize has continued to do so to Jamaica, Guyana, and Costa Rica. Lyell Banman, a salesperson from Bel-Car Export and Import Company Ltd, said their company exported 550 metric tonnes in 2022, or 1,210,000 pounds, in 25 container loads. The export of soybean meal is still in its infancy. This month, Trinidad and Tobago received the first container shipment, which contained about 28 metric tonnes of soybean meal, or 61,500 pounds. Banman asserted that Bel-Car is looking for a second customer in Trinidad and Tobago and has already begun investigating the possibility of exporting soybean meal to Costa Rica. Belize's soybean industry is crucial for ensuring the country's food security, the country's Ministry of Agriculture said. Previously Belize relied on imported soybean concentrates to be used as animal feed. Through MAFSE, the Belizean government has supported soybean production and research for more than 25 years in an effort to correct this imbalance. With a recent upturn, the industry has been cultivating 28,000 acres annually over the last two years, up from 5,000 acres annually over many years when the country had no production in the 1990s. The Belize Ministry of Agriculture said the country won't need to import any soybean concentrates with the current level of production, and with the establishment of a soybean oil processing facility in Spanish Lookout and a soybean extrusion facility in Blue Creek, the nation will begin importing less cooking oil. By 2022, Belize is not anticipated to import any soybean concentrates for animal feed, MAFSE said. The organisation said because of this continuous increase in production, soybean concentrates have been reducing annually from around BZD 25 million (~US$12.4 million; BZD 1 = US$0.50) in the early 2000s. - Breaking Belize News Morocco suspends cattle imports from UK for one year Morocco's Customs and Excise Administration has decided to suspend imports of cattle from the United Kingdom after the discovery of animal diseases. The measure came into force on January 1 and will last for a year. The decision was made by the Moroccan Ministry of Agriculture, taking into consideration the health status of livestock in the UK and Northern Ireland. - Middle East Monitor Health Minister Cho Kyu-hong speaks during a briefing at Government Complex Seoul, Monday, about the ministry's New Year policy plans submitted to President Yoon Suk Yeol earlier in the day. Yonhap By Lee Hyo-jin The Ministry of Health and Welfare and medical groups are at loggerheads over the government's proposal to increase the medical student quota, a plan which the government had previously retracted following fierce protests from doctors in 2020. The thorny issue was brought up again in the ministry's New Year policy briefing to President Yoon Suk Yeol, Monday, promising to speed up discussions with the medical community on its plan to raise the quota to deal with a looming shortage of physicians in Korea. The admissions quota across 40 medical schools in the country has remained unchanged after it was set at 3,058 in 2006, whereas the quota for nursing schools doubled to over 23,000 during the same period. Health authorities view that the fixed quota is largely responsible for the shortage of doctors in Korea. As of 2020, the number of physicians in Korea excluding traditional Korean doctors per 1,000 people came to 2.5, which is lower that the OECD average of 3.6. While the figure stands at 3.1 in Seoul, the figure is much lower in rural regions. There were 1.5 doctors per 1,000 residents in Ulsan Metropolitan City, 1.4 in North Gyeongsang Province and 0.9 in Sejong City. A recent study by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs predicted that, at this pace, the nation will face a shortage of up to 27,232 doctors by 2035. Against this backdrop, the government is seeking to increase the medical student quota, which would also help address an acute shortage of surgeons, obstetricians and pediatricians. Trainee doctors at Catholic University of Korea Seoul St. Mary's Hospital College of Medicine stage a rally to protest the government's plan to increase the medical student quota, Aug. 7, 2020. Korea Times file Sri Lanka to invite investors for setting up oil refinery in Hambantota Xinhua) 11:23, January 11, 2023 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. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) Suzanna Samstag Oh, front row, right, dances to the beat of the changgu at a traditional market in Sacheon-gun, South Gyeongsang Province in this photo taken in 1980. Oh came to Korea in 1980 as a Peace Corps volunteer and worked as a health worker in a clinc in the southeastern rustic county. Courtesy of Suzanna Samstag Oh By Kang Hyun-kyung In 1966 when the nation was desperate to cut the vicious circle of poverty under a state-led campaign to achieve economic growth, Korea saw a unique group of foreign visitors: U.S. Peace Corps volunteers. The first batch of Peace Corps volunteers to Korea, designated as K-1, arrived that year and most of them worked as English teachers. The group also included 24 science and eight physical education teachers, as well. Back then, Korea was a largely rural-based, impoverished country with a gross domestic product per capita of $133. Since then, nearly 2,000 young American college graduates had worked in the nation's rural areas as English teachers, health workers or volunteers in other sectors until returning home after their two-year assignments. The final group, K-51, arrived in Korea in 1980 and the Peace Corps program in Korea ended the next year. During their 15 years of service, Peace Corps volunteers helped and motivated Koreans to overcome the hardships they faced. The U.S. volunteers had a lifelong impact on older Koreans who met them, as they endured adversities together when the country was in dire need of help from the outside world. Kathleen Stephens, a former U.S. ambassador to Korea (2008-2011), is one of the former Peace Corps volunteers. Stephens taught English at a middle school in Yesan, South Chungcheong Province, in the mid-1970s and had a positive impact on her students. , Lee Chul-son, who was one of her students, said that he was motivated him to work harder to learn English and seek a career that could help him give back to society the same way he benefitted from the Peace Corps volunteer. "Stephens was the first Westerner that I, and probably all my classmates, had met in our lives back then. Because of this, everything about her became big news and spread rapidly throughout the entire town back then," he said. Lee joined the military after graduating from the Korea Military Academy and served in several foreign posts. The Peace Corps' presence in Korea during the period when the nation was undergoing a seismic transition, from one of the world's poorest countries to one of its fastest-growing economies, left a lasting impact both on the nation and on the personal lives of the American volunteers. Back in the 1960s and 1970s, Westerners were rarely seen in Korea's rural areas. So, locals' interactions with the young Americans in schools or clinics and their direct exposure to Western ways of life through the volunteers were full of wonder. Ma Sang-yoon, a professor of political science at the Catholic University of Korea, said the American volunteers played a key role in improving their country's image among Koreans as a powerful country that is also willing to give a helping hand to others in need. "Back in those days, few Koreans traveled outside of their country, so people here really didn't know much about the West. Through the Peace Corps volunteers, Koreans were able to get experience with people from the West, and their humanitarian work helped the locals build a positive image of the sending country," he told The Korea Times. "The volunteer corps also served as a vehicle through which young American college students or graduates came to Korea and learned about the nation, and later on they played the role of a bridge between the two very different cultures." Peace Corps volunteers enjoy a bit of relaxation during their training in Chuncheon in 1980. Courtesy of Suzanna Samstag Oh For their part, the Peace Corps volunteers' brief stints in rural Korea were much more than the U.S. government's development assistance to Asia or their own exposure to an East Asian nation that is very different from their home country. Their two-year assignments in Korea became the experiences of their lifetimes shaping their careers. Former U.S. Ambassador Stephens and Bruce Cumings, a history professor at the University of Chicago, are two prime examples showing the impact of their Peace Corps experiences on their careers. These Americans' ties with Korea expanded further as they shared their experiences with their friends and neighbors after returning to the U.S. For some Peace Corps volunteers who returned home, their lives couldn't be separated from Korea. They chose Korea as the academic focus of their graduate programs, leading to the creation of new areas of study. Several U.S. universities have . Trinity University history professor Donald Clark, Harvard University history professor Carter Eckert and Harvard professor of Korean literature David McCann are some of the seminal figures in Korean Studies who had worked in Korea as Peace Corps volunteers at different times. Many other Peace Corps volunteers who returned to the U.S. took on the role of "self-appointed civilian ambassadors" and promoted Korea and Korean culture in their home country. "The majority of former volunteers shared their experiences in Korea on a personal level with average Americans," Suzanna Samstag Oh said. "This changed the image of Korea from that of a poor, war-torn country to that of a country with unlimited potential." Oh, a senior adviser to the chairman of Daesung Group, was one of the last Peace Corps members to arrive in Korea on July 31, 1980. She joined the K-51 group of volunteers after graduating from Georgetown University and worked as a tuberculosis (TB) control worker at a rural health clinic in the southeastern county of Sacheon until mid-1981 when the Peace Corps formally ended its mission in Korea. Then U.S. Ambassador to Korea Kathleen Stephens, front, smiles during an event in Seoul in this 2008 file photo. Stephens severed as a Peace Corps volunteer in Korea before her diplomatic career. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul Her life as a Peace Corps volunteer was full of culture shock. "At that time, I had a room in a hanok with a traditional toilet. Instead of toilet paper, we used the pages from old schoolbooks," Oh said. "There was no washing machine, so I had to do my laundry by hand. There were no phones or TVs in my hanok, so if I wanted to make a phone call, I had to go to the local post office." After her service, Oh chose to remain in Korea as she was fascinated by traditional Korean culture. Like her, some other Peace Corps volunteers have stayed in Korea after their assignment ended. They also played a role in helping the world learn about Korea and its culture. "The volunteers who stayed here worked as expert translators or advocates for introducing less familiar aspects of Korean culture to Americans. The Peace Corps' main successes were on these grassroots levels, I believe," she said. During their 15 years of service in Korea, the Peace Corps contributed to the improvement of English education here. David Lassiter, who was part of the K-1 group and taught English in middle and high school in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province, recalled that English education in Korea had been focused largely on grammar and reading classes, which made it difficult for them to use the language in real conversation. "It did not take long for me to recognize that students were not remembering the conversational phrases, sentences and interactions they had been taught the previous week. It seemed evident that this approach wasn't working and was a waste of effort," he was quoted as saying in an article titled "Peace Corps Korea: A Story of Personal, Professional and National Transformation" written by Gerard A. Krzic. Peace Corps volunteer Daniel Holt, who was part of the K-12 group, was involved in the creation of the textbook series "Middle School English," which was used in all Korean public schools. Initially, health volunteers worked in rural clinics to treat respiratory illnesses, TB and other communicable diseases. Later on, they began to focus on TB control and health education. "At that time, TB was a rather common disease. We had to make sure that the patients took their medicine and shots as required so that they could be completely cured," Oh recalled. "Since there was no internet, we did public health presentations on the local market days when many people gathered." The Peace Corps volunteers have become a key part of Korea-U.S. relations and their indispensable role in bilateral ties is revisited as this year marks the 70th anniversary of the Korea-U.S. alliance. Trade Minister Ahn Duk-geun speaks during a meeting at the government complex in Seoul, Jan. 11. Yonhap Korea will push to clinch free trade agreements (FTAs) with more than 10 nations and a trade promotion framework with over 20 nations this year in an effort to boost growth momentum and diversify its trade portfolio, the trade ministry said Wednesday. During a trade advisory committee meeting, Trade Minister Ahn Duk-geun announced the government's plan to push for signing FTAs with at least 10 nations this year with a greater focus on strengthening cooperation in supply chains and other new trade issues, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The government will also seek to sign a Trade and Investment Promotion Framework, or TIPF, with more than 20 nations in 2023, in case signing a bilateral FTA is not allowed and a fresh momentum for strategic cooperation is needed, it added. "We will seek a deal in the form of an Economic Partnership Agreement, rather than seeking traditional FTAs, to establish a mutually beneficial trade network with partner nations beyond a simple market opening," a ministry official said. As a major plan in the trade field for this year, the government also vowed to actively take part in ongoing negotiations for the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework to draw tangible results and to wrap up talks for joining the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA) in the first quarter of this year. The DEPA, which came into effect in January last year, is an agreement signed by Singapore, New Zealand and Chile on digital trade issues, such as digital identities, cross-border data flows and artificial intelligence. It is the world's first multilateral digital pact. "Korea will enhance our trade coalition across the globe to diversify the exports market and supply chains amid multiple economic challenges. We will also create favorable business circumstances to attract more foreign investment and become a global industry hub through deregulation and more incentives," the ministry said in a release. (Yonhap) Microsoft reportedly axes dual-screen Surface Duo 3 in favor of a 'true' foldable You may also see more conventional Surface smartphones. Microsoft's dual-screen Android phones have been less than successful, to put it mildly, and there are now hints the company is shaking up its mobile strategy. Windows Central sources claim Microsoft has cancelled a twin-screen Surface Duo 3, which was reportedly slated for release late this year, and will instead focus on a "true" foldable phone. The new device's specs and name aren't known, but it would have a 180-degree hinge with an outside cover display akin to the Vivo X Fold. The cancelled Surface Duo 3 was "finalized," according to the sources. It would have supposedly addressed some of its predecessor's shortcomings with narrower edge-to-edge screens and wireless charging. Microsoft isn't said to have settled on a release window for the foldable, suggesting that the product is unlikely to arrive in 2023. The purported insiders also say Microsoft is planning to expand its Android phone offerings. It's apparently "exploring" other form factors, including prototypes of more conventional smartphones. A software initiative, "Perfect Together," would also provide tighter integration between Surface phones and Windows, much like the iPhone's close ties to the Mac. We've asked Microsoft for comment and will let you know if we hear back. The Surface Duo series has struggled in the market between its high prices (up to $1,500), unreliable software and performance that frequently trails the latest Android flagships. While the dual-screen design has offered some clever multitasking features, it's been a tough sell when rivals like Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold line have generally been more powerful and trustworthy. Subscribe to the Engadget Deals Newsletter Great deals on consumer electronics delivered straight to your inbox, curated by Engadgets editorial team. See latest Subscribe Please enter a valid email address Please select a newsletter By subscribing, you are agreeing to Engadget's Terms and Privacy Policy. A foldable Surface phone would put Microsoft into more direct competition with brands like Samsung and Vivo. There's no guarantee it will stand out in a growing field. If the rumored pivot is real, however, it also indicates that Microsoft is still committed to Android devices it's not giving up just because its first forays failed to gain traction. It will stream the 2023 ceremony on the Netflix YouTube channel and next year's on its own platform. Netflix inches further into livestreaming as it snags the SAG Awards It will stream the 2023 ceremony on the Netflix YouTube channel and next year's on its own platform. Netflix is slowly starting to make more waves in the world of livestreaming, as the company has snagged the rights to broadcast the Screen Actors Guild Awards. This years ceremony will take place on February 26th and stream on Netflixs YouTube channel. Starting next year, Netflix will livestream the SAG Awards globally on its own platform as part of a multi-year deal. Until last year, the ceremony aired on TBS and TNT. The SAG Awards are beloved by the creative community and viewers alike, and now even more fans around the world will be able to celebrate these talented actors, Bela Bajaria, Netflixs head of global TV, told Variety in a statement. As we begin to explore live streaming on Netflix, we look forward to partnering with SAG-AFTRA to elevate and expand this special ceremony as a global live event in 2024 and the years to come. The Screen Actors Guild Awards are coming to Netflix! Starting in 2024, The SAG Awards will stream live on Netflix globally and you can catch this years ceremony, live Feb. 26 on Netflixs YouTube channel. pic.twitter.com/5WvhgKSIjW Netflix (@netflix) January 11, 2023 The SAG Awards are a key precursor for the Oscars. They offer a glimpse into how Academy Awards voters are leaning, particularly for the acting categories. TV performances are honored at the event too. The Netflix announcement comes on the same day that this years SAG Awards nominees were revealed. Netflix has only just started dipping its toes into livestreaming as it pursues more ways to engage subscribers and bring in new ones. In November, the company announced its first livestream event for its own platform. It will broadcast a Chris Rock standup special on March 4th. Kano Computing is back with another oddball puck device with a creative but somewhat hazy premise. The Stem Projector is a spin-off of the Stem Player, the audio remixing gadget launched in 2021 in collaboration with the artist formerly known as Kanye West. With its new product, the company ditches the problematic Ye collaboration and shifts its focus from music to video. Practically speaking, the new product is a battery-powered projector for movies or art. The Stem Projector lets you watch regular videos, remix preloaded clips and create visual landscapes. It looks similar to (but is slightly larger than) the Stem Player, as this model is also a fleshy puck with swirling lights and buttons. It has a mini-HDMI port to plug in other devices, and it supports AirPlay and Chromecast. However, it only has a reported maximum brightness of 300 lumens or 150 ANSI lumens, making it a hard sell as a standard projector. Kano Computing But the Stem Projector also builds on the companys creative focus, encouraging you to play and remix. For example, you can slide your finger along its haptic, touch-sensitive ring array to channel surf in the machine-learning-powered Galaxy View, a dreamlike collection of preloaded and live content. Additional controls let you change the size and shape of the images and trigger similar thematic content. In addition, Kano says it allows you to rotoscope characters and apply filters like splicing together clips with related color themes. If that description still leaves you confused, this marketing video from Kanos Twitter account may help: Subscribe to the Engadget Deals Newsletter Great deals on consumer electronics delivered straight to your inbox, curated by Engadgets editorial team. See latest Subscribe Please enter a valid email address Please select a newsletter By subscribing, you are agreeing to Engadget's Terms and Privacy Policy. The WiFi-enabled projector has 256GB of internal storage, and you can add more by inserting a microSD card. In addition, the device includes a built-in kickstand, allowing you to prop it up at various angles. (You can project video onto higher walls or a ceiling by placing the device upright in its opened carrying case.) The company says its battery can last four to five hours of continuous use. It sounds like a gadget you would need to play with to fully understand and determine whether its worth its steep asking price. However, without access to that, were left with a somewhat intriguing marketing tease that suggests a what but hasnt yet offered a compelling why. Kano is taking pre-orders now for the Stem Projector. The first 1,000 devices, available in a limited-edition sediment color, will cost $1,000 and begin shipping in the spring. After that, the company says its price will drop to $600 at an unannounced date. The Guardian has confirmed that it was the victim of a ransomware attack, and that the damage is more serious than first thought. In an update to staff, Guardian group chief Anna Bateson and newspaper editor-in-chief Katharine Viner said the December attack was "highly sophisticated" and accessed the personal data of UK employees. There was no evidence of the data being exposed online, or that the intruders had breached data for readers or non-UK editions. Bateson and Viner understood that this was a "criminal" ransomware campaign, and that the perpetrators hadn't targeted The Guardian as a media outlet. The paper has alerted both police as well as the UK's Information Commissioner's Office. The leaders didn't identify the suspected culprits. The fallout from the cyberattack has worsened. While The Guardian now expects some vital systems to return within two weeks, workers now won't return to the office until early February. That will give the IT team more time to restore infrastructure, the outlet said. Staff have largely been working from home since the attack was spotted on December 20th, but were originally told only to stay away from the office for the remainder of that week. The company has continued to run its online and print publications in the weeks since. Even so, the confirmation still makes this one of the more serious online security incidents for the press in recent memory. Fast Company was knocked offline for eight days early last fall, while The New York Post fell prey to a rogue employee weeks later. The Guardian is still dealing with the consequences of the ransomware over three weeks later, and won't return to normality for a while yet. Xbox test feature shuts down your console during scheduled hours to save energy The test update can even schedule downloads to use more renewable electricity. The sleep mode on modern consoles lets them wake up quickly, but it also consumes a significant amount of energy as the system never really shuts off. Microsoft thinks it can offer a compromise, however. It's releasing an Insider test that gives Xbox Series X, Series S and One owners an "active hours" sleep option. Choose that and your console will shut down at times when you aren't likely to use it, cutting your energy use. You can manually schedule the hours if you know when you play, but an automatic option is available if you want the console to adapt to your habits. The feature will be automatically enabled and scheduled on Xbox Series X/S systems. The Xbox One will default to always active, and you'll have to configure the hours yourself. The company is also introducing a "shutdown (energy saving)" option that reportedly uses up to 20 times less power than sleep while still allowing overnight updates to your Xbox and its games. If you don't mind the longer startup times and the absence of remote wake, you can reduce your energy footprint and potentially shrink your bills. The update will be automatic for Xbox Series X/S users in the Insider program, and it should be available as early as today for One models. The Xbox is also borrowing "carbon aware" downloads from Windows 11. If carbon intensity data is available in your region, the machine will schedule OS and game updates for those times when it's most likely to rely on local renewable energy, rather than simply grabbing files in the early morning. Insiders will have this perk right away if the Xbox Series X/S is configured for automatic updates, while the One will have multiple test options to help with feedback. Subscribe to the Engadget Deals Newsletter Great deals on consumer electronics delivered straight to your inbox, curated by Engadgets editorial team. See latest Subscribe Please enter a valid email address Please select a newsletter By subscribing, you are agreeing to Engadget's Terms and Privacy Policy. It's unclear how much energy these features might save in the real world. Microsoft estimates that two Xbox consoles using the eco-friendly shutdown feature will save carbon equivalent to that a tree removes in a decade, but that also assumes your device is powered down for 20 hours per day. Carbon aware downloads only matter if renewables have a significant presence in your area, we'd add. Combined with Apple's Clean Energy Charging, though, it's evident tech brands now see software as a way to advance their environmental goals. Passengers arriving from China pass by a COVID-19 testing center at the Incheon International Airport In Incheon, Korea, Tuesday, Jan. 10. AP-Yonhap China has suspended its transit visa exemption for Korean and Japanese citizens, according to its immigration office Wednesday, in yet another retaliatory step against the countries' entry restrictions on arrivals from China aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19. It said Beijing has introduced the measure in response to the neighbors' "discriminatory" entry regulations against China. Wednesday, January 11, 2023 Join the Albuquerque Death Cafe online! Its an opportunity to talk about whats on your mind about mortality issues. We have people from across the U.S. and around the world joining in the conversation on Zoom. The next session will be held on Sunday, February 12 at 3:00 p.m. Mountain Standard Time. Prepare to settle in with your own cup of tea or coffee, and a nourishing snack. Well have an interesting, unstructured conversation thats open and free-flowing with no specific agenda. Its always different every time. To keep this meeting secure, this meeting link will only be provided to those who RSVP through Meetup. So click here to please let us know if youll attend! If youd like to make a donation, use this PayPal link: https://bit.ly/GRDonation. About The Death Cafe The Death Cafe concept was started in the United Kingdom by Jon Underwood. He was influenced by the ideas of Swiss sociologist Bernard Crettaz, who started holding Cafe Mortel events in France and Switzerland. At these events, people come together in a relaxed, confidential and safe setting to discuss death, drink tea (or your favorite beverage) and eat delicious cake or cookies. Bernard Crettaz recently died on November 28, 2022. Sadly, Jon Underwood, founder of the Death Cafe movement, died suddenly in June 2017 at the age of 44 from a brain hemorrhage caused by undiagnosed acute promyelocytic leukemia, a cancer of the white blood cells. The news was reported by his family on the Death Cafe website. News obituaries appeared in The Washington Post and The New York Times. The Death Cafe Movement Grows Jons mother Sue Barsky Reid and Jons sister Jools Barsky continue Jons Death Cafe work, as he requested. To date, the Death Cafe movement has grown to more than 15,160 events in 82 countries worldwide (as of December, 2022). For information on how to hold a Death Cafe in your community, review the information at www.DeathCafe.com. Albuquerque was the site of the second Death Cafe held in the United States. Gail Rubin hosted this pioneering event in September of 2012. Lizzy Miles held the first Death Cafe outside the U.K. in Columbus, Ohio in August of 2012. Read more about Death Cafes here. Your Death Cafe Host Gail Rubin, Certified Thanatologist and The Doyenne of Death, is a pioneering death educator. She works with organizations to connect them with baby boomers concerned about end-of-life issues. A featured speaker at TEDxABQ in 2015, shes the author of three books on end-of-life issues, including A Good Goodbye: Funeral Planning for Those Who Dont Plan to Die and KICKING THE BUCKET LIST: 100 Downsizing and Organizing Things to Do Before You Die. In a previous lifetime, she was a public relations professional and an event planner. Gail Rubin was one of the first people in the United States to hold a Death Cafe. She was recognized with the 2019 Women of Influence award by Albuquerque Business First. Find out why. Subscribe to her weekly podcast, The Doyenne of Death. Related Qatar Airways has said it is looking to strengthen its Belgrade operations in the coming period after forging closer ties with Air Serbia through a wide-ranging codeshare agreement, which is yet to be officially unveiled. Speaking to EX-YU Aviation News, the Qatari carrier said, Belgrade is an important route for Qatar Airways, and the partnership with Air Serbia will definitely expand and improve our presence in the market in the near future and hopefully lead to more capacity. At this point we are still considering whether we will increase frequencies to Belgrade. The company currently operates five weekly flights between Doha and the Serbian capital with the Airbus A320 aircraft, increasing to daily from March 26. Last week, Qatar Airways slightly shifted its arrival and departure times in Belgrade for the coming summer to enable better feed onto Air Serbias operations. Qatar Airways has said it is looking to strengthen its Belgrade operations in the coming period after forging closer ties with Air Serbia through a wide-ranging codeshare agreement, which is yet to be officially unveiled. Speaking to EX-YU Aviation News, the Qatari carrier said, Belgrade is an important route for Qatar Airways, and the partnership with Air Serbia will definitely expand and improve our presence in the market in the near future and hopefully lead to more capacity. At this point we are still considering whether we will increase frequencies to Belgrade. The company currently operates five weekly flights between Doha and the Serbian capital with the Airbus A320 aircraft, increasing to daily from March 26. Last week, Qatar Airways slightly shifted its arrival and departure times in Belgrade for the coming summer to enable better feed onto Air Serbias operations. The codeshare agreement is significant primarily because it publicly illustrates a major shift in Air Serbias relations with Qatari rival Etihad Airways, which, up until 2019, codeshared on most of Air Serbias flights. Although the agreement between the Serbian and Qatari carrier is yet to be revealed, Qatar Airways will place its codes onto Air Serbias services from Belgrade to Nis, Podgorica, Tivat, Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Ljubljana, Dusseldorf, Stuttgart, Hanover, Nuremberg, Salzburg, Bologna, Venice and St Petersburg. More routes are to follow. On the other hand, Air Serbia will also be placing its codes on its counterparts services between Belgrade and Doha, as well as numerous points beyond the Qatari capital. The deal comes ahead of the unveiling of Air Serbias codeshare partner in the United States. Qatar Airways launched its service between Doha and Belgrade in late 2012 and despite strong competition from other Gulf rivals vying mainly for transfer passengers, it saw the fastest passenger growth on the Serbian market up until the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. Since Covid, it has benefited from Etihad Airways departure from Belgrade. The airlines passenger growth in Serbia (57.082 travellers in 2017, 81.397 in 2018 and 97.815 customers in 2019) has followed the evolution of its service over the years. Qatar Airways initially launched four weekly flights from Doha to Belgrade with a stop in Ankara. However, the airline was not issued fifth freedom rights to sell tickets between the Turkish and Serbian capitals. In 2015, the Qatari carrier moved its stopover to Sofia and boosted services to daily flights. Despite applying for fifth freedom traffic rights between Sofia and Belgrade, it was again denied permission by Serbian authorities to sell tickets between the two cities. In 2016, flights were brought back to four weekly but became nonstop with the A320. Eventually, the airline increased frequencies to daily and began utilising its larger 182-seat A321 aircraft. In 2019, the carrier introduced an additional three weekly flights, for a total of ten (seven flights with A321 and three with A320), during the peak summer months. The coronavirus brought the carriers growth to a halt. Flights were suspended in March 2020 but resumed in July, with the A321 no longer used as the airline has only one left in its fleet with its imminent retirement expected. Key to the airlines growth strategy in Belgrade has been offering competitive transfer fares via Doha, as well as good cooperation with local tour operators for far-away markets. The airline has become the number one carrier with ethnic Serbian transfer passengers from Australia who visit friends and family back home. It pulled ahead of Etihad Airways in 2019 when the Emirati carrier significantly reduced its presence on the Australian market, downgraded its overall product and altered its departure times to Belgrade, eventually exiting the Serbian market in September 2020. Republican lawmakers as well as business, real estate and agriculture interests are upset with President Joe Bidens attempt to revive an Obama administration plan to extend federal water regulations to smaller streams, creeks and other bodies of water. Bidens waters fo the United States (WOTUS) rule resuscitates an Obama-era rule nixed by the Trump administration which sought to narrow the scope of Clean Water rules and regulations by extending federal oversight to smaller bodies of waters including some seasonal creeks and washes. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Army Corps Engineers announced the new WOTUS rule Dec. 30. The new rule could bring impact real estate developers, home builders, farmers, manufacturers and industrial operations impact smaller bodies of water. The Biden effort has support from environmental and conservation groups but faces resistance from GOP lawmakers as well as business, real estate and farming interests. This is a step in the wrong direction from the Biden administration and it infringes on the rights of Montana farmers, ranchers and landowners, said U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Montana. This overreaching rule threatens Montana ag and natural resources and is unacceptable. I will continue to vigorously fight to protect Montanans from out-of-touch rules handed down from D.C. bureaucrats. Daines worries the Biden efforts brings back former President Barack Obamas efforts to extend the 1970 Clean Water Act to smaller bodies of water include that could hamstring businesses and impact private property rights. Other Republicans representing rural districts are also skeptical. Rural America doesnt need yet another rule giving the federal government more power over farming and private property. The federal government shouldnt have jurisdiction to regulate puddles, ditches, seasonal creeks or culverts. All this rule does it make it more difficult to grow food or build anything, said U.S. Rep. LaMalfa, a Republican representing far northern California near the Oregon border. That seems to be the whole point to make every-day Americans ask permission from their government for basic tasks like cleaning a ditch, repairing a road, or building something on your own property. I will be leading an effort to stop yet another ridiculous rule. LaMalfa worries the new rule could penalize and harass farmers over plowing their fields and crop rotations. The California lawmaker noted Obamas WOTUS rule faced court challenges. There will also be legal challenges to the new Biden rule and the Supreme Court could look at other cases related to federal authority over waterways as well as clean water protocols. The National Association of Home Builders, American Farm Bureau Federation, U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business interests have also voiced concerns and in some instances opposition to expanded clean water regulations. The Biden administration and environmental groups say the new rule is needed to better protect waterways large and small and to safeguard water quality from pollution and hazardous runoffs. When Congress passed the Clean Water Act 50 years ago, it recognized that protecting our waters is essential to ensuring healthy communities and a thriving economy, said EPA Administrator Michael Regan. Following extensive stakeholder engagement, and building on what weve learned from previous rules, EPA is working to deliver a durable definition of WOTUS that safeguards our nations waters, strengthens economic opportunity, and protects peoples health while providing greater certainty for farmers, ranchers, and landowners. Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Michael L. Connor said the WOTUS effort will provide clarity on federal water rules. Environmental groups support the expansion arguing it will help insure water quality and protections. This rule tracks the familiar framework that the agencies have applied for decades to protect our Nations waters, said Stuart Gillespie, senior attorney with San Francisco-based Earthjustice. The agencies grounded their approach in the scientific record, which underscores that many waters are connected and thus must be protected to safeguard downstream communities and the environment. The rule also resoundingly rejects the Trump-era approach, which unlawfully and unscientifically rolled back Clean Water Act longstanding protections. The Sierra Club and other progressive groups argue its poor communities who often the brunt of water pollution and poor water quality caused by industrial and other runoffs. For years, big polluters like the oil and gas industry and their pro-polluter conspirators in Congress have been trying to chip away and gut our bedrock environmental and public health protections in the name of profit for the wealthy few. They are creating water pollution and water crises in their wake, of which low-income communities and communities of color bear the biggest brunt, said Beth Roach, clean water director for the Sierra Club. British Wool has re-launched its exclusive training offer for young farmers, in collaboration with the National Federation of Young Farmers Clubs. As in previous years, the cooperative is offering farmers an opportunity to attend a beginner shearing course, enabling them to work towards a Blue Seal award. British Wool's course will be over two days, covering all the aspects of achieving a successful shearing season. This includes health and safety, the use of shearing equipment and hands-on shearing practice to develop technique. The offer is open to YFC members who have not previously attended a British Wool shearing course. Richard Schofield, shearing manager at British Wool, said: We are once again delighted to be working with NFYFC in supporting the training and development of the next generation of shearers. "Id encourage any interested YFC member to contact the NFYFC before the 31 March closing date. Lori-Jo Sharp from Cartmel YFC added: Having done the machine shearing course with British Wool, I found it was very well organised and set up. "Roger our instructor explained and showed the steps very clearly, we had two days of training and practicing. I went on to achieve my Bronze Seal award. "Overall, I was very pleased and happy with how the course was run. Highly recommend. To register interest, farmers should email Margaret Bennett at margaret.bennett@nfyfc.org.uk. Farming's position as a critical industry has been 'undermined' by the government in its review of the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, NFU Scotland warns. The union says it is 'deeply concerned' that farming businesses will be classified as non-high energy businesses following the scheme's review. The scheme was announced in September 2022 following a spike in energy prices, providing a lifeline for many firms that risked going bust without the support. Following a review, the relief for electricity for non-high energy businesses will be 19.61 per MWh with a price threshold of 302 per MWh, with gas relief 6.97 per MWh with a price threshold of 107 per MWh. For high energy businesses, likely to include those who manufacture and process food, they have been offered support for electricity that amounts to 89 per megawatt hour (MWh) with a price threshold of 185 per MWh. For gas, the relief for these businesses is 40 per MWh, with a price threshold of 99 per MWh. The government's website indicates that it will publish further information on the relief scheme by the end of March 2023. This will include guidance for firms that believe their operations are not correctly classified by Standard Industry Classification (SIC) code. NFU Scotland says it will continue to press for farm businesses to be eligible for the higher rate of relief, as failure would "condemn consumers to a further escalation in food prices". Farms, particularly those reliant on electricity to rear livestock and store fresh produce safely, will "struggle to absorb the huge hikes in energy that they face in the year ahead". The unions intentions survey, which closed this week, is likely to illustrate the significant changes already taking place within farming businesses in response to unprecedented input prices and flat-lining output prices. NFU Scotland's President, Martin Kennedy said having farmers potentially missing out on the highest level of support would undermine the UK's ability to produce food. Support at processing and manufacturing level for electricity costs is most welcome but unless you back that up with the same level of support at farm level, then providing the raw materials for our processing and manufacturing sectors will further decline. The case for including farming at the highest level is robust. Last year, NFU Scotland submitted a response to the UK government review on business energy support. "As we demonstrated throughout the pandemic, agriculture, and the commitment to keep food and drink on the table, was clearly a key part of the Critical National Infrastructure (CNI). "The UK government must choose to fully recognise that." A survey which helps Scottish farms to save money while also benchmarking their carbon footprint and nitrate use is now open. Farms completing in the Scottish Farm Business Survey, which is undertaken SAC Consulting, will be given a full carbon footprint measurement. The SFBS has been running since the 1930s and is widely recognised as the most authoritative annual financial analysis of farmers in Scotland. As a key data source for important national statistics that inform Scottish government policy making, the survey is seen as having value for Scottish agriculture. Farmers taking part which is voluntary and confidential will strengthen the existing pool of some 450 farms. Part of Scotlands Rural College (SRUC), SAC Consulting now gives participating businesses a full carbon footprint measurement using Agrecalc, the award-winning farm carbon calculator. Sascha Grierson, principal consultant at SAC Consulting, said businesses all over Scotland were turning their attention to their sustainability credentials. "This is complex, and in the survey, we now measure whole farm carbon footprints and nitrate use efficiency to look at alongside the farming economics," she said. Its proven that businesses which benchmark improve their performance. It doesnt have to be complicated; you can pick some simple measures from the economics, the productivity information you get or the greenhouse gas emissions that matter to your business to get started. "With ongoing volatility in input costs, looking at your finances in more detail over time can give you an objective viewpoint to support your decision making. In return for taking part, each business receives a copy of the Farm Business Report and an Agrecalc carbon footprint calculation, useful for grant applications. Those taking part will also receive an Individual Performance Benchmark report, which allows farmers to compare their figures to similar businesses. Three cases of highly pathogenic bird flu have been confirmed across England this week, as the country's largest ever outbreak continues. Avian influenza was discovered in commercial poultry on Monday (9 January) at a farm near Langwathby, Cumbria. All poultry will be humanely culled. The disease was also confirmed in captive birds and commercial poultry on Tuesday (10 January), in Leominster, Herefordshire and Taverham, Norfolk respectively. All birds on both premises will be culled, the government said in an update on the disease situation. For all three cases, a 3km protection zone and a 10km surveillance zone have been put in place. The UK has been seeing the largest and worst ever outbreak of bird flu on record, leading to millions of birds being culled. There have been 275 case of the disease in England alone since the outbreak began in October 2021. All poultry and captive birds in England, Wales and Northern Ireland must now be housed indoors to prevent the spread of bird flu as mandatory measures were rolled out earlier this month. Dr Christine Middlemiss, the UKs chief vet officer, said: "We are seeing a growing number of bird flu cases on commercial farms and in backyard birds across the country driven by high levels of disease within wild birds. "Unfortunately we expect the number of cases to continue to rise over the coming months as migratory birds return to the UK, bringing with them further risk of disease." It comes as the NFU is currently supporting a group of members who have filed a legal challenge against APHA in a case about compensation. The union said it had decided to join the case as an interested party in support of the members and the wider poultry sector. The members bringing this case argue that APHA had misinterpreted the legislation on compensation paid to farmers. Responding to the case, NFU poultry board chair, James Mottershead said the financial implications of the avian influenza outbreak were 'huge'. "The emotional strain on affected farmers, their families and staff members is devastating, with many now forced to re-consider their future," he added. "This is the worst outbreak of the disease in the UK to date, with no end in sight. We need this matter resolved as soon as possible. Unification Minister Kwon Young-se delivers an opening speech at an international dialogue on North Korean human rights at a Seoul hotel in this Dec. 14, 2022 file photo. Yonhap Seoul's Unification Minister Kwon Young-se plans to attend the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos while accompanying President Yoon Suk Yeol on his visit to Switzerland later this month, according to an official Wednesday. Kwon will be the first Seoul unification minister in 18 years to attend the annual WEF event during Yoon's visit to Switzerland from Jan. 18-19 following the attendance of former minister Chung Dong-young in 2005. Seoul officials are reportedly in talks with the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) and other nongovernmental organizations to arrange meetings for Kwon at the event. He is expected to ask for international support on the Yoon administration's "audacious" initiative to help North Korea improve its economy in return for denuclearization steps. According to the presidential office, Yoon plans to pay a state visit to the United Arab Emirates at the invitation of President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan from Saturday to Tuesday. He will then travel to Davos to promote Korean businesses and the country's bid to host the 2030 World Expo. (Yonhap) Bangladesh commerce minister Tipu Munshi recently said the government is focusing on signing preferential trade agreements (PTAs) and free trade agreements (FTAs) with potential partners keeping in view the countrys graduation from the least developed country (LDC) status in 2026. But negotiation skills need to be enhanced to garner international support even after the graduation, he said. The government has been relentlessly working to sustain a business-friendly environment, ensuring required policy reforms and infrastructural development in the country, he told the newly elected board of directors of the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) during a meeting. The board members, led by president Mohammad Sameer Sattar, called on him at his secretariat office in Dhaka. Bangladesh commerce minister Tipu Munshi has said the government is focusing on signing preferential trade agreements and free trade agreements with potential partners keeping in view the country's graduation from the least developed country status in 2026. But better negotiation skills are needed to garner global support even after the graduation, he said. Sattar said Bangladesh would lose preferential market access and face 8-16 per cent export tariff as a developing country after the graduation, a news agency reported. To overcome export losses, he urged for formulating a transition strategy with the participation of private sector to address the issues of post-LDC era. He emphasised new market development in the Southeast Asia and Africa region on a priority basis along with product diversification. He also suggested setting up a separate commercial court to ensure quick disposal of commercial disputes along with necessary reforms to the Arbitration Act 2001. Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS) SHENZHEN, China, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Various activities were held to celebrate the Venture Capital Day of Shenzhen in Futian District, Shenzhen, south China'sGuangdong Province, on Jan. 8, 2023. Focusing on building an innovation center for industrial investment and a top-notch international wealth management center in the Xiangmi Lake New Financial Center, the event highlighted the new identity of Xiangmi Lake Global VC/PE Zone: China's first CVC innovation service park and wealth management cluster. At the event, the Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Local Financial Regulation and Supervision issued a guideline to accelerate the building of the international wealth management center, aiming to manage over 30 trillion yuan ($4.2 trillion) worth of wealth by 2025. The People's Government of Futian District released opinions on supporting the new Xiangmi Lake Financial Center in building the core area for a top-notch international wealth management center. Liu Lei, Executive Vice President of China Association for Public Companies, Christina Bao, managing director and co-head of the Marketing Development Division at Hong Kong Exchanges (HKEX), and Omar Malik, a representative of a fund in the Middle East, delivered speeches via video link. Liu hoped that the launch of the Venture Capital Day of Shenzhen will boost local strategic industrial clusters, foster industries of the future and further drive local economic development so that every side gains from cooperation. As a bridgehead in China's capital market, HKEX is looking forward to seeing more Hong Kong-listed foreign companies and more investment from the Chinese mainland, bringing higher investment returns to all investors, Bao said. At the event, Shenzhen introduced the first fund from the Middle East - Saudi Arabia Fund. The launching ceremony of Xiangmi Lake CVC Innovation Center, China's first CVC innovation center, and a signing ceremony between Futian and VC institutions were also held at the event. The event was attended by over 100 guests from home and abroad from institutions including the People's Bank of China Shenzhen Central Sub-branch, Shenzhen Office of China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, Shenzhen Office of China Securities Regulatory Commission, Shenzhen Stock Exchange, Shenzhen Municipal Government, and People's Government of Futian District, PEs or VCs, LPs, listed firms, CVCs, unicorn companies, and media outlets. Activities of the Venture Capital Day of Shenzhen are held on the 8th day of each month. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1981134/Shenzhen_holds_activities_to_celebrate_venture_capital_day.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/global-times-online-shenzhen-holds-activities-to-celebrate-venture-capital-day-301718564.html Glassdoor Employees' Choice Award is based on anonymous and voluntary feedback from Bain employees about their jobs, work and employer across nine workplace attributes LONDON, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Bain & Company is today named as the number one employer in the UK in Glassdoor's ranking of the country's top 50 Best Places to Work 2023. The number one ranking sees Bain honoured with a Glassdoor Employees' Choice Award in a recognition based solely on the input of employees who voluntarily provide anonymous feedback on Glassdoor in company reviews about their jobs, work environment and employer. "We are thrilled, and humbled, to have been recognised in this way by Glassdoor - and crucially to have achieved this based on the feedback, and experiences, of our people in the UK, who are our greatest asset," said James Hadley, Bain & Company's UK managing partner. "Over the last year, we've achieved further strong growth in our UK business while continuing to evolve how our people work and collaborate. This ranking is a testament to the success of those efforts - but especially to our unique culture, and the commitment to each other, that our extraordinary employees make possible. I'm inspired every day by our teams in the UK and what they achieve. And I'm looking forward to continuing to work with all our people to make Bain not just a great place to work, but one that keeps aiming to be even better." In reviews on Glassdoor, Bain's employees praised the firm's commitment to building an inclusive, collaborative and supportive culture, fostering camaraderie among teams and colleagues, providing intellectually stimulating and rewarding work, recognising achievements, and offering strong benefits and flexible career paths with varied opportunities. Glassdoor's rankings for its Employees' Choice Awards are based on an overall rating achieved over the past year with ratings covering nine workplace attributes 1. One London-based Bain consultant used their anonymous review to describe Bain as "a company with a heart", adding: "Genuinely some of the finest people to work with - smart and empathetic Bain is constantly looking to help and support you". Another employee, a London-based manager, wrote: "Bain's culture is second to none and nothing like I've ever experienced. I love getting to work with diverse teams and feel truly supported in my career growth." In another review, a senior specialist employee in London commented: "Extraordinary In most of the ways that matter, Bain is one of the most remarkable companies to work for in the world. Their forensic focus on bettering the individual and empowering the collective stands them out from a crowd of world-class consultancies. The benefits are industry-leading The slogan 'a Bainie never lets another Bainie fail' made me cringe entering the company, but nearly every interaction and experience during my time here has reinforced the sway those words hold in Bain's corporate ethos." "The great experience of working at Bain is driven by our underlying culture and values, which ensure we always seek to do the right things in investing behind our people for the long term," said Barney Hamilton, Chief Talent Officer for Bain in the UK. "This means we support individuals' careers so they can grow and thrive at Bain; it means we make people decisions based on a long-term benefit for our business, not a short-term view; and it means that always we seek to treat people fairly and equitably. We're constantly working on new ways to improve Bain's best-place-to-work proposition for our people and to create the most supportive, inclusive, and equitable work environment for our people at every stage of their career journey." "We're delighted with this recognition today because making sure we're the best possible place to work is vital to delivering a critical strategic objective that allows us to serve our clients and meet their needs: to be the destination of choice for the best business talent to join and to stay - across diverse backgrounds and experiences, skills, work styles and perspectives." Bain & Company's workplace culture and philosophy has helped the firm to earn numerous accolades and recognitions in the UK and worldwide as a great place to work. In May of last year, Bain was featured in The Times newspaper's prestigious list of the Top 50 Employers for Women in the UK, in partnership with the UK's Business in the Community. The inclusion was the second year in a row that Bain was honoured with inclusion in the list. Experts recognised Bain's progressive workplace programmes, dedication to achieving diversity at all levels and its market-leading UK equal parental leave policy, providing UK staff with up to 52 weeks of leave, with the first 29 fully paid and regardless of gender. Bain ranked as the top consulting firm on Glassdoor's list of 100 Best Places to Work 2023, ranking number three among large US companies for a second consecutive year. Bain is currently the only company to earn a number one ranking on that list for five separate occasions, consistently ranking in the top four since Glassdoor founded the list in 2008. Similarly, Bain & Company was named the number one consulting firm on Vault's Consulting 50 list in 2022, and it has ranked as one of Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For three years in a row. Additionally, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation recognised Bain & Company as one of the "Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality" in 2022, with the firm earning a perfect score on the organisation's annual Corporate Equality Index (CEI) for 16 consecutive years. Media contacts For any questions or to arrange an interview, please contact: Bain & Company: Gary Duncan (London) - Email: gary.duncan@bain.com Notes to Editors The nine workplace attributes used for Glassdoor's rating cover: overall rating, career opportunities, compensation and benefits, culture and values, diversity and inclusion, senior management and leadership, work-life balance, 'recommend to a friend' and six-month business outlook. Winners are ranked based on their overall rating achieved during the past year. Ratings are based on a 5-point scale: 1.0=very dissatisfied, 3.0=OK, 5.0=very satisfied; actual calculations extend beyond the thousandth decimal place. The final UK list of the Top 50 Best Places to Work is compiled using Glassdoor's proprietary algorithm led by its Economic Research Team , and considers quantity, quality and consistency of reviews. Complete awards methodology can be found gldr.co/awardsFAQUK. The Glassdoor Employees' Choice Awards honours the Best Places to Work across the U.S. , Canada , UK , France and Germany . 2023 is the 9th edition of the awards in the UK and the list recognises the best 50 companies with 1,000 or more employees. About Bain & Company? Bain & Company is a global consultancy that helps the world's most ambitious change makers define the future. Across 64 cities in 39 countries, we work alongside our clients as one team with a shared ambition to achieve extraordinary results, outperform the competition, and redefine industries. We complement our tailored, integrated expertise with a vibrant ecosystem of digital innovators to deliver better, faster, and more enduring outcomes. Our 10-year commitment to invest more than $1 billion in pro bono services brings our talent, expertise, and insight to organizations tackling today's urgent challenges in education, racial equity, social justice, economic development, and the environment. Since our founding in 1973, we have measured our success by the success of our clients, and we proudly maintain the highest level of client advocacy in the industry. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/818197/Bain_and_Company_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/bain--company-named-uks-top-ranked-employer-in-glassdoors-top-50-best-places-to-work-list-301718648.html STRATHAM, N.H., Jan. 11, 2023, a pioneer in package logistics and advanced asset tracking, today announced it has signed a Multinational Service Provider Agreement with NCR EMEA (NCR) to become the company's global installation, service and support partner for its iPickup Point retail fulfillment platform. The agreement provides Position Imaging with a scalable multilanguage service and support foundation to handle installations efficiently, customer service, and technical support for its iPickup Point platform globally. Under the terms of the Agreement, NCR will service Position Imaging's deployments throughout the United States, the United Kingdom (UK), France, Germany, and Switzerland, with more international markets planned for 2023. NCR was selected for its deep retail expertise, global service, and support network as the largest self-checkout vendor in the world. "Retailers are looking to utilize technology to modernize stores, expedite checkouts and personalize the shopping experience to allow customers to click and collect where and when they want," said Sam Dicken, UK and Ireland Retail Industry Leader, NCR. "We partnered with Position Imaging because they provide cutting-edge solutions for retailers that solve major challenges in eCommerce fulfillment. NCR is proud to deploy Position Imaging's retail product solutions." The iPickup Point platform is a secure package management system that uses AI-based computer vision technology to provide an efficient, self-service package Pick Up and Drop Off (PUDO) service to retail customers. Retailers are rapidly adopting the iPickup Point solution to automate retail fulfillment tasks, including click and collect, without needing bulky, inefficient lockers or additional staff. "NCR brings a deep understanding of retail technologies and a global team that can meet our installation volumes and customer support needs," said Ned Hill, CEO, Position Imaging. "We look forward to working with this incredible team as Position Imaging introduces this new eCommerce fulfillment solution to the world." About NCR NCR Corporation (NYSE: NCR) is a leader in transforming, connecting, and running technology platforms for self-directing banking, stores, and restaurants. NCR is headquartered in Atlanta, GA with 38,000 employees globally. NCR is a trademark of NCR Corporation in the United States and other countries. About Position Imaging Position Imaging is a technology company focused on innovations to improve the logistics industry. The company opened its research lab in Portsmouth, NH, in 2006 and has been quietly creating the most advanced, accurate, and novel tracking technologies in the world. Its first product, Smart Package Room, has been a success in the residential market and is now being adapted to retail through the iPickup platform to improve PUDO, BOPIS, BORIS, and eCommerce fulfillment operations. www.Position-Imaging.com For more information, contact: President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks during a New Year policy briefing by foreign and defense ministries at Yeongbingwan guesthouse in Jongno District, Seoul, Wednesday. Courtesy of presidential office By Nam Hyun-woo South Korea and the U.S. will conduct a joint military drill next month to deal with a possible North Korean nuclear attack. The exercise is part of the two countries' efforts to carry out extended deterrence. The defense ministry announced the exercise during a policy briefing to President Yoon Suk Yeol, Wednesday, pledging to focus on building an "overwhelming response capability" to deter the North's provocations. The joint exercise, which will be led by the two countries' Deterrence Strategy Committee, will be a tabletop exercise (TTX) assuming North Korea's use of nuclear weapons, according to the ministry. The TTX has not been held since September 2021, but Seoul and Washington agreed to hold it annually at a bilateral defense ministerial meeting in November last year, in response to the North's increasing threats. So far, the allies' TTX was mostly based on discussions on deterrence against North Korean provocations and crisis management, but a defense ministry official said this year's exercise will be "more aggressive." "By expanding the scope of the exercise, we seek to upgrade intelligence sharing, consultation process, joint planning and joint execution, which are the four main segments of the extended deterrence," the ministry official said. According to Minister of National Defense Lee Jong-sup, Yoon said during a briefing, "Peace that relies on the other side's good intentions cannot be sustained, and that cannot be called genuine peace." Yoon was quoted as saying, "In order to deter North Korea's threats more practically and effectively, we should strengthen cooperation with the U.S. in each segment of the extended deterrence, and strengthen Seoul's three-axis defense system." Minister of Foreign Affairs Park Jin, right, speaks during a New Year policy briefing to President Yoon Suk Yeol by the foreign and defense ministries at Government Complex in Gwanghwamun, Seoul, Wednesday. On the left is Minister of National Defense Lee Jong-sup. Yonhap This is in line with Yoon's recent comments where he said Seoul and Washington are discussing "joint planning and joint execution" for the practical implementation of U.S. extended deterrence to counter the North's nuclear threats. The military will also hold an 11-day South Korea-U.S. exercise, called Freedom Shield, in the spring, immediately followed by the final test of a homegrown solid-propellant space rocket and the launch of the country's first military surveillance satellite. During the briefing, the defense minister told Yoon that the military will focus on building an "overwhelming response capability" to counter North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, as well as pledging to help South Korea become one of the world's top four arms exporters. The three axes refer to the Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation operational plan to incapacitate the North Korean leadership in a major conflict, the Kill Chain preemptive strike platform and the Korea Air and Missile Defense system. South Korean soldiers hang the country's national flag on a K21 infantry fighting vehicle during the Ulchi Freedom Shield joint exercise between South Korea and the U.S. in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, Aug. 22. Newsis Evolva Holding SA / Key word(s): Preliminary Results Evolva delivers strong results with 57% revenue growth and increasing margins 11-Jan-2023 / 07:00 CET/CEST Release of an ad hoc announcement pursuant to Art. 53 LR The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. Total revenues grew by 57% in 2022 to CHF 15.5 million Gross contribution margin increased to around 21% in H2 2022 - after 10.9% in H1 For the full year 2022, gross contribution margin amounted to around 16% For 2023, Evolva expects revenues of over CHF 20 million and a gross contribution margin of above 20% Reinach, 11 January 2023 - Evolva (SIX: EVE) a pioneer in the field of natural molecules and industrial biotech, today pre-released unaudited key figures for the full year 2022. Total revenues grew by 57% to CHF 15.5 million, thereby achieving the targeted growth rate of 50%. Product-related revenues grew at an even higher rate of 62%. The gross contribution margin increased to around 21% in the second half of 2022, after 10.9% in the first half. For the full year 2022, gross contribution margin stood at around 16%, well in the targeted double-digit range. Evolva continues to experience good business momentum. As communicated with the mid-term plan in August 2022, Evolva expects revenues of over CHF 20 million in 2023. The gross contribution margin is expected to be above 20% for the full year 2023. Christian Wichert, CEO of Evolva, comments: "In February 2022, the new Evolva leadership team defined clear goals for boosting our commercial performance, better cost control, and fostering a culture of teamwork, transparency, honesty and respect. Kudos go to all people across the Evolva organization for taking up the challenge and having executed our plans for the year 2022 successfully. I am very happy with the achieved strong revenue growth so far and particularly with the progress on margins. Considering the high interest and demand for our sustainable nature-based ingredients, I am confident that Evolva will further accelerate its journey to fully capitalize on its opportunities by addressing the global megatrends of health, wellness and sustainability." Evolva will release its full year-results 2022 on 9 March 2023. Important dates 09 March 2023 Full-year 2022 results 18 April 2023 Annual General Meeting Contact Doris Rudischhauser Head of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications +41 79 410 81 88 dorisr@evolva.com About Evolva Evolva is a Swiss biotech company focused on the research, development and commercialization of ingredients based on nature. We have leading businesses in Flavors and Fragrances, Health Ingredients and Health Protection. Evolva's employees, half of which are women, are dedicated to make the best products that can contribute to health, wellbeing and sensory enjoyment. Find out more at evolva.com and connect with us on LinkedIn. For Evolva multimedia content, please visit: evolva.com/multimedia-library. Disclaimer This announcement is not an offer of securities into the United States. The securities referred to herein have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and may not be offered, pledged, sold, delivered or otherwise transferred, directly or indirectly, in the United States, except pursuant to an exemption from, or transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act. No public offering of securities is being made in the United States. Further, the securities referred to herein have not been and will not be registered under the applicable securities laws of Canada, Australia or Japan or under the applicable securities laws of any other jurisdiction where to do so might constitute a violation of such laws. This press release contains specific forward-looking statements, e.g. statements including terms like believe, assume, expect or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may result in a substantial divergence between the actual results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and those explicitly or implicitly presumed in these statements. Against the background of these uncertainties readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The company assumes no responsibility to update forward-looking statements or to adapt them to future events or developments. End of Inside Information PRESS RELEASE REGULATED INFORMATION 11 January 202 3 , 07:00 am CEST Ghent, Belgium - 11 January 2023- Sequana Medical NV (Euronext Brussels: SEQUA) (the "Company" or "SequanaMedical"), a pioneer in the treatment of fluid overload in liver disease, heart failure and cancer, today invites the holders of securities issued by the Company to attend the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders on Friday, 10 February 2023. The items on the agendas of the meeting include (amongst other things) the proposed approval of the appointment of Douglas Kohrs and Alexandra Taylor Clyde as independent non-executive directors, the approval of certain amendments to the Company's remuneration policy, and the issuance of "Kreos Subscription Rights" (in the form of subscription rights). The Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders will take place at the Company's registered offices in Ghent and will start at 09:00 am CEST. The full convening notice with the agenda and proposed resolutions can be accessed on the Sequana Medical website: www.sequanamedical.com/investors/shareholder-information. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is possible that certain measures imposed by the Belgian government to deal with this pandemic may (still) be in effect on the date of the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders. Therefore, the Board of Directors recommends that the holders of securities issued by the Company that wish to participate to the meeting make use, as much as practically possible, of the right to vote through voting by mail or by means of a written proxy to the Chair of the Board of Directors. The Company will grant access to the meeting to security holders, proxy holders and other persons only to the extent permitted in light of the measures taken or to be taken by the authorities as applicable on the date of the meeting, and always taking into account the recommendations of the authorities, and safety and health considerations. The Company recommends the holders of its securities to use e-mail for all communications with the Company regarding the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders. The Company's e-mail address for such communications is: IR@sequanamedical.com. For more information, please contact: Sequana Medical Lies Vanneste Director Investor Relations E: IR@sequanamedical.com T: +32 (0)498 05 35 79 Optimum Strategic Communications Mary Clark, Nick Bastin, Vici Rabbetts E: Sequana@optimumcomms.com T: +44 (0)7931 500 066 About Sequana Medical Sequana Medical NV is a pioneer in treating fluid overload, a serious and frequent clinical complication in patients with liver disease, heart failure and cancer. These patients can have up to 15 liters of extra fluid in their bodies, causing major medical issues including increased mortality, repeated hospitalizations, severe pain, difficult breathing and restricted mobility that severely impacts daily life. Although diuretics are standard of care, the problem is that in many patients they are no longer effective and / or tolerable. There are limited effective treatment options for these patients resulting in poor clinical outcomes, high costs and major impact on their quality of life. Sequana Medical is seeking to provide innovative treatment options for this large and growing "diuretic-resistant" patient population. alfapump and DSR are Sequana Medical's proprietary platforms that work with the body to treat diuretic-resistant fluid overload, delivering major clinical and quality of life benefits for patients and reducing costs for healthcare systems. The Company has reported positive primary endpoint data from the North American pivotal POSEIDON study of the alfapump in recurrent or refractory ascites due to liver cirrhosis, enabling the filing of a Pre-Market Approval (PMA) application with the FDA, planned for H2 2023. Having delivered clinical proof-of-concept for DSR as a disease-modifying drug program for the treatment of heart failure, the Company is planning to commence MOJAVE, a US multi-centered randomized controlled Phase 1/2a clinical study of DSR 2.0, in H1 2023. Sequana Medical is listed on Euronext Brussels. Important Regulatory Disclaimers The alfapump system is currently not approved in the United States or Canada. In the United States andCanada, the alfapump system is currently under clinical investigation (POSEIDON Study) and is being studied inadult patients with refractory or recurrent ascites due to cirrhosis. For more information regarding thePOSEIDON clinical study see www.poseidonstudy.com. DSR therapy is still in development and it should benoted that any statements regarding safety and efficacy arise from ongoing pre-clinical and clinicalinvestigations which have yet to be completed. DSR therapy is currently not approved for clinical research in theUnited States or Canada. There is no link between DSR therapy and ongoing investigations with the alfapumpsystem in Europe, the United States or Canada. Note: alfapump is a registered trademark. DSR is a registered trademark in the Benelux, China, the EU, UnitedKingdom, and Hong Kong. Forward-looking statements This press release may contain predictions, estimates or other information that might be consideredforward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance.Theseforward-looking statements represent the current judgment of Sequana Medical on what the futureholds,and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Sequana Medicalexpressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release any updates or revisions to any forward-lookingstatements in this press release, except if specifically required to do so by law or regulation. You should notplace undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which reflect the opinions of Sequana Medical only as ofthe date of this press release. Attachments QAD Inc., a leading provider of next-generation manufacturing and supply chain solutions in the cloud, will be exhibiting at this year's Forum des Rois de la Supply Chain, on 12 January in Paris at the Espace Maubert of the Maison de la Mutualite. Attendees are encouraged to stop by QAD's booth to learn how QAD can help digitize their supply chain from end to end. The 2023 Forum des Rois de la Supply Chain, a flagship event organized annually by Supply Chain Magazine, will showcase a selection of the most innovative and efficient finalist projects in terms of Supply Chain (supply, planning, logistics, transport, flow management and circular economy). The Forum combines exhibitions and conferences to create a truly collaborative environment with opportunities to meet new suppliers and partners. Those who visit QAD's exhibition booth will have the opportunity to speak and network with industry experts. Attendees will learn about: Digital Supply Chain Planning: Supply chain 4.0 offers businesses real-time insights and helps form a more connected supply chain. Supply chain 4.0 offers businesses real-time insights and helps form a more connected supply chain. Global Trade and Transportation Execution: This includes import and export management, FTZ, compliance, desktop shipping, multi-carrier shipping and more. This includes import and export management, FTZ, compliance, desktop shipping, multi-carrier shipping and more. Supplier Relationship Management: A tool that helps companies mitigate business risks by constantly monitoring supplier data. This module interfaces support for additional risk categories like financial risk, risk event monitoring, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and performance. In addition, the evening will see the presentation of trophies and the celebration of the 2023 Supply Chain Kings in an exclusive invitation-only event at the prestigious Theatre de la Maison de la Mutualite. Event Details What: 2023 Rois de la Supply Chain Forum When: January 12, 2023. 8:00 17:30 hr Where: L'Espace Maubert Maison de la Mutualite. 24 Rue Saint-Victor, 75005 Paris. Registration: To register to attend the 2023 Rois de la Supply Chain Forum, click here. About QAD Enabling Adaptive Enterprises QAD Inc. is a leading provider of next-generation manufacturing and supply chain solutions in the cloud. QAD helps global manufacturers thrive amidst technology-driven innovation, changing consumer preferences, global competition and continual market disruption. QAD calls these Adaptive Manufacturing Enterprises. Global supply chains are also facing unprecedented disruption in the form of supply shortages and fluctuations in demand. QAD minimizes friction in supply chains and enables businesses to seamlessly optimize agility, efficiency and resilience for more effective customer service. QAD calls these Adaptive Supply Chains. Founded in Santa Barbara, California, QAD has customers in 84 countries around the world. Thousands of companies have deployed QAD enterprise solutions including enterprise resource planning (ERP), digital commerce (DC), supplier relationship management (SRM), digital supply chain planning (DSCP), global trade and transportation execution (GTTE) and enterprise quality management system (EQMS). To learn more, visit www.qad.com or call +1 805-566-6100. Find us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. "QAD" is a registered trademark of QAD. All other products or company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110005987/en/ Contacts: QAD Inc. Caleb Finch Public Relations 805-566-6100 publicrelations@qad.com Beth Hespe Analyst Relations 609-709-3769 industryanalyst@qad.com Rajac International School and OWN Heliopolis School to license content and adaptive learning platforms, including McGraw Hill's ConnectEd and Online Learning Platform (OLP) CAIRO, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- McGraw Hill today announced that two prestigious institutions in Egypt, Rajac International School and OWN Heliopolis School, intend to expand their use of McGraw Hill's state-of-the-art digital content for students in grades kindergarten through 12. The new agreements expand existing engagements with the institutions, which already use McGraw Hill's Inspire Science, Reveal Math, and Wonders reading programs with their students. These multi-year agreements bring personalized learning experiences to the schools' students through McGraw Hill's digital learning platforms, including ConnectEd and Online Learning Platform (OLP). Rajac International School strives to provide the best quality educational experience in order to upbring a generation of youth that is mentally, physically, and socially capable of meeting the challenges of a rapidly changing and highly demanding world. The signing ceremony for the agreement with Rajac International School included the presence of Shereen Kassem, School Principal, senior representatives from McGraw Hill and Modern English Bookshop, a key delivery partner for McGraw Hill in Egypt, who was instrumental in putting this deal together. "We are honored to have been working with McGraw Hill for over three years," said Shereen A. Kassem, American School Principal at Rajac International School. "We have been using their platforms on a daily basis for class activities, learning instruction, and assessment of students' performance to enhance their skills and concepts. In addition, McGraw Hill's professional development is strongly aligned with the 21st century learning skills and has benefitted us greatly in improving our teachers' knowledge and learning styles." OWN Heliopolis School is dedicated to a student-centered program that promotes academic excellence through enriched, inter-disciplinary curriculum, ensuring that students become critical thinkers, active problem-solvers, interested readers, thorough researchers and creative writers. The agreement with OWN Heliopolis School was signed at a ceremony in the presence of Mr. Hany Sedrak, Chairman of OWN Heliopolis School, along with senior representatives from McGraw Hill and Modern English Bookshop. "McGraw Hill has been a strategic educational partner for OWN Heliopolis School for many years. The two organizations have decided to deepen their partnership with a multi-year agreement that brings McGraw Hill resources and the benefits of exemplary professional development to our teachers," said Mark Sedrak, School Director at OWN Heliopolis School. "Rajac International School and OWN Heliopolis School made bold moves in recent years, introducing digital content to their students in math, science and reading," said Kareem Kirollos, Sales Director at Modern English Bookshop. "Several years into that project, their digital transformation has matured and paved the way for an expansion of their work with McGraw Hill. We are proud to have been part of this journey at both schools." "Rajac International School and OWN Heliopolis School are well-established and respected players in the Egyptian international education landscape across grades K through 12, and we are delighted to see our partnership with them grow and flourish," said Nanice Khalil, Sales Director for EASTMED at McGraw Hill. "Over the last three years, we've enjoyed great success in implementing digital learning for math, science, and English language across all school grades. We are excited about the future of these partnerships and how we can continue to improve learning outcomes by leveraging technology and investing in professional development." McGraw Hill McGraw Hill is a leading global education company that partners with millions of educators, learners and professionals around the world. Recognizing their diverse needs, we build trusted content, flexible tools and powerful digital platforms to help them achieve success on their own terms. Through our commitment to equity, accessibility and inclusion, we foster a culture of belonging that respects and reflects the diversity of the communities, learners and educators we serve. McGraw Hill has over 40 offices across North America, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East and South America, and makes its learning solutions for PreK-12, higher education, professionals and others available in more than 80 languages. Visit us at mheducation.co.uk or find us on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter. Rajac International School At Rajac, we strive to an education that meets the needs of all students. We offer a wide and varied curriculum taught by enthusiastic, talented staff. We acknowledge that academic success is not something all students find easy. However, our goal is to have all students realize their potential. We promote the vision that academic success is not enough to meet the needs of today's students. We encourage involvement in sport, music and the arts. Because we believe students in today's world need skills to express themselves. Rajac American School is accredited by Cognia, a prestigious, international board of education. Their assessment ensures that we maintain the most update, pedagogical approaches to teaching and learning. Rajac family takes great pride in providing our students with strong academic, loving and safe environment, and the opportunity to excel in life. OWN Heliopolis School For many years OWN Heliopolis has provided high quality international education to students in Egypt. Numerous generations of OHS graduates have attended some of the world's leading universities in the Egypt and elsewhere. Our vision at Own Heliopolis International School is to provide a safe, nurturing, and positive learning environment where all students will learn and achieve their maximum potential. We prepare our students to be lifelong learners, leaders of the future, and productive contributing members of our world by developing their analytical, critical and creative thinking. The mission of our school is to provide all students with a high-quality education by instilling 21st century skills and inspiring lifelong learning where each individual can grow intellectually, socially, and emotionally. At Own Heliopolis International School, we not only foster each student's self-esteem through positive relationships with students and staff but also strive to have our parents, teachers, and community members actively involved in our students' learning. Contacts: Tyler Reed McGraw Hill (914) 512-4853 tyler.reed@mheducation.com Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1305952/McGraw_Hill_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/mcgraw-hill-expands-engagement-with-two-prominent-egypt-schools-to-advance-digital-learning-301716761.html San Francisco, Jan 11, 2023 - (ACN Newswire) - More than 40 biotech clients are now taking advantage of Avance Clinical's GlobalReady program which delivers streamlined clinical development from early phase in Australia expanding to sites in North America for later phases. All with the one CRO and dedicated teams across both regions.Avance Clinical made the announcement at Biotech Showcase 2023 where the team is taking meetings via PartnershipOne. "Given this successful early adoption of GlobalReady we are expecting more than half of our biotech clients to join the program within the next six months, said Avance Clinical CEO Yvonne Lungershausen.GlobalReady biotech clients are primarily biotechs from the US and Asia, with an increasing number expected from Europe over the next few months.Avance Clinical is the leading Australian-based biotech CRO with US operations, which has been recognized by Frost & Sullivan for the past 3 years with the prestigious CRO Leadership Award.CEO Yvonne Lungershausen said: "These biotech clients are already benefiting from our expansion into North America and GlobalReady. The GlobalReady model is designed to extend biotechs' investments so they can achieve greater clinical development milestones with reduced spend, all with the assurance of FDA-accepted data. GlobalReady gives our biotech clients conducting their early phase studies in Australia and New Zealand a seamless journey into the US to continue their clinical development programs, retaining the same high-quality CRO, which reduces time and cost and delivers quality FDA-accepted data. In addition, the attractive 43.5% rebate on clinical spend in Australia, offers our clients the opportunity to utilize our North American operations expertise and team, whilst maintaining services in Australia to maximize their rebate potential. We often point to the fact that there are currently more than 280 Phase III global trials that have conducted their Phase I study in Australia, which again demonstrates Australian data acceptability with the FDA and other major regulatory authorities."This seamless GlobalReady journey is designed for success whereby biotechs can:- Take advantage of the Australian early-phase clinical trial landscape (No IND and 43.5% tax rebate)- Transition or expand into North America for later phases - without changing CROs (retain study knowledge and processes/team)- Seamlessly operationalize global dose-escalation and dose-expansion trials across the two regions- Harness significant speed and cost advantages- Be assured of quality data - transferable and readily acceptable by the FDA and other regulatory authorities"We have shown, with our high growth and industry-leading repeat business rates that our focus on gold standard technology paired with solution-orientated clinical experts is the mix our biotech clients need for clinical success," commented Yvonne Lungershausen.According to Frost & Sullivan as part of the independent analyst review of the company for the CRO Award: "Avance Clinical remains a trusted partner, earning a reputation for delivering the overall best in the CRO industry. With its strong overall performance, Avance Clinical earns Frost & Sullivan's 2022 Asia-Pacific Customer Value Leadership Award in the contract research organization industry."Find out more:- Learn about the Australian Advantage here https://www.avancecro.com/the-australian-advantage/- Learn about the GlobalReady model here https://www.avancecro.com/avance-clinical-north-america-operations/- For more information about the benefits of running your next study with Avance Clinical contact us: enquiries@avancecro.comAbout Avance ClinicalAvance Clinical is the largest premium full-service Australian and US CRO delivering quality clinical trials, with globally accepted data, in Australia, New Zealand and the US for international biotechs. The company's clients are biotechs in their early phases of drug development that need fast, agile, and adaptive solution-oriented clinical research services. https://www.avancecro.com/Frost & Sullivan AwardsAvance Clinical, a Frost & Sullivan Asia-Pacific CRO Market Leadership Award recipient for the past three years, has been providing CRO services in the region for more than 24 years.Pre-clinical through to Phase 1 and 2Avance Clinical offers pre-clinical services with their experienced ClinicReady team right through to Phase 1 and 2 clinical services leveraging significant Government incentive rebates of up to 43.5% and rapid start-up regulatory processes. With experience across more than 110 indications, the CRO can deliver world-class results and high-quality internationally accepted data for FDA and EMA review.TechnologyAvance Clinical uses state-of-the-art technology and gold-standard systems across all functional areas to provide clients with the most effective processes. Medidata, Oracle, IBM Watson and Medrio are just some of the technology partners.Media Contact:Avance ClinicalKate Thompsonmedia@avancecro.comSource: Avance ClinicalCopyright 2023 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved. 43% growth in direct sales for Safe Orthopaedics 20% growth in outsourced production sales 25,000 surgeries performed with Ready to Use technology Eragny-sur-Oise, France, January 11th, 2023 8:45 CET - Safe (FR0013467123 - ALSAF), a company specializing in the design, manufacturing and marketing of ready-to-use technologies for orthopedic surgeries, especially for back surgery, announces its 2022 annual revenue and its cash position. In thousands euro Non audited figures 2021 (12 months) 2021 (12 months) Variation Direct sales 2 587 1?810 +43% Indirect sales 1 053 990 +6% Subcontracting Sales 2 212 1 836 +20% Total Sales* 5 852 4 636 +26% *excluding the impact of IFRS 15 In 2022, the Group's revenues reached 5,852 thousand, up 26%, mainly due to strong growth in direct sales by Safe Orthopaedics, up 43%, and in subcontracted production sales by Safe medical, up 20%. Direct sales by Safe Orthopaedics were up 43% to 2,587 thousand, with significant growth in France (up 21% to 1,385 thousand), the United Kingdom (up 25% to 160 thousand) and the United States (up 534% to 653 thousand). Germany experienced a 9% decline, due to the unavailability of part of the sales team. Internationally, the recovery in activity is returning with a still limited increase in sales of 6% to 2,212 thousand, given the multiple local confinements still observed. Safe medical's sales growth, up 20% compared with 2021, is experiencing its strongest growth since its integration, by focusing on its most significant partners. The investments in clean rooms made in 2021 and in production in 2022 will ensure significant growth for this industrial activity. It should be noted that the internalization of the production of Safe Orthopaedics kits by Safe medical has been finalized in 2022 and will ensure control of the margin and a working capital requirement correlated to the growth of Safe Orthopaedics sales.. In thousands euros Non audited figures Q1 2022 (3 months) Q2 2022 (3 months) Q3 2022 (3 months) Q4 2022 (3 months) Direct sales 585 (+34%) 595 (+59%) 707 (+40%) 700 (+43%) Indirect sales 343 (+33%) 223 (-25%) 249 (0%) 245 (+32%) Subcontracting Sales 490 (+26%) 615 (+49%) 441 (+5%) 664 (+8%) Total Sales* 1 418 (+31%) 1 433 (+32%) 1 397 (+19%) 1 610 (+24%) *excluding the impact of IFRS 15 "2022 ends with double-digit growth and a record quarter of 1.6M in sales driven by our two entities Safe Orthopaedics and Safe Medical. As a pioneer and leader in ready-to-use products, we are also proud to announce the 25,000th surgical kit sold and more than 120 sycamore cases with very promising clinical results at 12 months," commented Pierre Dumouchel, Chairman and CEO of Safe Group. "After two years of investment in our Safe Medical production sites, we are entering 2023 with confidence. Our technologies are now 100% produced in-house, eliminating any risk of disruption during the growth phase. In addition, the worldwide launches of Sycamore and Hickory, our partnership with Wenzel in the USA and the development of SORA offer us solid growth prospects in a global market that is increasingly receptive to the benefits of Ready-to-Use. The cash position at December 31, 2022 was 0.1 million (unaudited figures). As a reminder, the maximum remaining balance of the financing under the Alpha Blue Ocean OCEANE program amounts to 0.8 million. It is reminded that the press release published on December 10, 2021 underlines the risks inherent to this type of financing, which is potentially highly dilutive. About Safe Group Safe Group is a French medical technology group that brings together Safe Orthopaedics, a pioneer in ready-to-use technologies for spine pathologies, and Safe Medical (formerly LCI Medical), a medical device subcontractor for orthopaedic surgery. The group employs approximately 150 people. Safe Orthopaedics develops and manufactures kits combining sterile implants and single-use instruments, available at any time to the surgeon. These technologies are part of a minimally invasive approach aimed at reducing the risks of contamination and infection, in the interest of the patient and with a positive impact on hospitalization times and costs. Protected by 18 patent families, SteriSpineTM kits are CE marked and FDA approved. Safe Orthopaedics is headquartered in the Paris region ( 95610 Eragny-sur-Oise) and has subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States, and the Lyon region (Fleurieux-sur-l'Arbresle). For more information: http://www.safeorthopaedics.com/ Safe Medical produces implantable medical devices and ready-to-use instruments. It has an innovation center and two production sites in France (Fleurieux-sur-l'Arbresle, 69210) and in Tunisia, offering numerous industrial services: design, industrialization, machining, finishing and sterile packaging. Supported by the French stimulus plan in 2020, the company invests in additive printing and will be operational in 2022 on this new technology. For more information: http://www.safemedical.fr/ Contacts Safe Group Francois-Henri Reynaud Chief Financial and Administrative Officer Tel.: +33 Attachment PARIS, France, January 11th, 2023, 8:30 am CET - Pharnext SA (FR001400BV89 - ALPHA) (the "Company"), an advanced late-clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics for rare neurodegenerative diseases with high unmet medical need, today publishes a Letter to Shareholders from its new Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Hugo Brugiere. Hugo reviews the company's latest developments and discusses his priorities. Dear Shareholders, Many of you may not know me yet as I was appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of our Company on December 26, 2022. I am therefore using this letter as an opportunity to introduce myself and, above all, to tell you what my priorities are for this very promising company. The world of biotechnology companies is familiar to me as I have been the Chairman and CEO of Neovacs since 2020, and I am also an investor in promising life science companies. When we first started discussions with Pharnext, I immediately identified the considerable potential of this Company, one of the few biotechs listed in Paris, which is developing a drug candidate, PXT3003, in pivotal Phase III for a rare disease with an important unmet medical need. Therefore, I agreed to finance and then lead our Company, with 3 major objectives in 2023: Complete the ongoing clinical study of PXT3003 in Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1A ("CMT1A") to potentially bring, as quickly as possible, a therapeutic solution globally to patients suffering from this disease; Optimize the operational management of the Company to limit financial needs in a more difficult global financial environment; Optimize the valuation of the Company's assets. The challenge here is huge, I am fully aware, but we have this unique opportunity, with PXT3003, our lead drug candidate in development in CMT1A, to potentially bring for the first time a therapeutic solution against this rare, inherited, debilitating, peripheral neuropathy. We remain entirely commited to bringing safe and effective therapies to market for the CMT community - patients, their relatives and caregivers. This is a constant focus and a strong motivation for all the people working in our Company. It is through our relentless work that we aim to contribute to changing the lives of hundreds of thousands of patients, and therefore millions of people globally, and thus reveal the true value of Pharnext. I will keep you informed of our progress through 2023, while respecting our communication obligations and any confidentiality agreements signed with potential partners. I wish you all the best for this new year. Best regards, Hugo Brugiere Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO Complete the clinical development of PXT3003 in CMT1A 2023 will be a pivotal year as we are expecting to announce the topline results from the pivotal Phase III clinical study of PXT3003, also known as the PREMIER trial, in December this year. If positive, these data would form the basis of the dossier of the marketing authorization application which should be submitted to the FDA in the US between the end of S1 and the middle of S2 2024, and then to the EMA in Europe, at the end of 2024 - beginning of 2025. If following these applications, PXT3003 received a marketing authorization, it would be the first treatment specifically approved for patients with CMT1A. Therefore, it has the potential to bring hope to hundreds of thousands of patients who suffer in their everyday life from this rare and debilitating peripheral neuropathy. To date, almost 800 patients around the world have been enrolled in clinical trials of PXT3003: 80 patients in the Phase II clinical study; 323 patients in total enrolled in the first Phase III program (double-blind Phase III clinical study, the PLEO-CMT trial, followed by an ongoing open-label extension study, the PLEO-CMT-FU trial), including around 120 patients still on treatment with PXT3003 in the PLEO-CMT-FU trial; 387 patients in total enrolled in the second Phase III program (ongoing double-blind pivotal Phase III clinical study, the PREMIER trial, followed by an ongoing open-label extension study, the PREMIER-OLE trial), including around 40 patients already enrolled in the PREMIER-OLE trial on January 1st, 2023. In May 2022, we announced the long-term data of the PLEO-CMT trial after 5-year total trial time[1] which showed a sustained treatment benefit for patients with CMT1A treated with PXT3003 High Dose (same dose as the one tested in the PREMIER trial) with a good safety profile and continuous treatment effect as measured on the Overall Neuropathy Limitation Scale (ONLS) which evaluate patients' functionnal motor disability. In May 2022, we also completed the enrollment of 387 patients in our pivotal Phase III clinical study of PXT3003, the PREMIER trial, in CMT1A. Patient enrollment in the PREMIER trial took place in 52 centers across the U.S., Canada, Europe and Israel, with topline data expected to be announced in Q4 2023[2]. In September, the first patient who completed the PREMIER trial was enrolled in the PREMIER-OLE (Open Label Extension) trial[3]. The decision to conduct the PREMIER-OLE trial was triggered by encouraging data from the open-label extension study of the first Phase III program, the PLEO-CMT-FU trial. We look forward to generating additional long-term data from our both ongoing extension studies, to confirm the potential safety and efficacy of PXT3003 for patients with CMT1A. For all of Pharnext's teams, it is truly an ethical commitment to allow patients with CMT1A already enrolled in our Phase III studies to continue to access to PXT3003 in open-label extension studies. These patients currently have no specific therapeutic options for CMT1A and it is important to support them in their daily lives. We want to be a company truly focused on patients' needs and support. Optimize financial management and security As announced on December 28th, 2022[4], Neovacs has committed to increase its funding commitment in Pharnext to cover the Company's financial needs at least until the topline results of the PREMIER trial of PXT3003 in CMT1A which should be available in Q4 2023. Specifically, Neovacs would commit to increase its financial support to up to an additional 2 million per month by the end of 2023, in addition to the 20.7 million net financing agreement signed in October[5], via the issuance of several tranches of bonds with warrants. Thus, as stated on several occasions, Neovacs is part of a long-term strategy as a reference shareholder and not simply as a funder. We acknowdledge that convertible bond financing can put downward pressure on the share price and can be highly dilutive at low market capitalization values. This is the reason why Pharnext has decided to implement a plan to optimize its organization, operating costs and investments in 2023. The objective is simple: to limit the monthly needs of the Company as much as possible and, consequently, the need to rely on the currently available financing tools. In any case, the 30 million the Company may need before the end of 2023 is a reasonable investment considering the underlying value of the asset. Making the most of the Company's assets We believe that potentially positive topline results from the PREMIER trial in Q4 2023 could generate significant value for our shareholders. PXT3003 could be the first drug approved specifically for CMT1A. If successful, we hope to launch PXT3003 in 2025 in the U.S. and then in other countries. Our own modeling indicates that PXT3003 could generate global sales of up to 1 billion, which today translates into a risk-adjusted net value (NPV) of several hundred million euros. This valuation was confirmed by Edison Investment Research at almost 300 million in October 2022[6]. This gives a good hint of the value creation potential of Pharnext considering the current market capitalization on one hand and the underlying value of PXT3003 in CMT1A on the other hand, if clinical data are positive and marketing authorization (MA) is obtained. This valuation could be done in the context of a capital transaction that could eventually lead to a takeover of the Company. Pharnext currently favors an agreement with a player in the pharmaceutical industry. In order to optimize this search, Pharnext's Board of Directors have decided to form an ad hoc committee, consisting of Joshua Schafer, Director, James Kuo, Director, Rob Quinn, CFO and Xavier Paoli, COO. Joshua has led successful M&A transactions in excess of $16 billion. James has raised several rounds of financing as Managing Director and led HealthCare Ventures, a $378 million venture capital fund. Rob has raised over 200 million in financing to date and Xavier will bring his knowledge of PXT3003 after working 9 years at the Company. 2023: a pivotal year for Pharnext Even before the completion of the pivotal Phase III clinical study of PXT3003 in CMT1A, the PREMIER trial, this year will be rich in news showing the concrete progress of our work. We are also looking forward, in Q2, to announcing new data from the ongoing open-label Phase III extension study of PXT3003, the PLEO-CMT-FU trial, with 6-year total trial time data cut. New "real world" data on CMT1A disease burden from the digital lifestyle study, CMT&Me, will be available for the CMT community through various channels: a peer-reviewed publication expected during S1 2023 and several abstracts if accepted during key conferences (PNS in June in Copenhaguen and AANEM in November in Phoenix in the U.S.). We will also pursue the manufacturing technological transfer of PXT3003 in the U.S. to prepare the potential commercial launch in this country and pursue our interactions with health regulatory agencies (FDA in the U.S. and EMA in Europe) with the objective to file the NDA dossier in the US in 2024. We will pursue our societal commitment to the CMT community, patients, families and healthcare professionals. About Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease Type 1A ('CMT1A') Charcot-Marie-Tooth ('CMT') disease encompasses a heterogeneous group of inherited, severe, debilitating, progressive and chronic peripheral neuropathies. CMT1A, the most common type of CMT, is an orphan disease with a prevalence of 1/5000 people affecting about 150,000 people in Europe and the U.S. and about 1,500,000 people worldwide. The genetic mutation responsible for CMT1A is a duplication of the PMP22 gene coding for a peripheral myelin protein. The duplication of this gene results in overexpression of the PMP22 protein and failure of Schwann cells to produce normal myelin (neuronal sheath). The lack of a normal myelin structure and function leads to abnormal peripheral nerve conduction and axonal loss. As a result of peripheral nerve degradation, patients suffer from progressive muscle atrophy in both the legs and arms causing problems with walking, running and balance as well as abnormal hand functioning. They might also suffer from mild to moderate sensory disorders. First symptoms usually appear during adolescence and will progressively evolve throughout life. Patients with the most severe form of CMT1A end up in wheelchairs, representing at least 5% of cases. To date, no curative or symptomatic medications have been approved and treatment consists of supportive care such as orthotics, leg braces, physical and occupational therapy or surgery. More information can be found at https://pharnext.com/en/disease/charcot-marie-tooth. About PXT3003 PXT3003 is a novel fixed-dose synergistic combination of baclofen, naltrexone and sorbitol formulated as an oral solution given twice a day. The three individual components of PXT3003 were selected to downregulate the overexpression of PMP22 protein, leading to improvement of neuronal signaling in dysfunctional peripheral nerves that are an essential part of the pathophysiology of this disease. PXT3003 could also have a positive effect on other cellular types of the motor unit such as the axon (direct protection), neuromuscular junctions or muscle cells. PXT3003 has shown promising and consistent results across preclinical and clinical studies in Phase II and Phase III (PLEO-CMT and PLEO-CMT-FU). More information can be found at https://pharnext.com/en/pipeline/pxt3003. About the PREMIER Trial The PREMIER trial is an international, randomized, double-blind, two-arm placebo-controlled, pivotal Phase III study, evaluating the efficacy and safety of PXT3003 versus placebo in mild-to-moderate CMT1A patients, over a 15-month period. The dose of PXT3003 tested in the PREMIER trial corresponds to the high dose ('HD') tested in the prior Phase III trial ('PLEO-CMT'). As agreed with regulatory agencies, the primary efficacy endpoint will be the Overall Neuropathy Limitations Scale ('ONLS') which measures functional motor disability. The secondary endpoints include the following outcome measures: 1) 10-Meter Walk Test ('10mWT'), 2) Quantified Muscular Testing (bilateral foot dorsiflexion dynamometry), 3) Patient Global Impression of Severity ('PGI-S'), 4) Patient Global Impression of Change ('PGI-C'), 5) Charcot-Marie-Tooth Neuropathy Score, version 2 ('CMTNS-v2'), and 6) Quantified Muscular Testing (hand grip). Safety and tolerability will be monitored throughout the study. Further information on the PREMIER trial can be found on the ClinicalTrials.gov website (study identification number: NCT04762758) here. About Pharnext Pharnext is an advanced clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company aiming at developing novel therapeutics for rare neurodegenerative diseases that currently lack curative and/or disease-modifying treatments. Pharnext has a first-in-class drug candidate, PXT3003, in development for Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease type 1A (CMT1A), a rare debilitating inherited peripheral neuropathy with currently no existing approved therapies. PXT3003 benefits from orphan drug status in both Europe and the United States. In 2018, PXT3003 completed an international Phase III clinical study, the PLEO-CMT trial, with encouraging topline results. PLEO-CMT was followed by an open-label extension study, the PLEO-CMT-FU trial, with around 120 patients still on treatment with PXT3003. Long-term data suggest a sustained benefit, safety and efficacy, of PXT3003 after 5 years of total trial time. An international pivotal Phase III study of PXT3003, the PREMIER trial, is currently ongoing in the US, Canada, Europe and Israel with 387 CMT1A patients enrolled. PREMIER topline results are expected in Q4 2023. PXT3003 originated from the PleotherapyTM R&D approach. Pharnext draws the attention of investors to the financial and other risk factors detailed in its financial reports. More information can be found at www.pharnext.com . Pharnext is listed on the Euronext Growth Stock Exchange in Paris (ISIN code: FR001400BV89). Contacts Media Relations (International) Consilium Strategic Communications Mary-Jane Elliott Sukaina Virji Alexandra Harrison pharnext@consilium-comms.com Financial Press Relation ACTUS finance & communication Deborah Schwarz dschwartz@actus.fr +33 (0)1 53 67 36 35 Investors Relation ACTUS finance & communication Jerome Fabreguettes Leib pharnext@actus.fr +33 (0)1 53 67 36 78 [1] New Data from the Open-Label PLEO-CMT-FU Trial Shows Sustained Benefit with PXT3003 in Patients with Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease Type 1A After 5 Years of Total Trial [2] Pharnext Announces On-Schedule Completion of Patient Enrollment in its Pivotal Phase III Trial of PXT3003, the PREMIER Trial, for the Treatment of Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease Type 1A [3] Pharnext Announces First Patient Enrolled in Open Label Extension of the Pivotal Phase III Study of PXT3003 for the Treatment of Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease Type 1A, the PREMIER Trial [4] Pharnext strengthens its ties with Neovacs to secure the next steps in its development [5] Pharnext executes a financing agreement with Neovacs for EUR 20.7 million net to further develop PXT3003 for Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1A [6] Funding headroom to support PXT3003 progress ------------------------ This publication embed "Actusnews SECURITY MASTER ". - SECURITY MASTER Key: nGdplJxoY2+VymxuZ5mYm5JlZ2ximGmbbGfLmJdqZ5+banKSnZxpbZyYZnBonmxv - Check this key: https://www.security-master-key.com. ------------------------ Copyright Actusnews Wire Receive by email the next press releases of the company by registering on www.actusnews.com, it's free Full and original release in PDF format:https://www.actusnews.com/documents_communiques/ACTUS-0-77979-20221101_pharnext_shareholders_letter_final.pdf Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - January 11, 2023) - Cybeats Technologies Corp. (CSE: CYBT) ("Cybeats' or the "Company") is pleased to report on the unveiling of APMA's Project Arrow1, the all-Canadian zero-emission electric concept vehicle, in Las Vegas at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES)2.Cybeats is honoured to be designated the 'Official SBOM Management Provider' of Project Arrow.3 Project Arrow, a strategic partner of Cybeats, debuted their highly anticipated electric vehicle at CES, showcasing its advanced technology and innovative design. The event was a major milestone for Project Arrow and solidified their position as a leader in the electric vehicle industry. As partners of the APMA, Canada's national association representing OEM producers of parts, equipment, tools, supplies, advanced technology, Cybeats gains access to the APMA partner network and commercial opportunities throughout the Canadian auto sector. "Every modern electrified vehicle has a dramatically larger digital footprint than the internal combustion engine platform it replaces. Cybeats' technology is enabling the world's first automobile with software supply chain transparency, which is an imperative in the future of the automotive industry. We are excited to work with Cybeats to ensure the Project Arrow concept vehicle exemplifies the best in Canadian technology," said Flavio Volpe, President of APMA. "CES 2023 was a success for Cybeats as our partnership with APMA opened the door to meet with many of the world's leading automotive OEMs, who overwhelmingly validated their shift towards SBOMs to improve supply chain security," said Bob Lyle, CRO, Cybeats. "Our presence at the most influential tech event in the world allowed us to meet with several industry leaders and confirmed the breadth of interest in SBOMs and SBOM Studio across a broad spectrum of tech verticals including telecom, consumer electronics, fitness and more, building on our growing pipeline of large opportunities." Cybeats' Partner, Project Arrow To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/3927/150982_8ee18750f4db087d_001full.jpg Automobiles now run on more than 100 million lines of code4, and this does not include code that runs the autonomous self-driving software on some vehicles. The latest estimates predict there will be one billion lines of code in autonomous vehicles. The code developed for these vehicles also includes open source software, which could contain reused software with unknown cybersecurity vulnerabilities. This shift emphasizes the need for SBOM associated with all software components running in vehicles now and onwards. The North American automotive sector was valued at over $100 billion USD in 2022, and the automotive security market is expected to reach $32.41 billion by 2030, growing at over 16% CAGR.5 Canadian organizations comprising this market include companies like Magna, who have ranked consistently in the Fortune Global 500 list for 20 years in a row since 2001, and is the largest automobile parts manufacturer in North America by sales of original equipment parts.6 About Project Arrow APMA of Canada launched the first original, full-build, zero-emission concept vehicle named "Project Arrow." The all-Canadian concept vehicle is to be designed, engineered, and built through the joint efforts of the world-class automotive supply sector and post-secondary institutions in Canada. Answering the federal government's call for a zero-emissions future by 2050, Project Arrow brings together the best-in-class of Canada's electric-drive, alternative-fuel, connected, autonomous, and light-weight technology companies. As the North American market enters a new automotive era focused on "ACES" (autonomous, connected, electric, shared), Project Arrow is a lighthouse initiative that showcases the capability of Canada's world-class automotive supply sector by bringing together Canada's Tier 1 supply chain, auto-tech SMEs, and academic institutions. Project Arrow builds on the success of Canada's auto sector in advanced manufacturing with the goal of establishing a more value-added, technology-centered foundation to drive a new age of automotive. The initiative will encourage OEMs in Canada and elsewhere to invest in developing next-generation products and technologies within the Canadian auto tech ecosystem. For more information, visit https://projectarrow.ca About SBOM Studio Cybeats' SBOM Studio enables organizations to efficiently manage, distribute, and view their software bill of materials (SBOMs) in a single interface. By doing so, they can easily identify and address cybersecurity vulnerabilities, reduce the cost of protection, and improve compliance. SBOM Studio is specifically designed to support software producers and consumers who use open source and 3rd party software components and who are transitioning to more transparent software development practices. The tool is compatible with various SBOM generation tools and can validate and correct imported SBOMs to improve their accuracy. About Cybeats Cybeats is a cybersecurity company providing SBOM management and software supply chain intelligence technology, helping organizations to manage risk, meet compliance requirements, and secure their software from procurement to development and operation. Our platform gives customers comprehensive visibility and transparency into their software supply chain, enabling them to improve operational efficiency and increase revenue. Cybeats. Software Made Certain. Website: https://cybeats.com Join us at the CISO Forum Canada in Toronto, Ontario from January 30 to 31, as Cybeats leads a panel discussion on Software Supply Chain Security with cybersecurity leaders from CN Rail, Craft Ventures and SAP: https://www.siberx.org/event/ciso-forum-canada-2023/ Join us at the Fira Gran Via, Barcelona from 27 February - 2 March, 2023 at MWC Barcelona7, the world's most influential exhibition for the device connectivity and security industry: https://www.mwcbarcelona.com/ Come meet us at S4x23 in Miami February 13-16! Discover new ideas and come up with innovative ways to use these new ideas to deploy secure and resilient industrial control systems8: https://s4xevents.com/ SUBSCRIBE: For more information, or to subscribe to the Company's mail list, visit: https://www.cybeats.com/investors Contact: James Van Staveren Corporate Development Phone: 1-888-713-SBOM (7266) Email: ir@cybeats.com Forward-looking Information Cautionary Statement Except for statements of historic fact, this news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements including, but not limited to delays or uncertainties with regulatory approvals, including that of the CSE. There are uncertainties inherent in forward-looking information, including factors beyond the Company's control. There are no assurances that the commercialization plans for the technology described in this news release will come into effect on the terms or time frame described herein. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change except as required by law. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Under the parent company, Scryb Inc., company filings are available at sedar.com. 1 https://projectarrow.ca/ 2 https://www.ces.tech/ 3 https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/project-arrow-canadian-electric-vehicle-unveiled 4 https://medium.com/next-level-german-engineering/porsche-future-of-code-526eb3de3bbe 5 https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/automotive-cyber-security-market-A08901 6 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magna_International 7 https://www.mwcbarcelona.com/ 8 https://s4xevents.com/ To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/150982 Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Residential property development company Barratt Developments Plc. (BDEV.L) said that total forward sales, including joint revenuers, as at 31 December 2022 declined by 29.1% to 10,511 homes from last year. The value of the total order book, including joint revenuers, as at 31 December 2022 reduced by 32.9% to 2.54 billion pounds from the prior year. Total home completions, including joint ventures, for the half year ended 31 December 2022 grew to 8,626 units from 8,067 units last year. Looking ahead, the company said its full year out-turn will depend on how the market evolves in the early months of 2023. Assuming net reservation rates increase in line with normal Spring trading patterns to around 0.50 homes per active outlet per week, the company will remain on track to deliver consensus total home completions of 17,475. The Group would expect to deliver total home completions for fiscal year 2023 in the range of 16,000 to16,500. In a separate press release, Barratt Developments said that it appointed Caroline Silver as a Non-Executive Director and Chair designate effective on 1 June 2023. Caroline will succeed John Allan as Non-Executive Chair on 6 September 2023. She will also join the Remuneration and Nomination Committees on 1 June 2023, and become Non-Executive Chair of the Nomination Committee on 6 September 2023. The company stated that John Allan will retire from the Board on 6 September 2023 having completed nine years of service. Sharon White has decided to step down as a Non-Executive Director by 30 June 2023, after nearly five years on the Barratt Board. 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. President Yoon Suk Yeol received a joint policy briefing from the foreign and defense ministers Wednesday, checking the diplomatic and security agenda for the new year, Yoon's office said. Foreign Minister Park Jin said the ministry will pursue a "principled" approach toward North Korea and reinforce cooperation with the international community for the North's denuclearization. Late last month, South Korea unveiled the details of its Indo-Pacific strategy, with a focus on promoting freedom, peace and prosperity through the establishment of a rules-based order and cooperation on human rights. Park said the ministry will make efforts in earnest to fulfill the vision for a free, peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific region. In the face of multiple crises, the ministry will help companies in the fields of construction, nuclear power plants and defense make inroads into foreign markets, Park said. Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup said the ministry will build "overwhelming" response capabilities to counter North Korea's nuclear and missile threats. Lee briefed Yoon on six lines of efforts to cope with the North's threats, including a build-up of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems, and an improvement in the response capabilities against North Korean drones. The six also included bolstering joint military drills with the United States and establishing the Strategic Command. (Yonhap) FAACE the fuss-free, ethical skincare brand for all faces has gone live with its first Seedrs crowdfunding campaign to support global expansion plans and help tackle investing inequality BRIGHTON, England, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- It's widely reported that female founded businesses get less funding than male. Research from the European Investment Bank revealed that female entrepreneurs secured only 1% of venture capital investment last year. This is even though women-led businesses generate more gross sales, deliver double the return on investment, and fail less often than male-led businesses. This is why, Faace, the female-founded skincare brand, has just launched its first crowdfunding campaign via Seedrs. With 80% of the target investment already secured so far from 80 investors, the multi award-winning skincare brand is aiming to secure investment to support global expansion plans in 2023 and beyond. "Crowdfunding doesn't just help address investing inequity; it also helps even the odds for female founders. Female entrepreneurs are typically less likely than men to get investment for their ventures, however female-led campaigns on crowdfunding platforms were found to be 32% more successful at reaching their funding target than male-led campaigns", says Faace founder, Jasmine Wicks-Stephens. "We've been inspired by fellow female-led brands in the ethical beauty and fem-care spaces like DAME and Upcircle who have experienced great success with overfunded crowdfunding campaigns and so we are excited to now invite everyone to share in our future successes as well, with investments starting from just 13.50". Born out of Jasmine's need as a new mum for easy and effective beauty products, Faace set out to disrupt the 13billion UK beauty industry in 2020 with fuss-free, ethical skincare designed to look after your skin, when you don't have the time or energy to do so. Today, Faace is an award-winning brand (Elle, Marie Claire, Telegraph + more) with thousands of customers. Available in 23 countries and 59 retailers from Harrods to LookFantastic, the brand has received prominent industry features from press and influencers with reach into the millions, gained a strong social and CRM community, and earned an excellent Trustpilot rating. As a female focused brand, Jasmine is also dedicated to opening up the conversation and destigmatising topics like menopause and period, whilst supporting organisations in these sectors addressing period poverty and menopause (Hey Girls and The Menopause Charity). To date, Faace has been largely self-funded, with investment from angel investors and a 150,000 investment awarded from the SFC Capital x The Red Tree beauty accelerator as part of a year-long collaborative partnership to help accelerate growth. The brand has already seen huge success to date, having accumulated over 400,000 sales, with 40,000 plus products sold. Jasmine and the team are now looking to raise upwards of 150K via crowdfunding platform Seedrs. "We're really excited to offer shares in our business and build a larger team of cheerleaders who can support our growth and potentially benefit from it in the future", says Jasmine. And with the next year set to be their most exciting year yet with four new products in the pipeline, as well as launching into new countries and retail spaces like Selfridges and Zalando, it's an incredibly exciting time to join Faace. The Faace crowdfund is now open here: https://www.seedrs.com/faace Find out more: https://www.wearefaace.com/were-crowdfunding-invest-in-your-faace-the-future-of-skincare/ Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1980717/Faace.jpg References *Research from London Business School's Olenka Kacperczyk together with Jorge A. Guzman, Assistant Professor of Business at Columbia Business School. https://www.askattest.com/blog/articles/beauty-cosmetics-market-size#:~:text=In%202022%2C%20worldwide%20revenue%20from,(CAGR%202022%2D2026) https://www.eib.org/en/stories/investment-in-women-entrepreneurs#:~:text=Even%20when%20they%20do%20create,venture%20capital%20investment%20in%202021. https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/beauty/the-battle-for-the-uk-beauty-consumer/ https://www.statista.com/outlook/cmo/beauty-personal-care/united-kingdom#:~:text=Beauty%20%26%20Personal%20Care%20%2D%20United%20Kingdom&text=Revenue%20in%20the%20Beauty%20%26%20Personal,US%245.99bn%20in%202022 https://www.gcimagazine.com/brands-products/news/news/22068577/report-almost-23-of-executives-in-beauty-industry-are-men https://www.statista.com/outlook/cmo/beauty-personal-care/worldwide https://www.grandviewresearch.com/press-release/global-skin-care-products-market-196B-by-2030 https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/sheet-masks-korea-statista-boots-b1914805.html%3famp https://www.london.edu/think/iie-why-female-entrepreneurs-are-missing-out-on-funding https://www.eib.org/en/stories/investment-in-women-entrepreneurs https://realbusiness.co.uk/why-female-entrepreneurs-are-less-likely-to-fail View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/faace-why-more-female-founders-are-turning-to-crowdfunding-301717874.html TraceGains expands SaaS solutions to revolutionise the food and beverage supply chain. WESTMINSTER, Colo., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- TraceGains, home of the world's only Networked Ingredients Marketplace, continues to expand its overseas operations to stay ahead of growing demand. While Brexit hampered the free movement of goods between the United Kingdom and the European Union, the pandemic and rising energy costs cut into European stocks. While some pressures have eased for now, grocery and restaurant food prices remain at levels not seen in 40 years and the UK suffers food shortages not seen since the 1970s. These market conditions have fueled the demand for new solutions. And TraceGains has responded with an expanded footprint in the UK and the EU. "TraceGains offers revolutionary solutions, at a much-needed time, that will change how the industry operates," TraceGains Senior Account Executive Dan McGlynn said. "We eliminate the obstacles to data exchange and facilitate collaboration to transform the supply chain." Most recently, three UK companies - Key Ingredients Ltd., Finlay Beverages, and George Weston Foods Ltd. - signed onto TraceGains in 2022. TraceGains Networked Ingredients Marketplace provides access to a global ingredient data network that enables manufacturers, co-manufacturers, suppliers, and retailers to collaborate easily. The network continues to gain momentum, with more than 55,000 supplier locations across 163 countries, over 425,000 ingredients and a growing library of more than 3 million documents. This robust network supports brands worldwide by cutting sourcing and approval time in half, accelerating time to market by 75%, and eliminating sourcing backlog by 85%. "The EU and UK markets offer the best use case yet for TraceGains," CEO Gary Nowacki explained. "We believe these trying markets conditions have held brands hostage for too long. We want to support brand compliance efforts and introduce these brands to new markets by helping them navigate entry into the United States and beyond." About TraceGains TraceGains is revolutionising the supply chain agility through an innovative Networked Ingredients Marketplace. The ability for businesses to seamlessly connect with partners through a networked marketplace is essential for collaborating to solve today's unprecedented supply chain challenges. Information about ingredients and supply chain partners flows instantly using intelligence and automation. Our patented PostOnce technology allows authorised stakeholders to share and receive vital information, precisely when, where, and how they need to operate efficiently and remain competitive. Through the power of a global network, supply chain agility is achievable. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1858685/tracegains_logo_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/strong-demand-drives-tracegains-european-expansion-301718704.html Singapore, Jan 11, 2023 - (ACN Newswire) - After successful 16 editions of Cyber Security Summit, Exito is all set to host another milestone event- the 17th Edition of Cyber Security Summit, an in-person event organised under the theme Securing Singapore's Digital Future. The 17th edition of the Cyber Security Summit is an invitation-only in-person event exclusively for cybersecurity leaders in Singapore. Singapore has long set its sights on becoming a world-class, tech-driven city-state. The Smart Nation initiative was established to achieve this by harnessing IT, networks, and big data to create tech-enabled solutions. The cybersecurity industry is crucial in "underpinning a sustainable digital future," as stated by Teo Chee Hean, Singapore's coordinating minister for national security.According to the Infocomm Media Development Authority, the cybersecurity market in Singapore is expected to reach USD 889 million in 2022. From 2022 to 2030, the market is projected to grow a further 10% to 13% to become a USD 2.4 billion market. In October 2021, Singapore launched the Singapore Cybersecurity Strategy 2021, outlining the country's goals and approach to adapt to a rapidly evolving strategic and technological environment. Strategy 2021 will support industry innovation and the growth of cyber entrepreneurs and start-ups in Singapore through targeted government initiatives. The agenda of the Cyber Security Summit is aligned with the Singaporean government's strategies to make organisations cyber resilient.The conference will host 150+ IT security leaders, to network, learn, be inspired, and collaborate in identifying and addressing cyber concerns.Speakers like Veronica Tan, Director, Safer Cyberspace, Cyber Security Agency of Singapore, Steven SIM kok Leong, President, ISACA Singapore Chapter, AJ Eserjose, Regional Director, OT- ISAC, Working Group Member on Cyber Resilience in oil & gas, World Economic Forum, John Lee, Managing Director (Asia- Pacific), Global Resilience Federation, Anthony Lim, Director, The Centre for Strategic Cyberspace + international Studies, David Ng, Head of Group Technology Information, Security Office, OCBC Bank.Marcus Tu, Head of Cybersecurity, Singapore Post Ltd. 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 22nd & 23rd February.Register now to engage at this grand event as the slots are filling up fast.To know more about the event, www.cybersecuritysummit/singaporeAbout ExitoWe 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. TCS Property Management has announced the expansion of its property maintenance services into Nashville, Tennessee. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania--(Newsfile Corp. - January 11, 2023) - TCS Property Management is proud to now be offering property owners and landlords in Nashville their suite of rent collection, maintenance, repair work, and other property management services. TCS Property Management can now work with both smaller and larger landlords who have a single property holding or multiple holdings in the city. More information is available at https://www.tcsmgt.com TCS Property Management Nashville Expands Maintenance & Rent Collection Services To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8814/150990_a4713a5964947adb_001full.jpg The launch of TCS Property Management's services in Nashville coincides with the ongoing competitive performance of rental properties in the city. According to a recent snapshot from Zillow, the market is currently warm to hot in the city, with rents 5% higher than the national average and with high occupancy rates. As an experienced full-service agency, TCS Property Management can now assist Nashville landlords and property owners in all aspects of the rental process, including brokerage, finding new tenants, ensuring compliance, and more. More information on their suite of services is available at https://www.tcsmgt.com/property-management/nashville TCS Property Management is confident that Nashville property owners who utilize their new services in the city will enjoy their efficient work, where all concerns regarding their properties are completely taken care of. Moreover, in the other cities they currently serve across the US, the agency boasts a high occupancy rate, low eviction rate and high rent collection rates that surpass local and national averages. TCS Property Management is pleased to advise Nashville landlords that they can also now work with luxury properties, family rental homes, studio apartments, larger condos, and more. Now that TCS Property Management has arrived in Nashville, they are reaching out to landlords who are looking to enjoy a more carefree way of renting, in which their tenants feel respected and taken care of and all issues are resolved promptly. A spokesperson for the property managers said, "TCS Management specializes in residential property management specifically designed for you, the landlord. Single-family homes, individual condominium rental units and small multifamily dwellings are our core focus and what we excel at, no one does it better. We embrace old-fashioned principles of service while using state-of-the-art tools. Your tenants gain access and convenience through their resident communication portal, while you can monitor what's going on behind the scenes at any time." More details can be found at https://www.tcsmgt.com/contact Contact Info: Name: Joseph Puggi Email: info@tcsmgt.com Organization: TCS Property Management Address: 107 South Second Street Suite 300, Philadelphia, PA 19106, United States Website: https://www.tcsmgt.com/ To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/150990 Flujo specializes in ergonomic furniture and solutions, with the new Ayla is a perfect solution for people with tensions in the back and neck. Tampines St, Singapore--(Newsfile Corp. - January 11, 2023) - Flujo, a famous business specialized in ergonomic furniture and solutions, today announced the release of Ayla, including Ayla Black and Ayla Grey, the most evolutionary ergonomic chair lineup ever. The Flujo Ayla is an evolutionary product designed to reduce tensions, stresses and pressures in the arms, shoulders, back and neck. This innovative chair offers users the workspace of the future with the most comfort of sitting. Flujo Introduces The Impressive Debut Of The Ayla Series Of Ergonomic Chair To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8814/150991_adff019144cc6941_001full.jpg Inspired to provide the most comfortable chair by focusing on both ergonomics and aesthetics, Flujo's new product Ayla is featuring the Backrest Glide System - a new market-leading innovative system that adopted the dual direction 4-step system, allowing the backrest height to be fully accustomed while seated and tilted back. This makes Ayla practically the only chair in the market which allows dynamic adjustments while people are seated. The groundbreaking advancements make Ayla even more indispensable for everyday work. Everyone working from home knows just how painful it is to sit in the wrong kind of chair. Over the course of centuries, Ayla Ergonomic Office Chair has emerged as the pinnacle of ergonomic comfort and support. Today, as a growing number of jobs are behind desks and computers, that design is more important than ever. The Ultrawide Headrest by Ayla has a versatile and angulating headset to support the head and neck. It is vertically and horizontally adjustable, with tilt angles to suit the user's neck posture, no matter his height. In addition, as the seat and backrest are made from strong and durable Mesh by DuPont, a leader in polymer and textile sciences since the early 1900s, Ayla introduces a new class premium ergonomic chair with strong and lightweight, high performing eco-friendly materials. Striving to create high-quality ergonomic products customers can trust and love, Flujo delivers people not only the best products but also certified and professional service. The Ayla had gone through stringent impact tests to ensure our hydraulic canister can withstand loads of up to 300lbs before the debut. Moreover, Flujo also provides the 12 years warranty assurance, and its delivery package is tested with real physical rough-handling. Max Ng, a satisfied customer, reviewed: "Flujo Ayla is definitely a well built ergonomic chair, easy to assemble, good quality, super fast delivery and friendly staff." For more information, please visit: https://flujostore.com/ About Flujo Flujo is a Singapore Ergonomic Eco-System company specializing in ergonomic furniture and solutions. They are determined to be a trusted brand to customers. Designing with driving factors of innovation and customer-centric as core beliefs of products, Flujo is committed to understanding customers' needs. Flujo strives to be the No 1 Ergonomic Chair and Height Adjustable Brand in Singapore. Contact Info: Name: Peggy Ma Email: sales@flujo.tech Organization: Flujo Address: Blk 9005 Tampines St 93 #02-268. Singapore 528839 Phone: +65 69709676 Website: https://flujostore.com/ To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/150991 ZHONGSHAN, China, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Changhong, a top Chinese electrical household appliance maker and its premium brand CHiQ have recently been named as one of the 2022-2023 Global TV Brands Top 10. The Global Top Brands is a world-class event of authority, professionalism, and credibility - the hall of honor in international consumer electronics. The roster of 2022-2023 Global Top Brands and a number of single product awards were announced at the 56th International Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2023), one of the top ten annual events for the global technology industry, which was held in Las Vegas from January 5 to 8. This year's CES marks the beginning of a broad offline recovery. Changhong created the CHiQ brand for long-term growth in the home Internet consumer electronics space. The brand offers a diverse range of products, including televisions, refrigerators, and air conditioners. Changhong expects to provide consumers with a more comfortable and self-contained living experience through CHiQ. CHiQ has steadily expanded into global markets since 2017, with a presence in more than 30 countries and over 40 multi-market e-commerce platforms including Amazon, Lazada, and Shopee. With the garnering of the 2022-2023 Global TV Brands Top 10 award serving as a testimonial to its success, CHiQ is increasingly becoming known to consumers outside of China by virtue of its own strength and the many media channels through which the brand is promoted, all of which serve to increase brand influence. CHiQ aims to make every person's home a living space from which they can gain spiritual satisfaction by providing a line-up of intelligent, full-of-design, and innovative products that resonate with their life values (by being colorful, engaging, positive, and enjoyable). To this end, CHiQ developed the idea of +More ("Get + MORE Out Of Your Life"), from which it is possible to draw the concepts of +design, +fun, +creative, +choice, +style, and +value. Today, CHiQ's product categories are expanding beyond TVs, refrigerators, and air conditioners to include washing machines, monitors, and floor sweepers. The competitiveness of its product line is also growing at the same time. High-quality products are the foundation of the brand. With this in mind, CHiQ will continue to hone its technical abilities to deliver intelligent and reliable products that create a digitally smart life for its users. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1981274/image_5010092_23237735.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/chiq-awarded-international-accolades-for-its-strong-brand-power-301718887.html LONDON, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Amagi, the global leader in cloud-based SaaS technology for broadcast and connected TV, today released its latest report on the state of the free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) space which confirms that year-on-year growth in FAST continues to outpace industry predictions. The sixth edition of its Quarterly Global FAST Report reveals that growth in Q3 (Jul-Sep) 2022 compared to Q3 (Jul-Sep) 2021 in Europe saw an increase of 99.97% in ad impressions and over 51% in Hours of Viewing. This edition of the report aggregates data from the company's proprietary viewership and ad analytics platform, Amagi ANALYTICS, which brings together data and insights from 50+ platforms and over 2,000 channels that run on Amagi's SSAI platform, Amagi THUNDERSTORM. These findings are further supplemented by data gathered from the Amagi Consumer Survey October 2022 - an online survey of ~600 UK households who watched TV at least once in the previous week. The availability of Connected TV (CTV) is a key marker of FAST channels adoption in a market and Amagi's research shows that Western Europe with 70% CTV coverage is gaining ground on the US whose coverage is about 80%. In Central and Eastern Europe, this figure stands below 50% though this is still fueling a huge FAST viewership spike of over 1,500% across these regions in Q3 2022 when compared to Q3 2021. UK leads in CTV adoption The UK is the most advanced country when it comes to CTV adoption with rates as high as ~85%, making it possible to reach almost 94% of internet users via connected devices. Amagi ANALYTICS data showed between Q3 2022 and Q3 2021, the total Hours of Viewing grew by 37.44%, while ad impressions saw an impressive 60.80% rise. Combining findings from Amagi ANALYTICS with UK-specific insights from its Consumer Survey, the Amagi team attributes the growth to three major factors: the higher cost of living driving audiences to cheaper or free sources of high-quality content which FAST readily offers; the ever-improving quality of content available on FAST platforms; and the entry of more prominent content brands into the FAST landscape. Growth continues in Europe Amagi's research also confirmed that it is not just in the UK where such positive growth is happening. Looking at the increase in total Hours of Viewing for the Top 7 European countries, France with 120.77% and Italy with 111.54% both showed triple digit growth in Q3 2022 over the same period in 2021. Analyzing ad impressions, for the same period Italy tops the list with 501.98% year-on-year growth, France is second at 312.66%, Spain is at 260.06%, Austria at 124.23%, and the Netherlands at 106.23% making up the Top 5. "Recent global events have contributed to a difficult economic climate in Europe and across the world. Against this backdrop, the FAST sector has displayed the type of strong performance our Global FAST Report Edition 5 had predicted," said Srinivasan KA, Co-founder & Chief Revenue Officer, Amagi. "We see FAST continuing to accelerate in a challenging macro environment, and we anticipate the trend to continue, making it an attractive time for content owners to get into this market." For more information about Amagi and its streaming TV solutions, visit www.amagi.com . About Amagi Amagi is a next-generation media technology company that provides cloud broadcast and targeted advertising solutions to broadcast TV and streaming TV platforms. Amagi enables content owners to launch, distribute and monetize live linear channels on Free Ad-supported Streaming TV and video services platforms. Amagi also offers 24x7 cloud-managed services bringing simplicity, advanced automation, and transparency to the entire broadcast operations. Overall, Amagi supports 700+ content brands, 800+ playout chains, and over 2100 channel deliveries on its platform in over 40 countries. Amagi has a presence in New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, London, Paris, Melbourne, Seoul, Singapore, and broadcast operations in New Delhi, and an innovation center in Bangalore. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/amagis-latest-global-fast-report-confirms-significant-growth-for-free-ad-supported-streaming-tv-fast-in-europe-301718892.html Highly demanding oil and gas application will thrive on the seamless integration delivered at every level and every stage of the vessel's operations BRUSSELS, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE: ROK), the world's largest company dedicated to industrial automation and digital transformation, today announced that it has been chosen to supply the automation and Integrated Control and Safety Systems (ICSS) systems for P-79, an FPSO vessel in the Petrobras fleet. Through close support from Sensia - Rockwell's joint venture with SLB - and cooperation with the P-79 vessel's builder Saipem/DSME, Rockwell Automation technology and Sensia solutions were selected for their proven track records in the oil and gas industry, as well as for their robust interconnectivity. "We are specialists, both in terms of technology and domain expertise, in the supply of automation and safety solutions for the oil and gas industry," explains Barry Elliot, vice president, global industry, Rockwell Automation. "Typical Floating Production, Storage, and Offloading (FPSO) vessels comprise 15 to 20 major process modules, most of which rely on our solutions for their automation, process and information capabilities, and P-79 is no different. By leveraging our control solutions at the higher level, even greater performance can be extracted, and greater yield realized." The P-79 project win follows the similar P-78 FPSO project, which also has Rockwell Automation at the core of its automation and ICSS. 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. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1981317/Rockwell_Automation_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/rockwell-automation-information-control--safety-solutions-sit-at-the-operational-heart-of-new-petrobras-fpso-vessel-301718909.html As 2022 has come to a close, a spokesperson for Silberstein, Awad, and Miklos (ASK4SAM) Personal Injury Lawyers shared some thoughts about product liability lawsuits, and what the next few years could mean for New Yorkers. Uniondale, New York--(Newsfile Corp. - January 11, 2023) - Every year thousands of New York residents are injured or die due to faulty and defective products. These can include commonly thought of items, like tools and machinery, but also pharmaceuticals, food, children's products, and more. Consumers generally trust that the products they purchase will be safe and function as expected, but sometimes there are inherent design flaws or mistakes in manufacturing that can turn otherwise fine products figuratively into hidden land mines. As 2022 has come to a close, a spokesperson for Silberstein, Awad, and Miklos (ASK4SAM) Personal Injury Lawyers shared some thoughts about product liability lawsuits, and what the next few years could mean for New Yorkers. The Law Firm of Silberstein, Awad, and Miklos, P.C., has specialized in representing New York City residents injured by defective products. They can be reached on their website at https://ask4sam.net/product-liability-lawyer-new-york, or by calling 877-ASK4SAM. ASK4SAM Talks About Long Island & Queens NYC Product Liability Lawsuit & Trends To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8814/150993_c76d1b7b3493db5a_001full.jpg Product liability claims can provide compensation for medical bills, lost wages, future medical needs, therapy, loss of quality of life, emotional distress, and more. New York does limit the amount of time injured parties have to file, capping it in nearly all cases at 3 years from the time one learns about the injury that they have suffered. This means that the process of starting to file a legal claim against the product manufacturer must begin relatively quickly, before the statute of limitations has passed. The vast majority of product liability or defective product personal injury cases resolve down to some form of negligence being the driving factor that results in the injury. This means that the named defendant (i.e., the person against whom a lawsuit is filed) was careless in some way, and that this carelessness resulted in a compromise of the safety of the product. However, product liability laws permit claims based on "strict liability," which can remove the need to prove the manufacturer's own negligence, and instead can simply resolve to prove that the product contained a defect which resulted a dangerous product with a design defect, and such manufacturing defects lead to injuries and damage. Other types of product liability include "marketing defects," which implies a "failure to warn" about a potential danger associated with a product, usually through a clear warning label. Working with a personal injury attorney to bring a product liability lawsuit against a manufacturer is usually the smoothest way to navigate the various deadlines, hurdles, and legal processes, and ensure a successful verdict or judgment, or maximize a settlement with the manufacturer or insurance company. "Some of the most common faulty products our legal team sees involve drugs, food, and heavy machinery like vehicles and construction equipment," said the spokesperson for Silberstein, Awad, and Miklos. "One of the surprisingly common products we see liability issues is something most New Yorkers encounter 3 or more times a day: Food. Food products go through a long process before they reach the hands of consumers. Farmers and manufacturers produce the food, different companies distribute the food, and in many cases, other companies then prepare the food. When proper food handling practices are not put in place, food can become cross-contaminated or spoiled. Due to the fact that one type of product can be distributed to thousands or millions, many people can become sick." Drugs, medical products, and pharmaceuticals are also often the culprits in product injury claims and liability lawsuits. "Doctors prescribe drugs every day in New York and typically, patients do not research the drugs they are given. Some of the drugs that have commonly appeared in product liability claims in recent years include Zantac, Actos, Zoloft, Prozac, and more. This can be because of defective drugs, lacking proper warnings about interactions, and more." The Long Island Personal Injury Law Firm of Silberstein, Awad, and Miklos P.C. has been regarded as one of the top law firms in New York City, and has received over 700 5-star reviews across their various New York City locations. Some of those reviews can be viewed at https://youtu.be/f5HSyk-9WKM They have helped secure millions of dollars for their clients, including settling landmark cases that have resulted in records for the maximum compensation for medical malpractice. Contact Info: Name: Joseph Miklos Email: sam@ask4sam.net Organization: Silberstein, Awad & Miklos, P.C., DBA ASK4SAM Address: 600 Old Country Rd, Uniondale, New York 11553, United States Website: http://ask4sam.net To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/150993 Former National Security Adviser Suh Hoon attends a press conference at the National Assembly in Seoul in this Oct. 27, 2022 file photo. Korea Times photo by Oh Dae-geun Former National Security Adviser Suh Hoon asked for bail Wednesday, citing his advanced age and health problems, after he was arrested on charges of attempting to cover up the 2020 death of a fisheries official at the hands of North Korea. Suh filed for bail last month after being arrested earlier that month on charges of involvement in the previous Moon Jae-in government's conclusion without sufficient evidence that the official was killed while attempting to defect to the North. He also allegedly ordered the deletion of intelligence reports running counter to the conclusion. In a hearing on his bail request, his lawyer pleaded with the court to grant the request in consideration of Suh's advanced age of 69 and cardiovascular diseases he is suffering. The lawyer also refuted charges against Suh, saying it is hard to believe he ordered concealment when hundreds of working-level officials at the defense and intelligence agencies as well as the presidential office were well aware of the situation. The court closed the hearing without fixing the date for its decision. The 47-year-old fisheries official was fatally shot by the North's coast guard near the Yellow Sea border between the two Koreas, a day after going missing while on duty on board a fishery inspection vessel. Critics have suspected the former Moon government reached the conclusion that the slain official was fleeing to North Korea so as to curry favor with Pyongyang. Prosecutors in charge of the case have concluded the official appears to have fallen into the sea by accident and drifted to the North Korean side. (Yonhap) Group MD and CEO of SCIB, Encik Rosland bin Othman KUCHING, MALAYSIA, Jan 11, 2023 - (ACN Newswire) - Civil engineering specialist Sarawak Consolidated Industries Berhad (SCIB) is proposing a private placement to raise gross proceeds of up to approximately RM10.98 million for working capital, repayment of bank borrowings and estimated expenses for the proposed private placement.While the issue price and the actual number of shares to be issued will be determined later, under the maximum scenario in which all the Company's 245.18 million outstanding warrants are exercised, the proposed private placement will entail the issuance of up to 82.72 million placement shares at an indicative price of RM0.1327 per placement share to raise gross proceeds of up to approximately RM10.98 million. Under the minimum scenario, should none of the outstanding warrants be exercised, then gross proceeds raised will be RM7.72 million.The proposed issuance represents not more than 10% of the issued shares as at the latest practicable date (LPD) of 30 December 2022 while the indicative price per share represents a discount of approximately 9.97% to the five-day volume weighted average market price of SCIB shares up to the LPD of RM0.1474. The proposed private placement may be implemented in several tranches within six months of approval from Bursa Securities Malaysia Berhad or any extended period approved by it until the conclusion of the next AGM.The proposed private placement is undertaken in accordance with the approval obtained from the shareholders of the Company at the 46th AGM convened on 8 December 2022.Sarawak Consolidated Industries Bhd: 9237 [BURSA: SCIB], http://scib.com.mySource: Sarawak Consolidated Industries BhdCopyright 2023 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 11, 2023) - Exploits Discovery Corp. (CSE: NFLD) (OTCQX: NFLDF) (FSE: 634) ("Exploits" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has recently received all analytical results from its extensive regional 2022 soil sampling program. This includes 8,089 samples, covering approximately 14 kilometres of strike length along the Dog Bay Line fault, approximately 30 kilometres north of its Bullseye property in Central Newfoundland. This program demonstrated the gold mineralization potential of Exploits' claims along the Dog Bay Line fault, in addition to its targets along the Appleton Fault Corridor. This soil program identified new prospective mineralized areas and further confirmed, and more importantly expanded, our existing gold targets. Highlights: Identified new prospective gold zone at Second Pond extending over approximately 2 km of strike-length that returned gold-in-soil values up to 1.0 g/t Au. Confirmed and extended significant gold signatures surrounding historic showings (Clutha, Clutha North and Duder Lake). Gold-in-soils results as high as 5.4 g/t Au (Duder Lake), 3.6 g/t Au (Clutha North), and 1.8 g/t Au (Clutha). Most significant gold-in-soil clusters overlying coincident structures outlined from VTEM interpretation, which are expected to be followed up. Figure: Exploits 2022 soil sampling program focused along the Dog Bay Line fault; Colour contoured airborne VTEM (tilt derivative) as background. To view an enhanced version of this figure, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/6393/150966_69a0d0bf04627a4d_002full.jpg Nick Ryan, Exploration Manager, commented, "It's exciting to see multiple clusters of anomalous gold-in-soil values from our 2022 soil sampling program coincident with our structural interpretation of the Dog Bay Line fault. We have identified a new gold-in-soils trend (Second Pond) extending over approximately 2 kilometres of strike length. Additionally, the results from this program have also confirmed and expanded the footprints of historic gold mineralization observed at Clutha North, Clutha, and Duder Lake target areas that were originally identified by Noranda in the 1990s. The confirmation, extension, and identification of new gold-in-soils anomalies along the Dog Bay Line fault is a promising indication that this major regional structure may be the source of significant undiscovered gold mineralization within the Exploits Subzone." Jeff Swinoga, CEO & President, added, "We are very pleased that, in addition to our immediate opportunity at our Bullseye gold target which we will be drilling in February, we are growing and advancing our future pipeline of gold targets along both the Appleton Fault Corridor as well as the Dog Bay Line Corridor." 2022 Soil Sampling Program Methodology: Exploits 2022 soils sampling program was planned to cover the greater extent of the Dog Bay Central Claims group focusing along the interpreted north-northeast trending Dog Bay Line fault that transects the property. A total of 8,089 soil samples were collected at 100-metre line-spacing and 50-metre sample spacing, targeting the B-horizon soil layer. Sampling density was increased to 25-metre sample spacing locally over higher-priority areas of interest identified by historic data compilation and structural interpretation completed by Exploits' in-house team. Area # of Samples Maximum Au Value (ppb) Anomalous Element Association Comments Clutha North 174 3,640 Au, As, Cu As maximum >1% Clutha 431 1,810 Au, As, Sb, Cu As maximum 5,723 ppm Second Pond 133 1,030 Au, As, Fe As maximum 4,490 ppm Duder Lake 506 5,420 Au, As, Sb As maximum >1%; Sb maximum 263 ppm Table: Summary table for soils data by area. Soils Data Analysis: Exploits 2022 soils data was independently examined and analyzed by Dr. Stephen D. Amor (P.Geo). To reduce the inherently "noisy" nature of surficial geochemical data and extract anomalous and elevated geochemical "signals" (in this case, significant geochemical patterns) from the "noise" (local deviations from the pattern caused by natural inhomogeneity, as well as analytical imprecision) a smoothing algorithm has been applied to the data whereby the value of a particular element, assigned to a particular sample, is the median value of all samples whose locations fall within 250 metres of that sample's location. The smoothing process represents a compromise between anomaly strength and anomaly homogeneity. This can result in the generation of an anomaly in smoothed data that is not apparent in the raw values; alternately, isolated anomalous unsmoothed values may disappear as a result of the smoothing process due to the influence of their more numerous non-anomalous neighbors. Quality Assurance: Exploits Discovery Corp. contracted the services of Planet X Exploration Services Ltd., based in Gander - Newfoundland, to conduct the 2022 soil sampling program. The targeted soil horizon for sampling was the B-horizon; however, common interpretation of glaciation and till deposition studies show that there is variability throughout Newfoundland of surficial cover and this variation has a direct impact on the "local" depth of the B-horizon. Planet X crews utilized a 'Dutch-auger' for soil sample collection. The soil samples were collected at pre-determined sample locations and placed in soil sample bags. Once sorted the samples were shipped to SGS Canada Inc. (SGS) Mobile Sample Preparation Unit (MSPU) located in Grand Falls - Newfoundland for sample preparation and then sent to SGS's analytical laboratory in Burnaby - British Columbia for analysis. At SGS's analytical lab, 30-gram splits are digested by multi-acid (4-Acid) digestion and analyzed for gold by fire assay (method GE_FAI31V5) plus 33 elements by ICP-AES (method GE_ICP40Q12). A rigorous QA program was implemented, and a few analyses of questionable quality (less than 1% of the total) were omitted from the interpretation. SGS is an ISO/IEC 17025 certified laboratory and independent of Exploits Discovery Corp. National Instrument 43-101 Disclosure Ken Tylee, P.Geo., VP of Exploration with Exploits, is a qualified person within the Provinces of Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador as defined by NI 43-101. Mr. Tylee has reviewed and approved the technical information presented herein. About Exploits Discovery Corp. Exploits' is a Canadian mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition and development of mineral projects in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The Company is actively exploring its gold projects in the Exploits Subzone, covering approximately 2,000 square kilometres of mineral tenements. The Company's Exploration 2.0 methodology is focused on discovering high-grade structurally hosted epizonal gold similar to New Found Gold's success at the Keats and Lotto Zones in the Appleton zone. Exploits is leveraging its local team and geologic understanding to become one of the most active explorers in the Exploits Subzone. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD /s/ "Jeff Swinoga" President and CEO For more information, please contact: Shanda Kilborn VP, Investor Relations +1 (778) 819-2708 investors@exploits.gold https://exploitsdiscovery.com/ Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as the term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy of accuracy of this news release. Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains certain 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. Readers are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ materially from those expected including, but not limited to, market conditions, availability of financing, actual results of the Company's exploration and other activities, environmental risks, future metal prices, operating risks, accidents, labor issues, delays in obtaining governmental approvals and permits, and other risks in the mining industry. All the forward-looking statements made in this news release are qualified by these cautionary statements and those in our continuous disclosure filings available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. 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 save as required by applicable law. Acknowledgments Exploits Discovery Corp. would like to acknowledge the financial support of the Junior Exploration Assistance Program from the Department of Natural Resources, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/150966 CHICAGO, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The report "Facade Systems Market by Type (EIFS, Cladding, siding, curtain walls), End-use (Residential and Non-residential), and Region (North America, Europe, South America, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa) - Global Forecast to 2027", is approximated to be USD 316.0 billion in 2022, and it is projected to reach USD 469.0 billion by 2027, at a CAGR of 8.2%. Rising urbanization, changing lifestyles, rising disposable income, rising concerns towards sustainability, rising concern for energy savings, rapid developmental activities, rising structural activities, and changing consumer needs across the globe are boosting the growth of the facade systems market. However, the high cost of raw materials, which are required for making facade systems such as EIFS, cladding, curtain walls, and siding, stringent government regulations, and the availability of green insulation materials are the factors expected to restrain the market of facade systems. Opportunities in the facade systems market are the growing demand for green buildings and rising investment in infrastructural projects in developing economies. Moreover, regular maintenance and, production & installations of complex structural facade systems are the major challenges for the facade systems market. Browse in-depth TOC on "Facade Systems Market" 336 - Tables 37 - Figures 243 - Pages Download PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=149293033 By Type, cladding accounted for the largest share in 2021 Cladding generally refers to a board or tile attached to the external wall of a building that protects the underlying structure against extreme weather conditions and also enhances the appearance/aesthetic value of the building. Cladding systems also referred to as building envelopes, are typically made from wood, metal, plastic, and masonry, providing a wide range of benefits-which include thermal and sound insulation, fire resistance, and pollution prevention-apart from weather protection. Various material-covered claddings are Brick & Stone, High-Pressure Laminate, Fiber Glass Panels, Ceramic Tiles, Plaster Board, and Cement Board. By End Use Industry, the Non-residential segment accounted for the largest share in 2021 Non-residential structures are those structures that are not used for living purposes. The non-residential structures include industrial structures and commercial structures. The industrial structures include factories, mills, and warehouses. On the other hand, commercial structures include office buildings, hotels, shopping malls, casinos, and convention & exhibition centers. Nowadays, rising urbanization, rising concerns towards sustainability, aesthetic appeal, safety issues, and energy-efficient structures. Request Sample Pages: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestsampleNew.asp?id=149293033 Asia Pacific accounted for the largest share of the Facade Systems Market in 2021 Because of growing developmental activities, rapid economic expansion, and increasing population in the Asia Pacific region, which demands residential and non-residential structures workspaces, which, in turn, are expected to lead the growth of the facade systems market. Owing to the increasing income of people in this region, the demand for aesthetic workspaces, which comes under the non-residential sector, has been escalating. Market Players The Facade Systems Market comprises major players such as AGC Inc. (Japan), Sto SE & Co KGaA (Germany), Saint Gobain (France), Central Glass Co., Ltd. (Japan), Nippon Sheet Glass Company Limited (Japan), Kingspan Group plc (Ireland), Etex Group (Belgium), Louisiana-Pacific Corporation (US), Nichiha Corporation (Japan), Knauf (Germany), and others are covered in the facade systems market. Browse Adjacent Market: Building and Construction Market Research Reports & Consulting Related Reports: Plywood Market - Global Forecast to 2027 Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) Market - Global Forecast to 2027 About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets is a blue ocean alternative in growth consulting and program management, leveraging a man-machine offering to drive supernormal growth for progressive organizations in the B2B space. We have the widest lens on emerging technologies, making us proficient in co-creating supernormal growth for clients. The B2B economy is witnessing the emergence of $25 trillion of new revenue streams that are substituting existing revenue streams in this decade alone. We work with clients on growth programs, helping them monetize this $25 trillion opportunity through our service lines - TAM Expansion, Go-to-Market (GTM) Strategy to Execution, Market Share Gain, Account Enablement, and Thought Leadership Marketing. Built on the 'GIVE Growth' principle, we work with several Forbes Global 2000 B2B companies - helping them stay relevant in a disruptive ecosystem. Our insights and strategies are molded by our industry experts, cutting-edge AI-powered Market Intelligence Cloud, and years of research. The KnowledgeStore (our Market Intelligence Cloud) integrates our research, facilitates an analysis of interconnections through a set of applications, helping clients look at the entire ecosystem and understand the revenue shifts happening in their industry. To find out more, visit www.MarketsandMarkets.com or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. Contact: Mr. Aashish Mehra MarketsandMarkets INC. 630 Dundee Road Suite 430 Northbrook, IL 60062 USA: +1-888-600-6441 Email: sales@marketsandmarkets.com Research Insight: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ResearchInsight/facade-systems-market.asp Visit Our Website: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ Content Source: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/PressReleases/facade-systems.asp Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/660509/MarketsandMarkets_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/facade-systems-market-worth-469-0-billion-by-2027--exclusive-report-by-marketsandmarkets-301718762.html GURUGRAM, India, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Malaysia's Logistics Market is in the growing stage, being driven by rising demand from manufacturing industries. There are several players in the Malaysia Logistics market some of which are DHL, TASCO, Nippon Express, CEVA, DB Schenker, Kuehne + Nagel, Tiong Nam, UPS, and FedEx. Strengthening the connectivity in North-South of the West Coast and East Coast Corridor by the government of Malaysia will boost the efficiency of road transportation in the country. will boost the efficiency of road transportation in the country. Rapidly modernizing retail, e-commerce, and a growing automotive sector to provide opportunities for contract logistics and express providers. Demand for Pharmaceutical products along with FMCG and Food products during the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to the high growth of Land Transportation during 2020. Improving Road Transportation and Warehousing Infrastructure: As major players adopt robotics technology, the warehousing industry will see an increase in the use of technology and automation. EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) and RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology will aid in efficient inventory management. To enhance the technological capacity of the logistic market the Malaysian government's investments and initiatives in infrastructure connecting the country with Lao PDR and various parts of China would fuel the future growth of road and rail freight services. High Demand for Road and Sea Transportation: Road Transport in Malaysia is the most preferred mode of transportation and will continue to be so in 2027F. Water transportation is also expected to grow in the future as high infrastructure investment is undertaken by the government to improve the state of maritime logistics in the country. Demand for Road transportation from manufacturing sector, FMCG companies, and automotive players is rapidly increasing in Malaysia due to increasing production capacities by top players in the country. Moreover, many new players are expected to enter the market while the existing players are expected to expand their current revenue share. The freight forwarding companies in Malaysia are also expected to improve their supply chain and technology in the future. Increasing Inflow of Investments: In the upcoming years due to the increase in outsourcing by various businesses and the quick delivery options offered by 3PL providers, the market is anticipated to expand at a significant rate. The supply chain's optimization and corporate efforts to reduce costs are anticipated to fuel market expansion. Additionally, a supportive environment for 3PL businesses in Malaysia is expected to draw more foreign competitors, fostering competitiveness and opening up new market prospects. Analysts at Ken Research in their latest publication "Malaysia Logistics Market Outlook to 2027F- Driven by the Rising Demand from Manufacturing, F&B, Retail, and other industries along with increasing Government Initiatives to Strengthen the Logistics Infrastructure" observed that Malaysia Logistics Market is in its growing phase. Increasing demand for food, beverages, and manufacturing products in Malaysia, Government support through Third Industrial Masterplan (IMP3) and the Logistics and Trade Facilitation Masterplan are some of the factors that will contribute to the Malaysia Logistics Market growth over the period of 2022-2027F with a CAGR of 7.8%. Key Segments Covered in the report:- Malaysia Logistic Market Market Segmentation by Services Freight Forwarding Warehousing Courier and Parcel Activities Value Added Services Malaysia Freight Forwarding Market By Mode of Transport Land Transport Water Transport Air Transport Malaysia Land Transportation Market By Mode of Transport Road Rail By Mode of Shipment Domestic International By Load Type FTL LTL To learn more about this report Download a Free Sample Report By 3PL and Integrated Integrated 3PL Malaysia Warehousing Market By Business Model Industrial Freight/Retail Container Freight Cold Storage Agriculture and Others Industrial warehouses bifurcation Grade A Grade B Grade C By Region Central Northern Southern Eastern Coast & East Malaysia By Type of Warehouses Unorganized Organized By 3PL and Integrated Integrated 3PL Visit this Link Request for custom report By End Users Food and Beverages Pharmaceutical/Healthcare Electronics Automotive Manufacturing Others Malaysia 3PL Market By Service Mix Road Freight Warehousing By End Users Food & Beverage Manufacturing Electronics Retail Healthcare Automotive (Spare Parts, Components) Others Malaysia Courier and Parcel Market By International and Domestic Shipments Domestic International By Air and Ground Express Ground Express Air Express By Delivery Period One Day Delivery Two Day Delivery Three Day Delivery More than three-day delivery By Delivery Period B2B B2C C2C By Region Central Southern Northern Eastern Coast and East Malaysia Key Target Audience Total Logistics Companies Contract Logistics Providers E-commerce Companies Third-Party Logistic Providers Potential Market Entrants Freight Forwarding Companies Warehousing Companies Cold Storage Companies Industry Associations Consulting Agencies Government Bodies & Regulating Authorities Time Period Captured in the Report:- Historical Period: 2017-2022 2017-2022 Base Period: 2022 2022 Forecast Period: 2022-2027F Companies Covered:- DHL TASCO Nippon Express CEVA DB Schenker Kuehne + Nagel Tiong Nam UPS FedEx POS Malaysia CJ Logistics GD Express JSI Logistics City-Link Express FM Logistics Key Topics Covered in the Report:- Comparative Analysis of Malaysia Logistics Market Malaysia Logistics Market Size (2017-2022) (2017-2022) Growth Drivers for Malaysia Logistics Market Major Challenges in Malaysia Logistics Market Logistics Market SWOT Analysis of the Logistics Market in Malaysia Malaysia Logistics Future Market Size (2022-2027F) Logistics Future Market Size (2022-2027F) Malaysia Transportation Market, 2017 - 2027F Ecosystem - Transportation Market in Malaysia Transportation Industry - Market Size and Segmentation, 2017-2022 Malaysia Warehousing Market, 2017 - 2027F Ecosystem and Overview of Warehousing in Malaysia Market Sizing and Segmentation of the Warehousing Market in Malaysia , 2017-2022 , 2017-2022 Market Sizing Analysis of 3PL Market in Malaysia , 2022-2027 , 2022-2027 Malaysia Courier, Express and Parcel Market Ecosystem Market Sizing Analysis of Malaysia Courier and Parcel Market, 2017-2022 Snapshot on Co-Packing Industry in Malaysia Cross Comparison of Major FMCG Players in Malaysia Logistics Market Logistics Market Competition Analysis for Road Freight and Warehousing Players Analyst Recommendation For more insights on the market intelligence, refer to the link below:- Malaysia Logistics Market Related Reports By Ken Research:- Philippines Logistics Industry Outlook to 2027F-Driven by Infrastructural Developments, Technological Advancement and Government Support The Philippines Logistics Market is expected to witness significant growth during the period 2022P-2027F, owing to new players entering the market and various technological advancements like robots. The revenue of the logistics market in the Philippines is expected to increase over the forecasted period due to high demand for e-commerce, tech-enabled warehouses and cold storage services. Also, strong initiatives by the government to improve transportation and connectivity in the region will boost the logistics market in the country. Netherlands Logistics Market Outlook to 2027F- Segmented by Type of End Users by revenue (Food and Beverage, Industrial & Construction, Retail, Automotive and Engineering, and Others), Type of Warehousing Space (Tech/ Non-Tech, Organized/ Unorganized, and Racked/ Unracked), Type of Domestic/ Inte The Netherlands Logistics market is projected to witness a robust CAGR during 2022 to 2027F. Driven by world-class seaports, centrally located airports, and an extensive, and modern network of roads and highways, the Netherlands Logistics Industry will witness growth in the coming years. Moreover, the country's geographical location makes it possible to reach around 170 million consumers within 24 hours. These factors support the growth of the freight logistics and transport sector. Pakistan Logistics Market Outlook to 2027F- Segmented by Type of End Users (F&B, Industrial & Construction, And Others), Type of Warehousing Space (Tech/ Non-Tech, Organized/ Unorganized, And Racked/ Unracked) The Pakistan Logistics Market is projected to show a significant growth, to contribute ~ Bn by 2027F with increase in demand, and government initiatives. The growth rate of total fleet size is anticipated to increase over the period with surge in working class population along with government incentives and policies. Thailand E-Commerce Logistics Market Outlook 2026F- Driven by Change in Consumption Pattern of Consumers, Government Initiatives and Innovation of Advanced Technologies The Thailand E-Commerce Logistics Market witnessed significant growth during the period 2017-2021, largely due to growth in online shopping and entry of new players. The growth of Thailand's logistics sector is also being supported by booming exports with automotive, agribusiness, chemicals and electronics being in-demand industries at the moment. South Korea E-commerce Logistics Market Outlook to 2026F- Driven by Growth in Online Shoppers along with Introduction of New Age Technologies by Logistics Players According to Ken Research estimates, the South Korea E-Commerce Logistics Market - which grew from approximately $ ~12 Bn in 2018 to approximately $ ~13 Bn in 2021 - is forecasted to grow further into $ ~16 Bn opportunity by 2026F, owing to internet penetration, government initiative, time spend on internet and improved logistics. Follow Us - LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube Contact Us:- Ken Research Private Limited Ankur Gupta, Director Strategy and Growth Ankur@kenresearch.com +91-9015378249 Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1954972/Ken_Research_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/the-logistics-industry-in-malaysia-is-expected-to-contribute-more-than-350-bn-by-2027f-owing-to-the-government-initiatives-to-improve-cross-border-infrastructure-and-malaysias-growing-ftas-ken-research-301718985.html Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 11, 2023) - International Lithium Corp. (TSXV: ILC) (OTCQB: ILHMF) (FSE: IAH) (the "Company" or "ILC") is pleased to announce that it has entered into a new advertising and investor awareness campaign agreement (the "Agreement") with Dig Media Inc. dba Investing News Network ("INN"). Headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, INN has offices in Toronto, New York, and San Francisco. INN has been dedicated to providing independent news and education to investors since 2007. INN will introduce the Company to INN's audience of educated, active investors. Using a variety of methods including an Enhanced Advertiser Profile, News Marketing, website and newsletter advertising and dedicated emails, INN will encourage its audience to engage directly with the Company to consider investing in the Company. INN does not provide investor relations or market-making services as defined by TSX Venture Exchange policies. Under the terms of the Agreement with INN, which supersedes an earlier agreement with INN, the Company has agreed to pay INN $29,000 at the commencement of the campaign and $29,000 after six months. The engagement, to the extent that it constitutes marketing activity under TSX Venture Exchange policies, is subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. John Wisbey, Chairman and CEO of International Lithium Corp. commented: INN will expand ILC's name recognition and corporate message via digital and social media platforms resulting in greater market awareness of ILC's very promising Raleigh Lake and other lithium projects. The engagement of INN is an implementation of our plan shared in the Q3 2022 Chairman's report that we will focus on getting our message out loud and clear, so that every serious investor in the lithium space knows about us. About International Lithium Corp. International Lithium Corp. believes that the world faces a significant turning point in the energy market's dependence on oil and gas and in the governmental and public view of climate change. In addition, we have seen the clear and increasingly urgent wish by the USA and Canada to safeguard their supplies of critical battery metals and to become more self-sufficient. Our Canadian projects are strategic in that respect. Our key mission in the next decade is to make money for our shareholders from lithium and rare metals while at the same time helping to create a greener, cleaner planet. This includes optimizing the value of our existing projects in Canada and Ireland as well as finding, exploring and developing projects that have the potential to become world class lithium and rare metal deposits. Zimbabwe has been identified as a strategic market by the Company. A key goal has been to become a well-funded company to turn our aspirations into reality, and following the disposal of the Mariana project in Argentina in 2021 and the Mavis Lake project in Canada in January 2022, the Board of the Company considers that ILC is now well placed in that respect with a strong net cash position. The Company's interests in various projects now consists of the following, and in addition the Company continues to seek other opportunities, especially in Canada and Zimbabwe: Name Location Area (Hectares) Current Ownership Percentage Future Ownership percentage if options exercised or work carried out Operator or JV Partner Raleigh Lake Ontario 48,500 100% 100% ILC Wolf Ridge Ontario 5,700 0% 100% ILC Avalonia Ireland 29,200 45% 21% Ganfeng Lithium Mavis Lake Ontario 2,600 0% 0% (carries an extra earn-in payment of CAD $1.4M if resource targets met) Critical Resources Ltd (ASX:CRR) Forgan Lake & Lucky Lake Ontario < 500 0% 1.5% Net Smelter Royalty Ultra Lithium Inc. (TSX.V:ULT) The Company's primary strategic focus at this point is on the Raleigh Lake lithium, rubidium and caesium project in Canada and on identifying additional properties. The Raleigh Lake project consists of 48,500 hectares (485 square kilometres) of mineral claims in Ontario and is ILC's most significant project in Canada. The exploration results there so far, which are on only about 8% of ILC's current claims, have shown significant quantities of rubidium and caesium in the pegmatite as well as lithium. Raleigh Lake is 100% owned by ILC, is not subject to any encumbrances, and is royalty free. With the increasing demand for high tech rechargeable batteries used in electric vehicles and electrical storage as well as portable electronics, lithium has been designated "the new oil", and is a key part of a "green tech" sustainable economy. By positioning itself with projects with significant resource potential and with solid strategic partners, ILC aims to be one of the lithium and rare metals resource developers of choice for investors and to continue to build value for its shareholders in the '20s, the decade of battery metals. On behalf of the Company, John Wisbey Chairman and CEO www.internationallithium.com For further information concerning this news release please contact +1 604-449-6520 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. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information Except for statements of historical fact, this news release or other releases contain certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking information or forward-looking statements in this or other news releases may include: the effect of results of anticipated production rates, the timing and/or anticipated results of drilling on the Raleigh Lake or Wolf Ridge or Avalonia projects, the expectation of resource estimates, preliminary economic assessments, feasibility studies, lithium or rubidium or caesium recoveries, modeling of capital and operating costs, results of studies utilizing various technologies at the company's projects, budgeted expenditures and planned exploration work on the Company's projects, increased value of shareholder investments, and assumptions about ethical behaviour by our joint venture partners or third party operators of projects. Such forward-looking information is based on a number of assumptions and subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to those discussed in the sections entitled "Risks" and "Forward-Looking Statements" in the interim and annual Management's Discussion and Analysis which are available at www.sedar.com. While management believes that the assumptions made are reasonable, there can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate. Should one or more of the risks, uncertainties or other factors materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking information. Forward-looking information herein, and all subsequent written and oral forward-looking information are based on expectations, estimates and opinions of management on the dates they are made that, while considered reasonable by the Company as of the time of such statements, are subject to significant business, economic, legislative, and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. These estimates and assumptions may prove to be incorrect and are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Except as required by law, the Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking information should circumstances or management's estimates or opinions change. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/150984 GOTHENBURG, Sweden, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- TATAA Biocenter has partnered with Universal Sequencing Technology Corporation (UST) to offer full-service solutions for Long Read Sequencing Applications using UST TELL-Seq Linked Read technology. TATAA Biocenter was founded in 2001 and is a leading provider of molecular services to the Advanced Therapies and Medical products (ATMP) industries in Europe and to the Cell and Gene Therapy industry in the United States. UST's TELL-Seq technology, a transposase-based patent-pending linked-read library technology, enables short read 2nd generation NGS platforms, such as Illumina sequencers, to produce super long-range sequencing results (averaging linked-read molecule length greater than 40kb, up to and exceeding 200kb). A sequencing-ready library can be prepared in a PCR tube in ~3 hours with a simple workflow and basic lab equipment, which is simple, fast, and cost-effective. A unique feature of UST TELL-Seq is that it only requires ultra-low DNA input, 3-5ng for the human genome and 0.1-0.5ng for microbial genomes and target sequencing panels. Dr. Aaron U. Levy, GM & Chief Commercial Officer of UST, who recently visited the TATAA Biocenter facility in Gothenburg, stated that he was impressed with the laboratory's setup, corporate culture, professionalism, and up-to-code superb sequencing services. Levy added that "TELL-Seq library technology is compatible with the range of Illumina sequencing platforms from benchtop like MiniSeq up to high-throughput NovaSeq 6000. The collaboration between UST and TATAA, based on the growing need for long-read results with very accurate short-read Illumina sequencers is speeding up the adoption of UST's super long-range TELL-Seq NGS library products among Illumina users in the US and all over the world." With UST TELL-Seq library preparation kits and an Illumina sequencer, one can do de novo sequencing of microbial, animal, plant, and insect genomes, metagenomics, human genome phasing, and structural variation detection. Mikael Kubista, the founder and CEO of TATAA Biocenter, stated, "The innovative TELL-Seq Linked-Read Technology for long-read sequencing is a most welcome complement to our service offerings. Our customers and sponsors will now gain additional advantages over their competitors through our broad range of qualified molecular services." CONTACT: Contact for more info: Martin Cooke, TATAA Biocenter, Marketing & Comms Specialist. Emaii: martin.cooke@tataa.com View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/tataa-biocenter-partners-with-universal-sequencing-technology-corporation-to-offer-linked-long-read-sequencing-services-301718991.html COEUR D'ALENE, ID / ACCESSWIRE / January 11, 2023 / Idaho Strategic Resources (NYSE American:IDR) ("IDR" or the "Company") is pleased to announce its first drill results from the Diamond Creek REE Project in Lemhi County, Idaho. IDR's Vice President of Exploration, Rob Morgan commented, "In total we drilled 12 holes on an area representing less than half of our land position at Diamond Creek. These results far exceeded my expectations and I consider this drill program to be an overwhelming success. The results of this drill program will add greatly to the geologic information in the USGS, IGS and other publications." Diamond Creek is a well-recognized rare earth element (REE) occurrence, which is listed as a top ten domestic source of REE's in various USGS documents. Although it has a published resource, it is based on surface sampling only and is unverified. Previous to this year's drilling only two shallow core holes were completed in 2012 with unknown results. Our objective this year was to verify the existence of REE mineralization, assess the grades and examine the extents of this potential resource. The deposits in the Diamond Creek area are of two types: fracture filling and replacement, with the replacement bodies being composed of bright and varied oxides. Much of the core drilling was in the Lucky Gem area where strong REE mineralization at surface was also encountered A rough geometry developed from drillholes 5, 6 and 7; placed drillhole DC 22-8 in position to drill down dip through the shallow dipping replacement body. The drillhole collared into a fault and encountered REE mineralization immediately after the fault, which continued for 50.3 meters before the hole was lost. The intercept highlights below are in percent total rare earth oxide (TREO) and in percent Niobium (Nb) with drilled thickness, as vein orientations have yet to be determined. DC 22-8 Rare Earth Elements highlights 1.3% TREO over 11.3 m from 2.9 m to 14.2 m including the following higher-grade interval: 2.2% TREO over 1.1 m from 13.1m to 14.2m 1.0% Nb over 0.5 m from 9.6 m to 10.1 m TREO over from 2.9 m to 14.2 m including the following higher-grade interval: DC 22-8 Niobium highlights 0.7% (Nb) over 10.1 m from 2.9 m to 13.0 m including the following higher-grade interval: An appealing characteristic with Diamond Creek and other properties in the Idaho Rare Earth Element-Thorium Belt (Idaho REE-Th Belt) is the abundance of neodymium (Nd). We had three assays that were greater than 3000 ppm or 0.3% neodymium (Table 1). In addition to the validation of REEs through the drill bit, another equally important discovery was made; the strong occurrence of Niobium (Nb). Core hole DC 22-8 showed intense enrichment of Niobium, with 0.7% Nb over 10.1m, including 10,000 ppm Nb (1%) over 0.5m. While Niobium is an equally important critical mineral, it is not one of the 17 rare earth elements and not included in TREO calculations. It is considered a positive addition and its potential value to the project (and possibly to the value of a future mineral concentrate) is not yet known. We plan to build upon this discovery. The table below shows assays for the rare earth elements and niobium throughout the 2.9m to 14.2m interval in DC 22-8. Table 1: DC22-8 showing rare earth elements plus Yttrium and Scandium for TREO; and niobium. The known rare earth element mineralization occurs along a 2-mile length of the Diamond Creek Fault. The project consists of four distinct areas identified as, from north to south: Contact, Lucky Gem, Cymer, and Frank Burch. The 2022 drill program tested two areas: the Contact and Lucky Gem areas in the north. The next phase of drilling at Diamond Creek has been planned and submitted for approval to the USFS. The next phase drill plan will extend to the Cymer area in the southern portion of the property. With the success of the program, we are able to provide mineralized samples for research material to the University of Idaho for the IGEM program, which works to develop Idaho-Sourced Rare Earth Elements from drilling to extraction. We also expect to have additional assay results from a trench done on this drill pad shortly. Idaho Strategic's President and CEO John Swallow concludes, "As someone involved in the mining industry for decades, it is very satisfying to be on the forefront of making a rare earth element discovery that advances the potential for production in the United States. And the presence of Niobium only adds to our excitement. Both the technology and energy metals segments are in the news and poised to receive more federal recognition and support. We have strong feelings that 2023 will be the year quality domestic REE and critical mineral companies become more mainstream and evaluated for investment portfolios. Our team has assembled/consolidated the second largest portfolio of nationally recognized rare earth elements occurrences in the US and IDR is one of the few companies that conducted a REE drill program in 2022. This has been a great start to 2023." Qualified person IDR's Vice President of Exploration, Robert John Morgan, PG, PLS is a qualified person as such term is defined in S-K 1300 and has reviewed and approved the technical information and data included in this press release. Assays were conducted by ALS Minerals using Ore Grade Rare Earth Elements analysis (ME-MS81h) and Fusion XRF- Nb Ore Grade (Nb-XRF10). About Idaho Strategic Resources, Inc. Domiciled in Idaho and headquartered in the Panhandle of northern Idaho, Idaho Strategic Resources (IDR) is one of the few resource-based companies (public or private) possessing the combination of officially recognized U.S. domestic rare earth element properties (in Idaho), the largest known concentration of thorium resources in the U.S., and Idaho-based gold production located in an established mining community. Idaho Strategic Resources maintains an important strategic presence in the U.S. Critical Minerals sector, specifically focused on the more "at-risk" Rare Earth Elements (REE's) and Thorium. With over 11,000 acres of Rare Earth Element landholdings, the Company is the second largest REE landholder in the U.S. The Company's Diamond Creek and Roberts REE properties are included the U.S. national REE inventory as listed in USGS, IGS and DOE publications. IDR's Lemhi Pass Thorium-REE Project is recognized by the USGS and IGS as containing the largest concentration of thorium resources in the country. All three projects are located in central Idaho and are participating in the IGEM Program and the USGS Earth MRI program. The Company produces gold at the Golden Chest Mine located in the Murray Gold Belt (MGB) area of the world-class Coeur d'Alene Mining District, north of the prolific Silver Valley. With over 7,000 acres of patented and unpatented land, the Company has the largest private land position in the area following its consolidation of the Murray Gold Belt for the first time in over 100-years. With an impressive mix of mining and business experience, the folks at IDR maintain a long-standing "We Live Here" approach to corporate culture, land management, and historic preservation. Furthermore, it is our belief that successful operations begin with the heightened responsibility that only local oversight and a community mindset can provide. Its "everyone goes home at night" policy would not be possible without the multi-generational base of local exploration, drilling, mining, milling, and business professionals that reside in and near the communities of the Silver Valley and North Idaho. For more information on Idaho Strategic Resources click here for our corporate presentation, go to www.idahostrategic.com or call: Travis Swallow, Investor Relations & Corporate Development Email: tswallow@idahostrategic.com Phone: (208) 625-9001 Forward-Looking Statements This release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended that are intended to be covered by the safe harbor created by such sections. Often, but not always, forward-looking information can be identified by forward-looking words such as "intends", "potential", "believe", "plans", "expects", "may", "goal', "assume", "estimate", "anticipate", and "will" or similar words suggesting future outcomes, or other expectations, beliefs, assumptions, intentions, or statements about future events or performance. Forward-looking information includes, but are not limited to, Idaho Strategic Resources targeted production rates and results, the expected market prices of gold, individual rare earth elements, and/or thorium, as well as the related costs, expenses and capital expenditures, the potential advancement of the Company's projects, the potential development of the Diamond Creek project, and the potential approval of IDR's next phase drill plan. Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of Idaho Strategic Resources as of the date such information is provided and is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance, or achievements of IDR to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Forward-looking information also includes the risks and uncertainties regarding the presence of niobium at Diamond Creek, which the company cannot guarantee adds material value to the viability and/or feasibility of the Diamond Creek property. Idaho Strategic would also like to inform investors that the metrics used to determine Idaho Strategic is the second largest rare earth elements property holder come from reviewing the readily available publicly announced landholding of MP Materials, US Rare Earths, UCore, Rare Element Resources, and Western Rare Earths. Similarly, the metric used to determine that IDR's Lemhi Pass Thorium Project is the largest in the US comes from reviewing readily available public information reported by the USGS and has not been verified by IDR. IDR would also like investors to note that while Idaho Strategic works with the University of Idaho, Idaho National Labs, the Center for Advanced Energy Studies and the Idaho Geological Survey as a part of the IGEM Program, this does not serve as an indication or obligation that IDR will be successful in obtaining any additional government funded programs with the help of the aforementioned partners. The forward-looking statement information above, and those following are applicable to both this press release, as well as the links contained within this press release. With respect to the business of Idaho Strategic Resources, these risks and uncertainties include risks relating to widespread epidemics or pandemic outbreaks, if they occur, including our ability to access goods and supplies, the ability to transport our products and impacts on employee productivity, the risks in connection with the operations, cash flow and results of the Company relating to the unknown duration and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; interpretations or reinterpretations of geologic information; the accuracy of historic estimates; unfavorable exploration results; inability to obtain permits required for future exploration, development or production; general economic conditions and conditions affecting the industries in which the Company operates; the uncertainty of regulatory requirements and approvals; fluctuating mineral and commodity prices; the ability to obtain necessary future financing on acceptable terms; the ability to operate the Company's projects; and risks associated with the mining industry such as economic factors (including future commodity prices, and energy prices), ground conditions, failure of plant, equipment, processes and transportation services to operate as anticipated, environmental risks, government regulation, actual results of current exploration and production activities, possible variations in ore grade or recovery rates, permitting timelines, capital and construction expenditures, reclamation activities. 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 not to place undue reliance on such information. Additional information regarding the factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from this forward-looking information is available in Idaho Strategic Resources filings with the SEC on EDGAR. IDR does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or otherwise revise any forward-looking information whether as a result of new information, future events or other such factors which affect this information, except as required by law. SOURCE: Idaho Strategic Resources, Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/734802/Idaho-Strategic-Releases-First-Results-from-Diamond-Creek--Intercepts-113-meters-of-13-REEs-Including-Intervals-with-22-REEs-and-10-Niobium VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 11, 2023 / BeMetals Corp. (TSXV:BMET)(OTCQB:BMTLF)(Frankfurt: 1OI.F) (the "Company" or "BeMetals") is pleased to announce it has further extended the Seta Vein with recently received assay results for drill holes KT22-13 to KT22-15 from its ongoing diamond drilling program at the Kato Gold Project ("Kato" or the "Property") in Hokkaido. The Company also provides a summary of progress for all its Kazan gold projects in Japan. HIGHLIGHTS OF 2022 KATO DRILLING RESULTS AND PROGRESS OF OTHER KAZAN GOLD PROJECTS: KT22-11 : Seta Vein: 11.50 metres ("m") grading 6.42 g/t grams per tonne ("g/t") gold ("Au") Including : 8.70 m grading 7.80 g/t Au Including : 4.52 m grading 11.88 g/t Au : 11.50 metres ("m") grading 6.42 g/t grams per tonne ("g/t") gold ("Au") KT22-12 : Seta Vein : 26.10 m grading 3.06 g/t Au Including : 10.20 m grading 4.88 g/t Au Including : 5.05 m grading 5.76 g/t Au : : 26.10 m grading 3.06 g/t Au KT22-13 : Seta Vein : 30.00 m grading 0.47 g/t Au Including : 5.25 m grading 1.25 g/t Au : : 30.00 m grading 0.47 g/t Au KT22-15: Seta Vein: 17.50 m grading 0.29 g/t Au, Extends Seta Vein 400 m from KT22-11 17.50 m grading 0.29 g/t Au, KT22-15: Kamitake Vein: 3.67 m grading 0.86 g/t Au 3.67 m grading 0.86 g/t Au TODOROKI PROJECT: Drill targets identified for testing in the 2023 field season. Such targets, if successfully drilled, provide material extensions to the previously mined Todoroki vein swarm. Drill targets identified for testing in the 2023 field season. Such targets, if successfully drilled, provide material extensions to the previously mined Todoroki vein swarm. KONOMAI PROJECT : Soil and rock chip sampling completed near historical Otowa mine : Soil and rock chip sampling completed near historical Otowa mine TASHIRO PROJECT : Airborne drone magnetic survey scheduled to start in January 2023 : Airborne drone magnetic survey scheduled to start in January 2023 HOKUSATSU PROJECT: Phase of reconnaissance mapping completed Note: Intertek Testing Services completed the analytical work with the core samples processed at their accredited laboratory in Manila, Philippines (See details in QA/QA section below). Reported widths are drilled core lengths as true widths are unknown at this time. Based upon current data it is estimated true widths range between 35 to 65% of the drilled intersections (see Table 1 for details). John Wilton, President and CEO of BeMetals stated, "We are pleased that the Company's latest drilling results at the Kato Project successfully extended the Seta Vein Zone some 400 metres along strike from the Company's first intersection in drill hole KT22-11. In addition, hole KT22-15 has also extended the recently identified Kamitake Vein Zone approximately 350 metres along strike from its first intersection in hole KT22-12. Both the Seta and Kamitake veins appear to be continuing along strike to the southeast for a considerable distance. Drilling has been paused for a short winter break and will resume next month to test both depth and grade zonation of the Kato mineralization. This phase of drilling will also test exploration targets to the southeast, along strike from our 2022 drilling program. We also made meaningful progress on the rest of our portfolio of exciting gold exploration properties in Japan. The geological terrain in Japan hosts numerous historical mines including one of the highest-grade gold mines in the world, the multi-million-ounce Hishikari gold mine, currently in production. Until recently, little gold exploration has been conducted in Japan since the mid-1990s. The discovery potential of the country has generated significant exploration interest from senior gold producers such as B2Gold Corp., a strategic cornerstone investor in BeMetals, and major gold producers including Newmont Corporation and Barrick Gold Corporation. We believe there are very few remaining regions of the world that are under-explored with the pedigree for gold discovery and development potential as provided by Japan." 2022 KATO PROJECT DRILLING PROGRAM The drilling to-date at the Kato Project has already successfully extended the high-grade gold zone, along strike of the Seta Vein Zone some 160 metres from the historical intersections of MMAJ completed in the early 1990s. Holes KT22-11 and KT22-12 support this significant extension which returned 6.42 g/t Au over 11.50 metres and 3.06 g/t Au over 26.10 metres respectively. These intersections include 7.80 g/t over 8.70 metres with 11.88 g/t Au over 4.52 metres in KT22-11, and 4.88 g/t Au over 10.20 metres with 5.76 g/t Au over 5.05 metres in KT22-12 (see Figure 1). Table 1 includes details of the drilling results and indicates the relatively shallow depth of these intersections. In addition, and potentially most importantly the new drilling results from holes KT22-13 and KT22-15 provide further strike extension of the Seta Vein by approximately 400 metres from hole KT22-11. While the grade of the Seta Vein in these two drill holes was 0.47 g/t Au over 30.00 metres, including 1.25 g/t Au over 5.25 metres, and 0.29 g/t Au over 17.50 metres is relatively low. It is interpreted that these holes intersected the upper reaches of the vein where such grades could be expected. Observation of certain quartz vein textures support these intersections being at a relatively high level in the system. Planned drilling in 2023 will test below these latest intersections where improved grade continuity could be expected. This has been seen in other areas of the Project area. Drill holes KT22-12 and KT22-15 also intersected the recently identified Kamitake Vein Zone close to the Seta Vein. The Kamitake Vein Zone provided grades of 0.58 g/t Au over 16.75 metres including 0.84 g/t Au over 4.65 metres and 0.81 g/t Au over 2.10 metres in KT22-12, and 0.86 g/t Au over 3.67 metres in KT22-15. Figure 1 shows the 350 metres of currently drilled strike extent to the Kamitake Vein Zone. Figure 1 is a simplified geological map of the Kato Project drilling area and illustrates that both the Seta and Kamitake Vein Zones are open along strike to the southeast. These mineralized veins are trending towards an area where high-grade outcrop rock chip samples were taken in the Seta River valley. All the data to-date, provide compelling drill targets for our upcoming 2023 drilling campaign to commence in February. During the recently completed drilling campaign, additional drilling equipment was used that appears to improve drilling efficiency in the shallow, highly altered units of the host rocks. BeMetals also plans to test other advanced core drilling technology to further improve drill productivity and core recovery. Figure 1: Location Map of Holes KT22-11 to KT22-15 at Kato Gold Project Note: Results of the historical rock chip sampling have been previously reported reported, and are detailed in the Company's technical report entitled, "Kato Gold Project Japan NI 43-101 Technical Report" with an effective date of July 13, 2021. Table 1 below lists the gold intersections returned during the 2022 drilling program at the Kato Project and includes both the Seta and Kamitake Vein intersections with surrounding mineralized stockwork zones. Table 2 provides details of the drill hole locations, dips, and azimuth. Table 1: Drill Hole Intersection Results Holes KT22-11 to KT22-15 Drill hole and Interval From (m) To (m) Core Interval (m) Au g/t Comments KT22-11: Seta Vein Zone Interval 1: 226.00 236.80 10.80 0.43 Stockwork Zone Interval 2: 236.80 248.30 11.50 6.42 Vein Zone Including: 239.60 248.30 8.70* 7.80 Including: 239.60 244.12 4.52 11.88 Interval 3: 248.30 253.20 4.90 0.76 Stockwork Zone (1) KT22-12: Interval 1: Kamitake Vein 172.25 189.00 16.75 0.58 Kamitake Vein Zone (1) Including: 178.05 182.70 4.65 0.84 Interpreted Upper Zone of Kamitake Vein Also Including: 186.90 189.00 2.10 0.81 Interpreted Upper Zone of Kamitake Vein Interval 2: 229.00 237.00 8.00 0.57 Stockwork Zone (1) Interval 3: Seta Vein 237.00 263.10 26.10 3.06 Vein Zone Including: 239.70 249.90 10.20 4.88 Including: 239.70 244.75 5.05 5.76 KT22-13: Seta Vein Zone Interval 1: 183.60 188.20 4.60 0.48 Stockwork Zone (1) Interval 2: 199.00 213.00 14.00 0.31 Vein Zone Interval 3: 213.00 243.00 30.00 0.47 Vein Zone Including: 213.00 218.25 5.25 1.25 Including: 217.70 218.25 0.55 3.12 KT22-14 Remained in footwall of Seta Vein and did not intersect vein mineralization KT22-15 Interval 1: Kamitake Vein 50.83 54.50 3.67 0.86 Interpreted Upper Zone of Kamitake Vein (1) Interval 2: Seta Vein 199.25 216.75 17.50 0.29 Interpreted Upper Zone of Seta Vein Including: 199.25 201.90 2.65 0.43 Including: 206.81 208.00 1.19 0.43 Including: 211.20 213.38 2.18 0.44 Including: 215.30 216.75 1.45 0.45 Table 1 Notes: Intertek Testing Services completed the analytical work with the core samples processed at their accredited laboratory in Manila, Philippines (See details in QA/QA section below). Reported widths are drilled core lengths as true widths are unknown at this time. Based upon current data it is estimated true widths range between 35 to 65% of the drilled intersections. For the Stockwork Zone a nominal cut-off grade of 0.30 g/t Au has been used to determine the boundaries of the intersections with no more than 1.30 metres of internal dilution of the intercept.For the Seta Vein a nominal cut-off grade of 1 g/t Au has been used to determine the boundaries of the intersections with no more than 4.84m internal dilution of the intercepts. *A nominal cut-off grade of 3 g/t has been used to determine the boundaries of this intersection with no more than 2.08 metres of internal dilution. A nominal cut-off grade of 5 g/t has been used to determine the boundaries of this intersection with no more than 1.91 metres of internal dilution. (1) current interpretation Table 2: Core Hole ID, Azimuth, Dip, End of Hole Depth and Collar Coordinates Drill Hole ID Azimuth Degree Dip Degree End of hole Depth (m) Easting (m) Northing (m) Elevation (m) KT22-11 015 -53 253.20 683424 4796856 497 KT22-12 065 -60 399.00 683422 4796857 495 KT22-13 255 -60 254.40 683715 4796857 542 KT22-14 255 -68 405.50 683717 4796856 542 KT22-15 065 -74 237.90 683653 4796618 493 THE KATO GOLD PROJECT The Kato Gold Project is BeMetals' most advanced, of five exploration projects in Japan based on the amount of available historical drilling information in central Hokkaido (See Figure 2). The Kato Project (historically referred to as the Seta River Prospect) is an example of a remarkably well-preserved epithermal gold system. This mineralization style is an example of an epithermal system and the classic analogy for this mineralization type in Japan is the Hishikari Gold Mine, on Kyushu. Global examples of this type of mineralization include mines such as Lihir (Papua New Guinea), Kupol and Julietta (Russia), Waihi (New Zealand) and Masbate (Philippines).* The Property was previously drilled by the Japanese state agency MMAJ in the 1990s and during that time results included high-grade intervals of gold such as 17.5 metres grading 8.15 g/t Au in hole 5MAHB-2 and 18.65 metres grading 5.01 g/t Au in hole 7MAHB-1.* *Please refer to technical report entitled, "Kato Gold Project Japan NI 43-101 Technical Report" with an effective date of July 13, 2021. OTHER KAZAN GOLD EXPLORATION PROPERTIES: TODOROKI, KONOMAI, TASHIRO AND HOKUSATSU PROJECTS Figure 2 shows the locations of all the Kazan gold projects in Japan. At the Todoroki Gold-Silver Project ("Todoroki") in western Hokkaido the Company completed a phase of geological compilation and target generation based upon rock chip and cut channel sampling with geological mapping completed during the year. This data has been integrated with historical data from the past producing Todoroki Gold Mine. This combined work has led to the generation of robust targets for drill testing during the 2023 field season. Such targets, if successfully drilled would provide material extensions to the Todoroki vein swarm, many of which were historically mined in certain areas. Available records indicate that some 200,000 ounces of gold, and 7.4 million ounces of silver were produced at Todoroki up to 1943. Following WW2, mining continued intermittently until the 1980s but production information for this period is uncertain. At the Company's Konomai Project in northern Hokkaido, a soil and rock chip sampling program was completed near the historical Otowa Gold Mine on the Konomai property. When the full set of results are available these will be integrated with existing data to generate targets for follow-up exploration. In Kyushu, BeMetals received permission from the civil aviation authority and will complete an airborne drone magnetic survey at the Tashiro Project. Also, the Company will undertake a mapping and sampling program at the Hokusatsu Project. Figure 2. Location of BeMetals Kazan Gold Projects in Japan QUALITY ASSURANCE AND QUALITY CONTROL The new results reported here for this core drilling program were analyzed by Intertek Testing Services, an independent and accredited laboratory. Samples were prepared and analytical work conducted in Manila, Philippines. The results were obtained using the following analytical methods as appropriate to determine the gold grades; FA50N/AA of 50g fire assay, with Atomic Absorption Spectrometry ("AAS") finish and FA50GR/GR of 50g fire assay with Gravimetric finish for over limit samples exceeding 10 g/t Au. The core sampling was conducted with a robust sampling protocol that included the appropriate insertion of standard reference material, duplicates, and blanks into the sample stream. Field operations and management have been conducted by BeMetals' personnel. The core drilling was conducted by Energold Drilling. ABOUT BEMETALS CORP. BeMetals is a precious and base metals exploration and development company focused on becoming a leading metal producer through the acquisition of quality exploration, development and potentially production stage projects. The Company has established itself in the gold sector with the acquisition of a portfolio of wholly owned exploration projects in Japan. BeMetals is also progressing its tier-one targeted, Pangeni Copper Exploration Project in the prolific Zambian Copperbelt with co-funding investor the Japanese state agency JOGMEC ("Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security"). Guiding and leading BeMetals' growth strategy is a strong board and management team, founders and significant shareholders of the Company, who have an extensive proven record of delivering exceptional value in the mining sector, over many decades, through the discovery, construction and operation of mines around the world. QUALIFIED PERSON STATEMENT The technical information in this news release for BeMetals has been reviewed and approved by John Wilton, CGeol FGS, CEO and President of BeMetals, and a "Qualified Person" as defined under National Instrument 43-101. ON BEHALF OF BEMETALS CORP. "John Wilton" John Wilton President, CEO and Director For further information about BeMetals please visit our website at bemetalscorp.com and sign-up to our email list to receive timely updates, or contact: Derek Iwanaka Vice President, Investor Relations & Corporate Development Telephone: 604-928-2797 Email: diwanaka@bemetalscorp.com Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains "forward-looking statements" and "forward looking information" (as defined under applicable securities laws), based on management's best estimates, assumptions and current expectations. Such statements include but are not limited to, statements with respect to future exploration, development and advancement of the Kazan Projects in Japan and the Pangeni Project in Zambia, and the acquisition of additional base and/or precious metal projects. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "expects", "expected", "budgeted", "forecasts", "anticipates", "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. These statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such statements, including but not limited to: the actual results of exploration activities, the availability of financing and/or cash flow to fund the current and future plans and expenditures, the ability of the Company to satisfy the conditions of the option agreement for the Pangeni Project, and changes in the world commodity markets or equity markets. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The forward-looking statements and forward looking information are made as of the date hereof and are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. The Company disclaims any obligation to revise or update any such factors or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any forward-looking statements or forward looking information contained herein to reflect future results, events or developments, except as require by law. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and information. Please refer to the Company's most recent filings under its profile at www.sedar.com for further information respecting the risks affecting the Company and its business. SOURCE: BeMetals Corp. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/734767/BeMetals-Further-Extends-Seta-Vein-and-Advances-All-Kazan-Gold-Projects-in-Japan Sun Cable, the developer of the world's largest solar and battery project, has entered voluntary administration. It is still unclear what this will mean for its hallmark project, the Australia-Asia PowerLink.From pv magazine Australia Australian renewables startup Sun Cable has entered voluntary administration after what it describes as a "difficult" decision in a shareholder dispute. "Whilst funding proposals were provided, consensus on the future direction and funding structure of the company could not be achieved," a company statement read. The Australian newspaper described the news as a ... 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. Evoqua Water Technologies is one of 19 companies to have been awarded the 2022 Terra Carta Seal. The Terra Carta Seal recognizes global companies which are driving innovation and demonstrating their commitment to, and momentum towards, the creation of genuinely sustainable markets. Designed by Sir Jony Ive, the Terra Carta Seal embodies the vision and ambition of His Majesty King Charles III and the Terra Carta as a recovery plan for Nature, People, and Planet. The Terra Carta Seal is underpinned by Corporate Knights' Annual Global 100 Top Sustainable Corporations List and the wider principles of the Terra Carta. Evoqua Water Technologies (NYSE: AQUA), an industry leader in mission-critical water treatment solutions, has been awarded the Sustainable Market Initiative's Terra Carta Seal. The Terra Carta Seal, launched at COP26 by His Majesty King Charles III when he was Prince of Wales, recognizes global companies which are driving innovation and demonstrating their commitment to, and momentum towards, the creation of genuinely sustainable markets. It is being awarded to companies whose ambitions are aligned with those of the Terra Carta, a recovery plan for Nature, People, and Planet, launched in January 2021. Evoqua is dedicated to providing solutions to protect and preserve one of our planet's most valuable resources, water. Evoqua has outlined clear goals to address water risks related to climate change, seeking to reuse more water than withdrawn from source by 2035. By utilizing the science-based target-setting methodology, Evoqua is evaluating its scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, which will enable the company to develop greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, an important next step towards reaching the goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Brian Moynihan, Co-Chair, Sustainable Markets Initiative, said: "The SMI brings CEOs together to work on the shared goals of accelerating our transition to a sustainable future. I congratulate those organizations recognized with the 2022 Terra Carta Seal and thank them for their commitment to sustainable markets." Ron Keating, Evoqua's Chief Executive Officer, said: "Evoqua is honored to receive the Terra Carta Seal in recognition of our commitment to sustainability. Our dedication to helping create a better tomorrow is deeply rooted in Evoqua. Enabling a more sustainable water ecosystem for future generations is both our opportunity and our responsibility." Sir Jony Ive and his creative team at LoveFrom created a physical and animated seal engineered with paper that is both simple and beautifully crafted. The design combines a host of natural references, including oak leaves, fern, magnolia, and honeybees, and intricate patterns both in nature and in the arts, creating a visual celebration which reflects the power of and reverence for nature that is at the heart of the Terra Carta. About the Terra Carta Seal The Terra Carta Seal, launched at COP26, recognizes global companies which are driving innovation and demonstrating their commitment to, and momentum towards, the creation of genuinely sustainable markets. It is being awarded to companies whose ambitions are aligned with those of the Terra Carta, a recovery plan for Nature, People, and Planet, launched in January 2021. Read more: https://www.sustainable-markets.org/terra-carta-seal/intro/. About the Sustainable Markets Initiative In his former role as His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, His Majesty King Charles III launched the Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI) at Davos in January 2020 and the Terra Carta at the One Planet Summit in 2021. The Terra Carta serves as the mandate for the SMI. The SMI is a network of global CEOs across industries working together to build prosperous and sustainable economies that generate long-term value through the balanced integration of natural, social, human, and financial capital. These global CEOs see themselves as the 'Coalition of the Willing' helping to lead their industries onto a more ambitious, accelerated, and sustainable trajectory. Read more: www.sustainable-markets.org. About the Terra Carta In his former role as The Prince of Wales, His Majesty King Charles III, launched the Terra Carta at the One Planet Summit in January 2021. The Terra Carta serves as the mandate for the SMI and provides a practical roadmap for acceleration towards an ambitious and sustainable future; one that will harness the power of Nature combined with the transformative power, innovation, and resources of the private sector. Currently, there are over 500 CEO-level supporters, including the Commonwealth and C40 cities. The Terra Carta has also served as the inspiration for the Terra Carta Design Lab. The Terra Carta is open to all countries, cities, companies, organizations, and schools who wish to support it. Read more: www.sustainable-markets.org/terra-carta. About LoveFrom and Sir Jony Ive: LoveFrom is a creative collective of designers, architects, musicians, filmmakers, writers, engineers, and artists with studios in London and San Francisco, California. Sir Jony Ive KBE is a designer. Formerly the Chief Design Officer at Apple, he holds more than 12,500 patents worldwide, uniquely spanning user interface and hardware design. He is the Chancellor of the Royal College of Art. For the Terra Carta Seal, LoveFrom worked with celebrated illustrator Peter Horridge, master printers and paper engineers Imprimerie du Marais, and handmade paper specialists The Paper Foundation, founded by James Cropper. Los Angeles-based Method Studios created an animated version of the Terra Carta Seal. About Evoqua Water Technologies Evoqua Water Technologies is a leading provider of mission-critical water and wastewater treatment solutions, offering a broad portfolio of products, services, and expertise to support industrial, municipal, and recreational customers who value water. Evoqua has worked to protect water, the environment, and its employees for more than 100 years, earning a reputation for quality, safety, and reliability around the world. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the company operates in more than 150 locations across nine countries. Serving more than 38,000 customers and 200,000 installations worldwide, our employees are united by a common purpose: Transforming Water. Enriching Life. To learn more, visit www.evoqua.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005097/en/ Contacts: Evoqua Water Technologies Media Sarah Brown, 506-454-5495 (office) sarah.brown@evoqua.com Investors Dan Brailer, 724-720-1605 (office) 412-977-2605 (mobile) dan.brailer@evoqua.com Prime Minister Han Duck-soo speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the government complex in Sejong, which was connected via video streaming with the government complex in Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap By Lee Hae-rin Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said Wednesday that he does not agree with a proposal to resolve Korea's persistently-low birthrate by writing off the debts of newlywed couples who have babies. The idea was proposed by Na Kyung-won, vice chair of the Presidential Committee on Aging Society and Population Policy. During a dinner meeting with reporters, Han said he expressed his objections after Na had briefed him on the proposed plan to spur the birthrate before announcing it at a press conference on Jan. 5. Na, a former four-term lawmaker of the ruling conservative People Power Party (PPP), announced that the committee considers adopting a policy similar to the "baby-expecting loan" of Hungary, an undertaking to tackle the country's demographic crisis where the government provides incremental financial and housing support to newly-wed couples when they have children. "The government policies to support newlyweds and young generations to get housing and rental fees are not enough," Na said during the press conference, explaining that the government should allow couples to take out a 40 million-won ($32,000) loan when getting married. According to the plan, similar to the Hungarian policy, the loan should become interest-free after the birth of a couple's first child. Then the loan is partially and fully written off once their second and third child is born, respectively. Han said that Na's proposal to write off loans to couples having babies was "difficult to agree on" in terms of its effectiveness, citing that the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport already plans to announce a set of measures to offer low-interest loans and housing benefits for young people. Han explained that he had suggested Na consult with the ministers and chairperson of the committee beforehand without announcing it. Han made further comment regarding China's suspension of its short-term visa issuance for Koreans saying it is not retaliatory and the government will try to resolve the issue. "I don't think it's retaliation," the prime minister said, "When Korea first suspended short-term visa issuance on arrivals from China last month and set a limit to increasing the flights (between the two countries), the government had enough communication with the Chinese authorities." He said that the government will try to resolve the issue through communications, bearing people's safety as the highest priority. Debuts first sustainability report for fiscal year 2022, which highlights how Celonis' unique process mining capabilities are helping organizations reach global net zero emissions, one process at a time Celonis, the global leader in execution management, today published its Sustainability Report for the fiscal year of 2022. The report demonstrates Celonis' commitment to fighting the climate crisis, as well as to regular and transparent reporting on its sustainability efforts informed by the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB). "Sustaining our planet isn't about keeping up with trends, but committing to making the world a better place," said Alex Rinke, co-CEO and co-founder of Celonis. "Sustainability must become part of daily business operations there is no time to waste. We leverage the power of our process mining and execution management technology to reveal, reduce and prevent emissions and eliminate inefficiencies and inequalities from business processes. Optimizing processes can improve top, bottom and green line value. Simply by improving processes, organizations can lighten their carbon impact it's a win-win of epic proportions." "Problems are bigger than they have ever been, and we need new perspectives, and new solutions," said Janina Bauer, Director of Sustainability at Celonis. "I am excited to be launching our first Sustainability Report that is laying the groundwork for a more sustainable future, promoting sustainable operations, investing in achieving net-zero and regularly presenting our results in a transparent manner." Celonis' sustainability practices are central to its strategy and organization. The Sustainability Report covers fiscal year 2022 (February 2021 to January 2022) and includes examples of progress and projects from the first months of fiscal year 2023 as well. Highlights from the report include: First Materiality Assessment: In preparation for the EU's sustainability reporting requirements (CRSD), Celonis conducted a materiality assessment of its most important sustainability themes. For this exercise, Celonis surveyed and engaged stakeholders internally and externally. The results, the so-called materiality matrix, outlines Celonis' impact on sustainability matters and vice versa, the information necessary to understand how sustainability matters affect Celonis' business performance. First time sharing of Celonis' Net Zero Climate Strategy: Celonis has committed to set near- and long-term science-based targets in line with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) Net-Zero Standard. Customer examples: The report highlights success stories from customers who have leveraged the newly launched Celonis sustainability applications. Diversity, Equity Inclusion: Celonis invests in 5 active business resource groups (Women Allies, Pride, Parents, Resilience, and Black), with many more in the pipeline that are preparing to launch in the coming months. Unlocking the potential of business processes to reduce carbon emissions and operationalize sustainability goals In the last year, along with customers also looking for more sustainable ways of doing business, Celonis built a suite of products with the goal of transforming the future of business into one that's more sustainable. Celonis also helped customers quantify and reduce the scope of their CO2 emissions. Furthermore, Celonis entered into partnerships with leading players in the area of sustainability such as Climatiq, EcoVadis and IntegrityNext. These collaborations, along with Celonis' new sustainability apps, transparent reporting and unwavering commitment to helping customers optimize for sustainable processes, continued to lay the foundations for Celonis' sustainability activities and defined milestones for the future. Engaging a global workforce to create tangible impact One example of how Celonis weaves sustainability into its daily business operations is by celebrating three global "Impact Days" every year, during which every single Celonis employee worldwide is able to step away from day-to-day work to focus on ways to give back to society. The most recent Impact Day was celebrated on December 2, 2022, and more than 2,000 Celonauts worldwide supported their communities by participating in over 100 projects for instance, by collecting and donating clothes, food supplies and more to various organizations, including groups that are aiding Ukrainian refugees. Others made an impact virtually participating in a global Sustainability Hackathon alongside Celonis customers. "Impact Day is a day off work not a day off," said Janina Bauer. "Businesses around the world are carbon emitters, and we all have to do our part. It can be hard to imagine, much less execute, concrete measures that really drive change, but what if every organization dedicated three working days per year, where every employee CEO to intern carved out time to work on projects that positively impact the community, the country, and the planet? This kind of commitment, on top of optimizing processes for sustainability, is what can really create a transformative impact." Previous Impact Day projects have included: Community clean-ups to contribute to restoring ecological balance, painting a government school in India, partaking in Code2College programs for low-income group students, and more. Impact Days span 12 countries and 23 locations. Celonis took a first step toward transparent sustainability communication this past August with the release of its report, "The Baseline", making information about its sustainability performance available to the public. It covers all 3 aspects of sustainability (environmental, social and governance). About Celonis Celonis helps companies reveal and fix inefficiencies they can't see, enabling them to perform at levels they never thought possible. Powered by its market-leading process mining core, the Celonis Execution Management System provides a full set of platform capabilities for business executives and users to eliminate billions in corporate inefficiencies, provide better customer experience and reduce carbon emissions. Celonis has thousands of implementations with global customers and is headquartered in Munich, Germany and New York City, USA with more than 20 offices worldwide. 2022 Celonis SE. All rights reserved. Celonis, Execution Management System, EMS and the Celonis "droplet" logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Celonis SE in Germany and other jurisdictions. All other product and company names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005409/en/ Contacts: Celonis press@celonis.com SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 11, 2023/PRNewswire/ -- The global spinal muscular atrophy treatment market size is expected to reach USD 18.0 billion by 2030, according to a new study by Grand View Research Inc. This is expected to expand at a CAGR of 18.6% from 2022 to 2030. This growth can be attributed to the increasing product approval and launches. For instance, in August 2020, the Food and Drug Administration approved Evrysdi (risdiplam) developed by Genentech, Inc., for the treatment of pediatric patients aged two months and older with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). Key Industry Insights & Findings from the report: By type, the type-1 segment held the largest market share in 2021 due to higher prevalence and wide availability of products for the treatment of patients with type-1 spinal muscular atrophy. By treatment, the gene therapy segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment over the forecast period due to increase market penetration. Zolgensma is the only approved gene therapy in 37 countries to treat patient with SMA. By drug, the Spinraza segment dominated the market in 2021 due to presence of supportive reimbursement policies and increasing awareness about products. Currently, Spinraza is applicable for full reimbursement in three European countries Italy , Norway , Netherlands . , , . By route of administration, the injection segment dominated the market in 2021 due to high safety, efficacy, and tolerability associated with infusion drugs to SMA patients through this route of administration. Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest growing region during the forecast period. The growth of region is attributable to the entry of new products into the region. For instance, in July 2021 , F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd launched Evrysdi (risdiplam) for the treatment of patient with spinal muscular atrophy in India . Read full market research report for more latest industry insights, "Spinal Muscular Atrophy Treatment Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Type (Type1, Type 2), By Treatment (Gene Therapy, Drug), By Drug (Spinraza, Zolgensma), By Route Of Administration, By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2022 - 2030", published by Grand View Research. Spinal Muscular Atrophy Treatment Market Growth & Trends In addition, in May 2020, Novartis AG received conditional approval to its SMA candidate Zolgensma (onasemnogene abeparvovec) from the European Commission (EC) to treat patients with SMA. It is only approved gene therapy in Europe. In March 2021, PTC Therapeutics, Inc., received marketing approval for Evrysdi (risdiplam) from the EMA for the treatment of patient with type1, 2, and 3 spinal muscular atrophy. Thus, increasing number of product approvals is expected to drive the spinal muscular atrophy treatment market. Novartis AG is supporting SMA patients by offering medicine at free of cost through global Managed Access Program (MAP). This program provides 100 doses of Zolgensma at free of charge to eligible SMA patients across continents including North America, South America, Asia, Australia, Europe, and Africa. Thus, presence of such supportive programs for Zolgensma strengthens promotional activities and also aid in generating revenue. Global SMA newborn screening and easy access to diagnostic tools should be included in routine approach. This would ensure early diagnosis and timely access to treatment. For instance, in July 2021, a charlotte baby received a breakthrough gene therapy treatment for Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) at UNC Medical Center in Chapel Hill, N.C., after diagnosis with spinal muscular atrophy through Early Check newborn screening program. Such screening programs are expected to boost early diagnosis and treatment of disease. Moreover, there are several extensive research collaborations undertaken by pharmaceutical companies with research institutes for developing novel therapies for the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy patients. For instance, in March 2021, PTC Therapeutics, Inc., and The Spinal Muscular Atrophy Foundation entered into research collaboration to advance scientific research and developing new treatment to treat patients with SMA. However, high costs associated with the treatment and low availability of participant for clinical trial purposes may restrain market growth over the forecast period. The high cost related to research and development of an orphan drug is a major factor of rising prices of product. For instance, the most commonly used drug Spinraza costs around USD 125,000 per injection and USD 750,000 annually. Furthermore, Zolgensma (AVXS-101) costs USD 2.1 million for one time treatment. Spinal Muscular Atrophy Treatment Market Segmentation Grand View Research has segmented the global spinal muscular atrophy treatment market based on type, application, technology, end-use, and region: Spinal Muscular Atrophy Treatment Market - Type Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030) Type 1 Type 2 Type 3 Type 4 Spinal Muscular Atrophy Treatment Market - Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030) Gene Therapy Drug Spinal Muscular Atrophy Treatment Market - Drug Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030) Spinraza Zolgensma (AVXS-101) Evrysdi Others Spinal Muscular Atrophy Treatment Market - Route of Administration Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030) Oral Injection Spinal Muscular Atrophy Treatment Market - Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030) North America U.S. Canada Europe Germany U.K. France Italy Spain Asia Pacific Japan China India Australia South Korea Latin America Brazil Mexico Argentina MEA South Africa Saudi Arabia UAE List of Key Players of Spinal Muscular Atrophy Treatment Market Biogen Novartis AG Ionis Pharmaceuticals Inc. Biohaven Pharmaceuticals F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd Cytokinetics Scholar Rock, Inc. PTC Therapeutics NMD PHARMA A/S Check out more related studies published by Grand View Research: Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) Drugs Market - The global duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) drugs market size is expected to reach USD 4.11 billion by 2023, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc., expanding at a CAGR of 41.3% during the forecast period. Several factors such as the emergence of mutation-specific therapies, growing target population, and favorable government initiatives are driving the market. - The global duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) drugs market size is expected to reach by 2023, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc., expanding at a CAGR of 41.3% during the forecast period. Several factors such as the emergence of mutation-specific therapies, growing target population, and favorable government initiatives are driving the market. Rare Diseases Treatment Market - The global rare diseases treatment market size is expected to reach USD 335.84 billion by 2030, according to a new study by Grand View Research Inc., expanding at a CAGR of 12.8% from 2022 to 2030. Increasing prevalence of rare diseases contributes to industry growth. According to the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), over 30 million of the U.S. population is estimated to be affected by rare diseases in 2022. Increasing prevalence of people living with orphan diseases is anticipated to increase the sales and demand for orphan medicines over the forecast period. - The global rare diseases treatment market size is expected to reach by 2030, according to a new study by Grand View Research Inc., expanding at a CAGR of 12.8% from 2022 to 2030. Increasing prevalence of rare diseases contributes to industry growth. According to the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), over 30 million of the U.S. population is estimated to be affected by rare diseases in 2022. Increasing prevalence of people living with orphan diseases is anticipated to increase the sales and demand for orphan medicines over the forecast period. Hemophilia Market - The global hemophilia market size is expected to reach USD 18.1 billion by 2027, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. It is anticipated to register a CAGR of 5.5% over the forecast period. Increasing awareness of early diagnosis and treatment coupled with supportive government policies is anticipated to boost market share over the forecast period. Browse through Grand View Research's Pharmaceuticals Industry Research Reports. About Grand View Research Grand View Research, U.S.-based market research and consulting company, provides syndicated as well as customized research reports and consulting services. Registered in California and headquartered in San Francisco, the company comprises over 425 analysts and consultants, adding more than 1200 market research reports to its vast database each year. These reports offer in-depth analysis on 46 industries across 25 major countries worldwide. With the help of an interactive market intelligence platform, Grand View Research Helps Fortune 500 companies and renowned academic institutes understand the global and regional business environment and gauge the opportunities that lie ahead. Contact: Sherry James Corporate Sales Specialist, USA Grand View Research, Inc. Phone: 1-415-349-0058 Toll Free: 1-888-202-9519 Email: sales@grandviewresearch.com Web: https://www.grandviewresearch.com Grand View Compass | Astra ESG Solutions Follow Us: LinkedIn | Twitter Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/661327/Grand_View_Research_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/spinal-muscular-atrophy-treatment-market-worth-18-0-billion-by-2030-grand-view-research-inc-301718843.html Continues oneZero's focus on creating client value through analytics BOSTON, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- oneZero, a global leader in multi-asset enterprise trading technology solutions, today announced the appointment of Stephen Totten as Director of Quantitative Analysis. Steve will be responsible for further advancing oneZero's heavy investments in analytics, focusing on solutions for institutional brokers, regional banks, asset managers, PTF's and their EcoSystem Liquidity Partners. oneZero analytics enable oneZero clients to optimize their use of the oneZero EcoSystem for market access, customer pricing to ensure they meet objectives for serving their client franchise, and risk management strategies to efficiently capture the maximum value from their franchise while staying within their risk tolerances. Steve joins oneZero after a long tenure at UniCredit where he was Global Head of eFX, responsible for their end to end provision of electronic foreign exchange services to clients, including sales and distribution, pricing and both principal and agency trading. Prior to joining UniCredit, Steve was a Portfolio Manager at Citadel Investment Group, where he was responsible for developing and managing FX and Macro systematic trading strategies, and an Associate on the FX Desk at Morgan Stanley. Data Insights have always been at the forefront of oneZero's activities. Unlike other aggregators, the full time series quote, trade and configuration information within oneZero is recorded and able to be analyzed either by clients directly through Data Source DNA, by third party Data Analytic Partner Vendors (DAPVs), or through oneZero's own Data Source Insights products. With oneZero Insights, the results of that analysis are available to the clients out of the box along with corresponding recommendations on how to configure their Institutional Hub to achieve their franchise objectives. Insights analytics can be used to create bespoke pricing functions for clients' customers, segment their customer flow, deploy appropriate risk management and hedging strategies, and build suitable liquidity pools for externalized hedges. To this end, oneZero actively works with clients to analyze the results and finds ways to make their business more efficient. Steve commented: "I am excited to be joining a company that's pushing the boundaries in FX technology. oneZero have long recognized that knowledge that can be gleaned through analytics is fundamental to achieving the objectives of their clients, and have a fantastic Data Source product. I look forward to working on building the next generation of analytics and automated optimization tools for our clients and liquidity providers to further enhance their pricing and risk management." Phil Weisberg, EVP of Strategic Planning and Partnerships at oneZero commented: "We are thrilled that Steve has joined us at oneZero. At oneZero, we have always looked at aggregation as one part of a holistic ecommerce solution that also includes customer pricing, risk management and the feedback mechanism which analytics provide to enable our clients' business strategy to impact real time decisions. Steve holds a Master of Engineering from The University of Manchester, an MSc in Finance from Birkbeck, University of London and a Postgraduate Certificate in Applied Mathematics from Columbia University. In December 2022, oneZero announced that Cboe FX and State Street had joined its EcoSystem, and in September, it was reported that Invast Global selected oneZero as their core technology provider for their Multi-asset Prime Services business. In August, it was revealed that oneZero made the Inc. 5000 list of America's fastest-growing private companies , and in July, oneZero was named Best Liquidity Aggregator in FX Markets' e-FX Awards 2022 . About oneZero oneZero Financial Systems has been a leading innovator in multi-asset class enterprise trading technology for over a decade. Its powerful software encompasses the Hub, EcoSystem and Data Source - three components that separately solve specific organizational challenges and together provide a complete solution for trading technology, distribution and analytics. Through reliable connectivity, technology, infrastructure and market access, oneZero empowers financial institutions and brokers to compete effectively in the global financial markets through a globally compliant, liquidity-neutral solution. oneZero is certified to the standards of ISO 27001 information security management systems, and has development and operations centers in Asia, Australia, Europe and North America. For more information, please contact: Talia Geberovich Head of Marketing and Communications tgeberovich@onezero.com Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/827473/oneZero_Financial_Systems_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/onezero-appoints-stephen-totten-as-director-of-quantitative-analysis-301718995.html Marula Mining PLC ("Marula'' or the "Company") 11 January 2023 Graphite Exploration Activities Commence at the Bagamoyo Project Marula Mining (AQSE: MARU) an African focused mining and development company, is pleased to announce that initial exploration activities at the Bagamoyo Graphite Project ("Bagamoyo" or "the Project") in Tanzania have commenced. This follows the announcement made on 30 November 2022, when Marula secured a 73% commercial interest from local Tanzanian company Kusini Gateway Industrial Park Limited ("KGIP") in 22 granted graphite mining licenses located in the Bagamoyo District in the Pwanai Region of Tanzania. Highlights: Initial exploration activities ("Phase 1 Program') have now commenced at the Bagamoyo Project in accordance with the Heads of Agreement signed with KGIP in November 2022 Geofields Tanzania Limited ("Geofields"), one of Tanzania's leading exploration and mining service companies, has been engaged to complete the Phase 1 Program and has mobilised their team to the site and work is already underway The Phase 1 Program will include mapping, sampling and trenching across the 22 granted mining licenses and targeting high-grade, jumbo and large flake graphite mineralisation Samples from the Phase 1 Program will be collected and prepared to be sent for analyses in Tanzania A comprehensive geological database will be produced as part of Phase 1 Program allowing the Company's management team and technical consultants to move towards with implementing its Phase 2 Program work The Phase 1 Program will be completed in Q1 2023. The results and recommendations from the Phase 1 Program completed by Geofields will be released following a review by the Company's technical management team, along with the details of the planned Phase 2 Program that will follow Marula's Board and management team will be on site with KGIP in January 2023 to review Geofields' progress and preliminary results Jason Brewer, Marula Mining PLC CEO said: "I am delighted to confirm that Marula continues to rapidly progress its activities at pace, and across what is fast becoming a very exciting portfolio of battery metals projects here in Africa. "Since signing the agreement with KGIP in late November 2022, we have focused our efforts on assessing the opportunity that exists on account of our 73% interest in the Bagamoyo Graphite Project. I was on site at the Bagamoyo Project last month together with the KGIP team last month, and our Country Manager. We were very pleased with what we saw and what we believe can be accomplished in the short and medium term in partnership with KGIP. "We have been impressed by the speed and competence in which Geofields has approached the Phase 1 exploration program to date. Geofields is strategic service provider company to the Tanzanian exploration and mining industry, and they will be working closely with our team in providing ground exploration survey works, drilling services, and in completing this Phase 1 Program. "Graphite continues to stand out as an essential ingredient in the manufacture of electric vehicle batteries, and as global demand for electric vehicles continues to escalate it is expected to drive a considerable increase in demand for graphite, Marula intends to work towards supplying the product to the global markets from its exploration and development activities in Tanzania and in support of the green transition. "I look forward to updating our shareholders and stakeholders alike, on our progress at Bagamoyo over this coming quarter and in releasing the results from the Phase 1 Program currently being completed by Geofields." The Directors of Marula are responsible for the contents of this announcement. About Marula Mining Marula Mining (AQSE: MARU) is an African focused battery metals investment and exploration company and has interests in several high value mine projects in Africa; Blesberg Lithium and Tantalum Mine in South Africa, Nkombwa Hill Project in Zambia and Kinusi Copper mine and Bagamoyo Graphite Project in Tanzania. As we advance operations in the projects, Marula is open to look into other high-quality commodities in several jurisdictions. Marula aims at identifying and investing in advanced and high-value mining projects throughout East, Central and Southern Africa that can deliver rapidly for its shareholders and can be taken through to production and generate positive returns for all stakeholders. Our Board and management team aims to establish Marula as a socially and environmentally responsible, sustainable, and profitable producer of critical metals and commodities that are of increasingly strategic importance to modern technologies and the global economy. Marula's shares are quoted on the AQUIS Stock Exchange (AQSE) and is exploring opportunities to dual list on the London Stock Exchange's AIM Market and Kenya's Nairobi Securities Exchange. For enquiries contact: Marula Mining PLC Jason Brewer, Chief Executive Officer Faith Kinyanjui Mumbi Investor Relations Email: jason@marulamining.com Email: info@marulamining.com AQSE Corporate Adviser Cairn Financial Advisers LLP, Liam Murray / Ludovico Lazzaretti +44 (0)20 7213 0880 Broker OvalX, Tom Curran / Thomas Smith +44 (0) 20 7392 1568 Financial PR and IR BlytheRay Tim Blythe / Megan Ray +44 (0)20 7138 3204 Caution; Certain statements in this announcement, are, or may be deemed to be, forward looking statements. Forward looking statements are identi?ed by their use of terms and phrases such as 'believe', 'could', "should" 'envisage', 'estimate', 'intend', 'may', 'plan', 'potentially', "expect", 'will' or the negative of those, variations or comparable expressions, including references to assumptions. These forward-looking statements are not based on historical facts but rather on the Directors' current expectations and assumptions regarding the Company's future growth, results of operations, performance, future capital and other expenditures (including the amount, nature and sources of funding thereof), competitive advantages, business prospects and opportunities. Such forward looking statements re?ect the Directors' current beliefs and assumptions and are based on information currently available to the Directors. GURUGRAM, India, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Thailand Dental Services Market is at a growing stage and has highly fragmented market with MOS Dental as the market leader. Country has 200+ organized clinics and 5,000+ unorganized clinics. Thailand dental services market is in growth stage as there is moderate growth owing to rising independent dental clinic chains and dental tourism. The Kingdom of Thailand wants to stimulate its economy by becoming an international hub for medical and dental treatment. wants to stimulate its economy by becoming an international hub for medical and dental treatment. Cosmetic dentistry and implants are the growing field in the near future. This is because cosmetic dentistry is usually expensive but travelling to a dental hub like Thailand saves a lot of cost. saves a lot of cost. The government is also increasing insurance coverage for dental care services through their public health schemes which would further increase demand for dental services. Rising Dental Services Market: The rising age of the population is gearing them towards better oral health practices as well as increasing their demand for dental treatments. Dental services market is anticipated to witness significant growth over the forecast period due to the increasing accessibility, rising dental tourism and government initiatives. Rise in the number of Dentists: The number of dentists is expected to rise in the coming years owing to the new opportunities in the dental services market. The increase in the overall population and dental tourism are considered to be the factor for these developments. The total number of Dentists in Thailand was 17,738 in 2021 growing with expected CAGR of more than 9 % over the period 2021-2026F. By 2025, the Thai population per dentist is expected to be around 2,500 people. New Government Policies: The government provides dental coverage in its national insurance schemes for simple procedures and has introduced initiatives to expand access and awareness. The Thailand National Digital Healthcare Workforce Development Initiative (WDI) was officially launched to focus on the development of a three-year work plan to address the demand of patients for digital healthcare services in light of the Thailand 4.0 digitization journey. Analysts at Ken Research in their latest publication "Thailand Dental Services Market Outlook to 2026F- Driven By Rising Dental Awareness, Dental Tourism, Lower Dental Services Cost and Government's Strong Initiatives in Healthcare System" by Ken Research observed that Dental Services market is an emergent healthcare market in Thailand at a rebounding stage from the economic crisis after pandemic. The rising government policies and demand for cosmetic dentistry, dental consciousness among the population along with government initiatives is expected to contribute to the market growth over the forecast period. The market is expected to grow at a 7.1% CAGR during 2021-2026F owing to increasing accessibility, rising dental tourism and government initiatives. Key Segments Covered in the report:- Malaysia Dental Services Market By Type of Services Endodontics Orthodontics Prosthodontics Cosmetic Dentistry Periodontics Others By Institutions Hospitals Dental Clinics By Dental Clinics Organized Clinics Unorganized Clinics By Revenue International Revenue Domestic Revenue To learn more about this report Download a Free Sample Report By Cities Chonburi Bangkok Mueang Nonthaburi Udon Thani Other Cities Key Target Audience Dental Clinics Dental Equipment Manufacturers and Distributors Dentists Hospitals Market Research and Consulting Firms Healthcare Companies Pharmaceutical Companies Tourism Agencies Government Bodies & Regulating Authorities Time Period Captured in the Report:- Historical Period: 2018-2021 2018-2021 Forecast Period: 2021-2026F Visit this Link Request for custom report Companies Covered:- LDC Dental Clinic MOS Dental Clinic Delta Joy Smile Signature Thantakit Siamdent BFC Dental Sea Smile Beauty Smile Bangkok New Smile Thantakit International Zenitoni Smile Dental Group Pattaya Key Topics Covered in the Report:- Thailand Healthcare Overview Thailand Dental Services Market Overview Ecosystem, Business Cycle and Genesis of Thailand Dental Services Market Thailand Dental Services Market Size by Revenue, 2018-2021 Thailand Dental Services Market Segmentation (By Type of Services, By End Users, By Dental Clinics, By Revenue Division, By Cities), 2021 End User Analysis of Thailand Dental Services Market Industry Analysis of Thailand Dental Services Market Key Growth Drivers in Dental Service Market in Thailand Trends Driving Adoption of Digital Innovation Major Challenges and Bottlenecks in Thailand Dental Services Market Dental Services Market Regulatory Framework in Thailand Dental Services Market Dental Services Market Competition Framework for Thailand Dental Services Market Market Share of Major Dental Services Providers in Thailand Dental Services Market Dental Services Market Cost Sheet of Major treatments and Price List of major Players Impact of Covid-19 on Thailand Dental Care Market Future Outlook and Projections of the Industry, 2026F Market Opportunities and Analyst Recommendations For more insights on the market intelligence, refer to the link below:- Thailand Dental Services Market Related Reports By Ken Research:- UAE Dental Services Market Outlook to 2027F- Rising Awareness for Overall Aesthetics and Adoption of New Technology by Dentists is Driving the Dental Services Market The UAE Dental Services Market witnessed significant growth during the period 2022-2027F owing to a rise in general awareness about dentistry and rising general dental check-ups. The rising Dental consciousness among the Emiratis along with the increased spending on oral health is expected to contribute to the market growth over the forecast period. The dental services market is anticipated to witness significant growth due to the improvements in already existing services along with the introduction of new improved technologies and supportive government policies. KSA Dental Services Market Outlook to 2027F- Driven by Rising Oral Health Awareness, Demand for Aesthetics among Saudi Arabians and Government Initiatives According to Ken Research estimates, the KSA Dental Services Market grew from ~$1.7 Bn in 2018 and ~$ 2 Bn in 2022P owing to the rise in oral health awareness, inclination towards a healthier lifestyle and rising demand for aesthetics and is forecasted to grow further ~$ 3 Bn by 2027F due to improvements in the Saudi healthcare sector by KSA government. Philippines Dental Services Market Outlook to 2026F- Driven By Rising Oral Health Awareness, Growing Economy and Dental Tourism in the Philippines According to Ken Research estimates, the Philippines Dental Services Market - which grew from approximately $ ~1200 Mn in 2018 to approximately $ ~1300 Mn in 2021 - is forecasted to grow further into a $ ~1750 Mn opportunity by 2026F, owing to the growth in the urban population, inclination towards a healthier lifestyle, rise in general awareness related to oral health care, and a growing economy. India Dental Services Market Outlook to FY'2027F - Driven By Rising Dental Awareness, Dental Tourism, Lower Dental Services Cost and Government's Strong Initiatives in Healthcare System India has well-equipped hospitals and dental clinics offering high quality services. India Dental Services market is currently at the growth stage owing to rising personal attention, demand for cost efficiency and technological advancements. India Dental Service Market is a highly fragmented market with Clove Dental as the market leader in the market owing to their highest number of dental clinics and number of dentists and employees per clinic across India. Other players in the market includes Partha Dental Skin & Hair, Orthosquare Dental Clinic, Sabka Dentist, Apollo White Dental. The market is expected to grow at a robust CAGR of 9.6% over the period 2022-2027F owing to Government initiatives as well as the increase in private practices and specialty chains across the country. The affordable cost and high quality of treatments will increase the market share of international tourists in the forecasted period. Follow Us - LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube Contact Us:- Ken Research Private Limited Ankur Gupta, Director Strategy and Growth Ankur@kenresearch.com +91-9015378249 Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1954972/Ken_Research_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/the-thailand-dental-services-market-is-expected-to-contribute-1-7-bn-owing-to-ageing-population-rising-dental-tourism-and-governments-initiatives-in-healthcare-ken-research-301719015.html Xpansiv, the premier infrastructure provider for environmental markets, today announced the completion of its acquisition of Evolution Markets Inc., a leading provider of transaction and advisory services in global carbon, renewable energy, and energy transition markets. The combination of the two companies will expand Xpansiv's service offerings and product development capabilities to help empower the energy transition. The acquisition will also enhance Evolution Markets' client services through its integration with Xpansiv's technology infrastructure, market, and data platforms. "Evolution Markets and Xpansiv are two market leaders who share a common vision of paving the way forward to a successful energy transition using the power of global markets," said Evan Ard, CEO, Evolution Markets. "As our clients manage risk in global energy and environmental markets, we are eager to leverage the capabilities of both organizations to improve overall client outcomes." In addition, Xpansiv announced the closing of a $125 million capital raise designed to fuel continued growth in Xpansiv service offerings and the firm's technology platforms. The raise was linked to the recent $400 million capital raise led by Blackstone Energy Partners which closed in August 2022. New strategic investors Bank of America and Goldman Sachs participated in the raise. "Sustainability is part of discussions in boardrooms and with investors. Robust technology, reliable data, and accessible spot markets are crucial to promote liquidity and scale growth in voluntary carbon trading and environmental commodities. Bank of America supports innovation in these evolving markets," said Jim DeMare, President of Global Markets at Bank of America. "The development of a robust and transparent infrastructure for environmental markets plays a key part in driving energy transition and broader decarbonization," said Patrick Street, head of Goldman Sachs' Global Markets Net Zero Solutions. "We support Xpansiv's effort to develop market infrastructure and trade advisory services to deliver seamless environmental solutions to companies globally." "Evolution Markets brings a world-class team of professionals with the same level of focus and dedication to enabling the energy transition and delivering client successes that we strive for every day. We are excited to work with them and our clients to build the future of environmental markets," said John Melby, CEO, Xpansiv. "Our disciplined acquisition strategy is made possible through the backing of top-tier strategic investors, who share our belief in the environmental markets' important role addressing the climate crisis." Evolution Markets global client base of more than 2,000 customers, including many of the world's largest energy firms, companies, utilities, and financial institutions, will have access to integrated market services including market intermediary services, net zero advisory, structured and managed transactions, trading platform access, and portfolio management. Evolution Markets operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of Xpansiv. All regulatory approvals were secured prior to the transaction close. The Evolution Markets acquisition follows the acquisition of APX, the leading provider of registry infrastructure in the environmental, energy, and power markets in August 2022. Venable LLP acted as legal advisor to Xpansiv on the acquisition. Evolution Markets was advised in the transaction by JMP Securities, a Citizens Company, which acted as the sole financial advisor, and Stroock Stroock Lavan LLP which served as legal advisor. Perella Weinberg Partners LP served as financial advisor, and Morrison Foerster LLP and Clifford Chance LLP served as legal counsel to Xpansiv on the capital raise. Note to Editors: In addition to Blackstone Energy Partners, existing Xpansiv investors include BP Ventures, S&P Global Ventures, Aware Super, Atlas Merchant Capital, Vitruvian Partners, and other leading global investors. About Xpansiv Xpansiv provides the market infrastructure to rapidly scale the world's energy transition. The company's main business units include CBL, the largest spot exchange for environmental commodities, including carbon credits and renewable energy certificates; SRECTrade, one of the largest transaction and management firms in the solar renewable energy market, APX, the leading provider of registry infrastructure for energy, power, and environmental markets, and H2OX, a leading spot exchange for Australian water allocations. Xpansiv also provides end-of-day and historical market data and operates the leading multi-registry portfolio management system for environmental commodities. Xpansiv.com About Evolution Markets Evolution Markets Inc. provides strategic financial and industry-leading transactional and advisory services to participants in global environmental and energy markets. Formed in 2000, the company has become the green markets leader, leveraging its unrivaled experience and knowledge on behalf of participants in the global carbon, emissions, renewable energy, and over the counter (OTC) power, natural gas, oil, nuclear fuel, and biofuels markets. Additional market services include net zero advisory, structured transactions, and data and analytics. Based in White Plains, NY, Evolution Markets serves clients on six continents from offices in New York, Houston, London, and Nice. www.evomarkets.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005449/en/ Contacts: Peter Burton, Xpansiv pr@xpansiv.com Charlie Morrow and Taylor Fenske, Cognito Media xpansiv@cognitomedia.com Jessica Roemer, Evolution Markets jroemer@evomarkets.com VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 11, 2023 / Empress Royalty Corp. (TSXV:EMPR)(OTCQX:EMPYF) ("Empress" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that its common shares are now trading on the OTCQX Best Market under the symbol "EMPYF". Empress upgraded to OTCQX from OTCQB. "Commencing trading on OTCQX is an important step for Empress which allows a greater number of US investors the opportunity to invest in our Company," stated Alexandra Woodyer Sherron, CEO and President of Empress. "Enhancing company visibility, growing market presence, increasing share liquidity, and improving access to capital are key business goals that we have successfully achieved and will be further supported by trading on OTCQX. Empress is focused on delivering shareholder value and we look forward to offering new US investors the opportunity to strategically invest in gold and silver." The OTC Markets Group Inc. (OTCQX: OTCM) offers established, investor-focused Canadian and Internationally listed companies the benefits of being publicly traded in the U.S. with access to more investors. To qualify for OTCQX, companies are required to meet high financial standards, follow best practice corporate governance, and demonstrate compliance with applicable securities laws. Graduating to the OTCQX Market from the OTCQB Market marks an important milestone for companies, enabling them to demonstrate their qualifications and build visibility among U.S. investors. U.S. investors can find current financial disclosure and Real-Time Level 2 quotes for the Company on www.otcmarkets.com. ABOUT EMPRESS ROYALTY CORP. Empress is a global royalty and streaming creation company providing investors with a diversified portfolio of gold and silver investments. Since listing in December 2020, Empress has built a portfolio of 17 precious metal investments and is actively investing in mining companies with development and production stage projects who require additional non-dilutive capital. The Company has strategic partnerships with Endeavour Financial and Terra Capital which allow Empress to not only access global investment opportunities but also bring unique mining finance expertise, deal structuring and access to capital markets. Empress is looking forward to continuously creating value for its shareholders through the proven royalty and streaming models. ON BEHALF OF EMPRESS ROYALTY CORP. Per: Alexandra Woodyer Sherron, CEO and President For further information, please visit our website at www.empressroyalty.com or contact Kaitlin Taylor, Investor Relations, by email at info@empressroyalty.com or by phone at +1.604.331.2080. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release contains statements about Empress' expectations which are forward-looking in nature and, as a result, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. Generally, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "expects", "believes", "anticipates", "aims to", "plans to" or "intends to" or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "will" occur. Although Empress believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them as actual results may differ materially from the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof, and Empress undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, except as required by law. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. SOURCE: Empress Royalty Corp. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/734794/Empress-Royalty-Announces-Upgrade-to-OTCQX-Under-Symbol-EMPYF PARIS and BERLIN, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Valiantys today announced it is expanding into Germany through the acquisition of kreuzwerker's Atlassian consulting business. kreuzwerker is one of the leading Atlassian Platinum Solution Partners in the German market, being the first to achieve the ITSM and Cloud specializations, and recently recognized as "Atlassian Partner of the Year 2021" in "Customer Experience". Valiantys has already strengthened its leading position as a global Atlassian partner through recent acquisitions including Addteq's consulting services and Expium. Valiantys has a significant presence in Europe and North America, with ambitions to continue expanding and growing its talent base. This combination will bring together Valiantys' global operations and deep expertise in Agile at Scale transformations and managed services, thanks to kreuzwerker's strong presence in the German market for Enterprise Service Management. "The DACH region is absolutely strategic to Valiantys' future and is one of Atlassian's largest markets," said Lucas Dussurget, CEO, Valiantys. "kreuzwerker's team is world-class and we're very excited to see them join our Swiss team to establish Valiantys as a leading Atlassian Solution Partner in the DACH region1." "We are delighted to be joining Valiantys. With their support and existing capabilities, we will be able to serve our DACH customers even better with a global presence as well as access to specialists on Cloud Migrations, ITSM, Agile at Scale and Work Management," said Tilman Muerle, Managing Director Atlassian, kreuzwerker. "In Valiantys we have found kindred spirits who are fully aligned with our culture, and our passion for delivering ambitious transformations using Atlassian solutions." "Valiantys' acquisition of kreuzwerker's Atlassian consulting services is an exciting step forward in their EMEA strategy," said Cameron Deatsch, Chief Revenue Office at Atlassian. "The combined efforts of these partners will empower more customers in the DACH region to harness the full potential of teamwork." This acquisition will be made possible by the investment and operational support of: Keensight Capital, one of the leading private equity managers dedicated to international Growth Buyout investments 2 , and Valiantys' majority shareholder; , and Valiantys' majority shareholder; Tercera, a growth equity firm specializing in cloud professional services, has made a minority investment with a specific focus on expanding in the Americas and other key regions About Valiantys Valiantys is a leading global consulting and services firm dedicated to Atlassian. The company accelerates business transformation by digitizing processes and modernizing teamwork, using the best agile methods and tools. Its Atlassian technical expertise is unparalleled and Valiantys supports its customers across the entire spectrum of projects on those platforms. As a recognized Agile at Scale, ITSM, and Cloud Specialized Partner, Valiantys help organizations accelerate time to value with Agile at scale, cloud, and ITSM implementations. Because teamwork requires more than just tools, the firm bridges the gap between applications and strategic practices such as SAFe and ITIL. Over the last 15 years, Valiantys has helped more than 5,000 customers achieve their desired business outcomes at a reduced time to value, through improved team collaboration. More information about Valiantys can be found at https://valiantys.com/ Follow Valiantys on LinkedIn About Kreuzwerker kreuzwerker is a full-stack software consulting company founded in 2010. The company has been an AWS APN Advanced Consulting Partner since 2013 and was the first APN Partner in DACH to pass the AWS APN DevOps Competency. kreuzwerker experts have integrated cloud native software development into startup, SMB and enterprise environments for hundreds of clients including highly regulated industries. More information about kreuzwerker can be found at https://www.kreuzwerker.de Follow kreuzwerker on LinkedIn 1Germany-Austria-Switzerland 2 Growth Buyout: investment in profitable, private companies experiencing strong growth, in minority or majority positions, with or without leverage, using a flexible approach tailored to the needs of individual entrepreneurs, in order to finance organic growth projects, acquisition strategies or provide historic shareholders with liquidity. Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1980997/Valiantys_Logo.jpg Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1980999/VALIANTYS_X_KREUZWERKER.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/valiantys-sets-strategy-to-strengthen-its-position-in-europe-by-acquiring-kreuzwerkers-atlassian-consulting-business-301718687.html A woman who arrived from China walks into a COVID-19 testing center at Incheon International Airport in South Korea on Jan. 5. AP-Yonhap Seoul-Beijing COVID spat escalates following China's new visa curbs By Jack Lau South Korea was the first country to take the brunt of Beijing's visa suspensions in retaliation against coronavirus testing requirements imposed by more than 15 countries as cases spiked inside China after the end of its zero-COVID policy. One analyst said South Korea was targeted first because it could do little to respond to China's retaliation, mainly because of the country's heavy reliance on trade with China. China is South Korea's No. 1 trading partner. "I think China believes that South Korea greatly relies on it economically, and therefore when China protests, South Korea will comply with its demands. But this thinking might be an illusion," Shi Yinhong, an international relations professor at Renmin University of China, said. The South Korean government was unlikely to budge on the entry restrictions and would, like other countries, drop the measures when health authorities could ensure no new coronavirus variants were being introduced from China, he said. Shi said South Korean lawmakers' recent visit to Taiwan also seemed to have played a part in aggravating China. The South Korean delegation led by Vice Speaker Chung Woo-taik returned to Seoul after a four-day visit to Taiwan from Dec. 28. During its visit, the lawmakers had a 40-minute meeting with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and exchanged ideas about inter-Korean relations and other diplomatic and security issues. China reacted angrily to the parliamentarians' visit to Taiwan. Shi said he would not rule out China halting short-term visa issuances involving more countries but could not say which might be targeted and when. But the U.S. tended to be the last country to be sanctioned by China despite being the most antagonistic against Beijing. Passengers arriving from China pass by a COVID-19 testing center at Incheon International Airport in South Korea on Jan. 10. The airport was designated as the only airport from which travelers from China can arrive. AP-Yonhap Dr. Ryu Yong-wook, an assistant professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy of the National University of Singapore, said China is aware of the limited options South Korea can take. "There's hardly anything [South] Korea can do to retaliate against Chinese sanctions," he said, adding that the South was one of the "easier" countries to retaliate against. But he said he doubted the diplomatic spat would affect ties in the long term, because restrictions would likely drop in two to three months. Relations were already at a low point when South Korea's foreign policy objectives did not align with China's, especially as the U.S.-China rivalry intensified. Buyidao, an account on Chinese social media platform WeChat that is associated with the Chinese nationalist tabloid Global Times, said Wednesday that the fresh entry requirements are an exercise of double standards, and "politicization and weaponization of COVID-19." VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 11, 2023 / Skeena Resources Limited (TSX:SKE)(NYSE:SKE) ("Skeena" or the "Company") announces that, effective immediately, Skeena's Chief Operating Officer ("COO"), Shane Williams, has left the Company to pursue other endeavours. Randy Reichert, President & CEO, will temporarily assume the duties of COO in addition to his normal role. "On behalf of the Board and all Skeena employees, I want to thank Shane for his contributions to the Eskay Creek Project. We wish him well in his future endeavors," stated Walter Coles, Executive Chairman. In addition, Skeena is pleased to announce the promotion of Adrian Newton to Vice President ("VP") of Exploration. Reporting to Paul Geddes, Skeena's Senior Vice President of Exploration and Resource Development, Mr. Newton is an integral member of the exploration management team. He will continue to oversee exploration programs and assist with the strategic growth of the Company's portfolio of projects in the Golden Triangle. Mr. Newton has worked on Skeena's Exploration Team for almost 5 years and has over 18 years of precious metals focused international experience working with junior exploration through to major mining companies. The Company's President & CEO, Randy Reichert, commented "It is a pleasure to have Adrian move into the VP of Exploration position. Adrian has demonstrated his technical prowess with the Eskay Creek deposit and has been instrumental in the recent exploration successes on the Project". About Skeena Skeena Resources Limited is a Canadian mining exploration and development company focused on revitalizing the past-producing Eskay Creek gold-silver mine located in Tahltan Territory in the Golden Triangle of northwest British Columbia, Canada. The Company released a Feasibility Study for Eskay Creek in September 2022 which highlights an open-pit average grade of 4.00 g/t AuEq, an after-tax NPV5% of C$1.4B, 50% IRR, and a 1-year payback at US$1,700/oz Au and US$19/oz Ag. Skeena is currently continuing exploration drilling at Eskay Creek. On behalf of the Board of Directors of Skeena Resources Limited, Walter Coles Jr. Executive Chairman Randy Reichert President & CEO Contact Information Investor Inquiries: info@skeenaresources.com Office Phone: +1 604 684 8725 Company Website: www.skeenaresources.com Qualified Persons In accordance with National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, Paul Geddes, P.Geo., Senior Vice President, Exploration & Resource Development, is the Qualified Person for the Company and has prepared, validated, and approved the technical and scientific content of this news release. The Company strictly adheres to CIM Best Practices Guidelines in conducting, documenting, and reporting the exploration activities on its projects. Cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements Certain statements and information contained or incorporated by reference in this news release constitute "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). These statements relate to future events or our future performance. The use of words such as "anticipates", "believes", "proposes", "contemplates", "generates", "targets", "is projected", "is planned", "considers", "estimates", "expects", "is expected", "potential" and similar expressions, or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "might", "will", "could", or "would" be taken, achieved, or occur, may identify forward- looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. Specific forward- looking statements contained herein include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the results of the Feasibility Study, processing capacity of the mine, anticipated mine life, probable reserves, estimated project capital and operating costs, sustaining costs, results of test work and studies, planned environmental assessments, the future price of metals, metal concentrate, and future exploration and development. Such forward-looking statements are based on material factors and/or assumptions which include, but are not limited to, the estimation of mineral resources and reserves, the realization of resource and reserve estimates, metal prices, taxation, the estimation, timing and amount of future exploration and development, capital and operating costs, the availability of financing, the receipt of regulatory approvals, environmental risks, title disputes and the assumptions set forth herein and in the Company's MD&A for the year ended December 31, 2021, its most recently filed interim MD&A, and the Company's Annual Information Form ("AIF") dated March 31, 2022. Such forward-looking statements represent the Company's management expectations, estimates and projections regarding future events or circumstances on the date the statements are made, and are necessarily based on several estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the Company as of the date hereof, are not guarantees of future performance. Actual events and results may differ materially from those described herein, and are subject to significant operational, business, economic, and regulatory risks and uncertainties. The risks and uncertainties that may affect the forward-looking statements in this news release include, among others: the inherent risks involved in exploration and development of mineral properties, including permitting and other government approvals; changes in economic conditions, including changes in the price of gold and other key variables; changes in mine plans and other factors, including accidents, equipment breakdown, bad weather and other project execution delays, many of which are beyond the control of the Company; environmental risks and unanticipated reclamation expenses; and other risk factors identified in the Company's MD&A for the year ended December 31, 2021, its most recently filed interim MD&A, the AIF dated March 31, 2022, the base shelf prospectus dated November 11, 2020, the prospectus supplement to the Company's base shelf prospectus dated September 20, 2022 and in the Company's other periodic filings with securities and regulatory authorities in Canada and the United States that are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com or on EDGAR at www.sec.gov. Readers should not place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made and the Company does not undertake any obligations to update and/or revise any forward- looking statements except as required by applicable securities laws. SOURCE: Skeena Resources Limited View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/734796/Skeena-Announces-Updates-to-Management-Team Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 11, 2023) - Kraken Energy Corp. (CSE: UUSA) (OTCQB: UUSAF) (the "Company" or "Kraken") is pleased to announce that it has staked mining claims encompassing the Huber Hills Uranium Project ("Huber Hills" or "the Project") in Elko County, Nevada. Huber Hills Uranium Project Highlights: 129 unpatented lode claims covering 1,044 hectares (2,580 acres) Claims encompass the historic Race Track open pit mine, once Elko County's largest uranium producer, which produced ~10,000 pounds of U3O8 grading 0.24% U3O8 Channel samples from Race Track returned results of 0.149% and 0.102% U3O8 (2007) Located near Mountain City, north of California Creek in an area with numerous well-known uranium occurrences discovered and worked during the uranium boom of the 1950s and 1960s Claims also cover multiple historic uranium showings and molybdenum prospects, including the Autunite and October uranium showings Believed to cover the western portion of the Mountain West Property, which has a historical resource of 1.1 million pounds U3O8 with an average grade of 0.153% U3O8. This above mineral resource estimate is considered to be an "historical estimate" under National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"). A Qualified Person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as a current mineral resource, and the Company is not treating these historical estimates as current Mineral Resources. Confirmatory drilling of historical drill holes would be required in order to verify the Mountain West Deposit historical estimate as a current mineral resource. "Huber Hills is a highly prospective land package that fits well with our strategy to acquire and explore high-grade, past-producing US-based uranium projects with the potential to feed a central milling facility as part of a hub and spoke model," stated CEO Matthew Schwab. "We plan to approach this project with rapid and cost-efficient exploration activities, such as drone magnetics and radiometrics, geological mapping, and prospecting to confirm existing targets and outline new anomalies, followed by a drilling program targeted for H2 2023." The Huber Hill property comprises 129 unpatented lode mineral claims covering approximately 1,044 hectares (2,580 acres) and is located near Mountain City, north of California Creek in Elko County, Nevada. The mineral claims encompass the historic Race Track uranium mine, and the Autunite and October uranium showings, plus numerous molybdenum prospects. The Race Track Mine was the largest producer of uranium during the 1950s and 1960s in Elko County, producing nearly 10,000 pounds of U3O8 from ore grading 0.24%1. A recent sampling program completed within the historic Race Track Mine open pit by the project's previous operator, Samba Gold Inc. in 2007, consisted of two adjacent 4.5 metre (14.9 feet) channel samples from an exposed bentonitic tuff found in the best developed part of the historic pit, returned results of 0.149% and 0.102% U3O8. 1 Garside & David, 2006 Accessibility: The Huber Hills Project is located roughly 2.0 kilometres (1.2 miles) east of Mountain City, Nevada and is accessible year-round from Elko, Nevada via all-weather highway 225. Figure 1: Huber Hills Property Map To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8684/150934_krakenfigure1.jpg The Project is believed to cover the western portion of the Mountain West Property, formerly owned by Bayswater Uranium (Kilgore Minerals Co.), which is located 8 kilometres (5 miles) east of the small village of Mountain City. This property was explored between 1967 and 1983 by Pathfinder Mines (owned by Cogema) and its predecessor Utah Construction and Mining Co. and, according to Baywater press releases, 359 holes were drilled to depths of up to 82 metres (270 feet) and an historic resource of approximately 1.1 million pounds U3O8 with an average grade of 0.153% U3O8 was defined. Geological Information: There are two general types of uranium deposits on the claim groups: one type occurs along vertical fractures and/or shear zones in quartz monzontie (Autunite and October Prospects), while the other type of deposit is related to the contact zone between the underlying Cretaceous quartz monzonite and the overlying Tertiary volcanic sediments. At the Race Track Mine, an apparent basal tuffaceous layer has also been described as a shear zone separating the quartz monzonite from the granite. The Autunite and October prospects are developed in a near vertical shear zone in the quartz monzonite. Technical Information All scientific and technical information in this news release has been prepared by or reviewed and approved by Matthew Schwab, P.Geo., President and CEO of the Company, and Garrett Ainsworth, P.Geo., Chairman of the Company. Each of Mr. Schwab and Mr. Ainsworth is a Qualified Person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. About Kraken Energy Corp. Kraken Energy Corp. is a new energy company advancing its 100%-owned Apex Uranium Property, located 280 km (174 miles) east from Reno, Nevada. The Apex Property is recognized as Nevada's largest past-producing uranium mine. The Company has additionally entered into an option agreement to earn 100% of the Garfield Hills Uranium Property, located 19 km (12 miles) east of Hawthorne in Mineral County, Nevada. Additional staking has been done on the Garfield Hills Uranium Property, bringing the total area of the Property to 1,238 hectares (3,060 acres). For more information about the Company, please visit www.krakenenergycorp.com. On Behalf of the Board of Kraken Energy Corp. Matthew Schwab President & Chief Executive Officer Corporate Office: Suite 907 - 1030 West Georgia Street Vancouver, British Columbia V6E 2Y3 T: (604) 377-1212 For investor relations inquiries, contact: Kristina Pillon, High Tide Consulting Corp. E: info@krakenenergycorp.com The CSE has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This press release includes "forward-looking information" that is subject to a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. Such statements are subject to all of the risks and uncertainties normally incident to such events. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future events and that actual events or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements represent management's best judgment based on information currently available. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/150934 Over 30 Percent of Applications Contain Flaws at First Scan; By Five Years, Nearly 70 Percent of Apps Have At Least One Flaw Scanning via API, Hands-on Security Training, and Scan Frequency Identified as Key Factors to Reduce Flaw Introduction Over Time Veracode, a leading global provider of modern application security testing solutions, today revealed data that could save organizations time and money by helping developers minimize the introduction and accumulation of security flaws in their software. The Veracode State of Software Security 2023 report found that flaw build-up over time is such that nearly 32 percent of applications are found to have flaws at the first scan and by the time they have been in production for five years, nearly 70 percent contain at least one security flaw. Veracode has been publishing its annual report since 2010, summarizing the key discoveries from its diverse customer base. With the cost of a data breach averaging $4.35 million*, teams should prioritize remediation early in the software development life cycle to minimize risk caused by flaw accumulation. Chris Eng, Chief Research Officer at Veracode, said, "As with all our studies, we set out to provide insights that developers can put into action right away. From this year's findings, two important considerations emerged: how to lower the chance of flaws being introduced in the first place, and how to reduce the number of those flaws that are introduced. Aside from technical access controls, secure coding practices are all the more crucial for cybersecurity in 2023 and beyond." No Direct Correlation Between App Growth and Flaw Introduction After the initial scan, apps quickly enter a 'honeymoon period' of stability, and nearly 80 percent do not take on any new flaws at all for the first 1.5 years. After this point, however, the number of new flaws introduced begins to climb again to approximately 35 percent at the five-year mark. The study found that developer training, use of multiple scan types, including scanning via API, and scan frequency are influential factors in reducing the probability of flaw introduction, suggesting teams should make them key components of their software security programs. For example, skipping months between scans correlates with an increased chance that flaws will be found when a scan is eventually run. Furthermore, top flaws in apps vary by testing type, highlighting the importance of using multiple scan types to ensure hard-to-identify flaws aren't missed. The Fragility of Open Source With heightened focus on the Software Bill of Materials over the past year, Veracode's research team also examined 30,000 open-source repositories publicly hosted on GitHub. Interestingly, 10 percent of repositories hadn't had a commit-a change to the source code-for almost six years. Eng said, "Using a software composition analysis (SCA) solution that leverages multiple sources for flaws, beyond the National Vulnerability Database, will give advance warning to teams once a vulnerability is disclosed and enable them to implement safeguards more quickly, hopefully before exploitation begins. Setting organizational policies around vulnerability detection and management is also recommended, as well as considering ways to reduce third-party dependencies." An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure: Steps to Success Veracode's research reveals key steps that security and development teams should take: Tackle technical or security debt as early and quickly as possible. The remediation curve must fall earlier and faster because an application will have accumulated flaws by the time it is two years old. Whether through increasing complexity from years of steady growth or diminishing focus on application development, this trend continues upwards, meaning there is a 90 percent chance an application will contain at least one flaw by the 10-year mark. Scanning frequently using a variety of tools helps to find and fix flaws that may have been introduced or built up over time. Prioritize automation and developer security training to provide understanding of which vulnerabilities are most likely to be introduced, as well as techniques to avoid introducing flaws altogether. Overall, the data shows a 27 percent chance that new flaws will be introduced in an application in any given month. Organizations that scan via API reduce this probability to 25 percent. Those that complete 10 Security Labs-a training platform offering hands-on vulnerability detection and remediation experience-also reduce the probability of flaws being introduced by 1.8 percent in any given month. Establish an application lifecycle management protocol that incorporates change management, resource allocation, and organizational controls. Investigate what the supportability and quality control phases look like in your organization. Initial discussions could lead to planned obsolescence for some applications and a review of the processes and quality control measures involved in continuous product engineering. Jay Jacobs, Co-founder and Data Scientist at The Cyentia Institute, with whom Veracode produced the report, closed, "With Veracode's State of Software Report, it's fascinating to examine flaw accumulation and behavior by drawing upon nearly two decades of data. The breadth and depth of the data enables us to not just identify best practices, but also some of the more subtle factors that need to be addressed early in the development process to minimize risk later down the line." The Veracode State of Software Security 2023 study analyzed more than three quarters of a million applications across commercial software suppliers, software outsourcers, and open-source projects. The full report is available to download here. IBM Security and The Ponemon Institute, "Cost of a Data Breach Report 2022", July 2022, https://www.ibm.com/downloads/cas/3R8N1DZJ About the State of Software Security Report The Veracode State of Software Security 2023 report analyzed data from large and small companies, commercial software suppliers, software outsourcers, and open-source projects. The report contains findings from more than three quarters of a million (759,445) applications that used all scan types, more than a million (1,262,147) dynamic analysis scans, more than seven million (7,522,989) static analysis scans, and more than 18 million (18,473,203) software composition analysis scans. All those scans produced 86 million raw static findings, 3.7 million raw dynamic findings, and 8.5 million raw software composition analysis findings. About Veracode Veracode is a leading AppSec partner for creating secure software, reducing the risk of security breach, and increasing security and development teams' productivity. As a result, companies using Veracode can move their business, and the world, forward. With its combination of process automation, integrations, speed, and responsiveness, Veracode helps companies get accurate and reliable results to focus their efforts on fixing, not just finding, potential vulnerabilities. Learn more at www.veracode.com, on the Veracode blog, on LinkedIn, and on Twitter. Copyright 2023 Veracode, Inc. All rights reserved. Veracode is a registered trademark of Veracode, Inc. in the United States and may be registered in certain other jurisdictions. All other product names, brands or logos belong to their respective holders. All other trademarks cited herein are property of their respective owners. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005141/en/ Contacts: For more information: Katy Gwilliam kgwilliam@veracode.com Dieppe, New Brunswick--(Newsfile Corp. - January 11, 2023) - Colibri Resource Corporation (TSXV: CBI) (OTC Pink: CRUCF) ("Colibri" or the "Company") is pleased to report that it has completed additional drilling on the Evelyn Gold Project located in the Caborca Gold Belt, northwestern Sonora. Drilling completed includes 3 diamond holes totaling 1063 metres ("m"), 5 reverse circulation ("RC") holes totaling 1205 m, and 130 short RC holes totaling 1548 m were completed to penetrate alluvium and sample the top of bedrock. The three diamond holes were drilled to test an Induced Polarization Survey ("IP") chargeability anomaly that has been interpreted from the Company's 2021 IP survey to underlie the Main Zone mineralization. Three of the 5 RC holes completed were drilled on the western part of the property to test chargeability and resistivity anomalies also interpreted from the 2021 IP survey. Two of the 5 RC holes were drilled at the Main Zone in a down dip position relative to holes EVE22-30 and EVE22-42 which intersected 87 m at an average grade of 0.127 grams per tonne ("g/t") Au which included 8 m at an average grade 0.336 g/t Au (EVE22-030) and 86 m at an average grade of 0.165 g/t Au which included 10 m at an average grade of 0.551 g/t Au (EVE22-042). The "short hole" drill program was planned to explore under extensive alluvial cover north of the Main Zone. The Company has inferred structures with the same trend orientation as the fault zone hosting the Main Zone vein and completed 130 holes on 3 separate grids, with hole spacing at approximately 25 m centers, to explore and map bedrock under the alluvial cover. Assays are pending from the core drilling program completed at the Main Zone. The RC drilling samples are currently being prepared for shipment to ALS Global in Hermosillo for analyses. EVELYN GEOLOGY AND EXPLORATION The Evelyn Gold Project is an Orogenic-type gold target located in the Caborca Gold Belt of northwestern Sonora. The property is located approximately 25 kilometres ("km") east of La Herradura, Mexico's largest open pit gold mine, which produced 425,288 ounces of gold in 2020 at an average grade of 0.77 grams per tonnes ("g/t") Au and is also approximately 9 km northeast of the Noche Buena mine which produced 87,988 ounces Au at an average grade of 0.52 g/t Au in 2020. The setting and style of mineralization at Evelyn is similar to that reported from La Herradura and Noche Buena. Higher grade mineralization on the Evelyn property consists of quartz veins and veinlets, ranging from 2 - 3 centimeters up to 1.5 m hosted by fault and fracture zones with minor oxidized pyrite, iron oxide, copper bearing oxide and carbonate minerals, and locally minor to trace amounts of galena, chalcopyrite, and sphalerite. Alteration of the host rocks includes iron bearing carbonate minerals, quartz, sericite, and chlorite. Lower grade mineralization is associated with altered volcanic rocks containing minor amounts of oxidized sulfide. Mineralization is hosted dominantly by Jurassic volcanic rocks consisting of andesite and rhyolite. The exploration model being evaluated by the Company relates the mineralization consisting of higher-grade veins and veinlets hosted by altered and sulphide bearing lower grade metamorphic and volcanic rocks, to north-northeast trending stratigraphy and layer-parallel fault zones and southeast striking, moderately southwest dipping fault zones. QUALIFIED PERSON Jamie Lavigne, P. Geo and a Director for Colibri is a Qualified Person as defined in NI 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical information in this press release. ABOUT COLIBRI RESOURCE CORPORATION: Colibri is a Canadian-based mineral exploration company listed on the TSX-V (CBI) and is focused on acquiring and exploring prospective gold & silver properties in Mexico. The Company has six exploration projects of which five currently have exploration programs being executed 2021 and 2022. (1) The flagship Evelyn Gold Project is 100% owned and explored by Colibri, (2) the Pilar Gold & Silver Project (optioned to Tocvan Ventures- (CSE: TOC), (3) the El Mezquite Gold & Silver Project , (4) the Jackie Gold & Silver Project, and (5) the Diamante Gold & Silver Project. 3,4,and 5 are subject to earn-in agreements by Silver Spruce Resources - (TSXV: SSE). For more information about all Company projects please visit: http://www.colibriresource.com. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: This news release contains "forward-looking statements". Statements in this press release which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements and include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and the Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that the plans, expectations and intentions contained in this press release are reasonable, there can be no assurance that they will prove to be accurate. For information contact: Ronald J. Goguen, President, Chairperson and Director, Tel: (506) 383-4274, rongoguen@colibriresource.com To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/150999 Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - January 11, 2023) - Honey Badger Silver Inc. (TSXV: TUF) ("Honey Badger" or the "Company") is pleased to announce certain constructive amendments to the previously announced (see the Company's news release dated June 10, 2022) non-binding term sheet (the "Term Sheet") signed on June 9, 2022, with Aftermath Silver Ltd. ("Aftermath"), with regards to the potential acquisition by the Company of a 100% interest in the Cachinal De La Sierra Silver-Gold Project (the "Cachinal Project" or "Cachinal"), located in the Cachinal de la Sierra area in Chile's Antofagasta region (Region II), from Aftermath. In connection with the amendments to the Term Sheet, the exclusivity period has been extended by the parties to enter into definitive documentation relating to the proposed acquisition of the Cachinal Project to February 15, 2023. Except as summarized below, all other terms remain the same as was originally set out in the Term Sheet and disclosed in the Company's June 10, 2022 announcement. Chad Williams, the Company's Non-Executive Chairman and Director, commented, "We are pleased with the modifications to the non-binding term sheet with Aftermath relating to the acquisition of Cachinal, and we extend our thanks to Aftermath for their commitment to constructive negotiations and what we expect will be a mutually beneficial transaction. We look forward to finalizing the definitive agreement in the coming weeks and, if definitive documentation is executed, we expect the transaction to close in a timely manner thereafter, subject to regulatory approval and satisfaction or waiver, as applicable, of customary closing conditions." Rationale for Transaction The proposed acquisition of Cachinal by Honey Badger is expected to create significant shareholder value and deliver multiple benefits for Honey Badger shareholders, namely: Adds NI 43-101 compliant 16.39 million ounces silver in the Indicated category and 2.48 million ounces silver in the Inferred category ( 1 ) Accretive transaction with an expected acquisition cost of $0.27/oz of silver, providing shareholders with significant leverage to increasing silver prices Excellent potential for material resource growth at depth targeting high-grade feeder structures Potential to unlock local synergies with industry players and generate near-term cash flows by leveraging possible excess mill capacity at the nearby Guanaco gold-silver mine complex, just 16 road kilometers to the south of Cachinal. The Cachinal acquisition, if completed, would mark an important milestone for Honey Badger, as it is expected to meaningfully expand the Company's silver resource base, complementing its portfolio of high-grade, district scale silver properties in the Yukon. Amended Payment Terms: At closing, it is expected that Honey Badger will issue common shares to Aftermath having a value of C$1,000,000 at a deemed price per share equal to the greater of: (a) a minimum share price of C$0.05 per share ( 2 ) ; or (b) at the volume weighted average price ("VWAP") of Honey Badger's common shares trading on the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV") for a period of thirty (30) days immediately preceding the closing; or (c) the maximum discounted price allowed under the policies of the TSXV. This represents approximately 10% of Honey Badger's shares outstanding post-transaction, if shares are issued at C$0.05/share. In addition, Honey Badger is expected to pay C$652,000 in cash on closing. Additional cash payments are expected to be made in three subsequent payments, with Honey Badger expected to have the option to satisfy such payments in cash or by the issuance of additional common shares at a deemed price per share equal to the greater of (a) a minimum share price of C$0.05 per share ( 2 ) ; or (b) at the volume weighted average price ("VWAP") of Honey Badger's common shares trading on the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV") for a period of thirty (30) days immediately preceding the date on which the payment is due; or (c) the maximum permitted discount to "market price" under the policies of the TSXV. The subsequent cash payments are expected to be as follows: C$200,000 by May 31 st , 2023 C$400,000 by March 31, 2024 C$400,000 by September 31, 2024 Hold Period: In addition to any hold periods imposed by applicable securities laws, the shares of Honey Badger to be issued to Aftermath (the "Consideration Shares") are expected to be subject to the following restrictions on transfer, subject to customary exceptions (the "Holding Period"): (i) 50% of the number of the shares issued as part of the share consideration shall have a contractual hold period expiring six months and one day from the date of issuance, and (ii) the remaining 50% of the shares issued as part of the share consideration shall have a contractual hold period expiring twelve-months and one day from the date of issuance. The foregoing restrictions will be set out in a lock-up agreement that the parties will enter into as part of closing, which will include customary covenants regarding dealings with the Consideration Shares subject to the Holding Period, including: (i) voting support and standstill covenants during the period in which Consideration Shares are subject to the Holding Period; and (ii) limiting the number of shares that may be sold following the expiry of the Holding Period, in each case on reasonable terms and conditions agreed by the parties, each acting reasonably. It is expected that, upon commencement of commercial production at Cachinal, Honey Badger shall pay, in cash or shares at Aftermath's option, C$0.50 per payable silver ounce produced at the Cachinal Project, capped at C$2,500,000 in payments. The proposed acquisition of the Cachinal Project remains subject to negotiation and finalization of definitive documentation and, if definitive documentation is entered into, the completion of the transaction will be subject to customary closing conditions for transactions of this nature. The transaction (including any issuance of common shares of the Company resulting therefrom) will also be subject to approval by the TSX Venture Exchange. No assurance can be given that the parties will enter into definitive documentation relating to the acquisition of the Cachinal Project, or that the terms of such transaction may not be further revised, or if definitive documentation in respect of a transaction is entered into by the parties, that the transaction will be completed in the manner anticipated by the parties, or at all. Notes: (1) Notes on the Cachinal Mineral Resource Estimate: For complete details on the Cachinal Mineral Resource estimate, please refer to the NI 43-101 technical report titled "Independent Technical Report for the Cachinal Silver-Gold Project, Region II, Chile", by Qualified Persons G. Cole, (P.Geo) of SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc. and S. Alvarado Casas, of Geoinvest SAC E.I.R.L. (Chile), dated September 11, 2020 with an effective date of August 10, 2020, filed on the Aftermath Silver SEDAR profile. Cachinal mineral resources were classified according to the CIM Definition Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves (May 2014). Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. All figures have been rounded to reflect the relative accuracy of the estimates. Cut-off grades are based on metal price assumptions of US$22.00 / ounce of silver and US$1,550 / ounce of gold, and metallurgical recoveries of 85% for both silver and gold using milling and cyanide leaching. The portion of the Mineral Resources that has been determined to be amenable to extraction through open-pit methods was reported to a cut-off of 30 g/t silver equivalent. The open-pit Mineral Resource is constrained within Lerchs-Grossman optimised pit shells that assume mining dilution & losses of 2.5%, 50-degree overall slope angles, mining costs of $2/t rock, general and administrative costs of $2/t rock, processing costs of US$15/t for processing using milling and cyanide leaching. The portion of the Mineral Resources deemed to be amenable to extraction through underground methods are reported at a cut-off of 150 g/t silver equivalent. This assumes a mining cost of US$90/t, general and administrative costs of $2/t and a processing costs of US$15/t. (2)The deemed price per share shown is based on a pre-consolidated basis in reference to Honey Badger's proposed share consolidation announced on December 16, 2022 (the "Consolidation"). If the closing occurs after the effectiveness of the Consolidation, then the deemed price per share at which the closing share consideration will be issued will be adjusted accordingly. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD Chad Williams Director and Non-Executive Chair About Honey Badger Silver Inc. Honey Badger Silver is a Canadian Silver company based in Toronto, Ontario focused on the acquisition, development and integration of accretive transactions of silver ounces. The company is led by a highly experienced leadership team with a track record of value creation backed by a skilled technical team. With advanced projects in the southeast and south-central Yukon including the Plata property 180 kms to the east of the Keno Hill silver district, and a dominant land position in Ontario's historic Thunder Bay Silver District, Honey Badger Silver is positioning to be a top-tier silver company. For more information, please visit our website above, or contact: Mr. Ed Thorose: ethorose@honeybadgerexp.com President (647) 278-5160 Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation that is based on expectations, estimates, projections and interpretations as at the date of this news release. The information in this news release and any other information herein that is not a historic fact may be "forward-looking information". Forward-looking information are often identified by terms such as "may", "should", "anticipate", "will", "estimates", "believes", "intends", "expects", and similar expressions which are intended to identify forward-looking information as such. More particularly and without limitation, this news release contains forward-looking information concerning the proposed acquisition by the Company of the Cachinal Project, the proposed amended consideration of such acquisition, and the ability of the parties thereto to complete the negotiation of definitive documentation and consummate the proposed transaction on the terms and timelines anticipated. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed timeframes or at all. The Company cautions that all forward-looking information is inherently uncertain, and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, assumptions and expectations, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, including: risks relating to failing to negotiate the definitive documentation concerning the proposed acquisition of Cachinal on the terms expected or at all; risks relating to inability to secure necessary third-party consents or regulatory or other governmental approvals on a timely basis, or at all; general political risks and risks relating to changing laws, risks inherent with uncertain economic conditions, among other risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information contained in this news release. The forward-looking information contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof, and the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/150977 New presence to support clients and growth of markets business in South Florida BNP Paribas Securities Corp, a unit of Europe's leading bank BNP Paribas, today announced its plans to open a new office in the metro-Miami area. The Miami office will support the continued growth of its Global Markets business in the US, amongst others, and the increasing number of clients with a foothold in South Florida. The hub will provide an additional gateway to its regional clients, as well as expand on its network of US campuses. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005184/en/ Europe's leading bank, BNP Paribas, is opening an office in Miami to better support clients and the growth of its Global Markets business. The Brickell Ave location (above) will officially open in Fall 2023 and house nearly 50 full-time employees. Image by Juan Silva, Colliers International. (Photo: Business Wire) The new office will be located at 801 Brickell Avenue in Miami's financial hub, officially open for business in the 4th Quarter 2023, and employ nearly 50 full-time professionals in credit, equities, and macro products. A seven and a half year lease for the office was recently signed. Jose Placido, Chief Executive Officer of CIB Americas at BNP Paribas, said: "Our new office is another recent example of scaling our business in ways that fully support our client's ambitions, as more of our clients build a presence in South Florida. With this opportunity to better serve our clients, we deliver on our ambitions to grow our corporate and institutional banking franchise in the Americas. Our new Miami office also continues with our 'workplace of the future' model, focusing on wellbeing and employee experience." John Gallo, Head of Global Markets Americas at BNP Paribas, said: "We're very excited to be in the growing business environment of South Florida. This office will allow us to be closer and better serve our clients, many of whom have also migrated to the area, particularly Miami and Palm Beach." BNP Paribas has recently made several large real estate actions in the US including opening a new office in the Philadelphia area in October 2021. The bank has also made significant facilities and work space commitments in its two metro New York City offices in Midtown West Manhattan and Jersey City, NJ. BNP Paribas signed 20 year leases for all three properties in the greater NYC and Philadelphia areas in July 2020. The group also has offices in the following major cities* (Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, San Francisco and Washington, DC). BNP Paribas' Miami campus will be the latest example of the bank's efforts to create best-in-class platforms and products for its local Miami-area clients. As BNP Paribas continues to pursue and execute on its growth ambitions in the region, the Miami office will integrate seamlessly with its other offices. *Excludes presence of Bank of the West, for which an agreement of sale has been entered into with Bank of Montreal. About BNP Paribas BNP Paribas is the European Union's leading bank and key player in international banking. It operates in 65 countries and has nearly 190,000 employees, including nearly 145,000 in Europe. The Group has key positions in its three main fields of activity: Commercial, Personal Banking Services for the Group's commercial personal banking and several specialized businesses including BNP Paribas Personal Finance and Arval; Investment Protection Services for savings, investment and protection solutions; and Corporate Institutional Banking, focused on corporate and institutional clients. Based on its strong diversified and integrated model, the Group helps all its clients (individuals, community associations, entrepreneurs, SMEs, corporates and institutional clients) to realize their projects through solutions spanning financing, investment, savings and protection insurance. In Europe, BNP Paribas has four domestic markets: Belgium, France, Italy and Luxembourg. The Group is rolling out its integrated commercial personal banking model across several Mediterranean countries, Turkey, Eastern Europe as well as via a large network in the western part of the United States. As a key player in international banking, the Group has leading platforms and business lines in Europe, a strong presence in the Americas as well as a solid and fast-growing business in Asia-Pacific. BNP Paribas has implemented a Corporate Social Responsibility approach in all its activities, enabling it to contribute to the construction of a sustainable future, while ensuring the Group's performance and stability. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005184/en/ Contacts: Press: BNP PARIBAS Guy Taylor +1 (332) 323-3704 Guild.Taylor@us.bnpparibas.com Robert Madden +1 (917) 287-8501 Robert.Madden@us.bnpparibas.com CHICAGO, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Common-mode Chokes Market is projected to grow from USD 629 Million in 2023 to USD 820 Million by 2028; it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.4% during the forecast period according to a new report by MarketsandMarkets. The growth of the market is attributed to the increasing adoption of common-mode chokes in consumer electronics, growing trend towards industrial 4.0 technology, rising demand in automotive and transportation application. Proliferation of stringent regulation related to emission of electromagnetic energy causing EMI is expected to create growth opportunities for the market. Download PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=102787257 Browse in-depth TOC on "Common-mode Chokes Market" 204 - Tables 61 - Figures 237 - Pages Power line type to account for a larger share of common-mode chokes market in 2023 Power line common-mode chokes are expected to command the market during the forecast period. Common-mode choke manufacturers are keen on offering low-profile, miniature common-mode chokes that efficiently help attenuate common-mode noise in both power and data line applications. For example,Coilcraft Inc. offers LPD, MSD, and PFD common-mode chokes that provide filtering in a single, low-profile, miniature device. Consumer electronics segment to lead common-mode chokes market in 2023 Common-mode chokes in the consumer electronics vertical find applications in LCD (liquid-crystal display) panels, power cables, USB drives, computers, laptops, monitors, television sets, etc. Innovations in sensor technology and a rising focus on the miniaturization of electronic components integrated into consumer electronics and household products are likely to generate growth opportunities for the providers of common-mode chokes. These electronic products include digital and analog circuitries installed very close to each other, thereby creating common-mode noise and electromagnetic interference, which can cause malfunction and degradation in the performance of electrical equipment. New regulations and standards defined for consumer electronic appliances are further boosting the adoption of common-mode chokes. It will also drive the development of technologically advanced common-mode chokes. Request Sample Pages: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestsampleNew.asp?id=102787257 Market in Asia Pacific to hold significant opportunities for the market during forecast period There is an increased demand for common-mode chokes in Asia Pacific, especially from major countries such as China, Japan, South Korea, and India. The growth of the common-mode chokes market in Asia Pacific can be attributed to increased investments across industries in factory automation and the booming electronics manufacturing sector. Ongoing technological innovations and the increasing adoption of automation technology in various industries have accelerated the demand for common-mode chokes in the region. According to the International Federation of Robotics Report 2022, Asia Pacific held the world's largest industrial robot market, such that in 2021, 73% of the newly deployed robots were installed in Asia Pacific. The dense population and the growth in per capita income, along with large-scale industrialization and urbanization, will create lucrative opportunities for the players in the common-mode chokes market. Key players Major vendors in the common-mode chokes market include Eaton (Ireland), TDK Corporation (Japan), Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (Japan), Schaffner Holding AG (Switzerland), and YAGEO Group (Pulse Electronics) (Taiwan) among others. Get 10% Free Customization on this Report: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestCustomizationNew.asp?id=102787257 Browse Adjacent Market: Semiconductor and Electronics Market Research Reports &Consulting Related Reports: EMI Shielding Market by Material (EMI Shielding Tapes & Laminates, Conductive Coatings & Paints, Metal Shielding, Conductive Polymers, EMI/EMC Filters), Method (Radiation, Conduction), Industry (Consumer Electronics, Automotive) - Global Forecast to 2027 Inductor Market by Inductance (Fixed, Variable), Type (Wire wound, Multilayered, Molded, Film), Core Type (Air, Ferrite, Iron), Shield Type (Shielded, Unshielded), Mounting Technique, Vertical, Application, Geography - Global Forecast 2027 EMC Shielding and Test Equipment Market by Type (EMC Shielding, EMC Test Equipment), Vertical (Consumer Electronics, Telecom & IT, Automotive, Healthcare, Aerospace, and Others), Application, and Geography (2020-2025) Electronics Conformal Coating Market by Material (Acrylic, Silicone, Parylene, Urethane/Polyurethane, Epoxy), Equipment (Curing, Coating), Method (Brush Coating, Dipping), Application and Geography - Global Forecasts to 2020 Piezoelectric Devices Market by Material (Piezoelectric Ceramics, Polymers), Product (Piezoelectric Actuators, Transducers, Motors), Application (Aerospace & Defense, Industrial, Consumer) and Region - Global Forecast to 2027 About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets is a blue ocean alternative in growth consulting and program management, leveraging a man-machine offering to drive supernormal growth for progressive organizations in the B2B space. We have the widest lens on emerging technologies, making us proficient in co-creating supernormal growth for clients. The B2B economy is witnessing the emergence of $25 trillion of new revenue streams that are substituting existing revenue streams in this decade alone. We work with clients on growth programs, helping them monetize this $25 trillion opportunity through our service lines - TAM Expansion, Go-to-Market (GTM) Strategy to Execution, Market Share Gain, Account Enablement, and Thought Leadership Marketing. Built on the 'GIVE Growth' principle, we work with several Forbes Global 2000 B2B companies - helping them stay relevant in a disruptive ecosystem. Our insights and strategies are molded by our industry experts, cutting-edge AI-powered Market Intelligence Cloud, and years of research. The KnowledgeStore (our Market Intelligence Cloud) integrates our research, facilitates an analysis of interconnections through a set of applications, helping clients look at the entire ecosystem and understand the revenue shifts happening in their industry. To find out more, visit www.MarketsandMarkets.com or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. Contact: Mr. Aashish Mehra MarketsandMarkets INC. 630 Dundee Road Suite 430 Northbrook, IL 60062 USA: +1-888-600-6441 Email: sales@marketsandmarkets.com Visit Our Web Site: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ Research Insight: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ResearchInsight/common-mode-chokes-market.asp Content Source: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/PressReleases/common-mode-chokes.asp Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/660509/MarketsandMarkets_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/common-mode-chokes-market-worth-820-million-by-2028---exclusive-report-by-marketsandmarkets-301718852.html RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma'aden) announces that it has entered into an agreement with Ivanhoe Electric (IE) that will see Ma'aden subscribing to new shares in IE resulting in a 9.9% equity interest for USD126 million. As part of the agreement, Ma'aden and IE will also establish a 50:50 joint venture to explore copper, gold, nickel and silver in Saudi Arabia. This is a significant investment for Ma'aden giving it strategic presence in a leading international mining company with its own proprietary technology and increasing its international exposure to critical minerals. The Heads of Terms was signed today at the Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and is expected to be completed by the end of Q1 2023. Ivanhoe Electric Inc. (IE) is a NYSE-listed mineral exploration and development company in the United States that combines advanced mineral exploration technologies, renewable energy storage solutions and electric metals projects. Under the transaction terms, Ma'aden will obtain the right to appoint one independent director to the Ivanhoe Electric Board of Directors and will be issued with approximately 10.2 million new common shares in IE at a price of US$12.38 per share. The joint venture between Ma'aden and Ivanhoe will explore approximately 48,500 km2 of selected licenses areas that demonstrate excellent potential. IE will commit approximately USD66 million from funds raised through the share subscription to the joint venture to fund the purchase of three new generation Typhoon machines and the exploration of prospective lands to be provided by Ma'aden for metallic minerals within the Kingdom. Through the joint venture, Ma'aden will obtain royalty free access to IE's proprietary Typhoon technology, which conducts geophysical surveys using high powered transmitters to detect the presence of sulfide minerals containing copper, nickel, gold and silver. This will help accelerate, de-risk and advance Ma'aden's exploration lands being made available to the joint venture, thereby enabling Ma'aden to realize value from its exploration assets. Robert Wilt, CEO of Ma'aden, commented: "Ma'aden's strategic investment in Ivanhoe Electric is a critically important moment in our journey to become a leading supplier of strategic minerals, which will fuel global economic growth over the coming decade. Through Ma'aden, Saudi Arabia is making an invaluable contribution to fast-developing new industries across the world characterized by technological advancement." Robert Friedland, Ivanhoe Electric's Executive Chairman commented: "We are proud to partner with Ma'aden and the amazing young motivated women and men of Saudi Arabia on this journey to explore the significant mineral wealth of the Kingdom, especially with the blessings our collaboration may bring to realizing Vision 2030." Ma'aden is advised in this transaction by M. Klein and Company. About Ma'aden, The Saudi Arabian Mining Company Ma'aden is the largest multi-commodity mining and metals company in the Middle East and among the fastest-growing mining companies in the world, with revenues of SAR 26.7 billion ($7.12 billion) in 2021. The company is developing the mining industry into the third pillar of Saudi economy in line with Vision 2030 and aiming to be a role model in responsible and sustainable operations. Ma'aden operates 17 mines and sites, has 6,000+ direct employees and exports products to over 30 countries. It is embarking on massive growth over the next 18 years across its phosphate, aluminum, gold, copper and precious minerals - to leverage the Kingdom's estimated $1.3 trillion mineral endowment. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1981351/Maaden_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/maaden-announces-strategic-partnership-with-ivanhoe-electric-inc-ie-to-acquire-a-9-9-interest-in-ie-and-form-a-joint-venture-to-explore-strategic-minerals-in-saudi-arabia-301718982.html Binance granted registration by the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority on January 10, 2023 . . Binance now authorised in seven EU Member States and fifteen jurisdictions worldwide. STOCKHOLM, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Binance today announces that Binance Nordics AB has been granted registration as a financial institution for management and trading in virtual currency by the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (Swedish FSA). This follows months of constructive engagement with the regulator. Binance Nordics AB holds registration number 66822 . As the world's largest digital asset exchange, this registration means that Swedish residents will now be able to access Binance's broad range of crypto and Web3 services, including popular euro deposits and withdrawals, crypto buying with euro, trading, staking and the Binance Visa Card*. Sweden becomes the seventh EU Member State in which Binance has been granted authorisation, following authorisations in: France, Italy, Lithuania, Spain, Cyprus and Poland. Details of these, and other global authorisations it has achieved around the world can be found here: Licenses, Registrations and Other Legal Matters Richard Teng, Head of Europe and MENA at Binance, commented: "Binance continues to demonstrate its commitment to work closely with regulatory agencies to uphold global standards. Our registration in Sweden is the result of many months of diligent, hard work from our team, underpinning our commitment to the Swedish market and our users. We are deeply grateful for the support from the Swedish Financial Services Authority throughout the application process and for the approval. Sweden is now amongst the growing list of global jurisdictions that have granted regulatory approval to Binance." Roy van Krimpen, Nordics and Benelux Lead, added: "Sweden fully adopts EU laws and has further local requirements, so we have been careful to ensure that Binance Nordics AB has adopted risk and AML policies to match this exacting standard. Our next big task will be the successful migration and launch of local operations, including hiring of local talent, organizing more events and delivering more crypto education in Sweden." * Products available to Swedish users will include: Crypto buy/sell with EUR, spot trading, margin trading, staking through Binance Earn, Binance Pay, Binance Pool, NFT marketplace, fan tokens, Binance Visa Card, crypto convert function, Launchpad, Launchpool, Savings, BNB Vault, auto-invest and Custody. About Binance Binance is the world's leading blockchain ecosystem and cryptocurrency infrastructure provider with a financial product suite that includes the largest digital asset exchange by volume. Trusted by millions worldwide, the Binance platform is dedicated to increasing the freedom of money for users, and features an unmatched portfolio of crypto products and offerings, including: trading and finance, education, data and research, social good, investment and incubation, decentralization and infrastructure solutions, and more. For more information, visit: https://www.binance.com View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/swedish-fsa-grants-binance-seventh-regulatory-approval-in-eu-301719046.html Paris, France -January11 2023 - Atos today launches its new hybrid server, the BullSequana SHpowered by 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors?, and two new edge servers, the BullSequana EXR and the BullSequana EXD, to help businesses address AI and analytics challenges in the face of today's vast data growth. Over ?180 Zettabytes ?of data are projected to be ?generated by 20251, however most of the current infrastructures are not designed to support this amount of data. Additionally, 63% of organizations do not place ?their mission-critical workloads ?on public clouds2 but rather rely on hybrid computing to run their workloads on private clouds and edge servers in order to tackle any potential security risk. In this context, Atos has developed three new servers to offer extreme flexibility, built-in security and an efficient carbon footprint with titanium power supply. Manufactured in Atos' factory in Angers, these new servers are equipped with the latest, most-performant Computing Technologies from the Group's strategic technology partners combined with Atos-designed motherboards and eco-efficient packaging. Any workloads and any applications can be run with the lowest latency at the highest efficiency on the hardware. ?All three servers have built-in security based on Atos Root of Trust & Atos Chain-of-Trust to guarantee the highest level of data security at all times. As a leader in decarbonization, Atos has designed its servers to have an efficient carbon footprint by largely improving the compute density, therefore allowing better consolidation and consequently lower energy consumption and a smaller footprint. The BullSequana SH, tailored for high-performance on-premises and ?public cloud workloads? The Group's newest server is a digital transformation accelerator enabling customers to run specific workloads requiring large computing capacities, business-critical applications? and in-memory applications such as databases and analytics (fully SAP HANA certified appliances and TDI?). It is also designed for virtualized and hyperconverged infrastructures?, for hybrid computing ?and for Artificial Intelligence purposes such as deep learning and machine learning. Based on the 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processor, the latest addition to the BullSequana S range can scale in a 2-socket increment up to 32 sockets acting as a single server, offering its customers an efficient scalability without over-provisioning and making software use more efficient without increasing energy or footprint?. Customers will also benefit from a faster response time to business demand thanks to the DDR5 memory support for demanding applications and to an increased memory per system with Intel Optane Persistent Memory 300 series?. The new BullSequana EXseries,for trusted AI from edge to cloud Some data sets are simply too large or business-critical to make the move to the cloud. An edge-to-cloud platform offers maximum availability and minimum latency for complex and voluminous data assets. Atos' new BullSequana EX servers will empower next-generation computer vision use cases such as AI inference for smart glasses, Virtual and Augmented Reality, intelligent management of scene changes and more. The BullSequana EX range has two designs to address far edge to datacenter workload challenges, both optimized for next-gen AI inference. The BullSequana EXD is based on a far edge desktop with a rackable option, and the BullSequana EXR is an edge datacenter that can also be used for hyperconverged infrastructure for the BullSequana EXR. With interchangeable CPUs (including 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processor) and NVIDIA GPUs ranging from the NVIDIA A2 Tensor Core GPU to the NVIDIA L40 GPU, both servers offer unprecedent flexibility. Customers can build and deploy a variety of high performance, latency-sensitive applications (computer vision, VR etc..)? as well as run hyperconverged workloads in the edge datacenter with BullSequana EXR. This offering has been designed to be 5G and connectivity optimized as well as fully adapted for MEC, 5G core and VRAN workloads. Emmanuel Le Roux, SVP, Group SVP Global Head of Advanced Computing & AI, Atos, commented, "We are excited to today unveil our next generation of enterprise and edge servers; this is a key milestone for Atos's computing business as our full range of servers is now entirely renewed, together with last year's BullSequanaXH3000 launch. We have leveraged our recognized manufacturing and R&D expertise to develop the next generation of our edge & business computing servers lines to help our clients tackle the challenges of fast-growing data, security and sovereignty." *** About Atos Atos is a global leader in digital transformation with 112,000 employees and annual revenue of c. 11 billion. European number one in cybersecurity, cloud and high performance computing, the Group provides tailored end-to-end solutions for all industries in 71 countries. A pioneer in decarbonization services and products, Atos is committed to a secure and decarbonized digital for its clients. Atos is a SE (Societas Europaea) and listed on Euronext Paris. The purpose of Atosis to help design the future of the information space. Its expertise and services support the development of knowledge, education and research in a multicultural approach and contribute to the development of scientific and technological excellence. Across the world, the Group enables its customers and employees, and member Press contact Constance Arnoux | constance.arnoux@atos.net| +33 6 44 12 16 35 1 Source: Total data volume worldwide 2010-2025 | Statista 2 Source : Uptime Institute Global Data Center Survey 2022 Attachment By Kang Hyun-kyung President Yoon Suk Yeol / Yonhap President Yoon Suk Yeol said on Wednesday that there was no political calculation whatsoever in South Korea's anti-COVID measures to screen travelers entering the South from China, emphasizing that the decision was made purely on scientific grounds. He made the remarks amid mounting diplomatic tensions between Seoul and Beijing following China's suspension of short-term visas for South Korean nationals a day earlier. In his opening remarks during a policy briefing from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Yoon said that the COVID-driven border control is a sovereignty issue and therefore no other country is in a position to comment on or take disruptive actions against the measures. He said Seoul-Beijing diplomatic tensions are unnecessary. Citing news articles on the spike of COVID-19 infections in China, he said some media outlets reported that nearly 200 million Chinese were infected with the virus. Patch will support First Mover Coalition members' commitments by connecting them with carbon removal project developers, leveraging software to scale long-term, net-zero transformation SAN FRANCISCO and LONDON, Jan. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Patch (https://www.patch.io/) announced today it will join the First Movers Coalition (https://www.weforum.org/first-movers-coalition) (FMC), aligning with the technology platform's mission to advance technology that makes meaningful climate action a part of everyone's business. FMC is a global initiative led by the World Economic Forum and the U.S. Department of State that has brought together more than 60 companies worldwide to build early markets for clean technologies. FMC aims to decarbonize "hard to abate" industrial sectors that currently account for 30% of global emissions. Companies in the coalition have a combined ~$8 trillion in market capitalization and are harnessing their collective purchasing power to send a strong market signal to commercialize zero-carbon technologies. FMC members working within the Carbon Removal Sector, including Alphabet and Microsoft, have committed to contract 50,000 tonnes or $25M worth of durable and scalable carbon dioxide removal by the end of 2030. FMC has selected Patch as a Carbon Removal Sector implementation partner to offer solutions that meet high durability and scalability requirements. Patch's platform, which unifies discrete solutions and actors across the carbon market, will bring market insights as well as unique opportunities to help FMC participate in effectively scaling the carbon removal technology ecosystem. "First Movers Coalition understands the order of magnitude required to reach our global climate goals," said Brennan Spellacy, Patch CEO & Co-founder. "Combining Patch's powerful digital infrastructure with First Movers Coalition purchase commitments will enable more efficient and transparent transactions across the carbon market. We are thrilled to work alongside the World Economic Forum and the 60+ First Mover Coalition member companies to ensure this level of investment in carbon removal technology can accelerate impactful climate solutions at viable commercial scale by 2030." Patch serves a range of customers like Afterpay, Shop Apotheke, Bain & Company, and EQT to provide access to a range of carbon removal technology solutions, including direct air capture, biomass-based carbon removal, enhanced weathering and concrete mineralization. A trusted leader within the carbon market, Patch brings together (https://www.patch.io/blog/patch-joins-global-leaders-and-policy-pioneers-at-cop27) business leaders, policymakers and developers across the space in support of innovation and best practices. Using Patch's technology infrastructure, FMC members will now have multiple pathways to purchase vetted carbon credits, including one-time direct purchases, recurring multi-year offtake agreements, and an API integration that enables companies to connect any product experience to climate action. "To achieve net-zero emissions globally by 2050, innovative clean energy technologies must reach commercial scale by 2030," said Nancy Gillis, First Movers Coalition Programme Head. "Engineered carbon dioxide removals will be paramount to decarbonizing at the speed necessary to keep the planet on a 1.5 degree pathway. We are excited that Patch has become an Implementation Partner of the First Movers Coalition and is leveraging their software solutions to facilitate efficient and effective carbon removal at scale." "Recognizing the urgency to achieve commercial scale carbon removal within the decade, First Movers Coalition members have pledged to catalyze innovation through sizable commitments to purchase durable and scalable carbon removal," said U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry. "The First Movers Coalition's implementation partners for carbon removal play an important role in enabling these commitments, and we welcome Patch as our latest implementation partner." About Patch: Patch is the technology platform making meaningful climate action a part of every business-no matter the size. Patch provides a growing cohort of carbon credit buyers with access to carefully vetted climate action projects across six continents. This enables buyers to confidently achieve climate impact they can trust, and provides project developers the resources to scale their solutions at the critical pace the planet needs. To help rebalance the planet, visit patch.io (http://www.patch.io/). Contact: Katie Lyons (katie@patch.io (mailto:katie@patch.io)) Verlingue, a subsidiary of the French Adelaide Group, specialising in corporate protection, is continuing its external growth strategy with two new acquisitions that will consolidate its presence in the Grand Est region (France). Set up in 1997, the insurance broker Cabinet Depeyre specialises in consulting and management of complex business risks. Depeyre Solutions, created in 2014, is an underwriting agency specialising in business risks for brokers and general agents. The group has 23 employees for just over 4m in commissions. The insurance broker Cabinet Depeyre, specialised in complex business risks, works with its customers to analyse, prevent and manage their risks. The Cabinet Depeyre teams have acquired special expertise in high-pressure sectors such as the wood processing industry, transport and logistics, manufacturers and traders of building materials, etc., whether in matters of Civil Liability or Property Damage. Depeyre Solutions, which is intended to remain an autonomous entity affiliated to the Adelaide Group, sells insurance solutions as an underwriting agent (MGA) for business risks, mainly in the fields of Vehicle Fleet, Property Damage and Civil Liability. "With Verlingue, I firmly believe that our teams will be able to provide even better support to our customers and provide them with all the solutions offered by a company with which we already share common values and a vision of our role as a trusted partner in risk management," says Jean-Michel Depeyre, head of both companies. After the acquisition of RT Global Insurance in Portugal at the end of 2022, the acquisition of Cabinet Depeyre and Depeyre Solutions in France consolidates Verlingue's external growth dynamic as part of its 2024 strategic plan. "Verlingue has a powerful, sustainable and profitable growth strategy in place. In a consolidating business sector, being a family-owned broker with an ambitious and long-term vision allows us to map out great plans for the teams that decide to join our adventure. I'm delighted that Jean-Michel Depeyre has jumped on board," says Gilles Beneplanc CEO of the Adelaide Group and Verlingue. About Verlingue An insurance broker specializing in business protection, Verlingue is a subsidiary of the Adelaide Group. Working alongside entrepreneurs, Verlingue's goal is to harness corporate risk management and employee protection to drive its clients' value creation and performance. With offices in France, Portugal, Great Britain and Switzerland, and through partners in over 100 countries, Verlingue works with its clients over the long term and at all times to better understand and plan ahead for new risks in order to develop simple yet effective solutions to protect their business (corporate risk) and staff (supplementary social protection schemes and pensions). 1,200 employees, 400 of whom are based outside France 2.2bn in premiums negotiated on behalf of its clients 24 offices in Europe LinkedIn www.verlingue.fr View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005440/en/ Contacts: Press contact: Adelaide Group Thomas Barbelet thomas.barbelet@verlingue.fr +33(0)6 72 75 49 14 Epoka Agency Lucie Fortin lfortin@epoka.fr +33(0)6 19 68 70 18 Sayl marks Herman Miller's latest step towards the Company's goal of using 50% recycled content in all products by 2030. Herman Miller is continuing to increase the use of ocean-bound plastic within the modern furniture maker's portfolio. The Sayl Chair, designed by esteemed Swiss Designer Yves Behar will now include up to 1.36 kg (3 pounds) of mismanaged plastic waste found near waterways. This change builds upon the momentum created by the introduction of ocean-plastic in the iconic Aeron Chair in 2021 and will divert 95 metric tons*, the equivalent of approximately 9.6 million plastic water bottles, from the ocean annually. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005101/en/ Herman Miller Continues Expansion of Pioneering Use of Ocean-Bound Plastic With Updated Sayl Chair (Photo: Business Wire) As part of the MillerKnoll collective, today's announcement highlights Herman Miller's ongoing commitment to sustainability, and long-term goal to increase recycled content to at least 50 percent, including the use of ocean-bound plastic, across all material the Company uses by 2030. Sayl joins an impressive roster of Herman Miller products now being made with ocean-bound plastic. Between Aeron, Sayl, and other product lines including OE1 and Revenio textiles, the Company estimates that 234 metric tons of ocean-bound plastic, the equivalent of 23 million water bottles, will be diverted from the ocean annually. "True innovation isn't always about making new products," says Gabe Wing, Director of Sustainability at MillerKnoll. "Oftentimes it can be looking for ways to use new research, perspectives, and resources to improve what already exists. Our team is incredibly excited to continue to improve and introduce products that promote responsible use of Earth's resources." Since its introduction in 2010, the Sayl chair has been a leader in responsible design. Inspired by the Golden Gate Bridge, the eco-dematerialized design of Sayl was specifically created to use less material in inventive ways while providing ergonomic support and comfort. Additionally, the chair is 92% recyclable at the end of life. Yves Behar, the designer of Sayl and founder of fuseproject, commented on the announcement: "Charles Eames once said 'Design is never done.' That is true for the Sayl chair as improvements continue to be made years and years after launch. It was designed from the start as a light, simple, and lower carbon footprint chair in the full-featured task chairs category. And now, years after its launch I'm excited to see Sayl manufactured in recycled plastic diverted from rivers and oceans as the next step in bettering the design. At fuseproject, that has always been a focus and passion, and will continue to be central to our work." All colours of the Sayl chair will include ocean-bound plastic, which will grow to include the special edition versions created for Herman Miller Gaming in the future. Depending on the color chosen, each Sayl will have between .907kg (2 pounds) and 1.36kg (3 pounds) of ocean-bound plastic incorporated, with the Black version of Sayl having the highest. Sayl with ocean-bound plastic is available in Europe now and will be available in other areas of the globe later in 2023. Herman Miller also announced that all colours of the Aeron are now available with ocean-bound plastic starting in November. The Onyx, Graphite, Mineral, and Carbon colours contain up to 1.13 kg (2.5 pounds) of ocean-bound plastic per chair. To learn more about the specific environmental information for each variation of the Sayl or Aeron Chairs and to see how purchasing these items can contribute to green building standards including LEED, please visit https://millerknoll.ecomedes.com/. About Herman Miller Since 1905, Herman Miller has been guided by a commitment to problem-solving designs that inspire the best in people. Along the way, Herman Miller has forged critical relationships with the most visionary designers of the day, from midcentury greats like George Nelson, the Eames Office, and Isamu Noguchi, to research-oriented visionaries like Robert Propst and Bill Stumpf and with today's groundbreaking studios like Industrial Facility and Studio 7.5. From the birth of ergonomic furniture to manufacturing some of the twentieth century's most iconic pieces, Herman Miller has spent the last century pioneering original, timeless design that makes an enduring impact, while building a lasting legacy of design, innovation and social good. Herman Miller is a part of MillerKnoll, a collective of dynamic brands that comes together to design the world we live in. *Based on current selling forecasts. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005101/en/ Contacts: Sophie Mellish s.mellish@rostrum.agency NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / January 11, 2023 / Cisco Systems Inc. 2022 Cisco Live Dream Team This blog is part of our series that focuses on the people behind Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) at Cisco. Each blog highlights a different Cisco employee whose work makes a positive impact on people, communities, or the planet. Cisco Networking Academy is one of the world's largest and longest-standing purpose-driven IT skills-to-jobs programs, impacting the lives of more than 3 million learners annually (17.5 million since inception) in 190 countries. 95 percent of learners attribute their participation in the program to helping them obtain a job or educational opportunity. On October 18, 2022, Networking Academy celebrated its 25-year anniversary and announced an ambitious goal to offer digital and cybersecurity skills training to 25 million learners over the next ten years to prepare them for in-demand jobs. Networking Academy is aligned with Cisco's purpose to power an inclusive future for all, one learner at a time. As an instructor teaching Networking Academy courses to community college students in Rhode Island during the early days of the program in 1999, to her current role as its Director of Business Operations-Lynn Bloomer's service and commitment to empowering learners through technology and education is profound. Recently, I met with Lynn to learn more about her story. Can you share some of your early background with me? Who/what were your greatest influences? Lynn: I grew up in a small coastal town located in southern Rhode Island. Tourists would travel to my town to visit and vacation, but there weren't many residents who lived there year-round. I went to kindergarten with the same group of kids who I graduated high school with. It was the kind of town where everybody knew everybody. My immediate family is small, consisting of my dad, mom, sister, and I. Growing up, I really looked up to my big sister, who is four years older than me and very protective. My parents have always been supportive of me. I have a large extended family-my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins also offered a strong support system. My family has significantly influenced the decisions I made and the direction I took in life. What piqued your interest in technology? Lynn: I left Rhode Island to attend college at Villanova University in Pennsylvania, where I completed my BS in Electrical Engineering. I followed in my family's footsteps-my dad was an electrical engineer, and my sister also received her BS in Electrical Engineering at Villanova. My first job out of college was as a litigation consultant in New York. Most of the work I was doing wasn't related to my educational background. The company I worked for in New York had six offices throughout the U.S., and this was before we had email. It was during the time when the Internet was just starting to take off. If my office in New York was working on a case and we needed help from somebody in another office location, we'd have to save the file on a floppy disk and FedEx it to them so they could make changes. When I began thinking about pursuing my masters, I was really interested in how we could use technology to connect all these offices through a network to enable people to collaborate more effectively regardless of their physical locations. I returned to Villanova University and decided to complete my MS in Computer Engineering. How did you become involved with Networking Academy? Lynn: While I was getting my masters, I had an opportunity to teach a review course for an engineer and training exam. It went really well, and I loved it. So, my chairman invited me to teach a full senior-level Electrical Engineering class. My day job as a graduate student was maintaining the labs at the university and my night job was teaching students as an adjunct instructor. Eventually, my husband and I decided to move back to Rhode Island after about ten years of being away. It was my husband who encouraged me to apply for full-time teaching positions as he had observed how excited I would get about my night job back at Villanova. Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI) was the perfect fit. While I was teaching at CCRI, Cisco came to pitch their new Networking Academy program to us. The curriculum was shared with us on a floppy disk so we could evaluate it and determine if we wanted to participate. We decided to move forward with the program. CCRI became the first academy in Rhode Island. I taught my first Networking Academy class in 1999. Tell me how your role with Networking Academy has changed and evolved throughout your career. Lynn: Given that the Networking Academy program was just getting started, Cisco would pull in a lot of its instructors for help. I was still teaching full-time at CCRI when I was invited to intern at Cisco for a few hours a week to write assessment questions. The program was growing quickly, and I was recruited for a full-time role with Cisco in 2000 as a CCNA/CCNP Product Manager. I took nearly a month to decide whether I wanted to leave teaching because I loved working with students and planned to retire in that role. But the opportunity at Cisco seemed unique. I loved having an impact in the classroom but being a part of the greater Networking Academy team was enticing as it would enable me to broaden my scope and increase my impact. Additionally, I was able to remain at CCRI as an adjunct instructor. Even though I was working full-time at Cisco, I continued teaching at CCRI for over 15 years. I later transitioned into the role of Business Architect & Process Manager for Networking Academy, which allowed me to represent what the instructors needed and what the business needed, before taking a few years off from working to stay home with my young daughter. In 2008, I returned to Cisco as part of a different team. In 2012, I received a call from a colleague who invited me to interview for the role of Strategy and Planning Project Manager for Corporate Affairs. By 2014, I made my return to Networking Academy. In a sense, it felt as though I was returning home. I currently serve as the Director of Business Operations. I drive strategy and lead a team responsible for the delivery of multiple Networking Academy services. Other key responsibilities include providing customer support, legal support, student career services and business transformation. Annual planning, budget management, talent management and forecasting are also part of my scope. Has being a female in the technology space impacted your experience? How so? Lynn: When I was in college, there weren't many Electrical Engineering majors who were women. Out of 55 to 60 students, there were probably 4 or 5 of us. My school was very supportive, and the instructors didn't treat us differently nor did our peers. I never felt out of place. I think a big part of this is going back to my early influences-my parents instilled a lot of confidence in my sister and me. While I recognize that I've been part of the minority as a female in the technology space, I never felt as though anything was beyond my reach. My advice for young women who are interested in pursuing careers in technology is to recognize that you can do anything you put your mind to. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. If you work hard, if you are determined and committed-you're going to be successful. View original content here View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Cisco Systems Inc. on 3blmedia.com. Contact Info: Spokesperson: Cisco Systems Inc. Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/cisco-systems-inc Email: info@3blmedia.com SOURCE: Cisco Systems Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/734825/People-Behind-CSR-at-Cisco-Empowering-Learners-Through-Technology-and-Education NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / January 11, 2023 / I have never fixed an irrigation line in a soybean field, but I have been scuba diving in the Tasmanian Sea. I have never delivered grain to the barn to feed a herd of cattle, but I have placed fish directly into a dolphin's mouth. I have never ridden on a sled being pulled by a John Deere tractor in the cold winter months, but I have gone sand tobogganing on the dunes of the Tangalooma Desert. No two people in agriculture have the same story or path. I am a Latinx, LGBTQ+, technology nerd from a small village in Brazil. Nothing about my appearance or background would make others associate me with agriculture. But, in an industry that ranges from forestry to rice paddies, diversity, advocacy, and technology are crucial to ensuring that we can feed a hungry planet. In November 2019, I visited a farm for the very first time as a delegate at the Youth Ag Summit (YAS). Twenty-four hours later, I was selected to represent my cohort at the Nuffield Contemporary Scholars Conference in Australia. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine a farming conference would lead me on adventures in the ocean and throughout the desert, as well as teach me valuable lessons about the industry for which I am passionate. Agriculture Needs Diversity In the months before the Nuffield International Contemporary Scholars Conference, I caught myself questioning whether I was the right person to represent the YAS delegates in Australia. Would I be able to make myself noticeable and spread the word about young people in the agriculture industry? Wouldn't it be better to have a farmer attend? Or at least someone who has driven a tractor before? To prepare, I studied very specific agricultural topics, such as modern harvest machinery and economics of farming. Subjects that are completely different than my UX/UI design courses and software development classes I am enrolled in at Tufts University. After only a few conversations with other conference attendees, I realized they had a lot in common with my friends from the Youth Ag Summit. Many Nuffield scholars want to learn about youth advocacy in the agriculture industry and strategies to increase women's participation in farming. Technology and automation in farms, systems of food distribution, and sustainable agriculture were popular topics amongst scholars. However, there was one topic that we could all agree on: the importance of diversity for the development of agricultural practices. During the conference, Nuffield announced their first Asian scholar from Japan and the expansion of their prestigious scholarship program in Chile, Brazil, Zimbabwe and South Africa. Additionally, Nuffield scholars seemed to be very aware of the economic and performance benefits of diversity inside their farms; and, it's a story we need to tell. Agriculture Needs Powerful Voices During the 2019 Youth Ag Summit, we spent time learning about different communications styles through Shapes! with Susan Hite. There are five main shapes including the box, rectangle, triangle, circle and squiggle. "The squiggle is adventurous and takes risks!" Check. It was easy to see which shape with which I would identify. During the Nuffield Contemporary Scholars Conference, we spent an entire day dedicated to personality mapping, as well as participated in multiple sessions and panels about communication and social media engagement. I learned valuable techniques about how to take better pictures and received instructions on how to use statistics to improve media engagement. Although connected, I did not see data strategically when making a social media post, so the panel was very helpful. Perhaps, the main takeaway was that farmers can change society's stereotypes about farming by simply depicting their day-to-day lives on social media. What do these two ideas have to do with one another? When it comes to advocating for agriculture, communication and personality are the key ingredients. Some choose to shout their passions from the rooftops. Others take a quieter approach and prefer dinner conversations with neighbors. Both styles demonstrate powerful voices needed in the industry! As one of the YAS winners, I had the mission to represent the enthusiasm of youth in agriculture at the Nuffield International Contemporary Scholars Conference. The Nuffield scholars attending the event were farmers with extensive educational and professional backgrounds. As a young agvocate, I had many insecurities, but I soon noticed I was not the only one. Although participants were well-rounded, they also were still figuring out their leadership personalities. As a squiggle communicator with a big personality, I would challenge anyone who cares about food, the environment, and eliminating hunger to find their own way to be an agvocate and tell the story of science agriculture. Agriculture Needs Technological Advancements As an aspiring technologist, I went to the Nuffield conference with a particular interest in a set of sustainable agricultural technologies that can increase productivity while reducing environmental and social costs. During the conference, I heard from Sarah Nolet, a Human Factors engineer from MIT, about the biggest challenges farmers and agricultural technology designers currently face. I learned there is miscommunication between solutions and users' needs. We see many innovative farming ideas that are not applicable to farms. Sarah explained this happens because technologists often cannot go in the field and talk to farmers, who in turn cannot always communicate their needs. Sarah's presentation was food for thought to all guests and attendees, who felt comfortable to share their own innovations. Personally, I was very impressed by the use of agricultural technology within the Nuffield network. One scholar from the Netherlands, Frank Mandersloot, uses egg picking machines to collect eggs hidden in the soil of his farm. Frank highlighted how the machines help him decrease operational costs. Amy Cronin, from Australia, uses a mobile application where her employees can live report resource amounts used on her farm. Tammy said the app helps her farm run smoothly. Although simple, these solutions were remarkably sophisticated and demonstrated the creativity of farmers amidst daily challenges. I, myself, have worked to develop technologies that can explore the social impact of agriculture. For several years, as a student in the Brazilian public educational system, I noticed kids going hungry because of the local school's inability to provide meals throughout the entire academic year. At the same time, I have realized the philanthropic potential of farmers in Brazil. Several producers are exporters and must follow enhanced quality standards that sometimes force them to waste part of their product. In most cases, the products that don't pass the rigorous export standards are completely safe for consumption. As a technology nerd, I decided to use my coding skills to build a mobile application that connects schools in need of food with farmers willing to donate. That is how SobreViver was born. The app guarantees that farmers can find the closest schools in need and help guarantee food security in schools while also tackling food waste and loss. Undoubtedly, the Nuffield Contemporary Scholars Conference was a remarkable experience for everyone. For me, it was an opportunity to hear valuable insights and ideas from people with a significant farming background. The conversations I had with many scholars made me understand the importance of intergenerational dialogues for innovation in agriculture. I was able to receive real-time feedback from entrepreneurs and to capture the weaknesses and strengths of my project idea. I hope Nuffield International and Bayer continue to nurture their partnership and other YAS delegates can attend future editions. In fact, Bayer was a Gold sponsor of the conference this year and you can check out their presentation (and all of the other speakers) on the conference website. And, I hope that whether you are reading this article from your iPad in the cab of your tractor while planting a field of corn or on your Apple watch while riding a bullet train on the way to the grocery store, you see the value in agriculture and the people who ensure the safety and security of our food supply. Get to know Maycon further! Tune in to the latest episode of the Agvocate podcast to learn more about Maycon and his experience at the Nuffield Contemporary Scholars Conference. View original content here View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Bayer on 3blmedia.com. Contact Info: Spokesperson: Bayer Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/bayer Email: info@3blmedia.com SOURCE: Bayer View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/734824/Bayer-What-Does-Agriculture-Need Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 11, 2023) - BioMark Diagnostics Inc. (CSE: BUX) (FSE: 20B) (OTC Pink: BMKDF) ("BioMark" or the "Company") an advanced stage liquid biopsy company with a focus on hard to detect and treat cancers is pleased to announce several updates from ongoing clinical trial using the Company's liquid biopsy test for early cancer detection and monitoring of lung cancer. As clinical trial success relies on effective patient recruitment, BioMark is delighted to announce today that enrollment for its pivotal lung cancer screening study exceeded 1000 participants in less than one year. The lung cancer screening demonstration project led by Dr Simon Martel, pulmonologist at the Quebec Heart and Lung Institute (Institut Universitaire de Cardiologie et Pneumologie de Quebec-Universite Laval - IUCPQ-UL), is intended to combine BioMark's metabolomics liquid biopsy test with radiomics and genetics biomarkers to help at-risk Quebecers get access to an accurate and accessible lung cancer screening program. The multimodal study was designed to recruit 4000 participants from eight major hospitals across in Quebec, generating data that can support BioMark's implementation within the Province of Quebec. The Company also announces its first international patient recruited as part of a European prospective lung cancer screening trial in France known as the ILYAD study. BioMark's blood-based biomarker panel has been selected to define personalized lung cancer risk assessment in Europe's screen-eligible population who are most likely to benefit from a CT scan. The study is being conducted by Pr Sebastien Couraud, pulmonologist at the Hospices Civils de Lyon (HCL) and through a partnership with France-based TransDiag. Through the ILYAD study, the investigators are studying the participation rate during the initial round in the lung cancer screening program and assessing the performance of several blood-based biomarkers for the detection of cancers in screened individuals. The test being developed by the consortium would offer the opportunity to screen nearly 4 million individuals in France who are eligible for lung cancer screening under current European guidelines. These at-risk individuals are aged between 50 and 75 and have a history of heavy smoking. BioMark also recently entered into a collaborative research agreement with the Delhi Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research University (DPSRU) in India and is currently designing a clinical protocol to evaluate a cost effective, highly sensitive and easy to deploy lung cancer screening platform. For the Indian population, pollution due to climate change is the driver for the increased lung cancer incidence. India expects lung cancer cases to increase 5 to 7-fold between 2025 and 2030 driven by environmental exposure, metabolic alterations, smoking and lifestyle changes. This is one of the reasons why the Indian group selected BioMark to develop and commercialize an innovative metabolomic based test for early detection and management of cancer, starting with lung cancer. "We closed out 2022 with significant accomplishments in all aspects of our clinical operation with emphasis on our early lung cancer metabolic assay following robust data presented at ESMO in September 2022. This has been a transformative year for BioMark and reflects the management's commitment in expediting a well-defined pathway towards commercialization and revenue generation," says Rashid Bux, CEO of BioMark. Mr. Bux continued, "Our journey to diversify our portfolio and expand reach in North America and other important jurisdictions is materializing. Though the lung cancer screening assay may become our first commercial product in Canada and US, BioMark is also developing a portfolio of products for cancer management that consists of lung cancer screening assay, a therapeutic agent for glioblastoma, and tests to track the response to treatments for lung cancer and glioblastoma." The Company intends to pursue clinical validation of the test as a laboratory developed test (LDT) in parallel with these ongoing studies. The BioMark Lung Cancer Risk Assessment Test will be available through its Quebec-based accredited laboratory, BioMark Diagnostic Solutions Inc., within approximately 9 - 12 months based on the completion of the ISO 15-189 certification. About BioMark Diagnostics Inc. BioMark is a liquid biopsy company developing a molecular diagnostics technology platform that leverages the power of metabolomics and machine learning algorithms to bring new cancer diagnostics to market and improving cancer prognosis by allowing physicians to detect carcinomas in the pre-symptomatic stages. The technology can also be used for measuring response to treatment and potentially for serial monitoring of cancer survivors. While the Company current focus is on the commercialization of its liquid biopsy test for early detection of lung, it has plan to expand into other hard to detect and treat cancers such as brain, ovarian and pancreatic. Further information about BioMark is available under its profile on the SEDAR website www.sedar.com and on the CSE website https://thecse.com/. For further information on BioMark, please Contact: Rashid Ahmed Bux, President & CEO BioMark Diagnostics Inc. Tel. 604-370-0779, Email: info@biomarkdiagnostics.com Forward-Looking Information: This press release may include forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, concerning the business of BioMark. Forward-looking information is based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by the management of BioMark. Although BioMark believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking information is based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking information because BioMark can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release. BioMark 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. The CSE has not reviewed, approved, or disapproved the content of this press release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/150935 Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 11, 2023) - ACME Lithium Inc. (CSE: ACME) (OTCQX: ACLHF) (the "Company", or "ACME") is pleased to announce that it has commenced drilling at its Shatford Lake project in the Winnipeg River pegmatite region in southeastern Manitoba, Canada. ACME's land holdings in southeastern Manitoba comprise approximately 17,000 acres or 70 square kilometres. Drilling Program Highlights: ACME plans to drill up to 5,000 meters and has mobilized equipment, supplies and crew to Lac du Bonnet, Manitoba. Drill targets from multiple sites have been identified and include numerous pegmatites, some of which were undocumented prior to the 2022 summer exploration program. A priority area, referred to as Shatford East, is part of the Shatford - Winnipeg River structure that is a 7 km curvilinear feature on the claim block with multiple observations of pegmatites containing anomalous lithium. ACME's Shatford Lake claim is located strategically and is contiguous to the south of Sinomine Resource Group's world class Tanco Mine, a Lithium, Cesium and Tantalum producer (LCTs) since 1969. The Tanco Mine and Shatford Lake areas are located in the pegmatite fields of the southern limb of the Bird River Greenstone Belt (BRGB). The Shatford - Winnipeg River structure is analogous to the Bernic Lake high strain zone that is interpreted to be related to the Tanco pegmatite. The northern and southern limbs of the Bird River Greenstone Belt contain at least 10 pegmatite fields and host hundreds of individual pegmatite bodies, of which many are classified as complex rare-element Lithium-Cesium-Tantalum (LCT) pegmatites. In both limbs of the BRGB, pegmatites are associated with granitic intrusions into structurally dilatant zones adjacent to major belt parallel shear zones. Worldwide, LCT pegmatite deposits account for about one-fourth of the world's lithium production, most of the tantalum production, and all the cesium production. ACME completed an extensive summer exploration program employing remote sensing, structural geology, ground-based geological mapping, and geochemical sampling to localize targets for drilling. The Company's exploration focus is on spodumene-bearing LCT pegmatites that are a source for high quality lithium that can be converted to lithium carbonate. Dane Bridge, P. Geol. is a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101 and has supervised the preparation of the scientific and technical information that forms the basis for this news release. About ACME Lithium Inc. Led by an experienced team, ACME Lithium is a mineral exploration Company focused on acquiring, exploring, and developing battery metal projects in partnership with leading technology and commodity companies. ACME has acquired or is under option to acquire a 100-per-cent interest in projects located in Clayton Valley and Fish Lake Valley, Esmeralda County Nevada, at Shatford, Birse, and Cat-Euclid Lakes in southeastern Manitoba, and at Bailey Lake in northern Saskatchewan. On behalf of the Board of Directors Steve Hanson Chief Executive Officer, President and Director Telephone: (604) 564-9045 info@acmelithium.com Neither the CSE nor its regulations service providers accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. Forward-Looking Statement This news release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws ("forward-looking statements"). Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "projects," "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will," "would," "may," "could" or "should" occur and in this news release include but are not limited to the attributes of, timing for and expected benefits to be derived from exploration, drilling or development at ACME's project properties. Information inferred from the interpretation of drilling, sampling and other technical results may also be deemed to be forward-looking statements, as it constitutes a prediction of what might be found to be present when and if a project is actually developed. ACME's project location adjacent to or nearby lithium projects does not guarantee exploration success or that mineral resources or reserves will be defined on ACME's properties. Exploration, development, and activities conducted by regional companies provide assistance and additional data for exploration work being completed by ACME. These forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: risks related to fluctuations in metal prices; uncertainties related to raising sufficient financing to fund the planned work in a timely manner and on acceptable terms; changes in planned work resulting from weather, logistical, technical or other factors; the possibility that results of work will not fulfill expectations and realize the perceived potential of the Company's properties; risk of accidents, equipment breakdowns and labour disputes or other unanticipated difficulties or interruptions; the possibility of cost overruns or unanticipated expenses in the work program; the risk of environmental contamination or damage resulting from the Company's operations and other risks and uncertainties. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/150939 Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 11, 2023) - CanAlaska Uranium Ltd. (TSXV: CVV) (OTCQX: CVVUF) (FSE: DH7N) ("CanAlaska or the "Company") announces that it has granted incentive stock options to certain directors, officers, employees and consultants of the Company to purchase up to an aggregate of 2,375,000 common shares of the Company pursuant to CanAlaska's omnibus equity incentive plan. The options are exercisable for a period of two years at a price of $0.425 per share. Other News The Company will be attending the Vancouver Resource Investment Conference ("VRIC") on January 29th and 30th in Vancouver, BC and will have representatives at booth #435. About CanAlaska Uranium CanAlaska Uranium Ltd. (TSXV: CVV) (OTCQX: CVVUF) (FSE: DH7N) holds interests in approximately 300,000 hectares (750,000 acres), in Canada's Athabasca Basin - the "Saudi Arabia of Uranium." CanAlaska's strategic holdings have attracted major international mining companies. CanAlaska is currently working with Cameco and Denison at two of the Company's properties in the Eastern Athabasca Basin. CanAlaska is a project generator positioned for discovery success in the world's richest uranium district. The Company also holds properties prospective for nickel, copper, gold and diamonds. For further information visit www.canalaska.com. On behalf of the Board of Directors "Cory Belyk" Cory Belyk, P.Geo., FGC CEO, Executive Vice-President and Director CanAlaska Uranium Ltd. Contacts: Cory Belyk, Executive VP and CEO Tel: +1.604.688.3211 x 306 Email: cbelyk@canalaska.com General Enquiry Tel: +1.604.688.3211 Email: info@canalaska.com Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-looking information All statements included in this press release that address activities, events or developments that the Company expects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions made by the Company based on its experience, perception of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors it believes are appropriate in the circumstances. In addition, these statements involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties that contribute to the possibility that the predictions, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will prove inaccurate, certain of which are beyond the Company's control. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, the Company does not intend to revise or update these forward-looking statements after the date hereof or revise them to reflect the occurrence of future unanticipated events. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/150983 ~To be launched at Aman boutiques and spas from January 2023with KOSE contracted as OEM~ LONDON, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- KOSE Corporation (Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President & CEO: Kazutoshi Kobayashi) has cooperated with Aman Group SARL,. (Headquarters: Switzerland; CEO: Vlad Doronin) in the development of a new skincare range, Aman Essential Skin (five products) from Aman's lifestyle brand with global reach, Aman Essentials, and has started producing the products under an OEM contract (manufacture of other companies' brand products). The products will be available from January 11, 2023 in 20 countries, including Japan, and will also be used in treatments at Aman Tokyo and other Aman Spas around the world. In KOSE's medium-to-long-term VISION 2026, we committed to "Evolving into a company with a global presence." We also defined our mutually beneficial relationships with all stakeholders*1 as KOSE Beauty Partnership, and are working together with those stakeholders to evolve into a company with a global presence, explore new possibilities in beauty, and create a unique cosmetics culture and new value. Furthermore, in relationship-building with customers, we have added the words "gender" and "generation" to "global" to form the acronym "3G" as an area for expanding our customers, and are promoting the creation of a borderless and gender- and age-neutral fan base. The relationship between Aman and KOSE commenced with the launch of facial and body treatments2* using AQ MELIORITY items, the best product line of DECORTE, KOSE's high-prestige brand, in 2021 starting at Amanyangyun (China) in October, Aman Spa at The Connaught (UK) in November, Aman Le Melezin (France) and Aman Tokyo (Japan) in December. Since then, the partnership between the parties has advanced, and Aman Essential Skin will now be launched, with KOSE cooperating in the development and contracted as OEM of the products. The products are a highly-functional skincare range for people of a wide range of ages, regardless of gender, combining the worldview of Aman, which caters to its clients' needs through luxurious and extraordinary experiences, with KOSE's manufacturing, which provides reliable functionality and quality. *1 Includes customers (BtoC), suppliers, customers (BtoB), investors, human resources, collaborators, competitors, government, environment, and community *2 Press Release dated October 28, 2021 https://www.kose.co.jp/company/en/content/uploads/2021/11/4026dd878979b555ae0a7bfc27484e96.pdf Aman Essential Skin is focused on damage*3 caused by external environmental factors such as UV rays and dryness that are unavoidable in our daily lives no matter where we are in the world. Combined with ancient purple rice bran extract*4 and indigo extract*5, two plant ingredients that have long been treasured in Japan, these skincare products lead to moisturized, supple and glowing skin. The formulations are designed to be free of fragrance, alcohol (ethyl alcohol), parabens, sodium lauryl sulfate, and gluten, while providing a luxurious and comfortable feel. *3 Rough skin and lack of suppleness and luster *4 Rice bran extract *5 Japanese indigo leaf/stem extract Clarifying Milk Cleanser (150mL) $80 A milk cleanser that softens and spreads to remove makeup and impurities without feeling heavy. Formulated with phytosterols*6, which have excellent moisturizing capacity, it removes dead skin cells and excess sebum while protecting moisture. Skin Activating Toner (150mL) $95 A lotion that gently removes impurities from the skin while moisturizing it. The low-stimulant formula contains lactic acid*7 and hyaluronic acid*8, which is a moisturizing component found naturally in the skin, for a smooth, fine-textured complexion. Replenishing Face Serum (30mL) $170 A serum that helps to treat damage such as rough skin and lack of elasticity and luster caused by UV rays, dryness and other external environmental factors. The fresh gel blends in instantly and penetrates deeply into skin, promoting a healthy, translucent complexion. Radiance Face Cream (50mL) $250 A rich, thick cream that envelops the skin in a veil of moisture, protecting it from dryness and other external stresses. Combined with camellia oil*9 and adenosine*10, it leads to supple and luminous skin. Illuminating Eye Cream (20mL) $270 An eye cream that is as smooth as silk and spreads without feeling heavy. Combined with caffeine*11 and peptides*12, it moisturizes the delicate eye area, providing firmness and luminosity. *6 Phytosterols *8 Sodium hyaluronate *9 Camellia seed oil *12 Palmitoyl pentapeptide-4 *4, *5, *6, *8, *9, *10, *11, and *12 are included for moisturizing, and *7 is included for softening the stratum corneum With the OEM contract for this new skincare range, we will further deepen our partnership with Aman and support the luxurious and extraordinary experiences that Aman offers. At the same time, regarding this as an opportunity to make contact with new customers and other stakeholders around the world, we will evolve into a company with a global presence. Comment from representatives of both companies Kristina Romanova, CEO of Aman Essentials The strategic vision and ambition for Aman Essentials, is to create a considered and timeless curation of the finest products which reflect the Aman way of living. The creation of Essential Skin marks the next phase in this journey, bringing our clients a targeted range of functional skincare which delivers exceptional results using gentle yet effective ingredients and fragrance-free formulations, focused on celebrating and preserving one's natural beauty. Personally, I have been fortunate to travel extensively, much like our clients, and I know the importance of having a routine which can reduce the impact of environmental stressors and keep the skin calm and nourished. Aman Essential Skin reflects this ambition and we have worked closely with KOSE for over two years to ensure the formulations are suitable for all skin types and specific need states, as well as being tactile and enjoyable to use, so the products will become a much-loved part of our clients' everyday rituals and routines. Kazutoshi Kobayashi, President & CEO of KOSE KOSE focuses in its product manufacturing on creating products that are not only safe and reliable, but also always highly effective and provide the ultimate in comfort. Our uncompromising commitment to quality, which can be described as craftsmanship, and the selection of raw materials that make it possible for us to achieve that standard, have enabled us to consistently create innovative products and to be a leader in the Japanese market. Sharing Aman's worldview of providing unique and luxurious experiences, it is a great honor for us, two years after we began working with Aman to create new value, to have this opportunity to give shape to that value as cosmetics. ABOUT AMAN Aman was founded in 1988 with the vision of building a collection of intimate retreats with the unassuming, warm hospitality of a gracious private home. The first, Amanpuri (place of peace), in Phuket, Thailand, introduced the concept and, since then, Aman has grown to encompass 34 exquisitely serene hotels and resorts in 20 destinations across the world, with a further nine projects in the pipeline. In such spectacular settings, Aman has honed its offering with its transformative influence on mind, body and spirit through harmoniously designed environments transporting guests out of their everyday lives. Twelve properties also offer private branded Residences: sanctuaries that go beyond commonplace notions of luxury allowing a select few to make the Aman way of life a permanent reality. With innovation a cornerstone of the brand's philosophy, in 2020 Aman welcomed a new hotel brand, Janu - meaning 'soul' in Sanskrit. Janu offers a unique take on hospitality where genuine human interaction, playful expression and social wellness are at the core of the experience. Janu aims to bring balance to the head and heart and rekindle the soul. Three forthcoming Janu hotels are already under construction: Tokyo; AlUla in Saudi Arabia and Montenegro. ABOUT AMAN ESSENTIALS Since 1988, Aman has offered its guests an opportunity to cast aside quotidian distractions and explore the possibilities of a better self. Today, encompassing 34 resorts, hotels, and private residences in 20 countries, the brand continues to seek out transformative experiences and awe-inspiring locations around the world offering an escape from the hectic pace of daily life. Designed to continue Aman's holistic journey outside the parameters of its hotels and resorts, Aman Skincare was born in 2018, making the brand's coveted lifestyle accessible from the comfort of home for the very first time. Offering beautiful, scented formulas using powerful all-natural ingredients and inspired by Aman Spas, Aman Skincare's success later led to the creation of Sva, a range of supplements designed to help maintain optimum health, and Aman Fine Fragrance, a collection of seven scents inspired by Aman destinations which launched in 2021. This sentiment was echoed a few months later, with the arrival of Ready-to-Wear, a collection of contemporary pieces designed to seamlessly fit into the wardrobe of any Aman guest. Aman Essential Skin is the latest addition to Aman Skincare, comprising five products developed and produced in Japan which combine to create a functional and effective daily skincare routine supporting the natural skin barrier, encouraging deep hydration, and protecting from daily environmental stressors. In keeping with Aman's journey towards sustainability Aman Essential Skin's packaging has been designed with this in mind, utilizing glass and Biomass PET bottles, as well as 100% recycled paper and FSC certified paper. Additionally, the product information can be accessed via QR code, rather than a printed leaflet. Today, each of these distinct verticals belong to Aman Essentials; a collection of everyday items created and inspired by the world of Aman. Aman Essentials is available exclusively online and in Aman boutiques across the globe. ABOUT KOSE Since its foundation in 1946, KOSE has developed its business, focused on manufacture and sales of cosmetics, to create a culture and values embodying a distinctive beauty through a sophisticated fusion of sensuousness and intelligence. In 1946, KOSE founder Kozaburo Kobayashi resolved to give hopes and dreams to people through the manufacture and sale of cosmetics, pouring his passion into always providing high quality products. Over 75 years, from generation to generation, we have honored his intention, resolutely pursuing cosmetic brand marketing, research and development, and high quality, to give the world unique and highly safe products. We always tackle challenges above and beyond those of the past, striving to provide the new value that our customers seek. With our strength in high prestige luxury cosmetics combining cutting-edge technologies, KOSE has expanded to 40 countries and regions, offering diverse original and valuable products in all of our 39 brand categories, from high-prestige brands, including DECORTE, prestige brands, such as SEKKISEI, through to cosmetaries*13. Furthermore, with our Corporate Message, "Creating Beauty in a Sustainable World," as our sustainability policy, we incorporate this perspective in all our activities and advance manufacturing from the perspective of adaptability. *13 Cosmetaries: A coined word combining "cosmetics" and "toiletries" For further information, please visit: https://www.kose.co.jp/global/en/ Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1981430/Kose_Corporation_image.jpg View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/new-skincare-range-enabling-amans-unique-luxurious-experiences-to-be-enjoyed-at-home-implemented-through-partnership-between-kose-and-aman-301719125.html Airsupra is the first and only rescue medication approved in the US for as-needed use to reduce risk of asthma exacerbations Approval based on successful Phase III trial programme conducted by Avillion in more than 4,000 patients under an exclusive clinical co-development agreement with AstraZeneca Continues Avillion's 100% success rate in clinical co-development partnerships across multiple therapeutic areas LONDON, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Avillion LLP, a drug development company focused on the co-development and financing of pharmaceutical candidates from proof-of-concept through to regulatory approval, announces that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved AstraZeneca's Airsupra (albuterol/budesonide, formerly known as PT027) for the as-needed treatment or prevention of bronchoconstriction and to reduce the risk of exacerbations in people with asthma aged 18 years and older. Airsupra is a first-in-class, pressurised metered-dose inhaler (pMDI), fixed-dose combination rescue medication containing albuterol, a short-acting beta2-agonist (SABA), and budesonide, an anti-inflammatory inhaled corticosteroid (ICS). The US approval was based on positive results from a global Phase III clinical trial programme for Airsupra comprising four studies involving more than 4,000 patients (including the MANDALA and DENALI trials1,2), which was conducted successfully by Avillion under an exclusive clinical co-development agreement with AstraZeneca. Under its 2018 agreement, Avillion had regulatory responsibility including filing the New Drug Application (NDA) through to FDA approval in the US. Following this approval, AstraZeneca has the option, upon making certain financial payments to Avillion, to commercialise Airsupra in the US. This milestone continues Avillion's 100% successful rate in clinical co-development partnerships for the global pharmaceutical and biotech industry. In MANDALA, Airsupra significantly reduced the risk of severe exacerbations compared to albuterol in patients with moderate to severe asthma when used as an as-needed rescue medication in response to symptoms.1 The results from the MANDALA trial were published in the New England Journal of Medicine in May 2022.1 In DENALI, Airsupra significantly improved lung function compared to the individual components, albuterol and budesonide, in patients with mild to moderate asthma.2 The safety and tolerability of Airsupra in both trials were consistent with the known profiles of the components,1,2 with the most common adverse events including headache, oral candidiasis, cough and dysphonia.3 The co-development partnership between AstraZeneca and Avillion has recently expanded to include the BATURA study, a randomised Phase IIIb decentralised trial to further assess the role of Airsupra in reducing the risk of asthma exacerbations. The Airsupra clinical co-development programme was funded by Blackstone Life Sciences, Royalty Pharma and Abingworth. Bradley E. Chipps, Past President of the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology and Medical Director of Capital Allergy & Respiratory Disease Center in Sacramento, US, said: "People with asthma are at risk of severe exacerbations regardless of their disease severity or level of control. Current albuterol rescue inhalers alleviate acute symptoms, but do not treat the underlying inflammation in asthma. The approval of Airsupra means that, for the first time, adults with asthma in the US have a rescue treatment to manage both their symptoms and the inflammatory nature of their disease." Allison Jeynes, MD, Chief Executive Officer of Avillion, said: "We're delighted that our clinical co-development programme with AstraZeneca has been successful and that Airsupra has been approved in the US as a new treatment option for asthma patients. The Airsupra approval continues our 100% success rate facilitating clinical co-development programmes with pharma companies, demonstrating the strong value our innovative model can provide to partners and the excellence and dedication of our international team. We've had an excellent working relationship with AstraZeneca and are excited to continue our partnership with the BATURA Phase IIIb study, which is looking to continue building the evidence base of Airsupra to reduce the risk of asthma exacerbations." The full press announcement from AstraZeneca on the US approval of Airsupra can be found here. Notes Asthma Asthma is a chronic, inflammatory respiratory disease with variable symptoms that affects as many as 262 million people worldwide,4 including over 25 million in the US.5 Patients with asthma experience recurrent breathlessness and wheezing, which varies over time, and in severity and frequency.6 These patients are at risk of severe exacerbations regardless of their disease severity, adherence to treatment or level of control.7,8 There are an estimated 136 million asthma exacerbations globally per year,9 including 10 million in the US;5 these are physically threatening and emotionally significant for many patients11 and can be fatal.4,11 Inflammation is central to both asthma symptoms7 and exacerbations.12 Many patients experiencing asthma symptoms use a SABA (e.g. albuterol) as a rescue medicine;13-15 however, taking a SABA alone does not address inflammation, leaving patients at risk of severe exacerbations,16 which can result in impaired quality of life,17 hospitalisation18 and frequent oral corticosteroid (OCS) use.18 Treatment of exacerbations with as few as 1-2 short courses of OCS are associated with an increased risk of adverse health conditions including type 2 diabetes, depression/anxiety, renal impairment, cataracts, cardiovascular disease, pneumonia and fracture.19 International recommendations from the Global Initiative for Asthma no longer recommend SABA alone as the preferred rescue therapy.6 MANDALA, DENALIand the CREST (Combination REliever STudies) programme The CREST clinical trial programme studied the efficacy and safety of PT027 and included the MANDALA,1,20,21 DENALI2,22,23 and TYREE25 Phase III trials. MANDALA1,20,21 was a Phase III, randomised, double-blind, multicentre, parallel-group, event-driven trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of Airsupra compared to albuterol on the time to first severe asthma exacerbation in 3,132 adults, adolescents, and children (aged 4-11 years) with moderate to severe asthma taking ICS alone or in combination with a range of asthma maintenance therapies, including long-acting beta2-agonists (LABA), leukotriene receptor antagonists (LTRA), long-acting muscarinic antagonists (LAMA) or theophylline. The trial comprised a two-to-four-week screening period, at least a 24-week treatment period and a two-week post-treatment follow-up period. Patients were randomly assigned to one of the following three treatment groups in a 1:1:1 ratio: Airsupra 180/160mcg (excluding children aged 4-11 years), albuterol/budesonide 180/80mcg or albuterol 180mcg, taken as an as-needed rescue medicine. Airsupra and the albuterol comparator were delivered in a pMDI using AstraZeneca's Aerosphere delivery technology. The primary efficacy endpoint was the time to first severe asthma exacerbation during the treatment period. Secondary endpoints included severe exacerbation rate (annualised), total systemic corticosteroid exposure (annualised), asthma control and health-related quality of life. Results from the positive MANDALA Phase III trial showed that Airsupra demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in the risk of a severe exacerbation versus albuterol rescue in patients with moderate to severe asthma1,21. Compared with albuterol rescue, Airsupra at the 180mcg albuterol/160mcg budesonide dose reduced the risk of a severe exacerbation by 27% (p<0.001) in adults and adolescents1,21. Primary and secondary endpoint results in adults and adolescents1,21 (pre-planned on-treatment efficacy analysis) Treatment Group Comparison versus albuterol 180mcg Time to first severe exacerbation n Number (%) of Patients with a Severe Exacerbation a, b Hazard Ratio (95% CI) p value (2-sided) Airsupra 180/160mcg 1013 207 (20.4) 0.73 (0.61, 0.88) <0.001 Albuterol 180mcg 1014 266 (26.2) Annualised severe exacerbation rate (rate ratio) n Number of Severe Exacerbations a, b Annualised rate (95% CI) Rate Ratio (95% CI) Airsupra 180/160mcg 1013 334 0.45 (0.34, 0.60) 0.76 (0.62, 0.93) Albuterol 180mcg 1014 413 0.59 (0.44, 0.78) Annualised total SCS dose (mg/year) n Mean (SD) b % reduction in mean Airsupra 180/160mcg 1012 86.2 (262.86) 33.4 % Albuterol 180mcg 1011 129.3 (657.19) aDeterioration of asthma requiring use of SCS for =3 days, or inpatient hospitalisation, or emergency room visit, that required SCS. bBefore discontinuation of randomised treatment or change in maintenance therapy. CI, confidence interval; SCS, systemic corticosteroid; SD, standard deviation Primary endpoint results in adults, adolescents, and children1,21 (pre-planned on-treatment efficacy analysis) Treatment Group Comparison versus albuterol 180mcg Time to first severe exacerbation n Number (%) of Patients with a Severe Exacerbation a, b Hazard Ratio (95% CI) p value (2-sided) Albuterol/budesonide 180/80mcg 1054 241 (22.9) 0.83 (0.70, 0.99) 0.041 Albuterol 180mcg 1056 276 (26.1) aDeterioration of asthma requiring use of SCS for =3 days, or inpatient hospitalisation, or emergency room visit, that required SCS. bBefore discontinuation of randomised treatment or change in maintenance therapy. CI, confidence interval Adverse events (AEs) were similar across the treatment groups in the trial and consistent with the known safety profiles of the individual components, with the most common AEs including nasopharyngitis and headache.1,22 DENALI2,23,24 was a Phase III, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicentre, parallel-group trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of Airsupra compared to its components albuterol and budesonide on improvement in lung function in 1,001 adults, adolescents, and children aged 4-11 years with mild to moderate asthma previously treated either with SABA as-needed alone or in addition to regular low-dose ICS maintenance therapy. The trial comprised a two-to-four-week screening period, a 12-week treatment period and a two-week post-treatment follow-up period. Patients were randomly assigned to one of the following five treatment groups in a 1:1:1:1:1 ratio: Airsupra 180/160mcg four times daily (excluding children aged 4-11 years), albuterol/budesonide 180/80mcg four times daily, albuterol 180mcg four times daily, budesonide 160mcg four times daily (excluding children aged 4-11 years) and placebo four times daily. Airsupra, the albuterol and budesonide comparators and placebo were delivered in a pMDI using AstraZeneca's Aerosphere delivery technology. The dual primary efficacy endpoints were change from baseline in FEV1 area under the curve 0-6 hours over 12 weeks of Airsupra compared to budesonide to assess the effect of albuterol and change from baseline in trough FEV1 at Week 12 of Airsupra compared to albuterol to assess the effect of budesonide. Secondary endpoints included the time to onset and duration of response on day one, number of patients who achieved a clinically meaningful improvement in asthma control from baseline at Week 12 and trough FEV1 at Week 1. In the trial, Airsupra demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in lung function measured by forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), compared to the individual components albuterol and budesonide, and compared to placebo in patients with mild to moderate asthma aged 12 years or older. Onset of action and duration of effect were similar for Airsupra and albuterol. The safety and tolerability of Airsupra in DENALI was consistent with the known profiles of the components. About Avillion Avillion offers pharma partners an innovative model providing additional funding and clinical development expertise, to maximise the potential of new and existing assets. With deal sizes ranging from $50M-$600M, Avillion takes on the full clinical and regulatory risk, focusing on the speed and quality of trial execution. Typically supporting programs post proof-of-concept through to registration and with an agnostic approach to therapy area, Avillion prides itself in adding value around operational expertise while being backed by established long-term investors. Avillion was founded in 2012 and is backed by Abingworth and Blackstone Life Sciences (previously Clarus Ventures). The Airsupra clinical co-development programme was funded by Blackstone Life Sciences, Royalty Pharma and Abingworth. For more information, please visit us at www.avillionllp.com Contacts Allison Jeynes, CEO +44 (0)203 764 9530 avillion@avillionllp.com Mark Swallow, George Underwood MEDiSTRAVA Consulting +44 (0)203 928 6900 avillion@medistrava.com References Papi A, et al. Albuterol-Budesonide Fixed-Dose Combination Rescue Inhaler for Asthma. N Engl J Med 2022; 386 (22): 2071-2083. Chipps BE, et al. Efficacy and safety of albuterol/budesonide (PT027) in mild-to-moderate asthma: Results of the DENALI study. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2022; 205: A3414. Abstract. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1164/ajrccm-conference.2022.205.1_MeetingAbstracts.A3414 [Last accessed: November 2022 ]. Airsupra (albuterol/budesonide) US prescribing information; 2023. The Global Asthma Network. The Global Asthma Report 2022. [Online]. Available at: http://globalasthmareport.org/index.html [Last accessed: November 2022]. CDC. Most Recent National Asthma Data. [Online]/ Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/asthma/most_recent_national_asthma_data.htm. [Last accessed: November 2022 ]. Global Initiative for Asthma. Global strategy for asthma management and prevention, 2022. Available at: https://ginasthma.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/GINA-Main-Report-2022-FINAL-22-07-01-WMS.pdf. [Last accessed: November 2022 ]. Price D, et al. Asthma control and management in 8,000 European patients: the REcognise Asthma and LInk to Symptoms and Experience (REALISE) survey. NPJ Prim Care Respir Med. 2014; 24: 14009. Papi A, et al. Relationship of inhaled corticosteroid adherence to asthma exacerbations in patients with moderate-to-severe asthma. J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract. 2018; 6 (6): 1989-98.e3. AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals. Data on File. Budesonide/formoterol Data on File: Annual Rate of Asthma Exacerbations Globally. (REF-173201) Sastre J, et al. Insights, attitudes, and perceptions about asthma and its treatment: a multinational survey of patients from Europe and Canada . World Allergy Organ J. 2016; 9: 13. Fernandes AG, et al. Risk factors for death in patients with severe asthma. J Bras Pneumol. 2014; 40 (4): 364-372. Wark PA, et al. Asthma exacerbations 3: pathogenesis. Thorax. 2006; 61 (10): 909-15. Johnson DB, et al. Albuterol. 2022 May 1 . In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2022 Jan-. PMID: 29489143. Montemayor T, et al. Albuterol: Often Used and Heavily Abused. Respiratory Care November 2021, 66 (Suppl 10) 3603775 ClinCalc.com. Albuterol: Drug Usage Statistics, US 2013 - 2020. Available at: https://clincalc.com/DrugStats/Drugs/Albuterol. [Last accessed: November 2022 ]. Nwaru BI, et al. Overuse of short-acting 2-agonists in asthma is associated with increased risk of exacerbation and mortality: a nationwide cohort study of the global SABINA programme. Eur Respir J. 2020; 55 (4): 1901872. Lloyd A, et al. The impact of asthma exacerbations on health-related quality of life in moderate to severe asthma patients in the UK. Prim Care Respir J. 2007; 16 (1): 22-7. Bourdin A, et al. ERS/EAACI statement on severe exacerbations in asthma in adults: facts, priorities and key research questions. Eur Respir J. 2019; 54 (3): 1900900. Price DB, et al. Adverse outcomes from initiation of systemic corticosteroids for asthma: long-term observational study. J Asthma Allergy. 2018; 11: 193-204. Chipps BE, et al. Evaluation of the Efficacy and Safety of As-Needed PT027 Budesonide/Albuterol MDI) Compared to As-Needed Albuterol MDI in Adults and Children 4 Years of Age or Older with Uncontrolled Moderate to Severe Asthma: Design of the MANDALA Study. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2020; 201: A3015. Papi A, et al. Efficacy and safety of as-needed albuterol/budesonide versus as-needed albuterol in adults, adolescents and children aged =4 years with moderate-to-severe asthma: Results of the MANDALA study. American Thoracic Society International Conference 2022. Oral Presentation. Abstract A3413 during B93. BREAKTHROUGHS IN PEDIATRIC AND ADULT ASTHMA CLINICAL TRIALS Clinicaltrials.gov. A Study to Assess the Efficacy and Safety of Budesonide/Albuterol Metered-dose Inhaler (BDA MDI/PT027) Used 4 Times Daily in Adults and Children 4 Years of Age or Older With Asthma (DENALI). Available at https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03847896. [Last accessed: November 2022 ]. AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals. Data on File. DENALI clinical trial protocol Data on File (ID: 121792). LaForce C, et al. Albuterol/budesonide for the treatment of exercise-induced bronchoconstriction in patients with asthma: The TYREE study. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2022; 128: 169-177. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/avillion-announces-us-approval-of-astrazenecas-airsupra-pt027-as-new-rescue-treatment-for-asthma-301719126.html President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks during a policy briefing at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul on Jan. 9. Yonhap President Yoon Suk Yeol said Wednesday that Japan's moves to bolster its defense capabilities are hard to stop in the face of the threat of North Korea's missiles. Yoon made the remark during a joint policy briefing from the foreign and defense ministers, referring to Japan's recent increase in its defense budget and its inclusion of the "counterstrike" concept in its revised security documents. "We can wonder how a country adopting a pacifist constitution can do such things, but if there are missiles flying over their heads and the possibility of a nuclear strike, it's not easy to stop," he said during the meeting at the former presidential compound of Cheong Wa Dae. "Japan increased its defense budget because there are IRBMs flying over their heads, and decided to include the so-called 'counterstrike' concept in its defense plan," he said, referring to intermediate-range ballistic missiles that North Korea fired over Japan. "How can anyone take issue with that?" Yoon also stressed the need to respond firmly to North Korea's nuclear and missile provocations, saying the most important component of the "three-axis" deterrence system is the Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation (KMPR), an operational plan to incapacitate the North Korean leadership in a major conflict. "We have to deter the mind for provocations by firmly establishing the KMPR," he said. "Firmly building a KMPR capability that allows us to strike back 100 times or 1,000 times more if we are attacked is the most important method for preventing attacks." Yoon also mentioned the possibility of South Korea's own nuclear armament, saying that if North Korea's provocations intensify, "The Republic of Korea could deploy tactical nuclear weapons or possess its own nukes." (Yonhap) Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - January 11, 2023) - Red Light Holland Corp. (CSE: TRIP) (FSE: 4YX) (OTCQB: TRUFF) ("Red Light Holland" or the "Company"), an Ontario-based corporation engaged in the production, growth and sale of functional mushrooms and mushroom home grow kits in North America and Europe, and a premium brand of psilocybin truffles to the legal, recreational market within the Netherlands, in compliance with all applicable laws, is pleased to announce that the Company has retained psychedelic consultants, Cannabis License Experts Inc. ("CLE"), to assist the Company with an application for a Controlled Drugs and Substances Dealer's Licence ("CDS License"), which will be utilized for the purposes of psilocybin production, research and development at the Company's mushroom production facility in New Brunswick, Canada ("AEM New Brunswick Farm"). CLE will consult Red Light Holland on the CDS License application process by preparing a description for each of the 11 security levels and requirements as per the Directive on Physical Security Requirements for Controlled Substances and Drugs Containing Cannabis, including creating a security template, floor plan, and security proposal, ensuring the proper individuals are in place (senior person in charge, qualified person in charge and alternate qualified person in charge) and assessing the substances being used for the proposed activities (together, the "Security Plans"). In addition, CLE will provide ongoing assistance by responding to inquiries from the Office of Controlled Substances at Health Canada and assisting with all other relevant matters pertaining to obtaining the CDS License. "We are committed to expanding our psilocybin production, research and development in Canada. Red Light Holland believes that now is the time to start looking to pave this path forward," said Todd Shapiro, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Red Light Holland. "As Health Canada carefully rolls out their Special Access Program, we will aim to advance our $2.5 million Certified Organic and SQF Certified facility, AEM New Brunswick Farm, which is producing close to 5,000 pounds of shiitake mushrooms per week, to potentially also becoming a cGMP-grade cultivation facility for naturally occurring psilocybin mushrooms. While there are still many steps ahead, Red Light Holland has always aimed at having our own cGMP-grade CDS Licensed mushroom cultivation facility with further hopes of becoming a supplier of standardized and safe naturally occurring psilocybin. We are excited to start this process and feel very comfortable working with CLE, who have a stellar reputation and an excellent close rate at achieving successful licenses when working with companies who have had similar goals as ours," further added Mr. Shapiro. Red Light Holland will keep shareholders up to speed on the project, Security Plans, potential construction and retrofit of the AEM New Brunswick Farm, CDS License application and Health Canada correspondence. About CLE: CLE is a compliance solutions provider consisting of in-house professionals with extensive cannabis, pharma, food, medical device and drug regulatory, licensing and operational experience. CLE, which has been in business for over 17 years, has a tremendous success rate, to date when working on behalf of companies to obtain cannabis and psychedelic licenses, as they have leveraged their experienced staff, consisting of former Health Canada employees and Food and Drug Administration officials, to successfully submit over 250 license applications. About Red Light Holland Red Light Holland is an Ontario-based corporation engaged in the production, growth and sale of functional mushrooms and mushroom home grow kits in North America and Europe, and a premium brand of psilocybin truffles to the legal, recreational market within the Netherlands, in compliance with all applicable laws. For additional information: Todd Shapiro Chief Executive Officer and Director Tel: 647-643-TRIP (8747) Email: todd@redlight.co Website: www.redlight.co Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Information This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. These statements relate to future events or future performance. The use of any of the words "could", "intend", "expect", "believe", "will", "projected", "estimated" and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on the Company's current belief or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events. The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained herein include, but are not limited to, statements regarding: the Company's performance, business objectives and milestones and the anticipated timing of, and costs in connection with, the execution or achievement of such objectives and milestones; the Company's future growth prospects and intentions to pursue one or more viable business opportunities; the development of the Company's business and future activities following the date hereof; expectations relating to market size and anticipated growth in the jurisdictions within which the Company may from time to time operate or contemplate future operations; the market for the Company's proposed product offerings, as well as the Company's ability to capture market share; the Company being granted a CDS License and it being used for psilocybin production, research and development; CLE assisting the Company with the application process, including the preparation of the Security Plans and providing ongoing assistance by responding to inquiries from the Office of Controlled Substances at Health Canada and assisting with all other relevant matters pertaining to obtaining the CDS License; the Company advancing the AEM New Brunswick Farm to become a cGMP-grade Health Canada licensed mushroom cultivation facility and becoming a supplier of standardized and safe naturally occurring psilocybin; the Company expanding its production, research and development of psilocybin in Canada; and the Company providing updates on the project, Security Plans, potential construction and retrofit of the AEM New Brunswick Farm, CDS License application and Health Canada correspondence. Forward-looking information in this press release are based on certain assumptions and expected future events, namely: current and future members of management will abide by the Company's business objectives and strategies from time to time established by the Company; the Company will achieve the performance, meet their business objectives and milestones in their anticipated time and within the anticipated cost; the Company will retain and supplement its board of directors and management, or otherwise engage consultants and advisors having knowledge of the industries (or segments thereof) within which the Company may from time to time participate; the Company will have sufficient working capital and the ability to obtain the financing required in order to develop and continue its business, brands and operations; the Company will continue to attract, develop, motivate and retain highly qualified and skilled consultants and/or employees, as the case may be; no adverse changes will be made to the regulatory framework governing psychedelics, taxes and all other applicable matters in the jurisdictions in which the Company conducts business and any other jurisdiction in which the Company may conduct business in the future; the Company will be able to execute on its business strategy as anticipated; the Company will be able to meet the requirements necessary to obtain and/or maintain authorizations required to conduct the business; general economic, financial, market, regulatory, and political conditions, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, will not negatively affect the Company or its business; the Company will be able to successfully compete in the psychedelic industries; the Company will be able to effectively manage anticipated and unanticipated costs; the Company will be able to conduct its operations in a safe, efficient and effective manner; general market conditions will be favourable with respect to the Company's future plans and goals; the Company will be granted a CDS License and will use it for psilocybin production, research and development; CLE will assist the Company with the CDS License application process, including the preparation of Security Plans, providing ongoing assistance by responding to inquiries from the Office of Controlled Substances at Health Canada and assisting with all other relevant matters pertaining to obtaining the CDS License; the Company will increase its points of sale; the Company will implement the Security Plans; the Company will advance the AEM New Brunswick Farm to become a cGMP-grade Health Canada licensed mushroom cultivation facility and become a supplier of standardized and safe naturally occurring psilocybin; the Company will expand their psilocybin production, research and development; and the Company will provide updates on the project, Security Plans, potential construction and retrofit of the AEM New Brunswick Form, CDS License application and Health Canada correspondence. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements, including but not limited to: the potential inability of the Company to continue as a going concern; risks associated with potential governmental and/or regulatory action with respect to the Company's operations; competition within the markets that the Company operates in; risks with respect to the safety of the Company's products; the risk that there is no potential benefit of the Company's products; risk that the Company will be unable to develop its products; production risks for the Company's products, including logistical delays and risk that the Company will be unable to complete production of its products; risk that the functional mushroom industries in the North America, along with their legal frameworks, will not develop; the Company's inability to attract and retain qualified members of management to grow the Company's business, brands and its operations; unanticipated changes in economic and market conditions (including changes resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic) or in applicable laws; the impact of the publications of inaccurate or unfavourable research by securities analysts or other third parties; unanticipated changes in the psychedelic industries in the jurisdictions within which the Company may from time to time conduct its business and operations, including the Company's inability to respond or adapt to such changes; the Company's inability to secure or maintain favourable lease arrangements or the required authorizations necessary to conduct the business and operations and meet its targets; the Company's inability to effectively manage unanticipated costs and expenses, including costs and expenses associated with product recalls and judicial or administrative proceedings against the Company; risk that the Company will be unable to provide affordable and equitable access adult access to naturally occurring psilocybin; risk that the CLE will not consult and/or assist the Company with an application for a CDS License; the Company's inability to obtain a CDS License and/or use it for the purposes of psilocybin production, research and development; risk that the Company will not advance the AEM New Brunswick Farm to become a cGMP-grade Health Canada licensed mushroom cultivation facility and/or become a supplier of standardized and safe naturally occurring psilocybin; the Company's inability to implement the Security Plans; risk that the Company will be unable to expand its psilocybin production, research and development; and risk that Company will not provide updates on the project, Security Plans, potential construction and retrofit of the AEM New Brunswick Farm, CDS License application and/or Health Canada correspondence. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list is not exhaustive. Readers are further cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are placed will occur. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement and reflect the Company's expectations as of the date hereof and are subject to change thereafter. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, estimates or opinions, future events or results or otherwise or to explain any material difference between subsequent actual events and such forward-looking information, except as required by applicable law. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/151003 A celebration of life and feel-good experiences, FirstName Bordeaux marks the first hotel in France to join the JdV by Hyatt collection and strengthens Hyatt's brand expansion across Europe Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE: H) today announced the opening of FirstName Bordeaux, a lifestyle hotel joining the JdV by Hyatt collection of independent hotels. Demonstrating Hyatt's continued brand growth in Europe, FirstName Bordeaux embodies the JdV by Hyatt brand's inclusive spirit, feel-good outlook, and joy-driven approach to hotel experiences. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005081/en/ Guestroom at FirstName Bordeaux. Copyright Jerome Galland Located in the heart of the historic port city, FirstName Bordeaux is a true reflection of its neighborhood, encouraging guests to discover local delights at their own pace. Situated in an iconic building, the hotel is close to the Garonne River and moments away from cultural and notable landmarks such as the Quays of Bordeaux, the Water Mirror, La Cite du Vin, and the Darwin Ecosystem. For those looking to immerse themselves in the region's most renowned attractions, the infamous Bordeaux vineyards and the extraordinarily beautiful Arcachon Bay are easily accessible by public transport or car. FirstName Bordeaux epitomizes the "joie de vivre" philosophy of the JdV by Hyatt brand and participates in the World of Hyatt loyalty program giving members even more options to travel. As part of the JdV by Hyatt collection of independent properties, the hotel invites guests and locals alike to connect, live in the moment and celebrate the joy of life, whilst unwinding in spaces designed with distinctive personality. This, together with FirstName's commitment to authenticity and inclusivity, ensures that each stay at FirstName Bordeaux will be a truly one-of-a-kind experience. The hotel was designed by architect Nicolas Adnet from Studio MHNA, whose creative and personalized approach has inspired a unique interpretation of French elegance and local sophistication. The hotel's interiors create a welcoming and inclusive atmosphere, encouraging guests to embrace the spirit of their surroundings. FirstName Bordeaux offers 147 guestrooms and suites, divided into seven distinct categories for guests to choose from: Cocoon, Canopee, Carat, Collector Suites, and FirstRoom. Designed to be both functional and comfortable, each guestroom is beautifully decorated with graphic frescoes by a local artist and equipped with easy-to-use technology and intuitive finishes. The hotel's commitment to sustainability is realized in eco-friendly interiors, including wood sourced from eco-managed forests, plush carpets fashioned from discarded fishing nets, as well as charcoal in each room to purify the atmosphere. The hotel's restaurant and bar, Le Bada, highlights Bordeaux's reputation as a world-renowned wine region and its revered provincial gastronomy. A supporter of "locavore" cuisine, consultant Chef Cedric Bechade has created a menu that is a passionate celebration of regional produce and advocates freshness and zero waste. Delicious plates are paired with a wine list that showcases the best vintages as well as a selection of up-and-coming wineries from Bordeaux, providing a sophisticated ambiance for guests to meet and connect in. In the spirit of collaboration and celebration, FirstName Bordeaux offers three meeting spaces that have been designed to inspire guests and stimulate innovative ideas. Comfortable benches and seating areas create a casual, thought-provoking backdrop for reading, conversation, and meetings. In the evenings, the spaces transform, offering a unique location for social gatherings, parties and cocktails. For those looking to evoke a joyful spirit, Speakeasy, the hotel's secret bar can be found behind the door of a bordelaise cupboard and features unexpected furnishings designed to surprise and delight. A perfect place to book for a corporate event, a private party, or an afterwork gathering. The term "Hyatt" is used in this release for convenience to refer to Hyatt Hotels Corporation and/or one or more of its affiliates. About FirstName FirstName is a new hospitality brand launched in 2022. It is a part of the Alboran Group, an active owner of hotel properties founded in 2016. The FirstName philosophy is to create hotels which Feel Good by nature for guests, locals, and talent alike. FirstName is committed to designing living spaces with a warm and friendly welcome, where citizens of the world are invited to become inhabitants of the local neighborhood around its tables, counter, sofas, and bar. It is a place of authentic life and immersion in local food, art, and music, scattered with a few whimsical surprises. The public areas of FirstName hotels are dedicated to fun and joy, where guests can enjoy great food and drink, and feel good and dance to the hotel's carefully curated musical program by a resident local DJ. Alternatively, the guest rooms and suites promote tranquility, relaxation, and seclusion, offering guests luxurious bedding and thoughtful amenities in a holistic space promoting wellbeing and environmental awareness. The FirstName brand is committed to people and the planet, with a variety of sustainability measures incorporating support of the local community, enrichment and recognition for talent, and conservation measures for energy usage, food waste, single-use plastics, and much more. About JdV by Hyatt A community for the spirited, the light-hearted, the young-at-heart, the JdV by Hyatt brand offers a collection of vibrant, independent hotels that are true reflections of the urban neighborhoods we call home. Embracing its namesake (joie de vivre), the JdV by Hyatt brand invites guests and locals alike to connect, live in the moment and celebrate the joy of life. Each hotel provides an experience that is inclusive in spirit and space, inviting all to make each stay yours truly. Follow @JDVHotels on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for news and updates. For more information, please visit www.jdvbyhyatt.com. About Hyatt Hotels Corporation Hyatt Hotels Corporation, headquartered in Chicago, is a leading global hospitality company guided by its purpose to care for people so they can be their best. As of September 30, 2022, the Company's portfolio included more than 1,200 hotels and all-inclusive properties in 72 countries across six continents. The Company's offering includes brands in the Timeless Collection, including Park Hyatt, Grand Hyatt, Hyatt Regency, Hyatt, Hyatt Residence Club, Hyatt Place, Hyatt House, and UrCove; the Boundless Collection, including Miraval, Alila, Andaz, Thompson Hotels, Hyatt Centric, and Caption by Hyatt; the Independent Collection, including The Unbound Collection by Hyatt, Destination by Hyatt, and JdV by Hyatt; and the Inclusive Collection, including Hyatt Ziva, Hyatt Zilara, Zoetry Wellness Spa Resorts, Secrets Resorts Spas, Breathless Resorts Spas, Dreams Resorts Spas, Vivid Hotels Resorts, Alua Hotels Resorts, and Sunscape Resorts Spas. Subsidiaries of the Company operate the World of Hyatt loyalty program, ALG Vacations, Unlimited Vacation Club, Amstar DMC destination management services, and Trisept Solutions technology services. For more information, please visit www.hyatt.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005081/en/ Contacts: Marie Cazaux Hyatt Western Europe marie.cazaux@hyatt.com NEW YORK, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Nobu Hospitality will open five new hotels in 2023, including Rome, Marrakech, Atlantic City, San Sebastian, and Toronto. With recent announcements of Bangkok and Abu Dhabi, the 32nd property to join the portfolio, the brand continues to grow globally with a strong development pipeline. This year will mark Nobu Hotels' 10th anniversary following the opening of Nobu Hotel Caesars Palace in Las Vegas in 2013. For almost 30 years the Nobu brand has been synonymous with modern luxury and instinctive design, a commitment to fine ingredients and incredible food, and an innate passion for service. Each of the existing 32 hotel destinations have been carefully selected based on the success of a Nobu restaurant, to reach 60 restaurants worldwide this year, creating a platform for locals and international travelers alike to create unforgettable memories around food. With the concept of Kokoro - the Japanese word for heartfelt - tying the portfolio together, Nobu has continued to maintain a strong family-feel over the last decade fueling its continued expansion. Providing not just a place to stay, but a place to live, 2023 will also welcome the brand's first luxury residences in Toronto and Los Cabos, embodying the spirit of Nobu in both design and attitude. With six other residential projects in the pipeline, including Al Khobar, Danang, Abu Dhabi, Tulum, Orlando, and Punta Cana - Nobu is firmly positioning itself within the luxury lifestyle sphere by offering an exclusive curated experience for buyers. A place to relax in unpretentious luxury, while still feeling part of something special, the residences will provide purposeful design, elevated amenities including Nobu dining and room service for its residents and unparalleled access to the surrounding area through a dedicated team. Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_beVOaYt84 View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/nobu-hospitality-continues-to-expand-global-footprint-in-2023-301719137.html PARIS, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Glion Institute of Higher Education, a leading business school specializing in hospitality and luxury, has joined forces with The Vendom Company for the second edition of the "EXCELLENCE by Vendom" trade show dedicated exclusively to recruitment in the luxury sector. The show will be held in Paris, in virtual and face-to-face mode simultaneously, at the Hotel Le Marois on 25, 26 and 27 January. Created by The Vendom Company's CEO, Laetitia Girard, the new edition of the "EXCELLENCE by Vendom" recruitment fair capitalizes on the success of its predecessor which took place from 7 to 9 October 2022, bringing together 100 luxury professionals, brands and schools. In all, an audience of more than 3,000 talents from across Europe, the Middle East and Asia attended the talks and online workshops available during the latest edition of the show. In 2023, The Vendom Company is innovating by changing the format of the EXCELLENCE by Vendom trade show, which will be held online over three days, as well as physically in Paris for one day at the Hotel Le Marois. The new edition will be based on lively exchanges, while enabling professionals and candidates to follow it from everywhere in the world. This annual event is aimed at recruiters, candidates, hotel and luxury management schools. Embodying the luxury industry's cherished values of integrity, passion, excellence and commitment, the days are organized around online or face-to-face private interviews with recruiters, workshops and talks of which the content has been designed in collaboration with Glion, a benchmark educational institution in the hospitality industry. "EXCELLENCE by Vendome 2023 will bring together professionals and aspiring professionals from the world of luxury in a common development dynamic: our objective is to effect a paradigm shift in recruitment by returning to its very essence - human beings - as well as to promote enhanced knowledge of luxury Maisons and job opportunities", says Laetitia Girard. "The employability of our students is one of the great strengths of our institution. This show is a unique opportunity to discover these exceptional Maisons and their leaders. For luxury industry players, this is a not-to-be-missed event enabling them to identify future talents", comments Francine Cuagnier, Marketing Director Glion. Designed in collaboration with Glion, an academic institution renowned for its excellence, the program of talks will enable luxury industry stakeholders to share their thoughts on major issues in the sector and recruitment through a series of four round-table discussions featuring exceptional figures*: PEOPLE to PEOPLE Francois-Henry BENNAHMIAS, CEO Audemars Piguet Maud BAILLY, CEO Sofitel, MGallery and Emblems LUXURY SPEAKS SUSTAINABILITY Manuel MALLEN, CEO Maison Courbet Emilie METGE VIARGUES, CEO of Christofle LUXURY AND TRANSMISSION Guy BERTAUD, CEO Maisons Pariente Thierry MARX, Michelin-starred chef of the "Sur Mesure" restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental Paris HISTORY AND MINDSET OF LUXURY Stanislas DE QUERCIZE, President and Founder SAVIH, Member of the Board Christian Louboutin, Messika Paris, former President Van Cleef & Arpels and former President Cartier International Jean-Luc NARET, CEO of JLN & CO - former CEO La Reserve Hotels - former CEO Michelin Guides Veronique BEAUMONT, Managing Director, COO at ESMOD International Full program and registration available at Excellence by Vendom (excellencebyvendom.com) *subject to change About Glion Institute of Higher Education Founded in 1962, Glion Institute of Higher Education (GIHE) is a Swiss institution offering bachelor's and master's degrees in hospitality, luxury and finance to an international student body across three campuses in Switzerland and London, UK. Glion has ranked amongst the world's top five for higher education institutions in Hospitality Management and top three in Employer Reputation since its entry into the rankings in 2018 (QS World University Rankings, 2022). Part of Sommet Education, worldwide leader in management education specializing in hospitality professions, Glion is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE). For more information: glion.edu/fr/ About Vendom: The Vendom Company is the first qualified talent network in the luxury world and is committed to enhancing human capital around three major poles: luxury recruitment; training and highly exclusive events; as well as an annual luxury agora, "Excellence by Vendom". Through its franchises, The Vendom Company is now present on several continents while remaining based in France. Thus, after the opening of its subsidiaries in Spain and the Indian Ocean - an ideal opening towards the Far Eastern markets -, Vendom will continue its expansion in the Middle East, as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The international network is currently composed of 300 recruiters, 20,000 qualified candidates, three franchises (France-Benelux, Indian Ocean, Spain-Portugal) and 100,000 subscribers on its digital platforms. Media contacts: Glion: Anouck Weiss, media@sommet-education.com Vendom: Carole MILLION, caroline@pamplemoussepresse.com PDF - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1981417/Glion_Institute_EXCELLENCE_CONFERENCE.pdf Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1981416/Glion_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/glion-institute-of-higher-education-will-be-partnering-with-the-second-edition-of-the-excellence-by-vendom-luxury-recruitment-fair-301719085.html New Certificate Program Incorporates Business Analysis to Enhance HR Function, Improving Business Outcomes TORONTO, Jan. 11, 2023(HRPA) are proud to announce their strategic partnership. HRPA, serving the Ontario Province, have been advocating for the human resources profession for over 40 years to ensure that HR professionals have the most up-to-date tools and advanced skills needed to lead workplaces into the future. IIBA, with 30,000 members around the world, is leading the global business analysis community and is shaping professional standards to achieve better outcomes through better analysis. Business analysis skills are strategically important to today's CHRO tasked with taking on complex organizational challenges, as expectations of the HR function are increasing for advanced strategic thinking in defining solutions that deliver organizational value. HR needs a playbook of repeatable processes of uncovering the real business issues to solve, better techniques for determining solutions that are impactful, and a focused way of assembling compelling business cases that gain organizational support. To help HR professionals gain these skills, HRPA partnered with IIBA. The partnership between IIBA and HRPA is a pivotal relationship that emphasizes the value of leveraging analysis and data to drive business decisions and optimize HR practices. Through the combination of cutting-edge research, industry insights, and best practices, this partnership helps to ensure that HR professionals have the necessary business analysis skills and knowledge to effectively lead their organizations into the future. "Coming into the post-pandemic era there is a need for workplaces to increase learning agility, simplify cumbersome people processes, radically transform the employee experience, and turn their attention to increased organizational effectiveness to evolve within the new world of work," said Kris Tierney, Vice President HR and Learning, HRPA. "We wanted to offer our members a program built on the proven standards of IIBA and highlight for HR professionals the value of business analysis in remarkably improving enterprise outcomes." To help the HR profession meet the challenges of this new world and lead at a higher level, HRPA in association with the IIBA have built the Radical HR: Upskilling from Service Provider to Solution Expert program using the foundation of IIBA's Entry Certificate in Business Analysis . This innovative course is a five-module certificate program designed to enable organizational change by empowering participants to identify opportunities, define needs, and recommend solutions to deliver stakeholder value in the Human Resources field. By the end of the program, participants will receive the Human Resources Solutions Certificateexam. "This program is focused on giving HR practitioners' practical business analysis tools to assist in navigating complex projects and change. These skills will set up HR diagnostics to be clear and strategic for your clients and leaders," said Mary Madigan Lee, Chief People Officer, City of Toronto. "HRPA and IIBA realized business analysis skills needed to be stronger in HR professionals to support the pace of change faced by their members. The partnership with HRPA brings the value of business analysis to achieve better business outcomes to HR professionals in a way that is practical and resonates for their unique needs," said Keith Ellis, Chief Engagement and Growth Officer, IIBA. "What makes this program so unique is that it provides a clear path for HR professionals to transform from being a service provider to being the solution designer, influencer, and change partner that top leadership requires." 73% of pilot participants felt they gained a sense of confidence to impact and influence change after completing the course.1 All participants believe that business analysis techniques and skills are essential to a high-functioning HR department. The tools learned within this program will help participants better use business analysis foundations to conduct comprehensive needs analyses, create evidence-based solutions, and support organizational transformation, employee development and performance management, succession planning, and other key practices. Participants will advance their careers by gaining the necessary skills to deliver value-creating solutions that meet stakeholder needs across the business. Individuals exiting the program report have a feeling of greater individual and team effectiveness in evolving core HR processes, as well as greater confidence, to tackle complex change initiatives. Follow the link below to register for the course: Radical HR: Upskilling from Service Provider to Solution Expert Business analysis provides tremendous value to a wide range of industries and roles by helping organizations sense and enable change by defining needs and recommending solutions that deliver value. Join IIBA as a strategic partner and become part of a global network of experts who work towards delivering better outcomes through business analysis. To learn more about IIBA's Strategic Partnerships please visit https://www.iiba.org/organizational-programs/strategic-partnerships/ . About IIBA International Institute of Business Analysis. About HPRA At the Human Resources Professionals Association, we believe that better HR makes business better. The HRPA ensures that our 24,000 members and students have the most up-to-date tools and the advanced skills to lead our workplaces into the future. We regulate HR professionals in the public interest. Our members are held to the province's highest standards, so Ontario workplaces can trust us to help unlock business growth and optimize employee potential. Learn more at hrpa.ca . Source: IIBA post course-assessment of pilot participants Media Contacts Shyra Wells, Communications & Media Specialist IIBA Shyra.Wells@iiba.org +1 (289) 212-3657 OTTAWA (dpa-AFX) - The North American Leaders' Summit has pledged to deepen economic cooperation, promote investment, and reinforce competitiveness, innovation, and resilience. The highlight of the summit declaration was an agreement among the United States, Mexico and Canada to cooperate on bolstering the supply of semiconductors, a market dominated by Asia, especially China. U.S. President Joe Biden was joined by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in Mexico City for the 10th summit of the North American Leaders. The three leaders agreed to fortify the region's security, prosperity, sustainability and inclusiveness through commitments across six pillars: diversity, equity, and inclusion; climate change and the environment; competitiveness; migration and development; health; and regional security. The White House said that the first-ever trilateral semiconductor forum with industry will be convened early this year to adapt government policies and increase investment in semiconductor supply chains across North America. Senior industry representatives and cabinet members of the United States, Mexico, and Canada governments will participate in it. A coordinated semiconductor supply chain mapping will be conducted to develop a collective understanding of unmet needs. This mapping with all the three countries will identify complementary investment opportunities. North American critical minerals resource mapping will be expanded to collect details on resources and reserves. The Geological Surveys of each country will organize a trilateral workshop to share data and facilitate cooperation. Canada and Mexico will be added as co-government partners in the public-private partnership model of the decade-old 100K Strong initiative. Meetings of industry and academia experts in semiconductors, ICT, biomanufacturing, and other key advanced manufacturing and logistics industries will be convened for design sessions on the skills needed to develop a North American workforce over the next five years. The United States, Mexico, and Canada announced a set of ambitious measures to build clean energy economies and respond to the climate crisis. This includes reducing methane emissions from the solid waste and wastewater sector by at least 15 percent by 2030, developing efforts to cut food loss and waste in half by 2030, electrifying and decarbonizing public buses through the cooperative development of a Joint Transit Decarbonization Toolkit, developing a plan for operating standards and the installation of EV chargers along international borders to ensure a seamless EV charging transition from country to country, and developing a North American clean hydrogen market. Copyright(c) 2023 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX London, January 11, 2023 Case IH and New Holland, global agricultural brands of CNH Industrial, have won four 2023 ASABE AE50 awards from the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE). These prestigious awards honor the year's 50 most innovative products and systems engineered for the food and agricultural industries. Case IH won its first award for the Early Riser 2150S Front-Fold Split-Row Planter. It features a 50-inch split-row offset (front to back) design which maximizes residue flow and minimizes residue plugging - for more efficient and agronomic operation. The planter delivers accurate row unit ground following, seed placement and depth. All settings can be made directly from the cab allowing the farmer to easily apply the necessary adjustments to maximize productivity. New Steiger Series Tractor Three-Point Hitch system is the brand's second AE50-winning product. It is designed to maximize the power and lift capacity of wide-frame Steiger series tractors. The innovative system now has a 20,000-pound lift capacity and increased maximum lift height which will allow the tractor to tackle a wider variety of tasks on the farm. New Holland Agriculture was recognized for its 2023 Guardian Front Boom Sprayer with PLM Intelligence which features all-new electronic controls and offboard connectivity. Upgrades include liquid management system controls in the cab and fill station, and a full integration to the Precision Land Management (PLM) intelligence infrastructure offered by New Holland PLM connect systems and Raven Slingshot offboard interfaces. The PLM intelligence system benefits the customer by remotely providing diagnostics, service information and agronomic data straight to a phone, tablet, or home office - meaning they can make even more timely decisions to enhance overall profitability and productivity. Pro-Belt Series Variable Chamber Round Balers won New Holland's second award. The balers are equipped with the ActiveDrop rotor drop floor which provides the durability required by baling contractors and high use farmers. The ActiveDrop rotor drop floor provides an alert to the operator when the load on the rotor is approaching maximum capacity. This allows the operator to adjust their baling speed to avoid rotor overloading and increases overall productivity. These awards recognize CNH Industrial's ongoing development of customer-inspired, innovative products. CNH Industrial (NYSE: CNHI / MI: CNHI) is a world-class equipment and services company. Driven by its purpose of Breaking New Ground, which centers on Innovation, Sustainability and Productivity, the Company provides the strategic direction, R&D capabilities, and investments that enable the success of its global and regional Brands. Globally, Case IH and New Holland Agriculture supply 360 agriculture applications from machines to implements and the digital technologies that enhance them; and CASE and New Holland Construction Equipment deliver a full lineup of construction products that make the industry more productive. The Company's regionally focused Brands include: STEYR, for agricultural tractors; Raven, a leader in digital agriculture, precision technology and the development of autonomous systems; Flexi-Coil, specializing in tillage and seeding systems; Miller, manufacturing application equipment; Kongskilde, providing tillage, seeding and hay & forage implements; and Eurocomach, producing a wide range ofmini and midi excavators for the construction sector, including electric solutions. Across a history spanning over two centuries, CNH Industrial has always been a pioneer in its sectors and continues to passionately innovate and drive customer efficiency and success. As a truly global company, CNH Industrial's 37,000+ employees form part of a diverse and inclusive workplace, focused on empowering customers to grow, and build, a better world. For more information and the latest financial and sustainability reports visit: cnhindustrial.com For news from CNH Industrial and its Brands visit: media.cnhindustrial.com Media contacts: Rebecca Fabian Anna Angelini North America United Kingdom Tel. +1 312 515 2249 Tel. +44 (0)7725 826 007 mediarelations@cnhind.com Attachments Elects To Move Forward To Own 75% Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 11, 2023) - CopAur Minerals Inc. (TSXV: CPAU) (the "Company") CopAur Minerals Inc. ("Copaur" or the "Company") has provided notice to Allegiant Gold Corp Ltd. and other optionors under the Option Agreement dated June 27, 2018, as amended, to confirm that it has incurred and completed the final US$1.5 million in exploration expenditures to satisfy the remaining option requirements to earn a 50.01% interest in the Bolo Project in Nevada. The Company has also provided notice to Allegiant electing to earn an additional 24.99% interest in the Bolo Project Agreement (the "Additional Interest") under the terms of the Option Agreement by incurring an additional US$4 million in exploration expenditures within two years of the date of notice to earn the Additional Interest. Results from the previous 4,000 metres of reverse circulation drilling for Q4 of 2022, including expansion drilling at the South Mine Fault zone (1,000 metres) and exploration drilling of new targets are expected to be released in Q1, 2023. No further shares payments are too be made to Allegiant to earn 75%. The Company's CEO, Jeremy Yaseniuk states, "Following this successful earn-in within the last year, CopAur has now acquired a 50.01% ownership interest in the Bolo project, a 79.99% ownership interest in the Kingsley Gold project and a 100% interest in the Troy Canyon property, all in Nevada. CopAur also has a 100% ownership interest in the Williams gold-copper project in British Columbia and is ideally positioned for further growth and development. This year we will continue focusing on a measured and systematic approach to exploration targets on these projects. The Company's initial plan in early 2023 is to focus on the Kingsley gold project and expects to commence further drilling in late January. Kinsley hosts a Carlin-type gold project with current indicated resources of 418 koz at 2.63 g/t gold and inferred resources of 117 koz at 1.51 g/t gold which will be updated later in the year." Hot Creek Range, Nye County, Nevada To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/7895/151004_hcrimage.jpg. Figure 1: Bolo Drill Targets To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/7895/151004_28d90855e4b2aa40_004full.jpg. About CopAur Minerals Inc. CPAU is an exploration company focused on developing projects within the emerging, mineral-rich mining regions of Nevada and British Columbia. The Company is backed by a dynamic and experienced team of resource professionals advancing multiple holdings across both regions; the flagship being Kinsley Mountain Gold Property, a Carlin-style project located 90 km south of the Long Canyon Mine (currently in production under the Newmont/Barrick Joint Venture, Nevada Gold Mines) and its 100% owned Williams Project that points to significant gold-copper potential within the prolific Golden Horseshoe of northern British Columbia, Canada. (For a full overview of projects please download CopAurPresentation). Qualified Person The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Kristopher J. Raffle, PGeo (B.C.), principal and consultant of Apex Geoscience Ltd. of Edmonton, Alta., a director of New Placer Dome and a qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101 -- Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Mr. Raffle has verified the data disclosed, which include a review of the sampling, analytical and test data underlying the information and opinions contained herein. On behalf of the Board of Directors, Jeremy Yaseniuk Chief Executive Officer For further information, please contact: Jeremy Yaseniuk CopAur Minerals Inc. Telephone: 604-773-1467 Email: jeremyy@copaur.com Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-Looking Information This news release includes certain statements that constitute "forward-looking information or statements" within the meaning of applicable securities law, including without limitation, conducting exploration work on its projects, receipt of assays, other statements relating to the technical, financial and business prospects of the Company and its properties, and other matters. This news release contains forward-looking statements. These statements relate to future events or Company's future performance. All such statements involve substantial known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results to vary from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties, they should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results and they will not necessarily be accurate indications of whether or not such results will be achieved. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based upon what management of the Company believes are reasonable assumptions on the date of this news release, the Company cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date hereof and the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revised 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/151004 Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 11, 2023) - Indigo Exploration Inc. (TSXV: IXI) (FSE: INE) (the "Company") is pleased to announce it has doubled its land position in central Alberta, Canada covering significant subsurface Devonian reef reservoir aquifers with the potential to produce large volumes of lithium-bearing formation brine. The Company's permits recently granted by Alberta Department of Energy now total 147,904 hectares (147.9 km2 or 365,479 acres) in three key areas of higher lithium brines and adjacent to permits held by E3 Lithium Ltd., LithiumBank Resources Corp., and Highwood Asset Management (see Figures 1, 2 and 3). Mr. Bradley Parkes, who joined the Board of Directors, became interim VP Exploration in October 2022 and has extensive experience in oil and gas exploration, states: "Our strategy of permit selection is balancing geological theory with: adequate stand-alone project size, excellent widespread well infrastructure for brine testing and sampling purposes, proximal to wells recording lithium brine levels between 72 and 130mg/l, over portions of the reef that are most prospective for lithium brine and better porosity. Our permits are deliberately chosen on the edges of reefs which tend to have higher porosity. This would imply better reservoir flow productivity than in reef crests." Figure 1: Company Permit Areas and Extent of Li-rich formation water in west-central Alberta (after D.R. Eccles1 and H. Berhane - Alberta Geologic Survey) To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/3717/150941_73971bd9b4396b50_001full.jpg Figure 2: Fox Creek Lithium Brine Project (Indigo Permits in purple) To view an enhanced version of Figure 2, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/3717/150941_73971bd9b4396b50_002full.jpg Figure 3: Leduc-Legal Lithium Brine Project (Indigo Permits in purple) To view an enhanced version of Figure 3, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/3717/150941_73971bd9b4396b50_003full.jpg The acquired permits are in proximity to wells recording lithium brine levels between 72 and 130mg/l from the Leduc Carbonate Reef complex Woodbend Group and the underlying Beaverhill Lake Group rock. The aquifers in these units historically have been known to host the highest grades of lithium-in-brine in Alberta. The recent Indigo permits increase its land positions in the Fox Creek and Leduc-Legal areas. There are over 700 wells that have been drilling on the Indigo permit areas. These 700 wells of various status, from producing to abandoned, penetrate the Mississippian or Devonian Formations across the Indigo permits. This well dataset is being evaluated to select the most suitable wells to conduct a comprehensive sampling program planned to start in the first quarter of 2023. Lithium, Lithium Brines and Alberta Global wave of demand for lithium is accelerating with the need for energy storage solutions, particularly for the electric vehicle industry. The demand for electric vehicles which require a significant amount of lithium is creating such a large market that lithium supply shortages are forecasted even this decade. This growing demand provides an opportunity for Alberta with its mature oil fields which also hold large deposits of lithium in subsurface brine. Considered an industrial waste from oil field operations, new technologies are being developed to tap into and extract Alberta's lithium-brine potential from many of the same oil and gas reservoirs. These recent technological advancements position Alberta to potentially become a major lithium producer. Couple this with the abundance of existing geological data and infrastructure to access these reservoirs and a highly trained workforce, Alberta can capitalize on its lithium production potential. On Behalf of the Board of Directors, "Paul Cowley", President and CEO For further information, please contact: Paul Cowley: (604) 340-7711 Website: www.indigoexploration.com Bradley Parkes, P.Geo., Interim VP Exploration and Director of Indigo Exploration Inc., is the Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101, who has read and approved the technical content of this news release. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulations Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) 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/150941 By Choi Seo-yeon I am a senior in high school living in southern Seoul's Seocho District one of the most academically thriving areas in Korea. Next is Gangnam District, where 1,898 "hagwon" (private academies) exist in an area of 39.55 square kilometers, thereby recording the highest number of hagwon institutions in Korea, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education. Attending a hagwon is not a one-time thing but a lifestyle. And the purpose for attending them is clear: to succeed in academics and get accepted to a dream college. I live in the center of this ambition, yet I am different from my peers. I do not attend any hagwon and do not plan to take the entrance exam. I feel no pressure to do so. This is because I attend an alternative school that follows an American curriculum and grading system. This fall, I applied to several colleges in the United States. During this process, I realized the differences in the ideal candidate for Korean vs. U.S. colleges. For my college application, I wrote a main personal essay. Instead of packaging myself as the perfect individual, I found that American colleges search for students who improve and overcome their weaknesses or challenges. In my application essays, I was honest about my shortcomings in the past, how I faced and overcame them at a particular time of my life and what I discovered through the process. This kind of essay prompt is unimaginable for Korean college applications. American colleges I applied to last year have seen my essay as inspiring and accepted me to their college bounds. I am not bragging that I am an extremely outstanding person or a special and experienced student (I am just an ordinary high schooler like other high schoolers are). But American colleges evaluate students from various perspectives, which is equally important since everyone is different. What I have experienced as a senior in an American school curriculum has taught me a great lesson: Academics is not the only way to success, but developing my uniqueness is a more meaningful practice. Outside the Korean academic system, I could take a good look at myself, search for my unique characteristics, talents and values and draw my future with a more dynamic and broader perspective. Although I don't have superb grades and I am not at the top of the class rankings, I discovered what I love to do and received encouragement throughout my academic years. Unfortunately, unlike what I am experiencing as a senior, 70 percent of high school seniors in Korea are suffering from academic stress according to news reports. The main reason was due to "feeling disappointment with and loss of confidence" in oneself. It is unfortunate to hear such responses from my peers. Many Korean seniors are losing the opportunity I have had in the college application process. Korean universities' admission standard is still based solely on grades and test scores. However, life is not all about academics. Some may blossom academically, while others may excel in a different area. When Korea cultivates a culture where students can design and explore themselves more, I expect more young adults will enjoy freedom. Now is the time. It is time for colleges in Korea to view each student through a different lens that will uplift each student's value and uniqueness. The writer is a senior at HolGa Christian Academy in Seoul. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 11, 2023) - Silver Elephant Mining Corp. (TSX: ELEF) (OTCQX: SILEF) (FSE: 1P2N) ("Silver Elephant" or "the Company") announces that, further to its news release dated December 28, 2022, and November 21, 2022, an additional 6,600 tonnes of coal in two separate rail shipments have arrived in Tianjin seaport in China from its Ulaan Ovoo mine in Mongolia. In total, 9,766 tonnes (three rail shipments) of coal have been exported to China since the cross-border sales started on December 9, 2022. Tianjin is a major Chinese seaport and exposes Ulaan Ovoo coal to international seaborne coal pricing. "Bringing Ulaan Ovoo coal to Tianjin is a monumental achievement for the Company. This means potentially broader market reach; and the indexing of Ulaan Ovoo coal sales price to international seaborne pricing with transparency. We are onto a good start in 2023 to reach our sales target of 200,000 to 500,000 tonnes. The Company has received additional coal purchase interests from several international buyers. Every coal sale generates profits for Silver Elephant as our Mongolia operating partner is responsible for coal extraction," commented John Lee, CEO of Silver Elephant. For each shipment, approximately 3,000 tonnes of Ulaan Ovoo coal were loaded onto 50 wagons (driven by a dedicated Ulaanbaatar railway locomotive) at Mongolia's Sukhbaatar station (Sales Delivery Point). The train traveled south bound, arriving at China's Erlian port where the coal was unloaded. The coal may then be picked up and further transported within the China rail network. As of the date of this news release, the wagons have been returned to Sukhbaatar to start the fourth run. The Company holds 100% of the rights to the Ulaan Ovoo mineral claims and mining licenses. The Company and its Mongolian operating partner have agreed to share the proceeds from coal sales from stockpiled coal sales on a 50-50 basis until June 30, 2023. There are approximately 75,000 tonnes of coal mined by the Mongolian operating partner stockpiled at the Ulaan Ovoo mine site and the nearby Sukhbaatar rail siding. About Mega Thermal Coal Corp. Mega Thermal Coal Corp. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Silver Elephant, which owns and operates the Ulaan Ovoo mine. Mega Thermal Coal Corp. also owns and operates Chandgana Khavtgai and Chandgana Tal coal mines in Mongolia. Further information on Mega Coal can be found at www.megacoal.ca. About Silver Elephant Mining Corp. Silver Elephant Mining Corp. is a premier silver mining and exploration company, with its flagship Pulacayo silver project in Bolivia. It also owns 100% of Mega Thermal Coal Corp and 39% of Oracle Commodity Holding Corp. ("Oracle"). Oracle has equity and royalty investments in nickel and vanadium mining companies. Further information on Silver Elephant can be found at www.silverelef.com. SILVER ELEPHANT MINING CORP. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD John Lee CEO For more information about Silver Elephant, please contact Investor Relations: +1.604.569.3661 ext. 101 info@silverelef.com / www.silverelef.com Neither the Toronto Stock Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Toronto Stock Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements and Reader Advisory Certain statements contained in this or other news release, including, but not limited to, statements with respect to the debt settlements, the terms of the debt settlements, and the completion of the debt settlements, among other things, and statements which may contain words such as "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "plans", "believes", "estimates", "targets", or similar expressions, and statements related to matters which are not historical facts, are forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Such forward-looking statements, which reflect management's expectations regarding either of Silver Elephant's future growth, results of operations, performance, business prospects and opportunities, are based on certain factors and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These factors should be considered carefully, and readers should not place undue reliance on Silver Elephant's forward-looking statements. Silver Elephant believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements contained in this news release and the documents incorporated by reference herein are reasonable based on information available to it, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct. In addition, although Silver Elephant has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Silver Elephant undertakes no obligation to release publicly any future revisions to forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this news or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as expressly required by law. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/151005 SHANGHAI, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The China International Import Expo (CIIE) has been described by global companies as a vital platform for promoting trade, investment and global cooperation. Industry players have also said that the expo further opens the Chinese market to the rest of the world and firmly supports economic globalization and trade liberalization. Fabrice Megarbane, President of L'Oreal North Asia and CEO of L'Oreal China, described CIIE as an "accelerator" that helps to speed up the pace of innovation and encourage collaboration. Panasonic also spoke highly of the expo. Tetsuro Homma, executive vice-president of Panasonic Holdings Corp, hailed the expo as a strategic global exhibition and an important platform for communication between countries. According to official statistics, the accumulated intended turnover of the last five editions of the CIIE totaled $340 billion, an indication that many multinational companies stand to prosper through the CIIE. The fifth CIIE, which concluded on November 10, 2022, saw fruitful results. More than 2,800 enterprises, including 284 of the world's top 500 enterprises and many industry giants such as Panasonic, Bayer and L'Oreal, gathered to showcase their products, technologies and services at the business exhibition. "For five years, the CIIE has not only served as the optimal choice for multinational companies to make global debuts of their new products and frontier technologies, but also witnessed many participants' transition from exhibitors to investors," said Sheng Qiuping, China's Vice Minister of Commerce. The international influence of the expo has also become more extensive. Over the past five years, the CIIE has been widely covered by media outlets around the world. The Associated Press (AP), Reuters, Agence France-Presse (AFP), RIA Novosti, Yonhap News Agency and other international mainstream media have reported on the expo. Relevant articles published by international mainstream news agencies have reached about 1.2 billion international audiences in nearly 100 countries and regions. Many participants have also hailed the Hongqiao International Economic Forum, a key part of the CIIE, as a high-level platform that promotes dialogue among political, business and academic communities on matters related to global cooperation for sustainable development around the world. Themed "Stimulation of Opening-up Impetus and Sharing of Cooperation Opportunities", the fifth Hongqiao Forum reflected China's commitment to further opening up to the world. According to the World Openness Report 2022 that was released at the fifth Hongqiao Forum, China's opening-up index had increased by 5.6 percent between 2012 and 2020, a sign that the country has become an important force in promoting economic globalization. With China advancing its institutional opening-up and creating favorable conditions to attract foreign investment, the broader spillover effect of the CIIE will facilitate multinational corporations to further tap into the country's vast market, according to authorities. The sixth edition of the CIIE will be held in Shanghai from November 5 to 10, 2023. Registration for the business exhibition of the sixth expo has begun, and over 100,000 square meters of area has already been booked. Be sure to secure your booth at: https://www.ciie.org/exhibition/f/book/register?locale=en. Contact: Ms. Cui Yan Tel.: 0086-21-968888 Email: ciie2022@ciie.org Website: http://www.ciie.org/zbh/en/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ciieonline Twitter: https://twitter.com/ciieonline Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1981499/CIIE_Shanghai.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1938442/CIIE_Logo.jpg View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/global-mncs-applauds-ciie-as-infulential-stage-for-sharing-opportunities-301719172.html Singapore, Singapore--(Newsfile Corp. - January 11, 2023) - Blockchain based climate tech company, YES WORLD Climate Tech Pte Ltd, reaches a significant milestone of 2 million transactions for its ecosystem's native crypto token - YES WORLD Token (Symbol: $YES). Launched during spring of 2022, the count of 2 million transactions through BSCScan shows that YES WORLD Token is getting an excellent adoption among crypto enthusiasts. YES WORLD is a leading utility token with token usability available across several several verticals - Gaming, Travel, NFT Marketplace, Health & Fitness, Financial services as well as wide acceptance among e-commerce and brick-and-mortar stores. YES WORLD To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8621/150994_3440271164187a65_001full.jpg YES WORLD launched a global utility services portal last month which is available in over 80 countries, and the spike in transactions show that the users have cheered the option to be able to use YES TOKEN for their regular purchases in addition to holding the token for capital gains. Based on CoinMarketCap data, YES WORLD has already generated three digit returns for early adopters who are still holding the crypto token in their portfolios. YES WORLD Token offers a variety of utility services for its subscribers through internet portals, as well as through brick and mortar establishments. At a physical store, users can make the payment with YES WORLD Token by simply scanning the bar-code presented at the checkout on the POS Terminal device. As per the information, the integration work is underway to onboard leading e-commerce players where the users will soon be able to make purchases online using $YES as payment mode. YES WORLD Token is trading on several leading centralized exchanges including XT.com and Coinsbit.io, as well as on the decentralized exchange PancakeSwap. YES WORLD plans to be listed on over 50 leading crypto exchanges before its global launch. Also as a leading utility token, YES WORLD plans to onboard 10 million merchants worldwide by the global launch event scheduled in April 2024. YES WORLD Token is operated by YES WORLD Climate Tech Pte Ltd, based out of Singapore. It is a climate tech blockchain-based company that works on green technology to reduce carbon footprint. $YES is the native token for YES WORLD's Save Earth mission and utility ecosystem. It is conceptualized to generate awareness around the global warming challenges to bring to critical mass to join the mission and take steps in the direction of reducing carbon footprint from the atmosphere. Just last week, YES WORLD launched a physical product range of specialized glass for windows and glass facade. The specialized glass solution that the company calls Energy Efficient Window Solution has a layer of patented material that reflects the 85% solar radiant heat as well as blocks 92% of UV rays from entering the building. The energy efficient glass is a see-through window solution that blocks the majority of solar heat from entering the building and significantly reduces energy consumption in terms of HVAC load. YES WORLD is inceptualized and promoted by Save Earth activist Dr. Sandeep Choudhary, who has constantly been working to generate awareness of global warming and climate change impacts. Under Dr. Choudhary's vision and leadership, YES WORLD has championed a noble cause of reducing carbon footprint and bringing forth the issue of global warming and climate change. Important links - Twitter - https://twitter.com/yesworld24 CMC - https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/yes-world-token/ Website - www.yesworld.io Media Contact Company Name: Yes World Climate Tech PTE Ltd Contact Person: Kartik Sharma Website: www.yesworld.io Email: info@yesworld.io City: Singapore Country: Singapore To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/150994 SINGAPORE / ACCESSWIRE / January 11, 2023 / Dentsu and Kantar today launch Marketing a Better Future, a flagship study exploring the role APAC marketers play in achieving corporate sustainability ambitions and SDGs. ? Marketing a Better Future is Asia-Pacific's first study into marketers' role in sustainability. is Asia-Pacific's first study into marketers' role in sustainability. The newly identified organisational intention-action gap is as big a challenge as the consumer intention-action gap to achieve 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs.) is as big a challenge as the to achieve 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs.) Radically reimagining the role of marketing to make sustainable transformation its organising principle could help achieve 40-70% reductions in greenhouse gasses. With the exponential growth of Asian economies, spending power is moving East with the region shaping global consumption trends.?This gives Asian consumers and companies a new and unique responsibility, especially as the region is expected to bear the brunt of climate-related catastrophes. Consumer behaviour urgently needs to shift to more sustainable habits and lifestyles. According to Kantar's latest Global Issues Barometer, climate issues are a key concern with nearly 60% of consumers globally saying they experience eco-anxiety which is driving increased consciousness and desire for action. In tandem, system-level changes are needed to reach global sustainability targets and ensure the planet's future. There is no doubt that businesses, brands and their agency partners are at a nexus of need and opportunity. As the bridge between brands and consumers, marketers have a unique opportunity, and therefore the responsibility, to be generational agents of change influencing consumer behaviour, as well as driving customer-informed innovation. Marketers are failing, however, to grasp the opportunity. Dentsu and Kantar's inaugural study of over 70 brand marketers in 12 markets across Asia-Pacific found that only one in three (34%) marketing and insights teams are 'executing against their sustainability plans and measuring progress'. This compares unfavourably to 46% in supply chain, and 51% in corporate strategy.?The new study identified two significant intention-action gaps, the consumer intention-action gap and the organisational intention-action gap, where marketers' challenges are rooted. In order to achieve deep, needle-moving advancement in sustainability, the study found marketing functions need a philosophical revamp: to be given a mandate to drive innovation beyond short-term sales KPIs, to create growth that is good for society and the planet as well as business. Corporate sustainability transformation and sustainable consumption need to become the organising principle around which marketing functions. The study predicts that by making this radical change, brands will be able to drive the behaviour and lifestyle shifts required to achieve the 40% - 70% reductions in greenhouse gas emissions that the sixth IPCC assessment report estimates as achievable. Dominic Powers, Chief Growth Officer, dentsu Asia Pacific, said, "Meaningful progress in sustainability requires an ecosystem level effort where?businesses, consumers and civic society, policy makers, regulators and capital providers work in harmony. Marketers must not only be empowered by businesses to drive innovation that can fuel deep change, but they must also revamp the entire philosophy behind the way the function is designed, which is predicated on selling more. At dentsu we design the 'what's next' for brands. It is clear that sustainable consumption has to be the organising principle of marketing teams, who must now instead focus on inspiring people everywhere to a new way of sustainable living. To do this, brands and marketers must reframe their constituents to include ecosystem partners that co-own the sector's value chain and its carbon footprint. By positioning themselves as the change agent between the larger ecosystem, customers and their company, marketing teams will be uniquely positioned to drive relevant, resonant, step-change innovation that will help ensure a sustainable future for us all."?? Trezelene Chan, Head, Sustainability Practice, Kantar APAC added, "We already know that the consumer intention-action gap is a problem for marketers, with 56% identifying it as a major challenge. Only 17% of Asian consumers actively change their behaviour to be more sustainable, despite 98% of Asians saying they will. Our study reveals, however, that the organizational intention-action gap is an equally important challenge to be addressed. Although 73% of marketers believe sustainability is important for business continuity and value growth, the study uncovered tactical and fundamental barriers that hinder marketers from taking on meaningful sustainable leadership. These include focus on short-term sales growth targets above all other KPIs, lack of clarity within the marketing function around metrics of success in relation to sustainability goals, and lack of adequate resources or capability building for sustainability within the marketing function.?Innovation, collaboration and ownership across the different business functions against a clear set of sustainability goals will be required. Sustainability initiatives by the brand need to address consumers' and the planet's needs holistically and simultaneously. This means a whole new mindset for marketers and their corporate leaders."?? Download the report here. - ENDS -? Notes for editors:??? Participating markets:? Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, The Philippines and Vietnam. Dentsu's Social Impact commitments: Find out more on our website https://www.dentsu.com/who-we-are/social-impact along with our commitments to SDG12 https://www.dentsu.com/sustainable-world For more information, contact: Anna Lake Marketing & Communications Director Asia Pacific anna.lake@dentsu.com About dentsu Dentsu is the network designed for what's next, helping clients predict and plan for disruptive future opportunities and create new paths to growth in the sustainable economy. Taking a people-centered approach to business transformation, we use insights to connect brand, content, commerce and experience, underpinned by modern creativity.?As part of Dentsu Group Inc. (Tokyo: 4324; ISIN: JP3551520004), we are headquartered in in Tokyo, Japan and our 65,000-strong employee-base of dedicated professionals work across four regions (Japan, Americas, EMEA and APAC). Dentsu combines Japanese innovation with a diverse, global perspective to drive client growth and to shape society. https://www.dentsu.com/ https://www.group.dentsu.com/en/ About Kantar? Kantar is the world's leading marketing data and analytics company. We have a complete, unique and rounded understanding of how people think, feel and act; globally and locally in over 90 markets. By combining the deep expertise of our people, our data resources and benchmarks and our innovative analytics and technology, we help our clients understand people and inspire growth. Our Sustainable Transformation Practice works at the intersection of consumers, brands and environmental & social sustainability. Our practice works with brands to drive meaningful change and unlock the value-action gap. We work with over 400 brands as a catalyst for action across multiple sectors and across the world. Our approach to sustainable brand-building stretches from strategic framing through innovation and comms activation to measurement programmes.? http://kantar.com/expertise/sustainability Dentsu and Kantar's special report on corporate sustainability has revealed that Marketing and Insights departments lag behind other business divisions when it comes to executing and measuring progress on their sustainability objectives. View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from dentsu international on 3blmedia.com. Contact Info: Spokesperson: dentsu international Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/dentsu-international Email: info@3blmedia.com SOURCE: dentsu international View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/734843/Marketing-Must-Be-Radically-Reimagined-To-Achieve-2030-Sustainable-Development-Goals EIB loan will help fund SES's three fully digital satellites serving Western Europe, Africa and the Middle East Satellites to deliver high-speed broadband and reliable IP-based streaming services across Europe, in line with the EU Gigabit Society targets Loan to SES is largest amount provided by EIB to a Luxembourg-based company The European Investment Bank (EIB), the financing institution of the European Union, and leading global content connectivity solutions provider SES announced details of their 300 million financing agreement today at a press briefing at the SES headquarters in Betzdorf, Luxembourg. The seven-year term loan will back investments related to the design, procurement and launch of three previously announced satellites that will deliver advanced broadcast and broadband services spanning Western Europe, Africa and the Middle East. The loan is the largest amount ever provided by the EIB to a Luxembourg-based company. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005631/en/ SES Secures 300M Financing from European Investment Bank (Photo: Business Wire) The project supported via EIB financing includes the procurement of three satellites from Thales Alenia Space to deliver video broadcasting as well as network services. Operating from SES's prime TV neighbourhood of 19.2 degrees East (ASTRA 1P, ASTRA 1Q and 57 degrees East (SES-26 will enable SES to strengthen its world-class satellite broadcast over Europe and Africa, and support dynamic connectivity needs for companies and governments from the heart of Europe across Africa and the Middle East. Two of the three satellites are next-generation, flexible and fully software-defined satellites that will enable service reconfiguration and instant in-orbit adjustment to SES customers' demands. All three satellites, when launched in 2024, will be operated from SES's headquarters in Luxembourg. EIB Vice-President Kris Peeters said: "Space technology, data and services have become indispensable in the lives of Europeans. I am therefore very enthusiastic about this agreement with SES, which directly supports the EU space policy. It is a big step in the successful launch of a new generation of satellites able to deliver advanced broadcast and broadband services for the benefit of both the private and public sectors in Western Europe and beyond. Space is a key driver of innovation in Europe and we are eager to support space entrepreneurship. The size of the loan, the largest ever provided by the EIB to a Luxembourgish company, also demonstrates how strategically important the space sector is for the EIB and the European Union." Sandeep Jalan, Chief Financial Officer of SES, said, "We are very happy to have secured this term loan from the European Investment Bank. This diversifies SES's sources of financing on attractive financial terms. The agreement enables us to deliver on our commitment to broadcast high-quality content from our prime TV neighbourhood serving 118 million TV households across France, Germany and Western Europe. These next-generation satellites are also able to support the most ambitious plans for companies and governments across Europe and beyond, enabling them to enter the new era of networked connectivity services." The transaction follows the EU and EIB commitment to strengthen their support for European space companies. It is in line with the Gigabit Society targets of the European Commission that all households in Europe shall have access to at least 100 Mbps internet connectivity by 2025. Follow us on: Twitter Facebook YouTube LinkedIn Instagram Read our Blogs Visit the Media Gallery About SES SES has a bold vision to deliver amazing experiences everywhere on earth by distributing the highest quality video content and providing seamless connectivity around the world. As the leader in global content connectivity solutions, SES operates the world's only multi-orbit constellation of satellites with the unique combination of global coverage and high performance, including the commercially-proven, low-latency Medium Earth Orbit O3b system. By leveraging a vast and intelligent, cloud-enabled network, SES is able to deliver high-quality connectivity solutions anywhere on land, at sea or in the air, and is a trusted partner to the world's leading telecommunications companies, mobile network operators, governments, connectivity and cloud service providers, broadcasters, video platform operators and content owners. SES's video network carries about 8,000 channels and has an unparalleled reach of 366 million households, delivering managed media services for both linear and non-linear content. The company is listed on Paris and Luxembourg stock exchanges (Ticker: SESG). Further information is available at: www.ses.com. About the European Investment Bank The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union, owned by its Member States. It makes long-term finance available for sound investment in order to further EU policy goals. More information on www.eib.org. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005631/en/ Contacts: For further information please contact: Sabine Parisse European Investment Bank Tel. +352 4379 83340, mobile: +352 621 459 159 s.parisse@eib.org Suzanne Ong SES, External Communications Tel. +352 710 725 500 suzanne.ong@ses.com NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / January 11, 2023 / 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. 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 Enterprise's 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 Enterprise's 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 Fortune's 2022 rankings of America's 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 low carbon economy. News, insights, and perspectives from Wells Fargo are also available at Wells Fargo Stories. 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 homebuyer's income, credit, and family grow. Photo: Enterprise View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Wells Fargo on 3blmedia.com. Contact Info: Spokesperson: Wells Fargo Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/wells-fargo Email: info@3blmedia.com SOURCE: Wells Fargo View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/734851/Enterprise-and-Wells-Fargo-Foundation-Announce-20M-Housing-Affordability-Breakthrough-Challenge The hidradenitis suppurativa market is expected to grow at a faster rate due to increased awareness and increase in novel discoveries. The expected launch of potential emerging therapies will boost the hidradenitis suppurativa market during the forecast period (2022-2032) in the 7MM. LAS VEGAS, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- DelveInsight's " Hidradenitis Suppurativa Market Insights " report includes a comprehensive understanding of current treatment practices, hidradenitis suppurativa emerging drugs, market share of individual therapies, and historical, current as well as forecasted hidradenitis suppurativa market size from 2019 to 2032, segmented into the 7MM [the United States, the EU5 (Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom), and Japan]. Key Takeaways from the Hidradenitis Suppurativa Market Report As per DelveInsight analysis, the hidradenitis suppurativa market size in the 7MM was approximately USD 1,150 in 2021. in 2021. According to the assessment done by DelveInsight, the estimated total hidradenitis suppurativa diagnosed prevalent population in the 7MM was approximately 1.2 million in 2021. in 2021. Leading hidradenitis suppurativa companies such as InflaRx, Novartis, UCB, ChemoCentryx, Eli Lilly and Company, Janssen Biotech, AbbVie, Pfizer, Amgen, Incyte Corporation, CSL Behring, Kymera Therapeutics, Aclaris Therapeutics, Boehringer Ingelheim, Azora Therapeutics, and others are developing novel hidradenitis suppurativa drugs that can be available in the hidradenitis suppurativa market in the upcoming years. and others are developing novel hidradenitis suppurativa drugs that can be available in the hidradenitis suppurativa market in the upcoming years. The hidradenitis suppurativa therapies in the pipeline include IFX-1, Cosentyx /Secukinumab, Avacopan, Bimekizumab, Bermekimab, Zunsemetinib (ATI-450), and others. and others. The hidradenitis suppurativa market size is expected to increase owing to the increase in the prevalent population of hidradenitis suppurativa patients in the 7MM. In December 2022, Kymera announced positive results from Phase 1 clinical trials evaluating KT-474 in patients suffering from hidradenitis suppurativa and atopic dermatitis, after which Sanofi decided to advance KT-474 into Phase 2 clinical trials for which IND is cleared by the US FDA. In December 2022 , UCB reported positive data from the BE HEARD I and BE HEARD II Phase 3 clinical trials of bimekizumab in moderate to severe hidradenitis suppurativa adult patients. , UCB reported positive data from the BE HEARD I and BE HEARD II Phase 3 clinical trials of bimekizumab in moderate to severe hidradenitis suppurativa adult patients. In September 2022 , abstract findings at the 31st European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) Congress showed that Novartis' Cosentyx (secukinumab) Showed Rapid, Sustained Improvement of Hidradenitis Suppurativa. , abstract findings at the 31st European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) Congress showed that Novartis' Cosentyx (secukinumab) Showed Rapid, Sustained Improvement of Hidradenitis Suppurativa. In September 2022 , JAK1-selective inhibitor povorcitinib showed dosage-dependant efficacy for the treatment of hidradenitis suppurativa in a randomized, placebo-controlled, Phase 2 study-presented at the European Academy of Dermatology and Venerology (EADV) 2022 Congress. , JAK1-selective inhibitor povorcitinib showed dosage-dependant efficacy for the treatment of hidradenitis suppurativa in a randomized, placebo-controlled, Phase 2 study-presented at the European Academy of Dermatology and Venerology (EADV) 2022 Congress. In August 2022 , Aristea Therapeutics (Aristea), a clinical-stage immunology-focused drug development company advancing novel therapies to treat serious inflammatory diseases, announced the dosing of the first patient in its Phase 2a trial evaluating RIST4721, a CXCR2 antagonist, for the treatment of hidradenitis suppurativa. Discover which therapies are expected to grab major hidradenitis suppurativa market share @ Hidradenitis Suppurativa Market Report Hidradenitis Suppurativa Overview Hidradenitis suppurativa is a complex dermatological disease characterized by recurrent painful nodules and suppuration in areas such as the axilla and groin. It is also known as Acne inversa and there is no biological or pathological test to facilitate diagnosis; its clinical features and chronicity can define it. The exact cause of hidradenitis suppurativa is unclear, but the condition probably results from a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Lumps develop as a result of blocked hair follicles. It is more common in women than men, and in obese and smokers, hidradenitis suppurativa is likely to worsen the symptoms The symptoms of hidradenitis suppurativa range from mild to severe. It causes a mixture of boil-like lumps, blackheads, cysts, scarring, and channels in the skin that leak pus. Scoring systems for the assessment of hidradenitis suppurativa severity include Hurley staging, Physician's Global Assessment (PGA), the modified Sartorius score (MSS), and the hidradenitis suppurativa severity index (HSSI). Systemic therapies, mainly antibiotics and retinoids, are the treatment's mainstay. Topical therapies are mainly used in cases of mild to moderate disease conditions. Adalimumab (Humira) is the only approved drug for treating moderate to severe hidradenitis suppurativa. Hidradenitis Suppurativa Epidemiology Segmentation DelveInsight estimates that there were approximately 1.2 million h idradenitis suppurativa diagnosed prevalent cases in the 7MM in 2021. Among the EU5 countries, Germany had the highest number of hidradenitis suppurativa diagnosed prevalent cases in 2021. The hidradenitis suppurativa market report proffers epidemiological analysis for the study period 2019-2032 in the 7MM segmented into Total Prevalent Pool Diagnosed Pool Gender-specific Prevalent Pool Age-specific Prevalent Pool Stage-specific Prevalent Pool Treated Moderate to Severe Prevalent Pool Download the report to understand which factors are driving hidradenitis suppurativa epidemiology trends @ Hidradenitis Suppurativa Epidemiological Insights Hidradenitis Suppurativa Treatment Market The treatment management usually requires a combination of lifestyle changes, medical therapy, laser or surgical intervention and considerable psychological support. Several pharmacological treatment options include topical and systemic antibiotics, corticosteroids, anti-androgen therapy, systemic retinoids, and immunosuppressive agents, including biologics. In a small study, Metformin has been used to treat metabolic syndrome associated with hidradenitis suppurativa and has been reported to reduce hidradenitis suppurativa disease activity effectively. Laser hair removal with a 1,064nm laser has shown promise, but many patients cannot afford this treatment due to limited insurance coverage. Humira (Abbvie) is the first and only approved drug for Moderate to Severe hidradenitis suppurativa. In September 2015, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Humira to treat moderate to severe hidradenitis suppurativa. The approval of Humira is a critical milestone in the lives of people with hidradenitis suppurativa who, up until this point, had no approved treatments. The product was approved by the European Commission (EC), in July 2015, for the treatment of active moderate to severe hidradenitis suppurativa in adults with an inadequate response to conventional systemic hidradenitis suppurativa treatment. Humira was designated for the indication of hidradenitis suppurativa as an orphan drug in 2017 and was approved for the indication of hidradenitis suppurativa for the first time in Japan in February 2019. Humira is actually the only drug in Japan for hidradenitis suppurativa indication. Even though hidradenitis suppurativa is affecting the lives of millions of people worldwide, there are not many treatment options to treat the underlying cause, nor has there been an improvement in therapeutic options in the last several decades. With only one approved drug in the market, i.e., Humira, there is a high need for alternative therapies due to serious adverse events associated with Adalimumab, including injection site serious infections. To know more about hidradenitis suppurativa treatment, visit @ Hidradenitis Suppurativa Treatment Guidelines Hidradenitis Suppurativa Pipeline Therapies and Key Companies IFX-1: InflaRx Cosentyx/Secukinumab: Novartis Avacopan: ChemoCentryx Bermekimab: Janssen Pharmaceutical/XBiotech Zunsemetinib (ATI-450): Aclaris Therapeutics Learn more about the hidradenitis suppurativa therapies in clinical trials @ Drugs for Hidradenitis Suppurativa Treatment Hidradenitis Suppurativa Market Dynamics Hidradenitis suppurativa market is currently having vast pipeline therapies targeting interleukins, including (i.e., IL-17, IL-1), anti-TNF, JAKi, and anti-complement factor. The upcoming therapies of hidradenitis suppurativa are expected to come with a patient-convenient Route of administration and are also expected to increase the treatment duration. In the current treatment market, only HUMIRA is approved for the treatment of moderate to severe hidradenitis suppurativa with modest efficacy and, therefore, provides potentially lucrative market opportunities. No treatment options are available in relapsed/ refractory patients to HUMIRA. However, off-label therapies like antibiotics and retinoids are still the treatment backbone of hidradenitis suppurativa. There are no definite biomarkers available for the early and progressive forms of the disease. The expected entry of biosimilars of HUMIRA from 2023 in the US will erode the market sales of HUMIRA. Moreover, the market value of HUMIRA in Europe has already started declining from 2018, and sales value decline is expected to be much faster in future years due to multiple launches of biosimilars in 2019 and as well as in upcoming years. Report Metrics Details Study Period 2019-2032 Coverage 7MM [The United States, EU5 (Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom), and Japan] Base Year 2019 Market CAGR 10.2 % Market Size in 2021 USD 1,150 million Key Hidradenitis Suppurativa Companies InflaRx, Novartis, UCB, ChemoCentryx, Eli Lilly and Company, Janssen Biotech, AbbVie, Pfizer, Amgen, Incyte Corporation, CSL Behring, Kymera Therapeutics, Aclaris Therapeutics, Boehringer Ingelheim, Azora Therapeutics Key Hidradenitis Suppurativa Therapies IFX-1, Cosentyx/Secukinumab, Avacopan, Bimekizumab, Bermekimab, Zunsemetinib (ATI-450 Scope of the Hidradenitis Suppurativa Market Report Therapeutic Assessment: Hidradenitis suppurativa current marketed and emerging therapies Hidradenitis suppurativa current marketed and emerging therapies Hidradenitis Suppurativa Market Dynamics: Hidradenitis suppurativa market drivers and barriers Hidradenitis suppurativa market drivers and barriers Competitive Intelligence Analysis: SWOT analysis, PESTLE analysis, Porter's five forces, BCG Matrix, Market entry strategies SWOT analysis, PESTLE analysis, Porter's five forces, BCG Matrix, Market entry strategies Unmet Needs, KOL's views, Analyst's views, Hidradenitis Suppurativa Market Access and Reimbursement Discover more about drugs for hidradenitis suppurativa in development @ Hidradenitis Suppurativa Clinical Trials Table of Contents 1. Hidradenitis Suppurativa Market Key Insights 2. Hidradenitis Suppurativa Market Report Introduction 3. Hidradenitis Suppurativa Market Overview at a Glance 4. Hidradenitis Suppurativa Market Executive Summary 5. Hidradenitis Suppurativa Key Events 6. Epidemiology and Market Methodology 7. Disease Background and Overview 8. Hidradenitis Suppurativa Treatment and Management 9. Hidradenitis Suppurativa Epidemiology and Patient Population 9.1 Key Finding 9.2 Assumptions and Rationale 9.3 Total Prevalent Population of Hidradenitis Suppurativa in the 7MM 9.4 United States 9.5 EU5 9.6 Japan 10. Patient Journey 11 Key Endpoints in Hidradenitis Suppurativa Clinical Trials 12. Hidradenitis Suppurativa Marketed Drugs 13. Hidradenitis Suppurativa Emerging Drugs 14. Seven Major Hidradenitis Suppurativa Market Analysis 14.1 Key Finding 14.2 Market Outlook 14.3 Attribute Analysis 14.4 Key Market Forecast Assumptions 14.5 Total Market Size of Hidradenitis Suppurativa in the 7MM 14.6 United States 14.7 EU5 14.8 Japan 15. Unmet Needs 16. SWOT Analysis 17. Market Access and Reimbursement 18. Appendix 19. DelveInsight Capabilities 20. Disclaimer 21. About DelveInsight Related Reports Hidradenitis Suppurativa Epidemiology Forecast Hidradenitis Suppurativa Epidemiology Forecast - 2032 report delivers an in-depth understanding of the disease, historical and forecasted epidemiology, and the hidradenitis suppurativa epidemiology trends. Hidradenitis Suppurativa Pipeline Hidradenitis Suppurativa Pipeline Insight - 2023 report provides comprehensive insights about the hidradenitis suppurativa pipeline landscape, pipeline drug profiles, including clinical and non-clinical stage products, and the key Hidradenitis Suppurativa companies, including InflaRx, Novartis, UCB, ChemoCentryx, Eli Lilly and Company, Janssen Biotech, AbbVie, Pfizer, Amgen, Incyte Corporation, CSL Behring, Kymera Therapeutics, Aclaris Therapeutics, Boehringer Ingelheim, Azora Therapeutics, among others. Hidradenitis Market Hidradenitis Suppurativa Market Insights, Competitive Landscape, and Market Forecast - 2032 report delivers an in-depth understanding of the disease, historical and forecasted epidemiology, as well as the market trends, market drivers, market barriers, and key secondary Hidradenitis Suppurativa companies, including InflaRx, Novartis, UCB, ChemoCentryx, Eli Lilly and Company, Janssen Biotech, AbbVie, Pfizer, Amgen, Incyte Corporation, CSL Behring, Kymera Therapeutics, Aclaris Therapeutics, Boehringer Ingelheim, Azora Therapeutics, among others. Atopic Dermatitis Market Atopic Dermatitis - Market Insights, Epidemiology, and Market Forecast - 2032 report deliver an in-depth understanding of the disease, historical and forecasted epidemiology, as well as the market trends, market drivers, market barriers, and key secondary Hidradenitis Suppurativa companies, including Sanofi, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer, Japan Tobacco, and Torii Pharmaceutical, Eli Lilly and Company, AbbVie, LEO Pharma, Incyte Corporation, Arena Pharmaceuticals, Oneness Biotech, Galderma, DS Biopharma, Janssen and many more. Atopic Dermatitis Epidemiology Forecast Atopic dermatitis (AD) Epidemiology Forecast - 2032 report delivers an in-depth understanding of the disease, historical and forecasted epidemiology, and the hidradenitis suppurativa epidemiology trends. Atopic Dermatitis Pipeline Atopic Dermatitis- Pipeline Insight - 2023 report provides comprehensive insights about the hidradenitis suppurativa pipeline landscape, pipeline drug profiles, including clinical and non-clinical stage products, and the key Hidradenitis Suppurativa companies, including InflaRx, Novartis, UCB, ChemoCentryx, Eli Lilly and Company, Janssen Biotech, AbbVie, Pfizer, Amgen, Incyte Corporation, CSL Behring, Kymera Therapeutics, Aclaris Therapeutics, Boehringer Ingelheim, Azora Therapeutics, among others. Other Trending Reports Tay-sachs Disease Or Gm2 Gangliosidosis Market | Onycholysis Market | Diagnostic Imaging Equipment Market | Chemotherapy-induced Peripheral Neuropathy Market | Global Electrophysiology Devices Market | Anaphylaxis Market | Atherectomy Devices Market | Helicobacter Pylori Infections Market | Ophthalmic Imaging Equipment Market | Androgenetic Alopecia Market | Allergic Rhinitis Market | Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy Market | Chronic Inflammtory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy Market | Colorectal Cancer Crc Market | Opioid Induced Constipation Market | Vertigo Market | Bone Anchored Hearing Systems Market | Wound Closure Devices Market | Hip Replacement Devices Market | Hemodynamic Monitoring Systems Market | Egfr Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Market | Helicobacter Pylori Infection Market | Hyperkalemia Market | Polycythemia Market Neurostimulation Devices Market | Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Market | Ventilator Market | Cerebral Aneurysm Market | Alpha Antitrypsin Market | Binge Eating Disorder Market | Bunion Market | Concussions Market Size | Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency Market | Healthcare Due Diligence Services | Minimal Residual Disease Market Related Healthcare Services Healthcare Consulting Healthcare Competitive Intelligence Services Healthcare Asset Prioritization Services About DelveInsight DelveInsight is a leading Business Consultant and Market Research firm focused exclusively on life sciences. It supports pharma companies by providing comprehensive end-to-end solutions to improve their performance. Get hassle-free access to all the healthcare and pharma market research reports through our subscription-based platform PharmDelve. Connect with us on LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter Additionally, get in touch with our business executive to explore @ Healthcare Due Diligence Services Contact Us Shruti Thakur info@delveinsight.com +1(919)321-6187 www.delveinsight.com Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1082265/DelveInsight_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/hidradenitis-suppurativa-market-is-expected-to-grow-at-a-significant-cagr-of-10-2-by-2032--delveinsight-301718770.html Virtual clinic Apricity offers a next-generation fertility experience that combines personalised care, 7/7 support and the most sophisticated AI and technology. With the acquisition of WOOM, Apricity offers a complete fertility pathway, from conception counselling and monitoring to fertility treatment and through all stages of pregnancy. MADRID, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Fertility treatments have evolved considerably in recent years. However, the patient experience is not reflective of this and hasn't reached the desired satisfaction levels, and it continues to be one of the main concerns and causes of stress when beginning a fertility journey.80% of Spaniards acknowledge that they have felt stress during the fertility journey, eventually affecting their relationships in 84% of cases, according to data from Apricity's 'Time to Check' study*. Apricity has arrived in Spain to lead the transformation of the experience for couples undergoing fertility treatment. This heralds a new approach to reproductive health, addressing the negative impact that fertility treatment can have on a couple's relationship while increasing the chances of success. Apricity boasts a 45% success rate per cycle (2021) compared to a UK average of 31% (HFEA). The virtual fertility clinic launches in Spain following the acquisition of WOOM, the women's health app based on artificial intelligence models. WOOM helps women achieve a natural pregnancy and encourages those who are unsuccessful to make the decision to see a fertility specialist. Spain is one of the priority markets for Apricity, given its maturity (the number of treatments per million inhabitants is triple that of the UK, and it has more than twice as many clinics) and a greater weight of international medical tourism (13% of patients are international). Spain is ideally positioned as a leading country for fertility treatments in Europe, with an estimated impact of up to 188,000 IVF treatment cycles and 1 billion euros. "The combination of personalisation and technology are the key to transforming the reproductive experience. At Apricity, we offer a comprehensive, completely bespoke, warm and friendly service, for both women and men, taking into consideration the needs of the couple. This allows them to be in control during the process and to manage their fertility journey in a way that does not disrupt their day-to-day life, achieving greater peace of mind and a successful pregnancy," says Caroline Noublanche, CEO and founder of Apricity. The benefits of a revolutionary fertility treatment experience The success of reproductive treatment with a virtual clinic model is backed by success stories from the UK, and offers multiple benefits for mothers, couples and families on their fertility journey: Shorter treatment times through bespoke and individualised treatment programmes. bespoke and individualised treatment programmes. Precision in treatment delivery thanks to its AI technology, which provides the medical team with detailed information to help choose the most appropriate protocol, maximising the chances of success. thanks to its AI technology, which provides the medical team with detailed information to help choose the most appropriate protocol, maximising the chances of success. At home diagnostic tests & virtual consultations, minimising visits to a clinic (only two visits per cycle compared with up to 10 on a traditional journey.) minimising visits to a clinic (only two visits per cycle compared with up to 10 on a traditional journey.) Personalised support through the Apricity treatment app & Fertility Advisor - available 7 days a week through extended hours. available 7 days a week through extended hours. Transparent all-inclusive packages with no hidden extras, addressing the 2 out of 3 abandonment rate by patients that other fertility treatments experience. *Market survey conducted by Bilendi for Apricity with 500 users, September 2022. About Apricity Apricity is the UK's first virtual fertility clinic that has reimagined the fertility journey by combining technology and artificial intelligence with personalised care and medical expertise. Its digital solution is designed to improve the fertility experience and maximise chances of conception. It achieves this by providing access to world-class fertility advisors and a fully customised treatment journey for patients, all easily navigated through a mobile app. Apricity's mission is to help you create life - and live yours. For more information, visit https://www.apricity.life/ View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/apricity-arrives-in-spain-with-a-virtual-fertility-clinic-model-that-transforms-the-way-people-access-reproductive-treatment-301719255.html Mighty Fire Breaker (MFB) adds NUVIS Technologies, Smoke Detection Cameras and Monitoring System to its Proactive Wildfire Defense Program. CHEYENNE, WY / ACCESSWIRE / January 11, 2023 / The blueprint behind the business strategy at MFB is to be the best in proactive, risk reduction wildfire defense with MFB-31-CitroTech, our accredited chemistry that is listed in the EPA Safer Choice Program. By adding smoke detection monitoring, we now offer an even greater value in risk reduction because property owners can be notified sooner of a pending threat. They can then activate our systems and program sooner, well before the wildfire arrives on the property being defended. Kristine Black, Director of Business Development at Nuvis Technologies is excited with the industry and our technological partnership, and she commented that "We have a real chance to democratize wildfire management by offering a system that private land and luxury property owners can afford to use. As more areas are scanned by this solution, wildfire detection rates will rise, and early detection is the only key to prevent the widespread devastation caused by these ever-escalating, catastrophic wildfire events seen around the globe." https://nuvistechnologies.com/wildfire-detection-monitoring/ The Smoke Detection Monitoring can notify the property owner early, so they can send out trained personnel to deploy our atomizing cannons to spray our chemistry on underbrush, and 200 ft. up into trees, and create firebreaks at the property borders. It also allows the property owner to activate our sprinkler systems to saturate the structure with our chemistry, which blocks ember ignition and fire's ability to advance, even when our chemistry is bone dry. Our program begins with a risk assessment. Then, our trained General Contractors install our system off roofs and slopes and train the property staff in use of the cannon equipment. Our Green Proactive Wildfire Defense Program is out to defend Specialty Properties, Resorts, Historical Towns and even Animal Parks. What separates our chemistry from firefighting foams, gels and fire retardants is that our MFB-31-CitroTech can be stored on-site in large storage tanks, and it never need re-blending: It is always ready to defend. We are big supporters of early evacuation and the NFPA and Fire Wise risk reduction and vegetation trimming. We are just adding a second line of defense with systems, equipment and chemistry. Then, the trained staff on these properties means an even greater risk reduction is there ready to react, which supports the lowest possible insurance premiums for property owners. California is the first state in the nation to require insurance premium discounts for property owners who have taken steps to mitigate their risk of loss to wildfire. This has motivated us to be the best at documented risk reduction. (News link below): https://www.insurance.ca.gov/0400-news/0100-press-releases/2022/release076-2022.cfm "California cannot afford to lose any more famous resorts like Meadowood in Napa or gold rush towns like Greenville by not embracing new, proactive science like we embraced new engineering after the Northridge Earthquake." Steve Conboy MFB Chief Technologist Contact Information Twitter: @GEVIOfficial Website:? https://generalenterpriseventures.com/ Forward Looking Statements: This press release contains forward-looking statements. The words 'believe,' 'may,' 'estimate,' 'continue,' 'anticipate,' 'intend,' 'should,' 'plan,' 'could,' 'target,' 'potential,' 'is likely,' 'will,' 'expect' and similar expressions, as they relate to us, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. The Company has based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that we believe may affect our financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs. Some or all of the results anticipated by these forward-looking statements may not be achieved. Any forward-looking statement made by us herein speaks only as of the date on which it is made. Factors or events that could cause our actual results to differ may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all of them. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by law. SOURCE: General Enterprise Ventures, Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/734786/General-Enterprise-Ventures-Inc-OTC-PINKGEVI-GEVI-Subsidiary-Mighty-Fire-Breaker-Adds-Nuvis-Smoke-Detection-to-its-Proactive-Wildfire-Defense-Program Demographic policies should take priority Korea, where it's getting harder to see babies and older adults are everywhere, has the most severe demographic problem worldwide. So, the nation has been running the Presidential Committee on Aging Society and Population Policy since 2003. However, the committee head offered to resign Tuesday. "I'd like to step down for causing concern to the president," Na Kyung-won told the presidential chief of staff. President Yoon Suk Yeol appointed the former lawmaker to the post last October. However, Na has lately been at odds with the presidential office over policy. At the center of the controversy was Na's proposal last week to introduce a "Hungarian model" to solve the low fertility rate. Under the program, the government allows couples to get a 40 million won ($32,000) loan when married. After the birth of their third child, the government writes off the loan. On Monday, the presidential office openly expressed displeasure with Na's idea. "The committee's chairperson one-sidedly announced policies without prior consultation with the presidential office," one of Yoon's aides said. "It runs squarely counter to the government's stance." Yet there were no official briefings on the proposal's problems and how it differed from the government's policy. Na, a former four-term lawmaker, appears set to run for the top job of the ruling People Power Party (PPP). However, the president wants one of his confidants to lead the party and name candidates for the parliamentary elections next year. The bickering reveals backward Korean politics where the president aims to control the governing party, the lack of teamwork within the ruling camp in running state affairs and a politician's greed by hedging two positions until the last possible moment. Policies are gone, and only politics are left in the governing camp. Most deplorable is the shortsightedness of political leaders. Taking the top party post and even the parliamentary majority is nothing compared to the crucial issue of keeping Korea from falling to a third-rate country due to its dwindling population. Do these politicians still believe Korean people's tribal instincts will naturally restore the birthrate? The ruling elite should have considered this matter a life-and-death issue at least two decades ago. However, all they did then was launch the blue-ribbon panel, hoping it would automatically solve the problem. The outlook under the incumbent administration cannot be bright, either. In September, President Yoon pointed out that previous governments have spent 280 trillion won ($225 billion) on the problem over the past 16 years, but the total fertility rate plunged to hit a worrying low of 0.75, half of the OECD's average. He made a good point. However, Yoon has since done or said nothing about what to do except that his government would tackle it "based on data and science." In contrast, last week, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told his cabinet to do everything to recover the country's birthrate, which is higher than Korea's. Yoon must know Korea now is not a country where young people want to get married, have and raise children. Maternity hospitals are disappearing, pediatrician numbers are dwindling, cases of child abuse in daycare centers continue to occur and fierce competition grips everyday life in schools and workplaces. More Korean women work before having babies, but the wage gap between men and women here is one of the widest in the world. Still, Yoon, who was elected thanks partly to young anti-feminists, is set to do away with the gender equality ministry to "better protect women's rights." Yoon, who recently witnessed a six-month-old baby who was in daycare, said, "Well, even a six-month-old can walk," astonishing parents. If the government seeks to solve the issue with money, even a 1 million won subsidy will not suffice. It must change the culture, education, and society, shifting emphasis from efficiency, competition and growth to community value, cooperation and fair distribution. The Yoon administration goes the opposite way. All this explains why people have little expectation for the government's announcement of measures to raise the birthrate that will be delivered in July. Westinghouse Electric Company has signed an agreement with Ignalinos Atomine Elektrine (IAE) to dismantle the two RBMK-1500 nuclear power reactors at Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) in Visaginas Municipality, Lithuania. This project is the first decommissioning of an RBMK reactor. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005247/en/ Audrius Kamienas, Director General of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant, and Fred Bailly, Vice President of Decommissioning Services for Westinghouse, complete a contract signing ceremony. (Photo: Business Wire) As the consortium leader for the project, Westinghouse will develop the engineering design to dismantle both reactors and provide waste management services. Other consortium members include Jacobs and the Lithuanian Energy Institute (LEI). The European Commission is funding the project, along with the Central Project Management Agency (CPMA), an organization under the Lithuanian Ministry of Finance. "Dismantling of the reactor core is the most complex and challenging part of decommissioning, and we are honored to bring together the most skillful and dependable international experts for this project," said Audrius Kamienas, Director General of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant. "It is meaningful that these companies known worldwide for their expertise and innovation are part of this historic project. Their invaluable skills and expertise will lay strong foundations for similar future projects." "I am proud that Westinghouse is chosen to lead the consortium for the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant work as they bring more than 35 years of proven expertise in dismantling reactors," said U.S. Ambassador to Lithuania Robert S. Gilchrist. "As a trusted U.S. company, Westinghouse has extensive expertise in graphite plant dismantling, and this will be key for this current and future work at Ignalina NPP." "We are honored to bring our global leadership and technical innovation in decommissioning and waste management to this important decommissioning work at the Ignalina plant," said Tarik Choho, President of Nuclear Fuel for Westinghouse. "We look forward to providing our strong expertise in graphite plant dismantling and delivering exceptional quality for this project." Westinghouse is the global leader in reactor dismantling projects with 15 active major reactor decommissioning projects. It offers specialized decommissioning services focused on the most complex of scopes to help customers reduce program risks and costs. Westinghouse Electric Company is shaping the future of carbon-free energy by providing safe, innovative nuclear and other clean power technologies and services globally. Westinghouse supplied the world's first commercial pressurized water reactor in 1957 and the company's technology is the basis for nearly one-half of the world's operating nuclear plants. Over 135 years of innovation makes Westinghouse the preferred partner for advanced technologies covering the complete nuclear energy life cycle. For more information, visit www.westinghousenuclear.com and follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005247/en/ Contacts: Media@westinghouse.com NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / January 11, 2023 / International Paper Company: Mill Water Champions Our mill-based water champions are leading day-to-day efforts at our large manufacturing facilities to identify opportunities, implement projects and track progress on water use reduction in our operations. This network of process engineers and environmental experts is critical in translating our enterprise-level targets into meaningful change at the local level. The group shares best practices and lessons learned through an internal project database and regular meetings. Water Stewardship at Valliant, Oklahoma Mill Our Valliant, Oklahoma containerboard mill reduced its water use intensity by 17% in 2021, largely through improved flow-metering, internal tracking and reporting, and building a culture of water stewardship at the facility. Efforts like these across the company are contributing meaningfully to our 25% water use reduction target. Savannah River Clean Water Fund The Savannah River is a critical water resource for communities in South Carolina and Georgia, providing drinking water to over half a million people and a key process input to local industries like ours. The Savannah River Clean Water Fund deploys a multi-stakeholder forest conservation model to improve water quality for all users. Partners include The Nature Conservancy, The Longleaf Alliance, local water utilities and state environmental agencies. We are proud to be the first private-sector participant in the Fund, and look forward to continuing this unique partnership. Water Is Wonderful Classroom Curriculum Water is Wonderful is a brand new curriculum designed by IP to teach students how to be good stewards of water in their communities. Using coloring and activity sheets, along with items necessary to carry out an experiment to teach the properties of water, teachers can use the curriculum to show students exactly where water is in their own communities. The program also teaches how pollution of water happens, how they can protect water and other critical lessons about this important resource. About International Paper International Paper (NYSE: IP) is a leading global supplier of renewable fiber-based products. We produce corrugated packaging products that protect and promote goods, and enable worldwide commerce, and pulp for diapers, tissue and other personal care products that promote health and wellness. Headquartered in Memphis, Tenn., we employ approximately 38,000 colleagues globally. We serve customers worldwide, with manufacturing operations in North America, Latin America, North Africa and Europe. Net sales for 2021 were $19.4 billion. See how we're building a better future for people, the planet, and our company at internationalpaper.com/Vision-2030. Read more View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from International Paper Company on 3blmedia.com. Contact Info: Spokesperson: International Paper Company Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/international-paper-company Email: info@3blmedia.com SOURCE: International Paper Company View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/734859/International-Papers-Global-Impact-Operational-Sustainability-Highlights NEW YORK, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- As per Zion Market Research study, The global smart grid analytics market size was worth around USD 2.75 billion in 2021 and is predicted to grow to around USD 5.92 billion by 2030 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of roughly 11.81% between 2022 and 2030. Smart Grid Analytics Market: Overview The current modern world is changing at a rapid rate and these changes may not necessarily be apparent to the end-consumers but the global technical units have come a long way since the inception of technology, especially with the rising consumption levels in the energy and utility sector which forms the core of energy supply. With the dynamic consumption patterns, responsible authorities must deploy necessary advanced tools to collect accurate data about consumer trends and make use of analytical tools to forecast future demand and optimize the current utilization of energy and other related utilities. Smart grid analytics is based on the study of smart grids also known as electrical grids. These systems employ a variety of energy-related and operations measures including but not limited to an advanced infrastructure for accurate metering, circuit breakers and smart energy distribution boards, and resources of renewable energy including the grid's capacity to charge electric vehicles. Smart grids can provide end-ways to meet consumers' requirements and expectations but smart grid analytics uses prescriptive and predictive analysis to help energy providers become future-ready. Get a Free Sample Report with All Related Graphs & Charts (with COVID 19 Impact Analysis): https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/sample/smart-grid-analytics-market Our Free Sample Report Includes: 2022 Updated Report Introduction, Overview, and In-depth industry analysis COVID-19 Pandemic Outbreak Impact Analysis Included 297 + Pages Research Report (Inclusion of Updated Research) Provide Chapter-wise guidance on Request 2022 Updated Regional Analysis with Graphical Representation of Size, Share & Trends Includes an Updated List of tables & figures Updated Report Includes Top Market Players with their Business Strategy, Sales Volume, and Revenue Analysis Zion Market Research methodology Key Industry Insights & Findings of the Smart Grid Analytics Market Reports: As per the analysis shared by our research analyst, the global smart grid analytics market is estimated to grow annually at a CAGR of around 11.81% over the forecast period (2022-2030) In terms of revenue, the global smart grid analytics market size was valued at around USD 2.75 billion in 2021 and is projected to reach USD 5.92 billion , by 2030. Due to a variety of driving factors, the market is predicted to rise at a significant rate in 2021 and is projected to reach , by 2030. Due to a variety of driving factors, the market is predicted to rise at a significant rate Based on deployment model segmentation, on-premise was predicted to show maximum market share in the year 2021 Based on type segmentation, generalized solutions were the leading type in 2021 On the basis of region, North America was the leading revenue generator in 2021 Zion Market Research published the latest report titled "Smart Grid Analytics Market By Deployment Model (Cloud-Based, On-Premise, and Hybrid), By Component (Services, Solution, Managed, and Professional), By Type (Generalized Solutions, and Specialized Solutions), By End-User (Public Sector, Large Enterprises, and Small & Medium Size Enterprises), and By Region - Global and Regional Industry Overview, Market Intelligence, Comprehensive Analysis, Historical Data, and Forecasts 2022 - 2030." into their research database. Industry Dynamics: Smart Grid Analytics Market: Growth Drivers Technical advancements to drive market growth. The global smart grid analytics market is projected to gain high growth momentum propelled by increasing technical advancements along with a rise in the number of installations of smart grids across the globe. Some of the advanced technologies deployed include advanced metering infrastructure, a system developed for the measurement, collection, and analysis of energy consumption patterns. The system is capable of communicating with smart metering devices like heat meters, electricity meters, and gas & water meters as per schedule or on request. With this advanced system, smart devices can make necessary changes in the system with minimum human intervention leading to the optimization of energy supply and subsequent consumption. Software, hardware, controller, displays, communications, and other equipment are a part of the metering system. The Indian Ministry of Power has already allocated pilot projects for 14 smart grid installations. Smart Grid Analytics Market: Restraints High cost of set-up to restrict market expansion. Setting up smart grid analytics systems can be expensive as it requires the installation of extremely advanced tools like machine learning and artificial intelligence. Smart grids generate large amounts of data and require heavy software or machiners to analyze the huge load of information generated and deliver useful conclusions. This could restrict global market expansion, especially in underdeveloped economies with poor infrastructure and low investment budgets. Directly Purchase a Copy of the Report @ https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/buynow/su/smart-grid-analytics-market Smart Grid Analytics Market: Opportunities Modernization to act as a positive influence for further growth. Every economy is working toward providing the best products and services to its citizens and creating a mark on the world map. Multinational companies are looking for opportunities where they can make investments and strengthen their position in the global smart grid analytics market. Such situations create a winning scenario for all the parties involved as both consumers and businesses can benefit from such a positive approach. For instance, in February 2022, Empower New Energy will be investing around USD 100 million over the next three years to install the battery and solar systems to assist over 50 businesses in Africa. Smart Grid Analytics Market: Challenges Reliability on skilled labor may create challenging scenarios for businesses. High advanced analytical systems required exceptionally skillful labor to operate the main system performance. Although machines function on their own, human skills will also be required to make sure that the systems are effective and avoid any malfunction. This is one of the major challenges for business owners due to the gap between demand and availability of skilled labor. As per a recent survey, more than 66% of information technology (IT)-related managers stated to have major skill gaps in their teams. Global Smart Grid Analytics Market: Segmentation The global smart grid analytics market is segmented based on deployment model, component, type, end-user, and region. Based on the deployment model, the global market segments are cloud-based, on-premise, and hybrid. During 2021, on-premise deployment of smart grid analytical systems was preferred since it offers higher security, reliability, and flexibility as compared to hybrid or cloud models. On-site systems give businesses more ownership of the data and can access information or draw results accurately for each consumer. In a recent survey by 451 Alliance, over 48% of the respondents confirmed that they had moved away from cloud technology; however, it may gain more consumer trust in the coming years as international business agreements increase with globalization. Based on type, the global market divisions are generalized solutions and specialized solutions, with the former generating the highest revenue in 2021 with relatively low cost being the main reason for companies to prefer generalized solutions. Infrastructure for smart grid analytics is highly expensive and specialized versions could lead to a further increase in the expense hence only a selective group of businesses invested in customized versions. For instance, data analytics services offered by ITS could cost a minimum of USD 1000 as per the company website with the price increasing as per requirement and the amount of data collected. Get More Insight before Buying@: https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/inquiry/smart-grid-analytics-market List of Key Players in Smart Grid Analytics Market: EMC Corporation SAP SE Accenture PLC Oracle Corporation SAS Institute Inc. Capgemini SE Siemens AG IBM Corporation. Key questions answered in this report: What are the growth rate forecast and market size for Smart Grid Analytics Market? What are the key driving factors propelling the Smart Grid Analytics Market forward? What are the most important companies in the Smart Grid Analytics Market Industry? What segments does the Smart Grid Analytics Market cover? How can I receive a free copy of the Smart Grid Analytics Market sample report and company profiles? Report Scope: Report Attribute Details Market size value in 2021 USD 2.75 Billion Revenue forecast in 2030 USD 5.92 Billion Growth Rate CAGR of almost 11.81 % 2022-2030 Base Year 2020 Historic Years 2016 - 2021 Forecast Years 2022 - 2030 Segments Covered By Type, By Application, By Payload and By Propulsion System Forecast Units Value (USD Billion), and Volume (Units) Quantitative Units Revenue in USD million/billion and CAGR from 2022 to 2030 Regions Covered North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa, and Rest of World Countries Covered U.S., Canada, Mexico, U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Spain, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Argentina, GCC Countries, and South Africa, among others Companies Covered EMC Corporation, SAP SE, Accenture PLC, Oracle Corporation, SAS Institute, Inc., Capgemini SE, Siemens AG, and IBM Corporation. Report Coverage Market growth drivers, restraints, opportunities, Porter's five forces analysis, PEST analysis, value chain analysis, regulatory landscape, market attractiveness analysis by segments and region, company market share analysis, and COVID-19 impact analysis. Customization Scope Avail of customized purchase options to meet your exact research needs. https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/custom/984 Free Brochure: https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/requestbrochure/enterprise-data-management-market Recent Developments In March 2022 , Networked Energy Services (NES), a leading organization functioning in the smart grid industry, announced its intention to enter the Indian market, one of the fastest-growing economies in terms of advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) and smart grid solutions. The company plans to benefit from more than 275 million consumers in India while helping the economy upgrade its system and services Networked Energy Services (NES), a leading organization functioning in the smart grid industry, announced its intention to enter the Indian market, one of the fastest-growing economies in terms of advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) and smart grid solutions. The company plans to benefit from more than 275 million consumers in while helping the economy upgrade its system and services In October 2022 , Iberdrola and the European Investment Bank reported their decision to upgrade the sanction of green load (2021) with a rise of USD 215 million to help Spain strengthen its smart grid systems and allow supply security, energy efficiency, and renewable integration Regional Dominance: North America to continue leading market growth for the projection period. The global smart grid analytics market is expected to be documented by North America following the trend in the previous years where the regional market was valued at over USD 1200 million. This growth can be attributed to the advanced economies of the US and Canada and growing investments in smarter management of energy consumption. The territories are moving toward renewable energy since the demand for cleaner sources has increased drastically. Currently, around 19% of Canada's energy supply is renewable and the country's leaders have announced an investment of USD 300 million in green energy. As per a 2018 report, the US may invest up to USD 100 billion by the end of 2030 with major investments in AMI and clean energy. In 2019, the US overtook China for the first time in terms of investments in smart energy grids. Global Smart Grid Analytics Market is segmented as follows: Smart Grid Analytics Market: By Deployment Model Outlook (2022-2030) Cloud-Based On-Premise Hybrid Smart Grid Analytics Market: By Component Outlook (2022-2030) Services Solution Managed Professional Smart Grid Analytics Market: By Type Outlook (2022-2030) Generalized Solutions Specialized Solutions Smart Grid Analytics Market: By End-User Outlook (2022-2030) Public Sector Large Enterprises Small & Medium Size Enterprises Smart Grid Analytics Market: By Region Outlook (2022-2030) North America The U.S. Canada Europe France The UK Spain Germany Italy Rest of Europe Asia Pacific China Japan India South Korea Southeast Asia Rest of Asia Pacific Latin America Brazil Mexico Rest of Latin America Middle East & Africa GCC South Africa Rest of Middle East & Africa Press Release for Smart Grid Analytics Market: https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/news/global-smart-grid-analytics-market Browse Other Related Research Reports from Zion Market Research Waste Management Software Market - Global Industry Analysis : The global waste management software market size was worth around USD 9,350 million in 2021 and is predicted to grow to around USD 16,000 million by 2028 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of roughly 8% between 2022 and 2028. 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Browse through Zion Market Research's coverage of the Global Technology & Media Industry Follow Us on: LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook About Us Zion Market Research is an obligated company. We create futuristic, cutting-edge, informative reports ranging from industry reports, and company reports to country reports. We provide our clients not only with market statistics unveiled by avowed private publishers and public organizations but also with vogue and newest industry reports along with pre-eminent and niche company profiles. Our database of market research reports comprises a wide variety of reports from cardinal industries. Our database is been updated constantly to fulfill our clients with prompt and direct online access to our database. Keeping in mind the client's needs, we have included expert insights on global industries, products, and market trends in this database. 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Contact Us: Zion Market Research 244 Fifth Avenue, Suite N202 New York, 10001, United States Tel: +1 (844) 845-5245 USA/Canada Toll-Free No. +1 (855) 465-4651 Email: sales@zionmarketresearch.com Website: https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/ Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1605489/Zion_Market_Research_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/by-2030--demand-for-global-smart-grid-analytics-market-size--share-will-surpass-usd-5-92-billion-mark-at-11-81-cagr-growth--smart-grid-analytics-industry-trends-value-analysis--forecast-report-by-zion-market-research-301719230.html NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / January 11, 2023 / Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) helped Green Bay Packaging open the first new papermill in Wisconsin in more than 35 years, providing power and process solutions that increase production capacity, improve reliability, and meet sustainability goals. Rockwell's digital technology connects islands of automation that generates real-time data for better decision-making at the mill and across the enterprise. When paired with larger paper-making machines and upskilling of current employees, the new drive and controller technologies help the new plant more than double the output of the previous plant. The data also enables predictive maintenance, and the ability to schedule work orders before equipment runs to failure-saving the company time and money by preventing downtime. The new mill exclusively uses recovered paper as its feedstock, recovers leftover heat for reuse, and leverages a state-of-the-art water treatment system that significantly reduces the amount of water required to support the process. One year after the mill opened, UL certified it as a net-zero water user that returns as much or more water of the same quality to the Great Lakes as it draws. Learn more here and watch the video. The visitor entrance of Green Bay Packaging's new papermill showcases sustainability. View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Rockwell Automation on 3blmedia.com. Contact Info: Spokesperson: Rockwell Automation Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/rockwell-automation Email: info@3blmedia.com SOURCE: Rockwell Automation View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/734863/New-Paper-Mill-Sets-Standard-for-Sustainability-and-Net-Zero-Water-Use SPAIN / ACCESSWIRE / January 11, 2023 / Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. announces its collaboration with three leading Spanish universities to provide 5G training courses. Via the Qualcomm Wireless Academy (QWA) program, students at the Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, University of Malaga and Polytechnic University of Valencia will have access to 5G trainings and the opportunity to receive a 5G training certification. The program has been designed to develop Spanish Universities students' 5G abilities and expertise as well as enhancing prospective career possibilities in the tech ecosystem. As 5G expands into multiple verticals and industries, more and more talents are needed. Qualcomm is committed to nurturing the next generation of innovators and technologists and providing opportunities to accelerate the digital transformation of Spain and Europe. Enrico Salvatori, Senior Vice President, Qualcomm Europe, Inc. and President of Qualcomm Europe/MEA says "Our collaborative efforts with Spain are so important to us. 5G will drive digital transformation in many industries. This program, and the collaborative work we are doing with these three leading Spanish Universities, is developing students' talent and career progression within the industry. We hope to inspire these talents at the forefront of innovation." Vikram Malhotra, Senior Director, Program Management, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. says "One of our goals at the Qualcomm Wireless Academy is to give students the tools needed to become successful 5G engineers. By enrolling in this program, students are taking the first step in gaining the skills they need to advance Spain's digital transformation." Manuel Sierra, Director of the Telecom School at Universidad Politecnica de Madrid says "At Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, we provide our students with exciting and unique professional development opportunities, and we are thrilled to offer them the chance to train with leading Qualcomm Technologies engineers. We are grateful to be working with QWAto educate our students in a growing and dynamic field." Rafael Godoy Rubio, Dean of the School of Telecommunications Engineering at University of Malaga says "At University of Malaga, we are dedicated to providing our students with compelling and relevant professional development opportunities. Receiving this training from Qualcomm Technologies engineers gives our students a valuable chance to enhance their skills in an exciting industry. We are excited to grow this program among our future engineering and business leaders here in Malaga." Hector Esteban, Dean of the Telecommunication School at Universitat Politecnica de Valencia says "Universitat Politecnica de Valencia is excited to work with QWA to bring this crucial training to our students. Learning with expert engineers from Qualcomm Technologies will help our students develop skills in a rapidly growing industry. The Spanish universities have been enthusiastic and welcoming the collaboration with QWA to help them shape the knowledge of the new generation of talents. They understand the importance of upskilling the students on 5G to accompany the digital transformation the world is going through." Students at the universities will be able to: Enroll in Free 5G Training: Grow their 5G knowledge and skills by enrolling in two free 5G courses taught by industry-leading engineers from Qualcomm Technologies. The courses (5G Primer and Fundamentals of Cellular Communication & 5G) cover an overview of 5G, how it works, and how it is transforming the way the world operates. Receive a 5G Introductory-Level Certification: After completing the free training portion of this program, students may sign up for QWA's 5G Introductory-Level Certification exam. This certification can be used to show employers that students understand the basics of 5G and how it works. The QWA program is recommended to the following types of students: Engineering students who are looking to understand 5G technology fundamentals and how 5G works. Business students who want to understand how 5G can change the way we communicate and conduct business. The Qualcomm Wireless Academy University program is open to full-time university students around the world studying for an Associate's, Bachelor's, Master's, or PhD degree. The QWA program is training industry leaders on the latest wireless technologies with premium training designed and developed by global 5G leaders for premium training across broad technical scopes such as LTE, WI-FI, CV2X and more. Visit qwa.qualcomm.com for a complete list of 5G and other wireless courses. For more information on the Qualcomm Wireless Academy University (QWA) Program, please visit: 5G Training University Program - Europe & Asia (qualcomm.com) About Qualcomm Qualcomm is enabling a world where everyone and everything can be intelligently connected. Our one technology roadmap allows us to efficiently scale the technologies that launched the mobile revolution - including advanced connectivity, high-performance, low-power compute, on-device intelligence and more - to the next generation of connected smart devices across industries. Innovations from Qualcomm and our family of Snapdragon platforms will help enable cloud-edge convergence, transform industries, accelerate the digital economy, and revolutionize how we experience the world, for the greater good. Qualcomm Incorporated includes our licensing business, QTL, and the vast majority of our patent portfolio. Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, operates, along with its subsidiaries, substantially all of our engineering, research and development functions, and substantially all of our products and services businesses, including our QCT semiconductor business. Qualcomm is a trademark or registered trademark of Qualcomm Incorporated. Qualcomm branded products are products of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries. Qualcomm patented technologies are licensed by Qualcomm Incorporated. View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Qualcomm on 3blmedia.com. Contact Info: Spokesperson: Qualcomm Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/qualcomm Email: info@3blmedia.com SOURCE: Qualcomm View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/734864/Three-Leading-Universities-in-Spain-Collaborate-With-Qualcomm-Technologies-Inc-To-Offer-Their-Students-World-Premium-5G-Training-Certification Finsbury Growth & Income Trust Plc - Transaction in Own Shares For immediate release 11 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 853.92 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 12,236,092; 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 212,755,211. The figure of 212,755,211 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 LAUNCH OF A PLACEMENT RESERVED TO INSTITUTIONAL INVESTORS THROUGH ACCELERATED BOOKBUILDING Ronco Scrivia (GE), January 11, 2023 - Racing Force S.p.A., parent company of Racing Force Group (the Group), a world leader in safety systems for motorsports (RFG or the Company), announces that the Board of Directors, which met today in notarial session, resolved, in exercise of the authority granted by the Shareholders' Meeting of October 15, 2021, pursuant to Article 2443 of the Italian Civil Code, to increase the share capital, for cash, possibly in divisible form, with the exclusion of option rights pursuant to Article 2441, fourth paragraph, second sentence, of the Italian Civil Code, by issuing new ordinary RFG shares, with no indication of their express par value, having the same characteristics as those outstanding on the date of issue, with regular dividend rights, corresponding to up to 10% of RFG's share capital (the Capital Increase). The Capital Increase, the shares of which will be offered for subscription through an accelerated bookbuilding procedure (the Accelerated Bookbuilding), is reserved for subscription by qualified Italian or foreign investors as defined by Articles 100, paragraph 1, letter a) of Legislative Decree 58/98 as amended, 34-ter of Regulation no. 11971/1999, paragraph 1, as amended, and 35, paragraph 1, letter d) of the Regulations adopted by Consob by resolution No. 20307 of February 15, 2018, as well as foreign institutional investors within the meaning of Regulation S of the United States Securities Act of 1993 or to other entities in the European Economic Area (EEA) and in the United Kingdom, excluding Italy, that are "qualified investors" within the meaning of Art. 2(e) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 of the European Parliament and of the Council of June 14, 2017 or Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 as transposed into UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union Withdrawal Act 2018, (excluding investors in Australia, Canada, Japan and the United States, and in any other foreign country in which placement is not possible in the absence of authorization from the competent authorities), provided that the offering is made in such a manner as to enable the Company to fall within the cases of inapplicability of the provisions on public offerings resulting in exclusion from the obligation to publish a prospectus (the Private Placement). Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Private Placement may also be executed to investors, resident in Australia, provided that they declare and warrant that they are definable as "Sophisticated Investors" under the applicable regulations and therefore persons to whom it is permissible to offer securities, in derogation of the provisions on public offerings and with consequent exclusion from the obligation to publish a prospectus, pursuant to one or more of the exemptions set forth in Section 708 of the Australian Corporations Act 2001 (Cth). Motivation and purpose of the capital stock increase The purpose of the Capital Increase is to enable the Company to quickly and efficiently raise new equity to be used to continue its business development and expansion plan, also in light of the strong growth recorded in recent years. In particular, the proceeds will be used to finance the start-up of new production capacity in the United States and make other planned investments in Bahrain and Italy, aimed at increasing the Group's efficiency, and support the diversification program, including the Next Generation Fixed-Wing Helmet program for US Airforce. The Company intends to keep part of the proceeds raised during the IPO to finance potential future merger or acquisition transactions. In addition, the Capital Increase will allow the Company to increase the free float, also in view of a potential access of the stock to the STAR Segment of Euronext Milan in the medium term, and consequently facilitate its trading, also favoring its stability and at the same time expanding its shareholding structure with Italian and foreign investors of primary standing. 2022 saw the Group achieving a new sales record, with strong double-digit growth and Group net income expected to increase significantly over the previous fiscal year. In terms of order book, FY2022 also closed at new all-time high levels, and in particular Q4 and the first days of 2023 showed significant growth, suggesting a particularly positive start to the year, in line with the growth expected for 2023. Terms of the transaction The placement price of the shares will be determined upon completion of the Accelerated Bookbuilding, based on the criteria established by the Board of Directors. The auditing firm KPMG has issued its opinion on the criteria for determining the price pursuant to Article 2441, paragraph 4, second sentence, of the Civil Code. The Accelerated Bookbuilding process will begin immediately and may be completed at any time. The final terms will be promptly communicated to the market. As part of the transaction, the Company made lock-up commitments of 180 days' duration in line with best market practice. In connection with the results of the Accelerated Bookbuilding the newly issued shares will be traded on Euronext Growth Milan and Paris and will have the same characteristics as those outstanding, in accordance with applicable laws and regulations Equita SIM S.p.A. and TP ICAP (Europe) S.A. are acting as Joint Global Coordinator and Joint Bookrunner of the Accelerated Bookbuilding. Emintad Italy S.r.l. is acting as financial advisor to the transaction while for legal aspects RFG is being assisted by LCA Studio Legale. ------------------------ This publication embed "Actusnews SECURITY MASTER ". - SECURITY MASTER Key: xW2baZluaJuXy2tsZMqbm2VnaJyTlpbFbWacxJVoZpbGb55nm5qUa5vKZnBplWVu - Check this key: https://www.security-master-key.com. ------------------------ Copyright Actusnews Wire Receive by email the next press releases of the company by registering on www.actusnews.com, it's free Full and original release in PDF format:https://www.actusnews.com/documents_communiques/ACTUS-0-78008-230111-eng-rfg-launch-rights-issue-through-abb.pdf Originally published by IWBI GREENSBORO, NC / ACCESSWIRE / January 11, 2023 / 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 For Tanger, Kasie Wilson, KWT Global Tanger@kwtglobal.com For IWBI, Media@wellcertified.com View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from International WELL Building Institute on 3blmedia.com. Contact Info: Spokesperson: International WELL Building Institute Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/international-well-building-institute Email: info@3blmedia.com SOURCE: International WELL Building Institute View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/734884/Tanger-Achieves-WELL-Health-Safety-Rating CHICAGO, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- According to Arizton's latest research report, the Europe tractor market to grow at a CAGR of 4.02% during 2022-2028. The increasing demand for food can be attributed to the fact that European farmers now rely on farm mechanization and improve their crop production by reducing the yield gap. The region has utilized agricultural land of 175 million hectares, of which an estimated 67% is available for farming and crop production. Further, the value chain of the Europe tractor market mainly comprises raw materials suppliers, manufacturers, dealers/distributors, retailers, and end-users. Vendor competition is based on innovation, product updates, product portfolio, product differentiation, and pricing. New product development initiatives for tractors of various engine power and models will intensify the competition in the market during the forecast period. Several vendors in the industry have a dedicated distribution network for different regions. Europe Tractor Market Report Scope Report Attributes Details Market Size (2028) 200 thousand Units Market Size (2022) 158 thousand Units CAGR (2022-2028) 4.02 % Historic Year 2020-2021 Base Year 2022 Forecast Year 2023-2028 Segmentation Analysis Horsepower, Drive Type, and Geography Largest Segment by Horsepower 50-100 HP Largest Segment by Drive Type 2-Wheel Drive Largest Segment by Region France Key Vendors John Deere, CNH Industrial, AGCO, Kubota, Zetor, Mahindra & Mahindra, Escorts, JCB, Foton Motor, MTW Holdings, SDF, Arbos Group, and Yanmar Market Dynamics Assistance to Farmers through Loans & Subsidies High and Growing Agricultural Commodity Prices Support the Market Growing Food Consumption and Export of Organic Products= Page Number 189 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/3650 Click Here to Download the Free Sample Report Impact of Assistance to Farmers through Loans & Subsidies Agriculture is a major source of income for the European economy. Therefore, the government sustains and empowers farmers. Europe also encourages new farmers by providing additional support through the CAP's direct payment policy. European countries must set aside 2% of their allocated direct payment funding to provide younger farmers with a 25% bonus during the first few years. Moreover, younger farmers are prioritized while receiving direct payment funding from the national and regional governments. The government in some European countries runs several agricultural schemes, and the younger generation of farmers takes advantage of the same. The Rural Development Programme of the Europe 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 rural areas. Market Trends & Opportunities Increasing Use of Bioenergy in Tractors Farmers typically used diesel-powered tractors because of their high power. Due to improvements in engine technology, fuel efficiency, and machine technologies, tractors are now more effective and can complete tasks with less power. Farmers' ability to manage their budgets is hampered by the fluctuation in diesel prices. Several brand-new, state-of-the-art models of agricultural machinery can already be powered by farm-produced bio-based energy. Technological Advance in Tractor Technology As agriculture and digital technology came together, a new frontier of innovation emerged, opening numerous avenues for a smart agricultural future in the European tractor market. Tractor manufacturers are competitive, and companies constantly strive to innovate and ensure product differentiation at affordable prices. Modern tractors built with cutting-edge technology are currently on the market. GPS and remote sensing make farming more accurate and productive. Why Should You Buy This Report? This Europe tractor market report is among the few in the market that offer outlook and opportunity analyses forecast in terms of: Market Size & Forecast Volume (Units) 2020-2028 Segmentation by Horsepower Segmentation by Wheel Drive Segmentation by Geography Production and trade values Major current and upcoming projects and investments Competitive intelligence about the economic scenario, advantages in Europe , industry dynamics, and market shares , industry dynamics, and market shares Latest and innovative technologies COVID-19 impact analysis of the industry Company profiles of major and other prominent vendors Industry shares of major vendors Key Vendors John Deere CNH Industrial AGCO Kubota Zetor Mahindra & Mahindra Escorts JCB Foton Motor MTW Holdings SDF Arbos Group Yanmar Market Segmentation Horsepower Less than 50 HP 50-100 HP Above 100 HP Drive Type 2-Wheel-Drive 4-Wheel-Drive Geography Europe France Germany Italy UK Poland Spain Others Austria Belgium Sweden Netherlands Czech Republic Portugal Click Here to Download the Free Sample Report Table of Content 1 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 2 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES 3 RESEARCH PROCESS 4 SCOPE & COVERAGE 4.1 MARKET DEFINITION 4.1.1 INCLUSIONS 4.1.2 EXCLUSIONS 4.1.3 MARKET ESTIMATION CAVEATS 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 COMMON AGRICULTURAL POLICY & EU AGRICULTURAL EXPENDITURE 8.4 INCREASING ADOPTION OF PRECISION FARMING 8.5 TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES 9 MARKET OPPORTUNITIES & TRENDS 9.1 TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES IN TRACTOR TECHNOLOGY 9.1.1 GPS TECHNOLOGY 9.1.2 HIGH DEMAND FOR AUTONOMOUS OR SELF-DRIVING TRACTORS 9.2 SHORTAGE OF AGRICULTURAL LABORERS 9.3 INCREASING USE OF BIOENERGY IN AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY 10 MARKET GROWTH ENABLERS 10.1 ASSISTANCE TO FARMERS THROUGH LOANS & SUBSIDIES 10.2 STRONG AGRICULTURAL COMMODITY PRICES SUPPORT MARKET 10.3 GROWING FOOD CONSUMPTION & EXPORT OF ORGANIC PRODUCTS 11 MARKET GROWTH RESTRAINTS 11.1 LACK OF AWARENESS OF LATEST AGRICULTURAL EQUIPMENT INNOVATIONS 11.1.1 LACK OF EDUCATION AMONG FARMERS 11.2 HIGH DEMAND FOR USED & RENTAL TRACTORS 11.3 CLIMATE CHANGE ADVERSELY IMPACTING AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES 12 MARKET LANDSCAPE 12.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 12.2 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 12.3 FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS 12.3.1 THREAT OF NEW ENTRANTS 12.3.2 BARGAINING POWER OF SUPPLIERS 12.3.3 BARGAINING POWER OF BUYERS 12.3.4 THREAT OF SUBSTITUTES 12.3.5 COMPETITIVE RIVALRY 13 BY HORSEPOWER 13.1 MARKET SNAPSHOT & GROWTH ENGINE 13.2 MARKET OVERVIEW 13.3 LESS THAN 50 HP 13.3.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 13.3.2 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 13.3.3 MARKET BY GEOGRAPHY 13.4 50 HP-100 HP 13.4.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 13.4.2 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 13.4.3 MARKET BY GEOGRAPHY 13.5 ABOVE 100 HP 13.5.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 13.5.2 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 13.5.3 MARKET BY GEOGRAPHY 14 BY WHEEL-DRIVE 14.1 MARKET SNAPSHOT & GROWTH ENGINE 14.2 MARKET OVERVIEW 14.3 2-WHEEL-DRIVE 14.3.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 14.3.2 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 14.3.3 MARKET BY GEOGRAPHY 14.4 4-WHEEL-DRIVE 14.4.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 14.4.2 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 14.4.3 MARKET BY GEOGRAPHY 15 GEOGRAPHY 15.1 MARKET SNAPSHOT & GROWTH ENGINE 15.2 GEOGRAPHIC OVERVIEW 15.3 FRANCE 15.3.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 15.3.2 LAND HOLDING STRUCTURES IN FRANCE 15.3.3 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 15.3.4 BY HORSEPOWER 15.3.5 BY WHEEL-DRIVE 15.3.6 MARKET SHARE ANALYSIS 15.4 GERMANY 15.4.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 15.4.2 LAND HOLDING STRUCTURES IN GERMANY 15.4.3 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 15.4.4 BY HORSEPOWER 15.4.5 BY WHEEL-DRIVE 15.4.6 MARKET SHARE ANALYSIS 15.5 ITALY 15.5.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 15.5.2 LAND HOLDING STRUCTURES IN ITALY 15.5.3 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 15.5.4 BY HORSEPOWER 15.5.5 BY WHEEL-DRIVE 15.5.6 MARKET SHARE ANALYSIS 15.6 UK 15.6.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 15.6.2 BREXIT IMPACT ON UK AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY 15.6.3 LAND HOLDING STRUCTURE IN UK 15.6.4 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 15.6.5 BY HORSEPOWER 15.6.6 BY WHEEL-DRIVE 15.6.7 MARKET SHARE ANALYSIS 15.7 POLAND 15.7.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 15.7.2 LAND HOLDING STRUCTURES IN POLAND 15.7.3 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 15.7.4 BY HORSEPOWER 15.7.5 BY WHEEL-DRIVE 15.7.6 MARKET SHARE ANALYSIS 15.8 SPAIN 15.8.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 15.8.2 LAND HOLDING STRUCTURE IN SPAIN 15.8.3 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 15.8.4 BY HORSEPOWER 15.8.5 BY WHEEL-DRIVE 15.8.6 MARKET SHARE ANALYSIS 15.9 OTHERS 15.9.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 15.9.2 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 15.9.3 BY HORSEPOWER 15.9.4 BY WHEEL-DRIVE 15.9.5 MARKET SHARE ANALYSIS 16 COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE 16.1 COMPETITION OVERVIEW 17 KEY COMPANY PROFILES 17.1 JOHN DEERE 17.1.1 BUSINESS OVERVIEW 17.1.2 JOHN DEERE IN AGRICULTURE TRACTOR MARKET 17.1.3 PRODUCT OFFERINGS 17.1.4 KEY STRATEGIES 17.1.5 KEY STRENGTHS 17.1.6 KEY OPPORTUNITIES 17.2 CNH INDUSTRIAL 17.3 AGCO 17.4 KUBOTA 18 OTHER PROMINENT VENDORS 18.1 ZETOR POLSKA SP. Z.O.O. 18.1.1 BUSINESS OVERVIEW 18.1.2 PRODUCT OFFERINGS 18.2 MAHINDRA & MAHINDRA 18.3 ESCORTS 18.4 JCB 18.5 FOTON 18.6 MTW HOLDINGS 18.7 SDF 18.8 ARBOS GROUP 18.9 YANMAR 19 REPORT SUMMARY 19.1 KEY TAKEAWAYS 19.2 STRATEGIC RECOMMENDATIONS 20 QUANTITATIVE SUMMARY 20.1 MARKET BY GEOGRAPHY 20.2 MARKET BY HORSEPOWER TYPE 20.3 MARKET BY WHEEL-DRIVE TYPE 21 APPENDIX 21.1 ABBREVIATIONS Check Out Some of the Top-Selling Related Research Reports: Spain Tractor Market - Industry Analysis & Forecast 2022-2028: The Spain tractor market is expected to reach 14,411 units by 2028 growing at a CAGR of 4.13% during the forecast period. In 2021, the 50-100 HP segment accounted for the largest market share based on horsepower. Italy Tractor Market - Industry Analysis & Forecast 2022-2028: The Italy tractor market is expected to reach 31,531 units by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 3.74% from 2022 to 2028. Italy is Europe's third-largest tractor market. The export of tractors manufactured in Italy will witness growth as the prominent vendors adopt an export-centric approach to increase their net revenues. John Deere acquired the company "Beer Flag Robotics" in the year 2021 for $250 million to gain access to the advanced (autonomous driving technology) equipment market and expand to other countries by enhancing sales in Italy. France Tractor Market - Industry Analysis & Forecast 2022-2028: France tractor market is expected to reach 39,213 units by 2028 growing at a CAGR of 4.24%. Tractors are the largest segment of France agriculture equipment market, accounting for less than 38% of the share. Tractors can be rightfully called the backbone of the France agriculture industry. Agriculture tractors accounted for 98% of the overall France tractors market in 2021. The Germany tractors market and France are the two biggest industries in the European region, and France is the 2nd largest market. Germany Tractor Market - Industry Analysis & Forecast 2022-2028: The Germany Tractor market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.10%, from 31,925 units in 2021 to 45,219 units by 2028. Germany, a new frontier of innovation is emerging as agriculture meets digital technologies, opening various paths to a smart agricultural future. Smart agriculture will happen with the help of various technologies such as self-driving or autonomous tractors and GPS technology. Table of Content 1 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 2 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES 3 RESEARCH PROCESS 4 SCOPE & COVERAGE 4.1 MARKET DEFINITION 4.1.1 INCLUSIONS 4.1.2 EXCLUSIONS 4.1.3 MARKET ESTIMATION CAVEATS 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 COMMON AGRICULTURAL POLICY & EU AGRICULTURAL EXPENDITURE 8.4 INCREASING ADOPTION OF PRECISION FARMING 8.5 TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES 9 MARKET OPPORTUNITIES & TRENDS 9.1 TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES IN TRACTOR TECHNOLOGY 9.1.1 GPS TECHNOLOGY 9.1.2 HIGH DEMAND FOR AUTONOMOUS OR SELF-DRIVING TRACTORS 9.2 SHORTAGE OF AGRICULTURAL LABORERS 9.3 INCREASING USE OF BIOENERGY IN AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY 10 MARKET GROWTH ENABLERS 10.1 ASSISTANCE TO FARMERS THROUGH LOANS & SUBSIDIES 10.2 STRONG AGRICULTURAL COMMODITY PRICES SUPPORT MARKET 10.3 GROWING FOOD CONSUMPTION & EXPORT OF ORGANIC PRODUCTS 11 MARKET GROWTH RESTRAINTS 11.1 LACK OF AWARENESS OF LATEST AGRICULTURAL EQUIPMENT INNOVATIONS 11.1.1 LACK OF EDUCATION AMONG FARMERS 11.2 HIGH DEMAND FOR USED & RENTAL TRACTORS 11.3 CLIMATE CHANGE ADVERSELY IMPACTING AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES 12 MARKET LANDSCAPE 12.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 12.2 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 12.3 FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS 12.3.1 THREAT OF NEW ENTRANTS 12.3.2 BARGAINING POWER OF SUPPLIERS 12.3.3 BARGAINING POWER OF BUYERS 12.3.4 THREAT OF SUBSTITUTES 12.3.5 COMPETITIVE RIVALRY 13 BY HORSEPOWER 13.1 MARKET SNAPSHOT & GROWTH ENGINE 13.2 MARKET OVERVIEW 13.3 LESS THAN 50 HP 13.3.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 13.3.2 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 13.3.3 MARKET BY GEOGRAPHY 13.4 50 HP-100 HP 13.4.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 13.4.2 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 13.4.3 MARKET BY GEOGRAPHY 13.5 ABOVE 100 HP 13.5.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 13.5.2 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 13.5.3 MARKET BY GEOGRAPHY 14 BY WHEEL-DRIVE 14.1 MARKET SNAPSHOT & GROWTH ENGINE 14.2 MARKET OVERVIEW 14.3 2-WHEEL-DRIVE 14.3.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 14.3.2 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 14.3.3 MARKET BY GEOGRAPHY 14.4 4-WHEEL-DRIVE 14.4.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 14.4.2 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 14.4.3 MARKET BY GEOGRAPHY 15 GEOGRAPHY 15.1 MARKET SNAPSHOT & GROWTH ENGINE 15.2 GEOGRAPHIC OVERVIEW 15.3 FRANCE 15.3.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 15.3.2 LAND HOLDING STRUCTURES IN FRANCE 15.3.3 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 15.3.4 BY HORSEPOWER 15.3.5 BY WHEEL-DRIVE 15.3.6 MARKET SHARE ANALYSIS 15.4 GERMANY 15.4.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 15.4.2 LAND HOLDING STRUCTURES IN GERMANY 15.4.3 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 15.4.4 BY HORSEPOWER 15.4.5 BY WHEEL-DRIVE 15.4.6 MARKET SHARE ANALYSIS 15.5 ITALY 15.5.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 15.5.2 LAND HOLDING STRUCTURES IN ITALY 15.5.3 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 15.5.4 BY HORSEPOWER 15.5.5 BY WHEEL-DRIVE 15.5.6 MARKET SHARE ANALYSIS 15.6 UK 15.6.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 15.6.2 BREXIT IMPACT ON UK AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY 15.6.3 LAND HOLDING STRUCTURE IN UK 15.6.4 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 15.6.5 BY HORSEPOWER 15.6.6 BY WHEEL-DRIVE 15.6.7 MARKET SHARE ANALYSIS 15.7 POLAND 15.7.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 15.7.2 LAND HOLDING STRUCTURES IN POLAND 15.7.3 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 15.7.4 BY HORSEPOWER 15.7.5 BY WHEEL-DRIVE 15.7.6 MARKET SHARE ANALYSIS 15.8 SPAIN 15.8.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 15.8.2 LAND HOLDING STRUCTURE IN SPAIN 15.8.3 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 15.8.4 BY HORSEPOWER 15.8.5 BY WHEEL-DRIVE 15.8.6 MARKET SHARE ANALYSIS 15.9 OTHERS 15.9.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 15.9.2 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 15.9.3 BY HORSEPOWER 15.9.4 BY WHEEL-DRIVE 15.9.5 MARKET SHARE ANALYSIS 16 COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE 16.1 COMPETITION OVERVIEW 17 KEY COMPANY PROFILES 17.1 JOHN DEERE 17.2 CNH INDUSTRIAL 17.3 AGCO 17.4 KUBOTA 18 OTHER PROMINENT VENDORS 18.1 ZETOR POLSKA SP. Z.O.O. 18.2 MAHINDRA & MAHINDRA 18.3 ESCORTS 18.4 JCB 18.5 FOTON 18.6 MTW HOLDINGS 18.7 SDF 18.8 ARBOS GROUP 18.9 YANMAR 19 REPORT SUMMARY 19.1 KEY TAKEAWAYS 19.2 STRATEGIC RECOMMENDATIONS 20 QUANTITATIVE SUMMARY 20.1 MARKET BY GEOGRAPHY 20.2 MARKET BY HORSEPOWER TYPE 20.3 MARKET BY WHEEL-DRIVE TYPE 21 APPENDIX 21.1 ABBREVIATIONS About Us: Arizton Advisory and Intelligence is an innovative and quality-driven firm that offers cutting-edge research solutions to clients worldwide. We excel in providing comprehensive market intelligence reports and advisory and consulting services. We offer comprehensive market research reports on consumer goods & retail technology, automotive and mobility, smart tech, healthcare, life sciences, industrial machinery, chemicals, materials, I.T. and media, logistics, and packaging. These reports contain detailed industry analysis, market size, share, growth drivers, and trend forecasts.? 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Mail: enquiry@arizton.com Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1981598/EUROPE_TRACTOR_MARKET.jpg Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/818553/Arizton_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/arizton-estimates-the-sale-of-tractors-to-reach-200-thousand-units-in-europe-by-2028-john-deere-cnh-industrial-agco-and-kubota-are-the-major-vendors-demand-for-50-100-hp-tractors-likely-to-increase-301719356.html Newport Beach, California--(Newsfile Corp. - January 11, 2023) - Stanford Raffles Group, Inc is pleased to announce that ZudgeZury, a revolutionary real-time conflict resolution lifestyle application has been released on the Apple App Store and Google Play. Users will now be able to share their problems in real time and ask for advice from Zury/Zudge experts or similar consumers. With a marketing twist to the terms "Judge" and "Jury", ZudgeZury presents a real-time conflict resolution lifestyle app that is gaining traction and users. Zudgezury now available on Android and iOS To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8717/150634_ab0e32b7640d7b94_001full.jpg Integrating Social Benefits and Experiences ZudgeZury blew up the media space in the Fall of 2022 with the soft launch of a Social Media application that combines and integrates members across all demographics and cultural groups. The rapid growth in the number of active users led to the successful launch in the popular Google Play and Apple App Store. ZudgeZury users acquire credits through in-app purchases and are also able to exchange the ZudgeZury Utility Coin (ZZC) for the same credits to access in-app products and services. These include expedited or live consultation by peer consumers or influencers, and purchasing digital gifts and emoticons. Zudges and Zury are also rewarded with social ranks, ratings & gifts. The initial target users will be from the United States, Canada, and Europe with more markets opening up as the user base grows. Support for Decision Making ZudgeZury presents a convenient tool for the everyday user, especially useful if the user has dilemmas with decision-making in various areas, ranging from deciding the location for a romantic evening to buying a tourist package. With the IOS, Android, and Web platforms, ZudgeZury is readily available to almost every user with access to a mobile device or personal computer. Corporations can use ZudgeZury for Strategic Consumer decision making as well. Join the Zudgezury Lifestyle To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8717/150634_ab0e32b7640d7b94_002full.jpg The app download and use is absolutely free, with users choosing to pay credits for premium features or subscribing to the VIP program. With a few updated versions already in the stores, the ZudgeZury team is enhancing the consumer experience with more features. Zudges/Zury are given a time window to review asynchronous concerns or conduct a live hearing with the user 1 on 1. The user provides the options and ultimately takes the responsibility for each decision made with recommendations from the Zudge/Zury. This is stipulated in the Terms and Conditions accepted at Sign Up. About ZudgeZury The release of the ZudgeZury app in the app stores is a refreshing reset of the Social Media platform scene in view of the lack of creativity and differentiation of available apps. ZudgeZury is especially welcomed by people who often face dilemmas in solving everyday tasks or for Corporate Strategic Consumer decision making. Users with Dating, Family, Shopping and Travel concerns have been the first to embrace the ZudgeZury concept. Investor Relations: ir@zudgezury.com Introduction Video: https://intro1.zudgezury.com Blog: https://blog.zudgezury.com Media Contact: Company Name: Stanford Raffles Group, Inc Contact Person: Dr Jin Lee Email: ir@zudgezury.com City: Newport Beach Country: USA Website: https://www.zudgezury.com/ To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/150634 This photo provided by Lotte Biologics shows its CEO, Lee Won-jik, speaking during the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference held in San Francisco from Jan. 9-12, 2022. Yonhap Lotte Biologics, a pharmaceutical unit under the retail giant Lotte Group, said Wednesday it will invest $3 billion to build a bio industrial complex in Korea by 2030 that houses three plants. Its CEO, Lee Won-jik, announced the plan during the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference held in San Francisco, from Monday to Thursday, according to Lotte Biologics. The company said the production complex, tentatively named "Lotte Bio Campus," will house three manufacturing plants, and it will start building the first one in the second half of this year. The first factory is scheduled to begin commercial production from 2027, the company added. Lotte Biologics said the complex will be completed in 2034 and post $3 billion in revenue. Its massive investment plan came after the company completed the acquisition of a plant from global biopharmaceutical company Bristol Myers Squibb in Syracuse, New York, for $160 million last week as part of its strategy to go overseas. The Korean company said it will funnel $70 million into the Syracuse plant to expand its facilities for drug products and antibody drug conjugates. "With our two-track strategy for acquisition and new facilities, Lotte Biologics is planning to become a major player in the contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) market, and strengthen our business competitiveness," Lee was quoted as saying. The CDMO refers to a company that handles not only the outsourced manufacturing of drug substances, but also all of the innovation and development work that occurs prior to manufacturing one. (Yonhap) CHICAGO, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- According to Arizton's latest research report, the pharmaceutical logistics market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8% during 2021-2027. Increased usage of logistics optimization tools, AI, IoT, and intelligent logistics platforms are likely to contribute to the future growth of the pharmaceutical logistics market. North America region accounts for the highest revenue share of 38.70% in the global pharmaceutical logistics market in 2021 and holds the presence of most pharmaceutical suppliers. The US is the leading country worldwide with the highest share of pharmaceuticals. About five top pharmaceutical companies in 2020 were from the US. In the US, branded drugs accounted for around 83.9% of spending. In 2020, about 8.1% of worldwide drug and medicine shipments originated from North America. Cold chain logistics companies have made a huge footprint since the onset of COVID-19 pandemic due to the growing demand for temperature-controlled biologics, especially vaccines. Since the beginning of 2020, the adoption of state-of-the-art technologies such as telematics and remote monitoring in cold chain logistics is making transportation in the pharmaceutical industry more efficient with better safety and connectivity. On an average, a drug manufacturer can expect a damage rate of around 30% owing to the logistics constraints associated with a pharmaceutical product. In fact, around 25% of vaccines that reach their destination deteriorate due to incorrect shipping, while around 20% of temperature-sensitive drugs experience broken cold chains. As a result, pharma & biotech companies are utilizing logistics from expert logistic providers who can seamlessly deliver drugs across the supply chain, thereby contributing to the overall growth of the market. Third-party logistics companies are utilizing cloud computing solutions and installing IoT devices in refrigerated trucks and containers to facilitate real-time remote temperature monitoring during the transportation of temperature-sensitive drugs and vaccines. Pharmaceutical Logistics Market Report Scope Report Attributes Details Market Size (2027) USD 146.71 Billion Market Size (2021) USD 92.66 Billion CAGR (2021-2027) 7.96 % Base Year 2021 Forecast Year 2022-2027 Market Segments Therapy Area, Origin, Product, Function, and Geography Geographic Analysis North America, Europe, APAC, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa Key Leading Regions The US, Canada, Germany, Italy, Spain, France, the UK, Japan, China, South Korea, India, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa Key Leading Vendors AmerisourceBergen, CEVA Logistics, DB Group, Deutsche Post DHL, FedEx, Kuehne + Nagel, United Parcel Service, ABS Logistics, AWL India, Alloga, BOLLORE LOGISTICS, Cardinal Health, C.H. Robinson, Cold Chain Technologies, CRYOPDP, DPD, DSV, Farmasoft, Jeena & Company, Lufthansa Cargo, Maersk, Medline, Nippon Express, Noatum Logistics, Owens & Minor, Oximio, Pharma Logistics, PHOENIX Group, Parexel International, SEKO Logistics, Singapore Post, SINOTRANS, XPO Logistics, Yourway, and YUSEN LOGISTICS Page Number 367 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/3606 Click Here to Download the Free Sample Report Digital transformation is expected to offer an opportunity for pharmaceutical logistics companies to gain a competitive advantage. Digitalization can be extremely beneficial to both small and large firms in the pharmaceutical industry. For example, digitalization to develop counterfeit-proof pharmaceuticals with trackable serial numbers to ensure quality while satisfying forthcoming serialization regulations. Pharmaceutical firms can also embrace digitization to fulfill the predicted rise in demand from global markets. They may use digitalization to comply with regulations, uncover manufacturing efficiencies to reduce costs, and swiftly interact with suppliers and distributors using cloud-based information exchanges. DB Schenker, a subsidiary of DB Group, a leading provider in the logistics sector, uses technologies and methods of digitalization to offer customers an attractive range of products. On the one hand, it is incorporating new transport offers into its product portfolio, such as on-demand mobility, and establishing new platforms for its customer interfaces. On the other hand, it supports internal processes with technologies, such as AI, so the company can continue to offer customers fair prices with efficient processes. According to the company, the shift to digital rail operations and digitalization of infrastructure and vehicles is essential to increase transport density and reliability. In 2019, TrakCel, one of the global leaders in managing clinical supply chain logistics, partnered with Quick Group (provides priority logistics and transportation solutions for time and temperature-sensitive life science and healthcare products) to provide industry-leading digital supply chain IT solutions for cell and gene therapies. TrakCel is the first provider of integrated cellular orchestration solutions for tracking cell and gene therapy products. Its goal is to provide cell and gene therapy software solutions. Why Should You Buy this Research Report? In-depth data and analysis of the global pharmaceutical logistics market's growth over the ensuing six years. Global pharmaceutical logistics extensions market size estimation and contribution in the market. Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior. Analysis of the market's competitive environment and exhaustive vendor information. Detailed information on the variables posing challenges to vendors in the global pharmaceutical logistics market. The report considers the present scenario of the pharmaceutical logistics market and its market dynamics for 2022-2027. It covers a detailed overview of several market growth enablers, restraints, and trends. The study covers both the demand and supply sides of the market. It also profiles and analyzes leading companies and several other prominent companies operating in the market. Click Here to Download the Free Sample Report Key Leading Vendors AmerisourceBergen CEVA Logistics DB Group Deutsche Post DHL FedEx Kuehne + Nagel United Parcel Service ABS Logistics AWL India Alloga BOLLORE LOGISTICS Cardinal Health C.H. Robinson Cold Chain Technologies CRYOPDP DPD DSV Farmasoft Jeena & Company Lufthansa Cargo Maersk Medline Nippon Express Noatum Logistics Owens & Minor Oximio Pharma Logistics PHOENIX Group Group Parexel International SEKO Logistics Singapore Post SINOTRANS XPO Logistics Yourway YUSEN LOGISTICS Market Segmentation Therapy Area Communicable Diseases Oncology Diabetes Cardiovascular Diseases Autoimmune Diseases Neurological Disorders Pain Management Respiratory Diseases Others Origin Branded Generic OTC Product Small Molecule Drugs Biologics Function Transportation Warehousing Others Geography North America US Canada Europe Germany Italy Spain France UK APAC Japan China South Korea India Australia Latin America Brazil Mexico Argentina Middle East & Africa & Turkey Saudi Arabia South Africa Check Out Some of the Top-Selling Related Research Report Pharmaceutical Packaging Market - The global pharmaceutical packaging market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.65% and will cross USD 106.37 billion by 2027 from USD 81 billion in 2021 from 2021-2027. The demand for advanced and innovative solutions, such as self-administered drug delivery devices, is rising in high-income countries, bringing lucrative opportunities for the pharmaceutical packaging market. Biopharmaceutical Excipients Market - The global biopharmaceutical excipients market is expected to reach $3.2 billion by 2027. Excipients are fundamental components of any biopharmaceutical drug product, which act as active ingredients, stability enhancers, emulsifying and suspending agents, binders, preservatives, antioxidants, and lubricants. These differ from prodrugs in manufacturing or are present in a finished pharmaceutical product dosage form. Excipients have targeted roles, ranging from protecting the API to easing the manufacturing process, which, in turn, drives the need and stipulation of excipients for developing effective formulations. Medical Device Packaging Market - The global medical device packaging market is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 5.5% from 2022 to 2027. Medical device packaging involves the sterilization of surgical equipment and medical imaging devices. It is performed to keep medical devices free from any contamination. Medical device packaging provides a protective layer, thereby reducing infections. Healthcare Logistics Market - The global healthcare logistics market is expected to reach USD 226.57 billion by 2026. The main factors contributing to the growth of the global healthcare logistics industry are the increasing demand for pharmaceuticals and medical devices, emerging technologies in the healthcare supply chain, a growing collaboration between logistics and healthcare providers, and other factors such as a rising population and growing chronic disease cases increasing trade, etc. Due to the emerging demand for vaccines, COVID-19 was a catalyst for the global healthcare logistics market. Table of Content 1 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 2 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES 3 RESEARCH PROCESS 4 SCOPE & COVERAGE 4.1 MARKET DEFINITION 4.1.1 INCLUSIONS 4.1.2 EXCLUSIONS 4.1.3 MARKET ESTIMATION CAVEATS 4.2 BASE YEAR 4.3 SCOPE OF THE STUDY 4.3.1 MARKET SEGMENTATION BY THERAPY AREA 4.3.2 MARKET SEGMENTATION BY ORIGIN 4.3.3 MARKET SEGMENTATION BY PRODUCT 4.3.4 MARKET SEGMENTATION BY FUNCTION 4.3.5 MARKET SEGMENTATION BY GEOGRAPHY 5 REPORT ASSUMPTIONS & CAVEATS 5.1 KEY CAVEATS 5.2 CURRENCY CONVERSION 5.3 MARKET DERIVATION 6 MARKET AT A GLANCE 7 INTRODUCTION 7.1 BACKGROUND 7.2 IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON THE GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN 8 PREMIUM INSIGHTS 9 MARKET OPPORTUNITIES & TRENDS 9.1 GROWING DEMAND FOR CLINICAL TRIALS LOGISTICS 9.2 DIGITAL TRANSFORMATIONS IN PHARMA LOGISTICS 9.3 INCREASING DEMAND FOR CELL & GENE THERAPY LOGISTICS 10 MARKET GROWTH ENABLERS 10.1 INCREASING DEMAND FOR TEMPERATURE-SENSITIVE MEDICINES 10.2 GROWING DEMAND FOR OCEAN FREIGHT SERVICE 10.3 INCREASING DEMAND FOR GENERICS AND BIOSIMILARS 11 MARKET RESTRAINTS 11.1 LACK OF COMPLIANCE AND CHANGING REGULATIONS 11.2 IMPACT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC 11.3 GEOPOLITICAL RISKS & CHANGES IN INTERNATIONAL TRADE POLICIES AND RELATIONS 12 MARKET LANDSCAPE 12.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 12.2 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 12.2.1 INSIGHTS BY THERAPY AREA 12.2.2 INSIGHTS BY ORIGIN 12.2.3 INSIGHTS BY PRODUCT 12.2.4 INSIGHTS BY FUNCTION 12.2.5 INSIGHTS BY GEOGRAPHY 12.3 FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS 12.3.1 THREAT OF NEW ENTRANTS 12.3.2 BARGAINING POWER OF SUPPLIERS 12.3.3 BARGAINING POWER OF BUYERS 12.3.4 THREAT OF SUBSTITUTES 12.3.5 COMPETITIVE RIVALRY 13 THERAPY AREA 13.1 MARKET SNAPSHOT & GROWTH ENGINE 13.2 MARKET OVERVIEW 13.3 COMMUNICABLE DISEASES 13.3.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 13.3.2 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 13.3.3 MARKET BY GEOGRAPHY 13.4 ONCOLOGY 13.4.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 13.4.2 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 13.4.3 MARKET BY GEOGRAPHY 13.5 DIABETES 13.5.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 13.5.2 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 13.5.3 MARKET BY GEOGRAPHY 13.6 CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES 13.6.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 13.6.2 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 13.6.3 MARKET BY GEOGRAPHY 13.7 AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES 13.7.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 13.7.2 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 13.7.3 MARKET BY GEOGRAPHY 13.8 NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS 13.8.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 13.8.2 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 13.8.3 MARKET BY GEOGRAPHY 13.9 PAIN MANAGEMENT 13.9.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 13.9.2 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 13.9.3 MARKET BY GEOGRAPHY 13.10 RESPIRATORY DISEASES 13.10.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 13.10.2 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 13.10.3 MARKET BY GEOGRAPHY 13.11 OTHERS 13.11.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 13.11.2 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 13.11.3 MARKET BY GEOGRAPHY 14 ORIGIN 14.1 MARKET SNAPSHOT & GROWTH ENGINE 14.2 MARKET OVERVIEW 14.3 BRANDED DRUGS 14.3.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 14.3.2 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 14.3.3 MARKET BY GEOGRAPHY 14.4 GENERIC DRUGS 14.4.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 14.4.2 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 14.4.3 MARKET BY GEOGRAPHY 14.5 OTC 14.5.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 14.5.2 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 14.5.3 MARKET BY GEOGRAPHY 15 PRODUCT 15.1 MARKET SNAPSHOT & GROWTH ENGINE 15.2 MARKET OVERVIEW 15.3 SMALL MOLECULE DRUGS 15.3.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 15.3.2 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 15.3.3 MARKET BY GEOGRAPHY 15.4 BIOLOGICS 15.4.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 15.4.2 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 15.4.3 MARKET BY GEOGRAPHY 15.5 MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES 15.5.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 15.5.2 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 15.6 VACCINES 15.6.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 15.6.2 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 15.7 OTHERS 15.7.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 15.7.2 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 16 FUNCTION 16.1 MARKET SNAPSHOT & GROWTH ENGINE 16.2 MARKET OVERVIEW 16.3 TRANSPORTATION 16.3.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 16.3.2 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 16.3.3 MARKET BY GEOGRAPHY 16.4 ROAD 16.4.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 16.4.2 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 16.5 WATER 16.5.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 16.5.2 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 16.6 AIR 16.6.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 16.6.2 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 16.7 WAREHOUSING 16.7.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 16.7.2 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 16.7.3 MARKET BY GEOGRAPHY 16.8 OTHERS 16.8.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 16.8.2 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 16.8.3 MARKET BY GEOGRAPHY 17 GEOGRAPHY 17.1 MARKET SNAPSHOT & GROWTH ENGINE 17.2 GEOGRAPHIC OVERVIEW 18 NORTH AMERICA 18.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 18.2 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 18.3 NORTH AMERICA BY THERAPY AREA 18.4 NORTH AMERICA BY ORIGIN 18.5 NORTH AMERICA BY PRODUCT 18.6 NORTH AMERICA BY FUNCTION 18.7 KEY COUNTRIES 18.7.1 US: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 18.7.2 CANADA: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 19 EUROPE 19.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 19.2 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 19.3 EUROPE BY THERAPY AREA 19.4 EUROPE BY ORIGIN 19.5 EUROPE BY PRODUCT 19.6 EUROPE BY FUNCTION 19.7 KEY COUNTRIES 19.7.1 GERMANY: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 19.7.2 FRANCE: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 19.7.3 UK: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 19.7.4 ITALY: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 19.7.5 SPAIN: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 20 APAC 20.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 20.2 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 20.3 APAC BY THERAPY AREA 20.4 APAC BY ORIGIN 20.5 APAC BY PRODUCT 20.6 APAC BY FUNCTION 20.7 KEY COUNTRIES 20.7.1 CHINA: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 20.7.2 JAPAN: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 20.7.3 INDIA: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 20.7.4 SOUTH KOREA: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 20.7.5 AUSTRALIA: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 21 LATIN AMERICA 21.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 21.2 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 21.3 LATIN AMERICA BY THERAPY AREA 21.4 LATIN AMERICA BY ORIGIN 21.5 LATIN AMERICA BY PRODUCT 21.6 LATIN AMERICA BY FUNCTION 21.7 KEY COUNTRIES 21.7.1 BRAZIL: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 21.7.2 MEXICO: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 21.7.3 ARGENTINA: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 22 MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA 22.1 MARKET OVERVIEW 22.2 MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 22.3 MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA BY THERAPY AREA 22.4 MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA BY ORIGIN 22.5 MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA BY PRODUCT 22.6 MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA BY FUNCTION 22.7 KEY COUNTRIES 22.7.1 TURKEY: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 22.7.2 SAUDI ARABIA: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 22.7.3 SOUTH AFRICA: MARKET SIZE & FORECAST 23 COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE 23.1 COMPETITION OVERVIEW 23.1.1 AMERISOURCEBERGEN 23.1.2 DB GROUP 23.1.3 DEUTSCHE POST DHL 23.1.4 CEVA LOGISTICS 23.1.5 UNITED PARCEL SERVICE 23.1.6 FEDEX 23.1.7 KUEHNE+NAGEL 24 KEY COMPANY PROFILES 24.1 AMERISOURCEBERGEN 24.1.1 BUSINESS OVERVIEW 24.1.2 SERVICE OFFERINGS 24.1.3 KEY STRATEGIES 24.1.4 KEY STRENGTHS 24.1.5 KEY OPPORTUNITIES 24.2 CEVA LOGISTICS 24.3 DB GROUP 24.4 DEUTSCHE POST DHL 24.5 FEDEX 24.6 KUEHNE + NAGEL 24.7 UNITED PARCEL SERVICE 25 OTHER PROMINENT VENDORS 25.1 ABS LOGISTICS 25.1.1 BUSINESS OVERVIEW 25.1.2 SERVICE OFFERINGS 25.2 AWL INDIA 25.3 ALLOGA 25.4 BOLLORE LOGISTICS 25.5 CARDINAL HEALTH 25.6 C.H. ROBINSON 25.7 COLD CHAIN TECHNOLOGIES 25.8 CRYOPDP 25.9 DPD 25.10 DSV 25.11 FARMASOFT 25.12 JEENA & COMPANY 25.13 LUFTHANSA CARGO 25.14 A.P. MOLLER - MAERSK 25.15 MEDLINE 25.16 NIPPON EXPRESS 25.17 NOATUM LOGISTICS 25.18 OWENS & MINOR 25.19 OXIMIO 25.20 PHARMA LOGISTICS 25.21 PHOENIX GROUP 25.22 PAREXEL INTERNATIONAL 25.23 SEKO LOGISTICS 25.24 SINGAPORE POST 25.25 SINOTRANS 25.26 XPO LOGISTICS 25.27 YOURWAY 25.28 YUSEN LOGISTICS 26 REPORT SUMMARY 26.1 KEY TAKEAWAYS 26.2 STRATEGIC RECOMMENDATIONS 27 QUANTITATIVE SUMMARY 27.1 MARKET BY GEOGRAPHY 27.2 MARKET BY THERAPY AREA 27.3 MARKET BY ORIGIN 27.4 MARKET BY PRODUCT 27.5 MARKET BY FUNCTION 27.6 NORTH AMERICA BY THERAPY AREA 27.7 NORTH AMERICA BY ORIGIN 27.8 NORTH AMERICA BY PRODUCT 27.9 NORTH AMERICA BY FUNCTION 27.10 EUROPE BY THERAPY AREA 27.11 EUROPE BY ORIGIN 27.12 EUROPE BY PRODUCT 27.13 EUROPE BY FUNCTION 27.14 APAC BY THERAPY AREA 27.15 APAC BY ORIGIN 27.16 APAC BY PRODUCT 27.17 APAC BY FUNCTION 27.18 LATIN AMERICA BY THERAPY AREA 27.19 LATIN AMERICA BY ORIGIN 27.20 LATIN AMERICA BY PRODUCT 27.21 LATIN AMERICA BY FUNCTION 27.22 MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA AMERICA BY THERAPY AREA 27.23 MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA BY ORIGIN 27.24 MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA BY PRODUCT 27.25 MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA BY FUNCTION 28 APPENDIX 28.1 ABBREVIATIONS About Us: Arizton Advisory and Intelligence is an innovative and quality-driven firm that offers cutting-edge research solutions to clients worldwide. We excel in providing comprehensive market intelligence reports and advisory and consulting services. We offer comprehensive market research reports on consumer goods & retail technology, automotive and mobility, smart tech, healthcare, life sciences, industrial machinery, chemicals, materials, I.T. and media, logistics, and packaging. These reports contain detailed industry analysis, market size, share, growth drivers, and trend forecasts.? Arizton comprises a team of exuberant and well-experienced analysts who have mastered generating incisive reports. Our specialist analysts possess exemplary skills in market research. We train our team in advanced research practices, techniques, and ethics to outperform in fabricating impregnable research reports.? Click Here to Contact Us? Call: +1-312-235-2040? ????????? +1 302 469 0707? Mail: enquiry@arizton.com Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1981618/Pharmaceutical_Logistics_Market.jpg Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/818553/Arizton_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/pharma-logistics-market-has-evolved-significantly-after-the-outbreak-of-the-covid-19-pandemic-with-vaccine-distributions-getting-streamlined-the-market-is-set-to-reach-usd-146-71-billion-by-2027--arizton-301719376.html Los Angeles, California--(Newsfile Corp. - January 11, 2023) - The Bok Agency, which helps its clients to grow their social media pages more effectively, has launched "0 to Social Proof," hosted by TikTok strategist Kaila Uli and Julia Suh from The Mantra Co.. "0 to Social Proof" aims to provide tips for how small companies and corporations can create winning content and drive sales through social media. "We were frequently asked by business owners how to create viral online content in a world where information speeds past us around the clock," says Uli. "They struggled to master content creation for their social media platforms, a continuing source of frustration for many of them. They knew that their online presence was crucial to engaging with customers, but they just weren't sure how to go about it. The Bok Agency decided to work with The Mantra Co. to create '0 to Social Proof' as a solution." The Bok Agency explains that the program starts from the top down. Participants learn how to set up lighting and framing, edit, use trends and captions, maximize SEO, and design a hashtag strategy. The goal is for each business owner to obtain the skills to optimize their social media content so that they can more easily connect with their existing customers, cultivate new ones, and guide each one through the sales funnel. "'0 to Social Proof' is self-paced, and we are always happy to answer any questions participants may have," says The Bok Agency. "We hope that they will find it enjoyable and empowering as they learn the strategies behind great content and discover how to utilize them in their own businesses in 2023." About The Bok Agency: The Bok Agency was founded by model/marketing professional Kaila Uli, who grew her own audience from 0-180,000 followers in only 1.5 years and has organically driven over 40MM views for herself and her clients. The Bok Agency comes alongside established and growing brands to develop content from the top to bottom. The agency works with its clients to design full, customized strategies, from creating a social media page all the way to monetizing it. The Bok Agency remains passionate about helping small businesses in particular to expand their organic reach and increase views and sales by creating an engaging social media page. For more more information about The Bok Agency, please see its website or contact: Kaila Uli, The Bok Agency kaila@thebokagency.com To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/150798 VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 11, 2023 / The Power Play by The Market Herald has announced the release of new interviews with Clean Air Metals, POET Technologies, Giyani Metals, Nevada Lithium and Headwater Gold discussing their latest news. The Power Play by The Market Herald provides investors with a quick snapshot of what they need to know about the company's latest press release through exclusive insights and interviews with company executives. Clean Air Metals (TSXV:AIR) names prime engineering consultant for Thunder Bay North Critical Minerals Project PFS BBA E&C Inc. has been selected by Clean Air Metals (AIR) as the prime engineering consultant on the Thunder Bay North Critical Minerals Project. The company will lead the execution of the remaining pre-feasibility study (PFS) work packages. Abraham Drost, Chief Executive Officer of Clean Air Metals, sat down with Sabrina Cuthbert to discuss the news. For the full interview with Abraham Drost and to learn about Clean Air Metals, click here. POET Technologies (TSXV:PTK) announces production release of four optical engines POET (PTK) is announcing the production release of four optical engines for 100G, 200G and 400G for the telecom and data center markets. At least four clients are working with the company and partner Super Photonics to internally qualify the products in advance of purchase orders. Vivek Rajgarhia, POET's President and General Manager, spoke with Sabrina Cuthbert about the news. For the full interview with Vivek Rajgarhia and to learn about POET, click here. Giyani (TSXV:EMM) provides company updates Giyani is a mineral resource company focused on becoming one of Africa's first low-carbon producers of high-purity manganese sulphate precursor material. The company recently announced the results of a feasibility study for its flagship K.Hill project. VP Of Business Development George Donne sat down with Sabrina Cuthbert to provide company updates. For the full interview with George Donne and to learn about Giyani, click here. Iconic Minerals (TSXV:ICM) and Nevada Lithium (CSE:NVLH) consolidate ownership interest in the Bonnie Claire Project Iconic Minerals (ICM) and Nevada Lithium Resources (NVLH) have signed a letter of intent dated January 6, 2023. Nevada Lithium and Iconic will consolidate 100 per cent interest in the Bonnie Claire Lithium project located in Nye County, Nevada. Stephen Rentschler, CEO of Nevada Lithium, discussed the news with Sabrina Cuthbert. For the full interview with Stephen Rentschler and to learn about Nevada Lithium Resources, click here. Headwater Gold's (CSE:HWG) initial assays report high-grade gold from multiple veins Headwater Gold (HWG) reported initial assay results of one of its drillhole cores from its Spring Peak project in Nevada's Aurora Mining District. Using both core and RC drilling, the company completed 3,173 metres of drilling through the entire 2022 program. Caleb Stroup, CEO of Headwater Gold, sat down with Sabrina Cuthbert to discuss this news. For the full interview with Caleb Stroup and to learn about Headwater Gold, click here. Interviews for The Power Play by The Market Herald are released daily. To learn more about the companies featured in The Power Play or to explore our other interviews visit? The Power Play by The Market Herald. About The Market Herald The Market Herald Canada is the leading source of authoritative breaking stock market news for self-directed investors. Our team of Canadian markets reporters, editors and technologists covers the entire listed company universe in Canada. We cover over 3,985 businesses, their people, their investors, and their customers. We write the stories that move the Canadian capital markets. DISCLAIMER: Report Card Canada Media Ltd. ("Report Card") is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Market Herald Limited, an Australian company ("Market Herald"). Report Card is not an advisory service, and does not offer, buy, sell, or provide any other rating, analysis or opinion on the securities we discuss. We are retained and compensated by the companies that we provide information on to assist them with making information available to the public. All information available on themarketherald.ca and/or this press release should be considered as commercial advertisement and not an endorsement, offer or recommendation to buy or sell securities. 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CONTACT: The Market Herald marketing@themarketherald.ca themarketherald.ca SOURCE:?The Market Herald View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/734907/The-Power-Play-by-The-Market-Herald-Releases-New-Interviews-with-Clean-Air-Metals-POET-Technologies-Giyani-Metals-Nevada-Lithium-and-Headwater-Gold-Discussing-Their-Latest-News Regulatory News: Considering the unusual evolution of its share price observed over the last days, ORPEA (Paris:ORP) reminds that, in accordance with the announcements made in the press releases published at the end of last year, the Group has engaged in the negotiation of a drastic financial restructuring comprising the equitization of 3.8 bn of ORPEA SA's unsecured debt and a share capital increase for an amount between 1.3 bn and 1.5 bn in order to finance its Refoundation Plan and reach a sustainable financial structure. ORPEA reminds that the implementation of these share capital increases will result in a massive dilution for existing shareholders who would decide not to participate. Discussions are still on-going between ORPEA, its financial creditors and third-party investors under the conciliation procedure opened by the President of the specialised Commercial Court of Nanterre, under the aegis of the conciliator. The Company cannot guarantee the outcome of these discussions. The Company will continue to inform the market through its corporate communications, in compliance with its legal and regulatory obligations. About ORPEA ORPEA is a leading global player, expert in the care of all types of frailty. The Group operates in 22 countries and covers three core businesses: care for the elderly (nursing homes, assisted living, home care), post-acute and rehabilitation care and mental health care (specialized clinics). It has more than 72,000 employees and welcomes more than 255,000 patients and residents each year. https://www.orpea-group.com/ ORPEA is listed on Euronext Paris (ISIN: FR0000184798) and is a member of the SBF 120, STOXX 600 Europe, MSCI Small Cap Europe and CAC Mid 60 indices. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005890/en/ Contacts: Investor relations Orpea Jean-Baptiste Roussille Head of Investor Relations j-b.roussille@orpea.net Benoit Lesieur Investor Relations Director b.lesieur@orpea.net Toll free tel. nb for shareholders: +33 (0) 805 480 480 Investor relations NewCap Dusan Oresansky Tel: 01 44 71 94 94 ORPEA@newcap.eu Media Relations Orpea/Image 7 Isabelle Herrier-Naufle Directrice Relations Presse Tel: 07 70 29 53 74 i.herrier-naufle@orpea.net Charlotte Le Barbier Image 7 Tel: 07 06 78 37 27 60 clebarbier@image7.fr VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 11, 2023 / KALO GOLD CORP. ("Kalo", "Kalo Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that, further to its news release dated December 14, 2022, it has closed the second and final tranche of its non-brokered private placement of common shares of the Company (the "Shares"). The Company issued an additional 27,500,000 Shares at C$0.05 per Share for gross proceeds of C$1,375,000 (the "Second Tranche"). Together with the closing of the first tranche (the "First Tranche"), the Company has now issued 40,000,000 Shares for aggregate gross proceeds of C$2,000,000 (the "First Offering"). In connection with the First Offering, Crescat Capital LLC ("Crescat"), associate investors and a foundation owned and controlled by Mr. Michael Gentile, CFA, made strategic investments totaling C$1,825,000. The Company is also pleased to announce that it has engaged Agentis Capital Mining Partners ("Agentis") to provide financial advisory and capital markets advisory services. Mr. Terry L Tucker, P.Geo, President and CEO of Kalo, comments "The addition of Crescat and their associate investor as large institutional shareholders of Kalo along with Mr. Gentile's continued support is a significant milestone for the Company. Kalo, along with our newly appointed financial advisory partners at Agentis, welcome these strategic institutional investors supporting Kalo to advance exploration of the flagship, 100% owned, Vatu Aurum Gold Project located in Fiji." Crescat, a strategic institutional investor and largest shareholder of Kalo, accounted for 16,000,000 Shares for the sum of C$800,000. Crescat now owns 13.5% and 11.8% of the Company on a basic and fully diluted basis, respectively. Mr. Michael Gentile CFA, an existing strategic investor of the Company, through a private charitable foundation which he owns and controls, acquired an additional 4,500,000 Shares for the foundation and now holds 5.9% and 5.2% of the issued and outstanding common shares of the Company on a basic and fully diluted basis, respectively. Mr. Gentile has an extensive institutional money management background and is an active and strategic investor in the junior mining sector. Mr. Gentile owns significant stakes in over 20 small-cap exploration companies. In connection with the First Offering, the Company paid finders' fees of C$82,600 and issued 1,652,000 finder warrants ("Finder Warrant") to an affiliate of Agentis. Each Finder Warrant is exercisable for one Share at C$0.05 per Finder Warrant for a period of 24 months following the date of issuance. The Shares issued for the Second Tranche are subject to a statutory hold period expiring on May 12, 2023. The Second Offering The Company also announces that it has closed its second non-brokered private placement offering of Shares raising gross proceeds of C$350,000 by issuing 5,384,611 Shares at C$0.065 per Share (the "Second Offering" and with the First Offering collectively the "Offerings"). Terry L. Tucker, President and CEO, Kevin Ma, Executive Vice-President and Director, Michael Nesbitt, Co-Founder and Director, Fred Tejada, Executive Vice President of Exploration and Director and Alex Tong, CFO of the Company (collectively, the "Insiders"), participated in the private placement at C$0.065 per Share, acquiring the following: Mr. Tucker 1,153,846 Shares Mr. Nesbitt 769,230 Shares Mr. Ma 884,615 Shares Mr. Tejada 384,615 Shares Mr. Tong 384,615 Shares Such participation constitutes a "related party transaction" within Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). The issuance to the insiders is exempt from the valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 by virtue of the exemptions contained in sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(1)(a) as the fair market value of the consideration of the securities issued to the related parties did not exceed 25% of the Company's market capitalization. The Shares issued for the Second Offering are subject to a statutory hold period expiring on May 12, 2023. The Offerings are subject to final approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. The Company will use the net proceeds of the Offerings towards the Phase 3 exploration program at its flagship 100% owned Vatu Aurum Gold Project which will include diamond drill testing to follow up high-grade gold targets that have been identified at Qiriyaga and Mouta, a BLEG geochemical program, a CSAMT geophysical survey and for general working capital purposes. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States 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 (as such term is defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act) unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available. Stock Options In connection with the engagement of Agentis as Capital Markets and Financial Advisors, the Company has granted Agentis 1,900,000 stock options (the "Options") to purchase 1,900,000 Shares of the Company pursuant to the Company's share option plan. The Options are exercisable at an exercise price of C$0.10 per Share for a period of five (5) years from the date of grant and vest immediately. The Company has also granted certain officers, directors, and consultants 2,675,000 Options to purchase 2,675,000 Shares of the Company pursuant to the Company's share option plan. The Options are exercisable at an exercise price of C$0.10 per Share for a period of five (5) years from the date of grant and vest immediately. About Crescat Capital LLC Crescat is a global macro asset management firm headquartered in Denver, Colorado, which deploys tactical investment themes based on proprietary value-driven equity and macro models. Crescat's investment goals are to provide industry-leading absolute, and risk-adjusted returns over complete business cycles with low correlation to common benchmarks, and they apply their investment process across a mix of asset classes and strategies. Crescat is taking activist stakes in the precious metals exploration industry today as one of its key macro themes. Crescat's Geologic & Technical team is led by Dr. Quinton Hennigh, a globally renowned exploration geologist who has played a key role in major global discoveries such as Novo Resources Corp.' Pilbara assets in Western Australia, First Mining Gold's Springpole gold deposit in Ontario, Kirkland Lake Gold's Fosterville gold mine in Australia, the Rattlesnake Hills gold deposit in Wyoming, and Lion One's Tuvatu gold project in Fiji, among many others. About Agentis Capital Mining Partners Agentis Capital Mining Partners was formed in 2019 to bring Agentis' values to the mining sector, delivering high-quality equity research guided by leading technical insights and providing clients with investment banking services, including capital markets advisory, mergers and acquisitions, strategic investment advisory, stream and royalty advisory, fairness opinions and valuations. About Kalo Gold Corp. Kalo Gold Corp, a gold exploration company, is focused on exploration for low sulphidation epithermal gold deposits of the Vatu Aurum Gold Project on the island of Vanua Levu (North Island) in the Republic of Fiji. Kalo holds a 100% interest in two Special Prospecting Licenses, covering 367 km2. Historical exploration work includes 11,423 m of diamond drilling, concentrated on the Qiriyaga Hill and Vuinubu Ridge Gold Deposits and the identification of over fourteen priority epithermal gold exploration targets. Both Viti Levu, (South Island), and Vanua Levu are on the prolific Pacific "Ring of Fire", a trend that has produced numerous large deposits, including Porgera, Lihir and Grasberg and on Viti Levu, the exceptional Vatukoula Gold Mine. The Vatukoula Gold Mine has produced more than 7M ounces of gold since 1937. The island of Viti Levu also hosts Namosi, with a published Proven and Probable Reserves of 1.3B tonnes at 0.37% Cu and 0.12 g/t Au (5.2M ounces Au and 4.9M tonnes Cu) and Lion One Metals is developing its Tuvatu Project, with Indicated Resources of 1.00M tonnes at 8.48 g/t Au (274,600 ounces Au) and an Inferred Resource of 1.33M tonnes at 9.0 g/t Au (384,000 ounces Au) (reported at a 3.0 g/t Au lower cut-off). On behalf of the Board of Directors of Kalo Gold Corp. Terry L. Tucker, P.Geo President and Chief Executive Officer and Kevin Ma, CPA, CA Executive Vice President, Capital Markets and Director For more information, please write to info@kalogoldcorp.com. Neither the 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 press release. Forward Looking Statements Disclaimer Certain statements in this release are forward-looking statements, which are statements that are not purely historical, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Forward looking statements in this news release include statements relating to the Company's intention with the use of proceeds and the Company's plans for future exploration on the Vatu Aurum Gold Project. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as "will", "may", "should", "anticipate", "expects" and similar expressions. All statements included in this news release, other than statements of historical fact, 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 quality and quantity of any mineral deposits that may be located, the Company's inability to obtain any necessary permits, consents or authorizations required for its activities, the Company's inability to raise the necessary capital to be fully able to implement its business strategies, and other risks and uncertainties disclosed in the Company's filing statement dated February 9, 2021 and latest interim Management Discussion and Analysis filed with certain securities commissions in Canada. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking statements herein 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 Canadian securities law. SOURCE: Kalo Gold Corp. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/734893/Kalo-Gold-Closes-Non-Brokered-Private-Placement-Offerings-for-Gross-Proceeds-of-C2350000-With-Strategic-Investments-From-Crescat-Capital-LLC-and-Associate-Investors-and-a-Foundation-Owned-and-Controlled-by-Mr-Michael-Gentile-CFA PHILADELPHIA, PA / ACCESSWIRE / January 11, 2023 / The following abrdn U.S. Closed-End Funds announced today that the closed end funds in the chart directly below will pay the distributions indicated on a per share basis on January 31, 2023 to all shareholders of record as of January 24, 2023 (ex-dividend date January 23, 2023). Ticker Exchange Fund Amount ACP NYSE abrdn Income Credit Strategies Fund $ 0.1000 AGD NYSE abrdn Global Dynamic Dividend Fund $ 0.0650 AOD NYSE abrdn Total Dynamic Dividend Fund $ 0.0575 ASGI NYSE abrdn Global Infrastructure Income Fund $ 0.1200 AWP NYSE abrdn Global Premier Properties Fund $ 0.0400 FAX NYSE American abrdn Asia-Pacific Income Fund, Inc. $ 0.0275 FCO NYSE American abrdn Global Income Fund, Inc. $ 0.0700 At the end of each calendar year, a Form 1099-DIV will be sent to shareholders, which will state the amount and composition of each fund's distributions and provide information with respect to their appropriate tax treatment for the prior calendar year. You should not draw any conclusions about any of these Funds' investment performance from the amount of the distributions. MANAGED DISTRIBUTION POLICY FUNDS ANNOUNCE DISTRIBUTION PAYMENT DETAILS abrdn Global Infrastructure Income Fund ("ASGI") abrdn Asia-Pacific Income Fund, Inc. ("FAX") The above-noted abrdn U.S. Closed-End Funds (the "Funds" or individually the "Fund"), today announced that the Funds will pay the distributions noted in the chart above on January 31, 2023, on a per share basis to all shareholders of record as of January 24, 2023 (ex-dividend date January 23, 2023). Each Fund has adopted a distribution policy to provide investors with a stable distribution out of current income, supplemented by realized capital gains and, to the extent necessary, paid-in capital in reliance on an exemptive order granted by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Under applicable U.S. tax rules, the amount and character of distributable income for each Fund's fiscal year can be finally determined only as of the end of the Fund's fiscal year. However, under Section 19 of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the "1940 Act") and related rules, the Funds may be required to indicate to shareholders the estimated source of certain distributions to shareholders. The following tables set forth the estimated amounts of the sources of the distributions for purposes of Section 19 of the 1940 Act and the rules adopted thereunder. The tables have been computed based on generally accepted accounting principles. The tables include estimated amounts and percentages for the current distributions to be paid as well as for the cumulative distributions paid relating to fiscal year to date, from the following sources: net investment income; net realized short-term capital gains; net realized long-term capital gains; and return of capital. The estimated compositions of the distributions may vary because the estimated composition may be impacted by future income, expenses and realized gains and losses on securities and currencies. Each Fund's estimated sources of the current distributions to be paid and for its current fiscal year to date are as follows: Estimated Amounts of Current Distribution per Share Fund Distribution Amount Net Investment Income Net Realized Short-Term Gains* Net Realized Long-Term Gains Return of Capital ASGI $0.1200 $0.0132 11% - - $0.1068 89% - - FAX $0.0275 $0.0143 52% - - - - $0.0132 48% Estimated Amounts of Fiscal Year to Date Cumulative Distributions per Share Fund Fiscal Year** to Date Distribution Amount Net Investment Income Net Realized Short-Term Gains* Net Realized Long-Term Gains Return of Capital ASGI $0.4800 $0.0528 11% - - $0.4272 89% - - FAX $0.0825 $0.0429 52% - - - - $0.0396 48% *includes currency gains **ASGI has a 9/30 fiscal year end; FAX has a 10/31 fiscal year end. Where the estimated amounts above show a portion of the distribution to be a "Return of Capital," it means that Fund estimates that it has distributed more than its income and capital gains; therefore, a portion of your distribution may be a return of capital. A return of capital may occur for example, when some or all of the money that you invested in a Fund is paid back to you. A return of capital distribution does not necessarily reflect the Fund's investment performance and should not be confused with "yield" or "income." The amounts and sources of distributions reported in this notice are only estimates and are not being provided for tax reporting purposes. The final determination of the source of all distributions for the current year will only be made after year-end. The actual amounts and sources of the amounts for tax reporting purposes will depend upon the Fund's investment experience during the remainder of the fiscal year and may be subject to change based on tax regulations. After the end of each calendar year, a Form 1099-DIV will be sent to shareholders for the prior calendar year that will tell you how to report these distributions for federal income tax purposes. The following table provides the Funds' total return performance based on net asset value (NAV) over various time periods compared to the Funds' annualized and cumulative distribution rates. Fund Performance and Distribution Rate Information Fund Average Annual Total Return on NAV for the 5 Year Period Ending 12/31/2022 Current Fiscal Period's Annualized Distribution Rate on NAV Cumulative Total Return on NAV Cumulative Distribution Rate on NAV ASGI 7.49%3 7.07% 10.71% 1.77% FAX (2.15%) 10.58% 11.59% 1.76% 1 Return data is net of all fund expenses and fees and assumes the reinvestment of all distributions reinvested at prices obtained under the Fund's dividend reinvestment plan, with the exception of the most recent distribution. 2 Based on the Fund's NAV as of December 31, 2022. 3 The Fund launched within the past 5 years; the performance and distribution rate information presented reflects data from inception (July 29, 2020) through December 31, 2022. Shareholders should not draw any conclusions about a Fund's investment performance from the amount of the Fund's current distributions or from the terms of the distribution policy (the "Distribution Policy"). While NAV performance may be indicative of the Fund's investment performance, it does not measure the value of a shareholder's investment in the Fund. The value of a shareholder's investment in the Fund is determined by the Fund's market price, which is based on the supply and demand for the Fund's shares in the open market. Pursuant to an exemptive order granted by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Funds may distribute any long-term capital gains more frequently than the limits provided in Section 19(b) under the 1940 Act and Rule 19b-1 thereunder. Therefore, distributions paid by the Funds during the year may include net income, short-term capital gains, long-term capital gains and/or a return of capital. Net income dividends and short-term capital gain dividends, while generally taxable at ordinary income rates, may be eligible, to the extent of qualified dividend income earned by the Funds, to be taxed at a lower rate not to exceed the maximum rate applicable to your long-term capital gains. Distributions made in any calendar year in excess of investment company taxable income and net capital gain are treated as taxable ordinary dividends to the extent of undistributed earnings and profits, and then as a return of capital that reduces the adjusted basis in the shares held. To the extent return of capital distributions exceed the adjusted basis in the shares held, capital gain is recognized with a holding period based on the period the shares have been held at the date such amount is received. The payment of distributions in accordance with the Distribution Policy may result in a decrease in the Fund's net assets. A decrease in the Fund's net assets may cause an increase in the Fund's annual operating expense ratio and a decrease in the Fund's market price per share to the extent the market price correlates closely to the Fund's net asset value per share. The Distribution Policy may also negatively affect the Fund's investment activities to the extent that the Fund is required to hold larger cash positions than it typically would hold or to the extent that the Fund must liquidate securities that it would not have sold, for the purpose of paying the distribution. Each Fund's Board has the right to amend, suspend or terminate the Distribution Policy at any time. The amendment, suspension or termination of the Distribution Policy may affect the Fund's market price per share. Investors should consult their tax advisor regarding federal, state and local tax considerations that may be applicable in their particular circumstances. Circular 230 disclosure : To ensure compliance with requirements imposed by the U.S. Treasury, we inform you that any U.S. tax advice contained in this communication (including any attachments) is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (i) avoiding penalties under the Internal Revenue Code or (ii) promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any transaction or matter addressed herein. In the United States, abrdn is the marketing name for the following affiliated, registered investment advisers: abrdn Inc., Aberdeen Asset Managers Ltd., abrdn Australia Limited, abrdn Asia Limited, Aberdeen Capital Management, LLC, abrdn ETFs Advisors LLC and Aberdeen Standard Alternative Funds Limited. Closed-end funds are traded on the secondary market through one of the stock exchanges. A Fund's investment return and principal value will fluctuate so that an investor's shares may be worth more or less than the original cost. Shares of closed-end funds may trade above (a premium) or below (a discount) the net asset value (NAV) of the fund's portfolio. There is no assurance that a Fund will achieve its investment objective. Past performance does not guarantee future results. If you If you wish to receive this information electronically, please contact Investor.Relations@abrdn.com https://www.abrdn.com/en-us/cefinvestorcenter For More Information Contact: abrdn U.S. Closed-End Funds Investor Relations 1-800-522-5465 Investor.Relations@abrdn.com ### SOURCE: abrdn U.S. Closed-End Funds View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/734927/abrdn-US-Closed-End-Funds-Announce-Distribution-Payment-Details Inbenta, a Dallas, TX-based provider of a conversational AI platform, raised $40M in funding. The round was led by Tritium Partners. Tritium Partners Matt Bowman, Managing Partner and Chris Steiner, Partner will join Inbentas Board of Directors. The company intends to use the capital to fund future product innovation and expansion into new markets. Led by CEO Melissa Solis and founder and CIO, Jordi Torras, Inbenta provides a conversational AI platform designed to optimize customer experience. Its platform combines the use of Natural Language Processing and Neuro-Symbolic AI to offer four digital support communication modules Chatbot, Knowledge, Search, and Messenger delivering a complete and configurable solution for any enterprise. With its headquarters in Dallas, TX, and with regional offices in the U.S., Europe, Brazil and Japan, the company has over 250 global brands using its solution across a range of industries, including: financial services, travel, ecommerce, telecom, and utilities. FinSMEs 11/01/2023 Open Forest Protocol, a Zug, Switzerland-based provider of an open forest measurement, reporting and verification platform built on a carbon neutral blockchain, raised USD 4.1M in Pre-Seed funding. VC tech specialists such as Shima Capital, Ubermorgen Ventures, Not Boring Capital, Mercy Corps Ventures, Byzantine Marine, Big Brain Holdings and Valor Capital have joined with a number of angel investors in supporting the platform. The company intends to use the funds to expand operations and its business reach. Founded by Swiss scientist Frederic Fournier and American web3 specialist Michael Kelly, Open Forest Protocol is an open platform allowing forest projects of any size, all over the world, to measure, report and verify their forestation data thus creating benefits all along the value chain, from local communities on the ground to the voluntary carbon market. Founded in 2021, OFP is already working with some 40 afforestation/reforestation projects worldwide through its blockchain-based measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) technology. OFP has its legal seat in Zug, Switzerland, a team of developers in Ukraine, on the ground specialists in East Africa and Central America, engineers and economists in the USA, legal and managing execs in Western and Northern Europe. FinSMEs 11/01/2023 A 45-year-old employee of dental implant maker Osstem Implant, only identified by his surname Lee, is taken into a police vehicle at Gangseo Police Station in Seoul in this Jan. 14, 2022 file photo. Yonhap A former employee of dental implant maker Osstem Implant was sentenced to 35 years in prison Wednesday for embezzling company funds worth 221.5 billion won ($178.1 million). The Seoul Southern District Court also ordered the former employee, known by his surname Lee, to forfeit 115.2 billion won and pay a fine of 30 million won. Lee was indicted on charges of embezzling the company funds between November 2020 and October 2021 in collaboration with his family while serving as the head of the firm's finance department. He transferred the money through multiple bank accounts for investment in shares and other private purposes. The court said Lee appeared to have attempted to stash away the embezzled money for use after he gets out of prison, adding it decided on the sentence to prevent a situation where he "enjoys criminal profits after his release." In the same ruling, the court also sentenced Lee's wife to three years in prison for colluding with him in concealing criminal proceeds. His sister and sister-in-law were each sentenced to two years, suspended for three years, for the same charge. Prosecutors earlier sought a life imprisonment for Lee, saying the amount of embezzlement is the largest since the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes came into effect. Established in 1997, Osstem Implant is the country's largest manufacturer of dental implants. The company also holds the largest market share in the Asia-Pacific region and is fourth in the global market. (Yonhap) On January 10, 2023, Director-General of the Department of Asian Affairs of the Foreign Ministry Liu Jinsong met with new Myanmar Ambassador to China Tin Maung Swe. They exchanged views on bilateral relations and other topics. Liu Jinsong congratulated Tin Maung Swe on assuming his new post in China and expressed welcome. Liu Jinsong said, China and Myanmar are friendly neighbors and China cherishes the "pauk-phaw" friendship between the two countries. China is ready to work with Myanmar to implement the outcomes of President Xi Jinping's historic visit to Myanmar in 2020 and deepen the high-quality cooperation on jointly building the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor, so as to inject new impetus into the building of a China-Myanmar community with a shared future and better benefit the two peoples. Liu Jinsong briefed on the guiding principles of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Central Economic Work Conference, stressing that this year marks the beginning of China's full implementation of the guiding principles laid down at the 20th CPC National Congress. China has recently taken the initiative to improve and recalibrate COVID response measures in light of the changing pandemic situation, which will better coordinate pandemic prevention and control with economic and social development, bringing greater opportunities for promoting practical cooperation and personnel exchanges between China and its neighbors, including Myanmar. As a Myanmar proverb goes, "Weaving while the moon is shining bright." China is ready to work with Myanmar and other neighboring countries to seize the opportunity and good momentum, and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation and friendly exchanges. Tin Maung Swe said, the Myanmar side extends congratulations on the successful convening of the 20th CPC National Congress. Myanmar speaks highly of China's achievements in coordinating pandemic prevention and control with economic and social development, understands and supports China in improving and recalibrating its pandemic response policies. Tin Maung Swe also expressed his belief that this will bring important benefits to personnel exchanges and mutually beneficial cooperation between Myanmar and China. Tin Maung Swe thanked China for its long-term selfless assistance to Myanmar's national development, and stressed that Myanmar attaches great importance to deepening the "pauk-phaw" friendship with China, supports the Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative put forward by President Xi Jinping, and expects to deepen cooperation on Myanmar-China Economic Corridor, so as to work for more practical results in building a Myanmar-China community with a shared future. On the morning of 6 January, President Xi Jinping held talks with President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov at the Great Hall of the People during the latters state visit to China. The two presidents announced the decision to elevate the China-Turkmenistan relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership. President Xi noted that this is President Berdimuhamedovs first visit to China after assuming office, and that the day marks the anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries. Therefore, it holds great significance for the two leaders to draw up a comprehensive plan for the future development of China-Turkmenistan relations and jointly announce the elevation of the bilateral relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership. The Communist Party of China (CPC) is leading the Chinese people in a concerted effort to advance the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization. Turkmenistan, on its part, is actively advancing its national revival program. With similar visions and objectives as well as intertwined interests, the two countries need to jointly pursue the journey toward development and rejuvenation, leverage the complementarity of their respective strengths, and fully tap the potential for cooperation to realize common development. China is prepared to work together with Turkmenistan to continuously deepen bilateral cooperation across the board and build a China-Turkmenistan community with a shared future, in an effort to move bilateral relations forward at a higher level. President Xi emphasized that building a China-Turkmenistan community with a shared future is an endeavor that enables the two sides to further deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, better accommodate each others concerns and reinforce their everlasting friendship on the basis of mutual respect, candor, mutual trust and mutual benefit. The two sides should support each other on issues concerning their core interests and respect each others pursuit of a development path suited to their own national conditions. It is important for the two countries to synergize their development strategies at a faster pace, make full use of such mechanisms as the China-Turkmenistan Cooperation Committee, and continue to expand the breadth and depth of cooperation, in order to create underpinnings for bilateral relations with tangible cooperation outcomes. In the face of new circumstances and new challenges in the international and regional landscapes, the two sides should deepen cooperation on law enforcement, security and bio-security, and jointly crack down on the three forces of terrorism, separatism and extremism, to build strong security shields for the development of both countries. The two sides need to increase exchanges in various fields and at all levels, advance people-to-people cooperation and strengthen the emotional bond between their peoples, so as to consolidate the popular and social foundation for the sustained and sound development of bilateral ties. President Xi stressed that the two sides need to expand energy cooperation on a priority basis. Natural gas cooperation is the cornerstone of China-Turkmenistan relations, and greater cooperation in this area serves the strategic and long-term interests of both countries. The two sides need to advance cooperation on major projects at a faster pace, and unlock cooperation potential in such areas as green energy, natural gas utilization, energy technologies and equipment to promote cooperation across the industrial chain. The two sides should steadily advance cooperation in economy and trade, earnestly implement the cooperation plan between the two governments on expanding economic relations, and explore new pathways and approaches to increase bilateral economic cooperation and trade. China will support more capable Chinese companies in investing and doing businesses in Turkmenistan, and work expeditiously with Turkmenistan to promote connectivity and facilitate personnel inter-flow between the two countries. Since the beginning of the pandemic, China and Turkmenistan have actively carried out vaccine cooperation, demonstrating the spirit of solidarity in times of difficulties. It is imperative for the two countries to further strengthen exchanges and mutual learning in health and medical cooperation as well as traditional medicine, and speed up efforts to establish a traditional medical center in Turkmenistan. The two countries should continue to forge closer people-to-people ties, accelerate the establishment of cultural centers in each others country, and complete the building of Luban Workshops as early as possible. The two sides should expand cooperation in such fields as press and media, successfully hold Year of Culture events in each others country in 2023 and 2024, and support greater cooperation at the sub-national level. President Xi emphasized that the C+C5 cooperation mechanism, characterized by openness, transparency, mutual benefit, equality, reciprocity and real results, is a new format of cooperation between China and Central Asian countries. China will strengthen communication and collaboration with Turkmenistan to ensure the success of the first C+C5 summit. With a shared commitment to peace and development, China and Turkmenistan stand shoulder to shoulder in promoting global governance reform. China supports Turkmenistan in having constructive cooperation with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and will work with Turkmenistan to practice true multilateralism and jointly promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind. President Berdimuhamedov expressed great pleasure at making his first state visit to China on this historic day marking the 31st anniversary of diplomatic relations between Turkmenistan and China. Closely connected by the ancient Silk Road, the two countries share a time-honored history of friendly exchanges. Since the start of diplomatic ties, especially over the past decade after the establishment of strategic partnership in 2013, the two countries have engaged in fruitful exchanges and cooperation in multiple fields and at all levels; the two peoples have forged a deeper bond of friendship; and friendly ties between the two countries have grown from strength to strength. Turkmenistan applauds these great accomplishments in bilateral relations, and takes strong pride in its high-level mutual trust with China and the outcomes of bilateral cooperation. Turkmenistan is prepared to strengthen mutual visits and interactions with China, learn and draw inspiration from Chinas successful development experience, and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation with China on all fronts in pursuit of common development. Turkmenistan firmly supports China in safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and resolutely opposes any attempt to split China. It will work with China to enhance the synergy between the initiative to revive the Great Silk Road and the Belt and Road Initiative, further expand cooperation in economy and trade, strengthen cooperation in natural gas and other energy sectors, and advance the construction of cross-border railways and other connectivity projects, in an effort to deliver greater benefits to the people of both countries. Turkmenistan looks forward to enhancing cooperation with China in culture, education and other people-to-people sectors as well as in areas such as medical service and health. It stands ready to work with China to elevate the bilateral relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership and promote the building of a Turkmenistan-China community with a shared future for the well-being of the two peoples. President Serdar Berdimuhamedov once again extended congratulations on the successful convening of the 20th CPC National Congress. Under the strong and able leadership of President Xi, China has scored remarkable achievements in economic and social development, and played an important, constructive role in building a more just and equitable international order. The CPC is the backbone of the Chinese people. Turkmenistan is convinced that, in the future, China will achieve even bigger success, and make even greater contribution to world peace, stability and prosperity. Turkmenistan shares the same or similar views with China on a wide range of international and regional issues, and will work with China to increase mutual support and enhance coordination. Turkmenistan highly commends and fully supports the C+C5 cooperation mechanism, and will actively support China in hosting a successful C+C5 summit, in a joint effort to safeguard security and development in the region. After the talks, the two presidents signed and issued the Joint Statement Between the Peoples Republic of China and Turkmenistan, and witnessed the signing of cooperation documents in multiple areas, including Belt and Road cooperation, green development, digital economy, health, culture, sports, press and media, and natural gas. Prior to the talks, President Xi held a welcoming ceremony for President Berdimuhamedov at the Northern Hall of the Great Hall of the People. A 21-gun salute was fired in Tiananmen Square. A guard of honor lined up in salutation. The two presidents stepped onto a stand and a military band played the national anthems of China and Turkmenistan. President Berdimuhamedov reviewed the guard of honor of the Peoples Liberation Army and watched the march-past in the company of President Xi. At noon on the same day, President Xi hosted a welcoming banquet for President Berdimuhamedov at the Golden Hall of the Great Hall of the People. Wang Yi and He Lifeng were present at the events. Six deputy prime ministers of Turkmenistans cabinet, including Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov, accompanied the president on his visit and attended relevant events. On December 18, 2022, Ambassador Zhang Jianwei attended a seminar commemorating the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD). Over 100 guests, including Pornchai Danvivathana, Secretary General of the ACD, diplomatic envoys of Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos and other countries to Kuwait, as well as teachers and students from Kuwait University, were present at the event. During his speech at the seminar, Ambassador Zhang said, since its inception in 2002, the ACD has been committed to promoting exchanges and cooperation among Asian countries and demonstrated growing capabilities to create the Asian Community and build consensus among Asian countries, adding that as an ACD founding member, China has always supported and actively participated in the ACD process, and taken concrete actions to contribute its share to implementing the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development over the years. Especially during the past decade, with endeavors to ensure and improve peoples wellbeing while pursuing development,China eradicated extreme poverty and lifted nearly 100 million rural peopleout of poverty, realizing its poverty reduction goal from the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 10 years ahead of schedule. Ambassador Zhang pointed out that President Xi Jinping proposed the Global Development Initiative (GDI) that seeks to expedite the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in a push for stronger, greener and healthier global development. Also, the 20th CPC National Congress has made it clear that China will remain committed to the path of peaceful development, pursue sustainable development and harmonious coexistence between human beings and nature. Looking ahead, China is ready to work with other Asian countries to translate challenges into opportunities and create in Asia a peaceful, stable and harmonious environment featuring equality, mutual trust and win-win cooperation, so as to build a community with a shared future for mankind. In this way, we will make new contributions to achieving the goals set in the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Ambassador Zhang also discussed with the participants China-related topics that they were interested in. Ambassador Zhang Jianwei has recently given an exclusive interview with Al-Arab, an electronic media organization in Kuwait, on the guiding principles of the 20th CPC National Congress, the outcomes of the first China-Arab States Summit and the China-GCC Summit, and China-Kuwait relationship. The exclusive interview was released on December 25 on social media platforms including Twitter and YouTube. A short video on this interview has received over a million views on Twitter by December 26. During the interview, Ambassador Zhang noted that the 20th CPC National Congress confirmed that China will remain committed to promoting world peace and development, building a community with a shared future for mankind and deepening and expanding global partnerships characterized by equality, openness and cooperation, and that China will bring new opportunities to the rest of the world through its new development. Against this backdrop, President Xi Jinping attended the first China-Arab States Summit, which was Chinas highest-level diplomatic engagement with the Arab world on the largest-scale since the founding of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC). During the summit, the two sides issued three important documents, namely Riyadh Declaration of the First China-Arab States Summit, Outline of the Comprehensive Cooperation Plan Between the Peoples Republic of China and Arab States and a document on deepening the Sino-Arab strategic partnership for peace and development, and agreed to build a China-Arab community with a shared future in the new era. This will open up broad prospects of China-Arab cooperation in various fields. President Xi Jinping also attended and addressed the first China-GCC Summit. He expounded on how to establish and strengthen China-GCC strategic partnership from perspectives of solidarity, development, security and cultural prosperity, saying that in the upcoming three to five years, cooperation between China and GCC countries will be conducted in five priority areas which are energy, finance and investment, innovation and sci-technology, aerospace, and language and culture. His remarks have far-reaching significance for future development of China-GCC relations. Ambassador Zhang also looked back at the history of friendly exchanges between China and Kuwait, and envisioned the promising future of bilateral relations. He said that Kuwait was the first Arab country in the Gulf to establish diplomatic relations with China, adding that in the ensuing 51 years, we have made stable progress in our relationship, deepened our political mutual trust, and achieved fruitful outcomes through our practical cooperation. Common understandings reached by President Xi Jinping and Crown Prince Mishal during their meeting will chart the course of future development of our relations. Speaking of cultural exchanges between the two sides, Ambassador Zhang pointed out that the first Chinese culture center in the Gulf region is under construction, and once completed, will serve as a major platform to display the fine tradition of Chinese culture among the people of Kuwait in a way that will keep people-to-people ties closer. As President Xi Jinping proposed at the China-GCC Summit nurturing new highlights in language and cultural cooperation with GCC countries, China will cooperate with 300 universities, middle and primary schools in GCC countries on Chinese language education, work with GCC countries to set up 300 Chinese language smart classrooms, provide 3,000 Chinese Bridge summer/winter camp opportunities, and set up Chinese language learning and testing centers and online Chinese classes. The two sides could hold a China-GCC language and culture forum, and compile a bilingual library for people-to-people and cultural exchanges and mutual learning. This will be conducive to promoting cultural exchanges and cooperation between the two countries and enhancing mutual understanding and traditional friendship between the two peoples. 5 January 2023, Beijing 1. At the invitation of H.E. Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China, H.E. Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., President of the Republic of the Philippines, undertook a state visit to China from 03 to 05 January 2023. The visit is an expression of sincerity and friendship of President Marcos towards China and the Chinese people as well as his strong confidence in the future development of China-Philippines relations at the auspicious start of the new year. 2. During the visit, President Xi Jinping and President Marcos held a friendly and productive bilateral meeting, wherein they recalled the development of China-Philippines relations, rooted in a history marked by high-level exchanges and enriched by strong economic and people-to-people ties. The two leaders reached important consensus to enhance the bilateral relations, building on their discussions on the sidelines of the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in November 2022. President Marcos also met with H.E. Premier Li Keqiang of the State Council, and H.E. Chairman Li Zhanshu of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. 3. The Philippines congratulated China on the success of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, which will advance the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization. China expressed best wishes for the national development of the Philippines under the leadership of President Marcos. The two leaders agreed to render stronger support to each others national development goals, and advance modernization through joint efforts so as to create more benefits for the two peoples. 4. President Marcos noted the pivotal role of his father, the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos, in the establishment of China-Philippines relations. President Marcos vowed to build on the legacy of his late father, working towards bringing China-Philippines relations to a higher level. 5. The two leaders underscored the importance of maintaining the good momentum of the bilateral relations, agreed to further strengthen the China-Philippines relationship of Comprehensive Strategic Cooperation under the new circumstances, as close neighbors, kin and partners that help and understand each other towards win-win results through mutually beneficial cooperation, so as to bring the bilateral relations to new heights. 6. The two leaders reaffirmed the principles contained in the 1975 China-Philippines Joint Communique and other documents, whose principles include, among others, the peaceful settlement of all disputes, mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, and non-interference in each others internal affairs. The Philippines reaffirmed its adherence to the One-China Policy. 7. Both sides committed to conduct cooperation in the four key priority areas of agriculture, infrastructure, energy and people-to-people exchanges, and pursue additional avenues of cooperation in the areas of defense and security, science and technology, trade and investments. 8. The Philippines expressed appreciation for China's offer of grants, among other forms of financial support, to fund economic and technical projects in support of the Philippines' socio-economic agenda. 9. Both sides agreed to further increase trade between the two countries, to return and even surpass the pre-pandemic bilateral trade volume. The two leaders highlighted the importance of promoting more balanced trade between the two countries by facilitating greater market access for Philippine exports into China. Both sides welcomed the updating of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and the Philippine Stock Exchange, further expanding the areas of capital market cooperation between the two countries. Both sides welcomed the signing of numerous agreements between the business sectors, contributing to economic growth and development for both countries. Both sides will continue to promote sustainable and inclusive trade bilaterally and regionally, enhance cooperation in the areas of digital economy and green development. 10. Both sides agreed to enhance cooperation in agriculture development. The two leaders witnessed the signing of several agreements on agriculture: the Action Plan on Agriculture and Fisheries Cooperation (2023-2025) ,the handover certificate of Sino-Philippine Center for Agricultural Technology-Technical Cooperation Program Phase III, and the Protocol Agreeing on the Phytosanitary Requirements for Philippine Fresh Durian Exports to China. The Philippines extended appreciation to the Chinese Government for providing urgently needed agricultural inputs. 11. Both sides attached great importance to infrastructure development and agreed to carry forward high-quality projects under the synergy of the Belt and Road Initiative and the "Build, Better, More" infrastructure program to spur economic growth. Both sides signed an updated Memorandum of Understanding on the Belt and Road Initiative, and the Framework Agreement on Priority Bridges Crossing Pasig-Marikina River and Manggahan Floodway Bridges Construction Project, and two (2) handover certificates on Chinese-funded Philippine infrastructure projects that have been successfully completed. They also discussed loan agreements that would support Philippine infrastructure development. Both sides will further strengthen infrastructure cooperation with big projects such as Davao-Samal Island Bridge. Both sides will explore means to further strengthen cooperation, at the locations to be mutually agreed, with the purpose for promoting innovative economic development and maintaining stability in production and supply chains. 12. On oil and gas cooperation, both sides agreed to bear in mind the spirit of the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation on Oil and Gas Development between the Government of the Peoples Republic of China and the Government of the Republic of Philippines signed in 2018, and agreed to resume discussions on oil and gas development at an early date, building upon the outcomes of the previous talks, with a view of benefiting the two countries and their peoples. The two sides also agreed to explore cooperation in such areas as solar-power, wind energy, electric vehicles, and nuclear energy for electricity generation. 13. The two leaders had an in-depth and candid exchange of views on the situation in the South China Sea, emphasized that maritime issues do not comprise the sum-total of relations between the two countries and agreed to appropriately manage differences through peaceful means. Both sides reaffirmed the importance of maintaining and promoting peace and stability in the region and the freedom of navigation in and overflight above the South China Sea, and reached consensus on the peaceful resolution of disputes on the basis of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), the United Nations Charter and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). 14. The two leaders concurred that confidence-building measures would contribute to improving mutual trust and affirmed the importance of the Foreign Ministry Consultations and the Bilateral Consultation Mechanism on the South China Sea. The two sides decided to establish a direct communication mechanism between the Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China and the Maritime and Ocean Affairs Office of the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines. 15. Both sides acknowledged the usefulness of practical cooperation between their coast guards, noted the importance of convening the 4th Meeting of the Joint Coast Guard Committee and agreed to convene it at an early date. Both sides agreed to convene the Annual Defense Security Talks at a mutually convenient time. 16. Both sides agreed to further strengthen maritime cooperation in such areas as environmental protection and maritime economy. Both sides agreed to collaborate closely on the mitigation of marine debris emanating from various sources, and micro plastics, towards the establishment of a cooperative partnership between coastal model cities of the two countries. 17. The leaders reaffirmed the importance of continued and strengthened cooperation on education, building upon the consensus to usher in greater understanding between the Chinese and Filipino youth and professionals. Both sides agreed to work towards the possibility of signing the Memorandum of Understanding on Joint Cooperation to Carry out Chinese Language Education Program in the Basic Education Program of the Philippines, the Memorandum of Understanding on Strengthening Agricultural Technical Education Cooperation, and the Mutual Cooperation Memorandum(MCM) on Higher Education. Both sides agreed to enhance communication and cooperation on policy making and regulation to ensure quality development of each other's higher education system. 18. Both sides acknowledged that people-to-people exchanges are crucial in promoting understanding between the two states, welcomed the newly signed Implementation Program of the MOU on Tourism Cooperation, and committed to pursuing pre-pandemic levels of tourist arrivals, as well as direct flights between China and the Philippines, in particular Beijing and Manila, among other cities. The two sides agreed to further strengthen local cooperation, promote practical cooperation and conduct friendly exchanges among sisterhood provinces and cities of the two countries. 19. Both sides highlighted the importance of scientific and technological innovation (STI) and exchanged views on priority areas for partnerships to enhance China-ASEAN STI cooperation. Both sides agreed to explore potential cooperation in such areas as meteorology, space tracking, telemetry and command (TT&C). Both sides expressed willingness to establish an information notification system on rocket launches and work on procedures for the retrieval and return of space debris. 20. Both sides noted positively their cooperation related to addressing COVID-19, especially in the procurement of vaccines, and agreed to further promote public health cooperation in such areas as vaccine research and production. Both sides expressed support for the ASEAN Center for Public Health Emergency and Emergency Diseases. 21. The two leaders welcomed the strengthening of China-ASEAN cooperation under the current Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, and will continue to implement the consensus reached at the China-ASEAN Special Summit to Commemorate the 30th Anniversary of China-ASEAN Dialogue Relations. In this regard, the Philippines took note of Chinas initiative to build a peaceful, safe and secure, prosperous, beautiful, and amicable home in the region. Both sides looked forward to expanding regional cooperation through this framework, with focus on increased economic and social connectivity and development, centering around trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, new-type industrialization, digitization, low-carbon development and agricultural modernization. 22. The two leaders reaffirmed the importance of Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) in safeguarding peace and stability in the South China Sea, and recalled the Joint Statement on the 20th Anniversary of the DOC, adopted in Phnom Penh, Kingdom of Cambodia on 11 November 2022. The two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the full and effective implementation of the DOC in its entirety, and encouraged further progress towards the early conclusion of an effective and substantive Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC) that is in accordance with international law, including the 1982 UNCLOS, within a mutually agreed timeline. 23. Both sides reaffirmed the importance of maintaining ASEAN Centrality in the evolving regional architecture in the Asia-Pacific region, and support for ASEAN integration and Community building. 24. Both sides will continue to strengthen cooperation at such multilateral fora as the United Nations, and make joint efforts to safeguard the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter. Both sides agreed to continue the close communication and consultation on human rights issues. 25. China welcomed the Philippines joining the Group of Friends of the Global Development Initiative (GDI) and stood ready to strengthen cooperation to implement the GDI at the bilateral and regional levels in the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Both sides agreed on the need and importance of robust consultations and communication as well as to explore possible cooperation for mutual benefit regarding the Global Security Initiative (GSI). 26. Both sides will practice open regionalism and strengthen multilateralism, so as to safeguard the common interests of developing countries as well as global fairness and justice, contributing to building a community with a shared future for all mankind. 27. Both sides renewed their commitment towards pursuing stronger political, economic, science and technology, and people-to-people ties, especially leading up to the 50th anniversary of bilateral relations in 2025. 28. President Marcos expressed his deep appreciation for the warm hospitality by President Xi Jinping, the Chinese Government and people, and extended an invitation to President Xi Jinping to visit the Philippines again at a mutually-convenient time. Annex List of Signed Cooperation Documents 1.Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines on Cooperation on the Belt and Road Initiative 2.Arrangement on the Establishment of A Communication Mechanism on Maritime Issues between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China and the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Philippines 3.Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic of China and the Department of Information and Communications Technology of the Republic of the Philippines on Digital and Information and Communications Technology Cooperation 4.Joint Action Plan on Agricultural and Fisheries Cooperation between the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People's Republic of China and the Department of Agriculture of the Republic of the Philippines (2023 -2025) 5.Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China and the Department of Trade and Industry of the Republic of the Philippines on Electronic Commerce Cooperation 6.The Handover Certificate of Sino-Philippine Center for Agricultural Technology-Technical Cooperation Program Phase Philscat-TCP between the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines 7.Handover Certificate Two China-Aid Bridges Project In Manila, Philippines (Binondo-Intramuros Bridge and Estrella-Pantaleon Bridge) between the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines 8.Implementation Program of the Memorandum of Understanding on Tourism Cooperation between the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People's Republic of China and the Department of Tourism of the Republic of the Philippines (2023-2028) 9.Protocol of Phytosanitary Requirements for Export of Fresh Durians From the Philippines to China between the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China and the Department of Agriculture of the Republic of the Philippines 10.Mutual Recognition Arrangement between the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China and the Bureau of Customs of the Republic of the Philippines on Authorized Economic Operator Program 11.Agreement on Economic and Technical Cooperation between the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines 12.Memorandum of Understanding between China International Development Cooperation Agency of the Government of the People's Republic of China and the National Economic and Development Authority of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines on Development Cooperation Plan (2023-2025) 13.Framework Agreement between the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines on the Provision of Concessional Loan by China to the Philippines 14.Four (4) Loan Agreements for the Mixed-Credit (US Dollar and Renminbi) Financing on Three Priority Bridges Crossing Pasig-Marikina River and Manggahan Floodway Bridges Construction Project Tow/Haul/Def consumption My 21 F350 SRW Platinum eats def like a fat kid when towing our Momentum 5th wheel Toyhauler. I tow around 70-75 mph and try to keep the boost under 30% since I've been trying to find a work around. I use manual shift and for the most part spend most of my time in 9th gear. Peak tq is 1600-1800 rpm so I aim for that #. So the last couple of trips I've been leaving the truck in regular drive mode and not selecting tow/haul. I select the engine brake and use manual shift unless I'm in traffic. The trans uses all the gears like in tow haul. Perhaps that's triggered by load sensing or trailer wire plug in. IDK. I'm finding that I'm using much less DEF towing this way. Any one else have the same findings? My trips are usually from Scottsdale to San Diego over the 8, over the grapevine and up north AZ so lots of hill terrain and heavy load towing. Truck has 46k miles. Attendees wait in line beneath a large LED display of smart connected home products to enter the Samsung Electronics booth, during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Jan. 6. AFP-Yonhap By Anna J. Park Samsung is the most searched company in relation to the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2023, according to the latest Samjong KPMG report on this year's CES. The report utilized Google Trends to analyze keyword search patterns globally for six days from Jan. 3 to 9. The analysis also showed that Sony, AMD, ASUS and LG were among the top five keywords, following Samsung, during the period. OLED, Nvidia and BMW also made the top 10 list of most searched keywords related to this year's CES event. When it comes to interest by country, Asia stuck out with China ranked atop as the country having the most interest in the CES 2023, while Korea took the third spot and Hong Kong took eighth place. This demonstrates the region's particularly high interest in the world's largest electronics technology show. The report also pointed out that the key features of the CES 2023 include mobility, artificial intelligence (AI)-based robotics, seamless smart homes, metaverse and Web 3.0, space tech, food tech, digital health care as well as ESG and green tech. Mobility businesses are especially salient during the event, the report stated, as global big tech firms like Amazon, Microsoft and Google have all joined the mobility-themed exhibition hall to showcase their state-of-the-art AI-based automobile software and autonomous driving technologies. Their presence shows the accelerated transformation taking place in automobile industry value chains. "What is noteworthy about the CES 2023 is that big tech firms are expanding their businesses into the mobility sector while automobile companies broaden into AI-based sectors and electronics companies expand into robotics and Web 3.0 businesses," Wi Seung-hoon, KPMG Korea Partner, pointed out, stressing that now is the time for companies to set up strategic business models to secure comparative advantages in the fast-changing mobility value chain industries. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, center, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, right, and European Council President Charles Michel, left, shake hands after signing a Joint Declaration on NATO-EU Cooperation at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Jan. 10. AP-Yonhap NATO and the EU vowed Tuesday to bolster their backing for Ukraine to fight off Russia's invasion and ramp up cooperation between Europe and the US-led alliance. Longstanding designs by NATO and EU to forge greater cooperation have gained impetus from the West's support of Ukraine. "We must continue to strengthen the partnership between NATO and the European Union. And we must further strengthen our support to Ukraine," NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said after signing a joint declaration with the EU's top officials. Countries in NATO and the EU which share 21 members have funneled billions of dollars of arms to Kyiv that have helped it push back Moscow's forces. The United States, Germany and France have announced they will now also supply Ukraine with armored fighting vehicles but Kyiv has pleaded for modern heavy tanks to be sent as well. "I think that Ukraine should get all the necessary military equipment they need and they can handle to defend the homeland," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. "This means of course, advanced air defense systems, but also other types of advanced military equipment, as long as it is necessary to defend Ukraine." Stoltenberg said Kyiv's Western backers will meet next week with Ukraine's defense minister "to discuss exactly what types of weapons are needed and how can allies provide those weapons". "This is not only about adding more systems, more platforms, more weapons, but also ensuring that the platforms, the weapons we have already provided, are working as they should," he said. Moscow's attack on Ukraine has upended the European security order and spurred calls for the EU and NATO to work more closely together to protect the continent. From left, European Council President Charles Michel, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen participate in a media conference after signing a Joint Declaration on NATO-EU Cooperation at NATO headqua Two new members officially joined the Philomath City Council this week after being sworn in along with the returning mayor and four councilors. Councilors Diane Crocker and Christopher McMorran replaced councilors David Low and Catherine Biscoe, whose reelection bids failed in November. Crocker and McMorran joined Mayor Chas Jones and councilors Teresa Nielson, Matt Lehman, Jessica Andrade and Council President Ruth Causey, all of whom were reelected in November. City Recorder Ruth Post conducted the swearing ceremony prior to a council meeting Monday, Jan. 9. Causey was unanimously reelected council president, a role that carries out certain leadership responsibilities when the mayor isnt available. Mayors agenda In an interview, Jones cited his priorities as mayor and what hes campaigned on as building community, local job opportunities and economic development. Pursuing infrastructure upgrades is a big part of the plan to set up the city for success over the coming decades. I have a long-term vision, and I want to make sure we are attending to the issues, thinking about the future, Jones said. He believes major initiatives such as the Downtown Safety and Streetscapes project are steps in the right direction. The project aims to improve safety for cars, buses, bicycles and pedestrians while revitalizing downtown. Reestablishing a Memorial Day community gathering is another Jones goal, adding he could use some help with the planning. Hes hoping to get more involved with the Philomath Frolic & Rodeo, the citys signature event that draws an estimated 5,000 people over three nights, as well as other community happenings. Although Jones won the mayoral position with a dominant 74% of voters over challenger Lawrence Johnson, the mayor pledged to serve all Philomath citizens, not just his supporters. Jones acknowledged he could do better at being accessible to constituents, though he finds challenges in committing the time given work, family, volunteering and serving the city. Council swearing Leading up to the oaths of office, Jones thanked Low and Biscoe for their dedicated service on the City Council. He added thanks to outgoing commissioners and committee members, and later included staff and families in the gratitude. I recognize that when we all say yes to public service, when we say yes to serving our community, and when we say yes to serving our city, that we are saying 'no' to an unlimited number of other opportunities that we have, Jones said. Noting the previous ceremony was held outdoors under a covered area at a school due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, City Manager Chris Workman was glad to see the council inducted in a more appropriate setting, one more comfortable to enjoy with friends and family as well. Workman also offered a popular excerpt from a speech given by President Teddy Roosevelt. Referred to as The Man in the Arena, the passage says its not the critic who counts, but those who face their challenges, daring to possibly fail while others sit by the sidelines, judging but doing nothing. Election 2022 Perhaps the height of local political suspense in Benton County this election season, Andrade edged out Low 1,225 to 1,224 votes for the final council position, confirmed by a hand recount after election results showed the two were a vote apart. The two had flipped after early unofficial results had Low ahead of Andrade by one vote. All six sitting council members ran for reelection, facing three newcomer opponents. Without districts or wards, the city's elections setup sees the top six candidates elected to the council. Because the city is in the process of staggering the terms, half the winners will serve four-year terms, and half will serve two. The candidates selected their preference for term length, and as luck would have it, the results balanced out. Andrade, Lehman and Nielson applied to serve four-year terms, while Causey, Crocker and McMorran applied for two-year terms. Jones was elected for two years as mayor. Starting in 2024, Philomath mayors will serve four-year terms. The city charter was amended with the changes in November 2020, with implementation of the mayoral term delayed until the 2024 General Election. Those council positions with two-year terms will convert to four years in the next election cycle, giving every Philomath official a four-year commitment, with the council elections staggered so that only half the positions are up for grabs every two years. Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy Protesters, supporters of Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro, stand on the roof of the National Congress building after they stormed it, in Brasilia, Brazil, Sunday, Jan. 8. AP-Yonhap Brazilian police on Tuesday were questioning some 1,000 protesters held in an overcrowded gymnasium in the capital after anti-government mobs sacked public buildings over the weekend, as the country's new government worked to overcome the crisis. Most of the supporters of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro were detained on Monday as troops dismantled a camp in Brasilia from which demonstrators set off on Sunday to storm Brazil's Congress, Supreme Court and presidential palace. Protesters at the camp outside army headquarters had called for a military coup to overturn the October election in which leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva narrowly defeated Bolsonaro, who made baseless suggestions of a rigged election. Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who is running investigations of the "anti-democratic" protests, vowed in a speech on Tuesday to combat the "terrorists" calling for a coup. "Democracy will prevail and Brazilian institutions will not bend," said Moraes at the swearing-in of a new head of the federal police. Yet the challenge of carrying out such an enormous criminal investigation into a loosely organized protest movement in the first weeks of a new government was already beginning to show. Roughly 1,000 detainees from the protest camp were held for questioning at a police gymnasium where they slept on the ground, some wrapped in Brazilian flags, and complained to a Reuters journalist that they were being held indefinitely and poorly fed. They sang and took selfies with their phones, video posted on social media showed. Opposition Senator Marcos do Val, who has denounced the Brasilia riots as a blunder for the political right, told journalists outside the gym that many of those detained "are paying for being in the wrong place at the wrong time." Around 200 other demonstrators were under arrest and awaiting charges in a penal facility for their role in Sunday's rampage, which vandalized some of the capital's most iconic buildings in the worst attack on Brazilian democracy in decades. Government lawyers asked Moraes to order cellphone carriers and social media platforms to store information that could place users in the areas of the rioting on Sunday as authorities try to identify the organizers and their financial sources. A Brazilian flag is seen through broken glass following the anti-democratic riots, at Planalto Palace, in Brasilia, Brazil, Jan. 10. Reuters-Yonhap 'Nothing was done' Investigations may also sprawl far beyond Brasilia. Pro-Bolsonaro militants discussed on social media their plans to disrupt highways and oil refineries to cause economic chaos in synch with their storming of the capital. Brazilian energy company Eletrobras is investigating whether the collapse of two transmission towers was related to Sunday's violence in Brasilia, according to two sources familiar with the probe. Eletrobras did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Its subsidiary, Eletronorte, released a statement on Monday about a fallen tower connecting rural communities in northern Brazil to the central grid, with "signs of sabotage." Financial markets have largely shrugged off the uprising in Latin America's largest economy, with the Bovespa benchmark stock index up 0.7 percent on Tuesday and Brazil's currency, the real, rebounding almost 1percent against the U.S. dollar. But the violence stunned Lula's government, which has been in office for barely a week, and could delay economic policy announcements that were planned for this week by an administration eager to show results. Lula's chief of staff, Rui Costa, said the government was back to work and policy decisions would be made on time. On Monday night, Lula, who took office on Jan. 1, met 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. Lula accused the rioters of trying to overthrow democracy and questioned why the army had not discouraged calls for a military coup. "People were openly calling for a coup outside the barracks, and nothing was done. No general lifted a finger to tell them they could not do that," the 77-year-old president said. He accused some security forces of being complicit with rioters. Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks during a meeting with Governors at Planalto Palace in Brasilia, a day after supporters of Brazil's far-right ex-president Jair Bolsonaro invaded the Congress, presidential palace, and Supreme Court, Jan. 9. AFP-Yonhap World Economic Forum (WEF) President Borge Brende, left, delivers a speech next to WEF managing director Saadia Zahidi, right, during a virtual media briefing in Cologny, near Geneva, Switzerland, Jan. 10. EPA-Yonhap 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 Korea, President Gustavo Petro of Colombia and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of the Philippines. Nearly 300 government ministers were expected to take part. President of Colombia Gustavo Petro during a joint statement before the press with President of Chile Gabriel Boric at the La Moneda Palace in Santiago, Chile, Jan. 9. EPA-Yonhap Investors can contact the law firm at no cost to learn more about recovering their losses LOS ANGELES, Jan. 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Portnoy Law Firm advises The Gap, Inc. (Gap or the Company) (NYSE: GPS) investors that a lawsuit filed on behalf of investors that purchased securities between November 24, 2021 and July 11, 2022. Investors are encouraged to contact attorney Lesley F. Portnoy, by phone 844-767-8529 or email: lesley@portnoylaw.com, to discuss their legal rights, or click here to join the case via www.portnoylaw.com. The Portnoy Law Firm can provide a complimentary case evaluation and discuss investors options for pursuing claims to recover their losses. 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, Gap's 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 Navy's 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 Gap's 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, Gap's 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, Gap's 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, Gap's 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 Company's 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 Navy's margins and financial results; (2) contrary to the Company's statements, there were inventory risks relating to BODEQUALITY that were actually existing that were adversely affecting the Company's operations; and (3) as a result, Defendants' positive statements about the Company's business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times. Please visit our website to review more information and submit your transaction information. The Portnoy Law Firm represents investors in pursuing claims against caused by corporate wrongdoing. The Firms founding partner has recovered over $5.5 billion for aggrieved investors. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes. Lesley F. Portnoy, Esq. Admitted CA and NY Bar lesley@portnoylaw.com 310-692-8883 www.portnoylaw.com Attorney Advertising French police officers stand in the train station Gare du Nord after securing the scene of a knife attack, in Paris, France, Jan. 11. A knife-wielding man injured six, police said, before police shot him. EPA-Yonhap An attacker wounded six people in an unprovoked blade attack in Paris' busy Gare du Nord train station Wednesday morning before being shot and wounded by police, France's interior minister said, praising the swift intervention of police for helping prevent any fatalities. The suspect attacked several people, including a police officer, with a ''bladed weapon'' during the morning rush hour, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told reporters at the scene, flanked by Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo. He said the unnamed assailant was currently ''between life and death'' in hospital after being shot in the chest, according to French media. Darmanin thanked the police ''for their effective and courageous reaction.'' ''Without the extremely rapid intervention, there would surely be deaths,'' he said, detailing how the suspect was neutralized within one minute of attacking his first victim. ''At 6:42, the first acts were described. At 6:43, the police used their administrative weapon after his passage of violence,'' he said. Darmanin said the attacker's weapon was ''not a knife'' but likely a homemade weapon. He said the suspect was reported not to have said anything during the assault and that investigators have not discovered any extremist links. According to French media reports, the suspect first threw himself upon a man in front of the train station, stabbing him 15 times and seriously wounding him. The assailant then entered the station and attacked four civilians and a police officer, the media reports said. Screams alerted two other police officers who intervened while the suspect was attacking the officer. The officer for France's border guard was stabbed in the back but not seriously wounded because of a bulletproof vest, Darmanin said. The man stabbed outside the station was the only person who sustained serious wounds in the attack, officials said. Police opened an investigation into whether the attack merited attempted assassination charges. Video of the Gare du Nord, one of the French capital's busiest commuter stations, showed an eerie calms as dozens of police huddled nearby the Eurostar terminal entrance in areas cordoned off from the public. No specific motive has currently been suggested by authorities. France remains jittery following a spate of deadly terror attacks since 2015. The commotion also caused serious disruptions to train services at the station _ Europe's busiest rail artery _ in the early morning rush hour, according to the national railway company SNCF. (AP) Lunar New Year 4721 Event To Feature Key Speakers: Kathy Wyle, CEO Partnership for New York City Frank Wu, President, Queens College NEW YORK, Jan. 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Asian American Business Development Center (AABDC) announced today that it will host a Lunar New Year celebration on Friday, January 20th @ 6pm ET and will combine the traditional celebration of Asian heritage with a rally at Federal Hall National Memorial (26 Wall Street) in New York City to combat anti-Asian hate. AABDC has led the Lunar New Year celebrations since 2000 in New York City and delighted the Asian American community by having the Empire State building lit up in red and gold, the auspicious color for the new year. Lunar New Year 4721 is the Year of the Rabbit, signifying patience and luck. Fans of our past Lunar New Year events will get to enjoy again the cultural performances, community recognitions, and hospitality that AABDC has become known for, said John Wang, founder and president of AABDC. We also wanted to strike a more serious note amidst the celebrations, to draw attention to the anti-Asian violence, bias and harassment that still afflicts members of the Asian American community since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to the Lunar New Year celebration reception at Federal Hall National Memorial, the site where the First Congress met and George Washington was inaugurated, on January 20, there will be addresses by Kathy Wyle, CEO of the Partnership for New York City and Frank Wu, President of Queens College. An array of city and state officials have been invited. Also joining the event are community groups The Asian American Foundation ( taaf.org ), They Cant Burn Us all Inc. ( tcbua.org ), Make Us Visible ( makeusvisible.org ), Chinatown Partnership ( chinatownpartnership.org ), Chinese American Arts Council ( caacarts.org ) and Admerasia ( admerasia.com ). Together, these honored speakers represent the community, business and government institutions, which are all critical influencers of society, and who play pivotal roles in turning around the tide of anti-Asian animosity, Wang said. AABDC has recently formed the Alliance to Stop Anti-Asian Prejudice, ASAP. Its aims are to: Denounce anti-Asian rhetoric and violence Counter scapegoating of Asian Americans Oppose harmful political rhetoric Address the needs of AAPI communities Promote investment in AAPI-serving organizations Educate people about the positive role of AAPIs According to Stop AAPI Hate, from March 19, 2020-March 31, 2022, 11,500 hate reports were reported by Asian Americans. Anti-China rhetoric related to the origins of the pandemic, as well as other issues, has inflamed attitudes against Asian Americans. Asian American Business Development Center (AABDC): SKANEATELES, N.Y., Jan. 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sometimes, the path to becoming a retail quilt shop owner and BERNINA dealer and technician might be winding. It certainly was for shop owner Jolene Fitch. Jolene had recently retired from her career in healthcare administration when she wandered into her local quilt shop while they were just starting a sewing class. She jumped right in and signed up for the course. And loved it. Soon she started working at Patchwork Plus. Two years later, when the owners decided to retire and close the shop, Jolene knew there would be a void in her community. So, she decided to open Finger Lake Fabrics with her business partner Amy McNamara. The new shop is located at 1400 Genesee Street in Skaneateles, New York. 13152. The shops Grand Opening celebration is scheduled for Tuesday, January 10, 2023, through Tuesday, January 17, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Closed Sunday and Monday.) There will be giveaways, refreshments, raffles, and more. "Everyone that comes to the Grand Opening can fill out a form and be entered to win a new BERNINA 325 sewing machine valued at about $1,500! said Jolene. We are excited to open a shop and become a new dealer for BERNINA. We own and use BERNINA machines to create projects that bring us joy. We look forward to working with current BERNINA owners and helping others to join the BERNINA family, said Jolene. I fell in love with my BERNINA. They are reliable and well-built. Jolene was pleased that the creative director from Patchwork Plus, Kathy Trupiano, and the rest of the employees decided to join the staff at Finger Lakes Fabrics. I feel very blessed to have them join our team; they all have wonderful relationships with our community, she said. Ive been sewing on a BERNINA since 1998. I look forward to continuing to sell and teach our customers about this great line of machines in this new shop, said Kathy. The 6,500 square foot shop will be filled with fabric, notions, BERNINA and bernette sewing, serging and longarm machines, accessories, and, of course, lots of sewing projects, quilt samples, and inspiration. We will have an inspiration room, a design center with a design wall, and places for customers to lay out their quilts and projects. Our dedicated classroom with a media studio will be humming with activity in the very near future. We will be doing lots of live and online teaching and demonstrations on Facebook live, including a block of the month series, she said. We will have many classes at all skill levels, including quilting, sewing, and mastery machine classes. We have our activities for January April posted on our website for your review and sign-ups. See our website for more details at www.fingerlakesfabrics.com. In addition, every Tuesday at 3 p.m., we will broadcast a weekly series called Whats New With The Two of You? where I will sit down with Kathy. We will discuss anything new in the shop or the industry, feature new products, fabric lines, machine accessories, and do demonstrations. Like us on Facebook to tune in to our discussions, said Jolene. Our shop is where creativity and community meet! We have partnered with a non-profit, Sleep in Heavenly Peace (SHP). SHP makes beds for kids. At our Grand Opening, we will hand out pillowcase kits to customers and encourage them to take them home to make, then return them to be donated to this great volunteer organization. Our creative community is amazing, and we will continue looking for ways to partner and support non-profit organizations, Jolene said. We are also happy that the shop, Pick Your Stitch will become a BERNINA sub-dealer for us. The shop is located at 6701 Manlius Center Road, East Syracuse, New York. Shop owner, Amy McNamara, is also a part owner of Finger Lakes Fabrics. I love using the Q 24 Longarm on the frame! I am also thrilled to bring BERNINA to Pick Your Stitch, said Amy. We encourage everyone in the creative community to stop by and see our new shop and test drive a new BERNINA sewing machine! said Jolene. Photos accompanying this announcement are available at: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2110556b-be6f-4ba6-92d1-95ab9e44283b https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/6b8bc10d-37eb-4d54-8584-82697cedac5d SYDNEY, Jan. 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BLUETTI, a well-known solar generator brand, kickstarts a themed promotion from Jan. 10 to 26, 2023, to celebrate the new year and Australia Day. In addition, it is holding an open call for "BLUETTI Heroes" among its global users to make documentaries. BLUETTI Hero Recruitment All BLUETTI users can apply to be a BLUETTI hero this year. About 15 applicants will be selected to participate in the filming of documentaries and can pick any BLUETTI products under $1000 as a gift. The following generators enjoy 22% off during this early sale. AC300+ B300-Modular Power Backup System With a modular approach, the AC300&B300 combo allows for easy upgrade to an all-house power system to meet every need, maxing out at 12,288Wh. The AC300 inverter can comfortably power all regular household appliances with 3,000W continuous output and 6,000W surge capability. Its recharging rate can top 5,400W if combining 3,000 AC input and 2,400 solar input, which is supported by two separate MPPT controllers. AC200MAX All-in-one Power Beast A successor to the AC200P, the AC200 Max offers expandable options with additional battery modules, such as two B230 to 6,144Wh and two B300 to 8,192Wh. Even standalone, it has 2,048Wh power in the belly and can deliver 2,200W to multiple devices via its 13 outlets, plus two wireless charging pads on top. There are seven ways to top up this all-round power beast, including 1400W AC and solar dual charging. EP500 Home Emergency Power It features a 5,100Wh capacity, a 2,000W inverter, and 14 outlets, great for home emergencies and off-grid living. For easy mobility, it's equipped with four smooth and solid wheels on the bottom. It does not take much time to recharge the large battery. Combining solar and AC charging inputs up to 1,800W, the EP500 can be recharged in just 3.3 hours. It also supports 24/7 UPS to protect essential loads from outages. About BLUETTI From the very beginning, BLUETTI has tried to stay true to a sustainable future through green energy storage solutions for both indoor and outdoor use while delivering an exceptional eco-friendly experience for everyone and the world. BLUETTI is making its presence in 70+ countries and is trusted by millions of customers across the globe. For more information, please visit BLUETTI online at www.bluettipower.com.au Social Media Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bluetti.au Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bluetti_australia/ Youtubehttps://www.youtube.com/@BLUETTIOfficial Contact Information: Amanda Yan Integrated Marketing for BLUETTI pr@bluetti.com +8615013559696 Related Images Image 1: Sun Shines Wherever You Go This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. Attachment NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Catholic Medical Mission Board (CMMB) announced today that they have launched a cancer care project in Kitui South and Kitui Central sub-counties to address gaps in cancer and palliative care for breast and cervical cancer patients. The project is funded through a grant from the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation. As part of the project, a full-service cancer care unit will be set up at the Kitui County Referral Hospital, where women and girls of reproductive age can access pre-cancer screenings and chemotherapy, as well as other cancer care and palliative care services. In preparation for the units opening, CMMB is providing training to healthcare workers, equipping the unit, and offering sensitization on cancer screening services. The project will be jointly implemented in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute of Kenya as a technical partner through the accreditation processes, CMMB as the implementing agency and the Kitui County Government as the recipient of the support. High rates of cervical cancer; late diagnosis In Kenya, breast cancer is the most diagnosed cancer, and while cervical cancer is easily detectable and curable in the early stages, only 16.4 percent of women aged 3049 years have ever been screened. In Kitui County, cervical cancer accounts for nearly a quarter of all cancer cases among women. Women from low socio-economic backgrounds and underserved areas are unable to access early detection and diagnosis, and advanced cancer care. Vaccination against HPV, and screening and treatment of pre-cancer lesions are cost-effective ways to prevent cervical cancer. Cervical cancer can be cured if diagnosed at an early stage and treated promptly.* A late diagnosiscombined with the lack of and uneven distribution of cancer diagnosis and treatment facilities, personnel, and equipmenthighlights the urgent need for this project in Kitui South and Central sub-counties, said Dr. Alfred Karagu, CEO of the National Cancer Institute of Kenya. An initial CMMB Cervical Cancer Care project launched last year, in partnership with the Ministry of Health and the National Cancer Institute of Kenya, revealed the need for a full-service cancer care unit at the Kitui County Referral Hospital to serve 26,000 women and girls of reproductive age in surrounding communities. "The nearby cancer care unit in Kitui town will ease the travel burden and costs for women in both sub-counties, said Jesse Kihuha, CMMB Kenya CHAMPS program manager. They will no longer need to travel over 20 hours round-trip to Nairobi to access chemotherapy and other cancer care services." We are fortunate to have a great partnership with Bristol Meyers Squibb Foundation which is saving womens lives, said Dr. James Kisia, CMMB Kenya country director. The partnership is the perfect example of Africas three-legged stoola private-sector partner, the government, plus a non-governmental organization joining forces to create sustainable change in communities everywhere. For over 20 years, CMMB Kenya has saved lives by promoting healthy futures for families. Its integrated rural health programs address breast and cervical cancers, HIV/AIDs, malaria, maternal and child health and TB. In addition, CMMBs work contributes to strengthening Kenyan health systems and staff skills. ### Catholic Medical Mission Board: CMMB provides long-term medical and development aid to communities affected by poverty and unequal access to healthcare. Focusing on womens and childrens health, we deliver sustainable health services in Haiti, Kenya, Peru, South Sudan, and Zambia. For over a century, we have worked to strengthen and support communities through healthcare programs and initiatives, the placement of volunteers, and the distribution of medicines and medical supplies. Over the last 10 years, CMMBs Medical Donations Program has distributed more than $5 billion worth of medicines and medical supplies to 83 countries across the globe. Editors Note: *In Kenya, breast cancer is the most diagnosed cancer with approximately 6,799 (16.1%) new cases, causing 11.5% of all cancer deaths in 2020. It accounts for 23% of cancerous diseases that affect women. Every year, 5,236 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer, and 3,211 die from the disease. Cervical cancer ranks as the 2nd most frequent cancer among women in Kenya and the 2nd most frequent cancer among women between 15 and 44 years of age. Sources: [1] Cancer HPV Center 2002 [1] Community-Engaged Approaches to Cervical Cancer Prevention and Control in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Scoping Review Frontiers in Global Women's Health. [1] National-Cancer-Screening-Guidelines-2018 [1] Global Cancer Statistics 2020: GLOBOCAN Estimates of Incidence and Mortality Worldwide for 36 Cancers in 185 Countries [1] Current Perspectives in Human Papillomavirus; DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.81581 [1] American Cancer Society: Risk Factors for Cervical Cancer [1] Kitui County Cancer Registry 2021 Attachment BRISBANE, Australia, Jan. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Allkem Limited (ASX|TSX: AKE) (Allkem or the Company) will release its December Quarter Activities Report on Wednesday, 18 January 2023. Managing Director and CEO, Mr. Martin Perez de Solay and Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, Christian Barbier will conduct a live webcast briefing at 10:00 am AEDT (Sydney, Melbourne) on the same day. To pre-register your details and join the webcast briefing, please follow the link on the homepage of Allkems website, www.allkem.co. Written questions may be submitted via the webcast and playback of the briefing and Q&A session will also be available on the companys website. This release was authorised by Mr Martin Perez de Solay, CEO and Managing Director of Allkem Limited. Dublin, Jan. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Perlite Global Market Report 2022" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The global perlite mining market is expected to grow from $0.37 billion in 2021 to $0.4 billion in 2022 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.2%. The perlite mining market is expected to grow to $0.46 billion in 2026 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.5%. The perlite mining market consists of sales of perlite and its compounds by entities (organizations, sole traders, and partnerships) that mine perlite and its compounds. The main types of perlite mining are construction products, horticultural and agricultural, industrial perlite, filtration and process aid, and other types - of perlite. Perlite refers to a substance that has many commercial and industrial uses. The forms are crude and expanded. The mining type includes underground mining, and surface mining. North America was the largest region in the perlite mining market in 2021. The regions covered in this perlite mining market report are Asia-Pacific, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, Middle East, and Africa. The growth in the perlite mining market is due to the increasing demand for mining in North America. Mining refers to the process of extracting useful materials from the earth. The majority of perlite is used in construction products, mainly ceiling tiles and roof insulation products, but also as refractory bricks (a refractory brick is a brick designed to withstand very high temperatures), pipe insulation, and filling in masonry block construction. For instance, in 2020, according to USGS data, a US-based Government agency, Geological Survey stated that U.S. mines produced approximately 86.3 billion minerals in 2019. Therefore, the increased demand for mining in North America is driving the growth of the perlite mining market. Companies engaged in the perlite mining industry are using a portable infrared spectrometer to reduce environmental risk. An infrared spectrometer enables us to predict the impurity content in perlite ore. Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 175 Forecast Period 2022 - 2026 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2022 $0.4 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2026 $0.46 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 3.6% Regions Covered Global 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 Scope Markets Covered: 1) By Type: Construction Products; Horticultural and Agricultural, Industrial Perlite, Filtration and Process Aid; Other Types- Perlite 2) By Mining Type: Underground Mining; Surface Mining Companies Mentioned: Aegean Perlites SA; Bergama Perlite; Australian Perlite Pty Limited; Carolina Perlite Company; Supreme Perlite Company Countries: Australia; Brazil; China; France; Germany; India; Indonesia; Japan; Russia; South Korea; UK; USA Regions: Asia-Pacific; Western Europe; Eastern Europe; North America; South America; Middle East; Africa Time series: Five years historic and ten years forecast. Data: Ratios of market size and growth to related markets, GDP proportions, expenditure per capita, Data segmentations: country and regional historic and forecast data, market share of competitors, market segments. Sourcing and Referencing: Data and analysis throughout the report is sourced using end notes. Key Topics Covered: 1. Executive Summary 2. Report Structure 3. Perlite Mining Market Characteristics 4. Perlite Mining Market Product Analysis 5. Perlite Mining Market Supply Chain 6. Perlite Mining Market Customer Information 7. Perlite Mining Market Trends And Strategies 8. Perlite Mining Market Size And Growth 9. Perlite Mining Market Regional Analysis 10. Perlite Mining Market Segmentation 11. Perlite Mining Market Metrics 12. Asia-Pacific Perlite Mining Market 13. Western Europe Perlite Mining Market 14. Eastern Europe Perlite Mining Market 15. North America Perlite Mining Market 16. South America Perlite Mining Market 17. Middle East Perlite Mining Market 18. Africa Perlite Mining Market 19. Perlite Mining Market Competitive Landscape 20. Key Mergers And Acquisitions In The Perlite Mining Market 21. Market Background: General Mineral Mining Market 22. Recommendations 23. Appendix 24. Copyright And Disclaimer Companies Mentioned Aegean Perlites SA Bergama Perlite Australian Perlite Pty Limited Carolina Perlite Company Supreme Perlite Company For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/3329hs 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. Attachment Dublin, Jan. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "The Air Transport Industry and Aviation Ground-Handling Services in South Africa 2022" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. This report is on the air transport industry and aviation ground-handling services in South Africa. It includes comprehensive information on the size and state of the sector, flight, passenger and cargo volumes, the performance and state of notable players, corporate actions and developments. The passenger and cargo air transport industry has been brought to the brink of collapse during two years of the pandemic. Its recovery, although underway, has been hampered by high ticket prices due to the collapse of airlines which has reduced the industry's capacity, and soaring fuel prices. There are profiles of 44 companies including state-owned SAA and Air Traffic and Navigation Services, international airlines such as Qantas and Singapore Airlines, African airlines such as Ethiopian Airlines, ground handling companies including NAS Colossal Aviation Services and Swissport South Africa and cargo-handling companies such as Menzies Aviation and Bidair Cargo. With the failure of airlines such as Comair, SAA and SA Express and the grounding of low-cost airlines, the air transport landscape has changed significantly. FlySafair, Airlink and CemAir have strengthened their positions. Air cargo airlines have recovered more quickly than passenger airlines, while private business jet airlines have also experienced growth. Reduced Seats The suspension of flights by various airlines reduced the size of the scheduled flights industry. SAA has resumed flights with eight aircraft compared to 28 in 2019, and only three domestic routes. The suspension of Comair's operations in May 2022 meant a further 12 British Airways and 10 Kulula aircraft were grounded. While CemAir and FlySafair have expanded their fleets, the industry is still substantially smaller than it was at the beginning of 2019. Competition Commentators believe that South African air passenger transport is entering a period of level playing fields after generations in which state-owned airlines enjoyed a privileged position. A number of collapsed airlines have blamed the favoured position of state-owned airlines for their failures. As the entire industry is smaller, there are a number of secondary routes in which carriers have a monopoly. Key Topics Covered: 1. INTRODUCTION 2. DESCRIPTION OF THE INDUSTRY 2.1. Industry Value Chain 2.2. Geographic Position 2.3. Size of the Industry 2.4. Key Success Factors and Pain Points 3. LOCAL 3.1. State of the Industry 3.2. Key Trends 3.3. Notable Players 3.4. Corporate Actions 3.5. Regulations 3.6. Enterprise Development and Social Economic Development 4. AFRICA 5. INTERNATIONAL 6. INFLUENCING FACTORS 6.1. COVID-19 6.2. Economic Environment 6.3. Labour 6.4. Aviation Safety 6.5. Environmental Issues 6.6. Technology, Research and Development (R&D) and Innovation 6.7. Input Costs 7. COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT 7.1. Competition 7.2. Ownership Structure of the Industry 7.3. Barriers to Entry 8. SWOT ANALYSIS 9. OUTLOOK 10. INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS 11. REFERENCES 11.1. Publications 11.2. Websites APPENDIX - South African Airports, Aerodromes, Air Bases and Airfields APPENDIX 2 - Summary of Notable Players Air Transport Operation of Airports, Flying Fields and Air Navigation Facilities Company Profiles ACS Air Charter (Pty) Ltd Air France-KLM SA Air Traffic and Navigation Services Company Ltd Air-Tec Aviation Maintenance (Pty) Ltd Airlink (Pty) Ltd Airports Company South Africa SOC Ltd Alitalia - Societa Aerea Italiana S.p.A. Bidair Cargo (Pty) Ltd British Airways PLC C and G Air CC Capital Air (Pty) Ltd Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd Cem Air (Pty) Ltd Dellaria Leasing (Pty) Ltd Deutsche Lufthansa AG Emirates Group (The) Ethiopian Airlines Group Etihad Airways PJSC ExecuJet Aviation (Pty) Ltd Fair Aviation (Pty) Ltd Federal Airlines (Pty) Ltd Global Aviation Operations (Pty) Ltd Lanseria International Airport (Pty) Ltd Mango Airlines SOC Ltd Menzies Aviation (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd MH Aviation Services (Pty) Ltd NAS Colossal Aviation Services (Pty) Ltd National Airways Corporation (Pty) Ltd Owenair (Pty) Ltd Primkop Airport Management (Pty) Ltd Qantas Airways Ltd Qatar Airways Group Q.C.S.C. S R S Aviation (Pty) Ltd Safair Operations (Pty) Ltd Sahara African Aviation Maintenance (Pty) Ltd Singapore Airlines Ltd Solenta Aviation (Pty) Ltd South African Airways SOC Ltd Star Air Maintenance (Pty) Ltd Swissport South Africa (Pty) Ltd Turk Hava Yollari AO United Charter Services (Pty) Ltd Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd Zenith Air CC For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/nl4eqq 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. TORONTO, Jan. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Q-Gold Resources Ltd (TSXV: QGR, OTC: QGLDF, FRA: QX9G) (Q-Gold or the Company) is pleased to announce that the 2022 exploration program was successfully completed on December 23, 2022. Exploration work during 2022 on Q-Golds 100% owned Mine Centre property focussed on the past-producing Foley Mine and environs. The work included the collection of 280 geochemical samples over 15 line-km and a property-wide LiDAR survey culminating in an eight-hole diamond drill program (Figure 1). The drill program was designed to extend the known mineralization of the Bonanza and Jumbo veins previously mined at the Foley mine in the early 1900s to the north and northwest as well as target coincident anomalies that were revealed by the LiDAR and MMI soil geochemical surveys. The drill program was an overall success with 5 of the 8 holes drilled intersecting their targeted vein systems. The part of the drill program focussed on the historic Foley Mine was successful in extending the strike of the Bonanza vein 300m to the north, with the most northernly hole, Q22-14 intersecting mineralized quartz veins containing visible gold (Figure 2 and Figure 3). All assays from the drill program are currently pending. Q-Gold has initiated a comprehensive study on the LiDAR data to understand the structural intricacies controlling mineralization more completely on the Mine Centre property. The results of this project, combined with the airborne magnetic data collected in 2021 will guide the 2023 exploration program currently being developed. We are very pleased with the achievements of our 2022 exploration campaign including the diamond drilling program in the final stages of 2022, commented Dr. Andreas Rompel, Chief Executive Officer, We generated targets and followed them up successfully with more gold-bearing quartz-vein intersections around Foley Mine. Figure 1: Map with completed 8 hole drilling program targeting the extensions of the known gold-bearing quartz veins around Foley Mine. Figure 2: Q22-14: Bonanza Vein VG at 126.7m Figure 3: Q22-14: Bonanza Vein VG at 135.1m About the Existing Mine Centre Property Q-Gold holds 10,000+ acres of contiguous mining claims, Crown leases and leasehold patents located within the historic Mine Centre 1890s gold camp, which produced 16,025 ounces of gold from the Foley Gold Mine and the Golden Star Mine. The Foley Gold Mine was first developed in the 1890s, with the sinking of the Foley Shaft to the 400 level. At this time 10,500 tons of ore at 14 g/t was mined from stopes at the 100 level with 5,267 oz of gold recovered 1898 1900. Subsequent work between 1923-27 included an estimated $12 M of total development work, including an offset Shaft 400 - 850, winze 400 to 150 and 2.5+ km of drifts on 7 levels. Operations terminated in 1927 due to the onset of the Great Depression. The property has favourable logistics with immediate access to Highway 11 and sitting 250 km Northwest of Thunder Bay and 65 km Northeast of the U.S. border. It is also proximal to two major gold discoveries 95 km on either side of Mine Centre: Rainy River (New Gold) (4.5 M oz. Au & 11.4 M oz. Ag) & Hammond Reef (Agnico Eagle) (4.5 M oz.). Other interest areas on the Property include the McKenzie Gray Vein System; a gold-silver vein system with 6,594 m of drilling confirming existence of high-grade quartz vein down to 100 m. As well as the the Golden Star, Manhattan, and Fergus Vein Systems; all high-potential gold vein prospects offering tremendous optionality at Mine Centre. Qualified Persons The scientific and technical information contained in this press release has been reviewed, prepared and approved by Richard Kilpatrick, P. Geo., Exploration Manager, Q-Gold, who is a "Qualified Person" as defined by NI 43-101. About Q-Gold Resources Ltd. Q-Gold Resources (TSXV: QGR, OTC: QGLDF, FRA: QX9G) is a publicly traded Canada-based mineral exploration company targeting high-grade gold and silver discoveries in multiple jurisdictions. Q-Gold is currently exploring for gold at the past-producing Foley Gold Mine in Mine Centre, Ontario. For further information, contact: Dr. Andreas Rompel Chief Executive Officer andy.rompel@qgoldresources.com Website: www.qgoldresources.com Cautionary Note Certain statements in this release are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements consist of statements that are not purely historical, including any statements regarding the Companys the result of drill assays from the 2022 exploration program, extension of mineralization at the Mine Centre property and the Companys work plan and beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those contained in the statements. No assurance can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will occur or, if they do occur, what benefits the Company will obtain from them. In particular, the Company cautions that the results of drill aways from the 2022 exploration program and extension of mineralization cannot be predicted with certainty, and that there can be no assurance at this time that such drill assays will be positive or if the Company will be able to extend mineralization at its Mine Centre property. These forward-looking statements reflect management's current views and are based on certain expectations, estimates and assumptions which may prove to be incorrect. A number of risks and uncertainties could cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, as well as other factors beyond the Company's control. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with 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. Photos accompanying this announcement are available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/65febcef-b202-462f-8832-e481fc9f7021 https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3c72e0a9-bb12-44b8-b03a-4bf8314798eb https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/dcb7710b-e797-42d3-a463-ecb5705acd39 Pune, India, Jan. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global procurement software market size was valued at USD 6.15 billion in 2021. The market is projected to grow from USD 6.67 billion in 2022 to USD 13.80 billion by 2029, exhibiting a CAGR of 10.9% during the forecast period. This information is presented by Fortune Business Insights, in its report titled, Procurement Software Market Forecast, 2023-2029. Key Industry Development: October 2022: To meet problems such as current integration, automation, and agility for the 5G era, Airtel has implemented Oracle's SCM cloud and Fusion ERP systems. Oracle's cloud fusion solution will assist Airtel in streamlining its financial data, streamlining its supply chain management, and systematizing manual operations. Request a Sample Copy of the Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/request-sample-pdf/procurement-software-market-107099 Report Scope & Segmentation Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 2022 to 2029 Forecast Period 2022 to 2029 CAGR 10.9% 2029 Value Projection USD 13.80 Billion Base Year 2021 Procurement Software Market Size in 2021 USD 6.15 Billion Historical Data for 2018 to 2020 No. of Pages 140 Segments covered Deployment, Enterprise Type, End-user and Geography Key Takeaways Implementation of cloud services, digitization of platforms and streamlining of the procurement processes across industries will fuel the market growth Emerging Trends in Intelligent cloud-based procurement platforms include AI, next-gen analytics with machine learning, cloud services and IoT. Healthcare and pharmaceutical segment holds a significant share in the global market In South America, around 39% of organizations are planning to invest in cloud computing. Procurement Software Market size in North America was USD 2.66 Billion in 2020 Browse Complete Report Details: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/procurement-software-market-107099 Drivers and Restraints: Rising Adoption of AI and Cloud-based Solutions to Act as a Key Trend As the use of technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), cloud, Machine Learning (ML), Robotic Process Automation (RPA), and the Internet of Things (IoT) continues to soar in organizations, the rate of change in the procurement process of such businesses has been remarkable. Chief Procurement Officers (CPOs) have discovered it vital to stay up to date on the news related to procurement software best practices since digitization has become the norm. Intelligent cloud-based procurement solutions will provide more vertically integrated analyses, greater assistance for CPOs, and effective sourcing techniques in the future. The CPOs have access to previously inaccessible metrics due to these digital procurement technologies. Segments: Cloud Deployment to Gain Traction Owing to Increased Efforts by Organizations to Shift Operations to Cloud In terms of deployment, the market is classified into cloud and on-premise. The cloud segment held the largest share in 2021 and is anticipated to grow with a remarkable CAGR during the forecast period. SMEs to Grow with Maximum CAGR Owing to Rising Funding and Adoption of Cloud-based Solutions Based on enterprise type, the market is divided into large enterprises and small & medium-sized enterprises. Large enterprises segment is expected to hold the major procurement software market share during the forecast period owing to increasing demand for smart procurement management solutions to manage complex supply chain by reducing the complexity and providing transparent information for the procurement software market growth. Increased Demand for Sourcing and Procurement Solutions to Witness Significant Market Growth in Healthcare & Pharmaceutical Based on end-user, the market is divided into retail & e-commerce, healthcare and pharmaceutical, manufacturing & automotive, BFSI, IT & telecom, oil & gas, energy & utilities, and others. The healthcare and pharmaceutical segment held a significant market share during the COVID-19 pandemic as it accelerated the demand for medical equipment, vaccines, medicines, and other pharmaceutical products. Geographically, the market is divided into five major regions such as North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East & Africa, and Asia Pacific. Have Any Query? Ask Our Experts: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/speak-to-analyst/procurement-software-market-107099 Report Coverage: The report offers valuable insights obtained by thorough study done by our researchers. An extensive research was conducted to provide the estimated size of the market for procurement software. The data used to project the shares for multiple segments at the country, regional, and global levels is obtained from in-depth interviews with numerous stakeholders. Furthermore, we have gained access to several global and regional paid databases to deliver precise information to make business investment decisions easy for you. Regional Insights: North America to Lead Backed by Surging Presence of Players The market in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico make up North America. Due to the existence of major market participants in the area and the growing adoption of disruptive technologies by enterprises, the U.S. now holds the largest market share. During the projected period, Europe is anticipated to account for a sizeable portion of the market since major market players are concentrating on business expansion by providing specialized services to consumers internationally. During the forecast timeframe, Asia Pacific is expected to see exponential growth. The market is expanding as a result of growing investments being made in digital transformation by emerging economies such as those in South East Asia, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and India. Competitive Landscape: Partnerships among Companies to Secure their Brand Values in the Global Market Prominent players in the market are constantly opting for effective strategies to promote their products and establish their positions in the market. One such strategy is to launch new products by partnering with other companies to extend their reach to end-users. List of Key Players Mentioned in the Report: Basware (Finland) SAP SE (Germany) Coupa Software Inc. (U.S.) Oracle (U.S.) Ivalua Inc. (U.S.) JAGGAER (U.S.) Workday, Inc. (U.S.) GEP (U.S.) Zycus Inc. (U.S.) Infor (U.S.) Access Full Report - Procurement Software Market https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/checkout-page/107099 Major Table of Contents: Global Procurement Software Market Size Estimates and Forecasts, By Segments, 2018-2029 Key Findings By Deployment (USD) Cloud On-premise By Enterprise Type (USD) Small & Medium Enterprise Large Enterprises By End-user (USD) Retail & e-Commerce Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Manufacturing & Automotive BFSI IT & Telecom Oil & Gas, Energy & Utilities Others (Real Estate, etc.) By Region (USD) North America South America Europe Middle East & Africa Asia Pacific North America Procurement Software Market Size Estimates and Forecasts, By Segments, 2018-2029 Key Findings By Deployment (USD) Cloud On-premise By Enterprise Type (USD) Small & Medium Enterprise Large Enterprises By End-user (USD) Retail & e-Commerce Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Manufacturing & Automotive BFSI IT & Telecom Oil & Gas, Energy & Utilities Others (Real Estate, etc.) By Country (USD) United States Canada Mexico South America Procurement Software Market Size Estimates and Forecasts, By Segments, 2018-2029 Key Findings By Deployment (USD) Cloud On-premise By Enterprise Type (USD) Small & Medium Enterprise Large Enterprises By End-user (USD) Retail & e-Commerce Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Manufacturing & Automotive BFSI IT & Telecom Oil & Gas, Energy & Utilities Others (Real Estate, etc.) TOC Continued! Related Reports: Supply Chain Management Market Size, Share, Revenue Forecast and Opportunities Business Spend Management Software Market Overview, Industry Share and Forecast Cloud Computing Market Size, Share, Opportunities & Analysis Supply Chain Risk Management Market Analysis, Global Size and Industry Share Forecast About Us: Fortune Business Insights offers expert corporate analysis and accurate data, helping organizations of all sizes make timely decisions. We tailor innovative solutions for our clients, assisting them to address challenges distinct to their businesses. Our goal is to empower our clients with holistic market intelligence, giving a granular overview of the market they are operating in. Contact Us: Fortune Business Insights Pvt. Ltd. US: +1 424 253 0390 UK: +44 2071 939123 APAC: +91 744 740 1245 Atlanta, Georgia, Jan. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CareSource, a mission-driven Medicaid plan serving more than 500,000 Georgians, has donated $25,000 to Morris Brown College, a historically black liberal arts college in Atlanta, to establish a new scholarship program designed to bolster and support the health care workforce throughout Georgia. The program will give underserved and under-resourced students a life-changing opportunity to reach their educational goals, an opportunity that they may not have had otherwise. The scholarships will support five in-state students who meet the established criteria. CareSource understands the value of HBCUs and supports the mission and purpose, said Sheryl-Anne Murray, CareSource Georgia vice president of market operations. We are excited to partner with Morris Brown College to provide deserving students with funds that will help them take full advantage of educational opportunities. Our goal with this partnership is to not only give students the opportunity to pursue higher education, but also to help develop the workforce pipeline in Georgia that will ultimately serve our members and improve the health of our communities. Morris Brown College regained their accreditation from the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools (TRACS) earlier this year. The college was without accreditation for nearly 20 years, which greatly impacted their enrollment numbers and the Atlanta community. It was an incredible achievement that the school was able to regain their accredited status after so many years, and it positively impacts students in the Atlanta area and across Georgia. In addition to the scholarships, CareSource will offer the students internships and potentially other career opportunities. CareSource also plans to work with other historically black colleges and universities in the state to further support workforce development and help build pipelines within high schools to the universities. Morris Brown College is grateful for the support of CareSource, and their commitment to helping students of a historically black college achieve success, said Dr. Kevin James, president of Morris Brown College. These funds will go a long way in supporting our students and helping us to rebuild our student population and better serve our community. ABOUT CARESOURCE CareSource is a nonprofit, nationally recognized managed care organization with over 2 million members. Headquartered in Dayton, Ohio since its founding in 1989, CareSource administers one of the largest Medicaid managed care plans in the U.S. The organization offers health insurance, including Medicaid, Health Insurance Marketplace, Medicare Advantage and dual-eligible programs. As a mission-driven organization, CareSource is transforming health care with innovative programs that address the social determinants of health, health equity, prevention and access to care. For more, visit www.caresource.com, follow @caresource on Twitter, or like CareSource on Facebook. ABOUT MORRIS BROWN COLLEGE Morris Brown College was founded in 1881 by the African Methodist Episcopal Church. It is a private, coeducational liberal arts college engaged in teaching and public service with a special focus on leadership, management, entrepreneurship, and technology. The institution is the only college in Georgia founded solely by African American patronage. Hong Kong: Youth committee recruitment starts The Home Affairs Department today started the recruitment of young people to join the District Youth Community Building Committee and District Youth Development & Civic Education Committee under a self-nomination scheme. The application period will end on January 27. The Chief Executive announced in the 2022 Policy Address the launch of a Youth Participation Initiative to engage more young people in public affairs and enhance their interaction with and trust in the Government. One of the measures under the initiative involves the Home Affairs Department opening up certain seats of the District Youth Community Building Committee and District Youth Development & Civic Education Committee to be set up in 18 districts for young people through self-nomination. The department encourages young people aged between 16 and 35 who are committed to serving the community to apply for the scheme. Following the principle of meritocracy, the department aims to recruit young people who have a strong commitment to serve the community, a good understanding of district and youth affairs, and good analytical and communication skills to join the two committees through the scheme. The application form and details are available online. Applications can be submitted by post, by hand or by email. Assessment panels will be set up by the 18 district offices to consider applications. The assessment process is expected to be completed by the first quarter. This story has been published on: 2023-01-11. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Copies of "Spare" by Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, are displayed at a Barnes & Noble bookstore in New York City on Jan. 10- After months of anticipation and a blanket publicity blitz, Prince Harry's autobiography "Spare" went on sale Tuesday as royal insiders hit back at his scorching revelations. AFP-Yonhap Prince Harry has hit back at "hurtful" responses to his record-selling memoir, saying he was particularly upset by the "lie" he had boasted that he had killed 25 people in Afghanistan when serving as a military helicopter pilot. In his book "Spare", King Charles's younger son recounts his two tours of Afghanistan, first as a forward air controller in 2007/08 and again in 2012, when he was a co-pilot gunner in Apache attack helicopters, and the number of people he had killed. British newspapers, who he heavily criticizes in his book, and some senior former British military figures have attacked his decision to make public the figure of those he had killed, saying it could put him and others at risk of reprisals. Speaking to U.S. chat show host Stephen Colbert on "The Late Show", he said he had only done so to reduce the number of suicides by military veterans. "Without doubt the most dangerous lie that they have told is that I somehow boasted about the number of people that I killed in Afghanistan," he said, saying the press had spun his words to take his disclosure out of context. "I made a choice to share it because having spent nearly two decades working with veterans all around the world, I think the most important thing is to be honest and be able to give space to others to be able to share their experiences without any shame." On Tuesday, the publisher of Harry's book said it had become the UK's fastest selling non-fiction book ever and its intimate personal revelations about his life and other royals, and his accusations about how they had worked with a hostile press, have dominated the British media for days. "I'm not going to lie the last few days have been hurtful and challenging," Harry said. (Reuters) KINGSTON, Jamaica and LOS ANGELES, Jan. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kaya Group ("Kaya" or "the Company") (OTC: NUGL), the first medicinal Ganja herb house in the Caribbean and holistic, wellness-focused ecosystem, announced today its Kaya Extracts subsidiary plans to enter the legal psilocybin market in Jamaica where the laws are relaxed, targeting the multibillion-dollar industry for the development, marketing and distribution of psilocybin mushrooms. This will include Kaya's current rollout of traditional Jamaica Psilocybin Mushroom and Capsules at its Herbhouse locations in Falmouth, Ocho Rios, and Kingston. The company continues to roll out further across Jamaica as demands continue to build for the product. The first milestone includes developing and launching our nutraceuticals' range of psilocybin concentrations from micro-doses to hallucinogenic levels of dosing. Psilocybin, a naturally occurring psychedelic compound found in certain mushrooms, has gained increasing attention for its potential to treat various mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety, and addiction. As a leader in the plant-based wellness industry, Kaya is committed to providing high-quality, responsibly sourced psilocybin products. Mushrooms containing the psychoactive compound psilocybin remain illegal in most parts of Europe and the United States. Currently, there are no regulations in Jamaica prohibiting the use of psilocybin. Jamaica's government has never outlawed the hallucinogenic fungus and is now cultivating investors to build up its psychedelics industry, which according to one estimate, could be worth $8 billion globally by 2028. Jamaica now has at least four psilocybin-focused resorts, three of which opened recently as the government has warmed to psychedelics and encouraged private investment in the sector. To get more locals involved in the industry, Jamaica Promotions Corporation (Jampro) has identified opportunities in cultivation, development of facilities that can process the fungus according to international standards, development of treatment facilities, and research and development. Jampro intends to position Jamaica as a primary destination for research and development, particularly in using the mushroom for developing treatments and the potential for export. Psilocybin mushrooms are considered a Schedule 1 drug in jurisdictions around the world. However, it has also been used in treating mental disorders such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder in many regions. Despite its designation as a drug in the US, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation for studies of psilocybin in depression disorders. University of California, Los Angeles; New York University; and Johns Hopkins University are among the research institutions in the US that have conducted studies on psilocybin. Bali Vaswani, Chief Executive Officer of NUGL and Founder of Kaya, commented, "We are thrilled to be able to offer our premium products in Jamaica, a country with a long tradition of using natural substances for medicinal and spiritual purposes. We believe that Jamaica is the perfect market for our psilocybin offerings and are excited to be able to contribute to the growing conversation around the potential benefits of this remarkable compound." Mr. Vaswani continued, "Our team is dedicated to conducting rigorous research and adhering to the highest safety and quality standards. We look forward to working with the Jamaican community to bring the transformative power of psilocybin to those who can benefit from it." About Kaya Group and NUGL Inc. NUGL and Kaya merged in April 2022 to form a multifaceted cannabis lifestyle company deriving globally diverse revenue streams from a portfolio of powerful brands and operations delivering quality at scale. Kaya operates one store in Kingston, another in the historic town of Falmouth, and its flagship retail store and farm operations are located in the tourism Mecca Ocho Rios. Kaya recently opened its first Wellness Center at The Gap, located in the Blue Mountains' pristine hills, in the Winter of 2022. Kaya Herb House Drax Hall is Jamaica's first legal Medical Marijuana dispensary. It offers tours of Kaya Farm, which has a variety of over 75 different genetics being cultivated and processed. Our retail complex includes Kaya Herb House with Dab Bar & Consumption Lounge on-premise. Our famous Square Grouper Bar hosts the world's most impressive lineup of reggae acts regularly. Website Kaya Herb House website Instagram Kaya Herb House Instagram Facebook - Kaya Herb House Facebook Twitter - Kaya Herb House Twitter NUGL App highlights profiles for businesses in all sectors of the cannabis industry, including retail stores, brands, services, events, and more. Our platform allows companies to build and structure detailed items within our global menu, aiding connections between business and consumer communities through targeted networking and enabling various advertising opportunities to expand their reach. Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements in this press release may be considered "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements may include projections of matters that affect revenue, operating expenses, or net earnings; projections of growth; and assumptions relating to the preceding. Such forward-looking statements generally start with the "plans," "anticipates," "expects," "believes," or similar words of like kind. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or qualified. Future events and actual results could differ materially from those outlined in, contemplated by, or underlying the forward-looking information. The company's business plan addresses these factors in greater detail, along with NUGL's current financial filings with the OTC Markets Group. ST. JOHNS, Newfoundland and Labrador, Jan. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Atlas Salt (the Company or Atlas - TSXV: SALT; OTCQB: REMRF), 100% owner of North Americas premier undeveloped high-grade salt project, has intersected a thick bed of salt in the easternmost drill hole at Great Atlantic. Drill hole CC-9 cut a gross interval of salt over 333 meters (1,092 feet) starting from a depth of 243 meters. The drill hole was collared 250 meters east of CC-4 and is anticipated to be the last drill hole for resource classification purposes subject to final analytical results pursuant to the ongoing Feasibility Study. Mr. Rowland Howe, Atlas President, commented: This step-out drill hole adds an exclamation mark to the work completed to date and further demonstrates the scale of this massive homogeneous deposit that begins at unusually shallow depths compared to operating underground mines in the sector. Great Atlantic has extraordinary advantages, all the attributes to become a state-of-the-art Salt Factory and a disruptive asset in the heart of the eastern North America road salt market. Preliminary Economic Assessment SLR Consulting (Canada) Ltd. (SLR) has advised Atlas that it is on track to provide the results of a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) of the Great Atlantic Project during the second half of January, 2023. This independent economic assessment is a prelude to the Feasibility Study and will describe the current economic valuation for the project subject to refinement in the final Feasibility Study expected during this first half of 2023. New Atlas Website Atlas Salt is pleased to unveil its new corporate website, www.AtlasSalt.com, with a clean, crisp, modern look optimized for a mobile user experience designed with SEO best practices in mind. The new website will assist the companys upcoming campaign to introduce the Atlas story to international investors. Corporate Video Click on the following link to view the companys latest corporate video: https://youtu.be/RlH5--Q2Vu0 Interview With Rowland Howe Why shouldnt it become the biggest and best underground salt mine in the world?: Atlas Salt President Rowland Howe discusses Great Atlantic click on the link below to view. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9M1SmCmtLlE Project Map Qualified Person Patrick J. Laracy, P.Geo, and CEO, is the Qualified Person responsible for the technical contents of this news release as defined in National Instrument 43-101. About Atlas Salt Bringing the Power of SALT to Investors: Atlas Salt owns 100% of the Great Atlantic salt deposit strategically located in western Newfoundland in the middle of the robust eastern North America road salt market. The project features a large homogeneous high-grade resource located immediately next to a deep water port. Atlas is also the largest shareholder in Triple Point Resources as it pursues development of the Fischells Brook Salt Dome in the heart of an emerging Clean Energy Hub on the west coast of Newfoundland. We seek Safe Harbor. For information, please contact: Patrick J. Laracy, CEO (709) 754-3186 Email: laracy@atlassalt.com MarketSmart Communications Inc. Adrian Sydenham Toll-free: 1-877-261-4466 Email: info@marketsmart.ca Forward-Looking Statements Certain information contained herein constitutes forward-looking information or statements (forward looking statements) under applicable securities legislation and rules. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as will be, or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results will occur. All statements within, other than statements of historical fact, are to be considered forward looking. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements do not guarantee future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. There can be no assurances that such statements will prove accurate and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such uncertainties. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as required under the applicable laws. TSX Venture Exchange Disclaimer Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/7edbecd6-3e78-4772-a38e-c9bd1ac71712 CALIFORNIA, Newport Beach, Jan. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Galexxy Holdings Inc., (Galexxy) (OTC: GXXY) is pleased to announce that its 100% owned subsidiary, Wellbeing Farms LLC, (WellBeing, WBF) has executed an exclusive Supply Agreement with AMM Distributors Inc., (AMM). This product Supply Agreement supports WBFs recently signed lease agreement in December 2022 for 40 Smart Vending Kiosks being installed in licensed outlets in the Chicago area. The Smart Kiosks which have advanced software and age verification capability will offer a range of CBD products including gummies, vapes and tinctures. Under the terms of this Supply Agreement, Wellbeing has retained the right to stock 50% of each Kiosks vending capacity for direct retail sales of its own Wellbeing Farms house brand, at full profit margin. Product sales from these first 40 units are projected to average approximately $90,000 per month and subject to satisfactory overall performance, AMM has indicated they have an established cliental and sizable network to place large Smart Kiosk orders. Early discussions around their new business pipeline, targets a potential need for more than 10,000 kiosks in the medium term. Management is also in discussion with several other potential customers who have a very strong likelihood of ordering a further 1,000 Kiosks. Michael Biagi, WBFs CEO stated that; We believe were at the forefront of Functional Mushroom - CBD formulated products. Were excited to combine these uniquely differentiated products into our exciting smart Kiosk marketing plan to meet growing consumer demand for easier and more convenient access to specialty supplements. Headquartered in Newport Beach, California with manufacturing facilities in Murietta, California, Galexxys shares are publicly traded on the OTC Markets (OTC: GXXY). Galexxy entered the rapidly developing markets for premium natural plant-based consumer health supplement products in April 2021 and completed its acquisition of Wellbeing Farms LLC., on August 4, 2022 and purchased 69% of ABC Wholesale Products LLC., on August 12, 2022. Galexxy Holdings Inc. Iain Saul E: Iain@galexxy.com M: (801) 243 9570 Forward-Looking Information This press release contains forward-looking information and forward-looking statements (collectively, statements). 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 press release. SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Matthews Asia launched the Matthews Emerging Markets ex China Active ETF (MEMX) on the New York Stock Exchange today, adding the power of choice for investors to the firms active ETF suite. The Matthews Emerging Markets ex China Active ETF provides investors with the ability to separate China from their core emerging markets allocations and thereby take control over the level of China exposure they have in their portfolios. Some investors currently want to avoid exposure to China, while others are looking to customize their specific allocations. An emerging markets ex China strategy can help mitigate both country-specific and idiosyncratic risk factors, while also placing greater emphasis on a broader number of emerging market opportunities often overlooked in core emerging markets portfolios. MEMX is managed by John Paul Lech as lead portfolio manager and Alex Zarechnak as co-portfolio manager, who also manage Matthews Emerging Markets Equity Active ETF (MEM) and Matthews Emerging Markets Equity mutual fund. Cooper Abbott, CEO of Matthews Asia commented: We have heard from institutional, RIA, and OCIOs that many investors want to have specific control of their China exposure, either to avoid it or to precisely allocate their exposures to this unique single-country allocation due to its size and market depth. We believe MEMX (active emerging markets ex-China equities), along with MCH (active China equities), and MEM (active emerging markets equities) enables investors to reduce single-country risk while improving diversification through exposure to other emerging markets such as smaller and selective exposure in the frontier and other markets. John Paul Lech, Lead Manager of MEM and MEMX commented: In my view, emerging markets can offer investors the biggest potential for long-term growth over many other equity asset classes. With this launch, investors now have a broader set of options to control their China exposure, either as part of a core emerging markets portfolio with MEM or excluding it with MEMX and using MCH to add dedicated China exposure. Michael Barrer, Head of ETF Capital Markets commented: The launch of the Matthews Emerging Markets ex China Active ETF provides investors with the power of choice in how they gain exposure to the important growth regions of emerging markets. This ETF leverages our expertise in emerging markets in order to offer a suite of actively managed investment solutions that enable investors to take a more customized approach to their emerging market portfolio and meet their risk return objectives. Matthews active ETFs provide investors with the same active management expertise that has served investors for over 30 years with the lineup of its mutual funds, adding benefits that include lower fees, increased tax efficiency and intra-day liquidity: Matthews Emerging Markets Equity Active ETF (NYSE Arca: MEM) Matthews Emerging Markets ex China Active ETF (NYSE Arca: MEMX) Matthews Asia Innovators Active ETF (NYSE Arca: MINV) Matthews China Active ETF (NYSE Arca: MCH) About Matthews Since 1991, we have focused our efforts and expertise within the Asia and the emerging markets, investing through a variety of market environments. As an independent, privately owned firm, Matthews is the largest dedicated Asia investment specialist in the United States. Matthews employs a bottom-up, fundamental investment philosophy, with a focus on long-term investment performance. For more information, please visit matthewsasia.com. You should carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of the Matthews Asia Funds before making an investment decision. A prospectus with this and other information about the Funds may be obtained by visiting matthewsasia.com. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing. The value of an investment in the Fund can go down as well as up and possible loss of principal is a risk of investing. Investments in international, emerging and frontier markets involve risks such as economic, social and political instability, market illiquidity, currency fluctuations, high levels of volatility, and limited regulation. Additionally, investing in emerging and frontier securities involves greater risks than investing in securities of developed markets, as issuers in these countries generally disclose less financial and other information publicly or restrict access to certain information from review by non-domestic authorities. Emerging and frontier markets tend to have less stringent and less uniform accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards, limited regulatory or governmental oversight, and limited investor protection or rights to take action against issuers, resulting in potential material risks to investors. Investing in Chinese securities involve risks. Heightened risks related to the regulatory environment and the potential actions by the Chinese government could negatively impact performance. In addition, single-country and sector funds may be subject to a higher degree of market risk than diversified funds because of concentration in a specific industry, sector or geographic location. Pandemics and other public health emergencies can result in market volatility and disruption. ETFs may trade at a premium or discount to NAV. Shares of any ETF are bought and sold at market price (not NAV) and are not individually redeemed from the Fund. Brokerage commissions will reduce returns. Matthews Asia Funds are distributed in the U.S. by Foreside Distributors LLC and in Latin America by Picton, S.A. Media Contact: Victoria Odinotska KANTER +703 685 9232 Investors can contact the law firm at no cost to learn more about recovering their losses LOS ANGELES, Jan. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Portnoy Law Firm advises Stem, Inc. (Stem or the Company) (NYSE: STEM) investors that the firm has initiated an investigation into possible securities fraud and may file a class action on behalf of investors. Super Micro investors that lost money on their investment are encouraged to contact Lesley Portnoy, Esq. Investors are encouraged to contact attorney Lesley F. Portnoy , by phone 844-767-8529 or email : lesley@portnoylaw.com, to discuss their legal rights, or click here to join the case via www.portnoylaw.com . The Portnoy Law Firm can provide a complimentary case evaluation and discuss investors options for pursuing claims to recover their losses. On January 11, 2023, Blue Orca Capital published a short report containing multiple allegations, among which is the claim that STEM is secretly financing its main customer to buy energy storage systems from STEM, instead of the customer buying it on its own. The report asserts that this is not a sign of STEM's ability to compete for large-scale projects, but rather a result of STEM covertly funding the purchase. The report also raises doubts about the revenue generated by STEM's software services. According to the report, most of this revenue comes not from software but from an old business where STEM rents hardware to customers in "host customer arrangements". These agreements, which STEM is phasing out, are similar to hardware leases with only a small software and service component. However, STEM is trying to claim that all revenue from these contracts is from software, despite the fact that STEM does not own most of the systems being leased, 87% of them are owned by special purpose vehicles that STEM does not control, yet STEM uses accounting tricks to claim the revenue as its own. Please visit our website to review more information and submit your transaction information. The Portnoy Law Firm represents investors in pursuing claims against caused by corporate wrongdoing. The Firms founding partner has recovered over $5.5 billion for aggrieved investors. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes. Lesley F. Portnoy, Esq. Admitted CA and NY Bar lesley@portnoylaw.com 310-692-8883 www.portnoylaw.com Attorney Advertising TORONTO, Jan. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kinross Gold Corporation (TSX:K; NYSE:KGC) (the Company) will release its 2022 fourth-quarter and full-year financial statements and operating results on Wednesday, February 15, 2023, after market close. The Company will also provide its full-year 2023 guidance, mineral reserve, and mineral resource statement as of December 31, 2022, and an exploration and project update. Kinross will hold a conference call and audio webcast on Thursday, February 16, 2023, at 8 a.m. ET to present the results, followed by a question-and-answer session. The call-in numbers for the conference call on Thursday, February 16, 2023, at 8 a.m. ET are as follows: Canada & US toll-free +1 (888) 330-2446; Passcode: 4915537 Outside of Canada & US +1 (240) 789-2732; Passcode: 4915537 Replay (available up to 14 days after the call): Canada & US toll-free +1 (800) 770-2030; Passcode: 4915537 Outside of Canada & US +1 (647) 362-9199; Passcode: 4915537 You may also access the conference call on a listen-only basis via webcast at our website www.kinross.com. The audio webcast will be archived on www.kinross.com. Kinross quarterly reporting schedule for the remainder of 2023 will be as follows: Q1 2023 Tuesday, May 9, 2023; financial statements and operating results will be released after market close. A conference call and audio webcast will be held on Wednesday, May 10, 2023, at 7:45 a.m. ET. Tuesday, May 9, 2023; financial statements and operating results will be released after market close. A conference call and audio webcast will be held on Wednesday, May 10, 2023, at 7:45 a.m. ET. Annual Meeting of Shareholders Wednesday, May 10, 2023; the meeting will be held at 10 a.m. ET. Wednesday, May 10, 2023; the meeting will be held at 10 a.m. ET. Q2 2023 Wednesday, August 2, 2023; financial statements and operating results will be released after market close. A conference call and audio webcast will be held on Thursday, August 3, 2023, at 8 a.m. ET. Wednesday, August 2, 2023; financial statements and operating results will be released after market close. A conference call and audio webcast will be held on Thursday, August 3, 2023, at 8 a.m. ET. Q3 2023 Wednesday, November 8, 2023; financial statements and operating results will be released after market close. A conference call and audio webcast will be held on Thursday, November 9, 2023, at 8 a.m. ET. About Kinross Gold Corporation Kinross is a Canadian-based global senior gold mining company with operations and projects in the United States, Brazil, Mauritania, Chile and Canada. Our focus is on delivering value based on the core principles of responsible mining, operational excellence, disciplined growth, and balance sheet strength. Kinross maintains listings on the Toronto Stock Exchange (symbol:K) and the New York Stock Exchange (symbol:KGC). Media Contact Victoria Barrington Senior Director, Corporate Communications phone: 289-455-1950 victoria.barrington@kinross.com Investor Relations Contact Chris Lichtenheldt Vice-President, Investor Relations phone: 416-365-2761 chris.lichtenheldt@kinross.com Source: Kinross Gold Corp. Prince Harry condemns 'dangerous spin' about his Taliban comments International News Jan - 11 - 2023 , 11:32 Prince Harry has said claims that he was boasting when he wrote in his new book about killing 25 Taliban fighters in Afghanistan are a "dangerous lie". The prince has been criticised for discussing killings in Spare, with some military figures saying it was wrong to refer to the dead as "chess pieces". But on US TV, Harry accused the press of taking his words out of context and said the spin endangered his family. He also defended his remarks, saying he had wanted to reduce veteran suicide. Spare, which was published on Tuesday, has become the fastest-selling non-fiction book ever in the UK. Some 400,000 copies of the memoir have been bought, despite many excerpts being leaked in the press ahead of its official release. In a wide-ranging interview with Stephen Colbert on The Late Show - the first conducted after details from the book were published - Harry suggested there had been attempts to undermine his book, spoke of his fractured relationship with his brother, and attacked the "bigoted" British press. Harry said writing the book had been a "cathartic" experience and the "most vulnerable I have ever been in my life", while also leaving him feeling stronger. But he added: "The last few days have been hurtful and challenging, not being able to do anything about those leaks." In his condemnation of the media coverage, Harry claimed outlets had intentionally chosen to "strip away the context" of his account. "Without a doubt, the most dangerous lie that they have told, is that I somehow boasted about the number of people I killed in Afghanistan," he said. "If I heard anyone boasting about that kind of thing, I would be angry. But it's a lie. "It's really troubling and very disturbing that they can get away with it... My words are not dangerous - but the spin of my words are very dangerous to my family. That is a choice they've made." He said he had wanted to be honest about his experience in Afghanistan, and to give veterans the space to share theirs "without any shame". "My whole goal and my attempt with sharing that detail is to reduce the number of [veteran] suicides," he added. Harry also claimed Buckingham Palace attempted to undermine the stories told in his memoir, assisted by the British press. No names were mentioned but host Colbert asked if there had been attempts by the palace to undermine the book. "Of course, and mainly by the British press," he replied, without going into more detail. A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman declined to comment on the claim, and other allegations made by Harry in the book. When asked about his brother Prince William allegedly pushing him over during an argument, he showed the audience the necklace that was broken in the incident. "This one - which is now fixed. We've got my kids' heartbeats [engravings of their cardiogram readings] which my wife gave me," he explained. In lighter moments during the interview, Harry drank tequila with Colbert and joked that it felt like "group therapy". He was asked questions about getting frostbite on his penis on a trip to the North Pole and performed a skit introducing the show with Hollywood actor Tom Hanks. The prince also admitted he watched Netflix series The Crown - the drama based on the Royal Family - and joked about fact-checking it. On his late grandmother the Queen, he said he most remembers her sharp wit, sense of humour and her "ability to respond to anybody with a completely straight face - but totally joking". In Spare, Prince Harry reveals for the first time that he killed 25 enemy fighters during two tours in the Helmand region of Afghanistan. "So, my number: 25. It wasn't a number that gave me any satisfaction. But neither was it a number that made me feel ashamed," he writes. "Naturally I'd have preferred not to have that number on my military CV, on my mind, but by the same token I'd have preferred to live in a world in which there was no Taliban, a world without war... "While in the heat and fog of combat, I didn't think of those 25 as people. You can't kill people if you think of them as people. You can't really harm people if you think of them as people. "They were chess pieces removed from the board, Bad taken away before they could kill Goods. "I'd been trained to 'other-ize' them, trained well. On some level I recognised this learned detachment as problematic. "But I also saw it as an unavoidable part of soldiering. Another reality that can't be changed." He goes to say he would never forget watching people jump from the World Trade Centre on 9/11 and the war was "avenging one of the most heinous crimes in world history". Subsequent media coverage of the comments, which were leaked to the press ahead of the book's publication, drew criticism from figures in the military. Ex-army officer Col Richard Kemp, who oversaw forces in Afghanistan, told the BBC he was concerned at references to dead Taliban insurgents as chess pieces, saying such descriptions could give "propaganda to the enemy". And ex-colonel Tim Collins, who gained worldwide fame for an eve-of battle speech to troops in Iraq, said: "He has badly let the side down. We don't do notches on the rifle butt. We never did." If you dare authority of newly installed Bomaa chief, Ill fight till last blood - Dormaahene Biiya Mukasah Ali Jan - 11 - 2023 , 18:04 The Dormaahene, Osagyefo Oseadeeyo Agyemang Badu II, has reacted to last Sundays chieftaincy dispute at Bomaa in the Ahafo Region which resulted in the death of one person and injuries to five other persons. At a press conference in Sunyani Wednesday (Jan 11, 2023), Osagyefo Oseadeeyo Agyemang Badu II said it was unfortunate that the incident happened and advised the youth in the area to stay calm and not allow anyone to deceive them. He said his focus was to ensure the rapid development of the community, after he had finished installing the new chief. Ceremony He said processes leading to the installation of the new chief at Bomaa was peaceful, because he, himself (Dormaahene) was in the community to perform his customary rites until the following day when he heard about the shooting incident. Oseadeeyo Agyemang Badu said he would not change his decision of installing a new chief at Bomaa, saying, I have installed someone as Bomaahene, period, it cant change. If you dare that person's authority, I will fight you till I lose my last blood, he said at the press conference which was covered by Graphic Online's reporter in Sunyani, Biiya Mukasah Ali. He cautioned individuals who were fanning the Bomaa chieftaincy dispute to stay away from it for the sake of peace and development. Investigate shooting incident On the Bomaa shooting incident last Sunday, which led to the death of one person, the Dormaahene, has asked the police to do a thorough investigation and identify who fired the shot. Osagyefo Oseadeeyo Agyemang Badu II addressing the media in Sunyani today said the police should launch a swift investigation to bring the person who shot and killed the 40-year-old teacher, Joseph Oduro Beniako to book. He explained that in order not to get a bad name about the death and disturbances in the community, I want the security agencies to investigate and find the killer of the young man. On Sunday, January 8, 2023, the deceased popularly known as Sir Joe was shot dead on the spot, while five others sustained gunshot wounds at about 11pm at Bomaa. The shooting erupted during a disagreement over the installation of a new chief in the town after the death of the Bomaahene, Nana Kwafo Akoto. The Dormaahene, Osagyefo Oseadeeyo Agyemang Badu II has said the Bomaa area is under the Dormaa paramountcy. The chiefs and some people of the area on their part have challenged that position by the Dormaahene and insisted that they owe allegiance to Asanteman and therefore will continue their allegiance to the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II. Some chiefs and elders from Bomaa recently called on the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II at the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi to pledge their continued allegiance. [WATCH ATTACHED VIDEO BELOW] One faction initiated moves to install a new chief at Bomaa and this resulted in the shooting incident leading to the death of one person and injuries to others on Sunday Oseadeeyo Agyemang Badu, said before the shooting incident on Sunday, all customary rites for the installation of the new chief, Barima Kyeremeh Gyanaa had been performed. He said processes leading to the installation of the new chief at Bomaa was peaceful, because he [Dormaahene] was in the community to perform his customary rites until the following day when he heard about the shooting incident. He said he would not change his decision of installing a new chief at Bomaa, saying, I have installed someone as Bomaahene, period, it cant change. If you dare that person's authority, I will fight you till I lose my last blood. Following the disturbances in the farming community, the Ahafo Regional Security Council (REGSEC) moved in to intervene and imposed a curfew on the community, which took force from 5 pm to 7 am daily, pending periodic assessments and reviews. The Ahafo Regional Police Command has since beefed up security in the community to avoid further disturbances. Paramountcy Oseadeeyo Agyemang Badu, who is also the President of the Bono Regional House of Chiefs, insisted the Bomaa area was under the Dormaa paramountcy and could not understand why he was prevented from performing his customary function. He explained that customarily, the Bomaa area belonged to the Dormaa paramountcy for close to 400 years, You can go and do your own investigation. He said before the shooting incident on Sunday, all customary rites for the installation of the new chief of Bomaa, Barima Kyeremeh Gyanaa had been performed. Oseadeeyo Agyemang Badu said he did not see why he should go ahead to cause disturbances after he had finished achieving his aim of installing a chief. We need strong management measures to recover declining fish stocks FCWC boss Zadok Kwame Gyesi Jan - 11 - 2023 , 14:59 The Secretary-General of the Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC), Mr Seraphin Dedi, has urged member states to take appropriate and strong management measures to help recover the regions declining fish stocks. He said strong management measures such as the creation of marine protected areas, fishing closed season, as well as transshipment management and monitoring of fishery efforts, would help to protect the shared stocks within the FCWC region. He said the FCWC is actively working toward contributing to ocean economy development and the achievement of UN SDGs by its member states. The FCWC was established in 2007 to promote and facilitate cooperation in fisheries management between the FCWCs member countriesGhana, Togo, Nigeria, Liberia, Benin, and Cote d'Ivoire. These six FCWC countries have several shared fish stocks and identified the need for cooperation and shared management of these resources. Speaking at the opening of the 14th session of the Conference of the Ministers of the Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea in Accra on Wednesday, January 11, 2023, Mr Dedi, said the organisation as a regional advisory body is prioritising effective fisheries management, the improved implementation of fisheries policy and management plans (including determining the feasibility of a regional closed season) to rebuild the fisheries stock, sustain the economy and enhance the food security of the region. For him, the two-day conference, which will end on January 13, 2023, would provide the opportunity for the six member states to commit to harmonise policy and common actions to be taken to address depleting fisheries stocks and develop aquaculture in the region under ECOWASs integrated fisheries and aquaculture development strategy. The 14th session of the Conference of the Ministers of the Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea, which is being done in-person and online, is on the theme: Supporting effective fisheries management for a sustainable blue economy. The conference is being attended by the fisheries ministers of the six FCWC member states or their representatives, as well as representatives of development partners of FCWC, including ECOWAS, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), African Union, and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The sessions participants would deliberate on the theme, review the past years results, and agree on a work plan and budget for the 2023/2024 period to be submitted to the Ministers to adopt. Explaining further on what FCWC had done to sustainably manage the regions fish stocks, Mr Dedi said, activities planned by FCWC and its partners for the year 2022 were carried out successfully. In addition, he noted, capacities of member states had been built on the functioning of the Regional Vessel Monitoring System and also on the development of the FCWC Regional MCS Centre five (05) standard operating procedures (SOPS). For the FCWC boss, the problems and challenges that migrating fish create in the region are multi-sectorial and trans-boundary in character and therefore need the concerted efforts of all stakeholders in the sub-region to tackle them. Mr Dedi also expressed the concern that foreign vessels were not only poaching our fish but also using our waters as transit routes for their trade in hard drugs. He said the West African region is considered a hotspot for illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and its associated crimes, including piracy and illegal trade, such as hard drugs. That, he explained, to clamp down on IUU and other forms of crimes in the FCWC region, it had signed an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with ECOWAS and Sub-Regional Fisheries Commission (SRFC), saying We really value this strategical partnership that will certainly enhance FCWC institutional framework and support its continuous effort to participate actively in the sustainable use of our resources and global growth of the ocean economy in the region. Mazda North American Operations announced that the 2023 Mazda MX-30 EV will be arriving in California dealerships this spring, with a starting price of $34,110. Equipped with Mazdas e-Skyactiv technology and a 35.5 kWh lithium-ion battery, the MX-30 has an EPA-estimated range of 100 miles on a full charge. The MX-30s modern styling is distinctly a 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 Mazdas heritage as a cork manufacturer. An 8.8-inch large center display features the latest Mazda Connect system, Apple CarPlay, and Android Auto. 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 Brake Support, Rear Direction Base Safety (Smart Brake Support-Reverse & Rear Cross-Traffic Braking), Lane Departure Warning, Lane Keep Assist, Driver Attention Alert, and High Beam Control. The 2023 Mazda MX-30 EV can be equipped with the Premium Plus package that enhances the vehicle with the Bose 12-speaker premium audio, heated steering wheel, 360 View Monitor with front parking sensors, Mazda Advanced Keyless Entry, and a complimentary three-month trial of SiriusXM satellite radio. The additional i-Activsense safety features with this package include 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 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 3 mph. Mazda will introduce a plug-in hybrid powertrain option for the MX-30 at the Brussels Motor Show 2023 this month. (Earlier post.) Available on the European market this spring, the plug-in hybrid powertrain of Mazdas compact crossover will feature an electric generator powered by a newly-developed rotary engine. Last week, Samsung Colombia accidentally confirmed the Galaxy S23's launch date as it set up an event page on its website for the Galaxy Unpacked event on February 1, 2023. That page was later deleted, but the Korean conglomerate today sent out invites for its Galaxy Unpacked 2023 event on February 1, which will begin at 6PM UTC. The Galaxy Unpacked 2023 event will be held in San Francisco, which will be the first in-person Unpacked event in three years since the COVID-19 pandemic began. It will also be streamed live on Samsung's official website and YouTube channel for those who couldn't attend it. Samsung hasn't explicitly mentioned the Galaxy S23 in its official announcement, but its post says, "A new era of Galaxy innovation is coming. Our innovations are designed to enable incredible possibilities for people today and beyond. The new Galaxy S series will be the epitome of how we define the ultimate premium experience. Were raising the bar and setting new standards for whats epic." This confirms the company will unveil the Galaxy S23 lineup on February 1. The Galaxy S23 series is expected to consist of three smartphones - Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23+, and Galaxy S23 Ultra. The Ultra model is rumored to sport a 200MP camera. Samsung is also expected to unveil new laptops, but there's no word yet from the brand about the new notebooks or smartphones. However, you can expect Samsung to drop some teasers about the upcoming products in the lead-up to the February 1 Galaxy Unpacked event. Samsung is ready to unpack its Galaxy S23 series on February 1 and those eager to be first in line to receive their new phones can already save their spot. Samsung US has opened reservations for the Galaxy S23 series where $50 gets you a waiting spot for one of the new Galaxy S23 smartphones with the sum going towards Samsung Store credit once the phones are available. Samsung US reservation options The bookings page is also offering $50 reservations for the upcoming Galaxy Book laptop thats also expected to launch at the February 1 event. Users can also pledge $100 to reserve a Galaxy S23 smartphone and a Galaxy Book laptop together. Samsung India has also opened up reservations with a INR 1,999 fee getting your the #Next Galaxy VIP Pass. Samsung India reservation process Reservations on Samsung US are open until February 1 and youll be required to enter a valid email and your personal details to confirm your interest. Once the phones and laptop are announced, Samsung will get in touch to finalize your payment. Samsung US reservation page | Samsung India reservation page The Port Authority of Guam at Cabras Island, Piti, Dec 1, 2022. Port officials announced one of the agencys three gantry cranes will be offline through Jan. 23 for scheduled maintenance and repairs. Editors note: This is the first of a two-part story about the wargaming of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan conducted by the Centers for Strategic and International Studies. The second story will feature commentary from Joint Region Marianas, which was unable to respond to queries as of press time Wednesday. According to war game simulations run by a Washington-based think tank, Guam gets struck by the Chinese military in each of the most likely Taiwan invasion scenarios. Chinas Peoples Liberation Army is unlikely to prevail in the invasion, according to a report released by the Centers for Strategic and International Studies which goes over 24 separate simulations but the U.S. and its allies in Japan and Taiwan will lose tens of thousands of service members over the course of the fight. The project plays out a conventional war between the two superpowers, not a nuclear conflict. The U.S. Department of Defenses wargaming of a Taiwan invasion also remains classified, the report notes, and the wargaming done by CSIS is meant to drive public understanding of the outcomes and costs of a conflict over Taiwan. Likely target Andersen Air Force Base is a very likely target for the Chinese military and the chances of the island being struck increase if Japan chooses to remain neutral in a battle over Taiwan, leaving the Yigo base as the primary launching point for U.S. aircraft, according to the report. Guam gets struck by China in each of the base scenarios and war game situations in which a conflict kicks off, with the most likely assumptions in play. Even in the most optimistic scenario that they present they label that the optimistic scenario Guam is also attacked in that, said Kenneth Gofigan Kuper, a political science professor at the University of Guam and member of regional think tank Pacific Center for Island Security. Guam a magnet The latest report from CSIS matches up with previously run war games in which Guam is taken as an early target by China, Kuper said. The island is a magnet for Chinese missiles. Were seeing that our stability, our fate here in Guam, is more and more linked to the geopolitical struggles that are going on in the world. And so, with U.S.-China tensions, particularly surrounding Taiwan, I think the overall lesson is, as goes Taiwan, so goes Guam. War games conducted by CSIS anticipate a conflict over Taiwan erupting in 2026, in light of recent talks in national security circles that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan could come even sooner than anticipated. Timeline The timeline is pretty in line with what a lot of the United States strategic thinkers believe, said Kuper, adding that the former head of Indo-Pacific Command, Adm. Phil Davidson, has placed the outbreak of a conflict around 2027. Much of the report deals with strategic adjustments that should be made for the U.S. military to be capable of swiftly defeating Chinese forces. Kuper said even if the U.S. military is fortified such that it can fend off any Chinese incursions into the island, just a single attack would be disastrous for residents. Conflict is not inevitable, but it is possible as tensions heat up, he said, pointing to the recently reported approach of the Liaoning Carrier Strike Group to the island. Residents and local leaders need to track the potential for war more closely as its harder to argue Guam isnt a target, Kuper said. How do we process that information? Were going to differ, but the fact on the ground, I think, is that in 23 that target is being drawn larger and larger on Guam. The Guam Waterworks Authority wants permission to raise new arguments and get a judges ruling in its $220 million legal battle with Core Tech, which claims to own the land being used for the islands northern district wastewater treatment plant. The 2018 lawsuit, originally filed by the government of Guam and later joined by GWA, had an April 2021 deadline for both sides to file motions in the case, including any motions for summary judgment. But GWA wants Superior Court of Guam Judge Elyze Iriarte to exercise her discretion and accept a new motion for summary judgment by the water agency, stating there is good cause for the judge to allow it. Core Tech opposes Core Tech last week opposed GWAs request, telling the judge it likely would prolong the case for two years, depriving Core Tech of the finality and just compensation it requires. GovGuam and the Department of Land Management sued Core Tech in 2018, seeking the courts permission to revoke or change the certificates of title Land Management issued in 2010 for the disputed Dededo property, which used to belong to the U.S. military. GWA has operated a treatment plant at the site since 1980. According to Land Management, one of its land registrars erroneously issued certificates of title for the property, making four different mistakes. Core Tech countersued in January 2020, claiming GovGuam and GWA illegally condemned its land without paying for it and are encroaching on Core Tech property after tearing down Core Techs fences to expand the wastewater facility. $220 million If Core Techs claims are successful, GWA and its customers could be asked to pay Core Tech as much as $220 million, retroactive to 1980, although Core Tech acquired the property only seven years ago. The wastewater site is on ancestral land part of a former Air Force communications annex the federal government later declared excess and returned to the government of Guam. The military, when it owned the property, leased it to GovGuam for use as a wastewater plant. The Guam Ancestral Lands Commission deeded 257 acres of excess federal land to the estate of Jose Martinez Torres, including part of the communications annex. The Torres estate in September 2007 sold 252 acres of its ancestral land to Kil Yoo Yoon for $21.4 million. Yoon in January 2010 deeded the land to his company, Younex Enterprises Corporation. Default Core Tech acquired the property in May 2015, for $178.1 million after Younex defaulted on its mortgage with Core Tech. GWAs proposed motion sets forth undisputed facts that conclusively establish its exclusive title to the disputed property as a matter of law, GWA stated in its Dec. 6 motion to the court. According to GWA, it wants the courts permission to argue that: A 1997 grant deed from the government of Guam gave GWA title to the plant property. The plant property never reverted to the government of Guam and therefore wasnt transferred to the Guam Ancestral Lands Commission. According to GWA, its new motion could be considered by the court at the same time as a pending motion for summary judgment by Core Tech because both rely on the same documents and information. Significant assets Given that the case involves one of Guams most significant public assets a critical sewage treatment facility and system that serves the northern villages and the military the cloud that Core Tech has placed over the plant should be resolved as quickly as possible, GWA stated. Core Tech told the judge GWA hasnt demonstrated good faith and has disregarded court-ordered deadlines and the rules of procedure in connection with the case. GWA has failed to show that it should be excused for its delay of 20 months to file its own summary judgment motion, Core Tech stated. 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. Published on 2023/01/10 | Source Actress Lim Ji-yeon is becoming a global star through "The Glory". The situation is showing signs of spreading to the world with favorable reviews of rediscovery. Advertisement Lim Ji-yeon showed a new look by playing Park Yeon-jin, who presents Moon Dong-eun (Song Hye-kyo) with indelible pain in the recently released Netflix series "The Glory". In particular, Lim Ji-yeon was praised as a 'rediscovery' by showing cool acting that completely erases her performances in her previous works even though this is her first villain role. Above all, interest in Lim Ji-yeon is also increasing as "The Glory" is gaining popularity not only in Korea but also around the world. According to the Netflix Top 10 website, "The Glory" recorded 25.41 million viewing hours in three days after its release, ranking third in the Netflix Global Top 10 TV (non-English) category. "The Glory" was listed on the top 10 list of 19 countries, including South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Kuwait, Singapore, Morocco, and Hong Kong. Foreign media are also giving favorable reviews for Lim Ji-yeon's performance. Indonesia's famous media outlet IDN TIMES shed light on Lim Ji-yeon's performance in "The Glory", analyzed her previous filmography, and Vietnamese media THANHAN NIEN praised her for 'successful acting'. In addition, the number of followers of Lim Ji-yeon's Instagram account has increased by about 1.5 times compared to the previous seven days after the release of "The Glory". Meanwhile, Part 1 of "The Glory" is currently streaming, and Part 2 is scheduled to be released in March. Published on 2023/01/10 | Source Actor Moon Sang-min has become a new model for the watch brand Romanson. Advertisement In the pictorial released on the 2nd, Moon Sang-min draws attention with his wannabe boyfriend's visuals. Moon Sang-min's charm, which creates a romantic mood by staring at the camera with various eyes, seems to be enough to capture women's hearts. An official from Romanson said, "We expect that Moon Sang-min's young and sophisticated mood and Romanson's modern and classic style will create a good synergy effect". Moon Sang-min's agency Awesome Ent said, "We ask for your high expectations for Moon Sang-min's appearance, which will show off various charms in good works, pictorials, and advertisements in 2023". Meanwhile, Moon Sang-min debuted in the 2019 web drama "Four Reasons Why I Don't Like Christmas" and became a leading actor three years after his debut with tvN's "Under the Queen's Umbrella" after making his face known with Netflix's "My Name". He has established himself as a rising star by captivating viewers in various ways, not only his stable acting skills but also his eye-catching height and low-pitched voice. In 2023, he is coming back with a new look in the TVING original "Duty After School". Published on 2023/01/10 | Source Press conference photos added for the upcoming Korean drama "Poong, the Joseon Psychiatrist - Season 2" (2022). Advertisement Directed by Park Won-gook Written by Choi Min-ho-II, Lee Bom-I, Park Seul-gi-I Network: tvN With Kim Min-jae-I, Kim Hyang-gi, Kim Sang-kyung, Ahn Chang-hwan, Jeon Guk-hyang, Yeon Bo-ra,... Wed, Thu 22:30 Synopsis Adapted from a novel and follow-up to "Poong, the Joseon Psychiatrist" Yoo Se-poong, a well-known physician of the medical center, was kicked out after being involved in a royal conspiracy. He turns into a true physician from the heart after meeting Gye Ji-han and Seo Eun-woo. Broadcast starting date in Korea : 2023/01/11 Anton Sokolenko , a representative of the non-governmental organisation behind the service, told the Finnish public broadcaster by e-mail that the service has received around 600700 orders, with a total value of over 140,000 euros, from Finland. FINNS have donated the second most to the Armed Forces of Ukraine through SignMyRocket, an online service allowing people to have their messages written on ammunition used to defend Ukraine, reports YLE. Only Americans, he added, have donated more through the service than Finns. Sokolenko also stated that the donations are used to acquire cars, drones, generators, tyres and warm clothes for members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Among the Finns who have publicly talked about their donations through the service are Jussi Halla-aho (PS), the chairperson of the Parliaments Foreign Affairs Committee, Martti J. Kari, a professor of practice, security and strategic analyses at the University of Jyvaskyla, and author Sofi Oksanen. Their donation announcements have provoked heated discussion not only on social media where some commentators have viewed that the practice glorifies killing but also on Iltalehti and Helsingin Sanomat. Halla-aho on Monday wrote on Facebook that demonising Russian soldiers and carnivalising their killing is necessary. The war wont end until so many Russian soldiers have been killed that it becomes politically or militarily impossible for Russian leaders to continue the war, he argued. If killing Russian soldiers is right and necessary in this circumstance, also everything that promotes their killing is right and necessary. Oksanen, similarly, defended the practice by arguing that irony, humour and anecdotes are forms of resistance that can be critical for the public ability to cope in challenging circumstances. They helped people to cope in the Soviet Union, and they also contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union, she wrote in an e-mail to Helsingin Sanomat. They are means for people to cope in undemocratic countries. They are now means for people to cope at the front, and they are now means for Ukrainians to cope in Ukraine. They are means to keep the resistance alive. Oksanen also suggested that such use of language does not compare to the how the Russian leadership is using language to foment genocide. Aleksi Teivainen HT The overhaul of the legislation on sex crimes will mean a lot of learning and a re-construction of interrogations for the police. The old questions wont get you far, Saara Asmundela , a detective chief inspector at Central Finland Police Department, stated to Helsingin Sanomat on Tuesday. THE OVERHAUL of the Finnish legislation on sex crimes carried out at the beginning of the year warrants a re-think of the questions used by police when interrogating rape suspects and victims. The focus of interrogations, the newspaper wrote, will shift from determining if the suspect used violence or the threat of violence or, alternatively, if the victim was in a helpless state to determining if the victim had consented to the act. The shift aligns with the re-definition of rape adopted on 1 January 2023. The Finnish criminal code presently defines rape as sexual intercourse with a person who has not consented to it by way of actions, gestures or language. The section on sex crimes used to define rape as intercourse where one party is coerced to participate through violence or the threat of violence or intercourse with a person who is incapable of defending themselves or expressing their will due to, for example, fear, disability or unconsciousness. Asmundela, who has headed rape investigations for roughly five years, declined to evaluate how easy or difficult it will be to determine in practice whether the act was consensual or non-consensual. In spite of the shift in focus, she added, investigators will continue to look into whether violence or the threat of violence was used and whether the victim was able to express their will as such elements can indicate that the victim was not participating voluntarily. Voluntary participation is regarded as participation that you yourself have chosen when youve had the capacity and freedom to make such a choice, summarised Asmundela. Helsingin Sanomat highlighted that the adoption of a consent-based definition of rape led to a 75-per-cent increase in rape convictions in Sweden. Also the Finnish government predicted in its bill that the number of rape investigations would rise substantially as a consequence of the legislative amendment. Asmundela reminded that the extent of the increase will depend on how well the public understands the amendment. It may not be perfectly clear to everyone. Not everyone may yet understand that the threshold for liability is lower compared to what it was earlier, she commented to the daily newspaper. The introduction of a consent-based definition for rape has been described as one of the central legislative changes of the government of Prime Minister Sanna Marin (SDP). Its ultimate objective is to strengthen the right to sexual self-determination and the protection of personal autonomy. Aleksi Teivainen HT Office manager charged with embezzling $567,000 from medical practice Kerry Henderson Spachman The office manager of a well-known medical practice faces nine felonies after her arrest on charges that she embezzled $567,000 from the clinic. Kerry Henderson Spachman, 57, faces a March hearing on the charges, which came after a Hendersonville police detective and an SBI agent investigated the case over a two-year period. She worked at the internal medicine practice of Dr. James J. Caserio, a 1978 graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine who has been practicing here for more than 45 years. Spachman worked in the office from 2008 until she was fired in September 2020 after the practice discovered how the money went missing. From 2013 to 2019, search warrant applications show, Spachman embezzled $567,233.64 by writing checks payable to cash and depositing them into her personal accounts at State Employees Credit Union and First Citizens Bank. On 81 checks, totaling $82,069, she used Caserios signature stamp, the warrant said. The rest 485 checks totaling $485,165 Caserio signed unknowingly when the manager commingled the fraudulent checks with legitimate office and payroll checks, Michael B. Phillips, a special agent with the SBI, said in one of numerous search warrant applications the Lightning reviewed. Detectives also suspected that Spachman used Caserios business credit and debit cards to make 550 online purchases from Amazon, eBay and PayPal plus airline tickets from American, United, Southwest and Jet Blue. The online purchases totaled $174,824. Although Caserio and his family members believe those were orders for Spachman, her family and friends, detectives and prosecutors say they could not charge her with theft because they believed they could not prove who actually took possession of the merchandise, which was delivered to Caserio's internal medicine practice. When a reporter visited her briefly on her front porch on a drizzly Sunday afternoon, Spachman declined to answer questions about the case. I dont want to talk to you, she said. I dont want to say anything. Check signatures forged As office manager, Spachman was responsible for answering the phone, making payroll, paying the clinics bills, managing the budget and making deposits. Dr. Caserio told detectives that the manager did not have authority to sign checks or use office credit or debit cards without authorization, nor had he ever authorized extra payments to her beyond her regular paycheck. The alleged thefts over seven years came to light some time before the summer of 2020 after Dr. Caserio asked his daughter, Christina Caserio, to examine the financial records. In September 2020, Hendersonville police detective Malinda Durner received a call from Sharon Alexander, Dr. Caserios attorney, who reported that the clinics office manager had allegedly been embezzling money since approximately 2008. (The investigation identified thefts starting in 2013.) Alexander said Spachman had been writing checks to herself in small amounts, under $2,000, and that Christina Caserio had created a spreadsheet showing that in 2016 Spachman had diverted approximately $300,000 into her own account, Durner said in an application for a search warrant. The next day, Dr. Caserios wife, Marcia, called Durner to formally report the office embezzlement and two weeks later met with the detective in person to go over the findings of her investigation. In the first phone conversation to report the theft, Mrs. Caserio said that when Spachman was told why she was being terminated, she responded, I didnt take that much. Durner said that in checking Spachmans social media activity, she learned that a daughter had gotten married in September 2019. I also observed that she went on a family vacation in Nassau with possibly nine family (members) and friends, the detective said. As she examined the suspected fraudulent checks, Durner noticed that Dr. Caserios signature changes a number of times and appears to be forged. In the search warrant application she submitted in October 2020, Durner documented losses from fraudulent checks of $24,100 in 2016, $109,975 in 2017, $177,450 in 2018, $87,561 in 2019 and $14,075 in 2020. Spachman wrote checks to cash or to herself, then deposited them into her personal account at State Employees Credit Union or First Citizens Bank, Durner said. In the clinics business ledger, she would write that the checks had been paid to Dr. Caserio. She also wrote numerous checks to herself that she recorded in the business ledger as payments to vendors, Durner said. Marcia Caserio told the detective in the course of the investigation that vendors had been calling to report that the practice was delinquent in payments. During the in-person meeting with the detective, Mrs. Caserio said Spachman could have easily taken advantage of how busy Dr. Caserio is and just hand him checks while he is busy with patients and ask him to sign the checks, or she could be forging his signature. Caserio: I was going to lose my whole practice It was not as if the practice didnt miss the money, Dr. Caseerio said in an interview Tuesday. The problem was that he never suspect an office manager he deeply trusted was embezzling money from the business. So we kind of figured that (Medicare) reimbursements were down and we were making less income and I kept working more and more, he said. She falsified checks, forged my name on checks, and took a loan out for $103,000 all on line and falsified my name and my signature. She created a false Amazon account and charged a couple hundred thousand on that. The financial situation became so dire that Caserio worried he couldnt make payroll. His sister, Rebecca, who has since died of cancer, was a very wealthy physician and she set up a deposit for emergency use only to make payroll," he said. "We werent making payroll. I didnt make a paycheck. Although Caserio never used the emergency fund, Spachman did, he said. She pulled a substantial amount from that too. I was going to lose my whole practice. Caserio finally asked his daughter, Christina, to look at the books to see if she could spot what was wrong. She was the right person for the job. I look at data all day long, she said. My specialty is pattern recognition. There was a specific pattern. I was the one that did the primary data collection by tracking the forged checks and creating the spreadsheet police used. I made sure for my familys benefit not to leave a single stone unturned. When Dr. Caserio fired Spachman, she expressed no remorse, he said, and instead rationalized her actions and warned him not to go to police. According to Caserio, she said: You have every reason to hate me but I didnt take that much and I didnt spend it on myself. She went on to say that people think doctors make too much money and it didnt affect my lifestyle and if I pursue it its going to make me look greedy in the community, he said. Because the embezzlement was so large, the case was eventually reviewed after city police and the SBI finished their investigation by the district attorney here and the state attorney generals office. Although Spachman is charged with taking $567,000 from 2013 until she was fired in 2020, Caserio and his daughter believe that may represent only around half of the total because they could not recover records from 2008 to 2013. Heres the sad thing, he said. The banks only keep checks for seven years. This went on for 12 years. Its a sad thing. It all evolved because she won my trust and because of the trust she felt she could take advantage of me. The saddest thing about betrayal is it never comes from your enemies. It comes from the closest, the dearest, the people we trust the most. Defense seeks case files Spachmans attorney, Christopher S. Stepp, did not return a phone call requesting comment about the embezzlement case. In a motion for voluntary discovery he filed on Dec. 21, a week after his clients arrest, Stepp asked prosecutors or law enforcement agencies to: pre-seed venture capital (VC) fund and accelerator Catalyst Fund announced a $2 million investment into 10 startups building solutions to improve the resilience of climate-vulnerable communities in Africa. This is the inaugural cohort of the new $30M VC fund of Catalyst Fund, anchored by financial sector development agency FSD Africa, aimed at supporting early-stage founders to develop technology that will make Africa more resilient to the impacts of climate change. Each of the 10 startups will be offered $100K of equity investments as well as $100K of hands-on venture-building support. These companies will join Catalyst Funds existing portfolio of 61 startups across emerging markets and receive capital, bespoke and expert-led venture-building support, and direct connections with investors, corporate innovators and talent networks that can help them scale. Catalyst Funds portfolio companies have raised over US$640 million in follow-on funding to date, and currently serve more than 14 million individuals and MSMEs globally. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to partner with ten groundbreaking African startups working to build a more resilient and sustainable future, said Maelis Carraro, Managing Partner of Catalyst Fund. Our goal is to back mission-driven founders that share our vision of a world where every individual has the tools and opportunities they need to thrive. From agtech to insurtech, waste management, disaster response, and carbon finance, these startups display finance, tech, and business model innovations that will help communities better adapt to climate impacts and grow their resilience. The ten companies joining this next cohort of Catalyst Fund are: Agro Supply [Uganda]: a mobile layaway system that helps farmers save money gradually using their mobile phones and to cash out in order to purchase farm inputs such as hybrid (drought-resistant) seeds, from maize to sorghum, sunflower and soybean during the planting season. Assuraf [Senegal]: a digital insurtech platform offering end-users access to a range of insurance products (e.g. agriculture, automotive, health, housing, natural disasters) from over 20+ insurance companies with a fully integrated claims management system. Bekia [Egypt]: a tech-enabled waste collection solution enabling companies and households to exchange their waste (plastic, paper, electronics, metals, cooking oil) against a financial incentive paid on a digital wallet. Eight Medical [Nigeria]: a cloud-native Emergency Medical Services (EMS) platform that provides on-demand urgent care when and where it is needed. This 911 for Africa connects emergency medical responders on motorcycles to users in distress in 10 minutes or less, including for climate-induced crises. Farm to Feed [Kenya]: a food supply chain company that is providing a digitally-enabled solution to food loss/waste. Their climate-smart solution focuses on providing a market for imperfect and surplus produce from farmers, contributing to food security and greenhouse gas emissions reduction. Farmz2U [Nigeria, Kenya]: an agtech enterprise driving sustainable agriculture. Through Farmz2U, farmers can access personalized farming advice (especially on regenerative farming practices), affordable credit, quality and traceable inputs, and direct buyers for their harvest. Octavia Carbon [Kenya]: the Global Souths first Direct Air Capture (DAC) company that is building the worlds lowest-cost DAC hub. Octavia is currently building DAC machinery to capture carbon from the air for resale as either carbon dioxide or carbon credits to off-takers. PaddyCover [Nigeria]: works with established insurers and digital platforms to design and offer bespoke products via their platform that facilitates flexible insurance packages, including health, life and, in the future, index-based crop insurance. The offerings are built into the lifestyle touchpoints of the customer, either as a convenience or as complementary value-adds. Sand to Green [Morocco]: transforms deserts into cultivable land using agroforestry methodology and a solar-powered desalination system to design climate-smart regenerative farms. VAIS [Egypt]: a precision agtech startup committed to climate resilience and food security by providing data intelligence to farms via their FarmGATE application, which is powered by proprietary artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML)-based virtual field probing (VFP) technology, to enable better use of water and other farm inputs to produce better yields. Partager et informez vous aussi...... 0 shares Share Tweet LinkedIn Articles similaires Merck Foundation (www.Merck-Foundation.com) announced the winners of Merck Foundation Africa Research Summit MARS Awards winners 2022, 7 Researchers from 7 different African Countries recognized for two categories Best African Women Researchers and Best Young African Researchers; Merck Foundation Africa Research Summit MARS 2022 Awards was in partnership with African Union Scientific Technical Research Commission. Merck Foundation also announces the Call for Applications for Merck Foundation Africa Research Summit MARS Awards 2023 to empower Women and Youth in STEM in Africa with special focus on scientific research in Women Health and Infertility & Reproductive Health; The 2023 MARS Awards will emphasize the collaboration between Merck Foundation and Internationale Federation of Fertility Societies -IFFS, Africa Reproductive Care Society ARCS, Manipal University and African Union Scientific Technical Research Commission. Merck Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Merck Germany announced the winners of Merck Foundation Africa Research Summit (MARS) Awards 2022 announced in partnership with African Union (Scientific Technical Research Commission) to recognize African Researchers for their valuable research work and contribution to empowering women and youth in STEM in Africa with special focus on Scientific Research in Infectious Diseases and Cancer Research. Senator Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation and Chairperson of Merck Foundation Africa Research Summit -MARS expressed, Like every year since 2016, I am extremely proud of MARS 7 winners who have been recognized under the two categories of Best African Women Researchers Awards and Best Young African Researcher Awards for their valuable contribution in research, especially by African Female Researchers who are under presented in this field, as we all know. Through Merck Foundation African Research Summit MARS Awards, we aim to empower African young researchers and of course to empower and encourage African women researchers through advancing their research capacity and promote their contribution to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). The winners of Best African women Researchers Awards and Best Young African Researcher Awards will be enrolled into research training at a premier research institute in India. The MARS 2022 Award Winners are: Winners of MARS Best African Women Researchers Awards Gladys Kaba, Ghana TOPIC: Diversity of Cervicovaginal Human Papillomavirus Genotypes and Naturally Occurring E6/E7 DNA Sequence Polymorphism: A Study Among Selected Women with Clinical Suspicion of Cancer of the Cervix or Diagnosed Cervix Cancer/Precancer Cases in Ghana Amaya Jobin Habila, Nigeria TOPIC: Evaluation Of The Immunoprotective Potential Of Trypanosoma Brucei Glycerol Kinase In Mice Shingirai Chiwambutsa, South Africa TOPIC: Effect of genetic polymorphism and co-medications on tamoxifen metabolising enzymes and plasma levels of endoxifen in black South African breast cancer patients Ededia Firdawoke, Ethiopia TOPIC: HPV in women with invasive cervical cancer lesion and cancer: the use of urine as an adjunct specimen Winners of MARS Best Young African Researchers Awards Abu Bakarr Kamara, Sierra Leone TOPIC: Safety and immunogenicity of an Ad26.ZEBOV booster dose among children previously vaccinated with the two-dose heterologous Ad26.ZEBOV and MVA-BN-Filo Ebola vaccine regimen Fongang Che Landis, Cameroon TOPIC: Effectiveness of Mhealth (Text Messages) in Enhancing Cervical Cancer Screening uptake among Women in the North-West Region of Cameroon Eze Ajaegbu, Nigeria TOPIC: Anticancer agents from Millettia aboensis root Merck Foundation Africa Research Summit MARS 2022 had a scientific support from African Union Scientific, Technical and Research Commission (AU-STRC), Infectious Diseases Institute, College of Health Sciences, Makerere University, Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) Graduate School. I am also excited to announce the Call for Applications for our prestigious Merck Foundation Africa Research Summit (MARS) Awards 2023. The Role of Scientific Research in Women Health and Infertility & Reproductive Health will be the key focus this year. Eventually, through these awards, Merck Foundation aims to empower Women Researchers and young African researchers to strengthen the important role research plays towards contributing to public health thus improving healthcare capacity with special focus on women health, infertility and reproductive health in Africa, added Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej. MARS 2023 of Merck Foundation will be in partnership with African Reproductive Care Society (ARCS), International Federation of Fertility Societies (IFFS), Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) and African Union Scientific Technical Research Commission. MARS aims to contribute to building research capacity in the African research community. Details for MARS AWARDS 2023 Abstracts are invited from final year African PhD students and young investigators involved in research related to either of the following topics: 1) Women Health 2) Infertility and Reproductive Health The applicants should be primarily based at African Research Institutes and Universities. Last Date of Submission: Applications can be submitted till 31st July 2023 How to apply: Applications and abstracts can be submitted via email to mars@merck-foundation.com along with CV (including Name, Gender, Country, University/Hospital Name, Email address, Mobile Number) and the abstract document as an attachment. Other Details: All Abstracts will be peer reviewed. Research Awards will be dedicated for two categories of Best African Women Researchers and Best Young Africa Researchers Winners will be eligible for Research Training in prestigious Research Institute in India. Partager et informez vous aussi...... 0 shares Share Tweet LinkedIn Articles similaires Pennsylvania State Police are seeking information about a robbery that occurred in East Allen Township on Wednesday morning. Police said a person entered the Valero gas station on 6007 West Main Blvd. at 5:52 a.m., brandished a knife and demanded money. The clerk gave the person about $3,800 in cash in a money pouch, police said. The person then left the gas station heading toward Grouse Road, police said. Police said the person appears to be male, wearing a black facemask with long blonde hair along with a hooded sweatshirt, bluejeans and boots. Anyone with information is asked to contact Trooper Michael Kowalishen at the Bethlehem barracks at 610-861-2026. Mary was born June 19, 1924, and passed away in her home on June 9, 2022.. She is preceded i Martin Luther King Jr. Day is Monday. Here are a few Lehigh Valley events to celebrate the civil rights leaders life, his work and his dream. Ongoing Let Us Build Bridges exhibit honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on display through Feb. 12 at Nazareth Center for the Arts, 30 Belvidere St., Nazareth. The exhibit is used as an avenue to discuss, recognize and celebrate our differences and the need to come together. Sunday The Allentown Art Museum celebrates Martin Luther King Jr. Day 11 a.m.-5 p.m. . Focusing on Dr. Kings How Long? Not Long speech and selected works in the galleries with events including music by Maxamilly, storytelling by Evan Mosley, spoken word by Basement Poetry, song by Bekah Elaine, dance students from the Fine Feather Foundation and art making inspiring empathy, activism and community building. Admission is free. 31 N. Fifth St., Allentown. 610-432-4333, allentownartmuseum.org. Monday Cinematic Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. will be held at Frank Banko Alehouse Cinemas, ArtsQuest Center, 101 Founders Way, Bethlehem. Documentary films include King: A Filmed Record Montgomery to Memphis, follows Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. from 1955 to 1968 in his rise from regional activist to world-renowned leader of the civil rights movement (noon); Nationtime, report on the National Black Political Convention held in Gary, Indiana in 1972 (4 p.m.); Selma, chronicles the tumultuous three-month period in 1965 when King led a campaign to secure equal voting rights in the face of violent opposition (6 p.m.). Karen Britt, professor of business and economics at Northampton Community College and president of Juneteenth Lehigh Valley leads a discussion on Kings legacy and how it applies to todays society at 3:15 p.m. All events are free, tickets required. 610-297-7100, steelstacks.org Martin Luther and Coretta Scott King Memorial present Martin Luther King Birthday Candlelight Vigil 6 p.m. at The Freedom Memorial, Fourth and Martin Luther King Drive, Allentown. freedommemoriallv.org East Stroudsburg University Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Breakfast will be held 8 a.m. at Terraview at Stroudsmoor Country Inn, 257 Stroudsmoor Road, Stroudsburg. The theme is I Have a Dream-60 Years Later. Keynote speaker Christa Caceres, president of Monroe County Chapter of the NAACP. Tickets: $45; $15, students. Proceeds benefit the Mary Gertrude Smith Boddie Scholarship Fund, which provides financial assistance to undergraduate students of color at ESU. Info: Lyesha Fleming at 570-422-3896 or lfleming@esu.edu An artist reception to view the work of the Julianna V. Bolt Art Contest Participants will be held 10 a.m.-noon at Madelon Powers Gallery. Local high school students share artwork that reflects their interpretation of the theme of the program. The Allentown Branch of the NAACP will hold its annual Tribute to Dr. King celebration at 11 a.m. at St. James A.M.E. Zion Church, Fourth and Union Streets in Allentown. The theme This Is Power is reflective of the National NAACPs theme for 2023. Keynote speaker is Pennsylvania state Sen. Art Haywood. The NAACP Bethlehem Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday celebration will be held 10 a.m. at Holy Ghost Church, 417 Carlton Ave., Bethlehem. Lunch is provided. RSVP to jlee975@gmail.com. Eastern State Penitentiary will offer programming 11 a.m.-4:45 p.m. commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King. Speakers read excerpts from Letter from Birmingham Jail and texts by other civil rights leaders. Activity stations to register to vote or write a postcard to someone currently incarcerated in a Pennsylvania prison. Family programs include story times featuring childrens books written by and about civil rights movement leaders (noon-2 p.m.). 2027 Fairmount Ave., Philadelphia. easternstate.org. The National Constitution Center will honor Martin Luther King Jr.s lifelong dedication to justice, equality, and service for the greater good with free online educational programs throughout January, as well as special programming and free admission to the museum 10 a.m.-5 p.m. . Special programs include a reading of Martin Luther King Jr.s I Have a Dream speech, Family Concert: Songs of Civil Rights Era, story corner, arts and crafts activity tables and exhibits. The center is at 525 Arch St., Philadelphia. 215-409-6600, constitutioncenter.org The Lehigh Valley Heritage Museum offers The Enduring Ideals & Legacy of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. noon. Learn about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jrs inspirational rise to historical prominence, hear his message of nonviolent resistance and discover how his ideals can inspire and elevate your life. $8; $3, ages 2-11; free, members. The museum is at 432 W. Walnut St., Allentown. 610-435-1074, lehighvalleyheritagemuseum.org. Less than two weeks after a $140,000 settlement over harassment claims against Whitehall Mayor Michael Harakal Jr. was signed, township commissioners on Monday night voted no confidence in him. Board President Joseph Marx said Tuesday that he, Vice President Philip Ginder, Randy Atiyeh and Charles Fisher voted in favor of the no confidence motion. Thomas Slonaker voted against it and Jeffrey Warren voted present, Marx said. Marx said the vote wouldnt necessarily lead to further action by the township regarding the mayor. When asked why he voted as he did, Ginder said the vote speaks for itself and that he didnt trust in Harakals ability to be mayor. Ginder wouldnt comment on whether he wants Harakal to take any action in response to the vote, such as resigning. Responding to the vote, Harakal said he had no intentions of resigning and will work to repair his relationship with the Whitehall community while reassuring anyone who may feel less of him that he didnt do anything to anyone he couldnt have done in front of [his] mother. Ill continue to work as hard as I can for the people of Whitehall, he said. I have a good relationship with the people of Whitehall. This has tainted it to an extent that would make me sad, but Im just going to keep my head down and keep working. Township solicitor Jack Gross and the other board members could not be reached for comment Tuesday. In December, the board voted to approve a $140,000 settlement related to three womens harassment allegations against Harakal. The settlement also requires the township to: implement a revised harassment policy that addresses complaints of harassment involving elected officials within 90 days; review the compensation of all non-union positions to find any compensation discrimination; and provide mandatory in-person harassment training to all employees and elected officials by the end of 2023. Per the settlement, the mayor and township deny any wrongdoing and say they found no factual basis in the allegations. Harakal said last month he would have preferred a trial but wanted to save time for the township staff and community by going to remediation. He apologized for offending the women while denying he stalked them or that there was any sexual aspect to his interactions with them. He said he would do his best to make sure the settlements provisions are implemented so that the township can heal the human problem and that this doesnt happen again. [The complainants] are good, professional people who, as I do, hope to find a way to work together to help people, Harakal said. That is our job. The three women had filed the complaints with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. They accused Harakal of inappropriate behavior that included invasion of their personal space, touching them without permission, asking inappropriate personal questions, making sexually explicit comments and taking female employees for drives in his personal vehicle to isolated locations. Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE: H) today announced the opening of FirstName Bordeaux, a lifestyle hotel joining the JdV by Hyatt collection of independent hotels. Demonstrating Hyatt's continued brand growth in Europe, FirstName Bordeaux embodies the JdV by Hyatt brand's inclusive spirit, feel-good outlook, and joy-driven approach to hotel experiences. Located in the heart of the historic port city, FirstName Bordeaux is a true reflection of its neighborhood, encouraging guests to discover local delights at their own pace. Situated in an iconic building, the hotel is close to the Garonne River and moments away from cultural and notable landmarks such as the Quays of Bordeaux, the Water Mirror, La Cite du Vin, and the Darwin Ecosystem. For those looking to immerse themselves in the region's most renowned attractions, the infamous Bordeaux vineyards and the extraordinarily beautiful Arcachon Bay are easily accessible by public transport or car. FirstName Bordeaux epitomizes the "joie de vivre" philosophy of the JdV by Hyatt brand and participates in the World of Hyatt loyalty program giving members even more options to travel. As part of the JdV by Hyatt collection of independent properties, the hotel invites guests and locals alike to connect, live in the moment and celebrate the joy of life, whilst unwinding in spaces designed with distinctive personality. This, together with FirstName's commitment to authenticity and inclusivity, ensures that each stay at FirstName Bordeaux will be a truly one-of-a-kind experience. The hotel was designed by architect Nicolas Adnet from Studio MHNA, whose creative and personalized approach has inspired a unique interpretation of French elegance and local sophistication. The hotel's interiors create a welcoming and inclusive atmosphere, encouraging guests to embrace the spirit of their surroundings. FirstName Bordeaux offers 147 guestrooms and suites, divided into seven distinct categories for guests to choose from: Cocoon, Canopee, Carat, Collector Suites, and FirstRoom. Designed to be both functional and comfortable, each guestroom is beautifully decorated with graphic frescoes by a local artist and equipped with easy-to-use technology and intuitive finishes. The hotel's commitment to sustainability is realized in eco-friendly interiors, including wood sourced from eco-managed forests, plush carpets fashioned from discarded fishing nets, as well as charcoal in each room to purify the atmosphere. The hotel's restaurant and bar, Le Bada, highlights Bordeaux's reputation as a world-renowned wine region and its revered provincial gastronomy. A supporter of "locavore" cuisine, consultant Chef Cedric Bechade has created a menu that is a passionate celebration of regional produce and advocates freshness and zero waste. Delicious plates are paired with a wine list that showcases the best vintages as well as a selection of up-and-coming wineries from Bordeaux, providing a sophisticated ambiance for guests to meet and connect in. In the spirit of collaboration and celebration, FirstName Bordeaux offers three meeting spaces that have been designed to inspire guests and stimulate innovative ideas. Comfortable benches and seating areas create a casual, thought-provoking backdrop for reading, conversation, and meetings. In the evenings, the spaces transform, offering a unique location for social gatherings, parties, and cocktails. For those looking to evoke a joyful spirit, Speakeasy, the hotel's secret bar can be found behind the door of a bordelaise cupboard and features unexpected furnishings designed to surprise and delight. A perfect place to book for a corporate event, a private party, or an afterwork gathering. Hotel website An industry veteran with over 30+ years of experience in operations and development in a variety of hospitality segments, Gary Sims served as COO of RLH Corp with 1,000+ franchise properties. Gary has operated several iconic resorts in the United States including La Costa Resort and Spa, La Quinta Resort and Spa, Westin Diplomat Resort and Spa and HGV properties in Las Vegas. As President/CEO of Nikki Beach Resorts, he was responsible for luxury property development and operations in the Caribbean, South America, Europe and Middle East. Gary has operated branded properties including Westin, Sheraton, Hilton, Marriott, Red Lion and Omni. As CEO of Hay Creek Hotels & Restaurants, Gary will be focused on the acquisition, renovation, repositioning and management of upper- upscale and luxury independent and boutique hotels and restaurants. Norman MacLeod, who remains as the Chairman, will continue to support the development efforts, owner relations and special projects for Hay Creek Hotels & Restaurants. View Gary Sims's LinkedIn Profile Gary Sims is a graduate of FIU in North Miami , Florida - United States The London EDITION is pleased to announce the appointment of Paul Walters as the General Manager. Originally from Australia, Walters has been based in London for over 10 years where he previously held the position of General Manager at Kimpton Fitzroy London and The Langham London. Passionate about luxury lifestyle hotels, Walters has vast experience of working in a number of diverse other destinations including Sydney, Bali, Hong Kong and Mexico, with brands including Principal and W Hotels. Paul brings with him a wealth of knowledge in Guest and Brand experiences and his passion for outstanding hospitality and excellent service. Mainsail Lodging & Development announced today the promotion of Joanna Drissi asFood & Beverage General Manager at the newly opened Residence Inn Tampa Wesley Chapel. Drissi will oversee all food and beverage operations at Residence Inn Tampa Wesley Chapel, including the popular Skybox Rooftop Bar. An accomplished hospitality executive, Joanna Drissi brings more than 10 years of food and beverage management to her new position as Food & Beverage General Manager at the Residence Inn Tampa Wesley Chapel. Prior to joining Residence Inn, Drissi was Food & Beverage Manager at the Mainsail-owned Epicurean Hotel in South Tampa. During her time there, Drissi fine-tuned her leadership and restaurant management skills by recruiting and training restaurant staff, as well as overseeing food quality. Drissi is a graduate of Mainsail's Manager Development Program and has a level one WSET certification. Before moving to Wesley Chapel, Joanna spent 10 years at the Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin Resort, serving in various positions, and co-owned a restaurant with family in Canada. With the boutique hotel sector experiencing a 7.7% growth compared to 2021, the mother-daughter duo of Frances and Ariela Kiradjian, who brought the world BLLA (Boutique Lifestyle Leaders Association), announced that 2023 will see an expansion and enhancement of their referral site, stay-boutique.com, to a booking and media platform that vets and verifies boutique hotels for consumers. As they have done with the other divisions of BLLA, the Kiradjians have invited hospitality industry thought-leaders to join the new board of StayBoutique who have experiences from companies such as Expedia, Saudi Tourism Authority, Viceroy Hotels & Resorts, and more. Boutique hotels are typically stylish, multi-concept hotels, situated in attractive destinations, that offer individualized service to their guests while being owned independently of big hotel chains. Interestingly, the enhanced site will also include alternative lodgings fitting the boutique lifestyle as well as boutique businesses such as craft coffee companies, restaurants/bars, spas/wellness facilities, retail, museums, fitness centers, and more, all of which are independently owned establishments that StayBoutique already highlights on its site and in its CityGuides. Although there are a number of existing booking sites that have a selection of boutique hotels, many include improperly tagged hotels that are not at all boutique. With BLLA clarifying what qualifies as a true boutique hotel, their StayBoutique is the first booking site 100% focused on the sector. As the sites logo delightfully exemplifies, these will be cherry-picked, approved & verified boutique hotels for consumers who seek out the boutique lifestyle. StayBoutique also defines itself as a Media Platform since it will include interviews, travel stories, commentary, videos, a podcast, and other storytelling tools that highlight the boutique lifestyle, including features in the companys print and digital editions of StayBoutique Magazine. The multi-platform stories will underscore that these one-of-a-kind travel experiences including supporting small businesses in the destination are the heart and soul of the travel industry. The collective travel industry knowledge of the new Board will be a driving force for helping StayBoutique become a major voice in travel. StayBoutiques new Board of Advisors includes: Melissa Maher Most recently served as Chief Marketing Officer & Senior Vice President of Marketing and Industry Engagement at Expedia Group. Melissa is a forward-thinking strategist with a multifaceted perspective and deep insights into global marketing, public relations, communications, diversity & inclusion, technology, and commercial relationship-building across the hospitality sector. Most recently served as Chief Marketing Officer & Senior Vice President of Marketing and Industry Engagement at Expedia Group. Melissa is a forward-thinking strategist with a multifaceted perspective and deep insights into global marketing, public relations, communications, diversity & inclusion, technology, and commercial relationship-building across the hospitality sector. John Wallis -- Principal at Rule No. 1, a consultancy that helps organizations define and truly live their Purpose and Values focusing on leadership behavior. John is Past CMO and Global Head of Brand Strategy for Hyatt Hotels Corporation. Principal at Rule No. 1, a consultancy that helps organizations define and truly live their Purpose and Values focusing on leadership behavior. John is Past CMO and Global Head of Brand Strategy for Hyatt Hotels Corporation. Dorothy Dowling Past CMO of Best Western International, a C Suite Marketing and Commercial Leader, Public Company Board Director, a leader in global digital, E-commerce, and loyalty marketing, as well as global commercial B2B expertise. Past CMO of Best Western International, a C Suite Marketing and Commercial Leader, Public Company Board Director, a leader in global digital, E-commerce, and loyalty marketing, as well as global commercial B2B expertise. Edie Rodriguez Member of the Board of Directors Saudi Tourism Authority, former CEO of Crystal Cruises & former Chairwoman of the Americas for Ponant Cruises. Edie is a decisive leader with extensive experience in the global cruise, travel, hospitality, luxury, and technology industries. Member of the Board of Directors Saudi Tourism Authority, former CEO of Crystal Cruises & former Chairwoman of the Americas for Ponant Cruises. Edie is a decisive leader with extensive experience in the global cruise, travel, hospitality, luxury, and technology industries. Caryl Helsel Founder & CEO of Dragonfly Strategists, a holistic advisory firm specializing in commercial, IT, and operations advisory. Helsel is a specialist in commercial and IT strategy, business and relationship development, and was recently awarded the inaugural TIEWN (Travel Industry Executive Womens Network) Fearless Woman of the Year Award . Founder & CEO of Dragonfly Strategists, a holistic advisory firm specializing in commercial, IT, and operations advisory. Helsel is a specialist in commercial and IT strategy, business and relationship development, and was recently awarded the inaugural TIEWN (Travel Industry Executive Womens Network) . Hilda Delgado Chief Financial Officer of Viceroy Hotels & Resorts, a leading luxury and lifestyle brand and hotel management company recognized for its collection of luxury and urban hotels, voted Top Ten Hotel Brand in Travel & Leisure magazine. Spending on accommodation is the Global Tourism Industry's biggest source of revenue, accounting for 19.0% of industry revenue in 2021 and even more in 2022. The Boutique Hotel Industry revenue in 2021 was $12.4 billion, with projected growth (2021-2026) at 11.1%. (Source: IBISWorld, Global Tourism, Industry Report 2021) The boutique hotel sector accounts for nearly 5,500 hotels across the U.S. alone. The pandemic has driven travelers toward the boutique market, which is expected to rake in $16.9 billion in revenue this year. Christian E. Hardigree, hospitality industry educator and Regional Chancellor, University of South Florida St. Petersburg According to BLLA founder, Frances Kiradjian, market drivers for the boutique hotel sector include emerging tourism and corporate industries across various regions, rising disposable income, increasing standard of living, and the rise in preference for unique hotel experiences. Consumer feedback shows they also enjoy the local focus, attention to detail, and personalized service afforded to them at boutique hotels. Supported by the establishment of the Boutique Lifestyle Leaders Association (BLLA) in 2009, boutique hotels have emerged over the last decade to successfully compete with larger brands that were previously considered unconquerable giants in the hospitality landscape. However, since there was no exact definition of what a boutique hotel is, there was no complete list of vetted & verified authentic global boutique hotels, until now. The StayBoutique website allows users to book a hotel of their choosing directly, thereby establishing a relationship with the hotel from the first interaction. In the role of matchmaker, StayBoutique acts as the clients advocate and a valuable partner to the hotel. The hotels will also have the opportunity to become an official member of BLLA in order to take advantage of their annual leadership and hotel investment events and to take advantage of a multitude of resources - from vendor discounts to accessing a portal exclusive to hotel members, enabling them to connect and learn from each other. About StayBoutique First launched in 2018, BLLAs (Boutique Lifestyle Leaders Association) stay-boutique.com referral site will be expanded and enhanced in 2023 to vet and verify over 30,000 boutique hotels around the world for possible inclusion in the booking and media platform. Approved hotels will be searchable on the site and have the ability to upgrade their listing to receive benefits, including being featured first in search. The mission is to leverage the legacy of BLLA and its unique network and to assist travelers in their pursuit of truly one-of-a-kind experiences, offering them the highest standard of boutique hotels and brands from global destinations. Under the guidance of BLLA, the official association to the worlds independent boutique hotels, StayBoutique is dedicated to leading the modern renaissance of the Boutique Lifestyle Industry. About the Boutique Lifestyle Leaders Association (BLLA) The official organization for the world's boutique lifestyle leaders promoting connection, education, and advocacy. As a pioneer in forecasting the boutique movement, the BLLA's network has grown beyond its hotel foundation to welcome more passionate entrepreneurs, businesses, and purveyors that amplify the boutique lifestyle. The BLLA Corporate Manifesto video. Experience the intention behind BLLA Events in this video. BLLA is a catalyst for trends and the future of the boutique lifestyle. BLLA.org Kim Marshall Media Contact BLLA View source France is set to cement itself as the most visited country in the world, according to GlobalData, which estimates that the country will attract 93.7 million international travelers by 2025. The leading data and analytics company notes that this forecast will place the country ahead of competitor, Spain, which overtook France in 2021. According to the latest report by GlobalData, Tourism Destination Market Insight: Western Europe, France held the title of most visited country in the world prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, welcoming 88.1 million visitors in 2019. However, it was overtaken by Spain in 2021. Having attracted 66.6 million international visitors in 2022, France is now set to re-claim the title, with the number of international arrivals expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.1% between 2022 and 2025. Hannah Free, Travel & Tourism Analyst at GlobalData, comments: Alongside Italy and Spain, France represents a significant segment of the growth in Western Europe. The country is not only popular with travelers from Europe itselfespecially the UK, Germany and Belgiumbut it is also popular with visitors from further afield, including China and the United States. In fact, France is one of the top Western European destinations for US travelers. Spain received 26.3 million visitors in 2021, overtaking France to become the most visited Western European destination. By 2025, Spain is expected to attract 89.5 million international visitors (CAGR of 12.2% between 2022 and 2025). Free continued: Visitation to France and Spain will remain strong in the years to come, with festivals, culture and gastronomy being a big pull for tourists. Both countries have a lot to offer visitors, with their own unique cultures, cuisines, and atmospheres. Both countries are also relatively large, with a diverse and varied landscape, and each country has its own unique coastline. One of Frances big advantages is its transportation. Travel between major cities in both France and Spain is relatively easy, with high-speed trains connecting most major cities. Free adds: One key transportation project in Western Europe is the Ultra Rapid Train line, which is being planned by the European Commission to improve connectivity between Lisbon in Portugal and Helsinki in Finland. The program involves the construction of an 8,000km doubletrack high-speed railway network between Lisbon and Helsinki with a loop around the Baltic Sea. The rail line will pass through, Portugal, Spain, France, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, and Finland. About GlobalData 4,000 of the world's largest companies, including over 70% of FTSE 100 and 60% of Fortune 100 companies, make more timely and better business decisions thanks to GlobalData's unique data, expert analysis and innovative solutions, all in one platform. GlobalData's mission is to help our clients decode the future to be more successful and innovative across a range of industries, including the healthcare, consumer, retail, financial, technology and professional services sectors. GlobalData | LinkedIn | Twitter GlobalData Press Office +44 207 832 4399 GlobalData Plc Alternative lodging options, also referred to as short-term rental properties or Airbnbs, have grown in popularity in recent years and are increasingly seen as a viable alternative to traditional hotels. As a hotelier, its important to be aware of this new neighbour, its value drivers and KPIs in order to stay competitive and attract a diverse range of guests to maintain or win market share. Growing in numbers The alternative lodging industry has seen an exponential growth in supply of properties within the past few years. Europe is the strongest market with well over 6,5 million properties listed for short term rental. North America currently sits at about half of this number with 3,3 million listings however, this market is seeing rapid growth in various states. Looking at US cities like Austin, Houston, Las Vegas and Miami we see rapid growth with an increase of over 25% in the number of listings between 2019 and now. This brings the total number of listings in these cities well above the 10.000 mark. Comparing 2019 levels to current, we see the largest growth in France (+22%), Belgium (+16%), Great Britain (+12%) and Spain (+12%) for Europe. Bear in mind European markets were already strong in numbers in 2019. Next to that, Airbnb has made leaps forward in its support and insurance for hosts since it was founded. As a result fewer Airbnb hosts are churning every year. Its not all rainbows and butterflies however in the short term rental world. In some cities or countries local governments are formulating stronger regulations around short term rentals as they correlate the growth to increasing rent and housing shortages for the local population. In Amsterdam, the Netherlands, for instance properties can be rented out for a maximum of 30 days per year and even then stiff registration and operation rules apply. As a result, we have seen an 18% decrease in supply in the Netherlands. In New York, US property owners must be present meaning its only possible to rent shared accommodation as a guest. The supply of properties has decreased by 26%. Competing for the same guest Hotels and alternative lodging properties are competing for guests in the short-term rental market. Both types of accommodation offer travellers a place to stay while on vacation or on a business trip. However, there are some key differences between the two types of accommodation, which can make them appealing to different types of travellers. For example, hotels are often more expensive than rental properties and offer a range of amenities and services, such as a pool, fitness centre, and on-site restaurant. Short term rentals, on the other hand, may be more budget-friendly and offer a more unique and local experience. As a result, hoteliers and Airbnb hosts may be competing for the same pool of travellers, depending on the location, type of property, budget, travel purpose and length of stay. The average global length of stay for Airbnb bookings has varied between 4 and 5 nights between 2019 and today. Alternative lodging options have been popular with leisure travellers for some time, however they are becoming more popular for business travellers as well, especially those looking for a place for longer length of stays. Bleisure travellers, or business travellers who combine leisure activities with their business trips, may be more interested in short term rental accommodations than hotels for a variety of reasons. The cost-effectiveness of these options might be particularly appealing to those who will fund a longer stay out of their own pocket. Next to that, business travellers appreciate being able to book a fully furnished apartment or house, as it allows them to have more space and flexibility than they would in a traditional hotel room. This becomes quite the asset as more and more people have the flexibility to work from anywhere and for longer periods of time. Additionally, Airbnb's partnerships with companies such as Concur and TravelPerk have made it easier for businesses to book and pay for Airbnb accommodations through their corporate travel programs. Professionalising rapidly The alternative lodging industry is professionalising rapidly. One factor that has contributed to the professionalisation of the market is the rise of online platforms, such as Airbnb and HomeAway, which make it easier for owners to list and rent out their properties. Airbnb just reported its most profitable quarter ever at the end of Q3 2022 with a total revenue of $2.9 billion. This is a 29% increase in revenue since the previous years Q3 which was again record breaking at the time. Platforms like Airbnb often have strict guidelines and regulations for hosts, which has helped to improve the overall quality and professionalism of the market. Initiatives like Airbnbs AirCover reassure guests and hosts that they are protected in case anything would not go as planned. Alternative lodging options are also finding their way into more hotel-centred platforms such as booking.com or expedias vrbo. In addition, many alternative lodging providers are now using professional management companies to handle the day-to-day operations of their properties. These companies manage hundreds to thousands of properties in various locations and handle tasks such as marketing, booking, and property maintenance, which can help to improve reliability and the quality of the experience for guests. You can expect to see the lines between alternative lodging options and more traditional forms of lodging like hotels blur even more over the next few years. Similar pricing The price of a hotel room and a rental property can vary greatly, depending on the location, size, and amenities of the property. Generally, hotels tend to be more expensive than rental properties, but this is not always the case. Bear in mind that short term rentals often charge a separate service and cleaning fee to guests per stay which makes the properties more budget friendly for longer stays. Alternative lodging property managers are also implementing dynamic pricing strategies to their listings. Worldwide 55% of properties are priced dynamically. Another 18.5% of property owners/managers say they want to start implementing dynamic pricing strategies this year. 75% of property owners are using or plan to start using technology solutions to do so, making the short term rental industry an industry that is technologically adept. High occupancy and early pick up The drastic increase in alternative lodging supply could result in a decrease in occupancy but the data is telling a different story. If we look at Airbnb occupancy for the current winter months of December, January and February and compare to 2019 levels we see a 96% increase in alternative lodging occupancy. For hotels we still see a slight drop compared to 2019 levels. Weve been doing a lot of research lately into hotel versus Airbnb booking patterns. We see that, for most destinations, Airbnb pickup follows a similar curve to hotel bookings but that bookings are being made much earlier. We call this the hotel pick up lag. This makes alternative lodging pickup an excellent early predictor for hotel demand. An explanation for the hotel pick up lag could be that Airbnbs have a certain uniqueness (location, amenities, experience) which could prompt potential guests to book early as a reaction to perceived scarcity. Hotels on the other hand have a more predictable availability and plenty of rooms which could make them a more popular choice for last-minute bookings. What hoteliers can do in 2023 Understanding your competition and competitiveness - Research Airbnb properties in your area to get a sense of the types of properties, prices being offered and availability over time. This can help you understand how your hotel compares to this new competitor and identify any potential threats. Research Airbnb properties in your area to get a sense of the types of properties, prices being offered and availability over time. This can help you understand how your hotel compares to this new competitor and identify any potential threats. Knowing your target market - Determine who your target market is and what they value in an accommodation. This can help you tailor your offering to better meet the needs of your guests and make your hotel more competitive. Determine who your target market is and what they value in an accommodation. This can help you tailor your offering to better meet the needs of your guests and make your hotel more competitive. Offering unique experiences - Consider what makes your hotel unique and how you can differentiate it from Airbnb properties in your market. This could include offering unique experiences or amenities that Airbnb properties cannot match. This is increasingly important Consider what makes your hotel unique and how you can differentiate it from Airbnb properties in your market. This could include offering unique experiences or amenities that Airbnb properties cannot match. This is increasingly important Leveraging technology - Use technology to understand the alternative lodging industry from a market- to individual property level. Implement a strong online presence and leverage data to optimise pricing and demand. This can help you attract more bookings and stay competitive in the market. About OTA Insight OTA Insight empowers hoteliers to deliver smarter revenue, distribution, and marketing outcomes through its market-leading commercial platform. With live updates, 24/7 support, and highly intuitive and customizable dashboards, OTA Insight integrates with industry tools including hotel property management systems, leading RMS solutions, and data benchmarking providers. OTA Insight's team of international experts supports more than 60,000 properties in 185 countries. Winner of the Best Rate Shopping & Market Intelligence Solution, Parity Management Software, and Business Intelligence categories in the 2021, 2022 and 2023 HotelTechAwards, OTA Insight is widely recognised as a leader in hospitality business intelligence. A man who helped set fire to a police vehicle in New Jerseys capital city during protests against racial injustice following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis has been sentenced to more than two years in federal prison. Kadeem Dockery, 31, was the last of four men sentenced to prison terms in connection with the May 31, 2020, riots in Trenton. He received a 27-month term Tuesday and will also have to serve three years of supervised release once hes freed, according to the U.S. attorneys office. The Trenton resident had pleaded guilty to attempting to obstruct, impede, or interfere with law enforcement officers during a civil disorder affecting commerce. Prosecutors have said Dockery lit an explosive device and tossed it through the open front drivers side window of a Trenton police vehicle. He then removed his shirt and gave it to another man, who tried to stuff it in the cars gas tank and ignite it. Prosecutors have said authorities identified both men from video from a street camera and other images. The citys premiere development initiative, Invest South/West, has brought hope to areas long ignored by developers and the promise of hundreds of millions of dollars. But some residents say theyve been left out of real decision-making on the major projects coming to their areas. Click here for a Print Subscription with Online Digital included. Some people only want to be a digital subscriber to get access online and others want to also receive the print edition. If you are already a print subscriber and want online access, it is free, you simply have to create an online account and then attach your print subscription account number to the online account you create. Below you will see test that reads Print Subscribe Access. Click this to then Get Started attaching your account number and zip code to you online user account. Click on the banner above if you would like to become a print subscriber with digital access. If you simply want online access without print click get started below. Subscribers to Register-Star or The Daily Mail are eligible to receive full access to HudsonValley360. If you have an existing print subscription, please make sure your email address on file matches your HudsonValley360 account email. Letter: Williamstown Youth Center To the Editor: The Williamstown Youth Center has received money from the town of Williamstown every year since 2014. In 2014, they requested $70,000, and incrementally, their requests have increased to $77,000. That financial support has become nearly automatic through the years. Are the town's taxes subsidizing those families who genuinely need financial assistance, or are the taxes sponsoring every family at the WYC? The WYC should become self-sustaining; otherwise, it will continually request funds from the taxpayers and other local organizations in perpetuity. The Williamstown Community Chest provides an additional $55,000 a year to the WYC. In the future, that share of money could go to other needy organizations. The youth center needs to raise its fees and go back to having fundraisers to help offset its expenses. The national average for after-school care is $261 a week per child. According to the WYC website, it charges $900 for one child from Aug. 31 until the last day of school in June. The youth center must do everything possible to alleviate this tax burden on town residents. Within weeks, the Williamstown Finance Committee will approve the request for another year of funding for the youth center that will become an article on the warrant for town meeting this year. If you are concerned about this ongoing issue, please contact the Williamstown Finance Committee at finance-committee@williamstownma.gov. Pat Meyers Williamstown, Mass. Free Public Skating Events in Pittsfield PITTSFIELD, Mass. The Pittsfield Recreation Program has once again teamed up with the Boys & Girls Club of the Berkshires for a free public skating opportunity. The first 100 people in attendance will receive both free admission for skating and skate rental, if needed (limited size availability), on the following dates: 3-4:30 p.m. Jan. 14, 21, and Feb. 18. Jan. 14 is sponsored by Greylock Federal Credit Union. The Boys & Girls Club of the Berkshires is located at 16 Melville St. City Center Investment Corp. has signed the agreement to buy the 195-acre Allentown State Hospital property directly from the state for $5.5 million, while a new lawmaker launched a review of the states failed, earlier attempt to sell it by competitive bid. A spokesperson for the state Department of General Services said leaders of City Center, the lead developer in Allentowns Neighborhood Improvement Zone, signed a sales agreement to buy the high-profile property. The direct state-to-buyer transaction was set up via a bill filed in mid-September by former Sen. Pat Browne, who has known City Center President J.B. Reilly since they lived on the same street as children. Sen. Jarrett Coleman, who defeated Browne in last years Republican primary election, this week started a review of the failure of the states attempt to sell the property via a 2019 law that set up a competitive bid process. Coleman, who is chair of the Senate Intergovernmental Operations Committee, said questions about that failed process and the rapidity of the Browne-driven sale to City Center deserve answers. The process spelled out in the 2019 law was crafted largely by Browne and Democratic Rep. Mike Schlossberg of South Whitehall Township. It led to submission of two bids on the property. Both were deemed noncompliant and rejected. The Department of General Services denied Right-to-Know requests from The Morning Call for those rejected bids, for minutes of meetings held during the process and for the appraisal on which the $5.5 million price tag was based. Late last month, the state Office of Open Records granted an appeal by the newspaper concerning the rejected bids. It directed that they be turned over to the newspaper. As of Wednesday, they have not been received. Department spokesperson Troy Thompson said DGS is reviewing the open records offices decision. The department has until Jan. 26 to provide the bids to the newspaper or appeal the decision to Commonwealth Court. Coleman, who was sworn into office last week, said the signing of the sales agreement means it is too late to repeal the law that produced the sale. In a letter to the department dated Monday, Coleman, of Upper Macungie, asked for the proposals that were received and rejected during the competitive bid process, appraisals and sale documents, among other things. If the documents are not received, Coleman said, the question of exactly what happened during the competitive bid process would remain unanswered. Coleman held out the possibility of calling hearings by the Intergovernmental Operations Committee to seek answers. The deal to sell directly to City Center got the support of Browne, Schlossberg, Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk and the department itself. A mid-September statement signed by Browne and Schlossberg called City Center the most successful developer in Allentowns modern history and that their knowledge and outstanding success in redeveloping challenged sites within the city make them the most qualified entity. The language of the original Browne bill passed rapidly through the Legislature and was signed into law by Gov. Tom Wolf on Nov. 3. The property lies in the district of two new state lawmakers, Sen. Nick Miller and Rep. Josh Siegel, both Democrats. Both support the sale to City Center but expressed discomfort with the low level of transparency. In a written statement, Reilly said, We are starting the planning process and will begin working with City planners to develop a project that creates local tax revenue for the City and Allentown School District. Tuerk said he believed city Department of Community and Economic Development officials would want to meet with City Center planners before they submit formal proposals to the city Planning Commission. Morning Call Capitol correspondent Ford Turner can be reached at fturner@mcall.com. The Greylock bridge over the Hoosic River on Route 2 has been named William F. Evans Memorial Bridge. North Adams Bridge to Be Dedicated to Slain Capitol Police Officer Billy Evans NORTH ADAMS, Mass. Among the last bills signed by outgoing Gov. Charlie Baker was an order dedicating a bridge on Route 2 for the late Capitol Police Officer Billy Evans. The bill filed by state Rep. John Barrett III will designate the Greylock bridge near West's Variety as the William F. Evans Memorial Bridge. Evans, 41, was killed in the line of duty on April 2, 2021 , when a man rammed his car into at a barrier on the north side of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., then got out and lunged at officers with a knife. He was a city native who later grew up in Clarksburg and graduated from Drury High School in 1998. He was buried in Bellevue Cemetery in Adams. Barrett, in a post on Facebook, said he had reached out to Evans' family and while his mother, Janice, was initially appreciative, she "didn't want to be in the limelight, and she knew in her heart that it wouldn't bring back Billy." "My only response was that I just wanted to make sure that this generation, as well as future generations, would never forget Billy Evans and the sacrifice he made on that fateful day protecting our democracy," Barrett wrote. Janice Evans later contacted him agreeing that the bridge dedication would be "a nice way to honor Billy." Unfortunately, she died on Dec. 14 , two weeks before the bill passed the Legislature, and did not see the final design for the memorial plaque. The plaque will state that "On April 2, 2021 United States Capitol Police Officer William 'Billy' Evans completed his final watch defending the United States Capitol Building." The state Department of Transportation will install signage on both ends of the bridge and the plaque following the bridge renovation, which is being funded through this year's Transportation Improvement Plan at a cost of $18.5 million. Barrett wrote that the bridge is close to the neighborhood where Evans first grew up and near Greylock Elementary School, which he attended. "I just wanted to make sure that this generation, as well as future generations, would never forget Billy Evans and the sacrifice he made on that fateful day protecting our democracy," wrote Barrett. The bridge dedication was one of a number of last legislative acts signed by Baker for the Berkshires. Also enacted was change to Williamstown's charter allowing the town manager to live outside the bounds of the town; to change the name of the Board of Selectmen in Lee to the Select Board; and to allow for original documents held by the town of Stockbridge that were created by the Mohican Nation prior to 1870 to be transferred to the Stockbridge-Munsee Community of the Mohican Nation upon an authorizing vote by the board of selectmen. The Pennsylvania Senate on Wednesday passed a package of three proposed constitutional amendments, including one on child sex abuse lawsuits, while the state House remained inactive and mired in partisan disagreements. The Senate vote was 28-20, with Northampton County Democrat Lisa Boscola joining all Republicans voting in favor of the package. Other Democrats decried the bundling of the proposed amendment which would extend the window for abuse victims to file lawsuits with one requiring voter identification for every election and the other blocking the governors ability to veto a legislative disapproval of a regulation. The House, meanwhile, has been dormant for much of the time since Jan. 3, when members were sworn in and Democrat Mark Rozzi won a 115-85 vote to become Speaker of the House. There have been disagreements over rules, Rozzis statements about his leadership and the handling of the proposed child sex abuse lawsuit amendment. Top House Republicans sent a letter to Rozzi on Wednesday, insisting he schedule voting sessions next week and get around the rules disagreement by temporarily using last sessions rules. Nicole Reigelman, a spokesperson for House Democrats, said Republicans have rejected requests to meet for bipartisan discussions about rules. Attempts to obtain a comment from Rozzi were not successful. Voter ID has been a controversial issue for years. On Tuesday, the Republican-led Senate approved the bill bundling the three proposed constitutional amendments together. One included the requirement, When voting in person, the qualified elector shall present a valid identification before receiving a ballot to vote in person. On Wednesday, Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa of Allegheny County said senators were being deprived of the ability to vote on the proposed amendments independently. In a written statement, Republican Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward of Westmoreland County and Republican Leader Joe Pittman of Indiana County said, Passing multiple constitutional amendments in one bill, which are then presented to voters as separate questions, is not a new concept and has been utilized in prior sessions. Before the final vote on the package, the Senate tabled a proposal from Boscola to add amendments to protect abortion rights, eliminate property taxes for homesteads and farmsteads starting in 2028, and expand nondiscrimination protections in the law. House problems Attempts in the General Assembly to open a legal window for child sex abuse lawsuits for years have run into roadblocks and problems. The most glaring was a 2021 mistake in which the Wolf administration failed to advertise a proposed constitutional amendment that had gone through the Legislature the required two times. The entire process had to be restarted. Rozzi, a 10-year rank-and-file Democrat who gained prominence as an advocate for child sex abuse survivors, won the vote for speaker last week with the support of all Democrats and 16 Republicans. He pledged to run the House as an independent, not caucus with either party, and seek an end to favoritism, dysfunction and behind-the-scenes deal making. But Republicans said he also promised to switch his political affiliation from Democrat to independent. As of Monday, he had not done that, causing the Republican who nominated him for the job Rep. Jim Gregory of Blair County to call for Rozzis resignation as speaker. On Wednesday, Cutler and other top Republicans wrote, You made a commitment to represent the interests of the people of Pennsylvania and to put aside the practice of closed-door meetings and back room deals. It is time to start our work on behalf of our Commonwealth in open and public session. The Republicans proposed starting House business by using last sessions rules while a work group Rozzi created to find a way forward carries out its mission. Reigelman, the Democrats spokesperson, said they remain open to negotiations on rules. Beyond that, she said, the special session of the Legislature called by Gov. Tom Wolf a session where only one issue is considered is the best way to deal with the proposed amendment on lawsuits. The only House meeting of the special session ended almost immediately Monday because of a lack of rules. We are not in a good place right now, Rep. Mike Schlossberg, a South Whitehall Township Democrat, said of the House. While the count of representatives is 101-99 in favor of Republicans, he said, three vacant seats are likely to be filled by Democrats because the three districts are dominated by that party. That would create a 102-101 Democratic majority. One way or the other, we are going to be a closely divided government, Schlossberg said, with the takeaway being that the parties must learn to work together. He faulted Republicans, whom he said helped broker Rozzis speaker victory then did nothing but insult and question him. Centre County Republican Rep. Kerry Benninghoff, former leader of the caucus, said the disagreements are tied to the razor-thin majority that came out of the 2022 election and that closeness was tied to inappropriately drawn legislative maps. Benninghoff was on the five-member Legislative Reapportionment Commission and was the only no vote last year when it approved new House and Senate maps. Benninghoff said the House map artificially changed voter practices by creating many more districts that pitted incumbent Republicans against each other than those that did the same with Democrats. It did so in four situations for Republicans, compared with one for Democrats. This is not a total surprise to me, Benninghoff said. Morning Call Capitol correspondent Ford Turner can be reached at fturner@mcall.com. Ashiqul Islam, district correspondent of the Daily Monitor and a reporter for local daily Brahmanbaria Patrika was hacked to death in a knife- attack on the evening of January 9 while he was returning home. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) expresses condolence to Islams family and demands that the Bangladesh government investigate the case swiftly and bring the perpetrators to justice. According to a media- report, a group of assailants, attacked 27-year-old Islam with a knife near Faruki Park in Brahmanbaria,Chattogram, at around 7 pm while he was returning home in an auto-rickshaw. All the assailants fled the scene immediately after leaving Islam seriously injured. Locals took the journalist to Sadar Hospital where he was later declared dead. The police soon arrested Raihan Mia alias Sohan on suspicion of killing the journalist. Raihan accepted responsibility. The police are still investigating the reason behind the attack and details of others involved in the killing. Islam is the first journalist killed in Bangladesh in 2023. Late last year, female journalist Shabnam Sharmin was found dead in her house in suspicious circumstances. Bangladeshi journalists are demanding an immediate investigation into the case. Manobadhikar Sangbadik Forum (BMSF), a Bangladeshi human rights organisation, is looking into whether his profession had any link with the incident. Bangladesh Manobadhikar Sangbadik Forum (BMSF), said: We condemn the heinous killing of journalist Ashiqul Islam. BMSF demands the immediate arrest of all those involved in his killing. IFJ General Secretary, Anthony Bellanger, said: IFJ expresses its condolences to the Bangladeshi journalists fraternity and joins them in seeking a swift investigation into the case and for the authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice." Bollywood comedy legend Johnny Lever expressed disappointment with the industry's current state by claiming that his particular brand of humor is no longer required in the movies. In a recent interview, he said that he believed that other actors demanded comedic roles so that he, Johnny, wouldn't earn all the praise. With it, the need for comic relief characters almost vanished. To emphasize his point, Johnny cited the example of his breakthrough film, Baazigar, which starred Shah Rukh Khan. In a recent interview with ETimes, he "didn't have a writer," so he had to create all the comic moments alone. He said he could do it, thanks to youthful exuberance. When he was quizzed on why he doesnt appear in as many films as he used to anymore, he added, "I turn down work because the writing is bad these days. You speak of Baazigar That film had no writer; it was just me. I came up with all the punches. Those were good days; we used to work hard. But these days, we dont have (comedy) writers. Its like, Johnny bhai will handle it. Thats not how it works. We need a blueprint first." He added that comedy isn't given as much respect as in earlier days. "Comedy was given respect back in the day. These days, theres hardly any comedy in movies. Back in the day, I used to get such positive responses that my scenes would become the movie's highlights. Sometimes, the heroes would feel threatened, and my scenes would be edited. They used to watch how the audience would react to my scenes and feel insecure. They also started asking writers to come up with comedy scenes for them. The writers would start distributing comedy scenes. And my roles became smaller and smaller, which is what youre seeing now. Comedy is gone." He stated that only a few contemporary directors consider humor necessary (citing Rohit Shetty as a notable exception). However, he did note that both heroes and villains alike are being funny. He added that actors have become versatile, so actors like him aren't needed to provide laughs. Instagram He was last seen in Rohit Shetty's Cirkus. Despite a versatile cast, the film failed to impress the audience. (To get the latest updates from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment) Nearly 20 years have passed since a Pennsylvania elementary school instructional aide was suspended for refusing to conceal a small cross on her necklace a suspension that ultimately led a federal court to rule that her rights were violated. But Pennsylvania law still contains a so-called garb statute that bans the wearing of religious emblems by teachers and some other education workers. In the last two sessions, bills that would get rid of that language have stalled in the General Assembly. On Tuesday, a third attempt got rolling when the Senate Education Committee advanced a bill sponsored by Republican Sen. Kristin Phillips-Hill of York County and Democratic Sen. Judy Schwank of Berks County. A teacher should not be worried about his or her job for simply wearing a cross on a necklace, Phillips-Hill said. Our First Amendment rights? They do not end simply because an educator walked into a school or classroom. Schwank said passing the bill would remove a potential discouragement for Pennsylvanians who might want to become educators. We are in dire need of good teachers in our schools, and teachers that respect all aspects of our society, Schwank said. Having something like this in place that would limit the ability for individuals who should be free to express their religious beliefs, or the sect that they belong to, seems to me to be counterproductive to that goal. The bill got unanimous approval from the committee, chaired by Schuylkill County Republican Sen David Argall. It now goes to the full Senate for approval. In the 2019-20 session, a similar bill stalled in the Senate Education Committee. In the 2021-22 session, another bill received approval from the full Senate and then the House Education Committee, but failed to reach a final vote by the full House. The garb statute the bill seeks to delete says, in part, No teacher in any public school shall wear in said school or while engaged in the performance of his duty as such teacher any dress, mark, emblem or insignia indicating the fact that such teacher is a member or adherent of any religious order, sect or denomination. The Pennsylvania State Education Association backs the proposed change. Years ago, spokesperson Chris Lilienthal said, it was believed the wearing of religious emblems by teachers might be perceived as a state endorsement of a religion. Now, people see the wearing of such emblems as a matter of personal expression. Society really has moved past the historic concerns that caused policymakers to include this ban, Lilienthal said. The court ruling that laid the groundwork for a possible repeal came out of a scenario that unfolded in early 2003 in Penns Manor Area Elementary School in Indiana County. Instructional aide Brenda Nichol was suspended because she refused to comply with a supervisors request to remove or conceal a small cross she wore on a necklace. A story published by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said Nichol filed a lawsuit that claimed her First Amendment rights had been violated. A U.S. District Court decision held that the action against Nichol violated the free exercise of religion and free speech clauses of the U.S. Constitutions First Amendment. Morning Call Capitol correspondent Ford Turner can be reached at fturner@mcall.com. The RRR crew arrived in grand style at the 80th annual Golden Globe Awards in Los Angeles. RRR was nominated for Best Non-English Language Film as well as Best Song. The Best Song award went to the RRR song Naatu Naatu, which starred Ram Charan and Jr NTR. web screen grab Naatu Naatu had become a hit also because of their outstanding dance moves. The song, which beat the likes of numbers by Taylor Swift, Rihanna, and Lady Gaga, to win the coveted award, is the first time an Indian production has won a Golden Globe. Organized by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the prestigious awards, which mark the beginning of the Hollywood season that ends with the Oscars in March, were presented here on Tuesday night. web screen grab Upasana, Ram Charan's wife, accompanied him to the prestigious award ceremony. Upasana, also in attendance, posted pictures from the evening on her Instagram account. Upasana, who is expecting her first child with her husband, Ram Charan, shared her experience by writing: "I'm sooo happy my baby can experience this along with me. I'm soooooo emotional." Twitter She started her post by writing, "Such an honor to be a part of the RRR family. Proudly representing and winning for Indian Cinema. #jaihind. She added in her post: "Thank you M.r C (Ram Charan) and Rajamouli Garu (SS Rajamouli), for making me part of this journey. From shooting in Ukraine to the Golden Globe Awards, you have taught me that clarity of thought, hard work, and perseverance pay off." Upasana and Ram Charan are excited to welcome their first child. Last month, members of the Konidela family revealed exciting news. A statement from the family confirmed that Upasana and Ram Charan are expecting their first child. The statement read, "With the blessings of Shri Hanuman J, we are delighted to share that Upasana and Ram Charan are expecting their first child with love and gratitude - Surekha and Chiranjeevi Konidela; Shobana and Anil Kamineni." (To get the latest updates from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment) Europe is experiencing an unusually warm winter. Europe is experiencing an unusually warm winter. might expect snow-covered streets, topped peaks, and subfreezing temperatures at this time in Europe. However, it's not the usual season for Europe this year, the place is quite abnormally warming up. Unprecedented winter heat waves have been hitting parts of Europe. Although it may seem like the antithesis, it is the situation in 2023. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reports that weather stations throughout Europe have been registering record-breaking daily readings for the months of December or January. The WMO observed that New Year's Eve and New Year's Day were both scorching warm in several European nations. The unexpectedly warm weather precedes a sweltering summer and a drought of dimensions not seen in decades. AFP What is happening? January was unusually warm since a sizable winter heat dome struck a large portion of Europe. Several records were broken during the winter heat wave as temperatures rose 18 to 36 degrees Fahrenheit (10 to 20 Celsius) above average over the continent from France to Russia's western border. Warnings about the heat dome are being sent by meteorologists. The general public in Europe is urged to take extra care, especially the young, old, and those suffering from long-term illnesses. What is a heat dome? When warm air is trapped over a location for a long time, much like the lid of a pot, it develops a high-pressure area called a heat dome. With each passing day, the trapped air becomes warmer with intensified exertion of the sun to heat it. The longer that air remain trapped, the hotter it gets. The average duration of heat domes is a few days, but they may last for up to weeks, which can result in deadly heat waves. Scientists believe that air is forced to sink in any area of high pressure, regardless of whether it is a heat dome. Once the air reaches the earth, it is compressed and becomes even hotter. Additionally, as air lowers, it becomes drier, pushing the temperature of the area even higher. AFP Relationship between heat domes and the jet stream The behaviour of the jet stream, a region of swiftly moving air high in the atmosphere, has an impact on how heat domes are formed. The jet stream is believed to flow constantly from north to south and then back north in a pattern like a wave. AFP These waves move slowly and can occasionally become stagnant as they become larger and longer. A high-pressure system gets caught in this situation, which leads to the formation of a heat dome. Heat domes have probably always existed, but according to researchers, climate change may be lengthening and intensifying them. They claim that as temperatures rise, it is anticipated that the jet stream would become more erratic and have more deviations, leading to an increase in the frequency of extreme heat events. Why is Europe experiencing such high temperatures? Researchers are still trying to figure out the cause of the unusually warm temperatures. Its been extreme heat across a huge area, which is almost, to be honest, unheard of, Alex Burkill, a senior meteorologist at the Met Office, told the Guardian. AFP He explained how a wave of warm air had developed off the coast of West Africa and had travelled through Europe. According to Burkill, the phenomenon has been widespread, with temperatures for January breaking records in Denmark, the Czech Republic, and pretty much the entire German-speaking region. The other meteorologist observed that while taking into consideration the exceptionally warm sea surface as well, it doesn't appear to explain the startling rising temperatures. But one thing that climate scientists are sure of is that these unusual heatwaves will continue to occur more frequently and with greater ferocity due to global warming. In the hill town of Joshimath, a protest erupted on Tuesday against the Uttarakhand government's decision to demolish sinking homes and hotels without compensation. The protesters are criticising the state administration for the reckless demolition decision. A demolition drive is expected to commence today in the "sinking" town of Joshimath to destroy the Hotel Malari Inn and other dangerous buildings. A team of the Central Building Research Institute (CBRI), which has been roped in for the demolition, surveyed the two hotels on Tuesday. "The buildings will be razed systematically and the emphasis will be on reducing the load in the slope. The demolition process would be carried out in steps, from the top to bottom, and is estimated to take three-four days," CBRI scientist Dr CP Kanungo told India Today. As per reports, the Joshimath administration has called for a meeting of all officials and hotel owners whose properties are set to be demolished today. Locals and hotel owners sat on a dharna near Malari hotel and were not ready to leave without the assurance of compensation. #JoshimathSubsidence | Owner of Malari Hotel&his family members are sitting outside the hotel demanding compensation as the hotel to be demolished due to cracks My son lives in France, I can go anywhere but I'm sitting here for the people of Joshimath: T Singh Rana, hotel owner pic.twitter.com/hYZv1jZVfh ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) January 11, 2023 Malari Inn and Mount View, two neighbouring hotels, have started leaning towards each other dangerously, posing a threat to human settlements around them. The Uttarakhand government on Monday directed the razing of unstable structures, starting with these two buildings. But, as State Disaster Relief Force (SDRF) personnel along with heavy machinery reached the site, the Malari Hotel owner Thakur Singh and other protestors blocked the way. Environmentalist raises serious concern On Tuesday, environmentalist Vimlendu Jha raised a serious concern amidst the Joshimath sinking tragedy in Uttarakhand. Jha has warned that Joshimath is not the last town to witness the sinking tragedy and many Himalayan towns and villages are set for the same path in future. File Image "This is not the last Joshimath, resilience of Himalayas can't be tested further, many Himalayan towns and villages will sink in coming years," he said. He further said experts had warned the government for five decades over the sensitiveness of the Himalayan region and the absence of map drawings undertaken for the likes of Delhi and other plains. In a thread on Twitter, he said that the coverage of Joshimath would show that haphazard construction is the main reason for the tragedy. But he believes it to be a 'coverup exercise'. JOSHIMATH SINKING THREAD: All the coverage on Joshimath will show you visuals of haphazard construction n tilted homes with cracks, n also build a narrative that it is the main reason for the disaster. Thats half the truth and a coverup exercise, to protect the main CULPRIT. ++ Vimlendu Jha (@vimlendu) January 10, 2023 He wrote, "Main CULPRIT is the devt model pursued in Uttarakhand, in fact in entire Himalayan region, starting from Dharamshala to Arunachal, the large-scale infrastructure projects posing threat to fragile Himalayan ecosystem." Joshimath, a gateway to holy sites such as Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib, has been recognised as a land subsidence-hit area after massive cracks appeared across the town. As per official data, 131 families have been relocated so far, including 37 evacuated on Tuesday, while the number of damaged houses stands at 723. There are 86 houses in the area demarcated as an unsafe zone. Joshimath was sinking for the past 18 months Over the last 18 months, the hill town of Joshimath has been sinking at a very high rate of 6-6.5 cm yearly; a new study has shown. On Tuesday, Indian space scientists revealed satellite images indicating a "significant" subsidence rate in Joshimath between July 2020 and March 2022. Unsplash "Joshimath is sinking at a rate of 6-6.5 cm per year as per the satellite images. The reason could be manifold. We have been looking at the satellite data since 2015, but the analysis would take some time," a scientist at Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, Dehradun, told Deccan Herald. SC to hear plea on Joshimath crisis on January 16 The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear on January 16 a plea seeking the court's intervention to declare the Joshimath crisis as a national disaster. However, the bench, which had Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha, refused to list the plea filed for urgent hearing. File Image "There are democratically elected institutions to look into it. Everything important should not come to us. We will list it on January 16," the Chief Justice of India said. Cracks in UP's Aligarh and another Uttarakhand town Meanwhile, cracks in a few houses in the Kanwariganj area of Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh has triggered panic among locals. According to the local administration, a team is expected to inspect the affected areas. Cracks seen in house in Aligarh/ ANI The locals alleged that a pipeline laid down by the government under the Smart City scheme is leaking and leading to house cracks. They say they submitted a complaint with the concerned authorities 3-4 days back, but action has yet to be taken. Crack seen on house in Karnaprayag/ANI Also, fresh cracks have appeared in houses in another town of Uttarakhand amid panic due to land subsidence in Joshimath. More than 50 houses developed significant gaps in Karnaprayag. The residents of Karnaprayag, 80 km away from Joshimath, have left their homes, fearing another disaster. (With inputs from ANI) For more on news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News. On Tuesday, January 10th, Prince Harry's memoir, Spare, was released to the public after months of controversy and worldwide attention for startling revelations about his personal life and the royal family. The siblings, Harry and William, have had a turbulent relationship since Harry and Markle quit their royal duties in 2020 and moved to California. Instagram The rift exploded in 2021 when the Duke and Duchess of Sussex sat down with Oprah Winfrey for a bombshell interview in which Harry claimed that his brother and father, King Charles III, were trapped in their roles. Salacious details of their personal lives have always intrigued people. AP Many people immediately flocked to bookstores to purchase copies after the book's release. Twitter Meanwhile, a picture of a UK bookstore went viral after it was captured next to a copy of Bella Mackie's How to Kill Your Family, which has been termed "deliberately exhibited" alongside the memoir. Twitter The snapshot of the bookstore has already gained widespread attention online, even though it appears to be a subtle jest directed at the memoir and its controversial content. Anyway, we do have some spare copies of Spare if you want one pic.twitter.com/uOFbiPdMaW Berts Books (@bertsbooks) January 10, 2023 "Anyway, we do have some spare copies of Spare if you want one." The photograph was taken in "Bert's Books," a bookstore in Swindon, England. The picture shows the novel next to many copies of Prince Harry's autobiography. People seem to be intrigued by the bookstore's display, as seen by the countless positive comments it has received. Amplifying your shop to my friends. Brilliant stuff. https://t.co/iUw2NiTWAk vbspurs (@vbspurs) January 10, 2023 Forget #SpareUsHarry - this fabulous display has done one thing -- made me want to read Bella Mackie's book. Tell me I'm not the only one! Hope you sell out of that one! https://t.co/lDkF6aT9ft AgathaMarple (@AgathaMarple3) January 10, 2023 very clever The second book - genius https://t.co/8up0hVYgbB According2Taz (@according2_taz) January 10, 2023 What a book display? Thanks god, we have bookshops https://t.co/B4StwYEaC1 Juergen Zimmerer (@JuergenZimmerer) January 10, 2023 Recommend supporting this book store for this epic display... obviously avoiding buying spare itself! https://t.co/RpNeHGUER1 John Book (@JohnBook007) January 10, 2023 the best book shop window ever. 100% for creativity #SPACE https://t.co/fQSXWMBoJG M s ~ M M (@MagaliDMathias) January 11, 2023 LOOOOOL I think this is the first time a book shop window made me laugh https://t.co/52kCag4NOc LETS BURN IT ALL FOR NAMOR | WNCel (@haniimhome) January 11, 2023 Speaking on the same, a bookstore staff member called it a light-hearted but intentional move for fun purposes. Talking to Newsweek, he said, "It was light-hearted. It was certainly intentional; it wasnt an accident. The How to Kill Your Family book was in our window anyway because it was our best-selling book of 2022. When we were putting Spare out this morning, we thought, oh, lets put them together, it will be funny," Pinkvilla After his Netflix documentary premiered last month, Prince Harry has released his latest piece, 'Spare,' published by Penguin Random House. Netflix Before and during his time as a prince and in his private life, the book reveals shocking facts about Harry that have never been made public. Recently, a Spanish-language edition of the book was also leaked by mistake. (For the latest trending stories, keep reading Indiatimes) Vena, meanwhile, will succeed Pelaez as the new managing partner of BFL Canadas Montreal office. He also first joined the company in 2011 and is currently managing partner leading the commercial unit for Montreal. BFL Canada said that Vena was instrumental in building the commercial unit, which encompasses several industry specializations such as forestry, mining, energy and heavy industry. Prior to joining BFL Canada, he worked at an international insurance brokerage firm on large and complex placements, primarily on risk management accounts. He also helped develop expertise in large-scale construction projects by playing a key role in the placing of major Quebec-based mining and energy projects. Court documents said that M.O. had sex with a man she was in a relationship with, in the latters car. She claimed that she contracted HPV because the man did not tell her that he had the disease. In February 2021, M.O. notified GEICO that she planned to seek a $1 million insurance settlement from the man, alleging that the mans auto insurance offered coverage for her injuries and losses. Montgomery County commissioners Chair Val Arkoosh has been nominated by Gov.-elect Josh Shapiro to become secretary of the Department of Human Services. The nomination was announced Wednesday morning along with Dr. Debra L. Bogen to be secretary of health; Dr. Latika Davis-Jones to be secretary of drug and alcohol programs; Jason Kavulich to be secretary of aging, and Mike Humphreys to be insurance commissioner. These experienced physicians, public health experts, and human services leaders have decades of experience and will work to improve the health and well-being of the people of Pennsylvania, a news release from the Shapiro-Davis transition team stated. Shapiro will be sworn in Tuesday as governor. The health and safety of our communities is of the utmost importance, and Im proud to nominate tested leaders like Dr. Val Arkoosh, Dr. Debra Bogen, Dr. Latika Davis-Jones, Jason Kavulich, and Mike Humphreys to key cabinet posts in my Administration they are well qualified public servants who are passionate about public health and ready to get to work on day one, Shapiro said in the news release. With todays announcement, we continue to build our diverse, hard-working team with leaders who will bring decades of public health experience to their roles. Every Pennsylvanian deserves access to quality, affordable health care and a social safety net that is there for them in times of need and Im confident these five leaders will help us deliver that for communities all across our Commonwealth, Shapiro said. As a physician and public health advocate, I spent my career fighting for health care access and affordability for families, and I am deeply honored to be able to continue this fight alongside my friend, Governor-Elect Josh Shapiro, Arkoosh said. Working together as Montgomery County Commissioners, I saw Governor-Elect Shapiros commitment to enhancing the health and well-being of his constituents firsthand. I look forward to advancing the governor-elects agenda to ensure vulnerable populations across the Commonwealth have the support they need and every Pennsylvanian has equitable, affordable access to health care in their community. Arkoosh, 62, has served as a county commissioner since she was appointed to fill a vacancy in January 2015. She won election to a full four-year term in November 2015 and was elected commissioners chair in November 2016, the first woman to assume the role. She was reelected in November 2019 and unanimously chosen by her two colleagues to again serve as chair in January 2020. Before stepping into public service, she was a physician and professor of clinical anesthesiology and clinical obstetrics and gynecology at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania. Arkoosh is a graduate of the University of Nebraska College of Medicine and received a Master of Public Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She performed her residency at Jefferson Medical College in anesthesiology with a special focus in obstetrics. She has an undergraduate degree in economics from Northwestern University. Arkoosh lives in Springfield Township, Montgomery County, with her husband, Jeff Harbison, and their three children. Dan literally wrote the book on fiduciary liability insurance, and he and his team are well known as thought leaders in the fiduciary market, said Chris Treanor, president and CEO of SPG. Their model of deep specialty expertise and autonomy aligns perfectly with our business strategy, and we welcome them to the SPG family of companies. Small emerging tech companies in Ireland are in better shape than multinational firms amid a tech slowdown, said CEO of Enterprise Ireland Leo Clancy. I think a lot of Irish companies, particularly small companies, took a look at the emerging situation and spoke to their investors, said Mr Clancy. They took decisions to slow hiring then to conserve their capital to look at their financial roadmaps. So I think theyre in reasonably good shape. Mr Clancy made his comments at Enterprise Irelands end-of-year results presentation which showed net jobs increased by 5%, with 10,841 jobs created in 2022 among Enterprise Ireland clients. The Irish start-up market also recorded a surge in preseed funding in the second half of the year. However, Mr Clancy said there is a growing trend of new companies looking to expand into eurozone markets instead of the UK, which at one time would have been the preferred market for early-stage companies. Mr Clancy said this trend is due to ongoing uncertainty in the UK economy. Irish companies have been underexposed to the eurozone, said Mr Clancy. I think theres massive opportunity to do more in the wider eurozone. Enterprise Ireland companies now employ 218,178 people, and 68% of these jobs are based outside Dublin. Employment increased across Enterprise Irelands three core economic sectors which are technology and services, which rose 8%; industrial and life sciences, which went up 5%; and food and sustainability, which increased by 3%. In terms of further growth trends, Mr Clancy said he sees opportunity for agritech companies. I think those are really interesting for us, because climate and sustainability are going to be huge global industries, said Mr Clancy. Agritech is a hidden gem for us. Climate, sustainability, and agritech also recorded employment growth of 13% last year, digital technology jobs rose 9%, high-tech construction and housing employment grew 6%, and fintech, financial and business services jobs also grew by 6%. 'Regional balance' A real positive of todays results is the regional balance in terms of both new jobs created and total employment, said newly appointed Enterprise Minister Simon Coveney. More than 147,000 people in the regions are now employed by Enterprise Ireland client companies, making an enormous contribution to local economies and communities, he said. The results also showed there were 161 early-stage company approvals last year, as well as 102 research and development approvals greater than 100,000. There were also 144 climate projects supported and 238 companies entering a new market. There were 1,271 overseas contracts secured with Enterprise Irelands assistance. Supporting Irish-owned companies to achieve greater scale and expand their global footprint is a priority for Enterprise Ireland in 2023 and we are committed to supporting Irish companies on their journey to become global leaders in their field, said Mr Clancy. Farmers feel there is "little by way of financial commitment" from the Government to achieve the necessary climate targets for the agricultural sector. The Irish Farmers' Association farming and climate summit taking place in Limerick today heard that the sector "will not shirk our responsibility when it comes to climate action" when it comes to achieving an emissions ceiling for 2030 that is 25% lower than 2018. However, IFA President Tim Cullinan said low-income sectors like beef and sheep farming will need financial support to meet the targets set down. "Like so many other aspects of the Governments climate policy, people are asking: wheres the funding?" he said at a packed Thomond Park. "Some in Government have pointed to CAP funding as an example of financial support for climate targets. However, what they fail to point out is that CAP funding to agriculture in real terms has fallen by around 20% over the last 15 years." He said farming cannot "become the sacrificial lamb" where cutting agricultural activity is seen as "a fast-track solution" to reducing overall national emissions. Mr Cullinan pointed to an increase in the use of protected urea and the increase in slurry spreading using low emissions techniques as proof that the farming sector can change practices to reduce emissions. "This proves that farmers will step up when given the opportunity, along with appropriate support and advice," he said. "Despite the narrative some choose to portray, Irish farmers are ready, willing and able to step up and play their part to help Ireland achieve its climate change ambitions." Mr Cullinan also told the conference that policies which lead to a cut in food production at a time of massive food security concerns were foolish in the extreme. "It will lead to an increase in overall emissions, with production moving to more carbon-intensive parts of the world. We need to focus on reducing emissions not on reducing output." Mr Cullinan noted that agri-food imports of food from Brazil into the EU increased by 47% in 2022. "The recent change of Government in Brazil is likely to see political pressure at EU level to push on with the EU/Mercosur trade deal," he said, calling on Government to take into account the risk of carbon leakage in climate policies, to avoid "production moving to countries with a more lax environment policy". "The consequences are already clear. Imports from Brazil are rocketing up leading to an increase in global emissions." Mr Cullinan said. "We will work to reduce emissions, but not by reducing output and cutting our member's incomes - just to see global emissions increasing." This was echoed by food economist Ciaran Fitzgerald who told the conference there was too much focus on reducing livestock numbers rather than reducing emissions. He said Irish farming and food production is significantly ahead of measurement and emissions reduction capability compared to its competitors; and that "ideological" thinking around reducing livestock and changing production models undermines science, and ultimately buy-in. Last year American president Joe Biden signed the Emmett Till Antilynching Act into law, meaning that as of March 29, 2022, lynching became a federal hate crime. And while the story brought to the big screen by writer-director Chinonye Chukwu in biographical drama Till took place in 1955, its resonance and impact is more important than ever. The film Till, with a screenplay by Michael Reilly and Keith Beauchamp, is based on the true story of Mamie Till-Mobleys pursuit of justice for her 14-year-old son Emmett, who was lynched in 1955 while visiting his cousins in Mississippi. It stars Danielle Deadwyler in the title role and Whoopi Goldberg as Emmetts grandmother Alma Carthan, as well as also starring Jalyn Hall, Frankie Faison and Haley Bennett. Sister Act star Goldberg, 67, also serves as a producer on the film, and was keen to bring the story to the screen. This could be anybodys child," says Goldberg. "And so for me that was the catalyst because I recognised, I think in a way that I didnt really know that I was thinking about, how large racism, and all the -isms attached to racism, actually is and how long the tentacles of hate can be. For me, Till is the epitome of what hate can look like and what it means to hate that way. To see this ordinary woman and her wonderful, ordinary 14-year-old son thrust into a situation that his grandmother certainly never would have thought would be possible. His mother never really thought this was possible because she says in the movie: Ive seen what they do to folks down there, but that has nothing to do with me, Im up here. As it turns out, it has to do with all of us, and were all up here. So it really for me became about the best way of sounding the alarm to the direction we as a world, were heading towards with our hatred of these people. Till is the culmination of what hate can look like. But its also the culmination of the love between a mother and a son. So its so many things. And it is also this bond that Nigerian-born American filmmaker Chukwu, who also wrote and directed 2019s Clemency starring Alfre Woodard, wanted to focus on. In a note written about Till, she says she was drawn to a singular figure at the centre of his orbit, which, of course, was his mother Mamie Till-Mobley. She explains: For me, the opportunity to focus the film on Mamie, a multi-faceted black woman, and peel back the layers on this particular chapter in her life, was a tall order I accepted with deep respect and responsibility. The 37-year-old filmmaker, adds: The crux of this story is not about the traumatic, physical violence inflicted upon Emmett which is why I refused to depict such brutality in the film but it is about Mamies remarkable journey in the aftermath." In August 1955, 14-year-old Emmett was lynched after after being accused of an inappropriate interaction with white female store owner Carolyn Bryant. Two men stood trial for killing Emmett and were acquitted by an all-white jury. Reports say that the men, both now dead, later admitted to the crime in a magazine interview, protected against prosecution for the same offence by the double jeopardy clause in the US Constitution. Mamie Till-Mobley, who died in 2003, was insistent on the casket being open at Emmetts funeral and pictures of his mutilated body were also published in a magazine to show the world the true horror of what had happened to her son. Last year a statue of Emmett was unveiled in the US. Danielle Deadwyler as Mamie Till Bradley and Whoopi Goldberg as Alma Carthan in 'Till' Forty-year-old actress Deadwyler, whose credits include 2021s The Harder They Fall, said it was a critical time to be considering American history. The challenges that were facing in America, governors who are disinterested in digging into the reality of American history and where we derive from, the true origins, she says. This is a marker where people dont talk about the impact of black womens labour in the civil rights movement and so Mamie is an origin moment. She is the progenitor of the civil rights movement. Martin Luther King, James Baldwin, Rosa Parks, all were deeply impacted by Mamies actions, and the life of Emmett Till, so this is critical right now. Goldberg also remembers her shock at first hearing Emmett Tills story before learning about all the prejudices that exist. People familiar with the story had hoped that a film documenting his tale would come out but it never did, before she became involved alongside James Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael Reilly, as well as Frederick Zollo and Keith Beauchamp. She explains: Keith Beauchamp decided that it needed to be made because he was also a friend of Mrs Mobleys, and he wanted to get the story out and into the zeitgeist. So he first made a documentary which sort of helped resurrect the story and then started working on the script, which we couldnt get anybody to pay attention to. Goldberg, the star of films including Ghost and The Color Purple, said she was shocked that people were so blase about not wanting to make the film. And then George Floyd happened and the reckoning that happened in the US really forced people to take a good look at themselves, and how they felt, she said. Suddenly, everybody could identify with what was happening to George Floyd and that also helped open the doors to the money that we needed to make the film. Floyd died on May 25 2020, after former police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for nine-and-a-half minutes as Floyd repeatedly said he could not breathe and eventually went limp. His death sparked worldwide protests as part of a broader reckoning over racial injustice. Goldberg adds of Till: Its a cautionary tale for all of us. If no one says anything, and this continues to go on the way that it does, this will never stop, because we all like to think that sanctioned racism is gone, but its not. So, this film is very important, especially now, because it is a part of American history not African American history. Till is out in cinemas now. Burma Assets Belonging to Myanmar Junta Chiefs Children Among Items Seized From Arms Broker in Bangkok Aung Pyae Sone (left) and Khin Thiri Thet Mon (right), the two adult children of regime leader Min Aung Hlaing The discovery of bankbooks and the title document of a luxury condominium owned by the adult children of Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing among items confiscated during the arrest of a Myanmar crony arms broker in Bangkok in September spotlights the link between him and the regime chiefs family. At the same time, it reveals that Min Aung Hlaings family has used Thailand as a location to squirrel away their assets. Based on the seizure records, Justice for Myanmar (JFM), a covert activist group tracking the juntas businesses, said that among the items confiscated from arms broker Tun Min Latt was the title document of a four-bedroom condo worth nearly US$1 million in the Belle Rama 9 complex belonging to Min Aung Hlaings son Aung Pyae Sone. Other items include two Siam Commercial Bank passbooks belonging to Khin Thiri Thet Mon, Min Aung Hlaings daughter. Myanmar national Tun Min Latt, 53, and three of his associates were arrested in dawn raids in Bangkok on Sept. 17 and indicted on Dec. 13 on drug trafficking, money laundering and transnational organized crime charges. Over 200 million baht ($5.4 million) worth of drugs and other items were confiscated from them, the Thai police said. Dr. Tun Min Latt runs the Star Sapphire Group of companies, which brokered imports of Israeli reconnaissance drones and aircraft parts for the Myanmar Air Force, according to sources. Star Sapphire Group is partnered with two military-owned business conglomerates Myanma Economic Holdings Ltd (MEHL) and Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC) in numerous ventures, sources said. Min Aung Hlaing grabbed power from the countrys elected National League for Democracy (NLD) in 2021 and his rule has faced nationwide resistance. He has responded by ordering air strikes and the torching of villages while killing more than 2,600 people, mostly anti-regime activists. Min Aung Hlaing and his two children are sanctioned by the US and Canada. The junta chief has maintained a close personal relationship with Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha JFM said that Thai authorities have not seized the assets of Aung Pyae Sone and Khin Thiri Thet Mon, despite evidence linking them to Tun Min Latts alleged criminal activities. The group said that while the junta continues waging its campaign of terror against the people of Myanmar, the families of junta members are hiding their stolen assets offshore, as they benefit from the militarys genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. JFM spokesperson Yadanar Maung urged Thai authorities to seize the assets of Aung Pyae Sone and Khin Thiri Thet Mon and investigate whether they have benefited from the proceeds of crime, and to block junta members, their families and enablers from accessing Thai banks and purchasing assets in Thailand. Burma Myanmar Regime Airstrike at Chin Resistance Base Kills Five A damaged building at the Chin National Army headquarters in Chin State after being bombed by junta jets on Tuesday. Photo- CJ A Myanmar junta airstrike killed five ethnic Chin resistance fighters, including two women, on Tuesday in western Myanmars Chin State. On Tuesday afternoon around 4pm, Myanmar military jets dropped five bombs on the Mt. Victoria headquarters of the Chin National Army (CNA), the armed wing of the Chin National Front (CNF), the first ethnic armed organization (EAO) to join forces with the parallel National Unity Government (NUG) in the fight to topple the military regime. One of the bombs landed in Indias Mizoram State, which borders Chin State, according to local media and a Chin political body. The other four bombs hit the CNAs headquarters close to the frontier with India, killing five resistance fighters. The Interim Chin National Consultative Council (ICNCC), set up to form political tasks in Chin State in conjunction with the NUG, issued a statement condemning the airstrike, describing it as an inhumane act. The airstrike reflects the true attitude of the military regime that has seized power and is ignoring the will of all the peoples of Myanmar, said the ICNCC. The body added that the airstrike proves that the juntas recent announcement of a ceasefire with EAOs is just a lie. The ICNCC said that the airstrike has only made the Chin people more determined to topple the military dictatorship. Ethnic Chin Dr. Sasa, the NUGs Minister of International Cooperation, wrote on his Facebook: This attack will make us stronger. We must remain strong and united in the face of this evil. We must all continue to fight the good fight so that justice and federal democracy will prevail in Chinland and across all of Myanmar, added Dr. Sasa. Chin Defense Force-Mindat also condemned the junta airstrike in a statement issued Wednesday. The resistance group said that it will cooperate with not only all Chin resistance forces, including the CNF, but also with all resistance groups across Myanmar in uprooting the junta and building a federal democracy. On Wednesday, residents of the Chin State capital Hakha took part in a silent protest against the airstrike, shuttering their shops and businesses, according to Chin news outlets. Fighting has been ongoing in Chin State since April 2021. Chin resistance forces regularly attack military regime convoys, detachments and bases, inflicting heavy casualties. Burma Myanmar Regime Begins Compiling Voter Lists for Planned Election Officers from the junta's immigration and general administration department collect household data for voter lists in a village in Pyinmana township, Naypyitaw on Jan 6. /NPTC Myanmars junta began forcibly gathering household registrations on Monday in preparation for a national election that has been denounced both at home and abroad as a fake exercise to cement military rule. The junta announced the census will be conducted nationwide until Jan. 31 but didnt openly say it would be used to compile voter lists for its planned August election. Village, tract and ward administration bodies in Yangon townships started collecting registrations to verify the number of residents in each ward on Jan. 9. Today [Jan. 10], they abruptly announced it with loudspeakers and summoned the people to submit name lists [at collection points], said U Tin, a Kyauktada township resident. One resident from each household had to submit their registration paper along with a list of any guests at a temporary street-corner booth, he explained. The regimes poll has been denounced as a sham by Myanmars parallel civilian government, other revolutionary forces, and democracies around the world. In Myanmar, the election is widely viewed as the regimes attempt to tighten its grip on power following last years coup while the US and UN said it would be neither free nor fair. Of course, they will just make the election happen, but the whole thing is laughable. What will they [junta authorities] do if we dont go and vote? They are completely ridiculous, U Tin said. The civilian National Unity Government (NUG)s Home Affairs and Immigration Ministry warned on Jan 9 it will take action under the counter-terrorism law against anyone who joins junta efforts to hold an illegitimate election. The junta led by Min Aung Hlaing is compiling voter lists with door-to-door data collections over 23 days, from Jan 9 to Jan 31. In some places, administrative bodies and immigration officers, the stooges of the military council, started forcibly collecting population and household registration lists on Jan 7, the NUG statement said. Armed resistance groups around the country have released similar warnings. The Chin Defence Force in Hakha township (CDF-Hakha) today declared it will not permit the regime to hold an election on its territory. We will not allow the terrorist military council, which is killing innocent people, to conduct elections in Hakha Township and we view anyone who participates or collaborates in preparations for the junta election as an enemy worthy of strong action, the CDF-Hakha statement said. Despite the warnings, regime administration bodies continue to collect data for voter lists. The collection process began in the administrative capital on December 30, according to a Facebook post by the junta-appointed Naypyitaw Council. It said teams of Immigration Department officials have been knocking on doors to gather names of voting-age residents. Whether they are collecting or not, I will not vote. I cant accept it. The election was already held, said Hlaing township resident Ko Lat, referring to the 2020 polls which the National League for Democracy (NLD) won by a landslide. The regime began collecting household lists in Hlaing yesterday. They may force people to vote, but the people will also try their best not to, he added. Resistance groups in Launglone township, Tanintharyi Region were the first to respond with arms when the nationwide census officially launched on Monday. A team of administrators being guarded by junta troops were attacked as they prepared to collect household data at a primary school in Kamyaw Kin village, Launglone Township. Launglone Peoples Defense Force and Dawei Guerrilla Revolutionary Force (DGRF) today claimed responsibility for the attack, saying they had killed one junta soldier and seized an AK-47 rifle and ammunition. Burma Sagaing Villagers Escape After Being Abducted by Myanmar Regime Forces An SNA fighter / The Irrawaddy Myanmar junta troops and pro-regime Shanni Nationalities Army (SNA) fighters abducted 100 residents of Homalin Township in Sagaing Region last week as potential human shields. All the abductees, however, managed to escape the same day. Over 100 junta and SNA troops raided Nat Nan Village around 6am on January 5, attacking a checkpoint manned by resistance fighters and detaining villagers, according to residents and resistance forces. A woman resident of Nat Nan who was detained before escaping said: They [regime forces] came down from Mt. Ar Mann on January 5 and fired two or three shots before entering our house. When we opened the door, they told us to come out. We were then taken to the mountain at gunpoint. Military regime troops also robbed the womans family of over eight million kyats, as well as their house ownership certificate. Male villagers were beaten as they were detained, while female villagers were robbed of their gold earrings and necklaces. The villagers were then taken to Mt. Ar Mann. Junta forces were checking the detainees phones to see if they had any links with Peoples Defense Forces (PDFs) when resistance fighters attacked around 10am, allowing the detained villagers to escape. As they were saying that they [junta forces] would shoot dead anyone financially supporting PDFs, we heard gunshots. So we took the chance and fled. They opened fire on us as we fled. Luckily, no one got hurt, said the Nat Nan woman. All the detained villagers managed to escape, she said, adding that her family has been forced to take shelter at a temporary camp after they were robbed of all their possessions. An information officer for a Homalin PDF named Moe Gyo said that a combined force of four PDFs attacked junta forces on January 5 and 6, after withdrawing from Nat Nan Village. Resistance fighters have since retaken Nat Nan Village. The Myanmar militarys infantry battalion 222, based in Homalin, and the Hkamti-based light infantry battalion 347, along with the SNAs battalion 753, conducted the raid on Nat Nan Village, according to the Moe Gyo information officer. Eight junta soldiers and SNA fighters were killed by PDF snipers in the fighting, according to Moe Gyo. The Irrawaddy could not independently confirm casualties. The Moe Gyo information officer said: The SNA denies its association with the Myanmar military, but people are suffering on the ground. They stole money and gold jewelry worth 300 million kyats in Nat Nan Village. They are harming the people and taking advantage of this chaotic period. They say that they are working for the interests of the Shanni people. But they are doing the opposite. SNA spokesperson Colonel Sai Aung Mein confirmed the fighting between PDFs and the SNA in Nat Nan Village, but said he did not know precise details. He denied that the SNA detained and robbed the Nat Nan villagers. He accused the ethnic armed organization the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) of plotting to take over Shanni areas. Those villages are largely inhabited by ethnic Shanni people. We are the same ethnic group and we wont use them as human shields. The people making such accusations are in fact an organization pulling the strings behind the curtain. It has been doing so for a long time. It is the KIA. The KIA wants to penetrate into our areas. So they have raised PDFs to destroy our region, said the SNA spokesperson. There is a long-running feud between the SNA and the KIA. Regime soldiers and SNA fighters also carried out sneak attacks on PDF bases in Nat Nan and Pin Kote villages in November last year. Military tensions in the area are currently running high as some 100 junta troops have been deployed in the new town of Shwe Pyi Aye, to the northwest of Nat Nan Village. The SNA was founded in July 1989 on the Myanmar-India border with the aim of securing political equality, self-determination and a Shanni State for the Shanni people. SNA fighters are active in Hpakant, Indawgyi and other parts of Kachin State as well as Homalin, Pinlebu, Banmauk, Hkamti, Paungbyin and Tamu townships in Sagaing Region. Military analysts say its four brigades are based in Hkamti, Homalin, Banmauk and between Homalin and Banmauk. War Against the Junta Over 60 Myanmar Junta Forces Killed in Four Days of Resistance Attacks Resistance fighters of PDF-Kalay / PDF-Kalay At least 65 Myanmar junta forces were killed in the last four days as Peoples Defense Forces (PDFs) escalated their attacks on regime targets across the country. In one case, a 65-year-old resistance fighter was killed during a clash with regime forces in Tanintharyi Region. Incidents were reported in Sagaing, Magwe, Mandalay, Bago and Tanintharyi regions. The Irrawaddy has rounded up the following reports of significant attacks from the PDFs. Some military casualties could not be independently verified. Junta motorboat destroyed in Sagaing A military motorboat comes under attack from several PDF groups in Monywa on Tuesday. / Yinmabin District PDF Battalion 16 Local resistance group Salingyi G-Z PDF claimed to have destroyed a junta motorboat in a joint operation with nine other PDF groups in Salingyi Township, Sagaing Region on Tuesday. The motorboat carrying around 50 regime forces faced two attacks by the combined PDF groups, once while it was traveling downstream and once as it headed upstream along the Chindwin River between a village and the militarys North West Command headquarters in Monywa. The PDF groups claimed they used both firearms and heavy explosives to attack the regime boat. Many soldiers are believed to have been killed or injured, the PDF groups said. A PDF video shows a motorboat being targeted by the resistance groups. More than 20 regime forces killed in Sagaing Over 20 regime forces including an army captain and pro-regime Pyu Saw Htee militia members were killed in Myaung Township, Sagaing Region in three days when several PDF groups jointly attacked 120 regime forces raiding Pan Nyo Village, PDF group Civil Defense and Security Organization of Myaung (CDSOM), which took part in the attack, claimed on Tuesday. The groups started attacking the regime forces while they were arriving at Pan Nyo Village on motorboats via the Irrawaddy River on Saturday. The clash, which included the use of heavy explosives, continued on Sunday between the combined PDF groups and the regime forces, which were occupying Pan Nyo Village. On Monday, the resistance groups raided the regime forces in the village as they were looting and burning houses. The attack forced the regime forces to flee the village without their loot, the resistance groups said. Around 180 out of more than 800 houses in the village were burned down in the junta arson attacks. Three regime forces killed in urban operations in Sagaing At least three regime soldiers were killed in the town of Kale in Sagaing Region on Monday when PDF-Kalay used mines to ambush junta forces patrolling in Tarhan ward, said the PDF group. After being mined, the regime forces randomly opened fire. On the same morning, the PDF group also attacked a junta sentry box in the residential ward. Some regime forces are believed to have been killed or injured in the raid. A civilian was killed when the regime forces randomly opened fire. Four regime forces killed in PDF raid in Sagaing Four regime forces were killed and two others injured in Pale Township, Sagaing Region early Monday when around 20 PDF groups raided the junta-run township General Administration Department office, said M7 Peoples Defense Army, which took part in the raid. During the raid, resistance forces also shelled the township police station. Fifteen regime forces killed in mine ambushes in Sagaing A military truck is targeted in a mine ambush in Myinmu Township on Sunday. / Peoples Army to Fight Dictatorship At least 15 regime forces were killed and 10 injured in Myinmu Township, Sagaing Region on Sunday when six PDF groups used improvised mines to ambush two military armored vehicles on the Monywa-Sagaing Highway, said Black Eagle Defense Force-MMU, which joined the attack. First, PDF groups used a cluster of three mines to ambush the two military vehicles near Wan Pyae Village while they were traveling from Sagaing to Monywa at 6:30 a.m. on that morning. Later that morning, the PDF group used a cluster of 11 mines to ambush one of the military vehicles while it was returning to Wan Pyae Village. The vehicle was damaged and forced to stop at the ambush site, the PDF group said. All PDF fighters escaped from the area without any casualties despite some regime forces from the vehicle randomly opening fire. Five regime forces killed in PDF mine attacks in Sagaing At least five regime troops were killed in Monywa Township, Sagaing Region on Sunday when PDF-South Monywa and Soldier Dogs Killer Hunters group jointly used land mines to ambush an express vehicle and a small vehicle carrying regime troops from Mandalay to Monywa. The PDF groups ambushed the junta vehicles from two locations on the Monywa-Mandalay Highway. In the second attack, the express vehicle stopped and regime forces from the vehicle randomly opened fire on nearby areas. Family of eight resistance informants rescued in Sagaing Resistance forces ambush regime forces chasing a family of eight resistance informants in Shwebo Township on Sunday. / Snake Eyes-PDF Local resistance group Snake Eyes-PDF claimed it and other PDF forces managed to rescue a family of eight resistance informants from the village of The Lone in Shwebo Township, Sagaing Region on Sunday. The village is under the control of regime forces and pro-regime Pyu Saw Htee militia members. The family of resistance informants were providing information to resistance groups about the movement of regime forces and junta atrocities in the village. The PDF group also said two pro-regime militia members were injured when they attacked regime forces chasing the fleeing eight villagers. Nine regime forces killed in Magwe At least nine regime forces including pro-regime Pyu Saw Htee militia members are believed to have been killed when two PDF groups used 12 improvised mines to ambush a military vehicle between the pro-regime villages of Twinma and Thayatkan in Myaing Township, Magwe Region on Monday. The damaged vehicle was taken away by another military vehicle. On Saturday, the PDF groups also used mines to ambush pro-regime military members from Twinma who were firing weapons while patrolling around the village. In the attack, a militia member and another junta policeman were injured, the PDF groups said. Six junta forces killed in mine ambush in Mandalay Military vehicles face several blasts from PDF mines in Myingyan Township on Tuesday. / Nagarni Guerrilla Force (Myingyan) At least six regime forces were killed and seven others injured in Myingyan Township, Mandalay Region on Tuesday when the PDF group Nagarni Guerrilla Force (Myingyan) used 15 improvised mines to ambush three military vehicles near the Myotha industrial zone, the resistance group claimed. The military convoy was ambushed while it was traveling to a junta-run school in a village to perform security duty for a student festival. A PDF video shows the convoy being hit by several blasts. After the ambush, killed or injured soldiers were taken away in three ambulances. The regime vehicles returned to their base after the ambushes. Resistance leader, 65, killed in clash in Tanintharyi Local resistance group Dawei Guerrilla Revolutionary Force (DGRF) said that a 65-year-old military strategist of their force who was also the head of Oak Awe Column Dawei was killed during a firefight with regime forces in Dawei Township, Tanintharyi Region on Saturday. Junta soldier, pro-regime militia member assassinated in Tanintharyi Launglone PDF claimed to have killed a soldier and injured another in a village in Launglon Township, Tanintharyi Region on Monday when it attacked a group of junta personnel collecting voter lists for the regimes coming sham election. In the attack, weapons and ammunition were seized. The PDF group said it also assassinated pro-regime militia member Ko Kyaw Lwin, a former soldier who had been armed by regime forces, in the town of Launglon on the same day. The victim, who was also a junta informant, had cooperated with the military detachments to raid villages, Launglone PDF said. Military battalion bombed in Bago A junta soldier was killed in Nyaunglaypin Township, Bago Region on Tuesday morning when troops of Bago District PDF Battalion 3702 used two M79 bombs to attack the military base there, said Bago Regional PDF. The bombs exploded in front of the house of the battalion commander. On the same day, the PDF group also blew up two bridges mainly used by military battalions in the township. You have permission to edit this collection. Edit Close The world's most famous portable music player - the Sony Walkman - has kicked off the year with two new devices, bringing the best of 2023 tech to the iconic brand. The two units and the NW-A306, and the NW-ZX707. Both bring enhanced sound quality and longer battery life and are designed for listeners to enjoy music the way the artist intended with high-quality sound and a sleek design. The NW-A306 is designed for discerning users looking for high-quality sound and style. This stylish and compact music player lets consumers download and stream more of the music they love. With full Wi-Fi compatibility, weighing just 113 grams, with the comfort and function of both a 3.6 touch screen and tactile physical music controls, the NW-A306 series is dedicated to delivering exceptional music experiences right from the users pocket. The NW-ZX707 is a high-end premium model that brings enhanced battery life, a balanced connection, a larger 5" display, and Wi-Fi compatibility for easy downloading and streaming functions, it is also portable and stylish for the most demanding music lover. Inheriting the philosophy of the Signature Walkman, the NW-ZX707 has upgraded fine-tuned capacitors with an FTCAP3 (High polymer capacitor) and a large solid high polymer capacitor that offers large capacitance and low resistance. An OFC milled block covering the digital block, allows the NW-ZX707 to bring listeners sound that appears to rise up from silence. Additionally, a large 8mm coil for balanced output creates an improved sound resolution across all frequencies. Both units offer faithful sound reproduction with S-Master HX digital amp technology, compatible with the native DSD format. This reduces distortion and noise across a wide range of frequencies, for rich and full-bodied sound, further enhanced by new high-quality sound lead-free solder. To realise both music players evolutionary sound and build on Sony's decades and decades of audio engineering excellence, a dual clock, film capacitor and fine sound register have been precisely placed within each Walkman. Both the NW-ZX707 and the NW-A306 both use Edge-AI (Artificial Intelligence), and DSEE Ultimate (Digital Sound Enhancement Engine) which upscales compressed digital music files in real time. The evolving algorithm now delivers even greater benefits for CD-quality (16-bit 44.1/48kHz) lossless codec audio. Restoring acoustic subtleties and dynamic range provides a richer, more complete listening experience. There's a lot to love yet in a tiny stylish form. Both devices feature a longer battery life compared to previous models, with a battery life of up to 36 hours for the NW-A306 and up to 25 hours for the NW-ZX707. In more detail, the NW-ZX707 has a battery life of up to 25 hours of 44.1kHz FLAC playback, up to 23 hours of 96 kHz FLAC High-Resolution Audio playback, or up to 22 hours even when streaming. The NW-A306 has a battery life of up to 36 hours of 44.1kHz FLAC playback, up to 32 hours of 96kHz FLAC high-resolution audio playback, or even up to 26 hours with the streaming service apps to meet the demand of consumers. Importantly, Sony has also built these two new Walkman units with the environment firmly in mind. No plastic is used in the packaging material for the NW-ZX707 and the NW-A306, reflecting Sonys commitment to reducing the environmental impact of our products and practices. The NW-ZX707 and NW-A306 will be available in Australia from late February 2023, with a recommended price of $999 for the NW-ZX707 and $499 for the NW-A306. They come in black only. Today Windy with partly cloudy skies. Low 61F. Winds W at 20 to 30 mph. Higher wind gusts possible. Tonight Windy with partly cloudy skies. Low 61F. Winds W at 20 to 30 mph. Higher wind gusts possible. Tomorrow Partly cloudy early. Mostly sunny skies with gusty winds developing later in the day. High 78F. Winds W at 20 to 30 mph. Higher wind gusts possible. Regions across China report passing infection peaks, enter fast track of work resumption Xinhua) 13:32, January 11, 2023 An employer (left) communicates with a job seeker at a job fair in Haikou, south China's Hainan Province. File Photo: Xinhua From metropolises like Beijing and Shanghai, to populous provinces including central China's Henan and southwest China's Sichuan, regions across the country reported that infection peaks have passed. The general public has entered a faster track of resuming normal work and production, and on-site job fairs are being held to accelerate the pace. The ongoing Spring Festival travel rush is adding to the hustle and bustle, and experts on Tuesday dispelled concerns that such large-scale migration could lead to severe resurgences. Henan provincial government revealed during a press briefing on Monday that the COVID-19 infection rate in the province was about 89 percent overall, 89.1 percent in urban areas and 88.9 percent in rural areas, as of January 6. Henan has passed the epidemic peak and operated in an orderly manner, while the number of new cases is expected to remain at a low level at the end of this month, local officials said. Health officials in Chongqing said the number of people receiving treatment at fever clinics fell sharply after December 20, with the municipality passing its peak between December 12 and December 23, 2022. The number of daily infections in Sichuan Province is also declining with more than 80 percent of residents having been infected. Since the national downgraded management of the COVID-19 response, local health commissions have been monitoring fever clinics at hospitals, community medical centers and pharmacies, and collecting online self-reported data as part of the new statistical approach to evaluate the epidemic situation. Under such conditions, provinces and regions accelerated their pace of resuming production. The Beijing authority has released a notification, requiring human resource departments to resume holding on-site job fairs starting from Monday. The notification also urged government assistance to businesses over health protection and personnel recruitment. Tailored job fairs shall be held to meet the needs of companies that are short of labor. Southwest China's Gansu Province held a job fair on Sunday targeted at veterans, where 102 companies offered 11,367 jobs. A job fair for migrant workers is scheduled on Thursday and similar events for university graduates and other groups will be held in the future. The Global Times learned from the human resources authority in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region that it held a job fair for about 20 logistics companies and 226 primary agreements were made. In the Fengxian district of Shanghai, companies said the Sunday job fair was the most active in the past three years. Tang Liying, a local human resources department staffer, found companies are very specific on their requirements as they are in urgent need of workers to ensure production. "We also provide subsidies and bonus holidays for people who chose to stay at work during the Spring Festival," Tang said. Some places are taking similar steps to ensure smooth operation and production during the holidays. For manufacturing, companies are racing against the clock to fill orders postponed by the epidemic, according to media reports. As the coming holidays will see mass migration, some expressed concerns that places that have already passed their infection peaks could confront a second wave. But experts believe such a possibility is relatively low. Lu Hongzhou, head of the Third People's Hospital of Shenzhen, told the Global Times on Tuesday that a severe resurgence is unlikely, as the immunity gained through the first wave can last three to six months. The resumption of production and Spring Festival travel rush could mean transmission, but that will just be a small fluctuation rather than a new peak of infections, Lu said. Mark Woolhouse, professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh, told the Global Times that China's first wave was severe as a result of insufficient immunity. Although future waves are very likely, they should not be as severe as the first. International experience is that further waves are destined to come, but experts believe accessibility of medicine and richer experience in treatment can help China overcome future challenges. Vaccination in pace with the epidemic situation, and the timely and extensive usage of anti-virus medicines, are important to overcome the current peak of critical patients and deal with future waves effectively, Lu said. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) An N.C. House Select Committee is recommending that the General Assembly change a state law forcing districts to start school the Monday closest to Aug. 26 and end no later than the Friday clo The City of Kenoshas tax rate went up 3.8% this year. Many of us noticed this on the City portion of our recent tax bills. Yet on Dec 1st, the Kenosha News printed an article based on information from Mayor John Antaramian, titled Kenosha City Council Overwhelmingly Approves Mayors 2023 Budget with Slight Tax Rate Cut. Considering the citys portion of the tax rate went up, the statements in the article are disingenuous. Each year, homeowners get one tax bill, but there are 4 taxing entities on the bill, each with its own separate tax rate. The combined rate went down because the other jurisdictions all lowered their rates (the County, the School District and Gateway). But the mayor and the city council have no control over those other entities. Its unethical to take credit for other jurisdictions and tout lower taxes, when the rate has gone up and the city has continued its wasteful spending. Kenosha ranks #10 in the entire USA of cities reporting the largest losses from tax abatements, sacrificing 29% of its revenue to subsidized development and the like. The citys debt is nearly the highest in the state at over $250 million, with 11% in total accumulated interest. 17% of the budget goes to debt payment. We have one of the highest tax rates in the state, and one of the highest costs of living. This years tax increase is nearly double the increase in any of the past 4 years. I was the sole dissenting vote for this bloated budget and tax hike. The mayor and council have repeatedly expressed to me their wishes to tax Kenosha citizens even more. They recently passed a resolution urging Wisconsin to change its law that limits the amount that cities can tax, claiming its the states fault that we cant pay for staff and essential services. In the meantime, they continue to throw millions of dollars into non-essential development and special interests. State limits arent the problem. It would be wise to look inward before blaming others. S&P is the credit rating agency that banks use to measure risk when borrowing to local governments. This years S&P bond rating report says Kenosha has too much development and debt: Kenoshas debt metrics are high relative to those of its peers. They mention Kenoshas growth has contributed to a high direct debt burden. But since our population has stayed the same for over a decade, and school enrollment is down, the growth can be attributed to the city funding speculative projects using credit, and spreading the city outwards. The report says Kenosha has an elevated direct debt burden with high carrying charges. A carrying charge is a cost arising from unproductive assets such as stored goods or unoccupied premises, meaning many of these speculative projects arent producing results. It brings to mind the failed Uptown Brass Pick n Save and housing complex on 63rd. Next on the list are things like pickleball courts, more housing, an archery range, a wage increase for the mayor, the lavish Innovation Neighborhood, and more. Government development is gambling and debt, and the Kenosha council is in love with it. The mayor was quoted as saying, The city has a long tradition of responsible budgeting. The 2023 expenditure budget continues this tradition using constraints set by this administration. I have yet to see any constraints, and I have yet to see this council vote against any of their million dollar proposals. Dont let them gaslight you into believing their self-flattery and sleight of hand. 54 Shares Share The fact that every physician in private medical practice, without a business education, leaves approximately a million dollars on the table and is unaware of it is well known to business experts who work with medical doctors experiencing financial difficulties. Business experts such as Dan S. Kennedy, Peter Drucker, Michael Gerber, Maxwell Maltz, Neil Baum, William Hanson, Huss and Coleman, Steven Hacker, Thomas Stanley, Chris Hurn, Napoleon Hill, and Dave Ramsey, among others, understand the financial problems faced by medical practices and how to solve them. It is astounding that all medical schools in the United States have never required or offered a business education for admission or to prepare medical students and doctors for starting or maintaining the profitability of a medical practice. Why are physicians excluded from this education? Financial knowledge and truth are not just something to be intellectually understood; business knowledge is what gives physicians the tools and skills to succeed in their medical careers. Without physicians who inspire and teach those lacking in business knowledge, independent medical practice would not exist today. For centuries, private practice physicians have relied on their peers to learn how to start a medical practice and have pieced together advice from their peers to manage and grow their practices. Peer physicians who have not yet recognized the ongoing benefits of business tools can participate in something greater than themselves and become allies in the effort to overcome the lack of business education in medical school. However, the experiences of our peers passed down through novice physicians have never been enough to meet the increasing demands of our medical patients and the advancement of our culture. How can this problem be solved? Medical education has failed to fulfill its obligation to all physicians by not addressing the significant reduction in physicians ability to fulfill their obligations to their patients due to a lack of business tools. If physicians do not know how to make enough money to continue practicing privately, socialized medicine will quickly solve that problem out of the frying pan and into the fire. Medical practice is not just a business, it is a lifelong career. Advanced medical knowledge cannot improve the welfare of private practice physicians or their obligations to their patients a perspective that medical education scholars cannot see. Let me tell you about the benefits of a business education that you may not be aware of. 1. You may not know how to resolve your declining income, or even recognize the problem early enough to reverse it. 2. You may not know how to grow your medical practice because you have not learned marketing methods. 3. You may have no idea how to run your medical business efficiently, like other successful businesses do. 4. You may have no idea how to manage your practice business profitably, your medical staff, or your mistakes in judgment all business-related issues. 5. You may not believe that marketing works because you know almost nothing about the topic and yet all other businesses do know and use it. 6. Your intelligence level may not compensate for your lack of business tools. 7. With a business education, you would have all the tools you need to earn as much income as you want, without following the crowd that invests in seeing more medical patients daily. 8. You may not know how to hire and fire your office staff to maintain top efficiency and increase profitability. 9. You have the freedom to practice medicine as you wish, but without business knowledge, you may constantly struggle with income problems. 10. You may lack the business skills to see the business opportunities for increasing profits and the ways to eliminate inefficiency. 11. You may have never learned what business systems are for medical practice. 12. If you have not had any academic business education in your background, then you may be relying on luck. You dont have to believe me or what I say here, but please dont rely on your own judgment for your medical practice management. Its better to get superficial advice than none. I have been teaching how to handle these issues for nearly 20 years. I went through the same struggles due to a lack of business education, and I am trying to do everything I can to keep other physicians from being locked out of the solutions to these problems. There are many easier and far less expensive ways to get a great business education that I now teach to physicians, medical students, or anyone who desires a successful level of business knowledge. When my medical school refused to listen to me and my ideas about introducing a business education curriculum, I was rejected just like Ignaz Semmelweis, MD was in the early 1800s. Curtis G. Graham is a physician. The Watergate Theatre in Kilkenny is to receive 115,000 as part of arts centres funding from the Arts Council, the Irish government agency for developing the arts. Funding totaling 9,486,140 will be distributed to 42 organisations across all parts of the country. "The infrastructure of arts centres, jointly supported with local government, is essential in enabling people of all ages and backgrounds in every part of the country to experience the very best of the arts," said Maureen Kennelly, Director of the Arts Council. "It is also essential in providing resources to artists in the development of their work. In addition, we are delighted to increase our support to Ealain na Gaeltachta which supports arts audiences and artists in Gaeltacht regions in partnership with Udaras na Gaeltachta." The purpose of Arts Centre Funding is to invest in and support the infrastructure of Arts Centres required to sustain and develop the arts in Ireland. Arts Centres support the creation, presentation and mediation of the arts across a range of artforms and arts practices. They support professional, collaborative, voluntary and amateur arts practice. In a space where artists and audiences meet, Arts Centres are vital to the sustainability of the arts nationally. The Arts Council currently provides programming and revenue supports to over fifty Arts Centres throughout the country. A key part of the Arts Council strategy, Making Great Art Work, is to invest in public engagement. This funding, along with the Arts Councils #LiveIs campaign, which launched at the end of 2022, looks at continuing to have audiences return in ever-greater numbers to live arts performances. Along with this stream of funding, the Arts Council will also make the following allocations: 19 million in individual artist awards which includes bursaries across all art forms, artist in residence schemes and new commissions. This bracket also includes the agility award which was introduced in response to the pandemic. 28 million is allocated towards arts grant funding, project awards, festivals and touring ensuring that audiences throughout the country can experience the highest quality work. Over 4 million is allocated towards partnerships with each local authority and to Ealain na Gaeltachta. 13 million will be invested in a range of developmental projects including Creative Schools, Creative Places, Creative Europe and Culture Night, and towards the Arts Councils Equality, Diversity and Inclusion plans. As announced last week, over 50 million is directed towards 107 strategically funded organisations. Two community meetings will take place in Kilkenny within the next seven days to discuss the potential impact of up to 10 planned wind turbines only kilometres northeast of Kilkenny City. EDF Renewables Ireland are spearheading the wind farm development in the Freneystown-Castlewarren area and are hoping to submit a planning application later this year. Locals opposed to the wind farm have been actively mobilising in recent years under the banner of the Save Our Hills group. Save Our Hills contends that the project will be hugely invasive to the area and have criticised the proposed scale and location of the turbines. The community group is also concerned that due to the scale of the wind farm, the energy company will be able to bypass the local authority during the planning process. If this project goes ahead it will cause a rift in the local community not seen since the Civil War, a group spokesperson said. EDF Renewables Ireland has previously made moves to assure the local community, stating that they are committed to keeping local people informed about its projects. Projects such as Freneystown Wind Farm have a crucial role to play in decarbonising our energy supply and helping Ireland meet its target of delivering 80% of electricity from renewable sources by 2030, said Jenny Howard, Head of Development at EDF Renewables Ireland. If the project receives planning permission and is constructed, the projects Community Benefit Fund will also support positive initiatives in the area. EDF Renewables is committed to working closely with the local community we carried out our first round of public consultation with local residents in October following the projects launch, and we will be holding further events as the project progresses. The company also said that environmental studies are being carried out, including ecology, noise, landscape and visual assessments. The first community meeting is on January 12 in Johnswell Hall and another will take place next Wednesday (January 18) in Castlewarren Hall, both at 8pm. EDF Renewables Ireland stated that they are not aware of receiving invitations to these community events. 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. Uisce Eireann has confirmed its continued sponsorship of An Taisces Green-Schools programme to support schools working to gain a Green Flag under the water theme. Now in its tenth year the sponsorship has seen over 2.6 billion litres of water saved, which is equivalent to filling 1,040 Olympic size swimming pools. 161 students across Kilkenny and the Eastern Region are water ambassadors for the programme. 49 schools across the Eastern region are involved with Green Schools. In total over 370,000 students across Ireland have completed the programme, achieving 1,310 Green Flags, as well as participating in a range of additional initiatives, including poster and video competitions, Walks for Water, Water Ambassador programmes and a range of workshops with Irish Water and other stakeholders in the water sector. Speaking at the launch, Eamon Gallen of Uisce Eireann, said: We are immensely proud to continue our sponsorship of the water theme and our association with Green Schools. This partnership is the perfect fit as it and embodies our core values while helping the next generation understand and appreciate Irelands water resources and encourage conservation from a young age. It is truly inspiring to see how the schools taking part in the Green-Schools water theme are setting an example for how we should all value our precious water resources and have proved just how much water can be salvaged. Joanne Scott, Green Schools Manager, said: We are delighted to have the continued support of Uisce Eireann. The support over the past nine years has enabled us to create and develop resources, events, and ongoing initiatives to assist schools as best we can with their work on our water theme. Each year our schools have achieved incredibly low water use and a strong school-wide culture of water conservation which is demonstrated in the massive water savings made since the sponsorship began. The Green-Schools water theme is a grassroots sponsorship that aims to foster awareness and understanding of water conservation, supply, protection, and pollution issues among schools and offers practical ideas, actions, and solutions on reducing consumption levels and increasing sustainability. The Water Theme is tailored to students at all stages of their development, from junior primary to secondary level with a range of activities to suit all ages. In addition to developing awareness around water conservation the sponsorship incorporates wider engagement around stewardship of our water resources, including raising awareness of the impacts of wastewater on inland and coastal waterways. Carp sold for $62,700 at winter fishing festival in Xinjiang (People's Daily App) 14:09, January 11, 2023 The annual Winter Fishing Festival in Fuhai county kicked off on January 7 at the snow-covered Ulungur Lake in Altay, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The first carp sold for 428,888 yuan (about $62,700) at auction during the festival this year. (Web editor: Cai Hairuo, Liang Jun) Shenandoah, IA (51601) Today Sunny with gusty winds. High around 85F. Winds S at 20 to 30 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.. Tonight Clear skies. Gusty winds early. Low 56F. Winds SSE at 20 to 30 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph. The parents of a 6-year-old boy who drowned at a summer camp run by St. Louis County believe their sons death could have been prevented and are now pushing for Missouri to require licensing for camp programs. 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 in Mexico City, Mexico January 9. On January 11, the White House refused to answer a number of critical questions about the classified documents from Joe Biden's time as vice president discovered inside a private office last fall. Biden is pictured here speaking in Mexico City on January 10. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Raceland, LA (70394) Today Cloudy skies early, followed by partial clearing. Slight chance of a rain shower. High near 70F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Clear skies. Low around 55F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. New Delhi [India], January 11 (ANI/NewsVoir): Distressed by the issue of the successive construction bans, the real estate sector today met Union Minister, Bhupendra Yadav, Minister Environment, Forest and Climate Change. During this meeting, many distinguished personalities like Manoj Gaur from CREDAI NCR, Lalit Aggarwal-Vice Chairman-Signature Global, Harsh Bansal-Owner, Unity Group, Vipin Aggarwal, CMD, Nimbus Group and Satish Garg from Nirman Udyog Morcha alongwith various representatives from allied industries of Real Estate were present. As part of the real estate fraternity, Lalit Aggarwal, Co-founder & Vice Chairman, Signature Global (India) Limited put forward very relevant points in front of the minister. He apprised the ministry and said, "There is no doubt that pollution has become one of the biggest challenges, especially in the National Capital Region. However, ad hoc blanket ban on all the construction activities has its own associated problems and impact. On the one hand, there are delays in construction and on the other hand, the cost of construction increases considerably. This leads to even more delay for the customers to get possession of their completed properties." Also Read | Thailand: Male Prostitute Robs Sex Worker, Kills Her Puppy and Threatens Murder if 'She Ends Relationship'. He further added that, "Given that, most projects have a completion deadline as per RERA compliance, even more for projects in affordable housing segment, where there is statutory timeline of four years to complete the project, such bans every year cumulatively delay the project significantly. We request and expect that government will provide some flexibility either in the RERA deadlines or allow those activities which do not create pollution like painting, plumbing, wiring and soon." He further added that Real estate is the second largest employment generating sector in the country. Such bans not only cause bottlenecks leading to the loss of jobs of lakhs of construction workers, but also causes huge losses to other allied industries related to the real estate sector. In such a situation, construction ban should be implemented only on very selective basis so that the health of people, employment, real estate business as well as the interests of the common home buyers are not affected. Also Read | PSG vs Angers, Ligue 1 2022-23 Free Live Streaming Online: How To Watch French League Match Live Telecast on TV & Football Score Updates in IST?. This story has been provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Actor Shah Rukh Khan, on Wednesday, arrived in Greater Noida to attend the Auto Expo 2023. During the media interaction, the Chak De India actor was seen singing the song 'Tujhe Dekha To Ye Jaana Sanam' from his blockbuster hit film 'Dilwale Dulhaniyaa Le Jayenge" in front of the paps which made the fans go crazy. The Dilwale actor's fan club shared a video of him singing at the event and wrote, "Awwwwww I loovee him singing!!" Jawan Director Atlee Heaps Praises on Shah Rukh Khans Pathaan, Superstar Thanks the King of Mass SRK's videos and pictures from the event got viral on social media. In one of the videos, the 'Chennai Express' actor could be seen giving his iconic romantic pose, extending his hands while leaning to one side, at the event. Shah Rukh was seen donning a stylish black suit and a plain white shirt and accessorized his look with black shades. The Kuch Kuch Hota Hai actor arrived at the Auto Expo 2023 to launch the Hyundai motors first all-electric IONIQ5 SUV. Talking about a car, Shah Rukh joked with the company's team during the media interaction and said "I would request the wonderful set of people to make it a company policy ki jabbhi main Delhi aayu, nayi gaadi launch karne k liye, toh yeh gaadi main free mein ghar le kar jau (whenever I come to Delhi to launch a new car, I should be able to take it home for free). For the rest of you, I wish you a great morning, and a Happy New Year. I wish you all the goodness in the world, a very healthy life." Shah Rukh Khan Reacts to SS Rajamoulis RRR Victory at Golden Globes 2023, Says Woke Up and Started Dancing to Naatu Naatu. Check Out SRK's Video Below: Meanwhile, SRK finally unveiled the official trailer of his upcoming action thriller film 'Pathaan' on Tuesday, which received massive responses from the fans. Helmed by Siddharth Anand, the film also stars Deepika Padukone and John Abraham and is all set to hit the theatres on January 25, 2023. (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 11 (ANI): Days after an Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) of Delhi Police was allegedly attacked on duty by a man with a knife in the Mayapuri area of the national capital, Delhi Police PRO Suman Nalwa said that a case has been registered against the accused and would ensure that he gets the maximum penalty. "He (accused Anish) was so violent. He stabbed a uniformed officer multiple times knowing fully well that if he is doing that, he is attempting to murder him. So, we have registered the case under such sections. We'll ensure that he gets the maximum penalty," said Delhi Police PRO Suman Nalwa. Also Read | #ShivSena-UBT is Beset with a Fresh Worry as the Five-year Tenure of Party President Latest Tweet by IANS India. ASI Shambhu Dayal who was undergoing treatment at a hospital after being stabbed with a knife by accused Anish in Delhi's Mayapuri area succumbed to his injuries. Earlier on January 5, according to Delhi Police, ASI Shambhu Dayal was investigating a case of robbing a mobile phone based on a complaint by a woman. Also Read | PM Narendra Modi Calls Up Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, Congratulates Him for Sixth Term. The woman, a resident of Mayapuri phase-I made a complaint at the Mayapuri police station that a person took the mobile phone of his husband and threatened them. ASI Dayal along with the complainant arrived at Jhuggi of Rewari Line Phase I, where the complainant pointed out a person who had allegedly robbed the mobile phone. ASI Dayal took the said person who was later identified as Anish (24), a resident of Mayapuri phase-II jhuggi with him and was going to the Mayapuri police station. Delhi Police said that when they reached Phase I, Mayapuri, Anish suddenly pulled out a knife hidden under his shirt and attacked Dayal on several parts of his body such as his neck, chest, stomach and back. The police staff of the Mayapuri police station immediately reached the spot, overpowered Anish, and recovered the knife from his possession. Police registered a case under several sections of IPC against Anish. (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 11 (PTI) The Supreme Court told the Centre on Wednesday it cannot act like a "knight in shining armour" and decide its curative plea seeking an additional Rs 7,844 crore from the successor firms of Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) for giving compensation to the victims of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy. The top court said it has already spoken about 'maryada' (sanctity) of its curative jurisdiction and is constrained by law despite having some leeway. Also Read | In a Dig at the Ruling MLAs in #Goa, Leader of Opposition #YuriAlemao Said They Have Latest Tweet by IANS India. A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul told Attorney General R Venkataramani, appearing for the Centre, "It is very easy to dip into someone else's pocket and take out the money. Dip into your own pocket and give the money and then see if you can dip into their (UCC) pocket or not". The Centre wants another Rs 7,844 crore from the US-based UCC's successor firms over and above the USD 470 million (Rs 715 crore) it got from the American company as part of the settlement in 1989. Also Read | RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat Says 'Muslims Must Abandon Their Boisterous Rhetoric of Supremacy'. Justice Kaul, who questioned the Centre over the filing of the curative plea, said, "I began by saying maryada' of the jurisdiction. You see, we cannot be a knight in a shining armour. It is not possible. We are constrained by law, although we have some leeway. But we cannot say that we will decide a curative petition on the basis of jurisdiction of an original suit". A curative petition is the last resort for a plaintiff after an adverse judgement has been delivered and the plea for its review rejected. The Centre had not filed a review petition for rescinding the settlement which it now wants enhanced. The bench, also comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna, Abhay S Oka, Vikram Nath and JK Maheshwari, which heard Venkataramani for over seven hours, including the hearing on Tuesday, said, "As far as liability and quantum of compensation is concerned, it is always open to the parties to say that I want to enter into settlement and get rid of any kind of litigation. Now, you (Centre) want to modify the settlement. Can you do it unilaterally? It is not a decree but a compromise". Venkataramani said the apex court had endorsed the Bhopal Gas Leak Disaster (Processing of Claims) Act, 1985 and the scheme under it. "Anything that was to be determined by the Welfare Commissioner under the Act and the scheme was to be brought before the court at a later point of time. That is exactly what we are trying to do now," he said, explaining the rationale behind filing the curative petition. The Centre has been insisting that the enormity of the actual damage caused to human lives and environment could not be assessed properly at the time of the settlement in 1989. The AG said looking at the enormity of the human tragedy, which was unprecedented, it is very important to go beyond some of the conventional principles. Justice Kaul responded, saying "Nobody doubts the enormity of the tragedy and undoubtedly people have suffered. It is easy to get emotive but we on this side of the bench have to refrain because we do not have the privilege to play to the gallery." He told Venkataramani the judges have to see on what jurisdiction they are sitting and ultimately every dispute ought to have a closure at some point of time. "It is not that we are not sensitive to what had happened, but when the Supreme Court does something it has wider ramification. There has to be sanctity of a settlement, especially in today's time, when there is so much international trade and commerce," Justice Kaul said and pointed out that the Centre did not file a review petition but a curative petition after over 20 years of the agreement. Venkataramani said the tragedy had made huge difference to the lives of people as children were born with deformities and mothers have to bear a burden for a long time. Justice Kaul said, "You acted on a premise for quarter of a century. Now, you say you want to act differently. No one prohibits the government of India from taking a proactive approach that it feels strongly that these people deserve more. Problem is you are putting it on them (UCC). Can we open everything at this point of time? In curative (petition), this court has to travel a very narrow path." Venkataramani said he is trying to connect the dots and he is going back to 1989, when the settlement took place but there were more dots after 1989. Justice Kaul said if in a welfare society, the government is so concerned that the victims need to be paid more, then it should have paid them. The Attorney General said the question here is not about who pays but whose liability it is to pay. The hearing remained inconclusive and will continue on Thursday. The top court had on Tuesday questioned the Centre for pursuing its curative plea seeking additional funds from UCC, saying the government cannot reopen a settlement that was arrived at with the company after over 30 years. The UCC, now owned by Dow Chemicals, gave a compensation of Rs USD 470 million (Rs 715 crore at the time of settlement in 1989) after the toxic methyl isocyanate gas leak from the Union Carbide factory on the intervening night of December 2 and 3, 1984 killed over 3,000 people and affected 1.02 lakh more. The survivors of the tragedy have been fighting for long for adequate compensation and proper medical treatment for ailments caused by the poisonous gas leak. The Centre had filed the curative petition in the apex court in December 2010 for enhanced compensation. On June 7, 2010, a Bhopal court had sentenced seven executives of Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) to two years' imprisonment. The then UCC chairman Warren Anderson was the prime accused in the case but did not appear for the trial. On February 1, 1992, the Bhopal CJM court declared him an absconder. The courts in Bhopal had issued non-bailable warrants against Anderson twice in 1992 and 2009 before his death in September 2014. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Mumbai, (Maharashtra) [India], January 11 (ANI): The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday raided NCP leader and former minister Hasan Mushrif's house and office in Pune and Kolhapur in connection with the sugar mill corruption case. Speaking to ANI, Hasan Mushrif said, "Four days ago, a BJP worker told my aide that there would be an (ED) raid at my house. That is precisely what happened. A BJP leader went to Delhi several times and boasted of some action against me." Also Read | Startup Funding in India Drops 33% to USD 24 Billion in 2022: Report. Hasan Mushrif claimed, "People of a particular community are being targeted, first Nawab Malik, then Aslam Sheikh and now me." Reacting to the raid, BJP leader Kirit Somaiya tweeted, "I had exposed and filed complaints against Hasan Mushrif with various authorities in September 2021. Thackeray Sarkar's corrupt ministers will have to pay for it." Also Read | Jharkhand Blast: Five CRPF Personnel Injured in IED Explosion in Chaibasa. On Wednesday, the Enforcement Directorate said raids were underway at multiple locations linked to the former Maharashtra minister in connection with the alleged corruption case. Mushrif said, "Since this morning, the ED has been carrying out raids at my house and those of my daughter and relatives. I was out on some work. I was informed that the ED raided my and my relatives' houses. I request my workers to maintain peace and allow government employees to do their work. Do not create hindrances to their work. I request everyone to abide by the law." Mushrif said, "There was a raid a year-and-a-half back by the income-tax department regarding the sugar mill corruption during which I had extended full cooperation with the central agencies. I have no idea why they raided me again. I will soon speak to the media about this." (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 11 (PTI) The government has decided to do away with the discretionary Haj quota that was available with people in top constitutional posts and the minority affairs ministry, Union minister Smriti Irani said on Wednesday while asserting that the step has been taken as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's resolve to end 'VIP culture'. Minority Affairs Minister Irani hit out at the Congress-led UPA government, saying the discretionary quota was introduced during its period. Also Read | Karnataka Assembly Elections 2023: Congress Promises 200 Units Free Electricity for Households Ahead of Polls. "A decision has been take (to end discretionary quota in Haj). Prime Minister Modi had put forward his resolve to end VIP culture on the very first day of his term. VIP culture was put in place with respect to Haj during the UPA rule under which there was a special quota allocated to the Ministry of Minority Affairs, Haj Committee and all those in top constitutional posts," she told TV9 Bharatvarsh here. "The President, Vice President, me (have all dedicated it to the people). The Haj Committee was urged to end this quota and all the Haj committees in various states supported this. This VIP culture has been ended in the Haj process," Irani said. Also Read | Thailand: Male Prostitute Robs Sex Worker, Kills Her Puppy and Threatens Murder if 'She Ends Relationship'. She said that when it was started in 2012, there were around 5,000 seats under this special quota and if one knew someone in the government, one would be given a special category seat. "The government has ended that... The PM believed that if we have to do away with VIP culture completely then if there is any such special categorisation in any department, it should be ended," Irani said. She also said an exhaustive Haj policy reflecting the PM's resolves and one that will take care of the poor's needs would be announced in the future. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], January 11 (ANI): Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Wednesday said that the incident in Vengaival village of Pudhokottai district, in which human excreta was found in water tanks, shows that caste discrimination and untouchability exist in some pockets of society. Taking note of the matter, CM said that Special Investigation Team is investigating the incident. Also Read | RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat Says 'Muslims Must Abandon Their Boisterous Rhetoric of Supremacy'. "So far 70 people have been inquired and the guilty will be brought to book with an iron hand," CM said while replying to a motion moved by the Opposition in the assembly. "The issue has exposed the prevalence of caste discrimination and untouchability in some pockets. Untouchability is saddening and condemnable. A new water tank and distribution pipeline were installed for the 32 houses. Affected people were given medical treatment and clean drinking water was supplied. Medical teams continue in the village," Stalin said. Also Read | Bihar: Protest Turns Violent in Buxar As Farmers Attack Cops, Torch Vehicles After Midnight Raid by Police (See Pics and Video). The opposition moves special attention motion on human excreta in water tanks in a Vengaivayal of the Pudhokottai district. AIADMK MLA Vijayabhakar demanded arresting those responsible for mixing human excreta in water tanks. Congress MLA Selvaperunthagai, PMK MLA G K Mani and a few others also spoke on this special attention motion. Earlier last December, human feces were found dumped in a water tank supplying drinking water to a Dalit colony of Vengavayil village in the Pudukottai district. When after drinking the contaminated water, the children started falling ill, and the doctor treating them asked the colony residents to check the water quality. Residents of Vengaivasal in Muttukadu panchayat in the Pudukkottai district later complained to the police after finding that human excreta was dumped into the overhead water tank that supplies water to the colony. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Joshimath, January 11: Amid reports that two hotels damaged by the landslide and subsidence in the Joshimath area are likely to be dismantled, the owner of one of the hotels sat in protest with his family on Wednesday demanding compensation. Speaking to ANI, Thakur Singh Rana, the hotel owner said, "My son stays in France. I can move there. But I am sitting in protest instead in solidarity with fellow (Joshimath) residents." His wife said, "We need to be compensated as those affected by the ongoing Badrinath redevelopment work. We are even prepared to sit out in the freezing cold till our demand is met." Joshimath Land Subsidence: Residents Seek 'Proper' Rehabilitation and Compensation Before Damaged Houses Demolition. Hotel Inn and Hotel Mount View, which have developed more cracks, will be dismantled in a few days, officials had said earlier, adding that all residents have been safely evacuated from the 'unsafe zones'. According to sources, the hotel owners will meet the district magistrate in their push for compensation. Officials had earlier said buildings will be dismantled 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 dismantling 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 dismantling 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 would 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. Joshimath Land Subsidence: Supreme Court Declines Urgent Hearing, Says 'Democratically Elected Institutions Working on It'. On Monday, a team from the Union Jal Shakti Ministry also arrived at Joshimath. Occupants of buildings in areas that are to be brought down have been shifted 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 to discuss 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 assistance in mobilising disaster relief. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Kavaratti, Jan 11 (PTI) A court in Lakshadweep on Wednesday sentenced four people, including Lakshadweep MP Mohammed Faizal, to 10 years in jail after they were found guilty in an attempt to murder case. Also Read | PM Narendra Modi Calls Up Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, Congratulates Him for Sixth Term. Kavaratti Sessions judge K Anilkumar also imposed a fine of Rs one lakh each on the convicts for attempting to kill Mohammed Salih, son-in-law of late Congress leader and former Union Minister P M Sayeed, during the 2009 Lok Sabha polls. All the convicts are relatives. Also Read | Kolkata: Jobs-Seekers Abduct Job Agency Owner, Keep Him Hostage for Four Days To 'Get-Even' With Him. "This court has already found that the intention of the accused was to murder Mohammed Salih but they could not succeed. In fact the accused persons have attempted to murder Salih purely due to political rivalry", the court said. The convicts were later airlifted to Kerala to lodge them in the Kannur central jail, official sources said. "Accused Nos 1 to 4 are convicted and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 10 years each and fine of Rs 1 lakh each in default of payment of fine to undergo rigorous imprisonment for one year each for committing the offence punishable under section 307 of IPC with 149 of IPC", the court said. There were 37 accused in the case. The verdict has cast a shadow over the political career of Faizal, a leader of the NCP, as he faces disqualification due to the conviction and sentencing for a period of 10 years in the criminal case, legal experts said. They said the Supreme Court in its judgement dated 10 July 2013 while disposing the Lily Thomas Vs Union of India case had ruled that any MP, MLA or Member of a Legislative Council (MLC) who is convicted of a crime and given a minimum of two years' imprisonment, loses membership of the House with immediate effect. According to the prosecution, the Lakshadweep MP and 36 other accused along with some other identifiable persons, armed with deadly weapons, committed offence of rioting and voluntarily caused hurt on Salih after wrongfully confining him and his friend Mohammed Kassim at a place at Androth island. Three accused including Faizal chased Salih when he tried to flee from the spot, broke open the room of a house where he had taken shelter and brutally manhandled him with the aid of dangerous weapons including sword stick, chopper, iron rod, rafters, sticks etc, it said. The accused destroyed almost all the household articles kept in the house of Kadeejummabi, a key prosecution witness in the case. Severely wounded Salih, son-in-law of late Congress leader and former Union Minister P M Sayeed, was evacuated to Ernakulam in Kerala in a chopper for better medical aid, the prosecution said. They were attacked when they had reached the spot for intervening in a political issue during the 2009 Lok Sabha polls. Prior to be taken to the jail, Faizal told PTI that it was a 'politically motivated' case and he would file an appeal in the Kerala high court soon. In its order, the court said imposition of appropriate punishment is the manner in which the courts respond to the society's cry for justice against the criminals. "Justice demands that courts should impose punishment befitting the crime so that the courts reflect public abhorrence of the crime. The courts must not only keep in view the rights of the criminal but also the rights of the victim of the crime and society at large while considering imposition of appropriate punishment," it said. The court said since Faizal, who is the second accused in the case, is a sitting MP, intimation shall be given to the Lok Sabha Speaker in accordance with the Third Schedule Under Rule 229 and 230 of the Lok Sabha Rules. The court directed that a copy of the intimation should be endorsed to the Union Home Ministry and a telegram should be sent to the Lok Sabha Speaker as per the Rules. The court also directed to send the copy of judgement to the Speaker and the Union Home Ministry by way of email. Advocate Ajit G Anjarlekar appeared for Salih in the case. K A Jibin Joseph was the special prosecutor. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], January 11 (ANI): A terror associate of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) has been arrested in Srinagar along with funds worth 9.95 lakhs, police said. The accused named Farhan Farooz was arrested during a naka checking on Tuesday. Also Read | Bhopal Gas Tragedy: Can't Reopen Settlement After 30 Years, Supreme Court to Centre. Apart from the money, 450 grams of heroin, letter pads of the LeT, matrix sheets and a bike were also recovered from the accused. An FIR has been registered under the sections of UAPA and NDPS Acts at the Kotibagh Poilce Station. (ANI) Also Read | Muslims Must Abandon Boisterous Rhetoric of Supremacy, Says RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], January 11 (ANI): Preparations are in full swing for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Mumbai on January 19. 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. Also Read | Bhopal Gas Tragedy: Can't Reopen Settlement After 30 Years, Supreme Court to Centre. 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. Also Read | Muslims Must Abandon Boisterous Rhetoric of Supremacy, Says RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat. 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) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Parli (Maharashtra) [India], January 11 (ANI): Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday paid a visit to Nationalist Congress Party leader Dhananjay Munde, who is recuperating at a Mumbai hospital after meeting with an accident on January 4 in the state's Beed district. The chief minister met Munde at the Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai, where he was airlifted from Latur airport for the treatment of his injuries. Also Read | Bomb Threat in Mumbai: Unknown Caller Threatens to Blow Up Dhirubhai Ambani International School; Case Registered. MLA Munde encountered an accident on January 4 near Parli. After the accident, the social media handle of the MLA's office posted: "After meeting with people in the constituency and attending scheduled meetings, Dhananjay Munde was returning home towards Parli around 12.30 am on Wednesday, when the driver lost control of the car, resulting in the accident. He has sustained minor injuries to his chest and doctors have advised him to rest." Also Read | ED, Income Tax Raid NCP Leader Hasan Mushrifs Kolhapur Home for Alleged Corruption and Money-Laundering Cases. Munde was returning after attending a day-long program in his constituency Parli when the driver of the car in which he was travelling allegedly lost control, resulting in the vehicle colliding with the edge of the pavement. Munde was the minister for social justice in the previous Sena-NCP-Congress government. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], January 11 (ANI): The Maharashtra government issued a Government Resolution (GR) on Wednesday ordering all the government offices in the state to offer floral tributes at their offices on the birth anniversaries of great personalities like Swami Vivekananda, Balasaheb Thackeray, Subhash Chandra Bose and Ma Saheb Jijau. The notification dated January 10 orders the Sub-Divisional Commissioner and District Collectors in their respective offices to publicise the information regarding the organisation of the programme where flowers would be offered to these personalities. Also Read | PM Narendra Modi Calls Up Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, Congratulates Him for Sixth Term. The notification also carried the link of the government gazette which is available on the website of the government of Maharashtra. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Indore (Madhya Pradesh) [India], January 11 (ANI): Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan welcomed guests to the Global Investors Summit (GIS) which is being organised in Indore. The GIS is being organised at Brilliant Convention Center in the city on January 11 and 12. Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually inaugurated the event today. Also Read | PM Narendra Modi Calls Up Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, Congratulates Him for Sixth Term. Addressing the Global Investors' Summit via video conferencing, PM Modi said, "Optimism for India is driven by strong democracy, young demography and political stability. Due to these, India is taking decisions that boost the ease of living and ease of doing business. India has been on the path of reform, transform and perform since 2014. India has become an attractive destination for investment." On the other hand, addressing the inaugural function, CM Chouhan said, "Today, the industrial world of the country is among us, I heartily welcome you all. Indore and 8.5 crore people of Madhya Pradesh have welcomed you here." Also Read | Kolkata: Jobs-Seekers Abduct Job Agency Owner, Keep Him Hostage for Four Days To 'Get-Even' With Him. "It is our good fortune that PM Modi had arrived here among us the day before yesterday at Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas (PBD) and even today he has virtually inaugurated the Global Investors Summit. A new India is emerging under his leadership and becoming magnificent, glorious, powerful, prosperous, prosperous and self-reliant," the chief minister said. "To make a self-reliant India, I have to make Atma Nirbhar Madhya Pradesh with all of you and its roadmap is ready. Today, I am saying with confidence that only India will guide the world's humanity on the path of eternal peace which is burning in the fire of materialism," Chouhan added. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Mumbai, January 11: A threat call was received at Dhirubhai Ambani International School in Mumbai on Tuesday in which the unknown caller threatened to blow up the school. Mumbai: Man Threatens Bomb Blast in City Similar to 1993 and Riots; Arrested From Malad. According to Mumbai Police, a call was received at 4:30 pm on the landline of the school. The caller claimed to have planted a time bomb at the school. After this, the caller disconnected. Soon after, the school informed the local police. Based on the school's complaint, a case was registered against the unknown caller under sections 505 (1) (B) and 506 of the IPC at BKC police station. Police have started an investigation. Bengaluru Bomb Threat: Email of Bomb Plantation in Private School in Karnataka Creates Panic; Bomb Squad, Sniffer Dogs Rushed To Spot. Meanwhile, Mumbai Police said it has traced the caller and will arrest the accused soon. In October last year, a threat call was received at HN Reliance Foundation Hospital during which the unknown caller threatened to blow up the hospital and issued death threats to the Ambani family. (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 11 (PTI) Former minority affairs minister and senior BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Wednesday hailed RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's remarks on Muslims and said the spirit of partnership and not the battle to dominate leads to the path of development. Naqvi's assertion came after Bhagwat said Muslims have nothing to fear in India, but they must abandon their "boisterous rhetoric of supremacy". Also Read | Startup Funding in India Drops 33% to USD 24 Billion in 2022: Report. In an interview to Organiser and Panchjanya, Bhagwat said, "The simple truth is this, Hindusthan should remain Hindusthan. There is no harm to the Muslims living today in Bharat... Islam has nothing to fear. But at the same time, Muslims must abandon their boisterous rhetoric of supremacy." "We are of an exalted race; we once ruled over this land, and shall rule it again; only our path is right, rest everyone is wrong; we are different, therefore we will continue to be so; we cannot live together; they (Muslims) must abandon this narrative. In fact, all those who live here whether a Hindu or a communist must give up this logic," the RSS chief said. Also Read | Jharkhand Blast: Five CRPF Personnel Injured in IED Explosion in Chaibasa. Speaking with journalists here on Bhagwat's remarks, Naqvi said, "The spirit of participation and not the battle to dominate leads to the path of development and trust. The result of this is that out of every 10 Muslims in the world, one is living in India. His social, economic and educational rights are completely secure and strong." "But the problem is not of common Muslims, it is of the 'contractors' vying for Muslim votes. These people do not want Muslims to be a part of inclusive development and society," he said in an apparent swipe at the Opposition. But today the environment has changed and because of this there has been a "lockout" on the shops of contractors vying for Muslim votes, he said. In his remarks, Bhagwat had said the new-found aggression among Hindus the world over was due to an awakening in the society that has been at war for over 1,000 years. "You see, Hindu society has been at war for over 1,000 years - this fight has been going on against foreign aggressions, foreign influences and foreign conspiracies. Sangh has offered its support to this cause, so have others. There are many who have spoken about it. And it is because of all these that the Hindu society has awakened. It is but natural for those at war to be aggressive," Bhagwat had said. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New Delhi [India], January 11 (ANI): The National Investigation Agency (NIA) said on Wednesday that it has arrested two terror operatives in connection with the Shivamogga ISIS conspiracy case. The operatives, identified as Mazin Abdul Rahman and Nadeem Ahmed KA, were arrested in connection with a conspiracy hatched by the accused to further terror activities of the Islamic State (IS) in India. Also Read | Golden Globes 2023: PM Narendra Modi Congratulates the Team of SS Rajamouli's RRR For Their Big Win!. Four other accused persons had been arrested in the case earlier. The case was initially registered on September 19 last year at Shivamogga Rural Police Station in Karnataka's Shivamogga district and was re-registered by the NIA on November 4 last year. Also Read | Delhi: Drunk Man Urinates at Departure Area of Indira Gandhi International Airport's Terminal 3; Arrested. NIA investigations revealed that the accused, Maaz Muneer, had radicalised and recruited Mazin, a resident of Mangaluru in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka. However, another accused Syed Yasin radicalised and recruited Nadeem, who belongs to Davanagere in Karnataka. Both were radicalised and recruited for furthering the terror activities of the Islamic State in India, the NIA said in a statement. "The accused persons recced and attempted or committed acts of sabotage and arson, as part of the larger conspiracy, to further the activities of Islamic State," the elite anti-terror probe agency said. Further investigations in the case are underway. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New Delhi, January 11: Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya on Wednesday said that the vaccines available in India are effective against Omicron Sub-variant BF.7. "We've found the BF.7 variant in some passengers. However, our vaccine is effective enough to fight the BF.7 variant. We're taking all necessary measures," said Mandaviya during the launch of a book titled Braving A Viral Storm: India's Covid-19 Vaccine Story. Coronavirus Outbreak: All You Need To Know About BF.7 Omicron Sub-Variant That Has Sparked Fear of Fourth COVID-19 Wave Around World. He said that keeping in view the spread of Covid fourth wave in the world, so far 8,700 flights have been traced. "Amid the global COVID fourth wave, we're monitoring every airport. So far 8,700 flights have been monitored. Over 15 lakh passengers have been traced and out of them over 200 passengers have been detected as Covid positive," said Mansukh Mandaviya. He further added that the vaccine is effective to fight the BF.7 variant. "All of them were sent for isolation and their samples were sent for genome sequencing. Through genome sequencing, we've found Covid BF.7 variant in some passengers. However, our vaccine is effective enough to fight the BF.7 variant. We're taking all necessary measures," said Mansukh Mandaviya. India reported 171 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours informed the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Wednesday. With this, the country's active caseload stands at 2,342. According to the health ministry, a total of 4,41,47,322 people have recovered since the pandemic's beginning, of which 148 recoveries were registered in the last 24 hours. COVID-19 Scare in India: BF.7 Is Omicron With Mutations, Wont Lead to Severe Disease, Say Experts. The active cases comprise 0.01 per cent of the total infections and the recovery rate stands at 98.8 per cent. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 0.09 per cent while the weekly positivity was at 0.11 per cent, the ministry said. The country conducted 1,80,926 tests in the last 24 hours and so far a total of 91.25 crore tests have been done. Under the nationwide vaccination drive, more than 220.15 crore vaccine doses have been administered to eligible people across the country. In the last 24 hours, around 44,397 doses were administered. 220.15 crore Total Vaccine doses (95.14 cr Second Dose and 22.44 cr Precaution Dose) have been administered under Nationwide Vaccination Drive. Meanwhile, the testing of the sewage samples has not identified any new variant of COVID, a top health expert said on Tuesday. "The sewage sampling is being done and there also we are not getting any indication that either a new variant is here or there is a possibility of the upsurge of cases in the coming days or weeks," Chairman of COVID-19 working group NTAGI, Dr NK Arora told ANI. The official said that India has maintained to be in a "reasonably comfortable position" during the last 12 months. "Our genomic surveillance system has identified almost 300 plus sub-variants of Omicron and they are spread all over the place. From time to time a certain sub-lineage becomes dominant. But the important point is that throughout the years we did not have any massive increase or surge in hospitalizations or deaths," he said. On Monday Union Health Ministry also said, "Sentinel sequencing of 324 COVID Positive Samples reveals the presence of all Omicron Variants in the Community. No mortality or rise in transmission was reported in areas where these variants were detected". (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Ludhiana, Jan 11 (PTI) Some posters targeting the Congress over the 1984 anti-Sikh riots were found pasted on the walls of the Congress Bhavan here on Wednesday, a day before the Bharat Jodo Yatra is scheduled to pass through Ludhiana. Some people, who noticed the posters, informed the police which later removed and took them into its possession. Also Read | RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat Says 'Muslims Must Abandon Their Boisterous Rhetoric of Supremacy'. The police is examining the CCTV footage of the area to trace those who pasted the posters, officials said. The Punjab leg of Rahul Gandhi-led yatra on Wednesday morning commenced from Sirhind in Fatehgarh Sahib and will pass through Ludhiana on Thursday. Also Read | Bihar: Protest Turns Violent in Buxar As Farmers Attack Cops, Torch Vehicles After Midnight Raid by Police (See Pics and Video). (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Chaibasa (Jharkhand), Jan 11 (PTI) Six personnel of CRPF's elite COBRA battalion were injured on Wednesday in a bomb blast after an encounter with the outlawed CPI(Maoist) at Tumbahaka forest in Jharkhand's naxal-affected West Singhbhum district, a senior police official said here. Also Read | Karnataka Assembly Elections 2023: Congress Promises 200 Units Free Electricity for Households Ahead of Polls. Also Read | Thailand: Male Prostitute Robs Sex Worker, Kills Her Puppy and Threatens Murder if 'She Ends Relationship'. However, none of them were injured seriously and they were airlifted to a Ranchi hospital, West Singhbhum superintendent of police Ashutosh Shekhar told PTI. The left wing extremists triggered the blast when personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), its Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (COBRA), Jharkhand Jaguar of the state police and the district armed police were conducting an anti-naxal operation in the forest, he said. The LWEs opened fire at the security forces when they advanced toward them. This prompted the security forces to retaliate and the naxals, forced to retreat triggered the blast. A massive search operation is on to track down the extremists, the SP added. The West Singhbhum district police is carrying out an intensified operation against LWEs for the past several weeks in naxal-dominated areas which forced a number of them to lay down arms, Shekhar said. Among those who surrendered to the police were eight extremists considered to be close to top Maoist leader Misir Besra, who carries a bounty of Rupees one crore on his head. The police have appealed to the youths who have joined the LWEs to take advantage of the government's surrender and rehabilitation policy and lay down their arms. PTI bs (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], January 11 (ANI): Tamil Nadu MLA Thiru. N. Eramakrishnan on Wednesday moved a 'Motion of Thanks' on Governor R N Ravi's address, with a mention of the word 'regret' over his action on January 9. "...That this House records its agony for the act of Hon. Govenor by omitting and including some portions in the Governor's Address which was sent by the Tamil Nadu Government, approved by the Hon. Governor and circulated in the Assembly: That the Members of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly are grateful to the Hon. Governor for the Address, recorded in the House on the 9th January, 2023," the motion of thanks read. Also Read | #G20India | 1st GPFI Meeting, Kolkata Day 3 Will Have Three Sessions to Continue #G20 Latest Tweet by DD News. On Wednesday, January 9, the Governor sparked a controversy with his statement that the name 'Thamizhagam' would be more appropriate for the state. Governor Ravi's remark during his customary address at the opening session of the House on Monday, triggered an uproar, especially from the Treasury benches. Also Read | Lakhimpur Kheri Violence: May Take Five Years to Conclude Trial in Normal Course, Trial Judge Tells Supreme Court. Legislators of the ruling DMK and its allies, the Congress and the VCK, started raising slogans against the Governor and staged a walkout. DMK MLAs also raised slogans against the Governor such as 'Don't impose BJP, RSS ideology'. However, DMK president and Chief Minister MK Stalin on Tuesday requested his MLAs not to pass any distasteful comments on the Governor, sources said. Sources further informed that Stalin also asked the MLAs not to put up any posters against the Governor. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Chennai, Jan 11 (PTI) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Wednesday asserted in the Assembly that the State would deal with an iron hand against communally divisive, anti-social elements. Also Read | Kolkata: Jobs-Seekers Abduct Job Agency Owner, Keep Him Hostage for Four Days To 'Get-Even' With Him. Responding to the Special Call Attention motion of MLAs on the incident of mixing of human feces in an overhead water tank in a Scheduled Caste residential neighbourhood under Vengaivayal village in Pudukkottai district, Stalin detailed the action taken by the government. Also Read | Andhra Pradesh CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy Releases Rs 395 Crore Towards Interest-Free Loans for Traders. The Pudukkottai incident brought to light the caste based discrimination and related untouchability still prevalent here and there, he said. Following information, the Chief Minister said he immediately deputed top officials to make an on the spot assessment and they are continuing to take appropriate action. Initially two children, who took ill, from Vengaivayal were admitted to the Pudukkottai Government Medical College Hospital. When more patients from the same village turned up for infection, authorities advised an analysis of the drinking water. It was found later that human feces was mixed in water stored in the overhead tank. From December 26, 2022 to till date, a team of doctors are camping in the village and are engaged in implementing disease preventive measures and medical examination of people. For public health and sanitation work, under the leadership of a medical officer, 18 personnel, including nurses are on the job. For all the 32 houses, new water connections and drinking water pipes have been provided and proper drinking water supply is on from January 5, 2023. "Action is being taken to build a brand new overhead water tank at a cost of Rs 7 lakh. Daily, drinking water is being supplied through lorries under the supervision of a sanitary inspector." Police have registered a case and under the supervision of Pudukottai District Police Superintendent, a Special Investigation Team has been set up, which is probing the case. "So far, 70 people have been questioned. I would like to inform the House that appropriate action will be taken to arrest the true culprits behind this incident." Such incidents become stumbling blocks in social cohesion and unity he said and quoted reformist leader Periyar E V Ramasamy's sayings warning against communal tendencies. The rational leader's speeches are aimed at fostering brotherhood, harmony and egalitarianism. "We should remember that in this country, there are still some anti-social elements who are creating divisions by upholding caste and religions." Overcoming such elements, "we should all live as humans with equal rights and be humane." Stalin said the government would deal with an iron hand against communally divisive, anti-social elements. (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 11 (PTI) The Delhi government will bring a one-time settlement scheme within a week for complaints related to wrong and inflated water bills to clear pendency, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia announced Wednesday. He also said in the last meeting of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), it was decided that those who did not pay their bills in time because of the bills being wrong or inflated will not have to pay the late surcharge. Also Read | Karnataka Assembly Elections 2023: Congress Promises 200 Units Free Electricity for Households Ahead of Polls. Since then, 4.5 lakh people have paid bills worth Rs 252 crore, he said. "Out of 26 lakh water connections, there are no problems with 18 lakh. But bills of eight lakh connections were pending," the deputy chief minister said. Also Read | Thailand: Male Prostitute Robs Sex Worker, Kills Her Puppy and Threatens Murder if 'She Ends Relationship'. "We were getting complaints of people receiving inflated bills or wrong bills. Even MLAs had complained about it. It has been decided that the Delhi Jal Board will prepare a report within a week to implement the scheme to settle inflated bills to remove pendency," Sisodia told reporters. At a press conference, the deputy chief minister said several key decisions were taken during a meeting of the DJB on Wednesday. Earlier, if someone had to install a new metre for an old connection, they would have to approach the government. They used to apply to the DJB but it could not replace their metres due to some issues, he said. "From now on, people can either approach the DJB to replace their old metre or they can get it installed themselves. People will have the right to get a new metre installed in place of their old one for an existing connection," Sisodia said. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has a dream that Delhi should get a 24-hour water supply. Many key decisions have been taken to turn that into reality, he said. "The DJB approved several projects, including setting up 10 underground reservoirs. Under this, four old underground reservoirs will be upgraded while six will come up at new locations. "The government will lay a 300-kilometre pipeline while 84 kilometres of the old pipeline will be upgraded. It will lay new sewer lines in 44 unauthorised colonies and 14 villages of Karawal Nagar, Burari and Narela," the deputy chief minister said. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New Delhi, Jan 11 (PTI) Engineering company Greaves Cotton on Wednesday unveiled its range of electric two-wheeler and three-wheeler electric vehicles at the ongoing Auto Expo 2023. The company at the event unveiled three two-wheelers under Ampere brand series -- Ampere Primus, Ampere NXG and a multi-utility scooter Ampere NXU which can be also used for deliveries. Also Read | Lal Bahadur Shastri Death Anniversary 2023 Quotes & HD Images: Slogans, Photos and Wallpapers To Share Remembering the Indian Freedom Fighter and Former Prime Minister. In the commercial three-wheeler segment, the company unveiled an electric passenger vehicle Greaves ELP, cargo EV Greaves ELC and a futuristic cargo concept Greaves Aero Vision. Greaves Electric Mobility Private Ltd, CEO and Executive Director, Sanjay Behl said Ampere Primus will be available during the ongoing quarter, while rest of the vehicles will be made available during the course of next financial year. Also Read | Auto Expo The Motor Show 2023 To Be Held From January 13 to 18 in Greater Noida, Will Explore Futuristic Green Tech. "Ampere Primus is now open for bookings across India. Rest of the vehicles will be launched in the next financial year," Behl said. Greaves Cotton Executive Vice Chairman Nagesh Basavanhalli at the event shared the company's commitment to invest Rs 1,500 crore in the deployment of indigenous electric vehicle ecosystem in the country since its entry into the e-mobility business. (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 11 (PTI) The Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday said 10 NBFCs and one asset reconstruction company have surrendered their registration certificates. The 10 Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFC), which surrendered their registration certificates, include Telecom Investments India Private Limited, Srinivasa Finance Corporation Private Limited and Parkin Marketing Pvt. Ltd. Also Read | Lal Bahadur Shastri Death Anniversary 2023 Quotes & HD Images: Slogans, Photos and Wallpapers To Share Remembering the Indian Freedom Fighter and Former Prime Minister. The RBI in a statement said Lone Star India Asset Reconstruction Private Limited also surrendered its registration certificate. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Lucknow, Jan 11 (PTI) The Uttar Pradesh government on Wednesday held a roadshow here in which 79 memorandums of understanding (MoU) worth Rs 76,000 crore were signed, an official release said. Industrial Development Department Minister Nand Gopal Gupta Nandi addressed eminent industrialists in the roadshow and discussed the changes that have taken place in the state in the last five years and the investment-friendly policies of the Yogi Adityanath government while inviting them to invest in the state, as per the release. Also Read | Lal Bahadur Shastri Death Anniversary 2023 Quotes & HD Images: Slogans, Photos and Wallpapers To Share Remembering the Indian Freedom Fighter and Former Prime Minister. The investors who came to participate in the event appreciated the wind of change in the new Uttar Pradesh, it added. Kamlesh Jain, Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of Varun Beverages, said: "We have 7 plants in UP. The environment of UP is better than anywhere else. We had to set up a plant in Gorakhpur. The allotment letter for the land arrived within two and a half months. The Uttar Pradesh government is doing great work. We will invest Rs 3,400 crore in Uttar Pradesh". Also Read | Auto Expo The Motor Show 2023 To Be Held From January 13 to 18 in Greater Noida, Will Explore Futuristic Green Tech. Haldiram Group's Manager Commerce Sanjay Singhania said that after coming to Uttar Pradesh, he saw good governance, good policy and good law and order. "We started with one factory, today it has grown to five. We are signing three MoUs. For the first time, we have got such an atmosphere which we cannot compare with anywhere else." Nand Kishore Agarwal, president of Crystal Crop Protection Limited, said that today there is a skilled resource in Uttar Pradesh. "Keeping this in mind, we will invest Rs 200 to Rs 300 crore here. After Nagpur, Jammu, and Haryana, now we will set up plants in UP. For the first time after independence, such a government has come to Uttar Pradesh, which is taking the lead and inviting investors. Earlier, leaders used to take money. Now, there is no problem in UP." Mahesh Gupta, President of Kent RO System, said that the state government is doing very good work. "Due to better law and order, today all the industrialists are willing to set up industries in UP. Since 2017, there has been a lot of change in the policy of UP. This is the reason that now investors are turning towards Uttar Pradesh," Gupta said. Michael Tibolo, Minister of Mental Health and Addiction, Government of Ontario, Canada, said, "I am impressed to hear about the work being done in UP as our country is also engaged in such innovations. Looking for ways to reduce taxes and providing better infrastructure to develop the market are very positive efforts in this regard". Six investors from different states of the country have made proposals for big investments in the Lucknow roadshow. These investors include: City Gold Corporation- Rs 26,000 crore, Nexon Energia- Rs 15,000 crore, Varun Beverages- Rs 3,400 crore, Haldiram - Rs 1,310 crore, Dharampal Satyapal- Rs 900 crore and Kent RO System - Rs 500 crore, the release said. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Nairobi (Kenya), Jan 11 (AP) China's new foreign minister, Qin Gang, has sidestepped a new call by the African Union for permanent representation on the United Nations Security Council during his visit to Ethiopia. Speaking at the opening of the Chinese-built headquarters of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, Qin instead emphasised China's partnership with Africa in security and economic development. Also Read | Thailand: Male Prostitute Robs Sex Worker, Kills Her Puppy and Threatens Murder if 'She Ends Relationship'. African Union Commission Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat told a joint press conference that Africa's lack of permanent representation on the Security Council is a burning issue considering that most issues on the council agenda are related to African countries. It is unacceptable that others decide in the place of others. It is not fair. We need a new order at the international level which will respect the interests of others, he said. Also Read | Ebola Outbreak in Uganda Is Over, Say WHO Officials. China is one of the council's five permanent members. Qin, who was appointed in December, is on his first overseas visit as foreign minister and is beginning a weeklong trip to Africa. He will also visit Gabon, Angola, Benin and Egypt. China's foreign ministers for more than three decades have started their terms by visiting Africa, whose population as a continent rivals China's. China has invested heavily in infrastructure in African countries, including roads, railways and hospitals. Qin rejected the idea that China is competing in Africa with the United States, which last month sought to reassert its influence with a US-Africa summit in Washington. What Africa needs is solidarity and cooperation, not block competition. No one has the right to force African countries to take sides, Qin said. The AU Commission chair said, Africa refuses to be considered to be an arena of exchange of influence. ... We are open to cooperation and partnership with everybody, but our principles, our priorities and our interests have to be respected. The partnership we have with China is based on these principles. (AP) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Kathmandu [Nepal], January 11 (ANI): Nepal on Wednesday observed the national unification day or the Prithivi Jayanti paying homage to the unifier of modern Nepal by organizing various events. After a pause of about half a decade, the Himalayan nation announced January 11 as a public holiday for the celebration. This is the first time since the abolishment of the monarchy after the People's Movement-II, that Nepal is celebrating Prithvi Jayanti and has announced January 11 as a public holiday. Also Read | FAA Outage: Hundreds of Flights Grounded in US After Federal Aviation Administration Reports Computer System Failure. The Himalayan nation which was divided into many factions of smaller states was united in the mid-18th Century by Prithivi Narayan Shah, now considered the founding father of unified Nepal and his birthday is marked as National Unification Day. With the end of the centuries-old monarchy in 2006, following the People's Movement-II (a political movement which started against monarchy) Nepal stopped celebrating the birthday of the Shah. In recent times voices had increased to once again celebrate the day. Also Read | Thailand: Male Prostitute Robs Sex Worker, Kills Her Puppy and Threatens Murder if 'She Ends Relationship'. Taking a cue from the prevailing sentiments the new government of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal earlier this week decided to give this as a public holiday which is now welcomed by the public. Following the announcement, hundreds of pro-monarch supporters poured onto the road in front of Singha Durbar to pay tribute to the statue of Shah. "This move by the government needs to be welcomed by all. We have been celebrating Prithivi Jayanti every year, as the government has announced it a public holiday, this is a very positive step and we welcome it," a pro-monarchist Madhukar Thapa told ANI. "Prithivi Narayan Shah is the symbol of unity. He's the one who laid the foundation for this nation- as the nation earlier was divided into 24 Rajya's (states). He unified all the fractioned states and formed a single nation. It is a must that we celebrate him and rejoice on his birth anniversary," Thapa added. Several programs are being organized across the country to mark the 301st birth anniversary of the late king Prithivi Narayan Shah, the unifier of modern Nepal. Nepal's President Bidhya Devi Bhandari also paid homage to Shah's statue installed on the entrance of Singha Dubar- in the Nepali administrative complex. Issuing a statement earlier that morning, Bhandari also said that the ideals of Shah are relevant even today. In a message of best wishes on occasion Bhandari said, that the journey to today's sovereign, independent, inclusive and democratic republic of Nepal was built on the foundation of the unification campaign undertaken by Shah. "The ideals of Prithivi Narayan Shah can be the reference for building a self-reliant economy, empowering the people and making efficient foreign relations," Bhandari adds. Bhandari, in the message, also noted that the creation of modern Nepal through the unification of many principalities at that time is a unique and proud chapter of our history. "We should all recognize the historical reality that an independent and sovereign Nepal was made possible due to the campaign of nation-building initiated by the then King of Gorkha, Shah and carried ahead by our heroic ancestors for many decades". Bhandari has also expressed the belief that the National Unity Day would inspire us all to achieve happiness and prosperity by safeguarding the independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and national unity of the country. (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 [US], January 11 (ANI): Pentagon on Tuesday asserted that the defence ties between India and the US are "very important." Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig Gen Pat Ryder in a press briefing said, "I would say, you know, I don't have any specific announcements to make in terms of the relationship but -- but as you know, it's a very important relationship between the United States and India when it comes to security cooperation, defence cooperation. So we look forward to continuing to engage with the Indian leadership." Also Read | World Bank Says Fragile Economic Conditions Might Usher in Recession. India has been designated as a major defence partner of the United States. It puts India on par with the closest allies and partners of the US. India's Major Defence Partner status has been made a part of the India Amendment in the National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA), 2017 of the US. The designation of this status is unique to India, a non-NATO ally of the US. It institutionalizes the progress made by the US to facilitate defence trade and technology sharing with India to a level at par with its closest allies and partners. It will facilitate the US to transfer advanced defence technology to India. It will also strengthen the institutional effectiveness of the US-India Defence Trade and Technology Initiative (DTII) and the durability of the India Rapid Reaction Cell at the Pentagon. Also Read | Cardinal George Pell, Australian Cleric Whose Child Sex Abuse Convictions Were Overturned, Dies at 81. The defence relationship has emerged as a major pillar of the India-US strategic partnership with intensification in defence trade, joint exercises, personnel exchanges, and cooperation in maritime security and counter-piracy. India conducts more bilateral exercises with the US than with any other country. Ryder also commented on China and Russia jointly developing new chemical weapons. "Certainly when it comes to chem-bio capabilities worldwide, it's something that the Department of Defence monitors very closely. When it comes to Russia and China, it's something that we'll continue to monitor closely," he said. On the query of North Korea also joining these chemical weapons with Russia and China, he said, "It's something that we're going to keep a close eye on, we're going to continue to consult closely with our allies in the region in terms of counter-proliferation when it comes to things like chemical biological weapons." Speaking on Pakistan's accusations that Afghanistan is harbouring terrorists, he said, "Well, without getting into internal Pakistani politics, we've known for a long time that there are terrorist organizations that exist within Afghanistan and throughout the region, and that -- that's certainly a surprise to no one." Underlining US's stand on Afghanistan that it should not become a safe harbour for terrorists once again, he said, "From a United States standpoint, as we've said before, we do maintain an over-the-horizon capability when it comes to counter-terrorism, and so that is something that we will continue to maintain and sustain in defence of our own homeland." (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 [US], January 11 (ANI): The succession of Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, who was killed in a US drone strike in Kabul on July 31, remains unclear, according to a US intelligence official, reported Reuters. To a question on the Al Qaeda's 'centre of gravity' after Zawahiri's death, Christine Abizaid, Director of the US National Counterterrorism Centre on Tuesday said, "The question for Al Qaeda, that it has not answered for itself, is who follows (Zawahiri)", in an event organised by the Washington Institute. Also Read | Pavel Kamnev, Developer of Russia's 'Kalibr' Cruise Missile, Dies at 86. A key 9/11 plotter, Zawahiri was reported to be living in Pakistan till the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan, probably under the protection of the Pakistani intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), reported European Foundation for South Asian Studies (EFSAS). Notably, 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 US is offering a reward of up to USD 10 million for information leading to his arrest, reported Reuters. Also Read | Canada Sanctions Gotabaya and Mahinda Rajapaksa for Human Rights Violation During Sri Lankas Civil War. Abizaid also addressed the threat landscape in the US 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 radicalization is occurring," she said. Her remarks echoed a recent assessment by the Department of Homeland Security, which said in November that the US threat environment will remain heightened in the coming months, with lone offenders and groups motivated by a range of ideologies posing a danger, reported Reuters. Earlier in December 2022, Al Qaeda released an undated 35-minute video of its killed leader Al-Zawahiri. The group claimed that the recording was narrated by him. Meanwhile, the prospect of Pakistani involvement in Zawahiri's targeting has emerged as a contentious issue, even if neither the US nor Pakistan has publicly acknowledged such a role. EFSAS, quoting a report by the New York Times, said for many years it was believed that Zawahiri was hiding in the border area of Pakistan and it remains unclear why he returned to Afghanistan. Following the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, it is believed that Zawahiri's family returned to the safe house in Kabul. Reports quoting top intelligence sources have also claimed that Zawahiri was being sheltered in Karachi and that sometime after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, he was moved to Kabul through the Chaman border by the Haqqani network. Over the role of Pakistan in Zawahiri's killing, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), Michael Rubin said he is convinced that Pakistan had a role in Zawahiri's killing. He underlined, "Pakistan's economy is in danger, and the country is in danger of collapse." (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New Delhi, [India], January 11 (ANI): The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) removed its order to halt all domestic aircraft departures across the United States on Wednesday after restoring the system that provides pilots with pre-flight safety notices, CNN reported. The overnight outage caused widespread inconvenience, with thousands of flights throughout the country delayed. Also Read | Pakistan: Tandoor Owners Go on Strike in Swabi Over Surge in Prices of Flour. The US regulatory body, FAA had put a ground stop order in place after its NOTAM -- or Notice to Air Missions -- system failed. The FAA lifted the order shortly before 9 a.m.(local time) and the agency said normal air traffic operations have resumed across the country. It said it was still trying to determine the cause of the problem, according to CNN. Earlier, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) informed all flight operators about the airspace system failure, as all flights across US were grounded after a technical glitch in the computer system of the FAA. Also Read | PM Narendra Modi Calls Up Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, Congratulates Him for Sixth Term. "The FAA is working to restore its Notice to Air Missions System. We are performing final validation checks and reloading the system now," FAA said. India's biggest wide-body airline Air India is the only airline that operates a maximum number of US-bound flights that may have been affected as a result of the technical glitch. "We are aware of the snag in the US and we are in touch with the concerned authority," an Air India official told ANI. "Air India's around 56 flights operate to the US in a week," the official added. As per the report, over 400 flights were delayed within, into, or out of the United States as of now and more will be affected. US-based United air said in a statement, "The FAA system that sends out important real-time flight hazards & restrictions to all commercial airline pilots - Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) - is currently suffering a nationwide outage. United has temporarily delayed all domestic flights and will issue an update when we learn more from the FAA." Air India on Wednesday said that it is in touch with the relevant authority after flights across the US were grounded due to a technical glitch in the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) computer system. According to media reports, the flights that were severely impacted were within, into, and out of the United States. Operations are normal at all the airports in India and as of now there is no impact on flights from India to the US amid a glitch in US Federal Aviation Administration's system, said a senior DGCA official. However, India-US flights were not impacted due to a glitch in the computer system of the US regulatory body, FAA. (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 11 (PTI) The 2023 US-Japan Security Consultative Committee meeting, to be co-chaired by their respective foreign and defence ministers, would discuss security challenges in the Indo-Pacific and the Chinese aggression, among others, the Pentagon said Tuesday. "The leaders will discuss our shared vision of a modernized alliance that will tackle 21st Century challenges in the Indo-Pacific and around the world," Pentagon Press Secretary Gen Pat Ryder told reporters at a news conference here. Also Read | Pavel Kamnev, Developer of Russia's 'Kalibr' Cruise Missile, Dies at 86. US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken will co-host the 2023 US-Japan Security Consultative Committee meeting here with their Japanese counterparts Defence Minister Hamada Yasukazu and Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa. "China certainly will be a topic of discussion with our Japanese allies during the consultation -- consultative meetings this week. In terms of Chinese behaviour as evidenced most recently by the PRC (People's Republic of China) air intercept, it is concerning when you see these types of provocative actions taking place in sensitive areas," Ryder said in response to a question. Also Read | Canada Sanctions Gotabaya and Mahinda Rajapaksa for Human Rights Violation During Sri Lankas Civil War. "Our focus, from the United States's standpoint, is working with our allies and our partners in the region like Japan to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific, and to ensure that security and stability continue to be present throughout the region," he said. "Japan is one of our staunchest allies in the region, and really the US-Japanese alliance is the cornerstone of Indo-Pacific security, you know, over the last 70 years," he said in response to a question. "This is an opportunity for our two nations to have very substantive dialogue in terms of how we can modernize the alliance and ensure that we're doing our part to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific, and importantly, a stable and secure Indo-Pacific," he said. The United States government, in partnership with the Government of Japan, on January 12 will sponsor the fifth Indo-Pacific Business Forum, or IPBF. The IPBF is an opportunity to discuss shared ambitions for the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity, as well as their respective priorities for the United States' APEC host year and Japan's G7 presidency in 2023, said State Department Spokesperson Ned Price. "The IPBF will also showcase high-impact private sector investment and government efforts to support market competition, job growth, and high-standard development for greater prosperity and economic inclusion in the Indo-Pacific," he said. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New Delhi, January 11: It might take at least five years in the normal course to conclude the trial in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case, a sessions judge conducting the trial in the case in which Union minister Ajay Kumar Mishra's son is one of the accused, informed the Supreme Court on Wednesday. In a report submitted to the apex court, the additional sessions judge said there are 208 witnesses, 171 documents and 27 forensic science laboratory (FSL) reports in the case. Lakhimpur Kheri Violence: Charges Framed Against Accused Ashish Mishra, 13 Others in Connection With Murder of Farmers. The top court had last month asked the sessions court how much time in normal course was it likely to take to conclude the trial, without compromising with the schedule of other pending or prioritised matters. Lakhimpur Kheri Violence Case: SC Cancels Ashish Mishra's Bail, Directs Him To Surrender Within a Week. "The report says it will take at least five years. It says there are 208 witnesses, 171 documents and 27 FSL reports," said a bench of Justices Surya Kant and V Ramasubramanian while referring to the report received from the trial court judge. "He (sessions judge) says in normal course, it may take five years," observed the bench, which is hearing a plea by Ashish Mishra seeking bail in the case of mowing down of protesting farmers in October 2021 in Lakhimpur Kheri. During the hearing, the bench asked the counsel appearing for the Uttar Pradesh government to confirm whether the four accused in a separate case lodged over the killing of three occupants of the SUV, which allegedly mowed down four farmers in the incident, are still in custody. At the outset, advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the complainant in the case of the killing of farmers, requested the bench to post the hearing for some other day, saying senior advocate Dushyant Dave who is leading him in the matter is unwell. The bench inquired from the state's counsel about the status of the separate case lodged over the killing of three occupants of the SUV, which allegedly mowed down farmers. The counsel said charges have been framed against the accused in that matter. "We just want to know if there are accused in that case who have been arrested?" the bench asked. The state's counsel said four accused were arrested in the case. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Ashish Mishra, told the bench that the trial judge has sent a report to the apex court. When the bench said as per the report of the additional sessions judge, it may take at least five years in the normal course to conclude the trial, Bhushan said material witnesses can be examined first. "The problem is the report says when the case was fixed for examination of prosecution witnesses, one of the material witnesses was to be examined but he got fever and was unwell on that day...These practical difficulties may arise," the bench pointed out. It said if the trial in the case is asked to be speeded up, it will have to be done at the cost of all other cases pending in that court. Bhushan said day-to-day trial is needed in this case being probed by a special investigation team. When he alleged that some witnesses were attacked and beaten up, Rohatgi shot back, saying: "This is completely false." "What we need is, how many persons were arrested in FIR no.220/2021 (separate case) and are they still in custody," the bench observed and asked the state to apprise it about the particulars of those arrested in that case. Rohatgi said, "It is our case. Our case is that our convoy was attacked...It is a case of mob violence. People were pulled out of our vehicle and three of them were killed." The bench observed that ultimately, the larger interest and larger issue will have to be kept in mind and fixation of time sometimes can create serious prejudice to the prosecution's case. Bhushan, while arguing that the accused in the case of mowing down of farmers are influential, suggested the apex court can ask the trial court to hold day-to-day trial and examine material witnesses first. He said the complainant has annexed the charge sheet of the case in the counter affidavit filed in the apex court. The bench posted the matter for further hearing on January 19. On October 3, 2021, eight people were killed in Tikunia in Lakhimpur Kheri district during violence that erupted when farmers were protesting against the then Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya's visit to the area. Four farmers were mowed down by an SUV in which Ashish Mishra was seated, according to the Uttar Pradesh Police FIR. Following the incident, the driver and two BJP workers were allegedly lynched by angry farmers. A journalist also died in the violence. On December 6 last year, the trial court had framed charges against Ashish Mishra and 12 others for the alleged offences of murder, criminal conspiracy and others in the case of death of the protesting farmers in October 2021 in Lakhimpur Kheri, paving the way for the start of the trial. A total of 13 accused, including Ashish Mishra, have been charged under IPC sections 147 and 148 related to rioting, 149 (unlawful assembly), 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 427 (mischief) and 120B (punishment for criminal conspiracy), and section 177 of the Motor Vehicle Act. The other 12 accused are Ankit Das, Nandan Singh Bisht, Latif Kale, Satyam alias Satya Prakash Tripathi, Shekhar Bharti, Sumit Jaiswal, Ashish Pandey, Lavkush Rana, Shishu Pal, Ullas Kumar alias Mohit Trivedi, Rinku Rana and Dharmendra Banjara. All of them are in jail. While hearing the matter on December 12 last year, the apex court had asked the state government, which opposed the bail plea of Ashish Mishra terming the offence as "very grave", to file an affidavit with regard to the status of the case lodged over the killing of three occupants of the SUV. He was 75 and is survived by his wife Shobha J. Chhajed, a former Deputy Mayor of Nashik Municipal Corporation, and three sons -- Preetish, Hitendra and Akash. En route, he reportedly suffered chest pains and returned to Nashik and rushed to a private hospital where he breathed his last around 10.30 p.m. on Tuesday. San Francisco, January 11: The US-based Match Group, which owns a global portfolio of popular online datings apps like Tinder, Hinge, Match, Plenty of Fish, and Meetic, among others, has announced the launch of a new campaign that will introduce in-app messages and email notifications to give users tips on how to prevent being scammed online. According to TechCrunch, Tinder and a French dating app, Meetic will send in-app messages to users with tips and common behaviour to look out for. Suggestions include verifying potential matches' profile pictures, video chatting with them before meeting in person, and learning how to spot scammer red flags. Mumbai Man Becomes Victim of 'Romance Scam', Loses Rs 1.5 Crore After Meeting Woman on European Social Media Site. Moreover, other dating apps like Match, Hinge, Plenty of Fish and OurTime will send out emails and message notifications to users with the same scam-related tips, according to the report. Cryptocurrency Fraud: Americans Lost $185 Million to Crypto Romance Scams in Just 3 Months. The global public awareness campaign will roll out in more than 15 countries, including the US, India, Canada, the UK, Australia, Japan, Germany, France, Spain, and Italy. "Scammers will often play the long game," Buddy Loomis, senior director of Law Enforcement Operations and Investigations at Match Group, was quoted as saying. "They want to really capture the victim's confidence and trust, and they'll spend a lot of time with them talking back and forth... that's how scammers build a relationship with that person and make them feel safe. (Then) they'll ask for money for either a child's medical bill, visa or plane ticket," he added. Match Group encourages users to report incidents on the platform they are using as well as to contact local law enforcement, said the report. (The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 11, 2023 06:06 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com). Did President Joe Biden really leave Texas with a MAGA hat, as reported by many right-wing outlets and personalities? POTUS was seen boarding Air Force 1 while holding a red hat, and this sent many in the right into a frenzy. But was that really a MAGA hat? The president was in El Paso, Texas for his first visit to the U.S.-Mexico border. He went to federally-funded migrant service centers and met with border patrol agents and staff. He also met with several workers for the nonprofit Salvation Army, though according to Newsweek, he had another gaffe where he mistook one of them for a member of the Secret Service. Biden did correct himself, but the gaffe went viral soon after. He told the Salvation Army worker that he once worked for the secret service in Poland and Ukraine before realizing his mistake and quickly correcting himself, saying, "not the secret service, the Salvation Army." The Salvation Army did give him a gift. Did Pres. Joe Biden Really Take a Red MAGA Hat? The tweet by Papi Trumpo was the one that pointed out that Biden was carrying a red hat but overtly said that it was a MAGA hat. Meanwhile, Ben Shapiro's The Daily Wire also tweeted a video but asked, "Did they send him home with a MAGA hat?" TEXAS SENT HIM HOME WITH A MAGA HAT!!! pic.twitter.com/4NMlqepdIe il Donaldo Trumpo (@PapiTrumpo) January 10, 2023 Biden visited the border for the first time in his career. Did they send him home with a MAGA hat? pic.twitter.com/T2w2rU3UN8 Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) January 9, 2023 READ MORE: North America Leaders Summit: Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador Challenges Joe Biden to Give More Help for Latin America So, did Biden really fly out of Texas with Donald Trump's signature "Make America Great Again" cap? Newsweek pointed out that the video by Papi Trumpo was a bit grainy, so they looked into another video, this time by CNN, and found out that, no, it was not a MAGA hat. Instead, the cap Biden was carrying around was actually a red Salvation Army cap that was gifted to him. POTUS was even seen walking around wearing the red Salvation Army cap. While some of the posts were indeed satirical, others were downright claiming that it was indeed a MAGA cap. Pres. Biden Discussed Migration and Fentanyl While at the U.S.-Mexico Border with Border Patrol Officials President Joe Biden arrived at the Southern border alongside several Texas Democrats as John Kirby, White House national security spokesman, stated, "This is something that he wanted to see for himself." CBS News reported that during his meeting with border officials, they discussed several topics, including the mass migrations of people trying to get into the United States from Latin America, as well as the increased trafficking of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids. This has become a huge crisis in the United States as the number of overdoses in the country is skyrocketing. The visit also came as Biden announced a new policy that would ensure fewer people come to the border to seek asylum in the United States. This expands on the previous rule set for Venezuelans that lowered the number of Venezuelans coming into the U.S.-Mexico border by approximately 90%. Rep. Veronica Escobar, a Democrat from Texas who joined Biden in his tour of the border, stated, "All of these executive branch efforts really are just temporary band-aids, whether it's Title 8, whether it's Title 42 if we need to make sure that Congress acts." She implored congress to act as this was not just the job of the executive branch but also the legislative. READ MORE: El Mencho's Notorious Jalisco Cartel Hands Out Christmas Gifts to Children During a Parade in Mexico City of Guadalajara This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Rick Martin WATCH: President Biden leaves El Paso after border visit - KSAT-12 The classified documents found in U.S. President Joe Biden's office during his vice president days were reported to contain intelligence briefings about Ukraine, Iran, and the U.K. Some of the documents were marked as Top Secret or Sensitive Compartmented Information. The classified documents were found with other personal documents from Biden's Center for Diplomacy at the University of Pennsylvania in Washington. Some of the personal documents that were mixed with the classified documents include planning materials for the funeral of the president's son, Beau Biden, in 2015. The classified documents were dated between 2013 and 2016, according to one source with knowledge of the matter. The materials were found on November 2, just almost a week before the midterm elections. However, it only came to public attention on Monday. The source noted that a personal lawyer for the U.S. president was closing out the downtown D.C. office that was used as part of his teaching work at the University of Pennsylvania. The personal lawyer reportedly opened a manila folder that was labeled "personal" and noticed that there were classified documents inside. The same personal familiar with the matter noted that the lawyer then called the National Archives upon seeing the envelope. Biden's team then turned over several boxes in an abundance of caution. Several of those boxes include personal materials. READ NEXT: Classified Documents Found in Joe Biden's Former Office as U.S. Vice President Being Reviewed by DOJ U.S. President Joe Biden's Classified Documents The White House said in a statement that the president's personal lawyers have cooperated with the Archives and the Justice Department since the discovery of the classified documents. The Biden administration also clarified that the materials were not the subject of any previous request or inquiry by the archives. Biden also commented on the recent discovery of the documents saying that he does not know what the documents contained. The president added that his lawyers have not suggested that he asks what the documents were about. The Justice Department refused to comment on the Biden classified documents. Meanwhile, Chicago U.S. Attorney John Lausch Jr. was tapped to review the materials. His office also declined to comment on the matter. One person with knowledge of the probe noted that the initial review of the Chicago U.S. attorney is nearing completion. Classified Documents Biden has earlier criticized former U.S. President Donald Trump, dubbing him as "irresponsible" for having classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. Trump is currently under criminal investigation over allegations regarding how he mishandled classified documents that were removed from the White House. The revelation has prompted others to draw a comparison between Biden's and Trump's classified documents. The former president has also refused to return more than 11,000 administration documents despite repeated requests from the Archives under Presidential Records Act. One Trump lawyer also signed a statement that all classified records had been returned before the August search of his residence. On the other hand, Biden voluntarily returned the 10 classified documents to the Archives the day they were discovered. A national security lawyer, Brad Moss, noted that the Biden staff did what they were supposed to do by notifying Archives and returning the documents. GOP Kentucky congressman James Comer said in a statement that they expect the same treatment for Biden. Trump also posted on his Truth Social account asking when the Federal Bureau of Investigation will raid the "many homes" of Biden. READ MORE: COVIDtests.gov: More Free COVID-19 Test Kits Available on Federal Government Website | Here's How You Can Order This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Mary Webber WATCH: Pres. Joe Biden addresses discovery of classified documents in former office - from CNBC Television Former Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro has been discharged from the hospital where he had been taken on Monday, a source close to the Bolsonaro family confirmed. Bolsonaro left for Florida two days before his term ended, Reuters noted. The former president was brought to a hospital in Florida the day after hundreds of his supporters stormed key government facilities in the capital Brasilia. He suffered from intestinal pains related to the stabbing incident during his 2018 election campaign. After the weekend's brazen attack on Brazil's capital by Jair Bolsonaro's supporters, the Biden administration is under increasing pressure from leftists in Latin America and U.S. politicians to exclude Bolsonaro from a post-presidential retreat in Florida. However, the far-right ex-president might derail plans for such a scathing reprimand. On Tuesday, Bolsonaro told a Brazilian news outlet that he would leave the country sooner than expected and travel home to Brazil. READ NEXT: Brazil's Outgoing Leader Jair Bolsonaro Flees to Florida Ahead of Political Nemesis Lula's Inauguration Brazil Former President Jair Bolsonaro's Presence in the U.S. Pressures President Joe Biden Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was the first elected Brazilian president since democracy was restored in the 1980s not to receive the presidential sash from his predecessor when Bolsonaro skipped the ceremony on January 1, leaving Brazil for Florida. According to reports, Bolsonaro is staying at a house near Orlando owned by an ardent admirer and mixed martial artist Jose Aldo from Brazil. According to A.P., his trip to Florida went virtually unreported in the United States until the attack by thousands of Bolsonaro supporters on a military post in Brasilia on Sunday. These individuals had been camped out for weeks outside the base, refusing to accept Bolsonaro's narrow defeat in an October vote. Glass, computers, and artwork were among the many things they destroyed during their invasion of Brazil's congress and the presidential palace. Democrats have expressed alarm over Bolsonaro's continued presence in the United States since the moment images of the destruction were shown worldwide on television. Democrats have expressed alarm over Bolsonaro's continued presence in the United States since the moment images of the destruction were shown worldwide on television. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was one of those who urged President Joe Biden to boot Bolsonaro. "Nearly two years to the day the U.S. Capitol was attacked by fascists, we see fascist movements abroad attempt to do the same in Brazil," the New York City lawmaker said. "The U.S. must cease granting refuge to Bolsonaro in Florida." Experts say the decision should be easy for the White House to make. Brazil Seeks to Freeze Jair Bolsonaro's Assets Prosecutors in Brazil seek to freeze the former president's assets after rioting in the capital by his extremist fans. Jair Bolsonaro has announced he plans to leave the United States and return home within the next two weeks, Financial Times reported. In response to Sunday's attack on the government district in Brasilia by thousands of radicals demanding the ouster of the new government led by veteran leftwinger Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the far-right populist has come under pressure. On Tuesday, prosecutors in Bolsonaro's Latin American country asked the federal audit court to take his wealth. Officials have stated that the funds should be used to rebuild the public infrastructure harmed during the unrest. The investigation into the events' planners and backers in Brazil's capital has also been expanded. The minister of justice has stated that members of the influential agriculture sector of the country's economy are being investigated. The attacks, which Bolsonaro called "crossing the line," have caused him to distance himself from them as he faces various legal probes in his home nation. Jair Bolsonaro has taken precautions to avoid being removed from his overseas trip and will return home of his own will. 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: Brazil's Bolsonaro meets supporters in Florida - From Washington Post Infamous right-wing influencer Baked Alaska, who had previously been banned on YouTube for his controversial views, was sent to prison for joining the rioters at the Capitol on January 6 and live-streaming it. Baked Alaska, whose real name is Anthime Gionet, will be spending 60 days in prison, as was ruled by U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden. This will be followed by two years of probation, according to the Associated Press. During the trial, he faced a maximum of six months of imprisonment. Judge McFadden also imposed a $2,000 fine on the influencer and ruled that Gionet must also pay $500 in restitution. The judge told the former YouTuber, "You did everything you could to publicize your misconduct." He added that Anthime Gionet was there to encourage and fully participate in the Capitol insurrection, where a pro-Donald Trump mob invaded and took over the Capitol building in an effort to overturn the election results. Baked Alaska Says Verdict Is a 'Win' for Him Gionet pleaded guilty during the trial and was allowed to remain free until he must report to prison. Despite this, he maintains that he did not break any law during the events of January 6 and says he does not regret coming to the Capitol. After the trial, the right-wing influencer spoke with reporters and said that his sentence was a "win." According to The Guardian, the man known as Baked Alaska also stated that he is also planning to use his time in prison to write a book. In his statement to the media, he said he is holding firm that he was there because he still believes that the election was stolen. He added that he believes that "people should have a right to speak freely as long as they are being peaceful." Five people died when pro-Trump rioters stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, with roughly 114 Capitol Police officers sustaining various injuries as they were attacked by the rioters. READ MORE: January 6 Capitol Riot Anniversary: Democrats Honor Police Officers While Republicans Continue to Fight Over Speaker Votes Who Is Anthime Gionet A.K.A. Baked Alaska? Baked Alaska made a name for himself when he worked for Buzzfeed as a commentator. There, he seemed to have leftist ideals and even marched in support of Black Lives Matter. However, everything changed in 2016 when he threw his support for then-candidate Donald J. Trump. He gained further popularity with the MAGA movement in 2016 with his YouTube channel, where he posted his viral "MAGA Anthem" video that featured pro-Trump lyrics. 2017 saw his views becoming more and more radicalized as he used his platform to promote racist and antisemitic ideologies. He even had a big role in the infamous Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, where White Supremacists rallied with "Jews will not replace us!" chants and racist and antisemitic slogans. He became an extreme online personality, eventually becoming banned from Twitter, TikTok, and YouTube, with the latter banning him for repeated illegal behavior in October 2020. According to NBC, Baked Alaska made his living by making online videos. However, he was mostly described by the media as a far-right Internet troll. After his YouTube ban, he began streaming on DLive. This was where he streamed going into the Capitol and capturing the events of the January 6 Capitol Insurrection on video. His livestream was mentioned in other Capitol riot cases where other people have also pleaded guilty. READ MORE: January 6: Special Counsel Jack Smith Subpoenas Local Election Officials, Investigates Donald Trump's Fake Electors Scheme This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Rick Martin WATCH: Right-Wing Personality 'Baked Alaska' Now Pleading Not Guilty To Jan. 6 Charges - NBC News The streets of Mexico's Sinaloa state are being hit with a wave of violence following the arrest of Ovidio Guzman Lopez, the son of Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera. Some neighborhoods have been littered with bullet casings. ABC 7 reported that Ovidio is the head figure of the Sinaloa Cartel's fentanyl division, which has continued to take thousands of American lives, particularly in Illinois. Mexican media have reported that 10 soldiers were already killed along with 19 cartel members since Ovidio's arrest last Thursday. Vehicles on the street were left ablaze as cartel gunmen clashed with police and Mexican soldiers. An aircraft was also hit by gunfire, with passengers on a jetliner needing to duck for cover as gunfire struck the plane. Mazatlan and Culiacan airports were both shutdown. Both residents and tourists around the area were encouraged to stay inside. Authorities said no civilians had been killed so far amid the ongoing cartel violence. However, the Sinaloa town of Jesus Maria was seeing protests against the disappearance of more than 140 people from their community since Ovidio's arrest. READ NEXT: Jalisco Cartel Boss El Mencho's Brother 'El Tony Montana' Ordered to Stand Trial Disappearances Following the Arrest of El Chapo's Son Ovidio Guzman Lopez Around 200 demonstrators arrived at the Government Palace in Sinaloa state's capital of Culiacan in trucks Monday morning, accusing the Mexican army of human rights violations. The protesters, who were residents of Jesus Maria, also demanded the state government address the impact of military presence in their town. One protester's placard said the children were "afraid of seeing soldiers," adding that they do not want the military presence in their town. Demonstrators broke some of the glass in the doors of the Government Palace, which caused the state police to block their access to the building. The town of Jesus Maria is where Ovidio Guzman Lopez was captured last Thursday. Ovidio's followers then terrorized the municipality with armed attacks and blocked highways around the state for around 12 hours, leaving soldiers and cartel members dead. The army also blocked access to Jesus Maria while searches were conducted. The military has also cut off the town's power supply, telecommunications, and water. As opposed to the government's claims of the operation having no civilian casualties, residents estimated that 140 people disappeared from their community, mostly young men and women between the ages of 12 and 25. Sinaloa Cartel's Ovidio Guzman Lopez Benjamin Smith, author of the monumental history of Mexican drug trafficking, "The Dope: The Real History of the Mexican Drug Trade," told El Pais that they were not entirely sure how big Ovidio Guzman Lopez is when it comes to the drug trade. Citing the U.S. State Department, Smith noted that El Chapo's son produces more than 3,000 kilos of methamphetamine monthly, but he has no idea where the department got that figure. He said there were a lot of unanswered questions about the four sons of El Chapo, known as Los Chapitos, and the role Ovidio plays in the Sinaloa drug trade. Ovidio, born in 1990, is the youngest of four brothers on the State Department list. As young as 18, he reportedly took over the drug business in 2008 when his older brother, Edgar Guzman Lopez, was assassinated in a Culiacan supermarket. READ MORE: Rafael Caro Quintero's Wife Denies Legal Battle With Guadalajara Cartel Founder Over Alimony Demand This article is owned by Latin Post Written by: Mary Webber WATCH: Capture of El Chapo's Son Incites Cartel Violence in Mexico - From CBC News: The National YouTuber-turned-boxer-turned-pro wrestler Logan Paul has issued an apology to fans who lost money after investing in his "play-to-earn" cryptocurrency game, CryptoZoo. His fans reportedly invested money into the project, but Paul never really moved forward with it. Paul launched CryptoZoo in 2021 and promised it would be a "really fun game that makes you money." However, the three-part series by YouTuber Coffeezilla revealed that Paul never really cared much for the project despite fans investing thousands of dollars of their own money. In the videos he posted last month, Coffeezilla accused Paul of scamming fans and investors and abandoning them after selling them "worthless" digital items. In his latest apology posted on the CryptoZoo Discord page, Paul promised to "make this right." He wrote that he would be "taking accountability, apologizing, and coming forward with a plan in the near future." According to BBC, it is still unclear how the YouTuber plans to reimburse investors or relaunch CryptoZoo. READ NEXT: Logan Paul Accused of Scamming Fans With CryptoZoo, Threatens YouTuber Coffeezilla Who Investigated Him Logan Paul Issues Apology to YouTuber Coffeezilla YouTube investigator Coffeezilla made a name for himself by investigating crypto scams all over the internet and exposing them. Many consider his taking on Logan Paul's CryptoZoo as one of his biggest takedowns so far. Following the release of his three-part expose, Paul posted a response video that accused the YouTube investigator of making money off his name and not doing his investigations properly, as he claimed that Coffeezilla never talked to him and only his manager. He then threatened to sue his fellow YouTuber over his videos. However, Paul has since taken down that response video and apologized to the investigative YouTuber. Paul had reached out to Coffeezilla and talked to him over the phone. During that call, Paul reportedly apologized. Coffeezilla confirmed this on social media, saying, "Logan called me. He said he's deleting the two responses and is dropping the lawsuit threats.' It seems that Paul is planning to revamp or relaunch CryptoZoo, and this newer version may be released by 2023 or 2024, as hinted by the CryptoZoo website per Gizmodo. Logan Paul's Former Pet, Pearl the Pig, Found Abandoned on a Field Logan Paul has also recently landed afoul with animal rights activists as his former pet, Pearl the Pig, was found abandoned with a dead pig beside her in the middle of a field. The animal was rescued by an animal sanctuary called Gentle Barn, which found Pearl with tattered ears and a potentially life-threatening infection. They revealed that she was the same pig who once belonged to the famous YouTuber. At first, animal rights groups lambasted Paul, until many gave him a pass after he explained what really happened. Logan Paul then thanked Gentle Barn and sounded genuinely concerned. Paul admitted that he had to rehome Pearl the Pig as it was difficult to bring her with him when he moved to Puerto Rico. According to TMZ, the animal had been rehomed several times since Paul gave her up in his move to the U.S. territory. Gentle Barn claimed that she had been irresponsibly rehomed. READ MORE: Bahamas Hands Over FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried to U.S. This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Rick Martin WATCH: Final Update on the Logan Paul Drama - From Mogul Mail Texas has executed a former Houston police officer by lethal injection for hiring two hitmen to kill his estranged wife amid their divorce and custody battle nearly 30 years ago. Robert Fratta, the 65-year-old Houston police officer, received the lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville for the shooting of his wife, Farah, in November 1994. Fratta was then pronounced dead at 7:49 p.m. on Thursday, or 24 minutes after the lethal dose of the powerful injection. Fratta's spiritual adviser prayed over the inmate, who was strapped to the death chamber gurney with intravenous needles in each arm. Fratta was asked if he had any final statement, to which he replied, "No." All movement stopped after Fratta closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and snored loudly six times. The punishment was delayed for a little more than an hour until the last of final day appeals. The former Houston police officer was one of four Texas death row inmates who filed a lawsuit against the state to block Texas's prison system from using what they claimed are "expired and unsafe execution drugs." READ NEXT: Texas: Greg Abbott Gets Brutally Honest on Scary Effects of Title 42 Abolishment Texas Inmate Robert Fratta Hiring Hitmen Prosecutors argued that Robert Fratta organized a murder-for-hire plot wherein middleman Joseph Prystash hired a shooter identified as Howard Guidry. Farah, the 33-year-old wife of the former Houston police officer, was shot twice in the head in her mother's garage in the Houston suburb of Atascocita. Fratta had long claimed he was innocent. On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court declined an appeal from his lawyers to stop the execution. They argued that the prosecutors withheld evidence that the investigators had hypnotized a trial witness. The alleged hypnosis then led her to change her initial recollection that she saw two men at the murder scene and a getaway driver. Prosecutors then argued that the hypnosis produced no new information or identification. They added that Fratta had repeatedly expressed his desire to see his wife dead and asked several acquaintances if they knew anyone who would kill her. Fratta reportedly told one friend that he would kill his wife and get his kids after he did his time. The hitmen were also sent to death row for the killing. Texas Death Row An inmate on Texas death row was granted an appeal to overturn the conviction against him based on faulty DNA evidence. The Supreme Court justice agreed to take up the case and rescinded the lower court's decision. Steve Vladeck, a CNN Supreme Court analyst, noted that the state confessed to an error in the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. A state judge earlier ruled in favor of the inmate, Areli Carbajal Escobar, finding "evidence handling issues" in the lab used in the case. It rendered all DNA evidence found at the scene "unreliable." Escobar was initially convicted of murdering Bianca Maldonado Hernandez, 17. READ MORE: Texas, Arizona Keep Sending Buses of Migrants to Washington; D.C. Mayor Devotes $10 Million to Help This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Mary Webber WATCH: Cop-turned-killer Robert Fratta Executed for Hiring Teenage Hitman to Kill His Wife in 1994 - From KHOU 11 Two Illinois EMS workers have been arrested and charged of murder following the death of a patient. According to WAND, the Sangamon County State's Attorney said Earl Moore Jr., 35, died while in the care of two Lifestar EMS personnel. Police reportedly arrested Peter Cadigan and Peggy Finley for first-degree murder. According to State's Attorney Dan Wright, the two emergency medical workers were called to Moore's house last December. Wright detailed how Cadigan and Finley secured Moore to the gurney by tightening the straps, facing down. Moore died at a local hospital on December 18 at 3:14 p.m. According to WAND, an autopsy found that Moore died of compressional and positional asphyxia as a result of being placed face down on a stretcher with straps tightened across his back. READ NEXT: Ambulance Driver Who Drinks Beer, Smokes Pot Before Fatal Crash That Killed Patient Tries to Escape Using Uber Victim's Death in Illinois Classified as Homicide The death of Earl Moore Jr. was ruled a homicide, leading to the charges against Peter Cadigan, 50, and Peggy Finley, 44. According to Miami Herald, the two are EMS workers for Lifestar Ambulance Service. Moore was initially sent there because he had "hallucinations related to a medical condition." "Following the arrival of EMS, Earl Moore Jr. became the victim of acts which caused his death at the hands of individuals called by police to provide emergency medical care," Wright noted. The state's attorney said if Cadigan and Finley are found guilty, they will face a prison sentence of 20 to 60 years. They are being jailed in the Sangamon County jail on a $1 million bond each. Based on their education and expertise, Wright noted that Cadigan and Finley should know that placing a patient in such a position would generate a considerable probability of grave bodily harm or death. Illinois Incident Captured on Video Three separate agencies, namely the Sangamon County State's Attorney's Office, the Sangamon County Coroner's Office, and the Illinois State Police, are looking into Earl Moore Jr.'s death. Springfield NAACP President Teresa Haley said a family member contacted 911, and police were dispatched to the area. They informed the police that Moore was not intoxicated but rather detoxing. Haley claimed a police officer's body camera recorded the entire incident. One officer tried to calm Moore while the other was on the phone calling for EMS. She said paramedics turned Moore over on the gurney when paramedics arrived. "What I must say is the Springfield Police Department did an awesome job, and without the body cams, we wouldn't have this information," she noted. She added that the two Illinois EMS workers lacked sympathy and had a hostile attitude toward Moore, a Black man, as evidenced by the police body camera footage, NPR Illinois reported. "For me, it's not about him being a Black man. It could have been a white family. If we were called in, we would have the same opinion. Everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect," Haley said. READ MORE: Brazil Former President Jair Bolsonaro Released From Florida Hospital, Plans to Return to His Country This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Bert Hoover WATCH: Body Camera Footage of Two Springfield EMS Workers Charged With Murder Released - From WCIA News Ovidio Guzman Lopez's mom reportedly helped the families of at least a dozen alleged Sinaloa Cartel hitmen who were killed by security forces during the operation to capture her son in Mexico's Sinaloa state. According to Borderland Beat, Griselda Lopez Perez, the second wife of Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera, paid most of the funeral expenses of the dead "sicarios" that faced the authorities and tried to prevent the arrest of El Chapo's son in Culiacan last week. El Chapo married Griselda in the 1980s. The Sinaloa Cartel boss married his first wife, Alejandrina Maria Salazar Hernandez, in 1977 and his third wife, Emma Coronel Aispuro, in 2007. El Chapo reportedly has dozens of children, but only Ovidio and his three other sons, known as Los Chapitos, figured prominently in the Sinaloa Cartel's operations. READ NEXT: El Chapo Son Ovidio Guzman Lopez's Arrest Sparks Ongoing Street Warfare in Mexico's Sinaloa State; 140 People Reported Missing At Least 29 Killed During the Arrest of El Chapo's Son, Ovidio Guzman Lopez During the violent operation to capture El Chapo's son, at least 29 people were killed, according to Mexican police. Immediately after Ovidio Guzman Lopez was arrested last Thursday, Sinaloa Cartel gunmen invaded the city of Culiacan. They set up roadblocks in a bid to free him and clashed with authorities. According to BBC, 10 soldiers and 19 individuals suspected to be Sinaloa Cartel members were killed during and after the arrest of El Chapo's son. At least 10 men, all of whom were dressed in military-style clothing and tactical equipment, were already identified by the authorities. They were Juan Alberto, Jose Antonio R, Eduardo B, Jesus N, Andry Roberto, Adrian Alonso, Raul, Rey Miguel L, Jesus Antonio B, and Mauricio Jesus S. Local media reported that a 14-year-old boy, identified as Juan Alberto of Paredones town, was also among the fallen hitmen. On Friday, a Mexican federal judge stopped the extradition process of Ovidio to the United States. 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. El Chapo's Sons: The 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 Ovidio Guzman Lopez, Joaquin 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: El Chapo's Son, Member of Sinaloa Cartel, Arrested After Chaotic, Messy Chase in Mexico This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Bert Hoover WATCH: 29 Killed in Clashes After Son of 'El Chapo' Arrested - From Channel 4 News Laurel, MS (39440) Today Cloudy with periods of rain. High 63F. N winds shifting to W at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall may reach one inch. Locally heavier rainfall possible.. Tonight Showers in the evening, then partly cloudy overnight. Low 53F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Dunamaise Arts Centre has received a grant of 125,000 from the Arts Council for 2023. The funding, part of 9,486,140 allocated to arts centres nationally, was announced by the Arts Council, the Irish government agency for developing the arts. "The infrastructure of arts centres, jointly supported with local government, is essential in enabling people of all ages and backgrounds in every part of the country to experience the very best of the arts. It is also essential in providing resources to artists in the development of their work," said Director of the Arts Council, Maureen Kennelly. "In addition, we are delighted to increase our support to Ealain na Gaeltachta which supports arts audiences and artists in Gaeltacht regions in partnership with Udaras na Gaeltachta, she said. The purpose of Arts Centre Funding is to invest in and support the infrastructure of Arts Centres required to sustain and develop the arts in Ireland. Arts Centres support the creation, presentation and mediation of the arts across a range of artforms and arts practices. They support professional, collaborative, voluntary and amateur arts practice. In a space where artists and audiences meet, Arts Centres are vital to the sustainability of the arts nationally. The Arts Council currently provides programming and revenue supports to over fifty Arts Centres throughout the country. A key part of the Arts Council strategy, Making Great Art Work, is to invest in public engagement. This funding, along with the Arts Councils #LiveIs campaign, which launched at the end of 2022, looks at continuing to have audiences return in ever-greater numbers to live arts performances. The Heritage Killenard, renowned for providing five-star luxury and impeccable levels of service in county Laois, has scooped four prestigious accolades at the recent Irish Hotel Awards 2017. David Hanniffy was initially named the Leinster regional wedding planner of the year and subsequently fought off stiff competition to be awarded the coveted title of the Wedding Planner of the Year 2017, sponsored by Classic Drinks. The Heritage Killenard was also recognised for its outstanding achievements in the spa and restaurant categories, winning The Leinster Regional Spa Hotel of the Year Award, sponsored by spabreaks.com and The Leinster Regional Hotel Restaurant of the Year Award, sponsored by Rational. The awards were announced at the inaugural Irish Hotel Awards, held at a gala dinner in The Sheraton Athlone Hotel on March 21. Speaking at the event, David Hanniffy, wedding planner at The Heritage Killenard said: The entire staff at The Heritage Killenard are delighted to be recognised by our peers for our dedication to achieving excellence in customer experience. The Irish Hotel Awards are committed to celebrating those in the Irish Hospitality Industry who provide the best of guest experiences. The Heritage Killenard aspires to continue its passion for excellence in the hospitality industry. The award wins are a fitting tribute to the excellent facilities on offer at the hotel. The Heritage Killenard makes a stunning location in which to hold a stylish wedding. A private wood-panelled lounge, gracious foyer, opulent suites and a glittering chandeliered ballroom create a magical setting, and the hotel is certified for civil ceremonies and civil partnerships. Russian forces are escalating their onslaught against Ukrainian positions around the wrecked city of Bakhmut, Ukrainian officials said. It brings new levels of death and devastation in the grinding, months-long battle for control of eastern Ukraine. Everything is completely destroyed. There is almost no life left, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said late on 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, Mr Zelensky said. This is what madness looks like. Late on 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 have seized control of Soledar, with battles continuing in a cauldron in the city centre. Ukrainian officials did not comment on the claim and the Associated Press was unable to verify it. The UK Ministry of Defence 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 taking Soledar, six miles north of Bakhmut, was likely Moscows immediate military objective and part of a strategy to encircle Bakhmut. But it said 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 its forces now make up as much as a quarter of Russian combatants. The Kremlin, whose invasion of its neighbour 10-and-a-half 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 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. Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine 10 January 2023 Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/aFDNytdSEu #StandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/5Bg8NCKRNt Ministry of Defence (@DefenceHQ) January 10, 2023 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, Mr 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 stabilisation centre near the frontline 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 stabilised him enough to transfer him to a military hospital. We fight to the end to save a life, Kostyantyn Vasylkevich, a surgeon and the centres co-ordinator, 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 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 on Tuesday that officials were grappling with the military shortcomings revealed during the conflict in Ukraine. Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu, whose performance has been fiercely criticised in some Russian circles but who has retained Russian President Vladimir Putins confidence, said his military will use its experience in Ukraine to improve combat training. Military communications and control systems will be improved using artificial intelligence, Mr 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, said officials who fail to meet deadlines for such items could face criminal charges. Mr Putin appointed Mr 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. People walk past a damaged part of a house after what Russian officials in Donetsk said was a shelling by Ukrainian forces (AP) The Patriot surface-to-air guided missile defence system is one of the weapons Ukraine is about to receive, and the Pentagon announced on 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 on Tuesday while visiting Ukraines second largest city, Kharkiv, that her country would also provide 40 million euros (35.34 million) to help with demining, energy infrastructure and internet connections, German news agency dpa reported. Several frontline 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 Mr 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 over two months ago that 90% of Bakhmuts prewar population of more than 70,000 has fled since Moscow focused on seizing the entire Donbas. Ukraines presidential office said at least four civilians were killed and another 30 hurt 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 on Monday and again early on Tuesday. He said 15 people, including a two-year-old child, were wounded. Sinn Fein dramatically withdrew from roundtable talks with Foreign Secretary James Cleverly over the Northern Ireland Protocol, after party leader Mary Lou McDonald was excluded from attending. The Belfast talks, which included Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris and also focused on the Stormont powersharing crisis, were overshadowed by the row. Ms McDonald accused the British Government of Tory petulance and said the situation was bizarre and unprecedented. But unionist representatives instead suggested it was a diplomatic issue and that Mr Cleverly could not meet Ms McDonald, who is the leader of the opposition in the Republic, ahead of meeting his counterpart in Ireland. Mr Cleverly insisted Sinn Fein had been very welcome to attend, and the partys vice president Michelle ONeill had been invited to the meeting. He stressed the meeting was to hear from political representatives in Northern Ireland, and he would meet Irish politicians when he goes to Ireland in the near future. During a visit to Saintfield Garden Centre on Wednesday afternoon, he told media: Sinn Fein were very welcome. My meeting here this morning was to meet with the elected representatives of the people of Northern Ireland. I will of course be going to Ireland in the near future and Ill be meeting Irish politicians, but I very much wanted to hear from representatives of Northern Ireland. Michelle ONeill was invited as was her deputy, they chose not to come but it was a very useful meeting and I did get to hear voices that had concerns, serious concerns, about the protocol, the impact it is having on people and businesses in Northern Ireland. This is a time for inclusive, good faith engagement. It is regrettable & bizarre that the British Govt chose to exclude the leader of Sinn Fein from today's party leaders meeting. I remain determined to work constructively with all to get the Executive & Assembly working for all Mary Lou McDonald (@MaryLouMcDonald) January 11, 2023 The two Government ministers had been expected to meet representatives of all the main parties in Northern Ireland to discuss the impact of the post-Brexit protocol. Instead the meeting went ahead with the unionist DUP and UUP and the cross-community Alliance party present. The nationalist SDLP joined Sinn Fein in refusing to attend. Ms McDonald spoke to the media in Belfast while the talks were taking place nearby in the city. She said: We are in a very important time when progress needs to be made on the issue of the protocol, on getting the executive back up and running, getting the Assembly into action and ensuring people have government. Comment on British government exclusion of Sinn Fein President Mary Lou McDonald from todays roundtable meeting with the British Secretary of State and Foreign Secretary https://t.co/48idxV71HV Sinn Fein (@sinnfeinireland) January 11, 2023 We had hoped to make progress on those issues at todays leaders meeting. I travelled for that meeting because I believe it is an important meeting and bizarrely, and in an unprecedented way, the British Government choose to seek to exclude the leader of Sinn Fein from a leaders meeting. The whole thing is absolutely bizarre and unacceptable. We need politics which is civil, which is based on respect, which recognises the democratic mandate and the responsibility of every party including Sinn Fein. She added: We had a chance this morning to mark progress, to exchange views, to be constructive, to work together, to listen to each other. This is a time for inclusion, dialogue and engagement. There is serious and urgent work to be done. This is a time for mature and civil politics. Theres no room for bad faith and petulance from the British government. Michelle ONeill (@moneillsf) January 11, 2023 But rather than having that kind of meeting, a kind of British Tory petulance has emerged. I think that is a terrible shame. Sinn Fein Stormont leader Michelle ONeill in a tweet accused the British Government of bad faith. A UK Government spokesman said: This meeting is for Northern Ireland politicians to talk through issues around the Northern Ireland Protocol with SOSNI and the UK Foreign Secretary. The leader of Sinn Fein in the Assembly (Michelle ONeill) was invited and remains invited. Her attendance is a matter for Sinn Fein but she was not excluded. Speaking after the meeting, DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said he did not want to get drawn into the row, but that no party had been excluded. He said: That is a matter between the Northern Ireland Office and Sinn Fein. My understanding is the NIO didnt exclude any party. There was an issue around the protocol of Mary Lou McDonald meeting the Foreign Secretary ahead of the Foreign Secretary meeting his counterpart in Dublin. That is not a matter for me. I am not going to get drawn into this. It is better when all parties are at the table. I want to see all parties in Northern Ireland putting their views across, particularly to the Foreign Secretary. I hope next time the parties will be back at the table. Sir Jeffrey said he believed Mr Cleverly recognised that any deal on the protocol had to be acceptable to unionists. He said: This was an invaluable opportunity for us to put forward our concerns about the ongoing negotiations. They talked about getting a deal that works for everyone and works for Northern Ireland, and I think that is fundamentally important, they recognise a deal with the EU which doesnt work for unionists just isnt going to fly. It was good we had the opportunity to input our views on how the negotiations should go forward and on the areas that need to be addressed in the negotiations. Ulster Unionist leader Doug Beattie said he pushed for more input from local politicians in the negotiations between the EU and the UK Government over the protocol. He said: We need to be in a position that if they are going to agree something, we have the ability to say that is not going to work. That is a red flag and I made that point quite strongly to the Foreign Secretary. Devolution in Northern Ireland has been in flux since last February when the DUP, the regions largest unionist party, withdrew its first minister from the ministerial executive in protest at the protocol. The party has made clear it will not allow a return to powersharing until radical changes to the protocol are delivered. It claims the treaty has undermined Northern Irelands place within the United Kingdom by creating economic barriers on trade entering the region from Great Britain. However, earlier this week progress between the EU and the UK on post-Brexit data-sharing was hailed as a positive step in ongoing talks to find a solution to the row. Mr Cleverly and Mr Heaton-Harris are also due to meet business groups as part of their efforts to understand the impact the protocol has had on trade. Speaking earlier, Mr Cleverly said: I am listening to the concerns of people and businesses in Northern Ireland and am keenly aware that the current situation isnt working. We need to address those issues with the protocol that risk and undermine the place of NI in the UK. The HSE has announced that walk-in flu vaccination clinics for children aged 2-17 years will be stood up from this week in community vaccination centres across the country. This is in response to rising numbers of both flu cases in children as well as the significant number of children who have been hospitalised with flu this winter. A number of community vaccination centres across the country are now offering walk in flu vaccination clinics for all children aged 2-17. No appointment is necessary and the vaccine is free of charge. The full schedule of clinics is available on www.hse.ie. The vaccine is also available from participating GPs and pharmacists. Parents can find details on pharmacies offering vaccinations in their area using the pharmacy finder tool. The childrens free nasal flu vaccine will be available up until January 23. After this date, only children with medical conditions which put them at risk of serious illness from flu will be able to get a vaccine. The HSE is encouraging parents to avail of this opportunity to vaccinate their children against flu as flu continues to spread and is likely to continue circulating further for a number of weeks. Dr Aparna Keegan, Specialist in Public Health Medicine and Flu Lead, HSE National Immunisation Office said: Flu is a serious illness that can be dangerous in children too. We are seeing rising cases of flu in the community so we are encouraging parents of children aged 2-17 to get their children vaccinated to protect them while there is still time. The nasal spray flu vaccine is a very safe and effective vaccine and helps your childs immune system produce antibodies that fight infection. It cannot give your child the flu. If your child has had the flu vaccine and they come into contact with flu virus, these antibodies will help them fight the flu and reduce the risk of getting sick or needing to go to hospital. The vaccination process is a simple nasal spray and is given by spraying the vaccine once into each of the childs nostrils. Getting the nasal spray flu vaccine is a safe, effective and a pain free way to protect your child from flu this winter. While most children who catch flu have mild symptoms, flu can sometimes lead to serious complications such as pneumonia or bronchitis in some children. Children, especially young children, are also more likely than adults to get severe complications of flu. The Dock in Carrick-on-Shannon has received funding from the Arts Council, the Irish government agency for developing the arts, which has just announced its Arts Centres decisions for 2023. Funding totaling 9,486,140 will be distributed to 42 organisations across all parts of the country. The Dock will receive 130,00 while locally other organisations to receive funding include: Backstage Theatre, Longford - 265,000.00 Hawk's Well Theatre, Sligo - 300,000.00 The Model, Sligo - 300,000.00 Roscommon Arts Centre, Roscommon - 160,000.00 Regional Cultural Centre, Donegal - 180,000.00 Ramor Theatre, Town Hall, Cavan - 90,000.00 An Grianan Theatre, Letterkenny - 155,000.00 Maureen Kennelly, Director of the Arts Council, said: The infrastructure of arts centres, jointly supported with local government, is essential in enabling people of all ages and backgrounds in every part of the country to experience the very best of the arts. It is also essential in providing resources to artists in the development of their work. In addition, we are delighted to increase our support to Ealain na Gaeltachta which supports arts audiences and artists in Gaeltacht regions in partnership with Udaras na Gaeltachta. The purpose of Arts Centre Funding is to invest in and support the infrastructure of Arts Centres required to sustain and develop the arts in Ireland. Arts Centres support the creation, presentation and mediation of the arts across a range of artforms and arts practices. They support professional, collaborative, voluntary and amateur arts practice. In a space where artists and audiences meet, Arts Centres are vital to the sustainability of the arts nationally. The Arts Council currently provides programming and revenue supports to over fifty Arts Centres throughout the country. A key part of the Arts Council strategy, Making Great Art Work, is to invest in public engagement. This funding, along with the Arts Councils #LiveIs campaign, which launched at the end of 2022, looks at continuing to have audiences return in ever-greater numbers to live arts performances. Along with this stream of funding, the Arts Council will also make the following allocations: - 19 million in individual artist awards which includes bursaries across all art forms, artist in residence schemes and new commissions. This bracket also includes the agility award which was introduced in response to the pandemic. - 28 million is allocated towards arts grant funding, project awards, festivals and touring ensuring that audiences throughout the country can experience the highest quality work. - Over 4 million is allocated towards partnerships with each local authority and to Ealain na Gaeltachta. - 13 million will be invested in a range of developmental projects including Creative Schools, Creative Places, Creative Europe and Culture Night, and towards the Arts Councils Equality, Diversity and Inclusion plans. - As announced last week, over 50 million is directed towards 107 strategically funded organisations. Independent councillor, Des Guckian has brought forward a proposal calling on the Government "to nationalise the banks in an attempt to bring certainty to the markets and to ease the burden on mortgage holders and all who are hit by rampant inflation." Speaking at the January meeting of Leitrim County Council, Cllr Guckian said he hoped that other councilors who are members of political parties, will bring this motion to their party headquarters. "Banks should be nationalised," insisted Cllr Guckian. "To control Ireland's money is to control the lifeblood" of our country, he noted. He said that in 2010 the Troika came to Ireland and Anglo Irish bank had to be nationalised. "Now, bit by bit, AIB is being privatised," he said observing that "private banks act for the benefit of shareholders only." The Independent councillor also remarked on the departure of KBC and Ulster Bank from the Irish market and said that these banks "should be made to pay for the privilege of escape". He said that questions had to be asked about why mortgage rates in Ireland are twice that elsewhere in Europe. Cllr Guckian also questioned why the cap on payments to Bank management has been removed. "We need to stop our country being robbed by speculators and vultures," he said. Cllr Padraig Fallon said that while he had "some difficulty" with what Cllr Guckian had said, he was going to second his motion. He said he believed that a national bank could play "a positive role" in the future of Ireland. "But the reality is that I couldn't see all banks being nationalised (as Cllr Guckian is seeking). But I do think that having one state-owned banks should be examined." Cllr Enda McGloin said he did not know if nationalising the banks "would give the outcome that Cllr Guckian wants to achieve" adding that he could not support the motion. However, he agreed that interest rates are much higher in Ireland and said that there is a need for increased competition in the banking sector. "I would like the government and the Central Bank to give more latitude to credit unions," said Cllr McGloin, who said that they were already providing excellent services in communities. Sinn Fein has dramatically withdrawn from roundtable talks with Foreign Secretary James Cleverly over the Northern Ireland Protocol, claiming party leader Mary Lou McDonald was excluded from attending. The Belfast talks, which were also to include Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris and focus on the Stormont powersharing crisis, will now be overshadowed by the row. The Government ministers had been expected to meet representatives of all the main parties in Northern Ireland to discuss the impact of the post-Brexit protocol. But Sinn Fein pulled out after the party said Mrs McDonald, who is a TD in the Dail, would not be allowed to attend. A party spokesperson said: In an extraordinary turn of events last night we were informed that the British government is excluding the Sinn Fein party leader Mary Lou McDonald from todays meeting. This is a time for inclusion, dialogue and engagement. This is a time for mature and civil politics. There is no room for bad faith and petulance from the British government. We look forward to engaging with the Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, and the British Labour leader Keir Starmer tomorrow. This is a time for inclusion, dialogue and engagement. There is serious and urgent work to be done. This is a time for mature and civil politics. Theres no room for bad faith and petulance from the British government. Michelle ONeill (@moneillsf) January 11, 2023 Sinn Fein vice president Michelle ONeill accused the British government of bad faith and petulance. She tweeted: This is a time for inclusion, dialogue and engagement. There is serious and urgent work to be done. This is a time for mature and civil politics. Theres no room for bad faith and petulance from the British government. A UK Government spokesperson said: This meeting is for Northern Ireland politicians to talk through issues around the Northern Ireland Protocol with SOSNI and the UK Foreign Secretary. The leader of Sinn Fein in the Assembly (Michelle ONeill) was invited and remains invited. Her attendance is a matter for Sinn Fein but she was not excluded. Unionist parties and the cross-community Alliance Party have said they will proceed with the talks, but the nationalist SDLP said it would not attend. Devolution in Northern Ireland has been in flux since last February when the DUP, the regions largest unionist party, withdrew its First Minister from the ministerial executive in protest at the protocol. The party has made clear it will not allow a return to powersharing until radical changes to the protocol are delivered. It claims the treaty has undermined Northern Irelands place within the United Kingdom by creating economic barriers on trade entering the region from Great Britain. However, earlier this week progress between the EU and the UK on post-Brexit data-sharing was hailed as a positive step in ongoing talks to find a solution to the row. The Government ministers will also meet business groups as part of their efforts to understand the impact the protocol has had on trade. The Government said these meetings would help inform ongoing talks with the EU. Their visit will include a tour of Saintfield Garden Centre and Nursery. Speaking earlier, Mr Cleverly said: My preference is for a negotiated solution, but the UKs priority is protecting the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement and preserving political stability in Northern Ireland. I am listening to the concerns of people and businesses in Northern Ireland and am keenly aware that the current situation isnt working. We need to address those issues with the protocol that risk and undermine the place of NI in the UK. Mr Heaton-Harris said: A solution to the problems created by the Northern Ireland Protocol is clearly desired by all across business and in government. As the Foreign Secretary has said, the Government is committed to resolving these problems as soon as possible. I am firmly of the belief too that what people in Northern Ireland want most is to see their elected politicians back at work. Accountable political leadership is fundamental to secure a sustainable future for all in NI. Speaking ahead of meeting the Government ministers, DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said the protocol was not, is not and will not be supported by unionists. He added: While some may be focused on short-term fixes, that will not work for the people of Northern Ireland. The restoration of devolved government is only made sustainable when the protocol is replaced by arrangements that restore Northern Irelands constitutional and economic place within the United Kingdom. The visit follows Mr Cleverlys meeting with Vice President of the European Commission, Maros Sefcovic, on Monday, where they reached an agreement on the way forward regarding the EUs access to UK IT systems that provide live information about what goods are moving across from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. Later in the week, Northern Ireland political leaders are due to hold separate talks with Labour Party leader Keir Starmer and Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar. Former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis at a press conference in Pruhonice, Czech Republic, on January 9, 2023. PETR DAVID JOSEK / AP Three days before the first round of the Czech presidential election, on January 13 and 14, Andrej Babis' visit has made some waves in Prague. Running for president, the former prime minister met with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Tuesday, January 10. Although the Elysee Palace made it clear that the meeting did not constitute support for the leader of the main Czech opposition party, Mr. Babis was quick to mention it with a photo on his Twitter account. The meeting "focused on the European agenda, as Mr. Babis is an important interlocutor in the framework of the Renew political family," said an anonymous source in the French president's close circle, referring to the liberal group that unites their respective parties in the European Parliament. The 68-year-old Andrej Babis, who served as prime minister from 2017 to 2021, is one of the presidential election's favorites, with a possible run-off at the end of the month if no contender wins an absolute majority this week. His opponents include the former chairman of the NATO military committee and former chief of staff of the Czech army, retired general Petr Pavel, as well as the economist Danuse Nerudova. Whatever the French authorities may say, the meeting was timely for the founder of the ANO party, a centrist and populist party that has been relegated to the opposition since its narrow defeat in the October 2021 legislative elections. In recent months, Mr. Macron, whom Mr. Babis considers both a "friend" and "the most important politician in Europe," has in fact been seen more with the current head of government, Petr Fiala, who heads a coalition of three right-wing parties. France and the Czech Republic worked closely together during the transition of the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU) in 2022. With a much more technocratic style than Mr. Babis, Mr. Fiala had agreed, in October in Prague, to the launch of the European Political Community, an idea sketched out in the spring by the French president to bring together EU member states, candidates for membership (starting with Ukraine), as well as the UK, Azerbaijan and Armenia. A way of bringing together the whole continent, minus Russia. Fraud case The war in Ukraine was included in the discussions between Mr. Macron and Mr. Babis as the Czech Republic holds one of the strongest anti-Moscow stances across Europe, despite the pro-Russian positions of the outgoing president, Milos Zeman, who was a loyal supporter of Mr. Babis when he was prime minister. The Czech president, who has been in office for 10 years, has long been considered by his detractors as Vladimir Putin's "puppet," from whom he disassociated himself after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. You have 32.42% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only. Senegalese journalists demonstrate in support of their colleague Pape Ale Niang who is in prison, at the press house in Dakar on January 4, 2023. SEYLLOU / AFP A judge on Tuesday, January 10, 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, Mr. Niang was released on December 14 but sent back to prison a week later, and had since been on a hunger strike in protest at his detention. Lawyer Moussa Sarr told Agence France Presse (AFP) the temporary release order came with a strict ban on Mr. 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 in Dakar's main hospital since December 24, where doctors have voiced concern about his condition, according to a local press body. Another of his lawyers, Cire Cledor Ly, said the case was "political" and Mr. Niang 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. Read more Article reserve a nos abonnes In Senegal, press organizations demand the immediate release of journalist Pape Ale Niang The case against Mr. Niang arose after he wrote about rape charges faced by Senegal's main opposition leader, Ousmane Sonko. Mr. 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 the 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 (RSF). Its 2022 Press Freedom Index ranked Senegal 73rd out of 180 countries a fall of 24 places compared with 2021. Le Monde with AFP From her birth in Queens, New York, then to Korea where her parents were from, then to the United States and then college at Colgate University in up-state New York, to a highly successful career in finance in New York City and then to Hong Kong for 10 years, Niwot resident Virginia Dutkin is no stranger to change, excitement, adaptability, success and adventure. She is also this month's Left Hand Laurel for her generosity and leadership in creating the Left Hand Giving Circle, a group of local residents who, in the past six years, have donated $110,000 to charity. This group of about 80 local women also volunteers at nonprofit organizations ranging from "Habitat for Humanity Home Build" to "Crayons to Calculators." Some members gather to serve lunch at the OUR Center in Longmont. "We've also expanded into doing some social stuff together," said Dutkin. "It's a great way to build community. Some of us have organized a book club, a happy hour and a culture club, like we went to see a Georgia O'Keefe exhibit at the Denver Art Museum and a sculpture show in Loveland." The 56-year-old mother of three grown children said she and her husband have lived in Niwot since 2001, moving to Colorado initially for her husband's job after moving back to the United States from Hong Kong. When her children, who were educated in the Niwot schools, left home for college, Dutkin, who had been highly successful in finance for Chase Manhattan Bank and Fidelity, decided to go back to college mid-life, and since then has created a highly successful and inspiring second career in charitable giving and nonprofit management. After moving to Colorado over 20 years ago, and raising her children, Dutkin decided to pursue a master's degree at CU Denver in nonprofit management. In her last semester in graduate school, her capstone project was "researching what a Giving Circle is" and then after graduating, "I decided to launch one here," she said. That was only six years ago, in 2017. The Left Hand Giving Circle, which now includes about 80 local residents, is set up as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and is managed through the Longmont Community Foundation. Everyone who joins commits to donating at least $300 a year. Two times a year the organization awards grants to local organizations and the members of the Giving Circle vote on a theme. The upcoming theme, said Dutkin, is "food insecurity." There is a request for proposals and then, "after the deadline and a vote, the organization awards $5,000 to the top vote-getter and $2,500 to the second," said Dutkin. "Over the last six years, our local group has donated $110,000 to those in need," she said with a warm smile. "It's really a great group of people," she added "and it has grown very organically, all through word of mouth. People like to feel they are part of a community involved in giving." In addition to her volunteer work as the founder of the Left Hand Giving Circle, Dutkin is the Director of Philanthropy at the Recovery Cafe in Longmont, which is located in the basement of the Central Presbyterian Church on Kimbark Street in Longmont. "We stand in the gap between crisis and stability," Dutkin said, "for people recovering from addiction, trauma, mental health challenges and homelessness." "We're not a drop-in center," she said. "We're a community of refuge and healing." On Feb. 1, at The Wheel House on 2nd Avenue in Niwot, "there will be an anniversary party for our group at the Left Hand Giving Circle," Dutkin said. "We decided to invite all the nonprofits we have supported over the past six years. We will have a story-time, food and a cash bar and anyone locally who is interested in attending can email me at vdutkin@yahoo.com," she said. "It's amazing how The Giving Circle has grown so organically," she concluded. "At first, I reached out to 40 people and 20 responded. And now, mostly by word of mouth, interest has grown and community has been strengthened." SENIOR Irish Rail officials have indicated that switching from freight to passenger rail services in time for the 2027 Ryder Cup in Adare may be easier than previously thought. Officials from Iarnrod Eireann were present at an Adare/Rathkeale Municipal District meeting to give a presentation on phase one of the Foynes rail line restoration project. Following the presentation, which stated that phase one should conclude by 2025, Cllr Bridie Collins (FF) asked about the technical process of switching from freight to passengers. "The first phase investment of 105 million is hugely welcomed. The potential of this is massive. I will stress that bringing the passenger element to that line is vital," she said. Dave Vaughan, Project Manager with Iarnrod Eireann, said: "There wouldn't be a whole lot involved in switching over other than the provision of stations and the connection at Carey's Road, on the Limerick end." Cllr Collins pushed back, stating that elected representatives were (previoulsy) told that passenger services would require a different licence and that the National Transport Authority (NTA) would have to get involved. Mr Vaughan said this was not true, stating that it would consist of Irish Rail considering the number of level crossings on the line and whether it would be tolerable, comparing an infrequent freight train service to a higher frequency passenger service. He added that farm crossings on the route, with poor lines of sight, would have to be analysed. "The track infrastructure, the bridges, the drainage, all that stuff doesn't change. It's the provision of stations, with platforms, shelters, ticket machines and parking, that has to be considered," Mr Vaughan said. The Carey's Road connection into Limerick Colbert Station, which is missing now, would be a key component, he stated, adding that Irish Rail is in discussions with the Land Development Agency (LDA), with respect to the land around Colbert Station where a bridge deck is missing. Mr Vaughan also explained to councillors that the Carey's Road connection does not have to be sorted yet, as the freight line, to begin in 2025, only comes in as far as Limerick Junction. Cllr Collins informed that four cruise liners are already booked and due to arrive into Foynes Port this year and she suggested that, perhaps, even one carriage for this, could offer a huge "tourism offering" for the county. Cllr John O' Donoghue (IND) asked: "Seeing that there are 53 crossings on the 42km line, will there ever realistically be a passenger line in time for the Adare Ryder Cup in 2027?" While Mr Vaughan couldn't commit to a definitive timeline or answer on this, he said: "There is sufficient land in Adare for a station if the switch to passenger services is going to be made by 2027. FARMERS at an Irish Farmers Association (IFA) climate summit attended by the Minister for Agriculture said they were willing to work with emissions targets but "would not stand for a reduction in their incomes." IFA President Tim Cullinan said that while Irish farmers will work to reduce emissions and address climate challenges, they will not stand for "the destruction of their livelihoods and way of life." Speaking at the IFAs Farming and Climate Summit in Thomond Park, the IFA President said, Mr Cullinan said that imports of food from Brazil into the European Union increased by 47% in 2022. "The reality is that reducing food production in Ireland will lead to carbon leakage as food will be produced in other countries at a higher environmental cost. Meanwhile, we risk devastating our own sector with significant economic and social consequences," he said. He claimed that the government was being less than honest in confronting the carbon leakage issue. Ciaran Fitzgerald, Food Economist, quantified the economic impact, with the stark warning that every 1% reduction in Agricultural Output will wipe 240m from the Irish economy. Existing methodologies and portrayals grossly understate the economic contribution of the agri-food sector. Economic misrepresentation promotes the notion of low contribution and easy replacement. This has to change both within industry and political circles, he said. He added that the current approach "completely ignores and overlooks" the regional impact and actual expenditures made locally, which in the case of agriculture is "significant." Tadhg Buckley, IFA Director of Policy/Chief Economist in his address outlined the range of national and EU policies facing Irish agriculture in the years ahead, each with inherent objectives of inhibiting food production rather than promoting it. Youre talking c. 8% of total land area (excl. rough grazing and commonage) potentially lost to food production or undergoing a change in land use 115,000ha gone for anaerobic digestion; 68,500ha for increased afforestation rates etc. Land is already a scare resource and the market in recent times has rocketed in anticipation of what is to come down the line. Policy makers need to tread carefully and fully understand the wider ramifications of their policies, Mr Buckley added. The Minister for Agriculture, Charlie McConalogue gave the keynote address in the afternoon. This was followed by a discussion on future policy challenges for Irish farmers and the wider agri-food industry with Frank OMara, Director of Teagasc, Thia Hennessy, Head of the Department of Food Business and Development, UCC and Paul OBrien, Chair of IFAs Environment & Rural Affairs Committee. Tim Cullinan said the event aims to start closing some of the huge information gaps. The IFA recognises the climate challenge. Our members are keen to play their part. However, the minister must be in no doubt that it cannot be at the expense of their livelihoods, he said. LIMERICK Chamber has warned the regions hospital crisis is hitting employers prospects of hiring and keeping staff. As the countdown to a march in protest at the overcrowding in University Hospital Limerick (UHL) continues, the largest business representative group in the region has waded into the debate, warning the issue is becoming reputationally damaging for the Mid-West. Its chief executive Dee Ryan, who is to attend the march in a personal capacity, says the shortage of acute beds for the region is very concerning for employers and their workers. Businesses in the Mid-West are asking why government has not sufficiently addressed the bed shortage. There are fears that the consistent negative messaging around hospital access in the Mid-West is disadvantaging Clare, Limerick and Tipperary in winning investment announcements. It is certainly not the first or the only factor in making a location decision, but it could be the factor that decides it, she said. Its a rare intervention on healthcare from Limerick Chamber, which once again moves to highlight the seriousness of the situation here. In the last week, consultant physician Prof Declan Lyons has described conditions in the emergency department as inhumane, while Limerick backbench government TD Willie ODea wants to see new management take over at UHL. Theres expected to be a strong turnout at the march, kicking off on Saturday, January 21 at 11am from City Hall at Merchants Quay in the city centre. Limerick Leader staff will be out in force, and we are encouraging all of our readers to take part. Its an opportunity for business leaders, community groups, sporting organisations and charities to unite behind something that impacts us all. The route of the demonstration has been changed, amid fears many elderly and infirm people might not be able to complete the four-kilometre journey out to the gates of UHL. But the Limerick spokesperson for Mid-West Health Campaign, a group supporting the march, said they are seeking maximum impact by keeping it in the city centre, and are aiming to go hell for leather. You could have had a very strong showing at the start of the march in the town if it was going to the hospital, then it would have fallen off as you made your way up to the Crescent. Youd have people fall in, but more would fall out. By the time you ended at the hospital, it would have been less of an impact, they explained. This way youre going to keep the entire match together from start to finish which will be very impactful. Dr Marie Casey, a specialist in public health medicine at Public Health Mid-West, said this week that a perfect storm of infections is contributing to the demand on health resources. Speaking on RTEs Morning Ireland, she highlighted the increase in infections post Covid-19, due to more socialising happening, the fact people who have been isolating have missed out on two years of natural immunity, and the fact many children will not have had the number of infections they normally would have had by the age of two. On top of this, she added that viral outbreaks lead to an increase in bacterial infections. FOUR members of a Limerick-based crime gang have received lengthy prison sentences for their role in a burglary at an isolated farmhouse in County Clare nearly five years ago. The four defendants all pleaded guilty to burglary charges arising from an incident at Ballyveskill, Tiermaclane - 9km from Ennis - on January, 5 2018. They are Patrick Woodland, aged 48, of Greenmount Avenue, Ballinacurra Weston; his son Edward Woodland, aged 23, of the same address; John Woodland, aged 44, of Clarina Avenue, Ballinacurra Weston and Paul Kiely, aged 35, of Glencairn, Dooradoyle. During a previous sentencing hearing, Ennis Circuit Court was informed three of the burglars - Patrick Woodland, Edward Woodland and Paul Kiely fled from the farmhouse after discovering that the sole occupant, 97-year-old James (Jimmy) OConnor was asleep in his bed. At around 3.30pm on January 5, 2018, the raiders had kicked in the door of the house and broke a lock ransacking the home looking for cash before they realised Mr O'Connor was in the property. All three were caught red handed by gardai as they tried to make good their escape through fields around the OConnor home. Nothing was taken in the burglary and Judge Eoin Garavan accepted there was no threat of violence and that violence was not used. The court heard that as part of the planned burglary, one member of the gang - John Woodland - lured James OConnors son, Vincent OConnor, away from his home to a nearby field on the pretence of buying silage as part of a clever decoy. John Woodland had first contacted Vincent OConnor concerning purchasing silage at the start of December 2017. Imposing sentence this Wednesday, Judge Garavan stated that the burglary offence carried out by the gang is of intense social concern and there must be a deterrent. He said such offences terrify people in rural areas where there is little protection against this and who do not have gardai on their doorstep. Judge Garavan stated that the absolute fear and trauma to the victims that can be occasioned by such offences in rural areas cant be overstated. An aggravating factor, he said, was that the offence was premeditated and carefully thought out. Gardai, he noted, were on the scene as they knew that a burglary was going to take place as a result of intelligence received. Judge Garavan said the three raiders displayed humanity in the midst of a serious crime when they decided to flee from the house after discovering there was an elderly man asleep in the home at the time. He commented that it would have been very traumatic for Vincent OConnor returning to his home on the afternoon and not knowing if his father had been interfered with or tied up. The judge said the OConnor farmhouse was an easy target for the raiders in a rural area. While James OConnor died peacefully at his home in March 2018, his death was not related to the January burglary where his sleep was undisturbed. A five-year prison sentence was imposed on Patrick Woodland; a five-year prison sentence was also imposed on Edward Woodland with the final year suspended; a five-year prison term was imposed on John Woodland with the final two years suspended while Paul Kiely was sentenced to three and-a-half years' imprisonment with the final 18 months suspended. Detective Garda Brendan Rouine told the court that Patrick Woodland and John Woodland were each jailed for three years in 2012 for a similar type burglary which occurred in Galway in 2011. The detective said that Vincent OConnor, who has installed enhanced security features at his home, didn't wish to make a victim impact statement and couldnt attend court due to a cattle herd test. 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. 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. Stormont speaker Alex Maskey has urged political parties to uphold the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement by restoring the devolved powersharing institutions. In a New Year message to all MLAs, Mr Maskey said it cannot be denied that the reputation of the Assembly has not matched the high hopes that existed for it in 1998. Devolution has been in flux since last February when the DUP withdrew its first minister from the ministerial executive in protest at Brexits Northern Ireland Protocol. Outgoing speaker Mr Maskey has been unable to leave his position because several attempts to elect a new speaker and restore the Assembly and executive have been frustrated by the DUP. In his letter to MLAs, Mr Maskey said he would make arrangements for the Assembly to meet and elect a new speaker as soon as it is clear that this can be achieved. He added: It is not for me to comment on the issues behind the current impasse. Members come to the Assembly with their own views, and the right to express those has to be respected. However, no-one should be surprised that the speaker will always want to see the Assembly fully functioning at the earliest opportunity. It is important that the Assembly should be able to exercise all the powers devolved to it, particularly at a time when the pressures on our community are increasing by the day. Mr Maskey added: It will also be 25 years since this Assembly first sat in July 1998. While I hope I will no longer be in office at that point, it is important that these anniversaries should be marked at Parliament Buildings and I will be liaising with officials and the Assembly Commission to have planning in place to ensure that happens. Despite the numerous subsequent negotiations there have been to focus on outstanding issues, undoubtedly the momentum has been disrupted throughout the past 25 years. It also cannot be denied that the reputation of the Assembly has not matched the high hopes that existed for it in 1998. Since the return of the Assembly in January 2020, I made clear on a number of occasions that the Assembly remained on probation and had much to do to build public confidence. Some three years on, that will now be an even bigger task. However, regardless of past disappointments, it remains imperative that we return to having a functioning Assembly. The speaker continued: However, as we focus on seeking to see the Assembly restored in 2023, I would ask that we set our sights higher than just having parties taking up posts because they are entitled, or expected, to do so. Given the scale of the challenges ahead, we need every party to uphold the spirit, as well as the letter of the Agreement, being determined to make the institutions work collectively, to build agreement, beyond just individual party views, to protect the interests of every part of our community. I believe that we all want to see issues resolved to have the Assembly restored and I would again encourage that to happen as soon as possible in this new year. Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris has invited Stormont leaders for fresh talks this Wednesday in his latest attempt to break the powersharing deadlock. If a new executive is not formed by January 19, the Government assumes a legal responsibility to call a snap Assembly election by April 13. Irish premier Leo Varadkar, who was reappointed Taoiseach for a second term last month, is also due to visit Northern Ireland before the deadline. Talks between the UK and EU to resolve the impasse over the contentious Northern Ireland Protocol are continuing, with both sides continuing to say a deal is possible. The DUP has made clear it will not allow a return to powersharing until radical changes to the protocol are delivered. The regions largest unionist party has blocked the formation of a new administration following Mays Assembly election and prevented the Assembly meeting to conduct legislative business as part of its protest over the Irish Sea trading arrangements. It claims the protocol has undermined Northern Irelands place within the United Kingdom by creating economic barriers on trade entering the region from Great Britain. Mr Heaton-Harris has cut the pay of MLAs by 27.5% to reflect the fact they are currently not doing their jobs as legislators. Automakers unveiled their plans for a cleaner battery-powered future on the first day of Indias premier auto show, which returned after a three-year gap. Leading the charge, Tata Motors passenger vehicle segment announced its ambitious goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2040, showcasing technologies to make mobility more environment-friendly, and reducing its reliance on fossil fuel-burning engines. Despite automakers expressing confidence in Indias passenger vehicle market following its rise to become the worlds third-largest, they also conveyed a sense of caution for the year ahead, considering potential global challenges and a natural decline in demand after a prolonged period of growth. On the opening day, only select passenger vehicle companies presented notable debuts, while commercial vehicle makers and automotive parts suppliers displayed technologies such as hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and hydrogen-internal combustion engines. The expo also saw record participation from startups, with a focus on electric two and three-wheelers. Chinas BYD, the worlds largest EV maker, unveiled its luxury electric sedan Seal prior to its 2023 launch in India. The company aims to capture 40% of Indias electric vehicle market by the end of the decade. BYD, the maker of Blade batteries, said it needs a contract manufacturer to support its next stage of growth in India even as it starts delivery of its Atto 3 EV this week. South Korean carmakers Hyundai Motor and Kia didnt launch any new product at the expo, but Hyundai showcased its flagship all-electric SUV, Ioniq 5, with the fanfare associated with the companys long-time brand ambassador Shah Rukh Khan. The Ioniq 5 is the first model by Hyundai to be offered on the dedicated born electric E-GMP (electric global modular platform). Kia India introduced its electric concept, EV9, alongside exhibiting the KA4, a luxury RV or MPV. The carmaker, Hyundai Motors sister brand, also reiterated its investment of 2,000 crore in India for EV-related research and development, production, and infrastructure development. Auto parts maker Cummins Group India made its debut at the Auto Expo 2023 by showcasing the commercial vehicle industrys first fuel-agnostic platform and diverse range of hydrogen technologies power solutions. Lexus India also made its debut at the event, unveiling the all-new 5th generation RX. The absence of large two-wheeler makers, as well as Mahindra and Mahindra, was felt, as was the lack of big, crowd-pulling launches by mass-market carmakers, with the exception of Tata Motors and Maruti Suzuki. Android maker Google has claimed that the Competition Commission of Indias (CCI) October order directing the company to modify how Android works in India, will stall the smartphone operating systems growth in India. Mint examines the claim. What did the CCI order on Android say? The CCI accused Google of abusing its dominant position in the market, and fined it 1337.76 crore. It said that terms in Googles Mobile Application Distribution Agreement (MADA) licence, which it signs with phonemakers, create significant entry barriers" for rivals in the Android ecosystem. The agreement assures that the most prominent search entry points like search app, widget and chrome browser are pre-installed on Android devices," the CCI said. It asked Google to decouple the pre-installation of its own apps with this licence and asked it to allow third-party app stores on Play Store. You might also like Vedanta-Foxconn leads race to get govt nod for chip plant To retain talent, Wipro doles out record number of promotions How EVs in India zipped past 1 million mark in 2022 What has Google said in defence? Googles submission says that complying with the CCI will require the company to modify licence agreements and alter existing arrangements with over 1,100 device manufacturers and thousands of app developers, said a Reuters report. The company claimed that the order could stall the growth of Android in India. The operating system accounts for over 95% of Indias smartphone market, according to data from Ireland-based traffic analysis website StatCounter. It claimed that the CCIs order asks for far-reaching" changes that no other jurisdiction has asked for in similar cases against Google. View Full Image Graphic: Mint Has the MADA licence helped Android? Yes. MADA does impose curbs on device makers, but it also helps bring consistency across the Android ecosystem, which has many stakeholders like developers and handset makers. It also allows deep integration of apps to Googles services, like Google Pay, Maps etc. and this is what allows Google to deliver key security updates through the Play Store. How does MADA create entry barriers? MADA comes with a certification that Google provides for the use of Google Mobile Services (GMS). With GMS certification, handset makers can ensure that apps can take advantage of deeply integ-rated Google services, like the Play Store and Maps, machine learning models and high-accuracy location tracking. But in order to gain GMS certification, device makers must ensure that third-party app stores arent installed, unless whitelisted by Google, nor can they allow the uninstallation of Googles own apps. Are there examples of MADA-free devices? Yes. Chinas Huawei still sells phones running on Android with its own app stores and alternatives to Googles services. Another is Amazons Fire devices, which run on the open-source version of Android but without GMS services. Neither has been able to make a mark with these devices though, since services like Google Maps etc. are nearly ubiquitous with phones nowadays. Samsung, which has the MADA licence, has tied up with Indus App Bazaar in India to create its own whitelisted app store. Elsewhere in Mint In Opinion, Vivek Agarwal says online platforms must examine their MFN deals. Shashi Tharoor writes on Americas missing ambassador to India. Are Tesla and BYD comparabale? Anjani Trivedi answers. Long Story tells how building an app has become childs play. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Prasid Banerjee An engineering dropout, Prasid Banerjee has reported on technology in India for various publications. He reports on technology through text and audio, focusing on its core aspects, like consumer impact, policy and the future. Read more from this author UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday signed a major defense agreement during a meeting with his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida in London. The pact is considered to be the most significant deal of its type between the two countries. According to the agreement, the UK and Japan will now allow military forces to be deployed to one another's territory as Tokyo expands bilateral cooperation with other US allies amid concerns about China's rise, as per Bloomberg reports. The pact also allows planning and delivery of larger, more complex military exercises, the UK government statement stated. In an official statement after signing the deal, Japan's foreign ministry said, "Signing this important security agreement takes Japan-UK cooperation in security and defense to new heights. It will also bring further progress toward making a free and open Indo-Pacific a reality." The ministry said that the defense agreement simplifies the procedures required for port visits and joint exercises, allowing for more active exchanges, Bloomberg reported. The UK becomes the first European country to have such an agreement with Japan, which has a similar deal with Australia. Recently, Japans cabinet has also approved the countrys biggest increase in defense spending since the end of World War II in 1945, updating its national security policy and describing China as an unprecedented strategic challenge." The UK, Italy and Japan, last month, had said that they will jointly develop a future fighter jet. Japan PM Kishida on Monday left for security focused talks with Japan's G7 allies in Europe and North America which ends with a meeting with US President Joe Biden on Friday. In Paris, he and Emmanuel Macron pledged deeper ties, with the French president promising to maintain "joint actions in the Pacific" and France's "unfailing support" against North Korean aggression. In turn, Kishida vowed G7 support for Ukraine. (With Bloomberg inputs) Commissioners approved resolutions during last Wednesday's meeting to fund legal fees for the county commission and County Attorney Rheubin Taylor but excluded County Mayor Weston Wamp's office. Kuehn, R-Ooltewah, said he was happy about the dismissal. Marijuana plants for the adult recreational market are are seen in a greenhouse at Hepworth Farms in Milton, N.Y., on July 15. FAA system outage causes thousands of flight delays and cancellations across the US Health Minister Simon Donnelly is facing renewed pressure to step in and provide a long-standing solution to Longford's embattled GP out of hours service. The call was one which was made by Fine Gael Councillor and local health advocate Peggy Nolan following the unexpected closure of Midoc on New Year's Eve. HSE senior figures are believed too be continuing with their efforts to appoint a permanent provider to take over the running of a service covering counties Laois, Offaly, Longford and Westmeath. Cllr Nolan has made no secret of her desire to see Longford prioritised over its three neighbouring counterparts in safeguarding the future of the facility at a time when hospital overcrowding has reached its highest level in years. "On Christmas Eve, the public informed me that our out of hours Midoc service was to discontinue," she said. "The thought of this vital service not being in place when our hospitals and our GPs are at breaking point was unthinkable not to mention the very real danger to our county." Cllr Nolan said given the escalation in respiratory viruses in the local community and hospitals and with waiting times for beds surpassing, in some places, 48 hour periods or more, there was no denying the importance an out of hours GP service continued to have on counties like Longford. She said there was a case to be made for Longford to be given preferential status in underpinning the service in view of the accessibility other counties within the now defunct Midoc radius had to frontline health services. "The fact that four counties are served by Midoc, namely Laois ,Westmeath ,Offaly and Longford-all of the countys have hospitals on their doorstep except Longford," she stressed. "I am calling on the Minister to get involved and sort out this with immediate effect." It is with enormous pride and honour that two Longford students, accompanied by their teacher, will be representing Team Ireland in the first ever Junk Kouture World Final. The huge event will be taking place on Wednesday, January 11 in the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, starting at 7pm local time and The World Junk Kouture Designer will be announced on the night. Solomon Eduard and Joshua Osabuehien from Cnoc Mhuire Granard, along with their teacher Charmaine Hetherton, flew out to Abu Dhabi with Etihad Airways on Sunday, January 8 to compete against sixty other finalists from Dublin, London, Paris, Milan, New York and Abu Dhabi. They are scheduled to return on Friday, January 13. Two former Cnoc Mhuire school secretaries Anne Kenny and Lorraine McCabe are also travelling over for the final as supporters. Junk Kouture is a competition for secondary school students requiring them to create weird and wonderful costumes entirely from waste materials. Solomon and Joshua's design is called Back to the Future and it is made from old shower mats, an old laundry basket, an aerial, car wipers and tubing from an old tractor tyre. Their design has an industrial look and it is highly creative. The message behind their costume is that we all need to make an effort to live more sustainably if our planet is to have any chance of survival. Ms Hetherton commented, This is truly a massive achievement for Solomon and Joshua and they would like to thank Junk Kouture for this amazing opportunity and experience to date. Cnoc Mhuire teacher Ryan Plunkett added, It's a huge opportunity for Solomon and Joshua, and they have already achieved so much by reaching a World Final. So well done to them and their teacher Charmaine Hetherton. Everyone at Cnoc Mhuire wishes the boys and Ms Hetherton the very best of luck. Mr Plunkett said one concern ahead of the Abu Dhabi final is the safe transport of the Back to the Future costume. He explained, Each person has 20kg to transport the costume so hopefully it won't be too difficult to pack. The aerial at the front of the costume might need to be separated into two pieces and reconstructed over there. The Taoiseach has said that protests should be peaceful and should not involve hatred or racism directed towards any group of people. Leo Varadkar made the comments following an incident outside a shelter for migrants in Ballymun, Dublin. Videos emerged over the weekend of a crowd of people outside a building in Ballymun where families were living, chanting get them out, with one person holding a sign saying Ireland is full. Speaking on Wednesday evening, Mr Varadkar said: I think its very important that communities are consulted, but I think its very important, as well, that any protest is peaceful and that there should be no hatred or racism directed towards any people under any circumstances. We are dealing with an unprecedented situation in the world at the moment. We welcomed 70,000 people from Ukraine, people who are fleeing war. About 40,000 people we welcomed into Ireland from outside of Europe because weve given them work permits and work visa because we need them to run our public services and to keep our economy strong. We also have a larger number than would have been in the past coming here seeking international protection. It would have been 3,000 or 4,000 in most years. That has now gone up a lot. It was 14,000 last year, and that is putting pressure on the system, certainly the difficulty finding accommodation. Mr Varadkar also said there were ongoing discussions at Government level about bringing in more robust measures to deter illegal arrivals into Ireland. I think one thing we would definitely need to do, we were speaking about this at the Cabinet meeting earlier, is make sure that decisions are made about those applications much more quickly, Mr Varadkar added. So that if somebody is a genuine refugee, and theyre entitled to international protection, that they get it. Some of the things that well examine over the next couple of weeks is how we can make sure that we have more appropriate and more robust border controls to make sure that people arent able to enter the country illegally because the vast majority of people come here from overseas do so legally and thats absolutely right, but those who dont we have to protect against that. Tanaiste Micheal Martin said he has a strong issue with people protesting outside facilities that are housing families. He said that many people have left Ireland in the past. We should also be conscious of the human impact of such protests on children who are witnessing this and its something I have an issue with, Mr Martin added. When it comes to protests outside where people are living, I think that crosses a line. Earlier, Minister for Justice Simon Harris rejected referring to them as protests. Weve to be very careful calling these protests. In my mind, thats not what they are, he added. In my mind, when people turn up outside a building that is providing temporary shelter to people, including women and children, and start saying things like, shout to get them out, out, out, out, thats not a protest, in my view. In my view, thats intimidation. In my view, it is not in any way, shape or form reflective of the communities in which these accommodation facilities are in. Mr Harris praised Dublin Lord Mayor Caroline Conroy, a Ballymun native, for showing excellent leadership on this. She very clearly and articulately made the point about, of course, the importance of working with communities; the importance of keeping communities informed, of course; the importance of providing information, but not allowing anybody to hijack the viewpoints of a community. Ms Conroy said the scenes were embarrassing and upsetting, and she believed the protests had been orchestrated, adding: Its not what were about in Ballymun. It is a statement of the blinding obvious that there are certain individuals who travel from one part of our country to the next part of our country to the next part of our country, added Mr Harris. He said he was aware that gardai are taking these matters very seriously. As Minister of Justice, my primary responsibility is to ensure the safety of all individuals in this country and that includes safety of people who have come here seeking refuge under the international protection agreement. Mr Harris said that in response to the 70,000 people from Ukraine who have arrived in Ireland since last February, communities have embraced them and held demonstrations in solidarity. I think theres a balance to this. Im not willing to go down a road where I suggest that the so-called protests are in any way reflective of the broader scenario, he said. The minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science is overseeing the Justice portfolio while Helen McEntee is on maternity leave. Food, Wine, & Dining By Ls Cohen Published: January 11 2023 Replaces La Rotonda Ristorante at 8 Bond Street. A new traditional Mediterranean Kosher restaurant serving Israeli dishes called Paprika is opening in Great Neck in the old La Rotonda Ristorante space. Owner David Zaken says the restaurant will open February 1. His wife, Roni Zaken, is the chef. The couple already have a Paprika Kosher catering restaurant in New York City and they plan to bring their food service out to Long Island. The space at 8 Bond Street has a new decor and will seat 60. The restaurant will be split into two types of places, according to Zaken. One room will be for fine dining and the other half will be a quick deli with typical displays so customers can see what they're ordering and serving sandwiches. It meets both kinds of customers, he said. Zaken told LongIsland.com that the restaurant will have a pizza oven to create Moroccan dishes Like Tajeen, cooked directly in the oven. Its the traditional way they cooked in the past, he said. Lamb over couscous, comfort food you would eat on a Friday night with your family. They will also have a special Sunday brunch with different offerings from Yemini, like Shakshuka with hard boiled egg, Yemeni Malawah Bread served with salad and dips, a warm, buttery, flaky bread. They will also have a Mediterranean calzone called Sambusak, filled with beef and veggies and topped with lots of sesame. The style is Mediterranean with other influences. Its Moroccan food in general but it's an Israeli kitchen with different flavors all thrown in, Zaken said. They plan to be open 11am-10pm Monday through Thursday and Sundays. On Friday evenings when they will close early. Zaken says that he expects to market the deli on Fridays for takeout for families to bring home for Shabbat - the Jewish sabbath - with 20 different salads to choose from, entrees and side dishes. Location: 8 Bond Street, Great Neck. Governor Kathy Hochul has announced a statewide strategy to address New York's housing crisis, build 800,000 new homes over the next decade to meet the historic shortage, and support New York renters and homeowners as part of the 2023 State of the State. The New York Housing Compact, a comprehensive, multi-pronged strategy, includes local participation requirements and incentives to achieve housing growth in every community so that every part of the State is a partner in solving this urgent crisis. The plan will also require municipalities with MTA rail stations to locally rezone for higher density residential development. "New York faces a housing crisis that requires bold actions and an all-hands-on-deck approach," Governor Hochul said. "Every community in New York must do their part to encourage housing growth to move our State forward and keep our economy strong. The New York Housing Compact is a comprehensive plan to spur the changes needed to create more housing, meet rising demand, and make our state a more equitable, stable, and affordable place to live." New York State is currently facing a severe, once-in-a-generation housing crisis. According to the Population Reference Bureau more than half of New York renters are rent-burdened, meaning that they pay more than 30 percent of their income on rent - the second-highest rate in the nation. In the New York City metro area, rents have risen 30 percent since 2015 and home prices have risen 50 percent over the same period. Outside of New York City, rents have risen 40 to 60 percent since 2015 while home prices have risen 50 to 80 percent. The New York Housing Compact will call upon all levels of government to meet the ongoing crisis. Statewide Housing Targets The New York Housing Compact will require all cities, towns, and villages to achieve new home creation targets on a three-year cycle. Downstate municipalities served by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority where the housing need is most acute, including New York City, will have a three percent new homes target over three years. For municipalities in upstate counties, the new homes target will be one percent over three years. Under the Compact, localities will decide how to best meet their new home construction targets. From repurposing underutilized office parks and strip malls to offering new incentives towards multifamily buildings, localities can choose how to tailor their strategies to increase housing supply. To encourage the inclusion of affordable housing as part of the new growth, affordable units will be assigned extra weight in calculating localities' progress toward their goals. Localities that do not meet targets can achieve Safe Harbor status for one three-year cycle by implementing certain good faith actions - or "Preferred Actions" - that create zoning capacity to achieve the growth targets. Infrastructure and Planning Funds The New York Housing Compact will make available a $250 million Infrastructure Fund and $20 million Planning Fund to support new housing production statewide. Municipalities may submit requests for planning funding to undertake either required Transit-Oriented Development rezonings or Preferred Actions to help them hit their growth targets. The plan will also create a new Housing Planning Office within New York State Homes and Community Renewal to provide municipalities with support and guidance. New Focus on Transit-Oriented Development The New York Housing Compact will require that localities with rail stations run by the MTA undertake a local rezoning or higher density multifamily development within half a mile of the station unless they already meet the density level. By expanding housing potential in these transit-oriented communities, more families will be able to enjoy improved access to jobs and thriving sustainable communities. Facilitate Housing Approval When Targets are Unmet After 3 years, in localities that do not meet growth targets or do not take steps to implement Preferred Actions, proposed housing developments that meet particular affordability criteria, but may not conform to existing zoning, may take advantage of a fast-track housing approval process if the locality denies the permit. The appeal can be made to a new State Housing Approval Board or through the courts. Appealed projects will be approved unless a locality can demonstrate a valid health or safety reason for denying the application. Municipalities that fall short of their targets can still take good faith Preferred Actions to spur development for another 3-year cycle in which the fast-track approval process will not apply. In municipalities where there is no market demand for new housing there will be no practical effect if localities fall short of their targets. Remove Obstacles to Housing Approvals To expedite rezoning and development of new homes, specific relief from environmental review will be included in the New Homes Targets and Transit Oriented Development proposals. The State will continue to exercise crucial safeguards that prevent environmental harm and ensure that public health remains a top priority. Provide New York City with Vital Tools to Increase Housing Governor Hochul has put forth several housing proposals specific to New York City to address the outsized impact of the housing crisis in the five boroughs. The Governor will propose the reversal of an antiquated state law that restricts maximum density of residential floor area. This measure will allow New York City the ability to allow for denser residential development where City officials deem appropriate. Governor Hochul will also propose legislation to expand the universe of commercial buildings eligible for conversion to residential use and provide necessary regulatory relief, making an estimated additional 120 million square feet newly eligible for conversion. Additionally, Governor Hochul will propose granting the City of New York the authority to provide amnesty by local law for existing basement units that meet health and safety standards to be determined by the City. Critical Incentives to Build and Rehabilitate Housing Governor Hochul unveiled a series of new proposals to incentivize new housing construction and the rehabilitation of existing housing. This includes new property tax exemptions to encourage mixed income housing development near train stations and incentivize affordable housing in commercial buildings that are converted to residential use in New York City. This also includes updated property tax exemptions offered by local option to support homeowners that build Accessory Dwelling Units and for property owners who need support undertaking certain renovations in New York City. To support the development of mixed-income housing outside of New York City, Governor Hochul will direct New York State Homes and Community Renewal to make $5 million in State Low Income Housing Tax Credits available. Governor Hochul will also make necessary changes to ensure that localities where new housing developments utilize Payment in Lieu of Taxes agreements are not penalized in tax cap calculations. The Governor will work with the State Legislature to develop a successor for the 421-a property tax exemption program that expired last year to stimulate production of new rental housing in New York City. Strengthening New York's Existing Housing Supply The Governor announced additional proposals to increase the State's supply of safe, stable, comfortable housing for all New Yorkers. Governor Hochul will propose legislation to create a program that builds on proven models to drastically reduce lead exposure risk in rental housing outside of New York City, targeting areas classified as "high-risk" for lead exposure based on incidence of childhood elevated blood lead levels. This will require multi-family rental units in such areas that were built prior to 1980 to undergo a lead risk assessment every three years - if lead hazards are found, the landlord will be required to remediate the housing unit. There will be grant funding for eligible landlords to help cover the cost of these assessments and the remediation of identified hazards. The Governor will also propose legislation that will update the existing law that enables local governments to take ownership of certain dangerous abandoned properties. This legislation will help localities reduce public health risks, improve property values for neighboring homeowners, increase property tax revenues, and create new housing opportunities. Support for Renters and Homeowners In addition to proposals to build new homes, Governor Hochul unveiled two new proposals to address the impacts of the housing crisis on current New York renters and homeowners. Governor Hochul will propose a targeted initiative, modeled on the Buffalo East Homeownership Assistance Program, to finance home repairs in communities statewide that have been identified as having high levels of low-income homeowners of color and homeowner distress. The Governor will also propose increased funding for the State's Tenant Protection Unit, enabling them to open an additional satellite office. The increased capabilities of the Unit will be of particular benefit to manufactured home park residents and will improve access to grants and loans available to municipalities for farmworker housing. Homes and Community Renewal Commissioner RuthAnne Visnauskas said, "New York's acute housing shortage impacts all communities both large and small, rural and urban. Governor Hochul's New York Housing Compact is a broad and far-reaching strategy to greatly increase housing production across the state in a way that benefits our climate, accommodates our growing workforce, and expands fair access to quality housing opportunities for all New Yorkers. These sweeping actions will ensure that our communities have the support they need to meet housing creation targets and implement smart growth strategies that will ultimately make our state an even better, more inclusive, and more affordable place to live." Governor Hochul's 2022 Housing Plan The New York Housing Compact complements the Governor's $25 billion comprehensive Housing Plan, announced in last year's State of the State address, to create or preserve 100,000 affordable homes across New York including 10,000 with support services for vulnerable populations, plus the electrification of an additional 50,000 homes. Crime By Chris Boyle Published: January 11 2023 Jabir Robinson, 18, is charged with Burglary, Grand Larceny, Criminal Facilitation, Criminal Possession of Stolen Property and Conspiracy. The Sixth Squad reports the arrest of a New Jersey man and two Juveniles for a Grand Larceny that occurred on Saturday, January 7, 2023 at 10:20 am in Lake Success. According to Detectives, The New Jersey State Police were monitoring a stolen vehicle from New Jersey, which was found to be in the area of Lake Success. Lake Success officers were dispatched to canvass the area. While officers were canvassing, a Lake Success resident called 911 to alert police that her 2021 Land Rover had just been stolen out of her garage. After a thorough multi-jurisdictional investigation the New York City Police Department located both vehicles on the Verrazano Bridge and all three defendants were placed into police custody without incident. Defendant Jabir Robinson, 18, of 91 South 14th Street, Newark is charged with Burglary 2nd Degree, Grand Larceny 2nd Degree, Criminal Facilitation 3rd Degree, Criminal Possession of Stolen Property 3rd Degree and Conspiracy 3rd Degree. He was arraigned on Monday, January 9, 2023 at First District Court, 99 Main Street, Hempstead. Juvenile one is charged with Burglary 2nd Degree and Grand Larceny 2nd Degree. He was released with a Family Court Appearance ticket with a return date of Tuesday, January 17th, 2023. Juvenile two, is charged with Burglary 2nd Degree, Grand Larceny 2nd Degree and Criminal Possession of Stolen Property 3rd Degree. He was arraigned as an adolescent respondent on Monday, January 9, 2023 at First District Court, 99 Main Street, Hempstead. Food, Wine, & Dining By Ls Cohen Published: March 24 2023 No-nonsense places to grab a drink. Dont expect much and you wont be disappointed. We found ten of our favorite so-called dive bars across Long Island. Basically, local places to have a drink or two and maybe a bite to eat. No pretense. No gimmicks. No dress code. Just a local place to hoist a few. The Broken Down Valise - One person online gave it a two-star review and commented, "it's not the place to get a fancy cocktail or a wide wine list, which is probably the biggest compliment a dive bar could ever get. Where: 180 Pike Street, Mattituck, (631) 298-9796. Tara Inn - Once a bowling alley, the Tara Inn has been a local watering hole where those who know can get decent drinks and okay food at a great price. Its been around so long that the owners young daughter who the bar was named after in 1977 grew up to now own the place and is actually a village justice in Port Jefferson. Where: 1519 Main Street, Port Jefferson, (631) 828-5987. Valencia Tavern - Described by patrons as classic, old-school, one of the last remaining authentic dive bars, and an old fashioned bar like the old days. Newsday says it was built in 1933 as a residence but the owner had it rezoned so he could serve food from his home - smart dude. Where: 236 Wall Street, Huntington, (631) 683-4166. Misfits Tavern - A place where people who stand out fit in. Live music. Cold beers. Good times. Where: 800 Middle Country Road, Ridge, (631) 775-8733. Jillys 11 - As one reviewer put it on Google, Yes, its a dive bar, but welcoming and fun. We had a great time here. Not for everyone, but perfect for us! Where: 713 Medford Avenue, Patchogue, (631) 475-6323. Nolan's Pub - "Nothing wrong with a cool dive bar!!! Cheap and fun and a pool table old house fun." - Guy who knows a thing or two about dive bars on Google. Where: 435 East Park Avenue, Long Beach, (516) 432-9530. Railroad Inn - They have dart boards and railroad themed decor. Conveniently, also near the railroad. You get drinks there. Hits all the marks. Where: 151 S Franklin Avenue, Valley Stream, (516) 561-9397. SomePlace Else - Touts itself as the cleanest dive bar on Long Island. Nuff said. Where: 226 Higbie Lane, West Islip, (631) 539-9777. Jax Cocktail Lounge - Cocktails? Yes. Lounge? Maybe. Dart tourneys and beer at this long-standing staple in Lake Ronkonkoma. Where: 720 Portion Rd, Lake Ronkonkoma, (631) 467-9703. Charlie Bullfrogs - Like Cheers where everyone knows your name but is named Charlie Bullfrogs. Where: 316 Jericho Turnpike, Floral Park, (516) 352-2384. Crime By Chris Boyle Published: January 11 2023 Kenneth Alessi of Mattituck, 54, of Mattituck, was taken into custody at Sun River Health Care in Riverside, NY. Southampton Town police report that a physician assistant was arrested on Friday for allegedly forcibly touching a woman during an medical exam. Kenneth Alessi of Mattituck, 54, of Mattituck, was taken into custody at Sun River Health Care in Riverside, NY. It is alleged that he forcibly touched a 21 year-old patient's intimate parts on June 15, 2022. Alessi is charged with forcible touching, a class A misdemeanor. He was arraigned Saturday at Southampton Town Justice Court. (Correcting Sancus deciding against continued operations in Gibraltar.) (Alliance News) - Sancus Lending Group Ltd on Tuesday said it hired Tracy Clarke as its itnterim chief financial officer, while it will close its Guernsey office and cease operations in Gibraltar. 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 Gibraltar 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. Shares in Sancus were up 0.1% to 1.35 pence each in London on Wednesday afternoon. By Greg Rosenvinge, Alliance News reporter Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com Copyright 2023 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved. (Alliance News) - The following is a round-up of updates by London-listed companies, issued on Tuesday and not separately reported by Alliance News: ---------- Getech Group PLC - Leeds, England-based geo-energy and green hydrogen company - Signs a strategic collaboration agreement with Eavor Technology Inc. Says the companies will work together to locate and derisk multiple closed-loop geothermal projects for development across Latin America. "This exciting agreement with Eavor is an important first step in building Getech's global geothermal asset portfolio. By integrating our geoscience data and geospatial/economic modelling skills with Eavor's development technology, it will be possible to establish geothermal development assets of significant scale," Chief Executive Jonathan Copus comments. ---------- MGC Pharmaceuticals Ltd - Perth, Australia-based medicinal cannabis company - Completes the pre-clinical rodent trial for its CimetrA anti-inflammatory treatment. Explains that the pre-clinical results are needed for US FDA investigational drug approval. Says that no pathological or cytotoxic changes at all were found in the organs and tissue biopsies of the test subjects. "The successful completion of this study and the excellent results attained is an important milestone moment for the company, as we continue to progress CimetrATM along the mandated clinical pathway. The results of this study are a critical step in advancing MGC's submission to the FDA, and for the final approval of CimetrATM as an investigational new drug in the US," Co-founder & CEO Roby Zomer comments. ---------- Kefi Gold & Copper PLC - Cyprus-based gold and copper exploration and development company with projects in Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia - Upgrades the mineral resource estimate at the Hawiah project to 29.0 million tonnes from 2.1 million tonnes. Receives five additional exploration licenses through the company's Gold & Minerals Ltd joint venture in Saudi Arabia. These are the Wadi Na'afa, Al Awja, Abu Salal North, Umm Al Khabath and Jabal Selm licenses, which were awarded on an initial 5-year term. Says that the drilling in Hawiah will begin in the second quarter of 2023 and is aimed at increasing the MRE. "With our rapidly advancing gold projects in Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia, where we are heading for steady-state production from 2025, we are delighted to have been awarded these five further exploration licences in Saudi Arabia to further broaden the KEFI GMCO portfolio," Executive Chair Harry Anagnostaras-Adams comments. ---------- AfriTin Mining Ltd - technology metals mining company focused on Namibia - Confirms that it is changing its name to Andrada Mining Ltd. The name change will be effective from January 11, 0800 GMT. "I'm delighted to confirm the company's change of name and we look forward to rebranding as Andrada Mining. The company's potential lithium resource size in Namibia is extremely exciting, and the change of name reflects the importance of it within our growing production profile, beyond our existing tin operation. We look to the future with huge excitement as Andrada Mining plays its part in the energy transition," CEO Anthony Viljoen comments. ---------- Zenith Energy Ltd - Aberdeen, Scotland-based energy company with production, exploration and development assets in Tunisia, Italy, and the Republic of Congo - Says it was awarded an exclusivity for Block 1 containing the Seme oilfield, offshore Benin from the Ministry of Water & Mines of the Republic of Benin. "Block-1 represents a potentially transformational development opportunity for Zenith because of its sizeable unexploited potential, indicated by its independently assessed oil and gas reserves and past production, and existing field infrastructure. We view Benin as an attractive jurisdiction for foreign investment and we look forward with great enthusiasm to working closely with the local authorities towards successfully formalising the PSC," Chief Executive Andrea Cattaneo comments. ---------- Kropz PLC - African phosphate developer - Estimates that its total phosphate resources at Elandsfontein in South Africa stands at 106.6 million tonnes. Reports a proven reserve of 7.31 million tonnes at 10.7% phosphorus pentoxide. Downgrades a lot of its previously measured resources to "indicated" and previously "indicated" resources to "inferred." Notes that total measured and indicated resource tonnages have reduced by around 76%. "While the downgrade of the Measured and Indicated resource is disappointing, it enables Kropz to move forward with a significantly increased level of confidence, that will allow for accurate and efficient mine planning. The increase in total resource, and more importantly, the increase in grade, supported by the additional drilling programme is excellent news, and the continued drilling planned for the year ahead will further increase confidence, and support an increase in reserve tonnes," CEO Mark Summers comments. ---------- Dekel Agri-Vision PLC - palm oil and cashew grower in West Africa - Reports that its crude palm oil output for 2022 is down 36%. For December it reports a fall of 20%, year-on-year. Notes that 2022 is a record year for palm oil pricing. Says that the average crude palm oil price in 2022 stood at EUR1,025, up 18% versus EUR868 year-on-year. Expects to still be one of the best-performing years since its inception. "With the annual high season commencing shortly we are hopeful of improved fresh fruit bunches harvesting volumes. Together with continued robust prices we are well positioned to see a strengthening in financial profitability. We will continue to report the palm oil operation data monthly to ensure our shareholders are well informed during this exciting period for the company," Executive Director Lincoln Moore says. ---------- Thor Explorations Ltd - Vancouver-based mineral explorer with assets in west Africa - Reports that its gold production for the Segilola gold mine is at the top end of the guidance range of 90,000 to 100,000 ounces for 2022, with production of 98,006oz. Completes a reverse circulation drilling campaign of 26,000 metre at Douta. Makes a new discovery with the Sambara prospect. Guides for 85,000 to 95,000 oz of gold weighted towards the second half of the year for 2023 as a whole. "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," President & CEO Segun Lawson comments. ---------- Central Asia Metals PLC - copper, zinc and lead explorer operating in Kazakhstan and North Macedonia - Reports record copper production at Kounrad that is above its guidance range with 4,254 tonnes of copper produced. Says that its zinc and lead production at Sasa were within the guidance range with zinc in concentrate production of 21,473 tonnes and lead in concentrate production of 27,354 tonnes. Guides for Kounrad copper production of between 13,000 and 14,000 tonnes of cathode in 2023. "We enter 2023 in a debt-free position and look forward to delivering another year of strong base metal production and beginning the transition to the cut and fill mining method at Sasa," CEO Nigel Robinson comments. ---------- IQ-AI Ltd - Jersey-based medical services firm - Reports "significant progress" in the phase I clinical trial of gallium maltolate. In addition, it is increasing its focus on accelerating the deployment of IB Clinic. IB Clinc is a toolkit of post-processing software plug-ins designed to be integrated into existing medical image visualization applications. ---------- By Abby Amoakuh, Alliance News reporter Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com Copyright 2023 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. This is our website privacy statement. Please read it carefully as you should only submit information through this site if you agree that we may use it in accordance with this privacy statement. 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The Courts of England and Wales shall have exclusive jurisdiction over all claims or disputes arising in relation to, out of or in connection with this website, its use and these terms. These terms and conditions constitute the entire agreement between you and London South East relating to the subject herein. What is the London South East Trading account? London South East Trading is an online share dealing account you can use to buy and sell shares at a set flat fee of only 9.95 per trade. Using London South East Trading, you can trade in any quoted UK equity (but not foreign stocks or unit trusts). London South East Trading is a trading name of Jarvis Investment Management Ltd who have been established for over 35 years How do I open a London South East Trading account? To open your London South East Trading account, simply click on the Apply for an Account button and complete the online application form. If your application is successful, we will email you to confirm your account is open. Please note, you must have funds in your account before you can start to buy shares. Alternatively, you will need to transfer shares in to your account before you can sell them. Can we open a joint account? Yes you can, but this facility is not currently available online. To open a joint account you will need to click here and download an application form. Please complete this form, ensure both of you sign it at the bottom, and post it to us. How do I fund my account? To fund your account, click on the Make Payment button which can be found in the secure section of the website and follow the instructions, or call us on 01892 700 842. We accept Maestro or VISA/Delta debit cards. Funds are usually credited to your account within an hour (during normal working hours) and once confirmed, will be available to trade with straight away. Please note that you cannot make payments using a credit card. For details on how to withdraw money from your account see Q.23 How do I transfer in stock that I hold in the form of certificates? London South East Trading is a nominee based account. If you have share certificates, you can transfer them to your account by clicking here to download a Crest Transfer form. You need to complete a transfer form for each holding and then return to us at London South East Trading, Jarvis Investment Management Ltd, 78 Mount Ephraim, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN4 8BS together with your valid share certificates (these must be in your name). Please make sure you fill in the following details - "Name of Undertaking" - The Company Name (i.e. Barclays or Vodafone); "Description of Security" - Security Description (i.e. ORD GBP1 or ORD USD0.10); "Words" - Number of Shares in Words; "Figures" - Number of Shares in Figures; "In the name(s) of" - Please enter your FULL name and address, exactly as it appears on your certificate; "Please Sign Here" - All of the registered holders of the certificate need to Sign the Form. You can leave the rest of the form as it is and we will take care of the rest. Remember to return your certificate with the transfer form. How do I transfer in stock from another broker? Simply download a transfer form by clicking here and then complete, sign and return it to us. We will then contact your broker and make arrangements for the transfer of your stock. How long does it take for stock to be transferred from another broker? We will contact your existing broker on the day we receive your form, so the actual transfer should only take a few days. However, be aware that the speed of transfer is dependent on the efficiency of your broker! Shares held in an ISA are normally transferred within 28 days. When can I start dealing? Once we have confirmed to you that your account has been opened and emailed your account number, you can start dealing. If you want to buy shares you must deposit money first of all. If you want to sell shares you already hold as certificates, these will need to be transferred to your nominee account - see question 4 for further details. Is there a minimum size of order? No, not at all. Provided you have funds on your account you can deal up to the value of those funds. What markets can I deal in? You can buy and sell shares in most companies that are listed in the UK. This includes dealing in equities, bonds, warrants, ETFs, investment trusts, shares listed on the IRS (International Retail Service) and CDIs of US stocks. Please note that you cannot deal in foreign shares that are listed on overseas markets. If you wish to invest in a CDI of a US stock you will need to complete a Form W-8BEN before you can trade. Click here to download a form and quick completion guide. Alternatively, a full version of the IRS instructions to completing a W-8BEN form can be downloaded by clicking here . Similarly if you wish to trade a CDI of a Canadian stock please complete the CRA Form At what times can I trade using London South East Trading? You can trade during normal London Stock Exchange market hours - from 8.00am until 4.30pm, Monday to Friday (but not on Bank Holidays). How do I place an order? Placing an order is very easy. First select whether you want to buy or sell (you can only sell if you already hold the shares in your portfolio). Add the symbol of the stock - this can be found using the "Lookup button" on the right hand side of the screen. Next, choose whether you want to trade straight away ('at Best') or set a limit and then choose which settlement period you want - this can be from 2 days to 20 days. Decide if you are trading a quantity of shares or a monetary value and then enter the quantity of shares or value of money in the appropriate box. Finally, enter your Password and click on the '"Review your order"' button. A price will be displayed together with a breakdown of the charges. You will then have 15 seconds to decide whether you want to accept the price or not. If you do want to go ahead and execute the deal, simply press the "Accept quote" button and the order will be executed. Your account will be updated automatically and an email contract note will be sent, confirming the details of the trade. For more comprehensive instructions please refer to the "User Guide" that can be found in the "Help and Administration" section once you have logged in to your account. Can I close an unsettled purchase? Yes you can provided the settlement date has not been reached. When dealing over the telephone just inform the dealer which purchase you wish to close. Alternatively, you can close a bargain online if you have more than 2 days left before the due settlement date by navigating to the "Active Orders" section of the website and clicking the "Closing Bargain" icon. Closing Bargains are linked to an opening bargain and all fields on the "Buy and Sell" screen will be pre-populated to correspond with the opening bargain. If the closing order is entered before market opens, your trade will be entered as a "Fill-or-Kill" limit order which is good for today only. If the closing order is entered after the market has closed, your trade will be entered as a "Fill-or-Kill" limit order with an expiry date of the next working day. Can I hold shares in an ISA? Yes you can. If you haven't already got a stocks and shares ISA for this year, you can open one online by clicking the Register link at the top of the page and complete the online application form. Alternatively, you can transfer in an ISA from another ISA manager. Simply download a transfer form by clicking here and then complete, sign and return it to us. We will then contact your existing ISA manager and make all the necessary arrangements. You can transfer existing share holdings in to your ISA by a process known as 'Bed & ISA'. How long does a trade take to settle? Normal settlement is 2 working days (T+2). You can deal up to T+20 but you should be aware that the market maker will normally charge a premium on the price and dealing for extended settlement brings little benefit when cleared funds are required prior to placing a trade. Will I get a share certificate? No - this is a nominee account which means that the shares are held electronically in a pooled nominee account. You do of course still remain the beneficial owner of the shares. If you decide you would like to have the shares re-registered in your own name, this can be done very easily and is subject to the re-registration charge as detailed in the scale of charges What is a limit order? You can place a limit order to buy shares when the price at which you are prepared to buy is below the current market share price. Alternatively you can place a limit sell order when the price at which you are prepared to sell is above the current market selling price. Should this price ever be reached, your order will be dealt automatically. Your limit order will be held for the time period that you specified. Please note that you are responsible for cancelling these orders. Stop losses can also be set to help you limit any loss. If you are unsure about the use of limit orders or stop losses, please call our dealers who will be happy to help you. What is a contract note? This is a confirmation of your transaction and is sent out to you via email immediately after you have traded. Please note, you may need to set your email security parameters to accept this email. The email address that will appear is documents@jarvisim.co.uk. How secure is the account? As you would expect, all the information sent between you and our offices is encrypted giving you total peace of mind. When will my tax voucher be sent to me? Tax vouchers are issued annually for dividends which are paid within the previous tax year. They will be posted to you shortly after the end of the tax year. When will I receive my dividends? Dividends are normally credited to your London South East Trading account on the day we receive them from the registrar. The money can be re-invested or withdrawn as you wish. How do I request money from my account? Email us at payments@jarvisim.co.uk and we will BACs the money to the bank account details we have on file. Please allow two to three working days for the money to reach your bank account. How can I access my account statement? Once you have logged in, click on "Cash" tab to see all monetary transactions for your London South East Trading account. These are updated immediately a trade has taken place. How do I change my bank details? If you wish to change your bank details please write to us with a signed letter of instruction, enclosing an original bank statement (or a copy certified by your bank) which includes your name, account number and sort code - please make sure you quote your sharedealing account number. If I move, how do I change my address on the account? If you are moving, please email us at trading@lse.co.uk with your new address details. Once we have received them, your account will be updated within 24 hours - please make sure you quote your account number. How do I transfer stock or funds to another broker? You will first need to contact the broker to open an account with them and complete their transfer form. They will then send this to us and we will transfer the account on your behalf. A confirmation of the transfer will be sent to you via email. Please note, transferring stock costs 15 plus VAT per holding. Corporate Actions. We will notify you in writing of any corporate actions. Corporate action details are also available in the share details pages of this website. Company Reports. You can obtain free company reports by clicking on this link This website was designed and built by Revive Digital, a digital marketing agency based in the South East of England. Revive specialise in website design, brand and graphic design, digital marketing and software development. This website has been designed to be fully mobile responsive - meaning it will work well on mobiles, tablets, and desktop devices. Each element of the website design has been put together to give you, the end user, the best experience - regardless of how you choose to use the website. As with any large platform, there will be room for improvement. If you have ideas for tools that you would like to see, or feel that elements of the website could work better, please get in touch at info@lse.co.uk. This website has been designed to run in the cloud - and has been distributed over multiple web servers and application servers load balanced, and protected from attack. This should allow the website to operate at a high performance, even at peak times when thousands of users are using the website simultaneously. Revive Digital have worked on a number of financial websites, and designed and built multiple data platforms handling stock market data from multiple exchanges. If you are looking for an investor relations solution, business website, or marketing expertise, they can be found by searching 'Revive Digital'. Poverty eradication with Chinese characteristics 14:41, January 11, 2023 By Paul Tembe ( People's Daily Online The Peoples Republic of China (PRC) has attained an unprecedented historical feat by achieving Goal 1 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Goal 1 of the SDGs enjoins countries to end all forms of poverty. The PRC eradicated absolute poverty 10 years before the 2030 cut-off date. Goal 1 has the explicit aim to End poverty in all its forms everywhere. This SDG goal builds targets on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to reduce the proportion of people subsisting daily on less than $1.25 (about R19), and provide decent work, especially for women and the youth. Using these targets, the PRC has set a new global benchmark by declaring complete victory in poverty eradication, more so for Chinas rural citizens and communities. In February 2021, the same year that the Communist Party of China (CPC) was celebrating its 100th anniversary, President Xi Jinping proclaimed that the final 98.99 million impoverished rural residents living under the current poverty line have all been lifted out of poverty. All 832 impoverished counties and 128,000 villages have also been removed from the poverty list. The criteria used by the PRC relied on two assurances and three guarantees. The two assurances centred on producing policies, measured constantly for their impact, that provides adequate food and clothing for impoverished rural residents. This was supplemented with access to non-negotiable basic medical service, nine years of compulsory education and safe housing. In addition, absolute poverty eradication was attained via public delivery of infrastructure, ensuring rural areas had access to 1.1 million km of reconstructed highways. These rural areas were capacitated with optical fibre communications (OFC) and 4G technology covering 98 percent of the rural areas. These achievements were the total outcome from the 1978 opening up and reform process. Former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping was decisive in leading the battle against poverty by introducing agrarian reforms. To be effective, these early reforms built on improving infrastructure to reform and revolutionise agricultural sectors. This required sufficient investment in irrigation, drainage systems, road infrastructure and internet access to connect farmers to markets, encouraging service sectors to invest in rural areas, and in the process generating employment opportunities in rural areas. The PRCs experience is a model to the world about what is possible when there is in a country (i) decisive leadership, (ii) uninterrupted legal and policy continuity, (iii) bottom-up peoples empowerment, (iv) solid intergovernmental relations and private sector partnerships, and (v) leveraging contextual circumstances (in geography, politics, technology, etc). All these factors have coalesced and translated into poverty eradication with Chinese characteristics. China eliminated absolute poverty and hunger by making widely available distance education, making sure that impoverished rural areas had OFC and so had access to telemedicine and e-commerce. It is not inconceivable for South Africa to replicate the Chinese model of ending poverty in all its forms. What is needed is bold decisive leadership that transcends ideological party affiliation and focuses on realising one goal. Second, is to empower citizens with the tools for their own liberation so that they arent mainly dependent on social grants. Third, the involvement of the private sector is irreplaceable in mobilising a whole-of-society approach. As China deservedly celebrates ending poverty in all its forms in the PRC, there is still more to be done. As President Xi said, "Being lifted out of poverty is not an end in itself but the starting point of a new life and a new pursuit." Paul Tembe is a South African expert on China. (Web editor: Hongyu, Wu Chengliang) News and commentary on organized crime, street crime, white collar crime, cyber crime, sex crime, crime fiction, crime prevention, espionage and terrorism. MOUNT HOLLY, N.J. A New Jersey woman who pleaded guilty to helping her boyfriend spread a feel-good story about a homeless veteran that garnered more than $400,000 in online donations has been sentenced to three years in prison on state theft charges. Burlington County prosecutors say Katelyn McClure, 32, wasn't present in the Mount Holly courtroom Friday because she is serving a one-year federal term in the case. Her state prison term will run concurrently and the former transportation department worker will be barred from ever working again as a New Jersey public employee. Prosecutors said McClure and her then-boyfriend, Mark DAmico, came up with the good Samaritan story in November 2017, claiming that homeless veteran Johnny Bobbitt Jr. had given his last $20 to McClure when her car ran out of gas on an interstate exit ramp in Philadelphia. The three conducted newspaper and television interviews and solicited donations, ostensibly to help Bobbitt, through a GoFundMe campaign they named Paying It Forward, prosecutors said. Prosecutors said the campaign raised more than $400,000 from about 14,000 donors in about a month and at the time was the largest fraud perpetrated through the crowdfunding platform. Authorities began investigating after Bobbitt sued the couple, accusing them of not giving him the money. They eventually determined that all of the money was spent by March 2018, with large chunks spent by McClure and DAmico on a recreational vehicle, a BMW and trips to casinos in Las Vegas and New Jersey. DAmico, 43, pleaded guilty in December 2019 and was sentenced to five years in state prison, a term also running concurrently with an earlier federal term. He and McClure have both been ordered to fully reimburse GoFundMe. Bobbitt was sentenced to probationary federal and state terms. The Environmental Protection Agency has teamed with the Hawaii Department of Health to host webinars focused on the health and environmental threat posed by spills at the U.S. Navy's Red Hill fuel storage facility near Honolulu. The first event, to be conducted via Zoom on Jan. 12, will talk about the findings and recommendations of two health surveys conducted on residents last year and provide information on chemical releases from the facility since 2005. Presenters include public health experts from the Centers for Disease Control's Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Read Next: Navy Might Have to Choose Between Arming the Service and Aiding Ukraine Due to Ammo Delays, Officials Say Future episodes in the series have yet to be announced or scheduled. In separate events in 2021, nearly 20,000 gallons of jet fuel spilled at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Facility, eventually leaking more than 3,300 gallons into the drinking water supply for Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. The leak forced thousands from their homes and tens of thousands to use bottled water for months. The Navy launched a massive cleanup effort, and health officials have declared the water as safe to drink, although military families on social media continue to post photos of cloudy water 14 months later. Two subsequent Navy investigations determined that the events were the result of human error, an insufficient response to a spill in May 2021, as well as the November leak six months later, and chronic negligence by the operators at Red Hill. More than 100 families sued the service for ongoing illnesses they say are related to the spills. Army Maj. Mandy Feindt, whose husband Patrick is party to the suit, and Katherine McClanahan, an Air Force Reserve wife who also is party to the suit, traveled to Washington, D.C., on Monday and Tuesday to press for a congressional hearing on the issue. The two met with Hawaii's newest member of Congress, Democrat Rep. Jill Tokuda, along with Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Mich., who sits on the House Veterans Affairs Committee, and Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., who sponsored a bill last year requiring the Department of Veterans Affairs to study the health effects of jet fuel on military service members. The legislation passed as part of the Sgt. First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics, or PACT, Act. Under the law, the VA must provide Congress an interim report by Aug. 10 that includes a discussion of the various types of fuel used by the Defense Department, any immediate symptoms that may be related to exposure, and the measures the military services have undertaken to reduce exposure. A follow-on report is due within five years. Patrick Feindt was recently hospitalized for more than a week with neurological symptoms that included double vision, pain and slurred speech. McClanahan suffers dizziness and tremors. "Our direct ask was a congressional hearing, and we listed out five reasons -- transparency, medical care, housing, retaliation and incentive pay -- hazard pay because our soldiers still have not been paid," Mandy Feindt said Wednesday during an interview with Military.com. The Department of Defense announced last year that it would close Red Hill and transfer the 140 million gallons of fuel elsewhere. A joint task force is currently repairing the facility's pipes and safety system to defuel Red Hill by summer 2024. In addition to the webinar Thursday, the EPA and the joint task force have planned a town hall meeting for residents and the public on Jan. 18. Red Hill sits roughly 100 feet above an aquifer that serves as a primary source of drinking water for more than 400,000 residents of Honolulu. Local residents have long opposed its operations at Red Hill; a small group gathers every Wednesday afternoon at the entrance to the Pacific Fleet Headquarters to protest the fuel facility's existence. -- Patricia Kime can be reached at Patricia.Kime@Military.com. Follow her on Twitter @patriciakime. Related: New Clinic for Military Families Exposed to Red Hill Fuel a 'Dog and Pony Show,' Patients Say The Navy's top uniformed officer told a packed crowd of largely fellow Navy leaders and retired officers that one of the biggest problems that keeps him up at night is not Ukraine or Russia but the service's suicide problem. "I think it's the same thing that keeps [the master chief petty officer of the Navy] awake at night: It's suicides," Adm. Michael Gilday, chief of naval operations, told an auditorium of more than a hundred people at the annual Surface Navy Association conference held in Arlington, Virginia. "That problem, mental health, is a vexing problem for us," he added. Read Next: More Than a Dozen Special Operations Soldiers at Center of Drug Trafficking Probe Gilday's remarks come after a particularly challenging year for the Navy in terms of suicide and mental health and amid a push to add yet another resource to fight the problem -- more chaplains. In April 2022, Military.com revealed that the USS George Washington was experiencing a spate of suicides that went back months. The aircraft carrier had been in the shipyards undergoing a massive yearslong overhaul, and sailors described difficult working and living conditions after much of the crew had been ordered to move back aboard the ship. Despite initially being told that there was nothing the Navy could do about living conditions aboard the ship, less than two weeks after news of the suicides became public, the crew was offered a chance to move off the carrier. Rear Adm. John Meier, the officer who oversees the ship, told reporters in May that "if I knew then what I know today, I think we would have clearly delayed [the] crew move aboard." Then, in December, another cluster of four suicides was discovered at a maintenance center in Norfolk, Virginia, and it was revealed that key legislation meant to provide extra resources for struggling sailors hadn't been fully put in place yet. These deaths are just a portion of the 70 suicides that the Navy reported in 2022. That figure is the second highest annual number in more than a decade, according to Navy data. Gilday's frustration was evident. "We continue to put resources against it," he told the auditorium. "We have mental health facilities available. ... We have resiliency teams on our [amphibious readiness groups] and our carrier strike groups, and yet it's still not enough," he added. Both Gilday and Vice Adm. Roy Kitchener, commander of the Navy's surface forces in the Pacific, said that the service plans to add chaplains to every deploying destroyer in the near future. In a media call with reporters last week, Kitchener said that "the feedback I get from commanding officers is that the ships that have chaplains on board -- we tend to see less unplanned losses and less issues." Typically, chaplains would become part of a smaller ship's crew only when that unit was getting ready to deploy. This program makes them permanent crew members. Kitchener said that the Navy currently has 29 chaplains aboard destroyers in both the Atlantic and Pacific fleets, but looks to add 22 more by 2023 and finish the additions by 2025. The program would likely mean the Navy will need to also step up recruiting efforts for chaplains, Kitchener noted. The additional chaplains are only one program among many that Navy leaders are mentioning when asked about the problem of suicide. Others include initiatives to put mental health resources closer to sailors and train more counselors. "We are maxing out the number of corpsmen we send through school, whether it's a military school or civilian school, to become behavioral health technicians," Gilday said. One of the reasons that Navy leaders talk about putting resources closer to ships, if not outright on them, is that sailors can have difficulty finding time to reach far-flung resources. One of the Navy's investigations into some of the suicides aboard the George Washington noted that one of the reasons sailors aboard the ship tended not to utilize a "deployed resiliency counselor" was because "it is a three-mile walk from the ship and they are hesitant to take that much time off to go there (or don't believe they can)." The key variable often ends up being the individual sailor's chain of command and the level of help and support they offer. However, this is an area where the Navy's new top enlisted sailor -- Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy James Honea -- seems to want to make a difference. Honea said that "everyday I read about [a suicide], it crushes me." Gilday also suggested more changes could be in store. "I would say that the Secretary of the Navy is very interested in the final investigation on [George Washington] that lays out in more detail what investments we should make to improve," the admiral told reporters Tuesday. "Our message is: 'Stick around, we need you. We can help you,'" Gilday told the auditorium. Military personnel and veterans in crisis can get support 24 hours a day, seven days a week by dialing 988 and pressing 1. Help also is available by testing 838255 or visiting the Veterans Crisis Line webpage. -- Konstantin Toropin can be reached at konstantin.toropin@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @ktoropin. Related: The Power of Navy Leaders -- Especially Chiefs -- to Make or Break Sailors The Department of Veterans Affairs is following through with a congressional mandate to waive copayments for native American and native Alaskan veterans for most medical appointments. The VA is to publish an interim rule Thursday in the Federal Register announcing its intention to drop copays for veterans with a known tribal affiliation and seek public comment on the plan. The waiver is to be backdated to Jan. 5, 2022, but when exactly veterans can apply for reimbursement or see the change in billing remains to be determined. By law, the department has to give the public 30 days to offer comments on the interim proposal before publishing a final rule, VA officials said during a media roundtable Tuesday. Read Next: More Than a Dozen Special Operations Soldiers at Center of Drug Trafficking Probe The Johnny Isakson and Dr. David Roe Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020 prohibited the VA from collecting copayments from any veteran defined as an Indian under the Indian Health Care Improvement Act. The legislation was to be enacted on Jan. 5, 2022, within a year of the law being signed. The VA missed the deadline, however, and intends to reimburse eligible veterans who have received care in the past year for any copayment costs. VA officials said once the final rule is published, affected veterans will not make any copayments and a system will be in place so they can apply for and receive any retroactive copayments. "I assure you that there will be a process and the goal is to make it as less onerous as possible and as quickly as possible," said Stephanie Birdwell, director of the VA's Office of Tribal Government Relations, during the event. The VA estimates that there are 150,000 Native American and Alaska Native veterans in the U.S., many of whom are eligible for health care from the Indian Health Service or tribal health programs contracted with the IHS or urban organizations. But the Indian Health Service and its programs, which do not require patients to make copayments, have been "historically underfunded," causing delays in health care, according to Birdwell. The new rule aims to provide those eligible for health care through the IHS with the same fee waiver at the VA, according to Secretary Denis McDonough. "This rule makes health care more accessible and allows us to better deliver to these Veterans the care and health benefits that they have earned through their courageous service," McDonough said in a statement. Eligible veterans also will have access to urgent care, but like other veterans in the VA health system, they will be required to make copayments for urgent care after three visits within a calendar year -- the only copayments likely required under the new policy. Officials warned that until the final rule is published, eligible Native American and Alaska Native veterans still will be required to make copayments for care. They added, however, that the VA will fast-track the intended changes to the policy once the comment period is over and would be "surprised if it goes more than three months." "This has been a long time coming. I know there's been a lot of excitement around this. The Secretary has made a commitment to get this benefit out as soon as possible," said Travis Trueblood, a Navy veteran and member of the Air Force Reserve who serves as the VA's director of Tribal Health -- Patricia Kime can be reached at Patricia.Kime@Military.com. Follow her on Twitter @patriciakime. Related: VA Wants to Waive Some Copays for Vets at High Risk for Suicide As if hydroelectric power wasnt adorable enough, a new 2023 calendar is looking to highlight the Armys engineering process with a series of photoshopped cats. The Portland, Oregon, district of the Army Corps of Engineers added the cats to photos of its projects to add some lighthearted fun to its important projects. A giant Russian Blue cat stretching out over Oregon's Cascade Locks, a gray tabby using the Hills Creek Reservoir as a scratching post and a little chonk watching the Oregon State Police rappel down the 100-foot walls of the John Day Dam are just a few of the four-legged fans of Army engineering inside the calendar. The calendar combines the best of the Portland District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Facebook page and Twitter feed, which highlight projects like river jetties, dams and reservoirs using memes, GIFs and (of course) giant cats. (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) While a cat calendar is fun, the work done by the Corps of Engineers in the Portland district is vitally important. In Oregon, the Corps has been mitigating flood risks, managing hydropower stations, responding to emergencies and more since 1871. Of course, hydropower, the internet and its giant cats haven't all been around since 1871, but it's still a job the engineers take very seriously, even if they have a unique way of teaching Americans about what they do. As of this writing, the district is seeking public comment on a proposed 30-year plan for the operating and maintaining of a system of 13 dams and reservoirs across Oregon's Willamette River Basin, the state's largest basin. Although not all of the Corps of Engineers' 38 districts are as social media savvy as the Portland area, each has an important mission. Like Portland, they all manage flood control systems, build and operate locks and dams and regulate environmental protections. They also design and build facilities for every branch of the armed forces. The other districts just don't fully realize the potential of adorable kittens. (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) "Engineering is not that exciting," Chris Gaylord, the office's public affairs specialist who has worked to build the entity's social media following, told TODAY.com. "We all believe that what we do is very important, and that's the reason we don't take our social media so seriously." The 2023 Corps of Engineers cat calendar is a free, downloadable PDF and can be found here. -- Blake Stilwell can be reached at blake.stilwell@military.com. He can also be found on Twitter @blakestilwell or on Facebook. Want to Learn More About Military Life? Whether you're thinking of joining the military, looking for post-military careers or keeping up with military life and benefits, Military.com has you covered. Subscribe to Military.com to have military news, updates and resources delivered directly to your inbox. 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 Royals announced agreement with righty Kohl Stewart on a minor league deal this afternoon. Anne Rogers of MLB.com tweets that Stewart isnt likely to be in big league camp as he continues to rehab from an elbow injury that cut his 2021 season short. Stewart sat out the entire 2022 campaign, ostensibly due to the aforementioned elbow concern. Its not clear whether he ever underwent surgery or attempted to rehab without going under the knife. In either event, Stewart hasnt thrown a competitive pitch since the Cubs placed him on the 60-day injured list in July 2021 with what the club announced as elbow inflammation. Chicago ran him through outright waivers at the start of that offseason rather than reinstate him to their 40-man roster. He remained a minor league free agent until today. The 28-year-old is a former top five draftee, going fourth overall to the Twins in 2013. Stewart spent five seasons climbing the minor league ladder before briefly appearing at the MLB level with Minnesota between 2018-19. He started six of 19 appearances over those two years, working to a 4.79 ERA through 62 innings. The Twins let him go at the end of the latter season, and he hooked on with the Orioles on a split deal. Stewart, a Type 1 diabetic, opted out of the 2020 campaign due to concerns over COVID-19. He never threw a pitch as an Oriole, as the team let him go at the end of the year. As a free agent, he found a big league deal with the Cubs. Stewart started three of four outings with Chicago, allowing 12 runs in 13 2/3 innings before the injury issues intervened. All told, the Houston native owns a 4.88 ERA over 75 2/3 major league frames. Hes fanned a below-average 13.6% of opponents against a slightly elevated 9.6% walk rate. Over parts of four Triple-A campaigns, he owns a 4.65 ERA in 162 2/3 innings. The sinkerballer had a strong prospect pedigree for a while, however, and hes induced grounders on over half the batted balls hes allowed in the big leagues. Precisely when Stewart will be ready for a return to pitching isnt clear. Once hes healthy, hell offer the Royals some rotation or long relief depth. Hell presumably head to Triple-A Omaha at some point during the 2023 season and try to work back to the MLB level. Michael Blankson, a Ghanaian international comedian, has been urged to form a political party to become Ghana's next President. Some youths of the country believe the comedian, being an international figure, understands and knows how to tackle issues with his understanding of governance in the US. A certain netizen is urging him to form a political party or run as an independent candidate in Ghana's next general election (2024). Bro! Freaking start a political party or stand independent for next years election and can bet you can easily win cause the youth in Ghana want a young leader who understands what's happening around the world and can help empower us to achieve our goals and you seem to be that guy. Just try and see. You would be surprised. We'd seriously vote for you. Hope this finds you, a netizen wrote in the comedians DM on Twitter. This comes after the Hollywood star extended his charitable deeds to his community in the Central Region, Agona Nsabaa, by constructing a basic school that will be free to all. However, in response, Michael Blankson, who in 2022 revealed his desire to become Ghanas president one day and fix the country, appreciated the advice but rejected it. According to him, though he is from Ghana, he is still not familiar with the issues in different parts of the country and what each has or not, so it would be a bad decision to jump on the idea. Ghana I appreciate this but not right now, I dont even know all the 16 regions in Ghana lol, he wrote. France's deputy foreign minister, on a visit to jihadist-torn Burkina Faso, on Tuesday denied accusations that Paris sought to meddle in its troubled former colony. Speaking after talks with junta leader Captain Ibrahim Traore, junior minister Chrysoula Zacharopoulou said France "is imposing nothing" on Burkina Faso. "I didn't come here to influence any choice or decision -- no-one can dictate Burkina's choices," she said. "In keeping with this message, France remains committed in every sphere -- humanitarian, security, development -- in line with the scope and structure desired by the Burkinabe government," she said. French help is based on "listening, respect, humility", she insisted. One of the poorest and most volatile countries in Africa, Burkina Faso is reeling from a jihadist insurgency that swept in from neighbouring Mali in 2015. Thousands of people have been killed and around two million have fled their homes, igniting a security and humanitarian crisis that last year fuelled two coups. More than a third of the country lies outside the government's control. France, the traditional ally of French-speaking countries in the Sahel, is under mounting pressure from critics who accuse it of neo-colonialism and are demanding closer ties with Moscow. In the September 30 putsch that brought 34-year-old Traore to power, violent protests targeted the French embassy in Ouagadougou and some demonstrators raised Russian flags. In December, the junta ordered the suspension of Radio France Internationale (RFI), accusing the station of having broadcast a "message of intimidation" from a "terrorist leader". Last week, the French foreign ministry said it had received a letter from the junta asking for ambassador Luc Hallade to be replaced after he ruffled feathers with reports on Burkina's worsening security situation. Strategic rethink France pulled its last troops out of Mali last year on the heels of a military coup in 2020 that saw the country bring in Russian paramilitaries -- "mercenaries" from the Wagner group, according to Paris. That withdrawal has left around 3,000 French troops still in the Sahel, including a special forces unit based at Kamboisin on the edge of Ouagadougou. France's long-running anti-jihadist operation, Barkhane, officially came to an end in November, and a new military strategy is expected in the coming months. Poorly-trained and ill-equipped, Burkina's armed forces have paid a hefty toll in their years-long battle against the mobile jihadists. France has offered help but in recent months stepped up the emphasis that this has to be a partnership that is also wished by the Burkinabe people. However, the two juntas that took power last year have seemed loath to ask for French fire power. "The last request (for French military help) dates back to July 2022," according to a source at French military headquarters. French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne unveiled a radical overhaul on Tuesday night of the country's pension payments which aims at raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 by 2030. The measure - a key plank of Emmanuel Macron's second-term manifesto - unleashed calls for protests. Leading trades unions - the CFDT, CGT, FO, CFE-CGC, CFTC, Unsa, FSU and Solidaires - responded to Borne's proposals with a call for a day of strikes and demonstrations on 19 January. Borne said the minimum retirement age to be entitled to a full pension will be gradually increased by three months every year, starting this year. Work People will need to have worked for at least 43 years to get a full pension, starting from 2027, she said. Working more will allow future retirees to get higher pensions, Borne said. By 2030, our system will be financially balanced, she added. "I'm well aware that changing our pension system raises questions and fears among the French," Borne added. "We offer a project to balance our pension system, a project that is fair." Those who started working before the age of 20 will be able to get early retirement, Borne added. Categories Specific categories of workers such as police officers and firefighters will also be able to retire earlier. Under the current system, all French workers receive a state pension. The government argues that on average French people are living longer than before and therefore need to work longer to make the pension system financially sustainable. French MPs will debate the nitty-gritty of the measures in the Assemblee nationale next month. Those sessions are likely to be heated. Macron's Renaissance party lost its parliamentary majority last year and most opposition parties are opposed to the changes. However, Borne promised to seek compromises with some other political groups. It is understood government fixers are seeking deals with members of the centre right The Republicans party to pass the measure. If that gambit fails, Macron's party may use a special power to force the law through parliament without a vote. Pension reform has been one of the salient agonies of French politics over the past 30 years. All sides of the political spectrum acknowledge changes have to take place. But successive governments have failed to produce an acceptable plan France's Pensions Advisory Council issued a report last year showing that the pension system is expected to have a deficit over the next decade, with the government having to compensate. On Tuesday, France's main employers' union, Medef issued a statement welcoming an indispensable reform to save our pension system. . The Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) says most Senior High Schools (SHSs) across the country are yet to receive any food items or funds from either the Ghana Education Service or the National Food Buffer Stock Company. The Conference which consists largely of headteachers across the country says the perennial disbursement challenges are putting a strain on their reopening activities as it is difficult to take in students with no food items to feed them. President of the Conference who is also the headmaster of Opoku Ware School, Rev. Fr. Stephen Owusu Sekyere said they are expecting government to release their allocated funds to ensure that the reopening date is not postponed due to food shortages. Father Owusu Sekyere told Citi News that the government defaulted on its promise to release the funds into their respective bank accounts by 9 am on January 10. We were promised that we should go to the bank in the morning at 9 am and that the money will be deposited into our accounts but as we speak, we keep checking our accounts and no school has received any money from their bank. The CHASS president said the government is also yet to supply the various schools with their food quotas in anticipation of the new academic year. I am having reports from some schools across the country that they are yet to receive food items. Weve been in touch with Buffer Stock, and they say they are supplying the schools with some four food items, but my information tells me otherwise. The president stressed that all hopes have diminished and all they can do at the moment is to hope that the government heeds to their concerns. Students keep reporting, and we dont know what to do at this point so all we can do at the moment is keep waiting for the monies to be released. We dont have power over what happens or when the food items are supplied. By Citi Newsroom The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of Obuasi Hon. Elijah Adansi-Bonah on Tuesday 10th January, 2022 welcomed Kindergarten and primary one pupils to school. The visit by the MCE forms part of activities by the Obuasi Municipal Assembly to observe "My First Day at School", an annual initiative adopted by government to distribute stationeries and other items to the school children. The exercise is held annually at the beginning of every academic year to welcome schoolchildren back to school, especially those entering creche and kindergarten (KG) as well as those joining the mainstream school system at basic one, and is aimed at motivating the children to stay in school. This year, the MCE who was accompanied by the Municipal Director of Education, George Alfred Koomson visited Adaase MA basic school, Dokyiwaa Community school, Binsere school, Anyinam Methodist school and SDA basic school Hon. Adansi-Bonah expressed satisfaction with pupils' enrolment and attendance on the first day and encouraged parents to prioritize the education of their children. He said "the Assembly alongside government is working hard to provide infrastructure and logistics for schools, it is however incumbent on parents to see to it that their children are always in school." OMA targets replacing old school blocks with new ones The Obuasi Municipal Assembly has rolled out a policy targeted at replacing old dilapidated school blocks with new ones. The MCE said the Assembly has thus included in its budget line to give a facelift to atleast one or two school blocks every year. "We have realised that most of the school blocks have not seen any form of renovation over the years. The Assembly has however taken keen interest in developing educational infrastructure in Obuasi so we have made it a policy, to rehabilitate and in some cases build new school blocks every year." Bye laws to sustain BECE performance Hon. Elijah Adansi-Bonah in an interview after the tour hinted that the Assembly in its bid to sustain BECE performance has decided to strengthen a section of its revised byelaws which prohibits children from staying out at night. He said once the byelaws are gazetted, the Assembly will ensure its enforcement to instil discipline among children in the Municipality. The Municipal Director of Education George Alfred Koomson lauded the Municipal Assembly for putting in place measures to promote quality education in the Municipality. He emphasized that activities such as ' my first day at school' encourages the children to develop interest in school. He said the Directorate in a bid to sustain enrolment in school, has been going to churches and visiting communities to sensitize the public on the need to go to school. The pupils were given my first copy books, school bags, pencils, erasers, etc by the Assembly. There is no gainsaying the fact that John Mahama is struggling to inject some vibrancy into his languid form as more and more Ghanaians keep on dismissing him as an alternative not fit for purpose. He has written a lengthy piece on his Facebook page which highlights some crimes he claims constitute the sins supposedly inflicted on Ghanaians by President Akufo-Addo. The post contains his usual lamentations about how unwell this country has become due to the poor leadership being offered by the current administration. These litanies of wild claims have, over the periods, failed to garner attention amongst Ghanaians as same are not weightier issues the people would want to discuss. They are largely matters which are pure inventions of his own imagination. Let me zero in on one issue he raised which had to do with Akonta Mining and the Presidents statement that at the moment, Wontumis outfit is not engaged in any galamsey activities. John Mahama considers this as unwholesome, describing the President as a clearing agent simply because he clarified the impression that was being created at the time that Akonta was still into illegal mining activities in the Samraboi enclave. Let me not mince words, John Mahama needs tuition on comprehension. I am tempted to believe that he has forgotten all that he was taught in school by his English Language teachers about Comprehension. President Akufo-Addo was asked a question about Akonta mining and there was a claim that the entity is still into galamsey, thereby hampering the efforts being made to eradicate illegal mining activities from the Samraboi area. The President gave a matter-of-factly response to the question. He indicated that as at the time he was speaking, Akonta Mining was not doing any illegal mining in that enclave. It was true in the sense that the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources has secured that place, thereby ceasing all entities from mining or timbering in the forest reserve. Where did President Akufo-Addo go wrong with his response? He was on point because the place is secured by the Lands Ministry. The question and his response were restricted to Akonta Mining in relation to the Samraboi forest reserves. Whoever understood the President differently is challenged when it comes to English Comprehension. His response was unambiguous as it was directed at the very question that was asked. If John Mahama has a deficiency in English Comprehension, he should strive to overcome that challenge and stop spraying same on the innocent Akufo-Addo. A so-called communications expert and he is panting for breath to grasp what the President meant with his commentary on Akonta Mining! P.K.Sarpong, Whispers from the Corridors of the Thinking Place. Hon Ekow Vincent Asafuah 11.01.2023 LISTEN The Member of Parliament for the Old Tafo in the Ashanti Region, Hon Ekow Vincent Asafuah says his constituency has benefitted immensely from the Kumasi Inner City road projects. Speaking on the Kumasi-based OTEC 102.9 FM's afternoon political show "Dwabrem" on Tuesday, January 10, 2023, Hon Asafuah commended the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for providing asphaltic roads in the area. "I must say Old Tafo has been a big beneficiary on the massive road infrastructure projects in the Ashanti Region. "My constituency received over 3.4 kilometres of asphaltic roads in the Kumasi Inner City Road Projects and we are grateful to president Akuffo for that," he stated. The MP however assured his constituents that, other roads in the area which are in deplorable state will be fixed in due course. "We have about 700 kilometres of roads in the constituency that needed to be fixed, and I want to use this honorable platform to assure Old Tafo residents that the roads will be fixed in three years," he emphasised. A former presidential staffer under the late Prof Mills NDC-led administration has chastised government for allowing American Rapper Meek Mill to shoot a music video at the Presidency. Mr Koku Anyidoho, the former Director of Communications at the Presidency during the late Prof John Evans Atta Mills administration said the kind of access granted the American rapper was the worst form of security breach and also cheapened the seat of government. Meek Mill and his crew were seen in a viral video rapping some explicit lyrics at the Jubilee House. His visit to the presidency came after he performed at the Afronation Concert on 29th December. The rapper and his crew later stood in front of the lectern mostly used by the President during national addresses, to take some shots. Meek Mill and his team also took some drone shots at the forecourt of the Jubilee House. In an interview with Sompa News, Mr Anyidoho called on the security officials and the presidential staffers at the Jubilee House to take their job seriously. He added that the most dangerous aspect of it is allowing the American Rapper to shoot a music video with mobile phones and little electronic devices. The Member of Parliament for Tafo-Pankrono Constituency, Honorable Vincent Asafuah has cleared the air on the alleged feud between him and some party faithful. In an interview with Sompa Tv on Tuesday, January 1oth 2023, he noted with great concern that the uproar in the constituency is a result of some delegates who have decided not to reason with the need to smoke piece pipe in the constituency. According to him, an invitation by the chief of Tafo, Nana Agyin Frimpong was an opportunity to account to his constituents and to bring oneness among them. I was invited by the chief, Nana Agyin Frimpong, to celebrate the last Akwasidae and to account to the people so I took the opportunity to invite all my polling station executives through the constituency secretary so that we could dine and resolve the impasse knowing very well that there is feud among us but to my utmost surprise, some of them didn't come, I can count about 100 people who didn't show up for but we're present at the chief palace," he said. He noted that it was the first time he was inviting his constituents so that they could trash out all issues. It was my first time inviting all polling station executives, I spent huge sums of money for a buffet knowing that dining together will help resolve the impasse, but they never show up, all the delegates were at the chiefs palace but more than 100 delegates didn't come to my party, it was a way to account to them because they are the real owners of the party, I made sure every delegate who attended the meeting had a token home, I don't know whether they were expecting me to come to their homes with their gift," he said. He told Omanhene that delegates going around instigating that he was selective on his invite are neither here nor there. According to him, as a true party faithful, "you must prioritize the party first and don't need to be friends with each other to serve the best interest of the party but rather work diligently for the party irrespective of individual differences." He revealed that there's a division among the executives. You won't believe that after two years of elections, people still hold on to their anger, and have divided the party into two because they support one candidate against me as if we are still in an election year." He further added that he has remained calm on pressing issues. Some time ago, when the MP was in a certain family, we all supported. I was a polling station executive, and nothing happened but today, it's in a certain family, and it's as if that family has bad blood, and they see everything wrong with every move, which is bad, but I have decided not to talk about it, I'm not bothered, am not perturbed. I'm focused on delivering to the people because when I look back, I feel the joy of the people because I have touched a lot of lives," he said. 11.01.2023 LISTEN The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor has reacted to allegations by John Dramani Mahama's reply to President Akufo-Addos comments that Akonta Mining is not involved in illegal mining activities in the country at the moment. The President of the Republic addressing a specific question on Akonta Minings alleged illegal mining activities when he graced the NUCDPA Congress last week said, Akonta Mining is not engaged in any illegal mining anywhere in Ghana AS WE SPEAK. In a reaction, ex-President John Dramani Mahama noted in a Facebook post that it appears the President is content with the clearing agent badge he has been tagged with. According to Mahama, 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. The ex-president also said it is unfortunate that Lands and Natural Resources Minister had explained to the owner of Akonta Mining that he was forced to act against his company because of public pressure from the National Democratic Congress (NDC), CSOs and NGOs. Having read the statement by John Dramani Mahama, the sector minister Samuel Abu Jinapor has issued a statement to set the records straight. I, also, want to put on record that no one, and absolutely no one, compelled me to issue the Press Statement on Akonta Mining which was issued following the allegations of their activities in the Forest Reserve. Neither has the President called any official of Akonta Mining to appease them on the action taken by Government. These claims, if they were indeed made, as you suggest, are, obviously, false and a figment of peoples own imagination, the Lands and Natural Resources Minister said. Minister Samuel Abu Jinapor further clarified that the comments by President Akufo-Addo on Akonta Mining in no way relate to past or future activities of the mining company and cannot, by any shred of imagination, be deemed as exonerating the company from any past activities or interfering with any ongoing investigations. Below is a copy of the full statement issued by the Minister: Dear President Mahama, I have read, Sir, with utmost dismay, your Facebook post regarding the comments made by the President of the Republic, H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in Eastern Region, when he addressed the 28th National and 16th Biennial Congress of the National Union of Catholic Diocesan Priests Association (NUCDPA). Ordinarily, I would have no need to respond to matters you post on your Facebook page. But, due to the gross misinformation and political spin contained in the said post, as well as the attempt to disparage my integrity and that of the President in respect of this matter, as Minister responsible for Lands and Natural Resources, I deem it necessary to set the records straight. My response will, therefore, focus on the facts, and I will endeavour not to respond to the political spins contained in the said post. The unimpeachable facts relating to this matter are as follows: sometime last year, there were allegations levelled against Akonta Mining Ltd that it was engaging in some mining activities in the Tano Nimiri Forest Reserve; although the company had applied for a mining lease over a portion of the Forest Reserve, the application had not yet been determined. I, therefore, directed the Forestry Commission to investigate the matter, and ensure that the Company does not carry out mining activities in the Forest; the Forestry Commission moved in quickly and cleared the forest of all alleged illegal activities; President Akufo-Addo had been invited as a Special Guest of Honour at the NUCDPA Congress, where he spoke about strengthening State-Church collaboration; at the said Congress, a specific question was asked by the Chairman of the occasion regarding illegal mining activities by Akonta Mining; the President in response stated categorically that Akonta Mining is not engaged in any illegal mining anywhere in Ghana AS WE SPEAK; the President was speaking about the state of affairs at the time he made the comment, and went ahead to add that Government, through the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources and the Forestry Commission had, with the assistance of the military, cordoned off all Forest Reserves in the country, and rid them of illegal mining activities at the time he was speaking, and that Government was working to ensure that the situation remains permanent; the comments by the President in no way relates to past or future activities of Akonta Mining, and cannot, by any shred of imagination, be deemed as exonerating the company from any past activities or interfering with any ongoing investigations; as it is public knowledge, the allegations of illegal mining by Akonta Mining Ltd are being investigated by state institutions responsible for such investigations, the Ghana Police Service and the Office of the Special Prosecutor; when I received the report from the investigations conducted by the Forestry Commission, pursuant to my directive, I forwarded the report to the Ghana Police Service, through the Minister for Interior, to assist them in their investigations; the Criminal Investigations Division (CID) of the Police Service has subsequently written to me requesting some further information, which I have provided; the Office of the Special Prosecutor, in its Half Yearly Report dated 31st December, 2022, also states that the Office is currently investigating activities of Akonta Mining and other companies in respect of the said allegations; officials of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources are collaborating with these state institutions to conduct their investigations and take the necessary actions; the President, mindful of these ongoing investigations, refrained from speaking on past activities of the company which are under investigations by the state agencies. Indeed, but for the specific question posed by the Chairman of the occasion, the President would not have mentioned Akonta Mining at all; I, also, want to put on record that no one, and absolutely no one, compelled me to issue the Press Statement on Akonta Mining which was issued following the allegations of their activities in the Forest Reserve. Neither has the President called any official of Akonta Mining to appease them on the action taken by Government. These claims, if they were indeed made, as you suggest, are, obviously, false and a figment of peoples own imagination; and as reiterated by President Akufo-Addo at the Congress where he spoke, Government is determined to win the fight against galamsey, no matter the cost and effort. Under his distinguished and outstanding leadership, we are committed to doing this with the highest standards of transparency, integrity and utmost good faith in the public interest. Sir, whilst I have the opportunity, permit me to assert, without a shred of equivocation that the record of President Akufo-Addos Government in the past six years of fighting corruption far surpasses the NDCs eight-year record. Needless to point out that President Akufo-Addos extraordinary funding of anti-corruption institutions, the establishment of the Office of the Special Prosecutor, which as I speak, is investigating this matter, the passage of the Right to Information Act, 2019 (Act 989), rapid investigations of allegations of corruption, and many more are testament to his remarkable record in the fight against corruption. I have reluctantly come out to set these records straight due to the very unfair and unfortunate manner in which you have attacked the unblemished reputation and integrity of the President of the Republic, your successor. Good Day Sir, Samuel A. Jinapor, MP Minister for Lands and Natural Resources Ministries Accra Lands and Natural Resources Ministry has revealed that it is set to take delivery of four aircraft from the Ghana Armed Forces to aid the fight against illegal mining also known as galamsey. Deputy Lands Minister, George Mireku Duker said the aircraft which belongs to the Armed Forces will come in handy as new strategies are being mapped out to fight galamsey. The aircraft have been around, and they are sitting in Takoradi. You could bear with me that in court we may need some evidence, it is the reason these aircraft are very important in the sector. We are hoping to have not less than four of these aircraft, Mr Duker said in an interview with the media. In November last year, the Ghana Armed Forces deployed in the fight against illegal mining in forest reserves and river bodies seized 30 excavators, destroyed four and immobilised four others on site. This was after the re-launch of Operation Halt II on October 11, 2022, with the seizure and destruction made within the period ending October 31. According to the Director of Public Relations of the Ghana Armed Forces, Naval Captain Michael Addo Larbi, during the three-week operation period, the teams destroyed 103 Changfan machines, nine water pumping machines, five generator sets and two fuel storage tanks By Citi Newsroom Belgian authorities said seizures of cocaine at the port of Antwerp, the main gateway into Europe, hit a new record last year. This comes amid mounting concern over the power of violent international gangs. Belgium's main container terminal is now seen as the biggest route for illegal drugs into Europe, with 109.9 tonnes of cocaine seized in 2022 and an unknown but probably much larger quantity reaching the market. Seizures in 2022 were up from 89.5 tonnes last year, based on new figures released on Tuesday. Across the Netherlands border, in nearby Rotterdam and Vlissingen, Dutch police battling the same gangs intercepted a further 52.5 tonnes of cocaine. After Belgium and Spain, the Netherlands is Europe's third largest drugs gateway. Belgium's Finance Minister Vincent Van Peteghem, who oversees the customs service, and Dutch Secretary of State Aukje de Vries, revealed the figures at an Antwerp news conference. They hailed the "intense cooperation" between the neighbouring authorities and promised to hire 100 more Belgian customs officers while investing 70 million in high-tech tools. "For the Netherlands, the next few years' spending will relate in particular to artificial intelligence, chemical detection and tracking containers," a joint statement said. Settling scores European police have made a number of high-profile arrests after cracking an encrypted text message network used by the gangs, and carried out several large-scale drug busts in recent weeks. But the cocaine volumes found in Antwerp have only increased and there have been explosions and gun shots in city neighbourhoods as rival groups settle scores. On Monday, an 11-year-old girl was killed after attackers opened fire on a home in a shooting Antwerp mayor Bart De Wever called a suspected "settling of scores" between gangs. "A drug war is under way," De Wever told local TV. Belgian prosecutors say that over the past five years they have recorded more than 200 incidents of drug-related violence mainly assaults and explosives thrown at homes. The gangs, including the so-called "Mocro Maffia" drawn from Moroccan-origin communities in the Netherlands, have become more brazen in recent years. In September last year, security was stepped up around Belgian Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne after four Dutch suspects were arrested for allegedly plotting to kidnap him. Sniffer dogs and police frogmen have been deployed at the Antwerp and Rotterdam container terminals, but authorities fear they are only intercepting 10 percent of illegal cargoes. Hidden in frozen fish At a separate announcement in the Netherlands, Dutch authorities revealed that drugs seized at their ports in 2022 had a street value of 3.5 billion euros. In Europe's biggest port, Rotterdam, seizures were down in 2022, at 46.8 tonnes compared to 72.8 the year before, but in smaller Vlissingen, just across the Scheldt river estuary from Antwerp, 4,157 kilos were intercepted in 2022, compared to 2,100 kilos in 2021. Smugglers into the Netherlands appear to be breaking their shipments into smaller packages, perhaps to spread the risk of interception, but the biggest seizure was a 2.8-tonne batch in a load of frozen fish from Ecuador. European drug gangs work with Latin American suppliers to bring in cocaine, mainly from Panama, Colombia, Paraguay, Brazil and Ecuador. From the ports, it is trucked around Europe by well-organised multinational gangs. It is one of the organised crime's biggest money earners. The European drugs monitoring agency estimated in 2020 that the EU retail cocaine market was worth between 7.7 billion and 10.5 billion. (with wires) A staunch member of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Nyaho Tamakloe has kicked Kennedy Agyapongs bid to lead the party in the 2024 general election. The Assin Central Member of Parliament (MP) declared his intention to contest the partys flagbearership race in 2022. But according to a founding member of the party, the legislator only makes noise in the party but has done nothing. Speaking in an interview on Accra-based Joy News on Tuesday, January 10, Dr. Nyahoe Tamakloe said he has no problem with the likes of Alan Kyerematen, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, or Kwabena Agyei Agyapong leading the party, but it shouldnt be Kennedy Agyapong. "I don't know Kennedy Agyapong in the party. I know someone who makes noise in the party but I don't know Kennedy Agyapong. We also keep praising people but what has he done for the party? He should come out with it. I know those I've mentioned and the work they've done for the party. He might have done something for the party, then he should come forward. I don't know what he has done for the party. All the names I mentioned including Bawumia have done something for the party," he said. Meanwhile, the former Trade and Industry Minister, on Tuesday, January 10, officially made known his intention to lead the NPP as the flagbearer and possibly, Ghanas next President. I wish to use this platform to formally announce my decision to contest the flagbearership of the New Patriotic Party when the Party officially opens nominations for that purpose," he announced. This comes few days after he resigned from his position as the Minister of Trade and Industry. Artisans and Craft Weavers at Tema Community Five also called on the government to support players in the sector and encourage local manufacturers to increase production and create more employment for the teeming youth. Tema Community Five Artisans and Crafts weavers members in an interview that even though some of them were motivated by pronouncements from government officials to support the local manufacturers, unfortunately, in reality, we have been left in the woods. Ghana must initiate the process to transform the artisans and crafts weavers sector through the injection of modern technology to upscale the quality of the finished products. Mr. Stephen Asamoah another artisan said that the industry provides jobs for pupils who could not continue to climb the academic ladder and those who are interested in the handiwork. He said the artisans and craft sector could offer great service to the nation to reduce the countrys import bill, reduce unemployment and attract foreign exchange. He said although the taste for foreign goods in the country is very high, fortunately, their quality and lifespan cannot be compared to the locally produced ones which are why the foreign ones are cheaper than the local ones. Mr Asamoah said the perception of some sections of the public that local products lack quality is false and called on the government to initiate policy interventions to support local small-scale industries. Mr. Fiifi Sakyi who also deals in craft sofas, baskets, and wardrobes near the Tema Community Five Traffic Light complained that prices of raw materials have increased. Madam Nancy Sakyi, Manager of Come, and Watch Craft Workers suggested that government should institute a policy directive to ensure that Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) as well as Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MDAs) patronize the services of local artisans and crafts for office decors. If MDAs and MMDAs engage with local artisans to provide locally crafted decor and basketry at festive seasons, official events, and at offices, it would be a double advantage to the nation, Madam Sakyi stated. She said the use of locally produced sofas and wardrobes in offices would portray and promote the image of made-in-Ghana goods both locally and on the international platform. Source: CDA Consult || Contributor god of smallpox 11.01.2023 LISTEN The recent SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has taught us a lot, including the importance of immunity/immunization. As per scientists, immunization is one of the best ways to protect yourself and society from infectious diseases by reducing its spreads. According to Addisie et al. (2002), immunity is the host's protection in which the modified organism or its product causes the host to create antibodies by activating the immune system to produce antibodies and cellular immune responses that defend it against infectious agents. During the pandemic, there were many myths surrounding the disease and its vaccines, these included "once you've had COVID-19, you can't get it again" and "the vaccine can make you sick with COVID-19". These myths resulted from misinformation spreading regarding the different forms of immunity. It was discovered decades ago by scientists that people who had recovered from diseases, would never be infected again because they had gained immunity. This knowledge is thought to have evolved from past events and traditional practices. Dr. Eluemuno Blyden, CEO of Avril Biopharma, and Dr. Ikechukwu Achebe, a scholar at the Elliot School of International Affairs/George Washington University, elaborated on how the ideas of immunity on which immunology is based, emerged from African traditional medicine and practices in an interview on The COVID-19 Diary Special Interview Edition (an initiative by the NRF-South Africa and the Association of African Universities). History of African immunization practice. Africans in centuries past used to be immune to basic bacterial infectious based diseases such as smallpox. The people of the Yoruba kingdom and that of the Kingdom of Dahomey invoked the healing and immunizing powers of the Sopona or Babalu Aye and Sakpata deities (god of smallpox) over these periods (Oripelaye et al, 2016).Many West and Central African people believed that the invasion of diseases was a result of poor relationships between them and the deities, spirits, or ancestors (The Royal Society, 2020). Smallpox, for example, was said to be a disease caused by sopona's divine wrath and could only be curtailed and controlled by specific priests in charge of the god's shrines. The Sopona priests on the other hand could inflict the wrath of the Sakpta god (god of smallpox) onto those who defied the way of the gods. Afterward, the priest revokes the smallpox disease by scratching the surface material of the poxs sores into their arms, a practice known as variolation (named after the virus that causes smallpox, the variola virus) or inoculations. Although this practice causes harm to the people, it also heals them by making them naturally resistant to smallpox, as stated by Dr. Blyden as the specialty and sovereignty of the sopona god. African culture protected generations from smallpox. During the times of slavery, West Africans were ordinarily immunized against smallpox through indigenous medical practices representing our means of inoculations. According to Dr. Achebe, captains of slave ships were the first to recognize and use this process because they used to send captives who havent been inoculated back on shore to be inoculated. The act of slave trade propagated the presence of Africans across the Americas, whereby knowledge of African medical practices such as inoculations was shared, even with their enslavers. Dr. Achebe stated that the practice of inoculation was introduced to America and then to London by Africans who were brought to Boston and found themselves amid a smallpox outbreak. In 1706, an enslaved West African man named Onesimus by his enslaver, Reverend Cotton Mather (the prominent Puritan Minister) explained how inoculation was practiced in his home - Africa. Routinely, enslaved Africans were asked by their enslavers if they had smallpox to ensure the safety of their family and themselves. When Onesimus was asked by Mather, he answered both yes and no and further explained: how he had undergone an operation, a general practice carried out in their homes in Africa, which had given him immunity over smallpox and would forever preserve him, and whoever had the courage to use it was forever free from the fear of its contagion. Onesimus' operation involved rubbing an infected person's pus into an open wound. When the infected material is introduced into the body, the person is inoculated against smallpox, which is known in modern terms as immunization. Dr. Elumono Blyden further explained that inoculation extended to notions of power, and authority and that those who held authority were said to be immune, capable of exercising power, and would not succumb to attacks. It was through Onesimus' explanation that Cotton Mather and Zabdiel Boylston implemented and began, for the first time in the history of American medicine, trials in inoculating about 245 patients in the year 1721. Smallpox inoculation was widely circulated and available in multiple languages, and authorities in the Americas began to limit the practice to licensed European or local physicians. Some leading Western scientists declared this practice to be the most significant discovery in medicine for the preservation of human life. One of whom was a man named Hans Sloane in England, who was the president of the Royal Society, said Dr. Achebe. Modern immunization In today's modern world of immunology-based medicine, the historical background of smallpox inoculation is about the return of the intellectual property, which is extremely valuable. Dr. Achebe recounted that it transformed alchemy into what we now call modern medicine. An example was scarification was one of the methods of immunizing children against a variety of diseases, like how children are vaccinated before entering school in the modern world. According to Dr. Blyden, one of sopona's characteristics was that he could both harm and heal you, which embodied the concept of immunology, on which all modern medicine is based. Similarly, some SARS-CoV-2 vaccines are created from a weakened version of the virus that replicates to a limited extent but does not cause harm while inducing immune responses. Smallpox inoculation is an example of how African culture has preserved knowledge about highly sophisticated and complex scientific health medical concepts. In addition, it is important for African scientists, particularly emerging scientists, to understand and recognize science in the African traditional context to impart more indigenous scientific knowledge to future generations. Author: Isabella Tetteh Ahinakwa, Science Journalist - Association of African Universities Television (AAU). References *Addisie M., Feleke A. A., Edris A. M., Mengistu A. D., Eredie A. A., Woreta A. A, Abate A. E., Mekonnen A. E., Tilaye A. T., Wubshet A.M , Andargie A.G., Kebede Y., Nigussie A. M., Tadesse A. & Gelaw A. B. (2002). Expanded Program in Immunization for the Ethiopian Health Center Team. Gondar University College. https://www.cartercenter.org/resources/pdfs/health/ephti/library/modules/degree/mod_exp_imm_final.pdf *Association of African Universities. (2022, June 10). The COVID-19 Diary: Origins of immunization in African culture and traditional medicine [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/KInw5WjH6DE *Oripelaye M. M, Olasode O. A & Onayemi O. (2016). Austin Journal Dermatolog. Small Pox Eradication and Cultural Evolution among the Yoruba Race, 3(5), 1067. www.austinpublishinggroup.com *The Royal Society. (2020, October 20) West Africas and the history of smallpox inoculation: Q&A with Elise A. Mitchell. https://royalsociety.org/blog/2020/10/west-africans-and-the-history-of-smallpox-inoc ulation/ Former Trade and Industry Minister Alan Kyerematen 11.01.2023 LISTEN Leading Member of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Alan Kyerematen has bemoaned the corruption canker which continues to drag Ghana backwards. In his view, the arrogance of power has been a major obstruction to progress in the country. Corruption and petty theft or thievery, particularly from the public purse, deny our country the benefit of utilising its tax revenue and other resources for the development of our country. The arrogance of power has been a major obstruction to progress in our country. People in positions of authority must understand that leadership is an opportunity to serve the people, and not to lord it over them. In servant leadership, humility is an asset and not a weakness, Alan Kyerematen said on Tuesday, January 10. The former Trade and Industry Minister said in a live telecast to announce his ambition to contest the presidential primaries of the NPP. He will be hoping to win the primaries to become the flagbearer of the NPP to lead the party in the 2024 general elections to realise his long-awaited dream to become the next President of Ghana. Alan Kyerematen has said when given the opportunity, he will run a lean government. According to him, his "vision is to build a superstructure on this foundation that will bring prosperity to our nation." 11.01.2023 LISTEN The management of the University of Ghana (UG) has instructed its lawyers to vigorously fight an injunction secured by some students of the Commonwealth Hall seeking to stop the university's new residential policy. In a statement, the University stated that the injunction was secured on inaccurate information by the supposed students. Management of the University of Ghana has received a copy of an order for an injunction issued by the High Court, Commercial Division, Accra. This order was secured by eight (8) persons purporting to be residents of Commonwealth Hall. The order seeks to restrain the University from implementing a residential policy decision affecting continuing students of Commonwealth Hall. The University believes that the order was obtained on the basis of inaccurate information. Accordingly, the lawyers of the University have been instructed to vigorously defend the University in court, parts of the statement by the university stated. The university added that in the meantime it would put in place adequate measures to create a conducive environment for teaching, learning and research. UG on October 26, 2022, asked the continuing students of the Commonwealth Hall to find accommodation outside the campus. All continuing students of Commonwealth Hall and continuing male students of Mensah Sarbah Hall will not return to these halls, or to any of the traditional halls. They are to be randomly assigned to available rooms in any of the UGEL and private hostels. Beginning from the 2022/2023 academic year, only Level 100 and graduate students (Masters and PhD level) will be assigned to Mensah Sarbah and Commonwealth Halls. Subsequently, undergraduate students will vacate the halls at the end of Level 100 and may secure accommodation in the private hostels from Level 200 until completion, UG management said. By Citi Newsroom A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind. Presidential aspirant, Alan Kyerematen has stressed that he will become a servant to the people of Ghanaian if he is elected the next President. According to him, corruption and petty theft or thievery, particularly from the public purse, deny the country the benefit of utilising its tax revenue and other resources for the development of the country. He added, the arrogance of power has been a major obstruction to progress in our country. People in positions of authority must understand that leadership is an opportunity to serve the people, and not to lord it over them. In servant leadership, humility is an asset and not a weakness. Meanwhile, Alan Kyerematen has bemoaned how Ghana is becoming what he described as a NATO country, No Action Talk Only. In his view, the country needs to be action-oriented on matters by ensuring that solutions to problems are not only discussed but implemented. Ghana is gradually becoming a NATO country No Action Talk Only. We need to remember that the use of time is a zero-sum game. What Ghana needs now are solutions and actions not debates, the leading member of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) said on Tuesday, January 11 while declaring his intention to contest the flagbearership of the party. Alan Kyeremateng continued, And last but not the least, our politics in Ghana is too divisive. This keeps out some of our best talents in offering themselves for political appointments. Yes, we pride ourselves as being the bastion of democracy in Africa, but that does not mean that we should allow partisan politics to destroy our collective interests. Following his resignation as the Minister of Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen is now set to focus all his efforts on what will be a tough contest in the presidential primaries of the NPP. The Executive Director, Mr Emmanuel Atiigah delivering his speech at the ceremony in Navrongo 11.01.2023 LISTEN The Executive Director of Our Lady of Mercy Community Services (OLAM), Mr Emanuel Atiiga has observed that the spate of inter-tribal and clan conflicts being recorded in some parts of the country have the tendency of indoctrinating such negativity into the youth to continue to chart same negativity. The Executive Director who made the observation during the graduation and exhibition ceremony held in Navrongo in the Kassena-Nankana Municipal in the region on Monday stressed that if care is not taken to address the situation now, conflict would continue to be a cyclical issue in the region since the youth are most likely to be initiated by the conflict actors. He told those who are fond of perpetuating such acts to be aware that no development can thrive in the atmosphere of conflict and cited that Bawku which used to be one of the epicentre of business would have grown more rapidly than its current state. Most of the financial institutions, schools and renowned business establishments have vacated the area and therefore discouraging more investors to invest in the conflict environment, he stressed. He cited for instance that the Kassena-Nankana Municipal Assembly has been spending huge sums of money on the Doba-Kandiga conflict that should have been channeled to develop other sectors of the economy in the Municipality to help improve livelihoods. He urged the chiefs and people in the area to help resolve land and chieftaincy disputes in the area to pave the way for development, He indicated that his outfit had a lot of interventions to implement to complement Governments efforts in development but cannot do that in the midst of conflicts. He said over the years his outfit has been providing vocational skills training in the areas of batik-tie and dye, weaving, dressmaking, bead making in addition to providing the beneficiaries with start-up kids to establish their own businesses. He said over the years OLAM with funding support from the Germany Embassy in Ghana and Open Society Initiative for West Africa, OSIWA-Senegal had so far trained over 1000 which majority have established their own enterprises. The Kassena-Nankana Municipal Chief Executive, Mr Joseph Adongo lauded the NGO for the support and reiterated the need for peaceful co-existence to help fast-track development in the area. He stated that Vocational and Technical Education was the key to addressing the unemployment situation in the country and stressed the need for parents to encourage their wards to get enrolled in such programmes for the training to acquire the needed skills for employment. . Cross Section Of The Grandaunts At The Ceremony In Navrongo Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, former Minister of Food and Agriculture 11.01.2023 LISTEN The recently resigned Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto has touted his achievements. He expressed his appreciation to President Akufo-Addo for finding him worthy to serve as minister for the agricultural sector. In a Facebook post on Wednesday, January 11, the former minister appreciated the President for accepting his resignation. It has been a great honour and privilege to serve as the Cabinet Minister in charge of Food and Agriculture in the last 5 years. I express my sincere gratitude to the President His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo for the confidence reposed in me to lead the agriculture industry to revamp and address the declining growth of the sector, he said. According to him, Under the leadership of the Akufo-Addo led administration, I implemented and championed major agricultural intervention programmes which have led to the growth of the sector over the years. His post concludes, I thank the President for accepting my resignation. To the prestigious New Patriotic Party, thank you for contributing to the advancement of the agricultural sector during my tenure as Minister. I appreciate all Ghanaians for their support. This far by Grace! Dr. Akoto Afriyie resigned from his post in the late hours of Tuesday, January 10 in a closed-door meeting with the President, per reports made known to this portal. Though not confirmed, his resignation was to make room for him to prepare ahead of the NPP flagbearership race as he intends to lead the party in the 2024 general elections. 11.01.2023 LISTEN A while ago, outgoing Minister of Trade and Industry of Ghana, Hon. Alan Kyeremanten announced to the world his intention to contest for the flagbearer position of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) when the party opens nominations. I must say at the outset that, Alan is one of the politicians l have a great deal of respect for and so l shall be duly guided in this writeup. Indeed, his declaration did not come as a surprise to many given the fact that he has contested in previous presidential primaries. It is a notorious fact that Alan contested and lost to Nana Akufo-Addo on three different occasions -- 2007, 2010 and 2014. His first attempt was quite satisfactory having garnered over 30% of the popular votes. Unfortunately, he lost the goodwill after his infamous resignation from the NPP, resulting in drastic reduction of his votes in subsequent primaries. His performance in the 2014 primaries was catastrophic. He obtained less than 6% of the total valid votes. That's how unpopular he has/had become. Fast forward, l listened attentively to his public address tonight, and l find some of his pronouncements contradictory and unfortunate. Knowing how experienced he is, one would have expected that he did not venture into those political minefields. Unfortunately, he tripped! In his speech, Alan, in one breadth says President Akufo-Addo's government has laid a strong foundation, which, when he's voted as NPP flagbearer and later President of Ghana, he will build on to ensure progress. In another breadth, he says Ghana, as it stands now has been reduced to what he calls "NATO" - No Action, Talk Only. It's needless to say that is an attack on President Akufo-Addo and the government he's been part of since 2017. Since when did Alan realize that Ghana has been reduced to "no action, talk only?" Is he suggesting this government only talks and does nothing? In fact, he's armed our opponents with political weapons to unleash on us come the main elections. As if that is not enough, Alan also says that should he get the opportunity to serve, he, just like Mahama has publicly stated, will downsize his government by merging some ministries, departments and agencies. If this is not a swipe at President Akufo-Addo, what else can it be? He's just played the ball into the hands of our main opponents. The straw that broke the camel's back was his proverbial claim of "Akyea nanso enbuy", to wit, "it's crooked, not broken." Is Alan by that expression telling us that President Akufo-Addo's government has disappointed Ghanaians, and that when he gets the nod will turn things around? Is that so? Gracious me! Don't be surprised when you wake up to newspaper headlines like, "Alan Kyeremanten agrees with Mahama as he takes a swipe at President Akufo-Addo over bloated government." Folks, l am left wondering what exactly Alan wants to achieve with these talks? I'm saddened; however, l take consolation in the fact that NPP delegates have resolved to elect Dr. Bawumia as the next flagbearer and President of Ghana. Sir Obama Pokuase No. 345 Baobab Street 11.01.2023 LISTEN Ministry of Finance has categorically stated that it cannot exempt the insurance industry from the Debt Exchange Programme. The Ghana Insurers Association in December 2022 called for the exemption of insurance companies from the domestic debt exchange programme. According to the association, 40 percent of its total assets for the third quarter of 2022 were invested in Government of Ghana Securities hence any attempt to give its members a haircut will spell doom for the sector. But in a letter signed by the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta to the President of the Ghana Insurers Association, the Finance Ministry stated that it has made some adjustments to the debt exchange programme due to feedback from the industry but cannot exempt the insurance industry. Based on your letter and the feedback from you and other industry associations, the Government, working with its advisors, has made significant enhancements to the terms of the exchange instruments to address key concerns raised about accrued interest and zero coupons for 2023. The government has also improved the commercial terms of the exchange instruments; which details were announced on 24th December 2022. In this regard, Government encourages a positive response from the industry to enable us to complete the exercise in the interest of the broader economy. In our meetingyou made it very clear, the peculiar nature of your industry and therefore the forbearance required; an exemption, however, is not an option, parts of the statement read. Ghana in mid-December 2022 secured a $3 billion staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) but the country must restructure its debt to get the final approval to access the IMF funds. In December, Ghana launched a domestic debt exchange and later said it would default on nearly all of its $28.4 billion of external debts. The government in December further extended the deadline to register for its domestic debt exchange to January 16, 2023, in order to secure internal approvals from the financial sector, the Finance Ministry said in a statement late on Saturday. Under the original plan, local bonds were to be exchanged for new ones maturing in 2027, 2029, 2032 and 2037, with annual coupons set at 0% in 2023, 5% in 2024 and 10% from 2025 until maturity. Under the new terms, however, the Finance Ministry said that eight additional instruments would be created, bringing the total number of new bonds to 12, with one maturing each year from 2027 to 2038. By Kobina Welsing The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Mr Samuel A. Jinapor has said the government will provide the necessary support for the hosting of the 2024 International Federation of Surveyors (FIG) working week. He gave the assurance when a delegation from the International Federation of Surveyors led by its President, Dr Diane Dumashie called on him on Tuesday in Accra. The working week and conference, which will take place from May 19 to 23, 2024, is expected to draw 2,500 surveyors from over 120 countries. Mr Jinapor stated that because his Ministry recognizes land as the mother component of its activities, all organizations in the land sector are considered integral partners and that the ministry was eager to work with the Federation to address issues in the lands sector. He noted that for the two organizations to be successful, the Ministry and the Federation must first create a framework that would serve as a guide for the partnership. On her part, the President of FIG, Dr Diane Dumashie shed light on the Federation and stated that they needed to work together for mutual benefit. Also present at the brief engagement was the Deputy Minister responsible for Lands and Forestry, Mr Benito Owusu-Bio and other officials from FGI. The Mayor of Accra, Madam Elizabeth Kwatsoe Tawiah Sackey, has paid a working visit to some selected schools in the city to welcome new KG entrants. The 'My First Day at School' is observed on the first day of a new academic year in basic education schools to instil a sense of excitement in pupils and motivate them to continue their education. Madam Sackey visited the Police Depot Basic School, Kaneshie Kingsway and Nii Kojo Ababio Cluster of Schools, Saint Joseph Anglican Basic School, Kingson Mills Basic School (alma mater of the Mayor) and Bishop Girls School. The Mayor used the occasion to urge all schoolchildren to take their studies seriously to ensure that Ghana has a very capable and competent labour force. I would entreat all kids in schools to take their books and schooling very seriously to ensure that Ghana has very able and competent leadership in the future, for a better Ghana, she said. She urged the pupils to be dedicated to their studies and assured them that with hard work, discipline and God's assistance, they would succeed. A representative of the Ga Mantse, King Tackie Teiko Tsuru II, praised the government for improving education in the nation and urged stakeholders in the education sector to work together to ensure that kids get a good education. The building of the National Cathedral is enough testimony of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addos devotion to God and no matter the opposition, it will be built, the Anglican Church, Ghana has said. Most Rev. Dr Cyril Kobina Ben-Smith, Primate & Metropolitan Archbishop, Church of the Province of West Africa/Archbishop, Internal Province of Ghana said throughout life, there have always been people who would support and assist a vision and others who will always criticise. At a special Presidential Eucharist Service held at the Jubilee House for President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, and their families on Tuesday, the Most Revered said such as any other leaders, King David faced similar challengesmurmuring and lamentations by some people, yet King David stood resolute in his conviction amid opposition. The naysayersthey are there and they will always be there. Do not bother about them, Most Rev. Dr Cyril Kobina Ben-Smith told the President. Despite the challenges and the times that the world finds itself, Most Rev. Dr Ben-Smith assured that Gods promise remains the same his mercies are new every morning. Speaking under the sermon theme: New mercies, New love; New hope for Ghana; Most Rev. Dr Cyril Kobina Ben-Smith's spiritual text was Lamentations 3:22-23 Because of the Lords great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. He assured President Akufo-Addo and the people of Ghana that Gods faithfulness remains sure for the nation. Gods mercies will never run out as promised as his mercies are new every morning. It is for the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed bodily, intellectually morally Mr President, GOD is still GOD and let every Ghanaian know that God is God and directs all affairs. and in Psalms 46, King David, said the LORD is my refuge and my strength, every present help in times of trouble. Therefore, we will not fear though the earth be moved and the mountains fall into the sea The LORD Almighty is with usand would always be with us Most Rev. Dr Cyril Kobina Ben-Smith assured. On his part, President expressed gratitude to the Church for the organisation of the prayer session which began last year and assured it would be repeated in 2024 and finally in 2025 when he will be completing the task assigned to him and his government by the Ghanaian people. "Its been an exciting and wonderful experience so far simply because God had always been in control, he stated. President Akufo-Addo also commended the financial sustainability strategy implored by the Church to remain financially viable and self-reliant. The bold venturing into the licensing and broker environment with the establishment of Spirit Insurance Brokerage Company Limited owned by the Church, the President said, is highly commendable as well as motivating. It's a grim and all too common sight for rangers at some of Africa's nature reserves: the bullet-riddled carcass of an elephant, its tusks removed by poachers. African elephant populations have fallen by about 30% since 2006 . Poaching has driven the decline. Some reserves, like Garamba in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Selous in Tanzania, have lost hundreds of elephants to poachers over the last decade. But others, like Etosha National Park in Namibia, have been targeted far less. What might explain this difference? That's what we set out to explore in our new paper . We investigated why poaching rates vary so widely across Africa and what this might reveal about what drives, motivates and facilitates poaching. To do this, we used a statistical model to relate poaching levels from 64 African sites to various socio-economic factors. These included a country's quality of governance and the level of human development in the area surrounding a park. Our findings suggest that poaching rates are lower where there is strong national governance and where local levels of human development especially wealth and health are relatively high. Strong site-level law enforcement and reduced global ivory prices also keep poaching levels down. Understanding these dynamics is crucial. The illegal wildlife trade is one of the highest value illicit trade sectors globally , worth several billion dollars each year. It poses a major threat to biodiversity and ecosystems, which are the bedrock of human well-being . And elephants are more than just a culturally significant icon. They are ecosystem engineers that can boost forest carbon stocks and diversify habitats through their feeding. Their presence in national parks and reserves also has economic benefits, bringing in valuable tourism revenues . The deaths of both poachers and rangers in the continent's violent biodiversity war also underscores our findings: when elephants lose, we all lose. Data collection We developed a statistical model using 19 years of data on 10,286 poached elephants at 64 sites in 30 African countries. These data were collected, mostly by wildlife rangers, as part of the global programme for Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) , administered by the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Rangers are the real champions of this research, working under difficult conditions to protect elephants and other biodiversity. Photo: Tim Kuiper. We then linked the poaching data to key socio-economic data related to areas around the parks, individual countries and global markets. Poaching of high-value species like elephants and rhinos is driven primarily by sophisticated criminal syndicates . So we used criminology theory and evidence from the scientific literature to generate hypotheses about factors that might drive, facilitate or motivate the decisions of these syndicates and the local hunters they recruited. We then identified datasets representing these factors, such as the Uppsala Armed Conflict Dataset and the Global Data Lab's Subnational Human Development index . Read more: Statistical models and ranger insights help identify patterns in elephant poaching Our tailored statistical model allows us to test for the effect of one hypothesised driver of poaching while accounting for the others. It also means we can look at local, national, regional and global factors together. Key findings Parks with higher levels of human development (based on health and wealth metrics from household surveys) and stronger law enforcement suffered less poaching. Poaching was also lower in countries where there was strong national governance quality. We measured this using the World Bank's governance indicators . Socio-economic and political drivers were far more common than ecological ones. A park's accessibility and size, the density of its vegetation and its elephant population did not affect its poaching levels. The strong associations we found between poaching and factors like corruption and human development do not necessarily imply that these factors directly cause poaching. Correlation does not imply causation. Deeper research at particular sites will reveal what underlying processes are at play, and offer a better understanding of cause and effect. But we do have some suggestions about what might lie behind the associations we found. These are rooted in previous studies . Solutions transcend biodiversity Why, for instance, would higher levels of local human well-being in an area be associated with lower poaching? One explanation could be that, in areas of economic deprivation and in the absence of alternatives, local residents might participate in poaching to meet their basic needs or earn extra income. Another interpretation might be that criminal ivory syndicates seeking to recruit local hunters target areas of lower human well-being because they can operate more effectively there. A number of biodiversity conservation actors, like government wildlife departments or environmental NGOs, have already recognised the value in focusing on improving human well-being around parks and reserves. A stellar example is Namibia's conservancy model . It achieves effective conservation through local communities governing and benefiting from wildlife. Our study highlights that site-based conservation action alone cannot control illegal killing. A lot of what drives and facilitates elephant poaching is beyond conservationists' remit or control. Conservationists can't be expected to solve local human development issues or hold governments accountable on their own. Wider societal action to address poverty is required. This could include empowering women, increasing access to basic education, and promoting resilience to climate change. Such action is valuable in its own right, but will likely deliver benefits for elephants too. Finally, the positive relationship that we found between poaching and ivory prices suggests that tackling demand for illegal wildlife in end-markets is a key part of the puzzle. We suggest that tackling elephant poaching, and indeed the broader illegal wildlife trade, requires dealing with the wider systemic challenges of human development, corruption and consumer demand. It is not enough to just focus on actions traditionally defined as wildlife conservation. Timothy Kuiper receives funding from the South African National Research Foundation and the University of Cape Town Research Council. This work arises from a consultancy from the UN CITES Monitoring Illegal Killing of Elephants programme, to E.J. Milner-Gulland and Tim Kuiper (CITES project S-598), which was funded by the European Union. The consultancy brief was to identify and analyse covariates of illegal killing across MIKE sites, and a peer-reviewed paper was one of the planned outputs This work arises from a consultancy from the UN CITES Monitoring Illegal Killing of Elephants programme, to E.J. Milner-Gulland and Tim Kuiper (CITES project S-598), which was funded by the European Union. The consultancy brief was to identify and analyse covariates of illegal killing across MIKE sites, and a peer-reviewed paper was one of the planned outputs. Potentially relevant group memberships: I am currently a Trustee of WWF-UK and a member of the IUCN-SSC Sustainable Use and Livelihoods specialist group. By Timothy Kuiper, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Cape Town And Eleanor Jane Milner-Gulland, Tasso Leventis Professor of Biodiversity, University of Oxford 11.01.2023 LISTEN Resigned Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto has extended his appreciation to President Akufo-Addo for giving him the opportunity to serve. In a short statement on Twitter, the leading member of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) government also expressed gratitude to Ghanaians for their support throughout his time as Minister. I express my sincere gratitude to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for the confidence reposed in me to lead agric industry. I thank the NPP for contributing to the sectors growth. I appreciate Ghanaians for their support, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto said in a Tweet. The veteran politician tendered his resignation to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at the Jubilee House on Tuesday, January 10, during a closed-door meeting. His decision to resign as Food and Agriculture Minister was to focus all his efforts on his presidential ambition. It is understood that he will officially declare his intention to contest the presidential primaries of the NPP. Already, former Minister of Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen has announced he will contest for the flagbearer position. The two are likely to be challenged by a number of other leading members of the New Patriotic Party as the party gears up to go into the 2024 general elections with a new face as President Akufo-Addo brings his two terms as president to an end. Tigrayan rebels began handing in their heavy weapons on Wednesday, a crucial element in the peace deal signed with the federal government last November, ending the two-year conflict in northern Ethiopia. "Tigray has handed over its heavy weapons as part of its commitment to implementing the #Pretoria agreement," Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) spokesman Getachew Reda tweeted on Wednesday, referring to the 2 November deal signed in the South African capital. "We hope and expect this will go a long way in expediting the full implementation of the agreement." There was no immediate reaction from the government of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. According to the peace deal, the disarmament of heavy Tigrayan weapons is supposed to take place at the same time as the withdrawal of foreign and non-federal forces. Neighbouring Eritrea supported the Ethiopian army in the conflict but did not participate in the Pretoria talks. Conflict behind closed doors The conflict errupted in November 2020 when Abiy Ahmed deployed the army in a bid to topple Tigrayan leaders who had been challenging his authority for months. He accused the rebels of attacking federal military bases. The two-year conflict displaced more than two million Ethiopians and plunged hundreds of thousands of people into near-famine conditions, according to the UN. The fighting left more than 13.6 million people dependent on humanitarian aid in northern Ethiopia. Tigrayans have denounced "atrocities" they say were committed by Eritrea's army and by regional forces from neighbouring Amhara. Accusations include looting, rape, executions and abductions of civilians. With access to Tigray still restricted, it is impossible to independently verify the situation on the ground. 11.01.2023 LISTEN Most of Ghanas domestic gas comes from offshore, this was disclosed by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana National Gas Company Limited Dr Ben K.D Asante. Speaking at the State of the Agencies Report at the Ministry of Information on Wednesday, 11 January 2023, Dr Asante said: Our source of gas are from the basin, the Tano basin over there. All our gas, domestic gas, come from offshore, with the basin over there with all those colours. The National Gas Company CEO noted that his outfit is hoping that the country can find some oil and gas in the Voltaian basin. But were hoping that in the not very distant future, we may be able to find some oil and gas onshore in the Voltaian basin. But for now our gas, domestic gas, is all coming from offshore. We also do have some gas coming from Nigeria through the West African Gas pipeline so those are the key sources of our gas today as we know it, the National Gas Company CEO stated. Feeding Africa's growing population is a big development challenge for governments, policy makers and agriculture experts. Adding to the challenge is the high level of food loss and waste that most small-scale farmers experience. The African Postharvest Losses Information System reports indicate that countries in Africa waste more than 30% of fresh fruits and vegetables through inefficient post-harvest management. The impact of this loss and waste is severe on smallholders who rely on farming for a living. The Rockefeller Foundation has warned that inefficient post-harvest infrastructure could cause millions of agriculture-dependent households in Africa to fall back into extreme poverty. The region urgently needs solutions to reduce food loss and waste. Tanzania is one of the countries that experience this problem. The east African nation is an agriculture-based economy with small-scale farmers dominating the sector. Most small-scale farmers live in areas where access to electricity is limited. As a result, they don't have cold storage facilities for their fresh vegetables and fruits. With a lack of cold storage, nearly 30% of fresh produce in Tanzania perish before they get to consumers. For fresh tomatoes, as much as 50% is lost before reaching markets due to poor storage conditions. Recently, solar-powered cold storage facilities have emerged as a potential solution. These facilities are already benefiting thousands of farmers and traders in Nigeria. But they are not reaching many others across sub-Saharan Africa. In my recent research , I examined what was holding back progress. Focusing on tomato farming in Kilolo district in south-east Tanzania, I spoke to farmers, solar energy experts and policy experts to explore what needs to be done to improve access to cold storage facilities. I found that the barriers to uptake were limited awareness, the cost of the technology, farmers' low capacity to pay, and consumer preference for non-refrigerated food. Practical policy interventions would include incentives to attract investment, payment flexibility to make technology more affordable, and greater awareness of the benefits of cold storage. What causes tomato losses Tomato production has huge agribusiness potential in Tanzania. However, small-scale farmers are confronted with several post-harvest management challenges. In my interactions with farmers, I noticed that most tomatoes got damaged soon after harvesting due to poor handling, lack of proper storage and the use of motorbikes to transport tomatoes from farms to distant wholesale markets. Due to a lack of storage facilities, farmers without pre-orders kept their harvest in a shaded open space while waiting for buyers. Some reported treating matured tomatoes with chemicals to delay ripening while waiting for buyers. Or they simply delayed harvesting them. When the rain comes, most tomatoes get spoiled very quickly. As a result of all these factors, post-harvest tomato losses could be as high as 60%. Solar-powered cold storage technology Tanzania has made significant progress in increasing access to solar energy technologies for rural populations. About 70% of rural households use appliances powered by solar. But high investment costs remain the most significant barrier to uptake. A solar expert told me a 40ft solar-powered cold storage facility could cost about US$20,000 to set up. Given that most small-scale farmers are low-income earners, such a facility is beyond their means. As a result of small market share and the significant upfront costs involved, solar companies have been reluctant to venture into the cold storage technology business, added this solar expert. The capital cost constraint is also linked to poor financing for renewable energy programmes. In several parts of Africa, including Tanzania, insufficient foreign direct investment for solar energy projects has been identified as a major impediment to market growth . Solar-powered technologies are a clean energy solution with environmental benefits. But they are rarely promoted; marketing is poor. In Tanzania, my interactions with farmers and traders revealed that the vast majority of the potential market had no basic knowledge of solar-powered cold storage. They were interested in using the technology to minimise losses during harvest season. But they weren't sure how it would affect their business earnings. They needed more information. Farmers and traders also expressed concerns about whether their regular clients would be willing to buy chilled or refrigerated tomatoes. I was surprised to hear that this was a potential problem. According to these farmers, most consumers in Tanzania prefer freshly harvested tomatoes. One said: Distant buyers from Dar es Salaam, Tanga, or Dodoma sometimes opt to come straight to the farm and pick the tomatoes they want; usually, they prefer and want you to harvest those that are in the green stage so that they don't spoil during transportation. These kinds of buyers will not buy tomatoes that have been stored in cold storage facility. Experts suggested that this concern could stem from limited exposure to chilled and frozen foods among local populations in Africa. Solar service providers would need to be aware of this market reality. Overcoming barriers Solar-powered cold storage technology is of prime significance in Africa's efforts to cut post-harvest losses and attain food security, as outlined in the African Union Malabo Declaration . But costs and affordability make it very challenging for African-based solar service providers. Private sector participation will be needed to increase financing and investment for cold storage technologies in emerging markets such as Tanzania. This can only be realised under a supportive regulatory environment and innovative policy incentives that attract capital. The good news is that in the last few years, private financing for renewable energy programmes in developing countries has more than doubled . The opportunities are opening up for African-based solar companies and their potential market. Evodius Waziri Rutta 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 Evodius Waziri Rutta, Sustainability Researcher, Queen's University, Ontario You Play A Critical Role In Sustaining The Economy Dr Bawumia Hails Farmers In Farmers Day Message 11.01.2023 LISTEN A professor of history and political studies at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Professor Samuel Adu-Gyamfi,says Ghanas Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, possesses a power of personality that extends beyond the confines of his party. Professor Adu Gyamfi, speaking on the state of the NPP Presidential primary, said Bawumia is in control of the race due to his transcendent personality whilst former Trade Minister Alan Kyeremanten and other candidates play catch-up. The professor made his comments during an appearance on TV3s Midday Live on Friday, January 6. Reacting to the resignation of Trade and Industry Minister, Alan Kwadwo Kyeremanten, Adu-Gyamfi said the Minister should have resigned earlier because Bawumia has an iron grip on the primaries. Professor Adu-Gyamfi said the Vice President has a personality that transcends the party, adding he has put in tremendous grassroots work. He cited Bawumias frequent visits to various churches and mosques as part of his outreach. Recently, the Vice President was in the news for refurbishing the historic Tamale Central Mosque. Bawuwmia funded the renovation of the ground floor, second and third floors, the minarets, the penthouse, lighting, painting, and other works. He was mobbed after returning to Tamale to officially hand over the finished project to the mosques authorities. This points towards the Veeps veneration of the needs of the religious community, which is also reflected in the time he spends as a special guest at numerous church programs, all of which undoubtedly informed the Professors analysis. Professor Samuel Adu-Gyamfi is the first trained Social historian of medicine from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi-Ghana. He lectures in the Department of History and Political Studies of same university. He is currently the Head of History and Political Studies of KNUST. Source: theGhanaianVoice.Com Founder of Prophetic Hill Chapel Nigel Gaisie has revealed that he has informed Deputy Majority Leader in Parliament, Alexander Afenyo-Markin about the doom prophecy he had on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in order for steps to be taken to avert it from happening. He said the security around the President should be beefed up. Speaking on the Pae Mu Ka show with Yaa Titi Ocrah on Onua television on Tuesday January 10, Nigel Gaisie said One of the visions I got was about the borders on our northern sector, Bawku area, security should be strengthened. The personal security around the President should be strengthened. I have told Honourable Afenyo-Markin about it, he said. Nigel Gaisie keeps making these pronouncements in spite of a reminder from the Ghana Police Service about the law regarding the communication of prophecies and urged compliance to ensure continuous security and law and order in the country. As the year 2022 draws to a close, we wish to once again entreat the general public, especially faith-based groups to ensure continuous compliance with the law as it relates to the communication of prophecies, the police said in a statement on Tuesday, December 27, 2022. Let us continue to remember that whereas we have the right to practise our faith in religion, freedom of worship and speech, this right must not be exercised in violation of the rights of others and the public interest, it added. The warning in 2021 forced some prophets to adopt different styles in communicating prophecies. A year ago, Prophet Gaisie directed his prophecies to an imaginary nation he called 'Republic of Umuofia'. He was later invited by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Service for interrogations. In his New Year service this year, the man of God walked a similar path this time referring to the nation as 'Ymp Nokor', to wit 'We don't like the truth'. Say this is a disclaimer, he began. I am in the spirit and I am in church, standing behind the pulpit of God. READ I am not talking in my human sense. I am talking in my sense as a spiritual person. The intention is not to cause fear and panic. I repeat again I am not prophesying to the nation and people of Ghana. I am prophesying to the 'Republic of Ymp Nokor'. He then unleashed nearly 40 sets of prophecies including one about the Inspector General of Police (IGP) of the referred nation. The LORD took my spirit to the Republic of Ymp Nokor. I saw that there was a change of an IGP, I saw it in the realm of the spirit that the IGP, his boot was taken off. -3news.com The Chief Executive of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Dr Mustapha Abdul-Hamid has urged Ghanaians to refrain from bastardizing the country and rededicate themselves to its development. He again charged public officers to stop shortchanging the country for their selfish gains. The NPA Boss says Ghana offers more opportunities in education than the advanced countries of America and Britain. He said the privileges were created by successive governments since Dr Kwame Nkrumah and expressed worry that beneficiaries of such pro poor educational policies were not showing gratitude to the country. For instance, Dr Abdul-Hamid said many Ghanaians had benefited from the Northern scholarship scheme, free basic education, the current free Senior High School program, tertiary educational loans and scholarships from the GETFund and Scholarship Secretariat to study abroad. He said many of the beneficiaries had refused to pay back the loans while others had refused to return to Ghana after completing their sponsored studies. He said instead of lauding Ghana for making them who they are, such people are rather badmouthing the country. Dr Abdul-Hamid made the call at the unveiling of a refurbished conference room for the Bono Regional Coordinating Council (BRCC) in Sunyani on Tuesday. The conference room was refurbished by the NPA as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility upon a request by the BRCC. The conference room, which is used for Regional Security Council Meetings, conferences and workshops, was in a poor state as the desks and seats were broken, window glasses smashed and curtains faded and torn. Using himself as an example, the NPA Boss said he could not have been who he is today but for the educational opportunities he enjoyed, such as the Northern Education Scholarship Scheme, and the low cost of tertiary education from the First Degree through to PhD. He said many the youth in America and Britain could not attain tertiary education because it cost more than $100,000 to finish First Degrees. Dr Abdul-Hamid said many people who ventured to pursue tertiary education in America and Britain were saddled with loans that they pay for the rest of their lives. However, he said, the cost of tertiary education in Ghana was far far less. Besides, Dr Abdul-Hamid said people were being paid for pursuing nursing and teacher training courses. "This country is a blessing. We have no choice as Ghanaian people but to contribute whatever we can and the little we can in whatever corner we find ourselves for the betterment of our country", he said. In her address, the Bono Regional Minister, Ms Justina Owusu Banahene, said the poor state of the conference room compelled the Council to rent conference rooms to hold Regional Coordinating Council meetings and conferences. That, she said, was a drain on the Council's limited finances aside the security threat it posed. Ms Banahene thanked the NPA, especially Dr Abdul-Hamid for spearheading the refurbishment of the conference room in record time, and promised to maintain it for present and future use. The NPA team included a Board Member, Ms Diana Mogre, and the Director of Corporate Affairs, Mrs Maria Oquaye. Source: National Petroleum Authority 11.01.2023 LISTEN As the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) gears up for presidential primaries to elect a candidate for the 2024 polls, a former Deputy General Secretary of the party, Nana Obiri Boahen is calling for calm, peace and tranquillity in the party. According to the NPP senior member, it will be suicidal for the party in the upcoming general elections should any of the aspiring candidates and supporters opt to run acrimonious. The staunch supporter of Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia appealed to the overlord of Mamprugu, Nayiri- Naa Bohugu Mahami Abdulai Sheriga and opinion leaders of his quest to support the Vice president to become the next NPP flag bearer and president eventually. The outspoken lawyer during his three-day visit to the four Northern Regions also paid a courtesy call on Pagafio, Diara Chief, Dakpema and Mion chief, the chief of Walewale, Duurana Amin Mohammed, Buipewura and informed the traditionalists on the same mission. "Very soon, we'll be going to primaries as a party to elect a flag bearer who can lead us to 'break the 8'. Your son, Alhaji Bawumia is the one I am supporting because of what I've seen him as Vice president. ...and I've come to you with my Mumprusi train and I want everybody to join me," he stated. The NPP flagbearership race is reportedly getting fierce and there are indications that it might get messy if the current national executives do not swiftly act to intervene. "I believe this 'fight' is in-house and we should avoid attacking ourselves for any reason," Nana Obiri Boahen pointed out. The combination of imagination and the power of touch is how visually impaired Kanyizine Kansah identifies weeds in his crops. The 59-year-old blind farmer who lives in the Karni community of the Upper West Region commutes about 45mins eastward to his farm every morning. I farm maize and other cereal crops in the rainy season, he says. But in the dry season like this, Mr. Kansas, with support from his three adolescent children, goes into dry-season farming. I grew vegetables this season and that include leguminous plants, cabbage, onion, pepper, and okra, Mr. Kansah says whilst meticulously reaching out below the roots of his cabbage plant to remove a weed. His vegetable farms occupy two mini-size hectares. Mr. Kansah also has a four-acre farm where he farms maize, sorghum, beans, and groundnut among other crops during the rainy season. This is where the 'bread and butter' of the family come from, he says. Mr. Kansah says he has dependants and so he does not allow his loss of sight to limit his ability to provide for his family. Genesis Of His Blindness I do not know the color of the sun nor the moon. I can't tell whether water is red and or yellow either, Mr. Kansah reckons and that is so because he was born blind. His parents, both peasant farmers decided to consult native doctors after thinking that blindness was spiritual. But there was no positive outcome after many years of such consultations. Consulting native doctors with eye conditions are common in deprived communities where health information is limited. That is when the determined Kansah began accepting his fate and taking the bull by the horn. One common sight in the Karni community is the number of visually impaired people. It is not only Kansah that has lost his sight and fighting on. I noticed many others without sight also working on their farms. Most of them, however, fell ill to blinding sicknesses such as missiles and trachoma which became so common until the country fought to eradicate them. When my late parents told me the story of my blindness, I thanked them for doing their best to get me to see. But it is not their fault and that should not be a barrier for me to live, Kansah says. That is how I learned farming and since then I have been living with that, although it is not rosy. He says, losing one part of your body doesn't mean you have become redundant in life. People should stop using disability as an excuse to be a burden in society. We need to stop that mindset and begin to work like I am doing and they will see that it's easier working than begging. Mr. Kansah is married and we are blessed with three strong children, he said with a beaming smile. The produce from both farmings keeps the household running as well as supporting all kinds of bills including when they have to pay for health or buy anything for academic reasons. The family also takes full advantage of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and Free Education to balance their costs most of the time. *Challenges* Despite having indigenous farming skills which lasted him all the years, recent hikes in prices of farm inputs, poor soil fertility, and climate change are disturbing realities to contend with. Farming activities have become very expensive than we knew years ago Mr. Kansah laments. The cost of fertilizer, weedicide, and seeds has skyrocketed and the yield is too little to survive on it. It has been like a 'rock and hard place' for marginalized farmers like Mr. Kansah since the world battled the Covid pandemic and Ukraine Russian war. Fertilizer and seeds are very expensive lately because sellers say the problem is where they buy from. And that is affecting everything we use to get in a yield. You can't farm the usual size because you can't maintain the field. The population of persons living with disability in the Upper West stands at 14,404 according to the Upper West Regional Chairman of Persons Living with Disability, Mr. Saani Ibrahim. Many of them have encountered a lot of challenges regarding job opportunities across the country. Despite government initiatives such as the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) program, an initiative targeting vulnerable households with cash transfers, persons living with disability continue to wallow in poverty while the majority of them are not even aware of the disability fund, let alone access it. Mr. Kansah told DGN Online he tried many times to access the fund but the social welfare department in the district never listed him for it. The assembly is aware of what I am doing but efforts made to get their support has proved futile. Even satisfied seeds, and fertilizer for my farm they do not give me so I have to get everything by myself. Sustainable Development Goal 10 calls for reduced inequalities within and among countries. It calls for nations to reduce inequalities in income as well as those based on age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion, or economic status within a country. Disability Association The Upper West Regional Chairman of Persons Living with Disability, Mr. Saani Ibrahim told DGN Online that the disability common fund at the various Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAS) is meant to empower them to undertake some activities such as businesses among others to discourage them from begging on the streets but the delay in its disturbances is affecting members. The delay in the release of the funds is affecting us because of the nature of the funds the time you may need it for your farming might not be available and it will come probably when the farming season is over and so if the common fund will come regularly our members will to encouraged to go into serious farming as a business so we beg the government to ensure the release of the common fund on time. He urged members to venture into farming and other businesses to empower themselves and called on the government and other institutions to support persons living with disability who are into something to survive to enable them to earn something to carter for their families. Back at Kansas's vegetable farm, the plants are showing positive signs and the green leafy veggies dangles due to moderate harmattan wind which blows over the guinea savannah belt. What threatens the crops is the inadequate water due to high evaporation posed by climate change in this region. As you can see the plants have started growing gradually and with the severe sun shining on them the plants will need constant watering, Kansah said whilst fumbling to fetch water with a bucket from a stream nearby. He is scared the crops may soon wither as the evaporation occurs rapidly. I do not have any sustainable water supply aside this the stream that runs through the gutter. If I could afford a borehole, I won't have to be scared anymore he said. -DGN online The Ghana National Gas Company (GNGC) has saved $207 million as cost of operations since March 2017 when Ghanaian engineers and technicians took over the running of the Atuabo Gas Processing Plant from the Chinese. The GNGC was established in July 2011 as a limited liability company with the responsibility to build, own and operate natural gas infrastructure required for gathering, processing, transportation and marketing of gas. Dr Benjamin K.D. Asante, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the GNGC, addressing the media in Accra on Wednesday on its operations, said the Company had been saving three million dollars per month as cost of operations, which translated into $36 million annually, for engaging Ghanaian engineers to operate the plant. It currently produced 330 million standard cubic feet (MMscfd) of natural gas per day, which had ensured reliable supply of lean gas to the Aboadze and Tema power enclaves for generation of electricity. That, he said, had ultimately resolved the frequency of power outages (dumsor) in the country. The GNGC supplies lean gas to the VRAs twin power plant (TAPCO), which generates 330 MW, TICO Plant (330MW), Karpowership (450MW) and Amandi Power Plant (192MW). At the Tema power enclave, it supplied gas to AKSA Energy (203 MW), CENPOWER (330MW) and Sunon Asogli Power Plant (560 MW). For instance, since the Tema enclave started using lean gas for power generation instead of petroleum products, it had cut down cost of generating 1,000 Megawatt of power from $70 million per month to $33 million, Mr Asante said. Substituting oil for gas in power generation had reduced atmospheric emissions from 8.3 million tonnes per year to 1.3 million tonnes, thus contributing significantly towards the United Nations Goal of minimising green gas emissions. Dr Asante gave the assurance of its commitment to ensuring adequate reserve margin of gas for protection of both planned and unplanned outages. On its corporate social responsibility, he said the company had completed 152 development projects since 2019 while 301 of them were ongoing across the 16 regions. They include Astro-turfs, mechanised boreholes, classroom blocks, markets, toilet facilities and community-based health posts, which had brought a lot of relief to the beneficiary communities. Since it began operations in November 2014, it had worked millions of manhours with no loss of lives or injuries to workers at its sites, the CEO said. It had conducted three successful shutdowns for maintenance works at the Atuabo Gas Plant, which did not negatively affect supply of gas to the power enclaves. The vision of the company is to become a fully integrated gas services firm providing reliable supply of gas and gas derivatives in Ghana and the West African Sub-region, Dr Asante said. It also wants to contribute towards the countrys industrialisation process by installing and operating the gas infrastructure required for processing and delivering the product to the market in a safe, cost effective and environmentally responsive manner. GNA President Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo is expected to attend the funeral rites of His Eminence Richard Cardinal Kuuia Baawobr, M.AFR, scheduled to commence on Wednesday, January 11. The body will be conveyed from the Upper West Regional Hospital Morgue at 14 hours Wednesday, to the Malik Jabri Park in Wa, after a short prayer service. The itinerary, made available to the Ghana News Agency, indicates that the President would address the funeral on Thursday before the mortal remains of the Cardinal were interred at the St. Andrews Catholic Cathedral. There would be a requiem mass at 1000 hours on Thursday, followed by tributes from the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar, the family, and Missionaries of Africa, to which the late Cardinal belonged. The Wa Diocesan Priests Association, the Ghana Catholic Bishops' Conference, and Most Rev. Henryk Mieczyslaw Jagodznski, the Apostolic Nuncio of Ghana, would all pay tributes. Well-wishers at the funeral would also be allowed to file past to pay their last respect. His Eminence Richard Cardinal Kuuia Baawobr, M.AFR was the Bishop of Wa before he was nominated by Pope Francis as a Cardinal among 21 Catholic Priests on 29th May 2022. He was elected the President of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) on July 30, the eve of the Eucharistic celebration to mark the conclusion of the 19th Plenary Assembly of SECAM in Accra. He was born on 21st June 1959 and had served as a priest since 1987 before he passed on to glory on Sunday, November 27, 2022, in Rome. GNA A private legal practitioner, Lawyer Maurice Ampaw has jabbed the former Trade and Industry Minister for waiting too long before resigning from President Akufo-Addos government. He said the aspiring NPP flagbearer should have stayed away from the partys second term and focused on his ambition. That act, according to the vocal legal practitioner, shows Mr. Alan Kyerematen is unserious and a disappointment to politics. I like you (Alan) because you are a gentleman and someone who detests corruption and bribery I feel uncomfortable criticising you but your resignation was long overdue. Alan, you are not an experienced politician, I am telling you before God and Man. You should have resigned in 2020, he stated. You worked with your brother (Akufo-Addo) from 2016 after losing the primaries to him and you knew you were the next in line to lead the party. You should have organized a press conference in 2020 stating that you were no longer going to serve Akufo-Addo because you are the next in line to lead the party, he stressed. His earlier resignation wouldnt have given prominence to Kennedy Agyapong and Vice President Bawumias bid, according to Lawyer Ampaw. He argued that none of them would have gotten the nerves to step forward to battle the post if Mr. Kyerematen had been on the grounds pushing in 2020. You are not a politician. What you did made me realize that you are not a serious politician, you not ready to take over, he asserted. Meanwhile, the former Trade and Industry Minister, on Tuesday, January 10, officially made known his intention to lead the NPP as their flagbearer and possibly, Ghanas next President. I wish to use this platform to formally announce my decision to contest the flagbearership of the New Patriotic Party when the Party officially opens nominations for that purpose," he announced. This comes a few days after he resigned from his position as the Minister of Trade and Industry. Police in the Central Region has begun investigations to unravel the mystery behind the alleged murder of a 28-year-old labourer, Kwaku Emmanuel from Assin-Dominase in the Assin South District of the Central Region. His death had generated fear and panic in the town, with Nana Kwame Akwapong, Kyidomhene of Assin-Dominase, calling on the Police to intensify patrols in the area to enable the people to go about their normal duties without fear. A police team led by Chief Superintendent Sefas Arthur, the Assin-Fosu District Police Commander, found a bag containing three balls of kenkey, plier and a stepdown machine beside the body. A 65-year-old mother of the deceased, Madam Yaa Mansa, told the Ghana News Agency, her son, left home around 0800 hours on Monday, January 9, for Assin Fosu but did not return home as expected. She said she was later informed in the early hours of Tuesday, January 10, that Emmanuel had been brutally murdered and his body dumped at the outskirts of the town. According to her, there were bruises on the deceased's face with blood oozing from the nostrils. GNA 11.01.2023 LISTEN An Accra Circuit Court has granted a GHS50,000.00 bail each to two persons who allegedly defrauded 35 persons of GHS350,000.00 under the pretext of securing them jobs at Ghana COCOBOD. Douglas Ofosu, student, and Wilfred Kwaku Boateng, businessman, were ordered by the Court presided over by Mrs Kizita Naa Kowah Quarshie, to get two common sureties. They have denied conspiring to defraud Mr Twumasi Asare and 34 others. Ofosu and Boateng will make their next appearance on February 13, 2023. Meanwhile, their accomplices: Sakyi, Mensah, Emmanuel and Bismark Odame are on the run. Chief Inspector Isaac Anquandah told the Court that complainants, in this case, were unemployed. He said Ofosu and his accomplices represented themselves as staff of COCOBOD and told the victims that there were a lot of vacancies in the institution. The accused persons, the Court heard, between November and December 2022, took advantage of the complainants and collected GHS350,000.00 under the pretext of securing them jobs at COCOBOD. Prosecution said after the accused persons received the GHS350,000.00 from the complainants, they failed to honour their promise, hence, the complainants filed a petition with the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB), where Ofosu was arrested. Chief Inspector Anquandah said in Ofosus cautioned statement, he voluntarily admitted having received about GHS100,000.00 from Boateng. He said Odame, now at large, represented himself as Dr Mensah, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of COCOBOD, and received money from the job seekers. Prosecution said Ofosu bought MTN mobile money merchant sim card from a friend at GHS600.00 and used same to receive the fraud money, adding that the money was shared by the accused persons. Chief Inspector Anquandah said on January 04, 2023, Boateng also reported with his Lawyer at the NIB where he was arrested and in his caution statement, he admitted having known Ofosu and asked him to purchase MTN mobile money sim card which he used to receive funds on behalf of Odame. He said efforts were underway to arrest the rest of the accused persons. GNA 11.01.2023 LISTEN An Accra Circuit Court has remanded into police custody two persons allegedly involved in election disturbances during the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Youth and Women's Congress held in Cape Coast. Abdul Halid Shaibu aka Olu and Razak Ibrahim aka Oga have pleaded not guilty to two counts of prohibition of vigilante groups and activities. Dauda Mohammed Nazir, the third accused person, however pleaded guilty to the charge on Tuesday January 10, 2023. The Court presided over by Mrs Samuel Bright Acquah has however deferred Nazir's sentence to January 25. Defence counsels: Ali Jafaru, Paul Asibi Abariga and Lampting Akpanga, prayed for bail, saying the accused were gainfully employed, they had fixed places of abode and that they would appear to stand trial. Prosecution led by Superintendent of Police Sylvester Asare vehemently opposed to the grant of bail, saying they would interfere with Police investigations. According to prosecution, the Police was on a man hunt for other accused persons who were at large. The Court turned down the accused persons' bail application on the grounds that accused persons were not ordinary residents within the court's jurisdiction and that the possibility of the accused persons absenting themselves was high. According to the Court, the gravity of the offence and the punishment if found guilty, would also compel the accused persons to abscond. It noted that out of the 14 suspected persons, only three had been arrested and the Police were on the heels of the rest. The Court held that the country was gradually heading towards Election 2024 and that political vigilantism was becoming rampant and it should be stopped. It said the only duty of the Court was to put fear in culprits so that Election 2024 would become peaceful. The case of the Prosecution was that the accused persons are members of a vigilante group operating within the NDC. The Prosecution said on December 10, 2022, the Police received report of violent disturbances at the NDC's National Youth and Women's Congress held at Cape Coast in the Central Region. It said on receipt of the disturbance report, the Police commenced investigations into the matter. According to the prosecution, the Police investigation team reviewed specific video footage and declared 16 persons wanted, including the accused persons for the alleged violence. The Prosecution said investigations revealed that while the proceedings were ongoing at the Congress, two rival vigilante groups violently clashed by throwing stones, clubs, among others, causing injury to some persons. It said Shaibu and Ibrahim and others at large worked for and in the interest of George Opare Addo aka Pablo as the National Youth Organiser of the NDC. Similarly, it was established that Nazir, the third accused person and others at large acted for Brogya Gyenfi and Hannah Bisiw. The Prosecution said on December 9, 2022, Shaibu and Ibrahim and others at large, were transported from Tamale to Cape Coast to engage in vigilante activities in the interest of George Opare Addo to win the election. It said accused persons were given GHS50.00 each as pocket money. The Prosecution held that on December 9, 2023, one suspect known as Jango currently in police custody, organised a rival group, including Nazir from Berekum and its environs to further push for the interest of Hannah Bisiw and Brogya Gyenfi. It said Police investigations also revealed that the three accused persons and others at large, were lodged and fed in separate Hotels in Cape Coast. On December 10, 2022, it said while the congress was going on, the vigilante rival groups without any provocation resorted to use of violence, threat and intimidation, injuring some persons who were later rushed to the hospital for treatment. Prosecution said investigation revealed that Shaibu and Ibrahim were given GHS250 each for their services as vigilantes at the Congress. It said on January 6, 2023, Shaibu and Ibrahim were arrested at their hideouts at Tamale and brought to Accra for investigations. Prosecution said on January 7, 2023, Nazir was arrested at Kintampo. GNA 11.01.2023 LISTEN 2014: I opened with Ecobank (Ghana) a Savings and a Current Account. Over time I discovered many issues with professional banking on the part of Ecobank as anyone expects when dealing with any African bank, not specifically Ecobank. Hope and fear is a constant companion to customers of African banks. 30.7.2022: Ecobank took Ghc 240 in one booking from my savings account. They claimed it is to cover service charges Ghc 10 for the previous 2 years. There was always enough money in the account to cover the service charges. Even if there would not have been why did I not get an email about it indicating that after three unsuccessful attempts to take service charges they would have to close the account? I discovered that two bank accounts had different numbers I was never informed about. 09.08.2022: I sent Ecobank (Ghana) an email. I attached a letter written with my computer and signed by my own hand asking the bank to close both of my bank accounts with immediate effect. 01.12.2022: As nothing happened I contacted Ecobank again to remind them of doing the things I had asked them to do. 22.12.2022: Ms Matilda Okerchire from Ecobank asked me to give information about my German bank account - which I already had done previously- to get the balance transferred into in addition to a signed letter to ask for closure of the bank accounts. The same day I wrote a handwritten letter to close the accounts along with a photo taken from my German bank statement with the bank details to avoid any mistakes. After receiving my requested for documents including my handwritten and signed instructions to close my both bank accounts my savings account was closed. The money left in it was transferred to my - still opened- current account. 03.01.2022: I received a bank statement. Accordingly, to it my savings account got closed. The money in it got credited to my current account. Instead to close it after this step and transfer the whole amount to Germany the current account stayed open. 06.01.2023: I sent to Ecobank an email complaining that my savings account got closed but not my current account as requested. 10.01.2023: Ms Matilda Okerchire from Ecobank called me in Germany from a Ghana MTN line. She said they can't close the current account as they can't read my handwritten letter which was good enough to close the savings account but not current account even both were mentioned in the letter side by side. We had a serious argument over the phone words I used not proper to mention here. 11.01.2023: I send to Ecobank a copy of the email with attached letter from 09.08.2022 (see above). I told them they can keep the small money in the account which is less than what I earn per hour in Germany only what I want is it to be closed. Let's see whether they follow my advice buy a bottle of Champagne, toast to my peace of mind and leave me alone. Several tragic stories come to my attention of banks in Ghana stealing money from people and what they are doing always to frustrate people. Also, in other African countries money with banks are never safe. The old saying goes: Africa is nothing for the weak hearted only for real men with the fighting heart of a lion. The Global Fund has allocated 234 million USD for the containment and prevention of HIV, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria between 2024 and 2026. The allocation, which was made based on Ghana's disease burden and income level, is expected to help build a Resilient and Sustainable Systems for Health (RSSH) in the country. About 95 million USD of the total amount has been allocated to HIV prevention and control interventions, 18 million USD for TB and 120 million USD for Tuberculosis from January 1, 2024 to December 31, 2026. To access the funds, Ghana is requested to submit applications that capture the opinions, concerns, and suggestions on HI, . TB and malaria from a wider section of the populace. Mr Samuel Hackman, General Secretary of the Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) of the Global Fund to fight ADIS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, said a resilient RSSH would accelerate progress in the fight against the three diseases and enable health services to be delivered in an integrated, sustainable, equitable, efficient, and effective way. He was speaking at the launch of the CCM country dialogue, which will take place in all 16 regions across the country as part of preparations towards the development of a funding request to access the funds. He said the Global Fund had asked Ghana to develop a funding request through inclusive and transparent country dialogue with a broad range of stakeholders, including key and vulnerable populations. Mr Hackman said due to high co-infection of TB and HIV, Ghana was required to submit TB/HIV as a joint funding request. Mr Ernest Amoabeng Orstin, Vice Chairman of CCM, who spoke on behalf of the Health Minister, who is the Chair for the CCM, expressed concern about the resurgence of HIV in the country in the last few years. He stressed the need for all to get involved to ensure a reduction in new infections in the three diseases, and end stigma and discrimination against persons living with the diseases. Dr Francis Kasolo, World Health Organization Ghana Representative, in a speech read on his behalf, said an inclusive and transparent country dialogue with a broad range of stakeholders, including key and vulnerable populations was essential in ensuring effective programming and utilisation of investments towards the attainment of TB, HIV and Malaria-free Ghana by 2030. The dialogue when properly done shall produce a technically sound funding application, which is people centered and helps to accelerate national progress towards the elimination of the three diseases, he said. He urged the CCM to exhibit a high sense of nationalism and respect for differing opinions throughout the country dialogue process. Ghana needs to find and place on treatment over 100,000 additional Persons Living with HIV to reach epidemic control. We need to find the missing TB cases and accelerate efforts towards malarial elimination, he said. GNA 11.01.2023 LISTEN Ethiopian Airlines, the leading airline in Africa, has announced that the frequency of its flights to Chinese cities will increase as of February 06, 2023 ultimately returning to the pre-COVID19 levels on March 01, 2023 following the lifting of restrictions by the Government of China. As of February 06, 2023, Ethiopian Airlines will operate daily flights to Guangzhou while increasing its weekly flights to Beijing and Shanghai to four each and maintaining the trice weekly operation to Chengdu. Starting from March 01, 2023, the flights will surge back to the pre-COVID19 levels with daily flights to Beijing and Shanghai as well as ten and four weekly flights to Guangzhou and Chengdu respectively. Accordingly, Ethiopian will operate a total of 28 weekly passenger flights to China when the services are fully restored. Regarding the increase of flight frequencies, Ethiopian Group CEO Mesfin Tasew said, We are glad that we are ramping up the frequencies of our flights to Chinese cities thanks to the easing of flight restrictions by the Government of China. China is one of the largest markets for Ethiopian Airlines outside Africa, and the increase in flight frequencies will help revive the trade, investment, cultural and bilateral cooperation between Africa and China in the post-Covid era. Thanks to our large network across Africa, the increase in the number of flights to Chinese cities will bring Africa and China closer. We are keen to further expand our service to China going forward. In addition to its passenger flights to Guangzhou, Shanghai, Beijing and Chengdu, Ethiopian is also operating freighter flights to Guangzhou, Shanghai, Zhengzhou, Changsha and Wuhan. 11.01.2023 LISTEN The leader of Wiliingway Foundation in Kumasi, Lydia Abena Manu has expressed her frustration after months of trying to repatriate a mentally-ill Nigerian citizen through the Nigerian Embassy in Ghana. She added that other officials seem not ready to accept Blessing Okoye, a nursing mother who was taken off the streets of Ghanas second biggest city, Kumasi while carrying a seven months pregnancy. Lydia Abena Manu told this reporter that since August 2022, the 32-year-old mother has been under the care and supervision of the philanthropic organization without any financial support from outside. She narrated that Blessing was lured into Ghana by some friends who promised her jobs and other juicy adventures but was later hit with mental illness which unfortunately shattered her dreams in Ghana. Lydia Abena Manu revealed that the foundation, an NGO, footed all the medical bills before, during and after delivery. Blessing who is now in a stable condition wants to take her beautiful daughter back to Lagos but attempts to get help from the Nigerian Embassy have been unsuccessful," the CEO stated. Willingway Foundation leader added that we visited the Embassy with a letter and later sent many e-mails seeking assistance but the officials appear indifferent. She added, "Two weeks after picking her up, we went to the Embassy, we sent a letter, we drew their attention that there's somebody like that in our facility but we haven't heard from them. We keep sending them mails and we haven't heard anything from them." Apart from the Embassy, she said they also contacted the Nigerian committee's branch in Kumasi where the lady's details were taken but there has not been any positive response to date. She is therefore appealing to the Nigerian communities in Ghana to contact them for any assistance to send her back to join her family in Nigeria. SELLING AT AUCTION January 25, 2023 at 2pm 2000 Chevrolet Pickup Vin# 2GCEK19T0Y1157935 January 26, 2023 at 2pm 2008 Ford Focus Vin# 1FAHP32N88W285859 January 27, 2023 at 2pm 2010 Mazda MCX Vin# JM3ER2W52A0318575 SELLING AT AUCTION A1 Pawn 1214 5th Ave. W., Springfield | Public Notice of Intent to File Suit You are advised that after March 30, 2023, additional penalties and costs will be imposed in consequence of suits to be filed for enforcement of the lien for property taxes for prior tax years; until the filing of such suits, taxes may be paid in my office. Kendra Shelton, Robertson County Trustee | ROBERTSON CO UNTY BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS The Robertson County Board of Zoning Appeals will hold its monthly meeting, Thursday, January 26, 2023 at 6:00 P. M. in the Third Floor Conference Room, Robertson County Office Building, Springfield, Tennessee. The following cases will be heard. Case 2023-01 Jonathan Thomas requests Special Exception for an Accessory Apartment located on Dividing Ridge Road. | NOTICE OF THE ROBERTSON COUNTY GRAND JURY TO MEET It is the duty of your Grand Jurors to investigate any public offense which they know or have reason to believe has been committed and which is triable or indictable in this county. Any person having knowledge or proof that an offense has been committed may apply to testify before the Grand Jury subject to the provisions of Tennessee Code Annotated 40-12-104. The foreman in this county is presently: James Brown, Jr., P.O. Box 1429, Springfield, TN 37172. The Grand Jury will next meet on Wednesday, February 15, 2023 at 8:00 a.m. You may be prosecuted for perjury for any oral or written statement which you make under oath to the Grand Jury, when you know the statement to be false, and when the statement touches on a matter material to the point in question. | PUBLIC NOTICE The City of Adams is requesting bids from qualified companies to provide lawn care services for several lots. Bid packets can be obtained by logging onto the Vendor Registry website, which you may access through the Citys website (adamstennessee.net) and go under Purchasing. Bid packets will also be available for pickup at City Hall, during normal business hours. To be considered, please submit the required documentation, as detailed in the bid packet, to City Hall at 7617 Hwy 41 N Suite 101, Adams, TN 37010, no later than 4:00 pm Thursday, February 9th, 2023. The City of Adams reserves the right to reject any or all bids submitted. City Recorder, Anna Luke CMFO | Town of Coopertown PUBLIC NOTICE The Coopertown Board of Mayor & Aldermen will meet Tuesday, January 24, 2023 at 6:00pm at Fire Station #5, 3752 Old Coopertown Rd. Old Business: None. New Business: 1. Amend Budget FY 2022- 2023, First Reading, Ordinance 2023-003. 2. S. Walker and McMahan Hollow Rd Repair Discussion. Visit www.coopertowntn.org for agenda updates. Coopertown is an Equal Opportunity Employer. | ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDS Sewer Rehabilitation ARPA City of Greenbrier (Owner) Separate sealed Bids for furnishing of all materials, labor, tools, equipment, and appliances necessary for the construction of Sewer Rehabilitation ARPA will be received by the City of Greenbrier at Greenbrier City Hall, 790 West College Street, Greenbrier, TN 37073 until 2:00 PM, local time, on Thursday, January 26, 2023, and then at said office publicly opened and read aloud. The Project consists of the rehabilitation of existing sanitary sewer pipe and manhole infrastructure and includes the following major elements: Open cut replacement, pipe bursting, cured-in-place pipe lining, point repair, sewer lateral and cleanout replacement, cementitious manhole lining, manhole frame and cover replacement and resetting, including all excavation, grading, and related surface restoration for a complete project as shown or specified in the Contract Documents. A non-mandatory pre-bid meeting will be held at 10:00 AM local time, on Friday, January 20, 2023 at Greenbrier City Hall (address above). Copies of the Contract Documents and Specifications, including bidding documents and requirements and Contract Drawings may be obtained from the Engineer, FOXPE LLC, Nashville, TN (Address below), upon payment of $300.00 for each set. This payment is not refundable. Copies may be examined at the following locations: FOXPE LLC, 2711 Berrywood Dr, Nashville, Tennessee 37204, 615-640-0757 Builders Exchange of Tennessee (Nashville Office), 2322 Winford Ave. Nashville, TN 37211 Builders Exchange of Tennessee (Knoxville Office), 300 Clark Street Knoxville, TN 37921 Bidders must be listed on Engineers list of plan holders who have purchased the Contract Documents, Specifications, and Drawings. No bid may be withdrawn within 60 days after the scheduled time for receipt of bids. Engineer shall be provided with the following information: mailing address for U.S. Postal Service, physical delivery address, telephone number, email address, and name of contact person. This project is being supported, in whole or in part, by federal funds awarded to the City of Greenbrier by the U.S. Department of Treasury. All bidders must be licensed General Contractors as required by the Contractors Licensing Act of 1994 of the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, and qualified for the type of construction being bid upon. Attention of bidders is particularly called to the requirements as to conditions of employment to be observed and minimum wage rates to be paid under the contract. City of Greenbrier Lanny Adcock, Mayor Date January 4, 2023 | PUBLIC NOTICE Sanitation Holiday Notice The City of Springfield will be closed on Monday, January 16, 2023 for the observance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Residents that normally receive garbage collection on Monday will have their cart(s) collected on Wednesday, January 18, 2023. Carts must be curbside by 5:30 a.m. to avoid being missed. If garbage is not out in time, we cant come back until your next scheduled day. Never miss a collection again! Sign up for text reminders at www.springfieldtn.gov. Scroll down to Help Center and click on the Notify Me tab and follow the easy directions. | PUBLIC NOTICE FOR REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS Stokes Brown Public Library hereby gives public notice that it is requesting proposals from interested and qualified janitorial services companies for the following service: Comprehensive Service Contract for Janitorial Services REQUIREMENTS: The Library plans to select the most qualified contractor for the purpose of negotiating a final contract. A Letter-of-Intent (LOI) will be issued to the selected qualified contractor. Copies of the Request-for-Proposal (RFP) are available from: www1.youseemore.com/springfieldpl/ RFPs must be received in the Library at the address below in a sealed envelope. Request Clarification by Tuesday, February 7, 2023 from Michelle Adcock, Director Stokes Brown Public Library 405 White Street Springfield, TN 37172 615.384.5123 director@gorhampl.org Proposal must be received by Tuesday, February 14, 2023 at 2:00 PM local time, after which time and date they will no longer be accepted. The Award Date will be Friday, March 10, 2023. | INVITATION TO BID Sealed bids will be received by the City of White House, Tennessee at the Purchasing office; 105D College St., 3rd floor; White House, Tennessee 37188 until 9:00 AM, Wednesday, February 1st, 2023, at which time they will opened and read aloud for: Bid# 23-1098HC Decorative Fencing for Hillcrest Cemetery Bids received after this time will not be considered. Each bid, in duplicate, shall be enclosed in a sealed envelope and shall be plainly marked on the outside of the envelope: Bid No. 23-1098HC Decorative Fencing for Hillcrest Cemetery, February 1st, 2023, 9:00 AM. The City of White House will not be responsible in the event that the U.S. Postal Service or any other courier system fails to deliver the sealed bids to the City of White House, Purchasing Office by the given deadline above. No bids will be accepted via facsimile or electronic transmission. The City of White House specifically reserves the right to reject any or all bids, to waive irregularities or informalities in any or all bids and to accept any bid which is deemed to be in the best interest of the City. Carol Sturm Purchasing Coordinator csturm@whitehousetn.gov | BOARD OF MAYOR AND ALDERMEN Thursday, January 19, 2023 7:00 PM Notice is hereby given that the Board of Mayor and Aldermen of the City of White House, Tennessee, will meet in regular session on Thursday, January 19, 2023. The meeting will take place at 7:00pm at the Billy S. Hobbs Community Center located at 105-D College Street. Public Hearing for this meeting is the following: 1. Ordinance 22-28: An ordinance to amend the Zoning Map from Robertson County R-20, Low Density Residential, to C-2, General Commercial, at 2811 Highway 31W. Once finalized, you can find the entire agenda online at our website, www.whitehousetn.gov/BMA The following Ordinances and Resolutions were passed at the last Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting that was held on Thursday, December 15, 2022. 1. Resolution 22-14: A resolution to annex certain territories and incorporate same within the corporate boundaries of the City of White House, TN. 2. Resolution 22-16: A resolution to annex certain territories and incorporate same within the corporate boundaries of the City of White House, TN. 3. Ordinance 22-15: An ordinance to amend the Municipal Code Title 11, Chapter 4 Offenses Against the Peace and Quiet, Section 11-402. 4. Ordinance 22-16: An ordinance to amend the Municipal Code Title 13, Property Maintenance Regulations, Chapters 1 and 3, as well as establishing Chapter 4 Enforcement. 5. Ordinance 22-17: An ordinance to amend the Municipal Code Title 4, Chapter 6 Code of Ethics. 6. Ordinance 22-18: An ordinance to amend the Municipal Code Title 7, Chapter 5 Open Burning Regulations, Section 7-502. 7. Ordinance 22-19: An ordinance to amend the fiscal budget for the period ending June 30, 2023. 8. Ordinance 22-20: An ordinance to amend Article V, Section 5.053.2, C-2 General Commercial, B. Automobile Sales from a permitted use to a permitted as special exception. 9. Ordinance 22-21: An ordinance to amend the Zoning Map from Robertson County R-20, Low Density Residential, to I-1, Light Industrial on Union Road. 10. Ordinance 22-22: An ordinance to amend the Zoning Map from Robertson County R-20, Low Density Residential, to I-1, Light Industrial on Union Road. 11. Ordinance 22-23: An ordinance to amend the Zoning Map from Robertson County R-20, Low Density Residential, to I-1, Light Industrial at Melton Road and Union Road. 12. Ordinance 22-24: An ordinance to amend the Zoning Map from Robertson County R-20, Low Density Residential, to I-1, Light Industrial on Melton Road. 13. Ordinance 22-25: An ordinance amending Article V, Section 5.053.2, C-2 General Commercial, to add an Industrial Overlay District to include certain boundaries within I-1, Light Industrial. 14. Ordinance 22-26: An ordinance to amend the Zoning Map from Sumner County Agricultural to R-20, Low Density Residential, on Highway 31W and New Hall Road. 15. Ordinance 22-27: An ordinance to amend the Zoning Map from Robertson County C-2, General Commercial, to I-1, Light Industrial at Loves Lane and Union Road. For a more detailed list and breakdown of other Resolutions and Ordinances, please visit our website. | CITY OF WHITE HOUSE REQUEST FOR QUOTES GREENWAY BRIDGE REPAIR TYREE SPRINGS/WHHS Request for Quotes (RFQ) will be received at the office of the Purchasing Specialist, City of White House, 105D College Street, White House, TN 37188 until 10:00 a.m. CST, Wednesday, January 25th, 2023. The Request for Quotes will be for the following: Greenway Bridge Repair Tyree Springs/WHHS Specifications for the Request for Quotes are available by contacting Carol Sturm, Purchasing Specialist (615) 672-4350 ext. *2130, by e-mail: csturm@whitehousetn.gov or on our website at www.whitehousetn.gov/purchasing. The City of White House reserves the right to reject any or all qualification statements or accept any presented which meet or exceed these specifications, and/or which would be in the best interest of the City and will not necessarily be bound to accept the lowest proposal. | 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. Yves here. While the press has made some attempts to identify climate change/environmental feedback loops, they tend to focus on simple ones, like higher temperatures leading to ocean floor and Siberian permafrost methane releases, or polar ice melts leading to heat-reflecting white surfaces being replaced by heat-absorbing dark waters. This article discusses how severe storms can sluice down burn scars, worsening damage to soil and even creating landslides. By Amir AghaKouchak. Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering and Earth System Science, University of California, Irvine. Originally published at openDemocracy Rivers of muddy water from heavy rainfall raced through city streets as thousands of people evacuated homes downhill from Californias wildfire burn scars amid atmospheric river storms drenching the state in early January 2023. The evacuations at one point included all of Montecito, home to around 8,000 people and the site of the states deadliest mudslide on record exactly five years earlier. Wildfire burn scars are particularly risky because wildfires strip away vegetation and make the soil hydrophobic meaning it is less able to absorb water. A downpour on these vulnerable landscapes can quickly erode the ground, and fast-moving water can carry the debris, rocks and mud with it. Officials warned of a risk of debris flows near several recently burned areas, including near Santa Barbara and Los Angeles, Monterey and Santa Cruz counties and the Shasta Trinity National Forest. I study cascading hazards like this, in which consecutive events lead to human disasters. Studies show climate change is raising the risk of multiple compound disasters, including new research showing increasing risks to energy infrastructure. When Storms Hit Burn Scars Five years ago, on Jan. 9, 2018, a deadly cascading disaster struck Montecito, a community in the coastal hills near Santa Barbara. The cascade of events had started many months earlier with a drought, followed by a wet winter that fueled dense growth of vegetation and shrubs. An unusually warm and dry spring and summer followed, and it dried out the vegetation, turning it into fuel ready to burn. That fall, extreme Santa Ana and Diablo winds created the perfect conditions for wildfires. The Thomas Fire began near Santa Barbara in December 2017 and burned over 280,000 acres. Then, on Jan. 9, 2018, extreme rainfall hit the region including the burn scar left by the fire. Water raced through the burned landscape above Montecito, eroding the ground and creating the deadliest mudslide-debris flow event in Californias history. More than 400 homes were destroyed in about two hours, and 23 people died. These kinds of cascading events arent unique to California. Australias Millennium Drought (1997-2009) also ended with devastating floods that inundated urban areas and breached levees. A study linked some of the levee and dike failures to earlier drought conditions, such as cracks forming because of exposure to heat and dryness. Individually, They Might Not Have Been Disasters When multiple hazards such as droughts, heat waves, wildfires and extreme rainfall interact, human disasters often result. The individual hazards might not be very extreme on their own, but combined they can become lethal. These types of events are broadly referred to as compound events. For example, a drought and heat wave might hit at the same time. A cascading event involves compound events in succession, like wildfires followed by downpours and mudslides. 3 significant atmospheric rivers will batter California over the next 10 days, putting a sizeable dent in the ongoing severe drought. Widespread snow totals of 100+ inches are expected above 8,000 feet in the Sierra, with 6-12 of rain in NorCal and 3-6 in SoCal. pic.twitter.com/lBSUTqgkIP Colin McCarthy (@US_Stormwatch) December 30, 2022 With compound and cascading events likely to become more common in a warming world, the ability to prepare for and manage multiple hazards will be increasingly essential. Climate Change Intensifies the Risk Several research studies have shown that compound events that include both drought and heat waves have become more severe and frequent in recent years. Studies have also shown that droughts and heat waves increase the likelihood of wildfires. And wildfires can also trigger other cascading hazards, turning otherwise unexceptional events into human disasters. At the same time, extreme rainfall events are expected to intensify in a warming climate. A warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture, leading to wetter storms. This means more burned acres could be exposed to potentially extreme rainfall events in a warmer world. AghaKouchak et al., Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 2020 Cascading hazards are not limited to rain over burned areas. For example, soot and ash deposits on snowpack can increase snowmelt, change the timing of runoff and cause snow-driven flooding. Its also important to recognize that human activities and local infrastructure can affect extreme events. Urbanization and deforestation, for example, can intensify flooding and worsen mud or debris flow events and their impacts. That was evident in the videos of muddy water pouring through streets in Santa Barbara County on Jan. 9, 2023. In a recent study, colleagues and I also looked at the risks to energy infrastructure from cascading disasters involving intense rain over burn areas, focusing on natural gas pipelines and other infrastructure. Our results showed that not only will natural gas infrastructure be increasingly exposed to individual hazards, creating the potential for fires, the chances of cascading hazards are expected to increase substantially in a warming climate. Managing Multiple Disasters and Climate Change About a year after the devastating Montecito mudslide in 2018, I visited a location where damage to a natural gas pipeline hit by the mudslide led to a fire that burned multiple homes. Looking upstream, I could see many hills next to one another with similar burned scars, slopes and vegetation cover. Each one can be the ground zero for the next human disaster. Despite the high risk when extreme rainfall and droughts interact, most research in this area focuses on only rainfall or drought, but not both. Different government agencies oversee flood and drought monitoring, warning and management, even though both are extremes of the same hydrological cycle. Recent disasters and research show a strong need to integrate management and risk reduction strategies of droughts and flood. Having one agency focus on one hazard can have unintended consequences for another hazard. For example, maximizing reservoir storage when expecting a drought can increase the flood risk. Emergency response has improved since the 2018 Montecito disaster, but its clear that communities and government agencies still arent fully prepared for the scale and potential impacts of future events. Two motherless leopard cubs rescued in Russias Far East TASS (guurst). The photo! Japan dives into rare earth mining under the sea Asia Times (Kevin W) EXCLUSIVE: Key study into anti-stroke drug taken by millions found to be unreliable and potentially fatal side effects were ignored, documents reveal Daily Mail. IM Doc: This has every potential to get really ugly. This trial is now 10 years out and the drug involved Xarelto is the mainstay for stroke. Billions and billions of bucks. This drug is hideously expensive too. It is now becoming obvious that the deaths in the medication arm of the protocols were never counted nor investigated, or in the worst case scenario covered up. Just 2 deaths in the protocol multiplies out to thousands in real life. Does not sound like many until realized that the drug will soon be used on millions. There are other very severe problems with this paper. I have been hearing neurologists and cardiologists for the past 5 years or so stating out loud that there appear to be multiple serious problems with this drug not the least of which is quite a few people seem to die for no reason. The evolution of my position with the Post dates to 2000, when I began work with The City Paper. In 2008, SouthComm Inc. bought the Post and TCP, with the latter ceasing operations in 2013. In 2018, FW Publishing acquired the Post, for which I have served as managing editor since 2011. Follow William Williams Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today (Natural News) Researchers from the University of Massachusetts Amherst are already talking about the rollout of 6G wireless technology, which we are told will turn humans into walking power source antennas. Capitalizing on Visible Light Communication (VLC), the wireless version of fiber optics, 6G has the potential to turn human bodies into machines for use in the coming Internet of Things (IoT) in which free will comes to an end and everything exists in a virtual reality metaverse. UMass Amherst scientists say they have developed an innovative, low-cost way to harvest waste energy from VLC using human bodies as antennas. That energy can then be funneled into wearable devices like mobile phones and watches, and possibly larger electronic devices as well. VLC is quite simple and interesting, said Jie Xiong, a professor of information and computer sciences at the school. Instead of using radio signals to send information wirelessly, it uses the light from LEDs that can turn on and off, up to one million times per second. (Related: In 2020, China claims to have launched into space the worlds first 6G satellites). Smart devices and appliances have already created the infrastructure for a 6G future Very little needs to be done on top of the existing 5G infrastructure to make this envisioned 6G concept a reality. Modern technology, including so-called smart devices, i.e., smartphones, smart televisions, and smart meters, has already laid the groundwork for a quick and easy 6G rollout when the time is right. Everything smart is already functioning as a conduit for data transmission. And UMass Amherst scientists say that humans can likewise be repurposed for the transmission of waste energy. Anything with a camera, like our smartphones, tablets, or laptops, could be the receiver, Xiong explained. LED street lights are a case-in-point example of the type of VLC leakage that 6G human power source antennas could exploit to produce more energy. LEDs, we are told, emit side-channel RF signals or radio waves that human antennas could pick up and transmit. Using an antenna designed from coiled copper wires, the team successfully collected those leaked RFs meaning human bodies could be embedded with this and other metals to transform them into walking radio towers. Results show people are actually the best medium for amplifying the coils ability to collect leaked RF energy, reported Study Finds. Attaching the coil to a person collected up to 10 times more energy than just using a bare coil. Based on this, the scientists developed a wearable device called the Bracelet+ that people can wear on their upper forearm, or as a ring, belt, anklet, or necklace if modified though the bracelet form produced the best power-harvesting results. The design is cheap less than fifty cents, the scientists wrote in their study. But Bracelet+ can reach up to micro-watts, enough to support many sensors such as on-body health monitoring sensors that require little power to work owing to their low sampling frequency and long sleep-mode duration. Ultimately, we want to be able to harvest waste energy from all sorts of sources in order to power future technology. In the comments, someone pointed out that the number six is the number of a man. And what is described in this study will be used for the beast system to control the masses this referring to the coming beast system foretold in the Book of Revelation. Since 5G has been put in my town, my ears ring like hell, wrote another about how 5G is already bad enough, let alone the 6G they want to release next. I only get relief when I go to our rural lake house. All of this tech is poison. More related news can be found at FutureTech.news. Sources for this article include: StudyFinds.org NaturalNews.com (Natural News) A previously deported illegal alien, convicted of child abuse in 2010, was found living in the sanctuary state of New York. (Article by John Binder republished from Breitbart.com) Last week, 46-year-old illegal alien Manuel Zumba-Mejia of Ecuador was arrested in Ossining, New York, by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents after having previously been deported from the U.S. in September 2011 after a conviction for child abuse in February 2010. Nearly 14 years ago, Zumba-Mejia was arrested and booked into Westchester County Jail for assaulting his newborn seven-week-old daughter. At the time, ICE agents placed a detainer on Zumba-Mejia, requesting to take over custody when he was released from local custody. About a year after his arrest, Zumba-Mejia was convicted of reckless assault, causing serious brain injury to a child less than five years old by shaking or impacting the childs head. He was subsequently sentenced to three years in prison. After serving his sentence, Zumba-Mejia was deported from the U.S. to Ecuador in September 2011 but he returned to the sanctuary state of New York at an unknown date likely via the southern border. Last April, Zumba-Mejia was convicted in Croton-on-Hudson Village Court for drunk driving and released back into the community with a $1,000 fine despite his status as a previously deported illegal alien convicted of child abuse. ICE agents tracked Zumba-Mejia down and finally arrested him on January 5. He remains in U.S. Marshals Service custody while awaiting trial for illegal re-entry. Read more at: Breitbart.com (Natural News) New research out of the United Kingdom has found that gender affirming transgender mutilation does not benefit children as leftists claim. The nonprofit group Sex Matters found that LGBT care has no basis in medicine or science. Even in children who want it really badly and feel as though it will allow them to become their true selves, the group determined that genital reconstruction, gender-bender drugs, and drag outfits provide no greater than a placebo effect in children who suffer from gender dysphoria. The gender-affirming model of care for teenagers is based on evidence that falls apart under examination, Sex Matters maintains. There is strong evidence that this medical pathway causes physical harm. It can lead to infertility and loss of future sexual function; among multiple side effects, bone health suffers. Even if it could be proven that destroying ones body physically in order to become trans helped a childs mental health to improve, these adverse effects would still be present but those benefits do not exist. Perhaps there are some teenagers for whom the cost-benefit analysis works out but we have no evidence to tell us which ones, or under what circumstances, the group added in a statement. We do know that the physical impacts are significant, and the mental-health improvements minimal. (Related: The Journal of Medical Ethics wants parents who oppose transgender mutilation to lose custody of their own children.) It is anything but loving to support a childs transgender delusions There really is no such thing as gender affirming care, it turns out. This is simply a phrase made up by leftists to try to validate the practice of destroying childrens lives sexually, also known as medical rape and pedophilia. Perverts on the left are attempting to normalize the idea that affirming mental illness and providing care for it in the form of bodily reconstruction is a way of showing love to children with mental illness but the reality is that this is the opposite of love. Leftists try to manipulate weaker minds into accepting their narrative by using these words, as well as making false claims that refusing to support some childrens warped desire to destroy their own bodies is a form of hate that could lead to suicide. Those who believe such lies often regurgitate them to others, insisting that we must all support the transgender mutilation of children otherwise we are transphobic. But as Sex Matters points out, the types of people who push such nonsense are factphobic and sciencephobic. Findings are inflated and limitations overlooked, the group says about the trans lobbys pseudoscientific claims. A fresh analysis of the evidence base is urgently needed, in which the studies are reviewed and re-interpreted to remove unjustified claims of benefit. Even the use of so-called gender pronouns, which the left has programmed into the minds of the next generation as necessary in order to support transgenders, does not help those with gender dysphoria to feel any better about themselves. This social transition, as they call it, actually makes transgenders feel worse, in many cases, adding to their mental illness. One might expect a bit more intellectual humility from U.S. medical organizations when they address the life-altering, irreversible procedures they are championing as the cure du jour for pediatric gender dysphoria, wrote 13 attorneys general in an open letter. Gender affirming care for children is an abomination, commented a reader about this issue. It is eunuch mutilation with a happy face,' responded another. It is barbaric and inhumane, at the least, added someone else. It is flat-out malevolent, criminal, and perverted abuse. Want to learn more about the trans-ification of America? Visit Transhumanism.news. Sources for this article include: Breitbart.com NaturalNews.com (Natural News) The Federal Reserve along with other federal agencies have issued a joint statement warning banks against using cryptocurrencies just as the Fed is deliberating over possibly issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the United States. The Fed was joined in its statement by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The Fed and the other two agencies claim market events related to 2022s crypto winter are what prompted them to take this step to warn banks against dealings with the crypto industry. They cited alleged concerns with the safety and soundness of banks with business models that are highly concentrated in crypto. The events of the past year have been marked by significant volatility and the exposure of vulnerabilities in the crypto-asset sector, reads the joint statement. These events highlight a number of key risks associated with crypto-assets and crypto-asset sector participants that banking organizations should be aware of. The Fed, FDIC and OCC described the cryptocurrency industry as being characterized by possible fraud, rife with scams and legal uncertainties and vulnerable to a contagion effect where if one crypto firm was suddenly rocked by scandals, it detrimentally affects other companies. Given the significant risks highlighted by recent failures of several large crypto-asset companies, the agencies continue to take a careful and cautious approach related to current or proposed crypto-asset-related activities and exposures at each banking organization, reads the statement. The three agencies stressed in the statement that offering services to crypto companies or otherwise engaging with them or the digital asset market is neither prohibited nor discouraged. But the statement also notes that regulators are supervising banks that are supposedly unduly exposed to crypto-related risks and are carefully reviewing proposals of major banks to engage in crypto activities. It is important that risks related to the crypto-asset sector that cannot be mitigated or controlled do not migrate to the banking system. The Fed, FDIC and OCC said they will issue further statements on banks crypto-related activities as warranted, and will continue to work with other agencies on issues related to the crypto industry. Fed considers developing its own digital currency As the Fed issues this joint warning regarding cryptocurrencies, it is also considering the creation of its own CBDC that would be managed directly by policymakers, tethered to the value of the American dollar and entirely controlled by the government. (Related: Coming economic collapse will be used to close banks and introduce central bank digital currencies.) Fed Chair Jerome Powell has told lawmakers that his mind is open to the creation of a government-controlled digital dollar, noting that he was legitimately undecided on whether the benefits of creating a CBDC outweigh the costs. We should want very broad support in society and in Congress, he remarked. It should also be noted that while cryptocurrency exchange platform FTX was filing for bankruptcy amid the companys scandals coming to light, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York announced a partnership with several leading financial institutions, including Mastercard and BNY Mellon, to launch a pilot program for a digital dollar. This test will experiment with the concept of a regulated liability network, a concept for a market infrastructure that could facilitate future transactions with digital assets that connect their deposits held at regulated financial institutions using blockchain technology. For more stories about digital currencies, visit CryptoCult.news. Watch this clip from InfoWars featuring host Alex Jones warning that the digital currency system isnt coming its already here. This video is from the InfoWars channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Investors are leaving the cryptocurrency industry en masse as collapse continues. Bahamian government wants to take back $256 million-worth of luxury properties bought by FTX executives (with other peoples money). Crypto stocks PLUMMET: Industry nearing collapse as financial analysts warn most crypto firms unlikely to survive long-term. Crypto expert: FTX collapse marks end of cryptographic scam that involves worthless crypto coins gaining immense value. Jay Dyer: FTX scam no different from how Federal Reserve prints money and assigns it value. Sources include: DailyWire.com AMBCrypto.com Reuters.com Brighteon.com (Natural News) The energy-saving benefits of insulating your home against the elements might not be as worthwhile as we have all been led to believe, a new study has found. Policy experts from the University of Cambridge looked at loft and wall insulation setups in England and Wales to see for how long and how much energy they saved. The researchers found that the benefits of insulation are minimal and short-lived. Initially, gas consumption in each insulated household dropped slightly. After the fourth year, however, all energy savings disappeared due to a rebound effect, a term the researchers used to describe changing behaviors in insulated households that canceled out any initial benefits. Houses with extensions and / or conservatories performed especially bad, with the latter losing all energy-saving benefits after the first year. (Related: In 2020, Chinese scientists developed a new kind of insulation inspired by polar bear fur.) There wouldnt be an energy crisis if the globalists werent forcing one with their disastrous policies The reason this study was piloted has to do with Europes ongoing energy crisis, which has politicians desperately searching for solutions. One of them included retrofitting peoples homes with insulation to trap in more heat. The idea is that by better insulating peoples dwellings, less energy will be used, minimizing the chances of a dark winter marked by blackouts. This latest research, however, tells a different story. In the United Kingdom, efforts are afoot to retrofit as many buildings as possible with insulation in order to reduce energy consumption by at least 15 percent over the next eight years. The Labour party has said that insulating homes in the UK should be a national mission because it could help to save people 11bn (about $1.32 billion) over the next three years. Opposition parties, meanwhile, argue that while retrofitting more homes might help fight fuel poverty, it will not function as any kind of magic bullet to reduce energy use because people will just end up using more energy, resulting in no tangible energy use reduction. Well-insulated homes can get stuffy, for instance, prompting residents to open up more windows for a breeze. Doing this negates any energy savings by causing heat pumps and radiators to have to work harder to maintain ambient temperatures. None of this would even be an issue at all had Western leaders not imposed sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. Cheap and abundant gas would have continued flowing to Europe and all would have been well. Instead, the European Union (EU) and the UK cut themselves off at the knees energy-wise, and now its corrupt leaders are scrambling to come up with more questionable solutions and excuses to explain away why they keep failing. as energy efficiency improves, along with the cost of things we buy, we have more money to spend in other ways, writes Paul Homewood for Watts Up With That. In terms of energy, most people, I suspect, would use better insulation to enjoy warmer homes, not reduce bills. Equally they will tend to buy conservatories etc., which will increase energy consumption. And, yes, people will open windows to let fresh air in we have our bedroom windows open at night even in mid-winter. (No doubt the Guardian would be horrified!) In the comments, someone added that the rebound effect on energy efficiency is already a well-understood concept that should not have required another new study to confirm. Of course the utilities ignore it because they make big bucks off their ridiculous efficiency programs, this person further wrote. More related news can be found at Power.news. Sources for this article include: WattsUpWithThat.com NaturalNews.com Page Content Kingdom partners to attend 4LO in Sint Maarten PHILIPSBURG, Sint MaartenPrime Minister and Minister of General Affairs for Sint Maarten, Silveria E. Jacobs will be hosting Ministerial Consultation Quadripartite Meetings, dubbed the 4LO (vierlandenoverleg). The meetings are set to take place on January 12 and 13 at the Sonesta Maho Resort. The event will culminate in a press conference between the four Kingdom partners, Aruba, represented by Prime Minister Evelyn Wever-Croes; Curacao, represented by Prime Minister Gilmar Pisas; The Netherlands, represented by State-Secretary of Kingdom Relations and Digitalization Alexandra van Huffelen; and Sint Maarten, represented by Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs. The Prime Ministers of Aruba, Curacao, and Sint Maarten, together with the State Secretary, will discuss topics such as the previously debated alternative to the Consensus Kingdom Act COHO, the way forward with the Kingdom Act Dispute Resolution (Geschillenregeling), among other items relevant to Kingdom Relations. I look forward to hosting our colleagues for the first time since my tenure as Prime Minister and I hope that we are able to come to concrete decisions on the way forward with regards to the topics that will be discussed during this meeting. said Prime Minister Jacobs. (Natural News) In 2008, an investigation by the New York Times concluded that Pfizer had deliberately manipulated the publication of multiple scientific studies in order to claim that its epilepsy drug, Neurontin, can be used for other medical conditions. Gabapentin, sold by Pfizer under the brand name Neurontin, is a medicine used to help manage certain epileptic seizures and as a pain relief medication for certain conditions such as shingles. The New York Times investigation alleged that off-label use of Neurontin, which Pfizer heavily promoted, helped propel the drugs sales to nearly $3 billion a year before losing its patent protection in 2004 due to the illegal off-label use promotion. The Big Pharma company also suppressed other research that would have disproven its claims regarding Neurontins supposed usefulness in treating other conditions. (Related: Pfizer has a shockingly long history of engaging in illegal activities and human experimentation.) Pfizers tactics for suppressing relevant research regarding Neurontin included forcing publications to delay the release of studies that found no evidence the drug worked for other disorders, spinning negative data to make it sound positive and bundling together negative findings with positive findings to neutralize results. All of this was meant to convince physicians not as knowledgeable about Neurontin that it is an effective medication for disorders other than seizures. Pfizer continued with the medical marketing firms and planted marketing messages in journal articles that Neurontin was effective while they knew that their own clinical trials had failed to demonstrate it was effective, said lawyer Thomas Greene, who represented several groups in a case against Pfizers off-label promotion of the drug. Pfizer slapped with huge fines for off-label promotion of Neurontin For several years, both before and after the release of the New York Times investigation, Pfizer has been forced to pay steep penalties for its illegal off-label promotion of Neurontin. In 2004, four years before the investigation, Pfizer agreed to plead guilty to two felonies and pay a fine of $430 million to settle charges that it fraudulently promoted Neurontin for use in dealing with other disorders. In the settlement, now-defunct Pfizer subsidiary Warner-Lambert took all the blame for aggressively marketing the seizure drug for unrelated conditions, including bipolar disorder, general pain, migraine headaches and drug and alcohol addiction withdrawal. The settlement includes a criminal fine of $240 million, which at the time was the second-largest fine ever imposed on a Big Pharma company for healthcare fraud, and $152 million to pay back how much Medicare and Medicaid programs spent acquiring Neurontin. In 2010, a jury in a federal court in Boston once again found Pfizer guilty of marketing fraud due to Neurontin and told the company to pay $142.1 million in damages. The jury, which deliberated for two days on the case, found that Pfizer engaged in a racketeering conspiracy over a 10-year period and violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) under Californias Unfair Competition Law. The case was brought up by Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, which both claimed that Pfizer illegally promoted Neurontin for unapproved uses and that the Big Pharma company forced Kaiser to pay $90 million more than it should have for the seizure medication. In 2014, Pfizer was forced to pay steep fines twice in two different cases that were settled that same year. In April, 2014, Pfizer agreed to pay $190 million to settle a federal antitrust lawsuit claiming that the company attempted some illegal maneuvering to keep cheaper generic alternatives to Neurontin off the market. In June, 2014, Pfizer agreed to pay another $325 million to wrap up claims that another of its subsidiaries, Parke-Davis, promoted Neurontin for off-brand use without the approval of the Food and Drug Administration. Overall, Pfizer was fined around $1.087 billion from 2004 to 2014 for its illegal off-label promotion of Neurontin. Learn more about Pfizer and other Big Pharma companies at BigPharmaNews.com. Watch this clip from InfoWars featuring Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitting that Israelis were used as human guinea pigs for Pfizers Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine. This video is from the InfoWars channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: NEVER FORGET: In 1994, Pfizer paid $20 million after LYING about defective heart valve that killed hundreds. Pfizers criminal history is EXTENSIVE, Pfizer Files show. NEVER FORGET: Pfizer sued for $7B over illegal drug trials on kids. THREAD #PfizerFiles the true history of Pfizers repeated criminal behavior and destruction of human lives. Pfizer a habitual offender that persistently engages in illegal activity, study warns. Sources include: NYTimes.com MayoClinic.org SFGate.com Bloomberg.com FeircePharma.com Brighteon.com (Natural News) The Supreme Court has agreed to hear two challenges against President Joe Bidens student loan relief program. Oral arguments are set to begin in February. Furthermore, the court has also agreed to keep in place a nationwide injunction set by a lower court of appeals preventing the student loan forgiveness program from taking effect for now. The cases made their way from the lower courts to the Supreme Court following months of legal jostling over the White Houses plan to allow between $10,000 to $20,000 in student loan debt to be forgiven. The White House is attempting to push ahead with this plan despite the Congressional Budget Offices conservative estimate suggesting that the debt relief plan will cost taxpayers about $400 billion. (Related: Bidens debt forgiveness plan is an open invitation for educational institutions to commit FRAUD.) The first case is a legal challenge filed in the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis, which issued the initial injunction against the student loan relief program. The administration asked Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who is responsible for handling emergency applications arising from Eighth Circuit Court cases, to lift the injunction. The injunction was filed in response to a legal challenge by six Republican-led states, namely Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and South Carolina. The Supreme Court said it will consider the White Houses application to lift the injunction pending oral argument. The six states argue that the White House overstepped its authority in wiping away debt without express authorization from Congress. Federal government may be exceeding its authority in attempt to wipe away debts The second case involves two holders of student loan debt, Myra Brown and Alexander Taylor, who claimed the White House failed to follow the correct procedure in announcing the plan. They said the White House did not provide proper notification to the public about the plan or give them a chance of commenting on it. Both Brown and Taylor have student loans. Brown is not eligible for relief because her loans are held by private entities rather than by the federal government through the Department of Education. Taylor is eligible for $10,000 in relief, but not for $20,000 because he is not a Pell Grant recipient. A federal judge agreed with Brown and Taylor, claiming that the Education Department is obligated to have a notice-and-comment period before adopting the plan. Furthermore, the judge argued the program exceeded the statutory authority of the Secretary of Education. The Department of Justice took the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which denied the request to lift the injunction, forcing the administration to once again take the case up to the Supreme Court. The White House claims Bidens plan could benefit more than 40 million borrowers who stand to have between $10,000 to $20,000 of their student debt wiped out. Such a move would cancel hundreds of billions of dollars in federal debt owed by the borrowers. While the administration is waiting for the date of oral arguments before the Supreme Court, the Education Department has extended its pause on loan repayments until June or until the Supreme Court rules on the debt relief programs legality. Learn more about debt in the United States at DebtCollapse.com. Watch this episode of Zoon Politikon as host Holly Seeliger discusses the Supreme Courts decision to take up a challenge against Bidens student loan forgiveness plan. This video is from the Zoon Politikon channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: US national debt hits $31 TRILLION for the first time. HIGHER EDUCATION ROBBERY: American taxpayers will be forced to pay an average of $2,500 each if student loans are cancelled. Of course: Bidens plan to help relieve some student loan debt will actually enrich the wealthiest earners. Former Trump adviser: Student loan forgiveness plan likely to backfire on Dems. Bidens plan to write off student loans using post-9/11 national emergency law is a form of political posturing. Sources include: Brighteon.com NBCNews.com CNBC.com 1 Reuters.com CNBC.com 2 (Natural News) Humans have been making gold and silver into jewelry, coins and other dazzling items for centuries. People find many of these valuable items from the past every year and 2022 is no exception. Here are eight remarkable gold and silver artifacts found last year in different places across the globe. Inexpensive jewelry turns out to be a gold Viking ring When a lady in Norway purchased cheap jewelry at an online auction, she was hoping to get trinkets to pair with a costume. She instead got a huge, gold Viking ring created from twisted metal strands. According to archaeologists, it may have been owned by a Viking chief more than a thousand years ago. Kitchen renovation in the UK unearths cache of gold coins A kitchen renovation done at an 18th century home in the United Kingdom yielded a stunning discovery. Hidden underneath the kitchens wooden floorboards was a stash of gold coins dating between 1610 to 1727. The finding, which is made up of more than 260 gold coins, was assessed to be worth around 241,984 ($290,000). Archaeologists uncover Byzantine-era gold coins in Israeli nature reserve Archaeologists dug up a stash of 44 gold coins dating back to the time of the Byzantine Empire on a nature reserve in northern Israel. The coins dated back to the reign of Emperor Phocas and his successor Heraclius. The owner may have buried the hoard at the reserves current location before escaping from Muslim troops that invaded the area in the year 635. Ancient coins found close to an Egyptian temple A stash of ancient coins was discovered buried underground close to an Egyptian temple from the last millennium. The coins came from diverse backgrounds and dated back to the Islamic era from A.D. 610 to the 13th century. Bronze and brass coins from the Ottoman Empire were also part of the stash. Gold coin featuring assassinated Roman emperor found in Hungary Excavators in Hungary uncovered a very rare gold coin portraying a slain Roman emperor. The coin from the third century displayed the face of Emperor Volusianus, who co-ruled with his father for nearly two years before their own soldiers assassinated them. Given Volusianus short reign, coins displaying his likeness are uncommon. Beet farmer finds ancient gold belt in his plot Over in the Czech Republic, a beet farmer unearthed a wrinkled sheet of gold on his plot of land. Local archaeologists said the treasure was probably the front of a leather belt dating back to the Bronze Age. The said belt, with featured concentric circles that may have represented cosmological systems, would have been owned by a high-ranking member of society. (Related: Buried treasure: Gold and precious gems uncovered from a 5th century burial site in Czech Republic.) Ring portraying Egyptian god of fun among stash found in burial A gold ring with an engraving of Bes, the Egyptian god of fun, was among the valuable jewelry discovered in a 3,300-year-old burial. Often described as a dwarf and a pleasure-loving musician, Bes was also known as a protector of women during childbirth. Aside from the gold ring with the deitys description, archaeologists also found a gold necklace and a second ring with Egyptian hieroglyphics on it. Rare coin of Charlemagne found in French farmers collection A 1,200-year-old silver coin featuring a portrait of the Emperor Charlemagne in Roman garb was found in the collection of a French farmer, who passed on his hoard to his grandson. The farmers grandson examined the coins years later and put the coin called a denarius on eBay. German museum curators saw the rare coin and jumped at the opportunity to purchase it. It is worth noting that the denarius was issued even though the Western Roman Empire had collapsed centuries earlier. This is because the Vatican, led by Pope Leo III at the time, crowned Charlemagne the first king of the Holy Roman Empire on Christmas day of the year 800. Follow Artifacts.news for more news about archaeological discoveries. Watch this video that discusses the historical coins of Christianity from the biblical to the medieval period. This video is from the trustedcoins channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Scientists uncover invisible ancient Hebrew inscription that can only be seen with advanced technology. Researchers find worlds oldest stone tools in Kenya. Unique swords discovered in Byzantine Empire stronghold. Sources include: LiveScience.com History.com (Natural News) For the biggest money laundering schemes on the planet to work, the rogue government and its agencies must convince the populace to support them; otherwise, the maximum amount of profits will not be realized. That means insidiously devising schemes that seem to save people from certain death, like preserving the normal temperatures on planet earth, or preventing a virus from wiping out all of humanity, or saving everyone from starving to death when the big drought and apocalyptic famine come. The irony comes as these life and planet saving schemes are more likely to accomplish the exact opposite, and wipe out life as we know it on this third rock from the sun. In the mad, mad rush to save planet earth and all of its inhabitants, the rogue governments of the world are destroying the environment and the health of humans Whether they are insidious schemes to rob people of their hard-earned money, or to depopulate the planet for more big government control, most of the big plans for sustainability are really just money-laundering plots and Ponzi schemes that wreck agriculture, the economy, health, wealth, and the atmosphere we need to survive. The majority of Americans eat processed and genetically modified food daily, and some for every meal and snack. Now, many are eating genetically modified meat and fake meat, and soon, genetically modified farm animals, thanks to Bill Gates. Gates pretends he is trying to save the planet from starvation, but hes really (funding) mutating food in ways with unforeseeable health and environmental consequences. One of the latest climate change or global warming scams and schemes is to literally block the suns rays from reaching earth, by spraying contaminants, heavy metals, and other toxins into the atmosphere in order to cool us down some, so all the humans wont burst into flames in the next decade. Sure. This is just more population control in effect and another dangerous scheme by rich globalists who love power, money, and murdering humans in that fake, philanthropic way. Here are the top 8 inventions and interventions to save planet earth and the population that are most likely destroying everything and everyone #1. Electric cars (the fueling stations use fossil fuels, and the costs are outrageous, like $20,000 for a new battery) #2. Genetically modified mosquitoes #3. Pandemic vaccines #4. Genetically modified meat #5. Genetically modified farm animals #6. Chemtrails to block the sun and cool the earth #7. Climate change (and pandemic) lockdowns #8. Prescription medicine The most insidious medication and undercover genocidal, biological weapon of mass destruction is the Covid vaccine deployment by Pfizer and Moderna, among others. In the same way IG Farben was used by Hitler to create chemical weapons for extinguishing Jews, Blacks, and the disabled during WWII, now the kingpins of the pharma cartels are using the scamdemic to scare the majority of humans into being injected with billions of spike proteins that cause sudden death syndrome, heart attacks, vascular clots, organ failure, infertility, and spontaneous abortion. Who cant see this happening right before their eyes? Next, Bill Gates and the Chinese Communist Party, responsible for creating and funding the entire Covid pandemic, is funding genetically modified mosquitoes that will deliver vaccines to entire regions of people. Will these be mRNA jab-bites that change our human cells to create prions that cause us all to die suddenly from unexplainable causes or some new gain of function virus? Only time will tell. Tune your internet dial to NaturalMedicine.news for more tips on how to use natural remedies for preventative medicine and for healing, instead of succumbing to Big Pharma for toxic injections and experimental prescription medications that exacerbate disease and disorder. Sources for this article include: NaturalNews.com NaturalMedicine.news (Natural News) U.S. Army vet and former vice president of EcoHealth Alliance Dr. Andrew Huff has blown the lid of the COVID-19 scandal in a new book that provides all of the details, including how the CIA was connected to the pandemic. In his forthcoming book from Simon & Schuster called, The Truth about Wuhan: How I Uncovered the Biggest Lie in History, Huff noted that he once reported to Dr. Peter Daszak at EcoHealth, the doctor who sent funds obtained via a grant from Dr. Anthony Faucis National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to help finance dangerous gain of function research believed to be responsible for the creation of novel coronavirus that killed millions of people worldwide. Shocking new insider information that shows what really happened in Wuhan, China, at the start of the COVID-19 outbreak and in the ensuing cover-up, begins a description of the book from the publisher. The day that Dr. Andrew G. Huff left his senior scientist and vice president role at EcoHealth Alliance was one of the happiest days of his life due to the corruption he had witnessed at the organization. However, he never thought working there would be of any great consequence to the future. He was wrong. Because, as an EcoHealth Alliance insider, Dr. Huff had had a ringside seat to one of the biggest cover-ups in history, the description continues. The book details new research and a breakdown of how and why the development of COVID-19 in the United States and China was supported by the US government to collect intelligence on laboratories in China, the description adds. The book describes him as a whistleblower who will show why the reasons the lab leak was covered up are incorrect. He worked on the classified research side of the program as a US government scientist. He knows the real how and why COVID-19 emerged. Besides exposing the conspiracy and cover-up, Dr. Huff also puts forth policy solutions and recommendations to prevent a lab leak virus from plaguing the world again, the description notes further. It adds: The Truth about Wuhan simply explains the complexity of the system that led to COVID-19s emergence; how the medical industrial complex grew and became entrenched in gain of function work after 9/11; why EcoHealth Alliance was the (almost) perfect intelligence collection cover; the policy actions and decision-making process as to why the United States government engaged in the COVID cover-up; how and why the United States swapped biotechnology with China and biomedical corporations; and the incentives for each of the actors or governments to engage and coordinate a global cover-up of COVID-19 origins. The Truth about Wuhan also shows how and why Dr. Anthony Fauci is intricately involved in the COVID cover-up; how scientists like EcoHealth Alliance president and CEO Dr. Peter Daszak rose to power and used their influence to corrupt science and the COVID origin investigation; and how the intelligence community likely orchestrated the cover-up with Dr. Anthony Fauci. In September, Huff and his attorneys sent a letter to members of Congress outlining his findings and noting that at one point, Daszak told him that he was a CIA operative, meaning the agency had full knowledge of what was going on. He said the CIA was providing China with some technical information via Daszak in order to gain access to Beijings bioweapons and bioresearch facilities. Huff also said he provided his information under penalty of perjury. ??? Please retweet! ??? Below is link to the copy of the report about the REAL Origin of SARS-CoV2 sent to the US Senate and Congress last week. My declaration in the document was provided under oath with penalty of perjury. https://t.co/P8KipAQ4mU pic.twitter.com/fI2gvW6xqB Dr. Andrew G. Huff (@AGHuff) September 19, 2022 Donald Trump, Senator Ron Johnson, Senator Rand Paul, Rep. Jim Jordan, and others were right, notes a letter from Renz Law LLC principal Thomas Renz that accompanied Huffs information. As early as late April or early May of 2020 former President Trump spoke of the creation of SARS-COV2 in a lab in Wuhan, China. Since that time both the investigation and the cover-up have continued but the evidence provided herein clearly demonstrate that SARS-COV2 was indeed created in a lab in Wuhan China by EcoHealth Alliance and with funding from Anthony Faucis NIH/NIAID. The lid is about to be blown off what has become the biggest scandal in the history of the country. Sources include: SimonAndSchuster.com Pandemic.news (Natural News) A sea of Brazilians angry about what they claim is widespread vote fraud that swept conservative president and ally of Donald Trump Jair Bolsonaro out of office, replacing him with far-left convict and former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, commonly referred to simply as Lula, swept into government buildings including the national congress, but did so peacefully in recent days. According to Big League Politics, 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. The report noted further: 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 began again in earnest about a week after Lula was inaugurated, but months after tens of millions of Brazilians concerned about mass election fraud have been ignored by military leaders, government officials, and the international community, many of whom are happy to see Bolsonaro go because he, like Trump, is anti-globalist and against the international COVID lockdown regime. Per the usual reaction from leftist Western regimes, Brazilians who took part in the initial protests several months ago were economically punished, despite the fact that the protests were entirely peaceful in nature, but were deemed inconvenient by authorities. Reprisals by Lulas government included the freezing of bank accounts, which was condoned by the same left-wing Supreme Court that ordered Lula freed from prison and thus cleared the way for him to be installed again like Joe Biden was installed in the U.S. 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, the report continued. In a national address during his inauguration, Lula again, who was released from prison after being convicted on charges of money laundering and corruption made what many believed were threats against members of Bolsonaros conservative government (sound familiar?) when he declared, Those who erred will answer for their errors, claiming that he has the backing of the rule of law as justification for taking political retribution against his 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, Eric Simmons, MPA, noted in his Big League Politics report. 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 has often praised Communist China and has said he wants to more closely align Brazil with the ChiComs as part of the BRICS alliance, which consists of Brazil, India, China, and South Africa, among others. The alliances purpose is to supplant the United States as the worlds dominant financial and military power. Why Joe Biden isnt doing more to help Bolsonaro than Lula should tell you everything you need to know about where his administrations allegiance lies. And its not with the American people. WATCH the Health Rangers Situation Report on the matter here: Sources include: BigLeaguePolitics.com NaturalNews.com (Natural News) The Communist Chinese government has figured out one thing there is no way their still-developing military can best the U.S. military in a straight-up fight, so they have decided to take over our country playing by our rules of a free-market society. That said, this isnt a piece arguing against a free market economy; rather, it serves as a warning shot to American lawmakers that our national security is not at risk because China possesses a more technologically advanced army, navy, and air force, but because the ChiComs are simply buying control of our country one acre, and one company, at a time. And whats more, this process has been going on for some time. In July, for instance, The Federalist reported on the shocking amount of American farm and timberland China now owns some of the most fertile in the world. Buyers from the Peoples Republic of China purchased $6.1 billion in real estate last year, the most of any foreign buyer. Many of these purchases over the past few years have been of farmland or ranchland near U.S. military bases, the outlet reported at the time. Revelations from a groundbreaking exclusive CNN story published on July 23 about telecommunications equipment from Chinas Huawei installed in rural America suggest that Chinese land purchases could pose a severe national security threat as well. The report noted further: CNN chronicles the Chinese governments more than decade-long effort to establish a massive electronic intelligence and jamming capability in the U.S. adjacent to military installations and in Washington, D.C. Such a system could deliver a crippling electronic Pearl Harbor against American nuclear weapons systems and strategic communications vital to deterring and defeating a military surprise attack. The report goes on to provide details into how Chinas state-subsidized telecommunications behemoths, Huawei and ZTE, sold cell tower equipment and routers, many times at a loss, to small telecommunications providers in the rural heartland, and how much of the equipment was summarily installed near the land-based leg of Americas nuclear triad the 400 Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) located in states like Nebraska, North Dakota, Montana, Colorado, and Wyoming. The purpose of the equipment is to serve as massive jamming devices that would prevent the launch of the weapons, but there is more, The Federalist reports, noting four potential uses: real-time communications intelligence, real-time imagery intelligence, offensive signals jamming, and internet attacks. Mind you, this equipment can mostly provide the Chinese with remote capabilities they otherwise would never have been able to obtain were it not for the unserious nature of our political leaders, nearly all of whom appear to be all-in for China as long as the money continues to flow. Again, this isnt an attack on free-market capitalism, but on a lack of concern for national security. Meanwhile, as All News Pipeline reports, the Chinese government is overseeing the purchase of shares of multiple U.S. companies that were launched in our country but hardly resemble American corporations anymore. Much has been written about companies outsourcing manufacturing to other countries like Mexico and China, but what is discussed less often is how many household names, created in America, are now owned by other countries, with a significant amount of them, like farmland, owned by China, the outlet reported. Some are believed to be owned by China, but in reality, they are in partnership with Chinese companies, such as General Motors, the outlet continued. The list of companies includes Forbes Media, General Electric, Motorola, IBM, WeWork, Segway, Dairy Farmers of America Inc., Uber Technologies, and even a share of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. If the new Republican majority in the House is serious about protecting America, one of their first orders of business will be to pass legislation barring China from doing this kind of business in our country and then dare Democrats not to sign on. Sources include: AllNewsPipeline.com TheFederalist.com (Natural News) Soon it will no longer be necessary to make an appointment to get vaccinated as Big Pharmas latest endeavor involves using insects in this case mosquitoes to administer shots to people out in the wild without their knowledge or consent. Researchers out of China are reportedly celebrating their newfound ability to deliver what Chinese state-owned media outlet South China Morning Post (SCMP) describes as re-engineered vaccines for animals. Published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Communications, a study about the new technology claims it can help to eradicate viral diseases like Zika that spread through mosquitoes and other creatures to potentially endangered wildlife. Our study provides a future avenue for developing a mosquito-delivered vaccine to eliminate zoonotic viruses, said Prof. Zheng Aihau, the studys lead author from the Institute of Zoologys State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Aihau and his team claim that loading up mosquitoes with vaccines will help scientists to more easily vaccinate hard-to-access wildlife hosts while also protecting endangered species from viral diseases. (Related: Remember back in 2012 when the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District sought federal and state approval to release GMO mosquitoes throughout Key West?) Will humans also be vaccinated by these new GMO mosquitoes? The mosquitoes themselves are genetically modified (GMO) to contain the vaccines, which Aihau and his colleagues say in tests produced a strong, long-lasting immune response. Once immunised, the animals resisted infections, thus helping to prevent the early spread of many viruses, including the once widespread Zika virus (ZIKV), the SCMP reported. Aedes mosquitoes are the primary transmitters of Zika, which belongs to the flavivirus genus. People who become infected with it can develop symptoms ranging from rashes and fever to joint and muscle pain. If a pregnant woman becomes infected with Zika while carrying, her infant can be born with microcephaly, which is an abnormally small head or cranial capacity, or some other congenital malformation. Zika infection can also lead to premature birth or miscarriage. Zika is said to have been really bad in 2015, having reached a peak of around 1.3 million cases in Brazil that year before declining globally after 2017. Many tropical African and Asian countries are still plagued by it, though at least that is what we are being told as an excuse for the creation of these new GMO mosquitoes. When it comes to GMO technologies, we are routinely told that tampering with the plant and animal kingdoms at the genetic level is necessary in order to stop disease. These new GMO mosquitoes are no exception, with the alleged threat of Zika necessitating the unleashing of genetically engineered, vaccine-delivering insects into the wild. Zheng says the inspiration for his latest research comes from the 2009 discovery of the Chaoyang virus (CYV), which also belongs in the flavivirus genus, in Chaoyang City, located in Chinas Liaoning province. An earlier paper about that discovery claims that CYV is capable of replicating in mosquitoes but not in vertebrates, which include humans. For Zhengs study, he and his team of researchers used CYV as a vaccine vector to develop a chimeric vaccine containing various proteins from a different virus. Several proteins from CYV were artificially inserted into ZIKV cells to create a CYV-ZIKV virus that is supposedly not infectious, but that replicates easily in mosquitoes and is released via their saliva. Mosquitoes fed the CYV-ZIKV chimera virus were essentially transformed into vaccine carriers. And these carriers, once unleashed, have the ability to inject their targets including humans with what researchers say is a vaccine against the chimera virus with a simple bite. Vaccines are dangerous and often deadly, regardless of whether they come out of medical syringes or wild insects. To learn more, visit Vaccines.news. Sources for this article include: SCMP.com NaturalNews.com (Natural News) Genesis Trading has reduced its workforce by 30 percent as it confronts increasing pressure from creditors and the impending threat of bankruptcy, a person with knowledge of the issue reported. The crypto lending arm of Barry Silberts Digital Currency Group (DCG) had already dismissed 20 percent of its labor force aside from replacing its CEO last year. Silberts crypto conglomerate, which includes the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) and mining company Foundry, was struck by last years market turmoil and the bankruptcy of crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital. The source, who requested anonymity because the numbers are confidential, said about 60 positions were removed. The company now has around 145 employees, and the current reduction comes a day after interim CEO Derar Islim told clients that Genesis requires more time to resolve its financial woes. The cuts were previously reported by the Wall Street Journal. Genesis hired bankruptcy professionals immediately after the crash of crypto exchange FTX and its sister hedge fund Alameda Research. Genesis requested an emergency loan of $1 billion after the collapse of Alameda The Wall Street Journal reported that Genesis had requested an emergency loan of $1 billion shortly after the collapse of Alameda, which was a major Genesis client. Genesis froze all its client redemptions after FTX filed for bankruptcy protection on November 11. (Related: Crypto lender BlockFi blocks withdrawals as FTX declares bankruptcy.) Silbert drew criticisms following the redemption freeze. Cameron Winklevoss, a Genesis client and CEO of crypto exchange Gemini, accused Silbert of engaging in bad faith stalling tactics and demanded an explanation for the liquidity crisis at Genesis in the past week. He added DCG owes $1.675 billion to Gemini customers and other Genesis creditors. Silbert tweeted that DCG never borrowed $1.675 billion from Genesis and is current on all loans outstanding. As we continue to navigate unprecedented industry challenges, Genesis has made the difficult decision to reduce our headcount globally. These measures are part of our ongoing efforts to move our business forward, a Genesis spokesperson said in an email to MarketWatch. Genesis hired investment bank Moelis & Co. to look into possible options after suffering losses due to the crash and bankruptcy of FTX in November. The company also lost its involvement with Three Arrows Capital, which filed for bankruptcy last year. Genesis is the latest company in the crypto sector to struggle for survival as the industry stays unregulated. The company hopes to refine its business plan for Genesis client offerings, which includes reducing costs and driving efficiencies in all our business lines, said Islim in a letter to clients on January 4. Genesis earlier informed its customers that its withdrawal freeze is likely to last additional weeks amid attempts to avoid a possible bankruptcy filing. At this point, we anticipate that it will take additional weeks rather than days for us to arrive at a path forward, Islim said. Genesis is working in consultation with highly experienced advisors and evaluating the most effective path to preserve client assets, strengthen our liquidity, and ultimately move our business forward. Genesis first signaled exposure to FTX in a Nov. 10 Twitter thread, disclosing that it had $175 million in funds on the crypto exchange. In November, the company denied plans to file for bankruptcy imminently after failing to cover a reported $1 billion deficit in its balance sheet. Follow CryptoCult.news for more news about the engineered collapse of cryptocurrency companies. Watch the video below to know why the crypto markets slumped after crypto lender Celsius paused withdrawals. This video is from the Chinese taking down EVIL CCP channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Cryptocurrency lending company Vauld suspending withdrawals, transactions and deposits as crypto market crash takes its toll. Major crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital files for bankruptcy and fires 25% of workforce as crypto implosion spreads. FTX collapse fallout: Crypto brokerage firm Genesis warns of possible bankruptcy. Sources include: CNBC.com MarketWatch.com CoinTelegraph.com (Natural News) The College of Psychologists of Ontario is threatening author and clinical psychologist Dr. Jordan Peterson with an in-person tribunal and the stripping of his medical license unless he agrees to undergo social media communications retraining. Petersons offenses include retweeting Conservative Party of Canada leader Pierre Poilievre; criticizing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau; debunking climate change models; objecting to surgery on gender dysmorphic minors; and warning Canadians that it is wrong for social service workers and police to threaten to apprehend the children of the Trucker Convoy protestors. Calling his targeting an attempt at forced re-education, Peterson promised on Twitter to provide further details as the situation unfolds. In essence, for engaging in wrongspeak on a number of relevant issues, Peterson has found himself in the crosshairs of Canadas medical establishment. (Related: Remember when Peterson correctly warned that Canadas Bill C-16 would lead to parents being punished for denying their children of LGBTQ care?) With leftists at the helm, freedom of speech is rapidly dying Over a four-year period, Peterson says, the liberal mob filed around a dozen complaints against him for various statements he has made on social media that upset them. Many of these complainants falsely claimed that they were or had been clients of mine, he says. About a dozen people from all over the world submitted complaints about my public statements on Twitter and Rogan over a four year period (out of the 15 million who follow me on social media) claiming that I had harmed people (not them) with my views, Peterson tweeted. None of the complainants involved in the current action were clients of mine, past or present, or were even acquainted with any of my clients), he added for clarification. Even though many of the complaints were filed falsely, the College of Psychologists of Ontario accepted them anyway because the group appears hellbent on destroying Petersons life and career all because of his offensive speech. We are now in a situation in Canada under @JustinTrudeau where practicing professionals can have their livelihoods and public reputations threatened in a very serious manner for agreeing with the Official Opposition and criticizing major government figures, Peterson further tweeted. If I comply the terms of my re-education and my punishment will be announced publicly. I have already had the second most serious category of punishment levied against me and have been deemed at high risk to re-offend.' What Peterson faces is, sadly, no longer all that shocking considering it is happening to many. Prominent figures receiving these threatening ultimatums from the establishment are becoming increasingly more widespread, Peterson warns, because SJW (social justice warrior types) have weaponized the domain of professional misconduct complaints and the Colleges themselves have become bastions of woke sensibility. Similar tactics are also used throughout the Canadian regulatory apparatus of other fields such as law and health care. The establishment there routinely intimidates practitioners who give advice that is deemed to be dangerously unreliable, meaning advice that goes against the grain of the establishment narrative. Canadians: your physicians, lawyers, psychologists and other professionals are now so intimidated by their commissar overlords that they fear to tell you the truth, Peterson warns. This means that your care and legal counsel has been rendered dangerously unreliable. Last year, the College of Psychologists of Ontario took similar action against Peterson after he tweeted Youre free to leave at any point in response to McGill University medicine professor Roger Palfrees concerns about the planet supposedly being overpopulated. The latest news about the destruction of society due to LGBTQ perversion can be found at Gender.news. Sources for this article include: ReclaimTheNet.org NaturalNews.com Prachanda wins the race to become the PM by cobbling up support from unlikely parties and even courting leaders with dubious credentials by Ashok K. Mehta Never before in the history of Nepali politics has a convicted politician been visited in Kathmandus jail by a parade of luminaries like former Prime Minister Madhav Nepal, Nepali Congress stalwart Arzu Rana (wife of former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba), emissaries of Prime Minister Prachanda and many others. Resham Chaudhary of the Nagarik Unmukti Party is in jail for life for inciting fellow Tharus in the killing of seven policemen in 2015 at Tikapur (No 7 province). To obtain his partys support (three seats) now run by his wife and father, leaders have promised to get his release by ordinance. Everyone knows that will not happen. But such was the desperation of the two primary coalitions led by NC and CPN(UML) and Prachanda especially to add weight to his 32 seats in order to cobble together 138 seats to form the government. Pushpa Kamal Dahal gestures after reaching a power-sharing deal at Balkot, Nepal, December 25, 2022. [ Photo Credit: CFP] Never before has a single biggest NC- Deuba-led coalition that included Prachanda snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Clearly, Deuba underestimated the awesome Prachanda who undauntingly led the revolution against the state and monarchy. An ambitious Deuba (89 seats) wishing to be Prime Minister a sixth time (astrologers have predicted he will be PM seven times), refused to yield the first premiership to Prachanda with just 32 seats in a power-sharing agreement that has become the new normal in Nepal. The doubtful locus standi of such agreements and their non-implementation have led to bad blood and revolt. Prachanda, who had done his math and sent adequate signals to Deuba, immediately walked out of Baluwatar to Balakot to join the CPN(UML) alliance of former Prime Minister KP Oli, turning the tables on Deuba. Prachandas Plan B has caused a revolt in NC against Deuba for failing to preempt it. Fire-fighting operations led by Rana (Deuba had no real Plan B) included breaking the Oliled alliance that included Rajendra Lingden, RPP (14), Upendra Yadav, Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal (12), Rabi Lamichhane RSP (21), Resham Chaudhary Nagarik Unmukti Party (3), CK Raut Janmat Party (5) and several independents claiming 166 seats. It was this grand coalition that Rana attempted to fracture after Prachanda and six ministers had been sworn in on 26 December. In a last-ditch attempt on the week-end before Prachandas vote of confidence Tuesday (10 Jan) NC offered one year each as Prime Minister to Lingden and the suspended in-animation CPN (United Socialists) of Madhav Nepal (10 seats). NC made a similar offer to Lamichhane who said he was already deputy prime minister and home minister. An offer was made to Yadav (JSP-N) of Deputy prime minister and home minister and election to the House within six months. When Lingden refused the offer after Olis intervention the operation was aborted as arithmetic to disrupt the confidence vote did not work out. Otherwise, as leader of the single largest party, Deuba could have been invited by President Bidya Debi Bhandari to form the government. The RPP and JSP(N) agreed to support the vote of confidence last Saturday after the Common Minimum Programme prepared by Prachanda was handed over to a high-level political mechanism led by Oli. It was not easy for Prachanda to accommodate the political demands and ambitions of a coalition as bizarre as the one that won the vote of confidence. Third-time Prime Minister Prachanda is no novice in successfully managing contradictions, He learned the tricks on the job as Prime Minister. President Bhandaris term expires in March. CPN (UML ) will take the posts of President and Speaker. The name of former Speaker Subhash Nembang is doing the rounds for President though there is a minor domestic glitch. Had Madhav Nepal joined the Oli coalition it would have been a homecoming like Prachandas return and a possible shot at the presidency. The agreement has also been reached within the winning coalition of government formation in the provinces. Of the seven provinces, ( CPN UML) has bagged four chief ministers in provinces 1, 4, 5, and 7. In Number 7 province no government can be formed without the redoubtable Resham Chaudhary, Maoists will form government in No 3 and No 6 provinces. Ironically, in the No 3 province, no govt formation is possible without RPP. Anti-monarchists will cohabit with staunch supporters of Panch Sarkar, In no 2 provinces, only Madhes Pradesh, JSP (N), and Janmat Party will share chief ministership. Making the best of a bad job NC Alliance with Indias prodding supported Prachanda in yesterdays trust vote in unity and also magnanimity in adversity by the party with the largest mandate of the people. They will sit in the opposition with undecided Mr. Nepal and another dwindling Madheshi party, Loktantrik Samajwadi, led by the aging Mahanta Thakur (4 seats). Having missed power by a whisker, NC can claim it has stuck to democratic polity and principles and not chased power. Within sections of NC, the view is different. As for Prachanda, his third innings is fraught with the unknown. But at least for the next year, a vote of no confidence is inadmissible in Parliament. But the threat to Prachanda is from within. Ashok K. Mehta is a radio and television commentator, and a columnist on defence and security issues. He is a former Major General of Indian Army. After joining the Indian Army in 1957, he was commissioned in the 5th Gorkha Rifles infantry regiment in the same year. He had fought in all major wars India went into, except the Sino-Indian War of 1962. And he was also on a peacekeeping mission in Zaire in the year 1962 and in the Indian Peace Keeping Force, Sri Lanka (1988-90) and it was his last assignment in the Indian Army. He is also a writer of several books and a founder-member of the Defense Planning Staff in the Ministry of Defence, India. (Natural News) Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer resorted to dirty tricks in order to avoid paying a settlement to Nigeria, following the disastrous 1996 clinical trial of its antibiotic Trovan in the countrys Kano state. According to an April 2009 cable obtained and later published by WikiLeaks, the New York-based drug manufacturer came to a tentative $75 million agreement with the Kano state government to settle complaints the latter filed. However, the cable suggested that Pfizer did not want to pay out to settle two cases one civil and one criminal filed separately by the federal government in Nigerias capital Abuja. Enrico Liggeri, Pfizer country manager for Nigeria, expressed disagreement with settling the Kano state cases during the April 20, 2009 meeting. He later came to the conclusion that the $75 million figure was reasonable because the suits had been ongoing for many years [and had been] costing Pfizer more than $15 million a year in legal and investigative fees. The lawsuits against Pfizer arose from a drug trial in children in Kano back in 1996, amid an outbreak of meningitis in the northern Nigerian state. The said trial was later found to have been conducted without consent from the parents. A total of 11 Nigerian children died as a result, which led to both federal and state governments taking the matter to court. (Related: NEVER FORGET: Pfizer sued for $7B over illegal drug trials on kids.) The cable also touched on an earlier meeting between Liggeri, Pfizer lawyers Joe Petrosinelli and Atiba Adams and officials at the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria. During the meeting, it was suggested that the lawsuits filed by Abuja were dropped due to the involvement of Gen. Yakubu Gowon former Nigerian head of state from 1969 to 1975. Gowon interceded on Pfizers behalf with Gov. Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, the head of Kano state at that time. The retired general directed that the states settlement be reduced from $150 million to $75 million. Shekarau was later appointed as minister of education and elected as a senator in 2019. Aside from Shekarau, Gowon also met with former Nigerian President Umaru Musa YarAdua while the latter was still in office. The cable said Gowon convinced the leader to drop the two cases against Pfizer, which the president did. YarAdua passed away in 2010. Pfizer targeted, smeared Nigerias federal AG Moreover, the cable revealed that Pfizer hired investigators to dig up evidence of corruption against former Justice Minister Michael Aondoakaa then the federal attorney general (AG) to persuade him to drop legal action over the Trovan trial. Liggeri admitted to this action during the April 9 meeting, adding that Pfizers investigators were passing this information to local media. A series of damaging articles detailing Aondoakaas alleged corruption ties were published in February and March, the cable stated. Liggeri contended that Pfizer had much more damaging information on Aondoakaa, and that [the AGs] cronies were pressuring him to drop the suit for fear of further negative articles. Two days before the April 9 meeting and with Petrosinelli and Adams absent, Liggeri enlarged on the covert operation against the federal AG. The Pfizer country manager went on to suggest that the lawsuits against Pfizer were wholly political in nature. Nigerian newspaper Next ran a story in November 2010 that elaborated on Aondoakaas secret deal with Pfizer that led to Abujas lawsuits being dropped. The story alleged that the terms of the agreement that led to the lawsuits being dropped remain unknown because of the nature of the [deal] brokered by Aondoakaa. It continued: The withdrawal of the case, as well as the terms of settlement, is a highly guarded secret by the parties involved in the negotiation. But in reality, it was Gowon the former head of state who was involved in the secret deal, not the AG. Aondoakaa expressed astonishment at the claims against him at the time. Im very surprised to see I became a subject, which is very shocking to me, he said. I was not aware of Pfizer looking into my past. For them to have done that is a very serious thing. I became a target of a multinational [company]. If it is true, maybe I will take legal action. BigPharmaNews.com has more stories about Pfizers misdeeds. Watch this video that expounds on how Pfizer targeted and smeared Nigerian Federal AG Michael Aondoakaa. This video is from the SILVIEW.media channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Pfizer has a shockingly long history of engaging in illegal activities and human experimentation. THREAD #PfizerFiles the true history of Pfizers repeated criminal behavior and destruction of human lives. NEVER FORGET: In 1994, Pfizer paid $20 million after LYING about defective heart valve that killed hundreds. Sources include: TheGuardian.com 1 TheGuardian.com 2 Brighteon.com (Natural News) A study published in the British Medical Journal Open shows the detrimental effect of a sedentary lifestyle on health, especially on the aging populace. A study published in the journal Brain Sciences, meanwhile, notes that an active lifestyle contributes to brain development and that regular exercise supports healthy brain functions during aging and results in good quality of life. But human bodies change with age, and the risk of injury becomes higher as you get older. Sprains and strains, or the stretching and tearing of ligaments, tendons and muscles, are common in the shoulders, knees and ankles of older adults. Follow these seven tips to avoid injuries during exercise: Get a basic medical screening Talk with your doctor to make certain the physical activity youre considering is safe for you. Find out if you have any conditions that could put you in danger while exercising. You may still be able to work out an activity plan within the scope of your ability even if you have a chronic condition that may otherwise be limiting. Find a balanced exercise program Do not rely on one sport or exercise to keep you in shape. Follow a program that includes cardiovascular activity, strength training and stretching. A modified senior-centered Tai Chi program may beat strength training and aerobics among older adults and people with Parkinsons disease, according to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. It can also help reduce pain in people with lower-back pain, fibromyalgia and knee osteoarthritis. Tai Chi may be beneficial in improving balance. According to researchers and health experts, this centuries-old Chinese tradition can help reduce the risks of falling. (Related: Tai chi better than strength training and aerobics at preventing falls among seniors.) A study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health has indicated that Tai Chi could significantly improve leg and arm strength and upper and lower body flexibility. Researchers also reported that Tai Chi has positive effects on the well-being, general cognition and emotions of elderly people. Warm up before and cool down after Adding a few minutes to your warm-up can make your workouts smoother because cold muscles are more prone to injury. Here are three basic warm-up activities you can do before your workout. Leg warm-up Stand with your legs apart, with a slight bend in your knees. Slowly get used to shifting your weight from left to right. Rest your arms at your side, on your hips or on the back of a chair for support. Shift your weight onto one leg, supporting about 70 percent of your weight on that leg. Switch to the other leg slowly and with control. Repeat at least three times. Torso twists After doing the leg warm-up a few times, do some torso twists. Put your hands on your hips to help you feel how much you are turning from the torso. Inhale deeply and feel your spine grow longer. Gently twist your torso as you exhale. Your knees should stay above your ankles, equally bent. The small movements actually work your core and increase your core stability. Let your breath guide how fast you move. Twist at least five times to both sides. Energy in the sky This is good for digestion, respiration and stretching your abdominal region. This movement helps with core stability and strengthens and stretches your back. Stand in neutral position or keep your feet closer with your hands resting at your sides. Bring your hands together in front of your face, palms facing down, your fingertips pointing in toward each other and your arms as straight as you can comfortably get them. Look at your hands and continue to do so as you breathe in gently and begin to push your arms straight out in front of you, then up until they are up above your head As you exhale, bring your arms straight down and to your sides. Repeat at least five times. Do exercises and physical activities regularly You will not make healthful gains in fitness by cramming your activity during the weekends. Aim for at least 30 minutes of physical activity every day. Stay hydrated Be sure to drink liquids when doing any activity that makes you sweat. If your doctor has told you to limit your fluids, be sure to check before increasing the amount of fluids you drink while exercising. Listen to your body Pay attention to the messages your body is sending you, such as dizziness, chest pain and heartburn. Be cautious about adding new exercises Whether you are new to exercise or whether youre a seasoned fitness enthusiast, avoid taking on too many activities at once. When your body is telling you its ready to increase your activity level, do so in 10-percent increments. In other words, increase activity in small increments per week. Old age does not mean less activity. The more active you are, the better your body will age. Visit AgingSecrets.news for more stories about healthy aging. Watch the following video to learn about the three Ps for the bones: posture, prevention and protection. This video is from the What is Happening channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Older men greatly benefit from Tai Chi: Study. Exercise is great for seniors Older adults who move around a lot better able to express themselves. Playgrounds for seniors: A fun and practical idea gets the elderly in motion. Sources include: BMJ.com MDPI.com WinchesterHospital.org NCCIH.NIH.gov Brighteon.com California flash floods combined with torrential rain and strong winds have killed at least 17 people, with millions of Californians under evacuation orders, according to the latest reports. The fatalities are a result of recurring adverse weather as part of a Pacific storm train driven by atmospheric rivers, also known as rivers in the sky. The situation remains volatile until further notice as the week-long storms continue. The California storm also caused widespread disruption, leaving thousands of customers without electricity and making roads to be impassable due to the high levels of flood waters. Both residential and business establishments have been affected, with some schools and commercial buildings being closed, due to the life-threatening and disruptive weather hazards. California Flooding Fatalities California Governor Gavin Newsom on Tuesday, January 10, confirmed the deaths of at least 17 people with over 200,000 homes and businesses without power during his visit in the town of Capitola along the Santa Cruz coast. The area which was hit hard by high surf waves and massive flooding creek waters last week, Fox News reported. Initial reports showed that only a 5-year-old boy was among the casualties after being swept away by raging floodwaters. Over the past 24 hours, the death toll figure has increased to 14 prior to the current number of fatalities mentioned earlier. Newsom said California had less people who died in the last two years from major wildfires across the state than the ones died since New Year's Day due to the current extreme weather, adding that it is a proof that the climate crisis exists and people need to take it seriously. In a recent tweet, the governor posted that megadroughts, wildfires, historic floods, and atmospheric rivers are all part of climate change, relating the extreme weather events or climate phenomenon to climate change. Megadroughts. Wildfires. Historic floods and atmospheric rivers. This whiplash weather is not an anomaly. California is proof that the climate crisis is real and we have to take it seriously. pic.twitter.com/XWd35aWOOj Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) January 11, 2023 In recent years, climate scientists have linked climate change to the increasing frequency and intensity of storms in the US, including in the North Atlantic Ocean. Also Read: Heavy Rain to Continue in Portions of California This Week; Flooding and Mountain Snow Possible, Forecast Warns NWS Flood Alerts The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a regionwide flood watch for most areas of California and noted that most of the state has witnessed an increase in rainfall by 400% to 600% since the past few weeks. AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Mike Doll recalled that it was during late December when the train of storms started and examined the pattern of the adverse weather during the winter season for California. This intense inclement weather has resulted in tens of millions of people under flood watch, as cited by TIME. As of Tuesday afternoon, the NWS through its Weather Prediction Center (WPC) placed a flood advisory for over 22 million people across California, including a small part of Oregon. In 2022, various reports mentioned that California is in need of precipitation in the form of rain due to its prolonged drought, dry conditions, and devastating wildfires. While the torrential rain refilled some depleted water reservoirs, the ongoing storm onslaught proved to be excessive for millions of Californians. Related Article: US Weather Forecast: California Braces for Severe Rains, Storms, and Possible Flooding As US Nears Halfway of Meteorological Winter According to researchers, there are indications that the native frog population in the Royal National Park may be ill as a result of coal pollution. Reports from EPA say otherwise. After coal sludge repeatedly leaked into the local waterways that flow into the Royal National Park last year, the NSW Environmental Protection Authority is currently reviewing the Metropolitan colliery's license in Helensburgh, south of Sydney. As part of their research into the effects of foreign chemicals introduced to freshwater ecosystems, Shannon Kaiser and Chad Beranek, both scientists, have been assessing the health of the local frog population. At the pollution site, according to Kaiser, who is a Ph.D. candidate at Macquarie University, the two saw green stream frogs that appeared to be on the verge of passing away. Kaiser claims that they came across a frog that was lying on its back and unable to stand up. That is used as a cutoff point for when to euthanize the frog because it is clearly struggling and does not have long to live. It is a fairly strong indication that the frog is near death. The fact that this is only occurring at sites near the Hacking River and not at any other locations where coal sludge has not been found, he continued, is quite alarming. Scientists alarmed at the discovery of sick frogs in Royal National Park river polluted by neighbouring coal mine. https://t.co/IrHdIjMQ8T Tim Fernandez (@TimFernandezz) January 8, 2023 Native Frogs vs. Coal Pollution According to a September 2022 article in The Sydney Morning Herald, the water that streams through the Royal National Park is typically sparkling, but along Camp Gully Creek it is dark and murky and the river bed is covered in sludge following a pollution incident involving a nearby mine. Although there had not been reports, Kaiser and Beranek asserts their claim through their survey. The surveys were conducted at Camp Gully Creek and the Hacking River, two major rivers that flow through the Royal National Park, between September and December last year. Although it was challenging to prove a connection between the frogs' poor health and coal pollution, according to Kaiser, the animals were especially vulnerable to changes in their natural habitat. Because of the way their skin functions, he claimed that frogs are especially sensitive to environmental change. Any chemicals that end up in the water can directly contact the frog, which can result in some pretty serious damage. Kaiser is unsure if the coal sludge has that effect, but it may weaken their immune system because chytrid is a disease that kills frogs all over the world. The frog's immune system may have been compromised by the coal sludge, which means that it may now be succumbing to the disease as a result of it being present in the area. Read also: New Species of Tree Frog with Unique Shrill Calls Discovered in Costa Rica EPA Clean-Up The EPA reported that work had now progressed from Camp Gully Creek downstream further into Hacking River since the cleanup of polluted waterways is still ongoing. An EPA spokesperson stated that since the middle of 2022, water samples have been taken downstream of the discharge location. To better understand the environmental impact and to guide the investigation, these are being examined for a variety of substances. The results, according to the agency, show there is no risk dealt by the recent pollution incident to human health. According to ABC News, no effects on local wildlife, including frogs, have been seen by the EPA or reported by the community. People are asking why no containment is being used for the clean-up. EPA explains that because the coal material's particles are so tiny, they float in the water column and proceed with the current. Booms and sediment fencing are two containment techniques that are intended to keep larger particle sizes or floating material in place. Due to the size of the particles, these methods would not work in this incident. According to the NSW EPA, using water gates would stop all water flow and result in flooding, so they cannot be used. Related article: Radiation Causes Darker Skin Colors in Chernobyl Frogs, Area Radioactivity Does Not Affect Them Now Last month, a routine wildlife search resulted in the rescue of 90 animals, while a few others were discovered dead in a Washington home. Although there are no news regarding the charges to the owner, some of the animals are now ready to be placed in forever homes. The Pend Oreille County Sheriff's Office (POCSO) began what they thought would be just another routine animal welfare investigation on December 16. Deputies went to the house south of Ione with the expectation that there would only be a dozen animals involved. But when the property was searched, nearly 90 animals were discovered, some of which were already dead. Two horses, four pigs, three cats, 11 dogs, about 40 goats, and about 30 farm birds were among the rescued survivors. It was anticipated that Melanie Nolander, the suspect, would be charged with animal cruelty. However, reports from the incident did not specify whether she was charged. SpokAnimal, SCRAPS, HGAS, and HEART The emergency management for Spokane and Pend Oreille, SCRAPS, SpokAnimal, Higher Ground Animal Sanctuary (HGAS), and Humane Evacuation Animal Rescue Team (HEART) volunteers all contributed significantly to the collection, transport, sheltering, and medical care of the animals. HEART is an all-volunteer nonprofit organization that works with SpokAnimal to provide proper daily care for the rescued animals while looking for adoptive families who can take them in. HEART is committed to providing national and local emergency relief for animals caught in natural disasters and other emergencies. The animals were discovered in appalling conditions, without food or water and shelter from the bitter cold, according to Marian Ortiz, president of HEART. HEART, as stated on their website, assisted in moving the animals from the location of the seizure and in setting up a temporary shelter where we took care of them day and night in the bitter cold. Emaciated to the Bone When the animals were first brought in, many of the rescues were huddled together, according to Cheri Scandalis, one of the founders and directors of HGAS. Some of them refused to or were unable to stand. They are obviously very dehydrated. Their ribs, spine, and all of their bones are visible, according to Ortiz. The majority of the animals that were saved were so malnourished that the rescuers were concerned about whether they would survive the night. Sadly, three animals died in the first few days because they were in such bad condition that they could not be saved, so those worries were not unfounded. For those who made a full recovery, Scandalis claimed that the animals were perplexed and did not appear to understand what to do with the care given. She said that when the team gave the rescued animals some food and water, it seemed as though they had never seen water or food before. It was obvious that the animals had not recently eaten, and they were eating snow because there was no water nearby. Read also: Woman Walks into a Bar with Rabid Raccoon, Gets Charged with Misdemeanor Before End of 2022- North Dakota SpokAnimal Fortunately, a flood of assistance from numerous organizations ensured that food, beds, and medical attention were quickly delivered to the area and that temporary shelter was offered. While HGAS took the farm animals in and helped out with daily care responsibilities, SpokAnimal brought the cats and dogs to their shelter. The two horses, who were each 250 pounds underweight, continue to be looked after by a Deer Park vet. A report from Local Today published last month says that horses, pigs, chickens, goats, ducks, dogs, and cats were among the animals saved. Some of the animals have already made significant improvements and are now searching for their forever homes. The animal's owner has not been officially charged, NonStop LOCAL KHQ reports. Related article: 350,000 Animals Rescued as Famous Car Companies Pledge Help to Shelters Alumni from "67" School reunite at Chinese New Year event in Laos Xinhua) 14:57, January 11, 2023 Alumni from "67" School make dumplings during the 2023 "Happy Chinese New Year" Festival at the China Cultural Center in Vientiane, Laos, Jan. 10, 2023. (Photo by Tamon Huengmeexay/Xinhua) VIENTIANE, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- More than 50 alumni from "67" School took part in an event here on Tuesday to celebrate the Chinese New Year, saying that they will always cherish the friendship between Laos and China. President of the Lao Women's Union Inlavanh Keobounphanh, Lao Minister to the Prime Minister's Office Khampheng Saysompheng and more than 50 alumni participated in the 2023 "Happy Chinese New Year" Festival held at the China Cultural Center in Laos. Alumni from "67" School participate in the 2023 "Happy Chinese New Year" Festival at the China Cultural Center in Vientiane, Laos, Jan. 10, 2023. (Photo by Tamon Huengmeexay/Xinhua) Keobounphanh delivered a speech on behalf of the alumni from "67" School, saying that Laos and China, connected by mountains and rivers, and sharing similar customs and habits, have been in close contact and helped each other since ancient times. In the 1960s, the Chinese government helped more than 1,000 Lao people study in China, while now, the Laos-China Railway is becoming a road for the Lao people to get rid of poverty, said Keobounphanh. Alumni from "67" School participate in the 2023 "Happy Chinese New Year" Festival at the China Cultural Center in Vientiane, Laos, Jan. 10, 2023. (Photo by Tamon Huengmeexay/Xinhua) "We are deeply grateful to the Chinese government and people for their selfless help. We will never forget the mountainous kindness of Chinese government and will always cherish our precious friendship," she added. Li Yiping, director of the China Cultural Center in Laos, said the alumni from "67" school is a historical witness of the friendship between China and Laos, and they are the inheritors of the friendship. President of the Lao Women's Union Inlavanh Keobounphanh (1st R) makes dumplings with alumni from "67" School at the China Cultural Center in Vientiane, Laos, Jan. 10, 2023. (Photo by Tamon Huengmeexay/Xinhua) She added that the China Cultural Center in Laos will be a gateway for alumni to keep in touch, and will be a warm home and a bridge in deepening the friendship between Laos and China. In 1960s, China built the "67" School in Nanning, the capital city of southwestern China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The school is named after the year of 1967 when the two countries decided to build such a school, which later set up kindergarten and primary school classes of grade one to six, receiving more than 1,000 Lao teachers and students. (Web editor: Cai Hairuo, Liang Jun) 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. 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. Growth hasnt exploded to the same degree as last year, when revenue doubled, as consumers have settled into buying habits and prices have begun to fall. Champaign, IL (61820) Today Except for a few afternoon clouds, mainly sunny. High around 80F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Partly to mostly cloudy. Low 54F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. There are two fundamentally different cell types in the brain, neurons and glial cells. The latter, for example, insulate the "wiring" of nerve cells or guarantee optimal working conditions for them. A new study led by the University of Bonn has now discovered another function in rodents: The results suggest that a certain type of glial cell plays an important role in spatial learning. The German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) was involved in the work. The results have now been published in the journal Nature Communications. Each place has numerous characteristics that distinguish it and make it unmistakable as a whole. A gnarled tree. A babbling brook at its foot. Fragrant wildflowers in the meadow behind. When we visit a place for the first time, we store this combination of features. When we then encounter the interplay of tree, brook, and wildflower meadow another time, our brain recognizes it: We remember having been there before. This is made possible by mechanisms such as the so-called dendritic integration of synaptic activity. We were able to show that the so-called astroglial cells or astrocytes play an essential role in this integration. They regulate how sensitive neurons are to a specific combination of features." Prof. Dr. Christian Henneberger, Institute of Cellular Neuroscience, University Hospital Bonn One million place cells in the mouse brain In their study, the researchers took a close look at neurons in the hippocampus of rodents. The hippocampus is a region in the brain that plays a central role in memory processes. This is especially true for spatial memory: "In the hippocampus, there are neurons that specialize in just that - place cells," says Henneberger, who is also a member of the Collaborative Research Center 1089 - where the research project was based - and the Transdisciplinary Research Area "Life & Health" at the University of Bonn. There are about one million of these place cells in the mouse hippocampus alone. Each responds to a specific combination of environmental characteristics. Place cells have long extensions, the dendrites. These are branched like the crown of a tree and dotted with numerous contact points. Information that our senses convey to us about a location arrives here. These contacts are called synapses. "When signals arrive at many neighboring synapses at the same time, a strong voltage pulse occurs in the dendrite - a so-called dendritic spike," explains Dr. Kirsten Bohmbach, who performed most of the experiments in the study. "This process is what we call dendritic integration: The spike only occurs when a sufficient number of synapses are active at the same time. Such spikes travel toward the cell body, where they can trigger another voltage pulse - an action potential." Place cells in attention mode Place cells generate action potentials at regular intervals. The speed at which they do this can vary widely. However, when mice orient themselves in a new environment, their place cells always oscillate in a special rhythm - they then generate five to ten voltage pulses per second. This rhythm causes the nerve cells to release certain messenger substances. And this is where astrocytes come in: They have sensors to which these messenger substances dock, and in turn release a substance called D-serine. "The D-serine then migrates to the dendrites of the place cells," Bohmbach explains. "There, it ensures that the dendritic spikes can develop more easily and are also much stronger." When mice are in orientation mode, this makes it easier for them to store and recognize new locations. It is similar to a cab driver concentrating on navigating through the city center and memorizing changing locations. The passenger next to the driver is also looking at the road, but his thoughts are elsewhere and he notices less (however, there are also quite different processes involved in such attention phenomena). "If we inhibit the assistance provided by astrocytes in mice, they are less likely to recognize familiar places," Henneberger says. However, this does not apply to locations that are particularly relevant - for example, because they pose a potential danger: These continue to be avoided by the animals. "The mechanism we discovered therefore controls the threshold at which location information is stored or recognized." The results provide a new insight into how memory works and is controlled. In the medium term, they may also help to answer the question of how certain forms of memory disorders develop. The research results are also an expression of fruitful intra-university cooperation: "They would not have been possible without the intensive collaboration with Prof. Dr. Heinz Beck's laboratory at the Institute of Experimental Epileptology and Cognitive Sciences and, in particular, his colleagues Dr. Nicola Masala and Dr. Thoralf Opitz," Henneberger highlights. Participating institutions and funding: In addition to the University of Bonn and the University Hospital Bonn, the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) and University College London were involved in the work. The Study was funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the returnee program of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. 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 patients -; including a third of women with pregnancy coverage through Medicaid -; are 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 Medicaid -; and, 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." Maria Steenland, assistant professor of health services, policy and practice (research) at Brown University 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 pregnancy -; like 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. Funding for this study was provided in part by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (P2C HD041020) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Policies for Action program. A recent study finds that families with separated parents provide less financial and emotional support to their adult children. "We wanted to see if the ways parents support their grown children financially, emotionally, etc. is different in families where the parents are still a couple versus in families where the parents are separated," says Anna Manzoni, corresponding author of the study and an associate professor of sociology at North Carolina State University. "We also wanted to see whether the way adult children support their parents differs. "Given the extent to which many young adults rely on support from their parents, the findings are significant. And given the aging population, it's also important to examine the extent to which adult children are supporting their parents." For their study, the researchers looked at several kinds of intergenerational support: emotional, material and instrumental. Instrumental support includes things like helping out around the house, babysitting and eldercare. Material support includes things like financial support and gifts. Emotional support includes things like personal advice. The researchers drew on data from 4,340 German adults who participated in a long-term project called the German Family Panel. The data stems from in-depth surveys conducted every other year between 2009 and 2016. The youngest panel participants included in the study turned 18 in 2009, and none of the adult children surveyed were living with their parents. The panel surveys explored the extent to which parents and children gave and received emotional, material and instrumental support to each other. The researchers used statistical techniques to identify differences in these types of intergenerational support between "separated families" and families where the parents were still together. We found that, in families where there was parental separation, there was substantially less support from fathers and mothers to their adult children, whether you're talking about emotional, material or instrumental support. In practical terms, this often places children in these families at a disadvantage, because they have access to fewer resources." Anna Manzoni, corresponding author of the study and associate professor of sociology, North Carolina State University Similarly, adult children in families with parental separation provided less support for their parents, with one exception. Children in families with parental separation provided as much material support for their mothers as children in families without parental separation. Two other factors also played a role in the extent to which parental separation affected intergenerational support. The amount of support between father and child in both directions was affected by when the parents separated. Specifically, if the parental separation occurred after the child reached adulthood, the difference in intergenerational support was less pronounced. For separated mothers, education made a significant difference. The more educated separated mothers were, the better able they were to provide material support to their children. "There's a lot of research showing that children in separated families are at a disadvantage, being more likely to perform worse in school, experience mental health challenges, and so on. This study shows that they are also at a disadvantage as adults, in terms of the support that parents can provide. That doesn't mean that people should stay in bad relationships they definitely should not but it helps us understand a significant social challenge. Really, it underscores the need to provide additional support for separated families." 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) funded evaluation. The findings, led by researchers at the University of Bristol, are published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood. 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 programme, 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 programme, 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. 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." Karen Luyt, Professor in Neonatal Medicine, University of Bristol 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 life - that'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 study - Elly'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." Each state has its own laws governing the investigation of violent and unexplained deaths, and the expertise and training of those in charge of such investigations vary widely across the nation. The job can be held by an elected coroner as young as 18 or a highly trained physician appointed as medical examiner. Rulings on causes of death are often not cut-and-dried and can be controversial. In a recent California case, the Sacramento County coroner's office ruled that Lori McClintock, the wife of U.S. congressman Tom McClintock, died from dehydration and gastroenteritis in December 2021 after ingesting white mulberry leaf, a plant not considered toxic to humans. The ruling triggered questions by doctors and pathologists about the decision to link the plant to her cause of death. When asked to explain how he made the connection, Dr. Jason Tovar, the chief forensic pathologist who reports to the coroner, said he reviewed literature about the plant online using WebMD and Verywell Health. KHN senior correspondent Samantha Young appeared this month on the "Apple News Today" podcast and KOA, a public radio station in Denver, to discuss the difference between coroners and medical examiners and why it matters who holds the job. Her segment on Apple News starts at the 5-minute mark. You can read Young's coverage of the issue here. 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(PNAS). 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. 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." David Mooney, Ph.D., senior author, 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 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 3D 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 labelled 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. How cells shape complex tissues and organs during embryo development, which makes us what we are, has many mysteries. New research from the University of Cincinnati has examined one such process which leads to the formation of vertebral column or spinal column. If this process is disrupted, it results in a birth defect called congenital scoliosis, or curvature of the spine. The UC research not only advanced understanding of how complex biological tissues form, but it could also lead to possible treatments for scoliosis in the future. The research was published in the journal Nature. We are studying a basic science problem, the formation of the spinal column, the vertebral backbone that we all have. By discovering the core mechanism governing it, we are able to reengineer this mechanism in mutant zebrafish which normally lack that process." Ertugrul Ozbudak, PhD, professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the UC College of Medicine's Division of Developmental Biology as well as Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and lead author on the study Ozbudak says in all vertebrate species, including humans, the spinal column is composed of segmented vertebral discs. Those discs that form the spine originate in embryonic blueprint segments called somites. As the embryo body elongates in all vertebrate species, it is cut into somites by a "biological clock knife." "As humans, we all pass through that knife-cutting process thanks to clock genes that express like blades," says Ozbudak. "There is a biological clock controlling this. Each time that clock ticks, the knife comes down and then separates the disc precursors, somites, from the others that will form later on. "Some genes are part of this clock. When they are mutated, it results in scoliosis because there is no longer a knife that is cutting," he adds. "By discovering this unknown hierarchy and imitating it with pharmaceutical drugs, we are able to now restore and reengineer that missing segmentation in the mutants which miss the molecular clock." Ozbudak says the four UC students worked on the project and all contributed in different ways, bringing different skills and talents to the research. Chandel Angad Singh, a second-year doctoral student in the systems physiology graduate program, engineered a genetically modified animal model while Didar Saparov, a third-year doctoral student in the molecular and developmental biology graduate program at Cincinnati Children's Hospital, conducted experiments with pharmaceutical drugs. Oriana Zinani, now a doctoral graduate from the molecular and developmental biologyB program, verified the precision of a genetic reporter fish for the molecular clock. Nick Clason, as an undergraduate co-op intern from the computer science department, contributed to the molecular simulations involved in the study. "They had different backgrounds as undergraduates and they all did research in my lab," Ozbudak says of the students. "They formed a nice multidisciplinary team. In their bachelor's degree [studies] Didar, Angad and Oriana majored in physics, biomedical engineering and biology, respectively. The team is led by Dr. Muhammed Simsek, a senior postdoctoral fellow in my lab at Cincinnati Children's Hospital." Ozbudak says the publication of the research has triggered positive responses from other scientists internationally. "They are finding this study important and paradigm-shifting. We are hoping it will energize not only our lab members working on this project, but also several labs across the globe," he says. "In a globalized society, hopefully everyone else will pitch in as well, and researchers from different countries and different universities will take these results and push them forward. "Collectively, we will have a better understanding of why certain mutations cause diseases and we'll understand the mechanisms behind it which will one day be helpful in curing congenital scoliosis." AMES, Iowa Jan. 11, 2023 Today, the Iowa Transportation Commission approved $1,348,650 in total funding for five federal Recreational Trails Program projects. The federal Recreational Trails Program was created in 1991 for the purpose of developing and maintaining recreational trails and trail-related facilities for both motorized and nonmotorized trail users. This funding is available to cities, counties, state and federal agencies, and private organizations through an annual application-based program. The projects and approved funding amounts are listed below. Cedar River Water Trail Access Improvements (Mitchell County Conservation Board) - $665,050 Central Place Levee Trail Phase 2 (Des Moines) - $300,000 Nicholson-Ford OHV Park Tree Clean Up (Iowa Department of Natural Resources) - $131,600 Snowmobile Trail Maintenance (Iowa State Snowmobile Association) - $246,000 Support for Bicycle Summit (Iowa Department of Transportation) - $6,000 # Contact: Scott Flagg at 515-239-1252 or scott.flagg@iowadot.us Ames, Iowa Jan. 11, 2023 Today, the Iowa Transportation Commission approved $3,873,560 million in total funding for 8 projects from Iowa's Clean Air Attainment Program. The program was created in 1994 for the purpose of reducing transportation-related congestion and air pollution. This funding is available to cities, counties, transit agencies, metropolitan planning organizations, regional planning affiliations, state agencies, and nonprofit organizations through an annual application-based program. The projects and approved funding amounts are listed below. Traffic System Vehicle Detection Improvement Phase 2 (West Des Moines) - $432,000 Marketing Campaign (Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority) - $40,000 Altoona ITS Master Plan (Altoona) - $75,888 100th Street Adaptive Signal Coordination (Urbandale) - $144,000 Deployment of Ames Traffic Signal Master Plan Phase 4 (Ames) - $1,521,280 Ansborough Avenue Adaptive Signal Control Technology (Waterloo) - $728,000 Broadway Street Adaptive Signal Control Technology (Waterloo) - $880,000 Route 17 Extension to Bondurant Year 3 (Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority) - $52,392 # Contact: Jared Smith at 515-239-1713 or jared.smith@iowadot.us Fairbanks, AK (99707) Today Mainly cloudy with snow showers around this evening. Low -2F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 80%.. Tonight Mainly cloudy with snow showers around this evening. Low -2F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 80%. TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, has highlighted the importance of continuing to build strong relations with various countries. HRH Prince Salman also affirmed Bahrains commitment to enhancing its contribution to the international community to promote peace, security and stability, which paves the way for development that benefits all. His Royal Highness was speaking as he received yesterday Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, and a number of Ministry officials and heads of Bahrains diplomatic missions on the occasion of Diplomatic Day, at Riffa Palace. HRH the Crown Prince and Prime Minister commended the efforts of Bahrainis working in diplomatic affairs and their commitment to advancing Bahrains international position, which has led to successes across various national achievements, in line with the Kingdoms comprehensive development, led by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. His Royal Highness thanked the heads of Bahrains diplomatic missions and all those working in the diplomatic field for their efforts in implementing Bahrains foreign policy and protecting the interests of the people of the Kingdom abroad. Exceptional competence He affirmed that Bahraini diplomatic professionals have proven their distinguished capabilities, noting their exceptional competence demonstrated across various stations that is worthy of pride and appreciation. HRH Prince Salman highlighted the importance of continuing to develop the institutional work of diplomatic affairs by promoting a culture of innovation and excellence, while raising efficiency and capabilities in the field of diplomatic and consular affairs. He affirmed that the Kingdom continues to build bridges of cooperation and communication with various countries across the globe, with the goal of achieving desired and mutually beneficial aspirations, which are built on the countrys long-standing values of tolerance and peace. Dr Al Zayani and the heads of diplomatic missions of the Kingdom of Bahrain expressed their thanks for His Royal Highness unwavering support for diplomatic work. They highlighted their commitment to implementing His Royal Highness directives to strengthen Bahrains relations with various countries across the world. TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com Foreign Minister Dr Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani yesterday opened the 2023 Diplomatic Day. The opening session was attended by senior ministrys officials, heads of diplomatic and consular missions, as well as heads of departments and directors. Dr Al Zayani congratulated them on Bahrain Diplomatic Day, which falls annually on January 14, hailing their dedicated efforts to support the Kingdoms diplomacy, implement its foreign policy, defending its interests and building bridges of cooperation with brotherly and friendly countries, in lince with the directives and farsighted vision of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. On behalf of the ministrys personnel and diplomatic corps, he expressed honour at meeting His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, yesterday at Riffa Palace on the occasion of Bahrain Diplomatic Day. Dr Al Zayani praised HRH the Crown Prince and Prime Ministers directives to continue developing diplomatic institutional work. The forum will feature dialogue session with ministers and senior government officials to shed light on issues related to Bahrains foreign policy and diplomacy. The minister underscored the importance of exchanging ideas, visions and aspirations towards achieving common goals and enhancing Bahrains diplomacy, noting work with Bahrain Team spirit to implement HM the Kings. TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com Bhavans-Bahrain Indian School (BIS) bagged the rolling trophy at the Faber Castell SPECTRA 2022 - an inter-school art competition held by The Indian Community Relief Fund (ICRF) at the behest of the Embassy of India in Bahrain. Chinmayi Manikandan of Grade II secured first position in Group 1 category, Adhuna Banerjee of Grade III secured fourth position in Group 1 category and Ritushree Sujai of Grade I and Anesha Bhatt of Grade VII were awardees for best in 25 for Group 1 and Group 2 respectively. The prize winners were honoured at an Award Function which was held on 30th December2022. Wall calendars and desk-top calendars featuring the winning entries and other outstanding creations by the children were released on the same day of Award Ceremony. Directors Himanshu Verma and Ritu Verma and Principal Saji Jacob congratulated the winners and their teachers. TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland - Medical University of Bahrain (RCSI Bahrain) has announced the top three winners of its Research Summer School Research Review Competition 2022, held under the guidance of the School of Postgraduate Studies and Research with the aim of introducing RCSI Bahrain undergraduates to the world of research. The first place prize win- ners for the Research Review 2022 Competition, Sania Shabbir, Emaan Khurram, Vedhika Moorthi and Youssef Eissa for their review titled The Interplay Between Androgens and the Immune Response in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, who were mentored by Dr Alexandra Butler, RCSI Bahrain Senior Research Fellow and Dr Mohammad Kamal, former RCSI Bahrain Postdoctoral Research Fellow. Winners of the second place prize are William Junior Khalil, Meriem Akeblersane and Ana Khan for their review titled Environmental pollution and risk of developing metabolic disorders: Obesity and diabetes, and were mentored by Dr Butler and Dr Abu Saleh Moin, RCSI Bahrain Postdoctoral Research Fellow. The winners of the third place are Prianna Menezes and Isabell Lawrence, for their review titled Evaluating the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the physicians psychological health; a scoping systematic review, who were mentored by Shaista Salman, RCSI Bahrain Professionalism Lecturer and Professor Fiza Rashid-Doubell, former RCSI Bahrain Associate Professor in Physiology. Professor Stephen Atkin, Head of School of Postgraduate Studies and Research, commented, With research being a core pillar of RCSI Bahrain, we encourage our students to get involved in research early on in their academic journey to develop their research skills and boost their learning experience. TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com Reported by Julia Cassano For the past two days, US senior officials and partners from the governments of Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Morocco, and the UAE discussed ways to build a regional framework in the Middle East and North Africa. Derek Chollet, Counselor of the United States Department of State, said: There were around 150 officials representing the different countries during the meetings, and it was the largest meeting between Israel and its regional partners since the Madrid summit in 1991. The briefing held yesterday is a direct follow on to the initial Negev summit held in March 2022 in Israel. The Negev Forum created six working groups that met over the past two days which focused on core themes of the Negev process including regional security, clean energy, food and water security, health, tourism, and education, said Counselor Chollet. He stated that during sessions held with partners, they continued to pursue the overall goal of advancing coordinated initiatives that will encourage regional integration, cooperation, and development for the benefit of all people of the region. We are focused on producing tangible outcomes to strengthen the Palestinian economy and improve the quality of life for Palestinian people. We aimed to develop clear, concrete, and pragmatic steps to bolster integration and help augment the regions security, peace, and economic prosperity, said Counselor Chollet. The US sent a large delegation to the meetings, including senior officials from eight US government agencies and were able to fully engage with a range of expertise whilst in discussion with partners in Bahrain, Egypt, Morocco, UAE, and Israel. The progress of the Negev Forum will build notable benefits within the region that have developed since the signing of the Abraham Accords and related agreements over two years ago, said Counselor Chollet. He highlighted the numerous regional benefits, including the vastly expanding trade, economic relationships, surges in tourism, cultural and academic exchanges, and more advanced coordination. The goal is to make peoples lives across the Negev Forum countries more peaceful, prosperous, and vibrant. Ambassador Cindy McCain, US Permanent Representative to the UN Agencies in Rome, discussed how food and water security are the most important global security issues of our time. The situation has worsened because of Putins war in Ukraine, compounded with the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change, and regional conflicts. We need a united global effort to save lives and to tackle the root of hunger, Ambassador McCain said. Ambassador McCain further explained that investing in science, technology, and innovation is key to creating efficient food systems for the future. We looked to identify specific projects that the Negev Forum countries could seek to develop in the short and long term to solve the food security crisis. Elizabeth Allen, Senior Official for the Bureau of Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, commented on the goal to build a regional framework that can potentially change the Middle Easts and north Africas future. We had multiple sessions of constructed dialogue throughout the two days. Working with future generations and creating new integrated opportunities are the key factors to building a regional framework. She added that these opportunities could grow people-to-people ties in the region and promote a stronger sense of coexistence. Increased educational exchanges and coordination have a strong track record of creating jobs which positively impact economies. We have seen areas thrive since the Abraham Accords were signed years ago. We have seen several signs of memorandums of understanding between universities in Arab countries and Israel and opportunities for youth from different countries to engage with each other in cultural and sporting events. During the last two days, we have discussed opportunities to build on current work in academic cooperation, cultural exchange, sports, and media. Allen noted that they are at the beginning stage of the work and that their work is a long-term dialogue in which they are committed to creating a regional framework. TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com Bahrain's Parliamentary Division head and Shura member Abdulaziz Hassan Abul has chaired the meeting of the Standing Committee on Economic Affairs and Sustainable Development in the Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA). The meeting in the Turkish city of Antalya discussed draft resolutions and reviewed a brief report on the committee's recent activities. The committee discussed a draft resolution on the establishment of an Asian energy market aimed at enabling Asian countries to achieve optimal use of clean natural energy resources and export surpluses to other Asian countries. The assembly noted the significance of developing the sector through setting renewable energy production projects that provide investment partnership opportunities for alternative energy projects between the public and private sectors, and between Asian countries. The committee also reviewed the draft resolution on environment and climate change issues and stressed the role of parliaments in making plans and strategies to improve solutions and advance sustainable development goals through enacting supporting laws and legislation. Agencies | Vatican The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com Cardinal George Pell, a giant of the Catholic Church who was convicted and later cleared of sexual abuse in Australia, has died in Rome aged 81, a church official confirmed Wednesday. From humble beginnings in regional Australia, Pell climbed the ranks to become one of Pope Francis's most trusted advisers inside the Vatican. He was also the highest-ranking Catholic to be imprisoned for child sexual abuse, before his convictions were quashed on appeal. While supporters praised Pell on Wednesday as a modern-day "saint", victims of Church abuse said his death dredged up painful memories. Archbishop of Sydney Anthony Fisher confirmed Pell died in Rome in the early hours of Wednesday. Former conservative Australian prime minister Tony Abbott said his friend's name had been tainted by a "monstrous allegation". "His incarceration on charges that the High Court ultimately scathingly dismissed was a modern form of crucifixion," Abbott said Wednesday. "He strikes me as a saint for our times." But Donald McLeish, from the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said Pell embodied the Church's neglect of sexual abuse victims. "His name is known (by) survivors across the world," he told AFP. "Not just for his inaction, but the coldness that he put towards victims and survivors. "He's gone but the battle continues." Pell's body will be returned to Australia and buried in the crypt of St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney, church officials said. Australian lawyers, meanwhile, confirmed Wednesday they would plough ahead with a civil case listing Pell as a co-defendant. The case had been brought by the father of a former altar boy who alleged he was sexually abused by Pell. "The claim will continue against the church and whatever estate Pell has left behind," Shine Lawyers said in a statement. Pell died of heart complications related to a hip surgery he had undergone in a Rome hospital on Tuesday, according to the Vatican's official news website. Allegations of sexual abuse started swirling around Pell in 2002, when he was the Archbishop of Sydney. He was accused of sexually abusing a teenage boy at a camp in the early 1960s, but an investigation launched by the church eventually dismissed the claims. One year later, in 2003, Pope John Paul appointed Pell to the powerful position of cardinal. Pell continued to rise and in 2014 he was tasked with rooting out church corruption as the head of the Secretariat for the Economy. He was widely seen at the time as the right-hand man of Pope Francis and the third most powerful figure in the church. Further allegations surfaced at the height of Pell's power in 2016. He voluntarily returned to Australia to face accusations that he molested two 13-year-old choirboys in the 1990s. Pell strenuously denied those charges until his death. "What a load of absolute, disgraceful rubbish," he said in a 2016 police interview. The first trial ended in a hung jury, but a second trial found Pell guilty. In 2019, he was sentenced to six years in prison and registered as a sex offender. He spent 12 months in Barwon Prison near Melbourne before the Australian High Court quashed his convictions on appeal -- opening the door for his return to Rome in late 2020. Pell was embraced by the Church despite the scandal and was received by the pope inside the Apostolic Palace in October 2020. He was among those in attendance at the funeral of Pope Benedict XVI at St Peter's Square last week. BELLEVILLE, ON, Jan. 11, 2023 /CNW/ - Today, the Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion and Shawn Stickler, Lead Pastor of the Pentecostals of Quinte (POQ), announced a combined investment of over $208,000 to support the development of new affordable housing units in Belleville. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation Logo (CNW Group/Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation) The Pentecostals of Quinte church complex in Belleville is building seven housing units for women and their children, five of which will be affordable. These units will consist of a mixture of one-bedroom and studio apartments. POQ are also offering LifeClasses, activities or educational opportunities to help facilitate conversation and provide community support for youth, young adults, mothers, men's and women's groups. Construction began in October 2021, and is planning on welcoming residents at the end of March 2023. Quotes: "Everyone deserves a safe and affordable place to call home. This is why our government is providing funding to create seven housing units for women and their children in addition to the many others we have funded across Canada. These new homes will not only greatly improve the lives of those who will call them home, but they will also have a positive impact on the wider community. This is our government's National Housing Strategy at work." The Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion "Our missions at the Pentecostals of Quinte is to make a difference in our community. We hope that this housing project, in some small way, helps our city's need for affordable housing. The people residing at the property will have access to programs and supports for their social, emotional, and mental health needs." Pastor Shawn Stickler, Pentecostals of Quinte 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. 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, 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 . . To learn more on the work of Family Violence Prevention Program in supporting Indigenous women, children, and Indigenous communities. 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] Google, Roche and QuadReal Among Top Employers in Canada SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 11, 2023 /CNW/ -- Glassdoor , the worldwide leader on insights about jobs and companies, has announced the winners of its annual Employees' Choice Awards, honoring the Best Places to Work 2023 across Canada, the U.S. and three other countries. Unlike other workplace awards, the Glassdoor Employees' Choice Awards are based on the input of employees who voluntarily provide anonymous feedback on Glassdoor by completing a company review about their job, work environment and employer over the past year. The Glassdoor Employees' Choice Awards honors the Best Places to Work across Canada , U.S. , UK , France and Germany . In Canada, Glassdoor has revealed the 25 Best Places to Work (honoring employers with 1,000 or more employees). Winners are ranked based on their overall rating achieved during the past year. (Ratings are based on a 5-point scale: 1.0=very dissatisfied, 3.0=OK, 5.0=very satisfied; actual calculations extend beyond the thousandth decimal place.) "The past year brought extreme highs and lows for job seekers and employees, but despite an increasingly uncertain job market, Glassdoor data shows there are still companies hyper-focused on creating outstanding employee experiences,"said Christian Sutherland-Wong, Glassdoor Chief Executive Officer. "It's encouraging to see companies doubling down on employee mental health and wellbeing, diversity and inclusion, competitive benefits and flexible work environments as we head into 2023. I sincerely congratulate all of the Best Places to Work winners." The top ten Best Places to Work 2023 in Canada are: Glassdoor's 25 Best Places to Work 2023 in Canada list features winning employers across multiple industries, including technology, finance, consulting, telecommunications and insurance. Google claims the top spot with a 4.7 rating out of 5. Ten employers are newcomers to the 25 Best Places to Work 2023, including QuadReal (No. 3, 4.7), Ericsson-Worldwide (No. 4, 4.7) and iA Groupe financier (No. 5, 4.6). Only Apple (#17, 4.6) has made the list every year for the past eight years. Notably, technology remains the top industry for great employee culture and career growth opportunities. There are eight tech employers on the list including Google (No. 1, 4.7), Nokia (No. 14, 4.6) and Apple (No. 17, 4.6). This year, only three employers appear on all five country lists (U.S. large, Canada, UK, France, Germany): Microsoft (No. 6, 4.6), SAP (No. 12, 4.6) and Salesforce (No. 9, 4.6). When employees submit reviews about their employer on Glassdoor, they are asked to share their opinions on some of the best reasons to work for their employer (pros), any downsides (cons) and are encouraged to provide advice to management. In addition, employees are asked to rate how satisfied they are with their employer overall, rate their CEO and key workplace attributes including career opportunities, compensation and benefits, culture and values, diversity and inclusion, senior management and work-life balance. Employees are also asked whether they would recommend their employer to a friend and whether they believe their employer's six-month business outlook is positive, negative or if they have no opinion. Among the 2.3 million employers reviewed on Glassdoor, the average company rating is 3.7. Employees' Choice Award winners for the Best Places to Work 2023 in Canada are determined using Glassdoor's proprietary awards algorithm, and each employer's rating is determined based on the quantity, quality and consistency of Glassdoor-approved company reviews submitted by Canada-based employees between October 19, 2021 and October 17, 2022. During the year-long eligibility period, employers considered must have received at least 25 ratings for each of the nine workplace attributes (overall company rating, career opportunities, compensation and benefits, culture and values, diversity and inclusion, senior management, work-life balance, recommend to a friend and six-month business outlook) taken into account as part of the awards algorithm. For reporting simplicity, ratings are displayed to the nearest tenth, though calculations extend beyond the thousandth decimal place to determine final rank order. Complete awards methodology can be found and downloaded here: https://www.glassdoor.ca/Award/index.htm FULL LIST OF 2023 WINNERS: All winning employers across this year's six lists can be found by visiting: 100 Best Places to Work U.S . 50 Best Small & Medium Companies to Work For U.S. 25 Best Places to Work Canada 50 Best Places to Work UK 25 Best Places to Work France 25 Best Places to Work Germany Employee commentary about winning employers is also available upon request. Please email: [email protected] . About Glassdoor Glassdoor is revolutionizing how people everywhere find jobs and companies they love by providing deeper workplace transparency. Professionals turn to Glassdoor to research ratings, reviews, salaries and more at millions of employers, and to Fishbowl by Glassdoor to engage in candid workplace conversations. Companies use Glassdoor to post jobs and attract talent through employer branding and employee insights products . Glassdoor is a subsidiary of Recruit Holdings, a leading global technology company, and a part of its fast-growing HR Technology business unit. For more information, visit www.glassdoor.com . "Glassdoor" and logo are proprietary trademarks of Glassdoor, Inc. SOURCE Glassdoor For further information: Tyler Murphy and Christine Snyder, [email protected] Federation des chambres de commerce du Quebec (FCCQ) and Reseau des SADC et CAE receive a total of $40M in financial assistance from CED. ORFORD, QC, Jan. 11, 2023 /CNW Telbec/ - Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions (CED). Supporting the tourism industry contributes to economic development in Quebec's regions. That is why the Honourable Pascale StOnge, Member of Parliament for BromeMissisquoi, Minister of Sport and Minister responsible for CED, today announced a total of $40 million in investments in the Tourism Small Business Assistance Project led by the Federation des chambres de commerce du Quebec (FCCQ) and the Reseau des SADC et CAE. This project aims to support small tourism businesses to help them adapt or develop their products and services by seizing opportunities arising out of the recovery. CED's support, provided under the Tourism Relief Fund, will enable small tourism businesses to implement investment projects to adapt or develop their products and services based on their clients' needs. Details of the financial assistance for the two organizations are as follows: The FCCQ is receiving a non-repayable contribution of $20 million to grant funding to chambers of commerce in urban areas based on the needs of tourism businesses within their territories. Founded in 1909, the FCCQ is a major, diverse network of Quebec businesspeople and businesses that includes 123 chambers of commerce and 1100 corporate members. It represents over 45,000 businesses operating across all sectors of the economy throughout Quebec . to grant funding to chambers of commerce in urban areas based on the needs of tourism businesses within their territories. Founded in 1909, the FCCQ is a major, diverse network of businesspeople and businesses that includes 123 chambers of commerce and 1100 corporate members. It represents over 45,000 businesses operating across all sectors of the economy throughout . For its part, the Reseau is receiving a nonrepayable contribution of $20 million , redistributed to the SADCs (Societes d'aide au developpement des collectivites) and CAEs (Centres d'aide aux entreprises) to help rural tourism businesses in their communities. The SADCs and CAEs are non-profit organizations that have been working for over 40 years to develop Quebec's regional economies. The Reseau includes 57 SADCs and 10 CAEs. Each year, they help and fund over 10,000 businesses and more than 1500 local projects. These two projects complement actions taken by other partners to support a tourism industry greatly affected by the consequences of the pandemic. A key contributor to the Canadian economy, the tourism sector has been hit hard by the health crisis. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Government of Canada has put various measures in place to help businesses suffering the impacts of COVID19. The Tourism Relief Fund was created specifically to help businesses and organizations in the tourism sector offer innovative products and services to visitors and prepare to welcome back international travellers. Quotes "Tourism businesses and organizations are key players in ensuring the economic vitality of our regions and local workers. Thanks to the $40 million in support announced today, the FCCQ and Reseau des SADC et CAE will enable small businesses in the industry better equip themselves and enhance their offering for the upcoming tourism seasons. Our assistance represents an important step in recovery efforts to attract tourists from Canada and around the world so they can all discover the best tourism experiences Quebec and Canada have to offer." The Honourable Pascale StOnge, Member of Parliament for BromeMissisquoi, Minister of Sport and Minister responsible for CED "Canadian tourism continues to be one of the sectors most affected by the COVID19 pandemic. We will work with businesses and organizations in these difficult times so they can receive the assistance they need to offer innovative products and services, gain momentum, and prosper, while making safety an absolute priority. The Tourism Relief Fund enables businesses to adapt to welcome back guests in complete safety. It also feeds into a broader strategy to help the sector recover from the pandemic and build an economy that will benefit all. The Canadian economy will not fully recover until our tourism sector recovers." The Honourable Randy Boissonnault, Member of Parliament for Edmonton Centre, Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance "We are very pleased to work in synergy with the FCCQ to deploy the Tourism Small Business Assistance Project across all regions of Quebec. The 67 SADCs and CAEs in our network have been key players in supporting the tourism industry during the pandemic, and we are proud today to also contribute to its recovery. We thank Minister StOnge and Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions for this project that is important for the economic vitality of our regions." Vallier Daigle, President, Reseau des SADC et CAE "We are proud to put the strength of our network of 123 chambers of commerce at the service of economic development in the tourism industry. With this funding, the Tourism Small Business Assistance Project is being created to provide support that complements what the tourism ecosystem is already proposing in the different regions across Quebec. A synergy that will greatly enhance recovery efforts already under way." Charles Milliard, President and CEO, FCCQ Quick facts With a national budget of $500 million , including $485 million administered by the regional development agencies (RDAs) and $15 million by Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED), the Tourism Relief Fund is part of the $1 billion in tourism support announced in Budget 2021. , including administered by the regional development agencies (RDAs) and by Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED), the Tourism Relief Fund is part of the in tourism support announced in Budget 2021. A minimum of $50 million of the Fund's national budget has been earmarked for Indigenous tourism projects. Indigenous communities that rely heavily on tourism have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic. of the Fund's national budget has been earmarked for Indigenous tourism projects. Indigenous communities that rely heavily on tourism have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic. A total of $118.7 million from the Tourism Relief Fund has been allocated to CED to be administered in Quebec . from the Tourism Relief Fund has been allocated to CED to be administered in . CED is a key federal partner in Quebec's regional economic development. With its 12 regional business offices, CED accompanies businesses, supporting organizations and all regions across Quebec into tomorrow's economy. Associated links Stay connected Follow CED on social media Consult CED's news SOURCE Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions For further information: Media Relations, Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions, [email protected]; Ariane Joazard-Belizaire, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Sport and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions, [email protected] PORT COLBORNE, ON, Jan. 11, 2023 /CNW/ - A well-functioning supply chain is critical for Canada's economy. The Government of Canada is committed to ensuring our supply chains are efficient and reliable to support Canada's economic growth while ensuring they are resilient and adapt to the impacts of climate change. Today, the Minister of Transport, the Honourable Omar Alghabra, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indigenous Services and Member of Parliament for Niagara Centre, Vance Badawey, and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Member of Parliament for St. Catharines, Chris Bittle, announced an investment of up to $22.7 million to support improvements for the Welland Canal under the National Trade Corridors Fund. This investment will have important benefits for the region, such as relieving supply chain congestion and facilitating the movement of goods at the port. The $45.3 million project will support the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation in the reconstruction and rehabilitation of three wharves located at the Welland Canal in Port Colborne, Ontario. The project aims to revive these wharves, which are currently out-of-service, to support operations and increase capacity of the trade corridor. The Government of Canada is investing to help bolster Canada's economic capacity and the opportunities for our businesses to expand into global markets. This represents a long-term commitment to work with stakeholders on strategic infrastructure projects to address transportation bottlenecks, vulnerabilities, and congestion along Canada's trade corridors. Quotes "Investing in the rehabilitation of existing infrastructure to improve the quality and the efficiency of our supply chains is crucial to Canada's economic success and sustainable development. Our government's investment in the Niagara region will help ensure that the supply chains here in Ontario and throughout our country remain efficient and reliable for future generations." The Honourable Omar Alghabra Minister of Transport "This announcement brings the world to Port Colborne a game changer for Niagara. The dynamic resources of the Niagara Region are being rediscovered as we chart our future economic path. New business and new opportunities are being created on once-abandoned lands along the Welland Canal and today our government is taking a bold step in strengthening the Niagara Ports Trade Corridor while also opening the door to an expansion of Niagara's world class tourism market." Vance Badawey Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indigenous Services and Member of Parliament for Niagara Centre "Today's announcement is a good example of how the Government of Canada, along with partners such as the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation, continues to improve our infrastructures while supplying Canadians and supporting businesses. The rehabilitation of the wharves will improve multimodal connectivity along trade routes by being close to railways and allowing access to international markets." Chris Bittle Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Member of Parliament for St. Catharines "The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation welcomes this support from the National Trade Corridors Fund. We look forward to working with all partners to bring these wharves back into service with the goal of adding more fluidity to Canada's supply chain and strengthening our connection to global markets. Once the work is completed, capacity to handle freight will increase by a million tonnes per year and new marine shipping opportunities will be created for Canadian exporters, along with a dock for cruise ships and the possibility of reduced greenhouse gas emissions." Terence Bowles President and CEO, The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation 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, and 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 For further information: Nadine Ramadan, Press Secretary and Communications Advisor, Office of the Honourable Omar Alghabra, Minister of Transport, Ottawa, [email protected]; Media Relations, Transport Canada, Ottawa, 613-993-0055, [email protected] OTTAWA, ON, Jan. 11, 2023 /CNW/ - NAV CANADA today released its financial results for the three months ended November 30, 2022. In the first quarter of fiscal 2023, the Company saw air traffic levels, as measured in weighted charging units(1), increase 30.7% on a year over year basis. In comparison to pre-pandemic levels in fiscal 2019 however, weighted charging units were 8.7% lower. The Company's revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2023 was $435 million, compared to $345 million over the same period in fiscal 2022. The Company had positive free cash flow(2) of $127 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2023 as compared to $18 million in the same period in fiscal 2022. During the quarter, the Company repurchased $119 million of its General Obligation Notes and Revenue Bonds, ending the quarter with a cash balance of $395 million. "The recent growth in air traffic levels enabled early repayment of a portion of the Company's long-term debt. It is important for NAV CANADA to reduce its debt level to allow for capacity to borrow in the future," said Raymond G. Bohn, President and CEO. Operating expenses for the first quarter of fiscal 2023 were $348 million as compared to $337 million over the same period in fiscal 2022. "As we continue to support the aviation industry in moving towards a sustained recovery, NAV CANADA is focused on working with our partners to address industry challenges. It is critical that we maintain NAV CANADA's momentum of strategic investment to increase capacity, enhance safety and efficiency and manage system costs," said Raymond G. Bohn. Net other income and expenses for the first quarter of fiscal 2023 were a net expense of $26 million as compared to a net expense of $24 million over the same period in fiscal 2022. The Company had a net income (before net movement in regulatory deferral accounts including rate stabilization) of $61 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2023 as compared to a net loss of $16 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2022. The Company is subject to legislation that regulates its approach to setting charges. The timing of the recognition of certain revenue and expenses recovered through charges is recorded through movements in regulatory deferral accounts. The net movement in regulatory deferral accounts for the first quarter of fiscal 2023 was an expense of $71 million as compared to an expense of $41 million over the same period in fiscal 2022. This change in regulatory deferrals is primarily due to an increase in favourable rate stabilization adjustments of $19 million and an $11 million net decrease in adjustments required to align the accounting recognition of certain transactions to the periods in which they will be considered for rate setting. As at November 30, 2022, the rate stabilization account had a balance of $496 million to be recovered from customers through future customer service charges. Associated Links The Company's Financial Statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis for the three months ended November 30, 2022 can be found at: Financial Statements Management's Discussion and Analysis About NAV CANADA NAV CANADA is a private, not-for-profit company, established in 1996, providing air traffic control, airport advisory services, weather briefings and aeronautical information services for more than 18 million square kilometres of Canadian domestic and international airspace. The Company is internationally recognized for its safety record and technology innovation. Air traffic management systems developed by NAV CANADA are used by air navigation service providers in countries worldwide. (1) Weighted charging units represent a traffic measure that reflects the number of billable flights, aircraft size and distance flown in Canadian airspace and is the basis for movement-based service charges, which comprise the vast majority of the Company's revenue. (2) Free cash flow is a non-GAAP financial measure used by the Company to enhance the overall understanding of its financial and operating performance. Non-GAAP financial measures do not have any standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. The Company defines free cash flow as cash generated from operations, less capital expenditures, investments in Aireon LLC and equity related investments and principal payment of lease liabilities. Management places importance on this indicator as it assists in measuring the impact of its investment program on the Company's financial resources. This press release contains certain forward-looking statements that are subject to important risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from the results indicated in these statements for a number of reasons. NAV CANADA disclaims any intention to update any forward-looking statements. SOURCE NAV CANADA For further information: Media Information Line: 1-888-562-8226, [email protected] New office and employee growth strategy shows commitment to customers and partners across Ontario and Canada and Canada Modern workplace facilitates collaboration through hybrid work environment TORONTO, ON, Jan. 11, 2023 /CNW/ - Nokia today announced the opening of a sustainable, modern office in downtown Toronto's Harbourfront community. The new office, as well as the recently announced R&D center in Ottawa, are part of Nokia's ongoing efforts to expand its presence in Canada and support increased demand from Canadian customers and partners. Today's announcement highlights Nokia Canada's commitment to its employees and to next-generation networking, as the company continues its positive employee growth strategy across the country. Jeffrey Maddox, President of Nokia Canada, said: "We are excited to open our new office in downtown Toronto, the heart of Canada's financial center. This vibrant workspace exemplifies the best in a hybrid workplace and was designed to encourage collaboration and inspire the next wave of innovation. Our growing presence across Canada maps to the increased demand we are seeing from customers and partners and will enable us to deliver secure, high performing, and trusted critical networking solutions." Toronto Mayor John Tory said: "Toronto is global tech and innovation hub, and I'm so thrilled to see Nokia Canada recognize this as they open an office on our waterfront. Toronto is a vital economic engine in our country, and we are proud to support growth in this sector, encouraging more companies and workers to come to our city. With Nokia Canada's new office bringing more workers into the downtown core, I look forward to seeing what they accomplish as we recover and grow in the years ahead." As part of Nokia Canada's flexible work model, many of the company's Toronto-based employees have the option to work remote, hybrid, or be office-based. Located at 100 Queens Quay East, the new office provides a modern, hybrid workplace where teams can come together and share ideas in person, while also taking advantage of collaboration technologies that enable virtual teams to work together seamlessly. These employees have roles in software development, customer service, and sales, and help support Nokia's expanding global customer base, as the company continues to roll out new product innovations. The team is focused on supporting growing demand for Nokia's 5G, high speed broadband, mission-critical routing, optical, and private wireless solutions. Nokia is committed to minimizing its environmental footprint and chose the Queens Quay office building, part of the Sugar Wharf redevelopment, for its focus on sustainability and Class "AAA" LEED and Energy Star certifications. Centrally located on the waterfront, the office provides employees with access to world-class amenities and public transportation, helping to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, the space includes many nods to Canadian and Toronto history with artwork from local artists and spectacular views of Lake Ontario. As part of Nokia Canada's continued momentum, the company recently announced plans to build a world-leading, sustainable R&D hub in Ottawa that will that significantly expand Nokia Canada's capacity in next-generation information and communications technology (ICT) and cyber security innovation. The R&D hub is expected to add 340 new high-value jobs and help Nokia attract highly skilled, global talent to Canada's tech ecosystem. Nokia provides critical networks to the major service providers and leading operators, as well as enterprises, webscalers, and government organizations in Canada. The company's connectivity solutions form the critical foundation for major Canadian industries and infrastructure, including transportation, utilities, smart cities, government services and natural resources. Nokia's advanced networking portfolio includes 5G radio and core, fiber-to-the home, IP-routing, optical networks, cyber security, submarine cable and network management software. About Nokia At Nokia, we create technology that helps the world act together. As a trusted partner for critical networks, we are committed to innovation and technology leadership across mobile, fixed and cloud networks. We create value with intellectual property and long-term research, led by the award-winning Nokia Bell Labs. Adhering to high standards of integrity and security, we help build the capabilities needed for a more productive, sustainable, and inclusive world. SOURCE Nokia For further information: Media Inquiries: Nokia, Communications, Email: [email protected] JACKSONVILLE, Fla. and VANCOUVER, BC, Jan. 10, 2023 /CNW/ - Riverstyx Capital Management, LLC and LM Asset Fund Limited Partnership do not support Glencore Canada's proposed acquisition of Noranda Income Fund (TSX:NIF.UN) under its current terms. The transaction is an opportunistic attempt by Glencore Canada to take advantage of NIF's depressed trading price and current challenges to acquire a valuable asset at a significant discount to its inherent value. "Under its current terms, we do not support the proposed acquisition," said Ben Franklin, founder and portfolio manager of Riverstyx. "NIF's independent trustees (all of whom have been hand-picked by Glencore) have agreed to support a proposal that drastically undervalues NIF. It also appears that there was no meaningful attempt to identify or pursue alternatives that could deliver higher value to unitholders. This highlights why the board needs to be reconstituted. As large, long-term unitholders we will continue to pursue our efforts to reconstitute the board with new independent trustees who will be focused on protecting the interests of public unitholders." As previously announced, Riverstyx and LM, together with Douglas Warwick, who collectively own approximately 22% of NIF's outstanding priority units, have requisitioned a special meeting of unitholders to reconstitute the board of trustees of Noranda Operating Trust and are proposing to replace all four of the current independent trustees with a new group of highly-qualified, experienced and truly independent individuals. The meeting is scheduled to be held on March 28, 2023. For further information, please refer to the November 24, 2022 press release issued by Riverstyx and LM. Each of Riverstyx, LM and Mr. Warwick currently intend to vote against Glencore Canada's proposed acquisition of NIF and will continue to pursue their efforts to replace the independent trustees. SOURCE Riverstyx Capital Management, LLC For further information: Riverstyx Capital Management, LLC, Ben Franklin, Founder and Portfolio Manager, 904.294.5879, [email protected]; LM Asset Fund Limited Partnership, Daniel Lau, Advising Representative (Portfolio Manager) at Qwest Investment Fund Management Ltd., [email protected] Interesting job opportunities for seekers from all backgrounds, with a strong increase in skilled trades, e-Commerce, and supply chain positions. MONTREAL, Jan. 11, 2023 /CNW Telbec/ - Randstad Canada has good news and helpful guidance for Canadians hoping to start the new year with a new job. Despite an economic slowdown, employers are still in hiring mode, reflecting the talent scarcity and meaning there are exciting job opportunities for seekers from all backgrounds in various positions and industries. While some occupations seeing the most demand in Canada for 2023 include the technology, healthcare, and professional services sectors, we also see many roles that require relatively little formal training and provide good compensation ranges. "With the baby boomer generation retiring, Canadian employers see an important gap for skilled trades and blue-collar positions," said Nick Montesano, Executive Vice President of Central Region at Randstad Canada. "Since the 1970s, high schools have not encouraged the trades as a career path, resulting in decades of shortages of skilled young people in the trades. It's interesting to see that a degree isn't the only path to steady employment and a secure income." Canadians embraced electronic commerce in 2022, which is anticipated to last well into 2023 and significantly impact trending jobs. Companies seek Digital Marketing Coordinators, Customer Service Representatives, and Business Analysts to help them implement a solid digital strategy and provide their clients with an exceptional experience. E-Commerce habits also have a substantial impact on the supply chain. "With the vast increase in demand for online deliveries, reduced delivery cycle, never-before competitive market, and ever-increasing customer demand, we also see a strong need for supply chain positions such as Production Supervisors, Warehouse Workers and Drivers," says Montesano. Randstad Canada's 15 Top Jobs for 2023 and Pay Ranges Developer The pandemic accelerated many digital projects for businesses, making the need to recruit tech talent far more pressing. Plus, developers now work at various organizations, from small and medium-sized businesses to large corporations and governments. Salary range: 68K to 155K based on the position's level. HR Manager In the post-pandemic world, businesses face many challenges, such as budget constraints, looming skills gaps, and worker expectation shifts. HR managers help enterprises face those challenges and adopt new workplace practices that include remote and hybrid work options. Salary range: 75K to 156K based on the position's level. Mechanical Engineer With a growing renewable energy sector, there is a significant demand for talent with these skills but also in all STEM industries, including aerospace, automotive, manufacturing, and biomedical. Salary range: 66K to 131K based on the position's level. Welder Good welders are in demand across Canada because our blue-collar workforce is retiring. Since the 1970s, high schools did not encourage skilled trades as a career path, resulting in decades of shortages of skilled young people in this sector. Salary range: 40K - 74K based on the position's level. Accounting Technician/Bookkeeper Despite an influx of new workers in the accounting sector, there is still a significant need for accountants. Accounting is so in demand that it is a part of the Canadian immigration Express Entry System. Salary range: 61K - 114K based on the position's level. Registered Nurse Registered nurses make the list of in-demand healthcare jobs every year, as there is a massive shortage of nurses. Salary range: 68K - 94K based on the position's level. Warehouse Worker There is a demand for goods, which means there is a demand for talent across the supply chain, with the most significant gap being warehouse workers. With the high demand, many job opportunities are available for both skilled and unskilled workers. Salary range: $17 - $29 /hour based on the position's level. Customer Service Representative Today's customer service professionals must be able to work from home, be tech-savvy enough to use the company software platforms (including communication and CRM systems), and be flexible enough to provide each customer with a personalized experience. Salary range: 43K - 74K based on the position's level. Driver A labour shortage of truckers and drivers is a complex problem. Still, there is a crucial need to fill the position of commercial drivers, especially with the increases in online shopping in Canada and the current supply chain challenges. Salary range: 42K - 65K based on the position's level. Sales Associate A good sales associate can make a business successful. During the pandemic, when many retail and hospitality locations were closed, many former associates found new jobs, and now stores and hospitality are back up and running with a new increase in demand. Salary range: 46K - 84K based on the position's level. Administrative Assistant The administrative position has seen many shifts in the workplace over the last several years, leading to them being in high demand. Salary range: 47K - 99K based on the position's level. Business Analyst The digitization of offices and companies has contributed significantly to this need, along with many organizations relying on big data to inform their most important growth strategies. Salary range: 62K - 142K based on the position's level. Production Supervisor With the vast increase in demand for online deliveries, reduced delivery cycle, never-before competitive market, and reduced margins with ever-increasing customer demand, it's no wonder why production supervisors are in demand. Salary range: 53K - 114K based on the position's level. Digital Marketing Coordinator Digital marketing coordinators no longer only work in marketing agencies. With the rise of e-commerce, almost every company now requires a digital marketing coordinator on their team to help with critical projects. Salary range: 62K - 122K based on the position's level. Construction Project Manager Construction project managers are required for the construction sector primarily to help facilitate the massive housing boom that continues to take place across Canada . Salary range: 61K - 150K based on the position's level. Randstad Canada's business analysts reviewed data from clients and analyzed the roles posted in the previous 12 months to identify patterns and trends to develop the list. For all roles, salary ranges represent entry level, 1 - 3 years of experience, to senior level, 5+ years. For more information, visit https://www.randstad.ca/best-jobs/top-15-jobs/ About Randstad Canada Randstad Canada is a leader in the HR services industry and specializes in flexible work solutions. As a trusted partner in the digital talent world, we combine our people's expertise and passion with the most innovative HR technologies to support talent and organizations in realizing their true potential. SOURCE Randstad Interim Inc. dba Randstad Canada. For further information: or to book an interview with Nick Montesano, please contact: In Quebec, Patricia Archambault, (514) 710-1044, [email protected]; In Center and Western Canada, Karen Nussbaum; [email protected] The ultra-not-expensive airline heats up 2023 with new non-stop flights between Toronto and Varadero TORONTO, Jan. 11, 2023 /CNW/ - Today, Swoop, Canada's leading ultra-low-cost airline, celebrated its inaugural service between Toronto's Lester B. Pearson International Airport (YYZ) and Juan Gualberto Gomez International Airport in Varadero, Cuba (VRA). Swoop flight WO652 took off from Toronto this morning at 9:10 a.m. ET and arrived in sunny Varadero at 12:50 p.m. local time. "As Canada's favourite sun and fun ultra-low-cost carrier, we are thrilled to celebrate our launch into Cuba," said Bob Cummings, President of Swoop. "Varadero is widely known as a Canadian favourite for affordable beach vacations, and so we're proud to provide Torontonians a new ultra-convenient, ultra-not-expensive option for travel to Playa Azul." Ontarians looking for a pre-packaged vacation to an all-inclusive beach resort can access WestJet Vacations Packages with Swoop flights through their favourite Travel Agent, online with a travel website, be available shortly on WestJetvacations.com. "We are thrilled to have Swoop flying to Cuba, it means additional air lift to our country and a growth opportunity to the destination. There is a large part of the market that like to explore Cuba on their own and now they can take advantage of these affordable prices and satisfy their travel needs" - Lessner Gomez, Director of Cuba Tourist Board in Toronto "With over two months of winter still remaining, travellers now have more choice for sun destinations served out of Toronto Pearson," said Janik Reigate, Director of Strategic Customer Relationships, Greater Toronto Airports Authority. "We're proud to partner with Swoop to help our valued passengers break up the cold and snow with a bit of sun and fun this winter season." In addition to today's Varadero inaugural flight, Swoop also began new, non-stop service between Hamilton and Punta Cana. The ultra-not-expensive airline will operate over 100 flights per week to 13 vacation destinations across the U.S., Mexico and the Caribbean this winter season. With one-way all-in prices starting at $99 CAD for flights and WestJet Vacations packages starting at $356 CAD, there's never been a better time to escape winter. Route Lowest 7- day WestJet Vacation Package Price (CAD) Lowest one- way total price (CAD) Base Fare (CAD) Taxes & Fees (CAD) Operating Days Toronto to Varadero $842 $159 $46.99 $113.01 Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays Toronto to Cancun $1,470 $159 $50.02 $108.98 All Toronto to Las Vegas $356 (3 nights) $105 $3.52 $101.48 Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays Hamilton to Punta Cana $1,309 $199 $90.68 $112.27 Wednesdays and Saturdays Hamilton to Cancun $1,439 $139 $41.32 $97.68 Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Saturdays Hamilton to Las Vegas $401 (4 nights) $99 $8.57 $90.43 Thursdays and Sundays Hamilton to Montego Bay $1,173 $159 $47.33 $111.67 Wednesdays and Saturdays Package prices are per person, based on double occupancy and may differ based on departure dates. For travel between February 1, 2023 - February 28, 2023. | Fares are valid until Wednesday, January 12, 2023 (11:59 p.m. MT) or while seats last. | Prices displayed above are subject to change and are not guaranteed until payment is made and accepted. About Swoop Swoop is on a mission to make travel more affordable and accessible for all Canadians. Established in 2018 as an independent subsidiary of the WestJet Group of Companies, Swoop is Canada's ultra-not-expensive airline. Offering scheduled service to destinations in Canada, the U.S., Mexico and the Caribbean, Swoop's unbundled fares put travellers in control of purchasing only the products and services they desire. Swoop's fleet of ten Boeing 737-800 NG aircraft and expanded in 2022 to add six Boeing MAX-8 aircraft, for a total of 16 aircraft. At FlySwoop.com travellers can quickly and easily book flights, manage bookings, check-in, view boarding passes, and track flights. SOURCE Swoop Inc. For further information: For Swoop media relations, please contact [email protected] The electric two-wheeler maker showcases new e-bikes at CES following its participation in EUROBIKE and EICMA LAS VEGAS, Jan. 10, 2023 /CNW/ -- Yadea, the world's leading electric two-wheeler brand, made its debut at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2023 in Las Vegas. The appearance at the annual event is a key and strategic step in its globalization roadmap for 2023. The firm unveiled a range of new e-bike models at the exhibition, including Innovator, URider S and Trooper 01, with the aim of revolutionizing the travel experience for bike riders across North America. Yadea's new e-bike Trooper 01 on display at CES 2023 This is following by Yadea's successful participation in EUROBIKE and EICMA in 2022 when the brand showcased a number of new electrically-powered motorcycles, bicycles, mopeds, and kick scooters and drew the attention of dealers. Yadea's three exhibits of two-wheelers using its proprietary intelligent motor technology became highlights of CES 2023 Yadea Group started producing e-bikes five years ago and built an R&D team with graduates from Tsinghua University. Of note is that 90% of the motors installed in its e-bikes were developed in-house. Yadea's proprietary intelligent motor comes with a maximum torque of 100Nm and a multi-sensor integrated algorithm that can accurately determine the rider's intention, with the torque sensor accuracy reaching 0.01Nm. With no internal connectors, the motor has the least number of parts in the industry, minimizing the possibility of interference while making it easier to repair and replace. Notably, Innovator, which received the IDEA Bronze Award and Japan's Good Design Award, features a magnesium monocoque casting body, as well as front and rear single-arm design, folding size down to 9.535 feet in tandem with an exclusive design for the storage mount, all of which come together to deliver an outstanding travel experience and make it the ideal transportation tool for commuters. In addition, Innovator also leverages Yadea's proprietary TorqueTronic technology to enhance the riding experience by making the gear change smoother. URider S comes equipped with a large capacity and high-density LG18650 lithium battery, a 48V 3 Amp fast charger (4-5 hour charging) as well as front and rear racks with large loading capacities. One of the highlights of Trooper 01 is its similarity to a straddle motorcycle in terms of appearance. The e-bike comes loaded with powerful high-energy density lithium cells in addition to wide tires and superior disc brakes that ensure a safe riding experience even on bumpy and poorly paved roads. Furthermore, the solution comes in a twin-motor 1,000W version and a single-motor 750W version, both boasting the Electronic Limited Slip Differential (ELSD) technology that delivers better safety performance by preventing slippage loss of control during starting and climbing. The dedicated TFT-LCD display enables real-time status display of the front and rear motors. The rider can easily switch between the vehicle's multiple modes, including front single drive, rear single drive, timely dual drive and full-time dual drive. With functionalities that can be customized according to personal preferences, the e-bike delivers a more entertaining and novel riding experience. Yadea enters the US market with the rollout of new two-wheelers ideal for medium- or short-haul travel To capitalize on the expansive opportunities brought about by the rapid growth of the US market, Yadea plans to roll out a series of local marketing campaigns championing Trooper 01, URider S and Innovator this year, with the aim of driving the brand's growth in the market by supporting and collaborating with its local partners. At the same time, Yadea has been building and expanding its presence across multiple channels. Besides the launch of its official website for e-bike products (https://store.yadea.com), the company has also built e-bike logistics facilities and aftersales warehouses in several Western and Midwestern states in the US in a move to provide timely aftersales support. The e-bike maker also sought to expand the dealership network by attracting investment at this year's CES. Yadea is confident that with the combination of quality, technologies and services, the firm is well-positioned to provide extraordinary products and services to local consumers in the near future while enhancing the experience for e-bike users. About Yadea To date, Yadea, the world's largest and best-selling two-wheeler brand, has sold products to 70+ million users in over 100 countries and regions, and has a network of 40,000+ retailers worldwide. Notably, the firm has led in sales among the world's two-wheeler makers for five consecutive years. With its brand mission of "Electrify Your Life", the world's leading developer and manufacturer of electrical two-wheelers continues to invest in R&D, production and global expansion to build a shared and sustainable future for mankind. SOURCE Yadea For further information: YADEA media team, Tel: 0510-88100267, Email: [email protected] The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, said that 93,469,008 voters are contained in the register for the 2022 general elections. In a meeting with 18 political parties in Abuja on Wednesday, Yakubu disclosed that 44,414,846 registered voters are females and 49,054,162 are males. Meanwhile, of the total registered voters, the number of young people between 18 and 34 stood at 37,060,399, representing 39.65% of the total registered voters. In contrast, the elderly between the ages of 50 and 69 stood at 17,700,270, representing 18.94% of total registered voters. According to him, every other arrangement is in high gear, including the distribution of Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs). The INEC chairman said with the presentation of the voter register; the commission has successfully achieved 11 out of the 14 activities scheduled for the 2023 general elections. He said the INEC is not considering postponing the forthcoming election. Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano State reiterated that Kano will repeat the 1993 Presidential Election situation whereby the state rejected its own son, the late Bashir Tofa, and voted for MKO Abiola overwhelmingly. That showed the political maturity and dexterity of Kano citizens. We voted for Chief MKO Abiola of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, and rejected Bashir Othman Tofa of the National Republican Convention, NRC, because we all believed in national integration and competence, he argued. He made the statement during a campaign tour with candidates of the All Progressives Party, APC, vying for different positions in the upcoming general elections, as he visited the district head of Kibiya, Sunusi Abubakar Ila, after holding a campaign rally and consultations in Rano and Bunkure and passing the night in Rano, the headquarter of Rano Emirate with his entourage. Reminding Nigerians that, the APC Presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, supported northerners on different occasions to clinch the presidency, he said: Tinubu was an instrument behind making Atiku Abubakar become the presidential candidate of Action Congress, AC. He also provided another platform for Nuhu Ribadu to contest for the presidency under the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN. Explaining further that the rotational rationale provides that power rotates from North to South and vice versa, he said: Asiwaju Tinubu worked very hard to maintain the equation. Hence, his support for northern presidential candidates in the past. One good thing deserves another. We have no other option now than to support his candidature. Governor Ganduje emphasized that Tinubu, the only deserving and most competent presidential candidate in the upcoming election, is being supported by the North because of his (Tinubu) firm belief in nation-building, all-encompassing pedigree, firm belief in human and national development among other factors. He introduced all other candidates vying for the positions of senator, membership of the House of Representatives, Kano State House of Assembly, gubernatorial and deputy gubernatorial positions. Ganduje said: I am presenting to all, our most competent and deserving contestants, [who are better than] other contestants from all other opposition parties. A medical expert, Dr. Omolara Adelowo has advised women across the country to shun alcohol consumption and all forms of smoking. Adelowo, a former Head of Department at the University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan, gave this warning while speaking during a health talk organised by Women in Surveying (WIS), the female wing of the Nigerian Institution of Surveyors (NIS) Oyo State chapter. Adelowo speaking on the theme Cancer in women: common types and early detection strategies, said alcohol consumption, smoking and radiation have been identified as major causes of cancer in women. Adelowo said for women to prevent breast, liver or lung cancer, they must shun alcohol consumption, smoking and high radiation. Adelowo said, We have different types of cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer, liver cancer. Symptoms are a lump in the breast, and lungs, weight loss, fever etc. If breast cancer goes to the brain, the person can go into a coma. Smoking tobacco can cause lung cancer. There are some that can be hereditary and some environmental factors such as smoking. It can be active or passive smoking. Alcohol consumption is also part of it. It can cause liver cancer. Radiation is part of it. That is why we have been warning women to always keep away from phones, tablets and laptops at night or sleep near them. That is why we say that moving close to the microwave is dangerous. Microwave has too much radiation. The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, said with the introduction of the Bimodal Voter Authentication System, BVAS, the issue of identity theft and other election frauds would be addressed during the 2023 general election. Alhaji Umar Ibrahim, the Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, for Gombe State, stated this during a stakeholders meeting on the preparations for the 2023 general elections held in Gombe on Wednesday. Ibrahim said the credibility of the 2023 general elections remained a top priority for the commission, hence the introduction of improved technology in recent elections to enhance the electoral processes. According to him, with BVAS only voters will determine who wins elections in the country. I assure the good people of Gombe State that the days of identity theft during elections are over and only voters can determine the winner of elections in this country. There is no doubt the deployment of technology has greatly improved the conduct of elections in this country over the years. During the 2023 general elections, the commission will be deploying the BVAS for accreditation of voters and transmission of results, said Ibrahim. The REC said Gombe State has received the full complement of BVAS required for the conduct of the 2023 general elections in the state. Ibrahim assured residents of Gombe State that the commission was ready to conduct credible elections in the state, adding that 10 out of the 14 outlined activities had been carried out. He appealed to all stakeholders to play their roles towards ensuring the smooth conduct of the 2023 elections. The conduct of credible elections is not the responsibility of INEC alone; free, fair, credible, peaceful, all-inclusive and accountable elections are a product of concerted efforts by all stakeholders. I urge you to join us in discouraging PVC selling/buying and vote selling/buying in the strongest terms as it stands against democratic norms and principles, he said. Speaking further on BVAS, Mr Bitson Simon, Head of Department, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and Voter Registry, Gombe State INEC office, said the BVAS device has been described as a game changer in recent elections. Simon said the device was introduced by INEC as a solution to the inadequacies of the card readers, which were used in previous elections. He said with BVAS, frauds being perpetuated on election day as it was in previous elections would no longer be possible, adding, election by proxy will not be possible with BVAS. According to him, BVAS will be used to accredit voters, transmit accredited data to INEC server and transmit election results into INEC review portal. Simon said the BVAS machine would improve the transparency of the 2023 elections. Several classified documents from US President Joe Bidens time as vice-president have been discovered in a private office. Biden was the vice-president from 2009 to 2017 under former President Barack Obama. In a statement to CBS News on Monday, Richard Sauber, special counsel to the president, said the files were discovered on November 2, 2022, just before the US mid-term elections. Sauber said roughly 10 documents were discovered when Bidens personal attorneys were packing files housed in a locked closet to prepare to vacate office space at the Penn Biden Center in Washington, DC. The Penn Biden Center is a think tank about a mile from the White House, in Washington, D.C., that is affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania and named for the sitting president. The documents were contained in a folder that was in a box with other unclassified papers, CBS News quoted sources to have said. Although the content of the classified documents were not revealed, they were said to not contain nuclear secrets. Biden reportedly learned about the presence of the documents when his lawyer reported them to the White House counsels office in November, CBS News quoted sources to have said, adding that the president is also unaware of their contents. On Tuesday, Merrick Garland, attorney-general, asked the US attorney in Chicago to review the secret documents and to uncover how the documents got from Bidens vice-presidential office to the private office. US federal officeholders are required by law to relinquish official documents and classified records when their government service ends. The development comes amid investigation of former President Donald Trump for potentially mishandling classified records at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida where roughly 325 documents were found. According to Bidens attorneys, they turned over the classified materials and contacted the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), which started looking into the matter as soon as they were discovered. The Niger Delta Congress (NDC) has condemned the terrorist attack in Edo State, warning of rising insecurity in the region. The group issued a statement on Tuesday in reaction to the abduction of dozens of travelers in Igueben last Saturday. The incident left some passengers injured and more than 30 kidnapped as they waited to board a train from Igueben Station to Warri in Delta State. NDC spokesperson, Mudiaga Ogboru condemned the ambush on innocent citizens, observing a series of onslaughts since last year. He said the same styled terrorist attack successfully executed in Igueben was attempted unsuccessfully at the Abraka train station in Delta on 8th July 2022 by the same terrorists masquerading as herdsmen. The organisation also recalled deadly attacks on communities in Rivers, Bayelsa, and Cross River States in the last months of 2022. Noting that the frequency was disturbing, the NDC said despite numerous calls by stakeholders and the people, the governors are yet to establish a regional security outfit as proof of their commitment to securing lives and property. The body declared their reluctance to take action, despite persistent outcry amid reports of unfamiliar armed persons lurking in forest reserves, is becoming untenable and unacceptable. The NDC charged governors of the region to work towards ensuring the release of those kidnapped and to quickly put in place mechanisms to forestall further attacks. The statement commiserated with the injured, the families of the captives and wished them quick recovery and safe return of loved ones. On Monday, the President of Igueben Area Customary Court, Precious Aigbonoga and ex-Edo House of Assembly member, Festus Edughele were abducted in separate incidents. The judicial official is the wife of Afebu Aigbonoga, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) House of Assembly candidate for Etsako West Constituency 1. Suspected fake security operatives on Tuesday attacked officers of the Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) during an operation to seize a consignment of illicit drugs in Lagos. The NDLEA officers were attacked while on a trail of a truck conveying illicit drugs known as Canadian loud on Awolowo road, Ikoyi, Lagos state in the early hours of Tuesday. In the process of intercepting the truck, gunmen who were escorting the truck opened fire on the NDLEA officers. Speaking with TheCable on Wednesday, Femi Babafemi, NDLEA spokesperson, said soldiers from a nearby military hospital assisted the NDLEA officers to fight off the security agents. Babafemi disclosed that the NDLEA seized the truck and drug assignment but the security operatives escaped with the suspected drug baron. It happened in the early hours of Tuesday at Awolowo road, Ikoyi, when our men were on a trail of a truckload of a drug consignment being smuggled into the country, the NDLEA spokesperson said. In the process of intercepting the truck, some suspected fake security agents, who were obviously escorting the consignment emerged. At that point, our officers had flagged down the vehicle and the truck driver refused to stop. They (NDLEA officers) overtook it and blocked it from moving further and that was the point these suspected fake security agents emerged and ordered the driver of the truck to overrun our men and their vehicles. Indeed the truck driver attempted to do that. The operational vehicle of men was badly damaged and then in the process, these suspected fake security agents started shooting. Their shooting attracted soldiers from a military hospital nearby who came and immediately reinforced our men. Shortly before that, our men had also called for reinforcement from other teams, when they saw the reinforcement from our men with the support of the soldiers, these suspected fake security agents took the drug suspect in their own vehicle and fled the scene, and we secured the truck, drug consignment and moved them to our office. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential campaign council has explained why Atiku Abubakar, its standard-bearer, visited the United Kingdom. According to the partys presidential campaign council, Abubakar was in the UK to discuss areas of potential future collaboration between Nigeria and the UK. TheCable had reported how the partys candidate travelled to London where he met with officials of the UK government. Dino Melaye, the spokesperson of the PDP presidential campaign council, had earlier said the former vice-president was invited by the British government. In a statement issued on Wednesday, Dele Momodu, director of strategic communications, PDP presidential campaign council said an internal source is quoted (as) saying an internal poll by the British government shows AA (Atiku Abubakar) as the leading candidate and the possibility of working together for a more effective post-Brexit world which promises to be a win-win for both countries. This is especially imperative as the UK seeks to improve and increase trade partnership with Nigeria, the statement reads. But in a separate statement, Momodu said Abubakars invitation was not based on our (PDPs) knowledge of an internal polling by the British government. We are not aware of any such polling. It is a tradition for foreign governments to seek audiences with leading candidates in a forthcoming election and this is not an exception. The two mainstream political parties in Nigeria are PDP and APC and we are truly honoured by this invitation. Momodu added that the PDP presidential campaign rallies will resume in Kogi within the week. The National Chairman of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, Alhaji Shehu Musa Gabam, on Wednesday asserted that the party remains the only avenue to rescue Nigeria from insecurity, poverty, industrialization and unending meaningless borrowing. Gabam also urged Nigerians to vote massively for the partys presidential candidate and others vying for various positions in the 2023 general elections on the platform to redeem the image of the country. He made the call during the commissioning of the SDP ultra-modern party secretariat in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital. Represented by the National Vice Chairman, South-South, Mr Frederick Owoturofa, he said SDP is the best option to address insecurity, poverty and the unending meaningless borrowing and therefore deserving of support and votes for its presidential candidate and others who can change the narratives in this country. He urged the various stakeholders to think SDP all the time for change to be effected. The governorship candidate of the party in Rivers State, Senator Magnus Abe, encouraged party members and other stakeholders not to see themselves as grasshoppers but as giants in the eyes of the people to take the country to a desirable height. He said they may be few but in the end, victory is sure, noting that the storm is a sign of victory. A candidate of Ogbia Federal Constituency, Hon. Iworiso Markson, speaking on behalf of the candidates, vowed that they will not let the party down, adding that our winning will pave the way for a governor from our party. The State Chairman of the party, Hon. Allen Amadein said the commissioning of the ultra-modern party secretariat symbolised a new face of victory. He said the journey to where they are today started four years ago and has not been an easy one. The party, he said, is peaceful and without rival factions and therefore has a unified mandate to work for the party. Six-day (Tuesday through Sunday) print subscribers of the Watertown Daily Times are eligible for full access to NNY360, the NNY360 mobile app, and the Watertown Daily Times e-edition, all at no additional cost. If you have an existing six-day print subscription to the Watertown Daily Times, please make sure your email address on file matches your NNY360 account email. You can sign up or manage your print subscription using the options below. For his show, Gabinetto Segreto, artist Mitchell Gaudet was inspired by a secret cabinet of Roman erotic art found in the ashes of Pompeii that is housed in an Italian museum. Old Italian art is what sparked Gaudets exhibit in the first place. Mayor LaToya Cantrell on Wednesday provided additional details on the citys plan to restore the full length of Carnival parades in 2023, setting a deadline for krewes to secure the required police that would allow them to roll on their traditional routes. During a press conference at City Hall, Cantrell said that the city would need "a full complement of law-enforcement officers along the route" and that krewes, which are in charge of finding the officers, had until Jan. 23 to do so. At this stage in the plan, Cantrell said, the exact deployment of the supplementary police officers hasnt been determined. But after krewes tell the city whether or not they've been secured, the New Orleans Police Department will employ a deployment strategy about where and when they will place officers. The citys 30-plus parades were reduced in length in 2022 due to police and public service personnel shortages. But last week, the mayor announced that the parades could be expanded this year if the parading organizations could find enough qualified supplementary police officers from agencies other than the NOPD. The city has pledged to pay to employ the officers. The city will also cover the cost of the officers lodging, hopefully with the collaboration of New Orleans hotels, Cantrell said. Theres no free-flowing money everywhere, Cantrell said, we have to leverage our resources. A history of helping Frank Zumbo, the president of the board of the Greater New Orleans Hotel and Lodging Association, said that as of Wednesday afternoon he was unaware that City Hall planned to seek assistance from the local hotel industry. But he predicted that New Orleans hotels would do whatever they could to help. Lara Nicholson writes for The Advocate as a Report for America Corps Member. Email her at lnicholson@theadvocate.com or follow her on Twitter @LaraNicholson_. To learn more about Report for America and to support our journalism, please click here. The New Orleans Police Department investigates a fatal shooting in the 2000 block of Maurice Street in New Orleans, Monday, Dec. 26, 2022. According to NOPD, 2 juvenile victims died on scene and at least 3 others were injured. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate) Two men were arrested this week for participating in a December homicide, which killed one of their cohorts, as well as a subsequent carjacking, both of which took place outside of a Mid-City Winn Dixie, according to documents police filed in Criminal District Court. Five people were shot Sunday night during the Krewe of Bacchus parade on the busiest weekend of the Mardi Gras season, New Orleans police said. LUDZIDZINI The main day of the Incwala Ceremony yesterday proceeded in a calm environment despite social media threats. EmaSwati were joined by people from different countries across the world as they gathered inside the Ludzidzini Cattle Byre in celebration of the harvest of the first fruit. During the main day of the ceremony yesterday, the nation commemorated peace and stability, which has prevailed since Eswatini gained independence from Britain on September 6, 1968. Worth noting is that the ceremony was celebrated at full scale after restrictions that were brought by COVID-19 in the past two years. Present during the main event were tourists from Russia, Israel, Germany, South Africa, among other countries. Some countries such as the Republic of China (Taiwan), India, Britain, among others, were represented by their ambassadors to Eswatini. Lutsango, Imbali, church leaders and warriors took part in the event, which was held under the scorching sun. Some people made it clear that threats would not deter them from attending cultural events. They wondered what cultural events had to do with the ongoing acts of violence. Interviewed church leaders said the heavens would never discriminate against them for attending Incwala Ceremony. They said they had no other country other than Eswatini, where culture served as a symbol of unity for all. As the Bokhololo Regiment, we feel honoured to be part of this event. We have no other country. Our participation is our way of paying true allegiance to the King. This also shows respect for our King, they said. Church The church leaders further stated that they had no reason to fear anyone they never sinned against. Threats to the effect that anyone who would participate in the event would be dealt with, were circulated on social media prior to the commencement of the Little Incwala. The unknown person behind the threats introduced himself as a commander. However, it should be noted that the threats were not taken lightly as security was intensified following two shooting incidents, where warriors were shot by unknown people. His Majesty King Mswati III also urged Ingatja and warriors to be on the lookout for the invisible enemy he referred to as timfingo. The King warned the regiment when commissioning Ingatja to fetch the sacred shrub (lusekawane). In the first incident, a warrior umbutfo Gudlimbekelo was shot while on his way home from the Little Incwala, which was held at Ngabezweni Royal Residence. The unknown people behind the act have not yet been apprehended. In the second incident, a warrior Fana Fana Bhembe was shot four times and one bullet was lodged in the stomach, allegedly by Lino Mlandvo Doch, who was later shot dead by the security personnel in a helicopter. It should be noted that there had been many versions pertaining to the shooting as some people claiming to be eyewitnesses alleged that the deceased suspect was shot by the police, while others claimed that he was shot by security personnel who were in a helicopter after shooting the warrior. LUDZIDZINI Tourism is thriving in Eswatini. This observation was made by the Minister of Tourism and Environmental Affairs, Moses Vilakati. The minister said the country attracted a significant number of tourists from the festive holidays to date. He said most restaurants in the country and hotels reported full bookings, which was testament that tourism was thriving. Vilakati also stated that they had recorded an increase in tourists who were exploring the kingdom, which was a sign of progress. Attractions According to the minister, new tourist attractions had been established and would be opening soon. This, he said, was a sign that people in this sector were also taking advantage of the situation as they realised that it could boost the countrys economy. The minister stated that when analysing their statistics, they concluded that 2023 would be a successful year in terms of tourism. He urged emaSwati to have the spirit of ubuntu, especially when engaging with tourists in big events such as the Incwala Ceremony. Tourists EmaSwati are known for their spirit of ubuntu, which most tourists appreciate and want to come back again, said the minister. According to Vilakati, most tourists created job opportunities which benefitted everyone. He said his ministry was working on a theme to bring at least two million tourists in the country to boost the economy and employ more emaSwati. Vilakati said in order for this to be realised, there should be hard work and humbleness among emaSwati. The minister said film industries from other countries were also attracted by the beauty of the country, encouraging emaSwati in the sector to work with them. Furthermore, he said they expected the convention centre to begin operating and accommodating those who wanted to access it for meetings. Vilakati said the Incwala Ceremony had been held for over 400 years now and gained momentum with time. The minister said the ceremony should be taken forward by generations to come. Meanwhile, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Eswatini Tourism Authority (ETA) Linda Nxumalo said the Incwala Main Day was among the events that attracted tourists to the country. Nxumalo said ETA had been observing domestic tourism regionally and internationally and they were excited to report that they were seeing tourists from all the continents attending the Incwala Ceremony. We have seen tourists from the United States of America, Europe and Asia participating in the Incwala Main Day. Nxumalo said this showed that their campaigns were not in vain. Exploring She thanked the public for also taking up the space in exploring their own places of interest in the country as they were filled up during the festive holidays. This, she said, had played a role in boosting the countrys economy. Nxumalo said compared to last year, the numbers were increasing in terms of arrivals or international markets at the various ports of entry. The growth, according to Nxumalo, was significant and at over 300 per cent. She encouraged emaSwati to continue supporting tourist attractions. Nxumalo said more competitions would be promoted as part of the campaign to visit Eswatini. Business not so good - vendors LUDZIDZINI Business was very slow, according to most vendors who were interviewed. A vendor who identified herself as Make Mkhatshwa from Lwandle, stated that they were hoping as the day progressed that they would be able to make money. Make Mkhatshwa was selling chicken dust and drinks. She said compared to the previous years before the COVID-19 pandemic, business was very good. She said their hope was being restored by the high numbers of libutfo. Phumzile Vilakati said what they received during the Incwala Main Day was better than nothing. Vilakati was selling imigaco for men known as tinkhonyane. She said business was very slow and she did not make any profit. MANZINI - Within 24 hours, three most wanted armed robbery suspects were shot dead. Two of the suspects were shot on Sunday night at Hlutse, in the Lubombo Region. The other suspect was killed on Monday afternoon at Mahlabatsini in Matsapha. They were wanted mainly for armed robberies committed over a long period of time. The suspects had, according to the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS), been on their most wanted list for some time. It all started when the trio stole a white Toyota Avanza, which was parked at Mkhosi Township in Manzini last Wednesday. On Sunday afternoon, while the police were searching for the stolen vehicle, they got a tip-off that it had been making rounds in areas around Hlutse and they were quick to act on it. The REPS had in their Second Quarter Report for this financial year, reported that the theft of motor vehicles had escalated as they were stolen to be used during the commission of other criminal activities. Meanwhile, among the trio was a businessman aged 58, who doubled as a traditional healer. The businessman, *Muzi is known to this publication, but will not be named as his next of kin are yet to be located. He was shot dead with a 40-year-old man on Sunday night. According to sources, this was after he, together with his acquaintances, were engaged in a shootout with the police, in particular members of the Serious Crimes Unit - Lukhozi, who acted on the tip-off. According to sources, Muzi and his acquaintances were spotted driving around Hlutse before Siphofaneni at around 7pm. The sources said members of the public alerted law enforcement. Alerted Meanwhile, the sources supposed that after members of Lukhozi were alerted about the presence of the suspects at Hlutse, they collaborated with Siphofaneni police. It was gathered that the police approached the suspects in an effort to arrest them, but a shootout ensued. Eyewitnesses said during the shootout, two of the suspects were shot dead while one of them fled. The 42-year-old suspect who fled on Sunday night was tracked down by the police on Monday. According to the sources, while the police were tracking him through their sources, they recieved a tip-off that he had been seen walking around Matsapha and it was clear that he was carrying a firearm. Later on, the source said the suspect was seen travelling in a vehicle at KaHlobile in Matsapha. They said the police followed that lead and eventually came across him on a one-lane road, which leads towards Prophet Vusumusi Major V Dlaminis church - Mountain of Salvation. The prophet is one of the people who witnessed the incident as he was by his church. They said the suspect was travelling in a white Nissan and the police from Lukhozi, who were travelling in a white Toyota Hilux GD6 double cab LDV with a canopy, used their vehicle to block his way. Thereafter, the suspect, who had supposedly realised that the car was full of police officers, jumped out of his vehicle and bolted to an open veld towards Mahlabatsini. A hot pursuit ensued and the suspect started firing shots as some of the law enforcers were hot on his heels, the sources said. They said the law enforcers also fired gunshots at the suspect but missed as he disturbed them by firing shots at them and ran in a zig-zag manner. The eyewitnesses said at that time, residents of Mhlane (around Prophet Major Vs church) and Mahlabatsini, had come out of their homesteads and watched the chase and shootout from the streets. The witnesses said the suspect ran for about four kilometres to the KaHlobile/Masundvwini Public Road, where he was spotted by police officers who were in a car which had returned to the main road. However, they said upon seeing the police car speeding towards him, as it came from the KaHlobile direction, he fired some gunshots at it while running across the public road towards rented flats a stones throw from the road. Ran They said the police continued to pursue him with their car and fired shots at him. When he realised that the car was closing the gap, he jumped into a thicket and he ran back to the main road. In the meantime, the police were still shooting at him.He crossed the road back towards where he came from and he was spotted by some of the police who were chasing him by foot and they opened fire. We then heard some of them informing their colleagues that they should stop shooting and we believe that they realised that he had been shot dead, the witnesses said. They said the police quickly used their vehicles, a police van (with police colours) and the one in which officers from Lukhozi were travelling in to shield the scene from community members and passers-by. After doing so, the sources said the law enforcers did not allow anyone to come closer, thus onlookers watched from a distance as the police took the suspects body to their van. According to the sources, the suspects were said to have been on the police radar for the E90 000 armed robbery committed at Price Rite Cash and Carry Wholesalers on October 30, 2022. They were said to have been part of five thugs who held the management and employees of the wholesale hostage as they were armed with an assault rifle and pistols. During the robbery, one of the directors of Price Rite Cash and Carry Wholesalers was disarmed of a pistol which was loaded with 20 rounds of ammunition by the robbers. They were said to have also robbed some of the staff members their money and valuables. When this robbery was committed, the suspects were said to have been travelling in a black Mazda MPV seven-seater vehicle. Shooting They were reportedly also wanted for the shooting of two cash-in-transit security guards during a daylight heist, where E140 000 was stolen on May 5, 2022. The incident took place at South Gate Shopping Centre, Ngwane Park in Manzini. Worth noting is that the shopping centre is located metres away from Zakhele Police Camp and there is a space that was allocated for a police post. The heist was reportedly carried out by six men, who arrived at the shopping complex early in the morning. It was gathered that some of them had disguised as shoppers as they hopped from one shop to another, while others placed themselves in strategic areas within the shopping centre, including the entrance/exit gate, which is on the left side of the complex. Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati confirmed the shooting and the demise of the suspects. She said two most wanted criminals were shot dead on Sunday at about 8pm while at Hlutse. Vilakati said during the shooting, one of them fled the scene while the police recovered two firearms from the deceased suspects. She said the firearms were an AK47 assault rifle loaded with 12 live rounds of ammunition and a 9mm pistol loaded with eight live rounds of ammunition. These firearms, Vilakati said, were hidden in a stolen motor vehicle while at Hlutse. She said the white Toyota Avanza, valued at E200 000, was stolen on Wednesday, January 4, 2023, while parked at Mkhosi Township, Manzini. Furthermore, she said a 42-year-old man, who was wanted for armed robberies, was shot dead during a shootout at Mahlabatsini on Monday afternoon. She also confirmed that the suspect was the one who managed to escape during the shootout which took place at Hlutse on Sunday night. *Not real name. Sony has presented the NW-A306 globally. Equipped with a small display, the NW-A306 will be the cheaper alternative to the NW-ZX707 that the company also announced today. The Sony NW-A306 Walkman will be available later this month in Europe, Japan and the UK. 4 Reviews Sony has introduced the NW-A306 globally, a cheaper alternative to the NW-ZX707. The NW-A306 is also smaller than the NW-ZX707 and considerably lighter. For reference, the NW-ZX707 measures 72.5 x 132.3 x 16.9 mm and weighs 227 g. In comparison, the NW-A306 comes in at approximately 56.5 x 98 x 11.8 mm and 113 g. In other words, the NW-A306 should be the more portable of the two, particularly if you carry a smartphone with you. The NW-A306 retains its predecessor's 3.6-inch display too, 1.4-inches smaller than the display in the NW-ZX707. Both displays operate at 1,280 x 720 pixels though, which means that the cheaper NW-A306 offers a sharper display than its more expensive sibling. Better still, the NW-A306 delivers superior battery life, with up to 32 hours of playback time when listening to 96 kHz FLAC recordings. Additionally, the NW-A306 should last up to 36 hours when playing 128 kbps MP3 files but just 14 hours for DSD files (11.2896 MHz/1 bit). Sony has presented the NW-ZX707, a premium Walkman that offers up to 25 hours of battery life. The Sony NW-ZX707 will be available first in Japan and ships with Android 12, plus 64 GB of storage and a 720p display. 4 Reviews Sony has announced the NW-ZX707, a new model in the high-end Walkman ZX series. For reference, the company has also presented the NW-A306, covered separately. As for the NW-ZX707, Sony describes it as 'an engineered evolution in portable sound', details of which it provides in dedicated webpages about its components and sound processing technology. In short, the NW-ZX707 features an S-Master HX digital amp that supports Native DSD and various components to maximise audio quality. The NW-ZX707 is also rated for 25 hours of 44.1 kHz FLAC playback or 23 hours when listening to music encoded in 96 kHz FLAC. Alternatively, the NW-ZX707 should last 22 hours when streaming from music apps. While Sony does not pre-install any music streaming apps itself, the NW-ZX707 runs Android 12 with the Google Play Store. Hence, you should be able to listen to any music streaming service that a smartphone running Android could. Our Most Popular and Powerful Water Power Moments From 2022 Over the Last Year, Our Readersand ViewersLoved To Learn About the New Tools and Technologies Our Experts Created Sometimes, climate change can seem like such a daunting and insurmountable challenge that even reading about seemingly small (but terrifying) temperature shifts, unusual weather patterns, or shrinking water supplies can feel, well, exhausting. That is why we try to offer good news, in bite-sized nuggets, that show just a few of the many solutions our National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) experts are coming up with year after year. Based on our audience data, readers like you seem to like it. So, in case you missed a juicy nugget, we have tallied up the most popular events, news stories, and videos published over the last year. Climate change may feel overwhelming, but we have the peopleand the water-powered technologiesto help build a carbon-free electricity grid by 2035 and win the fight, one carbon molecule at a time. January 2022 In January 2022, we counted down 10 significant water power accomplishments from 2021, which included a map of Alaskas energetic Cook Inlet (learn more in this video), resources to inspire the next generation of water power workers, and ideas to help design more productive, environmentally friendly hydropower technologies. We gathered video footage to create a huge, virtual 360-degree tour of NRELs water power facilities. Now, you can explore NRELs Flatirons Campus from the comfort of wherever you work nowadays, whether that is your home office, a local coffee shop, or a commuter train. Prospective partners can now virtually visit NRELs water power facilities with our 360-degree tour of NRELs Flatirons Campus. Photo by Josh Bauer and Bryan Bechtold, NREL February 2022 NREL Mechanical Engineer Nathan Tom helped design a new kind of wave energy technology that could be cheaper, produce more energy, and brave the oceans brawn better and for longer. Called a variable-geometry, oscillating, surge wave energy converter, the device creates windows that allow waves to pass through without crashing full force onto its hull. During a U.S. Senate committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., policymakers cited NRELs hydropower research, which helped inform discussions about the renewables huge value to the United States energy system. March 2022 With a freshly updated Marine and Hydrokinetic Toolkita searchable, open-source code librarymarine energy developers can now access even more data on U.S. ocean and river sites and analyze how well their technologies might perform in different conditions related to turbulence, sediment, extreme waves, and more. On a sunny winter day, a team of NREL researchers visited Jennettes Pier at North Carolinas Nags Head beach to deploy their novel wave-powered desalination device. Getting to this point has required a lot of patience and perseverance, but that's part of developing new renewable marine energy technologies, said Scott Jenne, NRELs marine energy systems engineering and techno-economic lead and principal investigator for the U.S. Department of Energys (DOE's) Waves to Water Prize. Scott Jenne prepares his wave-powered desalination device for its ocean outing. Photo from Andrew Simms, NREL Rebecca Fao, a mechanical engineer at NREL, hosted the two-day 2022 Marine Energy Data and Instrumentation workshop for industry, university, and laboratory experts. Participants helped identify what the marine energy industry needed to collect better data on their technology prototypes. April 2022 For Earth Day, NREL celebrated DOEs many prize competitions, which encourage teams from academia, industry, and startups to compete to design improved technologies for solar energy, water power, green buildings, and more. The Waves to Water Prizea competition designed to accelerate the development of small, modular, wave-energy-powered desalination systemsannounced its grand prize winner and celebrated the finale of its final stage, DRINK. In a new video released in April, 2022 NREL Water Power Technician Andrew Simms discussed the labs marine energy validation capabilities, which range from theoretical testing all the way to open water trials. Image by NREL In another Earth Day celebration, we presented three ways NRELs water power researchers are investing in tomorrows cleaner worldand how you can, too. Our experts are, for example, helping reduce plastic pollution, save water (and energy along with it), and build more resilient communities. May 2022 NREL got in the water with SHARKSno, not the predatory ocean hunters but rather a few of the novel technologies that have the potential to turn tides and river currents into affordable sources of renewable energy. And one more thing! said a young Aaron Levine when negotiating for a shiny new toy, a different dinner, or a later bedtime. Now, Levine, a senior legal and regulatory analyst at NREL, focuses on how to add more safe, reliable hydropower to the U.S. electrical grid and, in doing so, fight climate change. June 2022 A team of NREL researchers including Stuart Cohen mapped out how, where, and at what cost U.S. developers could build new pumped storage hydropower facilities, which could help store enough clean energy to support a future carbon-free electricity grid. Stuart Cohen is studying how U.S. pumped storage hydropower developers can responsibly grow their fleet to store clean energy for a future electricity grid that relies more on renewable energy. Photo by Dennis Schroeder, NREL Twelve remote and island communities joined the journey to energy resilience thanks to the Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project, which assists communities in transforming their energy systems to include hydropower, marine energy, or other renewable energy technologies and resources. July 2022 In a new video, we shared how the NREL water power team is thinking big about hydropowers role in the fight against climate change. Spoiler alert: Our experts can model any grid in the world to discover how hydropower facilities can best support an evolving clean energy grid. This month, NREL researchers attended the 2022 HydroVision International Conference in Denver, Colorado, and presented two panels. In one, experts discussed how hydropower and pumped storage hydropowerwhich can store huge amounts of energy for hours or even dayscould support a clean energy grid. And in the second, another group discussed challenges facing the hydropower workforce. August 2022 In New Hampshire, NRELs Aidan Bharath, a research engineer, worked to help advance a living bridge to clean energy, which could help tidal energy go global. Its not very pleasant, Bharath said of his former job as a welder in the oil sands of northern Canadaone reason why he shifted his attention to renewable marine energy. And in a second video, we highlighted how NREL is helping marine energy progress toward commercialization. Marine energy has the potential to play a key role in a 100% clean energy future, and NREL researchers are working hard to get us there. In the summer 2022 issue of The Current, our water power newsletter, readers learned how to take a virtual 360-degree tour of our water power research facilities, find conference recaps and other news, and read about NREL Research Engineer Ritu Treisa Philips life on the ocean and on stage. NREL researchers presented a webinar to explain the Marine Energy Atlas many new features on Aug. 30, 2022. The web-based interactive mapping tool now includes wave data going back 42 years as well improved filtering capabilities, the ability to save queries, and tools to process massive amounts of data in house. September 2022 The DEEC-Tec domain has legs and is growing, said Blake Boren in an article about his newly patented wave energy technology, distributed embedded energy converter technologies (or DEEC-Tec, pronounced deck-tech, for short). With DEEC-Tec, individual energy converters work together (like muscle cells) to create a larger, flexible structure (like a sea snake) that can generate energy from even slow-moving waters. A newly patented technology domain could build large, flexible structures from individual energy converters to create more cost-effective, highly efficient tools for generating clean energy from the ocean (and beyond). Illustration by Besiki Kazaishvili, NREL NRELs customizable data acquisition tools, called Modular Ocean Data Acquisition Systems, are designed to assess marine energy technologies in the lab or in the water. With these systems, our experts (and many more around the world) can quickly and affordably collect data on their early-stage designs. In September, we produced a video to explain how these systems work. NREL hosted a webinar to share recent updates to the Hydropower Regulatory and Permitting Information Desktop (RAPID) Toolkit, which distills varying federal, state, and tribal requirements for hydropower project development (and much, much more) into one easy-to-use database. October 2022 For those who missed the 2022 parade of Manufacturing Masterminds, we published a recap of how six experts in renewable energy manufacturing built careers cleaning up greenhouse gases, plastics, and waste with help from child-sized zucchinis, toy plants, rickety power grids, a landfill epiphany, and a wee island with no stoplights. Read more about water powers Robynne Murray, who is a rebel with a causeand an ice axe. NREL researchers released a new analysis tool for people working to design smallor smallerwave energy converters, which must be designed for different ocean variables than their larger cousins, to accurately assess their performance at sea. At the 2022 Clean Currents conference, NREL experts joined an international cohort of water power researchers, industry members, and policymakers to discuss new funding and workforce opportunities, the recent pumped storage hydropower craze, hydropowers keystone role for a 100% clean energy grid, and more. November 2022 On Nov. 4, 2022, NREL hosted colleagues from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the Western Area Power Administration to discuss potential research partnerships in, for example, analyzing climate change and drought effects for hydropower plant operations, how hydrogen could play a role in the energy-water-food nexus, and the feasibility of floating solar panels on hydropower reservoirs. NREL researchers released a report on hydropower workforce diversity as well as other workforce gaps the industry will need to fill to help the country achieve the goal of transitioning to a carbon-free electricity sector by 2035. With a newly updated Portal and Repository for Information on Marine Renewable Energy, everyonefrom small startups to big universitiescan access the data they need to advance the marine energy industry. You could have the greatest innovation in the world, but if you keep it to yourself, theres no value to it, said Jon Weers, NRELs lead technologist and data systems architect. December 2022 In the most recent Beneath the Surface profile, we featured Kerry Strout Grantham, who is negotiating sustainable human growth (and some stinky hikers) while partnering with communities, researchers, and technology developers across the United States. Kerry Strout Grantham grew up near (and in) the ocean, scuba diving and swimming at all hours except at dawn or dusk when Great White sharks hunted seals in Cape Cod's waters off the coast of Massachusetts. Now, she is helping coastal communities harness the ocean's power and transition to clean energy. Photo from Kerry Strout Grantham For more of NRELs biggest 2022 water power accomplishments, browse our library of project successes and the impacts of our research and development. And subscribe to the NREL water power newsletter, The Current, for the latest news on NREL's water power research. MBABANE - The new sub-variant of Omicron might be circulating in the country due to the kingdoms proximity to South Africa. This was revealed by the Minister of Health, Lizzie Nkosi, in a press statement on Monday. The minister stated that the new sub-variant of Omicron was a variant of COVID-19. Nkosi said at the time of issuing the statement, there was no evidence that the XBB sub-variant was circulating in the country. However, due to the countrys proximity to South Africa, which confirmed a case of the variant on Saturday, she said the variant could possibly be circulating in Eswatini. She said they were monitoring the circulation through countless genomic sequencing conducted through local samples. Nkosi said emaSwati should remain calm as evidence indicated that the variant was not deadly. Allay The Ministry of Health would like to allay anxiety within the public concerning the COVID-19 Omicron sub-variant XBB.1.5, which has recently been reported in a case in South Africa. There is no evidence that this variant is circulating in Eswatini. However, this is a possibility as a result of the countrys proximity to South Africa and this is being monitored through genomic sequencing of local samples, she said. Nkosi said the sub-variant had been reported in over 70 countries, including the USA, Australia and some countries in Europe. She explained that the sub-variant was found to be more transmissible than the original Omicron variant, however, there was no evidence that it caused severe illness such as the situation observed during the Delta variant wave. The minister stated that vaccines were still the best tool to protect people from severe illness and hospitalisation after being infected with COVID-19 that had the sub-variant. Although vaccinated people may get infected with this sub-variant, existing COVID-19 vaccines are still effective in protecting one from severe illness and hospitalisation. There are no reports of new or unusual symptoms observed yet from this sub-variant, she said. Further, Nkosi said the World Health Organisation (WHO), US Centre of Disease Control (CDC) and the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) in South Africa were analysing the risk and conducting genomic sequencing to understand better the behaviour of this sub-variant. The Ministry of Health will be receiving updates on the XBB.1.5 sub-variant and inform the nation as necessary, she added. The minister assured emaSwati that the country never stopped monitoring the virus. She said the ministry continued to conduct surveillance of COVID-19 and other public health threats, thus releasing the weekly COVID-19 statement to the public through the media and government social platforms. Testing Surveillance teams are conducting testing for COVID-19 and also tracing contacts as per the response guidelines. The ministry uses this data to plan for the escalation of the response once this is warranted according to the set thresholds, she said. The minister said COVID-19 vaccines in the country were available in abundance. The country still administers the AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines. She urged emaSwati to get vaccinated and those who were vaccinated were urged to take booster shots in order to boost their immunity. On the week ended January 8, 2023, the country recorded 19 cases of COVID-19. The cases were an increase from 13 cases that were reported on the week ended January 1, 2023. To date, 74 053 people in the country contracted COVID-19 while 72 603 recovered from the virus. According to the COVID-19 weekly update that was released on Sunday, the country had zero COVID-19 admissions while 28 people were under home treatment. CVS Health Corp. is exploring an acquisition of Oak Street Heath, a health care provider with clinics in Northwest Indiana, Bloomberg News reported. The Chicago-based healthcare provider runs primary care centers for Medicare recipients, including in Hammond, Gary, Chicago Heights and Blue Island. The deal would value Oak Street at more than $10 billion, including debt, Bloomberg reported. The talks are reportedly ongoing and still could end without a definitive agreement for a merger. After the report was published, Oak Street Health's shares soared from $22.57 a share Monday to a high of $29.85 a share. "We dont comment on rumors or speculation," said CVS Health Spokesman T.J. Crawford. Both CVS and its chief competitor Walgreens have been looking to diversify beyond just being traditional brick-and-mortar pharmacies into other medical spaces. CVS, for instance, has added Minute Clinics at many of its Northwest Indiana locations while Walgreens has repurposed part of its pharmacies in the Calumet Region to include Village Medical primary care offices. Oak Street Health has medical offices in Gary's Glen Park neighborhood and on the east side of central Hammond, near the Roxanna neighborhood in neighboring East Chicago. Adult-use cannabis dispensary sales soared to a record high in Illinois last year. Dispensaries statewide, including the Mission Calumet City Cannabis Dispensary by the River Oaks Mall and Windy City Cannabis in Homewood, collectively set records in all categories, including items sold, sales totals by month and sales to both Illinois and out-of-state residents. Dispensaries sold $1.55 billion worth of product last year. That's up 12% as compared to 2021 and 131% as compared to 2020, the year cannabis sales for recreational use were first legalized in Illinois. The state now has 113 adult use cannabis dispensaries, many of which are located in Chicago and the greater Chicagoland area. When I signed the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act into law in 2019, we set out on an ambitious goal: to create the most equitable and economically prosperous cannabis industry in the nation. Our data from 2022 shows that we are well on our way towards making that idea a reality, Gov. JB Pritzker said. Not only did we break our previous sales record by more than 12% with a total of more than $1.5 billion, we also saw the first of our social equity adult-use cannabis dispensaries open their doors for business paving the way for an even stronger 2023. Illinois is now reviewing 189 conditional licensees, which can start selling cannabis for adult use when they get their full licenses from the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. Another round of applications for licenses will be accepted starting on Jan. 30. Last year, dispensaries in Illinois sold 36.4 million items, up 20% over the previous year. More than $1 billion in cannabis was sold to Illinois residents while sales to out-of-state residents reached $479 million, which was up 10% from the previous year. Illinois dispensaries exceeded 2021 sales figures by November as the business continue to bud. This marks the second straight year that Illinois adult-use cannabis industry has seen record-setting growth, and we are excited for what the future holds for the most equitable cannabis industry in the country, said Mario Treto Jr., secretary of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. We are optimistic the industry will only continue to flourish in 2023, as we welcome more dispensaries to Illinois. Classes were scheduled to be back in session at Frankfort Square School Jan. 9 and teachers, students and a dog had a chance to recharge their batteries during a two-week holiday break. Wait a minute. A dog? Yes, the Frankfort school has a therapy dog named Davis, who started work Nov. 28. She needed the break just as much as the school's other employees and attendees. Though she works just four days a week, school officials say the Golden Retriever gives it her all and definitely earns her keep. Providing comfort is not always easy work. The schools social worker, Kelly Robinson, has wanted a therapy dog for a while. She said Davis, who lives with her, absorbs the emotions of students and staff every time she dons her vest for duty. At the end of the day, she is tired, Robinson said of Davis, the only therapy dog in the district. She goes home, and shes a regular dog. She takes off her vest, and shes considered a pet. The next morning, she comes to school and gets her vest on and shes a working dog again. Working is the key word. Davis participates with student groups throughout the day, spends time greeting students in the morning, makes appearances in the hallways and at the end of the day helps teachers and staff members relieve their stress, as well. She even made an appearance at the schools holiday show, helping students de-stress before performing and greeting parents and grandparents. Something to keep in mind is that working dogs keep working and working and working, Frankfort Square Principal Jason Isdonas said. Anyone who has a dog knows they sleep a lot. Davis is on call the moment she gets out of the car to the moment she gets back in the car. Even if she gets a little catnap, a kid could come down to Kellys office and, guess what? Davis has to get up and she has to go to work. If shes lucky, she can take a nap for three minutes and then shes right back up. Shes not getting much sleep here. In the past, Frankfort Square had been visited by a therapy dog named Sunny, one of Davis littermates. Sunny had been adopted by Audrey Fields, Summit Hill School District 161s former occupational therapist. Fields had raised puppies for Heartland Service Dogs, a nonprofit based in Mokena that provides custom-trained service dogs to people with disabilities, according to the district. Due to the pandemic, Davis spent three years in training rather than the usual 18 months and had to get used to her new digs. She had to learn the sights and smells of a new building, Isdonas said. Then throw 250 people in her face. She will hear an electric pencil sharpener go off. Thats the first time she ever heard that and shes looking like what is that?' Shes still working through those things even though she is thoroughly trained. Davis proved to be a valuable employee within her first 15 minutes on the job. Isdonas said a student did not want to get out of the car to come to school that day. But sure enough, when she saw Davis, her eyes just lit up and she went up to Kelly and asked if she could see Davis, he said. Robinson said that the student petted Davis, but then went back to the car and started crying again. I brought Davis over to the parent and child and asked her if she wanted to walk into class with Davis, Robinson said. She stopped crying immediately and was like yep. She helped hold the leash and we walked down to her room. Other kids started saying Can Davis walk me to class? The student was fine the rest of the day. While Davis is still getting used to the school, she will work four days a week. The goal is to get her stamina up to work all five days because she is missed on her days off, Robinson said. After three weeks, Davis has become a valued member of the Frankfort Square team. We knew she would be amazing, but its beyond the positive impact that we thought it would have, Robinson said. Prolific South Shore Line Poster artist Mitch Markovitz will appear in Munster for a meet-and-greet. The artist known for doing many of the contemporary South Shore Line Posters will appear from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday in the Main Gallery at The Center for Visual and Performing Arts at 1040 Ridge Road in Munster. "The Northwest Indiana Region takes great pride in the historical South Shore Line posters," said Bridget Covert with South Shore Arts. "Mitch Markovitz has painted nearly 50 posters since 1997, depicting destinations, landscapes and events across the NWI region." The South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority, which manages the South Shore Line Poster program, is co-sponsoring the meet-and-greet. Markovitz will sign his posters, which can be purchased in the South Shore Arts gift shop. "The Gift Shop at South Shore Arts sells a wide variety of South Shore Line posters and is excited to bring in Mitch Markowitzs latest poster design View From Home, in honor of the Centennial for Ayers Realtors, Covert said. The South Shore Line train initially commissioned the iconic poster series in the early 20th century as a way to entice Chicagoans to visit Northwest Indiana attractions like the Indiana Dunes or the Calumet Region's 25 miles of beach. It later evolved into a way of promoting Calumet Region points of pride like the steel industry and East Chicago's role as "The Workshop of America." In recent years, companies, colleges and other organizations have commissioned their own South Shore Line Posters that retain the same vintage aesthetics. They're widely displayed throughout the Region, including in homes, lobbies and public spaces like South Shore Arts and the Lake County Public Library Main Branch in Merrillville. 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. MBABANE Candidates of the 2022 external examinations will know their fate today. The Minister of Education and Training, Lady Mabuza, will be announcing the release of the results this afternoon during a press conference that will be held at the ministry. These would be results of Form III learners, who sat their Junior Certificate (JC) and Eswatini Primary Certificate (EPC), written by Grade VII pupils in 2022. Yesterday, the Ministry of Education invited the media to a press conference scheduled for this afternoon, with the minister and the Eswatini Examinations Council (ECESWA). Delivering You are cordially invited to a press conference where the minister will be delivering Grade VII and JC results, tomorrow Wednesday, at the Ministry of Education, 6th floor, at 3pm, reads the invitation. ECESWA Communications Officer Hlengiwe Ndlovu said they could neither confirm nor deny that they would be releasing the results. Form IIIs wrote their first paper was on November 28, 2022, while Grade VIIs sat their first paper on December 5, 2022. The last examination paper was written on December 19, 2022 by Form III pupils. After the release of the results, learners would be expected to fetch their results transcripts also known as symbols. The transcripts are crucial to be used by learners when securing admission for the next grade, particularly Grade VIIs who would be looking for Form I spaces. Worth noting is that education stakeholders raised concerns about the dates of the release. Eswatini Schools Committees and Parents Association Secretary General (SG) Cyprian Dlamini said they were hoping that schools opening would be postponed. Schools opening is scheduled for next Tuesday. Of which the SG said would not give parents enough time to prepare for schools opening. He stated that normally, results were released on the first week of January, which enabled parents to have a week to prepare. The SG said postponing the opening might be a good move. Meanwhile, the President of Eswatini Principals Association (EPA), Welcome Mhlanga, in our Monday publication, said it was best to wait for the release of the results, first before calling for a postponement. He highlighted, however, that after the release of the results the next two days would see learners fetching their results transcripts. He noted that if the results were released late this week they might need to engage the Ministry of Education and Training regarding the opening of schools. This was before the Minister of Education, Lady Mabuza, announced that government was considering postponing the opening of schools. To ensure that the results of these learners are not delayed as some of them will need to secure spaces in new schools, marking of these examination scripts commenced while the learners were writing other papers. The marking of the examination scripts started while the examinations for other grades were ongoing. The external examinations were written by completing pupils, which included Form Vs, Form IIIs and Grade VIIs. The 2022 academic year had only two terms, not the normal three terms. The last time the country had a normal school calendar was in 2019. This was due to the outbreak of COVID-19. Last week, the marking of Form V scripts commenced. Ndlovu said they deliberately began marking the EPC and JC examination papers early because these pupils had to receive their results before the opening of schools for the 2023 academic year. The marking of Form V examinations commences this week, she had said. Pupils who were enrolled for the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) wrote their first paper on October 4, 2022, while those under the Eswatini General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) started their examination on November 14, 2022. Jerry Davich Jerrys career began in 1995 as a political cartoonist/columnist with The Times of NWI, writing thousands of columns and stories through narrative storytelling, or shining a light on societys darkest corners, or provoking unpopular conversations. Follow Jerry Davich Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today We are in a real lockdown and Im scared. My neighbor received this text Monday morning from her great-granddaughter, a Valparaiso High School student. They shared a frantic text exchange as emergency responders raced to the school. I wanted to keep her calm, my neighbor told me. Another neighbor pulled into my driveway as I was leaving to drive to the school. I hear they found a gun in there or something, he told me. At 8:35 a.m. that day, the Valparaiso Police Department received notice of a potential threat to be carried out at the high school. The threat indicated an explosive device had been placed in a specific location within the school, a media release stated. The school was placed in lockdown status while police and other departments investigated the threat. Social media lit up with posts about the situation, littered with rumors or exaggerations. Family members of teachers who worked inside the school scrambled for any details. Anyone know why VHS is on lockdown? one Facebook post asked. Few things get our attention faster than a school placed on lockdown, for whatever reason. One mother of a VHS student received this chilling text: Our school is on lockdown. Love you. It's a nightmare for any parent, grandparent or guardian. Two hours after police first received notice of the threat, the school began releasing students early for the day. When I arrived at 10:45 a.m., school buses were lined up for students as emergency vehicles filled the parking lot. Parents were arriving in their vehicles, including one of my neighbors. Whats wrong with our country? he asked me rhetorically. I just shrugged. I told my neighbor that public safety has become an oxymoron in America the Ballistic because at any moment, at any location, our lives and safety could be in peril. Theres little we can do when an angry or victimized or deranged person feels compelled to pull the trigger on his inner rage. He just shrugged. As I drove past the school, I flashed back to my high school days. I dont recall my school ever being placed in lockdown as police investigated a bomb threat or a shooting situation. My only memory is of police searching lockers for drugs and paraphernalia. They often found it all at Wirt High School in Gary. Not once as a kid did I worry about a mass shooting or a public safety attack at my school or anywhere else. Todays kids dont have such peace of mind, in addition to the pressure-cooker, fishbowl experience of attending high school during any era. Weve gone from Columbine to commonplace in our country, as Ive noted before. Its no longer a question of if another school attack will take place, but when and where. Sadly, todays teenagers are well aware of these circumstances. Tragically, so was the generation of teenagers before them. On April 20, 1999, two teens went on a shooting spree at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, before turning their guns on themselves and taking their lives. It. Changed. Everything. It changed how we once perceived schools as safe havens for kids. It changed how we looked at school security efforts, and failures. And it changed the mindset of children and teens regarding the possibility, even remotely, of an attack at their school. This is the mindset for most kids who are past a certain age or threshold of awareness. Certain words and phrases have become part of their vocabulary. Mass shooting. Lockdown. Active shooter. Copycat effect. Manifesto. Sandy Hook. And run, hide, fight. Forget about the school daze of yesteryear when we had silly fire drills. Students today know that their school could possibly become another Columbine or Sandy Hook or Robb Elementary. For some of todays teenagers, it may feel like a game of Russian roulette and someone at their school may trigger another massacre in our country. In 2006, I wrote this headline School security? Not quite." for a column that ran after three deadly school shootings took place in our country. These attacks obviously havent stopped since then. Forget about all the moments of silence afterward. We need more moments of responsibility. And accountability. Despite being under the influence of youth, todays generation of teenagers is watching these developments and taking mental notes. On Monday afternoon, Valparaiso police released a statement to assure the public that its high school was safe: The investigation determined the threat was not credible and building occupants were not in any danger. Im not sure how many parents or students knew that Monday was Law Enforcement Appreciation Day. I have a feeling my neighbor knew. She posted this on her Facebook page: Thank you to the Valparaiso Police Department, the Sheriffs Department, Fire Department, and all the teachers at Valparaiso High School who kept us informed and who responded quickly and professionally to the lockdown at the school this morning. That morning, she felt frantic and desperate, even calling me for any details. Its one thing when its an incident in another city. Its quite another when it involves a loved one whos at school and feeling scared for their safety. Today this issue became a reality for my great-granddaughter, she said. It's already a reality for these kids, I thought. HAMMOND Authorities are accusing a man of terrifying his neighbors as the new year began by letting his teenage son fire a machine gun into the air. The Lake County prosecutors office has charged Kendrick D. Mitchell, 26, with dangerous control of a child, a Level 5 felony punishable by up to six years' imprisonment. Hammond police Detective Gregory McGing writes in a probable-cause affidavit, filed in Lake Criminal Court, that Mitchell and his 17-year-old son fired off 337 bullets around midnight Jan. 1. Resident living near the defendants home in the 6400 block of Nebraska Avenue in the Hessville neighborhood called police to complain that the barrage terrified them. One neighbor recorded and replayed the sound of the gunshots for a responding officer. Police obtained a warrant several days ago from a Lake Criminal Court magistrate to search Kendricks home. Inside, they found an AR-15 pistol, a Glock 22 Gen 4 .40-caliber handgun, a Century Arms RAS 47 pistol and a Glock 17 9mm handgun with an auto sear a device that allows it to fire automatically, like a machine gun. They also found several high-capacity magazines and 195 rounds of assorted ammunition. Police said they obtained video footage of Kendrick and his three children firing several guns in the air and can hear them talking about machine guns. When questioned, Kendrick said he didnt know that the gun his 17-year-old son was firing had a switch that turned it into an automatic weapon. Police said they also reviewed images on Mitchells cellphone of his teen son holding the Glock 17. The prosecutors office filed the charge late last week. Mitchell posted a pretrial cash bond Tuesday. He has been scheduled to appear in court Jan. 23 for an initial hearing. No defense attorney had appeared in the case Tuesday. Police identify the teenage son as a victim, not a defendant, in the case. Hammond police Lt. Steve Kellogg had issued a public warning on New Years Eve that the city has a zero-tolerance policy against such celebratory gunfire. "Unfortunately celebratory gunfire is common throughout much of Northwest Indiana and we have been battling it for years. In 2017, a young boy, Noah Inman, was killed on July 3 from a falling bullet from someones firearm, Kellogg said last week. VALPARAISO A Portage lawyer has filed notice of his intention to pursue a defamation lawsuit based on allegations that Porter County Councilman Jeremy Rivas falsely labeled him on social media as an "insurrectionist" in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the United States Capitol building. Attorney Patrick McEuen claims in his tort claim notice, filed on the two-year anniversary of the attack on the Capitol, that on the morning of Oct. 30, 2022, Rivas, a Democrat, on his official councilman Facebook page, "posted a defamatory claim that I am an 'insurrectionist,' mistakenly including a photograph" of someone other than McEuen. While the post was intended to attack Porter County commissioner candidate Barb Regnitz and Porter County sheriff candidate Jeff Balon, both Republicans and both successful in their races, it defames McEuen because it imputes criminal conduct and misconduct in his profession, the claim says. When questioned by The Times about the allegation, Rivas responded Monday with a screenshot of a Facebook post from Jan. 6 (year unknown) that appears to be from McEuen and says, "Sandy and I are safe at the Mayflower. We started our morning on the Mall and the Ellipse. I could see the President both on a big screen and a straight shot in front of us." McEuen confirmed his wife's name is Sandy. "Then we marched en masse on the Capitol, and we were able to breach the stairs after police backed off from the first wave," the post continues. "We cut into a door, up a flight of stairs and BOOM! We were on the Inaugural stage with hundreds. "I watched 3 DC police officers pulled out of the Capitol into the crowd, as others tried to breach the doors," the post says. "I took pepper spray 4 times and tear gas twice. At the end, National Guard were shooting rubber bullets at folks 20 yards away...." The only comment Rivas would make is, "Truth is an absolute defense to defamation." The Oct. 30 post in question was still up Tuesday afternoon on the Jeremy Rivas, County Councilman Facebook page with the message, "Porter County Government is a government that works because we have worked in a bi-partisan and sensible manner to get things done. Now we are faced with a candidate on Nov 8th for Porter County Commissioner that is an extremist election denier who has shown interest in having a Jan 6 insurrectionist as the county attorney." McEuen would not directly respond to the question of whether he authored and shared the Jan. 6 post in question. "Why are you asking me about this post?" he responded in a text message. "Do you see 'Insurrectionist' in it?" "Here's my comment," McEuen texted. "I was in DC for Trump's First Inaugural Address. I watched in real time as Antifa burned a Starbucks, occupied the streets. Beat Trump supporters. Torched automobiles. Did you write ANYTHING about that?" McEuen went on to say, "At Trump's First Inaugural, I had to take a taxi because Antifa rioters were blocking the streets. My cabdriver was a Nigerian immigrant who escaped civil war in his homeland. He was bemoaning Antifa while wearing a Trump hat. That Nigerian loves America more than any Democrat." When asked about not being able to find his Facebook page Tuesday, McEuen said Facebook deleted it on Jan. 8 with a 90-day ban. "Thereafter, the ban was increased due to posts from Trump's Presidency," he said in a text message. "At last check, I was serving a ban in excess of 6 months." While McEuen says in his tort claim that the full extent of his losses and damages are unknown, he is seeking $300,000 in damages. Otherwise, McEuen wants a public apology from Rivas, his immediate resignation from the County Council and $100,000 in damages. "I call on (Porter County Commissioner) Jim Biggs, Barb Regnitz, (Porter County Council members) Red Stone and Andy Bozak to demand Jeremy Rivas resignation from county government," McEuen said in a prepared statement. "The taxpayers in Porter County can save hundreds of thousands of taxpayer money, if only our elected Republicans demand a retraction and an apology from Jeremy Rivas, and compromise this claim without forcing me to file suit." PHOTOS: Gary names another interim police chief Gary new police chief Gary new police chief Gary police chief gary police chief Major Jerry Wiliams Jerry Williams HOBART Waking up in the comfort of his own apartment isnt something Russell Lipsey has always been accustomed to. Just one year ago, the 67-year-old military veteran was living and sleeping in his car during some of the coldest nights of the year. His life has dramatically changed since moving into A Safe Haven, a veterans housing complex in Hobart. I now have a roof over my head, said Lipsey of Michigan City. Its like Im living in a condo. I went from a car to a condo. How can you beat that? A Safe Haven Foundation provides 40 permanent and supportive housing locations for veterans in Northwest Indiana and around the Chicago area. The foundations mission is to assist veterans by providing such services as addiction recovery, education and job training. Around 19,500 veterans across the U.S. experienced sheltered homelessness in January 2022, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. Additionally, 13,500 U.S. veterans experienced unsheltered homelessness in that same month. In 2020, the suicide rate for veterans was 57% higher compared with nonveteran U.S. adults, according to the 2022 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report. Lipsey served in the Marine Corps from October 1975 to April 1976. After the service, he says, he threw his life away by failing to find permanent housing and a steady job. He was living in Indianapolis for a while before returning to his hometown trying to make it on his own, although family members lived nearby. Through the years, Lipsey kept in contact with a representative from Lake County Veterans Affairs, hoping to someday overcome the difficulties he had faced. In May 2022, Lipseys luck changed. He received a call from the VA notifying him about a veterans housing facility that had an apartment available. Eight months of living in his car had finally come to an end. A Safe Haven lived up to its name. Everything here is all about getting your life together, Lipsey said. I thank everyone here for helping me get back on my feet. Its a great place. A Safe Haven was founded in 1994 as an addiction-recovery treatment, said Mark Mulroe, the facilitys president and CEO. As the foundation expanded, more services were made available to veterans to assist with mental health, homelessness, education and job training. Although many services are available to veterans, affordable housing has historically been a missing piece of a larger puzzle, Mulroe said. Veterans battling addiction often struggle with bad credit and the lack of connectivity and support, which hinders the acquisition of housing. A Safe Haven has changed that standard by partnering with KMA Property Management Services to provide housing for more than 400 veterans in this region and the Chicago area. In 2021, the foundation expanded to Lake County as the demand for veterans housing heightened. The Lake County VA encouraged A Safe Haven to see whether the city of Hobart would be open to having a veterans housing facility. The partnership with Hobart has since been phenomenal, Mulroe said. We had a waiting list before we had built a foundation, he said. We had such a need for veteran services in this area. Youre dealing with individuals whove protected us, sacrificed their time and suffered many things. Plus, its an obligation to help veterans whove served our nation, he said. The Hobart location houses veterans ranging in age from their 20s to 90s who have served in recent military conflicts to distant wars. The 550-square-foot apartment is fully furnished; each floor has laundry units and trash rooms. Residents with emotional support or service animals also have access to a pet-washing station inside the facility. Resident Diana Maceri frequently takes her dog, Mr. Winston, to the washing station for a bath. If someone had nothing, they could move right in, Mulroe said. One of the most rewarding things is hearing how happy they are and that theyre feeling safe and stable. The Lake County VA has offices with personnel on site who visit residents weekly to check on their health and wellness. This organization has helped many veterans who arent given that second or third chance, said Darlene Cruz-Herrera, the facilitys property manager. Were trying to get them on the right track so they can reconnect with their families and survive within their community. Since moving into the complex in August, Lipsey has began learning more about how to work a computer and a Fire Stick, an online streaming device. He said his goal for this year is to get back into drumming and embrace his passion for music. This feeling is hard to describe, he said. Its like going to heaven. LAPORTE COUNTY The LaPorte County sheriff's office promoted two deputies in the Courthouse Security Division that guards the courthouses in LaPorte and Michigan City, along with the Hiler and County Annex Building. Mike Raymer was appointed to the rank of sergeant, an opening that became available because of Vern Hohnkes recent retirement. Jon Keene was promoted to corporal as the result of an expansion of personnel at the Courthouse Security Division. Raymer has served the LaPorte County sheriff's office for 31 years. He's a graduate of Peru High School and Vincennes University, from which he earned an associate degree in law enforcement in 1991. He was originally hired as a jail deputy that year. He was later transferred to the Patrol Division, graduated from the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy and went to the Criminal Investigations Division, where he served as a detective for 14 years. He retired in 2020 but moved to a position in the Courthouse Security Division. In his new role, he will oversee the daily operations of Courthouse Security. Keene has served the LaPorte County sheriff's office for 32 years. He graduated from LaPorte High School and then Vincennes University. Keene served as an Indiana trooper from 1984 to 1991, when he transferred to the LaPorte County sheriff's office as a patrol deputy. He rose through the ranks, eventually becoming Day Shift Patrol commander. He retired in fall 2018 and will now help oversee courthouse security's daily operations. Congratulations to Sergeant Raymer and Corporal Keene on their recent promotions," Maj. Patrick G. Cicero said. "Along with a tremendous amount of law enforcement experience, both gentlemen are humble and passionate about the security of the buildings and the safety of county employees." VALPARAISO Andrew McIntyre was sworn in Monday as Valparaiso's new police chief. "I am extremely humbled and honored to be selected as the next chief of the Valparaiso Police Department," the 13-year veteran of the department said before the City Council meeting. "This is truly a dream come true for me." McIntyre was named chief after his predecessor, Jeff Balon, was elected Porter County sheriff. Balon, a Republican, beat Democrat David Reynolds II by about 6.5% of the vote. Balon succeeded Dave Reynolds, father of David Reynolds II, who was prohibited by term limits from running again. Balon worked for the Valparaiso Police Department for about 31 years; he became chief in 2017. As sheriff, Balon said he will continue to maintain a positive relationship between the Porter County sheriff's office and the Valparaiso Police Department. "Sheriff Balon did an outstanding job for this department, for this city. His leadership will never be matched," McIntyre told attendees. "I want you all to expect the same dedication, commitment and professionalism that you've always had from this department." McIntyre joined the Valparaiso force in 2009 and has served as a patrolman, sergeant, detective sergeant and captain of investigations. According to a city news release, McIntyre earned a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from Indiana University in Bloomington and attended Northwestern University School of Police Staff and Command in 2019. He was Officer of the Year in 2011 and Investigator of the Year in 2019 and 2020. McIntyre comes from a long line of police officers: His grandfather was chief of police for LaPorte, and his father served with the LaPorte County sheriffs office. "I've watched Andrew come up through the hiring process. He worked hard as a patrolman, he worked hard as a detective, he worked hard in the narcotics division, and I'm proud of your accomplishments Chief McIntyre," Balon told his successor. Mayor Matt Murphy said the city received a large number of applicants for the job. McIntyre was chosen after an extensive interview process, which included hearing from nearly 50 Police Department employees. Mike DeHaven, a 26-year veteran of the Valparaiso Police Department, will continue to serve as assistant police chief. Also continuing in their assignments: Brian McDonald as captain of patrol, E. Joe Hall as captain of support services, and Melanie Sheets as captain of investigations. Balon said he is confident that, under the new leadership team, VPD will continue to "be the spectacular department that I know it to be." PHOTOS: Wreaths Across America honors veterans in Valparaiso Wreaths laid to remember veterans Wreaths laid to remember veterans Wreaths laid to remember veterans Wreaths laid to remember veterans Wreaths laid to remember veterans Wreaths laid to remember veterans Wreaths laid to remember veterans Wreaths laid to remember veterans Wreaths laid to remember veterans web-galleryhtmlcode web-galleryhtmlcode VALPARAISO The city has opted to not move forward with a riverfront district proposed for its southwest side. The project, introduced by City Attorney Patrick Lyp in November, would have helped Valparaiso obtain more liquor licenses. However, during a City Council meeting Monday, Lyp said the project that was the "spearhead" of the riverfront district has been withdrawn. In November, Lyp said a developer had shown interest in the former Bethel Church property along West Morthland Drive. The proposed riverfront district would have included 19 parcels south of West Street, near Salt Creek. The council unanimously voted to withdraw legislation that would have established the district, although Lyp said the city will look into other potential locations for riverfront districts. Councilman Robert Cotton, D-2, asked the city to share all potential locations with the council. All municipalities are issued a set number of traditional "three-way" liquor licenses based on population. During the November meeting, Lyp said all of Valparaiso's three-way licenses have been accounted for; once a community is out of licenses, the only way to obtain one is to buy it from another business. Lyp said licenses sold at auction can cost more than $300,000. However, Indiana municipalities can receive more liquor licenses by establishing riverfront districts or historic downtown districts. In 2005, Valparaiso petitioned the state for 10 additional downtown liquor licenses. All but one of those downtown licenses have been claimed. In spring 2021 the city's last liquor license was awarded to the French restaurant Le Bon Brasserie; however, it was later revoked. Lyp said no restaurants have shown interest in the remaining downtown license. The St. John Town Council approved the creation of a riverfront district in August. Councilman Evan Costas, R-at large, said he thought it was a good idea to table the riverfront district "for the time being." "It is good to be careful with sprawl and not get too spread out, having districts all over the place," he said. "Some good thought needs to go into this." Costas said creating a riverfront district could be a "good tool for the city." If the city does create a riverfront district, Lyp said, the council would be involved in awarding the licenses. PHOTOS: Skaters hit rink at Central Park Plaza in Valparaiso Staffing shortage thaws ice at Deep River Waterpark rink Skating at the Central Park Plaza Ice Rink Skating at the Central Park Plaza Ice Rink Staffing shortage thaws ice at Deep River Waterpark rink Skating at the Central Park Plaza Ice Rink Staffing shortage thaws ice at Deep River Waterpark rink Skating at the Central Park Plaza Ice Rink Staffing shortage thaws ice at Deep River Waterpark rink Skating at the Central Park Plaza Ice Rink Staffing shortage thaws ice at Deep River Waterpark rink Jennifer Coolidge, who returned to her role as a needy heiress in the second season of The White Lotus, won her first Golden Globe, thanking the people who hired her for years of smaller acting roles that led up to this moment in the spotlight. Directing her attention toward one of those people the shows creator, Mike White Coolidge gave an alternately goofy and heartfelt speech that reduced White to tears, turning it into one of the most memorable moments of the night. I had such big dreams and expectations as a younger person but what happened was they get sort of fizzled by life, Coolidge said, having placed her trophy on the ground for safekeeping. Mike White, you have given me hope for just, youve given me a new beginning. Blake Hounshell, an influential political journalist who was managing editor of Foreign Policy magazine and a top editor at Politico before joining The New York Times and overseeing its popular newsletter On Politics, died on Tuesday in Washington. He was 44. His family said in a statement that he had died after a long and courageous battle with depression. The police in Washington were investigating the death as a suicide, a police official said. Mr. Hounshell, who joined The Times in 2021, wrote On Politics out of Washington, incorporating contributions from other Times correspondents. The newsletter appears five days a week and is regularly read by an estimated half-million paying subscribers. Mr. Hounshell quickly distinguished himself as our lead politics newsletter writer and a gifted observer of our countrys political scene, Joseph Kahn, the Timess executive editor, said in a memo to the staff, adding, He became an indispensable and always insightful voice in the report during a busy election cycle. Could they have been right about this? You dont say you have any evidence that he abused children as an adult. Statistically speaking, juveniles who commit sex crimes as your in-laws may have known do seem to be different from adults who do so; the available research suggests that few such juveniles reoffend when they are grown up. Its nonetheless unfortunate that no therapy was offered to the siblings. Adolescents who have offended seem to respond better to treatment than adults do, and your sister-in-law is clearly still distressed by what happened and by the way her family handled the matter. Suppose your then-fiance, as seems typical of those with a history like his, posed no threat to children. Did you have a right to know that the person you planned to marry had, at a young age, done a terrible thing, even if he wasnt prone to do anything like it again? We rightly try not to define adults by offenses they committed as children. Still, you could feel that his family should have urged him to tell you about it and allowed him to express whatever remorse and revulsion he might have come to feel about his childhood acts. But thats all in the past; youve been divorced for years. Contemplating the future, you wonder whether you may, one day, have to inform other people in your ex-husbands life about his juvenile misconduct in order to protect their children. No doubt youre worried that your motives here are mixed: The resentment you clearly feel toward this man might lead you to pass on the news just to embarrass him. I note that you were able to call him to ask if his sisters allegations were true. He gave you an honest answer. If circumstances arise in which you wonder whether you should tell someone about his past, you might talk to him first and listen to what he has to say in response. My sister and her husband have a very negative parenting style with their son. They are constantly yelling at him or telling him hes doing something wrong. The child does act out sometimes. They have sent him to therapy before, but not with much success, and they dont seem to recognize that their parenting style may be influencing his behavior. It has gotten to the point that several of my family members have commented on their negativity, and its difficult to spend time with them. We do get along well with their son, and so do my kids. Once, when I had a young child and they didnt yet have children, I needed to have a conversation with my sister because she and her husband were not nice to my son. Its one thing to bring up adults bad behavior when its directed at your own child; its harder when its their parenting style toward their own child. What should I do? I feel stuck, because I do not want to ruin my familys relationship with her family. Name Withheld MBABANE Schools might not open next Tuesday. This is so because the Ministry of Education and Training is considering postponing the opening of schools due to a number of reasons. This was revealed by the Minister of Education and Training, Lady Mabuza, yesterday. In an interview, Mabuza said currently, the ministry was still consulting on the possibility of the postponement of schools opening next week, which, according to the minister, was under consideration. She said this was necessitated by the fact that the time available for pupils to secure spaces in various schools and make payments was not enough. Mabuza said the results, to be released later today, would reach schools tomorrow and Friday, hence parents would not have enough time to search for spaces. Commended The minister commended the markers for the speed applied when marking pupils scripts. Furthermore, she said releasing results simultaneously was not happening for the first time as last year it happened in almost all the grades. The minister had been asked why Grade VII and Junior Certificate results were released simultaneously. Meanwhile, teachers have resolved not to go to work unless their six demands are met. This is according to the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT). In a press briefing yesterday afternoon, SNAT Secretary General (SG) Lot Vilakati invited employed and unemployed educators to partake in the delivery of a petition on Friday. Petition Vilakati said the petition would be delivered to the Ministry of Public Service at 11am. The SG informed those who would take part in the delivery of the petition that they would assemble at the ministrys gate and proceed to deliver the petition. The SG also extended the invitation to take part in the delivery of the petition to the mass democratic movement (MDM). He said the union was having bilateral engagements with the Ministry of Education and Training and part of the issues they were still engaging on included what they wanted to draw attention to before the opening of schools. Officially, schools are expected to open on January 17, 2023 (Tuesday). Vilakati said among the issues was the shortage of food for the schools feeding scheme, shortage of teachers and the casualisation of their profession. He said the Teaching Service Commission (TSC) should employ teachers on a permanent and pensionable basis, because keeping them on contracts was costly to the educators. Vilakati said a teacher employed on a contract basis had no benefits and, therefore, they were working with no pension, which would result in their next-of-kin getting nothing when they died. This, he said, was to their detriment as there was also a stipulation that government should not recruit staff above the age of 50. Vilakati said their members aged while working on contract, which limited their pension despite that they were qualified graduates. Maternity Female teachers also dont get maternity leave as they are on contract, despite that civil servants are given three months maternity leave, he said. Vilakati also mentioned that some contract teachers ended up having many lessons to teach as they were threatened with non-renewal of their contracts. He said some teachers would also work extra hours despite that there was no overtime for teachers. Another challenge, he said, was the renewal of contracts for those recruited on this basis. Vilakati said some teachers faced challenges when their contracts were not renewed as they accrued arrears. He said contract teachers should have their contracts renewed before the start of the academic year. He said: The TSC should employ 5 000 teachers on permanent basis to ease the workload. Schools should not open without recruiting teachers. Many teachers have resigned, died and retired. This burdens the minimal teachers. One school had four teachers and two of these educators contracts have lapsed which means only a pair is left in the school now. Emphasised Vilakati emphasised that the number of required teachers exceeded 5 000. He said government should hire teachers for Grade 0 and have all schools enrolling learners for this class. This is necessary as government is permitting private colleges and government-sponsored institutions to enrol students for this course yet after graduation, they are not employed. Vilakati further pointed out that to not hire teachers was a form of union bashing. On the other hand, he said schools were ill-prepared for opening for this school calendar as there was no food. Vilakati said they needed food to be delivered in schools and that it should be available the whole year. Furthermore, he said government should pay all grants related to the operations of schools. These grants are the free primary education (FPE) and also the orphaned and vulnerable children (OVCs), which are contributed by government for pupils. The FPE grant has since its inception in 2010 been set at E560 per year per pupil, while the OVC grants vary as they cater for high school learners. He said they were calling for government to pay for the aforementioned grants because schools were in arrears, had no running water and or electricity. This, he said, rendered the schools unfit to operate as these basic services were essential for their day-to-day operations. Complaining Also, he said their members were complaining about issues that included the remuneration of head teachers. Vilakati said SNAT was calling for equal remuneration of primary and high school head teachers and their deputies. He said this was an issue they had addressed in the appeals of the 2016 salary review exercise, which formed part of the joint negotiation forum (JNF). This, he said, they expected to be addressed by April 1, 2023, which was the beginning of the new government financial year. Vilakati said the status quo, with regard to the salaries of primary school deputy head teachers, head teachers, high school deputy head teachers and high school head teachers, was dividing the working class. If this is not implemented, we shall approach the Industrial Court. On the other hand, he said they were calling for the recruitment of senior teachers in all schools because they ended up performing duties that were designated to deputy head teachers. Paid He said the senior teachers should be paid on a scale of D4 as they stated in their appeals. Also, he said teachers with Bachelor Degrees should be paid on the C5 scale and not the C3 which they were currently paid based on. Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Education and Training, Bhekithemba Gama, said: This is misdirected as they should have engaged the ministry first. He said the union would then opt to deliver a petition if they were not content with the responses that would have been given by the ministry. Welcome to the 80th annual Golden Globe Awards. I am your host, Jerrod Carmichael, and Ill tell you why Im here. Im here because Im Black. Ill catch everyone in the room up. If you settle down a little bit, Ill tell you whats been going on. This show, the Golden Globe Awards, did not air last year because the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which I wont say they were a racist organization, but they didnt have a single Black member until George Floyd died. So do with what information what you will. Ill tell you how I got here, why am I here on the stage with you guys tonight. Well, I was at home just drinking tea. And I got a phone call from my man Stephen Hill. Stephen Hill is a great producer and he said, Jerrod, really Im honored to be making this phone call. He said, Im producing the 80th Golden Globes, and it would be an honor if you would agree to join as the host. I was like, Whoa. Like, one minute youre making tea at home, the next youre invited to be the Black face of an embattled white organization. Life really comes at you fast, you know. So I said, Stephen, Im torn, Ill be honest with you, Im a little torn because, you know, one, its a great opportunity, thank you for the call, but Im only being asked to host this, I know, because Im Black. And Stephen said, Let me stop you right there, Jerrod. He said, You are being asked to host this show because you are talented. Youre being asked to host this show because you are charming. He said, Youre being asked to host this show because you are one of the greatest comedians of our generation. But Stephens Black, so what does he know? Like, hes only producing this show because theyre not going to tell him why hes here, either so I said, Stephen, this is a lot for me, let me call you back. So I did what I do when I have a moral, racial dilemma. I call the home girl Avery who, for the sake of this monologue, represents every Black person in America. And I said to Avery, I said, Avery, they asked me to host, and I said, you know, what should I do? And she said, Oh, bookie, Im so proud of you, now remind me, which awards show is that again? And I told her what the show was, and I told her about how last year didnt air because of the no-Black-people thing. And she was like, Well, how much are they paying you? And I said, Well, Avery, its not about the money honestly, its about the moral question of And she said, Jerrod, enough of all that, how much are they paying you? And I said, $500,000. And she said, Boy, if you dont put on a good suit and take some white people money And I kind of forget that, like, where Im from, like, we all live by a strict take-the-money mentality. I bet Black informants for the F.B.I. in the 60s, their families were still proud of them like they were like, Did you hear about Clarences new job? Theyre paying him $8 an hour just to snitch on Dr. King. Its a good government job. And I called Stephen back, and I said, Im happy to do this. And I was really proud of that decision until I got an email from my publicist saying that Helen, the president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, wanted to have a one-on-one sit-down with me and I said, no thanks. I know a trap when I hear a trap, and I thought it went away, then it came back. I was like, Well, theyre not really asking, Jerrod, theyre insisting that you take the meeting. And Im like, Or what? Theyre going to fire me? They havent had a Black host in 79 years, theyre going to fire the first Im unfireable. And it came back again a third time, they were, like, You know, Jerrod, Helen really just wants to educate you on the changes that the organization has made in regards to diversity. And Ill be totally honest with everyone here tonight. I dont really need to hear that. I took this job assuming they hadnt changed at all. I heard they got six new Black members, whatever, congrats to them, but not why Im here. Im here truly because of all of you. I look out into this room and I see a lot of talented people like, people that I admire, people that I would like to be like, and people that Im jealous of and people that are really incredible artists. And regardless of whatever the Hollywood Foreign Press Associations past may be, this is an evening where we get to celebrate. And I think this industry deserves evenings like these. Im happy you all are here. And well have some fun tonight. TRENTON, N.J. Gov. Philip D. Murphy presented an upbeat vision of New Jersey on Tuesday during his State of the State address: a suddenly cool state where A-list actors come to shoot movies and, with luck, residents will have more places to grab a drink. Mr. Murphy, who was re-elected in 2021 by a narrow margin, is the chairman of both the National Governors Association and the Democratic Governors Association. His wife, Tammy Murphy, has set up a super PAC that could be used to bolster any future political ambitions that Mr. Murphy, a Democrat, might harbor. He has said that he strongly supports President Biden, an ally from the same party who has indicated that he plans to run for re-election. Still, Tuesdays annual address had the air of an audition. Mr. Murphy mentioned his friendship with Gov. Spencer Cox of Utah, a Republican and vice chairman of the National Governors Association, and derided Washington-style dysfunction and chaos. Let us never forget that in the grand ranking of things, we are partisans fourth, elected officials third, New Jerseyans second and Americans first and foremost, he said during his first in-person State of the State since 2020, prompting many in the room to stand and clap. Here are some takeaways. Noma has frequently topped rankings of the worlds best restaurants since Rene Redzepi opened it two decades ago and began foraging, pickling and plating his way to outsize fame as a chef of extraordinary vision and exacting principles. But maintaining the standards of innovation and artistry that hed set for himself and that pilgrims to Noma expected required intricate work and an enormous staff, and Julia Moskin noted in an article in The Times that Noma and similarly elite restaurants were facing scrutiny of their treatment of the workers, many of them paid poorly or not at all. Redzepi told Moskin that even though a meal at Noma is at least $500 per person now, the numbers just werent adding up. He plans to turn Noma into a food laboratory that does occasional pop-up meals. We have to completely rethink the industry, he said. This is simply too hard, and we have to work in a different way. Industry is too broad a term. Hes talking about a small, gilded chamber of it. And that chamber is past due for reassessment not because it isnt a showcase for phenomenal creativity, not because it isnt a storehouse of remarkable pleasure, but because it has traveled so dizzily far from its truest mission to an altitude that too few people can reach. I write that as someone with enormous regard for Redzepi, with whom I spent time in and around Copenhagen in 2010. We foraged together in a patch of weeds by the sea. In a restaurant less expensive and more accessible than his, we lunched on smoked salmon and rye bread. We talked and talked. And I was wowed by the amount of thought that hed put into what he was doing by his determination to show diners that with a sense of history, a surfeit of imagination and enough enterprise, he could take the finite patch of earth where he found himself and wring a seemingly infinite bounty of food and flavor from it. At Noma, almost everything I ate was either whimsically presented langoustines arrived on a craggy rock, around which they did not crawl or laboriously sourced. Some of it called for a botanical glossary. There was air-dried sea buckthorn. There were pickled ramson flowers. The sisters described themselves as former Democrats who became Republicans in 2015 to support Mr. Trump, and they encouraged Democrats to ditch and switch. Ms. Hardaway called herself the mouth of the South, willing to offend people with her commentary, and described Silk, her sister, as Inspector Gadget, who would investigate issues. Casting themselves as truth tellers and as Mr. Trumps most loyal supporters, the pair attacked the Democratic Party as a plantation and said that Ms. Clinton was not their slave master. In one appearance on the Fox News program Fox & Friends, Diamond told viewers: Trump is not a racist he is a realist. And the only color he sees is green, and he wants you to have some of it. Mr. Trump embraced the sisters, elevating their profile in the growing media orbit around him. How great are they? Mr. Trump said in December 2015, when he invited the sisters onstage at a rally in Raleigh, N.C., and draped an arm around Ms. Hardaway as the crowd cheered. I turn on my television one night and I see these two on television. I say, They are the greatest, what is it? They became an internet sensation. I hope youve monetized it a little bit. The sisters said they had turned their fame into a business. They sold Trump merchandise on their website and embarked on a book tour that offered fans the chance to see them for $50 a ticket (or $150 for a V.I.P. ticket). In November 2016, the Trump campaign paid the sisters $1,274.94 for field consulting, according to documents filed with the Federal Election Commission. The sisters drew intense criticism as their prominence grew. Bree Newsome, an artist and activist, described the sisters in 2018 as a modern-day minstrel show aimed at white conservatives who want to believe Trump cant be racist, or they themselves cant be racist, because there are these two Black women named Diamond and Silk who are constantly rooting for Trump. MEXICO CITY President Biden on Tuesday defended his handling of the border and thanked his Mexican counterpart for a willingness to accept asylum seekers rejected by the United States during a period of what he called the greatest migration in human history across the region. In remarks at the end of a two-day summit with the leaders of Mexico and Canada, Mr. Biden dismissed criticism from Republicans, Democrats and humanitarian groups, calling them the extremes and saying he was pursuing a middle ground in his approach to immigration. I want to thank the president of Mexico for agreeing to take up to 3,000 people back, Mr. Biden said, apparently referring to the announcement last week that Mexico would accept 30,000 migrants each month from Venezuela, Haiti, Nicaragua and Cuba who attempt to cross into the United States illegally. That increased enforcement at the border has been condemned by Democrats and human rights groups as an inhumane denial of asylum rights. But Mr. Biden said on Tuesday that the creation of new legal immigration programs for people from those countries counterbalanced that effort. WASHINGTON A divided House voted on Tuesday to launch a wide-ranging investigation into federal law enforcement and national security agencies, as Republicans promised to use their new power in Congress to scrutinize what they said was a concerted effort by the government to silence and punish conservatives at all levels, from protesters at school board meetings to former President Donald J. Trump. On a party-line vote of 221 to 211 with all Democrats opposed, the House approved the formation of the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, which is to be chaired by Representative Jim Jordan, Republican of Ohio, the incoming chairman of the Judiciary Committee and a staunch ally of Mr. Trump. Mr. Jordan, who was deeply involved in Mr. Trumps efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, has for months been investigating what he says is a bias in federal law enforcement against conservatives. Now that Republicans have the majority, he plans to use his gavel and his subpoena power to escalate and expand that inquiry, including searching for evidence that federal workers have become politicized and demanding documents about ongoing criminal investigations. In a floor speech, Mr. Jordan said that his goal was not to target Democrats or law enforcement officers who have scrutinized Mr. Trumps behavior. He said his interest was merely in protecting the First Amendment at a time when he said the right was being unfairly targeted. WASHINGTON Ukrainian troops are heading to the United States soon for training on the Patriot missile system, defense officials said on Tuesday, in what would be an unusual case of Ukrainians being trained on American soil. The training will take place in Fort Sill, Okla., said the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Fort Sill is where U.S. troops undergo their own training in how to operate and maintain the Patriot system, which is the countrys most advanced ground-based air defense system. Most of the recent training on U.S. weapons systems for Ukraine has taken place in Germany, but in the case of the Patriot system, Pentagon officials had indicated that they were considering training the Ukrainians in the United States. Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said last week that the United States was looking at options to include potential training here in the U.S., overseas or a combination of both. For the Biden administration, the U.S.-based training, reported earlier by CNN, does not risk escalation with Russia. While the Patriot system is a major step in continued U.S. aid for Ukraine, it is a defensive system that is meant to protect Ukrainians from Russian missiles; it is not an offensive system. How are the situations different? There are key gaps in the public record about both, but the available information suggests there were significant differences in how the documents came to light, their volume and most important how Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden responded. Mr. Trump and his aides resisted the governments repeated efforts to retrieve them all. Mr. Bidens lawyers reported the problem and the White House says it has fully cooperated, including by searching Mr. Bidens Wilmington and Rehoboth Beach, Del., houses, the other locations where files from his vice-presidential office might have been shipped in the course of the 2017 transition. These apparent differences have significant legal implications. Where were the files? In Mr. Trumps case, several hundred government files marked as classified along with thousands of unclassified documents and photos ended up at his Florida club and residence, Mar-a-Lago, after he left office. Some were in cartons in a locked storage closet, and the F.B.I. discovered others in Mr. Trumps office, including in his desk, according to court filings. In Mr. Bidens case, the administration said in a statement on Monday that a small number of documents with classified markings had been discovered in a locked closet in an office at a Washington think tank, the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement. It said that Mr. Biden had periodically used the space after leaving the vice presidency in 2017 and before he began his presidential campaign. Free Trade: Under President Biden, the United States has declined to pursue new free-trade agreements with other countries. That approach Under President Biden, the United States has declined to pursue new free-trade agreements with other countries. That approach has now become a major headache for the administration. Preparing for 2024: President Biden is President Biden is sharpening his message ahead of an expected re-election bid, warning that a strong economy could be weakened under Republican leadership. Defending Democracy: The Biden administrations The Biden administrations defense of global democracies is being tested by a political crisis in Israel and setbacks to democracy in other countries closely allied with the United States. The administration also acknowledged on Thursday that subsequent searches had found a small number of additional Obama-Biden administration records with classified markings among personal and political papers at his Wilmington home. Most were found in a storage space in his garage, it said; one page was among stored materials in an adjacent room. How did the files get there? As president, Mr. Trump is said to have periodically taken records from the Oval Office to the residential areas of the White House. During the chaos of his last days in office after he sought to cling to power, those files were apparently packed up with personal items like clothing and mementos and shipped to Mar-a-Lago. MEXICO CITY It was only about two years ago that Mexicos leader would not even recognize President Bidens election victory. But on Monday, the two men were standing side by side at Mexicos national palace, locked in a group hug with their wives. The Mexican president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, later called his American counterpart a visionary president, saying there would be no other leader who could unify the Western Hemisphere. It was a remarkable turn in a critical relationship that started on uneasy footing, but has shifted in part because Mr. Biden has invested heavily in personal diplomacy with the Mexican head of state and Mr. Lopez Obrador has realized how beneficial it is to be on friendly terms with the United States. Significant challenges remain pressing on both sides of the border, and the two countries are not always aligned on how to contain an extraordinary movement of people across the Americas, curb the surging trade in fentanyl or combat climate change. Russia has repeatedly warned the United States and its allies against sending more sophisticated weapons to Ukraine, calling it a provocation or escalation. Western officials have been wary of being drawn more deeply into the conflict, determined not to get involved in a direct confrontation with Russia, and continue to refuse combat aircraft and long-range missiles requested by Ukraine. But one taboo after another has fallen. After months of debate, the Biden administration has agreed to send a battery of the most advanced American air defense system, the Patriot missile, and Germany has said it will supply another. U.S. officials said on Tuesday that Ukrainian troops would travel to Fort Sill in Oklahoma for training in using the Patriot, a complex system that can require close to 100 people to operate. A challenge throughout the war has been teaching Ukrainians to use unfamiliar weapons systems, and most of that training has taken place in Germany. The arrival of more tanks for Ukraines embattled forces would come just in time. After nearly a year of heavy fighting, much of Kyivs armored fleet has been worn down and is in desperate need of repair and replacement. Some Ukrainian units have suffered so many vehicle losses that captured Russian tanks make up large chunks of their inventory. For all the intensity of the last few days, the battle for Soledar, like that for Bakhmut, has gone on since the summer, meaning Ukrainian forces have had ample time to build entrenchments outside the town in case it were to fall, slowing a Russian advance. Ras Al Khaimah Economic Zone (Rakez), has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Tradeling, Menas dominant e-marketplace to offer SME community members at Rakez further support and solutions. The agreement was signed by Ramy Jallad, Group CEO of Rakez, and Marius Ciavola, CEO of Tradeling during a signing ceremony held at Rakez Compass Coworking Centre in Ras Al Khaimah. As part of the agreement, Rakez companies will enjoy free listing opportunities to promote and sell their products on Tradelings platform to its 200,000 registered users, access to global supply from brands, and manufacturers coming from over 55 countries, as well as digital engagement, and negotiation with multiple vendors and business buyers on the platform. Along with extended credit facilities, bank instalment options, fulfilment, and logistics services among many other. Jallad said: We are introducing yet another value-added service to support the SMEs in our ecosystem. The partnership brings in opportunities for traders to access wider regional and international markets in just a few clicks, through Tradelings e-commerce services. Growth journey Close to 94% of the companies operating in the UAE are SMEs that contribute to more than 50% of the countrys GDP. Similarly, the majority of businesses at Rakez also fall under the SME category, and we are committed to enabling their growth journey in every possible way, while boosting the overall economy. We look forward to forging similar partnerships that support SMEs in the region, while consolidating Rakezs position as a preferred destination for start-ups and emerging businesses, he added. Ciavola commented: The aim of this collaboration is for both companies to work synergistically to enhance overall offerings and strengthen their position in the market while providing the best possible service to the overall customer base in the UAE. This will simultaneously allow Tradeling to further grow its buyer base by extending our services to Rakez and its community, allowing them to access credit finance solutions for selected and eligible companies, instalments, and payment solutions, as well as simplified e-procurement via access to global and local supply and continued supporting for the SME segment as a whole. Supporting and helping SMEs in the region is a key metric that Tradeling has adopted since its inception in 2020. Led by a team of experienced technology start-up builders, the regional e-commerce giant is ensuring a reliable and smooth trade process in addition to providing logistics and financing solutions. Connecting global suppliers with Mena-based demand, the platform leverages advanced technology to optimise the supply chain and create economic value in addition to mitigating risks, he added.-- TradeArabia News Service Im not going to say its not been a struggle, but weve gotten through it every time weve been confronted with challenges, he added. Were very robust to have built the first arts center since Lincoln Center on an entirely new model with a completely new team. Jonathan M. Tisch, who in April succeeded the Sheds founding chairman, Daniel L. Doctoroff, and who with his wife, Lizzie in 2019 donated $27.5 million toward the buildings construction, insisted this was not a demotion for Poots. Alex has done a remarkable job over the past eight years of establishing the Shed as one of New York Citys and probably the countrys premiere cultural institutions, Tisch said in an interview. But its a tough job to be artistic director and C.E.O. at the same time. In conversations, Alex expressed interest in stepping back from being top executive to allowing his focus to center on ensuring our success. Cultural institutions across the country have struggled mightily throughout the pandemic, primarily because of the lost revenue from closures and canceled performances. The Shed had the added hurdle of being just a year old, without the opportunity to build a loyal audience or donor base. In the wake of the pandemic, the Shed reduced its annual operating budget to $26.5 million from $46 million in 2020; its full-time staff is now 88. Last month, Poots sent an email to staff members saying that in an uncertain economic environment, the Shed would consolidate some of its artistic operations. Colbert asked Harry about early leaks of the memoir that were published in the British tabloids. The prince cautioned people to be wary of the stories, stressing the importance of context. Context is everything, and unfortunately, due to those leaks, the British press, which are central to so much of my story in my 38 years up until this point, and after spending two years focused on context, what I am going to share, how I am going to share it and being able to piece it all together, they intentionally chose to strip away all the context and take out individual segments of my life, my story and every experience that Ive had and turn it into a salacious headline. PRINCE HARRY This is the other side of the story. Theres a lot in here that perhaps makes people feel uncomfortable and scared. PRINCE HARRY Look, Im not going to lie the last few days have been hurtful and challenging and not being able to do anything about those leaks that you refer to. Perhaps well, not perhaps, without doubt the most dangerous lie that they have told is that I somehow boasted about the number of people that I killed in Afghanistan. PRINCE HARRY My words are not dangerous, but the spin of my words are very dangerous. PRINCE HARRY Prince Harry also spoke about leaving the royal family and Britain with his wife, Meghan Markle, and his assumption that they would be left alone. That was a real eye-opener for me. I never thought that they would be away from it completely, but I did think that we would get some form of peace. But that is when I realized that actually our mere existence outside of that institutional control was more of a threat. And you know, theres a similar thing that happened to my mom as well. And, look, they always knew that my wife was going to leave because of the way they were abusing her, but I think the most embarrassing thing was that I decided to leave with her. PRINCE HARRY I have never seen the level of abuse and harassment that I witnessed over my wife. Other members of the family, they have experienced different forms of that, but to see it happen the way it happened, I was naive going into it and I didnt realize that the British press would be so bigoted. But even if I had, I wouldnt have accepted or understood that they could get away with it. But here we are, and Ive created or we have created a fantastic life here in California. PRINCE HARRY Colbert asked Harry what his mother, Princess Diana, would have thought about the current family dynamic, especially between Harry and his brother, Prince William. It is impossible to say where we would be now, where those relationships would be now, but there is no way that the distance between my brother and I would be the same. PRINCE HARRY Ive really felt the presence of my mom, especially the last couple of years. I detail in the book my brother and I talking at her grave and how he felt as though she had been with him for a long period of time and helped set him up with life and that he felt she was moving over to me. And I have felt her more in the last two years than I have the last 30. PRINCE HARRY Harry admitted that he has watched The Crown. Colbert asked if he fact-checks the series while he watches. Yes, I do, actually. Which by the way, by the way another reason why it is so important that history has it right. PRINCE HARRY The Punchiest Punchlines (Whats Up, Docs? Edition) Some critics in Britain wrote about the book in baffled tones, lobbing superlatives that were not always complimentary. A review in The Guardian called it a flawed attempt to reclaim the narrative that is by turns sympathetic and absurd. A critic writing for the BBC called it the weirdest book ever written by a royal and said that it sometimes reads like the longest angry drunk text ever sent. In The Independent, a reviewer said the memoir was richly detailed and at times beautifully written, adding that if Harry is going to set fire to his family, he has at least done it with some style. 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. By the time the book was released, many of its most incendiary claims had already been picked apart in the press. The week before publication, The Guardian ran an article that detailed a physical confrontation between Prince William and Prince Harry; as Harry describes it in the book, William knocked him to the floor. That same week, copies of Spare accidentally went on sale early in Spain and were snatched up by news outlets. Dozens of stories followed from around the world: Prince Harry said in the book that he killed 25 people in Afghanistan. Prince Harry wrote that his brother encouraged him to dress as a Nazi for a costume party. Prince Harry lost his virginity to an older woman in a field behind a bar. The steady drip of revelations led some observers to question whether the book itself would hold any new information. Rather than dissuading buyers, the news media frenzy that followed each new release appeared to help the book sell. We were like, is this going to damage sales, do people think theyve read the story? Finlay, Transworlds managing director, said. The headline grabbing parts are interesting, but its not the most interesting thing about the book. I think all its done is stoke the public interest. ReaderLink, a major book distributor, said pre-orders jumped after the article in The Guardian detailing the scuffle between the brothers. Waterstones, a bookstore chain in Britain, saw a surge of in-store reservations after the article, according to James Daunt, who heads the company. THE GHOST AT THE FEAST: America and the Collapse of World Order, 1900-1941, by Robert Kagan Robert Kagan is the most significant writer of the subspecies of the American foreign policy elite that was once notoriously and mistakenly labeled neoconservative. As Kagan has long and justly protested, there is nothing particularly neo or conservative about Americas attempts to shape the world in its image. The founders saw the nation as Hercules in a cradle. Thomas Jefferson envisioned a vast empire for liberty. William Seward declared Americas purpose was to renovate the condition of mankind. For decades, Kagan has tried to persuade his countrymen not to forfeit their geopolitical birthright. In a series of nimble polemics, and in expansive, finely wrought historical works, Kagan has spun variations on his theme: Americas unfolding purpose is to be the worlds organizing power, it owes this sense of mission to deeply ingrained American ideals, and the chief threat to this will-to-primacy comes not from without, but from within. A veteran of the Reagan administration, Kagan rose to prominence in the 1990s, when he co-founded the Project for a New American Century, a think tank devoted to the pursuit of benevolent global hegemony. In Paradise and Power, published in the early months of the second Iraq war, Kagan argued that the United States must live by a double standard: proclaim a rules-based order, but maintain a monopoly on treaty-breaking and violence to advance human progress. By 2012, when U.S. interventionism seemed to be in tatters, Kagan was determined to stay the course. In The World America Made, Kagan argued that America was not in decline, but in denial. He gamely advanced what some have called the George Bailey doctrine: When the Its a Wonderful Life protagonist tours a world without him, he encounters a hellscape. America, for Kagan, is the Jimmy Stewart of the world order: If it isnt there, then as the title of Kagans last book delicately phrased it the jungle grows back. The Ghost at the Feast is the second volume of a projected trilogy. The first, Dangerous Nation (2006), focused on the United States getting its own continent in order. The new book spans the era between 1898 and 1941. As the 19th century drew to a close, Kagan writes, Americans had no grand international plan and no clear direction. Other nations were taken aback by how faintly American power registered in their world the ghost at all our feasts, per the British diplomat Harold Nicolson. The Spanish-American War is conventionally considered Americas imperial turn, when it acquired its first colony, fought Indigenous rebels overseas and decided, in the words of William James, to puke up its ancient soul in five minutes without a hint of squeamishness. For Kagan, it was a far more wholesome affair. Business interests in the United States were against the war; the most ardent backers of the interventions were the self-identifying populists. For Kagan, it is crucial to show that Americas early adventures abroad were not elite conspiracies, but moral undertakings with broad popular support. The United States may not have become a world power in 1898, Kagan claims, but the nation did become more conscious of its capacities. A shake-up in Russias military Russia again reshuffled its military command in Ukraine as its forces struggle to make progress in the east. It replaced its top commander with a Kremlin insider who helped to orchestrate the invasion. Gen. Sergei Surovikin, who is being replaced, was appointed just three months ago. His appointment ended months of disjointed military structure and followed a successful Ukrainian counteroffensive that drove the Russians out of much of the Kharkiv region. Under Surovikin, the Russian military largely switched to a defensive mode, allowing it to reduce the military failures that had characterized the first half year of the war. Russia shifted its strategy and began launching missile and drone attacks against Ukraines energy grid. But Russian forces have struggled in the continuing offensive for Ukraines east. For weeks, the front lines have been largely static. Analysts said that the replacement of Surovikin, a respected commander, with Gen. Valery Gerasimov, a Kremlin apparatchik, showed that President Vladimir Putin remained focused on projecting stability rather than improving Russias military outlook. And some nationalist military bloggers compared the reshuffle to a game of musical chairs among Moscows ineffectual military old guard. Surovikin, who was appointed in October after the disastrous rout of Russian forces in the Kharkiv region, is now one of Gerasimovs three deputies, according to a statement released today by the Russian Defense Ministry. Gerasimov has served as Russias chief of general staff for over a decade. They have taken someone who is competent and replaced him with someone who is incompetent, but who has been there a long time and who has shown that he is loyal, said Dara Massicot, senior policy researcher at the RAND Corporation in Washington. Whatever is happening in Moscow, it is out of touch with what is happening on the ground in Ukraine. The shake-up came after announcements this week of new deliveries of weapons from the West, which could strengthen Ukraines capabilities on the battlefield. The British Defence Ministry said in an intelligence update that Gerasimovs appointment was a significant development in President Vladimir Putins approach to the war and a clear acknowledgment that the campaign is falling short of Russias strategic goals. WASHINGTON Concerns raised by the nations top consumer watchdog about the health hazards posed by gas stoves have triggered a sharp rebuke from the oil and gas industry and its Republican allies, inserting a common kitchen appliance into the middle of partisan politics. Critics were pushing back hard on Wednesday against recent comments made by Richard Trumka Jr., a commissioner of the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission, that his agency might take some regulatory action in the face of growing research that links gas stoves to pollutants that harm both human health and the environment. This is a hidden hazard, Mr. Trumka said in an interview with Bloomberg on Monday. Any option is on the table. Products that cant be made safe can be banned. Those words were echoing around a Wednesday breakfast meeting of the American Petroleum Institute, where the oil and gas industry and its supporters in Congress had gathered to discuss the upcoming legislative agenda. R.J. Reynolds has wasted no time since Californias ban on flavored tobacco went into effect in late December. California, Weve Got You Covered, the company declared in bold letters on a flier mailed to its cigarette customers. The law prohibits flavors, odors or tastes in tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes. But antismoking experts argue that R.J. Reynolds, the maker of Camel and Newport brands, is trying to circumvent the ban by luring smokers with a suite of what it says are new non-menthol versions offering a taste that satisfies the senses and a new fresh twist. The campaign is viewed by critics as a provocation of California authorities who are supposed to enforce the ban, which includes a provision outlawing packaging or claims that suggest a product has a flavor. The Food and Drug Administration also is moving forward with a national plan to take menthol cigarettes off the market. To public health authorities, the potential reduction in smoking rates from a menthol ban could extend the length and quality of millions of lives. To R.J. Reynolds and other tobacco companies, the loss of sales from menthol cigarettes could be financially damaging. When the Golden Globes returned to NBC on Tuesday night after last years telecast was canceled amid concerns about the organization that gives out the awards, it was an open question whether Hollywoods biggest stars would come back. Plenty did, making the evening feel in many respects like a return to shows of the past. But a handful of winning actors and actresses were not there to collect their awards. Cate Blanchett, who won for her portrayal of a virtuosic conductor in Tar, was not on hand to accept her Globe for best actress in a motion picture drama; she was said to be filming in Britain. And Amanda Seyfried, who won for her portrayal of the failed biotech founder Elizabeth Holmes in The Dropout, was unable to accept her award; she was said to be working on a new musical. Kevin Costner could not pick up his statuette for best actor in a TV drama series for Yellowstone for another reason: He was prevented from driving to Beverly Hills from his home in Santa Barbara by the severe rainstorms and flooding that have hit California. Nearly 50,000 residents across California have received evacuation orders, and at least 17 people have died since December. Zendaya, who plays the troubled teen in Euphoria, won best actress in a TV drama series and was also absent from the award show. The actress apologized on Instagram for not being able to attend, thanked the Golden Globes and shared her admiration for her fellow nominees. flydubai, the Dubai-based airline, has announced the resumption of flights to Shymkent International Airport (CIT) from February 28 with a twice-weekly service. With the start of flights to Shymkent, flydubai grows its network in Kazakhstan to three destinations including Almaty and the capital, Astana. Ghaith Al Ghaith, Chief Executive Officer at flydubai, said: Kazakhstan has long been an important market since we first launched operations to Almaty in 2014. In 2022 we carried almost 300,000 passengers between the UAE and Kazakhstan, an increased figure of 145% compared to 2019, and we look forward to strengthening trade and cultural relations with the start of flights to Shymkent. The UAE and Kazakhstan have a long history of trade relations in which they cooperate together in several economic sectors including mining, agriculture, oil and gas, and construction. Jeyhun Efendi, Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations and E-commerce at flydubai, said: We are excited to see our network grow in Kazakhstan with Shymkent as our third destination which will serve a total frequency of 22 weekly flights. This frequency will increase to 26 weekly flights from February and will offer our customers in Kazakhstan more convenient and reliable options to explore the UAE and beyond. After Almaty and Astana, Shymkent is the third largest city in Kazakhstan and is a major cultural centre that features bustling bazaars, ancient architecture and natural scenery. flydubai expands its network in the Central Asian region to ten points, providing passengers from the UAE and the region with more options for travel. This includes Almaty, Ashgabat, Astana, Bishkek, Dushanbe, Namangan, Osh, Samarkand, Shymkent and Tashkent. Flights between Terminal 2, Dubai International (DXB) and Shymkent International Airport (CIT) will operate twice a week. Emirates will codeshare on this route offering passengers more options to travel through Dubais international aviation hub. TradeArabia News Service But at a news conference, Representative Anthony DEsposito, whose district neighbors Mr. Santoss, said that Mr. Santos had so deeply lost the faith of voters on Long Island that he did not have the ability to adequately serve in the House of Representatives. Mr. DEsposito, who joined the event via video from his office in Washington, added in a statement that he would not associate with Mr. Santos and would encourage other representatives in the House of Representatives to join me in rejecting him. In the hours that followed, three other first-term Republican congressmen joined the push: Nick LaLota, who also represents parts of Long Island; Nick Langworthy, the state Republican chair whose district is in New Yorks rural Southern Tier; and Brandon Williams, whose district covers an area near Syracuse. The calls for Mr. Santos to step down were the sharpest denunciation yet of the congressmans behavior from Republicans after reporting in The New York Times uncovered that Mr. Santos had made false claims about his educational and professional background and raised questions about his business, his financial disclosures and his campaign expenses. The Nassau County party chairman, Joseph G. Cairo Jr., said that Mr. Santos, a first-term Republican, had lost the support of Republicans in his district, saying that Mr. Santoss campaign was one of deceit, lies, fabrication. Allegations of racism and racial pandering. Complaints about left-wing insurgents and right-wing courts. And dire forecasts about the fate of abortion access, organized labor and legal protections for criminal defendants. It is the kind of political firestorm that typically accompanies the nomination of prospective U.S. Supreme Court justices. But this time, it is playing out in New York, in an ugly squabble that leaves Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, at risk of becoming the first governor in New York to have her nominee for the states top judge get rejected at the hands of her own party. Ms. Hochuls choice of Hector D. LaSalle, an appellate court justice and a former prosecutor, as her nominee for chief judge of the Court of Appeals, the states highest court, has turned into an unexpectedly fierce battle, with an emboldened Democratic Legislature standing in the governors way. When he was on the short list for the job last fall, the New York State Bar Association gave Justice LaSalle its highest rating, well qualified. After his nomination, the organizations president described him as an outstanding choice, praising his remarkable intellect and deep practical knowledge of the courts. A man who has operated at least four Brooklyn education companies billed the government for more than $1 million in child care services that he never provided, cashing in on programs meant to aid low-income families, according to a federal indictment unsealed on Wednesday. The executive, Martin Handler, 48, was arrested Wednesday and charged with theft of government funds and wire fraud conspiracy, among other crimes. Also charged were four of his partners, including his younger brother. In a yearslong fraud, Mr. Handler and a co-defendant stole about $2.8 million through companies, some of them secretly owned, overbilling and using the proceeds to dole out no-show jobs, purchase real estate and buy an array of historical religious artifacts at auctions, prosecutors said. Mr. Handler runs several companies that primarily serve Orthodox Jewish children, including in the fervently religious Hasidic community. In addition to child care companies, he also operates firms that are among the top-earning providers of special education services in Jewish religious schools, known as yeshivas. In all, his education companies have received tens of millions of dollars in government funding annually. I think this matter is worthy of investigation and a potential criminal inquiry, based on what we know from their own court testimony, said Senator Brad Hoylman, the chair of the Judiciary Committee and one of the signatories of the letter. There is the potential that Yeshiva has misrepresented its mission and that could constitute fraud. Officials at Yeshiva did not respond to the lawmakers letter on Wednesday. But Hanan Eisenman, a university spokesman, said in a statement that the Supreme Court has three times ruled that the government may not restrict funding to religious schools because of their free exercise of religion. Yeshiva will continue to defend the right of its students to be treated by the state on equal footing with students at every other university, Mr. Eisenman said in the statement. They choose for themselves how best to live those values, but the First Amendment guarantees Yeshiva the right to maintain a campus environment consistent with its religious beliefs. The letters suggestion that the school may have misrepresented itself as a secular institution was a significant escalation in Yeshivas legal battle with its L.G.B.T.Q. students, which has brought a nationwide debate over religious freedom and civil rights to one of the countrys most politically liberal cities. It also may jeopardize the ability of the university, which has more than 6,000 students on four campuses in Manhattan and the Bronx, to receive public funds in the future. As a professor of criminology and a former F.B.I. special agent, I am frequently surprised by the misperceptions of what criminologists study and what we train our students to do. Many people assume that criminologists are experts in profiling serial killers, forensic analysis, solving cold cases and other true crime topics. While we are often asked to opine on high-profile crimes because of our expertise in criminal behavior and the workings of the criminal justice system, most criminologists work focuses on developing and testing theories of criminal behavior and applying rigorous scientific methods to develop evidence-based policies and programs for the police, prosecutors, social workers and other criminal justice practitioners to use to better prevent and reduce crime. In other words, our field is dedicated to developing better policies and practices to prevent crime. It is not focused on serial killers or forensics, as most people may think. If Mr. Kohberger was trying to improve his ability to commit or get away with the killings he is accused of, there were easier and better ways to do so than to spend tens of thousands of dollars, go through years of advanced studies and conduct the sophisticated research required for a doctoral degree in criminology. Also, if he did commit these crimes, ostensibly helped by his criminological research, why were such basic mistakes made, such as, according to a police affidavit, leaving behind clues including a knife sheath with his DNA at the crime scene and cellphone tower records? Mr. Kohbergers interest in criminal decision-making is another red herring. A study I recently conducted on the perceived risk of being caught after committing a crime showed that aspiring criminologists, such as Mr. Kohberger, are actually poor judges of true apprehension risk, worse than the general public, jail inmates and prolific violent offenders. In fact, criminology students routinely overestimate the risk of apprehension by large margins as compared with actual risk, likely contributing to their tendency to not engage in crime. If criminologists had insight into how to offend more effectively, evade law enforcement or otherwise reduce the risk of being caught for a serious crime, the data from criminology students would indicate as such. But that just isnt the case. Some of the confusion around the study of criminology, I believe, is rooted in the C.S.I. effect: the unrealistic expectation of forensics and criminal investigations that became widespread after the C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation television series became popular in the early 2000s. Despite C.S.I. being science fiction one forensic scientist has estimated that 40 percent of the science depicted on the show is completely made up research shows that the show has an impact on how the public perceives crime and forensics, the evidence jurors expect to see in order to deliver a guilty verdict in court, how the police and prosecutors handle cases and even how offenders attempt to cover up their crimes. In Ohio, Kogan noted, there is a really important interest group story as well. Given the impotence of the small Democratic minority here, organized labor has been contributing significantly to Republican legislative candidates. In other words, some Republican members of the Ohio House have ties to unions that made them wary of supporting Merrin because of his advocacy of right-to-work legislation. At the same time, Kogan pointed out, Merrins support of highly contentious issues like seemingly limitless gun rights and anti-abortion legislation worried some historically Republican-aligned interest groups in Ohio particularly those in the business community and folks who care about economic development which seem also concerned about some proposed and recently enacted legislation, especially legislation on social issues. I would not be surprised if they were involved behind the scenes as well. Michael Hartney, a political scientist at Boston College who focuses on state and local politics, emailed me his views on why some Republicans are moving toward the center: Although the causes behind these instances of moderation appear to me to be somewhat idiosyncratic to each state and chamber, I do believe that many Republicans are feeling more liberated to focus on pursuing their governing agenda than on appeasing Donald Trump. Clearly Trump is still an important figure in the party, but Trumps influence has surely waned. A number of Republicans, Hartney continued, are showing they are ready to move on to pragmatic legislative dealing. In South Carolina, the speaker wants to do bipartisan work on economic development. In New Hampshire, Governor Sununu is calling the chance to cooperate and compromise an awesome opportunity. Its quite plausible that the shifting political winds have led the most zealous never McCarthy representatives to play as much hardball as possible now and get what they can while they can. Norman Ornstein, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute who has been sharply critical of the changing character of the Republican Party over the past three decades, wrote in an email: The state legislative maneuvers are truly encouraging. In a state like Ohio, the traditional conservatives have been appalled by the radicals, but it still took courage to do what they did. The noncrazy Republicans in Congress are all cowards. I hope I can revise that assessment if a sufficient number vote against the horrible rules package, but the odds are slim. I think the difference may be the lower visibility of state legislatures. In fact, on Monday in Washington the House approved McCarthys rules package by a 220 to 213 vote, with only one Republican no vote. In terms of recent developments at the state level, two Republican pollsters, Ed Goeas, who recently retired as president of the Tarrance Group, and Neil Newhouse, a founding partner of Public Opinion Strategies, have substantially different interpretations. Image Credit... To the Editor: Re Prince Harry and the Value of Silence, by Patti Davis (Opinion guest essay, nytimes.com, Jan. 7): I have not watched the Netflix documentary, nor do I plan to read Prince Harrys book about his family. Ms. Daviss essay expressed my sentiments exactly. We do not need to know peoples private family matters, and I think no good can come of this. I feel for Harry in that he is young and in time may come to regret his actions. This royal life seems to be a very unhappy one, and I do hope that things come out well for him in the end, but I do not see that airing your dirty laundry is going to help matters. Bette Cotter Glendale, Calif. To the Editor: The British have a word for it: whingeing. The closest we Americans can come to it is crying in your beer. Whatever you want to call it, Harry has been wallowing in it. For decades, conservative values have been central to Bret Stephenss and David Brookss political beliefs, and the Republican Party was the vehicle to extend those beliefs into policy. But in recent years, both the party and a radicalized conservative movement have left them feeling alienated in various ways. Now, with an extremist fringe seemingly in control of the House, the G.O.P. bears little resemblance to the party that was once their home. Bret and David got together to suss out what happened and where the party can go. Bret Stephens: Lately Ive been thinking about that classic Will Rogers line: I am not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat. A century or so later, it looks like the shoe is on the other foot. Is it even possible to call the Republican Party a party anymore? David Brooks: My thinking about the G.O.P. goes back to a brunch I had with Laura Ingraham and Dinesh DSouza in the 80s that helps me see, in retrospect, that people in my circle were pro-conservative, while Ingraham and DSouza and people in their circle were anti-left. We wanted to champion Edmund Burke and Adam Smith and a Reaganite foreign policy. They wanted to rock the establishment. That turned out to be a consequential difference because almost all the people in my circle back then like David Frum and Robert Kagan ended up, decades later, NeverTrumpers, and almost all the people in their circle became Trumpers or went bonkers. Bret: Right, they werent conservatives. They were just illiberal. David: Then in 1995 some friends and I created a magazine called The Weekly Standard. The goal was to help the G.O.P. become a mature governing party. Clearly we did an awesome job! I have a zillion thoughts about where the Republican Party went astray, but do you have a core theory? When he was at Georg Jensen, which was founded in 1904, he began an initiative to reproduce some of the companys stainless-steel wares in color. Finding the right palettes took time, said Mr. Manville, who now oversees the home division at Moda Operandi, the online luxury goods retailer. One of those wares, the Koppel pitcher, was released last year in cobalt blue, pistachio green and other hues, under the direction of Georg Jensens current creative director, Ragnar Hjartarson. The colors chosen for the pitcher came from original product sketches done in the 1950s. Georg Jensen introduced the colorful Koppel pitchers as other heritage Danish brands started to offer their own vibrant takes on classic pieces. Louis Poulsen, a lighting maker, released its PH 5 pendant lamp in new pastels last September, about three years after it introduced the lamp in orange and green hues. And in 2020, the china manufacturer Lyngby released its Rhombe pattern, a style created in 1961, in colors including cobalt blue, mustard yellow and pink. A resurgence in bold Danish decor has been even more noticeable in emerging brands, whose founders described their work as an antidote to the subdued sensibility that has long pervaded their culture. In Denmark and other Scandinavian countries, a conduct code known as janteloven encourages blending in over standing out. Denmark had become this decorative no-go land, said Arne Jensen, a drapery designer who started his line, Arne Aksel, in 2017. Weve been in a white or gray or beige box for what 20, 25 years? I think people have had enough. To hear more audio stories from publications like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android. On the morning of the day I had decided to go without using plastic products or even touching plastic I opened my eyes and put my bare feet on the carpet. Which is made of nylon, a type of plastic. I was roughly 10 seconds into my experiment, and I had already committed a violation. Since its invention more than a century ago, plastic has crept into every aspect of our lives. Its hard to go even a few minutes without touching this durable, lightweight, wildly versatile substance. Plastic has made possible thousands of modern conveniences, but it has come with downsides, especially for the environment. Last week, in a 24-hour experiment, I tried to live without it altogether in an effort to see what plastic stuff we cant do without and what we may be able to give up. Most mornings I check my iPhone soon after waking up. On the appointed day, this was not possible, given that, in addition to aluminum, iron, lithium, gold and copper, each iPhone contains plastic. In preparation for the experiment, I had stashed my device in a closet. I quickly found that not having access to it left me feeling disoriented and bold, as if I were some sort of intrepid time traveler. Twitter has considered selling user names to generate new revenue as its owner, Elon Musk, tries to resuscitate the companys business, two people with knowledge of the plan said. Twitter employees have held conversations about selling some user names for the service since at least December, the people said. Engineers have discussed running online auctions where people can bid for the user names, which are the words, numbers or string of characters that follow the @ sign by which accounts are identified on the platform. Mr. Musks user name, for example, is @elonmusk. Its unclear if the project will move forward and if the plan affects all user names or only a subset, the people said. But Mr. Musk said last month that he wanted to start eliminating inactive accounts on Twitter and free up 1.5 billion user names. Only certain user names such as those of well-known people, brands and popular names may have value. The social media company has been in turmoil since Mr. Musk bought it for $44 billion in October. Given the deals high price tag, the billionaire is under pressure to make the purchase a success. Weve had an incredible run and an incredible relationship, and have done amazing things, Meadow said. I will miss him terribly, and were going to continue to try to be great. As Grove prepares to depart the company, he reflected on his tenure, and the state of the industry. These are edited excerpts from the conversation. Why are you leaving? Very recently it became clear to me that it was time for me to do this and have some time while Im still healthy with my wife and extended family, to maybe go back to teaching and some consulting work. I started in the professional theater when I was 19. I dont know that Im ready to get into a rocking chair, but I do want to be able to pursue small projects, a lifelong commitment to teaching, service to the community, that kind of stuff. Why did you stay for so long? If I had just landed in a finished theater big and mature I might well have gotten tired or burned out much earlier. But from the beginning, I was able to adopt a strategy of learn it, do it, teach it, monitor it, and then get out of the way. And so we were able to grow a staff and to grow the institution. With each new idea Lynne had, or new opportunity that the work demanded, there was a new challenge, and it kept me interested, it kept me motivated, and it kept me moved by the power of the work. What is your favorite show that youve worked on? This is a question over the years Ive been asked a lot, and my answer is always the same: The next one. Dale Kalkofen, a retired school administrator, boarded an Amtrak train in Northern Virginia at around 5 p.m. on Monday, prepared for a 17-hour trip to Florida with a little snack bag of hard-boiled eggs, apples and bananas. But what was supposed to be an overnight journey on the auto train, which was carrying 563 passengers and 350 vehicles, became another pressure-cooker test of traveler endurance in a season of extreme delays and disruptions. Amtrak said that a CSX freight derailment in South Carolina on Monday night forced the auto train to take a detour from its normal route, adding 20 hours to the trip. When the train finally pulled into Sanford, Fla., at 6 a.m. on Wednesday, passengers had been cooped up in their seats or compartments for 37 hours, complaining of stale air, dwindling food supplies, trash piling up in the aisles and a lack of timely information from the crew. Matthew Z. Fowle, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Pennsylvania who has been tracking mortality among unhoused people, said that he had sampled about half of the 50 or so large counties that record the relevant information. Between 2015 and 2020, he said, the mortality rate related to extreme heat or cold more than doubled to about 80 per 100,000 homeless people. In California, advocates for homeless people say that too many residents are forced to live on the streets because of an acute shortage of shelter space and affordable housing, even as the state funnels billions of dollars toward solving the problem. But they also blame a severe lack of mental health programs and temporary housing that would encourage more people to come indoors and stay there. Homeless campers along the American River Parkway remain dry at most times of the year in Sacramento but encounter peril in hard rains or when melted snow rushes down from the Sierra Nevada foothills, filling reservoirs and prompting dam releases that flood low-lying encampments. Park rangers try to warn and evacuate as many homeless people as they can, though plenty insist on staying. Some say they feel unsafe in group shelters. Some have pets that they cannot bear to leave and that cannot be accommodated. Some fear exposure to Covid-19. Some do not want to leave their belongings behind, or they resent curfews and strict sobriety requirements. Just before 4 a.m. last Saturday, a man emerged from a residence in Washington, D.C., when he heard noises and saw someone who appeared to be tampering with cars, the Metropolitan Police Department said. After an interaction, the police said, the man fatally shot a 13-year-old named Karon Blake. While little has been said about what happened during the encounter between the man and the middle school student, the case has renewed concerns about armed citizens taking matters into their own hands as self-appointed enforcers of the law. And questions have been raised as to why the man has not been publicly identified or arrested. City Council members have spoken out. Officials at Brookland Middle School, where Karon was in the sixth grade, offered condolences and mental health services to his fellow students. The police said they were investigating and working with the U.S. attorneys office to review the case for potential charges. WASHINGTON The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed New York to enforce, for now, a law placing strict limits on guns outside the home that was enacted in response to a landmark ruling in June. The courts brief, unsigned order gave no reasons, which is typical when the justices act on emergency applications. Challenges to the new law are pending before the federal appeals court in New York. In a statement, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., joined by Justice Clarence Thomas, said the law presents novel and serious questions. But he added that the appeals court should address those questions first, so long as it does so promptly. The law, enacted in July, requires people seeking gun licenses to show that they have good moral character and bans guns in many public locations. In addition, the law bans guns on private property unless the owner consents to their presence. WASHINGTON With Washington in a state of divided government, newly empowered House Republicans are all but certain to be unable to enact their legislative agenda into law. Instead, they have made it clear that their primary mission in the 118th Congress will be investigating the Biden administration, including inquiries they say could lead to the potential impeachment of President Biden and several cabinet members. Preparing to use their new subpoena power, Republicans have already created three special investigative committees or subcommittees, but they expect to carry out many more inquires under existing committees they now control. Some of the investigations may involve multiple panels, and top Republicans are jockeying for the biggest and most prominent pieces. While Speaker Kevin McCarthy said last year that he had not yet seen grounds for impeaching Mr. Biden, Republicans have already introduced a host of impeachment articles against the president and members of his cabinet, and some influential members on the right have said they relish the prospect of trying him for high crimes and misdemeanors. Here is a road map of the investigations: The Weaponization of Government What committee is involved: A special subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee, led by Representative Jim Jordan, Republican of Ohio. Thomas Hughes, who as a State Department official and member of the Kennedy-era brain trust stood out for his deep skepticism over the Vietnam War, and who later transformed the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace into a training base for Americas foreign policy leadership, died on Jan. 2 in Washington. He was 97. The death, at a hospital, was confirmed by his wife, Jane Casey Hughes. Mr. Hughes was among the last survivors of the ambitious group of policymakers who gathered around the White House in the early 1960s, sometimes called the best and brightest. He certainly fit the part: Rhodes scholarship, Yale Law School and a rapid climb through the Washington ranks. But he also stood in stark contrast to the McGeorge Bundys, Walt Rostows and other foreign-policy mandarins within the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. He came not from the East Coast establishment but from Midwestern stock, and his earliest political allegiances were to the progressive liberalism of Senator (and later Vice President) Hubert H. Humphrey of Minnesota. After working as Humphreys legislative counsel in the 1950s, Mr. Hughes spent most of the 1960s as the director of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, or INR, which provided information and analysis to the rest of the State Department. The job provided him a front-row seat to a host of foreign policy crises, including in Berlin and Cuba. But it was the slow boil in Southeast Asia that worried him the most. The World Health Organization on Wednesday declared the latest Ebola epidemic in Uganda over, closing the chapter on a deadly outbreak that lasted nearly four months and killed dozens of people. The outbreak had spread to nine districts, including the capital, Kampala, raising fears of its snowballing across the East African region. It was the worst Ebola outbreak in Uganda in more than two decades, and the second-deadliest in the countrys history, with 142 confirmed cases and 55 deaths, and an additional 22 deaths also linked to the outbreak, according to the W.H.O. Seven of those who died were health workers. The W.H.O. considers an epidemic over when no confirmed or probable cases are reported for 42 days, twice the incubation period for Ebola infections. The response to the outbreak was hampered by delays in identifying and tracing the first case, along with widespread misinformation among the public about the perils and even the existence of the virus. KAMPALA, Uganda He has boasted that he could capture the capital of neighboring Kenya in two weeks. He has offered a dowry of 100 cows to marry Italys new female prime minister. And he has claimed that the majority of non-white people around the world supported Russias invasion of Ukraine. With a barrage of provocative, late-night Twitter posts in the last year, Muhoozi Kainerugaba the 48-year-old son of the president of Uganda, and a military general has unnerved Ugandans and regional allies, and become an embarrassment for President Yoweri Museveni, who has chided his eldest child publicly, apologized on his behalf and promised that his son would leave Twitter altogether. But General Kainerugaba is still tweeting, raising his public profile as he tries to position himself to succeed his father, a close Western military ally whose landlocked nation receives almost a billion dollars in development assistance each year from the United States. General Kainerugaba has vowed not to stop until we are in complete control of Uganda. His father has held an increasingly authoritarian grip on the country for 37 years, a six-term president who at 78 has already begun receiving endorsements to run in the 2026 elections. Ugandan political experts say he is unlikely ever to relinquish power. Paris, Jan 11 (UNI) At least six people, including a police officer were injured in a stabbing attack at the Gare du Nord railway station in Paris, Le Figaro newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing sources. France's national state-owned railway company SNCF told the newspaper that the suspect was also injured and was evacuated from the crime scene. The attack took place at 06:40 a.m. local time (05:40 GMT), the newspaper said, noting that the station now operates normally. But by the time the arrests began, the damage had been done. Buildings from all three branches of the federal government had been ransacked, and valuable works of art vandalized.The police are usually the first line of response to such mass action, and that gives them tremendous power to affect outcomes. Those early hours were an object lesson in the way that police inaction can empower political violence and exacerbate the threats it poses to democracy. And that may be particularly true in Brazil, where one of the vital questions facing the newly elected government is how much to try to reform or constrain the security sector. The power of strategic inaction Judged by the rioters own stated goals, the violent attack in Brasilia was a failure. The events on Sunday did not lead to a military coup, which many of those present had been calling for over the past 10 weeks. Naunihal Singh, the author of Seizing Power: The Strategic Logic of Military Coups, posits that the costs of military coups have become so high, in terms of capital flight, regional sanctions and other forms of international pressure, that it would now be highly unlikely for one to happen in a country like Brazil. Indeed, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva remains secure in the presidency, and Mr. Bolsonaro remains in Florida. And the attack has drawn widespread opposition from the public and condemnation from lawmakers. On Monday, the heads of all three branches of the government issued a rare joint statement condemning the violence. It is possible that the backlash to Sundays events will discredit Mr. Bolsonaros supporters and drain energy from their movement. Yanilda Maria Gonzalez, a Harvard University political scientist who studies policing and democracy in the Americas, noted that opposition to the violence in Brasilia within the government, public opinion and news media commentary has been far more unified than the reaction to the Jan. 6 attacks in the United States two years ago. If that opinion holds, and the protest movement fractures under the disapproval, then the risk of further violence would be fairly low. A furious, wide-ranging argument is unfolding on the internet in China over the reversal of the governments strict pandemic policies and the massive Covid surge that followed. The divisions are challenging the Communist Partys efforts to control the narrative around its pandemic pivot. Since the party abandoned zero Covid last month, many online commenters have staked out opposing positions over seemingly all manner of questions. Who should be blamed for the explosion of cases and deaths? Is a top government-appointed health expert trustworthy? Is Omicron really less severe, as Chinese officials now say, when hospitals seem to be filling up with sick patients? They are even arguing over whether people should be allowed to set off fireworks during the upcoming Spring Festival holiday, after many did so during the New Year. The digital finger-pointing reveals a country that is deeply polarized, with each side distrustful and skeptical of the other and, to varying degrees, of the party and its proxies. In some cases, the partys own supporters are indirectly questioning its decisions, complicating efforts by the partys censors and propaganda outlets to push its messaging. KYIV, Ukraine Artem Kudria lounged on a blue beanbag chair, his laptop plugged in, hoodie up and his feet clad in orange socks stretched out in front of him. He was hard at work as a designer for a technology company. But this wasnt his living room or even an office lounge space. Instead, he was working in the furniture showroom of a department store, not far from a colorful childrens bedroom display and a model kitchen that in another time and place might have been found at Ikea. With power outages an all too familiar burden of everyday life in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, the store, called Epicentr, has opened a large free space for people to set up and work. I have no power in my office, there was no light there this morning, thats why I came here, explained Mr. Kudria, 28. He added, When people are facing challenges which are trying to destroy their lives, the healthy response is to resist, to be defiant. Questions swirled on Wednesday about the health of Russias most famous political prisoner, Aleksei A. Navalny, after his wife publicly urged prison officials to provide her ailing husband with medicine. On Instagram, Yulia Navalnaya said her husbands condition was worsening in the punishment cell into which he was placed as 2022 drew to an end. Imagine that you are shut in a cage measuring 2 by 3 meters, Ms. Navalnaya wrote. That they place a person with you who is already sick, so that your cold grows stronger, and so that the flu is added on top of your cold. That they get you up at 6 a.m. and they keep you from lying down all day, even though you have a high temperature. Her plea came a day after more than 200 Russian doctors, in a rare public display of dissent, sent a petition to President Vladimir V. Putin imploring him to stop abusing Mr. Navalny, Russias most prominent opposition politician. A man went on a violent, unprovoked stabbing spree on Wednesday at the Gare du Nord in Paris, injuring six people and causing brief panic at one of Europes busiest train stations until he was shot and arrested by the police. Investigators were not immediately able to identity the suspect, who attacked his victims with a metal hook, and the motive for his assault was not clear, the French authorities said. But none of the injuries were expected to be life-threatening, and the episode was not currently being treating as a terrorist attack. Gerald Darmanin, the French interior minister, told reporters at the station that at 6:42 a.m., an extremely threatening individual had stabbed several bystanders in front of the station before continuing inside, during the busy commuter rush. The assault was sudden, random and extremely violent, according to Laure Beccuau, the Paris prosecutor, who said in a statement on Wednesday evening that the suspect had stabbed his first victim at least 20 times with a metal hook that had been sharpened and wrapped with string, allowing a better grip. Ukraine has stripped Viktor Medvedchuk a former oligarch and a close friend of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia of his Ukrainian citizenship, the government says, in an announcement that highlights Kyivs effort to excise the influence of prominent pro-Moscow politicians within the country. Mr. Medvedchuk, a former deputy speaker in Ukraines Parliament and a onetime presidential adviser, was handed over to Russia in September as part of a prisoner swap. The authorities in Ukraine had captured him in April after he fled house arrest while awaiting trial on treason charges in a case initiated last year. His influence in Ukraine was such that his name surfaced in the U.S. investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 American elections. Mr. Medvedchuk was a client of Paul J. Manafort, the Republican political consultant who advised pro-Russian Ukrainian politicians before becoming chairman of Donald J. Trumps presidential campaign. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said in an overnight speech late Tuesday that the decision to end Mr. Medvedchuks citizenship was based on a report by the countrys security services. If peoples deputies choose to serve not the people of Ukraine, but the murderers who came to Ukraine, our actions will be appropriate, Mr. Zelensky said. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine struck a confident tone in a prerecorded video message at the Golden Globes on Tuesday, delivered as the war with Russia continues to rage, telling the audience that the tide is turning and thanking the free world for its support. Introduced by the actor Sean Penn, who was filming a documentary in Ukraine when the war broke out and has been a vocal supporter of the country, Mr. Zelensky said the struggle was, in part, for the right of the new generations to know about the war only from movies. There will be no third world war, Mr. Zelensky said. It is not a trilogy. Ukraine will stop the Russian aggression on our land. Coyne Public Relations is providing public relations support for The Play Date, a single-day, invitation-only media event on March 8, hosted by The Toy Association, producers of Toy Fair, and Adventure Media & Events, publisher of The Toy Book and The Toy Insider. Coyne PR will work to secure media attendance by promoting the opportunities that the event offers, such as direct access to the toys being released throughout 2023. The campaign will focus on a comprehensive media relations program targeting traditional media outlets, key industry experts and VIP influencers, including pre-show, on-site and post-show support. We have a longstanding relationship with Coyne PR and because of our previous projects, their professionalism, dedication and belief in the power of play, we are confident they are the ideal team to bring our new Play Date to life, said The Toy Association executive vp of global market events Kimberly Carcone. Marino is selected to serve as agency of record for Olive Tree Holdings, a mission-driven private investment company with a focus on real estate. The company, which was formed in 2017 and has offices in New York City, Atlanta and Houston, specializes in acquisition, management and capital improvement efforts in multifamily communities within growing U.S. markets. Marino has been working with the firms c-suite and executives since summer 2022 to formulate an in-depth communications program that targets Olive Trees key stakeholders including clients, investors, the media and the community at large. "As a mission-driven company with a people-first approach, it was critical for us to find a partner that could help convey our purpose and story to the world," said Olive Tree Holdings CEO Ian Bel. "Marino has been the ultimate partner for us. Kafka Media Group takes on AOR duties for edgefactory, a full-service media production partner for events, conferences and tradeshows. KMG will be responsible for handling the companys media relations, social media strategy and strengthening its brand recognition as a leader in the creative media, technology, and events space. Kafka Media Group has greatly surpassed our expectations in the short time weve been working together, said edgefactory CEO Brian Cole, who cited the worldwide coverage we have already been able to secure about our business across various industries and publications. Tata Power Renewables Signs agreement with Vivarea Condominium in Mumbai to supply clean power Mumbai, Jan 11 (UNI) Tata Power Renewable Energy Limited (TPREL),a subsidiary of Tata Power, has signed an agreement with Vivarea Condominium, a residential society in Mumbai, to supply solar power. A first of its kind, the 3.125 MW solar plant will be set up at Himayatnagar, Maharashtra to power the society with clean energy. TPREL will undertake the construction, operation, and maintenance of this captive solar power plant, which is expected to generate about 7.5 MU of energy and offset 6.15 metric tonnes of CO2 in the first year itself. The project will be commissioned by October 2023 and will provide green power at approximately 40 pc less than the cost of existing tariff to Vivarea Condominium. With the installation of this group captive solar plant, Tata Power will enable Vivarea Condominium to become the countrys first residential society to use captive solar energy for domestic usage. The project is aligned with the companys continued commitment to providing energy security, energy equity, and energy sustainability to its consumers. "We are happy to announce our ground-breaking partnership with the Vivarea Condominium, Mumbai to provide clean power for residential purpose through our captive solar plant. This association is a testament to TPRELs continued efforts to mainstream the use of renewable energy." said Mr Shivram Bikkina, Chief - Rooftop, Tata Power Renewable Energy Limited. Tata Powers commitment to enabling more and more citizens to adopt a sustainable lifestyle is in consonance with its Sustainable is Attainable campaign, aimed at propagating and popularising the cause of a green and sustainable future. TPREL is a pioneer in the installation of solar projects across commercial and industrial space, and through this initiative, access to green and clean energy will be made available to a large number of residential consumers as well. "Vivarea Condominium is extremely delighted to partner with Tata Power on a group captive solar open access that will produce green energy for our use. We will be the first in the country to get green power at roughly 40 pc less than the cost of the existing tariff. With the backing of all the residents, we have always been at the forefront when it comes to switching to clean energy. We believe that investment in green energy is investment in the future of mankind." said Mr. Mitesh Mehta, Honrary President, Vivarea Condominium. UNI JS GNK Pacific Surfliner Needs PR Engineer Mon., Apr. 10, 2023 The Los Angeles-San Diego-San Luis Obispo Rail Corridor Agency wants a digital marketing firm to promote visibility and recover ridership that the Pacific Surfliner brand lost during the COVID-19 pandemic. It has budgeted $200K for the one-year effort. THE existing urban structure and the arrangement of the streets, spaces and buildings in the town of Clara may be ''restricting its success particularly economically.'' This was one of the preliminary findings made in relation to the 'Clara Town Centre First Plan.' Under the theme of Placemaking it was found that the spatial arrangement of the built landscape could be one of the reasons why local people are not ''utilising the town centre in greater numbers in terms of the retail, residential, commercial and other services it provides.'' Placemaking is described as ''the process of creating quality places that are attractive to people to live, work, visit, and socialise in. It includes the spatial arrangement of buildings, streets and spaces and takes into consideration the built and natural heritage, public realm, open space and areas for recreation.'' The Town Centre First Plan will look at what opportunities exist in the town to enhance the quality of place. Clonakilty in Cork, is presented as a case study. It has a population of 4,592. Clonakilty developed an Urban Design masterplan (Clonakilty 400) in conjunction with its residents. This sets out a long term vision for the town. It is described as ''a traditional market town, however like many rural towns in Ireland it was suffering from issues such as vacancy, dereliction, poor visual streetscape quality with a reduction in its service function along with flooding issues. '' Elements of Clonakiltys masterplan include: Community aware of the heritage value of its townscape. Preservation of traditional shop fronts and re-establishing social activities on the street. Town main square changing from a car focused and derelict town centre to a hub that can facilitate increased socio-economic activity, socialising and wellbeing. Reimagining Emmet Square based on new movement patterns. Removal of car spaces on Main Street to provide pocket parks. In the weeks and months going forward the Clara Project Team will be seeking how best Clara can make best use of what it has to offer. Four themes have emerged for its future development, these include Community, Heritage & Tourism, Natural Infrastructure and Placemaking. People are being invited to make submissions on the plan. The deadline is January 13 2023. The Government's Town Centre First Policy recognises that successful places: are characterised by an attractive public realm that is designed to invite people to meet, mingle and dwell. Provide a mix of housing types to cater for diverse communities in terms of age, income and mobility. Provide opportunities for the amenity, health and well-being of residents, workers and visitors. Provide a range of cultural, recreational and community spaces that bring together community members and attract visitors and tourists. Urban Agency Architects Ltd have been appointed to lead the preparation of the Clara Town Centre First Plan, a draft of which is expected in 2023. The current overcrowding crisis in University Hospital Limerick (UHL) is causing major disruption to healthcare in North Tipperary. Emergency actions taken in an attempt to ease congestion and remedy what was described as a 'major internal incident' on January 2 are continuing to upset normal services at UHL, where staff are described as overstressed and working under very strenuous circumstances. Professor Declan Lyons said conditions at the hospital are inhumane and patient safety is at risk. Reductions are in place for day and elective surgery in UHL, Ennis, Croom, St Johns and Nenagh since Monday (Jan 9). Tipperary Labour TD, Alan Kelly, told the Tribune that what is happening currently "is a travesty for the people of Tipperary, Clare and Limerick but it was entirely predictable given what we have come through over the last few years". Images of chronic overcrowding in hospital emergency departments throughout Christmas and over the early days of 2023 cannot have come as a major surprise to the HSE, the Minister or the Department of Health as warnings have been issued for months, Independent Tipperary TD, Michael Lowry said. Deputy Kelly blames the decision to close local A&Es and critical care units before the total infrastructure was in place to create a centre of excellence in UHL and across the hospital network of UHL, Nenagh, Ennis and St. Johns. "We in the midwest were the guinea pigs for testing HSE's reconfiguration for the rest of the country. We were sold a pup. It has not worked", Deputy Kelly said. He said the public have lost confidence and that the midwest area is "just too big for a hospital network conformed the way it currently is". "UHL has less consultants, staff and beds pro-rata than other similar size hospitals. The former Chief Clinical Officer of the UHL network of hospitals, Dr. Gerry Burke, pointed this out continuously and fought for equal resources until he retired", Deputy Kelly said. He said the midwest needs "more capacity, more beds, more consultants, more staff and more transportation", which, he said, is "plainly obvious". "We also need an elective only hospital in the midwest. This could be based in Limerick or Nenagh where there is ample space beside the current hospital, which is close to the M7 motorway. We also need better transportation in a rebooted ambulance and paramedic service" he added. "In the short term, there needs to be a complete refocus on better community care outcomes. The relationship between acute and community care needs to be a hand in glove relationship, especially to facilitate timely acute discharges and keeping people living at home as long as possible. "The Government needs to step up here with better pay and conditions for staff working in home care. People wont do this work as pay and conditions aren't good enough. Im sick and tired of saying that an employment order needs to be in place for home care workers. "I also believe that the HSE should purchase Barringtons Hospital in Limerick to help with capacity. Its already set up and would need little modification to act as an elective hospital in the short to medium term. We need more public capacity, not more private hospitals", Deputy Kelly said. "There needs to be a massive recruitment drive for consultants and staff. This needs to happen immediately outside the state as well as inside. We need full cooperation between GPs, hospitals and community care providers. Getting people speedily through the HSE service and prioritising patients based on need is critical now more than ever. "The idea that GPs can pick up the slack at all times during critical periods like now just isnt realistic. Everyone has to work together", Deputy Kelly said. Warnings went unheeded Independent Tipperary TD, Deputy Michael Lowy said the current crisis is a clear indication that removing A&E services at Nenagh, Ennis and St. Johns in 2009 was a mistake and that enhanced services in these hospitals are quite clearly required to meet the needs of the 400,000-strong population in this region. Deputy Lowry said there had been numerous warnings that demands on hospitals over the winter months would likely surpass anything seen in the past and that an advance plan was crucial to meet the inevitable needs of seriously ill patients. "We were all made aware in late 2022 that a Twindemic of covid and flu would strike this winter. This unfortunately became a Tridemic when RSV was identified as the third dangerous respiratory illness to strike this year, placing even greater demands on our struggling hospitals and healthcare staff. "The crisis we are now witnessing is both worrying and heartbreaking, but it cannot be considered a shock or a surprise. The warnings sounded well in advance. We could have been better prepared, Deputy Lowry told this newspaper. He said it comes as no surprise that University Hospital Limerick has topped the list of overcrowded Emergency Departments nationwide on an almost daily basis and blamed the 2009 decision for the current situation. Since the decision to downgrade Nenagh, Ennis and St. Johns Hospitals in 2009, the Centre of Excellence Model 4 University Hospital Limerick has provided the only 24-hour A&E service for the entire population of Limerick city and county, North Tipperary and Clare. "This has meant that ambulances in the midwest region could only transport 112/999 patients to UHLs Emergency Department, while bypassing Nenagh, St Johns and Ennis Hospitals on the way", he said. "A lot has changed in the intervening 14 years and the population in all these areas has grown significantly. UHL has long been unable to cope with the growing demand", Deputy Lowry said. "It is imperative that the suffering we have seen people endure in A&Es is addressed. It is crucial that their fear of being referred to hospital is removed. That the terror of being left suffering endlessly on a trolley endlessly is eliminated. People deserve nothing less", Deputy Lowry said. The Golden Globes kicked off awards season in serious style, with celebrities out in force for the 80th annual event. It was a taste of things to come, with halternecks, Gothic glamour and interesting menswear featuring heavily on the red carpet. For the past few years, voluminous dresses have dominated awards season fashion but now it seems like theres a definite shift towards sleeker, more streamlined outfits. Here are the best looks of the night The Gothic looks Gothic fashion has been making waves since Wednesday hit Netflix in November last year, and dark, witchy outfits were a big trend at the Golden Globes. Take Daisy Edgar-Jones, who wore a Gucci dress made up of a black tiered tulle skirt, paired with a sexy silver bodice. Selena Gomez who was nominated for her role in Only Murders In The Building went for full old Hollywood glamour in a black velvet gown by Valentino, with deep purple puff sleeves and a chic updo. Abbott Elementary was one of the big winners of the night, with Quinta Brunson taking home the gong for best actress in a TV series. She did so in suitable style in a custom Christian Siriano mermaid-style gown which brought all the drama with layers of black tulle and pink accents. Jamie Lee Curtis channelled Gothic glamour in a black jumpsuit and a statement lace cape attached one she artfully worked on the red carpet. Emma DArcy went down the non-traditional route for their red carpet look, wearing an oversized blazer, cropped pants underneath a skirt, studded boots and bright blue gloves for a pop of colour. Their make-up was particularly interesting too, with a smoky, silvery eye look set off with a glittering tear running down their cheek. The sparkles Michelle Yeoh took home the award for best actress in a musical or comedy for her role in Everything Everywhere All At Once, wearing a sleek and chic navy blue Armani gown, with ruffles around the middle and plenty of sparkles. Angela Bassett can always be relied on to serve a serious look on the red carpet, and she didnt disappoint at the Globes this year. She dazzled in a silver Pamella Roland halterneck gown with plenty of Chopard jewellery a fitting look for someone who won best supporting actress for her role as a queen in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Jessica Chastain had a sexy take on sparkles, wearing a strapless Oscar de la Renta dress with a spiders web effect of silver and a sheer lining underneath. Abbott Elementarys Sheryl Lee Ralph looked particularly regal on the red carpet, wearing a deep purple gown by Jason Rembert paired with Cher-style hair and purple eyeshadow. Julia Garners approach to sparkles was a bit more understated her pale pink Gucci gown had lines of silver streaming down it and a three-tiered skirt. The bright colours Its quite unusual to see anything other than a block colour on the red carpet, but Letitia Wright expertly showed how to rock an interesting pattern, sporting a rust and cream-coloured gown by Prada. It seems Margot Robbie took inspiration from the highly-anticipated upcoming Barbie movie for her red carpet look, wearing a pale pink halterneck look by Chanel with subtle stripes. Lily James came dressed as the dancing girl emoji, wearing a bright red Versace gown with cut-outs on the bodice and a voluminous skirt. Viola Davis wore one of the most stand-out colours of the night: a royal blue design by Jason Wu, set off with simple silver accessories and jewellery. As the face of Dior, Anya Taylor-Joy often wears the French fashion house on the red carpet for the Globes, she went for a simple two-piece design in an unusual yellow hue. The interesting menswear Donald Glover was one of the many men turning their backs on the traditional plain black tux for the red carpet, instead choosing a unique Saint Laurent ensemble of loose white silk trousers and a long shirt paired with a black jacket. In a look reminiscent of his iconic black tuxedo dress worn to the 2019 Oscars, Billy Porter once again chose designer Christian Siriano for his look a magenta velvet tuxedo dress with a dramatic train. Abbott Elementarys Tyler James Williams won his first Golden Globe in style: in a blue pinstriped tie-dyed Amiri outfit, with a cropped blazer and crisp white shirt underneath. The affected items are among the latest product recalls published by the Food Standards Agency. Some major retailers in the UK are asking their customers to desist from eating certain items which have now been recalled over safety fears. Morrisons, Iceland Foods and Tesco are some of the shops that are removing the following items from their shelves. Mars Dessert Bar Iceland Foods is recalling Mars Dessert Bar because it may contain peanuts and egg, which are not mentioned on the label. As a result of a packaging error, some packs have been incorrectly packed with Snickers Dessert Bar. The FSA adds: This means the product is a possible health risk for anyone with an allergy to peanuts and/or an allergy or intolerance to egg. Tomato and Chilli Pasta Sauce Morrisons is recalling Tomato and Chilli Pasta Sauce that is under its brand because it contains milk which is not mentioned on the label. This means the product is a possible health risk for anyone with an allergy or intolerance to milk or milk constituents, according to the FSA. Photo by Atoms on Unsplash Wicked Kitchen Spinach & Wild Garlic Ravioli Tesco is recalling Wicked Kitchen Spinach & Wild Garlic Ravioli because it may contain small pieces of metal, making it unsafe to eat. According to the FSA: The company has also issued a recall notice to its customers. These notices explain to customers why the product is being recalled and tells them what to do if they have bought the product. Please see the attached notice. Lime and Sea Salt Dark Chocolate Inclusions Bar Whitakers Chocolates is recalling Whitakers Lime and Sea Salt Dark Chocolate Inclusions Bar because it contains milk which is not mentioned on the label. This means the product is a possible health risk for anyone with an allergy or intolerance to milk or milk constituents, the FSA says on its website. According to the regulator, customers who have purchased any of the above items should not eat them, but return the items to the stores for refunds. Sources used: Food Standards Agency: Latest Alerts Chronicle Live: Morrisons, Tesco and Iceland customers urged to return food items over safety fears Turkey's Erdogan urges Iraq to crack down on PKK fighters Ankara, Jan 11 (UNI) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Sudani to take a tough line on the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a Kurdish militant group labeled as terrorist by Ankara. "President Erdogan noted that it was a necessity of Iraq's own nationals security interests as well to end the PKK terrorist organization's presence in the Iraqi soil," the Turkish presidency said in a statement. The leaders spoke over the phone to discuss bilateral and regional issues, the presidency added. Erdogan insisted that cooperation at both levels would "further strengthen in every area in the period ahead." A bipartisan group of US politicians has written to Joe Biden to insist American shipyards can supply Australia with nuclear-powered submarines. Prince Harry has hit out at the media for "spinning his words" about his body count during his military tours in Afghanistan. The Pope said he was saddened by Pells death and said he was a consistent and committed witness, with a lifelong dedication to the church. American Airlines and United Airlines had to cancel all their domestic flights due to a major power outage, forcing the Federal Aviation Administration to ground all airplanes before solving this major issue. Airplanes are the safest way to travel across the world and the U.S. airspace. ... (continue reading...) LAS VEGAS (AP) From electric cars and boats to wireless TVs to the latest phones and tablets, there was a wide range of innovations on display at the CES tech show in Last Vegas last week. Some of it aimed to solve big real world problems. Some of it aimed to make your life more fun. And some of it was just a little out there. Associated Press journalists spent last week combing cavernous exhibit halls for the most exciting, interesting and unusual tech innovations. Here's what caught our eye: MOST FUN WAY TO GET TO WORK Journalists had fun zipping around the CES Unveiled event on remote-controlled, electric inline skates from French startup AtmosGear. The battery lasts for 20 miles (32 kilometers), said founder Mohamed Soliman, who hopes people will see them as a viable way to commute, like electric bikes or scooters. My goal is for everyone to go skating again because its so much fun, every time you see people skating you see them with a big smile, Soliman said. A waist bag holds the battery and cables connected to the skates. They also can be used as regular skates when they need to be charged or skaters simply want to travel under their own power. The $500 skates are available for pre-order. The company has taken orders for 150 pairs so far and is aiming for 200 orders to start production. TECH TO BRING TO A PARTY A handheld device displayed by South Korean company Prinker allows you to quickly and easily apply temporary tattoos. The device uses cosmetic-grade ink with a library of thousands of designs or the option to make your own with the companys app. After picking a tattoo, you just wave the device over wherever you want it applied. The tattoos are waterproof but wash off with soap. The flagship model... FOXNews.com 09 Jan 2023 Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, is expected to be named the head of a new subcommittee that the House will vote to establish to.. Reality star Judge Judy has weighed in on the Prince Harry and Meghan Markle drama which has ensued since the prince's memoirs were.. Upworthy 10 Jan 2023 Prosecutors said the boy had attacked the teacher with a knife and surrendered himself to the police. Russian Wagner Group claims to have taken the gateway town of Soledar while Kyiv denies the capture. Meanwhile Russian strikes hit Kharkiv after a visit by Germany's foreign minister. DW has the latest. A leading German lawmaker visiting Taiwan says Germany will not provide the island with weapons and has not been asked to do so. China has warned that foreign politicians who visit the island are "playing with fire." Washington, Jan 11 (UNI) US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin issued a memorandum rescinding the militarys COVID-19 vaccine mandate pursuant to legislation passed by Congress late last year. "No individuals currently serving in the Armed Forces shall be separated solely on the basis of their refusal to receive the COVID-19 vaccination if they sought an accommodation on religious, administrative, or medical grounds," Austin said on Tuesday. The military will update the records of such individuals to remove any adverse actions solely associated with denials of such requests, including letters of reprimand, Austin said. In December, Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act for 2023, which included a measure requiring Austin to rescind the COVID-19 vaccine mandate. Nevertheless, Austin said the Defense Department will continue to promote and encourage the COVID-19 vaccine for all service members. Service members administratively discharged on the sole basis of refusing to receive the COVID-19 vaccine are precluded by law from receiving any characterization less than a general discharge, Austin also said. Former service members may petition the military to correct personnel records, including regarding the characterization of their discharge, Austin added. UNI/SPUTNIK GNK Sky News 11 Jan 2023 A major multi-pronged investigation will be under way following the discovery at Heathrow Airport of uranium in a package sent from.. 2008-2023 One News Page Ltd. All rights reserved. One News is a registered trademark of One News Page Ltd. Newsy 11 Jan 2023 Watch VideoA police officer on patrol was attacked and burned to death by protesters in the Peruvian region of Puno as the death.. Dozens of people died in violent clashes that has rocked Peru since early December. Prosecutors announced launching the investigation following the deadliest day of protests. Some Scottish schools will be forced to reschedule preliminary exams today as teachers in the country hold their second day of strike action, unions have said. NHS strikes could continue for many months amid anger at UK government plans to raise staff salaries by only 2% next year, which.. Upworthy 01 Jan 2023 Oneindia 23 Feb 2023 The epicentre of the war between Russia and Ukraine has now shifted to Bakhmut and Soledar in eastern Ukraine. Intense fighting has.. A Taliban police spokesman said that those killed in the blast were civilians and that many others were injured. No group claimed responsibility for the attack. Lothar Wieler, who is retiring as RKI head, became a household name during the COVID crisis. Among other things, the agency has issued daily statistics on infections and mortality since the pandemic began. The Taliban blocked journalists from accessing the blast site in Kabul. It's still unclear which group is responsible for the attack, but the so-called "Islamic State" (IS) has ramped up its activities in recent months. The UK must expel Iranian diplomats in response to the execution of a British-Iranian dual national, a relative of the deceased has.. Eurasia Review 15 Jan 2023 Police said at least five civilians had been killed but another Taliban official put the toll as high as 20. President Joe Biden said that "we cannot wall ourselves off from shared problems" at a summit with the leaders of Mexico and Canada on Tuesday. A Republican lawmaker has joined the chorus of people criticizing the Biden administration as the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission weighs a ban on gas stoves. President Biden was briefed on the FAA system outage grounding flights Wednesday, but White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said "no evidence of a cyberattack at this point." Long Beach CA (SPX) Jan 11, 2023 Vast, a pioneer in space habitation technologies, has announced the relocation and major expansion of its corporate headquarters to a newly built facility in Long Beach, California, for the established pipeline of premier aerospace talent, proximity to the port and airport and continued efforts to expand commercial space capabilities in the region. The new structures, which will house the Prince Harry has said the "most dangerous lie" about his explosive memoir Spare is that he boasted about killing 25 Taliban while serving as a soldier in Afghanistan. Responding for the first time to coverage of his book, the prince accuses some in the press of "lies". BBC News 11 Jan 2023 Doctors leaders are to meet with the Health Secretary on Thursday after an initial meeting to discuss concerns over pay was.. Belfast Telegraph 11 Jan 2023 Rail union leaders have launched a fierce attack on the Government, accusing ministers of driving the bitter dispute over jobs, pay and conditions and blocking deals to resolve the row. UK airline passengers affected by the grounding of flights in the US are unlikely to be entitled to compensation, a consumer group has warned. Sky News 14 Jan 2023 The nephew of a British-Iranian national who was put to death by hanging in Iran has spoken of his shock, describing the execution.. Jerusalem Post 13 Jan 2023 The US has called a meeting at the UN to adopt a resolution calling on the Taliban to reverse the ban of female aid workers and.. HNGN 12 Jan 2023 At least six people were hurt in an incident at the Gare du Nord train station in Paris early on Wednesday morning, limiting access.. Upworthy 17 Jan 2023 Police in western Germany carried Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and other protesters away Tuesday from the edge of an.. Upworthy 17 Jan 2023 Greta Thunberg , the climate activist, was carried away and detained by police Tuesday in a German village where protesters have.. Watch VideoA former suburban Houston police officer was executed Tuesday for hiring two people to kill his estranged wife nearly 30 years ago amid a contentious divorce and custody battle. Robert Fratta, 65, received a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville for the November 1994 fatal shooting of his wife,... WEDNESDAY, Jan. 11, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Few good treatment options exist for the millions of women dealing with the intense pain caused by endometriosis, but researchers say a new "cellular atlas" could help. A team at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles has developed a detailed molecular profile of endometriosis using data from 400,000 patient cells. Endometriosis has been an understudied disease in part because of limited cellular data that has hindered the development of effective treatments. In this study, we applied a new technology called single-cell genomics, which allowed us to profile the many different cell types contributing to the disease, study co-author Kate Lawrenson said in a medical center news release. This resource can now be used by researchers all throughout the world to study specific cell types that they specialize in, which will hopefully lead to more efficient and effective diagnosis and treatment for endometriosis patients, said Lawrenson, an associate professor in obstetrics and gynecology. It really is a game changer," she added. After analyzing the individual cells, the researchers were able to identify the molecular differences between the major subtypes of endometriosis, including peritoneal disease and ovarian endometrioma, Lawrenson said. In endometriosis, the cells of the uterine lining, or those that are similar, grow in the wrong places, including in the ovaries, fallopian tubes and abdominal cavity. About 10% of women live with endometriosis, typically during their reproductive years. They may experience chronic pain, infertility, headaches, fatigue, and bowel and bladder dysfunction with few good treatment options. The Cedars-Sinai researchers gathered the cell data from 21 patients. Some of the patients had endometriosis and others were disease-free. The findings could lead to improved care for women with this disease, the study authors said. Identifying these cellular differences at such a detailed level should allow us to better understand the origins, natural progression, and potential therapeutic targets for treatment. We are currently limited to hormonal therapy and surgical excision, with variable success and frequent recurrence of disease, said co-author Dr. Matthew Siedhoff, vice chair of gynecology. The researchers are using the cellular atlas in laboratory tests involving mice. The findings were published online Jan. 9 in the journal Nature Genetics. More information The World Health Organization has more on endometriosis. SOURCE: Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, news release, Jan. 9, 2023 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. WEDNESDAY, Jan. 11, 2023 (HealthDay News) If you ordered COVID-19 tests through the federal government recently, you might want to check the expiration dates. Although the actual expiration had already been extended by six months for the iHealth COVID tests, some will still expire soon, CBS News reported. Nora Boydston, of Douglas County, Colo., was among those who ordered the four free tests in December, which arrived with expiration dates listed as this past July or August. Even after adding the extension by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, two of her tests expired Jan. 2, CBS News reported. The other two expire next month. "I honestly thought when we ordered these, we would be getting something current that we could have on hand for a while," Boydstun told CBS News, noting that she saves tests for a known exposure or when she has symptoms. Zach Rogers had a similar experience, receiving tests in December that will expire on Valentines Day, CBS News reported. "That was a little disappointing, just given that theres this new Covid variant going around and cases are continuing to go up. Im worried that Im not going to have a test that is available, that hasnt expired yet, in the event that I need it," said Rogers, who lives in Portland, Ore. Both Rogers and Boydstun expressed concern about others potentially throwing away tests they thought were already expired or using tests that are no longer effective. "Some people will get this in the mail, assuming its new, assuming its current, use it and rely on it," Boydstun told CBS News. Still, those ordering free tests can see a notice on the U.S. Postal Service site that advises checking the extended expiration dates on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration website. Consumers can find their test by batch lot number; the lot number is printed on the back of each test box. Neither the FDA or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which is in charge of the test distribution program, responded to CBS News' requests for comment. Dr. Susan Butler-Wu, an associate professor of clinical pathology at the University of Southern California, advised caution about using expired tests. The recommendation is to throw away tests that are actually expired, extension not included, Butler-Wu told CBS News. Anyone testing with an expired test should watch for the tests pink control line to clearly appear. "If there's any funky business with that control, that is not a valid test result and you cannot use that," she said. Butler-Wu also recommended against trusting a negative result from an expired test. "If you're sitting there and you have lost your sense of taste or smell, and that test is telling you it's negative and it was expired, do I believe it? No, Butler-Wu said. More information The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on COVID-19. SOURCE: CBS News New York, US (PANA) - Although West Africa and the Sahel continue to face unprecedented security challenges, it is still a land of immense opportunities, a senior UN official told the Security Council on Tuesday Cotonou, Benin (PANA) - Three political parties won last Sunday's legislative elections in Benin, according to the provisional results proclaimed on Wednesday by the Autonomous National Electoral Commission (CENA) This service applies to you if your subscription has not yet expired on our old site. You will have continued access until your subscription expires; then you will need to purchase an ongoing subscription through our new system. Please contact the Parsons Sun office at (620) 421-2000 if you have any questions Australian electrical and furniture retailer BSR Group is set to open a new headquarters and warehouse at Brisbane Airports Da Vinci educational and industrial precinct. Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC) has commenced construction of an office and warehouse space for the BSR Group, a franchisor overseeing more than 220 retailers including the Betta Home Living, Furniture Zone and Designer Appliances chains. ') } else { console.log ('nompuad'); document.write(' ') } // --> ') } else if (width >= 425) { console.log ('largescreen'); document.write('') } else { console.log ('nompuad'); document.write('') } // --> Martin Ryan, executive general manager commercial, BAC, said, We look forward to the BSR team joining the airport community when they move into their purpose-built sustainable development, and the extra jobs it will deliver. It is a hive of activity at Brisbane Airport, with leading Australian and global companies choosing to base their operations here due to the excellent on-site amenity, unparalleled connectivity and transport links. The BSR Group project will consolidate its two existing sites into a 5,600m2 office and warehouse space, with 118-space on-site parking lots, associated hardstands and solar-energy generation that will total 390kW. Gavin Carter, CEO, BSR Group, said, Bringing our business operations together at Brisbane Airport was the right choice for BSR Group. The size of the new development will allow us to create efficiencies across our business, not only by having one property, but also giving us oversight of our supply chain. With our retailers sales growing year on year, the scale of the Brisbane Airport industrial precinct also provides us with the opportunity to expand in the future. BSR Group will join existing tenants within the precinct including DHL, the Virgin Australia Training Centre, QANTAS Flight Training Centre, Aviation Australia and Mitsubishi. BAC is also building a development for Schneider Electric in the Da Vinci precinct, adjacent to the BSR Group, to meet demand for premium industrial sites in southeast Queensland. The new developments are under construction and are expected to be completed early in 2023. To the considerable irritation of at least a few extremely irritable critics, the Interpreter Foundation continues to produce. Here are three items that went up just today: Come, Follow Me New Testament Study and Teaching Helps: Lesson 4, January 16 January 22: John 1 We Have Found the Messiah As hes been doing very consistently for a long time, Jonn Claybaugh yet again provides a concise set of notes for students and teachers of the Churchs Come, Follow Me curriculum. The New Testament in Context Lesson 4: We Have Found the Messiah In the 11 December 2022 Come, Follow Me segment of the Interpreter Radio Show, Terry Hutchinson and John Gee and Kevin Christensen joined together to discuss New Testament lesson 4, on John 1. That discussion is now available for listening at your convenience . . . but at no charge. The other segments of the 11 December 2022 radio show can be accessed at https://interpreterfoundation.org/interpreter-radio-show-december-11-2022. Moreover, the Interpreter Radio Show can be heard live on Sunday evenings, every single week of the year, from 7 to 9 PM (MDT), on K-TALK, AM 1640. Or you can listen to the show as it happens no net! no rough drafts! no do-overs! on the Internet at ktalkmedia.com. Nibley Lectures: Time Vindicates the Prophets Prophets and Glad Tidings Between 7 March 1954 and 17 October 1954, Hugh Nibley delivered a series of thirty (30) weekly lectures on KSL Radio that were also published as pamphlets. The series, which was called Time Vindicates the Prophets, was given in answer to those who were challenging the right of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to call themselves Christians. This lecture suggests that joy is the main message prophets bring to mankind. Back in March and April of 2016, various media outlets cited Mr. John Dehlin, who was at the time still a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as expressing his giddy excitement about the new Broadway musical comedy The Book of Mormon. It had been written, of course, by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who were already well known at the time for their earlier creation of the South Park television series. Mr. Dehlin was featured in the New York Times see Trying to Relish the Big Time, Even When It Brings a Cringe (including a photograph of him in which he is seen beaming with delight in the audience) but the remark that I most clearly recall from Mr. Dehlin seems to have appeared in an article from Fox News: South Park Creators Mormon Musical Has Some Mormons Excited, Others Suspicious: John Dehlin, 41, of Logan, Utah has already purchased his tickets to the Broadway musical and will be flying to New York with a group of 10 people (only one of whom isnt Mormon) on March 25th. He says he cant wait. Im super excited, Dehlin, the founder of Mormon Stories podcasts, told FOX411. I think this is our Mormon moment. The Jews had Fiddler [on the Roof] and the Catholics had Sound of Music and now we have this. Dehlin calls himself a liberal member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whose members are collectively referred to as Mormons. . . . When a lot of my orthodox LDS friends hear that South Park is doing a musical about Mormonism they put their hands to their head and give a deep sigh and express sadness or frustration, Dehlin said. But my liberal friends are stoked! When I tracked down the piece from Fox News just now, I was quite surprised to find that I was quoted in the article, as well. I had completely forgotten it: Brigham Young professor Daniel Peterson began his thoughts on the play with an audible sigh. The general reaction is sigh, more of this, Peterson, who teaches Islamic Studies and Arabic at the Mormon University in Utah told FOX411. Were sort of accustomed to being made to look like idiots or villains so it is nothing new. You wouldnt do this to Jews, you wouldnt do this to blacks, but were still legit to kick around. Peterson isnt a champion of the Parker and Stone project and wont be flying to New York to see a performance, but he agrees with Dehlin that this could be a Mormon moment. The fact is we are a blip on the national radar screen, and there is something to be said for that, Peterson said. My feeling is it is better from our standpoint to be talked about than utterly ignored. I would rather be mocked because it gives me a chance to explain myself. Happily, that still expresses my view of the matter. In fact, all the way back in January 2011, I had already heard that Trey Parker and Matt Stone were working on a musical about the Latter-day Saints, and I wrote a column about it: Anti-Mormon mockery can actually lead to teaching moments. I was pleased, subsequently, to see that the Church itself seemed to see things pretty much the way I did (and do). What happened to the other play that I mentioned, the one that supposedly chronicled the adventures of Joseph Smith up to Christmas 1825, I cannot say. Which doesnt displease me even slightly. But why was I reminded of Mr. Dehlins comments to Fox News? Please recall that he said I think this is our Mormon moment. The Jews had Fiddler [on the Roof] and the Catholics had Sound of Music and now we have this. With that in mind, have a look at this: The Israeli Musical Aiming to Be a Jewish Book of Mormon: The Chabadniks takes a couple of lovable young Orthodox Jews and dumps them in a hardscrabble part of Tel Aviv. Their story is told with affection, says creator Udi Gottshalk, who admits to counting yarmulkes in the audience at the Cameri Theater I thought Mr. Dehlins remark extremely silly. But Im amused to see that, while one purported Latter-day Saint once tried to portray The Book of Mormon as a Latter-day Saint Fiddler on the Roof, some Jews are now supposedly hoping for a Jewish Book of Mormon. The annual Consumer Electronics Show has teased PC enthusiasts and gamers craving OLED monitors for years now, but has never left them satisfied. This was true even at last years show. Yes, the Alienware AW3423DW is excellent, but I hoped its release would be the beginning of an OLED tidal wave. That never happened. CES 2023 might be different. LG came to the show with a flashy 45-inch ultrawide and a more practical 27-inch 1440p, both of which are available for preorder right now. Samsung has fired back with the Odyssey OLED G9, a flashy 49-inch super-ultrawide due for release in early 2023. Theyre impressive monitors, and the OLED panels in them will go mainstream in displays from Asus, Acer, Alienware, Dough, and MSI, among others. OLED competition is coming The unending dawn of OLED for PC monitors was due, at least in part, to a lack of options. OLED panels are produced by only a few companies, most notably LG and Samsung, and a mere handful of panel options were available to monitor manufacturers. The low production volume of OLED panels suitable for monitors kept prices high. But at CES 2023, that changed. We have ourselves a race. LGs Ultragear 27 OLED monitor. Matt Smith/IDG LG and Samsung leaned into OLED for the PC market in 2020. Youve likely noticed the results if youve bought a PC laptop in the past two years. Laptops with OLED displays are much, much more common than they used to be, and now available in laptops below $1,000. The war between LG and Samsung will also improve the affordability of PC monitors. Both have their own OLED panel technology: LG offers a WRGB OLED panel, while Samsung offers QD-OLED. And both have incredible influence in the world of display technology and are familiar with working with a wide range of partners. Surprisingly, LG won the battle at CES 2023. Samsungs QD-OLED, which is found in the Alienware AW3423DW and (of course) the new Samsung Odyssey OLED G9, looks spectacular. However, LGs new 27-inch 1440p 240Hz OLED panel is a superb fit for mainstream PC gamers, and LG is ramping up production to support multiple third-party monitor makers. Its likely this panel will dominate until Samsung can respond with a QD-OLED option of similar size. Still the best gaming monitor you can buy Alienware AW3423DW Read our review Best Prices Today: CES 2023 was also a reminder that OLED technology faces broader competition. Several new Mini-LED monitors and laptop displays arrived from multiple manufacturers including Acer, Asus, Razer, and Lenovo. Samsung, meanwhile, continues to invest in Micro-LED, a panel technology constructed from tiny LEDs, and showed its latest generation of NEO QLED 8K televisions at CES 2023. Affordable Micro-LED televisions are years away, and monitors will be even more challenging due to their smaller size. Still, Mini-LED and Micro-LED represent a long-term threat to OLED. Both can deliver much higher levels of brightness, and do so without suffering the risk of burn-in. The evolution of alternative panel technologies gives LG and Samsung incentive to improve OLEDs performance and cut costs. Subpixels remain an issue OLED has many perks, but its not perfect. Most OLED panels found in computer monitors and laptops use a sub-pixel layout that differs from the RGB layout common to LCD displays. This can cause issues like color bleed or fringing around details and an overly pixelated look for small fonts. Acers curvaceous Predator X45 OLED looks absolutely outstanding in person. Matt Smith/IDG Lets set one thing straight: PC enthusiast hoping LG and Samsung have a cheap RGB-OLED panel up their sleeves should check their expectations. David Park, Senior Product Marketing Manager at LG, says the companys use of an alternative layout (in LGs case, WRGB) is purposeful. Its the brightness. For the screen sizes that are 55, 65, and larger, we can add control architectures [] we can use different picture algorithms to really push that brightness, says Park, explaining its current OLED panel technology for small displays is meant to maximize brightness for the display size. On the screen sizes that are 45, 27, we cant use the same technology, that brightness doesnt shine through. So, theres an advantage to using WRGB, where you get that white sub-pixel. Samsung did not provide comment when asked if it might change the sub-pixel layout of future QD-OLED panels available for PC monitors. This likely means the answer is no for the foreseeable future, at least. Asus ProArt OLED PA32DC Read our review Best Prices Today: Still, eagle-eyed PC enthusiasts have options. JOLED, a small company based in Tokyo, produces the excellent OLED panel found in the Asus ProArt Display OLED PA32DC, which I reviewed last year, and the upcoming Asus ProArt Display OLED PA32DCM, a premium 4K OLED monitor revealed at CES 2023. JOLEDs panels have excellent clarity, but the panels are produced in low volumes, which makes them expensive. They also dont offer the high refresh rate of LG and Samsung panels. Finally, mainstream availability is real OLEDs image quality, pixel response times, and low input latency make it an ideal technology for PC gaming and, for many people, general day-to-day-use. Yet high pricing and extremely limited availability have kept OLED monitors out of most homes. 2023 is the year that will finally change. Acer, Asus, Alienware, Corsair, and Dough are among the monitor makers with plans to release new OLED monitors. Some monitors based on new OLED panels, such as Corsairs Xeneon Flex, are already available: others are currently up for pre-order. Asus And this is just the start. [LG has] plans to introduce different screen sizes, different form factors, says Park. Throughout 2023, youll hear more announcements from LG on different OLED monitors were going to bring to the market. Make no mistake: these monitors command a premium, and its likely to be years before OLED comes close to the rock-bottom pricing of modern IPS LCD monitors. Still, many PC enthusiasts will happily pay a few hundred more for OLEDs advantagesand in 2023, after years of waiting, that will finally be possible. Hong Kong: Startup internships launched The Home & Youth Affairs Bureau, in partnership with the Cyberport Management Company and the Hong Kong Science & Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) today launched the Youth Start-up Internship Programme 2023, offering 200 internship placements at local startups. The Chief Executive stated in his 2022 Policy Address that the Government should create opportunities for children to develop and flourish while nurturing a new generation of young people having an affection for the country and for Hong Kong and possessing global perspectives, who will contribute to the development of the country and the city. The bureau has recently published the first edition of the Youth Development Blueprint which outlines the principles, objectives and actions of the Government in pursuing youth development work. Secretary for Home & Youth Affairs Alice Mak said the blueprint sets out its plans to deepen young people's understanding of Hong Kong's development into the eight centres as laid out in the National 14th Five-Year Plan and the related opportunities, and also provide them with more internship, employment and entrepreneurship opportunities in relevant fields. In this connection, the bureau will regularise and expand the Youth Start-up Internship Programme. She added that the bureau co-organised the programme with Cyberport in September 2021 on a pilot basis to provide 100 internship placements, which was well-received by young people and startups. Following the success of the pilot programme, the bureau expanded its scope with the HKSTP joining as a co-organiser. Together, Cyberport and the HKSTP will provide a total of 200 internship placements under the programme, doubling the number in the previous round. Some of the placements can also be extended from the original three months to six months, so that young people can have a longer placement period to gain an in-depth understanding about the operation of startups and the innovation and technology ecosystem in the city, facilitating their consideration of whether to pursue entrepreneurship in future. The internship placements cover various disciplines, such as data analysis, software engineering, marketing, business development and design. The Government will provide a subsidy to participating companies to engage interns on a full-time, part-time or mixed basis. Applicants should be local full-time post-secondary students and Hong Kong permanent residents. Apart from internship placements, Cyberport and the HKSTP will also arrange a series of training and entrepreneurship activities for the interns. Interested young people should submit applications to companies online. Upon receipt of the applications, participating companies will conduct assessment and selection for implementing the internship arrangements. This story has been published on: 2023-01-11. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Fort Polk, LA (71446) Today Mostly cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low near 55F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight Mostly cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low near 55F. Winds light and variable. Established children's reading reality competition, Bookworm Reality Show has extended its tentacles beyond the boarders of Ghana. Founder and president of the show Revered Nelson Kofi Poku said the decision to go international forms part of plans to inculcate the habit of reading among children in basic schools. After just four seasons in Ghana, it has made great srides; the reason the founder said informed his decision to spread to other parts of the world. Bookworm Reality show world wide ambassador, Joy Abena Stuber, is currently in Holland The young ambassador, aged 10 years schools at Samenspel School in Amsterdam and has succeeded in pushing the reading campaign. " It's been good so far, the children, their parents and their various schools have embraced the concept , the very reason for the initiative. We will be covering more territories as the years go by. The feedback from Holland is very encouraging," said Reverend Kofi Poku. Meanwhile, the president of the reality show has said the stage is set for season seven of the competition. Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Minister of Energy, Matthew Opoku Prempeh, popularly called 'Napo', has responded to Ghana Gas Senior Staff Association's protest against him regarding his commitment to the construction of a second state-owned Gas Processing Plant and the entire indigenisation drive of the sector. The workers of Ghana Gas expressed disquiet about the way the Minister is handling the issue of the concurrent existence of Genser Energy Ghana Limiteds (GEGL/Genser) Gas Conditioning Plant and Ghana Gas Gas Processing Plant Train 2. Ghana Gas is 100% owned by the state whiles Genser is known to have about 90% of its shares being owned by foreigners. It is also known that Genser repatriates over 80% of its revenue to South Africa. Therefore, it baffles the minds of workers of Ghana Gas for any Minister of State to do the bidding of Genser at the expense of a state-owned company. It is worthy to note that Ghana Gas derives its obligation to construct a second Gas Processing Plant from the 2022 Presidents State of the Nation Address. The President was emphatic that Ghana Gas will be building a second Gas Processing Plant with a higher capacity than the existing Gas Processing Plant, a statement by them said. But the Minister has refuted the claims saying "this matter is being investigated by the Parliamentary Committee on Mines and Energy. The Ministry is mindful of the legal consequences of discussing same in those circumstances. The President of the Republic further referred the matter to the Ministry, the Petroleum Commission, and the Energy Commission for investigations. A report in this respect has been delivered to His Excellency the President". "The Minister wishes to state emphatically that; a) neither he, nor anyone else acting on behalf of the Ministry has signed any contract with GENSER, b) the only contracts signed with Genser on record are by GNGC and GNPC. This contract between GENSER & GNGC predates the Minister's tenure at the Ministry of Energy and was signed on behalf of the GNGC by Dr. Ben Asante, its CEO and the Ministry duly informed", he added. Read full statement below: Your browser does not support iframes. Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video President Muhammadu Buhari, on Tuesday in Damaturu, Yobe State, said he is an orphan and does not know his father, but was enlisted in the Nigerian Army because he went to school. President Buhari also urged eligible voters in the state and the northeastern part of the country to ensure that his partys presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is elected in the forthcoming general elections. He said this at the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign rally at August 27 Stadium in Damaturu. The President said a vote for Tinubu and his running mate, Kashim Shettima, would guarantee the sustenance of progress made in the security, economy and education sectors of the country. He vowed that following the victory against terrorists in the region, the APC-led government is more than ever before energised to defeat whoever threatens the unity of Nigeria. The President, who addressed the mammoth crowd in Hausa language, recounted how Boko Haram inflicted damage on the people, their property and the economy, before their decimation by Nigeria Armed Forces and security agencies. Emphasising the need for education in countering the despicable ideology of Boko Haram, the President told parents and guardians in Yobe: Make sure you send your children to school and make them understand that whatever you have in this world can be taken away from you except the knowledge you have in your head. I was an orphan; I did not know my father. I spent nine years in a boarding school and because of education I was enlisted into the Nigerian Army. I want you to strengthen your faith, try your best to uphold the children and family God has entrusted to you. Do not betray that trust. To the APC flagbearers in the forthcoming general elections, President Buhari challenged them to ensure good governance when elected and not to disappoint the electorate. He declared that the governing party has done its utmost in the last eight years at the Federal level and would continue to ensure the progress, prosperity and stability of Nigeria. Source: vanguardngr Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Ghana Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) of the Global Fund has launched a series of dialogues on New Funding Model (NFM) 4. Ghana has received an allocation letter from the Global Fund for an amount of $234 million to aid in the fight against HIV and AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria for the 2024 2026 investment period. To access this fund, Ghana needs to put in a funding application. Ernest Amoabeng Ortsin, Vice Chairman of the CCM, speaking to the media at the launch of the country dialogues which was held at the Conference room of the Ministry of Health, Wednesday, said the "precondition for the fund is that we must send in a funding request which must meet some criteria that the Global fund has set". All funding requests are required to be developed through inclusive and transparent country dialogue with a broad range of stakeholders, including key and vulnerable populations, according to the Global fund. In view of this, Ghanaians are being given the opportunity to contribute to the writing of the application. "We don't want to put just a few experts together and ask them to write the funding request. We want a team to go round the country and solicit inputs from various groups: chiefs, religious leaders, doctors, teachers, youth groups etc...some of them may have very innovative ideas, and these ideas will all be brought on board toward the writing of the funding request" Mr Ortsin added. Dr Francis Kasolo, WHO representative to Ghana in his speech said these nationwide dialogues when done well, "will help produce a technically sound funding application that is people-centered and will help to accelerate national progress towards elimination of the three diseases". The Global Fund The Global Fund has proposed an indicative split of allocation funds across eligible disease components. However, the Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) has the responsibility to assess and propose the best use of funds across these disease components and health system strengthening. Given the current challenging economic environment and limited available resources, the Global Fund recognizes the need to prioritize investments. To enhance effectiveness and performance, the Global Fund will support investments where the greatest impact can be achieved, including in health and community systems, prevention, human rights and gender equality, according to countries needs. Based on the Global Fund Boards decision in November 2022 on the funding available for the 2023-2025 allocation period, Ghana has been allocated US$234,047,975 for HIV, tuberculosis (TB), malaria and building resilient and sustainable systems for health (RSSH). Over 20 years, the Global Fund partnership has saved 50 million lives, yet the fight to end AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria is not over. Recent unprecedented health challenges had a devastating impact on the progress made. But together, we can get back on track to end the three diseases by 2030, to build resilient and sustainable systems for health and strengthen pandemic preparedness, to make the world healthier and more equitable. Source: Rebecca Addo Tetteh/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected] Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video 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 Gods 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 Ghanas 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 Gods love for Ghana remained sure and rang true. Your excellency, we wish to assure the Government and the people of Ghana that Gods faithfulness remains sure for our nations. Despite the challenges and the times that the world finds itself, Gods 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-Addos 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. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video 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 Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video 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 Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The 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 Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Prince Harry has launched an extraordinary attack on his father, King Charles' wife Camilla, branding her 'dangerous' and a 'villain', as he continued his publicity for his explosive memoir Spare. The 38-year-old Duke of Sussex took aim at the Queen Consort while speaking with CBS News' 60 Minutes host Anderson Cooper, who questioned Harry about several very damaging allegations he made about Camilla in the book's pages. Referring back to a 1995 interview in which his mother, Princess Diana, famously referred to Camilla as the 'third person in her marriage', Harry says that this admission turned the now-Queen Consort into a 'villain', adding: 'She needed to rehabilitate her image.' According to Harry - who also reveals in his book that he and William 'begged' their father not to marry Camilla - this desire to transform her public image made her 'dangerous'. He accuses his step-mother 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'. ''Her need to rehabilitate her image made her dangerous because of the connections that she was forging within the British press,' he told Cooper, according to an official transcript of the interview. ''And there was open willingness on both sides to trade off information. And with a family built on hierarchy, and with her, on the way to being Queen Consort, there was gonna be people or bodies left in the street because of that.'' Princess Diana's interview with the BBC's Martin Bashir in 1995 marked the first time that she had publicly addressed claims that Charles and Camilla had an affair during her marriage to the then-Prince of Wales. At the time, she sensationally told Bashir: 'There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded.' Watch video below... In his new book, Prince Harry accuses Camilla and even his father, at times, of using him or William to get better tabloid coverage for themselves. Prince Harry writes, Camilla sacrificed me on her personal P.R. altar. https://t.co/oBAfNSc2cp pic.twitter.com/2S76o3dzpg 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) January 9, 2023 Read Full Story .... dailymail.co.uk >>> : Source: dailymail.co.uk Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Deputy Minister of Information, Fatimatu Abubakar says American rapper Meek Mill did not use the presidential lectern for his now-deleted music video that generated controversy last Monday. According to Ms Abubakar, the lectern which was used in Meek's video is used by visitors when they address the President. According to her, in the past, there have been countless instances where visitors to the Jubilee House have recorded videos at the forecourt, banquet hall or the ground floor/waiting area at the seat of government. She said the difference in the reaction to Meek's video was because of the way his music video was put together. Ms Abubakar said the protocol system at the Jubilee House and the Diaspora Directorate had learnt lessons from the incident but urged Ghanaians not to downplay the competence of those officers. "First of all, that was not the Presidents lectern," Ms Abubakar said in a radio interview on Accra based Asempa FM. Instead, she said there was another lectern at the banquet hall of the Jubilee House that visitors used when addressing the President. The rapper has apologised for filming the music video in Ghana's presidential palace, also known as Jubilee House. The star caused an uproar with the video, which saw him lip-syncing in the corridors and halls of the Jubilee House. He was accused of "desecrating" Jubilee House, while some members of Parliament raised questions about the potential security risks. In a statement, Meek Mill said he takes responsibility for the mistake. "To the people of Ghana, no video I drop is ever meant to disrespect the people of Ghana," he wrote. "The fastest way to make connection is thru music [sic] and I wanted to do that with displaying art. I'm in my 30s from America and didn't know much about the lifestyle." Mill, who was born Robert Rihmeek Williams in South Philadelphia, travelled to Ghana last month, after learning in an ancestry test that he was 18% Ghanaian. He performed at the Afro Nation concert in Accra, rode dirt bikes in the streets, and was later invited to see Jubilee House. The footage he filmed during his visit was uploaded on Instagram on Sunday, provoking outrage in Ghana. Some members of the opposition have called for the persons who allowed the filming to be sacked. "All those responsible for this despicable desecration of the Jubilee House by Meek Mill must be fired immediately," Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Member of Parliament for North Tongu wrote on Facebook. "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?" Mr Okudzeto said he would call for an inquiry into the incident when Parliament returns from recess. "We will insist that all those who masterminded this national disgrace and international embarrassment are brought to book," he told Accra-based Joy FM. A former deputy Chief of Staff, Alex Segbefia agreed that the video was "unnecessary and is unacceptable in any shape or form". Social activist Julius Kwame Anthony added that "seeing a foreign musician on the pulpit of the president" was a "shocking" incident that "is sinking our country to a new depth". "I do not think under any circumstance would it be allowed for a Ghanaian musician [like] Shatta Wale or Stonebwoy to be on the pulpit of the President of the United States. It would not happen". In his statement, Mill explained that he had simply been excited to share his experiences in Ghana with the world. Source: graphiconline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Jessica Payne, left, and her sister Calla Payne leave B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver, B.C., Thursday, Dec. 15, 2022. Their father Martin Payne, 60, was killed in 2019 by two men who escaped from a Vancouver Island prison. Zachary Armitage pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, while James Lee Busch was found guilty of the same charge in a trial. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck A protester carries a piece of wood simulating a weapon during a protest demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry in the Petion-Ville area of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Oct. 3, 2022.The Canadian Armed Forces have sent armoured vehicles to Haiti that were purchased by Port-au-Prince. Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly and Defence Minister Anita Anand say the equipment will help the Haitian National Police to try containing a gang crisis.THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Odelyn Joseph Elnaz Hajtamiri is shown in an Ontario Provincial Police handout photo. OPP have said three men dressed in police gear snatched 37-year-old Hajtamiri on the evening of Jan. 12, 2022 from a relative's house in Wasaga Beach, Ont., and loaded her into a white Lexus SUV. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-OPP **MANDATORY CREDIT** B.C. Premier David Eby attends a rally in North Vancouver, B.C., on Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023. The British Columbia Prosecution Service has launched a recruitment drive to fill new and vacant positions for Crown lawyers and staff throughout the province, part of a series of recent measures to address repeat violent offending. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck Images Sorry, there are no recent results for popular images. Photo: Matt Wragg. Roskopp is a well-known figure within the mountain biking industry. Rob Roskopp, a pivotal figure in the Santa Cruz brand, appears to have moved on from the Californian manufacturer. A former professional skateboarder, Roskopp joined Santa Cruz Skateboards before co-founding the Santa Cruz Bicycles with Rick Novak.Santa Cruz was sold to Dutch conglomerate Pon Holdings in 2015, which has a number of other major mountain bike brands in its portfolio. At the time of the sale, it was at that time announced that Roskopp would stay on as CEO, although that position is now filled by Joe Graney. The reasons for the split are unclear, but we've gotten confirmation that he's out.Rob's comments on his new Unno ride that "Every other bike manufacturer should be sweating" have some people wondering if he's involved with Cesar Rojo's Spanish brand, but we are told that's not the case.We've reached out to all the parties and will have some more updates soon. 888poker's Switch to a Weekly $100K Mystery Bounty Is Hugely Popular January 11, 2023 Matthew Pitt Editor 888poker's decision to swap the weekly Big Shot 109 Main Event to a $100,000 guaranteed Mystery Bounty Main Event has proven popular, with 1,079 players buying in and creating a $107,900 prize pool on January 8. 888poker has fully embraced the Mystery Bounty craze and is still the only online poker site running daily mystery bounty tournaments. The $100,000 guaranteed event is the biggest regular mystery bounty tournament found online at present. It is only set to get bigger if this weekend's tournament is anything to go by. $100,000 Mystery Bounty Prizes Mystery Bounty Amount No. of Prizes $10,000 1 $3,000 2 $1,000 6 $500 15 $200 30 $140 50 $38.46 $195 The mystery bounties are awarded in the $100,000 guaranteed event once the tournament reaches Level 18. This week saw a $10,000 top prize and eight others weighing in at $1,000 or more. "stockfish9" of Argentina was one of the lucky players to pull out a trio of bounties before they busted in 56th place. Those bounties tipped the scales at $3,378, a far greater haul than their $167 prize money. Twenty-eighth place finisher "ZapanE" collected two bounties, one being worth $3,000. However, the player of the night was "edtastylez92" who may have crashed out in 48th place for a $179 score, but the envelope they opened contained the $10,000 jackpot, meaning only the eventual champion took home more money! $100,000 Mystery Bounty Main Event Final Table Results Place Player Country Bounties Prize Total Prize 1 BrunsonsKid $1,532 $8,962 $10,495 2 biachettibh Brazil $430 $6,536 $6,967 3 Vaelluskala Finland $1,355 $4,805 $6,161 4 Eg1D1 Lithuania $910 $3,560 $4,471 5 luish64 Brazil $1,293 $2,634 $3,928 6 BigBen420 Germany $587 $1,968 $2,556 7 AAdriano888 Brazil $455 $1,482 $1,937 8 Denezhki Thailand $178 $1,123 $1,301 9 RiLucas Lithuania $216 $856 $1,073 The nine-handed final table took place on January 9, with the action streamed on the official 888poker Twitch channel. It took only ten minutes before the first finalist bit the dust. "Eg1D1" min-raised with pocket queens before calling the 14.8 big blind shove from "RiLucas" from the next seat across. RiLucas showed ace-king, and it was off to the races. A nine-high board meant the queens held and the tournament was down to eight players. The final eight became seven with the exit of "Denezhki" in another cooler hand. From early position, "BrunsonsKid" min-raised with what turned out to be pocket aces, meaning they had an easy call when Denezhki three-bet all-in for 12 big blinds with ace-king. Everyone else ducked out of the way, and Denezhki was drawing dead by the turn. Seventh place went to "AAdriano888" of Brazil, who had been nursing a shoving stack since play began. AAdriano888 looked down at ace-four and decided to commit their last six big blinds from early position. The move looked to have won the blinds and antes until Eg1D1 called with ten-nine of diamonds in the big blind. A nine on the flop proved enough to reduce the player count by one. 888poker Shares $2.5M GTD XL Winter Series Schedule The next elimination took place during the 40th level of the tournament which resulted in "BigBen420" heading home. Eg1D1 min-raised under the gun with ace-jack, "bianchettibh" three-bet to five big blinds with pocket nines from the next seat across, only for BigBen420 to jam their 5.1 big blinds into the middle from the big blind with ace-queen. Eg1D1 ducked out of the way, and bianchettibh called. The nines held, and BigBen420 rang his bell for the last time. Brazilian "luish64" was the next to fall, doing so at the hands of "Vaelluskala," who min-raised from the button with pocket jacks, and found a caller in luishi64 in the big blind holding jack-eight. The king-eight-five flop saw luishi64 check, Vaelluskala move all-in, and luishi64 call off their last 4.2 big blinds. Luishi64 needed some help from the turn or river but it never arrived. Lithuania's Eg1D1 busted in fourth. They were the shortest stack going into four-handed play and never managed to rectify that situation. Their participation ended after a battle of the blinds with BrunsonsKid did not go to plan. BrunsonsKid open-shoved with queen-nine, and Eg1D1 called off their eight big blind stack with the ducks, pocket deuces. A queen on the river sent Eg1D1 home. When Should I Move Up In Stakes? | Ask an 888poker Pro Heads-up was set when Finnish grinder Vaelluskala crashed out. Most of the damage was done when bianchettibh min-raised on the button with king-queen, and called the 4.8 big blind three-bet Vaelluskala made with pocket kings in the small blind. Vaelluskala led for 3.1 big blinds on the ten-ten-jack board before calling the 13.2 big blind shove from their opponent. A nine rolled off on the turn, improving bianchettibh to a straight, making them a 90% favorite. A deuce on the river meant Vaelluskala was left with only three big blinds. Those three big blinds doubled up on the next hand, but then Vaelluskala busted the hand after. BrunsonsKid held a 45 big blind to 35 big blind advantage going into heads-up. The chip lead swapped hands several times during the 20-minute one-on-one battle, but it was BrunsonsKid who emerged victoriously. The final hand saw BrunsonsKid shove with king-jack and bianchettibh call off their six big blinds with queen jack. BrunsonsKid spiked a king on the flop, and it proved enough to become the $100,000 Mystery Bounty Main Event champion. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print The Nassau County Republican Party called on Rep. George Santos (R-NY) to resign for lying to the districts voters. Video: Nassau County Republican Chairman Joseph Cairo said, Theres no place in the Nassau County Republican Committee, nor should he serve in public service, nor as an elected official. He is not welcome here at Republican headquarters for meetings or at any of our events. As I said, he disgraced the House of Representatives. We do not consider him one of our congress people. Today, on behalf of the Nassau county Republican committee, I am calling for his immediate resignation. For More Stories Like This Sign Up For Our Newsletter: Rep. Santos isnt going to resign. He appears to be in the House to grift and make as much money for himself before the voters or law enforcement remove him from office. The statement from the local Republican Party is a virtual political death sentence. The Republican Party in his district is telling people not to vote for him. Santos is something that both Democrats and Republicans seem to agree on. DCCC Spokesperson Nebeyatt Betre said in a statement provided to PoliticusUSA, George Santos is a fraud who doesnt deserve to be in Congress. Long Island voters know that, and thats why even his own party wants him to resign. He is an embarrassment to Long Island and represents the worst of politics. Even if Santos doesnt resign, it looks like his days are numbered in the House. Aiken, SC (29801) Today Mostly cloudy with some showers in the afternoon. High near 75F. Winds ESE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Thunderstorms likely. Low 61F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%. 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 historic deal with United Airlines for 787 jets helped Boeing Co. set a single-month record for orders of the North Charleston-built wide-body as the aerospace firm notched a solid end to 2022. United on Dec. 13 announced a firm order for 100 Dreamliners and the potential to buy 100 more during an event at Boeing's assembly campus off International Boulevard. Ten of those orders had been previously booked, so the other 90 plus a handful from other customers helped push overall gross orders for the Dreamliner to a record 101 in December. United said its new Dreamliners will open up long-haul markets in Europe, South America, Africa and Asia. They also will be used on some domestic routes. Orders for Boeing's 787 jets totaled 114 after cancellations and conversions for all of 2022, the planemaker announced Jan. 10. Boeing attributed the activity to the growing post-COVID demand for flights to far-flung international destinations that the 787 was designed to serve. Full-year Dreamliner orders totaled 139, with all but one of them for the mid-sized 787-9 model. The other, from an unidentified customer, was for the stretched 787-10 model. Last month's Dreamliner deliveries were at their highest rate since March 2020. The Arlington, Va.-based company handed over 10 Dreamliners in December and 31 through the last five months of 2022. All told, Boeing reported 774 orders for commercial planes last year, including 561 for the single-aisle 737 Max. Deliveries of all commercial jet models totaled 480. European manufacturer Airbus outpaced its U.S. rival in both categories. It reported Tuesday that it took orders for 820 planes last year while delivering 661. Boeing said it had a production backlog of 4,578 aircraft at year-end. "We worked hard in 2022 to stabilize 737 production, resume 787 deliveries, launch the 777-8 Freighter and, most importantly, meet our customer commitments," Stan Deal, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said in a written statement. "As the airline industry expands its recovery, we are seeing strong demand across our product family, particularly the highly efficient 737 MAX and the 787 Dreamliner. We will stay focused on driving stability within our operations and the supply chain as we work to deliver for our customers in 2023 and beyond." Boeing employed about 5,500 workers in the Charleston region as of last January, according to its most recent update. It will release its fourth-quarter and year-end financial results on Jan. 25. Charleston, SC (29403) Today Partly cloudy in the morning. Increasing clouds with periods of showers later in the day. High 74F. Winds ESE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Thunderstorms likely. Low 64F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Locally heavy rainfall possible. The place was the College of Charleston's Center for Continuing Education, Room 108. The date was Sept. 20, 1983, several decades before the advent of the Zoom or Teams meeting. The purpose was to guide small business owners and other borrowers through the process of applying for a commercial loan. One of the two seminar instructors that night was Kim Wilkerson, a few years out of college and an assistant vice president at Bankers Trust of South Carolina. Speed ahead about two decades and Wilkerson was still working the room and her way up in the industry when she reached a new pinnacle. In October 2004, she was named South Carolina president of Bank of America, the first woman to claim the title. And she's held onto it ever since. But last week, the Columbia native and Cayce resident one of the state's most most influential business leaders said she's stepping down, ending a long run with the financial services giant. Wilkerson announced on Twitter that she's retiring in March, calling it "pretty big" personal news, shortly after her Charlotte-based employer issued an official statement on Jan. 10. Wilkerson has been with the lender and its predecessors for 42 years, starting with the old Bankers Trust and continuing on with NCNB and NationsBank. Among other civic and volunteer roles, Wilkerson is the immediate past chair of the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce. Currently, she's chair of the board of trustees for Clemson University another first for a woman where she graduated with a financial management degree in 1980. She's also president for the Columbia market, where she is based. During Kims 42 distinguished years, she has made a lasting impact on communities across South Carolina, as well as across our company, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said in a statement. She'll also be the last to hold the job of statewide president for the lender. A spokeswoman said the bank has been retiring the title companywide, with just a few holdovers left. Bank of America now operates with market leaders in four geographic areas of South Carolina: Charleston to Hilton Head Island, the Upstate, the Midlands and the Grand Strand. Vaughn Reynolds will succeed Wilkerson as Columbia president. A former corporate finance attorney, he has been with Bank of America since 2011. He leads the Merrill Lynch financial advisory business in the Midlands and has been a market integration executive for the past three years. Wilkerson will continue to serve in her role as South Carolina president until her retirement in a couple of months. The bank has enabled me to make long-term, meaningful contributions to the community that will positively impact future generations," she said. "I am eager to continue the important work still to be done across our great state, and to work with Vaughn on a successful transition in Columbia." It was Wilkerson's first employer that provided her now-employer its sizable foothold in South Carolina, at a time when deregulatory forces were starting to reshape the lending business by allowing cross-border mergers. Two years after her 1983 loan seminar at the College of Charleston, Columbia-based Bankers Trust agreed to be sold to Bank of America ancestor NCNB Corp. The $307 million deal instantly gave the expansion-minded Charlotte buyer, then led by gung-ho Bennettsville native Hugh McColl, a 13 percent deposit market-share and 110 offices in 45 cities. In the online era, Bank of America isnt as big on brick-and-mortar as it once was. It now runs a slimmed-down South Carolina branch network of less than 70 locations but it hasn't shed much if any of its financial heft. Its ranked as the Palmetto State's second-largest bank based on its $20.6 billion in deposits as of mid-2022, just behind rival Wells Fargo. COLUMBIA The Richland County School District Two board faced criticism from parents on Jan. 10 after forming a committee to address the problems outlined in a scathing report from the Office of the State Inspector General. The report, released in November after a monthslong investigation with a four-year scope, called out members of the previous Northeast Columbia district school board for showing difficulty getting along with each other and with Superintendent Baron Davis. The report also pointed to unclear procurement codes and procedures in the district, and found the district lacked organization and consistency when reporting finances. The current Richland Two school board, with four newly elected members, formed a committee to address the report's recommendations for improvement during a special called meeting on Jan. 5 that drew dozens of parents and community members. They showed up out of concern the board would fire Davis, the district's first Black superintendent. The board spent two of the four hours in that Jan. 5 meeting discussing Davis' contract behind closed doors but took no action. Board members for the 28,000-student school district heard concerns about Davis' future, the Inspector General report and the board's leadership on Jan. 10. "No parent would leave their child inside a burning building," Richland Two parent Quinola Brown told the school board. "While we want oversight, fiscal responsibility and transparency, we will not sit on the sidelines and watch others set fire." Calls and letters from parents about Richland Two ultimately led Gov. Henry McMaster to call on the State Inspector General to probe the school district in June, acting on a new state law he had recently signed giving the state investigators that power. But Brown said she was concerned that board member Lashonda McFadden was named to the district's committee on the Inspector General report during the special called meeting because the report named McFadden as one of the previous board members who contributed to dysfunction that harmed the district. McFadden had incurred $2,400 in debt for school meals and fees to the district as of October, according to the report. Brown then noted that McFadden advocated for student meal debt forgiveness, suggesting the board member should have instead recused herself from the board's decision. During the Jan. 5 meeting, board Chairwoman Lindsay Agostini appointed newly elected board members Tamika Shuler Washington and Nikki Porter along with McFadden to the committee focused on making changes according to the report. Parents also voiced concern over teacher retention and recruitment on Jan. 10, citing the report's mention of over 80 teacher vacancies and criticizing the Richland Two administration for spending more money on recruitment initiatives than on incentivizing teachers who already work for the district. Another Richland Two parent, Diane Williams, told the board she has a "grave concern" about the school board's ability to keep a drama-free work environment and that those concerns were highlighted by the Jan. 5 meeting. Williams said the two hours spent on Superintendent Davis' contract showed that the district is focused on personal issues rather than on students' needs. "I thought with the new year coming in, it would be different," Williams said, adding that she hopes to see the board show support for Davis going forward. "We're watching everything that you're doing and we're very concerned," she said. "Please, try and work together." Because Brown's comments were made during the public participation portion of the meeting, during which participants are asked not to call out board members by name, board member Monica Scott said Agostini should have stopped Brown. Agostini in turn defended Brown's comments. "Should members of the public like to address us and I apologize to Mrs. McFadden, but we are elected officials," Agostini said. "Our constituents should be able to address their concerns with us publicly." Click here for more news from Columbia, S.C. GILBERT A Lexington School District One elementary school could soon be used to teach cops instead of kids. The old Gilbert Elementary School building was left vacant several years ago after Lexington One closed the school and redistributed students between one existing school and another one that was built as a part of the district's 2018 bond referendum. The school is the site proposed to house the State Law Enforcement Agency's school safety training program. "This place is the best training site we have ever been to," Capt. Wayne Freeman, SLEDs training lead for the statewide active shooter programs, told the Lexington One Board. "Hands down." A permanent home in the old Gilbert school would allow SLED's existing school safety training program to improve and expand, Freeman said. The move comes as concern for safety in schools has inflated, with an increasing number of incidents in recent years. Since its closing, plans for Gilbert elementary have been unclear, Lexington One spokeswoman Libby Roof said. "There was some money in the bond referendum for that location," she said. "How that was gonna be used was not completely set in stone." For some time the board considered opening a preschool in the old elementary or tearing the building down, Roof said. SLED's school safety training began more than 20 years ago but ramped up in 2012 when the agency first received funding from the federal Homeland Security Department to expand the state program, SLED Chief Mark Keel told the Lexington One Board in a Nov. 15 meeting. The program, specifically South Carolina's active shooter training, has been recognized as one of the best in the world. In hopes of continuing this success, Gov. Henry McMaster has included several million dollars to centralize and expand school safety training in his plans for the state budget this coming year. NORTH CHARLESTON The holiday season might have passed, but its never too late to plan ahead, especially when purchasing a gift that is supposed to last a lifetime. Thats the promise made by Smithey Ironware Co., a company shipping cast iron and carbon steel cookware nationwide from its headquarters at the former Charleston Naval Base. It will outlive you and thats intentional, said Will Copenhaver, Smitheys Vice President of Marketing and Sales. Its a business based on making things that last. Founder Isaac Morton started Smithey in 2015 with just one 10-inch cast iron skillet. The companys products are now sold in nearly all 50 states, with Charleston establishments like Verns, High Wire Distilling and Lenoir on Smitheys client list. Morton credits a Griswold cast iron pan he received as a gift for jumpstarting a longtime interest in vintage cookware. I just thought it was a really nice piece of cookware because it was polished and I liked the branding on the other side, Morton said. It was really different from cast iron as I had known it. Morton helped Smithey add a second skillet by 2018, and the company has expanded its operations and sales since. Smithey now offers close to 20 cast-iron and carbon steel skillets, grill pans, woks and Dutch ovens online and in specialty stores such as the Preservation Society of Charleston Shop on King Street. Though Smithey's two biggest sales markets are in California and Texas, the business is still rooted in Charleston-based craftsmanship. Smitheys signature cast iron products are milled smooth from gritty raw castings at the companys North Charleston warehouse during a multi-step process. Metal and polishing is first removed in a machine that creates pressure and causes steel to chip away. In a matter of three minutes, Smitheys CNC (computer numerical control) machinery sheds about four pounds of steel off its pans, raw material that is later sold. Cast iron cookware then heads to a tumbling machine that further smooths the surface. From there, its on to a seasoning station, where pans are brushed with grapeseed oil and placed in the oven for about 40 minutes. Cast iron cookware transforms from a gray color to copper by the end of this process, though with use, Smithey pans will darken like many cast-iron pans on the market. While cast iron is made by pouring molten liquid into a mold, Smitheys line of carbon steel products are hand-forged by the talented blacksmiths at Robert Thomas Iron Design, currently located nearby on the former Charleston Naval Base. The decade-old company recently announced plans to expand its operations in Charleston County following a $2.9 million investment. We intentionally dont take labor out of it because we want peoples hands on it, said Eric Doyesburg, a Robert Thomas employee. Thats what makes the pans we produce for them have the look and feel they do. Seasoned Smithey products are ready for use upon purchase. After cooking with the vessel, Morton suggests scraping off any residual food bits and rinsing with a little soap. Dry the pan and apply a tiny bit of oil before putting it away. I always think of seasoning as its just like a coat of paint on your house, Morton said. Its there to protect it and keep it from rusting or oxidizing. Morton stresses the fact that these pans are built to last, meaning they arent fragile. If a cast iron or carbon steel product does need some work, Smitheys restoration shop is there to help bring your cast iron back to life. The company's commitment to this pan preservation extends to other brands of vintage cookware. As long as it is cast iron or carbon steel, Smithey will restore it. For more information on Smithey Ironware Co., visit smithey.com. GEORGETOWN Signs will be banned from county meetings and disruptive behavior could warrant an attendance ban of up to a year under an ordinance given preliminary approval by Georgetown County Council on Jan. 10. Without going into specifics, the council cited "several meetings and incidents" as its reasons for considering the ordinance. The ordinance will need one more vote to take effect. County Council Chairman Louis Morant said the ordinance mainly functions as a guide for the county's committees, not necessarily the council itself. "We kind of reviewed some of the procedures and we know council has rules set aside for council's operation, but when we looked at it we noted that there does not seem to be any rules, procedure regarding our committees," Morant said. "So something needed to be done to have some type of decorum, some type of control within those particular meetings." The ordinance outlines multiple causes for people speaking publicly at meetings to be removed, including personal attacks, directing remarks to the audience, exchanging words with another public speaker and leaving the podium to approach the dais or a staff member. "It is in the best interest of good government and the County of Georgetown and the Citizens of Georgetown County that the meetings and business of the Georgetown Council and its several Boards and Commissions be conducted decently, orderly, respectfully, and lawfully," according to a county document. The chairperson of the board, council or commission holding the meeting would be allowed to ban an individual removed from attending meetings for up to one year. They could also refer the incident to law enforcement. "(T)he laws of public meetings and freedom of information do not prohibit the removal of any person who willfully disrupts a meeting to the extent that orderly conduct of the meeting is seriously compromised," the ordinance reads. Under the ordinance, signs would be forbidden from meetings unless used as an aid to a presentation to council. It also forbids masks from being worn, except those worn for health and safety. Morant said that, to his knowledge, the ordinance was not driven by any particular incident in the recent past. "These committees are volunteers and if they don't know what the procedures are, everything is just whatever happens," Morant said. "I don't think that's fair to them." If the ordinance passes, the county would join the city of Georgetown in revisiting its public comment ordinance in the past year. Georgetown City Council moved in March to split its public comment period in two one period at the beginning of meetings for agenda items and another following executive session for non-agenda items. Georgetown Mayor Carol Jayroe said the change was made only to expedite meetings, while Georgetown NAACP Branch President Marvin Neal argued that it amounted to the council "telling us, as Black people, that we dont want to hear you, the hell with you, and we dont care. GREENVILLE In back-to-back unanimous votes, Greenville County Council elected Councilman Dan Tripp as chairman and Councilwoman Liz Seman as vice chair in a brief organizational meeting Jan. 10. The decisions set a tone that Tripp said would be a theme for his time as chair to bring peace to the council after what he called two tumultuous years. Ive seen in the last couple of weeks especially a collective sigh of relief, Tripp said. I think were going to see peace on council and even those members who may not have been 100 percent on our team, they understood what was coming down the pike and they ended up being supportive of that. Its a new day on council. Seman ran unsuccessfully for chair in 2020 and is in the midst of her fourth term on the council representing District 24. She said she had expected other council members to be nominated for the role as well and was grateful for the support of the other 11 members of the council. Regardless of what seat that were in, regardless of what committees were on, my hope is that the tone that were setting is we want to be collegial, we want to work together. The people of the county deserve that, she said. She said she hoped for unity on the council and for more engagement from citizens in the process of local government. Seman said she expected this iteration of the council to work more collaboratively to solve problems and to use committees and committee of the whole meetings to workshop issues before they land before the full council. One of the things that frustrated me was that things would get to second reading and things would get put on hold or people would have questions and it was vetted in committee, Seman said. So Im hopeful that well be a little bit better in the strategic use of our time in committees and workshops to work things out and keep things moving forward. Tripp, in remarks following the leadership votes, said he is committed to be a servant, not a command-and-control leader. My goal in the last six months in talking to you, he said, addressing the council, is to bring council together so we can do the peoples business. How the vote transpired Shortly after previous chairman Willis Meadows was defeated in the Republican Primary in June, Councilman Ennis Fant approached Tripp with a proposal for Tripp to lead the council. Fant and Tripp met weekly after that and formed a coalition of sitting and new council members with a goal to bring peace to the council and to debate policies and disagree without being disagreeable, Tripp said. At the time, not all council members backed the plan. In December, Councilman Stan Tzouvelekas presented his own plan for how he would lead the council. In it, he detailed a number of conservative issues he felt the council should support, along with a detailed proposal for how he would structure committee assignments. Tzouvelekas said he wasnt able to generate the support needed to become chair. The first-term councilman did not receive a nomination Jan. 10. I didnt have the support, Tzouvelekas said. He said he supports Tripp as chair and wants peace, but our peace needs to support the Republican platform. Weve got to work with him, Tzouvelekas said. We need to work together to help Greenville County. Tripp and Seman each said they expected to face other nominees coming into the meeting. Councilman Chris Harrison, who Tzouvelekas had proposed as his choice for vice chair, said he was grateful for the support but withdrew his name from consideration and nominated Seman. Until this past weekend, Fant had been considered for the role of vice chair, numerous council members confirmed to The Post and Courier. But local Republican Party leaders mounted a campaign for council members to support a Republican in the spot rather than Fant, a Democrat. Jeff Davis, chairman of the Greenville County GOP, said the 10 Republicans with a supermajority on the council should choose Republicans for the leadership posts, not a coalition of more moderate Republicans and the two Democrats. Afterward, Fant said the local body doesnt play partisan politics but that a number of Republican council members caved to the pressure campaign. Fant said he chose to step aside and he supported Seman because of her seniority on the council and because the council chose her, as the lone female on the council, for the leadership position. Seman said it was interesting that she is now the only woman on the council and said her philosophy has always been that you can lead from anywhere. Each members vote counts the same and each council member answers to the voters in their district. We are the government for the people in our districts, so thats the important piece, she said. Whats ahead in January County Councils first business meeting of the year will be held Jan. 24 when it considers rule changes for the upcoming session. As part of that process, Tripp said he will present a plan to restructure and add to the councils list of committees. Tripp said he wants to expand the functions of the public works and infrastructure committee to include more duties. Among those would be input into the countys roads and bridges, sewer, housing and other infrastructure needs. He said he would like the committee to act as a sort of clearinghouse for ideas to tackle growth in the county. Seman, who has served as chair of the public works and infrastructure committee, said she is in favor of the changes and for bringing committees together to tackle issues jointly. Tripp also plans to introduce a new communications committee that would engage with the countys municipalities and other government agencies and would help share the work the county government performs. One of the powers given to the chair is naming council members to committees and assigning chairs for each committee. The chair can also appoint members to serve on various intragovernmental boards, such as the Greenville Pickens Area Transportation Study committee, the South Carolina Technology and Aviation Center board or the board of the Greenville Area Development Corporation. Tripp said he would likely present his choices for committee assignments at the end of the meeting Jan. 24. Kingstree, SC (29556) Today A mix of clouds and sun in the morning followed by cloudy skies during the afternoon. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 78F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Thunderstorms. Low 61F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Locally heavy rainfall possible. COLUMBIA Gov. Henry McMaster touted South Carolina's booming economy during his second inaugural address as he urged lawmakers to make investments necessary to increase prosperity while preserving the state's unique beauty. The 75-year-old Republican governor opened his address with a NASCAR analogy. "If we were at the famous Darlington raceway, these early days of 2023 would be the moment we hold our breath just before the green flag is dropped," he told the crowd on Statehouse grounds Jan. 11. "Much history has been made here, and we are about to make some more." McMaster starts his second full term with state coffers bursting with billions in surplus available to spend, along with record reserves. Keeping the economy flourishing will require providing South Carolinians an excellent education, training workers for job opportunities and continuing to make "transformative investments" in highways and rural water and sewer systems, he said. "I view our foundations for great prosperity and happiness as resting on three pillars: economic strength, education and our natural environment," McMaster said on a temperate day in the mid-50s on the back Statehouse steps. His 20-minute address laid out several of the spending recommendations he released last week, including raising teachers' minimum salaries by $2,500 toward a goal of a $50,000 floor for first-year teachers by 2026, noting the minimum was $30,113 when he took office six years ago. The line about setting a $50,000 goal was among 10 times the crowd interrupted McMaster with applause. Applause also erupted when he trumpeted last year's bipartisan law providing the largest state income tax cut in South Carolina's history; called for continuing to support and "fund the police;" and backed legislation keeping career criminals "behind bars and not out on bail." 'Born and unborn' The phrasing that got the most attention a standing ovation from many and a head-shaking from others was a not-so-veiled reaction to last week's state Supreme Court ruling that threw out the 2021 law he signed that banned abortion around the sixth week of pregnancy. "We must also ensure that the public has confidence in whom and how all our judges are selected, by making the process more transparent and accountable so that every South Carolinian, born and unborn, may enjoy life, liberty and happiness," he said. While the single sentence never mentioned abortion or the ruling that stunned the Legislature's GOP majority, the audience knew what he was referencing. "He handled that well," Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, among those who stood, said after the address. "It was clear what he was saying. He didn't use a sledgehammer to kill the gnat." The Edgefield Republican is among GOP leaders still poring over the justices' five separate opinions in the 3-2 split decision and figuring out how to respond legislatively. Debates on anti-abortion proposals of some sort are certain this session, as is an unusually heated election to replace the majority opinion's lead author, Justice Kaye Hearn, who officially retired shortly before the ruling's release. Three judges on the state Court of Appeals are vying to replace her. A vote by a joint assembly of the Legislature is scheduled Feb. 1. Democrats who have spent years opposing Republicans' anti-abortion pushes called the comment near the end of McMaster's speech unnecessary. "The line could have been omitted," said Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg, the House's longest-serving member. "In a speech that was generally collaborative and conciliatory, I thought it was a throwaway line that wasnt necessary because everybody knows how strongly pro-life he is." 'Preserve and protect' All five of South Carolina's living former governors attended the ceremonies: Democrats Richard Riley (1979-1987) and Jim Hodges (1999-2003), and Republicans David Beasley (1995-99), Mark Sanford (2003-2011), and Nikki Haley (2011-17). McMaster's runaway reelection win last November put him on a path to being the longest-serving elected governor in South Carolina history. His tenure began in January 2017, when Haley became the United Nations ambassador for President Donald Trump, and then-Lt. Gov. McMaster ascended to the role as South Carolina's CEO. A lifelong South Carolinian, McMaster gushed with pride over the state's natural beauty "from the mountains to the sea." "I truly believe that if we cannot find peace and comfort in the pine forests and tidal creeks of South Carolina, we'll just have to wait until we get to Heaven," he said to applause and laughter. But with new businesses, residents and tourists flocking to the state, preserving what makes South Carolina unique requires attention now, he continued. "The question today is: Will anyone recognize South Carolina in 100 years? Will we allow our state's culturally and environmentally significant structures, monuments, lands, islands, and waterways to be lost forever to overdevelopment, mismanagement, flooding, erosion or from storm damage?" he said. "Or will we preserve and protect our history and our environment, and the public's access to them? This is our moment to act, while we still can." Economic growth and preservation can and must be accomplished simultaneously, he said, echoing what he said throughout his campaign. He ended by pledging to continue his collaborative approach with legislators using his oft-repeated phrase of using "communication, collaboration, and cooperation" to get things done. "Let us set our state on a course that will provide the opportunity for prosperity, success, and happiness for generations of South Carolinians," he said in conclusion. "The best is yet to come." Inaugural ceremonies began with a prayer service at First Presbyterian Church, two blocks from Statehouse grounds. Historically, the service has been at Trinity Episcopal across the street. But McMaster has broken from tradition to hold it at his church. The fanfare continued with an open house at the Governor's Mansion in the afternoon. The final festivities were an inaugural ball at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), regulator of the financial services industry in the United Kingdom, imposed monetary penalties totalling 7.7 million on the UK unit of Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) for serious weaknesses in its anti-money laundering (AML) systems and controls between October 2014 and July 2019, the watchdog said Tuesday in a statement. The sanction signals the second time the lender would face punitive action touching on AML controls, having incurred a fine of 525,000 in August 2013 for serious and systemic failings. FCA noted that GTB fell short of the obligation to track customer transactions and business dealings in conformity to expected standard, adding insiders and external sources continually pointed the flaws to GTB, which refrained from making moves to address them. The financial institution ceased from signing up new customers beginning from early 2018, according to the FCA, the year during which GTB consented to broader voluntary limitations on business, considering the regulators ongoing worries. GT Bank should have acted quickly to put in place adequate AML controls following its fine in 2013 but it failed to do so. GT Bank did not develop a plan that was capable of addressing its AML weaknesses, exposing it and the broader market to financial crime risks for a prolonged period, said Mark Steward, FCAs executive director of Enforcement and Market Oversight. Firms must protect themselves and those dealing with them from financial crime risks, especially money laundering. The FCA is determined to ensure the market for financial services is safe, clean and trusted with robust systems and controls in place to stymie financial crime. The document said GT Bank has not disputed the FCAs findings and agreed to settle, which means it has qualified for a 30 per cent discount. The fine would have been in the neighbourhood of 11 million had it not been discounted. The watchdog, which regulates the conduct of 50,000 companies in the country, expects functional AML controls to be installed by the firms it oversees to curb threats from persons and organisations using financial services firms to bypass checks aimed at blocking them from enjoying illicitly acquired assets. ALSO READ: GTB suspends international transaction on naira cards Gbenga Alade, the Managing Director of GTBank UK, assured stakeholders and the general public that necessary steps have been taken to address and resolve the identified gaps. As a responsible financial services institution that is committed to best practices, GTBank UK takes its AML obligations extremely seriously. We note with sincere regret the FCAs findings regarding AML control gaps in our operations in the past and we are very sorry for this, he said. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print An illegal oil connection terminal on the Trans Niger Pipeline (TNP) has been uncovered in the Nonwa Uedume community of Tai local government area, Rivers state. According to TheCable, the discovery team was led to the site on Monday by Mbakpone Okpe, chairman of Tai LGA, Rivers State. Others present at the site were security operatives of the Nigerian army, officers of the SSS, the Tai local security taskforce and pipeline surveillance contractors. Speaking to journalists at the site, Mr Okpe said the illegal connection was discovered following a tip-off and called for collaboration between his team and the government. This discovery cost me money to get the intel (information) and this access. That does not mean that Shell does not have operators that are doing surveillance for them. The federal government also has companies doing surveillance for them. I need to partner with them. I called Shell after I discovered this on their line. I wish they would come so that we can jointly collaborate to clamp down on it. It is not only discovering it but also closing it so that it doesnt recur. Since then, Shell has not come. It is part of the problem I have been having with them, Mr Okpe said. He added that there are a lot of bunkering operations going on in some of the communities around the area. I cannot risk my resources and my personnel in discovering this, (and) at the end of the day the owners are not coming forward to take responsibility, he said. This thing you are seeing happening here if anybody tells you that the larger number of the population here are not aware of it, it is a lie. If you go beyond here to the far end, you will see another spot like this. So, how are we responding to it to ensure that people who are doing this thing will know that there are owners and the owners are protecting their property? Abimbola Essien-Nelson, media relations manager at Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC), told TheCable that a joint investigation team led by the industry regulator had been sent to visit the illegal connection site for investigation and the company awaits the signed-off report of the JIV. The illegal connection point on the SPDC joint venture pipeline is also undergoing repairs, she said. Meanwhile, SPDC seeks the support of stakeholders including community people to report any illegal activities around SPDC joint venture oil installations to SPDC or relevant government agencies. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print At the end of October 2022, the Somali capital Mogadishu suffered another suicide bomb attack, which killed 121 people and injured more than 300. According to United Nations sources, in 2022 alone, 613 civilians died and 948 were wounded in attacks by the Islamist al-Shabaab terrorist group. Last years death toll was more than 30 per cent higher than in 2021, making 2022 the most deadly for the country since 2017. Somalias experience is not an isolated case. There has been a surge in terrorist activities on the continent characterised by escalations in the Sahel, Lake Chad Basin, northern Mozambique and parts of North Africa. The rise has occurred despite the efforts of governments and regional and international organisations, including the African Union (AU), to contain and degrade violent extremist groups over the past two decades. Africas continued struggle with terrorism suggests that the responses of the AU and its member states do not match the nature of the threat much of which is not new to the continent. Concerns in the late 1990s well before the 9/11 attacks prompted the Organisation of African Unitys (OAU) adoption of the 1999 Algiers Convention on the Prevention and Combating of Terrorism. The convention, now 23 years old, noted the scope and seriousness of the phenomenon and the dangers it poses to the stability and security of states. Leaders expressed their determination to eliminate it in all its forms and manifestations. Taking up the baton from the OAU, the AU developed the 2002 Plan of Action on the Prevention and Combating of Terrorism. The plan sought to implement the Algiers Convention through better cross-border collaboration on policing and surveillance. In 2011 an African Model Anti-terrorism Law defined terrorist offences, including money laundering and financing of terrorist groups, hostage-taking and terrorist bombings. Combating terrorism is also a key part of the AUs Silencing the Guns by 2030 plan. The AU has staged various peace support operations, including the AU Transition Mission in Somalia and the Regional Cooperation Initiative for the elimination of the Lords Resistance Army. The AU Peace and Security Council has also coordinated anti-terrorism deployments with regional economic communities, including the Multinational Joint Task Force against Boko Haram, the G5 Sahel Joint Force and the recent Southern African Development Community Mission in Mozambique. These efforts have in some cases liberated territories held by violent extremists, degraded groups and contained the situation. But despite the AUs commitment and a massive rollout of material, financial and human resources, terrorism in Africa has deepened and expanded, with devastating consequences. In addition to al-Shabaab in East Africa, Boko Haram in West Africa has extended its reach since its rise in the 2000s and splintered into factions, quickly adapting its tactics to government responses. The spread and increasing intensity of the threat point to two primary gaps in Africas efforts. First, the endurance of the phenomenon can be traced to a complex cocktail whose main ingredient deep-seated governance challenges remains untreated. This has enabled international terror groups such as Islamic State and al-Qaeda to become entrenched in Africa, giving them space to evolve despite efforts to degrade them. According to the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, the steady growth in capacity among groups, resulting partly in their willingness to take on state security forces, explains the escalation of their activities. Second, regional and continental responses remain largely reactive and heavily militaristic, with insufficient attention on sustainable, preventive measures that deal with the problems origins. One reason may be that such long-term strategies depend on strong governance structures, which tend to be lacking in the areas most affected by terrorism. So while new terrorism-related threats continue to emerge, existing approaches do not deal with the root causes. These challenges together with the lack of political will to act boldly, weak institutional structures and limited resources create an imbalance between threat and reaction, which explains the rise in insecurity. At its May 2022 special summit, the AUs most recent decisions on curbing terrorism included making the African Standby Force (ASF) fully functional and establishing within it a counter-terrorism unit. Member states also called for better coordination between the AU and regional economic communities on the ASF to improve peace support operations. An agreement was also reached on setting up an AU ministerial committee on counter-terrorism to coordinate, monitor and evaluate the implementation of decisions. The summit called on member states to expedite the signing, ratification and implementation of instruments to combat terrorism. And it reiterated the AUs commitment to a comprehensive strategic plan of action for the continent. While these efforts are laudable, they are inadequate. Reducing insecurity caused by violent extremism requires the AU to prioritise national, regional and continental non-military responses that deal with root causes and prevent the emergence of new threats. To achieve this, good governance must be placed front and centre, and measures taken to deal with the poverty and marginalisation that enables violent extremism to flourish. These steps can be complemented with robust security force action to degrade existing threats. But whether Africas leaders have the sustained political will to take bold decisions, implement existing frameworks and pursue long-term solutions is unclear. By PSC Report team, ISS (This article was first published by ISS Today, a Premium Times syndication partner. We have their permission to republish). Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print For failing to submit its annual accounts, authorities in the United Kingdom, UK, have struck off Next International (UK) Limited, a company largely owned by Nigerian top politician and presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi. Checks by PREMIUM TIMES revealed that the company was removed from the record in September 2021 following a first and second gazette notice of compulsory strike off of the entity. In the UK, a compulsory strike off is imposed on a company by creditors or by the Companies House for non-submission of annual accounts or failure to notify Companies House about a change of official registered office address. Once a company is struck off, its details will be removed from Companies House register and the company ceases to exist. Next International (UK) Limited failed to submit its annual accounts for the year 2020, hence, the company was struck off and dissolved in 2021. Before a company is struck off, however, the UK requires the Companies Houses Registrar to send at least two formal letters to the company warning that a failure to file its annual accounts will lead to its removal from the register. According to UK Liquidators, a financial consulting firm, if Companies House receives no reply to its letters, it will then publish a first strike off notice in the Gazette, which is the official journal of public record. The first official notice to strike off Next International was issued on 22nd June 2021, then a second notice was given on 31st August 2021. A final gazette to dissolve the company was issued on 7th September 2021. Before its final dissolution, records show that for four consecutive years (2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020) the UK Companies House had to always issue a first gazette notice for compulsory strike-off before Next International filed its annual account. Then immediately the company submitted its annual accounts, a gazette will be issued to discontinue the compulsory strike-off action. A private limited company, Next International was incorporated on 16t May 1996. Mr Obi was listed as a director while his wife, Margaret, served as secretary. Next International (Nigeria) Limited (with 999 ordinary shares) and Mr Obi (with one ordinary share) were listed as shareholders. Records show that the company was registered as business agents involved in the sale of a variety of goods in England and Wales. The firm reported taking a mortgage from Lloyds TSB Bank Plc for a property on 53 Clyde Road, Croydon. On 16 May 2008, 14 months after assuming duties as governor of Anambra State, Mr Obi resigned as the director of Next International. He took office on March 17, 2006 but continued to serve as a director of the company in violation of Nigerian law. In Nigeria, a person is statutorily required to withdraw from engaging in or directing a private business, except if it is farming, upon becoming a public officer, Section Six (6) of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act provides. The former governor admitted to PREMIUM TIMES in 2021 that he did not declare these companies and the funds and properties they held in his asset declaration filings with the Code of Conduct Bureau, the Nigerian government agency that deals with the issues of corruption, conflict of interest, and abuse of office by public servants. At the time, Mr Obi said he was unaware that the law expected him to declare assets or companies he jointly owns with his family members or anyone else. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print 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. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print President Muhammadu Buhari has finally signed into law the Mental Health Bill 2021 after two failed attempts at overhaul in 2003 and 2013. The bill, which was harmonised by both the upper and lower chambers of the National Assembly in 2021, is the first legislative reform adopted in the field since the countrys independence, and will also replace the Lunacy Act of 1958. The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Ibrahim Oloriegbe, confirmed the development in a post on his Twitter handle. Mr Oloriegbe, who defeated the former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, during the 2019 general election, is a first-timer in the upper legislative chamber, and sponsor of the bill. In December 2022, a memorandum obtained by PREMIUM TIMES and signed by the Clerk to the National Assembly (CNA), Olatunde Ojo, showed that the National Assembly passed the bill and forwarded it to the President on 28 November 2022 for assent in consonance with the provisions of the Acts Authentication Act Cap. A2, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004. However, in a joint statement, a civil society organisation Nigerian Mental Health and other campaigners commended the president for assenting to the bill, noting that the bill will establish human rights protections for those with mental health. The body urges the National Assembly to ensure gazetted copies of the bill are available to citizens, so they know their new legal rights. The group said organisations and professionals within the sector are eagerly anticipating that the bill will bring about the desired changes in mental health management in Nigeria. More on the bill The statement by NMH further reads: President Muhammad Buhari made history by signing the National Mental Health Bill 2021 into law, marking a major milestone in Nigerias efforts to improve support for psychosocial wellbeing. The regulation assented to on Thursday, January 5, establishes human rights protections for those with mental health conditions, such as banning discrimination in housing, employment, medical, and other social services. It also guarantees that those receiving treatments have the right to participate in formulating their medical plans and cannot have forced treatment, seclusion, or other methods of restraint common practices in mental health facilities without appropriate safeguards. It noted that other provisions of the bill include establishing a new Mental Health Fund, a Mental Health Department in the Federal Ministry of Health, and a Mental Health Assessment Committee to protect stakeholders. Additionally, it expands community-based coverage and improves the care and management of those with mental health conditions. Oloriegbe, others speak Speaking on the significance of bill, Mr Oloriegbe, who sponsored it, said the proposal was intended to protect persons with mental health needs, and establish National Agency for Mental and Substance Abuse Services, for effective management of mental health in Nigeria and other related matters. He added: I further lamented on the absence of mental health law in Nigeria other than the Regional Lunacy Law of 1918, which in context and content violated fundamental human rights of persons with mental health and psychosocial disabilities. In his comments, the President of the National Association of Clinical Psychologists, Gboyega Abikoye, said the Past legislation was outdated and inhumane, which was based on the regional Lunacy Act of 1958. ALSO READ: Experts urge Nigerian citizens to push for improved healthcare While there is still a long way to go in developing the mental health sector in Nigeria, this law is a step in the right direction, added Mr Abikoye. This legislation was a product of decades of advocacy from diverse organisations, said Chime Asonye, Founder of Nigerian Mental Health, a network of leaders and organisations in the field. The mental health community came together to speak with one voice in support of the bill. We now need executive implementation, state governments to domesticate this legislation, and those contesting for elected office to make mental health a national priority, Mr Asonye added. About Nigerian mental health Nigerian Mental Health is a network of leaders and organisations in the field that helped lead advocacy efforts for the passage of the legislation, including coordinating an open letter to government officials signed by over 30 of the countrys leading mental health organizations and professional associations. The network has also called on the government to enact other critical reforms for those with mental health conditions, such as decriminalising attempted suicide, which is currently a felony punishable by imprisonment. They point to studies that indicate that criminalisation discourages the help-seeking behaviour of those facing psychological issues and will challenge the effective dispensation of the Mental Health Bill. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said there are a total of 93,469,008 eligible voters in its voters register after the final cleanup that includes the removal of double registration and underage voters. This figure, the commission said, was arrived at after the review of 54,264 objections raised by Nigerians following the initial display of the voter register on its website in November 2022. INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, disclosed these at a meeting with members of political parties at the commissions headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday. Mr Yakubu also reiterated that the 2023 elections would hold as planned as it does not contemplate any adjustment to the election timetable. The 2023 General Election will hold as scheduled, he said. Any report to the contrary is not the official position of the Commission. He said the security agencies have repeatedly assured the commission of adequate protection of personnel, materials and processes. Mr Yakubu, who assured the political parties of constant engagement, also presented the demography of the eligible voters in the commissions voters register. Demography According to the figures he provided, the total number of eligible voters rose by 9,464,924 or 11.3 per cent from the 84,004,084 recorded in the 2019 general elections to 93,469,008 eligible voters in 2023. Mr Yakubu said 49,054,162 or 52.5 per cent of the total voters are male while the remaining 44,414,846 or 47.5 per cent are female voters. He added that 37,060,399 or 39.65 per cent of voters are between the ages of 18 and 34; while 33,413,591 or 35.75 per cent are middle-aged persons between the ages of 35 and 49. The INEC chairman also said 17,700,270 or 18.94 per cent of the total registered voters are elderly voters between the ages of 50 and 69, just as the remaining 5,294,748 or 5.66 per cent are senior citizens above the age of 70. He further revealed that students make up the largest category at 26,027,481 or 27.8 per cent of all registered voters, in terms of occupational distribution. This is followed by Farmers/Fishermen who constitute 14,742,554 or 15.8 per cent of the total population, while 13,006,939 or 13.9 per cent identify as housewives. While Mr Yakubu stated that the data on people living with disability was not collected during previous registrations, he revealed that the commission registered 85,362 persons with a disability during the last Continuous Voter Registration exercise. According to him, 21,150 or 24.5 per cent are people living with Albinism; 13,387 or 15.7 per cent with physical impediments and 8,103 or 9.5 per cent are visually impaired. Also, Lagos has the highest number of voters with 7, 060,195, followed by Kano State with 5,921,370 and Kaduna with 4,335,208 registered voters. Ekiti State has the least registered voters with 987,647, followed by Bayelsa with 1,056,862 and Yobe with 1,485,146 registered voters. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Arrangements are in top gear to mark the 7th year coronation anniversary of the Oluwo of Iwoland, Abdulrosheed Akanbi. The event scheduled to hold at Marriott Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos, on Monday, 16 January, will witness the unveiling of his book Code of Kings said to have been written to register a pathway for the black race in the traditional institution. Nigerians from all walks of life will grace the occasion, organizers say. The Chief Executive Officer of Peculiar Ultimate Concern Limited, Abel Lanre Adeleke, will chair the event while Taiwo Afolabi, the chairman of the Sifax Group will be chief launcher. A statement released by Oluwo through his press secretary, Alli Ibraheem, said other dignitaries expected at the occasion include President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammed Buhari; his Vice, Yemi Osinbajo; business mogul, Aminu Dantata; the Sultan of Sokoto, Saad Abubakar; the Ooni of Ife, Adeyeye Ogunwusi and President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote. Also expected to attend the event are Governors Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, Ademola Adeleke of Osun; Seyi Makinde of Oyo; Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo; Dapo Abiodun of Ogun and Abiodun Oyebanji of Ekiti. The immediate past Governor of Osun State, Gboyega Oyetola and a number of other governors from Northern part of Nigeria are also expected to grace the event, the Oluwo said. Notable royal fathers, serving federal and state legislators, captains of industries, friends of Oluwo from Canada, United Kingdom, leading entrepreneurs, leading academics, veteran journalists are also billed to attend the August event. The book will form part of Oluwos contribution to learning, knowledge and history, with the strong hope, that the it will correct some distortions in our rich history and liberate Nigerian youth from mental slavery, the statement said. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke has narrated how he was cheated in the governorship election of 2018. Gboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was declared winner of that election following rerun polls in some polling units. Mr Oyetola later lost his second term bid to Mr Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) last year. But when Mr Adeleke received the leadership of the Methodist Church of Nigeria in his office on Tuesday, he insisted that the election of 2018 was marred by irregularities. The governor told the Christian leaders that he won the election but he was cheated. He claimed that despite being cheated, he still has faith in God that he would be governor of the state someday. When I look at my story, God has been so faithful to me. My own story is different, I always defeat an incumbent. I have to thank God for what he has done for us in Osun because we prayed and won. We won in 2018 too but were cheated yet we didnt give up, he said. The crowd I saw on the day I returned from the US after studying, I know God is ready for us. So, we changed our prayer in 2022 that if we win, every evil person that wants to stop us, God should clear them away. So, be specific in what you pray for, because God listens. Mr Adeleke said his administration is committed to developing the state. Our 100 days programmes have already begun and in no time, it will manifest for everyone to see. Osun State will move forward, he said. Some people want to use religion to divide us. In my own administration, that will not be tolerated. Responding, the Archbishop of Ilesha Arch-diocese of Methodist Church of Nigeria, Amos Akindeko, expressed appreciation to the governor for hosting them. He prayed to God to help Mr Adeleke deliver good governance. God will surprise your government. He will make your enemies prostrate before you. I know the allocations coming to Osun are minimal, but God will support your administration to deliver good governance for the people. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Enugu State has disassociated itself from a raging crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state and recent protest by some members of the party in Abuja. The spokesperson of the Enugu State PDP Campaign Council, Nana Ogbodo, stated this at a press conference on Tuesday in Enugu. The APC in the state has been enmeshed in crisis over allegation of non-payment of their convention allowances to the tune of $1.5 million by the partys leadership in the state. The convention to elect the partys presidential candidate- which was won by Bola Tinubu was held in June. On Monday, some aggrieved members of the APC in the state under the aegis of Concerned Enugu State APC besieged the partys national secretariat in Abuja demanding the payment of their convention allowances. The protesters accused the state APC chairman, Ugochukwu Agballah and the partys governorship candidate, Uche Nnaji, of embezzling the convention funds. Fidelis Edeh, the Director-General of State APC Campaign Council, has since denied the allegations of embezzlement against the party leaders. The State APC chairman, Mr Agballah, and other party leaders in the state, were said to have accused the PDP in the state of sponsoring the protests and crisis in the APC to destabilise the party ahead of the 2023 general elections. But Mr Ogbodo said the PDP in the state had no hands in the crisis rocking the APC, saying it was unfortunate that the party would drag the PDP into its internal squabbles and corruption allegations. We have, as usual, been dragged into a purely APC affair by the loquacious Ugochukwu Agballah, who has claimed that the protesters were sponsored by the PDP. Of course, Agballahs penchant for looking for scapegoats rather than face his demons is legendary, he said. The PDP chieftain urged Mr Agballah to go home and settle with his aggrieved party members and restitute to them whatever he has taken from them rather than falsely accusing the PDP of sponsoring the protest and crisis in the APC. He said the crisis in the APC has a long history and predated the current electioneering season. He recalled that some aggrieved APC members had petitioned and physically led a protest to the national chairman of the party in August, where they called for Mr Agballas immediate removal from office and appointment of a caretaker chairman. This is not a fight between the PDP and the APC; it is squarely a fight between angry and deprived APC members and a greedy and conceited party leadership, he stated. Call on EFCC for investigation The PDP asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate the allegations of financial misappropriation in the APC. Importantly, we call on the EFCC to step in to investigate the weighty allegations of embezzlement of well over N1,3 billion boldly made against the duo of Chief Ugo Agballah and Chief Uche Nnaji by well-known APC party leaders, Mr Ogbodo said. The party challenged Mr Agballah to carry out his threat of suing the PDP for defamation, saying such action would afford his aggrieved party members the opportunity to further showcase his nakedness to the world. Ironically, if anybody deserves to be sued for defamation over this matter, it is Agballah, who has defamed the Enugu PDP and its governorship candidate by dragging them into a matter that has absolutely nothing to do with them, he added. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Delving into his experience with both military and civilian rule, President Muhammadu Buhari submits that multi-party democracy is the best system. The president spoke Wednesday at State House, Abuja, while playing host to a delegation of the Universal Peace Federation. He wondered why some African countries were still descending into the abyss of unconstitutional change of government, saying: I thought we had finally put that behind us. On the Peace Summit being planned for Abuja, to bring all African countries together before the end of this administration, President Buhari pledged Nigerias support, relative to resources, to help in stabilizing neighbouring countries. He decried the problems in the Sahel belt of the continent, lamenting that it is of great concern, as it affects both agriculture and businesses negatively. The president described the interest of the Universal Peace Federation Africa in the continent as quite genuine, saying he was very pleased with the development. Katherine Rigney, Chairperson of the Federation in Africa, and Thomas Walsh, Chairman Universal Peace Federation International, said they believed the forthcoming summit in Nigeria will top them all, having held similar meetings in the past in Niger Republic, Senegal, Sao Tome and Principe, South Africa, among others. During the Abuja Summit, President Buhari will be given the Leadership and Good Governance Award, as appreciation of the fantastic results youve brought to Nigeria, and a celebration of your anti-corruption credentials. Femi Adesina Special Adviser to the President (Media and Publicity) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print A media aide to Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State, Emmanuel Jonathan, has declared support for the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, ahead of the 2023 general election. Mr Jonathan, a special assistant to the governor on new media, disclosed this in a statement made available to PREMIUM TIMES, Wednesday Mr Ugwuanyi is among the five aggrieved governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) known as the G-5 The G-5 is led by Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State. Apart from Messrs Wike and Ugwuanyi, other members of the G-5 are Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State and their Oyo State counterpart, Seyi Makinde. The G-5 came about after the PDP presidential primary where Atiku Abubakar defeated Mr Wike and others to become the partys presidential candidate. The group has been demanding the resignation of the PDP National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, to pave the way for a southerner to lead the party to achieve a regional balance. The governors argument is that both Mr Ayu and Atiku hail from northern Nigeria. Although the five governors have not announced the presidential candidate they would support in the 2023 general elections, there are speculations that the G-5 governors may be backing Mr Obi. However, there have been speculations lately that the governors may have decided to support Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress. Mr Jonathan has become the first political appointee in Governor Ugwuanyis government to openly endorse the LP candidate. He is expected to lead one of Mr Obis campaign groups, Obi/Datti Apostles Presidential Campaign Support Group. Why I ditched Atiku for Obi Mr Jonathan explained in the statement that he could no longer keep quiet in the face of bad leadership, maintaining that he had chosen to add his voice in support of the Peter Obi/Datti Yusuf Baba-Ahmed presidential ambition. Nigeria as a country has suffered inept leadership for years leading to the exposure of many innocent Nigerians to a hellish condition while still alive. The only panacea to redress this situation is to first of all appreciate the words: Truth, capacity, justice, equity and fairness while making choice on those who will pilot the affairs of Nigeria in the next four years, which the Peter Obi/Datti Baba-Ahmed presidential aspiration epitomises, he said. He pointed out that he remains a member of the PDP, despite declaring support for the LP candidate. Grouse with PDP, APC The PDP chieftain faulted the party for violating the zoning arrangement which favoured the emergence of a Nigerian president of South-east extraction in 2023. He said it was worrisome that the PDP was among the major political parties that ignored the zoning arrangement, which he termed, the antidote for a peaceful cohesion by electing Atiku, a northerner, as its candidate. This is because they failed to appreciate the word, truth, capacity, equity and justice, and the conventional gentlemans understanding on the ground, which is that power should ordinarily rotate to Southern Nigeria and with a special focus on the section that is yet to occupy the seat of the president, he said. Mr Jonathan criticised the APC for failing to elect its candidate from the South-east, and for having a Muslim-Muslim ticket. Mr Tinubu, a southern Muslim, picked Kashim Shettima, a former Governor of Borno State, a northern Muslim, as his running mate for the 2023 presidential election. The ticket had elicited widespread criticisms across the country, with various groups including some APC chieftains also criticising the ticket. It is therefore interesting to note that the Peter Obi/Datti Baba-Ahmed Presidential Aspiration of the Labour Party, did not only factor the consideration of the antidote for a peaceful cohesion that creates the much-needed enabling environment for a fruitful and progressive leadership that will put smiles on the face of Nigerians, it appreciates the word truth, capacity, justice, equity and fairness because Obi comes from the South-east zone that has not produced the occupant of the presidential seat of Nigeria, Mr Jonathan stated. He claimed that the LP candidate and his running mate, Ahmed Yusuf, have a wonderful track record of experience devoid of corruption in the past leadership positions they both held, saying the record is a major plus for them. He said their ticket presents the youthfulness and smartness that are in tune in different countries of the world, arguing that Mr Tinubu and Atiku would only do better in making useful contributions in the Elders Council of Nigeria rather than exposing themselves to the stressful task of the exalted office of a president at their age. Both Tinubu and Atikus 2023 presidential ambition would rather create more divisiveness than the love which Nigeria needs at this moment of our nationhood. He contended that Mr Tinubus presidential ambition does not stand on justice given that it is the turn of the South-east to produce the president of the country based on equity. Atikus ambition is against the understanding between Southern and Northern Nigeria that power should rotate between the two sections of the country irrespective of political affiliation, he stated. Based on these reasons and many more that I cannot state here for the sake of the respect I have for both Tinubu and Atiku who are old enough to be my parents, I choose to support and speak out in favour of the Obi/Datti Labour Party Presidential team in the 2023 presidential election for the future of our dear country, Mr Jonathan added. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ita Enang, on Tuesday, prayed a Federal High Court, (FHC), Abuja, to commit his rival for the APC governorship ticket in Akwa Ibom State, Akanimo Udofia to prison for alleged perjury. Mr Enang, who contested in the 26 May APC governorship primary in Akwa Ibom, made the application while presenting his argument before Justice Emeka Nwite. He told Justice Nwite that Mr Udofia, who also contested in the poll, lied to court by filing an affidavit of non-multiplicity of action despite a similar suit before a FHC Uyo. He said for lying on oath in contravention of the FHC practice direction, Mr Udofia should be committed to prison. I want my Lord to take note of perjury that was committed by the 2nd plaintiff (Udofia) in this matter. I urge you to commit Udofia to prison for perjury, for claiming that there was no other matter filed in respect of this matter, he said. Background A FHC in Uyo had, on 14 November, nullified the nomination of Mr Udofia as the governorship candidate of the APC in Akwa Ibom. The judge, Agatha Okeke, in the suit instituted by Mr Enang, ordered the APC to conduct a fresh governorship primary within two weeks but barred Mr Udofia from participating in the new primary. But Mr Udofia had filed an appeal marked: CS/C/370/2022 to challenge the FHC judgment. Mr Enang, a former special adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Niger Delta, also prayed Justice Nwite to dismiss the suit for lack of diligent prosecution. The development followed an application for extension of time field by Umeh Kalu, SAN, who appeared for Mr Udofia on Tuesday. NAN reports that the APC and Mr Udofia had sued the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the sole defendant in the matter before Justice Nwite. Mr Udofia had sought an order that would compel INEC to accept his name as the APC governorship candidate for Akwa Ibom 2023 poll. He also asked for an order directing the commission to publish his name as forwarded by the party to it. The court, after listening to parties in the suit, had fixed 6 October, 2022 for judgment. But Mr Enangs appearance in court forced the judge to halt the delivery of the judgment. Mr Enang, a former senator, drew the attention of the court to his presence as a party seeking to be joined in the matter and the court granted his prayer in a motion he brought for joinder on 6 December, 2022. NAN also reports that Justice Nwite had, on 21 December 2022, fixed 10 January for definite hearing of the suit, after Mr Udofias lawyer, Mr Kalu, failed to respond to Enangs counter affidavit. The senior lawyer had sought an adjournment to enable him to file and serve Mr Enang with his process. The judge had ordered all parties in the suit, including the INEC, to file their processes before the next adjourned date fixed for hearing. No application filed by Udofia But upon resumed hearing on Tuesday, Mr Kalu informed the court that he had not filed any application because an Abuja Court of Appeal, on 24 December, 2022, reserved judgment in a similar case pending before it. He, therefore, said that a motion for an extension of time to await the decision of the superior court, which might affect the decision of the lower court, had been filed. He prayed the court to adjourned the matter until 20 January when the appeal would have been decided. Mr Kalu argued that no party would suffer any loss if the matter was adjourned. Besides, he said based on the rule of the court, the judge had the power to adjourn any matter in the interest of justice. Mr Kalu said he was ready to pay a cost for the adjournment. Lawyer to INEC, Wendy Kuku, corroborated Mr Kalus submission on adjournment. Enang opposes adjournment request Mr Enang, however, opposed an application for adjournment, urging the court to dismiss the suit. The former presidential aide, who argued that the appeal did not arise from the suit before Justice Nwite, said a call for an adjournment was a tactic to delay the suit, citing Order 32 (1) of the FHC Rules, 2019, to counter any request for stay of execution. On Mr Kalus submission that no one would suffer any injustice, Mr Enang said: My lord, we have suffered untold and irreparable injustice from the hand of the plaintiff in this matter. He said he had been a member of the APC since 2014 while Udofia had been a member of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) all through. He said Mr Udofia, who resigned from the PDP on 1 May, 2022, and joined the APC on 5 May, 2022, when the partys register had already closed on 14 April, 2022, and submitted to INEC, contested in the APC primary held on 26 May against the provisions of the law. He said this was even when Mr Udofia contested in the PDP governorship primaries held on 25 May. He said as a result of Mr Udofias act, the APC, currently, had no governorship candidate in Akwa Ibom while the PDP had. I cannot campaign and he (Udofia) cannot campaign either, whereas his party, PDP, is campaigning. So it is the 2nd plaintiff that is saying that the baby should be slaughtered because he is going back to his party, PDP. This is so because he (Udofia) is not a candidate by the orders of this honourable court delivered in Uyo division, he said. Mr Enang said he was the beneficiary of the FHC judgment delivered in Uyo which Mr Udofia sought to frustrate. Citing Order 19, Rule 14.of the FHC Practice Direction, and Order 6, Rule 4, he argued that the plaintiffs had failed to diligently prosecute the case, hence, the matter should be dismissed. According to him, no amount of damages will assuage where the APC has no candidate in the state for the election and no damages will assuage me if I did not stand as candidate in the election. I have also make an application that Udofia be sent to prison for perjury; for swearing to an affidavit of non-multiplicity of action, he said. Justice Nwite, after listening to parties, adjourned the matter until Wednesday for ruling. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Lagos State University Of Science and Technology (LASUSTECH) has admitted 1,850 pioneer students out of 16,000 applications for the 2022/2023 academic session. This was announced Tuesday by the universitys Vice-Chancellor, Olumuyiwa Odusanya, at a press briefing held at the institutions campus in Ikorodu area of the city. Mr Odusanya, a Professor of Public Health, noted that the university which received its Certificate of Operating License from the National Universities Commission (NUC) on 8 February 2022, has the approval to commence 37 academic programmes. He said that guided by the NUC criteria, 50 students were admitted each for the 37 programmes in five Colleges of Agriculture, Engineering Technology, Environmental Design and Technology, Basic Sciences, and Applied Social Sciences. The admission exercise has been very transparent. We thank both NUC and the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) for their support, he said, adding that the selection of students was strictly based on their UTME score and O-level performance. University funding The vice-chancellor further confirmed that as against the proposed tuition fee of N195,000 for the pioneer students who are billed to resume the current academic session, the fee has been subsidised and slashed to N68,000 by the Lagos State Government. He added that the university has engaged the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) in order to benefit from its interventions. The vice-chancellor said tertiary education is very expensive and urged individual philanthropists and corporate organisations to support the institution in its drive for excellence. He said: We appreciate the huge investment by the government and we call on philanthropists and well-meaning individuals to partner with us to support this new university. Such partnerships can be in the endowment of professorial chairs, lecture halls, donation of books, equipment, laboratories, and computers. We would be accountable and give the best value to all the resources given. Strategic initiatives Speaking further, the vice-chancellor noted that the focus of the present administration is on six strategic initiatives with the acronym IMPACT. He explained that the six strategic areas include the infrastructural development across the three campuses in Isolo, Surulere, and Ikorodu, including manpower development, a catalyst to the Lagos State agenda, and the town and gown partnership in the context of an entrepreneurial university. He added that through the support of the government, the university is embarking on the construction of hostels through a public-private partnership. We plan to include industry in our curriculum, get our students involved in project development, concept, and modelling in industry, and bring industry experts to enrich our teaching and positively impact our immediate Communities. The university community has been sensitised and working with us to seize the unique opportunity we have to make the greatest impact, he said. Governance structure Mr Odusanya also gave a breakdown of the universitys governance structure, noting that apart from the Governor who is a visitor to the university, and the Special Adviser on Education, Tokunbo Wahab, as the supervisor of tertiary institutions in the state, the governing council is chaired by the Pro-Chancellor, Rashid Ojikutu, a Professor of Statistics at the University of Lagos. Also, as the pioneer vicechancellor of the university, Mr Odusanya is the chief academic and accounting officer, and is assisted acting Deputy Vice-Chancellors of Academic and Administration, Olumide Metilelu and Kolawole Godonu respectively, while the Registrar is Shakirudeen Bello. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Suspected fake security operatives have attacked officers of the Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and escaped with a drug suspect. The spokesperson of NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, told PREMIUM TIMES on Wednesday that their operatives were attacked while on the trail of a truck conveying a drug suspect and illicit drugs. The incident occurred on Tuesday on Awolowo road, Ikoyi, Lagos State. Mr Babafemi said that their operatives seized the truck and drug consignment but the security operatives escaped with the suspected drug baron. They went away with the drug suspect in their vehicle but we got support from the soldiers from nearby military formations as well as reinforcement of our men from the state headquarters, he said. We got the drugs. Asked to describe the suspected fake security operatives, Mr Babafemi said that the reason we called them suspected fake security operatives is that no genuine officers paid with taxpayers money will do the kind of things that they are doing by escorting drug cartels to escape security scrutiny. How it happened According to the Vanguard newspaper, the NDLEAs Lagos State Commander, Umar Adoro, said the operation was carried out based on intelligence. We ambushed the truck. We knew when they finished loading and when they started their movement and we chose to accost the truck on Awolowo road, as that would determine whether the drugs were being conveyed to the mainland or offshore, Mr Adoro was quoted as saying at a press briefing on Tuesday. We waited until midnight before the truck was sighted and we intercepted it. Unfortunately, we were distracted because when the truck driver and the vehicle were intercepted, unidentified security agents appeared and insisted that the truck must be allowed to continue its movement, we said where and they could not tell us. There was pandemonium as the security agents started shooting in the air which attracted the Army from the Medical corp. They reinforced our officers before reinforcement came from my office. READ ALSO: NDLEA intercepts cannabis concealed in statue in Lagos But the unidentified security agency took the driver and escaped with him. But we successfully got the truck. Our officers vehicle that was used to barricade the truck was damaged by the truck driver and unidentified security agents We knew when they finished loading and when they started their movement and we chose to accost the truck on Awolowo road, as that would determine whether the drugs were being conveyed to the mainland or offshore. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The All Progressives Congress (APC) has challenged Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to come clean on his health status and speak on issues of corruption surrounding him. The campaign specifically asked the PDP and the former Vice President to react to the allegations of corruption made by a former aide, Michael Achimugu. Director of Media and Publicity of the APC Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), Bayo Onanuga, threw the challenge in a statement he issued on Wednesday in Abuja. Mr Achimugu recently made some claims on social media that Mr Atiku used the Special Purpose Vehicle scheme to collect funds from a former governor of Plateau State, Joshua Dariye, who was convicted for misappropriation of Ecological Fund. Mr Dariye has since been pardoned by President Muhammadu Buhari. Mr Atiku served as vice president between 1999 and 2007, the same period Mr Dariye served as governor. Furthermore, Mr Achimugu also released a voice recordpurportedly to be a recorded conversation between him and the former Vice President. PREMIUM TIMES is yet to verify the authenticity of the audio. Dino Melaye, the spokesperson of the Atiku campaign, in a video posted on Twitter, dismissed the allegations. He asked Mr Achimugu to provide evidence of ever working directly with Mr Atiku. There have also been speculations on Atikus state of health, prompting the PDP to make some clarifications on the issue on Monday. Its time for Atiku to come cleanAPC In the statement, Mr Onanuga said the former vice president must come clean on his health status. He noted also that Atiku must address the corruption allegations made by his former aide. Its time for Atiku Abubakar, the 76-year-old presidential candidate of the PDP to come clean over two issues beclouding his campaign. His health status and his scandalous confession of how he colluded with his former boss, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo to fleece the Nigerian treasury, using Special Purpose Vehicles as vice-president in 1999. If Atiku has some modicum of honour, he ought to have stepped down from the presidential race that he is bound to lose again, Mr Onanuga stated. This, he added, was especially because of the release of his audio clip where he provided a vivid explanation into the modus operandi of his legendary corruption. Mr Onanuga noted that so far, there had been no notable response from Atikus camp about the disturbing revelation, except for a futile attempt to disown whistle-blower, Michael Achimugu, an erstwhile media consultant to Atiku. The APC PCC Director of Media and Publicity noted also that Nigerians were appalled that Atiku and the PDP merely shrugged off the bombshell. He implored Nigerians to hold Atiku to account over the shocking revelation of rejecting him at the polls in February. Atiku is also not talking about his health status even when his hirelings daily make futile attempts to divert public attention to his main rival by cooking up lies upon lies. Whereas Atiku is the candidate that Nigerians should be sorely worried about, the lies of several years and the various diversionary tactics are no longer sustainable. Atikus edifice of lies is about to crash on him; the PDP presidential candidate is certainly not okay, the papering efforts notwithstanding, Mr Onanuga stressed. He stated that eyebrows were raised when Atiku did not return to Nigeria after the December holidays to continue his campaign for the countrys presidency having left the country on 21 December 2022. From the field of electioneering campaign, came a story by an online platform that Atiku was flown to London for treatment from his usual home in Dubai. The story has not been vigorously denied. We have it on good authority that Atiku indeed took ill. He was indeed in the UK for some medical help though handlers camouflaged that he was there on the invitation of some British officials at Whitehall, Mr Onanuga stated. He noted that despite efforts by Atikus handlers to showcase him as healthy and physically fit to endure the rigours of the presidential campaign, pictures from rallies belied the impression. He stated that campaign pictures sometimes showed Atiku being helped to descend steps at stadia, adding that sometimes, he walked with an apparent handicap, dragging his feet. Mr Onanuga added that the irrefutable insight into Atikus health status was the revelation by his divorced wife, Jennifer Douglas in 2022 that he was admitted to a German hospital for an operation, amid their bitter divorce. READ ALSO: In a viral letter published in February 2022, Jennifer quoted Atikus self-admission that he was in Germany for medicals, which explained why he was unable to retrieve his belongings from a Dubai house that Jennifer had taken over. A man who wants to rule Nigeria and wants Nigerians to repose some trust in him, must immediately and honestly address these twin issues: his health and his legendary corruption, Mr Onanuga stressed. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Amnesty International welcomes the release on 10 January 2023 of Oyewole Olumide, Rasheed Tiamiyu, Moruf Adekunle, Taoreed Abiodun, Ikenna Amechi, Afeez Ariyo, Ikechukwu Eze, and Adesina Ademuyiwa detained at Agodi Correctional Centre Ibadan, Oyo state for participating in #EndSARS protests in October 2020. The Oyo State Chief Judge ordered their discharge, acquittal, and release. With this development, we also urge Nigerian authorities to provide information about the status of other #EndSARS protesters being held in various prisons across the country, grant their families and lawyers access to them, charge them to court, or release them from detention immediately, said Osai Ojigho Director Amnesty International Nigeria. In October last year, our investigation shows that over 40 #EndSARS protesters are still languishing in prisons across Nigeria. Those released yesterday were detained for well over two years and three months without trial in Agodi Correctional Centre, having previously been detained at the defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad unit of the Nigeria Force facility in Ibadan and Abolongo Prison in Oyo Town. They were detained under trumped-up charges ranging from theft, arson, possession of unlawful firearms, and murder. READ ALSO: Amnesty International calls on the Nigerian authorities to also release: Ayodeji Oluwasegun, Andoh Immanuel, Yakubu Olayiwola, Olaogun Ismail, Uba Chukwuma, Dosunmu Taiwo, Daniel Joy-Igbo, Yusuf Rafiu, Olawale Marcus, Muyiwa Onikoyi, Shehu Anas, Suleman Saidu, Rasheed Wasiu Bolaji, Adigun Sodiq, Sunday Okoro, Akiniran Oyetakin, Ogidi Isah, Ibrahim Adesanya, and Faruk Abdulquadri who are #EndSARS protesters detained without trial in Kirikiri Medium Security Prison in Lagos since 2020. All detained protesters must be immediately and unconditionally released. The Nigerian authorities must urgently respect, protect, promote and fulfill the right to peaceful protest including by publicly directing security and law enforcement agencies to stop infringing on the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, said Osai Ojigho Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) in charge of Zone 7, Kayode Egbetokun, has ordered the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command to intensify stop and search operations. Mr Egbetokun gave the directive on Wednesday in Abuja during his familiarisation visit to the command. He, however, warned the personnel against any form of extortion in the course of the operation. The AIG said they should engage local communities to ensure proper security in the FCT. Mr Egbetokun called on the personnel to work together to restore professionalism in policing and ensure efficient utilisation of resources. The AIG said the essence of police duties was the protection and promotion of human rights, adding that, every offence is a violation of somebodys right. He said modern policing was intelligence-led, community-based and technology-driven, as such officers and men should work harder to enhance their intelligence capacity and improve visibility policing. The AIG said the recent deployment of newly passed out recruit constables would be a big boost to policing in the country. He called on the command to sustain its strategic partnership with other security agencies and stakeholders. We must improve traffic control within the FCT. Traffic officers must be on their toes to ensure traffic flows within the FCT. We must reinvigorate stop and search, effectively man black spots and sustain the present tempo in raid of criminal hideouts. Scavenging has been banned within the FCT and we must not allow them to continue to operate, he added. In his remark, the Commissioner of Police (CP) in charge of the FCT, Sadiq Abubakar, said the command had developed and implemented operational strategies targeted at combating crime. He said the development was in compliance with the vision and mission of the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba. The CP said the operational policies and strategies had led to the arrest of 18 armed robbery suspects and the recovery of 1,159 exhibits, including arms and ammunition of various calibres. He said motor vehicles and motorcycles, illicit drugs and other harmful weapons were among the exhibits recovered. He said 24 kidnapped victims were rescued by the command and reunited with their families. The FCT command under my leadership is committed to ensuring that the policing ideals of the IGP, which have been effectively canvassed by the AIG, are clearly and without doubt exemplified in the command. READ ALSO: Similarly, one of the foremost mandates of the command is to deliberately entrench modern policing standards, particularly respect for the Rule of Law and the Fundamental Rights of all citizens. I hereby restate the unalloyed dedication of myself and my team to ensuring that the impact of the policies and operational directives of the AIG, and by extension the IGP, is vigorously pursued, he said. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN), on Wednesday, struck down a regulation of the Nigeria Police Force prohibiting unmarried female personnel from getting pregnant. The controversial Regulation 127 of the Nigeria Police Regulation made pursuant to the Police Establishment Act 2020 provides for the dismissal of any unmarried policewoman who gets pregnant. But in a landmark judgement on Wednesday at the NICN, Akure Division, Ondo State, South-west Nigeria, the judge, D. K. Damulak, held that the police regulation is discriminatory, illegal, null and void. The court held that the regulation violates section 42 of the (Nigerian) constitution and article 2 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights Ratification and Enforcement Act which abolished discrimination on basis of gender. PREMIUM TIMES had reported that Omolola Olajide of the Ekiti Police Command was dismissed on 26 January 2021 by Mohammed Adamu, the then Inspector-General of Police, for getting pregnant while being single. Miss Olajide, through her lawyer, Funmi Falana, challenged her dismissal on the grounds that the police authorities had discriminated against her since her male counterparts are not dismissed in similar circumstances. In nullifying the law, the judge said the courtfinds and holds that the provision of Section 127 of the Police Act and Regulation 127 thereof, which applies to unmarried women police officers getting pregnant while in service but does not apply to unmarried male police officers impregnating females while they are in service, are discriminatory against unmarried women police officers by Section 1(3) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended. Setting the grounds for quashing the regulation, the judge said: if any law is inconsistent with the provision of this constitution, this constitution shall prevail, and that other law shall to the extent of its inconsistency be void. Olajides case succeeds in part In a certified true copy of the verdict seen by PREMIUM TIMES, the judge said the claimants case succeeded in part. For the avoidance of doubt, the case of the claimant (Miss Olajide) succeeds in part, the judge said, pointing out the illegality in the police law. The judge awarded aggravated damages of N5 million for the violation of Miss Olajides fundamental right to freedom from discrimination. However, the judge refused Miss Olajides request for reinstatement into the police. The judge held that the claimants dismissal could not be reversed as she was on probation at the time of her sack from the Nigeria Police Force. How Olajide was sacked In her statement of claim filed in court, Miss Olajide narrated that the reason given for her disengagement in a signal sent to the Divisional Police Officer in charge of her station in Iye-Ekiti on 20 January 2021, was that I contravened regulation 127 made pursuant to the Police Act against women getting pregnant before marriage and consequently dismissed. The claimant said she was phoned by the DPO Iye-Ekiti, Humphrey Ogbu, a deputy superintendent of police, on 21 January 2021, informing her to be at the Nigeria Police Medical Service, Ekiti State Command, Cottage Hospital, Ado Ekiti, to undergo a medical test. That I went for the test alongside one ASP Dauda Jimoh who collected the original copy of the result of the medical test on behalf of the defendants. READ ALSO: According to her, the medical test conducted on her at the Police Medical Service, Ekiti State Command, was done after the signal of my dismissal was already issued and sent out by the 1st defendant (the police). All police documents in my possession were also to be retrieved with immediate effect and my salary stopped, she added. The claimant lamented that she was never invited for interrogation or question by the defendants before s was relieved of her job. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print President Muhammadu Buhari says the emergence of Boko Haram sect was fraudulent and a plot to destroy Nigeria. The president stated this when he received the executive members of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) at the State House, Abuja, on Wednesday. Mr Buhari noted that the security situation had improved over the years, particularly in the North-east where the sect largely operates. He said the focus had shifted to rebuilding infrastructure and re-orientation on education. He added that the gains recorded in security will be further consolidated and more attention will be given to the economy, before handing over on 29 May. I am very grateful for your visit to the Presidential Villa, and I agree with you on some of the observations you have made. The question of insecurity is most important to us because unless a country or institution is at peace, it will be difficult to manage. I just came back from Adamawa and Yobe States. During the visit to both states, I listened carefully to what the people and officials had to say. And they all said the situation had improved since 2015, especially in Borno. Boko Haram was just fraudulent and a plot to destroy Nigeria. You cant say people should not learn; the people need to grow intellectually, he said. Mr Buhari told the Catholic Bishops that the government will continue rebuilding infrastructure in parts of the country affected by terrorist attacks while underscoring that terrorists had no control over any space in Nigeria. Some people have acknowledged the difference, he added. On the economy, the president said creditors had full confidence in Nigeria, with the capacity to utilise resources and repay loans before the approvals were granted. We are credible, thats why the countries and institutions agreed to support our development with the loans, he stated. Mr Buhari said the destruction of oil facilities slowed the generation of revenues, and the government would be harder on saboteurs. If you look at the economy, we are trying hard to rely more on ourselves. Nigerians rely more on agriculture for livelihood, and we are putting in our best to enable more people, and diversify, the president noted. He said some of the challenges faced in the past, which include coups and counter-coups, and civil war, had prepared the nation for survival. We thank God that Nigeria is still one. We should not forget that more than a million died for the nation to survive. The president noted that he had been part of Nigerias history since 1967, fighting in the civil war, serving as governor, minister, Head of State, Chairman of Petroleum Trust Fund, contesting presidential elections in 2003, 2007 and 2011, before winning in 2015. We should thank God, and we should reflect on these things and thank God more, he added. In his remarks, the leader of the delegation and President of the CBCN, Lucius Ugorji, commended the president for reforms in the electoral system, making it more stable and fair, particularly the signing of the Electoral Bill into law. We commend and congratulate you for the efforts the government has put into ensuring real improvement in our electoral system and processes, especially your signing into law the electoral bill. Please do not relent in making sure that INEC and other relevant agencies of government carry out their serious duties to conduct peaceful, free, fair, and credible elections, he said. Mr Ugorji, a reverend, urged the president to use the remaining months in office as commander-in-chief to tackle insecurity in the country, and improve the economy. The main crux of our message to you today is one of fervent appeal and strong encouragement. Your tenure of two terms as President, Commander-In-Chief of Nigeria, is drawing to an end. But we believe a lot can be done to turn things around for the better in the about four months left of your presidency before you step down in May 2023. We have seen some signs that the government is not entirely incapable of tackling the sad state of insecurity in the land, which has consumed thousands of innocent Nigerians across all religions, creeds, and ethnic groups, the cleric noted. The Catholic bishops presented a souvenir to Mr Buhari, containing a letter of encouragement and prayers for the forthcoming elections. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Some chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Enugu State on Wednesday boycotted the presidential campaign rally held in the state. The party chieftains were at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport Enugu to welcome the presidential candidate of the party, Bola Tinubu and disappeared from there. Notable among them were the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, a former Senate President, Ken Nnamani, former governor of the state, Sullivan Chime, and former Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Eugene Odo. Briefing journalists, Mr Chime said they were at the airport to receive the presidential candidate but could not appear at the rally because of the internal issue they had with the APC Chairperson in Enugu State, Ugochukwu Agballah. Mr Chime said nothing has been done about their grievances after they staged a peaceful protest at the APC National Secretariat in Abuja. The former governor said someone not known by the party emerged as the party chairman and since then, the party had been in disarray. He also complained that the governorship candidate of the party and the deputy were from the same senatorial district, noting that it had never happened in the state since the history of democracy. The former governor said they would all work hard to ensure APCs victory in the general elections but they were left with no option than to distance themselves from such illegal act. A former president of the Nigerian Senate, Ken Nnamani, said the APC chairperson in the state and the governorship candidate were running the party like sole administrators. The APC in Enugu State may not have peace unless the state chairman retraces his steps, he said. A former Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Eugene Odo, said they stayed away from the rally because of the chairmans attitude towards them. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print As my colleagues and I departed from the Boston Naval Shipyard, I was convinced that the only way to resolve the dialogic confrontation between the competing visions of Nigerias modernity, would be for all its citizens to heed President John F. Kennedys civic appeal to his fellow Americans: Ask what you can do for your country. Two months ago, in October 2022, I was on a tour of the Boston Naval Shipyard with my colleagues in the Senior Executive Fellows cohort at Harvard Kennedy School. The Shipyard is home to the oldest naval ship built in the United States. The USS Constitution, as the ship is called, was launched in 1797. As the US naval staff took us from deck to deck into the bowels of this iconic ship which has seen many battles and turbulent seas my thoughts began to shift towards a series of questions. How is it that a battle ship built in 1797 remains afloat and in almost pristine condition in 2022? What can we learn from the work ethic of the builders of this ship? Monuments and public institutions are important cultural windows into the soul of a nation, enabling us to revisit its history and assess the nations present condition of health. So, what does the maintenance of this naval frigate tell us about the American society? I ask these questions, not as an American citizen, but as a Nigerian. Since 1960 when Nigeria became an independent state, our country has had a rather traumatic encounter with its public memory. The fratricidal civil war of 1967 to 1970 that claimed over one million lives did not only deepen the divisions within the country, but it also accentuated our nations ambiguous attitude towards its national institutions. In Nigeria, history is an inconvenient subject, and monuments that attempt to reconstruct the past are met with the casual inertia of a disinterested state. A nations history is often more complex than a spotless string of bedtime stories. As a nation evolves, so will its history. A nation may experience moments of war or national shame, as well as periods of great triumph. This means that history is a many-sided coin, and it is better for a nation to embrace this many-sidedness as it tells its stories. No nation needs to pathologise its history. But as I moved around this 225-year old ship, inspecting its impeccable line up of large-calibre cannons and feeling its wooden surfaces, I could glean some lessons in nation building, storytelling and leadership. Here are three lessons from that tour: 1. Embrace Your History A nations history is often more complex than a spotless string of bedtime stories. As a nation evolves, so will its history. A nation may experience moments of war or national shame, as well as periods of great triumph. This means that history is a many-sided coin, and it is better for a nation to embrace this many-sidedness as it tells its stories. No nation needs to pathologise its history. Despite the imperfections of their history, most Americans seem to be unofficial historians of their country. They seem to have stories behind their canals, bridges and trees. And they have stories about war, resilience and the pursuit of justice. On a flight from Boston to Detroit, a lady told me that she and her colleagues were pursuing a lifetime commitment to identify and retell as many repressed American stories as possible. The world is a narrated entity, and storytelling is an integral part of national myth making. A nation that preserves its public memory may likely escape the mistakes of its past. 2. Civic Leadership Matters When the USS Constitution, the naval ship, was designated to be scrapped in 1905, it took the intervention of a single American citizen, Moses Gulesian, to rouse civic groups around the United States, to save the worlds oldest ship. Moses Gulesians example is important because it reminds us that in any era, nation building and the preservation of public memory are not tasks for the state alone. Citizens and civic groups have critical roles to play in the politics of remembrance. In Nigeria, social media is proving to be our new virtual frigate. It is the converging point for individuals and groups who are challenging old thinking and advancing new ideas about nation building. But crucially, social media also serves as an alternative archive of Nigerias fast-evolving social memory. In 2020 when the Nigerian government was accused of suppressing evidence of mass killings at anti-police brutality protest sites in the commercial city of Lagos, activists resorted to social media to circulate graphic images of what came to be known as the Lekki massacre. Like most developing countries, Nigeria is witnessing the emergence of a protean, technologised and young civic leadership. And social media is the daily archive to which we turn if we want to keep track of Nigerias contested modernity. Patriotism is an important value in nation building. And when patriotic feelings are broadly shared by citizens of a country, they could come together for a common cause. Working together, the United States Congress and civic groups across America have kept the worlds oldest ship active for over two centuries, as a floating lesson in civics and history. 3. Ask What You Can Do The maintenance of the naval ship for 225 years is an admirable act of American patriotism. Patriotism is not only a feeling of love for ones country, it is also a commitment to preserving and engaging with its history. The preservation of the iconic frigate has enabled generations of Americans and foreign tourists to visit the ship and reflect on its place in American and global history. Patriotism is an important value in nation building. And when patriotic feelings are broadly shared by citizens of a country, they could come together for a common cause. Working together, the United States Congress and civic groups across America have kept the worlds oldest ship active for over two centuries, as a floating lesson in civics and history. In Nigeria, perceptions of patriotism are almost ideologically dialogic. The political class tends to imagine its country mainly in culinary and edible terms. For this group, Nigeria is the provider of a national cake to which a privileged few may go again and again for generous servings. But the problem is, if a nation is conceived as a national cake, then its politics and decision-making institutions will be dominated by insatiable gluttons, not patriots. But on the other side of the Nigerian civic spectrum is a vibrant arena of innovation and cultural revivalism. This is the space where you find teachers, researchers, creative workers, comedy skit makers, fintech innovators, musicians, culture workers, entrepreneurs, etc., who are committed to moving Nigeria towards a productive rebirth. For this group, Nigeria is a land of exciting and infinite promise. Their kinetic passion is to work towards the realisation of that sovereign promise, where no citizen is left behind. As my colleagues and I departed from the Boston Naval Shipyard, I was convinced that the only way to resolve the dialogic confrontation between the competing visions of Nigerias modernity, would be for all its citizens to heed President John F. Kennedys civic appeal to his fellow Americans: Ask what you can do for your country. Austin Tam-George is an alumnus of the Senior Executive Fellows program at Harvard Kennedy School. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Your Excellency, Muhammadu Buhari GCFR, President and Commander-in-chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Presidential Villa, Asokoro, Abuja. Sir, The imperative of implementing the National Mental Health Act Your consent to the Mental Health Bill 2021 is highly commendable. It has left mental health stakeholders and the Nigerian community in high spirits, showing proof that the efforts of advocates ultimately yielded results. This law is historic for the region, after 63 years of operating under a rudimentary framework emanating from our colonial overlords. By the provisions of this Act, mental health care is now guaranteed in the light of availability, accessibility, acceptance, quality criteria and community inclusion, fostering the equality of rights of persons with mental health conditions. From time immemorial, people with mental health conditions have been exposed to various human rights violations under legislation like the Lunacy Ordinance of 1916 and the Lunacy Act of 1958. These violations of rights were strengthened by the objectives of the laws, with no requirement for treatment. Accompanying these violations were the limitations on the rights to liberty, an adequate standard of living, education, expression, decision-making, exclusion from the workforce, and increased social isolation. The National Mental Health Act has now addressed these violations by reinforcing the rights to liberty, an adequate standard of living, decision-making, employment, access to housing facilities, improved access to treatment and more, while waging war against stigmatisation and dispelling misinformation. This provision aligns with section 34 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, promoting the dignity of the human person. People with mental health conditions can now participate actively in society and formulate treatment plans. Hence, the enactment of the National Mental Health Law reflects the provision of Chapter 2 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, which sets up the bill of rights to meet the socio-economic rights of the citizens and provides for the fundamental objectives and directive principles of state policy. implementing the Mental Health Act will enable mental health conversations becoming widespread across Nigeria, from employees speaking about toxic work cultures to victims of abuse and trauma speaking up about their experiences. More lived experience sharing will lead to better attitudes to mental health and result in people being kinder to each other, caring for mental health, and the promotion of a healthier environment for everyone to thrive. Furthermore, with the enforcement of this law, persons with mental health conditions will now begin to participate as active members of society and enjoy the full range of their rights, while promoting positive attitudes and ultimately having the rules changed. The environment will also become inclusive for all, and the workplace will become less toxic due to increased awareness around mental health issues. Going forward, more people will be happy to receive care from professionals for their mental health needs, leading to the improvement of human capital for the economy. While we continue to jubilate, we urge that the required mechanisms be set in place to kick-start the speedy enforcement of the provisions of the National Mental Health Act. In conclusion, implementing the Mental Health Act will enable mental health conversations becoming widespread across Nigeria, from employees speaking about toxic work cultures to victims of abuse and trauma speaking up about their experiences. More lived experience sharing will lead to better attitudes to mental health and result in people being kinder to each other, caring for mental health, and the promotion of a healthier environment for everyone to thrive. Nigeria will witness a rise in the appreciation of mental health advocacy henceforth. Queen Ekanem Essien is a human rights lawyer and mental health ambassador. Email: Queenekanem12@gmail.com Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The elections are a few weeks away, and destiny beckons. Nigeria can win. Nigeria will win if we elect the candidate who has shown a personal example of leadership, who has shown preparedness, demonstrated competence, expansiveness, and character, and who has put forward a clear and plausible plan for the development of the country. 2023 is a defining year. We, the people, will decide our fate. We will decide whether to retreat to the years of the locusts, where public funds were magicked away from the national till; where impunity ruled over the land; where there was a lack of accountability; where soldiers drowned in blood in thousands because funds for the purchase of arms were appropriated by light-fingered agents of government; where lies were the language of the establishment, and where deceit was poetry, or to continue to advance on the trajectory of financial discipline, diligent resource allocation, and colossal infrastructural development. We will decide whether to return to governance Sobibor or to soldier on to a future of greater possibilities. 2023 can be ours. Challenges are expected, but we can win. In our hands is the power to forge our own destiny, and to determine the trajectory of our country in the next few years. Yes, we wield that inexorable power to shape or impair Nigeria. But we must make Nigeria. We must apply this cosmic power responsibly not to serve personal ends but to preserve our collective interest as Nigerians. Good governance is heterogenous, and so is bad governance. We are potential victims or victors, depending on the choice we make on 25 February. The elections are a few weeks away, and destiny beckons. Nigeria can win. Nigeria will win if we elect the candidate who has shown a personal example of leadership, who has shown preparedness, demonstrated competence, expansiveness, and character, and who has put forward a clear and plausible plan for the development of the country. I have studied the plans of the leading presidential candidates. I have listened to their stump speeches, and I have followed their pristine thoughts. One candidate stands out, and that is Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. I say this with all sincerity. I look into the future, and I see promise for Nigeria with Tinubu as president. As I said in the column, We need the Nigerian dream and identity, inspiring citizens to dream the Nigerian dream through deliberate policies and good governance, should be a priority of the next leadership. Nigeria needs corrective leadership in 2023. No government has it all figured out. Progressive leadership is corrective leadership. It is important that the next government consolidates the achievements of the current administration and make adjustments where necessary. I believe, in Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu resides the courage to inspire citizens to dream the Nigerian dream of hope, national unity, mass prosperity and self-actualisation. Recently, the APC presidential candidate made a valiant statement on axing petrol subsidy and other economic drainpipes. What many will consider a political suicide attempt. He said: By all means, you must have electricity. And you wont pay for estimated billing anymore. When I become president, multiple exchange rates will go away. Write it down. How can we be subsidising fuel consumption of Cameroon, of Niger, of Benin Republic. No matter how long you protest, we are going to remove subsidy. We can do it. We are educated enough. The honesty, courage and forthrightness exemplified by Tinubu in this instance is infectious. He did not dilly-dally or play around the critical issue with political chicanery; he made a firm statement and asked Nigerians to hold him to his word. Petrol subsidy is a Venus flytrap. Tinubu is right. Petrol subsidy has to go. It is unsustainable. In 2023, it is projected to gulp about N7 trillion. Nigeria needs a leader with the mettle to take tough decisions for the greater good. I believe Tinubu is that leader. I had argued for the removal of petrol subsidy, even when it was unpopular to do so years ago. So, my standpoint on this matter has been consistent. In 2021, I wrote that Nigeria needs a leader who can take tough decisions like removing subsidies on petroleum and electricity, for instance; vacuum the tax system and make heads roll if need be. The argument for subsidy retention is an emotional one that discounts the filth in the system. Nigeria is a quasi-socialist country, a highly subsidised country. Corruption thrives partly because of the regime of subsidies. Any dauntless leader willing to reform Nigeria must be ready to be unpopular because the status quo will fight back and will do so ruthlessly. Virtually every essential commodity or service is subsidised and does not reflect true value. The subsidy regime is clearly unsustainable. Kerosene, which is the common energy of the poor, was de-subsidised; diesel as well, yet petrol, which sells for over N700 per litre in Ghana an oil-producing country is scandalously buffered. Who does this benefit? The NNPC said it spent N541.65 billion within six months in 2021 on petroleum subsidy. Between 2017 and 2020, the company was projected to have spent over N1.53 trillion on petroleum subsidy. The reality is that the current price of petrol in Nigeria does not reflect its actual value, vis-a-vis the prevailing global market value. But if the poor can afford a basic commodity like kerosene, which sells for N947 per litre without subsidy, why should petrol, mostly utilised by the middle and the upper class, be N195 per litre? Who does the subsidy regime serve? The masses or some industry leviathans and wolves? Nigeria can win in 2023. I believe Nigeria will win with Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Fredrick Nwabufo, a.k.a Mr OneNigeria, is a writer and journalist. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print President Muhammadu Buhari Tuesday urged the electorate to vote for the All Progressive Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, in the 25 February election. Mr Buhari who spoke at the inauguration of the APC presidential campaign in Damaturu, also urged the electorate to vote for re-election of Governor Mala Buni and other candidates of the party in the state. He said: I am here in Yobe to assure you that the party leadership had unanimously endorsed Bola Tinubu to be the partys flag bearer in the forthcoming general election because of his qualities. The president commended people of the state for their resilience and urged Nigerians to be trust worthy in all their dealings. Mr Buhari also enjoined Nigerians to venture into agriculture to enhance food security and self reliance. In his remarks, the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, said the North-east region had suffered devastating effects of Boko Haram insurgency before Mr Buhari assumed office. He described Mr Buharis victory in 2015 as salvation moment for the country, and solicited votes for the partys candidates at all all levels. President Buhari will continue to be a reference point for good leadership. We will not allow you to rest after your tenure ended. We will continue to consult you wherever you might be for fatherly guidance, he said. Also speaking, Mr Buni said that poverty and illiteracy had been identified as the root causes of the insurgency, and lauded Buhari for his good programmes and interventions aimed at addressing the menace. He said the people of the state would vote for Mr Tinubu and other candidates of the party in 2023 general election. The governor also commended his predecessors, Bukar Abba-Ibrahim and Ibrahim Geidam for their contributions towards the development of the state. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River State has reshuffled his cabinet and sworn in 13 new commissioners barely five months to the end of his administration. Following the development, the former Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Eric Anderson, was appointed the Commissioner for Information and Orientation, while the former Director-General, Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Janet Ekpenyong, was appointed the Commissioner for health. Also, the governor appointed Adamu Musa from Kano State as the Commissioner for Inter-governmental Affairs. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the new commissioners filled vacancies created by the exit of their former occupants, who left either to vie for elective offices or because of the governors defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC). In a speech at the swearing-in in Calabar on Tuesday, Mr Ayade urged the new commissioners to work to ensure that his administration finished strong. Your coming on board is not by accident. You have been carefully selected based on your integrity and competence to bring your wealth of experience to bear on our administration. Your jobs are all cut out for you. I expect you make our dear state proud, he said. Responding on behalf of others, Mrs Ekpenyong, who replaced Betta Edu, the APC National Woman Leader, thanked the governor for the appointment. She said for the governor to find them worthy of joining his administration in transforming the state was a step in the right direction for the betterment of the state. I pledge that my colleagues and I will represent you well in our various ministries. We will work in line with your vision and plan for the state, she said. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The presidential candidate of African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, has said he would adopt selective approaches to address security challenges and concerns in various parts of Nigeria. Mr Sowore spoke when he appeared as a guest on Channels TVs Sunrise Daily, Tuesday. The outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) is leading the agitation for an independent state of Biafra which it wants carved out from the South-east and some parts of the South-south Nigeria. IPOB and similar pro-Biafra groups have been linked to the unrest in the two regions. Niger Delta militants have been accused of being behind recurring attacks on crude oil pipelines in the South-south. In the North-West and some parts of the North-east, bandits have been on rampage abducting, robbing and killing several residents in the two regions. Similarly, a group known as Ilana Omo Oodua has been agitating for an independent Yoruba nation in the South-west. One person was killed, on Monday, when the group clashed with some security agencies in Lagos State. Mr Sowore said, if elected Nigerias president in 2023, he would evolve different approaches that will address such peculiar security challenges and concerns across the country. As the president of Nigeria, I will look at all these areas and bring out what will fit their own peculiar security challenges. For the South-east (Biafra agitation), it will be dialogue. For the bandits, it will be stick (force). For the militants, it will be further dialogue and how to fix their environments and issues making these militants come together, he said. Why theres security challenges in Nigeria Mr Sowore said Nigeria has been battling security challenges because of injustice meted out to some regions of the country. If you had done justice to the South-east after the civil war, for instance, nobody will be agitating for Biafra, he said. The AAC candidate said that the lack of socio-economic justice in Nigeria which has resulted in multidimensional poverty was responsible for the dislocations being witnessed in the country. Mostly importantly, without solving the socio-economic problems of our people, we cant get the kind of security that we need. He suggested that the vandalisation of crude oil pipelines and crude oil theft by suspected militants in the south-south region were responsible for the declining oil production in the country. The federal government in August awarded a pipeline surveillance contract reportedly worth N48 billion per year (N4 billion per month) to Government Ekpemupolo, who is popularly known as Tompolo, to check massive oil theft in the region. But Mr Sowore criticised the initiative, arguing that there was no country that ceded the security of her oil pipelines to an individual and still claim to be a nation. Nobody takes us seriously when they wake up one day and hear that we just gave a contract to a guy to take care of our territorial waters, he stated. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print East China city offers support to families with multiple children Xinhua) 16:31, January 11, 2023 JINAN, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- Jinan, capital of east China's Shandong Province, began to hand out cash subsidies starting this year to encourage families to have more children. Couples in the city will be able to receive a monthly allowance of 600 yuan (about 88.6 U.S. dollars) for their second or third child born from Jan. 1 until their child gets to be three years old, according to an implementation plan on optimizing childbirth policy, and promoting long-term and balanced population development released by the local government. To be eligible for the subsidies, the parents and the second or third child should have their Hukou, or household registration status, in the city. Amid other policies to support childbirth, women enjoy 158 days of maternity leave, and their spouse enjoys no less than 15 days of paternity leave. Both parents will enjoy no less than 10 days of parental leave each year before their child gets three years old. Families with second or third child will also receive government support in schooling, medical insurance and public rental housing. (Web editor: Cai Hairuo, Liang Jun) SHENZHEN, China, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- ESY SUNHOME ("ESYSH"), a new energy storage product company, is preparing to release its all-in-one energy storage system, HM6, on January 14. The new product reflects the result of a two-year journey of discovery for the company as it embarked on a path motivated by the goal of introducing environmental protection concepts in homes globally. ESYSUNHOME HM6 Launches on January 14th. "Our new product development concept regarding home energy storage equipment helps to promote environmental protection at home for the benefit of younger generations," said Mr. Lee, the Founder of ESYSH. "Facilitating photovoltaic energy storage equipment in every family will provide the next generation of young children with the earliest exposure possible to energy technology, benefitting the environmental protection efforts." The ESYSH HM6 primarily takes on the role of a new home appliance that enhances people's quality of life through power supply, similar in convenience to such appliances as refrigerators and washing machines. Product installation is extremely simple; all it takes is stacking the battery modules together to enable normal use, thereby removing the potential for installation errors and saving 60-70% on labor-based installation fees. The IP66 waterproof and dustproof performance ensures the operation of HM6 is unaffected by violent storms. Extreme temperatures are also no problem, with no need for the product to be pre-warmed even in -20 degrees Celsius conditions. In case of a sudden power failure, the HM6 automatically activates, seamlessly ensuring there is no disturbance due to any power failure. Users can also leverage the company's APP to conveniently monitor the product's working status 24 hours a day. The APP includes three levels of early warnings and an alarm to ensure user safety and contact the after-sale maintenance team in time. ESYSH was originally formed as a lithium battery business, driven by world-leading protection systems and a highly professional R&D team. These were essential technical foundations as the founder looked to shore up his brand mission and vision. Mr. Lee was concerned that there were not many energy storage products available to households worldwide. Meanwhile, he was struck by the potential link between lithium batteries and photovoltaic energy storage solutions. He subsequently embarked on a journey of in-depth research and industry studies over two years, setting up an efficient, highly qualified professional team of R&D, manufacturing, and quality management personnel. The team's two years of efforts have culminated with the launch of the HM6 on January 14. As a father himself, Mr. Lee is mindful of the environmental situation and troubling scenarios that his children could face as they grow older. This has also inspired the brand's mission to instill in incoming generations a solid awareness of environmental protection that starts in their own home and involves the family activities that they grow up with. ESYSH has established branches in Sydney, Australia and Munich, Germany. With the release of the new products, the brand has officially started its global business expansion journey. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1979580/0302276f59c060e729413b22d998e72.jpg SOURCE ESYSUNHOME CHICAGO, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Landmarks Illinois will host its highly attended annual spring fundraising event Preservation Forward on the evening of March 2, 2023, at one of Chicago's most prominent landmarks, The Old Post Office. The event, which features a cocktail reception, interactive food stations and an after-party, will celebrate the work of Landmarks Illinois, the only statewide organization in Illinois helping people save historic and culturally significant places in their communities. Registration is now open for the 2023 Preservation Forward event on March 2. Preservation Forward will also honor the 2023 Landmarks Illinois Influencers, five exceptional leaders who are helping move the preservation field forward, creating a more diverse, equitable, inclusive and accessible movement. The 2023 Landmarks Illinois Influencers are: Calvin L. Holmes , President, Chicago Community Loan Fund , President, Chicago Community Loan Fund Amy Mills , Owner, 17th Street Barbecue, Faye and The Factory at 17th Street , Owner, 17th Street Barbecue, Faye and The Factory at 17th Street Related Midwest , Represented by Sarah Wick , Senior Vice President, Affordable Housing , Represented by , Senior Vice President, Affordable Housing Paola Aguirre Serrano , Urban Designer and Founding Partner, BORDERLESS , Urban Designer and Founding Partner, BORDERLESS Amanda Williams , Artist, Architect. "Our 2023 Influencers represent our evolving preservation field one that pushes the boundaries on how we go about saving places and whom we work with to save them," said Bonnie McDonald, President & CEO of Landmarks Illinois. "These five innovators are reactivating places and stories from our past in new and exciting ways that deserve to be celebrated as well as replicated in our preservation practices." 2023 Preservation Forward event details & registration Now in its second year, Preservation Forward is a reimagining of Landmarks Illinois' annual spring fundraiser previously called the Legendary Landmarks Celebration. The 2023 Preservation Forward event will take place at The Old Post Office, 433 W. Van Buren St. in Chicago, and begin at 5:30 p.m. with a cocktail reception, followed by the main program at 7 p.m. Guests will gather in The Old Post Office's fully restored historic lobby and grand hall that features original fixtures from the 122-year-old, once-threatened building saved with the help of Landmarks Illinois' sustained advocacy. Interactive food stations will serve chef-crafted fare, including that from the venue's food hall From Here On and 17th Street Barbecue, a Murphysboro-based, award-winning restaurant owned by 2023 Influencer Amy Mills. The 2023 Preservation Forward After-Party begins at 8:30 p.m. in The Telegram lounge on the second floor of The Post Office and will feature music by Bluewater Kings Band, cocktails as well as desserts from local bakers and pastry chefs. Tickets are now on sale for 2023 Preservation Forward. Reservations for the full event are $500. Tickets for the after-party only can be purchased for $35-$95. A free, virtual attendance option is also available for the main program. Visit Landmarks.org/events/preservation-forward to register for the event and/or learn about sponsorship opportunities. About Landmarks Illinois We are People Saving Places for People. Landmarks Illinois is a membership-based, historic preservation nonprofit organization serving the people of Illinois. We inspire and empower stakeholders to save places that matter to them by providing free guidance, practical and financial resources and access to strategic partnerships. For more information, visit www.Landmarks.org. Media Contact: Kaitlyn McAvoy Director of Communications Landmarks Illinois 312-922-1742 [email protected] SOURCE Landmarks Illinois Ace Hardware placed #7 in the world's most comprehensive franchise ranking, Entrepreneur Magazine's Franchise 500 OAK BROOK, Ill., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Ace Hardware is the world's largest retailer-owned hardware cooperative, and it continues to earn industry recognition as one of the leading franchise opportunities based on its retailer support, yearly sales growth, and strong brand recognition. Ace Hardware secured a spot in the Top 10 franchise business opportunities in the world for 2023 according to Entrepreneur Magazine's Franchise 500, one of the most highly sought-after honors in the franchise industry. After ranking 12th in 2022, Ace Hardware's record sales and comprehensive retail support helped the company climb up the list in 2023 to the 7th position out of 500 ranked franchise businesses, according to Entrepreneur Magazine. Entrepreneur is now in its 44th year of producing this premier franchise industry ranking. Entrepreneur Magazine named Ace Hardware the #1 Franchise in its retail category. Ace Hardware secured this top spot the previous year in 2022. "Breaking into the Top 10 on Entrepreneur's Franchise 500 list is an honor and a reflection of our passion for helping our retail business owners succeed," said John Kittell, Vice President of Retail Operations and New Business at Ace Hardware. "Our goal is to always be the best, especially when it comes to supporting our locally owned entrepreneurs with industry-leading products and service offerings that give them an advantage in an increasingly competitive marketplace. We have always believed that our strength is in our people. Ace Hardware continues to grow and thrive based on our strong ties to the local communities we serve, made possible by our Ace retailers who uphold our helpful brand promise every day." Entrepreneur's Franchise 500 was the first and most comprehensive franchise company ranking in the world, analyzing a broad range of factors including costs and fees, size and growth, support, brand strength, and financial strength and stability. The Franchise 500 has become both a dominant competitive measure for franchisors and a primary research tool for potential franchisees. To view the full ranking, visit www.entrepreneur.com/franchise500. Entrepreneur also ranked Ace Handyman Services #1 in the Home Repairs/Handyman Services category. Overall, Ace Handyman Services ranked #127 on the Franchise 500 list, rising from #238 on the list in 2022. Ace Handyman Services is a stand-alone subsidiary of Ace Hardware corporation. It was created in 2019 as a collection of locally owned franchise businesses staffed by professional and multi-skilled craftsmen and women trained to handle a homeowners to-do list. The roster of services includes carpentry, plumbing, electrical, drywall, painting, flooring and more. In May 2022, Ace Hardware earned J.D. Power's Highest Ranking for Customer Satisfaction among home improvement retail stores, a ranking it has achieved 15 out of the last 16 years. About Ace Hardware Ace Hardware is the largest retailer-owned hardware cooperative in the world with more than 5,600 locally owned and operated hardware stores in approximately 70 countries. Headquartered in Oak Brook, Ill., Ace and its subsidiaries operate an expansive network of distribution centers in the U.S. and have distribution capabilities in Ningbo, China; Colon, Panama; and Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Since 1924, Ace has become a part of local communities around the world and known as the place with the helpful hardware folks. For more information, visit acehardware.com or newsroom.acehardware.com. Media Contacts: [email protected] SOURCE Ace Hardware Corporation SALT LAKE CITY, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- ARUP Laboratories and the University of Utah's Division of Medical Laboratory Sciences have secured $3 million in federal funding through the Health Resources and Services Administration to build a new Advanced Practice Clinical Laboratory Training Center. The center will bolster educational opportunities for students in medical laboratory sciences in Utah and beyond and help address a critical need for highly trained laboratory professionals nationwide. The $3 million in community project funding was included in the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Division of the Consolidated Appropriations Act approved by Congress and signed by President Biden on December 29, 2022. It will fund a first-of-its-kind collaboration between ARUP and the U, made possible by Rep. Chris Stewart's help in securing the appropriation. "The COVID-19 pandemic reminded us how important well-trained laboratory professionals are to providing accurate and timely test results that are critical to the delivery of the best patient care," said Tracy George, MD, ARUP president and chief scientific officer. "Working together, we've come up with an innovative solution, and we're so pleased that it can now move from concept to reality. "ARUP is grateful to Congressman Stewart for advocating for this important project that will improve the health of so many Utahns," George said. Medical laboratory professionals were already in high demand before the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for these highly qualified workers. In 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projected that an additional 25,900 medical laboratory scientists will be needed each year through 2030, adding to a labor force that currently numbers more than 335,000. The current shortage is due, in part, to an insufficient number of clinical training sites for students, which forces some academic programs to limit enrollment, said Diana Wilkins, MS, PhD, division chief of Medical Laboratory Sciences in the U's Department of Pathology. ARUP, University of Utah Health, and other community health systems already provide clinical training for many students, but the new center will expand capacity and increase exposure to state-of-the-art technologies that support patient care. Students in the U's program, which is accredited by the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences (NAACLS), will be able to gain advanced laboratory experience at the center before finishing their clinical education in more specialized testing environments at ARUP and other locations. "It will make a huge difference in the training of future laboratory professionals," Wilkins said. "This collaborative effort is really a very creative way to increase the number of students we can graduate each year." She anticipates that the availability of the training center, which will be on the ARUP campus at University of Utah Research Park, will enable the U to reach its goal of doubling the number of annual graduates to 80. George said the $3 million appropriation will fund the training center's construction as well as state-of-the-art instrumentation that will enable students to gain valuable experience in specialized testing in clinical chemistry, hematology, coagulation, immunohematology, microbiology, virology, and immunology. Beyond the federal funds, the Department of Pathology's Medical Laboratory Sciences Division will provide funding for faculty and staff to develop and implement curricula and to provide instruction and assessment. The program has also secured a grant for a laboratory information system to be used in the training center. The partners are already solidifying plans for the new center. The plan is for the training center to officially open in 2024, upon completion of construction. Visit this page to learn more about the Medical Laboratory Sciences Division's programs. Additional information about the profession is also available at ARUP's MLS Faculty and Student Resource Center. About ARUP Laboratories Founded in 1984, ARUP Laboratories is a leading national reference laboratory and a nonprofit enterprise of the University of Utah and its Department of Pathology. ARUP offers more than 3,000 tests and test combinations, ranging from routine screening tests to esoteric molecular and genetic assays. ARUP serves clients across the United States, including many of the nation's top university teaching hospitals and children's hospitals, as well as multihospital groups, major commercial laboratories, group purchasing organizations, military and other government facilities, and major clinics. In addition, ARUP is a worldwide leader in innovative laboratory research and development, led by the efforts of the ARUP Institute for Clinical and Experimental Pathology. ARUP is ISO 15189 CAP accredited. About University of Utah Health University of Utah Health is the state's only academic healthcare system, providing leading-edge and compassionate care for a referral area that encompasses 10% of the US, including Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, and much of Nevada. A hub for health sciences research and education in the region, U of U Health has a $458 million research enterprise and trains the majority of Utah's physicians, including more than 1,460 healthcare providers each year at its Colleges of Health, Nursing, and Pharmacy and Schools of Dentistry and Medicine. With more than 20,000 employees, the system includes 12 community clinics and five hospitals: University Hospital, Huntsman Mental Health Institute, Huntsman Cancer Hospital, University Orthopaedic Center, and the Craig H. Neilsen Rehabilitation Hospital. For 13 straight years, U of U Health has ranked among the top 10 U.S. academic medical centers in the rigorous Vizient Quality and Accountability Study. ARUP Media Contact Lisa Carricaburu, [email protected], 801-541-5041 University of Utah Health Media Contact Kathy Wilets, [email protected], 801-581-2121 SOURCE ARUP Laboratories Immersive Experiences Confront the Environmental Crisis WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Art Palm Beach, now under new ownership and directed by the producers of the prestigious LA Art Show, is thrilled to announce the inclusion of immersive experiences focused on the climate crisis and the impact humans are having on our planet. Art Palm Beach to focus on climate change with immersive experiences that include world renowned artists and NASA. Tweet this Art Palm Beach, now under new ownership and directed by the producers of the prestigious LA Art Show, will be focused on climate change. The show will Include immersive experiences focused on the climate crisis and the impact humans are having on our planet. The immersive experience and art exhibit will address rising sea levels, drought and will show how to bring new life to discarded waste with a little help from NASA and some world renowned artists. For the first time, DIVERSEartPB will launch in Palm Beach, a sister to the LA Art Show signature curatorial project DIVERSEartLA. Renowned Curator Marisa Caichiolo who is behind DIVERSEartLA, is leading DIVERSEartPB. "Humans are changing the earth's natural systems in rapid and unprecedented ways. This has propelled our planet into a new geologic era: the Anthropocene," said Caichiolo. "Contextualizing through immersive experiences and installations, we can all work together on solutions." For its debut, DIVERSEartPB will be supporting Florida based non-profit arts organizations and museums and is pleased to present a special exhibition by internationally renowned multi-media artist Marcos Lutyens. In his installation, Lutyens takes the viewer on a hypnotic journey addressing the current drought in California and the rest of the world. DIVERSEartPB is also proud to introduce a collaboration between artist Guillermo Anselmo Vezzosi and scientist Dr. Eric Larour from NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab. The immersive experience and art exhibit in rising sea levels will also include a sculpture by Vezzosi, bringing new life to discarded waste. Art Palm Beach will be held January 25th to 29th, 2023 at the Palm Beach County Convention Center. There will be more than 80 prestigious contemporary, emerging and modern art galleries. Art Palm Beach will donate 15% of all ticket proceeds to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. For more information about the show please visit www.ArtPalmBeachShow.com. Tickets can be purchased here SOURCE Art Palm Beach FORT WORTH, Texas, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Avanta Residential today announced that the firm closed construction financing with UMB Bank on 26 acres of land within the Chisholm Trail Ranch master-planned community in Fort Worth, Texas to develop a built-to-rent community. The community, called Avendale at Chisholm Trail Ranch, marks Avanta's second project in the Dallas Metroplex area and it's third project in the state of Texas. The single-family rental community will consist of 247 one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom patio and townhomes. Community amenities will include a resident amenity center which will feature a clubroom with a kitchen, fitness center, yoga lawn, outdoor living room, and a resort style pool. In addition, there will be resident courtyards, lounge areas, dog parks, walking trails, and playgrounds spread out across the community. "We are excited to partner with UMB, a highly seasoned real estate lender with more than a century of experience," said Peter Spier, President of Avanta Residential. "With UMB's support, Avanta will continue to expands its footprint in the Dallas Metroplex area." "The location of Avendale at Chisholm Trail Ranch is ideal, with its proximity to downtown Fort Worth, as well as national retailers, and major employers," said Terence Johnson, Senior Vice President of Development. Avendale at Chisholm Trail Ranch is conveniently located nine miles south of downtown Fort Worth, one of the fastest growing cities in the U.S. The Shops at Chisholm Trail Ranch, located across Chisolm Trail Parkway, features several national retailers including Ross, Marshalls, Old Navy, Ulta, Five Below, Famous Footwear, Tuesday Morning, Dollar Tree, Bath & Body Works, America's Best, Aria Nail Bar, Pacific Dental, AT&T, Sprint, The Joint, Great Clips and Sport Clips and many other restaurants. "UMB Bank is proud to finance this project sponsored by Avanta, an exceptionally experienced developer," said Eric Kraushaar, Vice President at UMB. "We're delighted to work with them to fill an unmet need for housing and offering amenities that enhance the wellness of the residents." Avanta plans to deliver homes at Avendale at Chisholm Trail Ranch in Spring 2024. About Avanta Avanta, a national leader in the build-for-rent industry, was formed in 2020 to respond to the demand for lower-density rental housing. Avanta was created from the deep experience of Hunt Companies Inc., a diversified, family-owned holding company responsible for completing more than $8.5 billion in real estate development and over 70,000 single-family rental homes across the United States, 50,000 of which are still owned and operated today. Avanta is committed to developing thoughtful, well-designed, amenity-rich homes for lease throughout the U.S. Avanta is active in Texas, Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, and Colorado and is expanding its footprint. For more information, please visit www.avantaresidential.com. SOURCE Avanta Residential SALT LAKE CITY, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Beans & Brews Coffeehouse was recognized as one of the top 500 franchises in 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. Recognized as an invaluable resource for potential franchisees, the 2023 Franchise 500 ranks Beans & Brews Coffeehouse as 385 for its outstanding performance in areas including unit growth, financial strength and stability, and brand power. "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. Beans & Brews Coffeehouse's position on the ranking is a testament to its strength as a franchise opportunity. To view Beans & Brews Coffeehouse 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 Beans & Brews Coffeehouse Founded in 1993 and franchising since 2004, Beans & Brews Coffeehouse first opened its doors in Salt Lake City, Utah where it became known for being the Home of High-Altitude Roasting. The brand roasts all of its coffee at 4,400 feet above sea level in Salt Lake's mountain valley at the lowest possible temperature for the least possible amount of time to achieve a smoother, more intense flavor. In addition to its high-altitude roasted coffee, Beans & Brews Coffeehouse offers a full menu crafted from the finest ingredients, which includes teas, sodas, frozen drinks and a variety of healthy food options. The brand works to provide a fun, friendly space where everyone is welcome. Through its Brew Good program, Beans & Brews Coffeehouse focuses on serving the communities it operates in by making donations to different local organizations. Since opening its doors nearly 30 years ago, Beans & Brews Coffeehouse has expanded across four states with 68 locations opened and another 20 in development. For more information about Beans & Brews Coffeehouse, please visit https://www.beansandbrews.com/ Contact: Ashlyn Jensen Franchise Elevator [email protected] 847-346-9014 SOURCE Beans & Brews Coffeehouse SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Blockchain Capital, LLC announced the promotion of Kinjal Shah to the role of General Partner. Since joining Blockchain Capital in 2018, Kinjal has become a key investment team member, leading the firm's research content strategy and working closely with founders to offer post-investment support. During her time at Blockchain Capital, she has played an integral role in the growth of the firm and has made a number of successful investments. Kinjal co-led the seed funding round of Opensea , the first and largest marketplace for non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and led the funding round of Upshot , an NFT analytics platform. She also created the firm's Research Scholar Program , where college-age candidates have the ability to work closely with the investment team to develop a deep understanding of blockchain technology and venture capital. "In her five years at the firm, Kinjal has consistently demonstrated her commitment to bringing value to our founders," said Bart Stephens, Founder and Managing Partner of Blockchain Capital. "Her technical depth and expertise in the blockchain industry, along with her track record of investments, have made her an invaluable member of our team. We couldn't be prouder to continue growing alongside Kinjal as a General Partner." As General Partner, Kinjal will be responsible for driving the overall strategy and direction of the firm, as well as leading the due diligence process and working closely with portfolio companies. Prior to joining Blockchain Capital, Kinjal was a Senior Consulting Analyst at Fidelity Investments and holds a B.S. in Quantitative Economics from Tufts University. About Blockchain Capital, LLC Based in San Francisco, Blockchain Capital is one of the first dedicated venture capital firms to invest exclusively in the blockchain technology sector. Founded in 2013 by Bart and Brad Stephens, Blockchain Capital has funded over 170 startups and is dedicated to working with founders on the principal mission to build world-class companies and projects based on blockchain technology. CONTACT: [email protected], 415-677-5340 SOURCE Blockchain Capital Low-code CCaaS Platform Breaks Barriers for Ease of Use and Affordability with All-Inclusive Plans and Surge Licensing LOS ANGELES, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Broadvoice, a provider of hosted voice, unified communications (UCaaS), omnichannel contact center (CCaaS) and SIP trunking services for small and midmarket businesses, announced the anticipated launch of the GoContact omnichannel cloud contact center solution for business customers in North America. The GoContact platform joins the Broadvoice portfolio with the July 2021 acquisition of GoContact, a CCaaS provider based in Aveiro, Portugal. Since 2008, GoContact has become the go-to CCaaS solution among business process outsourcing (BPO) companies and contact centers in Europe and Latin America. Over the past 18 months since the acquisition, Broadvoice has been gearing up to deliver and support the GoContact service in the U.S. and Canada. "We're excited to finally bring GoContact to our business customers in North America," said Broadvoice CEO Jim Murphy. "The cloud-native, low-code CCaaS platform is a game-changer in the contact center space. GoContact offers enterprise-class omnichannel functionality that's been tested by BPOs and call centers around the world. At the same time, it delivers optimal ease of use and affordability that lives up to our promise to simplify communications for small and midmarket businesses." GoContact reduces technological and licensing complexity to transform contact center options for businesses of all sizes. Compared to other solutions in the market, GoContact is: Easy to deploy GoContact is provisioned in a cloud-native environment, so there's no hardware required. Unlike many competing solutions, GoContact runs in a browser with no additional software required. GoContact is provisioned in a cloud-native environment, so there's no hardware required. Unlike many competing solutions, GoContact runs in a browser with no additional software required. Easy to use GoContact gives agents a single pane of glass for calls, chat, email and social media in one queue within the same browser. No separate applications are required for each channel or admin and agent roles. GoContact gives agents a single pane of glass for calls, chat, email and social media in one queue within the same browser. No separate applications are required for each channel or admin and agent roles. Easy to manage GoContact is designed for users, not IT. There's no coding or scripting required. For example, a contact center manager can build an inbound campaign queue, set up the rules, and assign agents in less than 10 minutes using the platform's drag-and-drop interface. No special training or certifications are needed. GoContact is designed for users, not IT. There's no coding or scripting required. For example, a contact center manager can build an inbound campaign queue, set up the rules, and assign agents in less than 10 minutes using the platform's drag-and-drop interface. No special training or certifications are needed. Easy to afford GoContact is a proprietary platform that Broadvoice owns and operates with no ongoing licensing overhead, enabling the company to offer disruptive pricing. Plus, customers can save money with concurrent seat licenses instead of paying for individual agent licenses whether they're scheduled to work or not. GoContact is a proprietary platform that Broadvoice owns and operates with no ongoing licensing overhead, enabling the company to offer disruptive pricing. Plus, customers can save money with concurrent seat licenses instead of paying for individual agent licenses whether they're scheduled to work or not. Easy to scale Uniquely, GoContact offers "surge licensing," enabling customers to temporarily scale up from as few as 10 licenses to meet peak seasonal demand and then return to normal levels for true metered pricing. Uniquely, GoContact offers "surge licensing," enabling customers to temporarily scale up from as few as 10 licenses to meet peak seasonal demand and then return to normal levels for true metered pricing. Easy to add-on With GoContact, there are no add-on costs; all standard capabilities are bundled in the monthly seat charge. That means customers automatically have access to our exclusive features like Agent Assist, which guides agents through live calls, enhancing productivity and performance. With GoContact, there are no add-on costs; all standard capabilities are bundled in the monthly seat charge. That means customers automatically have access to our exclusive features like Agent Assist, which guides agents through live calls, enhancing productivity and performance. Easy to update GoContact updates are automatic and included in our licensing. GoContact is available immediately at a special introductory rate through Broadvoice's authorized partners. For more information, visit www.broadvoice.com. Supporting Customer Quotes "With GoContact, we integrate several communication channels, such as voice, tickets and social networks, without the need to rely on other platforms. The omnichannel aspect of the GoContact solution has improved our customer service experience." Helder Gama, Senior Coordinator, Manpower Solutions "At Ucall, customer service software is not just software; it is, along with our people, one of our competitive advantages. Choosing GoContact as a partner is betting on a technological solution that allows us to innovate and keep up with the trends of the best in customer experience." Mario Tazi, Director of Operations, Ucall Supporting Partner Quote "The addition of the GoContact omnichannel contact center to the Broadvoice UCaaS solution allows us to bring one-stop shopping and invoicing to our inbound CCaaS clients. The combination enables us to deliver tremendous value to our clients by reducing the complexity of managing multiple vendors. GoContact allows us to grow our business with Broadvoice by opening the door to our larger and/or complex businesses. These businesses require a specific set of support and have specific expectations regarding Contact Center applications. GoContact is great choice to provide a CCaaS solution that includes integrations with specific CRMs and ticketing systems. One of the attractions is a drag-and-drop script builder and built-in CPaaS for Agent Assist. It's now all covered with Broadvoice. " Joseph Saullo, Solution Advisor, First Class Connection Corp. About Broadvoice Broadvoice simplifies communications for small and midmarket businesses with cloud communications solutions that deliver enterprise-class features as an affordable managed service. Broadvoice's b-hive Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) and GoContact omnichannel Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) solutions are built on proprietary technology platforms, giving the company complete control to meet customers' evolving needs. Broadvoice is also known for its industry-leading installation, support and award-winning Customer Success Program. With network assets and customers spanning four continents, Broadvoice drives collaboration and commerce across the globe. For more information, visit www.broadvoice.com. Media Contact: Kimberly Way Senior Manager, Marketing Operations Broadvoice 970.289.0854 [email protected] Khali Henderson Senior Partner BuzzTheory (for Broadvoice) 480.999.5297 [email protected] SOURCE Broadvoice Angle Health Recognized as One of San Francisco's Best Startups to Work For on Built In's Best Places to Work List SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Built In today announced that Angle Health was honored in its 2023 Best Places To Work Awards. Specifically, Angle Health earned a place on its list of San Francisco Best Startups to Work For. The annual awards program includes companies of all sizes, from startups to those in the enterprise, and honors both remote-first employers as well as companies in large tech markets across the U.S. "We're thrilled to be recognized as one of San Francisco's Best Startups to Work For for 2023," says Ty Wang, CEO of Angle Health. "We strive to create a culture filled with tremendous opportunities that recognizes the contributions of each employee and fosters creativity and change. This award is a reflection of those efforts and demonstrates what our employees already know: Angle Health is an innovator inside and out." Built In determines the winners of Best Places to Work based on an algorithm, using company data about compensation and benefits. To reflect the benefits candidates are searching for more frequently on Built In, the program also weighs criteria like remote and flexible work opportunities, programs for DEI and other people-first cultural offerings. "It's my honor to congratulate this year's Best Places to Work winners," said Sheridan Orr, Chief Marketing Officer, Built In. "These exemplary companies understand their people are their most valuable asset, and they've stepped up to meet the modern professional's new expectations, including the desire to work for companies that deliver purpose, growth and inclusion. These winners set the stage for a human-centered future of work, and we can't wait to see that future unfold." The news comes following a year of significant growth for Angle Health. The company recently expanded into new markets across Arizona, Georgia, Indiana, Ohio, Missouri, and South Carolina. With digital-first care navigation and access to a national network of healthcare providers and facilities, many top employers continue to choose Angle Health as their healthcare insurance and benefits provider. ABOUT BUILT IN Built In is creating the largest platform for technology professionals globally. Monthly, millions of the industry's most in-demand professionals visit the site from across the world. They rely on our platform to stay ahead of tech trends and news, learn skills to accelerate their careers and find opportunities at companies whose values they share. Built In also serves 2,000 customers, innovative companies ranging from startups to those in the Fortune 500. By putting their stories in front of our uniquely engaged audience, we help them hire otherwise hard-to-reach tech professionals. www.builtin.com ABOUT BUILT IN'S BEST PLACES TO WORK Built In's esteemed Best Places to Work Awards, now in its fifth year, honor companies across numerous categories: 100 Best Places to Work, 50 Best Startup Places to Work, 100 Best Midsize Places to Work, 100 Best Large Places to Work and Editor's Choice: 100 Best Hybrid Places to Work. The program honors companies remote, hybrid and in-office with the best total rewards packages across the U.S. and in the following tech hubs: Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Colorado, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington DC. ABOUT ANGLE HEALTH Angle Health democratizes access to modern healthcare by unifying today's fragmented healthcare benefits system into one core coverage and delivery platform. As a full-stack healthcare benefits provider, Angle Health drives efficiencies across the value chain through its digital-first platform from instant underwriting for brokers and streamlined administration for employers to personalized care navigation for members. With access to a national network of healthcare providers and facilities, Angle Health is the health benefits provider for modern employers, now servicing thousands of employees and members across the country. Visit anglehealth.com to learn more. SOURCE Angle Health The scholars represent the next generation of palliative care leaders and demonstrate the Foundation's commitment to whole-person care for people with serious illness PORTLAND, Ore., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Cambia Health Foundation has announced the selection of 12 emerging palliative care leaders for its Sojourns Scholar Leadership Program. In its ninth year, this program identifies, cultivates and advances the next generation of palliative care leaders. "We are excited to support the development of these emerging palliative care leaders and enhance their expertise so that they can improve patient care and influence broader system change," said Peggy Maguire, president and board chair of Cambia Health Foundation. "This year's cohort is comprised of people with diverse interests and experiences who will learn from each other and work together to advance whole-person health for people with serious illness." In its ninth year, this program identifies, cultivates and advances the next generation of palliative care leaders. Tweet this The latest cohort was chosen following a rigorous selection process from a highly competitive pool of candidates that included all members of the interdisciplinary team and health systems professionals working to advance palliative care. Each Sojourns Scholar receives a two-year, $180,000 grant ($90,000/year over a two-year period) to conduct an innovative and impactful project tied to a leadership development plan that positions the scholar for growth as a national leader in the field of palliative care. Scholars also join a collaborative learning community where they receive one-to-one mentoring from an established palliative care leader and targeted training on key leadership skills. Cambia Health Foundation recently opened the 2023 Sojourns Scholar Leadership Program call for applications, which will be the tenth and final cohort within the original program commitment of investing in up to 12 scholars per year for 10 years. The Cambia Health Foundation launched the Sojourns Scholar Leadership Program in 2014 with the goal of advancing capacity, leadership and innovation in the field of palliative care. The Foundation's purposeful investment in palliative care leadership supports a larger vision of a transformed health care system that is more compassionate and person-focused. Since the program started, Cambia has awarded more than $17 million to 96 Scholars across the country, each focused on different areas of palliative care, but all committed to improving the experience of people facing serious illness and their caregivers. Listed below are the 2022 Sojourns Scholar Leadership Program grant recipients and their proposed projects: Alyssa Aguirre , The University of Texas at Austin : , The : Health Care Transformation: Caregiver Support Project Channing Tate , University of Colorado : , : Underutilization of Hospice Care in Older Black Americans Colleen McIlvennan , University of Colorado : , : Pilot Testing ENABLE-LVAD: An Early Palliative Care Intervention for Family Caregivers of Patients with a Left Ventricular Assist Device Cristal Brown , The University of Texas at Austin : , The : Building bridges in End-stage Liver Disease: Development of an outpatient, clinic-based interdisciplinary team intervention to improve ACP engagement Dio Kavalieratos , Emory University : , : Developing Equitable End-of-Life Care to Address Social and Structural Determinants of Health among People with Heart Failure Edward Penate, Northwestern Memorial Hospital: Screening for Religious/Spiritual Struggle by Palliative Care non-chaplain health care staff Erin Collins , The Peaceful Presence Project: , The Peaceful Presence Project: Improving Rural Access to Palliative Care with Community Health Workers Heather Bemis , Children's Hospital Los Angeles: , Children's Hospital Los Angeles: Bright IDEAS for Pediatric Palliative Care: A Problem Solving Skills Intervention to Empower Parent Resilience Karen Moss , The Ohio State University : , The : Pair 2 Care: Peer Support for Caregivers of African Americans Living with Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias Michelle Fortier , University of California Irvine : , : A Community Engaged Approach to Develop a Culturally Appropriate Palliative Care Model for Spanish-speaking Families Impacted by Childhood Cancer Nneka Ufere , Massachusetts General Hospital: , General Hospital: LiverPal: A Randomized Study of Inpatient Palliative Care for Patients with End-Stage Liver Disease Sarah Byrne-Martelli , Massachusetts General Hospital: , General Hospital: Spiritual Care Integration in Inpatient Palliative Care Teams The 2022 Scholars include emerging leaders in the following disciplines: chaplain, nurse, pharmacist, physician, psychologist, researcher and social worker. To learn more about the individual scholars, please visit the Sojourns Scholars Scholar page on the Cambia Health Foundation website. About Cambia Health Foundation Cambia Health Foundation is the corporate foundation of Cambia Health Solutions. Founded in 2007, the foundation has funded over $110 million in grants to advance patient- and family-centered care for all. We purposefully invest in ideas that expand access to behavioral health care to advance equity through whole-person health. SOURCE Cambia Health Foundation SOUTH WINDSOR, Conn., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Capewell, a global leader in aerial delivery and life support survivability solutions, announced Jim Tinsley has joined the Company's prestigious Board of Advisors. Capewell announced Jim Tinsley has joined the Company's prestigious Board of Advisors. Tweet this Capewell, a global leader in aerial delivery and life support survivability solutions, announced Jim Tinsley has joined the Companys prestigious Board of Advisors. "Capewell's Board of Advisors, led by retired Marine Corps General James Amos, has added another highly distinguished business leader to its ranks," stated Lane Wiggers, the Company's CEO. "Jim's deep experiences in the aerospace and defense space both domestically and internationally, make him a tremendous addition to the Capewell team. I could not be more excited for him and for Capewell." Jim Tinsley's career in defense and aerospace began at Jane's Information Group, now Janes, developing new products and offering consulting services based on their world-recognized open-source defense intelligence capabilities. Jim then moved to Avascent, recently acquired by Oliver Wyman, in which he helped grow the firm as a Managing Director and Board Member into the preeminent specialist management consulting and M&A advisory firm serving clients across aerospace, defense, and government sectors. Jim brings a deep understanding of the US and global defense market and has supported companies at every level of the supply chain. Jim is a trusted advisor to the largest global prime contractors and many companies across the survivability systems landscape, supporting hundreds of critical M&A transactions, program captures, price-to-win, and growth initiatives. After 20 years in consulting, Jim is refocusing on working directly for the defense industry with a focus on companies whose missions he passionately supports. Jim worked closely with Argosy on their acquisition of Capewell in 2018 and has continued to informally advise both Capewell and Argosy over the past 5 years. "I am honored to join the highly respected and experienced Capewell Board of Advisors. Capewell's aerial delivery and water survivability capabilities are absolutely critical to effectiveness and survival of US and allied warfighters. For nearly 70 years, Capewell has ensured that cargo, personnel, and vehicles are delivered precisely and safely by parachute. Those risking their lives daily operating in and over dangerous water environments should have every capability that ensures they return safely home." Jim earned a master's degree and bachelor's degree from University of Baltimore and James Madison University, respectively, and currently holds a secret clearance from the U.S. Department of Defense. About Capewell Founded in 1881, Capewell is the global leader in the custom engineering and manufacture of critical aviation aerial delivery systems and life support solutions for the United States government and its partner nations. Capewell's foundational mission to protect people who operate systems in dangerous environments in support of national security continues to this day. Operating out of South Windsor, Connecticut, and Meadows of Dan, Virginia, the Company offers four core product segments of mission-critical components and systems: aerial delivery systems; aerial and marine life support and safety hardware; operator and maintainer training and logistics; and engineering services. To learn more, visit www.capewell.com. SOURCE Capewell CHICAGO, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Celegence, a global provider of regulatory affairs services and solutions for the life sciences industry, has been recently granted Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) Certification by the Chicago Minority Supplier Development Council. The certification verifies Celegence's status of being at least 51% owned, operated, and controlled by racial or ethnic minorities who are also U.S. citizens. The MBE certification also demonstrates Celegence's capability to support employees and customers from diverse backgrounds to achieve excellence and fulfill aspirations. "We are proud to be recognized by the NMSDC for our continuous effort in supporting racial equality and inclusiveness," says Punya Abbhi, the Chief Operating Officer at Celegence, "The MBE certification reflects our commitment to social good and we look forward to making a meaningful impact on supplier diversity given the nature of our global community." As a global enterprise that is founded, operated and supported by traditionally underrepresented groups, Celegence is firmly committed to supplier diversity and inclusiveness through its racial-equality initiatives and programs. Partnering with a certified-MBE provides significant economic and social benefits, including growing supplier diversity programs, and it increases confidence that a minority supplier will make a positive impact on their industry. "Above all, we are thoroughly looking forward to working with clients to help them achieve their goals, grow diversity programs, and continue to build on our shared values." says Sonia A. Veluchamy, Chief Executive Officer at Celegence. About Celegence Celegence helps life sciences companies navigate complex global regulatory requirements by providing consulting services and solutions dedicated to regulatory affairs. Celegence supports life sciences customers in the areas of EU MDR compliance, regulatory intelligence, RIMS data management, publishing, regulatory labelling including UDI consulting, medical writing and compliance with new regulations for product portfolios. Celegence's depth of experience and extensive delivery capability helps your regulatory teams operate more efficiently, reduce cost, and improve compliance. For more information, visit www.celegence.com or follow Celegence on LinkedIn. Contact: Rachel Hollos Email: [email protected] SOURCE Celegence MANAMA, Bahrain, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Citi Bahrain has celebrated the first anniversary of its Global Technology Hub, which is on track to employ 1000 Bahraini coders over ten years. Currently, the hub comprises of 110 Bahraini employees, out of which 91 Bahrainis have started at the Citi Seef premises, with 19 additional hires set to join soon. Female participants at the Hub make up 22% of the total Bahrainis, outperforming the average of females in other Citi tech hubs around the world. First Anniversary Citi Global Tech Hub in Bahrain When selecting a country for its Global Technology Hub, Citi conducted a rigorous technical coding test and interview process, with Bahraini talent showing the highest pass rate when compared to other regions. Even more encouraging was the level of female talent in Bahrain's candidate pool, as Bahrain ranks first globally in multiple subindices according to Meta's Inclusive Internet Index (2022), including female digital skills training and STEM education, open data policies, and privacy regulations. Commenting on the anniversary and the contribution of female participants in the hub, HH Shaikha Hessa bint Khalifa Al-Khalifa, Member of the Supreme Council for Women and Chairwoman of the Bahrain Women in Fintech Committee, said: "We are pleased to see Citi's achievements a year after the Hub's launch. Such initiatives contribute positively to achieving the goals of the Women in Fintech Committee working under the National Plan for the Advancement of Bahraini Women, and the National Gender Balance in Future Sciences Initiative, in line with the directions of Bahrain's Economic Vision 2030 as well as the Kingdom's digital transformation initiatives. It makes us proud to see Bahraini women directly contributing to the operations and growth of Citi's Global Tech Hub." Furthermore, commenting on the occasion, HE the Governor of the Central Bank of Bahrain, Mr. Rasheed Mohammed Al Maraj, said: "The Financial services sector has progressed over the last decade, and we expect more changes in the coming years as the pace of digitisation increases. We are proud to see Bahraini talents and competencies benefiting and contributing in developing global centres affiliated with reputable financial institutions in order to promote digital solutions in the financial sector". According to Citi Bahrain's CEO, Michel Sawaya, Citi has witnessed great results since the launch. "The coders had a big impact on developing our digital platforms, such as Citi Velocity and CitiFX Pulse. Their positive contribution helped implement important features, and subsequently take part of bigger projects that have helped us serve Citi clients globally" he said. Citi launched its Global Tech Hub last year as part of a strategic partnership between Tamkeen, Bahrain's labour fund, and the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB), the Kingdom's investment promotion agency. A first in the region, the Hub aims to develop and improve digital solutions for Citi's regional and global clients while creating 1000 tech jobs for Bahrainis over ten years. Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1981419/CITI_Tech_Hub_Group.jpg SOURCE Bahrain EDB DUBLIN, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "The Corporate Reputation of Pharma in 2021 - The Patient Perspective - Global Edition" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The 'Corporate Reputation of Pharma' survey is now in its 11th year, and two years into the Covid-19 pandemic. Between November 2021-February 2022, the survey collected the opinions of 2,150 patient groups on the performance of the pharmaceutical industry during 2021. Patient groups responding to 2021's 'Corporate Reputation of Pharma' survey are uniquely positioned to comment on the pharma industry's performance during the pandemic. Patient groups not only understand the perceptions of patients but are also the only healthcare stakeholder to network with all other stakeholders in the healthcare system. Continue reading for details on: How the analyst measures pharma's corporate reputation from a patient perspective; The headline results of the 2021 Global survey; The companies included in the 2021 analysis; and The profiles of 2021's respondent patient groups. What do companies say? The results of a December 2021-March 2022 survey of pharma companies about their patient-centric activities can be found in an accompanying supplement to this main report. The analyst would like to thank the following 8 companies for their participation in this research: Boehringer Ingelheim I Gilead Sciences I Horizon Therapeutics I Ipsen I Lundbeck USA I MSD (known as Merck & Co., Inc. in the United States and Canada) I Pfizer I ViiV Healthcare (VH) SUMMARY OF RESULTS FINDINGS AT INDUSTRY LEVEL The 2,150 patient groups responding to the 2021 survey rated the pharma industry more favourably for corporate reputation than their predecessors in previous years. 59% of 2021's respondent patient groups stated that the industry had an "Excellent" or "Good" corporate reputation, against 50% saying the same in 2020. The 2021 figure places the pharmaceutical industry ahead of all other healthcare stakeholders for corporate reputation for the first time in the 11 years that the analyst has been tracking the pharma industry's reputation from the patient perspective. The positivity of 2021's respondent patient groups appears to be largely driven by the pharma industry's response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Up to 76% of 2021's respondent patient groups stated that pharma was "Very effective" or "Effective" at providing support to patients during the pandemic, compared with 61% saying the same in 2020. The analyst's country-comparison chart is available online, and shows how patient groups in individual countries perceived the pharma industry's effectiveness at tackling Covid-19 in 2021, compared with 2020. Nonetheless, the vast majority of 2021's respondent patient groups continued to believe that pharma could still be doing much more in several fields: Transparency Communicating fair policing policies Improving access to medicines, and Engaging patients in R&D COMPANY RANKINGS The top-five pharma companies out of 47 companies, ranked for their overall corporate reputation in 2021 (assessed by respondent patient groups familiar with the company): ViiV Healthcare, 1st, Pfizer, 2nd, Roche/Genentech, 3rd, Gilead Sciences, 4th, and Janssen, 5th. The top-three 'big-pharma' companies out of 13 companies, ranked for overall corporate reputation in 2021 (assessed by respondent patient groups familiar with the company): Pfizer, 1st, Roche/Genentech, 2nd, and Janssen, 3rd. The top-three generic pharma out of 5 companies, ranked for overall corporate reputation in 2021 (assessed by respondent patient groups familiar with the company): Sun Pharma, 1st, Sandoz, 2nd, and Mylan, 3rd. Who Should Read this Report? Customer Types (Organisations) Pharma companies Biopharma companies Regulatory authorities (e.g EMA, FDA) NGOs and health charities (usually FOC) including Patient Groups Research and academia Job Titles/Functions for Pharma and Biopharma Organisations Core: Patient Relations Corporate Reputation Public Affairs Professional Affairs Patient Advocacy Communications Market Research Secondary: R&D Health economics Outcomes Research Medical Affairs Marketing Brand teams Market Access Regulatory Key Topics Covered: Executive summary Patient-group relationships with pharma, 2021 Industry-wide findings, 2021 Rankings of 47 pharma companies, 2021 (v. 2020), as assessed by patient groups familiar with the companies Rankings of 45 pharma companies, 2021 (v. 2020), as assessed by patient groups working with the companies Rankings of 13 'big-pharma' companies, 2021 (v. 2020), as assessed by patient groups familiar with the companies Rankings of 13 'big-pharma' companies, 2021 (v. 2020), as assessed by patient groups working with the companies Rankings of generic pharma companies, 2021 (v. 2020), as assessed by patient groups familiar, and working, with the companies Profiles of the 47 companies, 2021 (v. 2020) Appendices What 8 pharmaceutical companies say about their patient-oriented activities, 2021/2022. We would like to thank the following companies for their contributions: Boehringer Ingelheim Gilead Sciences Horizon Therapeutics Ipsen Lundbeck Merck & Co/MSD Pfizer ViiV Healthcare I. Profiles of respondent patient groups, 2021 II. List of respondent patient groups that wished to be attributed, 2021 Profiles of 47 companies, 2021 v. 2020 Each company is profiled by the following measures: The number of respondent patient groups familiar, and working, with the company, 2021. The profile of the respondent patient groups familiar with the company (the number of patients reached; country of headquarters; specialties; and geographic remit), 2021. The types of relationships that the company had with its patient-group partners, 2021. Company performance at the individual indicators of corporate reputation in 2021-as assessed by respondent patient groups familiar, and working, with the company. Competitors' relationships in 2021 with the company's respondent patient-group partners. Overall rankings for the company-as assessed by respondent patient groups familiar, and working, with the company, 2021 (v. 2020). Company rankings for each of the indicators-as assessed by respondent patient groups familiar, and working, with the company, 2020 (v. 2020). Snapshot view: where the company sits in the corporate tiers for each of the indicators(in the higher, the middle, or the lower tier)-as assessed by respondent patient groups familiar, and working, with the company, 2021. Overall rankings of the company, 2015-2021-as assessed by respondent patient groups familiar with the company. Companies AbbVie Acorda Therapeutics Almirall Amgen Astellas Pharma AstraZeneca Bayer Biogen Boehringer Ingelheim Bristol Myers Squibb Chiesi Farmaceutici CSL Behring Daiichi Sankyo Dr Reddy's Eisai Eli Lilly Ferring Gedeon Richter Gilead Sciences Grifols Grunenthal GSK Horizon Therapeutics Ipsen Janssen LEO Pharma Lundbeck Menarini Merck & Co/MSD Merck KGaA/EMD Serono Mylan Novartis Novo Nordisk Octapharma Otsuka Pfizer Pierre Fabre Roche/Genentech Sandoz Sanofi Servier Sun Pharma Takeda Teva UCB Vertex ViiV Healthcare For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/nxscxt 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] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/539438/Research_and_Markets_Logo.jpg SOURCE Research and Markets PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- D2 Collins, LLC (D2), an affiliate of the D2 Organization, announces the acquisition of 1, 3, 4, and 7 Collins Drive at Salem Commerce Park in Carneys Point, NJ. The assemblage is located at what was formerly known as the Salem Business Center and includes three vacant parcels totaling 35-acres (3, 4, and 7 Collins Drive) and one 10-acre parcel that includes a 78,000 square foot office building (1 Collins Drive). D2 purchased the Collins Drive properties from the Delaware River & Bay Authority. American Dream Realty represented D2 in the transaction. Salem Commerce Park D2 also purchased an adjacent 3-acre residential outparcel bringing the total developable acreage to 48-acres. Prior to closing, D2 fully entitled the vacant land for three class-A warehouse buildings which will total 586,000 square feet upon completion with ample car and trailer parking. Miami-based BridgeInvest provided $16,100,000 in financing towards acquisition and pre-development costs. The debt was arranged through D2's affiliated capital advisory group, D2 Capital Advisors. Salem Commerce Park is located immediately off Exit 4 at the Interstate 295 and Highway 48 interchange in Carneys Point, NJ. It is just 3-miles from the Interstate 295 and the New Jersey Turnpike interchange and 4-miles from the Delaware Memorial Bridge making it a prime logistics location to fulfill both local Philadelphia MSA operations and greater regional distribution. The site is within 30 minutes of the burgeoning Philadelphia, Southern NJ, and Northern DE markets. For companies that require access to New York City, Baltimore, and Washington D.C. the site is within a short 2-hour drive. Since 2019 D2 has successfully entitled over 2,750,000 square feet of industrial development projects in Salem County, NJ alone. During that time Salem County rents for Class-A industrial space have more than doubled from approximately $5 per square foot to more than $11 per square foot. The Southern NJ/Eastern PA MSA has become the 2nd largest big-box region in North America with approximately 500 million square feet of total inventory. Tenant demand remains strong with an overall vacancy rate of less than 2% in New Jersey. ABOUT D2 Organization D2 Organization is a privately owned opportunistic investment group focused on acquiring and repositioning land for new development. Investments include raw land, brownfields, and excess or obsolete industrial facilities. Our mission is to transform overlooked properties into developable assets that spur economic activity and enhance the quality of life for their surrounding communities. D2 Capital Advisors is the transaction advisory affiliate of the D2 Organization. For more information, please visit www.d2organization.com SOURCE D2 Organization OYON, Spain, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- In recognition of El Coto de Rioja's policies of continuous improvement and commitment to the environment, El Coto de Rioja winery now holds the certificate of 'Winery for Climate Protection'. The certification was created in 2011 and is the only regulation in the Spanish wine industry to recognize environmental sustainability. The WFCP certification, promoted by the Spanish Wine Federation (FEV), focuses on actions taken by wineries toward improving their processes across four axes. Energy efficiency, waste reduction, efficient water management and reduction of the carbon footprint are at the forefront. El Coto has carried out various procedures, including the installation of solar panels, the use of lighter bottles, essential changes within their packaging in order to reduce the consumption of raw materials, and greater transport efficiency to achieve their environmental goals. The WFCP certification is based upon continuous improvement of each of these measures, all are reviewed annually by the Spanish Wine Federation, and wineries must demonstrate positive evolution in each area. "This certification confirms El Coto de Rioja's commitment to its environment," says Victor Fuentes, newly named Director General of Grupo Baron de Ley. "We are very proud of what we have achieved in the last 50 years." Fuentes continued to say, "the winery's management system, which covers activities from the wine's production to its delivery, is also certified by the globally recognized BRC (British Retail Consortium) and IFS (International Food Standard) standards, and El Coto has continually achieved the highest level of excellence, year after year." Group Baron de Ley, the parent company of El Coto de Rioja Winery, was founded in 1970. With over 2.000 ac of vineyards, Group Baron de Ley is the largest vineyard grower in the Rioja D.O.Ca. El Coto de Rioja is the leading Rioja brand in Spain in the categories of White, Rose, Crianza and Reserva wines. The wines are imported by Opici Wines and distributed nationally. For more information, contact Odila Galer-Noel Contact PRonCall [email protected] www.PRonCall.net www.elcoto.com +1 917 691 7220 SOURCE El Coto de Rioja RALEIGH, N.C., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- First Citizens Bank today announced that its Middle Market Banking business provided a total of $65.8 million in senior secured financing for affiliates of Morningstar Properties, a leading investor in and operator of self-storage facilities, marinas, and other specialty real estate assets. The financing was used for Morningstar's acquisition of three new self-storage properties that will operate under the brand name Morningstar Storage. The properties include: a 103,000-square-foot self-storage facility in Henderson, Nevada , serving the Greater Las Vegas market;. , serving the market;. a 141,000-square-foot self-storage facility off Eldridge Parkway in Houston, Texas ; and ; and a 151,000-square-foot self-storage facility off South Voss Road in Houston, Texas . "We continue to find attractive opportunities to add to our portfolio as demand from both consumers and businesses for convenient and secure self-storage with top notch management remains strong," said Wesley Carter, CFO of Morningstar Storage. "We appreciate the expertise and agility of the First Citizens Middle Market Banking team in arranging financing for these transactions." "Morningstar Properties continues to make exceptional investments in the self-storage market, and we were pleased to partner with them again in support of their business objectives," said Brendan Chambers, First Citizens' lead executive for Middle Market Banking. Last May, First Citizens announced that it provided a Morningstar Properties affiliate with a senior secured line of credit for up to $50 million for acquisition and development opportunities as well as general working capital purposes. First Citizens Middle Market Banking team delivers a range of financial solutions to midsize clients through a relationship banking model. The business offers deposit solutions, loans, treasury services and other banking products to manufacturers, distributors and a wide variety of service industries. About First Citizens Bank First Citizens Bank helps personal, business, commercial and wealth clients build financial strength that lasts. As the largest family-controlled bank in the United States, First Citizens is continuing a unique legacy of strength, stability and long-term thinking that has spanned generations. Founded in 1898 and headquartered in Raleigh, N.C., First Citizens also operates a nationwide direct bank and a network of more than 600 branches in 22 states. Industry specialists bring a depth of expertise that helps businesses and individuals meet their specific goals at every stage of their financial journey. First Citizens Bank brings together personal service and powerful tools to help customers do more with their moneyand make more of their future. Visit firstcitizens.com. First Citizens Bank. Forever First About Morningstar Properties Founded in 1981, Morningstar Properties is a vertically integrated fund manager, developer, owner and operator of specialty real estate assets. The company primarily focuses on self-storage and marinas, across the United States from Maryland to Florida to Nevada. Since its inception forty years ago, Morningstar Storage has been consistently recognized as one of the premier private platforms in the storage industry. Morningstar has developed, acquired and operated over 250 self-storage projects across the country, totaling in excess of 15 million square feet. A pioneer in today's expanding marina sector, Morningstar also acquires and operates marinas under the brand name Morningstar Marinas. The company is headquartered in Charlotte, NC. MEDIA RELATIONS: John M. Moran 212-461-5507 [email protected] SOURCE First Citizens Bank The Brand Built on a Love Story and the Chef-Crafted Salt Company are Elevating the Date Night In LAWRENCEBURG, Ky., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Four Roses , the Kentucky bourbon brand synonymous with Valentine's Day, and OSMO Salt , purveyors of premium, chef-selected salt, debuts the latter's first-ever spirit-infused flavor: OSMO x Four Roses Toasted Vanilla Bourbon Salt. The first-ever co-branded culinary product from Four Roses, the salt was created for cocktail enthusiasts for rimming bourbon drinks and for home chefs for adding a robust yet sweet touch to meals this Valentine's Day. OSMO x Four Roses Toasted Vanilla Bourbon Salt is now available for a limited time on OSMO Salt's website for $18.99. A gift set that includes the salt and a bottle of Four Roses Small Batch Bourbon is also available to purchase on ReserveBar.com for $60.99. Four Roses Distillery and OSMO Salt Create Toasted Vanilla Bourbon Salt To Bring the Craft Mixology Experience Home This Valentines Day Four Roses Distillery and OSMO Salt Create Toasted Vanilla Bourbon Salt To Bring the Craft Mixology Experience Home This Valentines Day To create OSMO x Four Roses Toasted Vanilla Bourbon Salt, clay-based red sea salt was harvested from between Hawaiian lava rocks, and then purified to give it its vibrant red color before allotting the salt time to breathe for optimal full flavor absorption. Four Roses Small Batch Bourbon was then poured over the crystals, which evaporates naturally once a combination of solar light and wind is applied. This process allows the bourbon and the salt to maintain their natural compositions. The result is a full body infused flavor that maintains the integrity of both the natural salt and Four Roses Small Batch Bourbon. "As a brand built on a story of romance, we believe that the best way to enjoy bourbon is to share it with those you love," said Brent Elliott, Four Roses Master Distiller. "This salt allows Four Roses to shine through in a way unlike anything we've done before. The toasted vanilla flavors perfectly balance out the spice notes of our Small Batch Bourbon, and the brininess of the salt subtly enhances the whiskey's flavor and smoothness even more." Nick DiGiovanni, American chef, MasterChef finalist, internet personality and entertainer, co-founded OSMO salt in 2021 in an effort to elevate at-home cooking, constantly innovating to bring unique flavors to his consumers. With over 9.5M TikTok followers, Nick's viral recipe videos - which have featured celebrities and notable names - often utilize OSMO Salts for seasoning and adding the perfect finish to dishes and drinks. "I created OSMO because salt has the unique ability to round out any dish. In this case, our Toasted Vanilla Bourbon Salt adds an unexpected touch and uniquely balances the flavor of whiskey cocktails," said Nick DiGiovanni. "This Valentine's Day, we want to show you that you can be your own mixologist or chef and easily create restaurant-quality craft cocktails and meals at home with one simple ingredient." Four Roses was built on a love story dating back to 1888 when founder Paul Jones, Jr. became smitten by the beauty of a Southern belle. Upon proposing to her, she said that if her answer were "yes," she would wear a corsage of roses to the upcoming grand ball. On the night of the ball, she arrived donning a corsage of four red roses, thus giving the Kentucky brand its name and motto, "Made with the same passion since 1888." For more information and Valentine's Day recipes, visit https://fourrosesbourbon.com/valentines/. Bloody Bourbon 2 oz Four Roses Small Batch Bourbon 3 ounces of bloody mary mix Squeeze of lemon and lime juice OSMO x Four Roses Toasted Vanilla Bourbon Salt Olives, celery, lime and lemon wedge (garnish) INSTRUCTIONS Place all ingredients into a mixing tin. Roll cocktail back and forth to mix and chill Salt rim of glass with OSMO x Four Roses Toasted Vanilla Bourbon Salt Pour cocktail into tall glass Garnish Twisted Sour 1 oz Four Roses Small Batch Creme de Cacao lemon juice oz brown sugar syrup 3-4 muddled raspberries OSMO x Four Roses Toasted Vanilla Bourbon Salt INSTRUCTIONS Combine all ingredients into shaker tin. Add ice and shake. Rim glass with OSMO x Four Roses Toasted Vanilla Bourbon Salt Double strain over fresh ice into rimmed rocks glass ABOUT FOUR ROSES: Established in 1888, Four Roses combines two mashbills with five proprietary yeast strains to distill and age 10 distinct Bourbon recipes, each with its own unique flavor profile. With distilling and warehousing operations in Lawrenceburg and Cox's Creek, Kentucky, respectively, Four Roses is available in all 50 states. This past year, Four Roses has received 32 awards, including 6 Double Gold medals and 13 Gold medals from esteemed competitions such as the American Whiskey Masters and Whiskies of the World. For more information, visit www.fourrosesbourbon.com or find us on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram . ABOUT OSMO SALT : OSMO Salt was founded by celebrity Chef Nick DiGiovonni , motivated by his infectious anyone-can-cook attitude. OSMO is an extension of Nick's energetic and creative approach to inspire chefs of all ages to take their cooking to a whole new level. OSMO Salt makes the world's most premier finishing and seasoning salt products, unlike anything else available on the market; which are Kosher-certified and sourced from Italy, Mexico, South Korea, Greece, and the United States to provide fun flavors for cuisines of all cultures. For more information, visit www.OsmoSalt.com or find us on Instagram or TikTok . SOURCE Four Roses Distillery NEW YORK, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- According to Technavio, the global gas compressors market size is estimated to grow by USD 2,506.92 million from 2022 to 2027. The market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 4.93% during the forecast period. Moreover, the growth momentum will progress. APAC will account for 52% of the global market's growth during the forecast period. For more insights on market size, Request a sample report Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Gas Compressors Market 2023-2027 Global gas compressors market - Five forces The global gas compressors 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 gas compressors 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 gas compressors market - Segmentation assessment Segment overview Technavio has segmented the market based on product (PD compressors and roller crushers) and end-user (oil and gas, power generation, chemicals and petrochemicals, mining, and others). The PD compressors segment grow at a significant rate during the forecast period. PD compressors such as reciprocating piston compressors, rotary screw compressors, and rotary vane compressors capture a certain volume of air in a chamber and then shrink the chamber to compress the air. These products are penetrating both small and large markets, which will drive its growth during the forecast period. Geography overview Based on geography, the global gas compressors market is segmented into APAC, North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and South America. The report provides actionable insights and estimates the contribution of all regions to the growth of the global gas compressors market. APAC is estimated to account for 52% of the growth of the global market during the forecast period. The growth potential of gas compressors in the region is high, especially in developing countries such as India and China. China is the largest contributor to the gas compressor market in APAC due to its growing natural gas infrastructure. During the forecast period, the country will invest approximately USD 160 billion in shale oil development. Thus, with growth opportunities from prominent end-user sectors, the demand for gas compressors in the region is expected to increase during the forecast period. Download a sample report Global gas compressors market Market dynamics Key factor driving market growth The need for energy-efficient compressor systems is driving the growth of the market. The oil and gas industry needs to adhere to strict energy efficiency guidelines to reduce emissions. This can be achieved by adopting compressors with efficient and reliable controls. As a result, old gas compressors are being replaced with new energy-efficient gas compressors. These factors will propel the overall market growth during the forecast period. Leading trends influencing the market Technological developments will be a trend in the gas compressors market during the forecast period. In an industrial compressor, a majority of the electrical energy consumed is dissipated as heat energy, which can be reused for other purposes such as water heating in plant operations. Compressed air is critical to various end-users, such as the oil and gas industry. Developments in system controllers have enabled the users of industrial compressed air to increase the overall efficiency of the system through load sharing and leveling the running hours. These factors will support the growth of the market during the forecast period. Major challenges hindering the market growth The volatility in oil and gas prices will challenge the global gas compressors market. The fall in crude oil prices will impact NGV sales worldwide, which will affect the setting up of CNG refueling stations. This, in turn, is expected to hinder the demand for gas compressors in refueling stations. Oil prices declined from USD 63.96 per barrel in February 2019 to USD 56.21 per barrel in February 2020 . to per barrel in . The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic was one of the main reasons for the fall in the prices of oil, which led to a decline in the sales of NGVs. These factors will hinder the growth of the global 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 gas compressors market report? CAGR of the market during the forecast period Detailed information on factors that will drive the growth of the gas compressors market between 2023 and 2027 Precise estimation of the size of the gas compressors market and its contribution to the parent market Accurate predictions about upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior Growth of the gas compressors market across APAC, North America , Europe , Middle East and Africa , and South America , , 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 gas compressors market vendors Gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports. Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Related Reports: The industrial gas storage cabinets market size is expected to increase by USD 372.7 million from 2021 to 2026, and the market's growth momentum will accelerate at a CAGR of 4.29%. This report extensively covers market segmentation by end-user (oil and gas industry, chemical industry, and others) and geography (North America, Europe, APAC, Middle East and Africa, and South America). The industrial gas phase filtration system market size is expected to increase by USD 573.64 million from 2021 to 2026, and the market's growth momentum will accelerate at a CAGR of 4.65%. This report extensively covers market segmentation by end-user (W and WW, pharmaceutical, chemical, oil and gas, and others) and geography (North America, APAC, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and South America). Gas Compressors Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 176 Base year 2022 Historic period 2017-2021 Forecast period 2023-2027 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 4.93% Market growth 2023-2027 USD 2,506.92 million Market structure Fragmented YoY growth 2022-2023 (%) 4.04 Regional analysis APAC, North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and South America Performing market contribution APAC at 52% Key countries US, China, India, Germany, and UK Competitive landscape Leading Vendors, Market Positioning of Vendors, Competitive Strategies, and Industry Risks Key companies profiled Accudyne Systems Inc., Aerzener Maschinenfabrik GmbH, Ariel Corp, Atlas Copco AB, BAUER COMPRESSORS INC, BOGE KOMPRESSOREN GmbH and Co. KG, Burckhardt Compression Holding AG, Ebara Corp., Elgi Equipments Ltd, General Electric Co., Hitachi Ltd., IDEX Corp., Ingersoll Rand Inc., J.P Sauer and Sohn Maschinenbau GmbH, KAESER KOMPRESSOREN SE, Kobe Steel Ltd., Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., Siemens Energy AG, and Sulzer 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. Browse for Technavio's industrials 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 Product Exhibit 06: Executive Summary Chart on Market Segmentation by End-user 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 gas compressors market 2017 - 2021 Exhibit 18: Historic Market Size Data Table on Global gas compressors 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 PD compressors - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 34: Chart on PD compressors - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 35: Data Table on PD compressors - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 36: Chart on PD compressors - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 37: Data Table on PD compressors - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 6.4 Roller crushers - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 38: Chart on Roller crushers - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 39: Data Table on Roller crushers - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 40: Chart on Roller crushers - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 41: Data Table on Roller crushers - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 6.5 Market opportunity by Product Exhibit 42: Market opportunity by Product ($ million) 7 Market Segmentation by End-user 7.1 Market segments Exhibit 43: Chart on End-user - Market share 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 44: Data Table on End-user - Market share 2022-2027 (%) 7.2 Comparison by End-user Exhibit 45: Chart on Comparison by End-user Exhibit 46: Data Table on Comparison by End-user 7.3 Oil and gas - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 47: Chart on Oil and gas - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 48: Data Table on Oil and gas - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 49: Chart on Oil and gas - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 50: Data Table on Oil and gas - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 7.4 Power generation - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 51: Chart on Power generation - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 52: Data Table on Power generation - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 53: Chart on Power generation - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 54: Data Table on Power generation - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 7.5 Chemicals and petrochemicals - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 55: Chart on Chemicals and petrochemicals - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 56: Data Table on Chemicals and petrochemicals - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 57: Chart on Chemicals and petrochemicals - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 58: Data Table on Chemicals and petrochemicals - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 7.6 Mining - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 59: Chart on Mining - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 60: Data Table on Mining - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 61: Chart on Mining - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 62: Data Table on Mining - 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 ($ million) Exhibit 64: Data Table on Others - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) 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 End-user Exhibit 67: Market opportunity by End-user ($ million) 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 ($ 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 (%) 9.4 North America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 77: Chart on North America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 78: Data Table on North America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 79: Chart on North America - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 80: 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 81: Chart on Europe - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 82: Data Table on Europe - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 83: Chart on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 84: Data Table on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 9.6 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 (%) 9.7 South America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 89: Chart on South America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 90: Data Table on South America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 91: Chart on South America - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 92: Data Table on South America - 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 ($ 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 (%) 9.9 US - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 97: Chart on US - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 98: Data Table on US - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) 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 ($ 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 (%) 9.11 India - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 105: Chart on India - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 106: Data Table on India - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) 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 UK - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 109: Chart on UK - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 110: Data Table on UK - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 111: Chart on UK - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 112: Data Table on UK - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 9.13 Market opportunity by geography Exhibit 113: 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 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 Aerzener Maschinenfabrik GmbH Exhibit 120: Aerzener Maschinenfabrik GmbH - Overview Exhibit 121: Aerzener Maschinenfabrik GmbH - Product / Service Exhibit 122: Aerzener Maschinenfabrik GmbH - Key offerings 12.4 Ariel Corp Exhibit 123: Ariel Corp - Overview Exhibit 124: Ariel Corp - Product / Service Exhibit 125: Ariel Corp - Key offerings 12.5 Atlas Copco AB Exhibit 126: Atlas Copco AB - Overview Exhibit 127: Atlas Copco AB - Business segments Exhibit 128: Atlas Copco AB - Key news Exhibit 129: Atlas Copco AB - Key offerings Exhibit 130: Atlas Copco AB - Segment focus 12.6 Burckhardt Compression Holding AG Exhibit 131: Burckhardt Compression Holding AG - Overview Exhibit 132: Burckhardt Compression Holding AG - Product / Service Exhibit 133: Burckhardt Compression Holding AG - Key offerings 12.7 Ebara Corp. Exhibit 134: Ebara Corp. - Overview Exhibit 135: Ebara Corp. - Business segments Exhibit 136: Ebara Corp. - Key offerings Exhibit 137: Ebara Corp. - Segment focus 12.8 General Electric Co. Exhibit 138: General Electric Co. - Overview Exhibit 139: General Electric Co. - Business segments Exhibit 140: General Electric Co. - Key news Exhibit 141: General Electric Co. - Key offerings Exhibit 142: General Electric Co. - Segment focus 12.9 Hitachi Ltd. Exhibit 143: Hitachi Ltd. - Overview Exhibit 144: Hitachi Ltd. - Business segments Exhibit 145: Hitachi Ltd. - Key news Exhibit 146: Hitachi Ltd. - Key offerings Exhibit 147: Hitachi Ltd. - Segment focus 12.10 IDEX Corp. Exhibit 148: IDEX Corp. - Overview Exhibit 149: IDEX Corp. - Business segments Exhibit 150: IDEX Corp. - Key offerings Exhibit 151: IDEX Corp. - Segment focus 12.11 Ingersoll Rand Inc. Exhibit 152: Ingersoll Rand Inc. - Overview Exhibit 153: Ingersoll Rand Inc. - Business segments Exhibit 154: Ingersoll Rand Inc. - Key offerings Exhibit 155: Ingersoll Rand Inc. - Segment focus 12.12 J.P Sauer and Sohn Maschinenbau GmbH Exhibit 156: J.P Sauer and Sohn Maschinenbau GmbH - Overview Exhibit 157: J.P Sauer and Sohn Maschinenbau GmbH - Product / Service Exhibit 158: J.P Sauer and Sohn Maschinenbau GmbH - Key offerings 12.13 KAESER KOMPRESSOREN SE Exhibit 159: KAESER KOMPRESSOREN SE - Overview Exhibit 160: KAESER KOMPRESSOREN SE - Product / Service Exhibit 161: KAESER KOMPRESSOREN SE - Key offerings 12.14 Kobe Steel Ltd. Exhibit 162: Kobe Steel Ltd. - Overview Exhibit 163: Kobe Steel Ltd. - Business segments Exhibit 164: Kobe Steel Ltd. - Key offerings Exhibit 165: Kobe Steel Ltd. - Segment focus 12.15 Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. Exhibit 166: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. - Overview Exhibit 167: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. - Business segments Exhibit 168: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. - Key news Exhibit 169: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. - Key offerings Exhibit 170: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. - Segment focus 12.16 Siemens Energy AG Exhibit 171: Siemens Energy AG - Overview Exhibit 172: Siemens Energy AG - Business segments Exhibit 173: Siemens Energy AG - Key news Exhibit 174: Siemens Energy AG - Key offerings Exhibit 175: Siemens Energy AG - Segment focus 12.17 Sulzer Ltd. Exhibit 176: Sulzer Ltd. - Overview Exhibit 177: Sulzer Ltd. - Business segments Exhibit 178: Sulzer Ltd. - Key news Exhibit 179: Sulzer Ltd. - Key offerings Exhibit 180: Sulzer Ltd. - Segment focus 13 Appendix 13.1 Scope of the report 13.2 Inclusions and exclusions checklist Exhibit 181: Inclusions checklist Exhibit 182: Exclusions checklist 13.3 Currency conversion rates for US$ Exhibit 183: Currency conversion rates for US$ 13.4 Research methodology Exhibit 184: Research methodology Exhibit 185: Validation techniques employed for market sizing Exhibit 186: Information sources 13.5 List of abbreviations Exhibit 187: 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 Leading window treatment franchise to provide premium window treatments, consultation services to Miami homeowners MIAMI, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Gotcha Covered, a leader in custom window treatment consultation in the U.S. and Canada, is expanding to South Florida after announcing the opening of Gotcha Covered of South Miami. The new home-based center is owned and operated by Mercedes Garcia Otegui. Mercedes Garcia Otegui, pictured, is the owner and operator of Gotcha Covered of South Miami. With an emphasis on end-to-end consultations, this business will provide the best in soft and hard window treatments to homeowners in South Miami including Key Biscayne, Brickell, Coconut Grove, Coral Gables, Pinecrest and Fisher Island. The center will offer a variety of blinds, draperies, smart solutions and much more. "At Gotcha Covered, we pride ourselves in providing communities across North America with premium window treatments while also creating the best customer experience," said Paul Linenberg, president of Gotcha Covered. "Our franchise owners love helping homeowners and businesses create the perfect ambiance for their spaces, and we know Mercedes (Garcia Otegui) will provide the residents of Miami with an amazing experience." A mother of two, Otegui holds a master's in studio arts for The University of Sydney, a certificate in business management from The University of California at Berkeley, and a post-baccalaureate diploma in counseling from The University of California at Berkeley. Otegui has previous experience in real estate investment, corporate marketing, product development and entrepreneurship. While looking for business opportunities, she stumbled across Gotcha Covered with the help of a franchise broker. "The moment I found Gotcha Covered, I knew it was the right franchise for me. The overall experience has been great," said Otegui. "There are several aspects of the franchise that I love, from the work-life balance to the possibility of using my experience and connections in real estate and construction to grow my business. "I look forward to growing my franchise into a successful business that offers opportunities to someone looking to start a career in something new while also offering the residents of Miami with high-quality window treatments." Adding 40 new franchise locations in 2022, Gotcha Covered currently has over 155 total franchises across the U.S. and Canada. The franchise has been operating under the Gotcha Covered name since 2009. To schedule an appointment with Gotcha Covered of South Miami, visit https://www.gotchacovered.com/south-miami/. About Gotcha Covered Gotcha Covered is a leader in custom soft and hard window treatment consultation in the U.S. and Canada. Flying under their Gotcha Covered flag since 2009, they offer custom window treatments including blinds, draperies, shutters and much more. They offer end-to-end consultation with the customer's specific needs and goals in mind. The company currently has over 155 total franchises across the U.S. and Canada. MEDIA CONTACT: Heather Ripley Ripley PR 865-977-1973 [email protected] SOURCE Gotcha Covered CALGARY, AB, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - (TSXV: GRD) (OTCQB: GRDAF) - Grounded Lithium Corp. ("GLC" or the "Company") is pleased to provide a summary of our 2022 operational and financial achievements in addition to providing our forecasted 2023 activities, dependant upon market conditions. 4-15 Well Pic (CNW Group/Grounded Lithium Corp) Deliverability Graph (CNW Group/Grounded Lithium Corp) 2022 represented a monumental year for the Company. Entering 2022, we were a private company with a small team, owned a small land base and had a modest treasury. We achieved a significant number of critical accomplishments during 2022, building a solid foundation from which to grow our business on multiple fronts and unlock further value. Significant 2022 achievements and their respective importance are detailed below: Strategic Land Base - Over the course of 2022, we increased our land base greater than four-fold with a current total land position of just over 300 sections exiting the calendar year. This land base is expected to be sufficient to support several 20,000 tonne/yr lithium from brine projects. Each 20,000 tonne/yr project represents a significant value proposition for our shareholders; - Over the course of 2022, we increased our land base greater than four-fold with a current total land position of just over 300 sections exiting the calendar year. This land base is expected to be sufficient to support several 20,000 tonne/yr lithium from brine projects. Each 20,000 tonne/yr project represents a significant value proposition for our shareholders; Successful Test Well Drilled - We successfully drilled and completed only the second ever dedicated lithium test well in the province of Saskatchewan . The well's design served multi-faceted objectives: (1) it confirmed the Company's ability to secure appropriate services and drill wells with a very modest capital intensity due to the shallow nature in our area, (2) it confirmed lithium concentrations in our chosen geologic area, and (3) it confirmed economic deliverability or productivity rates of wells in the area. This well's design allows easy conversion to a producing well for both a commercial demonstration facility and ultimately for commercial operations, thereby leveraging drilling and completion capital spent to date; Proved Deliverability An extremely critical component in establishing an economic lithium from brine project is deliverability of the individual wells. We confirmed a potential substantial productivity rate of up to 29,000 bbls/d via the completion of our first test well. Based on prudent reservoir management practices, we expect to restrict this rate to 18,000 bbls/d to help ensure deliverability for decades. A critical conclusion of these efforts is that we likely only require one well per section, and in some cases possibly two wells per section, to contribute to a 20,000 tonne/yr project. In other words, as few as 50-75 sections are needed to support such a target. With a land base of over 300 sections, we believe even on a risked basis, GLC has sufficient land holdings to support multiple 20,000 tonne/yr projects; (source: GLC January 2023 Corporate Presentation) Public Listing The Company not only achieved a public listing on the TSX Venture Exchange but also successfully achieved a trading quotation on the OTCQB Venture Market. With access to trading both in Canada and the United States , the Company hopes to have greater access to capital at a lower cost; The Company not only achieved a public listing on the TSX Venture Exchange but also successfully achieved a trading quotation on the OTCQB Venture Market. With access to trading both in and , the Company hopes to have greater access to capital at a lower cost; Focused Approach to Resource Capture Right from the outset, our strategy was to target very select properties, whereby each and every acquired section will contribute to supporting a project. Our view was to not simply acquire land for the purpose of reporting a large land position. With our targeted approach and with significant rigour brought to bear in terms of resource assessment, our inaugural National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (" NI 43-101 ") Technical Report effective April 15, 2022 assessed our Kindersley Lithium Project at 2.9 million tonnes of inferred lithium carbonate resource. Our updated NI 43-101 Technical Report effective November 30, 2022 , which was prepared by certain "qualified persons" (as defined in NI 43-101) employed by Sproule Associates Limited, an industry leader in sedimentary basis fluid dynamic assessments, reported an increase of 28% to 3.7 million tonnes of inferred lithium carbonate resource. This bodes well in terms of our land position supporting multiple lithium from brine projects; Right from the outset, our strategy was to target very select properties, whereby each and every acquired section will contribute to supporting a project. Our view was to not simply acquire land for the purpose of reporting a large land position. With our targeted approach and with significant rigour brought to bear in terms of resource assessment, our inaugural National Instrument 43-101 (" ") Technical Report effective assessed our Kindersley Lithium Project at 2.9 million tonnes of inferred lithium carbonate resource. Our updated NI 43-101 Technical Report effective , which was prepared by certain "qualified persons" (as defined in NI 43-101) employed by Sproule Associates Limited, an industry leader in sedimentary basis fluid dynamic assessments, reported an increase of 28% to 3.7 million tonnes of inferred lithium carbonate resource. This bodes well in terms of our land position supporting multiple lithium from brine projects; Engagement of Hatch Ltd In October 2022 , we executed a DLE Testwork Support & Evaluation contract with Hatch Ltd. (" Hatch ") to select the preferred extraction technology for our chemistry of brine. We also engaged an internal engineering consultant with experience in Direct Lithium Extraction (" DLE ") to support the direction of Hatch's technical efforts. This overall approach is consistent with our strategy to concentrate our efforts on resource development where we have a history of success, while leveraging the time and capital of others who are experts in the technology sector. In partnership with Hatch, we targeted a short-list of four technologies to assess and expect to determine our preferred DLE methodology by the end of the second quarter of 2023; In , we executed a DLE Testwork Support & Evaluation contract with Hatch Ltd. (" ") to select the preferred extraction technology for our chemistry of brine. We also engaged an internal engineering consultant with experience in Direct Lithium Extraction (" ") to support the direction of Hatch's technical efforts. This overall approach is consistent with our strategy to concentrate our efforts on resource development where we have a history of success, while leveraging the time and capital of others who are experts in the technology sector. In partnership with Hatch, we targeted a short-list of four technologies to assess and expect to determine our preferred DLE methodology by the end of the second quarter of 2023; Working Capital Secured We were successful in raising multiple rounds of financing, all at accretive prices to the prior round throughout the course of 2022. This resulted in a well capitalized Company with sufficient working capital to address near term catalysts. With a purposely designed conservative capital structure combined with a compelling value proposition, we believe future fundraisings will both be available and accretive; and We were successful in raising multiple rounds of financing, all at accretive prices to the prior round throughout the course of 2022. This resulted in a well capitalized Company with sufficient working capital to address near term catalysts. With a purposely designed conservative capital structure combined with a compelling value proposition, we believe future fundraisings will both be available and accretive; and Cohesive and Competent Team We established the core team which we believe will lead the Company to one or more commercial projects. Additional team members will be onboarded in the future at the appropriate time as we continue to execute our business plan. 2023 Objectives and Milestones While we advanced our business and value proposition significantly since incorporation, particularly during 2022, we understand there is much to accomplish in the coming years to attain our vision of becoming a leading Canadian lithium producer. Milestones planned to drive the business forward during 2023 include: Selection of a Chosen DLE Technology As mentioned above, our engagement of Hatch will fast-track the DLE technology selection process which we expect to conclude by the end of the second quarter of 2023. This analysis and selection will run in parallel in the preparation of a preliminary economic assessment (" PEA "). While we concentrate on our own efforts, several industry peers in the industry continue driving towards the identical goal. When one or more industry participants demonstrate success in achieving a commercial DLE technology, it is anticipated that such an event will lift the entire sector; As mentioned above, our engagement of Hatch will fast-track the DLE technology selection process which we expect to conclude by the end of the second quarter of 2023. This analysis and selection will run in parallel in the preparation of a preliminary economic assessment (" "). While we concentrate on our own efforts, several industry peers in the industry continue driving towards the identical goal. When one or more industry participants demonstrate success in achieving a commercial DLE technology, it is anticipated that such an event will lift the entire sector; PEA A number of corporate personnel as well as external advisors continue to be extremely focused on the completion of the Company's maiden PEA on the Kindersley Lithium Project (" KLP "). Our PEA is expected to benefit from our 3-dimensional dynamic flow model, where we predict optimal plans for producing the resource. The PEA is expected to provide an independent view of the economics and value proposition of the KLP. PEA's have historically been important in providing support for an increase in a company's public valuation; A number of corporate personnel as well as external advisors continue to be extremely focused on the completion of the Company's maiden PEA on the Kindersley Lithium Project (" "). Our PEA is expected to benefit from our 3-dimensional dynamic flow model, where we predict optimal plans for producing the resource. The PEA is expected to provide an independent view of the economics and value proposition of the KLP. PEA's have historically been important in providing support for an increase in a company's public valuation; Lab Pilot Results Given the Company's stated strategy of relying on other experts for a chosen DLE technology, we expect to have results by Q2 2023 from 3 rd party lab pilots at a cost substantially less than we would otherwise incur by constructing and operating our own lab. Through our work with Hatch, lab extraction testing on the short-list of technology candidates will conclude during the first and second quarters of 2023. Brine feedstock or product from the completion of our first well is securely stored and available to conduct these tests as needed; Given the Company's stated strategy of relying on other experts for a chosen DLE technology, we expect to have results by Q2 2023 from 3 party lab pilots at a cost substantially less than we would otherwise incur by constructing and operating our own lab. Through our work with Hatch, lab extraction testing on the short-list of technology candidates will conclude during the first and second quarters of 2023. Brine feedstock or product from the completion of our first well is securely stored and available to conduct these tests as needed; Funding The Company will be assessing all forms of capital, ranging from traditional equity sources to non-dilutive government funding. Capital of any form will assist in advancing the value proposition of the Company; and The Company will be assessing all forms of capital, ranging from traditional equity sources to non-dilutive government funding. Capital of any form will assist in advancing the value proposition of the Company; and Engineering Design and Construction of Commercial Demonstration Facility ("CDF") Should the Company move successfully through the milestones stated above, we would quickly move to the design and construction of an appropriately sized CDF. Operating results from the CDF would provide sufficient data to determine if a full-scale operation is economically and commercially attractive. The Company forecasts to commission a CDF by H1 2024 with design, engineering and construction potentially commencing in the second half of 2023. "Grounded advanced our business on all fronts extremely quickly from our humble roots in a little over two years," commented Gregg Smith, President and CEO. "Although pleased with our progress to our current position, we remain hyper-focused on the full value proposition and it is our responsibility to move the business forward to achieve both near and long-term milestones. Combined with further understanding of the lithium from brine industry by the wider investment community, 2023 promises to be a very exciting time for all GLC stakeholders." About Grounded Lithium Corp. GLC is a publicly traded lithium brine exploration and development company that controls approximately 3.7 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent of inferred resource over our focused land holdings in Southwest Saskatchewan. GLC's multi-faceted business model involves the consolidation, delineation, exploitation and ultimately development of our opportunity base to fulfill our vision to build a best-in-class, environmentally responsible, Canadian lithium producer supporting the global energy transition shift. U.S. investors can find current financial disclosure and Real-Time Level 2 quotes for the Company on https://www.otcmarkets.com/. Qualified Person Scientific and technical information contained in this press release has been prepared under the supervision of Doug Ashton, P.Eng, Suryanarayana Karri, P. Geoph., Alexey Romanov, P. Geo. and Meghan Klein, P. Eng., each of whom is a qualified person within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Forward-Looking Statements This press release may contain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. The opinions, forecasts, projections and statements about future events of results, are forward looking information, forward-looking statements or financial outlooks (collectively, "forward-looking statements") under the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. These statements are made as of the date of this press release and the fact that this press release remains available does not constitute a representation by GLC that the Company believes these forward-looking statements continue to be true as of any subsequent date. Although GLC believes that the assumptions underlying, and expectations reflected in, these forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that these assumptions and expectations will prove to be correct. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding growing the Company's business on multiple fronts and unlocking value, the expectation that the Company's land holdings will be sufficient to support several 20,000 tonne/yr lithium from brine projects, the ease of converting the Company's test well to a producing well for both a CDF and commercial operations, productivity rates based on the Company's first test well, the expectation that the Company will restrict its productivity rate to help ensure deliverability for decades, the number of wells per section required by the Company to contribute to a 20,000 tonne/yr project, GLC's land holdings supporting multiple 20,000 tonne/yr projects, the Company's hopes to have greater access to capital at a lower cost, the selection of DLE technologies and the timing of same, the Company's core team's ability to lead the Company's projects to commercial production, the Company's need to add additional team members, the expectation that if one or more industry participants demonstrates success in achieving a commercial DLE technology, such event will lift the entire sector, the timing of results for third party lab pilots and the costs thereof, the design and construction of a CDF and the timing thereof, operating results from the CDF providing sufficient data to determine if a full-scale operation is economically and commercially attractive,, and GLC's vision of becoming a best-in-class, environmentally responsible, Canadian lithium producer supporting the global energy transition. Among the important factors, risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements are: GLC's expectation that our operations will be in Western Canada, unexpected problems can arise due to technical difficulties and operational difficulties which impact the production, transport or sale of our products; geographic and weather conditions can impact the production; the risk that current global economic and credit conditions may impact commodity prices and consumption more than GLC currently predicts; the failure to obtain financing on reasonable terms; the risk that unexpected delays and difficulties in developing currently owned properties may occur; the failure of drilling to result in commercial projects; unexpected delays due to the limited availability of drilling equipment and personnel; and the other risk factors detailed from time to time in GLC's periodic reports. GLC's forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities in any jurisdiction. 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. SOURCE Grounded Lithium Corp The hidradenitis suppurativa market is expected to grow at a faster rate due to increased awareness and increase in novel discoveries. The expected launch of potential emerging therapies will boost the hidradenitis suppurativa market during the forecast period (20222032) in the 7MM. LAS VEGAS, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- DelveInsight's " Hidradenitis Suppurativa Market Insights " report includes a comprehensive understanding of current treatment practices, hidradenitis suppurativa emerging drugs, market share of individual therapies, and historical, current as well as forecasted hidradenitis suppurativa market size from 2019 to 2032, segmented into the 7MM [the United States, the EU5 (Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom), and Japan]. Key Takeaways from the Hidradenitis Suppurativa Market Report As per DelveInsight analysis, the hidradenitis suppurativa market size in the 7MM was approximately USD 1,150 in 2021. in 2021. According to the assessment done by DelveInsight, the estimated total hidradenitis suppurativa diagnosed prevalent population in the 7MM was approximately 1.2 million in 2021. in 2021. Leading hidradenitis suppurativa companies such as InflaRx, Novartis, UCB, ChemoCentryx, Eli Lilly and Company, Janssen Biotech, AbbVie, Pfizer, Amgen, Incyte Corporation, CSL Behring, Kymera Therapeutics, Aclaris Therapeutics, Boehringer Ingelheim, Azora Therapeutics, and others are developing novel hidradenitis suppurativa drugs that can be available in the hidradenitis suppurativa market in the upcoming years. and others are developing novel hidradenitis suppurativa drugs that can be available in the hidradenitis suppurativa market in the upcoming years. The hidradenitis suppurativa therapies in the pipeline include IFX-1, Cosentyx /Secukinumab, Avacopan, Bimekizumab, Bermekimab, Zunsemetinib (ATI-450), and others. and others. The hidradenitis suppurativa market size is expected to increase owing to the increase in the prevalent population of hidradenitis suppurativa patients in the 7MM. In December 2022, Kymera announced positive results from Phase 1 clinical trials evaluating KT-474 in patients suffering from hidradenitis suppurativa and atopic dermatitis, after which Sanofi decided to advance KT-474 into Phase 2 clinical trials for which IND is cleared by the US FDA. In December 2022 , UCB reported positive data from the BE HEARD I and BE HEARD II Phase 3 clinical trials of bimekizumab in moderate to severe hidradenitis suppurativa adult patients. , UCB reported positive data from the BE HEARD I and BE HEARD II Phase 3 clinical trials of bimekizumab in moderate to severe hidradenitis suppurativa adult patients. In September 2022 , abstract findings at the 31st European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) Congress showed that Novartis' Cosentyx (secukinumab) Showed Rapid, Sustained Improvement of Hidradenitis Suppurativa. , abstract findings at the 31st European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) Congress showed that Novartis' Cosentyx (secukinumab) Showed Rapid, Sustained Improvement of Hidradenitis Suppurativa. In September 2022 , JAK1-selective inhibitor povorcitinib showed dosage-dependant efficacy for the treatment of hidradenitis suppurativa in a randomized, placebo-controlled, Phase 2 studypresented at the European Academy of Dermatology and Venerology (EADV) 2022 Congress. , JAK1-selective inhibitor povorcitinib showed dosage-dependant efficacy for the treatment of hidradenitis suppurativa in a randomized, placebo-controlled, Phase 2 studypresented at the European Academy of Dermatology and Venerology (EADV) 2022 Congress. In August 2022 , Aristea Therapeutics (Aristea), a clinical-stage immunology-focused drug development company advancing novel therapies to treat serious inflammatory diseases, announced the dosing of the first patient in its Phase 2a trial evaluating RIST4721, a CXCR2 antagonist, for the treatment of hidradenitis suppurativa. Discover which therapies are expected to grab major hidradenitis suppurativa market share @ Hidradenitis Suppurativa Market Report Hidradenitis Suppurativa Overview Hidradenitis suppurativa is a complex dermatological disease characterized by recurrent painful nodules and suppuration in areas such as the axilla and groin. It is also known as Acne inversa and there is no biological or pathological test to facilitate diagnosis; its clinical features and chronicity can define it. The exact cause of hidradenitis suppurativa is unclear, but the condition probably results from a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Lumps develop as a result of blocked hair follicles. It is more common in women than men, and in obese and smokers, hidradenitis suppurativa is likely to worsen the symptoms The symptoms of hidradenitis suppurativa range from mild to severe. It causes a mixture of boil-like lumps, blackheads, cysts, scarring, and channels in the skin that leak pus. Scoring systems for the assessment of hidradenitis suppurativa severity include Hurley staging, Physician's Global Assessment (PGA), the modified Sartorius score (MSS), and the hidradenitis suppurativa severity index (HSSI). Systemic therapies, mainly antibiotics and retinoids, are the treatment's mainstay. Topical therapies are mainly used in cases of mild to moderate disease conditions. Adalimumab (Humira) is the only approved drug for treating moderate to severe hidradenitis suppurativa. Hidradenitis Suppurativa Epidemiology Segmentation DelveInsight estimates that there were approximately 1.2 million h idradenitis suppurativa diagnosed prevalent cases in the 7MM in 2021. Among the EU5 countries, Germany had the highest number of hidradenitis suppurativa diagnosed prevalent cases in 2021. The hidradenitis suppurativa market report proffers epidemiological analysis for the study period 20192032 in the 7MM segmented into Total Prevalent Pool Diagnosed Pool Gender-specific Prevalent Pool Age-specific Prevalent Pool Stage-specific Prevalent Pool Treated Moderate to Severe Prevalent Pool Download the report to understand which factors are driving hidradenitis suppurativa epidemiology trends @ Hidradenitis Suppurativa Epidemiological Insights Hidradenitis Suppurativa Treatment Market The treatment management usually requires a combination of lifestyle changes, medical therapy, laser or surgical intervention and considerable psychological support. Several pharmacological treatment options include topical and systemic antibiotics, corticosteroids, anti-androgen therapy, systemic retinoids, and immunosuppressive agents, including biologics. In a small study, Metformin has been used to treat metabolic syndrome associated with hidradenitis suppurativa and has been reported to reduce hidradenitis suppurativa disease activity effectively. Laser hair removal with a 1,064nm laser has shown promise, but many patients cannot afford this treatment due to limited insurance coverage. Humira (Abbvie) is the first and only approved drug for Moderate to Severe hidradenitis suppurativa. In September 2015, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Humira to treat moderate to severe hidradenitis suppurativa. The approval of Humira is a critical milestone in the lives of people with hidradenitis suppurativa who, up until this point, had no approved treatments. The product was approved by the European Commission (EC), in July 2015, for the treatment of active moderate to severe hidradenitis suppurativa in adults with an inadequate response to conventional systemic hidradenitis suppurativa treatment. Humira was designated for the indication of hidradenitis suppurativa as an orphan drug in 2017 and was approved for the indication of hidradenitis suppurativa for the first time in Japan in February 2019. Humira is actually the only drug in Japan for hidradenitis suppurativa indication. Even though hidradenitis suppurativa is affecting the lives of millions of people worldwide, there are not many treatment options to treat the underlying cause, nor has there been an improvement in therapeutic options in the last several decades. With only one approved drug in the market, i.e., Humira, there is a high need for alternative therapies due to serious adverse events associated with Adalimumab, including injection site serious infections. To know more about hidradenitis suppurativa treatment, visit @ Hidradenitis Suppurativa Treatment Guidelines Hidradenitis Suppurativa Pipeline Therapies and Key Companies IFX-1: InflaRx Cosentyx/Secukinumab: Novartis Avacopan: ChemoCentryx Bermekimab: Janssen Pharmaceutical/XBiotech Zunsemetinib (ATI-450): Aclaris Therapeutics Learn more about the hidradenitis suppurativa therapies in clinical trials @ Drugs for Hidradenitis Suppurativa Treatment Hidradenitis Suppurativa Market Dynamics Hidradenitis suppurativa market is currently having vast pipeline therapies targeting interleukins, including (i.e., IL-17, IL-1), anti-TNF, JAKi, and anti-complement factor. The upcoming therapies of hidradenitis suppurativa are expected to come with a patient-convenient Route of administration and are also expected to increase the treatment duration. In the current treatment market, only HUMIRA is approved for the treatment of moderate to severe hidradenitis suppurativa with modest efficacy and, therefore, provides potentially lucrative market opportunities. No treatment options are available in relapsed/ refractory patients to HUMIRA. However, off-label therapies like antibiotics and retinoids are still the treatment backbone of hidradenitis suppurativa. There are no definite biomarkers available for the early and progressive forms of the disease. The expected entry of biosimilars of HUMIRA from 2023 in the US will erode the market sales of HUMIRA. Moreover, the market value of HUMIRA in Europe has already started declining from 2018, and sales value decline is expected to be much faster in future years due to multiple launches of biosimilars in 2019 and as well as in upcoming years. Report Metrics Details Study Period 20192032 Coverage 7MM [The United States, EU5 (Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom), and Japan] Base Year 2019 Market CAGR 10.2 % Market Size in 2021 USD 1,150 million Key Hidradenitis Suppurativa Companies InflaRx, Novartis, UCB, ChemoCentryx, Eli Lilly and Company, Janssen Biotech, AbbVie, Pfizer, Amgen, Incyte Corporation, CSL Behring, Kymera Therapeutics, Aclaris Therapeutics, Boehringer Ingelheim, Azora Therapeutics Key Hidradenitis Suppurativa Therapies IFX-1, Cosentyx/Secukinumab, Avacopan, Bimekizumab, Bermekimab, Zunsemetinib (ATI-450 Scope of the Hidradenitis Suppurativa Market Report Therapeutic Assessment: Hidradenitis suppurativa current marketed and emerging therapies Hidradenitis suppurativa current marketed and emerging therapies Hidradenitis Suppurativa Market Dynamics: Hidradenitis suppurativa market drivers and barriers Hidradenitis suppurativa market drivers and barriers Competitive Intelligence Analysis: SWOT analysis, PESTLE analysis, Porter's five forces, BCG Matrix, Market entry strategies SWOT analysis, PESTLE analysis, Porter's five forces, BCG Matrix, Market entry strategies Unmet Needs, KOL's views, Analyst's views, Hidradenitis Suppurativa Market Access and Reimbursement Discover more about drugs for hidradenitis suppurativa in development @ Hidradenitis Suppurativa Clinical Trials Table of Contents 1. Hidradenitis Suppurativa Market Key Insights 2. Hidradenitis Suppurativa Market Report Introduction 3. Hidradenitis Suppurativa Market Overview at a Glance 4. Hidradenitis Suppurativa Market Executive Summary 5. Hidradenitis Suppurativa Key Events 6. Epidemiology and Market Methodology 7. Disease Background and Overview 8. Hidradenitis Suppurativa Treatment and Management 9. Hidradenitis Suppurativa Epidemiology and Patient Population 9.1 Key Finding 9.2 Assumptions and Rationale 9.3 Total Prevalent Population of Hidradenitis Suppurativa in the 7MM 9.4 United States 9.5 EU5 9.6 Japan 10. Patient Journey 11 Key Endpoints in Hidradenitis Suppurativa Clinical Trials 12. Hidradenitis Suppurativa Marketed Drugs 13. Hidradenitis Suppurativa Emerging Drugs 14. Seven Major Hidradenitis Suppurativa Market Analysis 14.1 Key Finding 14.2 Market Outlook 14.3 Attribute Analysis 14.4 Key Market Forecast Assumptions 14.5 Total Market Size of Hidradenitis Suppurativa in the 7MM 14.6 United States 14.7 EU5 14.8 Japan 15. Unmet Needs 16. SWOT Analysis 17. Market Access and Reimbursement 18. Appendix 19. DelveInsight Capabilities 20. Disclaimer 21. About DelveInsight Related Reports Hidradenitis Suppurativa Epidemiology Forecast Hidradenitis Suppurativa Epidemiology Forecast 2032 report delivers an in-depth understanding of the disease, historical and forecasted epidemiology, and the hidradenitis suppurativa epidemiology trends. Hidradenitis Suppurativa Pipeline Hidradenitis Suppurativa Pipeline Insight 2023 report provides comprehensive insights about the hidradenitis suppurativa pipeline landscape, pipeline drug profiles, including clinical and non-clinical stage products, and the key Hidradenitis Suppurativa companies, including InflaRx, Novartis, UCB, ChemoCentryx, Eli Lilly and Company, Janssen Biotech, AbbVie, Pfizer, Amgen, Incyte Corporation, CSL Behring, Kymera Therapeutics, Aclaris Therapeutics, Boehringer Ingelheim, Azora Therapeutics, among others. Hidradenitis Market Hidradenitis Suppurativa Market Insights, Competitive Landscape, and Market Forecast 2032 report delivers an in-depth understanding of the disease, historical and forecasted epidemiology, as well as the market trends, market drivers, market barriers, and key secondary Hidradenitis Suppurativa companies, including InflaRx, Novartis, UCB, ChemoCentryx, Eli Lilly and Company, Janssen Biotech, AbbVie, Pfizer, Amgen, Incyte Corporation, CSL Behring, Kymera Therapeutics, Aclaris Therapeutics, Boehringer Ingelheim, Azora Therapeutics, among others. Atopic Dermatitis Market Atopic Dermatitis - Market Insights, Epidemiology, and Market Forecast 2032 report deliver an in-depth understanding of the disease, historical and forecasted epidemiology, as well as the market trends, market drivers, market barriers, and key secondary Hidradenitis Suppurativa companies, including Sanofi, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer, Japan Tobacco, and Torii Pharmaceutical, Eli Lilly and Company, AbbVie, LEO Pharma, Incyte Corporation, Arena Pharmaceuticals, Oneness Biotech, Galderma, DS Biopharma, Janssen and many more. Atopic Dermatitis Epidemiology Forecast Atopic dermatitis (AD) Epidemiology Forecast 2032 report delivers an in-depth understanding of the disease, historical and forecasted epidemiology, and the hidradenitis suppurativa epidemiology trends. Atopic Dermatitis Pipeline Atopic Dermatitis- Pipeline Insight 2023 report provides comprehensive insights about the hidradenitis suppurativa pipeline landscape, pipeline drug profiles, including clinical and non-clinical stage products, and the key Hidradenitis Suppurativa companies, including InflaRx, Novartis, UCB, ChemoCentryx, Eli Lilly and Company, Janssen Biotech, AbbVie, Pfizer, Amgen, Incyte Corporation, CSL Behring, Kymera Therapeutics, Aclaris Therapeutics, Boehringer Ingelheim, Azora Therapeutics, among others. Other Trending Reports Tay-sachs Disease Or Gm2 Gangliosidosis Market | Onycholysis Market | Diagnostic Imaging Equipment Market | Chemotherapy-induced Peripheral Neuropathy Market | Global Electrophysiology Devices Market | Anaphylaxis Market | Atherectomy Devices Market | Helicobacter Pylori Infections Market | Ophthalmic Imaging Equipment Market | Androgenetic Alopecia Market | Allergic Rhinitis Market | Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy Market | Chronic Inflammtory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy Market | Colorectal Cancer Crc Market | Opioid Induced Constipation Market | Vertigo Market | Bone Anchored Hearing Systems Market | Wound Closure Devices Market | Hip Replacement Devices Market | Hemodynamic Monitoring Systems Market | Egfr Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Market | Helicobacter Pylori Infection Market | Hyperkalemia Market | Polycythemia Market Neurostimulation Devices Market | Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Market | Ventilator Market | Cerebral Aneurysm Market | Alpha Antitrypsin Market | Binge Eating Disorder Market | Bunion Market | Concussions Market Size | Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency Market | Healthcare Due Diligence Services | Minimal Residual Disease Market Related Healthcare Services Healthcare Consulting Healthcare Competitive Intelligence Services Healthcare Asset Prioritization Services About DelveInsight DelveInsight is a leading Business Consultant and Market Research firm focused exclusively on life sciences. It supports pharma companies by providing comprehensive end-to-end solutions to improve their performance. Get hassle-free access to all the healthcare and pharma market research reports through our subscription-based platform PharmDelve. Connect with us on LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter Additionally, get in touch with our business executive to explore @ Healthcare Due Diligence Services Contact Us Shruti Thakur [email protected] +1(919)321-6187 www.delveinsight.com Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1082265/DelveInsight_Logo.jpg SOURCE DelveInsight Business Research, LLP Total membership at Highmark Wholecare, formerly Gateway Health, surpasses 410,000 as a result of new HealthChoices contract implementation PITTSBURGH, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The recent implementation of the new Pennsylvania HealthChoices Physical Health contract has resulted in Highmark Wholecare, formerly Gateway Health, increasing its Medicaid membership by nearly 25 percent to more than 375,000 members. Total membership at the health plan, which includes Medicaid and Medicare Dual-Special Needs plans, exceeds 410,000. "We are honored to have so many Pennsylvanians choose Highmark Wholecare to help them manage their health care," said Ellen Duffield, president and CEO, Highmark Wholecare. "Our corporate headquarters are in Pittsburgh, our providers are state-based, and our members reside exclusively in Pennsylvania. The majority of our team members live and work in the Commonwealth. Our members are our neighbors." Established in 1992, Highmark Wholecare is a leading mission-driven, community-based managed care organization dedicated to caring for the total health of its members. Through its robust Medicaid and Medicare plans and in collaboration with a network of 29,000 primary care physicians, specialists, hospitals, community partners and other ancillary providers Highmark Wholecare coordinates health care that goes beyond doctors and medicine to help members achieve whole life health. "We believe the results of the HealthChoices implementation are a testament to our whole health approach to care, particularly for our Medicaid members," Duffield said. Through a competitive procurement process, the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) changed which Physical Health managed care organizations (MCOs) were available to Medicaid beneficiaries in each of the state's five zones for the new Physical HealthChoices contract. These changes resulted in hundreds of thousands of Medicaid beneficiaries having to switch their MCOs. Beneficiaries who were required to switch could do so voluntarily for a two-month period ending Aug. 16, 2022. Beneficiaries who were required to switch MCOs but did not were assigned new MCOs by DHS beginning Aug. 17, 2022 for coverage beginning Sept. 1, 2022. During the HealthChoices voluntary enrollment period, Highmark Wholecare placed second out of five MCOs in the number of voluntary enrollments in both the Lehigh-Capital and Southwest zones. "We pride ourselves on being a community-based health plan, supporting not only our members in partnership with our provider network, but also organizations within the communities we serve that provide additional resources and assistance that our members need," Duffield added. "We are proud to help local businesses and non-profits in pursuit of providing our members with the best care possible so they can live healthier lives and achieve not just physical health, but whole life health." In 2021, Highmark Health acquired full ownership of Gateway Health, after previously holding a 50 percent ownership interest. This paved the way for the organization to become a Blue Cross Blue Shield licensee. Highmark Wholecare Blue Cross and/or Blue Shield Medicaid and Medicare Advantage Dual-Special Needs branding for the health plan began on Jan. 1, 2022. About Highmark Wholecare We believe in caring for the whole person in all communities where the need is greatest. We see a future in which everyone has equal opportunity to achieve their best health. Through our leading Medicaid and Medicare programs, we are coordinating health care that goes beyond doctors and medicine that helps members achieve not just physical health, but also delivers whole person care. Our team members are helping to drive this new kind of health care for our 410,000 Medicaid and Medicare members in collaboration with a network of 29,000 primary care physicians, specialists, hospitals, and other ancillary providers. We are also committed to supporting our neighbors through our many community outreach and engagement programs. SOURCE Highmark Wholecare RICHMOND, Va., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Hilb Group announced today that it has acquired Pennsylvania-based Oak Ridge Surety Agency, further expanding the company's growing presence in the Mid-Atlantic region and building on its surety specialty and expertise. The acquisition took effect December 30, 2022. The business will join with Wayne, Pennsylvania-based Wharton Surety Consultants, a Hilb Group agency. Based in West Chester, Pennsylvania, Oak Ridge Surety Agency specializes in providing competitive surety bond programs and commercial insurance options to its customers. The agency places a strong emphasis on client relationships at the core of its business, built through trust, communication, care, and attention for their customers. Martin Hellman and his team of insurance professionals will become part of Hilb Group's Mid-Atlantic regional operations. "Our team is excited to join Hilb Group," Martin Hellman said. "This partnership allows us to maintain the strength of our local connections, while enhancing the resources and offerings we can provide to our clients now and in the future." "We are pleased to welcome Oak Ridge Surety Agency to Hilb Group and together to draw from their trusted market presence and expertise," said Hilb Group CEO Ricky Spiro. "This addition represents a strong complement to our client offerings and an ideal fit for our growth strategy." About Hilb Group: The Hilb Group is a leading property and casualty and employee benefits insurance brokerage and advisory firm headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. Hilb Group is a portfolio company of The Carlyle Group, a global investment firm. Hilb Group seeks to grow through strategic acquisitions and by leveraging its resources and expertise to drive organic growth in its acquired agencies. The company has completed more than 150 acquisitions with over 100 offices in 22 states. Hilb Group is rated as one of the Fastest Growing Brokers by Business Insurance, a Top P/C Agency by Insurance Journal, and one of America's Fastest Growing Private Companies in the Inc. 5000. For more information on Hilb Group's growth as well as career opportunities, please visit our website at http://hilbgroup.com. Media Contact: Peter Lobred 804.548.4629 [email protected] M&A Contact: Ryan Havermann 804.414.6508 [email protected] SOURCE The Hilb Group, LLC RADNOR, Pa., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The law firm of Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP (www.ktmc.com) informs investors that a securities class action lawsuit has been filed against The Gap, Inc. ("Gap") (NYSE: GPS). The action charges Gap with violations of the federal securities laws, including omissions and fraudulent misrepresentations relating to the company's business, operations, and prospects. As a result of Gap's materially misleading statements and omissions to the public, Gap's investors have suffered significant losses. CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT YOUR GAP LOSSES. YOU CAN ALSO CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING LINK OR COPY AND PASTE IN YOUR BROWSER: https://www.ktmc.com/new-cases/the-gap-inc?utm_source=PR&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=gps&mktm=r CANNOT VIEW THIS VIDEO? PLEASE CLICK HERE LEAD PLAINTIFF DEADLINE: FEBRUARY 3, 2023 CLASS PERIOD: NOVEMBER 24, 2021 THROUGH JULY 11, 2022 CONTACT AN ATTORNEY TO DISCUSS YOUR RIGHTS: Jonathan Naji, Esq. at (484) 270-1453 or via email at [email protected] Kessler Topaz is one of the world's foremost advocates in protecting the public against corporate fraud and other wrongdoing. Our securities fraud litigators are regularly recognized as leaders in the field individually and our firm is both feared and respected among the defense bar and the insurance bar. We are proud to have recovered billions of dollars for our clients and the classes of shareholders we represent. GAP'S ALLEGED MISCONDUCT After market hours on November 23, 2021, Gap issued a press release announcing it results for the third quarter ended October 30, 2021. In that release, Gap also touted the success of its sales related to its BODEQUALITY launch at Old Navy. On April 21, 2022, Gap announced that Nancy Green, CEO of Old Navy, had stepped down. Following this news, the price of Gap stock fell nearly 18%. Then, on May 20, 2022, The Wall Street Journal published an article revealing that Gap had improperly managed its inventory of plus size clothing at its Old Navy stores, causing material declines in margins and business results. Specifically, the article stated that "Old Navy set out to make clothes shopping more inclusive for women of all body types. It ended up with 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." Further, the article stated that "Gap warned that sales for the spring quarter would fall short of expectations in part due to troubles at Old Navy[,]" but that "[t]he extended sizes were the culprit, according to current and former employees." Finally, the article indicated that "Old Navy's stumbles don't bode well for Gap Inc. In 2021, Old Navy accounted for 54% of the company's sales and roughly 80% of profits[.]" Following this news, the price of Gap stock fell approximately 7% over the next two trading sessions. Thereafter, on May 27, 2022, Gap admitted that execution missteps in size and assortment of inventory at Old Navy adversely impacted Gap's financial results. Following this news, the price of Gap stock fell nearly 5%. Finally, on July 11, 2022, Gap announced that its President and CEO, Sonia Syngal, was stepping down from her position as President and CEO of Gap and had resigned from the Board of Directors. Following this news, the price of Gap stock fell an additional 5%. WHAT CAN I DO? Gap investors may, no later than February 3, 2023, move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff for the class, through Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP or other counsel, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP encourages Gap investors who have suffered significant losses to contact the firm directly to acquire more information. The class action complaint against Gap, captioned Diaz v. The Gap, Inc. et al., Case No. 1:22-cv-07371, is filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York before the Honorable Diane Gujarati. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE CASE WHO CAN BE A LEAD PLAINTIFF? A lead plaintiff is a representative party who acts on behalf of all class members in directing the litigation. The lead plaintiff is usually the investor or small group of investors who have the largest financial interest and who are also adequate and typical of the proposed class of investors. The lead plaintiff selects counsel to represent the lead plaintiff and the class and these attorneys, if approved by the court, are lead or class counsel. Your ability to share in any recovery is not affected by the decision of whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff. ABOUT KESSLER TOPAZ MELTZER & CHECK, LLP Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP prosecutes class actions in state and federal courts throughout the country and around the world. The firm has developed a global reputation for excellence and has recovered billions of dollars for victims of fraud and other corporate misconduct. All of our work is driven by a common goal: to protect investors, consumers, employees and others from fraud, abuse, misconduct and negligence by businesses and fiduciaries. The complaint in this action was not filed by Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP. For more information about Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP please visit www.ktmc.com. CONTACT: Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP Jonathan Naji, Esq. (484) 270-1453 280 King of Prussia Road Radnor, PA 19087 [email protected] SOURCE Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP DUBLIN, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- LCI, a leading aviation company and a subsidiary of Libra Group, has signed an agreement with Elroy Air, developer of advanced autonomous cargo aircraft systems, to acquire up to 40 of the company's Chaparral vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft. LCI SIGNS AGREEMENT WITH ELROY AIR FOR A COMMITTED ORDER OF UP TO 40 CHAPARRAL VTOL AIRCRAFT LCI's investment in Elroy Air's system underpins the Company's long-term commitment to sustainable growth and innovation. Under the terms of the deposit-backed agreement, LCI will initially acquire 20 aircraft with an option for a total of up to 40 units. The VTOL aircraft are currently under development at Elroy Air's facility in South San Francisco, California. The Chaparral is the first end-to-end autonomous VTOL cargo delivery system. It is designed for aerial transport of up to 500 lbs (225 kgs) of goods over a 300 nautical mile range. This is enabled initially by a turbine-based hybrid-electric powertrain with distributed electrical propulsion, and specially designed aerodynamic modular cargo pods. Its applications include safe, efficient and cost-effective aerial cargo transport for commercial logistics, disaster relief, firefighting and humanitarian operations without risk to pilots or the need for airport infrastructure. Jaspal Jandu, CEO of LCI, says: "This commitment for the pioneering Chaparral system will enable us to efficiently support mission critical, remote logistical work and socially responsible humanitarian efforts around the world. It will do so in complement with the wide-ranging capabilities of our existing aviation fleet." "We have been impressed with Elroy Air's vision and approach and look forward to working closely with the team on a wide range of opportunities. This forms part of our wider advanced air mobility strategy and will strengthen LCI's position as a leading provider of leasing, financing and investing solutions for this new and exciting market." David Merrill, CEO and Co-Founder of Elroy Air, says: "We're experiencing an enthusiastic response to the Chaparral and its capabilities to serve as a key part of a safe, efficient, and capable fleet of aircraft to respond in emergency situations, protect pilots, and enable rapid logistics in a new and sustainable way. "Through our agreement with LCI, the Chaparral will be available for financing - enabling much broader access to the aircraft. We are proud that the Chaparral will now be part of LCI's aviation fleet and look forward to providing aerial cargo transport globally." The new VTOL aircraft will complement LCI's existing fleet of modern helicopters and fixed wing aircraft. In addition, LCI and its parent company, Libra Group, whose subsidiaries own and operate assets in approximately 60 countries, plan to share commercial, financial and end-user expertise with Elroy Air through well-established industry networks. George Logothetis, Chairman and CEO of Libra Group, stated, "We are proud of LCI's partnership with Elroy Air, which further accelerates the Chaparral's entry into the global market. Bridging the present with the future requires novel partnerships such as these where established industry leaders join with innovators to make paradigm-shifting technologies a reality. "Our Group is committed to leveraging our global platform to catalyse the uptake of sustainable innovations across our six sectors, and we look forward to sharing many future-focused partnerships to come." LCI maintains a growing, sustainable, and future-focused fleet of young, modern aviation assets, which are leased to major operators and end-users around the world. Many are deployed on mission critical and socially responsible sectors such as Emergency Medical Services (EMS), Search and Rescue (SAR) and offshore wind energy. About LCI LCI is a privately owned aircraft lessor that is uniquely positioned across the commercial fixed-wing, helicopter and advanced air mobility sectors. Since its inception in 2004, LCI has undertaken in excess of US$8 billion of aviation transactions, and provides leasing services to airlines, helicopter operators, Governments and end-users. LCI is the aviation subsidiary of Libra Group (www.libra.com), a private international business group whose subsidiaries own and operate assets in nearly 60 countries. The Group is active predominantly in aviation, energy, hospitality, real estate, maritime, and diversified investments. For more information, visit www.lciaviation.com About Elroy Air Elroy Air is developing industry-first autonomous aircraft systems and software to expand the reach of express shipping to every person on the planet. Building on the powertrain and perception technology enabling the hybrid-electric / autonomous vehicle revolution, its vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) aerial logistics systems can operate outside of airport infrastructure and evolve the possible in commercial air cargo. The company's solutions will expand delivery locations and reduce timeframes, provide immediate aid and relief in disaster and fire fighting situations, as well as rapid autonomous resupply for troops in the field. The company's headquarters is in South San Francisco, California and it is financed by world-class venture capital firms including Catapult Ventures, Marlinspike Capital and Shield Capital, strategic investors including Lockheed Martin Ventures and Prosperity7, and pioneering angel investors including early Uber executives. For more information, visit http://elroyair.com Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1980743/LCI_Elroy_Agreement.jpg SOURCE LCI SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- LightForce is proud to announce that Dr. Alfred Griffin, CEO of LightForce, will have the great opportunity of speaking at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference on January 11th, 2023, in San Francisco, CA. Dr. Alfred Griffin, CEO of LightForce, will be speaking at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference on January 11th, 2023. Tweet this Dr. Alfred Griffin, CEO of LightForce During this conference, Dr. Griffin will share the impressive growth of LightForce, as well as the innovative approach the company is taking to revolutionize the orthodontics industry. He will delve into the company's use of mass customized 3D printing technology to create personalized orthodontic braces for doctors and patients alike. During his presentation he will also discuss the gap in the market of treatment options for teenagers, and how LightForce is bridging that gap with its innovative and convenient digital braces. As a disruptor in the field of orthodontics, LightForce is dedicated to finding innovative ways to improve the patient experience. LightForce is proud to be able to share these exciting developments with the healthcare community at such a prominent conference such as the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference. About LightForce LightForce is a digital platform providing orthodontists with fully customized, 3D printed tooth- moving tools. Founded in 2015 by Dr. Alfred Griffin, DMD, PhD, MMSc, along with Dr. Lou Shuman, DMD, CAGS, LightForce is revolutionizing the specialty through advanced manufacturing and technology. After five years of extensive research and development, LightForce launched their first product to the Orthodontic market- the world's first and only fully customized 3D printed bracket system and digital treatment software. Learn more at www.l f.co or reach out directly to [email protected] . Media contact- [email protected] SOURCE LightForce BEIJING, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- A news report from China.org.cn on China's disabled community: Lives not limited by disability Many people dream of passing the judicial exam and becoming a lawyer, and Tan Ting is one such person. What sets her apart however, is that she is deaf. The judicial exam is one of the hardest professional qualification exams in China, and Tan Ting, who had already been living in "difficult mode," spent three years to pass it. Tan is not a law student. But, she studied hard to prepare for the exam so that she can use sign language and law to help more deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals like herself. For the deaf community, access to legal knowledge is limited, and many are unaware of their rights, let alone how to defend them. "I want to use my 'talking hands' to bring the voice of justice to every silent corner," Tan said. With this in mind, she embarked on the path of becoming a lawyer. In addition to helping deaf people with legal issues through her work, she regularly releases educational videos and livestreams using sign language to provide free legal knowledge and advice to the deaf community. Xiao Jia, a partially sighted young woman, really wanted to learn how to apply makeup to make herself prettier. After hearing about her story, a makeup artist offered to help her and encouraged her. Now, Xiao has become a beauty consultant and releases tutorial videos online, teaching other girls who are partially sighted how to put on makeup. A coffee shop called Hinichijou, also known as the Bear Paw Cafe, went viral because most of its employees have disabilities. The shop's founder provided training to ensure that all the baristas could work independently. Given that the deaf baristas were not good at and were reluctant to communicate with customers, the shop's storefront was a hole in the wall through which an employee wearing paw-shaped gloves served coffee. A year later, some baristas were willing to have direct communication with customers, so the coffee shop opened a new branch, this time with the wall "torn down." This year, some blind baristas joined Hinichijou and everything in the store from the interior design to the coffee machines was customized to ensure that they could work without assistance. From increasingly diverse education and training to more inclusive environments, China is backing and helping the disabled community in more subtle ways. Such support is not based on sympathy or pity, but on the sincere hope that they can participate in and enjoy everyday life on an equal footing. Nowadays in China, an increasing number of disabled people are sharing their lives and sending the message to others that they are just slightly different from ordinary people, and that there are no limits to what people can achieve. China Mosaic http://www.china.org.cn/video/node_7230027.htm Lives not limited by disability http://www.china.org.cn/video/2023-01/11/content_85053917.htm SOURCE China.org.cn Line Celebrates with Special Gift of FREE Shipboard Credit on over 100 Voyages Limited-Time Sale Opens for Bookings January 16, 2023 MIAMI, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Oceania Cruises, the world's leading culinary- and destination-focused cruise line, is celebrating two esteemed decades delivering guests The Finest Cuisine at Sea, Curated Travel Experiences and Small Ship Luxury with a limited-time 20th Anniversary Sale. To mark this momentous milestone, the cruise line will be featuring a special gift of up to $800 Shipboard Credit per stateroom or suite on 110 captivating voyages across seven ships sailing to the Caribbean, Mediterranean, South Pacific, Alaska, Asia and more. The destination-intensive itineraries are available to view here, with the 20th Anniversary Sale open for bookings from January 16, 2023, through February 28, 2023, at OceaniaCruises.com. Oceania Cruises' Marina "With pent-up demand for luxury cruising at an all-time high, this exclusive sale is a treasure trove of possibilities for loyal repeat and first-time guests alike. It's aimed at reconnecting travelers with their spirit for adventure, while benefiting from a generous Shipboard Credit of up to $800 on over 100 sought-after sailings in 2023 and 2024, including our newest ship, Vista," said Frank A. Del Rio, President of Oceania Cruises. Each 20th Anniversary Sale fare features Oceania Cruises' generous OLife Choice package, which includes a choice of either FREE Shore Excursions, a FREE House Beverage Package, or FREE Shipboard Credit plus a 20th Anniversary BONUS Shipboard Credit of up to $800 on all bookings, no matter which OLife Choice amenity is chosen. "From indulging in pampering at the Aquamar Spa + Vitality Center or taking a deeper exploration ashore with one of our immersive shore excursions, we wanted to celebrate our special milestone with our valued guests. We have carefully curated a collection of intriguing itineraries for travelers to choose from, with an astounding mix of breathtaking destinations the world over," added Del Rio. Guests on board all Oceania Cruises' small, luxurious vessels enjoy complimentary dining in all specialty restaurants with gourmet cuisine curated by world-renowned Master Chef Jacques Pepin, as well as the following inclusive amenities: FREE Internet; FREE 24-hour Room Service; FREE Fitness Classes; FREE Shuttles to City Centers; FREE Soft Drinks and Specialty Coffees, FREE Still and Sparkling Vero Water, and FREE Launderettes. Highlight voyages from the 20th Anniversary Sale include: FJORDS, VIKINGS & CASTLES 18 days | Oslo to London Riviera | Departs August 5, 2023 $800 Shipboard Credit Per Stateroom or Suite Delve into the best of Norway on this expansive voyage that sails from the southern part of the country to the northernmost town, with stops including Kristiansand, Alesund, Hammerfest and Tromso, to name but a few. Guests can also enjoy explorations of the dramatically beautiful Faroe Islands and magical Orkney Islands, before sailing on to Edinburgh (Newhaven) ahead of Riviera's final call into London (Portsmouth). SVALBARD & ARCTIC PASSAGE 15 days | Tromso to Reykjavik Marina | Departs August 7, 2023 $800 Shipboard Credit Per Stateroom or Suite Revel in a rare visit to Longyearbyen on the Svalbard archipelago, the northernmost settlement in the world, before continuing on for an extended survey of fjord-laced Iceland and Greenland, calling into Husavik, Siglufjordur, Paamiut, Nuuk and more a fascinating and one-of-a-kind Arctic jaunt. ALASKA TO CALIFORNIA MEDLEY 13 days | Vancouver to Los Angeles Regatta | Departs September 7, 2023 $600 Shipboard Credit Per Stateroom or Suite Set sail on a voyage spanning Alaska's breathtaking southeastern coast to California's southern shores. Along the way, experience treasures such as majestic Hubbard Glacier, Tlingit heritage and Astoria's exquisite wineries, as well as the small-town charms of Juneau, Skagway and Sitka. SUMPTUOUS ARABIA 10 days | Abu Dhabi to Mumbai Riviera | Departs December 29, 2023 $600 Shipboard Credit Per Stateroom or Suite Marvel at the desert cities of Khasab and Muscat in Oman and the metropolitan hub of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, where sleek architecture sits beside sumptuous palaces and mosques. Relish in an overnight stay in vibrant Mumbai and explore remote Sir Bani Yas, home to more than 17,000 free-roaming exotic animals. ISLANDS TO INDOCHINA 15 days | Singapore to Bangkok Riviera | Departs January 28, 2024 $800 Shipboard Credit Per Stateroom or Suite Guests can enrich their soul amid the timeless traditions of Asia, with overnight stays in historic Saigon and gilded Bangkok as well as visits to unexpected treasures such as Borneo, Puerto Princesa and the enigmatic Sultanate of Brunei. This 15-day voyage also stops in Coron and Manila in the Philippines, as well as iconic Hue (Chan May) and Nha Trang in Vietnam. MINARETS TO PALAZZI 12 days | Istanbul to Venice Vista | Departs August 2, 2024 $600 Shipboard Credit Per Stateroom or Suite From Istanbul's minaret-sprinkled skyline, cruise to the undisputed jewels of the Eastern Mediterranean, including once-volcanic Santorini, medieval Kotor, frozen-in-time Split, vibrant Dubrovnik and a charming surprise the rarely visited, yet spectacular, Italian town of Ancona. Guests overnight in Venice before departing the cruise the next day to explore its famed canals, opulent palazzi and elegant churches. ASTOUNDING AUSTRALASIA 24 days | Singapore to Auckland Regatta | Departs November 14, 2024 $800 Shipboard Credit Per Stateroom or Suite Celebrate a world of spectacular panoramas that features exotic Southeast Asia, Australia's charming northeastern outposts and New Zealand's magical North Island, with overnight stays in unspoiled Bali, sophisticated Sydney and friendly Auckland. On this 24-day sojourn, savor the buzz of Jakarta, the lush countryside of Bali (Benoa) and the tropical rainforest of Cairns, before crossing the Tasman to discover New Zealand's North Island. THE EVOLUTION OF PERFECTION A BETTER-THAN-EVER EXPERIENCE OceaniaNEXT is Oceania Cruises' continual quest to evolve and elevate the guest experience. It focuses on the hallmarks that inspire guests to return to Oceania Cruises time and again: Exquisitely Crafted Cuisine, Curated Travel Experiences and Small Ship Luxury. The sweeping Re-inspiration of our entire fleet presents a symphony of entirely new suites and staterooms as well as elegant public spaces imbued with a new light, airy ambiance. The signature onboard experience is better than ever too, with the addition of an extensive collection of new flavors and culinary experiences that transforms dining into a sublime experience and service into an art form. The gourmet cuisine has been entirely reimagined, from a bounty of new flavorful dishes at The Grand Dining Room to a Dom Perignon pairing dinner that is the only one of its kind. Oceania Cruises' newest ship Vista offers multiple unique firsts in the realms of dining and guest experience. Across all ships, holistic wellness encounters at Aquamar Spa + Vitality Center encourage a lifestyle of health and longevity, while new destination experiences such as Go Green, Go Local, Beyond Blueprints, Culinary Discovery Tours, Food & Wine Trails tours, and Wellness Discovery Tours by Aquamar encourage deeper explorations. THE HEART OF THE EXPERIENCE One aspect of the Oceania Cruises experience remains constant and unchanged: the trademark warm and personalized service. Whether guests are sailing for the first time or the fifteenth, they will note the ease with which the staff remembers their names and their preferences along with the genuine smiles and enthusiasm that can only come from the heart. For additional information on Oceania Cruises' small-ship luxury product, exquisitely crafted cuisine, and expertly curated travel experiences, visit OceaniaCruises.com, call 855-OCEANIA, or speak with a professional travel advisor. About Oceania Cruises Oceania Cruises is the world's leading culinary- and destination-focused cruise line. The line's seven small, luxurious ships carry a maximum of 1,238 guests and feature the finest cuisine at sea and destination-rich itineraries that span the globe. Expertly curated travel experiences aboard the designer-inspired, small ships call on more than 600 marquee and boutique ports in more than 100 countries on 7 continents on voyages that range from 7 to more than 200 days. The brand has a second 1,200-guest Allura Class ship on order for delivery in 2025. With headquarters in Miami, Oceania Cruises is owned by Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd., a diversified cruise operator of leading global cruise brands which include Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises. About Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: NCLH) is a leading global cruise company which operates the Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises brands. With a combined fleet of 28 ships with nearly 60,000 berths, these brands offer itineraries to more than 500 destinations worldwide. The Company has nine additional ships scheduled for delivery through 2027, comprising of approximately 24,000 berths. SOURCE Oceania Cruises NEW YORK, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- One Equity Partners ("OEP") today announced that it has purchased a controlling interest in Mythics, LLC and its wholly-owned subsidiary Emergent, LLC (together, "Mythics Emergent Group" or "MEG"), a leading public sector focused IT services firm, with business across federal and state, local and education ("SLED") segments. Founded in 2000 and headquartered in Virginia Beach, Virginia, MEG is a value-added reseller, distributor, and implementation partner of cloud-based software products to the public sector. The company is a market-leading partner for the top software providers in the Public Sector. Over the past decade, MEG has won numerous awards, including multiple Partner of the Year awards from Oracle and IBM Red Hat for various categories within the Public Sector space and has ranked as a top North American federal partner with Adobe. MEG offers its customers software and hardware licenses, as well as related implementation, maintenance and support services. Following the investment, the founders and senior executives of MEG retained a minority interest in the company alongside OEP. "We are excited to partner with the founders and management team of MEG to help accelerate the company's growth and enable MEG to enhance its position with transformational acquisitions," said Carlo Padovano, Managing Director, One Equity Partners. "As a key provider of cloud-based solutions to federal and SLED customers, we expect MEG to be an important participant in the public sector's shift to next generation technologies." "We believe One Equity Partners is the right partner for us as we enter our next phase of growth," said Paul Seifert, the newly appointed CEO of Mythics Emergent Group. "Their deep expertise within the IT services sector and operational support will enable us to further enhance our solutions, while also advancing our mission of helping government agencies modernize their IT systems." "IT modernization is a key public sector priority, and MEG is highly skilled at executing such projects in this space," said Otavio Birman, Vice President, One Equity Partners. "The transformation of public agencies to the cloud is in its infancy but is a mega-trend. We believe MEG is extremely well positioned to help its customers achieve their goals as they move to the cloud." About One Equity Partners One Equity Partners ("OEP") is a middle market private equity firm focused on the industrial, healthcare, and technology sectors in North America and Europe. The firm seeks to build market-leading companies by identifying and executing transformative business combinations. OEP is a trusted partner with a differentiated investment process, a broad and senior team, and an established track record generating long-term value for its partners. Since 2001, the firm has completed more than 300 transactions worldwide. OEP, founded in 2001, spun out of JP Morgan in 2015. The firm has offices in New York, Chicago, Frankfurt and Amsterdam. For more information, please visit www.oneequity.com. About Mythics Emergent Group Mythics, LLC, together with its wholly-owned subsidiary Emergent, LLC (collectively, "MEG"), is an award-winning IT solutions provider, systems integrator and managed services provider based in Virginia Beach, VA. Since 2000, MEG has specialized in solving complex challenges and delivering best-of-class technology solutions, specifically in the areas of cloud computing, open-source, and creative technologies, and is a trusted partner to organizations worldwide. MEG partners with some of the most prominent and industry-leading technology platforms, such as Oracle, IBM Red Hat and Adobe, and its history, commitment, success, and depth of knowledge is in the Public Sector. That is where MEG was born, that is its expertise, and that is where it will continue to grow and lead. To learn more, visit www.mythics.com or www.emergent360.com. SOURCE Mythics Finance software startup Quartr signs a breakthrough deal with Sweden's largest online broker Avanza. Through this deal, Avanza, with almost two million customers, gets access to Quartr's database. This means that Avanza will be able to offer its customers crucial company information such as earnings calls, reports, and slide decks directly through its online brokerage platform. STOCKHOLM and NEW YORK, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Quartr (www.quartr.com) has passed a significant milestone on its mission to bring the financial community closer together by signing a breakthrough API deal with Sweden's largest online broker. This means that Avanza, with almost two million customers, will be able to offer crucial information such as earnings calls, accompanying documents, reports, and slide decks directly through its online brokerage platform. The Quartr API will help Avanza build stronger relationships with their customers and lead to increased transparency in the market. "This is a very encouraging deal for both Avanza's almost two million customers and us. First-party information like this is considerably more valuable than noisy news feeds with contradictory analyst comments - certainly if you want to make rational investment decisions. We are convinced that our API solution will be value-creating for both investors and online brokers worldwide, and not least for public companies, as this enables them to get their equity stories told to a much wider audience," comments Sami Osman, CEO & Co-founder of Quartr. "We are convinced that better information leads to more well-thought-out investment decisions. Here, Quartr adds an important puzzle piece - therefore, it will be very exciting to see what we can do together to give investors better and more successful results," comments Nicklas Andersson, spokesperson and savings expert at Avanza. CONTACT: Sami Osman, CEO & Co-founder, Quartr [email protected] The following files are available for download: https://mb.cision.com/Public/21895/3696027/8e985b688a304604.pdf Pressrelease Quartr Avanza 11jan2023 https://news.cision.com/quartr---investor-relations-made-accessible/i/1156x708-quartr-avanza,c3132389 1156x708 Quartr+Avanza https://news.cision.com/quartr---investor-relations-made-accessible/i/1156x1156-quartr-avanza,c3132388 1156x1156 Quartr+Avanza https://news.cision.com/quartr---investor-relations-made-accessible/i/quartr-logo-white,c3132386 Quartr Logo White https://news.cision.com/quartr---investor-relations-made-accessible/i/quartr-logo-black,c3132387 Quartr Logo Black SOURCE Quartr - Investor Relations made accessible SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Raydiant, the Experience Platform and leader for in-store experiences, deepened their artificial intelligence (AI) and computer vision capabilities with the acquisitions of Sightcorp and Perch . Additionally, Raydiant has added hundreds of application partners to become the leading in-store experience platform. Completing the two acquisitions will bring expanded capabilities onto one platform to enable retailers to create dynamic and data-driven experiences, which Raydiant can only create. The Only Platform for Physical Locations The new ground-breaking capabilities include the following: Lift-and-learn uses smart shelves powered by sensors (similar to hotel room mini-bars), tags or cameras to give customers information and promotions about the products they pick up. Raydiant now supports more sensor types than any other platform. uses smart shelves powered by sensors (similar to hotel room mini-bars), tags or cameras to give customers information and promotions about the products they pick up. Raydiant now supports more sensor types than any other platform. People AI identifies the age, gender, and sentiment of a shopper while maintaining privacy (GDPR and CCPA compliance). Along with lift-and-learn, People AI allows businesses to deliver personalized experiences and content to each customer based on who they are and what they're doing at the shelf. identifies the age, gender, and sentiment of a shopper while maintaining privacy (GDPR and CCPA compliance). Along with lift-and-learn, People AI allows businesses to deliver personalized experiences and content to each customer based on who they are and what they're doing at the shelf. Interactive digital signage is the customer-facing experience platform that allows businesses to display content on screens that may be free-standing, mounted to walls, embedded in displays, or via electronic shelf labels. These screens can show product details, ratings and reviews, influencer content, QR codes, cross-sell suggestions, seasonal promotions, endless aisle selection, and more is the customer-facing experience platform that allows businesses to display content on screens that may be free-standing, mounted to walls, embedded in displays, or via electronic shelf labels. These screens can show product details, ratings and reviews, influencer content, QR codes, cross-sell suggestions, seasonal promotions, endless aisle selection, and more Open application marketplace for partners to quickly port their digital software applications to be deployed in-store, letting Raydiant's best-of-breed technology manage the challenges of in-store deployment (device management and reliability, connectivity, analytics, etc.). Raydiant announced it now has hundreds of partner applications within the Raydiant Marketplace, including Virtual Try-On platforms PerfectCorp, FaceCake, and Holition; retail media network monetization platforms; inventory and planogram compliance detection; and employee management and gamification. Raydiant has also integrated with the top point of sales systems for dynamic menus, catalogs, pricing, and personalization, including NCR, Square, Lightspeed, Toast, Lightspeed, PAR/Brink and Clover. Raydiant's platform is used at six of the Top 10 Consumer Packaged Goods companies and six of the Top 25 retailers, where it drives 87% sales lifts on average. In addition, Raydiant has been named by Business Insider as one of the top 10 most promising start-ups by VCs. Raydiant continues strengthening its platform to create a truly personalized shopping experience that combines the best of digital and physical shopping, allowing for better customer engagement and loyalty. "Retailers have struggled to bring digital in-store due to the overwhelming number of point solutions, lack of reliability, intelligence and data visibility. For the first time, retailers and brands can deploy their online tools and bring them to their physical locations with 99.99% reliability and total visibility. We're proud to be the first company able to offer it all under one platform," said CEO Bobby Marhamat. About Raydiant Raydiant is the leading in-location experience platform for the world's most renowned restaurants, retail, hospitality, banking, and brands. With Raydiant, franchise managers, IT, marketing, and communications executives can scale their brick-and-mortar operations more effectively, reduce anxiety from outdated technology oversight, and seamlessly create more engaging and personalized in-store experiences that keep customers coming back and buying more. Raydiant works with nearly 4,500 brands, from SMB to enterprise, including Johnson and Johnson, Nestle, Unilever, The Estee Lauder Companies, Paradies Legerdiere, Red Bull, Chick-Fil-A, Sunglass Hut, and Wahlburgers. Founded in April 2017, Raydiant is headquartered in San Francisco, California, and has raised a total of $50 million from 8VC, Atomic Ventures, Lerer Hippeau, Mark Wahlberg Investments, Bloomberg Beta, Gaingels, Illuminate Ventures, Transmedia Capital, and Ron Conway. To learn more, visit www.raydiant.com. Contact: Bobby Marhamat 650-720-8566 [email protected] SOURCE Raydiant, Inc. Representing Kentucky Investors Against Brokerage Firms Throughout the United States HOUSTON, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Our seasoned securities litigation attorneys at Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (investorlawyers.com) are pleased to announce that we now have a law office in Lexington. While we've represented investors throughout Kentucky for over 30 years, local clients are now able to visit Attorney Ryan Cook at our new location conveniently located on E. Reynolds Road. Why Work With Our Lexington Securities Lawyers? Led by Attorneys Kirk Smith and Sam Edwards, our legal team combines over a century's worth of experience in the securities industry and securities law to help investors and their families throughout the US pursue damages caused by broker fraud and negligence. Over the years, we have represented thousands of investors, including retail customers, retirees, inexperienced investors, conservative investors, high-net-worth investors, accredited investors, institutional investors, and others to recover many millions of dollars through Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration, mediation, and litigation. When you work with Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas, you are retaining the services of an entire team of experienced investor fraud attorneys and their knowledgeable legal staff. A number of us used to work in the brokerage industry and are aware of the unsavory and negligent practices that bad or poorly trained brokers can engage in. We know how these actions can lead to unnecessary yet devastating investment losses. It is why we now dedicate our law practice solely to fighting for investors and protecting their legal rights. We represent Kentucky investors against brokerage firms and brokers in the state, as well as broker-dealers throughout the US. Our SEC litigation lawyers have law offices all over the US and we have gone up against the biggest firms on Wall Street to secure up to seven-figure arbitration awards and settlements for our clients. Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas represents Kentucky investors in pursuing financial recovery over losses caused by: Unsuitability Financial product failures Overconcentration Misrepresentations and omissions And much more. To schedule you free, no obligation case assessment, in Lexington call (859) 810-0266 or call (800) 259-9010. Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas 216 E Reynolds Rd #C Lexington, KY 40517 SOURCE Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas LLP NEW YORK , Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- According to Technavio, the global shipbroking market size is estimated to grow by USD 244.12 million from 2022 to 2027. The market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 2.95% during the forecast period. Europe held the largest share of the global market in 2022, and the market in the region is estimated to witness an incremental growth of 49%. For more Insights on market size, Request a sample report Shipbroking market - Five Forces Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Shipbroking Market 2023-2027 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! Shipbroking 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. Shipbroking market - Segmentation Assessment Segment Overview Technavio has segmented the market based on application (bulker, tanker, and others), end-user (oil and gas, manufacturing, aerospace and defense, and others), and geography (Europe, APAC, North America, Middle East and Africa, and South America). The market share growth by the bulker segment will be significant during the forecast period. The segment is driven by the increasing demand for dry bulk seaborne trade across the world. Also, the growth in the production of wheat and other non-perishable products is driving the demand for bulkers, such as dry containers, in the global shipbroking market. Geography Overview By geography, the global shipbroking market is segmented into Europe, APAC, North America, Middle East and Africa, and South America. The report provides actionable insights and estimates the contribution of all regions to the growth of the global shipbroking market. Europe is estimated to contribute 49% to the growth of the global market during the forecast period. Factors such as the growth in seaborne trade and the maturity of the shipping industry are driving the growth of the shipbroking market in Europe . Download a Sample Report Shipbroking market Market Dynamics Key factor driving market growth The demand for significant value creation in the shipping process is one of the key growth drivers in the market. Shipbroking is an extremely crucial function in the shipping business. Shipbrokers play a crucial role in bringing parties together from different regions and backgrounds to create a win-win situation for all stakeholders. They are equipped with not only different formal qualifications but extensive experience and worldwide contacts also across the maritime sector. With most businesses in the maritime industry becoming more customer-centric, the involvement of shipbrokers in a shipping transaction is increasingly perceived as a beneficial proposition for all the parties involved. All these factors are influencing the growth of the global shipbroking market. Leading trends influencing the market The implementation of advanced technology is identified as the key trend in the market. Investments in R&D have proliferated the adoption of advanced technologies in the maritime sector. The increasing use of smart systems such as advanced sensor systems, drones, satellites, and other robotic devices is making modern ships smarter. Besides, the advent of computerized systems, Big Data Analytics, and the availability of real-time maritime data have resulted in greater transparency and visibility across global markets and pricing trends. Such developments are bringing high levels of efficiency into the entire shipbroking and shipping process. This trend is expected to have a positive impact on the growth of the market during the forecast period. Major challenges hindering market growth The growing reliance on global macroeconomic factors is one of the major challenges hindering market growth. Global macroeconomic factors have a direct impact on the shipbroking industry. The decline in global economic growth, investments, or trade will have an adverse impact on the growth shipping industry. In addition, factors such as the rise of protectionism across the world, shortening supply chains, production and trade localization, and the failure of regional trade agreements are negatively affecting the global shipping industry. Many such factors are reducing the growth potential in the market. Driver, Trend, and Challenges are the factor of market dynamics that state about consequences & sustainability of the businesses, find some insights from a sample report! What are the key data covered in this Shipbroking Market report? CAGR of the market during the forecast period Detailed information on factors that will drive the growth of the Shipbroking Market between 2023 and 2027 Precise estimation of the size of the Shipbroking 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 Shipbroking Market industry across Europe , APAC, North America , Middle East and Africa , and South America , 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 Shipbroking Market vendors Gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports. Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Related Reports: The marine insurance market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 3.16% between 2022 and 2027. The size of the market is forecast to increase by USD 4,994.88 million . The use of multiple distribution channels is notable driving the market growth, although factors such as the low profitability for the supplier may impede the market growth. is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 3.16% between 2022 and 2027. The size of the market is forecast to increase by . The use of multiple distribution channels is notable driving the market growth, although factors such as the low profitability for the supplier may impede the market growth. The insurance brokerage market size is expected to increase by USD 101.94 billion from 2021 to 2026, and the market's growth momentum will accelerate at a CAGR of 6.93%. Increased demand for insurance policies is notably driving the insurance brokerage market growth. Direct purchase of insurance policies by customers is the major challenge impeding the insurance brokerage market growth. Shipbroking Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 164 Base year 2022 Historic period 2017-2021 Forecast period 2023-2027 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 2.95% Market growth 2023-2027 USD 244.12 million Market structure Fragmented YoY growth 2022-2023 (%) 2.8 Regional analysis Europe, APAC, North America, Middle East and Africa, and South America Performing market contribution Europe at 49% Key countries US, Singapore, China, UK, and Norway Competitive landscape Leading Vendors, Market Positioning of Vendors, Competitive Strategies, and Industry Risks Key companies profiled AGORA SHIPBROKING Corp., Aries Shipbroking (Asia) Pte Ltd., Braemar Shipping Services Plc, BRS Group, Chowgule Brothers Pvt. Ltd., Clarkson PLC, E.A. Gibson Shipbrokers Ltd., Fearnleys AS, Galbraiths Ltd., Howe Robinson Partners Pte Ltd., INTEROCEAN, Lorentzen and Stemoco AS, Maersk Broker KS, Maritime London Ltd., McQuilling Partners Inc., Poten and Partners Inc., Seacore Shipbrokers Ltd., SHIPLINKS, Simpson Spence Young Ltd., and SPI Marine (UK) 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. 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 End-user 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 shipbroking market 2017 - 2021 Exhibit 18: Historic Market Size Data Table on Global shipbroking market 2017 - 2021 ($ million) 4.2 Application Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021 Exhibit 19: Historic Market Size Application 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 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 Bulker - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 34: Chart on Bulker - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 35: Data Table on Bulker - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 36: Chart on Bulker - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 37: Data Table on Bulker - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 6.4 Tanker - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 38: Chart on Tanker - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 39: Data Table on Tanker - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 40: Chart on Tanker - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 41: Data Table on Tanker - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 6.5 Others - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 42: Chart on Others - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 43: Data Table on Others - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 44: Chart on Others - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 45: Data Table on Others - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 6.6 Market opportunity by Application Exhibit 46: Market opportunity by Application ($ million) 7 Market Segmentation by End-user 7.1 Market segments Exhibit 47: Chart on End-user - Market share 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 48: Data Table on End-user - Market share 2022-2027 (%) 7.2 Comparison by End-user Exhibit 49: Chart on Comparison by End-user Exhibit 50: Data Table on Comparison by End-user 7.3 Oil and gas - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 51: Chart on Oil and gas - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 52: Data Table on Oil and gas - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 53: Chart on Oil and gas - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 54: Data Table on Oil and gas - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 7.4 Manufacturing - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 55: Chart on Manufacturing - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 56: Data Table on Manufacturing - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 57: Chart on Manufacturing - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 58: Data Table on Manufacturing - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 7.5 Aerospace and defense - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 59: Chart on Aerospace and defense - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 60: Data Table on Aerospace and defense - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 61: Chart on Aerospace and defense - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 62: Data Table on Aerospace and defense - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 7.6 Others - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 63: Chart on Others - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 64: Data Table on Others - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 65: Chart on Others - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 66: Data Table on Others - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 7.7 Market opportunity by End-user Exhibit 67: Market opportunity by End-user ($ million) 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 Europe - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 73: Chart on Europe - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 74: Data Table on Europe - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 75: Chart on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 76: Data Table on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 9.4 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 (%) 9.5 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 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 82: Data Table on North America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) 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 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 (%) 9.7 South America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 89: Chart on South America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 90: Data Table on South America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 91: Chart on South America - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 92: Data Table on South America - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 9.8 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 (%) 9.9 Singapore - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 97: Chart on Singapore - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 98: Data Table on Singapore - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 99: Chart on Singapore - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 100: Data Table on Singapore - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 9.10 Norway - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 101: Chart on Norway - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 102: Data Table on Norway - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 103: Chart on Norway - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 104: Data Table on Norway - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 9.11 US - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 105: Chart on US - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 106: Data Table on US - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 107: Chart on US - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 108: Data Table on US - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 9.12 China - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 109: Chart on China - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 110: Data Table on China - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 111: Chart on China - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 112: Data Table on China - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 9.13 Market opportunity by geography Exhibit 113: 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 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 AGORA SHIPBROKING Corp. Exhibit 120: AGORA SHIPBROKING Corp. - Overview Exhibit 121: AGORA SHIPBROKING Corp. - Product / Service Exhibit 122: AGORA SHIPBROKING Corp. - Key offerings 12.4 Aries Shipbroking ( Asia ) Pte Ltd. ) Pte Ltd. Exhibit 123: Aries Shipbroking ( Asia ) Pte Ltd. - Overview ) Pte Ltd. - Overview Exhibit 124: Aries Shipbroking ( Asia ) Pte Ltd. - Product / Service ) Pte Ltd. - Product / Service Exhibit 125: Aries Shipbroking ( Asia ) Pte Ltd. - Key offerings 12.5 Braemar Shipping Services Plc Exhibit 126: Braemar Shipping Services Plc - Overview Exhibit 127: Braemar Shipping Services Plc - Business segments Exhibit 128: Braemar Shipping Services Plc - Key offerings Exhibit 129: Braemar Shipping Services Plc - Segment focus 12.6 BRS Group Exhibit 130: BRS Group - Overview Exhibit 131: BRS Group - Product / Service Exhibit 132: BRS Group - Key offerings 12.7 Chowgule Brothers Pvt. Ltd. Exhibit 133: Chowgule Brothers Pvt. Ltd. - Overview Exhibit 134: Chowgule Brothers Pvt. Ltd. - Product / Service Exhibit 135: Chowgule Brothers Pvt. Ltd. - Key offerings 12.8 Clarkson PLC Exhibit 136: Clarkson PLC - Overview Exhibit 137: Clarkson PLC - Business segments Exhibit 138: Clarkson PLC - Key offerings Exhibit 139: Clarkson PLC - Segment focus 12.9 E.A. Gibson Shipbrokers Ltd. Exhibit 140: E.A. Gibson Shipbrokers Ltd. - Overview Exhibit 141: E.A. Gibson Shipbrokers Ltd. - Product / Service Exhibit 142: E.A. Gibson Shipbrokers Ltd. - Key offerings 12.10 Fearnleys AS Exhibit 143: Fearnleys AS - Overview Exhibit 144: Fearnleys AS - Product / Service Exhibit 145: Fearnleys AS - Key offerings 12.11 Galbraiths Ltd. Exhibit 146: Galbraiths Ltd. - Overview Exhibit 147: Galbraiths Ltd. - Product / Service Exhibit 148: Galbraiths Ltd. - Key offerings 12.12 Howe Robinson Partners Pte Ltd. Exhibit 149: Howe Robinson Partners Pte Ltd. - Overview Exhibit 150: Howe Robinson Partners Pte Ltd. - Product / Service Exhibit 151: Howe Robinson Partners Pte Ltd. - Key offerings 12.13 Lorentzen and Stemoco AS Exhibit 152: Lorentzen and Stemoco AS - Overview Exhibit 153: Lorentzen and Stemoco AS - Product / Service Exhibit 154: Lorentzen and Stemoco AS - Key offerings 12.14 Maersk Broker KS Exhibit 155: Maersk Broker KS - Overview Exhibit 156: Maersk Broker KS - Product / Service Exhibit 157: Maersk Broker KS - Key offerings 12.15 McQuilling Partners Inc. Exhibit 158: McQuilling Partners Inc. - Overview Exhibit 159: McQuilling Partners Inc. - Product / Service Exhibit 160: McQuilling Partners Inc. - Key offerings 12.16 Poten and Partners Inc. Exhibit 161: Poten and Partners Inc. - Overview Exhibit 162: Poten and Partners Inc. - Product / Service Exhibit 163: Poten and Partners Inc. - Key offerings 12.17 Simpson Spence Young Ltd. Exhibit 164: Simpson Spence Young Ltd. - Overview Exhibit 165: Simpson Spence Young Ltd. - Product / Service Exhibit 166: Simpson Spence Young Ltd. - Key offerings 13 Appendix 13.1 Scope of the report 13.2 Inclusions and exclusions checklist Exhibit 167: Inclusions checklist Exhibit 168: Exclusions checklist 13.3 Currency conversion rates for US$ Exhibit 169: Currency conversion rates for US$ 13.4 Research methodology Exhibit 170: Research methodology Exhibit 171: Validation techniques employed for market sizing Exhibit 172: Information sources 13.5 List of abbreviations Exhibit 173: 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 Jesse Maida Media & Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: [email protected] Website: www.technavio.com/ SOURCE Technavio 201.0 m of 1.26 g/t Au from surface in DDRCCC-22-040, including from surface in DDRCCC-22-040, including 82.0 m of 2.04 g/t Au from surface including; from surface including; 19.5 m of 4.87 g/t Au from surface including; from surface including; 2.0 m of 31.20 g/t Au from 16.0 m from 10.0 m of 0.60 g/t Au from 357.0 m in DDRCCC-22-039 and from in DDRCCC-22-039 and 12.0 m of 0.52 g/t Au from 336.0 m and from and 3.0 m of 0.97 g/t Au from 458.0 m Cor Coe, P.Geo., CEO and Director of Sitka commented, "The 2022 step-out drilling at RC Gold was extremely rewarding for Sitka with the results of these latest drill holes highlighting the tremendous potential of the Blackjack zone, which was just discovered in December, 2021. DDRCCC-22-040 is one of the best holes we have drilled to date at RC Gold with the entire 201.0 metre length averaging 1.26 g/t gold including 82.0 m grading 2.04 g/t gold and 19.5 m of 4.87 g/t Au from the casing at surface. Several other impressive intervals including 2 metres of 31.20 g/t gold were encountered throughout the hole which also contained visible gold (see Figure 3 and Table 1). Our winter and summer diamond drilling programs last year were successful in demonstrating the continuity of strong and persistent gold mineralization throughout the Blackjack zone, which remains open in all directions. With the potential to also link gold mineralization for up to 2 kilometres across both the Saddle and Eiger Zones (see Figure 1), we are eager to aggressively add potential tonnage and unlock additional value with continued exploration at our quickly evolving, district scale and road accessible RC Gold Project." Drilling to date at the RC Gold Project has produced long intercepts with significant gold grades, as highlighted by Hole 40 (see Table 1), and has confirmed the continuity of significant and persistent gold mineralization within the Blackjack zone to surface, which remains open in all directions and demonstrates significantly higher grades of gold mineralization within the intrusion host rock. The majority of drilling to date at RC Gold was designed to provide the spatial requirements necessary to estimate an initial resource. The Company is planning a two part, winter and summer drilling program totaling 10,000 metres of diamond drilling at RC Gold for 2023 focused primarily in the Blackjack, Saddle and Eiger zone areas. Table 1 - Analytical Results for DDRCCC-22-039 and DDRCCC-22-040 Drillhole ID Azimuth () Dip () Length (m) From (m) To (m) Interval (m)* Au (g/t) DDRCCC-22-040 320 -55 209.0 8.0 209.0 201.0 1.26 including 8.0 90.0 82.0 2.04 including 8.0 27.5 19.5 4.87 including 10.0 12.0 2.0 8.69 including 16.0 18.0 2.0 31.20 including 34.5 48.5 14.0 1.48 including 46.8 48.5 1.7 6.48 including 56.0 63.2 7.2 3.50 including 58 59.5 1.5 10.40 including 81.0 84.0 3.0 4.36 including 100.0 102.0 2.0 3.00 DDRCCC-22-039 320 -54 480.0 336.0 348.0 12.0 0.52 and 357.0 367.0 10.0 0.60 and 458.0 461.0 3.0 0.97 *Intervals are drilled core length, as insufficient drilling has been undertaken to determine true widths at this time Table 2 Blackjack Zone Drill Highlights 2020-2022 BLACKJACK ZONE Drillhole ID Azimuth () Dip () Length (m) From (m) To (m) Interval (m)* Au (g/t) News Release Date DDRCCC-20-02 200 -60 296.0 9.0 296.0 287.0 0.52 Nov 23, 2020 Including 156.4 257.1 100.8 0.82 DDRCCC-21-07 208 -58 336.0 18.0 336.0 318.0 0.45 Aug 19, 2021 including 262.0 294.0 32.0 1.24 DDRCCC-21-021 320 -54 480.0 surface 220.0 220.0 1.17 Dec 13, 2021 Including 120.0 170.5 50.5 2.08 DDRCCC-22-022 320 -45 364.6 46.0 319.0 273.0 0.52 Apr 26, 2022 Including 253.0 315.0 62.0 1.21 DDRCCC-22-023 320 -61.5 285.0 4.2 210.0 205.8 1.01 May 17, 2022 Including 46.0 137.0 91.0 1.61 DDRCCC-22-024 277 -47 204.0 4.5 112.0 107.5 1.44 May 18, 2022 Including 16.0 82.0 66.0 2.11 DDRCCC-22-025 320 -46 389.2 19.0 368.0 349.0 0.71 June 13, 2022 Including 25.0 246.0 221.0 1.01 DDRCCC-22-026 140 -45 374.0 152.0 194.0 42.0 0.43 Sept 7, 2022 DDRCCC-22-027 320 -55 209.0 6.0 18.0 12.0 0.83 and 131.0 145.0 14.0 1.49 DDRCCC-22-028 320 -50 254.0 6.0 28.0 22.0 0.69 Sept 7, 2022 and 185.6 198.0 12.4 0.76 DDRCCC-22-029 320 -50 308.0 27.0 143.0 116.0 0.65 Sept 7, 2022 Including 124.0 143.0 19.0 1.22 DDRCCC-22-030 320 -50 398.0 1.4 148.0 146.6 0.90 Sept 7, 2022 Including 2.8 36.6 33.8 1.42 DDRCCC-22-031 320 -50 359.0 147.0 216.0 69.0 0.51 Sept 7, 2022 Including 147.0 157.0 10.0 1.18 DDRCCC-22-032 320 -54 386.0 255.0 265.0 10.0 0.42 Nov 18, 2022 and 352.0 362.4 10.4 10.4 0.47 DDRCCC-22-033 320 -50 344.0 104.6 114.7 10.1 1.56 Nov 18, 2022 and 292.0 311.0 19.0 1.03 DDRCCC-22-035 320 -50 244.0 156.0 164.4 8.4 0.95 Nov 18, 2022 DDRCCC-22-036 34.9 167.0 132.1 0.51 Nov 18, 2022 DDRCCC-22-037 125 -50 305.0 186.0 223.5 37.5 0.68 Nov 30, 2022 DDRCCC-22-038 315 -50 545.0 73.0 474.5 401.5 0.63 Nov 30,2022 Including 176.0 356.0 180.0 1.04 DDRCCC-22-039 320 -54 480.0 336.0 348.0 12.0 0.52 This release and 357.0 367.0 10.0 0.60 DDRCCC-22-040 320 -55 209.0 8.0 209.0 201.0 1.26 This release including 8.0 90.0 82.0 2.04 *Intervals are drilled core length, as insufficient drilling has been completed at this time to determine true widths Drillhole DDRCCC-22-039 collared into metasedimentary country rock to the northeast of the main Saddle intrusive host rock at the Blackjack zone at an azimuth of 320 degrees. The hole intersected a thick sequence of metasediments interspersed with intrusive dikes and sills to a depth of 279 metres before crossing into the main Saddle intrusive. Sporadic gold mineralization associated with sheeted-style quartz veining was encountered throughout the hole to a depth of 480 metres with the best zones developed within the intrusive host rocks. Drillhole DDRCCC-22-040 was drilled on section between holes DDRCCC-22-036 to the northwest and DDRCCC-21-021 to the southeast at an azimuth of 320 degrees. The hole collared and remained in the main multiphase-intrusive host rock at the Blackjack zone for its entire length to a depth of 209 metres. The hole encountered significant sheeted-style quartz veining associated with gold mineralization. Higher grade zones were observed occurring in or adjacent to structural zones defined by late and post mineral intrusive phases, and areas with abundant metasedimentary rock inclusions. 2022 drilling was designed to further expand the Blackjack Zone and provide Sitka geologists with a solid database of drilling data to understand controls on mineralization observed in both intrusive and metasedimentary host rocks while also potentially providing the necessary spatial density to generate an initial resource estimate. Assay results from drilling along with structural information obtained from oriented drilling, data from detailed core logging, reprocessed Lidar data and interpretation of an airborne magnetic geophysical survey will form the basis for planning of the 2023 drilling program. Table 3 2022 Drill Hole Location, Azimuth and Dip Drillhole ID Total Depth (m) UTM Z8 Easting UTM Z8 Northing Elevation (masl) Azimuth (O) Dip (O) DDRCCC-22-022 364.6 396871 7085308 1490 320 -45 DDRCCC-22-023 285 396815 7085385 1530 320 -61.5 DDRCCC-22-024 204 396815 7085385 1530 277 -47 DDRCCC-22-025 389.2 396901 7085365 1525 320 -46 DDRCCC-22-026 374 396877 7085305 1495 140 -45 DDRCCC-22-027 209 396594 7085472 1605 320 -55 DDRCCC-22-028 254 396668 7085405 1552 320 -50 DDRCCC-22-029 308 396951 7085357 1544 320 -50 DDRCCC-22-030 398 396822 7085505 1624 320 -50 DDRCCC-22-031 359 396998 7085304 1548 320 -50 DDRCCC-22-032 386 397046 7085397 1591 320 -54 DDRCCC-22-033 344 396763 7085316 1485 320 -50 DDRCCC-22-034 174.15 396972 7085662 1727 322 -55 DDRCCC-22-035 244 397101 7085740 1768 180 -50 DDRCCC-22-036 410 396728 7085517 1618 320 -65 DDRCCC-22-037 305 396597 7085533 1645 125 -50 DDRCCC-22-038 545 396965 7085290 1530 315 -50 DDRCCC-22-039 480 396888 7085453 1583 320 -54 DDRCCC-22-040 209 396763 7085446 1568 320 -55 MQ-22-001 251 415518 7073417 1473 180 -45 The May-Qu target located approximately 22 km southeast of the Blackjack zone was tested with a single helicopter supported drill hole. The May-Qu target is a gold-in-soil geochemical anomaly within and adjacent to a Tombstone Suite intrusion. Drillhole MQ-22-001, drilled at an azimuth of 180 degrees with a -45 degree dip, was collared and remained in granite of the Bos Stock for the entire length of the hole to 251 metres depth. Narrow, sheeted-style quartz veining with accessory arsenopyrite, pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, molybdenite and scheelite were observed throughout the hole supporting the intrusion-related gold system model Sitka employed during exploration of the target. Several anomalous intersections of gold were encountered with the best result being a two metre interval of 0.74 g/t gold. Quality Assurance/Quality Control On receipt from the drill site, the HQ-sized drill core was systematically logged for geological attributes, photographed and sampled at Sitka's 2022 field camp. Sample lengths as small as 0.3 m were used to isolate features of interest, otherwise a default 2 m downhole sample length was used. Core was cut in half lengthwise along a predetermined line, with one-half (same half, consistently) collected for analysis and one-half stored as a record. Standard reference materials, blanks and duplicate samples were inserted by Sitka personnel at regular intervals into the sample stream. Bagged samples were placed in secure bins to ensure integrity during transport. They were delivered by Sitka personnel or a contract expeditor to ALS Laboratories' preparatory facility in Whitehorse, Yukon, with analyses completed in North Vancouver. ALS is accredited to ISO 17025:2005 UKAS ref. 4028 for its laboratory analysis. Samples were crushed by ALS to over 70 per cent passing below two millimetres and split using a riffle splitter. One-thousand-gram splits were pulverized to over 85 per cent passing below 75 microns. Gold determinations are by fire assay with an inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS) finish on 50 g subsamples of the prepared pulp (ALS code: Au-ICP-22). Any sample returning over 10 g/t Au was re-analyzed by fire assay with a gravimetric finish on a 50 g subsample (ALS code: Au-GRA21). In addition, a 51-element analysis was performed on a 0.5 g subsample of the prepared pulps by an aqua regia digestion followed by an inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS) finish (ALS code: ME-MS41). About the RC Gold Project The RC Gold Project consists of a 376 square kilometre contiguous district-scale land package located in the newly road accessible Clear Creek, Big Creek, and Sprague Creek districts in the heart of Yukon's Tombstone Gold Belt. It is the largest consolidated land package strategically positioned mid-way between Victoria Gold's Eagle Gold Mine - Yukon's newest gold mine which reached commercial production in the summer of 2020 - and Sabre Gold Mine's Brewery Creek Gold Mine. The RC Gold Project land package comprises five underlying properties, namely, the RC, Bee Bop, Mahtin, Clear Creek, and Barney Ridge properties*. The Company recently identified a large 500 m by 2000 m intrusion related gold system on the Property between the Blackjack, Saddle and Eiger zones and to date has drilled 38 diamond drill holes into this system for a total of approximately 13,000 metres. This has been the main focus of the Company's drill programs at RC Gold in 2020, 2021 and 2022 which have returned several significant gold intercepts. including the discovery hole in the Blackjack zone in the last drill hole from the 2021 drill program, DDRCCC-21-021 ("Hole 21"). Hole 21 intersected 220.1 m of 1.17 g/t gold from surface that included 50.5 m of 2.08 g/t gold. Hole 21 was the westernmost hole drilled in the Saddle-Eiger trend and was drilled under a greater than 500 ppb gold-in-soil anomaly that was previously identified on surface. This gold-in-soil anomaly is part of the larger 2 kilometre by 500 m gold-in-soil anomaly that stretches from the Saddle Zone to the Eiger Zone and is open in all directions. Drilling in 2021 in the Eiger Zone in the easternmost area of the gold-in-soil anomaly has produced numerous significant intersections as demonstrated by Hole 9 which intersected 354 m of 0.41 g/t Au including 72 m of 0.72 g/t Au (see news release dated August 19, 2021). Sitka Gold inherited a wealth of historical and current data from these properties from work spanning the last 40 years. Recent exploration work and the compilation of historical data have defined several mineralized zones with both bulk tonnage, intrusion-related gold deposit targets and high-grade, vein- and breccia-hosted gold targets. The RC Gold Project also has a common border with Victoria Gold's Clear Creek property at its western boundary and Florin Resources' Florin Gold property at its northern boundary. *For more detailed information on the underlying properties please visit our website at www.sitkagoldcorp.com. Deposit Model Exploration on the Property has mainly focused on identifying an intrusion-related gold system ("IRGS"). The property is part of the Tombstone Gold Belt which is the prominent host to IRGS deposits within the Tintina Gold Province in Yukon and Alaska. Notable deposits from the belt include: Fort Knox Mine in Alaska with current Proven and Probable Reserves of 230 million tonnes at 0.3 g/t Au (2.471 million ounces; Sims 2018)(1); Eagle Gold Mine with current Proven and Probable Reserves of 155 million tonnes at a diluted grade of 0.65 g/t Au at the Eagle and Olive deposits (3.261 million ounces; Goodwin et al. 2019)(2); the Brewery Creek deposit with current Indicated Mineral Resource of 22.2 million tonnes at a gold grade of 1.11 g/t (0.789 million ounces; Hulse et al. 2020)(3); the Florin Gold deposit, located adjacent to Sitka's RC Gold project, with a current Inferred Mineral Resource of 170.99 million tonnes grading 0.45 g/t (2.47 million ounces; Simpson 2021)(4) and the AurMac Project with an Inferred Mineral Resource of 207.0 million tonnes grading 0.60 gram per tonne gold (3.99 millon ounces; Jutras 2022)(5). (1) Sims J. Fort Knox Mine Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, USA National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report. June 11, 2018. https://s2.q4cdn.com/496390694/files/doc_downloads/2018/Fort-Knox-June-2018-Technical-Report.pdf (2) Goodwin R, Gray P, Jutras M, Tang S, Wilbur S. Technical Report for the Eagle Gold Mine, Yukon Territory, Canada. JDS Energy & Mining Inc. December 6, 2019. https://vitgoldcorp.com/site/assets/files/6480/jds-vit-eagle-gold-ni-43-101-fs-report-20191206.pdf (3) Hulse D, Emanuel C, Cook C. NI43-101 Technical Report on Mineral Resources. Gustavson Associates. May 31, 2020. https://www.goldenpredator.com/_resources/Brewery-Creek_NI-43-101-05OCT2020-File.pdf (4) Simpson R. Florin Gold Project NI43-101 Technical Report. Geosim Services Inc. April 21, 2021. https://sedar.com/GetFile.do?lang=EN&docClass=24&issuerNo=00005795&issuerType=03&projectNo=03236138&docId=4984158 (5) Banyan Gold News Release Dated May 17, 2022 (Technical Report to be filed within 45 days of news release) https://www.banyangold.com/news-releases/2022/banyan-announces-4-million-ounce-gold-mineral-resource-estimate-for-the-aurmac-property-yukon-canada/ Upcoming Events Sitka Gold will be attending and/or presenting at the following events: Roundup, Vancouver, BC : January 23 - 26, 2023 (Coreshack Booth #925, January 23rd and 24th) : (Coreshack Booth #925, and 24th) Vancouver Resource Investment Conference: January 29 - 30, 2023 (Booth #123) (Booth #123) CEM Whistler Capital Event, Whistler, BC : February 10 - 12, 2023 : PDAC, Toronto, Ontario : March 5 - 8, 2023 (Booth #2346) All events are subject to change. About Sitka Gold Corp. Sitka Gold Corp. is a well-funded mineral exploration company headquartered in Canada. The Company is managed by a team of experienced industry professionals and is focused on exploring for economically viable mineral deposits with its primary emphasis on gold, silver and copper mineral properties of merit. Sitka currently has an option to acquire a 100% interest in the RC, Barney Ridge, Clear Creek and OGI properties in the Yukon and the Burro Creek Gold property in Arizona. Sitka owns a 100% interest in its Alpha Gold property in Nevada, its Mahtin Gold property in the Yukon and its Coppermine River project in Nunavut. Sitka has now received all assay results from its 2022 diamond drill program at its RC Gold Project in the Yukon. Results from the final two drill holes at the Company's Alpha Gold Property in Nevada where a new Carlin-type gold system was recently discovered are expected shortly. The Company is focused on vectoring towards the high-grade core of this newly discovered system which is located along the projection of the Cortez Trend approximately 40 km southwest of the Cortez Mine Complex owned by Barrick and Newmont. The scientific and technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Cor Coe, P.Geo., Director and CEO of the Company, and a Qualified Person (QP) as defined by National Instrument 43-101. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF SITKA GOLD CORP. "Donald Penner" President and Director Cautionary and Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. These statements relate to future events or future performance. All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forward-looking statements or information. Forward-looking statements and information are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "appear", "seek", "anticipate", "plan", "continue", "estimate", "approximate", "expect", "may", "will", "project", "predict", "potential", "targeting", "intend", "could", "might", "should", "believe", "would" and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements and information are provided for the purpose of providing information about the current expectations and plans of management of the Company relating to the future. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such statements and information may not be appropriate for other purposes, such as making investment decisions. Since forward-looking statements and information address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. These include, but are not limited to, the expected timing and terms of the private placement, use of proceeds, anticipated work program, required approvals in connection with the work program and the ability to obtain such approvals. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, timelines and information contained in this news release. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. The forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and no undertaking is given to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws or the CSE. The forward-looking statements or information contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein. SOURCE Sitka Gold Corp. ST. HELENA, Calif., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Adventist Health St. Helena/St. Helena Hospital Foundation announced today two January seminars offered to the public to learn more about the latest breakthroughs in the treatment for atrial fibrillation (A-fib) and to meet the cardiology experts who have made St. Helena Hospital the highest volume center in the nation for the revolutionary Hybrid Maze procedure. https://www.adventistheart.org/arrhythmia/surgical-treatment/ Enjoy a complimentary reception to learn more information about innovative heart health. Currently, two programs are scheduled in January: January 17 , from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Tre Posti Restaurant in St. Helena reception/appetizers , from at Tre Posti Restaurant in reception/appetizers January 25 , from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Sheraton Sonoma Wine Country Petaluma reception/appetizers "We are excited to start the New Year with a focus on heart health and to showcase our expertise in the Hybrid Maze procedure for A-fib patients to improve their lives. These very popular seminars supported by the St. Helena Hospital Foundation will fill quickly, so please sign up to learn more," said St. Helena Hospital Foundation President and CEO Glen Newhart in making the announcement. To RSVP for the St. Helena A-fib Seminar please visit: https://info.adventisthealth.org/ncn/st-helena/atrial-fibrillation/seminar To RSVP for the Petaluma A-fib Seminar please visit: https://info.adventisthealth.org/ncn/petaluma/atrial-fibrillation/seminar DOCTORS PRESENTING INCLUDE: Gan H. Dunnington, MD Cardiothoracic Surgery Dr. Gan Dunnington is a board-certified cardiothoracic surgeon specializing in minimally invasive complex cardiac procedures such as the hybrid maze for treatment of atrial fibrillation. Dr. Dunnington trains other surgeons on this breakthrough technique for treating A-fib and has made Adventist Health St. Helena Hospital the highest-volume center for the procedure in the nation. Susan Judith Eisenberg, MD Cardiac Electrophysiology Dr. Susan Eisenberg is a board-certified cardiac electrophysiologist specializing in innovative ablative procedures for arrhythmias. Dr. Eisenberg has nearly three decades of experience treating atrial fibrillation and is recognized for her individualized approach. She proudly offers the most advanced treatments for atrial fibrillation, including options like cryoablation. ABOUT ST. HELENA HOSPITAL FOUNDATION St. Helena Hospital Foundation provides philanthropic support and enhances community connection for Adventist Health St. Helena and its vision to transform the health of our communities. Established in 2004 as a 501(c)(3) organization, St. Helena Hospital Foundation partners with supporters to fund technology, equipment and programs that improve and save people's lives. Its dedication to ensuring the most vulnerable populations in Napa County are healthy led to them winning the 2021 Nonprofit of the Year. With a rich legacy of giving since the hospital's inception in 1878, donations have allowed for Adventist Health St. Helena to remain at its best, providing top-quality care in the region. For more information, visit www.shhfoundation.org. ABOUT ADVENTIST HEALTH ST. HELENA Adventist Health St. Helena is part of Adventist Health a faith-inspired, nonprofit integrated health system serving more than 80 eighty communities on the West Coast and Hawaii with over 400 sites of care. We are located in the beautiful Napa Valley, a 151-bed acute-care hospital with key service areas including 24-hour emergency care, Adventist Heart and Vascular Institute, Coon Joint Replacement Institute, Martin O'Neil Cancer Center and Behavioral Health units. We are proud to serve a rural area with award winning care. We are committed to staying true to our heritage by providing patient-centered, quality care. Together, we are transforming the healthcare experience with an innovative whole-person focus on physical, mental, spiritual, and social healing to support community well-being. For more information, www.adventisthealthsthelena.org . Contact: Glen Newhart, President and CEO St. Helena Hospital Foundation 707-963-6208 [email protected] SOURCE St. Helena Hospital Foundation HOUSTON, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Talent Group, a leading national IT staffing company, announced today the acquisition of Queen Consulting Group, a nationally recognized IT staffing and consulting company specializing in healthcare and pharma IT, Epic EMR implementations, financial services, and niche technical recruiting. Queen Consulting Group was founded in 2015 by staffing industry veteran Carl Foster, who has more than 30 years of IT staffing and consulting experience. Foster joins Talent Group's senior leadership team, along with Queen Vice Presidents Jessica Doherty and Amy Migliore. Matthew Ripaldi, Chief Executive Officer of Talent Group, stated, "Queen Consulting Group delivers IT subject matter expertise, business intelligence and healthcare consulting support across all EHR platforms, including Epic and other niche electronic systems, that allow health organizations to provide outstanding customer experiences. The addition of Queen Consulting to the Talent Group family presents a significant opportunity for us to expand our IT human capital services and solutions to a wider range of clients." Foster, President of Queen Consulting Group, said, "Queen Consulting Group has a consistent track record of providing the right individuals to help leading healthcare providers navigate their complex technology challenges. Our team looks forward to joining the Talent Group family to support clients across all their systems and provide a much greater scope and scale of services." Doherty, VP, Consulting & Staffing Services, added, "This move gives our talented employees more opportunities within a larger organization, while our clients will benefit from a single-source suite of service offerings." Migliore, who oversees all of Recruiting & Delivery for Queen, stated, "With the additional ability to tap into further delivery resources from Talent Group, our recruiters will have support in sourcing to be able to concentrate on building relationships with candidates and helping to find them the right jobs more quickly." Michael Babb, Managing Partner of Osceola Capital, investors in Talent Group, said, "This follows the acquisition of EdgeLink last year and is the fourth acquisition since our initial investment in 2018. We continue to partner with, and are actively seeking, additional high-quality complementary firms to further expand our platform, while giving them the ability to scale rapidly and better support their client base." About Queen Consulting Group Over the last two decades, Queen Consulting Group has grown to become a leading technology staffing and recruiting partner widely recognized within healthcare IT for its leadership team, strong industry brand, high quality standards, and subject matter expertise. Based in Boston with additional offices in the Northeast, the firm employs more than 200 IT professionals; its vast network of industry expert consultants are currently placed in more than 40 states and U.S. territories. Among the numerous industry awards earned by Queen Consulting Group are Staffing Industry Analysts Fastest Growing U.S Staffing Firms; top 20 ranking in Black Book's 2023 and 2021 Epic Implementation Consultants survey reports; and 2021, 2022 and 2023 Best Employment Agencies in Boston by Expertise.com. For more information, visit www.queencg.com. About Talent Group Talent Group specializes in contract staffing as well as direct hire, executive search, and managed solutions. The company identifies ideal talent from its pool of millions of qualified candidates. Talent Group's onshore delivery teams, combined with their Global Delivery Center in Hyderabad, India, provide a robust and streamlined recruiting service model that swiftly identifies highly qualified IT, engineering, and life sciences professionals. The firm offers the geographic scale, industry expertise, and full-service client delivery model of a large staffing firm on a focused and personal basis to a broad range of clients, from middle market organizations to Fortune 500 firms. For more information, visit www.talentgroups.com. Contacts: For Talent Group Chris Tofalli Chris Tofalli Public Relations, LLC 914-834-4334 For Queen Consulting Amy Carabase Marketing Director 860-402-4482 SOURCE Talent Group GURUGRAM, India, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Thailand Dental Services Market is at a growing stage and has highly fragmented market with MOS Dental as the market leader. Country has 200+ organized clinics and 5,000+ unorganized clinics. Thailand dental services market is in growth stage as there is moderate growth owing to rising independent dental clinic chains and dental tourism. The Kingdom of Thailand wants to stimulate its economy by becoming an international hub for medical and dental treatment. wants to stimulate its economy by becoming an international hub for medical and dental treatment. Cosmetic dentistry and implants are the growing field in the near future. This is because cosmetic dentistry is usually expensive but travelling to a dental hub like Thailand saves a lot of cost. saves a lot of cost. The government is also increasing insurance coverage for dental care services through their public health schemes which would further increase demand for dental services. Rising Dental Services Market: The rising age of the population is gearing them towards better oral health practices as well as increasing their demand for dental treatments. Dental services market is anticipated to witness significant growth over the forecast period due to the increasing accessibility, rising dental tourism and government initiatives. Rise in the number of Dentists: The number of dentists is expected to rise in the coming years owing to the new opportunities in the dental services market. The increase in the overall population and dental tourism are considered to be the factor for these developments. The total number of Dentists in Thailand was 17,738 in 2021 growing with expected CAGR of more than 9 % over the period 2021-2026F. By 2025, the Thai population per dentist is expected to be around 2,500 people. New Government Policies: The government provides dental coverage in its national insurance schemes for simple procedures and has introduced initiatives to expand access and awareness. The Thailand National Digital Healthcare Workforce Development Initiative (WDI) was officially launched to focus on the development of a three-year work plan to address the demand of patients for digital healthcare services in light of the Thailand 4.0 digitization journey. Analysts at Ken Research in their latest publication "Thailand Dental Services Market Outlook to 2026F- Driven By Rising Dental Awareness, Dental Tourism, Lower Dental Services Cost and Government's Strong Initiatives in Healthcare System" by Ken Research observed that Dental Services market is an emergent healthcare market in Thailand at a rebounding stage from the economic crisis after pandemic. The rising government policies and demand for cosmetic dentistry, dental consciousness among the population along with government initiatives is expected to contribute to the market growth over the forecast period. The market is expected to grow at a 7.1% CAGR during 2021-2026F owing to increasing accessibility, rising dental tourism and government initiatives. Key Segments Covered in the report:- Malaysia Dental Services Market By Type of Services Endodontics Orthodontics Prosthodontics Cosmetic Dentistry Periodontics Others By Institutions Hospitals Dental Clinics By Dental Clinics Organized Clinics Unorganized Clinics By Revenue International Revenue Domestic Revenue To learn more about this report Download a Free Sample Report By Cities Chonburi Bangkok Mueang Nonthaburi Udon Thani Other Cities Key Target Audience Dental Clinics Dental Equipment Manufacturers and Distributors Dentists Hospitals Market Research and Consulting Firms Healthcare Companies Pharmaceutical Companies Tourism Agencies Government Bodies & Regulating Authorities Time Period Captured in the Report:- Historical Period: 2018-2021 2018-2021 Forecast Period: 2021-2026F Visit this Link Request for custom report Companies Covered:- LDC Dental Clinic MOS Dental Clinic Delta Joy Smile Signature Thantakit Siamdent BFC Dental Sea Smile Beauty Smile Bangkok New Smile Thantakit International Zenitoni Smile Dental Group Pattaya Key Topics Covered in the Report:- Thailand Healthcare Overview Thailand Dental Services Market Overview Ecosystem, Business Cycle and Genesis of Thailand Dental Services Market Thailand Dental Services Market Size by Revenue, 2018-2021 Thailand Dental Services Market Segmentation (By Type of Services, By End Users, By Dental Clinics, By Revenue Division, By Cities), 2021 End User Analysis of Thailand Dental Services Market Industry Analysis of Thailand Dental Services Market Key Growth Drivers in Dental Service Market in Thailand Trends Driving Adoption of Digital Innovation Major Challenges and Bottlenecks in Thailand Dental Services Market Dental Services Market Regulatory Framework in Thailand Dental Services Market Dental Services Market Competition Framework for Thailand Dental Services Market Market Share of Major Dental Services Providers in Thailand Dental Services Market Dental Services Market Cost Sheet of Major treatments and Price List of major Players Impact of Covid-19 on Thailand Dental Care Market Future Outlook and Projections of the Industry, 2026F Market Opportunities and Analyst Recommendations For more insights on the market intelligence, refer to the link below:- Thailand Dental Services Market Related Reports By Ken Research:- UAE Dental Services Market Outlook to 2027F- Rising Awareness for Overall Aesthetics and Adoption of New Technology by Dentists is Driving the Dental Services Market The UAE Dental Services Market witnessed significant growth during the period 2022-2027F owing to a rise in general awareness about dentistry and rising general dental check-ups. The rising Dental consciousness among the Emiratis along with the increased spending on oral health is expected to contribute to the market growth over the forecast period. The dental services market is anticipated to witness significant growth due to the improvements in already existing services along with the introduction of new improved technologies and supportive government policies. KSA Dental Services Market Outlook to 2027F- Driven by Rising Oral Health Awareness, Demand for Aesthetics among Saudi Arabians and Government Initiatives According to Ken Research estimates, the KSA Dental Services Market grew from ~$1.7 Bn in 2018 and ~$ 2 Bn in 2022P owing to the rise in oral health awareness, inclination towards a healthier lifestyle and rising demand for aesthetics and is forecasted to grow further ~$ 3 Bn by 2027F due to improvements in the Saudi healthcare sector by KSA government. Philippines Dental Services Market Outlook to 2026F- Driven By Rising Oral Health Awareness, Growing Economy and Dental Tourism in the Philippines According to Ken Research estimates, the Philippines Dental Services Market which grew from approximately $ ~1200 Mn in 2018 to approximately $ ~1300 Mn in 2021 is forecasted to grow further into a $ ~1750 Mn opportunity by 2026F, owing to the growth in the urban population, inclination towards a healthier lifestyle, rise in general awareness related to oral health care, and a growing economy. India Dental Services Market Outlook to FY'2027F Driven By Rising Dental Awareness, Dental Tourism, Lower Dental Services Cost and Government's Strong Initiatives in Healthcare System India has well-equipped hospitals and dental clinics offering high quality services. India Dental Services market is currently at the growth stage owing to rising personal attention, demand for cost efficiency and technological advancements. India Dental Service Market is a highly fragmented market with Clove Dental as the market leader in the market owing to their highest number of dental clinics and number of dentists and employees per clinic across India. Other players in the market includes Partha Dental Skin & Hair, Orthosquare Dental Clinic, Sabka Dentist, Apollo White Dental. The market is expected to grow at a robust CAGR of 9.6% over the period 2022-2027F owing to Government initiatives as well as the increase in private practices and specialty chains across the country. The affordable cost and high quality of treatments will increase the market share of international tourists in the forecasted period. Follow Us LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube Contact Us:- Ken Research Private Limited Ankur Gupta, Director Strategy and Growth [email protected] +91-9015378249 Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1954972/Ken_Research_Logo.jpg SOURCE Ken Research ALEXANDRIA, Va., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Tidal Basin, a leading comprehensive emergency management and consulting firm, launched its new brand, including a redesigned logo and website. "We are at a pivotal moment in Tidal Basin's growth. The company has expanded its reach to new markets, services, programs, and dramatically increased the number of employees in recent years," said Daniel A. Craig, Chief Executive Officer of Tidal Basin. "With all that change, we needed to develop a brand identity that reflects Tidal Basin and its comprehensive suite of services and capabilities across numerous industries, including emergency and disaster management, management consulting, program management, technology, enterprise solutions, infrastructure, and construction management." Our new brand is bold and modern, strong and purposeful, and the value we provide our clients remains stronger than ever Tweet this Global resilience, one community at a time, is what Tidal Basin is about. It's North Star. Tidal Basin helps communities build back stronger with enhanced resilience. The new logo reflects a global, holistic approach to emergency management and encompasses the main pillars of focus: preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation. The four sweeping arcs display their forward movement, with a subtle nod to the brand equity of the "waves" from our previous logo. Paired with a strong, modern typeface, the mark forms a strong, solid, and formidable presence. "Our new brand identity is bold and modern, strong and purposeful, and the value and insights we provide our clients remain stronger than ever," said Heather K. Stickler, Vice President of Marketing & Communications. "The new logo, website, and templates also showcase the brand's visual cohesiveness throughout our company and our new tagline "Be Stronger Than Before" ties to our proposition that anyone who interacts with Tidal Basin will be in a stronger, more resilient position than they were before." In addition to the logo, Tidal Basin redesigned its website. The new website offers clients and industry partners helpful, media-rich educational, interactive content and easy-to-find resources. The new design elements, such as the logo, color palette, and iconography, visually tie the company together in a more cohesive and bolder way. The user interface is intuitive, the design is modern, and the website is easy to use across all devices. To learn more about our new brand, please visit TidalBasinGroup.com/new-brand-announcement About Tidal Basin Tidal Basin, a leading comprehensive emergency management and consulting firm, provides programmatic and technical management expertise and resources to governments, organizations, businesses, and communities. Its integrated disaster management solutions help clients and partners achieve their disaster preparedness and recovery goals more effectively. The company's vision focuses on looking beyond the obvious and creating new opportunities to transform and empower communities, making them stronger. To learn more, visit TidalBasinGroup.com. Tidal Basin. Be Stronger Than Before. SOURCE Tidal Basin COLCHESTER, Vt., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Vertek Corporation , an industry-leading telecom operations and managed security services provider, announced today that Jorge Reis has succeeded Brad Soutiere as President as part of a long-planned succession search and that Ron Hruby has been promoted to COO. Reis will be taking on the President role after serving as the Company's Chief Strategy Officer since March of last year. Prior to joining Vertek, Reis had spent 19 years with Telstra, a $28B communications carrier headquartered in Australia, the last 5 of which were as COO of Telstra Americas. In that role, Reis was instrumental in increasing operational agility, seeking out new revenue opportunities, and increasing profitability. Reis also ran his own consulting company for 3 years where he worked closely with Vertek on special projects as well as other US and Asia-based ICT companies. Brad Soutiere, Vertek's outgoing President and COO stated, "It's been an absolute honor and privilege to serve as President and COO for Vertek for the past 18 years. I've truly enjoyed every moment and look forward to continued contributions to Vertek's growth ambitions." Soutiere will remain at Vertek as Chief Revenue Officer providing advisory and sales leadership to support the company's growth strategy. Jim McCormick, Vertek's Founder and Chairman, noted that "Three years ago, Brad requested that we start working on a succession plan for him. It's a demanding job and he wanted to ensure that we had the right person in place to succeed him. In fact, it was Brad who recommended that we recruit Jorge Reis for that position. Jorge was a long-time client of Vertek while at Telstra and had intimate knowledge of Vertek's business, team, and service offerings. Jorge is such a fantastic fit for Vertek and I'm really excited about what he can do for us. I can't thank Brad enough for what he has done and will continue to do for Vertek in his new role." Reis commented, "I'm honored to lead Vertek into our next phase. We have a great team and have been able to deliver value to our customers. In this next chapter, we will transform Vertek into a scalable business by unlocking new growth opportunities, innovating our business and continuing to deliver a world-class experience." Ron Hruby begins his new role after previously serving as the Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President of Cybersecurity. "I'm excited to work more broadly across Vertek operations and lead our combined delivery, assurance and platform development teams," said Hruby. "My belief in Vertek's mission to create positive outcomes for our customers has always been strong and I look forward to continuing to build toward that mission alongside a strong executive team in this new role." Reis added, "Ron has been a key part of the company's leadership team for over 20 years and has extensive knowledge of cybersecurity programs, partnerships, technical project management and telecom operations. His attention to detail, operational savviness and creativity make him a perfect fit as Vertek's new Chief Operating Officer. I look forward to working closely with both Ron and Brad as we continue to evolve our product and service offerings to better meet our customers' needs." About Vertek Vertek provides innovative managed services that optimize operations and security for MSPs, MSSPs, Enterprises, Telecom Carriers, and Channel Partners. As a trusted partner for more than 30 years, Vertek's robust portfolio includes turn-key services that accelerate speed-to-market, reduce risk, and enhance the customer experience. Vertek's team of experts has extensive experience delivering industry-leading solutions across Telecom Operations, Managed Security, SD-WAN and Cloud Provider services. For more information about Vertek, please visit www.vertek.com . SOURCE Vertek NEEDHAM, Mass., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- SharkNinja today announces the appointment of Victoria Azarian to SVP Global Creative, reporting directly to Chief Marketing Officer, Bill Davaris. "Victoria's vast brand experience and immense knowledge of storytelling will help us all achieve a new level of quality in our creative work," said Bill Davaris. "Victoria is a powerhouse creative innovator and I'm excited to see how she brings the team together to identify new ways to win in the market and foster the development of our in-house talent." Victoria has spent over 20 years in the Advertising industry, with Executive Creative Director experience from Wunderman, Ogilvy, and CCO experience from MKTG (Dentsu). She has been named one of Adweek's Creative 100 and has worked on notable brands including: IBM, IKEA, Kimberly-Clark, Poland Spring, LPGA, Citizens Bank and Unilever. A native New Yorker, Victoria will have a satellite office at SharkNinja's headquarters in Needham, Massachusetts. "I'm passionate about connecting brands to cultural moments that make an impact on society, and that is exactly what SharkNinja has been doing with their five-star products in every home, around the world," said Victoria. "I'm excited to join and be part of an organization dedicated to the craft of innovation and look forward to leading the SharkNinja creative teams to bring our products to life." About SharkNinja SharkNinja is an innovation leader in the housewares industry and creator of the familiar household brands Shark and Ninja. SharkNinja provides the latest in easy-to-use innovative technology with a growing line of solutions that consist of Shark cleaning and home care products and Ninja kitchen appliances. Products are sold at major retailers and through distributors around the world. Ninja and Shark are registered trademarks of SharkNinja Operating LLC. SharkNinja is a subsidiary of JS Global Lifestyle Company Limited (Hong Kong: 1691) a leader in small household appliance innovation. SOURCE SharkNinja HOHHOT, China, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Nowadays, health awareness is growing across the world. As a crucial indicator of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all is also an essential goal for dairy producers. On January 3, Yili launched a new platform themed "Online Tour: Networking Yili's Global Value Chain" to invite global audiences to explore Yili's cross-continent industrial chain online, and witness Yili's pursuit of "100% dedicated, 100% safety, 100% healthy" products. The official online tour platform will be available on Yili's global website. Yili Group Offers Online Tours of Its Industrial Chain Across the Globe Yili Group Offers Online Tours of Its Industrial Chain Across the Globe On New Year's Eve 2022, Yili also rolled out a 15-hour live stream on social media to showcase memorable celebrations and countdown moments in ten regions around the world. Through the online tour platform, Yili will present its high-quality pastures, production bases, and innovation centers around the world to global customers for the first time via live streaming, short videos, and virtual reality scenes. Adhering to its corporate belief that "Yili means the best quality", Yili is committed to being open and transparent to the public at all times and in all places. In fact, Yili opened its facilities to the public as early as 2005, and these facilities have since become well-known industrial tourism sites for consumers interested in Yili's dairy production and quality management processes. Building a global health ecosystem Yili aspires to strengthen its global health ecosystem by investing in global resources, innovation, and market systems. It has established 15 R&D centers and 75 production bases across the world. It also collaborates with over 2,000 worldwide partners in 39 countries across six continents. Yili has created a cross-Pacific "dairy bridge" involving Oceania Dairy, Westland Milk Products, and partner dairy farms in New Zealand. Yili Satine New Zealand Whole Milk, Westgold Butter, Jinlingguan RuiHu Infant Milk Powder, and other products are produced using the finest milk in the world. Yili has also set up production bases in Indonesia and Thailand and modern dairy industry clusters in China. The Yili Modern Intelligent Health Valley in Inner Mongolia, designed to be the world's "Dairy Silicon Valley", serves consumers with the world's premium dairy resources. As part of its global innovation system, Yili has established 15 R&D centers in nations and regions such as China, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Japan, and Indonesia. The company continues to pool worldwide expertise to bring breakthrough ideas to life by interconnecting industry, academia, research, and application. Such efforts have allowed the company to tackle key challenges for the dairy industry, including lactose intolerance among Asian consumers. In terms of its global market system, Yili's liquid milk, cheese, butter, ice cream and milk powder products have already entered over 60 markets. Products such as AMBROSIAL yogurt, Youngfun, Kabrita, Joyday and Cremo have also seen increasing market shares overseas, and have played important roles in supporting the development of local dairy industries. Yili has become a household brand in China and is Asia's top dairy producer after years of growth. It maintains an open and optimistic attitude toward emerging technologies and a changing environment. "Yili has demonstrated a global operating mindset, generating global resources to create its industrial chain architectures", said Sian Yates, Editorial Director of FoodBev Media, an international media for food and beverage. The "Online Tour" platform is an attempt to interact with global consumers despite physical distance, as well as an invitation to witness Yili's global development. Yili's dedication to producing more nutritious products for all people at all stages will enable Yili to become the most trusted provider of healthy food in the world. SOURCE Yili Group Agenda and registration now available for hybrid event on March 21 March 23, 2023 SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Business Architecture Guild, an international community of business architecture practitioners with members in over 100 countries, released the agenda for the 11th annual Business Architecture Innovation Summit to be held virtually and in-person in Reston, VA, USA, March 2123, 2023. The Business Architecture Innovation Summit is the premier event for business leaders seeking industry success stories and advancements. Co-sponsored by the Business Architecture Guild and Object Management Group, this three-day event features a wide variety of experiential and leading-edge topics, panel discussions, and networking opportunities for in-person and virtual attendees. Agenda and Registration Now Available for 11th Annual Business Architecture Innovation Summit on March 21-23, 2023 Tweet this Speakers from Allianz Global, Autodesk, Bayer, Bank of Egypt, CareSource, FedEx, HSBC, IKEA, PG&E, Salesforce, South African Reserve Bank, Southwest Airlines, TimkenSteel, and more will share their experiences and insights spanning a range of industries that include agribusiness, financial services, healthcare, high-tech, insurance, manufacturing, pharmaceutical, retail, and transportation. Topics will focus on enabling strategy execution, gaining executive buy-in, fast tracking a practice, leveraging reference models, and applying business architecture to risk management, change management, initiative alignment, data model articulation, scaled agile, and organizational alignment. Special panels will address industry reference model availability and adoption and business architecture tool vendor updates. William Ulrich, Guild President and Co-founder said, "This year's Summit agenda settles any doubt that business architecture has now reached every industry and corner of the globe. The practice, as defined by the Business Architecture Guild, has officially gone global and is being applied in an ever-widening set of strategy execution scenarios." Summit sessions will be recorded for those in alternative time zones. For those new to the discipline, a half-day Business Architecture Primer will be held the afternoon of March 20, 2023 and available free of charge to virtual and in-person Summit attendees. About the Business Architecture Guild The Business Architecture Guild is an international, not-for-profit, member-based association that provides valuable resources to business leaders, practitioners, and others interested in the field. The Business Architecture Guild is the source for A Guide to the Business Architecture Body of Knowledge (BIZBOK Guide) and exclusive provider of the Certified Business Architect certification program. SOURCE The Business Architecture Guild DUBLIN, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Memory Chip Market: Global Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2022-2027" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The global memory chip market reached a value of US$ 154.4 Billion in 2021. Looking forward, the publisher expects the market to reach a value of US$ 410.71 Billion by 2027, exhibiting a CAGR of 17.71% during 2021-2027. Keeping in mind the uncertainties of COVID-19, we are continuously tracking and evaluating the direct as well as the indirect influence of the pandemic on different end use industries. These insights are included in the report as a major market contributor. A memory chip is an integrated circuit composed of several capacitors and transistors that can store data or process code in computers and other electronic devices. It can store data temporarily through random access memory (RAM) or permanently through read-only memory (ROM). It provides large storage space despite its small size and offers several benefits, such as cost-effectiveness, reduced phone memory consumption, easy access to computers, and non-volatile memory. As a result, it finds extensive applications in automotive, electronics, information and technology (IT), and telecommunication industries. At present, the growing utilization of memory-based elements in technologically advanced products, such as smartphones, wearables devices, and electronic gadgets, represents one of the key factors driving the market. Moreover, there is a rise in the employment of semiconductor devices in automobile and electronics systems, such as flash read-only memory (ROM) and dynamic random-access memory (DRAM). This, along with the rapid digitalization and automation in the electronics industry, is propelling the growth of the market. In addition, the integration of the internet of things (IoT) in various industrial applications to execute efficient management and manufacturing operations is positively influencing the market. Besides this, there is an increase in the demand for semiconductor memory chips with high storage capabilities to resolve the data center complexities in different organizations. This, coupled with the rising reliance on smartphones among the masses, is offering lucrative growth opportunities to industry investors. Apart from this, key market players are extensively investing in research and development (R&D) activities to introduce memory chips that require less time and energy to transfer data and increase the speed of processors. Competitive Landscape: The competitive landscape of the industry has also been examined along with the profiles of the key players being ADATA Technology Co. Ltd. , Fujitsu Semiconductor Limited (Fujitsu Limited), Intel Corporation, Kingston Technology Corporation, Micron Technology Inc., NXP Semiconductors N.V., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., SK hynix Inc., Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited, Texas Instruments Incorporated, Toshiba Corporation, Transcend Information Inc. and Western Digital Corporation. Key Questions Answered in This Report: How has the global memory chip market performed so far and how will it perform in the coming years? What has been the impact of COVID-19 on the global memory chip market? What are the key regional markets? What is the breakup of the market based on the type? What is the breakup of the market based on the application? What is the breakup of the market based on the sales channel? What are the various stages in the value chain of the industry? What are the key driving factors and challenges in the industry? What is the structure of the global memory chip market and who are the key players? What is the degree of competition in the industry? Key Topics Covered: 1 Preface 2 Scope and Methodology 3 Executive Summary 4 Introduction 4.1 Overview 4.2 Key Industry Trends 5 Global Memory Chip Market 5.1 Market Overview 5.2 Market Performance 5.3 Impact of COVID-19 5.4 Market Forecast 6 Market Breakup by Type 6.1 Volatile 6.1.1 Market Trends 6.1.2 Key Segments 6.1.2.1 DRAM 6.1.2.2 SRAM 6.1.3 Market Forecast 6.2 Non-volatile 6.2.1 Market Trends 6.2.2 Key Segments 6.2.2.1 PROM 6.2.2.2 EEPROM 6.2.2.3 NAND Flash 6.2.2.4 Others 6.2.3 Market Forecast 7 Market Breakup by Application 7.1 Laptop/PC 7.1.1 Market Trends 7.1.2 Market Forecast 7.2 Camera 7.2.1 Market Trends 7.2.2 Market Forecast 7.3 Smartphone 7.3.1 Market Trends 7.3.2 Market Forecast 7.4 Others 7.4.1 Market Trends 7.4.2 Market Forecast 8 Market Breakup by Sales Channel 8.1 OEM 8.1.1 Market Trends 8.1.2 Market Forecast 8.2 Aftermarket 8.2.1 Market Trends 8.2.2 Market Forecast 9 Market Breakup by Region 10 SWOT Analysis 11 Value Chain Analysis 12 Porters Five Forces Analysis 13 Price Analysis 14 Competitive Landscape 14.1 Market Structure 14.2 Key Players 14.3 Profiles of Key Players 14.3.1 ADATA Technology Co. Ltd. 14.3.1.1 Company Overview 14.3.1.2 Product Portfolio 14.3.1.3 Financials 14.3.2 Fujitsu Semiconductor Limited (Fujitsu Limited) 14.3.2.1 Company Overview 14.3.2.2 Product Portfolio 14.3.3 Intel Corporation 14.3.3.1 Company Overview 14.3.3.2 Product Portfolio 14.3.3.3 Financials 14.3.3.4 SWOT Analysis 14.3.4 Kingston Technology Corporation 14.3.4.1 Company Overview 14.3.4.2 Product Portfolio 14.3.5 Micron Technology Inc. 14.3.5.1 Company Overview 14.3.5.2 Product Portfolio 14.3.5.3 Financials 14.3.5.4 SWOT Analysis 14.3.6 NXP Semiconductors N.V. 14.3.6.1 Company Overview 14.3.6.2 Product Portfolio 14.3.6.3 Financials 14.3.7 Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. 14.3.7.1 Company Overview 14.3.7.2 Product Portfolio 14.3.7.3 Financials 14.3.8 SK hynix Inc. 14.3.8.1 Company Overview 14.3.8.2 Product Portfolio 14.3.8.3 Financials 14.3.8.4 SWOT Analysis 14.3.9 Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited 14.3.9.1 Company Overview 14.3.9.2 Product Portfolio 14.3.9.3 Financials 14.3.9.4 SWOT Analysis 14.3.10 Texas Instruments Incorporated 14.3.10.1 Company Overview 14.3.10.2 Product Portfolio 14.3.10.3 Financials 14.3.10.4 SWOT Analysis 14.3.11 Toshiba Corporation 14.3.11.1 Company Overview 14.3.11.2 Product Portfolio 14.3.11.3 Financials 14.3.11.4 SWOT Analysis 14.3.12 Transcend Information Inc. 14.3.12.1 Company Overview 14.3.12.2 Product Portfolio 14.3.12.3 Financials 14.3.13 Western Digital Corporation 14.3.13.1 Company Overview 14.3.13.2 Product Portfolio 14.3.13.3 Financials 14.3.13.4 SWOT Analysis For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/esjsbt Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/539438/Research_and_Markets_Logo.jpg SOURCE Research and Markets 'United on Climate Action Towards COP28' will be theme of ADSW 2023, taking place next week in UAE capital and hosted by Masdar ABU DHABI, UAE, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The clock is ticking... on the countdown to a sustainable future. Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, the global platform for accelerating sustainable development hosted by Masdar, has responded to the need for immediate climate action with the launch of a campaign dedicated to uniting global leaders on the journey to net zero. Masdar Logo The '#UnitedonClimateAction' campaign kicks off with an impactful video, featuring calls to climate action from international leaders like His Majesty King Charles III, King of the United Kingdom, HE Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, Special Envoy for Climate Change and Chairman of Masdar, and John Kerry, United States Special Presidential Envoy for Climate. The UAE will be hosting the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2023 (COP28) from November 30-December 12 this year. ADSW 2023, taking place from January 14 to 19, will convene heads of state, policymakers, industry leaders, investors, youth, and entrepreneurs, for impactful dialogues on the transition to a net-zero future. The Week will feature high-level sessions focused on the key priorities for sustainable development, and will drive discussion and debate around climate action in the run-up to COP28. For more information on ADSW, please visit https://abudhabisustainabilityweek.com/ADSW For more information please visit: http://www.masdar.ae and connect: facebook.com/masdar.ae and twitter.com/masdar About Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) is a global initiative established in 2008 by the UAE and its clean energy powerhouse Masdar. For over 15 years, ADSW has brought together heads of state, policymakers, industry leaders, investors, entrepreneurs, and youth, to discuss, engage, and debate climate action and innovation that will ensure a sustainable world. By enabling impactful dialogue and providing a platform to translate pledges into practical outcomes for a net-zero future, ADSW 2023 aims to play a crucial role in driving momentum between COP27 and COP28. About Masdar Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) is the UAE's clean energy champion and one of the largest companies of its kind in the world, advancing the development and deployment of renewable energy and green hydrogen technologies to address global sustainability challenges. Established in 2006, Masdar is today active in over 40 countries, helping them to achieve their clean energy objectives and advance sustainable development. Masdar is jointly owned by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), Mubadala Investment Company (Mubadala), and Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA), and under this ownership the company is targeting a renewable energy portfolio capacity of at least 100 gigawatts (GW) by 2030 and an annual green hydrogen production capacity of up to 1 million tonnes by the same year. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1973444/ADSW_ENG_Logo.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1973446/Masdar_Logo.jpg SOURCE Masdar WALNUT CREEK, Calif., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- TYS, LLP, an accounting firm with offices in California and New York, has announced several leadership changes. Glen A. Thomas, CPA, and Lori Lefkowitz have retired; Doris A. Rankins, CPA, has been promoted to Partner. Doris joined the firm in 2018, bringing over 20 years of public accounting experience to the team, including multi-state taxation and taxation of C corporations, S corporations, and Partnerships of all sizes with a specialization in closely-held businesses. Doris also has extensive experience in rental real estate and the application of tangible property regulations. As a new partner at TYS, Doris' experience and skillset are valued additions to the leadership team. "We're committed to 'thinking forward', something we believe benefits all of our clients, and for that, we rely on the vast experience of our leadership team," says Chief Operating Officer Melissa D. Wallace, CPA. The move is an exciting one for the firm, as TYS continues to expand its portfolio in real estate and corporate taxation. "As Doris moves into her new partner role, we know that she will continue to provide exceptional service to our clients, and she will be an even greater asset to TYS," Melissa continued. Lori Lefkowitz has been a Partner with TYS since 2020, guiding individuals and their businesses through the maze of tax, business compliance, and decision-making. Within her work with TYS, Lori has been instrumental in bettering the firm's understanding with her work with same-sex couples to navigate the tax implications of marriage or domestic partnerships. TYS wishes Lori all the best as she starts her next chapter. Her energy and care for the firm and its clients will be greatly missed. Glen A. Thomas, CPA, Co-Founder and Of Counsel for TYS, has helped guide businesses through acquisitions, successions, and other transitions. Glen's career began in 1983, when he founded Thomas York, LLP, with Chris York in 2007. The addition of Tim Shortsleeve in 2010 formed the present company: TYS. Glen has been a driving force in the Accounting community as a member of the CalCPA Society Accounting Education Committee and a member of the Business Advisory Board at the School of Business at California State University, Chico. "Glen's extensive knowledge, unparalleled client service, and drive to make TYS an industry leader have had a major impact on our firm from day one," Melissa said. TYS wishes Glen all the happiness and best wishes in his retirement. TYS, LLP is a full-service CPA firm providing financial statements, accounting, auditing, tax, bookkeeping, and consulting services with a competitive advantage of over 60 years of construction market experience. For more information, visit www.tysllp.com . PRESS CONTACT: Maureen Ballatori p. (315) 332-1717 [email protected] SOURCE TYS, LLP Rise in demand for carbon fiber and S-glass fiber composites in the aerospace & defense industry, a surge in the need for carbon fiber composites in end-use industries, and industrialization in emerging markets drive the global advanced composites market growth. PORTLAND, Ore., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "Advanced Composites Market by Product Type (Aramid fiber, Carbon fiber, Glass fiber), by Resin Type (Thermoset, Thermoplastic), by End-Use Industry (Aerospace and Defense, Automotive, Electrical and Electronic, Wind energy, Oil and Gas, Sporting goods, Marine, Medical, Others): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2031." According to the report, the global advanced composites industry generated $34.0 billion in 2021, and is estimated to reach $88.7 billion by 2031, witnessing a CAGR of 10.2% from 2022 to 2031. The report offers a detailed analysis of changing market trends, top segments, key investment pockets, value chain, regional landscape, and competitive scenario. Request PDF Brochure: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/11922 Drivers, Restraints, and Opportunities Rise in demand for carbon fiber and S-glass fiber composites in the aerospace & defense industry, a surge in the need for carbon fiber composites in end-use industries, such as civil engineering, medical, and pipes & tanks, industrialization in emerging markets such as China, India, and Japan, and the rising demand for environmentally safe specialty products in the construction sector drive the growth of the global advanced composites market. However, high cost of advanced composites and the availability of its substitute hamper the global market growth. On the other hand, new technological advancements in the wind energy sector as well as other industries and rise in auto sales present new growth opportunities for the global market in the coming years. Covid-19 Scenario Two of the largest markets for advanced composites including commercial aviation and thermoplastic have been hit severely, with production levels in 2020 shrinking to levels not seen before. The industry has changed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, where the impact is different in the various market segments. Currently, the biggest impact is recorded in the aerospace industry, where Boeing and Airbus suffered to the extreme from governmental restrictions and the reduced frequency of travels by consumers. The carbon fiber segment to rule the roost during the forecast period Based on product type, the carbon fiber segment was the largest market in 2021, contributing to three-fifths of the global advanced composites market, and is expected to maintain its leadership status during the forecast period. The same segment is projected to witness the fastest CAGR of 10.3% from 2022 to 2031. Carbon fiber composites offer many properties such as high corrosion resistance, low thermal expansion, and exceptional durability and are majorly utilized in the production of aerospace parts. Enquire for Customization with Detailed Analysis of COVID-19 Impact in Report @ https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-for-customization/11922 The thermoplastic segment to maintain its dominance during the forecast period Based on resin type, the thermoplastic segment held the largest market share of nearly three-fifths of the global advanced composites market in 2021 and is expected to maintain its dominance during the forecast period. The same segment is projected to witness the largest CAGR of 10.3% from 2022 to 2031. Thermoplastic resins are frequently utilized in a variety of end-use applications due to their wide range of characteristics, including strong heat resistance, dimensional stability, electrical insulating capacity, and more. The aerospace and defense segment to maintain a noteworthy growth during the forecast period Based on end use industry, the aerospace and defense segment held the largest market share of three-fifths of the global advanced composites market in 2021 and is expected to maintain its dominance during the forecast period. The same segment is projected to witness the largest CAGR of 10.5% from 2022 to 2031. This is due to the high adoption of advanced composites in various parts and components of the new generation military aircrafts. Asia-Pacific to maintain its dominance by 2031 Based on region, Asia-Pacific was the largest market in 2021, capturing nearly two-fifths of the global advanced composites market, and is expected to lead in terms of revenue in 2031. This is due to the rise in aerospace and automotive markets in countries such as China, India, and Japan. However, the market in North America would manifest the fastest CAGR of 10.3% during the forecast period. This is due to the high demand for advanced composites in end-use industries like aerospace, automotive and wind energy in the region. Furthermore, the automobile industry in North America expanded significantly during the past ten years and is predicted to continue growing steadily over the projection period. Leading Market Players Solvay Hexcel Corporation SGL Carbon Momentive ST Advanced Composites TEIJIN LIMITED Toray Industries, Inc. Huntsman International LLC DuPont Owens Corning The report analyzes these key players of the global advanced composites market. These players have adopted various strategies such as expansion, new product launches, partnerships, and others to increase their market penetration and strengthen their position in the industry. The report is helpful in determining the business performance, operating segments, product portfolio, and developments by every market player. Want to Access the Statistical Data and Graphs, Key Players' Strategies: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/advanced-composites-market/purchase-options Similar Reports: Medical Composite Market: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2030 Epoxy Composite Market: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast 2020-2027 Ceramic Matrix Composites Market: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2019-2026 Pressure Vessel Composite Materials Market: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2017-2023 Carbon Fiber Market: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2018-2025 Automotive Composite Market: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2031 Composite Materials Market - Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2031 About Us Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions." AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain. Pawan Kumar, the CEO of Allied Market Research, is leading the organization toward providing high-quality data and insights. We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry. Contact: David Correa 5933 NE Win Sivers Drive #205, Portland, OR 97220 United States USA/Canada (Toll Free): 1-800-792-5285, 1-503-894-6022 UK: +44-845-528-1300 Hong Kong: +852-301-84916 India (Pune): +91-20-66346060 Fax: +1(855)550-5975 [email protected] Web: www.alliedmarketresearch.com Allied Market Research Blog: https://blog.alliedmarketresearch.com Blog: https://www.newsguards.com/ Follow Us on | Facebook | LinkedIn | YouTube | Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/636519/Allied_Market_Research_Logo.jpg SOURCE Allied Market Research Matthew Willis will help solidify Advantage Club's presence as the Employee Engagement and Recognition Solutions Leader across North America GURGAON, India, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Advantage Club, a global employee engagement platform, has announced the appointment of Matthew E. Willis as Senior Vice President and General Manager in North America. This appointment is part of the company's overall expansion plan in the North American market. He will drive revenue growth and ensure the success and support of Advantage Club customers across diverse industries in North America. Matthew has over two decades of experience in technology, finance, retail & professional services. He has also served as a mentor and investor to various early-stage companies. In his current role, Matthew will bolster Advantage Club's efforts to build deep customer engagements and expand growth in North America. Before joining Advantage Club, he held various senior leadership positions at CareerBuilder, where he scaled the enterprise and mid-market divisions. Matthew also served as VP and GM of North America at Broadbean Technologies, where he successfully scaled the North American business to 5x MRR. Speaking on his appointment, Matthew Willis said, "Advantage Club is building significant momentum in the new age employee experience and engagement space. The company has an excellent product offering and a holistic reward and recognition approach. I look forward to utilizing my expertise in sales and product-led growth to develop the market as we advance in North America and globally." Sourabh Deorah, Co-Founder & CEO, said, "We are delighted to have Matthew on board. With his expertise, we aim to penetrate deeper into the North American market to create a stronger foothold. This appointment is a part of our larger global expansion plan as we scale our products and services to the next level." Matthew Willis holds a JD from the University of Colorado Law School, an MS from Miami University and an MBA in finance/marketing from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University. About Advantage Club: Advantage Club is a global employee engagement platform with benefits like rewards, recognitions, and flexible benefits on a single platform. It provides end-to-end solutions to facilitate employee engagement through exclusive privileges and rewards by brand partners. Currently headquartered in San Francisco, Advantage Club has an impressive client portfolio featuring Accenture, Concentrix, Teleperformance, Hexaware and more. SOURCE Advantage Club LONDON, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Amagi, the global leader in cloud-based SaaS technology for broadcast and connected TV, today released its latest report on the state of the free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) space which confirms that year-on-year growth in FAST continues to outpace industry predictions. The sixth edition of its Quarterly Global FAST Report reveals that growth in Q3 (Jul-Sep) 2022 compared to Q3 (Jul-Sep) 2021 in Europe saw an increase of 99.97% in ad impressions and over 51% in Hours of Viewing. This edition of the report aggregates data from the company's proprietary viewership and ad analytics platform, Amagi ANALYTICS, which brings together data and insights from 50+ platforms and over 2,000 channels that run on Amagi's SSAI platform, Amagi THUNDERSTORM. These findings are further supplemented by data gathered from the Amagi Consumer Survey October 2022 an online survey of ~600 UK households who watched TV at least once in the previous week. The availability of Connected TV (CTV) is a key marker of FAST channels adoption in a market and Amagi's research shows that Western Europe with 70% CTV coverage is gaining ground on the US whose coverage is about 80%. In Central and Eastern Europe, this figure stands below 50% though this is still fueling a huge FAST viewership spike of over 1,500% across these regions in Q3 2022 when compared to Q3 2021. UK leads in CTV adoption The UK is the most advanced country when it comes to CTV adoption with rates as high as ~85%, making it possible to reach almost 94% of internet users via connected devices. Amagi ANALYTICS data showed between Q3 2022 and Q3 2021, the total Hours of Viewing grew by 37.44%, while ad impressions saw an impressive 60.80% rise. Combining findings from Amagi ANALYTICS with UK-specific insights from its Consumer Survey, the Amagi team attributes the growth to three major factors: the higher cost of living driving audiences to cheaper or free sources of high-quality content which FAST readily offers; the ever-improving quality of content available on FAST platforms; and the entry of more prominent content brands into the FAST landscape. Growth continues in Europe Amagi's research also confirmed that it is not just in the UK where such positive growth is happening. Looking at the increase in total Hours of Viewing for the Top 7 European countries, France with 120.77% and Italy with 111.54% both showed triple digit growth in Q3 2022 over the same period in 2021. Analyzing ad impressions, for the same period Italy tops the list with 501.98% year-on-year growth, France is second at 312.66%, Spain is at 260.06%, Austria at 124.23%, and the Netherlands at 106.23% making up the Top 5. "Recent global events have contributed to a difficult economic climate in Europe and across the world. Against this backdrop, the FAST sector has displayed the type of strong performance our Global FAST Report Edition 5 had predicted," said Srinivasan KA, Co-founder & Chief Revenue Officer, Amagi. "We see FAST continuing to accelerate in a challenging macro environment, and we anticipate the trend to continue, making it an attractive time for content owners to get into this market." For more information about Amagi and its streaming TV solutions, visit www.amagi.com . About Amagi Amagi is a next-generation media technology company that provides cloud broadcast and targeted advertising solutions to broadcast TV and streaming TV platforms. Amagi enables content owners to launch, distribute and monetize live linear channels on Free Ad-supported Streaming TV and video services platforms. Amagi also offers 24x7 cloud-managed services bringing simplicity, advanced automation, and transparency to the entire broadcast operations. Overall, Amagi supports 700+ content brands, 800+ playout chains, and over 2100 channel deliveries on its platform in over 40 countries. Amagi has a presence in New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, London, Paris, Melbourne, Seoul, Singapore, and broadcast operations in New Delhi, and an innovation center in Bangalore. SOURCE Amagi Media Labs Pvt. Ltd. DUBLIN, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Anti-Counterfeit Packaging Technologies Market Size, Market Share, Application Analysis, Regional Outlook, Growth Trends, Key Players, Competitive Strategies and Forecasts, 2022 to 2030" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The anti-counterfeit packaging technologies market is expected to reach US$ 522.0 Bn by 2030 with 12% CAGR during the forecast period from 2022 to 2030. In 2020, North America led the anti-counterfeit packaging technologies market. The Asia Pacific is estimated to be the fastest-growing region between 2022 and 2030. According to the World Customs Organization, the trade of counterfeit goods to generate a value of over US$ 650 Bn, annually. Strong international trade, lack of trade regulations, and globally weak supply chains are some factors posturing a constant challenge to customs authorities around the world. The custom authorities strive to achieve a trade-off between regulating and facilitating trade, which in turn leads to the inflow of counterfeited products in the world economy. Trade expansion between countries, easy payments, and well-established distribution channels also proving useful for counterfeiting activities. Online distribution channel spread across national boundaries has boosted the flow of goods across the world. However, afforded anonymity to counterfeiters with an unlimited market place along with low-cost communication and investment are some major factors that have opened the opportunities for counterfeit product trade. Further, weak and compromised enforcement of both national and international intellectual property rights has made counterfeiting a low entry barrier market. Counterfeiting poses a significant threat to public health and safety and detrimental to global commerce. Anti-counterfeit packaging technologies can prove useful, which provides an important service to manufacturers, governments, and consumers. Technology like coding & printing, lead the market in 2020 and is expected to maintain its dominance over the forecast period. The use of holograms are also a proven technology that acts as a barrier to counter counterfeit products and their packaging. It conserves revenue, marketing investment made by the manufacturer, customer loyalty, and brand image. Food & Beverages industry propelling the growth of anti-counterfeit packaging technologies market Currently, Food & Beverages is one of the leading end-use industries by value, accounted for over 35% in 2019, and expected to retain its prominence with the highest CAGR throughout the forecast period. Counterfeit in the food & beverages industry includes product faking, product substitution, product adulteration, product copy, unauthorized refill, etc. The anti-counterfeit packaging technologies market is projected to witness robust growth in the food and beverages sector during the forecast period owing to an incessant demand for packaged food & beverages. Moreover, changing consumer preference and growing concern over food safety calls for a more effective solution to mitigate the risk of counterfeit products in the industry. It is estimated that the counterfeit food and beverages market will grow by USD 49 billion annually, which creates a huge opportunity for anti-counterfeit packaging technologies. Coding & Printing technology segment identified as the dominant type in 2021 Coding & Printing technology accounted for approximately 35% of the anti-counterfeit packaging market in 2021 and is expected to maintain its dominance during the forecasted period. Coding and printing can be used as both the overt and covert approach, which gives an edge to this technology over other technologies. Factors such as low cost, easy application, easy recognition, and incorporation of covert technology with overt are expected to propel the technology growth during the forecast period. The coding & printing technology market was followed by holograms and security labels in 2019. RFID technology is projected to witness the fastest growth during the forecast period. Features such as supply chain tracking, a high level of security against duplication, identification enabled without human involvement using wireless capabilities, and distant tag reading will drive the growth of the technology. 3M, amongst the prominent players using RFID technology for supply chain tracking at the point of manufacture and at the point of sale for e.g. retail store. The benefits associated with RFID system includes accurate billing, increased inventory visibility, and improved recall management amongst others Rise in manufacturing sector propelling the growth of anti-counterfeit packaging technologies in the Asia Pacific Asia-Pacific is projected to witness the fastest growth registering a CAGR of 15.1% during the forecast period. This growth can be attributed to high economic growth, heavy investments in automotive & industrial and food & beverages industries, and a rise in the manufacturing sector of this region. Further, increasing demand for quality products, rising population, and growing end-use industries have led to innovation and developments in these industries, making Asia-Pacific a strong end-use application hub, globally. Asia has a majority of counterfeit products and expected to grow tremendously in the near future as per OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development). New product development is the key strategy adopted by Zebra Technologies, a pioneer printing solutions provider Zebra Technologies, a pioneer in delivering printing solutions for business improvement and security, introduced a Zebra Brand Protection Solutions that includes a new line of secure printer labels, tickets, tags, ribbons, and readers - the bar code printing industry's first-ever line of covert on-demand printer media. This new product line is effective against combat brand diversion, counterfeiting, and gray marketing. Market Segmentation Type Coding & Printing RFID Hologram Security Labels Packaging Designs Others (digital mass sterilization, digital mass encryption, and surveillance technologies) End-use Industry Food & Beverages Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals Transportation & Industrial Consumer Durables Clothing & Apparel Others (Handbags, Wallets, Jewelry, Toys, Optical Media, Books, etc.) Key Topics Covered: 1. Preface 2. Executive Summary 3. Anti-Counterfeit Packaging Technologies Market: Competitive Analysis 4. Anti-Counterfeit Packaging Technologies Market: Macro Analysis & Market Dynamics 5. Anti-Counterfeit Packaging Technologies Market: By Type, 2020-2030, USD (Million) 6. Anti-Counterfeit Packaging Technologies Market: By End-use Industry, 2020-2030, USD (Million) 7. North America Anti-Counterfeit Packaging Technologies Market, 2020-2030, USD (Million) 8. UK and European Union Anti-Counterfeit Packaging Technologies Market, 2020-2030, USD (Million) 9. Asia Pacific Anti-Counterfeit Packaging Technologies Market, 2020-2030, USD (Million) 10. Latin America Anti-Counterfeit Packaging Technologies Market, 2020-2030, USD (Million) 11. Middle East and Africa Anti-Counterfeit Packaging Technologies Market, 2020-2030, USD (Million) 12. Company Profile Companies Mentioned Savi Technology Inc. Sicpa Holding SA 3M Applied DNA Sciences Inc. DuPont Avery Dennison Corporation Alpvision SA Authentix Inc. For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/qnhley 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] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/539438/Research_and_Markets_Logo.jpg SOURCE Research and Markets Five grants will support early-stage ideas to make health care safer, more integrated, and more equitable BOSTON, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Ariadne Labs today announced five recipients of the Ariadne Labs Spark Grant innovation awards for the 2022-2023 year. The Spark Grant program provides support for new and early-stage ideas focused on making health care safer, more integrated, and more equitable for all patients. Now in its tenth year, the program has funded more than 20 projects. This year's grantees will focus their efforts on improving equity in maternal health among patients with limited English proficiency, developing new standards for surgical morbidity and mortality conferences, and improving outcomes for stroke patients. Grantees were chosen following a competitive selection process from a diverse pool of candidates. Two of this year's projects will be funded by Harvard Medical School (HMS) Dean's Innovation Grants in Health Care Delivery. These projects, which are both entering their second year of funding, will focus on improving equity in oncology care and optimizing supervision of health workers in remote settings. "While we often hear of breakthrough innovations that are capable of improving health care outcomes, there is a continued need for new follow-through innovations to get those breakthroughs to every patient, everywhere," said Asaf Bitton, MD, MPH, Executive Director of Ariadne Labs. "Our Spark grantees play a critical role in continuing to expand Ariadne's portfolio of follow-through innovations, allowing us to identify and develop new opportunities to make health care safer, more equitable, and more integrated." "When we think about the promise of science to reshape medicine and transform lives, we often envision path-breaking discoveries and next-generation technologies, sometimes overlooking other less dazzling ways to optimize the impact of modern medicine," said HMS Dean George Q. Daley, MD, PhD. "More than ever, we need precisely such approaches to ensure health care delivery that is equitable, timely, and safe. The work of this year's awardees promises to address important, long-standing challenges in access, equity, and safety." The 2022-2023 recipients of the Ariadne Labs Spark Grant innovation awards are: Maternal Health Equity Among Patients with Limited English Proficiency Rose Molina, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology at Harvard Medical School; Obstetrician-Gynecologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and The Dimock Center; Core Faculty at Ariadne Labs Evidence suggests that individuals with limited English language proficiency experience lower quality maternal health care due to structural barriers and communication challenges. Cultural brokersdefined as a person who bridges groups of different cultural backgrounds for the purpose of producing changeplay a key role in overcoming these barriers between patients and health care teams. However, it is not always clear how these individuals can most effectively be integrated into health care teams. This project will identify best practices for collaboration among cultural brokers, health care teams, and pregnant patients. The findings will inform co-development of a communication tool to enhance trust and therapeutic alliance among patients with limited English proficiency and their health care teams. Creating a New Standard for Morbidity and Mortality Conferences Mary Brindle, MD, MPH, Director of the Safe Surgery Safe Systems Program at Ariadne Labs; Scientific Director of the Province of Alberta Surgery Strategic Care Network; Professor of Surgery and Community Health Sciences at the University of Calgary Alex Hannenberg, MD, Faculty Member of Safe Surgery Safe Systems Team at Ariadne Labs; Adjunct Clinical Professor of Anesthesiology at Tufts University School of Medicine Adverse events in surgery often result from system and team-based flaws, yet strategies to learn from these events are not always focused on these dimensions of care. Nearly all medical centers use departmental Morbidity and Mortality Conferences (MMCs) for case reviews, but there is little standardization in how they are used, what their goals are, and who is involved. This project seeks to create an implementation tool to guide health care systems in running high-quality perioperative multidisciplinary and interprofessional MMCs that will support teams in developing team-based solutions to safety concerns. Testing a Checklist for Improving Endovascular Thrombectomy for Stroke Sandeep Kumar, MD, Associate Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School Magdy H. Selim, MD, PhD, Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Stroke is a leading cause of long-term disability and death worldwide. Endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) has been shown to be very effective for enhancing recovery from acute ischemic strokes when used appropriately. However, a lack of timely access in community health settings deprives its benefits to a large number of stroke patients, thereby decreasing its effectiveness in real-world settings. In 2021 a Spark Grant funded initial work to develop a checklist to triage potential candidates for EVT. Now in their second year of funding, this team will conduct a study to test the acceptability and feasibility of the tool at community hospitals in Massachusetts. The Harvard Medical School Dean's Innovation Grants in Health Care Delivery has renewed funding for work on these projects: Improving Equity in Oncology Care Quality with Practice Feedback Nancy Keating, MD, MPH, Professor of Health Care Policy, Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School; Professor of Medicine and Practicing General Internist, Brigham and Women's Hospital Mary Beth Landrum, PhD, Professor of Health Care Policy, Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School Anna Sinaiko, MPP, PhD, Assistant Professor of Health Economics and Policy, Department of Health Policy and Management While research shows persistent racial inequities in cancer treatments, quality assessments have rarely measured these disparities, and few metrics are available for practices to know if they are providing similar care to all patients. This project was launched in 2021 to develop an audit-and-feedback intervention to provide oncology practices with actionable, race-specific data about their performance in delivering equitable and high-quality care to all patients relative to other oncology practices. In their second year of work, the team will continue to develop their intervention and aim to demonstrate feasibility and acceptability through a pilot study. Optimizing Supervision of Community Health Workers in Remote Settings Matthew Bonds, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School Karen Finnegan, PhD, Research Associate in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, and Managing Director of Pivot Science Community health that expands beyond the formal health care system is key to achieving universal health coverage, particularly in low-income, rural locations such as Madagascar. Since 2014, Pivot, a nongovernmental health care organization, has partnered with the Madagascar government to strengthen the health system of one district. Community health workers are an integral component of this effort, but global evidence to guide community health worker supervision is lacking. This project aims to develop a new protocol and tools for data-informed supervision of community health workers and to study the impact of this supervision on quality of care and health worker motivation. In year one of this work, the team developed a user-tested version of the supervision protocol and data dashboard. In year two, they will hold a convening to seek final input on the tools from stakeholders, implement the tools with community health workers, and evaluate the impact. About Ariadne Labs Ariadne Labs is a joint center for health systems innovation at Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. With a mission to save lives and reduce suffering, our vision is that health systems equitably deliver the best possible care for every patient, everywhere, every time. We use implementation science and human-centered design to make health care more safe, equitable, and integrated. From developing checklists and conversation guides to fostering international collaborations and establishing global standards of measurement, our work has been accessed in more than 165 countries, touching hundreds of millions of lives. Visit ariadnelabs.org to learn more. Media Contact: Brigid Tsai, [email protected] SOURCE Ariadne Labs PG&E Has Restored Power to More Than 2 Million Customers Since the Start of This Weather Event on Dec. 30 OAKLAND, Calif., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) continues its historic storm response effort, battling weather conditions and widespread damage to restore power to customers in Northern and Central California. Since the start of this historic string of storms on Dec. 30, PG&E has restored power to over 2 million customers. As of 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, approximately 108,000 customers remain without power. More than half of those outages are currently in the South Bay and Central Coast regions, which have been particularly hard hit by rain, wind, soil saturation and widespread flooding. An intense wind and rain event came on shore early Tuesday morning along the Central Coast, leading to significant flooding, fallen trees, mud slides, road closures, and other hazardous conditions. In some cases, these conditions are delaying crews from assessing the causes of outages and restoring power. Crews continue to work very closely with local government and emergency management agencies to address emergency situations. As conditions permit, they will be working safely and as quickly as possible to continue assessing damage and dispatching crews for repairs and power restoration. This is the single largest winter storm response in PG&E's history, with more than 6,500 PG&E personnel, contractor and mutual aid partners from across North America working to restore power to customers in communities across California. Keeping Customers Informed Customers can view real-time outage information at PG&E's online outage center and search by a specific address, by city or by county. This site has been updated to include support in 16 languages. PG&E has also begun publishing county-specific outage information throughout the day and is posting regular updates on its storm response at www.pgecurrents.com. Additionally, customers can sign up for outage notifications by text, email, or phone. PG&E will let customers know the cause of an outage, when crews are on their way, the estimated restoration time and when power has been restored. PG&E is coordinating with its community-based partners to offer support to customers in need. PG&E partners with the California Foundation for Independent Living Centers to offer support for older adults and people with disabilities through the Disability Disaster Access and Resources Program. As well, as the California Network of 2-1-1 who can connect customers to resources in their local communities. Storm Safety Tips Never touch downed wires: If you see a downed power line, assume it is energized and extremely dangerous. Do not touch or try to move itand keep children and animals away. Report downed power lines immediately by calling 9-1-1 and then PG&E at 1-800-743-5002. If you see a downed power line, assume it is energized and extremely dangerous. Do not touch or try to move itand keep children and animals away. Report downed power lines immediately by calling 9-1-1 and then PG&E at 1-800-743-5002. Use generators safely: Customers with standby electric generators should ensure they are properly installed by a licensed electrician in a well-ventilated area. Improperly installed generators pose a significant danger to customers, as well as crews working on powerlines. If using portable generators, be sure they are in a well-ventilated area. Customers with standby electric generators should ensure they are properly installed by a licensed electrician in a well-ventilated area. Improperly installed generators pose a significant danger to customers, as well as crews working on powerlines. If using portable generators, be sure they are in a well-ventilated area. Use flashlights, not candles: During a power outage, use battery-operated flashlights and not candles, due to the risk of fire. And keep extra batteries on hand. If you must use candles, please keep them away from drapes, lampshades, animals and small children. Do not leave candles unattended. During a power outage, use battery-operated flashlights and not candles, due to the risk of fire. And keep extra batteries on hand. If you must use candles, please keep them away from drapes, lampshades, animals and small children. Do not leave candles unattended. Have a backup phone: If you have a telephone system that requires electricity to work, such as a cordless phone or answering machine, plan to have a standard telephone or cellular phone ready as a backup. Having a portable charging device helps to keep your cell phone running. If you have a telephone system that requires electricity to work, such as a cordless phone or answering machine, plan to have a standard telephone or cellular phone ready as a backup. Having a portable charging device helps to keep your cell phone running. Have fresh drinking water and ice: Freeze plastic containers filled with water to make blocks of ice that can be placed in your refrigerator/freezer to prevent food spoilage. Freeze plastic containers filled with water to make blocks of ice that can be placed in your refrigerator/freezer to prevent food spoilage. Turn off appliances: If you experience an outage, unplug or turn off all electrical appliances to avoid overloading circuits and to prevent fire hazards when power is restored. Simply leave a single lamp on to alert you when power returns. If you experience an outage, unplug or turn off all electrical appliances to avoid overloading circuits and to prevent fire hazards when power is restored. Simply leave a single lamp on to alert you when power returns. Safely clean up: After the storm has passed, be sure to safely clean up. Never touch downed wires and always call 8-1-1 or visit 811express.com at least two full business days before digging to have all underground utilities safely marked. Other tips can be found at: Safety and Preparedness, Storm Safety, and Safety Action Center. About PG&E Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG), is a combined natural gas and electric utility serving more than 16 million people across 70,000 square miles in Northern and Central California. For more information, visit www.pge.com/ and http://www.pge.com/about/newsroom/. For additional storm-related resources, please visit www.pge.com/mediaresources. SOURCE Pacific Gas and Electric Company The firm has consistently ranked in the top four for each of the last 15 years BOSTON, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Bain & Company ranked as the top consulting firm on Glassdoor's list of 100 Best Places to Work, ranking #3 among large U.S. companies. It is currently the only company to earn a number one ranking on five separate occasions, and the firm has consistently ranked in the top four since Glassdoor founded the list in 2008. In addition, Bain & Company was ranked #1 among Glassdoor's list of 100 Best Places to Work in the UK. "The recognition from Glassdoor continues to be an honor and truly a testament to all of our employees and their commitment to one another, their clients, and the work we do every day," said Kara Gruver, Bain & Company's chief talent officer. "Our people are the drivers of our success as a company and most importantly they create the unique, rewarding and inclusive culture that is Bain." Employees praised Bain & Company in their reviews on Glassdoor, lauding the firm's dedication to creating and upholding an inclusive, supportive culture, high performing, and congenial teams, intellectually challenging and rewarding work, flexible career paths and overall culture of success. Rewarding work and team structure are consistently acknowledged with employees saying that, "the people, the culture, the impact that we drive clients, the amount of personal growth that you will experience (professionally as well as personally) - people here are truly invested in each other's success." Another employee noted that, "Getting to work with many different industries and subject matter experts widens your perspective immensely. No one lets another Bainie fail, everyone is always there to help and support you." A new employee praised the company and their fellow colleagues stating, "I'm new to Bain, but the people here make me feel like I've been here for years. People are incredibly welcoming, the culture is so, so positive and the benefits and salaries are insanely competitive. There is real investment in people, DEI, mental health and the resources to back all of this up." Another review praised the Bain difference, "Bain is a fantastic company with stellar benefits and amazing culture. From the moment I joined, I could quickly tell there was something very different about Bain. Very welcoming and inclusive with love of opportunity for growth a development. A lot of companies say they care but Bain puts action behind the words." The annual Glassdoor ranking is based on reviews from employees who elect to provide feedback on their jobs, work environment and key workplace attributes, such as compensation, culture and values, senior management, and work-life balance. The complete list is available at Best Places to Work in 2023. Editor's Note: For any questions or to arrange an interview, please contact Dan Pinkney at [email protected] or +1 646-562-8102. About Bain & Company Bain & Company is a global consultancy that helps the world's most ambitious change makers define the future. Across 64 cities in 39 countries, we work alongside our clients as one team with a shared ambition to achieve extraordinary results, outperform the competition, and redefine industries. We complement our tailored, integrated expertise with a vibrant ecosystem of digital innovators to deliver better, faster, and more enduring outcomes. Our 10-year commitment to invest more than $1 billion in pro bono services brings our talent, expertise, and insight to organizations tackling today's urgent challenges in education, racial equity, social justice, economic development, and the environment. Since our founding in 1973, we have measured our success by the success of our clients, and we proudly maintain the highest level of client advocacy in the industry. SOURCE Bain & Company Glassdoor Employees' Choice Award is based on anonymous and voluntary feedback from Bain employees about their jobs, work and employer across nine workplace attributes LONDON, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Bain & Company is today named as the number one employer in the UK in Glassdoor's ranking of the country's top 50 Best Places to Work 2023. The number one ranking sees Bain honoured with a Glassdoor Employees' Choice Award in a recognition based solely on the input of employees who voluntarily provide anonymous feedback on Glassdoor in company reviews about their jobs, work environment and employer. "We are thrilled, and humbled, to have been recognised in this way by Glassdoor and crucially to have achieved this based on the feedback, and experiences, of our people in the UK, who are our greatest asset," said James Hadley, Bain & Company's UK managing partner. "Over the last year, we've achieved further strong growth in our UK business while continuing to evolve how our people work and collaborate. This ranking is a testament to the success of those efforts but especially to our unique culture, and the commitment to each other, that our extraordinary employees make possible. I'm inspired every day by our teams in the UK and what they achieve. And I'm looking forward to continuing to work with all our people to make Bain not just a great place to work, but one that keeps aiming to be even better." In reviews on Glassdoor, Bain's employees praised the firm's commitment to building an inclusive, collaborative and supportive culture, fostering camaraderie among teams and colleagues, providing intellectually stimulating and rewarding work, recognising achievements, and offering strong benefits and flexible career paths with varied opportunities. Glassdoor's rankings for its Employees' Choice Awards are based on an overall rating achieved over the past year with ratings covering nine workplace attributes 1. One London-based Bain consultant used their anonymous review to describe Bain as "a company with a heart", adding: "Genuinely some of the finest people to work with smart and empathetic Bain is constantly looking to help and support you". Another employee, a London-based manager, wrote: "Bain's culture is second to none and nothing like I've ever experienced. I love getting to work with diverse teams and feel truly supported in my career growth." In another review, a senior specialist employee in London commented: "Extraordinary In most of the ways that matter, Bain is one of the most remarkable companies to work for in the world. Their forensic focus on bettering the individual and empowering the collective stands them out from a crowd of world-class consultancies. The benefits are industry-leading The slogan 'a Bainie never lets another Bainie fail' made me cringe entering the company, but nearly every interaction and experience during my time here has reinforced the sway those words hold in Bain's corporate ethos." "The great experience of working at Bain is driven by our underlying culture and values, which ensure we always seek to do the right things in investing behind our people for the long term," said Barney Hamilton, Chief Talent Officer for Bain in the UK. "This means we support individuals' careers so they can grow and thrive at Bain; it means we make people decisions based on a long-term benefit for our business, not a short-term view; and it means that always we seek to treat people fairly and equitably. We're constantly working on new ways to improve Bain's best-place-to-work proposition for our people and to create the most supportive, inclusive, and equitable work environment for our people at every stage of their career journey." "We're delighted with this recognition today because making sure we're the best possible place to work is vital to delivering a critical strategic objective that allows us to serve our clients and meet their needs: to be the destination of choice for the best business talent to join and to stay - across diverse backgrounds and experiences, skills, work styles and perspectives." Bain & Company's workplace culture and philosophy has helped the firm to earn numerous accolades and recognitions in the UK and worldwide as a great place to work. In May of last year, Bain was featured in The Times newspaper's prestigious list of the Top 50 Employers for Women in the UK, in partnership with the UK's Business in the Community. The inclusion was the second year in a row that Bain was honoured with inclusion in the list. Experts recognised Bain's progressive workplace programmes, dedication to achieving diversity at all levels and its market-leading UK equal parental leave policy, providing UK staff with up to 52 weeks of leave, with the first 29 fully paid and regardless of gender. Bain ranked as the top consulting firm on Glassdoor's list of 100 Best Places to Work 2023, ranking number three among large US companies for a second consecutive year. Bain is currently the only company to earn a number one ranking on that list for five separate occasions, consistently ranking in the top four since Glassdoor founded the list in 2008. Similarly, Bain & Company was named the number one consulting firm on Vault's Consulting 50 list in 2022, and it has ranked as one of Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For three years in a row. Additionally, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation recognised Bain & Company as one of the "Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality" in 2022, with the firm earning a perfect score on the organisation's annual Corporate Equality Index (CEI) for 16 consecutive years. Media contacts For any questions or to arrange an interview, please contact: Bain & Company: Gary Duncan (London) Email: [email protected] Notes to Editors The nine workplace attributes used for Glassdoor's rating cover: overall rating, career opportunities, compensation and benefits, culture and values, diversity and inclusion, senior management and leadership, work-life balance, 'recommend to a friend' and six-month business outlook. Winners are ranked based on their overall rating achieved during the past year. Ratings are based on a 5-point scale: 1.0=very dissatisfied, 3.0=OK, 5.0=very satisfied; actual calculations extend beyond the thousandth decimal place. The final UK list of the Top 50 Best Places to Work is compiled using Glassdoor's proprietary algorithm led by its Economic Research Team , and considers quantity, quality and consistency of reviews. Complete awards methodology can be found gldr.co/awardsFAQUK. The Glassdoor Employees' Choice Awards honours the Best Places to Work across the U.S. , Canada , UK , France and Germany . 2023 is the 9th edition of the awards in the UK and the list recognises the best 50 companies with 1,000 or more employees. About Bain & Company Bain & Company is a global consultancy that helps the world's most ambitious change makers define the future. Across 64 cities in 39 countries, we work alongside our clients as one team with a shared ambition to achieve extraordinary results, outperform the competition, and redefine industries. We complement our tailored, integrated expertise with a vibrant ecosystem of digital innovators to deliver better, faster, and more enduring outcomes. Our 10-year commitment to invest more than $1 billion in pro bono services brings our talent, expertise, and insight to organizations tackling today's urgent challenges in education, racial equity, social justice, economic development, and the environment. Since our founding in 1973, we have measured our success by the success of our clients, and we proudly maintain the highest level of client advocacy in the industry. SOURCE Bain & Company Be DTLA, Los Angeles' Premier Wellness-Focused Multifamily Community, Will Match New Resident Charitable Contributions LOS ANGELES, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Be DTLA by The Souferian Group, located in the heart of Los Angeles, will be the first apartment community of the Be brand to implement a new charity program that will contribute to the overall wellbeing of its properties' hometowns. Through a program aptly named, "Be Charitable," the 606-unit apartment building focused on wellness and unique experiences, will match 100% of a new resident donation to the charity The People Concern, one of Los Angeles County's largest social service agencies working to end homelessness through a model of integrated and comprehensive care. Be DTLA by The Souferian Group Known for pushing the boundaries in developing innovative and experiential apartment communities that promote a balanced and healthful lifestyle for its residents, "Be Charitable" is the most recent initiative by The Souferian Group to enrich the lives of their residents and the cities in which they reside. "Giving back is a cornerstone of the Be brand and we want to take tangible steps in improving the lives of not only our residents, but for the community members that extend beyond our four walls," says Behzad Souferian Founder & CEO of The Souferian Group. "With a goal of 15,000 units AUM in the next 5 years, we aim to be a part of the housing solution against homelessness and are committed to a 360-degree, comprehensive approach to wellness that includes social responsibility. This program wouldn't be possible without the generous support of our residents and we're proud to do our part." Through the program, Be DTLA pledges to match donations made by new residents to The People Concern, which provides wraparound services outreach, mental and medical health care, substance use services, interim shelter, domestic violence services, life skills and wellness programs, and permanent supportive housing tailored to the unique needs of individuals experiencing homelessness or domestic violence. By working together, Souferian hopes "our residents will play a part in addressing this complex issue that plaques every community in our country." By using innovative and evidence-based practices, The People Concern has achieved proven success in communities throughout Los Angeles County, which has been recognized and replicated across the country. Ninety-two percent of people supported in permanent housing by The People Concern never experience homelessness again. "Homelessness is the critical issue of our community, and everyone can contribute to helping solve it," says Terry Morello, Chief Development Officer of The People Concern, "Our outreach teams meet people experiencing homelessness where they are, provide a continuum of care that leads to housing because we believe everyone deserves to be housed, healthy and safe." "Wellness is the combination of taking care of oneself and our communities," added Souferian. "I believe that giving back to others, being mindful of issues that face our nation's communities and doing our part to alleviate them is a huge factor in living a meaningful life. My goal continues to be the expansion of Be apartment communities nationwide and I will always lead with the sincere intention of wellness, social awareness and kindness. As we fight for the betterment of our cities, I call on other communities to join the effort and play their part." To help bring awareness to the cause, Be DTLA has launched a social media campaign highlighting random acts of kindness its residents are doing throughout the property. "Our hope is that if we showcase giving to others and being charitable, it will have a ripple effect throughout the city," said Souferian. To see the random acts of kindness and learn more about this innovative rental community, visit www.BeDTLA.com and follow along on Instagram at @BeByTSG. About The Souferian Group The Souferian Group is a best in class, fully integrated real estate development company dedicated to developing innovative, value driven experiential projects. Their successful track record spans national acquisitions and developments in multi-family, office, mixed-use, medical, retail and residential properties. The company offers expertise that spans every aspect of the real estate process from identifying acquisition properties, financing, entitlements and zoning, master planning, architecture and design, construction management, marketing, leasing and sales. The privately held company acquires and develops projects through its own direct investments or institutional joint venture partnerships. To learn more, visit TheSouferianGroup.com . SOURCE The Souferian Group NEW YORK, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Biogas Upgrading Equipment Market by Technology and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2023-2027 report has been published by Technavio. Market size is forecast to grow by USD 5,070.25 million between 2022 and 2027 at a CAGR of 15.38%. 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 Biogas Upgrading Equipment Market 2023-2027 By region, the global biogas upgrading equipment market is segmented into Europe, North America, APAC, South America, and Middle East and Africa. Europe is estimated to contribute 41% to the growth of the global market over the forecast period. The rising demand for renewables such as biofuels, biogas, and upgraded biogas is driving the growth of the biogas upgrading equipment market in Europe. Buy the report Company Profiles The biogas upgrading equipment market report includes information on the key products and recent developments of leading vendors, including: Air Liquide SA - The company offers biogas upgrading equipment through its subsidiary Air Liquide Advanced Separations. - The company offers biogas upgrading equipment through its subsidiary Air Liquide Advanced Separations. Bright Renewables B.V. - The company offers biogas upgrading equipment through its subsidiary Cirmac International bv. - The company offers biogas upgrading equipment through its subsidiary Cirmac International bv. Condorchem Envitech SL - The company offers biogas upgrading equipment namely BUP series. - The company offers biogas upgrading equipment namely BUP series. DP CleanTech Co. Ltd. - The company offers biogas upgrading equipment through its subsidiary DMT Clear Gas Solutions. Market Dynamics The market is driven by factors such as the need for cleaner fuel, favorable government policies, and environmental and energy security. However, the high cost of production 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 technology, the market is segmented into water scrubber, chemical scrubber, pressure swing adsorption (PSA), membrane, and others. The water scrubber segment accounted for the largest share of the market in 2022. 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 in 2022. Related Reports: The gasification market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 5.18% between 2022 and 2027. The size of the market is forecast to increase by USD 135.21 billion . The rise in global energy demand is notably driving the market growth, although factors such as high operating and maintenance costs may impede the market growth. is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 5.18% between 2022 and 2027. The size of the market is forecast to increase by . The rise in global energy demand is notably driving the market growth, although factors such as high operating and maintenance costs may impede the market growth. The well abandonment services market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 6.37% between 2022 and 2027. The size of the market is forecast to increase by USD 1522.38 million . The maturing oil and gas fields are notably driving the well abandonment services market growth, although factors such as the high costs associated with well abandonment projects 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 biogas upgrading equipment 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 biogas upgrading equipment market and its contribution to the parent market. Accurate predictions about upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior. Growth of the 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 biogas upgrading equipment market vendors. Biogas Upgrading Equipment 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 15.38% Market growth 2023-2027 USD 5070.25 million Market structure Fragmented YoY growth 2022-2023 (%) 14.4 Regional analysis Europe, North America, APAC, South America, and Middle East and Africa Performing market contribution Europe at 41% Key countries US, China, Germany, UK, and Italy Competitive landscape Leading Vendors, Market Positioning of Vendors, Competitive Strategies, and Industry Risks Key companies profiled 2G Energy AG, AAT Abwasser und Abfalltechnik GmbH, Air Liquide SA, Atlas Copco AB, Bright Renewables B.V., Carbotech Gas Systems GmbH, Condorchem Envitech SL, DMT International, DP CleanTech Co. Ltd., DVO Inc., Greenlane Renewables Inc., HAASE Umwelttechnik GmbH, Jog Waste to Energy Pvt. Ltd., Nacelle Logistics LLC, NeoZeo AB, Pentair Plc, Veolia Environment SA, Xebec Adsorption Inc., Anaergia Inc., and MalmbergGruppen AB 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 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 Technology Exhibit 06: Executive Summary Chart on Incremental Growth Exhibit 07: Executive Summary Data Table on Incremental Growth Exhibit 08: Executive Summary Chart on Vendor Market Positioning 2 Market Landscape 2.1 Market ecosystem Exhibit 09: Parent market Exhibit 10: Market Characteristics 3 Market Sizing 3.1 Market definition Exhibit 11: Offerings of vendors included in the market definition 3.2 Market segment analysis Exhibit 12: Market segments 3.3 Market size 2022 3.4 Market outlook: Forecast for 2022-2027 Exhibit 13: Chart on Global - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 14: Data Table on Global - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 15: Chart on Global Market: Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 16: Data Table on Global Market: Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 4 Historic Market Size 4.1 Global biogas upgrading equipment market 2017 - 2021 Exhibit 17: Historic Market Size Data Table on Global biogas upgrading equipment market 2017 - 2021 ($ million) 4.2 Technology Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021 Exhibit 18: Historic Market Size Technology Segment 2017 - 2021 ($ million) 4.3 Geography Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021 Exhibit 19: Historic Market Size Geography Segment 2017 - 2021 ($ million) 4.4 Country Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021 Exhibit 20: Historic Market Size Country Segment 2017 - 2021 ($ million) 5 Five Forces Analysis 5.1 Five forces summary Exhibit 21: Five forces analysis - Comparison between 2022 and 2027 5.2 Bargaining power of buyers Exhibit 22: Chart on Bargaining power of buyers Impact of key factors 2022 and 2027 5.3 Bargaining power of suppliers Exhibit 23: Bargaining power of suppliers Impact of key factors in 2022 and 2027 5.4 Threat of new entrants Exhibit 24: Threat of new entrants Impact of key factors in 2022 and 2027 5.5 Threat of substitutes Exhibit 25: Threat of substitutes Impact of key factors in 2022 and 2027 5.6 Threat of rivalry Exhibit 26: Threat of rivalry Impact of key factors in 2022 and 2027 5.7 Market condition Exhibit 27: Chart on Market condition - Five forces 2022 and 2027 6 Market Segmentation by Technology 6.1 Market segments Exhibit 28: Chart on Technology - Market share 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 29: Data Table on Technology - Market share 2022-2027 (%) 6.2 Comparison by Technology Exhibit 30: Chart on Comparison by Technology Exhibit 31: Data Table on Comparison by Technology 6.3 Water scrubber - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 32: Chart on Water scrubber - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 33: Data Table on Water scrubber - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 34: Chart on Water scrubber - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 35: Data Table on Water scrubber - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 6.4 Chemical scrubber - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 36: Chart on Chemical scrubber - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 37: Data Table on Chemical scrubber - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 38: Chart on Chemical scrubber - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 39: Data Table on Chemical scrubber - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 6.5 Pressure swing adsorption (PSA) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 40: Chart on Pressure swing adsorption (PSA) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 41: Data Table on Pressure swing adsorption (PSA) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 42: Chart on Pressure swing adsorption (PSA) - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 43: Data Table on Pressure swing adsorption (PSA) - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 6.6 Membrane - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 44: Chart on Membrane - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 45: Data Table on Membrane - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 46: Chart on Membrane - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 47: Data Table on Membrane - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 6.7 Others - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 48: Chart on Others - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 49: Data Table on Others - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 50: Chart on Others - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 51: Data Table on Others - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 6.8 Market opportunity by Technology Exhibit 52: Market opportunity by Technology ($ million) 7 Customer Landscape 7.1 Customer landscape overview Exhibit 53: Analysis of price sensitivity, lifecycle, customer purchase basket, adoption rates, and purchase criteria 8 Geographic Landscape 8.1 Geographic segmentation Exhibit 54: Chart on Market share by geography 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 55: Data Table on Market share by geography 2022-2027 (%) 8.2 Geographic comparison Exhibit 56: Chart on Geographic comparison Exhibit 57: Data Table on Geographic comparison 8.3 Europe - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 58: Chart on Europe - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 59: Data Table on Europe - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 60: Chart on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 61: Data Table on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 8.4 North America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 62: Chart on North America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 63: Data Table on North America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 64: Chart on North America - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 65: Data Table on North America - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 8.5 APAC - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 66: Chart on APAC - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 67: Data Table on APAC - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 68: Chart on APAC - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 69: Data Table on APAC - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 8.6 South America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 70: Chart on South America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 71: Data Table on South America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 72: Chart on South America - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 73: Data Table on South America - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 8.7 Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 and - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 74: Chart on Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) and - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 75: Data Table on Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) and - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 76: Chart on Middle East and Africa - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) and - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 77: Data Table on Middle East and Africa - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 8.8 US - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 78: Chart on US - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 79: Data Table on US - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 80: Chart on US - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 81: Data Table on US - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 8.9 Germany - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 82: Chart on Germany - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 83: Data Table on Germany - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 84: Chart on Germany - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 85: Data Table on Germany - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 8.10 China - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 86: Chart on China - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 87: Data Table on China - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 88: Chart on China - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 89: Data Table on China - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 8.11 UK - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 90: Chart on UK - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 91: Data Table on UK - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 92: Chart on UK - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 93: Data Table on UK - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 8.12 Italy - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 94: Chart on Italy - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 95: Data Table on Italy - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 96: Chart on Italy - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 97: Data Table on Italy - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 8.13 Market opportunity by geography Exhibit 98: Market opportunity by geography ($ million) 9 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends 9.1 Market drivers 9.2 Market challenges 9.3 Impact of drivers and challenges Exhibit 99: Impact of drivers and challenges in 2022 and 2027 9.4 Market trends 10 Vendor Landscape 10.1 Overview 10.2 Vendor landscape Exhibit 100: Overview on Criticality of inputs and Factors of differentiation 10.3 Landscape disruption Exhibit 101: Overview on factors of disruption 10.4 Industry risks Exhibit 102: Impact of key risks on business 11 Vendor Analysis 11.1 Vendors covered Exhibit 103: Vendors covered 11.2 Market positioning of vendors Exhibit 104: Matrix on vendor position and classification 11.3 2G Energy AG Exhibit 105: 2G Energy AG - Overview Exhibit 106: 2G Energy AG - Product / Service Exhibit 107: 2G Energy AG - Key offerings 11.4 AAT Abwasser und Abfalltechnik GmbH Exhibit 108: AAT Abwasser und Abfalltechnik GmbH - Overview Exhibit 109: AAT Abwasser und Abfalltechnik GmbH - Product / Service Exhibit 110: AAT Abwasser und Abfalltechnik GmbH - Key offerings 11.5 Air Liquide SA Exhibit 111: Air Liquide SA - Overview Exhibit 112: Air Liquide SA - Business segments Exhibit 113: Air Liquide SA - Key news Exhibit 114: Air Liquide SA - Key offerings Exhibit 115: Air Liquide SA - Segment focus 11.6 Atlas Copco AB Exhibit 116: Atlas Copco AB - Overview Exhibit 117: Atlas Copco AB - Business segments Exhibit 118: Atlas Copco AB - Key news Exhibit 119: Atlas Copco AB - Key offerings Exhibit 120: Atlas Copco AB - Segment focus 11.7 Carbotech Gas Systems GmbH Exhibit 121: Carbotech Gas Systems GmbH - Overview Exhibit 122: Carbotech Gas Systems GmbH - Product / Service Exhibit 123: Carbotech Gas Systems GmbH - Key offerings 11.8 DMT International Exhibit 124: DMT International - Overview Exhibit 125: DMT International - Product / Service Exhibit 126: DMT International - Key offerings 11.9 DVO Inc. Exhibit 127: DVO Inc. - Overview Exhibit 128: DVO Inc. - Product / Service Exhibit 129: DVO Inc. - Key offerings 11.10 Greenlane Renewables Inc. Exhibit 130: Greenlane Renewables Inc. - Overview Exhibit 131: Greenlane Renewables Inc. - Product / Service Exhibit 132: Greenlane Renewables Inc. - Key offerings 11.11 HAASE Umwelttechnik GmbH Exhibit 133: HAASE Umwelttechnik GmbH - Overview Exhibit 134: HAASE Umwelttechnik GmbH - Product / Service Exhibit 135: HAASE Umwelttechnik GmbH - Key offerings 11.12 Jog Waste to Energy Pvt. Ltd. Exhibit 136: Jog Waste to Energy Pvt. Ltd. - Overview Exhibit 137: Jog Waste to Energy Pvt. Ltd. - Product / Service Exhibit 138: Jog Waste to Energy Pvt. Ltd. - Key offerings 11.13 MalmbergGruppen AB Exhibit 139: MalmbergGruppen AB - Overview Exhibit 140: MalmbergGruppen AB - Product / Service Exhibit 141: MalmbergGruppen AB - Key offerings 11.14 Nacelle Logistics LLC Exhibit 142: Nacelle Logistics LLC - Overview Exhibit 143: Nacelle Logistics LLC - Product / Service Exhibit 144: Nacelle Logistics LLC - Key offerings 11.15 NeoZeo AB Exhibit 145: NeoZeo AB - Overview Exhibit 146: NeoZeo AB - Product / Service Exhibit 147: NeoZeo AB - Key offerings 11.16 Pentair Plc Exhibit 148: Pentair Plc - Overview Exhibit 149: Pentair Plc - Business segments Exhibit 150: Pentair Plc - Key news Exhibit 151: Pentair Plc - Key offerings Exhibit 152: Pentair Plc - Segment focus 11.17 Xebec Adsorption Inc. Exhibit 153: Xebec Adsorption Inc. - Overview Exhibit 154: Xebec Adsorption Inc. - Business segments Exhibit 155: Xebec Adsorption Inc. - Key news Exhibit 156: Xebec Adsorption Inc. - Key offerings Exhibit 157: Xebec Adsorption Inc. - Segment focus 12 Appendix 12.1 Scope of the report 12.2 Inclusions and exclusions checklist Exhibit 158: Inclusions checklist Exhibit 159: Exclusions checklist 12.3 Currency conversion rates for US$ Exhibit 160: Currency conversion rates for US$ 12.4 Research methodology Exhibit 161: Research methodology Exhibit 162: Validation techniques employed for market sizing Exhibit 163: Information sources 12.5 List of abbreviations Exhibit 164: 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 The company unlocks a milestone by successfully launching 100+ NFT marketplaces globally. SINGAPORE, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Blockchain App Factory, a leading enterprise blockchain service provider, has announced that the company has unveiled a new achievement by developing and deploying over 100 NFT marketplaces for its clients worldwide. The NFT marketplace development service is one of the on-demand solutions of the entity, and they meet the requirements of their clientele with an assorted range of marketplaces, depending on the use cases. Blockchain App Factory Zircap, Woonkly, DSFR, and CryptoCorns NFT are some of the top-performing brands that have collaborated with Blockchain App Factory to avail their sophisticated NFT services. With a proficient crew of blockchain and NFT developers, they clearly understand their client's needs and develop an all-in-one platform that bestows seamless NFT trading experiences. "We are highly elated to accomplish a huge feat by successfully launching more than 100 NFT marketplaces across diverse niches and have empowered entrepreneurs through our profound development services and pioneering experience in the field," says (CMO-Blockchain App Factory). As a reputed blockchain development company, it offers diverse enterprise solutions in the web3 concepts, such as cryptocurrency, NFTs, metaverse, and gaming. Out of all, they are known for their comprehensive NFT solutions, where the company assists, right from the research phase to the deployment phase, and even supports with their result-driving marketing services to reach their target audiences and to build a strong community. This versatile support of the organization makes it one of the best NFT development companies in the market. The features and functionalities of their NFT marketplace make it a unique platform, hence making NFT enthusiasts purchase, sell, trade, bid, mint, and hold NFTs easily and securely. Lazy minting, cross-chain functionality, bulk purchase, easy listing, in-built wallets, transaction history, splendid storefront, advanced search, and top-selling collections are some of the special highlights that make the platform stand out in the crowd. Blockchain App Factory caters to NFTpreneurs with different applications, including marketplaces exclusive for artworks, sports, gaming collectibles, music, real estate, etc. Additionally, the platform makes the purchase of NFTs as simple as an e-commerce product by giving flexible payment options in both cryptocurrency and fiat currency. This way, the company significantly contributes to the global adoption of NFTs and provides a phenomenal opportunity for entrepreneurs to take it to the mainstream. Among all, Blockchain App Factory marks its unique identity in the market with its white label NFT marketplace development solutions. Understanding the urge to quickly deploy the platform among the web3 entrepreneurs, the entity comes up with white label services, which extensively save time, money, and effort by allowing them to launch their own NFT marketplace in just a matter of days. With the addition of multi-chain compatibility, it offers NFT marketplace development on eminent blockchain networks, such as Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, Polygon, Solana, Avalanche, and Harmony. With over seven years in the blockchain industry, Blockchain App Factory crafts all-inclusive solutions for entrepreneurs seeking an ideal path to leverage their brands and offers NFT marketplace development service as one of the finest models to give life to their dreams. This press release was issued through 24-7PressRelease.com. For further information, visit http://www.24-7pressrelease.com. SOURCE Blockchain App Factory The Company's New Protein Bars Are Made With Real Nut Butter, Honey And Dates, Perfect For Those Looking to Fuel An Active Lifestyle Without Sacrificing Taste Or Nutrition LOVELAND, Colo., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Bobo's , known for their delicious oat bars, oat bites and baked goods, is expanding its popular lineup with an exciting new real food protein bar line debuting in two delicious flavors: Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter and Double Chocolate Almond Butter . Each new bar is packed with 15g of protein from peanuts or almonds, pea protein and other delicious, wholesome ingredients that deliver a satisfying protein boost and incredible taste. The new protein bars are also verified non-gmo, certified gluten free and kosher and are now available nationwide. Bobos Launches New Line Of Protein Bars Made With Simple, Clean Ingredients And Packed With 15 Grams Of Protein "We all know that protein bars aren't very tasty and are packed with sugar alcohols, artificial flavors and inflammatory oils." says TJ McIntyre, CEO at Bobo's. "By following Bobo's 'real-food' philosophy, we knew we could create a nutritious, better-tasting protein bar simply by sticking to clean ingredients and avoiding over-engineered additives. We're thrilled with how they turned out." In the protein bar aisle, consumers often find themselves overwhelmed with dozens of over-engineered bar options made with unrecognizable ingredients. Bobo's new 2.2 oz protein bars deliver 15g of protein using better, simpler ingredients that many consumers would find in their own pantry like peanut butter, honey, chocolate chips and coconut oil. The result is a clean tasting bar that will leave customers feeling satiated and energized. The new bars are perfect for those with active lifestyles, busy schedules or simply to keep in the car when you need a quick and energizing snack. Packed with plant-based nutrition, they're a great way to start the day or as an on-the-go snack - perfect for travel, work or gym workouts. "Our customers have been asking us for a protein bar for a long time now," continued McIntyre. "We gathered consumer feedback until we achieved a 2x taste preference over other key protein bar brands. We're so happy to finally bring this new product to market because they're delicious and deliver a high amount of natural protein without the chalky, dry taste often found in similar products." While plenty of nutrition bars promise high amounts of protein, most leave something to be desired when it comes to taste. Bobo's has seemingly cracked the code when it comes to making a protein bar that delivers on both nutrition AND taste simply by pairing better ingredients with tasty flavor combinations like Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter and Double Chocolate Almond Butter. As a result, the new bars have a smooth texture and a satisfying bite with just the right amount of sweetness for an irresistible flavor and hours of satisfaction without the looming sugar crash. The bars are naturally sweetened with dates and honey, without any artificial sugars or sweeteners found in other protein bars. The new, plant-based protein bars will be baked in Bobo's new 123,000 square foot wind-powered facility in Loveland, Colorado recently built to increase output by 3x while reducing the company's carbon footprint. Both flavors are available online now through Bobo's website and Amazon store starting at $29.88 for a 12 pack. For more information about Bobo's delicious and nutritious products, please visit eatbobos.com. About Bobo's Bobo's has been making people everywhere feel like family with fresh-baked, wholesome snacks since 2003 when BOBO and her mother decided to whip up their favorite homemade oat bar recipe in their Boulder, CO kitchen. Today, the Bobo's family of products include the original oat bars and has expanded with oat bites, stuff'd bites, nut-butter filled bars, toaster pastries and now protein bars that can be found in natural and conventional grocers around the country. Every healthy Bobo's treat is still 100% gluten free, kosher, and non-GMO certified. To learn more about Bobo's and how the brand stays committed to feeding everyone like family, visit ww.eatbobos.com or follow @eatbobos on social media. Contact: [email protected] SOURCE Bobos LOS ANGELES, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS (C.A.R.) today issued the following statement in response to Governor Gavin Newsom's 2023-24 state budget proposal: "While the state's current budgetary shortfall may delay fully funding homeownership programs such as Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins's California Dream for All down payment assistance plan in this year's budget, we are encouraged by Governor Newsom's commitment to homeownership programs going forward," said C.A.R. President Jennifer Branchini, a Bay Area REALTOR. "We look forward to working with the Governor and legislative leaders to ensure that this and future state budgets create opportunities for new generations of Californians to build family wealth through homeownership. "Great strides have been made, including last year's historic investments in CalHome and the California Dream for All program. However, more needs to be done to help make homeownership more attainable for the state's working families and support traditionally underserved communities so that they can build generational wealth. Today, only one in every five California households can afford a single-family home. Homeownership is the best way for working people to attain economic security and develop wealth. Funding to expand ownership housing to create this opportunity for more Californians must be a larger part of this year's budget." Leading the way... in California real estate for more than 115 years, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS (www.car.org) is one of the largest state trade organizations in the United States, with more than 217,000 members dedicated to the advancement of professionalism in real estate. C.A.R. is headquartered in Los Angeles. SOURCE CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS (C.A.R.) BOSTON, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Cengage Group, a global edtech company, has been recognized by the Glassdoor Employees' Choice Award as a Best Place to Work in 2023. The company is listed as one of the top 100 large U.S. companies with an overall 4.4 out of 5 rating. The Glassdoor Employees' Choice Award is based solely on the input of current and former employees who voluntarily provide anonymous feedback by completing a company review about their job, work environment and employer on Glassdoor. Cengage Group is one of only three education companies that was recognized as a Best Place to Work in 2023. The company was also previously recognized by Glassdoor as a Top Place to Work in 2019. Cengage Group Named a Best Place to Work in 2023 by the Glassdoor Employees Choice Awards "I am immensely proud that Cengage Group has been named a Glassdoor 2023 Best Place to Work," said Michael E. Hansen, CEO, Cengage Group. "This recognition is particularly meaningful because it comes directly from our current and former employees, and strongly demonstrates the strength of our company culture and commitment to transparent and honest feedback." Hansen continued to say, "Our culture is driven first and foremost by our employees. And with that, I want to extend a sincere thank you to our more than 4,500 global Cengage Group employees for their willingness to share openly and transparently about their experiences, and what we need to do as an employer to raise the bar. No company or leader is perfect, and I see platforms like Glassdoor as a critical avenue to listen, learn and improve." Cengage Group is an education technology company that enables student choice, and helps all learners improve their lives and achieve their dreams. Cengage Group employees in more than 45 countries have an impact in helping millions of learners gain the skills and competencies they need to lead choice-filled lives. As an employer, Cengage Group is focused on equipping employees with the tools they need to succeed and promoting work-life balance. In recent years, this has included adding wellness time off to make sure employees have the time needed to recharge, as well as expanding professional development programming and tuition reimbursement programs, and moving to flexible, hybrid work models that best support each team within the organization. Learn more about what it's like to work at Cengage Group by visiting the employee experience page, here: https://www.cengagegroup.com/about/employee-experience/ "The past year brought extreme highs and lows for job seekers and employees, but despite an increasingly uncertain job market, Glassdoor data shows there are still companies hyper-focused on creating outstanding employee experiences," said Christian Sutherland-Wong, Glassdoor Chief Executive Officer. "It's encouraging to see companies doubling down on employee mental health and wellbeing, diversity and inclusion, competitive benefits and flexible work environments as we head into 2023. I sincerely congratulate all of the Best Places to Work winners." To view the full list of Glassdoor's Best Places to Work, and to learn more about how winners were determined, visit: https://gldr.co/bptw Find open jobs at Cengage Group, and learn more about benefit offerings by visiting the Cengage Group careers page: https://www.cengagegroup.com/careers/ About Cengage Group With more than 100 years serving learners, Cengage Group is a global edtech company that enables student choice. No matter how, where, when or why someone wants to learn, our portfolio of education businesses supports all students, from middle school through graduate school and skills education, with quality content and technology. Collectively, our three business units Cengage Academic, Cengage Work and Cengage Select help millions of students each year in more than 125 countries achieve their education and career goals and lead choice-filled lives. Visit us at www.cengagegroup.com or find us on LinkedIn and Twitter. About Glassdoor Glassdoor is revolutionizing how people everywhere find jobs and companies they love by providing deeper workplace transparency. Professionals turn to Glassdoor to research ratings, reviews, salaries and more at millions of employers, and to Fishbowl by Glassdoor to engage in candid workplace conversations. Companies use Glassdoor to post jobs and attract talent through employer branding and employee insights products. Glassdoor is a subsidiary of Recruit Holdings, a leading global technology company, and a part of its fast-growing HR Technology business unit. For more information, visit www.glassdoor.com. "Glassdoor" and logo are proprietary trademarks of Glassdoor, Inc. Cengage Media contact: Emily Featherston, [email protected] Glassdoor Media Contact: [email protected] SOURCE Cengage Group BEIJING, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has been playing an important role in China's fight against COVID-19. As China is shifting the focus of its COVID-19 response from preventing infections to protecting people's health and preventing severe cases, the unique strength of TCM is further leveraged by health authorities to protect the life and health of the people. On January 5, China issued the 10th version of diagnosis and treatment protocol for COVID-19, which fully reflects the valuable experience of using TCM in the treatment of severe and critical cases. The new protocol introduces targeted TCM treatments for severe cases, and puts forward relatively complete therapeutic TCM solutions for children. The country has also developed a unique plan to treat COVID-19 epidemic by combining the use of both TCM and Western medicine for severe and critical patients. Currently, the importance of TCM in the battle against coronavirus is mainly reflected in three aspects. "First, intervention can be stratified for patients," Huang Luqi, deputy head of the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, said on January 4 at a press conference. "Patients can choose proper TCM for home treatment to reduce the overloading risk and pressure on medical institutions and resources." Second, patients with mild and ordinary symptoms can depend on TCM as the leading treatment, Huang noted. Third, TCM plays a part in recovery. After nucleic acid turns negative, many patients still undergo cough, fatigue, sweating and other symptoms. "TCM can treat those symptoms and exert its function in overall regulation of the body as a whole," Huang said. China has been putting more and more effort to help patients in rural areas with TCM. In Daming County, Handan City of north China's Hebei Province, doctors are going to rural sites, providing free consultations and diagnosis to elderly villagers, and distributing free medicines, most of which are TCM and mixtures. "I've got medicine here twice, and after taking the medicine, my family members are feeling better," said resident Wang Aijiao. "Our hospital and the fellow hospitals are sending doctors to villages twice a week," said Yang Chenjuan, a doctor from the Daming Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine. "We also provide them with free Chinese herbal medicines, herbs for foot baths and TCM fumigations, as well as offer more health advice," Yang said. TCM companies across the country are using advanced manufacturing processes to ensure adequate output of medicines, and refining and improving TCM theories and practices to contain diseases. The production lines of pharmaceuticals company Zhendong Group are running 24 hours a day to make the medicine products for prevention of COVID-19. "We have invested more in production of proprietary Chinese medicines with modern concepts, from the cultivation and storage of Chinese herbs to product development. This is an opportunity for us to give back to society," said Li Anping, president of of the company. TCM therapy still offers effective treatment against new COVID-19 variants. "Current variants are all causing upper respiratory infections," said Liu Qingquan, president of Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, at a press conference on Monday, adding that the new variants spreading in other countries such as BQ.1 or XBB are not fundamentally different from the BA.5.2 and BF.7 which have been predominantly circulating in China. "Our TCM therapy still works," Liu said. https://news.cgtn.com/news/2023-01-11/TCM-continues-to-play-significant-role-in-treating-COVID-19-1gvsGymjqU0/index.html SOURCE CGTN VANCOUVER, BC, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - International Battery Metals Ltd. (the "Company") (CSE: IBAT) is pleased to announce that it has appointed Crowe MacKay LLP, as independent auditor of the Company, effective as of November 30, 2022 (the "Successor Auditor"). The Successor Auditor is being appointed following the receipt by the Company on December 20, 2022 of a formal resignation of Davidson and Company LLP (the ""Former Auditor"), with said resignation effective as of June 15, 2022. The board of directors of the Company appointed the Successor Auditor as the new auditor until the next Annual General Meeting of the Company. There are no reportable events between the Company and the Former Auditors. The Notice of Change of Auditors, together with the letter from the Former Auditors and the letter from the Successor Auditors, have been reviewed by the Company's Board of Directors. The Company has sent a Notice of Change of Auditor (the "Notice") to the Former Auditor and to the Successor Auditor and has received a letter from each, addressed to the securities commissions in each of British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario stating that they agree with the information contained in the Notice. The Notice, together with the letters from the Former Auditor and the Successor Auditor are available on www.SEDAR.com. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD "Garry Flowers" Garry Flowers, Chief Executive Officer About IBAT International Battery Metals (IBAT) is the first company in the world to successfully design, build and operate a mobile, Modular Direct Lithium Extraction (MDLE) plant at commercial scale with lithium brine. IBAT's patented extraction technology is proven to recover more lithium from brine than traditional methods, while offering a far superior environmental performance. IBAT's technology can be built, deployed and brought on-line in a fraction of the time, and at a fraction of the cost of traditional lithium mining models. Forward-looking and cautionary statements 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. The securities referred to herein 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 registration requirements. This release may contain statements within the meaning of safe harbour provisions as defined under securities laws and regulations. This release may contain certain forward looking statements with respect to the financial condition, results of operations and business of the Company and certain of the plans and objectives of the Company with respect to the same. By their nature, forward looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future and there are many factors that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward looking statements. SOURCE International Battery Metals Ltd. BEIJING, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- China Matters releases a talk show series on the development of southwest China's Guizhou Province. The six-episode talk show, named The Talk with Guizhou, invites six guests from China and abroad to share their views on topics such as how Guizhou promotes rural revitalization, how local culture can give a boost to its tourism industry and how the province can build a better ecosystem. How can Guizhous tourism benefit from its local cultures? In this episode, China Matters talks to David Bartosch, a distinguished research fellow at Beijing Normal University Zhuhai Campus. He shares with us his take on Wang Yangming's Thought and how the ancient Chinese philosophy can facilitate Guizhou's tourism development in modern age. "When I visited Guizhou province in 2005, I got attentive on Wang Yangming and his thought," says Bartosch, "and I started to become very interested in it." Wang Yangming (1472-1529), a Chinese Neo-Confucian philosopher, spoke out against the cruelty of a well-known courtier and was thus banished to remote Guizhou in the early 16th century. In his doctrine, all humans possess innate knowledge of good and evil and we must act upon our inborn conscience. Bartosch believes that the Yangming culture can be a starting point to develop various forms of cultural industries and tourism. "By making people become more attentive towards nature and themselves, it can encourage personal self-cultivation and development," he explains. Guizhou, for Bartosch, is a blessed place with great traditions, diverse ethnic minority groups and numerous intangible cultural heritages. "All of these complementary elements that make the life so livable in Guizhou province, they can be experienced on the spot," he says. Contact: Li Shengnan Tel: 0086-13701304527 E-mail: [email protected] Video - https://youtu.be/njeFC53MtM4 Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1735490/China_Matters_Logo.jpg SOURCE China Matters ZHONGSHAN, China, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Changhong, a top Chinese electrical household appliance maker and its premium brand CHiQ have recently been named as one of the 2022-2023 Global TV Brands Top 10. The Global Top Brands is a world-class event of authority, professionalism, and credibility - the hall of honor in international consumer electronics. The roster of 2022-2023 Global Top Brands and a number of single product awards were announced at the 56th International Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2023), one of the top ten annual events for the global technology industry, which was held in Las Vegas from January 5 to 8. This year's CES marks the beginning of a broad offline recovery. Changhong created the CHiQ brand for long-term growth in the home Internet consumer electronics space. The brand offers a diverse range of products, including televisions, refrigerators, and air conditioners. Changhong expects to provide consumers with a more comfortable and self-contained living experience through CHiQ. CHiQ has steadily expanded into global markets since 2017, with a presence in more than 30 countries and over 40 multi-market e-commerce platforms including Amazon, Lazada, and Shopee. With the garnering of the 2022-2023 Global TV Brands Top 10 award serving as a testimonial to its success, CHiQ is increasingly becoming known to consumers outside of China by virtue of its own strength and the many media channels through which the brand is promoted, all of which serve to increase brand influence. CHiQ aims to make every person's home a living space from which they can gain spiritual satisfaction by providing a line-up of intelligent, full-of-design, and innovative products that resonate with their life values (by being colorful, engaging, positive, and enjoyable). To this end, CHiQ developed the idea of +More ("Get + MORE Out Of Your Life"), from which it is possible to draw the concepts of +design, +fun, +creative, +choice, +style, and +value. Today, CHiQ's product categories are expanding beyond TVs, refrigerators, and air conditioners to include washing machines, monitors, and floor sweepers. The competitiveness of its product line is also growing at the same time. High-quality products are the foundation of the brand. With this in mind, CHiQ will continue to hone its technical abilities to deliver intelligent and reliable products that create a digitally smart life for its users. SOURCE CHiQ 2023 Marks the Fourth Year Cigna Named to the JUST 100 BLOOMFIELD, Conn., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Cigna Corporation (NYSE: CI) today announced it earned the #1 ranking among the health care industry in the newly released list of America's Most JUST Companies by JUST Capital and CNBC. Cigna placed #16 overall out of over 950 companies, and this year marks the fourth time that the organization has been recognized for its corporate citizenship. "We are committed to making a difference for those we serve and for the communities in which we live and work," said Kari Stevens, senior vice president, chief counsel and corporate secretary at Cigna. "Being named among America's best corporate citizens affirms our commitment to our stakeholders and encourages us to keep moving forward in driving transformative change." Cigna is taking many actions to help improve the health and vitality of its stakeholders, including: Customers: With the urgent and growing demand for mental health care, Cigna has doubled the size of our behavioral health network over the past five years to give customers quicker and more convenient access to clinicians who are equipped to serve their unique needs, ages and languages. With the urgent and growing demand for mental health care, Cigna has doubled the size of our behavioral health network over the past five years to give customers quicker and more convenient access to clinicians who are equipped to serve their unique needs, ages and languages. Employees: Our employees are dedicated to supporting our clients and customers, and we are dedicated to supporting our employees. In 2022, Cigna expanded its caregiver leave program, which now allows up to eight weeks of paid leave to enable employees to care for a family member with a serious health condition, including care for grandparents and grandchildren in addition to children, spouses and parents. Our employees are dedicated to supporting our clients and customers, and we are dedicated to supporting our employees. In 2022, Cigna expanded its caregiver leave program, which now allows up to eight weeks of paid leave to enable employees to care for a family member with a serious health condition, including care for grandparents and grandchildren in addition to children, spouses and parents. Communities: Cigna's Community Ambassador Fellowship program provides eligible employees up to three months of paid leave and up to $20,000 to support a community-based project. Over 30 employees have been a part of this powerful experience to date. The collective impact of this program reflects approximately 14,000 hours in volunteerism across five countries and a significant investment from Cigna to support community program development and execution. JUST Capital is an independent non-profit organization widely regarded as the leading platform for tracking, measuring, and improving corporate performance in the stakeholder economy. The JUST 100 is the only ranking that recognizes companies doing right by all their stakeholders as defined by the American public. 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 more than 160,000 participants, on a fully representative basis, since 2015. About Cigna Cigna Corporation is a global health service company dedicated to improving the health, well-being and peace of mind of those we serve. Cigna delivers choice, predictability, affordability and access to quality care through integrated capabilities and connected, personalized solutions that advance whole person health. All products and services are provided exclusively by or through operating subsidiaries of Cigna Corporation, including Cigna Health and Life Insurance Company, Connecticut General Life Insurance Company, Evernorth companies or their affiliates and Express Scripts companies or their affiliates. Such products and services include an integrated suite of health services, such as medical, dental, behavioral health, pharmacy, vision, supplemental benefits and other related products. Cigna maintains sales capability in over 30 countries and jurisdictions, and has over 190 million customer relationships around the world. To learn more about Cigna, including links to follow us on Facebook or Twitter, visit www.cigna.com. Media Contact Meaghan MacDonald 1 (860) 840-1212 [email protected] SOURCE Cigna HONG KONG, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- CNOOC Limited (the "Company" or, SEHK: 00883, SSE: 600938) today announces its business strategy and development plan for the year 2023. The Company raises its production target and capital expenditure budget for 2023. Net production target is 650 million to 660 million barrels of oil equivalent (BOE), of which, production from China and overseas accounts for approximately 70% and 30%, respectively. Net production is expected to reach 690 million to 700 million BOE in 2024 and 730 million to 740 million BOE in 2025. The Company's total capital expenditure for 2023 is budgeted at RMB 100 billion to RMB 110 billion, of which, capital expenditures for exploration, development, production and others will account for approximately 18%, 59%, 21% and 2% of the total capital expenditure, respectively. In 2023, 9 new projects are expected to come on stream during the year, including projects in China such as Bozhong 19-6 Condensate Gas Field Phase I Development Project, Lufeng 12-3 Oilfield Development Project and Enping 18-6 Oilfield Development Project and overseas projects such as Payara Project in Guyana, Buzios5 Project and Mero2 Project in Brazil. Meanwhile, the Company continues to promote green and low-carbon development and actively expands its new energy business. It will steadily advance the project of onshore power for offshore platforms to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the oil and gas production activities. It will lead the development of CZ7 Centralized Offshore Wind Power Demonstration Project in Hainan, which, upon completion, can provide clean electricity of about 500 million kWh per year to the grid, reducing CO 2 emission by about 2.64 million tons each year. The Company always attaches importance to rewarding shareholders and actively shares the benefits of development. Subject to the approval by the general meeting of shareholders on the proposed dividends for each year, from 2022 to 2024, the expected annual payout ratio of the Company will be no less than 40% and the annual absolute dividend is expected to be no less than HK$ 0.70/share (tax inclusive). Mr. Zhou Xinhuai, CEO of the Company, said, "In the coming year, CNOOC Limited will continue to seek progress while delivering stable performance. The Company will vigorously implement the three major programs of Reserves & Production Augmentation, Independent Technological Innovation and Green Energy Transition, and press ahead with the initiative of Quality and Efficiency Dual Upgrading, so that we can sharpen our edge of core competitiveness and create greater value for shareholders." Notes to Editors: More information about the Company is available at http://www.cnoocltd.com. This press release includes forward looking information, including statements regarding the likely future developments in the business of the Company and its subsidiaries, such as expected future events, business prospects or financial results. The words "expect", "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "objective", "ongoing", "may", "will", "project", "should", "believe", "plans", "intends" and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These statements are based on assumptions and analyses made by the Company as of this date in light of its experience and its perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors that the Company currently believes are appropriate under the circumstances. However, whether actual results and developments will meet the current expectations and predictions of the Company is uncertain. Actual results, performance and financial condition may differ materially from the Company's expectations, including but not limited to those associated with macro-political and economic factors, fluctuations in crude oil and natural gas prices, the highly competitive nature of the oil and natural gas industry, climate change and environment policies, the Company's price forecast, mergers, acquisitions and divestments activities, HSSE and insurance policies and changes in anti-corruption, anti-fraud, anti-money laundering and corporate governance laws. Consequently, all of the forward-looking statements made in this presentation are qualified by these cautionary statements. The Company cannot assure that the results or developments anticipated will be realised or, even if substantially realised, that they will have the expected effect on the Company, its business or operations. For further enquiries, please contact: Ms. Ariel Wang Media & Public Relations CNOOC Limited Tel: +86-10-8452-6832 Fax: +86-10-8452-1441 E-mail: [email protected] Mr. Bunny Lee Porda Havas International Finance Communications Group Tel: +852 3150 6707 Fax: +852 3150 6728 E-mail: [email protected] SOURCE CNOOC Limited A Unison Energy microgrid comprised of combined heat and power systems from 2G Energy Inc., withstands the winter storms that kept thousands of PSEG users in the dark for more than 30 hours. ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- As gusty winds, heavy rain, and frigid temperatures rolled into the Ronkonkoma area on Christmas Eve, many were left watching alerts of power outages and updates in their area, except for the local ShopRite that was able to stand resilient through the elements. The ShopRite of Lake Ronkonkoma , New York, continued normal operations as the National Weather Service storm described as "once in a generation" began Thursday, December 22nd, and lasted throughout the weekend. Utilizing two 2G combined heat and power units owned and operated by Unison Energy, this location was able to evade massive inventory loss and create a support system for its community by keeping the doors open. A CHP microgrid withstood the winter storms that kept thousands of PSEG users in the dark for more than 30 hours. Tweet this Charles Gallagher, owner of three ShopRite stores on Long Island, stated, "The day of the storm, I received several texts from PSEG Long Island about high winds, flooding, and to plan for long-duration outages. I deleted all of them and was able to rest easy, knowing our Unison microgrids would keep our stores open and power us through any utility outages during the storm." Director of Marketing for Unison Energy, Leslie Meyer, stated "If power is lost, millions in dollars of inventory is at risk. Without the microgrid, the store would have had to scramble for dry ice and backup generators and to obtain fuel for the generators." The Lake Ronkonkoma microgrid is comprised of two combined heat and power (CHP) systems (a 360 kW system & a 280 kW system) with a total generating capacity of 640 kW and on-site controls. These systems utilized 'island mode' for a continuous supply of electricity and heating/cooling as needed, without pulling from the grid. With this disconnection, the store no longer relied on the utility, relieving the grid of excess use and allowing the store to keep up with the peak time fluctuation to support the holiday shoppers. "The microgrid's controls sensed that utility power was out and seamlessly put the microgrid in island mode," said Scott Fiveland, Vice President of Operations for Unison Energy. About Unison Energy, LLC Unison Energy owns and operates on-site microgrid solutions that provide our clients with energy resilience, significant cost savings, and a reduced carbon footprint. We design, build, own, operate, and maintain these systems through a long-term energy services agreement that requires no capital investment from our clients; the systems remain on our balance sheet and we bill our clients only for energy provided to the facility. For more information, please visit us at www.unisonenergy.com. About 2G Energy Inc. 2G Energy is one of the leading international manufacturers of combined heat and power (CHP) systems for decentralized electricity and heat generation. 2G's product portfolio supports CHP projects with an electrical output of between 20 kW and 20MW for operation with natural gas, biogas, and hydrogen. 2G has its own combustion engine line with low fuel consumption, high availability, and optimized maintenance intervals. It is the world's first commercial 100 percent H2 capable system. 2G has installed several thousand CHP plants worldwide and supports our projects with best-in-class service and support. Media Contacts: Kimberley Padro, Marketing Coordinator 2G Energy Inc. [email protected] Leslie Meyer, Director of Marketing Unison Energy, LLC [email protected] SOURCE 2G Energy CHICAGO, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Common-mode Chokes Market is projected to grow from USD 629 Million in 2023 to USD 820 Million by 2028; it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.4% during the forecast period according to a new report by MarketsandMarkets. The growth of the market is attributed to the increasing adoption of common-mode chokes in consumer electronics, growing trend towards industrial 4.0 technology, rising demand in automotive and transportation application. Proliferation of stringent regulation related to emission of electromagnetic energy causing EMI is expected to create growth opportunities for the market. Download PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=102787257 Browse in-depth TOC on "Common-mode Chokes Market" 204 Tables 61 Figures 237 Pages Power line type to account for a larger share of common-mode chokes market in 2023 Power line common-mode chokes are expected to command the market during the forecast period. Common-mode choke manufacturers are keen on offering low-profile, miniature common-mode chokes that efficiently help attenuate common-mode noise in both power and data line applications. For example,Coilcraft Inc. offers LPD, MSD, and PFD common-mode chokes that provide filtering in a single, low-profile, miniature device. Consumer electronics segment to lead common-mode chokes market in 2023 Common-mode chokes in the consumer electronics vertical find applications in LCD (liquid-crystal display) panels, power cables, USB drives, computers, laptops, monitors, television sets, etc. Innovations in sensor technology and a rising focus on the miniaturization of electronic components integrated into consumer electronics and household products are likely to generate growth opportunities for the providers of common-mode chokes. These electronic products include digital and analog circuitries installed very close to each other, thereby creating common-mode noise and electromagnetic interference, which can cause malfunction and degradation in the performance of electrical equipment. New regulations and standards defined for consumer electronic appliances are further boosting the adoption of common-mode chokes. It will also drive the development of technologically advanced common-mode chokes. Request Sample Pages: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestsampleNew.asp?id=102787257 Market in Asia Pacific to hold significant opportunities for the market during forecast period There is an increased demand for common-mode chokes in Asia Pacific, especially from major countries such as China, Japan, South Korea, and India. The growth of the common-mode chokes market in Asia Pacific can be attributed to increased investments across industries in factory automation and the booming electronics manufacturing sector. Ongoing technological innovations and the increasing adoption of automation technology in various industries have accelerated the demand for common-mode chokes in the region. According to the International Federation of Robotics Report 2022, Asia Pacific held the world's largest industrial robot market, such that in 2021, 73% of the newly deployed robots were installed in Asia Pacific. The dense population and the growth in per capita income, along with large-scale industrialization and urbanization, will create lucrative opportunities for the players in the common-mode chokes market. Key players Major vendors in the common-mode chokes market include Eaton (Ireland), TDK Corporation (Japan), Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (Japan), Schaffner Holding AG (Switzerland), and YAGEO Group (Pulse Electronics) (Taiwan) among others. Get 10% Free Customization on this Report: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestCustomizationNew.asp?id=102787257 Browse Adjacent Market: Semiconductor and Electronics Market Research Reports &Consulting Related Reports: EMI Shielding Market by Material (EMI Shielding Tapes & Laminates, Conductive Coatings & Paints, Metal Shielding, Conductive Polymers, EMI/EMC Filters), Method (Radiation, Conduction), Industry (Consumer Electronics, Automotive) - Global Forecast to 2027 Inductor Market by Inductance (Fixed, Variable), Type (Wire wound, Multilayered, Molded, Film), Core Type (Air, Ferrite, Iron), Shield Type (Shielded, Unshielded), Mounting Technique, Vertical, Application, Geography - Global Forecast 2027 EMC Shielding and Test Equipment Market by Type (EMC Shielding, EMC Test Equipment), Vertical (Consumer Electronics, Telecom & IT, Automotive, Healthcare, Aerospace, and Others), Application, and Geography (2020-2025) Electronics Conformal Coating Market by Material (Acrylic, Silicone, Parylene, Urethane/Polyurethane, Epoxy), Equipment (Curing, Coating), Method (Brush Coating, Dipping), Application and Geography - Global Forecasts to 2020 Piezoelectric Devices Market by Material (Piezoelectric Ceramics, Polymers), Product (Piezoelectric Actuators, Transducers, Motors), Application (Aerospace & Defense, Industrial, Consumer) and Region Global Forecast to 2027 About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets is a blue ocean alternative in growth consulting and program management, leveraging a man-machine offering to drive supernormal growth for progressive organizations in the B2B space. We have the widest lens on emerging technologies, making us proficient in co-creating supernormal growth for clients. The B2B economy is witnessing the emergence of $25 trillion of new revenue streams that are substituting existing revenue streams in this decade alone. We work with clients on growth programs, helping them monetize this $25 trillion opportunity through our service lines - TAM Expansion, Go-to-Market (GTM) Strategy to Execution, Market Share Gain, Account Enablement, and Thought Leadership Marketing. Built on the 'GIVE Growth' principle, we work with several Forbes Global 2000 B2B companies - helping them stay relevant in a disruptive ecosystem. Our insights and strategies are molded by our industry experts, cutting-edge AI-powered Market Intelligence Cloud, and years of research. 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Contact: Mr. Aashish Mehra MarketsandMarkets INC. 630 Dundee Road Suite 430 Northbrook, IL 60062 USA: +1-888-600-6441 Email: [email protected] Visit Our Web Site: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ Research Insight: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ResearchInsight/common-mode-chokes-market.asp Content Source: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/PressReleases/common-mode-chokes.asp Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/660509/MarketsandMarkets_Logo.jpg SOURCE MarketsandMarkets Chefs and Food Science Influencers Honor the Art of Sous Vide with Inaugural Ambassador of Sous Vide Awards & Exclusive Global Events STERLING, Va., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Cuisine Solutions Inc. , (CUSI), the global leader and largest premium food company in pioneering and perfecting the sous vide cooking technique, will celebrate their 6th International Sous Vide Day on January 26th, honoring the 81st birthday of Dr. Bruno Goussault, the Master of Modern Sous Vide and Chief Scientist of CREA (Culinary Research and Education Academy), the research and innovation arm of Cuisine Solutions. Dr. Bruno Goussault This year, Cuisine Solutions will host a global celebration with a trio of exclusive events in Washington D.C., Thailand, and France. Celebrated master chefs and industry leaders will come together to experience the artistry and history of the sous vide cooking method, pioneered by Dr. Goussault over 50 years ago in 1971. In Epernay, France, an elegant reception will be held at the Chateau Comtesse Lafond, where invited guests will be treated to innovative small sous vide plates and craft sous vide cocktails created by the company's renowned culinary team. The afternoon affair will be emceed by Cuisine Solutions Chief Strategy Officer, Gerard Bertholon, and attended by Dr. Bruno Goussault and Chairman Stanislas Vilgrain. Top chefs and culinary luminaries slated to attend include President of French Master Chefs USA/Canada, Jean-Louis Dumonet, two Michelin star chef Jacques Chibois, President of Cuisiniers de France, Christian Millet, and chefs Ghislaine Arabian, Sebastien Canonne, Michel Widehem and Christian Segui. Bertholon will present the first annual Ambassador of Sous Vide Awards, honoring influential voices in the food science space who have demonstrated excellence in sous vide and have created awareness of the technique. All winners will be announced for each region on January 26th at their respective celebrations. In Thailand, guests will mingle with Cuisine Solutions President and CEO Felipe Hasselmann and award-winning chef and TV personality Ian Kittichai, who is expected to attend, at the Avani Riverside Hotel's SEEN rooftop, where guests will be treated to elegant Thai sous vide delicacies and traditional Thai performances. The company will also host an event at Taffer's Tavern in Washington, D.C. with sous vide dishes and custom cocktails. Cuisine Solutions partnered with Jon Taffer on the Taffer's Tavern franchise's "kitchen of the future" concept, utilizing sous vide technology. The company is the owner-operator of the Washington D.C. location, which opened this past year. International Sous Vide Day pays homage to Dr. Bruno Goussault's legacy in the art of sous vide. Dr. Goussault serves as the Chief Scientist at Cuisine Solutions and founded the Culinary Research & Education Academy (CREA). He has taught the application of sous vide cooking to Michelin-starred chefs such as Yannick Alleno, Daniel Boulud, Thomas Keller, Anne-Sophie Pic, and Joel Robuchon, among many others. Since its inception in 1991, CREA and Dr. Goussault have trained over 80% of the three-star Michelin chefs around the world. Dr. Goussault holds a seat on the board of the Association des Chimistes (Association of Chemists) and Ingenieurs et Cadres des Industries Agricoles et Alimentaires (Engineers and Managers of Agricultural and Food Industries) and was named as one of the 100 visionaries in the Albert Einstein Legacy Project's Genius: 100 Visions of the Future initiative. Further information about International Sous Vide Day and special sous vide recipes can be found at: www.internationalsousvideday.com and www.cuisinesolutions.com. For additional information, please contact R. Couri Hay or Sarah Gartner at R. Couri Hay Creative PR T: 1-212-580-0835 E: [email protected] | [email protected] About Cuisine Solutions Cuisine Solutions is the world's leading manufacturer and distributor of sous vide foods. Led by an international team of award-winning chefs, Cuisine Solutions is recognized as the authority on sous videthe innovative precise-cooking technique that the company pioneered, perfected, and popularized decades ago. Headquartered in Sterling, Virginia, Cuisine Solutions services more than 22,000 restaurants and 6,000 retailers, as well as first and business class on the top 10 airlines in the world, and major hotels. To learn more, visit www.cuisinesolutions.com. About International Sous Vide Day International Sous Vide Day, celebrated every year on January 26th since 2018, marks the birthday of Dr. Bruno Goussault - the pioneer of modern sous vide. The art of sous vide spans the globe, crossing borders and boundaries to connect people through beautiful meals. On International Sous Vide Day, we bring the art of sous vide to the forefront, celebrating culinary innovators and the work they do to inspire and transform the dining experience. For more information, visit www.internationalsousvideday.com. About CREA The Culinary Research and Education Academy (CREA) is a global leader in culinary research, education and consulting. Founded in 1991 in France by Chief Scientist Dr. Bruno Goussault as Centre de Recherche et d'Etudes pour l'Alimentation, CREA aims to change the way chefs prepare food through rigorous training, food science innovation and food consulting. To date, CREA and Dr. Goussault have trained over 5,000 chefs around the world and over 80% of the world's 3-Star Michelin chefs. Through its headquarters in Paris and Washington, D.C., CREA educates and consults professional chefs and top industry professionals alike through educational programs, global seminars, online video courses and customized engagements. For more information, visit www.lecrea.com. SOURCE Cuisine Solutions, Inc. TSX.V: DME U.S. OTC: DMEHF Frankfurt: QM01 VANCOUVER, BC, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - DESERT MOUNTAIN ENERGY CORP. (the "Company") (TSXV: DME), (U.S. OTC: DMEHF), (Frankfurt: QM01) From the President of the Company. The Company is pleased to announce that it has elected to exercise its option to lease an additional 8,023 acres in Arizona. The Company's geologic team identified the structural highs on the additional acreage based on geophysical data. Along with intact helium traps, structural highs are essential to drilling a successful helium well. "Desert Mountain Energy will continue to acquire additional land based on desired geological modelling," said Robert Rohlfing, CEO. "We expect to have more land acquisitions to announce in 2023." Initial production garnered from any wells on this acreage would be handled by the McCauley Helium Processing Facility. The Company has acquired surface property to support all future production facilities. ABOUT DESERT MOUNTAIN ENERGY Desert Mountain Energy Corp. is a publicly traded resource company primarily focused on exploration, development and production of helium, hydrogen and noble gases. The Company is primarily looking for elements deemed critical to the renewable energy and high technology industries. We seek safe harbor "Robert Rohlfing" Robert Rohlfing Exec Chairman & CEO Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in polices of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. The statements made in this press release may contain certain forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual events or results may differ from the Company's expectations. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Such forward looking statements and information herein include but are not limited to statements regarding the Company's anticipated performance in the future the planned exploration activities, receipt of positive results from drilling, the completion of further drilling and exploration work, and the timing and results of various activities. Forward-looking statements or information involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company and its operations to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such statements. Such factors include, among others, changes in national and local governments, legislation, taxation, controls, regulations and political or economic developments in Canada and the United States; financial risks due to helium prices, operating or technical difficulties in exploration and development activities; risks and hazards and the speculative nature of resource exploration and related development; risks in obtaining necessary licenses and permits, and challenges to the Company's title to properties. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions management believes to be reasonable, including but not limited to the continued operation of the Company's exploration operations, no material adverse change in the market price of commodities, and such other assumptions and factors as set out herein. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or information, there may be other factors that cause results to be materially different from those anticipated, described, estimated, assessed or intended. There can be no assurance that any forward-looking statements or information will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements or information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. The Company does not intend to, and nor does not assume any obligation to update such forward-looking statements or information, other than as required by applicable law. SOURCE Desert Mountain Energy Corp. DFIN Earns Honor Four Years in a Row CHICAGO, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Donnelley Financial Solutions (NYSE: DFIN), a leading global risk and compliance solutions company, today announced that it has been recognized by Built In as one of the 2023 Best Places to Work in Chicago and in the U.S. DFIN ranked in the following categories: Chicago Best Large Places to Work Chicago Best Places to Work U.S. Best Large Places to Work Our investment in the total wellbeing of our employees is an ongoing strategy for us. Tweet this Built In recognizes the top employers across the country with the best total rewards packages, focusing on the benefits that candidates most frequently search for on its platform: remote and flexible work opportunities, programs for DEI, and other people-first cultural offerings. "I am deeply honored to receive this award for the fourth year in a row," said Kirk Williams, Chief Human Resources Officer at DFIN. "It serves as validation that the improvements we've continued to make in our benefits and compensation offerings are resonating in the marketplace. Our investment in the total wellbeing of our employees is an ongoing strategy for us." In congratulating this year's winners, Built In Chief Marketing Officer Sheridan Orr said, "These exemplary companies understand their people are their most valuable asset, and they've stepped up to meet the modern professional's new expectations, including the desire to work for companies that deliver purpose, growth, and inclusion. These winners set the stage for a human-centered future of work, and we can't wait to see that future unfold." About Donnelley Financial Solutions (DFIN) DFIN is a leading global risk and compliance solutions company. We provide domain expertise, enterprise software and data analytics for every stage of our clients' business and investment lifecycles. Markets fluctuate, regulations evolve, technology advances, and through it all, DFIN delivers confidence with the right solutions in moments that matter. Learn about DFIN's end-to-end risk and compliance solutions online at DFINsolutions.com or you can also follow us on Twitter @DFINSolutions or on LinkedIn. About Built In Built In is creating the largest platform for technology professionals globally. Monthly, millions of the industry's most in-demand professionals visit the site from across the world. They rely on our platform to stay ahead of tech trends and news, learn skills to accelerate their careers and find opportunities at companies whose values they share. Built In also serves 2,000 customers, innovative companies ranging from startups to those in the Fortune 500. By putting their stories in front of our uniquely engaged audience, we help them hire otherwise hard-to-reach tech professionals. http://www.builtin.com About Built In's Best Places to Work Built In's esteemed Best Places to Work awards, now in its fifth year, honor companies across numerous categories: 100 Best Places to Work, 50 Best Startup Places to Work, 100 Best Midsize Places to Work, 100 Best Large Places to Work and Editor's Choice: 100 Best Hybrid Places to Work. The program honors companies remote, hybrid and in-office with the best total rewards packages across the U.S. and in the following tech hubs: Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Colorado, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington DC. SOURCE Donnelley Financial LLC Verizon Communications has entered into a 180-megawatt virtual power purchase agreement Company awards $60,000 grant to support the Ledyard Fire Department CHARLOTTE, N.C., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions (DESS), a nonregulated commercial brand of Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), today announced it has placed into commercial operation the 207-megawatt (MW) Ledyard Windpower project in Kossuth County, Iowa. "More than 10% of the nation's wind power is in Iowa, and it's exciting for our company to begin operating in that market," said Chris Fallon, president of Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions. "We also have a terrific customer in Verizon, and we're pleased to help them advance their own renewable energy portfolio for their operations." Verizon Communications is supporting the project through a 15-year virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) for 180 MW of power from the Ledyard project. "Verizon's support of renewable energy is a key enabler to achieving our goal of net-zero emissions in our operations by 2035," said James Gowen, Verizon's chief sustainability officer and senior vice president, global supply chain. "Through investments in clean energy solutions like this agreement with Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions Verizon is doing its part to green the U.S. energy grid." This is DESS's first project in the state, providing enough renewable capacity to power the equivalent of 75,000 U.S. homes. It consists of 46 Vestas V150 4.5-MW turbines. Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions is responsible for the site's long-term maintenance and operations. Ledyard Windpower created about 200 jobs during peak construction. The 12,000-acre agricultural site will continue to be used by farmers. It will have a positive economic impact on the local community by providing significant local tax revenues during assessment years of commercial operation to the county and local school districts, as well as meaningful payments to participating landowners. Ledyard Windpower was co-developed by Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions and Amshore Renewable Energy. Supporting the community The Duke Energy Foundation and Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions are supporting the Ledyard Fire Department and its efforts to purchase a tanker pumper truck. A grant of $60,000 was recently awarded to the department. Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions is a leader in sustainable energy, helping large enterprises reduce power costs, lower emissions and increase resiliency. The team provides wind, solar, resilient backup power and managed energy services to over 1,000 projects across the U.S., with a total electric capacity of more than 5,100 megawatts of nonregulated renewable energy. Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions is a nonregulated commercial brand of Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company and one of the largest energy holding companies in the U.S., headquartered in Charlotte, N.C. The brand includes the following subsidiaries of Duke Energy Corporation that are registered to transact business in various states and may be branded as Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions for marketing purposes: Duke Energy One, Inc.; Duke Energy Commercial Enterprises, Inc.; Duke Energy Renewables, Inc.; Duke Energy Renewables Commercial, LLC; Duke Energy Renewable Services, LLC.; Duke Energy Renewables Storage, LLC; Duke Energy Renewables Wind, LLC.; Duke Energy Renewables Solar, LLC.; and REC Solar Commercial Corporation. Contact: Randy Wheeless 24-Hour: 800.559.3853 Twitter: @DE_RandyW SOURCE Duke Energy ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Elizabethtown College launched the Make A Deposit, Make A Difference campaign for the fourth consecutive year. In the annual campaign, the College matches all deposits made by first-year students who will enroll as members of the Class of 2027 between Jan. 11 and March 18. The College has set a goal of $15,000 and will donate its proceeds to a local non-profit organization. This year's recipient of the Make A Deposit, Make A Difference proceeds is Keystone Pet Enhanced Therapy Services (KPETS). KPETS is a volunteer team that aims to promote well-being by sharing the power of human-animal interactions in south-central Pennsylvania and northern Maryland. "Our Blue Jay community is dedicated and committed to making valuable contributions to the world beyond our campus to make a difference in the lives of others," Elizabethtown College President Betty Rider said. "Our Educate for Service mission guides us to create societal impact through our knowledge, talents, and energy, and the Make a Deposit, Make A Difference campaign introduces our newest students to our service-minded environment." Elizabethtown College launched the Make a Deposit, Make a Difference campaign in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The effort aligns with the College's motto Educate for Service, which was adopted in 1915. Educate for Service expresses the campus community's belief that the pursuit of knowledge is most noble when used to benefit others. "We are thrilled when new students join our Blue Jay family, and the Make A Deposit, Make A Difference campaign makes it extra exciting to be able to share that monumental decision by impacting another person's life in a meaningful way," Elizabethtown College Vice President for Enrollment Management John F. Champoli said. Elizabethtown College will hold three Accepted Student Day events in 2023 where students will learn more about the College and connect with faculty, staff, and students. KPETS will also be on-site to welcome families. Students can also make their deposits toward the Make a Deposit, Make a Difference campaign. "Our enrollment has been up for the last three consecutive years and is on pace to increase again this year," Champoli said. "We credit our consistent success with the robust and relevant academic programs, desirable graduation and job placement rates, and the vibrant student life we offer at Etown." Discover more about Elizabethtown College. About KPETS KPETS volunteer teams promote well-being by sharing the power of human-animal interactions serving our local communities. Services are provided free of charge. KPETS coordinates the work of these highly motivated and committed volunteers in providing thousands of pet therapy hours a year in South Central Pa. and Northern Md. Learn more. About Elizabethtown College Elizabethtown College, located in southcentral Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, is a private coed institution offering more than 50 health, science, engineering, political science business, communications, fine art and music, humanities, and education degrees. Discover more: etown.edu. Contact: Keri Straub Associate Vice President for Marketing and Communications Elizabethtown College (717) 725-6907 [email protected] SOURCE Elizabethtown College The real estate startup that wants to profit from rising sea levels caused outrage Dissolving the alleged sales launch: digital asset manager growney as the originator of the initiative A previously underestimated climate protection measure: sustainable financial investment HAMBURG, Germany, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- In recent weeks, the real estate startup "THE RISE" sparked controversies: In the typical style of investment videos, its charming CEO advertised the ingeniously unscrupulous idea of selling parcels of land far from the coast, which might be by the sea soon due to rising sea levels. YouTube ads, provocative social media posts, and billboards in Northern Germany ensured that the idea quickly became a heated topic. Disaster as a business model The media and climate activists were appalled: Are investors so unscrupulous as to make a profit on climate change? On the other hand, numerous enquiries poured in, expressing interest in the properties. What is now clear is that the company does not exist. The digital asset manager, growney, is behind the initiative. "In times of crisis, people try to invest their money safely - real estate is a top-rated one. In the process, sustainability is often ignored as a factor", says Thimm Blickensdorf from the growney executive board. In times of increasingly extreme climate protests the campaign creatively draws attention to the possibility of sustainable investment. "THE RISE" is now called "STOP THE RISE". The message: Everyone can contribute to climate protection be it through donations, their own actions or sustainable investments. Hamburg-based creative agencies Philipp und Keuntje and fischerAppelt conceived and implemented the campaign. About growney growney is one of the largest digital asset managers in Germany. Founded in 2014 in Berlin, the FinTech company manages funds for private and corporate clients. growney has received several awards for its investment strategies, low costs and service. Press contacts growney GmbH Dirk Hempel +40 (0) 173 39 222 70 [email protected] fischerAppelt, relations GmbH Louis Sternberg +49 (0)151 63 444 910 [email protected] SOURCE growney GmbH Travelers are invited to meet with top cruise and vacation suppliers, and book their dream vacation FORT MYERS, Fla., Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- All Aboard Travel, a Travel Leaders Vacation Center and Southwest Florida's premier cruise and tour package travel agency, has announced the dates for its popular Cruise & Travel Expo 2023. This year's expo, featuring representatives from the leading ocean and river cruises, resorts and tour companies, will take place January 18 from 1:00-4:30 EST at The Crowne Plaza Fort Myers at Bell Tower Shops (13051 Bell Tower Drive, Fort Myers, FL). Admission to the expo is free. This years free expo, featuring representatives from the leading ocean and river cruises, resorts and tour companies, will take place January 18 from 1:00-4:30 EST at The Crowne Plaza Fort Myers at Bell Tower Shops (13051 Bell Tower Drive, Fort Myers, FL) Hosted by All Aboard Travel and Travel Leaders Vacation Center, the Cruise & Travel Expo gives consumers insider access to representatives from travel authorities. Whether they are looking for a land, river or sea vacation, the Cruise & Travel Expo is the source for Southwest Floridians to dream and take action on their next vacation. "Travelers want to have access to a wide variety of information, but it needs to be from the experts," said Sharon Concepcion, Vice President, Leisure Operations of All Aboard Travel and Travel Leaders Vacation Center. "At the Cruise & Travel Expo, not only can they meet with representatives from cruise lines and resorts, but they also have the support of All Aboard Travel and Travel Leaders Vacation Center to be able to make the right decision on their next vacation. The human touch in travel is incredibly important, and this event brings human expertisenot a machineto these travelers." Representatives of some of the top cruise and tour companies will offer that expertise to those at the Cruise & Tour Expo with 20-minute presentations that go in-depth on their offerings. This represents a rare chance for travelers to interact directly with these travel experts, and get inspired to try their products in the future. Seating at these presentations is first-come, first-served. Attendees will also be able to take advantage of special expo-only discounts on many types of travel packages. And they can register for a chance to win a five-night stay at Riu Palace Costa Mujeres, courtesy of Funjet Vacations. The prize drawing will take place on January 25, 2023 and the winner will be notified. "We welcome experienced and novice travelers to the Cruise & Tour Expo," Concepcion said. "Take the opportunity to speak with our suppliersthanks to All Aboard Travel and Travel Leaders Vacation Center's strong relationships, the best of the best in cruise, resort and tours will be in Fort Myers on January 18. They would love to tell everyone about their products, and we will be happy to make those vacation dreams a reality." For additional information, contact All Aboard Travel at 800.741.1770 or visit AllAboardTravel.com. About All Aboard Travel All Aboard Travel is a premier cruise and tour package agency providing clients with the best value when cruising and traveling to destinations worldwide. All Aboard Travel offers exclusive value-focused cruise packages that typically include reduced airfare with pre- and post- land programs, often featuring hotels, tours and ground transportation. All Aboard Travel's experts specialize in coordinating for a wide range of travel needs. All Aboard Travel has been in business for more than 30 years. About Travel Leaders Vacation Center Travel Leaders Vacation Center, part of Travel Leaders Group, a division of Internova Travel Group, is a unified collection of wholly-owned agencies primarily located in the Eastern United States comprised of 11 leisure agencies, including Travel Time in York and Lancaster, Pa.; Travel Place in Manassas, Va. and Potomac, Md.; S and K Travel in Knoxville, Tenn. and Roswell, Ga.; Williamsburg Travel Management in Charleston, SC and Vidalia, Ga.; Springdale Travel in Mobile, Ala. and Pensacola, Fla.; and Marz Travel in Pembroke Pines, Fla. Other wholly-owned Travel Leaders agencies that have adopted the 'A Travel Leaders Vacation Center' tag line include SinglesCruise.com in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., All Aboard Travel in Ft. Myers, Fla., CruCon Cruise Outlet in the Lakes Region of NH; Cruise Specialists in Seattle, and Student Tours in Mobile, Ala. Travel Leaders Vacation Centers are also members of Travel Leaders Network. CONTACT: Berit Griffin [email protected] 651-442-5173 SOURCE All Aboard Travel Rise in demand for processed food and functional ingredients, increase in demand for food, beverages and nutraceuticals due to the growing population, and rise in disposable income of consumers drive the global food ingredients market growth. PORTLAND, Ore., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "Food Ingredients Market by Type (Flavors, Color Additives, Preservatives, Fat Replacers, Sweeteners, Stabilizers, Emulsifiers, and Binders, Thickeners, pH Control Agents, Nutrients, Others), by Application (Food and Beverages, Nutraceuticals, Animal Feed): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2031." According to the report, the global food ingredients industry is estimated to generate $270.2 billion in 2021 and $475.4 billion by 2031, witnessing a CAGR of 5.8% from 2022 to 2031. The report offers a detailed analysis of changing market trends, top segments, key investment pockets, value chain, regional landscape, and competitive scenario. Download Free Sample Report: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/11393 Drivers, Restraints and Opportunities Rise in demand for packaged and processed food, an upsurge in the demand for natural food colors from various end-use industries, including food & beverages, bakery & confectionery, dairy products, meat & poultry, and seafood, rise in consumers' need for food, beverages and nutraceuticals due to the growing population, an increase in the demand for functional ingredients, and a rise in disposable income of consumers fuel the growth of the global food ingredients market. However, regulatory guidelines by government to regulate food ingredients hinder the market growth. On the other hand, product innovations, a rise in the trend of healthy eating, economic growth, and others present new opportunities in the market in the coming years. Covid-19 Scenario The global food ingredients market witnessed a slow growth during the COVID-19 pandemic as many countries considered food ingredients as non-essential items. The supply chain was affected and travel restrictions and logistics suspensions hampered the import of food ingredients. Consumers were unable to purchase items during the government-mandated closure, thus affecting customer demand for the products. Additionally, misfunctioning of restaurants and bars, geographically specialized sales channels, and government-enacted stay-at-home directives limited the purchase of food ingredients for commercial use. The sweeteners segment to dominate the market in terms of revenue during the forecast period Based on type, the sweeteners segment contributed to the largest share of more than two-fifths of the global food ingredients market in 2021, and is expected to lead the trail during the forecast period, owing to its wide variations, high market penetration and growing demand for low-calorie sweeteners. However, the preservatives segment is projected to witness the fastest CAGR of 9.4% from 2022 to 2031. This is owing to the increased usage of preservatives in manufacturing of food and beverage products to cater to the market demand. The food and beverages segment to maintain its dominance during the forecast period Based on application, the food and beverages segment held the largest share of nearly three-fifths of the global food ingredients market in 2021, and is expected to maintain a prominent growth during the forecast period. This is due to the growing global population which is fueling the demand for food products, which in turn, is increasing the demand and sales of food ingredients. However, the animal feed segment is likely to exhibit the highest CAGR of 7.1% in 2031, owing to the increased demand from the animal feed industry for the production of feed binders and other products. Asia-Pacific to garner the largest revenue by 2031 Based on region, Asia-Pacific was the largest market in 2021, accounting for nearly two-fifths of the global food ingredients market and is anticipated to manifest the largest revenue growth through 2031, due to the increasing growth of the food and beverages industry and rising demand for organic food ingredients in the developing countries in Asia-Pacific. However, the market in North America and grow at the fastest CAGR of 7.6% during the forecast period, owing to the growth of the population and the increasing demand for food ingredients to maintain the production of food, beverages, and nutraceuticals in the region. For Purchase Enquiry: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/11393 Leading Market Players Nexira, Ajinomoto Co., Inc. Associated British Foods plc Celanese Corporation DuPont de Nemours, Inc. Kerry Group Plc Roquette Freres Sdzucker AG Tate and Lyle, Plc. Akzo Nobel N.V. BASF SE Clariant Evonik Industries Koninklijke DSM N.V. Solvay Kemin Industries, Inc. Chemelco International B.V. Givaudan International SA Palsgaard A/S Univar Solutions Inc. Corbion Inc. J.M. Huber Corporation Kao Corporation Jungbunzlauer Suisse AG Ashland Novozymes A/S Kalsec, Inc. Glanbia Plc RECKITT BENCKISER GROUP PLC. FDL Ltd. ATP Group Archer Daniels Midland Company Cargill, Incorporated Ingredion Incorporated AromataGroup SRL The report analyzes these key players of the global food ingredients market. These players have adopted various strategies such as expansion, new product launches, partnerships and others to increase their market penetration and strengthen their position in the industry. The report is helpful in determining the business performance, operating segments, product portfolio, and developments by every market player. Want to Access the Statistical Data and Graphs, Key Players' Strategies: https://bit.ly/3GWgZit Trending Reports in Food and Beverages Industry: Probiotic Yeast Market Expected to Reach $948.4 Million by 2030 Food Glazing Agents Market Expected to Reach $4,521.7 Million by 2030 Fish gelatin Market Expected to Reach $496.3 Million by 2030 Protein Alternatives Market Expected to Reach $73.9 Billion by 2031 About Us Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions." AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain. We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Allied Market Research CEO Pawan Kumar is instrumental in inspiring and encouraging everyone associated with the company to maintain high quality of data and help clients in every way possible to achieve success. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry. Contact: David Correa 5933 NE Win Sivers Drive #205, Portland, OR 97220 United States USA/Canada (Toll Free): 1-800-792-5285, 1-503-894-6022 UK: +44-845-528-1300 Hong Kong: +852-301-84916 India (Pune): +91-20-66346060 Fax: +1(855)550-5975 [email protected] Web: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/reports-store/food-and-beverages Follow Us on Blog: https://www.dailyreportsworld.com/ Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/636519/Allied_Market_Research_Logo.jpg SOURCE Allied Market Research NEW YORK , Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Forestry software market insights - Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Forestry Software Market 2023-2027 Vendors : 15+, Including ARBORMETRICS, ArborNote, ArboStar, Assisi Software Corp, Caribou Software Inc, Creative Information Systems Inc., Disprax Pty Ltd, Enfor Consultants Ltd, Esri, Forest Metrix, Forestry Systems Inc, Landmark Spatial Solutions LLC, Legna Software LLC, Mason, Bruce and Girard Inc, Microforest Pty Ltd, PlanIT Geo, Remsoft, Softree Technical Systems Inc, Timber Apps LLC, Trimble Inc., among others : 15+, Including ARBORMETRICS, ArborNote, ArboStar, Assisi Software Corp, Caribou Software Inc, Creative Information Systems Inc., Disprax Pty Ltd, Enfor Consultants Ltd, Esri, Forest Metrix, Forestry Systems Inc, Landmark Spatial Solutions LLC, Legna Software LLC, Mason, Bruce and Girard Inc, Microforest Pty Ltd, PlanIT Geo, Remsoft, Softree Technical Systems Inc, Timber Apps LLC, Trimble Inc., among others Coverage: Parent market analysis; key drivers, major trends, and challenges; customer and vendor landscape; vendor product insights and recent developments; key vendors; and market positioning of vendors Parent market analysis; key drivers, major trends, and challenges; customer and vendor landscape; vendor product insights and recent developments; key vendors; and market positioning of vendors Segments: Deployment (On-premise and Cloud-based), End-user (Large enterprise, Small, and medium enterprise), and Geography ( North America , Europe , APAC, South America , and Middle East and Africa ) To understand more about the forestry software market, request a sample report In 2017, the forestry software market was valued at USD 1,004.38 million. From a regional perspective, North America held the largest market share, valued at USD 362.66 million. The forestry software market size is estimated to grow by USD 456.39 million from 2022 to 2027 at a CAGR of 6.2% according to Technavio. Why Buy? Add credibility to strategy Analyzes competitor's offerings Get a holistic view of the market Grow your profit margin with Technavio - Buy the Report Forestry software market - Customer Landscape To help companies evaluate and develop growth strategies, the report outlines Key purchase criteria Adoption rates Adoption lifecycle Drivers of price sensitivity For highlights on customer landscape analysis, download a sample! Forestry software market - Vendor Insights The growing competition in the market is compelling vendors to adopt various growth strategies such as promotional activities and spending on advertisements to improve the visibility of their services. Technavio report analyzes the market's competitive landscape and offers information on several market vendors including ArboStar - The company offers forestry software as cloud-based business management platform for billing, invoicing modules, work orders, HR equipment, and communication module. - The company offers forestry software as cloud-based business management platform for billing, invoicing modules, work orders, HR equipment, and communication module. Assisi Software Corp - The company offers a forestry software suite of programs from field data processing to inventory growth to long-term planning and projection. - The company offers a forestry software suite of programs from field data processing to inventory growth to long-term planning and projection. Creative Information Systems Inc. - The company offers forestry software named SMSturbo for ticketing, billing, vendor management, monitoring scale, and recording product grades. - The company offers forestry software named SMSturbo for ticketing, billing, vendor management, monitoring scale, and recording product grades. Disprax Pty Ltd - The company offers forestry software named Timms for tracking timber, timber accounting, and chain of supply. Forestry software market Market Dynamics Major Drivers Rise in adoption of cloud-based forestry software Adoption of automated forestry management Digitalization of forest operations KEY challenges Availability of open-source forestry software Design and implementation issues Stringent government regulations for forestry management Drivers & Challenges have an impact on market dynamics and can impact businesses. Find some insights from a sample report! The forestry software market report provides critical information and factual data, with a qualitative and quantitative study of the market based on market drivers and limitations as well as future prospects. What are the key data covered in this forestry software market report? CAGR of the market during the forecast period Detailed information on factors that will drive the growth of the forestry software market between 2023 and 2027 Precise estimation of the size of the forestry software 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 forestry software 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 forestry software market vendors Gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports. Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Related Reports: The geospatial analytics market size is expected to increase to USD 80.74 billion from 2021 to 2026, and the market's growth momentum will accelerate at a CAGR of 16.43%. The rising applications of geospatial data analytics in disaster management is notably driving the geospatial analytics market growth, although factors such as data privacy and security concerns may impede market growth. size is expected to increase to from 2021 to 2026, and the market's growth momentum will accelerate at a CAGR of 16.43%. The rising applications of geospatial data analytics in disaster management is notably driving the geospatial analytics market growth, although factors such as data privacy and security concerns may impede market growth. The predicted growth of the vision processing unit market size from 2021 to 2026 is USD 2.05 billion at a progressing CAGR of 20.07%. The growing adoption of deep learning and ai is notably driving the vision processing unit market growth, although factors such as high cost of VPUs may impede the market growth. Forestry Software Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 157 Base year 2022 Historic period 2017-2021 Forecast period 2023-2027 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 6.2% Market growth 2023-2027 USD 456.39 million Market structure Fragmented YoY growth 2022-2023 (%) 5.68 Regional analysis North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and Middle East and Africa Performing market contribution North America at 41% Key countries US, Canada, China, Germany, and UK Competitive landscape Leading Vendors, Market Positioning of Vendors, Competitive Strategies, and Industry Risks Key companies profiled ARBORMETRICS, ArborNote, ArboStar, Assisi Software Corp, Caribou Software Inc, Creative Information Systems Inc., Disprax Pty Ltd, Enfor Consultants Ltd, Esri, Forest Metrix, Forestry Systems Inc, Landmark Spatial Solutions LLC, Legna Software LLC, Mason, Bruce and Girard Inc, Microforest Pty Ltd, PlanIT Geo, Remsoft, Softree Technical Systems Inc, Timber Apps LLC, and Trimble 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. 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 Deployment Exhibit 06: Executive Summary Chart on Market Segmentation by End-user 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 forestry software market 2017 - 2021 Exhibit 18: Historic Market Size Data Table on Global forestry software market 2017 - 2021 ($ million) 4.2 Deployment Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021 Exhibit 19: Historic Market Size Deployment 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 Deployment 6.1 Market segments Exhibit 30: Chart on Deployment - Market share 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 31: Data Table on Deployment - Market share 2022-2027 (%) 6.2 Comparison by Deployment Exhibit 32: Chart on Comparison by Deployment Exhibit 33: Data Table on Comparison by Deployment 6.3 On premise - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 34: Chart on On premise - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 35: Data Table on On premise - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 36: Chart on On premise - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 37: Data Table on On premise - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 6.4 Cloud-based - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 38: Chart on Cloud-based - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 39: Data Table on Cloud-based - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 40: Chart on Cloud-based - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 41: Data Table on Cloud-based - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 6.5 Market opportunity by Deployment Exhibit 42: Market opportunity by Deployment ($ million) 7 Market Segmentation by End-user 7.1 Market segments Exhibit 43: Chart on End-user - Market share 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 44: Data Table on End-user - Market share 2022-2027 (%) 7.2 Comparison by End-user Exhibit 45: Chart on Comparison by End-user Exhibit 46: Data Table on Comparison by End-user 7.3 Large enterprise - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 47: Chart on Large enterprise - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 48: Data Table on Large enterprise - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 49: Chart on Large enterprise - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 50: Data Table on Large enterprise - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 7.4 Small and medium enterprise - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 51: Chart on Small and medium enterprise - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 52: Data Table on Small and medium enterprise - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 53: Chart on Small and medium enterprise - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 54: Data Table on Small and medium enterprise - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 7.5 Market opportunity by End-user Exhibit 55: Market opportunity by End-user ($ 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 North America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 61: Chart on North America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 62: Data Table on North America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 63: Chart on North America - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 64: 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 65: Chart on Europe - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 66: Data Table on Europe - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 67: Chart on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 68: Data Table on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 9.5 APAC - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 69: Chart on APAC - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 70: Data Table on APAC - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 71: Chart on APAC - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 72: 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 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 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 (%) 9.11 Germany - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 93: Chart on Germany - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 94: Data Table on Germany - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 95: Chart on Germany - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 96: Data Table on Germany - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 9.12 Canada - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 97: Chart on Canada - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 98: Data Table on Canada - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 99: Chart on Canada - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 100: Data Table on Canada - 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 ArboStar Exhibit 108: ArboStar - Overview Exhibit 109: ArboStar - Product / Service Exhibit 110: ArboStar - Key offerings 12.4 Assisi Software Corp Exhibit 111: Assisi Software Corp - Overview Exhibit 112: Assisi Software Corp - Product / Service Exhibit 113: Assisi Software Corp - Key offerings 12.5 Caribou Software Inc Exhibit 114: Caribou Software Inc - Overview Exhibit 115: Caribou Software Inc - Product / Service Exhibit 116: Caribou Software Inc - Key offerings 12.6 Creative Information Systems Inc. Exhibit 117: Creative Information Systems Inc. - Overview Exhibit 118: Creative Information Systems Inc. - Product / Service Exhibit 119: Creative Information Systems Inc. - Key offerings 12.7 Disprax Pty Ltd Exhibit 120: Disprax Pty Ltd - Overview Exhibit 121: Disprax Pty Ltd - Business segments Exhibit 122: Disprax Pty Ltd - Key offerings Exhibit 123: Disprax Pty Ltd - Segment focus 12.8 Enfor Consultants Ltd Exhibit 124: Enfor Consultants Ltd - Overview Exhibit 125: Enfor Consultants Ltd - Product / Service Exhibit 126: Enfor Consultants Ltd - Key offerings 12.9 Esri Exhibit 127: Esri - Overview Exhibit 128: Esri - Product / Service Exhibit 129: Esri - Key offerings 12.10 Forest Metrix Exhibit 130: Forest Metrix - Overview Exhibit 131: Forest Metrix - Product / Service Exhibit 132: Forest Metrix - Key offerings 12.11 Forestry Systems Inc Exhibit 133: Forestry Systems Inc - Overview Exhibit 134: Forestry Systems Inc - Product / Service Exhibit 135: Forestry Systems Inc - Key offerings 12.12 Landmark Spatial Solutions LLC Exhibit 136: Landmark Spatial Solutions LLC - Overview Exhibit 137: Landmark Spatial Solutions LLC - Product / Service Exhibit 138: Landmark Spatial Solutions LLC - Key offerings 12.13 Legna Software LLC Exhibit 139: Legna Software LLC - Overview Exhibit 140: Legna Software LLC - Product / Service Exhibit 141: Legna Software LLC - Key offerings 12.14 Mason, Bruce and Girard Inc Exhibit 142: Mason, Bruce and Girard Inc - Overview Exhibit 143: Mason, Bruce and Girard Inc - Product / Service Exhibit 144: Mason, Bruce and Girard Inc - Key offerings 12.15 Microforest Pty Ltd Exhibit 145: Microforest Pty Ltd - Overview Exhibit 146: Microforest Pty Ltd - Product / Service Exhibit 147: Microforest Pty Ltd - Key offerings 12.16 Remsoft Exhibit 148: Remsoft - Overview Exhibit 149: Remsoft - Product / Service Exhibit 150: Remsoft - Key offerings 12.17 Trimble Inc. Exhibit 151: Trimble Inc. - Overview Exhibit 152: Trimble Inc. - Business segments Exhibit 153: Trimble Inc. - Key offerings Exhibit 154: Trimble Inc. - Segment focus 13 Appendix 13.1 Scope of the report 13.2 Inclusions and exclusions checklist Exhibit 155: Inclusions checklist Exhibit 156: Exclusions checklist 13.3 Currency conversion rates for US$ Exhibit 157: Currency conversion rates for US$ 13.4 Research methodology Exhibit 158: Research methodology Exhibit 159: Validation techniques employed for market sizing Exhibit 160: Information sources 13.5 List of abbreviations Exhibit 161: 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 Jesse Maida Media & Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: [email protected] Website: www.technavio.com/ SOURCE Technavio BOSTON, Jan. 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Data Bridge Market Research has recently published a Report, titled, "G-CSFPEG-G-CSF Market" The report offers an extensive analysis of key growth strategies, drivers, opportunities, key segment, Porter's Five Forces analysis, and competitive landscape. An all-inclusive G-CSFPEG-G-CSF market report is a broad study about the market which tells about what is the market status in the forecast period of 2023-2030. This analysis gives an examination of various segments that are relied upon to witness the quickest development amid the estimate forecast frame. Analysis and discussion of important industry trends, market size, market share estimates are mentioned in the report. G-CSFPEG-G-CSF market study also analyses the market status, growth rate, future trends, market drivers, opportunities and challenges, risks and entry barriers, sales channels, distributors and Porter's Five Forces Analysis. Data Bridge Market Research analyses that the global G-CSF/ PEG-G-CSF market is expected to reach the value of USD 5,685.40 million by 2030, at a CAGR of 5.5% during the forecast period. This market report also covers pricing analysis, patent analysis, and technological advancements in depth. Download Sample Copy of G-CSFPEG-G-CSF Market @ https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/request-a-sample/?dbmr=global-g-csf-peg-g-csf-market Market Overview: Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) is a medication used to treat neutropenia. This is a disease in which the number of white blood cells is lower than average and is caused by some forms of chemotherapy. The main types of G-CSF are lenograstim (Granocyte), filgrastim (Neupogen, zarzio, nivestim, accofil), long-acting (pegylated) filgrastim (pegfilgrastim, neulasta, pelmeg, ziextenco), and lipegfilgrastim (lonquex). Lenograstim is a glycosylated recombinant therapeutic agent that is chemically similar or identical to naturally occurring human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF). Various products include tablets and capsules and treat cancer, blood disorders, growth hormone deficiency, and chronic and autoimmune diseases. The increase in cancer prevention in developed countries and governments have introduced conscious initiatives to educate early treatment, promoting the global sales market of biosimilar G-CSF. Grafeel, Colstim, Neukine and Filcad, which are approved biosimilars and are also cost-effective and readily available in developing countries, will lead to significant market growth. China and India are the countries where the number of cancer patients is increasing, which is likely to boost the global market. Thus, the use of biosimilars helps in reducing the healthcare costs of patients compared to the use of original biologics, which increases the demand in the global G-CSF Biosimilars sales market. Due to the complex biological manufacturing processes of individual biosimilars, the costs of biosimilars are not as low as generics. Growing prevalence of autoimmune and rare chronic diseases is expected to drive the segmental market's growth. Opportunities for Players: The use of biosimilars helps reduce healthcare costs for patients Biosimilars have the potential to fundamentally change healthcare by providing more affordable, equally effective treatments for patients and providing more treatment options for physicians. Developing biosimilars requires rigorous analysis to demonstrate their equivalence to the reference product and ensure no clinically meaningful differences in their safety, efficacy, and purity. As a result, health systems can channel long-term savings into overall improvements in patient care. To help create a thriving biosimilar market and ensure patient access, policymakers can take steps to reduce or eliminate the cost of biosimilars and encourage physicians to prescribe biosimilars compared to Europe. Some of the major players operating in the G-CSFPEG-G-CSF market are: USV Private Limited, Viatris Inc., Biocon, Fresenius Kabi AG, Hangzhou Jiuyuan Gene Engineering Co., Ltd., Amgen Inc., Pfizer Inc., Sandoz International GmbH, Apotex Inc., Cadila Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd., Amneal Pharmaceuticals LLC., Coherus BioSciences, Accord Healthcare, NAPP PHARMACEUTICALS LIMITED., Intas Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Mundipharma International, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Kyowa Kirin Co., Ltd., Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals Get Full PDF Research Report to Understand More @ https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/checkout/buy/enterprise/global-g-csf-peg-g-csf-market Recent Developments In July 2018 , Accord Healthcare , a subsidiary of Intas Pharmaceuticals Ltd., launched a pegfilgrastim biosimilar across Europe after being given Green Light for Pelgraz (pegfilgrastim) by CHMP (Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use). This product launched helped the company to expand their business across Europe . , , a subsidiary of Intas Pharmaceuticals Ltd., launched a pegfilgrastim biosimilar across after being given Green Light for Pelgraz (pegfilgrastim) by CHMP (Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use). This product launched helped the company to expand their business across . In March 2022 , Kashiv Biosciences announced the approval of its Biologics License Application (BLA) for filgrastim-ayow, a biosimilar referencing Neupogen by U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The product is marketed under the proprietary name RELEUKO. The report provides insights on the following pointers: Market Penetration: Comprehensive information on the product portfolios of the top players in the G-CSFPEG-G-CSF market Product Development/Innovation: Detailed insights on upcoming technologies, R&D activities, and product launches in the market Competitive Assessment: In-depth assessment of the market strategies, and geographic and business segments of the leading players in the market Market Development: Comprehensive information about emerging markets. This report analyzes the market for various segments across geographies Market Diversification: Exhaustive information about new products, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments in the G-CSFPEG-G-CSF Market Market Dynamics: G-CSFPEG-G-CSF Market Growing incidences of blood cancers and cancer diseases Cancer is a general term for many diseases that can affect any part of the body. Other terms used for cancer are malignant tumors and neoplasm. One of the characteristics of cancer is the rapid formation of abnormal cells that grow beyond normal limits and can invade neighboring parts of the body and spread to other organs; the latter process is called metastasis. Extensive metastases are the leading cause of cancer death. Filgrastim is a granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (GCSF) that helps increase the number of neutrophils in the blood. Filgrastim and pegfilgrastim are highly used to increase white blood cells after cancer chemotherapy or radiation therapy. Increasing cases of febrile neutropenia Febrile neutropenia refers to fever during significant neutropenia. If a patient is neutropenic, their risk of infection may be higher than usual, and the severity of a particular infection may also be higher. Febrile neutropenia is the most common life-threatening complication of cancer treatment; its treatment is often an oncological emergency. Febrile neutropenia is neutropenia accompanied by fever. Neutropenia refers to a decrease in the concentration of neutrophils in the blood. Neutrophils are a type of white blood cell that help fight infections as part of the immune system. The Infectious Diseases Society of America defines neutropenia as an absolute neutrophil count (ANC) of less than 1500 cells/mm3. The risk of infection and neutropenic fever increases dramatically with severe neutropenia, defined as an absolute neutrophil count (ANC) of less than 500 cells/mm3. Fever is defined as a single oral temperature greater than or equal to 101 Fahrenheit (38.3 Celsius) or a persistent temperature greater than or equal to 100.4 Fahrenheit (38.0 Celsius) or greater for one hour or longer. To Gain More Insights about this Research, Visit @ https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/global-g-csf-peg-g-csf-market Key Industry Segmentation: G-CSFPEG-G-CSF Market GLOBAL G-CSF / PEG-G-CSF MARKET, BY INDICATION Neutropenia Oncology Chronic And Autoimmune Diseases Blood Disorders Growth Hormone Deficiency GLOBAL G-CSF / PEG-G-CSF MARKET, BY DOSAGE Mono Combination GLOBAL G-CSF / PEG-G-CSF MARKET, BY ROUTE OF ADMINISTRATION Intravenous Subcutaneous GLOBAL G-CSF / PEG-G-CSF MARKET, BY PACKAGING Single Use Vials Pre Filled Syringes GLOBAL G-CSF / PEG-G-CSF MARKET, BY END USER Hospitals & Clinics Research & Academic Institutes Ambulatory Surgical Centers GLOBAL G-CSF / PEG-G-CSF MARKET, BY DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL Hospital Pharmacy Online Pharmacy Retail Pharmacy Regional Analysis/Insights: G-CSFPEG-G-CSF Market The G-CSF/ PEG-G-CSF market report comprises od the countries Mexico, Columbia, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Rest of LATAM, Germany, U.K., France, Italy, Russia, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Poland, Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Turkey, Rest of Europe, China, Japan, India, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia, Rest of Asia-Pacific, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Israel, U.A.E, Kuwait, Oman, and Rest of Middle East and Africa. Europe is dominating due to the presence of key market players in the largest consumer market with high GDP. U.S. is expected to grow due to its latest advanced technology and inventions in the G-CSF/ PEG-G-CSF. Table of Contents: Introduction Market Segmentation Executive Summary Premium Insights Global G-CSFPEG-G-CSF Market: Regulations Market Overview Global G-Csfpeg-G-Csf Market, By Indication Global G-Csfpeg-G-Csf Market, By Dosage Global G-Csfpeg-G-Csf Market, By Route Of Administration Global G-Csfpeg-G-Csf Market, By Packaging Global G-CSFPEG-G-CSF Market, By End User Global G-CSFPEG-G-CSF Market, By Distribution Channel Global G-CSFPEG-G-CSF Market, By Region Global G-CSFPEG-G-CSF Market: Company Landscape SWOT Analyses Company Profile Questionnaires Related Reports To Check the Complete Table of contents, click here @ https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/toc/?dbmr=global-g-csf-peg-g-csf-market Explore More Reports: Neutropenia Market, By Type (Congenital Neutropenia, Idiopathic Neutropenia, Cyclic Neutropenia, Autoimmune Neutropenia, Others), Treatment (Antibiotic Therapy, Colony-Stimulating Factor Therapy, Granulocyte Transfusion, Splenectomy Procedure, Others), Route of 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Cytometers, Hematology Cell Counters, Slide Strainers, Coagulation Analyzers, Hematology Testing, Centrifuges, Hemoglobin meters, Others), Oncology Drug Class Type (Chemotherapy, Targeted Therapy, Immunotherapy, Hormonal Therapy), Oncology Indication (Lung Cancer, Stomach Cancer, Colorectal Cancer, Breast Cancer, Prostate Cancer, Liver Cancer, Esophagus Cancer, Cervical Cancer, Kidney Cancer, Bladder Cancer, Others), Applications (Infectious Diseases, Cancer, Cardiovascular Disorders, Blood Screening, Diabetes, HIV, Auto Immune Diseases), End Users (Hospitals, Clinical Testing Institutes, Patient Self- Testing, Other End- Users) https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/global-hematology-oncology-market Immuno-Oncology (IO) Market, By Type (Immune Cell Therapy (CAR-T), Monoclonal Antibodies, Checkpoint Inhibitors, Cytokines, Cancer Vaccines, Others), Targets (LAG-3, anti-CTLA-4, MAGE-A3, VEGF, HDAC, STING, TIM-3, TGF-Beta, OX40, Others), Indication (Malignant Tumors, Benign Tumors, Others), End Users (Hospitals, Specialty Clinics, Others), Distribution Channel (Hospital Pharmacy, Retail Pharmacy, Others), Country (U.S., Canada, Mexico, Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Rest of South America, Germany, Italy, U.K., France, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Turkey, Russia, Hungary, Lithuania, Austria, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Rest of Europe, Japan, China, India, South Korea, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Rest of Asia Pacific, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, U.A.E, Kuwait, Israel, Egypt, Rest of the Middle East and Africa) https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/global-immuno-oncology-market Oncology Molecular Diagnostic Market, By Type (Breast Cancer, Prostate Cancer, Colorectal Cancer, Cervical Cancer, Liver Cancer, Lung Cancer, Blood Cancer, Kidney Cancer, Others), Product (Instruments, Reagents, Others), Test Location (Clinics and Other Establishments, Point of Care), Technology (PCR, In Situ Hybridization, Isothermal Nucleic Acid Amplification Technology (INAAT), Chips and Microarrays, Mass Spectrometry, Sequencing, Transcription Mediated Amplification, Others), End User (Hospitals, Diagnostic Centers) https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/global-oncology-molecular-diagnostic-market Growth Hormone Deficiency Market, By Type (Pediatric Growth Hormone Deficiency, Adult Growth Hormone Deficiency), Route of Administration (Intravenous, Intramuscular, Others), Treatment (Pharmacological Therapy, Recombinant Human Growth Hormone, Human Pituitary Gland Extracts, Surgery), Diagnosis (Blood Tests, Imaging Tests, Others), End-Users (Hospitals, Specialty Clinics, Homecare, Others), Distribution Channel (Hospital Pharmacy, Retail Pharmacy, Online Pharmacy, Others) https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/global-growth-hormone-deficiency-market Pediatric Growth Hormone Deficiency Market, By Type (Acquired, Congenital, Idiopathic), Treatment (Growth Hormone Shots, Others), Diagnosis (Blood Tests, X-Ray, CT Scan, MRI, GH Stimulation Test, Others), Symptoms (A Younger-Looking Face, Delayed Puberty, A Chubby Body Build, Impaired Hair Growth, Others), Dosage (Injection, Others), Route of Administration (Subcutaneous, Others), End-Users (Clinic, Hospital, Others), Distribution Channel (Hospital Pharmacy, Retail Pharmacy, Online Pharmacy), Country (U.S., Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Rest of South America, Germany, France, U.K., Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Russia, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Hungary, Lithuania, Austria, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Rest of Europe, China, Japan, India, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Rest of Asia-Pacific, Saudi Arabia, U.A.E, Egypt, Israel, Kuwait, South Africa, Rest of Middle East and Africa) https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/global-pediatric-growth-hormone-deficiency-market About Data Bridge Market Research: An absolute way to forecast what future holds is to comprehend the trend today! Data Bridge Market Research set forth itself as an unconventional and neoteric Market research and consulting firm with unparalleled level of resilience and integrated approaches. We are determined to unearth the best market opportunities and foster efficient information for your business to thrive in the market. Data Bridge endeavours to provide appropriate solutions to the complex business challenges and initiates an effortless decision-making process. Data Bridge is an aftermath of sheer wisdom and experience which was formulated and framed in the year 2015 in Pune. Data Bridge Market Research has over 500 analysts working in different industries. We have catered more than 40% of the fortune 500 companies globally and have a network of more than 5000+ clientele around the globe. Data Bridge adepts in creating satisfied clients who reckon upon our services and rely on our hard work with certitude. We are content with our glorious 99.9 % client satisfying rate. Contact Us: Data Bridge Market Research US: +1 888 387 2818 UK: +44 208 089 1725 Hong Kong: +852 8192 7475 Email: [email protected] Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1011053/Data_Bridge_Market_Research_Logo.jpg SOURCE Data Bridge Market Research DENVER, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Data Bridge Market Research has recently published a Report, titled, "Gas Cylinder Market" The report offers an extensive analysis of key growth strategies, drivers, opportunities, key segment, Porter's Five Forces analysis, and competitive landscape. To create an international Gas Cylinder market report, a team of multilingual researchers who are skilled at different languages come together with which they professionally execute market research globally. The report explains market analysis based on regional, local as well as global level. By synchronizing with project managers, the team provide the clients inputs on every strategic aspect including product development, key areas of development, application modelling, use of technologies, the acquisition strategies, exploring niche growth opportunities and new markets. To achieve success in the competition of global market place, choosing a trustworthy Gas Cylinder market research report is the key. By understanding client's requirements precisely and following them firmly, the superior Gas Cylinder market research report has been structured. The report puts on view significant product developments and tracks recent acquisitions, mergers, and research in the Gas Cylinder industry by the key players. Furthermore, this market report also provides a watchful investigation of the current state of the market which covers several market dynamics. An exhaustive analysis of factors influencing the investment is also provided in the persuasive Gas Cylinder report which forecasts impending opportunities for the businesses and develops the strategies to improve return on investment (ROI). The gas cylinder market is expected to gain significant growth in the forecast period of 2023 to 2030. Data Bridge Market Research analyses that the market is growing with a CAGR of 5.0% in the forecast period of 2023 to 2030 and is expected to reach USD 4,649,514.48 thousand by 2030. Download Sample Copy of Gas Cylinder Market @ https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/request-a-sample/?dbmr=global-gas-cylinder-market Market Overview: A gas cylinder is a pressure vessel that stores gases at higher than atmospheric pressures. High-pressure gas cylinders, also known as bottles. Depending on the physical qualities of the item, the stored components inside the cylinder may be in a supercritical fluid, compressed gas, Vapour over liquid, or dissolved in a substrate material. The valve and connecting connection are positioned at the top of a normal gas cylinder design, extending and standing upright on a flattened bottom end. The increasing focus of renowned manufacturers on developing unique cylinder designs that are capable of improving safety measures, optimizing handling and storage abilities, and are lightweight is anticipated to drive the market. The increased use of gas cylinders in various applications such as water treatment, soldering, beverage dispensing, medical purposes, heating and cooking, and fire extinguishing is expected to increase demand worldwide. An increase in demand for medical oxygen cylinders is an important driver for the gas cylinder industry. The rise in the consumption of L.P.G. cylinders for various applications is gaining prominence. An increase in the number of government activities aimed at increasing consumer awareness and demand for gas cylinders in various sectors are expected to propel the growth of the global gas cylinder market. Opportunities for Players: Rise in cylinder innovation and technological advancements Gas cylinder manufacturers are constantly improving their cylinder packages to satisfy changing market demands. Higher pressures, digital displays, and newly engineered guards and valves allow for more gas, cylinder intelligence, and simpler transportation without compromising safety. The transportation of high-value gases is crucial, increasing the demand for secure, controlled gas cylinders. Advances in the compression of volatile and nonreactive gases have affected the production of gas cylinders. Enhanced safety and innovative cylinder designs have improved the handling and storage capabilities of gas cylinders. As a result of this rise in cylinder innovation and technological advancements are expected to provide a market growth opportunity for the gas cylinder market. As a result of this rise in cylinder innovation and technological advancements are expected to provide a market growth opportunity for the gas cylinder market. Recent Development In September 2022 , Worthington Industries' new plant serving the hydrogen mobility market was completed in under two years. The new plant will produce Type III and IV composite pressure cylinders. The cylinders are lightweight and made of metallic or polymeric liners with carbon fiber reinforcement that can withstand high pressures. Applications include onboard fueling systems for cars, trucks, buses, trains, and ships, as well as storage and transport containers for compressed hydrogen and compressed natural gas (CNG) , Worthington Industries' new plant serving the hydrogen mobility market was completed in under two years. The new plant will produce Type III and IV composite pressure cylinders. The cylinders are lightweight and made of metallic or polymeric liners with carbon fiber reinforcement that can withstand high pressures. Applications include onboard fueling systems for cars, trucks, buses, trains, and ships, as well as storage and transport containers for compressed hydrogen and In March 2021 , Luxfer Gas Cylinders announced the acquisition of Structural Composites Industries, a North American composite cylinder manufacturer. The acquisition strengthens Luxfer's composite cylinder offering and aligns with recent investments to further enhance their alternative fuels capability to address the CNG and Hydrogen market growth opportunities, as well as broadening our portfolio in aerospace, life support and other markets Some of the major players operating in the Gas Cylinder market are: 3M , , Aygaz A.S., FABER INDUSTRIE SPA, Hexagon Ragasco AS, Luxfer Gas Cylinders, Worthington Industries Inc, Beijing Tianhai Industry Co., Ltd., Dragerwerk AG & Co. KGaA, EKC, Linde plc, Time Technoplast Ltd., MS GROUP, Welz Gas Cylinder GmbH, and Zhejiang Tianlong cylinder Get Full PDF Research Report to Understand More @ https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/checkout/buy/enterprise/global-gas-cylinder-market Critical Insights Related to the Gas Cylinder Included in the Report: Exclusive graphics and Illustrative SWOT analysis of some of the leading companies in this market Value chain analysis of prominent players in the market Current trends influencing the dynamics of this market across various geographies Recent mergers, acquisitions, collaborations, and partnerships Revenue growth of this industry over the forecast period Marketing strategy study and growth trends Growth driven factor analysis Emerging recess segments and region-wise market An empirical evaluation of the curve of this market Ancient, Present, and Probable scope of the market from both prospect value and volume Market Dynamics: Gas Cylinder Market Increase in the demand of medical oxygen cylinder Medical care providers frequently use oxygen gas cylinders for therapeutic and diagnostic reasons. Medical oxygen gas systems, such as oxygen, concentrators, and compressed oxygen gas cylinders, are widely used in homecare settings and are typically selected by elderly patients with mobility issues and require a consistent oxygen supply. The global increase in industrialization has had a negative impact on the overall quality of breathing air. Because of fast growth and increased pollution, the air quality index (AQI) has been elevated, increasing the prevalence of respiratory disorders. Patients suffering from chronic respiratory diseases (CRDs) such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) require oxygen supplementation to improve their quality of life. Pollution, cigarette smoke, occupational chemicals and dust, and other factors can contribute to Chronic Rrespiratory Diseases (CRDs). In recent years, there has been an increase in the senior population with chronic conditions requiring ongoing respiratory assistance. Rise in the consumption of LPG cylinders for various application Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is a fuel that burns cleanly, is sustainable, and is efficient. Because it is a sustainable, low-carbon, efficient, and innovative energy source. It provides advantages to customers. Industry and the environment LPG is less expensive than other traditional fuels since most of its energy is turned into heat, and it can be transported, stored, and utilized in a wide range of applications, including residential, commercial, agriculture, industrial, and auto gas. LPG is a gas, but it is frequently kept under pressure, which converts it to a liquid. One of the major advantages of LPG over other energy sources is its ease of transportation. It has a better heating value and contains no Sulphur. Because LPG burns regularly, it is more dependable than other kinds of energy. LPG is more ecologically friendly than other energy sources. Though all energy sources emit carbon dioxide, when compared to oil, LPG emits just 81% of the carbon dioxide that oil produces. When compared to coal, another energy source, LPG emits just 70% of the carbon dioxide. Consider Data Bridge Market Research for this Report which would Help Impact Your Revenues Positively This study offers the latest product news, trends, and updates from the industry's leading players who have leveraged their market position. It also offers strategic plans and standards to arrive at informed business decisions adopted by the main players, thereby advocating your go to market strategies. In addition, it offers insights into the dynamics of customer behaviour that can help the organization better curate market strategies that can help the organization better curate market strategies Usage of exclusive tailor-made tools along with primary research, secondary research and our in-house data model helps us in extracting the exact market numbers Mapping the customer in 3P grid comprising of Purpose, Planning and Positioning, thereby delivering a solution by keeping the prospecting client at the sweet spot The market research report includes all of the market's valuable elements, such as sales growth, product pricing & analysis, growth opportunities, and recommendations for addressing market challenges The report covers all the primary mergers & acquisitions, alliances, and collaborations that have generated additional opportunities for market players or in some cases, challenges To Gain More Insights about this Research, Visit @ https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/global-gas-cylinder-market Key Industry Segmentation: Gas Cylinder Market Material Steel Composite Product High pressure Low pressure Acetylene Wraps Wrap less Glass fiber Aramid fiber Carbon fiber Gas Flammable gases Inert gases Toxic gases Pyrophoric gases Oxidizers Application Kitchen and domestic Processing industries Medical Transportation Regional Analysis/Insights: Gas Cylinder Market The major countries covered in the gas cylinder market report are the U.S., Canada and Mexico in North America, Germany, France, U.K., Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Russia, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Rest of Europe in Europe, China, Japan, India, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia & New Zealand, Thailand, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Philippines, Taiwan, Rest of Asia-Pacific (APAC) in the Asia-Pacific (APAC), Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Egypt, Israel, Rest of Middle East and Africa (MEA) as a part of Middle East and Africa (MEA), Brazil, Argentina and Rest of South America as part of South America. In Asia-Pacific, the China is expected to dominate the market due to an increase in demand for medical oxygen cylinders in the region. The U.S. is expected to dominate the North American gas cylinder market due to the increase in the number of government activities aimed at increasing consumer awareness. Table of Contents: Introduction Market Segmentation Executive Summary Premium Insights Global Gas Cylinder Market: Regulations Market Overview Global Gas Cylinder Market, By Material Global Gas Cylinder Market, By Product Global Gas Cylinder Market, By Wraps Global Gas Cylinder Market, By Gas Global Gas Cylinder Market, By Application Global Gas Cylinder Market, By Region Global Gas Cylinder Market: Company Landscape SWOT Analyses Company Profile Questionnaires Related Reports To Check the Complete Table of contents, click here @ https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/toc/?dbmr=global-gas-cylinder-market Explore More Reports: Industrial Gases Market, By Product (Oxygen, Nitrogen, Hydrogen, Carbon Dioxide, Acetylene, Argon, Others), Distribution Outlook (On-site, Bulk, Cylinder), Application (Healthcare, Manufacturing, Metallurgy and Glasses, Food and Beverage, Retail, Chemicals and Energy, Others) https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/global-industrial-gases-market Industrial Gaskets Market, By Material Type (Semi-Metallic Industrial Gaskets, Non-Metallic Industrial Gasket, Metallic Industrial Gasket), Product Type (Soft Gaskets, Spiral Wound Gaskets, Ring Joint Gaskets, Kammprofile Gaskets, Jacketed Gaskets, Corrugated Gaskets, Others), End-Use (Refineries, Power Generation, Chemical Processing, Industrial Machinery, Pulp and Paper, Food and Pharmaceuticals, Textile, Water Treatment, Others) https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/global-industrial-gaskets-market Specialty Gas Market, By Type (High Purity Gases, Noble Gases, Carbon Gases, Halogen Gases, Others), Application (Manufacturing, Electronics, Healthcare, Academics, Analytical and Calibration, Refrigeration, Others), Ingredients (Argon, Bromine, Nitrogen, Helium, Carbon Monoxide, Xenon, Methane, Krypton, Oxygen, Neon, Hydrogen, Others) https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/global-specialty-gas-market High Purity Gases Market, By Product (High Atmospheric Gases, Noble Gases, Carbon Gas, Others), Storage and Distribution and Transportation (Cylinders/Packaged Gas, Merchant Liquid, Tonnage), Manufacturing Process (Air Separation Technology, Hydrogen Production), Function (Insulation, Illumination, Coolant), End-Use Industry (Electronics, Metal Production, Chemicals, Oil and Gas, Medical and Health Care, Food and Beverages, Others) https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/global-high-purity-gases-market Small-Scale Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Market, By Type (Liquefaction Terminal, Regasification Terminal), Mode of Supply (Trucks, Shipment and Bunkering, Rail Tanks, Pipeline, Others), Storage tank Capacity (Atmospheric, Pressurized and Floating Storage (FSU)), Application (Transportation, Heavy-Duty Vehicles, Industrial and Power, Others) https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/global-small-scale-lng-market Medical Gas Market, By Product (Medical Gases, Medical Gas Equipment), Application (Pharmaceutical Manufacturing and Research, Diagnostic Applications, Therapeutic Applications, Others), Method Of Separation (Physical Separators, Fractional Distillation, Molecular Sieve, Semipermeable Membrane, Others), End User (Hospitals, Home Healthcare, Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Companies, Academic and Research Institutions, Emergency Service Providers, Others) https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/global-medical-gases-market North America Gas Cylinder Market, By Material Type (Steel, Composite, And Others), Product (Low Pressure, High Pressure, Acetylene and Others), Wrap Type (Wrap Less, Glass Fiber, Aramid Fiber, Carbon Fiber And Others), Gas (Inert Gases, Flammable Gases, Toxic Gases, Pyrophoric Gases, Oxidizers And Others), Application (Kitchen And Domestic, Processing Industries, Medical, Transportation And Others) https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/north-america-gas-cylinder-market Middle East and Africa Gas Cylinder Market, By Material Type (Steel, Composite, And Others), Product (Low Pressure, High Pressure, Acetylene and Others), Wrap Type (Wrap Less, Glass Fiber, Aramid Fiber, Carbon Fiber And Others), Gas (Inert Gases, Flammable Gases, Toxic Gases, Pyrophoric Gases, Oxidizers And Others), Application (Kitchen And Domestic, Processing Industries, Medical, Transportation And Others) https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/middle-east-and-africa-gas-cylinder-market Europe Gas Cylinder Market, By Material Type (Steel, Composite, And Others), Product (Low Pressure, High Pressure, Acetylene and Others), Wrap Type (Wrap Less, Glass Fiber, Aramid Fiber, Carbon Fiber And Others), Gas (Inert Gases, Flammable Gases, Toxic Gases, Pyrophoric Gases, Oxidizers And Others), Application (Kitchen And Domestic, Processing Industries, Medical, Transportation And Others) https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/europe-gas-cylinder-market Asia-Pacific Gas Cylinder Market, By Material Type (Steel, Composite, And Others), Product (Low Pressure, High Pressure, Acetylene and Others), Wrap Type (Wrap Less, Glass Fiber, Aramid Fiber, Carbon Fiber And Others), Gas (Inert Gases, Flammable Gases, Toxic Gases, Pyrophoric Gases, Oxidizers And Others), Application (Kitchen And Domestic, Processing Industries, Medical, Transportation And Others) https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/asia-pacific-gas-cylinder-market About Data Bridge Market Research: An absolute way to forecast what future holds is to comprehend the trend today! Data Bridge Market Research set forth itself as an unconventional and neoteric Market research and consulting firm with unparalleled level of resilience and integrated approaches. We are determined to unearth the best market opportunities and foster efficient information for your business to thrive in the market. Data Bridge endeavours to provide appropriate solutions to the complex business challenges and initiates an effortless decision-making process. Data Bridge is an aftermath of sheer wisdom and experience which was formulated and framed in the year 2015 in Pune. Data Bridge Market Research has over 500 analysts working in different industries. We have catered more than 40% of the fortune 500 companies globally and have a network of more than 5000+ clientele around the globe. Data Bridge adepts in creating satisfied clients who reckon upon our services and rely on our hard work with certitude. We are content with our glorious 99.9 % client satisfying rate. Contact Us:- Data Bridge Market Research US: +1 888 387 2818 UK: +44 208 089 1725 Hong Kong: +852 8192 7475 Email:- [email protected] Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1011053/Data_Bridge_Market_Research_Logo.jpg SOURCE Data Bridge Market Research The partnership empowers both to meet the growing global demand ATLANTA, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Xebia, today proudly announced its partnership with GetInData, a group of 120+ experienced data engineers and consultants. The companies are joining forces to expand their global market reach, with a shared vision of empowering clients to unlock the full business potential of their data. Founded by former Spotify engineers in Poland in 2014, GetInData has made its name delivering cutting-edge Big Data, Cloud, Analytics, & ML/AI solutions. The company boasts a deep knowledge of data engineering principles and has a proven track record of implementing a wide range of data technologies. Its clients include digital natives like Spotify, Truecaller, Acast, as well as enterprises such as ING bank and telecoms Play and Kcell. "With GetInData, we welcome some of the brightest minds in data today to our team of highly-specialized data experts," said Xebia CEO Anand Sahay. He added, "This partnership adds a new level of scale to our global brand and allows us to bring even more high-performing and innovative solutions to the market." The partnership is a natural evolution of a long-standing relationship between the two companies. They have collaborated on joint projects, attended and presented at the same conferences, always been active members of the big data community, and have colleagues and open-source contributions in common. Rob Dielemans, Director, Data at Xebia, added: "I have always admired GetInData, and it's an equal partnership of two fantastic companies joining teams. The synergy between our organizations is unparalleled, as both companies share a commitment to delivering innovative, high-performing data solutions to clients around the globe." GetInData's co-founder Piotr Krewski was also "thrilled to be joining Xebia" and sees it as a beneficial move that will help both companies expand their opportunities. "We are aligned on core values. Xebia has a mission of authority, and we strive to be an authority for the clients in our field," he said. GetInData is also aligned with Xebia's core value of knowledge sharing, organizing meetups and conferences, such as the Big Data Warsaw Technology Summit, and regularly contributing to open-source. Adam Kawa, co-founder and CEO, GetInData commented, "We are excited to join Xebia as it allows us to accelerate all of our strategic activities. By joining forces, we amplify our strengths and are able to deliver the unique value proposition to companies all over the world willing to be driven by data." By merging and pooling knowledge, the companies can effectively work on innovative data projects, share R&D initiatives, and recruit talented people to fine-tune data, cloud, and ML architectures. As a pioneering IT consultancy company, Xebia regards GetInData as a kindred spirit one that recognizes how data is an indispensable part of the future of business. "Since our mission is to be seen as an authority, it makes perfect sense that an authority such as GetInData has joined us," said Dielemans, "we really look forward to working with them." By adding the wealth of experience and expertise that GetInData brings to the organization, Xebia significantly expands its footprint in the global data and AI consultancy market. This partnership represents a significant milestone for both Xebia and GetInData, as it allows them to leverage their collective knowledge, experience, and expertise to drive innovation and empower their clients to unlock the full potential of their data. About Xebia Xebia is an IT Consultancy and Software Development Company that has been creating digital leaders across the globe since 2001. With offices on every continent, we help the top 250 companies worldwide embrace innovation, adopt the latest technologies, and implement the most successful business models. To meet every digital demand, Xebia is organized into multiple service lines. These are teams with in-depth knowledge and experience in Agile, DevOps, Data & AI, Cloud, Software Development, Security, Quality Assurance, Low Code, & Microsoft Solutions. In addition to high-quality consulting and state-of-the-art software, Xebia Academy offers the training that modern companies need to work better, smarter, and faster. Today, Xebia continues to expand through a buy-and-build strategy. We partner with leading IT companies to gain a greater foothold in the digital space. Contact: Swati S Corporate Communications Lead +91-9810616405 [email protected] Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1883841/Xebia_Logo.jpg SOURCE Xebia MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Bloomreach , the world's #1 Commerce Experience Cloud, today announced it has appointed Vickie Bond Mrva to its Board of Directors. With deep expertise in e-commerce and marketing, Vickie is a customer-centric leader who brings more than 20 years of experience driving growth for world class companies and emerging brands. "I'm pleased to join the Bloomreach Board of Directors. Having spent my entire career in e-commerce and marketing, I understand just how valuable Bloomreach is to scaling businesses particularly now, as they look to drive sustainable, profitable growth from their digital channels," said Vickie Bond Mrva. "I look forward to supporting the Bloomreach executive team as they build upon existing momentum and help even more businesses navigate this pivotal moment in commerce." As a strategic business leader, Vickie has built and scaled e-commerce businesses and digital channels at companies including Apple, Walmart, and Lululemon. In her executive operating roles she built global teams and launched new products and regions, while establishing strong, beloved brands along the way. Vickie also served as Chief Commercial Officer and Chief Marketing Officer at Willow Innovations, Inc., where she led all business functions from launch to established category leadership. Currently, Vickie serves as a board director at Brixton, a California-based direct-to-consumer lifestyle brand. "Vickie is an invaluable addition to our Board of Directors," said Raj De Datta, co-founder and CEO, Bloomreach. "Her tremendous expertise in both e-commerce and marketing, as well as her ability to cultivate customer-centric brands, will help us continue to innovate with the customer at the forefront. We're thrilled to have her guidance as we embark on a path of continued growth in 2023 and beyond." "Vickie has led marketing for some of the most valuable consumer brands in the world, including Apple and Lululemon. Her perspective as a CMO will be invaluable to the Bloomreach Board and management team as we continue to work with the leading e-commerce companies around the world," said Ajay Agarwal, Bloomreach board member and Partner at Bain Capital Ventures. About Bloomreach Bloomreach is the world's #1 Commerce Experience Cloud, empowering brands to deliver customer journeys so personalized, they feel like magic. It offers a suite of products that drive true personalization and digital commerce growth, including: Discovery, offering AI-driven search and merchandising; Content, offering a headless CMS; and Engagement, offering a leading CDP and marketing automation solutions. Together, these solutions combine the power of unified customer and product data with the speed and scale of AI-optimization, enabling revenue-driving digital commerce experiences that convert on any channel and every journey. Bloomreach serves over 850 global brands including Albertsons, Bosch, Puma, FC Bayern Munchen, and Marks & Spencer. For more information, visit Bloomreach.com . Media Contact: Michelle DeMaio Bloomreach Corporate Communications [email protected] SOURCE Bloomreach DUBLIN, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Electronic Medical Records 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 electronic medical records market. This report focuses on electronic medical records market which is experiencing strong growth. The report gives a guide to the electronic medical records 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 electronic medical records market is expected to grow from $31.78 billion in 2021 to $34.3 billion in 2022 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.0%. The electronic medical records market is expected to grow to $44.18 billion in 2026 at a CAGR of 6.5%. 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 Some major players in the electronic medical records market are AdvancedMD Inc., Allscripts Healthcare, Athenahealth, Cerner Corp, CureMD Healthcare, EClinicalWorks, Epic Systems, GE Healthcare, Greenway Health, McKesson Corporation, NextGen Healthcare Inc., GoodWill, IBM, Modernizing Medicine Inc., Neusoft, and PCCW Solution. The electronic medical records market consists of sales of electronic medical records by entities (organizations, sole traders, and partnerships) that refer to a digital version of patient information. The electronic medical record includes organizing, presenting the storing clinical data or documents of patients over long periods interpreting health conditions, placing orders, and providing ongoing care, scheduling, billing, and prescription. The main types of electronic medical records are acute, ambulatory, and post-acute. Acute electronic medical records are those that include clinical data repositories, order input, outcomes reporting, and/or clinician charting and documentation software packages that provide basic inpatient functionality. The products offered are client-server-based EHR and web-based HER that is delivered on a cloud-based, on-premise model. The business model of electronic medical records includes licensed software, technology resale, subscriptions, professional services, and others, that can apply in various industries such as e-prescription, practice management, referral management, patient management, and population health management. North America was the largest region in the electronic medical records market in 2021. The Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest-growing region in the forecast period. The regions covered in the electronic medical records market report are Asia-Pacific, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, the Middle East, and Africa. Growth in healthcare information technology is significantly driving the growth of the electronic medical records market in healthcare. Electronic medical records are one of the significant applications that can be created, managed, and accessed by authorized staff within one health care organization for providing prompt healthcare services electronically. The rapid growth of electronic medical records adoption needs more development and simpler application that can be achieved through the advanced IT sector in the health care sector. According to the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, a non-profit healthcare organization based in the USA, 2019, shows that 45% of US citizens think that electronic health records have improved the quality of care in the medical sector. Hence, growth in healthcare information technology is expected to propel the growth of electronic medical records in the healthcare market in the forecast period. Incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) to predict EHR-based clinical outcomes is shaping the electronic medical records market. Artificial intelligence (AI) is the robotic capacity of a computer to do activities that normally require human intelligence and judgment. AI is used in EMR to analyze, display, and comprehend complicated medical and healthcare data in a way that mimics human behavior. For instance, in October 2021, Suki, USA-based AI-powered voice solutions for a healthcare company, launched a Windows version of Suki Assistant that provides an end-to-end voice-enabled clinical digital assistance. It uses AI to listen to and understand the words spoken by the doctor and translate them into a written form. The countries covered in the electronic medical records market report are Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Russia, South Korea, UK, USA. Key Topics Covered: 1. Executive Summary 2. Electronic Medical Records Market Characteristics 3. Electronic Medical Records Market Trends And Strategies 4. Impact Of COVID-19 On Electronic Medical Records 5. Electronic Medical Records Market Size And Growth 5.1. Global Electronic Medical Records Historic Market, 2016-2021, $ Billion 5.1.1. Drivers Of The Market 5.1.2. Restraints On The Market 5.2. Global Electronic Medical Records Forecast Market, 2021-2026F, 2031F, $ Billion 5.2.1. Drivers Of The Market 5.2.2. Restraints On the Market 6. Electronic Medical Records Market Segmentation 6.1. Global Electronic Medical Records Market, Segmentation By Type, Historic and Forecast, 2016-2021, 2021-2026F, 2031F, $ Billion Acute Ambulatory Post Acute 6.2. Global Electronic Medical Records Market, Segmentation By Product, Historic and Forecast, 2016-2021, 2021-2026F, 2031F, $ Billion Client Server Based EHR Web Based EHR 6.3. Global Electronic Medical Records Market, Segmentation By Mode of Delivery, Historic and Forecast, 2016-2021, 2021-2026F, 2031F, $ Billion Cloud Based On Premise Model 6.4. Global Electronic Medical Records Market, Segmentation By Business Models, Historic and Forecast, 2016-2021, 2021-2026F, 2031F, $ Billion Licensed Software Technology Resale Subscriptions Professional Services Other Business Models 6.5. Global Electronic Medical Records Market, Segmentation By Application, Historic and Forecast, 2016-2021, 2021-2026F, 2031F, $ Billion E Prescription Practice Management Referral Management Patient Management Population Health Management 7. Electronic Medical Records Market Regional And Country Analysis 7.1. Global Electronic Medical Records Market, Split By Region, Historic and Forecast, 2016-2021, 2021-2026F, 2031F, $ Billion 7.2. Global Electronic Medical Records 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/rw2fe9 Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/539438/Research_and_Markets_Logo.jpg SOURCE Research and Markets New Mexico schools, organizations, and families to hold more than 150 events during the thirteenth annual celebration of school choice SANTA FE, N.M., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Gov. Grisham has proclaimed Jan. 22-28 to be School Choice Week in New Mexico, inviting all parents, educators and students to participate in the activities that will take place across the state. Through the proclamation Gov. Grisham highlights the importance of effective education for the students of the state. "New Mexico 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 schoolchoiceweek.com/proclamations-2023 . The Week is a public awareness effort that highlights the contributions of traditional public schools, public charter schools, public magnet schools, online learning, private schools, and homeschooling. It also celebrates the choices parents have to select which of these learning environments works best for their children. For the Week, parents, schools, and other organizers have planned more than 185 activities across the state of New Mexico including a school fair in Albuquerque, a science fair, an arts and craft day, 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 26,000 events have been independently planned for the week nationwide, raising awareness about school choices of every type. "During the Week, New Mexico families will join the nation in celebrating their schools and the positive ways that effective education benefits kids," said Andrew Campanella, president and CEO of the National School Choice Awareness Foundation. "This proclamation recognizes that education starts with families; let's support all parents in finding learning environments where their child is challenged, inspired, and successful." National School Choice Week (NSCW) informs, inspires, and empowers parents to discover the K-12 education options available for their children, including traditional public, 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/New-Mexico SOURCE National School Choice Week NEW YORK, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Goya Foods, the largest Hispanic owned food company in the United States, hosted a press conference in New York City on January 11, 2023, to support Human Trafficking Awareness Day, and Month. Through the Goya Cares global initiative, Goya is bringing together community organizations and businesses to show solidarity for one major cause - to eradicate child trafficking and recognize the growing epidemic, the dangers associated with this epidemic, particularly with children, and the need to raise awareness, and support preventative education. Jose Antonio Fernandez, President & CEO of Catholic Charities of San Antonio; Father Giordano Belanich, Croatian Relief Services, Inc.; Darren McCormack, Deputy Special Agent-in-Charge of U.S. Homeland Security Investigations Bob Unanue, President & CEO of Goya Foods; Elizabeth Gilroy, Founder and President of Face of Justice; Dr. Norma Fernandez, Superintendent of Jersey City Public Schools; Tanya Ramos-Puig, CEO at Monique Burr Foundation; and Bob Cunningham, CEO of International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC) at the Goya Cares press conference to support Human Trafficking Awareness Day. "At the center of Goya Cares is a heart. Together, we must continue to fight and bring the child back to the center of our care and concern so that they may have hope and the opportunity to live in a world where their life is valued and their freedom is a reality," said Bob Unanue, President & CEO of Goya Foods. California, Texas, Florida, Georgia, and New York have the highest rate of human trafficking in the United States and half of the victims are children. Goya Cares will roll out phase II of its global initiative to help combat child trafficking in the United States and globally, starting with supporting access to prevention education and training school administrators to facilitate lessons to students across America and eventually worldwide. "We are honored to partner with Goya Cares to deliver the Monique Burr Foundation for Children's evidence-based and trauma-informed curriculum to nearly 25,000 students. The curriculum educates and empowers children and adults in their lives to keep them safe from abuse, bullying, online exploitation, and human trafficking. Together, we will educate and protect our most vulnerable citizens," said Tanya Ramos Puig, CEO of The Monique Burr Foundation. Phase II of Goya Cares also includes a cause-related marketing campaign, the placement of a Goya Cares QR code on 30 million cans of Goya's top-selling beans that leads to the Human Trafficking Hotline on goyacares.com, the development of new content and videos for social media in order to reach a younger audience, and the expansion of the Goya Cares coalition. The Goya Cares coalition is made up of organizations and businesses that recover, restore, and reunite survivors as well as raise awareness, and provide preventative education including The International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC), Monique Burr Foundation, National Supermarket Association (NSA), SOMOS Healthcare, New York City Schools, Croatian Relief Services, Inc., Face of Justice, Catholic Charities of San Antonio, NYC Hotel Association, Covenant House, U.S. Homeland Security for Investigations, New York City Department of Education, Jersey City Public School District, Newark Public School District, and the Center for Safety and Change, Operation Underground Railroad, Aerial Recovery, The Knights of Columbus, Maestro Cares Foundation, Cornerstone Institute, Hope Rising, Salt & Light Coalition, Center for Countering Human Trafficking, Wonder Girls USA, Kristi House, Eyes on Me, The Eric Chase Foundation, YMCA of Greater Houston, Northwell Health, and Fight for Us. For more information, please visit: www.goyacares.com About Goya Cares: Goya Cares was established in 2021 and has helped raise awareness among millions of people around the world while supporting organizations and individuals through the Goya Cares coalition. The mission of Goya Cares is to educate, support, and protect children, and families, from being enslaved, abused and subjected to the trauma associated with child trafficking. To encourage community collaboration by recognizing the risks and working collectively to raise awareness and protect our youth. #GoyaCares PRESS Contact: Natalie Maniscalco [email protected] 845.659.6506 SOURCE Goya Foods, Inc. SYRACUSE, N.Y., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Hofmann Sausage Company announces the production release of Korean Style BBQ Flavor Smoked Pork Jerky. This jerky is the first pork jerky product to be sold under the Hofmann brand. Other jerky products by the company include Prime Rib Smoked Beef Jerky, Cherry Maple Smoked Beef Jerky, and Honey BBQ Smoked Beef Jerky. Korean BBQ jerky is all about balance and contrast between flavors of our pork combined with soy, brown sugar, rice wine vinegar, ginger, sesame, Chipotle peppers, and moresweet, smoky, and a little spicy. It all works together for an incredible taste. Pat Favalo, Hofmann's National Sales Manager Hofmann distributes four varieties of jerky, six flavors of hunter sticks - Original, Honey Pepper Bacon, Teriyaki, Garlic, Hot & Spicy, Jalapeno Cheddar - and two flavors of summer sausage -Hickory and Hickory & Cheddar - all of which are in the meat snack category. These products are sold in eastern U.S. grocery and convenience stores. According to Statista, sales of meat snacks in the U.S. reached about USD 3.5Bn in 2019 and the category continues to grow. And IRI found that U.S. consumer snacking continues to increase as reported by Winsight Grocery Business. "Korean BBQ flavor which started off as more of a limited trend has shown that it most likely will stick around as it has made its way to mainstream grocery products," says Pat Favalo, National Sales Manager for Hofmann. "We try to give the people what they want which is showcased in our meat snack items like the Korean BBQ jerky, Jalapeno Cheddar Hunter Sticks, and other products." Hofmann Sausage Company is one of the oldest hot dog and sausage manufacturers in the United States - dating back to a meat market in 1861 and incorporation in 1879 in Syracuse, New York. Hofmann started selling meat snack items in 2018 adding to its product mix. For more information on Hofmann Sausage Company, contact Rebecca Baker, Chief Marketing Officer, 315-437-7257, or visit https://hofmannsausage.com. Rebecca Baker Hofmann Sausage Company C: (214) 616-9033 O: (315) 437-7257 [email protected] SOURCE Hofmann Sausage Company ER/Q is the first employee-relations specific maturity model designed to help organizations measure and improve their ER processes NEW YORK, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- HR Acuity, the only human resources SaaS solution designed for employee relations case management and investigations, today announced the launch of its industry-first employee relations maturity model, the Employee Relations Quotient or ER/Q. Deb Muller, HR Acuity founder and CEO, believes the most respected ER teams are those that build trust with employees and generate confidence with executives. "As the importance of employee relations skyrockets, ER professionals must have the ability to articulate both their vision for and the value they contribute to the organization." According to Muller, ER professionals that can do this make a bigger impact within their organizations. "Teams with higher maturity levels communicate better with a variety of business stakeholders. As a result, they spend their time sharing insights and influencing policy conversations instead of putting out fires. Our new ER/Q is a perfect tool to help teams establish a realistic picture of where they are and feel confident about the steps they need to take to achieve their vision and improve their value." ER/Q is the first employee-relations specific maturity model for companies to measure and improve their ER processes. Tweet this Using the model, ER teams quickly establish a baseline for their current maturity level based on the purpose, processes and influence the team currently has within the organization. Once the baseline is set, teams identify with the closest maturity profile and receive actionable steps to improve. Whether it's an HR team handling it all or a dedicated ER function with multiple experts, HR Acuity built the ER/Q model to simplify the path leaders can take to accelerate maturity and achieve their vision. Companies interested in learning their ER/Q can complete the assessment at https://www.hracuity.com/erq/. About HR Acuity While you can't prevent every employee relations issue, you can change how you respond. HR Acuity is the only technology platform specifically built for employee relations and investigations management. HR Acuity's SaaS technology empowers you with built in intelligence, templates and reporting so you can conduct fair investigations according to best practices; uncover trends and patterns through forward-looking data and analytics; and provide trusted, consistent experiences for your people. For more information, visit hracuity.com or follow us on LinkedIn CONTACT: Kate Freer, [email protected] SOURCE HR Acuity BEVERLY HILLS, Mich., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Gala & Associates, Inc., announced that Hussein Elhage, former Sr. Vice President, will assume the position of President as founder Chuni Gala steps into a new role as Executive Advisor and Director. Gala & Associates, Inc., announced that Hussein Elhage, former Sr. Vice President, will assume the position of President Tweet this Hussein Elhage, former Sr. Vice President, named President of Gala and Associates, Inc. "Hussein has been with Gala since the inception. He will continue the traditions and legacy of Gala & Associates into the future, providing continuity, stability, and sound leadership," said the outgoing President and founder of Gala & Associates, Inc., Chuni Gala. "Hussein is well respected throughout the industry, and his name is synonymous with Gala & Associates." "The depth of leadership experience within Gala & Associates is one of the reasons The Austin Company was drawn to acquiring the company," said President and CEO of Austin, Mike Pierce. "Hussein has been with Gala since the beginning. He has progressively grown with the company, taking on additional leadership responsibilities, assisting in the development of Gala's scope of services throughout the U.S. and into Mexico, mentoring young engineers, and overseeing Gala's data and technology departments." "I am honored to be able to continue to grow the relationships we have built over the past 35 years and lead Gala into the future. I am proud of the company we have built, the team we have assembled, and I look forward to the future," said Elhage. Hussein holds a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering and a master's degree in Civil Engineering from Wayne State University. He is a licensed professional engineer in multiple states. Gala provides architectural engineering, design, and project management services for automotive assembly and heavy industrial facilities. Established in 1987, Gala is headquartered in Beverly Hills, Michigan (a Northern suburb of Detroit, Michigan). Austin took ownership of Gala in 2022. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Austin has offices in Atlanta, Georgia; Irvine, California; Kalamazoo, Michigan; Merritt Island, Florida; San Luis Potosi, Mexico; and London, United Kingdom. The Austin Company is a subsidiary of Kajima. SOURCE Gala & Associates, Inc. Executive Chair Chung tops MotorTrend's prestigious 2023 Power List MotorTrend praises Chung's ability to "lead Hyundai Motor Group into a new age" Latest honor follows proliferation of MotorTrend awards for HMG models, including 2023 SUV of the Year for Hyundai IONIQ 5, 2023 Car of the Year for Genesis G90 Group's pioneering of smart cities, robots and Advanced Air Mobility praised Four more Group executives feature prominently in MotorTrend's 2023 Power List SEOUL, South Korea and FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Hyundai Motor Group (the Group)'s Executive Chair, Euisun Chung, has today been honored with the MotorTrend Person of the Year award, having secured the number one position in MotorTrend's esteemed 2023 Power List. The MotorTrend Power List ranks the 50 most influential people in the global automotive industry each year. During the past five years, Executive Chair Chung has risen progressively from his first appearance on the power list at No. 12 in 2018 to No. 5 in 2022 and now No. 1 in 2023. Annie Leibovitz. Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung Named MotorTrend Person of the Year, Topping Its 2023 Power List MotorTrend named Chung 'Person of the Year' for "leading Hyundai Motor Group into a new age." It also highlighted the exceptional caliber of the vehicles developed under Chung's watch, stating: "The vehicles coming out of Hyundai Motor Group are notable for their eye-catching design, quality, clever packaging, and good value and they are proving increasingly difficult to beat." This latest critical acclaim follows a proliferation of MotorTrend awards for the Group's models, which include the Genesis G90 being hailed as the automotive media brand's 2023 Car of the Year and the Hyundai IONIQ 5 named its 2023 SUV of the Year. Previously, the Genesis GV70 and Kia Telluride took similar honors. "Hyundai, Genesis, and Kia have been hitting balls out of the park repeatedly," asserted MotorTrend. In addition to his skill in plotting the course for the Group's current success, MotorTrend extolled Chung's vision of the future. It recognized his "big-picture" thinking and his ability to initiate solutions traditionally regarded beyond the bounds of the automotive industry. "As Executive Chair, Chung is putting his stamp on the company's future. His grasp of where the world and the industry are headed, combined with a desire to make the planet a better place, spurs a broader mission to become a leader in electric vehicles and advanced mobility," observed MotorTrend. It also highlighted the Group's pioneering role in smart city planning and a myriad of mobility solutions, including robots and Advanced Air Mobility (AAM). Commenting on the depth and reach of Chung's vision, MotorTrend added: "In that sense, he does his father and grandfather proud, pushing the entire Hyundai Motor Group to new levels. The man and his vision, and the juggernaut that his company is becoming, loom loud and large. For his vision and leadership, then, Euisun Chung is our 2023 MotorTrend Person of the Year." Also ranked on MotorTrend's Power List are Luc Donckerwolke, President and Chief Creative Officer of Hyundai Motor Group (3); Jose Munoz, President and Global Chief Operating Officer of Hyundai Motor Company (10); SangYup Lee, Executive Vice President and Head of Hyundai Global Design Center (28); and Karim Habib (44), Executive Vice President and Head of Kia Global Design Center. Previous recognition for Chung's pioneering thinking includes the Executive Chair being named Newsweek's 'Visionary of the Year' at its inaugural World's Greatest Auto Disrupters event in 2022 and being honored with the coveted Issigonis Trophy at the 2021 Autocar Awards. Speaking earlier in January, at a New Year town hall meeting at the Group's Namyang R&D Center, Chung underlined his continued commitment to the success of the Group. He urged everyone within the organization to spare no effort to ensure the delivery of the best possible products and services for its customers. "We must take on challenges based on trust, and the positive results must lead to even stronger trust. No great product or technology is complete without the trust of our customers," affirmed Chung. "Quality is a priority for all of us. From product planning to design, production, sales, and after-sales maintenance, all teams and employees must place quality and the customer as the top priority. We must all go above and beyond to earn the respect and loyalty of our customers." The 2023 MotorTrend Power List is available online today and will be published in the March print issue. About Hyundai Motor Group Hyundai Motor Group is a global enterprise that has created a value chain based on mobility, steel, and construction, as well as logistics, finance, IT, and service. With about 250,000 employees worldwide, the Group's mobility brands include Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis. Armed with creative thinking, cooperative communication and the will to take on any challenges, we strive to create a better future for all. More information about Hyundai Motor Group, please see: www.hyundaimotorgroup.com SOURCE Hyundai Motor Group GURUGRAM, India, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Indonesia's Used Tractor Market is in the growing stage, being driven by Digitalisation and availability of modern technologies. Tractor Market in Indonesia has various players like OEM companies, market place/classifieds and finance companies. The used tractor market in Indonesia is expected to grow at a positive but at a slow growth rate in immediate future due to global economic conditions. Sales will rise as government is keen on mechanization of agriculture. The current agricultural farm equipment is going through a paradigm shift from cart driven to self-driven tractors. Current Market Positioning: India expects to emerge as the 5th largest vehicles manufacturer and 3rd largest auto component market in the world by 2026F. The major Revenue contribution is from the sale of Suspension Parts. Rising Awareness: The growing farming population and increasing awareness about buying and selling used tractors are some of the key strengths. As of 2022, there were around 40.6 Mn people who worked in the agriculture sector in Indonesia. Pre-owned tractor market has been witnessing a boom, owing to the demand for affordable tractors. Government Regulations: Demand within Java, Sumatra and Sulawesi regions is expected to grow for used tractors and other agricultural equipments. Indonesian government plans to invest in R&D - Rice science to further improve yields on available favorable land, while expanding rice production to frontier areas, where the rice plant must withstand harsher environments. Growing Demand of Four Wheel Tractor: Demand for four wheel tractors will continue to arise from Sumatra and Kalimantan in the future, due to the above average farm holding size in these regions. The sale of used tractor is largely unorganized and is difficult to track. Analysts at Ken Research in their latest publication- "Indonesia Used Tractor Market Outlook to 2027- Driven By Remote Monitoring Technologies, Farm Mechanization and Dominated by Low Engine Power Tractors" by Ken Research provides a comprehensive analysis of the potential of the tractor market in Indonesia. The rising demand for Pre-owned tractors among the population, along with Government Initiatives, is expected to contribute to the market growth over the forecast period. Key Segments Covered:- Segmentation on basis of power Less Than 30 HP 31-60HP 60-100HP 100HP+ Segmentation on basis of purpose Agriculture Construction Segmentation on basis of reason Java Sumatra Sulawesi Lesser sunda island To learn more about this report Download a Free Sample Report Segmentation Basis Sale Distribution Channel Offline Channel Financial Institution/Auction Online Channel Segmentation Basis Price (THB): Less than 70,000,000 IDR 70,000,001-100,000,000 100,000,001- 150,000,000 150,000,001+ Segmentation Basis Usage(hours): Less than 500 hours 501-1500 1501-3000 3001-5000+ Key Target Audience OEMs Multi-Brands Online Used Tractor Portals Used Tractor Financing Companies Government Bodies Investors & Venture Capital Firms Used Tractor Dealerships Used Tractor Manufacturing Companies Used Tractor Distributors Used Tractor Auction Houses Used Tractor Associations Visit this Link Request for custom report Time Period Captured in the Report:- Historical Period: 2017-2022P 2017-2022P Base Year: 2022P 2022P Forecast Period: 20222027F Companies Covered:- OEM Companies New Holland Traktor Nusantara Yanmar John Deere Kubota Cnh Industrial Market Place/ Classifieds Jualo.Com Tokopedia Olx Bri Alibaba.Com Shopee Finance Companies BAF Mandiri JTO Finance Adira Finance Key Topics Covered in the Report:- Indonesia Used Tractor Market Overview Indonesia Agricultural Market Overview Indonesia Used Tractor Market Market Ecosystem Market share of Major Used Tractor Companies, 2022P Value chain Analysis Detailed Analysis on Indonesia Used Tractor Market Market Segmentations; Competition; Future Market Size, 2027) Future Trends and the Way Forward Snapshot on Climate Change and its impact Snapshot on second hand agricultural vehicles Snapshot on staple crop of Indonesia Future Market Size of Indonesia Future Segmentation for Indonesia Used Tractor Market,2027F On- Demand Tractor Services Analyst Recommendations For more insights on the market intelligence, refer to the link below:- Indonesia Used Tractor Market Related Reports by Ken Research:- Philippines Used Tractor Market Outlook to 2027F - Driven by Modernization in Technology and Dominated by Low Engine Power Tractors Philippines Used Tractor market is expected to increase at a double digit CAGR during the period 2021 2027F in terms of sales volume, owing to new government policies, rise in disposable income in the country. The market is expected to grow owing to the inclination of population towards lower prices and growing agricultural productivity. Thailand Used Tractor Market Outlook to 2027F Driven by Technological Advancements and Dominated by Low Engine Power Tractors Thailand Used Tractor market has showcased subdued growth over the past few years supported by growth in agriculture production, surge in average farm size and demand increase for 35-50HP used tractors. The Thailand Used Tractor market is a moderately concentrated market with John Deere, New Holland, Yanmar, Siam Kubota, Iseki as the market leaders owing to the high market share on the basis of number of used tractors sold. Due to the increased use of online channels during the COVID, the prominence of offline channels as a method of distribution of used tractors decreased. A major part of the sales distribution occurs through financial institutions or auctions. In case of default, the financial institution repossesses the machinery and auction it, to recover the investment. Indian Used Agricultural Equipment Market Outlook to 2026 (Including Tractors, Harvesters, Power Tillers and Tractor-Attachable Equipment): Driven by rising adoption of small and marginal farmers and government subsidy to increase the demand of used equipment Indian Used Agricultural Equipment market grew at a CAGR of ~16.5 % by volume, and ~19.1% by transaction value, during FY'16-FY'21. Used tractors dominated the Used Agricultural Equipment in India, by volume sold, in FY'21 followed by used tractor-attachable equipment (sprayer, rotavator, cultivator, ploughs, drills, harrow, etc.), used power tillers and used harvesters. The market was also observed to be highly fragmented and dominated by the unorganized dealers. Apart from that, peer to peer sales are also quite frequent in India. Ambitious government initiatives, rising adoption of mechanization in India, paired with economic feasibility of purchasing second hand equipment has led to the growth of Used Agricultural Equipment market in India. Follow Us LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube Contact Us:- Ken Research Private Limited Ankur Gupta, Director Strategy and Growth [email protected] +91-9015378249 Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1954972/Ken_Research_Logo.jpg SOURCE Ken Research NEW YORK, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- According to Technavio, the global IT market size in Argentina is estimated to grow by USD 6689.71 million from 2022 to 2027. The market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 8.3% during the forecast period. For more Insights on market size Request a sample report Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Argentina IT Market 2023-2027 Global IT market in Argentina - Five forces The global IT market in Argentina 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! Global IT market in Argentina 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 IT market in Argentina- Segmentation assessment Segment overview Technavio has segmented the market based on end-user (BFSI, IT and telecom, government, healthcare, and others), and type (services, software, and hardware). The BFSI segment will grow at the highest rate during the forecast period. One of the main factors that will propel the growth of the Argentina IT market in the BFSI segment during the forecast period is the fast-paced transformation of the BFSI sector in terms of updating legacy IT infrastructure and systems to implement new and cutting-edge technologies that cater to consumer needs. Businesses in the banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) industry are investing in IT solutions to lower costs, discover new sources of income, enhance security and compliance protocols, and boost customer support effectiveness. Download a Sample Report Global IT market In Argentina Market dynamics Key factor driving market growth The increasing adoption of cloud-based services is a key factor behind the growth of the Argentina information technology market. The increasing digitization of the country's end-user segments has prompted software developers and service providers to include cloud-based solutions in their offers. These solutions have made it unnecessary for businesses in Argentina to buy and install IT infrastructure. to buy and install IT infrastructure. The infrastructure as a service, platform as a service, and software as a service pay-as-you-go subscription model encourages the use of cloud-based solutions and is predicted to support the expansion of the IT industry in Argentina throughout the projection period. Leading trends influencing the market Increasing adoption of mobility solutions is a major trend in the Argentina information technology market. IT services like backend as a service (BaaS) and web-integrated development environments (IDE) are necessary for mobile application developers to provide cutting-edge innovative mobile application development solutions. Using IT services like BaaS solutions, mobile app developers can speed up front-end tasks like design and content creation and improve user interface (UI) design for a better user experience. Therefore, the above factors are expected to drive the growth of Argentina's IT market during the forecast period. Major challenges hindering the market growth The shortage of qualified IT professionals is a major challenge to the growth of the Argentina information technology market. There is a critical lack of trained IT professionals for Argentine businesses. They face major obstacles in hiring and keeping IT professionals. The number of applicants for open positions is declining due to a shortage of professional qualifications. Small businesses and public sector organizations consequently struggle to find qualified candidates. The digital transformation initiatives of Argentina's businesses may be seriously hampered by the lack of qualified IT experts in the fields of cloud, AI, big data, and IoT. Driver, Trend & 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 IT market in Argentina report? CAGR of the market during the forecast period Detailed information on factors that will drive the growth of the IT market in Argentina between 2023 and 2027 between 2023 and 2027 Precise estimation of the size of the IT market in Argentina and its contribution to the parent market and its contribution to the parent market Accurate predictions about upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior A thorough analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information about vendors Comprehensive analysis of factors that will challenge the growth of IT market in Argentina vendors Gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports. Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Related Reports: Semiconductor Fabrication Software Market by Solution, End-user, and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2023-2027: The semiconductor fabrication software market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 1.77% between 2022 and 2027. The size of the market is forecast to increase by USD 586.17 million. This report extensively covers market segmentation by solution (CAE, IC physical design and verification, PCB and MCM, fab management software, and others), end-user (process documentation, process integration, and others), and geography (APAC, North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and South America). Big Data Services Market by Component, End-user and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2023-2027: The big data services market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 35.68% between 2022 and 2027. The size of the market is forecast to increase by USD 153.75 billion. The growing amount of data is notably driving the market growth, although factors such as adhering to diverse client requirements may impede the market growth. IT Market In Argentina Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 145 Base year 2022 Historic period 2017-2021 Forecast period 2023-2027 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 8.3% Market growth 2023-2027 USD 6689.71 million Market structure Fragmented YoY growth 2022-2023 (%) 7.4 Regional analysis Argentina Competitive landscape Leading Vendors, Market Positioning of Vendors, Competitive Strategies, and Industry Risks Key companies profiled Accenture Plc, Amadeus IT Group SA, Apple Inc., AVEVA Group Plc, Capgemini Service SAS, Cisco Systems Inc., Dassault Systemes SE, Dell Technologies Inc., Fujitsu Ltd., Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co., Hexagon AB, Infosys Ltd., International Business Machines Corp., Lenovo Group Ltd., Microsoft Corp., Oracle Corp., SAP SE, Siemens AG, Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson, and TOSHIBA CORP 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 "Information Technology" 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 Country Market Characteristics Exhibit 04: Executive Summary Chart on Market Segmentation by End-user Exhibit 05: Executive Summary Chart on Market Segmentation by Type Exhibit 06: Executive Summary Chart on Vendor Market Positioning 2 Market Landscape 2.1 Market ecosystem Exhibit 07: Parent market Exhibit 08: Market Characteristics 3 Market Sizing 3.1 Market definition Exhibit 09: Offerings of vendors included in the market definition 3.2 Market segment analysis Exhibit 10: Market segments 3.3 Market size 2022 3.4 Market outlook: Forecast for 2022-2027 Exhibit 11: Chart on Argentina - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 12: Data Table on Argentina - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 13: Chart on Argentina : Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) : Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 14: Data Table on Argentina : Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 4 Historic Market Size 4.1 IT market in Argentina 2017 - 2021 2017 - 2021 Exhibit 15: Historic Market Size Data Table on IT market in Argentina 2017 - 2021 ($ million) 4.2 End-user Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021 Exhibit 16: Historic Market Size End-user Segment 2017 - 2021 ($ million) 4.3 Type Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021 Exhibit 17: Historic Market Size Type Segment 2017 - 2021 ($ million) 5 Five Forces Analysis 5.1 Five forces summary Exhibit 18: Five forces analysis - Comparison between 2022 and 2027 5.2 Bargaining power of buyers Exhibit 19: Chart on Bargaining power of buyers Impact of key factors 2022 and 2027 5.3 Bargaining power of suppliers Exhibit 20: Bargaining power of suppliers Impact of key factors in 2022 and 2027 5.4 Threat of new entrants Exhibit 21: Threat of new entrants Impact of key factors in 2022 and 2027 5.5 Threat of substitutes Exhibit 22: Threat of substitutes Impact of key factors in 2022 and 2027 5.6 Threat of rivalry Exhibit 23: Threat of rivalry Impact of key factors in 2022 and 2027 5.7 Market condition Exhibit 24: Chart on Market condition - Five forces 2022 and 2027 6 Market Segmentation by End-user 6.1 Market segments Exhibit 25: Chart on End-user - Market share 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 26: Data Table on End-user - Market share 2022-2027 (%) 6.2 Comparison by End-user Exhibit 27: Chart on Comparison by End-user Exhibit 28: Data Table on Comparison by End-user 6.3 BFSI - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 29: Chart on BFSI - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 30: Data Table on BFSI - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 31: Chart on BFSI - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 32: Data Table on BFSI - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 6.4 IT and telecom - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 33: Chart on IT and telecom - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 34: Data Table on IT and telecom - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 35: Chart on IT and telecom - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 36: Data Table on IT and telecom - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 6.5 Government - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 37: Chart on Government - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 38: Data Table on Government - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 39: Chart on Government - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 40: Data Table on Government - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 6.6 Healthcare - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 41: Chart on Healthcare - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 42: Data Table on Healthcare - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 43: Chart on Healthcare - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 44: Data Table on Healthcare - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 6.7 Others - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 45: Chart on Others - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 46: Data Table on Others - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 47: Chart on Others - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 48: Data Table on Others - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 6.8 Market opportunity by End-user Exhibit 49: Market opportunity by End-user ($ million) 7 Market Segmentation by Type 7.1 Market segments Exhibit 50: Chart on Type - Market share 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 51: Data Table on Type - Market share 2022-2027 (%) 7.2 Comparison by Type Exhibit 52: Chart on Comparison by Type Exhibit 53: Data Table on Comparison by Type 7.3 Services - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 54: Chart on Services - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 55: Data Table on Services - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 56: Chart on Services - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 57: Data Table on Services - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 7.4 Software - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 58: Chart on Software - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 59: Data Table on Software - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 60: Chart on Software - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 61: Data Table on Software - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 7.5 Hardware - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 62: Chart on Hardware - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 63: Data Table on Hardware - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 64: Chart on Hardware - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 65: Data Table on Hardware - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 7.6 Market opportunity by Type Exhibit 66: Market opportunity by Type ($ million) 8 Customer Landscape 8.1 Customer landscape overview Exhibit 67: Analysis of price sensitivity, lifecycle, customer purchase basket, adoption rates, and purchase criteria 9 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends 9.1 Market drivers 9.2 Market challenges 9.3 Impact of drivers and challenges Exhibit 68: Impact of drivers and challenges in 2022 and 2027 9.4 Market trends 10 Vendor Landscape 10.1 Overview 10.2 Vendor landscape Exhibit 69: Overview on Criticality of inputs and Factors of differentiation 10.3 Landscape disruption Exhibit 70: Overview on factors of disruption 10.4 Industry risks Exhibit 71: Impact of key risks on business 11 Vendor Analysis 11.1 Vendors covered Exhibit 72: Vendors covered 11.2 Market positioning of vendors Exhibit 73: Matrix on vendor position and classification 11.3 Accenture Plc Exhibit 74: Accenture Plc - Overview Exhibit 75: Accenture Plc - Business segments Exhibit 76: Accenture Plc - Key news Exhibit 77: Accenture Plc - Key offerings Exhibit 78: Accenture Plc - Segment focus 11.4 Amadeus IT Group SA Exhibit 79: Amadeus IT Group SA - Overview Exhibit 80: Amadeus IT Group SA - Business segments Exhibit 81: Amadeus IT Group SA - Key news Exhibit 82: Amadeus IT Group SA - Key offerings Exhibit 83: Amadeus IT Group SA - Segment focus 11.5 Apple Inc. Exhibit 84: Apple Inc. - Overview Exhibit 85: Apple Inc. - Business segments Exhibit 86: Apple Inc. - Key news Exhibit 87: Apple Inc. - Key offerings Exhibit 88: Apple Inc. - Segment focus 11.6 AVEVA Group Plc Exhibit 89: AVEVA Group Plc - Overview Exhibit 90: AVEVA Group Plc - Business segments Exhibit 91: AVEVA Group Plc - Key offerings Exhibit 92: AVEVA Group Plc - Segment focus 11.7 Capgemini Service SAS Exhibit 93: Capgemini Service SAS - Overview Exhibit 94: Capgemini Service SAS - Business segments Exhibit 95: Capgemini Service SAS - Key news Exhibit 96: Capgemini Service SAS - Key offerings Exhibit 97: Capgemini Service SAS - Segment focus 11.8 Cisco Systems Inc. Exhibit 98: Cisco Systems Inc. - Overview Exhibit 99: Cisco Systems Inc. - Business segments Exhibit 100: Cisco Systems Inc. - Key news Exhibit 101: Cisco Systems Inc. - Key offerings Exhibit 102: Cisco Systems Inc. - Segment focus 11.9 Dassault Systemes SE Exhibit 103: Dassault Systemes SE - Overview Exhibit 104: Dassault Systemes SE - Product / Service Exhibit 105: Dassault Systemes SE - Key news Exhibit 106: Dassault Systemes SE - Key offerings 11.10 Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. Exhibit 107: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. - Overview Exhibit 108: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. - Business segments Exhibit 109: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. - Key news Exhibit 110: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. - Key offerings Exhibit 111: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. - Segment focus 11.11 Hexagon AB Exhibit 112: Hexagon AB - Overview Exhibit 113: Hexagon AB - Business segments Exhibit 114: Hexagon AB - Key news Exhibit 115: Hexagon AB - Key offerings Exhibit 116: Hexagon AB - Segment focus 11.12 International Business Machines Corp. Exhibit 117: International Business Machines Corp. - Overview Exhibit 118: International Business Machines Corp. - Business segments Exhibit 119: International Business Machines Corp. - Key news Exhibit 120: International Business Machines Corp. - Key offerings Exhibit 121: International Business Machines Corp. - Segment focus 11.13 Microsoft Corp. Exhibit 122: Microsoft Corp. - Overview Exhibit 123: Microsoft Corp. - Business segments Exhibit 124: Microsoft Corp. - Key news Exhibit 125: Microsoft Corp. - Key offerings Exhibit 126: Microsoft Corp. - Segment focus 11.14 Oracle Corp. Exhibit 127: Oracle Corp. - Overview Exhibit 128: Oracle Corp. - Business segments Exhibit 129: Oracle Corp. - Key news Exhibit 130: Oracle Corp. - Key offerings Exhibit 131: Oracle Corp. - Segment focus 11.15 SAP SE Exhibit 132: SAP SE - Overview Exhibit 133: SAP SE - Business segments Exhibit 134: SAP SE - Key news Exhibit 135: SAP SE - Key offerings Exhibit 136: SAP SE - Segment focus 11.16 Siemens AG Exhibit 137: Siemens AG - Overview Exhibit 138: Siemens AG - Business segments Exhibit 139: Siemens AG - Key news Exhibit 140: Siemens AG - Key offerings Exhibit 141: Siemens AG - Segment focus 11.17 Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson Exhibit 142: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson - Overview Exhibit 143: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson - Business segments Exhibit 144: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson - Key news Exhibit 145: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson - Key offerings Exhibit 146: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson - Segment focus 12 Appendix 12.1 Scope of the report 12.2 Inclusions and exclusions checklist Exhibit 147: Inclusions checklist Exhibit 148: Exclusions checklist 12.3 Currency conversion rates for US$ Exhibit 149: Currency conversion rates for US$ 12.4 Research methodology Exhibit 150: Research methodology Exhibit 151: Validation techniques employed for market sizing Exhibit 152: Information sources 12.5 List of abbreviations Exhibit 153: 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 Jesse Maida Media & Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: [email protected] Website: www.technavio.com/ SOURCE Technavio International travel expected to accelerate China Daily) 16:51, January 11, 2023 A widebody A330-200 aircraft of China Eastern is set to take off from Shenzhen Baoan International Airport in Shenzhen, Guangdong province. [Photo by Liu Yi/For China Daily] International travel is expected to accelerate in the second half of this year, said Liang Nan, director of the Department of Transport for the Civil Aviation Administration of China. "If the market recovers well, the number of international flights by the end of the year is expected to reach about 80 percent of the level before the epidemic, with about 7,300 flights per week," she said. Liang made the remarks during a policy briefing in Beijing, which was organized by the International Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee to brief international business executives on the optimization of the country's epidemic control policies. "Chinese and foreign airlines are optimistic about the resumption of international flights, with nearly 40 domestic and overseas carriers having submitted applications to schedule about 700 passenger flights every week to and from 34 countries," she said. Most flights are scheduled to resume operations in late January and early February. The administration is processing the applications in accordance with procedure, she added. Meanwhile, the administration has resumed accepting applications for international passenger charter flights to meet the needs of business travelers, she said. China has also taken other steps recently to promote international travel. It ended special flight control measures the "circuit breaker" and "five ones" policies for inbound international flights on Monday. It also eliminated the categorization of high-risk flights as well as a restriction that limited flights to 75 percent passenger capacity. Furthermore, closed-loop management, quarantines and nucleic acid testing are no longer required for inbound flight staff. Liang also noted that the resumption of international flights will be slower than domestic ones. "It (the international market) will take longer to recover, considering that the resumption of international flights is affected by multiple factors such as market demand, transport capacity arrangements, time coordination and approval from domestic and foreign civil aviation authorities," she said. Moreover, after the impact of the epidemic over the past three years, it will still take time for passengers to prepare to travel abroad again, Liang said. This week, there were 563 international flights scheduled, she said. That number is expected to increase to 1,000 per week by the end of February, and by late March, to 1,300 to 2,300 every week. The administration will maintain communication with Chinese and foreign airlines to ensure they understand the updated policy, Liang said. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun) World-Renowned Jazz Guitarist PETER WHITE, in a career that spans nearly four decades, has maintained a reputation as one of the most versatile and inventive guitarists on the contemporary Jazz and Fusion landscape. Tickets for Peter White at Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club on Saturday February 25 at 7 & 9:30 P.M., as well as the current list of 2023 shows, can be found on Ticketmaster.com and Jimmy's Online Event Calendar at: http://www.jimmysoncongress.com/events. PORTSMOUTH, N.H., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club Features World-Renowned & Prolific Jazz Guitarist PETER WHITE on Saturday February 25 at 7 & 9:30 P.M. Peter White has 8 of his last 9 albums reaching the Top 5 on the Billboard Jazz Album Chart and he has eight #1 Hit Songs over the course of his career. Armed with an unparalleled combination of lyricism and energy, he combines elements of Jazz, Pop & Classical Guitar to create a sound that is singular and at the same time accessible to a broad audience. "A technically proficient guitarist who blends impeccable taste and admirable fluidity in his playing" Tweet this World-Renowned & Prolific Jazz Guitarist PETER WHITE performs at Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club on Saturday February 25 at 7 & 9:30 P.M. Tickets available at Ticketmaster.com and www.jimmysoncongress.com "Peter White, having assumed the crown from George Benson has established himself as the gold standard for smooth jazz guitarists..." JAZZ TIMES "Peter White is a technically proficient guitarist who blends impeccable taste and admirable fluidity in his playing." ALL ABOUT JAZZ After fifteen years as a backup musician and a session player, White launched his solo recording career with the 1990 release of Reveillez-Vous (French for "Wake up," a title chosen by White in honor of his French mother). The album became a favorite among contemporary jazz radio stations. White followed with three records on the Sindrome label Excusez-Moi (1991), Promenade (1993) and Reflections (1994) before signing with Columbia for the 1996 release of the critically acclaimed Caravan of Dreams. He maintained an ambitious release schedule through the '90s and beyond, but also found time to appear on recordings by many of his friends, including Dave Koz, Rick Braun, Richard Elliot, Jeff Golub, Lee Ritenour, Kirk Whalum, Boney James and many others. White released Here We Go in 2012 on Heads Up International, a division of Concord Music Group. The album hi #3 on the Billboard Jazz Album Chart. The 11-song set, featured several high-profile guest musicians, including saxophonists David Sanborn and Kirk Whalum, and pianist Philippe Saisse. White released Smile in 2014, the final album in White's trilogy of albums consisting entirely of his own material. The album reached #3 on the Billboard Jazz Album Chart. In 2016, White released Groovin, his 15th album as a solo artist and his third album covering classics in his own inimitable style. The album reached #2 on the Billboard Jazz Album Chart. ALL ABOUT JAZZ gave it 4.5 out of 5 stars and stated, "Groove's style of "soul-jazz" compliments White's fondness for 60's and 70's rhythm and blues." Over the years, White has become a smooth jazz icon with an incredible radiance - combining a stunning stage presence with extraordinary musical creativity. Peter White's #1 hit songs include: "Midnight in Manhattan", featuring Grover Washington, Jr. (1998), "What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)" featuring Sam Riney (2006), "Mister Magic" featuring Bob James (2007), "Bright" (2009), "Good Day (2010), "Here We Go" featuring David Sanborn (2012), "Head Over Heels" featuring Rick Braun (2014), and "Do I Do" (2017). White insists that it's the faces in the crowd and the fans that keep the experience of playing his music fresh. "I'll play a live show, and someone will come to me afterward and say, 'Oh, I loved this CD,' or 'This song helped me through a bad time,'" he explains. "Or I get emails from people saying, 'Oh, I love the way you covered one of my favorite songs on your record back in 1994.' The idea that someone can write me an email and tell me about something I did on a record that was released fifteen years ago you can't buy that. That's priceless. That's what keeps me going the idea that people out there really care about what I do, the idea that I've made a difference for someone." PETER WHITE Tickets & Current Schedule of Shows Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club's 2022 Schedule of Shows included 9 NEA Jazz Masters, 52 GRAMMY Award-Winning Artists, 46 Blues Music Award-Winners, and a comprehensive list of talented musicians with 575+ GRAMMY Award Nominations amongst them. Tickets for PETER WHITE at Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club on Saturday February 25 at 7 & 9:30 P.M., as well as the current list of 2023 shows, can be found on Ticketmaster and Jimmy's Online Event Calendar at: http://www.jimmysoncongress.com/events. ABOUT JIMMY'S JAZZ & BLUES CLUB The mission of Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club is to provide guests a one-of-a-kind, world-class experience featuring serious jazz and blues music served with exceptional cuisine. Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club features a spectacular and visually breathtaking environment engineered to deliver the highest quality acoustics while utilizing state-of-the-art production, sound and lighting technologies. Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club is located within a beautifully restored 1905 building at 135 Congress Street in the heart of historic downtown Portsmouth, New Hampshire. For more information visit www.jimmysoncongress.com or follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/JimmysJazzBlues and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/jimmysjazzblues/. PRIVATE EVENTS AT JIMMY'S An architecturally breathtaking center of arts and culture in the heart of historic Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club offers a rare and spectacular venue to host important corporate functions, weddings, intimate or large-scale social gatherings, private parties, and memorable celebrations. The team at Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club put heart and soul into creating a stunning full-service event space with new state-of-the-art production, sound & lighting technologies delivered with outstanding next-level culinary experiences. Our high-touch approach with professional and experienced event staff ensures that everything is tailored to exceed your expectations. To start a conversation about hosting your event at Jimmy's Jazz and Blues Club, please call us at 888-603-5299, or fill out Jimmy's Private Event Request Form. Website: http://www.jimmysoncongress.com Contact: Suzanne Bresette [email protected] 888-603-JAZZ SOURCE Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club FORT WORTH, Texas, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Koddi, the commerce media platform for publishers and advertisers, today announced the launch of Dynamic Pricing its newest yield management feature for commerce media publishers leveraging its Koddi Ads product. With Dynamic Pricing, brands are able to price media inventory based on their own science and intelligence in addition to Koddi's own signals - pricing for a specific user, session, search, product, or any combination in a privacy-first environment - all in real time. Commerce media publishers can use Dynamic Pricing to better optimize user experiences and advertising yields in ad auctions across their digital marketplaces. This release marks the latest innovation by Koddi to minimize the cost, risk, and technical challenge of building a successful commerce media program. Commerce media publishers using Koddi Ads can leverage Dynamic Pricing through a simple API integration and see an improvement in yield immediately. Eric Brackmann, Head of Commerce Media at Koddi, said, "In 2023 we expect to see a shift in the marketplace toward media networks that can prove efficiency for advertisers. Dynamic Pricing gives our retail and commerce media publishers the tools to drive that efficiency for their advertisers, while also maximizing the value of their audiences within a privacy-first framework. We're excited to drive even better results for our partners." Dynamic Pricing entered beta testing in mid-2022, giving publishers a finer degree of control over placement performance, with some publishers seeing immediate yield increases of up to 10% in live environments. The feature has now entered into general availability. "A constant challenge we hear with commerce media is the balance between revenue from the organic experience and the newly introduced ad revenue. In the past, this balance was broadly interpreted on holistic site performance, without the intricacies of individual inventory differences across pages, users, and markets," said Tyler Rospond, Product Management Director at Koddi. "With Dynamic Pricing, publishers have more control than ever to ensure that every page visit is maximizing site revenue with relevance - a safety net to ensure your commerce media business is accretive to your core business." About Koddi Koddi is a leading commerce media partner with advertising technology software and services designed to improve data-driven marketing and empower marketplace monetization for brands and publishers. The company's award-winning SaaS platform provides comprehensive solutions for brands and publishers to generate more actionable business intelligence and drive more commerce media revenue, accelerating speed to value without sacrificing experience. Based in Fort Worth, Texas, Koddi has offices in Austin, New York, Ann Arbor and Dusseldorf. Backed by Koddi's people-driven approach, marketers and engineers can fuel their growth and harness an enterprise-class advertising platform to drive informed decision-making across media and marketing activities. For more information, please visit koddi.com . SOURCE Koddi Be a national of Cuba , Haiti , Nicaragua , or Venezuela , , , or Have a supporter in the United States who will provide financial and other support who will provide financial and other support Undergo and clear robust security vetting Meet other eligibility criteria Warrant a favorable exercise of discretion DHS will begin implementing these new processes for Cubans, Haitians, and Nicaraguans on Jan. 6, 2023. The process for Venezuelans will continue as previously announced. To apply for these programs, individuals must complete the process electronically and should not approach the border. U.S.-based individuals may submit Form I-134A, Online Request to be a Supporter and Declaration of Financial Support, on behalf of named nationals of Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, or Venezuela to come to the United States. It is important to note that access to these processes is free and neither the U.S. supporter nor the beneficiary is required to pay any fees. Beware of any scams or potential exploitation by anyone who asks for money associated with applying to these programs. The Law Offices of C. Antonio Delgado is dedicated to helping individuals navigate the application process and provide the necessary documentation to increase their chances of approval. If you or someone you know is interested in applying for these programs, please do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected] or by phone at 1 888 688 4018. Visit our website abogadodelgado.com. We are here to help and look forward to assisting you in pursuing a temporary stay in the United States. Media Contact Media Department Phone number: (213) 266-7900 Email: [email protected] SOURCE Law Offices of C. Antonio Delgado Highlights Include: Commencing a five hole, 3,200 metre drill program at the Medusa copper-porphyry target. Prioritization work on the additional Pegasus A porphyry targets is ongoing. VANCOUVER, BC, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Luminex Resources Corp. (TSXV: LR) (OTCQX: LUMIF) (the "Company" or "Luminex") is pleased to announce that Anglo American has commenced its maiden drill program at the Pegasus project (the "Project"). The initial drill program will consist of five holes and 3,200 metres at the Medusa target. As with other identified targets on the district scale Pegasus property, Medusa exhibits corresponding favorable high-level alteration patterns of the host porphyritic and surrounding rocks, strong copper, molybdenum, and gold rock geochemistry, and magnetic-low geophysical signatures typical of porphyry copper systems. The Medusa area has also been the site of limited historic drilling by prior operators, with shallow holes (<200 meters), some of which ended in significant copper mineralization (>0.6% copper). The Medusa area has three internal targets based on the characteristics mentioned above with initial drilling slated for the largest northwestern target. Drilling plans have also been prepared for the other areas within the Medusa anomaly, however those plans are contingent on initial results. Prioritization work on the additional Pegasus A porphyry targets is ongoing. In September 2022, Anglo American made their scheduled US$1.0 million cash payment to Luminex. As of September 30, 2022, Anglo American has paid Luminex US$3.4 million in cash payments in compliance with the terms of the earn-in agreement entered into on September 21, 2018, and spent US$16.3 million on exploration expenditures towards their 60% ownership earn-in. Qualified Persons Leo Hathaway, P. Geo, Senior Vice President Exploration of Luminex and the Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, has reviewed, verified and approved the scientific and technical information concerning the Pegasus Project in this news release and has verified the data underlying that scientific and technical information. About Luminex Resources Luminex Resources Corp. (TSXV:LR, OTCQX:LUMIF) is a Vancouver, Canada based precious and base metals exploration and development company focused on gold and copper projects in Ecuador. Luminex's inferred and indicated mineral resources are located at the Condor Gold-Copper project in Zamora-Chinchipe Province, southeast Ecuador. Luminex also holds a large and highly prospective land package in Ecuador, including the Pegasus and Orquideas projects, which are being co-developed with Anglo American and JOGMEC respectively. Further details are available on the Company's website at https://luminexresources.com/. To receive news releases please sign up at https://www.luminexresources.com/contact/contact-us/. Follow us on: Twitter, Linkedin or Facebook. LUMINEX RESOURCES CORP. Signed: "Marshall Koval" Marshall Koval, CEO and Director Luminex is solely and entirely responsible for the contents hereof. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) nor any other person, accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. Cautionary Note Regarding 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. Such forward-looking statements or information include, but are not limited to, statements regarding future drilling and work programs at the Project. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements or information can be identified by the use of phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "will" occur or be achieved. With respect to forward-looking statements and information contained herein, the Company has made numerous assumptions including among other things, assumptions about general business and economic conditions, the prices of gold and copper, and anticipated costs and expenditures. The foregoing list of assumptions is not exhaustive. Although management of the Company believes that the assumptions made and the expectations represented by such statements or information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that a forward-looking statement or information herein will prove to be accurate. 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 Company's actual results, performance or achievements, or industry results, 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: risks associated with the business of the Company; business and economic conditions in the mining industry generally; the supply and demand for labour and other project inputs; changes in commodity prices; changes in interest and currency exchange rates; risks relating to inaccurate geological and engineering assumptions (including with respect to the tonnage, grade and recoverability of reserves and resources); risks relating to unanticipated operational difficulties (including failure of equipment or processes to operate in accordance with specifications or expectations, cost escalation, unavailability of materials and equipment, government action or delays in the receipt of government approvals, industrial disturbances or other job action, and unanticipated events related to health, safety and environmental matters); risks relating to adverse weather conditions; political risk and social unrest; changes in general economic conditions or conditions in the financial markets; changes in laws (including regulations respecting mining concessions); and other risk factors as detailed from time to time in the Company's continuous disclosure documents filed with Canadian securities administrators. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. SOURCE Luminex Resources Corp. NEW YORK, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The global marine insurance market size is estimated to increase by USD 4,994.88 million between 2022 and 2027. The market's growth momentum will progress at a CAGR of about 3.16% - Request a sample report Global marine insurance market Vendor analysis Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Marine Insurance Market 2023-2027 Vendor offerings - Allianz SE - The company offers a wide portfolio of marine insurance products. It offers highly customizable products and innovative marine solutions such as cargo insurance, inland marine, marine hull and liability, project cargo, and marine liability. The company offers a wide portfolio of marine insurance products. It offers highly customizable products and innovative marine solutions such as cargo insurance, inland marine, marine hull and liability, project cargo, and marine liability. American International Group Inc. - The company offers multinational risk coverage under its marine insurance portfolio, with products and services such as cargo insurance and recreational marine insurance. The company offers multinational risk coverage under its marine insurance portfolio, with products and services such as cargo insurance and recreational marine insurance. Aon Plc - The company offers marine insurance services to different players such as mega-yachts, hull and machinery, ports, terminals, and logistics companies. The company offers marine insurance services to different players such as mega-yachts, hull and machinery, ports, terminals, and logistics companies. Arthur J. Gallagher and Co. - The company offers a wide variety of marine insurance products such as maritime insurance and risk management and other specialty risks. The company offers a wide variety of marine insurance products such as maritime insurance and risk management and other specialty risks. For details on vendors and their offerings Buy the report! Vendor landscape - The global marine insurance market is fragmented, with the presence of several global as well as regional vendors. A few prominent vendors that offer marine insurance in the market are Allianz SE, American International Group Inc., Aon Plc, Arthur J. Gallagher and Co., Atrium Underwriters Ltd., AXA Group, Beazley Plc, Chubb Ltd., Hannover Re, Munich Reinsurance Co., Samsung Fire and Marine Insurance Co. Ltd., Sompo Holdings Inc., Swiss Re Ltd., Thomas Miller and Co. Ltd., Tokio Marine Holdings Inc., United India Insurance Co. Ltd., and Zurich Insurance Co. Ltd. and others. The competition among vendors in the market is intense. Local vendors find it difficult to compete with market leaders. Moreover, an extension of service offerings and technological innovations is likely to increase the competition among vendors in the market. Global vendors are expected to acquire regional or local players to increase their market share. Hence, the competition among vendors is expected to increase during the forecast period. Global marine insurance market - 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 marine insurance market - Segmentation assessment Segment overview Technavio has segmented the market based on product (cargo, hull, offshore energy, and marine liability) and end-user (cargo owners, traders, and government). The market share growth of the cargo segment will be higher than the other segments during the forecast period. In this segment, the movement of commodities by sea is referred to as marine freight. Shipping is considered an efficient mode of delivering products. Several vessels are used for sea transportation. For example, dry-cargo ships transport substantial dry items such as steel and metal ores. These factors will drive the growth of this segment during the forecast period. Geography overview Based on geography, the global marine insurance market is segmented into Europe, APAC, South America, Middle East and Africa, and North America. The report provides actionable insights and estimates the contribution of all regions to the growth of the global marine insurance market. Europe is estimated to account for 51% of the growth of the global market during the forecast period. The European Central Bank (ECB) has introduced measures to boost credit growth, which has increased the pressure on insurance companies to reconcile investment guarantees with low yields. The rise of aggregator websites that allow customers to compare houses, travel, auto, and insurance policies will further increase competition in the market. In addition, the low margins and significant regulatory pressure have encouraged insurers to shift to asset-backed securities on the investment front and risk-based products on the liabilities side. These factors will drive the growth of the market in the region. Download a sample report Global marine insurance market Market dynamics Leading drivers - The use of multiple distribution channels will drive the growth of the market during the forecast period. Multiple distribution channels help suppliers reach a wider audience, especially in emerging markets. In addition, technological developments such as digitization and analytics have led to the use of online portals. For example, countries such as Singapore promote insurance business models that encourage direct insurance through online platforms. Such factors are expected to fuel the growth of the global marine insurance market during the forecast period. Key trends - The increase in M&A and collaborations for industry growth is a key trend in the global marine insurance market. Major players are acquiring small vendors to increase their sales. Such agreements strengthen the capacity and global reach of marine insurance providers. Thus, the rise in the number of M&A and partnerships is expected to support the growth of the global marine insurance market during the forecast period. Major challenges - Low profitability for suppliers is a major challenge to the growth of the marine insurance market. Emerging markets have attracted a large number of domestic and international suppliers, which is increasing competition in the market. However, supplier profitability in regions such as APAC is low due to the decrease in insurance premiums. In addition, due to the low demand for existing and new policies, mainly from Europe, corporate overheads are increasing faster than GWP, which is reducing profit margins. These factors will hinder 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 marine insurance market report? CAGR of the market during the forecast period Detailed information on factors that will drive the growth of the marine insurance market between 2023 and 2027 Precise estimation of the size of the marine insurance market and its contribution to the parent market Accurate predictions about upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior Growth of the marine insurance market across Europe , APAC, South America , Middle East and Africa , and North America , 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 marine insurance market vendors Gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports. Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Related Reports: The automotive usage-based insurance market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 26.79% between 2022 and 2027. The size of the market is forecast to increase by USD 69,980.26 million. This report extensively covers market segmentation by application (embedded UBI and app-based UBI), pricing scheme (PHYD, PAYD, and MHYD), and geography (Europe, North America, APAC, Middle East and Africa, and South America). The insurance brokerage market size is expected to increase by USD 101.94 billion from 2021 to 2026, and the market's growth momentum will accelerate at a CAGR of 6.93%. This report extensively covers market segmentation by type (non-life insurance and life insurance) and geography (North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and the Middle East and Africa). Marine Insurance 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 3.16% Market growth 2023-2027 USD 4,994.88 million Market structure Fragmented YoY growth 2022-2023 (%) 2.97 Regional analysis Europe, APAC, South America, Middle East and Africa, and North America Performing market contribution Europe at 51% Key countries China, Singapore, UK, Germany, and France Competitive landscape Leading Vendors, Market Positioning of Vendors, Competitive Strategies, and Industry Risks Key companies profiled Allianz SE, American International Group Inc., Aon Plc, Arthur J. Gallagher and Co., Atrium Underwriters Ltd., AXA Group, Beazley Plc, Chubb Ltd., Hannover Re, Munich Reinsurance Co., Samsung Fire and Marine Insurance Co. Ltd., Sompo Holdings Inc., Swiss Re Ltd., Thomas Miller and Co. Ltd., Tokio Marine Holdings Inc., United India Insurance Co. Ltd., and Zurich Insurance Co. 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. Browse for Technavio's consumer discretionary 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 Product Exhibit 06: Executive Summary Chart on Market Segmentation by End-user 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 marine insurance market 2017 - 2021 Exhibit 18: Historic Market Size Data Table on Global marine insurance 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 Cargo - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 34: Chart on Cargo - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 35: Data Table on Cargo - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 36: Chart on Cargo - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 37: Data Table on Cargo - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 6.4 Hull - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 38: Chart on Hull - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 39: Data Table on Hull - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 40: Chart on Hull - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 41: Data Table on Hull - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 6.5 Offshore energy - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 42: Chart on Offshore energy - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 43: Data Table on Offshore energy - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 44: Chart on Offshore energy - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 45: Data Table on Offshore energy - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 6.6 Marine liability - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 46: Chart on Marine liability - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 47: Data Table on Marine liability - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 48: Chart on Marine liability - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 49: Data Table on Marine liability - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 6.7 Market opportunity by Product Exhibit 50: Market opportunity by Product ($ million) 7 Market Segmentation by End-user 7.1 Market segments Exhibit 51: Chart on End-user - Market share 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 52: Data Table on End-user - Market share 2022-2027 (%) 7.2 Comparison by End-user Exhibit 53: Chart on Comparison by End-user Exhibit 54: Data Table on Comparison by End-user 7.3 Cargo owners - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 55: Chart on Cargo owners - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 56: Data Table on Cargo owners - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 57: Chart on Cargo owners - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 58: Data Table on Cargo owners - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 7.4 Traders - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 59: Chart on Traders - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 60: Data Table on Traders - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 61: Chart on Traders - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 62: Data Table on Traders - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 7.5 Government - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 63: Chart on Government - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 64: Data Table on Government - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 65: Chart on Government - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 66: Data Table on Government - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 7.6 Market opportunity by End-user Exhibit 67: Market opportunity by End-user ($ million) 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 Europe - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 73: Chart on Europe - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 74: Data Table on Europe - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 75: Chart on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 76: Data Table on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 9.4 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 (%) 9.5 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 (%) 9.6 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 (%) 9.7 North America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 89: Chart on North America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 90: Data Table on North America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 91: Chart on North America - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 92: Data Table on North America - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 9.8 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 (%) 9.9 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 (%) 9.10 China - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 101: Chart on China - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 102: Data Table on China - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 103: Chart on China - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 104: Data Table on China - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 9.11 France - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 105: Chart on France - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 106: Data Table on France - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 107: Chart on France - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 108: Data Table on France - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 9.12 Singapore - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 109: Chart on Singapore - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 110: Data Table on Singapore - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 111: Chart on Singapore - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 112: Data Table on Singapore - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 9.13 Market opportunity by geography Exhibit 113: 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 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 Allianz SE Exhibit 120: Allianz SE - Overview Exhibit 121: Allianz SE - Business segments Exhibit 122: Allianz SE - Key news Exhibit 123: Allianz SE - Key offerings Exhibit 124: Allianz SE - Segment focus 12.4 American International Group Inc. Exhibit 125: American International Group Inc. - Overview Exhibit 126: American International Group Inc. - Business segments Exhibit 127: American International Group Inc. - Key news Exhibit 128: American International Group Inc. - Key offerings Exhibit 129: American International Group Inc. - Segment focus 12.5 Aon Plc Exhibit 130: Aon Plc - Overview Exhibit 131: Aon Plc - Business segments Exhibit 132: Aon Plc - Key news Exhibit 133: Aon Plc - Key offerings Exhibit 134: Aon Plc - Segment focus 12.6 Arthur J. Gallagher and Co. and Co. Exhibit 135: Arthur J. Gallagher and Co. - Overview and Co. - Overview Exhibit 136: Arthur J. Gallagher and Co. - Business segments and Co. - Business segments Exhibit 137: Arthur J. Gallagher and Co. - Key offerings and Co. - Key offerings Exhibit 138: Arthur J. Gallagher and Co. - Segment focus 12.7 Atrium Underwriters Ltd. Exhibit 139: Atrium Underwriters Ltd. - Overview Exhibit 140: Atrium Underwriters Ltd. - Product / Service Exhibit 141: Atrium Underwriters Ltd. - Key news Exhibit 142: Atrium Underwriters Ltd. - Key offerings 12.8 AXA Group Exhibit 143: AXA Group - Overview Exhibit 144: AXA Group - Business segments Exhibit 145: AXA Group - Key offerings Exhibit 146: AXA Group - Segment focus 12.9 Beazley Plc Exhibit 147: Beazley Plc - Overview Exhibit 148: Beazley Plc - Business segments Exhibit 149: Beazley Plc - Key news Exhibit 150: Beazley Plc - Key offerings Exhibit 151: Beazley Plc - Segment focus 12.10 Chubb Ltd. Exhibit 152: Chubb Ltd. - Overview Exhibit 153: Chubb Ltd. - Business segments Exhibit 154: Chubb Ltd. - Key news Exhibit 155: Chubb Ltd. - Key offerings Exhibit 156: Chubb Ltd. - Segment focus 12.11 Hannover Re Exhibit 157: Hannover Re - Overview Exhibit 158: Hannover Re - Product / Service Exhibit 159: Hannover Re - Key offerings 12.12 Munich Reinsurance Co. Exhibit 160: Munich Reinsurance Co. - Overview Exhibit 161: Munich Reinsurance Co. - Business segments Exhibit 162: Munich Reinsurance Co. - Key offerings Exhibit 163: Munich Reinsurance Co. - Segment focus 12.13 Samsung Fire and Marine Insurance Co. Ltd. Exhibit 164: Samsung Fire and Marine Insurance Co. Ltd. - Overview Exhibit 165: Samsung Fire and Marine Insurance Co. Ltd. - Key offerings 12.14 Sompo Holdings Inc. Exhibit 166: Sompo Holdings Inc. - Overview Exhibit 167: Sompo Holdings Inc. - Business segments Exhibit 168: Sompo Holdings Inc. - Key news Exhibit 169: Sompo Holdings Inc. - Key offerings Exhibit 170: Sompo Holdings Inc. - Segment focus 12.15 Swiss Re Ltd. Exhibit 171: Swiss Re Ltd. - Overview Exhibit 172: Swiss Re Ltd. - Business segments Exhibit 173: Swiss Re Ltd. - Key news Exhibit 174: Swiss Re Ltd. - Key offerings Exhibit 175: Swiss Re Ltd. - Segment focus 12.16 Thomas Miller and Co. Ltd. and Co. Ltd. Exhibit 176: Thomas Miller and Co. Ltd. - Overview and Co. Ltd. - Overview Exhibit 177: Thomas Miller and Co. Ltd. - Product / Service and Co. Ltd. - Product / Service Exhibit 178: Thomas Miller and Co. Ltd. - Key offerings 12.17 Tokio Marine Holdings Inc. Exhibit 179: Tokio Marine Holdings Inc. - Overview Exhibit 180: Tokio Marine Holdings Inc. - Business segments Exhibit 181: Tokio Marine Holdings Inc. - Key news Exhibit 182: Tokio Marine Holdings Inc. - Key offerings Exhibit 183: Tokio Marine Holdings Inc. - Segment focus 13 Appendix 13.1 Scope of the report 13.2 Inclusions and exclusions checklist Exhibit 184: Inclusions checklist Exhibit 185: Exclusions checklist 13.3 Currency conversion rates for US$ Exhibit 186: Currency conversion rates for US$ 13.4 Research methodology Exhibit 187: Research methodology Exhibit 188: Validation techniques employed for market sizing Exhibit 189: Information sources 13.5 List of abbreviations Exhibit 190: List of abbreviations About Us Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. 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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 List part of global library resources on WorldCat.org DUBLIN, Ohio, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Martin Luther King III and his family share their reading list about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on WorldCat.org just in time for the 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Martin Luther King III, his wife, Arndrea, and daughter, Yolanda, reading list about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on WorldCat.org just in time for the 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. WorldCat.org, the only website that connects online searchers to the world's libraries, has published a topic page dedicated to resources about Martin Luther King, Jr. in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on January 16. The topic page enables visitors to tap into 10,000+ libraries around the globe to explore a variety of resources, including books, academic papers, sound recordings, news articles, photographs, and historical documents. The Martin Luther King, Jr. topic page (https://worldcat.org/topics/martin-luther-king-jr) includes: The King family reading list from Martin Luther King III , Arndrea King , and Yolanda King , , and 6,900 open access resources Theses, dissertations, archives, and encyclopedia materials Curated reading lists from: Charleston Syllabus TheArchive . com Colleges and universities Most popular searches on WorldCat .org These resources are intended to provide educators, parents, students, and the general public an understanding of the most important and meaningful resources for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and beyond. In addition to marking 40 years since President Ronald Reagan signed into law the recognition of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as a federal holiday, 2023 also marks the 60th anniversary of the Birmingham Campaign and the March on Washington, and the 55th anniversary of the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 and Dr. King's tragic assassination. To learn more about the Nobel Peace Prize-winning civil rights leader who advocated for nonviolence and racial equity, visit the Martin Luther King, Jr. topic page on WorldCat.org at https://www.worldcat.org/topics/martin-luther-king-jr. About WorldCat.org Since 2006, WorldCat.org has been the window to the collections and resources of more than 10,000 libraries in more than 100 countries around the world. WorldCat.org is a unique destination, representing the world's largest library community on the web. WorldCat.org is an innovation of OCLC, a nonprofit global library organization that provides shared technology services, original research, and community programs to member libraries and the library community at large. OCLC, member libraries, publishers, and other partner organizations collaboratively maintain WorldCat.org. Explore WorldCat.org on the web. About OCLC OCLC is a nonprofit global library organization that provides shared technology services, original research, and community programs so that libraries can better fuel learning, research, and innovation. Through OCLC, member libraries cooperatively produce and maintain WorldCat, the most comprehensive global network of data about library collections and services. Libraries gain efficiencies through OCLC's WorldShare, a complete set of library management applications and services built on an open, cloud-based platform. It is through collaboration and sharing of the world's collected knowledge that libraries can help people find answers they need to solve problems. Together as OCLC, member libraries, staff, and partners make breakthroughs possible. For more information: Contact Bob Murphy at [email protected] or +1-614-761-5136 OCLC, WorldCat, and WorldShare are trademarks and/or service marks of OCLC, Inc. Third-party product, service and business names are trademarks and/or service marks of their respective owners. SOURCE WorldCat.org Charlotte area schools, organizations, and families to hold 250 events during the thirteenth annual celebration of school choice CHARLOTTE, N.C., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Mayor Vi Lyles has officially declared Jan. 22-Jan. 28 to be School Choice Week in Charlotte. Her official declaration of "Charlotte School Choice Week" joins the decision of local leaders nationwide of recognizing the Week and encouraging its observance. The proclamation highlights the importance of high-quality education options for the success of Charlotte's kids. It also recognizes the importance of options as an opportunity to enhance the vibrancy and success of the community. "Charlotte 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. Parents, schools, and other organizers have planned 787 activities across the state of North Carolina student showcase, school fairs, rallies, 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. "Supporting school choice and generating awareness of the school choice is a way to put kids first when it comes to education", said Andrew Campanella, president and CEO of the National School Choice Awareness Foundation. "Mayor Lyle's proclamation recognizes the importance of options for families 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/north-carolina SOURCE National School Choice Week NEW YORK, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Medical Exoskeleton Market by Mobility Type, Technology, and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2023-2027 report has been published by Technavio. Market size is forecast to grow by USD 974.84 million between 2022 and 2027 at a CAGR of 36.43%. 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 Medical Exoskeleton Market 2023-2027 By region, the global medical exoskeleton market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia, and the Rest of World (ROW). North America is estimated to contribute 41% to the growth of the global market over the forecast period. The increasing prevalence of physical injuries due to SCI, and the high demand for self-supporting medical exoskeletons are driving the growth of the medical exoskeleton market in North America. Buy the report Company Profiles The medical exoskeleton market report includes information on the key products and recent developments of leading vendors, including: Bionik Laboratories Corp. - The company offers medical exoskeletons such as Inmotion robotic therapy. - The company offers medical exoskeletons such as Inmotion robotic therapy. CYBERDYNE Inc. - The company offers medical exoskeletons such as Hybrid Assistive Limbs. - The company offers medical exoskeletons such as Hybrid Assistive Limbs. DIH Group - The company offers medical exoskeletons such as ArmeoPower. Market Dynamics The market is driven by factors such as the increasing incidences of SCIs, increasing usage of medical exoskeletons in rehabilitation, and increasing insurance coverage for medical exoskeletons. However, the lack of well-trained caregivers requirement 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 type, the market is segmented into mobile exoskeleton and stationary exoskeleton. The mobile exoskeleton 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: Medical Device Manufacturing Outsourcing Market by Product, Medical Device Regulatory Classification, and Geography Forecast and Analysis 2023-2027: The medical device manufacturing outsourcing market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 10.85% between 2022 and 2027. The size of the market is forecast to increase by USD 46,241.15 million. This report extensively covers market segmentation by product (ems, raw materials, and finished goods), medical device regulatory classification (class ii, class iii, and class i), and geography (North America, Asia, Europe, and Rest of World (ROW)). Robotic Medical Imaging Systems Market by Product and Geography Forecast and Analysis 2022-2026: The robotic medical imaging systems market share is expected to increase by USD 621.24 million from 2021 to 2026, and the market's growth momentum will accelerate at a CAGR of 14.1%. Furthermore, this report extensively covers robotic medical imaging systems market segmentation by product (X-ray, ultrasound, MRI, and CT-scan) and geography (North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and the Middle East and Africa). 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 Medical Exoskeleton Market Report? CAGR of the market during the forecast period Detailed information on factors that will drive the growth of the medical exoskeleton market between 2023 and 2027 Precise estimation of the medical exoskeleton market size and its contribution to the parent market Accurate predictions about upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior Growth of the industry across North America , Europe , Asia , and Rest of World (ROW) , , , and Rest of World (ROW) Thorough analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information about vendors Comprehensive analysis of factors that will challenge the growth of medical exoskeleton market vendors Medical Exoskeleton 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 36.43% Market growth 2023-2027 USD 974.84 million Market structure Fragmented YoY growth 2022-2023 (%) 34.23 Regional analysis North America, Europe, Asia, and Rest of World (ROW) Performing market contribution North America at 41% Key countries US, Germany, UK, China, and Japan Competitive landscape Leading Vendors, Market Positioning of Vendors, Competitive Strategies, and Industry Risks Key companies profiled Bionik Laboratories Corp., B-Temia, Cyberdyne Inc., DIH Group, Ekso Bionics Holdings Inc., Exoatlet Global SA, Focal Meditech, GOGOA Mobility Robots SL, Honda Motor Co. Ltd, Marsi Bionics SL, Myomo Inc., Ottobock SE and Co. KGaA, P and S Mechanics Co. Ltd., Parker Hannifin Corp., Rehab-Robotics Co. Ltd., ReWalk Robotics Ltd., Rex Bionics Ltd., Sarcos Corp., Wandercraft, and Wearable Robotics Srl 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. Browse for Technavio's Healthcare 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 Mobility Type Exhibit 06: Executive Summary Chart on Market Segmentation by Technology 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 medical exoskeleton market 2017 - 2021 Exhibit 18: Historic Market Size Data Table on Global medical exoskeleton market 2017 - 2021 ($ million) 4.2 Mobility type Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021 Exhibit 19: Historic Market Size Mobility type Segment 2017 - 2021 ($ million) 4.3 Technology Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021 Exhibit 20: Historic Market Size Technology 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 Mobility Type 6.1 Market segments Exhibit 30: Chart on Mobility Type - Market share 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 31: Data Table on Mobility Type - Market share 2022-2027 (%) 6.2 Comparison by Mobility Type Exhibit 32: Chart on Comparison by Mobility Type Exhibit 33: Data Table on Comparison by Mobility Type 6.3 Mobile exoskeleton - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 34: Chart on Mobile exoskeleton - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 35: Data Table on Mobile exoskeleton - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 36: Chart on Mobile exoskeleton - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 37: Data Table on Mobile exoskeleton - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 6.4 Stationary exoskeleton - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 38: Chart on Stationary exoskeleton - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 39: Data Table on Stationary exoskeleton - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 40: Chart on Stationary exoskeleton - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 41: Data Table on Stationary exoskeleton - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 6.5 Market opportunity by Mobility Type Exhibit 42: Market opportunity by Mobility Type ($ million) 7 Market Segmentation by Technology 7.1 Market segments Exhibit 43: Chart on Technology - Market share 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 44: Data Table on Technology - Market share 2022-2027 (%) 7.2 Comparison by Technology Exhibit 45: Chart on Comparison by Technology Exhibit 46: Data Table on Comparison by Technology 7.3 Powered exoskeletons - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 47: Chart on Powered exoskeletons - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 48: Data Table on Powered exoskeletons - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 49: Chart on Powered exoskeletons - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 50: Data Table on Powered exoskeletons - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 7.4 Passive exoskeletons - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 51: Chart on Passive exoskeletons - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 52: Data Table on Passive exoskeletons - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 53: Chart on Passive exoskeletons - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 54: Data Table on Passive exoskeletons - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 7.5 Market opportunity by Technology Exhibit 55: Market opportunity by Technology ($ 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 North America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 61: Chart on North America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 62: Data Table on North America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 63: Chart on North America - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 64: 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 65: Chart on Europe - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 66: Data Table on Europe - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 67: Chart on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 68: Data Table on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 9.5 Asia - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 69: Chart on Asia - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 70: Data Table on Asia - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 71: Chart on Asia - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 72: Data Table on Asia - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 9.6 Rest of World (ROW) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 73: Chart on Rest of World (ROW) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 74: Data Table on Rest of World (ROW) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 75: Chart on Rest of World (ROW) - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 76: Data Table on Rest of World (ROW) - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 9.7 US - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 77: Chart on US - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 78: Data Table on US - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 79: Chart on US - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 80: Data Table on US - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 9.8 Germany - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 81: Chart on Germany - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 82: Data Table on Germany - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 83: Chart on Germany - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 84: Data Table on Germany - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 9.9 UK - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 85: Chart on UK - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 86: Data Table on UK - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 87: Chart on UK - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 88: 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 89: Chart on China - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 90: Data Table on China - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 91: Chart on China - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 92: Data Table on China - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 9.11 Japan - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 Exhibit 93: Chart on Japan - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 94: Data Table on Japan - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 ($ million) Exhibit 95: Chart on Japan - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) Exhibit 96: Data Table on Japan - Year-over-year growth 2022-2027 (%) 9.12 Market opportunity by geography Exhibit 97: 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 98: Impact of drivers and challenges in 2022 and 2027 10.4 Market trends 11 Vendor Landscape 11.1 Overview 11.2 Vendor landscape Exhibit 99: Overview on Criticality of inputs and Factors of differentiation 11.3 Landscape disruption Exhibit 100: Overview on factors of disruption 11.4 Industry risks Exhibit 101: Impact of key risks on business 12 Vendor Analysis 12.1 Vendors covered Exhibit 102: Vendors covered 12.2 Market positioning of vendors Exhibit 103: Matrix on vendor position and classification 12.3 Bionik Laboratories Corp. Exhibit 104: Bionik Laboratories Corp. - Overview Exhibit 105: Bionik Laboratories Corp. - Product / Service Exhibit 106: Bionik Laboratories Corp. - Key offerings 12.4 B -Temia -Temia Exhibit 107: B-Temia - Overview Exhibit 108: B-Temia - Product / Service Exhibit 109: B-Temia - Key offerings 12.5 Cyberdyne Inc. Exhibit 110: Cyberdyne Inc. - Overview Exhibit 111: Cyberdyne Inc. - Product / Service Exhibit 112: Cyberdyne Inc. - Key offerings 12.6 DIH Group Exhibit 113: DIH Group - Overview Exhibit 114: DIH Group - Product / Service Exhibit 115: DIH Group - Key news Exhibit 116: DIH Group - Key offerings 12.7 Ekso Bionics Holdings Inc. Exhibit 117: Ekso Bionics Holdings Inc. - Overview Exhibit 118: Ekso Bionics Holdings Inc. - Business segments Exhibit 119: Ekso Bionics Holdings Inc. - Key offerings Exhibit 120: Ekso Bionics Holdings Inc. - Segment focus 12.8 Exoatlet Global SA Exhibit 121: Exoatlet Global SA - Overview Exhibit 122: Exoatlet Global SA - Product / Service Exhibit 123: Exoatlet Global SA - Key offerings 12.9 GOGOA Mobility Robots SL Exhibit 124: GOGOA Mobility Robots SL - Overview Exhibit 125: GOGOA Mobility Robots SL - Product / Service Exhibit 126: GOGOA Mobility Robots SL - Key offerings 12.10 Ottobock SE and Co. KGaA Exhibit 127: Ottobock SE and Co. KGaA - Overview Exhibit 128: Ottobock SE and Co. KGaA - Product / Service Exhibit 129: Ottobock SE and Co. KGaA - Key offerings 12.11 P and S Mechanics Co. Ltd. Exhibit 130: P and S Mechanics Co. Ltd. - Overview Exhibit 131: P and S Mechanics Co. Ltd. - Product / Service Exhibit 132: P and S Mechanics Co. Ltd. - Key offerings 12.12 Parker Hannifin Corp. Exhibit 133: Parker Hannifin Corp. - Overview Exhibit 134: Parker Hannifin Corp. - Business segments Exhibit 135: Parker Hannifin Corp. - Key news Exhibit 136: Parker Hannifin Corp. - Key offerings Exhibit 137: Parker Hannifin Corp. - Segment focus 12.13 ReWalk Robotics Ltd. Exhibit 138: ReWalk Robotics Ltd. - Overview Exhibit 139: ReWalk Robotics Ltd. - Business segments Exhibit 140: ReWalk Robotics Ltd. - Key news Exhibit 141: ReWalk Robotics Ltd. - Key offerings Exhibit 142: ReWalk Robotics Ltd. - Segment focus 12.14 Rex Bionics Ltd. Exhibit 143: Rex Bionics Ltd. - Overview Exhibit 144: Rex Bionics Ltd. - Product / Service Exhibit 145: Rex Bionics Ltd. - Key offerings 12.15 Sarcos Corp. Exhibit 146: Sarcos Corp. - Overview Exhibit 147: Sarcos Corp. - Product / Service Exhibit 148: Sarcos Corp. - Key offerings 12.16 Wandercraft Exhibit 149: Wandercraft - Overview Exhibit 150: Wandercraft - Product / Service Exhibit 151: Wandercraft - Key offerings 12.17 Wearable Robotics Srl Exhibit 152: Wearable Robotics Srl - Overview Exhibit 153: Wearable Robotics Srl - Product / Service Exhibit 154: Wearable Robotics Srl - Key offerings 13 Appendix 13.1 Scope of the report 13.2 Inclusions and exclusions checklist Exhibit 155: Inclusions checklist Exhibit 156: Exclusions checklist 13.3 Currency conversion rates for US$ Exhibit 157: Currency conversion rates for US$ 13.4 Research methodology Exhibit 158: Research methodology Exhibit 159: Validation techniques employed for market sizing Exhibit 160: Information sources 13.5 List of abbreviations Exhibit 161: 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 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 Where to stay, explore and be seen during city's celebration of iconic design MIAMI BEACH, Fla., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The 46th annual Art Deco Weekend will return January 13 January 15th, 2023, showcasing Miami Beach's unique collection of Art Deco design and architecture in open-air style. Offering a variety of experiences including live music, a classic car show, guided architectural tours, outdoor film screenings and more, visitors will find inspiration through activations that showcase how Miami Beach became the birthplace of Art Deco design and the most visited Art Deco District in the world. Created by the Miami Design Preservation League, Art Deco Weekend signifies the distinct effort to preserve Miami Beach's more than 800 historic, pastel-colored buildings and history of this signature architectural style, saving it for future generations. The 46th annual Art Deco Weekend will return January 13 January 15th, 2023, showcasing Miami Beachs unique collection of Art Deco design and architecture in open-air style. Offering a variety of experiences including live music, a classic car show, guided architectural tours, outdoor film screenings and more, visitors will find inspiration through activations that showcase how Miami Beach became the birthplace of Art Deco design and the most visited Art Deco District in the world. "Art Deco Weekend is an immersive celebration of architecture with national and international appeal. For 46 years, our city has come together to share the beauty and ingenuity of marquee buildings that have made Miami Beach a pilgrimage for design and architecture enthusiasts," says Steve Adkins, Chairman of the Miami Beach Visitor and Convention Authority (MBVCA). "The MBVCA is proud to continue our support to enhance Art Deco Weekend to help raise awareness of, and show appreciation to, the architects and talents that continue to inspire the design community today." Whether visiting during the official celebration or if Miami Beach is on the travel agenda in the near future, visitors can embrace the essence of Art Deco style easily throughout their stay. For an artistic and retro hotel experience, signature properties like The Gabriel South Beach and The Breakwater offer comfortable rooms in an ideal location along with Instagram-worthy facades. For a splurge, visitors can opt for a stay at The Shelborne South Beach, a recreated icon dating back to the 1940's exuding timeless luxury and elegance with impeccable service delivered in Art Deco architecture on Collins Avenue. Miami Beach is a year-round destination to discover the bevy of geometric-ornamented facades and it's easy to become a quick study with a visit to the official Art Deco Museum on Ocean Drive. The museum provides a deep dive into the layers of design that serve as the foundation for the city's glamorous reputation. Discovering design can work up an appetite. Head to Serena, located on the second-floor rooftop of the Moxy South Beach on Collins Avenue, and take a bite out of a modern interpretation of Mexican cuisine in an open-air and laid-back setting. Perfect for sunset cocktails, al fresco dinners surrounded by the energy of the Art Deco District or buzzy brunches, diners will taste and feel the cultural inspirations of Mexico right on South Beach. The beauty of Miami Beach's design and architecture stands proud any time of year, making it a vibrant destination to explore solo or with friends and family. Visitors can download the new EXP Miami Beach Tour App now available on Apple and Google and access four marquee itineraries including Art in Public Spaces, Hidden Art, A Day Inside Miami Beach Architectural Wonders and Public Art and Iconic History in Miami Beach. "Miami Beach's Art Deco District is an open-air museum and we invite visitors to easily access information and resources to help plan their next trip and to get an interactive look at what makes Miami Beach the unrivaled crown jewel of Art Deco architecture," adds Grisette Marcos, Executive Director of the MBVCA. "We are continuously working on new ways to bring experiences rooted in design and architecture to travelers, understanding the ongoing desire to get up, close and personal with the history of what shapes the destinations they visit." For more information about the Art Deco District and to plan a future design-inspired trip to award-winning Miami Beach, download the Experience Miami Beach and EXP Miami Beach Tour App Miami Beach Apps and follow the @experiencemiamibeach handles on Instagram and Facebook for the most up-to-date details and offerings. Contact: Private Label Marketing, [email protected] SOURCE Miami Beach Visitor and Convention Authority Proof of Concept Presented at HUPO Integrates SLIM Technology with Thermo Scientific Orbitrap Exploris 480 Mass Spectrometer to Provide Significant Signal Enhancement CHADDS FORD, Pa., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- MOBILion Systems, Inc., a life science tools and instrumentation company, presented at the Human Proteome Organization (HUPO) World Congress the first of its kind proof of concept integrating their SLIM (structures for lossless ion manipulation) technology with the Thermo Scientific Orbitrap Exploris 480 mass spectrometer. A project involving MOBILion and Thermo Fisher aims to address the industry's current limitations in sensitivity, including challenges in detecting low abundance analytes. In a co-authored presentation at the HUPO 2022 World Congress in Cancun, Mexico last month, the research teams demonstrated the use of SLIM technology to enhance signal intensities on the Orbitrap Exploris 480 mass spectrometer system up to 200x. This signal increase was shown for low abundance peptide signals typically observed in proteomic workflows. The ability to reliably detect and identify peptides and proteins from single isolated cells represents the next frontier in proteomics that warrants an ultra-high sensitivity technological solution. Further details regarding this proof of concept can be seen here. We are excited about the debut of this second iteration of SLIM technology to advance separation science. Tweet this MOBILion is proving its SLIM technology is a platform technology well-suited for customization, allowing it to be tuned to a variety of mass spectrometer platforms. In this most recent iteration, MOBILion designed the SLIM prototype to split ions into packets that are fed into the Orbitrap in a uniquely customizable way that only the SLIM technology can accomplish, increasing the sensitivity to capture more low abundance proteins and ultimately increase the number of proteoforms characterized per experiment. In 2021, MOBILion introduced its first SLIM-based commercial product, MOBIE, a result of its partnership with Agilent Technologies. MOBIE was designed to provide fast, efficient, highly reproducible High Resolution Ion Mobility (HRIM) separations to separate and identify molecules that conventional liquid chromatography either fails to separate, or require prohibitively long separation workflows. The instrument accelerates and simplifies workflows for a variety of analyte classes, including peptides, proteins, lipids and glycans, with analysis that is 5 to 60 times faster and significantly more reproducible than conventional separation methods. "We are excited about the debut of this second iteration of SLIM technology as another demonstration of how we are able to advance separation science. The early feedback from KOLs following the proof of concept integration with the Orbitrap platform has been overwhelmingly positive. We are looking forward to continuing to work with Thermo Fisher to advance the concept even further and improve the performance of the Orbitrap platform of mass spectrometers," says Dr. Melissa Sherman, CEO of MOBILion Systems Inc. To learn more about MOBILion Systems and its separations technology, including MOBIE, visit www.mobilionsystems.com. About MOBILion MOBILion Systems Inc. is advancing separation science and unraveling complex analyses with the commercialization of products based on Structures for Lossless Ion Manipulation (SLIM) platform technology. MOBILion's products provide deeper level characterization than what is possible with incumbent approaches, revealing what others leave unseen. When integrated with mass spectrometry, MOBILion's separation technology provides higher resolution, faster and more reproducible analysis to reveal molecules most important in characterizing biologic therapeutics, discovering biomarkers, improving the accuracy of diagnostics tests, and ensuring food and environmental safety. Processing population-scale samples in weeks versus years and detecting molecules other instruments miss, make treatments safer and more effective, accelerate disease prediction and diagnosis, and enhance the development of new therapies. The company is headquartered in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania within the Philadelphia biopharmaceutical and medical innovation corridor. Connect with us on LinkedIn or visit www.mobilionsystems.com SOURCE MOBILion Systems CHICAGO, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Motor Lamination Market is estimated to grow from USD 21.9 billion in 2022 to reach USD 27.6 billion by 2027 at a CAGR of 4.7% over the forecast period, according to a new report by MarketsandMarkets. Browse and in-depth TOC on "Motor Lamination Market" 349 Tables 48 Figures 271 Pages Download PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id= 117324037 The growing demand for fuel-efficient and safe vehicles will require addition of accessories primarily driven by motor which will subsequently propels the motor lamination market. Growing demand for premium vehicles, particularly in developing countries, further drives the demand for motors and lamination stacks. Several developments in lamination technologies by improved material and manufacturing technology/process with improved performance would further fuel the lamination stacks market. Cold Rolled Non-Oriented (CRNO) is estimated to be the largest material segment for the motor laminations The key factor driving the growth of the CRNO materials used for motor laminations is the distinct operational features of the materials, which help increase the motor's efficiency. They are widely used as iron core materials in rotating machines ranging in size from large power generators to small precision electric motors. They are also suitable for the iron core of small-size motor laminations, which are widely used in Europe and other parts of the world. Another benefit is that the CRNO material can be made available in various ranges and grades to meet the specific operational efficiency and quality standards demanded by motor manufacturers. The demand for motor laminations made of CRNO steels is expected to increase during the forecast period due to rising applications and demand for motors for various mechanizations and technological advancements. CRNO holds the largest market share as it is the most economical material for motor laminations. However, considering the growing popularity of high-grade special steels with suitable eddy loss characteristics, the CRNO market share may show promising growth in the coming years. Asia Pacific is the largest CRNO market as it holds the largest market share. Also, growing sales of electric vehicles, particularly in China, are expected to boost the motor lamination market. The comfort segment is estimated to be the fastest-growing motor lamination application s A vehicle is equipped with approximately 20-30 motors in developing and developed countries. The required applications are expected to increase with the rising demand for comfort features and stringency in safety regulations. With the increase in the number of motors per vehicle, the demand for motor lamination will also increase in the coming years. With the increasing adoption of ADAS features such as adaptive cruise control and innovations in cooperative adaptive cruise control (C-ACC), the demand for comfort application motors is expected to grow significantly. Alternatively, developments in automated driving with features such as autopilot and remote operation would also drive the demand for comfort application motors. Passenger cars are expected to have the largest share of motor laminations in comfort applications. Request FREE Sample Report: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestsampleNew.asp?id= 117324037 Asia Pacific region is expected to be the largest market during the forecast period Asia Pacific region is one of the largest market for the ICE and electric vehicles with around 54% of the market share globally, owing to many key factors such as competitively low manufacturing cost, easy availability of raw materials and other factors of production like labour & capital, facilitative government policies like 'Make in India' etc. Because of these factors, the region has become an export hub for the world in terms of vehicle production with advanced performance and comfort features. The increasing demand for comfort features such as sunroof, power windows, powered seats, air conditioners, adaptive front lights, ACC, etc. has been the key factor in driving demands for motors and subsequently motor lamination stacks in the region substantially. The growing safety regulatory provisions has also been significant in demand for motors and lamination stacks in the Asia Pacific region. The rising sales of Light Commercial Vehicles and Heavy Commercial Vehicles are also equipped with some of comfort features like AC, power windows, power steering etc. is also adding to increase motor applications and demand for lamination stacks. Key Market Players The Motor Lamination Market is dominated by a few global players and comprises several regional players. Some of the key manufacturers and suppliers of the Motor Lamination Market are Tempel (US), Pitti Engineering Ltd (India), Alinabal, Inc (US), EuroGroup Laminations S.p.A. (Italy), R. Bourgeois (France), and LCS Company (US). Make an Inquiry: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_BuyingNew.asp?id= 117324037 Browse Adjacent Market: Automotive and Transportation Market Research Reports & Consulting Browse Related Reports: Automotive Motors Market- Global Forecast to 2027 Automotive Traction Motor Market - Global Forecast to 2027 In-Wheel Motor Market - Global Forecast to 2026 Hub Motor Market - Global Forecast to 2025 About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets is a blue ocean alternative in growth consulting and program management, leveraging a man-machine offering to drive supernormal growth for progressive organizations in the B2B space. We have the widest lens on emerging technologies, making us proficient in co-creating supernormal growth for clients. The B2B economy is witnessing the emergence of $25 trillion of new revenue streams that are substituting existing revenue streams in this decade alone. We work with clients on growth programs, helping them monetize this $25 trillion opportunity through our service lines - TAM Expansion, Go-to-Market (GTM) Strategy to Execution, Market Share Gain, Account Enablement, and Thought Leadership Marketing. Built on the 'GIVE Growth' principle, we work with several Forbes Global 2000 B2B companies - helping them stay relevant in a disruptive ecosystem. Our insights and strategies are molded by our industry experts, cutting-edge AI-powered Market Intelligence Cloud, and years of research. The KnowledgeStore (our Market Intelligence Cloud) integrates our research, facilitates an analysis of interconnections through a set of applications, helping clients look at the entire ecosystem and understand the revenue shifts happening in their industry. To find out more, visit www.MarketsandMarkets.com or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. Contact: Mr. Aashish Mehra MarketsandMarkets INC. 630 Dundee Road Suite 430 Northbrook, IL 60062 USA: +1-888-600-6441 Email: [email protected] Research Insight: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ResearchInsight/motor-lamination-market.asp Visit Our Website: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com Content Source: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/PressReleases/motor-lamination.asp Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/660509/MarketsandMarkets_Logo.jpg SOURCE MarketsandMarkets NEO: SHWZ OTCQX: SHWZ DENVER, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Medicine Man Technologies operating as Schwazze, (OTCQX: SHWZ) (NEO: SHWZ) ("Schwazze" or the "Company"), announces changes to its executive leadership team in preparation for its growth initiatives in Colorado and New Mexico. Todd Williams, who has been acting as a Senior Advisor & Consultant for Mergers & Acquisitions and Real Estate, will become EVP, M&A and Real Estate. Williams has been a key member of the Schwazze Executive Leadership Team in an advisory capacity for the past three years and joins the Schwazze team as a full-time employee to continue his focus on M&A and real estate. Williams joins Schwazze in a period of significant organic and new acquisition growth for the Company. He is a seasoned veteran with more than 25 years' experience in business development, mergers and acquisitions, and asset valuation. Previously, Williams was Vice President of Corporate Development at Albertsons, Inc., where he managed the acquisition of more than 1,600 operating grocery stores with more than $40 billion in sales and $10 billion in transaction value, as well as divesting 168 stores with over $3 billion in sales. Steve Pear is moving from head of the New Mexico division to become President, Wholesale Division, responsible for leading the Company's wholesale sales and marketing efforts. As a newly created role within the Company's Executive Leadership Team, Pear's focus will shift to optimizing our commercial footprint on a national scale while driving our core brands to the next level. He has been instrumental in leading the New Mexico team since the R.Greenleaf acquisition was completed in February of 2022. While Pear is stepping away from his role in New Mexico, he has positioned the team for continued success as Schwazze expands further in the New Mexico market. Reporting directly to Pear in his new role will be Jeremy Bullock (VP, Commercial Sales) and Julie Suntrup (VP, Corporate Marketing & Brands). Replacing Pear in New Mexico is Ken Diehl as President, New Mexico Division. Diehl is a highly accomplished retail industry operations, merchandising and marketing professional with 30 years' experience overseeing billions in annual revenue, leading retail teams, improving spending, and increasing profitability. He has an impressive history of growing Fortune 500 companies' sales as well as profits. Diehl brings to Schwazze grocery retail experience with Kroger, Albertsons, Jewel Osco, A&P, and Strack & Van Til, holding the roles as Chief Executive Officer, Chief Merchant, Chief Operator and Chief Marketer. Most recently, Diehl was Chief Merchant for Leslie's Pool Supplies while also helping to project lead an IPO in specialty retail. Diehl studied at Arizona State University as well as Cornell University, before leaving to joining the military where he earned Top Secret clearance as an honored veteran of the United States Navy. "We are excited to add key, seasoned individuals to our Executive Leadership team as the Company positions itself for growth in 2023 and beyond. Ken Diehl's retail leadership will be key as we grow our New Mexico retail footprint to meet the needs of our customers, and Steve Pear's transition to Schwazze's wholesale division demonstrates our intent to grow our in-house brands' sales across both states. In addition, I'm happy Todd Williams has chosen to come on board in a full-time capacity to fuel our M&A and organic growth efforts." said Nirup Krishnamurthy, President of Schwazze. Since April 2020, Schwazze has acquired, opened or announced the planned acquisition of 41 cannabis retail dispensaries (Star Buds, Emerald Fields and R,Greenleaf) as well as seven cultivation facilities and two manufacturing plants in Colorado and New Mexico. In May 2021, Schwazze announced its Biosciences division, and in August 2021 it commenced home delivery services in Colorado. About Schwazze Schwazze (OTCQX: SHWZ; NEO: SHWZ) is building a premier vertically integrated regional cannabis company with assets in Colorado and New Mexico and will continue to take its operating system to other states where it can develop a differentiated regional leadership position. Schwazze is the parent company of a portfolio of leading cannabis businesses and brands spanning seed to sale. The Company is committed to unlocking the full potential of the cannabis plant to improve the human condition. Schwazze is anchored by a high-performance culture that combines customer-centric thinking and data science to test, measure, and drive decisions and outcomes. The Company's leadership team has deep expertise in retailing, wholesaling, and building consumer brands at Fortune 500 companies as well as in the cannabis sector. Schwazze is passionate about making a difference in our communities, promoting diversity and inclusion, and doing our part to incorporate climate-conscious best practices. Medicine Man Technologies, Inc. was Schwazze's former operating trade name. The corporate entity continues to be named Medicine Man Technologies, Inc. Schwazze derives its name from the pruning technique of a cannabis plant to enhance plant structure and promote healthy growth. To learn more about Schwazze, visit www.Schwazze.com. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains "forward-looking statements." Such statements may be preceded by the words "plan," "will," "may," "continue," "predicts," or similar words. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future events or performance, are based on certain assumptions, and are subject to various known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's control and cannot be predicted or quantified. Consequently, actual events and results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, risks and uncertainties associated with (i) our inability to manufacture our products and product candidates on a commercial scale on our own or in collaboration with third parties; (ii) difficulties in obtaining financing on commercially reasonable terms; (iii) changes in the size and nature of our competition; (iv) loss of one or more key executives or scientists; (v) difficulties in securing regulatory approval to market our products and product candidates; (vi) our ability to successfully execute our growth strategy in Colorado and outside the state, (vii) our ability to consummate the acquisition described in this press release or to identify and consummate future acquisitions that meet our criteria, (viii) our ability to successfully integrate acquired businesses, including the acquisition described in this press release, and realize synergies therefrom, (ix) the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, * the timing and extent of governmental stimulus programs, and (xi) the uncertainty in the application of federal, state and local laws to our business, and any changes in such laws. More detailed information about the Company and the risk factors that may affect the realization of forward-looking statements is set forth in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. Investors and security holders are urged to read these documents free of charge on the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov. The Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise its forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise except as required by law. SOURCE Schwazze The Winners Are: Acura Integra, Ford F-150 Lightning and Kia EV6 PONTIAC, Mich., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2023 North American Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle of the Year (NACTOY) award winners were announced today during a joint press conference with the Detroit Area Dealers Association (DADA) and Automotive Press Association (APA) at M1 Concourse in Pontiac. After three rounds of independently verified voting stemming from hundreds of hours of test driving, research and evaluation, the winners are: North American Car of the Year: Acura Integra North American Truck of the Year: Ford F-150 Lightning North American Utility Vehicle of the Year: Kia EV6 This year's NACTOY awards began with 47 eligible vehicles, which jurors later narrowed in three rounds of independently verified voting to 26 semifinalists, 9 outstanding finalists and the 2023 winners. Throughout the year, NACTOY jurors spent hundreds of hours test driving, researching and evaluating vehicles on automotive innovation, design, safety, performance, technology, driver satisfaction, user experience and value to cast the votes that named the 2023 NACTOY award winners. "This year showed the unprecedented variety of vehicles on sale today, including reborn models of iconic nameplates, numerous electric vehicles, thrilling high performance or off-road vehicles, impressive luxury products and even all-new manufacturers," said NACTOY President Gary Witzenburg. "This was an extremely competitive year, but this year's winners rose to the top to earn the collective votes of our 50 jurors, and we congratulate Acura, Ford and Kia for bringing their outstanding offerings to market this year." Founded in 1994, these awards are the longest-running new-vehicle awards not associated with a single publication. They are judged by 50 professional automotive journalists from a wide variety of print, online, radio and television media outlets in the United States and Canada. The votes are confidentially tallied by Deloitte LLP, ensuring each stage of the award cycle is the collective decision of all jurors. Votes for 2023 NACTOY winners remained secret until envelopes were opened onstage during today's event. Below is a closer look at each segment winner: North American Car of the Year: Acura Integra B-roll and photos Total votes: 174 Juror Comments: "Honda's luxury brand rebirths its second-best original name on its best new car. The Honda Civic-based Acura Integra looks good, drives well and is among the very few in its (or any) segment offering a slick-shifting manual transmission." Gary Witzenburg, WardsAuto, DBusiness, hagerty.com "The Acura Integra revives a beloved name with a car worthy of the moniker. Fun to drive and economical, it's the type of car I would look forward to driving every day." Kirk Bell, Motor Authority North American Truck of the Year: Ford F-150 Lightning B-roll and photos Total votes: 433 Juror Comments: "When America's best-selling vehicle goes electric you know the transition has momentum. Ford's effort to create an all-electric F-150 is remarkable because it combines the standard truck's dimensions, which means it retains massive aftermarket support, with substantial upgrades to areas like storage and mobile power support. It's really the best of all worlds, giving the F-150 Lightning a wide range of applications for both traditional and new-to-the-segment truck customers." Karl Brauer, iSeeCars.com, Forbes "Save the reinvention. The F-150 Lightning shows how the most familiar vehicle in American life can be made even better as an EV, and it's fantastic." Bengt Halvorson, Green Car Reports North American Utility Vehicle of the Year: Kia EV6 B-roll and photos Total votes: 258 Juror Comments: "The Kia EV6 hits squarely in the heart of the U.S. market an excellent mid-size SUV. It's also a well-done electric vehicle, fun to drive, easy to charge and nice looking." Jeff Gilbert, WWJ Newsradio 950/CBS Radio Network "The Kia EV6 blends attractive styling, eye-popping performance in the GT and tremendous range in a package that won't break the bank. While Kia is a mainstream competitor, it has equipped this electric with the style and amenities you'd expect from a luxury brand." Matt DeLorenzo, Autoevolution.com Spanish and French versions of this release are available on NACTOY's website. For more information about NACTOY and its history: http://northamericancaroftheyear.org. ABOUT NORTH AMERICAN CAR, TRUCK, AND UTILITY VEHICLE OF THE YEAR The awards are intended to recognize the most outstanding new vehicles of the year. These vehicles are benchmarks in their segments based on factors including innovation, design, safety, handling, driver satisfaction, user experience and value. The organization gives out three awards. They are: "North American Car of the Year," "North American Truck of the Year," and the "North American Utility Vehicle of the Year." The awards are unique because they are given by an independent jury of automotive journalists from the United States and Canada instead of by a single publication, website, radio or television station. Media contact: Alli Cooke Lambert & Co. 616.258.5769 [email protected] SOURCE North American Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle of the Year Awards NEW YORK, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Val Kleyman, a partner at the Kleyman Law Firm, and a top-rated divorce and family law attorney in New York City explained what parental alienation is and the danger it poses in the context of family law. According to attorney Val Kleyman, the term parental alienation rises out of a psychological term called Parental Alienation Syndrome (or PAS), which was devised in the 1980's. Parental Alienation Syndrome occurs when a parent unduly influences or "programs" the child into a campaign of denigration against the other parent. The second component is the child's own contributions that dovetail and complement the contributions of the programming parent. "Your 15-year-old son asks if you can buy him a pair of hard-to-find sneakers for his birthday. If you respond by telling him to choose to live with you and not the other parent in exchange for buying him sneakers, you may have just conducted a form of parental alienation" said Kleyman. While the act of buying a gift for a child does not automatically mean the parent is actively "alienating" the child against the other parent, the parent's intent may determine the buying of a gift as "parental alienation". For example, if the alienating parent reminds the child that they buy more gifts than the other parent, or if the alienating parent tells the child that if they buy a gift, then they must live with them and not with the other parent, that can be construed as parental alienation. "Courts have held that a finding of parental interference or alienation by one parent against the other parent constitutes one fact, albeit an important one, in determining the best interests of the child, which is the standard courts use in New York to determine who will have custody of the child" said New York divorce lawyer. Parental alienation also has a profound negative psychological impact on the child. "We strongly advise and caution our clients to be mindful that children are not pawns in their bitter divorce game". Val Kleyman is a partner at the Kleyman Law Firm, handling divorce and family law matters in New York. The Kleyman Law Firm is located at One Rockefeller Plaza, 11th Floor, New York, NY. For more info go to https://nyc-divorcelawyer.com, email: [email protected] or call 212-401-1977. SOURCE Kleyman Law Firm JUNO BEACH, Fla., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE) today announced that it plans to report fourth-quarter and full-year 2022 financial results before the opening of the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023, in a news release to be posted on the company's website at www.NextEraEnergy.com/FinancialResults. The company will issue an advisory news release over PR Newswire the morning of Jan. 25, with a link to the financial results news release on the company's website. As previously communicated, the company will make available its financial results only on its website. John Ketchum, chairman, president and chief executive officer of NextEra Energy, Kirk Crews, executive vice president, finance and chief financial officer of NextEra Energy, and other members of the company's senior management team will discuss the company's fourth-quarter and full-year 2022 financial results during an investor presentation to be webcast live, beginning at 9 a.m. ET on Jan. 25. Results for NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE: NEP) also will be discussed during the same investor presentation. The listen-only webcast will be available on NextEra Energy's website by accessing the following link: www.NextEraEnergy.com/FinancialResults. The financial results news release and the slides accompanying the presentation may be downloaded at www.NextEraEnergy.com/FinancialResults, beginning at 7:30 a.m. ET on the day of the webcast. A replay will be available for 90 days by accessing the same link as listed above. NextEra Energy, Inc. NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE) is a leading clean energy company headquartered in Juno Beach, Florida. NextEra Energy owns Florida Power & Light Company, which is America's largest electric utility that sells more power than any other utility, providing clean, affordable, reliable electricity to approximately 5.8 million customer accounts, or more than 12 million people across Florida. NextEra Energy also owns a competitive clean energy business, NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, which, together with its affiliated entities, is the world's largest generator of renewable energy from the wind and sun and a world leader in battery storage. Through its subsidiaries, NextEra Energy generates clean, emissions-free electricity from seven commercial nuclear power units in Florida, New Hampshire and Wisconsin. NextEra Energy has been recognized often by third parties for its efforts in sustainability, corporate responsibility, ethics and compliance, and diversity. NextEra Energy is ranked No. 1 in the electric and gas utilities industry on Fortune's 2022 list of "World's Most Admired Companies," recognized on Fortune's 2021 list of companies that "Change the World" and received the S&P Global Platts 2020 Energy Transition Award for leadership in environmental, social and governance. For more information about NextEra Energy companies, visit these websites: www.NextEraEnergy.com, www.FPL.com, www.NextEraEnergyResources.com. SOURCE NextEra Energy, Inc. PROVO, Utah, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE: NUS), a leading beauty and wellness company, today announced it has reached the milestone of providing 800 million meals for children since 2002 through its Nourish the Children (NTC) initiative. Malnourished children in more than 65 countries around the world have been fed VitaMeal,* a nutrient-dense food, from one of NTC's third-party charity partners after Nu Skin sales leaders, customers or employees purchase and donate bags of food. Nu Skin celebrates 800 million meals purchased and donated through its Nourish the Children initiative "When we started this initiative more than 20 years ago, we never imagined the sustained impact it would have on millions of malnourished children around the world," said Steven J. Lund, Nu Skin executive chairman of the board and executive director of Nourish the Children. "Our combined efforts have impacted the lives of millions, and we look forward to our continued impact on millions more." About VitaMeal Unlike simple grains with a mostly caloric benefit, VitaMeal is a nutrient-dense food scientifically formulated to meet the nutritional needs of malnourished children. As part of the overall development of VitaMeal, Nu Skin's nutritional scientists determined the ingredients and ratios that are well suited for a malnourished child. The result is a product that provides essential vitamins and minerals, with a balance of carbohydrates, protein, fat and fiber. About Nourish the Children In 2002, Nu Skin took action to address the tragedy of childhood hunger and malnutrition with the development of the Nourish the Children initiative with a highly nutritious food known as VitaMeal, developed by Nu Skin's nutritional scientists. The company's sales leaders, customers and employees can purchase VitaMeal and then choose to keep it or donate the food to a third-party nonprofit organization that specializes in distributing relief to those suffering from malnutrition and famine. About Nu Skin Enterprises Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE: NUS) is a global integrated beauty and wellness company, powered by a dynamic affiliate opportunity platform. The company helps people look, feel and live their best with products that combine the best of science, technology and nature. Backed by more than 35 years of scientific research, Nu Skin develops innovative products including Nu Skin personal care, Pharmanex nutrition and the ageLOC anti-aging brand which includes an award-winning line of beauty device systems. Nu Skin operates in approximately 50 markets worldwide in the Americas, Asia, Europe, Africa and the Pacific. Rhyz Inc. is the company's strategic investment arm that includes a collection of technology and manufacturing companies to support growth in the core Nu Skin business. Nu Skin is committed to sustainability, including global initiatives such as transitioning to reduced and sustainable packaging for all products by 2030. The Nu Skin Force for Good Foundation also strives to improve children's health, education and economic circumstances throughout the world. For more information, visit nuskin.com. * Nu Skin is a for-profit distributor of nutritional and skin care products. The initiative enables Nu Skin's sales force and customers to purchase VitaMeal from Nu Skin and donate it to charitable organizations. As is the case with other Nu Skin products, our sales force receives compensation, and Nu Skin earns a profit margin from the sale of VitaMeal. For more information, go to NourishtheChildren.com. Follow Nu Skin's efforts: facebook.com/nuskin instagram.com/nuskin facebook.com/ForceForGood SOURCE Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc. First Liberty Institute files federal lawsuit claiming religious discrimination WASHINGTON, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- First Liberty Institute and the law firm Boyden Gray & Associates today filed a federal lawsuit against CVS Pharmacy on behalf of Robyn Strader, a nurse practitioner in Texas. CVS terminated Strader's employment because she sought a religious accommodation from prescribing any medication that could intentionally end the development or life of an unborn child, an accommodation CVS had granted for the previous six years. The complaint, filed in the Northern District of Texas, is available here. "After accommodating Robyn for six and a half years without a single complaint, CVS fired her because it simply did not like her pro-life religious beliefs," said Christine Pratt, Counsel for First Liberty Institute. "It is illegal to issue a blanket revocation of all religious accommodations when it is so easy for CVS to accommodate its employees. CVS is sending a message that religious health care workers are not welcome and need not apply." Jonathan Berry, Partner at Boyden Gray & Associates and former head of rulemaking at the U.S. Department of Labor, added, "Our employment laws protect religious freedom in the workplace. No one should have to choose between her faith and her job, especially where it would be easy to continue a longstanding religious accommodation. Boyden Gray & Associates looks forward to vigorously defending Robyn's rights in court." Robyn Strader, a nurse practitioner, worked at a CVS MinuteClinic in Keller, Texas since 2015. For six and a half years she operated under a religious accommodation not to prescribe hormonal contraception. On the few occasions someone requested such a prescription from her, she would simply refer them to another nurse practitioner at her location or to another CVS MinuteClinic located 2 miles away. Then, in August 2021, CVS suddenly announced that it would no longer honor religious accommodations related to "pregnancy prevention services" regardless of circumstances. CVS could have accommodated Ms. Strader in several ways, such as transferring her to another position or continuing to honor the religious accommodation that worked successfully for years. Instead, on October 31, 2021, CVS fired Robyn. In Robyn's case, out of the thousands of patients she saw each year, only a tiny percentage (less than an estimated 0.2%) sought a prescription she could not personally provide due to her faith. Robyn has an extensive background in health care and education. She taught science at the high school and pre-professional levels, and she has multiple degrees, including a PhD in Education, Health Promotion, and Human Performance, and Medical Physiology from the University of Toledo Medical Center; a Doctor of Chiropractic from Parker University; a Master of Science in Nursing, Nursing Education, and Family Nurse Practitioner from Texas Woman's University; and an MBA, also from Texas Woman's University. In the complaint attorneys state, "In addition to prospectively preempting all requests for religious accommodations, CVS unlawfully derided Ms. Strader's religious beliefs, pressured her to change her beliefs, refused to consider her multiple requests for a religious accommodation, failed to engage with her about possible accommodations, and terminated her because of her religious beliefs." About First Liberty Institute First Liberty Institute is a non-profit public interest law firm and the largest legal organization in the nation dedicated exclusively to defending religious freedom for all Americans. SOURCE First Liberty Institute For Two Consecutive Years, Onbe is Recognized by Built In and for the First Time, for National Awards CHICAGO and PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Onbe, a market-leading corporate disbursements platform, announced it has earned four awards in Built In's 2023 Best Places To Work Awardsspecifically, the Remote Best Midsize Place to Work, Remote Best Place to Work, U.S. Best Midsize Place to Work and U.S. Best Place to Work awards. This is the second year in a row that Built In has recognized Onbe, and the first year that Onbe has won awards nationally. The annual awards program includes companies of all sizes, from startups to those in the enterprise, and honors both remote-first employers as well as companies in the eight largest technology markets across the U.S. "We strive to create a culture at Onbe that attracts the top minds in fintech and nurtures that talent, wherever they may be," said Jennifer Garrison, chief people officer at Onbe. "It's an honor to be recognized for that work by Built In and a reminder that our work to build an inclusive, strong and top-performing culture is constantly evolving to meet the needs of our employees." Onbe's leadership implemented a work from anywhere culture during the COVID-19 pandemic, while maintaining physical offices near Philadelphia and Chicago, giving employees the autonomy to determine how and where they do their best work. To deliver strong business results, the shift to remote work intensified the need to focus on the entire person, from their physical wellbeing to their mental health, while investing in the technologies that bring out the best in employees. Onbe worked to foster inclusivity while empowering employees to pursue their passions, leading to the creation of multiple employee resource groups, monthly communications and forums centered on learning, and dialogue about diversity and global issues. Onbe also created a Learning & DEI team and functions to lead career mapping and pathing to underscore and support its intentionality around hiring and leading a diverse group of people. "While teams across Onbe are driving innovation to modernize the payments experience for our clients every day, we are committed to fostering a community that attracts top talent and provides a strong community for that talent to thrive," said Bala Janakiraman, CEO of Onbe. "Being recognized for this work reinforces the importance of having a people-first culture in a technology-driven industry." Built In determines the winners of Best Places to Work based on an algorithm, using company data about compensation and benefits. To reflect the benefits candidates are searching for more frequently on Built In, the program also weighs criteria like remote and flexible work opportunities, programs for DEI and other people-first culture offerings. "It's my honor to congratulate this year's Best Places to Work winners," said Sheridan Orr, chief marketing officer, Built In. "These exemplary companies understand their people are their most valuable asset, and they've stepped up to meet the modern professional's new expectations, including the desire to work for companies that deliver purpose, growth and inclusion. These winners set the stage for a human-centered future of work, and we can't wait to see that future unfold." ABOUT BUILT IN'S BEST PLACES TO WORK Built In's esteemed Best Places to Work Awards, now in its fifth year, honor companies across numerous categories: 100 Best Places to Work, 50 Best Startup Places to Work, 100 Best Midsize Places to Work, 100 Best Large Places to Work and Editor's Choice: 100 Best Hybrid Places to Work. The program honors companies remote, hybrid and in-office with the best total rewards packages across the U.S. and in the following tech hubs: Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Colorado, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington DC. ABOUT BUILT IN Built In is creating the largest platform for technology professionals globally. Monthly, millions of the industry's most in-demand professionals visit the site from across the world. They rely on our platform to stay ahead of tech trends and news, learn skills to accelerate their careers and find opportunities at companies whose values they share. Built In also serves 2,000 customers, innovative companies ranging from startups to those in the Fortune 500. By putting their stories in front of our uniquely engaged audience, we help them hire otherwise hard-to-reach tech professionals. www.builtin.com About Onbe With more than 25 years of industry experience and offices in Chicago, Philadelphia and London, Onbe is a fintech that manages and modernizes customer and workforce disbursements for corporate clients ranging from mid-market to the Fortune 500. Onbe's team of experts and technology platform offers clients a turnkey solution to offload their entire B2C payment operations, relieving them of the cost, complexity and risk that come with orchestrating these payments in-house. Backed by top-tier investors, Onbe delivers on today's consumer expectations for instant, digital and seamless payments. To learn more, visit www.onbe.com and follow us on LinkedIn. Contact Joseph Netto, Sr. Director of Communications [email protected] SOURCE Onbe BEIJING, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The world's leading robotics company OrionStar unveils the next-gen delivery robot Lucki PRO, which will redefine delivery robots and lead the industry to a new stage. With an industry-exclusive dish recognition camera, 360 smart ambient lamp, 14.1-inch HD super large screen, and torsion bar damping suspension, Lucki PRO brings an incomparable human-robot interaction experience, delivery capacity and adaptability. Unprecedented Interactive Experience Lucki PRO - OrionStar Next-Gen Delivery Robot Industry Exclusive Dish Recognition Camera . Lucki PRO has an industry-exclusive dish recognition camera that can automatically identify and broadcast dishes, enabling real-time data analysis and standardization of chain restaurants. . Lucki PRO an industry-exclusive dish recognition camera that can automatically identify and broadcast dishes, enabling real-time data analysis and standardization of chain restaurants. Industry Exclusive 360 Smart Ambient Lamp . The 360 ambient Lamp can automatically illuminate the tray where the dishes are to be picked up, making meal-picking convenient and giving a sense of ritual. Industry Largest Interactive Screen . Lucki PRO has the largest interactive screen in the industry, a 14.1-inch ultra-large horizontal screen with a wider interactive viewing angle and clearer content display. The large screen is equipped with upgraded service software and redesigned high-tech UI, bringing users an immersive interactive experience. . Lucki PRO has the largest interactive screen in the industry, a 14.1-inch ultra-large horizontal screen with a wider interactive viewing angle and clearer content display. The large screen is equipped with upgraded service software and redesigned high-tech UI, bringing users an immersive interactive experience. Industry Strongest Voice Interaction Capability. Lucki PRO has the most powerful AI voice capability in the industry. With a 6-microphone array, Lucki PRO has a voice recognition accuracy of 90% and can work well in noisy environments with noise up to 75db. In addition, Lucki PRO has the incredible sound experience of a hi-fi subwoofer. Superior Delivery Capacity All-Round Enhanced Mobility . Lucki PRO adopts a quasi-circular chassis to better use chassis space and improves the robot's passability . The industry-exclusive torsion bar damping suspension makes Lucki PRO highly adaptable to various complex ground environments. A large-diameter and higher-torque hub motor is featured to improve load capacity and stability. . Lucki PRO adopts a quasi-circular chassis to better use chassis space and improves the . The industry-exclusive torsion bar damping suspension makes Lucki PRO highly adaptable to various complex ground environments. A large-diameter and higher-torque hub motor is featured to improve load capacity and stability. Excellent Navigation and Obstacle Avoidance Skills . Lucki PRO has higher breadth and accuracy in target recognition. Built in a 240 lidar and three RGB-D cameras, Lucki PRO realizes three-dimensional obstacle recognition without blind areas in the front and effectively improves the breadth and accuracy of recognition on tiny objects, moving objects, and suspended objects. . Lucki PRO has higher breadth and accuracy in target recognition. Built in a 240 lidar and three RGB-D cameras, Lucki PRO realizes three-dimensional obstacle recognition without blind areas in the front and effectively improves the breadth and accuracy of recognition on tiny objects, moving objects, and suspended objects. Load Capacity Increased by 50% . Lucki PRO supports tray loads of up to 15kg per layer and total loads of up to 60kg, which is increased by 50%. . Lucki PRO supports tray loads of up to 15kg per layer and total loads of up to 60kg, which is increased by 50%. Higher Battery Capacity and Faster Charging. The battery capacity of Lucki PRO has been expanded by 64%, which can work continuously for up to 16 hours. It only takes 4 hours to charge each time. Incomparable Marketing and Promotion Capabilities Customized marketing content can be played on the interactive screen of Lucki PRO. Robot marketing is a powerful tool for customer attraction and Lucki PRO's large screen is even more eye-catching. The powerful voice interaction ability of OrionStar enables desired marketing achievement. Strong Openness and Extensibility Highly Customizable Robot Platform (Software+Hardware) . Lucki PRO adopts a modular design, which allows for modifications to systems, recombination of existing capabilities and upgrades of system elements to enable innovation and rapidly respond to a changing environment. Lucki PRO is equipped with OrionStar RobotOS, an open platform supporting secondary development based on Android system. . Lucki PRO adopts a modular design, which allows for modifications to systems, recombination of existing capabilities and upgrades of system elements to enable innovation and rapidly respond to a changing environment. Lucki PRO is equipped with OrionStar RobotOS, an open platform supporting secondary development based on Android system. Cross-platform Mobile App. Lucki PRO applies a hybrid app called Robot Admin, which is compatible with all devices and any operating system. It does not matter if it is viewed on a smartphone, tablet, or PC or even whether it is for Android or iOS systems. Leveraging the cross-platform mobile development approach, developers can customize development quickly and cost-efficiently. About OrionStar Robotics Founded in 2016, OrionStar Robotics is committed to creating revolutionary robots to free people from tedious physical work and make human life more intelligent and interesting. By the end of 2022, more than 45,000 OrionStar robots have been employed, serving more than 500,000,000 person-time in over 40 countries. For more information, please visit en.orionstar.com or follow us on social media: LinkedIn / YouTube For Lucki PRO inquiries, please send an E-mail to [email protected] SOURCE OrionStar Robotics Southwest Montana Experiential Marketing Company Plans for Immediate Growth in 2023 BIG SKY, Mont., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Outlaw Partners, the most influential experiential marketing, media and events company in southwest Montana, is pleased to announce that Rob Smith has recently been appointed as CEO. A former partner at creative powerhouse Goodby Silverstein and Partners, Smith comes to Montana from San Francisco. Before joining Outlaw, he led the creative technology company, Splash Worldwide as CEO with clients such as Google, Uber, Nike, Sonos and Masterclass, before a successful exit to digital media company Jellyfish. Before Splash, Smith served as Chief Marketing Officer for two startups, Silent Circle and Kodak Moments. He previously ran global advertising accounts at Ogilvy in London, New York and Los Angeles, including IBM and Motorola. Outlaw Partners, Montana's largest experiential marketing agency, appoints Rob Smith CEO Tweet this With deep experience across both the creative agency and the client world, Smith brings an extensive track record of developing and leading teams and companies to growth across a variety of sectors. "We couldn't be more thrilled to have someone of Rob's caliber now leading the Outlaw team," said Eric Ladd, Founder and Owner of Outlaw Partners. "With his global experience in leading large-scale teams for clients at some of the most successful agencies in the world, he brings a level of leadership and credentials that will take Outlaw Partners to the next level, in Montana and beyond. Having Rob and Megan Paulson working together to provide an enhanced Outlaw experience is an incredible next chapter, for our entire team and our clients." Outlaw Partners co-founder and former CEO, Megan Paulson has been appointed to Chief Marketing Officer in order to focus on developing the company's expanding client base and lead the sales team. Amongst its growing and impressive client list, Outlaw represents some of the top emerging brands in Southwest Montana, which include Peak Skis, Montage International, Voormi, 406 Agave, Lone Peak Cannabis, Hey Bear, Northwestern Energy and more. "I'm grateful to be leading a team of talented and creative Outlaws," said Smith. "It is a unique company with tremendous potential in that it represents so many aspects of modern, experiential marketing. It's rare to lead a team that creates world-class events, publishes award winning magazines, is the local news source for a community, and elevates so many innovative brands in a variety of realms, all at the base of some of the most incredible mountain scenery in our country. I'm excited to see where we can go next." Smith joins Outlaw Partners at a time of exponential growth for the company, with the intent to enhance the client and consumer experience in a way only Outlaw Partners can provide, grounded in the experiences and culture of Southwest Montana. "With such a unique position in all that we do, the totality of Outlaw is now reaching a level much greater than its individual parts," said Smith. "By tapping into that, along with the experiences available in Montana, we've got something very special to provide." About Outlaw Partners Outlaw Partners is an award-winning experiential marketing, media and events company based in Big Sky and Bozeman, Montana. Formed around the pioneering principles of the Code of the West, Outlaw Partners builds brands that live to challenge the status quo. Founded in 2009, Outlaw Partners' award-winning media publications include Mountain Outlaw magazine, Explore Big Sky newspaper and VIEWS magazine. In addition, we produce hand-curated events in Southwest Montana such as Wildlands Music Festival, Big Sky Professional Bull Riding, and the Big Sky Ideas Festival. With multiple awards for content and graphic design, Outlaw Partners is driven to make an impact in the world by creating meaningful connections, supporting local community organizations, inspiring action in service, and producing quality content that represents a unique demographic and fosters a global kinship to the spirit of the Mountain West. For more information, please visit www.outlaw.partners SOURCE Outlaw Partners Perimeter Solutions launches PHOS-CHEK 60th Anniversary Virtual Museum to Showcase Storied History of Iconic Brand CLAYTON, Miss., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Perimeter Solutions (NYSE: PRM), a leading global manufacturer of high-quality firefighting products and lubricant additives, is proud to announce that PHOS-CHEK long-term fire retardant is celebrating its 60th anniversary. The iconic brand manufactured by Perimeter Solutions was first approved for use in aerial wildfire attack by the United States Forest Service in 1963, and it quickly became the go-to fire retardant for wildland firefighters around the world. Over the past six decades, PHOS-CHEK has helped firefighters to protect property and save countless lives. When it was introduced, PHOS-CHEK dramatically improved wildland firefighting. PHOS-CHEK was the first commercialized gum-thickened fire retardant that came with a range of viscosities. Before that, the only options available to fire managers were retardants with no-viscosity (un-thickened) or high-viscosity retardants. This innovation allowed federal agencies to optimize retardant characteristics based on delivery system, topographical situation, fuel type, and specific fire characteristics. Since 1963, the PHOS-CHEK brand has expanded beyond fire retardant to include industry-standard firefighting foams and foam dispensing systems, equipment to deploy PHOS-CHEK chemistry in remote wooded locations, as well as ground-based fire retardants that provide extended periods of protection from wildfire in at-risk areas and around people's homes. PHOS-CHEK technology is backed by a global team of people who support firefighting operations with bases, logistics, consulting, applications and technology development and more. Today, PHOS-CHEK is synonymous with the development of the modern firefighting industry. It has continued to evolve alongside wildland firefighting to help firefighters meet the challenges of longer, more intense wildfire seasons. To celebrate this important milestone, Perimeter Solutions is launching the PHOS-CHEK 60th Anniversary Virtual Museum. An interactive gallery, visitors to the Museum can: Read about industry pioneers, like Larry Vandersall , who are responsible for the development and evolution of PHOS-CHEK technology , who are responsible for the development and evolution of PHOS-CHEK technology Learn about famous wildfires that changed fire safety and the lives of those who were affected by them See the impact wildfires have on human health and the world around us, and more New features will be added to the PHOS-CHEK 60th Anniversary Museum every month to provide fresh content for visitors throughout all of 2023. "The story of PHOS-CHEK is more than a story about products and a company. It's a story about vision, innovation, about courage, and commitment. It's a story about the history of firefighting successes in the USA and beyond. We hope people will share this Museum with family, friends and business associates to let them know how committed we all are to providing solutions that save lives." said Edward Goldberg, CEO of Perimeter Solutions. "We are thrilled to introduce the PHOS-CHEK 60th Anniversary Museum." To tour the PHOS-CHEK 60th Anniversary Virtual Museum, visit https://www.perimeter-solutions.com/en/phos-chek-60-years. For more information about Perimeter Solutions, visit www.perimetersolutions.com. About Perimeter Solutions Headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, Perimeter Solutions (NYSE: PRM) is a premier global solutions provider, producing high-quality firefighting products and lubricant additives. The company develops products that impact critically important issues of life issues where there often is no room for error and the job doesn't offer second chances. At Perimeter, we characterize the solutions we develop as 'Trusted Solutions that Save' because it underscores what we are trying to accomplish for our customers and the world at large. Perimeter Solutions produces major brands known throughout the world like PHOS-CHEK and FIRE-TROL retardant, foam concentrates and gel products; AUXQUIMIA and SOLBERG firefighting foam concentrates; and BIOGEMA extinguishing agents and retardants. For more info on how we use our experience, responsibility, and integrity to deliver trusted solutions that help improve firefighting performance, visit: www.perimeter-solutions.com. SOURCE Perimeter Solutions Focused on green buildings, renewable energy and clean transportation, commitment deepens the bank's support of clients transitioning to a low-carbon economy PITTSBURGH, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC) announced today the expansion of its environmental finance commitment to $30 billion. The bank initially announced in August 2021 a commitment of $20 billion over five years in support of environmental finance. Since then, PNC has completed $9 billion in environmental financing for its customers. This commitment is an extension of PNC's ongoing support for its customers as they transition to a low-carbon economy, and is complementary to the bank's Community Benefits Plan, which pledges $88 billion in loans, investments, and other financial support to bolster economic opportunity for low- and moderate-income (LMI) individuals and communities, people and communities of color, and other underserved individuals and communities. "PNC continuously assesses ways in which we, as a financial institution, can support our clients' ambitions as they work toward their own climate transition goals," said Michael P. Lyons, head of Corporate & Institutional Banking. "The expansion of our environmental finance commitment is a natural next step as client demand increases." The $30 billion environmental finance goal is comprised of the following pillars which may evolve over time: Green Buildings loans for buildings that meet third party-recognized standards or certifications, including LEED and ENERGY STAR. loans for buildings that meet third party-recognized standards or certifications, including LEED and ENERGY STAR. Renewable Energy financing for renewable energy production and transmission, including wind, solar, geothermal and hydropower. financing for renewable energy production and transmission, including wind, solar, geothermal and hydropower. Clean Transportation financing for zero and low emissions vehicles, electric vehicle charging stations, and zero and low emissions passenger or freight/rolling stock. financing for zero and low emissions vehicles, electric vehicle charging stations, and zero and low emissions passenger or freight/rolling stock. Environmental sustainability-linked bonds and loans which align to third-party frameworks such as the Green Bond Principles, and loans linked to environmental Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) or those with designated environmentally sustainable use of proceeds. As a result of its recent integration of BBVA USA's footprint, PNC is also planning to establish new, ambitious, science-aligned environmental targets for its operational footprint, including further reducing carbon emissions, and energy and water consumption. These new targets will use a base year of 2022 the first full year of combined PNC and BBVA USA operations and will be announced as part of PNC's Corporate Responsibility Report to be published this year. The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. 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 www.pnc.com. CONTACT: PNC Media Relations (412) 762-4550 [email protected] SOURCE The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. Extends 6% to 8% annual EPS and dividend growth through at least 2026. $2.5 billion added to capital investment plan, resulting in 5.6% rate base growth through 2026 with no equity issuances. O&M savings increased to at least $175 million annually by 2026. 2023 earnings per share expected to be $1.50 to $1.65 per share, with $1.58 midpoint representing 7% growth over midpoint of 2022 pro forma earnings forecast. Plans to increase next quarterly dividend by 7% to $0.24 per share. Utility veteran Linda Sullivan joins PPL Board of Directors. Conference call and webcast today at 11 a.m. ET . ALLENTOWN, Pa., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL) today announced an updated business plan that is expected to generate top-tier 6% to 8% earnings and dividend growth through at least 2026 with strong growth opportunities beyond. "We continue to execute on our strategy to create utilities of the future that deliver safe, reliable, affordable, clean energy for our customers and sustainable growth for our shareowners," said PPL President and Chief Executive Officer Vincent Sorgi. "The business plan enhancements announced today reflect the meaningful progress we are making and the confidence we have in our ability to continue PPL's growth momentum well into the future." Highlights of PPL's updated business plan include: Top-tier EPS and dividend growth through at least 2026. PPL has extended its runway for earnings and dividend growth and now expects 6% to 8% annual earnings per share and dividend growth through at least 2026. In addition, the company continues to see significant investment opportunities that support growth beyond the current planning horizon as PPL leads the clean energy transition in the regions it serves and delivers exceptional value to its customers. PPL has extended its runway for earnings and dividend growth and now expects 6% to 8% annual earnings per share and dividend growth through at least 2026. In addition, the company continues to see significant investment opportunities that support growth beyond the current planning horizon as PPL leads the clean energy transition in the regions it serves and delivers exceptional value to its customers. $14.3 billion of capital investments through 2026, a >20% increase from prior plan. As reflected in recent regulatory filings in Kentucky and Rhode Island to invest in critical infrastructure, PPL has numerous opportunities for investments that strengthen grid reliability and resiliency and economically replace aging coal generation with reliable, least-cost and clean energy sources. Since announcing its capital plan last year, PPL has identified an additional $2.5 billion in investment opportunities for grid modernization and resiliency, digital transformation and generation replacement in Kentucky . The planned investments increase PPL's projected average annual rate base growth rate to 5.6% through 2026, with greater than 7% rate base growth in the back half of the plan. The plan features minimal regulatory lag based on existing regulatory mechanisms. As reflected in recent regulatory filings in and to invest in critical infrastructure, PPL has numerous opportunities for investments that strengthen grid reliability and resiliency and economically replace aging coal generation with reliable, least-cost and clean energy sources. Since announcing its capital plan last year, PPL has identified an additional in investment opportunities for grid modernization and resiliency, digital transformation and generation replacement in . The planned investments increase PPL's projected average annual rate base growth rate to 5.6% through 2026, with greater than 7% rate base growth in the back half of the plan. The plan features minimal regulatory lag based on existing regulatory mechanisms. Strong balance sheet and credit metrics maintained. PPL's balance sheet is among the best in the U.S. utility sector and will support the company's increased capital investment plan and continued financial flexibility with no equity issuances. PPL's continued strong credit profile reflects a projected Funds from Operations (FFO)/Cash Flow from Operations (CFO) to debt ratio of 16% to 18% throughout the planning period. PPL's balance sheet is among the best in the U.S. utility sector and will support the company's increased capital investment plan and continued financial flexibility with no equity issuances. PPL's continued strong credit profile reflects a projected Funds from Operations (FFO)/Cash Flow from Operations (CFO) to debt ratio of 16% to 18% throughout the planning period. At least $175 million of O&M cost savings to support efficiency and affordability. PPL is increasing its targeted operations and maintenance (O&M) savings by $25 million to $175 million of annual O&M savings by 2026. The added savings will be driven largely by the company's transmission and distribution operations as PPL continues to deploy scalable technologies and data science and leverage management's proven operating expertise across the company's utility portfolio. PPL is increasing its targeted operations and maintenance (O&M) savings by to of annual O&M savings by 2026. The added savings will be driven largely by the company's transmission and distribution operations as PPL continues to deploy scalable technologies and data science and leverage management's proven operating expertise across the company's utility portfolio. Significant improvements in PPL's carbon footprint. The updated plan announced today advances the company's broader clean energy strategy, aligns with the company's goal to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, and is expected to result in total carbon emissions reductions of about 67% from 2010 levels by 2030. The plan includes a proposal to retire nearly 1,500 megawatts of aging coal generation in Kentucky by 2028. The proposal, subject to Kentucky Public Service Commission approval, would add two new combined-cycle natural gas plants, nearly 1,000 megawatts of owned and contracted solar generation and 125 megawatts of battery storage by 2028. Additionally, PPL's investments in critical infrastructure and grid modernization will further enable a flexible, resilient grid capable of integrating more distributed energy resources and supporting electrification. 2023 earnings outlook and expected dividend increase PPL announced today that it expects 2023 earnings in the range of $1.50 to $1.65 per share. At the $1.58 midpoint, this represents 13% growth over the 2022 ongoing earnings forecast midpoint of $1.40 per share (reflecting partial year ownership of Rhode Island Energy) and a 7% increase over the $1.48 midpoint of PPL's 2022 pro forma earnings per share range (reflecting a full year of earnings contributions from Rhode Island Energy). The company also announced that it expects to increase its next quarterly common stock dividend to $0.24 per share, subject to approval by the Board of Directors. This would represent a 7% increase from the current dividend of $0.225 per share. Longtime utility veteran Linda G. Sullivan joins PPL Board of Directors PPL announced that utility industry veteran Linda G. Sullivan has joined its Board of Directors, effective Jan. 10, 2023. She will serve on PPL's Compensation and Finance committees. With Sullivan's appointment, PPL's board comprises 10 directors. In addition to an independent chair, the board includes eight independent directors and PPL's chief executive officer. Seven of the board's members are diverse across gender, race, ethnicity and nationality. "Linda's deep utility and financial expertise will further strengthen and complement our diverse and experienced board," said independent Board Chair Craig A. Rogerson. "We welcome her addition and significant experience in driving growth and innovation." Sullivan spent nearly three decades in the utility industry, serving as executive vice president and chief financial officer of American Water Works Company, Inc., from 2014 to 2019, and more than 20 years in a variety of leadership roles with Edison International. She has served on the Board of Directors of NorthWestern Energy since April 2017 and AltaGas Ltd. since January 2020. Conference call and webcast details As previously announced, PPL's executive team will host a conference call and webcast today at 11 a.m. Eastern Time. The conference call will be webcast live, in audio format, along with slides of the presentation. Interested individuals can access the webcast link at www.pplweb.com/investors under Events and Presentations or access the live conference call via telephone at 1-888-346-8683. International participants should call 1-412-902-4270. Participants will need to enter the following "Elite Entry" number in order to join the conference: 9324531. For those who are unable to listen to the live webcast, a replay with slides will be accessible at www.pplweb.com/investors for 90 days after the call. Following the call, PPL's executive team will be meeting with investors at the annual Evercore ISI utility conference on Jan. 12 and 13 in Palm Beach, Florida. About PPL Corporation PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL), based in Allentown, Pennsylvania, is a leading U.S. energy company focused on providing electricity and natural gas safely, reliably and affordably to 3.5 million customers in the U.S. PPL's high-performing, award-winning utilities are addressing energy challenges head-on by building smarter, more resilient and more dynamic power grids and advancing sustainable energy solutions. For more information, visit www.pplweb.com. Statements contained in this news release, including statements with respect to future earnings, cash flows, dividends, financing, regulation and corporate strategy, are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Although PPL Corporation believes that the expectations and assumptions reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, these statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from the results discussed in the statements. Any such forward-looking statements should be considered in conjunction with factors and other matters discussed in PPL Corporation's most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K and other reports on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Note to editors: Visit our media website at www.pplnewsroom.com for additional news about PPL Corporation. Contacts: For news media: Ryan Hill, 610-774-4033 For financial analysts: Andy Ludwig, 610-774-3389 SOURCE PPL Corporation MIAMI, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Crystal Lagoons and Israel share two things in common, a love of technology and a desire to improve the quality of life through innovation. It is precisely in this country, one of the most innovative in the world, that the multinational entered a new agreement to develop Public Access Lagoons projects, also called PAL developments. PAL developments arrive in one of the world's leading innovation countries The projects will be developed in partnership with international real estate holding Ecipsa and could be located in major cities such as Tel Aviv, Haifa, Rishon LeZion, Netanya and Petah Tikva. The developments will give Israeli city-dwellers access to an idyllic beach life all year round irrespective of the particular climate they live in. All PAL projects to be developed in Israel will include a large crystalline lagoon powered by Crystal Lagoons technology, suitable for swimming and water sports, with white sandy beaches and be open to the public for an entrance fee. Each project also could include hotels, residential areas, gastronomic venues, retail outlets, etc. Israel and Crystal Lagoons also share a commitment to sustainability and water protection and the company's PAL projects have won several international awards for their sustainability. A key feature of these lagoons is that they can use any type of water, including seawater and brackish water from arid areas, which have no alternative use. This combination of factors paved the way for the debut of Crystal Lagoons in Israel, a country that has pioneered water protection. "The fact that one of the world's leading countries in innovation and water sustainability is welcoming Crystal Lagoons is a tremendous endorsement of our technology. In addition, PAL projects are a perfect match for Israeli culture, as they enjoy life, especially the outdoors," said Francisco Matte, regional director for Crystal Lagoons. The company's sustainable technology has been a key factor behind its success in developed countries. The lagoons only need filling once, operate with a closed-circuit system, can use any type of water (sea, brackish and fresh) and use 40% less water than an average green area. Additionally, they use up to 100 times less chemicals than a swimming pool and only 2% of the energy of a conventional filtration system. PAL developments have caught the attention of major market players worldwide, with high-profile contracts signed in: the United States, Japan, Saudi Arabia, India, Korea, Palestine, Pakistan, Europe, Colombia, among others. CONTACT: [email protected] Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1980944/Foto.jpg SOURCE Crystal Lagoons Addition of first-party data cleansing and secure storage enhances PureCars' ability to leverage high-quality consumer data across advertising channels, improving the effectiveness of sales, fixed operations and retention marketing programs. ATLANTA, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- PureCars, the leading provider of digital marketing technology and services for automotive dealers, announced today its acquisition of data management platform, The AutoMiner. PureCars is backed by Diversis Capital Partners and Stage 1 Ventures. The digital advertising landscape is poised for a cookieless future later this year, making secure and actionable first-party data critical for dealers to compete in a crowded market. Without the ability to use options like audience matching and retargeting, dealerships will need to rely on their own first-party data to understand and engage their customers in a more personalized and relevant way. In addition, dealers must also consider strict privacy, data security and encryption policies - and the potential hefty fines associated with them. The AutoMiner's data platform ensures the secure storage and delivery of all data. By merging The AutoMiner's customer data platform with PureCars' marketing technology, dealership data can be cleansed, consolidated and easily deployed across a wide range of marketing channels. This combination results in more efficient and accurate ad targeting. "The AutoMiner solves a pain point that has plagued the industry for years incomplete and inaccurate customer data that leads to a significant waste of ad spend," said Stephane Ferri, CEO at PureCars. "Poor customer data leads to ineffective marketing, either from incorrect customer information or reaching out with irrelevant messages. By joining our two organizations, we will be able to provide dealers with the most powerful customer data and marketing platform available today." "PureCars is the trusted name in automotive digital advertising. By adding The AutoMiner to its suite of services, we are the first and only encrypted customer data platform with automated data hygiene services that connects directly to a dealer's advertising accounts," said Aaron Sheeks, President and Managing Partner, The AutoMiner. "By integrating our technologies, we truly become what every dealer in the country is asking for: the complete package of data management and best-in-class marketing solutions with the dealer's success as the goal." "Many organizations are working to develop a solution to meet the demands of changing privacy legislation and data security. The addition of The AutoMiner to PureCars means dealerships can partner with the leader in digital advertising knowing that they have a proven and secure solution for first-party data, and one that is available today," said Diversis Senior Operating Partner, David Muscatel. To learn more, dealers are encouraged to visit https://info.purecars.com/nada-2023 or NADA booth #3879 to meet in person with PureCars and The AutoMiner representatives. About PureCars Since 2007, PureCars has helped thousands of dealers improve their advertising effectiveness, while lowering ad costs per unit sold and per repair order. Through our unique combination of advanced advertising solutions, digital merchandising and market analytics, we provide dealers and partners with best-in-class solutions that increase efficiency and profitability. We are a certified digital provider for 16 OEMs in the U.S. and 1 in Canada, compliant with 40+ brands and serve 65 of the top 100 dealer groups in North America. To learn more, please visit http://www.purecars.com . About Diversis Capital Founded in 2013, Diversis is a software and technology focused private equity fund with over $1 billion in assets under management that invests in lower middle-market companies, targeting situations where it can add unique value in helping a company reach the next level. With a collaborative approach to investing, its Operating Partners and Strategic Advisors work alongside management teams to help build successful organizations positioned for long-term growth. To learn more, please visit http://www.diversis.com . About Stage 1 Ventures, LLC Stage 1 Ventures, LLC was founded in 2005 and has invested over $200M in 22 late-stage growth companies. Stage 1 does a combination of primary and secondary investing as well as seed investing. Stage 1 looks for high growth companies that are led by passionate entrepreneurs in ag-tech, cloud, mobile, auto, consumer and enterprise software spaces. SOURCE PureCars McKeever will transition from CFO to lead Texas' largest resettlement agency DALLAS, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Refugee Services of Texas, the state's leading refugee resettlement agency and key provider of services for survivors of human trafficking victims, has named David McKeever as the organization's new Chief Executive Officer. McKeever first became Chief Financial Officer of Refugee Services of Texas in 2021 and took on additional duties last Fall as Interim CEO. Refugee Services of Texas has named David McKeever as the organization's new Chief Executive Officer. Tweet this David McKeever "The Board of Directors has been thoroughly impressed by David's tenure as CFO and as Interim CEO," said Omar Khan, President of the Board of Directors of Refugee Services of Texas. "After an exhaustive search for a new CEO, we believe David's creativity, leadership, and advocacy for staff and clients make him the best person for the job. We look forward to where David will take the organization in 2023 and beyond." McKeever joined RST at a critical moment when the nation's resettlement program was being revived after years of decline. As yearly refugee resettlement projections rose and the emergency resettlement of thousands of Afghan and Ukrainian nationals were required amid violent turmoil, McKeever's leadership has been integral to keeping Texas at the forefront of resettlement efforts. As CFO of Refugee Services of Texas, McKeever led the financial management of the organization and advised the CEO on financial planning, budgeting, cash flow, grants, and finance policy. As Interim CEO, he took the lead on all day-to-day executive operations of one of the leading resettlement organizations in Texas and the nation. "I am thrilled and humbled to take on this exciting role at Refugee Services of Texas at such a critical time," said McKeever. "I am proud to be a member of such a passionate team of staff, executives, volunteers, and members of the board that consistently choose to put our clients' interests first. I believe 2023 will be a banner year for RST, and I look forward to serving this important Texas institution and helping guide it to new heights." McKeever brings over 15 years of executive experience in non-profit, government, and Fortune 100 organizations to his new role at RST. He earned high praise from D CEO as the publication's 2014 Non-Profit Executive of the Year in his role as CFO of the Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity. He has previously served as Director of Finance for ABC Radio Networks under The Walt Disney Company; the Senior Vice President of Accounting, Finance, and Operations for Cumulus Media; the CFO for Ability Connection; and the CFO of John Paul II High School in Plano, Texas. McKeever is a military veteran of the United States Army. He is a graduate of Southern University and A&M College at Baton Rouge and holds an MBA from Amberton University. About Refugee Services of Texas Refugee Services of Texas is a social service agency dedicated to resettling and providing services to refugees and other displaced persons who are fleeing persecution based on race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, and/or political opinion. Since its founding in 1978, RST has successfully resettled more than 20,000 refugees and survivors of human trafficking from over thirty different countries of origin. SOURCE Refugee Services of Texas NASHVILLE, Tenn., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Regent Surgical Health, known for partnering with leading health systems across the country to scale their ambulatory platforms, welcomes Andrew Sartoris, MBA, as Vice President of Strategic Initiatives. Sartoris comes to Regent from HCA Healthcare, where he most recently served as Assistant Vice President of Strategy & Innovation. In that role, he led and advanced enterprise and business unit growth initiatives in support of HCA's portfolio of over 180 hospitals and 2,000 ambulatory sites of care in 20 states and the United Kingdom. In his new position, Sartoris will leverage his broad healthcare expertise and will be responsible for shaping and translating Regent's strategic direction, working closely with the leadership team and stakeholders on long-term growth strategies for the organization and its portfolio of centers. "Andrew brings deep subject matter expertise and understands the complexities of healthcare and the opportunities that exist in our vertical," said Regent CEO Chris Bishop. "He has earned a reputation as a trusted advisor, problem-solver, and optimizer, known for driving deals and initiatives that are aligned with growth goals and mission. We're thrilled to have him on our team." "Regent has earned its reputation as an industry leader, and I am proud to join the organization at such a transformational time in its history," said Sartoris. "I look forward to working with our incredible team and shaping strategies that drive outcomes and move us all closer to our ultimate goal delivering high-quality, accessible patient care." Sartoris earned his MBA from Vanderbilt University and a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Duke University. He's a board member for the Heimerdinger Foundation, Inc., a local nonprofit providing and delivering organic, nutrient-dense meals and nutrition education free of charge to people facing cancer through its signature Meals 4 Health and Healing program. Since 2001, Regent has developed, owned, and managed ASC facilities in partnership with hospitals and physicians and has grown to become the nation's largest private health system joint venture-focused ASC operator. About Regent Surgical Health Headquartered in Chicago and Nashville, Tennessee, Regent partners with hospitals and physicians to develop, own, and manage ASC facilities. The Company was founded in 2001, and today owns or operates ASCs across the United States. Regent has a long and successful track record of partnering with care providers to deliver superior clinical and operational results. In recent years, the Company has successfully pursued a strategy focused on the development of several multisite system partnerships, including with many of the nation's largest health systems. For more information, visit http://www.regentsh.com. Contact Kebra Shelhamer 918-260-6552 [email protected] SOURCE Regent Surgical Health FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- RHP Properties (RHP) donated $66,000 in 2022 to support elementary and high school education initiatives through AdoptAClassroom.org, raise awareness about home and fire safety through American Red Cross, and provide essential food and toys through the Farmington Area Goodfellows and No Kid Hungry. Fifty thousand dollars benefitted residents of its manufactured home communities, with $16,000 helping the community at large in toy and food donations. RHP ended the year with a donation to the Farmington Area Goodfellows marking the 19th consecutive year it has supported the community through its local holiday toy and food drive. RHP staff raised nearly $3,000 in donations, which was matched by the corporate office for a total donation of $6,000, surpassing last year's donation. The company also donated $10,000 to No Kid Hungry on Giving Tuesday to help end childhood hunger, marking the third donation to the organization. RHP takes pride in the longstanding partnerships we have built with local groups and organizations nationwide. Tweet this "The needs of our residents were a priority for us in 2022 and we will continue to put their well-being first as we enter 2023," said Ross Partrich, CEO of RHP Properties. "We take pride in the longstanding partnerships we have built with local groups in the community and organizations nationwide, and we are committed to continuing to make a meaningful impact in the lives of our residents." In an effort to provide needed resources to promote academic success, RHP donated $40,000 to AdoptAClassroom.org throughout 2022 to support schools serving children who are residents of nearby RHP Properties manufactured home communities. Schools included Ben Davis High School in Indianapolis, Indiana; Arturo Cambeiro Elementary School in Las Vegas, Nevada; Mountain View High School in El Monte, California; and Northridge High School in Greeley, Colorado. RHP has adopted eight schools through the program to date, and plans to continue this initiative in 2023 in order to help provide schools near the communities they operate with access to essential learning materials. Fire safety was a continued 2022 priority, and RHP became a sponsor of the American Red Cross "Sound the Alarm" program in the Colorado and Wyoming regions donating a total of $10,000 to fire prevention education. The program included smoke alarm installation events where volunteers canvass neighborhoods to install free smoke alarms and help families create home fire escape plans. About RHP Properties Founded in 1988, RHP Properties is the nation's largest privately held owner and operator of manufactured home communities with managed assets of more than $6B, including 370 manufactured home communities nationwide, totaling about 80,083 homes in 30 states. Headquartered in Farmington Hills, Michigan, RHP Properties employs more than 1,000 professionals. For more information visit www.rhp.com. SOURCE RHP Properties Flexible financing helps drive GTV & equipment pricing through increased marketplace penetration VANCOUVER, BC, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - For the first time in its 11-year history, Ritchie Bros. Financial Services surpassed US$1 billion in annual funded volume, helping tens of thousands of customers around the world purchase used equipment, vehicles, and other industrial assets in 2022. "Ritchie Bros. Financial Services continues to drive industry-leading customer experience with our innovative, flexible financing and leasing solutions, combined with a fast and efficient approval process," said Chris Quinn, Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Ritchie Bros. Financial Services. "In 2022, more than half of our funded volume came from repeat customers. At the same time, we are attracting new customers every single day. Last year, we also saw approval rates above 80%, which is a new record, and the percentage of transactions funded on the Ritchie Bros. marketplace increased by 15%, helping facilitate more transactions for buyers and create better pricing for sellers." Ritchie Bros. Financial Services offers several different solutions to its customers, including PurchaseFlex Financing, which enables customers to get pre-approved for financing for any type of equipment, regardless of brand or asset type. This is unique to RBFS, as most traditional lenders require exact equipment details prior to approval, which limits your options on auction day. This increased flexibility, along with the ease and speed of approvals, has made RBFS a preferred choice for customers acquiring used equipment. PurchaseFlex Financing also offers $0 down and 90- or 120-day payment deferment options. Ritchie Bros. Financial Services has also seen approximately 40% growth in the funding of private sale purchases, through online listing sites like Ritchie List, and equipment dealerships. With its PurchaseSafe product, Ritchie Bros. Financial Services will help facilitate the purchase between buyer and seller by securing the transfer of funds, dealing with any taxation issues, lien search, and payout coordination. "PurchaseSafe provides customers a secure and safe buying experience, so they can shop privately with the same confidence they do when buying at Ritchie Bros.," added Mr. Quinn. "Today, approximately 60% of our total funded volume comes through dealer and private sales. Customers rely on Ritchie Bros. Financial Services regardless of where they are shopping." To learn more about Ritchie Bros. Financial Services, visit rbfinance.com. About Ritchie Bros.: Established in 1958, Ritchie Bros. (NYSE and TSX: RBA) is a global asset management and disposition company, offering customers end-to-end solutions for buying and selling used heavy equipment, trucks and other assets. Operating in a number of sectors, including construction, transportation, agriculture, energy, mining, and forestry, the company's selling channels include: Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers, the world's largest industrial auctioneer offering live auction events with online bidding; IronPlanet, an online marketplace with weekly featured auctions and providing the exclusive IronClad Assurance equipment condition certification; Marketplace-E, a controlled marketplace offering multiple price and timing options; Ritchie List, a self-serve listing service for North America; Mascus, a leading European online equipment listing service; Ritchie Bros. Private Treaty, offering privately negotiated sales; and sector-specific solutions GovPlanet, TruckPlanet, and Ritchie Bros. Energy. The Company's suite of solutions also includes Ritchie Bros. Asset Solutions and Rouse Services LLC, which together provides a complete end-to-end asset management, data-driven intelligence and performance benchmarking system; SmartEquip, an innovative technology platform that supports customers' management of the equipment lifecycle and integrates parts procurement with both OEMs and dealers; plus equipment financing and leasing through Ritchie Bros. Financial Services. For more information about Ritchie Bros., visit RitchieBros.com. SOURCE Ritchie Bros. MERIDIAN, Idaho, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Sekady Capital, LLC, a provider of secure payment solutions and project management software for the construction industry, has welcomed Tony Codina as VP of Sales. Tony joins the team with extensive experience in enterprise sales and customer success and will lead sales and business development for Sekady products and services. Visit Sekady to learn how Sekady is improving workflows and optimizing the construction lifecycle. "Tony brings a proven track record of strategic account acquisition, leading partnerships and bringing products to market," says Thayne Boren, Sekady President. "That experience uniquely qualified Tony to lead sales for us and build out our commercialization team." "The unique place Sekady sits within the construction industry is extremely exciting for me," says Tony Codina. Tweet this "The unique place Sekady sits within the construction industry is extremely exciting for me," says Tony Codina. "We have the ability to not only streamline some legacy processes, but also create true efficiencies and provide a valuable service across numerous entities within this space. With my nearly 10 years of experience in the SaaS sales space, I look to bring a customer first approach to the Sekady Revenue team; building relationships and truly bringing value to all customers we partner with." Tony will continue to develop the commercialization strategy as products and services are brought to market. Over the last 20 years, Tony has successfully managed teams in the transportation industry across verticals including asset management, brokerage, compliance, sales, and strategic accounts. His experience in go-to-market strategies and execution makes him a welcome addition to Sekady's diverse team. About Sekady: Sekady provides secure construction payments software to valued partners such as Title Companies, Fund Control Companies, Lenders, General Contractors, and Subcontractors while offering seamless collaboration and visibility into their construction projects. SOURCE Sekady SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The global smart manufacturing market size is predicted to hit USD 787.54 billion by 2030, according to a new study by Grand View Research, Inc. The market is also anticipated to register a CAGR of 14.9% from 2023 to 2030, based on a recent report by Grand View Research, Inc. This market is popularly known as industry 4.0 as the advancement and integration of manufacturing with technology and automation processes in manufacturing is driven by the Internet of Things (IoT), machine learning, and real-time data. It is focused on combining innovation and efficiency as production processes grow faster. Key Industry Insights & Findings from the report: Industrial 4.0 has been helping to transform the market from acquiring legacy systems to smart components and sophisticated equipment to the development of digital factories, and later, to the ecosystem of plants and connected businesses. Based on the technology segment, the 3D Printing type of smart manufacturing is anticipated to grow with the highest CAGR of 17.8% during the forecast period due to the rise in the usage of 3D animation in the production of spare parts. The software segment is poised to grow with the highest CAGR of 15.5% during the forecast period. The advent of analytics and AI-driven systems is expected to be a key factor driving the growth of the market. The Asia Pacific region contributed the largest revenue share in 2022, owing to the constant advancements in automation and reducing dependency on other nations for an in-house manufacturing facility. Read 300-page full market research report, "Smart Manufacturing Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Component, By Technology (Product Lifecycle Management, 3D Printing, Enterprise Resource Planning), By End-use, By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2023 - 2030", published by Grand View Research. Smart Manufacturing Market Growth & Trends The industry is intended to adopt smart production methods across various domains. The need to increase productivity and improve the visibility of the entire system are two major factors driving the market growth. The proliferation of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is expected to create challenges in controlling large amounts of data and accessing data and hence participants can opt for self-study programs and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies to avoid challenges. However, with increasing reliance on data, the industry aims to prevent contact with processes from preventing unintended issues. An essential aspect of the industry is the need to integrate various technologies such as intelligent sensors, robots, and cloud computing. Digital development has created the opportunity to use integrated technologies to achieve measurable results. Simulation, 3D printing, and network technology development have made the market a promising investment center for technology developers and users. Several countries around the world imposed strict closures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, with severe restrictions and safety measures. Leading companies that produce smart devices started using IoT deployment, statistics, and AI-based digital platforms to reduce the need for human interaction. In addition, reduced efficiency in production lines due to social isolation processes is also strengthened with the help of automated solutions, thereby reducing employee involvement in production processes. While established retailers are pushing their technology harder in new fields and operating environments, the barriers to entry are declining rapidly. These trends have led to an increase in competition among retailers, thus, leading to the introduction of fictional business models as advanced products. Buyers are experiencing a paradigm shift and focus on ordering rather than production to sell stock. These circumstances are expected to drive a comprehensive overhaul of production business models. This, in turn, is expected to fuel the market during the forecast period. Smart Manufacturing Market Segmentation Grand View Research has segmented the global smart manufacturing market based on component, technology, end-use, and region: Smart Manufacturing Market - Component Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2018 - 2030) Hardware Software Services Smart Manufacturing Market - Technology Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2018 - 2030) Machine Execution Systems Programmable Logic Controller Enterprise Resource Planning SCADA Discrete Control Systems Human Machine Interface Machine Vision 3D Printing Product Lifecycle Management Plant Asset Management Smart Manufacturing Market - End-use Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2018 - 2030) Automotive Aerospace & Defense Chemicals & Materials Healthcare Industrial Equipment Electronics Food & Agriculture Oil & Gas Others Smart Manufacturing Market - Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2018 - 2030) North America U.S. Canada Europe U.K. Germany Asia Pacific China India Japan Latin America Brazil Mexico MEA List of Key Players in Smart Manufacturing Market ABB Ltd. Siemens General Electric Rockwell Automation, Inc. Schneider Electric Honeywell International Inc. Emerson Electric Co. Fanuc UK Limited Check out more related studies published by Grand View Research: Digital Transformation Market - The global digital transformation market size is expected to reach USD 4,617.78 billion by 2030, according to the new reports of Grand View Research. The market is expected to register a CAGR of 26.7% from 2023 to 2030. Digital transformation helps organizations improve their customer experience, customer retention ratios, and brand reputation through the software's implementation. The global digital transformation market size is expected to reach by 2030, according to the new reports of Grand View Research. The market is expected to register a CAGR of 26.7% from 2023 to 2030. Digital transformation helps organizations improve their customer experience, customer retention ratios, and brand reputation through the software's implementation. Smart Cities Market - The global smart cities market size is expected to reach USD 6,965.02 billion by 2030, according to the new reports of Grand View Research, Inc. The market is expected to expand at a CAGR of 25.8% from 2023 to 2030. The market growth can be attributed to rapid favorable government initiatives worldwide and emerging technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), cybersecurity, big data analytics, and the Internet of Things (IoT). This has encouraged several countries to invest in smart city projects to manage infrastructure and assets. The global smart cities market size is expected to reach by 2030, according to the new reports of Grand View Research, Inc. The market is expected to expand at a CAGR of 25.8% from 2023 to 2030. The market growth can be attributed to rapid favorable government initiatives worldwide and emerging technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), cybersecurity, big data analytics, and the Internet of Things (IoT). This has encouraged several countries to invest in smart city projects to manage infrastructure and assets. Machine Condition Monitoring Market - The global machine condition monitoring market size is expected to reach USD 4.83 billion by 2030, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The industry is anticipated to grow at a lucrative CAGR of 7.3% from 2022 to 2030. An exponential demand for monitoring services to avoid machinery failure will propel the penetration of condition-monitoring systems. End-users have exhibited an unprecedented demand for predictive maintenance tools to bolster asset life, minimize machine failure and reduce maintenance costs. Browse through Grand View Research's Next Generation Technologies Industry Research Reports. About Grand View Research Grand View Research, U.S.-based market research and consulting company, provides syndicated as well as customized research reports and consulting services. Registered in California and headquartered in San Francisco, the company comprises over 425 analysts and consultants, adding more than 1200 market research reports to its vast database each year. These reports offer in-depth analysis on 46 industries across 25 major countries worldwide. With the help of an interactive market intelligence platform, Grand View Research Helps Fortune 500 companies and renowned academic institutes understand the global and regional business environment and gauge the opportunities that lie ahead. Contact: Sherry James Corporate Sales Specialist, USA Grand View Research, Inc. Phone: 1-415-349-0058 Toll Free: 1-888-202-9519 Email: [email protected] Web: https://www.grandviewresearch.com Grand View Compass | Astra ESG Solutions Follow Us: LinkedIn | Twitter Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/661327/Grand_View_Research_Logo.jpg SOURCE Grand View Research, Inc WASHINGTON and SEATTLE, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- With thousands of tiny holes, Orion's Veil a bubble of gas and dust is breaking sooner than expected, and SOFIA was the only observatory that could study why. Cosmic bubbles are blowing up earlier than expected, and research from the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) can help explain why. During the 241st meeting of the American Astronomical Society, which will be held at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle, WA on Jan 8-12, Umit Kavak will present his work on the role of stellar feedback in breaking up Orion's Veil. His talk, "Protostellar feedback in massive star-forming regions," will be featured in a press conference on Wednesday, Jan 11 at 10:15 AM PT. In a previous study, Kavak and his collaborators found fossil outflows from the Trapezium Cluster of stars in Orion's Veil a bubble of dust and gas in our galaxy suggested the veil might be breaking. Now, they've found outflows actively ejected from protostars that are not as bright as the Trapezium stars. These protostellar outflows are also interacting with the bubble's shell, allowing the researchers to study the process in more depth. As stars from within the bubble eject material out, this material interacts with the shell. The bubble then becomes something more like a sieve, with tens of thousands of tiny holes from which gas can escape. "Think of it like shooting a gun from thousands of different protostars, and all of them are just shooting in random directions," Kavak said. This process is important for astronomers to study because of the role it plays in the dynamics of bubbles like Orion's Veil. Though they know the bubble will eventually blow up, there are many candidate mechanisms that can break it, such as radiation or hot gas from supernovae. This work provides evidence that outflows from massive protostars are a potential middle stage in the bubble's evolution that can break the bubble up earlier than expected. Furthermore, while ionized carbon has often been used to study outflows from grown stars, the results also show its utility in monitoring the outflows of a star even before it is fully formed, and their impact. However, the Veil is difficult to study because of how thin and dense it is, and its structures can only be traced with ionized carbon observations. SOFIA was therefore unique in its ability to reveal this interaction, thanks to its spectral resolution and its ability to resolve the ionized carbon around protostars. "There's no way to study this anymore without SOFIA," Kavak said. "We may trace structures perpendicular to our line of sight with other observations, but if the structure illuminated by a massive star is moving towards us, velocity-resolved ionized carbon observations are one-of-a-kind." About SOFIA SOFIA was a joint project of NASA and the German Space Agency at DLR. DLR provided the telescope, scheduled aircraft maintenance, and other support for the mission. NASA's Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley managed the SOFIA program, science, and mission operations in cooperation with the Universities Space Research Association, headquartered in Columbia, Maryland, and the German SOFIA Institute at the University of Stuttgart. The aircraft was maintained and operated by NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center Building 703, in Palmdale, California. SOFIA achieved full operational capability in 2014 and concluded its final science flight on Sept. 29, 2022. About USRA The Universities Space Research Association (USRA) is a nonprofit corporation chartered to advance space-and aeronautics -related science, technology and engineering. USRA operates scientific institutes and facilities and conducts other major research and educational programs. USRA engages the university community and employs in-house scientific leadership, innovative research and development, and project management expertise. More information about USRA is available at www.usra.edu. 2022 Universities Space Research Association 425 3rd Street SW, Suite 950, Washington DC, 20024 PR Contact: Suraiya Farukhi [email protected] 443-812-6945 SOURCE Universities Space Research Association Partnership will provide AI and predictive analytics tools for superior customer experiences, smarter inventory & fulfilment decisions, resulting in gross margins growth from 9-12% annually NEW DELHI and TORONTO, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Tech Mahindra, a leading provider of digital transformation, consulting, and business re-engineering services and solutions, today announced a global strategic partnership with Retalon, a leader in retail AI and predictive analytics solutions. The partnership will enable Retail and CPG organizations to gain better customer insights, improve decision-making, and enhance operational efficiency. Together, Tech Mahindra and Retalon will offer a unified common analytic platform to help enterprises unlock significant value in end-to-end planning, inventory management, supply chain network strategy, pricing, and promotion optimization. The joint efforts will also offer an integrated solution to make smarter inventory & fulfilment decisions, which will result in improved gross margins from 9-12% annually. Partnership will provide AI and predictive analytics tools for superior customer experiences and smarter operations. Tweet this Jagdish Mitra, Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Growth, Tech Mahindra, said, "The Retail and CPG industry is undergoing a significant transformation. With physical and online shopping platforms merging, digital transformation has become a top priority for retailers today as it helps them increase profitability, streamline new processes, and be agile. We believe that a robust collaborative ecosystem is key to a sustainable foundation in a constantly evolving industry like this. Our partnership with Retalon will empower Retail & CPG businesses to accelerate digital transformation and solve industry challenges such as supply chain risks, operational efficiency and hybrid & omnichannel consumer journeys. We firmly believe our combined efforts will further propel the global retail ecosystem with next-generation technologies." The partnership will bring together Tech Mahindra's expertise in Retail & Consumer Goods (RCG) and Digital Services with Retalon's Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Predictive Analytics tools to provide superior customer experiences. Mark Canning, Vice President, Business Development & Channels, Retalon said "We are honoured and excited to be partnering with Tech Mahindra to help solve the most pressing needs that Retail and CPG companies are facing today. Together, we are building a strong, collaborative ecosystem that will allow Retailers and CPG companies to access all the solutions they need to be a profitable, high-margin, 21st Century business in one holistic package. Tech Mahindra's global reach, expertise and digital transformation solutions & services will complement Retalon's expertise and solutions for AI driven Retail & CPG planning, inventory, and promotion market to mutually grow each organizations' business." This strategic partnership will further strengthen Tech Mahindra's market position and expand its global retail portfolio to cater to the evolving and dynamic needs of its customers. The partnership also underlines the company's focus on digital growth under the NXT.NOW framework, which is focused on leveraging next-generation technologies to deliver disruptive solutions today and further enable digital transformation. Tech Mahindra and Retalon, Inc. will be present at the Retail's Big Show NRF 2023 in New York from January 14 - 17, 2023. At the show, Tech Mahindra will highlight its innovative, customer centric digital experiences and its focus on next-generation technologies including Direct-to-Customer (DTC), Digital Supply Chain, 5G, Sustainability, Blockchain, Metaverse, Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality and more, to enable end-to-end digital transformation for global customers. About Retalon: We empower retailers with state-of-the-art, data driven predictive analytics & retail AI solutions for planning, merchandising, inventory management, price optimization, and more. Our analytics platform is designed with a dynamic omnichannel retail environment in mind. Our cloud-based solutions are built on one comprehensive platform that provides retailers with superior forecast accuracy, streamlined automation, and business intelligence support tools that deliver tangible results. For more information on Retalon please visit www.Retalon.com About Tech Mahindra Tech Mahindra offers innovative and customer-centric digital experiences, enabling enterprises, associates and the society to Rise. We are a USD 6 billion organization with 163,000+ professionals across 90 countries helping 1279 global customers, including Fortune 500 companies. We are focused on leveraging next-generation technologies including 5G, Blockchain, Metaverse, Quantum Computing, Cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence, and more, to enable end-to-end digital transformation for global customers. Tech Mahindra is the only Indian company in the world to receive the HRH The Prince of Wales' Terra Carta Seal for its commitment to creating a sustainable future. We are the fastest growing brand in 'brand strength' and amongst the top 7 IT brands globally. With the NXT.NOW framework, Tech Mahindra aims to enhance 'Human Centric Experience' for our ecosystem and drive collaborative disruption with synergies arising from a robust portfolio of companies. Tech Mahindra aims at delivering tomorrow's experiences today and believes that the 'Future is Now'. We are part of the Mahindra Group, founded in 1945, one of the largest and most admired multinational federation of companies with 260,000 employees in over 100 countries. It enjoys a leadership position in farm equipment, utility vehicles, information technology and financial services in India and is the world's largest tractor company by volume. It has a strong presence in renewable energy, agriculture, logistics, hospitality and real estate. The Mahindra Group has a clear focus on leading ESG globally, enabling rural prosperity and enhancing urban living, with a goal to drive positive change in the lives of communities and stakeholders to enable them to Rise. Connect with us on www.techmahindra.com || Our Social Media Channels SOURCE Retalon Inc. Omnibus Spending Bill includes $418,000 for Open Institute for Black Women Entrepreneurs COLUMBIA, Md., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- TEDCO, Maryland's economic engine for technology companies, announced today that its Open Institute for Black Women Entrepreneur Excellence program was selected by the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee for Fiscal Year 2023 Congressionally Directed Spending funding at a level of $418,000 a direct federal funding request sponsored by U.S. Senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.). The funding for TEDCO's 10-month leadership development program was included in the FY23 Omnibus Spending bill recently passed by Congress and signed into law by President Biden. TEDCO identifies, invests in, and helps grow technology and life science-based companies in Maryland. Tweet this Linda Singh, executive director for TEDCOs Women Entrepreneur Leadership Programs Troy LeMaile-Stovall, TEDCO CEO Senator Ben Cardin, Chairman of the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee Senator Chris Van Hollen "As Chairman of the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, I have long been committed to leveling the playing field for our underserved entrepreneurs. Small business is a path of self-determination for many, especially Black women entrepreneurs," said Senator Cardin. "TEDCO has demonstrated its ability to reach these small business owners and help their businesses grow and thrive. I'm proud we have secured $418,000 in direct federal investment for this project, which will foster the entrepreneurial spirit within Maryland's HBCU community." "To strengthen Maryland's small businesses, we need to remove barriers to ensure that every entrepreneur has access to the resources and support to succeed. That's why I fought to deliver this $418,000 direct federal investment in TEDCO's Open Institute for Black Women Entrepreneurs to expand opportunity, boost startups, and leverage Maryland's diverse talent to foster more leadership opportunities. I look forward to continuing to work with TEDCO to advance our shared commitment to equity in action," said Senator Van Hollen, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. TEDCO's Open Institute for Black Women Entrepreneur Excellence was created to address barriers to success. While they lead the way in business formation, only 3% of Black women business owners are running mature businesses. Research cites three key reasonsthe types of businesses, limited access to capital, and the uneven distribution of access to key resources needed for entrepreneurship successas barriers to entry and catching-up of disadvantaged groups. The new program builds on a promising statistic for Maryland's inclusive economy: at 52%, Maryland has the highest rate per capita of women-business ownership in the United States. "We are deeply appreciative of the efforts of Senators Van Hollen and Cardin, the Maryland congressional delegation members, and Congress for supporting and funding the Open Institute for Black Women Entrepreneur Excellence in this year's FY23 Omnibus Spending package," said Troy LeMaile-Stovall. "This funding supports local entrepreneurs in building critical skills, expanding their networks, and successfully growing their businessesand the Maryland economy." The first year of the Open Institute for Black Women Entrepreneur Excellence is underway, starting as a pilot program in collaboration with Howard County Government, with plans to expand across the state. The program leverages the unique expertise of Maryland's four HBCUs including Bowie State University, Coppin State University, Morgan State University, and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. These Maryland HBCUs work with the cohort to determine their needs at the intersection of research, tech transfer and education. Another major component of the program is helping cohort members collaborate as a community and build their local and statewide networks. "We know that women-owned start-ups, particularly those led by Black women, face an array of challenges, including the all-important access to capital," said Linda Singh, executive director for TEDCO's Women Entrepreneur Leadership Programs. "Our Open Institute for Black Women Entrepreneur Excellence will give local entrepreneurs the opportunity to collaborate, grow their networks, and navigate the local innovation ecosystem together. It's a winning combination for the leaders, their companies and the state of Maryland." About TEDCO TEDCO, the Maryland Technology Development Corporation, enhances economic empowerment growth through the fostering of an inclusive entrepreneurial innovation ecosystem. TEDCO identifies, invests in, and helps grow technology and life science-based companies in Maryland. Learn more at www.tedcomd.com. Media Contact Tammi Thomas, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer, TEDCO, [email protected] SOURCE TEDCO GURUGRAM, India, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Cold chain market is slightly consolidated with the presence of some big market leaders catering to main end users as Meat and Seafood, Fruits and Vegetables industry. The major growth supporting factors in Thailand cold chain market was the growing export of seafood, fruits and vegetables requiring cold storage and transportation facilities to remain fresh and healthy. Cold chain operators are catering to the energy-intensive requirements of products while minimizing the pressure on natural resources. Change in Lifestyle and Urbanization led to Rising Domestic Consumption of Processed food. Adoption of new and advanced technologies like WMS, Robotics, ASRS automation, Internet of Things. Growth of retail, frozen food, e-commerce Industry: Fast paced lifestyle and rise in per capita income in the Thailand has increased the demand for frozen ready-to-cook food. Thailand is the home of top e-commerce retails of Southeast Asian region like Shoppe, Lazada, JIB etc. The major retail players like Tesco Lotus, 7-Eleven, Tops Super Market, Big C have expanded their geographical presence in the country. Shortage of cold storage Space: In the present situation, there is a shortage of cold storage space as compared to the demand, hence creating a supply gap. This creates huge expansion opportunities for companies to increase their capacity and capitalise on the unmet demand. For example: Bangkok cold storage service and k line container service will establish new warehouses in Bang na district near Bangkok. High Operational Cost Associated with Logistics: Rising cost of electricity and fuel are driving the operational cost of cold storage and transportation services, further narrowing down the margins. Currently, the cost of per Kilowatt hour (Unit of ) Electricity is 4.72 Baht aa t record high level. Iot-Enabled Temperature Monitoring: Iot-Enabled Temperature Monitoring helps in monitoring goods round the clock, temperature logging has become way easier than manual methods, previously undertaken. This has resulted in increasing demand for data cold chain monitoring during the pandemic. Analysts at Ken Research in their latest publication- "Thailand Cold Chain Market Outlook to 2026F - Driven by Rising Import-Export Trade Volume and Domestic Consumption of Meat, Seafood and Popularity of Ready to Eat Frozen Processed Food" by Ken Research provides a comprehensive analysis of the potential of Cold Chain Industry in Thailand. With the rising demand for meat and other cold storage items among the population, along with Government initiatives to better roads, ports and transportation facilities, the Cold Chain market has shown significant growth during the current period. Key Segments Covered: Thailand Cold Chain Market By Revenue Split Cold Transport Cold Storage By End User Meat and Seafood Dairy Products Processed Frozen Foods Vaccination and Pharmaceuticals Fruits and Vegetables By Ownership 3PL Cold Chain Facilities Owned To learn more about this report Download a Free Sample Report Thailand Cold Transport Market By Truck Type Reefer Vans/Trucks (1 to 10 Tons) 20 foot reefers (10 - 20 Tons) 40 foot reefers and others (more than 20 tons) By Mode of Transportation Land Sea Air By Location Domestic International By Vicinity Inter-city Intra-city By End User Meat and Seafood Dairy Products Vaccination and Pharmaceuticals Processed Frozen Foods Fruits, Vegetables and others Thailand Cold Storage Market By Temperature range (by number of pallets) Frozen Chillers Ambient Visit this Link: Request for custom report By Automation (by pallets) Automated Pallets Non-automated Pallets By End User Meat and Seafood Dairy Products Vaccination and Pharmaceuticals Processed Frozen Foods Fruits, Vegetables and others By Region Bangkok (Including Samut Prakan and Samut Sakhon) (Including Samut Prakan and Samut Sakhon) Chonburi ChiangMai Others Key Target Audience: Cold Storage Companies Cold Chain Companies Cold Transport Companies Captive Cold Storage Companies Captive Cold Chain Companies Logistics Companies Non-captive Companies Cold Chain Associations Logistics Associations Private Equity Firms Venture Capitalists Time Period Captured in the Report: Historical Year: 2016-2021 2016-2021 Base Year: 2021 2021 Forecast Period: 2022P 2026F Companies Covered: JWD Infologistics Thai Yokorei co Ltd Sinchai Cold Storage Konoike Cool Logistics ( Thailand ) ) Bangkok Cold Storage Service ltd. CTD Cold Storage Thaimax Cold Storage SCG Nicherei Logistics Lucky Star Mon Logistics Mobile Logistics Piti Cold Storage Interexpress Kerry Cool Logistics Chomthana Key Topics Covered in the Report: Thailand Cold Chain Market Overview Thailand Market Overview Ecosystem of Thailand Cold Chain Market Business Cycle and Genesis of Thailand Cold Chain Market End User Analysis of Thailand Cold Chain Market Flowchart of Thailand Cold Chain Market Industry Analysis of Thailand Cold Chain Market SWOT Analysis of Thailand Cold Chain Market Major Challenges and Bottlenecks in Thailand Cold Chain Market Cold Chain Market Regulatory Framework in Thailand Cold Chain Market Cold Chain Market Competitive Landscape in in Thailand Cold Chain Market Cold Chain Market Market Share of Major Cold Storage Services in Thailand Cold Chain Market Cold Chain Market Detailed Analysis on Thailand Cold Chain Market (Market Size and Segmentation, 2016-2022; Future Market Size and Segmentation, 2022-2027F) Market Opportunity and Analyst Recommendations For more insights on the market intelligence, refer to below link: Thailand Cold Chain Market Related Reports By Ken Research: Indonesia Cold Chain Market Outlook to 2026F-- Driven by Rising Fisheries Industry & Convenience Food Consumption Owing to Growing Population and Infrastructural Development The Indonesia Cold Chain Market witnessed a growth during the period 2016-2021 and the market would continue to grow owing to increasing demand for temperature- controlled products in the country, entry of several new players. The nation has also started projects to bring down supply chain and logistics expenses, notably by creating a national logistics platform and a sea toll program. As the demand for transporting refrigerated products is increasing, so will the demand for value-added services such as repackaging and consolidation, which will increase the demand for 3PLs in the country. In addition, a 3PL can offer customized warehouses based on customer needs. Singapore Cold Chain Market Outlook to 2026F-- Driven By Rising Meat and Seafood Consumption Coupled With Demand for Temperature Sensitive Health Care Products According to Ken Research estimates, the Singapore Cold Chain Market which grew from approximately SGD ~10.0 Bn in 2016 to approximately SGD ~14.0 Bn in 2021 is forecasted to grow further into SGD ~19.0 Bn opportunity by 2026F, owing to the rising household expenditure on food products and investments in the health care sector. Brazil Cold Chain Market Outlook to 2027- Driven by increasing exports and imports and consolidation of the market by large players The evolution of Cold Chain is being driven by the appearance of new companies with a vision of opportunity in the business and aim to capture market share. The Cold Chain market in Brazil is emerging with key projects due to high exports of fruits and vegetables. Brazil Cold Chain Market is currently at the growth stage and the market is currently increasing at a double digit CAGR owing to rising growth in export of meat products and import of pharmaceuticals. Nigeria Cold Chain Market Outlook to 2026 Driven by high food produce wastage due to lack of cold chain infrastructure, solar-focused start-ups, and increased disposable income of consumers Nigeria Cold Chain Market is Expected to grow at a CAGR in double digits between 2021 and 2026F, one of the major determinants for the surging growth in coming years is the development of infrastructure, Improvement of pharmaceutical cold chain, Government Efforts and big Investments like, Triple I, an investment fund that invests in Sub-Saharan businesses to drive social impact decided to make an investment in the cold chain industry of Nigeria. The president of Organization for Technology Advancement of Cold Chain in West Africa, has recently urged all the state(s) and federal governments to invest in cold chain to reduce food wastage. Vietnam Cold Chain Market Outlook to 2026F- Driven by Rising Meat and Seafood Consumption Owing to Growing Millennial Population Albeit Infrastructure Challenges Vietnam cold chain market was evaluated to grow at a double-digit CAGR during 2016-2021.The market is currently in the growth stage owing to rising domestic consumption of meat and seafood along with increasing government initiatives and investments in the sector. Correspondingly, the Vietnam Cold Chain Industry Ecosystem is driven by large-scale 3PL companies with Real Estate companies investing in logistics services. The occupancy rate in the cold storage market has been increasing owing to undersupply of cold storage warehouses, especially in the major cities and ports where demand for cold storage is exceeding the supply. Other factors affecting prices also include the increasing demand for citrus, meat, and seafood. Follow Us: LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube Contact Us: Ken Research Private Limited Ankur Gupta, Director Strategy and Growth [email protected] +91-9015378249 Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/661352/Ken_Research_Logo.jpg SOURCE Ken Research Austrian NPO One Life launches the Vienna International Pride Awards It is the first global event and campaign to recognize LGBTIQ+ equality change makers #ThankYou campaign leading to the Awards kicks off on International Thank You Day VIENNA, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- It's time to say "Thank You": on International Thank You Day - January 11, 2023, Vienna-based NPO, One Life, announces the launch of the Vienna International Pride Awards, a new annual campaign and event to thank and recognize the vital world of LGBTIQ+ equality heroes around the world. In partnership with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the MTV Staying Alive Foundation and ILGA-World (the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association), this year's awardees will be announced during a live-streamed event in Vienna planned for early June 2023. Awardees will be chosen by a highly experienced and diverse committee of LGBTIQ+ rights experts, chaired by Jeffrey O'Malley, Senior Advisor, LGBTI Inclusion, Africa for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The public, around the world, will be encouraged to nominate equality heroes who are making a big difference to the advancement of LGBTIQ+ equality. Details of this process will be announced shortly. Separately, from 11 January and leading up to the Awards there will be a social media campaign where individuals are encouraged to post online and say "Thank You" to someone who has made a difference to their own LGBTIQ+ journey in life, under the hashtag #ThankYou. These highly personal and emotive posts will set the tone for the Awards. Equality for all people is a fundamental right, however, hundreds of millions of LGTBIQ+ people worldwide continue to face inequality, rejection, poverty, violence, torture and even death. The Vienna International Pride Awards shines a light on those who are doing incredible work around the world for the advancement of LGBTIQ+ equality, inclusion, and rights. In doing so, the aim is to motivate and inspire more people to take personal action and support progress towards universal LGBTIQ+ equality. The idea for the International Pride Awards came from Tony Gregory, an award-winning television director. He describes the guiding vision of the Vienna International Pride Awards as: "A world where the rainbow of differences and preferences of LGBTIQ+ people are not only tolerated, but deeply and universally accepted and cherished". Highlight: The event is planned for early June, 2023 The event will take place for the first time in Vienna in June, 2023 and will be broadcast internationally via livestream. There will be a range of Awards that recognize highly visible individuals and unsung heroes across a range of categories that include political champions, grass roots activists and storytellers. Award winners do not have to be LGBTIQ+, but must have shown exceptional vision, courage, selfless commitment, or determination to advance LGBTIQ+ equality. The project's mission is designed to motivate and inspire everyone to share, talk about, and participate in the pursuit of equality - whether through heroic efforts or everyday acts. In addition, any surplus funds from the project will be donated to ILGA World to support their global network of more than almost 2000 member organizations from 169 countries campaigning for LGBTIQ+ rights. John Amaechi, one of the most high profile gay athletes and an Ambassador for the Vienna International Pride Awards, commented, "I am delighted to support the Vienna International Pride Awards. It can be tempting to believe that equity for LGBTIQ+ people is a done deal. Still, across the world, from the United States to Ghana and beyond, we are seeing legal and societal advancements we might have thought permanent being challenged and overturned. It's never been more important to celebrate the global achievements of LGBTIQ+ people and inspire all of us to continue to be proactive in seeking positive change across the world." About the Vienna International Pride Awards The Vienna International Pride Awards is a project from One Life, a non-profit organization based in Vienna. One Life was founded in May 2020, with support from the City of Vienna, to develop and support projects and campaigns for global equality and anti-discrimination. The Vienna International Pride Awards is a new global campaign and event to recognize the exceptional work of people around the world who are making significant contributions to LGBTIQ+ equality. The first awards will be announced in Vienna in early June, 2023. The awardees will be selected by an experienced, independent committee of international sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression equality and human rights experts. The committee is chaired by Jeffrey O'Malley, senior advisor for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Initiators of the campaign are award-winning director and board member of One Life, Tony Gregory, Niclas Schmiedmaier, founder of One Life and former CFO of the Life Ball. Official campaign mission partners are the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the MTV Staying Alive Foundation and ILGA-World (the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association). More information about the Vienna International Pride Awards and press pictures can be found here. Press contact: Manisha Joshi, MA Business Director, Ketchum Guglgasse 7-9 A-1030 Vienna Tel.: +43664 80869- 118 [email protected] The Who is Who of the supporters The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to jointly promote the elimination of inequality in society. "The United Nations system has been calling for decriminalization and acceptance of LGBTIQ+ people for decades. The Vienna International Pride Awards were created to honour all those who have driven progress, but also those who are still fighting for their rights under difficult circumstances. We are proud to be a part of it," says Jeffrey O'Malley, Senior Advisor at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Jeffrey O'Malley also chairs the independent award committee, which is made up of an experienced and diverse group of international experts in the field of LGBTI+ human rights. As Senior Advisor to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Africa, he is one of the world's most experienced strategic advisors on LGBTIQ+, inclusion and HIV. MTV Staying Alive Foundation, whose mission is to change the lives of young people through storytelling. "The Vienna International Pride Awards are rich in stories, emotions and actions all qualities that we at MTV Staying Alive appreciate as we strive to help young people make informed decisions about their relationships, their rights and their lives. We look forward to joining the Vienna International Pride Awards in recognizing those who risk their lives to help others become who they want to be," said Georgia Arnold, Executive Director of the MTV Staying Alive Foundation. ILGA World, the global federation of more than 1,800 organizations from more than 160 countries and territories, has been advocating for the human rights of people with different sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions, and gender characteristics since 1978. "The Vienna International Pride Awards are a much-needed global project to put the spotlight on those who are selflessly committed to the equality of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people around the world. This work is more important than ever, at a time when there are many crises and the risk of paying a higher price for those who are already discriminated against in their daily lives," says Julia Ehrt, Executive Director of ILGA World. SOURCE Vienna International Pride Awards SHANGHAI, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On January 10, Neta Auto and CATL (Shanghai) Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. (CATL), signed a cooperation agreement on the CATL Integrated Intelligent Chassis (CIIC). Neta Auto will become the first brand in China EV startups to develop the CIIC. Photo of the strategic cooperation signing ceremony According to the agreement, Neta Auto and CATL (Shanghai) Intelligent Technology will carry out intensive cooperation in the CIIC. Through the CTC (Cell to Chassis) technology, key components in battery and other systems are integrated at the bottom of the vehicle, with no need of separate battery packs. This can reduce the user acquisition cost and energy consumption, increase the distance per charge and expand the passenger space. The strategic cooperation between Neta Auto and CATL dates back to 2021. This time, Neta Auto not only carries out all-round cooperation with CATL in technology R&D and supply chain guarantee, but also goes further to jointly explore the possibility of vehicles using the skateboard chassis. Peng Qingfeng, co-founder of Neta Auto, said: "The cooperation is a key deployment of the two sides in the age of electric intelligent vehicles, as well as an inevitable choice of common values. The cooperation will enable Neta Auto to develop more comfortable and powerful intelligent vehicles in a faster and more economical fashion. It can better implement the brand value of equality in technology worldwide." The CIIC will help Neta Auto products reach a new height in distance per charge, safety and intelligent driving, providing EVs with greater safety, comfort and maneuverability for customers. The cooperation between Neta Auto and CATL (Shanghai) Intelligent Technology in the CIIC is a "powerful combination". Their cooperation will further improve the ecosystem layout of the two companies across the industrial chain and jointly advance the development of electric and intelligent vehicles in China. SOURCE Neta Auto Research by global health and insurance provider SafetyWing reveals more Americans are considering a leap to a nomadic lifestyle than ever before SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The pandemic introduced much of the population to remote working, and economic instability in the U.S. is causing workers to demand it. A survey commissioned by SafetyWing , providers of global health and insurance benefits designed for remote and nomadic workforces, revealed emerging trends and shifting attitudes towards the future of remote work among Americans. The Great Reevaluation: Almost three-quarters of digital nomad respondents (74.5%) stated that their decision to go remote was influenced directly by the pandemic. More recently, increases in the cost of living have made 78.3% of Americans either consider or commit to working remotely. 90% and 86.8% expressed interest in becoming a remote worker and a digital nomad respectively The Rise of the Remote Family: The digital nomad lifestyle is being adopted by professionals of all ages and life stages. Over half of the digital nomads surveyed (58.8%) are either married or in a partnership and nearly half (48.3%) have children under the age of 18. 70.4% have worked and traveled with their children and plan on doing this more in the future The Happiness ROI: An overwhelming 93% and 90% of remote worker respondents reported increased levels of satisfaction and productivity respectfully. 61% reported decreased levels of stress Nearly half of respondents (44%) cited better quality of mental health Almost a third of respondents (30%) claimed that being in a better financial situation To better support the growing number of remote workers, SafetyWing is launching a platform called Borderless to provide the most up-to-date information for the global workforce, including advice on making the shift to remote work, setting up nomadic visas and taxes, border and travel restrictions, and covid and vaccination status per country. Every week, a new destination will be launched on the site. Sondre Rasch, co-founder and CEO of SafetyWing, commented: "Remote work is the biggest paradigm shift of our generation. The pandemic accelerated the trend, and now the cost of living crisis is driving even more people to explore the benefits of more flexibility and autonomy. "Employers must adapt and offer better, more accessible remote working options for their teams, or they will fall behind. If people of working age are given all the tools and infrastructure they need to make the switch to remote or nomadic work, they will feel happier, financially freer, and able to do the best job they can." SafetyWing's products are designed to remove geographical borders as a barrier to equal opportunities and provide a global social safety net for remote workers. Nomad Insurance was the first travel and medical insurance specifically tailored to the needs of the nomad. Remote Health is a fully-fledged health insurance for remote teams, and SafetyWing is currently developing Remote Health for nomads, Remote Retirement, Remote Doctor and Remote Therapy. To learn more about remote working, hear first-hand accounts, and get advice and tips on how you too can adopt a more nomadic work-life, visit https://borderless.safetywing.com . Notes to editors About SafetyWing Launched in 2018, SafetyWing's vision is to build a global social safety net, making equal opportunities and freedom for everyone attainable worldwide. Their first product, Nomad Insurance, is a global travel medical insurance which quickly experienced massive growth as it was the first insurance product specifically tailored to digital nomads working outside of their home country. In 2020 SafetyWing launched Remote Health, a health insurance to cover employees and contractors under one plan, making it the world's first truly global health insurance solution for remote teams. It has since grown on an explosive path, growing almost 10x since one year ago. Founded in 2018 by CTO Sarah Sandnes, COO Hans Nyvold Kjellby, and CEO Sondre Rasch, SafetyWing is headquartered in San Francisco, California, but has a 100-strong team of fully remote workers based all over the world. Markets UK, USA, Portugal, Spain, Germany, Netherlands, Mexico, Brazil Fieldwork Fieldwork was conducted from 2022-06-21 to 2022-07-26 via an online survey only. The survey was conceptualised and sent out via our partner market research agency Appinio. Appinio delivered the survey to research panellists from each of the above-mentioned countries to achieve a total of 550 responses per market divided across the below segments. Segments Respondents were categorised into three separate segments of workers for the purpose of this study according to their current working status, working activities and working environment - Office workers, Remote workers & Digital Nomads. A target of 250 office workers, 250 remote workers and 50 digital nomads was achieved for each market. Website safetywing.com SOURCE SafetyWing GURUGRAM, India, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Car Rentals in Netherlands is one of the growing markets in the European region with multiple players offering customer oriented mobility services along with short term leasing companies. Multiple international players are expected to enter and capture the market with increase in consumer demand in near future. The Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, belonging to the central region is expected to have a large number of international tourists for business and leisure purposes in near future. It is expected that the share of EVs will rise to 25.0% as Netherlands is planning to shift towards electric mobility, being taxed less as compared to other cars. is planning to shift towards electric mobility, being taxed less as compared to other cars. With rising internet penetration and ownership of smartphones, it is expected that customers will make bookings online as it is more convenient for bookings with additional discounts and saving time. The Rising demand for Rental Cars: It is expected that Car Rentals in the Netherlands will go beyond in near future owing to trends like demand from the working population for business and leisure, replacing ownership with rental and car sharing due to parking permits, and space availability issues in the country. With the surge in the working-class population to travel by cab aggregators avoiding public transportation. Also, with the rising demand for rental cars and short-term car leasing for personal choice. Rising Internet Penetration and Ownership of Smartphones: Un-Organized channel is likely to fall as business corporates, and international tourists prefer security for renting cars. Less percentage of the Dutch population is to prefer unorganized as rental prices are cheaper. As with rising internet penetration and ownership of smartphones, it is expected that customers will make bookings online as it is more convenient for bookings with additional discounts and saving time. Taxis & rental cars to be zero-emission by 2025: The Netherlands was chosen as the next logical destination in the country, as the other two big economies in Europe, France, and Spain, have several regulations and strong taxi unions. In the coming years, the Netherlands is to restrict all newly registered taxis and rental cars in the big cities to zero-emission vehicles after 2025. Other parts of the country are allowed until 2030. Analysts at Ken Research in their latest publication "Netherlands Car Rental Market Outlook to 2027F - Driven by Increasing Demand from the Working-age Population and Expansion of the Tourism and Travel Industry" observed the potential of the Car Rental Market in the Netherlands. The expansion of the tourism industry with rising foreign tourists in the Netherlands and On- Demand for transportation, the rising need for transportation options in the Netherlands, and increasing demand from customers along with government incentives on electric vehicles are expected to contribute to the market growth over the forecast period. The Netherlands Car Rental Market is expected to grow at 13.7% CAGR over the forecasted period 2022P-2027F owing to the increasing demand from the working-age population and expansion of the tourism and travel Industry. Key Segments Covered:- Netherlands Car Rental Market By Market Structure Organized market Unorganized market By Type of Vehicles Small Cars/ Hatchbacks Sedans SUVs Others By ICE/EV ICE (Internal Combustion Engine Electric Vehicles By Region Central South North To learn more about this report Download a Free Sample Report By Mode of Booking Online Offline By Client Business Leisure By Pick-up Off-Airport On-Airport Key Target Audience:- Car Rental Companies aiming to establish in the Netherlands Netherlands automotive industries automotive industries Government Bodies & Regulating Authorities Venture Capitalist targeting the car rental market Automotive industry association Time Period Captured in the Report:- Historical Year: 2017-2022P 2017-2022P Base Year: 2022P 2022P Forecast Period: 2022P 2027F Visit this Link :- Request for custom report Companies Covered:- Car Rental Company Avis Budget Group Hertz Euro Mobil Rent a Car Europcar SIXT Enterprise Key Topics Covered in the Report:- Overview of Automotive Industry in the Netherlands Overview and Genesis of Car Rental Market in Netherlands Ecosystem of Netherlands Car Rental Market Business Cycle and Value Chain Analysis of Car Rental Market in Netherlands Netherlands Car Rental Market Sizing, 2017- 2022P Car Rental Market Sizing, 2017- 2022P Market Segmentations of Car Rental Market in Netherlands (by Market Structure, by Type of Vehicle, by ICE/ EV, by Mode of Booking, by Pick-up, by Client, by Region), 2022P (by Market Structure, by Type of Vehicle, by ICE/ EV, by Mode of Booking, by Pick-up, by Client, by Region), 2022P Snapshots on Car Sharing, Cab Aggregators, Car Pooling/ Ride, Self- Driven Cars and Bike Aggregators SWOT Analysis of Netherlands Car Rental Market Growth Drivers of Netherlands Car Rental Market Government Regulations And Incentives of Netherlands Car Rental Market Trends and Developments of Netherlands Car Rental Market Challenges of Netherlands Car Rental Market Competitive Analysis of Car Rental Market in Netherlands End User Analysis of Car Rental Market in Netherlands Future Outlook and Projections of Car Rental Market in Netherlands , 2022P-2027F , 2022P-2027F Market Opportunities and Analyst Recommendations For more insights on the market intelligence, refer to the link below:- Netherlands Car Rental Market Related Reports By Ken Research:- Bahrain Car Rental Market Outlook to 2027F-- Driven by Type of Market Structure (Organized and Unorganized), by Type of Car (Sedan, Hatchback, SUV, Van, Crossover, Others), By Vehicle Type (Economy cars, Luxury cars) According to Ken Research estimates, the Bahrain car rental market is expected to witness healthy growth during the forecast period of 2017P-2027F This growth can be attributed to the increasing demand for car rental services from tourists, business travelers, and locals. Additionally, the increasing number of international flights to Bahrain and the growing disposable income of the population are expected to further drive the growth of the market. Japan Car Rental Market Outlook to 2027F-- By Market Structure (Organized and Unorganized), By Type of Vehicle (Small Cars/ Hatchbacks, Sedans, SUVs and Others) and By Booking Mode (Online and Offline) According to Ken Research estimates, the Japan Car Rental Market is forecasted to grow at a robust CAGR in the period of 2022P-2027F, owing to the increased internet and smartphone penetration, rising population and increasing demand from tourists for business and leisure purposes hiring rental cars. The Japan Car Rental market is projected to show a significant growth of CAGR ~% in the forecasted period of 2022P-2027F, with increase in travel expenditure, rising demand for rental cars, increased internet and smartphone penetration, rising population and increasing demand from tourists for business and leisure purposes hiring rental cars. Egypt Car Rental Market Outlook to 2027F -- Driven by Increasing Internet penetration, On-Demand Services, boost in tourism and Government Initiatives in infrastructure The Egypt Car Rental Market is projected to show a significant growth, to contribute ~ Bn by 2027F with increase in tourism, on-demand services and government initiatives. The growth rate of total fleet size is anticipated to increase over the period with surge in working class population along with government incentives and policies. KSA Car Rental and Leasing Market Outlook to 2027F -- Driven by Infrastructure Development, Growing Tourism and Diversification of Economy The KSA Car Rental and Leasing Market witnessed significant growth during the period 2017-2022, owing to growing tourism, vision 2030 and introduction of EVs. With the booming logistics sector and Last Mile Delivery, the last major milestone in the supply chain process, where the item is sent out from a local warehouse or fulfillment center for its final delivery to the customer, we expect a rise in demand for pick-up truck rentals. Indonesia Car Rental Market Outlook to 2027F -- Segmented by Market Structure (Organized Market and Unorganized Market), By Type of Vehicles (Small Cars/Hatchbacks, Sedans, SUV and Others), By Mode of Booking (Online and Offline) Indonesia's car rental market is projected to witness a CAGR of ~% between 2022 to 2027F. Travel & Tourism Industry in Indonesia is a major contributor to the GDP and employment of that country. It has become a key focus area for the Indonesian Government's growth strategy. The number of international travellers arriving in Indonesia has been on a constant rise over the years. This is expected to support the growth of the car rental market as travellers prefer booking cars in advance for their trips for the sake of convenience. Follow Us LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube Contact Us:- Ken Research Private Limited Ankur Gupta, Director Strategy and Growth [email protected] +91-9015378249 Logo Link: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1954972/Ken_Research_Logo.jpg SOURCE Ken Research New Research from BCG and Microsoft Finds Significant and Widening Sustainability Skills Gap as Increasing Number of Companies Make Commitments to Reduce Emissions Companies Could Face Upskilling Up to 150 Million People in Under Ten Years to Turn Sustainability Ambitions into Action Roughly 2/3 of Sustainability Leaders Are Hired from Within; More Resources Needed to Support Skill-Building Efforts for Initial Talent and to Scale Efforts Across the Organization BOSTON, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- From 2007 through 2022, the number of companies setting science-based targets has grown by a factor of 36to more than 4,200 companies. According to separate BCG research, only 17% of those that have set targets are on track to meet them. Meeting these goals will require organizations to embed sustainability across their business; however, according to new research by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Microsoft released today, there is a systemic sustainability skills gap that must first be closed. Put Talent at the Top of the Sustainability Agenda The report, titled Put Talent at the Top of the Sustainability Agenda, examines some of the talent-related obstacles that could slow the process of making sustainability a reality, and details how sustainability frontrunners are innovating to meet those challenges during different stages of an organization's sustainability transformation journey: mobilize, embed, and accelerate. The research is based on the experiences of 15 companies, including Microsoft and BCG, in seven industries and three geographic areas (North America, Europe, and Asia). In addition, it highlights findings from a survey of almost 250 sustainability professionals at those companies and others, including more than 50 chief sustainability officers and sustainability leaders. Microsoft recently released its own report on closing the sustainability skills gap based on this research it conducted with BCG. "Value creation for shareholders will increasingly be linked to effective leadership in sustainability, and employees are essential to that progress," said Rich Lesser, global chair of BCG and a coauthor of the report. "We're optimistic that an informed, inclusive approach to upskilling can provide us with the human capital we need. But given the urgency, this work must start nowat every company, across most business functions. We will need all companies to work together so that our global economy can quickly transition to a sustainable future for our planet." Developing Internal Talent Is Key to Mobilizing a Sustainability Journey According to the report, core teams helping companies to embark on sustainability transformations need individuals with a mix of four broad skill sets: sustainability, functional, transformational, and data and digital. Eighty-four percent of sustainability professionals surveyed listed priority skills for being successful in their role in at least two of those four capability areas. As there is limited talent with that broad skill profile, frontrunner companies are developing the talent they need by selecting employees with the necessary functional, transformational, and/or data and digital expertise, and then helping them rapidly gain the specific expertise to put their talents to work for sustainability. Companies are relying heavily on their internal talent. More than half (68%) of sustainability leaders surveyed are "homegrown" and hired from within the company, while just 32% are brought in from the outside. More than half of people on sustainability teams (60%) say they were not hired for their sustainability expertise; with 32% considering themselves an expert in another field and 28% reporting they are not an expert in any field. A Steep Learning Curve to Upskill As talent step into their new sustainability-focused roles, they face a steep learning curve. Sustainability is a rapidly evolving domain, so the nascency of skills is by far the biggest upskilling challenge that sustainability professionals face (76% of those surveyed agreed), followed by not having enough time (38%), and facing a lack of access to fit-for-purpose training solutions that effectively bring sustainability to life in a business context (31%). The leading methods of upskilling found most useful by survey respondents were work experience (93% agreed), published material (63%), and attendance at conferences and presentations (57%) (see the exhibit). Although companies can rely to a degree on external learning providers to upskill their teams, it's still difficult to find formalized courses and certification programs focused on the sustainability skills required for business. Embedding Sustainability Across the Organization To achieve corporatewide sustainability goals, skilling must go well beyond the core team that starts and then shepherds the journey. Each member of the organization must gain general sustainability fluency and merge their existing functional skills with the requisite sustainability skills for their role, in order to perform their jobs in new, sustainable ways. Companies in this "embedding" phase are guided by that core team of sustainability professionals established in the mobilize stage but must scale up their enablement efforts as they begin to transform how the business operates. They can rely on classic enablement approaches, as demonstrated by sustainability pioneers, such as: Cascading sustainability fluency throughout the organization by offering access to classroom instruction and online training opportunities that build a common understanding at scale, and provide a springboard for more specific learning thereafter Establishing a center of excellence model, where new sustainable business processesand the skills that go with themcan be incubated until they are handed off to and deployed in functions or business units. Accelerate Change by Supporting, Growing, and Retaining Talent In the final phase of an organization's sustainability transformation, talent with sustainability capabilities is in place in every part of the organization, and sustainability is becoming part of business as usual. But the work of actually driving to sustainable outcomes is far from over, and the need for skilled talent remains as critical as ever. According to the research, as companies face this "new normal" phase, several talent priorities emerge, including: Planning proactively for career paths and creating future roles and mobility opportunities for core sustainability talent, whose value in the market for talent will increase Continuing to invest in ongoing education and upskilling opportunities to ensure talenton the core team and across the organizationkeeps up with new sustainability technologies and regulations Focusing on evolving corporate culture to make sustainability an intrinsic part of everyday work, and inclusively migrating the workforce to be part of new sustainable businesses, business processes, and ways of working. Companies must think today about how they will support, enable, and retain their future sustainability-capable workforce, not only to mitigate the risk of losing them to competitors but ultimately to turn sustainability into lasting competitive advantage with their help. "With crucial sustainability targets set for as soon as 2030, organizations are faced with a herculean undertaking: leading the charge on upskilling as many as 150 million people, in various facets of sustainability, in less than ten years," said Elizabeth Lyle, a managing director and partner at BCG and a coauthor of the report. "Our collaboration with Microsoft shines a spotlight on the practical workforce challenges that companies must navigate on their sustainability journeys. Our goal is to illuminate practices from pioneering companies that can make the path ahead easier for the many companies who will soon be seeking to build their sustainability-capable talent." Download the publication here: https://www.bcg.com/publications/2023/prioritize-talent-within-sustainability-agenda Media Contact: Eric Gregoire +1 617 850 3783 [email protected] About Boston Consulting Group Boston Consulting Group partners with leaders in business and society to tackle their most important challenges and capture their greatest opportunities. BCG was the pioneer in business strategy when it was founded in 1963. Today, we work closely with clients to embrace a transformational approach aimed at benefiting all stakeholdersempowering organizations to grow, build sustainable competitive advantage, and drive positive societal impact. Our diverse, global teams bring deep industry and functional expertise and a range of perspectives that question the status quo and spark change. BCG delivers solutions through leading-edge management consulting, technology and design, and corporate and digital ventures. We work in a uniquely collaborative model across the firm and throughout all levels of the client organization, fueled by the goal of helping our clients thrive and enabling them to make the world a better place. SOURCE Boston Consulting Group (BCG) TOKYO, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The University of Electro-Communications publishes the January 2023 issue of the UEC Research and Innovation newsletter. http://www.ru.uec.ac.jp/randi/ The January 2023 issue of UEC Research and Innovation includes video profiles of UEC faculty Dairoku Muramatsu (Research) and Jun Shintake (Innovation); the Research Highlights section covers research by Hiroshi Kikuchi (innovation) on meteorology and 'Precipitation on the radar'. January 2023 issue of UEC Research and Innovation http://www.ru.uec.ac.jp/randi/ Video Profiles (Research) Bioelectromagnetics: interaction between human body and electromagnetic waves Associate Professor at the Department of Mechanical and Intelligent Systems Engineering http://www.ru.uec.ac.jp/randi/video/research/202301.html Dairoku Muramatsu's research integrates electronics and bionics in an area known as 'bioelectromagnetics'. "The human body is composed of many biological tissues, such as skin, muscle, fat, bone, and different types of organs," explains Muramatsu. "These tissues and organs are electrically unique materials that interact with electromagnetic waves in a complex manner. The goal of my research is to clarify this complex interaction and utilize it for communication with digital gadgets, medical and healthcare devices, human interfaces, and even for food industry." Soft robotic devices: artificial muscles and soft materials for robotic applications (innovation) Jun Shintake, Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical and Intelligent Systems Engineering http://www.ru.uec.ac.jp/randi/video/innovation/202301.html Jun Shintake is developing soft actuators, sensors, and other robotic elements. As a base technology, he is using an artificial muscle called dielectric elastomer actuators that consist of a soft membrane with compliant electrodes on both sides. Applying voltages to the electrodes generates an expansion of the membrane as actuation. The principle of this artificial muscle forms the basis for creating robots and other devices. Research Highlights (Innovation) Meteorology: Precipitation on the radar http://www.ru.uec.ac.jp/randi/research-highlights/research/202210.html Hiroshi Kikuchi from the University of Electro-Communications, Tokyo, and colleagues have now analysed the performance of a next-generation PAWR based in Japan: the X-Band Dual Polarized PAWR (DP-DAWR), installed in 2017 at Saitama University. Specifically, they assessed the instrument's accuracy of precipitation measurements by comparing with data obtained from a disdrometer (a device used for measuring raindrop sizes and velocities). Hiroshi Kikuchi , Taku Suezawa, Tomoo Ushio, Nobuhiro Takahashi ,Hiroshi Hanado, Katsuhiro Nakagawa, Masahiko Osada, Tsuyoshi Maesaka, Koyuru Iwanami, Kazuhiro Yoshimi, Fumihiko Mizutani, Masakazu Wada and Yasuhide Hobara, Initial Observations for Precipitation Cores With X-Band Dual Polarized Phased Array Weather Radar, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing 58, 3657-3666 (2020). URL: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8949744 DOI: 10.1109/TGRS.2019.2959628 Related publication Hiroshi Kikuchi, Yasuhide Hobara, Tomoo Ushio, Compressive Sensing to Reduce the Number of Elements in a Linear Antenna Array With a Phased Array Weather Radar, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing 60, (2022). DOI : 10.1109/TGRS.2022.3152998 News and Events UEC signs a general agreement with Indian Institute of Technology, Varanasi. http://www.ru.uec.ac.jp/randi/news/ On October 4 2022, the University of Electro-Communications (UEC) signed a general agreement with Indian Institute of Technology, Varanasi (IIT-BHU) to promote further international collaboration. Further information: The University of Electro-Communications 1-5-1 Chofugaoka, Chofu, Tokyo 182-8585 Japan Telephone: +81(0) -42-443-5000 [email protected] About the University of Electro-Communications http://www.uec.ac.jp/ The University of Electro-Communications (UEC) in Tokyo is a small, luminous university at the forefront of pure and applied sciences, engineering, and technology research. Its roots go back to the Technical Institute for Wireless Commutations, which was established in 1918 by the Wireless Association to train so-called wireless engineers in maritime communications in response to the Titanic disaster in 1912. In 1949, the UEC was established as a national university by the Japanese Ministry of Education and moved in 1957 from Meguro to its current Chofu campus Tokyo. With approximately 4,000 students and 350 faculty members, UEC is regarded as a small university, but with expertise in wireless communications, laser science, robotics, informatics, and material science, to name just a few areas of research. SOURCE The University of Electrocommunications Financing led by Petrichor strengthens VERO Biotech's position as a leader in neonatal intensive care ATLANTA, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- VERO Biotech Inc., a commercial-stage healthcare business dedicated to neonatal intensive care and the acute care hospital community, today announced the successful close of a $30 million financing with Petrichor, a leading healthcare-dedicated growth capital provider. The proceeds will support further development and commercialization of VERO Biotech's GENOSYL Delivery System (DS), a tankless inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) delivery system. The third generation of the GENOSYL DS was recently approved by the FDA and represents a breakthrough in iNO technology benefitting both providers and patients. Patrick Lally, Partner of Petrichor, has joined the VERO Biotech Board of Directors. Details of the financing were not disclosed. "This funding represents our commitment to the continuous development of the GENOSYL Delivery System, as well as to neonatal intensive care and the acute care hospital community in providing solutions to the challenges they face," said Brent V. Furse, CEO and President, VERO Biotech. "We are grateful for the partnership with Petrichor, the confidence they have placed in VERO Biotech, and their recognition of our commercial success to date and strategies for further expansion." VERO Biotech Raises $30M to Accelerate Commercialization of Its Innovative Tankless Inhaled Nitric Oxide Delivery System Tweet this "VERO Biotech has rapidly established itself as a leader in neonatal intensive care through the commercial success of GENOSYL DS, with its tankless system representing the first innovation in the delivery of inhaled nitric oxide approved by the FDA in 20 years," commented Mr. Lally. "We have been impressed with VERO Biotech's commercial growth in addition to its commitment to continued innovation, evidenced by the recent FDA approval for its third-generation product design. The VERO Biotech team is dedicated to addressing the unmet needs of respiratory disease specialists who treat persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn, a serious condition in term or near-term newborns that affects 100,000 neonates each year. We look forward to supporting the VERO Biotech team in their pursuit of better neonatal patient care." About GENOSYL Indication GENOSYL (nitric oxide) gas, for inhalation, is indicated to improve oxygenation and reduce the need for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in term and near-term (>34 weeks gestation) neonates with hypoxic respiratory failure associated with clinical or echocardiographic evidence of pulmonary hypertension in conjunction with ventilatory support and other appropriate agents. Important Safety Information GENOSYL is contraindicated in the treatment of neonates dependent on right-to-left shunting of blood. in the treatment of neonates dependent on right-to-left shunting of blood. Abrupt discontinuation of GENOSYL (nitric oxide) gas, for inhalation may lead to worsening oxygenation and increasing pulmonary artery pressure. Methemoglobin levels in the blood increase with the dose of nitric oxide; following discontinuation or reduction of nitric oxide, methemoglobin levels return to baseline over a period of hours. Methemoglobin, NO2, and PaO2 should be monitored during nitric oxide administration. In patients with pre-existing left ventricular dysfunction, GENOSYL may increase pulmonary capillary wedge pressure leading to pulmonary edema. The most common adverse reaction is hypotension. Nitric oxide donor compounds may have an additive effect with GENOSYL on the risk of developing methemoglobinemia. GENOSYL must be administered using a calibrated GENOSYL Delivery System. Only validated ventilator systems or nasal cannulas should be used in conjunction with GENOSYL. Please visit www.vero-biotech.com for the full Prescribing Information for GENOSYL. About GENOSYL DS GENOSYL DS is a tankless and portable system engineered with redundant backup features, which delivers a constant concentration of inhaled nitric oxide gas to patients with an easy-to-use interface and portability features. This proprietary delivery system eliminates the need for large nitric oxide tanks and the associated logistical burden. About VERO Biotech VERO Biotech Inc. is a privately held company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia focused on saving lives, alleviating suffering, and improving health economics in the neonatal intensive care and the acute care hospital communities. About Petrichor Petrichor partners with world-class healthcare managers and businesses to provide customized investment structures and support. The Petrichor team has completed over 125 investments representing more than $6 billion in invested capital and has held over 50 board seats. Petrichor maintains a deep in-house understanding of healthcare products and services, including scientific, technical, and commercial expertise. This healthcare expertise, together with a breadth of experience investing across sectors, geographies, and capital structures, provides a unique combination to help build successful companies. For more information on Petrichor, please see www.petrichorcap.com or contact the firm at [email protected]. Forward Looking Statements This press release and any statements of representatives of VERO Biotech Inc. related thereto that are not historical in nature contain, or may contain, among other things, certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements may include, without limitation, statements with respect to VERO Biotech's plans, objectives, projections, expectations and intentions and other statements identified by words such as "projects," "may," "will," "could," "would," "should," "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "estimates," "seeks," "intends," "plans," "potential" or similar expressions, including statements with respect to the potential effects of its products and plans to assess and undertake next steps for VERO Biotech Inc. These statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of VERO Biotech's management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ significantly from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties that are subject to change based on various risk factors (many of which are beyond the control of VERO Biotech). For information, please visit www.vero-biotech.com or contact Ray Russo at [email protected] or (908) 313-7172. Contact for VERO Biotech Ray Russo Head of Commercial Development Phone: +1 917-313-7172 Email: [email protected] Contact for Petrichor David Katona Head of Business Development and IR Phone: +1 646-443-6606 Email: [email protected] SOURCE VERO Biotech Inc. Rise in prevalence of orthopedic issues and chronic diseases in animals, high potential in untapped and emerging markets due to the availability of improved animal healthcare infrastructure, and high focus on innovation in animal healthcare drive the global veterinary anesthesia market. PORTLAND, Ore., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "Veterinary Anesthesia Market by Product (Anesthesia Machines, Vaporizers, Others), by Animals (Small animals, Large animals), by End User (Veterinary Hospitals and Clinics, Others): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2031." According to the report, the global veterinary anesthesia industry generated $145.6 million in 2021, and is estimated to reach $228.8 million by 2031, witnessing a CAGR of 4.6% from 2022 to 2031. The report offers a detailed analysis of changing market trends, top segments, key investment pockets, value chain, regional landscape, and competitive scenario. Download Free Sample Report: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/14699 Drivers, Restraints, and Opportunities Rise in prevalence of orthopedic issues and chronic diseases in animals, an increase in the number of cruciate ligament rupture in dogs worldwide, high potential in untapped and emerging markets due to the availability of improved animal healthcare infrastructure, increase in unmet healthcare needs, a surge in the demand for veterinary anesthesia machines, and high focus on innovation in animal healthcare drive the growth of the global veterinary anesthesia market. However, high cost of veterinary anesthesia equipment and lack of veterinary infrastructure facilities in underdeveloped nations hamper the global market growth. On the other hand, rise in animal welfare organizations and surge in adoption of companion animals are likely to present new growth opportunities for the global market in the coming years. Covid-19 Scenario The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on the growth of the veterinary anesthesia market, owing to a decrease in demand for anesthesia machines during the lockdown period. Few people visited veterinary clinics and hospitals due to the risk of catching the Covid-19 infection. However, the market has returned to its normalcy post the pandemic. The anesthesia machines segment to maintain its dominance during the forecast period Based on product, the anesthesia machines segment held the largest market share of nearly three-fifths of global veterinary anesthesia market in 2021, and is expected to maintain its dominance during the forecast period. Moreover, the same segment is projected to witness the largest CAGR of 4.9% from 2022 to 2031. The growth of the segment is attributed to a rise in the number of surgeries in animals which require anesthesia machines and equipment. The report also studies the vaporizers and others segments. The small animals segment to maintain its dominance during the forecast period Based on animals, the small animals segment held the largest market share of nearly three-fourths of global veterinary anesthesia market in 2021, and is expected to maintain its dominance during the forecast period. Moreover, the same segment is projected to witness the largest CAGR of 4.8% from 2022 to 2031, owing to the rise in adoption of small animals and an increase in the number of pet insurance purchase. The report also provides an analysis of the large animals segment. Purchase Inquiry: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/14699 The veterinary hospitals and clinics segment to maintain a progressive growth during the forecast period Based on end user, the veterinary hospitals and clinics segment was the largest market in 2021, contributing to nearly three-fourths of the global veterinary anesthesia market, and is expected to maintain its leadership status during the forecast period. Moreover, the same segment is projected to witness the fastest CAGR of 4.8% from 2022 to 2031, owing to the rapid expansion of emergency and critical care units in veterinary hospitals, availability of affordable veterinary anesthesia in hospitals and clinics, and a rise in the number of veterinary clinics. Asia-Pacific to grow at the fastest CAGR during the forecast period Based on region, North America was the largest market in 2021, capturing around half of the global veterinary anesthesia market and is likely to achieve the largest revenue during the forecast period. The is due to a rise in the pet population and well-established animal healthcare infrastructure in the region. However, the Asia-Pacific market is expected to manifest the fastest CAGR of 5.4% during the forecast period, owing to factors such as rise in investments in manufacturing of high-quality veterinary anesthesia machines and increase in pet insurance policies in the region. The other regions discussed in the report include Europe and LAMEA. Leading Market Players JD Medical Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics Co., Ltd. Supera Anesthesia Innovations Kent Scientific Corporation ICU Medical, Inc. Patterson Scientific Everest-Tecnovet S.L. Dispomed Ltd. Midmark Corporation Vetland Medical Sales & Services The report analyzes these key players of the global veterinary anesthesia market. These players have adopted various strategies such as expansion, new product launches, partnerships, and others to increase their market penetration and strengthen their position in the industry. The report is helpful in determining the business performance, operating segments, product portfolio, and developments by every market player. Trending Reports in Healthcare Industry (Book Now with 10% Discount): Hair Transplant Market by Procedure (Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT), Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE), Combination of FUT and FUE, Others), by Gender (Female, Male), by Service Provider (Hospitals, Dermatology Clinics): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2031 Laser Hair Removal Market by Type (Alexandrite laser hair removal, Diode laser hair removal, Others), by Gender (Male, Female), by Age group (13 to 29, 30 to 54, 55 to 69), by End User (Hospitals, Clinic, Others): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2031 Skin Cancer Treatment Market by Type (Melanoma, Non-Melanoma), by Therapy (Immunotherapy, Targeted Therapy, Chemotherapy), by Distribution Channel (Hospitals Pharmacies, Drug Stores and Retail Pharmacies, Online Providers): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2031 Medical Cannabis Market by Product Type (Buds/Marijuana Flower and Cannabis Extracts), Application (Chronic Pain, Mental Disorders, Cancer, and Others), and End User (Pharmaceutical and Research & Development Centers): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2030 Scar Treatment Market by Scar Type (Atrophic Scar, Hypertrophic and Keloid Scar, Contractures, Stretch Marks), by Product (Topical, Laser based treatment, Others), by End User (Hospitals, Clinics, Home Care): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2031 About Us Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions." AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain. We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Allied Market Research CEO Pawan Kumar is instrumental in inspiring and encouraging everyone associated with the company to maintain high quality of data and help clients in every way possible to achieve success. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry. Contact: David Correa 5933 NE Win Sivers Drive #205, Portland, OR 97220 United States USA/Canada (Toll Free): 1-800-792-5285, 1-503-894-6022 UK: +44-845-528-1300 Hong Kong: +852-301-84916 India (Pune): +91-20-66346060 Fax: +1(855)550-5975 [email protected] Web: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/reports-store/life-sciences Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/636519/Allied_Market_Research_Logo.jpg SOURCE Allied Market Research Former COO to Lead Travel Company Through its Next Phase of Growth and Innovation SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Whimstay , Inc. is pleased to announce that David Weiss has been appointed Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors, effective immediately. Weiss, who previously served as Chief Operating Officer, will take over for Ben Jamshahi, the company's founder, and CEO since its inception. Jamshahi will remain Chairman of the Board. David Weiss CEO of Whimstay "David has proven in his short time with the company that he is the ideal person to craft the vision and execute the path forward for Whimstay," said Jamshahi. "David has brought deep vacation rental marketplace, software, property manager and owner experience, as well as partnerships, capital raising, and M&A expertise to Whimstay. Beyond that, David is a team-builder and a tough-minded competitor who has demonstrated over his career strong leadership traits, good judgment, and resilience." Said Weiss, "Today's announcement represents the greatest honor of my career. Ben has built a great business with an amazing team, and I look forward to partnering with him on the journey forward. The opportunity ahead for Whimstay is vast, but to seize it, we must focus, and get bigger, stronger, faster, and smarter, so that guests can Seize the Stay!" Over the past ten years, Weiss has led teams that built and operated at Vrbo's end-to-end payments experience, serving tens of millions of travelers globally, and over 1 million property owners in North America and Europe. He has also launched fraud prevention products, chargeback management, compliance, and licensing services, and has established integrations with most major vacation rental software companies, serving thousands of vacation rental property managers worldwide. Prior to that, Weiss spent 20 years in investment banking, advising CEOs, COOs, CFOs, boards of directors, and private equity and venture capital firms, on capital raising and M&A across multiple industries, including the travel tech and prop tech sectors. In his new role as CEO, Weiss is looking forward to expanding Whimstay's market offering beyond last-minute bookings, to include shoulder seasons, off-seasons, pre- and post-holiday periods, and weekdays leading into weekend getaway destinations. The company will also be making several announcements in the coming weeks regarding partnerships and key new hires. "Our core mission is to offer the best travel deals to guests, and for property managers and owners, attract incremental guests, and generate incremental bookings throughout the year," said Weiss. "We're excited about our plans to launch new products and features that enhance the guest and owner experience, with a focus on trust, affordability, flexibility, transparency, and safety." Keep an eye out for David on the Alex + Annie Podcast, Paltrocast with Darren Paltrowitz, Where Next?, Travel with Kristen and Carol Podcast, as well as in Inc., Entrepreneur, Business Insider, CEO World, Grit Daily, and other publications in the coming weeks. About Whimstay: Whimstay is a vacation rental marketplace focused on providing travelers the best deals on trips while serving as the exclusive last-minute distribution partner for vacation rental property managers across the country. Whimstay was recognized as a Shortyz finalist for Best Online Travel Agency (OTA) in 2021 and Rentals United's Who's Who of new OTAs for 2020 and 2021. From beachside gems to ski retreats, to cozy mountain cabins, or to a desert oasis, Whimstay currently offers homes, condos, and more, in 48 U.S. states, Canada, and Mexico, and is adding new properties every day, and in new locations. Whimstay's properties are available on whimstay.com and the Whimstay app. Media Contact: Tiffany Cummins Talent Resources 925-212-4200 [email protected] SOURCE Whimstay NEW YORK, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- A latest research report [115+] pages with 360-Degree visibility, titled "Pipeline Monitoring System Market Share, Size, Trends, Industry Analysis Report, By Technology (Ultrasonic Testing, PIGS, Smart Ball, Magnetic Flux leakage Technology and Others), Pipe Type, Application, By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2023-2032" published by Polaris Market Research in its research repository. As per recent research study, the global pipeline monitoring system market size was valued at USD 13.76 Billion in 2022 and is expected to cross USD 28.22 Billion By 2032, growing at a CAGR of 7.5% during the forecast period. What is Pipeline Monitoring Systems? How Big is Pipeline Monitoring System Market Size? Overview Pipeline monitoring systems are used to evaluate corrosion and bacteriological control programs, to collect samples without generating dangerous waste, and to offer online analysis of chemical treatment programs. The rapid rise in the pipeline monitoring system market can be attributed to the fact that it provides continuous real-time monitoring of pipeline fluids or gases under actual operating conditions. The market's growth is attributed to escalating installations of pipelines used for the transportation and distribution of oil and gas supplies globally. Additionally, the growing incidences of leakage due to corrosion within pipelines push the demand for pipeline monitoring systems. Oil and gas manufacturers are rapidly adopting monitoring systems to reduce wastage, decrease environmental footprint and ensure safety. Request Sample Copy of "Pipeline Monitoring Systems Market" Research Report @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/pipeline-monitoring-system-market/request-for-sample (The sample of this report is readily available on request. The report sample contains a brief introduction to the research report, Table of Contents, Graphical introduction of regional analysis, Top players in the market with their revenue analysis and our research methodology.) Our Sample Report May Includes: 2030 Updated Report Introduction, Overview, and In-depth industry analysis 115+ Pages Research Report (Inclusion of Updated Research) Provide Chapter-wise guidance on Request 2022 Updated Regional Analysis with Graphical Representation of Size, Share & Trends Includes Updated List of table & figures Updated Report Includes Top Market Players with their Business Strategy, Sales Volume, and Revenue Analysis Some of the Top Market Players Are: ABB Emerson Honeywell International Huawei Technologies BAE Systems Schneider Electric Yokogawa Electric Corporation Siemens Badger Meter AVEVA Group IBM Bentek Systems General Electric TransCanada PipeLines Limited HollySys Group Inductive Automation To know an additional revised list of top market players, request a sample report, 2023 - 2032: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/pipeline-monitoring-system-market/request-for-sample Pipeline monitoring system Market Report Highlights Ultrasonic segment is anticipated to grow at a significant CAGR over the forecast period owing to the rising use of ultrasonic to detect leakage with the help of differentiating and characterizing leak sounds from normal water flow. Metallic pipes accounted for considerable share of the total global revenue share which is accelerated by the emerging of handling high-pressure and temperature applications for underground pipeline networks and under water pipeline networks. The leak detection segment is expected to hold the significant market share over the forecast period due to the used of leak detection solutions to detect real-time analysis via land-based and air surveillance to monitor pipelines transferring oil & gas products. North America is accounted to dominate the market in 2022, which is accelerated by availability of major markets for pipeline monitoring systems, in terms of product innovation, both in terms of quality and applicability, it has been a global leader. Growth Driving Factors Acquisition of leak detection system to push the market The acquisition of a leak detection system has sanctioned safety, feasibility, real-time analysis, and enhanced performance attributed to enhanced pipeline infrastructure. The pipeline monitoring system market size is expanding due to the installation of pipeline monitoring systems that have reduced geo hazards, thefts, internal leakage, and ruptures. Additionally, the emergence of pigging technology with prevalent and new pipelines is affirmatively impacting the market's growth. Progressing technological features within pipeline infrastructure such as human-machine interface, distributed vibration sensing, distributed temperature sensing, and programmable logic controller have braced the downstream process monitoring capabilities, intuitive interface software, and detection algorithms. The pipeline monitoring system market sales are soaring as enhancing technological solutions, and monitoring systems have significantly propelled the market's growth. Directly Purchase a copy of report with TOC @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/checkouts/19443 Recent developments In December 2022 , Williams declared the agreements with Coterra Energy & Dominion Energy Virginia, a natural gas certification process, for gathering and transmitting deliveries till the end of 2023. Segmental Analysis The ultrasonic segment exhibited the highest growth rate Based on technology, the ultrasonic segment exhibited the highest growth rate over the study period. The ultrasonic monitoring technology is utilized to detect the appropriate location of the failure, faults, and places, which operates sound waves with high frequency and noise patterns for the overall pipeline. The pipeline monitoring system market demand is on the rise as ultrasonic technology cannot detect small leakage with the help of differentiating and characterizing leak sounds from normal liquid flow. The metallic pipeline segment accounted for a significant market share Based on pipe type, the metallic pipeline segment accounted for the second largest market share, as metallic pipes are mainly made for the competent handling of high-pressure and temperature applications. The pipeline monitoring system market trends include the metallic pipe used extensively for underground pipeline networks to handle high pressures and do not require maintenance for these pipes. Inquire more about this report before purchase @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/pipeline-monitoring-system-market/inquire-before-buying (Inquire a report quote OR available discount offers to the sales team before purchase.) Pipeline Monitoring Systems Market: Report Scope Report Attribute Details Revenue forecast in 2032 USD 28.22 Billion Market size value in 2023 USD 14.77 Billion Expected CAGR Growth 7.5% from 2023 - 2032 Base Year 2021 Forecast Year 2023 - 2032 Top Market Players ABB Ltd.; Emerson Electric Co.; Generic Electric Co.; Honeywell International Inc.; Huawei Investment and Holding Co. Ltd.; ORBCOMM Inc.; QinetiQ Group Plc; Rockwell Automation Inc.; Schneider Electric SE; Siemens AG; PSI Group; OptaSense; Pure technologies; Automous International; and Pentair Segments Covered By Technology, By Pipe Type, By industrial vertical, By Application, By Region Customization Options Customized purchase options are available to meet any research needs. Explore customized purchase options Geographic Overview Requirement for real-time monitoring to drive the North American market North America held the largest pipeline monitoring system market share due to the presence of an extensive pipeline network across the nation, the requirement for real-time monitoring, with the existence of innovative players engaging in cutting IoT sensors to prevent any leakage, theft, terrorist attack or any kind of natural disaster. Asia Pacific is anticipated to be the fastest-growing region over the forecast period. India is a superior oil and gas network, with Mallavaram to Vijapur being the longest. China has the most significant nature gas pipeline in the Asia Pacific region and has planned several LNG projects in the upcoming years. Tianjin in Inner Mongolia is one of the progressing nature gas in the Asia Pacific region. Browse the Detail Report "Pipeline Monitoring System Market Share, Size, Trends, Industry Analysis Report, By Technology (Ultrasonic Testing, PIGS, Smart Ball, Magnetic Flux leakage Technology and Others), Pipe Type, Application, By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2023-2032" with in-depth TOC: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/pipeline-monitoring-system-market For Additional Information OR Media Enquiry, Please Mail At: [email protected] Polaris Market Research has segmented pipeline monitoring system market report based on technology, pipe type, application, and region: By Technology Outlook PIGs Small Ball Ultrasonic Magnetic Flux Leakage Technology Fiber optic Technology Mass Volume LIDAR Vapor Sensing Other By Pipe Type Outlook Metallic Non Metallic Other By Application Outlook Leak Detection Operating Condition Pipeline Break Detection By Region Outlook North America (U.S., Canada ) (U.S., ) Europe ( France , Germany , UK, Italy , Netherlands , Spain , Russia ) ( , , UK, , , , ) Asia Pacific ( Japan , China , India , Malaysia , Indonesia . South Korea ) ( , , , , . ) Latin America ( Brazil , Mexico , Argentina ) ( , , ) Middle East & Africa ( Saudi Arabia , UAE, Israel , South Africa ) Browse More Related Reports: Electric Scooter Market : https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/electric-scooter-market https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/electric-scooter-market Automated Fare Collection Market: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/automated-fare-collection-market https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/automated-fare-collection-market Ambient Lighting Market: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/ambient-lighting https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/ambient-lighting Commercial Kitchen Appliances Market: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/commercial-kitchen-appliances-market https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/commercial-kitchen-appliances-market Smart TV Market: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/smart-tv-market About Polaris Market Research Polaris Market Research is a global market research and consulting company. The company specializes in providing exceptional market intelligence and in-depth business research services for PMR's clientele spread across different enterprises. We at Polaris are obliged to serve PMR's diverse customer base present across the industries of healthcare, technology, semi-conductors and chemicals among various other industries present around the world. We strive to provide PMR's customers with updated information on innovative technologies, high growth markets, emerging business environments and latest business-centric applications, thereby helping them always to make informed decisions and leverage new opportunities. Adept with a highly competent, experienced and extremely qualified team of experts comprising SMEs, analysts and consultants, we at Polaris endeavor to deliver value-added business solutions to PMR's customers. Contact: Likhil G 30 Wall Street 8th Floor, New York City, NY 10005, United States Phone: +1-929 297-9727 Email: [email protected] Web: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com Follow US: LinkedIn | twitter Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1316207/Polaris_Market_Research_Logo.jpg SOURCE Polaris Market Research HOUSTON, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Zeta Energy Corp. was selected to receive $4 million in Federal funding from the U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). The funding is part of the ARPA-E Electric Vehicles for American Low-Carbon Living (EVs4ALL) program, which seeks to develop more affordable, convenient, efficient, and resilient electric vehicle (EV) batteries. Zeta Energy Team Zeta's batteries offer much higher performance (energy capacity, specific power, and shelf life) at a significantly lower cost, and with no cobalt or nickel. Zeta's technology combines a carbon nanotube anode with a sulfurized carbon cathode. It is widely known that sulfur offers superior potential for holding lithium ions and is also lightweight, abundant, and economical. However, in the past, a problem known as the "polysulfide shuttle effect" held back development of lithium sulfur batteries because they were not long lasting the sulfur would, in essence, dissolve into the electrolyte after a few cycles. Zeta Energy's technology solves this problem, enabling the energy density and economy benefits of lithium sulfur batteries while also making the batteries long lasting. In short, Zeta's batteries will enable companies to make far more efficient electric vehicles and other battery powered products. Furthermore, since Zeta's technology relies on widely available and abundant materials, it helps to localize the battery supply chain, making it simpler and more secure. As noted by ARPA-E, "Zeta Energy will create a new anode with a high Li content that is also highly accessible and rechargeable. The complementary physical and chemical features of the cathode and anode will enable transformational high charge rates and long-term stability while also minimizing performance losses at low temperatures." Zeta Energy CEO Tom Pilette stated, "We are thrilled to have been selected for funding by the ARPA-E EVs4ALL program. We have been working hard to make this technology a reality, and we are really grateful to receive this recognition of the promise of our technology and the progress we have made on it. We are looking forward to working with ARPA-E to bring our technology to the marketplace, and help to create a more sustainable future." About Zeta Energy Zeta Energy is a US-based privately-held company focused on developing and commercializing high performance, safe, rechargeable batteries that are lower cost and sustainably manufactured. Zeta has filed more than thirty patents on its proprietary carbon nanotube anode and sulfur cathode technology. The Company may from time to time disclose public material events via its website at http://www.ZetaEnergy.com or its social media accounts at the following locations: https://www.linkedin.com/company/zeta-energy-corp/about https://twitter.com/ZetaEnergy Company Contact: www.zetaenergy.com SOURCE Zeta Energy Gorakhpur, Jan 11 : The famous 'Khichdi Mela' at the Gorakhnath temple in Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur will begin here on Sunday amid unprecedented security, police said. Devotees will have to go through three layers of security to participate in the Mela. Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Akhil Kumar, said devotees will have to pass through three layers of security. First checking would be done at entry points of the city, the second at the entry of Gorakhnath temple's premises, and third at the entrance gate of the main temple. The Gorakhnath temple has been receiving several bomb threats, some of them fake, which has necessitated increase in security. The district administration has completed arrangements for the week-long Gorakhpur festival to be held between January 11 and 17 at the Champa Devi Park. Talking to reporters, Mahendra Singh Tanwar, festival nodal officer and Vice-Chairman of GDA, said nearly 200 artistes will take part in the festival, including 180 local ones. Official sources said that the mela premise had been divided into four super zones. In addition, a police station had been established at the temple. The annual Khichdi Mela attracts lakhs of devotees from India as well as Nepal and is a much-awaited event. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who heads the Gorakhnath temple, has been personally supervising the arrangements. Los Angeles, Jan 11 : As Michelle Yeoh won the Best Actress - Motion Picture - Musical/Comedy award at the Golden Globes 2023 for her role in 'Everything Everywhere All At Once', she took a moment on stage to slam racism that she faced during the initial stage of her career. Summing up her journey of 40 years, she took her sweet time to let it sink in as he laid her hands on the trophy. "Whew! OK. I'm just gonna stand here and take this all in," she said. "Forty years, not letting go of this. So just quickly, thank you Hollywood Foreign Press for giving me this honour. It's been an amazing journey and incredible fight to be here today, but I think it's worth it". She went on to say: "When I first arrived here, I was told I was a minority. Forget about them knowing North Korea, South Korea, Malaysia, Japan, or India. Someone also told me 'Oh you know English'. To which I replied, 'yeah the flight to the US is 13 hours long, so I learned the language on the flight'." Image Source: IANS News Actress Stephanie Hsu was spotted crying in the audience section as Yeoh made her award acceptance speech. As she was reminded of her exceeding time on stage through a piano piece, she said in jest, "shut up! I can beat you". "As time went by, I turned 60 last year, and I think all of you women understand this as the days, years, numbers get bigger, the opportunities get smaller, as well. "Then along came the best gift: 'Everything, Everywhere All at Once'," the actress concluded. The Golden Globe Awards 2023 are streaming on Lionsgate Play in India. Latest updates on Golden Globe Awards 2023 -- Syndicated from IANS Canberra, Jan 11 : Cardinal George Pell, whose conviction on child abuse charges shocked the Catholic Church before being quashed, has died of heart complications after hip surgery, officials said on Wednesday. He was 81. The former Vatican treasurer is Australia's highest ranking Catholic cleric, and the most senior Church figure ever jailed for such offences, reports the BBC. Cardinal Pell served as Archbishop of both Melbourne and Sydney before becoming one of the Pope's top aides. He was summoned to Rome in 2014 to clean up the Vatican's finances, and was often described as the Church's third-ranked official. But the cleric left his post in 2017, returning to Australia to face trial on child sex abuse charges. A jury in 2018 found he had abused two boys while Archbishop of Melbourne in the 1990s. Cardinal Pell, who always maintained his innocence, spent 13 months in prison before the High Court of Australia quashed the verdict in 2020. However a civil lawsuit -- launched by the father of a choirboy that prosecutors alleged Cardinal Pell abused -- is still under way, the BBC reported. Archbishop of Melbourne Peter Comensoli paid tribute to Cardinal Pell as "a very significant and influential Church leader" while Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his death would be a "shock to many". Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott praised the cleric as a "saint for our times" and "an inspiration for the ages", saying the charges he'd faced were "a modern form of crucifixion". But Steve Dimopoulos, a government minister in Cardinal Pell's home state of Victoria, was among those who voiced mixed feelings. "Today would be a very difficult day for the cardinal's family and loved ones, but also very difficult for survivors and victims of child sexual abuse and their families and my thoughts are with them," he said. Cardinal Pell also faced criticism in Australia over his role in the Church's response to allegations of child sex abuse. The cleric knew of child sexual abuse by priests in Australia as early as the 1970s but failed to take action, a landmark inquiry found in 2017. Los Angeles, Jan 11 : When Marc Malkin of 'Variety' asked Ram Charan if he would like to be a Marvel superhero, the 'RRR' hero responded at once: "Absolutely. Why not?" And when he was asked about his favourite Marvel superhero, he said without thinking much: "Tony Stark." He was referring to the character Robert Downey Jr plays in the Iron Man franchise. "Or maybe Captain America, why not?" Ram Charan added as an afterthought. "We have some amazing superheroes in India too," he pointed out. "How about you invite one of our heroes over here?" Talking specifically about 'Naatu Naatu', he said: "My knees still wobble talking about it today. It was a beautiful torture and look where it has got us." Was the 'RRR' director S.S. Rajamouli hard on them during the terrific action sequences? Rajamouli said: "I took care of them like babies. No one ever got hurt." To this, Ram Chran added: "He spanked the babies too." On the positive response 'RRR' has been getting in the run-up to the awards, Rajamouli said: "It humbles me that I get love from so many people." In the same spirit, NTR Jr had told 'Variety' in another red carpet interview: "We thought we had a winner, but it turned out to be more than a winner ... you don't expect this to happen." Earlier, the actor had tweeted: "Congratulations Sirji on your well-deserved #GoldenGlobes award! I've danced to many songs throughout my career but #NaatuNaatu will forever stay close to my heart...@mmkeeravaani" Cheering the win, 'Los Angeles Times' tweeted (and promoted the profile it carried of Rajamouli): "Last night, the audience at #RRRMovie's sold-out Chinese Theater screening swarmed the stage to dance during the 'Naatu Naatu' number. Today, composer M.M. Keeravani won the Golden Globe for best original song." New Delhi, Jan 11 : Tata Group is hopeful of India becoming an electronics manufacturing hub after the conglomerate succeeded in its efforts to take over an iPhone assembly plant in Bengaluru, according to reports. Reports quoting N. Ganapathy Subramaniam, chief operating officer of TCS from an interview, said that the move by the group should be really good for India as it would create an opportunity in the country to manufacture electronics. Tata Group, the reports further added, has been in talks with Apple Inc.'s Taiwanese supplier Wistron Corp. and is looking to finalise the purchase of its assembly factory near Bengaluru by March. Chennai, Jan 11 : The Tamil Nadu government has constituted two expert committees to provide a consolidated list of elephant corridors, including those that have been identified and the potential ones. The government informed the Madras High Court on Tuesday that the two expert committees would provide a list of existing elephant corridors as well as the potential ones by the end of March 2023. The two committees are constituted to identify the elephant corridors in two landscapes, one to the North of Palakkad and the second to the south of Palakkad. The one in the north comprises Coimbatore, Nilgiris, Erode, Sathyamangalam, Hassanur, Hosur, and Dharmapuri forest divisions while that to the south comprises Pollachi, Tiruppur, Dindigul, Kodaikanal, Theni, Srivilliputtur, Megamalai, Tirunelveli, Kalakkad, Ambasamudram, and Kanniyakumari divisions. The Madras High Court had earlier directed the forest department to also consider taking over the land of people who have settled for long in the elephant corridors as these corridors could be used for the free movement of elephants. The elephant corridors are spread into forest divisions of Kerala and Karnataka and the Tamil Nadu forest department has already communicated to the two forest departments of these two states on the elephant corridors. The wild elephants reaching human habitats is a major problem being faced by the Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka forest departments. Washington, Jan 11 : Nikhil Wahi, accused of receiving insider trading information from his brother Ishan Wahi, a former project manager at crypto exchange Coinbase, has been sentenced to 10-months in prison. The US authorities in July last year charged the brothers and their Indian-American friend Sameer Ramani, 33, of Houston with wire fraud conspiracy by using confidential information from Coinbase and making $1.5 million in illicit money. Nikhil, 26, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, according to reports. Ishan, 32, has pleaded not guilty to federal charges of insider trading and Ramani remains at large. Both Ishan and Ramani stare at a maximum sentence of 20 years each. The Wahi brothers were arrested in Seattle, Washington State, where they were living, and presented in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington. Ishan worked at Coinbase as a product manager assigned to a Coinbase asset listing team starting in October 2020. He was involved in the highly confidential process of listing crypto assets on Coinbase's exchanges and had detailed and advanced knowledge of which crypto assets Coinbase was planning to list and the timing of public announcements about those crypto asset listings. According to the US authorities, on at least 14 occasions, Ishan knew in advance both that Coinbase planned to list particular crypto assets and the timing of its public announcements of those asset listings. He misappropriated that Coinbase confidential information by tipping either his brother, Nikhil, or Ramani, "so that they could place profitable trades in those crypto assets in advance of Coinbase's public listing announcements". The defendants made illegal trades in at least 25 different crypto assets and realised ill-gotten gains totalling approximately $1.5 million. To conceal their purchases of crypto assets in advance of Coinbase listing announcements, Nikhil and Ramani used accounts at centralised exchanges held in the names of others, and transferred funds, crypto assets, and proceeds of their scheme through multiple anonymous Ethereum blockchain wallets. "Nikhil and Ramani also regularly created and used new Ethereum blockchain wallets without any prior transaction history in order to further conceal their involvement in the scheme," the US Justice Department had said. Kanpur : , Jan 11 (IANS) It will take some more time before Khushi Dubey, the young widow of an aide of slain gangster Vikas Dubey, accused in the Bikru massacre case walks free. Her bail forms have been filed in the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) but the court has ordered verification of the same. After the verification report of the sureties is received, the court will issue orders for Khushi's release from Mati jail in Kanpur Dehat. The court had ordered two sureties of Rs 1.5 lakh each. The Supreme Court had granted bail to Khushi Dubey on January 6. Shivakant Dixit, the counsel of Khushi Dubey, said that in compliance with the court's order, bail forms have been filed in the court of additional district and sessions judge-XIII Shailendra Kumar Verma as well as in the Juvenile Justice Board. As the court has ordered their verification, after the verification report of the sureties is received, it will issue orders for the release of Khushi. Recently, while granting bail to Khushi, the Supreme Court had said that as she was only 17 years old at the time of the incident, and her trial has started in the case, there is no justification for keeping her in jail. It may be recalled that, a case of robbery and attempt to murder was registered against Vikas Dubey, a resident of Bikru village of Chaubepur. On July 3, 2020, the police raided Bikru village to arrest him. Vikas Dubey and his more than four dozen aides had attacked and killed eight policemen, including a deputy superintendent of police. Later, the police killed six accused, including Vikas Dubey and Amar Dubey in back-to-back encounters. Vikas was killed on July 10, when he tried to flee from the police custody while being brought from Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh. Khushi was made an accused in 17 cases, including murder and conspiracy. She had been married for three days when the incident took place. San Francisco, Jan 11 : Desktop virtualisation company Citrix Systems has started widespread layoffs, with thousands of employees being handed over pink slips, the media reported. Cloud Software Group (CSG), the parent company of cloud vendor Citrix and enterprise applications vendor Tibco, began layoffs in a 'brutal' way, starting Tuesday, CRN reported citing sources. "It's a terrible day, with a lot of good Citrix employees with families and kids leaving the company. This is brutal," the source was quoted as saying in the report. The layoffs hit Citrix's commercial sales organisation as well as some channel-facing employees. Several laid off employees took to LinkedIn to share their woes. "Like so many others at Citrix, I was caught up in today's massive restructuring. I have been associated with Citrix for the past 22 years, either as a full time sales engineer or contract master instructor. I wouldn't trade those experiences for anything," posted Mark Simmons, lead NetScaler sales engineer at Citrix. "Best of luck to all of my colleagues caught up in today's layoffs. This is not the end, but merely a transition," he added. Shawn Hohn, a territory manager for Citrix, said that "unfortunately, I have been one of the many impacted by the layoffs at Citrix this morning". "If you or anyone in your network have any open roles in Account Management or Inside sides, please reach out! Thank you in advance for any connections, advice, or opportunities that you can share," posted Hohn. Cloud Software Group (CSG) or Citrix was yet to comment. Citrix Systems was acquired by Vista Equity Partners and Evergreen Coast Capital for $16.5 billion, and combined with data integration and analysis software developer Tibco Software, creating a new parent organisation, CSG. New Delhi, Jan 11 : Bollywood Superstars: A Short Story of Indian Cinema, will debut on January 24 and last through June 4. It is an upcoming exhibition at the Louvre Abu Dhabi as part of its vibrant 2022-2023 cultural season. The exhibition, which was planned in collaboration with the Jacques Chirac and MusAe du Quai Branly and France Museums, will highlight the diversity of the Indian filmmaking industry as well as the depth and richness of the Indian subcontinent's art and civilization through its long tradition of image making. The exhibition highlights the rich history of Indian cinema from its origins in the late 19th century up to the present through more than 80 artworks, including pictures, textiles, graphic arts, costumes, and more than 30 film clips. The pieces of art are drawn from the collections of the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the Jacques Chirac Museum at the Quai Branly, the Army Museum, the Guimet National Museum of East Asian Art, the al-Sabah Collection, the Raja Ravi Varma Heritage Foundation, and the Priya Paul Collection. With the assistance of Dr Souraya Noujaim, Director of Scientific, Curatorial, and Collections Management at Louvre Abu Dhabi, the exhibition is co-curated by Julien Rousseau, Curator and Head of the Asian Collections, MusAe du Quai Branly - Jacques Chirac, and HAlAne Kessous, PhD in Social Anthropology and Ethnology, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales. India currently produces more than 1,500 films annually in around 20 different languages, making it the top producer of movies that are exported to other countries in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. Through Bollywood Superstars, visitors to the museum will learn how Indian pioneers used emerging image technologies like photography and lithography to jumpstart the transition from early motion pictures to large-scale musical productions. Visitors will learn more about Bollywood's global popularity and have a greater appreciation for the variety of Indian cinema. The thorough exhibits cover every aspect of Indian cinema's history, from pre-cinema, dancing, and storytelling, to the influence of religion and mythology, and the emergence of Bollywood celebrities. Manuel Rabate, Director of Louvre Abu Dhabi, commented: "In a museum that invites visitors to discover artworks from all over the world, we are privileged to work again with MusAe du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac on this exhibition that explores the image in movement, after our first collaboration in 2019 on an exhibition about the development of photography in its first years of existence. Bollywood Superstars is a feast not only to Indian audiences who are among the most important nationalities that visit Louvre Abu Dhabi, but also to everyone with an appetite for the rich culture of the sub-continent and its roots." (IANSlife can be contacted at ianslife@ians.in) Kolkata, Jan 11 : Amid the continuing ruckus outside the court of Justice Rajasekhar Mantha of the Calcutta High Court and complaints against a section of lawyers resisting their colleagues from entering his court, West Bengal Governor C.V. Anand Bose has reportedly given a strong message to the state government that terrorising the judiciary should not be tolerated at any cost. However, keeping to his commitment before taking oath as the Governor in November last year, that his relationship with the state government will be "more administrative rather than being political", Bose did not adopt the path of his predecessor and the current Indian Vice- President Jagdeep Dhankhar in giving this message through Twitter or any press briefing. Rather as the constitutional head of the state, he summoned the state chief secretary H.K. Dwivedi, state home secretary B.P. Gopalika and the Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Kumar Goyal to the Governor House late Tuesday evening and instructed them to ensure necessary protection for the judges. Sources aware of the proceedings of the meeting said the Governor was of the opinion that boycott of the bench of a particular judge is not acceptable at any cost though someone might not be satisfied with the verdict in any particular case. The Governor also reportedly asked the city police commissioner whether the posters on the walls and near Justice Mantha's residence in South Kolkata slamming the latter had been removed or not. Bose was informed that the city police have already started investigation in the matter and have applied to a city court to file FIR in the matter against unnamed miscreants. In the meeting, the state government representatives also assured the Governor of ensuring the security and safety of the judiciary at any cost. On Tuesday only, Justice Mantha issued a contempt of rule and also filed a suo motu petition at the Calcutta High Court 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. Mumbai, Jan 11 : Financial services firm ESOPDhan on Wednesday announced its lending offerings to employees of high-growth companies to exercise vested employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs). Set up by veteran investors Shravan Shroff and Nitin Agarwal, the firm seeks to ease the acquisition of stock options by employees of high-growth SaaS startups. ESOPDhan said that it has already funded India-based employees of two US-based high-growth tech companies, and discussions are underway with two-three more India based unicorns. "Our experience with startup teams over the years threw up many concerns of employees rewarded with ESOPs," Shravan Shroff, co-founder of ESOPDhan, told IANS. "These ranged from 'How to get funds to subscribe for ESOPs and pay the exercise cost and perquisite tax' to 'How not to lose opportunities to create wealth', and 'How to get quick cash while retaining their stocks'," he added. The RBI-registered NBFC firm solves the cash flow mismatch problem that employees face while converting their ESOPs into equity upon vesting and ensuring that taxation is optimised, thus maximising wealth creation. "ESOPDhan aspires to be the funding partner of choice in the world of ESOPs by devising added features like 'No EMIs' and arepayment upon liquidity events'," said Shroff. Industry estimates the value of vested ESOPs by employees of Indian unicorns till date to be more than $10 billion. The value of vested ESOPS is expected to grow at a fast rate in the coming years. ESOPDhan said it will work with identified late-stage high growth companies with a growing customer base. New Delhi, Jan 11 : Bollywood Superstars: A Short Story of Indian Cinema, will debut on January 24 and last through June 4, 2023. It is an upcoming exhibition at the Louvre Abu Dhabi as part of its vibrant 2022-2023 cultural season. The exhibition, which was planned in collaboration with the Jacques Chirac and Musee du Quai Branly and France Museums, will highlight the diversity of the Indian filmmaking industry as well as the depth and richness of the Indian subcontinent's art and civilization through its long tradition of image making. The exhibition highlights the rich history of Indian cinema from its origins in the late 19th century up to the present through more than 80 artworks, including pictures, textiles, graphic arts, costumes, and more than 30 film clips. The pieces of art are drawn from the collections of the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the Jacques Chirac Museum at the Quai Branly, the Army Museum, the Guimet National Museum of East Asian Art, the al-Sabah Collection, the Raja Ravi Varma Heritage Foundation, and the Priya Paul Collection. With the assistance of Dr. Souraya Noujaim, Director of Scientific, Curatorial, and Collections Management at Louvre Abu Dhabi, the exhibition is co-curated by Julien Rousseau, Curator and Head of the Asian Collections, Musee du Quai Branly - Jacques Chirac, and Helne Kessous, PhD in Social Anthropology and Ethnology, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en eSciences Sociales. India currently produces more than 1,500 films annually in around 20 different languages, making it the top producer of movies that are exported to other countries in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. Through Bollywood Superstars, visitors to the museum will learn how Indian pioneers used emerging image technologies like photography and lithography to jumpstart the transition from early motion pictures to large-scale musical productions. Visitors will learn more about Bollywood's global popularity and have a greater appreciation for the variety of Indian cinema. The thorough exhibits cover every aspect of Indian cinema's history, from pre-cinema, dancing, and storytelling, to the influence of religion and mythology, and the emergence of Bollywood celebrities. Manuel Rabate, Director of Louvre Abu Dhabi, commented: "In a museum that invites visitors to discover artworks from all over the world, we are privileged to work again with Musee du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac on this exhibition that explores the image in movement, after our first collaboration in 2019 on an exhibition about the development of photography in its first years of existence. Bollywood Superstars is a feast not only to Indian audiences who are among the most important nationalities that visit Louvre Abu Dhabi, but also to everyone with an appetite for the rich culture of the sub-continent and its roots." Emmanuel KasarhArou, President of the MusAe du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac, said, "Bollywood Superstars stands out for the quality and originality of its content. It is bound to appeal to visitors at Louvre Abu Dhabi, an vital and influential institution that the MusAe du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac is honoured to be associated with." Highlights from the exhibition include artworks from Louvre Abu Dhabi's collection such as a Page from a Harivamsa Series: Krishna and His Courtiers by the Sea at Pandaraka (ca. 1820, Kangra, India); Mail and Plate Armour, Called "Four Mirrors" Armour (ca. 1600 - 1800, Mughal, India); and Krishna Surrounded by Gopis (ca. 1655, Rajasthan, India). Highlight loans from partner museums include a statuette of Krishna as a child playing the flute (second half of the 19th century, Rajasthan, India) from Musee du Quai Branly - Jacques Chirac; a Dagger (late 17th Century, Kuwait) from al-Sabah Collection; Indian Armour (18th Century) from MusAe de l'armee; and a Coat (19th century) from Musee national des arts asiatiques-Guimet. Cinema buffs will especially enjoy the screening of several iconic film extracts that have left an indelible mark on the history of Indian cinema. The exhibition's curators, Julien Rousseau and Helene Kessous, said, "This exhibition is a tribute to Bollywood and can be enjoyed by both Indian cinema fans and the wider public. We hope that it portrays the full richness of Asian traditions and tells the stories that led to the birth of this cinema. The exhibition celebrates Bollywood superstars who are adored by their fans in India in a way that is rarely seen elsewhere in the world." Dr Souraya Noujaim, Director of Scientific, Curatorial and Collections Management at Louvre Abu Dhabi said, "This exhibition provides a unique insight into an art genre that has a vast history and powerful present. The exhibition visitors will discover the depth of the Indian filmmaking industry since its beginning in the 19th century and gain a unique perspective into the richness of forms that pervaded its creation. The cross-influences, boosted by technology progress, underline the continued presence of the great mythological and literary narratives in Indian culture, and the vitality of its regional cultures. We are delighted to bring this exhibition to life to showcase the diversity of the Indian cinema." Bollywood Superstars is supported by PureHealth, as Louvre Abu Dhabi's exhibition season partner. Details of the rich cultural and educational programme accompanying Bollywood Superstars: A Short Story of Indian Cinema will be announced at a later date. For more information about the exhibition and to book tickets, please visit louvreabudhabi.ae or call Louvre Abu Dhabi at +971 600 56 55 66. Entrance to the exhibition is free with the museum's general admission tickets. Admission to the museum is free for children under the age of 18. (IANSlife can be contacted at ianslife@ians.in) Washington, Jan 11 : US President Joe Biden said he was "surprised" that classified documents from when he was Vice President in the former Barack Obama administration, were taken to one of his former private offices. "I was surprised to learn there were any government records that were taken there to that office," Xinhua news agency quoted Biden as saying reporters in Mexico City where he had a trilateral summit with the leaders of Mexico and Canada. The President said he doesn't know "what's in the documents" that were found in a locked closet when his attorneys were vacating office space at the Penn Biden Center in Washington, D.C. The Penn Biden Center is a think tank about a mile away the White House, affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania and named for Biden who had served as the Vice President from January 2009 to January 2017. White House special counsel Richard Sauber issued a statement on Monday, saying that Biden periodically used this space from mid-2017 until the start of his 2020 presidential campaign. This discovery of "what appears to be Obama-Biden Administration records, including a small number of documents with classified markings" was made in early November of 2022, according to the statement. "They found some documents in a box in a locked cabinet, or at least a closet. And as soon as they did, they realised there were several classified documents in that box," Biden said on Tuesday. The attorneys "did what they should have done" by immediately calling the National Archives, he added. The classified documents found inside the Penn Biden Center closet are reportedly US intelligence memos and briefing materials that covered topics including Ukraine, Iran and Britain. Attorney General Merrick Garland is said to have tasked the Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois John Lausch Jr. with reviewing the matter. Lausch was appointed by former President Donald Trump in 2017 and unanimously confirmed by the Senate. Congressman James Comer, a Republican who chairs the House Oversight Committee, told CNN that he plans to press the National Archives, which his committee oversees, for information about the classified documents. "President Biden has been very critical of President Trump mistakenly taking classified documents to the residence or wherever, and now it seems he may have done the same. How ironic," Comer said. The development comes as the Department of Justice is also investigating Trump's handling of a trove of classified documents seized from his estate in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, by federal agents in the summer of 2022 Federal investigators have recovered at least 325 classified documents from Trump as part of their inquiry. In a post on his social media app, Truth Social, the former President responded to the news and said: "When is the FBI going to raid the many homes of Joe Biden, perhaps even the White House?" The Presidential Records Act requires all presidential and vice-presidential documents to be turned over to the National Archives. New Delhi, Jan 11 : Since its founding in 1964, Kerastase has become a household name in luxury professional haircare, therefore it is exciting to announce the opening of its official online store in India. The Paris-based legacy brand is proud of its presence in India and has been providing Indian customers with a customised but opulent hair care experience for more than 16 years by collaborating with only the most opulent salons nationwide. More than 430 salons in 37 cities, including Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Pune, Hyderabad, Surat, Chandigarh, Lucknow, and others, provide the brand's high-end hair care rituals and home care products. The brand's strategy in India is driven by the goal of giving customers an exceptional luxury experience through exquisite products and bespoke, in-salon treatments, all supported by scientific know-how, professional knowledge, and a gut-level intuition of what customers really desire from hair care. Kerastase successfully launched Social Commerce for its salon partners in July 2020 and has now forayed into the world of Direct To Consumer on www.kerastase.in! It is constantly embracing creative approaches to create and provide customised luxury hair care solutions to Indian consumers! Commenting on this milestone for the brand Anjali Pai, General Manager, Kerastase India says, "Over the years, Kerastase has seen an overwhelming response to its luxury salon presence across the country and today we are very pleased to announce the launch of our official online store in India. Our aim is to reach out to new consumers through this platform and bring them to the salon - which is where the true Kerastase experience can be had...in the most luxurious environment and under the care of the most talented hair care experts" To align with the brands vision of providing unparalleled luxury experiences and reinforce its professional roots, www.kerastase.in is designed with some unique features such as a "Salon Locator", to help consumers find their nearest KArastase partner salon and an "Online Hair Diagnosis", a six-step diagnosis tool that helps consumers find their perfect hair care routine in just 2 minutes! The website also offers complimentary samples on every order and an exclusive holiday gift box on every 2 products! With this launch, Kerastase is confident in its ability to reach out to new consumers across the country and introduce them to true, luxury, professional hair care. (IANSlife can be contacted at ianslife@ians.in) Warsaw, Jan 11 : Poland will seek help from the US in its pursuit to claim World War II reparations from Germany, Deputy Foreign Minister Arkadiusz Mularczyk said here. Last September, the Polish government had presented a comprehensive report detailing the material losses suffered by the country during WWII, along with a pledge to demand reparations from Germany amounting to 1.3 trillion euros, reports Xinhua news agency. However, the German government said the reparations issue was already closed. Poland has since sent diplomatic notes to Germany, as well as its EU and NATO allies, to drum up support for its case. Mularczyk told a press conference on Tuesday that the Polish government's next move, aimed at making the war reparation claim an international topic, will be to turn to the US. He said he is counting on Washington's support on "the issue of Poland's claiming compensation for the effects of World War II". Some 6 million Poles, including roughly 3 million Polish Jews, were killed during the war and Warsaw was razed to the ground following a 1944 uprising in which about 200,000 civilians died. Germany's September 1, 1939 invasion of Poland is now broadly perceived as the start of what would become the World War II. Poland was also invaded by the Soviet Union from the east roughly two weeks later. Chennai, Jan 11 : The Central government-owned four general insurance companies are restructuring their operations based on powerpoint presentations (PPT) provided by consultancy firm EY and without getting a full report, a letter from the joint forum of the union's states. The four public sector government insurers -- The Oriental Insurance Company Limited, National Insurance Company Limited, The New India Assurance Company Limited and United India Insurance Company Limited -- have hired consultancy firm EY to suggest rejig measures. The companies have started implementing the recommendations made by EY and also sought the views of the employee unions. The unions on their part had asked for a copy of the report prepared by EY so that they can give their comments. "During our discussions, it was stated by the GIPSA (General Insurers' (Public Sector) Association of India) and the officials of the member companies that there is no such complete report available with them rather the consultant is used to submit their recommendation in phased manner and in PPT presentation format," Girish Khurana, National Convener, Joint Forum of Trade Unions and Associations (JFTU) said in letter to Suchita Gupta, Chairperson, GIPSA & The Chairman-cum-Managing Director, National Insurance. Last fiscal, the four insurers on the advice of Department of Financial Services/GIPSA had appointed EY to diagnose andAidentify the reasons attributed to the losses suffered by the companies and to design and implement the necessary changes to ensure profitability. "Similarly, in GIC Re one consultant KPMG has been appointed to modernise its human resources and lay out digital strategies for developing its talent pool and manpower for faster business growth globally," Khurana's letter notes. He said EY has divided the consulting project into three phases -- diagnosis, design, implementation -- and had completed the first phase, but that report was not shared by the companies. However, the EY had shared the design for structural changes in the four government companies. According to Khurana, the GIPSA had shared the following documents with the unions: the consultants' key observations and way forward giving insight to the proposed initiatives; proposed broad structure of Performance Pay from FY 2022-23; and consultants' report on Operating Model Transformation. "The consultant failed to analyse the unnecessary competition among the four PSGICs and failed to suggest the need for merger in the line being followed in the Banking Sector earlier Union Budget declarations," he said in the letter. "The reports failed to mention the reasons for the required structural changes as with the similar structure we have done profits and given dividends to the owners for several years. Further for proposing this structure, a comparative study with the other players of the insurance industry has not been done." Khurana told the GIPSA Chairperson, in absence of the Diagnosis Phase Report and copy of Terms of Reference for which the EY was appointed, it is difficult to give concrete suggestions for the betterment of the four insurers. He also said, for the success of the structure recommended by EY necessary technological infrastructure should be there in the companies but there has been no visible progress on that front. Further, the standard operating procedure (SOP) for the new structure is yet to be designed, Khurana added. According to Khurana, the present restructuring plans will be a futile exercise if the government were to merge the four companies with the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) or the four companies get into life insurance business under the proposed composite insurance licence regime. "So, we request you take clear guidelines from the owners in the above respect and till the process will be kept in abeyance," Khurana suggested to GIPSA Chairperson Gupta. (Venkatachari Jagannathan can be reached at v.jagannathan@ians.in) New Delhi, Jan 11 : Wall Street major Goldman Sachs does not expect any significant reforms to be announced in this budget, but some details on incentives for 'Make in India', a roadmap on direct tax code implementation, and rationalization of subsidies, particularly fertilizers. The Indian Union budget will be presented on February 1 as the final full-year budget under the current administration before the national elections in mid-2024. This comes at a time when the government is trying to weigh expenditure priorities around: welfare spending before the general elections, the reduction of subsidies as commodity prices have declined from previous highs, incentives for promoting manufacturing in India, continuing the infrastructure build out and a higher allocation for defence, Goldman Sachs said in a report. "Given the general elections scheduled to take place in 2024, we expect the government to increase rural and welfare spending as seen in pre-election budgets in FY09, FY14 and FY19. In FY24, we expect current expenditure (excluding interest and subsidy) to be at 7.3 per cent of GDP. Rural employment and housing are likely to be in focus," it said. With India running one of the highest public debt to GDP ratios among emerging markets globally, firm adherence to the fiscal consolidation would seem the most appropriate path for the government. The commodity shock required incremental spending on food and fertilizer subsidies, and exhausted the fiscal room from higher tax buoyancy in the current fiscal year. This apart, the government also tabled extra demand for spending before the parliament, comprising 0.8 per cent of GDP (Rs 2.2 trillion) mainly towards capital expenditure, rural development, and defence, Goldman Sachs said. "We expect the government to meet the budgeted fiscal deficit target of 6.4 per cent of GDP1, but estimate an expenditure reallocation of 0.3 per cent of GDP from other current spending," it said. While uncertainty remains around the realization of disinvestment receipts, both direct and indirect taxes so far in the year are tracking well ahead of budget estimates. "We expect the Central government to consolidate its fiscal deficit to 5.9 per cent of GDP in FY24, fully driven by a reduction in food and fertilizer subsidies, and project tax revenues to remain buoyant in the year, Goldman Sachs said. The free food programme was implemented at the peak of the pandemic, to ensure food security to the vulnerable population. In December 2022, the government discontinued the free food programme and instead decided to provide free foodgrains under the existing public distribution system. This is likely to reduce the food subsidy to 0.8 per cent of GDP. Further, global commodity prices which rose sharply in 2022 on the back of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, have since normalized and the outgo on fertilizer subsidy is likely to decline in FY24. "We expect the fertilizer subsidy in FY24 to return to the pre-pandemic average of 0.5 per cent of GDP. We expect the government to continue with the cooking fuel subsidy program (Ujwala Yojna) and expect fuel subsidies to remain at 0.1 per cent of GDP. We thus expect spending on subsidies as a share of GDP to fall to 1.5 per cent (from our estimate of 2.1 per cent in FY23)", Goldman Sachs. (Sanjeev Sharma can be reached at Sanjeev.s@ians.in) New Delhi, Jan 11 : A man has been arrested for urinating in a departure area at Terminal 3 of the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport here, police said on Wednesday. According to a senior Delhi Police official, the incident took place on January 8. "At around 5.30 p.m. that day, we received a call saying said that someone was urinating near gate number 6 of the departure area. The caller said that the man who was urinating seemed to be in an inebriated condition. A team of CISF and police was sent to the spot and the accused was caught," the official said. The accused was identified as Johar Ali Khan (39), a resident of Bihar. He was about to board a flight to Dubai when he was caught. The police said that Khan was asked by others not to urinate in the open but he did not listen and instead argued with them. He was taken to a nearby government hospital, where it was confirmed that he had been drunk. The police said that he was placed under arrest and later on released on bail as he was booked under bailable sections. New Delhi, Jan 11 : Three boys were injured after two groups clashed in Northwest Delhi's Jahangirpuri area over an issue of posting abusive language on social media, said an official on Wednesday. According to a senior police official, on Tuesday, around 8.45 p.m, a police control room (PCR) call was received regarding a quarrel at K-block Jahangirpuri Delhi following which a police team rushed to the spot. Three injured persons were taken to a hospital for treatment as they sustained stab injuries. "On inquiry, it was revealed that there was a quarrel between two groups of young boys (mostly minors) on the issue of posting abusive comments on social media groups of each other on Instagram," said the official. "On the basis of facts and circumstances, two cross cases under section 307 (attempt to murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code were registered in the Jahangirpuri police station and total 8 persons (mostly minor boys) from both sides have been apprehended. There is no communal angle in this incident. Further investigation is in progress," said Usha Rangnani, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (northwest). Lucknow, Jan 11 : The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh may increase the retirement age of doctors deployed at the government hospitals in a bid to address their shortage. Director general medical and health (DGMH) Dr Lilly Singh has received a letter from the department's special secretary, seeking a proposal to increase the retirement age of doctors to 65 years from the current 62 years, along with an option to work till the age of 70. This increase in the retirement age, if implemented, will be the third such move. The age limit was first raised to 60 years from 58 years in 2019. Specialist doctors retiring and getting transferred adversely impacts the health services. The number of PG seats at the government colleges that offer courses are also affected, the letter read. The medical education department has already enhanced the retirement age of faculty members to 65 years. At present, the medical and health department has over 3,000 specialist doctors who also work as faculty members to offer PG/DNB courses at some government hospitals. The total strength of doctors is close to 14,000, with over a dozen doctors retiring every month. Itanagar, Jan 11 : The Arunachal Pradesh government has decided to hand over five terminated hydropower projects with a generation capacity of 2820 MW to two Central Public Sector Undertakings (CPSUs), officials said here on Wednesday. An official of the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said that these five projects would require an investment of Rs 40,000 crore in next 5-7 years. Of the five projects, two hydropower projects -- Naying (1,000 MW) and Hirong (500 MW) -- would be handed over to the North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Limited (NEEPCO); and Emini (500MW), Amulin (420MW) and Minundon (400MW) to the Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited for development. The state cabinet in its meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Tuesday approved the indicative procedure for transferring the stalled hydropower projects to CPSUs in order to unlock the potential. These projects would provide revenue of around Rs 500 crore per year and around Rs1 00 crore for Local Area Development (LAD), the CMO official said. "An action plan has been prepared to commence work on 13 priority projects with 12,343 MW generation capacities. This would lead to an investment of Rs1.5 lakh crore and would provide revenue of Rs 2,000 crore to the state and around Rs 350 crore per year for LAD," an official statement said. It said that Arunachal Pradesh, through its hydropower, would contribute majorly towards India's commitment of increasing non-fossil energy capacity to 500 gigawatt. 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, the statement stated. The cabinet in its meeting also approved that revenue generated by the state government from the power sector be invested in the government bonds which would be used for the development of Arunachal Pradesh. New Delhi, Jan 11 : The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to examine an appeal by Google against a decision by the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), declining to stay a Rs 1,337.76 crore penalty imposed on it by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for alleged anti-competitive practices. Senior advocate A.M. Singhvi, representing Google, mentioned the matter before a bench headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud. Singhvi contended that the CCI passed extraordinary directions and the compliance date has been fixed as January 19, though the appeal was filed in December. Singhvi said, "I am asking (listing of the case) for Friday..." The bench, also comprising Justice P.S. Narasimha, said, "We will keep it on Monday". Singh emphasized that the compliance date of the order is January 19, otherwise the matter will become infructuous. Google moved the apex court after the setback at NCLAT, which did not stay the CCI order on abuse of dominant position in multiple markets in the Android mobile device ecosystem case. Earlier this month, the NCLAT did not find any urgency to pass an interim order, after noting that Google filed the appeal in December last year, though the CCI passed the order in October. It directed Google to deposit 10 per cent of the fine amount. The tribunal had said that there was no urgency shown in the filing of the appeal, therefore Google could not be allowed to press for interim relief. In October last year, the CCI had imposed a penalty of Rs 1,337.76 crore on the company for abusing its dominant position in multiple markets in relation to Android mobile devices. The CCI also imposed a penalty of Rs 936.44 crore on the company for abusing its dominant position with respect to its Play Store policies. Athens, Jan 11 : 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 press conference and wrote in a letter addressed to European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides, reports Xinhua news agency. "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. "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 ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, 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 said in a recent press release. The Hellenic Association of Pharmaceutical Companies has called on consumers to avoid stockpiling. Ahmedabad, Jan 11 : A BJP leader, Harshadkumar Gomat was stabbed to death in Ahmedabad's Viramgam, police said on Wednesday, adding that seven persons have been arrested. Gomat is the husband of Viramgam Nagarpalika councillor Sonal. Deputy Superintendent of Police D.S. Chauhan told IANS that on Tuesday late evening Harshadkumar Gomat was stabbed several times by his business and political rival Bharat Kathi and his six associates. Gomat succumbed to injuries when he was rushed to the Viramgam government hospital. The complaint, however, makes no direct mention of political rivalry. Harshad and his wife Sonal had contested the nagar palika elections from ward 2 of the Viramgam nagar palika as independent candidates. Sonal was elected to the nagar palika from the ward where accused Bharat Kathi lives. "Kathi, once enjoyed a stronghold in the area. After Sonal was elected, Harshad influenced the government contracts and other contracts, challenging Bharat Kathi's dominance. This could have triggered the crime," said the officer. "Kingpin Bharat Kathi and six others are detained, once their Covid report is negative, they will be officially arrested," said the officer. Silvassa : , Jan 11 (IANS) Silvassa police have arrested three people, including a juvenile, in connection with the sacrifice of a nine-year-old child. The juvenile has been sent to an observation Home in Surat. According to Senior Superintendent of Police, Dadra & Nagar Haveli (DNH) R.P. Meenda, nine-year-old son of Ganesh Kola had gone missing on December 29. A missing complaint was filed the next day. Investigations revealed that the missing child was sacrificed by Ramesh Sanwar, Shailesh Khokhera and juvenile accused. On December 31, police found the decapitated body of the child from Daman Ganga canal in Gujarat area. On January 1, police learned that a juvenile was involved in the crime and picked him up. During interrogation, the boy confessed to have kidnapped the child from Sayli village on December 29. The same day he, along with his accomplices, sacrificed the child, SP Meenda said in a press statement. "Another accused, Shailesh, helped the juvenile in committing the murder while performing the rituals. The conspiracy was hatched by the third accused Ramesh Sanwar, who prompted the juvenile to commit the offence. Shailesh was doing rituals in hope of gaining monetary benefits", the statement further read. Police statement said the juvenile was working at a butchery. All the three have been arrested under various sections of the IPC. Further investigation is underway. New Delhi, Jan 11 : The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday arrested two IS operatives in a case relating to a conspiracy hatched by the accused persons to further terror activities of Islamic State in India. The accused were identified as Mazin Abdul Rahman and Nadeem Ahmed K.A. both are residents of Karnataka. The case was initially registered at the Shivamogga Rural Police Station in Karnataka's Shivamogga district and later the probe was taken over by the NIA on November 4, 2022. "Investigations revealed that accused Maaz Muneer had radicalised and recruited Mazin Abdul Rahman while accused Syed Yasin radicalized and recruited Nadeem K.A. for furthering the terror activities of the Islamic State in India. "The accused persons recced and attempted/committed acts of sabotage/arson as part of the larger conspiracy, to further the activities of Islamic State. Four other accused persons were arrested earlier in the case," the official said. Further investigations in the matter are on. Kochi, Jan 11 : In line with the National Education Policy, the agricultural education in the country will be revamped by laying emphasis on skill development, Dr Seema Jaggi, Additional Director General (HRD) of the Indian Council of Agricultural Education (ICAR) said here on Wednesday. Jaggi was speaking after inaugurating 21-day Winter School, a training programme for researchers and academicians, at the ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI). She added that the course curriculum will be restructured in a way that helps open a wide array of opportunities in the agriculture sector. "With this, education and research in agriculture and allied areas will have greater opportunities in the country in the future", she said, adding that setting up of initiatives like incubation centres would greatly support rural development. Stressing the importance of analytical tools in social science research, she said that research would be incomplete without proper data analysis. "It is essential to have a solid understanding of modern statistical, econometric and time series methods to make proper inferences in social sciences research", she added. Sponsored by the Agricultural Education Division of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), the Winter School is aimed at providing an opportunity to update the analytical skills of social science researchers and make them more familiar with advanced analytical tools and software. A total of 25 participants from Rajasthan, New Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Telangana, Bihar, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala are attending the Winter School. CMFRI Director Dr A. Gopalakrishnan said the use of statistically valid judgments derived from research programmes is the foundation for the growth of the social sciences discipline. New Delhi, Jan 11 : The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to examine a plea seeking quashing the Bihar government's decision to conduct a caste survey in the state, on Friday. A counsel mentioned the plea for hearing before a bench headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud. The petition has been filed by one Akhilesh Kumar, a social worker from Nalanda, contending that this decision fell under the domain of the Union government. The bench, also comprising Justice P.S. Narasimha, allowed a plea for listing of the matter on Friday. The plea sought quashing of the notification issued by deputy secretary, government of Bihar, in connection with the caste survey and to refrain the authorities concerned from conducting the exercise. It added that there is no provision in the Constitution regarding caste configuration. The plea, which has been drawn by advocate Barun Kumar Sinha, argued that move was also against the basic structure of the Constitution, besides being "illegal, arbitrary, irrational, discriminatory and unconstitutional". It further contended that according to Section-3 of the Census Act, 1948, the Centre is empowered to take census in the whole or any part of the territory of India. The plea added that the scheme of Census Act, 1948, establishes that caste census is not contemplated in the law and the state government has no authority in law to conduct caste census. It claimed that the notification dated June 6, 2022, violated Article 14 of the Constitution, which provides for equality before law and equal protection of the law. "The state government by executive orders cannot conduct caste census in the absence of legislation on the subject.The impugned notification for caste census in the State of Bihar lacks statutory flavour and constitutional sanction," it said. Panaji, Jan 11 : A delegation led by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant will be meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah Wednesday over the Mhadei diversion issue. The meeting is scheduled to take place at 7.30 p.m. Goa Legislative Assembly Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar, Environment Minister Nilesh Cabral, Water Resource Minister Subhash Shirodkar, Forest Minister Vishwajit Rane (All BJP MLAs), Power Minister Sudin Dhavalikar (MG Party) and an Independent MLA Chandrakant Shetye will be part of this delegation, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant told reporters here. "Interstate dispute is always resolved by the Home Minister. Hence we are meeting him," Sawant said. He said that the opposition MLAS didn't attend the 'All Party meeting' called to discuss the Mhadei issue and hence they were not invited. "They have not shown interest in it and hence we have not invited them to meet Amit Shah," he said. Union Minister of State for Tourism Shripad Naik speaking to IANS, said, "Will be meeting Amit Shah at around 7.30 p.m. so far the meeting with Amit Shah is confirmed. We may also meet Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat," Naik said. He said that Rajya Sabha Member Vinay Tendulkar will also be part of the delegation. Since the Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai announced that the Centre has cleared the much disputed Kalasa-Bhanduri dam project in his state, people have started to vent their anger over the issue and political parties are holding public meetings. Several social activists, social organisations and opposition parties in Goa have come under one banner of "Save Goa- Save Mhadei'. They will hold a public meeting on January 16 at Sanquelim in North Goa. Goa and Karnataka are currently battling out a dispute over the Kalsa-Bhandura dam project across the waters of the Mhadei river at a Central tribunal. Mhadei originates in Karnataka and meets the Arabian Sea in Panaji. While the river traverses 28.8 km in Karnataka, it is 81.2 km in length in Goa. Karnataka plans to construct dams on the river, aimed at diverting the waters into its water-starved Malaprabha basin in North Karnataka. Nashik, Jan 11 : Veteran Congressman and trade unionist Jaiprakash J. Chhajed passed away following a massive heart attack when he was proceeding to Nagpur for a convention, party leaders said here on Wednesday. He was 75 and is survived by his wife Shobha J. Chhajed, a former Deputy Mayor of Nashik Municipal Corporation, and three sons -- Preetish, Hitendra and Akash. En route, he reportedly suffered chest pains and returned to Nashik and rushed to a private hospital where he breathed his last around 10.30 p.m. on Tuesday. Chhajed's mortal remains have been kept at the Congress office here for people to pay their last respects and his funeral rites will be performed at the Amadham Crematorium on Wednesday evening. Expressing shock, state Congress President Nana Patole described Chhajed as "a leader and unionist who fought for the rights and worked for the welfare of the working classes till his last breath". "He served the people through the party and the union, touching them in all spheres, social-cultural-political, and remained a staunch Congressman. His passing is an irreparable loss to the party and the trade union movement," said Patole. The state President of INTUC, the Congress' labour wing, Chhajed, a former legislator, had been keeping unwell since the past few days, but decided to proceed to Nagpur for a party conclave. On hearing of Chhajed's sudden demise, Congress leaders and unionists who had gone to Nagpur, are now returning to Nashik for the funeral. New Delhi, Jan 11 : The Centre Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is conducting raids at more than 50 locations across the nation on the premises belonging to owners of some rice-flour mills, agents and government officials who are accused of corruption. The CBI had been working on specific input regarding corruption in the FCI( Food Corporation of India ). On Tuesday, the CBI arrested one deputy general manager (DGM) Rajeev Kumar Mishra when he was about to get a bribe of Rs 50,000 from one Ravinder Singh Khera in Punjab. The CBI said that two days ago an FIR in this connection was lodged against 74 persons, including government officials, private entities, agents and mills owners. Raids are currently going on in Delhi, Punjab and Haryana. Two locations in Delhi are being raided by senior CBI officials while in Punjab raids are going on in Ludhiana, Patiala and Amritsar. In Haryana, the raids are going on in Hisar and Ambala. New Delhi, Jan 11 : The Border Security Force (BSF) apprehended 1,951 infiltrators and smugglers of Bangladeshi origin from the South Bengal border in 2022. The BSF informed that narcotics worth crores of rupees were seized during this period, in one of the most challenging international borders of the country. The border is complex as the populations live in close proximity on both sides and have similar ethnic and cultural affinities. The South Bengal Frontier guards an area of 913 km along the Indo-Bangladesh border, including 364 km of riverine border and a vast area of Charland. A BSF spokesperson said that the Frontier had made concerted efforts on the operational front and had contained smuggling to a great extent. In 2022, the force apprehended 936 Indians, 69 brokers and 81 nationals of other countries, apart from the 1,951 Bangladeshis in various operations to check smuggling and infiltration. According to statistics, the personnel of the South Bengal Frontier rescued 1,175 cattle and seized 2,52,291 bottles of banned Phensedyl cough syrup, 2,812 kg of ganja, 12,562 yaba tablets and 1,13,12.408 gm of gold. The BSF said that relations between the two border forces of India and Bangladesh are cordial and they make the best efforts to promote bilateral ties. The mutual understanding and co-operation between the BSF and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) has helped in resolving several issues along the border, besides maintaining peace, said the BSF. Varanasi, Jan 11 : Thirty-two Swiss tourists will be part of the inaugural sail of 'MV Ganga Vilas' that will be flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi through video conferencing on January 13. The Swiss tourists will be a part of the 52-day journey on the world's longest river voyage from Varanasi to Dibrugarh and the journey will cost approximately Rs 13 lakh, approximately with an average fare for per person being about Rs 25,000 per night. MV Ganga Vilas, the luxury triple-deck cruise, reached Varanasi from Kolkata on Monday. Joint director tourism Priti Srivastava said, "The MV Ganga Vilas has reached Varanasi and docked at Ramnagar port. The group of 32 Swiss tourists will board the cruise on January 13. This will be a chartered cruise, booked by a Switzerland-based company for Swiss tourists and there will be no Indian tourist on it." Divisional commissioner Kaushal Raj Sharma said with the launch of the world's longest river voyage, Varanasi will herald a new age of river cruise tourism for India. The luxury cruise will cover a distance of more than 3,200 km across 27 river systems in five states in India and Bangladesh. The cruise will reach Dibrugrah on March 1 where tourists on board will get an opportunity to stop at 50 tourist sites to experience the spiritual, educational, cultural as well as the richness of the biodiversity of India. The itinerary of MV Ganga Vilas has been curated in a way to showcase the rich heritage of India with stopovers made at places of historical, cultural and religious importance, said the officials adding that the journey will start after witnessing 'Ganga Arti' and visit to Sarnath, a place of great reverence for Buddhism. The cruise will also be covering Mayong, known for its Tantric craft, and Majuli, the largest river island and hub of Vaishnavite culture in Assam. The travellers will also visit the Bihar School of Yoga and Vikramshila University, allowing them to soak in the rich Indian heritage in spirituality and knowledge. The cruise will also traverse through the biodiversity rich world heritage sites of Sunderbans in Bay of Bengal delta, famous for royal Bengal tigers, as well as Kaziranga National Park, famous for one-horn rhino. The MV Ganga Vilas vessel, which is 62 meters in length, 12 meters in width and comfortably sails with a draft of 1.4 meters, has three decks, 18 suites on board with a capacity of 36 tourists, with all the amenities to provide a memorable and luxurious experience for the tourists. New Delhi, Jan 11 : The Central government has named the scheme for distributing free ration under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) for a period of one year till December 2023, as the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana (PMGKAY). Under the scheme, the Centre started distributing free ration to NFSA beneficiaries from January 1, 2023 onwards. Free food grains would be given till December 2023. The move will entail a burden of Rs 2 lakh crore, which would be completely borne by the government. The Union Cabinet had approved the decision to give free food grains to NFSA beneficiaries for a period of one year on December 23, 2022. More than 81.35 crore NFSA beneficiaries will benefit from the move. Earlier rice and wheat were provided at subsidised rates to the beneficiaries under NFSA. Food grains which were being provided under the erstwhile Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) since April 2020, will also be subsumed under NFSA quota. New guidelines to set up schools in UP Image Source: IANS News Lucknow, Jan 11 : The Uttar Pradesh government has approved new standards and conditions proposed to set up new schools. Under the new guidelines, private schools affiliated to Uttar Pradesh Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad a.k.a UP Board will not be able to be open in small buildings. The government has said that now 3,000 square metres of land will be required to open a school in the urban area. Earlier, schools could open in 650 square metre area. Similarly, 6,000 square metre land has been made the standard for setting up a school in the rural areas. It was earlier 2,000 square metre. The security deposit for recognition has also been increased manifold. Smart classes, computer classes and other state-of-the-art resources have also been made mandatory. According to the order issued by principal secretary (secondary education) Deepak Kumar, these changes are being made for ensuring quality education under the National Education Policy-2020. To give recognition to private schools, proposal to amend the regulations of the Board of Secondary Education has been approved. The state government has given instructions to the chairman and secretary of the council that the notification of standards and conditions should be published in the gazette as per the provision in Section-16 (2) of the Intermediate Education Act, 1921. UP Board's high school and intermediate colleges will now initially be given recognition for three years. Later, it will be renewed for five years keeping in view the compliance of recognition conditions and arrangements in the school. These standards are prescribed in the terms of the new recognition approved by the government. Earlier, there was a provision for the on-site inspection for recognition where the district inspector of schools would stand in front of the building and get photographs of his and the building clicked and attached to the report. Now the district committee will conduct a detailed inspection. Videography and photography of building, laboratory, playground, boundary wall, library will be done. It will be uploaded on the council's website. Apart from this, the student-teacher ratio in the school will not exceed 40:1. It will be mandatory to have one teacher for each subject. Once they get recognition, the schools will be required to publish results on the website and details of fees each year. Lucknow, Jan 11 : The Uttar Pradesh government has launched a campaign under which it will identify multiple diseases. The campaign known as "Ekikrit Nikshay Diwas (END)" will be held on the 15th of each month. The Nikshay Diwas was organised on the same day every month to identify TB cases but under END, patients of filariasis, malaria, chikungunya, kala azar and leprosy will also be targeted for early diagnosis, a government order stated. "Just as TB patients were identified and their treatment was initiated, the identification and treatment for filariasis, malaria, chikungunya, kala azar and leprosy patients will also be done in the same manner," the order read. "The idea behind such an initiative of focusing on more than one disease will ensure identification and treatment do not have a gap. If health staff visits one house and identifies more than one disease the outcome will be better," said Dr Abhishek Shukla, secretary-general, Association of International Doctors. At present, community health officers are being trained for the purpose and later, the entire process will be done via e-Kawach app, the order read. The state has a target to eliminate TB by the year 2025, while leprosy, filariasis, malaria, chikungunya by 2030 and kala azar by the end of this year only. Uttar Pradesh has 51 districts affected with filariasis, 6 districts with kala azar and cases of TB, leprosy, malaria and chikungunya are identified from across the state at present, according to the data. On December 15 during the Nikshay Diwas, 2,80,187 patients were examined in the OPDs and samples of 23,096 were taken. Among 700 TB was confirmed and some were advised further tests. In all, treatment of 695 has begun, according to data from the health department. Chennai, Jan 11 : The Indian government is optimistic about export growth while it is less optimistic on private consumption expenditure. According to Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd, the government's export growth forecast is 12.5 per cent year-on-year (YoY -11.9 per cent YoY in 2HFY23) while it pegs it at 7.8 per cent YoY in FY23 (5.4 per cent YoY in 2HFY23). "On the contrary, the government appears less optimistic than we are on private consumption expenditure. While CSO estimates it to grow 7.7 per cent YoY in FY23 (-0.2 per cent YoY in 2HFY23), we expect a growth of 11.8 per cent YoY during the year (6.6 per cent in 2HFY23)," said Motilal Oswal. The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has pegged real GDP growth at 7 per cent YoY in FY23E, similar to our forecast of 6.9 per cent, but slightly higher than the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) assumption of 6.8 per cent YoY, Motilal Oswal said. According to the company, the real gross domestic product (GDP) is, therefore, likely to grow 4.5 per cent YoY in 2HFY23. However, CSO forecasts nominal GDP growth at 15.3 per cent YoY in FY23, the company's estimate of 14.7 per cent YoY, Motilal Oswal said. "Our estimates are broadly in-line with that of the government's for most of the GDP components. While CSO estimates the government consumption to grow 3.1 per cent YoY in FY23 (7.2 per cent YoY in 2HFY23), we expect it to rise 3 per cent YoY (6.9 per cent YoY in 2HFY23). "The government expects gross capital formation (GCF) to grow 10.6 per cent YoY (9.4 per cent YoY in 2HFY23) while our forecast for the same stands at 9.8 per cent YoY in FY23 (7.6 per cent YoY in 2HFY23)," Motilal Oswal said. The picture shows the signing ceremony for school supplies handover. DJIBOUTI, Jan. 11 -- Troops of Chinese PLA Support Base in Djibouti, together with officials from the Ministry of National Education and Vocational Training of Djibouti, held a ceremony at the PK12 primary school on January 5 to donate a batch of school supplies to three primary schools in Balbala district, Djibouti. "China and Djibouti are good friends and brothers, enjoying longstanding friendship. I would like to extend my gratitude to the Chinese naval base here," said Djiboutis Minister of National Education and Vocational Training at the donation ceremony. This is the third public assistance to improve the teaching conditions of local schools since the setting up of the Chinese support base in Djibouti. The base contributed office computers, projectors, desks, chairs and other school supplies to three primary schools this time. The total number of donated materials exceeded 1,000 pieces (sets), effectively improving the teaching conditions of local schools and winning high acclaim from the Djibouti Ministry of National Education and Vocational Training and local schools. In recent years, the base has vigorously implemented the initiative of building a community with a shared future for mankind, and provided humanitarian, medical and public assistance to the local people. It has also established a normalized educational assistance mechanism with Djibouti side, constantly deepening bilateral exchanges and winning high acclaim from the Djibouti government and all sectors of society. Chinese PLA naval members hand new schoolbags to students of PK12 primary school. New Delhi, Jan 11 : A man and a woman were found dead in a hotel room in Outer North Delhi's Bawana area, an senior police official said on Wednesday. The incident occurred on Tuesday and police suspect that the man first killed the woman and then died by consuming sulphas tablets. According to the official, on January 10, a hotel owner in Bawana called up police regarding two bodies found in one of the rooms. "On getting the information, a police team reached the spot and found two bodies. The man and woman, both aged 21, had checked into the hotel around 10 a.m together. While the girl had an injury mark on her neck, foam (now dried) marks were present on the man's mouth," said the official. "A foul smell was emanating from the man's body and there was also some black liquid in the bathroom which seemed to be vomit. A blood-stained knife and sulfas powder were recovered from the spot," said the official. The teams from Crime and Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) have inspected the scene. "Prime facie it appears that the man killed the woman and consumed sulphas tablets leading to his own death. The CCTV has been checked and no one is seen entering the room after the entry of a girl and boy inside the room," the official added. Further investigation is underway. Shanghai, Jan 11 : Shanghai expects to notch a year-on-year gross domestic product (GDP) growth of over 5.5 per cent this year, according to a government work report released in on Wednesday. For the second year in a row, Shanghai's GDP exceeded the 4-trillion-yuan ($590 billion) threshold in 2022, according to the government work report delivered at the ongoing first session of the 16th Shanghai Municipal People's Congress, reports Xinhua news agency. Shanghai recorded actual utilization of foreign investment totaling $103 billion in the past five years, an increase of about 15.8 per cent over the previous five years. Shanghai's financial sector has also witnessed growth, with total financial markets transactions increasing from 1,428.4 trillion yuan in 2017 to nearly 3,000 trillion yuan in 2022. Shanghai now is home to 891 regional headquarters of multinational corporations and 531 foreign R&D centres, according to the report. The container throughput of the Shanghai Port exceeded 47.3 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in 2022, ranking first globally for 13 consecutive years. The city aims to keep the surveyed urban unemployment rate within 5 per cent, according to the report. Looking ahead, the city's Mayor Gong Zheng said Shanghai will continue to promote the development of the digital economy, green and low-carbon industries, as well as metaverse and intelligent terminals. The metropolis will strengthen the capacity of the international financial centres in resource allocation, and deepen its roles as a global asset management centre and an international reinsurance centre, said the Mayor. According to the report, to boost consumption, the city will strive to build itself into an international consumption centre and further the development of first-store economy, night-time economy, and live-streaming economy. New Delhi, Jan 11 : Hours after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided NCP leader Hasan Mushrif's residence, BJP leader Kirit Somaiya on Wednesday accused the former minister of committing a fraud worth Rs 158 crore. He also demanded an inquiry from the Rural Development Department Secretary Rajesh Kumar Meena. He further claimed that when Uddhav Thackeray was Maharashtra Chief Minister, he had tried to shield Mushrif. Addressing a press conference here, Somaiya alleged that there have been scams in various sugar mills which are interlinked. Soon, Anil Parab and Aslam Sheikh will also land in trouble, he warned. "The ED has now clamped down on Hasan Mushrif, another minister in Thackeray's mafia government. Hasan Mushrif scammed Rs 158 crore in the name of his family, son and son-in-law's company. Money was sent to his family company from several shell companies in Kolkata. It was then transferred to Sir Senapati Ghorpade Sugar Factory." "Maa Mahalakshmi, the Goddess of Kolhapur, is pleased with me today. I remember that on September 28, I was wanting to go to Kolhapur but was stopped by Hasan Mushrif, Dilip Walse Patil, Sharad Pawar, Ajit Pawar, and Uddhav Thackeray. But Mahalakshmi blessed me today as Hasan Mushrif's countdown has begun," he added. Somaiya further alleged, "Let me give two examples. A sum of Rs 13.85 crore was moved into the account of Hasan Mushrif family from Rajat Consumer Services Private Limited in 2013-14. But that company was already shut down in 2004. There is no company at all. Where did the money come from? An amount of Rs 24.75 crore was also sent to one Mount Capital Private Limited which was again a defunct company. Hasan Mushrif paid in cash. A check for the same money was being deposited in the family's account." London, Jan 11 : Counter-terror cops and security services in the UK have launched a probe after a deadly shipment of uranium was seized at London's Heathrow airport, a media outlet reported. The undeclared nuclear material can be used in a dirty bomb. It was destined for Iranian nationals in the UK, originated from Pakistan and arrived on a flight from Oman, The Sun reported. A source said: "The race is on to trace everyone involved." The package, suspected of being smuggled to UK-based Iranians, arrived in the hold of a passenger jet. Specialist scanners detected the potentially lethal uranium as it was ferried to a freight shed, triggering alarms. Border agents swooped and isolated the unregistered shipment in a dedicated radioactive room. Counter-terror police were alerted and a security probe launched into who sent the cargo. It originated from Pakistan and arrived at Terminal 4 on an Oman Air jet from Muscat, The Sun reported. Cops were understood to be targeting an Iran-based firm with UK premises where the material was due to go to mystery recipients. No arrests have been made. Chennai, Jan 11 : The Social monitoring committee of Tamil Nadu will on January 13 visit Vengavayil village in Pudukottai district where human feces were found dumped in a water tank supplying drinking water to a Dalit colony. The team comprising Swaminathan Devadoss, G. Karunanidhi, R. Rajendran and Shanthi Raveendranath will hold discussions with the Pudukkottai district collector and Superintendent of Police. After the people living in the SC colony complained to the health authorities, the matter was reported to the district administration. The district collector of Pudukkottai and District Superintendent of Police and other officers were shocked when they found that the issue was much deeper. The village did not allow people from the Dalit community to pray in temples earmarked for the upper caste. The double tumbler system also existed in this village with Dalit people being given water and tea in separate tumblers in hotels. The district collector immediately took action and arrested a husband and wife duo who were running a restaurant where there was clear demarcation for the Dalit people. To their disbelief, the village which has over 100 Dalit people found human feces in the water tank. People found that children were falling ill and when a doctor was consulted he informed them that there was contamination in the drinking water. When the water tank was inspected, it was found that a large quantity of human excreta was dropped in the water tank which was the reason behind the children falling ill. The Tamil Nadu government had taken action and has constituted a Social monitoring committee to look into the issue plaguing the village. Hyderabad, Jan 11 : The Telangana High Court on Wednesday declined to stay the municipal master plan of Kamareddy. Hearing a petition of farmers opposing the draft master plan, the high court refused to pass an interim order to stay the plan. The court asked the state government to file a counter on the petition filed by farmers who are not willing to part with their lands for the proposed industrial zone under the masterplan. The Advocate General informed the court that the government would take the objections of the farmers into consideration while finalising the masterplan. The court adjourned the hearing to January 25. Meanwhile, some farmers from seven villages continued their protest in Kamareddy town. They were staging a sit-in in front of the municipal office, demanding scrapping of the master plan. Leaders of opposition BJP, Congress, Telangana Jana Samithi, YSR Telangana Party and others participated in the dharna in support of the farmers. They demanded that the government scrap the masterplan and take the objections of people into consideration. Police made elaborate security arrangements in view of the protest. Several leaders of farmers were taken into preventive custody in villages. However, some farmers managed to reach the town and sat on dharna. The Joint Action Committee (JAC) of farmers decided to continue its fight against the master plan for Kamareddy town. Farmers have been staging dharnas, rasta rokos and observing a bandh against the proposed masterplan for the last few days. They also filed a petition in Telangana High Court, challenging the master plan. They found fault with officials for earmarking fertile agricultural fields in Adloor, Yellareddy, Elchipur, Tekrial and other villages for an industrial zone. The farmers said that 1,210 acres of agricultural land has been brought under the green zone and industrial zone under the draft master plan and expressed the fear that the government would take over their land. Municipal authorities set a January 11 deadline for receiving objections to the draft master plan. The farmers claimed that they have already sent over 500 legal notices to object to the industrial zone. Alleging that officials disregarded their objections, they approached the High Court. Farmers have been agitating for the last one month against the master plan, demanding the exclusion of their agricultural lands from the proposed green zone and industrial zone They intensified the protest last week after a farmer, Payyavula Ramulu (40), committed suicide fearing that he would lose his land. Chandigarh, Jan 11 : With Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday asking the striking Punjab Civil Service (PCS) and revenue officers to join duty by 2 p.m., or face strict action, they withdrew their protest and decided to resume work immediately. The decision to end the strike was taken after a meeting between Additional Chief Secretary to the Chief Minister, A. Venu Prasad, and a five-member delegation of the PCS Officers' Association led by its President Rajat Oberoi here. After over an hour meeting, Prasad said the association decided to end the strike and it promised that they would not shield the corrupt officers. "The anti-corruption drive would continue," he said. Oberoi said with the assurance given by the Chief Minister that no injustice would be meted out to any person, they decided to call back their strike. Earlier in the day, in an official letter to Chief Secretary V.K. Janjua, Chief Minister Mann asked him to suspend all those officials and employees who do not join their duties by the given time framework. He said that the officials and employees were trying to blackmail the government by exerting pressure and protecting the corrupt. This action of employees is "blackmailing and arm twisting", he said. "We have zero tolerance to corruption," he said while adding that the strike could not be tolerated by any responsible government. Members of the association proceeded on a five-day casual leave on Monday to protest against the arrest of their colleague Narinder Singh Dhaliwal, Secretary, Regional Transport Authority (RTA), Ludhiana, who was arrested by the Vigilance Bureau on January 6 in a corruption case. At the meeting between the association and the Additional Chief Secretary to the Chief Minister, the government agreed to make an Special Investigating Team to decide if the action against Dhaliwal was according to procedure or not. At least 235 PCS officers across Punjab were on mass casual leave. The offices of Deputy Commissioners, Civil Secretariats, Divisional Commissioners, and Revenue offices wore a deserted look during the strike. Hyderabad, Jan 11 : Senior IAS officer A. Santhi Kumari was on Wednesday appointed the Chief Secretary of Telangana, a day after the Union Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) sent incumbent Somesh Kumar to Andhra Pradesh following the Telangana High Court order. An Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of 1989 batch, Santhi Kumari took charge immediately after she was appointed - the first woman to Chief Secretary of Telangana. After taking charge, she called on Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and thanked him for entrusting her with the key responsibility. She was holding the post of Special Chief Secretary, Forest, prior to her appointment as Chief Secretary. A post-graduate in marine biology, she pursued MBA in the United States and also worked in the United Nations programmes for two years. During three decades of her service, she served in various positions in the departments of Education, Health, Poverty Alleviation, Skill Development, and Forests. Santhi Kumari's appointment came a day after the DoPT relieved Somesh Kumar from the Telangana government, following the Telangana High Court setting aside the order of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), allocating the officer to Telangana in 2016. The DoPT asked Somesh Kumar to join the Andhra Pradesh government latest by January 12. CAT's Hyderabad bench had passed an order on March 29, 2016 allotting Somesh Kumar to Telangana. Following bifurcation of united Andhra Pradesh into two separate states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in 2014, the Union government had re-allotted IAS and IPS officers working in the undivided state to the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh and the newly-created Telangana. In this process, Somesh Kumar, an IAS officer from the 1989 batch, was allotted to Andhra Pradesh by the DoPT. However, Somesh Kumar had moved the CAT and secured an order staying his allotment to the Andhra Pradesh cadre. Since then, he continued in Telangana and became Chief Secretary in 2019. The DoPT had filed an appeal in the High Court challenging the stay order of CAT, Hyderabad branch. Lucknow, Jan 11 : In a major pile-up, about half a dozen vehicles crashed into one another on the Lucknow Agra expressway on Wednesday morning, leaving several people injured. The accident occurred due to dense fog which led to poor visibility. Trucks, buses and cars collided on the highway, leaving several people injured in the accident. According to the witnesses, officials of the state government's Mining Department had stopped a dumper truck for checking, which led to the pile-up. An Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) bus going from Etawah to Mathura, carrying around 50 passengers, also collided with a trailer truck. Several passengers, onboard the bus, were injured. However, no casualties have been reported. Meanwhile six people were killed on Wednesday as a dumper crashed into a tea stall in the morning. Four persons were injured. New Delhi, Jan 11 : A Delhi court on Wednesday reserved its ruling on a bail plea filed by Shankar Mishra, who is accused of urinating on an elderly female co-passenger, while in a drunken state, on a New York-New Delhi flight in November last year. Metropolitan Magistrate, Patiala House courts Komal Garg reserved her order on the plea after arguments from both sides. Appearing for Mishra, advocate Manu Sharma stated before the court that Delhi Police registered an FIR in only one non-bailable offense, while others are bailable offenses. The Public Prosecutor opposed the accused's request for bail on the grounds that the accused is a powerful individual and, if granted bail, could sway the complainant. The PP also said that the police have filed a revision petition against denial of police remand and that is listed for Thursday. The court was further told that statements of three crew members and two-three passengers are yet to be recorded. The complainant's lawyer contended that intoxication could never be used as an excuse, adding that the court has to examine whether bail can be granted to an offender who first apologised but later recanted. The lawyer also told the court that the accused's father had messaged the victim on WhatsApp saying karma will hit her but later deleted the message. On January 7, the court sent Mishra to 14 days judicial custody. Mishra has been booked under Sections 510 (misconduct in public by a drunken person), 509 (insulting the modesty of a woman), 294 (sings, recites or utters any obscene song, ballad or words, in or near any public place), and 354 (intending to outrage modesty) of the Indian Penal Code as well as a section of the Aircraft Rules Act in a case registered at the IGI Airport police station. New Delhi, Jan 11 : The Union Cabinet on Wednesday gave ex post facto approval for renaming National Centre for Drinking Water, Sanitation and Quality, Joka, Kolkata as Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee National Institute of Water and Sanitation (SPM-NIWAS)'. Inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December, 2022, the centre set up on 8.72 acres of land at Joka, Diamond Harbor Road, Kolkata, West Bengal, is envisaged as a premier institute to develop capacities in states/UTs in the field of public health engineering, drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene through training programmes. Such capacities are envisaged for not only the front-line workforce engaged in implementation of the Swachh Bharat Mission and Jal Jeevan Mission, but also for the representatives of local bodies, both rural and urban. Accordingly, suitable infrastructure has been developed, including training infrastructure, and R&D Block and a residential complex. Working and miniature models of Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) technologies are also installed to facilitate the training at the institute. Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee, one of the most deserving sons of West Bengal and a front-runner in national integration, inspiration for industrialisation, was also an eminent scholar and academician and the youngest Vice Chancellor of University of Calcutta, Ministry of Jal Shakti said in a statement on Wednesday. Naming the institute after Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee's name shall inspire the whole set of stakeholders to honour him by adopting his values of honesty, integrity, and commitment in the work ethos of the Institute. Guwahati, Jan 11 : RuPay has partnered with Brahmaputra Volleyball League to support league's mission to build volleyball talent at a grass root level in Assam and the North East India Region The majority of BVL matches are scheduled to take place from January to March, 2023 and will comprise 600 plus matches. This league will be organised between the volleyball teams of villages of Assam. The core concept is to leverage a league format to grow the culture for volleyball at the regional level. The response so far has been incredible, with a record participation of over 393 teams from 144 villages in Assam. The format offered to these village teams is exactly the same as a league format with home and away games. The founder of the Brahmaputra Volleyball League and former captain of the Indian national volleyball team, Abhijit Bhattacharya said, "RuPay is offering us critical support for our vision to grow talent for Volleyball in the northeast region via this training program. To develop volleyball as a sport bottom up, we need long-term visionary support and this will help us crowdsource talent with the larger intent of streamlining it to training camps and national level leagues & tournaments. We have impacted over 10,000 athletes and over 1 lakh people from across 27 districts of Assam with this initiative." The BVL is organised in three stages including district, zonal and super league levels. The local community takes ownership of hosting the matches in their respective villages. In its third season, the league will be discovering talent in both boys and girls categories. Jaipur, Jan 11 : At the 83rd conference of All India Presiding Officers being held in Jaipur, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot discussed the challenges of judicial interference in legislative proceedings. They also called for decorum amongst the MPs and MLAs while running the House. The Vice President expressed his displeasure over the cancellation of law by the Supreme Court which was passed by Parliament. Dhankhar said that in 1973 a very wrong tradition started. "It was in 1973, in the Kesavananda Bharati case, that the Supreme Court evolved for the first time the right of the courts to strike down constitutional amendments that violated what it called the 'Basic Structure', or the fundamental architecture of the Constitution. Power of the Parliament to amend the constitution and deal with legislation is not subject to any other authority. This is the lifeline of democracy. I am sure this will engage your thoughtful consideration," he said. "I want to say with respect to the court that I do not agree with this, the House can make changes. This House should tell whether it can be done," he stated. Dhankhar said "When I took charge as the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, I had said that neither the executive can see the law, nor the court can interfere. If any institution invalidates the law made by Parliament on any ground, then it will not be good for democracy. It would be difficult to say that we are a democratic country." He added that in subsequent years, the highest court delivered significant rulings on matters that it held pivotal to this "Basic Structure" and in the process parliamentary sovereignty was compromised. The most recent and prominent judicial manifestation of the "basic structure doctrine" was on 16th October, 2015, when the highest court of the land in a 4-1 majority verdict, held both the 99th Constitution Amendment Act, 2014, and the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act, 2014, unconstitutional on the premise of being in violation of the basic structure. History of sorts was created in Parliament with respect to the NJAC as there was complete unanimity in the Lok Sabha. There was not a single dissenting voice. The House voted in unison in favour of this constitutional amendment. In the Rajya Sabha, there was unanimity but there was one abstention. Sixteen state legislatures ratified it, with the Rajasthan Assembly being the first one. This exercise crystallised into a constitutional prescription with the President's assent under Article 111 of the Constitution. This was undone by the judiciary. Such a scenario is perhaps unparalleled in the democratic history of the world. The executive is ordained to be in compliance of the constitutional prescription emanating from Parliament. It was obligated to adhere to the NJAC. A judicial verdict cannot run it down. Parliamentary sovereignty and autonomy cannot be permitted to be qualified or compromised as it is quintessential to the survival of democracy, he added. The judiciary cannot legislate in as much as the Legislature cannot script a judicial verdict, he said. It must be remembered that the Constitution never envisaged a Third and Superior Chamber for Parliament to grant approval to the legislation passed by the two Houses. He also raised concerns about the conduct of the elected representatives and said, "The current scenario in Parliament and the Legislatures is indeed a cause of concern. It is time for us to address the widespread disillusionment and disgust of the people at the lack of decorum in Parliament and the Legislatures. Be in no doubt, the anguish and disappointment of the people at the lack of decorum and discipline in the proceedings in Parliament and the Legislatures is severe. There is continual diminishing of respect in the public for Parliament and the Legislatures and their representatives. There could not be more urgency for being in correctional mode. How can the representatives -- MLAs, MLCs and MPs -- swear by the constitution and the law but blatantly flout the rules and throw decorum to the winds, he questioned. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said the judiciary should also follow decorum. The judiciary is expected to use what is constitutionally given to it, and also maintain a balance of power. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said sometimes there are differences with the judiciary which is interfering in our work. The princes' privy purses were abolished by late prime minister Indira Gandhi, however the judiciary quashed those orders. Later, judgments came in favour of all her decisions for nationalization of banks. Gehlot termed Assembly speaker CP Joshi as a revolutionary leader and said that "Running the House in front of the Speaker is a big challenge. Maintaining a balance between the government and the opposition and maintaining your credibility is a big challenge." Speaker of the Vidhan Sabha CP Joshi said today there are many challenges in front of parliamentary democracy. Today there is dictatorship of the executive. Meetings of the Vidhan Sabhas are decreasing, so who will make the government accountable. If there is no discussion in Parliament and the Assemblies, they will become irrelevant, adding that the assembly speaker is helpless. "The speaker of the assembly is only the referee. The speaker cannot call the assembly. This work is done by the government. Unfortunately, we only run Houses. There is no other power. I want to tell the CM that the Legislature should be given the right to take financial decisions," he added. The All India Presiding Officers' Conference is being held in the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly for two days from Wednesday. Speakers of the Vidhan Sabhas and Vidhan Parishads of the country are participating and discussing issues ranging from G-20 to preventing conflicts between the legislature and the judiciary. New Delhi, Jan 11 : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has recovered around Rs 60 lakh in cash after raids were conducted on Wednesday across 50 locations in the country on the premises belonging to owners of some rice-flour mills, agents and government officials who are accused of corruption. The raids were carried out as part of the probe agency's operation against channelised corruption in the Food Corporation of India (FCI) related to procurement, storage and distribution. The CBI has been working on a specific input which suggested that corrupt methods were underway in the FCI. On Tuesday, the CBI had arrested a deputy general manager Rajeev Kumar Mishra when he was about to accept a bribe of Rs 50,000 from one Ravinder Singh Khera in Punjab. The CBI said that two days ago, it had lodged an FIR in connection with the case against 74 people including government officials, private entities, agents and mills owners. Raids are currently underway in Delhi, Punjab and Haryana. Two locations in Delhi are being raided by senior CBI officials while in Punjab, raids are going on in Ludhiana, Patiala and Amritsar. In Haryana, raids are going on in Hisar and Ambala. New Delhi, Jan 11 : In wake of the recent face off in Tamil Nadu Assembly between the Governor and the Chief Minister, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday accused the Centre's ruling BJP for using the Governors as its "karyakartas". "BJP's deliberate design to denigrate the Constitutional office of Governors by using them as its 'karyakartas' in states ruled by opposition is an assault on democracy. "Brazen overstepping of the Constitution by a few Governors recently has sullied the federal structure of our polity. Governors have to function within framework of the Constitution and cannot insult the Legislature of which they are a part of," Kharge said. "But they are being manipulated by their Delhi masters to create social & political unrest in states ruled by parties other than BJP which is dangerous," he added. Governor R.N. Ravi and Tamil Nadu's ruling DMK coalition have been on a confrontation path for the past several months but gained momentum after the Governor's recent statement that Tamil Nadu can be called 'Thamizhagam' as it would be "more inclusive". This led to the DMK and its allies coming out strongly against the Governor with the DMK allies, including VCK, the Congress, the CPI-M, the CPI and the Indian Union Muslim League members staging a protest in the Assembly. The protest reached its peak after the Governor skipped certain portions from the written speech which included references to Dravidian ideologue and founder of Dravida Kazhagam, Thanthai Periyar, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, and former Chief Ministers K. Kamaraj and C.N. Annadurai. Following the incident, Tamil Nadu's ruling DMK has commenced a campaign 'Get Out Ravi' with the party cadres erecting huge banners in several parts of Chennai asking the Governor to leave the state. Bhubaneswar, Jan 11 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached a luxurious house worth Rs 3.64 crore belonging to Archana Nag, the prime accused in the ongoing money laundering probe into the high-profile sextortion racket case in Odisha. Earlier, the ED had seized two high-end vehicles worth Rs 56.5 lakh, as per the provisions under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. The central agency had registered an enforcement case information report (ECIR) for taking up investigation under the provisions of PMLA against Archana Nag, her husband Jagabandhu Chand, associates Shradhanjali Behera and Khageswar Patra on the basis of two separate FIRs filed by Bhubaneswar police, the ED said in a statement on Wednesday. As per the FIRs, Archana, her husband Jagabandhu, with the assistance of Shradhanjali Behera and Khageswar Patra, generated properties worth crores of rupees through extortion by way of 'honey-trapping' high profile and rich people and then secretly making their videos. They then blackmailed the victims by threatening to make the videos viral. The case came to limelight when a complaint was filed against renowned Odia film producer Parija, accusing him of sexually exploiting a woman. Following this complaint, some purportedly obscene pictures of Parija with the woman went viral on social media. Later, Parija too lodged another complaint alleging that Archana and Shradhanjali made extortion demand of Rs 3 crore from him. More than 20 leaders from the ruling BJD and opposition BJP, besides prominent businessmen, film producers and real-estate tycoons, were reportedly honey-trapped by Archana, who had allegedly hired high-profile call girls to please the wealthy men. Archana, her husband Jagabandhu and their business partner Khageswar Patra have been arrested in this case. Panaji, Jan 11 : Stating that Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has made a false statement that an 'All Party Meeting was called on the Mhadei issue, Congress Goa Chief Amit Patkar has dared him to prove it. He was reacting to the statement of Sawant, who on Wednesday said that opposition MLAS didn't attend the 'All Party Meeting' called to discuss the Mhadei issue and hence they were not invited to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday at 7.30 p.m. "They have not shown interest in it and hence we have not invited them to meet Amit Shah," Sawant said on Wednesday before leaving for Delhi. Goa Legislative Assembly Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar, Environment Minister Nilesh Cabral, Water Resource Minister Subhash Shirodkar, Forest Minister Vishwajit Rane (All BJP MLAs), Power Minister Sudin Dhavalikar (MG Party) and an Independent MLA Chandrakant Shetye are part of this delegation. "It is totally a false statement by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant. I dare CM to prove this when he called for an All Party Meeting on Mhadei. Sawant on December 30, 2022 had announced that he will write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding withdrawal of approval given to DPR of Kalsa Bhandura Project. What happened to that letter? Why meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah and not Prime Minister?," Patkar questioned. Since Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai announced that the Centre has cleared the much disputed Kalasa-Bhanduri dam project in his state, people have started to vent their anger over the issue and political parties are holding public meetings. New Delhi, Jan 11 : The Centre on Wednesday slammed the Delhi government for creating a perception that it has no power because the Lt Governor (LG) is supreme and does everything, and claimed that friction points occur due to its lack of "political maturity". The Centre stressed that since 1992 to till date, only 7 matters referred by the LG to the President citing difference of opinion and a total 18,000 files came to the LG, which were cleared. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, submitted before a five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud that what the court is dealing with is the matter of perception and not constitutional law. He argued that the perception which is being created inside and outside the court is that there is no power with the Delhi government "because the LG is supreme and the LG does everything". Mehta contended that the stand of the Delhi government is that "we are just symbolic and we can do nothing without the permission or sanction of the LG and officers' owe allegiance elsewhere". Since 1992 to till date, only 7 matters referred by the LG to the President citing difference of opinion and a total 18,000 files came to LG as per the Constitutions's Article 239AA after the constitution bench order and all were cleared. The Delhi government, as per Article 239AA, cannot make laws on public order, police, and land featuring in the State List. Mehta emphasised that after 1992, several governments came at the state level and also in the Centre, there were several occasions when there were governments belonging to different political ideologies. "But I rely on... one para... to say how that balance needs to be maintained, that one crucial word was political maturity, so far this question has never arisen and everything has been going on smoothly with harmony," he said. In July 2018, a constitution bench had held that the executive power of the Union government in respect of NCT of Delhi is confined to land, police and public order under subsection 3 of Article 239AA. Mehta stressed that the law as in place ensures that everything goes without any friction and there is a perception being built that only the LG has power and an elected government is meaningless. "It is an elected body which is in the driving seat," he said. At this juncture, Chief Justice Chandrachud asked Mehta: "When you say elected body in driving seat, what are the powers...". The bench, which also comprises Justices M.R. Shah, Krishna Murari, Hima Kohli and P.S. Narasimha, further queried Mehta, "who creates the posts". Mehta said the central government creates the posts and emphasised that the power is with ministers, and the powers are with the council of ministers. He said the cadre controlling authority is not strangers; they have also been chosen by the people. "We have not received a single complaint that any officer is not implementing decisions taken, we are cadre controlling authority," he said, adding that a castle built in air and a wrong perception is being created. The arguments in the matter will continue on Thursday. The top court, in May last year, had referred to a five-judge constitution bench the issue of control of services in Delhi. It had said the limited issue of control over services was not dealt with by the constitution bench which elaborately tackled all legal questions. Vadodara, Jan 11 : A Vadodara-based father-son duo, who were earlier booked under the Gujarat 'Anti-Love Jihad' law in 2021, have now been arrested in a dowry case. Abdul Qureshi and his son Samir have been accused of mentally torturing, and physically assaulting Samir's wife. In 2021, Samir was arrested for the violation of Gujarat Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Act, 2021. It was the first alleged 'Love Jihad' case in the state. Vadodara's Assistant Commissioner of Police A.V. Katkad told media that the victim has lodged a complaint against her husband Samir and father-in-law Abdul Qureshi with Gotri police station. Accodring to the victim, she suffered miscarriage as her father-in-law had kicked on her stomach. She also alleged that they (her father-in-law and husband) mentally and physically tortured her, and demanded huge dowry. The official said both accused were arrested and will be produced before the court. In June 2021, the victim had first time lodged complaint against her husband, when she had reportedly alleged that Samir befriended with her while identifying himself as a Christian, during relationship, Samir had took photos of their intimate relations, which were used to blackmail and rape her. "Post marriage, she was forced to convert to Islam and wear burqa." In 2022, Samir moved a quashing petition, which was not opposed by the victim; on contrary, she agreed for quashing the FIR stating that both families have compromised out of the court. She even had stated before the Gujarat High Court that she never made allegations of 'Love Jihad' against her husband, arguing that the allegations were brought in FIR by the police. Follwoing which, the court quashed the FIR against Samir. Mumbai, Jan 11 : The Bombay High Court on Wednesday quashed the Maharashtra FDA's order cancelling the licence of pharma giant Johnson & Johnson to manufacture its baby powder from the Mulund plant. A division bench of Justice Gautam S. Patel and Justice Shivkumar G. Dige termed the Food & Drugs Administration's action as unreasonable and therefore "arbitrary" - while setting it aside, paving the way for J&J to resume production and sell its baby powder. It observed that it is not reasonable that the moment one sample from a batch is found to be of substandard, the company's manufacturing licence is cancelled. "This seems to us to be extremea and there's nothing to show that FDA has consistently adopted such a stringent standard with other J&J products or other manufacturers," said the judges. In a drastic move on September 15, 2022, the FDA Joint Commissioner had cancelled J&J's licence to manufacture baby powder products and also told the company to recall its market stocks, after which the company challenged the decision in the high court. J&J had come under the FDA radar in November-December 2018 after random checks in Pune and Nashik when it collected samples for testing. When an October 2018 batch sample was tested again after 11 months (September 2019), its pH level was found to be higher than the permissible levels, but J&J was informed about it in January 2020 and asked for a re-test. However, the FDA issued a show-cause notice to J&J after over a year in February 2021, gave a hearing in July 2022, and ordered cancelling of its manufacturing licence in September 2022. Observing that while a watchdog like FDA is necessary, Justice Patel and Justice Dige said that proceedings cannot be protracted with a "harsh delay" like this for weeks and months, and the watchdog must do its job properly to guard and protect the interests of the consumers. The judges also frowned at "the now usual excuse of Covid" on the delays for a test on a sample collected in October 2018 - well before anyone could imagine Covid - and the delays continued until 2022. Bengaluru, Jan 11 : Officials of central agencies have conducted searches in Shivamogga district at properties linked to the accused in the Mangaluru cooker blast case, Karnataka home minister Araga Jnanendra said on Wednesday. National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Enforcement Directorate officers are believed to be in Theerthahalli, the hometown of Mohammed Shariq, accused in the Mangaluru cooker blast case. Incidentally, Maaz Muneer Ahmed, who was arrested in the blast case of September 2022, and Abdul Matheen Ahmed Taha, accused in the Al Hind Islamic State Bengaluru terror module case, are also natives of Thirthahalli. The investigating officers have also reportedly queried former Karnataka minister Kimmane Ratnakar over the rental agreement of the Congress party's office in Thirthahalli. According to sources, Mohammed Shariq's father Abdul Majid owns the building where the Congress party office is located. The former minister has however denied any connection with Abdul Majid, except for the party office rental agreement. "The party has an eight year rental agreement under which a deposit of Rs 10 lakh and a monthly rent of Rs 1000 is paid to the landlord," he told the media. Patna, Jan 11 : Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav on Wednesday said that he is not aware of any police action against farmers in Buxar district. "I have no knowledge about the incident. I just learnt from the media... The officials have been asked to inform about the technicalities of the issues," he said. Police in Buxar allegedly assaulted a number of farmers and their families, including women and children, on the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday. The farmers of Banarpur village under Chausa block were protesting for the compensation of their lands acquired by the thermal power company. The statement of Tejashwi Yadav is similar to a recent statement of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who said he was unaware of a police baton charge on BSSC students in Patna. Following the Buxar assault, the angry farmers went on rampage, setting more than half a dozen government and private vehicles on fire. Meanwhile, the district administration of Buxar arrested 6 persons on the charge of arson. A large number of policemen were also deployed in the village and at the thermal power unit to prevent any untoward incidents. New Delhi, Jan 11 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday had a telephonic conversation with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu, and congratulated him for his election as PM for the sixth time. The two leaders expressed satisfaction at the rapid progress in the India-Israel strategic partnership in recent years, and agreed on the potential for further strengthening strategic cooperation in a variety of areas. PM Modi also invited Netanyahu to visit India at an early date. Kolkata, Jan 11 : The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday expressed dissatisfaction over the post-mortem report of Bogtui murder carnage prime accused Lalan Sheikh, who died under mysterious circumstances in Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) custody on December 12. A single-judge bench of Justice Jay Sengupta directed the state government to forward the post-mortem report to both All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS)- New Delhi as well as to the SSKM Medical College & Hospital in Kolkata for the respective observations. During the course of hearing earlier, the CBI counsel had expressed doubts over the contents of the post-mortem report, arguing that although no wound was detected on the body of the victim before the autopsy, the inquest report mentioned some superficial bruises on the body. Although the central agency counsel also argued in favour of a second post-mortem examination of Lalan Sheikh's body, it could not be done following the objections of the victim's wife, Reshma Biwi. In such a situation Justice Sengupta decides to forward the existing post-mortem report to the two medical institutes. He also observed that going through the observations from the experts from SSK and AIIMS, Delhi, he would decide about the next step on this count. The CBI has already challenged the state police's FIR in the Calcutta High Court claiming it to be motivated as it named Sushanta Bhattacharya, the investigation officer in the cattle-smuggling scam and having no connection with the separate central agency team probing the Bogtui carnage. Agartala: A team of the Election Commission of India (ECI) led by CEC Rajiv Kumar along with EC Anup Chandra Pandey and EC Arun Goel arrive to review the poll preparedness for upcoming assembly elections in Tripura, in Agartala on Wednesday, Jan 11, Image Source: IANS News Agartala: A team of the Election Commission of India (ECI) led by CEC Rajiv Kumar along with EC Anup Chandra Pandey and EC Arun Goel arrive to review the poll preparedness for upcoming assembly elections in Tripura, in Agartala on Wednesday, Jan 11, Image Source: IANS News New Delhi, Jan 11 : The full team of Election Commission of India (ECI) reached Tripura on a two-day visit on Wednesday to review the preparedness for the Assembly elections due in early 2023. The ECI team led by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar along with Commissioners Anup Chandra Pandey and Arun Goel will hold meetings with the representatives of political parties during its visit to the northeastern state besides taking stock of the security arrangements for the elections to the 60-member Tripura Assembly. The EC team will hold meetings with the poll officials and also look into the revised electoral rolls and other preparations for conducting free and fair elections. The EC team will also hold a separate meetings on security arrangements with the police heads of the eight districts of Tripura. Srinagar, Jan 11: Incredibly, the exquisite Kashmir handicrafts, which feed 3.25 lakh people, mostly in downtown Srinagar, and brings in an impressive Rs 2,000 crore every year to the valley, was not a priority area for the governments of the National Conference (NC), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Congress party for over 20 years. This is unmistakably clear, among many things, from the fact that none of these governments in the erstwhile State carried out labelling of even the seven Geographical Indication (GI) certified trades. The process for GI-certification of several trades was started by Shariq Farooqi, Director Craft Development Institute (CDI), in 2010. In 2013, Jammu and Kashmir got GI certificate for Pashmina, Kani Shawl, Sozni embroidery, Papier Mache, Walnut carving and Khatamband ceilings. Subsequently, with the sustained efforts of the Indian Institute of Carpet Technology (IICT), J&K also got a GI tag for hand-knotted wool and silk carpets. However, for reasons not known to anybody, necessary labelling for trading of the seven GI-certified products was never carried out. The result was that the whole exercise ended up as an exercise in futility, with the Kashmiri weavers, artisans and producers suffering. Eventually the market for fake and spurious products flourished all across the country and the Kashmir producers turned broke. During President's rule since 2019, the Department of Handicrafts and Handlooms has submitted dossiers for seven more trades, all endemic to the Valley, and also started the process of labelling. "We have now completed labelling of all GI-certified and non-GI certified trades. It will go a long way to boost the production, trade and export of the Kashmir handicrafts," Director Handicrafts and Handlooms Kashmir, Mehmood Shah, told India Narrative. "The main purpose of GI certification is to stop machine-made products that are being passed off as handicrafts and identify the real handicrafts. After GI tagging, anybody can check details and certification of a product on his smartphone. It will eventually end the market for fake products," Shah explained. "We have already submitted dossiers for GI certification of Kashmir Namda, Wagguv, Shikara, Gabba and Kashmir Willow Bat. In December 2022, we also submitted dossiers for two more trades-Chain Stitch and Crewel Embroidery-to Intellectual Property India (IPI), Chennai," he added. Another dossier for GI certification of Kashmir Tweed is currently under process and likely to be submitted to the IPI during this month. IPI is an apex body for registration and better protection of geographical indications relating to goods in India. It functions under the supervision of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks which is part of the Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade of the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The process of GI certification is conducted after a meticulously conducted verification of the documents and certificates and clearance of all observations in scheduled hearings by the IPI. The Handicrafts Department is in the process of launching the QR-Code-based GI labelling of 6 crafts as QR-Code-GI labelling for Carpets was already initiated last year. Additionally, non-GI crafts are being brought under the ambit of QR code labelling in the current year. While highlighting the significance of the GI certification of Crewel and Chain-stitch, Director Handicrafts said that his department was working hard to get more crafts from Kashmir under the ambit of GI certification so that the genuine handmade Kashmir Handicrafts would get due recognition across the globe. According to Shah, more than 10,000 craftsmen associated with the twin crafts of Crewel and Chain-stitch were scattered over different districts of the Kashmir region and they all would get benefitted from the GI certification of these crafts. These crafts have an export potential of more than 200 crores, he added. The average aggregate annual turnover of the Kashmir handicrafts is currently between Rs 2,000 crore to Rs 2,200 crore. In J&K's economy, horticulture, handicrafts and tourism are the key contributors. In all, 3.25 lakh artisans are registered with the Department of Handicrafts and Handlooms in the Kashmir valley. "We are now in the process of the registration, recognition and GI certification of 24 unregistered crafts like stone chiselling (Kataas), Purzgar, Rafugar, Dyer etc. Once done, our population of registered artisans would rise to 5 lakh", Shah said. In addition, there are nearly 30,000 artisans of Basohli Shawl and Basohli Paintings in the Jammu province. Geographical indication tagging has acquired a greater significance ever since the focus has shifted towards Vocal for Local. The Handicrafts Department has been facilitating the promotion of GI-tagged products symbolising the empowerment of the artisans. Machine made products have implied a challenge to the entire Handicraft and Handloom sectors. The GI certification, according to the producers and the officers, would go a long way in preserving the crafts as well as facilitating buyers in making the purchase of genuine handmade products. One significant success story in recent time for crewel and chain stitch has come from Noor Ari a women-led producer company which has collaborated with Fab India, an international brand to provide various crewel and chain stitch items. A large number of manufacturers, traders and exporters have approached the Department of Handicrafts for testing and labelling of the GI certified products. Traders say that many of the tourists and buyers from outside J&K are also insisting on GI tagging of the products they want to purchase. (The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) --indianarrative New Delhi, Jan 11: Defence Minister Rajnath Singhs recent visit to Arunachal Pradesh was a big event signalling New Delhis resolve to deter China from warring across the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Atul Aneja New Delhi, Jan 11: Defence Minister Rajnath Singhs recent visit to Arunachal Pradesh was a big event signalling New Delhis resolve to deter China from warring across the Line of Actual Control (LAC). On January 3, Singh inaugurated the Siyom bridge in Arunachal Pradesh, India's strategic northeast state claimed by China as South Tibet. The 100-meter steel arch bridge over the river Siyom-a part of the Along-Yingkiong road- will enable the faster induction of troops and heavy vehicles to the LAC in the eastern sector. The Chinese betrayal in 1962, and more recently the 2017 Doklam intrusion near Bhutan, the Galwan valley incident of 2020 and the intrusion attempt in the Tawang sector last month have made it plain to the Indian leadership that deterrence and solid leveraging has to precede a substantial engagement with Beijing. Unsurprisingly, Singh virtually inaugurated 27 other infra projects, all from the site of the stately Siyom bridge. Of these, eight are located in Ladakh, four in Jammu and Kashmir, five in Arunachal Pradesh, three each in Sikkim, Punjab, and Uttarakhand, and two in Rajasthan. These are all states and union territories that border Pakistan and China. Built by India's Border Roads Organization (BRO), the 28 projects include 22 bridges, three roads, and three telemedicine projects. Out of the projects being undertaken, the Arunachal Frontier highway is of critical importance as it forms a protective arm around the state. The highway will pass through Tawang in the west and then head eastward towards the Debang valley via East Kameng , Upper Subansiri, West Siang, Tuting, Mechuka, Upper Siang. From there it will drop southwards to Desali, Chaglagam, Kibithu, and Dong, before terminating at Vijayanagar near the Myanmar border. The 12-kilometre Sela tunnel, which is another critically important project to safeguard the LAC with Tawang as the focus, is expected to be completed in April this year. Located in the West Kameng District of Arunachal Pradesh, the tunnel will provide all-weather connectivity to Tawang along the Balipara-Chariduar-Tawang (BCT) road. India is going the extra mile to connect Tawang which is the focal point of Chinese claims on account of the monastery there where the sixth Dalai Lama, Tsangyang Gyatso, was born. The Nechiphu Tunnel, a feeder tunnel, passing through an area covered with heavy fog, along the BCT is also being constructed at a feverish pace. While the road construction in Arunachal is going ahead at a rapid clip, it may not be enough to deter China from military adventurism as was illustrated in December. Chinese hopes of taking Arunachal by force will be extinguished only if the Indian railways are extended right up to the LAC enabling all-weather movement of troops and heavy equipment to the frontiers. India therefore must fast-track the three planned railway lines. These again include the 378 km long broad gauge Bhalukpong-Tenga-Tawang line, along the corridor that protects Tawang. The Lakhimpur-Bame-Silapathar line is proposed from North Lakhimpur to Silapathar via Bame and Aalo is another strategic project. It is expected that the terminal station of this section will be moved from Murkongselek to Parshuram Kund in Arunachal Pradesh, via Pasighat and Tezu. It will further connect io the Lumding-Dibrugarh section at Rupai, giving Arunachal a deep connectivity with the hinterland. The urgency of the rail projects cannot be understated as the Chinese railway in Tibet which has already reached Xigatse, not far from the Nepal-Bhutan trijunction, is being extended to Yadong. In the heart of the Chumbi valley, Yadong is less than 50 kilometers from Nathu La in Sikkim. Chinese railways are also being extended up to Nyingchi in southeast Tibet. This is just a short distance from the LAC in Arunachal Pradesh. In fact, Nyingchi-a town where the roar of the great bend of the Brahmaputra can be heard, is only 16 km north of India's Tuting sector in the Upper Siang district of the border state. (The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) --indianarrative London, Jan 11 : Bernard Arnault, the worlds richest person, has appointed his daughter Delphine to run Christian Dior, the second-biggest brand in his LVMH luxury goods empire, according to a media report. Arnault, 73, is the chief executive, chair and majority shareholder of the group, which owns a swathe of high-end businesses including Louis Vuitton, Tiffany, Givenchy, Kering and Moet Hennessy, The Guardian reported. He announced on Wednesday that his eldest daughter would become Dior's chief executive and chair as part of a shake-up of the 382 bn euro (337 bn pound) conglomerate, the report said. Delphine Arnault, who is the executive vice-president of Louis Vuitton and is in-charge of its product product-related activities, will take up the new position from February 1. The 47-year-old joined the family business in 2000 after two years at the management consultancy firm McKinsey and studying at the London School of Economics. She joined the LVMH board in 2003 - becoming the first woman and youngest person to serve on it, The Guardian reported. Her father said: "Under Delphine's leadership, the desirability of Louis Vuitton products advanced significantly, enabling the brand to regularly set new sales records. Her keen insights and incomparable experience will be decisive assets in driving the ongoing development of Christian Dior." The appointment marks a return to the brand Arnault first worked for in 2001, where she started working on shoes before rising to become a deputy general manager and working directly with Dior's then creative director, John Galliano. She was credited with minimising the fallout from Galliano's racist and antisemitic rants at people in a Paris bar in 2011 that led to him being sacked and convicted for racism and anti-semitism. Arnault has said she was not heavily exposed to the family's brands or extreme wealth as a child, but remembers getting a brown Louis Vuitton NoA bag on her 18th birthday and attending the first lavish party when she was 21, The Guardian reported. Amaravati, Jan 11 : A court in Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday directed police to register a case against state Irrigation Minister Ambati Rambabu for sale of tickets in the name of YSR Sankranti Lucky Draw. A court in Guntur passed the order on a petition by a leader of Jana Sena Party (JSP). The petitioner moved the court after the police did not take any action on his complaint. The court asked the police to register a case and launch an investigation. JSP Guntur district unit President G. Venkateshwara Rao alleged that in the name of YSR Sankranti Lucky draw large number of tickets are being sold to people in Sattenapalle constituency represented by the minister. The JSP leader, who had lodged a complaint with the police, said though the lottery was banned in the state, tickets were being sold to people in the name of lucky draw. According to him, the minister himself urged people to buy the tickets. The complainant said the leaders of ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) were making beneficiaries of various government schemes buy the tickets. He also claimed that services of government appointed volunteers were used to sell the tickets. Patna, Jan 11 : Ahead of a cabinet expansion, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday ruled out the appointment of another Deputy Chief Minister. He also made it clear that no more ministers will come from the JD-U quota, in a big jolt to those who were expecting a ministerial berth in the current government. "I don't know how the post of Deputy CM arose. At present, there is no place for another Deputy CM. We will do a cabinet expansion and accommodate legislators of the RJD and the Congress quotas. The posts were vacant from their sides so they will get the ministerial berths," he said. "During the previous government, they (BJP) had claimed two posts of Deputy Chief Minister and requested me to become the Chief Minister. I did not wish to hold the post of Chief Minister but they forced me. Now, we have a seven party alliance and they have mutual understanding in the participation of the government. So, how could a post of Deputy Chief Minister be created and given to any leader?" he added. There was buzz about JD-U Parliamentary Board President Upendra Kushwaha becoming the second Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, after he said that good news will be expected to come after Makar Sankranti. He further said that he is not here to stay in Math and he is not a saint (Sanyasi) either. New Delhi, Jan 11 : Slamming Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat over his recent remarks on Muslims, the opposition parties come together on Wednesday, terming the comments as provocative and aimed at inciting violence against Muslims. In a recent interview to the Organiser and the Panchjanya, both RSS mouthpieces, Bhagwat said that there is no threat to Islam in India, or to Muslims who wish to pursue their faith or seek to "return to" the faith of their ancestors, but they will have to "abandon their boisterous rhetoric of supremacy". Attacking Bhagwat on Wednesday, CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat termed his remarks as objectionable and anti-constitutional. "Now RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat will decide who should live in the country. If Bhagwat and the Hindu brigade have not read, then they must read the Constitution, especially Articles 14 and 15. Every citizen has equal rights in the country, irrespective of his/her religion," Karat said. The CPI(M) leader also termed Bhagwat's remarks as controversial, unconstitutional and provocative. "Mohan Bhagwat is directly inciting people to commit violence against Muslims," she sadi, adding that the court should take suo motu cognisance of the RSS chief's comments. Senior Congress leader and former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Digvijaya Singh, said, "The success of Bharat Jodo Yatra is affecting the RSS as well. There is no talk of a Hindu nation in the Constitution. They (RSS) do not know Sanatan Dharma at all, they are just selling Sanatan Dharma for a chair." AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi also targeted Bhagwat, saying, "Who is Mohan Bhagwat to 'allow' Muslims to live in India or follow their religion? We are Indians because Allah willed. Bhagwat has not given us citizenship. Then how dare he imposes 'conditions'? We are not here to 'adjust' our faith or to please a group of so-called 'brahmacharis' sitting in Nagpur." Owaisi also said that the ideology of RSS is a threat to the future of India. "The sooner Indians recognise the real 'enemies within', the better. No civilised society can tolerate such hatred and bigotry in the name of religion. Who chose Mohan Bhagwat as the representative of Hindus? Is he contesting elections in 2024? We welcome him, if he does," Owaisi said. Commenting on the RSS chief's remarks, former Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP MP Kapil Sibal tweeted: "Bhagwat: Hindusthan should should remain Hindusthan. Agree. But: Insaan should remain Insaan." Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut tweeted that one cannot do politics for long by creating fear in the minds of people. In the interview, the RSS chief had said: "The simple truth is -- Hindusthan should remain Hindusthan. There is no harm to the Muslims living in Bharat today. If they wish to stick to their religion, they can. If they want to return to the faith of their ancestors, they can. It is entirely their choice. Islam has nothing to fear. But at the same time, Muslims must abandon their boisterous rhetoric of supremacy." New Delhi: Delhi police takes away accused Shankar Mishra after producing him before the Patiala House Court in an Air India flight urinating case in New Delhi on Saturday, January 07, 2022. (Photo: IANS/Wasim Sarvar) Image Source: IANS News New Delhi: Delhi police takes away accused Shankar Mishra after producing him before the Patiala House Court in an Air India flight urinating case in New Delhi on Saturday, January 07, 2022. (Photo: IANS/Wasim Sarvar) Image Source: IANS News New Delhi, Jan 11 : A Delhi court on Wednesday denied bail to Shankar Mishra, who is accused of urinating on an elderly female co-passenger, while in a drunken state, on a New York-New Delhi flight in November last year. Metropolitan Magistrate, Patiala House courts, Komal Garg, who had reserved the verdict earlier, rejected the plea, saying that the alleged act of accused of relieving himself upon the complainant is "utterly disgusting and repulsive" and the act itself is sufficient to outrage the modesty of a woman. "The egregious conduct of the accused has shocked the civic consciousness and needs to be deprecated," it said, noting that the accused was voluntarily drunk and had consumed alcohol during the night and the said fact has not been denied by him. "It has also come on record that accused has tried contacting the victim and the possibility of accused influencing the witnesses cannot be ruled out. Further, as per the report of the IO, the other witnesses are yet to be interrogated and the investigation is at a very initial stage," the court said. Appearing for Mishra, advocate Manu Sharma stated before the court that Delhi Police registered an FIR in only one non-bailable offense, while others are bailable offenses. The Public Prosecutor opposed the accused's request for bail on the grounds that the accused is a powerful individual and, if granted bail, could sway the complainant. The PP also said that the police have filed a revision petition against denial of police remand and that is listed for Thursday. The court was further told that statements of three crew members and two-three passengers are yet to be recorded. The complainant's lawyer contended that intoxication could never be used as an excuse, adding that the court has to examine whether bail can be granted to an offender who first apologised but later recanted. The lawyer also told the court that the accused's father had messaged the victim on WhatsApp saying karma will hit her but later deleted the message. On January 7, the court sent Mishra to 14 days judicial custody. Mishra has been booked under Sections 510 (misconduct in public by a drunken person), 509 (insulting the modesty of a woman), 294 (sings, recites or utters any obscene song, ballad or words, in or near any public place), and 354 (intending to outrage modesty) of the Indian Penal Code as well as a section of the Aircraft Rules Act in a case registered at the IGI Airport police station. New Delhi, Jan 11 : Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat said in a recent interview that 'there is no harm to Muslims living today in Bharat, but at the same time, Muslims must abandon their boisterous rhetoric of supremacy'. In a comprehensive interview with RSS mouthpiece 'Organiser', Bhagwat extensively talked about many issues, including why Hindu society is becoming more aggressive about its faith, beliefs and values. He said that the newfound aggression among Hindus is a result of their awakening to the reality that they have been at war for over a thousand years. "The simple truth is this is Hindusthan and it should remain Hindusthan. There is no harm to the Muslims living today in Bharat. If they wish to stick to their faith, they can. If they want to return to the faith of their ancestors, they may. It is entirely their choice," Bhagwat said. Speaking further on the issue, he said that there is no such stubbornness among Hindus. "Islam has nothing to fear. But at the same time, Muslims must abandon their boisterous rhetoric of supremacy. We are of an exalted race; we once ruled over this land, and shall rule it again; only our path is right, rest everyone's is wrong; we are different, therefore we will continue to be so; 'we cannot live together' -- they must abandon this narrative. In fact, all those who live here -- whether a Hindu or a Communista -- must give up this logic," Bhagwat said. Talking about Hindu society, Hindu dharma and Hindu culture, Bhagwat said, "It is natural for those at war to be aggressive. The Hindu society has been at war for over 1,000 years - this fight has been going on against foreign aggressions, foreign influences and foreign conspiracies. The Sangh has offered its support to this cause, so have others. There are many who have spoken about it. And it is because of all these that the Hindu society has awakened. It is but natural for people at war to be aggressive." Speaking further on the issue, the RSS chief said, "So there is a war to defend the Hindu society, Hindu dharma and Hindu culture. Foreign invaders are no longer there, but foreign influence and foreign conspiracies have continued. Since this is a war, people are likely to get overzealous. Although this is not desirable, yet provocative statements will be uttered." Bhagwat also said that Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) people have a right to live and deserve social acceptance. "This is biological, a mode of life. Now there is much fuss over the issue; but we will have to acknowledge this too. We want them to have their own private space and to feel that they too are part of the society," Bhagwat said. "The LGBT issue is not a new one; they have always been there. These people also have a right to live. Without much hullabaloo, we have found a way, with a humane approach, to provide them social acceptance, bearing in mind that they are also human beings with an inalienable right to live," he added. New Delhi, Jan 11 : An industry delegation has requested the Union Environment Minister to consider exempting the non-polluting construction activities from ban. It requested the authorities to lift the curbs for the non polluting activities in construction while giving some minimum notice period to restrict other activities. A CII Delegation led by Harsh Bansal, Convenor, CII Delhi Panel on Urban Development, Real Estate, Infra, met Bhupender Yadav, Minister of Environment, and shared the construction industry concerns on bans imposed on the anticipation of poor air quality. Bansal shared that construction activities can be broadly categorised into two segments: Polluting and Non-polluting activities. In a construction project, 5 activities namely excavation, demolition, dry marble cutting, mixing of concrete, loading and unloading of cement/dust and sand can be considered as polluting activities causing pollution through dust emissions. While, several other activities do not contribute to air pollution -- shuttering, re-enforcement of brickwork, electrical, interior work, lift installation, plumbing, firefighting services, POP, welding, iron-cutting, laying of iron rods for slabs, etc. Therefore, while considering a construction ban imposed during the greater AQI levels, we request authorities to consider exempting the non-polluting construction activities and to be allowed to be continued. As per the CII, the Minister assured that he will address the concerns of industry and also advised industry to adapt solutions towards sustainable and green environment. The Minister further highlighted that from the total ban of over 53 days in last year we have reached to 20 days ban this year, this is a good progress and we must strive to further decrease it and aim to reach to zero ban days for construction. However, all this can be achieved not only by efforts of the government but also support of industry and individuals. In view of a spike in air pollution, the Centre's air quality panel has directed the implementation of curbs under Stage III of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in Delhi-NCR, including a ban on construction & demolition work in Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR). Panaji, Jan 11 : In a dig at the ruling MLAs in Goa, Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao on Wednesday said that they have become 'Ghulam' (Slaves) by keeping mum over the Mhadei diversion issue following a 'Fatwa' of the central government. Alemao was speaking at a public meeting organised to 'Save Mhadei' at Marcela in North Goa. Since Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai announced that the Centre has cleared the much disputed Kalasa-Bhanduri dam project in his state, people in Goa have started to vent their anger by organising public meetings. The ruling BJP in Goa has 28 MLAs and the support of two MLAs of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party and three Independent MLAs in the 40-member legislative assembly. "Chief Minister Pramod Sawant is meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah today. He should resign if the Central government fails to withdraw the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of Karnataka within the next seven days. Even we will resign on this issue to save our Mhadei. We need to create a constitutional crisis on this issue, only then the Central government will come to know about the importance of Mhadei to Goa," Alemao said. According to him, the BJP government of Goa has compromised Mhadei to benefit the party in Karnataka, which has 28 MPs and many MLAs. "We have only two (Lok Sabha) MPs," he said. He added that since 1980 all politicians have compromised at various stages on this issue. "There is no doubt abut this. But now we all have to stand up as Goans. We had appealed that all political parties including BJP should come together to fight for Mhadei. But all MLAs have become 'Ghulam' because they are following the fatwa of a party. They are afraid that if they raise their voice over this issue then the party will take action," he said. "Chief Minister is following the fatwa of the Central government and he is fooling us and wasting time and energy over the issue. There should be change in this political system. People should come out and raise their voices," Alemao said. Agartala, Jan 11 : The Election Commission (EC) on Wednesday stressed on the need for an inducement-free assembly elections in Tripura, and asked the central and state agencies to take appropriate steps in this regard, officials said. The full Election Commission, headed by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar, accompanied by two Election Commissioners Anup Chandra Pandey and Arun Goel, and several senior officials, arrived here on Wednesday afternoon to review the preparations of the forthcoming assembly polls in Tripura. An official of the Tripura Election Department said that the Commission reviewed the preparation with the Nodal Officers of various Central and State Enforcement Agencies to ensure an inducement-free elections in the state. Immediately after its arrival, the poll panel met the leaders of the political parties at the state guest house and then met the state and district level officials including the District Magistrates and the Superintendent of police of eight districts. Ruling BJP, opposition CPI-M, Congress, Trinamool Congress and other parties have urged the EC to hold the assembly polls in a free, fair and peaceful manner. Tripura Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Gitte Kirankumar Dinkarrao and State Police Nodal Officer G.S. Rao gave a detailed presentation to the Commission regarding poll preparedness and security arrangements for Assembly elections, expected to be held later next month. The Commission would also review the preparations with the Chief Secretary J. K. Sinha, Director General of Police Amitabh Ranjan and all the Secretaries of Tripura government on Thursday. A SVEEP (Systematic Voters' Education and Electoral Participation) programme would be organised by the CEO at Ujjayanta Palace premises in Agartala on Thursday where electors' photo identity cards would be distributed to the newly registered voters by the Commission. Before leaving the state on Thursday for poll bound Meghalaya, the CEC and the ECs would brief the media on Thursday. From Meghalaya, the full EC would go to another poll bound state Nagaland on January 13 and would return to Delhi on January 15. 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. Kolkata, Jan 11 : A Kolkata court on Wednesday sent Islamic State terror module brain Abdul Raqib Qureshi, arrested from Madhya Pradesh's Khandwa by the sleuths of Kolkata police's Special Task Force (STF), to police custody till January 23. Qureshi was arrested on Monday on the basis of the interrogation of two of his subordinates in the terror module, Mohammad Saddam and Syed Ahmed, who were arrested by STF sleuths from West Bengal's Howrah district on January 7. On Wednesday, the public prosecutor told the court that Qureshi was entrusted with the task of expanding IS sleeper cells in the country through systematic brainwashing of youths. "Qureshi also used to provide funds and technical support for that purpose. The police need to take him into custody for the purpose of further investigation and interrogation," the public prosecutor argued. The judge accepted the plea and sent Qureshi to police custody till January 23. The STF sleuths have learnt that before his active association with IS, Qureshi was a senior and active leader of the banned Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and he was the key person in inspiring Saddam to join the IS. Later Saddam brainwashed and roped in Syed Ahmed to the terror module. In a diary seized from Saddam's residence, the STF sleuths have found an oath of joining the IS, written in Arabic. The STF sleuths recovered, from their devices, crucial clues on how the two, especially Saddam, used to contact his IS handlers in Syria and Saudi Arabia using the Telegram Web medium. The recovery of such crucial clues, especially the ones related to the videos and still photographs about the activities of the suicide squad modules of IS, have kept the investigators worried. New Delhi, Jan 11 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the inaugural leaders' session at the two-day 'Voice of Global South' summit on Thursday. The theme of the session is 'Voice of Global South - for Human-Centric Development'. The virtual summit being hosted by India, in which more than 120 nations will participate, will be held on January 12 and 13. Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra had told mediapersons last week that the theme of the summit would be 'Unity of Voice and Unity of Purpose'. He had also informed that two lead sessions would be hosted by the Prime Minister. The conference, Kwatra said, envisions bringing together nations of the global south and to provide them a platform for sharing their views. The conference is inspired by India's philosophy of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' (The world is one family), the Foreign Secretary had said. India's ongoing presidency of the G20 provides a special and strong opportunity to those countries that are not part of the G20 process to share their ideas and expectations from the G20 through this conference, an official statement said. The summit envisages 10 sessions, four on Thursday and six on Friday. Each session is expected to witness the participation of leaders and ministers from 10 to 20 countries. The inaugural and concluding sessions would be at head of state or government level to be hosted by the Prime Minister. In addition, there would be eight ministerial sessions on the following themes: Finance Ministers' session on 'Financing People-Centric Development', Environment Ministers' session on 'Balancing Growth with Environment Friendly Lifestyles', Foreign Ministers' session on 'Priorities of the Global South - Ensuring a Conducive Environment', Energy Ministers' session on 'Energy Security and Development - Roadmap to Prosperity', Health Ministers' session on 'Cooperation to Build Resilient Healthcare Systems', Education Ministers' session on 'Human Resource Development and Capacity Building', Commerce Ministers' session on 'Developing Synergies in the Global South - Trade, Technology, Tourism and Resources', and Foreign Ministers' session on 'G-20: Suggestions for India's Presidency'. Colombo, Jan 11 : Criticising Canada's move to impose sanction on two former Presidents, Mahinda and Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka on Wednesday demanded reviewing the verdict, claiming it was a politically motivated decision. "This unilateral action by the Canadian government, motivated by domestic political compulsions in Canada, sets a dangerous precedent and is inimical to Sri Lanka's interests," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Meanwhile Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister Ali Sabry summoned Canadian Acting High Commissioner in Colombo, Daniel Bood on Wednesday and expressed concern over the decision to issue sanctions on four Sri Lankans including the two former Presidents. "Foreign Minister expressed the deep regret of the Government on the announcement of unilateral sanctions brought by the Government of Canada against four individuals including two former Presidents of Sri Lanka based on unsubstantiated allegations. Foreign Minister Sabry emphasised that such unilateral action by the Canadian Government, motivated by domestic political compulsions in Canada, sets a dangerous precedent and is inimical to Sri Lanka's interests, especially when national unity and reconciliation are of paramount importance," the Foreign Ministry announced in a statement. "The announcement by Canada is detrimental to the government's ongoing efforts towards national unity, reconciliation, and stability. In consideration of the long-standing bilateral and development partnership between Canada and Sri Lanka, Foreign Minister Sabry urged the Acting High Commissioner to review the decision and engage constructively with Sri Lanka." The Canada government imposed sanctions on four Sri Lankans, including former presidents Gotabaya and Mahinda Rajapaksa for committing "gross and systematic violations of human rights" during the country's 26 year long civil war against the Tamil minority. According to the sanctions, any assets belonging to them would be frozen and they would not be allowed to enter the country (Canada). Sanctions were also imposed on Staff Sergeant Sunil Ratnayake who was sentenced to death by court for the brutal murder of eight Tamil civilians at Mirusuvil in Jaffna in 2000 but freed with a controversial presidential pardon from then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Lt Commander Chandana Prasad Hettiarachchi was arrested for the murder of 11 young men who were kidnapped in capital Colombo and held captive in a Sri Lanka Navy base in Trincomalee. New Delhi, Jan 11 : The Supreme Court on Wednesday said there has to be sanctity of a settlement, when there is so much international trade and commerce while hearing Centre's curative plea seeking an additional Rs 7,844 crore from the successor firms of Union Carbide Corporation (UCC). A five-judge Constitution bench, headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, told Attorney General R. Venkataramani, appearing for the Centre: "It is not that we are not sensitive to what had happened, but when the Supreme Court does something it has wider ramification." The bench - also comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna, Abhay S. Oka, Vikram Nath and J.K. Maheshwari - said: "There has to be sanctity of a settlement, especially in today's time, when there is so much international trade and commerce." The bench noted that in one of its judgments in the proceedings, in 1991, the court had suggested the government take out insurance policies for victims to take care of the future claims, but it appears the government did not implement it. It further told the AG that the Centre did not file a review petition instead a curative petition after over 20 years of the agreement. "We are constrained by law, although we have some leeway. But we cannot say that we will decide a curative petition on the basis of jurisdiction of an original suit," the bench said. The Centre did not file a review petition for cancelling the settlement, which it seeks to enhance now. The AG argued that the top court had endorsed the Bhopal Gas Leak Disaster (Processing of Claims) Act, 1985 and the scheme under it and pressed that it is very important to go beyond some of the conventional principles in view of human tragedy. The Central government has emphasised that damage to human lives could not be assessed in the settlement arrived in 1989. Justice Kaul said: "Problem is you are putting it on them (UCC). Can we open everything at this point of time?" The top court is hearing a curative petition filed by the Centre in December 2010 for enhanced compensation for the victims of Bhopal gas tragedy. Bhopal, Jan 11 : The two-day Global Investors Summit (GIS) organised by the Madhya Pradesh government began on Wednesday at the Brilliant Convention Centre in Indore. This is the seventh edition of GIS, and the state government has high hopes from business houses to invest in Madhya Pradesh. Addressing a gathering of 431 delegates from 84 countries, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that industrialists have become familiar with the environment prepared for industries in the state. Chouhan said that the seventh edition of GIS will prove to be a milestone for the state's $550 billion economy. He was referring to the aim of making the state's economy grow from $150 billion to $550 billion by 2026. "The Global Investor Summit (GIS) is global in the true sense as representatives of 82 countries are participating and there are 10 partner countries involved. The President of two countries, several foreign ministers, finance ministers, and mineral ministers of different countries will be participating in the summit. Many international industries and trade organisations also participating in it," Chouhan said. Chouhan said that over 5,000 industrialists and 70 big industrial houses are participating in the summit. "There is immense enthusiasm for investment in Madhya Pradesh, not only among the domestic investors, but investors from across the world. When Indore's super corridor and roads were discussed, I used to compare them with America. Today, representatives of many countries are watching the work done in the basic areas, including cleanliness. Continuous work is being done for greenery and environment protection," he said. Chouhan also assured the investors, saying that the demand for land will be fulfilled on priority. "There is sufficient availability of land in the state. The work of providing it for the establishment of industrial units will be done on priority. About two acres of land are available in the land bank created for Madhya Pradesh industries," he said. New Delhi, Jan 11 : The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday conducted searches at four locations across three states linked to alleged suspects in the case of killing of five police personnel in Jharkhand's Saraikela Kharsawan district in 2019. The raids were conducted in Seraikela Kharsawan and Ranchi, one location in Bihar's Munger district, and one location in West Bengal's Purulia district. A police party was attacked by CPI-Maoist cadres at Kukru Haat in Saraikela-Kherswan on June 14, 2019, and 5 personnel killed and their arms and ammunition looted. The case was initially registered on June 15, 2019 at Tiruldih police station, Jharkhand and the probe taken over by the NIA on December 9, 2020. "During the course of investigations, it surfaced that the suspected persons are members of CPI-Maoist, a proscribed terrorist organisation, and were working as Over Ground Workers. They are suspected to be involved in providing arms ammunition, explosive material and other logistic support to the armed cadres of CPI-Maoist. It was also revealed during investigations that they were part of criminal conspiracy hatched by the armed cadres of CPI-Maoist for commission of the instant crime," an official said. During the searches, digital devices and various incriminating documents have been recovered and seized. Further investigations in the matter are on. New Delhi, Jan 11 : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday conducted searches at more than 50 locations in connection with a massive operation launched against the unholy nexus of channelised corruption in the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and others. The raids were conducted in Chandigarh, Delhi, Punjab's Patiala, Ropar, Sunam, Mohali and Haryana's Ambala. On Tuesday, the CBI arrested one DGM Rajeev Kumar Mishra when he was about to receive a bribe of Rs 50,000 from one Ravinder Singh Khera in Punjab. During the searches the CBI has recovered cash of Rs 80 lakh from the premises of the accused Sudeep Singh, Executive Director, Nishant Barria, TA, Bassi Pathana, Manpreet Singh, AG-1, FSD Sunam; Navneet Kaur, TA, Navpreet Kaur, TA, Dappar and Satish Verma, Manager (Lab), Chandigarh. Other than cash, several incriminating documents and digital devices were also recovered. A senior CBI official said that a massive exercise was conducted under 'Operation Kanaka' to gather actionable inputs, identify accused regarding corrupt practices adopted by FCI officials, private rice millers and grain merchants by way of paying undue gratification to certain officials of the FCI for getting undue favours. The CBI had been working on the inputs for last six months. Nearly two days ago, a case was registered against 74 accused, including 34 serving and three retired officials of the FCI, 17 private persons and other entities. "Huge amount of bribe was paid to FCI officials for extending favours to the private nexus operators. Private rice millers and grain merchants were paying bribes to FCI officials for getting favours in accommodating procurement of low quality foodgrains, malpractices in day-to-day operations in unloading of foodgrains, managing enquiries against various malpractices, etc," said the CBI official. The official said that the officials in conspiracy with rice millers cover up the shortages in stocks and accept low quality foodgrains which are transported to other parts of the country. The rice millers in turn allegedly paid a huge amount of bribe to the officials of FCI, including Technical Assistants, DGM, AGM, and even Executive Director, as part of channelised corruption. The operation led to the arrest of DGM Mishra and Khera. Both are now in five-day custodial remand of the CBI. Bengaluru, Jan 12 : Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has directed officials to establish mini-textile parks in 25 taluks of the state, which have a larger concentration of weavers population. Speaking after launching the Direct Benefit Transfer for the handloom and powerloom weavers/workers under the 'Nekar Sanman' scheme in Bengaluru on Wednesday, Bommai said the mini textile parks will help weavers starting from processing cotton and manufacturing readymade garments. "I have close links with weavers individually and saw their problems from closeness. The weavers must focus on the quality of products and come forward for exports. The market must be extended through the digital forum and for this, the Department of Handlooms and Textile will extend full support. Steps are being taken to reach an agreement with Amazon, Flipkart and other online platforms," the Chief Minister added. "Til now, the assistance was only for the weavers but now it has been extended to the powerloom weavers and workers after understanding their problems. It's the Sankranti gift for the weavers. While B.S. Yediyurappa was the Chief Minister, he responded to the problems of weavers. During the Covid-19 pandemic, he took bold decisions such as loan waiver and the Nekar Sanman scheme. The incumbent government is also helping them in a big way. Demands of those legislators in whose constituencies there is a big concentration of the weavers' population is fulfilled immediately." On this occasion, Bommai interacted with the weavers of Bengaluru Rural and Urban, Tumkur, Belagavi and Bagalkot districts. Karnataka Textiles and Sugar Minister Shankarpatil Munenkoppa, State Handloom Development Corporation Chairman Siddu Savadi, State BJP MLAs Mahadevappa, Shivalingappa Yadwad, M.D. Lakshminarayana, among others were also present. Ankara, Jan 12 : The number of Syrian refugees returning to their homeland will increase as a result of new dialogues among Turkey, Russia and Syria, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. As the security situation in northern Syria improves, the number of Syrians returning to their homes will increase, the Turkish President told the International Ombudsman Conference on Wednesday. Turkey hosts more than four million refugees, including 3.5 million Syrians who fled from their war-torn country, according to Erdogan. Nearly 550,000 Syrian refugees have returned to northern Syria where Turkey "has cleared of terrorism and made secure," the Turkish President added. "The number will increase as the diplomatic contacts among Turkey, Russia and Syria bear fruit. We will continue to fulfill our duties of brotherhood, neighbourliness, and humanity," he said. Syrian, Turkish, and Russian Defence Ministers, along with Intelligence Chiefs from the three countries, met in Moscow on December 28, marking the first high-level contact between Ankara and Damascus since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Xinhua news agency reported. Last week, 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 the Syrian civil war, as Turkey has backed Syrian rebels politically and militarily during the 11-year crisis. Moscow, Jan 12 : Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi discussed bilateral cooperation and the situation in Syria in a phone call. The leaders stressed the need to further develop bilateral cooperation in all spheres, including through the implementation of "mutually beneficial" projects in the energy, transport and logistics sectors, the Kremlin said on Wednesday. Putin and Raisi both welcomed the joint work carried out within the framework of the Astana process, which plays a key role in the Syrian settlement process, Xinhua news agency reported. The Presidents agreed on the importance of continuing cooperation to normalise the situation in Syria and restore the country's territorial integrity, according to the Kremlin. Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War Warsaw, Jan 12 : Poland has decided to send German-made Leopard tanks to Ukraine, the country's President, Andrzej Duda, said. On a visit to the city of Lviv in western Ukraine, Duda on Wednesday held talks with his Ukrainian and Lithuanian counterparts, Volodymyr Zelensky and Gitanas Nauseda, respectively, in the so-called Lublin Triangle format (a regional alliance of the three countries). After the meeting, the Polish President told journalists that "A company of Leopard tanks will be handed over as part of building an international coalition," he was quoted by the Polish Press Agency (PAP) as saying. "The decision has already been made in Poland," Duda said, adding that he expected more countries to soon join the effort, Xinhua news agency reported. A company typically consists of 14 tanks. Any re-export of Leopard tanks requires approval by the government in Berlin. The Republican Party of Kentucky (RPK) has decided to try to silence those county Republican Parties that have censured Mitch McConnell. One of the more recent censures of McConnell, by the Hardin County Republican Party, faced a complaint/appeal from its very own Chair Cheryl Benitez. Benitez wrote a letter of complaint after she lost her opposition to censure McConnell in a 24-14 vote. The Benitez letter of complaint to the 2nd district of the RPK was joined by three other county officers. The letter said that the county Republican Party had no right to issue a censure and that the county can only support Republican candidates not oppose them. The RPK has agreed with Benitez but bases its decision on the peculiar idea that the Republican Party of Hardin County cannot censure Mitch McConnell because McConnell is NOT actually a member of the Hardin County Republican party. They base their argument upon Roberts Rules of Order. Bobbie Coleman speaking for the Hardin county party said, "It amazes me the lengths to which the Republican Party of Kentucky will go to defend a Republican politician who has gone directly against the platform of the Republican Party. Their decision to rule our censure out of order is without precedent and was made by people with close ties to Mitch McConnell who should have recused themselves from the process. McConnell broke with our party in supporting gun control, and our censure was an appropriate response. Coleman is referring to McConnell's vote for the "Bipartisan Safer Communities Act". That bill provided almost a billion dollars in subsidies to states which enacted Red Flag laws. Coleman pointed to the Republican Party platform which states in the second paragraph of the section titled, "The Second Amendment: Our Right to Keep and Bear Arms": "We also oppose any effort to deprive individuals of their right to keep and bear arms without due process of law." Hardin County is one of 10 counties listed at http://www.censuremitch.com that have censured McConnell for voting for that gun control legislation. The website was created by Bob Barney who is the spokesperson for the Jessamine County censure of McConnell. Barney has added a new webpage at http://www.censuremitch.com/hardin where there are links to all the documents related to the Hardin censure. These include the appeal by Benitez, the decision of the 2nd district committee and the latest the appeal made by Hardin to the state party to have the 2nd district decision overturned. Barney said, Unlike the presentation by Benitez and Laura Larue, former 2nd district chair, the Hardin County authors of the censure have been fully transparent in everything they have done. Its all on the website for anyone to review. The Hardin County members have faced opposition and tricks every step of the way. They should be thanked for defending the party platform. Barney thinks that the state will uphold the 2nd district decision. He said, The fix has been in from the start and I believe the state collaborated in this lame excuse to strike down the censure. If the state upholds the 2nd district decision, an appeal will have to be made to the Republican National Committee. The RNC has its own history of issuing censures to Republican politicians, most recently Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger. Barney pointed out that neither of those politicians are part of the RNCs committee. Barney added, If the RNC did strike down this improper Roberts Rules of Order decision, then their own censures and the censures published by other Republican groups in other states would all be branded as out of order. Not even McConnell made that argument when he said that the RNC had no business censuring politicians. We are thrilled to have received FedRAMP authorization for Spider Impact for Government. 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As a FedRAMP authorized solution, government agencies can trust that Spider Impact for Government is secure and compliant, allowing them to confidently adopt our cloud-based solutions. Spider Impact for Government is a powerful cloud-based tool that helps government organizations execute their strategy by setting and tracking key performance indicators (KPIs), creating interactive dashboards, generating custom reports, and conducting live briefings. Spider Impact for Government helps with accountability and visibility, enabling government organizations to align their resources and activities with their strategic objectives, prioritize tasks, and monitor the progress of their initiatives. With its FedRAMP authorization, government agencies can now easily and securely adopt Spider Impact for Governments solutions. FedRAMP authorization is a critical requirement for many government agencies, said Scott OReilly, Chief Software Architect of Spider Strategies. We are committed to meeting and exceeding the security and compliance standards set forth by the program, and are proud to offer a FedRAMP authorized solution to government agencies looking to take advantage of the benefits of the cloud. *About Spider Impact for Government* Spider Impact for Government has five key advantages for government and national security organizations. Strategy Execution. Get everyone on the same page, working towards a shared strategic vision. Spider Impact helps you set aggressive goals, and then breaks that strategy into things you can actually measure. Strategic Initiatives. Discover the effect your strategic initiatives are having on business performance. Identify underperforming initiatives quickly, and rapidly shift budget to initiatives that actually accomplish your goals. Meetings Reinvented. With Spider Impact Briefings, turn every meeting into a data-driven, decision-making interaction without the need for time-consuming prep or costly paper reporting. Business Intelligence. Spider Impact is a single platform that combines strategy execution with data visualization and analytics. Spider Impacts dashboards, reports, and ad-hoc analysis uncover insights and improve decision-making. Data Governance & Security. Spider Impacts industry-leading data governance and security lets you customize access to performance data, with tailored views for everyone in your organization. For more information about Spider Impact for Government, please visit https://www.spiderstrategies.com/industry/federal-government/. *About Spider Strategies* Spider Strategies focus is simple: helping organizations reach their strategic goals. Spider Strategies customers achieve their best strategic performance through powerful, intuitive strategy execution software. Spider Strategies is a privately held U.S. corporation incorporated in Minnesota, and supported by a network of partners and resellers across the world. For more information about Spider Impact or Spider Strategies, please visit https://www.spiderstrategies.com Since the loan is based on the DSCR of the property, a DSCR loan does not require income verification or employment verification from the borrower. As a trusted mortgage lender, The Mortgage Calculator understands the importance of finding the right financing options for investment properties. To address this need, the company has developed a comprehensive mortgage calculator specifically tailored to investors seeking DSCR loans. The Mortgage Calculator makes it easy for investors to calculate the debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) for their investment property, as well as estimate monthly mortgage payments and see how much they can borrow. By simply entering the investment property's income, expenses, and loan details, users can get a clear picture of their DSCR and financing options. In addition to these features, The Mortgage Calculator also allows users to compare different loan scenarios side-by-side, enabling them to make informed decisions about which option is best for them. With its easy-to-use interface and straightforward results, The Mortgage Calculator provides investors with all the information they need to secure the right DSCR loan for their investment property. A DSCR loan is a type of financing that requires the property to have a certain debt service coverage ratio (DSCR). The DSCR is calculated by dividing the net operating income of the property by the total debt service (i.e., the mortgage payments). A DSCR of 1.0 or higher indicates that the property generates sufficient income to cover its debt payments. Since the loan is based on the DSCR of the property, a DSCR loan does not require income verification or employment verification from the borrower. For investors, DSCR loans can be a great financing option because they ensure that the property will generate enough income to cover the mortgage payments. This can provide peace of mind and help investors feel more confident in their investment. The Mortgage Calculator invites investors to try out its comprehensive mortgage calculator as a reliable resource for securing a DSCR loan. The tool makes it easy to calculate DSCR and explore financing options. By using The Mortgage Calculator, investors can take the first step towards securing the right financing for their investment property. Investors can price their own loans out with real rates in real time here: https://themortgagecalculator.com/Pricer The Mortgage Calculator executive team actually goes over live rates for DSCR loans every morning! You can tune in to the Daily Mortgage Rates Live presentation every weekday at 11am eastern time on the Company's YouTube channel. About The Mortgage Calculator: The Mortgage Calculator is a licensed Mortgage Lender (NMLS #2377459) that specializes in using technology to enable borrowers to access both Conventional and Non-QM mortgage loan programs with over 100 banks and partners. Using The Mortgage Calculator proprietary technology, borrowers can instantly price and quote thousands of mortgage loan programs in just a few clicks. The Mortgage Calculator technology also enables borrowers to instantly complete a full loan application and upload documents to our AI powered software to get qualified in just minutes, not days! Our team of over 350 licensed Mortgage Loan Originators can assist our customers with Conventional, FHA, VA and USDA mortgages as well as access thousands of mortgage programs using Alternative Income Documentation such as Bank Statement Mortgages, P&L Mortgages, Asset Based Mortgage Programs, No Ratio CDFI Loan Programs, DSCR Investor Mortgages, Commercial Mortgages, Fix and Flip Mortgages and thousands more! Our Mortgage Loan Originators are trained to be loan consultants to guide borrowers throughout the entire loan process. A licensed Loan Officer is only a phone call or zoom meeting away and always available to assist borrowers throughout the loan application process all the way to closing. To apply for a mortgage please visit https://themortgagecalculator.com Mortgage Calculator Company LLC NMLS#: 2377459 2125 BISCAYNE BLVD SUITE 220 Miami, FL 33137 We are for the first time able to provide enterprise-wide seamless integration of actionable pharmacogenetics (PGx) data from the Pharmacoscan(TM) pharmacogenetics test platform used in our clinical laboratory with medication decision support for all of our physicians. Nicklaus Childrens Hospital, South Floridas only licensed specialty hospital exclusively for children, is taking a major step forward in personalizing patient care using genetics by using the ActX Genomic Decision Support platform. The ActX service is connected into the Oracle Cerner Electronic Health Record to provide physicians with real-time alerts based on the patients genetics, all within normal physician workflow. After genetic testing, the results are uploaded into the ActX platform, and immediately become actionable within Oracle Cerner Millennium. For example, when a physician goes to prescribe a medication, an automatic background check against the patients genetics occurs, and the physician is alerted if drug efficacy, risk of side effects, or dosing are affected by the patients genetics. A genomic profile for each patient is also now part of the patient chart. Our partnership with ActX is a cornerstone for clinical precision medicine at Nicklaus Childrens Hospital said Steven J. Melnick, Ph.D., M.D. Chief, Department of Pathology and Clinical Laboratories Medical Director, Nicklaus Childrens Biobank. We are for the first time able to provide enterprise-wide seamless integration of actionable pharmacogenetics (PGx) data from the Pharmacoscan(TM) pharmacogenetics test platform used in our clinical laboratory with medication decision support for all of our physicians. We are confident that this functionality will vastly improve safety and efficacy of medical therapy for our patients. Beyond PGx, we look forward to continuing our partnership with ActX with expansion of other areas of genomic data integration in the years to come. In addition to pharmacogenomics, Nicklaus plans to expand the platform use across many other genetic conditions. We are excited to partner with Nicklaus Childrens Hospital as they bring precision medicine to patient care at the bedside or in the clinic. With ActX Genomic Decision Support connected directly into their Cerner (Millennium) EHR, ActX will provide seamless point of care decision support to Nicklauss physicians. Our shared goal is to help improve patient outcomes said Andrew Ury, MD and CEO of ActX. About Nicklaus Childrens Hospital Founded in 1950 by Variety Clubs International, Nicklaus Childrens Hospital is South Floridas only licensed specialty hospital exclusively for children, with approximately 800 attending physicians, including more than 500 pediatric subspecialists. The 309-bed hospital, known as Miami Childrens Hospital from 1983 through 2014, is renowned for excellence in all aspects of pediatric medicine with many specialty programs routinely ranked among the best in the nation by U.S. News & World Report since 2008. The hospital is also home to the largest pediatric teaching program in the southeastern United States and since 2003 has been designated an American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) Magnet facility, the nursing professions most prestigious institutional honor. The Nicklaus Children's Hospital network includes more than a dozen outpatient centers extending from Martin County to southern Miami-Dade County, offering a range of pediatric healthcare services, including urgent care, rehabilitation services and subspecialty physician appointments for children of all ages, including up to age 21. Nicklaus Childrens Hospital is committed to being a resource for children from throughout South Florida and around the world. About ActX ActX is the industry leader in EHR-integrated precision medicine. Our service helps physicians make better decisions about medical treatment, using a patients genetic information to guide therapy. The ActX Genomic Service offers proven, tightly integrated, real-time genomic decision support for medication orders and actionable genomic risks, a built-in patient Genomic Profile, and the ability to fully customize content. As medications are ordered, and before the prescription is finalized, medications are checked against the patients genetics for efficacy, adverse reactions, and dosing. Extensive evidence based and actionable content is provided as default, customizable content, covering hundreds of genes. You can easily suppress any content or interactions, or add or modify content. For more information, visit http://www.actx.com, email info@actx.com or call 888-998-2289. Twenty-five grants totaling $100,000 will be awarded to diverse-led companies in Illinois. Apply today! We are excited to bring Illinois a $100,000 business grant fund to be awarded to 25 diverse-led businesses across the state of Illinois. Founders First CDC (Founders First), a national 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that empowers expansion in diverse founders leading revenue-generating businesses has opened their Chicago Job Creators Quest Grant application today and it will remain open through February 8, 2023. Twenty-five grants totaling $100,000 will be awarded to diverse-led companies with: A staff of 2-20 employees The ability to add 1-2 net new premium wage jobs in the next 12 months A Founder who identifies as Black, Indigenous, a person of color, LGBTQIA+, Military Veteran, a woman or located in a low to moderate-income area A for-profit company with annual revenues between $100,000 to $3 million. For the third year in a row, we are excited to bring Illinois a $100,000 business grant fund to be awarded to 25 diverse-led businesses across the state. said Shaylon Scott, Executive Director of Founders First CDC. We bring this grant to those diverse founders working hard to grow their business and develop their leadership. As a minority business owner who is underrepresented in the ranks of business leadership, it can be difficult to gain access to capital to help grow their business. With this issue in mind, we want to provide that access to funding to those founders pushing through with our annual Chicago Job Creators Quest grant Our support of Founders First and the Job Creators Quest Grant program is part of our deep commitment to supporting entrepreneurs of color in our hometown of Chicago, said John Balbach, Director, Impact Investments at the MacArthur Foundation. Programs like this offer a powerful opportunity to fight racial injustice and build a more equitable future in Chicago and beyond. The purpose of the Job Creators Quest Grant is to help diverse-led business owners create premium-wage jobs throughout the state of Illinois. Founders First CDC aims to retain and grow the workforce as we emerge from the pandemic and amid threats of an economic recession. This will help to positively impact the local economy, create jobs with higher wages and provide the human capital needed for businesses to grow and expand. This grant project was launched in early 2021. Since launching, Founders First CDC has awarded more than $595,000 to minority and underserved business owners throughout the United States with a focus on 6 regions that include Texas, Chicago, Southern California, Philadelphia, New Jersey and the Twin Cities. Small Business Majority is honored to partner on the announcement of the Founders First 2023 Chicago Job Creators Quest Grant, said Tasha Brown, Midwest Director, Small Business Majority. We are happy to support this grant and the 25 diverse-led small businesses in Illinois who will now have the opportunity to take their business to the next level using the $100,000 awarded. Funding for this program was facilitated by a $1 million national grant from the Rockefeller Foundation and in conjunction with Founders First Capital Partners' recent $9 million Series A financing accelerator to support underrepresented entrepreneurs in underserved communities across the country. Workbox is proud to support all our diverse members and broader community of Founders across the state of Illinois, said Samantha Schwartz, Director of Business Services at Workbox. Entrepreneurs of color have been marginalized and under-resourced, fueling our passion to partner with the 2023 Chicago Job Creators Quest grants mission to fund the diverse Founders of Illinois. Additional national and regional partners include World Business Chicago, Newity, Kerosene Ventures, Small Business Majority, Clarke Public Accounting, Charma Capital, Andersonville Chamber of Commerce, Asian American Chamber of Commerce, North River Commission, Women Business Collaborative, WBDC, StartOut, Jellyneck, Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, Corp Coalition, Bunker Labs, Workbox, Center For Changing Lives, Chinese Mutual Aid, Verve Credit Union, HispanicPro, AllRise Legal, National Black MBA, and many more. Qualified business owners may visit foundersfirstcdc.org/chicago/ to apply for the grant. ### About Founders First CDC Founders First CDC is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 that was founded in 2015 and has received significant support from the regional community reinvestment banks to empower diverse founder-led, revenue-generating small businesses through three primary programs: (1) Founders Challenge; (2) Founders Bootcamp; and, (3) Founders FastPath. By building recurring revenues, tech-enablement, and essential solution focus, Founders First serves as a catalyst for positive change to entrepreneurs of color and female founders to become leading employers in their communities. http://www.foundersfirstcdc.org Were excited to acknowledge partners solving more complex customer challenges while advancing Atlassians mission. ServiceRockets focus on Atlassian Cloud migration, Agile at Scale and ITSM solutions will drive more customer value while reducing complexity." Cameron Deatsch, CRO at Atlassian ServiceRocket, a global leader in tech-enabled solutions specialized on the Atlassian platform, today announced that Appfire, an enterprise collaboration software company that enables teams to plan and deliver their best work, has acquired a large portion of ServiceRockets Atlassian app portfolio as part of an enhanced partnership that leverages ServiceRockets solution services expertise. As an Atlassian Enterprise Platinum Solution Partner, ServiceRockets worldwide delivery capabilities align with Appfires growing portfolio of applications to enhance the value companies receive from their technology investments. The two companies have a long and vital history of supporting each other at the executive level. When I met ServiceRocket founder and CEO Rob Castaneda 15+ years ago, we were competitors who shared similar values for our companies - and we knew we were part of something big, said Randall Ward, co-founder and CEO of Appfire. It was the very early days of the Atlassian ecosystem, and we took the time to help nurture that community while supporting one another as we built our own brands. That long-term collaboration and alliance has been a driving force in helping both companies grow and scale. Weve had the pleasure of working side by side with Appfire from the earliest days, says CEO Rob Castaneda. Todays announcement demonstrates the vitality of our relationship and the positive impact that our products and services have on our customers growth. It also affirms the strength of the Atlassian ecosystem and our role in it. As one of Atlassians earliest partners and an early app creator, ServiceRocket helped establish the Atlassian ecosystem, continues Castaneda. We developed some of the platform's initial apps and commercialized add-ons to Jira and Confluence that enhance and expand the capabilities of these tools to help customers improve collaboration and productivity." ServiceRocket will continue its long-standing relationship with Appfire as a leading channel partner for both the newly acquired products and the rest of the Appfire portfolio. This acquisition supports ServiceRockets strategic focus as an Atlassian Specialized Partner in ITSM and Cloud for Atlassian customers. Were excited to acknowledge partners solving more complex customer challenges while advancing Atlassians mission, says Cameron Deatsch, Chief Revenue Officer at Atlassian. ServiceRockets focus on Atlassian Cloud migration, Agile at Scale and ITSM solutions will drive more customer value while reducing complexity. Innovation, in service to our partners and customers, is written in our DNA, notes Peter Marquez, CCO, ServiceRocket. Our unique educational offerings for Atlassian products will now be extended to support Appfire applications, such as Jira Misc Workflow Extensions (JMWE). Were excited to leverage Appfire products as we extend the value companies get from the Atlassian platform, especially with Jira Service Management for DevOps, IT and Marketing. Whether its Cloud migrations, digital transformations or customer-focus solutions, we have their back, adds Castaneda. Our relationship with Appfire supports this mission and builds on our shared momentum. About ServiceRocket As the leading provider of tech-enabled services with specialization on the Atlassian platform, our mission is to be the single most reliable partner in the acceleration of growth for our customers, partners and Rocketeers. Since 2003, our Atlassian expertise has enabled thousands of enterprises to reduce complexity and empower users. From software adoption to platform expansion, our Tech and Platform services allow them to better focus on their business. You have a partner in ServiceRocket. Weve got your back. Founded in 2001 and based in Palo Alto, California, ServiceRocket delivers agile at scale solutions and is an Atlassian ITSM Specialized and Cloud Specialized Partner. With global reach across EMEA, APAC and the Americas, skilled Rocketeers implement DevOps, SAFe, ITIL, customer support and education solutions for our partners and customers worldwide. Visit http://www.servicerocket.com for more information. About Appfire Appfire is the leading enterprise collaboration software provider that makes work flow any way teams want to work, from planning to product ideation, to product development, project delivery, and beyond. Appfire gives teams the best solutions to enhance, augment, connect, and extend platforms like Atlassian, Salesforce, and Microsoft, enabling teams to thrive and do their best work together. Many of Appfires popular software products are sold on the Atlassian Marketplace, where Appfire has the most widely adopted portfolio of Atlassian apps with 200,000+ active installations across tens of thousands of customers worldwide. Appfires popular solutions help teams with Workflow & Automation, Product Portfolio Management, IT Service Management, Document Management, Business Intelligence and Reporting, Administrative Tools, Agile Tools, Developer Tools, Time Tracking, Publishing, and Visual Collaboration. Learn more at http://www.appfire.com. Im grateful for 28 years of working with all of you and for the opportunity to lead Proactive Worldwide with my business partner, David [Kalinowski]. Proactive Worldwide (PWW) announced today that Co-Founder and CEO Gary Maag has retired from the company. Maags retirement comes as the company performs beyond expectations and is well-positioned for continued success. His departure completes a two-year leadership succession planning process during which PWW defined its multi-year vision for ensuring continued stellar client service in the pursuit of client successes. First and foremost I want to thank our wonderful clients, our industry partners and our team here, said Maag. Im grateful for 28 years of working with all of you and for the opportunity to lead Proactive Worldwide with my business partner, David [Kalinowski]. Im ready to take a bit more time for myself. Im also excited about pursuing a few other endeavors, and I will continue to share my knowledge and to learn from others. Maag retires with more than 30 years of experience in competitive intelligence, research and consulting. He directed Proactive Worldwides global business development and marketing activities. With Co-Founder and President David Kalinowski, he guided Proactive Worldwide from a two-person operation into one of the worlds leading decision-support, research, and consulting firms, with delivery teams in North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. Gary and I founded Proactive Worldwide together in 1995, said Kalinowski. Its been my privilege and honor to spend the better part of my career alongside Gary, to build a thriving company with him, and to bring CI to the masses. Without him, we would not be where we are today, a global company well-positioned to continue helping clients gain a competitive edge through CI. Maag has been a passionate educator. He relished teaching clients about the value of competitive intelligence (CI). He relentlessly promoted the CI discipline, and help to build a method for teaching CI to those desiring a promising CI career path. During his distinguished career, Maag received the Strategic and Competitive Intelligence Professionals (SCIP) Catalyst Award, which recognizes individuals who through their volunteer services have made important and valued contributions to the competitive intelligence profession. He also received the Northern Illinois Universitys Distinguished Marketing Alumnus Award. To connect with Gary, we encourage you to contact him through LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/garymaag/ About Proactive Worldwide Proactive Worldwide is one of the worlds leading market intelligence companies helping top-tier organizations understand vulnerabilities, better predict market shifts, and plan for growth with confidence. We examine competitors, suppliers, customers, regulatory issues, and morethrough advanced competitive, market, and customer intelligenceto deliver a more complete picture of the decision-making environment with a far-reaching perspective that uncovers hidden opportunities and key threats. With more than 28 years of experience, we leverage our proprietary methodology, a deep bench of researchers and analysts, and in-house industry specialists to produce insights that have real impact. Learn more Proactive Worldwide. ### Paley Middle East Clinic I am delighted to open the Paley Middle East Clinic in the UAE in partnership with BMC. Together we aim to transform the UAE into a hub for limb lengthening and deformity correction, attracting patients from across the globe for cutting-edge treatments, Dror Paley, MD. Dr. Dror Paley has launched the Paley Middle East Clinic in Abu Dhabi in partnership with Burjeel Holdings to continue his mission of providing cutting-edge orthopedic surgical treatment worldwide. The Paley Orthopedic and Spine Institute in West Palm Beach, Florida, is already the largest orthopedic medical tourism center in the US, treating patients from over 100 different countries and all 50 states. The Paley Middle East Clinic will expand the Paley Institutes medical tourism reach across the Middle East, Asia, and Africa and joins its sister institution Paley European Institute, located in Warsaw, Poland, since 2018. I am delighted to open the Paley Middle East Clinic in the UAE in partnership with BMC. Together, we aim to transform the UAE into a hub for limb lengthening and deformity correction, attracting patients from across the globe for cutting-edge treatments, Dror Paley, MD. Dr. Paley and his team of expert physicians and surgeons in every subspecialty of orthopedic surgery will travel from the United States to provide unparalleled care to patients in the region. They will offer diagnosis and treatment for children and adults with upper and lower limb and orthopedic spine problems. This includes Dr. Paleys own subspeciality of treating congenital limb deformities, post-traumatic limb conditions, bone healing problems, bone defects, skeletal dysplasia, metabolic disorders, foot deformities, neuromuscular conditions, etc, to name but some of the repertoire of conditions treated. Dr. Paley has performed more than 25,000 limb-lengthening and reconstruction-related procedures. About Paley Orthopedic & Spine Institute The Paley Orthopedic & Spine Institute at St. Marys Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, was founded by Dr. Dror Paley in 2009. It has grown to twenty-three physicians in 2023. The Paley Institute's mission is to provide the best, most advanced care to patients with bone, joint, or nerve conditions, from minor fractures to the most complicated limb or spine deformities. They call this Paley Care. This Dream Team of surgeons are world leaders in reconstructive orthopedic and neurological surgery. They provide patients with the most advanced, innovative treatments customized to the patients individual needs. The Paley Institutes are located in three continents to help raise the standard of surgery care worldwide. For over 35 years, Dr. Paley has been providing realistic hope and solutions to patients with impossible-to-treat problems from all over the world. Please let the Paley Institutes provide you with the care you deserve. Learn more at paleyinstitute.org. The Gunter Group recognized as a Most Promising Agile Service Provider by CIO Review Companies dont seek to transform to become experts at agile, they seek to transform to better support their customers and achieve better business outcomes. Our firm places a relentless focus on our clients strategic goals to help them get there. - Matt Bader, TGG Partner The Gunter Group, a management consulting firm that serves clients across the United States, was recently named one of the 10 Most Promising Agile Service Providers by CIOReview Magazine. The recognition was part of CIOReviews 5th Annual Agile Edition of the publication. The Gunter Group was identified through a nomination process conducted by CIOReview and was featured in CIOReviews printed edition and online as well. As an introduction to the recognition CIOReview stated: Agile is no longer just a buzzword. It has set a solid root in organizations to quickly adapt to rapidly evolving market and customer demands. Advanced technologies like cloud-based agile systems, AI, and ML agile testing, and quality intelligence platforms are helping organizations simplify complex production and organization processes, and allowing project managers to deliver a project at a functional level when changes may be made more quickly. When asked about TGGs approach to agile initiatives, Principal Consultant and Agile Services Lead Jim Calko commented: We work to seamlessly develop the agile programs that impact the most important strategic initiatives for our clients. To achieve this we take a collaborative approach which results in consensus among the clients teams and leads their organizations forward with ease. TGGs unique approach to supporting client partners efforts to transform elements of their businesses starts with a committed focus as noted by TGG Partner Matt Bader: Companies dont seek to transform to become experts at agile, they seek to transform to better support their customers and achieve better business outcomes. Our firm places a relentless focus on our clients strategic goals by bringing agile expertise and experiences as a capability to help them get there. The Gunter Group supports organizations with its highly qualified team of consultants that are experienced in leading transformational programs, and have expertise in SAFe, SCRUM, Lean, DevOps, and other agile practices as well as complimentary disciplines like PMBOK, BABOK, ITIL, and PROSCI. The Gunter Group is known for its listen first philosophy that provides companies of all sizes and industries with effective solutions that align with their culture and objectives. The Gunter Group partners with its clients to understand their strengths, goals, challenges, and culture. About The Gunter Group Founded in 2011, The Gunter Group (TGG) features an experienced team of consultants serving clients across the country. TGG prides itself on providing consulting services to a broad range of organizations spanning Fortune 100 companies to locally-based businesses. The firm has been named one of the Best Companies to Work For in Oregon by Oregon Business Magazine for eight consecutive years, a Best Small Firm to Work For by Consulting Magazine for four straight years, and named one of the Inc. Magazines Best Workplaces in the Nation two years in a row. The Gunter Group currently has over 70 team members with operational hubs in Portland, Reno, Salt Lake City, and Denver. Conga, the global leader in scalable Revenue Lifecycle Management solutions, today announced that it was honored for the fifth consecutive year in Built Ins 2023 Best Places to Work Awards. Specifically, Conga earned a place on Colorado Best Large Places to Work and Colorado Best Places to Work lists. The annual awards program includes companies of all sizes, from startups to those in the enterprise, and honors both remote-first employers as well as companies in large tech markets across the U.S. We are honored to be named a Best Place to Work by Built Ins prestigious awards program for the fifth year running. This recognition can be attributed to the Conga Way, which is reflected in the entrepreneurial spirit of our colleagues who join together to create a great experience for our customers every day, said Dayna Perry, Chief People Officer, Conga. I believe that building a culture that embraces individuality and creates opportunities for colleagues to stretch and thrive is among the many reasons Conga has been recognized for these awards. Built In determines the winners of Best Places to Work based on an algorithm, using company data about compensation and benefits. To reflect the benefits candidates are searching for more frequently on Built In, the program also weighs criteria like remote and flexible work opportunities, programs for DEI and other people-first cultural offerings. Its my honor to congratulate this years Best Places to Work winners, says Sheridan Orr, Chief Marketing Officer, Built In. These exemplary companies understand their people are their most valuable asset, and theyve stepped up to meet the modern professionals new expectations, including the desire to work for companies that deliver purpose, growth and inclusion. These winners set the stage for a human-centered future of work, and we cant wait to see that future unfold. About Conga Conga crushes complexity in an increasingly complex world. With our Revenue Lifecycle Management solution, we transform each companys unique complexities for order configuration, execution, fulfillment, and contract renewal processes with a unified data model that adapts to ever-changing business requirements and aligns the understanding and efforts of every team. Our approach is grounded in the Conga Way, a framework of entrepreneurial spirit and achieving together to champion our 11,000+ customers. Were committed to our customers and to removing complexity in an increasingly complex world. Our solutions quickly adapt to changing business models so you can normalize your revenue management processes. Conga has global operations across North America, Europe, and Asia. Learn more at conga.com or follow Conga on Twitter: @congahq. ABOUT BUILT IN Built In is creating the largest platform for technology professionals globally. Monthly, millions of the industrys most in-demand professionals visit the site from across the world. They rely on our platform to stay ahead of tech trends and news, learn skills to accelerate their careers and find opportunities at companies whose values they share. Built In also serves 2,000 customers, innovative companies ranging from startups to those in the Fortune 500. By putting their stories in front of our uniquely engaged audience, we help them hire otherwise hard-to-reach tech professionals. http://www.builtin.com ABOUT BUILT INS BEST PLACES TO WORK Built Ins esteemed Best Places to Work Awards, now in its fifth year, honor companies across numerous categories: 100 Best Places to Work, 50 Best Startup Places to Work, 100 Best Midsize Places to Work, 100 Best Large Places to Work and Editors Choice: 100 Best Hybrid Places to Work. The program honors companies remote, hybrid and in-office with the best total rewards packages across the U.S. and in the following tech hubs: Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Colorado, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington DC. Social media is a powerful tool for expression and connection, but a poor decision in content posting can haunt individuals the rest of their careers. - Express Employment International CEO Bill Stoller Personal social media posts are not off limits to employment determinations as 88% of U.S. hiring managers say they would consider firing employees for content found in workers posts. This is according to a survey from The Harris Poll commissioned by Express Employment Professionals. Fireable offenses include publishing content damaging the companys reputation (59%), revealing confidential company information (58%), showcasing and/or mentioning illegal drug use (50%), violating the companys social media use policy or contract (45%) and showcasing and/or mentioning underage drinking (38%). Only 12% of U.S. hiring managers say there is nothing a company could fire an employee for based on their social media posts. When asked the same question, the majority of job seekers (86%) agree companies can fire employees based on their social media posts that reveal confidential company information (64%), violate the companys social media use policy or contract (58%) or damage the companys reputation (57%). Further scrutiny extends to content showcasing and/or mentioning illegal drug use (50%) or underage drinking (43%) and showcasing and/or mentioning beliefs different than those held by the company (21%). Social Media Use on the Clock 1 in 4 employers (40%) discourage the use of social media during work hours, while 30% provide resources and information on professional social media etiquette. Twenty-six percent of companies have a social media use policy/contract that employees must sign, and 25% encourage their workers to build their personal brand on social media. Leadership blocks social media sites on company property at 19% of businesses, 17% view or monitor employees social media accounts and 13% have access to employees social media accounts. Access to Workers Accounts Employees should limit social media use to only breaks and lunchtime, said Mike Brady, a Florida Express franchise owner. Without a doubt, social media consumption eats into productive time in the workplace, so personal social media should be conducted on personal time. Despite the distinction between personal social media and company-driven usage, Brady believes employers should only actively monitor online accounts used for business. This would apply to more professional positions versus light industrial. Reggie Kaji, an Express franchise owner in Michigan, however, asserts due to the potential negative impacts on the companys reputation, even the personal social media accounts of workers are fair game. If a potential customer or a current one follows an employee on social media and doesnt agree with their content, it can harm the relationship, he said. Especially with politics and todays polarizing environment, I prefer not to follow coworkers and customers on most social media other than LinkedIn. Regardless of privacy beliefs, both Kaji and Brady say certain content posted online would constitute termination, including anything racist, raunchy, and/or calling out of anyone affiliated with a company in an unprofessional manner and threats or threatening comments. Professional Online Presence One tactic to help mitigate inappropriate posts by employees is to have them commit to a company social media use policy. We have a policy in place, and its in our handbook, Kaji said. I think its important to set expectations so if employees violate the policy, its not a surprise. Brady is a little more hesitant to encourage a policy for what he calls a complicated situation. I think employers walk a very fine line here, he said. On one side is the right to privacy and free speech and on the other is the employers image. Especially in this day and age when accessibility is through the click of a button, the court of public opinion will almost automatically point the finger at the employer for why they didnt know something was good, bad, right or wrong, even if its on the employees social media account. Overall, according to Kaji, employers should remind workers of the importance of maintaining a professional image on social media and how it could impact their careers since a lot of hiring managers look at social media as part of the hiring decision. Social media is a powerful tool for expression and connection, but a poor decision in content posting can haunt individuals the rest of their careers, Express Employment International CEO Bill Stoller said. The best advice is to refrain from publishing anything you wouldnt want your boss to see or think you may regret in the future. Survey Methodology The Job Insights survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of Express Employment Professionals between Dec. 1 and Dec. 15, 2022, among 1,002 U.S. hiring decision-makers (defined as adults ages 18+ in the U.S. who are employed full-time or self-employed, work at companies with more than one employee, and have full/significant involvement in hiring decisions at their company). Data were weighted where necessary by company size to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in our surveys. The sampling precision of Harris online polls is measured by using a Bayesian credible interval. For this study, the sample data is accurate to within + 3.2 percentage points using a 95% confidence level. This credible interval will be wider among subsets of the surveyed population of interest. The omnibus survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of Express Employment Professionals from Dec. 13-15, 2022, among 2,041 adults ages 18 and older. Data are weighted where necessary by age, gender, race/ethnicity, region, education, marital status, household size, household income and propensity to be online, to bring them in line with their actual proportions in the population. Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in our surveys. The sampling precision of Harris online polls is measured by using a Bayesian credible interval. For this study, the sample data is accurate to within + 2.8 percentage points using a 95% confidence level. *** 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 10 million since its inception. For more information, visit ExpressPros.com, and find more employment insights at ExpressPros.com/AmericaEmployed. Adswerve, a digital media and data consultancy, celebrates a stellar 2022 by announcing award wins from several top industry organizations recognizing the consultancys leading marketing analytics work and workplace culture. Adswerves accomplishments include recognition from the Digital Analytics Associations (DAA) 2022 Quantie Awards and Built Ins 2023 Best Places to Work Awards in Colorado and Seattle. Chief Marketers 2022 Top Women in Marketing Awards also named Senior Vice President of Media Services, Kristina Goldberg, Madam Martech for her work with the company. DAAs Quantie Awards recognizes top digital analytics professionals and agencies, awarding the Top Large Agency honor to Adswerve. The award is judged by a panel of their peers and evaluated by the measurable impact agencies create for their clients. A leading Built In Best Place to Work company for five consecutive years, Adswerve continues to advance its mission on employee experience with unwavering dedication to its team by investing in its people and culture to enable growth. This year, Adswerve was recognized as a four-category winner, including Colorado Best Midsize Places to Work, Colorado Best Places to Work, Seattle Best Midsize Places to Work and Seattle Best Places to Work. It is an honor to be recognized with these awards, said Tracy Tobin, Chief People Officer at Adswerve. We are consistently raising the bar in both the work we are producing for our clients and the meaningful employee experience we are fostering internally. Adswerve is powered by our people, and I am proud of our incredible teams and the talented individuals, like Kristina, who lead and continuously support them. These accolades are proof that the work we are doing to create a culture focused on supporting and developing our people produces not only happy, successful employees but also outstanding work. Throughout 2022, Adswerves people-first strategy has helped the consultancy foster individual growth and attract and retain top talent in its industry. Goldbergs Madam Martech'' win, which is given to a marketer with a notable talent for implementing effective martech tools to solve real problems and make her teams marketing smarter this year, is just one example of this. Kristina embodies Adswerves people-first mission, said Rick Reinard, Chief Operations Officer at Adswerve. She is adept at getting to know her clients and her team, understanding their needs and finding creative solutions to their challenges. Whether introducing a new KPI, engaging a different partner, or automating processes, she enables clients and internal Adswerve teams to stretch beyond what they thought possible and evolve to stay ahead. Further testament to its industry-leading workplace culture and dedication to its employees, Adswerve has also been honored as a 2022 Digiday WorkLife Award Finalist for Best Hybrid Work Environment. Leading the industry in its work, Adswerve is also recognized as a 2022 AdExchanger Award Finalist for its DataLayer Inspector+ tool for GA4 and a 2022 Digiday Awards Finalist for Best Search Campaign for their work with Alaska Airlines. For more information about Adswerve, visit http://www.adswerve.com. ### About Adswerve As a leading digital media and data consultancy, Adswerve is a team of 200+ media and analytics experts on a mission to humanize data and guide our clients to remarkable outcomes. Headquartered in Denver, Adswerve helps thousands of digital marketers, data analysts and agencies make stronger connections with their customers through successful data-driven strategies. For more information, please visit http://www.adswerve.com. "Our vision is evolving to meet this mission by adding a clinical advisory team to support and mentor educators and school districts. Our goal with this new team is to provide unparalleled support to school districts and staff, said Mark Esguerra, Managing Director of BlazerWorks. BlazerWorks, the leading K-12 managed service provider, today announced the formation of its new strategic Special Education Clinical Advisory Team. Members of the advisory team will help guide the companys vision and mission-critical work to support school districts in driving success, improving outcomes, and transforming the future of special education. With the Clinical Special Education Advisory Team, BlazerWorks supports districts and school-based professionals by providing special education advisory services to fully integrate clinical expertise into learning environments, enrich therapists and teachers, enhance school staff and staffing programs, and elevate the educational experience. The clinical advisory services, as well as BlazerWorks other services, are provided at no additional cost to school districts. The Special Education Clinical Advisory Team consists of Special Education Teachers, School Psychologists, Speech-Language Pathologists, Occupational Therapists, and other special education disciplines. "At BlazerWorks, our mission is to elevate special education in the United States," said Mark Esguerra, Managing Director of BlazerWorks. "Our vision is evolving to meet this mission by adding a clinical advisory team to support and mentor educators and school districts. Our goal with this new team is to provide unparalleled support to school districts and staff. The Clinical Special Education Advisory Team consists of 17 clinical advisors with decades of experience in the industry, including: Jaime Sowers, Ed.D., Clinical Advisory Team Director: Sowers earned his doctorate in innovation and leadership from Wilmington University in Delaware. He has nearly 20 years of experience in education. Before joining the BlazerWorks team, he spent three years as the special education director for Santa Fe Public Schools in New Mexico. He is an active member of the Council of Administrators of Special Education and the Council of Exceptional Children. Tawnya Redding, M.S.Ed., Special Education Advisor: Redding earned her master's degree in special education from Portland State University in Oregon and is a CPI Certified Instructor for verbal intervention. Before joining the team, she spent over a decade working with youth in therapeutic settings as both an educator and a mental health professional. Erin Hoganson, M.A., LEP, School Psychology Advisor: Hoganson earned her master's degree in educational psychology from Azusa Pacific University. Before joining the team, she worked in K-12 education for the last 22 years as a paraprofessional, special education teacher, school psychologist and program specialist. Additionally, Hoganson is a Licensed Educational Psychologist in California and works in private practice doing assessments, supervision and staff development training. Alyson Maldonado, M.A., CCC-SLP, Speech Therapy Advisor: Maldonado earned her master's degree in communication sciences and disorders from the University of Central Florida. Before joining the BlazerWorks team, she worked for 11 years at a private practice as the Clinical Director and Speech-Language Pathologist. Randal McCormack M.S., CCC-SLP, Speech Therapy Advisor: McCormack earned her master's degree in speech-language pathology from Seton Hall University. Before joining the BlazerWorks team, she spent four years working in specialized schools and early intervention programs and has extensive knowledge about Augmentative Alternative Communication. Amy Fehr M.S., OTR/L, Occupational Therapy Advisor: Fehr earned her masters degree in occupational therapy from Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine with a research emphasis on studying executive functioning and academic success in students with unilateral hearing loss. "Working in special education is an act of love and service unlike any other," said Jaime Sowers, Ed. D., BlazerWorks Clinical Special Education Advisory Team Director. "Special educators play an important role in creating an inclusive classroom and learning environment. While the work is rewarding, it is also an extremely demanding role, and special educators are especially prone to burnout. The formation of this team is mission-critical to support and empower special education services at a time when it is needed most." Historically, K-12 workers have been among the more burned-out workers in the nation, an issue only exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Research shows that more than four in 10 K-12 workers in the U.S. (44%) say they "always" or "very often" feel burned out at work, outpacing all other industries nationally. In addition, social, academic, and mental health challenges students faced only furthered K-12 burnout. BlazerWorks Clinical Special Education Advisory Team offers clinical expertise and insights and perspectives for schools and education professionals. The Clinical Advisory Team can support districts and staff with: Assessment & Instruction Learning & Enrichment Resources & Tools Advising & Mentorship IEP Process Support Providing Solutions To learn more about the Clinical Special Education Advisory Team, visit https://blazerworks.com/about/clinical-advisors/. To learn more about BlazerWorks services including Clinical Expertise and Support, Managed Services for Education and Staff Augmentation Solutions, visit https://blazerworks.com/. About BlazerWorks BlazerWorks is a Special Education Advisory Service Provider with over three decades of experience in the education industry. BlazerWorks mission is to elevate special education in the United States by providing advisory services and support to districts and school-based professionals. BlazerWorks works hand-in-hand with school districts to fully integrate clinical expertise into learning environments, enrich therapists and teachers, streamline school staffing programs, and elevate the educational experience. To learn more, visit https://blazerworks.com/. Kendrick Baros, Founder of Brand X Land & Ranch Im thrilled to partner with Side to launch this groundbreaking local rural land real estate company and actualize my clients dreams Brand X Land & Ranch today announced its partnership with Side, the only real estate technology company that exclusively partners with high-performing agents, teams, and independent brokerages to transform them into market-leading boutique brands and businesses. The alliance will ensure that Brand X Land & Ranchs one-of-a-kind, expert real estate support is powered by the industrys most advanced platform. Kendrick Baros is a licensed real estate broker and agent whos helped his clients win their dreams since 2007. With a family background in both real estate and Texas ranching, Baros is highly familiar with local land and the community that occupies it, offering his customers an insiders expertise of the region and invaluable connections to nearby industry professionals. Working with developers and one of the top land real estate firms in the area, Baros boasts innovative marketing skills that he implements to win top-dollar deals for his clients. In the first three quarters of 2022, the consultant earned a transaction volume of over $63 million. Brand X Land & Ranch assists rural land sellers, buyers, and investors in Central and South Texas with unmatched services featuring state-of-the-art marketing, a wide network of local professionals, and a curated knowledge of land, ranch, and farm real estate. Partnering with Side will ensure Brand X Land & Ranch remains on the cutting edge of the evolving real estate market while continuing to deliver premium services to its clients. Side works behind the scenes, supporting Brand X Land & Ranch with a one-of-a-kind brokerage platform that includes proprietary technology, transaction management, branding and marketing services, public relations, legal support, lead generation, vendor management, infrastructure solutions, and more. Additionally, Brand X Land & Ranch will join an exclusive group of Side partners, tapping into an expansive network from coast to coast. Im thrilled to partner with Side to launch this groundbreaking local rural land real estate company and actualize my clients dreams, Baros said. Thanks to Sides state-of-the-art marketing, technology, administrative, and legal services, I can build my business without sacrificing quality time with my clients. About Brand X Land & Ranch Brand X Land & Ranch helps buyers and sellers achieve their real estate goals on the rich, expansive land in Central and South Texas with dependable services headed by native Texans. Commercial, land, ranch, and farm clients will benefit from the companys developed network of local industry professionals and state-of-the-art marketing services that include high-quality drone videography and innovative social media strategies. As salespeople and ranchers, the Brand X Land & Ranch team provides dependable support with consistently successful outcomes. For more information, visit http://www.brandxlandranch.com. About Side Side is a behind-the-scenes brokerage platform that exclusively partners with top-performing agents, teams, and independent brokerages to create and grow their own boutique brands without the cost, time, or risk of operating a brokerage. Sides proprietary technology platform and premier support solutions empower its agent partners to be more productive, grow their business, and focus on serving their clients. Side is headquartered in San Francisco. For more information, visit http://www.side.com. Scott's commitment and drive exemplify not just what we look for in a Strategist, but how were providing enterprise sales professionals with an opportunity to build their own businesses with world-class support. - Brian Miller, Chief Revenue Officer and Co-Founder, Bridgepointe Technologies. Bridgepointe Technologies (Bridgepointe or the Company), a tech advisory firm that helps mid-market and enterprise companies bridge the gap between tech investments and business results, today announced that Scott Coleman has been named as a Partner. Coleman is one of Bridgepointes most successful Strategists and has grown his agency quickly since joining in January 2021. With a nearly 25-year track record in the IT services industry, he will use the equity investment to support his rapidly growing client base and support customers in the execution of their IT and business goals. Scott has quickly proven himself as a top Strategist, going from engaging with Bridgepointe to becoming a Partner in record time, shared Brian Miller, Chief Revenue Officer and Co-Founder, Bridgepointe Technologies. His commitment and drive exemplify not just what we look for in a Strategist, but how were providing enterprise sales professionals with an opportunity to build their own businesses with world-class support. Coleman started his firm, Cloud Review, after receiving a start-up investment from Bridgepointe. These investments are designed to offer enterprise sales professionals a smooth and supportive transition into becoming an independent IT Strategist. Before joining Bridgepointe as a Strategist, Coleman held roles at leading tech companies such as AT&T, INAP, Level 3, Nextel Communications and Sungard Availability Services. When I joined Bridgepointe, I had high expectations, and theyve exceeded them every step of the way, explained Scott Coleman, Partner, Bridgepointe Technologies. While building my own business, I have never been alone on that journey. The Company has provided critical expertise and resources so I can ensure my clients have the tools they need to succeed with their IT decisions. As a Partner, I look forward to playing a role in the future of Bridgepointe. Since early 2022, Bridgepointe has named its most successful strategists as Partners in the firm. In the coming year, the Company will continue aggressively seeking potential Strategists to join an unparalleled team of client-focused IT Strategists under the Bridgepointe umbrella. About Bridgepointe Technologies Bridgepointe Technologies is a leading tech advisory firm that helps mid-market and enterprise companies bridge the gap between tech investments and business results. Over the past 20 years, Bridgepointe has worked with over 12,000 companies to save time by shortening the procurement process while saving money and increasing ROI. Supported by in-house, best-in-class Solution Architects and IT Strategists, the firm has developed a proven process to quickly drive time to value with tech investments. For more information about Bridgepointe, please visit http://www.bridgepointetechnologies.com. CT scan shows pars fractures. X-ray shows pars repair. 10 months fracture of distal end of one screw. Revision fusion. We appreciate all the patients who trust our care, and continue to refer their family and friends to us for treatment, said Dr. Chin According to court documents in case No.: 16-029968-CA-31 filed in the circuit court of the 11th judicial circuit in and for Miami-Dade County, FL, Dr. Chin and The LESS Institute were sued for fixing a bilateral pars fracture in a muscular-built adult patient with a grade 1 isthmic spondylolisthesis who had suffered a car accident and had acute back pain. The court documents revealed, the patient underwent a pars fracture repair, performed using a Bucks technique using two partially threaded cannulated screws shown to be highly effective in published data. The court documents revealed, the patient did well with no pain post-operatively but at 10 months, an x-ray showed a fracture of one of the screws. In the court documents, Dr. Chin was accused of not doing a standard lumbar fusion with interbody cages and pedicle screw instrumentation. "I want to do our best for patients. I have the added problem of a public image that I am wealthy because I am an inventor of medical devices and a business owner. I also carry malpractice insurance. This is the reality I face, but truth be told, I have treated thousands of patients but only a handful of lawsuits, so the majority of my patients are not looking to cash in on my perceived wealth, but some do," laments Dr. Chin. "We will continue to offer our patients high-quality health care and research new and innovative devices to improve treatment for our patients in the outpatient setting. We invented the less exposure surgery philosophy to offer our patients less surgery over more complicated and risky surgeries commonly done in hospitals," said Dr. Chin. Dr. Chin has published over 85 peer-reviewed scientific articles, multiple books, has 50+ patents and many spine devices being used in US and overseas and has travelled worldwide to teach other surgeons the less exposure surgery treatment philosophy using his proven FDA-approved inventions. "We appreciate all the patients who trust our care, and continue to refer their family and friends to us for treatment." About LESS Institute A global outpatient Orthopedic and Spine Surgery Specialty & Research Private Academic Institute of Excellence focused on a wide breadth of technical expertise in surgeries of the entire musculoskeletal system and spine: cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacrum, and coccyx built on a foundation of Less Exposure Surgery philosophy, techniques and technologies. Less Exposure Surgery (LES) is less invasive than minimally invasive surgery. We utilize the newest available techniques and technologies that have proven efficacy for LES to achieve maximal surgical effectiveness, preserve the patient's natural anatomy and allow for outpatient surgery with quick recovery. Evidence shows learning acceleration, rather than remediation, is the effective way to address unfinished learning. When high-impact tutoring is implemented with fidelity and data is driving instruction for each student, educators can expect improved academic outcomes. According to the National Student Support Accelerator, supplementing classroom instruction with high-impact tutoring produces substantial learning gains. Those high learning gains are one of many factors that make high-impact tutoring an excellent option for boosting students performance on high-stakes tests. To help educators provide their students with the best test preparation support, FEV Tutor has released a free new guide, Activating Effective Test Prep with High-Impact Tutoring: Best Practices for Implementation. Evidence shows learning acceleration, rather than remediation, is the effective way to address unfinished learning, said Ryan Patenaude, Sr. Vice President and Co-Founder of FEV Tutor. When high-impact tutoring is implemented with fidelity and data is driving instruction for each student, educators can expect improved academic outcomes. To support the claims of high-dosage tutorings efficacy, Activating Effective Test Prep with High-Impact Tutor references findings from a review of more than 200 studies. In addition, it discusses the factors that make high-impact tutoring effective and the various ways that tutors can help prepare students for high-stakes testing such as developing test-taking strategies. The guide also explains that tutoring programs are optimized when they integrate three models: Targeted instructional support with consistent tutors 24/7 homework help and coursework support Targeted test prep In addition, the guide discusses best practices for implementation. Patenaude said, Weve found that there are four primary reasons that tutoring implementations fail: inadequate goal setting, inflexible implementation, a lack of ongoing training opportunities, and failure to monitor implementation. This guide shares practices that enable educators to avoid those pitfalls. Readers will also learn about FEV Tutors implementation process, including its focus on collaborating with districts, and the key principles that ensure the companys tutoring program will be implemented successfully. Even the information we share about our own program can be applied when evaluating other tutoring programs, said Patenaude. All the principles and best practices we share in this guide are dedicated to setting students on an accelerated path to grade level proficiency. Thats our mission at FEV Tutor. Activating Effective Test Prep with High-Impact Tutoring: Best Practices for Implementation is available for downloading at https://www.fevtutor.com/resources/exam-help-guide/. About FEV Tutor Based in Boston, FEV Tutor is the leading research and evidence-based online tutoring platform working nationally to effect change in K-12 education. Its ESSA-approved programs are strategically designed in close collaboration with each partner school, district, charter school, and other organizations to accelerate learning for every student. FEV Tutor leverages technology to deliver 1:1 high-impact and transformative personalized learning pathways through live, virtual tutoring sessions. For more information on FEV Tutor, visit fevtutor.com or follow on Twitter # # # By providing students with Quantile scores from mid-year assessments not just at the end we can customize the learning pathway to each individual student's level and progress during the school year. The results of the 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) revealed the distressing impact that the disruption by the COVID-19 pandemic had on U.S. student math achievement. Fourth-grade scores dropped by five points the largest decline in math since the test was first administered in 1990. To help reverse this course, Happy Numbers and MetaMetrics today announced an acceleration of their long-term partnership to help ensure that the youngest learners build the rigorous math skills and understanding that will provide a foundation for their entire education and life. Beginning in early 2023, Happy Numbers individualized PK-5 online math curriculum will report Quantile measures for its mid-year progress assessments. For more than five years, students have received Quantile measures from Happy Numbers Placement Tests. Happy Numbers teaches students to think math. They explore the meaning behind math, building upon simple concepts to create connections and develop deep understanding, said Evgeny Milyutin, co-founder and CEO, Happy Numbers. By providing students with Quantile scores from mid-year assessments not just at the end we can customize the learning pathway to each individual student's level and progress during the school year. Launched nearly two decades ago, the Quantile Framework for Mathematics uses a common scale and metric to assess a students mathematical achievement level and the difficulty of specific skills and concepts. By reporting the Quantile measures for both its placement and benchmark assessments, Happy Numbers provides a powerful tool for personalizing math instruction to help young learners become strong mathematical thinkers. Happy Numbers is designed for small group instruction in the classroom and remote learning at home. Its platform combines technology with the latest educational research to ensure next-grade readiness and a deep understanding of math, helping to close learning gaps and set students up for success. A program that supports differentiated instruction is critical for accelerating math learning for young students, said Malbert Smith, CEO and co-founder, MetaMetrics. We are proud to extend our partnership with an edtech company, like Happy Numbers, that truly understands that pedagogy supported by innovative technology will help students think mathematically. "Incorporating MetaMetrics' Quantile measures into our mid-year progress assessments will help teachers understand students' unique strengths and needs, leading to targeted support and success in math. We look forward to the positive impact on student learning and achievement," said Dr. Mihran Vardanyan, Chief Marketing Officer, Happy Numbers. About Happy Numbers Happy Numbers is an individualized online math curriculum that differentiates small group instruction and remote learning in PK-5 classrooms. It utilizes advanced technology and the latest educational research to ensure students have a deep understanding of math concepts and are prepared for the next grade level. Happy Numbers is used by 300,000 teachers in the United States and has received top ratings. It also aligns with state standards, making it an excellent choice for schools and districts looking to implement a highly effective math curriculum. In addition to its focus on student learning, Happy Numbers offers data reporting at the classroom, school, and district levels, enabling teachers and administrators to track student progress and identify areas for improvement. For more information, visit happynumbers.com. About MetaMetrics MetaMetrics is an award-winning education technology organization that offers the only scientifically valid, universal scales for measuring silent and oral reading and listening (Lexile) and math (Quantile) with plans to develop measures for writing. The Lexile and Quantile Frameworks measure student ability and the complexity of the content they encounter. Lexile and Quantile measures and related technologies link assessment to instruction and provide next steps for students of all ages and abilities. The measures also provide valuable insights about students potential for growth. MetaMetrics measures, products and services are licensed to dozens of education product companies to help achieve that growth. For 35 years, MetaMetrics work has been increasingly recognized for its research-based approach to improving learning. For more information, visit metametricsinc.com. Dr. David Maine and Sister Helen Amos, RSM Dr. David N. Maine, President and CEO of Mercy Health Services, Mercy Medical Center, and Sister Helen Amos, RSM, Executive Chair, Mercy Board of Trustees, are the guests for the hospitals ongoing talk show series, Medoscopy, airing on Facebook Watch, Mon-Tues., Jan. 30th and 31st at 5:30 p.m. EST (http://www.facebook.com/MercyMedicalCenter). A 30-minute pre-taped program that explores the background and lives of Mercy clinicians, patients and others, Medoscopy was launched in spring 2021 and airs in two 15-minute segments. In this latest installment, Dr. Maine and Sister Helen discuss their education and backgrounds, how they came to Mercy, and established leadership roles with the nearly 150-year-old Catholic hospital. Dr. Maine noted how he was born the son of Jewish-Iraqi refugees who fled Iraq for Europe in 1972 due to the ongoing persecution of the religious minority. With the assistance of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, an international refugee aid organization, Dr. Maines family eventually immigrated to the United States, settling in Rochester, NY, where Dr. Maine became a fan of the Rochester Red Wings, the Baltimore Orioles Triple-A affiliate for many years. Sister Helen noted her days in education before coming to Baltimore, working as a teacher in Georgia. Sister Helen took a position as Registrar for Mount Saint Agnes College where she had earned her degree in Mathematics in 1962. She served as Mercy Medical Center president and CEO, 1992-1999, succeeding Sister Mary Thomas Zinkand, RSM. Thomas R. Mullen took the reins after Sister Helen and was himself succeeded by Dr. Maine in 2020. Sister Helen noted her interest in reading, tackling crossword puzzles, though hasnt taken the Wordle challenge just yet. Dr. Maine and Sister Helen discussed their friendly rivalry regards their fan affiliations with the Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens, respectively. Medoscopy is filmed on the campus of Mercy Medical Center in downtown Baltimore with video, sound, and lighting by Zinnia Film. Founded in 1874 by the Sisters of Mercy, Mercy Medical Center is located in downtown Baltimore City, about six blocks from Baltimore's famed Inner Harbor. A university-affiliated teaching facility, Mercy is a Catholic hospital with a national reputation for women's health care, orthopedics, and other specialties. Mercy is home to the renowned Weinberg Center for Women's Health & Medicine, and the $400+ million Mary Catherine Bunting Center. For more information, visit http://www.mdmercy.com, and MDMercyMedia on Facebook and Twitter, or call 1-800-M.D.-Mercy. Founder, Women Against Abusive Relationships. This year we are expanding our services to men and the transgender community through the ASK Project ((After Shelter Kare). ASK will provide services and resources that will hopefully prevent victims from returning to an abusive situation once they leave.. Roxanne Elizabeth Epperson, founder of Women Against Abusive Relationships (WAAR), knows the patterns of abuse which started when she was a child. At age 7, a babysitter forced Roxanne to suckle her breast. At age 13, she was raped three times by her 19-year-old boyfriend, a heroin user. At age 16, an older family friend raped her. At age 18, a jitney driver drove her to the dark woods, parked, and forced her to fondle him. It's not surprising that Roxanne, like many other victims of abuse, didn't feel good about herself. "I hated my body and nose for various reasons stemming from negative external messengers. My mother told me my nose was too broad. An ex-boyfriend told me I shouldn't wear my hair short because my nose was too big. I felt he confirmed what my mother had said." Roxanne continues: "I thought I was in love, yet it was not love because he hurt me, and love should not hurt. One night he spat in my face, dragged me down the hallway, punched, and strangled me. I began a new life by almost losing my life," Roxanne concludes. Roxanne's new life began by saying no more to abuse and changing the lives of victims with similar stories when she launched WAAR in 1999. The organization helps women and girls to heal from abuse by taking a journey inward, discovering their authentic selves, and loving themselves. "We create products and services that encourage self-love and have support groups, a podcast, and a guide that help our clients to know how to leave unhealthy relationships. We are in schools, churches, community centers, and other safe locations. In 2001 we started offering workshops and conferences for women, teens, and service providers throughout Allegheny County. In 2004, we launched a partnership with UPMC Magee-Women's Hospital where our Healing Space initiative was born," Roxanne says. "This year we are expanding our services to men and the transgender community through the ASK Project ((After Shelter Kare)." This latest initiative is Roxanne's response to learning more about others affected by domestic violence. ASK will provide services and resources that will hopefully prevent victims from returning to an abusive situation once they leave the shelter. "If you love yourself, you minimize your chances of being in an unhealthy relationship," Roxanne offers. She also reflects on domestic violence and how it, as a public health crisis, leads women to depression and suicidal thoughts. In addition, only 34% of people injured by partners receive medical care. In recognition of her work, last year Roxanne received a Survivor of the Year Award presented by Theresa's Fund. The fund is an Arizona-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit charity that focuses on changing the landscape of domestic violence services. Though grateful for the recognition, Roxanne feels everyone in the domestic violence movement is a hero. "I am thankful for the honor, yet much work remains. I am on a personal and professional mission to help one million women and girls to heal after experiencing domestic or sexual violence trauma. I pray for the day that women and girls are no longer beaten, raped, and disrespected. As we begin serving men and transgender populations through ASK, we will advocate as strongly for them as well," Roxanne concludes. To learn more about WAAR, visit their website at https://waarheals.org/. You can also contact Roxanne at info@waarheals.org or 412-723-2320. At Rent Manager, we strive to provide practical solutions for our customers. By partnering with LeaseTrack, property managers and owners can increase resident coverage with very little effort, thanks to automated compliance tracking, said Joe Easton, Rent Managers Channel Partner Manager. London Computer Systems (LCS), developer of Rent Manager property management software and other business-critical technologiesis pleased to announce its newest built-in integration: LeaseTrack. This partnership enables residents of multifamily, single-family, manufactured-housing, and student-housing properties to secure renters insurance through Rent Managers Tenant Web Access portal, or to be automatically added to a master policy via automated compliance tracking. This easy and affordable liability insurance option is built directly into Rent Manager, making implementation for renters and property managers quick and straightforward. This powerful resource also reduces the risk of property managers incurring out-of-pocket expenses from tenant-caused damage and can generate new revenue streams for their operations. Rent Manager and LeaseTrack are working together to ensure tenants get the insurance they need while eliminating lapses in coverage. We are incredibly excited about our partnership with Rent Manager, which has been years in the making, said Eric Narcisco, LeaseTracks Managing Partner. We hope all Rent Manager users find value in our renters insurance tracking and compliance engine, as well as the ease of use in the embedded solution. Residents can upload proof of their existing coverage, which LeaseTrack will monitor on the property managers behalf. Renters who dont provide documentation will be automatically enrolled in the master policy program, ensuring complete insurance compliance. At Rent Manager, we strive to provide practical solutions for our customers. By partnering with LeaseTrack, property managers and owners can increase resident coverage with very little effort, thanks to automated compliance tracking, said Joe Easton, Rent Managers Channel Partner Manager. LeaseTrack provides our customers assurance, security, and the freedom to operate more efficiently. About LCS Incorporated in 1987 and headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, London Computer Systems (LCS) is a developer of business-critical software used in all 50 states and several markets throughout the world. LCS products include Rent Manager property management software, rmVoIP telephone systems, and enterprise-level hosting solutions via its Sentry Data Center. LCS also provides complete network design, implementation support, and custom website development through its IT Services and Web Design Services divisions. With more than 40,000 users, LCS combines the best technologies with best practices to create unique, affordable, customer-focused products and services. For more information about LCS, please call 513-583-1482 or visit LCS.com. About LeaseTrack LeaseTrack is a renters insurance certificate tracking and compliance management tool focused on streamlining the renters insurance experience for real estate owners and operators. LeaseTracks technology mitigates risk and enables properties to create a valuable new revenue stream. For more information, please visit http://www.leasetrack.ai. Simpplr, the leading AI-powered employee experience platform, today announced that it has earned recognition by Built Ins 2023 Best Places To Work Awards. Simpplr was honored as one of San Franciscos Best Midsize Places to Work. The annual awards program recognizes technology employers nationwide for creating an unsurpassed workplace culture. At Simpplr, people are our priority, and culture is our superpower, and this recognition from Built In demonstrates that our commitment to creating an exceptional workplace begins with our own culture, said Mary Stern, vice president of people operations, Simpplr. That dedication has enabled us to build an extraordinary team who transform the employee experience for our customers and drive our success. Built In determines the winners of its Best Places to Work awards based on an algorithm using company data about compensation and benefits. To reflect the benefits candidates are searching for more frequently on Built In, the program also weighs criteria like remote and flexible work opportunities, programs for DEI, and other people-first cultural offerings. Simpplr was recognized by Built In for its perks and benefits not typically found at midsize companies in the San Francisco Bay Area, such as mental health benefits, wellness programs, customized development programs, and unlimited personal time off. Simpplrs core values of unlocking greatness in team members by encouraging them to take risks and grow begins with onboarding, and 97% of its new hires report a positive experience. Simpplr also offers a recognition program for employees and an innovative mentorship program that empowers mentees to drive their goals and outcomes throughout their relationship with their mentors. Its my honor to congratulate this years Best Places to Work winners, says Sheridan Orr, Chief Marketing Officer, Built In. These exemplary companies understand their people are their most valuable asset, and theyve stepped up to meet the modern professionals new expectations, including the desire to work for companies that deliver purpose, growth and inclusion. These winners set the stage for a human-centered future of work, and we cant wait to see that future unfold. For more information about career opportunities at Simpplr visit https://www.simpplr.com/about/careers/. About Built In Built In is creating the largest platform for technology professionals globally. Monthly, millions of the industrys most in-demand professionals visit the site from across the world. They rely on our platform to stay ahead of tech trends and news, learn skills to accelerate their careers and find opportunities at companies whose values they share. Built In also serves 2,000 customers, innovative companies ranging from startups to those in the Fortune 500. By putting their stories in front of our uniquely engaged audience, we help them hire otherwise hard-to-reach tech professionals. http://www.builtin.com About Built Ins Best Places To Work Built Ins esteemed Best Places to Work Awards, now in its fifth year, honor companies across numerous categories: 100 Best Places to Work, 50 Best Startup Places to Work, 100 Best Midsize Places to Work, 100 Best Large Places to Work and Editors Choice: 100 Best Hybrid Places to Work. The program honors companies remote, hybrid and in-office with the best total rewards packages across the U.S. and in the following tech hubs: Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Colorado, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington DC. About Simpplr Simpplr is the leading AI-powered employee experience platform. Organizations use Simpplrs forward-looking, adaptable products to deliver personalized experiences that inspire and engage their employees. Wherever people work, Simpplr enables them to flourish. Trusted by more than 500+ leading brands, including Zoom, Snowflake, Moderna, Eurostar, and AAA, Simpplrs customers are achieving measurable productivity gains, increased employee engagement, and accelerated business performance. Simpplr is headquartered in Silicon Valley, CA with offices in the UK, Canada, and India, and is backed by Norwest Venture Partners, Salesforce Ventures, and Tola Capital. Learn more at simpplr.com With this partnership, StandardC is empowering Nor-Cal FDC with the technology to automate business review and loan evaluation so small business owners can access the capital they need to build and grow their companies. Today, StandardC, the leading fintech platform that transforms how businesses access financial services, is announcing a strategic partnership with Northern California Financial Development Corporation (Nor-Cal FDC), a leading financial services company that provides loan guarantees to help financial institutions accelerate business lending. Nor-Cal FDC partners with banks, credit unions, and lenders to provide 80% loan guarantees of up to $5MM per loan, which provides a credit enhancement that reduces risk to the lender while providing greater access to capital for business owners. With the integration of StandardCs technology that creates and maintains data-rich digital identities and automates the application process, Nor-Cal FDC expedites business loans by minimizing the risk for financial institutions and lenders. Nor-Cal FDC understands that business owners create thriving communities and drive local economies. Our mission is to offer better support to ALL businesses and entrepreneurs, said Sanford Livingston, CEO of Nor-Cal FDC. In the face of todays challenging economy, our loan production team has tripled the volume of business loans year-over-year. StandardCs technology is critical for ensuring we can quickly and accurately evaluate the influx of business requests while maintaining ongoing compliance. Ultimately, StandardCs innovative approach aligns with ours - to better serve the underserved. With the StandardC Credential, all pertinent company and underwriting information, documents, and data on key persons and beneficial owners are stored digitally. Once established, the businesses StandardC Credential is automatically maintained and updated within the StandardC platform to facilitate ongoing compliance monitoring of the business and its customers. By pairing its game-changing software with advisory services, StandardC is helping its partners, like Nor-Cal FDC, create and maintain profitable relationships with more customers. Sanford is a proven leader with more than three decades in financial services and brings a powerful vision for how to support businesses by mitigating credit risk for financial institutions, said Robert Mann, co-founder and CEO of StandardC. With this partnership, StandardC is empowering Nor-Cal FDC with the technology to automate business review and loan evaluation so small business owners can access the capital they need to build and grow their companies. In partnership with the California Infrastructure Bank (IBank), Nor-Cal FDC has guaranteed over 500 loans with financial institutions and lenders, with a default rate of less than two percent. For more insights into this groundbreaking partnership and its impact on financial institutions, lenders and businesses, join the webinar on Wednesday, January 18 at 11 am PT. StandardC and Nor-Cal FDC will be on-hand to answer questions and share more details about their collaboration. Register here. About StandardC StandardC is transforming how businesses access financial services. Backed by a team with deep expertise in risk analytics, banking, payments, and regulatory supervision, the StandardC software platform creates and maintains data-rich digital identities to simplify customer onboarding and monitor ongoing compliance for businesses. By removing the complexities of customer compliance and enhancing visibility into business risk, StandardC improves customer experiences and accelerates business development opportunities for financial institutions and businesses. For more about StandardC, visit https://www.standardc.io/. About Nor-Cal FDC Founded in 1978, Northern California Financial Development Corporation (Nor-Cal FDC) is focused on assisting businesses with financing. It is our mission to provide greater access to a variety of sources of capital to underserved markets and small business persons located in California that are considered economically disadvantaged entrepreneurs. At the end of the day, our clients are successful when they can obtain the funding they need for their small businesses. Through Nor-Cal's partnerships and the right loan program, clients have obtained the capital they need to start, build and grow their businesses. For more information, visit https://nor-calfdc.org/. Superior Fence & Rail fence company franchisee Mike Burton and his family reside in the area, and it is with a great sense of community that he is ready to serve Springfield and surrounding locales. Mike asserts, Im a hands-on owner dedicated to ensuring every customer is 100% satisfied with their fence project. But that commitment cannot be made by one person alone. Not only has his family dedicated itself to building their business together, but Mike has also assembled a strong team from the start. According to Superior Fence & Rail President Zach Peyton, they will be firing on all cylinders very quickly. Mike Burton and his family were looking for specific qualities and success measurements for their new family venture in their hometown of Springfield. While getting to know Superior Fence & Rail, Mike was particularly impressed with the companys exemplary Google ratings across the United States. Surely, the trust fostered by local franchisees is an example of the high standards to which the entire franchise system adheres. With the same community and customer focus in mind, Mike intends to build the Superior brand throughout the Springfield area, including Ozark, Nixa, Rogersville, Republic, Willard, Branson, Joplin, and beyond. Mike believes the Integrity of the company, the focus on delivering a quality product, is essential to and demonstrated in those high ratings, as well as the success and growth of the company. Successful franchise ownership is a two-way street. The partnership of the brand and the franchisee must reside on solid ground. To this end, Zach Peyton adds, Mike is well connected and well regarded in the community. He is dedicated to elevating Superior Fence & Rail to a prominent place as the fence contractor of choice in the local community. The strength of the brand and a dedicated franchise owner will work in concert to build this new fence franchise to great heights. Superior Fence & Rail is focused on providing high-quality products with a commensurate focus on first-class customer service, says Zach Peyton. Mike Burton and his team are eager to bring the strength of the Superior Fence & Rail brand to Springfield, including the companys vast buying power, company leadership, and continued support from corporate owners. Mike is excited for his locally owned company to source the highest quality fence material and ensure a quality product for the customer regardless of the type of fence. Zach is additionally enthusiastic about introducing Superiors best-in-class vinyl fencing products, for which there is notable interest in the Springfield market and for which Superior Fence has exceptional buying power, which will provide lower prices along with exceptional installation to Springfield homeowners and businesses. About Superior Fence & Rail Superior Fence & Rail was founded in Florida and began franchising in the U.S. in 2017. Headquartered in Jacksonville, FL, Superior Fence & Rail is committed to providing first class service and quality fence products. Learn more about Superior Fence & Rail at superiorfenceandrail.com or fencefranchise.superiorfenceandrail.com Already our teams are working together to manage and model a coastal community, incorporating elements from stormwater management to inundation flooding, gathering data to improve resilience and mitigate natural disasters. Taylor Engineering and Woolpert have been approved by the U.S. Small Business Administration for a six-year Mentor-Protege Program agreement. Taylor Engineering is a coastal and water resources research and engineering company with four offices across Florida, and Woolpert is an international architecture, engineering, and geospatial firm with more than 60 offices, including five in Florida. Under this agreement, Woolpert will provide Taylor with management and technical assistance to expand its technical consulting capabilities, remote-sensing instrumentation, and data collection capabilities nationwide to support federal clients. Woolpert will expand Taylors proximity to and relationships with federal agencies and regional offices across the country and will enable Taylor to successfully compete against other small businesses and large Mentor-Protege Program teams. Taylor will deliver coastal engineering and modeling expertise to support Woolperts consulting, engineering, and geospatial capabilities. The firms will collaborate on project design, online decision support tools, continuous modeling, and data evaluation to develop engineered solutions to persistent and evolving coastal issues. Taylor provides that next step in the flow of knowledge application to communities, Woolpert Senior Vice President Tom Mochty said. We are known for our ability to acquire and integrate topographic, bathymetric, and hydrographic data along coastlines and in the near-shore environment to support dredging, stormwater management, floodplain mapping, etc. Taylor specializes in coastal engineering and coastal modeling, which complements our capabilities perfectly. We are excited to expand our relationship with this talented group. Taylor President Jim Marino said staff from Taylor and Woolpert have partnered on coastal projects and research for decades, and this provides a strong and effective foundation to effect real change. This agreement enables us to work more closely with Woolpert, whom we know well and greatly respect, and to advance needed coastal initiatives around the world. Already our teams are working together to manage and model a coastal community, incorporating elements from stormwater management to inundation flooding, gathering data to improve resilience and mitigate natural disasters, Marino said. Together, we will be able to provide federal, state and local clients with one comprehensive door to coastal engineering and science solutions. About Taylor Engineering Inc. Since 1983, Taylor Engineering Inc. has provided leading-edge solutions in the water environment. The company focuses its attention on water-related engineering, planning, management, and environmental challenges with emphasis on coastal regions for public, private, and government clients. A Federal Small Business and a Jacksonville Business Journals 2022 Best Places to Work, Taylor Engineering has over 50 employees with four offices. Taylor Engineerings six service groups, Coastal Engineering, Coastal Planning, Dredging and Navigation, Environmental, Water Resources, and Waterfront Engineering, along with our Coastal and Marine Geosciences Laboratory, deliver leading-edge solutions in the water environment. For more information, visit taylorengineering.com. About Woolpert Woolpert is the premier architecture, engineering, geospatial (AEG), and strategic consulting firm, with a vision to become one of the best companies in the world. We innovate within and across markets to effectively serve public, private, and government clients worldwide. Woolpert is a top 100 ENR Global Design firm, earned six straight Great Place to Work certifications, and actively nurtures a culture of growth, inclusion, diversity, and respect. Founded in 1911 in Dayton, Ohio, Woolpert has been Americas fastest-growing AEG firm since 2015. Woolpert has over 2,000 employees and more than 60 offices on five continents. For more, visit woolpert.com. Town of Rico joins the Rocky Mountain E-Purchasing System The Town of Rico invites all potential vendors to register online. The Town of Rico announced today that it has joined the Rocky Mountain E-Purchasing System, an online eProcurement system that helps local governments post, distribute and manage RFPs, quotes, addendums and awards in a centralized location. Bidnet Directs Rocky Mountain E-Purchasing System provides notification to registered vendors of new relevant solicitations, any addenda and award information from nearly 375 participating agencies from across Colorado and Wyoming. The Town of Rico invites all vendors to register online at http://www.bidnetdirect.com/colorado/townofrico. Before joining the Rocky Mountain E-Purchasing System in January, the Town of Rico was distributing bids and managing the procurement process manually. As the 371st participating local government agency to join the system, they are now able to streamline their bid process, saving time, increasing competition and achieving cost savings over the traditional paper-based bid process. The Town of Rico is now able to distribute their open bids more effortlessly without increasing costs and have access to an extensive vendor pool, thereby enhancing competition. All vendors looking to respond to bids with local government agencies throughout the state can register online at: http://www.bidnetdirect.com/colorado/townofrico. Registration is quick and easy and gives you instant access to matching bid opportunities in your industry. By joining many of our fellow local agencies as part of the Rocky Mountain E-Purchasing System, we are part of a community that allows vendors to seek bid opportunities from agencies all over the state including, municipalities, special districts, schools and counties, states Chauncey McCarthy, Town Manager of the Town of Rico. By having one centralized location, distribution of bids has become so much easier and allows us to reach a large number of new vendors as well as our existing ones, which not only increases competition but provides our local vendors with more business opportunities to go after. Once registered, vendors can access bids, related documents, addendum and award information instantly. 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 looking for assistance registering on the Rocky Mountain E-Purchasing System: http://www.bidnetdirect.com/colorado/townofrico, may contact Bidnet Directs vendor support team, who 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 switch from a manual bid process, please contact the Rocky Mountain E-Purchasing System for a demonstration of the no-cost sourcing solution. About the Town of Rico: Rico is an incorporated small town in Dolores County, Colorado, United States. It was settled in 1879 as a silver mining center in the Pioneer Mining District; today it functions as a historic and tourism site. The population was 265 at the 2010 census, up from 205 at the 2000 census. 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 Archer Maker eVTOL flight test on Nov. 16, 2022. (VFS photo) VFS has been instrumental in bringing the community together and developing broad support for eVTOL developments over the past decade. We are very proud of the progress shown by our corporate members, as well as our members in academia and government agencies around the world. The Vertical Flight Society (VFS), the worlds leading non-profit organization working to advance vertical flight, reports today that the explosive growth of worlds electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft plus significant developments in military and civil rotorcraft have continued to expand its membership. As of Jan. 1, 2023, a total of 183 companies are now members of VFS, a net growth of 20 companies (12%) from a year ago, and 83 companies over the past five years. VFS has nearly 6,400 individual members a net increase of nearly 6% (350 individuals) since before the COVID-19 pandemic and a 30% growth (1,400 individuals) over the past six years. Much of this growth is due to the extensive support efforts and resources that VFS provides to the vertical flight industry, including technical resources, talent acquisition, professional development, educational opportunities and networking. This past year saw impressive progress towards certification of eVTOL aircraft in the US, Europe and Asia, said VFS Executive Director Mike Hirschberg. VFS has been instrumental in bringing the community together and developing broad support for eVTOL developments over the past decade. We are very proud of the progress shown by our corporate members, as well as our members in academia and government agencies around the world. This months 10th Annual VFS Electric VTOL Symposium being held Jan. 2426 in-person in Mesa, Arizona (and also virtually) in conjunction with the Societys 10th Biennial Autonomous VTOL Technical Meeting is the worlds largest and longest-running event focusing on the incredible promise, progress and challenges of eVTOL aircraft. The event features a day of plenary sessions with 16 leaders from industry and government addressing both electric and autonomous VTOL aircraft. Opening government speakers represent the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), US Army and US Navy, with industry leaders from Airbus, Boeing, Archer, Joby, Lilium, Near Earth Autonomy, Overair, Textron and Wisk. An additional 50 VIP speakers and panelists in the symposium cover important topics regarding eVTOL developments, while some 30 technical papers and presentations on autonomy, drones, Mars helicopters, eVTOL and advanced air mobility (AAM) will be presented. See http://www.vtol.org/eVTOL2023 for details. A total of 46 new companies joined VFS during 2022, as listed below. Descriptions of each company, including links to their websites, are found in the VFS Corporate Member Directory. Information on the benefits and rates for corporate membership are posted on the VFS Corporate Membership page. Company and Membership Class: Advanced Aircraft Company: Small Business Class ANDAR Electromechanical Systems: Small Business Class Aria Group Inc.: Associate Class ASKA: Associate Class AURA Network Systems: Copper Class AutoFlight Europe GmbH: Associate Class Avports LLC: Small Business Class Baldwin Safety & Compliance: Associate Class Bayards Vertiports: Small Business Class Canadian Advanced Air Mobility: Affiliate Class Daedalean Inc: Small Business Class EHang Intelligent Equipment (Guangzhou) Co., Ltd.: Small Business Class Electro.Aero Pty Ltd: Small Business Class Enstrom Helicopter Corporation: Small Business Class Eve Air Mobility: Small Business Class FirePoint Innovations Center: Associate Class Intercomp: Associate Class JHNA: Copper Class Kitty Hawk Corporation: Small Business Class Lockheed Martin Government Affairs: Small Business Class LuftCar LLC: Small Business Class MAGicALL, Inc.: Small Business Class MGI Engineering Ltd: Small Business Class MightyFly: Associate Class Murzilli Consulting: Associate Class Odawara Automation, Inc.: Small Business Class Odys Aviation: Small Business Class Opener: Copper Class OSS Air Management Pvt Ltd: Associate Class Point Lighting Corporation: Small Business Class Prime Air: Associate Class PSSC Labs: Small Business Class Qarbon Aerospace: Silver Class Ricardo Strategic Consulting: Associate Class Roland Berger GmbH: Associate Class Shanghai TCab Technology Co., Ltd: Small Business Class SZ DJI Technology Co., Ltd: Bronze Class Technology for Energy Corporation: Associate Class The Gilmore Group, LLC: Associate Class UAS Center at SBD: Associate Class UMILES Next: Small Business Class VPorts: Small Business Class Windings: Associate Class Women & Drones: Associate Class Xagon Solutions Inc.: Small Business Class ZEVA: Small Business Class These new corporate members include companies and associations from around the world who are supporting all aspects of vertical flight. In addition to civil and military rotorcraft developments, such as the US Armys Future Vertical Lift (FVL) program, eVTOL developments increased markedly in 2022. VFS has been the worlds largest technical community of engineers, technologists and specialists developing vertical flight aircraft for 80 years. A growing number of professionals are entering the vertical flight industry and VFS provides them with numerous opportunities to increase their knowledge and exchange ideas. VFS has been at the forefront of what it calls the Electric VTOL Revolution since 2014 when it held the worlds first meeting of the eVTOL development community. At the time, the idea of electric VTOL aircraft was greeted with widespread skepticism, but growing technical progress, flight demonstrations, government validation and private investment have helped reverse public perception. It is now recognized that the vertical flight market is poised for significant expansion over the next few years as eVTOL aircraft enter service that can have better performance than conventional helicopters for certain missions, as well as lower operating costs and lower noise. As of today, the Society has cataloged over 760 different electric VTOL concepts from more than 350 companies and innovators on its authoritative World eVTOL Aircraft Directory at http://www.evtol.news. When VFS launched the site in April 2017, only a dozen eVTOL programs were under development. Some 170 new designs were added in 2022 alone. The site currently also hosts some 750 eVTOL news stories, including more than 300 in-depth articles from the Societys Vertiflite magazine, the leading periodical on eVTOL and rotorcraft developments. VFS was founded as the American Helicopter Society in 1943 by the visionaries of the early helicopter industry, who believed that technological cooperation and collaboration were essential to support this new type of aircraft. Today, history is repeating itself, with VFS playing a similar role helping to advance todays revolutionary eVTOL aircraft. VFS holds the largest and longest-running vertical flight technical conference in the world, which this year will be its 79th Annual Forum & Technology Display on May 16-18, 2023, in West Palm Beach, Florida, USA: http://www.vtol.org/forum. VFS is @VTOLsociety on social media: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Mastodon, Twitter, Vimeo and YouTube, and has @ElectricVTOL channels on Facebook, Mastodon and Twitter. The Vertical Flight Society 2700 Prosperity Avenue, Suite 275, Fairfax, VA 22031, USA 1-703-684-6777 fax: 1-703-739-9279 staff@vtol.org http://www.vtol.org Chris Carpenter, DVM, founder & president of Vet Set Go, with past Become a Veterinarian Camp Contest" winners. The 2023 online essay contest opens Tues, Feb 1, with entries due by Thurs, March 31. Vet Set Go and VCA are expanding the 2023 essay contest to be the biggest yet: The contest will award 45 students from across the U.S. an entire class a scholarship prize package to attend Vet Camp. To help aspiring young veterinarians start now to pursue their dream, Vet Set Go and VCA Animal Hospitals are inviting rising sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students to enter the seventh annual Vet Set Go Become a Veterinarian Camp Contest 2023. Winners of the online essay contest will receive a scholarship to attend the Auburn University Junior Vet Camp from June 18 - 23, 2023, at Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine, one of the nations premier veterinarian schools. Vet Set Go and VCA are expanding the 2023 essay contest to be the biggest yet: The contest will award 45 students from across the U.S. an entire class a scholarship prize package to attend Vet Camp. Vet Set Go is proud to offer young aspiring veterinarians an even greater opportunity this year to access the in-person, hands-on veterinary experience they are craving, said Chris Carpenter, DVM, founder and president of Vet Set Go. We know what its like to have a future veterinarian in your home and are honored to provide this once-in-a-lifetime scholarship opportunity for 45 teens and tweens to explore their dream. The prize package is valued at $1,200 and includes tuition, materials, and room and board at the world-renowned Auburn Junior Veterinary Camp in Auburn, Alabama. Transportation to the camp is the responsibility of the winners. The contest opens on Wednesday, February 1, 2023, at 8 a.m. EST, and runs for two months, with online essay submission available at Vet Set Go. The contest ends on Friday, March 31, 2023, with all essays due by 11:59 p.m. EST. Winners will be notified of their free Junior Vet Camp experience by May 15, 2023. Those of us in veterinary medicine experience the joy that comes with getting to know pet owners and pets over a lifetime. Vet Set Go plays a critical role in connecting young people to these fulfilling careers, said Todd Lavender, DVM, president of VCA Animal Hospitals. Im proud of our growing partnership with Vet Set Go and excited that were able to send a whole class of students to Junior Vet Camp in 2023. This work is one way were helping the next generation of professionals grab hold of their dreams and supporting our commitment to taking care of the future of veterinary medicine. Vet Set Go has been connecting and mentoring aspiring veterinarians since 2006 and launched the camp scholarship contest in 2017. Since then, Vet Set Go has given away more than 25,000 copies of its award-winning, roadmap-to-becoming-a-veterinarian book to students, and connected hundreds of thousands of teens and tweens to vet-related resources, activities and volunteer opportunities. The Vet Set Go Become a Veterinarian Camp Contest is open to students entering sixth through eighth grade in fall 2023. With the help of a parent or guardian, students enter the contest using the official entry form available Wednesday, February 1, at Vet Set Go. Student entrants are asked to complete a short online essay (300 words or less) that addresses at least one of these topics: Why they want to be a veterinarian Why they love animals What they have done to get animal experience or learn more about science I was 11 years old when I decided to become a veterinarian. I still remember how badly I wanted to get out and work with animals and veterinarians, but that experience was so hard to find at that age, adds Dr. Carpenter. Thats why I started Vet Set Go 16 years ago. We understand future veterinarians like no other organization and are committed to helping them find opportunities to explore their dream. The Become a Veterinarian Camp Contest is a great example of the many ways we help future veterinarians. We understand them like no one else. During the camp, contest winners will learn about veterinary medicine first-hand in Auburn University classrooms, laboratories, and outdoor facilities. Curriculum includes learning about surgery, food animals, wildlife, anatomy, parasitology, and first aid, as well as gaining valuable mentoring about veterinary science careers. To learn more about the Become a Veterinarian Camp Contest 2023 or to enter between February 1 and March 31, 2023, visit http://www.vetsetgo.com. ABOUT Vet Set Go Vet Set Go is the first and only web community dedicated to helping teen and tween aspiring veterinarians explore their passion. Founded by Dr. Christopher Carpenter in 2006, Vet Set Go encourages future veterinarians to pursue their dream and shows them how they can start today through such resources as its award-winning Vet Set Go book and the online Vet Academy shadowing courses. Vet Set Gos Vet Volunteer app is the best way for students to find local volunteer opportunities while tracking their volunteer hours for veterinary college applications. Vet Set Go also introduces STEM subjects to aspiring veterinarians through online courses like Introduction to Animal Anatomy and free case study articles on the website. Proceeds from Vet Set Go sales help aspiring veterinarians through events like the Become a Vet Camp Contest and Vet Set Go book giveaways to students in need. For more information, visit http://www.vetsetgo.com ABOUT VCA ANIMAL HOSPITALS A leader in veterinary care, VCA Animal Hospitals is committed to taking care of the future of veterinary medicine. We are a family of hometown animal hospitals determined to positively impact pets, people and our communities. From general practice to emergency and specialty care, VCA delivers world-class medicine and hometown care to more than four million pets each year. We invest in cutting-edge tools, training and technology that enable Associates across our national network of hospitals to lead the industry today and into tomorrow. Among our talented 35,000 Associates are nearly 7,000 veterinarians including 430 who are board-certified specialists nearly 4,000 credentialed technicians and over 10,000 veterinary assistants all dedicated to giving pets the very best in medical care. As part of the Mars Veterinary Health family of brands, VCA is taking care of the future of veterinary medicine to help achieve the Mars Petcare PurposeA Better World for Pets. To learn more about VCA, visit: http://www.vca.com or find us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. ABOUT Auburn Junior Veterinary Camp The Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine offers the Auburn Junior Veterinary Camp on its campus in Auburn, Alabama each summer for youth entering the sixth- through eighth-grade who are interested in the veterinary medicine profession. Faculty, technicians and second-year veterinary students provide unique veterinary coursework and experiences for campers in laboratories, classrooms and outdoor facilities in one of the nations premiere veterinary schools. Over the course of its 125-year plus history, the Auburn University has produced more than 6,400 veterinarians and more than 500 specialists and researchers. Famous Toastery, the 25-plus unit better breakfast, brunch and lunch franchise, is wrapping up 2022 as one of the most exciting and groundbreaking years in the companys 15-year history. With new leadership hires, a menu revamp, a cost-efficient store remodel, local vendor partnerships and more, Famous Toastery has a lot to celebrate and is heading into 2023 with a stronger support infrastructure and growth strategy than ever before. This has really been a rebuilding year for the brand our goal was to fully enhance the great infrastructure we already had in place through new leadership hires, consumer initiatives and franchisee-focused programs, said Mike Sebazco, who joined the Famous Toastery family himself this year as President. Now, we are excited to really ramp up our franchise development sales in 2023 as we continue to find more ways to support our existing franchisees and welcome new franchisees into the system. With 30 years of experience in the franchising and restaurant industry, Sebazco will help guide the brand into its next phase of franchise expansion as it grows strategically throughout the Carolinas and the Southeast with the aim of doubling its footprint over the next two years. He is joined by several other recent additions to the Famous Toastery team Lorna Martinez as Director of Marketing; Ann Eley as Director of Training; Eric Gustafsson as VP of Franchise Development; Joe Gillie as VP of Operations; and Jennifer Brule as Chief Culinary Officer. As someone with a good amount of experience in the food service space, I know a strong, passion-driven franchise concept and team when I see one, said Sebazco. Famous Toastery stands out with not only an amazing menu but also a community focus that prioritizes the best of the best in customer service. This all makes for a very exciting franchise opportunity and it is only getting better. I saw how much the team has been investing in franchisee support, operations and marketing over the past few years, and I knew it would be an honor to come aboard and help usher in a new era of growth for Famous Toastery. This new era of growth will primarily be fueled by the brands mantra of Be Famous a business model rolled out this year that encourages franchisees to quickly become locally Famous as pillars of their communities and providing not only Famously Fresh food made daily but a hub for friends, families and neighbors to come together. This includes an all-out brand refresh featuring a new menu and store remodel, updated cost efficiencies and increased franchisee support. For example, Famous Toastery recently launched a revamped menu and a new Famously Fresh tagline. This includes several new menu items created from feedback taken by customers, such as a protein power bowl, shrimp and grits and Nutella toast. The Famously Fresh messaging needs to be something our guests can taste, see and feel, said Martinez. This option is not only local, but the ingredients are simple and delicious, with no additives or GMOs. We know we are providing a quality product, which is our first priority as a brand. That is what is truly important. Doing that while also supporting a small business in our community is a real win-win. The new Famously Fresh menu also highlights another significant initiative the Famous Toastery team tackled this year the first-of-a-kind partnership with North Carolina-based Abbys Better Nut Butter. Famous Toastery will leverage this new vendor partnership to introduce a soon-to-be menu staple at its restaurants, Abbys Better Nut Butter toast, which includes the protein-infused nut butter, bacon crumbles and a drizzle of 100% grade A maple syrup. This partnership is very special to us, said Martinez. Abby is located in our own backyard, and we believe in the product tremendously. It doesnt have all those additives and junk in it, and the core ingredients are amazing. We are thrilled to create a marriage between our two brands. As part of the all-out refresh, the Famous Toastery team also set out to revamp and reopen their flagship Davidson, North Carolina location this year. They added new paint colors, a more modern and farm-chic look and a brighter, more vibrant layout to promote daytime traffic. This experience also allowed them to test out new cost efficiencies and improvements to the business model, as well as outline a new-and-improved look for all stores in the system. The Davidson remodel really taught us about how we can save costs and optimize what we have done in the past, said Gustafsson. For example: are there ways to set up a kitchen operationally that makes it cheaper to build out? Do we have national contracts with vendors that can provide us with equipment to keep costs down? It allowed us to answer a lot of those questions. Overall, every milestone the brand achieved this year was centered around making Famous Toastery franchisees better equipped than ever to become Famous in the communities they serve. Whether it be our growing leadership team or our delicious menu, everything falls into the Be Famous strategy; it is the root of what we are, said Sebazco. It allows the guests, the servers, and the kitchen to feel Famous while also allowing the franchisees to be Famous because they know they have the right tools in place to take care of their guests and provide an amazing breakfast, brunch and lunch experience. We are excited to take that mission to new heights in 2023. Now, with the brand and team stronger than ever, Famous Toastery aims to have 50 locations open by the end of 2024. Five to seven deals will be in North Carolina, and the rest in South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and Florida. The cost to open a Famous Toastery franchise ranges from $575,500 to $999,500, including a franchise fee starting at $45,000. To learn about franchising opportunities, please visit http://www.bestbreakfastfranchise.com. ABOUT FAMOUS TOASTERY Charlotte, N.C. based Famous Toastery is a breakfast, brunch and lunch franchise that encourages its guests, team and franchise owners to Be Famous in their local community by offering Famously Fresh meals and a much-needed hub for friends, families and neighbors to get together in a comfortable atmosphere where every server is your server. The brand began in 2005 before evolving into a franchise system in 2013 and growing to over 25 locations today. In 2020 and 2019, Famous Toastery placed on Restaurant Business' The Future 50, featuring the fastest-growing small chains. Famous Toastery was ranked No. 9 in the Full-Service Restaurants category of Entrepreneur Magazines Top Food Franchises of 2019 and on Entrepreneur Magazine's Franchise 500 Rankings in 2019 and 2022. In 2018, Famous Toastery received recognition by CNBC as a top franchise to buy, FSR Magazine as one of the Top 14 restaurant chains ready for lift-off, Inc. 5000s list of the fastest growing companies and Franchise Times' Top 200+ franchise opportunities. For more information about Famous Toastery, visit http://www.famoustoastery.com. To learn about franchising opportunities, please visit http://www.bestbreakfastfranchise.com. Beth Moore, a bestselling author who created headlines after splitting from the Southern Baptist denomination in 2021, details her path to becoming a Bible teacher, a ministry leader, and breaking from her identity as a Southern Baptist in All My Knotted-Up Life: A Memoir (Tyndale, Feb.). Moores life has been defined by what she calls a love for women that began at an early age. As I made sense of my life and what God called me to, I dont have to drum up or fake a love for women, Moore tells PW. I remember the [older] women in my life who would drink instant coffee, smoke cigarettes and gossip their heads off, and we girls would be mesmerized. I wouldnt trade that for anything. In her 20s, Moore began teaching aerobics and led womens Bible studies at First Baptist Church of Houston. Lifeway Christian Resources the publishing arm of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), which is the second-largest denomination of Christianity, published her first Bible study book in 1995. Today, she has written over 25 womens Bible studies published primarily by Lifeway that have sold more than 17.5 million copies. In addition to writing, Moore founded Living Proof Ministries with the purpose of teaching women to know and love Jesus through the study of Scripture, according to the website, which serves as the hub for Moores blog, podcast, live events, online store, and prayer ministry. Living Proof Live conferences have taken place for more than 20 years. In 2021, however, Moore split from the Southern Baptist Convention as well as Lifeway, citing the SBCs coverup of sexual abuse and its racism, among other things. As one of the most influential evangelical women in the U.S., the move earned Moore a place among PWs Notables that year. Living Proof Ministries is now the sole publisher of Moores Bible studies, while her trade books, including All My Knotted Up Life, are being published through a partnership with Tyndale. I wasnt chomping at the bit to write a memoir, Moore says, though she notes that in the book reveals more about her life than she has in the past. I think its innate in all of us that before our lives are over, we wish we could be known to some degree of depth as the people we have been. She tells her story sequentially, highlighting the positive and negative events that shaped her from the early years in Arkadelphia, Ark., to the move to Houston in her teens, then college, marriage, and children. She talks openly about her marriage to husband Keith and their struggles involving his mental illness, pointing to the difficulty in writing about such topics and fears of backlash from readers. Yet she also describes the authenticity Keith brought to her life and ministry. If I had acted one way in church and one way at home, I wouldnt have lasted 10 minutes, she says. The only time I dropped my face in my hands and sobbed [as I wrote the book] is when I used the word bipolar [when talking about him.] You want to say to the reader, This isnt easy for us, so could you deal gently with us. Her four siblings, husband, and two daughters heartily agreed to the memoir, and Moore honored their consent by keeping the focus mainly on her life. "Im deeply grateful that I can tell this story," she says. While she speaks openly of both pain and joy in her relationships, the book also delves into her public break with the SBC. If youre looking for a pretty story, this one isnt for you, she says. Theres no denying my life has been the biggest adventure of faith, a long journey over rocky terrain, but God was always there. He made it matter. Moore has a full schedule for 2023 with events in multiple cities, while she and daughter Melissa are researching a new Bible study based on a genre in the Old Testament that will likely be released in 2024. Moore also plans on writing more nonfiction trade titles and taking one more shot at fiction. After convincing myself Id all but shut the ministry doors and burned down the building with my outspokenness, God, by his great mercy, graced us with fresh life, she says. BEIJING, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- China will maintain credit support for the real economy and step up financial support for the development of the domestic supply and demand system, according to the country's central bank and its banking and insurance regulator on Tuesday. China will ensure proper financial services for infrastructure, small and micro enterprises, and other key spheres. It will also ensure that the real estate financing runs smoothly and in an orderly fashion to prompt an overall economic upturn, according to a meeting jointly held by the People's Bank of China and the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission. The two authorities urged major banks to front-load loans moderately, optimize their credit structure, and precisely underpin the key areas and weak links in national economic and social development. Favorable policies such as inclusive loans for micro and small businesses should be thoroughly leveraged to meet the reasonable capital demand of companies related to the production and supply of medical resources, the two authorities said. While reiterating the principle that "housing is for living in, not for speculation," they also pledged comprehensive measures to boost the operating and financing cash flows of high-quality property developers, and efforts to improve their balance sheets. She Came to Me will open the 2023 Berlin International Film Festival. ADVERTISEMENT Organizers announced Wednesday that the film will have its world premiere Feb. 16. The Berlin International Film Festival, known as the Berlinale, will run Feb. 16-26 this year. She Came to Me will screen out of competition as a Berlinale Special Gala event at the Berlinale Palast. The new movie is a romantic comedy written and directed by Rebecca Miller and starring Peter Dinklage, Anne Hathaway, Tahar Rahim, Marisa Tomei and Joanna Kulig. Miller, the daughter of playwright Arthur Miller, is a filmmaker and author known for Angela, The Ballad of Jack and Rose and The Private Lives of Pippa Lee. She Came to Me explores love in all its forms while following a cast of characters living in New York City. Dinklage plays a composer experiencing a creative block who sets out in search of inspiration at the behest of his wife (Hathaway). "We are very pleased to open this festival edition with an irresistible comedy that builds upon the everyday conflicts of western society. The characters, conceived by Rebecca Miller and incarnated by fantastic actors choose to follow the inspiration of the moment instead of being led by societal dictates. Like a pre-code Hollywood film, She Came to Me is a magical ode to the freedom of expression," Berlinale directors Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian said in a press release. FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON THE ALL-NEW GOOGLE NEWS! Reality TV World is now available on the all-new Google News app and website. Click here to visit our Google News page, and then click FOLLOW to add us as a news source! Miller's films Maggie's Plan and The Private Lives of Pippa Lee screened at previous Berlinales. On Mondays from 12:30-1:30 p.m. on Alps Road and on Wednesdays from noon to 1 p.m. on the corner of Barnett Shoals and Gaines School Road, a group of politically active citizens, often retirees, put on public demonstrations through the progressive grassroots organization Indivisible Georgia District 10. Indivisible GA 10 covers the 25 counties of Georgias 10th congressional district, GA-10, and strives to unite the community through political activism. The group aims to end voter suppression both in their communities and in the nation at large. On Feb. 27, prolific journalist and University of Georgia alumna Charlayne Hunter-Gault will turn 80. To celebrate this birthday and honor the late UGA professor Valerie Boyd, Hunter-Gault announced she will donate to her Giving Voice to the Voiceless Fund at the university. A crowdfunding campaign was created for others to do the same, according to a UGA press release. Kyle Hamilton appears over WebEx from Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield during an arraignment at Windham County Superior Court/Criminal Division on Friday. Brattleboro, VT (05301) Today Sunny skies. Near record high temperatures. High 84F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight A few clouds overnight. Low near 55F. Winds light and variable. In this screenshot from rapper Kea Sokuns Blood Workers video, Cambodian security forces beat a protester during the Jan. 3, 2014, demonstrations on Phnom Penhs Veng Sreng Boulevard. Police in Cambodia have summoned representatives from major humanitarian organizations for posting the now-banned Blood Workers music video on their social media accounts. Last week, Cambodias culture ministry ordered police to prevent the spread of the music video, which recounts a deadly government crackdown on a workers protest nine years ago. The video by rapper Kea Sokun shows footage of the Jan. 3, 2014, protests in Phnom Penh during which police shot four people dead and wounded nearly 40 others. Rapper Kea Sokun, who created the Blood Workers song, denied that the song incited people as alleged but said he was about his safety. "The ministry has claimed inciting content but it failed to pinpoint which parts," he said. On Tuesday, police summoned Moeun Tola, Executive Director of the Center for Alliance of Labour and Human Rights, or CENTRAL, and Vorn Pov, President of the Independent and Democracy of Information Economic Association, or IDEA, over their group's social media posts. Previously, police had also summoned Am Sam Ath of the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights, or LICADHO, for a meeting on Monday, and he already removed the groups posting to avoid further legal action. Moeun Tola said the summons gave him a chance to explain his groups reasoning for posting the music video, saying he told police that his group posted the song to commemorate the anniversary and urged the authorities to investigate the violent crackdown. He added that CENTRAL did not intend to provoke social disorder as alleged by the Ministry of Culture. It is sad Despite the explanation, police ordered Moeun Tola to remove the post to avoid any further legal action, and CENTRAL has taken it down since. Vorn Pov also said that his NGO agreed to remove the posting as demanded by the police. We are living in this situation. We don't want any trouble so we decided to remove the posting from our Facebook page, he said. Despite removing the post, Am Sam Ath said LICADHO has continued to stand by the NGOs right to post the music video, saying there was no evidence it incited unrest or affected social security as authorities claim. It is sad, Am Sam Ath said about the removal of the post. RFA couldnt reach Phnom Penh Municipality Police Spokesman San Sok Seiha for comment. But Rong Chhun, president of the independent Cambodian Confederation of Unions, criticized the polices process, saying that it was a threat against NGOs and their rights in the country. The government shouldnt be worried about the postings too much. NGOs have no choice but to remove the postings for safety and avoid any legal consequences. As a result, any future expression through songs will be restricted, he said. Lastly, police also summoned Coalition of Cambodian Farmers Community President Teng Savoeun for a meeting on Jan. 11, but their post of the song seemed to already have been removed. Rapper concerned about his safety RFA doesn't know Kea Sokun's whereabouts at this time. For the past nine years they have been left with pain and sorrow and sadness by gestures full of blood, Kea Sokun raps in the song, according to a translation by local independent media outlet VOD. There is no information and they do not know where they have drifted away, he continues. There is no one who knows, and they have been waiting for justice for the past nine years, waiting so long but there is no one held responsible. Last week, Cambodias Culture Minister Phoeurng Sackona sent a letter to Police Chief Neth Savoeun, and asked that he take steps to prevent the spread of Blood Workers on social media, citing its inciting contents that can contribute to instability and social disorder. Phnom Penh Municipality Police Spokesman San Sok Seiha said NGOs should pay attentions to the song's content before posting on their Facebook, but he did not clarify which sections were considered problematic by authorities. "I can't elaborate on the issue. I don't give opinion on the issue. you can look at the ministry's statement and video, so you can evaluate," he said. UPDATED on 01/11/2023 12:45PM to include new comments from Kea Sokun and the Phnom Penh police Translated by Samean Yun. Edited by Nawar Nemeh and Malcolm Foster. Billionaire founder of solar energy giant Hanergy may be being questioned over links to a troubled regional bank. Li Hejun, founder CEO of Hanergy Group, was taken away by police in Liaoning's Jinzhou city, the financial magazine Caixin reported Wednesday. Li Hejun, who was once listed by Forbes as the richest man in China, was detained by police in the northeastern Chinese province of Liaoning on Dec. 17, Chinese media reported on Wednesday. The billionaire founder of troubled solar energy giant Hanergy Thin Film Power Group was taken away by police in Liaoning's Jinzhou city, financial magazine Caixin reported on Wednesday, citing former Hanergy employees. He had yet to be released as of Tuesday, and the reason for his detention was unclear, it said. Meanwhile, China's Jiemian News cited an unnamed source as saying that his detention could be linked to the troubled Bank of Jinzhou, which funded its 2015 initial public offering in Hong Kong to the tune of nearly 10 billion yuan (U.S. $1.5 billion). Li, 55, was ranked that year in the Hurun Report as the wealthiest man in China, with a personal net worth of U.S. $26 billion after shares in Hanergy rose sevenfold in the space of just 12 months. Li was to lose a huge chunk of that wealth in May 2015, when Hanergy shares plummeted by 47% in just 20 minutes, and later delisted the company after being investigated and banned from operating in Hong Kong by its securities regulator in 2019. Most of Li's fortune was forged on the back of massive government infrastructure spending particularly in hydropower during the 1990s. He owned dozens of power stations including a mega hydropower project in Yunnan, before moving into solar power. The Bank of Jinzhou was bailed out by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, a pillar of the state-owned banking system, after it announced losses amounting to more than 5 billion yuan (U.S. $740 million) in 2018 and 2019. Current affairs commentator Zong Tao said Li couldn't have gotten as rich as he did without being very well connected, and without massive government subsidies flowing to the sustainable energy sector. "A lot of people have gotten rich and powerful in today's China thanks to key state policies, with the help of various personal connections," Zong said. "This kind of company is very common. They typically have no core technology and rely entirely on trading off government policies [and subsidies]." Billionaire Jack Ma was recently reported to have given up control of Ant Group, the Chinese financial technology provider he founded. Credit: AFP file photo Funding, wages arrears A commentator who follows Hanergy, who gave only the surname Bi for fear of reprisals, said Hanergy has been in trouble for a long time now. "The Hanergy parent group and Hanergy Thin Film Power have photovoltaic technology companies in Guiyang, Datong and Yancheng and other places," Bi said. "They are now in four or five months' worth of wage arrears, while the employee provident fund is three months in arrears and social security has been cut off for two months." "Li Hejun ... is in arrears with a lot of project funding and with employee wages," he said. According to Caixin, Li typically built production facilities by investing one-third of the necessary capital, while sourcing another third from bank loans and another third from government subsidies. However, many of the facilities remain unfinished, prompting financial disputes with local governments and banks, it said. Li's detention was reported by China's tightly controlled media just days after e-commerce billionaire Jack Ma gave up control of Ant Group, the leading Chinese financial technology provider he founded, amid an ongoing clampdown on the activities of tech sector billionaires. Ma, once a prominent figure among China's wealthiest people, has kept a low profile since the government pulled the plug on Ant Group's highly anticipated initial public offering in November 2020 and hauled him into a meeting after he criticized government financial policy. While Ma was initially lionized by state media as a loyal entrepreneur and billionaire, his huge wealth and power were increasingly seen as a threat to the ruling Chinese Communist Party's authority, analysts said at the time. Translated by Luisetta Mudie. A former worker gives the background to the recent violent protests by workers at COVID-19 test-kit maker Zybio. People protest at the Zybio factory in Chongqing, China, in this screenshot from a video released on Saturday, Jan. 7, 2023. Angry protests seen at a COVID-19 test-kit factory in the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing on Jan. 7 came after months of wage theft by labor recruitment agencies, a former Zybio worker said in a recent interview with Radio Free Asia. Li Hua said he remembers waking up on the morning of Jan. 7 to reports from colleagues on the social media platform WeChat of a protest at Zybio's Dadukou factory, which hired thousands of migrant workers to meet skyrocketing demand for COVID-19 test reagents during the mass testing and rolling lockdowns of the zero-COVID policy, which ended last month. "I called one of the intermediaries [labor recruitment agencies], but they weren't honest with me," he said. Li got on his bicycle and headed down to Jianqiao Industrial Park, 20 kilometers (12 miles) away. Once there, he shot several video clips of the protests. Social media footage at the time showed protesters throwing traffic cones, boxes and stools at police with riot shields, or shouting, "Give us back our money!" Workers smashed machinery and equipment in the factory and fought off fully equipped riot police with rocks and random debris, according to videos uploaded to social media platforms. Li's videos showed workers beating up managers and recruitment agents, as well as negotiating with representatives of the district government. He estimated that several thousand people were at the scene. Li had initially been recruited by a labor agent promising more than 40 yuan (U.S. $6) an hour, but was paid nowhere near that amount when he showed up for work. "The official wage offered by the company was more than 40 yuan/hour, but when we actually went to work there, the most we would get would be 17 yuan per hour," he said. "Later, they added an extra three yuan because of the pandemic, bringing it up to 20 yuan/hour." Li resigned after less than 10 days in the job, enraged at the treatment of workers. "Workers in this factory weren't treated like people; more like horses or cattle," he said. "Every team leader was given a microphone, and they'd be yelling through it all day long; they didn't treat the workers as their equals at all." Workers' toilet breaks were restricted to just two visits of no more than 10 minutes during working hours. Most of the workers were lured to work there by the promise of an attendance bonus of 3,000 yuan (U.S. $450) and additional overtime payments for working during the Lunar New Year, Li said. "All of a sudden, all of it was gone," he said, in a reference to Zybio's decision to lay off thousands of workers hired to meet demand for reagents that were no longer needed. "Taken together with the fact that they were already suffering, it exploded [into violent protest] all of a sudden." A company employee told RFA's Cantonese Service on Jan. 8 that business has ground to a halt. "The company isn't taking orders any more, and a lot of orders have been received but not fulfilled," the employee said. People [left] take part in the protest at the Zybio factory in Chongqing, China, and police with shields intervene in the demonstration in these screenshots from a video released Saturday, Jan. 7, 2023. Credit: Reuters screenshots from video 'They couldn't keep it up any longer' According to Li, the district government sent officials to negotiate with protesting workers on the afternoon of Jan. 7. The workers eventually accepted a deal put forward by the district government on Jan. 8, he said. Under the deal, the hourly wage was set at 23 yuan/hour up until Dec. 14, when the rate rose to 28 yuan/hour, along with a one-off payment of 1,000 yuan to workers being sent home, just one third of the 3,000 bonus that was originally promised, he said. This left the workers worse off than under the deal they signed up for and unhappy with the outcome, Li said. "The main reason [they accepted it] is because it had been dragging on for a long time by then, and everyone was tired, cold and hungry," he said. "There was nothing to eat, and a lot of people hadn't slept, so they couldn't keep it up any longer." A night-shift manager at the Huiye labor agency surnamed Hu declined to comment when contacted by Radio Free Asia on Tuesday. Repeated calls to Zhening, another agency involved in recruiting workers for Zybio rang unanswered during office hours on Tuesday, while an employee who answered the phone at a third agency -- Shenfa -- declined to comment. An official who answered the phone at the Dadukou district government referred inquiries to the propaganda office of the ruling Chinese Communist Party district-level committee. But no contact information was publicly available for the office. Zybio hadn't responded to emailed requests for comment by the time of writing on Jan. 9. Li is now looking for another job, and is anxious because he no longer trusts any of the agencies. New York-based labor activist Hua Haifeng said many manufacturers use labor recruitment agencies to handle labor needs, enabling them to distance themselves from any disputes by referring complaints back to the agencies. "If companies recruit workers directly, then they have to deal with a bunch of different problems, so they use these agencies, and then blame them for any problems that arise," Hua said, citing disputes at Apple supplier Pegatron, which he said used the same recruiters as Zybio. Hua said spontaneous protests like the one at Zybio don't add up to a large-scale labor movement, and that mass labor movements like the Jasic strike of 2018 were much harder to organize now due to more effective censorship of social media. Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Locals claim fighter jets entered Indian airspace and dropped a bomb on Indias side of the border with Myanmar. One of the five Chin National Front soldiers killed in a junta airstrike on Jan. 10, 2023. A junta military airstrike on the Chin National Front headquarters in Chin State killed five of its soldiers and injured at least 10, locals told RFA. Five fighter jets attacked the headquarters at Camp Victoria in Thantlang township even though there was no fighting in the area at the time, according to the locals who declined to be identified for safety reasons. RFA was unable to contact officials at Chin National Front headquarters to confirm the information and the names of the five members who died. One of the five Chin National Front soldiers killed in a junta airstrike on Jan. 10, 2023. Credit: Citizen journalist Indian airspace The camp is close to the border with India and Salai Isaac Khen, interim chairman of the Interim Chin National Consultative Council said residents told him the junta jets crossed into Indian airspace and a bomb fell on the Indian side of the border. India has so far made no announcement on the incident. National Unity Government spokesman, Dr. Sasa denounced the junta for disregarding international airspace regulations and for intending to commit genocide against the ethnic Chin people. The California-based Chin Human Rights Organization posted on Twitter that the attacks represent the highest escalation of the armed conflict in Chin State to date. The junta has released no statement on the airstrike. On Dec. 31, the junta said it was extending its ceasefire with ethnic armed groups for another year. Last week, three of ethnic armed organizations held talks with junta leaders. The Chin National Front has refused to join peace talks, saying last year there could be no negotiations unless the shadow National Unity Government and the Peoples Defense Force were included. Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn. A gardener trims plants in the courtyard of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations secretariat building in Jakarta, April 20, 2021. ASEAN chair Indonesia will set up a special envoys office to deal with the post-coup crisis in Myanmar but not allow that country to hold the regional bloc hostage, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said Wednesday. As holder of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations chairmanship for 2023, Indonesia will work according to the five-point consensus, she said, referring to the blocs plan for putting Myanmar back on a democratic path, but that analysts have called a failure. An Office of Special Envoy will be formed and headed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Retno said in a statement. [As] chair and in accordance with the mandate of the 5PC [five-point consensus], Indonesia will make every effort to help Myanmar out of the political crisis. Only through engagement with all stakeholders, can the 5PC mandate regarding facilitation for the creation of a national dialogue be carried out. Indonesia will take steps based on the fundamental principles and values of the ASEAN Charter, including adherence to the rule of law, good governance, as well as the principles of democracy and constitutional government, Retno said. The Myanmar military, which toppled an elected government on Feb. 1, 2021, reneged on the consensus that it had agreed to in April that year. The agreement was meant to be a roadmap that would take Myanmar back to peace and democracy. The consensus called for an end to violence, the provision of humanitarian assistance, the appointment of an ASEAN special envoy, all-party dialogue, and mediation by the envoy. Many regional observers and analysts, as well as the previous foreign minister of Malaysia, have said it was time to junk the consensus and devise a new plan that was time-bound and included enforcement mechanisms. However on Monday, Indonesian President Joko Jokowi Widodo and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said the five-point consensus was the best route to resolving the crisis in Myanmar. I and the President [Jokowi] agree that the ASEAN-approved process, especially the implementation of the 5PC, is the best place to seek a peaceful settlement in Myanmar, Anwar said during a meeting with the Indonesian leader in Bogor. Since the coup, the Burmese junta has carried out a widespread campaign of torture, arbitrary arrests and attacks that target civilians, the United Nations and human rights groups have said. More than 2,700 people have been killed and More than 17,000 have been arrested in Myanmar, according to the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi (right) looks on as Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn speaks during the Special ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting at the ASEAN secretariat general building in Jakarta, Oct. 27, 2022. [Handout/ASEAN/AFP] Meanwhile, much is expected from Indonesia as ASEAN chair, especially in resolving the crisis in Myanmar, but analysts say that little will change unless Jakarta spearheads a hardline collective stance against the Burmese junta. Indonesia is aware of the burden on the 10-member bloc, especially over the situation in Myanmar, and acknowledges that little progress has been made in implementing the five-point consensus. ASEAN is disappointed, Retno said. Despite all the efforts of the chair and all ASEAN member countries, the implementation of the 5PC by the Myanmar military junta has not made significant progress. But Indonesia, which is ASEANs largest member, would not let that define the regional bloc, Retno noted. Indonesias chairmanship will also ensure that building the ASEAN community will remain a key focus, she said. The issue of Myanmar will not be allowed to hold hostage the process of strengthening the ASEAN community development. A stable Indo-Pacific Peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific will be another area of focus for Indonesia as this years ASEAN chair, Retno said. In September, she signaled that ASEAN would not be a pawn in a new Cold War, referring to tensions between the United States and China, whose rivalry is playing out in the Southeast Asian region. Many countries have an Indo-Pacific concept. This is where a synergy is needed, so that the various concepts will not exacerbate the rivalry, Retno said. Indonesia will continue to emphasize that the Indo-Pacific must be approached not only from a security aspect, but also from an inclusive economic development aspect. The centrality of ASEAN must be strengthened in order to be able to maintain peace, stability, prosperity in Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific, Retno said. For this reason, the implementation of AOIP will be a big step in implementing the priorities of the Indonesian chair, Retno said, referring to the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific. A peaceful and stable Indo-Pacific region, respect for international law, and inclusive cooperation are the keys for ASEAN to become the epicentrum of growth. BenarNews is an RFA_affiliated news service The countrys foreign minister denied the closure is in response to pressure from Beijing. Papua New Guinea Foreign Affairs Minister Justin Tkatchenko speaks at a press conference in Port Moresby on Jan. 10, 2022. Papua New Guinea will close its trade office in Taiwan, but has denied the move is a concession to China at the same time as it boosts its defense relationship with Australia. The office, established in 2015, didnt have sufficient economic benefit and the poor behavior of Papua New Guineas representatives in Taiwan had tarnished the South Pacific countrys reputation, Foreign Affairs Minister Justin Tkatchenko told reporters on Tuesday. We have done a full analysis over the last 12 months on the aspects of the office to see if it was working, if it was viable to keep economically, he said. We did a full assessment and have come to a conclusion that the office was no longer needed. China and the United States are vying for influence with Pacific island nations as the global economic and military rivalry between the two powers escalates. Over the past two decades, Beijing has amassed substantial goodwill with economically lagging Pacific countries by building infrastructure and providing other assistance. China signed a security pact with the Solomon Islands last year, a possible precursor to a Chinese military presence in the region that has alarmed the United States and countries such as Australia. For Papua New Guinea, China has become an important export market and source of imports. China is funding construction of a hospital for Papua New Guineas military, Australias ABC reported in December. Tkatchenkos announcement that the Papua New Guinea Trade Office in Taiwan will be closed comes ahead of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albaneses visit to Papua New Guinea on Thursday. Australia and Papua New Guinea have been negotiating a defense treaty and Tkatchenko said a document related to those talks will be signed during the visit. Tkatchenko said the closure of the Taiwan trade office was not in response to pressure from the Chinese government. The government has been reviewing all foreign missions and will decide which are viable or not, he said. Papua New Guinea is the most populous Pacific island country but also among the poorest and struggles to fund its embassies. Taipei has not justified the amount of money we are spending to keep the office open, Tkatchenko said. Only 14 nations recognize Taiwan, which Beijing regards as a rebel province, but many have de facto diplomatic representation in the form of trade or economic offices. In the Pacific, the number of countries that recognize Taiwan dwindled to four from six after the Solomon Islands and Kiribati switched their recognition to Beijing in 2019. Papua New Guinea has recognized China since 1976, a year after it became independent from Australia. The Papua New Guinea Trade Office in Taiwan will be replaced by a PNG Taipei Economic Office, staffed by a business liaison official and located in Papua New Guineas capital Port Moresby, according to Tkatchenko. Two of Papua New Guineas representatives in Taiwan were involved in drunken altercations last year that included one of the men assaulting his wife. One of the officials was recalled to Papua New Guinea. As you know we were completely embarrassed and ridiculed by the behavior of certain officers last year, Tkatchenko said. BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated news service. Southeast Asian nations are emerging as middle powers capable of ensuring stability in the South China Sea amid a rivalry between China and the United States, the Philippines top diplomat said Wednesday. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations has a large role in ensuring peace in the region, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo said according to official transcripts of a televised interview with CNBC. We, the countries surrounding the region, were growing into middle powers, middle-income countries and we have a very important role to play, especially in the context of ASEAN centrality, Manalo said during the interview. ASEAN has a very big role to play in trying to ensure that the region maintains a modicum of peace and stability and so that we can all develop and promote economic growth. He gave the interview a day after the Philippine Supreme Court declared that a South China Sea oil exploration deal struck between Manila, Beijing and Hanoi in 2005 was unconstitutional. The Joint Seismic Marine Undertaking deal was illegal because it went against a constitutional provision that sought to safeguard the Philippines natural resources, the court ruled. The pact, which covered about 80% of Philippine territorial waters, was designed to allow for seismic exploration in an area encompassing nearly 150,000 square km (57,900 square miles) of the waterway west of Palawan island. [T]heres been no official response yet. In fact, we are still waiting for the official feedback from the Supreme Court. But of course, we are aware of this decision, Manalo told CNBC, referring to the Chinese response to the ruling. He noted that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. returned to Manila with a host of agreements after his state visit to Beijing last week. Those agreements included deals on agriculture, renewable energy and infrastructure. [T]here was a general understanding that we would resume talks in oil and gas development. But of course, there were no details, Manalo said. So well have to see how this fans out with respect to oil and gas development. Competition Despite a geopolitical rivalry between the two superpowers, the foreign secretary stressed that the Philippines seeks to gain from its ties with China, which Manila sees as an economic benefactor, as well as with the United States, its longtime main military and defense ally. [T]he competition between the United States and China affects not only the Philippines, but I suppose every other country in the region, he said. But I suppose competition is much better than conflict. And in the case of the Philippines, we, of course, are a very close partner of the United States, we have traditional ties with them. And at the same time, we have equally close relations with China, especially in the economic field, so these are areas which we are seeking to exploit, he said. China claims nearly all of the South China Sea on historical grounds, including territories within the exclusive economic zones of Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan. It also claims historic rights to areas of the waterway that overlap Indonesias EEZ as well. Beijing has continued to ignore an international arbitration courts 2016 ruling for the Philippines that invalidated Chinas claims to the sea region. Marcos brought up the issue when meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the state visit, resulting in the leaders agreeing to set up a direct hotline to avert miscommunication in the South China Sea. BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated news service Earlier this month 7 members of an alleged spy ring were arrested in Kaohsiung. Newport-class tank landing ship Chung Ho is seen at Taiwan Navy's Zuoying naval base in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Aug. 5, 2022. A court in Taipei has found two former high-ranking military officers guilty of violating the national security law in the latest espionage case involving Taiwanese military personnel. Former Air Force Major Gen. Chien Yao-tung and Lt. Col. Wei Hsien-yi were accused of trying to recruit active and retired officers to spy for China, the official Central News Agency (CNA) reported. According to Tuesdays court indictment, Chien and Wei approached at least five senior officers, both retired and on duty, on behalf of a Hong Kong businessman who acted as a recruiter for Chinas state security ministry. Among the officers introduced by the two to the Hong Kong man was Chang Che-ping, who served as Taiwans vice minister of defense in charge of policy from 2019-2021. Chang was investigated in 2021 for his alleged contact with a Chinese spy ring but was not found guilty and officially named as a witness. The two former officers Chien and Wei both received suspended sentences up to five years and were ordered to pay fines of up to TW$600,000 (U.S.$19,700), a punishment seen by some observers as too lenient. Taiwan's military prosecutors have been abolished, so even if the accused were found guilty of participating in military espionage operations, the sentences could be brief and not making the necessary deterrent effect, said Shen Ming-shih, acting deputy chief executive officer at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research in Taipei. Taiwans Military Trial Act was amended in 2013 to eliminate military trials of officers in peacetime. Because of this, the problem of keeping secrets and preventing espionage in the military is becoming more and more serious, Shen told RFA. Kinmens colonel Hsiang Te-en (right) was accused of pledging allegiance to China in Jan. 2020. Credit: CNA String of cases Tuesday's sentence in Taipei followed the arrest of seven members of an alleged spy ring led by a retired Air Force colonel in the southern city of Kaohsiung on Jan. 6. The retired colonel, known as Liu, was accused of running espionage activities for at least eight years and was under surveillance, CNA reported. The other six detainees were reportedly recruited by Liu from both the Taiwan Navy and Air Force. Three of them are active-duty officers. On the same day as the arrest, a former legislator and a retired rear admiral of Taiwans navy were also questioned over their alleged involvement in the ring led by Liu. Lo Chih-ming and Hsia Fu-hsiang both denied they helped recruit retired military personnel for the spy ring and were released on bail. Judging from these cases, China's infiltration of Taiwan's military has become very serious and there may be more cases that have not been exposed, said INDSRs Shen Ming-shih. The espionage, besides stealing military secrets, also threatens the internal psychological defense of serving personnel, Shen said. In November 2022, Taiwanese local media reported two other cases of espionage involving military officers. A retired major in Taiwans Marines was arrested after entering the Zuoying Navy Base in Kaohsiung with a forged ID on Nov. 17. A few days later, an army colonel on the frontline island of Kinmen was discovered to be working for China. The colonel, who held several important positions until his suspension last year, pledged allegiance to China and even promised, on the record, to surrender in the event of a Chinese attack. The investigation into these two cases continues. A Reuters review of court records and Taiwans official media reports in 2021 found that at least 21 current and former officers with the rank of captain or above have been convicted of spying for China over the past decade. Taiwans military should strengthen education to help officers and soldiers recognize Chinas true intentions, said Shen Ming-shih. The military also needs to strengthen the assessment of senior officers promotions, conduct regular loyalty tests for promotions of generals, and amend the law to severely punish espionage crimes, the analyst said. In the case of conflict, intensive orders should be used to control the activities of pro-China political parties and civilians, so that they do not become obstacles in combat, Shen suggested. As COVID cases surge in Chinas western Xinjiang region, the areas top government official has urged hospitals to incorporate traditional Uyghur medicine to treat patients a rare acknowledgement of treatment that blends ancient Greco-Roman, Egyptian, Arabian and Indian medicine dating back more than 2,500 years. Ma Xingrui, Communist Party Secretary of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, said during a Jan. 4 video conference that health officials and hospitals must take advantage of traditional Chinese and Uyghur treatments as well as Western drugs to fight the coronavirus, which has spread after authorities relaxed stringent anti-viral restrictions after nationwide protests in late November. Using plant-based ingredients, traditional Uyghur medicine has been used to treat a wide variety of ailments, including skin disease, urogenital disease, rheumatism, digestive problems and respiratory infections in the form of pills, tablets, tinctures, granules, syrups and liniments. Traditional Uyghur medicines specifically used to combat coronavirus symptoms include Zukam Jewhiri, a cold remedy, and Sherbiti Zufa, a syrup whose main ingredient is hyssop, an aromatic, semi-evergreen,shrubby perennial belonging to the mint family. Health workers are reporting positive results. Ethnic medicine in Xinjiang has been showing its advantage [by] contributing to controlling COVID and to the treatment of COVID patients, said a physician at Aksu City Hospital who did not give her name because she was not authorized to speak to the media. We treated severely ill COVID patients by continuously giving them Uyghur medicine for three days, which lowered their fevers, the doctor said. There are cases in which patients recovered from COVID because of Uyghur medicine. Mas comments were made the same day that Chinas National Health Commission issued a paper on developing and promoting the advantages of traditional Chinese medicine against the COVID-19 virus and its variants, although it made no specific mention of traditional Uyghur medicine. This measure aims to reduce the deterioration of the patient situation, Chinas official Xinhua news agency reported. Local organizations employ Chinese medicine and prepare recipes and treat the new COVID patients, reduce the patients hospital visit and wait times, and increase consultation efficiency. Pharmaceutical industry Xinjiang is home to more than 60 pharmaceutical companies, which generated revenue of 8.8 billion yuan, or about U.S.$1.3 million, in 2021, a 10.5% increase from the same period the previous year, according to a report by Tengritagh News Network in January 2022. Many of the companies products are based on traditional Uyghur medicine, which has been incorporated into traditional Chinese medicine, though China doesnt acknowledge it, Uyghur sources say. After the coronavirus broke out in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019, many drug companies in Xinjiang operated at full capacity to produce traditional Uyghur pills and syrups to treat COVID patients, China Daily reported in February 2020. The governments strategy to deploy traditional medicine, which incorporates Uyghur medicine, shows that Uyghur treatments are an invaluable medical asset, said Uyghur medical professional Mutellip Emchi. The recent attention the Chinese government has given to investing in and developing traditional medicine is due to being unable to find a cure, he said, referring to the coronavirus. China and the international community realized and acknowledged the effectiveness of Uyghur traditional medicine against the COVID virus, he said. Rising numbers Hospitals in Xinjiang have seen a surge in the number of COVID patients operated by the government or by the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, a state-owned economic and paramilitary organization, said a Chinese nurse at one of the hospitals in Aksu prefecture. The nurse, who did not provide her name because she was not authorized to speak to the press, said she could not disclose the number of hospitals coronavirus patient numbers. But she did say that using locally produced Uyghur medicine for COVID patients helped prevent their deterioration and reduced fever and coughing. However, the governments instructions to incorporate the use of traditional Uyghur medicine has raised concern among traditional Uyghur medicine experts. Mutellip Emchi, chair of the Uyghur Medicine Professionals Association, who has been living in Turkey since 2016, said the Chinese have plundered Uyghur medical resources and industrialized them for their own interests. Flu pills and powders For example, the Chinese manufacture flu-curing pills and powders based on traditional Uyghur recipes, though they have not made any progress in the field, Emchi said. With the spread of the coronavirus, pharmaceutical companies that manufacture flu pills in Urumqi, Kashgar and Hotan could not make enough of them, he said. We knew it by reading news on social media. These medicines have been used to treat lung infections, respiratory diseases, asthma, and lung and heart diseases, he added. Because the coronavirus attacks patients lungs, the hospitals use these Uyghur medicines to treat COVID patients, Emchi said. When there was a shortage of medicine in the hospitals, our Uyghur medicine effectively treated COVID patients of all ethnic origins. Uyghur medical professionals in Turkey, who have formed formed a volunteer group and developed a unique recipe for treating COVID patients using ingredients sourced locally, say they have seen positive results in patients treated with traditional Uyghur recipes, he said. We produced medicine and distributed it among Uyghurs in Turkey, Central Asia and other parts of the world, and local Turkish people and Arab people who have heard about our medicine started using it, he said. With news of our medicines effectiveness spread by word of mouth, many more people are coming to us for these medicines, Emchi added. Meanwhile, medical staff at hospitals in Urumqi said the COVID situation is getting worse in Xinjiang, with more infected patients and not enough beds. A Uyghur based in the United States, who declined to be named so as to not jeopardize relatives still living in Xinjiang, told RFA that the number of deaths from COVID has increased. His younger sister and her daughter have been infected, he said. The number of deaths among the infected people in our homeland is severe, he said, and everyone has been infected, including children in the kindergarten. Translated by RFA Uyghur. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin. Edited by Malcolm Foster. When the Taliban returned to power in 2021 in a lightning military insurrection that toppled Afghanistans internationally recognized government, the country immediately fell into diplomatic isolation. Two of Kabuls neighbors to the north, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, chose a different route, putting the hard-line groups fractious history with the former Soviet Central Asian republics aside and prioritizing engagement over criticism and pressure. But a giant canal project in Afghanistan now taking shape that the Taliban is pursuing at a rapid pace is giving the two water-stressed countries doubts about whether strategic patience with the Islamic fundamentalist group will yield rewards. If you look at other projects that have involved Afghanistan and Central Asia somehow, there has often been a win-win element, Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili, founding director of the Center for Governance and Markets at the University of Pittsburgh, told RFE/RL. But the Qosh Tepa Irrigation Canal, which will divert large volumes of water from the dwindling transboundary Amu Darya River, is a very different case. This is very much zero sum, because water is a finite good and there dont seem to be any benefits for Afghanistans neighbors here, said Murtazashvili, adding that she expects the Central Asian countries to pursue a lot of quiet diplomacy on the project that will add to the pressures faced by outsized agricultural sectors already battling climate change and historical mismanagement. But the Taliban will be probing to see how far it can go, Murtazashvili said, something she suggested its downstream neighbors will have to get used to. If the first Taliban [regime that ruled most of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001] was weighed down by insurgency and in some ways never really behaved like a state, Taliban 2.0 seems to really like the idea of projecting state power, Murtazashvili said. Old Project With New Momentum The stated dimensions of the irrigation canal that workers started digging last spring are enough to understand why the downstream countries have concerns. With a length of 285 kilometers and a width of some 100 meters, experts believe it could draw a significant portion of the Amu Daryas flow while irrigating 550,000 hectares of land. An Afghan civil servant with knowledge of the project told RFE/RLs Uzbek Service that work on the second of three stages of the project that began in the spring of 2022 is expected to begin in the coming months, with more than 100 kilometers already dug and visible from space. The plan to irrigate land in northern Afghanistan is not new. Farid Azim, an official at the National Development Company overseeing its construction, pointed out last year that Afghanistans first president, Mohammad Daud Khan, had a similar vision in the 1970s. The project was most recently pursued by the U.S.-backed administration of President Ashraf Ghani -- which the Taliban overthrew less than two years ago. A press release issued by the United States Agency for International Development from 2018 marking the launch of a Washington-funded feasibility study for Qosh Tepa described a 200 kilometer-long canal serving a cultivated catchment area of 500,000 hectares. Developing Afghanistans agriculture sector provides great potential for employment and economic growth, then-U.S. Ambassador John R. Bass said in the release. But the project was not a pressing concern for neighbors, primarily because political infighting and chronic instability in northern Afghanistan had made it impractical. Bismellah Alizada, a researcher at Londons School of Oriental and African Studies, told RFE/RL that Rashid Dostum, who was the Afghan first vice president from 2014 to 2020, was among the influential politicians with concerns about the project. One of those concerns was that it would be used to benefit and resettle members of the politically dominant Pashtun group to which President Ashraf Ghani belonged, Alizada said. Dostum -- an ethnic Uzbek warlord -- long enjoyed strong ties to the regime in Uzbekistan and was even reported to have fled there when the Taliban captured Mazar-e Sharif, overwhelming forces jointly under his command before the group advanced on Kabul. Members of Dostums exiled Junbish-e Milli party have reiterated these concerns more recently, but the reality is that the Taliban has no opponents capable of preventing it from forging ahead with giant public works projects, Alizada said. More obvious obstacles are technical capacity and cash, with billions of dollars in funds belonging to Afghanistans central bank frozen after the Taliban takeover. That would make it hard for the cash-strapped Taliban to finance a project whose first phase cost nearly $100 million, according to reports. But Graeme Smith, a senior consultant for the International Crisis Groups Asia Program, said the Taliban has a strong political will to finish off projects begun by the former government with Qosh Tepa the biggest that the group has revived so far. With their very limited resources, the Taliban have prioritized [Qosh Tepa], said Smith, expressing skepticism that the Islamic fundamentalist group would pay attention to its neighbors concerns. The Taliban is a nationalist movement intensely focused on their domestic constituencies, Smith said. I think its fair to assume they will continue governing with a strong focus on issues inside the country and less regard for concerns outside, he told RFE/RL. Games Of Leverage Taciturn Turkmenistan has so far said nothing about the canal project. But a Turkmenistan-based hydrologist speaking in March to RFE/RLs Turkmen Service on condition of anonymity called the project not a problem, but a disaster. RFE/RL correspondents in the closed authoritarian country reported this year about severe water shortages in Turkmenistans Soviet-built Karakum Canal, which is four times the length of the one the Taliban is seeking to complete. The World Resources Institute in 2019 ranked Turkmenistan as one of 17 countries in the world with extremely high water stress. Uzbekistan and Afghanistan were placed in the next highest category. Central Asia as a whole depends on rivers that rise in mountains, where many glacier stocks are being depleted by climate change. Tashkent, whose own Moscow-imposed, cotton-growing legacy is one of the chief causes of the Amu Daryas demise, has been more proactive on Qosh Tepa. According to the Talibans deputy prime minister for economic affairs, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the topic was among those broached by Uzbek presidential envoy and former Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Komilov when he was in Kabul last month for talks on economic cooperation. Komilov was cited by Baradars office as saying that Uzbekistan was ready to work with the Islamic emirate (the Taliban-ruled Afghanistan) through technical teams in order to maximize the benefits of the Qosh Tepa canal project. Uzbekistan provided no comment to that effect in its release on the talks, but President Shavkat Mirziyoev -- in a national address in December -- flagged Qosh Tepa as a concern as he touched on the problem of desertification. At the moment, we consider it necessary to conduct practical talks on the construction of a new canal in the Amu Darya basin with the interim government of neighboring Afghanistan and the international community based on international standards and taking into account the interests of all countries in the region, he said. We believe that this approach will be supported by our neighbors. Mirziyoevs preference for dialogue over threats on transboundary water use has been welcomed by the neighborhood since predecessor Islam Karimov passed away in 2016. This appears to have worked with upstream Kyrgyzstan, where successful border negotiations saw Uzbekistan granted de facto control of a strategic reservoir located inside Kyrgyz territory, albeit not without a rash of political discontent in Kyrgyzstan. And although authoritarian Karimov virulently opposed the construction of giant hydroelectric dams in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, Mirziyoev has given both his blessing, with Tashkent even attaching itself to Kyrgyzstans Kambar-Ata-1 project as a partner -- a move that will give it a hand in upstream management. Qosh Tepa, however, is becoming a source of public anxiety in Uzbekistan. With the volume of the Amu Darya water [already] decreasing, Afghans will take a quarter of its water through this canal, complained Uzbek academic and outspoken government critic Khidirnazar Allakulov in an interview with RFE/RLs Uzbek Service. Instead of solving the problem, the Uzbek government takes the Taliban to Samarkand, dressing them and presenting them with gifts. The government bows to Afghanistan.. Not only the current generation, but also future [Uzbek] generations can be endangered by the water problem, Allakulov said. Regular exchanges between the Turkmen and Uzbek governments and the Taliban predated the fall of the Ghani government, and Turkmenistan was among the first countries in the world to accept a Taliban-appointed ambassador. But in line with the international community as a whole, neither has recognized the new regime in Kabul. This only complicates what Alizada calls the legal lacuna between Afghanistan and its former communist neighbors, since Kabul had not previously signed treaties with them on transboundary management. And while Afghanistan is keen for more trade opportunities and relies on its northern neighbors for supplies of electricity for several provinces, there are other areas of these bilateral relations where the Taliban feels it has real leverage, Alizada argued. For the Central Asian countries, I think the number one concern is hard security, especially with the regions history with transnational extremist groups. The Taliban will continue to use assurances on security in negotiations with these countries going forward. 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 China In Eurasia briefing, an RFE/RL newsletter tracking China's resurgent influence from Eastern Europe to Central Asia. To subscribe, click here. I'm RFE/RL correspondent Reid Standish and here's what I'm following right now. What 2023 Means For China After a 2022 that brought upheaval for Beijing, China is looking to shore up its strategic flank in Eurasia and focus on economic growth at home. But doing so is easier said than done. Finding Perspective: With Chinese leader Xi Jinping's international isolation over and the Communist Party abandoning its COVID-zero policies, a series of leaders were welcomed in Beijing recently, including Turkmen President Serdar Berdymukhammedov. As I wrote here, the visit was important, as Turkmenistan is one of China's leading providers of natural gas, but it's a dynamic leaning increasingly in Beijing's favor. China has an ever-expanding appetite for energy, but it has courted a diverse set of suppliers across the world. The reclusive Central Asian country, meanwhile, is faced with a deepening dependence on China as its main market, which looks set to continue well into the future. Why It Matters: China's growing gravity across Eurasia was a major theme of 2022 and that will carry through into the coming year. But much of this expanded influence was from Russia's comparative decline due to fallout from its invasion of Ukraine. Across Central Asia, governments are walking a tightrope over how to distance and insulate themselves from Russia, without provoking any blowback. This makes China, which is already an economic force in the region, appealing because of its close ties to Moscow. But what other unexpected turns could 2023 bring? And how might Beijing, especially amid reports that Xi is looking to reset many of its foreign and economic policies, try to adapt? Looking deeper in 2023, this complicated balancing act will continue to take shape. One interesting thing to watch will be how Beijing manages to showcase itself as a leader to Central Asian states and not hasten any more feelings in the Kremlin that China is encroaching on its turf. As Andrew Small, a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund and the author of No Limits: The Inside Story Of China's War With The West, told me, ensuring that Moscow feels respected has been a central part of its strategy with Russia. "If they treat Russia as an equal -- even if they don't think they are -- then this will pay dividends for China, and that's been a growing part of how Xi has approached this entire relationship." Read more Want to know more about where the China-Russia relationship is headed? Read my look ahead here. For more about Turkmenistan and what's at stake for the Central Asian country, read this article by my colleague Chris Rickleton and RFE/RL's Turkmen Service about the new $1.5 billion city it's building in the desert amid a grinding economic crisis at home. Expert Corner: China And The Czech Republic's Next President Readers asked: "Czech President Milos Zeman chased close ties to China during his tenure. As the country prepares to elect a new president, what can we expect for the relationship with Beijing?" To find out more, I asked Martin Hala, a China expert at Charles University in Prague and the director of Sinopsis, a project that tracks Chinese influence across Europe: "The role of the Czech president in foreign policy is meant to be largely ceremonial. Zeman was only able to pursue his own pro-Beijing course because he had been facing a series of feeble governments that he could manipulate with relative ease. His 'economic diplomacy' with China had already collapsed back in 2018 with the demise of the notorious Chinese company CEFC, hailed by him as 'the flagship of Chinese investments.' The other driving force of this policy -- the commercial interests of the richest Czech financial conglomerate, PPF -- also faded away amid tightening regulations in the Chinese financial sector. "The only remaining pro-Beijing factor now in Czech politics is a more general anti-Western populism. Among the eight presidential candidates, former Interior Minister Jaroslav Basta represents this best, but has a slim chance to make it to the second round of voting. Among the three main contenders -- who currently poll around 25 percent -- former Prime Minister Andrej Babis has clear populist inclinations. But his kind of populism isn't anti-Western, let alone pro-Beijing. "As prime minister, Babis largely complied with Zeman's China agenda, but seemingly only because he needed his support to stay in power amid his many controversies. Babis would be Zeman's chosen successor in many ways, but that does not mean he would necessarily inherit his China mantle. The other two favorites, Petr Pavel and Danuse Nerudova, have been openly critical of the Chinese Communist Party and Beijing, so one way or another, the heydays of Chinese influence in the Czech Republic seem to be over." Do you have a question about China's growing footprint in Eurasia? Send it to me at StandishR@rferl.org or reply directly to this e-mail and I'll get it answered by leading experts and policymakers. Three More Stories From Eurasia 1. China's Gene Giant In Serbia China's BGI Group -- the world's largest genetic-research company -- is grappling with U.S. sanctions and facing investigations in Europe over its alleged links to the Chinese military. But as Mila Djurdjevic from RFE/RL's Balkan Service reports, the corporation is receiving a warm welcome in Serbia. What You Need To Know: Many of the charges against BGI stem from the findings of a 2021 investigation by Reuters that showed BGI was using prenatal tests that were developed in collaboration with the Chinese military to collect genetic data for sweeping research on the traits of populations. BGI has denied the allegations, but the reporting launched a series of investigations across the European Union and the company has also been hit with sanctions by the United States. In Serbia, however, its footprint is growing. Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic and BGI representatives announced in November 2022 that the Chinese company will play a central role in a new research hub in Belgrade. BGI already runs a center in the Serbian capital that conducts tests and manufactures products for the regional market, including the same prenatal tests from the Reuters investigation. 2. Escaping Xinjiang Zhanargul Zhumatai, an ethnic Kazakh journalist and musician residing in Urumqi in China's Xinjiang Province, says that she is under pressure by local authorities and now she's looking for help to get out to neighboring Kazakhstan. The Details: RFE/RL Central Asia correspondent Chris Rickleton reported on Zhumatai's case. She says that local security services have told her that she faces arrest for communicating with Serikzhan Bilash, a well-known Kazakh activist who now lives in the United States, and that she can "save herself" if she signs into a psychiatric hospital. Beijing has interned more than 1 million Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other predominantly Muslim minorities in Xinjiang in a vast camp system where it has been accused of widespread abuses. Zhumatai claims to have spent time in one of these facilities, which is supported by leaked Chinese police records that show she was arrested in 2017. It's a difficult spot for Kazakhstan to navigate as Zhumatai tries to leave China for the country. She claims to have already contacted the Kazakh Embassy, but Astana has suppressed activism over Xinjiang in the past and will be cautious about getting caught in the crossfire with Beijing. 3. A Journey Along Montenegro's $1 Billion Highway It took eight years of construction, delays, and controversy, but Montenegro's $1 billion highway -- financed and built by the Chinese -- is open. Check out this photo essay from my colleague Amos Chapple and myself about how locals feel about the scandal-laden project, which features some excellent pics from Amos. What It Means: 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 highway also becoming a lightning rod for local corruption concerns. 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 made up of three sections and so far, only the initial 41-kilometer stretch has been completed, with the future of the remaining 122 kilometers still up in the air. Across The Supercontinent Demoted?: Le Yucheng, who until recently was a deputy minister of foreign affairs and considered one of the Chinese Foreign Ministry's leading Russia experts, has been reshuffled and is now deputy head of the National Radio and Television Administration. It's a notable downward move, especially for someone that some China watchers considered a potential next foreign minister. Could it signal internal friction over how to deal with Moscow? Supply Side: Officials in eastern Kazakhstan say exports to China from the area's only natural-gas producing facility were halted on January 1 amid an expiring agreement and complaints from locals over shortages, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports. Another Small Step: Slowly, but steadily, developments for the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway are taking shape. RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports that a project office for the venture will soon be opened in Bishkek and that a feasibility study will be available by the summer. Balkan Inroads: China's vaccine diplomacy during the heyday of the pandemic and investment in local media is bearing fruit in North Macedonia, Vladimir Kalinsky from RFE/RL's Balkan Service reports. One Thing To Watch China's sudden change in COVID policy continues to make ripples at home and around the world, with overflowing hospitals inside the country and new restrictions targeting arrivals from China abroad. As more travelers from China begin visiting international destinations for the first time in three years, the World Health Organization has said that a true understanding of the situation is obscured by insufficient data. Expect infections to rise further this month, especially in the run-up to heightened travel during the Lunar New Year holiday in late January. That's all from me for now. Don't forget to send me any questions, comments, or tips that you might have. Until next time, Reid Standish If you enjoyed this briefing and don't want to miss the next edition, subscribe here. It will be sent to your inbox every other Wednesday. 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. 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 Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called for a tough response to the monthslong protests sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, accusing street demonstrators who set fire to trash cans of "treason without any doubt" and calling on "the responsible bodies to deal with treason seriously and justly." Under Islamic laws enforced in Iran, treason is punishable by death. "They wanted to destroy our strength. Our security. Security is one of the strengths of our country, " Khamenei said, according to a transcript of his January 9 speech posted on his website. The Iranian leader made the comments two days after appointing Ahmadreza Radan -- blacklisted by the United States for his role in the violent crackdown on mass protests that erupted following the disputed result of the 2009 presidential election -- as the country's police chief. In his official statement, Khamenei urged Radan -- who is also known for his harsh stance against women, like Amini, who have been accused of violating the country's hijab law -- to protect "security" and improve the police's "capabilities." Why It Matters: Khamenei's comments appear to signal that Tehran will continue to harshly punish those arrested in connection with the antiestablishment protests, despite criticism and anger inside the country and international condemnation, including by White House national-security adviser Jake Sullivan, who said Tehran will be held accountable for the abuses. What's Next: Iran has already executed four people in connection with the protests, including two young men who were hanged last weekend after being convicted of killing a member of the Basij militia. Critics have blasted Iran's legal process, during which the accused were denied access to legal counsel of their choice, and which led the New York-Based Center for Human Rights in Iran to describe their executions as lynchings. Three other Iranians were sentenced to death on January 9, and rights groups have warned that many more could ultimately face the death penalty. Stories You Might Have Missed As one of Iran's largest dam projects nears completion, archaeologists and environmentalists are warning that the Chinese-financed Chamshir Dam will be yet another towering example of the country's destructive history of water mismanagement. While the authorities see the project as an answer to electricity and water shortages in southwestern Iran, critics say the dam is a cultural and environmental threat and will turn agricultural lands into a salty dust bowl. Iranian women and the movement they launched under the banner of "Women, Life, Freedom" following Amini's death in custody has been awarded the prestigious Simone De Beauvoir Prize for Women's Freedom. The prize recognizes the work and actions of individuals who contribute to the freedom of women around the world. What We're Watching The United States has said the Islamic republic may be "contributing to widespread war crimes" in Ukraine by providing Russia with drones to use in its unprovoked war. By selling kamikaze and combat drones, U.S. national-security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on January 9, Iran has 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." What's Next: The comments could signal Washington's intention to increase pressure on Tehran over its sale of military drones to Russia and to sanction additional Iranian entities involved in the country's production of drones. 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. We also invite you to check out the improved Farda website in English and its dedicated Twitter account, which showcase all of our compelling journalism from Iran. Russian forces in Ukraine are trying to capture the eastern salt-mining town of Soledar in a sustained offensive that Kyiv's Defense Ministry has described as "maniacal." On January 10, the head of the Vagner mercenary group whose soldiers are thought to be spearheading the Soledar offensive, Yevgeny Prigozhin, claimed they had taken nearly all of the town but said there was still fierce fighting in the town center. Ukraine says their troops are still battling in Soledar. Capturing Soledar and its salt mines would have symbolic, military, and commercial value for Russia and would be Moscow's most substantial battlefield gain in months after suffering a series of setbacks. There are estimated to be 200 kilometers of disused mining tunnels criss-crossing the surrounding area. In 2019, RFE/RL's Amos Chapple visited Soledar as the salt-mining operation was hoping to crack Western markets after Russia blocked its imports. (Originally published on June 15, 2019.) 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. ALMATY -- A decade ago, the idea of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan agreeing to build a giant dam project together with their upstream neighbor Kyrgyzstan would have seemed unimaginable. Now, a road map agreement signed by the three countries last week to build the dam with a hydroelectric power station on Kyrgyzstan's Naryn River shows that energy and water shortages can bring Central Asian countries together, rather than ripping them apart. But doubts remain about funding for a $3 billion-plus project that Russia was once expected to oversee and which the trio plans to complete in four years, with construction slated to begin in 2024. "This project is political," said Azamat Akeneev, an economic expert based in Kyrgyzstan's capital, Bishkek, about Kambar-Ata-1, the hydropower plant in the Jalal-Abad region whose intended capacity is close to 1,900 megawatts. "So the involvement of neighboring countries offers some hope that it will be realized." The idea to build Kambarata-1, the giant dam that would power the hydroelectric plant at its base, dates back to Soviet times, and it was Moscow that Bishkek turned to in a bid to revive the project in 2008. Things didn't exactly go according to plan. At least part of the $300 million soft loan allocated toward the project by Russia went missing, with Russian media pointing the finger at Maksim Bakiev, the son of Kyrgyzstan's then-president, Kurmanbek Bakiev. After the Bakiev family was ousted in a revolution in 2010, Kyrgyzstan and Russia struck a fresh deal for the dam, as well as several other separate smaller hydropower facilities, also on the Naryn River. But by 2016, Kyrgyzstan had torn up its contracts with two Russian state-backed companies: Inter RAO, which was overseeing Kambar-Ata-1, and RusHydro, which was set to build the smaller hydropower plants. Almazbek Atambaev, then the head of state, cited "objective reasons" for Moscow's failure to make real progress on the projects, amid collapsing global energy prices and sanctions imposed on Russia by Western countries over its annexation of Crimea the year before. "This is going to be the case for a long time. Kyrgyzstan should exit these agreements and find new investors," Atambaev said at the time. Some experts speculated that Russia was never much interested in completing the project. Moscow's main aim, they said, was to acquire leverage over Uzbekistan, with whom the Kremlin's relations had cooled, and which was virulently opposed to mega-dams further upstream on trans-boundary rivers, citing the detrimental effects they would have on supplying the country's vast agricultural sector. The death of Uzbekistan's hard-nosed, long-ruling first president, Islam Karimov, later that year saw major improvements in Tashkent's relationships with its neighbors. Nowadays, as Ravshan Nazarov, a senior academic at the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan, points out, deepening cooperation with other Central Asian countries in water and energy is embedded in Tashkent's national development strategy. And although Tashkent still has concerns about water volume in the glacier-fed Naryn River, it now sees the dam project as a source of stability, rather than as a threat, Nazarov told RFE/RL. Moreover, Uzbekistan's power needs are increasingly pressing. Rasul Umbetaliev, a Kyrgyz energy expert, said in an interview with RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service this week that, if anything, it is Kyrgyzstan that is constrained by plans for Kambar-Ata-1. That is due to the planned creation of a company jointly owned by the three countries to run the hydroelectric plant when complete. "If Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan will have 66 percent [of this company], then those two countries will be managing our water resources. This is against national interests," Umbetaliev complained. One thing that this year has reinforced is that the extra capacity Kambar-Ata-1 could bring to Central Asia is sorely needed. The three countries joining for the project are linked via the Soviet-legacy united energy grid and suffered simultaneous blackouts during a grid problem at the beginning of 2022. A cold snap this winter has wrought havoc in the region, with homes in Uzbekistan plunged into darkness and cold and power-starved factories forced to lay off workers. Yet the problem now facing Kambar-Ata-1 is the same as the one that has deterred investment into the sector in all these countries: Power production in Central Asia, subsidized since the communist era, is simply not commercially profitable, and regimes are leery of tariff hikes for consumers that might foment political instability. That could be a problem, as the three countries building the plant are likely to be its immediate target market, with power exports to South Asian countries a more ambitious goal in the future. "From an economic point of view, nothing has changed," economic expert Akeneev said. "It is still a loss-maker." Kyrgyzstan has signaled its ambitions by allocating 1.5 billion soms ($17.5 million) for the construction of bridges and tunnels in the infrastructure-strapped region hosting Kambar-Ata-1. Work at the site began in the summer. In November, Kyrgyz Deputy Energy Minister Sabyrbek Sultanbekov claimed that France's state-owned EDF energy company had shown interest in the project, but offered few details. At an economic forum in Bishkek the previous month, Kyrgyz Deputy Prime Minister Adilbek Kasymaliev asked the World Bank if it would be interested in getting involved in the Kambar-Ata-1 project, among others. "I know that you have got used to just listening, but now we should acknowledge the importance of these projects. Therefore, Kyrgyzstan formally invites the World Bank to participate in these projects," Kasymaliev said. The World Bank did not immediately respond to RFE/RL's request for comment. But a report on Kyrgyzstan by the bank in 2020 flagged "chronic underpricing of electricity" and "backtracking" on tariff policy as factors discouraging private investment in the energy sector. Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan's role in the project, beyond securing a share of the power generated by Kambar-Ata-1 and safeguarding access to trans-boundary rivers, remains to be seen. Almaty-based economist Kassymkhan Kapparov, the founder of the ekonomist.kz website, said that efforts to attract investment will depend on the will of the three countries to sell it as a green energy project uniting the region. "This is maybe the first example of these three countries taking the initiative on a major integration project without an outside partner," Kapparov said. "Perhaps Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan will make seed investments -- $20 million to $30 million -- to show the seriousness of their intentions. After that, they will have to attract more significant investments from international organizations," he added. Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang (L) and Ethiopian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Demeke Mekonnen attend a press conference after their talks in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Jan. 10, 2023. (Xinhua/Wang Ping) ADDIS ABABA, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang on Tuesday addressed members of the press along with Ethiopian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Demeke Mekonnen, after their talks in Addis Ababa. When asked about China's views on the peace agreement in Ethiopia and the progress of the China-proposed "Outlook on Peace and Development in the Horn of Africa" in Ethiopia, Qin said that Ethiopia is the common home of all Ethiopian people, including those from Tigray. Ethiopia has now entered a new stage of looking forward to peace and focusing on development after the recent signing of a ceasefire agreement between the federal government of Ethiopia and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), which has been gradually implemented, he said. China is sincerely glad to see this and extends warm congratulations to the government and people of Ethiopia, Qin said. He said China has always taken the view that the conflict in Tigray is an internal affair of Ethiopia and that the Ethiopian people have the wisdom and ability to independently resolve their internal differences. China has all along respected Ethiopia's sovereignty and territorial integrity and supported the Ethiopian government and people in their efforts to achieve national peace, unity and development, Qin said. China has always supported Africans in solving African problems in African ways, he added. Qin said the strategic location of the Horn of Africa is of great significance to the peace and stability of Africa and even the Middle East, and that China has put forward the "Outlook on Peace and Development in the Horn of Africa" to support countries in the region to seek strength through unity and achieve prosperity and stability. Recalling Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa Affairs of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Xue Bing's visit to many countries in the region, Qin said China supported the convening of the inaugural Horn of Africa peace conference that made a positive contribution to building consensus among all parties and promoting peace and development in the region. He noted that China has provided batches of food, vaccines and other humanitarian supplies to Ethiopia to help improve the livelihoods of people in conflict-affected areas. China will continue to do so and will actively participate in the reconstruction of conflict-afflicted areas, Qin said, urging the international community to also increase humanitarian assistance to Ethiopia and support the reconstruction and economic and social development of the affected regions. trois soldats tues lors de combats avec les jihadistes Trois soldats maliens ont ete tues et cinq blesses mardi au cours d'affrontements avec les jihadistes dans le centre du pays, a indique l'armee dans la nuit sur les reseaux sociaux. L'armee dit avoir "neutralise" sept jihadistes lors de ces combats engages entre Mopti et Segou apres plusieurs attaques perpetrees selon elle a l'aide d'engins explosifs improvises contre ses forces. Le Mali est en proie depuis 2012 a la propagation jihadiste et a une profonde crise multidimensionnelle, politique, economique et humanitaire. Le centre est l'un des foyers de la violence qui a gagne les pays voisins, Burkina Faso et Niger, et s'etend vers le sud. Les colonels arrives au pouvoir par un putsch en 2020 et confortes par un second coup de force en 2021 se sont detournes de l'ancien allie francais et de ses partenaires, et se sont tournes militairement et politiquement vers les Russes. La junte a lance fin 2021 une operation concentree sur le centre du Mali. Elle revendique d'avoir accule les jihadistes a la fuite et a la defensive a travers le pays. Dans un rapport de son secretaire general presente mardi devant le Conseil de securite, l'ONU ecrit au contraire que les conditions de securite ont continue de se deteriorer entre juin et decembre 2022 dans le centre du Sahel, "en particulier au Burkina Faso et au Mali". "Au Mali, apres le depart des forces internationales, les groupes armes ont avance dans l'est du pays, prenant le controle de vastes zones frontalieres avec le Niger", dit le rapport. Ceremorphic, a fabless silicon and system development company, todayannounced an expansion of its business to include a new business model for the high-performance computing (HPC) industry. Leveraging the companys provenexpertise in developing chips in 5nm and below for AI supercomputing and other HPC applications, Ceremorphic will now alsooffer its IP and design expertise to develop advanced ICs forselect customers looking to differentiate their business with customized silicon. For more information, refer to the new "Custom Engineering page on the Ceremorphic website. The development cycle for advanced, lower geometry silicon devices is lengthy and costly due to the complex IP and expertise required, even for well-resourced system companies. To solve this problem, Ceremorphic has been working on infrastructure IP for high performance AI supercomputing for many years and has successfully tested its design methodology with a 5nm device tape out in 2022. The company has also developed new methods for connectivity, advanced analog technology and algorithms and AI applications to address HPC development challenges with cost-effective solutions. This includes critical IPs in CXL/PCIe6, machine learning processors, ASIL-D compliant reliable multi-thread processors along with all analog IP needed for advanced nodes. Increasing trends towards developing custom silicon by a system company coupled with the design complexity of silicon in advanced geometries provides an opportunity for capable silicon companies to capture the value for their efforts, said Subhasish Mitra, Professor of Electrical Engineering and of Computer Science at Stanford University.Ceremorphic brings unique experience in developing infrastructure technology required for high-performance computing platforms, giving them a significant advantage to capitalize on this market opportunity. The combination of Ceremorphics silicon and softwaretechnology with its own product development expertise gives us a unique position to offer this model to high-end system developers in the AI, machine learning and HPC space, said Dr. Venkat Mattela, Founder and CEO of Ceremorphic. The drive for this business comes more from viability for a system company to own custom IC to differentiate their product than the cost equation. As a result, we will offer this service to very select customers that want to develop an advanced IC with minimal extra effort from their own product roadmap. Ceremorphic's IP is supported by a strong patent portfolio, including over 20 awarded patents, over 100 filed patents, and more than30 licensed patents. The portfolio covers a range of areas, including system level interconnect, chiplet-to-chiplet interconnect, reliable circuits, multi-thread microprocessor technology, machine learning processors, graph neural processors, low power silicon design, quantum resistant security, programmable logic, low power algorithms, and firmware architectures, all of which are relevant to the development of applications with advanced silicon in 5nm and below. Ceremorphic to Keynote and Exhibit at the 2023 VLSI Design ConferenceAs a recognized industry expert, the Ceremorphic CEO Venkat Mattela will be giving a keynote at this weeks VLSI DesignConferencebeing held today at 12:45 pm at the Novotel, HICC in Hyderabad, India. Ceremorphic will also be exhibiting at the conference in booth #20. Asia Internet Coalition, an industry body representing companies such as Google, Twitter, and Meta criticized and termed the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance's recommendation to introduce a digital competition law and its overall on Big Tech firms' anti-competitive practices as 'absolutist' and 'regressive'. 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. Recently the AIC said, "The AIC is concerned that the digital competition law recommended by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance may dampen digital innovation in India." It recommended the government conduct wide consultations with stakeholders to "new legislative proposals meet international best practices, are evidence-based, and are for the purpose of benefiting innovation, growth, and consumers". The AIC's members include Amazon, Meta, Google, Twitter, Meta, LinkedIn, and so on On December 23, the committee recommended that India should enhance its competition law to address the unique needs of the digital market. The committee suggested that a digital markets unit be established within the commission, with experts who could monitor systematically important digital intermediaries (SIDIs) and emerging SIDIs and also offer suggestions to the Centre. The recommends defining Big Tech companies as Systemically Important Digital Intermediaries (SIDIs) on the basis of their revenues, market capitalisation, and end users. 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. "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." 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 put forward by the Committee is "prescriptive, absolutist and regressive in nature". 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 purpose of the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill Act is to provide for the processing of digital personal data in a manner that recognizes both the right of individuals to protect their personal data and the need to process personal data for lawful purposes and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. The Competition Amendment Bill expands the powers of the Director General for investigating contraventions under the Act. This includes the power to seek information and documents from legal advisers also. This may be at variance with the provisions of lawyer-client confidentiality under section 126 of the Indian Evidence Act, of 1872. The Asia Internet Coalition(AIC) : Industry body Asia Internet Coalition (AIC) has come out all guns blazing against the recently tabled report on anti-competitive practices by big tech companies. In a statement, AIC said the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance was prescriptive, absolutist, and regressive in nature. The industry body also said that the digital competition law recommended by the panel could dampen digital innovation in the country. The coalition also said that incorporating legislation from foreign jurisdictions into India could impact innovations and investments flowing into the country. 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, said the AIC in a statement. The industry body also called on the center to conduct wider stakeholder consultations before formulating new laws governing the space. AIC also hinted that introducing any new digital competition legislation could lead to over-compliance, adding that the introduced Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2022, and the Competition Amendment Bill, 2022 also proposed to govern the digital markets. Flagging incorporation of elements of the European Unions Digital Markets Act and US American Innovation and Choice Online Act, AIC called for exercising restraint citing the long transition and implementation periods of the two norms. The world needs coordinated digital rules : More importantly, the formulation of global cooperation rules and the transformation of global digital governance should not be decided by individual countries. When countries jointly build a peaceful and open cyberspace, they should adhere to certain principles. The most important one is to respect the cyber sovereignty of all countries. No country should rely on its technological advantages to seek digital hegemony, interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, or engage in, condone or support its companies in cyber activities that endanger the national security of other countries. For the future development of the digital economy, China, India and other developing countries should advocate digital multilateralism. All parties should adhere to the principles of negotiation, not confrontation, inclusiveness not exclusiveness, and jointly expand common interests and explore the potential and vitality of digital economic cooperation. Thank you for visiting the Daily Journal. Please purchase an Enhanced Subscription to continue reading. To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account. We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription. A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means youre helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much! Born Andrew Jonas Gunsberg, he changed his name to Osher, the Hebrew word for happiness, to signify his more joyous outlook on life. I could not think of a more fitting name for this man. For his perfectly aligned hair, kind smile and nice suit make every day feel like a rose ceremony. Osher, like Queen Elizabeth II before him, represents constancy. His decades-long career means he is woven into our cultural fabric, like a handsome brooch. As we journey into the uncharted waters of The Thrachelor, we feel safe under his steely gaze. And boy do we need that safety. The season opens as the Bachelor Titanic sinks. The ocean fills with countless women in their very, very early 20s. To save these hopeful beauties, Network Ten throws them three life preservers shaped like the different breeds of white man. But as the hot air escapes the three men, they deflate. All hope is lost. That is until the captain deploys the life raft. He rides in to save these women from a sexist and brutal public. He shields them from the raging waters and raging men. The women cheer and sing, Thank God for Osher Gunsberg. Its no secret that Australia loves Osher. A quick Google search will reveal weve been asking questions such as Is Osher vegan? Does Osher have kids? and Is OSHA from The Bachelor married? And while the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is single and ready to mingle, Im sorry to say that our Osher is married To the art of The Bachelor! (And to his wife.) Personally, I am a long-time supporter of Osher. He has been with me since his Andrew G days on Australian Idol. His bouncy, blonde hair convinced me to spend too much money texting to save my favourite contestants. Osher was with me through the highs and the lows. Puberty was tough, mainly because Lee Harding was unfairly eliminated from season three of Australian Idol. I was a nervous wreck. But in that trying time, Osher offered a calm, ordered perspective in a world of disorder. How can one man soothe a volatile nation? Call it talent. Call it skill. Or call it, in the words Mr Wasabi Lee Harding himself, Osher being on 11, he can go-go-go. Something that is not on 11 is this new season of The Bachelors. The ratings for Monday nights premiere were the lowest in the history of the franchise. Perhaps because in an attempt to make the show appeal to a broader audience, it now appeals to no one. The show has walked away from diverse representation more quickly than Pepsi walked away from Kendall Jenner. Theres no denying that the program has an ongoing problem with diversity across a myriad of spectrums. Its the kind of show where producers put a woman in her 40s on a stick and run around after men saying Oooooh spooky! Dont let it touch you! Not to say that they havent given diversity a whack. But after an attempt last season at welcoming queer culture into the mansions fold, the franchise bellowed never again and has gone for an aggressively straight format; offering us three men looking for love. Oh, the diversity! Theres a tall one, a yoga one and a drummer one, who can only be described as Potato Gun Kelly. All the shades of beige. Fisher, who replaced Pell as archbishop when he left for Rome, paid tribute to his predecessor on Wednesday as a man of courage and with a big heart, who trusted in divine providence. He said Pells episcopal motto was Be Not Afraid, and lived up to that maxim in good days and bad. He fearlessly proclaimed the Gospel and worked to explain the teachings of the Church. He spoke truth as he found it, however difficult or unpopular, Fisher said. Archbishop of Sydney Anthony Fisher gives a mass in honour of predecessor George Pell on Wednesday. Credit: Steven Siewert He saw Pell just last week in Rome for the funeral of Pope Benedict XVI, a friend and philosophical ally of Pells. The Cardinal and I did not know it would be the last time we would see each other in this life, but he was in good spirits and his regular, witty self, and I am thankful that we shared this time together, Fisher said. In his 2013 essay The Prince, David Marr described Pells transition to Sydney from Melbourne as both challenging and timely. He lacked the networks and alliances he enjoyed in Victoria, and was entering a supposedly more liberal Catholic environment. But he was also somewhat removed from the sexual abuse allegations levelled at the church in his home state, and the so-called Melbourne Response he had established as archbishop there. He was dealing with a different town and a different church. This was not [B. A.] Santamaria territory. NSW and its hierarchy had sided against Pells kind of Catholic, Marr wrote in 2013. Fresh news of clerical sex crimes kept breaking [in Melbourne], but in Sydney this was hardly reported. It was as if he had left the scandal behind. The incoming Archbishop of Sydney George Pell receives the staff from his predecessor Edward Clancy in May 2001. Credit: Nick Moir Pells first Sydney mass on that Thursday night in 2001 was attended by then prime minister John Howard and opposition leader Kim Beazley, among other dignitaries. And the protests against his appointment were largely scorned by the press, including The Sun-Herald, which used its editorial that weekend to call for respect. Sydney is a brash and robust town, with a folklore built on colourful characters. For that reason alone, we should welcome Pell, the paper implored. With his deep intellect and divine righteousness, Pell threw himself into the political debates of the city and the nation. His consecration as archbishop came days after Sydneys supervised heroin injecting room opened mere blocks away in Kings Cross, supported by the Uniting Church. Pell opposed the clinic, having said weeks earlier in a doctrinal statement: If you are pumping heroin in, it is never safe. He also became involved in the debate over a ban on stem cell research using surplus IVF embryos. Howard had sought Pells counsel, along with other religious leaders, in the days leading up to his decision - but legalised it anyway despite their objections. Writing for the Herald at the time, a defeated Pell said the public deserved better than politicians looking for photo opportunities with sick people seeking cures. Only a year into his Sydney stint, Pell was hit with an allegation of historical sexual abuse from a Victorian man. The man alleged Pell abused him at an altar boys camp on Phillip Island in 1962, when he was 12 and Pell was a student priest. A committee of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference asked retired judge Alec Southwell to examine the claims. Amid doubts over the complainants evidence, Southwell found the complaint had not been substantiated. Reporting on the outcome in October 2002, the Herald concluded that Pell remains the man most likely to become Australias next cardinal. That prediction came true a year later, when Pell was elevated by Pope John Paul II. World Youth Day 2008: Cardinal George Pell with Pope Benedict XVI and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd upon the Popes arrival in Australia. Credit: Mark Baker Arguably, Pells apex as Archbishop of Sydney came in 2008, when he hosted Benedict for World Youth Day. The event, held every three years in a different city, attracted hundreds of thousands of Catholics from Australia and the world, the old maritime docks of Barangaroo heaving under the weight of the crowds. However, it was not until 2014 that he was summoned to Rome by Pope Francis to serve as the Vaticans treasurer. Benedict used the occasion to apologise to the victims of sexual abuse by Australian clergy, and met with a small group of survivors at St Marys before leaving the country. These misdeeds, which constitute so grave a betrayal of trust, deserve unequivocal condemnation, Benedict said. They have caused great pain and have damaged the churchs witness. Cardinal George Pell, then archbishop of Sydney, leads a mass on the 10th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks. Credit: Kate Geraghty In many ways, Pell was better suited to his adopted Sydney home than Melbourne. His outspoken, head-kicking, brawling manner was perhaps more welcome in Sydney than in the staid refines of Melbournes establishment, and his conservative views fitted the citys post-Olympics trajectory. He shot from the hip, says James Franklin, vice-president of the Australian Catholic Historical Society and a retired mathematics professor. In a 2017 paper for the St Marks Review Christian journal, Franklin described Pell as a man from the south but with sceptical Sydney attitudes. Pell also desired to enhance what Franklin called the paltry, lagging intellectual Catholic scene in Sydney, and did so by helping to establish the Sydney campuses of the University of Notre Dame. The close relationship the Catholic Church enjoyed with the Right faction of the NSW Labor Party gave Pell power that did not dissipate once the Liberals took over in 2011. When St Johns College at Sydney University was engulfed in scandal the following year, Pell asked for and received the ability to appoint the colleges new governing council. It was done overnight, says Franklin. And Pells crash-through approach didnt always win him friends, even in fast-and-loose Sydney. While he may have ingratiated himself with the citys Catholic hierarchy and wider conservative intellectual community, Franklin suggests: Ingratiating was not the way to describe the way he went about things. Loading Roll out the (flying) barrel The Kaman Helicopter Corporation announced yesterday that it has a Navy contract to conduct research on a wingless, barrel-shaped plane which can be driven by a jet or conventional engine. The plane, called a Flying Barrel has a circular body mounted inside the barrel. It takes off vertically and levels out for forward flight. A similar plane has been under in development in France for several years. Arsenic and pink rice Police in Dorrigo are conducting a door-to-door search to discover which of the towns residents are using rice from a bag suspected of containing arsenic. They have warned householders to soak all rice carefully before they cook it to see if it turns pink. On Monday Mrs C. Summerhayes, of Kurrajong Street, Dorrigo, noticed some rice she was preparing turn pink. She took it to a local doctor who told her it might contain arsenic. Boy finds jacket, gets reward A 10-year-old schoolboy found a sports coat with 219 in a pocket lying on a road at Ashfield yesterday. The boy, Bill Robinson, of Ormond Street, Ashfield, picked up the coat near his home. Two hours later a man came down the road while Bill was out playing and asked if he had seen the sports coat. He told us how much money was in the pocket and we handed it back to him, Bills mother said. He gave Bill 9 back. He did not appear in the Toowoomba Magistrates Court, prompting a rebuke from magistrate Kay Ryan. The accused cannot be identified under Queensland law at this early stage of the legal process. A high-profile man charged with rape had his matter heard in a Queensland court on Wednesday. He had a notice to appear. The mans lawyer, Rowan King, said his client was in Tasmania and could not be present for medical reasons. The accused has been charged with rape over an alleged incident in October 2021. This was the first time the matter passed before a court, and the man has remained on bail. Outside court, King was surrounded by a throng of journalists as he made his way to his car. He did not answer any questions. Unlike most other states and territories, Queensland prohibits the identification of accused rapists, even when they appear in open court, until the matter has been committed to trial. A 41-year-old man has been charged over a crash that killed four passengers when the car he was driving collided with a ute, hit a road sign and came to a stop in a paddock near Shepparton on January 4. Harinder Singh, who remains in hospital under police guard, was charged on Wednesday with four counts of dangerous driving causing death. Four farm labourers died in the accident near Shepparton on January 4. Credit: Joe Armao Singh was driving across an intersection on Pine Lodge North Road in a Peugeot with four male passengers about 4.45pm when the car collided with a Toyota Hilux ute towing a trailer. All four passengers died at the scene. Three of the four men who died were ejected from the car according to police, with officers investigating whether the passengers were wearing seatbelts. There is a wall of mewling cats in the quarantine room at The Lost Dogs Home in North Melbourne. A coop door swings open to reveal a mottled female, nursing half a dozen tiny kittens, barely 48 hours old. Its cute, but the scene is a grim reminder of whats going wrong across Melbournes moggie population: Rangers dropped this cat off with no name, no registration, no microchip and pregnant. An unnamed stray female cat with six kittens in quarantine at The Lost Dogs Home. Credit: Chris Hopkins The age of this Queen the name for mother cats is also unknown, but vet staff estimate shes barely out of kittenhood herself. She weighs only one kilogram. Theres babies having babies, says Liz Walker, director of operations at the home. The national president of the Health Services Union wants to charge workers who arent members an annual $500 fee for any pay rises won through wage deals. Gerard Hayes, one of several major union figures to call for the scrapping of a Howard-era ban on charging bargaining fees for people who arent paid-up members, described the building argument within the movement as a moral issue. Health Services Union national president Gerard Hayes wants to charge non-members $500 a year if they benefit from pay deals negotiated on their behalf. Credit: Flavio Brancaleone We are here on the back of other people, and I think free-riding is not the Australian way, Hayes said. Hayes said an ongoing case before the Fair Work Commission to land aged-care workers a 25 per cent pay rise could raise some workers pay packets by $10,000 a year. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was flown in Lindsay Foxs private helicopter to a five-hour barbecue with the business magnate and Premier Daniel Andrews at the billionaires seaside mansion in Portsea last weekend. The meeting between two of Australias most powerful politicians and one of the countrys wealthiest families was quietly held on Saturday afternoon after Albanese finished his official business in Victoria, and before he flew to the flood zone in Western Australia. Anthony Albanese, Daniel Andrews and Lindsay Fox. Credit: The Age The Prime Ministers Office did not respond over several days to requests for comment about his attendance at the social gathering and his use of the billionaires helicopter. When the issue was raised with Albanese by a Nine News reporter during a press conference on Wednesday in Rockhampton, Queensland, he said: I have private meetings all the time. And I have private meetings which are private meetings. A similar trend played out for house rents, with the eastern suburbs growing 21.7 per cent in the year to December to $1400 a week. That was followed by Parramatta house rents jumping 20 per cent to $600 a week. Domains chief of research and economics Dr Nicola Powell said a number of factors were driving up rents. The new uni year is starting, overseas migrations, tourism and interstate travel has resumed. That is all weighing heavily on rental markets, Powell said. Loading Unit rents are in their sixth consecutive quarter of rental growth. It puts into perspective the unprecedented run of rental growth. That means many tenants will be impacted as their leases have expired. Renters chasing more affordable leases added pressure to unit rents, Powell said. Conditions remain tight for tenants its firmly still in a landlords market. Grattan Institute economic policy program director Brendan Coates said the crisis would deepen until a significant number of homes were built or made available for rent. Rents are tipped to keep rising in 2023. Credit: Peter Rae He said the pandemic caused Australians to value having their own, larger space, which meant more homes were occupied. In the short term youve got a big increase in demand with migration going up against a static supply, so in the short term rents will keep going up, he said. Coates is also concerned about the effect the crisis will have on low-income Australians. A tight rental market means renters will be spending more of their incomes to keep a roof over their heads, which means they cant spend as much money on essentials, he said. Loading We see rising rates of homelessness with rising rents. Thats the consequence. Centre for Independent Studies chief economist Dr Peter Tulip echoed the Grattan Institutes concerns. One of the big effects on society is that higher housing costs are making Australia more unequal. That high housing costs hurts lower income earners because they tend to be renters while benefiting the wealthy because they own the housing. This is a major factor driving inequality in Australia. Tulip said the rental crisis would drive more hardship for lower income earners. The bigger division is not the kind of housing you have, but its where youre located, he said. The single biggest cause of homelessness is high rents We are seeing growing homelessness, its obviously not by choice, people are being squeezed and left without an affordable alternative. Igor Silva was renting with two other housemates in Blacktown last year when he received notice his rent was going to increase. Igor Silva purchased his first home last year just before rents went up for him and his housemates. Credit: Kate Geraghty He was already searching for a place of his own amid the falling property market, and took out a no-deposit home loan thanks to a family member who agreed to go guarantor. The 30-year-old eventually bought a unit in Wentworth Point, originally for the same mortgage repayments as his rent. He is relieved he tapped out of the rental market just as his rent was going to increase. The minimum apartment rent went up from $600 to over $700 a week. I kind of just stopped renting in the nick of time, Silva said. In terms of mortgage repayment, its definitely more than rent now. I do think the mortgage rose more than the rent. Silva and his housemate were each able to buy their own homes faster than their third housemate could find a new rental. Silvas mortgage broker Samuel Philipos of BFG Loans has noticed more people trying to enter the property market as rents skyrocketed last year. He said one family who were hoping to buy are chipping away at their deposit to cover rent. They have not been able to purchase because rising rates reduced their borrowing capacity. NSW Tenants Union chief executive Leo Patterson Ross said Sydneys rental market is in a permanent state of crisis that is almost created by design. George Pell returned to Rome in late 2020 intent on cleaning out his apartment just outside St Peters Square ahead of making Sydney his permanent home. He never left. As Italys COVID-19 cases surged that winter, Pell sat in his armchair watching the Vatican corruption and financial incompetence scandal he worked to uncover explode publicly. His home had recently become a focal point for conservatives preparing their platform for the eventual election of Pope Francis successor. Cardinal George Pell (left) met with Pope Francis on his return to the Vatican after his sex abuse conviction and acquittal in Australia. Credit: Vatican News/AP Once the Vaticans third most powerful prelate, Pell was nine years ago tasked with reforming the Vaticans murky finances as Francis treasurer. It involved generating balance sheets, conducting audits, and attempting to loosen the powerful Secretariat of States grasp on a significant portion of the Holy Sees assets. He was dubbed the Eliot Ness of the Vatican by a long-time supporter, then Australian Catholic University vice chancellor Greg Craven: a good guy trying to clean up hundreds of years of financial mess and exploitation. Paris: The Paris prosecutor said investigators havent yet been able to identify the attacker who wounded six people with a sharp metallic hook in the French capitals Gare du Nord on Wednesday before being shot and wounded by police. The suspect attacked several people at the train station, including a police officer, during the morning rush hour with no apparent reason at this stage, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said in a statement. Police officers secure the access to Eurostar trains linking France to Britain, at the Gare du Nord train station. Credit: AP Beccuau said the assailant was undergoing surgery at a hospital after being shot twice in the chest and once in the right arm. Investigators hadnt been able to interrogate him given his condition, she said. The identification process was still ongoing because the suspect was registered under several identities in a fingerprint database based on his declarations in previous cases involving him, suggesting he could be born in Libya or Algeria, the statement said. He is about 20 years old. Picture the scene: the music is pumping and youre sipping a Treasure Chest - a large and lethal fruit punch filled with brandy, peach liqueur, lime and champagne and decorated with fruit jewels - when a man in a blue shirt and baggy trousers sidles up to you. You protest when he takes a sip from one of your multiple coloured straws - until he removes his cap, that is, and you spot a distinctive ginger quiff. A younger Prince Harry was known for his partying. If you were female, pretty and in a short enough skirt, this was a scene that played out more than once in Mahiki, the glossy Mayfair nightclub that was - for a period in the Noughties - the it hangout of London. Much of its appeal came from the fact it was regularly frequented by one or both of the young Waleses, and Harry soon became the undisputed king of west London nightlife. Oddly - given that partying is essentially what he was known for until Meghan came along - this is a period of time Harry barely touches upon in his autobiography Spare, which was released on Wednesday in Australia. ~Kingdom partners to attend 4LO in Sint Maarten~ PHILIPSBURG:--- Prime Minister and Minister of General Affairs for Sint Maarten, Silveria E. Jacobs will be hosting Ministerial Consultation Quadripartite Meetings, dubbed the 4LO (vierlandenoverleg). The meetings are set to take place on January 12 and 13 at the Sonesta Maho Resort. The event will culminate in a press conference between the four Kingdom partners, Aruba, represented by Prime Minister Evelyn Wever-Croes; Curacao, represented by Prime Minister Gilmar Pisas; The Netherlands, represented by State-Secretary of Kingdom Relations and Digitalization Alexandra van Huffelen; and Sint Maarten, represented by Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs. The Prime Ministers of Aruba, Curacao, and Sint Maarten, together with the State Secretary, will discuss topics such as the previously debated alternative to the Consensus Kingdom Act COHO, the way forward with the Kingdom Act Dispute Resolution (Geschillenregeling), among other items relevant to Kingdom Relations. I look forward to hosting our colleagues for the first time since my tenure as Prime Minister and I hope that we are able to come to concrete decisions on the way forward with regard to the topics that will be discussed during this meeting, said Prime Minister Jacobs. Aztec Summarizes 2022 Drill Results from Cervantes Project, Sonora, Mexico Aztec Minerals Corp. (AZT: TSX-V, OTCQB: AZZTF https://www.commodity-tv.com/ondemand/companies/profil/aztec-minerals-corp/ ) summarizes the drilling results on the Cervantes porphyry gold targets from its recently completed 2022, Phase 2, RC and oriented core drilling programs comprising a 26-hole, 5,248.6 metre (m) track-mounted reverse circulation (RC) drill program and a 11-hole, 2,588 m man-portable, oriented core program on the 100% owned Cervantes porphyry Au project located in the district of Soyopa, Sonora, Mexico. A Combined 2022 drilling totaled 37 drill holes and 7,836.6 m on four targets (California, California Norte, Purisima East and Jasper). Total drilling by Aztec Minerals on the project since 2016 is now 54 drill holes and 10,511.6 m. Every 2022 drill hole, except one, of the 29 drill holes successfully completed out of 31 attempted in 2022 at the California and the adjoining California Norte targets has intersected near surface, oxidized gold mineralization with minor copper values. A The 2022 drilling exploration program has expanded the footprint and the depth of the California target mineralization and alteration associated with the California porphyry intrusive complex with continued intercepts of broad gold mineralization. The identified California target area drilled has been enlarged to approximately 900 meters long E a W by 730 meters wide N-S, and exploration drilling successfully expanded the primary California zone to an area now measuring approximately 900 meters long E-W by 250 to 500 meters wide N-S, with demonstrated, continuous mineralization of up to 170 meters depth. A The porphyry gold-copper mineralization is still open in all directions with anomalous mineralization and alteration up to 265 meters depth vertically. A The California and California Norte targets appear to be merging from drilling and surface exposures. The drill holes were mainly placed in step-out rows subparallel to the 2017-2018 drilling, oriented with azimuths 230 a 260, inclined at minus 65 degrees from horizontal. A The rows were spaced approximately 50 m to 100 m apart and along the rows the collar spacings were 70 m to 150 m. A There were four near vertical drill holes and three drill holes with azimuth perpendicular to the pattern that were made to test that there is no drill pattern bias in results. Drilling has also intercepted broad alteration and strongly oxidized, argillically altered, and brecciated siltstone-quartzite sediments in the Jasper Copper target step out 600 meters west of the California Zone. The Jasper Copper target is in its early stages of exploration. A It has limited outcrops of its brecciated, argillically altered, strong oxide mineralized siliciclastic sediments. A Strong copper oxide mineralization is found on outcrops and in the drilling. A Sulfides have not yet been found in drilling to 209 m depth, suggesting the there is a possibility to encounter a secondary sulfide enrichment blanket. At the Purisima Este target drilling found anomalous Au and multi-element mineralization related to the edges of its diatreme-breccia pipe related to a Qfp intrusive and follow-up work is planned. View: California Zone Longitudinal Section and California Zone Drill Progress Map 2022 Drill Highlights: 94m @ 1.04 gpT Au incl 15.2m @ 3.96 gpT Au, 55m @ 0.36% copper in CAL22-001 165m @ 1.00 gpT Au incl 24.4m @ 4.25 gpT Au, 160m @ 0.065% copper in CAL22-004 137m @ 1.49 gpT Au incl 51.7m @ 3.42 gpT Au, 119m @ 0.091% copper in CAL22-005 100m @ 0.75 gpT Au incl 9.14m @ 3.087 gpT Au, 138m @ 0.10% copper in CAL22-006 152m @ 0.87 gpT Au, incl 33.5m @ 2.05 gpT Au, 123m @ 0.095% copper in CAL22-012 120m @ 0.677 gpT Au, incl 27 m @ 1.456 gpT Au in CAL22-027 135 m @ 0.56 gpT Au, incl 12.0 m @ 2.297 gpT Au in CAL22-031 Drilling has also expanded the footprint of the known extents of the mineralized and phyllically altered California porphyry intrusive complex, demonstrating alteration zoning from east to west of argillic to phyllic alteration, multiple stockwork veining and hydrothermal brecciation types and stages, and confirmed the prior IP survey conductivity anomaly was related to disseminated sulfides. A The core drilling program has shown that Au mineralization is limited by the enveloping argillc alteration and seems to prefer to be close to the argillic/phyllic alteration boundaries. The gold mineralization is strongly associated with copper, arsenic, silver, bismuth and tungsten, while molybdenum anomalies are as haloes distal and interior to the gold, antimony is distal, mercury is usually undetectable, lead and zinc are mainly distal, and barite has a wide distribution. The controls on mineralization/zoning are still to be identified; however, the Qfp and Hydrothermal breccia units (Hbx) are the seemingly the preferred hosts. A The Qfp, hydrothermal breccias and gold mineralization may be dipping to the north into the California Norte target. A The gold mineralization appears to be widely distributed in disseminations, fractures and veinlets at high levels within in a Quartz-feldspar porphyry intrusive complex and related hydrothermal breccias. The primary focus of the 2022 drilling program at Cervantes was to expand the previously drilled California target, California North and Jasper targets, to enhance geologic understanding of the targets, and to collect a sample for metallurgical testing. A The oriented core drilling program in 2022 tested step-outs of 35 to 450 meters using varying azimuths and inclinations. A The combined 2022 drilling totaled 37 drill holes and 7,836.6 m on four targets (California, California Norte, Purisima East and Jasper) The 2022 drilling program was conducted in part during the rainy season, and for the entire program there were no injuries or accidents. The following is a summary tabulation of all 2022 RC and Core drill hole results: Drill samples are collected every 1.52 m from RC chips and every 1.5m from sawing the core drill holes. The samples are analyzed by Bureau Veritas for gold with a 30-gram sample size using the method FA430 followed by MA300. Over limits, when present, are analyzed by AR404 or FA550. All holes contain certified blanks, standards, and duplicates as part of the quality control program. The QA/QC has delivered excellent results to date good data integrity. The samples are shipped to and received by Bureau Veritas Minerals laboratory for the gold and multielement geochemical analysis and additional gold results will be received and reported in the next several weeks. The QAQC for the drilling programs has been evaluated and found to have good results. Now that drilling has concluded and the dry season has started, Aztec in early 2023 will next carry out channel sampling and geologic mapping of the new drill roads at California, California Norte and Jasper, as well as to expand surface sampling and mapping on the property in general to continue the 2021 a 2022 surface exploration program. Cervantes Project Overview Cervantes is a highly prospective porphyry gold-copper project located in southeastern Sonora state, Mexico. The project lies 160 km east of Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico within the prolific Laramide porphyry copper belt approximately 265 km southeast of the Cananea porphyry copper-molybdenum mine (Grupo Mexico).A Cervantes also lies along an east-west trending gold belt 60 km west of the Mulatos epithermal gold mine (Alamos Gold), 35 km northeast of the Osisko San Antonio gold mine, 45 km west of the La India mine (Agnico Eagle), and 40 km northwest of Santana gold deposit (Minera Alamos). View: Cervantes Project Location Map Cervantes Project Highlights Large well-located property (3,649 hectares) with good infrastructure, road access, local town, all private land, water wells on property, grid power nearby Seven prospective mineralized zones related to high level porphyries and breccias along a 7.0km east-northeast corridor with multiple intersecting northwest structures Distinct geophysical anomalies, California target marked by high magnetic and low resistivity anomalies, high radiometric and chargeability anomalies responding to pervasive alteration Extensive gold mineralization at California zone, 118 soil samples average 0.44 gpt gold over 900 m by 600 m area, trench rock-channel samples up to 0.47 gpt gold over 222 m Already drilled the first discovery holes at the California zone, intersected gold oxide cap to a classic gold-copper porphyry system, drill results up to 1.49 gpt gold over 137 m and 1.00 gpT gold over 165m Excellent gold recoveries from preliminary metallurgical tests on drill core from California zone; oxide gold recoveries in bottle roll tests range from 75% to 87% California geophysical anomaly wide open laterally and at depth, IP chargeability strengthens and broadens to >500m depth over an area 1100 m by 1200 m, and has been confirmed by exploration drilling Three-Dimensional IP Survey conducted in 2019 extends strong chargeability anomalies to the southwest covering Estrella, Purisima East, and Purisima West, coinciding well with alteration and Au-Cu-Mo soil geochemical anomalies California Target In 2017-18, Aztec completed a Phase 1, 17 diamond core hole drill program, totaling 2,675 meters (m) (see news release dated June 26, 2018).A Phase 1 drilling tested the California target 900m by 600m gold-in-soils anomaly that averaged 0.44gpt covering hydrothermal breccias within a Quartz feldspar porphyry stock intruding Paleozoic siliciclastic sediments. In early 2022, Aztec completed a Phase 2, 26-hole, RC (reverse circulation) drill program totaling 5,267 m focused on expanding the California zone with two drill hole fences parallel to and on either side of the 2017-18 Phase 1 drill hole fence. The Phase 2 RC drilling program successfully expanded the primary California zone to area now measuring approximately 900 meters long by 250 to 500 meters wide, with demonstrated mineralization up to 170 meters depth vertically. The porphyry gold-copper mineralization is still open in all directions. Azteca?s drilling to-date has consistently intersected an oxidized gold cap to a porphyry-type gold-copper-silver system at California, including multiple 100+ meter widths of exceeding 0.40 gpt gold. Highlights of the 2017-18 Phase 1 diamond core and 2021-22 Phase 2 RC (see news release dated June 14, 2022) A drill programs are as follows: 137m @ 1.49 gpT Au incl 51.7m @ 3.42 gpT Au, 119m @ 0.091% copper in CAL22-005 165m @ 1.00 gpT Au incl 24.4m @ 4.25 gpT Au, 160m @ 0.065% copper in CAL22-004 152m @ 0.87 gpT Au, incl 33.5m @ 2.05 gpT Au, 123m @ 0.095% copper in CAL22-012 160m @ 0.77 gpT gold incl 80m @ 1.04 gpT gold, 0.11% copper in 18CER010 139m @ 0.71 gpT gold incl 20m @ 2.10 gpT gold, 0.16% copper in 17CER005 94m @ 1.04 gpT Au incl 15.2m @ 3.96 gpT Au, 55m @ 0.36% copper in CAL22-001 118m @ 0.63 gpT gold incl 43m @ 1.18 gpT gold, 0.16% copper in 17CER003 100m @ 0.75 gpT Au incl 9.14m @ 3.087 gpT Au, 138m @ 0.10% copper in CAL22-006 122m @ 0.60 gpT gold incl 62m @ 0.88 gpT gold, 0.06% copper in 18CER007 170m @ 0.42 gpT gold incl 32m @ 0.87 gpT gold, 0.06% copper in 18CER006 Preliminary metallurgical tests on California drill cores were conducted in 2019 (see news release dated March 12, 2019).A Drill core samples were grouped into 4 separate types of mineralization: Oxide 1, Oxide 2, Mixed Oxide/Sulfide and Sulfide.A The preliminary results of bottle roll tests showed excellent potential for heap leach gold recovery, as follows: 85.1% recovery on 2.0mm material and 94.3% on 75-micron material in sample Oxide 1 87.7% recovery on 2.0mm material and 94.2% on 75-micron material in sample Oxide 2 77.9% recovery on 2.0mm material and 89.0% on 75-micron material in sample Mixed Oxide/Sulphide 51.2% recovery on 2.0mm material and 78.7% on 75-micron material in sample Sulphide Additional Targets Purisima East a outcropping gossans, altered and mineralized diatreme breccias and porphyry intrusions marked by a 700m by 600m geochemical soil anomaly in 193 samples that average 0.25 gpt gold, a small historic aglory holea? mine where rock chip sampling returned high-grade mineralization up to 44.6 gpt gold. Estrella outcrops of gossan and sulfides in silicified Paleozoic sediments near quartz porphyry dikes with rock chip samples up to 3.9 gpt gold and 2,010ppm copper. Purisima West a mirror image of Purisima East in size and type of gossans, altered and mineralized breccias and intrusions in association with gold and copper soil anomalies. Jasper a 2017 trenching returned skarn/replacement-type mineralization up to 0.52% copper and 0.62 gpt gold over a 92.4 m length. In 2022 RC drilling found a broad zone of copper a gold mineralization in JAS22-001. California North a coincident IP chargeability and gold-copper-molybdenum soil geochemical anomalies with demonstrated gold a copper mineralization by RC drilling, it may be a north extension of the California target Other targets a porphyry alteration and geochemical soil anomalies mark the Jacobo and Brasil prospects but more work is required to expand and define these targets Allen David Heyl, B.Sc., CPG., VP Exploration of Aztec, is the Qualified Person under NI43-101, supervised the Cervantes exploration program.A Mr. Heyl has reviewed and approved the technical disclosures in this news release. aSimon DyakowskiaA A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A Simon Dyakowski, Chief Executive Officer Aztec Minerals Corp. About Aztec Minerals a Aztec is a mineral exploration company focused on two emerging discoveries in North America. The Cervantes project is an emerging porphyry gold-copper discovery in Sonora, Mexico. The Tombstone project is an emerging gold-silver discovery with high grade CRD silver-lead-zinc potential in southern Arizona. Azteca?s shares trade on the TSX-V stock exchange (symbol AZT) and on the OTCQB (symbol AZZTF). Contact Information For more information, please contact: Simon Dyakowski, President & CEO, Director Tel: (604) 619-7469 Fax: (604) 685-9744 Email:A simon@aztecminerals.com Website: www.aztecminerals.com Consolidated Uranium Announces the Addition of Tracy Primeau to Advisory Board Consolidated Uranium, Inc. (TSXV:CUR) (OTCQB: CURUF) (aCURa, aConsolidated Uraniuma, the aCompanya https://www.commodity-tv.com/ondemand/companies/profil/consolidated-uranium-inc/ ) 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.A 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.A 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.A 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.A Philip Williams Chairman and CEO of Consolidated Uranium stated, aWe 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.A Our ability to attract someone of Tracya?s 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.a About Consolidated Uranium A 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 In Europe: Swiss Resource Capital AG Jochen Staiger info@resource-capital.ch www.resource-capital.ch 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 aForward-Lookinga Information This news release contains \forward-looking information\ within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. aForward-looking informationa 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 Companya?s 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 aplansa, aexpectsa, ais expecteda, abudgeta, ascheduleda, aestimatesa, aforecastsa, aintendsa, aanticipatesa, or abelievesa or the negative connotation thereof or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results amaya, acoulda, awoulda, amighta or awill be takena, aoccura or abe achieveda 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 Companya?s 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 CURa?s annual information form in respect of the year ended December 31, 2021 filed with the Canadian securities regulators and available under CURa?s 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. 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The truck was driven by a Romanian and was checked at the Nadlac II Border Crossing Point. "The persons in question were taken to the headquarters of the Border Police sector for investigations," the Arad Border Police informed. Following the checks, it was established that the migrants aged between 21 and 36 years are from Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. They entered our country legally on the basis of personal documents and "intended to illegally cross the border to reach different states in the Schengen Area," according to the border police.AGERPRES The Romanian Naval Authority (ANR) presented in Tulcea on Wednesday EURIS, the European voyage reporting information system mandatory for inland ship owners and agents starting this year that will operate in parallel with the Romanian one, RoRIS, in the near future, told Agerpres. EURIS presents data on the elevations and flow of the Danube, informs navigators from all the Danube countries on the state of locks and bridges and offers users the opportunity to find out how long it will take them to reach their destination, depending on traffic and hydrometeorological hazards. RoRIS was created ten years ago and should cease its operation when all users have switched to the European systems, according to ANR naval communications engineer Ciprian Ciopa. "The developers of the RoRIS national system no longer exist and you have no way to ensure system maintenance. It is a very old system and we have agreed on an Eastern European system in which the same type of reporting can be done. It is now possible to generate journeys from Vienna to Sulina as the shipowners check the requirements of all the countries they pass through only once, in one place and in one system," Ciopa told AGERPRES. ANR navigation safety inspector Florin Tararache said that so far the European systems have been presented to shipowners and employees of the local shipmasters' offices in Galati, Constanta, Giurgiu and Drobeta. "If they start working in it, the system becomes easy for those with minimal knowledge of IT, of computer software. The software is quite user-friendly, you can save a lot of data, so you don't have to fill it in again, and I think it will be easier than RoRIS, from my point of view," said Tararache. He added that other public institutions interested in navigation on the Danube and inland canals have free access to European programmes. "I had a meeting with the Constanta border police, customs and port administration, and the Administration of Navigable Canals and I presented the software to them. Anyone is welcome. Much of the information we ask for is common and [users] should not have to do the same thing more than once. They will report only once and everyone will see," said Tararache. For the participants in the meeting in Tulcea, the presentation of EURIS and CEERIS, a system for reporting information to the authorities of eight Danube countries, was welcome. "It is a useful application. EURIS is different from RoRIS, but it seems complete to me. It helps us with the activity we carry out, transporting passengers, and having access to everything that means navigation, it is a kind of naval Waze," said Robert Costache, head of the fleet at a public water transport company in attendance. According to ANR, it is important that all ship owners and agents use EURIS, as the system can be further modified. "We can ask for certain changes that we can put forth to other countries in order to be accepted. At the European level, there is a project for EURIS and CEERIS to develop further. Romania is already in step with all the other countries, and our effort is considerable. ANR contributes an important amount of money toward it, and it is a shame that this system is not used while it is free to use by other authorities and shipowners. It is a safe system, accessible from any kind of electronic devices. Technologically, it is a step forward for providing fluvial services," said ANR official Ciopa. CEERIS is a reporting information system to authorities in Central and Eastern Europe and it is a joint initiative of eight countries - Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Serbia and Slovakia. Romania's Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu on Wednesday had a phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba on Ukraine's national minority law, with the two agreeing to embark on "comprehensive" talks on this subject, according to the Romanian Foreign Ministry (MAE). MAE says the conversation was a continuation of a telephone conversation between Romania's President Klaus Iohannis and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy on January 4 when it was agreed that the Romanian and Ukrainian foreign ministers would hold talks to solve the problems reported by Romania in relation to Ukraine's national minority law, told Agerpres. The two ministers agreed to embark on "comprehensive" consultations on these issues, which would include discussions at the level of experts and a meeting of the two dignitaries. Also, the two ministers decided to stay in constant, direct contact to coordinate the process. Aurescu highlighted the procedural and substantive aspects of the law that raised the concern of Romania and leaders of Ukraine's Romanian community and that were presented in detail and reasoned in a December 2022 letter to Kuleba. The head of the Romanian diplomacy mentioned an intense dialogue on this subject last year with the Ukrainian side, including directly with Kuleba, and requested the undertaking of concrete steps to meet the concerns of the Romanian side. At the same time, in continuation of the previous discussions with the head of the Ukrainian diplomacy, he reiterated the need for Ukraine to acknowledge the non-existence of the so-called "Moldovan language," according to MAE. Aurescu also reconfirmed Romania's firm support for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and pointed to Romania's solid and comprehensive support for Ukraine amid the war of aggression launched by the Russian Federation. The two ministers also discussed the next meeting of the Romania - Moldova - Ukraine trilateral meeting that follows a similar meeting in Odessa in September 2022. The Bucharest Court of Appeal (CAB) decided, on Tuesday, that brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate remain in pre-trial detention, in a case in which they are accused of setting up an organized crime group, human trafficking and rape. Two young women remain in custody - a former policewoman and Andrew Tate's girlfriend - accused of supporting the two in their criminal activity. The four appealed to the CAB the decision taken on December 30, 2022 by the Bucharest Court, by which arrest warrants were issued in their name for 30 days. However, their appeals were rejected on Tuesday by the judges of the Bucharest Court of Appeal, as unfounded. The court debates lasted several hours, with one of the Tate brothers coming to the courtroom with the Koran. According to the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT), the Tate brothers (with British citizenship) and the two young women have allegedly set up an organized crime group that engaged in the recruitment, housing and exploitation of women for the creation of pornographic content intended for paid distribution on dedicated sites. They supposedly derived important gains from these activities. According to the police, the Tate brothers lured the victims into believing that they wanted a marriage/cohabitation relationship and that they had real feelings of love for them (the loverboy method). The women were subsequently taken to various locations in Ilfov County where they were subjected to physical violence and mental coercion (intimidation, constant surveillance, control and the pretence of debts) in order to yield to sexual exploitation and perform in pornographic content disseminated on social media platforms. The victims told the investigators that a video chat studio was set up in the villa in Ilfov County, and they were met by armed guards upon arrival. At the same time, they would have been forced to get tattoos with the message "owned by Tate". Six of the group's sexual exploitation victims have been identified so far. During the investigation, DIICOT prosecutors seized several assets owned by the Tate brothers in Romania, namely real estate and luxury cars.AGERPRES (ECNS) -- 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. Chief of the Defence Staff, General Daniel Petrescu, is going to pay a visit to the United Kingdom on Wednesday through Saturday, at the invitation of his British counterpart, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, informs the Ministry of National Defence. According to the same source, among the items on their meeting agenda there are: the security situation and the current stage of implementation of the measures meant to strengthen the deterrence and defence posture on the Eastern flank of NATO, aspects of the bilateral cooperation and also the support that the British allies provide in the operationalization of the Headquarters Multinational Corps Division South-East deployed in Romania, told Agerpres. Besides the meeting with the Briths Minister of Defence, the Romanian high official's visit to UK also includes visits to the military bases, training bases and the defence and security think-tank Royal United Services Institute in London. King Constantine II has been close to Romania's Royal Family all his life, both to Queen Mother Elena, his father's sister, as well as to King Mihai and Queen Ana, the Royal Family of Romania conveyed on a message of condolences, posted on the Royal Family's Facebook page. "Crown Custodian Margareta, as well as Princesses Elena, Irina, Sofia and Maria, knew their uncle since their early childhood. Throughout more than seven decades, the two families have always met in Greece, and afterwards in Switzerland, in the UK, as well as in various European capitals, at public or private events," the message states. The representatives of the Royal Family bring to mind the fact that King Constantine II was the godfather of Romanian Crown Custodian Margareta and the godfather at the wedding of Her Majesty Margareta and Prince Consort Radu, in Lausanne, in 1996. "King Constantine, like his entire family, has always faithfully attended all the important events, be them happy or sad, of the Royal Family of Romania. The Crown Custodian sent a letter of condolence to Queen Anne-Marie of Greece, Crown Prince of Greece Pavlos and Queen Sofia of Spain," the Royal Family also conveys. The former king of Greece, Constantine II, who was in power before the restoration of the Republic in 1974, died on Tuesday, in Athens, at the age of 82, the Greek public station ERT announced, according to AFP. The former sovereign, cousin of King Charles III and godfather of Prince William, "passed away (...) following a stroke," ERT reported. He had been hospitalized in Athens last week with respiratory problems, according to the Greek media. His reign, which spanned over a period of nine years, coincided with one of the most turbulent periods in the political history of Greece. AGERPRES The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bogdan Aurescu, had, on Wednesday, a telephone conversation with his Swedish counterpart, Tobias Billstrom, with the two officials agreeing to "maintain close coordination on the discussed issues, primarily on the topic Romania's accession to the Schengen area", according to a release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) sent to AGERPRES. On January 1, Sweden took over the six-month Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Bogdan Aurescu thanked Tobias Billstrom for his country's support regarding Romania's accession to Schengen, expressed also within the JHA Council on December 8 last year. Also, the Romanian minister expressed confidence in an "active and substantial cooperation with the Swedish Presidency in order to record some positive developments, which will allow obtaining a decision on accession", the MAE informs. Aurescu emphasized "the importance of the coordination by the Swedish Presidency of the dialogue with all the European partners involved in this file". According to the MAE, Tobias Billstrom reconfirmed Sweden's support for Romania's accession to the Schengen area. He emphasized that the Swedish Presidency "is determined to be actively involved and make every effort to achieve this objective by identifying concrete solutions, based on a constructive dialogue with all parties involved, as well as to support Romania's efforts towards the completion of the accession," the release mentioned. At the same time, the Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs expressed his hope in recording progress in this case and in identifying a positive solution, emphasizing the legitimacy of Romania's efforts and expectations. Minister Aurescu welcomed the attention that the Swedish Presidency intends to give to the multidimensional support for Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, as well as the issues of migration, aspects related to the rule of law and fundamental rights, priorities in the field of environment and climate change, strengthening the resilience of the EU, the relationship with third parties. The two dignitaries also had an exchange of views regarding the developments in the process of Sweden's accession to NATO. Tobias Billstrom thanked Aurescu for the steps taken to support this objective in the dialogue with NATO partners in order to complete the ratification process of the Accession Protocol. At a sitting on Wednesday, the government passed a bill on Romania's contribution to the International Development Association (IDA) replenishment in the form of a pledge of RON 20.6 million, told Agerpres. According to a press statement released by the government, the contribution will be paid from the budget of the Ministry of Finance in three installments: RON 6.86 million each in 2023 and 2024 and RON 6.88 million in 2025. "Romania's contribution to IDA strengthens its position within the World Bank Group and supports the development assistance actions undertaken by Romania through a multilateral type of assistance carried out by an institution with extensive experience in this area. The pledge to IDA20 will be a significant contribution towards achieving the target of allocating 0.33% of the GNI by 2030 for development assistance, in line with the commitments made in 2015 at the UN and EU level." Currently, the total value of Romania's contributions to IDA is exceeding USD 5.4 million. The spokesperson for the Government, Dan Carbunaru, declared, on Wednesday, regarding the decision of the Ethics Committee of the Babes-Bolyai University regarding the doctoral thesis of Interior Minister Lucian Bode, that it is a situation which is to be settled in the court of law and a verdict cannot be pronounced beforehand, noting that, as in any other cases, the Prime Minister of Romania demands compliance with the law, told Agerpres. "From the data I have, the minister of the interior has already offered a public position in connection with this information material sent by the Babes-Bolyai University. It is not the only analysis that has been done, so I will not comment on this analysis now either and neither others that have already taken place in connection with this thesis. And in the context where there is a court procedure related to this work, I would stop here with the comments," Carbunaru said when asked what is the position of the Government and the prime minister in connection with the decision of the Ethics Commission of Babes-Bolyai University in the case of Minister Lucian Bode's doctoral thesis. He stated that it is a situation that is decided in the court of law. "I wanted to tell you that, just like in any other cases, the Prime Minister of Romania demands compliance with the law. In the specific case to which you refer, it is a situation that transpires within the framework of a process that is managed by a court and I wouldn't be able to pronounce before I had a verdict," Carbunaru said. The Ethics Committee of the Babes-Bolyai University (UBB) in Cluj-Napoca established, regarding the doctoral thesis of the Minister of Internal Affairs, Lucian Bode, that the suspicions of plagiarism are confirmed in the vast majority, reads a release sent on Wednesday by the educational institution. The Minister of Internal Affairs, Lucian Bode, stated that the phrase "deeply flawed" regarding his doctoral thesis is a subjective assessment of the Ethics Committee of the Babes-Bolyai University, an "empty value judgment of academic significance, as long as the norms were respected," and indicated that he will go forward in court because his case has "exceeded the limits of the law, but also of reason." The Minister of Health, Alexandru Rafila, announced, on Wednesday, the list of the 27 hospital units that will receive funding through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), told Agerpres. "In October 2021, the Government Decision was approved for establishing the selection criteria. In November, we started receiving these projects and we reached the evaluation stage in December and up to the moment we are talking about, we have evaluated these projects. They received the score of the criteria specified in the Government decision. This list will remain in decision transparency, together with the draft Government decision, for two weeks, after which the Romanian Government will approve this list, by decision, and the signing of the financing contracts will follow immediately at the end January or the beginning of February. Romania's commitment regarding the investment project specifies the end of June 2026 for the completion of the projects, which means the design, execution and equipment of these hospital units," Rafila told a press conference at headquarters of the Ministry of Health. The units that qualified for financing, in the order of the scores obtained, are: * construction of a surgical center at the Emergency Institute for Cardiovascular Diseases and Transplantation in Targu Mures; * Vaslui Hospital no. 2; * Bistrita Emergency Hospital; * Bacau municipal hospital; * Giurgiu County Emergency Hospital (Oncology and Neurology Departments); * Alba Iulia County Emergency Hospital (Oncology Sections and interventional radiology department); * Brasov Clinical Hospital of Infectious Diseases and Pneumophysiology; * construction of a new maternity ward at the Constanta Emergency Clinical Hospital; * construction of the Piatra Neamt County Emergency Hospital; * construction and furnishing of a building intended for Oradea Hospital's Departments of Infectious Diseases and Pneumology; * Lugoj municipal hospital; * Regional Institute of Oncology in Timisoara; * C.C. Iliescu Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases in Bucharest; * Professor Agrippa Ionescu Balotesti Hospital; * new body or expansion of the structure of the University Emergency Hospital in Bucharest; * Clinical Department of Neurology and the Center for Vasculo-Cerebral Pathology and Neurosurgery at the Cluj County Emergency Clinical Hospital; * new poly-trauma surgical block pavilion in military barracks no.1044 Sibiu; * multi-trauma wards at the Military Hospital in Pitesti; * new maternity hospital in Arad; * new maternity hospital in Buftea; * Emergency Hospital of Interior Ministry in Bucharest; * new ward at Craiova Military Hospital; * new hospital in Constanta; * the radiotherapy laboratory at the Emergency County Hospital in Pitesti; * a polytrauma ward at the Military Hospital in Brasov; * Zerlendi Center for diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis; * Child Psychiatry Center at Prof. Alexandru Obregia Hospital. The Iranian Embassy in Bucharest has voiced hope that Romania can use its national authority to contribute to a peaceful solution of any differences between Iran and Europe, told Agerpres. "Iran has always been prepared to engage in good faith and constructive manner to resolve the differences in a peaceful manner. To the contrary, Iran has proved to be allergic to any unlawful intervention and intimidation. We hope Romania can use its national authority as well as through EU format to contribute to a peaceful solution for any differences between Iran and Europe, both regarding human rights as well as any other mutually agreed issues," reads a press statement released by the embassy on Wednesday. The statement comes as Iran's ambassador to Romania Sadat Meidani was summoned on Tuesday to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with one of the subjects discussed being the execution by hanging in Iran of two local protesters on January 7. "It is fully recognized in international law that governments have the right to bring persons involved in violent crimes into justice. Iran and Romania are both parties to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966. This instrument expressly states that in countries that have not abolished the death penalty, a sentence of death may be imposed. According to Iranian criminal law, capital punishment could be rendered, as in many other countries," the embassy's statement reads. According to the embassy, "the capital punishment sentences have been rendered and implemented with full scrutiny and are related to persons who have been involved in committing serious crimes, and were issued in accordance with applicable procedural and substantive laws." The diplomatic mission statement maintain that the two men who were executed were convicted for murder and acting violently against the national security. According to Romania's Foreign Ministry (MAE), the Iranian ambassador in Bucharest was officially informed about Romania's firm condemnation of the capital punishment being used under any circumstances, and even more reprehensibly, of the execution by hanging of protesters by the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Bucharest, Sadat Meidani, was summoned at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) on Tuesday, at the request of the minister of Foreign Affairs, Bogdan Aurescu, in the context of the execution by hanging, on January 7, of two Iranian protesters, informs a MAE press release. "Romania's firm condemnation of the use of the capital penalty in any circumstances, and, even more reprehensibly, of the practice of executions by hanging of protesters by the Islamic Republic of Iran" was officially conveyed to the Iranian ambassador, says the source. On the occasion of the convocation, at the level of director general with MAE, deep concerns were reiterated at the level of the ministry, democratic institutions and civil society in Romania, generated by the continuation of human rights violations in the Islamic Republic of Iran, including the conviction of protesters for political reasons, in the absence of a fair trial, in the context of the national level demonstrations started in September 2022, following the death in custody of the young Mahsa Amini. An appeal was made to stop human rights violations. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reminded the ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Bucharest of the conclusions of the Foreign Affairs Council of the European Union of December 12, 2022, with an emphasis on all the problematic aspects that did not receive a constructive response from the authorities in Tehran. It was emphasized that the respective aspects in the conclusions adopted by the EU Council remain valid and that not solving them has a negative impact on relations with the EU, the release also states.AGERPRES The minister of National Defense, Angel Tilvar, and the Chief of the Defense Staff, general Daniel Petrescu, visited, on Tuesday, the soldiers who make up the Romanian air defense detachment Sky Guardians from the NATO Battle Group, deployed in Bemowo Piskie Training Area (BPTA), says a press release from the Ministry of National Defence (MApN). As a sign of appreciation for the way of fulfilling the assigned missions, at the end of the meeting, minister Angel Tilvar presented plaques with the heraldic insignia of the MApN to major Florian-Razvan Ion and captain Alexandra Buta-Leta, and the Chief of Defense conferred the Emblem of Honor of the State Major of Defense to platoon-adjutant Iulian-Cristian Veliscu and the Emblem of Merit in the Service of Peace 2nd class to captain Victor-Cosmin Merin and corporal 3rd class Florin-Adrian Badeci. The official delegation discussed with the 103 anti-aircraft defenders, who are in the middle of the mission, in the 12th Romanian rotation in Poland. In this context, the Minister of National Defense emphasized that "the positive image that the Romanian Army has among the allied armies has strengthened, since 2017 and thanks to the joint missions and the direct interaction of the thousands of Romanian anti-aircraft defenders with the thousands of allied comrades from the contributing countries to the Polish Battle Group". For his part, the Chief of the Defense Staff emphasized the importance that the contingent has for the Romanian defense institution, both in terms of the direct participation of a national defensive element in the allied security architecture on the eastern flank, and in terms of cooperation with the defence institution in Poland. The Sky Guardians Air Defense Detachment, generated by the 288th Air Defense Battalion, was deployed in October 2022 in the Bemowo Piskie Training Area, with the mission of ensuring the Enhanced Forward Presence on the North-Eastern Flank of the Alliance (enhanced Forward Presence), within the NATO Battle Group in Poland. During the six-month mission, the anti-aircraft gunners participate in exercises and training activities alongside American, British, Croatian and Polish comrades, with the aim of improving cohesion and increasing the level of interoperability among NATO member troops.AGERPRES The General Inspectorate of the Border Police informs that on Tuesday, 67,307 people entered Romania through the border points, of which 7,990 were Ukrainian citizens. According to a press release sent to AGERPRES on Wednesday, approximately 152,000 people, Romanian and foreign citizens, and more than 43,300 means of transport went through the control formalities at the border points throughout the country, both inbound and outbound. Starting with February 10, 2022 (pre-conflict period), 3,286,492 Ukrainian citizens entered Romania. In the areas of competence - the crossing points and the "green border" - the border police detected 40 illegal acts (19 crimes and 21 misdemeanors) committed by both Romanian and foreign citizens, and the value of the contravention fines applied amounts to over 14,900 RON. Goods were seized for confiscation in the amount of approximately 201,000 RON. On Tuesday, 20 foreign citizens who did not meet the conditions stipulated by the law were not allowed to enter the country and 17 Romanian citizens were not allowed to leave for various legal reasons. Romania's objective must be to exceed the 2019 tourism figures, and an interesting indicator must remain the increase in the number of nights a tourist spends in a destination, wrote the Minister of Entrepreneurship and Tourism, Constantin-Daniel Cadariu, on Wednesday, on his Facebook page. "A solution is offered by the ministry and I congratulate the team that I coordinate because it managed to launch from January 1, 2023 the programme to support travel agencies in their efforts to attract foreign tourists, a project awaited for 30 years. We are still far from 10% of the GDP, as an industry, but we have room to grow. We are not short of challenges, especially since climate change had a hard word to say this winter, and ski areas in all European states had to suffer," said Cadariu. According to him, the Entrepreneurship and Tourism Ministry (MAT), through last year's modification of the regulatory framework regarding investments in tourism, is waiting until August 1 for requests from territorial administrative units for the financing of ski areas and the infrastructure of spa and balneoclimatic tourism, told Agerpres. The Minister of Entrepreneurship and Tourism also specified that he looks with great optimism at the figures that the National Institute of Statistics published at the beginning of the year regarding the situation of Romanian tourism in the first 11 months of 2022. "Romania hosted almost 10.5 million tourists, tourists who chose to stay an average of 2.2 days, whether they were Romanian or foreign. These are real figures, which confirm a 20.63% increase compared to the same period of 2021 and the fact that we have only 15.61% to recover compared to 2019, considered by the industry to be the best year of our tourism," added the minister. Romania's three-month interbank offered rate ROBOR, which is used for pricing floating rate consumer loans in RON, dipped on Wednesday to 7.44 ppa from 7.45 ppa on the previous day, the National Bank of Romania informed. In 2022 the three-month ROBOR increased steadily from 3.02 ppa in January to a peak of 8.14 in August, from where it went gradually down to 7.56 ppa on January 3 2023. The 6-month index that is used for pricing floating rate mortgage loans moved down to 7.71 ppa from 7.72 ppa in the previous session, and the 12-month ROBOR remained steady at 8.03 ppa. AGERPRES With regard to the doctoral thesis of Minister of the Interior and Secretary general of the National Liberal Party Lucian Bode, the Ethics Committee of the Babes-Bolyai University (UBB) in Cluj-Napoca has determined that suspicions of plagiarism are largely confirmed, the educational institution said in a release on Wednesday. In absence of the legal possibility to apply disciplinary sanctions to someone who is not a member of the academic community, the Committee requests the author to operate corrections to the thesis and withdraw the book published on the basis thereof. Also, the national councils (the National Council for the Attestation of University Degrees, Diplomas and Certificates/the National Research Ethics Council) will be notified for additional steps according to the law, the UBB representatives said. AGERPRES Until February 2, 2022, national vaccination coverage was 41.85% among the general population, informs the Report published by the National Committee for the Coordination of Activities on Vaccination against COVID-19 (CNCAV), which coordinated the COVID vaccination in Romania and ended its activity in the first half of last year. The document, titled "ROVACCINARE Misiune Indeplinita 2020-2022", contains over 160 pages in which the data on COVID vaccination in Romania are presented, including graphs, photos, maps and is prefaced by messages sent by president Klaus Iohannis, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca and the heads of CNCAV, doctors Valeriu Gheorghita and Andrei Baciu. According to the report, the summary report of vaccine deliveries from vaccine companies includes 112 vaccine tranches received from authorized manufacturers, of which, for each type of vaccine: 43 from Pfizer, 26 from Moderna, 20 from AstraZeneca and 23 from at Johnson & Johnson. Also, the general situation regarding deliveries and stocks of COVID vaccine from 27.12.2020 to 10.02.2022, 12:00 hrs, presented in the report, shows that Romania imported during this period 31,813,299 vaccines, of which 18,854,699 being produced by Pfizer. The situation presented also shows that on February 10, 2022, there were 7,197,102 vaccines in stocks, of which approximately 2,613,642 were produced by Pfizer, 292,560 pediatric vaccines, 1,615,950 vaccines produced by Johnson&Johnson, 1,573,280 doses of Moderna and 1,101,670 AstraZeneca doses. The loss level is 5.67%, i.e. 1,804,982 vaccine doses. At the same time, until March last year, 2,659,410 doses of Pfizer vaccine and 912,000 doses of Moderna vaccine were resold. Romania also donated 100,620 Pfizer doses, 450,000 Moderna doses, 1,569,800 AstraZeneca and 30 Johnson&Johnson doses. Regarding the Pfizer pediatric vaccine, out of the 330,000 doses, 37,440 were distributed and 7,851 were administered, representing 2% of the quantity. The report also mentions that, from the beginning of the vaccination campaign against COVID-19 until the end of 2021, 19,716 cases were classified as post-vaccination adverse reactions (RAPI), of which 17,567 (89.1%) had general manifestations. Of these cases, 16,621, representing 84.3%, were reported to the National Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices (ANMDMR) and 3,093, i.e. 15.7%, were reported to the National Institute of Public Health. Among the RAPI cases with general manifestations based on the medical documents and the investigations carried out, the most important cases were diagnosed as follows: manifestations of the cardiovascular system - 10 cases with myocarditis, 4 cases with pericarditis and one case with myopericarditis; hematological disorders - 16 cases with thrombotic manifestations, one case of hepatic cytolysis, one case of thrombocytopenic purpura; nervous system - 16 cases of facial paralysis, 2 cases of sensory neuropathy, one case of flaccid paraplegia and one case of Guillain Barre syndrome; immunological system - 424 cases with allergic reactions and 12 cases with anaphylactic shock. For the 10 cases of myocarditis, the distribution by age groups is: 4 cases in the age group 15-19 years, 2 cases in the age group 20-24 years, one case each in the age groups 30-34 years, 35 -39 years, 40-49 years and 50-54 years. The report also includes a preliminary analysis of the effectiveness of vaccination against COVID-19 in Romania, noting that vaccination with the full schedule reduces the risk of death from COVID-19 by 14 times, the risk of hospitalization and admission to the ICU by 12 times and 10 times the risk of infection with SARS-CoV-2. Also, the document presents the situation of the measures taken by the authorities, the documents issued, as well as the communication carried out during this period and the efforts to combat false information about vaccines and vaccination against COVID-19.AGERPRES FRANKFURTBayer is facing demands from activist investor Bluebell Capital Partners to break up, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters, pushing shares in the diversified health and agriculture group to a five-week high. The source said Bluebell had invested in Bayer a few months ago and is pushing for a sale of the company's consumer health unit and, at a later stage, for a separation of Bayer's pharmaceuticals and agriculture businesses. Bluebell is also seeking to have supervisory board Chairman Norbert Winkeljohann and Chief Executive Werner Baumann replaced, the person said. Bluebell did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The size of Bluebell's holding was not immediately clear. On Monday, another activist investment fund, hedge fund veteran Jeffrey Ubben's Inclusive Capital Partners, said it had also acquired a stake in Bayer. The German industrial icon has seen its market value slide in the wake of its 2018 takeover of Monsanto. Bayer's stock was up 3% at 1016 GMT, for a sixth consecutive trading session of gains. Bluebell's investment was first reported by Bloomberg late on Tuesday. A Bayer spokesperson said the company was open in general for constructive dialogue with stakeholders and declined to comment further. Bluebell, launched three years ago, has a history of challenging the policies and executives of some of the world's biggest companies, including GSK, Glencore and Vivendi, while owning very small stakes. It was instrumental in the ouster of the boss of French food giant Danone in 2021 and recently has been campaigning for BlackRock CEO Larry Fink to quit, in part because of the fund giant's environmental, social and governance (ESG) efforts. Bayer CEO Werner Baumann, who shortly after his promotion in 2016 started pursuing the troubled Monsanto deal, was given a new contract in 2020 and said at the time he would leave the company when that term expires in 2024. Markus Manns, a portfolio manager at top-10 Bayer shareholder Union Investment, said it would be the responsibility of a new chief executive to review the company structure. "It's too early for a break-up but the separation of consumer health would be an obvious way to create additional value," said Manns, adding that Union Investment was not in contact with Bluebell. The upswing in Bayer shares this week, fueled by the prospect of billions in additional sales from its drug development pipeline, has done little to change the bigger picture of years of market underperformance. The stock has been weighed down by litigation over weed killer Roundup and over environmental pollution with chemicals known as PCBs, which are legacy issues from the takeover of Monsanto for more than $60 billion in 2018. Despite strong demand for its farming products, improved prospects of its pharmaceuticals business and a number of recent courtroom victories for the German group, the company is valued at $57 billion on the stock market, well below the price tag for Monsanto. In the midst of a corporate spiral of sharply sagging sales and soaring debt, Bed Bath & Beyond announced Tuesday that it would close more stores across the country, including the location at the Meadows in Lake Saint Louis. The store at the Fairview Center in Fairview Heights closed on Sunday. The store in Osage Beach, Missouri, and several locations throughout Illinois were also placed on the list of about 150 Bed Bath & Beyond stores that have closed or will close in the coming months. In a statement, a company spokesperson said, Through store optimization, we regularly evaluate each location based on a variety of factors, including lease renewal and proximity to our other stores. Store closing sales will commence and continue over the next few months. Tuesday, the company reported that sales dropped 33% for the quarter that ended Nov. 26, 2022, compared to the same quarter in 2021. Losses grew by more than 423% over the same time. Last week, the company warned that it was considering all strategic alternatives, including restructuring, taking on additional debt or filing for bankruptcy. These measures may not be successful, it said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. On Monday, S&P Global Ratings said, While not actively in default, the company is highly vulnerable. It also said, We believe the likelihood of other strategic alternatives, such as asset sales, have significantly diminished. In our view, the companys rapid cash burn and ongoing inventory challenges reflect worsening vendor relationships that are unlikely to be resolved without an immediate and large injection of capital. President and CEO Sue Gove said in a press release that the companys troubles stemmed from a period when its marketing and strategy veered away from the preferences of its loyal customers. Another factor, she said, was that inventory was constrained. Media outlets have been reporting tense relationships with its suppliers of such popular items as stand mixers, vacuum cleaners and air fryers. Gove was appointed interim CEO last June. The job was made permanent in October. Along with the Bed Bath & Beyond stores scheduled to close, the company also said that six Buy Buy Baby stores and two Harmon locations would also close. Both companies are part of Bed Bath & Beyond. Bed, Bath & Beyond stock rose $1.42 Tuesday to close at $3.49, a gain of 69%. "We will verify the human rights situation in three days. The idea is to listen to as many voices as possible," he said at a press conference held after his meeting with the Peruvian President In this regard, the IACHR Rapporteur for Peru announced that the mission will listen to different civil society organizations and the families of the victims. According to Ralon, an invitation has also been extended to representatives of business organizations. Besides, a meeting with various legislators is being planned for January 13. On the same day, a press conference will be held to present the first conclusions of the work carried out in the country. Solidarity with victims The representative of the visiting delegation did not give details on the topics discussed at the meeting with the Peruvian Head of State. Likewise, he preferred not to say whether they will travel to Juliaca, in Puno, where protests and riots have been held this week, resulting in the loss of human lives. In this regard, Ralon remarked that the IACHR delegation stands in solidarity with the families of the victims. "We lament the loss of lives, both of demonstrators and law enforcement officers," he said. (END) FGM/JCC/RMB/MVB With a meeting with the President of the Republic Dina Boluarte , the delegation of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) , which was invited to monitor the political situation in the country, began its visit to Peru.Publicado: 11/1/2023 Joe Holleman Joe Holleman is a reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Follow Joe Holleman Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today Lucas Kunces announcement Friday that he would run in 2024 for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Republican Josh Hawley was covered widely by the press. And it also generated some home-state love from STLs own celebrity host with the most, Andy Cohen, who has twice retweeted social media posts from Kunces new campaign. On Friday, the day Kunce announced his candidacy on Twitter, Cohen retweeted the post that called Hawley a fraud and a coward. On January 6, 2021, Josh Hawley showed us hes a fraud and a coward. Missourians deserve a U.S. Senator whos willing to stand and fight. Thats why Ive decided to take him on. pic.twitter.com/VbN1SuqPFU Lucas Kunce (@LucasKunceMO) January 6, 2023 Then on Tuesday morning, Cohen retweeted another Kunce post, with this one taking a shot at Hawley for wanting to control what we do in the bedroom. So @HawleyMO wants to control what we do in the bedroom, in the doctor's office, and even in our workplaces... He's telling us the only way to be a man is to be just like him and now he's even writing a book about it? It's weird. It's creepy. It's gross. I just don't get it. pic.twitter.com/EaH8cvxdNo Lucas Kunce (@LucasKunceMO) January 10, 2023 This will be a second run at a U.S. Senate seat for Kunce, a Jefferson City-area native. He ran last year and lost in the Democratic primary to Trudy Busch Valentine, who then fell to Eric Schmitt in the November general election. A 1986 Clayton High grad, Cohen is best known as the host of Bravo TVs Watch What Happens Live. He also is executive producer of the Real Housewives franchise. Although known for supporting Democratic/liberal causes and candidates, Cohen drew the most political attention on New Years Eve 2021 for delivering a blistering (possibly tequila-fueled) assessment of New York Citys then-mayor, Democrat Bill de Blasio. Said Cohen, After four years of the crappiest term as the mayor of New York ... the only thing that Democrats and Republicans can agree on is what a horrible mayor he has been. HILLSBORO A Jefferson County jury on Wednesday convicted a Fenton man of a lesser charge than prosecutors sought in a 2021 crash that killed a young couple and their infant son. David G. Thurby dropped his shoulders and stared straight ahead as the verdicts were read. He was led away in handcuffs and will be sentenced in about two months. The jury deliberated five hours Wednesday before finding Thurby guilty of three counts of second-degree involuntary manslaughter. Prosecutors had wanted Thurby convicted of DWI, but the jury rejected that. Second-degree involuntary manslaughter means causing death through criminal negligence, such as not keeping a proper lookout while driving. The more serious charge that was rejected by the jury included the element of intoxication. With the lesser charge, Thurby could be sent to prison for up to 12 years. If the jury had opted for the DWI felony, Thurbys prison sentence could have been up to 45 years. The April 13, 2021, crash on Highway 30 near Byrnes Mill Road killed Lacey K. Newton, 25, her fiance, Cordell S. Williams, 30, and their 4-month-old son, Cordell Shawn Michael Williams. They lived in Bonne Terre. Over three days of testimony, the jury heard that the arresting trooper wrote multiple and conflicting police reports; that he stored Thurbys blood samples in a locker for two weeks because the patrols refrigerator was full; and even that Thurbys name was missing from the blood vials. No name on the tube! defense attorney Travis Noble told jurors in his closing argument Tuesday. I almost fell over. Cecilia Williams, whose son and grandson died in the crash, said in an interview after the verdict that she was glad Thurby was convicted and back in custody. But she was upset Thurby escaped the DWI felony. Unfortunately, they put a rookie trooper on the case, and he messed up the handling of the blood, Williams said. Thurbys relatives left the courthouse in Hillsboro without speaking to a reporter. Though his client was taken away in handcuffs, Noble said he considered the trial a partial win because the DWI element wasnt part of the verdict. Noble, a Clayton-based attorney, left the courthouse holding a cigar and wearing a Tom Ford coat with a fur collar. Jefferson County assistant prosecutor Thomas Hollingsworth did not talk to a reporter, saying he wasnt permitted to speak to the media. His boss, Prosecuting Attorney Trisha Stefanski, was unavailable. On the night of the crash, Newton was driving a car that was hit from behind by Thurbys vehicle. Both vehicles ran off the road and hit trees, police said. Newtons car caught fire, and police first thought only two adults were dead. They later found the infants body inside the burned vehicle. Thurby suffered minor injuries. In closing arguments Tuesday, Hollingsworth told jurors that Thurby was flying down Highway 30 after spending hours in a tavern drinking. Thurby failed to keep a lookout, Hollingsworth said, when he plowed into a car, killing the family of three. Hollingsworth said Thurbys blood-alcohol level was 0.17%, more than twice the legal limit. Evidence suggested Thurbys car was traveling as fast as 107 mph in a 60 mph zone. Noble, the defense lawyer, said in his closing arguments that Newton had crystal meth and marijuana in her system and was driving as slowly as 17 mph, perhaps having just pulled onto the highway. Noble suggested that Newton failed to yield to Thurby. Prosecutor Hollingsworth countered vehemently, saying that a driver who is properly watching out for cars in front of him could go around a slower-moving car. He wants you to blame Lacey, Hollingsworth added. Shes not the one who caused that crash. Without Thurby, there aint no crash. As Noble focused on what he saw as mishandling of Thurbys blood samples, Hollingsworth told jurors they had witnessed a masterful performance by a fast-talking defense attorney. Hollingsworth said Nobles questioning of the arresting Missouri Highway Patrol trooper on Friday turned the trooper to jelly. But performance, Hollingsworth said, is not evidence. The trooper made mistakes, the prosecutor conceded, and this case was a perfect storm of strange things happening. But he also did his job, Hollingsworth said of the trooper. The trooper arrested Thurby, noting that Thurby smelled of liquor and that his eyes were watery and bloodshot, and the trooper obtained a search warrant for Thurbys blood sample. Outside the courtroom on Wednesday, Noble said of his client, Im disappointed, obviously, they found him guilty. But in the big scheme, when you look at this case, the fact that the (cars) black box said he was going 107 miles per hour, and hes running into the back of a mother, a father and 4-month-old and they burn to death ... winning the DWI part was huge. Thurby, 28, of the 400 block of Courtney Estates Drive, did not testify at trial. He works as a laborer rehabbing homes, Noble said. More than 50 spectators filled the courtroom, seemingly split between the victims supporters and Thurbys friends and family. Some in Thurbys camp cried after the verdicts were read. Williams, the grandmother of the couples two surviving sons, has asked the Missouri Legislature to enact a bill called Bentleys Law, which would require drunken drivers to pay child support if they kill the parents of a minor. Jefferson County Circuit Judge Vic Melenbrink said sentencing would be sometime in March, though a date hasnt been set. ST. LOUIS COUNTY A DNA breakthrough led to charges Wednesday in the 2004 cold case murder of an Alton woman whose decapitated torso was found at a Warren County rest stop. Mike A. Clardy, 63, of Maryland Heights, was charged Wednesday with second-degree murder and abandonment of a corpse in the June 26, 2004, killing of Deanna Denise Howland, whose dismembered torso was found two days after her death at a rest stop along Interstate 70. The case had gone unsolved for more than 18 years. Police identified Clardy as a suspect by matching his DNA to DNA fragments left on Howlands body and a knife found in a sewer nearby, according to charging documents. Clardy was interviewed by police on Tuesday and admitted to killing Howland at his 2004 residence in the 3500 block of Dixie Drive in St. Ann before dismembering her and abandoning parts of her body in both St. Louis County and Warren County. The case was investigated by the Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis. Representatives of the Major Case Squad declined to answer questions about the case Wednesday afternoon but said more information will be released in a 3 p.m. press conference Thursday. Clardy has no criminal convictions listed in Missouri court records. He lives in the 2300 block of Charlemagne Drive, according to the charges. His bail was set Wednesday at $1 million, cash only. Howlands torso was found down a small hill in a remote part of the rest stop near a picnic area. Because the remains had not decomposed, police believed at the time that she had not been dead for long perhaps for only hours when she was discovered. She was wearing only a black bra. Her identity was unknown for more than 12 years. Among the only early clues were scars from an appendectomy and a Caesarian section. The remains were finally identified using DNA samples from Howlands family in 2016. Howland was a 35-year-old Alton resident and mother of four who struggled with drug addiction, her daughter Ashley Kinnear told the Post-Dispatch in 2016. Howland, who sometimes went by her maiden name of Barker, grew up in Collinsville and Edwardsville, the daughter of a banker and a union leader at McDonnell Douglas/Boeing. She was estranged from some of her family and supported herself at times through prostitution before her death. This has been haunting me for the last 12 years, former Warren County Coroner Roger Mauzy told the Post-Dispatch after authorities made the identification in 2016. Its the only body Ive never been able to identify, and its cost me a lot of sleep. A Christian boarding school in Missouri thats been under intense scrutiny over abuse allegations announced Wednesday that it will close later this month due to financial hardship. Agape Boarding School in Stockton has been the subject of state and location investigations and several lawsuits from former students. It will stop providing service effective Jan. 20, according to a statement from the school for boys. Attendance at Agape plummeted after abuse allegations surfaced. Agape had 132 students 13 months ago, its lawyer, John Schultz said. It now has 12. The schools focus now is on getting the boys who remain in the program safely transitioned to their parents or to foster care, other group homes or residential programs, its former director, Bryan Clemensen, said in a statement. Clemensen said the decision to close is voluntary and solely due to the lack of financial resources to continue caring for the boys. Agapes trouble began in 2020 when former students came forward with abuse allegations. One former student said he was raped at Agape and called seizure boy because of his epilepsy. Others said they suffered permanent injuries from being disciplined or forced to work long hours of manual labor. Allegations of physical and sexual abuse at Agape and Circle of Hope Girls Ranch prompted a state law in 2021 requiring stricter oversight of such facilities. Missouri previously had virtually no oversight for religious boarding schools. In 2021, Agapes longtime doctor, David Smock, was charged with child sex crimes and five employees were charged with low-level abuse counts. Then-Attorney General Eric Schmitts office contended that 22 workers should have been charged, and with more serious crimes. But in Missouri, only the local prosecutor can file charges, and Cedar County Prosecuting Attorney Ty Gaither has said no additional employees would be charged. Meanwhile, the husband-and-wife founders of Circle of Hope, Boyd and Stephanie Householder, face a combined 99 charges that include child abuse and neglect, sex crimes and other counts. The school closed in 2020 amid investigations. Several lawsuits filed on behalf of former students also have named Agape and Circle of Hope. One former Agape student who sued, Robert Bucklin, said the closure means justice has finally prevailed. Today, the many victims who have come forth can rest assured that no more children will be hurt at Agape Boarding School, Bucklin said in a text. The healing process can start for so many. Among other things, the new state law allows state or local authorities to petition the court for closure of a facility if childrens safety or health are believed to be in immediate danger. Schmitt last year asked a Cedar County judge to close Agape, but the judge had not yet issued a decision. Schmitt was elected to the U.S. Senate last year and sworn in this month. The newly appointed attorney general, Andrew Bailey, had said he planned to continue pursuing closure. JEFFERSON CITY Democrats on Wednesday slammed a Republican-backed change to the Missouri House dress code for women legislators. Rep. Ann Kelley, R-Lamar, proposed explicitly requiring women legislators to wear jackets on the House floor, saying it is essential to always maintain a formal and professional atmosphere. Lawmakers debate changes to House rules at the beginning of the General Assembly, every two years. Previous rules stated dresses or skirts or slacks worn with a blazer or sweater and appropriate dress shoes or boots were allowed. Rep. Brenda Shields, R-St. Joseph, said Kelleys plan was intended to clarify current rules because the previous wording left the dress code up to interpretation. All were trying to do today is to take the same rules that we have and make them more clear, Shields said. Shields offered an amendment which lawmakers adopted allowing cardigans to count as jackets. The new dress code for women says: Proper attire for women shall be business attire, including jackets worn with dresses, skirts, or slacks, and dress shoes or boots. Ive seen a lot of lack of decorum in this room in my two years here and not once has that lack of decorum spurred from someones blazer or lack thereof, said Rep. Ashley Aune, D-Kansas City. I know some governments require women to wear things over their face, but here, oh its OK because were just talking about how many layers they have to have over their shoulders, said Rep. Peter Merideth, D-St. Louis. Men must also abide by a dress code in the House; no updates were made Wednesday. Proper attire for gentlemen shall be business attire, including coat, tie, dress trousers, and dress shoes or boots, according to the House rules. Women hold less than a third of seats in the Missouri House. The legislation is House Resolution 11. SPRINGFIELD, Ill. Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law Tuesday night a comprehensive measure that supporters called one of the nations toughest bans on military-style firearms, immediately prohibiting their sale and giving current owners until Jan. 1 to register gun serial numbers with Illinois State Police. Illinois now officially prohibits the sale and distribution of these mass killing machines and rapid fire devices, said Pritzker, who was inaugurated for a second term on Monday during a ceremony in the Capitol. Im signing this legislation tonight so that it can take immediate effect and we can end the sale of these weapons of war. Pritzker signed the bill just hours after House Democrats led final passage of the measure on a 68-41 vote, and a day after Senate Democrats approved it 34-20. Pritzker and legislators acted amid warnings from most Republicans and gun-rights advocates that the new law was unconstitutional and would face a legal challenge. The House vote on the gun ban came on the final scheduled day of action for the lame-duck 102nd General Assembly, during which Democrats also sent Pritzker a bill that would protect health care professionals and people seeking an abortion or gender-affirming care in Illinois from restrictive laws in other states. The new 103rd General Assembly all 118 House and 59 Senate members with Democratic supermajorities in each chamber began a new session Wednesday. With Pritzkers signature, Illinois became the ninth state to ban military-style firearms. The effort to achieve the ban accelerated following a deadly mass shooting at the Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, where the alleged shooter used an AR-15 style of weapon. We got this done for all the victims, the spouses, the children, parents and friends and loved ones who are no longer with us, and for those who have survived mass shootings but were injured, Pritzker said after reciting the names of the seven people killed at the parade. No single law will end gun violence once and for all. So we must keep fighting, voting and protesting to ensure that future generations will only have to read about massacres, he said. Its our burden and our mandate, one that we carry with solemn honor for our children, who will grow up in a better and safer world. The new law immediately bans the delivery, sale, import and purchase of so-called assault weapons. After Jan. 1, people who possess an unregistered firearm covered by the ban face a misdemeanor for a first offense and a felony for subsequent offenses. The new law also immediately bans the delivery, sale or purchase of large capacity ammunition magazines of more than 10 rounds for long guns and 15 rounds for handguns. As of April 10, current owners possession of large-capacity magazines will be allowed only on private property, at a firing range or a sport shooting competition or at a federal licensed gun dealer for repairs. Violations will be subject to a $1,000 fine. In addition, devices that increase the firing rates of a firearm, known as switches, to turn them into semi-automatic or automatic weapons, are immediately banned and someone in possession would face a felony count for each device. The new law also speeds up to July from January the existing requirement for universal background checks by federal firearm dealers or the State Police for private gun sales. It also modifies the states current red flag law that allows relatives and police to seek a court approved firearm restraining order to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people. The new law extends the duration of the orders from six months to a year. Most Republicans contended the legislation would do nothing to prevent crime, would run counter to rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court involving Second Amendment rights and would face a court challenge upon becoming law. State Rep. Blaine Wilhour of Beecher City, a member of the ultraconservative Republican House Freedom Caucus, accused Pritzker and majority Democrats of continuing to allow our Constitution and our freedoms to be shredded. A government unchecked, a government willing to defy our Constitution is a government that is completely out of control, he said. You can sit here and dictate whatever you want today. Maybe the political winds are in your favor here today. But I can tell you that we will not comply and youre not going to do a darn thing about it because the law, the Constitution and the founding principles are on our side. Democratic House Speaker Emanuel Chris Welch of Hillside declared that the Democratic-controlled legislature and Pritzker reached a deal on one of the strongest assault weapons bans in the country. Its time that we protect Illinois communities. Its time that we protect Illinois families. Lets end families having to change overnight. Lets not lose any more brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, and children to gun violence, Welch said. Two House Republicans outgoing House GOP Leader Jim Durkin of Western Springs and state Rep. Bradley Stephens of Rosemont joined Democrats in voting for the bill. Three House Democrats voted against it: state Reps. Anthony DeLuca of Chicago Heights, Michael Halpin of Rock Island and Lance Yednock of Ottawa. ST. LOUIS Sixty cannon thundered along Clark Street. The evening sparkled with a fireworks show and thousands of lanterns and candles an illumination, as it was called then. The occasion was the celebration on Jan. 14, 1865, of Missouris decision to emancipate all slaves within its borders. A state constitutional convention, meeting at the Mercantile Library, 510 Locust Street, had abolished slavery three days before, on January 11. Freedom took hold the moment of the vote. Before the genial heat of the sun shall dispel the covering of snow which now hides the soil of Missouri, the action of this assembly will reveal that soil purified from the stain of slavery, said George Strong, a lawyer from St. Louis and a convention leader. Missouris decision had come in many stumbling and bloody steps. When the Civil War began, 115,000 Missourians were in bondage, most of them in counties along the Missouri River. Gov. Claiborne Jackson, a slaveholder-planter, tried to maneuver the state into the Confederacy. Pro-Unionists, concentrated in St. Louis, thwarted Jackson but had wildly differing views on slavery. The next governor, Hamilton Gamble, wanted to save the peculiar institution and the Union. U.S. Sen. Gratz Brown supported letting blacks vote, but few Missourians went that far. Meanwhile, guerrilla war raged across the state. President Abraham Lincolns Emancipation Proclamation, declared on Jan. 1, 1863, didnt cover the border states. The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution abolishing slavery wouldnt be ratified until December 1865. In Missouri, the path to freedom wasnt cleared until October 1864, after Union soldiers crushed a final rebel invasion led by Gen. Sterling Price, a former governor. Charles Drake of St. Louis, leader of the special convention, exemplified the states evolution he had defended slavery in 1861 before undergoing an epiphany. Even then, Drakes convention refused to give voting rights to blacks. But emancipation was momentous enough for a celebration. The Missouri Democrat, a pro-Lincoln newspaper in St. Louis, cheered the decision with a headline, Glad Tidings of Great Joy. The Democrat said an integrated crowd of thousands mingled near todays Old Courthouse for the fireworks show. Candles brightened the windows of homes and shops. In many parts of the city the colored people had meetings, and their rejoicings were unbounded, the newspaper wrote. Its rival, the conservative Missouri Republican, sniffed that the event was by no means universally participated in by the citizens. It did call the fireworks very brilliant. The convention resumed business and later produced the Drake Constitution, which included a strict loyalty oath that kept many former pro-Southerners away from the ballot. The Missouri Voting Rights League, led by former slave James Milton Turner of St. Louis, worked to extend the vote to blacks. White voters rejected the idea in 1868, but the state accepted the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which extended the vote in 1870. La canciller Ana Cecilia Gervasi recibio en audiencia a los miembros de la Mision de Alto Nivel de la Comision Interamericana de Derechos Humanos (CIDH), presidida por el senor Edgard Stuardo Ralon Orellana, Comisionado, Vicepresidente de la CIDH y Relator para el Peru. pic.twitter.com/XidKCCoi9V HILLSBORO The elevator door opened at the Jefferson County Sheriffs Office Tuesday afternoon, and a room full of deputies turned their heads to see volunteer Nerma Tulek proclaim her arrival. The drinkers are here! Tulek said with a slight slur and a big smile. Tulek and three other volunteers were at the sheriffs headquarters Tuesday to day drink in the name of public safety. They agreed to drink steadily for two hours to give deputies a chance to practice field sobriety tests on someone who is actually and, in Tuesdays case, quite happily intoxicated. The training practice is known as a wet lab, and has been a common practice at police academies for decades as a necessary part of Standardized Field Sobriety Testing certification, said Deputy Sheriff Nick Gamm, a member of the offices DWI unit who co-led the training Tuesday. For years weve used videos, and it just doesnt have the same effect, Gamm said. When you get somebody in front of you thats actually intoxicated you can see it firsthand, and you really cant beat that type of training. The department conducted its first in-house wet lab this week as the DWI unit has seen a marked increase in drunken driving cases over the last two years. The office made 556 DWI arrests in 2022, up significantly from 402 in 2021 and 358 in 2020. I truly feel in my heart that with every drunk that I arrest, Im saving a life that night, Gamm said. There was no shortage of those willing to heed the call of multiple free alcoholic beverages. We buy, you drink, the sheriffs office posted on social media in a call for volunteers. (They later clarified no tax dollars were used for the booze.) The post had more than 300 comments full of volunteers in less than 20 minutes. My phone battery drained a good 15% within 10 minutes of that hitting social media, Gamm said. Deputies began training before the drinkers arrived Tuesday, focusing on the small ways a DWI case can fall apart if tests are not conducted properly: A Sharpie on a blood sample could smudge; a defense attorney could argue the smell of alcohol came from someone else in the car; or a police report could not contain enough information to justify the basis for an arrest. Its important to remember: Drinkers sometimes have the inability to remain silent, Gamm said. If they act a fool, write that in your report because that can help you in court. The volunteers arrived around noon with empty stomachs, ready to drink. Kyle Weiss, a former southern Missouri police officer who now works in real estate, picked Strongbow hard cider as his drink of choice. He said he volunteered because he knows how critical it is to get every step of field sobriety tests right. Defense attorneys will tear you up on the stand if youre not absolutely perfect in the field, Weiss said. Next to him stood fellow volunteer Tim Pudlowski, a defense attorney specializing in DWI cases with The Lowery Law Firm. Pudlowski, who chose Urban Chestnuts Zwickel beer Tuesday, said he wanted to help public safety, but also welcomed the chance to be on the intoxicated end of the test. I can use it to my advantage, he said before pointing to a fellow volunteer before the drinking commenced: I dont think either of us are going to be combative today. DWI unit member Deputy Sheriff Shawn Loness supervised and calculated how much each volunteer would need to drink over two hours to surpass the legal limit to drive, based on factors such as weight and sex. The goal was a blood-alcohol content around 0.10, just above the legal limit of 0.08. He asked the volunteers to tell him when they reached the point where they would give up their keys, or felt drunk enough to decide not to drive. Tulek drank her portion of UV Blue Vodka the fastest in the group and lasted less than a half-hour before she said she wouldnt be able to drive. Her breathalyzer showed a blood-alcohol content of 0.05. Thats common, Loness said. People in wet labs usually know theyre not safe to drive way before they get to .08. Slowly but surely, all but one of the drinkers passed the legal limit over the next two hours of chatting and drinking. With reddened faces, watery eyes and a jolly demeanor, the volunteers were then carefully herded up to a training room to undergo a series of tests. Officers asked the drinkers to follow a finger moving horizontally and vertically with their eyes. The officers were searching for nystagmus, an involuntary bouncing eye movement that is a telltale sign of drunkenness for police. Loness said the chance for deputies to spot nystagmus is one of the most important reasons for the wet labs, as you cant re-create it sober. The defense attorney, Pudlowski, then nearly seven beers in, debated DWI case law with the deputies as he completed his test. The vodka drinker, Tulek, produced a stream of giggles during hers. Next came the walk and balance tests. Each drinker was asked to walk nine steps forward, turn and come back, then balance on one leg. Tulek swayed with each step, but celebrated each time she reached nine with a: Woo! We got a good example of every kind of drunk here today, Gamm told the trainees. Except an angry drunk, which is a good thing. As the training concluded, Loness and Gamm polled the deputies on their conclusions. All four, had they been driving, would be under arrest. Fortunately, each was provided a safe ride home instead. DENVER Javier Guillen just wanted to get to the United States as he endured a three-month trek from Venezuela, hiking through Central American jungles and spending four days clinging to the roof of a Mexican train known as the beast to avoid police and kidnappers. But when he finally arrived in El Paso, Texas, last week, the 32-year-old settled on a new destination, only one relatively cheap bus ride away Denver, an additional 680 miles north from the border. Its the easiest place, closest to Texas, and there are people wholl help immigrants here, Guillen said before making his way to one of a network of shelters the city has scrambled to set up. Over the past month, nearly 4,000 immigrants, almost all Venezuelans, have arrived unannounced in icy Denver, with nowhere to stay and sometimes dressed in nothing more than T-shirts and flip-flops. The influx took city officials by surprise as they grappled with a spate of winter storms that plunged temperatures to record lows and disrupted transit out of the area. When they appealed to the state to open new shelters, Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat who had allocated $4 million to help care for the migrants, arranged for those who wanted to travel onward to go by bus to Chicago and New York. That led New York Mayor Eric Adams, also a Democrat, who had already warned his city was being overwhelmed by new migrants, to complain about the transfers from Denver. The situation illustrates how record numbers crossing the southern border are reverberating northward to cities like Denver, New York and Washington that have long been destinations for immigrants but not busloads of them showing up all at once, straight from the border and with no resources. They are getting a taste of what border cities have been facing, said Julia Gelatt, a senior policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute in Washington. The fact that people are showing up in groups with a need for basic services really is new for northern cities. In some instances, Republican governors primarily Texas Gov. Greg Abbott have tried to drive home that message by transporting immigrants straight from the border to New York or near Vice President Kamala Harris' Washington residence in the nation's capital. Last year Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis also sent some to the resort island of Martha's Vineyard. It's not clear precisely how Denver became a new destination for Venezuelans fleeing their country's economic and political chaos. Advocates had detected small numbers arriving from the border earlier in 2022 and warned the route was becoming increasingly popular. Then, last fall, many traveled to the U.S.-Mexico border in hopes the Biden administration would end a pandemic regulation that lets the country automatically return asylum seekers to Mexico. Instead, President Joe Biden added Venezuelans to the nationalities covered by the rule in October. Venezuelan crossings dropped at the border, but then something changed in Denver. Whatever the trigger, the number of migrants arriving in the city spiked dramatically in December to sometimes 200 a day, just as a bitter winter freeze and record low temperatures swept through. The storms snarled roads out of the city and canceled several scheduled bus trips to points east, stranding many in a city already struggling to shelter its homeless population. In response, Denver converted three recreation centers into emergency shelters for migrants and paid for families with children to stay at hotels, allocating $3 million to deal with the influx. It reassigned workers to process the new arrivals, assign them to shelters and help them get on buses. Residents donated piles of winter clothing. Cities and states are ill-equipped to deal with this, Mayor Michael Hancock said in an interview. Whether you're on the border or in Denver, Colorado, cities are not set up for this. Amelia Iraheta, a city public health employee reassigned to work with the migrants, said one man reported walking from the border and arrived with a broken foot. One woman, who reached Denver barefoot, still had her feet covered with cactus spines after walking through the borderland desert. Most wore just the clothes on their back woefully insufficient for the subzero temperatures. Coming into Denver in the peak of winter, conditions were not exactly what I think they had been expecting, Iraheta said. Most weren't intending to stay long. The city and state say about 70% of the more than 3,800 migrants who've come to Denver since they began tracking on Dec. 9 planned to go elsewhere ultimately. More than 1,600, the city says, already left town. The city has set a 14-day limit on stays in the emergency shelters and is talking to other agencies and nonprofits about opening longer-term facilities. It's unclear how Biden's new immigration policy, which opens an additional 30,000 monthly slots for asylum applicants from Venezuela and three other Latin American nations, will affect the flow into Denver. I really think this is not a flash in the pan, said Jennifer Piper of the American Friends Service Committee, which has worked with the city and several nonprofits to help the migrants. Denver is now on that route, and I don't think that will shift for at least the next 5-6 months. Regarding "Harry's claim he killed 25 in Afghanistan draws anger, worry" (Jan. 6): Prince Harry commented on killing 25 Taliban fighters and referred to them as chess pieces. I wish the Taliban would refer to and treat their female citizens as humans and give these women the rights they deserve. Women in Afghanistan are seen by their government as less than chess pieces. Total revenues grew by 57% in 2022 to CHF 15.5 million Gross contribution margin increased to around 21% in H2 2022 after 10.9% in H1 For the full year 2022, gross contribution margin amounted to around 16% For 2023, Evolva expects revenues of over CHF 20 million and a gross contribution margin of above 20% Reinach, 11 January 2023 Evolva (SIX: EVE) a pioneer in the field of natural molecules and industrial biotech, today pre-released unaudited key figures for the full year 2022. Total revenues grew by 57% to CHF 15.5 million, thereby achieving the targeted growth rate of 50%. Product-related revenues grew at an even higher rate of 62%. The gross contribution margin increased to around 21% in the second half of 2022, after 10.9% in the first half. For the full year 2022, gross contribution margin stood at around 16%, well in the targeted double-digit range. Evolva continues to experience good business momentum. As communicated with the mid-term plan in August 2022, Evolva expects revenues of over CHF 20 million in 2023. The gross contribution margin is expected to be above 20% for the full year 2023. Christian Wichert, CEO of Evolva, comments: In February 2022, the new Evolva leadership team defined clear goals for boosting our commercial performance, better cost control, and fostering a culture of teamwork, transparency, honesty and respect. Kudos go to all people across the Evolva organization for taking up the challenge and having executed our plans for the year 2022 successfully. I am very happy with the achieved strong revenue growth so far and particularly with the progress on margins. Considering the high interest and demand for our sustainable nature-based ingredients, I am confident that Evolva will further accelerate its journey to fully capitalize on its opportunities by addressing the global megatrends of health, wellness and sustainability. Evolva will release its full year-results 2022 on 9 March 2023. Important dates 09 March 2023 Full-year 2022 results 18 April 2023 Annual General Meeting Contact Doris Rudischhauser Head of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications +41 79 410 81 88 dorisr@evolva.com About Evolva Evolva is a Swiss biotech company focused on the research, development and commercialization of ingredients based on nature. We have leading businesses in Flavors and Fragrances, Health Ingredients and Health Protection. Evolvas employees, half of which are women, are dedicated to make the best products that can contribute to health, wellbeing and sensory enjoyment. Find out more at evolva.com and connect with us on LinkedIn. For Evolva multimedia content, please visit: evolva.com/multimedia-library. Disclaimer This announcement is not an offer of securities into the United States. The securities referred to herein have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act), and may not be offered, pledged, sold, delivered or otherwise transferred, directly or indirectly, in the United States, except pursuant to an exemption from, or transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act. No public offering of securities is being made in the United States. Further, the securities referred to herein have not been and will not be registered under the applicable securities laws of Canada, Australia or Japan or under the applicable securities laws of any other jurisdiction where to do so might constitute a violation of such laws. This press release contains specific forward-looking statements, e.g. statements including terms like believe, assume, expect or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may result in a substantial divergence between the actual results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and those explicitly or implicitly presumed in these statements. Against the background of these uncertainties readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The company assumes no responsibility to update forward-looking statements or to adapt them to future events or developments. - Live video webcast presentations with participating companies - FRENCHTOWN, NJ / ACCESSWIRE / January 11, 2023 / JTC Team ("JTC"), a fully integrated corporate communications and investor relations firm, today announced it will host the Virtual Investor 2023 Companies to Watch Event, January 17-19, 2023. As part of the virtual event, participating companies will provide a corporate presentation. The schedule for the event is as follows: Tuesday, January 17, 2023 Wednesday, January 18, 2023 Thursday, January 19, 2023 About JTC Team JTC is a fully integrated corporate communications firm that is dedicated to helping you tell your story to the right audiences in order to build awareness. JTC has developed a reputation of excellence for executing on robust communication strategies that deliver results. The Company partners with both public and private companies across the Life Sciences and Technology industries to help raise awareness and build stakeholder value. For more information, please visit www.jtcir.com or connect with the company on Twitter and LinkedIn. Contact: Jenene Thomas JTC Team, LLC T: +1 (833) 475-8247 [email protected] SOURCE: JTC Team, LLC View source version on accesswire.com: Bank of America reiterated a Neutral rating and $12.40 price target on Xpeng (NYSE: XPEV) after hosting a conference call with the Chinese EV maker. During the call, management discussed the companys recent business update and 2023 business outlook. Management expects NEV industry sales to grow 30% YoY in 2023, and it targets outgrowing the industry, driven by its solid new models pipeline. Xpeng plans to release an updated version of its P7 in March 2023, while also unveiling a B-class SUV the first model based on the S platform, with a price range of RMB200-300k, in mid-2023 and start delivery in 3Q23. The company will also launch more new models based on the S platform, with a price range of RMB150-250k, in 2024-25 to boost sales growth; and launch a C-class 6-/7-seater with an average price over RMB350k, based on the H platform (aimed at family users). Analyst Ming Hsun Lee wrote in a note, According to management, XPeng will take effective measures to control cost in 2023 for future development amid intensifying competition. It plans to keep R&D expenses stable at c.RMB5.5bn in 2023, thanks to 1) lower R&D cost for new models based on platforms and 2) focus on smart EV development. XPeng aims to lower its SG&A expense-to-sales ratio in 2023 by slowing the pace of new store expansion and improving store efficiency. Management guides 2023 capex to decline to RMB2.0-3.0bn from RMb4.0-4.5bn in 2022, as XPeng delays new capacity expansions given that Guangzhou and Zhaoqing plants current production capacity is able to reach 200k units per annum on a single shift. Regarding Teslas recent price cut, management sees weaker orders intake, as customers choose to wait and see amid the weak macro environment, but the impact is within the company's expectation. Shares of XPEV are down 0.40% in pre-market trading on Wednesday. By Michael Elkins | [email protected] The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) Board of Directors announced that it has elected independent director Mark G. Parker as Chairman of the Board, effective following the Annual Meeting of Shareholders. Mr. Parker, a seven-year member of the Disney Board and Executive Chairman of NIKE, Inc., will succeed Susan E. Arnold, who will not stand for re-election pursuant to the 15-year term limit under Disneys Board Tenure Policy. As a result, the size of the Board will be reduced to 11 members. Mark Parker is an incredibly well-respected leader who over seven years as a Disney director has helped the Company effectively navigate through a time of unprecedented change, Ms. Arnold said. During his four decades at NIKE, Mark has led one of the worlds most recognized consumer brands through various market evolutions and a successful CEO transition, and he is uniquely positioned to chair the Disney Board during this period of transformation. Mark Parkers vision, incredible depth of experience and wise counsel have been invaluable to Disney, and I look forward to continuing working with him in his new role, along with our other directors, as we chart the future course for this amazing company, said Robert A. Iger, Chief Executive Officer, The Walt Disney Company. On behalf of my fellow Board members and the entire Disney management team, I also want to thank Susan for her superb leadership as Chairman and for her tireless work over the past 15 years as an exemplary steward of the Disney brand. Said Mr. Parker: I am honored to have the opportunity to serve as Disneys Chairman, and I look forward to working closely with Bob and his management team on a strategy of growth that balances investment with profitability, while preserving Disneys core mission of creative excellence, to deliver shareholder value. At the same time, it is the top priority of mine and the Boards to identify and prepare a successful CEO successor, and that process has already begun. Mr. Parker will also chair a newly created Succession Planning Committee of the Board, which will advise the Board on CEO succession planning, including review of internal and external candidates. Mr. Parker served as NIKEs Chairman and CEO until 2020, when he became Executive Chairman. The Walt Disney Company Board has continued to evolve to ensure it has the right combination of backgrounds, skill sets and perspectives to guide the Company into the future. Today, Disneys directors bring experience across a relevant range of disciplines, including brand, marketing and retail, direct-to-consumer expertise, and technology and innovation. The Board is nominating for re-election at the Companys Annual Meeting incumbent directors Mary T. Barra, Safra A. Catz, Amy L. Chang, Francis A. deSouza, Carolyn Everson, Michael B.G. Froman, Robert A. Iger, Maria Elena Lagomasino, Calvin R. McDonald, Mark G. Parker and Derica W. Rice. Board Responds to Trian Partners Nomination by Recommending Shareholders vote for all of the Companys Nominees Trian Partners L.P. and Trian Partners Parallel Fund I, L.P., wholly owned subsidiaries of Trian Fund Management, L.P., along with other entities affiliated with Nelson Peltz (collectively, the Trian Group), have nominated Nelson Peltz for election as director at the Annual Meeting in opposition to the nominees recommended by the Board, and brought a proposal to amend Disneys Bylaws. The Walt Disney Company remains open to constructive engagement and ideas that help drive shareholder value. While senior leadership of The Walt Disney Company and its Board of Directors have engaged with Mr. Peltz numerous times over the last few months, the Board does not endorse the Trian Group nominee, and recommends that shareholders not support its nominee, and instead vote FOR all the Companys nominees (noted above). The Walt Disney Company has had a long-term track record of financial and creative success, built on the ability to leverage its rich intellectual property and unparalleled storytelling across its many businesses, from theatrical, streaming and linear broadcast to parks and resorts, and one of the most resonant names in sports, ESPN. Mr. Igers mandate is to use his two-year term and depth of experience in the industry to adapt the business model for the shifting media landscape, rebalancing investment with revenue opportunity while bringing a renewed focus on the creative talent that has made The Walt Disney Company the envy of the industry. Mr. Iger has already taken decisive steps to realign content creation and distribution, and reposition Disneys streaming platforms and linear broadcast and cable networks for enhanced profitability for the Company. Under Mr. Igers first tenure as CEO from September 2005 through February 2020, the Companys total shareholder return was 554%, which exceeded the S&P 500 total shareholder return of 244%. The companys market capitalization grew nearly fivefold during his tenure from $48 billion to over $230 billion. The Board of The Walt Disney Company has been continually refreshed, with a focus on directors whose industry experience is additive to the companys strategic priorities. The average tenure of the current Board is four years, with three directors serving fewer than two years, and in addition the Board is led by an independent chairman. The Company expects to file preliminary materials with respect to the 2023 Annual Meeting of Stockholders shortly and looks forward to communicating with its stockholders once definitive proxy materials are available. The date of the Annual Meeting has not yet been announced. ROCHESTER, N.H.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Albany International Corp. (NYSE: AIN) will release 2022 fourth-quarter and full year financial results Monday, February 13, 2023 after the market close. The Company will host a webcast to discuss results at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, February 14. Interested parties are encouraged to listen to the webcast via the Companys Investor Relations website at www.albint.com. Those without internet access may dial into the conference at 1-844-867-6169. Please provide your name, company, and access code 2475543 to the operator. A replay of the webcast will be available on the website at approximately noon Eastern Time February 14. About Albany International Corp. Albany International is a leading developer and manufacturer of engineered components, using advanced materials processing and automation capabilities, with two core businesses. Machine Clothing is the worlds leading producer of custom-designed, consumable fabrics and process belts essential for the manufacture of all grades of paper products. Albany Engineered Composites is a growing designer and manufacturer of advanced materials-based engineered components for demanding aerospace applications, supporting both commercial and military platforms. Albany International is headquartered in Rochester, New Hampshire, operates 23 facilities in 11 countries, employs approximately 4,200 people worldwide, and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (Symbol AIN). Additional information about the Company and its products and services can be found at www.albint.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005831/en/ John Hobbs 603-330-5897 [email protected] Source: Albany International Corp. Company with its Multi-State Utility Resources Awarded by Edison Electric Institute for 13th time ORANGE, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- AVANGRID, Inc. (NYSE: AGR), a leading sustainable energy company and member of the Iberdrola Group, today announced that it received an award from the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) for its efforts in using its multi-state utility resources to respond to the impacts of Hurricane Fiona in Nova Scotia, Canada in September 2022. United Illuminating (UI) and Central Maine Power (CMP) received the EEI Emergency Assistance Award for its mutual aid efforts to support power restoration in Nova Scotia following hurricane damage that caused billions in damage to Canadas shoreline and leaving hundreds of thousands without power. This award marks the 13th time EEI has recognized AVANGRID for its storm response efforts. Im continually amazed by our teams readiness and commitment to ensuring everyone has safe, reliable service no matter if it is our customers or if its lending a hand to neighbors in need, said AVANGRID CEO Pedro Azagra. It is an honor to receive this recognition from EEI, and it is a testament to the hard work of our AVANGRID line workers. This was a team effort, while crews traveled to Canada, other members stepped up to cover their shifts at home. We are following the lead of the Iberdrola Group, who have always emphasized the importance of working together to bring energy to millions of people around the globe. EEI presented AVANGRIDs Emergency Response Award to Azagra today at its January board meeting. The award recognizes recovery and assistance efforts of electric companies following service disruptions caused by extreme weather or other natural events. The winners were chosen by a panel of judges following an international nomination process. Throughout the past six months, electric companies faced devastating hurricanes, unprecedented heat waves, and many other extreme weather events that impacted the customers and communities we serve, said EEI President Tom Kuhn. Mutual assistance is a hallmark of our industry, and I applaud AVANGRIDs sustained commitment to aiding neighboring electric companies in times of need. AVANGRID and its storm response teams undoubtedly are deserving of this national recognition, and I am honored to present them with these well-deserved awards. In September 2022, Hurricane Fiona made landfall in Nova Scotia as one of the strongest storms on record in the province, and the first major Atlantic hurricane of the 2022 storm season. Fiona was a Category 4 Hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 130 mph (215 km/h). An initial peak of 405,000 Nova Scotia Power electric customers lost power, with nearly 750,000 more experiencing service interruptions. The community experienced over $5B in damage five times the damage caused by Hurricane Dorian which landed in Nova Scotia in 2019. Nova Scotia Power issued a request for assistance through the North Atlantic Mutual Aid Group. Fifteen UI crews, 16 two-person CMP crews, along with additional support personnel and equipment, responded to the call and traveled north to help restore service for hundreds of thousands of customers without power. Per the agreement of the North Atlantic Mutual Aid Group, Nova Scotia Power incurred all the costs of restoration efforts. UI and CMP crews worked for over two weeks to return service to customers, sacrificing time with the families to assist those in need. The swift action UI workers took to assist those in Nova Scotia is a testament to the commitment of our company and employees to always answer the call to service and lend our skill and expertise to those in need of assistance, whether near or far, said UI President and CEO Frank Reynolds. This award represents the commitment to excellence our line workers demonstrate every day, and I thank EEI for recognizing their efforts to respond to the impacts of Hurricane Fiona. This award belongs to the hardworking men and women of CMP, added CMP President and CEO Joe Purington. Our line workers are some of the best the industry has to offer, and the actions they took to assist our Canadian neighbors is an example of their unwavering commitment to our trade. Im pleased that EEI is recognizing their hard work in response to the precedented destruction brought by Hurricane Fiona. About AVANGRID: AVANGRID, Inc. (NYSE: AGR) aspires to be the leading sustainable energy company in the United States. Headquartered in Orange, CT with approximately $40 billion in assets and operations in 24 U.S. states, AVANGRID has two primary lines of business: Avangrid Networks and Avangrid Renewables. Avangrid Networks owns and operates eight electric and natural gas utilities, serving more than 3.3 million customers in New York and New England. Avangrid Renewables owns and operates a portfolio of renewable energy generation facilities across the United States. AVANGRID employs more than 7,000 people and has been recognized by JUST Capital in 2021, 2022 and 2023 as one of the JUST 100 companies a ranking of Americas best corporate citizens. In 2023, AVANGRID ranked first within the utility sector for its commitment to the environment. The company supports the U.N.s Sustainable Development Goals and was named among the Worlds Most Ethical Companies in 2022 for the fourth consecutive year by the Ethisphere Institute. AVANGRID is a member of the group of companies controlled by Iberdrola, S.A. For more information, visit www.avangrid.com. About EEI: EEI is the association that represents all U.S. investor-owned electric companies. Our members provide electricity for more than 220 million Americans, and operate in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. As a whole, the electric power industry supports more than 7 million jobs in communities across the United States. In addition to our U.S. members, EEI has more than 65 international electric companies, with operations in more than 90 countries, as International Members, and hundreds of industry suppliers and related organizations as Associate Members. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005963/en/ MEDIA CONTACT: Sarah Warren [email protected] 585-794-9253 Source: AVANGRID, Inc. NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Aviation Capital Group LLC (ACG) announced today that it has recently entered into two unsecured term loans totaling $600 million. The first is a $300 million senior unsecured term loan with an accordion feature potentially allowing for an additional $50 million of commitments. The final maturity of this loan is in December 2027 and MUFG Bank, Ltd. acted as the Sole Lead Arranger and Book Runner for the transaction. The second is a $300 million senior unsecured term loan with the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC). We are pleased to announce the closing of $600 million in term loan financings. These transactions demonstrate ACGs commitment to diversified funding across markets, said Eric Blau, Senior Vice President and Head of Capital Markets. We extend our gratitude to JBIC and MUFG for their deal leadership, and we would like to thank our parent Tokyo Century for their ongoing support of ACG as we continue to execute our growth strategy. Forward Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable federal securities laws. Any such statements, other than statements of historical fact, are based upon ACGs current expectations and assumptions concerning future events, which are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. Accordingly, such statements are not guarantees or assurances of any aspect of future performance. Such statements speak only as of the time when made, and ACG undertakes no obligation to update any such statement unless required by law. About Aviation Capital Group Aviation Capital Group was founded in 1989 and is one of the worlds premier full-service aircraft asset managers with approximately 480 owned, managed and committed aircraft as of September 30, 2022, which are leased to approximately 90 airlines in approximately 45 countries. ACG is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tokyo Century Corporation. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110005967/en/ Gordon Grant Head of Investor and Media Relations + 1 949 219 4664 [email protected] Source: Aviation Capital Group The Cambridge-headquartered company earned a place on Built Ins Best Places to Work List for its company culture and employee benefits CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Built In today announced that Iterative Health, a pioneer in precision-medicine technologies for gastroenterology, was honored in its 2023 Best Places To Work Awards. Specifically, the company earned a place on the list of Bostons Best Midsize Places to Work. The annual awards program includes companies of all sizes, from startups to those in the enterprise, and honors both remote-first employers as well as companies in large tech markets across the U.S. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005075/en/ Built In today announced that Iterative Health, a pioneer in precision-medicine technologies for gastroenterology, was honored in its 2023 Best Places To Work Awards. (Photo: Business Wire) Iterative Health is a leader in the application of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) tools in gastroenterology. To date, it has raised $195M in funding and is rapidly growing in pursuit of its mission to use computer vision-based technology to reduce disparities in healthcare. One of the most important factors of any successful organization is its employees, and were proud to be recognized for the culture weve created here at Iterative Health, said Jonathan Ng, the companys founder and CEO. We are all united by our ultimate mission of bringing world-class care and treatment to patients around the world, and we strive to foster a culture that encourages collaboration and visionary thinking to help us drive our innovation forward. Built In determines the winners of Best Places to Work based on an algorithm, using company data about compensation and benefits. To reflect the benefits candidates are searching for more frequently on Built In, the program also weighs criteria like remote and flexible work opportunities, programs for DEI and other people-first cultural offerings. Its my honor to congratulate this years Best Places to Work winners, says Sheridan Orr, Chief Marketing Officer, Built In. These exemplary companies understand their people are their most valuable asset, and theyve stepped up to meet the modern professionals new expectations, including the desire to work for companies that deliver purpose, growth and inclusion. These winners set the stage for a human-centered future of work, and we cant wait to see that future unfold. About Built In Built In is creating the largest platform for technology professionals globally. Monthly, millions of the industrys most in-demand professionals visit the site from across the world. They rely on our platform to stay ahead of tech trends and news, learn skills to accelerate their careers and find opportunities at companies whose values they share. Built In also serves 2,000 customers, innovative companies ranging from startups to those in the Fortune 500. By putting their stories in front of our uniquely engaged audience, we help them hire otherwise hard-to-reach tech professionals. www.builtin.com About Built Ins Best Places To Work Built Ins esteemed Best Places to Work Awards, now in its fifth year, honor companies across numerous categories: 100 Best Places to Work, 50 Best Startup Places to Work, 100 Best Midsize Places to Work, 100 Best Large Places to Work and Editors Choice: 100 Best Hybrid Places to Work. The program honors companies remote, hybrid and in-office with the best total rewards packages across the U.S. and in the following tech hubs: Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Colorado, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington DC. About Iterative Health Iterative Health is pioneering the use of artificial intelligence-based precision medicine in gastroenterology (GI), with the aim of helping to optimize clinical trials investigating treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and improving the accuracy of colorectal cancer screenings. We use advanced machine learning and computer vision to interpret endoscopic images along with other types of data, helping clinicians to better assess patients with potential GI problems. This gives practitioners enhanced capabilities in the detection, annotation, disease scoring and treatment of GI-related diseases. The company is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts with offices across the United States. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005075/en/ Ariel Rapoport, Marketing Manager Iterative Health [email protected] Source: Iterative Health Vendr Earns Boston Best Startups to Work For on Built Ins Best Places to Work List BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Built In today announced that Vendr, the worlds first SaaS buying platform, was honored in its 2023 Best Places To Work Awards. Specifically, Vendr earned a place on Best Startups to Work For in Boston. The annual awards program includes companies of all sizes, from startups to enterprise, and honors both remote-first employers as well as companies in large tech markets across the U.S. 2022 was an incredible year for Vendr with tremendous growth, and were thrilled to be recognized as Bostons Best Startups to Work For on Built Ins Best Places to Work List, said CEO and Co-founder, Ryan Neu. Were incredibly proud of the culture weve built at Vendr, which is rooted in putting our customers first, enabling our employees to do their best work, and fostering kindness. Were committed to building an inclusive work environment where every employee feels value in their work. Vendr is headquartered in Boston with a second location in Charleston, South Carolina, and additional employees across the globe. With a commitment to mental health, Vendr understands that the wellbeing of the team is critical to the organizations success. The company offers unlimited PTO, 13 paid company holidays, a wellness/gym reimbursement, paid Calm app subscription, virtual Wellness Wednesday Yoga sessions, and more. Built In determines the winners of Best Places to Work based on an algorithm, using company data about compensation and benefits. To reflect the benefits candidates are searching for more frequently on Built In, the program also weighs criteria like remote and flexible work opportunities, programs for DEI and other people-first cultural offerings. Its my honor to congratulate this years Best Places to Work winners, says Sheridan Orr, Chief Marketing Officer, Built In. These exemplary companies understand their people are their most valuable asset, and theyve stepped up to meet the modern professionals new expectations, including the desire to work for companies that deliver purpose, growth and inclusion. These winners set the stage for a human-centered future of work, and we cant wait to see that future unfold. ABOUT BUILT IN Built In is creating the largest platform for technology professionals globally. Monthly, millions of the industrys most in-demand professionals visit the site from across the world. They rely on our platform to stay ahead of tech trends and news, learn skills to accelerate their careers and find opportunities at companies whose values they share. Built In also serves 2,000 customers, innovative companies ranging from startups to those in the Fortune 500. By putting their stories in front of our uniquely engaged audience, we help them hire otherwise hard-to-reach tech professionals. www.builtin.com ABOUT BUILT INS BEST PLACES TO WORK Built Ins esteemed Best Places to Work Awards, now in its fifth year, honor companies across numerous categories: 100 Best Places to Work, 50 Best Startup Places to Work, 100 Best Midsize Places to Work, 100 Best Large Places to Work and Editors Choice: 100 Best Hybrid Places to Work. The program honors companies remote, hybrid and in-office with the best total rewards packages across the U.S. and in the following tech hubs: Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Colorado, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington DC. ABOUT VENDR Vendr is changing how companies find, buy and manage SaaS. The first of its kind, Vendr's SaaS buying platform offers both a product and people-powered service to enable the world's fastest-growing companies to purchase software quickly and with guaranteed savings. Today, Vendr has facilitated over $1B+ in SaaS purchases across 1,200+ suppliers for Finance and Procurement teams at HubSpot, Brex, Canva, Reddit, Toast, and more. Headquartered in Boston with a second location in Charleston, Vendr was founded in 2019 by Ryan Neu and co-founders Ariel Diaz and Aaron White, who joined the team through the acquisition of Blissfully in 2022. The company has over 250 employees globally. Learn more at vendr.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005582/en/ Rebecca Mitlin [email protected] 803-981-4220 Source: Vendr TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Following a competitive application process, the Ontario Bioscience Innovation Organization (OBIO) is pleased to announce the eight successful awardees of the inaugural Women in Health Initiatives (WiHI) Business Leadership Program (Program). OBIOs Women in Health Initiative is designed to increase the participation and advancement of women in the health and life sciences sector, said Dr. Maura Campbell, President & CEO of OBIO. This is especially critical at the leadership level where women can serve as role models, attract a more diverse workforce and change workplace policies to ensure greater inclusivity. This program supports the realization of these goals. More than 50 promising candidates from a range of early-stage Ontario life science companies developing therapeutics, medical devices, diagnostics or digital health technologies were considered. Each candidate was assessed based on their educational and professional background, their impact on their company, their contributions to the ecosystem and the skills and background they collectively bring to the Program. It was a very difficult decision to select only eight recipients from this incredibly talented pool of individuals. We are looking at alternative ways to support all those who applied, added Dr. Campbell. The successful applicants (each of whom receive a $50K wage subsidy) will participate in OBIOs networking events and contribute as mentor leaders to a community for womens professional development, further supporting workforce development in a sector where women are underrepresented. The initiative is funded with support from the Government of Canada, through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario). Increasing the involvement of women in the health and life sciences sector will diversify perspectives and ideas to increase innovation. With these eight award recipients, OBIOs WiHI Business Leadership Program is demonstrating how investing in womens potential can lead to a strong and diverse community. This in turn will contribute to a growing economy that works for everyone, said the Honourable Filomena Tassi, Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario. The Government of Canada congratulates the eight successful applicants, and we look forward to the amazing work you will develop and foster for years to come. The OBIO Board and staff offer heartfelt congratulations to these eight talented women and commend all of those who applied to the Program, said Dr. Campbell. To learn more about the awardees of the inaugural WiHI Business Leadership Program, click here. On Thursday, January 26 at the MaRS Discovery Centre in Toronto, OBIO is hosting a networking session that includes a panel discussion featuring the Program awardees. For more information or to register, click here. About OBIO Founded in 2009, OBIO is a not-for-profit membership-based innovation organization engaged in strategy, programming, policy development and advocacy to further the commercialization of human health technologies that position Canada as a leader in the international marketplace. OBIO advances this goal through collaborative partnerships with industry, the investment community, academia, the health care system and government. For more information, please visit www.obio.ca and follow OBIO on LinkedIn and Twitter. About FedDev Ontario For 13 years, the Government of Canada, through FedDev Ontario, has worked to advance and diversify the southern Ontario economy through funding opportunities and business services that support innovation, growth and job creation in Canadas most populous region. The Agency has delivered impressive results, which can be seen in southern Ontario businesses that are creating innovative technologies, improving productivity, growing revenues, creating jobs, and in the economic advancement of communities across the region. Learn more about the impacts the Agency is having in southern Ontario by exploring our pivotal projects, our Southern Ontario Spotlight, and FedDev Ontarios Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005251/en/ Doriane Rey Manager, Marketing & Events Ontario Bioscience Innovation Organization [email protected] Edward Hutchinson Press Secretary Office of the Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario [email protected] Source: Ontario Bioscience Innovation Organization SINGAPORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- According to ChannelE2E, eCloudvalley Digital Technology is ranked 18th in the World's Top 250 Public Cloud MSPs (Managed Service Providers) for 2022. From 2019, eCloudvalley has earned its designation on this global recognition list for the fifth consecutive year and maintained the worlds top 20 MSPs. ChannelE2Es Top 250 Public Cloud MSPs list identifies and honors the top managed service providers (MSPs) that support customers on Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), and other cloud platforms. eCloudvalley, as AWS Premier Tier Services Partner, won a wide recognition for its expertise in managed cloud services. Since 2016, eCloudvalley has passed the AWS MSP audit annually and gained 96% customer satisfaction for its technical services according to the "2021 eCloudvalley MSP Customer Satisfaction Survey". As cloud technology becomes essential to business operations, cloud management plays an integral part in IT investment. Gartner recently forecasts worldwide public cloud end-user spending to reach nearly USD $600 Billion in 2023, of which cloud management and security services are estimated to increase by about 22%, reaching approximately USD $41.7 billion. Linda Lin, general manager of eCloudvalley's Cloud BU, said: "Facing the increasingly complex cloud environments, enterprises should prioritize cloud optimization, secure cloud environment, and cloud talent training. eCloudvalley MSP services have a strong team with abundant certified engineers. Combined with our MSP team and our self-developed cloud management platform "Atlas," we are confident in delivering our promise to help customers boost IT efficiency with strengthened cloud management." eCloudvalley is committed to providing enterprise-level cloud services. In 2022, it won AWS Specialized Partner of the Year (ASEAN) with its strong customer pipeline. With its expertise and experience on AWS, eCloudvalley delivers a wide range of cloud application services, including managed services, security, AI, DevOps, carbon management, ERP, and CRM. About eCloudvalley eCloudvalley is the AWS Premier Tier Services Partner. As of today, we have obtained over 600 AWS professional certifications, a huge testament to the reliability and practicality of our solutions. As a born-in-the-cloud partner focused entirely on AWS services, we're over 600 employees strong with a geographic presence across the world, including Taiwan, China, Hong Kong / Macau, the Philippines, Singapore, the United States, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam. Learn about eCloudvalley : https://www.ecloudvalley.com/en/p/about-ecloudvalley View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110006064/en/ Media Siaoyu Chien [email protected] Cathy Ye [email protected] Source: eCloudvalley SINGAPORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- EXEO Global Pte Ltd (EXEO Global), the regional headquarters of Tokyo Stock Exchange-listed EXEO Group, Inc. (TOKYO: 1951) facilitating the operational and strategic management of overseas subsidiaries outside of Japan, has successfully completed the acquisition of Telistar Solutions Pte Ltd (Telistar). The acquisition of Telistar, an IT service solutions provider, allows EXEO Global to grow its capabilities in the space of managed IT services, via an established solutions provider trusted by government organisations, educational and financial institutions, healthcare providers and large retail brand owners. EXEO Global had also recently completed an amalgamation exercise with its subsidiary, ARCO Pte Ltd, a company providing technology provisioning, maintenance support and IT asset disposition services to large international firms as well as Japanese conglomerates, changing its business from a holding company to an operational business. With the ARCOs team successfully becoming part of EXEO Global, the company now has the talent and core capabilities to scale up its business in the Managed IT Services sector, as well as a stable existing client base and technology-enabled operations for greater efficiencies. Following the amalgamation exercise and acquisition of Telistar, EXEO Global is now set to become a major player in the space of Managed IT Services within Asia Pacific and beyond and is currently focused on expanding its services and product offerings to the market, to provide greater value to its clients, utilising technology to allow them to enjoy quality Managed IT Services at greater cost efficiencies. Mr Imaizumi Fumitoshi, CEO of EXEO Global commented, Telistar is well-known in the space of Managed IT Services in Singapore, and their team possesses strong technical knowledge and solid work ethics which are highly valued by their clients and partners. The team is a welcome addition to the Group, and we believe that we are able to work closely together to develop innovative solutions for the market that will create greater value for all our stakeholders, clients and potential customers. Mr Steven Phua, Managing Director of Telistar Solutions shared, Telistar has come a long way since we started the business in 2007, and we are now ready for our next phase of growth. We believe that EXEO Global is the right partner to help the business evolve and grow into a global player in the space of Managed IT Services, and we look forward to being part of this strong, creative team. About EXEO Global Pte Ltd EXEO Global Pte Ltd is the regional headquarters of Tokyo Stock Exchange listed EXEO Group, Inc, facilitating the operational and strategic management of overseas subsidiaries for the Group outside of Japan. Our primary business is in Managed IT services and the company currently has subsidiaries in the space of M&E engineering services, ICT infrastructure and supply chain technologies that have operations globally. EXEO Global also continually invests in new businesses and technologies that complement the offerings of the Groups companies. For more information, please visit www.exeo-global.com. About Telistar Solutions Pte Ltd Telistar Solutions, founded in 2007, is a Singapore-based innovative IT-centric Service and Solutions Provider specialising in tailoring effective solutions for organisations to enhance their profitability, productivity, efficiency and control. We are dedicated to our motto - Empowering Solutions Through Services - to help customers achieve their strategic business objectives. The company has two core business offerings - Managed IT Services and IT Infrastructure Solutions, and aspires to be the best one-stop, end-to-end Service Solutions Provider within the Asia Pacific Region. For more information, please visit https://www.telistar.com/. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110006048/en/ Charlene Chen [email protected] Source: EXEO Global Pte Ltd NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- ICR, a leading strategic communications and advisory firm, is pleased to announce that Molly Langenstein, President & CEO, Chico's FAS, Inc. (NYSE: CHS), one of the leading fashion retailers in North America, recently appeared on Episode 56 of ICRs Welcome to the Arena podcast. Welcome to the Arena is hosted by Tom Ryan, Co-Founder & CEO of ICR. Tom spoke with Molly about her career in the retail industry, the unique Chico's FAS strategy, how Chicos FAS is managing today's economic challenges, and more. The Welcome to the Arena podcast has featured discussions with CEOs, CFOs, financial analysts, members of the media, investment bankers, private equity executives and others who influence and create value for public and private-equity backed companies. The podcast made its debut in August 2021, airing episodes roughly every two weeks, and is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or anywhere else you get your podcasts. About ICR Established in 1998, ICR partners with its clients to execute strategic communications and advisory programs that achieve business goals, build awareness and credibility, and enhance long-term enterprise value. The firms highly-differentiated service model, which pairs capital markets veterans with senior communications professionals, brings deep sector knowledge and relationships to approximately 1,000 clients across more than 20 industry groups. ICRs healthcare practice operates under the Westwicke brand (www.westwicke.com). Today, ICR is one of the largest and most experienced independent communications and advisory firms in North America, maintaining offices in New York, Norwalk, Boston, Baltimore and Beijing. Learn more at www.icrinc.com. Follow us on Twitter at @ICRPR. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005854/en/ Brian Ruby, ICR, 203-682-8268, [email protected] Source: ICR SANTA CRUZ, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Joby Aviation, Inc. (NYSE: JOBY), a company developing all-electric aircraft for commercial passenger service, today announced the appointment of Lt. Gen. (ret) Scott Howell, former Commander of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), to the Companys Advisory Board. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005342/en/ Lt. Gen. (ret) Scott Howell, former Commander of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), has been appointed to Joby Aviation's Advisory Board. (Photo: Business Wire) As JSOC Commander, Lt. Gen. Howell was responsible for the readiness and mission execution of highly-specialized forces across the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marines. Howell previously served as Vice Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), focused on organizing, training, and equipping more than 70,000 Special Operations personnel, as well as the organizations acquisitions and budgeting. Lt. Gen. Howell served in special operations for more than two decades and deployed extensively. The U.S. government and in particular the Department of Defense have been important partners to Joby for more than five years, supporting the development and testing of our technology through access to DoD expertise, feedback, and facilities, said JoeBen Bevirt, Founder and CEO of Joby. Our collaboration is a vital source of operational experience and near-term support for research and development activities, and, as we move closer to our primary goal of launching a commercial aerial ridesharing service, we look forward to growing these partnerships, as we draw on Scotts broad experience in this field, he added. In August 2022, Joby announced it had expanded its existing research and development contract with the U.S. Air Force to include new testing to evaluate Jobys advanced technologies, bringing the contracts total potential value to $75 million and widening the Companys defense partnerships to incorporate the U.S. Marine Corps. Commenting on his appointment, Lt. Gen. Howell said: The commercial sector has a great deal to offer the military in terms of speed of innovation and insight into future technology. Joby is at the leading edge of eVTOL aircraft development, and Im looking forward to supporting the team in demonstrating the capabilities of their aircraft in a wide range of operational use cases. Howell, a career special operations helicopter pilot with more than 2,600 hours of flight experience, joins Jobys Advisory Board, sitting alongside Paul Rinaldi, former President of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), and Dan Elwell, former Acting Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration. About Joby Joby Aviation, Inc. (NYSE: JOBY) is a California-based transportation company developing an all-electric, vertical take-off and landing aircraft which it intends to operate as part of a fast, quiet, and convenient service in cities around the world. To learn more, visit www.jobyaviation.com. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including but not limited to, statements regarding the development and performance of our aircraft; plans for, and potential benefits of, our ongoing work with the Department of Defense; and our business plan, objectives, goals and market opportunity. You can identify forward-looking statements by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. These statements may include words such as anticipate, estimate, expect, project, plan, intend, believe, may, will, should, can have, likely and other words and terms of similar meaning in connection with any discussion of the timing or nature of future operating or financial performance or other events. All forward looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially, including: our ability to launch our aerial ridesharing service and the growth of the urban air mobility market generally; our ability to produce aircraft that meet our performance expectations in the volumes and on the timelines that we project, and our ability to launch our service; the competitive environment in which we operate; our future capital needs; our ability to adequately protect and enforce our intellectual property rights; our ability to effectively respond to evolving regulations and standards relating to our aircraft; our reliance on third-party suppliers and service partners; uncertainties related to our estimates of the size of the market for our service and future revenue opportunities; and other important factors discussed in the section titled Risk Factors in our Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) on March 28, 2022, and in future filings and other reports we file with or furnish to the SEC. Any such forward-looking statements represent managements estimates and beliefs as of the date of this presentation. While we may elect to update such forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we disclaim any obligation to do so, even if subsequent events cause our views to change. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005342/en/ Joby Aviation Investors: [email protected] +1-831-201-6006 Media: [email protected] Source: Joby Aviation, Inc. GENEVA--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- MPC Therapeutics (MPC Tx), a Swiss biotechnology company focused on metabolism and rejuvenation, today announced the closing of its CHF 1.5 million seed-funding round. Funds will serve to advance MPC Txs proprietary small molecule towards clinical trials and open new therapeutic applications. The funding round was led by Plutus Investment Group, a London-based family office, and received additional funding from business angels. MPC Therapeutics spun-off from University of Geneva (UNIGE) in 2018 to develop molecules able to modulate mitochondrial function and trigger cellular re-programming to fight cancer and degenerative diseases. Based on the pioneering work of Prof. Jean-Claude Martinou, the company was able to screen, optimize and patent small molecule compounds which specifically inhibit the Mitochondrial Pyruvate Carrier (MPC). Improving cell immunotherapies against cancer The MPC Txs lead program aims to improve the performance and durability of CAR-T cell therapy. Preparation of CAR-T cells in the presence of the MPC Therapeutics compound have been shown in different preclinical cancer models to dramatically improve survival compared to standard CAR-T cells. Raphael Martinou, CEO and co-founder of MPC Therapeutics said: CAR-T cell therapies give hope to patients that failed to respond to earlier cancer treatments, yet too often these patients still relapse one year after CAR-T cell therapy. Reprogramming T-cells by modulating their metabolism could really transform sub-optimal treatments into highly performing life-saving ones. Towards a 2024 clinical trial and diversification in alopecia The seed investment funding will enable MPC Tx to advance its T-cell therapy adjuvant programme into the clinic by 2024. In addition, as modulating mitochondrial function has been shown to promote stem cell proliferation, the team plans to position its proprietary molecules as novel treatments for alopecia. Mohammed Jamal, CEO and founder of Plutus Investment Group, said We are happy to have invested in MPC Therapeutics, this expands our reach into life sciences. MPC Therapeutics have world-class expertise and can become a leading biotech in the rapidly-growing cell therapies and cell rejuvenation markets. About MPC Therapeutics MPC Therapeutics believe that mitochondria represent untapped therapeutic targets. Based on a deep understanding of cell metabolism and medicinal chemistry, it develops a new generation of small molecules able to modulate mitochondrial function, changing cell behaviour and reversing the course of disease. www.mpc-therapeutics.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005190/en/ PR Contact Augustin de Bettignies, CCO +33680515180 [email protected] Source: MPC Therapeutics HOUSTON & TULSA, Okla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Opportune LLP, a leading global business advisory firm with preeminence in energy, is honored to announce the promotion of Trent Determann to Partner. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005162/en/ Trent Determann, Partner, Opportune LLP (Photo: Business Wire) Mr. Determann previously served as Managing Director and President of the firms Outsourcing practice, where he focused on an array of business-related activities, including but not limited to financial reporting, back-office accounting, and business analytics. Predating his time at Opportune, he served as Vice President of Finance at Gastar Exploration Inc. before accepting the role of Chief Financial Officer at Rebellion Energy II LLC. Trents rapid achievement within the firm should come as no surprise to those who have had the privilege of working with him, stated David Baggett, Managing Partner of Opportune. His breath of expertise in financial energy will continue to add significant value to our clients. With this recent promotion, Mr. Determann will take on the accolade of youngest appointed Partner in the firms history. Its an honor to be asked to join the firms Partnership, and I look forward to seeing where my future at Opportune takes me. I will always remain committed to focusing on Opportunes mission add value to clients, people, and the community, added Mr. Determann. Mr. Determann was previously selected as an honoree for Hart Energys 2017 Forty under 40 in recognition of his varied achievements during his time at Gastar. He holds a B.S. in Finance from Louisiana State University. In addition, Opportune is pleased to announce the promotion of the following individuals to Principal: Kevin Cannon Mr. Cannon has more than 20 years of client service experience and specializes in working with clients within the energy industry including upstream, midstream, and services companies. Prior to joining Opportune, Mr. Cannon was a Director within PwCs Transaction Services group where he worked extensively with clients throughout the energy, business services, and industrial manufacturing industries. Teresa Kroh Ms. Kroh has over 30 years of experience in software implementation, project management, IT management, and software design and development. For over twenty years, she has put her primary focus on ION Right Angle, with an emphasis on trading and risk management. Before starting at Opportune, Ms. Kroh was a Business Analyst and Project Manager at SolArc. Kevin and Teresa are well respected within the firm and amongst our clients. Their varied experience in their service lines will make them an excellent addition to the firms leadership team, stated Mr. Baggett. Opportune LLP is a leading global business advisory firm focused on adding value to clients across multiple industries with preeminence in energy. Opportunes practice areas include business transformation, complex financial reporting, disputes and litigations, investment banking, outsourcing, process and technology, reserve engineering and geosciences, restructuring, tax, transactional due diligence, and valuation. For more information, please visit our website at www.opportune.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005162/en/ Courtney Baggett 713-490-5050 [email protected] Source: Opportune LLP Sensormatic Solutions will be on site at the 2023 NRF Big Show to showcase the next generation of insights and outcome-based solutions integrated under the Sensormatic IQ operating platform, as well as the latest in artificial intelligence (AI) and computer vision NEUHAUSEN, Switzerland--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Sensormatic Solutions, the leading global retail solutions portfolio of Johnson Controls, will be on-site at NRFs Big Show showcasing its newest analytics and outcome-based solutions, integrated under Sensormatic IQ, that power retail operations and enable smart and connected shopper experiences. Shopper preferences have evolved over the past few years, and retailers have demonstrated incredible adaptability in the face of a shifting industry, said Kevin Viravec, president at Sensormatic Solutions. Initial investments in digital transformation have shown retailers the benefits of a data-led strategy and how these insights can boost shopper experiences while facilitating operational excellence. Sensormatic IQ serves as the foundation of all Sensormatic Solutions insights and outcome-based solutions. It combines data from its existing platforms, and it applies advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and computer vision technologies to help address the dynamic needs of retailers and their shoppers. The companys booth at the Big Show will include solutions that help retailers pursue: Enabling Unified Commerce. Inventory Intelligence offers the speed and agility consumers expect from world-class unified commerce platforms. Using cloud-connected radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, retailers can track merchandises journey from source to store to deliver insights that streamline omnichannel experiences and ensure product availability. Inventory Intelligence offers the speed and agility consumers expect from world-class unified commerce platforms. Using cloud-connected radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, retailers can track merchandises journey from source to store to deliver insights that streamline omnichannel experiences and ensure product availability. Protecting Assets and People. With shrink on the rise, its crucial that retailers digitally optimize their loss prevention and liability activities. Sensormatic Solutions can show you how to leverage insights and analytics to improve shopper and associate safety and automate time-consuming tasks, while effectively fighting shrink. With shrink on the rise, its crucial that retailers digitally optimize their loss prevention and liability activities. Sensormatic Solutions can show you how to leverage insights and analytics to improve shopper and associate safety and automate time-consuming tasks, while effectively fighting shrink. Maximizing Shopper Experience. Sensormatic Solutions shopper experience offerings help retailers engage with shoppers on a new level, offering opportunities to create differentiated and personalized experiences. Booth visitors will see how the companys easy-to-deploy multi-sensor technology approach can highlight critical touch points to enrich engagements along each shopper's journey. Sensormatic Solutions shopper experience offerings help retailers engage with shoppers on a new level, offering opportunities to create differentiated and personalized experiences. Booth visitors will see how the companys easy-to-deploy multi-sensor technology approach can highlight critical touch points to enrich engagements along each shopper's journey. Driving Store Performance. Achieving operational excellence means prioritizing flexibility, increasing productivity, making informed decisions, maintaining visibility, optimizing labor, and enhancing omnichannel strategies, such as Buy Online, Pickup In-stores (BOPIS) or curbside pickup, and lowering operational costs. To learn more about Sensormatic Solutions inventory intelligence, loss prevention and liability, shopper experience, and operational excellence solutions, visit booth #6305 at the 2023 NRF convention, January 14-17 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center and follow #SensormaticNRF2023 on Twitter and LinkedIn. To request a booth tour or a meeting with an account manager, visit the Sensormatic Solutions scheduling page. About Johnson Controls At Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI), we transform the environments where people live, work, learn and play. As the global leader in smart, healthy and sustainable buildings, our mission is to reimagine the performance of buildings to serve people, places and the planet. Building on a proud history of nearly 140 years of innovation, we deliver the blueprint of the future for industries such as healthcare, schools, data centers, airports, stadiums, manufacturing and beyond through OpenBlue, our comprehensive digital offering. Today, with a global team of 100,000 experts in more than 150 countries, Johnson Controls offers the world`s largest portfolio of building technology and software as well as service solutions from some of the most trusted names in the industry. Visit http://www.johnsoncontrols.com for more information and follow @Johnson Controls on social platforms. About Sensormatic Solutions Sensormatic Solutions is the leading global retail solutions portfolio of Johnson Controls powering operational excellence at scale and enabling smart and connected shopper engagement. Our intelligent digital operating platform Sensormatic IQ combines the full Sensormatic Solutions portfolio, including third-party data to deliver unmatched insights into shopper experience, inventory intelligence, loss prevention and operational effectiveness with advanced technologies, like AI and Machine Learning. This enables retailers to act on prescriptive and predictive data-driven outcomes to confidently move into the future. Please visit Sensormatic Solutions or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and our YouTube channel. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005329/en/ Media Jaclyn Messina Sensormatic Solutions by Johnson Controls Work: +1 561-235-6458 [email protected] Madison Southall Sensormatic Solutions by Johnson Controls Work: +1 954-415-5971 [email protected] Grace Torrance Matter on behalf of Sensormatic Solutions Work: +1 978-518-4504 [email protected] Source: Sensormatic Solutions DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- ShiftKey, a Dallas-based technology company transforming the future of work by empowering licensed professionals to connect directly with healthcare facilities with open workforce needs, announced today that it has closed on a funding round sponsored by majority investor Lorient Capital, valuing the company in excess of $2 billion. Lorients investment was completed through a continuation vehicle that was led by the Ares Management Secondaries funds and Pantheon. Additional investors participating along with Lorient, Ares, and Pantheon include Clearlake Capital and Health Velocity Capital. ShiftKey is changing the future of work by empowering licensed professionals to have the freedom and flexibility to choose when, where and how they want to work, said David Berman, managing partner of Lorient Capital. We are excited to realign our investor base around ShiftKeys long-term strategy to become the preeminent technology platform powering the future of licensed work. Nurses continue to choose to work on their own terms, said Tom Ellis, founder and CEO of ShiftKey. Our vision is to empower nurses and other licensed professionals through the combination of our core marketplace product along with additional technology and tools such as scheduling, payments, education, and credentialing. We are appreciative for the support of our investors who share in this objective. ShiftKeys software now enables work for hundreds of thousands of licensed professionals across over 10,000 healthcare facilities nationwide. Goldman Sachs and Aviditi Advisors acted as advisors and placement agents to Lorient Capital. McDermott Will & Emery and Gibson Dunn were legal advisors. About ShiftKey ShiftKey is a platform that is disrupting the way healthcare facilities find licensed and certified professionals to fill available shifts. Leveraging marketplace dynamics and deep industry knowledge, the company is playing a vital role in mitigating Americas healthcare staffing shortages, enabling direct connections between facilities and healthcare professionals. By offering the opportunity to work as much or as little as they choose and putting the power back into the hands of healthcare workers, ShiftKey is bringing more licensed professionals back into the workforce, a solution that is solving a major crisis in healthcare. For more information, visit www.ShiftKey.com. About Lorient Capital Lorient Capital is a private investment firm that targets equity investments in healthcare services and technology companies. Leveraging its experience as both investors and healthcare operators, Lorient works with founders and management teams to drive growth, optimize operations, and improve healthcare outcomes. The firm invests in cash flow positive businesses at an inflection point that requires additional capital and expertise to take the business through the next phase of growth. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005194/en/ Lorianne Walker Curley Company for ShiftKey [email protected] 410.688.1330 Source: ShiftKey Prospects facilities, Eastern Connecticut Health Network (ECHN) and Waterbury HEALTH, and affiliated providers in Connecticut to participate in a Signify Health-supported ACO designed to achieve superior patient outcomes and success in managing total costs DALLAS & HARTFORD, Conn. & NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Signify Health, Inc [NYSE: SGFY], a leading healthcare platform that leverages advanced analytics, technology and nationwide healthcare networks to create and power value-based payment programs, today announced a new collaboration with Prospect Medical Holdings, Inc., a growing healthcare services company with 16 hospitals serving underserved communities in four states. In 2023, Prospects Waterbury HEALTH and Eastern Connecticut Health Network (ECHN) facilities and their affiliated provider network in Connecticut will participate in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) by joining a Signify-enabled accountable care organization (ACO) to enhance care transformation, manage risk and provide high-quality, coordinated patient care for its traditional Medicare fee-for-service patients. Prospect, an experienced MSSP participant, will maximize its potential for improving quality of care and patient outcomes by moving into the Enhanced MSSP track. Prospects facilities and physicians in Connecticut will join independent providers across the nation in Signifys collaborative ACO model to achieve the benefits of scale that help to improve results and enable risk expansion. Signify Health will support Prospect facilities with data-driven, tailored population health roadmaps and economically aligned pricing to help its providers manage their MSSP ACO risk, reduce costs and achieve greater quality incentives for their efforts. The strategic collaboration will help Prospect improve health outcomes for patients who receive care in its hospitals, which serve diverse and underserved communities across the state. Every healthcare market is different to a certain extent, but we were impressed by Signifys experience that has spanned so many markets and has managed to stay local while simultaneously honing their approach to delivering on the core competencies that any successful ACO needs to have, said EJay Lockwood, Vice President, Connecticut Coordinated Care, Prospect Medical Holdings. Prospect is constantly looking for ways to improve our clinical and financial performance and, in Signify, we are partnering with a team that has been at this for a long time and can now also take full advantage of some of the competencies that Signify can add to our current risk management playbook. We are excited to be a new member of this growing community of provider-led ACOs. Prospects Connecticut teams serve patients living in economically disadvantaged areas who also have been medically underserved, said Tim Gronniger, Chief of Value-based Care Solutions, Signify Health. Through our work together, Prospects Medicare patients will receive needed increased access to preventative and in-home services that will help improve their health outcomes, while creating a better overall experience for both patients and their care teams. In early 2022, Signify Health acquired Caravan Health, a leader in enabling sustainable ACO and population health programs. With this acquisition, Signify Health supports one of the largest networks of at-risk providers and offers one comprehensive platform to manage total cost of care. In 2020 and 2021,100 percent of Caravans collaborative ACO participants earned shared savings. About Prospect Medical Holdings, Inc. Prospect Medical Holdings, Inc., established in 1996, is a growing healthcare services company, emphasizing coordination of care and population health management, with a focus on preventive care. Prospect Medical Holdings' hospital facilities help coordinate quality care for patients through integrated networks of primary and specialty physicians, in affiliation with hospitals, clinics, other community-based providers and health plans. Prospect owns and operates 16 hospitals, as well as more than 165 clinics and outpatient centers. Prospect also manages the provision of healthcare services for more than 600,000 members enrolled in its networks of more than 8,000 primary care physicians and specialists. Prospect's operations are in California, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. About Signify Health Signify Health is a leading healthcare platform that leverages advanced analytics, technology, and nationwide healthcare provider networks to create and power value-based payment programs. Our mission is to build trusted relationships to make people healthier. Our solutions support value-based payment programs by aligning financial incentives around outcomes, providing tools to health plans and healthcare organizations designed to assess and manage risk and identify actionable opportunities for improved patient outcomes, coordination and cost-savings. Through our platform, we coordinate what we believe is a holistic suite of clinical, social, and behavioral services to address an individuals healthcare needs and prevent adverse events that drive excess cost, all while shifting services towards the home. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005198/en/ Media: Signify Health: Lynn Shepherd, [email protected] Prospect Medical Holdings: Nina Kruse, [email protected] Source: Signify Health QUIMPER, France--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Verlingue, a subsidiary of the French Adelaide Group, specialising in corporate protection, is continuing its external growth strategy with two new acquisitions that will consolidate its presence in the Grand Est region (France). Set up in 1997, the insurance broker Cabinet Depeyre specialises in consulting and management of complex business risks. Depeyre Solutions, created in 2014, is an underwriting agency specialising in business risks for brokers and general agents. The group has 23 employees for just over 4m in commissions. The insurance broker Cabinet Depeyre, specialised in complex business risks, works with its customers to analyse, prevent and manage their risks. The Cabinet Depeyre teams have acquired special expertise in high-pressure sectors such as the wood processing industry, transport and logistics, manufacturers and traders of building materials, etc., whether in matters of Civil Liability or Property Damage. Depeyre Solutions, which is intended to remain an autonomous entity affiliated to the Adelaide Group, sells insurance solutions as an underwriting agent (MGA) for business risks, mainly in the fields of Vehicle Fleet, Property Damage and Civil Liability. With Verlingue, I firmly believe that our teams will be able to provide even better support to our customers and provide them with all the solutions offered by a company with which we already share common values and a vision of our role as a trusted partner in risk management, says Jean-Michel Depeyre, head of both companies. After the acquisition of RT Global Insurance in Portugal at the end of 2022, the acquisition of Cabinet Depeyre and Depeyre Solutions in France consolidates Verlingue's external growth dynamic as part of its 2024 strategic plan. Verlingue has a powerful, sustainable and profitable growth strategy in place. In a consolidating business sector, being a family-owned broker with an ambitious and long-term vision allows us to map out great plans for the teams that decide to join our adventure. Im delighted that Jean-Michel Depeyre has jumped on board, says Gilles Beneplanc CEO of the Adelaide Group and Verlingue. About Verlingue An insurance broker specializing in business protection, Verlingue is a subsidiary of the Adelaide Group. Working alongside entrepreneurs, Verlingues goal is to harness corporate risk management and employee protection to drive its clients value creation and performance. With offices in France, Portugal, Great Britain and Switzerland, and through partners in over 100 countries, Verlingue works with its clients over the long term and at all times to better understand and plan ahead for new risks in order to develop simple yet effective solutions to protect their business (corporate risk) and staff (supplementary social protection schemes and pensions). 1,200 employees, 400 of whom are based outside France 2.2bn in premiums negotiated on behalf of its clients 24 offices in Europe LinkedIn / www.verlingue.fr View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005440/en/ Press contact: Adelaide Group - Thomas Barbelet [email protected] +33(0)6 72 75 49 14 Epoka Agency Lucie Fortin [email protected] +33(0)6 19 68 70 18 Source: Verlingue SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- WebBank, a Best-in-Class national issuer of consumer and small business credit products through Strategic Partner platforms, has been named one of Glassdoors Best Places to Work in 2023, an Employees Choice Award in the U.S. small and medium company category. Unlike other workplace awards, the Glassdoor Employees Choice Award, now in its 15th year, is based solely on the input of employees, who voluntarily provide anonymous feedback by completing a company review about their job, work environment and employer on Glassdoor, the worldwide leader on insights about jobs and companies. We are thrilled to be selected as one of Glassdoors Best Places to Work in 2023, which is a testament to our outstanding company culture, said Shannon Hutchings, SVP, People and Brand at WebBank. WebBank is committed to fostering a positive, supportive and transparent work environment and this award reinforces our philosophy regarding the importance of a best-in-class culture. Some of the anonymous reviews WebBank employees provided on Glassdoor.com include: The company truly cares about employee satisfaction and retention. The leadership works hard to maintain a positive, supportive culture and to communicate frequently with all employees. The culture is amazing! Everyone Ive met and worked with have been very welcoming, positive, hard-working, and willing to help even if its not their expertise. WebBank cares about you as a person first before anything else. WebBank attracts great talent people who work hard, care for each other, offer a helping hand, and love working for the Bank. Management listens to employees and responds to their concerns. On Glassdoor, current and former employees voluntarily and anonymously share insights and opinions about their work environments by sharing a company review, designed to capture a genuine and authentic inside look at what a specific job may be like at a particular company. When sharing a company review on Glassdoor, employees are asked to rate their satisfaction with the company overall, and key workplace factors like career opportunities, compensation and benefits, culture and values, senior management, diversity and inclusion, and work/life balance. In addition, employees are asked to describe the best reasons to work at their companies as well as any downsides. Glassdoors Best Places to Work winners were determined using company reviews shared by U.S.-based employees between October 19, 2021 and October 17, 2022. To be considered for the U.S. small and medium company list, a company must have had fewer than 1,000 employees and received at least 30 ratings across each of Glassdoors nine workplace attributes (overall company rating, career opportunities, compensation and benefits, culture and values, diversity and inclusion, senior management, work-life balance, recommend to a friend and six-month business outlook). The final list is compiled using Glassdoors proprietary algorithm, led by its Economic Research Team, and considers quantity, quality and consistency of reviews. Complete awards methodology can be found here. About WebBank WebBank is a Utah chartered Industrial Bank headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah. Since its inception in 1997, WebBank has originated and funded over $160 billion in consumer and commercial credit products. As The Bank Behind the Brand, WebBank is a national issuer of consumer and small business credit products through Strategic Partner (Brand) platforms, which include retailers, manufacturers, finance companies, software as a service (SaaS) and financial technology (FinTech) companies. The Bank is a leading player in the digital lending space, driving innovation in financial products through embedded finance with Strategic Partner platforms. WebBank engages in a full range of banking activities including consumer and commercial loan products, revolving lines of credit, credit cards, private-label card issuance, auto-refinancing and more. The Bank provides capital in the form of asset-based lending and other credit facilities to Strategic Partner platforms, credit funds, and other lenders with a targeted focus on specialty finance assets. The Bank is also a leading provider of commercial insurance premium finance products through its wholly owned subsidiary National Partners. For more information, please visit www.webbank.com. About Glassdoor Glassdoor is revolutionizing how people everywhere find jobs and companies they love by providing deeper workplace transparency. Professionals turn to Glassdoor to research ratings, reviews, salaries and more at millions of employers, and to Fishbowl by Glassdoor to engage in candid workplace conversations. Companies use Glassdoor to post jobs and attract talent through employer branding and employee insights products. Glassdoor is a subsidiary of Recruit Holdings, a leading global technology company, and a part of its fast-growing HR Technology business unit. For more information, visit www.glassdoor.com. "Glassdoor" and logo are proprietary trademarks of Glassdoor, Inc. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005643/en/ Media: WebBank Shannon Hutchings [email protected] Glassdoor [email protected] Source: WebBank Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. (NYSE American: CANF) today announced that it has entered into definitive agreements for the purchase and sale of 1,000,000 of the Companys American Depositary Shares (ADSs) (or ADS equivalents in lieu thereof), at a purchase price of $5.50 per ADS, in a registered direct offering. In a concurrent private placement, Can-Fite has also agreed to issue and sell 363,637 of its ADS (or ADS equivalents in lieu thereof), at the same purchase price as in the registered direct offering. In addition, the Company has agreed to issue in the offerings unregistered Series A warrants to purchase up to an aggregate of 1,363,637 ADSs and Series B warrants to purchase up to an aggregate of 1,363,637 ADSs. Each ADS represents three hundred (300) ordinary shares, par value NIS 0.25 per share, of Can-Fite. The offerings are expected to close on or about January 13, 2023, subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions. H.C. Wainwright & Co. is acting as the exclusive placement agent for the offerings. The Series A warrants will have an exercise price $6.00 per ADS, will become exercisable immediately upon issuance and have a term of five and one-half years from the date of issuance and the Series B warrants will have an exercise price $5.50 per ADS, will become exercisable immediately upon issuance and have a term of 20 months from the date of issuance. The gross proceeds from the offerings (without taking into account any proceeds from any future exercises of warrants), before deducting the placement agent's fees and other offering expenses payable by the Company, are expected to be approximately $7.5 million. Can-Fite intends to use the net proceeds for funding research and development and clinical trials and for other working capital and general corporate purposes. The ADSs (or ADS equivalents) offered in the registered direct offering (but excluding the securities offered in the private placement and the ADSs underlying the warrants) are being offered and sold by Can-Fite pursuant to a shelf registration statement on Form F-3 (File No. 333-249063) originally filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) on September 25, 2020 and declared effective by the SEC on October 9, 2020. The offering of the ADSs (or ADS equivalents) to be issued in the registered direct offering is being made only by means of a prospectus, including a prospectus supplement, forming a part of the effective registration statement. A final prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus relating to the registered direct offering will be filed with the SEC. Electronic copies of the final prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus may be obtained, when available, on the SECs website at http://www.sec.gov or by contacting H.C. Wainwright & Co., LLC at 430 Park Avenue, 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10022, by phone at (212) 856-5711 or e-mail at [email protected]. The securities issued in the private placement and the unregistered warrants described above were offered in a private placement under Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Act), and Regulation D promulgated thereunder and, along with the ADSs underlying the warrants, have not been registered under the Act, or applicable state securities laws. Accordingly, the unregistered ADSs, the warrants and underlying ADSs may not be offered or sold in the United States except pursuant to an effective registration statement or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the Act and such applicable state securities laws. The Company also has agreed to amend certain warrants to purchase up to an aggregate of 600,000 ADSs of the Company that were issued in December 2021 by reducing the exercise prices from $20.00 per ADS to $5.50 pr ADS. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. About Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. (NYSE American: CANF) (TASE: CANF) is an advanced clinical stage drug development Company with a platform technology that is designed to address multi-billion dollar markets in the treatment of cancer, liver, and inflammatory disease. The Companys lead drug candidate, Piclidenoson recently reported topline results in a Phase III trial for psoriasis. Can-Fites liver drug, Namodenoson, is being evaluated in a Phase IIb trial for the treatment of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), and enrollment is expected to commence in a Phase III trial for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common form of liver cancer. Namodenoson has been granted Orphan Drug Designation in the U.S. and Europe and Fast Track Designation as a second line treatment for HCC by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Namodenoson has also shown proof of concept to potentially treat other cancers including colon, prostate, and melanoma. CF602, the Companys third drug candidate, has shown efficacy in the treatment of erectile dysfunction. These drugs have an excellent safety profile with experience in over 1,500 patients in clinical studies to date. For more information please visit: www.can-fite.com. Forward-Looking Statements This press release may contain forward-looking statements, about Can-Fites expectations, beliefs or intentions regarding, among other things, its product development efforts, business, financial condition, results of operations, strategies or prospects, as well as statements relating to the concurrent registered direct offering and private placement, including, without limitation, as to the consummation of the offerings described above, the expected proceeds from the offerings, the intended use of proceeds and the timing of the closing of the offerings. All statements in this communication, other than those relating to historical facts, are forward looking statements. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as believe, expect, intend, plan, may, should or anticipate or their negatives or other variations of these words or other comparable words or by the fact that these statements do not relate strictly to historical or current matters. Forward-looking statements relate to anticipated or expected events, activities, trends or results as of the date they are made. Because forward-looking statements relate to matters that have not yet occurred, these statements are inherently subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause Can-Fites actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements include, among other things, market and other conditions, our history of losses and needs for additional capital to fund our operations and our inability to obtain additional capital on acceptable terms, or at all; uncertainties of cash flows and inability to meet working capital needs; the initiation, timing, progress and results of our preclinical studies, clinical trials and other product candidate development efforts; our ability to advance our product candidates into clinical trials or to successfully complete our preclinical studies or clinical trials; our receipt of regulatory approvals for our product candidates, and the timing of other regulatory filings and approvals; the clinical development, commercialization and market acceptance of our product candidates; our ability to establish and maintain strategic partnerships and other corporate collaborations; the implementation of our business model and strategic plans for our business and product candidates; the scope of protection we are able to establish and maintain for intellectual property rights covering our product candidates and our ability to operate our business without infringing the intellectual property rights of others; competitive companies, technologies and our industry; risks related to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine; risks related to not satisfying the continued listing requirements of NYSE American; and statements as to the impact of the political and security situation in Israel on our business. More information on these risks, uncertainties and other factors is included from time to time in the Risk Factors section of Can-Fites Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC on March 24, 2022 and other public reports filed with the SEC and in its periodic filings with the TASE. Existing and prospective investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. Can-Fite undertakes no obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by any applicable securities laws. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005589/en/ Can-Fite BioPharma Motti Farbstein [email protected] +972-3-9241114 Source: Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. Boeing (NYSE: BA) shares gained Wednesday after it was reported that the China Southern Airlines mobile app showed it has scheduled two Boeing 737 MAX flights for Friday. If the flights go ahead, they will be the first commercial services for the 737 MAX by a Chinese airline since their grounding in March 2019. The jets were declared safe to fly in October by the Chinese Civil Aviation Authority. Boeing shares are up more than 1% at the time of writing. The app shows that the flights scheduled are domestic, from the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou to Zhengzhou and then from Guangzhou to Wuhan. However, back in October, China Southern had scheduled flights with the 737 MAX before unexpectedly canceling on the day of departure. In March 2019, the 737 MAX was grounded after fatal crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia. However, it has since recently returned to service around the world other than in China and Russia. Even so, foreign airlines have been operating the planes in China since October 2022. By Sam Boughedda FILE PHOTO: An aircraft approaches to land at Miami International Airport after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it had slowed the volume of airplane traffic over Florida due to an air traffic computer issue, in Miami, Florida, U.S. January By David Shepardson, Rajesh Kumar Singh and Abhijith Ganapavaram WASHINGTON/CHICAGO (Reuters) -The U.S. aviation sector was struggling to return to normal on Wednesday after a nationwide ground stop imposed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) over a computer issue that forced a 90-minute halt to all U.S. departing flights. More than 10,000 flights have been delayed so far and over 1,300 canceled, according to FlightAware, in the first national grounding of flights in about two decades. Many industry officials compared the grounding to what occurred after the terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Major carriers, such as Southwest Airlines Co, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines, all reported 40% or more of flights Wednesday delayed or canceled, though airline officials expressed confidence that normal operations could largely return by Thursday. The FAA computer issue had prevented airports from filing updated safety notices that warn pilots of potential hazards such as runway closures, poor weather and construction, bringing flights to a temporary halt. FAA officials said a preliminary review traced the problem to a damaged database file, but added that there was no evidence of a cyberattack and that the investigation was continuing. The same file corrupted both the main system and its backup, said people familiar with the review, who asked not to be identified. FAA officials said they were working to "further pinpoint the causes" so the problem could be avoided in the future. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told CNN the ground stop was the "right call" to make sure messages were getting sent correctly and there was no direct evidence of cyberattack. The White House said President Joe Biden had confidence in Buttigieg. Buttigieg told reporters a backup system went into effect on Tuesday but questions were raised about the system's performance, which led to a complete reboot of the system and prompted the FAA to issue the ground stop about 7:30 a.m. EST (1230 GMT). It was lifted just before 9 a.m. EST. An FAA advisory said the system that provides so-called Notices to Air Missions with safety messages for pilots and others failed about 3:30 p.m. EST on Tuesday, which meant no new messages could be processed. The outage occurred at a typically slow time after the holiday travel season, but demand remains strong as travel continues to recover to near pre-pandemic levels. It could affect traffic through Friday, said Captain Chris Torres, vice president of the Allied Pilots Association. "This thing was lifted at 9 a.m. Eastern. That doesn't mean the problem stops at 9 a.m. This is going to cause ripple effects," said Torres, whose members fly for American Airlines. One issue airlines are facing is trying to get planes in and out of crowded gates, causing further delays. Crews' time-limit rules may also be a factor. At an airport in Greenville, South Carolina, Justin Kennedy abandoned a work trip to nearby Charlotte, North Carolina. He described confusion as airline employees and many passengers were initially unaware of the FAA's moves and flight delays. "I sat in a Chick-fil-A dining area that had a good view of the TSA exit," the 30-year-old information technology employee said. "I saw at least four people sprinting to gates because they thought they were going to miss their flight, only to come back to the food court, out of breath." 'CATASTROPHIC' FAILURE U.S. airline customers have few alternatives. Driving distances are too great, and the country's passenger rail network is thin compared with those in other countries. The U.S. Travel Association, which represents the travel industry including airlines, called the FAA system failure "catastrophic." The outage appeared to have limited impact on transatlantic routes. U.S. Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, a Democrat, said the panel would investigate. Republican Senator Ted Cruz called the failure "completely unacceptable." Shares of U.S. carriers rebounded after the market opened as flights resumed. The S&P 500 airlines index closed up 0.9%. An operational meltdown at Southwest at the end of last year stranded thousands. The DOT, FAA's parent agency, criticized Southwest's failures and pressured the airline to compensate passengers. Buttigieg on Wednesday rejected the suggestion the FAA should reimburse travelers for delays caused by the outage. The FAA suffered another significant computer issue on Jan. 2 that led to significant delays in Florida flights. Package delivery companies FedEx, United Parcel Service and DHL, which rely heavily on planes, said they faced minimal disruptions on Wednesday. Separately on Wednesday afternoon, air traffic control manager NAV Canada reported an outage of about 90 minutes in a similar messaging system used in Canada, but said the issue had not caused any flight delays. The agency said it did not believe its outage was related to the FAA one, but was investigating. Ria Malhotra, a 29-year-old resident physician from Weehawken, New Jersey, had been scheduled to fly from Newark to Las Vegas for a medical conference, but her flight was first delayed and then rescheduled. After this, she wonders how much she will fly. "I just don't want to deal with this process anymore because I feel like flight delays are more the norm than they are the exception to the rule," she said. (Reporting by Doina Chiacu and David Shepardson in Washington, Abhijith Ganapavaram in Bengaluru, Jamie Freed in Sydney and Rajesh Kumar Singh in ChicagoAdditional reporting by Nathan Gomes and Priyamvada C in Bengaluru, Allison Lampert in Montreal, Doyinsola Oladipo in Newark, New Jersey, Sinead Carew in New York, Ismail Shakil in Ottawa and Steve Holland in WashingtonWriting by Shailesh Kuber, Alexander Smith and Ben KlaymanEditing by Edmund Blair, Nick Zieminski, Matthew Lewis and Gerry Doyle) FILE PHOTO: American Airlines planes are seen at the Tampa International Airport as airports around the country are awaiting for Verizon and AT&T to rollout their 5G technology, in Tampa, Florida, U.S., January 19, 2022. REUTERS/Octavio Jones LONDON (Reuters) -U.S. flights were slowly beginning to resume departures and a ground stop was lifted after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) scrambled to fix a system outage overnight that forced a halt to all U.S. departing flights. Here's what we know so far: NUMBERS OF FLIGHTS: * A total of 4,314 flights were delayed within, into or out of the United States as of 1411 GMT, flight tracking website FlightAware showed, without specifying the cause of the delays * Another 758 flights within, into or out of the country were cancelled * Some 21,464 flights are scheduled to depart airports in the United States on Wednesday with a carrying capacity of nearly 2.9 million passengers, data from Cirium shows * American Airlines has the most departures from U.S. airports with 4,819 flights scheduled, followed by Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines, the Cirium data showed INTERNATIONAL: * The operator of Paris' international airports - Paris Charles de Gaulle and Orly - said it expects delays to flights. * Virgin Atlantic said some U.S. departures may be affected by the outage and asked customers due to travel on Wednesday to check their flight status. * Air France, Lufthansa, British Airways and Iberia, which are both owned by IAG, continue to operate flights to and from the United States as normal for now. * Iberia said it could operate with an alternative system, while the French airline said it was monitoring the situation. * Scandinavian airline SAS said it is not affected. It has one flight due to land in the United States later on Wednesday. (Reporting by Reuters; compiled by Josephine Mason; editing by Jason Neely and Conor Humphries) Newark, New Jersey, Jan. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AeroFarms, a Certified B Corporation and leader in indoor vertical farming, announced the expansion of its Community Farm program to bring year-round access to fresh and nutritious leafy greens to local settings like schools, corporate cafeterias, and community centers. This expansion of nine new farms addresses increased demand from customers for small indoor farming technology and marks the growth of AeroFarms equipment business. The AeroFarms Community Farm uses patented and proprietary aeroponic technology to bring the benefits of vertical farming directly to the community. The custom-built system empowers children and adults to participate in the full growing process from seed to salad, while experiencing the advantages of hyperlocal, sustainable food production and learning through science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) education. Along with the farm system, AeroFarms also provides a robust service package to Community Farm customers, which includes growing inputs like seeds and nutrients and support hours from AeroFarms expert team of scientists and specialists. Following COP27 [the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change] in November, the need for innovative solutions to address challenges to our climate and global food system is abundantly clear, said David Rosenberg, Co-Founder and CEO of AeroFarms. AeroFarms is committed to furthering its mission to grow the best plants possible for the betterment of humanity and empowering the next generation of scientists and innovators. Our Community Farm offering helps us achieve this mission, while also encouraging healthy eating habits and providing food access for underserved areas. From its large commercial farms in Newark, New Jersey, and Danville, Virginia, AeroFarms leads the way with smart, indoor vertical farming and services major retailers including Whole Foods Market, Walmart, The Fresh Market, and Ahold Delhaize, as well as food service partners like Baldor and Compass Group. AeroFarms leafy greens and microgreens are safe, nutritious, and flavorful and are grown using zero pesticides and up to 95% less water compared to a traditional field farm. As with its large commercial farms, AeroFarms Community Farm system uses less resources to grow a higher output of leafy greens in a faster time frame, elevating agriculture for people and planet. Building on these benefits, this month AeroFarms expanded its Community Farm program to key strategic partners in the greater Newark / New York City area. This expands on AeroFarms early work with Philips Academy Charter School (PACS), located in downtown Newark. AeroFarms started a partnership with PACS in 2011, where it installed a farm in the cafeteria to be used for STEAM education and supplement the schools food service offering. In 2016, Former First Lady Michelle Obama visited the PACS farm as part of a national tour to promote health and wellbeing. This month, in partnership with the Newark Public Schools (NPS), AeroFarms completed installations throughout the Newark Public School district, including at Central High School, George Washington Carver Elementary School, Sir Isaac Newton Elementary School, Thirteenth Avenue School, and Michelle Obama Elementary School. This program is part of the districts plans to advance science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) education for students in the District. The district continues to prioritize the health and wellness of our Newark Community through our continued partnership with AeroFarms, said Newark Superintendent Roger Leon. We are so grateful for the opportunity to provide fresh homegrown vegetables to our Newark Public School students, staff and families in our great city. Earlier this month, AeroFarms completed a training event for teachers at Michelle Obama Elementary School. As part of the schools Giving Tuesday event, the Tuesday following Thanksgiving, the students at Michelle Obama distributed 75 containers of AeroFarms healthy greens to families in their community. The AeroFarms Community Farm at the school will help advance its mission to empower students through community, health, and wellness initiatives. London V., a second grader at Michelle Obama said, I feel proud of myself because the plants grew that we planted and am excited to learn more about plants and eat the greens in our class. Growing also recently began at the Community Farm located at Thirteenth Avenue School, which is partnered with the I Have a Dream Foundation New Jersey, the local affiliate of a national nonprofit that works to close the achievement gap by providing academic enrichment, mentorship, and other support services to under-served and under-resourced communities. The farm at Thirteenth Avenue School will be used to support STEAM education and a new culinary arts program for students. This farm was made possible through a gift from Deloitte. Deloitte, which provides audit, consulting, tax, and advisory services to many of the worlds most admired brands, is also dedicated to making an impact that matters by creating trust and confidence in a more equitable society. This farm is one of three AeroFarms Community Farms that Deloitte has supported to help advance themes of sustainability and equity at schools in the New York / New Jersey area. A second farm will be installed at P.S. 85 The Great Expectations School in the Bronx, in collaboration with Wellness in the Schools, a national non-profit that teaches students healthy habits to learn and live better. Deloitte is proud to support AeroFarms Community Farm program, said Kwasi Mitchell, Chief Purpose Officer at Deloitte. Our organization strives to advance sustainable and equitable solutions, and we are proud to support a program that is dedicated to advancing health equity by offering hands-on learning and healthy food-access for students in need. Outside of the Newark Public School system, AeroFarms is also partnered with Riverdale Country School in the Bronx. Founded in 1907, Riverdale is a pre-K through grade 12 independent school committed to creating community in order to change our world for the good. Riverdale and AeroFarms are also collaborating to develop educational resources and tools that teachers can use to integrate AeroFarms technology into the classroom. We are so excited about this collaboration that will allow both students and teachers to not only understand the science of growing plants, but to experience it every day at the school, said Head of Riverdale Country School Dominic Randolph. This is what true learning is, connecting theory to practice in order to solve real-life problems. We are hopeful that we can help schools broadly to understand how AeroFarms is revolutionizing food production. The expansion of AeroFarms Community Farm business builds on the companys project with Jersey City and the World Economic Forums Healthy Cities and Communities 2030 Initiative. AeroFarms is working with Jersey City to deploy vertical farms throughout the City to increase individual and community health by providing access to healthy foods. We are excited to bring new partners into the AeroFarms network as we expand our efforts to bring healthy food and STEAM education to communities where this can best make a positive impact, said Jason Ginsberg, AeroFarms Chief of Staff and Director of Community Farms. This is just the beginning and were eager to work with prospective sponsors and organizations as we further scale our Community Farm program in the United States and abroad. About AeroFarms Since 2004, AeroFarms has been leading the way for indoor vertical farming and championing transformational innovation for agriculture. On a mission to grow the best plants possible for the betterment of humanity, AeroFarms is a Certified B Corporation with global headquarters in Newark, New Jersey. Named by Fast Company as one of the Worlds Most Innovative Companies and Brands That Matter and by TIME for Best Inventions in Food, AeroFarms patented, award-winning indoor vertical farming technology and Aeroponics Advantage provide the perfect conditions for healthy plants to thrive, taking agriculture to a new level of precision, food safety, and productivity while using up to 95% less water and no pesticides ever versus traditional field farming. AeroFarms is able to grow safely all year round, using vertical farming for elevated flavor. Its products can be found at major selling partners like Ahold Delhaize, Amazon Fresh, Baldor Specialty Foods, Compass Group, Harris Teeter, Marcus BP, Momofuku Noodle Bar, ShopRite, The Fresh Market, Walmart, Weee!, and Whole Foods Market. In addition, through its proprietary growing technology platform, AeroFarms has grown over 550 varieties of plants and has developed multi-year strategic partnerships ranging from government to major Fortune 500 companies to help uniquely solve agriculture supply chain needs. For additional information, visit: https://aerofarms.com/. About Deloitte Please see www.deloitte.com/us/about for a detailed description of Deloittes legal structure. Attachments Marc Oshima AeroFarms 9176734602 [email protected] Source: AeroFarms VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Algernon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (the Company or AGN Pharma) (CSE: AGN) (FRANKFURT: AGW0) (OTCQB: AGNPF), a Canadian clinical stage pharmaceutical development company, is pleased to announce that it has appointed Dr. Peter Dicpinigaitis MD, Professor of Medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, in New York, as a medical consultant to the Companys chronic cough research program. Dr. Dicpinigaitis will be advising the Company on its planned 180 patient, Phase 2b chronic cough study of NP-120 (Ifenprodil). Dr. Dicpinigaitis is board-certified in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Diseases and Critical Care Medicine. He is a faculty member of the Division of Critical Care Medicine at Montefiore Medical Center and is the founder and director of the Montefiore Cough Center, one of the few specialty centers in the world exclusively committed to the evaluation and management of patients with chronic cough. He received his undergraduate education at New York University (NYU) where he graduated summa cum laude with a degree in biochemistry. He obtained his medical degree from the NYU School of Medicine and remained at NYU-Bellevue for internal medicine residency training. He completed a fellowship in pulmonary & critical care medicine at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, immediately after which he came to Einstein/Montefiore. In addition to experience in all aspects of clinical medicine within the spectrum of pulmonary and critical care, a major focus of Dr. Dicpinigaitis' clinical research for over 25 years has been in the area of cough. He has authored numerous peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters on cough and is considered an authority on the performance of cough challenge studies in clinical research. He served as a co-author on cough management guidelines published by the American College of Chest Physicians as well as the European Respiratory Society and is the founder and chairman of the biannual American Cough Conference. Dr. Dicpinigaitis also serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the journal LUNG. We are very pleased that Dr. Dicpinigaitis has joined Algernon as a medical advisor, said Christopher J. Moreau, CEO of Algernon Pharmaceuticals. We look forward to working with him as we advance towards our upcoming Phase 2b chronic cough study of NP-120 (Ifenprodil). Chronic Cough Market According to Data Bridge Market Research analyses, the global chronic cough market was valued at USD $6.15 billion in 2021, and it will grow up to USD $11.38 billion by 2029. Merck & Co. obtained the rights to Gefapixant, a P2X3 receptor antagonist, as the lead asset in the acquisition of Afferent Pharmaceuticals in 2016. At the time, Gefapixant had interim data from a Phase 2b dose-escalation study in refractory chronic cough. The deal was worth up to USD $1.25B. Bellus Health which is advancing its own novel P2X3 receptor antagonist, BLU 5937, has a market cap of over USD $1.4B. About Chronic Cough Chronic cough is defined as a cough lasting for more than eight weeks in duration and in the United States cough continues to be one of the most common reasons that adults consult medical doctors. Some cases of chronic cough are so debilitating that quality of life is severely impacted leading to depression, anxiety, urinary incontinence, dysphonia, sleep interruption, vomiting, and even rib fractures further adding to the decay in socio-familial dynamics. Chronic cough is believed to be the result of a hypersensitivity of the cough reflex within the neuronal circuitry that governs the urge to cough, wherein one or more aspects that regulate cough are over-active to stimulus, triggering a cough at abnormal levels. Trials of antitussives have shown heterogeneity in response that may reflect differing pathological processes driving cough in different patients. Experimental antitussives often only engage a single receptor, while the overall cough response is governed by multiple receptors triggered by a large variety of stimuli. A compound acting centrally where all peripheral messages are sent and coordinated may achieve a better outcome than what has been achieved in clinical trials. About NP-120 (Ifenprodil) Ifenprodil selectively inhibits N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors containing the NR2B subunit. NMDA receptors are ion-channels found within the central and peripheral nervous system, including the area of the brain responsible for coordinating the cough reflex. They are highly implicated in events such as neuronal plasticity (strengthening of neural pathways) and excitotoxicity (neurotoxic cascade resulting in neuron death). By inhibiting NMDA receptors, Ifenprodil can diminish excitability of neurons and prevent the relaying of information along neuronal circuitry, including the cough reflex. Ifenprodil may also inhibit the neuroplastic enhancement of central and peripheral cough response neurons. About Algernon Pharmaceuticals Inc. Algernon Pharmaceuticals is a Canadian clinical stage drug development and repurposing company investigating multiple drugs for unmet global medical needs. Algernon Pharmaceuticals has active research programs for IPF with chronic cough, and chronic kidney disease, and is the parent company of a newly created private subsidiary called Algernon NeuroScience, that is advancing a psychedelic program investigating a proprietary form of psychedelic DMT for stroke. CONTACT INFORMATION Christopher J. MoreauCEOAlgernon Pharmaceuticals Inc.604.398.4175 ext 701 [email protected] [email protected]www.algernonpharmaceuticals.com. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. CAUTIONARY DISCLAIMER STATEMENT: No Securities Exchange has reviewed nor accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of this news release. This news release contains forward-looking statements relating to product development, licensing, commercialization and regulatory compliance issues and other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as will, may, should, anticipate, expects and similar expressions. All statements other than statements of historical fact, included in this release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Companys expectations include the failure to satisfy the conditions of the relevant securities exchange(s) and other risks detailed from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulations. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company will update or revise publicly any of the included forward-looking statements as expressly required by applicable law. Source: Algernon Pharmaceuticals Tarrytown, New York, Jan. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ENT and Allergy Associates, LLP (ENTA) is proud to announce that, as of February 1, 2023, allergist/immunologist Misu Paul, MD will join its roster of over 300 ear, nose, throat, allergy and audiology specialists and sub-specialists. Dr. Misu Paul completed her medical degree at the Stony Brook School of Medicine in 2013 followed by her residency in Internal Medicine at the SUNY Stony BrookWinthrop University Hospital in Mineola, New York. She went on to complete her fellowship in Adult and Pediatric Allergy and Immunology at Baylor College of Medicine in 2021. Given her academic background, research experience, and fellowship training, Dr. Paul is enthusiastic to deliver comprehensive care for adult and pediatric patients with a wide variety of allergic and immunologic conditions including asthma, environmental allergies, sinus disease, atopic dermatitis (eczema), urticaria (hives), contact dermatitis (skin allergy), food allergy, and drug allergy. Dr. Paul is board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and the American Board of Allergy and Immunology. She has conducted research on a variety of topics, which she has presented at local and national meetings. Dr. Paul is active in the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology and the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. She is also fluent in Bengali, (semi) Hindi, and English. Dr. Paul looks forward to developing meaningful and lasting relationships with her patients and their families. In Bay Ridge, Dr. Paul will work side-by-side with otolaryngologists Ramez Habib, MD, Christopher Song, MD, and Wesley Davidson, MD. In Dyker Heights, she will join otolaryngologists Leon Chen, MD and Wayne Chung, MD. The group is also excited to announce that with the arrival of Dr. Paul in Bay Ridge, Ratika Gupta, MD, who joined ENTA in 2019, will be moving full-time to the groups clinical location in Woodbridge, NJ. Shaan Waqar, MD who has served as the allergist in Woodbridge, NJ since 2018 will be relocating to the practices clinical location in Plainview, NY. Each ENTA clinical site offers highly specialized services from allergy testing, allergy treatments, asthma treatments, to immunotherapy. The groups allergists work hand-in-hand with their ENT specialists to provide patients with the most comprehensive, state-of-the-art medical care. Many of the common disorders that are treated by ear, nose, and throat specialists can be symptoms of allergic diseases. ENTAs otolaryngologists and allergists work together as a team to provide faster diagnosis and comprehensive treatment plans, so that patients benefit from this close collaboration. Prashant Ponda, MD, Board Member and Chair of ENTAs Allergy Division, noted, We are delighted to have someone of Dr. Pauls training and credentials join our team. We pride our allergy group on its ability to provide patients with the highest level of medical care, and I am certain Dr. Paul will deliver to that standard. Robert Glazer, ENTAs Chief Executive Officer, adds Having Dr. Paul come on board with the immediate flexibility to serve patient needs at a number of different clinical locations is a huge bonus to ENTA. Our practice and the many patients we serve will clearly benefit from Dr. Pauls extensive knowledge in the field of Allergy and Immunology. We feel very fortunate to have such an exceptional specialist working on our team and we welcome her to our practice and our community. To learn more about ENTA, find a local office or book an appointment, visit www.entandallergy.com or call 1-855-ENTA-DOC. About ENT and Allergy Associates LLP: ENT and Allergy Associates, LLP (ENTA) is the largest ENT, Allergy, and Audiology practice in the country, with over 300 providers practicing in over 55 clinical locations throughout New York and New Jersey. Each ENTA clinical office is comprised of world-class physicians who are specialists and sub-specialists in their respective fields, providing the highest level of expertise and care. With a wide range of services including Adult and Pediatric ENT and Allergy, Voice and Swallowing, Advanced Sinus and Skull Base Surgery, Facial Plastics and Reconstructive Surgery, Treatment of Disorders of the Inner Ear and Dizziness, Asthma-related services, Diagnostic Audiology, Hearing Aid Dispensing, Sleep and CT Services, ENTA Is able to meet the needs of patients of all ages. ENTA is also affiliated with some of the most prestigious medical institutions in the world, including The Mount Sinai Hospital, Montefiore Medical Center, Northwell Health and Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center. Each year ENTA physicians are voted Top Doctor by Castle Connolly, a true testament to the exceptional care and service they provide to their patients. Attachment Jason Campbell ENT and Allergy Associates, LLP 9149842531 [email protected] Source: ENT & Allergy Associates TORONTO, Jan. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BlackRock Asset Management Canada Limited (BlackRock Canada), an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of BlackRock, Inc. (BlackRock) (NYSE: BLK) today announced that effective on January 12, 2023, the annual management fees of the following iShares exchange-traded funds (iShares Funds) will change as follows: Name Ticker Current Management Fee(1) New Management Fee(1) iShares Floating Rate Index ETF XFR 0.20% 0.12% iShares Premium Money Market ETF CMR 0.25% 0.12% iShares Core S&P 500 Index ETF (CAD-Hedged) XSP 0.09%(2) 0.08%(2) iShares Core S&P 500 Index ETF XUS,XUS.U 0.09%(2) 0.08%(2) (1) As an annualized percentage of the iShares Funds daily net asset value.(2) If applicable, BlackRock Canada or an affiliate is entitled to receive a fee for acting as manager of each iShares ETF in which this iShares Fund may invest (an underlying product fee and together with the management fee payable to BlackRock Canada, the total annual fee). As the underlying product fees are embedded in the market value of the iShares ETFs in which this iShares Fund may invest, any underlying product fees are borne indirectly by this iShares Fund. BlackRock Canada will adjust the management fee payable to it by this iShares Fund to ensure that the total annual fees paid directly or indirectly to BlackRock Canada and its affiliates by this iShares Fund will not exceed the percentage of the NAV set out above. The total annual fee is exclusive of HST. Any underlying product fees borne indirectly by this iShares Fund are calculated and accrued daily and are paid not less than annually. There are no changes to the investment objectives of the iShares Funds. Current unitholders in the iShares Funds are not required to take any actions as a result of these changes. About BlackRock BlackRocks purpose is to help more and more people experience financial well-being. As a fiduciary to investors and a leading provider of financial technology, we help millions of people build savings that serve them throughout their lives by making investing easier and more affordable. For additional information on BlackRock, please visit www.blackrock.com/corporate. About iShares iShares unlocks opportunity across markets to meet the evolving needs of investors. With more than twenty years of experience, a global line-up of 900+ exchange-traded funds and US$2.62 trillion in assets under management as of September 30, 2022, iShares continues to drive progress for the financial industry. iShares funds are powered by the expert portfolio and risk management of BlackRock. iShares ETFs are managed by BlackRock Asset Management Canada Limited. Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with investing in iShares ETFs. Please read the relevant prospectus before investing. The funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated. Tax, investment and all other decisions should be made, as appropriate, only with guidance from a qualified professional. Contact for Media: Reem Jazar Email: [email protected] Source: BlackRock Asset Management Canada Limited Seattle, Jan. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Built In today announced that Xealth, the leader in enabling digital health at scale, was honored as number 24 in its 2023 Best Places To Work Awards. The annual awards program includes companies of all sizes, from startups to those in the enterprise, and honors both remote-first employers as well as companies in large tech markets across the U.S. Xealth was built around a mission to better improve healthcare for everyone by enabling doctors and patients to easily access digital health tools that are relevant, timely and targeted, said Mike McSherry, CEO and co-founder of Xealth. Our team has worked hard to drive that mission forward with a sense of camaraderie and commitment that makes Xealth unique. Were thrilled to be recognized for the culture we have built and nurtured. Built In determines the winners of Best Places to Work based on an algorithm, using company data about compensation and benefits. To reflect the benefits candidates are searching for more frequently on Built In, the program also weighs criteria like remote and flexible work opportunities, programs for DEI and other people-first cultural offerings. Its my honor to congratulate this years Best Places to Work winners, says Sheridan Orr, Chief Marketing Officer, Built In. These exemplary companies understand their people are their most valuable asset, and theyve stepped up to meet the modern professionals new expectations, including the desire to work for companies that deliver purpose, growth and inclusion. These winners set the stage for a human-centered future of work, and we cant wait to see that future unfold. ABOUT BUILT IN Built In is creating the largest platform for technology professionals globally. Monthly, millions of the industrys most in-demand professionals visit the site from across the world. They rely on our platform to stay ahead of tech trends and news, learn skills to accelerate their careers and find opportunities at companies whose values they share. Built In also serves 2,000 customers, innovative companies ranging from startups to those in the Fortune 500. By putting their stories in front of our uniquely engaged audience, we help them hire otherwise hard-to-reach tech professionals. www.builtin.com ABOUT BUILT INS BEST PLACES TO WORK Built Ins esteemed Best Places to Work Awards, now in its fifth year, honor companies across numerous categories: 100 Best Places to Work, 50 Best Startup Places to Work, 100 Best Midsize Places to Work, 100 Best Large Places to Work and Editors Choice: 100 Best Hybrid Places to Work. The program honors companies remote, hybrid and in-office with the best total rewards packages across the U.S. and in the following tech hubs: Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Colorado, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington DC. ABOUT XEALTH Xealth scales digital health programs, enabling clinicians to integrate, prescribe and monitor digital health tools for patients to drive engagement and utilization. Through the secure Xealth platform, clinicians can find and order the right digital health tools and programs for patients directly from the EHR workflow, send these digital health orders to the patients email or patient portal, and then monitor activity. Xealth spun out of Providence St. Joseph Health (PSJH) in 2017, and investors include Advocate Aurora Enterprises, Atrium Health, Cleveland Clinic, MemorialCare Innovation Fund, Cerner, McKesson Ventures, Novartis, Philips, and ResMed as well as Providence Ventures, UPMC and the Froedtert and Medical College of Wisconsin Health Network. For more information, visit www.xealth.com or follow us on LinkedIn or Twitter. Cynthia Church Xealth 304-771-5755 [email protected] Source: Xealth MONTREAL and NEW YORK, Jan. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Coveo (TSX: CVO), a leader in AI-powered relevance platforms that transform search, recommendations, personalization, and merchandising within digital experiences, today announced the release of the new Coveo Merchandising Hub. Designed to empower merchandisers to create personalized experiences that convert, the Hub provides a comprehensive feature set that enables brands to deliver a highly relevant shopping journey that helps to build loyalty and increase profitability. Coveo will showcase the Merchandising Hub at the NRF 2023 Retails Big Show, held January 15-17, 2023, in New York City. The Merchandising Hub features a highly intuitive interface that enables merchandising teams to drive value by quickly operationalizing campaigns, gaining insight on revenue opportunities, customizing product discovery, creating recommendation strategies for different audiences and geographies at scale, and other revenue driving tactics without relying on IT. Innovative AI allows teams to experiment, learn, and optimize online store performance. The technology powering the Coveo Merchandising Hub is the culmination of Coveos October 2021 acquisition of Qubit, a London-based company that provided AI-powered personalization technology for fashion brands and retailers. The integration of Qubits technology into the Coveo Relevance Cloud platform enables Coveo to offer a more comprehensive commerce product discovery suite. The acquisition of Qubit was critical to our ability to expand the functionality of the Coveo Relevance Cloud and to offer the first comprehensive suite of tools designed solely for merchandisers, said Laurent Simoneau, Co-Founder, President, and CTO at Coveo. The Coveo Merchandising Hub will help brands to overcome current challenges by modernizing the merchandising function. By using its valuable insights, it guides strategic decision-making - helping to create more value and increase profitability by optimizing and refining the customer shopping experience. The Coveo Merchandising Hub includes an array of easy to use features and provides detailed insights on how shoppers interact with retailers product catalogs, enabling merchandisers to quickly adapt and deploy the winning strategies to optimize campaigns and revenue per visit, boost specific products for revenue, and showcase higher-margin products. AI and merchandising innovations include: 1:1 Personalized Search Results: Delivers highly relevant and personalized product rankings in real-time based on shopper intent, without the need for high volumes of data, pre-defined persona segments, or logged-in user profiles. Delivers highly relevant and personalized product rankings in real-time based on shopper intent, without the need for high volumes of data, pre-defined persona segments, or logged-in user profiles. Intelligent Facet Generator: Helps retailers with large and complex product catalogs that may span thousands of product attributes. With the Facet Generator, customers see the most relevant filtering options for each search query, reducing friction and improving conversion. Helps retailers with large and complex product catalogs that may span thousands of product attributes. With the Facet Generator, customers see the most relevant filtering options for each search query, reducing friction and improving conversion. Product Listings Manager: Allows merchandisers to easily manage product rankings on listing pages with an intuitive visual editor. Merchandisers benefit from the power of AI while being able to tailor results for specific objectives such as boosting special promo brands. Allows merchandisers to easily manage product rankings on listing pages with an intuitive visual editor. Merchandisers benefit from the power of AI while being able to tailor results for specific objectives such as boosting special promo brands. Personalized Content: Enables merchandisers to rapidly deploy campaigns and promotional content at any point in the customer journey with a simple drag-and-drop capability. Enables merchandisers to rapidly deploy campaigns and promotional content at any point in the customer journey with a simple drag-and-drop capability. Advanced Decisioning Recommendations: Provides merchandisers with accessible insights and controls for recommendations and audience prioritization so that they can explicitly layer business logic on top of AI. These strategies scale for multiple regions, catalogs, and audiences. Provides merchandisers with accessible insights and controls for recommendations and audience prioritization so that they can explicitly layer business logic on top of AI. These strategies scale for multiple regions, catalogs, and audiences. Product Badging: Simplifies product badging for merchandisers and makes it very simple to create complex decisioning logic. Real-time data allows it to effectively scale for any type of strategy from social proofing to scarcity and urgency badging. We believe the Merchandising Hub is a game changer for merchandisers, said Brian McGlynn, General Manager of Commerce Solutions at Coveo. Their world today in many cases is defined by thousands of manual rules. Now with 1:1 personalization and automatic facet generation, they can let AI do the heavy lifting and use their skills to experiment and make a much more powerful impact. Coveo customer Kurt Geiger, a leading London-based footwear and accessories retailer powered by creativity and kindness, and a recent silver winner in the Fashion/Apparel or Footwear category at the UK Ecommerce Awards, relies on Coveos AI-led 1:1 personalization to deliver customer experiences that make every shopper journey feel authentic. Working with Qubit and now Coveo has been tremendously rewarding, said Gareth Rees-John, Chief Digital Officer at Kurt Geiger. With social proof experiences alone, we achieved 11 times our return on investment. Their continual innovation has enabled us to provide better and increasingly more relevant shopping journeys to our global customer base. We look forward to exploring the new capabilities of the Coveo Merchandising Hub. Visit Coveo at NRF 2023 in booth #209 to hear more about the Merchandising Hub and see a demo. For more information: Coveo @ NRF. About Coveo SolutionsWe believe that relevance is critical for businesses to win in the new digital experience economy and to serve people the way they expect while ensuring optimal business performance, and that applied AI is an imperative to achieve these goals. Coveo is a market-leading AI-powered relevance platform that injects search, recommendations, personalization, and merchandising intelligence into digital experiences such as commerce, service, website, and workplace applications. Coveos platform is cloud-native SaaS, multi-tenant, API-first, and headless, and can easily integrate into almost any digital experience. Our solutions are designed to provide tangible financial value to our customers by helping to drive improvements in conversion, revenue, and margins, reduce customer support costs, increase customer satisfaction and website engagement, and improve employee proficiency and satisfaction. Our AI platform powers digital experience relevance for many of the worlds most innovative brands, serving millions of people and billions of interactions, and is supported by a large network of global systems integrators and implementation partners. Coveo is a Salesforce ISV Partner, a Global SAP CX Partner, and an Adobe Accelerate Exchange Partner. Stay up to date on the latest Coveo news and content by subscribing to the Coveo blog, and following Coveo on LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube. Media ContactHighwire PRCoveo[email protected]+1 418-263-1111 Source: Coveo Solutions Inc. BRISBANE, Australia, Jan. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Allkem Limited (ASX|TSX: AKE) (Allkem or the Company) will release its December Quarter Activities Report on Wednesday, 18 January 2023. Managing Director and CEO, Mr. Martin Perez de Solay and Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, Christian Barbier will conduct a live webcast briefing at 10:00 am AEDT (Sydney, Melbourne) on the same day. To pre-register your details and join the webcast briefing, please follow the link on the homepage of Allkems website, www.allkem.co. Written questions may be submitted via the webcast and playback of the briefing and Q&A session will also be available on the companys website. This release was authorised by Mr Martin Perez de Solay, CEO and Managing Director of Allkem Limited. Allkem Limited Investor Relations & Media Enquiries Connect ABN 31 112 589 910 Andrew Barber M: +61 418 783 701 E: [email protected] [email protected] Level 35, 71 Eagle StBrisbane, QLD 4000 +61 7 3064 3600www.allkem.co Source: Allkem Limited DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Jan. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FURA Gems announced today it had initiated the certification process with the RJC, demonstrating its commitment to responsible business practices. The project will be headed by Mazars Switzerland, which will accompany FURA Gems and all its operating mining locations in Colombia for emeralds, Mozambique for rubies, and Australia for sapphire through the process of RJC preparation. FURA has already registered its Australian location with RJC, and FURA will now look to expand the certification for the group and all its operating sites. With Mazar's support, FURA will target to complete the certification process on or before December 31, 2023, for all its operating locations. The certification with RJC is part of the ambitious ESG strategy deployed by FURA since its foundation in 2017. Earlier last year, FURA announced the partnership with Gubelin to provide traceability for all its stones through the Provenance Proof Blockchain. RJC Certification marks an additional important step towards achieving FURA's ambitious ESG goals. "This is a strong statement from our side, as we launch certification of all our mines producing emeralds, rubies and sapphires," says Dev Shetty, Founder & CEO of FURA Gems. "The certification process will enable us to formalize our commitment since our foundation: to provide the jewellery market with traceable, sustainably sourced colour gemstones. To achieve this, we have identified Mazars as the ideal partner to conduct the process throughout our production sites and at the headquarters level. Mazars offers the ideal combination of regional expertise and global perspective, enabling us to conduct the project with the greatest level of competencies & professionalism." Franck Paucod, Partner at Mazars, explains, "We are thrilled to accompany FURA Gems through the demanding process of RJC COP Certification. Conducting the project for the three (3) mines simultaneously shows FURA's commitment to responsible mining. We are confident that with our experiences in the gems and jewellery sector, we will be able to support FURA with its commitment to building the solid framework to achieve the RJC certification. ABOUT FURA GEMS FURA Gems Inc. is a coloured gemstone mining and marketing company established in 2017. Headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, FURA has over 1,200 employees across continents. It is the first pioneering, creative and ethical enterprise to cover the entire spectrum of coloured gemstones. It operates three mining subsidiaries in Colombia, Mozambique, and Australia that mines emeralds, rubies, and sapphires. FURA also initiated its exploration program in Madagascar for sapphire mining. It is the fastest-growing coloured gemstone mining company to ensure the stability and traceability of ethically mined coloured gemstones from rough to retail. ABOUT MAZARS Mazars is an internationally integrated partnership, specialising in audit, accountancy, advisory, tax and legal services. Operating in over 90 countries and territories around the world, Mazars draws on the expertise of more than 44,000 professionals to assist clients of all sizes at every stage in their development. Mazars Switzerland is specialised in the watch & jewellery industry. Mazars can either accompany clients throughout the RJC Code of Practice COP certification preparation and registration which is the case for FURA Gems or perform audits for the certification of companies in conformity of the RJC COP. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/80695a84-8e96-48d7-a21d-6548f0e035e7 FURTHER INFORMATION Gianluca Maina, Marketing Director, FURA Gems, [email protected] Franck Paucod, Partner, Mazars SA, [email protected] FURA Gems Ruby, Emerald and Sapphire from FURA Gems Source: Fura Gems Inc. DMCC CALIFORNIA, Newport Beach, Jan. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Galexxy Holdings Inc., (Galexxy) (OTC: GXXY) is pleased to announce that its 100% owned subsidiary, Wellbeing Farms LLC, (WellBeing, WBF) has executed an exclusive Supply Agreement with AMM Distributors Inc., (AMM). This product Supply Agreement supports WBFs recently signed lease agreement in December 2022 for 40 Smart Vending Kiosks being installed in licensed outlets in the Chicago area. The Smart Kiosks which have advanced software and age verification capability will offer a range of CBD products including gummies, vapes and tinctures. Under the terms of this Supply Agreement, Wellbeing has retained the right to stock 50% of each Kiosks vending capacity for direct retail sales of its own Wellbeing Farms house brand, at full profit margin. Product sales from these first 40 units are projected to average approximately $90,000 per month and subject to satisfactory overall performance, AMM has indicated they have an established cliental and sizable network to place large Smart Kiosk orders. Early discussions around their new business pipeline, targets a potential need for more than 10,000 kiosks in the medium term. Management is also in discussion with several other potential customers who have a very strong likelihood of ordering a further 1,000 Kiosks. Michael Biagi, WBFs CEO stated that; We believe were at the forefront of Functional Mushroom - CBD formulated products. Were excited to combine these uniquely differentiated products into our exciting smart Kiosk marketing plan to meet growing consumer demand for easier and more convenient access to specialty supplements. Headquartered in Newport Beach, California with manufacturing facilities in Murietta, California, Galexxys shares are publicly traded on the OTC Markets (OTC: GXXY). Galexxy entered the rapidly developing markets for premium natural plant-based consumer health supplement products in April 2021 and completed its acquisition of Wellbeing Farms LLC., on August 4, 2022 and purchased 69% of ABC Wholesale Products LLC., on August 12, 2022. Galexxy Holdings Inc.Iain SaulE: [email protected] M: (801) 243 9570 Forward-Looking InformationThis press release contains forward-looking information and forward-looking statements (collectively, statements). 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 press release. www.wellbeingfarms.com Source: Galexxy Holdings Inc. TORONTO, Jan. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Golconda Gold Ltd. (Golconda Gold or the Company) (TSX-V: GG; OTCQB: GGGOF) continued its progression in 2022 to meet its goal of becoming a long-life and low-cost operation that can produce positive returns for investors across commodity cycles. 1. Produced 9,979 ounces of gold at Galaxy in 2022(1), a 20% increase on 2021 production demonstrating the progress made on unlocking the significant value contained in the Galaxy resource. Despite the operational challenges encountered during the year associated with unprecedented rainfall and resultant flooding and lower than budgeted equipment availabilities, Galaxy still delivered significant production growth year on year. 2. Completed the sale of Mupane Gold Mining Proprietary Limited (Mupane) to Hawks Mining Company Proprietary Limited. The completion of the sale removed US$17.3 million of liabilities from the Companys balance sheet. Mupane had been the cornerstone of the Company for the previous 11 years but was at a point where it needed to transition to be a smaller producer and required significant capital investment. The sale of Mupane has transformed the Companys balance sheet and freed up capital and management time to invest in both Galaxy and Summit which are expected to provide a greater return on capital(2).3. Signed and commenced deliveries under a new offtake agreement for the Galaxy operation with Ocean Partners UK Limited and an associated unsecured US$3 million revolving finance facility. The new offtake agreement incorporates a higher payable percentage for the gold content in the Companys concentrate. For example, at a production level of 25,000 ounces per annum at US$1,800 per ounce gold price generates US$1.4 million more revenue when compared with the Companys previous offtake agreement.4. Repayment of the Barak US$5 million secured facility. Coupled with the sale of Mupane this has created a much-improved balance sheet that the Company can leverage to finance expansion at Galaxy and the restart of Summit(2).5. Produced an updated Preliminary Economic Assessment of the Summit Mine and Banner Mill in New Mexico(3). Based on a gold price of US$1,850 and silver price of US$22 per ounce the assessment showed the following results: A 7-year mine life; Average annual production of: 9,500 ounces of gold 444,000 ounces of silver 14,700 ounces of gold equivalent production; Life-of-mine capital cost of US$13.4 million; Peak funding requirement of US$8.2 million; Project payback in 26 months; Pre-tax NPV (5%) of US$66.4 million; and All-in sustaining cash cost of US$864 per ounce of gold. 6. Mining of the total footprint of the Galaxy Ore Body at 22 level generated 29% more ounces than forecasted(4). It was expected, from the mine plan included in the Galaxy Technical Report (as defined below), that the Company would mine 12,342 tonnes to complete the footprint at a grade of 2.66 grams per tonne (g/t), with a cut-off grade of 1.4 g/t, for 1,056 ounces. The Company actually mined 11,874 tonnes at a grade of 3.56 g/t for 1,359 ounces, an increase of 33.8% on grade and 28.7% in ounces. The total Galaxy measured and indicated resource according to the Galaxy Technical Report, was approximately 3.0 million tonnes at 2.64 g/t containing 254,241 ounces as of December 31, 2021. 7. Renamed the Company to Golconda Gold. The new name more accurately represents the Company going forward following the disposal of Mupane and the transformation of the Companys balance sheet. The Company believes the new name will make it clear to current and future stakeholders that the Company is concentrating on progressing both Galaxy and the Summit Mine and Banner Mill and unlocking their inherent value. Nicholas Brodie, CEO of Golconda Gold, commented As a Company we have been clear in our overriding goal of becoming a long-life and low-cost operator and we continue to ensure that this is core to our decision-making process. We reached the end of 2022 having made some giant strides towards reaching our goals. To transform our balance sheet, increase our revenue, repay all our secured debt removing the security over our assets, provide a very positive economic outlook for Summit and outperform the modelled resource at Galaxy has given us a tremendous platform to start 2023 on. We intend to keep travelling in the same direction and hope that 2023 will be as full of important, transformational steps to achieving our goals(2). About Golconda Gold Golconda Gold is an un-hedged gold producer and explorer with mining operations and exploration tenements in South Africa and New Mexico. Golconda Gold is a public company and its shares are quoted on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol GG and the OTCQB under the symbol GGGOF. Golconda Golds management team is comprised of senior mining professionals with extensive experience in managing mining and processing operations and large-scale exploration programmes. Golconda Gold is committed to operating at world-class standards and is focused on the safety of its employees, respecting the environment, and contributing to the communities in which it operates. Notes: (1) All information herein is subject to change based on the reported audited annual financial results, expected to be reported no later than May 1, 2023.(2) This is forward-looking information and is based on a number of assumptions. See Cautionary Notes.(3) The PEA is an update of the economic model provided by Waterton Precious Metals Fund II Cayman, the previous owner of Summit, to the Company with an effective date of September 17, 2014, which was included in the "Technical Report, Preliminary Economic Assessment, Summit Gold-Silver Project, Grant and Hidalgo Counties, New Mexico", prepared by Douglas F. Irving, P.E., Susan C. Bird, P.Eng., and Tracey D. Meintjes, P. Eng. of Chapman, Wood and Griswold, Inc. in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The PEA has been updated by the creation of a new mine plan, updated costings, revised off-take terms and updated metal prices. The updated PEA is preliminary in nature, and includes inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves. There is no certainty that the updated PEA will be realized. Please see the Companys press release dated June 27, 2022 for further details.(4) The deposits at the Galaxy mine are supported by a technical report entitled NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Galaxy Gold Mine, South Africa which was issued on July 3, 2020 (the Galaxy Technical Report), with an effective date of June 29, 2020, a copy of which is available under the Companys profile on www.sedar.com. The Galaxy Technical Report was prepared by Minxcon (Pty) Ltd and approved by Mr. Uwe Engelmann, BSc (Zoo. & Bot.), BSc Hons (Geol.) Pr.Sci.Nat., MGSSA, and Mr. Daniel (Daan) van Heerden, B Eng (Min.), MCom (Bus. Admin.), MMC, Pr.Eng., FSAIMM, AMMSA, both qualified persons as defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101), and independent of the Company for the purposes of NI 43-101. The preliminary economic assessment (PEA) supported by the Galaxy Technical Report is preliminary in nature as the resources included in the PEA are comprised 54% of inferred mineral resources. Inferred mineral resources are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves. There is no certainty that the PEA will be realized. Cautionary Notes Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact contained in this press release, including, without limitation, those regarding the Companys ability to provide a greater return on capital at Galaxy and Summit, the Companys ability to finance an expansion at Galaxy and the restart of Summit, and the Companys future financial position and results of operations, strategy, proposed acquisitions, plans, objectives, goals and targets, and any statements preceded by, followed by or that include the words believe, expect, aim, intend, plan, continue, will, may, would, anticipate, estimate, forecast, predict, project, seek, should or similar expressions or the negative thereof, are forward-looking statements. These statements are not historical facts but instead represent only the Companys expectations, estimates and projections regarding future events. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve assumptions, risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual results may differ materially from what is expressed, implied or forecasted in such forward-looking statements. Additional factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially include, but are not limited to: the Companys dependence on two mineral projects; gold price volatility; risks associated with the conduct of the Companys mining activities in South Africa and New Mexico; regulatory, consent or permitting delays; risks relating to the Companys exploration, development and mining activities being situated in South Africa and New Mexico; risks relating to reliance on the Companys management team and outside contractors; risks regarding mineral resources and reserves; the Companys inability to obtain insurance to cover all risks, on a commercially reasonable basis or at all; currency fluctuations; risks regarding the failure to generate sufficient cash flow from operations; risks relating to project financing and equity issuances; risks arising from the Companys fair value estimates with respect to the carrying amount of mineral interests; mining tax regimes; risks arising from holding derivative instruments; the Companys need to replace reserves depleted by production; risks and unknowns inherent in all mining projects, including the inaccuracy of reserves and resources, metallurgical recoveries and capital and operating costs of such projects; contests over title to properties, particularly title to undeveloped properties; laws and regulations governing the environment, health and safety; the ability of the communities in which the Company operates to manage and cope with the implications of COVID-19; the economic and financial implications of COVID-19 to the Company; operating or technical difficulties in connection with mining or development activities; lack of infrastructure; employee relations, labour unrest or unavailability; health risks in Africa; the Companys interactions with surrounding communities and artisanal miners; the Companys ability to successfully integrate acquired assets; risks related to restarting production; the speculative nature of exploration and development, including the risks of diminishing quantities or grades of reserves; development of the Companys exploration properties into commercially viable mines; stock market volatility; conflicts of interest among certain directors and officers; lack of liquidity for shareholders of the Company; risks related to the market perception of junior gold companies; and litigation risk. Management provides forward-looking statements because it believes they provide useful information to investors when considering their investment objectives and cautions investors not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Consequently, all of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements and other cautionary statements or factors contained herein, and there can be no assurance that the actual results or developments will be realized or, even if substantially realized, that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on, the Company. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release and the Company assumes no obligation to update or revise them to reflect subsequent information, events or circumstances or otherwise, except as required by law. Information of a technical and scientific nature that forms the basis of the disclosure in the press release has been prepared and approved by Kevin Crossling Pr. Sci. Nat., MAusIMM. and former Business Development Manager for Golconda Gold, and a qualified person as defined by NI 43-101. Mr. Crossling has verified the technical and scientific data disclosed herein and has conducted appropriate verification on the underlying data. 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 please contact:Nick BrodieCEO, Golconda Gold Ltd.+ 44 7905 089878[email protected]www.GolcondaGold.com Source: Golconda Gold Ltd GUADALAJARA, Mexico, Jan. 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico, S.A.B. de C.V., (NYSE: PAC; BMV: GAP) (the Company or GAP) informs that today made a drawdown of Ps. 1.0 billion from a credit facility with Banco Nacional de Mexico, S.A., (Citibanamex), at an 18-month term. Interest will be payable monthly at a variable rate of TIIE-28 plus 30 basis points, and principal payment due upon maturity, without fees. Proceeds from this loan will be allocated towards the financing of capital investments purposes. Company Description Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico, S.A.B. de C.V. (GAP) operates 12 airports throughout Mexico s Pacific region, including the major cities of Guadalajara and Tijuana, the four tourist destinations of Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos, La Paz and Manzanillo, and six other mid-sized cities: Hermosillo, Guanajuato, Morelia, Aguascalientes, Mexicali and Los Mochis. In February 2006, GAPs shares were listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol PAC and on the Mexican Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol GAP. In April 2015, GAP acquired 100% of Desarrollo de Concessioner Aeroportuarias, S.L., which owns a majority stake in MBJ Airports Limited, a company operating Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, Jamaica. In October 2018, GAP entered into a concession agreement for the operation of the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston, Jamaica and took control of the operation in October 2019. This press release may contain forward-looking statements. These statements are statements that are not historical facts and are based on managements current view and estimates of future economic circumstances, industry conditions, company performance and financial results. The words anticipates, believes, estimates, expects, plans and similar expressions, as they relate to the company, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Statements regarding the declaration or payment of dividends, the implementation of principal operating and financing strategies and capital expenditure plans, the direction of future operations and the factors or trends affecting financial condition, liquidity or results of operations are examples of forward-looking statements. Such statements reflect the current views of management and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. There is no guarantee that the expected events, trends or results will actually occur. The statements are based on many assumptions and factors, including general economic and market conditions, industry conditions, and operating factors. Any changes in such assumptions or factors could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations. In accordance with Section 806 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and article 42 of the Ley del Mercado de Valores, GAP has implemented a whistleblower program, which allows complainants to anonymously and confidentially report suspected activities that June involve criminal conduct or violations. The telephone number in Mexico, facilitated by a third party that is in charge of collecting these complaints, is 01 800 563 00 47. The web site is www.lineadedenuncia.com/gap. GAPs Audit Committee will be notified of all complaints for immediate investigation. IR Contacts Saul Villarreal, Chief Financial Officer [email protected] Alejandra Soto, IRO and Corporate Finance Director [email protected] Gisela Murillo, Investor Relations [email protected] / +52-33-3880-1100 ext.20294 Source: Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico, S.A.B. de C.V. Declaracion local de la Union Europea sobre los acontecimientos recientes en el Peru. La delegacion de la Union Europea emite el siguiente comunicado junto a las embajadas de los Estados Miembros de la @UEenPeru : https://t.co/JM81JxXR4Q pic.twitter.com/PROQoqcKiD LOS ANGELES, Jan. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- High Art, a community collective aiming to revolutionize the art scene by amplifying diverse, emerging artists and creators, will host their second annual Our Angeles art show on Saturday, January 14. Curated by Enkrypt Los Angeles, the opening party will feature art, merchandise, live music, DJ sets, local food and drinks. "Con Safos y Amor" means "With Respect and Love." The Our Angeles team is honored to give back to the community by highlighting local creators, especially people of color, who traditional art institutions may otherwise pass over. Con Safos y Amor is an art exhibit celebrating the respect and love for our city and those who live in it. What ties this exhibit together is a call to capture cultural love and respect beautifully via all different art formats; the artists featured arent limited by the medium they use, whether a camera, paintbrush or moving picture. Event Details: Saturday, January 14, 6-11 p.m. Plaza de la Raza 3540 North Mission Road, Los Angeles, CA, 90031 Lot parking is available Providing quality arts education to Los Angeles students since 1970, Plaza de la Raza's School of Performing and Visual Arts is a nonprofit providing students across Los Angeles County with the opportunity to engage first-hand in the arts from courses in four major disciplines: visual art, dance, music, & theatre. Plaza de la Raza has opportunities for students of all ages, courses ranging from entry level to conservatory level, and free classes for qualifying low income families. 2023 is the second year that High Art has partnered with local artists, businesses, and makers to host an art show by Angelenos, for Angelenos. Organized by a passionate team of lifelong LA residents, this exhibit will highlight works celebrating what it means to be from Los Angeles. Director of Events Joselyn Lopez and co-founders Enkrypt Los Angeles and Sabas Carrillo, who is also the CEO of Adnant Consulting, grew up in Los Angeles. Enkrypt will be debuting a never-before-seen project at the event titled Graduation Day. Graduation Day is part one of a series documenting the rites of passage that shape who we are. Some call them taboos, some traditions, or simply the environment, which leads us to where we belong and who we will become. Enkrypt will take viewers inside the minds of those battling all that comes with navigating these enticing but challenging phases of life. This years Our Angeles show will feature a live performance by Cometta and DJ sets by Julian Ramirez, Lala, and Vick Jagger. The featured artists include Enkrypt Los Angeles, Carlos Jaramillo, Jayson Valencia, Mr. B Baby, Reverie, Yher, 3LA, Puppet Master 213, Scrappy Tattoos, Brandie Wedderburn, Daniel Hermosillo, El2Raw, Rack City Low Bikes, Pearmama, Ms. Yellow, Cat Donuts, Gavin Jones, and Jesse Fregozo. Delicious food, delightful drinks, and handcrafted merchandise will also be available, all created by proud Los Angelenos to celebrate the community and culture of the city they call home. Find more information about the event here. HighArt can be found online here and on Instagram here. Our Angeles can be found online here and on Instagram here. ABOUT THE COMPANY:High Art is an innovative collaboration of philanthropists and entrepreneurs founded to showcase upcoming artists and businesses from Los Angeles and surrounding areas. Founded to showcase female and POC artists and businesses in particular, High Art brings together art, community, and culture in a single, beautiful space. From pop-up art exhibits to large-scale shows and concerts, High Art challenges the traditional art gallery model showcasing the best visual and performing artists today in a space that complements the artwork itself. Art by Angelenos, for Angelenos thats High Art. Follow our latest endeavors on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook or visit our exhibit at ourangeles.com. MEDIA CONTACT: Joselyn Lopez High Art [email protected] 323-841-0046 Lucas Wentworth NisonCo Public Relations [email protected] Source: HighArt 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 [email protected] 1300 88 66 88 Related Images Image 1: Inspiring Vacations Inspiring Vacations This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. Attachment Inspiring Vacations Inspiring Vacations Source: Inspiring Vacations Wood Dale, Illinois, Jan. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AAR CORP. (NYSE: AIR), a leading provider of aviation services to commercial and government operators, MROs, and OEMs, today announced that John M. Holmes, President and Chief Executive Officer of AAR has been named Chairman of the Board of Directors following the retirement of David P. Storch, the Companys Chairman for 18 years. Holmes will continue as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company. Holmes joined AAR in 2001 as Director of Mergers and Acquisitions. In 2003, Holmes moved into operations, becoming General Manager of AARs Parts Supply business and progressively assuming responsibility of other businesses before being appointed as President and Chief Operating Officer in 2017. In 2018, he was named President and Chief Executive Officer of AAR, the third since the companys founding in 1955. Under Holmess leadership, AAR has achieved substantial growth in sales and profitability, while successfully navigating the Company through the COVID-19 pandemic. As Chairman, Holmes will focus on strategies to drive continued growth while maintaining the Companys strong culture and core values. Storch, the second of the Companys only three CEOs, has served as a member of the Board since 1989 and as Chairman of the Board of AAR since 2005. He retired as Chief Executive Officer in 2018. Under Storchs leadership, the Company grew to the leading independent provider of aviation services globally. Mr. Storch instilled a culture of integrity, quality, innovation, execution, customer focus, and entrepreneurship. These core values serve as a lasting foundation for the continued success and growth of AAR. About AARAAR is a global aerospace and defense aftermarket solutions company with operations in over 20 countries. Headquartered in the Chicago area, AAR supports commercial and government customers through two operating segments: Aviation Services and Expeditionary Services. Additional information can be found at aarcorp.com. Dylan Wolin AAR CORP. +1-630-227-2000 [email protected] Source: AAR Corp LOS ANGELES, Jan. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MetAlert, Inc. (OTC: MLRT), a pioneer in location sensitive health monitoring devices and wearable technology products for remote patient monitoring, has signed a Heads of Terms with Florida-based TrakTec LLC to acquire the location awareness technology company for $4.5 million in a cash and stock deal. TrakTec makes and sells affordable, scalable location awareness technology solutions for consumer, enterprise, and government applications. TrakTec operates iGPS Watches and SafetyNet Tracking Systems that offer a range of enhanced monitoring services. The iGPS products include the Wizard GPS Tracking Watch Phone, designed for children, and the Phoenix watch, a GPS-based smart wearable for seniors. The SafetyNet Bracelet is a radio-frequency identification (RFID) and Bluetooth-based tracking technology, supported through federal grants and utilized by police departments across the country, enabling police search and rescue for wandering seniors. TrakTec has commercially launched its products and has successfully built a consumer and enterprise subscriber base. We are extremely excited about the opportunity to acquire TrakTec, stated MetAlert CEO Patrick Bertagna. We see a lot of synergy and complimentary technology that will not only fit right in with our existing subscription business model but also help expand it. We expect to gain several benefits including additional revenues, subscribers, GPS devices for kids, and an RFID-based tracking product that is approved for federal grant funding, existing police contracts, and certain key hires. Short-term, this will grow our existing subscriber base, increase revenues, and expand our product offering. Longer term, we will have more capability to develop new products, grow the government and police department sales channels, have a sales and support presence on the East Coast, and accelerate the Companys growth as we work towards a possible 2023 up-list to a national exchange. There are several requirements to an up-list, such as having more independent directors, a stronger balance sheet, shareholder equity, etc., all of which this acquisition will help support. Dallas Vasquez, TrakTec CEO, commented, Our team is thrilled to join MetAlert. We see a tremendous amount of synergy between the two companies, and we expect to make a significant contribution and a positive impact starting on day one. We share a unified vision and passion and believe in a collective, far-reaching strategy and business model. Our products, technology, proven track record, and strong executive team will be complimentary in accelerating the MetAlert growth strategy. As per the Heads of Terms Agreement, the transaction is slated to close on or before March 17, 2023, pending completion of satisfactory due diligence and audits. The acquisition will include, but not be limited to: Active paying subscriber base Police department contracts Commercial ready tracking products Backend Platform and Mobile App Key hires including: Board Director Chief Technology Officer Head of Marketing Retired police chief and support staff MetAlert plans to seek advice from Joseph Gunnar & Co. LLC, a boutique investment banking, securities, and wealth management firm with headquarters in New York City, with regard to the acquisition. Mark Peikin, CEO of Joseph Gunnars Bespoke Advisors practice, said, We look forward to building our relationship with Patrick and the MetAlert team and we congratulate them on this important accomplishment. Mr Bertagna concluded, "We have a solid growth strategy and we look forward to completing the TrakTec acquisition and to welcoming their team to the MetAlert family. For all press or sales inquiries, please contact MetAlert at [email protected] About TrakTec LLC TrakTec is a leader in Location Awareness Technology for consumer and business applications. TrakTec has focused its efforts on transforming care and enhancing the Location Awareness Technology. About MetAlert, Inc.MetAlert (OTC: MLRT) and its subsidiaries are engaged in designing, developing, manufacturing, distributing, selling and licensing products, services and intellectual property in the GPS/BLE wearable technology, personal location, wandering assistive technology, and health data collection and monitoring. With over 20 years of experience and an extensive patent portfolio, MetAlert is a leading solution provider for consumers/patients afflicted with movement, cognitive an spatial awareness disorders. This market represents approximately 2.9% of the worlds population. The Company offers global end-to-end hardware, software, and connectivity solutions, in addition to developing two-way tracking technologies, which seamlessly integrate with consumer products, enterprise and government agency applications. Utilizing the latest in miniaturized, low power consumption GPS, Cellular, RF, NFC, and BLE technologies, enabling caregivers to track and monitor patients in real time. Known for its game-changing and award-winning patented GPS SmartSole -- think Dr. Scholls meets LoJack, the worlds first invisible wearable technology tracking device created for those at risk of wandering due to Alzheimers, dementia, autism, and traumatic brain injury. MetAlerts subscription-based business model is built around technology innovation with intellectual property protection. The company has international distributors servicing customers across the globe with subscribers in over 40 countries and is a U.S. Military Government contractor. Other customers include public health authorities, municipalities, emergency and law enforcement, private schools, assisted living facilities, NGOs, small business enterprises, senior care homes and consumers. www.MetAlert.com Social Media: FB: https://www.facebook.com/metalertincIG: https://www.instagram.com/metalert/?hl=enTwitter: https://twitter.com/metalertincLinked In: https://www.linkedin.com/company/metalertinc/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUlYP1WQoLdKkDzwhGkx40Q Forward-Looking StatementsThis news release contains forward-looking statements. The terms and phrases expects, would, will, believes, and similar terms and phrases are intended to identify these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on estimates and assumptions made by MetAlert considering its experience and perception of current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors that MetAlert believes are appropriate in the circumstances. Many factors could cause MetAlerts actual results, performance, or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Certain risk factors that may cause actual results to differ are outlined in MetAlerts Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (which may be obtained on the SEC Website). These factors should be considered carefully, and readers should not rely on MetAlerts forward-looking statements. MetAlert 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. Disclaimer: MetAlert does not warrant or represent that the unauthorized use of materials drawn from this document's content will not infringe the rights of third parties who are not owned or affiliated by MetAlert. Further, MetAlert cannot be held responsible or liable for the unauthorized use of this documents content by third parties unknown to the company. For general information, investor relations, wholesale licensing, and consumer purchase: MetAlert, Inc.Tel: 213.489.3019Email: [email protected] or [email protected] MetAlert United Kingdom, LondonNelson Skip RiddleTel: +44 7785 364100 Email: [email protected] Corporate Communications:InvestorBrandNetwork (IBN)Los Angeles, Californiawww.InvestorBrandNetwork.com 310.299.1717 Office[email protected] Source: MetAlert Inc. 264.00 g/t Au and 511.00 g/t Ag over 1.22 m (7.70 oz/t Au and 14.90 oz/t Ag over 4.00 ft.) in drilling 2,311.18 g/t Au and 1,146.46 g/t Ag over 2.29 m (67.41 oz/t Au and 33.44 oz/t Ag over 7.50 ft.) in underground chip sampling MONTREAL, Jan. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Osisko Development Corp. (NYSE: ODV, TSXV: ODV) ("Osisko Development" or the "Company") is pleased to announce drilling and underground chip sampling results from new development areas as part of its ongoing exploration program at its 100%-owned Trixie test mine ("Trixie"), within the Company's wider Tintic Project ("Tintic" or the "Tintic Project"), located in the historic East Tintic Mining District in central Utah, U.S.A. Chris Lodder, President of Osisko Development, commented, "Tintic continues to deliver high grade underground sampling and initial diamond drill results, as our exploration efforts expand the area of mineralization in and around Trixie, which remains open at depth and along strike. As we continue to drive development to reach deeper levels of Trixie beyond the main 625 level towards the end of 2023, we are excited to test exploration potential of target areas located adjacent to historic mine workings that have previously not been tested. Trixie is just one of four quality precious metal targets in our land package, and our greater understanding of the controls on the various styles of precious and base metal mineralization opens up years of potential exploration growth and excitement for our shareholders." UNDERGROUND CHIP SAMPLE ASSAY HIGHLIGHTS Assay highlights include underground chip samples from 114 new development faces at Trixie. A length-weighted composite for each face Site ID is presented in Table 1 and individual higher-grade samples are also identified within the composites. Samples are collected in feet ("ft.") and assays are reported in grams per tonne ("g/t") and troy ounce per short ton ("oz/t") gold ("Au") and silver ("Ag"). Conversions to metric and imperial measurements are rounded to two decimal places. Selected assay highlights include: 503.78 g/t Au and 2,586.22 g/t Ag over 3.35 meters (" m ") ( 14.69 oz/t Au and 75.43 oz/t Ag over 11.00 ft.) including 1,375.03 g/t Au and 6,994.86 g/t Ag over 1.22 m ( 40.11 oz/t Au and 204.02 oz/t Ag over 4.00 ft.) and 2,586.22 g/t Ag over 3.35 meters (" ") ( and 75.43 oz/t Ag over 11.00 ft.) including 1,237.85 g/t Au and 95.44 g/t Ag over 0.98 m ( 36.10 oz/t Au and 2.78 oz/t Ag over 3.20 ft.) including 2,637.71 g/t Au and 185.16 g/t Ag over 0.46 m ( 76.93 oz/t Au and 5.40 oz/t Ag over 1.50 ft.) and 95.44 g/t Ag over 0.98 m ( and 2.78 oz/t Ag over 3.20 ft.) including 1,700.62 g/t Au and 131.19 g/t Ag over 0.76 m ( 49.60 oz/t Au and 3.83 oz/t Ag over 2.50 ft.) including 3,539.06 g/t Au and 265.43 g/t Ag over 0.37 m ( 103.22 oz/t Au and 7.74 oz/t Ag over 1.20 ft.) and 131.19 g/t Ag over 0.76 m ( and 3.83 oz/t Ag over 2.50 ft.) including 3,901.32 g/t Au and 78.71 g/t Ag over 0.91 m ( 113.79 oz/t Au and 2.30 oz/t Ag over 3.00 ft.) including 7,765.62 g/t Au and 124.89 g/t Ag over 0.46 m ( 226.50 oz/t Au and 3.64 oz/t Ag over 1.50 ft.) and 78.71 g/t Ag over 0.91 m ( and 2.30 oz/t Ag over 3.00 ft.) including 1,468.70 g/t Au and 280.94 g/t Ag over 0.61 m ( 42.84 oz/t Au and 8.19 oz/t Ag over 2.00 ft.) and 280.94 g/t Ag over 0.61 m ( and 8.19 oz/t Ag over 2.00 ft.) 352.65 g/t Au and 446.22 g/t Ag over 4.57 m ( 10.29 oz/t Au and 13.01 oz/t Ag over 15.00 ft.) and 446.22 g/t Ag over 4.57 m ( and 13.01 oz/t Ag over 15.00 ft.) 335.08 g/t Au and 333.77 g/t Ag over 3.66 m ( 9.77 oz/t Au and 9.74 oz/t Ag over 12.00 ft.) and 333.77 g/t Ag over 3.66 m ( and 9.74 oz/t Ag over 12.00 ft.) 1,042.03 g/t Au and 498.82 g/t Ag over 2.87 m ( 30.39 oz/t Au and 14.55 oz/t Ag over 9.40 ft.) including 3,419.93 g/t Au and 1,587.57 g/t Ag over 0.82 m ( 99.75 oz/t Au and 46.30 oz/t Ag over 2.70 ft.) and 498.82 g/t Ag over 2.87 m ( and 14.55 oz/t Ag over 9.40 ft.) including 531.46 g/t Au and 648.34 g/t Ag over 2.59 m ( 15.50 oz/t Au and 18.91 oz/t Ag over 8.50 ft.) including 1,888.17 g/t Au and 2,942.92 g/t Ag over 0.46 m ( 55.07 oz/t Au and 85.84 oz/t Ag over 1.50 ft.) and 648.34 g/t Ag over 2.59 m ( and 18.91 oz/t Ag over 8.50 ft.) including 473.14 g/t Au and 1,371.28 g/t Ag over 2.90 m ( 13.80 oz/t Au and 40.00 oz/t Ag over 9.50 ft.) including 1,753.17 g/t Au and 5,095.23 g/t Ag over 0.76 m ( 51.13 oz/t Au and 148.61 oz/t Ag over 2.50 ft.) and 1,371.28 g/t Ag over 2.90 m ( and 40.00 oz/t Ag over 9.50 ft.) including 288.82 g/t Au and 249.84 g/t Ag over 6.10 m ( 8.42 oz/t Au and 7.29 oz/t Ag over 20.00 ft.) and 249.84 g/t Ag over 6.10 m ( and 7.29 oz/t Ag over 20.00 ft.) 1,470.35 g/t Au and 1,222.90 g/t Ag over 0.61 m ( 42.89 oz/t Au and 35.67 oz/t Ag over 2.00 ft.) and 1,222.90 g/t Ag over 0.61 m ( and 35.67 oz/t Ag over 2.00 ft.) 697.81 g/t Au and 731.43 g/t Ag over 2.74 m ( 20.35 oz/t Au and 21.33 oz/t Ag over 9.00 ft.) including 1,721.84 g/t Au and 1,816.49 g/t Ag over 0.91 m ( 50.22 oz/t Au and 52.98 oz/t Ag over 3.00 ft.) and 731.43 g/t Ag over 2.74 m ( and 21.33 oz/t Ag over 9.00 ft.) including 2,311.18 g/t Au and 1,146.46 g/t Ag over 2.29 m ( 67.41 oz/t Au and 33.44 oz/t Ag over 7.50 ft.) including 5,524.28 g/t Au and 2,673.83 g/t Ag over 0.91 m ( 161.12 oz/t Au and 77.99 oz/t Ag over 3.00 ft.) and 1,146.46 g/t Ag over 2.29 m ( and 33.44 oz/t Ag over 7.50 ft.) including 557.17 g/t Au and 370.45 g/t Ag over 2.68 m ( 16.25 oz/t Au and 10.80 oz/t Ag over 8.80 ft.) including 1,865.07 g/t Au and 1,366.68 g/t Ag over 0.61 m ( 54.40 oz/t Au and 39.86 oz/t Ag over 2.00 ft.) and 370.45 g/t Ag over 2.68 m ( and 10.80 oz/t Ag over 8.80 ft.) including 1,633.69 g/t Au and 1615.74 g/t Ag over 2.13 m ( 47.65 oz/t Au and 47.13 oz/t Ag over 7.00 ft.) including 5,012.31 g/t Au and 3,441.76 g/t Ag over 0.61 m ( 146.19 oz/t Au and 100.38 oz/t Ag over 2.00 ft.) and 1615.74 g/t Ag over 2.13 m ( and 47.13 oz/t Ag over 7.00 ft.) including DRILL ASSAY HIGHLIGHTS In 2022, the Company completed 28 surface reverse circulation ("RC") drill holes near Trixie totalling approximately 8,442 m (27,700 ft.) and 62 underground diamond drill holes ("DD") in the 625 level at Trixie totalling approximately 3,232 m (10,060 ft.). To date, assays have been received for 8 RC drill holes and 14 DD holes, which are summarized in Table. The Company currently has two underground diamond drill rigs in operation at Trixie and has greatly improved on core recovery and drill production challenges faced early in the 2022 program. Select assay highlights include: 25.95 g/t Au and 21.48 g/t Ag over 3.81 m in hole TUG-625-029 ( 0.76 oz/t Au and 0.63 oz/t Ag over 12.50 ft.) including 43.00 g/t Au and 41.80 g/t Ag over 1.52 m ( 1.25 oz/t Au and 1.22 oz/t Ag over 5.00 ft.) located 15 m (49 ft.) up dip in the T2 structure and 21.48 g/t Ag over 3.81 m in hole TUG-625-029 ( and 0.63 oz/t Ag over 12.50 ft.) including 14.97 g/t Au and 113.85 g/t Ag over 2.47 m in hole TUG-625-050 ( 0.44 oz/t Au and 3.32 oz/t Ag over 8.10 ft.) including 25.50 g/t Au and 90.00 g/t Ag over 1.07 m ( 0.74 oz/t Au and 2.63 oz/t Ag over 3.50 ft.) located at the contact of the Tintic quartzite and the Ophir shale and 113.85 g/t Ag over 2.47 m in hole TUG-625-050 ( and 3.32 oz/t Ag over 8.10 ft.) including 12.58 g/t Au and 439.26 g/t Ag over 5.33 m in hole TUG-625-060 ( 0.37 oz/t Au and 12.81 oz/t Ag over 17.50 ft.) within the T4 mineralized zone. and 439.26 g/t Ag over 5.33 m in hole TUG-625-060 ( and 12.81 oz/t Ag over 17.50 ft.) within the T4 mineralized zone. 264.00 g/t Au and 511.00 g/t Ag over 1.22 m in hole TUG-625-065 ( 7.70 oz/t Au and 14.90 oz/t Ag over 4.00 ft.) 55 m (180 ft.) down dip of the 625 L in the T2 structure and 511.00 g/t Ag over 1.22 m in hole TUG-625-065 ( and 14.90 oz/t Ag over 4.00 ft.) 55 m (180 ft.) down dip of the 625 L in the T2 structure 65.50 g/t Au and 84.30 g/t Ag over 1.22 m in hole TUG-625-069 ( 1.91 oz/t Au and 2.46 oz/t Ag over 4.00 ft.) including 231.00 g/t Au and 246.00 g/t Ag over 0.30 m ( 6.74 oz/t Au and 7.18 oz/t Ag over 1.00 ft.) 38 m (125 ft.) down dip of the 625 L in the T2 structure and 84.30 g/t Ag over 1.22 m in hole TUG-625-069 ( and 2.46 oz/t Ag over 4.00 ft.) including DRILL SUMMARY Early RC holes in the program were drilled approximately 650 m north of Trixie in new exploration areas. With additional information, holes were planned at a shallower dip and to the west along strike of the T2 area. See Figure 2 for plan map of drillhole locations. Approximately 20% of the main Trixie area has been explored to date and additional potential for high grade gold exists along strike, at depth down dip and down plunge and along fault zones known to be fluid pathways for gold mineralization (Figure 3). Underground drilling focused around the 625 level at Trixie, drilling along strike, up dip and down dip of the T2 and T4 mineralization. Table describes the target and intersection for each hole. Figure 4 illustrates sampling results and Figure 5 is a cross section of the T2 and T4 showing highlighted intercepts from select holes. The results from these initial holes and chip sampling will be incorporated into the initial mineral resource estimate (" MRE ") at Trixie expected in the first quarter of 2023 (the " Trixie MRE "). ") at Trixie expected in the first quarter of 2023 (the " "). The Trixie MRE will include the result of the Company's exploration work since acquiring Tintic in late May of 2022 and is expected to encompass only a small footprint of the T2, T4 and 75-85 mineral zones adjacent to the 625 underground level, to support near-term underground activities. About Trixie The Trixie test mine is one of several gold and base metal targets within the larger Tintic Project consisting of 17,000 acres of patented mining claims and mineral leases within the historic East Tintic Mining District of Central Utah, USA. The T2 and T4 structures at Trixie show multi-ounce gold grades associated with high sulphidation epithermal mineralization, structurally controlled and hosted within quartzites. High grade mineralized material from the T2 and T4 structures is currently being processed via vat leaching on site. The T2 structure is approximately 0.3 m to 2.4 m (1 to 8 ft.) wide and mineralization consists of native Au, and rare Au-Ag rich telluride minerals with quartz. The T4 is a mineralized stockwork zone ranging from approximately 3 m to 25 m (10 to 80 ft.) and located in the hanging wall of the T2 and is comprised of Au-Ag rich mineralization in host rock quartzite with quartz-barite-sulphosalt stockwork veining. Mineralization currently defined over 220 m (720 ft.) in strike and reports consistent multi-ounce gold grades along the entire strike length. Face Sampling Methodology As most structures at Trixie are steeply dipping to the east or west, current sampling procedures are designed to sample the structure. Chip samples are collected and do not exceed 1.0 m (3 ft.) in length. The face is washed for safety, and for better identification of mineralization, alteration and structures. The hanging wall and footwall of the structures are marked up on the face and back, samples intervals are marked up and follow lithological contacts. For further information on the Tintic Project, please refer to the technical report titled "Technical Report on the Tintic Project, East Tintic Mining District, Utah County, Utah, USA", dated June 10, 2022 (with an effective date of June 7, 2022) and prepared for the Company by Dr. Thomas A. Henricksen, QP, C.P.G. (the "Tintic Technical Report"). Reference should be made to the full text of the Tintic Technical Report, which was prepared in accordance with NI 43-101 and is available electronically on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) under Osisko Development's issuer profile. Figure 1: Trixie Project Area is available at:https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/11449f9d-3bd6-411b-b188-325450b6a91a Figure 2: Drill Plan Map is available at: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/7f0e03d7-265a-48ec-9b0d-4c1ea5575b59 Figure 3: Trixie Long Section is available at:https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/1e5cb1e2-a630-404b-b304-7281c35c55d0 Figure 4: Trixie Long Section (detail area) is available at:https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b9f45472-19a7-4687-86e2-2924c2de0781 Figure 5: Cross Section of underground drilling at 625 L at Trixie is available at:https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/bb02f749-6012-4c52-b2c3-8e440e17a2b4 Table 1: Face Chip Sample Length Weighted Assay Composites at Trixie Site ID Depth from (m) Depth to (m) Length (m) Au (g/t) Ag (g/t) Depth from (ft.) Depth to (ft.) Length (ft.) Au (oz/t) Ag (oz/t) CH1209 0.00 1.95 1.95 55.91 7.79 0.00 6.40 6.40 1.63 0.23 CH1209 Including 1.22 1.95 0.73 148.58 20.77 4.00 6.40 2.40 4.33 0.61 CH1212 0.00 2.77 2.77 104.26 33.05 0.00 9.10 9.10 3.04 0.96 CH1212 Including 0.49 1.25 0.76 378.61 88.79 1.60 4.10 2.50 11.04 2.59 CH1213 0.00 2.23 2.23 9.04 71.94 0.00 7.30 7.30 0.26 2.10 CH1213 Including 0.00 0.61 0.61 12.38 84.88 0.00 2.00 2.00 0.36 2.48 CH1213 and 0.61 1.01 0.40 24.89 205.69 2.00 3.30 1.30 0.73 6.00 CH1214 0.00 2.29 2.29 36.04 7.11 0.00 7.50 7.50 1.05 0.21 CH1214 Including 0.76 1.52 0.76 28.28 21.32 2.50 5.00 2.50 0.82 0.62 CH1214 and 1.52 1.83 0.30 194.79 0.00 5.00 6.00 1.00 5.68 0.00 CH1215 0.00 2.13 2.13 71.62 31.17 0.00 7.00 7.00 2.09 0.91 CH1215 1.22 1.83 0.61 150.29 74.56 4.00 6.00 2.00 4.38 2.17 CH1217 0.00 1.07 1.07 2.89 119.58 0.00 3.50 3.50 0.08 3.49 CH1220 0.00 2.44 2.44 49.86 32.88 0.00 8.00 8.00 1.45 0.96 CH1220 Including 0.76 1.68 0.91 132.19 87.69 2.50 5.50 3.00 3.86 2.56 CH1221 0.00 0.91 0.91 4.53 0.00 0.00 3.00 3.00 0.13 0.00 CH1222 0.00 0.76 0.76 1.20 0.00 0.00 2.50 2.50 0.03 0.00 CH1223 0.00 0.76 0.76 0.07 14.80 0.00 2.50 2.50 0.00 0.43 CH1224 0.00 0.91 0.91 2.78 33.70 0.00 3.00 3.00 0.08 0.98 CH1225 0.00 0.88 0.88 2.02 41.89 0.00 2.90 2.90 0.06 1.22 CH1226 0.00 0.91 0.91 0.99 8.71 0.00 3.00 3.00 0.03 0.25 CH1227 0.00 0.91 0.91 0.72 0.00 0.00 3.00 3.00 0.02 0.00 CH1228 0.00 3.35 3.35 503.78 2,586.22 0.00 11.00 11.00 14.69 75.43 CH1228 Including 1.52 2.74 1.22 1,375.03 6,994.86 5.00 9.00 4.00 40.11 204.02 CH1229 0.00 2.56 2.56 0.92 20.60 0.00 8.40 8.40 0.03 0.60 CH1230 0.00 3.35 3.35 84.31 440.85 0.00 11.00 11.00 2.46 12.86 CH1230 Including 0.00 0.61 0.61 422.03 2,129.12 0.00 2.00 2.00 12.31 62.10 CH1231 0.00 1.77 1.77 38.17 98.27 0.00 5.80 5.80 1.11 2.87 CH1231 Including 0.40 0.85 0.46 118.81 168.78 1.30 2.80 1.50 3.47 4.92 CH1233 0.00 1.83 1.83 25.86 93.82 0.00 6.00 6.00 0.75 2.74 CH1233 Including 0.00 0.91 0.91 43.50 153.17 0.00 3.00 3.00 1.27 4.47 CH1234 0.00 1.74 1.74 81.11 124.01 0.00 5.70 5.70 2.37 3.62 CH1234 Including 0.00 0.34 0.34 311.07 357.52 0.00 1.10 1.10 9.07 10.43 CH1235 0.00 2.19 2.19 6.77 1.50 0.00 7.20 7.20 0.20 0.04 CH1235 Including 0.91 1.16 0.24 44.53 9.36 3.00 3.80 0.80 1.30 0.27 CH1236 0.00 1.77 1.77 56.12 192.29 0.00 5.80 5.80 1.64 5.61 CH1236 Including 0.91 1.16 0.24 372.27 1,329.79 3.00 3.80 0.80 10.86 38.79 CH1237 0.00 1.68 1.68 234.46 186.92 0.00 5.50 5.50 6.84 5.45 CH1237 Including 0.61 0.91 0.30 1,272.44 1,003.57 2.00 3.00 1.00 37.11 29.27 CH1238 0.00 1.49 1.49 368.37 742.56 0.00 4.90 4.90 10.74 21.66 CH1238 Including 0.27 1.19 0.91 598.32 1,212.00 0.90 3.90 3.00 17.45 35.35 CH1239 0.00 1.52 1.52 4.91 19.46 0.00 5.00 5.00 0.14 0.57 CH1240 0.00 1.62 1.62 11.71 48.50 0.00 5.30 5.30 0.34 1.41 CH1240 Including 0.00 0.24 0.24 46.31 131.78 0.00 0.80 0.80 1.35 3.84 CH1241 0.00 2.83 2.83 3.74 21.18 0.00 9.30 9.30 0.11 0.62 CH1242 0.00 1.95 1.95 3.12 0.72 0.00 6.40 6.40 0.09 0.02 CH1242 Including 1.16 1.95 0.79 7.27 1.78 3.80 6.40 2.60 0.21 0.05 CH1243 0.00 2.29 2.29 28.85 28.69 0.00 7.50 7.50 0.84 0.84 CH1243 Including 1.52 2.29 0.76 85.09 75.39 5.00 7.50 2.50 2.48 2.20 CH1245 0.00 2.16 2.16 63.97 15.54 0.00 7.10 7.10 1.87 0.45 CH1245 Including 0.82 2.16 1.34 102.91 19.92 2.70 7.10 4.40 3.00 0.58 CH1246 0.00 1.22 1.22 4.48 0.00 0.00 4.00 4.00 0.13 0.00 CH1246 Including 0.76 1.22 0.46 11.66 0.00 2.50 4.00 1.50 0.34 0.00 CH1247 0.00 1.37 1.37 468.80 1,113.03 0.00 4.50 4.50 13.67 32.46 CH1247 Including 0.46 1.37 0.91 656.15 1,582.72 1.50 4.50 3.00 19.14 46.16 CH1248 0.00 2.29 2.29 14.94 56.36 0.00 7.50 7.50 0.44 1.64 CH1248 Including 0.00 1.07 1.07 23.04 81.83 0.00 3.50 3.50 0.67 2.39 CH1249 0.00 2.13 2.13 47.78 32.05 0.00 7.00 7.00 1.39 0.93 CH1249 Including 0.30 1.52 1.22 79.95 49.54 1.00 5.00 4.00 2.33 1.44 CH1250 0.00 2.19 2.19 29.53 22.96 0.00 7.20 7.20 0.86 0.67 CH1250 Including 0.49 1.40 0.91 56.02 39.49 1.60 4.60 3.00 1.63 1.15 CH1251 0.00 3.17 3.17 23.70 20.73 0.00 10.40 10.40 0.69 0.60 CH1251 Including 1.62 2.47 0.85 42.35 33.09 5.30 8.10 2.80 1.24 0.97 CH1251 and 2.47 3.17 0.70 51.63 53.44 8.10 10.40 2.30 1.51 1.56 CH1252 0.00 0.76 0.76 1,091.44 79.14 0.00 2.50 2.50 31.83 2.31 CH1252 Including 0.00 0.34 0.34 2,455.35 158.95 0.00 1.10 1.10 71.61 4.64 CH1253 0.00 1.83 1.83 50.10 30.89 0.00 6.00 6.00 1.46 0.90 CH1253 Including 0.00 0.91 0.91 99.62 52.24 0.00 3.00 3.00 2.91 1.52 CH1254 0.00 0.98 0.98 1,237.85 95.44 0.00 3.20 3.20 36.10 2.78 CH1254 Including 0.00 0.46 0.46 2,637.71 185.16 0.00 1.50 1.50 76.93 5.40 CH1255 0.00 0.76 0.76 1,700.62 131.19 0.00 2.50 2.50 49.60 3.83 CH1255 Including 0.00 0.37 0.37 3,539.06 265.43 0.00 1.20 1.20 103.22 7.74 CH1256 0.00 0.91 0.91 3,901.32 78.71 0.00 3.00 3.00 113.79 2.30 CH1256 Including 0.00 0.46 0.46 7,765.62 124.89 0.00 1.50 1.50 226.50 3.64 CH1257 0.00 1.34 1.34 642.74 47.40 0.00 4.40 4.40 18.75 1.38 CH1257 Including 0.91 1.34 0.43 1,549.64 106.48 3.00 4.40 1.40 45.20 3.11 CH1258 0.00 0.91 0.91 637.91 113.70 0.00 3.00 3.00 18.61 3.32 CH1258 Including 0.00 0.30 0.30 1,833.74 231.04 0.00 1.00 1.00 53.48 6.74 CH1259 0.00 2.32 2.32 12.25 8.56 0.00 7.60 7.60 0.36 0.25 CH1260 0.00 1.77 1.77 186.40 22.54 0.00 5.80 5.80 5.44 0.66 CH1260 Including 1.55 1.77 0.21 1,477.34 116.01 5.10 5.80 0.70 43.09 3.38 CH1261 0.00 1.37 1.37 9.12 7.45 0.00 4.50 4.50 0.27 0.22 CH1262 0.00 0.91 0.91 15.70 39.36 0.00 3.00 3.00 0.46 1.15 CH1263 0.00 1.52 1.52 1.40 21.97 0.00 5.00 5.00 0.04 0.64 CH1264 0.00 2.74 2.74 90.07 31.49 0.00 9.00 9.00 2.63 0.92 CH1264 Including 1.34 1.95 0.61 399.25 128.42 4.40 6.40 2.00 11.64 3.75 CH1265 0.00 3.51 3.51 1.01 16.15 0.00 11.50 11.50 0.03 0.47 CH1266 0.00 1.22 1.22 2.83 14.19 0.00 4.00 4.00 0.08 0.41 CH1267 0.00 3.05 3.05 295.26 56.23 0.00 10.00 10.00 8.61 1.64 CH1267 Including 2.13 2.74 0.61 1,468.70 280.94 7.00 9.00 2.00 42.84 8.19 CH1268 0.00 2.50 2.50 10.91 124.74 0.00 8.20 8.20 0.32 3.64 CH1268 Including 0.61 0.85 0.24 77.79 879.67 2.00 2.80 0.80 2.27 25.66 CH1269 0.00 2.59 2.59 110.04 48.01 0.00 8.50 8.50 3.21 1.40 CH1269 Including 1.95 2.59 0.64 397.29 146.11 6.40 8.50 2.10 11.59 4.26 CH1270 0.00 2.96 2.96 6.89 6.05 0.00 9.70 9.70 0.20 0.18 CH1270 Including 1.58 2.19 0.61 26.84 18.27 5.20 7.20 2.00 0.78 0.53 CH1271 0.00 1.22 1.22 642.30 655.67 0.00 4.00 4.00 18.73 19.12 CH1271 Including 0.30 0.61 0.30 2,464.66 2,473.95 1.00 2.00 1.00 71.89 72.16 CH1272 0.00 1.19 1.19 33.92 95.07 0.00 3.90 3.90 0.99 2.77 CH1272 Including 0.91 1.19 0.27 93.86 306.96 3.00 3.90 0.90 2.74 8.95 CH1273 0.00 2.29 2.29 53.66 50.21 0.00 7.50 7.50 1.57 1.46 CH1273 Including 0.98 1.55 0.58 204.39 157.66 3.20 5.10 1.90 5.96 4.60 CH1274 0.00 2.50 2.50 47.41 35.41 0.00 8.20 8.20 1.38 1.03 CH1274 Including 0.91 1.52 0.61 173.64 145.18 3.00 5.00 2.00 5.06 4.23 CH1275 0.00 1.37 1.37 32.15 82.81 0.00 4.50 4.50 0.94 2.42 CH1275 Including 0.76 0.91 0.15 278.03 745.29 2.50 3.00 0.50 8.11 21.74 CH1276 0.00 2.80 2.80 85.56 30.73 0.00 9.20 9.20 2.50 0.90 CH1276 Including 0.18 0.91 0.73 223.79 60.06 0.60 3.00 2.40 6.53 1.75 CH1277 0.00 1.10 1.10 0.38 2.73 0.00 3.60 3.60 0.01 0.08 CH1278 0.00 1.22 1.22 3.53 13.82 0.00 4.00 4.00 0.10 0.40 CH1279 0.00 1.07 1.07 27.14 29.97 0.00 3.50 3.50 0.79 0.87 CH1279 Including 0.00 0.76 0.76 33.31 30.91 0.00 2.50 2.50 0.97 0.90 CH1281 0.00 1.34 1.34 11.71 29.09 0.00 4.40 4.40 0.34 0.85 CH1281 Including 0.73 1.34 0.61 18.89 42.13 2.40 4.40 2.00 0.55 1.23 CH1282 0.00 1.52 1.52 4.75 0.00 0.00 5.00 5.00 0.14 0.00 CH1282 Including 0.76 1.52 0.76 8.57 0.00 2.50 5.00 2.50 0.25 0.00 CH1283 0.00 1.28 1.28 0.22 2.06 0.00 4.20 4.20 0.01 0.06 CH1286 0.00 2.38 2.38 43.87 59.86 0.00 7.80 7.80 1.28 1.75 CH1286 Including 0.73 1.46 0.73 133.94 173.47 2.40 4.80 2.40 3.91 5.06 CH1287 0.00 1.16 1.16 287.29 488.60 0.00 3.80 3.80 8.38 14.25 CH1287 Including 0.21 0.52 0.30 974.15 608.50 0.70 1.70 1.00 28.41 17.75 CH1287 and 0.82 0.98 0.15 167.84 2,278.57 2.70 3.20 0.50 4.90 66.46 CH1287 and 0.98 1.16 0.18 51.29 137.02 3.20 3.80 0.60 1.50 4.00 CH1288 0.00 1.34 1.34 23.13 38.83 0.00 4.40 4.40 0.67 1.13 CH1288 Including 0.30 0.58 0.27 107.92 148.17 1.00 1.90 0.90 3.15 4.32 CH1291 0.00 1.31 1.31 171.16 410.98 0.00 4.30 4.30 4.99 11.99 CH1291 Including 0.46 0.79 0.34 661.95 1,557.18 1.50 2.60 1.10 19.31 45.42 CH1292 0.00 1.83 1.83 7.64 82.53 0.00 6.00 6.00 0.22 2.41 CH1292 Including 0.00 0.30 0.30 16.87 0.00 0.00 1.00 1.00 0.49 0.00 CH1293 0.00 1.52 1.52 8.82 56.64 0.00 5.00 5.00 0.26 1.65 CH1293 Including 0.98 1.52 0.55 20.60 142.58 3.20 5.00 1.80 0.60 4.16 CH1294 0.00 2.13 2.13 3.97 30.04 0.00 7.00 7.00 0.12 0.88 CH1294 Including 1.43 2.13 0.70 9.74 60.71 4.70 7.00 2.30 0.28 1.77 CH1295 0.00 1.52 1.52 42.96 164.95 0.00 5.00 5.00 1.25 4.81 CH1295 Including 0.76 1.52 0.76 62.12 313.16 2.50 5.00 2.50 1.81 9.13 CH1298 0.00 1.07 1.07 220.33 61.32 0.00 3.50 3.50 6.43 1.79 CH1298 Including 0.61 0.76 0.15 1,227.49 244.77 2.00 2.50 0.50 35.80 7.14 CH1299 0.00 0.91 0.91 184.26 371.38 0.00 3.00 3.00 5.37 10.83 CH1300 0.00 1.71 1.71 83.57 53.82 0.00 5.60 5.60 2.44 1.57 CH1300 Including 0.70 1.10 0.40 262.70 109.63 2.30 3.60 1.30 7.66 3.20 CH1302 0.00 2.13 2.13 484.51 248.55 0.00 7.00 7.00 14.13 7.25 CH1302 Including 0.91 1.46 0.55 1,296.40 108.88 3.00 4.80 1.80 37.81 3.18 CH1302 and 1.46 2.13 0.67 421.38 672.31 4.80 7.00 2.20 12.29 19.61 CH1303 0.00 2.10 2.10 25.98 50.18 0.00 6.90 6.90 0.76 1.46 CH1304 0.00 1.22 1.22 122.23 194.72 0.00 4.00 4.00 3.57 5.68 CH1304 Including 0.00 0.91 0.91 149.57 246.35 0.00 3.00 3.00 4.36 7.19 CH1307 0.00 2.44 2.44 16.13 32.63 0.00 8.00 8.00 0.47 0.95 CH1312 0.00 2.44 2.44 99.17 112.82 0.00 8.00 8.00 2.89 3.29 CH1313 0.00 2.59 2.59 1.50 36.82 0.00 8.50 8.50 0.04 1.07 CH1314 0.00 1.68 1.68 15.66 56.52 0.00 5.50 5.50 0.46 1.65 CH1314 Including 0.00 0.37 0.37 44.02 79.88 0.00 1.20 1.20 1.28 2.33 CH1315 0.00 2.56 2.56 124.03 170.03 0.00 8.40 8.40 3.62 4.96 CH1315 Including 0.00 0.85 0.85 182.28 224.75 0.00 2.80 2.80 5.32 6.56 CH1315 and 0.85 1.28 0.43 353.72 512.55 2.80 4.20 1.40 10.32 14.95 CH1316 0.00 2.65 2.65 167.92 382.17 0.00 8.70 8.70 4.90 11.15 CH1316 Including 0.00 0.43 0.43 171.36 248.20 0.00 1.40 1.40 5.00 7.24 CH1316 and 0.43 0.76 0.34 1,013.55 2,125.38 1.40 2.50 1.10 29.56 61.99 CH1317 0.00 2.44 2.44 310.45 1,399.20 0.00 8.00 8.00 9.05 40.81 CH1317 0.49 0.91 0.43 1,058.14 6,294.04 1.60 3.00 1.40 30.86 183.58 CH1317 1.52 2.01 0.49 489.61 957.56 5.00 6.60 1.60 14.28 27.93 CH1318 0.00 2.01 2.01 502.85 778.59 0.00 6.60 6.60 14.67 22.71 CH1318 Including 0.24 0.88 0.64 683.61 1,799.52 0.80 2.90 2.10 19.94 52.49 CH1318 and 0.88 1.52 0.64 883.89 632.05 2.90 5.00 2.10 25.78 18.43 CH1319 0.00 2.38 2.38 138.75 474.86 0.00 7.80 7.80 4.05 13.85 CH1319 Including 1.16 2.38 1.22 216.01 733.90 3.80 7.80 4.00 6.30 21.41 CH1322 0.00 1.98 1.98 405.91 641.26 0.00 6.50 6.50 11.84 18.70 CH1322 Including 1.37 1.98 0.61 1,297.91 2,034.66 4.50 6.50 2.00 37.86 59.34 CH1323 0.00 2.62 2.62 331.03 215.94 0.00 8.60 8.60 9.66 6.30 CH1323 0.37 0.73 0.37 1,101.03 217.00 1.20 2.40 1.20 32.11 6.33 CH1323 1.65 2.62 0.98 376.38 408.78 5.40 8.60 3.20 10.98 11.92 CH1324 0.00 4.57 4.57 352.65 446.22 0.00 15.00 15.00 10.29 13.01 CH1324 Including 0.00 1.52 1.52 104.11 199.38 0.00 5.00 5.00 3.04 5.82 CH1324 and 1.52 3.05 1.52 220.64 310.56 5.00 10.00 5.00 6.44 9.06 CH1324 and 3.05 3.96 0.91 1,198.70 1,358.69 10.00 13.00 3.00 34.96 39.63 CH1325 0.00 3.66 3.66 335.08 333.77 0.00 12.00 12.00 9.77 9.74 CH1325 Including 1.52 2.13 0.61 155.50 134.59 5.00 7.00 2.00 4.54 3.93 CH1325 and 2.13 3.05 0.91 1,182.79 1,146.31 7.00 10.00 3.00 34.50 33.43 CH1326 0.00 2.87 2.87 1,042.03 498.82 0.00 9.40 9.40 30.39 14.55 CH1326 Including 1.22 1.43 0.21 462.40 339.59 4.00 4.70 0.70 13.49 9.90 CH1326 and 2.04 2.87 0.82 3,419.93 1,587.57 6.70 9.40 2.70 99.75 46.30 CH1328 0.00 2.59 2.59 531.46 648.34 0.00 8.50 8.50 15.50 18.91 CH1328 Including 2.13 2.59 0.46 1,888.17 2,942.92 7.00 8.50 1.50 55.07 85.84 CH1329 0.00 2.32 2.32 210.91 394.45 0.00 7.60 7.60 6.15 11.50 CH1329 Including 1.22 1.31 0.09 96.78 81.04 4.00 4.30 0.30 2.82 2.36 CH1329 and 1.92 2.32 0.40 1,180.43 2,262.29 6.30 7.60 1.30 34.43 65.98 CH1332 0.00 1.22 1.22 200.91 134.52 0.00 4.00 4.00 5.86 3.92 CH1332 Including 0.00 0.30 0.30 311.21 156.36 0.00 1.00 1.00 9.08 4.56 CH1332 and 0.30 0.76 0.46 239.05 0.00 1.00 2.50 1.50 6.97 0.00 CH1333 0.00 0.61 0.61 41.34 0.00 0.00 2.00 2.00 1.21 0.00 CH1335 0.00 2.23 2.23 20.29 81.28 0.00 7.30 7.30 0.59 2.37 CH1335 Including 0.00 0.73 0.73 51.87 77.37 0.00 2.40 2.40 1.51 2.26 CH1336 0.00 2.74 2.74 95.79 124.53 0.00 9.00 9.00 2.79 3.63 CH1336 Including 0.00 1.22 1.22 109.26 82.17 0.00 4.00 4.00 3.19 2.40 CH1336 and 1.22 2.07 0.85 118.17 195.72 4.00 6.80 2.80 3.45 5.71 CH1337 0.00 2.74 2.74 96.96 118.82 0.00 9.00 9.00 2.83 3.47 CH1337 Including 0.00 0.91 0.91 287.97 323.96 0.00 3.00 3.00 8.40 9.45 CH1338 0.00 2.07 2.07 24.95 65.18 0.00 6.80 6.80 0.73 1.90 CH1338 Including 0.43 1.16 0.73 57.49 153.21 1.40 3.80 2.40 1.68 4.47 CH1339 0.00 1.83 1.83 67.92 141.35 0.00 6.00 6.00 1.98 4.12 CH1339 Including 0.55 1.28 0.73 123.76 261.16 1.80 4.20 2.40 3.61 7.62 CH1340 0.00 1.83 1.83 470.19 821.04 0.00 6.00 6.00 13.71 23.95 CH1340 Including 0.00 0.61 0.61 1,323.93 2,143.81 0.00 2.00 2.00 38.61 62.53 CH1341 0.00 1.83 1.83 106.86 340.34 0.00 6.00 6.00 3.12 9.93 CH1341 Including 0.00 0.21 0.21 622.70 1,960.99 0.00 0.70 0.70 18.16 57.20 CH1346 0.00 2.90 2.90 473.14 1,371.28 0.00 9.50 9.50 13.80 40.00 CH1346 Including 1.22 1.98 0.76 1,753.17 5,095.23 4.00 6.50 2.50 51.13 148.61 CH1347 0.00 6.10 6.10 288.82 249.84 0.00 20.00 20.00 8.42 7.29 CH1347 Including 1.22 2.44 1.22 880.36 263.25 4.00 8.00 4.00 25.68 7.68 CH1348 0.00 2.50 2.50 364.44 312.88 0.00 8.20 8.20 10.63 9.13 CH1348 Including 1.43 2.04 0.61 1,470.35 1,222.90 4.70 6.70 2.00 42.89 35.67 CH1349 0.00 2.74 2.74 697.81 731.43 0.00 9.00 9.00 20.35 21.33 CH1349 Including 0.91 1.83 0.91 1,721.84 1,816.49 3.00 6.00 3.00 50.22 52.98 CH1350 0.00 2.44 2.44 144.94 134.50 0.00 8.00 8.00 4.23 3.92 CH1350 Including 1.52 2.44 0.91 245.15 222.63 5.00 8.00 3.00 7.15 6.49 CH1351 0.00 2.29 2.29 2,311.18 1,146.46 0.00 7.50 7.50 67.41 33.44 CH1351 Including 1.37 2.29 0.91 5,524.28 2,673.83 4.50 7.50 3.00 161.12 77.99 CH1352 0.00 2.68 2.68 557.17 370.45 0.00 8.80 8.80 16.25 10.80 CH1352 Including 1.77 2.38 0.61 1,865.07 1,366.68 5.80 7.80 2.00 54.40 39.86 CH1355 0.00 2.13 2.13 1,633.69 1,615.74 0.00 7.00 7.00 47.65 47.13 CH1355 Including 1.52 2.13 0.61 5,012.31 3,441.76 5.00 7.00 2.00 146.19 100.38 Table 2: Drilling Length Weighted Assay Composites at Trixie METRIC IMPERIAL Hole ID Depth from (m) Depth to (m) Length (m) Au (g/t) Ag (g/t) Depth from (ft.) Depth to (ft.) Length (ft.) Au (oz/t) Ag (oz/t) Comments TRC040 184.40 187.45 3.05 0.07 103.85 605.00 615.00 10.00 0.00 3.03 Exploration TRC043 No Significant Assays Exploration TRC046 No Significant Assays Exploration TRC048 333.76 335.28 1.52 0.32 88.00 1095.00 1100.00 5.00 0.01 2.57 Exploration 397.76 399.29 1.52 0.23 74.60 1305.00 1310.00 5.00 0.01 2.18 TRC049 No Significant Assays Exploration TRC050 No Significant Assays Exploration TRC052 156.97 161.54 4.57 0.66 29.33 515.00 530.00 15.00 0.02 0.86 Exploration TRC053 Hole Abandoned Exploration TUG-625-027 67.97 68.88 0.91 1.45 23.60 223.00 226.00 3.00 0.04 0.69 T2 structure and Tintic Quartzite TUG-625-028 9.97 10.88 0.91 1.35 20.70 32.70 35.70 3.00 0.04 0.60 T4 mineralization 38.40 38.62 0.21 1.28 78.60 126.00 126.70 0.70 0.04 2.29 40.90 41.27 0.37 10.70 155.00 134.20 135.40 1.20 0.31 4.52 Interpreted contact of T2 and T4 41.27 41.85 0.58 1.43 18.65 135.40 137.30 1.90 0.04 0.54 TUG-625-029 1.22 2.29 1.07 2.50 21.93 4.00 7.50 3.50 0.07 0.64 T4 mineralization 37.03 40.84 3.81 25.95 21.48 121.50 134.00 12.50 0.76 0.63 15 m up dip extension of known T2 Including 37.80 39.32 1.52 43.00 41.80 124.00 129.00 5.00 1.25 1.22 TUG-625-030A 6.71 9.30 2.59 3.07 12.93 22.00 30.50 8.50 0.09 0.38 T4 mineralization TUG-625-050 29.84 32.31 2.47 14.97 113.85 97.90 106.00 8.10 0.44 3.32 Contact between the Tintic Quartzite and Ophir Shale Including 31.24 32.31 1.07 25.50 90.00 102.50 106.00 3.50 0.74 2.63 TUG-625-056 12.34 12.80 0.46 0.12 21.70 40.50 42.00 1.50 0.00 0.63 Drilled for geotechnical purposes for Trixie decline 100 m east of T2 TUG-625-057 11.89 12.19 0.30 0.12 25.50 39.00 40.00 1.00 0.00 0.74 Drilled for geotechnical purposes for Trixie decline 100 m east of T2 24.08 26.82 2.74 0.09 44.30 79.00 88.00 9.00 0.00 1.29 TUG-625-058 10.27 11.28 1.01 0.11 30.30 33.70 37.00 3.30 0.00 0.88 Drilled for geotechnical purposes for Trixie decline 100 m east of T2 31.39 35.66 4.27 0.24 114.80 103.00 117.00 14.00 0.01 3.35 Including 31.39 32.80 1.40 0.57 305.00 103.00 107.60 4.60 0.02 8.90 TUG-625-060 32.00 37.34 5.33 12.58 439.26 105.00 122.50 17.50 0.37 12.81 T4 mineralization TUG-625-064 45.90 47.00 1.10 3.09 9.99 150.60 154.20 3.60 0.09 0.29 T2 mineralization 35 m down dip of 625 L TUG-625-065 54.16 55.38 1.22 264.00 511.00 177.70 181.70 4.00 7.70 14.90 T2 mineralization 55 m down dip of 625 L TUG-625-066 4.11 5.33 1.22 1.48 28.90 13.50 17.50 4.00 0.04 0.84 T2 mineralization 5 m down dip of 625 L 17.68 19.20 1.52 3.55 8.48 58.00 63.00 5.00 0.10 0.25 25.30 27.89 2.59 2.29 16.06 83.00 91.50 8.50 0.07 0.47 TUG-625-069 25.60 26.82 1.22 65.50 84.30 84.00 88.00 4.00 1.91 2.46 T2 mineralization 20 m down dip of 625 L 26.21 26.52 0.30 231.00 246.00 86.00 87.00 1.00 6.74 7.18 TUG-625-070 33.13 33.92 0.79 2.17 66.50 108.70 111.30 2.60 0.06 1.94 T2 mineralization 38 m down dip of 635 L Qualified Persons The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Maggie Layman, P.Geo., Vice President, Exploration of Osisko Development, and a "qualified person" within the meaning of NI 43-101. Quality Assurance (QA) Quality Control (QC) True width determination is estimated to be approximately 0.3 m to 2.4 m (1 to 8 ft.) wide for the T2 structure and approximately 3 m to 25 m (10 to 80 ft.) for the T4 mineralized stockwork zone located in the hanging wall of the T2 structure. All underground face samples are collected by TCM geologists from each of the active mining faces, with samples transported by the geologists from Trixie to the on-site TCM laboratory located at the Burgin administrative complex. Underground samples are dried, crushed to The TCM Burgin laboratory is not a certified analytical laboratory, but the facility is managed by a qualified Laboratory Manager with annual auditing by technical staff. Inter-laboratory check assays using ALS Laboratory as a third-party independent analysis of samples is routinely carried out as part of ongoing Quality Assurance-Quality Control ("QA/QC") work. Certified OREAS QC standards and blanks are inserted at regular intervals in the sample stream to monitor laboratory performance. All drill core and exploration samples are dispatched to ALS Laboratory for offsite sample preparation and analysis. Samples are assigned a unique sample ID. All geological and sampling information is entered into Datamine Fusion database. Core is sawn in half and half are sampled. Certified standards and blanks inserted into all sample dispatches. Samples are collected by Old Dominion Transportation and dispatched to ALS Laboratory in Reno, NV. Sample submission forms accompany the samples, and digital copies emailed to ALS. All sample preparation is completed by ALS, including crushing and pulverizing (Prep31) of samples. Analytical assays include gold and silver by fire assay of 50 g sample with AAS finish (Au-AA26), over limits by gravimetric analysis (Au-Grav22). Multi element analysis is by four acid digest (ME-MS61). The pulps are returned to Osisko Development and coarse rejects are disposed after 90 days. Assays are reported to Osisko Development, and then loaded into Datamine Fusion, QA/QC samples are checked, and assays merged with sample information for future reporting. About Osisko Development Corp. Osisko Development Corp. is a premier North American gold development company focused on high-quality past-producing properties located in mining friendly jurisdictions with district scale potential. The Company's objective is to become an intermediate gold producer by advancing its 100%-owned Cariboo Gold Project, located in central BC, Canada, the recently acquired Tintic Project in the historic East Tintic mining district in Utah, U.S.A., and the San Antonio Gold Project in Sonora, Mexico. In addition to considerable brownfield exploration potential of these properties, that benefit from significant historical mining data, existing infrastructure and access to skilled labour, the Company's project pipeline is complemented by other prospective exploration properties. The Company's strategy is to develop attractive, long-life, socially and environmentally sustainable mining assets, while minimizing exposure to development risk and growing mineral resources. For further information, please contact Osisko Development Corp.: Sean Roosen Philip Rabenok Chairman and CEO Director, Investor Relations Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Tel: +1 (514) 940-0685 Tel: +1 (437) 423-3644 CAUTIONARY STATEMENTS The Company cautions that the decision to commence small-scale underground mining activities and batch vat leaching at the Trixie test mine has been made without the benefit of a feasibility study, or reported mineral resources or mineral reserves, demonstrating economic and technical viability, and, as a result there may be increased uncertainty of achieving any particular level of recovery of material or the cost of such recovery. The Company cautions that historically, such projects have a much higher risk of economic and technical failure. There is no guarantee that production will continue as anticipated or at all or that anticipated production costs will be achieved. The failure to continue production may have a material adverse impact on the Company's ability to generate revenue and cash flow to fund operations. Failure to achieve the anticipated production costs may have a material adverse impact on the Company's cash flow and potential profitability. In continuing current operations at Trixie after closing, the Company will not be basing its decision to continue such operations on a feasibility study, or reported mineral resources or mineral reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability. The Company cautions that mining at Trixie could be suspended at any time. Certain historical information and statements contained in this news release, including the 3D models linked in this news release, do not comply with NI 43-101. To that end, a qualified person has not done sufficient work on behalf of Osisko Development to classify any historical estimate as current mineral resources or mineral reserves and Osisko Development is not treating the historical estimate as current mineral resources or reserves. The Company is subject to the reporting requirements of the applicable Canadian securities laws, and as a result reports information regarding mineral properties, mineralization and estimates of mineral reserves and mineral resources, including the information in the Tintic Technical Report and this news release, in accordance with Canadian reporting requirements, which are governed by NI 43-101. As such, such information concerning mineral properties, mineralization and estimates of mineral reserves and mineral resources, including the information in the Tintic Technical Report and this news release, is not comparable to similar information made public by U.S. companies subject to the reporting and disclosure requirements of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS Certain statements contained in this news release may be deemed "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. These forwardlooking statements, by their nature, require Osisko Development to make certain assumptions and necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these forwardlooking statements. Forwardlooking statements are not guarantees of performance. Words such as "may", "will", "would", "could", "expect", "believe", "plan", "anticipate", "intend", "estimate", "continue", or the negative or comparable terminology, as well as terms usually used in the future and the conditional, are intended to identify forwardlooking statements. Information contained in forwardlooking statements is based upon certain material assumptions that were applied in drawing a conclusion or making a forecast or projection, including management's perceptions of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments; the utility and significance of historic data, including the significance of the district hosting past producing mines; the unique mineralization at Trixie; the potential of high grade gold mineralization on Trixie; the results (if any) of further exploration work to define and expand mineral resources; the ability of exploration work (including drilling) to accurately predict mineralization; the ability to generate additional drill targets; the ability of management to understand the geology and potential of Trixie; the timing and ability of the Company to produce the Trixie MRE (or any subsequent MRE) (if at all); the information and the scope of the contemplated Trixie MRE (and any subsequent MRE); the impact of the Trixie MRE; the ability of the Company to complete its exploration objectives in 2023 in the timing contemplated (if at all); the ongoing advancement of the Trixie decline; the deposit remaining open for expansion at depth and down plunge; the ability to realize upon any mineralization in a manner that is economic; as well as other considerations that are believed to be appropriate in the circumstances, and any other information herein that is not a historical fact may be "forward looking information". Material assumptions also include, management's perceptions of historical trends, the ability of exploration (including drilling) to accurately predict mineralization, budget constraints and access to capital on terms acceptable to the Company, current conditions and expected future developments, results of further exploration work to define or expand any mineral resources, the ability to continue production at Trixie, as well as other considerations that are believed to be appropriate in the circumstances. Osisko Development 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 Osisko Development, may ultimately prove to be incorrect since they are subject to risks and uncertainties that affect Osisko Development and its business. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others, risks relating to capital market conditions and the Company's ability to access capital on terms acceptable to the Company for the contemplated exploration and development at Tintic; the ability to continue current operations and exploration; regulatory framework; the ability of exploration activities (including drill results) to accurately predict mineralization; errors in management's geological modelling; the ability to expand operations or complete further exploration activities, including drilling; property and stream interests in the Tintic Project; the ability of the Company to obtain required approvals; the results of exploration activities; risks relating to exploration, development and mining activities; the global economic climate; metal prices; dilution; environmental risks; and community and non-governmental actions and the responses of relevant governments to the COVID-19 outbreak and the effectiveness of such responses. Readers are urged to consult the disclosure provided under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's annual information form for the year ended December 31, 2021, as amended, which has been filed on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) under Osisko Development's issuer profile and on the SEC's EDGAR website (www.sec.gov), for further information regarding the risks and other factors applicable to the exploration results. Although the Company's believes the expectations conveyed by the forward-looking statements are reasonable based on information available at the date of preparation, no assurances can be given as to future results, levels of activity and achievements. The Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, except as required by law. There can be no assurance that these forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. 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. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein. Figure 1 Trixie Project Area Figure 2 Drill Plan Map Figure 3 Trixie Long Section Figure 4 Trixie Long Section (detail area) Figure 5 Cross Section of underground drilling at 625 L at Trixie Source: Osisko Development Corp. PEMBROKE, Bermuda, Jan. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sompo International, a leading global provider of commercial and consumer property and casualty (re)insurance, announced two new leadership appointments today for Sompo Internationals multinational crop insurance platform, AgriSompo. Brad Leighton has been named President of AgriSompo North America and Marji Guyler-Alaniz has been named Chief Operating Officer (COO) of AgriSompo North America and President of AgriSompo International. Robert (Bob) Haney will continue his role as AgriSompos Chairman and CEO. Mr. Leighton will report to Mr. Haney and Ms. Guyler-Alaniz will directly report to Leighton for her North America responsibilities and Haney for her International responsibilities. The reputation and success as one of the largest multinational crop insurers in the world is due to the talent of the leadership and employees of AgriSompo. Brad and Marji have helped Bob to revolutionize the crop insurance industry and Im proud of what they have accomplished so far. I look forward to seeing their vision and expertise lead the organization into the next phase of growth, said Chris Gallagher, CEO, Commercial P&C for Sompo International. Bob Haney, AgriSompo Chairman and CEO shared, I am incredibly proud of what AgriSompo has achieved over the past few years. I look forward to working with Brad and Marji in their new leadership roles, as we continue to redefine what is possible for farmers, ranchers, our people, agents and partners. Mr. Leighton most recently was an SVP, National Operations at AgriSompo. He brings over two decades of leadership experience in the insurance industry where he has been successful in achieving growth, profitability, and increased market share in the crop insurance industry. He began his career at Allied Insurance and served in several senior leadership positions at Diversified Crop Insurance Services, a subsidiary of CGB Enterprises, Inc., which was acquired by Sompo International in 2020. He holds a bachelors degree in business management from Central College, Pella, Iowa, United States. Ms. Guyler-Alaniz most recently held the role of SVP, Communications, Operations and Risk at AgriSompo, where she successfully delivered operational excellence and drove the strategic direction of the organization. She also is the Founder and President of FarmHer, a media organization that celebrates the important role women play in agriculture. Guyler-Alaniz began her career in the insurance industry in 2002 with Rain and Hail Insurance, where she served in multiple operations and leadership positions and has a strong record and extensive network in the industry. She holds a bachelors degree in graphic design and Journalism from Grand View University, Des Moines, Iowa, United States and a Masters in Business Administration from Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa, United States. About Sompo International Sompo International refers to Sompo International Holdings Ltd., a Bermuda-based holding company, together with its consolidated subsidiaries. Sompo International is a leading global provider of commercial and consumer property and casualty (re)insurance. Sompo International Holdings, Ltd. is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Sompo Holdings, Inc. (Sompo Holdings). With approximately 10,000 employees at Sompo International, 75,000 employees total worldwide, entities in over 46 countries and over $36B in GPW, Sompo Holdings is one of the leading property and casualty insurance groups in the world. Sompo Holdings maintains excellent financial strength as evidenced by the ratings of A+ (Superior) from A.M. Best (XV size category) and A+ (Strong) from Standard and Poors on its principal operating subsidiaries. For more information about Sompo International, follow us on Linked In or please visit www.sompo-intl.com. Contact Sompo International Cara Gallagher SVP, Marketing & Communications Phone: + 1 917 421 4973 Source: Sompo International Holdings Ltd. Vancouver, British Columbia, Jan. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Terra Balcanica Resources Corp. (Terra or the Company) (CSE:TERA, FSE:UB1) is pleased to confirm that step-out drilling has extended the massive, polymetallic sulphide vein system at the Cumavici Ridge target located within its 90% owned Viogor-Zanik project, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Highlights Two shallow intervals from drillholes CMVDD004 and CMVDD005 reveal visible massive sul ph ide s of 10 m and 11 m in thickness respectively (Figure 2); the system remains open down dip and along strike (Figures 2 and 3); from drillholes CMVDD004 and CMVDD005 (Figure 2); (Figures 2 and 3); S ystem s trike length has been extended by approximate ly 50 meters west-northwest from the initial drillholes released from the Cumavici target where previously reported drillhole intervals include: CMVD D 001: 824.2 g/t AgEq . over 4 .0 m including 1634.4 g/t AgEq . over 2 .0 m CMVD D 002: 816.1 g/t AgEq . over 2 .0 m CMVD D 003: 465.5 g/t AgEq . over 8.7 m including 1196.6 g/t AgEq . over 2 .0 m west-northwest from the initial drillholes released from the Cumavici target where previously reported drillhole intervals include: Assay results from CMVDD004 and CMVDD005 will be released shortly. Terra Balcanica CEO, Dr. Aleksandar Miskovic, commented: The 2022 maiden drill program at Cumavici Ridge has been encouraging in confirming the hypothesis of identifying a shallow, high-grade polymetallic, epithermal vein-hosted mineralized system, while also confirming its down-dip and along-strike continuity. It is very exciting to see the Cumavici Ridge target entirely open along strike allowing for continued step out and infill drilling. Our team has gained a strong understanding of the local geology and there are a series of targets that will be tested to expand the mineralized system. We see the same macroscopic features in these holes as we did in the previously released drillholes and eagerly await the assay results which are expected shortly. The Company commenced its maiden drill program by discovering a high-grade, polymetallic vein system intercepting 824.2 g/t AgEq over 4.0 m at the Cumavici Ridge target (see news release dated September 8, 2022). Subsequently, the footprint of this intermediate sulfidation epithermal system was extended 83 m down-dip including drill intervals of 465.5 g/t AgEq over 8.7 m, including 1196 g/t AgEq over 2.0 m (see Company news release dated October 22, 2022). The subsequent step-out holes of CMVDD004 and CMVDD005 have intercepted thicker intervals of up to 11 m of massive sulphides approximately 50 meters west-northwest from the initial cluster of drillholes including CMVDD001, CMVDD002 and CMVDD003. Drill Core ObservationsCMVDD004 Drillhole CMVDD004 intercepted approximately 11 m of altered andesitic tuff and visible sulphide-rich veining starting from 43 m depth. Over 1.7 m of semi-massive sulphides are observed from 44.8 m dominated by stibnite with sphalerite and galena. In the footwall, stockwork veinlets grade into disseminated sulphides in a pervasively argillic-altered volcanic. CMVDD005 Drillhole CMVDD005 intercepted two distinct zones of continuous sulphide veining within andesitic crystalline tuffs. At 34.4 m depth a 0.3 m massive sulphide vein is observed dominated by stibnite with lesser sphalerite and galena within a 3 m-wide zone of Ag-Zn-Pb mineralization. A second zone of massive sulphide veining approximately 10 m wide is encountered from 81.0 m depth comprised of sulphide cemented breccias, quartz-sulphide veins and intervals of massive sulphide, which grades downhole into sporadic aggregates of stibnite and sphalerite. Figure 1. Geological map of Terras 216 km2 Viogor-Zanik project in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina with the key drill target areas and their associated styles of mineralization: (i) the epithermal Cumavici corridor, (ii) the Olovine porphyry target and (iii) the Brezani skarn/porphyry system. (click here to view image) Ongoing Exploration Program Drillhole CMVDD004 represents an approximately 30 m northwest lateral step out from CMVDD001. The down-dip extension of this is confirmed with CMVDD005 with a collar separation of approximately 50 m between end holes on the two drill fences. Future drilling efforts will test the continuity of the 7.2 km long Cumavici polymetallic vein system along strike towards the northwest and southeast. Additionally, the Company completed drilling at the Brezani skarn/porphyry target which is located over 12 km to the southeast from Cumavici (see Figure 1). Hole ID UTMEasting UTMNorthing Elevation (masl) Dip Azimuth Depth (m) Recovery (%) CMVDD004 360174 4888539 611 -85 045 77.7 87.3 CMVDD005 360141 4888516 621 -85 050 99.0 94.4 Table 1. Selected collar locations at the Cumavici Ridge target area (WGS84; UTM Zone 34N). Figure 2. Cross-section of drillholes CMVDD004 and CMVDD005 illustrating intervals of stockwork and massive sulphides; drill hole assays are pending. Azimuth of view is 315. (click here to view image). Figure 3. Plan view geological map with the Cumavici Ridge diamond drillholes targeting the shallow polymetallic mineralization hosted by andesitic volcanics and tuffs. CMVDD004 and CMVDD005 are approximately 50 m along strike away from the initial drill holes released from the target. (click here to view image). Figure 4. Drill hole CMVDD004 between 44.1 m and 48.0 m. Footwall veins and semi-massive sulphide intervals can be observed. Figure 5 (below) is outlined by white rectangles (click here to view image). Figure 5. Drill core from CMVDD004 illustrating both semi-massive sulphides and a footwall vein of quartz-carbonate-sulphide. Sulphide assemblage dominated by sphalerite with marcasite, jamesonite and silver-bearing sulfosalt freibergite with trace miargyrite (2 cm scratcher tip; click here to view image). Figure 6. Photographs of 83.2-88.5 m from drillhole CMVDD005. Quartz-sulphide veins grade into massive sulphide and sulphide cemented breccias. Mineralization is over 10 m thickness. (click here to view image). Figure 7. Drill core segment 87.15 87.45 m from CMVDD005. Sulphide-quartz cemented hydrothermal breccia with sub-angular clasts of silicified andesitic tuff host rock. Sulphide assemblage comprises stibnite-sphalerite-berthierite with trace inclusions of miargyrite. (2 cm scratcher tip for scale; click here to view image). Qualified PersonDr. Aleksandar Miskovic, P.Geo, is the Companys designated Qualified Person for this news release within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure of Mineral Projects (NI 43-101) and has reviewed, validated and confirmed the information contained in this news release as accurate. About the CompanyTerra Balcanica is a polymetallic exploration company targeting large-scale mineral systems in the Balkans of southeastern Europe. The Company has 90% interest in the Viogor-Zanik Project in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, and 100% of the Kaludra and Ceovishte mineral exploration licences in southern Serbia. The Company emphasizes responsible engagement with local communities and stakeholders. It is committed to proactively implementing Good International Industry Practice (GIIP) and sustainable health, safety, and environmental management. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Terra Balcanica Resources Corp.Aleksandar Miskovic Aleksandar MiskovicPresident and CEO For further information, please contact Alex Miskovic at [email protected], or visit our website at www.terrabresources.com. Cautionary Statement This news release contains certain forward-looking information and forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities legislation (collectively forward-looking statements). The use of any of the words will, intends and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. 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 forward-looking statements should not be unduly relied upon. Actual results achieved may vary from the information provided herein as a result of numerous known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors. The Company believes the expectations reflected in those forward-looking statements are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct. The Company does not undertake to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law. Source: Terra Balcanica Resources Corp. A Tesla vehicle drives past Tesla's primary vehicle factory after CEO Elon Musk announced he was defying local officials' coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions by reopening the plant in Fremont, California, U.S. May 11, 2020. REUTERS/Stephen Lam By Daniel Wiessner (Reuters) - Tesla Inc has suffered another setback in its bid to challenge the powers of California's Civil Rights Department, which is suing the electric carmaker over alleged race discrimination at its flagship assembly plant. A judge in Oakland, California, in a tentative ruling late Tuesday dismissed Tesla's counter-suit claiming the agency did not notify the company of the bias allegations or give it a chance to settle before suing it last February. California Superior Court Judge Evelio Grillo gave Tesla until Feb. 3 to file an amended complaint fleshing out its claim that the agency has adopted "underground regulations" to flout the requirements it must meet before filing lawsuits. A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday morning. A Tesla representative and the agency did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The agency argues that Tesla's Fremont, California, plant is a racially segregated workplace where Black employees have been harassed and discriminated against over job assignments, discipline and pay. Tesla has denied wrongdoing and said the lawsuit is politically motivated. Grillo in August denied Tesla's motion to dismiss the case, saying its attack on the agency's practices was not a defense against the discrimination claims. Tesla filed the counter-suit in September. Also in August, a different state administrative agency declined to review a Tesla complaint arguing that the Civil Rights Department was suing businesses without conducting thorough investigations. Several lawsuits are pending in California courts that accuse Tesla of tolerating discrimination and sexual harassment at its factories. A state judge in April cut a jury award to a Black worker who alleged racial harassment from $137 million to $15 million. The worker rejected the reduced award and opted for a new trial, which is scheduled for March. (Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York; Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Kevin Liffey) Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 11, 2023) - Barsele Minerals Corp. (TSXV: BME) would like to cordially invite you to visit us at Booth #434 at the Vancouver Resource Investment Conference (VRIC) to be held at the Vancouver Convention Centre West (1055 Canada Place, Vancouver) on Sunday January 29 - Monday January 30, 2023. Notable keynote speakers include former Premier of BC Christy Clark and former Premier of Saskatchewan, Brad Wall. Other keynote speakers will include dozens of globally respected economists, legendary money managers, and investors. We are entering a new era of de-globalization. The trust that allowed for global trade over the last 30 years has shifted irreversibly and countries are now scrambling to secure supplies of natural resources as a matter of national security. As a result, demand for key resources, will skyrocket. We have gathered over 300 companies that are exploring for and producing these natural resources so investors can position themselves accordingly, said Jay Martin, Host of the Vancouver Resource Investment Conference. For more information and/or to register for the conference please visit: https://cambridgehouse.com/vancouver-resource-investment-conference. We look forward to seeing you there. About the Vancouver Resource Investment Conference: The Vancouver Resource Investment Conference has been the epicentre of junior mining investment in Canada for 25 years and attracts over 5000 mining investors annually. Previous years have been attended by former Prime Minister Stephan Harper and former President of Mexico Felipe Calderon. The VRIC will include a marketplace of over 300 investment opportunities in the mining industry, spanning early-stage exploration to advanced producing mines. For further information: Alicia Ford Manager of Business Development 4036049646 [email protected] https://barseleminerals.com/ Vancouver, British Columbia, and Rehovot, Israel--(Newsfile Corp. - January 11, 2023) - BioHarvest Sciences Inc.(CSE: BHSC) (OTCQB: CNVCF) ("BioHarvest" or "the Company") invites its shareholders and the general public to join a Live Video Conference ("Webinar") on Thursday, January 19, 2023, at 2:00 PM Eastern Standard Time (11:00 AM Pacific Standard Time). BioHarvest Sciences CEO Ilan Sobel will host this first shareholder event of 2023, and will present the Q4 2022 VINIA sales results, provide an update on Cannabis commercialization, and will also "unpack" the 2023 Growth Priorities which will deliver the 2023 company revenue guidance of $17M - $20M USD. "We are entering our second full year of VINIA commercialization, and it is remarkable how our organization has so quickly transformed into this commercial machine. I look forward to sharing new details on our 2023 Priorities, and to reiterate my confidence in this being a historical pivot year for BioHarvest Sciences", states CEO Ilan Sobel, adding "We are targeting a second consecutive year of 3x revenue growth, and to become overall cash flow positive in Q4. These are aggressive goals, but our team is mobilized to execute on a 2023 plan designed to capitalize on current market opportunities across both our polyphenol and cannabis verticals." The presentation will be approximately 45 minutes, followed by a live question and answer session. All shareholders, media, and interested investors are welcome to join. All registrants will be emailed a recording of the session. Any questions regarding the event can be sent to [email protected]. Register for free at: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_yhEEoY6FQie83d_YCOrMPA About BioHarvest Sciences Inc. BioHarvest Sciences Inc. (CSE: BHSC) is a fast-growing Biotech firm listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange. BioHarvest has developed a patented bio-cell growth platform technology capable of growing the active and beneficial ingredients in fruit and plants, at industrial scale, without the need to grow the plant itself. This technology is economical, ensures consistency, and avoids the negative environmental impacts associated with traditional agriculture. BioHarvest is currently focused on nutraceuticals and the medicinal cannabis markets. Visit: www.bioharvest.com. BioHarvest Sciences Inc. Ilan Sobel, Chief Executive Officer For further information, please contact: Dave Ryan, VP Investor Relations & Director Phone: 1 (604) 622-1186 Email: [email protected] Facebook Twitter Linkedin Youtube Forward-Looking Statements Information set forth in this news release might include forward-looking statements that are based on management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions, and expectations, and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. There is no assurance that we will achieve our objective of making our products available in multiple markets. There is no assurance that the Company will be successful in expanding its technology to broader medical applications or conduct clinical trials to validate the efficacy of the Company's products for new forms of medical treatments. There is no assurance that we will achieve our objective of being a leading supplier of Cannabis, whether in North America or other global markets. Delays and cost overruns may result in delays achieving our objectives obtaining market acceptance and regulatory approvals for geographic expansion are subject to risk and cannot be guaranteed. Projected sales of Cannabis will require the company to obtain production and/or export licensing which cannot be assured. All forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain and actual results may be affected by a number of material factors beyond our control. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. BHSC does not intend to update forward-looking statement disclosures other than through our regular management discussion and analysis disclosures. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider 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/150988 Pensando en la gobernabilidad del pais, el #PlenoDelCongreso aprobo otorgar el #VotoDeConfianza planteado por el titular de la Presidencia de Consejo de Ministros. ??73 votos a favor, 43 en contra y 6 abstenciones. pic.twitter.com/YX0ev1dmW4 Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 11, 2023) - GLOBAL HEMP GROUP INC.(CSE: GHG) (OTC Pink: GBHPF) (FSE: GHG) ("GHG" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has executed a binding Letter of Intent with Apollon Formularies Plc - (AQSE: APOL) ("Apollon") (the "LOI"), a UK-based international pharmaceutical company developing cancer treatments from natural biologics, including medical cannabis, functional mushrooms, psychedelic mushrooms and combinations of these compounds, which to date have shown successful independent, third-party results in pre-clinical testing. Apollon utilizes an artificial intelligence-based drug discovery platform. Under the terms of the binding LOI dated January 9, 2023, GHG will acquire the exclusive perpetual license for North America (specifically, the United States, Canada and Mexico) to certain Apollon Intellectual Property and proprietary technology, including, but not limited to, four key patents as described below including any continuations, divisionals, and continuations-in-part, along with any and all associated preclinical and clinical data relating to the patents and proprietary technology (the "IP"). The Company has also been granted a 60-day option to conduct due diligence, following which GHG may exercise its option to acquire the entirety of Apollon's global assets. Deal Terms for the Intellectual Property GHG will pay a total of US$250,000 (C$341,000) in two distinct tranches and issue Apollon 10 million common shares of GHG at a deemed price of C$0.015 per share, for total consideration of C$491,000. The Company will also pay Apollon ongoing licensing fees relating to the IP, beginning the quarter following when any licensing and sub-licensing revenues are generated. All securities issued in this transaction are subject to a four-month plus a day hold period from the date of issuance in accordance with applicable securities laws. GHG will pay a finder's fee to Twilight Capital Inc. or such other affiliate, designee, or associate, representing five percent (5%) of the value of the entire Transaction between GHG and Apollon (the "Finder's Fee"). Intellectual Property - Patent Information and Independent Test Data Being Licensed GHG will acquire the exclusive perpetual license to the following patents (including any continuations, divisional and continuations-in-part) and any associated preclinical and clinical data relating to the patents. The patents are registered under the International Patent System (PCT) and are also registered in Jamaica. This exclusive perpetual license will cover Canada, the United States and Mexico, for the four patents below and all associated supporting data: Compositions and Methods for Treatment of Cancers; Compositions and Methods for Treatment of Inflammation; Methods for Treatment of Human Cancers Using Cannabis Compositions; Methods for Treatment of Human Cancers Using Mushroom Compositions; BIOENSIS Preclinical Data reflecting independent 3D cell culture testing of cannabis and mushroom formulations included in the patent applications. These patents include claims to the treatments of cancers and inflammatory conditions using natural biologics including compounds in medical cannabis, functional mushrooms, psychedelic mushrooms and combinations of these compounds that have been shown in independent, third-party preclinical 3D cell culture testing to kill cancer cells via direct cytotoxicity and immune stimulated cytotoxicity with great success and high efficacy. Under the Exclusive License Agreement, GHG will have the right to sublicense this intellectual property to legally licensed producers in the United States (state by state where medicinal cannabis is legal), Canada and Mexico, which allows the opportunity to generate significant near-term sublicensing revenue in these three countries. In order to assist GHG in monetizing the IP into an ongoing revenue stream, the Company has engaged Dr. Stephen D. Barnhill, creator of the IP and Chairman & CEO of Apollon, as Special Medical Advisor ("SMA") to the Company. Dr. Barnhill will be issued a one-time payment of 10 million common shares of GHG at a deemed price of $0.015 per share for his ongoing engagement as SMA. The holding period for these shares will be four months and one day, calculated from the date of issuance. Dr. Stephen D. Barnhill, MD is currently the Chairman & CEO of Apollon Formularies, Plc (London, UK) (AQSE: APOL), Chairman and CEO of Apollon Formularies, Inc. (USA), President and Board Member of Apollon Formularies Jamaica, Ltd. (Jamaica), and Chairman and CEO of Doc's Place International, Inc. Dr. Stephen D. Barnhill, MD To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/3292/151019_a062432d54cfd883_003full.jpg Dr. Barnhill is a Medical Doctor specializing in Cannabinoid and Mycomedicinal Therapeutics, Drug Discovery and Artificial Intelligence, and has completed a Clinical Fellowship in Laboratory Medicine (Clinical Pathology) at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). Previously, Dr. Barnhill was Founder, Chairman and CEO of both private and public companies, including Founder, Chairman, and CEO of BCL laboratories, LLC with operations in southeastern US, which was acquired by Corning-MetPath now Quest Diagnostics, the largest clinical laboratory in the world. After the acquisition, he served as a Medical Director for that Quest Diagnostics location for approximately 5 years. Dr. Barnhill was Founder, Chairman and CEO of National Medical Specialty Labs, which was acquired by Horus Therapeutics Inc. (a New York Pharmaceutical Company) and Chairman and CEO of Health Discovery Corporation, a US publicly traded international biotech company, from inception to profitability. As CEO, Dr. Barnhill has negotiated and executed deals with many companies, including Pfizer, Abbot, Corning-MetPath, Quest Diagnostics, Clarient, LabCorp, NeoGenomics, Bruker and others. Dr. Barnhill is a pioneer in artificial intelligence machine learning (pattern recognition algorithms) in medicine and is an Inventor on more than 80 international patents, including neural networks and support vector machines and including the Hallmark SVM-RFE technique now cited by more than 10,000 publications. His patents were part of the intellectual property portfolio that won First Place out of 1,600 publicly traded companies and was awarded the prestigious MICO award from MDB Capital for the most disruptive and market changing intellectual property portfolio. The neural network patents, with Dr Barnhill as an inventor, were acquired by Johnson & Johnson. Dr. Barnhill has been an inventor on patents related to laboratory developed tests (LDT's) and tumor markers, as well as diagnostic test development relating to cancers of the prostate, pancreas, breast and ovary, cytogenetics, flow cytometry, Florescence In Situ Hybridization (FISH), and imaging in digital mammography, funduscopic analysis of macular degeneration (AMD) and SVM for melanoma detection. He has published many peer-reviewed papers with academics primarily from MD Anderson Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins University Medical Center, Stanford University Medical Center and others. Included in his publications are the following: " Gene Selection for Cancer Classification using Support Vector Machines (Cited by nearly 10,000 publications) Journal, Machine Learning : Isabelle Guyon, Jason Weston, Stephen Barnhill & Vladimir Vapnik " A Four-Gene Expression Signature for Prostate Cancer Cells Consisting of UAP1, PDLIM5, IMPDH2, and HSPD1 UroToday International Journal : Isabelle Guyon, Herbert A. Fritsche, Paul Choppa, Li-Ying Yang, Stephen D. Barnhill " Role of CA125 in Predicting Ovarian Cancer Survival - a review of the epidemiological literature International Journal Biological Markers : R C Bast Jr 1, F J Xu, Y H Yu, S Barnhill, Z Zhang, G B Mills " Comparison of a Neural Network with High Sensitivity and Specificity to Free/total Serum PSA for Diagnosing Prostate Cancer in Men with a PSA Artificial Neural Networks in Cancer Diagnosis, Prognosis, and Patient Management : T.A. Stamey, S.D. Barnhill, Z. Zhang, C.M. Yemoto, H. Zhang, K.R. Madyastha " Combination of multiple serum markers using an artificial neural network to improve specificity in discriminating malignant from benign pelvic masses. Journal, Gynecologic Oncology : Zhang Z, Barnhill SD, Zhang H, Xu FJ, Yu YH, Jacobs I, Woolas RP, Berchuck A, Madyastha KR, and Bast RC " The ability of the ProstAsure" Index to identify prostate cancer patients with low cancer volumes and high potential for cure Journal, Urology : S. Barnhill, T.A. Stamey, Z. Zhang. " A neural network (ProstAsureTM) with sensitivity and specificity of 75% in detecting prostate cancer in men with a PSA Journal, Urology : TA Stamey, SD Barnhill, Zhen Zhang, KR Madyastha " Evaluation of ProstAsure index in the detection of prostate cancer: a preliminary report Journal, Urology : R J Babaian 1, H A Fritsche, Z Zhang, K H Zhang, K R Madyastha, SD Barnhill Dr. Barnhill has been accepted and admitted as a Member or Fellow of the following organizations: the American College of Physician Inventors, the American College of International Physicians, the American Medical Association, the American College of Physician Executives, the American Association of Artificial Intelligence, the American College of Managed Care Medicine, the Association of Clinical Scientists, the American Society of Contemporary Medicine and Surgery, the American Society of Law, Medicine and Ethics, the Southern Medical Society, the American Federation for Clinical Research, the National Federation of Catholic Physicians and the Society of Cannabis Clinicians. For additional information on Dr. Barnhill, please visit the Company's website https://www.globalhempgroup.com/dr-stephen-barnhill Terms of the Option to Acquire the Entire Assets of Apollon The LOI provides for a due diligence period, currently set at 60 days, during which GHG and Apollon may gather further information about each other's business and finances. If both parties are satisfied with the results of the due diligence, GHG will have the exclusive option to acquire all the assets of Apollon other than cash, cash equivalents, and receivables, for a payment of 771,191,266 GHG common shares at a deemed price of $0.015 per GHG common share, for total consideration of C$11,567,869. All securities which may be issued relating to this portion of the transaction will be subject to a minimum of four-month plus a day hold period from the date of issuance and any other customary delayed release escrow provisions customary for these type of transactions in accordance with applicable securities laws. In the event that GHG exercises this option to acquire the assets of Apollon, the Company will ask shareholders to consider a share consolidation on a basis of 5 old for 1 new share, and the proposed transaction would be considered a fundamental change for the Company, per CSE Policy 8. GHG will pay a finder's fee to Twilight Capital Inc. or such other affiliate, designee, or associate, representing five percent (5%) of the value of the entire Transaction between GHG and Apollon (the "Finder's Fee"). The Finder's Fee relating to the Asset Acquisition portion of the transaction, if concluded, will be payable either in cash, GHG Shares or a combination of both. Apollon Formularies Plc Assets that will be Acquired on Exercise of Option: " 8 patent applications (4 PCT; 4 Jamaica). " BIOENSIS Preclinical data. " The right to acquire 49% Equity in Apollon Formularies Jamaica, Ltd. ("Apollon Jamaica") with approval of the Jamaican Cannabis Licensing Authority ("CLA"). " 95% net profits from all operations in Apollon Jamaica, Ltd. Apollon Formularies Jamaica, Ltd. Assets " CLA Medical Cannabis Licenses (Processing, Retail Therapeutic, Research & Development) and all equipment required to perform under the licenses. Licenses allow import and export of products globally where legally allowed. " The Medical Cannabis R&D license allows the Company to perform human clinical trials with approval of the Jamaican Ministry of Health. " International Cancer and Chronic Pain Institute (fully medically equipped and furnished). " Control of CITIVA Jamaica (University location and Affiliation). Includes CLA Cultivation License which allows import and export of products globally where legally allowed. Fully equipped and furnished. GMP approval pending final inspection. " Medical cannabis inventory: approximate retail value US$350,000 (unaudited figures). " A signed processing agreement for a hemp farming group in Jamaica. Apollon will process, for a fee, the hemp cultivated into CBD oil for global export. It is expected that the farming group will have multiple crops per year available for processing. " Contract to run clinical trials at the Apollon's facility for a U.S. biotherapeutics company on a cost-plus basis. " Therapeutic Dispensary (fully equipped and furnished). " Processing Laboratory (fully equipped and furnished). " Research and Development Facility (fully equipped and furnished). In light of Apollon Jamaica's significant Jamaican operations, Apollon is one of very few natural biologic drug development companies globally that is a publicly traded company, legally licensed to work with full spectrum high THC cannabis, functional mushrooms and psychedelic mushroom formulations and combinations of these compounds in a fully licensed and legal environment that can perform drug discovery, execute pre-clinical testing, perform human clinical trials, provide immediate direct human availability of these treatments by physician prescription, has an International Cancer and Chronic Pain Institute, and is approved to export our products globally where legally allowed. Global customers, including potential partners like Big Pharma, seeking natural biologic products and partnerships can look to companies like Apollon that will have patent protected formulations, validated by pre-clinical and human clinical trial data, rather than companies with random medical cannabis and mushroom based products without this level of scientific rigor and intellectual property protection. The Exclusive License Agreement with GHG allows these Jamaican developed formulations to be sublicensed and manufactured in the United States, Canada and Mexico where legally allowed. The ability to undertake drug discovery in conjunction with human application and treatment is the investment framework Apollon offers. This framework allows Apollon to collect clinical data quickly and accurately on their formulations from real-life treatments at their facilities via both in-patient and outpatient care. Apollon advises that they expect the number of patients receiving treatment at their facilities in 2023 to grow significantly. They also anticipate a substantial market for global export of Apollon's natural biologics and global sublicensing of their intellectual property formulations. Stephen D. Barnhill, MD, Chairman and CEO of Apollon stated, "I am extremely pleased that GHG has the confidence in Apollon's intellectual property, including natural biologic formulations utilizing medical cannabis, functional mushrooms, psychedelic mushrooms and combinations of these compounds together, to secure an Exclusive License to provide these formulations, under individual sublicensing agreements, to legal producers in the United States, Canada and Mexico. This partnership allows Apollon formulations to be made available to patients in all of North America, which is the largest market globally for these natural treatments." Dr. Barnhill continued, "I believe that Apollon's patents, protecting the unique combinations of medical cannabis compounds combined with functional and psychedelic mushroom compounds, which have been shown to increase the therapeutic efficacy of these compounds when used together vs individually, represent the future of natural combination therapeutics". "I would like to take this opportunity to welcome Dr. Barnhill to the GHG team as Special Medical Advisor. In addition to being a successful private and public company CEO, he has had an impressive medical career with significant accomplishments, including being an inventor on more than 80 award-winning international patents primarily related to artificial intelligence-based discovery in cancer diagnostics and therapeutics. Dr. Barnhill is also the inventor of the Apollon patents, which are included in the GHG Exclusive Perpetual North American License (United States, Canada and Mexico) of Apollon's Intellectual Property, which will be a great addition to the existing IP that the Company is creating through its R&D division", commented Curt Huber, President & CEO of Global Hemp Group. "I truly look forward to working with Stephen as we embark on immediately monetizing the unique IP we are licensing for North America in this transaction, as Apollon, as a company listed on the Aquis Exchange, was unable to enter these markets due to jurisdictional constraints. For these same reasons, U.S. investors were unable to invest in Apollon, but will now be able to consider investment opportunities in this incredible and unique intellectual property through GHG." Subscribe to the GHG YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtjFn9dOyHMxJee-_37MTrw Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/globalhempgrp Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hemp_global/ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Hemp_Global Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/18596421 About Global Hemp Group Inc. Global Hemp Group Inc. (CSE: GHG) (OTCQB: GBHPF) (FSE: GHG) is focused on a executing a multi-phased strategy to become a leader in the industrial hemp industry in the United States. The Company is headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. The current phase of the strategy focuses on the development of "sustainable" and "green" value-added industrial hemp products utilizing the processing of the entirety of the hemp plant for multi-merchantable applications, as will be showcased at the Colorado Hemp Agro-Industrial Zone (HAIZ) project in Hayden Colorado. To further support and innovate the HAIZ, Global Hemp Group has established a Research and Development Division to actively pursue the development of Intellectual Property that can be patented for implementation at its projects and beyond. The Division is led by Prof. Vctor M. Castano, Ph.D.-from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), a highly recognized leader in areas of applied science and technology. The R&D team brings an amazing wealth of knowledge and experience in multiple disciplines and will initially focus on development of Environmentally Friendly Construction Materials, Nanofertilizers and Enhanced Extraction from Hemp. For Further Information Contact Global Hemp Group Curt Huber, President Tel: 778-726-2900 [email protected] www.globalhempgroup.com Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements Certain information set forth in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the control of Global Hemp Group Inc., including, but not limited to, the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions, volatility of commodity prices, currency fluctuations, dependence upon regulatory approvals, the availability of future financing and exploration risk, and the legality of cannabis and hemp. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, Global Hemp Group Inc. disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions, changes in factors affecting such forward-looking statements or otherwise. The CSE 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/151019 Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 11, 2023) - International Lithium Corp. (TSXV: ILC) (OTCQB: ILHMF) (FSE: IAH) (the "Company" or "ILC") is pleased to announce that it has entered into a new advertising and investor awareness campaign agreement (the "Agreement") with Dig Media Inc. dba Investing News Network ("INN"). Headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, INN has offices in Toronto, New York, and San Francisco. INN has been dedicated to providing independent news and education to investors since 2007. INN will introduce the Company to INN's audience of educated, active investors. Using a variety of methods including an Enhanced Advertiser Profile, News Marketing, website and newsletter advertising and dedicated emails, INN will encourage its audience to engage directly with the Company to consider investing in the Company. INN does not provide investor relations or market-making services as defined by TSX Venture Exchange policies. Under the terms of the Agreement with INN, which supersedes an earlier agreement with INN, the Company has agreed to pay INN $29,000 at the commencement of the campaign and $29,000 after six months. The engagement, to the extent that it constitutes marketing activity under TSX Venture Exchange policies, is subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. John Wisbey, Chairman and CEO of International Lithium Corp. commented: INN will expand ILC's name recognition and corporate message via digital and social media platforms resulting in greater market awareness of ILC's very promising Raleigh Lake and other lithium projects. The engagement of INN is an implementation of our plan shared in the Q3 2022 Chairman's report that we will focus on getting our message out loud and clear, so that every serious investor in the lithium space knows about us. About International Lithium Corp. International Lithium Corp. believes that the world faces a significant turning point in the energy market's dependence on oil and gas and in the governmental and public view of climate change. In addition, we have seen the clear and increasingly urgent wish by the USA and Canada to safeguard their supplies of critical battery metals and to become more self-sufficient. Our Canadian projects are strategic in that respect. Our key mission in the next decade is to make money for our shareholders from lithium and rare metals while at the same time helping to create a greener, cleaner planet. This includes optimizing the value of our existing projects in Canada and Ireland as well as finding, exploring and developing projects that have the potential to become world class lithium and rare metal deposits. Zimbabwe has been identified as a strategic market by the Company. A key goal has been to become a well-funded company to turn our aspirations into reality, and following the disposal of the Mariana project in Argentina in 2021 and the Mavis Lake project in Canada in January 2022, the Board of the Company considers that ILC is now well placed in that respect with a strong net cash position. The Company's interests in various projects now consists of the following, and in addition the Company continues to seek other opportunities, especially in Canada and Zimbabwe: Name Location Area (Hectares) Current Ownership Percentage Future Ownership percentage if options exercised or work carried out Operator or JV Partner Raleigh Lake Ontario 48,500 100% 100% ILC Wolf Ridge Ontario 5,700 0% 100% ILC Avalonia Ireland 29,200 45% 21% Ganfeng Lithium Mavis Lake Ontario 2,600 0% 0% (carries an extra earn-in payment of CAD $1.4M if resource targets met) Critical Resources Ltd (ASX:CRR) Forgan Lake & Lucky Lake Ontario 0% 1.5% Net Smelter Royalty Ultra Lithium Inc. (TSX.V:ULT) The Company's primary strategic focus at this point is on the Raleigh Lake lithium, rubidium and caesium project in Canada and on identifying additional properties. The Raleigh Lake project consists of 48,500 hectares (485 square kilometres) of mineral claims in Ontario and is ILC's most significant project in Canada. The exploration results there so far, which are on only about 8% of ILC's current claims, have shown significant quantities of rubidium and caesium in the pegmatite as well as lithium. Raleigh Lake is 100% owned by ILC, is not subject to any encumbrances, and is royalty free. With the increasing demand for high tech rechargeable batteries used in electric vehicles and electrical storage as well as portable electronics, lithium has been designated "the new oil", and is a key part of a "green tech" sustainable economy. By positioning itself with projects with significant resource potential and with solid strategic partners, ILC aims to be one of the lithium and rare metals resource developers of choice for investors and to continue to build value for its shareholders in the '20s, the decade of battery metals. On behalf of the Company, John Wisbey Chairman and CEO www.internationallithium.com For further information concerning this news release please contact +1 604-449-6520 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. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information Except for statements of historical fact, this news release or other releases contain certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking information or forward-looking statements in this or other news releases may include: the effect of results of anticipated production rates, the timing and/or anticipated results of drilling on the Raleigh Lake or Wolf Ridge or Avalonia projects, the expectation of resource estimates, preliminary economic assessments, feasibility studies, lithium or rubidium or caesium recoveries, modeling of capital and operating costs, results of studies utilizing various technologies at the company's projects, budgeted expenditures and planned exploration work on the Company's projects, increased value of shareholder investments, and assumptions about ethical behaviour by our joint venture partners or third party operators of projects. Such forward-looking information is based on a number of assumptions and subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to those discussed in the sections entitled "Risks" and "Forward-Looking Statements" in the interim and annual Management's Discussion and Analysis which are available at www.sedar.com. While management believes that the assumptions made are reasonable, there can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate. Should one or more of the risks, uncertainties or other factors materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking information. Forward-looking information herein, and all subsequent written and oral forward-looking information are based on expectations, estimates and opinions of management on the dates they are made that, while considered reasonable by the Company as of the time of such statements, are subject to significant business, economic, legislative, and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. These estimates and assumptions may prove to be incorrect and are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Except as required by law, the Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking information should circumstances or management's estimates or opinions change. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/150984 Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 11, 2023) - Nextleaf Solutions Ltd. (CSE: OILS) (OTCQB: OILFF) (FSE: L0MA) ("Nextleaf" or the "Company"), a federally regulated manufacturer and distributor of cannabis extracts, is pleased to announce its first international shipment of cannabis vape products. "The first international shipment of cannabis vapes marks a major milestone for our company, and is a validation of Nextleaf's patented technology," said Paul Pedersen, CEO of Nextleaf Solutions. "We believe the continued acceptance globally of cannabis as a medicine, combined with the reputation of our products in Canada, will drive growth in exports of our cannabinoid vapes and oils to international markets." Cannabinoid vape products custom manufactured by Nextleaf under private label will be distributed by pharmacies outside Canada where medical cannabis is legal. The Company expects this international private label product supply to become recurring business. Nextleaf commercializes its intellectual property portfolio, including 19 U.S. patents and 100 issued patents globally, through the manufacturing of purified cannabinoid ingredients and products. The Company's Glacial Gold" branded cannabinoid vapes, oils, and softgels are distributed in British Columbia, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and across Canada through medical distributors and select pharmacies. The Company expects to release its audited annual financial statements for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2022 at the end of January. Nextleaf Receives Extension of Convertible Note Financing Nextleaf is pleased to announce today that it has amended the terms of the senior secured note (the "Note") issued to an institutional investor (the "Investor") on March 31, 2021. In consideration for the amendments to the payment terms and maturity date of the Note, the Company has agreed to (i) pay to the Investor a forbearance fee equal to CDN$75,000, which amount shall be added to the original principal amount owing under the Note and (ii) amend the conversion price of the Note to $0.055 per share (the "Subject Price"). About Nextleaf Solutions Ltd. Nextleaf is a federally regulated manufacturer and distributor of cannabis vapes and oils under its award-winning prohibition-era brand, Glacial Gold". The Company sells its branded products through government distributors and authorized retailers in 4 provinces in Canada. Nextleaf is a low-cost producer of cannabis oils, and supplier of THC and CBD to qualified wholesale partners across Canada and internationally. Nextleaf's patented ingredient processing technology transforms cannabis and hemp biomass into high-purity distillate at an industrial scale. The Company has been issued 19 U.S. patents, and 100 patents globally, on cannabinoid processing including extraction, distillation, and acetylation. Nextleaf trades as OILS on the Canadian Securities Exchange, OILFF on the OTCQB Market in the United States, and L0MA on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. For more information visit www.nextleafsolutions.com and www.Glacial.Gold Follow the Company on social platforms: Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. [email protected] 604-283-2301 (Ext 205) On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Company, Paul Pedersen, CEO Certain statements contained in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements other than statements of historical fact contained in this press release, including, without limitation, statements regarding the Company's anticipated delivery of its products to legal markets outside Canada and those regarding the Company's strategy, plans, objectives, goals and targets, and any statements preceded by, followed by or that include the words "believe", "expect", "aim", "intend", "plan", "continue", "will", "may", "would", "anticipate", "estimate", "forecast", "predict", "project", "seek", "should" or similar expressions or the negative thereof, are forward-looking statements. These statements are not historical facts but instead represent only the Company's expectations, estimates and projections regarding future events. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve assumptions, risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual results may differ materially from what is expressed, implied or forecasted in such forward-looking statements. Additional factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially include, but are not limited to the risk factors discussed in the Company's MD&A for the most recent fiscal period. Management provides forward-looking statements because it believes they provide useful information to investors when considering their investment objectives and cautions investors not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Consequently, all of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements and other cautionary statements or factors contained herein, and there can be no assurance that the actual results or developments will be realized or, even if substantially realized, that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on, the Company. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release and the Company assumes no obligation to update or revise them to reflect subsequent information, events or circumstances or otherwise, except as required by law. The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed or approved the contents of this press release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/150963 Series of orders demonstrates Plurilock's consistency and continued outstanding sales performance across key industry verticals Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 11, 2023) - Plurilock Security Inc. (TSXV: PLUR) (OTCQB: PLCKF) and related subsidiaries ("Plurilock" or the "Company"), an identity-centric cybersecurity solutions provider for workforces, is pleased to announce that all contracts and orders disclosed by its wholly-owned subsidiary, Aurora System Consulting, Inc. ("Aurora"), since January 1, 2022, represent a combined total of roughly US$42.3 million in sales as of December 31, 2022.1 As has been the case to-date, many of the orders received continue to be part of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Solution for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) program, a U.S. Government-Wide Acquisition Contract Vehicle (GWAC), and align with Plurilock's stated goal of expanding within the government and defense verticals. About SEWP The SEWP V program, launched by NASA in 2015, is the leading information technology (IT) contract vehicle, with government agencies spending $7.9 billion in fiscal 2020.2 Estimates anticipate that agencies will utilize SEWP V for $8.8 billion in contracted spending in fiscal 2021.3 The contract vehicle provides Plurilock with the opportunity to access downstream customers in the government sector. About Plurilock Plurilock provides identity-centric cybersecurity for today's workforces. The Plurilock family of companies enables organizations to operate safely and securely while reducing cybersecurity friction. Plurilock offers world-class IT and cybersecurity solutions through its Solutions Division, paired with proprietary, AI-driven and cloud-friendly security through its Technology Division. Together, the Plurilock family of companies delivers persistent identity assurance with unmatched ease of use. For more information, visit https://www.plurilock.com or contact: Ian L. Paterson Chief Executive Officer [email protected] 416.800.1566 Roland Sartorius Chief Financial Officer [email protected] Prit Singh Investor Relations [email protected] 905.510.7636 Forward-Looking Statements This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") related to future events or Plurilock's future business, operations, and financial performance and condition. Forward-looking statements normally contain words like "will", "intend", "anticipate", "could", "should", "may", "might", "expect", "estimate", "forecast", "plan", "potential", "project", "assume", "contemplate", "believe", "shall", "scheduled", and similar terms. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, actions, or developments and are based on expectations, assumptions, and other factors that management currently believes are relevant, reasonable, and appropriate in the circumstances. Although management believes that the forward-looking statements herein are reasonable, actual results could be substantially different due to the risks and uncertainties associated with and inherent to Plurilock's business. Additional material risks and uncertainties applicable to the forward-looking statements herein include, without limitation, the impact of general economic conditions, the success of the Company in obtaining new or extended contracts or orders; the Company's ability to maintain existing customers or develop new customers; the Company's ability to successfully integrate acquisitions of other businesses and/or companies or to realize on the anticipated benefits thereof; and unforeseen events, developments, or factors causing any of the aforesaid expectations, assumptions, and other factors ultimately being inaccurate or irrelevant. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect the Company's forward-looking statements. Many of these factors are beyond the control of Plurilock. All forward-looking statements included in this press release are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as at the date hereof, and Plurilock undertakes no obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as may be required by applicable securities laws. Risks and uncertainties about the Company's business are more fully discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in its most recent Annual Information Form. They are otherwise disclosed in its filings with securities regulatory authorities available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/150916 Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - January 11, 2023) - Red Light Holland Corp. (CSE: TRIP) (FSE: 4YX) (OTCQB: TRUFF) ("Red Light Holland" or the "Company"), an Ontario-based corporation engaged in the production, growth and sale of functional mushrooms and mushroom home grow kits in North America and Europe, and a premium brand of psilocybin truffles to the legal, recreational market within the Netherlands, in compliance with all applicable laws, is pleased to announce that the Company has retained psychedelic consultants, Cannabis License Experts Inc. ("CLE"), to assist the Company with an application for a Controlled Drugs and Substances Dealer's Licence ("CDS License"), which will be utilized for the purposes of psilocybin production, research and development at the Company's mushroom production facility in New Brunswick, Canada ("AEM New Brunswick Farm"). CLE will consult Red Light Holland on the CDS License application process by preparing a description for each of the 11 security levels and requirements as per the Directive on Physical Security Requirements for Controlled Substances and Drugs Containing Cannabis, including creating a security template, floor plan, and security proposal, ensuring the proper individuals are in place (senior person in charge, qualified person in charge and alternate qualified person in charge) and assessing the substances being used for the proposed activities (together, the "Security Plans"). In addition, CLE will provide ongoing assistance by responding to inquiries from the Office of Controlled Substances at Health Canada and assisting with all other relevant matters pertaining to obtaining the CDS License. "We are committed to expanding our psilocybin production, research and development in Canada. Red Light Holland believes that now is the time to start looking to pave this path forward," said Todd Shapiro, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Red Light Holland. "As Health Canada carefully rolls out their Special Access Program, we will aim to advance our $2.5 million Certified Organic and SQF Certified facility, AEM New Brunswick Farm, which is producing close to 5,000 pounds of shiitake mushrooms per week, to potentially also becoming a cGMP-grade cultivation facility for naturally occurring psilocybin mushrooms. While there are still many steps ahead, Red Light Holland has always aimed at having our own cGMP-grade CDS Licensed mushroom cultivation facility with further hopes of becoming a supplier of standardized and safe naturally occurring psilocybin. We are excited to start this process and feel very comfortable working with CLE, who have a stellar reputation and an excellent close rate at achieving successful licenses when working with companies who have had similar goals as ours," further added Mr. Shapiro. Red Light Holland will keep shareholders up to speed on the project, Security Plans, potential construction and retrofit of the AEM New Brunswick Farm, CDS License application and Health Canada correspondence. About CLE: CLE is a compliance solutions provider consisting of in-house professionals with extensive cannabis, pharma, food, medical device and drug regulatory, licensing and operational experience. CLE, which has been in business for over 17 years, has a tremendous success rate, to date when working on behalf of companies to obtain cannabis and psychedelic licenses, as they have leveraged their experienced staff, consisting of former Health Canada employees and Food and Drug Administration officials, to successfully submit over 250 license applications. About Red Light Holland Red Light Holland is an Ontario-based corporation engaged in the production, growth and sale of functional mushrooms and mushroom home grow kits in North America and Europe, and a premium brand of psilocybin truffles to the legal, recreational market within the Netherlands, in compliance with all applicable laws. For additional information: Todd Shapiro Chief Executive Officer and Director Tel: 647-643-TRIP (8747) Email: [email protected] Website: www.redlight.co Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Information This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. These statements relate to future events or future performance. The use of any of the words "could", "intend", "expect", "believe", "will", "projected", "estimated" and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on the Company's current belief or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events. The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained herein include, but are not limited to, statements regarding: the Company's performance, business objectives and milestones and the anticipated timing of, and costs in connection with, the execution or achievement of such objectives and milestones; the Company's future growth prospects and intentions to pursue one or more viable business opportunities; the development of the Company's business and future activities following the date hereof; expectations relating to market size and anticipated growth in the jurisdictions within which the Company may from time to time operate or contemplate future operations; the market for the Company's proposed product offerings, as well as the Company's ability to capture market share; the Company being granted a CDS License and it being used for psilocybin production, research and development; CLE assisting the Company with the application process, including the preparation of the Security Plans and providing ongoing assistance by responding to inquiries from the Office of Controlled Substances at Health Canada and assisting with all other relevant matters pertaining to obtaining the CDS License; the Company advancing the AEM New Brunswick Farm to become a cGMP-grade Health Canada licensed mushroom cultivation facility and becoming a supplier of standardized and safe naturally occurring psilocybin; the Company expanding its production, research and development of psilocybin in Canada; and the Company providing updates on the project, Security Plans, potential construction and retrofit of the AEM New Brunswick Farm, CDS License application and Health Canada correspondence. Forward-looking information in this press release are based on certain assumptions and expected future events, namely: current and future members of management will abide by the Company's business objectives and strategies from time to time established by the Company; the Company will achieve the performance, meet their business objectives and milestones in their anticipated time and within the anticipated cost; the Company will retain and supplement its board of directors and management, or otherwise engage consultants and advisors having knowledge of the industries (or segments thereof) within which the Company may from time to time participate; the Company will have sufficient working capital and the ability to obtain the financing required in order to develop and continue its business, brands and operations; the Company will continue to attract, develop, motivate and retain highly qualified and skilled consultants and/or employees, as the case may be; no adverse changes will be made to the regulatory framework governing psychedelics, taxes and all other applicable matters in the jurisdictions in which the Company conducts business and any other jurisdiction in which the Company may conduct business in the future; the Company will be able to execute on its business strategy as anticipated; the Company will be able to meet the requirements necessary to obtain and/or maintain authorizations required to conduct the business; general economic, financial, market, regulatory, and political conditions, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, will not negatively affect the Company or its business; the Company will be able to successfully compete in the psychedelic industries; the Company will be able to effectively manage anticipated and unanticipated costs; the Company will be able to conduct its operations in a safe, efficient and effective manner; general market conditions will be favourable with respect to the Company's future plans and goals; the Company will be granted a CDS License and will use it for psilocybin production, research and development; CLE will assist the Company with the CDS License application process, including the preparation of Security Plans, providing ongoing assistance by responding to inquiries from the Office of Controlled Substances at Health Canada and assisting with all other relevant matters pertaining to obtaining the CDS License; the Company will increase its points of sale; the Company will implement the Security Plans; the Company will advance the AEM New Brunswick Farm to become a cGMP-grade Health Canada licensed mushroom cultivation facility and become a supplier of standardized and safe naturally occurring psilocybin; the Company will expand their psilocybin production, research and development; and the Company will provide updates on the project, Security Plans, potential construction and retrofit of the AEM New Brunswick Form, CDS License application and Health Canada correspondence. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements, including but not limited to: the potential inability of the Company to continue as a going concern; risks associated with potential governmental and/or regulatory action with respect to the Company's operations; competition within the markets that the Company operates in; risks with respect to the safety of the Company's products; the risk that there is no potential benefit of the Company's products; risk that the Company will be unable to develop its products; production risks for the Company's products, including logistical delays and risk that the Company will be unable to complete production of its products; risk that the functional mushroom industries in the North America, along with their legal frameworks, will not develop; the Company's inability to attract and retain qualified members of management to grow the Company's business, brands and its operations; unanticipated changes in economic and market conditions (including changes resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic) or in applicable laws; the impact of the publications of inaccurate or unfavourable research by securities analysts or other third parties; unanticipated changes in the psychedelic industries in the jurisdictions within which the Company may from time to time conduct its business and operations, including the Company's inability to respond or adapt to such changes; the Company's inability to secure or maintain favourable lease arrangements or the required authorizations necessary to conduct the business and operations and meet its targets; the Company's inability to effectively manage unanticipated costs and expenses, including costs and expenses associated with product recalls and judicial or administrative proceedings against the Company; risk that the Company will be unable to provide affordable and equitable access adult access to naturally occurring psilocybin; risk that the CLE will not consult and/or assist the Company with an application for a CDS License; the Company's inability to obtain a CDS License and/or use it for the purposes of psilocybin production, research and development; risk that the Company will not advance the AEM New Brunswick Farm to become a cGMP-grade Health Canada licensed mushroom cultivation facility and/or become a supplier of standardized and safe naturally occurring psilocybin; the Company's inability to implement the Security Plans; risk that the Company will be unable to expand its psilocybin production, research and development; and risk that Company will not provide updates on the project, Security Plans, potential construction and retrofit of the AEM New Brunswick Farm, CDS License application and/or Health Canada correspondence. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list is not exhaustive. Readers are further cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are placed will occur. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement and reflect the Company's expectations as of the date hereof and are subject to change thereafter. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, estimates or opinions, future events or results or otherwise or to explain any material difference between subsequent actual events and such forward-looking information, except as required by applicable law. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/151003 Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 11, 2023) - Riverside Resources Inc. (TSXV: RRI) (OTCQB: RVSDF) (FSE: 5YY) ("Riverside" or the "Company"), is pleased to provide an outlook of the Company's growth plans for the coming year and recap the accomplishments and milestones achieved this past year. In 2023, Riverside Resources plans to take advantage of its strong balance sheet and sound portfolio of JV-ready projects. Furthermore, the royalty portfolio growth of the past 12 months puts Riverside in a unique valuable position heading into this year. Riverside continues to progress its Prospect Generator business model that builds up the royalty portfolio and uses proprietary databases to identify and then stake or otherwise acquire quality prospects, working with partners, finding undervalued acquisitions, and advancing some of its main assets while retaining royalties on all its projects. The Company enters 2023 with over C$8,000,000 in cash, no debt, no warrants and a tight share structure, with less than 77,000,000 shares outstanding, while being in business as a public company for over 15 years. The Company remains focused on its 100% owned projects, within its portfolio in Canada and Mexico, and its strategic copper exploration alliance with BHP (one of the world's largest mining companies). Riverside is always working towards new potential strategic alliances and partnerships, which the Company aims to deliver more of in 2023. Similarly, Riverside expects to generate strong news flow from the following key projects and partnerships: Canada gold exploration farm-in and farm-out activities including continuation of the exploration on the 100% owned Oakes Gold Project. Working towards a new Strategic Alliance with a major base metal producer. Completing an option agreement on Riverside's copper properties to a major copper producing partner. Commence partner funded drilling with BHP on at least one project during H1/2023. Explore new partnership to advance La Union after high-grade exploration results in 2022. Exploration results in Mexico for our gold projects including Cuarentas. Working on a potential farm-out deal for Cecilia with proposed drilling on the property. 2022 Recap: Riverside started the past year by closing a $720,000 CAD oversubscribed private placement. This financing used the government supportive flow through tax credit and was partially deployed to test and delineate gold mineralization on Riverside's 100% owned Oakes Gold Project in Ontario. Riverside completed a 1,700m drill program with assays showing 8 of the 12 holes intersecting gold at shallow levels with mineralization remaining open at depth and along strike. The primary focus of the drill program at Oakes was to test beneath and along the exposed High Grade target, identified by geophysics and trenching programs, for gold grades and continuity which came back positive. This was followed by successfully expanding the known 1.2 km gold mineralization, beyond the outcrops and laid the groundwork, which can now be progressed with future partner funding, in drilling to test down dip and further along strike, for the Oakes gold camp in 2023. In Mexico, Riverside sold the Tajitos Gold Project to Minera Fresnillo, S.A. de C.V. ("Fresnillo"), a wholly owned subsidiary of Fresnillo PLC, for $2,500,000 USD in cash and retained 2% NSR Royalty. Fresnillo is the world's leading silver producer and Mexico's largest gold producer. Riverside also sold the Pima project in Sonora to Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. These two properties can now move ahead inside the gold production districts that Agnico Eagle and Fresnillo are developing. The Fresnillo transaction puts Riverside in a great position to unlock value from the Company's growing royalty portfolio, by adding another quality NSR. The Company also consolidated the La Union polymetallic project after more than $500,000 USD in partner funded exploration and consolidation work with Hochschild Mining. Exploration work at La Union returned gold ("Au") values greater than two (2) ounces per ton ("oz/t"), silver ("Ag") values over 20 oz/t and up to six (6) percent zinc ("Zn"). The exploration work helped to define the main structural and lithological controls of the mineralization which is fundamental for exploration of the Union district. Riverside is now free to move ahead with seeking other partners for the 26 km sq polymetallic project located in the favorable limestone carbonate replacement belt of western Sonora, Mexico. The Project is now nicely set up for the next exploration steps, which could include geophysics and drilling, and the Company looks forward to exploring new partnership opportunities in 2023. In September 2022, BHP and Riverside agreed to move forward with a fourth year of generative funding for copper exploration in Sonora, Mexico. BHP will fund an additional US$1,600,000 in the fourth year of the agreement, on specified properties in the Exploration Financing Agreement (EFA), within the Laramide copper producing belt of Mexico. By building upon the past three years of the BHP fully funded generative exploration work, the EFA will move into the next exploration phase, focusing on five copper projects in Sonora, Mexico. The EFA breakdown, will consist of a currently approved US$1,100,000 in exploration funding to work on the Llano de Nogal district and US$500,000 in ongoing property programs within the Riverside Sonora Projects, for an initial allocated budget of US$1,600,000. Riverside optioned 100% interest in the Llano de Nogal copper project from Orogen Royalties in May of 2022, using the funding through the BHP Alliance. Furthermore, Riverside previously acquired minor tenure of the Llano de Nogal district from Millrock Resources in 2019 and has subsequently worked with BHP on the Project, over the past three years, through the EFA, to consolidate the larger portion. The BHP Program continues to focus on identifying and developing exploration opportunities leading to the discovery of new large copper deposits within an area of interest, using Riverside's proprietary databases and in-country infrastructure, with its strong generative exploration team strategically based in Hermosillo, Sonora. Upcoming Events: Riverside Resources Inc. will be exhibiting at the Vancouver Round Up conference in late January and then in early March, at the PDAC in Toronto. Make sure to stop by our booth for the latest news and a detailed update on the Company's plans for the year ahead. About Riverside Resources Inc.: Riverside is a well-funded exploration company driven by value generation and discovery. The Company has over $8M in cash, no debt and less than 80M shares outstanding with a strong portfolio of gold-silver and copper assets and royalties in North America. Riverside has extensive experience and knowledge operating in Mexico and Canada and leverages its large database to generate a portfolio of prospective mineral properties. In addition to Riverside's own exploration spending, the Company also strives to diversify risk by securing joint-venture and spin-out partnerships to advance multiple assets simultaneously and create more chances for discovery. Riverside has properties available for option, with information available on the Company's website at www.rivres.com. ON BEHALF OF RIVERSIDE RESOURCES INC. "John-Mark Staude" Dr. John-Mark Staude, President & CEO For additional information contact: John-Mark Staude President, CEO Riverside Resources Inc. [email protected] Phone: (778) 327-6671 Fax: (778) 327-6675 Web:www.rivres.com Mehran Bagherzadeh Corporate Communications Riverside Resources Inc. [email protected] Phone: (778) 327-6671 TF: (877) RIV-RES1 Web:www.rivres.com Certain statements in this press release may be considered forward-looking information. These statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology (e.g., "expect"," estimates", "intends", "anticipates", "believes", "plans"). Such information involves known and unknown risks -- including the availability of funds, the results of financing and exploration activities, the interpretation of exploration results and other geological data, or unanticipated costs and expenses and other risks identified by Riverside in its public securities filings that may cause actual events to differ materially from current expectations. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press 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/150968 UK comparison website Green Energy Compare have further expanded their products and services in their pursuit of being the ultimate resource for energy-efficient property upgrades. Green Energy Compare, the UK's leading pricing and comparison website for energy efficient home improvements have recently introduced Double Glazing to their lineup of products. With the ongoing need for homeowners to improve the energy efficiency of their properties, installing modern double glazed windows and doors is one of the most important upgrades a property owner can do. UK homeowners can now enter their requirements and postcode to get an exact double glazing cost and compare their options. With factors such as the rising energy cost and the current UK housing market slump, homeowners want to upgrade their homes to help save money on bills while also ensuring that their properties are attractive to home buyers in the market. With changes to UK legislation, from 2025 UK landlords may need to ensure that their properties achieve an EPC Certificate rating of C or above in order to rent out their properties. The best ways to improve the rating of older properties is to install the latest double glazed windows and doors, install an A rated boiler, make sure the home is insulated correctly and improve energy loss with solid conservatory roof. UK Property owners can use the Green Energy Compare website to get an instant quote anywhere in the UK by filling in a quick form. Depending on the answers that a user gives, the platform will present tailored prices, quotes and can match users with suitable installers for windows, air source heat pumps, boilers and much more. All installers and partners are vetted and meet strict criteria to be an official installer or energy partner. The platform makes the process of finding information, getting quotes and employing an installer quick and easy. About Us: Green Energy Compare is the UK's leading pricing and quote platform providing users with access to in-depth information on all things related to energy-efficient home upgrades and providing tailored quotes across multiple products and services. The platform aims to simplify the switch to a greener home and enabling property owners to benefit from numerous savings and incentives. Contact Info: Name: Dean Walsh Email: Send Email Organization: Green Energy Compare Website: http://www.greenenergycompare.com Release ID: 89087996 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. Paid press release content from The Financial Capital. The StreetInsider.com news staff was not involved in its creation. Hot Water Brisbane, founded in 1996, is one of Brisbane's major hot water service providers. The firm has established a partnership with Drain Cleaning Brisbane and Pipe Relining Brisbane to pool their knowledge, talents, and resources to take on more complicated and hard tasks. With over 60 years of combined experience in the plumbing industry, Hot Water Brisbane (HWB) have joined forces with Drain Cleaning Brisbane (DCB) and Pipe Relining Brisbane (PRB) to deliver new innovative solutions to their customers. These Brisbane plumbing companies coming together will allow them to tackle even the most complex and demanding projects. Hot Water Brisbane, one of Brisbane's largest hot water service providers, has been providing functional hot water systems for domestic and commercial use for more than two decades. With an exceptional team of skilled technicians, high-quality equipment, and a wealth of experience, the company has a reputation for excellent customer service and innovative solutions to plumbing issues. And now they have decided to join forces with the other two leading companies in the SE QLD plumbing, drainage and pipe relining sectors to handle more significant projects in 2023. This partnership brings together a wealth of knowledge and experience, with each company bringing its unique strengths to the table. Drain Cleaning Brisbane, and Pipe Relining Brisbane are major players in drain cleaning and pipe relining areas. While DCB specializes in household services such as plumbing, blockage removal, drain cleaning, and water and sewer line repairs and replacement, Pipe Relining Brisbane focuses mostly on no-dig, trenchless pipe repair and replacement. Pipe Relining Brisbane, with its team of certified and experienced professionals, leads the field in pipe relining in Queensland. The collaboration will allow the companies to take on more extensive commercial and industrial projects, such as large office buildings, hospitals, and manufacturing facilities. They will also be available for residential projects, such as multi-unit dwellings, custom homes, and residential/ properties requiring upgrades. While working with different contractors or companies, ensuring that the work delivered meets the project standards can be challenging, often leading to rework, which is both costly and time-consuming. But with these companies handling all aspects as a single entity, customers can expect timely and efficient service and cost savings from the combined resources of the three companies. In addition, instead of dealing with multiple contractors or companies for different aspects of the work, the customers will be able to work with any of the companies to handle the project, making the process of getting plumbing and drainage work done more efficiently and streamlined. The collaboration would also be financially efficient for the clients, and the customers could secure discounts or other cost-saving benefits because of the bundling of all necessary services. Hot Water Brisbane, Drain Cleaning Brisbane, and Pipe Relining Brisbane have all established themselves as leaders in the field, with a reputation for providing dependable results. The collaboration between these three leading plumbers is sure to benefit their clients, offering a one-stop solution for all their plumbing needs. Customers can expect the same level of professionalism and quality service from the combined companies as they have come to expect from each company. The companies will continue to operate under their names but will work together on larger projects as a team. This collaboration is a win for customers, as it will allow them to access a broader range of services and expertise, and for the companies, it will allow them to take on more complex and rewarding projects. The three companies are excited to start and look forward to delivering exceptional customer service in the coming years. About the Company: Hot Water Brisbane is the largest and most referred hot water service provider in Brisbane. Founded in 1996, the company has been based on three pillars instant, high-quality, and reliable hot water services. To achieve this, their operations are anchored on honesty, integrity, and fairness, which sets us apart from the competition. Contact Info: Name: Alice Johnson Email: Send Email Organization: Hot Water Brisbane Address: 5/46 Reeve St, Clayfield, Brisbane, QLD. 4011 Phone: 07 3064 0663 Website: https://www.hotwaterbrisbane.com.au/ Release ID: 89088049 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. Conference Set for April 26-28 in Orlando, Fla. ATLANTA, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Registration is now open for the Safety in Action conference, which will be held April 26-28, 2023, at the Hyatt Regency Orlando. The annual event will celebrate its 36th year and is hosted by DEKRA, a global leader in safety. The Safety in Action conference will be held April 26-28, 2023. The annual event is hosted by DEKRA. The theme for 2023's conference is Holistic Safety: Defining the Future of Safety at Work. The two-day conference will feature nearly 100 breakout sessions, 14 pre-conference development seminars, and two keynote presentations with an emphasis on practical application, employee engagement, and continuous improvement. Sessions and workshops are focused on seven key areas: Foundations for the front line Human performance reliability Serious injury and fatality prevention Leadership development Workforce well-being Safety, security, and sustainability Data analytics and technology Behavioral Safety Now "Organizations are focusing on the future holistically and incorporating well-being, technology, and sustainability," said Angelica Grindle, DEKRA Vice President and the conference's executive sponsor. "We are excited to bring together leaders to define the future of safety at work and help them forge a new path of safety excellence." The conference includes a one-day Leadership Summit, where executives can share best practices and discuss current challenges. This year's topic is the Future of Work: Rewriting the People Engagement Story, which includes robotics, automation, variable work structures, and the multi-generational workforce. "From automation and gig workers to quiet quitting and well-being, the world of work continues to change rapidly," said Michael Mangan, Ph.D. and DEKRA executive sponsor of the Leadership Summit. "To thrive and capitalize on the opportunities presented in this new world of work, leaders need to regularly rethink how work is done, continuously engage workers in the process, and adopt technologies and automation that maximize worker capabilities and value." With close to 1,500 safety and operations professionals from across industries and continents, Safety in Action is the largest privately held front-line employee safety conference in the world. For over 35 years, the conference has provided a forum for supervisors, managers, and leaders to network and learn about industry developments and cutting-edge solutions. For more information, visit www.safetyinaction.com. About DEKRA North America DEKRA North America protects people, assets, and our community by providing comprehensive testing, inspection, certification, and consulting services around the globe. DEKRA NORTH AMERICA is a service unit of DEKRA S.E., a global leader in safety since 1925 with nearly 48,000 employees in 60 countries across six continents. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/2023-safety-in-action-conference-opens-registration-301716944.html SOURCE DEKRA North America Airsupra is the first and only rescue medication approved in the US for as-needed use to reduce risk of asthma exacerbations Approval based on successful Phase III trial programme conducted by Avillion in more than 4,000 patients under an exclusive clinical co-development agreement with AstraZeneca Continues Avillion's 100% success rate in clinical co-development partnerships across multiple therapeutic areas LONDON, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Avillion LLP, a drug development company focused on the co-development and financing of pharmaceutical candidates from proof-of-concept through to regulatory approval, announces that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved AstraZeneca's Airsupra (albuterol/budesonide, formerly known as PT027) for the as-needed treatment or prevention of bronchoconstriction and to reduce the risk of exacerbations in people with asthma aged 18 years and older. Airsupra is a first-in-class, pressurised metered-dose inhaler (pMDI), fixed-dose combination rescue medication containing albuterol, a short-acting beta2-agonist (SABA), and budesonide, an anti-inflammatory inhaled corticosteroid (ICS). The US approval was based on positive results from a global Phase III clinical trial programme for Airsupra comprising four studies involving more than 4,000 patients (including the MANDALA and DENALI trials1,2), which was conducted successfully by Avillion under an exclusive clinical co-development agreement with AstraZeneca. Under its 2018 agreement, Avillion had regulatory responsibility including filing the New Drug Application (NDA) through to FDA approval in the US. Following this approval, AstraZeneca has the option, upon making certain financial payments to Avillion, to commercialise Airsupra in the US. This milestone continues Avillion's 100% successful rate in clinical co-development partnerships for the global pharmaceutical and biotech industry. In MANDALA, Airsupra significantly reduced the risk of severe exacerbations compared to albuterol in patients with moderate to severe asthma when used as an as-needed rescue medication in response to symptoms.1 The results from the MANDALA trial were published in the New England Journal of Medicine in May 2022.1 In DENALI, Airsupra significantly improved lung function compared to the individual components, albuterol and budesonide, in patients with mild to moderate asthma.2 The safety and tolerability of Airsupra in both trials were consistent with the known profiles of the components,1,2 with the most common adverse events including headache, oral candidiasis, cough and dysphonia.3 The co-development partnership between AstraZeneca and Avillion has recently expanded to include the BATURA study, a randomised Phase IIIb decentralised trial to further assess the role of Airsupra in reducing the risk of asthma exacerbations. The Airsupra clinical co-development programme was funded by Blackstone Life Sciences, Royalty Pharma and Abingworth. Bradley E. Chipps, Past President of the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology and Medical Director of Capital Allergy & Respiratory Disease Center in Sacramento, US, said: "People with asthma are at risk of severe exacerbations regardless of their disease severity or level of control. Current albuterol rescue inhalers alleviate acute symptoms, but do not treat the underlying inflammation in asthma. The approval of Airsupra means that, for the first time, adults with asthma in the US have a rescue treatment to manage both their symptoms and the inflammatory nature of their disease." Allison Jeynes, MD, Chief Executive Officer of Avillion, said: "We're delighted that our clinical co-development programme with AstraZeneca has been successful and that Airsupra has been approved in the US as a new treatment option for asthma patients. The Airsupra approval continues our 100% success rate facilitating clinical co-development programmes with pharma companies, demonstrating the strong value our innovative model can provide to partners and the excellence and dedication of our international team. We've had an excellent working relationship with AstraZeneca and are excited to continue our partnership with the BATURA Phase IIIb study, which is looking to continue building the evidence base of Airsupra to reduce the risk of asthma exacerbations." The full press announcement from AstraZeneca on the US approval of Airsupra can be found here. Notes Asthma Asthma is a chronic, inflammatory respiratory disease with variable symptoms that affects as many as 262 million people worldwide,4 including over 25 million in the US.5 Patients with asthma experience recurrent breathlessness and wheezing, which varies over time, and in severity and frequency.6 These patients are at risk of severe exacerbations regardless of their disease severity, adherence to treatment or level of control.7,8 There are an estimated 136 million asthma exacerbations globally per year,9 including 10 million in the US;5 these are physically threatening and emotionally significant for many patients11 and can be fatal.4,11 Inflammation is central to both asthma symptoms7 and exacerbations.12 Many patients experiencing asthma symptoms use a SABA (e.g. albuterol) as a rescue medicine;13-15 however, taking a SABA alone does not address inflammation, leaving patients at risk of severe exacerbations,16 which can result in impaired quality of life,17 hospitalisation18 and frequent oral corticosteroid (OCS) use.18 Treatment of exacerbations with as few as 1-2 short courses of OCS are associated with an increased risk of adverse health conditions including type 2 diabetes, depression/anxiety, renal impairment, cataracts, cardiovascular disease, pneumonia and fracture.19 International recommendations from the Global Initiative for Asthma no longer recommend SABA alone as the preferred rescue therapy.6 MANDALA, DENALI and the CREST (Combination REliever STudies) programme The CREST clinical trial programme studied the efficacy and safety of PT027 and included the MANDALA,1,20,21 DENALI2,22,23 and TYREE25 Phase III trials. MANDALA1,20,21 was a Phase III, randomised, double-blind, multicentre, parallel-group, event-driven trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of Airsupra compared to albuterol on the time to first severe asthma exacerbation in 3,132 adults, adolescents, and children (aged 411 years) with moderate to severe asthma taking ICS alone or in combination with a range of asthma maintenance therapies, including long-acting beta2-agonists (LABA), leukotriene receptor antagonists (LTRA), long-acting muscarinic antagonists (LAMA) or theophylline. The trial comprised a two-to-four-week screening period, at least a 24-week treatment period and a two-week post-treatment follow-up period. Patients were randomly assigned to one of the following three treatment groups in a 1:1:1 ratio: Airsupra 180/160mcg (excluding children aged 411 years), albuterol/budesonide 180/80mcg or albuterol 180mcg, taken as an as-needed rescue medicine. Airsupra and the albuterol comparator were delivered in a pMDI using AstraZeneca's Aerosphere delivery technology. The primary efficacy endpoint was the time to first severe asthma exacerbation during the treatment period. Secondary endpoints included severe exacerbation rate (annualised), total systemic corticosteroid exposure (annualised), asthma control and health-related quality of life. Results from the positive MANDALA Phase III trial showed that Airsupra demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in the risk of a severe exacerbation versus albuterol rescue in patients with moderate to severe asthma1,21. Compared with albuterol rescue, Airsupra at the 180mcg albuterol/160mcg budesonide dose reduced the risk of a severe exacerbation by 27% (p Primary and secondary endpoint results in adults and adolescents1,21(pre-planned on-treatment efficacy analysis) Treatment Group Comparison versus albuterol 180mcg Time to first severe exacerbation n Number (%) of Patients with a Severe Exacerbation a, b Hazard Ratio(95% CI) p value (2sided) Airsupra 180/160mcg 1013 207 (20.4) 0.73 (0.61, 0.88) Albuterol 180mcg 1014 266 (26.2) Annualised severe exacerbation rate (rate ratio) n Number of Severe Exacerbations a, b Annualised rate(95% CI) Rate Ratio(95% CI) Airsupra 180/160mcg 1013 334 0.45 (0.34, 0.60) 0.76 (0.62, 0.93) Albuterol 180mcg 1014 413 0.59 (0.44, 0.78) Annualised total SCS dose (mg/year) n Mean (SD) b % reduction in mean Airsupra 180/160mcg 1012 86.2 (262.86) 33.4 % Albuterol 180mcg 1011 129.3 (657.19) aDeterioration of asthma requiring use of SCS for 3 days, or inpatient hospitalisation, or emergency room visit, that required SCS. bBefore discontinuation of randomised treatment or change in maintenance therapy.CI, confidence interval; SCS, systemic corticosteroid; SD, standard deviation Primary endpoint results in adults, adolescents, and children1,21(pre-planned on-treatment efficacy analysis) Treatment Group Comparison versus albuterol 180mcg Time to first severe exacerbation n Number (%) of Patientswith a Severe Exacerbation a, b Hazard Ratio(95% CI) p value (2sided) Albuterol/budesonide 180/80mcg 1054 241 (22.9) 0.83 (0.70, 0.99) 0.041 Albuterol 180mcg 1056 276 (26.1) aDeterioration of asthma requiring use of SCS for 3 days, or inpatient hospitalisation, or emergency room visit, that required SCS. bBefore discontinuation of randomised treatment or change in maintenance therapy.CI, confidence interval Adverse events (AEs) were similar across the treatment groups in the trial and consistent with the known safety profiles of the individual components, with the most common AEs including nasopharyngitis and headache.1,22 DENALI2,23,24 was a Phase III, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicentre, parallel-group trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of Airsupra compared to its components albuterol and budesonide on improvement in lung function in 1,001 adults, adolescents, and children aged 411 years with mild to moderate asthma previously treated either with SABA as-needed alone or in addition to regular low-dose ICS maintenance therapy. The trial comprised a two-to-four-week screening period, a 12-week treatment period and a two-week post-treatment follow-up period. Patients were randomly assigned to one of the following five treatment groups in a 1:1:1:1:1 ratio: Airsupra 180/160mcg four times daily (excluding children aged 411 years), albuterol/budesonide 180/80mcg four times daily, albuterol 180mcg four times daily, budesonide 160mcg four times daily (excluding children aged 411 years) and placebo four times daily. Airsupra, the albuterol and budesonide comparators and placebo were delivered in a pMDI using AstraZeneca's Aerosphere delivery technology. The dual primary efficacy endpoints were change from baseline in FEV1 area under the curve 0-6 hours over 12 weeks of Airsupra compared to budesonide to assess the effect of albuterol and change from baseline in trough FEV1 at Week 12 of Airsupra compared to albuterol to assess the effect of budesonide. Secondary endpoints included the time to onset and duration of response on day one, number of patients who achieved a clinically meaningful improvement in asthma control from baseline at Week 12 and trough FEV1 at Week 1. In the trial, Airsupra demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in lung function measured by forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), compared to the individual components albuterol and budesonide, and compared to placebo in patients with mild to moderate asthma aged 12 years or older. Onset of action and duration of effect were similar for Airsupra and albuterol. The safety and tolerability of Airsupra in DENALI was consistent with the known profiles of the components. About AvillionAvillion offers pharma partners an innovative model providing additional funding and clinical development expertise, to maximise the potential of new and existing assets. With deal sizes ranging from $50M$600M, Avillion takes on the full clinical and regulatory risk, focusing on the speed and quality of trial execution. Typically supporting programs post proof-of-concept through to registration and with an agnostic approach to therapy area, Avillion prides itself in adding value around operational expertise while being backed by established long-term investors. Avillion was founded in 2012 and is backed by Abingworth and Blackstone Life Sciences (previously Clarus Ventures). The Airsupra clinical co-development programme was funded by Blackstone Life Sciences, Royalty Pharma and Abingworth. For more information, please visit us at www.avillionllp.com Contacts Allison Jeynes, CEO +44 (0)203 764 9530 [email protected] Mark Swallow, George Underwood MEDiSTRAVA Consulting +44 (0)203 928 6900 [email protected] References Papi A, et al. AlbuterolBudesonide Fixed-Dose Combination Rescue Inhaler for Asthma. N Engl J Med 2022; 386 (22): 2071-2083. Chipps BE, et al. Efficacy and safety of albuterol/budesonide (PT027) in mild-to-moderate asthma: Results of the DENALI study. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2022; 205: A3414. Abstract. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1164/ajrccm-conference.2022.205.1_MeetingAbstracts.A3414 [Last accessed: November 2022]. Airsupra (albuterol/budesonide) US prescribing information; 2023. The Global Asthma Network. The Global Asthma Report 2022. [Online]. Available at: http://globalasthmareport.org/index.html [Last accessed: November 2022]. CDC. Most Recent National Asthma Data. [Online]/ Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/asthma/most_recent_national_asthma_data.htm. [Last accessed: November 2022]. Global Initiative for Asthma. Global strategy for asthma management and prevention, 2022. Available at: https://ginasthma.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/GINA-Main-Report-2022-FINAL-22-07-01-WMS.pdf. [Last accessed: November 2022]. Price D, et al. Asthma control and management in 8,000 European patients: the REcognise Asthma and LInk to Symptoms and Experience (REALISE) survey. NPJ Prim Care Respir Med. 2014; 24: 14009. Papi A, et al. Relationship of inhaled corticosteroid adherence to asthma exacerbations in patients with moderate-to-severe asthma. J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract. 2018; 6 (6): 1989-98.e3. AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals. Data on File. Budesonide/formoterol Data on File: Annual Rate of Asthma Exacerbations Globally. (REF-173201) Sastre J, et al. Insights, attitudes, and perceptions about asthma and its treatment: a multinational survey of patients from Europe and Canada. World Allergy Organ J. 2016; 9: 13. Fernandes AG, et al. Risk factors for death in patients with severe asthma. J Bras Pneumol. 2014; 40 (4): 364-372. Wark PA, et al. Asthma exacerbations 3: pathogenesis. Thorax. 2006; 61 (10): 909-15. Johnson DB, et al. Albuterol. 2022 May 1. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2022 Jan. PMID: 29489143. Montemayor T, et al. Albuterol: Often Used and Heavily Abused. Respiratory Care November 2021, 66 (Suppl 10) 3603775 ClinCalc.com. Albuterol: Drug Usage Statistics, US 2013 2020. Available at: https://clincalc.com/DrugStats/Drugs/Albuterol. [Last accessed: November 2022]. Nwaru BI, et al. Overuse of short-acting 2-agonists in asthma is associated with increased risk of exacerbation and mortality: a nationwide cohort study of the global SABINA programme. Eur Respir J. 2020; 55 (4): 1901872. Lloyd A, et al. The impact of asthma exacerbations on health-related quality of life in moderate to severe asthma patients in the UK. Prim Care Respir J. 2007; 16 (1): 22-7. Bourdin A, et al. ERS/EAACI statement on severe exacerbations in asthma in adults: facts, priorities and key research questions. Eur Respir J. 2019; 54 (3): 1900900. Price DB, et al. Adverse outcomes from initiation of systemic corticosteroids for asthma: long-term observational study. J Asthma Allergy. 2018; 11: 193204. Chipps BE, et al. Evaluation of the Efficacy and Safety of As-Needed PT027 Budesonide/Albuterol MDI) Compared to As-Needed Albuterol MDI in Adults and Children 4 Years of Age or Older with Uncontrolled Moderate to Severe Asthma: Design of the MANDALA Study. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2020; 201: A3015. Papi A, et al. Efficacy and safety of as-needed albuterol/budesonide versus as-needed albuterol in adults, adolescents and children aged 4 years with moderate-to-severe asthma: Results of the MANDALA study. American Thoracic Society International Conference 2022. Oral Presentation. Abstract A3413 during B93. BREAKTHROUGHS IN PEDIATRIC AND ADULT ASTHMA CLINICAL TRIALS Clinicaltrials.gov. A Study to Assess the Efficacy and Safety of Budesonide/Albuterol Metered-dose Inhaler (BDA MDI/PT027) Used 4 Times Daily in Adults and Children 4 Years of Age or Older With Asthma (DENALI). Available at https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03847896. [Last accessed: November 2022]. AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals. Data on File. DENALI clinical trial protocol Data on File (ID: 121792). LaForce C, et al. Albuterol/budesonide for the treatment of exercise-induced bronchoconstriction in patients with asthma: The TYREE study. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2022; 128: 169-177. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/avillion-announces-us-approval-of-astrazenecas-airsupra-pt027-as-new-rescue-treatment-for-asthma-301719122.html SOURCE Avillion LLP Deep integration provides a best-in-class e-commerce solution that will empower thousands of cannabis dispensary and delivery operators LOS ANGELES, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- BLAZE, the industry-leading cannabis software suite and point-of-sale (POS) platform for cannabis dispensaries and delivery services, today announced its acquisition of Tymber, a pure-play e-commerce provider for cannabis retailers. The acquisition will unlock powerful and seamless functionality in managing cannabis e-commerce. This acquisition offers a unique opportunity to accelerate cannabis retail innovation. "BLAZE builds exceptional tools that serve the technology needs of successful dispensaries. Acquiring Tymber brings its unparalleled online shopping experience into our ecosystem and allows us to meet the cannabis retailer at any point along their journey," said BLAZE CEO Chris Violas. "Tymber differentiates itself by enabling retailers to create a unique shopping experience that showcases their brand through a growing catalog of premium e-commerce themes and by empowering the retailer with automated SEO and control of their data." "We founded Tymber as the first e-commerce solution truly built for retailer operatorsno ulterior motives, no conflicts of interest. Today, the need for retailers to take control of their businesses has never been more urgent," said Scott Roehrick, CEO of Tymber. "With this acquisition, we are excited to accelerate innovation, and distribute it to a larger audience throughout North America and beyond." To ensure consistent service and customer satisfaction, current users of Tymber and BLAZE will continue to enjoy the functionality and integrations that they know and love, while gaining access to additional capabilities and cannatech tools. About BLAZE Founded in 2017 by tech entrepreneurs and cannabis company operators, the BLAZE software suite fully supports vertically integrated operations, standalone dispensaries and delivery services. The platform's software and apps enable over 1500 + cannabis businesses across the supply chain to easily automate compliance reporting and operate safely within state and local regulations. BLAZE offers full APIs and integrates seamlessly with over 60 cannabis tech platforms. BLAZE About Tymber The industry's most trusted platform for digital growth enables dispensaries to attract, convert, and retain their own customers with their own website and mobile apps. Tymber powers native e-commerce websites, branded mobile apps, self-serve kiosks, and automated marketing for dispensaries. Their mission is to empower retailers to break their dependence on embedded menus and 3rd party marketplaces. Tymber Media Contact:Gretchen GilesGrasslands: A Journalism-Minded Agency[email protected]707.570.7887 View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/blaze-cannabis-retail-software-announces-acquisition-of-tymber-e-commerce-platform-301718509.html SOURCE BLAZE LAS VEGAS, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- BLUETTI, a well-known solar generator brand, kickstarts a themed promotion from January 10th to 25th, 2023, to celebrate the new year and its innovation of new portable solar panels-- PV68 and PV420. Besides, it is holding an open call for "BLUETTI Heroes" among its global users to make documentaries. BLUETTI Hero Recruitment All BLUETTI users can apply to be a BLUETTI hero this year. About 15 applicants will be selected to participate in the filming of documentaries. After the publication of documentaries, every hero can pick any BLUETTI products priced at $1000 as a gift. New Solar Panels PV68 and PV420 BLUETTI has recently released the most portable PV68, and the most powerful PV420. Both are made of monocrystalline silicon and coated with ETFE to ensure a 23.4% conversion efficiency and longer life. Weighing only 3.4kg and producing 68W power from sunlight, the PV68 can be carried around for outdoor activities. While the PV 420 produces 420W power, filling up a generator in a flash. AC300+ B300-Modular Power Backup System With a modular and stackable approach, the AC300&B300 combo allows for easy upgrade to an all-house power system to every need, maxing out at 12,288Wh. The AC300 inverter can comfortably power all regular household appliances with up to 3,000W continuous output and 6,000W surge capability. Its recharging rate can top 5,400W if combining 3,000 AC input and 2,400 solar input, which is supported by two separate MPPT controllers. AC200MAX All-in-one Power Beast A successor to the popular AC200P, the AC200 Max ramps up the technology and offers expandable options with additional battery modules, such as two B230 to 6,144Wh and two B300 to 8,192Wh. Even standalone, it has 2,048Wh power in the belly and can deliver 2,200W to multiple devices via its 14 outlets, plus two wireless charging pads on top. There are seven ways to top up this all-round power beast, including 1400W AC and solar dual charging. EP500 Home Emergency Power This massive power station features a 5,100Wh capacity and a 2,000W inverter, an extensive array of outlets, great for home emergencies and off-grid living. For easy mobility, it's equipped with four smooth and solid wheels on the bottom. It does not take much time to recharge the large battery. Combining solar and AC charging inputs up to 1,800W, the EP500 can be recharged in just 3.3 hours. It also supports 24/7 UPS to protect essential loads from outages and split-phase bonding to provide 240V power for high-powered devices. About BLUETTI From the very beginning, BLUETTI has tried to stay true to a sustainable future through green energy storage solutions for both indoor and outdoor use while delivering an exceptional eco-friendly experience for everyone and the world. BLUETTI is making its presence in 70+ countries and is trusted by millions of customers across the globe. For more information, please visit BLUETTI online at https://www.bluettipower.com/ Or follow us on social media:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bluetti.incInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/bluetti_official/Twitter: https://twitter.com/bluetti_incYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/@BLUETTIOfficial View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bluetti-starts-a-new-year-with-surprises-and-special-event-301717613.html SOURCE BLUETTI POWER INC VANCOUVER, BC, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - International Battery Metals Ltd. (the "Company") (CSE: IBAT) is pleased to announce that it has appointed Crowe MacKay LLP, as independent auditor of the Company, effective as of November 30, 2022 (the "Successor Auditor"). The Successor Auditor is being appointed following the receipt by the Company on December 20, 2022 of a formal resignation of Davidson and Company LLP (the ""Former Auditor"), with said resignation effective as of June 15, 2022. The board of directors of the Company appointed the Successor Auditor as the new auditor until the next Annual General Meeting of the Company. There are no reportable events between the Company and the Former Auditors. The Notice of Change of Auditors, together with the letter from the Former Auditors and the letter from the Successor Auditors, have been reviewed by the Company's Board of Directors. The Company has sent a Notice of Change of Auditor (the "Notice") to the Former Auditor and to the Successor Auditor and has received a letter from each, addressed to the securities commissions in each of British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario stating that they agree with the information contained in the Notice. The Notice, together with the letters from the Former Auditor and the Successor Auditor are available on www.SEDAR.com. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD "Garry Flowers" Garry Flowers, Chief Executive Officer About IBAT International Battery Metals (IBAT) is the first company in the world to successfully design, build and operate a mobile, Modular Direct Lithium Extraction (MDLE) plant at commercial scale with lithium brine. IBAT's patented extraction technology is proven to recover more lithium from brine than traditional methods, while offering a far superior environmental performance. IBAT's technology can be built, deployed and brought on-line in a fraction of the time, and at a fraction of the cost of traditional lithium mining models. Forward-looking and cautionary statements 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. The securities referred to herein 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 registration requirements. This release may contain statements within the meaning of safe harbour provisions as defined under securities laws and regulations. This release may contain certain forward looking statements with respect to the financial condition, results of operations and business of the Company and certain of the plans and objectives of the Company with respect to the same. By their nature, forward looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future and there are many factors that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward looking statements. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/change-of-auditor-301719660.html SOURCE International Battery Metals Ltd. Actor and activist Julian Brittano and Wife Karie Brittano, a Licensed General Contractor, signs upscale franchise agreement with industry's largest soft brand ROCKVILLE, Md., Jan.11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE: CHH) has finalized an agreement with The Brittano Group, Inc. to develop a new member of the Ascend Hotel Collection in South Boston, Virginia: The Rook Hotels. This agreement marks the first Ascend hotel awarded through the company's emerging markets franchise development program in 2022, as Choice advances its longstanding commitment to increase diversity across the hospitality industry. To commemorate the occasion and the Ascend Hotel Collection's continued growth into travelers' favorite vacation destinations, Choice Hotels executives and representatives from the hotel's ownership team, including co-CEO's Julian Brittano and Karie Brittano, convened for an official signing ceremony at Choice's headquarters in Rockville, Maryland at the end of last year. Expected to debut in summer 2024, The Rook at South Boston, a four-story, 37-room boutique property will feature distinct design and modern amenities, including a rooftop bar, full-service restaurant and bar, and event center. Ideally situated at 327 Main Street in the heart of South Boston's tree-lined historic downtown district, The Rook at South Boston will provide guests with access to the many attractions that reflect this rich tradition, including local restaurants, shops and art galleries. Formerly known as Boyd's Ferry, Virginia's South Boston community is best known for its iconic Victorian architecture and small-town charm. The building, originally built in 1929, is also within driving distance to nearby Roanoke and Richmond, Virginia, making it an ideal weekend getaway. "Advancing opportunities for underrepresented entrepreneurs in the hospitality industry remains a top priority for Choice," said John Lancaster, vice president, emerging markets, franchise development and owner relationships, Choice Hotels International. "Exactly 20 years ago, Choice became the first hotel company with a team dedicated exclusively to growing a diverse franchisee base and today we are proud to have awarded over 340 franchise agreements to under-represented minorities and seasoned entrepreneurs since the program started. We look forward to working with The Brittano Group, Inc. as we celebrate another milestone for this important initiative with the first Ascend hotel being developed through this one-of-a-kind program." The Rook Hotels is owned by accomplished actor, hotelier and social activist, Julian Brittano, and his wife, Karie Brittano. Julian is known for beginning his acting career as a co-star to Oprah Winfrey in the Oprah Winfrey Network's hit series, "Greenleaf." Karie has more than a decade of business development experience and has held a Class A CIC General Contractor's License since 2019. The Brittano's originally acquired the historic hotel from the town of South Boston earlier last year for $11 million before entering into a franchise agreement with Choice Hotels. By owning this hotel, the Brittano's are among less than 1% of Black hoteliers globally. "It's clear that Choice Hotels cares about both creating more opportunities for people of all backgrounds to enter the hospitality industry, as well as supporting franchisees every step of the way so we can maximize our investment," said Julian Brittano. "We are thrilled to be joining the industry's largest soft brand in the Ascend Hotel Collection, which allows us the freedom and creativity to bring our unique vision for The Rook Hotels to life while still being backed by a global engine and afforded best-in-class resources to ensure success." Karie Brittano added about The Rook Hotels: "It's one of the largest properties in downtown South Boston and its restoration is expected to spark a revival; to become a pillar for the community's revitalization. It's where old-world meets its stunning new world design, paying homage to the South Boston Speedway just six miles away and Virginia's International Raceway." There are over 330 Ascend Hotel Collection properties worldwide, open and in development as of September 30, 2022. In the coming months, additional hotels are scheduled to open in popular destinations including Orlando, Florida; Sutter Creek, California; Lake Charles, Louisiana and Puerto Rico. As a part of the Ascend Hotel Collection by Choice Hotels, guests can participate in the award-winning Choice Privileges loyalty program. Choice Privileges membership is free and offers fast rewards and exclusive member rates for those who book directly at www.choicehotels.com. For more information on Ascend development opportunities, visit www.choicehotelsdevelopment.com/brands/#ascendcollection. Ascend Hotel Collection: Let the Destination Reach You.The Ascend Hotel Collection global portfolio of independent resort, historic and boutique hotels is part of Choice Hotels, one of the world's largest leading hotel companies. Recognized as the hotel industry's first "soft brand" concept, there are over 330 Ascend Hotel Collection properties open and in development worldwide as of September 30, 2022, including in France, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Australia, Canada, Ecuador, and throughout Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America. Membership with the Ascend Hotel Collection enables distinctive, independent properties to gain a global presence while maintaining their local charm. For more information, visit www.choicehotels.com/ascend. About Choice HotelsChoice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE: CHH) is one of the largest lodging franchisors in the world. With nearly 7,500 hotels, representing nearly 630,000 rooms, in 46 countries and territories as of September 30, 2022, the Choice family of hotel brands provides business and leisure travelers with a range of high-quality lodging options from limited service to full-service hotels in the upper upscale, upper mid-scale, midscale, extended-stay, and economy segments. The award-winning Choice Privileges loyalty program offers members a faster way to rewards, with personalized benefits starting on day one. For more information, visit www.choicehotels.com. About The Rook HotelsEstablished 2021, The Rook Hotels, a subsidiary of The Brittano Group, is described as an urban luxury boutique brand. It is headquartered at 327 Main St., South Boston, VA 24592. Co-CEO's are Julian and Karie Brittano. For more information, visit www.therookhotels.com. Forward-Looking StatementThis communication includes "forward-looking statements" about future events, including anticipated development and hotel openings. Such statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including construction delays, availability and cost of financing, and the other "Risk Factors" described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, any of which could cause actual results to be materially different from our expectations. AddendumThis is not an offering. No offer or sale of a franchise will be made except by a Franchise Disclosure Document first filed and registered with applicable state authorities. A copy of the Franchise Disclosure Document can be obtained by contacting Choice Hotels International at 1 Choice Hotels Circle, Suite 400, Rockville, MD 20850, [email protected]. 2023 Choice Hotels International, Inc. All rights reserved. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/choice-hotels-emerging-markets-team-awards-agreement-to-develop-an-ascend-hotel-collection-property-301719271.html SOURCE Choice Hotels International, Inc. Claremont Mayor Ed Reece, sworn in as Board Chair for a second year; Glendora Council Member Mendell Thompson sworn in as new Board Vice Chair MONROVIA, Calif., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- At their January meeting today, Claremont Mayor Ed Reece and Glendora Council Member Mendell Thompson were sworn in as Chair and Vice Chair (respectively) of the Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority Board of Directors, after being unanimously elected last month by their peers. The two local elected officials lead the agency at a critical time. The westernmost 9.1-mile, four-station project segment from Glendora to Pomona is currently about two-thirds complete with construction; and the agency continues to seek additional funding to complete the final three-mile, two station project segment that includes the Claremont and Montclair stations. "This year we will be laser focused on securing the funding needed to complete the project to Claremont and Montclair and bring the full benefit of this much-needed infrastructure project to fruition," stated Chair Reece. "I know I speak for Vice Chair Thompson as I thank our colleagues for their continuing confidence in us and for their dedication to making this project a success." Chair Reece and Vice Chair Thompson have both been on the board for several years. During their tenure, the project segment from Glendora to Pomona has advanced from final design into major construction. And despite being underway in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the project segment remains on budget and on schedule to be completed in early-January 2025. Simultaneously, the agency is seeking funding from the State of California to fund the remainder of the project; allowing the line to connect to important regional destinations, including the Montclair TransCenter and the Claremont Colleges. "Completing this project is essential to the future of this corridor and to the region," added Chair Reece. "It will expand mobility opportunities by providing a reliable and sustainable transit option that connects people to where they are traveling each day - reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving the quality of life for our residents, workers, students and visitors. I am honored to continue leading the board as we work tirelessly to ensure the vision of this important project is fully realized." The Foothill Gold Line board is made up of elected and appointed representatives from throughout the project corridor. In addition to the Chair and Vice Chair, the board currently includes Pomona Mayor and Metro Board Member Tim Sandoval, La Verne Mayor Tim Hepburn, Ontario Council Member Alan Wapner (non-voting), Pasadena Council Member Gene Masuda (non-voting), and South Pasadena representative Dan Evans (non-voting). The City of Los Angeles and Governor appointees are currently vacant. About the Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority The Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority is an independent transportation planning and construction agency created in 1998 by the California State Legislature to plan, design and build the Metro Gold Line (currently referred to as the L Line) light rail system from Union Station to Montclair. The agency completed the first segment from Union Station to Pasadena in 2003 and the Pasadena to Azusa segment in 2015; both on time and under budget. The agency began work on the Glendora to Montclair segment in 2003. The Glendora to Montclair segment was environmentally cleared in March 2013 under CEQA and again in 2019 to allow the potential for phased construction. When completed, the project will add new light rail stations in the cities of Glendora, San Dimas, La Verne, Pomona, Claremont and Montclair. The project will be built in phases due to funding constraints. Major construction on the project segment from Glendora to Pomona began in July 2020 and is anticipated to be completed in 2025. The segment from Pomona to Montclair, including the Claremont and Montclair stations, is currently not funded. The Construction Authority is seeking the additional funding needed to complete the project to Claremont and Montclair. The current construction segment is funded mostly by Los Angeles County's Measure M, along with residual funds from Measure R not used to complete the Pasadena to Azusa segment. The State of California has also provided a greenhouse gas reduction grant to support the project. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/foothill-gold-line-swears-in-board-leadership-301719578.html SOURCE Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority WASHINGTON, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the Mesothelioma Victims Center, "If your wife or mom has just been diagnosed with mesothelioma anywhere in the USA and she never worked at a job where she might have been exposed to asbestos, is there a chance her husband or significant other might have brought asbestos home from work on his clothing? As the lawyers at The Gori Law Firm are always more than happy to discuss at 866-532-2106. Second had exposure is a very real problem that is largely ignored in the USA. Financial compensation for a person like this might exceed a million dollars. "Frequently, the wife or significant other of a shipyard worker or a person who worked in a factory, power plant, refinery, auto-truck repair facility, or as a plumber, pipefitter, welder, machinist, electrician, insulator or construction may have been exposed to asbestos via their loved one's clothing. In-fact the wife or significant other of a person like this might have been exposed to asbestos every time they came home from work-if the person's job included exposure to asbestos. For more information the family of a woman who has just been diagnosed with mesothelioma - who had no workplace exposure to asbestos - please call The Gori Law Firm anytime at 866-532-2106." https://GoriLaw.Com The reason the Mesothelioma Victims Center has recently endorsed The Gori Law Firm is as follows. The Gori Law Firm has decades worth of experience nationwide in assisting people who have mesothelioma because of secondhand exposure to asbestos. The Gori Law Firm is responsible for over $3 billion dollars in compensation results for their clients. The Gori Law Firm is a national mesothelioma law firm. Every year more families trust The Gori Law Firm when dealing with a loved one's asbestos cancer diagnosis than any other firm in the nation. https://GoriLaw.Com High-risk work groups for exposure to asbestos include Veterans of the US Navy, power plant workers, shipyard workers, steel mill workers, oil refinery workers, factory workers, plumbers, electricians, welders, pipefitters, millwrights, miners, auto mechanics, machinists, pulp or paper mill workers, printers, firemen, railroad workers and construction workers. In most instances people with mesothelioma were exposed to asbestos in the 1950's, 1960's, 1970's, or 1980's. https://GoriLaw.Com According to the CDC the states indicated with the highest incidence of mesothelioma include Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota, Louisiana, Washington, and Oregon. However, based on the calls the Mesothelioma Victims Center receives a person with mesothelioma could live in any state including New York, Florida, California, Texas, Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Idaho, or Alaska. https://MesotheliomaVictimsCenter.Com For more information about mesothelioma please refer to the National Institutes of Health's web site related to this rare form of cancer: https://www.cancer.gov/types/mesothelioma. Media Contact:Michael Thomas[email protected]202-422-2069 View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mesothelioma-victims-center-urges-the-family-of-a-woman-who-now-has-mesothelioma-because-of-washing-her-husbands-work-clothing-to-please-call-the-gori-law-firm---financial-compensation-might-easily-exceed-one-million-dollars-301718009.html SOURCE Mesothelioma Victims Center ACE provides free machine tool training aimed at revitalizing American manufacturing KNOXVILLE, Tenn., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Tooling and Machining Association (NTMA) announced the endorsement today of America's Cutting Edge (ACE), a free machine tool training program designed to engage the next generation of machinists and create talent pipelines for the precision manufacturing industry in the U.S. Supported by U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), ACE training is led by the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI), a national Manufacturing USA institute that collaborates with industry, academia and government to solve America's manufacturing challenges. "As a leading national trade association for the U.S. precision manufacturing industry, NTMA has been a consistent champion of and resource for workforce skills training," said NTMA President Roger Atkins. "NTMA assists our members by identifying and recommending high-caliber programs that can help them foster and grow the talent in their facilities. America's Cutting Edge, like our NTMA-U program, is an accessible platform to help manufacturers and educational institutions build an empowered workforce. Coming out of the pandemic, the U.S. manufacturing sector is strong. It is more important than ever to focus on building a workforce for today and the future." An active member of NTMA, IACMI values NTMA's recognition of ACE as a solution to help train CNC machine tool professionals and rebuild U.S. capabilities in this area. Through ACE, IACMI is working directly with DoD's Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment (IBAS) Program to scale up machine tool training centers across the U.S. to help restore the prominence of the U.S. machine tools sector. By investing in programs like ACE, IBAS strives to keep the U.S. industrial base at the front of strategic competitiveness by fielding new technologies and systems with the right-sized and trained workforce. According to Lucinda Curry, IACMI's national workforce manager, NTMA's endorsement of ACE is very important. "NTMA is a leader in utilizing new technologies, promoting common business interests, and providing education and training for their members. Their endorsement will demonstrate the value of ACE training to enhance school programs, apprenticeships, and help recruit more workers to the machining industry." The ACE training focuses on Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machining fundamentals but is geared towards anyone interested in manufacturing, from high school students to experienced machinists looking to expand their skills. Both the six-hour online course and the 32-hour in-person training require no prior experience and are offered at no cost. More than 3,300 people from all 50 states are engaged in the online training that began in December 2020, and in-person training is expanding from Tennessee to machine tool training centers in North Carolina, Texas, West Virginia, and Florida. Machining and machine tools are at the foundation of America's manufacturing capability and its global competitiveness. Dr. Tony Schmitz, mechanical engineering professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and joint faculty at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, agrees. He developed the ACE curriculum and is thrilled to have NTMA's support. "The ACE mission is to deploy training that advances the capabilities of U.S. machining through its workforce. Our intended audience is largely composed of NTMA members. This is a critical and strategic collaboration." About IACMI and ACE IACMI is a 130-plus member community of industry, universities, national laboratories and federal, state and local government agencies working together to benefit the nation's energy, manufacturing and economic security. IACMI is one of 16 institutes that make up Manufacturing USA, a national network connecting people, ideas and technology to secure U.S. global leadership in advanced manufacturing. This network seeks to build the national manufacturing workforce, advance technology, create new products and reduce the costs and risks to individual companies associated with these activities. IACMI is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Manufacturing Office, as well as key state and industry partners. ACE is supported by the DoD's office of Innovation Capability and Modernization through its IBAS Program. ACE brings together the scientific expertise of the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), advanced training tools and techniques developed at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UT), and the workforce development leadership of IACMI. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ntma-endorses-americas-cutting-edge-ace-workforce-program-301719441.html SOURCE IACMI - The Composites Institute NEW YORK, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- One Equity Partners ("OEP") today announced that it has purchased a controlling interest in Mythics, LLC and its wholly-owned subsidiary Emergent, LLC (together, "Mythics Emergent Group" or "MEG"), a leading public sector focused IT services firm, with business across federal and state, local and education ("SLED") segments. Founded in 2000 and headquartered in Virginia Beach, Virginia, MEG is a value-added reseller, distributor, and implementation partner of cloud-based software products to the public sector. The company is a market-leading partner for the top software providers in the Public Sector. Over the past decade, MEG has won numerous awards, including multiple Partner of the Year awards from Oracle and IBM Red Hat for various categories within the Public Sector space and has ranked as a top North American federal partner with Adobe. MEG offers its customers software and hardware licenses, as well as related implementation, maintenance and support services. Following the investment, the founders and senior executives of MEG retained a minority interest in the company alongside OEP. "We are excited to partner with the founders and management team of MEG to help accelerate the company's growth and enable MEG to enhance its position with transformational acquisitions," said Carlo Padovano, Managing Director, One Equity Partners. "As a key provider of cloud-based solutions to federal and SLED customers, we expect MEG to be an important participant in the public sector's shift to next generation technologies." "We believe One Equity Partners is the right partner for us as we enter our next phase of growth," said Paul Seifert, the newly appointed CEO of Mythics Emergent Group. "Their deep expertise within the IT services sector and operational support will enable us to further enhance our solutions, while also advancing our mission of helping government agencies modernize their IT systems." "IT modernization is a key public sector priority, and MEG is highly skilled at executing such projects in this space," said Otavio Birman, Vice President, One Equity Partners. "The transformation of public agencies to the cloud is in its infancy but is a mega-trend. We believe MEG is extremely well positioned to help its customers achieve their goals as they move to the cloud." About One Equity Partners One Equity Partners ("OEP") is a middle market private equity firm focused on the industrial, healthcare, and technology sectors in North America and Europe. The firm seeks to build market-leading companies by identifying and executing transformative business combinations. OEP is a trusted partner with a differentiated investment process, a broad and senior team, and an established track record generating long-term value for its partners. Since 2001, the firm has completed more than 300 transactions worldwide. OEP, founded in 2001, spun out of JP Morgan in 2015. The firm has offices in New York, Chicago, Frankfurt and Amsterdam. For more information, please visit www.oneequity.com. About Mythics Emergent Group Mythics, LLC, together with its wholly-owned subsidiary Emergent, LLC (collectively, "MEG"), is an award-winning IT solutions provider, systems integrator and managed services provider based in Virginia Beach, VA. Since 2000, MEG has specialized in solving complex challenges and delivering best-of-class technology solutions, specifically in the areas of cloud computing, open-source, and creative technologies, and is a trusted partner to organizations worldwide. MEG partners with some of the most prominent and industry-leading technology platforms, such as Oracle, IBM Red Hat and Adobe, and its history, commitment, success, and depth of knowledge is in the Public Sector. That is where MEG was born, that is its expertise, and that is where it will continue to grow and lead. To learn more, visit www.mythics.com or www.emergent360.com. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/one-equity-partners-agrees-to-make-a-strategic-investment-in-mythics-emergent-group-leading-it-solutions-partner-to-the-public-sector-301719228.html SOURCE Mythics LOS ANGELES, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- A recent decision in a public records case brought by Consumer Watchdog against the California Department of Insurance could encourage more government secrecy and undermine transparency, according to the non-profit consumer group. Consumer Watchdog's lawsuit alleged that Insurance Commissioner Lara and the Department of Insurance violated the Public Records Act ("PRA") by failing to search for records related to a pay-to-play scandal involving insurance companies with business pending before the agency. Under the court decision, an agency need not follow up on evidence of additional records discovered in the course of its own search and it would be more difficult for the public to access records they are not already aware of. Download the decision here. "The Court's ruling will likely embolden government officials to shield government records from the public view and raises serious questions about the state's Public Records Act that may need to be addressed by the Legislature or at the ballot box," said Consumer Watchdog Litigation Director Jerry Flanagan. "Access to information concerning the conduct of the people's business is a fundamental right of every person in this state and is a critical weapon in the fight against government corruption." In the wake of statewide news reports of the pay-to-play scandal, Consumer Watchdog filed two PRA requests with the Department in July 2019 seeking communications and meeting records. Since Consumer Watchdog could not know all the individuals who Lara and agency staff might have been meeting or communicating with, the group sought records related to "any individuals employed by or representing" the insurance companies involved in the scandal. The Department of Insurance argued it was unreasonable to require the agency to search for individuals not specifically named in a PRA request. "The public shouldn't be required to have a crystal ball to divine the names of the lobbyists government officials are meeting with behind closed doors," said Flanagan. "By their very nature government records contain information that the public is not aware of." The Department's own records demonstrate that agency officials were on notice that two individualsJamie Sahara and Eric Sernawere representing the companies involved in the pay-to-play scandal. Over the course of the lawsuit, it also became clear that the Department was on notice that at least two other individualsformer Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez and former Assembly Member Rusty Areiasalso likely communicated with Commissioner Lara or staff of the Department on behalf of Applied during the relevant time period. Despite this clear evidence, the Department failed to search for additional records related to these four individuals. "Under such a narrow reading of the law, the public would not have the tools to investigate important matters of public policy," said Flanagan. "The California Department of Insurance is the largest state agency in the country and is responsible for regulating the $310 billion insurance industry in California. The public needs transparency to ensure that insurance companies are not receiving special favors from regulators that make coverage more costly." Since the Department did not conduct an adequate search for records, the public still does not know the totality of who was involved in efforts to improperly influence the agency's decision making. The court partially granted relief in Consumer Watchdog's lawsuit, ordering the agency to produce a public record in an unredacted format and requiring the agency to submit two other records to the Court for a determination of whether they should be provided to Consumer Watchdog. The lawsuit, Consumer Watchdog v. Ricardo Lara et al., Case No. 20STCP00664, was litigated in Los Angeles Superior Court. View or share this press release online. Consumer Watchdog is a non-profit public interest organization. Visit us on the web at www.ConsumerWatchdog.org View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/public-records-act-decision-could-mean-more-government-secrecy-undermine-transparency-says-consumer-watchdog-301719562.html SOURCE Consumer Watchdog VANCOUVER, BC, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Sitka Gold Corp. ("Sitka" or the "Company") (CSE: SIG) (FSE: 1RF) (OTCQB: SITKF) is pleased to release assay results for the final drill holes of the 2022 diamond drill program completed at the Company's district-scale RC Gold Project ("RC Gold" or the "Project"), a 376 square kilometre contiguous land package with year-round road access located in the heart of Yukon's Tombstone Gold Belt (TGB). Gold assay highlights from this new release include: 201.0 m of 1.26 g/t Au from surface in DDRCCC-22-040, including from surface in DDRCCC-22-040, including 82.0 m of 2.04 g/t Au from surface including; from surface including; 19.5 m of 4.87 g/t Au from surface including; from surface including; 2.0 m of 31.20 g/t Au from 16.0 m from 16.0 m 10.0 m of 0.60 g/t Au from 357.0 m in DDRCCC-22-039 and from 357.0 m in DDRCCC-22-039 and 12.0 m of 0.52 g/t Au from 336.0 m and from 336.0 m and 3.0 m of 0.97 g/t Au from 458.0 m Cor Coe, P.Geo., CEO and Director of Sitka commented, "The 2022 step-out drilling at RC Gold was extremely rewarding for Sitka with the results of these latest drill holes highlighting the tremendous potential of the Blackjack zone, which was just discovered in December, 2021. DDRCCC-22-040 is one of the best holes we have drilled to date at RC Gold with the entire 201.0 metre length averaging 1.26 g/t gold including 82.0 m grading 2.04 g/t gold and 19.5 m of 4.87 g/t Au from the casing at surface. Several other impressive intervals including 2 metres of 31.20 g/t gold were encountered throughout the hole which also contained visible gold (see Figure 3 and Table 1). Our winter and summer diamond drilling programs last year were successful in demonstrating the continuity of strong and persistent gold mineralization throughout the Blackjack zone, which remains open in all directions. With the potential to also link gold mineralization for up to 2 kilometres across both the Saddle and Eiger Zones (see Figure 1), we are eager to aggressively add potential tonnage and unlock additional value with continued exploration at our quickly evolving, district scale and road accessible RC Gold Project." Drilling to date at the RC Gold Project has produced long intercepts with significant gold grades, as highlighted by Hole 40 (see Table 1), and has confirmed the continuity of significant and persistent gold mineralization within the Blackjack zone to surface, which remains open in all directions and demonstrates significantly higher grades of gold mineralization within the intrusion host rock. The majority of drilling to date at RC Gold was designed to provide the spatial requirements necessary to estimate an initial resource. The Company is planning a two part, winter and summer drilling program totaling 10,000 metres of diamond drilling at RC Gold for 2023 focused primarily in the Blackjack, Saddle and Eiger zone areas. Table 1 - Analytical Results for DDRCCC-22-039 and DDRCCC-22-040 Drillhole ID Azimuth () Dip () Length (m) From (m) To (m) Interval (m)* Au (g/t) DDRCCC-22-040 320 -55 209.0 8.0 209.0 201.0 1.26 including 8.0 90.0 82.0 2.04 including 8.0 27.5 19.5 4.87 including 10.0 12.0 2.0 8.69 including 16.0 18.0 2.0 31.20 including 34.5 48.5 14.0 1.48 including 46.8 48.5 1.7 6.48 including 56.0 63.2 7.2 3.50 including 58 59.5 1.5 10.40 including 81.0 84.0 3.0 4.36 including 100.0 102.0 2.0 3.00 DDRCCC-22-039 320 -54 480.0 336.0 348.0 12.0 0.52 and 357.0 367.0 10.0 0.60 and 458.0 461.0 3.0 0.97 *Intervals are drilled core length, as insufficient drilling has been undertaken to determine true widths at this time Table 2 Blackjack Zone Drill Highlights 2020-2022 BLACKJACK ZONE Drillhole ID Azimuth () Dip () Length (m) From (m) To (m) Interval (m)* Au (g/t) News Release Date DDRCCC-20-02 200 -60 296.0 9.0 296.0 287.0 0.52 Nov 23, 2020 Including 156.4 257.1 100.8 0.82 DDRCCC-21-07 208 -58 336.0 18.0 336.0 318.0 0.45 Aug 19, 2021 including 262.0 294.0 32.0 1.24 DDRCCC-21-021 320 -54 480.0 surface 220.0 220.0 1.17 Dec 13, 2021 Including 120.0 170.5 50.5 2.08 DDRCCC-22-022 320 -45 364.6 46.0 319.0 273.0 0.52 Apr 26, 2022 Including 253.0 315.0 62.0 1.21 DDRCCC-22-023 320 -61.5 285.0 4.2 210.0 205.8 1.01 May 17, 2022 Including 46.0 137.0 91.0 1.61 DDRCCC-22-024 277 -47 204.0 4.5 112.0 107.5 1.44 May 18, 2022 Including 16.0 82.0 66.0 2.11 DDRCCC-22-025 320 -46 389.2 19.0 368.0 349.0 0.71 June 13, 2022 Including 25.0 246.0 221.0 1.01 DDRCCC-22-026 140 -45 374.0 152.0 194.0 42.0 0.43 Sept 7, 2022 DDRCCC-22-027 320 -55 209.0 6.0 18.0 12.0 0.83 and 131.0 145.0 14.0 1.49 DDRCCC-22-028 320 -50 254.0 6.0 28.0 22.0 0.69 Sept 7, 2022 and 185.6 198.0 12.4 0.76 DDRCCC-22-029 320 -50 308.0 27.0 143.0 116.0 0.65 Sept 7, 2022 Including 124.0 143.0 19.0 1.22 DDRCCC-22-030 320 -50 398.0 1.4 148.0 146.6 0.90 Sept 7, 2022 Including 2.8 36.6 33.8 1.42 DDRCCC-22-031 320 -50 359.0 147.0 216.0 69.0 0.51 Sept 7, 2022 Including 147.0 157.0 10.0 1.18 DDRCCC-22-032 320 -54 386.0 255.0 265.0 10.0 0.42 Nov 18, 2022 and 352.0 362.4 10.4 10.4 0.47 DDRCCC-22-033 320 -50 344.0 104.6 114.7 10.1 1.56 Nov 18, 2022 and 292.0 311.0 19.0 1.03 DDRCCC-22-035 320 -50 244.0 156.0 164.4 8.4 0.95 Nov 18, 2022 DDRCCC-22-036 34.9 167.0 132.1 0.51 Nov 18, 2022 DDRCCC-22-037 125 -50 305.0 186.0 223.5 37.5 0.68 Nov 30, 2022 DDRCCC-22-038 315 -50 545.0 73.0 474.5 401.5 0.63 Nov 30,2022 Including 176.0 356.0 180.0 1.04 DDRCCC-22-039 320 -54 480.0 336.0 348.0 12.0 0.52 This release and 357.0 367.0 10.0 0.60 DDRCCC-22-040 320 -55 209.0 8.0 209.0 201.0 1.26 This release including 8.0 90.0 82.0 2.04 *Intervals are drilled core length, as insufficient drilling has been completed at this time to determine true widths Drillhole DDRCCC-22-039 collared into metasedimentary country rock to the northeast of the main Saddle intrusive host rock at the Blackjack zone at an azimuth of 320 degrees. The hole intersected a thick sequence of metasediments interspersed with intrusive dikes and sills to a depth of 279 metres before crossing into the main Saddle intrusive. Sporadic gold mineralization associated with sheeted-style quartz veining was encountered throughout the hole to a depth of 480 metres with the best zones developed within the intrusive host rocks. Drillhole DDRCCC-22-040 was drilled on section between holes DDRCCC-22-036 to the northwest and DDRCCC-21-021 to the southeast at an azimuth of 320 degrees. The hole collared and remained in the main multiphase-intrusive host rock at the Blackjack zone for its entire length to a depth of 209 metres. The hole encountered significant sheeted-style quartz veining associated with gold mineralization. Higher grade zones were observed occurring in or adjacent to structural zones defined by late and post mineral intrusive phases, and areas with abundant metasedimentary rock inclusions. 2022 drilling was designed to further expand the Blackjack Zone and provide Sitka geologists with a solid database of drilling data to understand controls on mineralization observed in both intrusive and metasedimentary host rocks while also potentially providing the necessary spatial density to generate an initial resource estimate. Assay results from drilling along with structural information obtained from oriented drilling, data from detailed core logging, reprocessed Lidar data and interpretation of an airborne magnetic geophysical survey will form the basis for planning of the 2023 drilling program. Table 3 2022 Drill Hole Location, Azimuth and Dip Drillhole ID Total Depth (m) UTM Z8 Easting UTM Z8 Northing Elevation (masl) Azimuth (O) Dip (O) DDRCCC-22-022 364.6 396871 7085308 1490 320 -45 DDRCCC-22-023 285 396815 7085385 1530 320 -61.5 DDRCCC-22-024 204 396815 7085385 1530 277 -47 DDRCCC-22-025 389.2 396901 7085365 1525 320 -46 DDRCCC-22-026 374 396877 7085305 1495 140 -45 DDRCCC-22-027 209 396594 7085472 1605 320 -55 DDRCCC-22-028 254 396668 7085405 1552 320 -50 DDRCCC-22-029 308 396951 7085357 1544 320 -50 DDRCCC-22-030 398 396822 7085505 1624 320 -50 DDRCCC-22-031 359 396998 7085304 1548 320 -50 DDRCCC-22-032 386 397046 7085397 1591 320 -54 DDRCCC-22-033 344 396763 7085316 1485 320 -50 DDRCCC-22-034 174.15 396972 7085662 1727 322 -55 DDRCCC-22-035 244 397101 7085740 1768 180 -50 DDRCCC-22-036 410 396728 7085517 1618 320 -65 DDRCCC-22-037 305 396597 7085533 1645 125 -50 DDRCCC-22-038 545 396965 7085290 1530 315 -50 DDRCCC-22-039 480 396888 7085453 1583 320 -54 DDRCCC-22-040 209 396763 7085446 1568 320 -55 MQ-22-001 251 415518 7073417 1473 180 -45 The May-Qu target located approximately 22 km southeast of the Blackjack zone was tested with a single helicopter supported drill hole. The May-Qu target is a gold-in-soil geochemical anomaly within and adjacent to a Tombstone Suite intrusion. Drillhole MQ-22-001, drilled at an azimuth of 180 degrees with a -45 degree dip, was collared and remained in granite of the Bos Stock for the entire length of the hole to 251 metres depth. Narrow, sheeted-style quartz veining with accessory arsenopyrite, pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, molybdenite and scheelite were observed throughout the hole supporting the intrusion-related gold system model Sitka employed during exploration of the target. Several anomalous intersections of gold were encountered with the best result being a two metre interval of 0.74 g/t gold. Quality Assurance/Quality Control On receipt from the drill site, the HQ-sized drill core was systematically logged for geological attributes, photographed and sampled at Sitka's 2022 field camp. Sample lengths as small as 0.3 m were used to isolate features of interest, otherwise a default 2 m downhole sample length was used. Core was cut in half lengthwise along a predetermined line, with one-half (same half, consistently) collected for analysis and one-half stored as a record. Standard reference materials, blanks and duplicate samples were inserted by Sitka personnel at regular intervals into the sample stream. Bagged samples were placed in secure bins to ensure integrity during transport. They were delivered by Sitka personnel or a contract expeditor to ALS Laboratories' preparatory facility in Whitehorse, Yukon, with analyses completed in North Vancouver. ALS is accredited to ISO 17025:2005 UKAS ref. 4028 for its laboratory analysis. Samples were crushed by ALS to over 70 per cent passing below two millimetres and split using a riffle splitter. One-thousand-gram splits were pulverized to over 85 per cent passing below 75 microns. Gold determinations are by fire assay with an inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS) finish on 50 g subsamples of the prepared pulp (ALS code: Au-ICP-22). Any sample returning over 10 g/t Au was re-analyzed by fire assay with a gravimetric finish on a 50 g subsample (ALS code: Au-GRA21). In addition, a 51-element analysis was performed on a 0.5 g subsample of the prepared pulps by an aqua regia digestion followed by an inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS) finish (ALS code: ME-MS41). About the RC Gold Project The RC Gold Project consists of a 376 square kilometre contiguous district-scale land package located in the newly road accessible Clear Creek, Big Creek, and Sprague Creek districts in the heart of Yukon's Tombstone Gold Belt. It is the largest consolidated land package strategically positioned mid-way between Victoria Gold's Eagle Gold Mine - Yukon's newest gold mine which reached commercial production in the summer of 2020 - and Sabre Gold Mine's Brewery Creek Gold Mine. The RC Gold Project land package comprises five underlying properties, namely, the RC, Bee Bop, Mahtin, Clear Creek, and Barney Ridge properties*. The Company recently identified a large 500 m by 2000 m intrusion related gold system on the Property between the Blackjack, Saddle and Eiger zones and to date has drilled 38 diamond drill holes into this system for a total of approximately 13,000 metres. This has been the main focus of the Company's drill programs at RC Gold in 2020, 2021 and 2022 which have returned several significant gold intercepts. including the discovery hole in the Blackjack zone in the last drill hole from the 2021 drill program, DDRCCC-21-021 ("Hole 21"). Hole 21 intersected 220.1 m of 1.17 g/t gold from surface that included 50.5 m of 2.08 g/t gold. Hole 21 was the westernmost hole drilled in the Saddle-Eiger trend and was drilled under a greater than 500 ppb gold-in-soil anomaly that was previously identified on surface. This gold-in-soil anomaly is part of the larger 2 kilometre by 500 m gold-in-soil anomaly that stretches from the Saddle Zone to the Eiger Zone and is open in all directions. Drilling in 2021 in the Eiger Zone in the easternmost area of the gold-in-soil anomaly has produced numerous significant intersections as demonstrated by Hole 9 which intersected 354 m of 0.41 g/t Au including 72 m of 0.72 g/t Au (see news release dated August 19, 2021). Sitka Gold inherited a wealth of historical and current data from these properties from work spanning the last 40 years. Recent exploration work and the compilation of historical data have defined several mineralized zones with both bulk tonnage, intrusion-related gold deposit targets and high-grade, vein- and breccia-hosted gold targets. The RC Gold Project also has a common border with Victoria Gold's Clear Creek property at its western boundary and Florin Resources' Florin Gold property at its northern boundary. *For more detailed information on the underlying properties please visit our website at www.sitkagoldcorp.com. Deposit Model Exploration on the Property has mainly focused on identifying an intrusion-related gold system ("IRGS"). The property is part of the Tombstone Gold Belt which is the prominent host to IRGS deposits within the Tintina Gold Province in Yukon and Alaska. Notable deposits from the belt include: Fort Knox Mine in Alaska with current Proven and Probable Reserves of 230 million tonnes at 0.3 g/t Au (2.471 million ounces; Sims 2018)(1); Eagle Gold Mine with current Proven and Probable Reserves of 155 million tonnes at a diluted grade of 0.65 g/t Au at the Eagle and Olive deposits (3.261 million ounces; Goodwin et al. 2019)(2); the Brewery Creek deposit with current Indicated Mineral Resource of 22.2 million tonnes at a gold grade of 1.11 g/t (0.789 million ounces; Hulse et al. 2020)(3); the Florin Gold deposit, located adjacent to Sitka's RC Gold project, with a current Inferred Mineral Resource of 170.99 million tonnes grading 0.45 g/t (2.47 million ounces; Simpson 2021)(4) and the AurMac Project with an Inferred Mineral Resource of 207.0 million tonnes grading 0.60 gram per tonne gold (3.99 millon ounces; Jutras 2022)(5). (1) Sims J. Fort Knox Mine Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, USA National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report. June 11, 2018. https://s2.q4cdn.com/496390694/files/doc_downloads/2018/Fort-Knox-June-2018-Technical-Report.pdf (2) Goodwin R, Gray P, Jutras M, Tang S, Wilbur S. Technical Report for the Eagle Gold Mine, Yukon Territory, Canada. JDS Energy & Mining Inc. December 6, 2019.https://vitgoldcorp.com/site/assets/files/6480/jds-vit-eagle-gold-ni-43-101-fs-report-20191206.pdf (3) Hulse D, Emanuel C, Cook C. NI43-101 Technical Report on Mineral Resources. Gustavson Associates. May 31, 2020. https://www.goldenpredator.com/_resources/Brewery-Creek_NI-43-101-05OCT2020-File.pdf (4) Simpson R. Florin Gold Project NI43-101 Technical Report. Geosim Services Inc. April 21, 2021. https://sedar.com/GetFile.do?lang=EN&docClass=24&issuerNo=00005795&issuerType=03&projectNo=03236138&docId=4984158 (5) Banyan Gold News Release Dated May 17, 2022 (Technical Report to be filed within 45 days of news release) https://www.banyangold.com/news-releases/2022/banyan-announces-4-million-ounce-gold-mineral-resource-estimate-for-the-aurmac-property-yukon-canada/ Upcoming Events Sitka Gold will be attending and/or presenting at the following events: Roundup, Vancouver, BC: January 23 - 26, 2023 (Coreshack Booth #925, January 23rd and 24th) Vancouver Resource Investment Conference: January 29 - 30, 2023 (Booth #123) CEM Whistler Capital Event, Whistler, BC: February 10 - 12, 2023 PDAC, Toronto, Ontario: March 5 - 8, 2023 (Booth #2346) All events are subject to change. About Sitka Gold Corp. Sitka Gold Corp. is a well-funded mineral exploration company headquartered in Canada. The Company is managed by a team of experienced industry professionals and is focused on exploring for economically viable mineral deposits with its primary emphasis on gold, silver and copper mineral properties of merit. Sitka currently has an option to acquire a 100% interest in the RC, Barney Ridge, Clear Creek and OGI properties in the Yukon and the Burro Creek Gold property in Arizona. Sitka owns a 100% interest in its Alpha Gold property in Nevada, its Mahtin Gold property in the Yukon and its Coppermine River project in Nunavut. Sitka has now received all assay results from its 2022 diamond drill program at its RC Gold Project in the Yukon. Results from the final two drill holes at the Company's Alpha Gold Property in Nevada where a new Carlin-type gold system was recently discovered are expected shortly. The Company is focused on vectoring towards the high-grade core of this newly discovered system which is located along the projection of the Cortez Trend approximately 40 km southwest of the Cortez Mine Complex owned by Barrick and Newmont. The scientific and technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Cor Coe, P.Geo., Director and CEO of the Company, and a Qualified Person (QP) as defined by National Instrument 43-101. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF SITKA GOLD CORP. "Donald Penner" President and Director Cautionary and Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. These statements relate to future events or future performance. All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forward-looking statements or information. Forward-looking statements and information are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "appear", "seek", "anticipate", "plan", "continue", "estimate", "approximate", "expect", "may", "will", "project", "predict", "potential", "targeting", "intend", "could", "might", "should", "believe", "would" and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements and information are provided for the purpose of providing information about the current expectations and plans of management of the Company relating to the future. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such statements and information may not be appropriate for other purposes, such as making investment decisions. Since forward-looking statements and information address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. These include, but are not limited to, the expected timing and terms of the private placement, use of proceeds, anticipated work program, required approvals in connection with the work program and the ability to obtain such approvals. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, timelines and information contained in this news release. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. The forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and no undertaking is given to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws or the CSE. The forward-looking statements or information contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sitka-drills-82-0-metres-of-2-04-gt-gold-from-surface-including-19-5-metres-of-4-87-gt-gold-within-201-0-metres-of-1-26-gt-gold-at-its-rc-gold-project-yukon-301719324.html SOURCE Sitka Gold Corp. China will maintain a stable employment landscape in 2023 by continuing to implement the employment-first policy and energizing people's passion for entrepreneurship in order to develop new growth points in the job market. In November, the nation surpassed the year's target of creating 11 million new jobs, with about 12.06 million people landing jobs in urban areas. The encouraging achievement, which came despite economic challenges and a resurgence of COVID-19 cases, was due to the recovering economy and support policies in the fiscal, monetary, and employment sectors. Wang Xiaoping, minister of human resources and social security, said in a recent interview with China Central Television that the nation sustained a stable job market last year, with the employment of college graduates and other key groups primarily migrant workers and demobilized military members maintaining good performance. In addition, the number of formerly impoverished people finding jobs increased, she said. Wang also said that "policies and follow-up measures for stabilizing the economy have driven the economy to recover and helped industries to develop (in 2022), which has given strong support to the growth of employment." As of November, deferral of a total of 116.2 billion yuan ($17.1 billion) in social security fees, such as pension security and work-related injury insurance payments, was allowed in order to help companies retain job positions, she added. The nation has also created a more friendly environment for entrepreneurs and stepped up efforts to secure the working rights of the flexibly employed, Wang said. For example, Huzhou, Zhejiang province, released a guideline near the end of the year on protecting the working rights of flexible workers. It called for improving such workers' sense of happiness and safety by optimizing the government's guidance and enhancing flexible workers' skills training and social security. So far, 18,275 workers, or around 44 percent of the city's flexibly employed, are included in the social security net. Meanwhile, in 2022, the ministry's employment services were used more than 100 million times, and working skills training programs were used over 16 million times. Wang said her ministry will continue to implement the employment-first policy in 2023 and make every effort to stabilize the job market by setting a target of developing high-quality employment. She said this is of great importance to energizing people's passion for entrepreneurship in order to incubate new growth points for the job market. "We will keep promoting the employment of key groups and establish a group of pioneer zones for startup incubation," she said. "It's necessary to stabilize the employment of college graduates and help unemployed young people to reenter the market as soon as possible. We will improve employment services and carry out training campaigns to relieve the structural imbalance of the job market. Regulating the job market is also important, including cracking down on fraudulent agencies and addressing gender bias to better secure workers' rights." Wang said that the ministry will prioritize college graduates' finding jobs. The employment of graduates, whose population is projected to reach 11.58 million this year, matters much to the fulfillment of their personal value and the happiness of their families, as well as the nation's high-quality economic development, she said. The ministry will help create more job openings for college graduates by granting allowances to companies and encouraging government bodies to offer job opportunities, Wang said. In addition, the ministry will organize skills training campaigns for college graduates and help them get internships with companies. YEREVAN, JANUARY 11, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov again brought forward false accusations against Armenia. In a phone call with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Karen Donfried, the Azeri FM falsely accused Armenia of constantly obstructing a number of constructive initiatives by the Azerbaijani side aimed at normalizing relations in the post-conflict period. The Azeri foreign ministry said in a read-out that Bayramov and Donfried discussed the cooperation agenda between Azerbaijan and the U.S., as well as the current situation in the region. WILTON MANORS, Fla., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- NUMBER 2023-001 Speeding endangers everyone on our roadways. The Florida Department of Transportation, District 4, recently lowered the posted speed limit on Powerline Road (NW 9 Avenue) from 40 miles per hour (mph) to 35 miles per hour (mph). The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) projects that an estimated 42,915 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes in 2021, a 10.5% increase from the 38,824 fatalities in 2020. The projection is the highest number of fatalities since 2005 and the largest annual percentage increase in the Fatality Analysis Reporting System's history. Behind each of these numbers is a life tragically lost, and a family left behind. The Wilton Manors Police Department is committed to raising public awareness of the new reduced speed limit as well as reduce speeding on Powerline Road (NW 9 Avenue) and throughout the City of Wilton Manors. Wilton Manors Police Officers will conduct public education, proactive enforcement and high visibility patrols during January 1, 2023 through March 1, 2023. Together, we can help prevent injuries and save lives. Contact: Officer Jennifer B. GraziosePublic Information Officer954-390-2150[email protected] View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/speed-limit-reduction-on-powerline-road-301719678.html SOURCE Wilton Manors Police Department TORONTO, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Brattle Group has welcomed energy economist Tom Chapman to its Toronto office as a Principal in the firm's Electricity Wholesale Markets & Planning practice. A former Director of Transmission, Distribution, and Smart Grid Policy at the Ontario Ministry of Energy, and responsible for Ontario's wholesale electricity markets at the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO), Mr. Chapman specializes in policy and strategy matters related to the design, implementation, and evolution of electricity markets. "With his breadth of expertise and experience working with policymakers, utilities, and other electricity market stakeholders, Tom is a welcome addition to Brattle," said Johannes Pfeifenberger, Principal and Leader of the firm's Electricity Wholesale Markets & Planning practice. "He will greatly enhance our team's abilities to provide comprehensive insights on electricity markets and will be a valuable resource for clients, including in the clean-energy and distributed resources area." Mr. Chapman has helped develop policies that facilitate the energy transition that is currently underway and has successfully managed an extensive portfolio of wholesale electricity market change projects. His prior business consulting experience also includes electricity and gas market simulations, price forecasting, market demand studies, and financial planning. "I am thrilled to join the skilled team of energy economists at The Brattle Group," said Mr. Chapman. "I look forward to collaborating with my colleagues in Toronto and beyond to help clients address ever-evolving matters related to energy markets worldwide." Prior to joining Brattle, Mr. Chapman was a Senior Manager at the IESO in Ontario, and he spent six years at the Ontario Ministry of Energy before that. He has also worked at several consultancies throughout his career and has lectured on electricity markets at Toronto Metropolitan University, where he serves on the university's Centre for Urban Energy advisory board. To learn more about Mr. Chapman, please see his full bio. ABOUT BRATTLEThe Brattle Group answers complex economic, finance, and regulatory questions for corporations, law firms, and governments around the world. We are distinguished by the clarity of our insights and the credibility of our experts, which include leading international academics and industry specialists. Brattle has 500 talented professionals across four continents. For more information, please visit brattle.com. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tom-chapman-expert-in-wholesale-energy-markets-joins-the-brattle-group-as-a-principal-301719590.html SOURCE The Brattle Group Designed with parents in mind, the new Made For Me In-Bra Wearable Breast Pump is the first and only pump that uses patented ConstantComfort technology, which mimics baby's natural suckling motion for a more natural, comfortable, and efficient pumping experience STAMFORD, Conn., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Oh, the joys of pumping. Being tethered to the wall just thinking about everything else that needs to get done in a day. For parents, time is precious and there never seems to be enough of it. Tommee Tippee wants to give parents some time back. That's why today the infant feeding brand is launching their new Made For Me In-Bra Wearable Breast Pump, so breastfeeding parents can pump handsand outletfree, whenever and wherever. Tommee Tippee's newest breast pump introduces their patented innovation, ConstantComfort technology, a first of its kind, which mimics baby's suckling motion for a natural and comfortable pumping experience. Unlike other pumps that use a traditional "sawtooth" pressure profile, ramping up pressure from zero to max in every pulse, Tommee Tippee's ConstantComfort maintains a baseline pressure in the same way baby does when they latch. So, it's closer to nature and a gentler pressure profile than competitor pumps. As an extension of their Made for Me breastfeeding line, the In-Bra Wearable Breast Pump is the brand's first wearable pump, designed to fit into parents' busy lifestyles and empower them on their feeding journey. It is completely hands-free, portable, discreet, fits into any maternity bra, and has a convenient 4-hour battery life. All accessories are included with purchase of the pump, including two flange sizes (four flanges total), two Closer to Nature nipples, two milk collector bottles that are nipple compatible allowing parents to feed baby directly after pumping, and two bra adjusters so you can extend the size of your cup while pumping. The pump also comes with a free virtual 20-minute 1:1 product training session. "Nothing prepares a first-time breastfeeding parent for how much time will be spent on the task. Our new wearable pump aims to give some of that time and freedom back to breastfeeding parents. There's no more staring at the clock, waiting to be able to move again. At Tommee Tippee, we are asking ourselves how we can support parents every step of the way on their feeding journey," said Sharon Swan, Head of Brand Marketing, North America at Tommee Tippee North America. "We are known for our beloved Closer to Nature bottles, which mimic mom's breast, so it's quite the full circle moment to launch a pump that mimics baby's suckle. It's all part of our mission to create products that are tailored for babies AND their parents." Sold exclusively at Walmart.com and select Walmart stores, the new in-bra wearable breast pump is a convenient and affordable feeding solution that retails at only $297.00. Complimentary spare parts are available via TommeeTippee.com/en-us. Some key features of the wearable pump include: ConstantComfort Technology: Innovative technology that mimics baby's natural suckling motion and holds the pump in place for an expressing experience that feels natural and efficient. Innovative technology that mimics baby's natural suckling motion and holds the pump in place for an expressing experience that feels natural and efficient. Smart App : The Tommee Tippee app allows parents to control the pump's settings discreetly, customize the intensity of the massage and express modes, and track how much breastmilk they've expressed via an in-app visual, omitting the need to check manually. : The Tommee Tippee app allows parents to control the pump's settings discreetly, customize the intensity of the massage and express modes, and track how much breastmilk they've expressed via an in-app visual, omitting the need to check manually. Nipple Alignment Light: A built-in guide that helps get the nipple in the perfect position for the best milk flow, because nipple comfort and alignment are paramount to maximum output. A built-in guide that helps get the nipple in the perfect position for the best milk flow, because nipple comfort and alignment are paramount to maximum output. Four Hours of Power : That's twelve 20-minute pumping sessions! The pump can go a full day without needing a charge. USB charger included. : That's twelve 20-minute pumping sessions! The pump can go a full day without needing a charge. USB charger included. Milk Collector Bottle: The milk collector is compatible with the Tommee Tippee breast-like Closer to Nature nipples, so parents can feed anywhere directly from the pump without having to decant breastmilk into another bottle. The milk collector is compatible with the Tommee Tippee breast-like Closer to Nature nipples, so parents can feed anywhere directly from the pump without having to decant breastmilk into another bottle. Dishwasher and Sterilizer-Safe: All parts are simple to assemble and easy to clean and sterilize in the dishwasher and sterilizer (except the main pump body). For more information, please visit tommeetippee.com. Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/TommeeTippeeNorthAmerica and follow us on Instagram: @tommeetippeenorthamerica. About Tommee Tippee Tommee Tippee is the number one feeding brand in the UK and one of the fastest growing baby bottle brands in the United States1. For over 50 years, we've made award-winning, innovative products that are designed to make life a little bit easier for parents. And perhaps a little more fun. Today we're honored to be in families' homes in over 50 countries around the world. #ParentOn. 1 Source: Allto Consulting, Storm In-Home Placement 2, Research Report, November 2018. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tommee-tippee-launches-app-enabled-hands-free-wearable-breast-pump-sold-exclusively-at-walmart-301719112.html SOURCE Tommee Tippee METUCHEN, N.J., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- MouthWatch, LLC, an industry leader in teledentistry solutions and digital imaging devices, recognized Dr. Jin Xiao 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. Dr. Jin Xiao, Associate Professor and perinatal oral health expert at the Eastman Institute for Oral Health at the University of Rochester, accepted the 2022 Tellie in the Dentist and Specialist category both for her extensive teledentistry research and the integration of artificial intelligence into teledentistry software. "Dr. Xiao has been a pioneer in her consideration and approach to revealing the value of teledentistry and her commitment and innovation continues to shine within the University of Rochester, which is already a pioneering institution," said MouthWatch Founder and CEO, Brant Herman. Ms. Xiao is among the first to incorporate artificial intelligence into existing teledentistry technologies. This combination has enabled Dr. Xiao to transform the clinical examination process and create new possibilities with existing teledentistry software. With the help of her team, Dr. Xiao has assisted in developing a prototype of an AI-powered caries detection app named AICaries. The app lets parents take photos of their children's teeth with their smartphone and receive an interactive risk assessment and personalized education on reducing ECC risk. This integration of artificial intelligence has redefined teledentistry's capabilities and makes diagnosing and formulating virtual treatment plans as convenient and accessible as ever for the audiences she serves. The 2022 Teledentistry Innovation Awards recognized innovators in the following categories: Dentists and Specialists Dental Hygienists Oral Health Programs Educational Institutions Dental Organizations Additional 2022 Teledentistry Innovation Award winners included Tiffany Grant, the Fones School of Dental Hygiene, 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 VentrielloTel. 732-458-3497Email: [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/university-of-rochester-professor-recognized-for-her-research-on-catching-tooth-decay-earlier-in-children-using-artificial-intelligence-and-telehealth-technologies-301717989.html SOURCE MouthWatch, LLC PARIS and BERLIN, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Valiantys today announced it is expanding into Germany through the acquisition of kreuzwerker's Atlassian consulting business. kreuzwerker is one of the leading Atlassian Platinum Solution Partners in the German market, being the first to achieve the ITSM and Cloud specializations, and recently recognized as "Atlassian Partner of the Year 2021" in "Customer Experience". Valiantys has already strengthened its leading position as a global Atlassian partner through recent acquisitions including Addteq's consulting services and Expium. Valiantys has a significant presence in Europe and North America, with ambitions to continue expanding and growing its talent base. This combination will bring together Valiantys' global operations and deep expertise in Agile at Scale transformations and managed services, thanks to kreuzwerker's strong presence in the German market for Enterprise Service Management. "The DACH region is absolutely strategic to Valiantys' future and is one of Atlassian's largest markets," said Lucas Dussurget, CEO, Valiantys. "kreuzwerker's team is world-class and we're very excited to see them join our Swiss team to establish Valiantys as a leading Atlassian Solution Partner in the DACH region1." "We are delighted to be joining Valiantys. With their support and existing capabilities, we will be able to serve our DACH customers even better with a global presence as well as access to specialists on Cloud Migrations, ITSM, Agile at Scale and Work Management," said Tilman Muerle, Managing Director Atlassian, kreuzwerker. "In Valiantys we have found kindred spirits who are fully aligned with our culture, and our passion for delivering ambitious transformations using Atlassian solutions." "Valiantys' acquisition of kreuzwerker's Atlassian consulting services is an exciting step forward in their EMEA strategy," said Cameron Deatsch, Chief Revenue Office at Atlassian. "The combined efforts of these partners will empower more customers in the DACH region to harness the full potential of teamwork." This acquisition will be made possible by the investment and operational support of: Keensight Capital, one of the leading private equity managers dedicated to international Growth Buyout investments2, and Valiantys' majority shareholder; Tercera, a growth equity firm specializing in cloud professional services, has made a minority investment with a specific focus on expanding in the Americas and other key regions About Valiantys Valiantys is a leading global consulting and services firm dedicated to Atlassian. The company accelerates business transformation by digitizing processes and modernizing teamwork, using the best agile methods and tools. Its Atlassian technical expertise is unparalleled and Valiantys supports its customers across the entire spectrum of projects on those platforms. As a recognized Agile at Scale, ITSM, and Cloud Specialized Partner, Valiantys help organizations accelerate time to value with Agile at scale, cloud, and ITSM implementations. Because teamwork requires more than just tools, the firm bridges the gap between applications and strategic practices such as SAFe and ITIL. Over the last 15 years, Valiantys has helped more than 5,000 customers achieve their desired business outcomes at a reduced time to value, through improved team collaboration. More information about Valiantys can be found at https://valiantys.com/ Follow Valiantys on LinkedIn About Kreuzwerker kreuzwerker is a full-stack software consulting company founded in 2010. The company has been an AWS APN Advanced Consulting Partner since 2013 and was the first APN Partner in DACH to pass the AWS APN DevOps Competency. kreuzwerker experts have integrated cloud native software development into startup, SMB and enterprise environments for hundreds of clients including highly regulated industries. More information about kreuzwerker can be found at https://www.kreuzwerker.de Follow kreuzwerker on LinkedIn 1 Germany-Austria-Switzerland 2 Growth Buyout: investment in profitable, private companies experiencing strong growth, in minority or majority positions, with or without leverage, using a flexible approach tailored to the needs of individual entrepreneurs, in order to finance organic growth projects, acquisition strategies or provide historic shareholders with liquidity. Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1980997/Valiantys_Logo.jpgPhoto: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1980999/VALIANTYS_X_KREUZWERKER.jpg View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/valiantys-sets-strategy-to-strengthen-its-position-in-europe-by-acquiring-kreuzwerkers-atlassian-consulting-business-301718684.html SOURCE Valiantys PIMCO ETF Trust Supplement Dated January 11, 2023, to the Index Exchange-Traded Funds Prospectus dated November 1, 2022, as supplemented from time to time (the Prospectus) Disclosure Related to the PIMCO 0-5 Year High Yield Corporate Bond Index Exchange-Traded Fund and the PIMCO Investment Grade Corporate Bond Index Exchange-Traded Fund (each, a Fund and together, the Funds) Effective immediately, the PIMCO 0-5 Year High Yield Corporate Bond Index Exchange-Traded Funds portfolio is jointly and primarily managed by Matt Dorsten, David Forgash, Jason Vivas and Tanuj Dora. Therefore, effective immediately, the paragraph in the Investment Adviser/Portfolio Managers section of the PIMCO 0-5 Year High Yield Corporate Bond Index Exchange-Traded Funds Fund Summary in the Prospectus is deleted and replaced with the following: PIMCO serves as the investment adviser for the Fund. The Funds portfolio is jointly and primarily managed by Matt Dorsten, David Forgash, Jason Vivas and Tanuj Dora. Mr. Dorsten is an Executive Vice President of PIMCO, and he has managed the Fund since December 2015. Mr. Forgash is an Executive Vice President of PIMCO, and he has managed the Fund since January 2023. Mr. Vivas is a Senior Vice President of PIMCO, and he has managed the Fund since January 2023. Mr. Dora is a Vice President of PIMCO, and he has managed the Fund since June 2021. Effective immediately, the PIMCO Investment Grade Corporate Bond Index Exchange-Traded Funds portfolio is jointly and primarily managed by Amit Arora, Matt Dorsten, and Tanuj Dora. Therefore, effective immediately, the paragraph in the Investment Adviser/Portfolio Managers section of the PIMCO Investment Grade Corporate Bond Index Exchange-Traded Funds Fund Summary in the Prospectus is deleted and replaced with the following: PIMCO serves as the investment adviser for the Fund. The Funds portfolio is jointly and primarily managed by Amit Arora, Matt Dorsten and Tanuj Dora. Mr. Arora is an Executive Vice President of PIMCO, and he has managed the Fund since January 2023. Mr. Dorsten is an Executive Vice President of PIMCO, and he has managed the Fund since December 2015. Mr. Dora is a Vice President of PIMCO, and he has managed the Fund since June 2021. In addition, effective immediately, disclosure concerning the portfolio managers of the Funds in the table in the Management of the FundsIndividual Portfolio Manager section of the Prospectus is deleted and replaced with the following: Fund Portfolio Manager Since Recent Professional Experience PIMCO Investment Grade Corporate Bond Index Exchange-Traded Fund Amit Arora 1/23 Executive Vice President, PIMCO. He is a portfolio manager on the global corporate bond team. He was previously a senior member of PIMCOs global risk management team. Prior to joining PIMCO in 2009, he was an executive director, responsible for credit hybrids and exotics trading, at J.P. Morgan. Mr. Arora was previously with Bear Stearns as a managing director on the structured credit derivatives trading desk, responsible for pricing, trading and hedging of all non-single name credit derivative products in investment grade and high yield credits. Before joining Bear Stearns, he worked on the foreign exchange Treasury desk at Citibank. He has investment experience since 1997 and holds an MBA from NYU Stern School of Business and a bachelors degree in mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT Bombay). He is a Certified Financial Risk Manager (FRM). PIMCO 0-5 Year High Yield Corporate Bond Index Exchange-Traded Fund PIMCO 1-5 Year U.S. TIPS Index Exchange-Traded Fund PIMCO 15+ Year U.S. TIPS Index Exchange-Traded Fund PIMCO 25+ Year Zero Coupon U.S. Treasury PIMCO Broad U.S. TIPS Index Exchange-Traded Fund PIMCO Investment Grade Corporate Bond Index Exchange-Traded Fund Tanuj Dora 6/21 6/21 6/21 6/21 6/21 6/21 Vice President, PIMCO. Mr. Dora heads Capital Markets for PIMCOs ETF business and works on efficient trading and portfolio management of PIMCO ETFs. Prior to joining PIMCO in 2021, Mr. Dora was a Portfolio Manager for Fixed Income ETFs and index mandates at DWS (formerly Deutsche Asset Management), managing over $7Bn in ETF assets. Mr. Dora joined DWS in 2016 and was responsible for launching and building out DWSs fixed income ETF business in the US. Prior to his role at DWS, he was based in London working for Deutsche Bank AG as an ETF market maker and trader. Fund Portfolio Manager Since Recent Professional Experience PIMCO 0-5 Year High Yield Corporate Bond Index Exchange-Traded Fund PIMCO 1-5 Year U.S. TIPS Index Exchange-Traded Fund PIMCO 15+ Year U.S. TIPS Index Exchange-Traded Fund PIMCO 25+ Year Zero Coupon U.S. Treasury PIMCO Broad U.S. TIPS Index Exchange-Traded Fund PIMCO Investment Grade Corporate Bond Index Exchange-Traded Fund Matt Dorsten 12/15 12/15 12/15 12/15 12/15 12/15 Executive Vice President, PIMCO. Mr. Dorsten is a member of the quantitative portfolio management group, focusing on quantitative strategy and passive replication. Mr. Dorsten joined PIMCO in 2006. PIMCO 0-5 Year High Yield Corporate Bond Index Exchange-Traded Fund David Forgash 1/23 Executive Vice President, PIMCO. Mr. Forgash is a portfolio manager and head of global leveraged loans. In addition to being the lead portfolio manager for leveraged loans, he is also a member of the high yield and multi-sector credit teams. Prior to joining PIMCO in 2018, he was a senior portfolio manager at Millennium Capital Partners, investing across European credit. Previously, he was an executive director of European credit trading at Morgan Stanley, a managing director of U.S. credit trading at Greenwich Capital and a vice president in credit trading at Lehman Brothers. He has investment experience since 1994 and holds an MBA from the Stern School of Business at New York University. He received an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of Delaware. PIMCO 0-5 Year High Yield Corporate Bond Index Exchange-Traded Fund Jason Vivas 1/23 Senior Vice President, PIMCO. Mr. Vivas is a senior vice president in the Newport Beach office and a portfolio manager on the global credit team, focusing on leveraged finance markets. Prior to joining PIMCO in 2019, he was a trader and portfolio manager at DW Partners and Panning Capital, focusing on high yield corporate credit markets. Previously, he was a research analyst and corporate credit trader at Morgan Stanley. He has investment experience since 2005 and holds a graduate and undergraduate degree in electrical engineering and computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Investors Should Retain This Supplement for Future Reference ETF_SUPP1_011123 UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 SCHEDULE 13G Under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Amendment No. 1)* Adicet Bio Inc. (Name of Issuer) common stock (Title of Class of Securities) 007002108 (CUSIP Number) December 30, 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: [ ] Rule 13d-1(b) [X] Rule 13d-1(c) [ ] Rule 13d-1(d) * The remainder of this cover page shall be filled out for a reporting person's 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 Instructions). ATLANTA More than a dozen Fort Bragg special operations soldiers were recently detained by Army officials investigating drug allegations at the North Carolina installation, military officials said Wednesday. Criminal Investigation Division officials have questioned 15 soldiers assigned to U.S. Army Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg, said Lt. Col. Mike Burns, spokesman for the command. The soldiers were released to their chains of command following the interviews, and two were cleared of wrongdoing, he said. The use of illegal drugs or any other illegal activity goes directly against [Army special operations forces] values and does not reflect the behavior we demand from every soldier in our formation Burns said in a statement. USASOC maintains a strict policy against the use of any illegal drugs. Illegal drug use is not acceptable nor is it tolerated. It was not immediately clear Wednesday what sparked the investigation. A spokesman for CID did not return a request for further comment. No soldiers had been charged with a crime related to the probe as of Wednesday, Army officials said. Burns said the probe was continuing and it would be inappropriate to comment further on the allegations or the soldiers questioned in the matter. All soldiers have the right to due process, including the presumption of innocence under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, he said. USASOC would continue to cooperate with CID, Burns said. The allegations are the latest in a string of recent incidents within the Pentagons special operations community that have included other allegations of drug use. Special operators in recent years have also faced other accusations including sexual misconduct and the use of alcohol on deployment and extrajudicial killings. Four special operators two Navy SEALs and two Marine Raiders pleaded guilty in the death of an Army Green Beret killed on a deployment to Mali in 2017. A review of ethics within the special operations community ordered in 2019 found there was not a systemic problem within the Pentagons elite forces, but that high operations tempos and a lack of high-level oversight had contributed to problems with some special operators. U.S. Special Operations Command, which is based at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., and oversees all U.S. special operators, said in a statement that it was aware of the allegations against soldiers at Fort Bragg. Illegal activity by any member of the special operations forces community undermines everything we stand for as an organization, according to the USASOC statement issued Monday. 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. A 21-year-old soldier at Fort Rucker was killed Tuesday in an altercation with another soldier at the Alabama Army post, service officials said Wednesday. Pvt. Abdul N. Latifu of the Bronx in New York City died Tuesday afternoon of injuries that he sustained during the altercation just before noon, said David C. Agan Jr., a Fort Rucker spokesman. The other soldier involved in the incident, who has not been publicly identified, was taken into custody by Fort Rucker Public Safety Department officers, Agan said. Latifu and the other soldier were trainees in the Armys Advanced Individual Training program at Fort Rucker. AIT is the second stage of initial military training for enlisted soldiers. Latifu was training to become an Army air traffic control operator, Agan said. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 13th Aviation Regiment, 1st Aviation Brigade at the program. Maj. Gen. Michael McCurry, the commander of Fort Rucker and its Army Aviation Center of Excellence, pledged support for those impacted by Latifus death, including his family. "On behalf of the U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence and Fort Rucker, I extend our deepest condolences to Pvt. Latifu's family, friends and community, McCurry said in a prepared statement. Together we mourn the loss of a promising young soldier. Army Criminal Investigation Division agents are investigating the incident. No formal charges had been filed as of Wednesday against the soldier detained in the incident, Agan said. Fort Rucker said it had made counselors, behavioral health specialists and Army chaplains available to the unit and those affected by the incident. The death is at least the second killing of a soldier involving another soldier at an Army base in recent weeks. Spc. Shay A. Wilson was charged with murder last month in the Dec. 12 shooting death of Sgt. Nathan M. Hillman at Fort Stewart, Ga., where both were assigned to the 3rd Infantry Divisions 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team. YEREVAN, JANUARY 11, ARMENPRESS. The Foreign Policy Committee of the Council of States (upper house of parliament) of Switzerland, expressing its concern by the humanitarian situation and the violations of international law, decided "to send a letter to the Federal Council informing it that it condemns the violations of international law resulting from the blockade of the Lachin corridor since December 12, 2022. The Federal Council is the executive body of the federal government of Switzerland. The committee asks it in particular to intervene with the Security Council of the United Nations (UN) in order to obtain the lifting of the blockade and the cessation of hostilities on the one hand, and to organize a humanitarian air bridge between Yerevan and Stepanakert on the other". It was summer of 2022 when the mass exodus went into full gear Californians packing up for Tennessee in search of lower taxes, affordable housing and a change of pace. From our neighbors and friends to family and coworkers, we heard tales of the bold and brave leaving behind the Golden State in a quest for their own precious metal. Curious and travel-hungry, my husband and I booked a trip to Tennessee with a plan to visit three destinations in one week: Columbia, Memphis and Nashville. Our afternoon flight took us from San Diego to Music City, with a brief layover in Houston. A rental car in Tennessee cost around $200, with gas prices percolating around $3 a gallon. It was just after 10 p.m. when we hit the empty highway with passing pickups promoting Dolly for President and Go Titans. Billboards advertised city attractions like the Grand Ole Opry and Graceland, both of which we intended to visit on our Tennessee tour. But for now, we would check into the Graduate Nashville. Opened in 2019, this funky-floral-flashy hotel caters to the cool kids, where Vanderbilt students set up shop between classes. The propertys slogan, We are all students, rang true as we were greeted by both history and legend with a 15-foot latch-hook rug of Minnie Pearl. Commissioned by Margaret Timbrell, this kitsch masterpiece is a nod to the Hee Haw star who hollered How-DEE! over the Grand Ole Opry airwaves for more than 50 years. The playful property was pink heavy, in the crushed-velvet chairs, the pinstriped wallpaper and the neon sign above our bed reading, It costs a lot of money to look this cheap. Between the tassels and fringe were lamps made from hoop skirts and plenty of Dolly Parton memorabilia. Smack in the heart of Midtown, the Graduate beckoned bachelorettes who booked out the rooftop bar, White Limozeen, or sang their way into Cross-Eyed Critters. Here, you can unleash your inner twang with an animatronic backup band (think Chuck E. Cheese-meets-dive bar). This Vegas of the South was just warming up for the night, but instead of going big, we tapped into our inner jet lag and slept an extra hour (or two). The following morning, we hit the road for Columbia, with a plan to circle back to Nashville at the end of our Tennessee trek. Columbia lured us for two reasons: One, rumor had it that it was one of Americas best small towns, and two, my sister-in-law confirmed the rumor by moving there. In less than an hour, we were strolling down historic Main Street complete with its town square, ice-cream parlors, barber shops and cafes with red-and-white awnings. Standing proudly in the center was Maury County Courthouse, noted as the hub for the livestock market, Mule Day, dating back to 1840. Every April, the tradition continues as a multiday festival attracting thousands to this quaint town. For us, it was hard to imagine the streets packed with spectators since we practically had the place to ourselves. In Columbia, you can let your kids run free to grab waffle cones with extra sprinkles while you shop without a wish list. We did that, minus the kid part since there seemed plenty to go around. It was Blue 32 Vintage Marketplace that lured us with antiques and a cafe inside a 1920s JCPenney store. The creak of the floorboards guided us directly to Level 3 where we found a small bistro, Autumn Cut the Cheese. The name is as clever as the chef, Autumn, who serves charcuterie boards, grazing tables and paninis oozing with Gruyere, fig jam and prosciutto. Autumn, along with her husband, Casey and their four kids shook hands with Nashville in 2017 to pursue a budding music career. Another dream set in, and they pivoted toward Autumns love for feeding friends around the table. By 2 p.m. the restaurant was closed ... for the day. Yep, thats sort of how things work in Columbia, with limited operating hours and a downtown thats flatlined by 8 p.m. Some say thats about to change with big names, like Sheryl Crow and American Pickers producer Mike Wolfe, buying up Main Street. For now, the Southern hospitality and community pride of Muletown is corralled by the 43,000 locals who know a good thing when they see it especially on the outskirts of town dotted with brick homes and enough churches to save souls to Memphis and back. Draped from wraparound porches are American flags declaring patriotism alongside porch swings and rocking chairs. Plantation homes seem almost abandoned, alone in emerald fields beside hammer-beamed barns so enduring and sovereign, you can almost smell the toiling of a farmers hands. Strangers waved and called us yall in our approach to Firefly Creek, our Airbnb for the next two nights. Backing the 1900s converted farmhouse was the namesake, Firefly Creek, with plenty of privacy for napping in hammocks and sipping wine beneath shooting stars. That home was our little refuge in between blackberry bourbon cocktails at Southern Tre Steakhouse and hikes at Stillhouse Hollow Falls. At the foot of the 75-foot waterfall, we fly fished and caught crawdads in the watershed of Duck River. Side trips took us to the homegrown lure of Leipers Fork and to the historic district of Franklin, beaming with Victorian architecture and Main Street reminiscent of the 1950s. Window shopping turned into purchases at Whites Mercantile, owned by Hank Williams granddaughter, Holly. We toured Carter House, where the Battle of Franklin claimed the lives of thousands on Nov. 30, 1864. History surrounded us, even during our final morning in Columbia. Dating back to 1950, Pucketts restaurant drew us in with signs reading, This way to hot biscuits. In this former hardware store, Southern comfort food was in full effect with French toast layered with peanut butter, apple jack pancakes topped with whiskey-fried apples and crispy fried chicken for breakfast. As a couple who typically skips the first meal of the day, our bellies were in shock. During the three-hour drive to Memphis, I slept my calories away while my husband drove like a champ, food coma and all. By early afternoon, we groggily entered Sun Studios, the birthplace of rock n roll that put legends like B.B. King, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis on the map. We toured Graceland, walking in the footsteps of Elvis humble beginnings to his rise as The King of Rock n Roll. We hopped aboard a shuttle and toured the mansion, the museum and his private planes, feeling a bit like we were invading the space of a rebellious hero who was bombarded as much in his death as in his life. During our two days in Memphis, we soaked in stories of soul music and the impact it made on the world. Going directly to the source, we stopped by the Stax Museum, a superfly hub showcasing Isaac Hayes glittering Cadillac Eldorado and original recordings by Otis Redding, Booker T., the MGs and other artists of the 60s and 70s. For our last stop, we visited the National Civil Rights Museum, a somber experience where exhibits are housed within the Lorraine Motel. Its here where Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968. The museum chronicles moments in time, from the slave trade to the present, that inspire people to stand up for equality. Within walking distance were notable restaurants including The Arcade Memphis oldest cafe and Central BBQ, famous for its fall-off-the-bone meat. Among our favorites was Panta, a Catalan restaurant with a Memphis twist. Cocktails paired perfectly with gulf shrimp, potato croquettes and stewed mussels. It was hard to think about eating again, but we did, this time at our hotel, Big Cypress Lodge. Housed inside a 535,000-square-foot pyramid, the hotel overlooks Bass Pro Shop with 100-foot-trees, a swamp crawling with live alligators and the nations tallest free-standing elevator. This Davy Crockett playground had enough taxidermy to last me a lifetime, with themed rooms styled after cabins and tree houses. Dark woods, beamed ceilings and leather club-chairs attract hunters and fishermen, as does The Lookout Restaurant where we dined on White River catfish and duck sausage. The retail-and-hotel in one concept was birthed out of a bet by Johnny Morris, the CEO of Bass Pro Shops. While fishing with his buddies, he vowed to transform the Memphis Pyramid if they caught a 30-pound catfish into a place that would connect people with their love for nature. In those two days, we saw it, the connection that Memphis triggers between strangers, igniting the souls of those bewitched by its music. And so, we went to the heart of it all on Beale Street. Between neon lights and bent notes of blues were nightclubs, restaurants, shops and theaters. But it was the 1860s that set the stage for traveling musicians who labeled this the Home of Blues. Songs of segregation finally had a voice to bellow tunes of hope and clarity. As a couple who generally can handle only a handful of museums, we couldnt get enough of them in Tennessee, especially during our two days in Nashville. The Country Music Hall of Fame, Ryman Auditorium, Johnny Cash Museum, Hatch Show Print and a backstage tour of the Opry were all on our checklist. Nashville nabbed us, to the point we changed our radio station to country music, watched documentaries on Elvis and went on a mad hunt for the coolest cowboy hat in town. Between shopping and sightseeing, we brunched at the trendy Butcher & Bee with a seasonal, sustainable menu that landed it a spot among James Beard Award finalists. For uncaged spirits we went airborne to Rare Bird, the rooftop bar at Noelle hotel. Almost too good to leave, we spent hours within that downtown property, continuing onto the hotels restaurant, Makeready L&L. On our way out, we heard whispers of a hidden bar, which we had a heck of a time finding. Behind a storage closet door was a speak-easy thronged with party people dancing, drinking and raising classes from velvet booths illuminated by disco balls. I felt old. So, we took the vibe down a notch with live jazz at Analog, one of 150 music venues in Nashville. Located at Hutton Hotel in a living-room setting, the intimate theater hosts inspired musicians ranging from Thomas Rhett to Carrie Underwood. Just outside was Music Row, home to recording studios, radio stations and music production companies. After our night out on the town, we detoxed with Bike the Greenway, a local outfitter offering rentals and routes along Shelby Bottoms Greenway. Whitetail deer grazed trailside, immune to bikes, runners and skaters whizzing by. I slammed on my brakes to capture the moment, only to notice locals were obviously accustomed to wildlife in this neck of Nashville. Downtown had another type of wildlife, however, with party buses and pedal taverns literally 15-person beer bikes cruising Broadway. This beating heart of Nashville had live music pouring out of every bar, saloon and honky-tonk in sight. From our table at Boqueria, we soaked in the scene while sipping sangrias and nibbling tapas like croquettes and shrimp bathed in olive oil and garlic. Saving the best for last, we spent our final nights at The Hermitage Hotel, a landmark dating back to 1910. It was a historic event, just a decade later, that would put the hotel on the map, a tiebreaking hand that ratified the 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote. The Hermitage Hotel became the infamous backdrop for political action and the headquarters for womens pro- and anti-suffrage groups. Over a century later, The Hermitage is still on the map, turning heads for its timeless elegance, Beaux Arts aesthetics and the fine dining restaurant, Drusie & Darr pricey, but worth every penny. We sampled dishes of tuna tartar, red snapper ceviche, black truffle pizza and whisky-poached lobster with passion fruit butter. From the pressed white linens to the mother-of-pearl pendant lamps, the entire experience created perhaps the most dramatic, bespoke and refined meal of my life. Those three towns in seven days almost felt like Columbia, Memphis and Nashville were in entirely different states each one leaving us with a rich taste far beyond bourbon, blues and backwoods. En route to the airport, we replayed moments of our time in Tennessee, debating if we would one day join the Californian coup detat. Thats when my husband detoured to hatWRKS, one of the countys leading hat shops. He tried on more than 20 styles among 7,000-plus hats in stock, before claiming his dream Stetson, with enough masculinity to know whos in charge, without looking like he owns a horse. Twice in the airport and once on the plane he was complimented on his new purchase. Grabbing the brim, he nodded and winked, knowing he had made the right choice. Tennessee had a way of doing that making you reconsider every choice in a quest for the right one. While we dont plan on moving to Tennessee anytime soon, we certainly found a place to hang our hat. CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea A secure peace with North Korea will require mutual assurances and actions that go beyond just words, South Koreas defense minister said Wednesday. A peace relying on the other partys good will cant last, Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup said at a news conference in Seoul after meeting earlier in the day with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol. Such a peace relying on the other party is a peace that cant last and is a fake peace, Lee said. Lee spoke at the Seoul Government Complex shortly after the Ministry of National Defense submitted its annual policy report to the presidential office. The plans lay the groundwork for the South Korean militarys mission for the year and signals the presidential administrations foreign policy goals. Lee said Yoon ordered more cooperation with the United States military and strengthened military readiness to deter threats from North Korea. The president emphasized that we need to be prepared to exercise the right of self-defense at any time in the event of an adversarys threat against the freedom and peace of [South Korea], Lee said. The South Korean military plans around 20 large-scale drills with the U.S. by June, according to the policy report. Some may be longer in duration and will include more troops than in previous years. The plans also include a tabletop exercise in which the two militaries respond to the use of a nuclear weapon by North Korea. U.S. Forces Korea, responsible for roughly 28,500 troops, conducted several large-scale drills with South Korean forces last year. In the fall, they held Vigilant Storm, a five-day air power exercise that included roughly 240 aircraft. Yoon restarted much of the joint military drills like Vigilant Storm that were suspended during former South Korean President Moon Jae-ins administration. In an interview with The Associated Press published Wednesday, Yoon said North Korean provocations will strengthen the Souths resolve. The discussions are under way over the so-called joint planning and joint execution, and I think its right for South Korea and the United States to cooperate because both of us are exposed to the North Korean nuclear threat, he told AP. North Korea fired missiles at a record pace last year, launching more than 70 missiles in 36 days of testing. The communist regime last fired a short-range missile on Jan. 1. Some 100,000 U.K. civil servants announced plans to strike next month after health care and rail unions signaled theyre far from resolving their disputes with employers and the government, piling further pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunaks administration. Workers for 124 government departments and agencies will walk out on Feb. 1, impacting a range of public services including driving tests, passport applications and welfare payments, the Public and Commercial Services union said in a statement. It will be the biggest civil service strike in years and signals a significant escalation of industrial action, the union said. PCS General Secretary Mark Serwotka said he was meeting the government on Thursday to demand better pay for his members. Sunaks administration is already grappling to contain widespread industrial action across sectors including public transport, the National Health Service and the Border Force, as unions protest against real-terms cuts in pay. The government has so far failed to stem the workforce unrest, despite a series of meetings between ministers and unions on Monday. The date chosen by the PCS Feb. 1 coincides with the protect the right to strike day called on Tuesday by the Trade Unions Congress. Thats designed to protest against the governments proposed minimum service levels legislation, which seeks to limit strike action in key industries. Some 14 health care unions representing more than 1 million workers on Wednesday said they wont engage in talks over pay for the next fiscal year until the government discusses this years pay settlement something Sunaks administration has said it wont do. Ambulance workers held their second strike day of the winter on Wednesday, as the NHS struggles to deal with surging demand and massive backlogs. In the Commons, Sunak described that walkout as terrifying because it left people not knowing if they can get emergency treatment. Meanwhile the bosses of three rail unions told a House of Commons panel they arent close to resolving their disputes with employers, despite months of strikes that have hampered commuters and disrupted travel over the Christmas and New Years period. The National Health Service has reached breaking point this winter, with excess deaths in England and Wales jumping 20% above average at the end of 2022, according to figures on Tuesday from the Office for National Statistics. And even before the strikes, the ambulance service was failing to meet targets, with many patients waiting several hours for an ambulance. On Wednesday, physiotherapy staff in England said they will strike on Jan. 26, expanding the dispute across the NHS. Nurses also plan two walkouts next week after staging their biggest ever strike in December, while ambulance workers plan to strike again on Jan. 23. Pat Cullen, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, told Bloomberg Radio on Wednesday that the strikes would not be averted unless ministers start discussing a new deal for pay in the current year. Providing a glimmer of hope, Health Secretary Steve Barclay finally agreed to discuss pay at Mondays meeting, according to Unisons head of health Sara Gorton. Speaking from a picket line in central London on Wednesday, she said unions had proposed a meeting with Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt to negotiate extra funding for a raise. Barclay said he would take it back to Cabinet, she added. The government wants to have constructive dialogue with the unions, Sunak told the Commons in his first weekly question session of the year. In a bid to dispel the perception that he cant understand the NHSs problems because he uses private health care, Sunak told the Commons that he is registered with an NHS doctor, though he also acknowledged using private health care in the past. Sunaks press secretary later told reporters the premier no longer has private health insurance. In recent days, hed declined to clarify his familys health care arrangements. Bloombergs Kitty Donaldson, James Woolcock, Caroline Hepker, Yuan Potts, Leonora Campbell, Julian Harris and Ellen Milligan contributed to this report. YEREVAN, JANUARY 11, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian authorities are negotiating with the Azerbaijani side in the direction of finding and retrieving the bodies of three Armenian soldiers who were killed in action during the Azeri attack on Armenia on September 13, 2022. The Deputy Minister of Defense of Armenia Arman Sargsyan told reporters that they dont know the location of the bodies of the three fallen troops. Works are underway to determine the exact location and retrieve their bodies. Everything possible is being done, even through negotiations with the Azerbaijani side to retrieve the bodies of the killed servicemembers, Sargsyan said. Stars and Stripes is making stories on the coronavirus pandemic available free of charge. See more stories here. Sign up for our daily coronavirus newsletter here. Please support our journalism with a subscription. ATLANTA A soldier based at Fort Stewart, Ga., convicted of stealing millions of dollars of federal money from student loan and coronavirus relief programs will spend some 3 years in prison, the Justice Department announced Monday. Chief Warrant Officer 2 Dara Buck was sentenced to 42 months in federal prison Jan. 5 by U.S. District Court Judge R. Stan Baker after she pleaded guilty last year in the multipart scheme that bilked the U.S. government out of at least $4.5 million. Buck, 39, pleaded guilty July 14 to charges including conspiracy to commit a crime against the U.S. government. Baker also ordered Buck to pay restitution of almost $3.7 million in the case and serve three years of supervised release after her prison term is completed. Prosecutors described Bucks crimes as a prolific fraud scheme in announcing her guilty plea in July. They said she admitted to submitting more than 150 fraudulent applications for small business relief during the coronavirus pandemic via the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Acts Paycheck Protection Program, known as PPP. Prosecutors charged Buck had received some $3.5 million through fraudulent PPP applications. She admitted to sharing some of those funds with other conspirators, prosecutors said. They did not identify others involved in Bucks scheme. Buck also admitted she falsely submitted Department of Veterans Affairs certifications for those deemed totally and permanently disabled to the Department of Education, resulting in her securing more than one dozen student loans worth more than $1 million for herself and other conspirators, prosecutors said. While serving in the U.S. Army, Dara Buck engaged in a massive scheme to defraud the taxpayers of the nation she was sworn to serve, U.S. Attorney Davis H. Estes wrote in the July statement. With our law enforcement partners, we are committed to identifying and holding accountable those who defraud COVID-19 relief programs to feed their self-serving greed. YEREVAN, JANUARY 11, ARMENPRESS. The topic of deploying UN peacekeepers to Nagorno Karabakh was on the agenda many times, but any mission can be involved only at the consent of both parties to the conflict Yerevan and Baku, the Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters, TASS reports. Permanent contacts are taking place on various levels. Certainly, this topic has been on the agenda many times. But its obvious that any mission can be sent only at the consent of the two parties to the conflict, the Kremlin spokesperson said when asked whether or not the Armenian and Russian leaders have discussed this issue. TASS also quoted the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who recently said that if Russia is unable to fulfill its obligations Russia itself can initiate the deployment of a multinational mission to Nagorno Karabakh through the UN Security Council. A New Jersey veteran exaggerated his military assignments and received more than $100,000 in disability payments based on his false statements, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Kamil Wakulik, 38, of Long Valley has pleaded guilty via videoconference to theft of government funds and interstate transmission of a threat of injury after allegedly sending a threatening text message to an investigator, officials said. Wakulik received about $118,000 in benefits after telling the Department of Veteran Affairs that he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of missions that required him to recover human remains following natural disasters in the Philippines and Thailand, authorities said. Investigators later learned that Wakulik, an active service member in the U.S. Marine Corps from 2003 to 2007, was never assigned to recover human remains, prosecutors said. Wakulik also sent a text message to an agent with the Veteran Affairs Office of the Inspector General on August 23, 2022, threatening physical violence against the agent or anyone involved in the investigation, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office. The defendants attorney, Lorraine Gauli-Rufo, could not be reached for comment Tuesday. nfernandes@njadvancemedia.com 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit nj.com . The Department of Veterans Affairs plans to waive copayments for eligible American Indian and Alaska Native veterans for visits to community-based urgent care facilities beginning this month. The modification would waive copayments incurred after Jan. 4, 2022, provided the eligible veterans have submitted proper documentation, the department said in a news release Tuesday. The waivers would become effective after a 30-day public comment period following publication on Wednesday of the proposed rule change, the VA said. The waiver, however, would be limited to three visits to community-based urgent care facilities in any calendar year, the VA said. Follow-up care provided by a VA-authorized primary care provider would be exempt from copays, the news release stated. More than 140,000 American Indian and Alaska Native veterans could be eligible for the waiver, according to VA spokesman John Santos. If finalized, the waiver would be retroactive to Jan. 5, 2023, and eligible veterans would be reimbursed for any copayments made between then and implementation of the new rule, the VA said. Veterans would be required to submit official documentation to receive that reimbursement, the VA said. Copayments for VA medical care vary based on the priority group that a veteran is in and the care that that individual receives, Santos said in an email Tuesday. Priority groupings are determined by a number of factors such as military service history, disability rating, income level, and other VA benefits the Veteran may be receiving, he said. The copayment for a visit to urgent care for minor illnesses and injuries is up to $30 for certain priority groups, according to the VAs website. The copayment for seeing a primary care doctor is $15 for some veterans, the website states. Copayments for specialty services, such as ophthalmologists or cardiologists, and specialty tests, such as MRIs, can be as much as $50. American Indian and Alaska Native Veterans have played a vital role in the defense of the United States as members of the Armed Forces for more than 200 years, VA Secretary Denis McDonough said in the news release. This rule makes health care more accessible and allows us to better deliver to these Veterans the care and health benefits that they have earned through their courageous service. The rule change is part of changes required by the Isakson and Roe Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020, which was signed into law in early 2021. The sweeping law carried 32 provisions that expanded various GI Bill programs and addressed a range of veterans issues such as homelessness, access to care for women and Native Americans, toxic exposure and the coronavirus. YEREVAN, JANUARY 11, ARMENPRESS. On January 11, President of the Artsakh Republic (Nagorno Karabakh) Arayik Harutyunyan chaired a meeting of the Security Council attended by representatives of all political forces represented in the National Assembly. The meeting addressed the consequences of the nearly month-long ongoing humanitarian crisis in Artsakh due to the blockade of the Lachin corridor by Azerbaijan, and high-level political statements made in recent days in that regard, the Artsakh Presidential Office said in a press release. The Artsakh Republic Security Coucil adopted the following statement at the session: It has been almost a month since a group of so-called eco-activists, with the full and outspoken support of the Azerbaijani authorities, blocked the only road connecting Artsakh to Armenia. Thus, the Azerbaijani side has practically deprived the population of the Artsakh Republic of the only opportunity to communicate with the outer world, keeping the 120,000 population in a total blockade, with all the resulting humanitarian, healthcare and economic consequences. The thoughts expressed by the President of Azerbaijan during the press conference held on January 10 of the current year proved once again that all this is nothing but an obvious manifestation of the threat of using force by the Azerbaijani authorities in the process of Karabakh problem settlement, which is a continuation of the 44-day war unleashed by Azerbaijan against the people of the Artsakh Republic in 2020. Within the context of these realities, a number of statements and opinions expressed by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia during yesterday's press conference raised concern, since they do not correspond to the ideas of the national struggle, as well as the position of the people and authorities of the Artsakh Republic. We are aware of all the consequences that follow the political line we have embarked on, and reaffirm our position that the sovereignty of Artsakh and the right to live freely and independently in the historical homeland are absolute values. No coercion or threat can deter us from our decision to continue the struggle. In this regard, we appeal to the international community to assume responsibility for preventing the terrorist actions undertaken by Azerbaijan, the planned ethnic cleansing and the impending new genocide. The people of the Artsakh Republic and the authorities are confident that the Armenians in the Diaspora will continue to support the decision made by their brothers and sisters in Artsakh, and urge the Republic of Armenia authorities to be guided exclusively by the position of promoting and advocating the right of the people of Artsakh to self-determination in international institutions, using all the opportunities and all the tools of the internationally recognized state. Richard Parker (42) had come to the city to buy drugs but was so nervous trying to find a dealer that he had a few drinks to even it out A father-of-one who drunkenly punched a woman as she was walking in Dublin city centre has been jailed for three months for the random attack. Richard Parker (42) had come to the city to buy drugs but was so nervous trying to find a dealer that he had a few drinks to even it out, a court heard. An alcoholic who had fallen off the wagon, he admitted his behaviour was awful. Parker, of Church View, Rathnew, Co Wicklow, pleaded guilty to assaulting the woman on November 24, 2021. He also admitted unlawful possession of alprazolam tablets, public intoxication and threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour. Garda Sergeant Maire McDevitt told Dublin District Court a 50-year-old lady was walking on OConnell Street at 4.30pm when Parker, who was unknown to her, came up behind her and punched her on the shoulder. She sustained no injuries but reported it to the gardai and gave a description. Half an hour later, gardai found Parker heavily intoxicated and slumped on a footpath on Eden Quay, where he had attempted to start a fight with members of the public. He was unable to stand properly, was incoherent and began shouting abuse at the gardai. They found 60 tablets concealed in his sock. Parker was a chronic alcoholic who had been clean for years but suffered relapse periods, his solicitor Kate McGhee said. At the time he was sober nine months, came to Dublin to buy drugs and was so nervous trying to find a dealer he had a few drinks to even it out. It was a terrible event, a terrible night, hes really, really sorry and hes done his best to try to mitigate his behaviour, Ms McGhee said. The accused had previous convictions and was under a suspended sentence at the time. Its not much consolation to the injured party who didnt even know him, the judge said. Notorious murderer is allegedly caught in possession of a Taser An Irishman who murdered a businessman and shot a woman through the head with a crossbow in Australia more than 25 years ago is due before a court in two weeks time on. Ex-middle class professional Offer is regarded as one of Australias most infamous killers after he embarked on a shocking crime spree. Dubliner Paul Offer (58) was only released from prison on parole last October after serving 25 years of a 34-year sentence for murder, attempted murder and soliciting to murder three witnesses. The Daily Telegraph in Australia have reported that he was charged with possessing or using a prohibited weapon and using a prohibited weapon contrary to a prohibited order. He appeared via video-link at Paramatta Local Court last Friday which heard his bail had been revoked. Dubliner Paul Offer (58) was only released from prison on parole last October after serving 25 years of a 34-year sentence for murder, attempted murder and soliciting to murder three witnesses. He has pleaded not guilty and will appear in court again on January 25. In a series of crimes that shocked Australia in 1997, the engineer who moved to the country from Ireland a few years earlier, set out to have several people who were due to testify against him in an insurance fraud case murdered. He had fraudulently claimed AUS$200,000 from an insurance company for a boat and trailer which he falsely claimed he had bought and had been stolen. Insurance investigators rumbled his scheme and he was charged with fraud. After he was served with the book of evidence Offer decided to track down a number of witnesses who were due to testify against him and kill them one by one. He first targeted his former friend Maher Gerges who was due to give evidence against him. He called to Mr Gergess Sydney home on February 15, 1997, with a crossbow and wearing a balaclava ready to murder his former pal. However, Mr Gerges wife, Nagwa, answered the door but Offer opened fire anyway, shooting her in the head before fleeing the scene Her husband pulled the bolt, which was not barbed, from her head in a move doctors said that saved her life. Nagwa spent 34 days in a coma and was left with brain damage and paralysis down her right side. Speaking afterwards about her ordeal she said: I remember going from upstairs to downstairs, there was knocking, [at the door] three small knocks. I thought it was my husbands brother coming back I saw his eyes, thats it, Her husband said: I came out of the bathroom and there is my wife with an arrow sticking out of her head and she is dying in front of me. I didnt know what I was doing, I just took the arrow out. Offer then tried to frame innocent Gerges for the attack by planting crossbow bolts at a business linked to his brother, making an anonymous call to cops but the investigating officers were rightly suspicious. Offer moved to a caravan park in Brisbane with his wife and child as he continued to plot to murder witnesses. His next target was Ronald Mills who had shown Offer the boat that he used to set up the insurance scam. He didnt know where Mills lived but rang his work phone a number of times unsuccessfully using his own mobile phone. He then got his targets home phone number and called the number several times. On September 27, 1997, he shot Mr Mills with a 9mm Luger fitted with a silencer when he answered the door to his home in Sydney. Offer also solicited a pal, Alan Seaton, to kill Mr Mills, Mr Gerges and Mark Chapman who was also due to give evidence in the trial. Seaton thought Offer was joking about the hits and subsequently co-operated with cops. Police raided Offers motorhome and found a treasure trove of evidence including the firearm and silencer used for the hit on Mr Mills, 200 rounds of ammo, balaclavas as well as addresses, pictures and photos of his targets and their families. He initially denied involvement but pleaded guilty as his trial got underway in 2000. He was jailed for 34 years but was eligible for to apply for parole after 21 and was eventually released last year after 25 years. Bizarrely, even after he was convicted, Offer asked another inmate if he could get someone to burn down Mr Gergess home and solicited another to try to kill Seaton. Offers wife and child returned to Ireland after his arrest and Offer tried unsuccessfully to be allowed serve his sentence in an Irish prison so he could be closer to family. Australian media reported that Offer is now back behind bars after he was charged with possessing a Taser in Surry Hills in Sydney on Thursday. A judge has expressed surprise that Enoch Burke is seeking an injunction restraining his employers from holding a disciplinary hearing when he himself is repeatedly breaching a court order. Mr Justice Brian OMoore made the comments ahead of a hearing in which the schoolteacher, who is suspended after clashing with school management over a request that a transgender pupil be called they instead of he, is seeking to restrain the holding of a disciplinary meeting on January 19. Mr Burke, an evangelical Christian, spent 108 days in prison last year for contempt of a temporary court order restraining him from attending at Wilsons Hospital School in Multyfarnham, Co Westmeath. But he resumed breaching the order when the Church of Ireland diocesan boarding school reopened last Thursday following the Christmas holidays. When Mr Burkes application for an injunction was mentioned in court this morning, Mr Justice OMoore asked the teacher if he was complying with the court order. After Mr Burke indicated he wasnt, the judge said this was something that would have to be considered when it came to dealing with the injunction application. There is an issue as to whether or not someone who is consistently in breach of a court order is themselves in a position to seek the assistance of the court to secure an order on an equitable basis preventing the school or anyone else from acting in a certain way, the judge said. It was with some surprise that I learned that despite your refusal to abide by the court order you were now seeking the power of the court to injunct the school from doing something. Mr Justice OMoore, who heads up the High Court chancery list, made the comments as he transferred the matter to Mr Justice Conor Dignam, who will hear the injunction application this afternoon. When Mr Burke claimed that the judges comments were improper, uncalled for and unnecessary, Mr Justice OMoore responded: I am simply marking your card that this is an issue which will be of some consequence in terms of this ongoing litigation. Enoch Burke arriving at the High Court this morning. Photo: Collins Courts A separate motion in the case, in which the schools board of management is seeking the sequestration of Mr Burkes assets due to his continued breach of the order, was adjourned to next Tuesday. The court heard a technical issue had held up the filing of an affidavit. Mr Burke admitted he was breaching a court order restraining him from attending or attempting to teach children at the school. I am attending at the school. I have been consistent in that matter, he told Mr Justice OMoore. I have been consistent from the start that I am innocent. I have an unblemished record. My only crime is that I expressed my religious belief on transgenderism and I would not surrender that religious belief and call a student by the they pronoun. That is my Christian belief. Mr Burke claimed he had a duty to turn up for work. He claimed the disciplinary process was manifestly unlawful and he did not want to set a precedent where a teacher could be suspended and dismissed because of their religious beliefs. It was my duty to resist and to turn up to my workplace, he said. The history and German teacher has been suspended on full pay since August following a number of incidents in which he publicly opposed the request and asked for it to be withdrawn. 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 contempt of court. He has claimed that due to his religious beliefs, he could not comply with the request or the High Court order. Despite not purging his contempt, Mr Justice OMoore finally ordered his release from Mountjoy Prison on December 21 after finding the teacher was exploiting his imprisonment for his own ends. Despite being warned by the judge that he could face imprisonment again or the sequestration of his assets if he breached court orders again, Mr Burke showed up at the school last Thursday and again on Friday, Monday and Tuesday. It is understood he has been confined to a hallway, where he stood throughout each day, and has not been coming into contact with pupils. Smyth is appealing against his conviction for the attempted murder of James Mago Gately and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life A man convicted of the attempted murder of James Mago Gately has persuaded the Supreme Court to hear arguments that the use of mobile phone data to secure his conviction was a breach of his right to privacy. Caolan Smyth (31), formerly of Cuileann Court, Donore, Co Meath, was sentenced to 20 years in jail in 2021 after pleading not guilty to the attempted murder of Mr Gately in north Dublin on May 10, 2017. Mr Gately, who the Criminal Assets Bureau alleges is heavily involved with an organised crime group, was shot five times by the driver of a car that pulled up beside him at a petrol station on Clonshaugh Road. Smyth was alleged to be the shooter. The car was later found burnt, and co-accused Gary McAreavey (55), formerly of Gort Nua, Castlebellingham, Co Louth, was alleged to have purchased petrol for the purpose of destroying it. Smyth is appealing against his conviction for attempted murder and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, while McAreavey seeks to overturn his conviction for the offence of assisting an offender. McAreavey was sentenced to four years imprisonment, with the final year suspended. The men denied the charges. Graham Dwyer Central to the Supreme Court appeals by Smyth and McAreavey is an argument that certain evidence from telephone data, obtained pursuant to a 2011 law, was in breach of Irish and EU law and was, therefore, inadmissible at their trial. Their Special Criminal Court trials occurred in 2020 after the Supreme Court referred questions to the Court of Justice of the EU relating to the indiscriminate retention and access of mobile phone metadata in the case of Graham Dwyer, who awaits the outcome of his appeal against his conviction for the murder of Elaine OHara. The European court subsequently upheld Dwyers challenge to the legality of Irelands metadata regime as set out in provisions of the Communications (Retention of Data) Act 2011. In a recently published determination, a three-judge Supreme Court panel said the cases raise issues of general public importance that warrant them being considered by the highest court. The data was used to connect an unregistered phone to Smyth and to correlate the movements of the car with cell sites used by the phone. It also demonstrated contact between this phone and another unregistered phone attributed to McAreavey, the judges said. Neither of the co-accused conceded ownership of either phone, and the Special Criminal Court found this had implications for the extent to which they could argue privacy rights had been engaged. The court held it was entitled to admit evidence obtained in breach of a right of privacy if that right was outweighed by competing interests of others or of the common good. It considered gardai had sought precise, targeted and tightly focused information regarding the attempted murder. James 'Mago' Gately Both men appealed to the Court of Appeal, which delivered judgment after the CJEUs ruling in Dwyers case. The appeal court ruled the 2011 Act was still the law of the land when the investigation into the attempted murder was carried out and thus it enjoyed a presumption of constitutionality. Any interference with privacy rights was limited in the extreme, and it was relevant that the men did not claim to own the phones, the court also found. The Supreme Court panel pointed to the complex legal background of the cases, saying it is necessary to consider the effect of, and interaction between, the Constitution, the Charter of Fundamental Rights, an EU privacy directive, and the 2011 Act. A second issue will be considered in McAreaveys appeal. He is also challenging the interpretation of section 7(2) of the Criminal Law Act 1997 concerning the level of knowledge or belief required to be proved to convict an accused of the offence of assisting an offender. The trial court found it was probable, but not proven, that McAreavey knew precisely what his co-accused had been doing. However, it interpreted the 1997 Act as meaning that the prosecution could either prove knowledge or belief in respect of the specific offence committed or some other arrestable offence that was not specific. The Court of Appeal agreed with this analysis. A date has not yet been set for the appeal. Three suspects arrested after big increase in thefts of high-powered tools from tradespeoples vans in recent weeks Gardai have identified at least two organised crime gangs that have stolen thousands of euro worth of tools from vans used by tradesmen parked in hotel car parks. Three suspected gang members were arrested in a planned operation by gardai in north Dublin on Monday night, after a big increase in thefts of high-powered tools from tradespeoples vans in recent weeks. It came after around 10,000 worth of tools was stolen from a vehicle parked in a hotel car park in Clondalkin on Monday night, while just hours earlier over 5.000 worth of building equipment was taken from a parked vehicle at a hotel in Ashbourne, Co Meath. The vans were parked there by tradesmen who were staying overnight in the hotels after working in the local area. Although there have been no arrests yet in relation to Mondays thefts, it is understood that a prolific locally based Blanchardstown gang are the suspects for both crimes and a spate of other burglaries and thefts in recent weeks. he gang is also believed to have been involved in a number of shoplifting incidents in supermarkets A white car, believed to have been used by the gang during the thefts, was discovered abandoned in the Clonsilla area of west Dublin late on Monday night. Meanwhile, gardai in north Dublin on the same night targeted a separate gang, involved in a similar crime spree across parts of Dublin, Lucan and Meath, making three arrests. The gang, which is understood to have links to notorious Raheny-based career criminal Douglas Purcell (40), who has multiple previous convictions, including for theft, were using a grey Nissan Qashqai, with cloned registration plates, when targeting areas in recent weeks. The gang is also believed to have been involved in a number of shoplifting incidents in supermarkets, where a female gang member stole items using a shopping trolley and then fled the store. Officers based in Swords garda station received information on Monday night that the suspect Nissan vehicle was at a hotel in the area after it was earlier spotted acting suspiciously at a premises in Mulhuddart, west Dublin. Thousands of euro worth of high-powered tools were stolen from workers' vans in a spate of thefts. Photo: Getty Images Getty Images Gardai pounced and three men were arrested at the scene and are currently being detained at various north Dublin garda stations. The arrested men are suspected of being members of an intergenerational crime gang, primarily based in north Dublin, but one of the suspects has an address in Co Kerry. One of the men, intercepted in Swords by gardai, is a well-known 26-year-old criminal from the Darndale area, while another is based in the Raheny area. Sources say the gang has been thrown into disarray following the arrests. What these gangs have been doing is targeting tradesmen who have been storing tools in their vehicles, which are normally vans, which are then identified by the criminals when they are parked in hotel car parks but not always exclusively at these locations, a senior source said. There is an international aspect to this type of crime as it is suspected that most of the tools that are stolen are sent out of the country in containers for sale in the UK or mainland Europe It is an issue that has been increasing in recent times especially with the increase in construction activity across the country, the source added. Last November, gardai in Limerick appealed for tradesmen to be vigilant with their tools following a number of thefts, while officers in Kilkenny issued a similar warning last month. There is an international aspect to this type of crime as it is suspected that most of the tools that are stolen are sent out of the country in containers for sale in the UK or mainland Europe. It is very lucrative, the source added. High-powered tools, saws, drills, carpentry tools and all kinds of specialist equipment are all very popular with the organised gangs. It leaves the victims hugely out of pocket and indeed employed, the source added. In previous crime security advice, gardai said that serious consideration should be given to fitting a secure locked area/cage in the rear of a van for valuable tools and in addition, an alarm should be installed and advertised with a sticker. They also said any overnight parking should be secure, for example parking a van with the rear/side door up against a wall in a well-lit area. Speaking from Dubai where he is now based, the girls uncle told Belgian media: We will react, but not as the mayor of Antwerp thinks An 11-year-old girl who died after a shooting incident linked to the illegal drug trade in the Belgian port city of Antwerp is the niece of a reputed major international cocaine dealer, it has been claimed. Local police told national news agency Belga the child was killed by shrapnel on Monday, after bullets fired by attackers into a house in the Merksem area caused a microwave to explode. The girl was rushed to hospital alongside three other residents who were in the house at the time, including her father (58) and his two other daughters, aged 13 and 18, who were treated for minor injuries. It has been reported that she is the niece of a one of the largest cocaine smugglers our country has ever produced, who Belgian media have been writing about for years. The local police in Antwerp received an emergency call about the shooting on Monday evening at 6.24pm, local media stated. It turned out that a garage door of a terraced house had been shot at. Five shell casings were found in front of the house. Based on these bullet casings, the public prosecutor's office believes that an assault rifle was fired. Belgiums interior minister Annelies Verlinden tweeted: Horrible tragedy where an innocent child has died. The investigation is ongoing, but we will do everything we can to apprehend these ruthless criminals. Children have nothing to do with any drug war. The citys mayor Bart De Wever told VRT television the home targeted in the shooting belonged to a family known to be involved in the drug trade and that the attack appeared to be a settling of scores. A drug war is underway, criminals attack the houses of other criminals, he said. We have been witnessing this for months and what I feared for a long time has happened, there has been an innocent victim, a child. Speaking from Dubai where he is now based, the girls uncle told Belgian media: We will react, but not as the mayor of Antwerp thinks. (He) denies intending violent revenge and says (He) wants to cooperate with the police investigation, it has been reported. A spokesman for the Antwerp prosecutors office said links to the drug trade were being investigated. However, as his sister is not associated with criminal activities by the Belgian judiciary, there are therefore no indications that the residents of the affected building themselves are involved in drug trafficking, local reports added. It is just the latest voice incident in Antwerp in the past year where the homes of family members of drug criminals have been targeted by rival gangs. In Antwerp, especially in the past year, the homes of family members of rival drug criminals have been a frequent target, often by young Dutch criminals, it has been reported locally. For example, homes belonging to another family have already been the target of an attack twelve times. It has also been reported that the Dubai based drug traffickers family has been the target of violence before. In 2016, the dealers younger brother was kidnapped in Antwerp by a group of criminals from France, but managed to escape. The kidnappers were later were sentenced to 12 years in prison for their role in the hostage-taking. In December a Panamanian businessman who is suspected of masterminding shipments of cocaine into Europe with Daniel Kinahan was arrested in Dubai as part of an international police operation targeting Europes super-cartel. Anthony Alfredo Martinez Meza is suspected of being the connection who arranged to get Colombian cocaine shipped into Europe. The duo are believed to have invested in mega-shipments, including the one containing almost 18 tons of cocaine seized in Philadelphia en route to Antwerp and Rotterdam in 2019. The news of the killing comes as Belgian authorities are set to announce a new annual record for cocaine seizures at the port of Antwerp, which is expected to top more than 100 tonnes. It has been established that Antwerp and nearby Rotterdam in the Netherlands are the two main gateways for cocaine dispatched from Latin America to enter Europe, which are often hidden in consignments of fruit. Authorities estimate that despite deploying sniffer dogs and container scanners, they stop only around 10 per cent of the volume of the illegal drug smuggled through Antwerp. So much cocaine has been intercepted that law enforcement officials have previously expressed concerns that they do not have enough incinerator capacity to destroy the massive amounts. Meanwhile, prosecutors in Antwerp say that over the past five years they have recorded more than 200 violent incidents linked to drug smuggling. These include threats of violence, assaults, and even explosives thrown at homes. Every year, Ciaran Kendrick (28), from Dublin 7, gives up something he loves to raise awareness and funds for the Irish Cancer Society Cancer survivor Ciaran Kendrick is doing something a little bit different to raise money A Dubliner who gave up takeaways for a full year to raise funds for the Irish Cancer Society, tucked into a spice bag to ring in the New Year. Every year, Ciaran Kendrick (28), from Dublin 7, gives up something he loves to raise awareness and funds for the charity. Last year, he successfully ditched the spice bags, doner kebabs, and his beloved pizza. This year, hes giving up chocolate. I was diagnosed with a type of blood cancer called Hodgkins Lymphoma when I was 24, he said. I was living in Germany at the time, so went through the German system to get surgery, then came home and spent six months in chemotherapy. After that experience, I wanted to give something back to the Irish Cancer Society. They were supportive and offered me free counselling and all that kind of stuff. So, I thought, what is something that would benefit my personal health and show enough willpower to raise a bit of money for a fundraiser? I love my takeaways, and it was tough not going down the easy route of getting a McDonalds. If we got back from a night out, Id have to sit and watch my friends enjoy a takeaway. I got on with it and focused on my nutrition. Im not really feeling them anymore, you dont realise how much money youre saving too until you stop getting them for a bit. There was one particularly big wrinkle. My grandfather left me some money when he passed and I really wanted to spend it on the takeaway he used to get for us from a chipper nearby. So I had to wait to do that, and we finally did it last week. It was a nice way to say goodbye to him. On New Years Eve I decided to order a space bag from Jumbo Wok in Kimmage. I used to go there all the time. I did the obligatory Happy New Year hugs and then poured out the food at one minute past midnight. I only ate half of it, my body wasnt used to it, it felt like a lot. Ciaran after his biopsy surgery Instead of the common 5k runs and coffee mornings, Ciaran, who considers himself one of the lucky ones, initially decided to give up something for 365 days to get 365 from his housemate back in 2020. I wouldve drank a good bit of coke and my housemate bet me that I couldnt ditch soft drinks for 2021, he said. I said I would if he paid me a certain amount of money and Id give it to the Irish Cancer Society. It spiralled from there. After giving up soft drinks in 2021 and takeaways in 2022, Ciaran is spending his 2023 without chocolate. I love a Galaxy or a Yorkie, and even share bags of Maltesers and Milky Stars. Theres still chocolate around the apartment from Christmas, so its a bit more difficult, its everywhere. But Im putting my mind to it and getting used to it, he added. You can find Ciarans fundraiser here. Its staggering that people in their 80s and 90s are on a 3-5 year waiting list with the HSE for a half-hour operation The Independent TD for West Cork has been organising buses for elderly people to receive much-need cataract procedures. Photo: Michael Collins. The Independent TD for West Cork has been organising buses for elderly people to receive much-need cataract procedures. Photo: Michael Collins. A West Cork TD has slammed the lengthy HSE waiting lists that have forced pensioners to go to Belfast or go blind. Many elderly people are forced to travel hours on a bus from West Cork to Northern Ireland for a half-hour cataract procedure that will save their sight. "Without this bus, thousands of people would have gone blind in Cork county, Independent TD Michael Collins told sundayworld.com. "Its staggering that people in their 80s and 90s are on a 3-5 year waiting list with the HSE for a half-hour operation. He described the situation as shocking, revealing elderly pensioners are getting up as early as 2am for buses bound for Northern Ireland when there are hospitals closer to home that could carry out the procedure if they just had enough funding. The West Cork TD has been organising these buses since 2017 and the 107th left for Derry this morning. The Independent TD for West Cork has been organising buses for elderly people to receive much-need cataract procedures. Photo: Michael Collins. Two more full buses are setting off this Friday and Saturday with more setting off each month. Pensioners from Bantry, Kinsale, Skibbereem, Innishannon, Mallow, Mayfield, Kanturk, Macroom and Kerry began their journey this morning. They are left with no choice, Mr Collins said. It is either this or go blind. The Independent TD says he has repeatedly raised the issue in the Dail, but the government sits idly by while the health crisis continues. The loss of services in near-by hospitals means ambulances are by-passing Bantry and heading straight for Cork. Its pushing people into over-crowded centres. Its why people are dying because the system is being badly managed by the government. "How many people died because of the hospital crisis? Why are we fire-fighting instead of planning for these situations? "The HSE is the governments job. They need to sit up and stop pointing fingers at everyone else and see they havent improved things. "Theyve only gotten worse with this Health Minister and theyre looking for a pat on the back. In my opinion they are not doing a good job, how is it a good job when dying people are on trollies? The West Cork TD said heads need to roll throughout government. Peoples lives are at risk. Mr Collins revealed there is a huge number of constituents getting in touch with him in recent weeks, patients who urgently need care and need beds. He compared the situation at Cork University Hospital to a warzone at no fault of the staff. "They are overstretched while people are crying out for help. The TD said this problem long pre-dates the current trolley crisis in Irish hospitals and there are Bantry and Mallow hospitals across the country that could alleviate the pressure if they only received support and staff. "Its outrageous carry-on," he added. Almost 500 people across the country were on trolleys in Irelands hospitals yesterday. The number is down from the record of 931 people who were on trolleys last week. Sheila Creedon was hit by a vehicle while walking near the Lidl supermarket in Oranmore on the outskirts of Galway city on Friday evening. A Cork woman who died after a hit and run incident in Galway has been remembered as a special lady who was dedicated to her family. Sheila Creedon, who was in her 70s, was hit by a vehicle while walking near the Lidl supermarket in Oranmore on the outskirts of Galway city on Friday evening. Originally from Grenagh, Sheila, who had been living in the Beech Grove area of Oranmore was rushed to University Hospital Galway for treatment of serious injuries where she passed away later that night. The driver remained at the scene after the incident but left before gardai arrived. On her RIP.ie page her devastated sons paid tribute to her, writing: Our Mum will be sorely missed by her immediate and extended family, her Beechgrove family, her Brampton family, her coffee family, her Tai-Chi family and more so by the family of friends in Oranmore that have been so good to her over the last few years. "Until we meet again Mum xxx.2 The notice states that the death has occurred of Sheila (Julia Bridgit) Creedon (nee Desmond) of Beech Grove, Oranmore, Galway. Formerly of Grenagh, Co Cork (she) died tragically, at University Hospital Galway, on January 6, 2023 following a road traffic incident. Pre-deceased by her parents John and Eileen Desmond (she will be) deeply mourned by her husband Brian, her sons Des and Paul, sisters Joan Ronan and Mary Power, daughters-in-law Gillian and Helen, very precious grandchildren Finn, Tom, Lia and Chloe, the extended Creedon and Desmond family, neighbours and friends. Her removal will take place at 11.30am tomorrow from the family home to the Church of The Immaculate Conception, Oranmore, to arrive for Requiem Mass at 12 noon with funeral after Mass to Rinville Cemetery, Oranmore. In the condolences section, people have left numerous messages of sympathy including one that reads: Sincere sympathy Joan, John and all the Ronan family on the sad passing of Sheila. Another reads: So sorry Paul and the Creedon family to hear of your mums passing. Our thoughts and prayers are with you. Sincere condolences to Joan & all your family on the sad passing of your sister Sheila, may she rest in peace. One person wrote: Rest in peace Sheila, thinking of Brian and all of the Creedon family during this hard time. Sheila was a lovely lady, her love for Brian was out of this world, as his was for her. It was always a pleasure to see Shelia coming into Brampton to visit and to meet in passing in Oranmore village even after I finished with Brampton, Shelia would always stop and say hello and have a chat. Gardai said they are continuing to appeal for witnesses following the incident. At approximately 5pm, a female pedestrian, aged in her 70s, was struck by a car, they said. The driver of the car failed to remain at the scene. The woman was taken to University Hospital Galway for treatment. She later passed away from her injuries on Friday night. We are appealing to any road users who may have camera footage (including dash-cam) and were travelling in the Oranmore area between 4.30pm and 5.30pm is asked to make this footage available. Anyone with any information is asked to contact Oranmore Garda Station on 091 388 030, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda station. Health Minister Stephen Donnelly used the government jet to fly to Brussels for a routine EU meeting last month despite an alternative commercial flight being available. Mr Donnelly and four Department of Health officials travelled on the Learjet 45 on Thursday, December 8 last for a meeting of EU health ministers that was due to take place the following day. There are typically between three and four daily flights between Dublin and Brussels, operated by Ryanair and Aer Lingus, on weekdays. Mr Donnellys spokesperson said the use of the government jet was requested to facilitate the ministers busy diary commitments. Coalition ministers use of the jet has come under more scrutiny in recent years due to the climate crisis and the greenhouse gas emissions caused by private jet travel. Mr Donnellys spokesperson said the Fianna Fail minister had a meeting in Brussels at 8pm on December 8, the evening before the summit of EU health ministers, which is known as the Epsco (Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs) Council. While Mr Donnelly was in the Dail that Thursday morning for around 90 minutes to answer Opposition TDs questions on health matters, it is unclear what other diary commitments he had that day. His diary is not published online and his spokesperson provided no further detail. Mr Donnellys Twitter shows him opening the registration portal for the Laura Brennan HPV Vaccination Catch-Up Programme outside the Department of Health in Dublin that Thursday with the tweet posted at 12.41pm. An Aer Lingus flight from Dublin Airport to Brussels Airport scheduled at 3.30pm that same Thursday departed at 3.43pm and landed in Brussels at 6.02pm local time which would likely have been sufficient for Mr Donnelly to make his 8pm engagement in the Belgian capital. Asked to explain why given there are daily flights from Dublin to Brussels the government jet was used, Mr Donnellys spokesperson said: The government jet was requested to facilitate the Ministers busy diary commitments. Within the delegation, the minister is being supported by his private secretary, along with a senior official from North-South, EU and International Unit, a senior official from the Medicines, Controlled Drugs and Pharmacy Legislation Unit, and a junior colleague for briefing and reporting support. No advisers are travelling with the minister. The ministers official briefing for the event is scheduled to take place during the flight. The minister has a meeting at 8pm on Thursday evening in Brussels and a number of bilateral engagements early on Friday morning before attending the Epsco Council. Last year, the Irish Independent revealed that Green Party ministers had been travelling on business class flights for international state visits despite the higher carbon footprint of premium airline seats. Mr Donnellys use of the jet came at a time when it was widely speculated in political circles that he could be dropped from Cabinet in the reshuffle that took place when Micheal Martin and Leo Varadkar swapped the Taoiseachs office nine days later on December 17. It was only the second time he used the jet in his two and a half years in office. Mr Donnelly was, however, retained in the health brief and has in recent weeks been grappling with a worsening crisis in hospitals as a result of the surge in winter viruses. YEREVAN, JANUARY 11, ARMENPRESS. On January 11, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan had a telephone conversation with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Sweden Tobias Billstrom. As ARMENPRESS was informed from MFA Armenia, Ararat Mirzoyan congratulated his colleague on assuming the presidency of the Council of the European Union. The parties discussed a number of issues related to regional security. Minister Mirzoyan presented to the interlocutor the details of Azerbaijan's blocking of the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia and the outside world - the Lachin Corridor, and the resulting humanitarian crisis. The Armenian FM noted that Azerbaijan's actions are a violation of the obligations assumed by itself with the declaration of November 9, 2020, as well as a gross violation of international humanitarian law. Ararat Mirzoyan emphasized the need for immediate steps by the international community in order to prevent Azerbaijan's policy of ethnic cleansing of 120 thousand Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh. During the telephone conversation, the parties referred to the EU observation mission that ended on December 19. Minister Mirzoyan highly appreciated the work done by the mission. Shona Gillans (18) body was found by a dog walker in a one-foot deep stretch of the Six Mile Water in Co Antrim An inquest into the unexplained death of a Co Antrim teenager has heard details of the last conversation a former girlfriend had with the deceased. Shona Gillan went missing on March 3, 2021. The 18-year-old had disappeared after leaving her mother's home in Valiant Court in Antrim. Her body was found three days later by a dog walker in a one-foot deep stretch of the Six Mile Water. Police at the time said they were not treating the death as suspicious. However, the family questioned aspects of that narrative. Shona's sister and brother, Amy and Ryan Reid, had made an emotional appeal for information after a number of issues around her death had deeply concerned the family. On the night of her disappearance Ms Gillan the youngest of nine children had gone to meet friends. Her phone was last used at 11.40pm on the Wednesday, and after that police say there was no other activity from her number. The inquest is investigating Ms Gillans last days and hours in an attempt to give her family answers to outstanding questions. Members of the family were present in the coroners court today as one of Ms Gillans friends gave evidence. Morgan Irvine, who was an ex-girlfriend of the deceased, said they had been arguing a lot over the phone, but had not seen each other in person since the day they split up several weeks before her death. The pair had known each other for several years after Ms Gillans mother had given her somewhere to stay when she had been homeless. Speaking as the inquest sat at Antrim Courthouse, Ms Irvine said she had been due to travel to Antrim to see Ms Gillan the day after she went missing. A statement she had given to police was read to the court. 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 had stated. She said that on March 3, Ms Gillan had texted her in the morning as usual to see how she was. 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 could hear people shouting in the background during the call, adding 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 was adjourned to sit again in Belfast on Tuesday, January 17. I think it would be a small measure that might go some way towards alleviating the respiratory crisis - the tripledemic - thats happening now The re-introduction of mandatory mask wearing on public transport would be a small price to pay to ease pressure on healthcare workers, Labours health spokesperson has said. Labour TD Duncan Smith has voiced his support for a mask mandate amid the winter tripledemic of Covid, the flu, and RSV (respiratory syncytial virus). Chief Medical Officer Breda Smyth has strongly advised the public to wear masks on public transport and in confined spaces, and Mr Smith is urging the Government to make them compulsory. Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast, he said: The Chief Medical Officer has been advising this since Christmas. But weve heard nothing from Government in terms of any kind of real strong public health advice in relation to public mask wearing. The calls are coming from the workers on the frontline; we have it from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation and thats backed up by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. Im listening to nurses and healthcare assistants who have been onto me every day; theyre under intense pressure and feel like nobodys listening to them because the teeth of the Covid pandemic has passed and everythings tickety boo in the health service. We have a health service that is under resourced and is being attacked by whats been called a tripledemic and I just believe, if were being asked in terms of proper public health advice to wear masks to protect our frontline health workers during the latest crisis, then I think thats a small price to pay. If that needs a stronger messaging or even a mandating - which I dont think is going to come, by the way that's something I would support. The mask mandate for transport and other public settings was lifted in February last year, but Mr Smith said he doesnt think its unreasonable to ask people to wear face coverings once again. I dont think mask wearing is a massive imposition... I think people are ahead of senior politicians and government officials on this because Ive seen a massive increase in mask wearing over the late December period and into January. I think it would be a small measure that might go some way towards alleviating the respiratory crisis - the tripledemic - thats happening now. Were all trying to learn throughout this, but we do know that masks help to hinder the spread of respiratory illnesses. He continued: We have a health system thats in an intense crisis, we have a trolley crisis thats worse than ever, three respiratory illnesses are putting pressure on that, so if theres anything the public can do, I think we should do this over the course of January and February. Maybe it is too late but our frontline workers and sick people on trolleys in hospitals up and down the country arent seeing anything from political leaders in terms of trying to tackle this. The workers are feeling absolutely abandoned. The Labour politician believes the public would support stronger public health messages from the Government. Weve had two years during the pandemic of pretty strong Government messaging in terms of public health advice, he said. We are not hearing that now Weve gone back to the way it used to be and I dont think thats good enough in terms of the pressure the health service is under at this particular time. Last month, Leo Varadkar ruled out a mask mandate but encouraged the public to wear face coverings over the winter period. As things stand, we dont have any proposals to reintroduce a mask mandate, the Taoiseach said But we are encouraging people to use masks in crowd settings - particularly, for example, on public transport. [Were] very much saying to people that if you have respiratory symptoms, you should stay at home until they are resolved and also really encouraging people who havent taken the flu or Covid vaccine to do so. The Minister said the Government is implementing a zero tolerance strategy against gender based violence Andrew Tate, centre, and his brother Tristan, top left, gets into a police van after appearing at the Court of Appeal, in Bucharest, Romania (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda) AP/PA Images Justice Minister Simon Harris has said he is really worried about the impact social media personality Andrew Tate is having on teenage boys in Ireland. Speaking after the controversial online influencer had his latest bid for freedom rejected by a Romanian court, Mr Harris said the rise of Mr Tate showed what can happen when states do not take responsibility for teaching young boys about sex education and gender equality. The minister said Tates popularity among teenagers and young men is a really serious issue that needs to be tackled by governments. I think a lot of parents have now found out who Andrew Tate was and I think a number of parents are having conversations with teenage boys, with their children about Andrew Tate and these people have been following Andrew Tate, Mr Harris said Higher Education Minister Simon Harris PA So I am really worried. I think it shows what happens when the State doesn't step up to its responsibilities. I don't just mean this State, I mean in general. We need to be much better at providing age appropriate information around sex education, around gender equality, and through the school curriculum, he added. On Tuesday, a court in Romania upheld the 30-day arrest of Mr Tate, who is a self-described misogynist, on charges of organised crime, human trafficking and rape. Romanian authorities 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. They said the 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. Andrew Tate, centre, and his brother Tristan, top left, gets into a police van after appearing at the Court of Appeal, in Bucharest, Romania (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda) AP/PA Images Speaking at an event on the Grangegorman campus of TU Dublin, Mr Harris said the Government is implementing a zero tolerance strategy against gender based violence. The minister said he expects a new agency to tackle gender based violence to be introduced in January next year. He is also introducing a number of pieces of legislation over the coming months which will tackle the issues surrounding violence towards women. This will include doubling the maximum sentence for assault causing serious harm from five to 10 years. Carmel Mooney, who ran a fruit and veg stall for 70 years on the historic cobblestone street, became a familiar face for Dubliners Carmel Mooney at the fruit and veg stall she ran for 70 years on Moore Street A well-known Dublin trader, previously crowned the Queen of Moore Street, has died at the age of 84. Carmel Mooney, who ran a fruit and veg stall for 70 years on the historic cobblestone street, became a familiar face for Dubliners throughout the years. The late Ms Mooney, described as witty and kind by friends, previously told the Herald in 2013: Ive seen a lot of changes on this street in my time here. The majority of the people I knew are gone now. Originally from Henrietta House in the city centre, Ms Mooney was the third generation of her family to trade on Moore Street, after her mother Bridie and grandmother Margaret. Carmel said she had been on the street long before the Ilac Centre and the butcher shops. I hope Ill be here another 60 years, she previously told the Herald. Ms Mooneys funeral will take place on Friday when her remains will be brought down Moore Street for a final time. Its an old tradition on Moore Street that traders will pull the shutters and stand outside as a mark of respect, said Stephen Troy, a fellow trader on Moore Street and owner of Troy Butchers. Mr Troy described Ms Mooney as a witty and kind person who traded on the street since she was a child. Carmel Mooney was crowned Queen of Moore Street in 2013 She was trading on the street since she was a kid and took over the reins from the renowned May Gorman, the original Queen of Moore Street. She took over the reins in 2013 and sadly she passed away on Tuesday, he said. All Moore Street traders are very hard workers who brave the weather, rain, hail, sleet or snow. That lady was probably the longest serving trader on Moore Street. After receiving her crown in 2013, Ms Mooney told the Herald, Im shaking, I dont know what to say, as she paraded the length of Moore Street to the cheers of stallholders and shoppers. They come from a generation when Moore Street was a very vibrant place to trade and they all earned a very good living from the area, said Mr Troy. I think its fair to say Moore Street is the heart of Dublin and you cant have Moore Street without the traders. She was a witty woman and very kind. Like all the traders on Moore Street, they would help anybody out if they could, he added. Ms Mooney died peacefully at the Mater Hospital surround by her family on Tuesday. Her funeral notice said she will be sadly missed by her husband Paddy Shiels-McGlynn and sons Thomas and Patrick. Removal on Friday morning to Saint Peters Church, Phibsboro, arriving for 10.30am Funeral Mass. Thereafter to Glasnevin Crematorium. Once a bustling market in the city centre, the street has faced its challenges with the number of stalls and traders diminishing over the years. Stalls at the citys oldest market, first opened in the 18th century, have reduced from more than 80 to 16 as of last year. Sadly, we are losing a lot of traders on Moore Street over the years because of the condition of the street, said Mr Troy. However, a revival effort was made to return the market to its former glory late last year. The market was relaunched by Dublin City Council, committing to keeping it open four days a week. The Dubliner (30) was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Dominic Kearney in the Martin McDonagh hit Banshees of Inisheerin. Barry's girlfriend Alyson took to Instagram to share her well wishes with the Golden Globes-nominated star. Barry's girlfriend Alyson took to Instagram to share her well wishes with the Golden Globes-nominated star. BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 10: (L-R) Colin Farrell and Martin McDonagh, winners of Best Picture - Musical/Comedy for "The Banshees of Inisherin", pose in the press room during the 80th Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton on January 10, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images) Getty Images BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 10: (L-R) Jamie Lee Curtis and Barry Keoghan attend the 80th Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton on January 10, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images) Getty Images BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 10: (L-R) Colin Farrell, Martin McDonagh, Barry Keoghan, Kerry Condon, Graham Broadbent, and Brendan Gleeson, winners of Best Picture - Musical/Comedy for "The Banshees of Inisherin", pose in the press room during the 80th Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton on January 10, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images) Getty Images Barry Keoghans girlfriend Alyson Sandro shared a sweet tribute to the Banshees of Inisheerin star ahead of the Golden Globes last night. The Dubliner (30) was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Dominic Kearney in the Martin McDonagh hit. Ke Huy Quan who played Waymond Wang in the sensation Everything Everywhere All At Once beat out Keogahn, Brad Bitt, Eddie Redmayne and Brendan Gleeson for the title. Barrys adoring girlfriend was unfazed by his competition however, posting a loving tribute to the A-List celeb who she shares a young son baby Brando with. Good luck you have definitely got this in the bag, she said. "Lots of love me and B xxxx. Barry's girlfriend Alyson took to Instagram to share her well wishes with the Golden Globes-nominated star. Barry re-posted the sweet message to his own Instagram, writing Baby mama with a heart emoji in the hours before the big awards show. The star welcomed his mini-me back in August with his Scottish girlfriend Alyson. I have already WON with you, the photo of the pair said on Instagram. Barry's girlfriend Alyson took to Instagram to share her well wishes with the Golden Globes-nominated star. Although Keoghan missed out on the Best Supporting Actor title last night, Banshees of Inisheerin saw a major haul. Co-star Colin Farrell took home a Best Actor award while Martin McDonagh seized the prize for Best Screenplay. BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 10: (L-R) Colin Farrell and Martin McDonagh, winners of Best Picture - Musical/Comedy for "The Banshees of Inisherin", pose in the press room during the 80th Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton on January 10, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images) Getty Images The film also won Best Picture Musical or Comedy. Posing with Hollywood legend Jamie Lee Curtis (64) in a later snap, Barry who was once best known in Ireland for his part as Wayne in Love/Hate said Feckin legend Jamie. The Halloween actress was nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category for her role in Everything Everywhere All At Once. Angela Basset took home the title for her stellar performance in Wakanda Forever. BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 10: (L-R) Jamie Lee Curtis and Barry Keoghan attend the 80th Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton on January 10, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images) Getty Images The Banshees of Inisheerin scooped up a whopping eight nods in total at last nights Golden Globes Awards. The wins seized up by the film are thought to bode well for their Academy Award hopes. Banshees of Inisherin star Colin Farrell has been installed as one of the favourites to win an Oscar at the showpiece event on March 12. The Castleknock actor has been receiving huge praise for his brilliant stint as Padraic Suilleabhain in Martin McDonaghs black comedy. Kiwi developed artificial intelligence will soon be used to screen thousands of patients in the early stages of melanoma, after new research found the tech can diagnose almost as accurately as a doctor. Experts say the new AI algorithm developed by melanoma diagnostic service MoleMap could be used to help address a chronic shortage of dermatologists and skin cancer doctors practicing in New Zealand and other parts of the world. Skin cancer, including non-melanoma and the more deadly melanoma, is New Zealands most common cancer with an estimated 90,000 non-melanoma skin lesions diagnosed each year. New Zealand and Australia have the worlds highest rates of melanoma with 4,000 new cases and over 350 Kiwis dying from this form of cancer every year. The new Skin cancer Management with ARTificial Intelligence technology, which has been shown to have an accuracy rate of over 90 per cent, works by comparing benign skin lesions with known cases of malignant melanoma. The algorithm behind the AI has been developed in a partnership between MoleMap and cancer researchers at Melbournes Monash University. In a study of more than 700 lesions and 214 patients in dermatology clinics in Victoria, which has been accepted for publication in Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, the melanoma detection rate of the AI (sensitivity to disease) was measured against the real-world diagnosis of doctors. The results of the trials found the system was capable of identifying melanoma in more than nine out of 10 cases. MoleMap medical director Dr Franz Strydom says it is hoped the new AI will help address the chronic shortage of skin specialists in the country. He says in New Zealand there is around one dermatologist for every 83,000 residents, around half the number of specialists in Australia. The new AI maps a patients suspicious lesions with the algorithm determining whether it is malignant or benign. While a doctor might see numerous lesions or melanomas over the course of their career, the computer also learns this information, but can formulate a diagnosis much faster, he says. Dr Strydom says melanoma can be cured in 98 per cent of cases if diagnosed early. If it is not identified until a later stage then melanoma becomes more difficult and expensive to treat with a greater chance of treatment failure. Melanoma however is unique to other forms of cancer as it can often be identified and tracked on the surface of the skin - this gives us time to remove it before it spreads to other parts of the body. We are encouraged by the study results with evidence suggesting the technology can generate a level of accuracy close to that of a doctors trained eye. There is also the potential for the AI to be used as a triage tool. This means New Zealand patients will have timely access to a diagnosis and we know the earlier the intervention the better the outcome for melanoma patients. The technology is currently being rolled across MoleMap clinics around New Zealand and we can see the potential applications for it to aid patients in rural areas where access to skin specialists is limited. Molemap has the worlds largest database of skin lesions, and the new AI could also be employed at a global level, he says. Dr Strydom says the new tech will be a complementary tool in the diagnosis of melanoma rather than an alternative to a healthcare professional. He says the national cost of treating skin cancer is set to reach $295 million within three years and the AI trial is the first step in developing improved early detection technologies for doctors in the health care sector. MoleMap CEO Michelle Aquilina says the new technology is expected to be introduced to all New Zealand clinics before the end of summer. Every year MoleMap screens over 300,000 thousand patients around New Zealand and Australia. Artificial intelligence is promising tool in the fight against melanoma and may help to fast-track early diagnosis for those at risk, she says. MoleMap CEO Michelle Aquilina. The price of fruit and vegetables could be set to spike because of the damage done to crops by Cyclone Hale. Severe weather has been affecting Northland, Bay of Plenty, Coromandel, Gisborne, Hawke's Bay and Wairarapa since Monday, as the cyclone reached New Zealand. Farmers were advised by Civil Defence to move stock to shelter and higher ground, but crop farmers had fewer options. Federated Farmers president for Gisborne and Wairoa, Toby Williams, says heavy rain could damage fruit trees, grapes and maize. "The fruit will just explode and berry growers have been severely affected." He says with less produce available, customers could be paying more at the checkout. "At a time when food prices are already high, the country doesn't need something like this." Meat production should be unaffected, Williams said, but the region's locally grown fruit and vegetables will be limited. Northland president for Federated Farmers Colin Hannah agrees. "The maize crops up here, because of the earlier floods we've had, a lot of them have had to be planted two or three times, so the yield is going to be down substantially. "It all takes time to cultivate, it all takes time to get the ground ready, it takes time to sow the seed - and the seed stock doesn't come cheap either." There is only one slight silver lining: "At least the drought is now at least another 30 days or more away." -Kate Green/RNZ. OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of North Macedonia Bujar Osmani said that he is carefully following the situation around the Lachin corridor and announced that he will hold visits to Armenia and Azerbaijan. January 11, 2023, 09:10 OSCE Chairman-in-Office carefully following Lachin corridor situation, announces visits to Armenia and Azerbaijan STEPANAKERT, JANUARY 11, ARTSAKHPRESS: The OSCE Chairman-in-Office held two separate telephone conversations with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, Ararat Mirzoyan, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Jeyhun Bayramov, the OSCE said in a press release. The conversations with the ministers focused on the situation in the South Caucasus region, with a particular emphasis on the Lachin corridor. Minister Osmani emphasized that he is carefully following the situation around the Lachin corridor. He expressed his concerns about its effect on the daily lives of the civilian population. He called for all sides to ease tensions and engage in constructive and productive dialogue. Chairman Osmani assessed that measures for building trust and normalizing relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, as part of the OSCE toolkit, are key elements to overcome ongoing challenges that affect people on the ground. In this context, OSCE Chairman-in-Office Osmani reiterated his readiness for personal engagement to help defuse tensions, and contribute to efforts towards sustainable peace. He also announced that he will hold subsequent separate visits to Armenia and Azerbaijan, the OSCE said. Current Print Subscribers will be prompted to either login to their current site user account or to create a new one. A confirmation email will be sent when a new user account is created, which must be confirmed within three days in order to provide uninterrupted online access through your Print Subscription. Once the email address is confirmed please provide your Account Number to activate your Print Subscription Service. President of the Artsakh Republic Arayik Harutyunyan signed a number of decrees. January 11, 2023, 09:20 President Harutyunyan signed decrees and approved the Governments decision STEPANAKERT, JANUARY 11, ARTSAKHPRESS: Pursuant to the decrees, Srbuhi Arzumanyan was dismissed from the post of First Deputy Head of the Artsakh Republic Presidents Office and was appointed Minister of Justice of the Artsakh Republic. Aram Sargsyan was appointed Minister of Urban Development of the Artsakh Republic. David Babayan was dismissed from the post of interim Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Artsakh Republic. Sergey Ghazaryan was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Artsakh Republic, formerly being dismissed from the position of permanent representative of the Artsakh Republic in the Republic of Armenia. Armen Mangasaryan was appointed Minister of Social Development and Migration of the Artsakh Republic. On the same day, the President approved the Government's decision to dismiss Armen Mangasaryan from the position of Chairman of the Housing Affairs Committee of the Artsakh Republic. The responsibilities of the chairperson of the Housing Affairs Committee of the Artsakh Republic have been temporarily assigned to the Deputy Chairperson of the Committee Inna Ishkhanyan. The Taos News delivered to your Taos County address every week for a full year! We offer our lowest mail rates to zip codes in the county. Click Here to See if you Qualify. Plan includes unlimited website access and e-edition print replica online. Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. You may cancel at anytime. The Lieutenant of the Grand Master Fra John Dunlap on Tuesday held the Audience of the beginning of the year with the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Sovereign Order of Malta, as news.am informs, the Facebook page of the Embassy of Armenia to the Holy See informed. January 11, 2023, 10:59 Head of Order of Malta: We should do our best to safeguard freedom, security of movement between Armenia, Artsakh STEPANAKERT, JANUARY 11, ARTSAKHPRESS: In his address, Dunlap noted as follows, in particular: "We are deeply concerned also about the humanitarian situation in Nagorno Karabakh and should do our best to safeguard freedom and security of movement between Armenia and the Nagorno Karabakh. The Order of Malta encourages Armenia and Azerbaijan to work for a peaceful solution of their disputes. Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. While watching the live stream of last weeks formal announcement of the Matter smart home initiative, I couldnt resist recalling Samuel Beckets classic existentialist play, Waiting for Godot, where two characters participate in several discussions and encounters while awaiting Godot, a proxy for God, who never arrives. After all, the Matter initiative was made public in December 2019, almost three years ago, by the Connectivity Standards Alliance (formerly Project Connected Home Over IP). Matter is a royalty-free home automation connectivity standard that simply requires manufacturers to fund certification costs. Despite several delays over the past three years, Matter has attracted support from several smart home heavyweights, including Amazon, Google, Comcast, Apple, and the Zigbee Alliance. Matters mission is indisputably critical to the future growth of the smart home as it seeks to reduce the well-known fragmentation across multiple vendors and attain interoperability among smart home devices and internet of things (IoT) platforms from dissimilar manufacturers. In theory, Matter certification would allow consumers and businesses never to worry about a smart home device from Amazon, Apple, or Google (just to list the big hitters) working with each other. At least, thats the promise. Matter Pulls Back the Curtain Last week in Amsterdam, the CSA and the group developing Matter declared it had formally released version 1.0 and that scores of smart home products several hundred, in fact were certified. The implication is that the market should see products with the Matter logo on shelves soon, though probably after the holidays. The launch event featured an impressively broad spectrum of smart home solutions, ranging from motion blinds, occupancy sensors, door locks, smart plugs, lighting, and gateways. The CSA claims that 190 products have either received formal certification or waiting for testing and certification. What This All Means Refreshingly, Godot may be finally showing up on the smart home stage. The delays in actual Matter-certified solutions coming to market have not slowed down industry support and momentum for the initiative. If anything, multiple leaders in the smart home space continue doubling their support for Matter. For example, Amazon used the launch event to announce it will have 17 different Echo devices, plugs, switches, and bulbs (albeit with Android support) working with Matter in December. In fact, some smart home devices have already been released or are being updated with Matter accreditation. One of the promises of Matter, beyond the interoperability benefits, is that it should enable entirely new use cases and experiences not previously contemplated. Several prominent ingredient companies, including Infineon Technologies and Silicon Labs, are in the process of integrating Matter support into their chips. This fact should allow device manufacturers to bring new iterations of Matter-compliant devices faster to market. Sample Matter-certified smart home devices | Image Credit: Connectivity Standards Alliance Whats more, companies like Schneider Electric which deliver smart home energy management systems to consumers and businesses, believe that Matter devices will ultimately facilitate lower energy bills via better energy monitoring, control, and optimization. Finally, Matter certification has wisely contemplated security and privacy requirements in its spec. While ease of use and interoperability underscore the mission of the Matter spec, security attributes should allow for a more robust protection perimeter for bad actors to hack into consumer and business networks via IoT solutions. Analyst Take Its hard denying the industry momentum behind the Matter initiative. Plentiful money, resources, and intellectual capital are undeniable tailwinds that raise the odds of Matters success. Still, tech standards have a notorious history, and the noted Matter delays have created some tangible skepticism. However, despite the industry in-fighting that occasionally plagues these standards bodies, Matter has been remarkably drama-free. The initiative has appeared to only grow in overall industry support, and thats a good thing. But getting Matter-certified devices into the market is only the first challenge that the CSA and its consortium members must confront. Early reviews of Matters functionality and usefulness in prominent devices will be on center stage over the coming months, and the pundits will be watching. Does the interoperability work as advertised? Will the baseline functionality of Matter-certified devices be sufficient enough that a user doesnt have to use the manufacturers native app to enable specific differentiated tasks? By and large, smart home manufacturers differentiate their products. All smart door locks, for example, are not equal. From a manufacturers perspective, Matter might have a commoditization impact, diluting the manufacturers ability to market the distinct attributes of their offerings. Finally, theres also the recent appearance of the Home Connectivity Alliance (HCA), yet another standards entity focused on the interoperability of smart appliances like refrigerators, dishwashers, washers, and dryers. The HCA appears to have a complimentary objective compared to Matter, but with members that include LG, Samsung, Haier, and Resideo, lets not dismiss the potential for consumer confusion. Regardless, hope springs eternal that after New Years Day, the market will finally see the goods and whether the wait was worth it. I certainly hope so, as the smart home space needs it so mainstream users without strong technology skills can take advantage of its potential. Meanwhile, Ill have some hot chocolate waiting for Godot when he shows up. Qualcomm on Wednesday announced a collaboration with Microsoft to accelerate next-generation cloud services on the 10nm Qualcomm Centriq 2400 ARM-based platform. The collaboration will span multiple future generations of hardware, software and systems. The companies have been working for several years on ARM-based server enablement. They have been optimizing a version of Windows Server for ARM running on the Centriq 2400, which Microsoft will use in its data center. Possible Synergies Qualcomm made the announcement at the Open Compute Project Summit in Santa Clara, California, where it conducted the first public demonstration of Windows Server on the Centriq 2400. Qualcomm also submitted a server spec the Qualcomm Centriq 2400 Open Compute Motherboard to the OCP. The spec, based on the latest version of Microsofts Project Olympus, pairs the Centriq 2400 with the most advanced interfaces for memory, network and peripherals, and lets devs design ARM-based servers for the most common cloud compute workloads. The motherboard fits into a standard 1U rack server system. It can be paired with compute accelerators, multihost network interface controllers, and leading-edge storage technologies to optimize it for specific workloads. Microsofts looking for more efficient compute architecture for Azure, and Qualcomm wants a slice of the [Infrastructure as a Service] business, said Holger Mueller, a principal analyst at Constellation Research. When two vendors see synergies, good things can happen, but its too early to tell how well this spec will do, he told TechNewsWorld. Why the ARM Move? Microsoft has been running evaluations of ARM servers side by side with its Intel-based production workloads, noted Microsoft Distinguished Engineer Leendert van Doom. ARMs high Instruction Per Cycle counts, high core and thread counts, the connectivity options, and the integration that we see across the ARM ecosystem [are] very exciting. Intel has about 98 percent of the server market today, and this is a choke hold on innovation, remarked Kevin Krewell, a principal analyst at Tirias Research. The industry needs competition, or Intel will use the industry as its piggy bank to fund other projects, he told TechNewsWorld. Cavium, which collaborated with server supplier Inventec, also developed an OCP-based motherboard compatible with Project Olympus and presented a demo with Windows Server for ARM on its server processor SoCs at OPC. All About the Cloud Microsoft is looking for the cheapest solution for the cloud, suggested Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group, and its working to make sure all its eggs arent in one basket. The companys Azure cloud business is going gangbusters, based on its Q2 results. Microsoft considered where ARM servers would be applicable and provide the most value, van Doorn pointed out. Those areas include search and indexing, storage, databases, big data and machine learning. Cloud systems have to be able to scale from the very large to very small almost instantly, so they need dense, high-core technology which is very similar to what AMD and ARM have been working on, Enderle told TechNewsWorld. Microsoft has been looking at optimization of servers, and this goes to its cloud first strategy, because it wants to have the best cloud on the planet, he added. In addition to Qualcomm, Microsoft is working with AMD, Intel, Cavium, Nvidia and others on the Olympus project. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov urgently called Washington and had a telephonic conversation with Karen Donfried, US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs. January 11, 2023, 13:14 Azerbaijan FM urgently calls Washington, complains about Armenia STEPANAKERT, JANUARY 11, ARTSAKHPRESS: Bayramov and Donfried discussed the cooperation agenda between the two countries and the situation in the region, Azerbaijani media reported, citing the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan. Then Bayramov complained about Armenia, stating that "despite a number of constructive initiatives of the Azerbaijani side aimed at Armenian-Azerbaijani relations in the post-conflict period, the process was constantly inhibited by various provocations by Armenia." Donfried's response is not mentioned in the press release. TechSpot is about to celebrate its 25th anniversary. TechSpot means tech analysis and advice you can trust What just happened? Judgment day for Windows 7 and 8 has finally arrived. While we've known this was coming for a while, Microsoft had a final surprise for Windows 7 users: anyone still needing critical security updates for these operating systems can rely on 0patch for another two years. Microsoft delivered the final updates for Windows 7 and Windows 8 through extended security update (ESU) this week, closing the book on the aging operating systems. The China Software Development Network blog discovered that the update adds UEFI secure boot to Windows 7, but it appears to be a flawed implementation. Secure boot debuted in Windows 8, and while it's a pleasant surprise to see Microsoft extend the feature to Windows 7, it doesn't seem to work correctly for everyone. The patch didn't update the VGA.sys and VGApnp.sys display drivers, leaving some users stuck at the Windows startup logo when they tried to enable secure boot. Since pure UEFI Class 3 systems don't include Compatibility Support Module or Legacy Mode, they'll need a workaround. The update also fixes issues involving the msds-SupportedEncryptionTypes attribute and apps using Microsoft Open Database Connectivity SQL Server Driver (sqlsrv32.dll). However, it leaves behind a couple of known unresolved issues. The patch might show a warning indicating failure to update in Windows 7, and in Windows 8 it could cause domain join operations to fail. Did you know Microsoft has SECRETLY pushed a NEW update (KB5017361) that adds in SECURE BOOT support for Windows 7? But there's a catch... 1 Pure UEFI Class 3 systems still require workaround due to basic VGA driver. 2 It's an ESU Update. Source: https://t.co/BpDqiPsDUM pic.twitter.com/7yQpIh0hf7 --- Bob Pony (@TheBobPony) January 9, 2023 Microsoft ended mainstream support for Windows 7 in 2015 and Windows 8 in 2018, and Windows 7 extended support lasted until 2020. However, the company maintained an expensive ESU option to deliver critical security updates for the many systems that still used Windows 7 at the time. Windows 7 ESU and Windows 8 extended support ended this week. Patches on both operating systems for Chrome and Microsoft Edge will also cease. About 11 percent of Windows systems worldwide still use Windows 7, slightly less than the 16 percent running Microsoft's latest OS - Windows 11. Until January 2025, the last remaining option for those who still want important Windows 7 updates will be 0patch micropatching. The group will also continue support for Microsoft Edge on Windows Server 2008 and Server 2012 during that period. Windows 7, launched in 2009, was very popular for its relative stability. Windows 8, however, drew much criticism for its major changes to the system interface when it was released in 2012. Most Windows users today are on Windows 10, while Windows 11 struggles to pick up steam. Highly anticipated: Samsung has just announced that it will be hosting the next Galaxy Unpacked event on February 1 in San Francisco, making it its first in-person event in three years. The company didn't mention which products it plans to unveil, but the Galaxy S23 series is all but certain to make an appearance, judging by the past few years. Similar to last year, Samsung's non-foldable flagship lineup will consist of three models. These should all come equipped with Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC, even in regions that previously only got Exynos variants, such as Europe. Storage options will reportedly start at 256GB for the entire series, twice that of their predecessors. The camera department is also bound to get an upgrade, with Samsung's latest teasers advertising improved low-light shots and astrophotography modes. Recent rumors indicate that the Galaxy S23 Ultra will feature a new primary camera sensor with a 200-megapixel resolution. Aside from providing additional detail in daytime shots, the sensor will also be able to combine the light from as many as 16 pixels into one, drastically improving low-light photography. According to past leaks, the vanilla Galaxy S23 will have a 3,900mAh battery (up from 3,700mAh on its predecessor), while the larger Galaxy S23+ will come with a 4,700mAh battery with 45W charging support. Unfortunately, the Ultra variant will be stuck with 5,000mAh for yet another year, although efficiency improvements will hopefully result in slightly better battery life. Samsung will also reveal the new Galaxy Book 3 lineup at the Unpacked event. These will likely come in both traditional and 2-in-1 variants and will pack Intel's latest 13th-gen mobile processors unveiled last week at CES. The Galaxy Unpacked event starts on February 1 at 10 am PT / 1 pm ET and will be live-streamed to the company's YouTube channel. Users can already place a reservation on the upcoming devices. If you follow up that reservation with a preorder, Samsung is offering up to $100 in credit on its web store. TechSpot is about to celebrate its 25th anniversary. TechSpot means tech analysis and advice you can trust Why it matters: "Patch Tuesday" is the unofficial term used by Microsoft for the company's monthly release of bugfixes for its software products. Like every other month since October 2003, Microsoft fixed a lot of flaws in January 2023 that could bring chaos and malware to Windows. After a lighter release in December 2022, Patch Tuesday for January 2023 is going back to fixing a huge amount of security flaws in Microsoft software. The new updates are the last ones designed to support Windows 7 and Windows 8 next to Windows 10 and Windows 11, and they provide fixes for 98 total vulnerabilities including a potentially dangerous zero-day flaw. Besides Windows, the January 2023 Patch Tuesday list of affected software, features and roles include the .NET Core platform, Azure, Microsoft Office, Exchange, Visual Studio Code, and more. Windows components in need of fixes include BitLocker, the OS boot manager, Cryptographic Services, the kernel, Print Spooler Components and much, much more. Among the 98 fixed vulnerabilities, eleven were classified as "Critical": Microsoft regards them as the most dangerous bugs out there, as they could be exploited to allow remote code execution, bypass security features, and elevate user privileges up to SYSTEM levels. Considering the type of flaws and the effects they could have on the system, Microsoft has classified the vulnerabilities as follows: 39 Elevation of Privilege vulnerabilities, 4 Security Feature Bypass vulnerabilities, 33 Remote Code Execution vulnerabilities, 10 Information Disclosure vulnerabilities, 10 Denial of Service vulnerabilities, and 2 Spoofing vulnerabilities. A complete list of all solved bugs and related advisories has been published by Bleeping Computer and is available here. The only zero-day flaw of the month, which was discovered by Avast researchers and was already being abused by hackers and cyber-criminals "in the wild," is the Windows Advanced Local Procedure Call (ALPC) Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability. Also known as CVE-2023-21674, the flaw could lead to a browser sandbox escape. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain SYSTEM access privileges, Microsoft explains. Another flaw in Windows SMB (CVE-2023-21549) was publicly disclosed but not exploited yet. As usual, Windows Security Updates for January 2023 are already being distributed through the official Windows Update service, update management systems such as WSUS, and as direct downloads from the Microsoft Update Catalog. Other companies releasing their security updates in sync with Microsoft's Patch Tuesday include Adobe, Cisco, Citrix, Fortinet, Intel, Sap, and Synology. If you know how to boost an Instagram post, then you will have an advantage over other users or competitors. (Photo : JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images) An Instagram employee takes a video using Instagram's new video function at Facebook's corporate headquarters during a media event in Menlo Park, California on June 20, 2013. AFP Photo /Josh EDELSON (Photo by Josh Edelson / AFP) For those who are trying to start an online business or just want to become a social media influencer, increasing the presence of your IG posts is a must. Of course, boosting your IG content comes at a price. If you want to promote your Instagram posts, then you need to pay so that your content will appear in the feeds of users; even those who don't follow you. How to Boost an Instagram Post? Meta's official website stated that the best way you can boost your Instagram posts is to upgrade your account to a business account. (Photo : KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images) A woman browses the Instagram account of social media influencer Manar Samy, who was sentenced to three years over online videos that were deemed as "inciting debauchery, immorality and stirring up instincts", in Egypt's capital Cairo on July 29, 2020. - Samy was arrested earlier in July on charges of through her online videos. Also Read: Instagram's Twitter-Like Feature, Notes, Rolls Out to More Users: Here's How it Works After that, you can now take advantage of Instagram's "boost an Instagram post" feature. But, you need to remember that this functionality is only available on IG mobile application. If you are good with it, here are the steps you need to follow to boost your IG content: First, visit your profile and click the Ad tools. After that, choose a post you want to boost; select if you are using an Android or iOS smartphone. Then, fill in the details of your ad by settings, such as Audience, Goal, Duration, and Budget. Once you are done, you can now click the "Boost post" button. Other Ways to Boost Instagram Posts Aside from paying Meta's boost service, Hoot Suite provided other methods on how to enhance your IG post's appearance without spending money. These include the following: Try using product tags. This will attract more users to visit your profile to learn product details. Before promoting a post, ensure that the content you will boost has the best image and video quality; has the most comments, shares, and likes. Narrowing down your audiences. If you have a target audience, then you can focus on creating content that will specifically attract these individuals. In other news, a new Instagram transparency tool was recently rolled out to help creators know if their content is hidden or shadow-banned. We aslo reported that the Instagram Web redesign brings a more user-friendly interface. For more news updates about Instagram and other social media platforms, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes. Related Article: Instagram Recap 2022: Here's How To Make Your End of Year Reel Template 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. After several leaks and rumors, Samsung finally confirmed the date for its first in-person event in three years. Galaxy Unpacked is set to take place on February 1st at the Masonic Auditorium in San Francisco. The event will also stream on Samsung's official YouTube channel and website. (Photo : Kelly Sullivan/Getty Images for Samsung Electronics America) SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 11: Samsung Head of US Mobile Product Management Drew Blackard speaks onstage at Samsung's Galaxy UNPACKED at The Palace of Fine Arts on February 11, 2020 in San Francisco, California. Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2023 Just like its competitors, Samsung has been announcing its upcoming flagship devices through a virtual presentation since 2021. After three years, the company confirms that it will bring back Galaxy Unpacked as an in-person event. Although no confirmations were released by Samsung on what will be announced at the said event, Engadget reported that the Galaxy S23 series is expected to launch. They could also announce new Galaxy Book laptops. Aside from welcoming back the people at the event, pre-order reservation incentives are also set to come back. Through the Samsung Reserve program, customers will get a $50 Samsung store credit and pre-order one device or $100 for two devices. Users can sign up on Samsung's website or Shop Samsung App to lock in discounts and future purchases from January 10 to February 1. The event will be held at the Masonic Auditorium in San Francisco on February 1st this year. Although this will be an in-person event, Samsung will also live stream Galaxy Unpacked through their official website and YouTube channel. With Unpacked, anything can happen, especially since no confirmations were released prior to the launch date. Samsung could potentially release the Galaxy Tab S9 series or new updates for the Galaxy Bud range. This is why the event is anticipated every year. Leaked Marketing Materials Gizmodo reported that promotional and marketing materials for the said event have leaked before the official announcement from Samsung. The teaser features an animation of the phrase "Made for Moonlight," with three phone camera lenses. Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra official warm-up video is here! pic.twitter.com/2LHs3u3cP6 Ice universe (@UniverseIce) January 10, 2023 Samsung also accidentally leaked the dates for its Galaxy Unpacked three days ago on its Colombian website. XDA-Developers reported that this was already seen by a lot of people before it was taken down. Also Read: Samsung Galaxy S23 Release is Reportedly Delayed: What's the Problem? Galaxy S23 Series Samsung has released its flagship devices every year through this event. For this year, this could still be the scenario with them releasing the usual three-device strategy, such as Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23+, and Galaxy S23 Ultra. As per Digital Trends, the biggest upgrades from these devices that fans and customers are expecting is the adaptation of individual cutouts for its rear cameras, instead of putting the sensors in a separate housing on the back of the device. The three devices are also expected to have Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, AMOLED displays with 120 HZ refresh rates for all models, 1,750 nits of brightness, and adding satellite connectivity. Related Article: Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Selfie Camera Might Disappoint: A Potential Downgrade? 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Astronomers have discovered a planet the size of Earth named TOI 700 e that is circling within the habitable zone of its star, or the range of distances where liquid water might exist on a planet's surface. This planet was discovered using data from NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). The planet likely consists of rocks and is 95% the size of Earth, as per NASA's report. The TOI 700 b, c, and d planets were the first three planets in this system to be found by astronomers. The habitable zone is where planet d also revolves. However, it took researchers another year of TESS observations to find TOI 700 e. "This is one of only a few systems with multiple, small, habitable-zone planets that we know of," Emily Gilbert, leader of the study and a postdoctoral fellow at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said in a statement. Dwarf Star NASA said that the tiny, cool M dwarf star TOI 700 can be found in the southern constellation Dorado at a distance of about 100 light-years. Gilbert and others reported the finding of three planets in 2020, including the Earth-sized, habitable-zone planet d, which is in a 37-day orbit. TOI 700 b, the innermost planet, orbits the star every ten days and is nearly 90% the size of Earth. The orbit of TOI 700 c, which is more than 2.5 times larger than Earth, lasts 16 days. NASA noted that these planets are likely to be tidally locked, suggesting that they rotate just once per circle so that one side always faces the star. TESS observes broad areas of the sky, known as sectors, for around 27 days at a time. These prolonged gazes enable the satellite to monitor variations in stellar brightness brought on by an event known as a transit, in which a planet appears to pass in front of its star. This approach allowed the mission to observe the southern sky beginning in 2018 before moving on to the northern sky. It returned to the southern sky in 2020 to conduct additional observations. The team's initial estimates of the sizes of the planets were improved by around 10% thanks to the additional year of data. Read Also: NASA's James Webb Space Telescope May Have Found 'Green Peas' in the Early Universe Optimistic Habitable Zone Planet e is situated between planets c and d in the so-called optimistic habitable zone since TOI 700 spends 28 days orbiting its star. The optimistic habitable zone, according to scientists, is the range of distances from a star where liquid surface water might have existed on a planet. The conservative habitable zone, the region where scientists believe liquid water might last for the majority of the planet's lifespan, includes this region as well as both sides of it. TOI 700 d orbits in this region. NASA explains that planetary scientists can learn more about the past of our solar system by locating other systems in this region that have Earth-sized planets. According to Gilbert, further research into the TOI 700 system using both ground- and space-based observatories is ongoing and could provide new information about this unusual system. Related Article: [WATCH] NASA Releases a 1-Hour Time-Lapse of the Sun in 133 Days 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. ABL Space Systems was set to introduce its new powerful satellite launcher on Tuesday, Jan. 10. However, things did not go as planned. The space company's RS1 rocket was launched for its first orbital mission at the Pacific Spaceport Complex on Alaska's Kodiak, as per Space.com's report. (Photo : Keegan Barber/NASA via Getty Images) LOMPOC, CA - DECEMBER 16: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches with the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) spacecraft onboard, on December 16, 2022, from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base in Lompoc, California. "After liftoff, RS1 experienced an anomaly and shut down prematurely. The team is working through our anomaly response procedures in coordination with PSCA (Pacific Spaceport Complex-Alaska ) and the FAA ( Federal Aviation Administration)," ABL wrote in a tweet. "This is not the outcome we were hoping for today, but one that we prepared for. We'll revert with additional information when available. Thanks to all for the support." According to ABL representatives, the two-stage rocket failed to successfully launch a pair of CubeSats into low Earth orbit (LEO) during its test flight. All About ABL ABL, a California-based firm launched in 2017, hopes to make a significant impact on the smallsat launch market with the RS1 and the ground system it is connected to, which the business refers to as GSO. Nine E2 engines from ABL are used in the first stage of the 88-foot-tall (27-meter) RS1, and one E2 is used in the second stage. The user's manual from ABL states that the disposable rocket can launch up to 2,975 pounds (1,350 kilograms) of cargo into low-Earth orbit. The business now charges $12 million for each RS1 liftoff. Comparatively, Rocket Lab costs roughly $7.5 million for a mission called the Electron that can send about 660 pounds (300 kg) into low-Earth orbit. ABL believes that vertical integration and simplicity of design are essential to achieving its goals and it claims that both the RS1 and GSO are easily deployable. Space.com reports that the ground system, for instance, may be installed anywhere in the world with a flat pad and fits into typical shipping containers. After liftoff, RS1 experienced an anomaly and shut down prematurely. The team is working through our anomaly response procedures in coordination with PSCA and the FAA. ABL (@ablspacesystems) January 10, 2023 Read Also: [LOOK] China Reveals Plans for Manned Moon Mission with Next-Generation Crewed Spacecraft and Lunar Lander Another Failed Launch: Virgin Orbit On Monday, Jan. 9, Virgin Orbit also failed to launch its "Start Me Up" mission from Spaceport Cornwell. The company reported an anomaly that prevented them from reaching orbit, which ultimately destroyed the rocket and the nine small satellites that it was carrying. The project was a byproduct of a collaboration between the UK Space Agency, Virgin Orbit, Cornwall Council, and the Royal Air Force. However, UK Business Secretary Grant Shapps said that the event was still a significant moment for the country even though the mission failed to reach orbit. Shapps expressed optimism that Virgin Orbit will eventually "pick themselves up." The space company acquired the CAA's approval for the launch. It had originally planned to launch in Dec. 2022, but it was postponed days later because of additional technical work required from the UK's Civil Aviation Authority. Related Article: [LOOK] SpaceX Launches 60th Falcon 9 Rocket Mission of 2022, Sending 54 Gen2 Starlink Satellites into Orbit 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The infamous Robinhood stocks of Sam Bankman-Fried and Gary Wang were found and taken by the United States Department of Justice, after finally tracking it down to a United Kingdom-based holding company. The FTX lawsuit's latest development is this massive $455 million value Robinhood stocks which both executives purchased allegedly with investor money. More than 55 million worth of Robinhood stocks are under the DOJ's custody and all there is to Bankman-Fried and Wang's name remain under investigation. FTX Founders' Robinhood Stocks Were Taken by Feds (Photo : Alex Wong/Getty Images) WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 08: CEO of FTX Sam Bankman-Fried testifies during a hearing before the House Financial Services Committee at Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill December 8, 2021 in Washington, DC. The committee held a hearing on "Digital Assets and the Future of Finance: Understanding the Challenges and Benefits of Financial Innovation in the United States." According to a recent court document on the FTX case, DOJ recently seized the Robinhood stocks owned by executives Sam Bankman-Fried and Gary Wang. It was retrieved from a holdings company based in the UK and is a key factor in this ongoing case, and Bankman-Fried's fight in the upcoming trial. Coin Desk reported that these stocks are crucial to SBF, as he will use these to pay for his legal team and the entire defense of the team. Allegedly, these are also the same Robinhood stocks purchased by SBF and Wang using money borrowed from the crypto trading firm, Alameda Research. Read Also: FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried Borrowed $546 Million From Alameda to Purchase Robinhood Stocks - Court Documents FTX Lawsuit's Ongoing Probe In the recent retrieval of the stocks, Justice valued it at the Friday market price of Robinhood which is at $8.25 per share. The 55 million worth of stocks is a whopping $455 million which Bankman-Fried and Wang own, also allegedly hidden by the executives, hence the holding company from the United Kingdom. There was no further information shared by the DOJ and Robinhood refused to comment on this development. FTX's Downfall and Issues The most surprising turn of events over the past weeks was FTX's bankruptcy which changed a lot for the company, especially when it was unable to pay its investors and traders on the platform. During this time, some massive issues and controversies tied its co-founder and former CEO's name, with claims from other executives and the company regarding suspicious activities. FTX previously said that during this time, they observed SBF's actions, and there was a case where the co-founder transferred digital assets to the Bahamas for his gain. There were more allegations from his company against him, and it all led down to this lawsuit against the company, where more was revealed and made known to the public. SBF plead "not guilty" on the preliminary plea hearing of the case, and it is now bound to go on trial by later this year to determine who is saying the truth. The case against FTX's executives and the company will need to bring more of the unknown transactions and holdings to the public eye soon, with the Robinhood stocks marking the beginning of it. Related Article: FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried Pleads Not Guilty to Fraud Charges 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Economic headwinds have hammered global chip demand for the third consecutive month. Recent industry data shows that it resulted in a 21.2% year-over-year decline in China's semiconductor sales to $13.4 billion in November 2022, South China Morning Post (SCMP) reports. Decline on China Chip Sales Based on the report by the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), a Washington-based trade body that represents 99% of the US chip industry, China's loss was the largest percentage reduction among the world's main markets for integrated circuits (ICs). SIA data also indicated that this was the steepest annual drop in sales for China since the country's monthly sales in 2022 began to fall in July. With 2021 sales of $192.5 billion, China's semiconductor industry surpassed all others. Last November, global sales of chips were $45.48 billion, down 9.2% from $50.09 billion in the same month of 2021. As of September last year, worldwide demand had already gone down, with annual sales down 3% to $47 billion. SIA's CEO, John Neuffer, cited market cyclicality and macroeconomic challenges for the sales decline of semiconductors worldwide in November 2022. According to him, sales in China dropped considerably on a year-on-year basis, while sales in the Americas were up from November of the previous year. Related Story: Chip War: China Plans to Turn Shenzhen Into a Semiconductor and Electronics Powerhouse The Downward Trend Recent SIA chip sales figures confirm that manufacturing bottlenecks, an intensifying tech war with the US, and economic pressures negatively impact China's demand for semiconductors. According to statistics from China's customs authorities, the 11 months ending on Nov. 30 of last year saw the biggest losses in chip imports in the country's history. A similar downward trend can be seen in China's IC exports, which dropped 11.7% year-on-year to 250.5 billion units in the same time frame. Even though China's annual Singles' Day shopping celebration usually causes November to be the busiest month for electronics sales, last year was an exception due to the lackluster demand. In a study by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, an academic research agency under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, smartphone sales dropped 36% year on year to 22.2 million units last November. The biggest and most sophisticated contract chip producer in mainland China, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC), forecasted last November that weak demand for consumer electronics would hurt the company's prospects in the first half of this year. US-China Chip War The US government's export limitations implemented last year have further increased the amount of stress placed on China's semiconductor business. Concerned that Beijing was utilizing commercial technology to modernize its military, Washington put 36 Chinese companies on its trade blacklist last month, including flash memory chip producer Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. This follows the previous move by the Biden administration in October 2022, which included new measures to limit China's access to cutting-edge semiconductors. Related Story: Japan to Reinforce Coordination with US in Chip Ban Against China 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Multiple reports tell us that regulators halted all flights in the United States on Wednesday, Jan. 11, due to a failure in the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Notice to Air Missions (Notam) system, which is a key pilot notification system. The Notam system is crucial for flight operations as it conveys urgent advisory information to airlines in real time for flight planning. System Failure Leads to Delayed Flights As a result of the system failure, all airlines were ordered to delay departures until 9:00 a.m. ET time to allow the FAA to "validate the integrity of flight and safety information," according to an FAA tweet. Bloomberg reports that this disruption caused numerous delays for passengers flying domestically, with United Airlines Holdings Inc. announcing that it would temporarily ground flights to all destinations. As of 7:22 a.m., New York time, there were 1,230 delays for US flights, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware, a figure that is likely to rise as the day unfolds. US airline association, Airlines for America, has been notified of the disruptions and is working with the FAA to resolve the issues. According to NewsNationNow, the FAA is making progress in restoring its NOTAM system, and departures at Newark Liberty International Airport and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport have resumed due to air traffic congestion in those areas. All other airport departures are expected to continue at 9:00 a.m. ET. White House Notified White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre announced on Twitter that President Biden had been briefed by the Secretary of Transportation on the FAA system outage that occurred earlier on Wednesday. The Press Secretary assured that there is currently no evidence of a cyberattack. Still, the President has directed the Department of Transportation to investigate the outage thoroughly. The FAA will reportedly provide regular updates on the situation. The outage caused the suspension of all flights in the US and caused severe delays. Reports tell us that the cause of the nationwide FAA system outage that led to the halting of all flights in the United States earlier today is still undetermined. Read Also: SpaceX and Nasa Are Planning a Mid-February Launch, Bringing the Crew-6 to ISS Despite this, the FAA and President Biden have assured the public that all flights currently in the sky are safe to land, with the FAA stating that the Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system is checked by pilots before they fly. The FAA has announced that they are investigating the cause of the outage and will provide updates. American Airlines and Delta Airlines also issued statements, noting that they are closely monitoring the situation and working with the FAA to minimize disruption to their operations and customers. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is experiencing a nationwide system outage that affects all airlines. We're closely monitoring the situation and working with the FAA to minimize customer disruptions. americanair (@AmericanAir) January 11, 2023 As a result, many people took to social media to vent about the FAA's system outage. Twitter was filled with complaints from stranded passengers, with some venting their rage over flight delays, lost time, and poor communication from airport authorities. Latest Updates Here is the latest development from FAA: Update 5: Normal air traffic operations are resuming gradually across the U.S. following an overnight outage to the Notice to Air Missions system that provides safety info to flight crews. The ground stop has been lifted. We continue to look into the cause of the initial problem The FAA (@FAANews) January 11, 2023 Stay posted here at Tech Times. Related Article: Korean Air Plane Shuts Down Philippine Airport After Overshooting Runway 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. By Liu Xuanzun The PNS Tughril, a Type 054A/P frigate, patrols Pakistan's coastal waters. Photo: Courtesy of the Pakistan Navy Editor's Note: 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. 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. Admiral M Amjad Khan Niazi, Chief of the Naval Staff of the Pakistan Navy Photo: Courtesy 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. Z-9EC helicopters of the Pakistan Navy fly in formation. Photo: Courtesy of the Pakistan Navy 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. A Pakistan Navy F-22P ship conducts a live firing demonstration of a surface-to-surface missile. Photo: Courtesy of the Pakistan Navy 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. Azerbaijan doesnt allow carrying out damage repair works in the section where the only high-voltage power line supplying Artsakh from Armenia has been damaged, the emergency response headquarters of the Artsakh government said. January 11, 2023, 14:08 Azerbaijan doesnt allow to repair the only power line feeding Artsakh from Armenia STEPANAKERT, JANUARY 11, ARTSAKHPRESS: Earlier Artsakh Information Center informed that on January 9, at 2:35 PM., an accident occurred on the 33rd km of the only Goris-Stepanakert 110 kV high-voltage line feeding Artsakh from Armenia. According to the data recorded by the equipment, the accident occurred in the Aghavno-Berdzor section. So it was decided to supply electricity to the republic through local generating stations with appropriate restrictions. Based on the situation, rolling blackout is being implemented in the republic starting January 10. The Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event this 2023 is just around the corner. (Photo : Screenshot from Twitter post of @ishanagarwal24) Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2023: Galaxy S23 Camera to Have Major Enhancements? Schedule, Other Details Samsung has started Pre-Reserve for Samsung Galaxy S23 Series in India at offline retailers & their website! 2000 to Pre-Reserve 5,000 worth of E-vouchers as benefit Exclusive color options at Samsung Shop Online Global Launch February 1, 11:30PM IST/10AM PT pic.twitter.com/fwY03vHYMn Ishan Agarwal (@ishanagarwal24) January 11, 2023 The event is expected to reveal exciting features and other details of its latest Android smartphone, Samsung Galaxy S23. Various sources claim that this new handset would have three variants; Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23+, and the Galaxy S23 Ultra. But, the tech giant manufacturer didn't confirm if these models will be unveiled in the upcoming Unpacked event. Although this is the case, Samsung posted a teaser, hinting that the event will reveal S23's major camera enhancements. Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2023 According to Tech Crunch's latest report, Samsung posted a teaser for its Unpacked event via its official Weibo account. (Photo : Screenshot from Twitter post of @sondesix) Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2023: Galaxy S23 Camera to Have Major Enhancements? Schedule, Other Details Tell me your expectations and wishlist for Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S23 series! pic.twitter.com/Z1kTeoYNUe Alvin (@sondesix) January 3, 2023 Also Read: Samsung Galaxy Unpacked Returns on February 1st, its First In-Person Event in Three Years "Live up to every night, achieve every night. It has hundreds of millions of likes!" said the gadget maker via its official post. Although the teaser only lasted 15 seconds, the descriptions provided by the tech company were able to reveal the camera improvements of its new Galaxy S23, such as the following: "Mode for 'mooonlight'" (enhancement night mode) "Capture the night, even in low light" (improved low-light photography) "Stunning photos are coming" (high-megapixel sensors) Unpacked 2023's Schedule, Other Details The upcoming Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event is scheduled on Feb. 1. The conference will start at 10:30 a.m. PT. The Unpacked 2023 would be the first in-person event conducted by the tech giant developer after three years. As part of its celebration, Samsung is allowing consumers to pre-order the new Galaxy S23 ahead of the Unpacked event. If you want to do this, you can visit the official Samsung Galaxy S23 reservation website. Once you secure your slot, you will have various perks, such as the Samsung Care+ Extended Coverage. Aside from this, they could also get up to $100 credit. However, to get this credit, they must pre-order the Galaxy Book and Galaxy S23. If you want to learn more details about pre-ordering the new Galaxy S23, you can check our recent report. Aside from the upcoming in-person event and the latest Galaxy S23, Samsung is also making other efforts to enhance its business. Recently, Samsung's new AI-powered oven was revealed during CES 2023. We also reported that Samsung is working on a new foldable display laptop, which could be released as early as 2023. For more news updates about Samsung and other tech giant manufacturers, keep your tabs open here at TechTimes. Related Article: Samsung Galaxy S23: Here's How to Pre-order Ahead of Unpacked February Event 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. On January 11, President of the Artsakh Republic Arayik Harutyunyan chaired a meeting of the Security Council attended by representatives of all the political forces represented in the National Assembly. January 11, 2023, 15:26 Security Council meeting was convened and a statement adopted STEPANAKERT, JANUARY 11, ARTSAKHPRESS: The meeting addressed the consequences of almost a month-long humanitarian crisis ongoing in Artsakh due to the blockade of the Lachin corridor by Azerbaijan, and high-level political statements made in recent days in that regard. A statement of the Artsakh Republic Security Coucil was adopted, the text of which is reproduced below. ''It has been almost a month since a group of so-called eco-activists, with the full and outspoken support of the Azerbaijani authorities, blocked the only road connecting Artsakh to Armenia. Thus, the Azerbaijani side has practically deprived the population of the Artsakh Republic of the only opportunity to communicate with the outer world, keeping the 120,000 population in a total blockade, with all the resulting humanitarian, healthcare and economic consequences. The thoughts expressed by the President of Azerbaijan during the press conference held on January 10 of the current year proved once again that all this is nothing but an obvious manifestation of the threat of using force by the Azerbaijani authorities in the process of Karabakh problem settlement, which is a continuation of the 44-day war unleashed by Azerbaijan against the people of the Artsakh Republic in 2020. Within the context of these realities, a number of statements and opinions expressed by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia during yesterday's press conference raised concern, since they do not correspond to the ideas of the national struggle, as well as the position of the people and authorities of the Artsakh Republic. We are aware of all the consequences that follow the political line we have embarked on, and reaffirm our position that the sovereignty of Artsakh and the right to live freely and independently in the historical homeland are absolute values. No coercion or threat can deter us from our decision to continue the struggle. In this regard, we appeal to the international community to assume responsibility for preventing the terrorist actions undertaken by Azerbaijan, the planned ethnic cleansing and the impending new genocide. The people of the Artsakh Republic and the authorities are confident that the Armenians in the Diaspora will continue to support the decision made by their brothers and sisters in Artsakh, and urge the RA authorities to be guided exclusively by the position of promoting and advocating the right of the people of Artsakh to self-determination in international institutions, using all the opportunities and all the tools of the internationally recognized state.'' Listen to the rest of Charlotte Perriand's story told by Virginie Girod. A free woman, a pioneer of modernity, she is one of the leading personalities of the design world of the twentieth century who helped define a new art of living. Free traveler, avant-garde, Charlotte Perriand has throughout her life nourished by her explorations, particularly Asian ones, to transcribe them in her works. In the 1920s, Charlotte Perriand joined the agency of the famous architect Le Corbusier. She quickly understood that the art world was ruthless with women. Often demoted to the rank of collaborator, Perriand decided to emancipate herself from her mentor. After the Second World War, France experienced a massive episode of rural exodus. For a city like Marseille, the lack of housing is felt. It was at this time that Le Corbusier recalled the designer for a major architectural project: the Cite radieuse, a housing unit considered the ancestor of the HLM. Virginie Girod continues her story in the footsteps of this great designer. Find Virginie Girod in Madame Figaro on newsstands on April 14 with an unpublished portrait. https://madame.lefigaro.fr "Au Cur de l'Histoire" is a Europe 1 Studio podcast. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyevs remarks about the Lachin Corridor blockade at the January 10 press conference were a pure confession of ethnic cleansing implemented on the state level, Ambassador-At-Large Edmon Marukyan said. January 11, 2023, 18:13 Aliyevs remarks on blockade of Lachin Corridor were pure confession of state-sanctioned ethnic cleansing diplomat STEPANAKERT, JANUARY 11, ARTSAKHPRESS: Yesterday's statement of Aliyev regarding the blockade of Lachin Corridor was a pure confession of ethnic cleansing implemented on the state level. He said that the road is open for those who don't want to be Azerbaijani citizens, they can leave by cars or by buses of Russian peacekeepers, Marukyan tweeted. NEW YORK, Dec. 19, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- On December 5, MINISO (NYSE: MNSO; HKEX: 9896), a global value retailer, started its #Lifeisforfun! world tour with its popular characters from the brand's original MINI Family. Traveling from Thailand, Italy, to Mexico, MINISO spreads holiday cheer and kindness during this holiday season. The tour began in Mexico and then arrived in Italy and Thailand. Mascots of Penpen, the penguin, and Pickle, the Shiba Inu, traveled in MINISO-themed public transport such as BTS Skytrain in Bangkok and buses in Florence, channeling love and encouragement to commuters. They also appeared on the streets of Bangkok, Rome, Florence, Bologna, and Mexico City, bringing the festive atmosphere to residents. MINISOs MINI Family-themed BTS Skytrain in Bangkok, Thailand In Mexico, the Penpen mascot toured Mexico City in a red pickup truck and brought drones that drop off mystery gift bags, cheering citizens up on a stressful Monday morning. In Italy, virtual reality and augmented reality technologies were adopted where customers can search for Penpen in the city of Florence through an interactive game, in exchange for prizes. In Bangkok, Thailand, MINISO painted a BTS Skytrain into its iconic red color. Along with adorable characters from MINI Family, MINISO spread holiday cheer to hundreds of millions of commuters in the Bangkok metropolitan area. Penpen toured Mexico City in a red pickup truck Earlier in 2022, MINISO and the MINI Family toured the world and visited some of the world's famous landmarks in different cities, actualizing wishes from shoppers and spreading love and kindness across the globe. #Lifeisforfun! brought joy to city dwellers on their everyday journeys and wrapped up 2022 for MINISO. "Our MINI Family characters are like good friends to our customers. After an exhausting year full of turbulence and uncertainties, we want these little friends to provide our customers with a moment of warmth and relaxation," said Vincent Huang, MINISO's VP of International Business Development. MINISOs MINI Family-themed bus in Italy The holiday fun is also extended online where MINISO organized the #MINISOPentaClaus challenge on Tik Tok. Users can join the challenge by using the MINI Family stickers designed by MINISO for the occasion. In the first week since the commencement of the challenge, Tik Tok users have created over 100,000 videos and accumulated 300 million views. Story continues "Guided by our mission to bring joy and fun to the world, MINISO strives to create a positive impact in society and the everyday life of our customers. As 2022 draws to a close, MINISO is looking forward to spreading more smiles and happiness through our broad selection of cute and fun products as well as meaningful campaigns in the upcoming year," said Huang. About MINISO MINISO Group is a global value retailer offering a variety of design-led lifestyle products. The Company serves consumers primarily through its large network of MINISO stores, and promotes a relaxing, treasure-hunting and engaging shopping experience full of delightful surprises that appeals to all demographics. Aesthetically pleasing design, quality and affordability are at the core of every product in MINISO's wide product portfolio, and the Company continually and frequently rolls out products with these qualities. Since the opening of its first store in China in 2013, the Company has built its flagship brand "MINISO" as a globally recognized retail brand and established a massive store network worldwide. Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/miniso-brought-holiday-shopping-to-the-next-level-with-fun-and-joy-activities-across-three-continents-301706015.html SOURCE MINISO After two feet of water flooded their school last weekend, the faculty of Democracy Prep Baton Rouge school took to the streets. Theyve spent much of the week delivering supplies, pressing items like diapers, water and clothing, to the 50-plus families out of its 280 students who were chased out of their homes by flood waters The supplies were donated to the one-year-old charter school by Bethany Christian Church as part of that churchs flood relief outreach. Its just one of a myriad of charitable endeavors that have emerged since the flood began focusing strictly on schools, schoolchildren and their families. On Friday afternoon, they pulled up to Bible World Christian Center on Lobdell Boulevard. The Pickett family evacuated here Saturday morning after their home off north Sherwood Forest Boulevard in Windsor Place subdivision flooded. About 30 members of their extended family also showed up at the center, where they attend church, after they too flooded. They gratefully accepted the relief package from the teachers at Democracy Prep on behalf of their 12-year-old son who is just starting seventh-grade. Sitting in here all day aint doing him no good, said father Calvin Pickett Sr. about his son, Calvin Pickett Jr. He was getting depressed. It would good for him to go back to school. The younger Pickett will be returning to school Monday at a temporary location, the Baranco Clark YMCA at 1735 Thomas H. Delpit Drive. We want kids in schools, said Principal Michelle Gieg. Thats the priority. Its not an ideal arrangement. They will have school from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m, just four hours a day. The charter schools home for the past year, Prescott Middle School, now flooded, is likely unusable for months perhaps the entire 2016-17 school year, Gieg said. Instead, Gieg is looking for a location besides the YMCA that will allow for a full day of school. Once they arrive at school, Democracy Prep is planning to give families a second package that includes items such as sheets, pillows and kitchen utensils. East Baton Baton Rouge Parish school officials on Thursday got the green light to seek proposals from construction firms to manage the reconstruction of nine schools and four administrative centers damaged during the historic flooding in August. Meanwhile, nine architects are being hired to complete designs for the district's 13 flooded buildings. No timetables for when displaced students can return have yet been set for those facilities. The initial tearing out and remediation of flooded school buildings was overseen by CSRS/Tillage Construction, the joint partnership that serves already as the program manager for most school construction for the school system. The partnership also won a competitive contract last month to serve as the FEMA consultant for the school system as the district seeks to have up to 90 percent of its disaster-related costs reimbursed. The School Board on Thursday also approved a request for proposals for yet another contract to manage the reconstruction of 13 buildings. Domoine Rutledge, general counsel for the school system, said the request for proposals stems from rules set by the Federal Emergency Management Agency FEMA requires that any services done after that 90-day period (after a disaster) must be bid competitively, Rutledge said. He indicated that CSRS/Tillage Construction can submit a proposal to get the work, as it did for the FEMA consultant contract, though theres no guarantee it will win it. Here are the 13 flooded buildings that the new program manager would oversee: Glen Oaks Park, Greenbrier, Park Forest, Howell Park and Lanier elementaries; Brookstown, Park Forest and Prescott middles; Glen Oaks High School; Choctaw Administrative Site, Montgomery Center; quad building at former North Highlands Elementary; and the Professional Development Center. Lanier Elementary and Prescott Middle schools are now housing the charter schools Celerity Lanier and Democracy Prep Baton Rouge. With roaring flares and stacks that billow clouds of smoke and vapor, its no secret that oil refineries harm the air. But the toxic chemicals spilling out of refineries as wastewater also pose environmental risks, especially in Louisiana, where eight facilities ranked among the top oil operations that pollute public waterways, according to a nationwide study. MEMOIR Spare Prince Harry Bantam, $55 There are at least two ways one might read Spare. There is a fascination in reading a story we already know, about characters whose every move is chronicled by a greedy press. Rather as if the Grimm brothers were to retell the life of the Kardashians, Spare gives us a remarkable insight into the sheer pettiness of royal family life. Prince Harry makes his early morning pre-flight checks during one of his two tours of duty in Afghanistan. His openness about military operations in his book is revealing. Credit: One might also read Spare for what it tells us about the institution of monarchy, and the ways in which the royals resemble pampered pets, spoilt lavishly but also constrained from any form of spontaneity. From early childhood, Harry was raised to be the spare, constantly reminded that he ranked below his older brother. He is not the first spare to rebel: there are parallels to his great aunt Margaret, which he briefly acknowledges, and his uncle Andrew, where he maintains a tactful silence. But like his mother, Harry has gone public with his frustrations, building a multi-million-dollar business out of whingeing about his lot. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has called George Pells overturned child sex conviction a modern-day political persecution, saying the Andrews government should reflect on how Victorias legal institutions gave rise to the former cardinals 404-day imprisonment. Duttons damning comments contrasted with those made earlier on Wednesday by Anthony Albanese, the Catholic prime minister who offered condolences to mourners but stopped short of paying tribute to the late church leader. Leader of the Opposition Peter Dutton and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Credit: Rhett Wyman Dutton who praised Pell as an important intellectual figure and a towering presence, in line with tributes from along former Liberal prime ministers John Howard and Tony Abbott said the late cardinal defended federal funding of Catholic schools in the 2000s and upheld Christian ideals. On his passing, the fact he spent a year in prison for a conviction that the High Court of Australia unanimously quashed should provide some cause for reflection for the Victorian Labor Government and its institutions that led this modern-day political persecution, he said in a written statement released on Wednesday afternoon. He provided no more detail to substantiate his assertions. The history behind making resolutions dates back around 4,000 years to the tradition of the Babylonians, who made promises to pagan gods for payment of debts. If they kept their promises, the gods would grant favor for the upcoming year, and if not, they would fall out of favor with the gods. About 46 B.C., the Romans offered sacrifices to the god Janus and made promises of good conduct for the year ahead. For early Christians, the first day of the new year was a time to reflect on wrongdoings and resolve to do better. Today, making resolutions is mostly a secular tradition where people make self-improvement promises. Statistically, only 9% of people claim to be successful I wonder if the lack of success is due to the lack of God. I recently received a fantastic book called "The Mindful Catholic: Finding God One Moment at a Time" by Dr. Gregory Bottaro, and started reading it while preparing my 2023 lessons. I immediately identified: We fall into bed exhausted at the end of the day, craving a good nights sleep, only to have our minds race in a million directions. ... We arrive at a destination with no recollection of how we got there. Our minds are often out of our control and we end up feeling anxious, exhausted and preoccupied. Im sure most of you can relate to these occurrences, and want help finding a sense of peace. "The Mindful Catholic" gives us a practical way to trust God in our daily lives. St. John Paul II Academy's resolution is to develop healthy, joyful and holy relationships beginning with God. Step one, we start our day being mindful of our emotions. Using the zones of regulation, my students and I reflect: Green: Regulated state of alertness Blue: Low state of alertness Yellow: Heightened state Red: Extremely heightened/intense emotions The green zone is best for optimal learning and social success. If we find ourselves in one of the other zones, strategies are available to help us get into the green, e.g. getting a snack, going for a walk or jog, coloring, deep breathing, prayer in the chapel, etc. Step two, we write a self-affirming Bible verse in our devotional logs to help anchor our day with faith in God. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 19. This scripture quote secures the deep security and peace God promises and reframes our circumstances with Gods trust. Step three, prayer. St. Michael is our daily defender in this battle. We ask him to be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil who is seeking the ruin of our souls. May God rebuke Satan, we humbly pray! Along with God, we seek companions on our journey. On Jan. 1, Catholics celebrate the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. The church wants us to imitate Marys faith and trust in God alone. We never give more honour to Jesus than when we honour His Mother and we honour Mary simply and solely to honour Jesus all the more perfectly. We go to her only as a way leading to the goal we seek Jesus, her son. St. Louis Marie de Montfort. The due date of this article, Jan. 4, is the feast day of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, wife, mother, educator and the first American-born saint. Some of us had the pleasure of visiting her shrine in Emmitsburg, Maryland, last June during our school trip to Gettysburg. But, today, my class took a virtual tour of St. Josephs House where Mother Seton and the Sisters of Charity lived, worked and prayed. They started the first free Catholic school for girls in 1810, and left a legacy near and dear to my heart. I was in awe of the similarities between the mission and model of St. John Paul II Academy and Mother Setons school. We have diverse, multi-age classrooms filled with children of varying abilities and life circumstances. We have a strong emphasis on reading, writing, arithmetic, penmanship and outdoor exploration of God's creation. She understood the nature of children and approached discipline with gentle correction." Our beautiful chapel space, attached to our school, allows students to visit and reflect on Gods will. In every disappointment, let your heart fly directly to your dear Savior. Jesus will never leave you or forsake you. St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, patron of Catholic schools. Pray for us! A man has been charged after a mum pushing her childs pram through a busy park in Melbournes east was allegedly sexually assaulted. A 22-year-old Doncaster East man handed himself in to police after an image was released of a man wanted in relation to the incident. He was subsequently charged with two counts of sexual assault on Thursday evening. Police allege the man approached the woman in Halliday Park on Mitcham Road and asked for a photograph of himself, a joint selfie and started forcibly kissing her about 4.30pm on January 6. Its alleged the man chased her through the park before he allegedly assaulted her a second time. The young mother was able to get away from him, but he then followed her for about 200 metres, ran up to her again and grabbed her again and started kissing her again, Detective Senior Sergeant Rachele Ciavarella said. The woman was able to free herself after the second attack and raise the alarm. The alleged perpetrator is believed to have headed north as he walked away. At that point she did contact ... her partner to come and get her. She felt extremely unsafe. She felt that his behaviour may escalate, Ciavarella said. The man has been bailed to appear at Ringwood Magistrates Court on August 11. Bucharest, Romania: A court has denied divisive internet personality Andrew Tate and his brother Tristans appeal of their detention on charges related to human trafficking and coercing women into participating in online pornography. Ramona Bolla, a spokesperson for the Directorate for Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism, confirmed the courts decision on Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT). Andrew Tate leaves the Court of Appeal, in Bucharest, Romania. Credit: AP Earlier in the day, Tate - a former kickboxing champion and self-described misogynist - got out of a police van handcuffed to his brother as they arrived at a court in Bucharest to appeal a judges decision to hold them for up to 30 days as prosecutors seek to send them to trial. Tate appeared to be holding a Koran as his brother waved to reporters outside. Vidineac Eugen, who is representing the Tate brothers, said before the decision that he would have no comment. An election reform package approved by the New York State Senate on Monday included two bills authored by state Sen. Rachel May to increase access to early voting and provide a method for the state Board of Elections to remove election commissioners. May, D-Syracuse, sponsored legislation that would give counties the option of offering portable polling places during the nine-day early voting period before an election. The portable locations would be offered for three consecutive days and is intended to help counties address problems with accessibility to early voting. Under state law, counties with 500,000 or more registered voters must have one early voting location for every 40,000 voters. Counties with less than 500,000 registered voters must have one location for every 30,000 voters. For many rural counties, that means they only need to have one early voting location. But that may not be accessible to some voters due to distance or other factors. "Our democracy works best when everyone participates, and it is our job as legislators to make that participation as easy as possible," May said. "This includes giving New Yorkers easier access to the ballot box, and my portable polling locations bill will do just that. It allows counties to remove barriers to early voting by bringing the polling places right to residents' neighborhoods." The other election reform bill written by May would establish a new mechanism for removing an election commissioner. The state Senate approved the legislation that would allow the state Board of Elections to remove an election commissioner from office for "incompetence, misconduct or other good cause." The commissioner would be informed of the charges in writing and allowed to defend themselves. A majority of the state board would need to vote for a commissioner's removal. In New York, legislative bodies the New York City Council in the city or county legislatures elsewhere appoint election commissioners. For counties, there are two election commissioners, one Democrat and one Republican. "We must continue strengthening election integrity by ensuring voters can be confident in officials to carry out free and fair elections," May said. "My bill in this package will allow the bipartisan state board of elections to remove an election commissioner for incompetence, misconduct, or other good cause, providing accountability and transparency in our elections." Both bills must be approved by the state Assembly before heading to Gov. Kathy Hochul for her review. Gov. Kathy Hochul is targeting tobacco in her State of the State agenda this year. Hochul wants to increase the tax on a pack of cigarettes by $1, from $4.35 to $5.35. If the proposal is adopted, New York would have the highest cigarette tax among states and the District of Columbia. D.C.'s tax is currently the highest at $4.50 per pack. The proposed tax hike is part of package that aims to address tobacco use, particularly among young people. Hochul also wants to ban the sale of flavored tobacco products in New York. The state already prohibits the sale of flavored vaping products. "These actions are projected to reduce the number of young people smoking cigarettes by 9%, prevent 22,000 youths from becoming adult smokers and prevent premature deaths caused by smoking," Hochul's office wrote in the State of the State booklet released Tuesday. California adopted a ban on flavored tobacco products and faced a lawsuit from R.J. Reynolds, a tobacco company. But the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the law to be enforced. Hochul's proposals aim to prevent deaths linked to tobacco use. The state projects that 280,000 young New Yorkers will die prematurely due to smoking. More than 28,000 adults in New York die annually because of tobacco use. Outside of the state Legislature, there is support for Hochul's plan. The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network in New York tweeted that it "strongly supports" the governor's plan to ban the sale of flavored tobacco products and raise the cigarette tax. Both proposals will likely be part of state budget negotiations. Hochul will release her budget proposal later this month and legislators will work to finalize the 2023-24 budget before the new fiscal year begins in April. NY State of the State 2023: Hochul wants to tie minimum wage to inflation New York's minimum wage could increase annually under a proposal that is part of Gov. Kathy Hochul's State of the State agenda. NY governor plans $1B investment in mental health care New York Gov. Kathy Hochul says she plans to add 1,000 beds for inpatient psychiatric treatment and create 3,500 housing units as part of a $1 billion plan to address gaps in mental health care. The multi-year plan announced as part of Hochuls annual State of the State address also aims to increase insurance coverage for mental health services, expand outpatient services and create greater accountability in hospital admissions and discharges. The plan directs state-licensed hospitals to reopen 850 inpatient psychiatric beds that went offline during the pandemic. Cheyenne, WY (82001) Today Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. Low around 50F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. Low around 50F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Jan. 13, 1993 Just in case anyone took seriously the recent vows by Cayuga County lawmakers to begin cooperating at last, consider the plight of Norman Gilbert and his vast pile of paper. Hired to round up all the valuable records tucked away by county workers over the past two centuries, Gilbert scoured everything from the basement to the attic in each county building to find the yellowing papers that detail the community's proud history. Now that Gilbert has the records, he wants to put them someplace safe for the perusal of future generations. Enter the Cayuga County Legislature. A month ago, the seven members of the Buildings Committee insisted Gilbert put his collection in the former offices of the SnyderGeneral plant on Columbus Street. At about the same moment, the seven members of the Judiciary Committee told Gilbert to store the records in the old Court Street jail, abandoned four years ago. Thus, two legislative panels unanimously issued contradictory edicts. Trying to resolve the conflicting orders, the Legislature last month voted 10-10 but since one group of 10 had more weighted votes than the other, Gilbert was told to put the boxes of paper in the old jail. But Buildings Committee Chairman Mike O'Hora, D-Fleming, refused to hand over the key. Worried about how the utility bills would be paid if the abandoned jail was used again, O'Hora said he would not let Gilbert in until he had a commitment that the $18,000-a-year expense would not be snatched from the already strained Buildings Department budget. "We don't have the funds," O'Hora said. A stand-off ensued, with nobody quite sure where things stood. To have a shot at a $100,000 state grant, Gilbert had to know before Feb. 1 where the records would be kept. When legislators gathered last night, O'Hora said a decision had to be made so the dispute could be resolved. He argued the best spot for Gilbert's papers would be along the shelves of a spanking new "plain Jane" storage building erected behind the historic post office on Genesee Street. It would be cheaper to pay off bonds for a $150,000 structure, he argued, than it would be to fork over the annual utility bills for the massive old jail. Before a consensus could be reached which would almost surely have occrred well after Feb. 1 the Legislature abruptly adjourned. What Gilbert will do with his paper mountain remains a mystery. But perhaps the new spirit of cooperation will set in soon enough to give him a break. Beijing (Gasgoo)- Beijing-based automaker BAIC Group disclosed its annual auto output and sales both reached 1.45 million units in 2022, bringing in a yearly revenue of 450.7 billion yuan (US$66.54 billion). Photo credit: BAIC Group In the past year, the automaker saw a 4.7% year-on-year increase in annual profit, marking the second consecutive year with a growth in profit. Meanwhile, BAIC Group achieved a yearly production value of 290.83 billion (US$42.94 billion) yuan in its homebase, Beijing. BAIC Group holds two major wholly-owned passenger vehicle brands, the ARCFOX premium electric vehicle brand, and the BEIJING brand, which sells both new energy and oil-fueled vehicles. In the past year, ARCFOX managed a 110% year-on-year spike in annual sales, and expanded its charging network to 320 cities in China. Through 2022, BAIC Group exported 16,000 passenger vehicles under its wholly-owned brands, representing a 97.8% leap from a year ago. Regarding the group's commercial vehicle sector, Foton Motor sold 460,000 vehicles in 2022, 86,000 units of which were sold overseas to reflect a 54% surge over the previous year. As to the group's joint venture brands, both Beijing Benz Automotive Co., Ltd. (BBAC) and Beijing Mercedes-Benz Sales Service Co., Ltd. (BMBS) sold 600,000 vehicles in the past year. In the meantime, Beijing Hyundai saw the annual sales volume of the seventh-generation Elantra exceed 100,000 units last year. The Sino-Korean joint venture aims to sell over 500,000 vehicles yearly in 2025. 1 Rule the House Just Adopted Will Expose FBI, DOJ Attacks on American Citizens Commentary The establishment media viewed the 15 votes required to elect Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the House as evidence of a dysfunctional Republican Party. The talking heads repeatedly misrepresented that heroic battle as a personality conflict or a fight for certain members to be appointed to certain committees. However, it was that very resistance offered by members of the House Freedom Caucus that led to the adoption of a vitally important House rule that could give us one more opportunity to restore much of our constitutional republic. That one rule alone, which McCarthy now supports, could lead to the exposure of the long train of abuses that have been visited on Americans by a politicized FBI, Justice Department, and the larger security state. The new House rules provide for consideration of a resolution establishing a Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government as a select investigative subcommittee of the Committee on the Judiciary. Lets call it the Weaponization Subcommittee. For the past six months, the organization I have the privilege to head, Americas Future, has been conducting an examination of how two components of the federal government have been weaponized against the American people. The results have been published in a series of 18 reports called Unequal Justice Under Law, which have focused on the FBI and the DOJ. Those reports provide important context as to exactly what needs to be exposed and reformed. In fact, the most recent of these reports, issued on Jan. 6, called for the creation of a new Church Committee, which is very much like what we hope the Weaponization Subcommittee will be. A review of history from nearly a half-century ago is instructive. The Church Committee, named after its chairman, then-Sen. Frank Church (D-Idaho), was created in the aftermath of President Richard Nixons resignation in August 1974. On Dec. 22, 1974, New York Times reporter Seymour Hersh released the first in a series of articles that professor Loch Johnson describes as having accused the CIA of massive spying and illegal intelligence operations directed against American dissidents. A massive public outcry resulted, in response to which the Senate created the Church Committee. The committee operated for 18 months, during which it interviewed 800 witnesses and reviewed some 110,000 classified documents during 126 hearings. One of its purposes was to propose legislation to strengthen or clarify the national security, intelligence, or surveillance activities of the United States and to protect the rights of United States citizens with regard to those activities. Just because a committee is created, an investigation is conducted, and facts come to light doesnt mean that matters automatically improve. For example, the committee discovered Orwellian spying by intelligence agencies, including the CIAs Operation Shamrock, which at that time was probably the largest governmental interception program affecting Americans ever undertaken. Agents of the National Security Agency were reviewing 150,000 telegrams monthly. Compare that modest effort to the type of total surveillance conducted today. The committee discovered the CIAs Operation MKUltra, which involved mind control experiments generally centered on behavior modification via electroshock therapy, hypnosis, polygraphs, radiation, and a variety of drugs, toxins, and chemicals. In 1957, one CIA officer wrote of the MKUltra program: Precautions must be taken not only to protect operations from exposure to enemy forces but also to conceal these activities from the American public in general. The knowledge that the Agency is engaging in unethical and illicit activities would have serious repercussions in political and diplomatic circles and would be detrimental to the accomplishment of its mission. Today, the main problem may not be experimentation with dangerous drugs, but since 1957, the unethical and illicit activities of the deep state have only grown worse. And the desire of deep state operatives to hide their evil acts through abuses of the system by which documents are classified continues. I truly doubt that if Elon Musk hadnt purchased Twitter and arranged for independent journalists to expose the collusion between big government and Big Tech the new Weaponization Subcommittee would never have been created. However, if its able to expose what has been hidden, we may have our best chance to derail the campaign of fear and intimidation that the deep state continues to wage, not against lawbreakers but against hundreds of Jan. 6 protesters who did nothing more than attend a rally to petition the government. As many have said, When government fears the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. As I travel the country and speak with hundreds, even thousands of Americans, they agree that the federal government is broke. That means different things to different people. But at a minimum, it means that the government has abandoned its biblical role to punish evildoers and praise them that do well (1 Peter 2:14). In fact, our federal government has inverted this role, as it praises evildoers and punishes those who do well. Another biblical principle that has been inverted is the notion that leaders serve the people. Now, the people are required to give homage to the leaders (1 Peter 5:3). I dont know what it will take to get the government under control, but I want the American people to have the covers pulled back and the depth of the evil of our federal government exposed for all to see. Only then will we have the chance to inspire and mobilize enough Americans to demand and achieve true change. Therefore, Americans need to get behind the men and women who will be appointed to this subcommittee, as theyll face tremendous pressures and threats. The deep state wont give up its grip on the throat of the nation without a fight. Hiding evil is the trademark of a totalitarian government, Church said in 1975. There is no more pernicious threat to a free society than a secret police which is operating beyond the law. If these abuses had not been uncovered and had the agencies gone unchecked, we might well have seen a secret police develop in the United States. Once that begins, the Constitution itself is in very real danger. Church was right in 1975. His words are exponentially more on point in 2023, as advances in technology and a horribly bloated federal security state have only expanded the governments ability to destroy Americans Fourth Amendment rights. The new Weaponization Subcommittee provides the opportunity to expose evil and enact meaningful reforms. But if the lesson is that the deep state wont allow itself to be reformed, then its time that entire programs, and perhaps entire agencies, be disbanded completely. This article was first published in The Western Journal. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. 17 Dead as California Storms Cause Extensive Damage and Evacuations Continue Kim Ochoa leaves her Merced, Calif., home, which is surrounded by floodwaters, as storms continue to batter the state on Jan. 10, 2023. (Noah Berger/AP Photo) Storms in California are causing widespread damage as rain continues to saturate many areas of the state without any major reprieve. Rains were predicted to hit only Northern California on Jan. 11, giving the south a reprieve until more rainy weather arrived by the weekend. At least 17 people have died as a result of the storms that have ravaged the state and, according to Gov. Gavin Newsom, that figure is likely to rise. The official made his comments on Tuesday during a visit to Capitola, a picturesque area near the Santa Cruz coast that was heavily damaged by high waves and flooded by creek waters last week. Authorities said a pickup truck driver and a biker were killed early Tuesday in the San Joaquin Valley when a tree struck by lightning collapsed on them, and the governor declared disaster zones in more than half of Californias 58 counties. Crews worked to reopen major roadways that had been closed due to rockslides, flooding, or mudslides, while more than 10,000 evacuees from central coast beach towns were permitted to return home. Among them were residents who live in Montecito, a rich Santa Barbara County neighborhood that is home to Prince Harry and other celebrities, where a mudslide five years ago killed 23 people and destroyed more than 100 homes. Continued Evacuation Orders Thousands of people living near flooded creeks and rivers have remained under evacuation orders. Roaring waves from Bear Creek swamped parts of Merced and Planada, an agricultural village along a roadway leading to Yosemite National Park in the San Joaquin Valley. Planadas 4,000 residents were asked to evacuate early in the day on Jan. 10. Neighborhoods were inundated, with automobiles immersed up to their roofs. Residents who were asked to leave carried anything they could rescue on their backs as they walked away in the rain. Other evacuations have been requested due to levee breaches in Monterey County. A rainstorm hits the Southland in Newport Beach, Calif., on Jan 5, 2023. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times) Extensive storm damage included washed-out highways and beachside businesses that were hit by the 20-foot surf that pummeled Santa Cruz County. Many locations experienced historic levels of rain, as well as hail, lightning and high gusts of wind that knocked down trees and destroyed power lines. According to poweroutage.us, more than 60,000 households and businesses in the state were without power as of midday on Jan. 11. Mudslides destroyed some properties in affluent Los Angeles hillside regions, while a sinkhole in the remote Santa Barbara County village of Orcutt damaged 15 residences. On Tuesday in San Francisco, a tree fell on a commuter bus, with no injuries reported, while lightning struck the citys landmark Transamerica Pyramid structure without inflicting damage. A large apartment buildings roof was also ripped off by high winds. Some residents were stranded in small towns that had been swamped with water and muck. The storms being experienced by the state are part of a series of weather events that began last month. Californians are attempting to recover from more than $1 billion in damage due to the storms, according to Adam Smith, a disaster expert with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Los Angeles Times reported. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, despite the rain, the majority of the state remained under extreme or severe drought. The storms may help in the short term, but they will not alleviate the long-term drought problems, according to Rick Spinrad, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The California Governors Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) has deployed water resources and firefighters to dozens of counties across the state in addition to prepositioning the resources of eight fire departments statewide in preparation for potential further flooding and debris flowing through the area. Cal OES has also announced that shelters are being set up across the state to support residents who have been evacuated. Response From State and Federal Officials In addition to Californias statewide emergency declaration, the Biden administration announced an Amendment to the Emergency Declaration, which authorizes FEMA to extend Direct Federal Assistance to a number of counties throughout the state. California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a United Nations climate action event in New York on Sept. 21, 2022. (Monica Schipper/Getty Images for Bloomberg Philanthropies) According to the Cal OES, the White House order offers assistance with emergency protective actions authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, such as saving lives, protecting property, preserving public health and safety, or lessening or averting the threat of a disaster as states and tribal countries face waves of adverse weather. The amendment now allows federal assistance for the counties of Colusa, Glenn, Humboldt, Marin, Orange, San Diego, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Solano, Sutter, Tehama, Yolo, and Yuba. This change is the result of continuous damage assessments undertaken at the states request, which are still ongoing in the majority of the states counties, with results reported to the governor. The Emergency Declaration empowers FEMA to identify and task federal agencies with mobilizing federal equipment, materials, and resources requested by the state to carry out emergency protective measures in designated counties. The Associated Press contributed to this report. 17 Dead, Boy, 5, Missing as Major Atmospheric River Sweeps Across California A man wades through a flooded street in the Rio Del Mar neighborhood of Aptos, Calif., on Jan. 9, 2023. (Nic Coury/AP Photo) A major atmospheric river that struck California has destroyed homes and killed 17 people, while a five-year-old boy is missing, according to officials. The adverse weather event that began on Monday was the latest in a number of storms that began in December and has prompted evacuation orders and school closures amid flash flooding, strong winds, mudslides, and road closures. According to the National Weather Service (NWS), nearly all of California has received rainfall totals 400 percent to 600 percent above average in the past several weeks. Santa Barbara Countys Cachuma Reservoir rose almost 5 feet in 24 hours, according to NWS warning coordination meteorologist, Eric Boldt. California Gov. Gavin Newsom said on Tuesday that the confirmed death toll from the latest storms was 17, although officials expect that number to rise in the coming days. Boy Missing Elsewhere, Newsom stated that a five-year-old boy is missing after being swept away in floodwaters near Paso Robles in central coastal California on Monday. Authorities, including air and water rescue teams, were forced to call off a search for the boy on Monday due to extreme weather conditions, according to the New York Post. However, they have since resumed the search. So far, officials have only found a shoe belonging to the child. The boy, identified as Kyle Doan, was with his mother on Monday as the pair headed to school. Their truck was stuck by raging waters just after 8 a.m. local time, according to the Post. Kim Ochoa leaves her Merced, Calif., home, which is surrounded by floodwaters, as storms continue to batter the state on Jan. 10, 2023. (Noah Berger/AP Photo) Search for Missing Boy Continues Bystanders were able to pull the boys mother from the car but the child was swept away by the waters and carried downstream where he was likely taken into the river, police said. Two of those killed in the storms were a pickup truck driver and a motorcyclist who died early on Tuesday in the San Joaquin Valley when a tree that had been struck by lightning fell on them, authorities confirmed. As of Tuesday afternoon, 31 of Californias 58 counties had been declared disaster areas. More than 30,000 people across the state have been evacuated from their homes, according to The Los Angeles Times. That includes all 4,000 residents of Planada, which sits along a main highway leading to Yosemite National Park, and where neighborhoods have been swept underwater and cars have been submerged up to their roofs. According to Power Outage U.S., 51,413 customers in California are currently without power. Latest Atmospheric River While it is still too early to give exact estimates, the latest storm and those before it may have caused more than $1 billion worth of damage, Adam Smith, a disaster expert with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told the Los Angeles Times. President Joe Biden earlier this week approved an emergency declaration for California that authorizes federal assistance to supplement State, tribal, and local response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from the severe storms. The latest atmospheric rivera long narrow region of moisture stretching out into the Pacific that can transport huge amounts of rain and snowhas started to ease in some areas but more rain and thundershowers are forecast to arrive in Northern California on Wednesday and another powerful storm system is expected to hit the state on Friday, NWS said. Elsewhere, NWS issued a heavy snow warning across portions of California from Jan. 1416. The Associated Press contributed to this article. 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. Mercedes-Benz Passenger Cars delivers 751,714 vehicles in China in 2022 In 2022, Mercedes-Benz Passenger Cars delivered roughly 2,043,900 vehicles to customers around the world, 751,714 units (-0.9% YoY) of which were sold in China. C-Class Coupe; photo credit: Mercedes-Benz Passenger Cars Dongfeng Motor, Honda China cooperate on technical validation of fuel cell system Honda Motor's China branch announced this week the cooperation with Dongfeng Motor Group on the technical validation of fuel cell systems in the commercial vehicle field. The validation will begin this month in China's Hubei province. SWM Motors launches first REEV model On Jan. 10, 2023, SWM Motors launched its first REEV (range-extended electric vehicle) model, the SWM Big Tiger EDi. As a seven-seater SUV, the new model targets a price range of around 100,000 yuan ($14,770). SWM Big Tiger; photo credit: SWM Motors Tesla China reportedly nabs orders of 30,000 vehicles in three days after price cut A Chinese local media outlet revealed Tesla China received orders of 30,000 vehicles in only three days after its latest price cut over its made-in-China models. However, Tesla declined to comment on the rumor. DeepRoute.ai, Tsinghua University jointly build energy-saving autonomous vehicle Tsinghua University's School of Vehicle and Mobility recently conducted a research on the energy consumption and perception in self-driving cars, which will help the autonomous driving solution developer DeepRoute.ai perfect its solutions. BAIC Group sees 2022 annual profit rise 4.7% YoY with 1.45 million vehicles sold Beijing-based automaker BAIC Group disclosed its annual auto output and sales both reached 1.45 million units, bringing in a yearly revenue of 450.7 billion yuan (US$66.54 billion) in the year 2022. China's new energy vehicle registrations soar 81.48% YoY in 2022: MPS China's motor vehicle parc amounted to roughly 417 million units by the end of Dec. 2022, 319 million of which were automobiles, according to China's Ministry of Public Security (MPS). CATL's Qilin battery likely to go into volume production in Q1 2023 The Qilin battery, the battery using CATL's third-generation CTP (cell-to-pack) technology, is expected for volume production in the first quarter of 2023, CATL revealed at the investor Q&A platform of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. Pony.ai inaugurates three dedicated three product lines for intelligent driving products On January 11, autonomous driving startup Pony.ai officially inaugurated three product lines for passenger vehicle-dedicated intelligent driving businesses, which will be run by an independent business unit, namely Personally Owned Vehicles (POV). HOZON Auto, CATL team up on CIIC skateboard chassis project HOZON Auto, the Chinese startup owning the new energy vehicle (NEV) brand NETA, on Jan. 10 inked an agreement with CATL (Shanghai) Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. ("CATL Intelligent Tech"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of CATL, for the CIIC (CATL Integrated Intelligent Chassis) project, according to a post on NETA's WeChat account. FAW-Volkswagen sells 1.8 million vehicles in 2022 FAW-Volkswagen (FAW-VW), the joint venture between FAW Group and Volkswagen Group, announced on January 10 its annual sales volume reached over 1.8 million vehicles in 2022. NIO deploys 1,305 battery swap stations, 1,223 supercharging stations in China by Dec. 2022 NIO announced via its WeChat account the achievements it has made in power network construction. 6 Professors at Top Chinese University Die Within 2 Weeks A patient on oxygen is wheeled on a gurney into a busy emergency room at a hospital in Beijing, China, on Jan. 2, 2023. (Getty Images) Renmin University of China, has released the obituaries of several experts and academics from mid to late December, all of whom were members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). As one of the top Chinese universities in Beijing, Renmin University is known for its strengths in the fields of political science, international relations, law, and economics. From Dec. 16 to Dec. 28, six retired professors of Renmin University passed away, including two Marxist scholars, two professors of Law, a professor of Journalism, and a professor of Information Resource Management. Almost all of them were praised as Outstanding Communist Party members in their respective obituaries, especially the two Marxist scholars Hu Jun and Xu Zhengfan. Hus memorial article appeared in the Chinese communist mouthpiece, Beijing Youth Daily. In the article, Hu was said to be an outstanding member of the CCP, an outstanding Marxist economist and educator one of the CCPs main founders of the Marxist political economy, and that he always unequivocally adheres to the Marxist position, viewpoint and method. He died on Dec. 20 at the age of 94, with no cause of death listed. Xu Zhengfan, a First Class Honorary Professor at Renmin University, died on Dec. 28 in Beijing at the age of 95. The University announced his death two days later, praising him for being an outstanding member of the CCP, Marxist theorist and theoretical educator, [and] one of the main founders of the Marxist theory for the CCP. Since the 1950s, Xu frequently published theoretical articles on the so-called socialist revolution and construction in many of the Partys mouthpiece media and published several books on Marxism. Renmin Universitys Relationship With the CCP In May 2022, Renmin University and two other top Chinese universities withdrew from international university rankings, saying they will no longer provide data for the Times Higher Education World University Rankings (THE) and QS World University Rankings. At the time, current affairs commentator Qin Peng also told The Epoch Times sister media, NTD that Renmin University is unique in that it was the first formal university founded by the CCP. It is a CCP party school dedicated for young people. Marxism-Leninism is one of the major courses taught at Renmin University, Qin said. Renmin University means the peoples university. Its origins date back to Shanbei Public School, which was established in 1937 by the CCP to bring up hundreds of thousands of revolutionary comrades. After the CCP seized power, several institutions were merged to form the Renmin University of China in 1950. The university was very influential in Chinas early years. In fact, its graduates include former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin and current leader Xi Jinping. Both graduated from Renmin University with degrees in mechanical engineering. Target of the Pandemic As the norm for all recent high-profile deaths, the obituaries did not specify what caused their deaths, as the Chinese regime does not want the public to have enough information to figure out how many COVID-19 deaths there could be in the country, especially in Beijing, where the pandemic situation is particularly severe. In March 2020, during the initial stage of the COVID-19 pandemic, Falun Gong founder Li Hongzhi said in an article titled Stay Rational, Truth be told, pandemics only come when peoples morals and values have turned bad, and they have come to have a massive amount of karma. He specifically pointed out that the pandemic has a clear target. A pandemic like the current Chinese communist virus (or Wuhan virus) comes with a purpose behind it, and it has targets. It is here to weed out members of the Party and those who have sided with it, Li Hongzhi said. In his article, Li Hongzhi advised, What people should do, instead, is to repent to the divine with all due sincerity, admit to their faults, and pray for a chance to change their ways. A Lot of Questions to Be Asked About Biden Classified Documents: Attorney President Joe Biden speaks to reporters on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC on Jan. 11, 2023,.(Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images) Many questions await an answer over the handling of classified documents at a former office for President Joe Biden, said a lawyer at a conservative government watchdog. The documents surfaced at the Penn Biden Center where Biden worked from mid-2017 through 2019, when he started campaigning for the 2020 election. White House lawyer Richard Sauber said on Jan. 9 that Bidens private lawyers found the files in a locked closet while packing up documents on Nov. 2 and alerted the National Archives and Records Administration on the same day. The discovery was made days before the midterm elections but was not public until more than two months later. Since the announcement, many have attempted to contrast the controversy with Bidens predecessor Donald Trump, who has been accused by authorities of keeping classified materials in his Florida estate, by pointing to the voluntary and prompt return of the files by the president and the small number of documents involved. The documents found at Bidens office concern fewer than a dozen records from his tenure as vice president, while the FBI found around 100 documents marked as classified or top secret in the Mar-a-Lago resort. Trump, however, maintains that he had declassified everything before he left office. But Paul Kamenar of the National Legal and Policy Center said hes not convinced by the alleged differences in these two cases. I dont take their word for it that it was handled properly and timely, he told NTD, a sister media of The Epoch Times on Tuesday. After all, he said, the documents existence wasnt publicly disclosed until months after their discovery. Why did they wait two months to let us know? And what were private attorneys in the Biden center doing there anyway? he asked. You dont hire private attorneys to move your office. Thats pretty expensive moving people to do that. While the number of records differs in the two scenarios, it makes no distinction from a legal perspective, and Trump, unlike Biden who was the vice president at the time, does have the legal authority to declassify documents, said Kamenar. So theres a lot of questions to be asked here. An office building housing the Penn Biden Center, a think tank affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania, is seen in Washington, on Jan. 10, 2023, following reports that classified documents from the time when President Joe Biden was serving as Barack Obamas vice president have been found at the center that Biden sometimes used as office space. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images) Republicans have been questioning whether theres a double standard in law enforcements treatment of Trump and Biden. Biden said on Jan. 10 he was surprised to learn about the discovery of the documents and that he doesnt know whats contained in them. But Trump, during a podcast on Thursday, questioned the timeline of the document discovery and suggested that Biden knew probably right from the beginning. I think a lot of it had to do with Ukraine, because that was the papers he kept. And no, I think they knew about this for a long time and they didnt do anything about it, he said. Trump further cited a New York Post report in April 2022 that the University of Pennsylvania has received a sum of $54.6 million between 2014 and 2019 from China, based on public records. Such payments, according to Trump, indicate the Penn Biden Center is funded by China, an assertion that the schools spokesperson Stephen MacCarthy has denied as total nonsense. The Penn Biden Center has never solicited or received any gifts from any Chinese or other foreign entity. But Kamenar remains skeptical. Chinas not giving money to the University of Pennsylvania to pay for their music department. To be sure theyre giving it because theyre hoping that its used for international relations between the University of Pennsylvania and China, which the Biden Center is doing, he said, noting that the presidents son, Hunter Biden, has allegedly received payouts from a Chinese energy company. The House Oversight Committee on Wednesday announced an investigation into the issue over concerns that President Biden has compromised sources and methods with his own mishandling of classified documents. With the Republicans in control of the House, Kamenar hopes to see more probing of the Biden documents. Who knows whether theres some documentation of these classified documents that do involve China, so its really suspicious here, and it calls for a full investigation with subpoena power by the committees, he said. The Epoch Times has reached out to the White House for comment. A Response to the Media on Brazil A Brazilian policeman provides security for construction workers at a cave site used by drug dealers to incinerate their victims in a bush area at Morro da Grota shantytown in Rio de Janeiro on June 6, 2003. (Andre Vieira/Getty Images) Commentary Although one wouldnt know it from the media coverage of gun control, the best social science has shown that law-abiding citizens frequently deter criminals. But when ideology trumps facts, policymakers are easily led astray. The latest example is occurring in Brazil, where massive increase in gun ownership in recent years has prompted gun control advocates to reinterpret the data in ways that conform to their political views. In his first act in office last Sunday, newly installed President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed a decree freezing gun ownership and banning the sale of new ammunition. Lula also instituted other rules aimed at taking away the guns people acquired during the President Jair Bolsonaro administration. When Bolsonaro became president on Jan. 1, 2019, Brazil had one of the highest homicide rates of any developed country. The international news media derided Bolsonaro for having seduced tens of millions of voters with simplethough radicalsolutions to eradicating violence in one of the worlds deadliest countries. Bolsonaros solution? Give guns to good people. Let people have guns so that they have the chance to defend themselves. In 2019 and 2020, the worldwide news media and their selected experts warned that Bolsonaro had it dangerously wrong. The Wall Street Journal warned: Violence experts say simply adding more guns to the mix will only make the murder rate climb faster. The UKs Guardian worried that Bolsonaros highly controversial relaxation of gun lawsa key pledge in his 2018 campaignis fueling fears among experts and campaigners that such moves will add to already shocking levels of violence. The list of similar claimsappearing in outlets from National Public Radio and the New York Times to The Economistis too long to recite. Nonetheless, Bolsonaros reforms produced a 600 percent increase in gun ownership. Yet despite all the dire predictions, homicides in Brazil plummeted. In 2018, the year before he became president, the murder rate stood at 27.8 per hundred thousand people5.5 times higher than the U.S. rate. But it fell in each consecutive year. By 2021, the third year of Bolsonaros presidency, it had dropped to 18.5 per hundred thousanda 34 percent drop. This is information the news media cant get its head around. A new Washington Post article claims that criminologists believe the drop in homicides occurred despite Brazils increase in gun ownership, not because of it. The Post cites a public health researcher who claims that every 1 percent increase in firearm ownership is associated with a 0.6 percent increase in overall homicide rates. If so, an over 600 percent increase in gun ownership should have resulted in a more than 360 percent increase in homicides, not a 27 percent drop. The newspaper now claims that crime fell because of a decade of investment in policing. But these investments were already known in 2019 and 2020 when everyone was predicting disaster and changes in policing only affected some of Brazils 26 states, and the homicide rate fell in all but one of the states. Research consistently shows that when private gun ownership goes up, killings follow, writes the Post. In fact, most research shows that allowing more concealed handgun permits reduces murder. When surveyed about 33 gun control proposals, academic criminologists most strongly favored reducing the government-imposed costs of acquiring guns. Thats the policy measure that they thought would do the most to reduce murder rates. It was also the second most preferred strategy among academic economists. The economists most preferred approach was relaxing federal restrictions to let companies determine if people can carry concealed handguns in workplace settings. But the Post doesnt seem to have talked to criminologists or economists. It certainly hasnt factored in the views of most police officers. When PoliceOne asked its 450,000 American law enforcement members about the effects of private gun ownership, 76 percent of officers answered that legally armed citizens are very or extremely important in reducing crime. Every time across the world that all guns or all handguns are banned, murder rates rise. The reality is that Brazils experiment in legal gun ownership is just the latest example of more guns, less crime. Violent crime fell as criminals became afraid of armed citizens. But dont hold your breath for any news media outlets or gun control groups to admit they were wrong. From RealClearWire Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Alberta Premier Says Feds Just Transition Plan a Big Threat to Oil and Gas Industry Alberta Premier Danielle Smith speaks at a press conference after the speech from the throne, in Edmonton on Nov. 29, 2022. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press) Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said Tuesday that the federal governments so-called just transition plan is a big threat to the provinces oil and natural gas industry. At a news conference, she said the language that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberal government are using when they talk about just transition is language that they used when they phased out the coal industry. Its a social justice term, said Smith. To use that terminology, they are virtue signalling to an extreme base that is openly advocating to shut down oil and natural gas. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Sophie Trudeau board a government plane in Ottawa on Jan. 9, 2023. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press) When I hear the words just transition, it signals eliminating jobs, said Smith. For Alberta, thats a non-starter. This is not an industry in decline, but it is one of the industries that is strategic to world energy security, and Alberta is one of the most responsible producers of energy in the world and has been for decades. We will continue to advocate on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of workers whose livelihoods depend on this industry, she continued. We expect the federal government to stand up for our world-leading oil and natural gas workers instead of trying to eliminate their jobs. Smith said that the prime minister talked about the need to phase out the oilsands as an inevitability and the Alberta government thinks the world is going to need more natural gas. According to the premier, if the federal government pursues emissions caps and targets that are too aggressive, in too short of a timeframe, and unachievable, it is a defacto production cap, which would be a violation of the provinces constitutional right to develop its own natural resources. She said that the province will ensure it has a robust plan to reduce emissions in a way that works for Alberta and if necessary, have Ottawa take the province to court. We are not phasing this industry out, she said, adding that the province can export liquid natural gas, which would reduce global emissions, use carbon technology to capture CO2 embedded into products or buried underground, and develop a hydrogen industry and a small modular nuclear industry. Update on Progress At the news conference, Smith also said she would be offering more opportunities for reporters to ask questions directly on issues besides planned government announcements, noting that former popular Premier Ralph Klein used to do this frequently. Smith highlighted some of the work that had been undertaken since she was selected in fall 2022, specifically tax relief on gas and diesel of 3.6 cents per litre, which she said brings Albertas gas prices to 23 cents below the national average. The government is also preparing to open a portal for applications for $100 monthly affordability relief to Albertans with children, seniors receiving age and income support, and those receiving government financial support for a six-month period. Smith said the applications will open Jan. 18 and deposits will begin Jan. 31. Smith highlighted $5 million in grants provided to food banks across the province and announced matching donations had been received to add an additional $5 million to help the provinces food crisis. In December, Smith said more than 41,000 new full-time jobs were created in the province, with a total of 100,000 job openings in Alberta. The premier also mentioned that the province had received the first shipment of childrens pain and fever medication, 250,000 bottles that would be used in hospitals by Alberta Health Services by the weekend. An additional 4.75 million bottles intended for retail sale have been delayed from the anticipated arrival by Christmas, as part of the conditions Health Canada placed on approval requires the manufacturer to bottle the medication with a childproof cap. Smith said it has been a process to meet the regulatory conditions and specifications required by the federal government, but that the medicine was expected soon. Alberta Premier Says Province Will Pursue Health Care Reforms Regardless of Federal Funding Alberta will be reforming its health care system with or without money from the federal government, Premier Danielle Smith says. At a news conference on Jan. 10, Smith said that even if the federal government does not provide funding, health care is the number one most important thing that Albertans expect to be improved. Smith said her first move was to put in a new official administrator to help implement health-care reforms. On Nov. 17, Smith announced the entire Alberta Health Services Board would be replaced by Dr. John Cowell, a full-time, experienced administrator who previously held the role. Cowell has been tasked with carrying out the health reforms Smith promised during her election campaign. In November, federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said the Liberal government would raise the Canada Health Transfer funding it provides to provinces, but only if provinces agreed to conditions, such as a national world-class health data system and expanding the use of common key health indicators. Some premiers, including Smith, have maintained calls for funding without any conditions. I cant stop doing reform because the federal government doesnt want to partner with us, Smith said. Its great if [the government] comes to the table with more funding support but were not going to stop with the reforms that were doing. Smith said the province has committed $600 million per year for health care for the next two years. Four Priorities Smith said her government has four immediate priorities: reducing emergency wait times; reducing the time ambulances spend waiting at the hospital; reducing surgical wait times; and ensuring all Albertans have a family doctor. None of those things require me to sit back and wait for the federal government to come in and help. We have to act on these things regardless, she said. Smith said one way the province is moving forward with reforms is through non-ambulance transfersa separate vehicle that can transport a patient to a hospital or to a routine medical appointment, freeing up ambulances in the community. The premier also said there were 55 hospital operating rooms that have not been opened that required only minimal changes to bring operational, such as fixing the HVAC system in one, and installing cameras in another. She said nurses will also triage in a different way, so that patients can be assessed and treated sooner, and released from hospital faster. Smith said many of these structural changes do not require extra funding or cost more money. Its incremental decisions, dozens of different decisions every day across the entire system, thats going to make a big difference, she said. Smith said the province started with benchmarks such as a surgery backlog of 69,000 in November 2022, with an update expected later this month as to what progress has been made since she took office. Smith also said a health spending account is being worked on, to allow more money into the hands of individual patients so that they can pay for all the things that are currently not covered by the health care system. How religious paintings influenced portraiture For both art and history lovers, the name of Anthony van Dyck and the royal court of Englands King Charles I are inseparable. Few artists have historically influenced the popular image of a particular era as much as van Dyck. While it is taken for granted that the relationship between artist and king is a small part of van Dycks story, his varied career and broader artistic significance is too often overlooked. Self-portrait of Sir Anthony van Dyck, circa 1640. Oil on canvas. National Portrait Gallery, London. (Public Domain) Nearly 24 years separated van Dycks 1618 admission to Antwerps Guild of Saint Luke as a free master (an artist legally entitled to run his own studio) and his premature death at the age of 42. Much of his final decade was indeed spent in England. Prior to 1632, he made a single, four-month visit to the country. During the intervening years, he became one of the greatest religious artists of his day and a leading portraitist while working in Italy and the Netherlands. Van Dycks early focus on religious subjects is perhaps the most forgotten aspect of his career. Today, his best-known, early works are those foreshadowing his later specialization: portraits. When he began his career, the only major artist to have specialized in portraiture was Hans Holbein the Younger. As a young artist, van Dyck would have been expected to follow the more common precedents emphasizing religious, historical, mythological, and allegorical subject matter. Building a Stylistic Vocabulary Van Dycks early religious paintings conform closely to the examples of Hendrick van Balen the Elder (under whom he served his apprenticeship) and Peter Paul Rubens (for whom he briefly worked as chief assistant). Hence, his early paintings, such as The Crowning With Thorns, lack the originality seen in his later art. Comparing his Portrait of Cornelius van der Geest (circa 1620) to his later Portrait of Inigo Jones reveals just how rapidly he developed both his superlative skill and key elements of his signature style. Early Flemish portraits were commonly painted against a dark backdrop and limited to the sitters upper body. Although in van Dycks Portrait of Inigo Jones, we still see just the subjects upper body presented, we see his stylistic choice of embellishing a neutral backdrop with a geometric design, giving more dimensionality and some context to a portrait. Portraits of Cornelis van der Geest (circa 1620, L) and Inigo Jones (early to mid-17th-century) by Anthony van Dyck. Both are housed at the National Portrait Gallery, London. (Public Domain) Once van Dyck was able to access and study from the works of great masters, he quickly developed a more personal style of religious painting. As leaders of the new Flemish Baroque school, van Balen and Rubens had given van Dyck a firm foundation in the traditions of both the Flemish and the Italian Renaissance. The influence of Italian art was indirect, however, as both van Balen and Rubens were Flemish painters who had formerly lived and only studied in Italy for a short period of time. Northern European collectors were just beginning to import Italian masterpieces on a significant scale during van Dycks early years. Few were to be found in the Netherlands. Fortunately for van Dyck, one of the first such collectors was Thomas Howard, Englands 14th Earl of Arundel, who was closely attuned to artistic life across the English Channel. His collection of over 700 works included dozens of pieces by Italian masters such as Correggio, Giorgione, Tintoretto, Titian, and Veronese. Since the frescoes of Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael could not be moved, Arundel collected their preparatory drawings. Arundel was instrumental in arranging one of van Dycks first major commissionsa portrait of King James I. During that brief 1620 visit to England, van Dyck studied Arundels collection and soon made plans to visit Italy the following year. He remained in Italy until 1627. Developing His Personal Style Marchesa Elena Grimaldi Cattaneo, 1623, by Anthony van Dyck. Oil on canvas. National Gallery of Art, Washington. (Public Domain) Once in Italy, he steadily matured. Works like Saint Sebastian Bound for Martyrdom and Virgin and Child with Repentant Sinners manifest the unambiguous development of his personal style. Such works still retain the grandeur and monumentality of Rubens. However, van Dyck began to minimize the numbers of figures and replaced Rubens use of ethereal haze for more clarity in his early portraits. Van Dyck never entirely conformed to the traditions of the early portrait painters. During his time in Italy, he began to paint full-length portraits against natural backdrops, as in his piece titled Marchesa Elena Grimaldi Cattaneo. Interestingly enough, both full-length depictions and natural backdrops were quite standard in religious workssuggesting that van Dycks experience in depicting such subjects influenced the development of his portraiture style. A Renowned Portrait Painter Charles I (16001649) With M. de St Antoine, 1633, by Anthony van Dyck. Oil on canvas. Royal Collection at Windsor Castle, Berkshire, England. (Public Domain) In contrast to his stylistic development, van Dycks transition from a religious painter to a specialist in portraiture was more gradual. Although largely focused on religious paintings while in Italy, he was commissioned to paint portraits for the aristocracy of Genoa, which made up an increasingly significant proportion of his work. Ironically enough, that combination probably aided van Dycks transition. By the time he returned to Antwerp in 1627, he had decided to shift his focus and began marketing himself to the affluent merchant class. Yet the greatest assurance of regular work as a portraitist was employment by a royal court. Circumstances again favored van Dyck. The ruler of the Netherlands, Archduchess Isabella von Habsburg, was an enthusiastic patroness of the arts and also religiously devout. Van Dycks body of work made him perfectly suited to be one of her courts artists. And it was from that base in the Netherlands that van Dyck increasingly worked for the royal families of surrounding nations. Eventually, he was asked to become a court artist for Charles I. It was only after his relatively late move to England that van Dyck reached his final stage of stylistic development, with portraits of daily life set against extensive naturalistic backdrops. This became the pinnacle of his career. The foundation for that style was built from the narrative masterpieces he had painted over the years and his previous level of success, in some of Europes most demanding artistic milieus, demonstrates just how high that pinnacle was. The Fabelmans, Banshees Win Top Awards at the Golden Globes Steven Spielberg accepts the Best Director award for "The Fabelmans" during the 80th Annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Jan. 10, 2023. (Rich Polk/NBC via AP) The Golden Globes returned to the air Tuesday with a red carpet flush with celebrities, comedian Jerrod Carmichael as a hesitant emcee and top awards for Steven Spielbergs The Fabelmans and Martin McDonaghs The Banshees of Inisherin, as the beleaguered award show sought to rekindle its pre-pandemic and pre-scandal glamour. Spielbergs autobiographical coming-of-age film The Fabelmans won best drama film and the dark friendship tale The Banshees of Inisherin, captured best film, comedy or musical. Abbott Elementary, White Lotus, and House of the Dragon led the TV awards. The Globes would-be comeback ended like many Globes ceremonies before it: with a triumphant Spielberg. For the fifth time, one of Spielbergs films won a best picture Globe. Nominated 14 times by the Globes for best director, Spielberg also won the honor for the third time. He began by thanking his three sisters, his late father, and his late mother, Leah Adler (played by Michelle Williams in the film). She is up there kvelling about this right now, said Spielberg. McDonaghs The Banshees of Inisherin left with three awards, including best screenplay for McDonagh and best actor in a comedy for Colin Farrrell. Fourteen years earlier, Farrell won a Globe for McDonaghs In Bruges, which likewise paired him with Brendan Gleeson. In his remarks, Farrell thanked the playwright, his castmates, his children, and the films donkey, Jenny. The first award went to Ke Huy Quan, the former child star of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, for best supporting actor in Everything Everywhere All at Once. A clearly emotional Quan, who had left acting years before directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert cast him in their multiverse tale, thanked them for his second act. More than 30 years later, two guys thought of me, said Quan. They remembered that kid. And they gave me the opportunity to try again. Michelle Yeoh, the star of Everything Everywhere At Once, also won, for best actress in a comedy or musical. The Malaysian-born Yeoh was just the second female actor of Asian descent to win in the category, after her Crazy Rich Asian costar Awkwafina, who won for The Farewell in 2020. Forty years, the 60-year-old Yeoh said. Not letting go of this. Possibly Yeohs stiffest competition at the Academy Awards, Cate Blanchett of Tar, won best actress on the drama side. Blanchett, in production, wasnt in attendance to pick up her fourth Globe. (Also absent was Kevin Costner, best-actor winner in a drama series for Yellowstone. Presenter Regina Hall said he was sheltering in place in Santa Barbara due to flooding.) Angela Bassett, a likely Oscar frontrunner, won best supporting actress for her performance in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Weeping may come in the evening, but joy comes in the morning, Bassett said, referencing the loss of Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman. Best actor was an upset. Austin Butler won for his performance in Baz Luhrmanns Elvis. The favorite in the category has arguably been Brendan Fraser for The Whale. Ahead of the Globes, Fraser said he would not attend because my mother didnt raise a hypocrite. In 2018, Fraser said he was groped in 2003 by longtime HFPA member Philip Berk. Berk, who is no longer an HFPA member, denied it. Mike Whites HBO series White Lotus won for best limited or anthology series. Fresh off her dramatic finale, Jennifer Coolidge gave one of the nights lengthiest and warmest speeches while accepting the award for best supporting actress in a limited series. Even if this is the end, you sort of changed my life in a million different ways, Coolidge told White. My neighbors are speaking to me, things like that. The public school sitcom Abbott Elementary came in the lead TV nominee and took home three awards, including best comedy series. Quinta Brunson, the shows creator and star, won best actress in a comedy series, and Tyler James Williams won for his supporting role. It has resonated with the world in a way that I couldnt even have imagined it would have, said Brunson as she thanked the studios that backed her vision. But lets be real. I did imagine it. Thats why I sold it to you. Best drama series went to Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon. Naatu Naatu from the Telugu sensation RRR, won best song over the likes of Rihanna and Taylor Swift. The red carpet (colored gray this year) was just as crammed with decked-out stars as ever ahead of the ceremony Tuesday, including Bassett in glittering silver and Lily James in a long-flowing red dress. Whether viewers also returned remains to be seen. The Globes were plunged into chaos shortly before a largely remote pandemic 2021 awards show when a Los Angeles Times report revealed that the HFPA, then numbering 87 members, had no black members. Stars and studios boycotted last years ceremony, which NBC opted not to televise, saying the Hollywood Foreign Press Association needed time to make meaningful reform. Tom Cruise, whose Top Gun: Maverick was nominated for best picture, drama, famously returned his three Golden Globe awards after the HFPA revelations. Under mounting pressure, the HFPA pledged to reform, diversified its membership and changed some of the ways it operates. It now has 96 members, including six black members, along with 103 nonmember voters. Billionaire Todd Boehly purchased the Globes through his Eldridge Industries, and has begun turning the nonprofit group into a for-profit company. Reaction to the Globe nominations last month was muted. But much of the industry turned out Tuesday. Eddie Murphy and Ryan Murphy received tributes. Sean Penn introduced a message from Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. There will be no third World War, Zelenskyy said in a taped message, predicting Russias defeat. It is not a trilogy. When the Globes were on the brink, NBC reworked its deal with the HFPA into a one-year contract and moved the show to Tuesday from its regular Sunday night spot. That meant the Globes were essentially put on a one-year audition to recapture its awards-season perch. As it has for most award shows, viewership to the Globes telecast has cratered. After the 2020 awards were watched by 18.4 million, the 2021 edition managed just 6.9 million, according to Nielsen. Still, the Globes remain a valuable marketing tool for awards contenders, propping up ads for films in the long stretch between the holidays and the Oscars, which will air on March 12. Austin Says US Willing to Use Nukes to Defend Japan as 2 Nations Boost Military Cooperation U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken participate in the Peace, Security, and Governance Forum during the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit on Dec. 13, 2022 in Washington. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images) The United States is willing to use nuclear weapons to defend its ally Japan, and will defend Japans claim to the Senkaku Islands, which communist China claims as its own, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said on Jan. 11. His remarks came as the two countries agreed to deepen strategic and military cooperation in the face of multiple challenges, including increasing aggression by Chinas ruling communist regime. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the increased cooperation on Thursday after a meeting between Blinken, Austin, and their Japanese counterparts, Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa, and Defense Minister Hamada Yasukazu in Washington. Blinken said that Japan and the United States were strengthening an already strong alliance, and would continue to counter the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) malign influence throughout the world. It is hard to overstate the importance of the U.S.-Japan alliance, Blinken said at a joint press conference. For more than seven decades it has been the cornerstone of peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific, ensuring the security, liberty, and prosperity of our people and people across the region. We agree that the PRC is the greatest strategic challenge that we, our allies, and partners face, Blinken added, using the acronym for the regimes official name, the Peoples Republic of China. The remarks followed the conclusion of the 2023 U.S.-Japan Security Consultative Committee, colloquially called the two-plus-two meeting, between state and defense leaders of each nation, which Blinken and Austin co-hosted. US Retains Right to Use Nukes in Defense of Japan Austin announced that the United States and Japan had agreed to a historic decision to optimize U.S. force posture in Japan, that would forward station more U.S. capabilities to bolster deterrence to help defend Japan. As part of this effort, Austin said, the United States would reorganize the 12th Artillery Regiment into the 12th Marine Littoral Regiment, in line with the U.S. Marine Corps current restructuring, aimed at improving combat effectiveness in dispersed amphibious regions against major powers. The new formation, Austin said, would be equipped with advanced intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities, as well as anti-ship and anti-transportation systems relevant to the current and future threat environments. Austin reiterated that the United States was committed to the defense of its ally and would use any means necessary to defend it from attack, including nuclear weapons. Moreover, he said, the United States recognized Japans claim to the Senkaku Islands as part of this pledge. Japan has mostly controlled the Senkaku Islands, which lie in the East China Sea, since 1895, but Beijing began asserting its right over the islands in the 1970s and called them the Diaoyu Islands. Japan and the United States remain united in the face of Chinas destabilizing actions, Austin said. I want to reaffirm the United States iron-clad commitment to defend Japan with the full range of capabilities including nuclear, and underscore that Article Five of the Mutual Security Treaty applies to the Senkaku Islands. Article 5 of the 1960 Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the two countries maintains that the United States will defend Japan if it is attacked by a third party. Japans constitution limits its military to a largely self-defense role. Moreover, while Japans constitution does not outright ban nuclear weapons, the nation does not maintain any type of nuclear weapons due to longstanding policies. Deepening Deterrence Officials from both countries further agreed to continue their work on extended deterrence and deepening multilateral and regional partnerships to ensure the continued stability and security of the Indo-Pacific region. To that end, Blinken said that the two nations were expanding their efforts to work together in several specific domains. Were committed to upholding shared values of democracy and human rights, defending the international rule of law, continuing to lead the world in tackling global challenges that no one country can solve alone, like the climate crisis and deadly viruses, Blinken said. In the face of these and other challenges, today we discussed ways to deepen our coordination, including on allied command and control, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, joint and shared usage of facilities, and increased bilateral exercises. Hayashi, Japans foreign minister, said that the need to counter the CCP was dire, and that the communist regime remained the greatest threat to the international order. China presents an unprecedented, and the greatest strategic challenge, Hayashi said. Its foreign policy to recreate the international order to serve its self-interest is a grave concern for the Japan-U.S. alliance and the whole of the international community. Blinken said the meeting was very productive and wide-ranging and would ensure that the alliance remained an enduring cornerstone of a free and open Indo-Pacific. The bottom line is this, Blinken said. We and our people are always stronger and more secure together. Australian Economy Loses $600 Million a Year Due to Container Port Inefficiencies Containers are loaded onto a cargo ship at Port Botany in Sydney, Australia, on June 4, 2021. (Saeed Khan/AFP via Getty Images) Port inefficiencies cost the Australian economy about $600 million (US$414 million) per year, causing consumers to pay more for imported goods. Following a year-long inquiry into container ports, the Productivity Commission found significant variations in the performance of ports across Australia with substantial implications for the economy. Currently, Australia relies on port activities greatly, as exports account for 20 percent of the countrys GDP, while imports equate to 16 percent. In the 2018-2019 financial year, ports handled 1.7 billion tonnes of freight with around $573 billion worth of cargo. The commission projected that by 2050, the volume of container freight moving through the Port of Brisbane would increase by over three times, while Melbourne and Sydney ports would see a nearly 300 percent and 50 percent rise, respectively. Despite the importance of ports in the economy, their performance was at the bottom 20 percent of 351 international ports, as revealed in a World Bank report in 2021. Poor Port Performance The Productivity Commission found that compared to their international peers, Australian ports took longer to load and unload ships even after factoring in the ship and call size. In addition, the performance of Australian ports dropped when the ship size increased. To illustrate, it takes the Port of Melbourne 27.3 hours and the Port of Sydney, 29.7 hours on average to turn around a ship that carries between 1,501 and 5,000 containers, compared to the international average of 24.7 hours. For ships with loads between 5,001 and 8,500 containers, the average turnaround time of Port of Melbourne and Port of Sydney rises to 33.6 hours and 45.2 hours, respectively, compared to the international average of 26 hours. Following investigations, the commission found that the main reason for slower turnaround times was the use of fewer quay cranes to handle containers. Workers prepare to load containers on a cargo ship at the Port Botany in Sydney, Australia, on Dec. 2, 2020. (Saeed Khan/AFP via Getty Images) While the commission acknowledged the poor performance of Australian ports, it noted that better-performing ports in other countries tended to enjoy higher capital investments. The international ports with the fastest turnaround times have considerably more capital than they need to efficiently handle current throughput, the report said. Use of more capital in Australia would reduce ship turnaround times but raise costs; the outcome would not necessarily be efficient. Faster turnaround times are good, but not at any cost. Monopoly and Industrial Action One major issue with Australian ports outlined in the report is the lack of competition in some parts of the maritime logistics system. The commission found that container ports across the country have some monopoly characteristics due to the small number of natural harbours suitable for large ships and the significant upfront infrastructure costs to build ports. As a result, port authorities can exert a certain degree of power over transport operators, which leads to higher costs in many cases. Transport operators have no choice about which terminal they use when picking up or dropping off a container, so they must pay whatever price a terminal operator sets, the report stated. Recent rapid increases in terminal access charges have flowed through to cargo owners and consumers. In another instance, transport operators and cargo owners have to pay fees for the late return of containers, even when the shortage of parking places for empty containers causes the delay. Meanwhile, the commission found that recent industrial action during negotiations between port authorities and workers imposed considerable costs on businesses relying on maritime freight. While the government had amended laws to limit the impacts of workplace disputes, the commission said there needed to be more effective remedies to mitigate industrial action harming consumers, importers and exporters. Recommendations for Tackling Port Inefficiencies The commission pointed out that Australian ports can improve their throughput by using their capital inputs more efficiently on the quayside, as indicated in the commissions set of best practices for ports. For instance, ports could lift their productivity by reducing the variability in crane rates and achieving more consistent high crane rates. In addition, the commission called on the government to introduce a set of mandatory codes to ensure terminal operators do not charge unreasonable fees. Regarding the industrial action issue, the commission said the government could amend current laws to ease the leading causes of workplace disputes, including constraints on casual worker numbers and merit-based hiring, promotion and training within container terminal operations. At the same time, the government should raise the maximum penalties for unlawful industrial action due to its significant adverse effects on the community and economy. The commission also called for rule changes to allow more foreign vessels to compete on domestic sea routes, which it said would promote more cost-effective shipping. Australian Government Urged to Divert New Immigrants to Regional Areas Cattle stand on the bank of a farm dam on a property between Tamworth and Gunnedah in north west New South Wales on May 4, 2020 in Gunnedah, Australia. (Mark Kolbe/Getty Images) The Australian government is urged to increase the resettlement rate of new migrants in regional areas to help fill a major shortage of workers. Regional Australia Institute (RAI), an independent think-tank, has said that increasing overseas migration is crucial to the economic growth and sustainability of the outer fringes of cities and towns in Regional Australia. The 2022 Population Statement projects in 2022-23 that less than 17 percent of net overseas migration will flow to regional Australia, said Liz Ritchie, the CEO of RAI, in a statement on Jan. 9. Regional Australia deserves a far greater share of Australias biggest driver of population growth. In its submission to the Home Affairs Departments review of the immigration system in December, RAI said the government should increase the rate of resettlement in outlying areas outside state cities from 20 percent to 40 percent. At a time when our regional cities and towns are crying out for skills and labour, reaching a record of over 96,000 job vacancies in late 2022, we need to be collectively looking at the systems and processes supporting migrants, so we have more calling regional Australia home, Ritchie said. Migration will be critical to the growth and sustainability of regional Australia over the next decade. Regional Australia Institute (RAI), an independent think-tank, said that increasing overseas migration is crucial to the economic growth and sustainability of the outer fringes of cities and towns in Regional Australia. Adults look on as children play in a park in the regional Australian city of Dubbo, Australia, on Nov. 7, 2021. (Jenny Evans/Getty Images) The 2021 census data shows that foreign-born immigrants are not opposed to settling outside metropolitan areas if they have the information and support to do so, according to the think tanks research. Of the 254 local government areas with an increase in Australian and overseas-born resident populations between the 2016 and 2021 Census periods, 70 percent were in regional areas outside the capital cities. Demand to live in regional Australia is not the issue, Ritchie said. To have more migrants living in regional Australia, we need to provide further awareness about job opportunities, including job support services, and ensure we have communities with enough housing and critical soft and hard infrastructure. We need to take a holistic view of the various factors impacting Australias migrant population, she said. Population planning, jobs, access to housing are all interlinked. The Business Council of Australia is calling on the government to set immigration quotas based on population and to provide easier access to permanent residency for temporary visa holders after some economic experts believe immigration is the only thing keeping the economy out of recession. A staff member prepares tables ahead of lunch trade at the Southern Highlands Brewing and Taphouse in Moss Vale, Australia, on Oct. 30, 2021. (Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images) Business Calls for Increase in Immigration Meanwhile, the Business Council of Australia (BCA) is calling on the government to set immigration quotas based on population and to provide easier access to permanent residency for temporary visa holders. Australia faces stiff competition as a migrant destination from other advanced economies that are also experiencing severe skills and labour shortages, reads the BCAs submission to the federal governments migration review. The submission recommends that the government consider setting the number of permanent immigrants it accepts into Australia as a percentage of the coutnrys total population. For example, the number of immigrants introduced by Canada in the next three years is a little more than one percent of the population, while Australias current annual immigration quota of 195,000 only accounts for about 0.75 percent of the population. The Morrison governments decision to reduce the immigration quota from 190,000 to 160,000 has been criticised. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison (R) addresses the crowd during a Q&A alongside Australian Minister for Immigration Alex Hawke (Centre) at a Hindu Council of Australia Multicultural Event in the electorate of Parramatta on May 14, 2022 in Sydney, Australia. (Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images) The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a drop in immigration to Australia, with the latest population report showing that by 2030, Australia will have 1.2 million fewer people than was predicted prior to the pandemic. Some economic experts believe immigration is the only thing keeping the economy out of recession. However, the former Morrison government reduced the quota from about 190,000 a year to 160,000 at one point, citing population pressures in big cities. Migration is an easy scapegoat for lack of infrastructure delivery and poor planning, but it is too important for us to continue down this path, the BCA said. The BCA also recommended that the government allow employers to bring in any foreign skilled worker from overseas who earns more than the average wage of $92,000 (US$63,300) a year. It reiterated a call made at last years employment summit to raise the immigration quota from 195,000 to 220,000 over the next two financial years and allocate 70 percent of places to skilled migrants. By Yao Zeyu and Zhang Tengjun Well-trained pawn Illustration: Vitaly Podvitski Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will meet with US President Joe Biden in Washington DC on January 13. This will be Kishida's first official trip to the US since he took office. Kishida said his meeting with Biden will be "very important" and "more significant than showing my face as G7 president," and "will show to the rest of the world an even stronger Japan-US alliance, which is a lynchpin of Japanese security and diplomacy." Since assuming office, the Kishida government has made substantial and transformative moves in promoting security strategy adjustments, which has attracted considerable attention. At the end of 2022, Japan released three new security documents, including a new National Security Strategy, which hyped regional threat and viewed neighboring countries such as China, North Korea and Russia as imaginary enemies. These documents served as excuses for Japan to greatly increase its military and defense spending, possess "counterstrike capabilities" and strengthen its security and defense alliance with the US. In recent years, Japan has been pushing forward the transformation of its security strategy and the upgrading of the Japan-US alliance. On the one hand, as the US vigorously promotes the implementation of the Indo-Pacific Strategy, especially the policy of containment on China, Japan's position in the US regional alliance system has risen. Japan's development of its defense capabilities and the promotion of Japan-US military integration are moves that complement and respond to the US' regional strategy. On the other hand, Japan sees the US' support for Japan's military expansion and continued tensions between China and the US as strategic opportunities for it to escape from postwar limitations. Japan hopes to provide "legitimacy" for its offensive military development by exaggerating external threats and hyping "a Taiwan emergency," and also tries to improve its international status by actively intervening in regional and international affairs in coordination with the US. The continued strengthening of the Japan-US alliance underscores the high degree of their consensus against China. First, Japan and the US are highly consistent in their positioning of China. In 2022, the US and Japan successively issued national security strategy documents. The former smears China as "the most consequential geopolitical challenge," and the latter regards China as "the greatest strategic challenge." Second, both the US and Japan hope to enhance deterrence against China by deepening military cooperation. The two held a large-scale joint exercise "Keen Sword 23" in November, and they set up a "Joint Tactical Coordination Center" on Yonaguni island, which is only 110 kilometers away from the Taiwan island. Third, they are attempting to "play the Taiwan card to contain China." The Japan-US summit is likely to reemphasize the "importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits" and deliberately exaggerate "China's military threat." Fourth, Japan now not only assumes more responsibilities in the US-led cliques, but also courts European powers to intervene in regional affairs. It can be said Biden's visit to Japan in May 2022 and Kishida's visit to the US this time will pave the way for the rapid development of the Japan-US alliance. This is undoubtedly a very vigilant signal for the entire Asia-Pacific region. First, it will significantly increase the risk of clashes among regional powers. Japan and the US are determined to jointly intervene in regional affairs, especially by holding high-intensity bilateral and multilateral military exercises, strengthening coordinated combat capabilities, and conducting "freedom of navigation operations" to maintain their so-called rules-based regional order. Such moves will deliberately create conflicts and interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, which will trigger strong countermeasures. Second, they will stimulate countries in the region to develop their military forces in response, raising the risk of a regional arms race. Japan relies on the support of the US to change from a position of "defense" to "counterstrike," which is a move that undermines the postwar regional order and changes the military balance in the region. It will arouse strong opposition from neighboring countries and high vigilance against a revival of Japanese militarism. Third, it will be more difficult to see the sign of hope for China-Japan relations. Japan's dangerous moves to strengthen its military and intervene in the Taiwan question deviate from the principles and spirit of the four political documents and a series of important consensuses between China and Japan. These moves also seriously undermine the foundation of mutual trust in building China-Japan relations in the new era. Japan's blindly following the US strategy of containing China will jeopardize bilateral relations jointly built by China and Japan over the past decades, risking the relations to enter an even more difficult cycle. The authors are fellows of the Department for Asia-Pacific Studies at the China Institute of International Studies. Shanghai (Gasgoo)- HOZON Auto, the Chinese startup owning the new energy vehicle (NEV) brand NETA, on Jan. 10 inked an agreement with CATL (Shanghai) Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. ("CATL Intelligent Tech"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of CATL, for the CIIC (CATL Integrated Intelligent Chassis) project, according to a post on NETA's WeChat account. The cooperation makes NETA the first Chinese startup-owned auto brand to research the CIIC technology. Photo credit: HOZON Auto Under the agreement, HOZON Auto and CATL Intelligent Tech will leverage their respective resources to co-develop the CIIC skateboard chassis. The first NETA-branded model equipped with the CIIC chassis is expected for launch as early as the end of 2024. The CIIC skateboard chassis integrates battery packs, electric motors, and other critical units into a single layer at the bottom of the vehicle, lowering purchasing cost and energy consumption while maximizing cabin space. HOZON Auto said it expects the CIIC technology to make NETA-branded vehicle reach a higher level in range, safety, intelligent driving, and other aspects. In addition, both parties intend to explore innovations in more business models based on new product forms. The latest move indicated the duos partnership has been further deepened after they struck a deal in Nov. 2021, under which the two companies would conduct all-around strategic cooperation in technology R&D and supply chain. Notably, CATL also joined the D2 funding round of HOZON Auto. Australias Top Polluters Will Get $600 Million to Reduce Emissions by 5 Percent Every Year A section of the Queensland Alumina Refinery in Gladstone, Queensland, Australia, on Jan. 18, 2012. The Refinery which opened in 1967 is one of the largest by Alumina production in the world. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt) Australias biggest polluters will be required to reduce their net emissions by almost 35 percent by 2030 under the federal governments new safeguard mechanism reforms. Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen said the reforms will support the countrys biggest emitters to remain competitive in a global economy while they work to reduce emissions. Trade-exposed facilities will be supported by an initial $600 million (US$414 million) in funding to compensate for the cost of transition and ensure competitiveness, so emissions do not leak overseas from businesses outsourcing operations. The safeguard mechanism was introduced by the previous Coalition government and requires the 215 facilities that annually produce over 100,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases to limit their net emissions below a baseline limit. When the baseline limit is exceeded, businesses can offset the excess emissions by purchasing carbon credits. A reformed safeguard mechanism is expected to deliver 205 million tonnes of abatement to the end of the decade, equivalent to cutting emissions from Australias cars by two-thirds over the same period, Bowen said. Australian Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen speaks during the Sydney Energy Forum in Sydney, Australia, on July 13, 2022. (Jaimi Joy Pool/Getty Images) The 215 mining, oil, and gas facilities emit around 28 percent of the countrys emissions, or 143 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, in 2022-23, according to government projections (pdf). The safeguard changes aim to reduce this to 100 million tonnes by 2030. The proposed baseline decline rate is to be 4.9 percent every year to 2030, with the system to commence on July 1. Decline rates after 2030 will be set every five years from 2027 to maintain the countrys progress towards net-zero by 2050, which was enshrined into law with the passing of the Climate Change Bill in September 2022. In finalising the approach to setting baselines, the government chose to implement a hybrid approach between site-specific and industry-average levels. At the commencement of the scheme, it will be heavily weighted towards site-specific levels to give facilities time to transition to industry average benchmarks. Bowen said the reforms would ensure that the mechanism delivered meaningful outcomes and was fit for purpose. Reforms to the safeguard will help create an effective, equitable and efficient trajectory to net-zero, he said. We know that 70 percent of facilities, representing over 80 percent of scheme emissions, already have corporate commitments to net zero by 2050this reform helps deliver the framework to get there. Recognising strong stakeholder interest, the government will also conduct a review to consider how best to prevent international carbon leakage risks, while protecting Australias reputation as a reliable and secure trading partner. Business Groups Welcome Reforms The Business Council welcomed the reforms, calling the safeguard mechanism a crucial tool to accelerate the decarbonisation of the economy. We must do everything we can to ensure Australia is at the global forefront of the clean energy transition, the council said. The Australian Industry Group (Ai Group), the peak national employer organisation, said the proposals were pragmatic, but there was clearly more work to do on major climate policy. The governments initial measures to help trade exposed facilities invest in their future and to moderate their potential costs will be helpful, Ai Group CEO Innes Willox said. However, trade exposure will grow more challenging over time as emissions baselines come down, particularly where alternative clean production processes continue to display a cost premium. Carbon Credit Scheme Well Designed, Review Finds The announcement comes after an independent review of the Carbon Credit Scheme, which had been criticised as having major flaws, found the systems design was sound. A six-month review led by leading Australian scientist Ian Chubb, as well as three other scientists, said the scheme had been working effectively after 11 years of operation. However, a foremost critic of the scheme, Andrew Macintosh from the Australian National University, has argued that 70 to 80 percent of traded carbon credits did not represent a genuine reduction in emissions, according to his research. Unfortunately, Australias carbon market currently suffers from a distinct lack of environmental integrity, Macintosh said in a statement. All of the major emission reduction methods have serious integrity issues, either in their design or the way they are being administered. Trees growing on forest land adjacent to Mount Rainier National Park are shown Monday, Nov. 23, 2015, near Ashford, Wash. The land is part of a new project of 520 acres on private timberland that allows the private nonprofit Nisqually Land Trust to sell so-called carbon credits to individuals and companiesincluding Microsoft Corp.who are hoping to offset their carbon footprints. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren) With the release of the report, Chubb said the four-person panel did not share Macintoshs view. There may be several reasons for the polar-opposite views. One is likely to be a lack of transparency, meaning that third parties cannot access the relevant data and so different conclusions can be drawn, and all genuinely held, he said. The Albanese government welcomed the findings and accepted the reports 16 recommendations to improve the scheme, which include providing more clarity, transparency, and information. The panels recommendations will help ensure Australias carbon crediting scheme has the highest integrity, and contributes to achieving Australias emission targets, Bowen said. Daniel Y. Teng contributed to this article. BC Escapee Gets Life Without Parole for 25 Years Over Grotesque Murder Jessica Payne, left, and her sister Calla Payne leave B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver, B.C., Dec. 15, 2022. (The Canadian Press/Darryl Dyck) A British Columbia Supreme Court judge has sentenced Zachary Armitage to life in prison without chance of parole for 25 years for the grotesque first-degree murder of Martin Payne at his home on Vancouver Island. Justice David Crossin says the killing in July 2019 was senseless and absolutely cowardly, without qualification. Co-defendant James Lee Buschs trial in November heard that he and Armitage escaped William Head prison and waited for their 60-year-old victim at his Metchosin home before they killed him. Busch was found guilty at trial, while Armitage changed his plea and admitted to first-degree murder. Just before he was sentenced, Armitage turned to Paynes family in the courtroom to apologize, saying he was disgusted with himself and the pain he had caused. The court also heard victim impact statements from Paynes family and loved ones. His daughter Jessica Payne said: How could this have happened to my dad? He was such a gentle and compassionate man. She said she often thinks of the violent way he died. This truly haunts me. Catherine Stewart, the mother of Paynes children, called him the patriarch of the family and said she doesnt understand why he had to die in such an inhumane and evil way. Paynes older sister, Colleen Payne, said he was brutally murdered and did nothing to cause this. She turned to address Armitage during her victim impact statement. My sincere hope is that you will seek help and try to heal your own inner pain. In his statement to Paynes family, Armitage said he wished he could take the pain all back. Id give my life for his. Im sorry. I wish you guys peace, he said. As Armitage left court, he reached out to a family member sitting in the front row, who took his hand. Im sorry, take care, Armitage said. Busch was sentenced last month to the same term of life without parole for 25 years, which is automatic for first-degree murder. Biden Admin Releasing Convicted Criminal Illegal Aliens Into US President Joe Biden (2nd R) and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas (L) speak with U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents on the Bridge of the Americas border crossing in El Paso, Texas, on Jan. 8, 2023. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images) The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released over 1,300 convicted criminal illegal aliens into the United States in the last three months of 2022. Federal law enforcement reported a spike in encounters with illegal aliens convicted of crimes since President Joe Biden took office two years ago and reversed many Trump-era immigration policies that were responsible for stemming the flow of illegal aliens across the U.S.Mexico border. This has resulted in the illegal entry of thousands of foreign criminals, including those convicted of assault, theft, rape, and murder. From Oct. 1 to Dec. 18, 1,363 illegal alien convicts and over 1,800 illegal aliens with pending criminal charges against them were released into the United States, according to the latest data from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). It appears that DHS is quietly increasing the number of releases, as the number of illegals released from custody in the first three weeks of December overtook the total number of releases in November, Breitbart reported. The White House has discouraged enforcement of existing federal immigration laws by backing sanctuary counties, which provide a local haven for the estimated 11 million to 22 million illegal aliens throughout the country from arrest and deportation, according to Breitbart. In a Jan. 5 announcement, the White House said the majority of people trying to cross the southern border into the United States are from Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti, and Venezuela, and that the government would expand its immigration parole program to allow illegal aliens from these countries to live and work in the United States. Up to 30,000 individuals per month from these four countries, who have an eligible sponsor and pass vetting and background checks, can come to the United States for a period of two years and receive work authorization, the White House said. GOP Lawmakers Target DHS Leadership, Funding RJ Hauman, head of government relations and communications at the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), told Breitbart that the Biden administration may be in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by allegedly ordering DHS to conduct the mass release of illegal alien convicts. The law explicitly requires that those who cross the border illegally be detained, but the Biden administration clearly doesnt want to detain or deport anyone, Hauman said. So it isnt surprising that they are attempting to undermine the rule of law by not only cutting overall detention capacity but illegally releasing criminal aliens as well. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) called for the resignation of DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in November. If Secretary Mayorkas does not resign, House Republicans will investigate every order, every action and every failure. Well determine whether we can begin impeachment inquiry, McCarthy said in a press conference. Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) called on his colleagues in the House to stop funding the DHS if it will not protect the southern border. It is time right now for the House majority to do our job, and were going to have to stop funding a Department of Homeland Security that refuses to secure the border of the United States, Roy said in a speech on the House floor on Monday. Biden Administration Responds After Federal Agency Suggests Gas Stove Ban The White House on Jan. 11 said President Joe Biden doesnt support a ban on natural gas stoves, after a consumer safety official suggested a ban is on the table for a meeting later this year. U.S. Consumer Product Safety (CPSC) Commissioner Richard Trumka Jr. told Bloomberg News earlier this week that natural gas stoves, used by millions of Americans every day, are a hidden hazard and said that any option is on the table. Products that cant be made safe can be banned, he said, adding that federal agencies could set standards on emissions from the appliances. He and Bloomberg cited a December 2022 study published by the think tank, Rocky Mountain Institute, in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, that claimed: 12.7 percent of current childhood asthma in the U.S. is attributable to gas stove use. Some medical experts questioned the studys conclusions after Trumkas remarks. Dr. Ran Goldman, a pediatrics professor at the University of British Columbia, said the study was merely a calculation of what could be causing asthma in children. This is not a true representation of what is happening and there is a huge uncertainty around how many children with asthma are truly because of those emissions. Asthma is a multifactorial disease, he told GlobalNews. Its a disease were still studying because its so complex. Not Coming for Anyones Gas Stoves But the White House told news outlets on Jan. 11 that the administration isnt looking to implement a federal ban on new gas stoves. The President does not support banning gas stovesand the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which is independent, is not banning gas stoves, the White House told news outlets. CPSC Chair Alexander Hoehn-Saric said on Jan. 11 that he isnt looking to ban gas stoves and the CPSC has no proceeding to do so, adding that the agency is researching gas emissions in stoves and exploring new ways to address health risks. CPSC also is actively engaged in strengthening voluntary safety standards for gas stoves. In the spring, the agency will be asking the public to provide us with information about gas stove emissions and potential solutions for reducing any associated risks, he added. And Trumka, the son of the late union boss Richard Trumka, walked back his comments to Bloomberg on Twitter on Jan. 9, saying the agency isnt coming for anyones gas stoves. My guiding duty is protecting consumer health and safety. Gas stoves can emit dangerous level of toxic chemicalseven when not in use, Trumka wrote. Sens. Cory Booker and Elizabeth Warren, as seen in a file photo, recently asked the CPSC about natural gas stove impacts. (Mike Segar/Reuters) A ban on natural gas appliances wouldnt be unprecedented. Californias Air Resources Board recently voted to implement a ban on new gas-powered furnacessimilarly claiming theres a link between gas and respiratory problems among childrenthe states public utilities commission in September 2022 unanimously voted to remove subsidies to builders for installing natural gas lines for new buildings beginning this year, and several cities in the state have banned new gas appliances. A group of federal lawmakers, including Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), wrote a letter (pdf) to the CPSC expressing concerns about risks posed to consumers about emissions generated by natural gas stoves. They claimed that black, Hispanic, and low-income individuals are disproportionately affected by those alleged risks. Criticism Following the Bloomberg interview, Republicans quickly criticized the Biden administration. Natural gas industry officials issued similar comments, with the American Gas Association saying in a statement this week that the December 2022 study is not substantiated by sound science. Over 40 million American households use gas stoves, Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Ala.) wrote. This type of power should never have been given to unelected bureaucrats and it is time for it to end. Palmer added that unelected bureaucrats should not have the type of power to even consider such an action and called for a reigning in of the Biden administration and their continual desire to control Americans lives and decisions. Industry officials also have said that a ban on gas cooking appliances would make housing more expensive because homes require retrofits to use electric stoves. Biden, Lopez Obrador, Trudeau Discuss Migration, Trade at Summit (LR) U.S. President Joe Biden, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attend the 10th North American Leaders Summit at the National Palace in Mexico City on Jan. 10, 2023. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images) MEXICO CITYPresident Joe Biden, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sought to downplay their frustrations with one another on migration and trade as they met for the near-annual North American Leaders Summit. The leaders offered a unified front on Tuesday despite tensions that have put a strain on their relationships even as Biden has made repairing alliances a cornerstone of his foreign policy agenda. The tensions were front and center when Biden and Lopez Obrador met on Monday, with the Mexican president complaining of abandonment and disdain for Latin America. But as they closed Tuesdays summit in Mexico City with a joint news conference, the leaders offered an optimistic outlook. Were true partners the three of us, said Biden, adding that they had genuine like for one another. We share a common vision for the future, grounded on common values. Lopez Obrador prodded Biden to insist Congress regularize illegal Mexican immigrants who work in industries where American employers are struggling mightily to find enough workers. The three-way gathering is 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 illegal immigrants 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 United States 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 a one-on-one 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 percent of Canadas exports go to the United States, 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. In their talks 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, 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 Trudeauafter the Canadian leader had delivered a statement to reporters in English and Frenchthat 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. Last year the Mexican leader skipped a Los Angeles summit of the Americas because Biden didnt invite the authoritarian leaders of Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua. But despite the tension, theres been cooperation. 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 migrants per month from Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti and Venezuela back across the border from among those who entered the United States illegally. Illegal imigrants 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 be able to work legally in the country for two years. 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. Lopez Obrador spoke at length about Mexicos efforts to control the flow into the United States of fentanyl, the synthetic opioid that has become a scourge for many American communities. He noted that his government gave the military control of sea ports to help with the interdiction of precursor chemicals coming from Asia. We are battling fentanyl, these chemicals, and we are doing it because we care. No human is foreign to us, he said. It really matters to us to be able to help with what is happening in the United States, the deaths from fentanyl. But also as we discussed today, it is not only an issue for the United States, because if we dont confront this problem, this scourge, we are going to suffer it, too. So we have to act in a coordinated way. Canada is being nudged by the United States and other allies 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. Trudeau on Tuesday called the situation heartbreaking. Both he and Biden said they will work with the United Nations Security Council to assist the Caribbean nation but also expressed caution about direct intervention. We need to make sure that the solutions are driven by the people of Haiti themselves, Trudeau said. Biden Surprised to Learn About Classified Documents in His Former Private Office U.S. President Joe Biden speaks to the media as part of the 2023 North American Leaders' Summit at Palacio Nacional on Jan. 10, 2023, in Mexico City, Mexico. (Hector Vivas/Getty Images) President Joe Biden on Jan. 10 said he was surprised to learn documents with classified markings were discovered inside an office where he once worked and that he doesnt know what the documents contain. It was the first time he addressed the finding that was revealed by his attorney on Jan. 9. Richard Sauber, special counsel to the president, said in a statement that the documents were located in a locked closet at the Penn Biden Center and found on Nov. 2, 2022. White House lawyers notified the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) on that day, and the agency took possession of the materials the following morning, according to Sauber. US President Joe Biden disembarks upon landing at Felipe Angeles International Airport in Zumpango de Ocampo, north of Mexico City on Jan. 8, 2023. (Claudio Cruz/AFP via Getty Images) Delivering public statements after the North American Leaders Summit with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in Mexico City, Biden said, People know I take classified documents classified information seriously. When my lawyers were clearing out my office at the University of Pennsylvania, they set up an office for me, a secure office, in the Capitol, the four years after being vice president, I was a professor at Penn, Biden explained. They found some documents in a box, you know, in a locked cabinet, or at least a closet. And as soon as they did, they realized there were several classified documents in that box and they did what they should have done. They immediately called the Archives turned them over to the Archives and I was briefed about this discovery and surprised to learn that there were any government records that were taken there to that office, Biden added. But I dont know whats in the documents my lawyers have not suggested I ask what documents they were, he continued. Ive turned over the boxes, theyve turned over the boxes to the Archives. And were cooperating fully, cooperating fully with the review. Summit in Mexico A reporter asked Biden if the public should have been alerted sooner. The president did not answer. Biden was in Mexico City for the 10th North American Leaders Summit, a two-day event that included one-on-one meetings with Trudeau and Lopez Obrador, and then a gathering with all three leaders on Jan. 10. After meeting with Trudeau on Jan. 10, Biden ignored reporters questions asking about the documents that were found and instead addressed his goals for the summit. The Penn Biden Center, NARA, the FBI, and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Epoch Times. Since the classified documents were found by attorneys for Biden, they were not subject to a NARA request or inquiry, Sauber said. 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. Located in Washington, the Penn Biden Center features a set of offices that are part of the University of Pennsylvania. A University of Pennsylvania webpage indicated that Biden joined the school as a professor in 2017. Justice Department Review Financial disclosures released by Biden show he received more than $900,000 from the university between 2017 and 2019. When Biden announced he was running for president in April 2019, he was placed on unpaid leave. On Jan. 9, the White House confirmed that the Justice Department is reviewing the classified documents. Attorney General Merrick Garland tasked U.S. Attorney John Lausch, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, to lead a review into the issue. Last August, materials with classified markings were located at Trumps Mar-a-Lago estate. FBI agents followed by executing a search warrant for additional documents. Trump said he declassified the documents before leaving office. U.S. attorneys have claimed that Trump violated multiple laws, including the handling of defense materials. Garland, a Biden appointee, appointed special counsel Jack Smith to oversee the investigation. Smith is also leading the probe into alleged unlawful interference with the transfer of power after the 2020 presidential election. In a 60 Minutes interview following the FBI raid, Biden criticized Trump for having classified documents. How could that possibly happen? How anyone could be that irresponsible totally irresponsible, Biden said in the interview. Trump Reaction Biden was asked last August if he thought it is ever appropriate to take home classified materials away from the White House. It depends, he said. Depending on the circumstance. For example, I have in my home a cabined-off space that is completely secure. Im taking home with me today, todays PDB [Presidents Daily Brief], Biden continued. Its locked, I have a person with me, military I read it, I lock it back up, and give it to the military. On Jan. 9, on Truth Social, Trump reacted to the materials found in Bidens office. 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 said. Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) is a top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee. On Jan. 10, he asked Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines to complete an immediate review and damage assessment regarding the storage of the documents. Same Treatment Expected Rep. James Comer, who is the GOP chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said in a statement, 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. Even Democrats are expressing concern about the documents. Obviously, if there are classified documents anywhere they shouldnt be, thats a problem and a deep concern, Rep. Adam Schiff of California, former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said. According to a statement from Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the House Oversight Committees top-ranking Democrat, lawyers 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, Raskin added. Zachary Stieber contributed to this story. Buttigieg: Feds Not Ruling Out Nefarious Activity Behind Grounding of All US Flights Democratic presidential candidate and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg appears in a Fox News town hall in Des Moines, Iowa on Jan. 26, 2020. (Steve Pope/Getty Images) Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said his agency isnt ruling out the possibility of nefarious activity being behind a computer outage that grounded all U.S. flights on Jan. 11. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which is overseen by Buttigiegs agency, halted all domestic flights after a problem with the Notice to Air Missions system that relays real-time flight hazards to pilots. The cause of the hour-long outage hasnt been determined. Were not prepared to rule that out, Buttigieg told MSNBC when he was asked if foul play, such as a cyberattack, was involved. There hasnt been any indication of that. Data from flight-tracking website FlightAware.com show that more than 8,600 flights in, out, and within the United States were delayed on Jan. 11. More than 1,200 flights were canceled. The Jan. 11 incident was the first national grounding of flights since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, officials told Reuters. Buttigieg, a former presidential candidate, stressed that theres no evidence that indicates malign actors were involved in the outage, while a similar statement was issued by White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Twitter. There is no direct indication of any kind of external or nefarious activity, but we are not yet prepared to rule that out, Buttigieg said, and Jean-Pierre said there is no evidence of a cyberattack. President Joe Biden was briefed on the outage and spoke with Buttigieg during the morning, the president told reporters. Like Buttigieg, Biden said it isnt clear what caused the outage. They dont know what the cause is, Biden told reporters. I told them to report directly to me when they find out. Aircraft can still land safely, just not take off right now. They dont know what the cause of it is, they expect in a couple of hours theyll have a good sense of what caused it and will respond at that time. The ground stop was the right call to make sure messages were moving correctly and there was no direct evidence of a cyberattack, Buttigieg said. [The] FAA has determined that the safety system affected by the overnight outage is fully restored, and the nationwide ground stop will be lifted effective immediately, he said in a separate statement on Jan. 11. I have directed an after-action process to determine root causes and recommend next steps. An FAA advisory said the system that provides so-called Notices to Air Missions with safety messages for pilots and others failed in the afternoon on Jan. 10, which meant no new messages could be processed. While the outage occurred at a typically slow time after the holiday travel season, demand remains strong as travel continues to recover to near pre-pandemic levels. The departures board is overwhelmed with delayed and canceled flights at Dallas Love Field in a file photo. (Shelby Tauber/Reuters) Over the holiday season, thousands of mostly Southwest Airlines flights were canceled or delayed amid what the firm blamed on a staffing problem and poor weather conditions due to a historic winter storm that hammered the United States. Buttigieg at the time said an investigation would occur. Catastrophic Airline and industry groups, meanwhile, sharply criticized the Biden administration and FAA for the system failure. Todays FAA catastrophic system failure is a clear sign that Americas transportation network desperately needs significant upgrades, Geoff Freeman, head of the U.S. Travel Association, said in a statement. Americans deserve an end-to-end travel experience that is seamless and secure. And our nations economy depends on a best-in-class air travel system, he said. We call on federal policymakers to modernize our vital air travel infrastructure to ensure our systems are able to meet demand safely and efficiently. The FAA confirmed earlier this month that it had encountered a separate significant computer error on Jan. 2 that led to delays in Florida. The agency later said in a statement that a computer issue was behind the delays and that it had been resolved. The outage appeared to have limited effect on trans-Atlantic routes, with European carriers including Lufthansa, Air France, Iberia, and British Airways saying flights are continuing in and out of the United States. Virgin Atlantic cautioned that some flights might be delayed. Reuters contributed to this report. California Storm Death Toll Reaches 17; Another to Hit This Weekend People look on as a tow truck pulls a car out of a flooded intersection in Mill Valley, Calif., on Jan. 4, 2023. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) Powerful rainstorms hitting California over the past two weeks have killed 17 people, the states emergency department reported on Jan. 11. Its been a very dangerous and deadly series of events, Brian Ferguson, deputy director of the Office of Emergency Services, told The Epoch Times. The victims lived in nine different counties, with the number of fatalities higher than those killed in the past two wildfire seasons combined, Ferguson said. Shelters were opened throughout California to serve the 48,000 residents evacuated from their homes. About 40,000 others were still under evacuation warnings on Jan. 11, Ferguson added. Emergency crews continued to search for Kyle Doan, a 5-year-old boy who was swept away by floodwaters on Jan. 9 near San Miguel, about 130 miles southeast of San Jose. His mother, a local teacher, was rescued by bystanders, according to reports. Affected regions are still cleaning up overflowing rivers and streams from the last storm. Officials continue to watch for mudslides and debris flowing from saturated ground. We are very much not out of the woods yet, Ferguson said. In Los Angeles, four people were rescued on Jan. 9 from a 15-foot sinkhole that collapsed under a flooded roadway in the Chatsworth neighborhood. In this image taken with a drone, a vehicle is stuck in a sinkhole in the Chatsworth section of Los Angeles on Jan. 10, 2023. (Jae C. Hong/AP Photo) Two storms have drenched the state since Dec. 30, 2022, causing widespread flooding, road closures, and mass evacuations. As of Jan. 11, AccuWeather estimated the economic loss caused by the recent series of storms to be $31 billion to $34 billion, its chief meteorologist, Jonathan Porter, told The Epoch Times. The damages include widespread power outages, major flooding, road closures, numerous landslides and mudslides, many fallen trees, as well as damage to cars, homes, and businesses, especially in developed and populated areas, Porter said. More than 2 million power outages were also reported, he said. Water damage, he added, is more costly to repair and oftentimes underinsured or not covered by homeowners insurance policies. AccuWeather expects the economic loss to mount as storms continue to march through parts of California through Jan. 18, according to Porter. Several highways remained closed on Jan. 11 in Southern California. Highway 150 is closed between Ojai and Santa Paula because of debris and mud, and between Ojai and Ventura County near Carpinteria. Highway 33 is also closed north of Ojai at Lockwood Valley Road, CalTrans reported. Officials also closed beaches in Ventura County after sewage spilled from a sewer system into Oak View Creek, county officials reported. Beaches near the mouth of the Ventura River remain closed. California State Parks has closed 51 parks and partially closed another 40. Parks will reopen based on safety and weather conditions, but officials werent yet able to provide a timeline. Santa Cruz County bore the brunt of the storm, which left extensive damage on its road systems, with some buckling and cracking as rain drenched the region, officials reported on Jan. 11. Several roads remained closed, including sections of State Route 9. A man wades through a flooded street in the Rio Del Mar neighborhood of Aptos, Calif., on Jan. 9, 2023. (Nic Coury/AP Photo) Mendocino County in central California was also hit hard by the storm on Jan. 9, with parts of the upscale city of Santa Barbara evacuated. Highway 101, a coastal highway, was closed but reopened on Jan. 10. In Los Angeles, the last storm that struck the area on Jan. 9 delivered 3.35 inches of rain downtown, Mike Wofford, lead forecaster at National Weather Service and meteorologist at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), told The Epoch Times. Our annual rain total is usually around 15 inches, so that was more than one-fifth of that, Wofford said. Southern California was drying off on Jan. 11 as the region braced for a slightly weaker storm that was expected to hit on Jan. 14. This next one will have considerably less impact in terms of rain amounts, Wofford said. It will be more along the lines of around an inch of rain for the [Los Angeles] area. Its also expected to bring snow to the upper elevations near 6,000 feet, reaching some ski resorts at Big Bear and Mountain High. Highway 5 at the Grapevine shouldnt see any impacts, though, he added. Though bringing less rain, it could pose flooding risks because much of the region is still recovering from the last storm. NOAA doesnt anticipate issuing storm warnings for the next system. A downpour of rain hits the 55 Freeway in Costa Mesa, Calif., on Jan. 5, 2023. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times) Our message to Californians is simple: be hyper-vigilant, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement on Jan. 9. There are still several days of severe winter weather ahead and we need all Californians to be alert and heed the advice of emergency officials. President Joe Biden approved the governors request for a federal emergency declaration on Jan. 9, activating federal support for storm response and recovery efforts. Canadian Army Waiting for Air-Defence Systems as Ottawa Buys Equipment for Ukraine An camouflaged ADATS (Air Defense Anti Tank System) scans the skies deployed as part of G8 Summit security in the Kananaskis Valley, Saturday June 22, 2002. (The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld) The federal Liberal governments plan to buy anti-aircraft missiles for Ukraine is prompting questions about why such equipment isnt being bought for the Canadian Army. The Army has been without weapons to defend Canadian troops from enemy aircraft, rockets and drones since the last of its anti-air weapons were retired in 2012, and efforts to acquire new ones have remained stuck in neutral for years. Multiple Army commanders have described the lack of such weapons as a key deficiency for the Canadian military, including defence chief Gen. Wayne Eyre, when he was the head of the Army in 2019. That December, Eyre said restoring anti-aircraft defence was one of his top priorities. A spokesman for Defence Minister Anita Anand said on Tuesday that the provision of an American-made surface-to-air missile system to Ukraine, at a cost of $406 million, would help protect against air attacks on Ukrainian cities, infrastructure and military sites. Russias illegal and unjustifiable invasion of Ukraine is also an attack on the international rules that keep us all safe, Daniel Minden said in an email. In other words, Ukraines security is Europes security and the worlds securityincluding Canadas. The decision to purchase surface-to-air missiles for Ukraine was applauded by retired military officers who spoke to The Canadian Press, but they also questioned why Ottawa wasnt doing the same thing for the Canadian military. Former Liberal MP and retired Army commander Andrew Leslie said his first reaction to news about the systems for Ukraine was: Excellent. And in about three seconds, it went from, Excellent, were buying this for Ukraine to Now, why the hell arent you buying it for Canada?' he said. The need for anti-air defence is particularly relevant now as the Canadian military prepares to deploy more soldiers and equipment to Latvia, where Canada is leading a NATO battle group charged with defending eastern Europe from Russia. Minden did not say why Canada was buying whats known as the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System for the Ukrainian military but not its own. He instead pointed to a procurement project launched by the Liberal government in 2018 to obtain a variety of anti-air defensive systems. That $1-billion ground-based air defence project is expected to deliver a variety of capabilities to defend against different threats. Yet it isnt scheduled to deliver anything to the Army until at least 2027. In the meantime, Minden said, Canada continues to operate alongside allied nations who have this capability. Retired lieutenant-general Marquis Hainse says the need for what is known as ground-based air defence system was identified back in 2013, when he took over as commander of the Army. We certainly pushed it up as a priority for the Army in my time and somehow we never got there, he said in an email. Analysts have previously noted that when the Canadian military put away the last of its anti-air weapons in 2012, it was on the assumption that Canada and its allies would have air superiority in any battle and not have to worry about airborne attacks. But Hainse noted that the war in Ukraine has highlighted a number of different gaps in the Canadian militarys capabilities, including the need for air defences. He and Leslie said the surface-to-air missile system, which is designed to intercept short- to medium-range threats, may not be perfect, but its a start. Is it a pretty good system? Yes, Leslie said. Is it bleeding edge technology? No. But we have nothing right now. Retired lieutenant-general Guy Thibault, who previously served as vice-chief of the defence staff, said there were arguably legitimate reasons for why the government took its time on buying a ground-based air defence system for the military in previous years. Those include the lack of a clear threat, other priorities and Ottawas emphasis on made-in-Canada content and economic benefits, which has been a hallmark of the Canadian military procurement system over the past decade. But I would think that things have changed in peoples minds when theyre watching whats going on in Europe, and thinking about our forces that are on the frontlines there, he said. And as a significant partner in NATO, I think its rather shameful that we couldnt provide these kinds of capabilities, or that were not in a position to provide more capacity to contribute to the alliances defence and deterrence mission in Europe. Canadian Military to Screen Applicants for Symbols Linked to Problematic Attitudes Canadian soldiers wait to meet Minister of Defence Anita Anand in Adazi, Latvia, on Feb. 3, 2022. (Gints Ivuskans/AFP via Getty Images) To further its cultural transformation, the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) seeks to screen individuals before or after recruitment for problematic attitudes by using new tools, including a database of symbols built with outside expertise. A symbology dataset was created and will be continually updated, in consultation with, or outsourced to, external experts, to increase CAF recruiters awareness of extremist, racist, discriminatory, or hateful conduct, or other unacceptable attitudes that are displayed through applicant tattoos and body adornments, the organization wrote in its December response to Louise Arbours report. This was to specifically address recommendation 22 of the report, which states that the CAF should put new processes in place to ensure that problematic attitudes on cultural and gender-based issues are both assessed and appropriately dealt with at an early stage, either pre- or post-recruitment. The report identified the issues, but said questions remain about ways to screen for inappropriate or dangerous beliefs, morals, and cultural views. Arbour, a former judge of the Supreme Court, had been tasked with conducting a review of the CAF with regards to sexual and other types of misconduct. The report was tabled in May 2022. Defence Minister Anita Anand said in December her department accepted all of the reports 48 recommendations and that implementation work had started on 17 of them. While DND said in its December response the symbology dataset had been created, the department now says it is more in the embryonic phase. Work on the symbology dataset is preliminary at this point in time, spokesperson Derek Abma told The Epoch Times. DND would not share the work thats been done so far and could not provide a timeline for when it will enter use to screen applicants and recently accepted members. Many details about how it will be developed, including which external experts will be consulted or outsourced, are still to be determined, said Abma. Improving screening to detect actual Neo-Nazis or terrorist sympathizers will protect the organization, but the issue can become very political if the frame of reference is built on the government-of-the-days list of what is considered acceptable views and what isnt. Attempts by the Liberal government to regulate what it considers unsavoury has been met with criticism and has also backfired recently. Heritage Canada had hired consultant Laith Marouf and his group Community Media Advocacy Centre (CMAC) to conduct anti-racism workshops. Marouf was then revealed to be himself a virulent anti-Semite, calling Jews bags of human feces. The federal government also funded an anti-racism toolkit for schools that Conservative MP Leslyn Lewis called shockingly hateful. The toolkit says that Canadas former flag, the Red Ensign, is a hate-promoting symbol and that alt-right white nationalists sometimes attempt to infiltrate mainstream Conservative political parties to influence change. Yes, I have encountered racists in my life. But believe me: racists have no particular party affiliation, Lewis said. The federal government provided $268,400 to the Canadian Anti-Hate Network (CAHN) to help with its project. WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif.The newly merged Fleshbot powered by Cybersocket joins forces with Streamen to present an LGBTQ+ focused industry mix and mingle on Thursday, Jan. 12 from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at Roccos WeHo in West Hollywood. In attendance will be members of the Fleshbot team of porn star columnists, studio partners, Streamen reps and gay porn personalities. The event announcement states, "Come mix, mingle and network with the leading names in the adult industry from in front of and behind the camera! Looking to make new connections with power players in the adult industry? Looking for new on-camera talent? Want to get into camming? This is your chance to meet your favorite porn personalities and network with other LGBTQ and ally business owners and decision-makers. Grab a cocktail and network! All are welcome!" We are thrilled to start the new year off with our debut as Fleshbot for this fun and sexy power mixer," stated Alexander Rodriguez, director of Fleshbot Gay. "Partnering with Streamen for this event opens up our networking to a whole different side of the industry. This is a perfect opportunity to network, build bridges with our straight allies, and work together in presenting quality queer content in the adult world. For more information, contact Alexander Rodriguez, Fleshbot Gay director at [email protected] or (323) 828-7658. Carry Water for Beijing: Rubio Sounds Alarm on JP Morgans Partnership With TikToks Chinese Owner JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon testifies before the House Financial Services Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington on April 10, 2019. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images) Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) has raised strong concern over banking giant JP Morgan Chases decision to partner with China-based ByteDance to develop its next-generation payment systems. ByteDance is the parent company of social media giant TikTok, and has drawn heightened scrutiny over its ties with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which rules China as a single-party state. Both JP Morgan and ByteDance have previously refused to comment on the partnership or when it began, but a payment system jointly deployed by the companies reportedly allows real-time exchange of data between ByteDance and J.P. Morgan so that ByteDance can see and monitor payments. Such a project raises numerous red flags concerning national security, as CCP laws require that China-based companies make all data in their possession available to the Party upon request. This means that any American banking information in ByteDances possession can effectively be controlled by the CCP. Rubio criticized the deal in a letter issued to JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon, demanding the companys reasoning for a move that could imperil U.S. consumers security. Assisting online companies to build out real-time payments systems, centralize banking structures, and streamline access to millions of users financial information is no doubt lucrative, Rubio wrote in the Jan. 11 letter. However, by partnering with ByteDance to develop a treasure trove of private data, including that of millions of Americans, JPMorgan Chase has effectively handed the combination to the vault to the CCP, as well. A Known National Security Threat Dimon, who has served as CEO of the bank since 2005, has long dedicated himself to further entrenching the economic entanglement of the United States and China. During a Jan. 10 interview with Fox News, Dimon said that the United States should not curb business relations with communist China and downplayed the threat posed by the CCP. Yes, there are a lot of challenges in a lot of countries [we] do business in, Dimon said. Leaving the country isnt really the best thing for the future of America. His comments came amid escalating concern over the national security risks passed by ByteDance and TikTok. In December, ByteDance admitted that its employees had actively stalked U.S. journalists who were covering the company in a bid to track internal sources who may have leaked information to the reporters. This effort was carried out by illicitly accessing user IP data sent to the company from TikTok, and cross-referencing that data with the known locations of ByteDance employees who might serve as sources for the journalists. The team that oversaw the surveillance campaign was ByteDances Internal Audit and Risk Control department, a Beijing-based unit primarily responsible for conducting investigations into potential misconduct by current and former ByteDance employees, a Buzzfeed report said of the incident. Citing the CCPs data laws, CIA Director William Burns has warned that TikTok was a national security threat specifically because of its ties to ByteDance, which ensured that any data collected from the app could be used in CCP influence operations. Because the parent company of TikTok is a Chinese company, the Chinese government is able to insist upon extracting the private data of a lot of TikTok users in this country, and also to shape the content of what goes on to TikTok as well to suit the interests of the Chinese leadership, Burns said during a December interview with PBS. I think those are real challenges and a source of real concern. Rubio said that JP Morgans decision to select ByteDance to develop the payment system was a blow to national security, as it would likely allow the CCP to dramatically increase its access to Americans most vital private information. It is concerning enough for JPMorgan Chase to carry water for Beijing and falsely characterize ByteDances mission [as] to inspire creativity and enrich life, rather than disseminate CCP propaganda and censor references to the Uyghur genocide, Rubio said. Even more alarming, however, is that JPMorgan Chase is now actively working with ByteDance to enlarge its capacity for real-time data exchange, track and trace and to see and monitor payments in light of its repeated gross abuses of user information. The Epoch Times has requested comment from ByteDance and JP Morgan Chase. Chances of Reenlistment Unclear for Discharged Troops After Pentagon Rescinds COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate Those ejected with less than an 'honorable discharge' can petition for change The Department of Defense is formally ending the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for the U.S. military and the National Guard, but did not provide any signal as to whether those discharged over having refused the vaccine would have any chance of being reenlisted. Meanwhile, for those who are currently serving in the armed forces, none shall be separated solely on the basis of their refusal to receive the COVID-19 vaccination if they sought an accommodation on religious, administrative, or medical grounds, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin wrote in a memorandum (pdf) on Jan. 10. The Military Departments will update the records of such individuals to remove any adverse actions solely associated with denials of such requests, including letters of reprimand, Austin said in the memo. The Secretaries of the Military Departments will further cease any ongoing reviews of current Service member religious, administrative, or medical accommodation requests solely for exemption from the COVID-19 vaccine or appeals of denials of such requests. The directive comes after a Pentagon official announced on Jan. 5 the department had rescinded the mandate and was in the process of developing further guidance on vaccines for the force. All actions related to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate, which Austin had imposed in August 2021, had been halted by the Pentagon in late December 2022. Austin said in the Jan. 10 memo that COVID-19 vaccines have been given to over 2 million service members and that 96 percent of the active and reserve forces are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. He said he is deeply proud of the Pentagons efforts to combat COVID-19. More than 8,000 service members have been discharged for refusing the vaccine. The Pentagon will continue to promote and encourage COVID-19 vaccination for all Service members, Austin said. For the service members who were administratively discharged on the sole basis that the Service member failed to obey a lawful order to take the vaccine, Austin said the Pentagon is prevented by law from giving anything less than a general (under honorable conditions) discharge. A general discharge is a step down from an honorable discharge and is generally given to troops who had satisfactory service but had minor misconduct. Those who received a general discharge may petition their military departments discharge review boards for correction of military or naval records to request a correction to the characterization of their discharge, he said. Reenlistment Unclear After Thousands Discharged President Joe Biden, on Dec. 23, 2022, signed into law the $858 billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for the fiscal year 2023, which had passed via bipartisan majorities in the House and Senate. The legislation stipulated that Austin must rescind the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for members of the armed forces within 30 days of Bidens signature. Austin cited the legislation in repealing the mandates issued in August 2021 for U.S. military members and in November 2021 for the National Guard. Republican lawmakers, who comprised the minority in both chambers last year, had pushed for the removal of the vaccine mandate and celebrated the provision in the NDAA upon its passing in the House and Senate. The Pentagon discharged a total of 3,300 Marines, 1,800 soldiers, 1,800 sailors, and 900 airmen simply based on their personal decision to not take the COVID vaccine, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said in a statement on Dec. 6, 2022. These heroes deserve justice now that the mandate is no more, he said. The Biden administration must correct service records and not stand in the way of reenlisting any service member discharged simply for not taking the COVID vaccine. The Pentagon has not immediately responded to a request for comment from The Epoch Times on whether it has any plans to reenlist those who had been discharged for the sole reason of refusing the COVID-19 vaccine. A member of the U.S. military receives the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at Camp Foster in Ginowan, Japan, on April 28, 2021. (Carl Court/Getty Images) Opposition to Mandates Until the passing of the NDAA, the military COVID-19 mandates had been kept in placeeven amid plummeting efficacy of the vaccine against infection and severe illness since the spread of the Omicron variant in late 2021, and research suggesting that natural immunity could be more effective than vaccination. The mandates saw resistance among troops and Americans at large, including lawmakers in Congress, who argued in favor of bodily autonomy free from coercion. Even before the mandates, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) in July 2021 shared that military members said they would quit instead of receiving a COVID-19 vaccine. By October 2022, just two months before Congress passed the NDAA, The Epoch Times reported that military officers who became injured after their COVID-19 vaccinations called for the mandate to be scrapped. The military has notoriously issued mass rejections for religious requests for exemptions to the mandate, triggering multiple court challenges. Judges had blocked three of the four branches from discharging most members seeking religious exemptions over the treatment, which the judges said violated the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Just 0.5 percent of the religious accommodation requests have been approved by the Marines, followed by 1 percent for the Navy, 2.3 percent for the Air Force, and 6 percent for the Army. Thousands of requests were still not adjudicated before the mandate was withdrawn. Soldiers file paperwork before being administered COVID-19 vaccines in Fort Knox, Ky., on Sept. 9, 2021. (Jon Cherry/Getty Images) Troop Retention Concerns McCarthy said in December that the Army and Navy missed their 2022 recruitment goals by thousands of service members. Meanwhile, noting the thousands discharged, McCarthy said the COVID-19 vaccine mandate was detrimental to the ranks, and there is no doubt it put our national security at risk. McCarthys concerns over military retention were reflected in a projection by the Army National Guard in October 2022 of a loss of as many as 14,000 soldiers across the country over the next two years. This was attributed to refusals to comply with the COVID-19 vaccine mandate. A loss of 9,000 soldiers was projected for the fiscal year 2023, and another 5,000 soldiers was projected for fiscal 2024, if the mandate persisted. Austin, also on Dec. 6, 2022, drew public attention to recruitment and said theres no hard data that directly links the COVID mandate to an affect on our recruiting. A day later, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said in a statement that the mandate appears to have very minimal impact on recruiting. The two did not comment on retention. Zachary Stieber contributed to this report. China Lifts Veil on Ambitions for Hegemony in Space NASA chief says the United States better watch out The Yutu-2 moon rover, taken by the Chang'e-4 lunar probe on the far side of the moon on Jan. 11, 2019. China will seek to establish an international lunar base one day, possibly using 3D printing technology to build facilities, the Chinese space agency said on Jan. 14, 2019, weeks after landing the rover on the moon's far side. (China National Space Administration/AFP via Getty Images) Commentary The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) does not broadcast its ambitions to achieve hegemony in space in order to enforce its ambitions for hegemony on Earth. Still, it has turned the chairman and Party secretary of its leading space contractor, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), into a major spokesman for gradually revealing the Partys imperial ambitions in space. CASC builds tactical and intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and many space launch vehicles (SLVs). It is the leading Chinese company for building rockets and landers to support Chinas goal of putting people on the moon by 2030 or earlier. Also, by giving political prominence to CASCs chairman, the CCP is continuing its longstanding practice of lionizing key leaders in science and technology as servants of the Party dictatorship and its hegemonic ambitions. In the January 2016 issue of the important CCP journal Qiushi (Seeking Truth), former CASC Chairman Lei Fanpei exhorted his colleagues, To adhere to the path of development of civil-military integration, in the future demonstration project for deep space exploration, manned moon landing, heavy launch vehicle, and other major projects. Civil-military integration being a major CCP national policy to ensure the civilian sector does all it can to benefit the military, this was a rare admission from a top Chinese space official that Chinas manned moon program would also be designed to benefit the CCPs Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) or to put weapons on the moon. Since 2018, the CASC chairman has been Wu Yansheng, a now 59-year-old Ph.D. engineer whose loyalty to the Party and the building of its power has been an essential requirement for his rise to chairman. On Dec. 2, 2020, the Sina Finance website reported Wu telling the China Entrepreneur Annual Conference, Chinas aerospace mission is to build a powerful aerospace country, support the construction of a world-class military, and build a world-class aerospace enterprise group. When Chinese officials speak of building a world-class military, they usually mean a military power that is dominant globally. More recently, on Dec. 15, 2022, Wu gave a major presentation on Chinas state television, in which he stated that Chinas goal was to rank among the top aerospace powers of the world by 2030 to become a world aerospace power by 2045. This means that Chinas goal is to become the worlds dominant space power by 2045 as an adjunct to the CCPs goal of becoming the political-military-economic hegemon on Earth by 2049. Wu also affirmed previous reports of Chinas manned moon ambitions, that China would start testing its first man-rated 25-tons to the moon space launcher, now called the Long March-5G, in 2027, and will begin testing its 50-tons to the moon Long March-9 in 2030. Wu revealed that China would also build a space internet for the moon consisting of lunar satellites that combine communication, surveillance, and navigation functions to support unmanned and manned activities on the moon. Among its many visual accompaniments, Wus televised speech provided the latest depiction of Chinas single-stage moon lander, a concept first revealed by other Chinese space officials in 2018. However, the Chinese state television presentation deliberately tried to conceal images showing this moon lander will use a large propulsion stage, similar to the Soviet-era Bloc-D propulsion stage, designed to take its single-stage LK lander close to the moon before crashing to the surface. A deliberately faded Chinese moon lander with a large propulsion module behind CASC Chairman Wu Yansheng in his state-televised speech on Dec. 15, 2022. (Screenshot of CCTV program provided by Rick Fisher) This confirms that if China employs this single-stage moon lander concept, its propulsion stage would then bomb the moons surface. This could become a significant hazard as the moons south pole becomes crowded with the U.S. and other manned and unmanned settlements. Much of Wus speech reiterated that Chinas aerospace sector must follow the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, with CCP Chairman Xi Jinping at the core, and that the space sector would strive to fulfill CCP goals to be daring, secure the first move, and to constantly stress innovation in space technology. One such innovation mentioned by Wu was that China would build a 4S Shop in space that would repair, replace, upgrade, and build spacecraft in space, a seeming effort to exceed the current paradigm of building reusable spacecraft on Earth, now dominated by the U.S. SpaceX Corporation. Wus presentation also stressed the U.S. challenge to Chinas space ambitions, including restarting great power competition and how the Wolf Amendment has barred China from the International Space Station. Wu mentioned Washingtons more recent blacklisting of Chinese space companies and accused the United States of trying to dominate moon resources and take useful orbits and locations. He also stressed the need to build a system of space law and space environmental governance, an indication that China will formulate and seek support for its own set of rules, having already rejected the U.S.-sponsored Artemis Accords for behavior on the moon. The danger is that the Chinese regime will not offer fair rules, but use lawfare to isolate and preemptively constrain Western powers on the moon and beyond, and even use such laws to justify Chinese military operations on the moon and beyond. A kind of response to Wus speech came from National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Administrator Bill Nelson, published in a Jan. 1 report in Politico, in which he stressed the space threats from China. Nelson told Politico regarding China: It is a fact: were in a space race. And it is true that we better watch out that they dont get to a place on the moon, under the guise of scientific research [in which they say]: Keep out, were here, this is our territory. In addition, Nelson cited the Chinese regimes record of territorial imperialism in the South China Sea as a preview of its behavior on the moon, saying: If you doubt that, look at what they did with the Spratly Islands. Of course, one should not expect Chinas space spokesmen like CASCs Wu Yansheng to respond to concerns from the United States, or other countries, that the regimes aggression in the South China Sea, or against Taiwan, will be used to justify its placement of weapons on the moon or its conduct of combat operations on the moon. Chinese journals have already proposed placing lasers on the moon to conduct scientific surveillance of the Earths atmosphere. But given the all-encompassing requirements of Chinas civil-military integration policies, one should expect that Chinese moon garrisons may include more powerful laser weapons capable of damaging U.S. deep space early warning satellites, which are essential for deterring Chinese and Russian nuclear aggression. It is critical, irrespective of any future Chinese-led wars on Earth, that the United States sustain its ability to work with its allies and partners under the Artemis Accords to build a presence on the moon that helps to deter Chinese aggression. This should include, as NASAs Nelson is doing, timely and recurrent explanations of the dangers posed by Chinas ambitions to control the Earth-moon system and deep space, and to eventually deny the ability of the democracies to benefit from the growing space economy. In 2017, a year before Wu became its chairman, CASC issued a road map of goals that would enable China to dominate the space economy, including reusable large SLVs, nuclear-powered space shuttles to access the moon and Mars, large space-based solar energy satellites, and deep space mining. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. China May Place Weapons on the Moon to Counter US and Allies, Expert Warns A Long March-4C rocket lifts off from the southwestern Xichang launch center carrying the Queqiao ("Magpie Bridge") satellite in Xichang, China's southwestern Sichuan Province, on May 21, 2018. This communications relay satellite allows a rover to send images from the far side of the moon on an unprecedented mission later in 2018. (China OUT/AFP via Getty Images) As the United States and China are racing to resume sending astronauts to the moon, China might militarize the lunar surface as Beijing sets to establish a permanent presence there, warns Rick Fisher, senior fellow with the International Assessment and Strategy Center. So if the PLA [Peoples Liberation Army] is going to the moon, the PLA is very likely going to be bringing military capabilities to the moon. And theyll probably not hesitate to use those military capabilities if there is a conflict with the United States or another country among many that are planning to put assets on the moon, Fisher told the China in Focus program on NTD, the sister media outlet of The Epoch Times. Chinas space program, its entire space program, is controlled by the Peoples Liberation Army and is designed almost entirely to produce dual-use military benefits for the Peoples Liberation Army, he added. China Reveals Date of First Manned Moon Mission: Rick Fisher on This Years Zhuhai Airshow | China in Focus (NTD) Limit Access to Resources In this second moon race, the United States and China will compete for strategic positions and secure access to resources, according to Fisher. Space technology has advanced to the point where we can consider accessing the moon both economically and for real profit. We can use water on the moon to produce oxygen and use resources, metals, and other materials, minerals on the moon, to build things, to build an infrastructure, perhaps to build spaceships to go to Mars, or to build large solar energy gathering satellites that will be put in cislunar, he said. He expressed concerns that the Chinese regime might try to limit access to the moons resource-rich areas from the United States, citing the recent warning from NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. NASA director Nelson in an interview with Politico, made clear his fears that once China gets to the moon, it will act in an imperialistic manner, it will claim territory and deny access to that territory to others, the expert said. Nelson sounded the alarm about Beijings misconduct, citing Chinas actions in the South China Sea, a contested region where the communist regime has unlawfully constructed a network of artificial islands with military installations. Push Back Threats Fisher pointed to the Outer Space Treaty as a guide to behavior on the moon, as both China and the United States are signatories. But China has a very poor record of adhering to agreements even if it signed on to those agreements, even if it ratified agreements. So any Chinese statement or agreement that it does not intend to militarize the moon has to be taken with deep skepticism, he noted. Thus, he called on the United States to be very careful and keep track of Chinas activities on the moon. And we have every right to expect that China will be transparent about its activities on the moon, Fisher said. He urged Washington to encourage more countries to sign on to the Artemis Accords, initiated under the Trump administration, seeking to establish a common framework to guide responsible space exploration. Up to now, at least 21 countries have been part of the treaty, but China has refused to join. Based on resource extraction on the moon energy generation, we should encourage as many countries as possible to sign on to the Artemis Accords and join all of the other countries that have pledged to a program of peaceful behavior, Fisher said. That would be our first defense if you will have a peaceful future for the moon, he added. But secondly, we should also be prepared. We should have in reserve the means to send to the moon equipment that could defend our people and the means to identify quickly what China is doing on the moon should we detect any placement of weapons. Fisher pointed out that it is critically important for the United States to sustain funding for its moon program despite any threat on Earth imposed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), such as launching an invasion against Taiwan or India. In 2010, then-President Barack Obama canceled former President George W. Bushs Constellation moon program. Because the Chinese Communist Partys plan for hegemony on Earth requires hegemony in space. And if the United States were to cancel its moon program again, as did President Obama, we would be, in short, helping to ensure that China gains hegemony on Earth by helping it to gain hegemony in space, Fisher said. Chinese Ambassador Attempts to Break Strategic Alliance Between Australia and Japan Chinese ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian addresses the media during the New Years Press Gathering at the Chinese Embassy in Canberra, Australia, on Jan. 10, 2022. (AAP Image/Dean Lewins) Beijings top envoy to Australia has attempted to drive a wedge into Australias growing ties with Japan by criticising his Japanese counterpart in Canberra and warning Australians against trusting their former World War Two enemy lest Japan launches another military attack on the country in the future. Chinese ambassador Xiao Qian made the comments during a New Year press conference at the Chinese Embassy in Canberra on Jan. 10. Targeting Japanese ambassador to Australia, Shingo Yamagami, who in an op-ed for the Australian has said both Australia and Japan need to be vigilant towards China, citing Beijings threats of retaliation against countries that imposed COVID-19 tests on Chinese arrivals, Xiao accused the ambassador of not doing his job. He also raised the Japanese attack on Darwin and the treatment of Australian POWs held by Japanese forces in the Pacific, saying that Japan had never apologised for its behaviour in the war. He also accused Japan of not accepting its wrong behaviour and said, they might repeat the history. Japan launched nearly 100 air raids on Australia during the Second World War, including attacks on Darwin and Broome, and invaded the Australian-controlled territories of New Guinea and Papua. However, in 1957, after Japan surrendered unconditionally at the end of the war, then-Japanese prime minister Nobusuke Kishi during a visit to Australia, did offer atonement for the countrys wartime actions, expressing his countrys sorrow for what happened during the war. It is my official duty, and my personal desire, to express to you and through you to the people of Australia our heartfelt sorrow for what occurred in the war, Kishi said. Ambassador of Japan Yamagami Shingo addresses the National Press Club in Canberra, Wednesday, July 21, 2021. (AAP Image/Lukas Coch) Japan Now Peace-Loving and Rule Abiding In response to Xiao comments Yamagami said that everyone knew Japan is a peace-loving, rules-abiding country, and what took place over 80 years ago should not be an issue. We all know how many years have passed since the end of World War II. We all know the post-war trajectory of peace-loving, rules-abiding Japan, he told ABC TV. So whats at issue here is not what took place more than eight decades ago. Whats at issue here is how to deal with coercion and intimidation throughout the region. And here Australia and Japan are in total sync. Japan is now considered a strategic ally of Australia, alongside India and the United States, being members of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) partnership. The Japanese ambassador said his remarks on China were just common sense. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (right) welcomes Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (left) at the premier office in Tokyo, Japan, on May 24, 2022. (ZHANG XIAOYU/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) We place significant emphasis on the importance of maintaining [the] rules-based international order. If that offends my Chinese counterpart, what can I say? Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was asked about Xiaos comments on Japan. We have a very positive relationship with Japan, Albanese told a journalist on Jan. 11. With China, we also want to see an improvement in relations. I believe that the ambassadors comments were positive and constructive about those issues, he said. 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) I look forward to continuing to build on that constructive dialogue, I want to cooperate with China where we can, we will disagree where we must, but will engage in our national interest. AUKUS Criticised for Targeting China Xiao also attacked the AUKUS security pact between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, saying it was not constructive or helpful. He also said it targeted China as a potential threat or adversary. China is not seeking to be an enemy with the United States, neither are we of the United Kingdom, nor are we of Australia, so theres no reason for the three countries to stand together to work on something thats targeting China as a threat, Xiao said. On the contrary, Defence Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles praised AUKUS last month as a shared mission between our three countries to work together to pursue advanced military capability. At a time where the strategic circumstances faced by the world are as complex and precarious as weve seen since the end of the Second World War, [it is] central that Australia being able to acquire a nuclear-powered, highly capable submarine, he said during the opening of AUKUS Defence Ministers meeting in December 2022. Royal Australian Navy submarine HMAS Rankin is seen during AUSINDEX 21, a biennial maritime exercise between the Royal Australian Navy and the Indian Navy in Darwin, Australia, on Sept. 5, 2021. (Yuri Ramsey/Australian Defence Force via Getty Images) Former Liberal senator for Tasmania Eric Abetz echoed Marles viewpoint. The nuclear submarine acquisition under the AUKUS treaty is overwhelmingly considered a vital recalibration of Australias defence posture, Abetz wrote in an opinion piece to The Epoch Times. Ambassador Attempts Positive Note on Trade and Detained Australians In a symbolic gesture Xiao toasted the audience with a glass of Australian wine, which has been banned from being exported to China after former Prime Minister Scott Morrison called for an inquiry into the origins of COVID-19, saying that the bilateral relationship with Australia was at a critical stage of turnaround. I would hope that as we are improving relations that you have more encouragement to the Chinese economy, to the Chinese customers to come back for a stronger appetite for Australian products, he said. However, the Chinese government has yet to remove the punitive trade tarriffs which they have admitted were an attempt to coerce Australia. Currently, the trade tarriffs still remain in place on Australian wine, beef, honey, lamb, lobster and other exports products according to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Amid a thawing in bilateral trade relations after Foreign Minister Penny Wongs visit of China last month, the ambassador also tried to set a positive tone when asked about detained Australians, journalist Cheng Lei and author Yang Hengjun, saying he hoped a solution would come as soon as possible. But he also noted that Australia needed to respect the Chinese legal system. Yang Hengjun and Cheng Lei have been detained in China since 2019 and 2020, respectively. In both cases the Australian government has criticised the Chinese regime for lack of transparency and independence of the courts. Chinese Medical Workers Reveal the Situation on the Ground as Official Death Toll Stays in Single Digits China's CDC reports no more than 5 daily deaths since Dec. 21 As Chinese authorities continue to downplay the death toll from the countrys ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, health care workers and social media posts tell a dramatically different story. In data released on Jan. 9, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported 14,171 new confirmed cases across the countrys 31 provinces, with only three new deaths. The agencys daily statistics going back to Dec. 21 report no more than five deaths per day. China has faced a surge in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks after protests in November led to an abrupt lifting of the harsh zero-COVID policies that kept millions in lockdown for three years. First-hand accounts depict overwhelmed hospitals and a massive number of deaths from the virus. Xiao Ming (a pseudonym) a health care worker at Anshan Peoples Hospital in northeastern Chinas Liaoning Province, told The Epoch Times on Dec. 30 that more and more patients die before they can receive timely treatment Every day sees many people dying; the morgue is full of bodies. Bodies line the halls of the hospital and administrative offices, Xiao said. There are so many patients and there is no solution for it, said Xiao. As hospitals deal with staff shortages and exhausted personnel, authorities have done little to help Chinas collapsing medical system, he said. Instead, they continue to gloss over death statistics. Party Line A Jan. 1 article from Chinas state-run Xinhua News Agency backs the official data, complaining that Chinas COVID response is effective but is being deliberately ignored by Western media. The article quotes epidemiologist Liang Wannian, head of the National Health Commissions expert response team, who said on Dec. 27 that the first wave of the epidemic hit without any large-scale serious illness or deaths. Funeral Industry Booming However, according to social media posts, Chinas crematoriums are overwhelmed. Video included in a Dec. 28 Twitter post shows dozens of bodies queued up awaiting cremation at a funeral home in northeast Chinas Jilin province. A Twitter video from Dec. 27 shows an underground garage, temporarily converted into a morgue to handle overflow at a funeral home in Anshan. In the video, workers maneuver a casket into place; caskets are placed two deep in what would normally be parking spaces. Meanwhile, a Dec. 28 video shows damage at a crematorium in Tangshan, in Chinas northern Hebei Province, which caught on fire after operating around the clock. The Epoch Times tried to reach several crematoriums in Tangshan and Anshan, but phone lines were busy. Residents Blindsided Wang Tao (a pseudonym), a resident of Beijings Haidian district, speaking to The Epoch Times on Dec. 30, said that China did not give any notice prior to the sudden lifting of the zero-COVID restrictions. There was no attempt to stock up on the most basic medical necessities, Wang said, at a time of year when other viruses such as the flu also run rampant. It is weird that the government makes the whole country lockdown during summer and autumn, but opens in winter, the time when the virus is most likely to spread, he said. Wang noted that the virus began to spread just as the CCP opened its borders, allowing travel abroad. The aim of [the CCP] is seemingly trying to bring the virus to the world again, like what happened three years ago. Critics say that in December 2019, when COVID-19 first broke out in Wuhan, China kept quiet, leading to the worldwide spread of the virus. Outside Data: Deaths Doubling Weekly Simulated data provided by Airfinity, a British health data company, showed about 9,000 people dying from COVID-19 each day in China as of Dec. 29, almost twice the previous weeks prediction. That tally was updated on Jan. 9 to estimate 18,900 daily deaths. Airfinity forecasts that COVID-19 deaths in China will peak around Jan. 23, with deaths at about 25,000 a day. Chinese Student Indicted Over Allegedly Stalking, Harassing Pro-Democracy Activist in Boston The U.S. Department of Justice is seen in Washington, on June 11, 2021. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images) A Chinese student has been indicted in connection with allegedly stalking and threatening a U.S. permanent resident who posted flyers in support of democracy in China, the U.S. Department of Justice announced on Jan. 10. Wu Xiaolei, a Chinese citizen studying at Berklee College of Music in Boston, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Boston on one count of cyberstalking and one count of interstate transmissions of threatening communication, according to the DOJ. Wu was arrested on Dec. 14 and made his appearance in a federal court in Boston later that afternoon. The charge of cyberstalking carries a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. The charge of interstate transmissions of threatening communication carries a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. Alleged Harassment Wus harassment campaign started after he saw an A4 paper posted on a window near the Boston campus, which read, Stand with Chinese People, We Want Freedom, and We Want Democracy, on Oct. 22, according to the charging documents (pdf). Consequently, Wu allegedly threatened the person who posted the flier on WeChat, a Chinese social media app. The flier posted by the pro-democracy activist. (Charging document) Post more, I will chop your [expletive] hands off, Wu told the activist in a group chat, the charging documents stated. Prosecutors said Wu then claimed he reported the person to public security authorities in China. The U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Massachusetts didnt reveal the name of the activist but said the person is a U.S. permanent resident from China and has family members there. I already called the tipoff line in the country, the public security agency will go greet your family, Wu said in a WeChat group with more than 300 members, according to the complaint. Its believed Wu was referring to Chinas Ministry of Public Security or the Ministry of State Security. Both agencies investigate political dissidents, including those who voice support for democracy, the document stated. Wu also allegedly solicited others from the WeChat group to find out where the individual lived. According to the charging documents, Wu posted the activists email address in the WeChat group, named Berklee Class of 2024, to encourage others to harass the person. In an Oct. 24 email addressed to the activist, which Wu later posted on his Instagram account, Wu said the person would be arrested upon returning to China, and the persons family members would receive a political review from Chinese authorities. You should wash dishes for the capitalist dogs, Wu said in the email, according to the charging documents. Oh right, you can also sue me for personal attacks against you, but I feel that with your family background, you will not be able to get rid of me. I already got screenshot(s) of your social account(s) number(s). I also read your records at school. I also called the tip-off line in the country. If you can overturn this, I consider you [expletive] awesome. Dont go back to the country, it is not appealing to you. Transnational Repression The prosecution of Wu came amid growing concerns about the regimes transnational repression. Over the past year, the Department of Justice has charged more than a dozen Chinese intelligence agents, officials, or their American accomplices over a range of campaigns allegedly aimed at harassing and spying on Chinese dissidents and rights advocates in the United States, and in some cases attempting to coerce their return to China. The Chinese regime also operates more than 100 police service stations around the world, including two in New York City and one in Los Angeles, according to recent revelations by Spanish non-profit Safeguard Defenders. The group says that the Chinese Communists Party has utilized the worldwide network to carry out its transnational repression. The report has raised alarm among lawmakers and officials in the United States, Canada, the UK, and other European countries. At least 14 countries have launched an investigation into the facilities. FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a November hearing that these outposts are being investigated. To me, it is outrageous to think that the Chinese police would attempt to set up shopyou know, in New York, lets saywithout proper coordination, Wray told lawmakers on Nov. 17. It violates sovereignty and circumvents standard judicial and law enforcement cooperation processes. Im deeply concerned about this. Im not going to just let it lie. Dorothy Li contributed to this report. Couple Arrested After Accidentally Leaving Drugs in Hotel in Guelph, Ont. Police tape is shown in Toronto on May 2, 2017. (Graeme Roy/The Canadian Press) A man and woman from Bracebridge, Ont. have been arrested after they accidentally left $11,000 worth of drugs in a Guelph hotel room, police say. The Guelph Police Service said in a Jan. 11 press release that officers were called on New Years Day to a north-end hotel, where staff reported that while cleaning a room, they had found a sock that appeared to be stuffed with controlled substances left behind by the guests. Police said the sock contained quantities of suspected cocaine, fentanyl, heroin, and prescription opioids with an estimated value of $11,100. On Jan. 10, a 34-year-old male and 31-year-old female, both from the Bracebridge area, were arrested by police in another jurisdiction and returned to Guelph. The couple each faces five counts of possessing controlled substances for the purpose of trafficking. They were held to appear in a Guelph bail court on Jan. 11. COVID-Narrative Dissenters File Antitrust Action Against Legacy Media Over Coordinated Censorship Attorney Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attends the 2018 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights' Ripple Of Hope Awards at New York Hilton Midtown in New York City on Dec. 12, 2018. (Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images) A coalition of outspoken critics and skeptics of the mainstream narratives on COVID-19 has brought an antitrust lawsuit against some of the worlds largest news organizations, accusing them of working in collaboration to suppress dissenting voices surrounding the pandemic. The lawsuit (pdf), filed on Tuesday in a federal court in Texas, targets The Washington Post, the British Broadcasting Corp (BBC), The Associated Press (AP), and Reutersall of which are members of the Trusted News Initiative (TNI), a self-described industry partnership formed in 2020 among legacy media giants and big tech companies. By their own admission, members of the TNI have agreed to work together, and have in fact worked together, to exclude from the worlds dominant internet platforms rival news publishers who engage in reporting that challenges and competes with TNI members reporting on certain issues relating to COVID-19 and U.S. politics, the complaint reads. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a critic of the Biden administrations COVID-19 vaccination policies, led the lawsuit. He is joined by Creative Destruction Media, Trial Site News, Truth About Vaccines founders Ty and Charlene Bollinger, independent journalist Ben Swann, Health Nut News publisher Erin Elizabeth Finn, Gateway Pundit founder Jim Hoft, Dr. Joseph Mercola, and Ben Tapper, a chiropractor. The plaintiffs, the lawsuit alleges, are among the many victims of the TNIs group boycott tactic, defined as a coordinated effort to facilitate monopoly by cutting off the competitors access to supplies and necessities. In this case, the TNI members are accused of engaging in group boycottin concert with their big tech partnersagainst small, independent news publishers by denying them access to internet platforms they need to compete and even survive in the online news market. As a result of the TNIs group boycott, [the plaintiffs] have been censored, de-monetized, demoted, throttled, shadow-banned, and/or excluded entirely from platforms like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, and Linked-In, the lawsuit states. For example, the lawsuit claims, TNI members have been working with Big Tech to censor what they condemned as misinformation, such as reports that COVID may have originated in a laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan, that the COVID vaccines do not prevent infection, and that vaccinated people may still transmit COVID to others. This alleged effort to establish a dominant media narrative by shutting off nonestablishment outlets, according to the lawsuit, has violated both federal antitrust and freedom of speech laws. Federal antitrust law has its own name for this kind of industry partnership,' the lawsuit states. Its called a group boycott and is a per se violation of the Sherman Act. Tuesdays lawsuit isnt the first time Kennedy fought a legal battle with media groups over censorship on social media platforms. In August 2020, Childrens Health Defense (CHD), a watchdog group he chairs, sued Facebook and its fact-checkers after Facebook censored CHD pages for promoting health concerns related to vaccines and 5G telecom technology. The lawsuit was dismissed in June 2021. In August 2022, CHDs accounts on Facebook and Instagram were shut down for supposedly violating policies regarding misinformation that could lead to real-world harm. The deadline has passed for Pfizer to submit the results of a study exploring the frequency of heart inflammation following receipt of the companys COVID-19 vaccine. Pfizer was required by the U.S. and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to conduct multiple studies on its vaccine after the FDA approved the shot in August 2021 because regulators determined that without the studies, there would not be sufficient data to assess the known serious risks of myocarditis and pericarditis, or heart inflammation and a related condition. Regulators were also concerned about the potential risk of subclinical myocarditis, or heart inflammation without typical symptoms. The FDA told Pfizer to carry out six studies, with various deadlines for completion and reporting final results to the agency. The first final deadline arrived on Dec. 31, 2022. Pfizer was required to submit a report on the study, which was to assess the incidence of subclinical myocarditis following administration of a third dose of Pfizers vaccine, or a booster shot, in people aged 16 to 30. Its unclear whether Pfizer met the deadline. The company and the FDA did not respond to requests for comment, and neither have issued any information about the study or its results since the deadline passed. According to the FDA, Pfizer had until June 30, 2022, to complete the study and then another six months to prepare and submit the final results. In a Dec. 8, 2022, memorandum explaining why the FDA authorized Pfizers bivalent booster without any clinical data, FDA officials noted that Pfizer was conducting additional safety-related post-authorization/post-marketing studies for the PfizerBioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, including post-marketing requirements to assess known serious serious risks of myocarditis and pericarditis and an unexpected serious risk of subclinical myocarditis.. Shouldnt Have to Ask The results of the study should be shared promptly, according to Jessica Adams, a former regulatory officer at the FDA. We shouldnt have to ask or demand this information. We should expect that itd be promptly shared by default, Adams wrote on Twitter. Dr. Janet Woodcock, the agencys principal deputy director, told Adams in an email that the FDA is not allowed to comment on potential actions on regulated products. Its not clear how reporting results on a study relates to potential regulatory actions. In light of the growing amount of evidence related to post-vaccination adverse events, some others are questioning the FDAs delay in sharing information on the study. Why are FDA officials dragging their feet on making Pfizers prospective study data on subclinical myocarditis available to the public when evidence has been published in the medical literature that Pfizers pre-EUA clinical trials revealed a 36 percent higher risk of serious adverse events in vaccinated participants in comparison to placebo recipients,' Barbara Loe Fisher, co-founder and president of the National Vaccine Information Center, told The Epoch Times via email. She was citing a reanalysis of the original trial data that found vaccinated participants had a higher risk of serious adverse events. With 79 percent of Americans having received at least one COVID shot and so many vaccinated young adults, especially physically fit athletes suffering heart attacks and sudden deaths, public health officials should insist that the company with the biggest market share of the COVID vaccine business in the U.S. be completely transparent about what it knows about the biological mechanisms of heart inflammation induced by the mRNA COVID vaccine Pfizer maintains is both safe and effective, Fisher added. Warning The FDA added a warning about myocarditis following Pfizer and Moderna vaccination to patient and health care provider fact sheets in June 2021. Both vaccines utilize messenger RNA (mRNA) technology. Prospective vaccine recipients were told the risk of myocarditis was increased after vaccination, particularly after the second dose of the two-dose primary series. If certain symptoms appeared after vaccination, such as chest pain or shortness of breath, people were told to immediately seek medical care. U.S. authorities, and some officials elsewhere, have since acknowledged that the vaccines cause heart inflammation. The current evidence supports a causal association between mRNA COVID-19 vaccination and myocarditis and pericarditis, Dr. Tom Shimabukuro, a top CDC official, said during a meeting in 2022. Some cases of the post-vaccination inflammation have ended in death. Some 5,163 reports of post-vaccination myocarditis, pericarditis, or myopericarditis have been filed with the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), a passive early warning system that alerts officials to possible side effects from vaccines. The reports dont prove a connection with a vaccine but are an undercount of the true number of cases, research has found and authorities have acknowledged. More than 800,000 other adverse events following receipt of the Pfizer vaccine have been lodged with the system. Moderna Studies The FDA also required Moderna to conduct post-approval studies after approving the companys shot in early 2022. Moderna was told to carry out six studies, the same number as Pfizer, focusing on assessing the incidence of myocarditis and pericarditis, the long-term impact of myocarditis, and the occurrence of subclinical myocarditis. Two studies were due to be completed by Dec. 31, 2022, but the deadlines for submission of the results to the FDA arent until June 30, 2023. Other deadlines for the Moderna and Pfizer studies stretch months or even years into the future, including one in 2025 and one in 2028. A 911 call on Sunday evening came into the Coconino County Sheriffs Office from a five-person climbing party on Queen Victoria Spire, located off of Schnebly Hill Road in Sedona. One of the climbers, a 25-year-old woman, had slipped while climbing and got her leg stuck in a crack in the rock. She was 200 feet above ground and 150 feet from the summit of the spire when her leg became trapped. She had not suffered obvious injuries, but was in pain and stranded, according to the 911 caller in details from a press release from the Coconino County Sheriffs Office. CCSOs search and rescue unit responded to the area along with the Sedona Fire District. As darkness descended, an Arizona Department of Public Safety Air Rescue crew based in Phoenix was called in to reach the climber from the air. The DPS team deployed a trooper/paramedic on a hoist to free the trapped climber. Meanwhile, the Sedona team set up at the base of the spire to assist if needed. The trooper/paramedic eventually freed the hiker. Two hikers and the paramedic were then airlifted off the spire to a nearby incident command post. The other three climbers were also airlifted from the summit and returned safely to their companions. Paramedics from Sedona Fire evaluated the climbers, and they did not seek further medical care. This mission was complicated by operating in the dark on steep and complex terrain, a press release from CCSO read. The interagency relationships and training between the Coconino County Sheriffs Office, the Sedona Fire District, and the Arizona Department of Public Safety Air Rescue were instrumental in the successful response and outcome of this mission. Dealing With Out-of-Control Deficit Spending in the New Congress The appropriations process needs to be fixed An exterior view of the building of U.S. Department of the Treasury is seen in Washington on March 27, 2020. (Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images) Commentary For all the heat and light associated with the showdown battle for the speakership of the new Republican-controlled House of Representatives, the dealmaking addressed symptoms of the problems, not the root causes. Consider the symptoms of one of the major problems that have plagued the United States for decades: out-of-control federal spending, as highlighted by the symptoms of massive spending bills that defy regular order, congressional earmarks, endless continuing resolutions, no federal budgets, and omnibus bills that fund Democrat spending priorities and include non-spending atrocities (such as gun control provisions). What did the Mexican standoff between the Freedom Caucus and the GOP establishment Republicans accomplish to rectify out-of-control federal spending? While most of the media attention was on the motion to vacate, in which a single member of the GOP caucus could initiate the process for removing Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) from the speakership, there was a glimmer of hope that agreed-upon changes to the budget process on the rules might finally begin to lasso the raging spending bull by forcing individual votes on each of the 12 appropriations bills that are bundled in the recently passed Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023. It would prohibit consideration of bills and joint resolutions requiring an increase in the debt ceiling, and restoring points of order against a net increase in budget authority for amendments to general appropriations bills and against budget reconciliation directives that increase net direct spending. Another debt-related rule change is to restore the requirement that the Congressional Budget Office and Joint Committee on Taxation, to the extent practicable, incorporate the macroeconomic effects of major legislation into the official cost estimates used for enforcing the budget resolution and other rules of the House. The Democrats didnt care about the long-term effects of their profligate spending on the U.S. economy. While these are good changes in the House rules, the next Democrat-controlled Congress can revert to the existing rules that accelerate deficit spending. No commitment was made to deal with the root causes of runaway spending, and no real structural change to the appropriations process other than a few promises. Appropriations, the Budget, and Impoundment During the first 70 years of the 20th century, the only time the federal budget wasnt balanced was during an economic downturn or wartime. Americans understood that a heavily indebted government ceded control of that government to its creditors, who could very well be foreign governments or others with ill intentions toward the United States. U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell testifies before the House Oversight And Government Reform Committee hearings on oversight of the Treasury Departments and Federal Reserves Pandemic Response on Capitol Hill, Washington, on Sept. 30, 2021. (Al Drago/AFP via Getty Images) Veto-proof Democrat control of Congress beginning in 1955 changed all that, as the socialism inherent in Democrat domestic politics resulted in massive spending programs, such as Lyndon Johnsons Great Society. The Democrats political tactics evolved into pay for play (a way to milk campaign dollars for donors interested in getting favorable legislation passed) and tax-and-spend (a way to buy votes by bringing home the baconnever mind the pass-through costs to taxpayers!). The problem for the Democrats was the long-standing congressional appropriations process and a teeny tiny constitutional power granted to the president to withhold spending. Until 1974, spending was controlled by congressional votes on separate bills that concerned specific appropriations, revenues, and authorizationsgenerally developed by the congressional committees responsible for funding and oversight of specific cabinet departments and agencies, such as Defense, Health and Human Services, Labor, etc. The process empowered committee chairmen while providing for public scrutiny of all appropriations bills. Still, the Democrats had pretty much free rein to spend during the 1960s because they controlled Congress and the presidency until 1969. However, presidential impoundment was also an impediment to profligate congressional spending, and this is the weapon that President Richard Nixon employed to curtail some of the Democrats profligacy. Presidential impoundment is the refusal of the chief executive to expend funds appropriated by Congress. Thomas Jefferson was the first president to impound funds, and many others chose to use that power until Congress passed the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 over the veto of the Watergate-weakened Nixon. These are the key elements of the Act: to establish a new congressional budget process; to establish committees on the budget in each House; to establish a Congressional Budget Office; to establish a procedure providing congressional control over the impoundment of funds by the executive branch. In short, the Act was a structural change to the budgeting process that diluted the power of congressional committee chairmen, curtailed the constitutionally granted impoundment authority of the president, and established a staff bureaucracy (the Congressional Budget Office). The newly created CBO, a particularly important cog in the revised appropriations process wheel, was charged under the Act with impartially gathering data and making estimates, that is, placing a financial score on any proposed legislation that affected the budget-making process. The CBO was staffed proportionally by party line. As Democrats controlled Congress prior to the Gingrich revolution in 1994, the CBO became dominated by Keynesian economists who favored deficit spending to stimulate the economy. Not a surprise, as this was one element of the Democrats political tactic of rule by the experts (as long as they got to choose the experts!). These measures opened the door for deficit spending and other spending maneuvers that bloated the federal budgets over the years. Federal debt has grown exponentially since the Act was passed (it took a couple of years for the kinks to be worked out and the skids to be greased). The Act and all that ensued since its passage have directly led to the current $31.43-plus trillion national debt. Oddly enough, the U.S. debt clock hasnt registered the $1.7 trillion omnibus appropriations bill that had fiscally-conservative Republicans and others so incensed during the speakership battle. U.S. Capitol police officers stand on the steps to the House as House members vote on a $1.7 trillion spending package in Washington on Dec. 23, 2022. The House of Representatives voted to pass the spending bill that will fund the government through 2023. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) What to Do? Real structural changes are required in Congresss appropriations processand not the kind that can be easily undone or corrupted by future speakers of the House. History has shown that the root cause of out-of-control spending is the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974. The new deal that includes the rule changes targeted at reducing spending and making it more politically difficult to increase the debt ceiling is a step in the right direction. Still, it is not a structural change to the appropriations process that carries the force of law that can last over time. The 1974 Act must be repealed, the CBO disestablished, and power restored to committee chairmen to fund and oversee specific federal departments and agencies. A return to regular order and regular budgets will remove some of the power of the speakership by empowering the committee chairmen, just as the practice had existed from 1781 through 1974. The American people will have much better insight and ability to scrutinize appropriations bills by bringing an end to the 4,000-page omnibus bills, which include non-budgetary items that would not be passed into law if deliberated separately, as well as put maximum pressure on Congress to balance the federal budget. Its long past time to deal with the root cause of out-of-control deficit spending rather than with a few symptoms of the real problem. Not doing so immediately risks a sovereign debt crisis and a disaster for the country. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. DeSantis Seeks to Ban China-Based Entities From Purchasing Florida Property Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at the Republican Jewish Coalition Annual Leadership Meeting in Las Vegas on Nov. 19, 2022. (Wade Vandervort/AFP via Getty Images) Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is considering a move to ban Chinese entities from purchasing property in the state because of the economic and security risks posed by Chinas communist regime. If you look at the Chinese Communist Party, theyve been very active throughout the Western Hemisphere in gobbling up land and investing in different things, DeSantis said during a press conference on Jan. 10. And, you know, when they have interests that are opposed to ours, and youve seen how theyve wielded their authority it is not in the best interests of Florida to have the Chinese Communist Party owning farmland, owning land close to military bases. The remarks follow warnings from security experts and lawmakers that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which rules China as a single-party state, is seeking to purchase strategic parcels of land throughout the United States from which it can conduct espionage or otherwise sabotage U.S. national security interests. In recent years, Chinese land purchases in Texas and North Dakota, which both were situated near U.S. military bases, raised alarm among locals and policymakers in state and federal governments. DeSantis said the CCP has taken a much more MarxistLeninist turn under current Party leader Xi Jinping and suggested that communist China is now a hostile nation. We do not need to have CCP influence in Floridas economy, he said. China Spending Billions on US Land Every Year Chinese investors purchased more than $6 billion in U.S. real estate between March 2021 and March 2022, according to the National Association of Realtors, making it the largest foreign buyer in terms of dollars spent. Florida has been at the center of that purchasing binge, with 24 percent of all foreign property purchases in the nation occurring there. The state with the next highest amount of foreign purchases was California, which accounted for 11 percent. DeSantis described the CCPs influence in U.S. society as very insidious and, to that end, said that hes not only concerned with the CCP seeking out farmland but that he also wanted to terminate its access to residential properties. Why would you want them buying residential developments and things like that? he said. I dont want them owning subdivisions and things like that. While outrage over the issue has been widespread in recent months, there have been relatively few concrete actions taken to curb the buying of U.S. land by CCP-aligned organizations. Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) introduced legislation in November 2022 that would prohibit the purchase of public or private agricultural land in the United States by foreign nationals associated with the Government of the Peoples Republic of China. Likewise, Reps. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) and Rick Crawford (R-Ark.) introduced legislation to improve national security by preventing foreign adversaries from taking any ownership or control of the United States agriculture industry. There may be some movement on the issue. The House voted this week to establish a select committee to investigate issues related to the strategic competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party. That effort could also help to shed light on the risk posed by CCP front companies that seek to scoop up U.S. land. Still, theres the problem of identifying which companies are acting on behalf of the CCP, an issue that DeSantis said would need to be addressed to make any ban effective and fair. The issue is going to be, obviously, if someone comes in and buys, its not the CCP thats signing that, DeSantis said. These are holding companies. So you have to structure that in a way that will effectively police it. Republicans voted 15 times before they elected Kevin McCarthy to be House speaker and second in line to the White House. Mainstream media complained that the delay was evidence the GOP cant govern. In fact, it showed how democracy is supposed to work, and how a small faction led by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) used leverage to strengthen its position to the advantage of its constituents. In this provocative new episode of Over the Target, Lee Smith and Brendon Fallon go behind the scenes to bring you the real story. Elderly Shanghai Couple Reveals Their Method to Stay Safe From COVID A health worker takes a swab sample from a woman to test for the Covid-19 coronavirus in the Jing'an district in Shanghai on December 7, 2022. (Hector Retamal / AFP via Getty Images) Amid a massive surge of COVID in mainland China, many elderly have become infected and died. A couple over 90 years old in a nursing home in Shanghai have stayed safe and healthy. Their daughter revealed what they believe protected them. Most of the elderly in the nursing home have contracted COVID-19, according to the couples daughter Chu Min, who spoke to The Epoch Times using a pseudonym for fear of reprisals. The nursing home has been isolated from the outside world since last year when Shanghai was locked down due to a previous round of COVID outbreak. But because the staff go home once a week for two days, some staff may have brought the virus in when they returned to the nursing home, and it spread to the entire nursing home. Now is the most serious time. According to the caregivers in the nursing home, there are three to five elderly people who die every day, she said. The elderly in many rooms on the floor where Chus parents lived were infected. She said, My parents are fine. They are 92 and 93 years old. They are very lucky and blessed. During their family trip to Hong Kong 10 years ago, they passed by a booth introducing the spiritual practice Falun Gong, Chu recounted. Falun Gong is composed of meditative exercises and a set of moral teachings rooted in ancient Chinese beliefs that revolve around the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. The practice surged in popularity in China during the 1990s resulting in an estimated 100 million adherents. Deeming this a threat, the communist regime launched a sweeping persecution of Falun Gong, resulting in millions of adherents being thrown into detention facilities where they have been subjected to torture, cruel treatment, and forced organ harvesting. Unlike in mainland China, Falun Gong adherents are able to freely practice in Hong Kong. During their trip, some Falun Gong practitioners urged the family to quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations to be free from their pernicious influence and the consequences of being tied to an entity responsible for myriad abuses and crimes against the Chinese over the past century. They didnt believe it very much at the time, but they felt that withdrawing from the CCP would not do them any harm, and they could use pseudonyms for safety reasons, so the whole family agreed to quit. Chus father used to be the Party secretary of a company in Shanghai before retiring. We are blessed because of it. I and my husband had very mild symptoms and recovered soon after we got infected. She said that there are too many dead bodies in Shanghai funeral homes waiting to be cremated now in this latest COVID outbreak. Now they are queuing up all day and all night for cremation. If you want to get a number slightly earlier in the queue, you need to pay 30,000 yuan [about $4,300] per number. If someone died at home, it is very pitiful, because of the long wait at the crematories its impossible to get a number to be cremated, and some corpses were left at home for six or seven days [before they were taken away for cremation]. Plague and Ways to Avoid It Heng He, a China affairs commentator based in the United States who has a background in medical science, told The Epoch Times that before the CCP abruptly lifted its zero-COVID restrictions last December, many people were already infected but had mild symptoms. How could the infected people become severely ill once the CCPs policy changed? The situation in the hospitals cannot be concealed. Doctors know how many people are seriously ill. It is really something beyond the scope of human knowledge and science. He said, We knew that this virus was aimed at the CCP at the earliest time, so it was called the CCP virus. It was called that way three years ago. Many people did not believe it, and the CCP also opposed it. In fact, for this virus, we really cant use our existing human knowledge to explain it. To a large extent, we really have to look at it from another perspective. Heng noted that many people have observed that before the change of a dynasty, a plague always appears, and the plague will disappear after the change of a dynasty. This is a historical pattern. He cited the fall of the Roman Empire as an example. Actually, the plague largely indicates the change of regime, which means that the regime can no longer be maintained. In fact, it is God or the higher power that is going to abandon this regime, he said. The Plague of Rome engraving by Levasseur after the painting by Jules Elie Delauney. (Welcome Images/CC-By-4.0) Heng believes that the same thing is happening now in communist China. The CCP has ruled China for so many years, especially in recent decades, it has owed Chinese people too much, and the sins it has committed are too great. So that place is full of karma and grievances, he said, referring to ancient Chinese beliefs that good and evil will be returned in kind. Mr. Li Hongzhi, the founder of the spiritual discipline Falun Gong, wrote in a March 2020 article: Pandemics and plagues are part of a divine plan and inevitable in the course of history. When people become immoral they generate karma, become sick, and experience disastrous things. But a pandemic like the current Chinese Communist Virus (or Wuhan Virus) comes with a purpose behind it, and it has targets. It is here to weed out members of the Party and those who have sided with it, Mr. Li wrote. So now that the divine is starting to eradicate it, all who still stand by it shall perish. Those who doubt this can wait and see. Mr. Li suggested in the article that people withdraw from Chinas three major communist organizations, or sincerely say the true words, referring to Falun Dafa Hao; Zhen, Shan, Ren Hao, which means Falun Dafa is good; truth, compassion, and forbearance are good. All of these are the best medicine possible, Mr. Li wrote. Researchers have found that a calm mind and meditation with positive thoughts can help boost immunity and enhance the human bodys ability to regenerate. Luo Ya contributed to this report. Election, Voting Bills Top the Agenda for Texas 88th Legislative Session The Texas State Capitol is seen on the first day of the 87th Legislature's third special session in Austin, Texas, on Sept. 20, 2021. (Tamir Kalifa/Getty Images) Many Texas state lawmakers have spent the last couple of months pre-filing and refiling bills ahead of the states 88th regular legislative session, which convened on Tuesday. More than 70 pre-filed bills are related to voting and election laws. Republicans aim to pass legislation to create county-level forensic audit processes, appoint election marshals, record ballot counting, enforce election laws, and increase the penalties for illegal voting. At the same time, Democrat voting and election proposals are mostly related to developing electronic voter registration, expanding the forms of acceptable voter identification, registering voters at polling sites, and qualifying and registering convicted felons, among others. Republicans Aim to Pass Legislation Protecting Voter Rights Concerns for voter irregularities in Harris County prompted two Republicans, state Sen. Paul Bettencourt and state Rep. Valoree Swanson, to file companion bills, SB 220 (pdf) and HB 549 (pdf), respectively, in November. Bettencourt and Swanson represent districts that encompass portions of Houston in Harris County. Last month, the Secretary of States office released its forensic audit of the 2020 general election that showed very serious issues in Harris County, The Epoch Times previously reported. Harris County has faced years of scrutiny regarding allegations of election improprieties, including during the recent November midterm elections, where nearly two dozen polling places reportedly ran out of paper ballots, and polling places opened late, among other voter complaints. Bettencourt and Swansons bills would allow the secretary of state to appoint a chief election marshal who would select one regional marshal per 1 million voters from the Texas Department of Public Safety to investigate potential violations. What happened in the November 8th election in Harris County is absolutely abominable and can NEVER happen again! Which is why I will continue to champion voter integrity bills like Senate Bill 220, Bettencourt said in a joint press release. The bills would also provide emergency judges to promptly oversee alleged violations during early voting and election day. Swanson also pre-filed HB 246 (pdf) to establish a pilot program for recording ballot counting. The legislation would call on the secretary of state to select six counties of various populations to participate in the program. Bettencourt and Swansons offices did not respond to requests for comment. Audit Systems, Increasing Penalties for Illegal Voting Republican state Rep. Steve Toth refiled legislation to create a forensic audit system at the county level to address election discrepancies. Toth represents South Montgomery County, adjacent to Harris County. Toth, who filed HB 589 (pdf) about a week after the 2022 midterms, said it was because of the issues some voters in the states largest county experienced on election day. Clearly Harris Countys leaders have failed their citizens. Thats why I have filed HB 589 to create an audit process for our elections and restore trust in our electoral system, Toth said in a press release. State Rep. Andrew Murr, a Republican, pre-filed HB 39 (pdf), which would increase the penalty for election fraud from a Class A misdemeanor to a state jail felony. Murrs office did not respond to a request for comment. Republican state Reps. David Spiller, Bryan Slaton, Craig Goldman, and Bryan Hughes pre-filed similar bills. House bills 52 (pdf), 222 (pdf), 397 (pdf), and SB 166 (pdf) would increase the penalty for illegal voting from a Class A misdemeanor to a felony. Slaton also wrote HB 239 (pdf), a bill requiring party affiliation to vote in that partys primary. Voting or attempting to vote in the other partys primary would be a felony offense. In another bill authored by Slaton, HB 125 (pdf) would allow the state attorney general to issue civil penalties of up to $25,000 against local prosecutors who fail to enforce election laws. It would also allow the attorney general to remove prosecutors who do not enforce and prosecute violations. Pre-filed bill HB 678 (pdf), authored by Rep. Keith Bell, would shift election authority from the secretary of state to the state attorney general. The attorney general would be allowed to appoint a special prosecutor to indict criminal violations. The local district attorney holds much authority under current state election laws. Democrats Push Bills Expanding Voter Access Some Democrats want to increase voter access with new methods for registering voters, additional forms of acceptable identification, and restoring voting rights to convicted criminals. State Rep. John Bucy, a Democrat, pre-filed more than a dozen bills related to election and voting laws. His district covers part of Williamson County north of Austin. Expanding methods for voter registration is another topic of interest. In HB 675 (pdf), a person can access and submit voter registration applications through the states official website. Current law requires new applicants to complete a registration form, available online, to be submitted in person or by mail to the voters county election office. Bucy also pre-filed another bill related to voter registration. HB 281 (pdf) would require the county registrar to appoint one election officer to serve as a registrar at in-person polling places during early voting and on election day. Eligible persons would be allowed to register and vote on the same day. State Rep. Terry Meza, and state Sens. Nathan Johnson and Jose Menendez filed similar bills. (HB 488) Another bill, HB 365 (pdf), would allow voters to receive absentee ballots through email. Currently, absentee ballots are mailed to voters who are absent from their county of residence. Bucy and Johnson did not respond to a request for comment. Bills relating to voter identification are also on some Democrats lists. Bucy wants to expand the acceptable forms of photo identification for voting with HB 354 (pdf). It would allow voters to use an official Native American ID, a college or university ID, or an identification card issued by a Texas state agency. State Rep. Erin Zwiener pre-filed a similar bill (pdf) expanding the acceptable forms of photo identification to include a voters college or university ID. A voter ID bill (pdf) filed by state Rep. Ron Reynolds would require election workers to receive training and guidance for acceptable identification for those who identify as transgender. This bill states that a person will not be disqualified from voting if their gender expression doesnt match the gender marked on their identification. Restoring Voter Rights to Convicted Felons Several pre-bills are related to passing legislation that restores voting rights to convicted felons. State Rep. Senfronia Thompson of Harris County pre-filed HB 355 (pdf) to reduce the qualifications required for restoring voting privileges to convicted felons. Her bill would allow those convicted of a felony to vote once released from prison. Under current law, a person convicted of a felony must be fully discharged from prison, parole, probation, or pardoned. State Sen. Sarah Eckhart filed an identical bill (pdf) in the Senate. She is a senator for Travis and Bastrop Counties. And Harris County Rep. Harold Dutton pre-filed a similar bill HB 945 (pdf). Another bill authored by Dutton, HB 944 (pdf), would require county jails with a population of 3.3 million or more to serve as a polling place for residents in custody. It would also allow persons to register to vote while in custody. Other bills include reducing the age requirement for voter pre-registration. Johnson pre-filed SB 94 (pdf), which would change the pre-registration age from 17 years and 10 months to 17 years. A similar bill, HB 704 (pdf), authored by state Rep. Jessica Gonzalez would modify the pre-registration age to 17 years and six months. Texas Democrats will have a tough time passing party legislation in the Republican House and Senate. The regular session runs through May 29. Ending the Chinese Regimes Corruption of Our Politics Commentary The Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) intelligence operations against the West are well-known. Washington Times journalist Bill Gertzs reporting on the penetration of U.S. nuclear laboratories led to the loss of U.S. nuclear secrets with disastrous consequences for the national security of the United States. That China had access to crown jewels of the U.S. nuclear arsenal, including its most advanced warheads, has allowed China to field an advanced arsenal targeted at the United States and its allies and partners. The magnitude of the damage to U.S. security can only be rivaled by the original Soviet penetration of the Manhattan Project, which led to the Soviet acquisition of nuclear weapons in 1949. As shattering as these intelligence operations are, whats even more pernicious is the corruption of politics with Chinas money. Money provides China with profound influence and contributes to the demoralization of the American people in their political system and political culture. The contempt with which Americans hold their elected officials is due to many causes, but perhaps foremost is the influence the Chinese regime buys through legal and illegal means. The corruption of U.S. politics by Chinese money isnt new. The White House coffees and Lincoln Bedroom sleepovers that President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore hosted from 1995 to 1996 served as an indicator. They included Charlie Trie, who sought to expand his business in China, and John Huang, who had ties to the Lippo Group, which also sought to expand into China. Huang had met with the Chinese ambassador at his residence in Washington to discuss donations to the Democratic Party, according to media accounts. Huang was also responsible for Gores visit to a fundraiser at a California Buddhist temple. Gore later denied knowing that it was a fundraiser. At about the same time, defense contractors Hughes and Loral were permitted to share knowledge regarding satellite and missile technology and reentry vehicles that aided Chinas military space and nuclear weapons programs. Many details of this were released in 1999 in a congressional committee report headed by then-Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Minn.). At the time, the Cox Report stated that China had engaged in a 20-year intelligence collection campaign to steal U.S. nuclear weapons secrets, as well as information processing, aircraft, guidance, and missile technologies. The Cox Report identified that Beijing had been robustly targeting U.S. technologies since at least 1979, when U.S. diplomatic recognition gave China greater access to the United States. Chinese leader Xi Jinping meets U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner (2nd right), and other delegates during a meeting at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, on May 3, 2012. (Jason Lee/AFP/GettyImages) The United States is far from alone. In almost every country, Chinese money brings power and influence through many different tactics and approaches, but that often starts as an investment. Irelands Immigrant Investor Programme is a good example of the thin edge of the wedge strategy. About 90 percent of the investors are from China or Hong Kong and have contributed more than $1.25 billion since it was created in 2012. Chinese money flows into the Irish economy in return for residency. With the investment comes a dependency on China and Hong Kong to sustain the investment and, thus, economic and political influence. Variations of this tool are but some of the ways the Chinese regime has used its wealth to enrich a few but corrupt the politics of countries around the globe. Wall Street and Silicon Valley are far from immune. Indeed, they serve as conduits even more helpful than Hughes or Loral did in the 1990s. Today, firms such as Sequoia Capital and a host of others provide capital to Chinese entities. Thus, they have an interest in those entities succeeding. But, they also make donations to U.S. politicians and both parties. This cycle creates two fundamental problems for U.S. national security and its ability to respond to the China threat. The first is that the Department of Homeland Security has warned in a significant advisory to U.S. businesses about the risks associated with trade with Chinese entities. The advisory noted the persistent and increasing risk of CCP-sponsored data theft due to newly enacted Chinese laws, including the National Intelligence Law of 2017, the Data Security Law of 2020, and the Cryptology Law of 2020. These laws compel Chinese businesses and citizensincluding academic institutions, research service providers, and investorsto support and facilitate the Chinese regimes access to the collection, transmission, and storage of data. In sum, they compel Chinese entities to permit spying by China against the entities foreign partners. Attorney General William Barr participates in a press conference at the Department of Justice along with DOJ officials in Washington on Feb. 10, 2020. Barr announced the indictment of four members of Chinas military on charges of hacking into Equifax Inc. and stealing data from millions of Americans. (Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images) The second problem is even more profound than intelligence collection. As Chinese entities succeed, communist China becomes more powerful and so better able to supplant the United States and U.S. interests, while spying on their foreign partners. In return, they provide a return to their venture capitalists, and Wall Street and Silicon Valley continue to donate to Democrats and Republicans. This is the heart of the problem. China grows in power due to U.S. capital investmentcapital that should go to U.S. and allied firms to aid them rather than the enemy of the United Stateswhile those entities spy on all foreigners associated with them. Bipartisan donations keep this going and spare the venture capitalists and others from adequate oversight. If it isnt resolved, then the United States and its allies are in existential peril. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has created a committee under Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) to investigate the threat from the CCP. One of the top items on its long agenda must be to end U.S. investment in China, including through the Thrift Savings Planthe retirement savings and investment plan of U.S. federal employees, including the U.S. militaryand terminate the ability of Beijing to raise capital on U.S. markets. McCarthy must let Gallaghers committee do its work, especially as this will lead to Wall Street and Silicon Valley. Additional measures forward would be to compel U.S. entities to acknowledge the liabilities posed by Chinas laws and, thus, the vulnerabilities and risks U.S. entities, their investors, and their customers incur. This will require that Wall Street and Silicon Valley change their behaviora difficult but supremely important step. It will also require that both political parties do as wellno doubt, even more challenging. Both parties must pledge that they wont accept donations from entities invested in China. Just as pressure was brought on U.S. firms to end investment in apartheid South Africa, so too should U.S. entities face the same opprobrium regarding China. Just as parties wouldnt take donations from communists or communist front organizations during the Cold War, so too should they not accept them from communists or those entities they control during the present cold war. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. EXCLUSIVE: Senator Questions CDC on Why It Expected Hundreds of Safety Signals for COVID-19 Vaccines A U.S. senator is questioning why a top agency was expecting hundreds of safety signals for the COVID-19 vaccines. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), claimed in 2022 that safety monitoring revealed no unexpected safety signals for the vaccines. But the results to which she was referring showed hundreds of safety signals, or adverse events potentially linked to the shots. The Epoch Times obtained the results through a Freedom of Information Act after the CDC refused to release them. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) is now wondering why the CDC expected so many signals after vaccination. In a Jan. 10 letter citing The Epoch Times article on the results, Johnson demanded the CDC explain how it determined what is and is not an unexpected safety signal. The American people have a right to know the extent to which your agency was aware of and tracked COVID-19 vaccine adverse events. Your lack of transparency is unacceptable. Without immediately providing complete and reliable information about COVID-19 vaccine adverse events, you are obstructing Congressional oversight and leaving the public in the dark, added Johnson, who was stonewalled when he requested the monitoring results. A CDC spokesperson told The Epoch Times via email that it received the senators letter. A reply is forthcoming, the spokesperson said, declining to comment further. False Statements The CDC has made multiple false statements on the outcomes found from a type of analysis called Proportional Reporting Ratio (PRR). The analysis involves comparing the number of adverse events reported to a system co-managed by the CDC after COVID-19 vaccination to the number of adverse events reported after vaccination with other vaccines. The CDC initially said that performing PRRs was outside of its purview, contradicting a government document that stated the agency will perform the technique. Dr. John Su, a top CDC official, then claimed it started performing the analysis in February 2021 and continued to do so as of July 18, 2022. Both statements turned out to be wrong. After being pressed by Johnson, the CDC later said that it did not start the PRRs until March 25, 2022, and stopped performing them on July 31, 2022. Walensky, a Biden appointee, admitted the CDC provided false information in a September 2022 letter to the senator. The CDC recently addressed a previous statement made to The Epoch Times to clarify PRR were not run between February 26, 2021, to September 30, 2021, she said. Johnson noted that the missive did not explain why the CDC offered the false information. Martha Sharan, a CDC spokesperson who herself made a false claim, told The Epoch Times in an email that no CDC workers intentionally provided false information. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, speaks in Washington on June 16, 2022. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images) Results The results of the PRRs, obtained by The Epoch Times and released to the public for the first time in January, shows CDC analysts found hundreds of adverse events met the threshold for a safety signal. That included severe conditions such as blood clotting and even death. PRRs analyze reports lodged with the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, which health officials describe as the nations early warning system for vaccine issues. The analyses do not prove a vaccine caused an event but the CDC had vowed to further investigate any unexpected AEs, or adverse events, identified through PRR. Its not clear if the agency has investigated any of the events. The CDC has not returned inquiries about the matter and Freedom of Information Act requests are pending. The CDCs records office claimed that the results generally corroborated findings from Empirical Bayesian (EB) data mining. Thats a reference to a different type of analysis performed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which has refused to release the results. A CDC spokesperson previously told The Epoch Times in an email in 2022 that the PRR results were generally consistent with EB data mining, revealing no additional unexpected safety signals. Walensky used the exact same language in her missive to Johnson, who asked for the results in multiple letters. The tables The Epoch Times released appear to be responsive to my previous letters, and yet, CDC continues to hide this and other information from my office and ultimately, the American people, Johnson wrote. He urged the CDC to provide the requested information no later than Jan. 17. Federal Electric Vehicle Rebate Program Went $459 Million Over Budget: Internal Audit A woman prepares to plug in her electric vehicle in Markham, Ont., in a file photo. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn) A federal program introduced in 2019 to offer Canadian electric vehicle buyers a rebate of $5,000 went over budget by $459 million, according to an internal audit by Transport Canada. Despite the pandemic, the uptake of the iZEV Program was higher than expected and funding was an ongoing concern, reads the audit, published Nov. 30, 2022, as first reported by Blacklocks Reporter. It adds that the federal program quickly exhausted its original $300 million funding and needed two subsequent top-ups of $287 million and $172 millionequalling a total of $459 million more than the original fundingto keep the program running until its planned end on March 31, 2022. Recently, Budget 2022 included an additional $1.6 billion to extend the iZEV Program to March 31, 2025. Program parameters were also modified to increase the number of makes and models of eligible new ZEVs, the audit says. The audit, titled Audit Of Incentives For Zero Emission Vehicles Program, also says that the overwhelming majority of requests to receive the incentive, equalling a total of 142,232 as of the end of February 2022, were accepted. Of these, 134,406 (98%) have been processed for reimbursement to dealerships in the amount of $578,324,062, it reads. The federal governments 2030 Strategic Plan includes a commitment by Transport Minister Omar Alghabra to meet several targets mandating that certain percentages of cars sold in Canada over the next 12 years be zero emission vehicles. By 2035, the department aims for all light-duty vehicles sold in Canada to be zero-emission. Recent regulations proposed by Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault would also mandate that one-fifth of new passenger vehicles sold in Canada will have to be zero-emission by 2026. That number would rise to 60 percent by 2030. Subsidies Tesla Motors Canada asked the federal government at the end of November 2022 for more subsidies to install additional charging stations across the country. Approximately 10 million Canadians or about one quarter of all Canadian residents live in multi-unit dwellings including apartments and condominiums, said the company in a submission to the House of Commons finance committee. Since 90 percent of charging typically takes place at a drivers home, ensuring the occupants of those multi-unit dwellings have a place to charge would offer the Government of Canada the greatest return on its charging infrastructure investment. Recent federal figures found that the governments proposed mandate that all new passenger cars and other light-duty vehicles sold in Canada be zero-emission by 2035 would cost at least $99 billiona figure that does not include at-home vehicle charging costs. Installation costs [of personal charging stations] have not been accounted for in this analysis and thus may be underestimated, said an Environment Department regulatory impact analysis statement on Dec. 31. The federal government has spent $1 billion since 2016 installing a nationwide network of public charging stations and has committed to funding 50,000 more stations across the country by 2027. Tara MacIsaac and Isaac Teo contributed to this report. Biden Administration Extends COVID-19 Public Health Emergency A health care professional prepares to enter a COVID-19 patient's room in the ICU at Van Wert County Hospital in Van Wert, Ohio, on Nov. 20, 2020. (Megan Jelinger/AFP via Getty Images) The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) confirmed on Jan. 11 that it has extended the federal COVID-19 state of emergency. HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra issued a declaration, saying that after consultation with public health officials as necessary, the administration decided to renew the emergency declaration that was first issued in early 2020 during the Trump administration. Including the latest declaration, the federal emergency has been renewed about a dozen times since then. The COVID-19 Public Health Emergency remains in effect, and as HHS committed to earlier, we will provide a 60-day notice to states before any possible termination or expiration, a spokesperson for HHS told media outlets on Jan. 11. The emergency declaration has had a significant impact on the U.S. health care system since it was enacted, providing health insurance coverage protection for millions along with giving hospitals more resources and more telehealth services. However, top officialsincluding President Joe Biden himselfhave signaled that they believe the COVID-19 pandemic is over. But on Jan. 11, the Biden administration didnt give an indication as to when the emergency might end. The White House will likely face pressure from House Republicans to end the emergency as GOP lawmakers have signaled they want to investigate the Biden administration over its COVID-19 response. The origins of the virus, which emerged in China in late 2019, also will be probed, Republican lawmakers have signaled. Pressure to End Emergency About two dozen Republican governors in December 2022 called (pdf) on Biden to end the COVID-19 emergency, saying that it was inflating the population covered under Medicaid and costing states hundreds of millions of dollars. The health emergency is negatively affecting states, primarily by artificially growing our population covered under Medicaid regardless of whether individuals continue to be eligible under the program, they wrote. States are required to increase our non-federal match to adequately cover all enrollees and cannot disenroll members from the program unless they do so voluntarily. President Joe Biden signs an executive order directing the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to ensure access to abortions while Vice President Kamala Harris, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, and Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco look on at the White House on July 8, 2022. (Samuel Corum, AFP/Getty Images) Making the situation worse, we know that a considerable number of individuals have returned to employer-sponsored coverage or are receiving coverage through the individual market, and yet states still must still account [sic] and pay for their Medicaid enrollment in our non-federal share. This is costing states hundreds of millions of dollars. In November, Republican and Democrat senators joined to approve a measure to end the federal emergency, although Biden said he would veto it if it reached his desk. It has now been more than 2 1/2 years since this first-issued proclamation declaring the national emergency concerning declaration and been extended twice by President Biden since the initial declaration, most recently February [2022], Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), who sponsored the Senate resolution, said during a floor speech in mid-November 2022. COVID-19, according to Washington Gov. Jay Inslee in October 2022, is no longer an emergency thanks to vaccinations, medical treatments, and the innumerable efforts of countless Washingtonians since the state had the nations first documented case in January 2020. Washington was the first state to report a confirmed COVID-19 case in the United States, doing so on Jan. 20, 2020. Weve come a long way the past two years in developing the tools that allow us to adapt and live with COVID-19, Inslee said at the time. Ending this order does not mean we take it less seriously or will lose focus on how this virus has changed the way we live. We will continue our commitments to the publics well-being, but simply through different tools that are now more appropriate for the era weve entered. In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom, also a Democrat, said the states emergency will be ending on Feb. 28. Parts of New Jersey Gun Law Violate 2nd Amendment: Federal Judge 'While New Jersey may have been the first state to ratify the Bill of Rights, it's the last state to recognize it,' gun rights activist says Shooting range owner John Deloca aims his pistol downrange in the Queens borough of New York City on June 23, 2022. (Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images) A federal judge in New Jersey has blocked portions of a newly implemented gun control law, saying it might cause considerable Constitutional problems. On Monday, U.S. District Judge Renee Marie Bumb issued a temporary restraining order (pdf) on behalf of three individuals and four gun rights organizations regarding a law recently enacted by the New Jersey Legislature. The lawsponsored by New Jersey Senate President Nicholas Scutari and state Sen. Linda Greenstein, both Democratsimplements a third-degree felony classification for those who knowingly carry a firearm into sensitive places, such as libraries, museums, restaurants, theaters, stadiums, race tracks, and on any private property, unless the owner has provided express consent or has posted a sign indicating it is permissible to carry a concealed gun or any destructive devices. The law comes in response to the surge in concealable gun sales in New Jersey following the U.S. Supreme Courts 2022 decision in the case of the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, which struck down restrictions on carrying guns outside the home in New York While introducing the legislation (pdf) in New Jerseys General Assembly in October, Democrat Assemblyman Joe Danielsen said, Im a gun owner. I enjoy my guns often, but I enjoy the right to have those guns and to use them responsibly. This bill provides zero conflict. Bumb disagrees. Citing the Bruen precedent, Bumb said the Court finds that the challenged provisions have chilled Plaintiffs reasonable exercise of their Second Amendment right and rejects the Defendants view that Plaintiffs cannot show irreparable harm just by alleging Second Amendment injury. In her conclusion, Bumb said the deprivation of Plaintiffs Second Amendment right, as the holders of valid permits from the State to conceal carry handguns, constitutes irreparable injury, and neither the State nor the public has an interest in enforcing unconstitutional laws. Accordingly, good cause exists, and the Court will grant the motion for temporary restraints. Following the passage of the measure by a narrow 2116 vote with three abstensions, Scutari said Democrats felt obligated to pass the billwhich he described as a big piece of legislation and a well-thought-out piece of legislation that took a lot of workbefore the holiday break in December. In rendering her opinion, Bumb said the defendants must do more than the promise they will justify the Constitutional basis for their legislation later, adding that the defendants decision to dedicate a significant portion of their argument discussing the benefits of the firearms regulations and not evidence of historical analogs is quite telling. Although the defendants said they would offer ample evidence that their law is constitutional, Bumb said they do not adequately explain why they have not introduced such evidence here. Victim Zones Alex Roubian, president and managing editor of the New Jersey Second Amendment Society (also known as NJ2AS), is pleased with the judges decision. Alex Roubian, President and Managing Editor of New Jersey Second Amendment Society, speaking at the 2019 Gun Rights Policy Conference in Dallas. (Courtesy of Alex Roubian) We are happy that the judge saw through their nonsense and believes that citizens have the right to protect themselves, the same way those like Governor Phil Murphy do, Roubian told The Epoch Times. NJ2AS is one of the four organizations involved in the case. The people that enacted this law, and Murphy, who signed the law, have 24/7 armed security, Roubian noted, adding that they have the ability to protect themselves wherever they go and they believe that someone will go into one of these so-called sensitive areas and be immune from attacks. Thankfully the judge agrees with us, that we have a right to protect ourselves no matter where we go. Asked why New Jersey legislators and the governor would move forward with such a measure, considering the Supreme Courts Bruen ruling, Roubian said it was all about political theater and posturing. They want to push this narrative that guns are bad. What they wont tell you is that millions of people use a firearm for self-defense every year, Roubian asserted. Incidents of Self-Defense With Guns According to a 2021 National Firearms survey (pdf), guns are used defensively approximately 1.7 million times per year in the United States. Among survey respondents, 81.9 percent said they had used a gun defensively without firing any shots. Displaying the firearm was sufficient enough for 50.9 percent of respondents to scare off their attacker. Another 31 percent said a verbal warning that they were armed was enough to prevent the attack. Only 18.1 percent of those surveyed said they had to fire their gun to defend their life. Data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in October 2022 showed there were 20,966 firearm homicides from 2020 to 2021. While firearm homicides were 35 percent higher than from 2019 to 2020, it was less than the number of times lives were saved by having a firearm for self-defense. What some call gun-free zones and New Jersey legislators call sensitive places, Roubian refers to as victim zones. Its outrageous that these politicians, Governor Murphy and Attorney General Matthew Platkin, surround themselves with guns. But when it comes to protecting children in schools, the most vulnerable, most valuable asset we have as a society, they believe a no guns allowed sticker on the door will protect them from a deranged individual that wants to create harm. By identifying specific sensitive places where people with concealed weapons are not permitted to take their firearms, Roubian said they are literally putting a gigantic, bullseye target on these areas telling people who want to create harm that they will have easy victims with zero capability to fight back in this location. Lawmakers Have Gone Too Far Alan Gottlieb, executive vice president of the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), is also happy with the judges ruling. The SAF is another of the four gun rights organizations involved in the case. Second Amendment Foundation Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb speaking to gun rights activists at a 2018 New Jersey Second Amendment Society meeting. (Courtesy of Alan Gottlieb) Were pleased with Judge Bumbs recognition that the probability of success in challenging this law is great and that the law does restrict the right to keep and bear arms in public, Gottlieb told The Epoch Times, adding that there is no basis in this countrys history or tradition that would allow such a law to stand. Quite frankly, its another example of the important precedent that was found in the Supreme Courts Bruen decision last June, he added. New Jerseys lawmakers have gone too far in drafting a law to try to get around the high courts decision. We knew they couldnt, and they cant. But New Jersey has a long track record of pushing all kinds of restrictions and prohibitions on Second Amendment rights. Gottlieb asserted that while New Jersey may have been the first state to ratify the Bill of Rights, its the last state to recognize it. The battle for Second Amendment rights at the Supreme Court level has been going on for nearly two decades, Gottlieb noted. With Heller, McDonald, and Bruen already set as precedent by the high court, New Jersey is one decision past the three strikes, youre out, rule. They should be protecting the Second Amendment gun rights of New Jerseys citizens, not passing new laws to restrict them. We Need Those Laws In the wake of the deadly 2022 shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, Murphy revived a 2021 gun control package he called Gun Safety 3.0, challenging New Jersey legislators to put the measures up for a vote. Lets make every legislator choose whose side they have chosen to be on, the people of New Jersey on the one hand, or the gun lobby on the other hand, he said. On July 5, Murphy said there were those who said we would never get the gun safety bills we supported through the Legislature, and that we were too ambitious, that the gun lobby was too strong, and that our political system would not have the will to take on and win this fight. But, again, we believed different. And guess what? Today, we are making Gun Safety Package 3.0 the law, he said. Murphy criticized what he called the right-wing majority that controls the United States Supreme Court, saying they erased our ability to decide for ourselves who can, and who cant, get a permit to carry a concealed weapon. In the face of the Supreme Courts tragic and wrong-headed ruling, we need those lawsand all of these lawsmore than ever, he said. In a July 5 post on social media, Murphy touted the signing of seven sweeping commonsense gun safety reforms. In a second post, Murphy summarized how the seven new laws would affect the citizens of his state. The new laws would: Require out-of-state firearm owners who move to New Jersey to obtain a firearm purchaser ID card and register all of the handguns they purchased in other states. Mandate that New Jersey citizens who want to purchase a firearm must take a certified firearm safety course, under certain circumstances. Require the development of an electronic reporting system to track and regulate all handgun ammunition sales. Ban all .50 caliber rifles. Provide the New Jersey attorney general the authority to take legal action against gun manufacturers for alleged public nuisance violations. Increase criminal penalties for the manufacturing of so-called ghost guns, which lack a serial number. Require gun store owners to sell microstamping-enabled firearms once the attorney general determines the technology is commercially available. Legislative Insurrection Republican Assemblyman Erik Peterson said the law being challenged in court was a legislative insurrection. New Jersey Republican Assemblyman Erik Peterson. (Courtesy of Erik Peterson) Judge Bumbs ruling on the New Jersey Democrats overreaching anti-conceal carry law gives me hope that New Jersey Democrats constant attack on the fundamental rights of the people of New Jersey may have come to an end, Peterson said in a statement issued to The Epoch Times. It is now time to take this momentum and for We the People to unite and take back our state from the control of Democrats, he said. Republican state Sen. Michael Testa called the law absolutely wrong. In a statement issued to The Epoch Times, a spokesperson from Testas office said the senator opposed the bill in Committee and again on the Senate floor. He previously noted the flawed nature of the bill as it was pushed through the New Jersey Legislature in October. Once again, the Democratic Party is showing its ignorance of the law, the Constitution, and common sense in the pursuit of applause from the anti-gun crowd through a proposal that will do absolutely nothing to stop crimes committed with illegal guns, Testa said in a news release at the time. Maybe the proponents of this bill should read the law before they pass a poorly written bill that would turn everyone into criminals regardless of whether they even own a gun, he said. Testas spokesperson said the judges decision is proof of the senators points in October and on the Senate floor in December. The Epoch Times reached out to Platkin, Danielsen, Scutari, Greenstein, and Murphy for comment. Few Schools Returning to Mask Mandates as COVID Cases Increase Students with face masks go upstairs to their classrooms at the Petri primary school in Dortmund, Germany, on Aug. 12, 2020. (Ina Fassbender/AFP via Getty Images) At least five school districts, most in the northeast of the country, have reinstated mask requirements for students amid an uptick in COVID-19 infections, and two requested that students be tested for the virus before returning to school from winter break. However, the trend toward student mask requirements does not appear to be growing toward the levels seen a year ago at the height of the pandemic. The number of new COVID-19 infections rose after reaching a weekly low of about 260,000 on Oct. 19, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). By Dec. 21, weekly infections peaked at more than 487,000, which prompted action in several school districts. Masking policies instituted so far vary between districts and are not all mandatory. These latest policy changes come on the heels of criticism by some health experts that the masking requirements in public spaces lack scientific footing. Mask Ask Versus Mask Mandate As the infection rate rose in December, the CDC increased the infection risk for some counties to high, triggering mandatory mask policies in at least two districts while two others adopted mask mandates for other reasons. Passaic Public Schools in New Jersey reinstated a mask mandate for its nearly 14,000 students when its county was rated at high risk for infection. The mandate began on Dec. 21 and will be lifted when the risk level drops to moderate. Massachusetts Chelsea Public Schools returned to compulsory mask wearing for approximately 6,000 students on Jan. 9, effective until its countys infection risk is lowered. The infection risk in both counties remains high according to the CDC. Paterson Public Schools in New Jersey issued a mask mandate effective Jan. 3 for its approximately 25,000 students, but the move was not prompted solely by CDC risk ratings. The notice to parents cited an increase in COVID-19, RSV, and flu cases, saying, District administrators will continue to monitor conditions and will re-evaluate this decision as needed. A child wearing a mask listens during a geography lesson at Whitchurch High School in Cardiff, Wales, on Sept. 14, 2021. (Matthew Horwood/Getty Images) Michigans Ann Arbor Public Schools also issued a mask mandate for its more than 17,000 students based on its own criteria. The policy is effective from Jan. 920 to avoid school closures and protect student and staff health. Several district schools closed temporarily in December due to excessive illness and absences. Boston Public Schools asked staff and students to voluntarily wear masks from Jan. 413 but said, No one will be disciplined or sent home if they refuse to wear a mask. Students were also asked to take an iHealth Antigen Test before returning to school after the break. Chicago Public Schools asked but did not require students to take a free COVID-19 test before returning from the holiday break on Jan. 9. Experts Question the Science Following the December increase in COVID-19 infection, some health experts have recommended a voluntary return to masking in public spaces as a preventive measure. The mask just helps to decrease transmission of a lot of the common illnesses, pediatric emergency physician Dr. Elizabeth Murray told Good Morning America. She advises both children and adults to wear masks if possible in crowded indoor settings. However, some health experts have questioned the effectiveness of mask-wearing by the general public in preventing airborne viral infection. There is no study in the world that shows that masks work that well, Dr. Ashish Jha, the White Houses COVID-19 coordinator, said during a December discussion with the Philadelphia Inquirer. Jha was promoting investments made in improving air quality as a way to cut down on COVID-19 infections. Israeli health specialists Yoav Yehezkelli and Amnon Lahad voiced a similar objection to mask policies in a December letter to the Israel Medical Association Journal. Yehezkelli is a specialist in internal medicine and medical management, and a founder of the Epidemic Management Team and Evaluation Programs for Extreme Biological Incidents. Lahad is chairman of the National Council for the Health of the Community and head of the Department of Family Medicine at the School of Medicine at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Both are members of the Public Emergency Council for the COVID-19 Crisis, an independent organization comprising Israeli physicians, researchers, and social welfare professionals. The data available on respiratory viruses, including influenza and various types of coronaviruses prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, showed that there is no place for wearing masks to prevent the spread of a respiratory virus, Yehezkelli told The Epoch Times. An Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) specialist checking a female patients ear (Shutterstock) All the studies done in the world until 2020 showed that there is no justification for this, he said, speaking of universal masking. Yehezkelli drew a distinction between observational studies, which some policymakers have relied on, and more rigorous scientific inquiries. In medicine, we try to rely on controlled studies, which are of higher quality than observational studies. In the context of medical treatment, when a patient with respiratory disease such as COVID-19 is closely examined by medical staff, there is justification for wearing masks by both the therapist and the patient, he said. Even in a medical environment, a patient treated for a non-respiratory ailment like leg pain or anemia would have no reason to wear a mask, Yehezkelli said. Pre-COVID-19 guidelines of the World Health Organization and the CDC also showed that there is no need for wearing masks in the general public, said Yehezkelli. In defense of school masking policies, the CDC cited two reports in 2021 that indicated a greater risk of experiencing a COVID-19 outbreak in schools that did not have mask mandates. Infections and Mandates Well Below Previous Levels Though the recent rise in COVID-19 infections and the closure of some schools has gained wide notice, neither approaches the numbers seen in 2020-2021. The weekly rate of infection remains well below the July peak of more than 920,000 cases, a mere fraction of the 5.6 million weekly cases reported a year ago. Burbio, a service that compiles data on public schools, traced the masking policies of nearly 500 school districts beginning in October 2021, when 73.8 percent of those polled required masks. Burbio stopped the practice in December after the rate remained below 1 percent for at least two months. With 18,328 public school districts in the United States serving more than 50 million students, additional mask mandates in four districts serving some 62,000 students affect about 1 percent of students and a tiny fraction of districts. Lia Onely contributed to this report. First Lady Undergoing Surgery to Remove Skin Lesion First Lady Jill Biden waves before boarding Air Force One to depart Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Aug. 10, 2022. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images) On Wednesday, a small skin lesion above First Lady Jill Bidens right eye is being removed at a military hospital. The issue was discovered during a routine skin cancer screening last week, the White House said. The surgery to remove the potentially cancerous lesion above her right eye was proceeding well and as expected, according to her office. The first lady and President Joe Biden remained at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, as of midafternoon. They had arrived by helicopter at about 8 a.m ET. The update from Jill Bidens office came after she had been at the hospital for about six hours. A further update was expected after the surgery. In a Jan. 4 memo released by Vanessa Valdivia, press secretary to the first lady, the presidents physician Dr. Kevin OConnor announced that doctors had recommended the procedure for the 71-year-old first lady in an abundance of caution. The surgery was scheduled the day after the couple returned from Mexico City, where the President met with the leaders of Mexico and Canada to discuss immigration, clean energy, and security. The procedure, known as Mohs surgery, is a highly efficient treatment for skin cancer. According to a fact sheet from the Mayo Clinic, the surgery involves cutting away thin layers of skin. Each thin layer is looked at closely for signs of cancer. The process keeps going until there are no signs of cancer. The advantage of the technique is that it allows the surgeon to remove tumors entirely while minimally damaging the healthy tissue that surrounds it, which results in smaller scars. For this reason, Mohs surgery is ideal for removing skin cancers from the face, ears, or genitals. Its effectiveness also reduces the need for other treatments. The procedure was developed in 1938 by a medical student named Frederick Mohs. The technique was further refined in the 1970s by dermatologist Dr. Perry Robins, founder of the Skin Cancer Foundation. According to The Skin Cancer Foundation, the cure rate for Mohs surgery is as high as 99 percent for the most common types of skin cancer. For recurring cancers, the success rate is about 94 percent. In April 2021, the first lady successfully underwent an unspecified medical procedure that the White House described as common. No details were provided. This incident isnt the first time cancer has affected the Biden family. On November 19, 2021, Dr. OConnor released a summary (pdf) of President Bidens health, revealing that the President has had several localized, non-melanoma skin cancers removed with Mohs surgery before he started his presidency. According to OConnor, these lesions were completely excised, with clear margins. Skin cancer may be the most common form of cancer, but it is far from the most dangerous. In the United States, nonmelanoma skin cancer causes less than 0.1 percent of cancer deaths. The Associated Press contributed to this report. From NTD News Gamers Beware: The CCP Is Coming for You People play computer games at an internet cafe in Beijing on Sept. 10, 2021. Chinese officials summoned gaming enterprises including Tencent and NetEase, the two market leaders in China's multi-billion-dollar gaming scene, to discuss further curbs on the industry. (Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images) Commentary Tencent Holdings and NetEase Inc.both Chinese mega-tech companies deeply involved in gaming design and distributionwere hit hard over the past year and a half. Arbitrary rule in Beijing, decoupling, and a downturn in tech stocks walloped them, along with other Chinese companies that lost trillions of dollars from market selloffs. But now, big China tech is back. NetEase is the latest to grab international headlines. It plans to capture more international users with its global investment in design teams in the United States, Canada, Japan, and France. In 2021, Beijing banned children from gaming more than three hours per week. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) saw it as a form of spiritual opium. Now, the CCP wants to export that gamer opiumalong with its infamous fentanylfor ingestion in America and our allies. What makes us weaker, they appear to reason, makes the regime in Beijing stronger. The CCPs ban on gaming in China, while simultaneously supporting its export abroad, uses both push and pull factors to refocus Chinese gaming companies on export markets. The expansion of Chinas gaming exports is a vehicle for CCP influence, as with TikTok and Hollywood, because the content can subtly favor CCP ideology. In the latter two conduits, for example, the regimes many human rights abuses tend to be elided. Chinas Global Gamer Expansion NetEases global expansion drive kicked into high gear in 2022, according to DealStreetAsia. The gaming company is based in Hangzhou and is Chinas second-largest after Tencent. Last year, it launched game design studios in Japan with Nagoshi Studio and GPTrack50, in the United States with Jackalope Games and Jar of Sparks, and in France with Quantic Dream. All were its first design forays in these countries. The latest studio to fall into Chinas orbit is Canadas Skybox Labs, which has participated in the design of hits such as Minecraft, Halo Infinite, Fallout 76, and Age of Empires. NetEase announced the acquisition of Skybox, which has 250 employees, on Jan. 6. Chinas Tencent Holdings, the worlds biggest gaming company, is also on a global buying spree, with more than a dozen gaming studios now acquired. People visit Tencents booth at the World 5G Exhibition in Beijing on Nov. 22, 2019. The Chinese internet giant is complying with Chinese leader Xi Jinpings edict to redistribute wealth in China. Its the largest holding in BMOs Chinese ESG-focused ETF. (Jason Lee/Reuters) National Security Risk The increasing access of Chinese gaming companies to young gamers globally, including their personal data, is a national security concern, given the CCPs control of Chinese companies and Beijings adversarial attitude toward the United States and democracy. The global reach of Tencent and NetEase, in both game design and customer base, gives them unprecedented and relatively below-the-radar access to youth and young adult demographics, as well as international information networks. There have long been privacy concerns about Tencent and NetEase controlling the data of their international users, including personal chat data. Even when users attempt to delete data held by NetEase, they could be denied based on the NetEase privacy policy or its failure to follow its own policies. Theres no way for users to confirm whether or not their data is safe with Chinese companies because the Chinese regime is opaque to all but the CCPs elite. With Tencent and NetEases design expansion, theyll access international computer programmers and could insert hackers into data systems directly. Backdoors can be built into games that would allow full access to user computers. To mitigate against this and similar risks, India banned 54 Chinese apps in February 2022, including from NetEase and Tencent. NetEases longstanding partner, Activision Blizzard, parted ways with NetEase in November 2022 due to the failure of the company to share Chinese user data. Beijing knows the power of user data and is likely leaning on NetEase to not share. The same doesnt apply the other way, as Beijing wants to vacuum up as much as possible. US Should Intervene The United States should pass laws against companies such as NetEase and Tencent acquiring U.S. and international game design companies and user data, given that the two Chinese companies are based in an adversary nation. While they may claim to not share data with Beijing, theyre required by law to do so whenever asked by the regime. The U.S. government has been too soft on Chinese companies, given their weaponization by Beijing against democracies around the world. Its time to step up and impose the penalty of decoupling on not only TikTok, Huawei, and ZTE, which were finally starting to address, but on gaming companies such as Tencent and NetEase as well. Theres precedent. In 2021, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) investigated Tencents $1.3 billion takeover of Sumo Group. Sumos subsidiary has developed games such as Sackboy, Hood Outlaws & Legends, Team Sonic Racing, and Crackdown 3. This is the right approach, but CFIUS must do more than investigate. It should end these investments in technologies that can influence and violate the privacy of the next generation of youth in our democracies. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley to Undergo Surgery After Injuring Hip Update: My hip surgery today to repair a fracture was very successful. On my way to a full recovery, Grassley said on Twitter on Jan. 11. Original story below Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, who was elected in November to serve an eighth term in the Senate, is set to undergo surgery this week after sustaining an injury on Jan. 10, his office has announced. A statement from his office said he hurt his hip but is otherwise in good spirits and is expected to make a full recovery. The lawmakers office did not provide further details as to how the 89-year-old became injured, or what type of surgery he will be having. Grassley is one of the longest-serving senators in U.S. history, having held one of Iowas Senate seats since 1981, and has the most seniority of any current senator. The lawmaker has never received less than 60 percent of the votes in his re-election bids. He was sworn into the new term on Jan. 3 after comfortably beating retired Navy admiral Michael Franken, a Democrat, in last years elections. Grassley is also the oldest Republican senator and the second oldest senator. California Senator Dianne Feinstein, a Republican, is also 89 but was born about three months before Grassley. Despite his age, Grassley previously said he maintains a healthy and active lifestyle which includes waking up at 4 a.m. in the morning and jogging for two miles before arriving at work. My age comes up, and this morning I got up at four oclock like I do six times a week and jogged two miles, Grassley told reporters during a conference call in February 2021 when he was weighing up whether or not to pursue an eighth term in the U.S. Senate. Grassley Says Leg Was Nearly Amputated If I can do that every day, I hope nobody has any questions about my ability to conduct a campaign. Itll be up to the voters to decide whether or not I should be re-elected, but I hope they wont say I cant conduct a campaign, the Senator said. Grassley later went on to announce his re-election bid by sharing a video of himself waking up at 4 a.m. and going for his regular run. Prior to sustaining his injury on Tuesday, Grassley appeared Monday at the opening day of the 2023 session of the Iowa Legislature, where he administered the oath of office to his grandson, Pat Grassley, who is the Speaker of the Iowa House. During Mondays session, Grassley told local radio show KJAN that he had previously had surgery on his left leg after doctors discovered a non-malignant tumor. The surgery at the time involved translating bones from his hip into the area where bone had been removed from his lower leg. I had to wait two days to decide whether they were going to amputate my leg or take care of it another way, Grassley said. Now, if you saw it on X-rays, youd just see a little mark around where they grafted it in. But they took more than two-thirds of the bone below the knee. Grassleys fellow Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, a Republican, led well wishes for him on Tuesday, posting to Twitter: join me in praying for a speedy recovery for Chuck Grassley. I know hell be back on his 4 a.m. running routine in no time! Iowa congresswoman Rep. Ashley Hinson, also a Republican, said she was praying for a full and speedy recovery for Senator Chuck Grassley. I know hell be back to his morning runs in no time, Hinson added. Greens Push Australian Government to Get Tough on Iran A placard during a protest against the Islamic regime of Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini in Berlin on Dec. 10, 2022. (Michele Tantussi/Reuters) The Greens Party has denounced the federal governments response to Irans crackdown on Iranian freedom protestors as slow and falling short of what the community wants. Australian Greens spokesperson for Foreign Affairs, Peace, and Nuclear Disarmament, Senator Jordon Steele-John called out the Albanese government over what the Greens say is a lack of concrete actions on the Iranian crackdown. Every day, we wake up to the news that more Iranian freedom protestors have been sentenced to death. This must end. The international community must keep putting pressure on Iranian authorities to free those innocent civilians who are subject to fatal penalties because they were crying out for freedom in their country, Steele-John said. Western Australian Greens Senator Jordan Steele-John in the Senate at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia on July 4, 2019. (Tracey Nearmy/Getty Images) The Australian Greens want the federal government to do more than the current sanctions that have been put on some Iranian officials. The current sanctions do not go far enough and are not as strong as those imposed by other countries, including Canada, the party said in a media release. The community is desperately calling for more to be done to show Iranian authorities that these abhorrent acts will not be tolerated. Currently, Australia has used its new Magnitsky laws to implement sanctions on 13 individuals and two entities from Iran. These include members of Irans Morality Police and the Basij Resistance Force and six Iranian individuals who have been intrinsically involved in the crackdown on protests following the suspicious death of 22-year-old Mahsa Jina Amini, who was arrested for allegedly wearing her hijab incorrectly. This is in addition to the Iranian sanctions regime instituted by United Nations, which Australia adheres to. Announcing the sanctions on Dec. 10, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Penny Wong, said that the sanctions were in response to egregious human rights violations and abuses. These sanctions target grievous human rights situations where the perpetrators continue to act with impunity, she said. The listings demonstrate the Australian Governments commitment to take clear action to assert our values and to hold perpetrators of serious human rights violations and abuses to account. Call to Expand Magnitsky Sanction on the Iranian Regime Steele-John said that the Greens would like to see the Australian government expand its use of the Magnitsky sanctions to include financial asset freezing and further visa bans on individuals linked to the Iranian regime, including key security officials, Basiji Militia, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp, and the morality police. The Iranian diaspora community has been calling for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to be listed as a terrorist organisation, and the Australian government must start listening, he said. This would send a strong signal that Australia will not stay silent in the face of human rights abuses and will act to punish perpetrators who are accountable for these heinous crimes. Iranian demonstrators take to the streets of the capital Tehran during a protest for Mahsa Amini on Sept. 21, 2022, five days after the young woman died in custody while under arrest by the countrys morality police. (AFP via Getty Images) The Greens have also said they will continue to pressure the federal government to do more on the issue. The Australian Greens will continue to call on the Iranian government to end its violent crackdown on protesters and request the release of all arrested protestors, the party said. We will continue to pressure the Australian government to do more. International Movement Puts Iranian Regime in the Spotlight Additionally, Steele-John has announced his political sponsorship of one protestor, Majid Kazemi, who was sentenced to death by the Iranian authorities on Jan. 9 and has family living in Australia. The Iranian diaspora in Australia is greatly concerned for Majid Kazemi, as the Iranian authorities have continued to carry out executions of people who joined protests following Jina Aminis death, the Greens party spokesperson said. The United Nations Human Rights office has said that the recent executions of Mohammad Mahdi Karami and Seyed Mohammad Hosseini followed unfair trials based on forced confessions.' Steele-Johns support follows similar moves from politicians in Europe and Canada, who are also sponsoring Iranian prisoners. According to Voice of America, the intention behind the lawmakers sponsorship means they will use their political heft in communicating with Iranian ambassadors, other politicians, and human rights organizations to bring attention to the plight of individual Iranian prisoners. Mohammad-Mehdi Karami speaks in a courtroom in Tehran, Iran, in December 2022. Karami was later executed by the Iranian regime. (West Asia News Agency/Handout via Reuters) The hope is that the increased attention brought to the cases via political clout will push the Iranian regime to stop sentencing protestors harshly in trials that are often running covertly. Families members of those arrested in the crackdown have reported that they often have no idea where their family members are being held or what conditions they may have suffered while detained. Thousands of Iranians have been protesting almost daily despite an increasingly violent crackdown from Iranian authorities. The regimes suppression of protesters includes alleged arbitrary arrests and detentions, gender-based and sexual violence, excessive use of force, torture, enforced disappearances, and executions. House Creates Panel on Weaponization of the Federal Government 'This is about the First Amendment' The new Republican-majority House voted on Jan. 10 to create a select subcommittee to investigate the weaponization of the government by federal law enforcement agencies under Democrat President Joe Bidens administration. The special panel would have various functions, including the authority to have subpoena power to receive information on intelligence-related activity thats typically only shared with the House Intelligence Committee. It would also have the authority to probe the federal governments expansive role in investigations on U.S. citizens, including in ongoing criminal investigations. The panel would also have the power to probe how federal agencies communicate with private companies to collect information on Americans, according to the text of the resolution. The resolution to create the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government passed on a straight party-line vote of 221-211. The panel is part of the House Judiciary Committee. Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) is also expected to chair it. It would comprise 15 membersnine Republicans and six Democratsto be appointed by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), who chairs the House Rules Committee, said the new panel is modeled on the Church Committee, a U.S. Senate select committee in 1975 that investigated U.S. intelligence agencies. That committee uncovered and exposed a wide variety of abuses, including many [abuses] directed against American citizens, Cole told fellow lawmakers on the House floor on Jan. 10. Similar to the situation that confronted America in the 1970s, in recent years we have witnessed abuses of the civil liberties of American citizens committed by the executive branch, Cole said, adding that such violations are often for political purposes. He said the newly-created panel will be tasked with studying and reporting on the executive branchs authority to collect information on or otherwise investigate citizens of the United States. The American people deserve to have confidence in their government, Cole said. They deserve to know that the broad powers granted to the federal government through the FBI, to the Department of Homeland Security, and to the intelligence agencies, are not being abused. They deserve to know that the executive branch is not positioning itself as the final arbiter of what constitutes truth, he continued. And they deserve to know that they will not be labeled a domestic terrorist for advocating for their children in front of a school board. Rep. Jim Jordan (D-Ohio) nominates House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) for Speaker of the House of the 118th Congress during a speech in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol Building on Jan. 3, 2023 in Washington. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) This is About the First Amendment Democrats have raised concerns about a provision that authorizes the committee to probe ongoing criminal investigations, which are generally outside the purview of congressional oversight. This is a violation of separation of powers, and its also very dangerous, said Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee. They have also claimed that Republicans could use its broad new authority to disrupt ongoing investigations into the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as well as former President Donald Trumps handling of classified documents, for which the FBI conducted a raid on his Florida property in August 2022. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) derided the panel on the House floor late Jan. 10, calling it nothing more than a deranged ploy by the MAGA extremists who have hijacked the party and want to use taxpayer money to push their far-right conspiracy nonsense. Jordan argued against that assertion on the House floor. A ploy? Its not a ploy when the Department of Justice treats parents as terroristsmoms and dads simply showing up at a school board meeting to advocate for their son or daughter, Jordan said. Its not a ploy when the FBI pays Twitter $3 million to censor American citizens. Its not a ploy when the Department of Homeland Security tries to set up a disinformation governance board because we all know that the department of homeland security can tell whats good speech and what is bad speech, he continued. You got to be kidding me. Ill tell you whatdozens of whistleblowers have come talked to Republican staff on the Judiciary Committee doesnt think this is a ploy. Thats why they talked to us. They know how serious this is. Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee in November 2022 released a 1,000-page report (pdf) titled FBI Whistleblowers: What Their Disclosures Indicate About the Politicization of the FBI and Justice Department. Citing multiple examples and whistleblower disclosures, the report outlined how the Justice Department and the FBI abused their authorities to target conservatives for political purposes. Jordan continued: This [committee] is about the First amendment. Something you guys [Democrats] used to care about. I would hope we could get bipartisan agreement on protecting the First Amendmentthe five rights we enjoy as Americans under the First Amendment: 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. The government was telling people they couldnt go to church a few years ago, he noted. Your right to assemble, petition the governmentthe Democrats kept the Capitol closed, a citizen couldnt come to your Capitol that you pay for to redress your grievances because Nancy Pelosi wouldnt let you in! Freedom of the pressI just told you what the head of the intel committee tried to do to a journalist, he continued. The most important right we have, though, is your right to talk. Because if you cant talk, you cant practice your faith. You cant share your faith. You cant petition your government. The right to speak is the most important, and thats what they [the federal government agencies] are going after. House Panel Launches Investigation Into Bidens Classified Document Stash The House Oversight Committee is opening an investigation into President Joe Bidens handling of classified records from his time as vice president, following the discovery of sensitive materials in an insecure closet at a think tank. Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) said in a Jan. 10 statement on social media that hes launching the probe; he has demanded that the White House and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) provide documents and information related to their handling of the Biden recordsincluding the classified documents themselves. The Committee is concerned that President Biden has compromised sources and methods with his own mishandling of classified documents, Comer wrote in a letter to White House counsel Stuart Delery (pdf), while pointing out that Biden has previously called the mishandling of presidential records totally irresponsible. 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 in Washington 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. For purposes of the committee probe, Comer requested that the White House provide a raft of information relating to the handling of the retrieved documents. He requested all the documents retrieved from Bidens personal office at the Penn Biden Center, as well as all internal documents and communications regarding the recovered materials. Hes also demanding a list of all the people who had access to Bidens personal office at the think tank and all documents and communications between the White House and the Department of Justice (DOJ) or NARA regarding the classified document find. Comer separately wrote to NARAs Acting Archivist Debra Steidel Wall (pdf) to raise the question of political bias at the agency over what he described as inconsistent treatment of recovering classified records held by Biden and former President Donald Trump. NARA learned about these documents days before the 2022 midterm elections and did not alert the public that President Biden was potentially violating the law, he wrote. Meanwhile, NARA instigated a public and unprecedented FBI raid at Mar-a-Lagoformer President Trumps hometo retrieve presidential records. Comer also said this disparate treatment raises questions about political bias at the agency. Officials at NARA and the White House didnt respond by press time to a request by The Epoch Times for comment. President Joe Biden speaks during a Cabinet meeting in the White House on Jan. 5, 2023. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) 2-Tiered Justice System? News of the document discovery has led to comparisons to Trump, who kept some allegedly classified materials at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida that were seized in an FBI raid. Trump, whos being investigated by the Justice Department in connection with the incident but hasnt been charged, said he declassified the materials before he left office. Attorney General Merrick Garland, who assigned a special counsel to probe Trump over his document stash, has assigned a U.S. attorney in Chicago to review Bidens materials and how they ended up at Bidens office at the think tank. Republicans have argued that Trump has been treated more harshly over his document stash and that the DOJ and the mainstream media are handling Biden with kid gloves. Is the White House going to be raided tonight? Comer said in a Fox News interview. 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 versus Democrats certainly how they treat the former president versus the current president. The Republican lawmaker noted that in his research after the FBIs search of Trumps home in August, he found that every president had accidentally packed documents that may or may not be considered classified, saying, but they werent raided. Immediate and Proper Action Democrats have defended Biden amid the fallout from the document find, pointing to the small number of documents found at the Biden-linked think tank compared to a larger volume held by Trump. Theyve also highlighted the Biden lawyers cooperation with NARA and quick submission of the classified materials after their discovery, compared to a drawn-out fight to get Trumps documents, including by subpoena. 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 said. Trump, who previously said the FBIs seizure of documents from his home was an act of retribution by his political foes, commented on the Biden document find. When is the FBI going to raid the many homes of Joe Biden, perhaps even the White House? he asked on social media. These documents were definitely not declassified. A law enforcement officer stands outside Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., on Aug. 8, 2022. (Giorgio Viera/AFP/Getty Images) Biden Surprised Biden, who in September 2022 called Trumps handling of classified documents totally irresponsible, said on Jan. 10 that he was surprised that any sensitive government records had been taken to his former personal office. People know I take classified information seriously, Biden said at a North American Leaders Summit in Mexico on Jan. 10. He defended how the discovery of the documents was handled, insisting that his lawyers immediately called NARA and turned over the materials to the agency. Its unclear when Biden became aware of the discovery of the documents. Legal experts who spoke to The Epoch Times gave contrasting views on the document find, with some insisting theres no legal difference between Trump and Biden in terms of possible violations of laws that require classified documents to be turned over to NARA to be stored securely. Some said a key difference is the status of the documents, with Trump insisting that he declassified the documents, although that remains unclear pending investigation. By contrast, the vice presidentas Biden was at about the time the documents were placed at the think tankdoesnt have that power. No Legal Difference 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. From a legal standpoint, there will need to be an investigation into the documents found at Bidens office, he said, noting that such a probe would also include a determination as to the potential damage to national security interests. Aron Solomon, chief legal analyst at Esquire Digital, told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement 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. Another difference, according to Solomon, is in the sheer volume of documents seized at Mar-a-Lago compared to the ones at Bidens former 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, he said. FBI agents seized 103 documents marked classified at Mar-a-Lago, including some marked top secret. However, Jacques insisted 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. While Trump has insisted that he did declassify the documents, details around the declassification process and status of the documents remain unclear. Biden, by contrast, didnt have the authority to declassify documents. This fact is material, Jacques insisted. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) said on Jan. 10 that he sees a double standard in how Biden and Trump are being treated by the media, in the context of classified documents. If then-Vice President Biden took classified documents with him and held them for years and criticized former President Trump during that same time that he had those classified documents, and only after it was uncovered did he turn them back, I wonder why the press isnt asking the same questions of him, Scalise said. House Republicans Pass Pro-Life Bills The exterior of the U.S. Capitol building in a file photo. (Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images) House Republicans on Jan. 11 approved two pro-life measures. The first measure passed by the House would ban abortion on babies born alive and require that these babies be given medical care and treatment. This bill was the first of the two to be considered by lawmakers. When brought to the floor, Democrats attempted and failed to have the bill sent back to committee. That motion failed by a vote of 212219. Ultimately, the bill passed the House by a vote of 220210. One Democrat voted in favor of the measure, Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), while all other Democrats opposed the measure. Republicans lauded the bill as a common sense measure that would ensure that infants born alive after a failed abortion attempt would receive medical attention. Democrats tied their opposition to the measure to claims that it is part of a larger GOP plot to ban abortion nationwide. Republican Opposition to Born Alive Bill Despite broad GOP support, the bill banning abortions on infants born alive did face some criticisms from within the majority party. Many Republicans have expressed concerns that Republicans position on abortion was in part responsible for their underperformance in the 2022 midterm elections. This was the case made by Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), who argued that the bill was tone-deaf. Its tone-deaf at this point. Its never going to pass the Senate. Its never going to get to the presidents desk to be signed into law, Mace told reporters on Jan. 10. Were only paying lip service to the pro-life movement. If you want to make a difference and reduce the number of abortions with a Democrat-controlled Senate, the No. 1 issue we should be working on is access to birth control. We have been tone-deaf on this issue since the time that Roe was overturned. We buried our heads in the sand, she added. We didnt have any policy alternatives. We were not compassionate to both sides of the aisle on this argument. Mace, who has been critical of President Donald Trump, beat out Trump-backed challenger Katie Arrington in her partys primary in a district that voted for Biden in 2020. Crisis Pregnancy Centers The other measure condemned a spurt of growing attacks against crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs). In a speedy vote after the born alive bill, the House passed the measure by a vote of 222209, including Cuellar and two other Democrats who approved the measure. Crisis pregnancy centers are nonprofits founded for the purpose of providing counseling, support, and resources to persuade women against having an abortion. Often, services provided by these organizations include financial assistance, child-rearing resources, and adoption referrals, among others. Specifically, crisis pregnancy centers often furnish new and expecting mothers with essentials like baby formula, diapers, and clothing in an effort to give women facing financial hardship an alternative to abortion. Following an unprecedented leak showing that the Supreme Court was poised to overturn Roe v. Wadewhich it later did in the majority opinion of Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organizationpro-abortion activists took to the streets. In many cases, demonstrations turned violent and crisis pregnancy centers found themselves facing violent attacks across the nation from Portland to Washington, D.C. The resolution put forward by Republicans would condemn these attacks, which Republicans say the Department of Justice (DOJ) has been less than active in prosecuting. Attacks Have Skyrocketed Rep. Harriett Hageman (R-Wyo.), one of the newest members of the House of Representatives, made a speech supporting the measure on the House floor. Since the day that the Dobbs decision was illegally leaked, attacks against pregnancy centers, centers of worship, and other pro-life institutions have skyrocketed, Hageman said. This is true, as a series of incidents across the country demonstrate. On June 10 Luke Cirillo, the CEO of First Image, which runs a series of crisis pregnancy centers in Portland, Oregon, received a call from police that pro-abortion activists threw an incendiary through one of the windows [of one of the centers] which lit a significant fire in the back room. This was not the only attack against First Image in the Portland area: on May 5, over a month before, another First Image facility had been vandalized and had the graffiti [expletive] CPCs written on it. On the other side of the nation, a crisis pregnancy center run by CompassCare in Buffalo, New York was firebombed by pro-abortion agitators. Photographs posted on Facebook showed the effects of this attack, with windows blown out and glass lining the sidewalk outside of the facility. Jane was here, a reference to Jane Roe, was also written on the wall at the side of the facility. The FBI has said that they are investigating the attacks, but crisis pregnancy centers have continued to face the fear of further violent attacks by pro-abortion radicals. On July 7, two crisis pregnancy centers in Massachusettsthe Clearway Center and the nearby Problem Pregnancy clinicwere also vandalized. Janes Revenge, was painted on the doorways to both clinics. Even in the nations capital, crisis pregnancy centers are not safe from the spurt of violence. Photos posted to Twitter show the door of the Capitol Hill Crisis Pregnancy Center covered in red paint and the words Janes Revenge written in graffiti on a nearby wall. Cases of harassment, fire bombings, and physical assaults have been reported all across the country, Hageman said. These violent acts count as intimidation of those individuals who need the services provided by these pro-life, faith-based organizations. Hageman contended that the resolution is necessary because President Joe Biden and the DOJ have failed to adequately condemn and prosecute these attacks. The DOJ, Hageman said, has refused to take any action to identify and prosecute those who have committed these crimes. In an interview with The Epoch Times sister media NTD, Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R-Texas) explained the impulse behind the resolution. I think what were trying to do is set the tables right again, let it be known where we do stand on abortion, where we stand on life, Van Duyne said. And I think its the timeliness of finally getting into the majority to be able to have something like this pass after seeing some of the monstrous bills that passed last Congress, I think its important for the American people that they recognize that we actually do appreciate and do on focus on life. Asked about whether the measure is, as Democrat opponents have claimed, an extreme measure, Van Duyne replied, Id say that the last Congress, we saw the most extreme nature of Democrats, when you agree to the abortion of a baby up until the moment of birth, thats extreme. Democrats Womens Health Protection Act, passed by the House and shot down by the Senate during the last Congress by a bipartisan vote, would have allowed abortion until the moment of birth, a standard that would have put the U.S. in league with China and North Korea, some of the only states that allow such late-term abortion. Democrat Opposition The measure unsurprisingly faced opposition from Democrats. Several Democrats argued that the measure doesnt go far enough in condemning attacks on abortion providers. Since 1993, Democrats noted, 11 abortionists have been killed by pro-life individuals. However, in recent months CPCs have faced more threats than abortion clinics by a wide margin. Notably, Democrats have been opposed to CPCs for some time. In July 2022, several Democrats called for the shutdown of CPCs nationwide, claiming they are deceptive. This point was reiterated on the House floor, as several Democrats repeated charges that these centers are deceptive. This critique comes from scattered instances involving CPCs misleadingly marketing themselves as abortion providers, those these situations are relatively uncommon. Other Democrats saw in the bill a threat of a broader goal to outlaw abortion entirely. They will not stop until they reach their ultimate goal: a nationwide ban on abortion, said Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), who led debate on the Democrat side. Ultimately, every single Democrat voted against the legislation. In an interview with The Epoch Times, Kristen Day, a representative of the group Democrats for Life, a Democrat group opposed to abortions, encouraged Democrats to reconsider, suggesting that true Democrats should oppose unrestricted abortion. These attacks on the pregnancy centers cannot continue, Day said. Most of the people who work in these centers are women. Theyre not there to make a lot of money. Theyre there to help other women. And so its really counterintuitive to what the Democratic Party is supposed to be standing for, which is to help the vulnerable. And by allowing these attacks and supporting these attacks, theyre doing the exact oppositetheyre attacking the most vulnerable in our society. Theyre on the wrong side on this, and I think history will show that, Day added. Day dismissed Democrats claims that attacks on abortionists werent taken seriously by the pro-life crowd, emphasizing her opposition to violence and most pro-lifers opposition to violence. Day said it was hypocritical for Democrats to oppose the bill, and suggested that much of the opposition comes from handouts by the lucrative abortion lobby. Its completely hypocritical to not support this bill, Day said. Every Democrat in the House should support it. To say that theyre not going to support it because something isnt included is just ridiculous. It just shows how lockstep [House Democrats] are with the abortion lobby and trying and helping the abortion lobby make money [and] raise money for them. Its all about money, and theyre just showing that they dont care about women. They really dont care about women at all, because they want them to have only one choice. So the abortionists can make money so they can turn around and give that money to [Democrat] campaigns so they can win elections. And thats all it is. Whats Next With their passage by the House, the bills will now head to the Senate, where they will likely be shot down. In the upper chamber, almost all legislation must overcome a 60-vote threshold to end debate and send the measure to the floor for a simple majority vote. Because Democrats hold the upper chamber comfortably, it is likely that the measures will die by filibuster. Even if the bills did pass the Senate, it is unlikely that Biden would sign off on the measures. Husband of Missing Massachusetts Mom Last Seen on New Years Day Faces Court The husband of a missing Massachusetts mother of three appeared in a Cohasset court on Monday on a charge related to her disappearance. Brian Walshe was escorted to Quincy District Court to be arraigned on a charge of misleading police who are investigating his wifes disappearance. His wife, Ana Walshe, a 39-year-old realtor, hasnt been seen since New Years Day. In court, Brian Walshe, 46, was seen in handcuffs and wearing what appeared to be plastic bags over his shoes. The court hearing revealed that blood was found in the Walshe family homes basement, as well as a partly damaged knife with traces of blood on it. The prosecutors said that Brian Walshewho was under house arrest for an earlier crime pending sentencingasked permission to drive to his mother on New Years day for a medical emergency. He also told police he would be going to two supermarkets that day and specified which, but surveillance footage showed no sign of him at either location. Nor did he have any receipts of any purchases. Prosecutors said that on the next day, Jan. 2, Brian Walshe told police he would go buy ice cream for his son, but security footage at a Home Depot showed he purchased $450 worth of cleaning supplies. Ana Walshes phone pinged in the area of her home on both Jan. 1 and Jan. 2, prosecutors said. Brian Walshe pleaded not guilty at the hearing, and a $500,000 cash bail was set under a $5 million bond, reported New York Post. He has hired well-known lawyer Tracy Miner. Police Continue Search Police are continuing their investigation into the fate of Ana Walshe, who was last seen at her Cohasset home shortly after midnight on New Years Day. She was meant to use a ride-share service to catch a flight from Boston Logan International Airport for work on New Years Day, Cohasset Police Chief William Quigley said at a news conference Friday. It was unclear if she actually took the rideshare, he said at the time, but authorities confirmed she never boarded the flight. Her husband and her employer in Washington D.C. reported her missing several days later, the police chief said. Guilty in Earlier Case Brian Walshe had pleaded guilty in 2021 to wire fraud, interstate transportation for a scheme to defraud, possession of converted goods, and unlawful monetary transaction, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Massachusetts. He allegedly took two original Andy Warhol paintings from a friend in South Korea and put them on eBay. He allegedly sold fake copies of the paintings, and he is still awaiting sentencing in that case. Illegal Immigration Overwhelming Already Fragile California: Former Mayor Illegal immigration is overloading already fragile systems in Californiaincluding that of healthcare, housing, and educationand is depressing wages, KRLA radio co-host Jim Righeimer of The Weekend Answer said on a recent episode of EpochTVs California Insider. Righeimer, who served on the Costa Mesa City Council in 2010 for eight years, including as the citys mayor from 2012 to 2014, said no matter how charitable Californians think they are, unchecked immigration in the state is harming it. Americans are a giving people, Righeimer said. But the problem with California, is were handing out so much stuff for free. Jim Righeimer, former councilman and mayor in the City of Costa Mesa. (Hau Nguyen/The Epoch Times) During the roughly 30-minute interview, Righeimer pointed to how much such immigration actually costs California taxpayers. Of note, he said, is the cost of education, which, he said, is roughly about $15,000 a year for each child in public education. [Illegal immigrants] come across the border with two [or] three kids and thats $45,000, Righeimer said. I guarantee you that the [immigrant] who came across the border isnt paying $45,000 in taxes for that. Were all paying for that. He said such is only a magnet. You want to give good benefits to your residents, he said. But once you say its for anybody who gets across the border, more people will come. Righemier additionally called Gov. Gavin Newsoms December 2022 visit to the California-Mexico border in advance of a possible revoking of Title 42, a Trump-era policy that allowed border agents to turn away asylum-seekers due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a full-on campaign stop. Shortly after that visit, Newsom told ABC News, that removing the policy could possibly break California. California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a bill signing ceremony at Nidos Backyard Mexican Restaurant in San Francisco on Feb. 9, 2022. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) The policy remains in place, for now. The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to take up the issue in February, after some 19 states, mostly controlled by Republicans, challenged the Biden administrations plan to do away with it. Righeimer agreed that without it the border would be further flooded. He said he had seen videos where there are thousands of people in Mexico camping and waiting for the policy to end so they can cross easier. [Newsom] just wants to get ahead of the curve, he said, saying hes concerned about the money. California will become the first state in the nation by 2024 to offer free healthcare regardless of ones immigration status, a provision in Newsoms signed 202223 budget. The governor has already decided to pay people for their healthcare if they come across the border, Righeimer said. He also blamed the changing requirements for an immigrant to claim asylum. Previously, a person seeking such needed to show their life was in danger due to political unrest in their home country. But now, Righeimer said that has changed. What it is now is hey, lifes not good in the country Im from, he said. He said those attempting these days to cross the border are not Mexicans, but are, instead, South and Central Americans, and from the Middle East and Africa. People are getting on planes to go to Mexico, buying airplane tickets to come into this country, he said. According to Righeimer, these migrants are willing to take the risk. When you come across from a poor country, youve got nothing to lose. You dont really care, he said. Migrants wait to cross the US-Mexico border from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022. (AP Photo/Christian Chavez) He additionally said so much migration is worsening Californias current housing shortage. He pointed to the recent mayoral race in Los Angeles, which in part, focused on creating more affordable housing in the city with the hope of getting the homeless off the street. And were having tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people walk across the border with no place to live, he said. And people are acting like that doesnt affect housing. He said such inflates rents because so many are looking for a place to stay. Theres not enough money on the planet Earth to pay for peoples housing who just come across the border, he said. He said many who are seeking to live in the United States and California will do so for less pay and are good, hard-working people [who] want something better for their kids and their family. It doesnt make them evil. But he said, the country has a set of rules that should be followed. He likened the situation to a lifeboat that if overloaded, everyone suffers and the entire thing capsizes. You just cant keep loading it up, he said. During the interview, Righeimer also responded to a pre-recorded video of a retired border patrol agent who said his colleagues hands are now tied from doing their jobs in keeping the border secure. The retiree likened their jobs to knights at the wall guarding the castle and to vet those legally to use the front door. It works great, the retired agent said, until you get a new administration that comes in and opens the front door and everything that we did for all these years is no longer relevant. The change has created depression and mental health issues for some working the border, he said. U.S. Border Patrol agents check for identification of immigrants as they wait to be processed after crossing the border from Mexico in Yuma, Ariz., on June 22, 2022. (Qian Weizhong/VCG/Getty Images) Righeimer responded by saying the agents took an oath to protect the border, have put their life on the line, and now are being told by the administration to not do their job, but to instead just look away and facilitate the illegal influx, including filling out mounds of paperwork. Meanwhile, he said, the drug cartels are taking advantage of the situation by smuggling more drugs through. For people that work in [this business], he said, its really rough on them right now. Whats been thrown out, Righeimer said, is order. There are a lot of good-hearted people who think the rest of the world is really bad and weve got to save these people, he said. But, you cant keep on overloading people here and thinking theres no problem. The episode can be viewed on the California Insiders YouTube channel. It was recorded before President Joe Biden announced Jan. 5 a tightening of the southern border for arrivals illegally from Cuba, Haiti, and Nicaragua, expanding on rules implemented last October regarding migrants from Venezuela. (Global Times) The US plans to set up a rapid reaction Marine unit throughout Japan's Okinawa islands within a few years, media reported on Tuesday, one day ahead of the 2023 US-Japan Security Consultative Committee meeting in Washington, DC. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida also plans to talk with US President Joe Biden on January 13 after concluding his ongoing Europe and UK tour. A saga of diplomatic and military activities suggests that Tokyo and its allies are likely devising a more detailed and actual-combat strategic deployment against China, but China is always well-prepared to meet the challenge, analysts said. Citing sources, Kyodo News reported on Monday (ET) that a Marine Littoral Regiment (MLR), will be established as part of a realignment of the Marine Corps in Japan's southwestern island prefecture, which is close to China's Taiwan region. The US plans to disperse US Marine units throughout Japan's Okinawa islands by 2026, equipping them with missiles and lighter gear to "deter China's military," Reuters reported Tuesday, citing Japan's Yomiuri newspaper. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin called on Japan and the US to ensure their military cooperation does not harm the interests of third parties or regional peace and stability. We hope that relevant countries will respect the security concerns of countries in the region and do more to enhance mutual trust among countries as well as regional peace and stability, Wang said at a routine press conference on Tuesday. Japanese media said the plan is expected to be discussed at the 2023 US-Japan Security Consultative Committee, which also known as "2+2" security talks between foreign and defense ministers. Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada, and their US counterparts Antony Blinken and Lloyd Austin are expected to attend the planned in-person meeting. Hyping China's "increasing assertiveness," along with North Korea's missile testing and Russia-Ukraine conflict, Japanese media said that Tokyo hopes to articulate plans to acquire "enemy base strike" capability at the upcoming "2+2" security talks, with the Taiwan question to be discussed. Zhu Qingxiu, a Japanese studies researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Tuesday the possible discussion of MLR deployment at the "2+2" security talk indicates that the US and Japan may come up with more tactical deployments that focus on details and actual-combat level in the future. For instance, issues of resource allocation, a unified command structure, Japan's use of US military bases, and coordination of intelligence and reconnaissance are all likely to feature in the "2+2" security talks, Zhu noted. Japan's role in a possible conflict in the Taiwan Straits is likely to be discussed during the "2+2" meeting. In a recent interview with the Financial Times, top US Marine Corps general in Japan James Bierman said that US and Japanese armed forces are integrating their command structure and scaling up combined operations. Bierman told the Financial Times that in the recent joint drills, the Marines for the first time set up bilateral ground tactical co-ordination centers. Besides, specific Japanese military units have been designated as part of the "stand-in force" alongside US forces. Reuters said the Marines plan to cut aircraft numbers and dump most of cannon artillery and heavy amour in favor of smaller "dispersed" forces. The US plans to push Japan to the front line of the conflict so Japan takes the brunt of the attack so China could not wipe out US forces, Zhu said, noting this is also why US armed forces in the Western Pacific are showing a trend of dispersed deployments as Japan's national security strategy shifts to its southwestern islands. In fact, in Japan's three key defense documents revised in December, the Kishida administration pledged to strengthen Self-Defense Forces units in its southwestern islands, describing China as its "greatest strategic challenge." As part of efforts to develop its counterstrike capabilities, Kishida's government has earmarked about $1.58 billion to procure US long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles in the draft budget for fiscal 2023 from April, Japanese media said. China is always well-prepared and observing Tokyo's and Washington's moves, Zhu said. "Although Japan is trying to put pressure strategically on China by deploying forces near the Taiwan region, it cannot change the fact that the People's Liberation Army (PLA) are much stronger than Japan's [forces] in the region." Developing "counterstrike capabilities" cannot form a deterrent to China, but will only be a sheer waste of Japanese taxpayers' money, analysts said. Immigration Crisis, Free Trade, Clean Energy Among Topics Discussed at North American Leaders Summit (L-R) U.S. President Joe Biden, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pose for pictures after speaking to the press during the 10th North American Leaders Summit at the National Palace in Mexico City on Jan. 10, 2023. (Nicolas Asfouri/AFP via Getty Images) Despite tensions between them, President Joe Biden, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador delivered a unified front in public statements on Jan. 10 to mark the conclusion of the two-day North American Leaders Summit in Mexico City. Typically called the three amigos summit because of the close diplomatic and economic ties between the countries, the trilateral gathering is held most years. There was a hiatus during President Donald Trumps tenure. The three leaders met as their countries are striving to mend tensions between each other. The United States continues to struggle with the flood of illegal immigrants entering the country through the southern border. U.S. President Joe Biden (L) is greeted at his arrival by Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (2L) at Bidens arrival to the Felipe Angeles international airport in Zumpango, Mexico, on Jan. 8, 2023. (Fernando Llano/AP Photo) Lopez Obradors focus on strengthening Mexicos state oil company and public power utility has violated a free trade pact and prevented private and foreign investment in semiconductor manufacturing, U.S. officials say. Mexicos energy policy places billions of dollars in U.S. investments at risk, according to the U.S. Trade Representatives office. Canada has joined the complaint. Trudeau and Lopez Obrador have expressed concerns about Bidens measures to increase domestic manufacturing, claiming that their countries could get left behind. The United States is alarmed that Lopez Obrador has a plan to prevent the import of genetically modified corn. Mexico has agreed to delay the ban until 2025. True Partners Even with the tensions, the three leaders presented a unified front at the post-summit press conference. Were true partners the three of us. We share a common vision for the future, grounded on common values, Biden said. The United States has made historic bipartisan investments in infrastructure and innovation that are already beginning to deliver concrete benefits to the American people. And I would argue, they reap benefits for entire North America. We deepened our cooperation with our closest friends and allies. In todays interconnected world, we cannot wall ourselves off from shared problems. We are stronger and better when we work together. Biden, Lopez Obrador, and Trudeau agreed that priorities for the summit included developing stronger connections among the nations and transforming North America into a clean energy leader. They discussed climate change and a pledge to reduce methane emissions, reached an agreement on a plan to better manage the large waves of migrants entering the region, and formed a cohesive strategy to address future pandemics. The nations will also work together to coordinate semiconductor supply chain mapping efforts and identify complementary investment opportunities, the statement said. Semiconductor chips are used for multiple purposes, including automotive manufacturing, telecommunication, and defense. The industry has been dominated by Asia for years, and disruptions during the coronavirus pandemic created problems in North American supply chains. Semiconductor companies constructing new manufacturing facilities in the United States would like to have parts suppliers in Mexico, according to U.S. officials. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Sophie Trudeau board a government plane on Jan. 9, 2023, in Ottawa. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press) Biden met with Trudeau before the summit on Jan. 10. Trudeau spoke with Biden about free trade and expressed his disapproval of Buy America policies that the Biden administration has promoted. Around 80 percent of Canadas exports are sent to the United States. Closely Tied The United States, Canada, and Mexico have become closely tied over the past three decades because of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Trudeau said during his post-summit remarks. This trade agreement helped our economies grow and created millions of good employment and the trade amongst our borders, and it drew investors from the world over, Trudeau said, noting that combined, were home to half a billion people and our combined GDP is larger than that of the European Union. The world today is facing a lot of uncertainty. With the rise in authoritarian leaders causing global instability and the high cost of putting stress on families at home, its important that we come together as leaders and as friends to look at ways to make our economies more resilient, Trudeau said. Today, we discussed how we can build reliable value chains on this continent for everything from critical minerals to electric vehicles to semiconductors. This is good for workers, good for consumers, and good for communities across our countries. Frustrations were evident on Jan. 9 when Biden and Lopez Obrador met. Lopez Obrador implored Biden to help improve life in his country and criticized the United States for not doing more. I hold that 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, which is opposed to the policy of the good neighborhood of the titan of freedom and liberty, FDRFranklin Delano Roosevelt, Lopez Obrador said. President Biden, you hold the key in your hand to open and to substantially improve the relationship among all the countries of the American continent. The Mexican leader also complained that too many products are manufactured in Asia, compared with North America. We ask ourselves, couldnt we produce in America what we consume? Lopez Obrador said. Of course. Biden responded: Just in the last 15 years, weve spent billions of dollars in the hemispheretens of billions of dollars in the hemisphere. We have to continue to support and build democratic institutions in the hemisphere. The United States provides more foreign aid than every other country, just about combined, in the world to not just the hemisphere but around the world, Biden said. Unfortunately, our responsibility just doesnt end in the Western Hemisphere. Its in central Europe. Its in Asia. Its in the Middle East. Its in Africa. Its in southwest Asia. I wish we could just have one focusonly one focus. We have multiple foci. And so thats what we have to work on. And Im confident we can do a great deal more in tandem with one another. In the news conference after the trilateral meeting, Biden and Lopez Obrador showcased a warmer and more optimistic exchange. Lopez Obrador praised Biden for not building even one meter of wall, a reference to former President Donald Trump, a man for whom Obrador had expressed admiration. Obrador later urged Biden to insist that Congress regularize undocumented Mexican immigrants who typically work in professions in which U.S. companies are struggling to find employees. Illegal immigrants gather outside a migrant shelter in El Paso, Texas, on Jan. 6, 2023. (John Moore/Getty Images) Migration Policy Shift The United States and Mexico agreed on a significant shift in migration policy. Under the initiative, the United States will send 30,000 illegal immigrants each month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela back across the border. In return, 30,000 people every month from those four countries who obtain sponsors, background checks, and an airline flight to the United States will be permitted to work legally in the country for two years. As was mentioned, by all of us in one way or another, this has been the greatest migration in human history around the world, as well as in this hemisphere, Biden said. Were going to continue our efforts to address the root causes of migration to help people stay in their home countries. Ive asked Congress for $4 billion to provide for that. On my way here, I stopped in El Paso, Texas, to see the situation with my own eyes, Biden added. Were working together to address this challenge in a way that upholds our nations laws and protects the human rights of migrants. Were also working together to take on the scourge of human smuggling, and even illegal drug trafficking, Biden said. In just the last six months, our joint patrols in Mexico have resulted in the arrest of more than 7,000 human smugglers. Weve seen more than 20,000 pounds of deadly fentanyl at the border. Today, weve discussed how all three of us can continue to deepen and strengthen our shared efforts to cut off the flow of illegal fentanyl, including by tackling the precursor chemicals used in synthetic drugs as we go out to the laboratories where theyre made, and the stash houses where theyre stored, Biden added. Lopez Obrador talked in detail about Mexicos efforts to reduce the flow of fentanyl into the United States. We are battling fentanyl, these chemicals, and we are doing it because we care. No human is foreign to us, Lopez Obrador said. It really matters to us to be able to help with what is happening in the United States, the deaths from fentanyl. But also as we discussed today, it is not only an issue for the United States, because if we dont confront this problem, this scourge, we are going to suffer it, too. So we have to act in a coordinated way. Energy and climate change were also priority topics at the summit. We also talked about meeting our commitments to make North America a clean energy powerhouse, Biden said. And I believe thats within our grasp. That means working together to move zero-emissions vehicles to build charging stations for electric vehicles that are across our international borders. That means exploring shared markets for clean hydrogen. And it means working together to meet our ambitious commitments under the Paris Agreement, including tackling methane and black carbon. Japan, South Korea Defend COVID-19 Measures After China Halts Visas People wait in line for a COVID-19 test at a testing site that is temporarily set up at a public health center in Seoul, South Korea, on July 9, 2021. (Heo Ran/Reuters) Japan and South Korea are defending public health measures that place restrictions on travelers from China following politically motivated retaliation from Chinas communist regime. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which rules China as a single-party state, ordered that it would stop granting short-term visas to Japanese and South Korean nationals on Jan. 10. The move followed Japan and South Koreas decision to require a negative COVID-19 test from travelers coming from China. South Korea has also stopped issuing most short-term visas at its consulates in China through the end of January. Japan hasnt limited Chinese visas at all. The CCP requires a negative COVID-19 test from all travelers entering China. South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin called on CCP leadership to adopt COVID-19 policies that were in line with scientific and objective facts. Similarly, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said the regime was restricting visas because of a reason that is not related to COVID-19 measures. Matsuno said Japan would demand an end to the measures and would respond appropriately while closely watching Chinas infection situation and how information disclosures are handled by the Chinese side. International Community Contends With CCP Coverup China is facing a surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations after the CCP abruptly terminated its so-called zero-COVID measures following mass unrest. The Chinese population, which has little natural immunity due to said measures, appears to be highly susceptible to the disease. However, the regime has attempted to obfuscate the true extent of the crisis. CCP leadership reported that just 10 Chinese people died from COVID-19 in December 2022. The regimes health authorities have been reporting five or fewer deaths per day throughout Januarynumbers that appear inconsistent with packed funeral homes and crematoriums in China. Leaked images of a report presented at an internal CCP conference revealed that regime authorities believe that as many as 248 million people became infected within the first 20 days of December. The World Health Organization has since accused the CCP of withholding data on the outbreak. U.S. President Joe Biden has suggested that the regime is very sensitive about its mishandling of the situation. A report released by the UK-based health data firm Airfinity in December 2022 estimated that about 9,000 people in China are dying each day from COVID-19 and that the number will increase before the end of January. According to South Koreas Disease Control and Prevention Agency, about 17 percent of all short-term travelers from China from Jan. 2 to Jan. 10 tested positive for COVID-19. Given the circumstances, numerous nations have moved to strengthen or implement testing requirements for travelers coming from China. Australia, Canada, Cyprus, France, India, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Qatar, Spain, the UK, and the United States are all implementing testing requirements on travelers from China, and the EU has sought to coordinate a response to the issue. CCP leadership has threatened countermeasures against all nations that move to implement the same type of restrictions on its travelers that it requires of theirs. It remains unclear whether the regime will expand its visa suspensions to other nations that have imposed stricter virus testing on passengers from China. Speaking at a Jan. 3 press conference, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said there was no cause for the regimes aggressive actions. Theres no cause for retaliation here just because countries around the world are taking prudent health measures to protect their citizens, Jean-Pierre said. Thats what youre seeing from us and others. The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. Japan, Italy Agree to Strengthen Defense Cooperation Amid China Threat Japan and Italy on Tuesday agreed to strengthen their bilateral cooperation in the areas of security and economy amid growing concerns over the security challenges posed by the Chinese Communist regime. Japans Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met with his Italian counterpart, Giorgia Meloni, in Italy on Tuesday as part of his weeklong tour of G-7 nations that includes France, Britain, Canada, and the United States. Both sides agreed to elevate their bilateral relations to the level of a strategic partnership, which would entail a mechanism for bilateral consultations on foreign policy and defense, Meloni told reporters. PM Kishida: President Meloni, thank you for hosting the first summit meeting in person. I will look forward to seeing you again at G7 Hiroshima Summit. Grazie, Giorgia (Jan. 10)@GiorgiaMeloni pic.twitter.com/3l0guXJmzt PMs Office of Japan (@JPN_PMO) January 11, 2023 The two leaders opposed attempts to unilaterally alter the status quo through the use of force in the East and South China Seas, according to Japans Foreign Affairs Ministry. Kishida also emphasized the need to maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait while expressing concern about North Koreas illegal nuclear and missile development program, the ministry said. Combat Air Capabilities Japan, Britain, and Italy announced last month the Global Combat Air Program (GCAP) to jointly develop next-generation fighter aircraft by 2035, which will combine the British-led Tempest project with Japans F-X fighter program. According to a joint statement by the leaders of the three nations, the GCAP will help deepen the countries cooperation in defense, technology, and supply chains, while also strengthening their defense industrial base. The programme will support the sovereign capability of all three countries to design, deliver, and upgrade cutting-edge combat air capabilities, well into the future, the statement reads. The statement provides few specifics about the fighter aircraft but cites the programs future interoperability with the United States, NATO, and other partners across Europe and the IndoPacific. Japan-France Meeting Prior to his meeting in Italy, Kishida met with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Monday and expressed Japans intention to enhance 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. 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. 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. Reuters contributed to this report. Jimmy Lais Lawyers Meet British Minister to Discuss Release Legal team criticized UK governments response as awful and proposed an emergency meeting with the PM The global legal team of Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, founder of Next Media, who has been imprisoned for two years to date, proposed to meet with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak urgently, hoping to discuss ways to ensure Lais release. The British Prime Ministers spokesperson confirmed on Jan. 10 that Lais legal team met with Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the Foreign Offices Minister of State for Indo-Pacific Regional Affairs, saying that the Foreign Office has provided support for Lai for some time. Lai, a British citizen, faces charges of colluding with foreign countries or foreign forces to endanger national security under the Hong Kong National Security Law, with a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. The BBC reported on Jan. 10 that Lai may spend the rest of his life in prison. When his international legal team wrote to the British government, they hoped to discuss possible ways to secure Lais release and described the case as deeply concerned and emblematic. The report mentioned that Lais U.K. legal team has repeatedly requested to meet with the two ministers from the Foreign Office, but they were either refused or received no reply. The letter also mentioned that the British government agreed earlier this month that Lais international legal team meet with one minister from the Foreign Office. Caoilfhionn Gallagher, KC, who led the team, emphasized in the letter that after Lai was convicted of fraud last year, the U.S. government condemned the charge, but the British government issued no official statement. In an interview with the BBC, Lais son Sebastien Lai, who is now in Taiwan, mentioned that his father, a British citizen, was imprisoned for advocating those values that we all take for granted and are sacrosanct to all of us. He also said that Jimmy Lai had given up a lot for Hong Kongs democracy in the past 20 years, and he believed that he should not go to jail. Hong Kong Government Response Lais legal team met with Anne-Marie Belinda Trevelyan on Jan. 10. A spokesperson for the British Prime Minister said, The British government will always support rights and freedoms and the rule of law. The Hong Kong government issued a statement at 11:42 p.m. on Jan. 10, responding to the above reports. It said it opposes and condemns Lais international legal team and the British governments behavior in attempting to undermine the rule of law in Hong Kong and interfering in Hong Kongs independent judiciary. International Lawyers Team Criticizes UK Government Lai was earlier accused of letting his consultancy firm, Dico Consultants Ltd. operate in the Apple Dailys Office during the time when he rented the Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate Building and ran Apple Daily. But he failed to report this subletting to the landlord-HK Science and Technology Parks Corporation and was convicted of fraud by the court. On Dec. 10th, 2022, he was sentenced to five years and nine months in prison, fined HKD$2 million (Approximately $256,000), and banned from being a company director for eight years. Dec. 10 is also Human Rights Day. Its international legal team issued a statement on this topic on the same day, condemning the conviction and judgment of the Hong Kong court. Gallagher called on the British government to take immediate and strong action to secure Lais release ahead of his pending national security law trial. She also pointed out that the multiple prosecutions and lawsuits against Lai are all smears by the authorities to silence him, believing that the legal harassment and imprisonment of Lai since 2020 is a flagrant violation of international law. And that Lais sentence on groundless fraud charges on Human Rights Day is a deep mockery of the event. Gallagher had criticized at the time that it was astonishing to hear more about Lais fraud convictions from the U.S. government than Lais own government (the British government) and demanded that the British Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary act with due urgency and speak out in support of its citizen. US State Department Dismisses Fraud Allegations as Spurious U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price issued a statement on Oct. 26 after Lai was convicted of fraud, condemning the Hong Kong courts verdict against Lai, describing it as a spurious fraud allegation. The statement pointed out that Lai is an advocate of democracy in Hong Kong and believes that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has intensified its efforts to use the National Security Law (NSL) to suppress independent media, strangle dissenting opinions, and stifle freedom of speech. He criticized the authority for using legal procedures that are even harsher than that of the NSL in this case. In doing so, it undermines the provisions of the Sino-British Joint Declarationthat is, China has an obligation to maintain Hong Kongs high degree of autonomy and protect (peoples) rights and freedoms. Price urged the CCP to restore respect for press freedom in Hong Kong, where the once-vibrant independent media environment has all but disappeared. Smothering press freedom, restricting the free flow of information, and the like have all undermined Hong Kongs democratic system and damaged Hong Kongs reputation as a commercial and financial center. Political Persecution On Aug. 10, 2020, the police arrested Lai and others on suspicion of violating the Hong Kong National Security Law and conspiracy to defraud but allowed them to be released on bail and have not been charged. On Dec. 3 of the same year, the police arrested Lai and accused him of violating the terms of the land lease of the Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate and refused him bail. Later, he was charged with the crime of colluding with foreign countries or foreign forces to endanger national security. Although Lai was released on bail at the end of December, the CCP mouthpiece media lashed out. After the Department of Justice appealed, the Court of Final Appeal decided to revoke Lais bail in February 2021, and Lai has been imprisoned to this day. Lai now faces trial under the National Security Law and hired Tim Owen, KC, for his defense. This was under fierce opposition from the Department of Justice, which appealed three times to prevent Lai from hiring a British Kings Counsel for his defense. After failing its appeal from the Court of Final Appeal the Hong Kong government requested the CCP rubber-stamp legislature to overturn the judgment. The trial is now adjourned until Sept. 25, 2023, which is expected to last for 40 days until Nov. 21. Judge Denies California Endowment Petition on Dodger Stadium Gondola File photo showing a general view of Dodger Stadium, home of the Los Angeles Dodgers during a game in the 1990 MLB season at Chavez Ravine in Los Angeles, Calif. (Getty Images) LOS ANGELESA judge has formally denied a challenge to an agreement between Metro and a private company concerning the possibility of a proposed private, multimillion-dollar aerial tram to transport riders on gondolas between Union Station and Dodger Stadium. The California Endowments Los Angeles Superior Court legal action targeted the gondola project headed by Aerial Rapid Transit Technologies, which defends the project as proven technology and clean transportation. But the petitioner, a nonprofit group, argued there was insufficient public input. Judge Mitchell L. Beckloff issued a tentative ruling ahead of Jan. 6s hearing in which he said he was inclined to reject the petitioners claims. He then took the case under submission and finalized his rejection of the petition on Monday. The Ruling In his tentative ruling, the judge lauded the projects technology. Metro justifies its unique and innovative decision based on evidence, Beckloff wrote. Metro notes the proposed project would be the first urban aerial gondola system in the country to employ a tricable detachable gondola system, the most advanced technology currently available. Metros evidence also demonstrates the proposed project would significantly improve mobility in and around Dodger Stadium by providing alternative access to the venue, resulting in as much as a 20 percent to 25 percent reduction in vehicle trips to and from the stadium on an average game daythereby reducing existing traffic for the benefit of surrounding communities and neighborhoods, Beckloff wrote. In their court papers, Metro attorneys maintained the agency is at this point only conducting the gondolas environmental review and has not approved any aspect of the project. Additionally, ARTT will reimburse Metro for staff time, and that no Metro funds will be used in connection with the project, according to the Metro attorneys. Metro is the only respondent in the petition, which lists ARTT as a real party in interest. But the petition filed last March 22 alleges that critical actions in matters of vital public interest were taken administratively, without public knowledge, oversight and/or involvement, all in direct violation of Metros own policies. The California Endowment asked Beckloff to issue a court order directing Metro to immediately halt work on the project, including all Metro staff support provided in its role as the lead agency for the endeavor, and to terminate its sole-source contract with ARTT. At a bare minimum, the determination that the gondola project could proceed as a sole-source project must be revisited and reversed, thereby ensuring that the gondola project will be subject to public review, oversight, and a competitive bidding process, the legal action stated. Judge Greenlights Lawsuit Against Ontario for Nursing Home Deaths During Pandemic Paramedics take away an elderly patient at a long-term-care facility during the COVID-19 pandemic in Scarborough, Ont., Canada, on Dec. 23, 2020. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press) An Ontario judge has ruled that families of nursing home residents who died from COVID-19 in the early stages of the pandemic can sue the provinces minister of long-term careallowing them to avoid the reach of a 2020 law that bars almost all COVID-related litigation against the provincial government. In his ruling released on Dec. 20, Ontario Superior Court Justice Edward Belobaba said his decision to certify the class action was based on his assessment of the evidence filed by the representative plaintiffs, which alleged that the Ontario government had failed to prevent thousands of COVID-19 deaths at the provinces long term care (LTC) homes, on grounds of bad faith and gross negligence. In November 2020, the Ford government enacted the Supporting Ontarios Recovery Act (SORA) which states that no COVID-related lawsuits may proceed against any individual, business, or other entity if they made a good faith effort to follow public health guidance and laws relating to COVID-19 and that their act or omission did not amount to gross negligence. Belobabas ruling said families of the elderly who died argued that gross negligence and a related lack of good faith could be found in the governments inordinate delay and inaction. The plaintiffs say that the Government of Ontario knew from the outset of the pandemic and certainly by the end of January 2020 that the frail and the elderly, and especially the residents of LTC homes, were the most vulnerable to the ravages of the coronavirus, the judge noted. Yet for weeks, as the deadly virus spread through the LTC communities and while other jurisdictions including other provinces took immediate action, Ontarios key ministers and health officials did nothing even though they had regulatory authority over the private-sector LTC homes. And when action was finally taken and government directives were issued, they proved to be too little, too late, he added. The Epoch Times reached out to Ontarios Ministry of Long-Term Care for comment but did not hear back by publication time. Challenging at Best Evidence filed by the plaintiffs included their affidavits, three reports from the Auditor General, and a Final Report from the provinces Long-Term Care COVID-19 Commission. Each of these reports detail Ontarios long-standing neglect of the LTC sector and its delayed and deficient response to the Covid pandemic as the first wave began to hit LTC homes, Belobaba wrote. In addition to the reports, the plaintiffs submitted the expert opinion of Dr. Dick Zoutman, a leading microbiologist in Canada, who told the court that as much as 90 percent of the LTC deaths and infections could have been avoided if the province had simply acted on what they knew and had moved more quickly. According to the National Institute on Ageing, a Toronto-based think tank that tracked the pandemics threats to LTC homes across Canada since April 2020, there were 5,030 COVID-related deaths recorded among Ontario nursing home residents as of July 2022. The institute stopped tracking in that month after provincial and territorial governments cut back on reporting their data. Belobaba noted the plaintiffs attempt to sue a public authority in tort for gross negligencein this case the provinces minister of long-term care (MLTC)is challenging at best. Generally speaking, the governments discharge of public law duties in the public interest does not give rise to a private law duty of care to a particular group of affected individuals, the judge said. However, the private law duty of care analysis as it relates to the MLTC is different in one important respect. He ruled that the plaintiffs could sue the MLTC based on a specific duty laid out in a preamble to the provinces Long-Term Care Homes Act, which says the government has a duty to take action in circumstances where the care, safety, security and rights of residents might be compromised. In my view, there is enough in the pleadings and the applicable legal analysis to support at least an arguable chance of success for the tort claim as against the MLTC, Belobaba said. However, he struck down the claims about the breach of fiduciary duty and violation of Section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedom. He ruled that the class definition is limited to the LTC residents and their surviving family members, and does not include visitor class. Appeal The judge added that given the allegations put forward by the plaintiffs are gross negligence and a related lack of good faith, they will be able to avoid the reach of SORA. Here the allegations go beyond the zone of good faith. The Epoch Times sought comment from the plaintiffs lawyer Joel Rochon, who said he was not able to respond by publication time. According to Belobabas ruling, Rochon and his colleagues are working on a parallel class action against eight groups of LTC home operators, scheduled to be heard over the next few months. The National Post reported that government lawyers had appealed the certification decision on Jan. 4, saying Belobaba made legal errors on a number of points, and that his ruling would have serious implications for the principle of government immunity. They also argued that the preamble was never meant to establish a duty of care for the minister, who in fact has no authority to issue directives to individual LTC homes. Belobaba said his ruling was solely a certification decision, and that the hurdle to clear is much lower than the one when the dispute is to be adjudicated by a trial judge or settled out of court. The merits of this dispute will be decided at trial or by way of a motion for summary judgment, either of which is still many months away, he said. Kremlin Says It Hasnt Seen Cases of Oil Price Caps The crude oil tanker RN Polaris and a bulk carrier sail in Nakhodka Bay near the port city of Nakhodka, Russia, on Dec. 4, 2022. (Tatiana Meel/Reuters) MOSCOWThe Kremlin said on Wednesday it had not yet seen any cases of price caps on Russian oil imposed by the West last month, in comments about possible losses from such measures. Some analysts have previously said that the caps will have little immediate impact on the oil revenues that Moscow is currently earning. Currently, Russian flagship Urals crude blend, is traded below the price cap level of $60 per barrel, imposed by the West as part of the sanctions against Moscow over its military actions in Ukraine. As far as the losses are concerned, no one has especially seen the caps yet, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a daily briefing. The price cap allows non-EU countries to continue importing seaborne Russian crude oil, but prohibits shipping, insurance, and re-insurance companies from handling cargoes of Russian crude around the globe, unless it is sold for less than $60. Russian President Vladimir Putin last month signed a decree that banned the supply of crude oil and oil products from Feb. 1 for five months to nations that abide by the cap. Russian oil traditionally sells at a discount to international benchmarks, such as Brent. The discount has widened following the Western sanctions imposed over the conflict in Ukraine and now stands at some $25$30 per barrel to dated Brent. Kyiv Denies Russian Claims That Its Forces Are Surrounded in Soledar A tank fires a round, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Soledar, Donetsk region, Ukraine, in this screen grab released on Jan. 8, 2023. (State Border Guard Service of Ukraine/via Reuters) Officials in Kyiv have denied Russian claims that Ukrainian troops in the flashpoint town of Soledar have been surrounded by advancing Russian forces. The town [Soledar] is not under the control of the Russian Federation, Serhiy Cherevatyi, a spokesman for the Ukrainian militarys Eastern Command, said in televised remarks on Jan. 11. There are fierce battles going on now, Cherevatyi said, adding that the situation on the frontline was complicated. The spokesmans assertions, however, contrasted sharply with battlefield reports emanating from Moscow. According to Igor Konashenkov, a Russian Defense Ministry spokesman, Russian airborne units have surrounded Soledarfrom north and southand have hemmed in Ukrainian troops that are still in the town. On Jan. 10, the British Defense Ministry admitted in an intelligence update that Russian forces had made tactical advances in Soledar and were likely in control of most of the settlement. Known for its expansive salt mines, Soledar sits roughly 5 miles northeast of Bakhmut, a vital transport hub that Kyiv relies upon to resupply its forces along the eastern front. Both towns are located in the Donetsk region, which was formally annexed by Russiaalong with three other regionslast September. Ukraine and its western allies view the annexation as an illegal land-grab and have vowed to recover all four lost territories. Ukrainian soldiers from the 68th brigade prepare a 120mm round to fire from a mortar launcher at a position along the front line in the Donetsk region on Dec. 9, 2022, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Ihor Tkachov/AFP via Getty Images) Fears of Encirclement For the past several months, Bakhmut (Artyomovsk in Russian) has been the scene of fierce ground fighting, with few territorial gains achieved by either side. Russian forces deployed in the area include elements of the Donetsk Peoples Militia and the Wagner Group, a paramilitary organization directed by the Kremlin. Amid mounting reports of Russian breakthroughs in Soledar, Kyiv has reportedly been transferring troops from the southern front to the combat zones in Donetsk. On Jan. 11, the Russian Defense Ministry also claimed that the town of Pidhorodne, located to the immediate southwest of Soledar, had been captured. Russian troops have liberated the community of Pidhorodne as a result of successful offensive operations, Konashenkov told reporters. The Epoch Times was unable to verify the assertion. Pidhorodne sits at the midway point between Soledar and Bakhmut, prompting fears that the latter may soon be encircled by Russian forces. Military analysts say the fall of Bakhmut would severely disrupt Ukrainian supply lines to the eastern front. It would also pave the way for a Russian advance on the towns of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, key Ukrainian strongholds to the northwest. The Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 drone at Gecitkale military airbase near Famagusta in the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, on Dec. 16, 2019. (Birol Bebek/AFP via Getty Images) Meeting in Ankara Yields Prisoner Swap Despite the ongoing fighting in Donetsk, Russian and Ukrainian officials met in Ankara on Jan. 11, where they agreed on the terms of a prisoner swap. The deal, which involves the exchange of 40 prisoners, was clinched at a meeting between Tatyana Moskalkova, Russias human rights commissioner, and her Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Lubinets. While in Ankara, Moskalkova also reportedly called on Turkey to end its longstanding policy of supplying Ukraine with Bayraktar combat drones, which have been used on the battlefield against Russian forces. In a subsequent Telegram post, Moskalkova said she had asked Mustafa Sentop, the speaker of Turkeys parliament, to halt weapons supplies to Ukraine to avoid further escalation. Despite its membership in NATO, Turkey maintains good relations with Russia and has sought to play a mediating role in the conflict, now in its 10th month. Last summer, Turkey brokered a landmark agreement between the warring sides that allowed Ukraine to continue shipping grain exports through the Black Sea. In mid-November, Ankara hosted a closed-door meeting between U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns and Sergei Naryshkin, the head of Russias foreign intelligence service. In a related development, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov addressed a recent report in Foreign Policy magazine that claimed Turkey was supplying Ukraine with proscribed cluster munitions. When asked about the veracity of the report, which cited unnamed officials to support its claims, Peskov said it was hard to say. The number of fake reports exceeds the volume of truthful information, he told reporters on Jan. 11. But were closely monitoring all this. Ankara, for its part, has yet to comment on the reports claims. Reuters contributed to this report. If keeping an uber-cozy lighthouse in a frequently fog-begotten bay sounds like your dream job, East Brother Light Station in the heart of San Francisco Bay is hiring. Oh yes, there will be snug-as-a-bug evenings by the fireplace on the rocky atoll when the fog rolls in during winter monthspast occupants have said they wouldnt trade the experience for anything. But holding the station has tested the best of them too, hence they added they would never do it again! Its really hard work, the Mayor of Richmond at the time, Tom Butt, whose tenure just ended, told The Epoch Times. An aerial photo of East Brother Light Station. (Courtesy of Tom Butt) A photo taken at East Brother Light Station. (Courtesy of Tom Butt) The job entails ferrying guests to and from the island, slinging hors doeuvre, changing sheets, and showing the historic lighthouse. Butt, who manages the lighthouse, is now accepting applications from innkeeper hopefuls. Its an intense job, he added, elaborating how couples with complimentary skillsets are typically chosen to man the outpost. There are two key qualifications: One of them has to have a U.S. Coast Guard commercial boat operation license. And the second one is, we look for people with some culinary experience. While it may sound like a lonely position manning a lighthouse, being an innkeeper at East Brother Light Station is precisely the opposite, Butt said. Tending visitors needs is of paramount importance. Your Typical Week as a Frisco Bay Lighthouse Innkeeper Successful applicants will run not only logistical operations but also a bed and breakfast that sees some 40 visitors per week. Dont sweat itisland upkeep and maintenance is handled by a team of volunteers, so no worries there. The work week starts at 4 p.m. Thursday. As a licensed boat skipper, you will ferry guests from mainland Richmond to the lighthouse. Your experience in the hospitality industry will help furnish them with refreshments, champagne, and delicious dinners before they retire into their comfy, well-kept rooms for the evening. Visitors will enjoy the lighthouse dream come true. The best room runs for about $535, including dinner and everything elsea bargain considering what mainland Bay Area hotels run for. A cozy room inside East Brother Light Stations bed and breakfast. (Courtesy of Tom Butt) A sea lion seen near East Brother Light Station. (Courtesy of Tom Butt) Rising early, youll fix breakfast and give the tour. That includes demonstrating the lighthouses antique foghorn, showing them the light tower, and exploring the rest of the rock in the misty morn. Its quite a nice experience, Butt said. Its got unparalleled views. There are sea lions that appear sometimes on the pier, while ducks, geese, and gulls nest here also. Besides natural beauty and solitude, the Victorian-era architecture oozes historic charm. Last, youll deliver them back ashore, and youll have from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. to tidy the rooms and prep for the next round of visitors! Run that four days over and youll find rest time during off-days from Monday through Thursday morningsomewhere amid reprovisioning for another week! The Pay and Perks of Keeping a Lighthouse So, having the requisite licensing, skillset, and stamina, innkeepers are paid $140,000, plus health coverage and insurance. Notable perks include free food and rent, which isnt insignificant considering rent can run as high as two or three grand a month locally. And because youre so busy, [innkeepers] dont end up spending a lotyoure not going out to eat or anything, Butt said. Its a great opportunity to increase your income for a couple years, and you could save a couple hundred thousand dollars. You might save enough to make a down payment on a house. Passing the Lighthouse Torch Traditionally, the post has been filled by couples; for decades, large families occupied the lighthouse. East Brother Light Stations last big hiring was in 2018 when they received thousands of applications from across the globefrom as far as Mongolia, China, and Russia. They sorted through them all and ended up with just 60 qualified candidates. But after COVID shut them down, after reopening, the number of applications the lighthouse received was exactly zero. Butt ended up landing former lighthouse keepers Stephanie and Bryon Wesolek back on the island for a year, before asking them to stay for another. Stay they did. Though now they are passing the torch. Butt hopes an incoming couple will take over in April 2023. 149 Years and Running Originally built in 1874, East Brother Light Station was first run by the United States Lighthouse Service, which merged with the United States Coast Guard in 1939. The Coast Guard considered abandoning the lighthouse in the late 60s and it was almost demolished, but they transferred it insteadwith several other lighthousesto the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. An antique photo of East Brother Light Station. (Courtesy of Tom Butt) When California passed the Property Tax Reform Act in 1977, the lighthouses funding was cut. But activists saved it, and the non-profit East Brother Light Station corporation was established in 1979 to manage it, headed up by Tom Butt, then a corporate executive. They raised funds and in 1980 rebuilt it and turned it into a bed and breakfast, the hope being that tourism would keep it afloat financially. They raised more cash in 2021 to replace a damaged undersea electrical cable. Almost a century-and-a-half since the lighthouses founding, while plenty has changed for those living in the Bay Area, East Brother Light Station remains an anchorage from the tempests of time. A recent picture of East Brother Light Station. (Courtesy of Tom Butt) Its only an hour away from 10 million people, Butt said. And yet, once youre there, not only does it seem youre a world away geographically, but its a world away chronologically. Youre back in another century. Find more information about East Brother Light Station and the innkeeper job at https://ebls.org/. You can make direct inquiries by emailing eastbrotherlightstationjobs@gmail.com. A view from East Brother Light Station. (Courtesy of Tom Butt) Share your stories with us at emg.inspired@epochtimes.com, and continue to get your daily dose of inspiration by signing up for the Inspired newsletter at TheEpochTimes.com/newsletter Los Angeles County Declares Local Emergency on Homelessness Following in the footsteps Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass put forth last month, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Jan. 10 to declare a local state of emergency on homelessness. Authored by Supervisors Lindsey Horvath and Kathryn Barger, the motion aims to address this critical crisis through the expansion of its response to include city, state, and federal partners. This local emergency order will allow the county to streamline and accelerate contracting procurement and hiring related to homelessness while also accelerating the creation of licensed beds, interim housing, and permanent housing for unhoused individuals throughout the region, Horvath said during the Jan. 10 board meeting. The funds for the emergency proclamation will be taken out of Measure H, which was passed in 2017 by voters as a quarter-of-a-cent sales tax to combat homelessness countywide. The supervisors motion calls on both the county and the city to commit to working together since each entity is responsible for different aspects of the solution. The latest point-in-time count in 2022 painted a grim picture of the crisis, as Los Angeles County had 69,144 homeless people, with about 70 percent unsheltered, the highest metrics nationwide. More than 42,000 homeless people were recorded in just the City of Los Angeles, according to the count. Since 2015, the number of unhoused individuals in Los Angeles County has increased by 55 percent. Officials said last years count revealed 39.5 percent of the homeless suffer from serious mental illness and substance abuse. The city and county do not require housing services to have mandatory rehabilitation programs once a homeless person receives temporary shelter or housing. Often times, it requires outreach workers to offer services to individuals several times before they will accept. My goal, and I know this boards goal is not only to get individuals housed, but its to keep them housed. And one of the ways that you can do that is to provide the services that they need and whether it be substance abuse, mental health or even job training, Barger said during the meeting Tuesday. In addition to proclaiming the emergency, the motion also directs county staff to speed up the process for contracting and processing outreach services needed, as well as expedite the hiring of staff for homeless services and housing, both interim and permanent. The motion also calls for the development of new affordable housing, including land-use policy decisions to permit such housing, which is a function of cities and of the County in unincorporated areas. Officials will report back on the emergency proclamations progress in six months, and in one year they will meet again to determine whether the order should be terminated, extended, or modified. On the city level, the municipal emergency declaration allows Mayor Bass to take more aggressive executive actions to confront the crisis, though the City Council will have to sign off on the declaration every 30 days. Former LA Mayor Tom Bradley in 1987 was the last mayor to proclaim a local emergency on homelessness and cited the effect of winter weather on unsheltered homeless people, according to the declaration. Despite a wide range of services provided by the Los Angeles Housing and Services Authority (LAHSA)the central hub for homeless services in the county and cityand paid by Measures H and HHH, the motion said that while thousands of homeless individuals have been placed into housing each year, officials cant keep up with the rate of new homeless individuals. In a report published last September, three main homeless provider services in Los Angeles, including LAHSA, failed to spend almost $150 million in federal housing grants between 2015 and 2020, with the unused funds returned to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. City News Service contributed to this report. Workers inspect flowers at a plantation in Huaibei, East China's Anhui province, on Jan 6. As Spring Festival is approaching, more than 100,000 butterfly orchids are in full blossom in Huaibei. Planters are busy supplying flower markets throughout the country. [Photo/Xinhua] Man Held in Vegas Solar-Array Attack to Get Competency Exams Mohammed Mesmarian is led out of the courtroom after he interrupted the court proceedings before his case being called during his arraignment at the Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas on Jan. 10, 2023. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP) LAS VEGASA man arrested in what authorities characterized as a terror attack last week on a solar power facility serving Las Vegas Strip casinos was removed from a courtroom Tuesday after becoming verbally disruptive, and his attorney asked a judge to schedule a competency evaluation before he faces multiple felony charges. Mohammed Reza Mesmarian, 34, seated in shackles with other detainees, interrupted another case by complaining about a broken legal system before being escorted by bailiffs out of Las Vegas Justice Court. Mesmarian, who refused to attend court following his arrest last week, returned Tuesday for a brief initial appearance on charges including terrorism, arson, destruction of property and escape. Details of the incident were not described. Mesmarian ended by asking Justice of the Peace Nadia Wood, OK. What are we going to do about the things I was talking about? The judge didnt answer. Mesmarians attorney, Nick Pitaro, asked for a mental health evaluation for his client, and Wood scheduled Mesmarian to remain jailed without bail pending evaluations by doctors and a Jan. 31 appearance before a state court judge who will consider their reports. Pitaro declined outside court to comment or identify a man and woman he conferred with and walked with out of the courthouse. Given the nature of the case, I would like not to make any comment, the attorney said. Mesmarian is accused of ramming a car through a fence surrounding a solar array about 25 miles northeast of downtown Las Vegas and setting the vehicle afire early Jan. 4 next to an electric transformer. The facility serves several Las Vegas Strip properties operated by MGM Resorts International, including Bellagio, MGM Grand, Aria, and Park MGM. Company spokesman Brian Ahern said Tuesday the company switched to the statewide electric grid, and there was no effect at the casino resorts. FBI Las Vegas spokeswoman Sandra Breault confirmed the bureau is involved in the case as part of a regional Joint Terrorism Task Force, but she said the investigation was headed by Las Vegas police. She declined comment about Mesmarians case. Las Vegas police said Mesmarian was arrested Jan. 5 in Boulder City. KLAS-TV cited court records that said the arrest was near the Boulder Beach campground at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area; that Mesmarian doused electrical transformer wires with gasoline before setting the car ablaze; and he sat and watched the fire for 15 minutes before walking away. Police reported finding two laptop computers in the burned vehicle, and an iPhone with an account connected to Mesmarian. Chicago-based Invenergy, operator of the Mega Solar Array facility, notified authorities before noon Jan. 4 of damage, police said. The company said in a statement Tuesday that it shut down plant operations as a precaution, no people were injured, and the facility was expected to return to full operations this week. The power plant has more than 300,000 solar panels in a 1-square-mile desert area near Interstate 15 and U.S. 93. It began operation in 2021 with a capacity of 100 megawatts, or about enough electricity to power 27,000 U.S. homes. The incident in Nevada came just days after two men were arrested and charged with vandalizing electrical substations in Washington state and a month after federal regulators ordered a review of security standards at the nations electricity transmission network. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission action in December followed shootings that damaged two electric substations in North Carolina and caused more than 45,000 customers to lose power. At least four electrical substations were targeted in attacks in Oregon and Washington beginning in late November that cut power to customers. Attackers used firearms in at least some of those incidents. The affected utilitiesPortland General Electric, the Bonneville Power Administration, and Puget Sound Energysaid they were working with the FBI. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued a national terrorism advisory bulletin Nov. 30, listing U.S. critical infrastructure among possible targets of potential violence. By Ken Ritter Massive Protests Erupt in Chinas Megacity Chongqing Over Abrupt Layoffs Workers report over 8,000 were laid off, sparking huge protests Large groups of workers staged protests on Jan. 7 at a pharmaceutical manufacturing company in Chongqing, a megacity in the southwest of China. The protests erupted after thousands of workers were abruptly laid off by Zybio, Inc., a manufacturer of COVID-19 test kits. Videos posted online show angry workers demolishing boxes of COVID-19 test kits, vandalizing the companys offices, and clashing with police in riot gear. Protesters threw plastic boxes, water bottles, and cones at police, who ran from protestersa rare occurrence in China. The unrest began when Zybio suddenly laid off nearly 8,000 employees, according to workers interviewed by the Chinese language edition of The Epoch Times. The employees were notified that they could leave for the Chinese New Year, which is still two weeks away, effectively ending their employment. Zybio is a leading manufacturer of in vitro diagnostic reagents and equipment based in the Dadukou District of Chongqing, according to the companys website. Many of those laid off had been recruited by Zybio last year to meet an urgent demand for tests under Chinas zero-COVID policies. That demand did not materialize, as China abandoned the three-year-long measures abruptly in early December, ending massive mandatory PCR testing. The halting of mandatory testing hit the pharmaceutical manufacturer hard. Layoffs Were the Last Straw Xiaodong (pseudonym), a Zybio worker, confirmed to the Chinese language edition of The Epoch Times that the protests were sparked by the companys abrupt layoffs. The last three years have seen Chongqingwhich has a population of over 30 millionbattered by lockdowns, Novembers massive protests, and Decembers COVID-19 surge. Coming shortly before the Chinese New Year, the sudden layoffs were the last straw for many workers. Speaking with The Epoch Times on Jan. 7, Xiaodong accused Zybio of not keeping its promises. The company told us to leave, but it didnt tell us when to come back and if it would pay us our wages, Xiaodong said. According to Xiaodong, in addition to higher wages, Zybio had promised a 3,000 yuan (about $438) bonus to workers who would work for the company before and after the Chinese New Year. Xiaodong, who began working for the company in June, believed that it had a large order at the beginning of December and recruited 6,000 to 7,000 workers at that time. [Zybio] recruited more workers at the beginning of December, Xiaodong said, They said that they would pay the bonus in three installments: the first installment of 1,000 yuan (about $146) would be paid if we worked until Jan. 21 and other installments would be paid if we worked until Feb. 15. I was assigned to make nucleic acid extractors in July. We earned pretty good income in November, about 8,000 yuan to 9,000 yuan ($1,170 to $1,316) for the month, Xiaodong said. That was the month with the highest income, he said. In October, he earned over 6,000 yuan (roughly $877). However, the companys income fell when the Chinese regime announced the lifting of lockdowns and the halting of mandatory PCR testing. The massive layoffs this month involved about 80 percent of the companys total workforce, according to Xiaodong. From PCR to Antigen Testing Chinas sudden relaxation of pandemic restrictions left the country in chaos. Chinese citizens complained of a shortage of medicines, hospitals were overwhelmed with patients, and crematories operated around the clock as bodies piled up. As the recent spike of COVID-19 swept across the country, residents and doctors in rural areas and remote townships in China complained of a shortage of medicines and antigen testing kits, according to interviews with the Chinese language edition of The Epoch Times. Zybio pivoted from PCR tests to antigen tests, which offer less accurate, but more rapid results. However, it was not enough to save the Chongqing factory, which a Radio Free Asia report described as now-defunct. Some provinces no longer imposed PCR testing in November, so the company [Zybio] began to manufacture antigen testing kits. The problem now is that it gets no more orders for these products, said Xiaodong. Dont Create Any Trouble The layoffs were handled in a perfunctory manner, infuriating workers, according to Xiaodong. No management showed up or explained to us what was happening. Only a person from the recruitment company came and shouted at us, using a loudspeaker, and told us just to leave. He said: You just go as youre told to do so! Dont create any trouble! Riot police and the head of the Dadukou District government were present during the protests on Jan. 7, according to Xiaodong. The protestors dispersed after Zybio agreed to pay workers. The factory said that it would pay us our wages for December on Jan. 7 and our January income on Jan. 8, Xiaodong said. He said that Zybio offered 1,000 yuan ($146) as a bonus to workers who still wanted to stay with the company. At the end of the video footage, police can be heard saying that the protesters are suspected of disrupting public order and that organizers will be arrested if they dont leave immediately. The Epoch Times multiple calls to Zybio were not answered. Ning Haizhong and Gu Xiaohua contributed to this report. Met Police Chief Outlines Sweeping Reforms Following Damning Review Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley looks on during a visit from Britain's King Charles III to thank emergency service workers at Lambeth HQ in London on Sept. 17, 2022. (Carl de Souza - WPA Pool/Getty Images) The chief of Londons Metropolitan Police force has outlined sweeping plans for reform following a damning report on policing in the British capital. Sir Mark Rowley, who became Met commissioner in September last year, said on Tuesday that the force must change. But he added that the force already has a practical plan for turning things around, during a speech at the Institute of Engineering and Technology in Westminster, central London. It comes after a damning review of disciplinary procedures by Baroness Casey found officers and staff were getting away with misconduct and breaking the law. Rowley said he has been building a plan over the last four months with a draft version set to be published in the next few days. The Met will then receive feedback from communities, partners, and stakeholders before a further version is published ahead of the new financial year in April, he said. Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has welcomed the plan. He wrote on Twitter: I welcome the plan announced by the reforming Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley this evening to raise standards and rebuild the trust and confidence of all of Londons diverse communities in our police services. Sir Mark is rightthe Met must change for our communities and for our officers and for our staff who serve them. I am committed to holding @MetPoliceUK to account as we work together to build a safer city for all Londoners. Firefighters and police at the scene of a burst water main that caused flooding on Belsize Road in Camden in London on Dec. 17, 2022. (Hollie Adams/Getty Images) Unacceptable Behaviour Casey, a former Victims Commissioner, was commissioned by the former Met Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick to conduct the review in the wake of the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving police officer, Wayne Couzens, who it later emerged had been sharing inappropriate sexual messages on a WhatsApp group, called Bottles and Stoppers, with other police officers. Dick resigned in February 2022 after losing the confidence of the London mayor following a series of scandals, including discriminatory messages exchanged by officers based at Charing Cross police station, and allegations of sexual misconduct against officers. In her interim report, which was published in October, Casey said, We heard many examples of unacceptable behaviour going unchecked for long periods, including cases where officers had lied on their vetting, failed their exams, and been involved in misconduct issues and were still not being removed. Casey found such misconduct had been brushed under the carpet by the Met under Rowleys predecessors. Her report also said there had been a weak response to allegations made by black, Asian, and female officers of discrimination and misogyny by some of their colleagues. First Steps In his speech on Tuesday, Rowley outlined some details of the working reform plan, including building a data-led list of tens of thousands of violent predators and strengthening neighbourhood policing. He said: Today is about solutions and plans. We must change for our communities, and for our officers and staff who serve them, adding that a diagnosis of systemic failings has been laid bare. We are taking our first steps on a journey of reform in the Met, he later said. We have a practical plan for turning things around. We have tens of thousands of hard-working men and women who I know will ensure the Met delivers more trust, less crime, and high standards. The Met chief told the audience that under his watch, the police force has already begun the first steps to bring about change, including arresting more than 2,500 of the citys key offenders, announcing an Anti-Corruption and Abuse Command and hotline, and arresting more than 130 people for drugs trafficking offences. He explained that his plan includes nine reform priorities, including building a leadership academy and taking an increasingly proactive approach to reducing crime. Stop and Search The Met chief renewed his defence of stop and search, a controversial police tactic. In December, Labour MP Diane Abbott, who sits on the Home Affairs Committee, challenged Rowley over the use of the tactic and said the capitals black community felt it was unfairly targeted. In his speech, Rowley acknowledged that the Met gets a lot of scrutiny over stop and search, with critics claiming that most of the searches intercept no drugs or weapons. But he said: We have countless examples of offenders being discovered to have dangerous weapons, tools for burglary, or drugs on their person that have been uncovered by my officers being in the right place at the right time. He also cited a forthcoming global review of evidence for the Oxford Journal of Policing as showing that stop and search in weapons crime hot spots can cut attempted murders in those small areas by 50 percent or more. Our challenge is to create better data to know the precise boundaries of these areas, so we can minimise proactive stops where they are not needed, he added. Chris Summers and PA Media contributed to this report. Mexican President Praises Biden for Not Building Border Wall Even When Conservatives Dont Like It U.S. President Joe Biden is greeted at his arrival by Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, second left, Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, second right, and U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar, right, at Biden's arrival to the Felipe Angeles international airport in Zumpango, Mexico, on Jan. 8, 2023. (Fernando Llano/AP Photo) Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has praised President Joe Biden for taking a stand against the U.S. border wall, and criticized conservatives during the North American Leaders Summit on Tuesday. It comes as the United States sees a surge in illegal immigration across the southern border. You, President Biden, you are the first president of the United States in a very long time that has not built not even one meter of wall. And thatwe thank you for that, sir, although some might not like italthough the conservatives dont like it, Lopez Obrador said in a joint press conference. He thanked Biden for maintaining a relationship of cooperation with Mexico and for not subjecting Mexicans who live and work in a very honest fashion in the United States to harassment. Theyre not suffering raids as it unfortunately used to happen in the past, the Mexican president added. Lopez Obrador asked Biden to insist that Congress regularize the migration situations of millions of Mexicans who have been living in the United States. On Jan. 21, 2021, a day after becoming president, Biden issued an executive order that halted construction of the border wall, commenting that a massive wall spanning the entire southern border is not a serious policy solution and a waste of money. Between 2017 and 2020, 450 miles of the wall were authorized and built under the Trump administration. In July last year, the Department of Homeland Security announced that the remaining funds, which were allocated for the construction of the wall along the MexicoU.S. border, would be spent on environmental remediation and mitigation as well as for installing cameras, lighting, and detection technology in places where barriers are already built. Migration Jump Under the Biden administration, illegal immigrants entering via the southern border have surged. During fiscal year 2020, there were 458,088 apprehensions. This rose to 1.73 million in fiscal year 2021, a jump of 278 percent, data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) show. During fiscal year 2022, apprehensions rose to 2.3 million. In the first two months of fiscal year 2023, apprehensions exceeded the total apprehensions of fiscal year 2020. According to Steven Kopits with Princeton Policy Advisors, the rise in border crossers is set to continue its upward trend this year as well. Kopits had earlier predicted around 2 million apprehensions for 2021 and 2.3 million for 2022, which is close to the actual numbers. For 2023, Kopits is predicting apprehensions to hit 2.6 million, another record in terms of annual illegal immigration. If Kopitss projections are true, it would mean that 6.9 million illegal aliens would have been apprehended between 2021 and 2023 under the Biden administration. GOP Action On Sunday, Biden visited the southern border for the first time since his presidency. House Republicans are planning to investigate the Biden administration on the issue of border security. Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.), who was recently selected by the House Steering Committee to chair the House Homeland Security Committee, has promised to fight for a stronger U.S. border. For the sake of our national security and homeland security, we must secure our border, Green said in a statement to Fox. We have no choice. We will empower our brave CBP agents to do their jobs and hold President Biden and [Department of Homeland Security] Secretary [Alejandro] Mayorkas accountable for the crisis that they created. Since Biden became president, he has presided over more than 5.5 million illegal border crossings as well as over 1.2 million known gotaways. The term gotaways refers to illegal immigrants who were spotted by agents or captured on camera but have not been caught or processed by officials. Most Canadians Say They Wouldnt Report a Tax Cheat Due to Concerns About Snitching Culture: CRA Study The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) headquarters Connaught Building is pictured in Ottawa on Aug. 17, 2020. (The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick) Most Canadians say they would never report a tax cheat because they do not want to be part of a snitching culture like that of a communist state where citizens are heavily monitored, says a report by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). One sentiment that was stronger in the Individual Taxpayer sessions was the feeling that they were concerned about living in a place where people would be snitching on each other and they didnt want to feel like they were in a communist state or a place where big brother is watching, said the report, obtained by Blacklocks Reporter. Moreover, a few would be concerned with being identified as having reported the situation, and having to live with the snitcher label. The findings, published in the report titled 2022 Annual Corporate Research Qualitative Component, were based on 30 focus groups with individual taxpayers, small business managers, bookkeepers and accountants. It was conducted by market research firm Narrative Research on behalf of the CRA, to which the federal agency paid $147,957 for the service. Participants said it would be very difficult to be sure whether someone is indeed cheating. Even if you were sure, it is not your place or business. They reasoned that since the CRA is looking for these cases, the person will eventually be caught anyway. More Concerns The CRA has in place a leads program where Canadians can submit information on tax cheating online or by telephone, mail, or fax. The informants tips are compiled by the National Leads Centre operated by the agency. The information you provide in your lead could help the actions the CRA is already taking to fight tax cheating, said the agency on its official site. When you report suspected tax or benefit cheating (by submitting a lead), you will not be asked to disclose personal information about yourself. The researchers noted that both individual taxpayers and small and medium-sized enterprises showed great reluctance to report personal or business tax evasion even when they are certain, for fear of unfairly judging the situation. People generally feel what others are doing is none of their business with some of the belief there may be attenuating circumstances that may explain the cheating, especially for low income households, the study said. The reasons offered by individual taxpayers for not reporting a person they felt was cheating on taxes were quite similar to those offered by small and medium sized enterprises: It is none of their business. Trend A report released by CRA last July noted there were 140 tax evasion convictions totalling over $72 million in federal tax combined between April 1, 2017 and March 31, 2022, resulting in more than $17 million in court fines and 119 years of jail time. The federal agency said at the time the average amount of tax evaded was reportedly higher than in previous fiscal periods. For example, the average evaded tax determined upon conviction is 73 percent higher than what it was previously ($299,000 from April 1, 2012, to March 31, 2017, compared to $517K from April 1, 2017, to March 31, 2022), the agency said. In addition, between April 1, 2017, and March 31, 2022, the average fine increased by 14 percent compared to the previous five-year period, rising to an average of $122,000. An audit report by the CRA last February noted that the number of suspected tax cheating submitted more than doubled after the pandemic hit the country. The National Leads Centre is responsible for capturing, reviewing, triaging, and routing over 30,000 domestic leads a year to over 20 specific workloads for compliance action, said the report Internal Audit Management of Leads. This past year, the National Leads Centre processed over 60,000 leads, with the increase being attributed to leads related to COVID-19 benefits. The 60,000 leads included members of the public and 793 internal leads. Internal leads are submitted by CRA employees who have identified potential non-compliant behaviour through the course of their regular duties, the report said. MP Andrew Bridgen Stripped of Tory Whip After Criticizing COVID-19 Vaccines Andrew Bridgen, who has had the Conservative Party whip removed after criticising COVID-19 vaccines, in a file photo issued on Jan. 11, 2023. (PA Media) An MP who has been calling for a halt to the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine on social media has been expelled from the Conservative Party after he was told he had crossed a line. On Wednesday Andrew Bridgen was suspended by the Tory chief whip for spreading misinformation about COVID vaccines. To lose a political partys whip means to be expelled from the party altogether, meaning Bridgen is now suspended from sitting as a Conservative MP and must sit without affiliation. Bridgen has been increasingly vocal in questioning the COVID-19 vaccine. On Wednesday he posted an article on the vaccines, adding, As one consultant cardiologist said to me, this is the biggest crime against humanity since the holocaust. The post has since been deleted. The post linked to an article authored by Professor Josh Guetzkow, a senior lecturer in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology and the Institute of Criminology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which was published by ZeroHedge. Accusations of Anti-Semitism Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the comments were utterly unacceptable. Sunak responded by completely condemning those kinds of comments we saw this morning in the strongest possible terms. Obviously it is utterly unacceptable to make linkages and use language like that and Im determined that the scourge of anti-Semitism is eradicated, he told MPs. Former Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the words were disgusting, anti-Semitic, anti-vax conspiracy theories, without referring directly to Bridgen. Hancock added the comments were not only deeply offensive but anti-scientific and have no place in this House or in our wider society. Molly, a 7-year-old labrador therapy dog, is stroked by Jake Gregory of Cornwall while Jake receives his COVID-19 vaccination at a temporary NHS COVID vaccination centre in Wadebridge, England, on Aug. 20, 2022. (Hugh Hastings/Getty Images) Chief Whip Simon Hart said: Andrew Bridgen has crossed a line, causing great offence in the process. As a nation, we should be very proud of what has been achieved through the vaccine programme. The vaccine is the best defence against COVID that we have. Misinformation about the vaccine causes harm and costs lives. I am therefore removing the whip from Andrew Bridgen with immediate effect, pending a formal investigation. Lord Mann, the governments independent adviser on anti-Semitism, said Bridgen should be barred from standing for the Tories at the next election. There is no possibility that Bridgen can be allowed to stand at the next election, he said. He cannot claim that he didnt realise the level of offence that his remarks cause, added Mann. Immediate Suspension Bridgen also made a claim in a parliamentary debate in December, in which he called for an immediate suspension of the use of mRNA vaccines. He claimed that a person within a prominent leadership role in the British Heart Foundation had sent non-disclosure agreements to researchers to prevent data on potential harms being made public. In response, the British Heart Foundation released a statement on social media that said they did not recognise these claims and strongly refute all allegations made about colleagues in senior leadership roles within the British Heart Foundation. In the parliamentary debate on vaccine harms, Bridgen said that there is a key psychological barrier that has prevented these facts from being acknowledged by policymakers and taken up by the UK mainstream media. That psychological phenomenon is wilful blindness. It is when human beingsincluding, in this case, institutionsturn a blind eye to the truth in order to feel safe, reduce anxiety, avoid conflict, and protect their prestige and reputations, he added. The MP recently posted that there were 50,000 excess deaths in 2022. So no mention of the elephant in the room? Is the failure of the NHS also responsible for the current excess deaths in all other countries that administered the gene therapy mRNA vaccines? 1,000 excess deaths each week as the NHS buckles, he added. Dr. Aseem Malhotra, a UK-based cardiologist, in Dallas, Texas, on Nov. 29, 2022. (The Epoch Times) Unprecedented Bridgen has also posted links to work by the British cardiologist Dr. Aseem Malhotra, who has said that the harms associated with the mRNA shots are unprecedented. Once I had spent time critically analyzing the data on the COVID-19 vaccines, it became very clear to me that the efficacy of this particular novel technology, if you likethe mRNA productswas very, very poor, certainly in comparison to traditional vaccines, and the harms were unprecedented, Malhotra said during a Dec. 10 interview for EpochTVs American Thought Leaders program. Bridgen is currently serving a five-day suspension from Parliament for breaching parliamentary rules on registering financial interests. The Epoch Times contacted Bridgen for comment. PA Media contributed to this report. MPs Push for Tighter Rules on UK Public Procurement From Hostile States Hikvision surveillance cameras outside the Hikvision headquarters in Hangzhou, in east China's Zhejiang province, on May 22, 2019. (STR/AFP via Getty Images) The UK is facing Huawei-level decisions on a range of security measures, Alicia Kearns, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said on Monday as she and a number of MPs called for tighter rules around public procurement. The government took too long to strip Huaweia Chinese telecommunications giantfrom the UKs 5G network, the Conservative MP said during the second reading of the Procurement Bill, adding that there are tens of examples of other Chinese products in the UKs public supply chain, such as DJI drones, Hytera body cameras, and Hikvision cameras. Equipment used by British police, hospitals, government, and councils are providing hostile states with a back door into the UKs security and forcing dependency on these malign actors and the states who produce them, Kearns said. She also warned that Chinese-made cellular internet of things (IoT) nodes, commonly known as SIM cards, installed in cars, could give the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) the ability to pinpoint secure sites or to find about where our prime minister is travelling to. It comes after I News cited a serving security source, saying a sweep of government and diplomatic cars revealed at least one SIM card capable of transmitting location data hidden inside a sealed part that was imported from a Chinese supplier and manufacturer-installed. The report said Chinese officials dismissed the findings as groundless and sheer rumour, and decried political manipulation on normal economic and trade cooperation or any smear on Chinese enterprises. But Kearns told MPs that the three Chinese companiesQuectel, Fibocom, and China Mobilewhich together make half of the worlds cellular IoT modules, cannot be trusted. Conservative MP Alicia Kearns, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, speaks during a debate on the Procurement Bill in Parliament, Westminster, London, on Jan. 9, 2023. (Screenshot/House of Commons via The Epoch Times) Chinese companies including Hikvision and TikTok have previously denied providing user information to the CCP, but the guarantees provided little reassurance, owing to Chinas National Intelligence Law that requires all organisations and citizens to support, assist, and cooperate with national intelligence efforts. Kearns argued buying cheaper equipment that is often subsidised by hostile states is a dangerous false economy because it produces that path dependency. She also urged ministers to proactively investigate and debar suppliers that pose national security risks or are implicated in human rights violations and provide guidance to local governments, instead of depending on a whack-a-mole approach of waiting for MPs to become aware of certain companies and flag them. Conservative MP Bob Seely also urged the government to accept a potential amendment that deals with the UKs dependency on states that seek to harm us, listing Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran. Hikvision Hikvision, a leading surveillance company ultimately controlled by the Chinese communist regime, was repeatedly mentioned in the debates. The company is known to supply surveillance equipment that has been used to target Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in Chinas Xinjiang region and has been blacklisted in the United States since 2019 for this reason. According to security and surveillance industry research group IPVM, Hikvision had also activated alarms that would be triggered by protests, religion, and Falun Gonga popular spiritual discipline that has been targeted by the Chinese regime for eradication since 1999. Hikvision headquarters in Hangzhou, in eastern Chinas Zhejiang Province on May 22, 2019. (STR/AFP via Getty Images) British civil liberties group Big Brother Watch said more than 60 percent of the UKs public bodies were using cameras from Hikvision or Dahua, another world leading security camera manufacturer controlled by the CCP. The UK government in November told departments to phase out Chinese surveillance cameras from sensitive sites, but Kearns said the cameras, many made by Hikvision, should be removed from all sites. She said using Hikvision cameras would be tantamount to facilitating genocide, because we are funding the Chinese government and enabling them to continue to do what they do. Anthony Mangnall, Conservative MP for Totnes, questioned whether Huawei and Hikvision be put on the debarment list. Kirsty Blackman, Scottish National Party MP for Aberdeen North, also urged the government to get rid of Hikvision cameras, vowing to work with other MPs to ensure that public procurement does not work to enrich those who profit from crimes against humanity. When the bill was in the House of Lords, peers successfully inserted a clause that would accelerate the replacement of Chinese-made cameras from British public buildings. It compels the government to publish a timeline for the removal of physical technology or surveillance equipment from the governments procurement supply chain where there is established evidence that a provider has been involved in modern slavery, genocide, or crimes against humanity. The government opposed the amendment at the time, saying the issue has been covered in the bill under national security grounds in the exclusion list and the new centralised debarment list. The government also argued the bill should be about future procurement, not existing equipment, kits, or contracts. Its unclear if the government intends to seek the altering or removal of the clause in the House of Commons. Tim Loughton, Conservative MP for East Worthing and Shoreham, urged the government to not only support the clause, but extend it beyond surveillance technology. Speaking for the government, Cabinet minister Jeremy Quin said the government is thinking through the Lordss amendments and will discuss them later. New Mexico Police Arrest Suspect in Shootings at Democratic Officials Homes Houses reach the edge of the desert on the outskirts of Albuquerque, N.M., on July 5, 2018. (Brian Snyder/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. 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. No one has been injured in the shootings in Albuquerque. 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. New South Wales Labor to Address Affordability Crisis With $30 Million Build-to-Rent Scheme A lease sign is displayed outside a home in Edmondson Park in Sydney, Australia, on April 28, 2016. (Brendon Thorne/Getty Images) New South Wales (NSW) Labor has promised to deliver a $30 million (US$21 million) build-to-rent pilot scheme to increase the supply of rental homes to tackle the growing affordability crisis ahead of the next state election. Teachers, doctors, and tradies are forced to live in cars in the regions because they cant find rentals, NSW Labor leader Chris Minns said on social media. This is a crisisand were going to act. Boosting supply and delivering more affordable rental housing in the regions. The pilot program would build urgently needed rental homes on the South Coast. Properties would be built on government land by Landcom, the state-owned land and property development organisation, and Labor said they would be obligated to keep at least 30 percent of residences as affordable or social housing. The collected rents would also be reinvested into more social housing. Treasurer Matt Kean criticised the election promise as very modest. He noted that the current government already has a similar scheme with 12 build-to-rent programs, including 500 units in central Sydney. Meanwhile, the Urban Development Institute of Australia NSW (UDIA NSW) has called on both Labor and Coalition parties to deliver the states share of new homes under federal Labors National Housing Accord. UDIA NSW welcomes Labors commitment to pilot a build-to-rent housing program on surplus government land, the institute said. Build-to-rent is a growing sector in Australia, providing increased security of tenure alongside high amenity. It will form an important part of our future housing supply, attracting long-term institutional investment to the market It comes after the state Labor party offered to cut stamp duty for 46,000 first-home buyers. Minns promised that if elected, he would waive stamp duty for homes valued up to $800,000 (US$550,000). According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the median house price in Sydney was $1.2 million and $775 million for regional NSW homes. As a result, residents, particularly in Sydney, have struggled with spiralling housing affordability. According to the 2022 edition of Demographias International Housing Affordability report, Sydney ranked as the second-least affordable city in the world to buy a home. This has pushed many residents into the rental market, which drove rental growth to record highs in 2022. Greens housing spokesperson Jenny Leong said the rental system was broken and expressed disappointment at the state Labor and Coalition governments for voting against the Greens rent freeze bill. Housing is far and away the biggest cost to peoples weekly budget, she wrote on Twitter. If Liberal and Labor had backed the Greens Rent Freeze Bill before Christmas, renters would be benefiting from this cost of living relief nowinstead of grappling with more massive and unfair rent increases. Rental Crisis Footage recently emerged on social media showing the long queues of people waiting to view rental properties. Ciara OLoughlin, who moved from Ireland to Sydney over the new year, filmed her experience of hunting for rentals after she was confronted with enormous queues. What Ive heard is people are offering over the asking rent to secure a place, so its very competitive, OLoughlin told the Daily Mail. According to property researcher CoreLogic, national rent values have increased by 22.2 percent since September 2020, the most significant rental upswing on record. In 2022 alone, the growth reached a record high of 10.2 percent due to low vacancy rates, which slowed towards the end of the year. Read More Australian Rental Crisis Worsens, National Vacancy Rate at Lowest Level Since 2006 While a slowdown in the pace of rent rises could be a sign that the rental market is starting to shift, its not great news for tenants just yet. Rents are still rising in most capital cities and regional areas with vacancy rates low, CoreLogic Head of Research Eliza Owen said. The slowdown in rental growth in December was attributed to a rise in supply, but Owen was unsure if the downward trend would continue. It is not entirely clear whether the rental market will continue inching toward a turning point or if this is a temporary, seasonal reprieve due to higher new listings through December, she said. AAP contributed to this article. The more time that younger generations spend on screens, the less exposure they have to decorous, good-old-fashioned interactions Several weeks ago, my teenage daughter and her friends attended a middle school dance. Junior high social collaborations are a funny thing. Teens and preteens come together to test their moves, look cool, and maybe actually dance with the opposite sex. Though I had been rather sick on the night of the dance and could barely keep my eyes open for a 9 p.m. pickup, I assured my husband that Id be happy to get the girls. Post-dance car rides are a short but precious period of time. Ah, what a mom might learn. How was it? I inquired casually, as the girls settled into the car. Not good! They answered in united exasperation. They kept the lights on all night and played nothing but rap music. It looked like stadium lighting, I commented. They kept that on all night? It was so bright! the girls cried. But the biggest problem was the music. No one could actually dance. They didnt play a single slow song, or even a song we could sing to! We got home. The girls had snacks, visited with the family a little, and then dashed off to my daughters room for a sleepover. Bedtime rolled around; I headed upstairs to encourage tooth brushing. After a quick knock, what I saw made me smile, then ponder. The girls were dancing together, an improvised English country dance, Jane Austen style. They were laughing and having a marvelous time. When I entered the room, they begged me to hum a waltz as the background to their moves. Its just like Pride and Prejudice, my daughters best friend exclaimed. Earlier, wed started to enjoy the first installments of the old A&E movie. The girls relished the humor and romance of an excellent human story. I bet those old dances would have been fun, I reflected. Yeah, the girls spouted, it wouldnt be awkward to dance with a boy if everyone knew what to do, and you only had to hold hands a little. Out of the mouths of babes. Costumed guests arrive for the Pride and Prejudice Ball at Chatsworth House in Derbyshire Dales, England, on June 22, 2013. The event was organized to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the publication of Jane Austens Pride and Prejudice. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images) The Good Stuff Theres a lot to be learned from the formal practices and social customs we read about in 19th-century literature, especially in the work of Jane Austen. She had a keen understanding of human desires and motivations. She also offered an intriguing view of society during the time that she lived. Though only the most limited views of Jane herself exist, the artwork of her sister, Cassandra, offers a simple glimpse of a brilliant thinker. I especially love the back pose that leaves the authors expression to the viewers imagination. The world may not enjoy many original portraits of Jane Austen, but her novels paint strong and enduring pictures of human and worldly relationships. Men and women have always looked for opportunities to meet one another. Rituals of courtship can be sensitive. Young adventurers are skittish, clumsy, and unsure. Helping to form the characters of the young, and readying them for adulthood, is a critical task. A great place to practice decorous behavior and conversation is at the dinner table, though the ritual of family mealtime itself seems to be slipping into obscurity. Driving home the other day, my husband and I noticed a teenage boy pacing at the end of his driveway. He appeared so peevish that we grew worried for his mental health. His hair was greasy, he was wearing pajama pants and furry slippers, and he flipped his head back constantly only to return a downward gaze to his phone. Then, his Doordash arrived. Realizing that the source of his angst was related to the wait for fast-food delivery, my husband commented, That kid was old enough to make himself some lunch, or at least drive himself to get some, and at the very least, get dressed by late afternoon! What kind of kids are we raising in this country? Could it be that regardless of great prosperity, we as a society are experiencing a dearth of all the best stuff? America has enjoyed abundance, but what do we choose to indulge in lately? Increasingly, it seems that children are overexposed to video games, junk food, and sexual content, but underexposed to fine literature, classical music, basic manners, and more genteel encounters. The messages presented in rap songs and the like about male-female relationships are startlingly inappropriate to my older ears. The clothing and manners of young people are so casual, it seems they often dont dress, and rarely interact outside of cyberspace. So much of a young persons social experience has turned into an electronic interface. The girls raised my attention to the contrast between a Jane Austen storybook dance and the reality of social interactions today. I couldnt help but see that in some respects, society did a better job guiding courtship and social enterprises in generations past. Dont get me wrong, Im not trying to over-glorify the good old days. I know that good and evil have existed for as long as man, and every generation has its strengths and weaknesses. Im glad that women, minorities, and less affluent persons have more freedom to learn and succeed in society now. Upward mobility made possible by the American dream is a great addition to our lives and times. But, not all change is for the better, and many customs of the past were very good. People Need People Today, we have more freedom, but freedom can be a double-edged sword. Coupled with a well-formed conscience and disciplined will, freedom may flourish. Wielded in unrefined licentiousness, freedom may simply lead to epic failure. Modern society has certainly loosened its structure. Language, style, and etiquette are less elegant. While education is more universally accessible, the reading skills and historical and philosophical knowledge of the educated are more narrow and incomplete. I have heard from many young people that they struggle to understand the writing of Jane Austen, let alone Shakespeare or Cervantes. Attention spans are short. The current screen culture has encouraged a lack of authentic growth and intercourse. Recently, I was speaking to a psychologist friend who specializes in Christian vocational counseling. Ordinarily an indomitably joyful woman, I couldnt help but note the expression of worry on her face as she explained: Once, I mainly counseled people through the trauma of pre and extramarital liaisons. Such infidelities leave scars that are slow to heal. But now, I see something worse. Many young people arent experiencing true human relationships at all. Their personal, social, and sexual interactions are isolated to screens. The damage that causes is harder to work through than anything old-fashioned. People need people. We need to interact and to do so in wholesome ways. Our children are growing up in an environment of screens like the world has never seen. Talking, I have learned, is a state of pre-dating that takes place nearly entirely via apps such as SnapChat or by text. Written communications are a time-tested method of courtship, but most texting doesnt even involve sentences anymore. Reflecting upon the use of telegrams, letters, and emails as a basis for interactions, Im not discouraged by all modern methods; I just think our kids need more guidance. We need to restore decorum. To this end, I set a rule for my older children: If they are going to text, they must use proper grammar, punctuation, and spelling to the best of their abilities. I encourage my teens to consider meaningful topics, too, and to set up real-life visits with their friends. If our kids are going to interact through texts and screens, may they do it in a positive way, and only as a segue to more human interactions. Authentic human relationships are guided by family and community. Adults need to focus on being strong leaders and examples for our children. They are calling out for something more, a dance with better structureinteractions that are harmonious, human, and beautiful. Lets help them find a more refined and heartening way. Northern California Seeks Recovery After Being Battered by Storms Local residents remain optimistic Branches that have been broken by the powerful storm in San Jose, Calif., on Jan. 10, 2023. (Courtesy of Chandan Mozumder) Across California, residents are cleaning up fallen trees and mudslides, evacuating their homes, and rescuing trapped people after the recent series of storms. The death toll from the storms has increased to 16. Governor Gavin Newsom visited Santa Cruz County on the afternoon of Jan. 10 to survey storm damage. The governor got an update from local and state emergency officials on ongoing response and recovery efforts. In Santa Cruz County, evacuation orders were issued for about 32,000 residents living near rain-swollen rivers and creeks. Most of these orders have been lifted as of this publication. San Francisco Bay Area residents experienced hail, lightning, heavy rain, and fast winds while the front of the atmospheric river storm passed by. Hail in San Francisco on the afternoon of Jan. 10. (Lear Zhou/The Epoch Times) A PG&E lineman captured a video of a pine tree sliding with a mudslide, falling, and hitting Highway 9 in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The lineman was not hurt, but these instances make rescue work unsafe. Trees falling or branches breaking onto power lines caused massive power outages in California, with nearly 200,000 people without power on the morning of Jan. 10, according to poweroutage.us. Branches that have been broken by the powerful storm in San Jose, Calif., on Jan. 10, 2023. (Courtesy of Chandan Mozumder) On Jan. 9, Sacramento residents were cleaning up and surveying the damage caused by toppled giant trees throughout the state capital. Fallen trees have crushed homes and vehicles. Water levels in the San Lorenzo River, which winds through the Santa Cruz Mountains, peaked at nearly 24 feet above normal at 8:45 a.m. on Jan. 9, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Santa Clara County issued evacuation warnings to areas on South 101 and Bolsa Road. Santa Clara 76 Gas Station store manager Alejandro Poot commented on the recent series of storms rolling across the state. A lot of rain has fallen compared to other years, Poot told The Epoch Times. I have been here for 25 years. It is a very strong storm. It created floods, uprooted treesaccidents, deaths, etc. But on the other hand, it has its benefits because we really need the water. I did not see any accidents, but I heard about them on the news. Business has definitely been slower these past few days as less people are working. These days everything has a positive side to it and also a negative side. Alejandro Poot, who has been a 76 Gas Station Store manager for the last 25 years, in Santa Clara, Calif., on Jan. 10, 2023. (Steve Ispas/The Epoch Times) For two years, Sam Eng has been the manager of Donut Den, a very popular stop for early risers in Santa Clara, including truckers and construction contractors. He has also seen a decline in business as a result of the recent storms, but he feels optimistic. Not many people are prepared for flooding because of the drought for several years, he told The Epoch Times. San Jose had power outages last night, but me and my friends are happy; we need the water anyways. Manager Sam Eng sees business almost as usual at Donut Den in Santa Clara, Calif., on Jan. 10, 2023. (Steve Ispas/The Epoch Times) In Southern California, all residents of Montecito, a small town next to Santa Barbara, received mandatory evacuation orders. A 5-year-old boy was swept away by a flood, and officials declared him missing. In Montecito, its been five years since mudslides from heavy rains struck newly fire-scarred slopes and canyons. Those mudslides resulted in widespread damage and killed more than 20 people. In California, around 25,000 people in 17 regions were ordered to evacuate on Jan. 9 after torrential rains caused heightened mudslide hazards. The Los Angeles City Fire Department responded to a traffic collision after two cars fell into a sinkhole about 15 feet deep on Jan. 10. About 50 firefighters were involved in the rescue of two people trapped in the sinkhole, according to Andrew Wordin, the Battalion Chief at the scene. We went with a high-angle rescue, lowered a rescuer into the side door, opened the door, secured the door, and used a harness strap to secure the first victim and lift both the rescuer and the victim out, Wordin told The Epoch Times. Went back in, rescued the second victim. Both [had] minor injuries and were transported to local area hospitals. Officials said the storms wont be enough to officially end Californias ongoing drought, but they have helped. Chaos emerges at airports across the country after an overnight system outage disrupted travel, delaying thousands of flights. A bill to abolish the IRS has been introduced in the House. We talk to one Republican congressman and ask him whats behind the idea. New Yorks governor is pushing to ban natural gas heaters and appliances in new buildings. Why? Sticker shock comes at the grocery store, with egg prices soaring higher and higher, more than doubling from a year ago. One company is taking time off seriouslyfining employees if they bother co-workers who are on vacation. Pence Says DOJs Double Standard Over Biden Classified Documents Deeply Troubling Former Vice President Mike Pence gestures as he speaks during a Republican Jewish Coalition Annual Leadership Meeting in Las Vegas, Nev., on Nov. 19, 2022. (Wade Vandervort/AFP via Getty Images) Former Vice President Mike Pence has taken aim at what he says is a double standard in how both the media and Department of Justice responded to the discovery of classified documents at a Washington think tank that President Joe Biden worked at before taking office. Speaking with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on Jan. 10, Pence also criticized the FBIs raid of former President Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago residence last August, during which investigators seized around 100 documents marked classified or top secret. Trump is currently being investigated by the DOJ over his handling of the documents. The willingness of the national media to just turn away and turn a deaf ear to the disclosures that when Vice President Biden left office he left with classified documents as well, it just shows you, Pence said. Its like I said before; if they didnt have double standards, theyd have no standards at all. Equal treatment in the law is at the very center of the expectation of the American people and of our history and our tradition, Pence continued. Pences comments come shortly after White House attorney Richard Sauber confirmed on Monday that documents with classified markings were found inside a locked closet at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement in Washington. Biden had previously used the office from mid-2017 until the start of his 2020 presidential campaign. U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a message for the media as part of the 2023 North American Leaders Summit at Palacio Nacional in Mexico City, Mexico, on Jan. 10, 2023. (Hector Vivas/Getty Images) Biden Lawyer Confirms Classified Documents Found The White House Counsels Office notified the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) of the discovery and the agency retrieved the materials the following day, Sauber said. According to Bidens lawyer, the documents were found on Nov. 2, 2022, just days before the midterm elections, but he did not disclose the findings until nearly two months later. In a statement to NBC News on Tuesday, the White House Counsels Office declined to state why it had waited more than two months to publicly disclose the discovery of the documents. This is an ongoing process under review by [the Department of Justice], so we are going to be limited in what we can say at this time, Ian Sams, spokesman for the White House Counsels Office, told NBC News. But we are committed to doing this the right way, and we will provide further details when and as appropriate, Sams said. During his interview on Tuesday, Pence also branded the FBIs search of Mar-a-Lago a massive overreach and deeply troubling. This double standard is just as troubling. You know, theres that old saying that if they didnt have double standards, theyd have no standards at all But having now created that standard and now abandoned that standard when the current president of the United States is found to have had classified documents in his possession after leaving office, I think it just, I have no words right now, Pence added. Earlier on Monday, Trump also commented on the discovery of the classified documents. Supporters of former U.S. President Donald Trump in West Palm Beach, Fla. drive around the Paul G. Rogers Federal Building & Courthouse as the court on Aug. 18, 2022 holds a hearing to determine if the affidavit used by the FBI as justification for the raid of Trumps Mar-a-Lago estate should be unsealed. (Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images) These Documents Were Definitely Not Declassified 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 on his social media platform, Truth Social. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) also said Monday that the discovery just shows that they were trying to be political to President Trump, in reference to the Biden administration and the DOJ, which has claimed that Trump violated a number of laws when he took documents with him from the White House to his South Florida home. Trump has said he declassified the materials when he left office and has not been charged with any crime. Elsewhere, newly appointed House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) also alleged double standards in how classified documents were handled. In a statement on Jan. 10, Comer said he is requesting information from NARA and the White House Counsels Office about Bidens failure to return highly classified records from his time as vice president. Chairman Comer is concerned that NARAs inconsistent application of the Presidential Records Act and treatment of classified records held by former President Trump and President Biden raise questions about potential political bias at the agency, the statement reads. Republicans have taken control of the House of Representatives and have signaled that they will conduct new investigations into Biden and his family members, including his son Hunter Biden. Permanent Woke Bureaucracy: Watchdog Organization Criticizes Arizona Medical Colleges High Score on Implementing Discriminatory Ideology Laura Morgan, program manager with the nonprofit watchdog Do No Harm. (Courtesy of Laura Morgan) An Arizona health care education institution has self-reported to have instituted 95 percent of woke ideologies encouraged by a flagship medical association. According to a Freedom of Information Act request obtained by Do No Harm (DNH)a nonprofit watchdog organization that spotlights the emergence of divisive concepts in medical schoolsthe University of Arizona College of Medicines (UACOM) report to the Association of American Colleges (AAMC) touted a high score in what DNH called racially discriminatory admission practices under the guise of affirmative action. This means its potentially lowering standards in the name of diversity, thereby threatening patient health, DNH told The Epoch Times. The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) is a Washington-based nonprofit comprising 157 accredited U.S. medical schools; 14 accredited Canadian medical schools; approximately 400 teaching hospitals and health systems; and up to 80 academic societies. DNH said UACOM has a dedicated office, staff, or resources committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). In November, AAMC issued a report (pdf) promoting woke culture in medical schools with the goalaccording to its executive summaryto improve the climate and culture through collective administration of Diversity, Inclusion, Culture, and Equity (DICE) Inventory. The DICE Inventory is a tool designed to aid leaders in conducting a comprehensive review of institutional policies, practices, procedures, and programs that contribute to a diverse, equitable, and inclusive (DEI) culture and climate for students, faculty, staff, and administrators, the report states. The report is based on 101 medical schools self-audit of DEI policies at AAMCs prompting. According to AAMC, the initiative emerged in response to repeated calls from the academic medical community for accountability to accelerate meaningful change, calls that were renewed with a sense of urgency amid the novel coronavirus pandemic and growing public outrage over systematic racism. Permanent Woke Bureaucracy For DNH, this translates as a permanent woke bureaucracy pushing discriminatory policies on faculty and students. UACOM has lobbied for woke policies at the federal, state, and local levels, DNH said. This means its wading into toxic public debates instead of fully focusing on educating future physicians, DNH said. According to DNH, UACOMs administrators are active within local, regional, and national forums to promote DEI programs. This means its wasting resources that would be better spent on real medical education, DNH said. All told, UACOM has instituted 95.5% of the divisive and discriminatory woke policies listed by the AAMC. DNH Program Manager Laura Morgan told The Epoch Times that UACOMs high score on the Diversity, Equity, Culture, and Inclusion (DICE) survey (pdf) exhibits a willingness to sacrifice quality medical education for discriminatory practices that will, in the end, result in poor medical treatment, as well as a poor relationship between the patient and doctor. These policies have nothing to do with how efficiently your doctor is going to treat your medical problem, Morgan said. Theres also a high cost to the taxpayer, she said, and the training sessions take up time that could be spent educating the student. AAMC wants to make diversity, equity, and inclusion a key learning outcome, Morgan said. The key outcome for medical education needs to be about patient care, not identity politics. A Racial Instead of a Clinical Lens Morgan herself was a nurse who was fired from her job as a nursing development therapist in February 2022 for refusing to submit to an assertion that she was a racist that an annual training session required her to acknowledge. The whole premise is that I must look at patients through a racial instead of a clinical lens, Morgan said in a previous interview. In an opinion piece she penned in The Wall Street Journal in September, Morgan called the idea of implicit biasa euphemism for racisma woke assumption based on the idea that society is infested with systematic racism and must be replaced with preferential treatment for nonwhites. Im supposed to teach people how to think, Morgan said of her role as an educator. However, one of the dangers of this implicit bias training is that its telling us what to think. Ethical Dilemmas DNH founder Dr. Stanley Goldfarb told The Epoch Times in a previous interview that when medical schools prioritize these DEI programs, in addition to reducing quality, they open the door to several ethical dilemmas. Because of its essential limited scope based on a theoretical opinion, there are many stafflike Morganand students who dont agree and will be forced to either quit or compromise their values and go along with it by lying, Goldfarb said. The problem with the whole conversation is that its based on the mistaken idea that there are only two constituencies in the roomthe school and the studentwhile, in fact, theres also a third, the patient, Goldfarb said. They are making this argument that whats best for the health of the American people is that there be this focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion, which simply cannot be justified, Goldfarb said. If you focus on diversity to the exclusion of merit, then patients are at risk of not having the most qualified individual to provide them care. UACOM did not reply to The Epoch Times request for comment. AAMC Response In a statement to The Epoch Times on its report in a previous article on its report, AAMC said its member medical schools are obligated to address factors that drive racism and bias in health care and to prepare physicians who are culturally responsive. There is strong evidence that historically marginalized people and people who live in poverty disproportionately experience poor health and inadequate access to quality care, AAMC said. These inequities are often rooted in systemic discrimination, including racism, within the nations health systems that contribute to lower quality care. AAMC said it also has an obligation to support institutions in being diverse, equitable, and inclusive to support those goals. The DICE Inventory is a tool designed to aid leaders in conducting a comprehensive review of institutional policies, practices, procedures, and programs that contribute to a diverse, equitable, and inclusive culture and climate for students, faculty, staff, and administrators, AAMC said. Using the DICE Inventory helped medical schools identify areas for improvement for creating a holistic strategy where DEI is integrated into all operations and mission areas. Medical schools reported plans to use their findings from the DICE Inventory to begin making policy changes, inform their strategic planning, and support LCME accreditation documentation and ongoing improvement efforts. Petersons Saga Latest Instance of Regulatory Bodies Increasing Clashes With Professionals Over Public Discourse The Toronto clinical psychologist is one of many professionals at risk of losing their licences Jordan Peterson speaks at the 2018 Young Women's Leadership Summit hosted by Turning Point USA in Dallas, Texas, on June 15, 2018. (Gage Skidmore/CC BY-SA 2.0) Jordan Petersons clash with the College of Psychologists of Ontario (CPO) is just the latest in a long list of professionals engaged in internal struggles with their regulatory colleges. Petersons international fame has shone the spotlight on the province, where many doctors and nurses are facing similar disciplinary action or investigation, such as at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, the College of Nurses of Ontario, and the Law Society of Ontario. The territory in dispute is the nebulous world of social media commentary, particularly on politically charged topics. The boundary line between free speech and professional misconduct is unclear, leading to skirmishes and flare-ups. Peterson, a clinical psychologist, media personality, and public intellectual, sounded a battle cry in early January when he refused to comply with the CPOs demand that he take social media training to address issues regarding professionalism in public statements. Petersons refusal was on principlenot because he still needs or wants to practise psychology. My critics have weaponized the College of Psychologists disciplinary process for political reasons. The college wants to send me to a re-education campand it should concern everyone, he wrote in a National Post op-ed published Jan. 4. For many physicians, taking the wrong step and landing in a disciplinary hearing can be ruinous, said Toronto attorney Michael Alexander, who represents multiple doctors who are being investigated for professional misconduct, in part for their statements on social media. Professionals will often compromise, sign undertakings, and agree to do things that turn their stomachs so they can avoid these lengthy, costly proceedings, Alexander told The Epoch Times. He sees the move to limit doctors public discourse on COVID and other health matters as part of moral, political, and scientific agendas that have nothing to do with [the regulators] core mission. In the case of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO), Alexander says the regulatory body has been overstepping the boundaries of its authority. CPSO spokesperson Shae Greenfield told The Epoch Times previously that the college has an obligation under the law to protect the public and we will continue to act with care and reason in carrying out that mandate. When contacted for comment for this article, Greenfield cited a couple of cases in which Ontarios Divisional Court upheld the CPSOs limits on doctors free speech as being within its mandate to protect the public. Alexander, however, says appealing to the Divisional Court is an exercise in futility, as it often upholds the regulators decisions. It will now be up to the Ontario Court of Appeal to decide whether Divisional Courts rulings will stand, he said. We may have to go to the Supreme Court of Canada to resolve these problems. A Tricky Balance Courts have been asked to review some disciplinary decisionsPeterson has also asked for a judicial reviewand a growing body of case law is determining the boundary line between free speech and professional misconduct. In many reviews of the case law, the context of the individuals social media activity is important. Factors that are considered include the extent to which the public comments were made as a member of the profession, the truth or fairness of the expression, the extent to which the comments can harm the profession, and the potential for a negative impact on the public. Professional regulators have told The Epoch Times that they must balance the individuals right to free speech against their own mandates to protect the public. They have also cited a precedent from the Supreme Court of Canada, Dore v. Barreau du Quebec, which shows that professional regulators legally have some discretion to do that balancing. For example, Kristi Green, spokesperson for the College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO), told The Epoch Times that CNO protects the public by promoting safe nursing practice. Nurses are expected to demonstrate the standards of the profession when posting on social media. The CNO has developed social media guidance for its licensees. Some nurses have been officially told to watch a video called Social Media: Reflect Before You Post, much as Peterson has been told to undergo social media training. The video directs nurses to ask some questions of themselves before posting. Some examples are, will this post undermine my colleagues or portray my workplace in a negative light? and What are the consequences for the client, myself, and other nurses? These struggles between professionals and their regulators go beyond Ontario, however. They have become a national and international phenomenon. In California, a group of doctors is fighting a new state law that allows medical boards to punish physicians for offering what the boards deem misinformation and disinformation related to COVID-19. A similar law, Bill 36, has been proposed in British Columbia. Norway-based Prof. Frode Jacobsen co-authored a study on the use of social media by nurses amid the pandemic. Jacobsen told The Epoch Times that many of the nurses in the country have also been chastised by regulators for questioning COVID-related public health measures online. Room for Debate James Turk, director at the Toronto Metropolitan Universitys Centre for Free Expression, says that although the behaviour of medical professionals is restricted by the norms of their profession, theres still room for debate. Those norms themselves are not fixed thingsthey can be the subject of debate, and we want to have the kind of public discourse where those discussions can take place, he said in an interview. The problem is, what are the boundary lines? Turk said if professionals dont agree with the consensus the regulators are upholding, they should first try calling for further investigation through scientific journals, medical meetings, and government discussions. He gave the hypothetical example of a doctor who questions COVID vaccine safety and how that doctor might handle questions from patients as to whether the vaccine is safe. A doctor might say, The public health authorities feel the answer to that question is yes. I have some misgivings about it, so Im not going to urge you to do that. A doctor in that case might be safe from discipline, Turk said, as opposed to a doctor who says definitively that the vaccines are bad and under no conditions should you be vaccinated. That would probably result in discipline by the professional body. A Judges Decision Alexander said he takes hope from a much-cited case, Strom v. Saskatchewan Registered Nurses Association. In 2015, Saskatchewan nurse Carolyn Strom posted on social media criticisms of the health care her grandfather had received before his death, and she was subsequently censured by the Registered Nurses Association. Justice Brian Barrington-Foote upheld Stroms right to freedom of expression in the case. Such criticism, even by those delivering those services, does not necessarily undermine public confidence in health-care workers or the health-care system, he wrote. Indeed, it can enhance confidence by demonstrating that those with the greatest knowledge of this massive and opaque system, and who have the ability to effect change, are both prepared and permitted to speak and pursue positive change. Barrington-Foote did say, however, that the regulators have the right to limit free speech in other instances. It is entirely legitimate for a professional regulator to impose requirements relating to civility, respectful communication, confidentiality, advertising, and other matters that impact freedom of expression, he wrote. Failing to abide by such rules can be found to constitute professional misconduct. Lawyers and Free Speech The Law Society of Ontario (LSO) has also experienced an unprecedented schism in recent years, and it is on the brink of a contentious leadership election over restrictions on licensees free speech. After Peterson announced he was facing censure for his posts, lawyer Howard Levitt published an op-ed in the Financial Post titled Whats happening to Jordan Peterson could happen to anyone now. Levitt and other lawyers have linked the Peterson case to the controversy in the LSO, their own regulatory body. In 2016, the society implemented a requirement that obligated all licensees to adopt and to abide by a statement of principles acknowledging their obligation to promote equality, diversity and inclusion generally, and in their behaviour towards colleagues, employees, clients and the public. When the next election of benchers, leaders of the LSO, came around, a slate calling itself StopSOP (Stop Statement of Principles) ran as candidates. For the first time, bencher elections formed into something akin to two parties running against each other, each on a different side of the SOP issue. The StopSOP benchers won and did away with the requirement, which they characterized as compelled speech and an ideological litmus test for the practice of law. Pro-SOP candidates are gathering to contest the slate in the elections this April. Levitt wrote in his op-ed: Ontario lawyers were worried that the LSO, empowered by this statement of principles, would conduct itself precisely in the fashion which the College of Psychologists just has and order witch hunts against the politically incorrect. Philippine Court Rules Disputed Sea Exploration Deal With China, Vietnam Unconstitutional An aerial photo taken through a glass window of a Philippine military plane shows the alleged on-going land reclamation by China on Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, west of Palawan, Philippines, on May 11, 2015. (Ritchie B. Tongo/Pool/Reuters) The Philippine Supreme Court (SC) ruled on Jan. 10 that the countrys 2005 oil exploration deal with China and Vietnam was unconstitutional for allowing foreign entities to exploit natural resources in Philippine territories in the South China Sea. The Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking (JMSU) was signed on Mar. 14, 2005, by state-run Philippines National Oil Company, China National Offshore Oil Corporation, and Vietnam Oil and Gas Corporation, covering 55,169 square miles of sea area. SC said the JMSU was deemed unconstitutional because it allowed foreign corporations wholly owned by China and Vietnam to undertake natural resource exploration in the Philippine waters without proper safety procedures. The court further held that as the JMSU involves the exploration of the countrys petroleum resources, it falls within the ambit of Section 2, Article XII of the 1987 Constitution, SC said in a statement. The section stipulates that all lands of public domain, waters, minerals, coal, petroleum, and other mineral oilsincluding all forces of potential energy, fisheries, forests or timber, wildlife, flora and fauna, and other natural resourcesare owned by the state. The decision comes a week after Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. told Chinese leader Xi Jinping that his country is willing to resume negotiations for joint oil exploration in the South China Sea. Isang mainit na pagsalubong ang iginawad sa atin ni President Xi Jinping sa pagbisita natin sa kanilang bansa. Kasama ang ibang miyembro ng gabinete at delegasyon ng Pilipinas, nagkaroon tayo ng pagkakataong mas makilala din ang ibang opisyal mula sa Tsina. pic.twitter.com/IZfQGbb7cc Bongbong Marcos (@bongbongmarcos) January 5, 2023 I 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 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 Jr. said during his bilateral meeting with Xi on Jan. 4. Xi asked the Philippine leader to draw out a blueprint with China-Philippines cooperation in the new era as he sought to deepen relations to bring more benefits to our people and contribute to peace and stability in the region. The two countries signed 14 bilateral agreements during the meeting, including deals on agriculture, infrastructure, development cooperation, maritime security, and tourism, among others. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) claims the majority of the South China Sea under its so-called nine-dash line, despite a 2016 ruling by an arbitration tribunal in The Hague that sided with the Philippines and ruled that the CCPs claims lacked any legal basis. But the Philippines has been unable to enforce the ruling and has since filed hundreds of protests over what it calls encroachment and harassment by the CCPs coast guard and its vast fishing fleet. Aside from the Philippines and China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Brunei have all made their own overlapping claims in the South China Sea. Reuters contributed to this report. Port Jervis Tourism Board Kicks Off 2023 With Chinese New Year Celebration A scene from a 2019 Chinese New Year celebration in Port Jervis. (Courtesy of Jin Pang) The first event marked on Port Jervis Tourism Boards 2023 roster is a celebration to usher in the Chinese Year of Rabbit. The celebration will start with a dragon dance on Jersey Avenue, followed by an authentic Chinese buffet, traditional crafts, and live performances at Erie Trackside Manor on Jan. 22, between 12 p.m. and 4 p.m., according to Jin Pang, coordinator of the event and a tourism board member. The inside of the restaurant will undergo a face change with a variety of Chinese-flavored ornaments, with a photo booth on site for people to take pictures, Pang said. Each attendant born in the Year of Rabbitsuch as 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, or 2011will get a gift; each child will receive an envelope with gifts inside. A scene from a 2019 Chinese New Year celebration in Port Jervis. (Courtesy of Jin Pang) The event is free admission for all. Pang told The Epoch Times that she hopes the celebration will not only be a fun time for local families but also bring visitors to the city to experience the downtown revival. In the past five years or so, new businesses such as Foundry 42 and Fox and Hare filled up vacant downtown storefronts and gave the former industrial city a major facelift. This is the citys third Chinese New Year event coordinated by Pang. Jin Pang (L) and Laura Meyer discuss the Chinese New Year celebration event in downtown Port Jervis, N.Y., on Jan. 6, 2023. (Cara Ding/The Epoch Times) Tourism Board Chairwoman Laura Meyer told The Epoch Times: Our purpose is to bring people from outside Port Jervis to come to visit and shop. If you like it here, you may want to start a new business or buy a house. She said a number of New York City residents recently moved to Port Jervis because of the affordability. Meyer moved to the city from Sullivan County about 12 years ago and soon joined the all-volunteer tourism board. She said that with her and other members efforts, the citys event roaster had grown from just Fall Foliage to over half a dozen. Laura Meyer on Front Street in Port Jervis, N.Y., on Jan. 6, 2023. (Cara Ding/The Epoch Times) Fall Foliage is the longest-running event in the city, dating back over two decades ago. In 2013, Meyer coordinated the first German-style Christkindlmarkt in Port Jervis, modeling it after the reputable Christmas market in Mifflinburg, Pennsylvania. A scene from the 2022 Christkindlmarkt in Port Jervis. (Courtesy of Laura Meyer) Then in February 2019, shortly after Pang joined the board, the city had its first Chinese New Year celebration. It was the Year of the Pig, and people enjoyed lion dance and Chinese food vendors along Josef Kucher Promenade. Months later, the tourism board sponsored the citys first St. Patricks Day Parade, organized by Meyer and Maria Mann. In 2021, the city added an Italian festival, and a year later, a new event featuring songs from the 1950s. Her goal is to have a monthly event in the city, perhaps adding a new Polish festival this year. She said the events reflect the wide variety of cultures in the community. It is a mixing bowl of people here. Im just welcoming to all people, Meyer said. A scene from the 2022 Italian Festival in Port Jervis. (Courtesy of Laura Meyer) In recent years, there has been a growing Chinese population moving to the city and surrounding areas, many being Falun Gong adherents seeking refuge from persecution in communist China. Under Pangs coordination, Chinese food vendors often participate in various city events and add to the offerings. I can tell you just from them coming to our events and participatingthey are often the last groups to leave, and they always sweep the street and leave everything clean, Meyer said. Mayor Kelly Decker said in a video welcoming the Chinese New Year event: We appreciate all the cultural aspects that they have brought to our city. We just wish them a joyous and happy new year and peace and love throughout the world. Record $33 Billion Budget Surplus Fuels Talk of Largest Property Tax Cut in Texas History Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks during a 'Get Out The Vote' rally at the Fuzzy's Pizza & Italian Cafe in Katy, Texas, on Oct. 27, 2022. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images) Texas registered a record budget surplus during 202223 that topped earlier estimates by $5 billion and has triggered discussions on how best to utilize the excess funds, including using it for potential tax cuts and boosting the states infrastructure. The $32.7 billion budget surplus is higher than the $27 billion estimate which state Comptroller Glenn Hegar had suggested last summer. It is now up to state lawmakers to decide how to spend the surplus. During an event hosted by The Texas Tribune on Monday, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said that any conversation on surplus spending must start with reducing property taxes. Every member of the Texas Senate will have ideas on how to use this unprecedented revenue, Patrick said at the event. We will introduce our budget in the coming days. As I stated previously in my November press conference, Texas taxpayers must first receive tax relief before we commit to any new spending. Republican Governor Greg Abbott, who was reelected for a third term in November, has been a strong supporter of cutting back on property taxes, and reiterated his stance after news of the budget surplus broke out. Texas has a record budget surplus of about $33 billion. But that money doesnt belong to government. It belongs to taxpayers. I want to deliver the largest property tax cut in Texas history, Abbott stated in a tweet on Jan. 11. Tax Cuts, Other Spending According to Dale Craymer, president of the Texas Taxpayers and Research Association, their calculations suggest that the state could have almost $50 billion more than what lawmakers are allowed to spend as per the states spending limits. As such, lawmakers must make tax relief a top priority, he insisted, while adding that taxpayers should not be asked to pay money to the state that it cannot use. A historic surplus calls for historic tax cuts, he said, according to a press release on Jan. 9. Texas does not have a personal income tax and is reliant on property taxes for revenue. Property taxes are levied at the local level. Hence, the state will have to implement an indirect way to provide such tax relief. Some have suggested sending stimulus payments to property owners as a solution. However, since there is a limit on how much money the state can spend each year, large-scale stimulus payments are said to be an unrealistic option. Meanwhile, Republicans are also batting for spending the surplus on infrastructure. Republican House Speaker Dade Phelan wants more investments in broadband and roads. He also wants to expand postpartum coverage for new moms to 12 months. Lt. Gov. Patrick sees reinforcing Texass electric grid as a top priority. Back in 2021, the winter storm Uri had pushed the state grid to its limit, resulting in widespread blackouts. At its peak, almost 4.5 million homes and businesses were left without power, causing an estimated $90 billion in damages and 250 deaths. Tax Collections Texas is set to have $188.2 billion in revenues available for general-purpose spending during the 202425 biennium (a two-year period), according to Hegars Jan. 9th press release. This is an increase of 26.3 percent from the 202223 biennium. Hegar attributes the surge in revenues to vigorous economic growth following the end of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions and a rise in prices of goods and commodities. The biggest source of revenue was sales tax collection, which made up 53 percent of the total. Hegar advised the state legislature to exercise some caution in how the money will be used. Dont count on me announcing another big revenue jump two years from now. The revenue increases that weve seen have been, in many ways, unprecedented, and we cannot reasonably expect a repeat. We are unlikely to have an opportunity like this again. This budgeting session is truly a once-in-a-lifetime session, he said. Remembering Pope Benedict XVI: A Man of Truth, Faith, and Tradition Pope Benedict XVI (R) greets the crowd gathered in St Mark's Square while crossing the square on an electric vehicle in Venice, Italy, on May 7, 2011. (Marco Secchi/Getty Images) Commentary Before he became Pope, a Mexican colleague of mine and her family saw Cardinal Ratzinger near the Vatican. They introduced themselves, and he graciously took the time to get to know them. He then asked them a series of questions about the Church in Mexico. My colleague remarked on the depth of his questions and his eagerness to learn from people on the ground. Then he showed his characteristic humility when the family asked for a photo. He took the camera and suggested the best angle from which he could take their picture. When they said they wanted him in the photo, he could not understand why they thought he was that important. In an age afflicted by the cult of personality, Benedict was a genuinely humble man and the opposite of so many of todays celebrities. Benedict knew that wisdom came from asking the right questions and from pivotal insights through which people could come to their own knowledge of the truth. That was very clear when he spoke to a contentious synod of bishops that was going nowhere. He listened carefully, then spoke for a few minutes, not as an authoritarian, but as an intellectual leader who highlighted what was most important about the Churchs tradition. He then left, and as one observer said, it was as if a weight had been lifted, and the gathered bishops could come to a positive agreement. Having witnessed Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, Benedict knew the power of truth and its abuse by authoritarian regimes. Whether it was misinforming people about the nature of humanity or by suppressing coverage of events like Tiananmen Square, he knew that through various methods, these regimes would repress objective truth in favour of the twisted version that would serve their purposes. Photographer Jeff Wideners iconic Tank Man shot, in Tiananmen Square, China, on June 5, 1989. (Jeff Weidner) But while many contemporary people offered relativism as an alternative, Benedict knew that relativism was both logically wrong and dangerous to our society. Our societys greatest needs were truth and love. Truth liberates us from the dictatorship of relativism that would see society tossed about by the latest trends of the day. Love drives humanity to its highest purpose and deepest fulfilment. Together truth and love make people accountable not to this or that regime or social trend but to the highest and most transcendent of values. Benedicts own values, his commitment to truth and honesty, were shown clearly in his dealing with Father Maciel. Before Benedict became Pope, Maciel got away with the most despicable of crimes. He lavished expensive upon Church leaders so that few if any, dared to touch him. As Cardinal Ratzinger, he was one of the very few Church leaders to refuse these gifts. When he became Pope, Benedict reopened the investigation into Maciel and removed him from active ministry. What Is a Society Without Faith? Benedict was also a prominent advocate of faith, tradition, and culture. He knew that a just society would be impossible without religious faith, a conviction boosted by his experience of authoritarian regimes that suppressed traditional faith. He also argued that eliminating faith from modern society did not have the liberating effect that some would have hoped. He challenged us to ask if eliminating faith from daily life really made people happier or really made people free? He asked if a society without faith in the transcendent could achieve freedom, peace and justice? On the contrary, he argued that it was religious faith that, gave rise to the idea of human rights, the idea of the equality of all people before the law, the recognition of the inviolability of human dignity in every single person and the awareness of peoples responsibility for their actions. Perhaps this is why faith is so ruthlessly attacked by regimes that routinely violate the human rights of their citizens. Pope Benedict XVI gives Christmas Night Mass at St. Peters Basilica in Vatican City, Vatican, on Dec. 24, 2009. (Franco Origlia/Getty Images) Benedict also knew the value of tradition. He started his theological career as a liberal. He believed in scholarship and a Church that was thoroughly up-to-date. But he also came to appreciate that we should proceed with caution and fidelity to our tradition and values. To see ourselves not as destroying all that is old in order to create the new, but to be people who are bearers of a traditioncarrying forth what our culture has given us from the past in order to create a wiser, better-grounded future. While his impact will be felt mostly by Catholics, Pope Benedict remains an inspiration for people of all faiths. The values for which he stood are universal, and the way to genuine peace and prosperity. They are also the things feared most by authoritarian regimes. From Nazi Germany to the Chinese Communist Party, their leaders have known that they will never be brought down by bombs and bullets but by the enduring power of the truth, faith and tradition proclaimed by great men like Pope Benedict. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Romanian Court Rejects Andrew Tates Bid to End Extended Detention Andrew Tate (C) and his brother Tristan (R) are brought by police officers to the Court of Appeal, in Bucharest, Romania, on Jan.10, 2023. (Alexandru Dobre/AP Photo) A Romanian court on Jan. 10 rejected Andrew Tates bid to end his detention, ruling that the social media personality must remain in custody as an investigation into his alleged role in a human trafficking ring continues. Tate, 36, and his brother, Tristan Tate, had arrived at the Bucharest Court of Appeal early on Tuesday morning to appeal their extended 30-day detention after they were initially arrested on Dec. 29 along with two Romanian women in the capital city of Bucharest. At the time of their arrest, prosecutors said that the brothers had been under investigation since April 2022 alongside the two women over their alleged roles in an organized crime group, human trafficking, and rape. The two brothers have both denied any wrongdoing. The suspects were initially set to be detained for 24 hours but a judge later extended their arrest period to 30 days, 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. Tates Vehicles, Luxury Homes Seized Tate and the other suspects had appealed the 30-day detention as well as the seizure of their belongings, which include at least 15 luxury vehicles and over 10 properties and homes, according to officials. Ramona Bolla, a spokesperson for the Romanian anti-organized crime agency DIICOT confirmed to the Associated Press that the court on Tuesday rejected Tates appeal to end his detention following a six-hour hearing. Meanwhile, Tates lawyer, Eugen Vidineac, told local media after the ruling: I am very disappointedthe measure seems excessive to me. The Epoch Times has contacted Eugen Vidineac for comment. Now that the extension has been upheld, prosecutors will be able to request a further extension of the detention to up to 180 days. Earlier on Monday, Vidineac claimed in an interview with the Romanian online newspaper Gandul that the defense has not been granted access to the prosecution file in the case against Tate and his brother, meaning they were unable to ensure the brothers effective defense. The lawyer also stated that there was no evidence to support the charges made against Tate. There is not a single piece of evidence at this point, apart from the victims statement, that leads to the idea that a crime of rape was committed, the lawyer said. With regards to the charges of human trafficking and being part of an organized crime group, the lawyer also said that, in his opinion, there is no evidence there either. Andrew Tate and Tristan Tate are escorted by police officers outside the headquarters of the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism in Bucharest (DIICOT) after being detained for 24 hours, in Bucharest, Romania, December 29, 2022. Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea via REUTERS Lawyer Says No Evidence in Tates Case The documents to which we have so far had access do not accurately describe matters relating to the constituent elements of the offense of organized criminal group, they do not accurately describe the hierarchy of the group, they do not describe the functions of each person who was part of this alleged criminal group and, also, with regard to trafficking in human beings, as the offense is described, it does not comply with the legal requirements concerning the way in which the offense of trafficking in human beings is committed, Vidineac said. Tate, a former kickboxer, became popular on social media due to his videos featuring his controversial views regarding the roles of men and women. He was eventually banned from all major social media platforms before being welcomed back to Twitter last year after businessman Elon Musk took over the platform. Prosecutors allege that Tate, his brother, and the two other women created an organized crime group to recruit, house, and sexually exploit women by forcing them to create pornographic content to be placed on websites for a cost. Romanian authorities say they have so far identified six women who were allegedly sexually exploited by the suspects and that they were tricked into exploitation under false promises of marriages or relationships with genuine feelings of love. The victims were allegedly taken to buildings in Ilfov county, which surrounds Budapest, and subjected to acts of physical violence and mental coercion, prosecutors allege. City College at Montana State University Billings is hosting a Women in Automotive workshop from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday in the Tech Building. This free workshop will allow participants to learn about basic car repair and maintenance of oil, coolant and brake condition, and how to change a tire and measure tire pressure. The workshops are led by Kat Pfau, automotive instructor at City College at MSUB. Cars are a part of our everyday lives, and it is important to know the basics of your vehicle, Pfau said. I want to provide a safe atmosphere where women can ask questions about their car and not feel embarrassed. At the end of the class, my hope is that every participant will feel more empowered and more knowledgeable about their vehicles. Additional workshops will be held on March 4 and April 29. Each workshop takes place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Women completing the workshops only need to attend one within the series. This program is funded through the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education as part of a Nontraditional Occupations Perkins Grant. This grant targets individuals in career fields that are considered nontraditional for their gender. Register through the City College Workforce Development webpage. Rules Will Change if Needed, Trudeau Says on McKinsey Receiving Multiple Contracts Two federal ministers have been asked to look into the issue of an increasing number of government contracts going to U.S. consulting firm McKinsey, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Jan. 11 from Mexico City. Public officials have always reached out to external companies to help them modernize government operations, but well do follow-up to make sure that things were done properly, and if we need to change the rules, we will do so, he said after concluding three days of meetings with the U.S. and Mexican presidents and business leaders. A reporter asked Trudeau whether his government had gone too far in favouring McKinsey. Trudeau said he asked Minister of Public Services and Procurement Helena Jaczek and Treasury Board President Mona Fortier for a follow-up on the matter and to look at the figures, to look at the circumstances. 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 found $66 million in contracts for multiple departments with some still in progress with an unknown final price tab. Many of the contracts are also sole-source. Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre and Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet said on Jan. 10 they would push the government to reveal information on the contracts and surrounding details such as internal communications, but they stopped short of calling for a public inquiry. Poilievre said the Commons government operations committee would be doing the investigative work. He noted McKinseys involvement in previous scandals and being currently under investigation by French authorities. The firms offices in Paris were raided by authorities in mid-December over its role in the 2017 and 2022 election campaigns of President Emmanuel Macron and its involvement in state affairs. Poilievre said a government led by him would get rid of the excessive influence of multinationals. For his part, Blanchet cast doubts on the idea that the government needs to outsource services to operate better. He suggested that instead of giving contracts to McKinsey, the public service could have used the money to better train its employees. Why has the Canadian government ceded its prerogatives by issuing contracts to a private foreign company? he said. Ben and Jackie Mereness at the Shen Yun Performing Arts performance at Amarillo Civic Center, Texas, on Jan. 10, 2023. (Sally Sun/The Epoch Times) AMARILLO, TexasAlthough people have different backgrounds, each culture is beautiful in its own way. Shen Yun Performing Arts is sharing the beauty of China with audiences around the world. Were here to learn about the culture, and enjoy the presentation and the dance. And its very different, but different in a beautiful and welcoming way, said Ben Mereness, a minister. Shen Yun is based in New York and it is dedicated to presenting a communism-free China to its audience. Mr. Mereness expressed his appreciation for Shen Yuns presentation of Chinas diversity. Theyre going into other parts of China. The different traditional dances are very interesting because each culture has its own presentation in a story that it tells, he said. China covers a large area of land and within its borders, there are numerous ethnic groups like the Tibetans and the Mongolians. Mr. Merenesss wife, Jackie, made a connection to how this diversity can also be found in Amarillo. Very much like Amarillo, because we have very many cultures that have come here and are influencing this community. Its very interesting, she said. Mrs. Mereness added that she liked seeing a difference in style between the female and male dancers. The whole experience, its the women and the men and the different stylesthe strength of the men and the elegance of the women, is so very refreshing, she commented. Shen Yuns dancers are trained in classical Chinese dance. This dance form requires the ladies to use very quick and light steps that give the impression that they are floating across the stage. The costuming is beautiful and the feminine part of it is so sweet, said Mrs. Mereness. The male dancers are bolder with their movements, often depicting characters like brave generals and mischievous monks. We love learning a bit of the history and the culture. I think thats very enjoyable for us as well, said Mr. Mereness. Shen Yun Performing Arts International Companys curtain call at the Amarillo Civic Center, Texas, on Jan.10, 2023. (Marina Fatima/The Epoch Times) Shen Yuns use of a digital backdrop to extend the stagepatented by the companyallows the dancers to fly into the sky or dive deep into the ocean without the use of heavy stage scenery. I thought it was interesting that the technology of them moving on and off the stage to the video was very cleverly done. And it created a wonderful telling of the story, said Mr. Mereness. The couple shared that they would recommend Shen Yun to their children and grandchildren. We have a granddaughter. Especially with the women and how elegant they were, and we thought she would love this because shes very feminine. She would like that, said Mr. Mereness. One of their sons is an architect and Mrs. Mereness said: If he had an opportunity to go, we would recommend it. Thats for sure. Reporting by Sally Sun and Maria Han. The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yuns inception in 2006. Mr. Nakamura Akio, an executive of a beauty products company, attends Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Hyogo Performing Arts Center in Nishinomiya, Japan, on the evening of Jan. 9, 2023. (Annie Gong/The Epoch Times) NISHINOMIYA, JapanShen Yun Performing Arts finished all five performances at the Hyogo Performing Arts Center in Nishinomiya, Japan, and on the final evening of Jan. 9, there were two curtain calls but audiences still continued applauding. Audience members said that they wished Shen Yun would come back to Nishinomiya every year, and already looked forward to seeing Shen Yun again. 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. Amazed by the Dancers The male dancers are masculine, valiant, and majestic. They performed many difficult spinning, flipping, and jumping. Their dances are very expressive with even their fingertips presenting the details, said Mr. Harano Akira, The female dancers present elegance by using their bodies, limbs, and hands, and even the subtleties of their costumes. I kept on wondering how they can be so soft, graceful, and noble. Mr. Harano is the president of an acupuncture and moxibustion clinic. He was amazed by the dancers synchronization and accuracy. They jumped high but landed on the stage quietly. Their dancers are like playing a pre-recorded movie, which is really incredible, he said. I was shocked when I saw they danced with very difficult techniques but presented them with ease. Mr. Harano Akira, president of an acupuncture and moxibustion clinic, attends Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Hyogo Performing Arts Center in Nishinomiya, Japan, on the evening of Jan. 9, 2023. (Annie Gong/The Epoch Times) Mr. Harano said all Shen Yun dancers are talented but humble. Theres no primary dancer in the dance. But you also can say every artist is the main actor, the main actress. They cooperate with each other harmoniously and dance one story after another vividly, he said. I guess the director must be a very powerful and admirable expert. Dancer Ms. Asaki Yumemi wanted to dance for Shen Yun after attending the performance. Its marvelous! The dancers dynamics and facial expressions are very impressive, she said. I was touched. Its really beautiful. I want to try this dance, if only once. 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. Dancer Ms. Asaki Yumemi attends Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Hyogo Performing Arts Center in Nishinomiya, Japan, on the evening of Jan. 9, 2023. (Annie Gong/The Epoch Times) Presenting Real Happiness Mr. Uchiyama Yoshito, the owner of a design company, said he thought a lot when attending Shen Yun, and very much enjoyed the fantastic show. We are very lucky to watch these divine cultures that are inherited generation by generation. I believe Shen Yun wants us to know that real happiness is in these traditional cultures, he said. China has a long history that enriched the Chinese culture. But look at current China. I feel sad. Its very precious that Shen Yun Performing Arts sends the message to China to restore the traditional Chinese culture, from all around the world, said dentist Mr. Sawada Munehisa. [Shen Yun] artists are very brave. I admire them. I have become their fan. The name Shen Yun translates into the beauty of divine beings dancing. Mr. Sawada said that he, like Shen Yun, believes that people should always believe in divine beings. I felt it from deep in my soul. So, I applauded harder and harder during the show, he said. Dentist Mr. Sawada Munehisa attends Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Hyogo Performing Arts Center in Nishinomiya, Japan, on the evening of Jan. 9, 2023. (Fujino Takeshi/The Epoch Times) Japanese Audiences Wish to Attend Again I was cleansed by Shen Yun. I felt I obtained energy. I hope Shen Yun can come back every year, said music Teacher Tamiya Haru. Im waiting to attend Shen Yun again. Ms. Morioka Yoriko, a co-owner of a tailor store, said Shen Yun was invigorating and uplifting. If you get a chance to attend Shen Yun once, you will know. Its magnificent! she said. I hope Shen Yun will come here every year and then I can attend every year. Mr. Nakamura Akio, an executive of a beauty products company, said it wasnt only Shen Yuns production that was beautiful, but the show also has strong inner beauty and power. Shen Yun brings us what is true and good, he said. Shen Yuns artists are not pursuing material profits. They are pursuing real kindness. 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. Shopping Spree 101: How Refunds of Federal Loan Overpayments Leave Student Borrowers With Your Money to Burn For many college students, one of the most exciting events in a new semester is not listed on their schools calendar: Refund Day. Although the day differs on various campuses, the windfall result is the same: Thats when the millions of students currently taking out federal college loans find out how much of their approved amount is left over after the school has taken its share for tuition and other charges. Students can reject the refund and reduce their debt, or accept the money. Although they are technically required to spend it on education-related expenses, administrators acknowledged theres no mechanism in place to monitor their expenditures. Im 23, if you give me a refund check, Im going shopping, one Philadelphia student told a focus group about student loans and debt relief run by New America, an education think tank. I dont understand what that meansYou just gave me free money. And no ones stopping me cause it comes to me. Some education experts say the issue of student loan refund checks should receive more attention as the Biden administration seeks to erase perhaps $400 billion of the $1.7 trillion in student loan debt held by the federal government, meaning taxpayers. The Biden tuition debt-forgiveness plan is already controversial and headed to the Supreme Court, but the notion that some of the erased debt might have been used to pay for trips, video games, or gifts could strike some taxpayers as particularly galling. When we ran focus groups, the refunds were always an issue that came up organically, said Jason Delisle, who helped run the New America research in 2015 and is now a senior policy fellow at the Urban Institute. The reaction in the room was always, Refund checksyeah, those are kind of crazy! Taxpayers hold most of the bag, since President Obama pushed aside banks as lenders as part of his 2010 victory securing passage of Obamacare, arguingvery incorrectly, it turns outthat a federal takeover of student loans would prove a money-maker. The government holds 93 percent of the $1.7 trillion debt and the college loan program is in the red, according to the Congressional Budget Office. But scrutiny of the refunds will be a challenge because basic information about them is elusiveincluding how much they cost and how they are used. The Department of Education told RealClearInvestigations it does not track how much of the estimated $82 billion it granted in student loans in FY2021 was refunded to students, and said the figure should be known by the individual schools that issue them. (These payments are separate from the refunds the Biden administration authorized in August for those who have made loan payments during the pandemic.) RCI contacted more than a dozen schools, a combination of flagship public universities, private colleges, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and a community college. Even though they all issue refunds, none was able or willing to provide a figure as to how much they had disbursed in refunds on federal college loans, which remain the primary borrowing vehicle for people financing undergraduate or graduate school. Refunds can be made to parents or students borrowing for college, a group that comprised 7.2 million people in fiscal year 2021, according to the DOE. Rutgers University said it planned to activate new software next year to give it a figure for refunds issued, but it did not have that information currently. Similarly, the University of Idaho said it did not have information on refunds. The University of Iowa refused to provide any figures, saying it would not search its data to determine how much it refunded. Some schoolssuch as the University of North Carolina, Louisiana State University, the University of Vermont, the University of Virginia, Spelman College, and Suffolk Universitydid not respond to requests for information about how much they had refunded to students. Florida A&M University, a historically black school, did provide the figures for federal loans it disbursed but did not respond to questions specific to refunds. Other schools, like Ohio State University and Texas A&M, responded to requests but ultimately proved unable or unwilling to provide figures on refunds. We do not have data specific to financial refunds for only direct loans broken out, said Delisa Falks, an assistant vice president at Texas A&Ms Division of Enrollment & Academic Services. This would require some work and we are not at a place where we have resources to provide this. Even scholars who study student loans were scratching their heads. This is a super-interesting question and the reality is that there isnt great information available, said Adam Looney, the executive director of the Marriner S. Eccles Institute at the University of Utah and a fellow at the Brookings Institute who studies college loans. Indeed, I feel like its something people dont like to advertise or talk about. While the total amount of student loan money refunded each year is unknown, it is almost certainly significant. If 1 percent of loans were refunded, this would amount to $820 million in 2022. Another indication of their importance is their prominence online. Websites associated with college and financial advice are rife with information on how to apply and receive a refund, all carrying a whiff of free money with only the small print reminding students refunds must someday, in theory, be repaid. On Dec. 1, the website NerdWallet warned students that no one should spend their student loan refund check just yet, with a reminder that refunds are included in the debt totalthat is, if President Biden doesnt succeed in wiping out student debts entirely. Beyond just the data, the implications are pretty important, Looney said. For a lot of students, especially grad students, this is a relatively inexpensive, zero-credit-check cash advance loan. You just get a check from the government for a lot of money and you can spend it on whatever you want, even if you dont need it or when its impossible for you to pay it back. The 2015 report authored by Delisle and Alexander Holt found that many borrowers had mixed feelings about refund checks. On one hand, Participants felt that these checks epitomized how easy it was to take out a federal student loan and the bad incentives that entailed, with some commenting that it seemed as if the money wasnt real, the report concluded. They noted that refund checks were particularly problematic for young and naive students, enabling them to take on debt that they would later decide was not worth it or that they would struggle to repay. On the other hand, many took a seize the day attitude toward the money. I went to Russia for a month with my best friend, said a student from Chicago. It was a pretty great experience; I dont think I would give that back. Sri Lanka Summons Canadian Ambassador Over Sanctions of High-Ranking Officials Foreign minister of Sri Lanka Ali Sabry speaks during a media conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Sept. 5, 2022. (The Canadian Press/AP-STR) Sri Lanka has summoned Canadas envoy over Ottawas decision to sanction four high-ranking officials for alleged human-rights breaches. Sri Lankas Foreign Minister Ali Sabry issued a statement accusing Canada of caving to Tamil diaspora politics in sanctioning two former presidents and two military officers. Ottawa announced Monday it was barring two former presidents from entry to CanadaGotabaya Rajapaksa, who resigned last July, and his older brother Mahinda Rajapaksa. They were in power when Sri Lankas army defeated Tamil separatists who had waged a bloody, 26-year civil war with the countrys majority Sinhalese population. Canada is also sanctioning two military officers accused of aiding in a massacre and abductions during that conflict. Sabry is urging Ottawa to review the decision, saying sanctions were based on unsubstantiated allegations and domestic political compulsions and could hinder post-war reconciliation within the country. Peterson Supporters Rally Outside College of Psychologists to Call for Free Speech Protesters gather to call on the College of Psychologists of Ontario to halt disciplinary action against clinical psychologist and public intellectual Jordan Peterson over his social media comments, during a rally near the colleges office in Toronto on Jan. 11, 2023. (Tara MacIsaac/The Epoch Times) TORONTOA few hundred people gathered outside the College of Psychologists of Ontario office in Toronto at noon on Jan. 11 to protest the colleges censure of Jordan Peterson. Peterson has refused to comply with the colleges order that he take social media training or risk losing his licence, saying the order is politically motivated. The college has taken issue with Petersons tweets criticizing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and with his commentary on a variety of issues, including COVID-19 restrictions. Were standing for the right to debate controversial ideas and hard ideas, Bethan Nodwell, one of the protest organizers, told The Epoch Times. If they can silence a voice as large as Jordans, were all done for, she said. Protest organizers Stacey Kauder (L) and Bethan Nodwell (R), speak to people gathered in support of Jordan Peterson near the College of Psychologists of Ontario office in Toronto on Jan. 11, 2023. (Tara MacIsaac/The Epoch Times) Many of the protesters said they have been attending similar events for the past few years, worried about what they see as increasing restrictions on freedom in Canada. Some drew parallels between the situation in Canada and what they have observed in communist countries. Protesters Draw Parallels With Communism One of the attendees, Tom Begeja, told The Epoch Times, I am here because I was born and raised in communist Albania I dont want that to happen here. Begeja came to Canada 25 years ago, when he was 28, to raise his family. I have come here for a better life, for freedom, he said. Everything that were seeing now in Canada, I used to see back home. He said he first noticed similarities between Canada and communist Albania about five years ago. I saw it in the media, when they start to censor, Begeja said. In Albania, he said, people would spy on each other and denounce each other. Everything has to be run by fear, he said. I think its spiritually the evil mind never stops. Tom Begeja attends a protest calling for the College of Psychologists to withdraw its censure of psychologist Jordan Petersons public commentary, near the colleges office in Toronto on Jan. 11, 2023. (Tara MacIsaac/The Epoch Times) Protesters line Eglinton Ave. West, across the street from the College of Psychologists of Ontarios office in Toronto on Jan. 11, 2023. (Tara MacIsaac/The Epoch Times) Begeja said when he sees Peterson talking, it feels like I am talking. But he has the talent of speaking because he uses the language as a weapon. I think we are gifted having a guy like him. Attendee Glen, who preferred not to give his surname, held a sign that said, CPO struggle session. It was a reference, he said, to Chinese Communist Party (CCP) struggle sessions that took place in the 1960s under then-Chairman Mao Zedong. The CCP struggle sessions were violent public spectacles in which class enemies were denounced. Glen said he is part of a group that opposes the CCP. I think most people here find Jordan Peterson, just a very intelligent individual who has helped innumerable amounts of young people, particularly young men, Glen said. He said young men are told about toxic masculinity, or that theyre a problem in society. I think a lot of young kids are struggling with their role in the world because of that. COVID-Related Restrictions Demonstrator Amber Mackereth told The Epoch Times she doesnt always agree with Peterson, but she supports his right to say what he will. Whether you agree with Jordan Peterson and everything he says is not the point. The point is that we should be able to say our opinions in a free society. She continued, I dont want to live in a place where everyone has one opinion and were following all these rules. Mackereth is an actress. She said she has had trouble auditioning because many auditions still require COVID-19 vaccinations and she is unvaccinated. She went to Mexico when vaccine passports were in effect because I couldnt be here anymore, because I wasnt allowed to go anywhere. Protest organizer Nodwell was the head nurse at a hospital in Wakefield, Quebec, but she resigned over vaccine mandates. Through this whole COVID journey, there has been a part of the population that have been stifled and unable to communicate their views in a public forum without being ridiculed, she said. Speakers One of the speakers at the protest was Christine Anderson, a German politician serving as a Member of the European Parliament. She attended virtually, with Nodwell holding her phone up to the microphone for Anderson to speak. Anderson was appointed to the European Parliaments Special Committee on the COVID-19 Pandemic, and in a July 2022 session she criticized the emphasis on vaccinating healthy people. Anderson said she first heard of Peterson five years ago when he spoke out against Bill C-16, which amended the Canadian Human Rights Act to add gender identity and gender expression to the list of prohibited grounds of discrimination. He very accurately back then described [it] as legislation to compel speech, she said. Mr. Peterson, I have been following you since then, and I truly admire how tenaciously you stand by your convictions and beliefs. It takes incredible strength and a strong moral compass. Peoples Party of Canada leader Maxime Bernier (2nd L) listens to speakers at a protest in support of Jordan Peterson near the College of Psychologists of Ontario office in Toronto on Jan. 11, 2023. (Tara MacIsaac/The Epoch Times) Maxime Bernier, leader of the Peoples Party of Canada and former Conservative MP, was also among the speakers at the protest. Im here to support Jordan Peterson, but also to support all these courageous Canadians, he told The Epoch Times. Some of them lost their jobs because of their convictions. He mentioned the many doctors and nurses in Canada who are facing similar disciplinary action by their professional regulators for similar social media commentary. Bernier said, I believe that we are on the right side, because the bad guys usually are the ones who censor. College Censure The College of Psychologists of Ontario did not reply to The Epoch Times request for comment on the protest as of publication. The Colleges Executive Director Rick Morris told The Epoch Times via email on Jan. 3, when Peterson first announced the colleges demands, The College is not authorized to provide this information as per the confidentiality provisions of section 36 of the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991. Morris did not reply as of publication to follow up questions regarding the colleges discipline procedures in general. Peterson published the details of his communications with the college on Jan. 4. They show that Peterson is being investigated on the basis of several complaints against him by people who appear to be members of the public and fellow psychologists. They focus on several of his Tweets and his interview with the podcast The Joe Rogan Experience. The college is considering the complaints under the professional code issues of disgraceful, dishonourable, or unprofessional conduct, and provision of information to the public. Regarding the latter, the information must be accurate and supportable based on current professional literature or research and consistent with the professional standards, policies, and ethics currently adopted by the College. Supreme Court Declines to Block New York Gun Law Restricting Possession in Sensitive Locations The U.S. Supreme Court is letting a New York gun law that restricts possession in so-called sensitive locations stand for now, denying an emergency request to block the rule. A pro-Second Amendment group filed the request in December 2022, asking the court to lift a stay on an injunction against the law, the Concealed Carry Improvement Act (CCIA). Justice Sonia Sotomayor, an Obama appointee, received the request. She referred the request to the full court, which rejected it in an order released on Jan. 11. Five justices must agree to grant an emergency request for a stay, or an emergency request to vacate a stay. The court did not list each justices position on the matter. Justice Samuel Alito, a George W. Bush appointee, said in a statement that the New York law presents novel and serious questions under both the First and the Second Amendments. The law adds requirements to obtain a gun license and creates a list of public places dubbed sensitive locationsincluding churches, libraries, and summer campsat which people are barred from carrying guns unless they know the owner of a location has permitted such possession by clear and conspicuous signage there. The Gun Owners of America request came after U.S. District Judge Glenn Suddaby, a George W. Bush appointee, ruled that the gun owners who brought the suit were likely to succeed, and issued an injunction blocking enforcement of the law. But an appeals court stayed the injunction in November 2022, enabling state officials to resume enforcement of the rule. Judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit said they concluded a stay pending appeal is warranted but provided no rationale for the move. Alito said he understood the Supreme Courts denial of the emergency request to reflect respect for the Second Circuits procedures in managing its own docket, rather than expressing any view on the merits of the case. Applicants should not be deterred by todays order from again seeking relief if the Second Circuit does not, within a reasonable time, provide an explanation for its stay order or expedite consideration of the appeal, added Alito, who was joined by Justice Clarence Thomas, a George H.W. Bush appointee. No other justices offered statements on the case. While we would have hoped for immediate relief from the Court, this statement from Justice Alito is incredibly reassuring, in that the court is completely prepared to step in and re-assert the Bruen precedent should lower courts fail to properly, and in a timely manner, apply it in judicial cases where Second Amendment rights are being restricted, Erich Pratt, senior vice president for Gun Owners of America, said in a statement. We look forward to continuing the fight against New Yorks draconian law. We have a right to enact commonsense measures to protect our communities, and I am pleased with the Supreme Courts decision to allow New Yorks concealed carry gun law to remain in effect, New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, said in a statement. Too many New Yorkers are plagued by gun violence, and we know that basic gun laws help save lives every day. My office will continue to use every tool at our disposal to protect New Yorkers and defend our responsible gun laws. Arguments In their request, applicants said that the appeals court failed to provide any reasoned analysis for staying the injunction and called for the stay to be lifted because they are being irreparably harmed by the laws alleged infringement on their constitutional rights. That includes Joseph Mann, a pastor who cannot carry inside his home because it is part of a church. As applicants no longer may freely carry their firearms in public to defend themselves and their families, this unconstitutional statute places their safety and security in very real danger. And, as there are tens of thousands of New Yorkers who are similarly situated, but who can no longer defend themselves against violent criminal acts while in public, it is not a matter of ifbut whenthe CCIA quite literally means the difference between life and death, the application stated. In a reply, New York lawyers said that applicants did not prove the appeals court erred and that it was in the public interest to keep the stay in place. One component of the law requires license applicants to prove they have good moral character. Lifting the stay would essentially require the state to issue licenses to people with a demonstrated propensity to misuse firearms, lawyers for the state argued. On the other hand, the injuries cited by Mann and the others are either hypothetical or sufficiently narrow that they cannot overcome respondents strong showing on the merits and equities, they added. In a reply to the reply, applicants said that the intention of New York Gov. Kathy Hochul calling for a special legislative session in 2022, during which the law was enacted, was not to comply with the Supreme Courts summer of 2022 decision that struck down a different New York gun law. As proof, they pointed to Hochuls statements vowing to fight back against the decision, which was described as reckless and reprehensible. New Yorks blatant repudiation of Bruen and this Courts authority to safeguard constitutional rights presents a compelling case for review at any stage, they said, and respondents plea for this Court to stand down is not persuasive here, where a state has reflexively enacted a law with the express purpose of defying and challenging a recent decision of this Court. The decision in Bruen found New Yorks system for gun permits ran afoul of the Second Amendment. Governments imposing gun regulations must demonstrate that the regulation is consistent with this Nations historical tradition of firearm regulation, Thomas, writing for the majority, said. Supreme Court Told Puerto Rico Control Board Cant Refuse to Make Documents Public Associate Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Neil Gorsuch in the East Conference Room of the Supreme Court on June 1, 2017. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) Whether Puerto Rico enjoys the same immunity from lawsuits that U.S. states have was considered by the Supreme Court on Jan. 11 in a battle over media access to internal documents of a governmental body. The hearing came after a recent push by congressional Democrats for a statehood referendum in Puerto Rico failed in the last Congress. In December 2022, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the proposed Puerto Rico Status Act but it died because the Senate hadnt yet considered it when the old Congress wrapped up. Its unclear if the new Republican-controlled House seated last week will revive the measure. The case is Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico v. Centro de Periodismo Investigativo Inc., court file 22-96. The 11th Amendment forbids lawsuits against one of the United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State. The amendment prevents a state from being sued without its consent, although Congress can waive this immunity for states, and the Supreme Court has said that it must make its intention abundantly clear when doing so. Although Puerto Rico is a territory and not a state, the Supreme Court has previously held that it should be treated as a state in some situations. Puerto Ricos fiscal house was a mess, so, in 2016, Congress passed the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA) to restructure the U.S. territorys debt. The law created the Financial Oversight and Management Board to develop, approve, and certify Fiscal Plans and Territory Budgets, negotiate with [Puerto Ricos] creditors, and commence a bankruptcy-type proceeding on behalf of [Puerto Rico], according to a Legal Information Institute summary. After the board was created, a not-for-profit media group, Centro de Periodismo Investigativo Inc. (CPI), filed a complaint against the board in a federal district court under the provisions of PROMESA. CPI sought board documents including those about Puerto Ricos fiscal status, internal communications, and financial disclosure forms for board members that the board had withheld. CPI claimed that the board abridged freedom of the press and contravened the Puerto Rico constitution. The board stated that the disclosures sought were blocked by the 11th Amendment and that PROMESA overrides the disclosure obligations of the territorial constitution. The district court ruled against the board, finding that PROMESA didnt preempt the territorial constitution. Meanwhile, CPI filed another complaint against the board in hopes of obtaining communications between the board, the U.S. government, and the Puerto Rican government. The district court consolidated the two pending cases and denied the boards motion to dismiss. The board appealed to the Boston-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit, which upheld the lower court. The circuit court found that previous precedents and PROMESA and its legislative history abrogated the purported sovereign immunity of the board. The board disagreed and asked the Supreme Court to review the decision, which it agreed to do on Oct. 3, 2022. Board attorney Mark D. Harris told the justices during oral arguments that federal law bars CPIs lawsuit. Although Section 2126(a) of PROMESA gives the federal courts exclusive jurisdiction over any and all suits against the board, the 1st Circuit found that the section abrogated the boards immunity, exposing it to every type of suit, federal and territorial. That decision was wrong and should be reversed, Harris said. In order to abrogate, a statute must be clear and unmistakable on its face. There is nothing in Section 2126(a) that even comes close. This court has held many times that jurisdictional provisions do not abrogate because the power to hear a case says nothing about the availability of a defense, and mere textual inferences do not qualify. [Its the boards position that] the court has repeatedly held for more than a hundred years that Puerto Rico has immunity. It held that way before Puerto Ricos constitutional assembly in the 1950s, and, since then, it has said that Puerto Rico has a degree of autonomy comparable to a state. It would represent a sea change for Puerto Rico and an extremely harmful one to allow the territory or its officials to be sued under its own laws in federal court, he said. CPIs attorney, Sarah M. Harris, said the board isnt immune to lawsuits. [The boards] one-size-fits-all theory of immunity would be a drastic and unnecessary way to protect Puerto Rico, which will not be flooded with federal suits no matter what, she said. Several justices seemed to think the issue of the sovereign immunity of Puerto Rico and the board wasnt yet resolved in the case. Justice Elena Kagan said it seems quite weird to me to look at legal precedents before dealing with the issue. Justice Neil Gorsuch suggested that moving forward without considering the immunity issue would be a bad idea. Addressing CPIs lawyer, Gorsuch said, Why arent all those just good reasons to defer this question for another day, if it ever becomes relevant again, given Congresss statute saying that Puerto Rico generally has sovereign immunity? Justice Sonia Sotomayor told U.S. Department of Justice attorney Aimee W. Brown, Everybody gets their sovereignty from the United States, including tribes, because we have determined not to take it away. Brown replied, There is a fundamental difference between states that come into the union under the equal footing doctrine and tribes and territories here that I think is significant. Brown told Kagan that Puerto Rico has been treated like a state for more than a century. That territories cant be sued by private parties is just kind of the necessary corollary to the existence of self-government, she said. Chief Justice John Roberts pointed out that Puerto Rico isnt a state. Im just wondering how far you can stretch the analogy to state sovereign immunity, Roberts said. Gorsuch said that whether Puerto Rico enjoys sovereign immunity is a rather large and important constitutional question to move forward on without first receiving proper submissions from all the U.S. territories that would be affected. Justice Amy Coney Barrett suggested to Brown that it might be best to just vacate the lower courts ruling and remand to the 1st Circuit, given the complexities of this question. The Supreme Court is expected to rule on the case by June. Texas Executes Ex-Cop Who Hired 2 People to Kill Estranged Wife This booking photo provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shows Robert Fratta, a former suburban Houston police officer, on death row. (Texas Department of Criminal Justice via AP) A former Houston police officer was executed on Tuesday for hiring two people to murder his estranged wife over 30 years ago. Robert Fratta, 65, was executed by lethal injection at the state jail in Huntsville for the fatal shooting of his 33-year-old wife, Farah Fratta, in November 1994, during a contentious divorce and custody battle. Fratta was pronounced deceased at 7:49 p.m., roughly 24 minutes after receiving a deadly dose of the powerful sedative pentobarbital. Bradley Baquer, Frattas son, and Zain Baquer, Farahs brother, were among those who witnessed Frattas death. He didnt acknowledge them or make a statement before receiving the lethal injection. Fratta was the first person in the state of Texas to be executed this year. Texas officials said he stared straight ahead at the ceiling and did not acknowledge the victims or witnesses during his execution. The death penalty is reserved for the worst in America. It is the governments and societys punishment for the worst crimes, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg told reporters outside the prison on Tuesday night. Robert Fratta had his wife murdered to settle a divorce; something that millions of Americans go through. It was a premeditated crime. It involved two other people; a middleman and a shooter, she continued. And the victim Farah Frattas life was negotiated down to $1,000 and a car. For this, she was murdered. Robert and Farah had three childrenone of them was here tonight. Fratta never apologized, Ogg continued. There was no question about his guilt. Two separate juries tried him, convicted him, and sentenced to death. And tonight, justice was had. Andy Kahan, a victim advocate from Crime Stoppers of Houston, said the day was about Farah Fratta, not Fratta. This is not about Bob. Bob was a coward in 1994 when he arranged the murder-for-hire of his estranged wife, Kahan said. He was a coward in 1994 and 28 years plus later he still was a coward tonight when he was offered an opportunity to at least extend an olive branch to his son that he knew was watching this, as well as Farahs brother. Kahan said that Fratta chose to ignore the witnesses rather than apologize to the people whose lives he destroyed. Make no mistake about it, Bob Fratta is the epitome of an atomic bomb, and he exploded a family, Kahan said. And the reverberations and remnants of the actions of a narcissistic egomaniac play on for 28 years plus. Execution Frattas spiritual adviser, Barry Brown, prayed over him while he was strapped to the death chamber gurney for about three minutes before the execution began. Brown rested his right hand on Frattas right hand, his prayer book on the pillow next to Frattas head. Brown asked for prayers for hearts that have been broken for people who grieved and those who will grieve in days ahead. He asked God to be merciful to Bobby. As the lethal injection began, Brown prayed over Fratta, who closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then snored loudly six times before all movement stopped. Fratta has maintained his innocence in the murder-for-hire scheme that prosecutors allege Fratta masterminded. According to prosecutors, Fratta used middleman Joseph Prystash to hire gunman Howard Guidry, who shot Farrah Fratta twice in the head in her garage in Houstons Atascocita neighborhood. Fratta was a Missouri City public safety officer at the time. Earlier that day, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito denied Frattas request for a stay of execution and a writ of certioraria judicial review of a decision of a lower court or government agency (pdf). These final-hour appeals with the U.S. Supreme Court, the Texas Supreme Court, and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals slightly delayed the execution by less than an hour. Last Thursday, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles unanimously refused to commute Frattas death sentence to a lesser penalty or grant him a 60-day reprieve. Fratta was sentenced to death in 1996, but his conviction was overturned by a federal court that decided that admissions from his co-conspirators should not have been brought into evidence. The court said in the same finding that trial evidence showed Fratta to be egotistical, misogynistic, and vile, with a callous desire to kill his wife. In 2009, he was retried and sentenced to death. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Texas Tech Makes History With Nations First Full-Scale Operational Oil Rig on Campus A photo of the Texas Tech University campus in Lubbock, Texas, on June 27, 2021. (Alex Bierens de Haan/Getty Images) Texas Tech University in Lubbock recently made history with the nations first full-scale and fully operational, on-campus oil rig. On Jan. 6, a 140-foot mast was raised on the oil drilling rig at the East Campus Oilfield Technology Center, the university announced on social media. The first full-scale, fully operational oil rig on a university campus was raised to working position today on our campus, Texas Tech wrote on Twitter. The Oilfield Technology Center sits on 10 acres and includes the 42,000-square-foot Terry Fuller Petroleum Engineering Research Building with eight research labs, two teaching labs, classrooms, and more. With the mast in place, the substructure will be lifted another 25 feet to its final working position, where the team will install the blow-out prevention (BOP) equipment. BOPs are a safety feature used to cut off the drill pipe or seal the top hole in the event of uncontrollable pressure from the well. It took 45 semi-truck loads to deliver the rig and equipment used to build the 1,500-foot deep rig, according to a university press release. The projects cost is unclear, but the university said the rig was donated to the Edward E. Whitacre Jr. College of Engineering. The university spent more than two years constructing the first-of-its-kind project, designed to enhance student education. It was built to give our students hands-on experience in the oil field under a controlled environment, said Marshall Watson, chair of the Bob L. Herd Department of Petroleum Engineering at Texas Tech, KAMC News reported. Its to take the material out of the textbook and bring it to real life. Students will begin working on the rig during the spring semester, which started in early January. Its part of the fully operational system that will be available for students to see, watch, and touch, and actually run calculations on so they can actually see whats going on in the field before they actually go to work in the oil field, Watson said. Ensuring the safety of students while learning is a priority. Instead of oil and actual water from the oilfield, we use fresh water and nitrogen to emulate the fluids being lifted out of the ground, Watson told KLTV News. Terry Fuller, president of Phoenix PetroCorp and chairman of the Texas Tech Foundation Board of Directors, told KLTV that the project was made possible through years of hard work and generous donations. Weve been working on this project, I think, for about three years, Fuller said. Great generosity of some of our donors brought this all together. Its just been a great team effort. Following a record-breaking endowment last fall, the Dawson Community College Foundation received its second single donation exceeding a million dollars in under six months. In the wake of former schoolteacher Winifred Win McMullin's death in October, the Glendive school was surprised to find out that she and her late husband Richard Dick McMullin had left them a $1.4 million dollar donation from their estate. The foundation received the funds in December, which come shortly after a record-setting donation by the Ellis and Irene Jones Foundation for $1.8 million last fall. The foundations president Mike Newton remarked that it typically operates with just around $2 million on any given year. So, to have that amount (more than) double between these two donations is mind-boggling, he said. Newton said the estates wishes were to have a certain percentage of the funds to go towards new equipment for the schools chemistry and biology departments with the majority being used to establish the Richard M. McMullin Scholarship Fund to provide academic opportunities for eastern Montana students interested in pursuing the science field. The rest of the estate will be bequeathed to various other charitable causes. Win McMullin was born in Great Falls Oct. 31, 1923 and raised on a farm in Power. She graduated from Montana State University in Bozeman in 1946, with a degree in secondary education and a major in home economics. Her first teaching job was in Laurel where she met her future husband, Richard. They would marry shortly thereafter and eventually move to Glendive where he taught biology at DCC and she taught home economics at Dawson County High School for nearly 40 years. Newton, a former student at Dawson County High, described Winifred as intelligent and fun to listen to. She was respected by all the students, he said. You never heard anyone say a bad thing about Home EC. The respect garnered by local students would ripple throughout Glendive in the years during and following their retirements from teaching in the mid-1980s. Former DCC agriculture instructor Tom Ree and current chemistry instructor Thomas Reeves were both students of Dicks at the college who considered him a master teacher." They added that his approach to teaching both helped them complete their own education and inspired their respective careers as educators. Upon completing his collegiate studies and returning to Glendive to work at the college, Reeves would develop a friendship with Richard and Winifred and frequently visit them at their home up until Dicks death in 2008. He continued to stay in touch with Winifred throughout the remainder of her life. Some people are just born to be teachers, he said. Dick was just one of those guys who took interest in his students and nurtured it. And, based off everything Ive heard, Win was the same way. Despite choosing lifelong careers in the education field, the couple accrued a considerable amount of wealth over the years through savvy investments and frugal living. Among their early security investments were the Apple and Coca-Cola companies. Though it was never publicly known during their lifetime, the couple had detailed how exactly they wanted their vast estate to be left behind prior to Richards passing. You would never know what he had amassed in his lifetimeother than being close to him, Ree said of Richards investments. The influx of new funds for the school come at a time of expansion. The college recently purchased new land near the campus for additional dormitories to accommodate a growing student body while additional tech and nursing programs are currently in development. They were both just wonderful, dedicated educators who I think are leaving behind a wonderful legacy, Reeves said. Students are going to benefit from this for decades. The Dystopian Roots of Californias COVID-19 Misinformation Law Commentary It is late 2024, and the special agent in charge of the COVID Misinformation Compliance Task Force begins her daily brief by disseminating a list of the days five targets to her team of ten sworn peace officers on special assignment from local law enforcement agencies. The team reviews the targets criminal histories and firearm ownership records, takes note of logistical concerns, and employs a host of social media and not to be mentioned electronic data gathering tools. Warrants are confirmed and onsite surveillance is initiated, providing real-time information to the incoming arrest team. The law enforcement team exits their vehicles at a safe distance and approaches the suspects location with caution. As the team makes its approach, verbal commands are given to the women and children entering and exiting the pediatric clinic to clear a path in front of the office door and vacate the area immediately. After the team enters, clerical and medical staff are ordered to take seats and provide their doctors location. The doctor is located in the hallway between patient rooms, placed in restraints, searched for weapons, and immediately taken to the transport vehicle idling outside. Witnesses state they could hear the doctor protesting loudly, My license appeal is still under review! Could This Happen? Of course youre asking, What the heck is this guy talking about? Please, allow me to explain. Using the same perfect pitch that George Orwell used to author 1984, the California State Senate authored another piece of legislation that summoned the intertwined spirits of Josef Mengele and Joseph Goebbels. As you may already know, the current Sacramento political lineup is the gift that keeps on giving. Governor Newsom signed Assembly Bill 2098 on Sept. 30, 2022, and it became state law effective Jan. 1. The bill, titled Physicians and surgeons: unprofessional conduct, adds the following section to Californias Business and Professions Code: 2270. (a) It shall constitute unprofessional conduct for a physician and surgeon to disseminate misinformation or disinformation related to COVID-19, including false or misleading information regarding the nature and risks of the virus, its prevention and treatment; and the development, safety, and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines. It defines misinformation as false information that is contradicted by contemporary scientific consensus contrary to the standard of care. In a nutshell, if you are a doctor who deviates from the established CDC talking points or even attempts to assess and advise their patient as an individual, you may be guilty of COVID misinformation and thus be guilty of unprofessional conduct. What are the potential penalties? Well, lets just say that the student loan forgiveness plan wont be helping you, as the $10,000 forgiveness limit wont even cover the lab fees you incurred with your now worthless medical degree. The Medical Board of California has been imbued with expanded authority to investigate, review, and refer for disposition to the State Attorney Generals Health Quality Enforcement Sections office, complaints against COVID misinformation. The outcome of this completely vaporous virtue-signaling trope may include having your medical license pulled by the state, as well as exposure to fees and other sanctions. Dont forget that this assault on the pursuit of the truth came out of a change in business code! I hear you saying, Whats this have to do with the dystopian scene above? Ah, good reader! Yes, what happens if you dont comply and continue to practice medicine anyway? Business and Professions Code 2052 nicely dovetails into the above by making this an arrestable offense with with the potential of a year in county jail. I cannot possibly know the percentage of doctors who will either submit to a CCP-style tyranny or adopt skillful wordplay like 15th century astronomers wrestling with heliocentric revelations that the dominant church of their day forbid. But I can predict the number will not be zero. What Consensus? Obviously I am not a doctor, but I do have a memory and do archive the articles I read, especially when Im making medical decisions. I generally review the same sources that AB 2098 references when regarding consensus, for example the American Medical Association. The only consistencies Ive seen surrounding COVID-19 and the vaccine are the consistent inconsistencies. Wait a week and it will change. Remember the protect grandma and get the jab mantras? Or do your part for herd immunity? Now we learn that mRNA vaccination doesnt accomplish either, and the new goal is reduce severe illness and hospitalization. I wont mention some of the latest data regarding that claim, but it doesnt look good. And I wont speak more on the issue of defining the undefinable, because I run the risk of losing focus on the real problem. Sacramento power-hungry politicians have pulled off the ultimate gaslighting. We have been debating the way government is going to intercede in our lives rather than focusing on the fact that they dont have the authority to do so. The inherent desire for government to give itself additional authority is one of the reasons our Constitution and Bill of Rights were constructed the way they were. The founders made individual liberty the underpinning of much of their writing and have warned future generations to protect it at all costs. Public Health Overreach Unfortunately, the California Legislatures penchant to rely on questionable medical consensus is nothing new. During the 1920s, California adopted model laws, in which law enforcement conducted the proactive arrest of women suspected to have sexually transmitted diseasesall in the name of public health. Literal law enforcement sweeps, arrests, and forced gynecological exams would happen with no probable cause needed. California relied on the U.S. Attorney Generals published opinion that these proactive public health efforts were constitutional and that the publics interest trumped individual liberty. One of the reasons that this unbelievable and sick overreach is even known is that during a particular morality sweep, of the 22 women arrested and inspected that day, two of the arrestees were sisters, one of whom was Margaret Hennessy. The wife of a Standard Oil manager, she was recovering from influenza and was out for some fresh air with her sister, which was a common practice in that day. Mrs. Hennessy had the courage to go to the news media and let her outrage be known, which should be an example to all of us. Californias morality policy using public heath concerns to expand the power to investigate, detain, and arrest individuals was illegal then and is still illegal now. The first step in combating authoritarian overreach is not debating what or why they are doing something. Its making the government identify where their authority to impose a mandate or new law comes from and then impose the constitutional test. You already know the answer, dont you? They dont have the authority to do what they are doing. Since 1850, California has suffered through innumerable attempts to exceed its own constitutional authority, not to mention the Constitution of the United States. Historically, we seem to work things out and get as close to whats right as possible. However, Im afraid that much of todays public has forgotten what freedom looks like and is suffering from Stockholm Syndrome. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. The Great Awakening: While Students Flee Public Universities, Christian Schools Are Only Getting Bigger Christian colleges and universities are seeing an increase in enrollment despite the national enrollment rate of college students being on a decline, higher education experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation. The national undergraduate enrollment rate dropped 1.1 percent during the fall 2022 semester while the rate declined a total of 4.2 percent since 2020, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. Many faith-based institutions, however, saw an increase in enrollment which higher education experts claim is because of these institutions commitment to their roots. We have doubled down on our core essence and purpose as an institution and made that well known to prospective students, Jonathan Sanford, University of Dallas (UD) president, told the DCNF. UD, a Catholic, liberal arts university known for [its] intellectual rigor and [its] deep commitment to the Catholic faith and a robust, Western-based classical education, according to Sanford, welcomed its second-largest incoming class to the Texas school in fall 2022, its website reads. The school set its record enrollment rate during the 20212022 academic year and welcomed 487 freshman students. I think theres a deep hunger in the souls of all individuals, but particularly in this generation, for a real education and real exposure to the timeless ideas and classical texts as well as real exposure to how to build upon those timeless truths and classical texts in order to be innovative contributors to the renewal of culture, Sanford said. Stephen Johnson, director of marketing and communications at Benedictine College in Kansas, told the DCNF that the Catholic liberal arts school had record enrollment once again for Fall 2022 and recruiting is going strong for Fall 2023. It is heartening that schools like Hillsdale Collegeschools that take a classical approach to the liberal artsare seeing an increase in student interest, and that the media are taking note, Emily Stack Davis, executive director of media relations and communications at Hillsdale College, told the DCNF. At Hillsdale, we recognize that education should point to the permanent thingsan understanding of what it means to be human, how to live a good life, and what leads to happiness. Hillsdale College enrollment increased 16 percent in fall 2021, according to MLive. It experienced a 53 percent boost in applications, as well. We at Hillsdale understand that a college requires working and being together. Indeed, the word college comes from the Latin for partnership, she said. During the pandemic, we continued to learn together, in person, to the greatest extent possible. In the future, we plan to continue to do what we have done since our founding in 1844: To furnish all persons who wish, irrespective of nation, color, or sex, a literary, scientific, [and] theological education and to combine with this such moral and social instruction as will best develop the minds and improve the hearts of its pupils. Chris Weinkopf, executive director of college relations at Thomas Aquinas College, told the DCNF that its California campus reached maximum capacity (about 400 students) several years back but has held steady ever since. He told the DCNF that the school opened its New England campus in 2019 to allow more applicants to be accepted. The campus increased from 58 students to 159 students by the start of the 202223 academic year, Weinkopf said. We can only grow enrollment as quickly as we can hire qualified new faculty, so that limits our rate of expansion to a healthy, moderate pace, he explained. But by Gods grace, we have experienced no difficulty in finding new students. Students are drawn to colleges with a clear, distinct identity, Adam Kissel, visiting fellow on higher education reform at the Heritage Foundation, told the DCNF. Devoutly Christian colleges out-compete colleges that are Christian-in-name-only. If you come from a Christian household and youre still a Christian and you want a particular Christian experience, you go to an explicitly Christian college more often than to a different kind of Christian college or a secular college. That identity is attractive for a lot of students today and if youre not religious, then you have thousands of other colleges to choose from and thats spread out among all those colleges. The increase in Christian school enrollment may also be attributable to a higher birth rate in religious families than secular ones, Kissel said. John Wesley Reid, editor-in-chief for the Standing for Freedom Center at Liberty University, told the DCNF that the increase in college enrollment piggybacks off the spike in students attending Christian high schools. He explained that when parents witnessed the curriculum taught in public schools during the 2020 pandemic there was a shift toward more faith-based learning. 2020, the pandemic, forced parents to be involved with their kids education again. Everybody was at home. Everybody saw the screens, and the parents were like now wait a minute, this is not right, Reid explained. 2020 was a revelation to a lot of parents. They saw what was happening, they were not OK with it, and so since 2020 and 2021 and into 2022, a lot of students were pulled out of the public schools and put into Christian schools. Schools in the Association of Christian Schools International increased their K-12 enrollment 12 percent between the 201920 and the 20202021 academic year, The New York Times reported. Reid clarified the number represented students leaving the public school and going to Christian school and doesnt include students who were homeschooled. He explained that this shift may have impacted how students considered which college they would attend after graduation. The great awakening that happened in the public high schools is manifesting in enrollment in Christian schools, he said. They woke up, parents, and students too during the 202122 school years and said were not going to do this anymore. So that mentality followed them into their college choice. Sanford echoed this sentiment when discussing UDs approach during the COVID-19 pandemic, which prioritized in-person learning. We stayed open. With minimal disruptions, we had to make some provisions, but we decided to value the in-person experience, the actual classroom experience. We recognize that there can be some value to distance learning, but its not the robust, personal engagement that you get in the classroom, Sanford said. We created an environment in which students could really come back and have that rich, interpersonal, deep education. These decisions, he said, may have contributed to incoming students decision to choose the university. When [Christian universities] just strictly stand their ground, theyre going to look extreme but people are going to find that attractive. People who also want to be the Shadrach, Meshach and Abednegos, the Daniels, the Esthers, the God-fearing men and women, when they see that uncompromising Biblical posture of these universities, it becomes more attractive, Reid told the DCNF, referencing several Biblical characters who stood strong in their faith. To them, its no longer where should I go to school, but it becomes I want to go here because theyre doing good things. Theyre standing their ground, and I know that my monetary investment there is going to manifest as a benefit to me. All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org. Things Have Been Swept Under the Rug: Rep. Fulcher Alleges After Classified Documents Found at Bidens Old Office Following news that documents with classified markings were found in an office space President Joe Biden used between 2017 and 2019, Rep. Russ Fulcher (R-Idaho) said the Biden administration has enjoyed friendly relations with the media, government bureaucracies, and the U.S. intelligence community, and that instances of potential wrongdoing by Biden and his administration have been swept under the rug. On Monday evening, special counsel to the president Richard Sauber revealed that documents with classified markings were discovered on Nov. 2, 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 Jan. 9, more than two months after they were turned over to NARA. Enter Jim Jordan, enter James Comer, my colleagues who are going to be very involved with looking into things like that through the judiciary committee and through the Oversight Committee, Fulcher said in a Tuesday interview with NTD News. These are things that have been, lets face it, swept under the rug, okay? Fulcher added. Theres been a very friendly media, very friendly bureaucracies, the intelligence community has been very friendly to the existing administration. And so we dont know what the details of these things are. Fulcher put questions about the documents found in Bidens old office space alongside questions about the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol and plans Republicans have previously announced to investigate Biden and his family members. Fulcher said the House select committee to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol breach was very one-sided but now, for the first time, we will get another look at these situations. What are in these documents? Was it appropriate? Was it not? Fulcher asked. Was there personal gain that came out of some of these thingsHunter Biden, the laptop, all of that? Its been pushed aside. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and newly appointed House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) raised allegations of a political double standard in how Biden and former President Donald Trump were treated when documents with classified markings were found in either of their office spaces. According to Sauber, White House attorneys who found the documents in the Penn Biden Center handed over those documents to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) immediately after their discovery. In August, amid disputes about what records Trump was allowed to retain from his presidency, FBI agents carried out a search on his Mar-a-Lago property and recovered documents with classified markings. On Monday, McCarthy said Dems overplayed their hand in their response to the FBI search at Mar-a-Lago and said the Biden administration was trying to be political to President Trump. Comer said the classified documents cases involving Trump and Biden bring about further concern that theres a two-tier justice system within the DOJ with how they treat Republicans vs. Democrats. As Fulcher discussed the issue of a potential political double standard, he said, I dont think theres any question about it. Once again, go back to the January 6 Commission, Fulcher added. It was very one-sided, they started with a verdict, said, Okay, now were going to go substantiate our verdict.' Fulcher also referred to Twitter Files revelations that the FBI had foreknowledge about a laptop belonging to Joe Bidens son, Hunter Biden, and that the FBI appeared to take measures to discredit reporting about Hunter Biden. We know for a fact now, FBI knew about it before the election and constrained information about that, Fulcher said of Hunter Bidens laptop. Of course, theres a double standard. Weve felt that here on the Republican side media-wise, access to information-wise, restrictions on how we communicate, and censorship with some of our communications versus some of our colleagues on the Democrat side, Fulcher continued. The double standard is no secret, at least to me and to our colleagues on the Republican side. While Republicans have raised concerns about a double standard on Biden and Trumps classified documents, Democrats have noted that Bidens White House lawyers took immediate action to hand over the documents they found in Bidens old office space. 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 This Is Election Interference: House Oversight Veteran on Biden Classified Documents President Joe Biden speaks during a Cabinet meeting in the White House on Jan. 5, 2023. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) A House Oversight Committee veteran said the delay in publicizing President Joe Bidens retention of classified documents from his time as vice president amounts to election interference. The documents were allegedly discovered on Nov. 2. The midterms are on Nov. 8. To me, this is election interference by omission, Mike Howell said in a Jan. 11 interview with The Epoch Times. Does anyone think if this had been President Trump or any other Republican, the news wouldnt have been leaked immediately for political gain? We neednt wonderjust look at all the affirmative updates, releases, and leaks in the Trump case, he said in a Jan. 10 statement. Howell was an attorney for the Department of Homeland Security under President Donald Trump. He previously worked as a lawyer on the House Oversight Committee as well as the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. He now leads the Oversight Project at The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. Heritage Oversight is, in Howells words, suing the Biden administration aggressively over Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. Were gathering as much as we can and hoping that Congress makes use of it, he said, noting that FOIA lawsuits are just one of the organizations tactics. Notably, Heritage Oversight obtained an email to Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas that shows that he knew Haitian migrants werent whipped by Border Patrol agents at Del Rio, Texas, by Sept. 24, 2021. Yet during a press conference that same day, Mayorkas offered no clarification on the whipping allegations, instead saying that the images painfully conjured up the worst elements of our nations ongoing battle against systemic racism. FOIA Requests Filed He [Mayorkas] chose to ignore the information to preserve the far-left narrative on this whole incident, Howell said in a 2022 Heritage Foundation interview. Heritage Oversight filed FOIA requests with the Department of Justice and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) regarding the classified materials found at the Penn Biden Center. Why was this information not made public prior [to] the election? It likely would have had substantial electoral salience, Howell wrote in his FOIA request to the Department of Justice. Democrats have frequently accused Republicans of election interference, citing everything from voter I.D. laws to state-level election integrity legislation. Now, Republicans are zeroing in on the apparently coordinated suppression of stories prior to national elections in an election interference narrative of their own. The Penn Biden Center incident, which could have broken before the 2022 midterm election, comes just two years after the Hunter Biden laptop story was shut down in the run-up to the 2020 election. People need to be aware that our elections, when things like this happen, are not free and fair, Howell said. Comes Alongside House Oversight Requests Heritage Oversights FOIA requests come as the House Oversight Committee, now under Republican control, launches its own investigation into the Biden documents. In a Jan. 10 letter to White House counsel Stuart Delery, Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) wrote that the committee he now leads is concerned that President Biden has compromised sources and methods with his own mishandling of classified documents. The committee expects President Biden will receive equal treatment under the law given that he maintained classified documents in his unsecured office for several years with access to an unknown number of people, the letter reads. Howell thinks Heritage Oversights FOIA requests will complement the House Oversight Committees accommodation process. The accommodation process refers to constitutionally sound negotiations between different branches of government, particularly when the legislative branch seeks information from the executive branch. The House Judiciary Committee has described the accommodation process as the bedrock of congressional investigative activity. Now, the Biden administration is forced to deal with document requests from two different angles in two different legal proceedings, Howell said. He foresees a long, tough fight to get answers. This is going to be the most obstructive administration in history, Howell said. He expects obstructionism from NARA, recently in the headlines over its referral to the Justice Department regarding documents at former President Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lagothe basis for a subsequent search warrant served by the FBI. NARA made no parallel referral concerning Bidens vice presidential records. Heaven forbid the Archives, which is essentially this countrys librarian, act in an apolitical manner, Howell said. He believes the coming investigations will plaster some top NARA names in the headlines. Howell predicted that the acting archivist of the United States, Debra Wall, will be the Lois Lerner of this administration. During the Obama administration, Lerner led the IRS agents who targeted conservative groups. After asserting her Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination before Congress, she went on to retire with a full pension. NARA and the Department of Justice officials didnt respond by press time to requests by The Epoch Times for comment. Top Ranked Catholic Leader George Pell Dies 81 Cardinal George Pell leaves at Melbourne Magistrates' Court on in Melbourne, Australia, on May 1, 2018. (Michael Dodge/Getty Images) Cardinal George Pell and formerly the Vaticans top finance minister, has died aged 81. Pell was the former Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne and Sydney before becoming the head of the Secretariat of the Economy for the Vatican in 2014, regarded as the third highest position in the hierarchy. It was the highest position ever held by an Australian. Pell is reported to have died due to complications from hip replacement surgery, according to Catholic news outlet EWTN. The current Archbishop of Sydney, Anthony Fisher, said the news was 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 are grieving him at this time, he wrote on Facebook. A Saint for Our Times, Says Former Australian PM Former Liberal Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the Catholic Church lost a great leader and a saint for our times. The Cardinal was a committed defender of Catholic orthodoxy and a staunch advocate for the virtues of Western Civilisation, he wrote on Twitter. In fact, he was a very pastoral priest who well understood the human stain and was more than capable of empathising with sinners while still counselling against sin. His incarceration on charges that the High Court ultimately scathingly dismissed was a modern form of crucifixion; reputationally at least a kind of living death. Vale, Cardinal George Pell AC pic.twitter.com/DaSUNso9Lj Tony Abbott (@HonTonyAbbott) January 11, 2023 While Abbotts predecessor, Prime Minister John Howard, said Pell displayed consistent courage in expressing Christian views in the public space. Believers and non-believers alike were left in no doubt where George Pell stood on issues, he said in a statement. His deep and compassionate faith sustained him during more than 400 days in prison for alleged crimes which many, me included, believed should never have been the subject of charges. I liked and respected the late Cardinal a lot. His passing is a great loss to the intellectual and spiritual life of our country. Cardinal Pell made headlines in 2017-18 when he was accused and convicted of molesting two teenage choirboys at St. Patricks Cathedral during his time as Archbishop of Melbourne in 1996. The conviction was later overturned and quashed by all seven justices of the High Court of Australia, who found the Victorian Supreme Court and Court of Appeal did not entertain enough doubt on the veracity of 23 witness testimonies. Pell spent 13 months behind bars and returned to Rome. He maintained his innocence throughout the ordeal. Pell Case Highlighted Problems with Media Australian media outlets were later charged and pleaded guilty to breaching a suppression order on reporting on the triala normal practice to maintain the integrity and fairness of the trial. Originally a plea deal was offered in which the prosecutor would drop a total of 58 charges against the journalists, including the charge of sub judice contempt, which carries a potential jail sentence. This resulted in the media companies themselves pleading guilty to 21 charges and can expect fines of up to $500,000 apiece. Over a million dollars in fines were handed out against several publications, including the Herald Sun, The Australian Financial Review, Sydneys The Daily Telegraph, The Advertiser in Adelaide, the Geelong Advertiser, and The Courier Mail in Brisbane. Other media companies include Sydney radio station 2GB, Channel Nine (which featured coverage in its Today show), Mamamia, and Business Insider. At the time, Nine Entertainment spokesperson said the decision to enter a guilty plea was important to protect our individual people who were simply going about their jobs. It is a regrettable but necessary decision that media companies enter guilty pleas to avoid the threat of criminal convictions and jail sentences that the Victorian Department of Public Prosecutions pursued , the spokesperson said. Experts Argue Presumption of Innocence Undermined Augusto Zimmermann, head of law at Sheridan College in Perth, said the media had no choice but to plead guilty. This admission was a wise legal manoeuvre because, in exchange, prosecutors have dropped all other charges, including against individual journalists, the former member of the Law Reform Commission of Western Australia told The Epoch Times. However, Zimmermann was critical of Pells media coverage, saying before his first trial in 2018, Pell had become the most loathed person in the nation. There is a growing rise in Australia of anti-religious, especially anti-Catholic sentiment Catholic priests are becoming the targets of a vilification campaign that may sometimes involve unsubstantiated accusations and expensive court proceedings, he said. Read More Australian Media Plead Guilty in George Pell Contempt Trial Commentator Rocco Loiacano said Pells case was an example of ongoing problems with media outlets undermining the presumption of innocence for high-profile individuals, particularly if it helps propagate ongoing social trends. Unfortunately, in recent times, the media has, by and large, ignored the idea of the presumption of innocencethe Christian Porter saga last year being one recent and troubling example, he wrote in The Epoch Times. However, perhaps the most egregious was that in relation to Cardinal George Pell, who was vilified by sections of the media, some politicians, and the wider community, not only during his trial for alleged sexual abuse and subsequent appeals but even before. Trudeau Says Canada Is Poised to be Reliable Supplier of Clean Energy Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meets with U.S. President Joe Biden meets with in Mexico City on Jan. 10, 2023. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada is poised to be a reliable source of clean energy and technology for the world, emphasizing that the industry will also create a number of middle-class jobs within the country. One thing is certain: Canada is ready to be the reliable supplier of clean energy and technology a net-zero world will need, and well do it with our North American partners, both businesses and governments, Trudeau said while delivering an address on Jan. 11 in Mexico City. The economy of the future will also be shaped by new forefronts in technology and innovation, he added. The prime minister is wrapping up his trip to Mexico for the North American Leaders Summit, where he met with U.S. President Joe Biden and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to discuss trade agreements, along with diversity and inclusion issues and climate change. Members of Trudeaus cabinet who accompanied him on the trip included Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly, and International Trade Minister Mary Ng. We need to grow our middle class so we can have a more resilient and stable economy, Trudeau said in his address. This isnt just good for people. Its good for businesses. The federal governments current climate plan outlines a number of emissions reduction targets, which all represent steps toward a planned net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions economy by 2050. In the initial phase, Ottawa plans to reduce nationwide GHG emissions by at least 40 percent below 2005 levels by the year 2030. With less than a decade left to achieve Canadas 2030 target, and with countries around the world moving to a cleaner economy to attract investment and secure jobs for their citizens, more action is required, reads Canadas 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan. Energy Sector The federal government will also be looking to move forward with its just transition legislation this year, which is intended to help workers in Canadas oil and gas sector move into green energy jobs. Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson has said he is not concerned that the legislation will decrease employment in the energy sector. I do not believe that the challenge we are going to face is that there are workers who are displaced that will not find other good-paying jobs, Wilkinson told CBC News in early January. I am actually quite worried that there are so many opportunities we will not have enough workers to fill the jobs. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith takes exception to the proposed legislation, saying the province will not be shutting down its oil and natural gas industry in order to transition workers into green energy jobs. We are not going to be transitioning our workers, who are in good, high-paying, meaningful, important jobs into installing solar panels, she said on Jan. 7. A recent report found that Ontarios plans to decarbonize its energy sector by 2050, which follows the federal governments climate plan, will cost about $400 billion and will require the size of Ontarios electricity system to be doubled. In all, the bulk system expansion needed to enable decarbonization in this scenario would require an investment in the range of $375 to $425 billion, said the provinces Independent Electricity System Operator in a report on Dec. 16. Noe Chartier contributed to this report. Trump Believes Biden Knew About Classified Documents at Former Office Before Discovery in November Biden says he was 'surprised to learn' about the documents Former President Donald Trump leaves the stage after speaking during an event at his Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Fla., on Nov. 15, 2022. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images) Former President Donald Trump is questioning the timeline of the November discovery of classified documents at the Penn Biden Center, a revelation made by President Joe Bidens attorneys earlier this week. I think they knew long before Nov. 2, Trump told John Solomon, the founder of Just the News, on his podcast published on Jan. 11. Referring to Biden, Trump added, I think he knew probably right from the beginning and I think a lot of it had to do with Ukraine, because that was the papers he kept. And no, I think they knew about this for a long time and they didnt do anything about it. Richard Sauber, special counsel to the president, said on Jan. 9 that documents with classified markings were founded in a locked closet at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement in Washington on Nov. 2. On the same day, White House lawyers notified the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and the agency took possession of the materials the next day, Sauber added. Bidens term as vice president ended in January 2017. A month later, he became a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and was given the role of leading the schools Penn Biden Center, which officially opened in February 2018. According to the universitys website, Biden also had an office on the schools campus in Philadelphia. Biden was placed on unpaid leave in April 2019, when he announced he was running for president. On Jan. 10, Biden said he was surprised to learn to learn that classified documents were found in his former private office. I was briefed about this discovery and surprised to learn that there were any government records that were taken there to that office, Biden said. But I dont know whats in the documents. Ive turned over the boxestheyve turned over the boxes to the Archives, Biden added. And were cooperating fullycooperating fully with the review. President Joe Biden speaks in Washington on Dec. 22, 2022. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) Double Standards When asked how documents from Bidens vice presidency might change the equation with regard to Special Counsel Jack Smiths probe into government documents found at Mar-a-Lago, Trump said, Well, I think it totally changes that. I was perfect under the Presidential Records Act, Trump added. I did absolutely nothing wrong. FBI agents seized over 11,000 documents and photographs without classified markings from Trumps resort, including around 100 documents marked classified or top secret. However, Trump has said he declassified the materials when he left office. Trump suggested that the FBI should search Bidens properties, as well as those belonging to his son Hunter Biden. What about all of these places that hes got? Trump asked. What about his house? What about Hunters house? You know, whos going to go in there like they did with me? Whos gonna do that? Related Coverage Experts Question Why Biden and Trump Treated Differently in Classified Document Cases Republican lawmakers, including House Speaker Kevin Mccarthy (R-Calif.) and House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.)have criticized the Biden administration for double standards over the handling of classified documents. President Biden kept CLASSIFIED documents from when he was Vice President at his think tank, yet he sent his Department of Justice after former President Trump. Only presidents, not vice presidents, have the authority to declassify materials, Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz.) wrote on Twitter on Jan. 10. She added, The DOJs double standard and two-tiered system of justice is on full display. However, House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), during a press conference on Tuesday, called GOP criticism of Biden Republican hypocrisy in its finest. China Also speaking on the podcast, Trump suggested that Beijing could have likely seen the classified documents found at the Penn Biden Center, noting that Chinese sources have paid millions in donations to the University of Pennsylvania. In April, the New York Post reported that the University of Pennsylvania had received a total of $54.6 million in donations from China between 2014 and 2019, citing public records. The fact is that China was paying, through Pennwhich, you know, I went to school at Penn, I went to the Wharton School of Finance, I love Pennbut they were paying all of this money to Joe Biden, Trump said. And they have the Biden Center there. And I would imaginetheyre paying all this moneyI would imagine they had absolute entree into those documents. And they saw those documents. Trump made similar allegations on Monday, when he wrote on his Truth Social account that the Penn Biden Center is funded by China and 54 Million Dollars from Beijing had gone to the Center. University of Pennsylvania spokesperson Stephen MacCarthy, in a statement to Newsweek about Trumps Truth Social posts, denied the allegations. The assertion that the Penn Biden Center received $54 million from China is total nonsense, MacCarthy said. The Penn Biden Center has never solicited or received any gifts from any Chinese or other foreign entity. In fact, the University has never solicited any gifts for the Center, MacCarthy added. Since its inception in 2017 there have been three unsolicited gifts (from two donors) which combined total $1,100. Both donors are Americans. One hundred percent of the budget for the Penn Biden Center comes from university funds. The Epoch Times has reached out to the White House for comment. UK Counter-Terror Police Investigating After Uranium Detected in Package at Heathrow Airport Britains counter-terrorism police have launched an investigation after material contaminated with a radioactive substance was found at Londons Heathrow Airport last month. Uranium was detected in a package at the airport on Dec. 29. According to the Sun newspaper, which first reported the incident, the package had originated from Pakistan and arrived in the UK on a flight from Oman. The uranium was found in a shipment of scrap metal, according to the BBC. The Metropolitan Police said in a statement issued on Tuesday evening: We can confirm officers from the Mets 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 Dec. 29, 2022. People queue to enter terminal 2, at Heathrow Airport, London, on Jan. 18, 2021. (Henry Nicholls/Reuters) Commander Richard Smith, head of the Mets counter-terrorism command, 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 inquiry to ensure this is definitely the case. The force said the material has been identified as being contaminated with uranium, no arrests have been made and officers are working with partner agencies to investigate and ensure there is no risk to the public. 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, the force added. Cabinet minister Steve Barclay said he hoped for more information in due course. Yvette Cooper, the main opposition Labour Partys shadow home secretary, wrote on Twitter: Full support to the police and Border Force in their ongoing investigations in this serious caseshows the immensely important work they & intelligence services do on security & keeping country safe. Police to Follow Every Avenue Commander Smith said on Wednesday morning that the police will follow every avenue to find out about the circumstances. Giving evidence at the Police and Crime Committee of the London Assembly, Smith said that it was understandable that media reports on the incident would attract considerable attention and potentially concern. He said: The circumstances are that in the course of routine scanning at London Heathrow an element of cargo was identified that was emitting a radioactive signal. There are procedures in place to deal with these sorts of incidents and those procedures were enacted. As part of that, the counter-terrorism commands were contacted and have opened an investigation into the surrounding circumstances. The commander said that the radioactive material does not pose a risk to public health and public safety. He said: The amount of material were talking about was very small, and there was no threat to public health or public safety identified. Smith added that the police would follow every avenue to see what the background to this was and make sure theres no further threat. Britons Should Be Pretty Reassured Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a chemical and biological weapons expert, told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme that people should be reassured that it was detected. He said: Its very clear that the comprehensive surveillance network that we have in place in this country, run by the security services, the police, and others, has actually worked and picked up potentially a very dangerous containment that could provide a threat. De Bretton-Gordon, the former head of the UKs nuclear defence regiment, added: In this country I think people should be pretty reassured that were not going to see dirty bombs from this type of material. Asked what could have happened to the metal, he said: If it is for nefarious reasons, for bad reasons, to create mayhem by Iranians or some sort of Russian proxy, then that is an area of concern. But I think the key thing is that there are people looking out for this, and this should not worry the public unduly. PA Media contributed to this report. UK, Japan Sign Historic Defence Pact Allowing Reciprocal Military Access UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida shake hands at the start of a bilateral meeting at the Tower of London on Jan. 11, 2023. (Carl Court/Getty Images) Britain and Japan have signed a defence agreement to allow the two countries to deploy military forces in one anothers territories, making the UK the first European country to have a reciprocal access agreement with Japan. Downing Street called the pactsigned by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida in London on Jan. 11the most important defence treaty between London and Tokyo since 1902. The pact is part of the UKs defence and foreign policy tilt toward the Indo-Pacific region, following an integrated review in 2021 that recognised the growing impact of China in the area. The relationship between our two countries is stronger than ever, not just across trade and security but also our values, Sunak said in welcoming Kishida to the Tower of London, where the agreement was signed. A shared outlook on the world. A shared understanding of the challenges we face. A shared ambition to use our place in the world for good. Thank you, @Kishida230. Its great to see UK and Japan working as close as ever pic.twitter.com/raLM65qtuH Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) January 11, 2023 Sunak offered wholehearted support for Japan as it prepares to host the G7 later this year, while also telling his counterpart that the UK warmly welcomes the ambition in Japans national security strategy. Kishida was greeted at the centuries-old Thames-side castle by a guard of honour of Yeomen Warders, also known as Beefeaters. During the visit to the castle, Sunak and Kishida were shown Japanese armour that was presented to King James VI in 1613 by the then-Shogun Tokugawa Hidetada of Japan to mark the first trade agreement between England and Japan. Hugely Significant The access agreement has been years in the making, with former Prime Minister Boris Johnson agreeing to a deal in principle in May 2022 during Kishidas first official visit to Britain. Downing Street said the pact will rapidly accelerate defence and security cooperation and will cement the UKs commitment to Indo-Pacific security, allowing both forces to plan and deliver larger scale, more complex military exercises and deployments. The signing comes just weeks after the UK and Japan collaborated, along with Italy, to develop the next generation of combat air fighter jets under the new Global Combat Air Programme. Last month, the UK and Japan also commenced a new UKJapan digital partnership to strengthen cooperation across cyber resilience, online safety, and semiconductors. Britains Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Japans Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrive at the Tower of London on Jan. 11, 2023. (Carl Court/Getty Images) The UK government said that all three agreements reinforce the UKs unwavering commitment to ensuring the security and stability of the Indo-Pacific, and exemplify the depth of friendship between the UK and Japan. Sunak said the UK and Japan have written the next chapter of their relationship in the past 12 months, accelerating, building, and deepening bilateral ties. We have so much in common: a shared outlook on the world, a shared understanding of the threats and challenges we face, and a shared ambition to use our place in the world for global good, ensuring our countries prosper for generations to come, he said. He said the Reciprocal Access Agreement is hugely significant for both nations, as it cements our commitment to the Indo-Pacific and underlines our joint efforts to bolster economic security, accelerate our defence cooperation, and drive innovation that creates highly skilled jobs. He added, In this increasingly competitive world, it is more important than ever that democratic societies continue to stand shoulder to shoulder as we navigate the unprecedented global challenges of our time. In a statement after the meeting, a Downing Street spokeswoman said the two leaders affirmed the agreement is an important step for their countries. Collaboration across defence and security would not only benefit Japan and the United Kingdom but broader global stability, the leaders agreed, she said. Discussing Japans leadership of the G-7 in such unprecedented times, the Prime Minister welcomed Prime Minister Kishidas plans to focus on the impact of the invasion of Ukraine on global food and economic security. The China Threat Kishidas visit to London is part of a whistle-stop tour to five G-7 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 United States in the space of five days, comes as Japan breaks from its post-war restraint to take on more offensive roles in response to the rising threat from Chinas communist regime. On Dec. 16, Japan unveiled its biggest military build-up since World War II with a $320 billion plan that will buy missiles capable of striking China and ready it for sustained conflict. The Japanese government said it would also stockpile spare parts and other munitions, expand transport capacity and develop cyber warfare capabilities. The sweeping, five-year plan, once unthinkable in pacifist Japan, will make the country the worlds third-biggest military spender after the United States and China, based on current budgets. Kishidas government is concerned that Russia has set a precedent that will encourage China to attack Taiwan, threatening nearby Japanese islands, disrupting supplies of advanced semiconductors, and putting a potential stranglehold on sea lanes that supply Middle East oil. PA Media and Reuters contributed to this report. Lawmakers in the House of Lords questioned the government on Tuesday over excess deaths in private homes, asking whether strains on the ambulance service and COVID-19 lockdowns have contributed to the number. It comes after the Office for National Statistics (ONS) counted 4,107 deaths in private homes in England and Wales that were registered during week 51 last year, 37.5 percent higher than the five-year average for the same week. According to The Epoch Times analysis of ONS provisional figures for England and Wales, in 2022, the number of weekly deaths in hospitals and care homes were largely below the five-year averages during the earlier months and increased later on, but private home deaths have remained higher than average throughout the year. By Dec. 30, the number of deaths in care homes in 2022 was the same as the five-year average (20162019 and 2021). The number of deaths in hospitals was 1.57 percent above average, but private home deaths jumped by more than one-fifth, at 22.8 percent. The ONS stressed that figures may be skewed for the first eight weeks as the baseline was higher than normal owing to a wave of COVID-19 deaths during those weeks in 2021. Meanwhile, according to The Times of London and the BBCs analyses of UK-wide data from the ONS, the National Records of Scotland, and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, more than 650,000 deaths were registered in 2022, with the highest excess deaths in the last 50 years apart from the pandemic years. Baroness: Considerable Alarm Bells Questioning a health minister over private home excess deaths in week 51, which ended on ending Dec. 23, Labour peer Baroness Merron said the spike rings considerable alarm bells. Citing analysis suggesting record ambulance and emergency delays as a plausible explanation for the rise in sudden deaths at home, she asked the government to produce its own analysis investigating the potential causal link. Labours Lord Allan of Hallam also asked the government to examine the pressures on ambulance services, while Conservative peers Lord Hannan of Kingsclere and Lord Dobbs questioned the role of COVID-19 lockdowns, during which hospital waiting lists grew to record lengths. Some of these numbers plainly reflect the diagnoses and the treatments that did not happen during the pandemic, Hannan said. Given that we now know that the OECD [Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development] country with the lowest excess death figure during those two years was Sweden, does my noble friend the minister believe that, knowing what we now know, we would have locked down? he questioned. A man walks up a deserted Regent Street in London on March 30, 2020. (Leon Neal/Getty Images) Responding to the questions, Lord Markham, minister at the Department of Health and Social Care, said, While the detailed assessment is not yet available, it is likely that a combination of factors has contributed to an increase in the number of deaths at home, including high flu prevalence, the ongoing challenge of COVID-19, and health conditions such as heart disease and diabetes. He added that the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities will provide more updates on Thursday. He also said that cardiovascular death is the prime issue the government is looking at in terms of excess deaths. Many of the deaths occurred in private homes rather than in other settings through personal choice, because it was happening over the summer and earlier in the year, the minister said. He added that according to Englands Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty, during summer last year, the heatwave was a factor, while at the moment a lot of factors are in play, including flu, an earlier cold snap that created more cardiovascular deaths, and challenges in the health services. Commenting on the link between the strain on the ambulance service and the excess deaths at home, Markham said Whitty writes an annual report exactly on this, and that the government will be doing so in the same way and looking at all the factors. Reacting to criticism of lockdowns, Markham told Dobbs the government had learned lessons all the way through and were much more resistant to locking down as time went on, and that he totally agree[d] the impact of the lockdowns needs to be a key feature in the public inquiry into COVID-19 led by Lady Hallett. Backlogs, Strikes, and Others Delayed diagnoses and treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic and overwhelmed hospital beds are widely believed to have contributed to the higher-than-usual death toll last year. By the end of October, 6.95 million people referred for hospital treatment were on waiting lists, slightly down from 7.07 million in the previous month, which was the highest since records began in 2007, the latest National Health Service (NHS) statistics show. When estimates for missing data are included, the number became 7.21 million, setting a new record high, according to the same NHS data set. Its also believed recent strikes by nurses and ambulance staff could result in some fatalities. A health service worker draws up a dose of COVID-19 vaccine at a drive-through vaccination centre in Blackburn, England, on Jan. 17, 2022. (Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images) Jamie Jenkins, former head of health analysis and labour market analysis at the ONS and one of the experts who have called on the government to investigate the matter for a number of months, previously told The Epoch Times that aging population may also be a contributing factor, while another advocate for an investigation into excess deaths, diagnostic pathologist Dr. Clare Craig, listed diabetes and psychological stress during the COVID-19 pandemic as other possible culprits. They also mentioned adverse reactions (ADRs) to COVID-19 vaccines, which are known to be linked to myocarditis, pericarditis, and some other reactions. The UKs Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has an ongoing evaluation of the vaccines safety data including the analysis of reports to the Yellow Card systeman early warning system for potential ADRs to medicines or medical devices. In its latest update published last month, the MHRA counted 2,362 UK reports of suspected ADRs to COVID-19 vaccines in which the patients died after vaccination by Nov. 23, around 0.35 percent of all deaths during the year. Its unclear what proportion of possible ADRs are reported to the Yellow Card system. In an email to The Epoch Times, a spokesperson for the MHRA said the reports do not mean that there is a link between vaccination and the fatalities reported. We continue to evaluate emerging safety information and will take action to protect public health if new safety concerns arise, the statement reads. We closely review the Yellow Card reports submitted to us in the UK alongside safety data from other countries and regulators. We also work closely with our public health partners to evaluate data on the safety and effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines. The spokesperson encouraged the public to continue to get their vaccination when invited to do so unless specifically advised otherwise and report suspected side effects to its Coronavirus Yellow Card website. Western Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke accused Democrats on Tuesday of weaponizing the federal government to persecute Republicans, using himself as an example and calling for a House investigation. The twice-elected representative and former Interior secretary spoke as House Republicans voted to create a subcommittee to investigate federal investigators. The "deep state" refers to non-political-appointee federal government workers who aren't turned out of office during transfers of power. The employees are viewed by some politicians as deeply entrenched partisans. On party-line vote Republicans created the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government. Members of the eight-Republican, five-Democrat, subcommittee werent readily identified, though Republican Jim Jordan, of Ohio, was recognized as chairman. Jordan in a floor speech framed the subcommittees purpose as protecting free speech, while Zinke and Democrats pointed to the investigation of Trump-era conservatives as the intended focus. The right to speak is most important and that's what they're going after. And that's why we've had dozens of whistleblowers come talk to us. We want to focus on that because we want it all to stop, Jordan said in response to Democrats suggesting during the livestream session that the First Amendment argument was a foil for creating a committee to go after the Department of Justice for investigating Trump officials. The creation of the Committee was seen as a concession granted to Freedom Caucus members in exchange for support of Rep. Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker. Jordan is a caucus leader who backed McCarthy last week as a small faction of caucus members repeatedly nominated Jordan as an alternative. Both Zinke and Eastern Montana Rep. Matt Rosendale voted for the subcommittee. "Today's extremist wing of the party held the rest of their caucus hostage as they demanded a steep price for their support. And today we have the first of their many demands on display, an open-ended investigation into whatever conspiracy theories may be headlining the right wing echo chamber at the moment, with unchecked authority to undermine ongoing criminal and intelligence investigations," said Rep Jerry Nadler, Democrat of New York. Zinke, who backed McCarthy, spoke directly Tuesday to his brief term as secretary of The Department of Interior, during which liberal non-profits filed multiple public records requests concerning Zinke, producing information that led to investigations of Zinke by Interior's inspector general. There is no doubt the federal government deep state coordinates liberal activists and uses politicians and willing media to carry their water. The deep state run secret messaging campaigns with one goal in mind to increase its power to censor and persuade the American people, Zinke said. Those investigations led to Zinke resigning short of two years after his confirmation. The allegations ranged from Zinkes wife traveling with him in government vehicles, which isnt allowed, to Zinke violating the federal law prohibiting political statements by tweeting pictures of his Trump socks. The socks have the former presidents image on the cuff. Those allegations were inconsequential. However, the Department of Interior Office of Inspector General found that Zinke involved himself in negotiations concerning a Whitefish commercial development, from which he benefitted. The development, which involved land owned by a nonprofit veterans park foundation Zinke created, could have progressed behind a firewall without Zinkes involvement. But he did get involved, using government resources and staff in the process. Parties in the project had other business before Interior, which posed conflicts of interests for the Interior secretary. In another investigation, the inspector general found that Zinke intended to mislead investigators about conversations he had with lobbyists and lawmakers concerning a tribal casino in Connecticut. Zinke has repeatedly dismissed the investigations as meritless and politically motivated. Tuesday, the representative pointed to nonprofit, issue-based advocacy groups funded by largely anonymous donors as instigators of the investigations, calling them dark money groups funded by liberal billionaires and foreign investors that repeatedly attempt to destroy the American West. In many cases, they want to wipe out the American cowboy, completely remove public access to our lands and turn Montana into a national park, Zinke said. Zinke named the Western Values Project specifically in his prepared remarks about the non-profit groups that attacked him. An employee of WVP passed on a chance to comment for this article. US Watching Very Closely for Potential CCP Assistance to Russias War in Ukraine The United States is monitoring potential efforts by communist China to provide military assistance to Russia for its war in Ukraine or to help the embattled regime dodge international sanctions. State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said that the United States was laser focused on rooting out any possible attempts by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to aid in the Kremlins war. We are watching very closely the decisions that the PRC makes when it comes to any Russian requests for security assistance, Price said during a Jan. 9 press briefing, using an acronym for the official name of communist China, the Peoples Republic of China. Weve been very clear with the PRC, including in private, including when the two presidents met in Bali last November, about any costs that would befall the PRC should 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. The United States has long maintained that the CCP, which rules China as a single-party state, could seek to help Russia dodge sanctions or even provide material assistance for its ongoing invasion of Ukraine. In March, top U.S. and CCP diplomats convened for a seven-hour emergency meeting in Rome, following reports that the CCP was considering a request from the Kremlin for economic and military support for its war in Ukraine. Russia has not helped to alleviate international distrust of the CCP on this issue, and has repeatedly claimed that the CCP supports its war. Russian Flights to China Raise Concern Concern over the possibility of CCP support for Russias war effort increased in recent months, following reports that Russian An-124 military transport planes were making frequent trips to China, often turning off their transponders to conceal their movements. Ukrainian media outlet Defense Express first suggested that the flights could be evidence of Russia importing military equipment from China in November, though there has been no verification for such a claim. In late November, China and Russia concluded joint military exercises over the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea, which included the first-ever incident of Chinese and Russian bombers landing at one anothers airfields during a training exercise. It unmarked flights between Russia and China coincided with a jump in air traffic between the two powers, which increased for the fourth month in a row in December. Responding to a question about the purpose of the An-124s, Price said that the United States did not have any new information on the matter, but would continue to monitor the situation. I dont have a new assessment to offer, Price said. It is still very much the position of the U.S. Government that we are, number one, watching very closely. Number two, if we see the provision of security assistance to Russia for use in Ukraine to do what Russia has been doing to the people of Ukraine, to the state of Ukraine, to the Government of Ukraine, or if we see the PRC taking action to systemically assist Russia evade sanctions, of course, there will be costs. VIA Rail Apologizes for Train Delays and Cancellations Over Christmas Holidays A woman beneath a Via Rail schedule board at central station in Montreal on Dec. 26, 2022. A Christmas Eve train derailment is also continuing to wreak havoc on holiday travel plans in Ontario and Quebec. (The Canadian Press/Graham Hughes) VIA Rail Canada has issued a statement to apologize for train delays and cancellations from Dec. 23 to Dec. 26, 2022, caused by a severe winter storm and a train derailment that left some passengers stranded overnight on stalled trains. We didnt meet your expectations and for that we apologize, said Martin Landry, VIAs interim president and CEO, in the Jan. 10 statement. VIA cancelled several trains scheduled for Dec. 24 due to a severe winter storm, with some passengers reportedly being left stranded on trains for up to 18 hours. The Crown corporation announced later that day that a CN railway train derailment prompted the cancellation of all trains between Toronto and Ottawa, and Toronto and Montreal, scheduled for Christmas Day. More trains on these routes were cancelled on Dec. 26 due to the derailment. Operation gradually resumed for the routes starting on Dec. 27, though VIA said at the time that it expected further delays due to congestion. The lack of information during the four-day period from VIA drew criticism from the public and the federal government. Transport Minister Omar Alghabra described the situation as unacceptable in a Dec. 24 statement posted on social media. Landry said in his letter that VIA will offer a full refund to affected passengers, along with travel credits. He also noted that VIA will allow outside experts to conduct a review of its performance over the four-day period. We know, we should have been more forthcoming in sharing information about trains that were delayed and in communicating updates. We also know we should have adopted a different approach in supporting passengers on trains that were delayed for lengthy periods, he wrote. We will be looking at a wide range of issues including our planning for the storm, our operational response, protocol around customer care and our overall communications as well as how we can better accommodate our passengers in order to get them to their destination. Running Deficit Landrys statement comes as newly-disclosed documents show that VIA awarded its executives large bonuses while cutting its service during the COVID-19 pandemic. The documents were obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) through Access to Information and first reported on by Blacklocks Reporter. The documents show that 650 VIA Rail managers received a total of $6,434,642 in taxpayer-funded bonuses in 2020. An additional $1,430,703 in pay raises were approved that year for non-union managers. No bonuses were paid in 2021, though 638 managers received a total of $1,711,780 in pay raises that year. According to VIAs 2021 annual report, between 2017 and 2021, the company cut back on the number of employees from 3,308 to 2,370tantamount to 28 percent of its workforce. It also reduced train service and has confirmed operating losses of $415 million in 2020 and $370 million in 2021. In an updated Corporate Plan, it projected this years operating deficit will run to $411 million. Total VIA Rail passenger count in 2020 was 1.15 million, a 75 percent drop over 2019, a percentage loss similar to that of air transport in the same period, a percentage loss similar to that of air transport in the same period, John McKenna, CEO of the Air Transport Association, testified at the Commons transport committee on Sept. 28, 2022. Yet VIA Rail received operational and capital subsidies of $669 million. That release could not be found. Fumio Kishida Photo: AFP Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida kicked off a tour of five of the G7 countries on Monday. France is his first stop, followed by Italy, the UK and Canada, and the final stop is the US, where Kishida will "report" to US President Joe Biden and consult on strengthening Japan-US alliance and the G7 Summit agenda of this year. However, when the visit just commenced, or even before Kishida set out, a pungent smell had already emanated. As the Chinese saying goes, "If you taste a piece of meat, you can figure out the taste of all meat in the pot." Considering Kishida's briefing to reporters before his departure at midnight, his various statements after he arrived in Paris, as well as Tokyo's related words and deeds recently, many Western media have summed up one major topic of Kishida's trip: coordinating their effort to counter the (so-called) China threat. To put it bluntly, it is to engage in "anti-China tandem" with the G7 members, which sets a poor start for international relations in 2023. There is no problem for Japan, holding rotating presidency of the G7, to visit countries before the summit, understanding of their demands, communicating with them, and finalizing some core issues. However, in bilateral meetings between Japan and other G7 members, it is unnecessary and dangerous to display a hard-line attitude toward China, tout the "regional threat theory," and even attempt to conduct an "anti-China tandem." If this is the main direction of Japanese diplomacy in 2023, it will be a terrible mistake. In Paris, Kishida implicitly criticized China for "unilateral attempts to change by force the status quo in the East and South China Sea intensify and the security environment becomes increasingly tense." He seems to be seeking to divert as much attention of the bloc's European members from the Russia-Ukraine conflict to East Asia. During his trip, Kishida will seek to further strengthen bilateral military ties with five other countries, Japanese officials say. An editorial published by the Global Times in May of 2022 warned that "Japan shouldn't be a promoter for NATO's Asia-Pacific expansion." But it is a pity that Kishida is still making paranoid efforts in this wrong and risky direction. Japan is the rotating presidency of the G7 this year, and it will host the G7 Summit in May. This is seen by Tokyo as an important opportunity to enhance its big-power status and influence. To a large extent, Kishida's visit is also to prepare for the G7 summit. However, as the only Asian member of the G7 club of rich countries, Japan does not serve as a spokesperson for Asian interests in the G7, nor does it serve as a bridge to strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation between Asia, Europe and the US. Instead, it has played a very negative role in trying to bring in external forces that impact regional peace and stability in Asia. From the current signs, it can be basically judged that the G7 summit hosted by Japan will inject a negative energy countercurrent into the Asia-Pacific. It is absolutely impossible for Japan to improve its national status and international image in this way. It is worth noting that among the G7 members, Japan's anti-China initiative has become increasingly prominent and is no longer a mere strategic vassal of Washington. Japan positions China as "the greatest strategic challenge" and often rushes ahead of Washington to actively coordinate the G7 and other organizations' positions on China. Under the cover of exaggerating the "China threat theory," Japan's actions of breaking through the "pacifist constitution" and developing its military power on a large scale are even more worrying. These actions are incompatible with the general atmosphere of commitment to economic development, stability and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region and run counter to the international community's expectations for peace and harmony. Japanese media have high expectations for Japan's diplomacy in 2023 and believe that "Japan's efforts in diplomacy must be redoubled in 2023" in order to improve its status in the international community. But if the direction is wrong, the more it "works hard," the farther it will be from the goal. It is obvious that Japan is going the wrong way again. But Tokyo is lost, while Washington pretends not to see it, and at the same time, Tokyo did not heed the reminding of others. Japan's strategic perception is soaked in the so-called "China threat" vat, and its strategic behavior is becoming more and more like that of a chronic alcoholic who is delirious, narrow-minded, and aggressive, lacking a sense of balance. This reminds us of the last time Japan took a wrong turn and brought a terrible disaster to Asia. To make Tokyo become strategically sober as soon as possible is a serious problem that both the Japanese society and the Asia-Pacific region need to face and find ways to solve. The current political ecology, public opinion and social thinking in Japan are all showing disturbing signs. If these signs are not extinguished as soon as possible, there is a high risk that a fire will break out, and even Washington will not be able to stay out of it. 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. Kim Chakanetsa will be returning with The Comb to share more fascinating and untold stories from across Africa on Friday 13th January 2023. From reclaiming a Cameroonian statue in Germany to exploring the experience of being falsely accused in Malawi, Kim Chakanetsa and her team have been combing through the continent for fresh perspectives and stories. Presenter Kim Chakanetsa said: This season of The Comb will again be exploring stories that often go unnoticed and amplifying voices that often go unheard. Our hope is that we continue to spark conversations through our unique storytelling. The Comb is made by the team (Mary Goodhart, producer and Pearse Lynch, editor) behind BBC Focus On Africa, known for its unrivalled coverage of the continent. Kim Chakanetsa(Host of The Comb & Presenter of 'The Conversation', a BBC World Service radio programme This season of The Comb tackles a wide range of subjects including: How a womans desire to reconnect with her Cameroonian roots led to the reclaiming of a sacred statue taken away by Germany over 120 years ago How unlikely allies united to battle against gender-based violence in Namibia A Kenyan mothers experience with motherhood and mental illness The effects of civil war on a young girls childhood raised in Somalia How a womans introduction to a Biblestudy group in South Africa made her question if she was in a cult The event that caused a Nigerian family living in the UK to rethink their approach to parenting And well follow the story of how being falsely accused changed the course of one mans life in Malawi. The podcast is available for free from the BBC at www.bbcworldservice.com/thecomb and on most podcast and audio-streaming apps. Liliane Landor, Senior Controller of BBC News International Services and Director of BBC World Service, says: The Comb highlights the creativity and expertise of our Focus On Africa team. I hope The Combs community of listeners continues to grow and they actively engage with the topics and stories shared in this season. Alice Muthengi, Editor BBC Africa News & Current Affairs, says: I am very proud of Kim and her team. The dedication to search for untold stories and handle them with great care and respect is evident through each season of The Comb. This season is informative and fascinating, I know our listeners will leave learning something new. President Muhammadu Buhari has described the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Kukah, as a vigorous fighter. The cleric, who was hailed, was among the executives of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria who visited the President at the State House in Abuja, on Wednesday. This development is coming after Bishop Kukah, in his 2022 Christmas message, lamented that Buhari had failed to fulfill the promises he made to Nigerians in 2015. He said the President was leaving office in good health while Nigerians were in pain as a result of his failed promises. The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, in a response to the message, said Kukah only saw things through the prism of a political priest, with propensity for the opposition, the Peoples Democratic Party. Reacting to the Bishop's visit, Mr Adesina, in a post on his Facebook page, said Buhari displayed no form of malice to the cleric. He said, When the bishop came into the council chamber, the venue of the visit, he pulled me, and started laughing, asking whether we should be fighting or greeting each other. We laughed heartily. During group photographs, the President, never holding malice against anyone, shook hands with the bishop, describing him as most vigorous fighter. After it all, the bishop invited me for a personal picture with him. Bishop Kukah was cooking peace this time, and how refreshing it was. Day 1 sees 540 drivers lose points BANGKOK: Police arrested 540 drivers throughout the country who violated traffic laws on Monday (Jan 9), the first day a new system was applied that deducts points from their driving licences. Safetypolicetransport By Bangkok Post Wednesday 11 January 2023, 10:37AM Photo: Bangkok Post All driving licence holders will be given 12 points at the start of each year, which they will gradually forfeit in the event they break the rules in what is known as the demerit system. According to Pol Maj Gen Atchayon Kraithong, a police spokesman, 503 of those who were penalised on Monday were stripped of one point, with the remainder losing two points. Some were found to have violated more than one rule, resulting in the two-point punishment, reports the Bangkok Post. Police said 233 of those arrested had failed to display their tax stickers, indicating they had neglected to renew their annual vehicle tax. Eighty one people lost a point for failing to display their licence plates and 63 were punished for breaking the speed limit, Pol Maj Gen Atchayon said. The demerit system is the brainchild of national police chief, Pol Gen Damrongsak Kittiprapas, part of a project to improve driving discipline and road safety in the kingdom. Drivers will see their licences suspended for 90 days if they lose all of their points. According to Pol Maj Gen Atchayon, the new scheme uses the Police Ticket Management (PTM) database and e-ticket system to record each violation of the law. Drivers remaining points can be viewed at the ptm.police.go.th/eTicket website or the Khub Dee mobile application. Traffic law violators can also choose to pay their fines using the governments Pao Tang e-wallet. Pol Gen Damrongsak previously ordered deputy national police chief, Pol Gen Roy Inkhapairote, the Department of Land Transport, Krung Thai Bank (KTB), and National Telecom Public Company Limited (NT) to move the system forward, said Pol Maj Gen Atchayon. May 5 approved as extra holiday BANGKOK: The Cabinet has approved Friday May 5 as an additional holiday in order to create a four-day weekend to boost domestic tourism. culturetourism By Bangkok Post Wednesday 11 January 2023, 11:10AM People flock back to Bangkok after the New Year holidays on Jan 2, with many waiting for taxis at the Bangkok Bus Terminal in Chatuchak district. Photo: Pattarapong Chatpattarasill May 5 will bridge the gap between Coronation Day, which falls on Thursday, May 4, and the weekend, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said before the Cabinet meeting at Government House yesterday (Jan 10). The four-day holiday will help spur the economy, especially the tourism sector, the Bangkok Post reports deputy government spokeswoman Traisuree Taisaranakul as saying. The governments announcement of additional holidays will help state enterprises and the public and private sectors plan their work in advance, she said. With May 5 added as an extra holiday, the country now has 24 public holidays in 2023, five of which are substitution holidays. Meta bans ads targeted at teens based on gender SAN FRANCISCO: Meta, owner of Instagram and Facebook, said yesterday (Jan 10) it will stop allowing advertisers to target ads at teens based on gender, as it fights accusations that its platforms are harmful to young users. technologyhealth By AFP Wednesday 11 January 2023, 11:23AM Instagram and Facebook owner Meta is fighting accusations its platforms are harmful to young users. Photo: AFP Beginning in February, the social media giant said advertisers, the source of the companys massive revenues, would only be able to use age and location when targeting ads at teens globally. In another break with practice, a teens previous activity on Meta-owned apps will no longer inform the ads they see, the company said. In a blog post, Meta said that the changes came because it recognises that teens arent necessarily as equipped as adults to make decisions about how their online data is used for advertising. Meta said that the changes reflected feedback from parents and experts and would comply with new rules in several countries on content geared at young people. The company formerly known as Facebook is facing increasing pressure and fines to curb its practice of delivering narrowly targeted ads to its users, a practice that brings in billions of dollars in revenue from advertisers every year. After a long legal tussle, the Silicon Valley titan was handed a US$413-million (B13.8 billion) fine last week as part of a years-long tussle with the European Union over advertising. More worryingly for the firm founded by Mark Zuckerberg, European regulators also rejected the legal basis Meta used to justify gathering users personal data for use in targeted advertising. Google and Apple have also faced investigations and fines by regulators for breaching privacy laws through targeted ads. In the US, Meta and other social media giants have mostly faced scrutiny from local authorities, with nationwide laws blocked due to intense lobbying by tech giants and a politically divided Congress in Washington. The public school district in the US city of Seattle last week filed a lawsuit against tech giants, including Meta, for allegedly causing mental harm, depression and anxiety among students. Public school officials said they are holding social media companies accountable for the harm they have wreaked on the social, emotional, and mental health of teenage students. Patong floating beach club told to wait for approval PHUKET: Yona Beach Club, the operator of the floating beach club barge currently anchored in Patong Bay, has been ordered to suspend operations until it has been granted full approval to operate. patongtourismmarineSafety By The Phuket News Wednesday 11 January 2023, 10:34AM Natchaphong Pranit, Director of Phuket Office of the Marine Department, handed down the order at a meeting at Phuket Provincial Hall yesterday (Jan 10). Mr Natchaphong, following his announcement only last Friday (Jan 6), again pointed out that the boat operator had been fined B10,000 for operating the vessel, called the Swasadee, with an expired registration permit. The beach club vessel also has yet to be inspected, for a third time, and granted official permission to operate, he added, noted an official report of the meeting. At this time, the ship will have to suspend service until the legal action is taken by the officers of the Regional Harbor Office, Phuket branch, to inspect the general structural condition, as well as notifying the shipowner to take legal action in the relevant areas, Mr Natchapong said. According to the official report, Mr Natchapong specified that the boat operator had yet to apply to change the boat license from the type of passenger transport to a type of passenger transport with food and beverage service. The boats horn signal needed to be made operational, and a fire extinguishing control system had to be installed and fully operational. The boat operator also had to obtain approval for its waste management system on board, said the report. However, even according to the previous announcement by Mr Natchapongs office only on Friday, the boat operator has already applied to the Marine Departments Bureau of Ship Standards, based in Bangkok to change the boats registered type of ship in order to meet its intended purpose. The request is currently under consideration, Phuket marine officials themselves noted. The boat owner has also already presented a letter of approval to drop anchor in Patong Bay issued by the Phuket Marine Resources Conservation Center, including a certificate of transport and approval for its solid waste management system. Patong Municipality has also issued the operator a certificate of sound use for the boat, an official report on Friday also confirmed. Photos of an inspection by officials also showed the boat had two fire hose stations on board and six life rafts attached to the stern of the boat. Regardless, according to the latest official report, Mr Natchapong yesterday said: In the event that this type of boat will come to service around Patong Beach or in any area, it must be approved by the area by the authorised person, namely the provincial working group. Search for missing Romanian enters Day 4 PHUKET: Efforts to locate missing 46-year-old Romanian national Sebastian Emil Somesan, who failed to return from a dive to free a snagged boat anchor south of Phuket last Sunday, continued this morning (Jan 11). marineSafety By The Phuket News Wednesday 11 January 2023, 09:47AM Efforts to locate Mr Somesan proved fruitless yesterday, Day 3 of the search. Teams are scouring the waters and shore along the southern west coast of the island, as well as continuing to search the area where he was last seen, off Koh Kaew Noi island, just over two kilometres south of Promthep Cape. Phuket Vice Governor Anupap Rodkwan Yodrabam, Rear Admiral Natthaphong Yanothaikhachit, Deputy Director of Phuket branch of the Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc), and Rawai Mayor Aroon Solos met at the search command centre set up at Ya Nui Beach, near Nai Harn, yesterday evening to discuss the search efforts underway. Officers have mobilized to search on the water by using jet skis and patrol boats. In addition, helicopters have also been used to search by air, but so far search teams have yet to find any sign of Mr Somesan, Rawai Municipality reported. The search area has been expanded, and officers have asked all fishing boats and any relevant people to help find him. Mr Somesan was on a diving trip with two friends on Sunday (Jan 8). When the trio went to leave the area, they became aware that the boat anchor had caught on a rock on the seabed, some 30 metres below. Mr Somesan dived down to free the anchor, but failed to return to the boat. A search for him was launched as soon as his disappearance was reported. Joining the search efforts have been lifeguards, defence volunteers, rescue workers, officers from Rawai Municipality, Marine Police and personnel from the Royal Thai Navy Third Area Command. Local foreign divers have also joined the search efforts to locate Mr Somesan, who as a local expat lived in Phuket with his wife and daughter. War Elephants cruise into AFF final Sport >> Thailand Phuket World War Elephants cruise into AFF final FOOTBALL: Thailand have the opportunity to defend their Asean Football Federation (AFF) Championship after they swept past Malaysia 3-0 in the second leg semi-final of the AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup 2022 last night (Jan 10) to reach the final. Football By The Phuket News Wednesday 11 January 2023, 10:59AM Thailands Teerasil Dangda celebrates with teammates after scoring the sides first goal during the AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup 2022 semi-final against Malaysia at Thammasat Stadium in Bangkok last night (Jan 10). Photo: AFP Depsite carrying a 0-1 deficit after a first leg loss in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday (Jan 7), the War Elephants cruised to victory at Thammasat Stadium in Bangkok thanks to goals from Teerasil Dangda, Bordin Phala and Adisak Kraisorn. It means the the six-time champions advance to their 10th final in 14 tournaments and will face Vietnam in a two-legged affair, with the first game in Hanoi on Friday (Jan 13) and the return leg in Bangkok next Monday. Teerasil opened the scoring for Mano Polkings side after just 19 minutes when he rose to head in Theerathon Bunmathans cross. Bordin doubled the lead 10 minutes into the second half and substitute Adisak secured the result with a goal in the 71st minute. The last time Thailand and Vietnam met in the final of this competition was in 2008 when Vietnam claimed a 3-2 aggregate win. Today Mostly cloudy early with showers developing later in the day. High near 45F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Tonight Cloudy with rain and snow showers in the evening. Partial clearing late. Low 28F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of precip 40%. Tomorrow A mix of clouds and sun early, then becoming cloudy later in the day. High around 45F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph. Carts have been placed well away from the Jean Talon Walmart, on Jean Talon near Mountain Sights, at Burger King at Decarie and Jean Talon and near Wendy's at Jockeys near Decarie. Saint-Laurent, CA (H4T1V6) Today Mainly sunny. High 77F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight A few clouds from time to time. Low near 50F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Congressman-elect Ron Santoss (R-NY) sweeping distortions of his personal and professional biography has triggered nationwide calls for the House of Representatives to prevent him from assuming his seat in the 118th Congress. Americans have recoiled from his many false claims, including that he is Jewish and that his grandparents fled Nazi persecution, that he is a graduate of Baruch College and that he worked for Goldman Sachs and Citigroup. The rising demands to block him from Congress raises anew a question of monumental importance for our nation: Does Congress have the authority to refuse to seat a duly elected candidate for reasons other than the constitutionally enumerated qualifications of age, residency and citizenship? The answer is no. In 1969, in Powell v. McCormack, a case that resurrected fundamental constitutional conflicts between England and Colonial American two centuries before, the Supreme Court held that the House lacks authority to prevent elected candidates from assuming a seat, unless they fail to meet the standing qualifications stated in Article 1, section 5: 25 years old, a citizen of the United States for seven years, and a resident of the state in which they are elected. The landmark case of Powell v. McCormack featured a flamboyant Congressman from Harlem Adam Clayton Powell who was reelected in 1966 to a House seat that he had held since 1942. After Powells victory, and on the eve of becoming chair of the House Labor and Education Committee, allegations arose about his improper use of congressional funds. A select investigative committee concluded that Powell met the requisite constitutional qualifications but recommended a fine and denial of the chairmanship as penalties for his improprieties. The House ignored the recommendation and voted, 307-116, to exclude him from the 90th Congress and declared his seat vacant. Rep. Powell sued the Speaker of the House, John McCormack, contending that Congress could not lawfully exclude duly elected candidates who met the standing qualifications enumerated in the Constitution. Meanwhile, the House invoked as authority, Article 1, section 5: Each house shall be the judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own members. While the suit was underway, Powell was reelected to the 91st Congress, but was fined and stripped of his seniority and chairmanship. The House contended that the court could not review its decision to deny Powell his congressional seat since the Qualifications Clause in Article 1, section 5, represented a non-justiciable political question, that is, a textually demonstrable commitment of the issue to a coordinate branch of government. The Supreme Court, in an 8-1 opinion authored by Chief Justice Earl Warren, held that the Political Question Doctrine did not block the court from determining whether Congress had added an additional qualification to hold office beyond age, citizenship and residence. The court ruled that the House had done precisely that in determining that Rep. Powells improprieties justified exclusion from the body. The courts prohibition on congressional addition of constitutional powers, a principle that applies to all three branches of government, dates to Marbury v. Madison in 1803, and has been reaffirmed numerous times. Congress, however, is not powerless to punish its members for improprieties. Indeed, it may expel members for misconduct. Article 1, section 5, clause 2 provides that each house may punish its members for rules violations and, with the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member. Rep. Powell was not expelled and served in the House until 1971. The issue of excluding a lawfully elected candidate from the House renewed fears harbored by the colonists in the runup to the American Revolution. The issue, as it was framed, involved the fundamental issue of the right of the people to choose their representatives, that is, the question of who should decide who would speak for the people in their own branch of the legislature. The concern was registered in various ways including, most prominently: No taxation without representation and tyranny begins where frequent elections end. Alexander Hamilton observed that a fundamental principle of our democracy is that the people should choose whom they please to govern them. In the Constitutional Convention, James Madison declared that this principle is undermined as much by limiting whom the people can select as by limiting the franchise itself. The founders fears, as Madison pointed out, were drawn straight from the records of the John Wilkes Affair in 1768. For the colonists, Wilkes was not merely a hero, but a living symbol that what was happening to him could happen to them. In a word, Wilkes opposed the insidious acts passed by Congress that threatened the colonists liberties: the Stamp Act, acts designed to weaken constitutional protections, the seizure of private property and, among others, the deployment of officials who enforced warrantless searches of homes and businesses. When Wilkes was again elected to the House of Commons, and then for a second, third and fourth time denied his seat by powerful and corrupt agents, the colonists watched with dismay as the fundamental right to choose ones representatives was eviscerated by a power-hungry government. Wilkes declared the Constitution was being torn up by its roots. By the winter of 1769, prescient colonists understood that the fate of Wilkes and America must stand or fall together. We live in a culture that discussed ad nauseum the most mundane and trivial thingseverything, that is, but death. A new book explains why this is impoverishing our daily lives. There was a time when the Latin axiom Memento Mori, or its English translation, Remember that thou art mortal, actually meant something to people. For most of history, death was omnipresent and everyone had to make peace with it. As we entered the scientific age, in which a sense of mastery of nature took hold, we also started avoiding the issue of death. Far from being a weighty matter occupying the minds of scholars and mystics and becoming the responsibility of local communities, all aspects of death have been removed from the private sphere, leaving the mere logistics to hospitals and funeral homes. This has made the very idea of death invisible for us today; we now either ignore it or come up with half-baked theories of the afterlife based on wishful thinking. As a professor of theology and philosophy, Dr. Randall Smith understands this problem all too well and seeks to rectify it with his new book, From Here to Eternity: Reflections on Death, Immortality, and the Resurrection of the Body. Here he attempts to clarify what people historically, Christian and non-Christian, have believed about death, and what they believe about it now Although a faithful Catholic himself, he does not try to debunk rival claims on his topic, but to articulate them and consider what they can teach all people today. As he says in his introduction, I am not formulating arguments against the materialist or the Hindu or Buddhist; rather, I am attempting to clarify what the Christian promise of eternal life entails or does not entail by comparing it with a series of logically possible alternative views in order to point out difficulties that Christians should be careful to avoid. His book demonstrates that death is no simple matter, nor is it altogether ugly. Rather, it is complex and beautiful when properly understood and accepted. Smith begins his book with the question of whether people should worry about death or dismiss it altogether and live life to its fullest. Either way, this opens up other questions that a person must consider: How does one prepare for death? What does living life to its fullest actually mean? To attempt answers, Smith references the Stoics and Epicureans, who conclude that death is beyond ones control and thus not a serious concern: Better to seek wisdom by reflecting on how to live well now, in this life, because this is the only life we have. Epicureans preached a life that minimized pain and strong attachments, whereas the Stoics promoted a life of virtue, viewing this as a means of freedom and fulfillment. And because neither school of thought believed in an afterlife, or at least a permanent one, both were fine with suicide. While Stoicism and Epicureanism still exist in various forms today, Smith also considers the view of 20th-century philosopher Martin Heidegger, who similarly dismissed the possibility of life after death. However, instead of a life of pleasure or virtue, Heidegger posited an authentic life that involves a daily recognition that my life is limited and that all my plans to achieve a kind of immortality by means of the accumulation of wealth or power or technical prowess will in the end amount to nothing[, which] should cause me to conclude that an authentic human life is one characterized by care for the world and others. Smith argues that all these theories fail to account for human beings universal yearning for meaning and transcendence. They also fail to account for the growing transhumanist movement, which believes in the possibility of overcoming biological limits through advanced technology. Smith shows how this dream runs into a host of challenges, most of which are owing to a misunderstanding of the body (to say nothing of the transhumanist misunderstanding of the soul). If the body defines a person as much as the soul, what becomes of the person if they change out body parts or enhance them indefinitely? Rather than fill people with hope of perfection, the transhumanist project makes them perpetually dissatisfied with themselves and hopelessly divided (think Gattaca). Even granting the assumption that technology will somehow enable immortality, Smith points out how this still doesnt resolve the matter of meaning. Working through the implications of a life without end, he concludes that such immortals are doomed to a meaningless cycle of events in which nothing lasts. In this way transhumanists run into the same challenge as the ancient pagans, whose version of the afterlife also fell short of transcendencethat is, a fuller life on a higher plane of existence, not simply living the same way indefinitely. Analyzing scenes from the Iliad and Odyssey, Smith notes that the best that ancient Greeks could come up with are immaterial spirits regretting not living longer (in the case of Achilles) and great heroes leaving a legacy that will quickly pass (in the case of Odysseus). Virgil at least gives the souls of heroes some kind of reward by being reincarnated as great Roman leaders. Cicero also speculates about a system of reincarnation that gives souls a chance to reach a kind of heaven. But these theories also end up with a pointless cycle devoid of any ultimate meaning. Against this backdrop, Smith finally makes it to what Christians believe about death and the afterlife. Almost against his will, Smith has to correct a number of false understandings that have arisen. First, he addresses the idea of death as a kind of liberation or release. It is instead the enemy, and the good news of the Gospels is that this enemy has been defeated at long last by Christ. The resurrection of the body and soul into heaven is the repudiation of death, which is itself unnatural and evil. This is followed up by what is meant by heaven, which even in the imaginations of educated adults tends to resemble pictures of people with halos standing on fluffy clouds. Citing Scripture and the catechism, Smith asserts that heaven is a name Christians give to our union with God after death, when we will enjoy the beatific vision. In other words, heaven is less a place one tries to enter and more a relationship one cultivates over time. Finally, Smith corrects the heretical belief that only souls live on after death. For Christians this is heresy. The early church fathers, like St. Irenaeus and Justin Martyr, argue repeatedly against this idea. Like Christ, His disciples will be resurrected with bodies that will live on forever. Naturally, a bodily resurrection has major implications for how one lives and prepares for death. It means viewing the world in a sacramental fashion, recognizing that all physical reality is a means toward reaching God. It also means that people preserve their individuality when they die; their soul doesnt simply dissolve into some great divine cloud. But, if the Gospel and living sacramentally are central to Christianity, why have so many Christian communities ceded the rituals of death to hospitals? In Smiths opinion, this is modern materialism creeping into the popular imagination: Death is not a fatal flaw due to the failure in our technology. It is rather the result of that fatal flaw called sin. Failing to grasp this leaves both the dying and the bereaved spiritually impoverished. This materialistic attitude toward death has led to seeing death as an individual matter. People own their bodies and thus their deaths. Smith corrects this misunderstanding by articulating the Christian position that people are stewards, not owners, of their bodiesand so have a responsibility to think of their death as something we undergo in relation to others and to God. In this sense, those at risk of dying need their loved ones as much as their loved ones need them; both parties experience the necessary trials of love and faith, and become stronger and happier as a result. The alternative is a loved ones dying alone and forgotten in a hospital or nursing home. Smith concedes that its completely natural to fear death and grieve over loss. This is why religious faith becomes necessary for overcoming that fear. Taking the idea of being born again quite literally, Smith describes how a baby might feel in the womb before it is born. In the same way that the baby lacks any frame of reference to understand the fullness of a life outside the womb, people in the world are similarly in the dark when understanding life after death. Finally, Smith concludes his book with some thoughts about Christs Second Coming. Much of this chapter consists of block quotes from the Old and New Testaments juxtaposed with Jesus description of the Kingdom of Heaven. (To be honest, this chapter felt a little tedious with analysis of each and every Bible passage.) Smiths primary purpose here is to explain that the Kingdom of Heaven has arrived with Jesus Christ but will come again in fullness when He returns, much like a seed being planted that will come to fruition later on. Even if there is no way of knowing when the world will end or how, this End of Days merits attention for the same reason death does: It focuses the mind on whats of eternal significance for each one of us. It also means that what we do here and now has eternal significance for the coming kingdom. Despite being a relatively brief book (under 300 pages), From Here to Eternity is quite rich and profound throughout. Fortunately, Smith is mindful of his reader, being concise, clear, and straightforward in his prose. Unfortunately, even the smoothest writing cant make an argument such as this one an easy read. Some of this is due to the subject matter, and some the consequence of living in a shallow culture that lacks the vocabulary even to discuss such topics. Nevertheless, the book is immensely rewarding even if a bit challenging. Death and the afterlife are mysteries that all people should contemplate in some depth. Smith shows how death is neither the end nor the beginning: It is the whole context in which people live their lives and find their purpose. Now its time for individuals and communities to live and act accordingly. 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. Vote View Results An Israeli man in his 20s was moderately wounded in a stabbing attack at Chavat Yehudah in Har Chevron on Wednesday evening. The terrorist was neutralized by security forces. Paramedics who were called to the scene administered emergency medical aid to the victim and evacuated him to Soroka Medical Center in Beer Sheva. When we arrived at the scene, we saw the wounded man fully conscious and suffering from bleeding wounds on his upper body, said MDA paramedic Elyashiv Ameti. We administered medical treatment that included stopping the bleeding and bandages and evacuated him for further treatment in the hospital in moderate and stable condition. An IDF spokesperson said: A report was received of a stabbing attack at Chavat Yehudah in the area of the Yehuda Regional Division. The terrorist was neutralized. JOIN A YWN GROUP FOR BREAKING NEWS IN LIVE TIME: https://chat.whatsapp.com/DVLhgoYmoSQGvnB24WmuWH (YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem) A Jewish man was stabbed to death after an incident at a bar in Marine Park, Tuesday night. The NYPD says that they are searching for the suspect accused of stabbing and killing Nissan Shalom ZL at 2188 Flatbush Avenue. That victim was transported to a hospital by EMS, but died from his wounds. Its unclear what led up to the stabbing and the whereabouts of the suspect are unknown. Chesed Shel Emes was on the scene on Wednesday THIS STORY WAS FIRST PUBLISHED ON THE FLATBUSH SCOOP STATUS CLICK HERE SIGN UP TO THE FLATBUSH SCOOP WHATSAPP STATUS TO BE INFORMED OF FLATBUSH NEWS IN LIVE TIME California saw no relief from drenching rains early Tuesday as the latest in a relentless string of storms continued to swamp roads and batter coastlines with high surf, turning rivers into gushing flood zones and forcing the evacuation of thousands in towns with histories of deadly mudslides. At least 14 people have died since the storms began last week. The storm prompted a few tornado warnings early Tuesday and also was expected to bring heavy snow to the Sierra Nevada a day after dumping up to 14 inches (36 centimeters) of rain at higher elevations in central and Southern California. After a brief respite, another storm was expected to barrel into the state beginning Wednesday, adding to the misery and further saturating areas already at risk of flooding and debris flows. The storms threatened coastal and riverside towns and left more than 200,000 homes and businesses without power early Tuesday, according to the website poweroutage.us, which tracks utility reports. 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 sliding off denuded hillsides that have yet to fully recover their protective layer of vegetation. The storm the latest extreme weather event to kick off 2023 was expected to bring enough rain to exacerbate ongoing flooding and heighten the risk of mudslides, forecasters 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 (13 millimeters) per hour. The death toll from the 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 boys mother was driving a truck when it became stranded 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 Sheriffs 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 McLeods 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 (8 meters) on Monday. Firefighters using helicopters rescued more than a dozen people trapped on an island in the surging waters. The water level quickly dropped to minor flood stage levels overnight. 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. 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. (AP) The prime minister of Armenia said Tuesday that his country has refused to host military drills planned by a Russia-dominated security pact, an announcement that reflected the Armenian governments growing tensions with Moscow. Nikol Pashinyan has repeatedly criticized Russian peacekeepers for failure to secure free transit along a corridor linking Armenia and the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh that Azerbaijani activists have blocked since last month. Speaking at a news conference Tuesday, Pashinyan said that Armenia considers the military exercise the Moscow-dominated Collective Security Treaty Organization planned for later this year inappropriate in the current situation. At least this year, these drills wont take place, he said. Pashinyans move followed his refusal in the fall to sign a conclusive document from a meeting of the leaders of CSTO member nations in Yerevan, Armenias capital. Nagorno-Karabakh lies within Azerbaijan but has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Yerevan since a separatist war there ended in 1994. That conflict left not only Nagorno-Karabakh itself but large chunks of surrounding lands in Armenian hands. In 44 days of heavy fighting that began in September 2020, the Azerbaijani military routed Armenian forces, forcing Yerevan to accept a Russia-brokered peace deal that saw the return to Azerbaijan of a significant part of Nagorno-Karabakh. The agreement also required Armenia to hand over swaths of land it held outside the separatist region. Lachin province, which lies between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia, was the last of the three areas on the rim of Nagorno-Karabakh that Armenian forces surrendered in December 2020. Russia deployed nearly 2,000 peacekeepers for at least five years to ensure safe transit across the region, to monitor the peace deal and to help refugees return. But travel across the Lachin corridor has been blocked since Dec. 12 by Azerbaijani activists, who demanded access to what Azerbaijan has described as unlawful mining sites in Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenian authorities have described the blockade as part of efforts by Azerbaijan to extend its control over the region and urged the Russian peacekeepers to unblock the road. The Azerbaijani move has left Russia in a precarious position. Armenia hosts a Russian military base, and Moscow has been the countrys top ally and sponsor. But the Kremlin also has sought to maintain warm ties with oil-rich Azerbaijan. Western sanctions over the Russian invasion of Ukraine have made Russia increasingly dependent on Azerbaijans main ally, Turkey. With its attention focused on the fighting in Ukraine, Russia has taken a wait-and-see attitude on the Lachin corridor blockade, angering Armenia. Russias military presence in Armenia not only fails to guarantee its security, but it raises security threats for Armenia, Pashinyan said Tuesday. He noted that the blockade of the Lachin corridor is intended to break the will of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, adding that Armenia will also seek support from the U.S. and the European Union to help ease the tensions with Azerbaijan. After the Russian peacekeepers five-year mandate is over, Armenia could invite U.N. peacekeepers to come in if Russia fails to fulfill its function to ensure security for the population of Nagorno-Karabakh, Pashinyan said. The Russia-brokered 2020 peace deal also called for the creation of a transportation link between Azerbaijani and its Nakchivan exclave via Armenian territory. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev accused Armenia on Tuesday of reneging on its promise to provide such a transit corridor. Whether Armenia wants it or not, it will be implemented, Aliyev said in televised remarks, describing the corridor to Nakchivan as Azerbaijans natural right. He added, though, that Azerbaijan has no plans to wage another war against Armenia. Asked to comment on Armenias decision to cancel the planned military drills, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow would ask Yerevan to clarify its position. In any case, Armenia is our close ally, and we will continue our dialogue, including the most complex issues, he told reporters. Peskov previously rejected a claim by the secretary of Armenias Security Council that Moscow had pressured Armenia to join a union of Russia and Belarus. Commenting on the claim Tuesday, Pashinyan said that Moscow had not made any official request to that effect but noted that the reality isnt as simple as it seems. He added: Sometimes, its not the text but the subtext that needs to be considered. Armenias sovereignty is an absolute value, the prime minister said. (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. Were feeling awful, to be honest Im not going to lie, Melissa Thorpe, head of Spaceport Cornwall. said. This isnt the first time weve been knocked, this is the biggest definitely, but I feel OK and well get up and well 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. 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 Mondays launch was a big moment despite its failure. Space is difficult, Shapps told Sky News. It didnt work. Ive no doubt that theyll pick themselves up, dust themselves off and theyll go again once they find out what exactly went wrong with it, he said. (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. 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 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, 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 Russias 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, as well as Siversk, a town further north where Ukrainian fortifications are also quite serious, Pushilin said. 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 Soledar and are likely in control of most of the settlement, the ministry tweeted Tuesday. It 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. 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 have provided to Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday that NATO 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 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 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 in Mondays shelling. (AP) Republican House leaders have been mostly silent on how they will handle pathological liar George Santos, the newly elected representative from New York. But Politico reports that Santos' Republican sponsors back home in Nassau County, are fed up with the horseshit spewing out of Santos' trap and will make an announcement later today demanding his resignation. From Politico: "They'll issue a rebuke of him for running as a complete liar in an effort to resuscitate the image of the party," said one person familiar with the pending announcement by Nassau County GOP Chair Joe Cairo and other Republican elected officials, speaking on condition of anonymity. That person told POLITICO in an interview that the announcement is necessary to help Republicans win future elections in New York's 3rd congressional district, which is a swing seat formerly held by Democrat Tom Suozzi. Santos has lied about everything from where he went to college to his Jewish ancestry. He's being investigated by local, state and federal authorities. I don't think Santos will ever resign, however. He is of the Donald Trump / Kari Lake / Kevin De Leon school, where reality denial is a core belief. Even if Santos is extradited to Brazil and imprisoned on fraud charges, he will continue to insist that he is an active member of the House of Representatives. Democratic Rep. Katie Porter of California said Tuesday she will seek the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a fellow Democrat and the oldest member of the chamber. Especially in times like these, California needs a warrior in Washington, Porter said in a video posted on Twitter. Thats exactly why Im announcing my candidacy for the United States Senate in 2024. Porter was first elected to Congress in 2018 and won a tight race for reelection to her newly redrawn Southern California district in November. She said in the video that she has challenged the status quo in Washington, taking on big banks, Wall Street and the pharmaceutical industry. She wants to ban members of Congress from stock trading. To win these fights, its time for new leadership in the U.S. Senate, she said. Feinstein, 89, has faced questions about her age and memory and whether she will seek another term. She has not announced whether she will seek reelection in 2024, though she is widely expected to retire. 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 Tuesday. She added that she is currently focused on ensuring California has all the resources it needs to deal with deadly storms hitting the state. Feinstein won her sixth election in 2018 and has been a force for Democrats, serving for a time as chair of the intelligence and judiciary committees. But she also has seen pushback from Democrats who view her as too bipartisan at a time when politics is more polarized and her state is increasingly liberal. In 2020, Feinstein announced she would step down as the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee. The move followed criticism that she was too friendly with Republicans during confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett. That included an embrace of the Republican Chairman, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, at the conclusion of the hearings and kind words for what she called a job well done. Feinstein has defended her performance and said in 2021 that she planned to serve her full term, even as there was open speculation and discussion about the future of the seat. Gov. Gavin Newson said in 2021 that he would appoint a Black woman to replace Feinstein, whos white, if she were to retire early. Porter, 49, was a consumer protection attorney before her election to the House, and she has earned a reputation for her tough questioning of CEOs and other witnesses at congressional hearings often using a whiteboard to break down information. Porters media savvy was again on display during the recent meltdown in the U.S. House over the election of a new speaker. As Republicans argued, Porter was seen sitting in the chamber, disinterestedly, reading a book on the subtle art of not caring about whats happening. (AP) The head of the Florida Democratic Party has resigned after a disastrous midterm election in the onetime battleground state. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis won reelection by a whopping 20 points and the GOP flipped two key counties, including the once-Democratic stronghold of Miami-Dade. In announcing his resignation, Manny Diaz, chair of the Florida Democrats, sent a long letter Monday to the states executive committee members complaining about a lack of resources, a lack of volunteers to knock on doors and a failure to present unified messaging. Historical investments never arrived, and a broken, unsustainable system was exposed, Diaz wrote. Although we started our effort earlier than in prior cycles, it was still too late. We were not able to afford necessary staffing or opening the desired number of offices. Those we did open were too late for community buy-in. The state Democratic Party did not immediately comment on Diazs complaints. The crushing loss for Democrats has left them wondering how the state slipped away in a relatively short amount of time after President Barack Obama carried Florida twice. While the red wave did not come in the midterms nationally, the GOP delivered great results in Florida, building DeSantis star power as a possible 2024 White House contender. DeSantis, asked about Diazs resignation at a news conference in Bonita Springs on Tuesday, responded cheerfully, There aint as many Democrats around as there used to be in the state of Florida, and we had something to do with that in November of 2022. The Democrats troubles last year were particularly pronounced in Miami-Dade, the states most populous county and home to 1.5 million Latinos of voting age. In a county that Obama won a decade ago by 24 percentage points, DeSantis in November defeated his Democratic opponent, Charlie Crist, by more than 11. Diaz, who served as chair of Florida Democrats for two years and is a former mayor of the city of Miami, said that volunteers have become nearly extinct in Florida since Obamas last campaign in 2012. We have plenty of social media activists, not roll-up-your-sleeves volunteers. We communicate virtually, not personally, he wrote. The Florida Democratic Party has not received enough resources, Diaz said, adding that the national Democratic organization invested just 2% of the amount they contributed in 2018. He says national donors, even those based in Florida, dont donate to the state party, and Republican statewide candidates outraised Democrats by more than $163 million. The Democratic National Committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday. Despite Democrats poor results, Diaz contests the notion that Florida is now a red state. We have a history of extremely close elections. Floridians overwhelmingly adopted constitutional amendments that reflect our values, he said, naming medical marijuana, felon voting restoration and a higher minimum wage as some examples of issues that resonate with voters. Diaz said he was surprised the state party had a hands-off approach to messaging, leaving it up to each candidate. The state has a large Cuban American population that remains fiercely skeptical of leftist governments. Former President Donald Trump courted Latino voters in the state by undoing Obamas Cuba engagement policy and sanctioning Latin-American socialist governments. He cast Democrats as leftists and anti-capitalists, contributing to the rightward shift. Democrats in the state have struggled to defend themselves against the socialism label. No amount of hard work or resources can overcome a bad message, a message that fails to connect with people where they are, Diaz wrote. The point of messaging is to win votes. You do that by not prompting ideological polarization. (AP) The Biden administration is reportedly considering taking action that would ban the use of gas stove nationwide over the pollutants released by the appliances. Bloomberg reports that The Consumer Product Safety Commission is weighing the nationwide ban after studies showed that gas stoves can cause health and respiratory problems, with CPSC Commissioner Richard Trumka Jr. telling the outlet that any option is on the table. Product that cant be made safe can be banned. The American Chemical Society and NYU Law Schools Institute for Policy Integrity released reports which state that gas stoves release pollutants like nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, and fine particles at levels that have been deemed unsafe by the EPA and World Health Organization. The reports also link gas stoves to respiratory illnesses, cardiovascular problems, cancer, and other health conditions, with 12% of childhood asthma cases linked to the appliances. About 40% of US homes currently use gas stoves. Trumka said his agency will open public comment on the matter later this year. (YWN World Headquarters NYC) National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir ordered the police to respond to left-wing protests in Tel Aviv in the same manner they respond to Chareidi protests in Jerusalem, using water cannons for crowd control if necessary and arresting protesters who block roads and wave inflammatory signs with Nazi imagery. The move comes after a large left-wing protest against the Netanyahu government was held in Tel Aviv on Motzei Shabbos, at which PLO flags were waved, current government officials were compared to Nazis, and the Netanyahu government was compared to the Third Reich. I told the police command today Im in favor of protests but those who block roads and those who riot should be arrested, Ben-Gvir said at an Otzma Yehudit party meeting in the Knesset on Monday. Im for freedom of expression but we also saw democracy being harmed, incitement against [Justice] Minister Yariv Levin, the blocking of roads. Freedom of expression is not freedom of incitement. Earlier on Monday, Ben-Gvir visited the police national headquarters in Jerusalem and criticized the police for its discriminatory policy, stating: Discriminating between protestors is unacceptable, your discrimination between left-wing and right-wing protesters will not continue. The law of a protest in Jerusalem is the law of a protest in Tel Aviv. If you operate water cannons in Jerusalem, I expect that you do the same in Tel Aviv. Left-wing organizations responded to Ben-Gvirs demand for the use of water cannons at left-wing protests by stating: A water cannon that will deter the citizens of the country from fighting for democracy and our freedom has not yet been created. We suggest you recalculate. See you on Motzei Shabbos. (YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem) A jury has been chosen for the seditious conspiracy trial of former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and four other members of the far-right extremist group charged with plotting to stop the transfer of presidential power by attacking the U.S. Capitol after the 2020 election. Jurors are expected to hear attorneys opening statements in Washingtons federal court on Wednesday after the panel is sworn in, defense attorney Carmen Hernandez said. Its one of the most serious cases to emerge from the deadly insurrection that halted Congress certification of Joe Bidens presidential election victory. Jury selection took 10 days of questioning as many potential jurors expressed negative views about the Proud Boys. The panel ultimately chosen Monday includes seven men and nine women, WUSA-TV reported. Tarrio and his co-defendants could face up to 20 years behind bars if convicted of seditious conspiracy. Opening statements will begin more than a month after a jury convicted two leaders of another extremist group, the Oath Keepers, of seditious conspiracy for what prosecutors said was a separate plot to stop the transfer of power from then-President Donald Trump, a Republican, to Biden, a Democrat. The Nov. 29 guilty verdicts for Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and Florida chapter leader Kelly Meggs were the first seditious conspiracy trial convictions in decades. A trial for four other Oath Keepers charged with seditious conspiracy started earlier this month in Washington. Tarrio, of Miami, was the national chairman of the Proud Boys when a mob that included several of its members stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Defense attorneys have said there was never any plan to go into the Capitol or stop Congress certification of the vote. The others on trial Ethan Nordean, Zachary Rehl, Dominic Pezzola and Joseph Biggs also are charged with other riot-related crimes besides seditious conspiracy. Tarrio wasnt in Washington on Jan. 6. Police had arrested him two days earlier on charges that he vandalized a Black Lives Matter banner at a historic Black church during a December 2020 protest. Tarrio left the nations capital on the eve of the riot. Prosecutors allege that even after his arrest, Tarrio kept command over the Proud Boys who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6 and cheered on their actions from afar. As rioters stormed the building, he posted dont (expletive) leave on social media, and then later We did this Nordean, Pezzola, Biggs and Rehl were part of the first wave of rioters to push onto Capitol grounds and charge past police barricades toward the building, according to prosecutors. Pezzola used a riot shield he stole from a Capitol police officer to break a window, allowing the first rioters to enter the building, prosecutors allege. Nordean, of Auburn, Washington, was a Proud Boys chapter president. Biggs, of Ormond Beach, Florida, was a self-described Proud Boys organizer. Rehl was president of the Proud Boys chapter in Philadelphia. Pezzola was a Proud Boys member from Rochester, New York. (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) The revelation that potentially classified materials were discovered at think tank offices formerly used by President Joe Biden has prompted questions on how the circumstance compares to the seizure last year of hundreds of documents marked as classified from Mar-a-Lago, the Florida residence of former President Donald Trump. A side-by-side look at the similarities and differences between the two situations: HOW MANY CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS ARE WE TALKING ABOUT? BIDEN: A small number of documents with classified markings were discovered on Nov. 2, 2022, in a locked closet at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement, a think tank in Washington, as Bidens personal attorneys were clearing out the offices, according to Richard Sauber, special counsel to the president. Biden kept an office at the Penn Center after he left the vice presidency in 2017 until shortly before he launched his 2020 presidential campaign. It was affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania and continued to operate independently of the Biden administration. TRUMP: Roughly 300 documents with classification markings including some at the top secret level have been recovered from Trump since he left office in January 2021. In January 2022, the National Archives and Records Administration retrieved 15 boxes of documents, telling Justice Department officials they contained a lot of classified material. In August, FBI agents took about 33 boxes and containers of 11,000 documents from Mar-a-Lago, including roughly 100 with classification markings found in a storage room and an office. HOW QUICKLY WERE THE CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS TURNED OVER? BIDEN: His personal attorneys immediately alerted the White House counsels office, who notified NARA, which took custody of the documents the next day, Sauber said. 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. TRUMP: A Trump representative told NARA in December 2021 that presidential records had been found at Mar-a-Lago, nearly a year after Trump left office. Fifteen boxes of records containing some classified material were transferred from Mar-Lago to NARA in January. A few months later, investigators from the Justice Department and FBI visited Mar-a-Lago to get more information about classified materials taken to Florida. Federal officials also served a subpoena for some documents believed to be at the estate. In August 2022, FBI agents conducting a search retrieved 33 boxes from Mar-a-Lago. The search came after lawyers for Trump provided a sworn certification that all government records had been returned. COULD EITHER PRESIDENT FACE CHARGES RELATED TO THE DISCOVERY OF THE DOCUMENTS? BIDEN: Despite the discovery of classified materials in a Biden office, there is no indication Biden himself was aware of the existence of the records before they were turned over. The administration has also said that the records were turned over the same day they were discovered, without any intent to conceal. Thats important because the Justice Department historically looks for willfulness, or an intent to mishandle government secrets, in deciding whether to bring criminal charges. But even if the Justice Department were to find the case prosecutable on the evidence, the Justice Departments Office of Legal Counsel has concluded that a president is immune from prosecution during his time in office. Former special counsel Robert Mueller cited that guidance in deciding not to reach a conclusion on whether Trump should face charges as part of his investigation into coordination between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia. Attorney General Merrick Garland asked U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois John Lausch one of the few U.S. attorneys to be held over from Trumps administration to review the matter after the Archives referred the issue to the department, according to a person familiar with the matter but not authorized to discuss it publicly. TRUMP: The former president possibly faces exposure for obstruction over the protracted battle to retrieve the documents themselves. And, since hes no longer in office, he wouldnt be afforded protections from possible prosecution that would apply to a sitting president. In November, Garland appointed Jack Smith, a veteran war crimes prosecutor with a background in public corruption probes, to lead investigations into Trumps retention of classified documents, as well as key aspects of a separate probe involving the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and efforts to undo the 2020 election. WHAT DID THE PRESIDENTS HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THE DISCOVERY OF THE DOCUMENTS? BIDEN: Answering questions from journalists at the North American Leaders Summit in Mexico on Tuesday, Biden said he was surprised to learn that the documents had been found at his think tank. He said he didnt know what was in the material but takes classified documents very seriously. He said his team acted appropriately by quickly turning the documents over. They did what they should have done, Biden said. They immediately called the Archives. In September, speaking of the situation with Trump, Biden told CBS 60 Minutes that the discovery of top-secret documents at Mar-a-Lago raised concerns that sensitive data was compromised and called it irresponsible. TRUMP: Trump has claimed at times that he declassified the documents that he took with him though he has provided no evidence of that. He said in a Fox News interview in September that a president can declassify material even by thinking about it. The former president has called the Mar-a-Lago search an unannounced raid that was not necessary or appropriate and represented dark times for our Nation. Of Biden, 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? WHAT ARE THE POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE DISCOVERY OF THE DOCUMENTS? BIDEN: While unlikely to affect the Justice Departments decision-making with regard to charging Trump in his own case, Bidens document disclosure could intensify skepticism among Republicans and others who are already critical that politics is the basis for probes of the former president. There are also possible ramifications in a new, GOP-controlled Congress where Republicans are promising to launch widespread investigations of Bidens administration. Rep. Jim Jordan, chair of the powerful House Judiciary Committee, said Monday that the American public deserved to know earlier about the revelation of Bidens classified documents. The Ohio Republican is among House Republicans pushing for the creation of a select subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal government within the Judiciary Committee. Rep. Mike Turner, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, has requested that the U.S. intelligence community conduct a damage assessment of the documents found at the Penn Center. TRUMP: In its immediate aftermath, Trump and his supporters seized on the Mar-a-Lago search as a partisan attack from Democrats who had long been desirous of removing him from office. During his 2024 campaign launch in November, at the same club agents had searched months earlier, Trump referenced the probes against him, casting himself as a victim of wayward prosecutors and the festering, rot and corruption of Washington. (AP) Jill Biden was scheduled to undergo surgery on Wednesday to remove a potentially cancerous lesion above her right eye. The first ladys office announced a week ago that doctors had discovered the lesion during a recent routine skin cancer screening. President Joe Biden accompanied his wife to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, where she was to undergo a common outpatient procedure known as Mohs surgery to remove and definitively examine the tissue, said Dr. Kevin OConnor, the presidents physician, in a Jan. 4 memo that the first ladys office released last week. The surgery involves cutting away thin layers of skin and examining each layer individually for signs of cancer, according to a fact sheet from the Mayo Clinic. Doctors will keep removing layers of skin and examining them in a lab until there are no signs of cancer. The procedure takes less than four hours for most people, and they can go home afterward. Doctors recommended removing the lesion from the 71-year-old first lady in an abundance of caution, OConnor wrote in the memo. An update was expected later Wednesday. The Skin Cancer Foundation said the delicate skin around the eyes is especially vulnerable to damage from the suns ultraviolet rays. The surgery was arranged for the morning after the Bidens returned from Mexico City, where the president held two days of talks with the leaders of Mexico and Canada and the first lady met with women, children and her counterparts. In April 2021, the first lady underwent a medical procedure that the White House described only as common. Details were not provided. The president accompanied her to an outpatient center near the campus of George Washington University, and they returned to the White House after about two hours. (AP) Incel influencer extraordinaire Andrew Tate's luck has a take a turn for the worse. According to The Los Angeles Times, a Romanian court has rejected Tate's appeal against the seizure of his assets. Prosecutors in the case have confiscated 15 fancy cars and 10 properties from Tate and his equally unctuous brother, Tristan. Tate and his crew were apprehended in Bucharest in December and a court upheld a judge's decision to extend their arrest from 24 hours to 30 days. Tate and his hanger-on sibling are facing charges of participation in an organized crime group and human trafficking. The Romanian anti-organized crime agency has identified six victims in the human trafficking case who were subjected to "acts of physical violence and mental coercion" and were sexually exploited by members of the alleged crime group. These victims were reportedly tricked into thinking Tate loved them only to be intimidated and coerced into performing in pornography. If the prosecutors can prove Tate and the others profited through human trafficking, the seized assets can be sold to cover the investigation costs and compensate the victims. Looks like Tate's little empire of hate is about to be swallowed up by the Matrix. The fate of a devastated salt-mining town in eastern Ukraine hung in the balance Wednesday as Ukraine said its forces were holding out against a furious Russian onslaught in one of the fiercest recent ground battles of the nearly 11-month war. Ukrainian and Russian forces fought street by street to hold or gain ground in Soledar, according to military analysts. The towns fall, while unlikely to provide a turning point in the war, would be a prize for a Kremlin starved of good news from the battlefield in recent months. It would also offer Russian troops a strategic springboard for their efforts to conquer other areas of Donetsk province that remain under Ukrainian control. Donetsk and neighboring Luhansk province, which together make up the Donbas region bordering Russia, were Moscows main stated targets in invading Ukraine, but the fighting has stood mostly at a stalemate. The spokesman for Ukraines Eastern Group of Forces, Serhiy Cherevaty, said Wednesday that Russian claims of Soledars capture were untrue, Ukrainian news outlet Suspilne reported. Cherevaty offered no further details, saying only that the General Staff of Ukraines armed forces would provide more information later. The General Staff in its Wednesday morning update only listed Soledar among cities and towns that continue to be shelled by Russian forces. Late Tuesday, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the owner of the Wagner Group, a private Russian military contractor, claimed in audio reports posted on his Russian social media platform that his soldiers had seized control of Soledar, though he also said that fighting continued in a cauldron in the citys center. The Associated Press was unable to verify that claim. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that Russian forces had positive dynamics in advancing in Soledar, but he stopped short of declaring its capture when asked about the claims that it has come under Russian control. Lets not rush and wait for official statements, he said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this week that everything is completely destroyed in the area due to relentless shelling and weeks of close, house-to-house combat. 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. Soledar, known for salt mining and processing, has little intrinsic value. But it lies at a strategic point 10 kilometers (6 miles) north of the city of Bakhmut, which Russian forces are aiming to surround. Taking Bakhmut would disrupt Ukraines supply lines and open a route for Russian President Vladimir Putins forces to press toward Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, key Ukrainian strongholds in Donetsk province. Soledars fall would make holding Bakhmut much more precarious for Ukraine, Michael Kofman, the director of Russia Studies at the CAN nonprofit research organization in Arlington, Virginia, noted Wednesday. The costly war of attrition, with expected heavy casualties, may make Russias victory as costly as a defeat, however. I dont think the outcome at Bakhmut is that significant compared to what it costs Russia to achieve it, Kofman said in a tweet. The Wagner Group, which now reportedly includes a large contingent of convicts recruited in Russian prisons, has spearheaded the attack on Soledar and Bakhmut. Western intelligence has estimated that the Wagner Group constitutes up to a quarter of all Russian combatants in Ukraine. A success in Soledar and Bakhmut would help Prigozhin, who has openly criticized Russias military leadership, to increase his clout at the Kremlin. Russia illegally annexed Donetsk, Luhansk and two 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. The Institute for the Study of War said Russian forces were up against concerted Ukrainian resistance around Bakhmut. The reality of block-by-block control of terrain in Soledar is obfuscated by the dynamic nature of urban combat and Russian forces have largely struggled to make significant tactical gains in the Soledar area for months, the Washington-based think tank said. 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), according to Western intelligence reports. Several front-line cities in Donetsk and Luhansk provinces have witnessed intense fighting in recent months. Putin identified the Donbas region as a focus from the wars outset, and where Moscow-backed separatists have fought there since 2014. Russia captured almost all of Luhansk during the summer. Donetsk escaped the same fate, and the Russian military subsequently poured manpower and resources around Bakhmut. On a different front, Zelenskyy on Wednesday visited the western city of Lviv and held a high-level meeting on the security situation near Ukraines border with Kremlin ally Belarus, the presidents office said in a statement. Russia has stationed more than 10,000 of its soldiers in Belarus and conducts regular military drills in the country, which has a roughly 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) border with Ukraine. The Kremlin used Belarus as a staging ground to send troops and missiles into Ukraine when it invaded on Feb. 24. Concerns have risen in recent months about the Kremlin potentially pressuring Belarus into opening up a new front in Ukraines west, possibly to target supply routes for Western weapons and other overseas aid that have helped Kyivs forces sustain a defense and to launch a counteroffensive. Zelenskyy said there were no immediate worries about Minsk joining the war but added: We must be ready, according to the statement. Meanwhile, Putin claimed Wednesday that Russia had successfully resisted Western pressure, especially sanctions, over its invasion of Ukraine and vowed that the country has enough resources to beef up its military while continuing social programs and meeting other development targets. Nothing of what our enemies forecast has happened, Putin said in a video call with top members of his Cabinet. We will strengthen our defense capability and will undoubtedly solve all issues related to supplies to military units involved in the special military operation, he said, using the Kremlins euphemism for the war. He said Russia has received 200 billion rubles (about $3 billion) in additional revenue from higher oil and gas prices caused by the war. (AP) Storm-ravaged California scrambled to clean up and repair widespread damage on Wednesday as the lashing rain eased in many areas, although the north could see thunderstorms and another powerful weather front was expected to hit the state Friday. At least 17 people have died in the storms battering the state. The figure is likely to rise, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Tuesday during a visit to the scenic town of Capitola on the Santa Cruz coast that was hard hit by high surf and flooding creek waters last week. A pickup truck driver and a motorcyclist were killed early Tuesday in the San Joaquin Valley when a tree that had been struck by lightning fell on them, authorities said. More than half of Californias 58 counties were declared disaster areas, the governor said. The latest storm that began Monday was one in a series that began late last month and repairing the damage may cost more than $1 billion, said Adam Smith, a disaster expert with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Los Angeles Times reported. Crews worked to reopen major highways that were closed by rockslides, swamped by flooding or smothered with mud while more than 10,000 people who were ordered out of seaside towns on the central coast were allowed to return home. They included Montecito, a wealthy Santa Barbara County community that is home to Prince Harry and other celebrities where 23 people died and more than 100 homes were destroyed in a mudslide five years ago. Yet thousands of people living near rain-swollen creeks and rivers remained under evacuation orders. In the San Joaquin Valley, raging waters from Bear Creek flooded parts of the city of Merced and neighboring Planada, a small agricultural community along a highway leading to Yosemite National Park. All 4,000 residents of Planada were ordered to leave Tuesday morning. Neighborhoods were under water with cars submerged up to their roofs. Residents ordered to evacuate carried whatever they could salvage on their backs as they left in the rain. Other evacuations were ordered because of levee breaches in parts of Monterey County. The most recent atmospheric river a long plume of moisture stretching into the Pacific that can drop staggering amounts of rain and snow have eased in some areas. Light to moderate rain with some thunderstorms was forecast to arrive Wednesday in Northern California. A longer storm system was predicted to last from Friday until Jan. 17. Despite the rain, most of the state remained in extreme or severe drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. The storms may help locally but will not resolve the long-term drought challenges, said Rick Spinrad, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Damage from the storm included washed-out roads and seaside businesses flooded by 20-foot (6-meter) surf that pounded Santa Cruz County. Many areas saw unprecedented amounts of rain coupled with furious winds and even hail and lightning that knocked down trees and damaged electrical lines. More than 75,000 homes and businesses around the state were without power as of late Tuesday night, according to the website Poweroutage.us. Mudslides damaged some homes in pricey Los Angeles hillside areas, while further up the coast a sinkhole damaged 15 homes in the rural Santa Barbara County community of Orcutt. Kevin Costner, best-actor winner in a television drama series for Yellowstone, was unable to attend Tuesdays Golden Globe awards in Los Angeles because of the weather. Presenter Regina Hall said he was sheltering in place in Santa Barbara due to flooding. In San Francisco, a tree fell on a commuter bus on Tuesday without causing injuries and lightning struck the citys iconic Transamerica Pyramid building without damage. High winds also ripped away part of the roof on a large apartment building. Some people found themselves stranded in small communities inundated with water and mud. Were all stuck out here, Brian Briggs said, describing a scary night during which the deluge unleashed mudslides in remote Matilija Canyon that buried one house and cut off the only road to nearby Ojai. The canyon creek began to flood yards and the surrounding hills, which were stripped of vegetation in the 2017 Thomas Fire, began to tumble down in the dark. Mudflows dragged sheds, gazebos and outhouses into the creek, Briggs said. After helping neighbors get to higher ground, he returned home to find his fence destroyed by waist-deep mud. A helicopter dropped 10 sheriffs deputies Tuesday to help the residents of dozens of canyon homes. The wet and blustery weather left Californias large homeless population in a precarious situation. At least two homeless people in Sacramento County died and more than a dozen people were rescued from a homeless encampment on the Ventura River. Theo Harris, who has lived on San Franciscos streets since 2016, fortified his shelter with tarps and zip ties Tuesday and took in his girlfriend after her tent flooded. The wind has been treacherous, but you just got to bundle up and make sure you stay dry, Harris said. Rain is part of life. Its going to be sunny. Its going to rain. I just got to strap my boots up and not give up. (AP) Local Republican leaders in New York on Wednesday called for the immediate resignation of their new GOP congressman George Santos, who is facing multiple investigations by prosecutors over his personal and campaign finances and lies about his resume and family heritage. His lies were not mere fibs. He disgraced the House of Representatives, Joseph Cairo Jr., chair of the Nassau County Republican Committee, said at a news conference. Hes not welcome here at Republican headquarters. Santos, swarmed by reporters at the Capitol on Wednesday, flatly rejected the call to resign, saying, I will not. The call was an extraordinary rebuke of the freshman congressman whose election months ago flipped a Democratic House seat and was initially one of the GOPs highlights of the November election. The denunciation by local Republicans also amps up the pressure on Republicans in Congress to rebuke or sideline Santos. Cairo and other Republicans said Santos deceived voters and the Nassau County GOP and they were particularly incensed by his lies about having Jewish ancestry. Rep. Anthony DEsposito, another Republican newly elected to represent Long Island, spoke at the news conference via video from Washington and joined Cairos call for his colleagues resignation. George Santos does not have the ability to serve here in the House of Representatives and should resign, DEsposito said. The local party has no mechanism to remove Santos from office. He was sworn in to the U.S. House last week. The move comes a day after two Democrats from New York asked the House Ethics Committee to investigate Santos. Reps. Ritchie Torres and Dan Goldman, in a letter to the committee, said Santos also failed to file timely, accurate and complete financial disclosure reports and the reports he did file are sparse and perplexing. Earlier this week, the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center lodged a complaint with the Federal Election Commission and urged regulators to investigate Santos. The mountain of lies Santos propagated during the campaign about his life story and qualifications, the center said, should prompt the commission to thoroughly investigate what appear to be equally brazen lies about how his campaign raised and spent money. Initially, the victory by Santos, an openly gay Republican, was seen as one of his partys bright spots in an otherwise underwhelming midterm election. But as reports began to emerge that Santos had lied about having Jewish ancestry, a career at top Wall Street firms and a college degree, he turned into a distraction and an embarrassment to the party as it took control of the House. During his campaign, he referred to himself as a proud American Jew. But he later backtracked on that claim, saying his mothers family had a Jewish background, and he told the New York Post in an interview, I said I was Jew-ish. Bruce Blakeman, a Jewish Republican and the elected Nassau County Executive, said he and other members of the sizeable Jewish population in the area take their religion and heritage seriously. He said it was ridiculous for Santos to call himself a Jew, but said it was beyond the pale and outrageous for Santos to have said in an interview that his grandparents survived the Holocaust. He cannot serve anymore. He does not deserve that right, Blakeman said. He is a stain on the House of Representatives. Blakeman said his office would have no interaction with Santos or his staff until he resigns and that the county would redirect any of Santos constituents seeking help to the office of DEsposito in the neighboring congressional district. We do not consider him one of our congress people, Cairo said. Santos first ran for Congress in 2020, losing to Tom Suozzi, a Democrat. He ran again in 2022, facing Democrat Robert Zimmerman in a district that includes some Long Island suburbs and a small slice of Queens. (AP) Brazils capital prepared for the possibility of more violent demonstrations Wednesday by people seeking to overturn the presidential election, with local security officials blocking access to buildings trashed four days earlier by a horde of rioters. A flyer promoting a mega-protest to retake power circulated on social media platforms, particularly Telegram, and urged protesters to turn out in two dozen cities, including the capital. It was unclear how large or violent such demonstrations might shape up to be, but skittish authorities took no chances. Speaking to journalists in Brasilia, the federal appointee who has assumed control of the capitals security said police were shutting down the main avenue to traffic and limiting pedestrian access with barricades. They are blocking all access to the square that was the site of Sundays mayhem, said the official, Ricarado Cappelli. He said a small area on the avenue has been reserved for peaceful demonstrations, but will be surrounded by police and the national guard and all protesters searched upon entry. The right to protest freely will always be respected and cannot be confused with terrorism, Cappelli said. Citing the call to action on social media, a Supreme Court justice ordered local authorities in cities across Brazil to prevent protesters from blocking roads or occupying public spaces and buildings. Justice Alexandre de Moraes also ordered arrests and fines for people and companies who participate or help with logistics and funding. The nation remains on edge after supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro rampaged through Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential palace on Sunday, laying ruin to the governments three most important buildings. Officials arrested or detained some 1,500 people by the following morning, hundreds of whom were sent to prison. Though there is no evidence of fraud in the Oct. 30 presidential election, the protesters have claimed the true winner was far-right Bolsonaro. He has fired up his base about the vulnerability of electronic voting machines despite independent experts assurances they are closely scrutinized. Bolsonaro also has warned his supporters that the elections leftist victor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, would impose communism. The fresh call for an uprising Wednesday sparked concern that the crackdown hadnt damped the will of radicals. Among those who vow to continue struggling is Daniel Bressan, 35, who traveled some 300 miles from the interior of Parana state to join Sundays protest in Brasilia. He was detained by police the next morning, though he denies participating in any of the vandalism. A lot of people are going to be afraid to go to the streets and be arrested I myself fear persecution by the legal system but Im not going to stop fighting and Im not going to get discouraged, Bressan said by phone from the federal polices temporary holding center. Im ready for everything. Our freedom is worth more than our lives. Jailing rioters represents only part of the governments effort to hold people responsible, with authorities also seeking to track down those who enabled the uprising. That includes organizers who summoned protesters to the capital and paid their way as well as local security personnel accused of either standing by and allowing the destruction to occur, or even cooperating. Justice Minister Flavio Dino told local press this week that authorities have identified some of the protests financiers. He said they are based in the south and center-west regions that Bolsonaro carried in the election. Without identifying individuals, he said they are members of the agribusiness sector, local business owners and people registered to own firearms. Dino previously said the riot was apparently intended to spark a domino effect around the country. He has referred to the encampments that had been set up by Bolsonaro supporters outside military buildings to call on the armed forces to overturn election results as incubators of terrorists. Authorities cleared away the camps in Brasilia and other cities after the rioting. In November, the Supreme Court froze 43 bank accounts of people accused of having financed roadblocks that disrupted highway traffic in the wake of Lulas victory. At least 30 were in the center-west state of Mato Grosso, Brazils top soybean producer. De Moraes, the Supreme Court justice, also ordered preventative detention for the men who were serving Sunday as head of the federal districts security and military police chief, as well as searches of their residences. Both men have been fired since the rioting. Absolutely NOTHING justifies the omission and collusion of the security secretary and the military police commander, de Moraes wrote in his decision, which was made public late Tuesday. The justice also denounced the protest encampments sponsored by diverse financiers. There are strong indications that the conduct of criminal terrorists could only have occurred with the willful participation or omission which will be determined in these investigations of the aforementioned public authorities, de Moraes wrote. The fired security secretary, Anderson Torres, had been Bolsonaros justice minister. Cappelli, the federal appointee who now controls the secretariat, said Wednesday that Torres assumed his new position, immediately fired subordinates and then traveled to Florida. Cappelli previously told local media there were signs Torres actions amounted to intentional sabotage of security ahead of Sundays violence. Torres said Tuesday night on Twitter that he was interrupting his vacation and returning to Brazil to present his defense. He said ethics and legality had always governed his actions. (AP) For the first time since he entered his position, Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich attended a meeting of the Knessets Finance Committee on Tuesday morning. Finance Committee chairman Moshe Gafni thanked Smotrich for revoking the tax on disposable tableware imposed by former minister Avigdor Lieberman: I congratulate you on your election to the position of finance minister, one of the most important positions in the State of Israel and the government. I congratulate you and wish you the best of luck as your success is the success of all of us. I congratulate you for signing the order to cancel the tax on disposables. The committee was holding a discussion on the tax authorities demands on freelancers to return the grants they received during the COVID pandemic. During the debate, Tzemeret Avivi, a secular freelancer representative, excoriated former finance minister Avigdor Lieberman: Come lets learn from Gafni how to do it. Heres a finance minister who doesnt sit and drink coffee in front of me while I crythere was no listening ear in the government of change.' Avivi was referring to a meeting of the Knessets Economic Affairs Committee that took place almost a year ago which focused on the economic difficulties faced by freelancers during the COVID pandemic. During the meeting, Avivi was treated with great scorn by the coalition members at the discussion, driving her to tears. Avivi then tearfully addressed Lieberman directly as he apathetically sat there sipping a hot drink, begging him for assistance, saying that independent teachers were out of work for months during the multiple school closures. However, Lieberman was impervious to her pleas and the Chareidi MKs present at the meeting were the only ones that tried to comfort her and slammed Lieberman for his apathy calling on him to resign. Avivi later said in an interview with Kol BRamah that her support for the change government was a big mistake. I supported [Gideon Saars] New Hope, the establishment of this government I made a mistake. Its a fraudulent government. I would expect New Hope representatives to fight for us. Saar should go to Lieberman and knock on the table, to demand compensation for the self-employed. But all they worry about is their positions. We need to apologize to Netanyahu and [former Finance Minister] Yisrael Katz, she asserted. Im saying from here thank you to the previous government for your help. No one is perfect but they did a lot for us, provided us with oxygen. Today we receive nothing. (YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem) Israel convinced the Trump administration that Quds Force Commander Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated by a US drone strike three years ago, was an immediate threat to the US, former IDF intelligence chief Tamir Hayman told the UKs Jewish News in an exclusive interview published on Monday. Hayman explained that after Soleimani helped defeat Islamic State, the U.S. was standing in his way because he wanted to control the Middle East. So his focus changed from Islamic State to the US presence in the region. Israel convinced the US of Soleimanis malign activities against Americans. The US was mainly focused on fighting terror, not Iran. We supplied the intelligence and shared analysis and over a long period of time they were eventually convinced that Soleimani was an immediate threat to American lives and its strategic posture in the Middle East. Hayman elaborated that Soleimani was unique and had huge amounts of leadership. He could stand on a hill in Syria and pinpoint to the militias how to conduct the strategy he had designed and approved with the Supreme Leader a few hours before. In 2016, he elaborated on a grand master plan on how to ensure that Syria would become a second Lebanon. That there would be a Hezbollah 2.0, the transfer of Shiites into Syria, and that he would control the Syrian government. He had similar plans for Iraq and Yemen. When he disappeared, you still had builders on the ground but there was no vision, Hayman asserted. (YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem) Sponsored Content In the real estate field, there are realtors, lawyers, mortgage brokers, contractors, developers, and a number of other related professionals. But there arent many real estate advocates. In fact, theres only one that we know of: R Shia Getter, CEO of The Getter Group. His 17+ years of hands-on experience, vast knowledge of the industry, and continuous drive to educate buyers everywhere make him uniquely positioned to help property buyers through the entire purchase process, from start to finish. He not only helps buyers find a property, he assists with the negotiations, reviews the contract, consults all the associated professionals on the buyers behalf, oversees the minutiae of the process, and ensures all bureaucracy and registration are handled properly. In short, R Shia takes the headache and the hassle off the buyers shoulders, putting them on his own. Whats the number 1 regret you hear from buyers of property in Israel? Not buying more dirahs. [Laughs] Seriously speaking, though, the number one regret I hear isnt from buyers. Its from potential buyers, from people whove been wanting to own a place in Eretz Yisrael for years but never did anything about it, from people whove looked into property here but didnt end up acting on it, from people who asked me for advice on buying a dirah and then didnt end up following through. So, its not buyers remorse, but non-buyers remorse? Exactly. Its the shame of inaction. There are people whove been talking about buying in Eretz Yisrael for 5, 10, 15, even 20 years or more but never followed through, for whatever reason. Maybe they were afraid of the political climate or terror attacks devaluing real estate, or maybe they were afraid that certain outlying neighborhoods would never take off, or they felt like dirahs were more money than they wanted to spend. But now, all these years later, theyve been completely priced out of Yerushalayim, even the outermost neighborhoods; they can no longer afford Ramat Beit Shemesh; and theyll have to put out way more money for a smaller place way further out. They look at what they couldve bought and see how much the value has grown, and theres definitely a lot to regret over there! Thats pretty depressing. Is there any good news? There are always opportunities here and its not too late. The value of property here only increases. Truly: we never see drops. So, someone who gets in now can still capitalize on property that will immensely increase in value over the next decade or so. People are more willing to branch out and are looking to the countrys North, as well as to beachfront properties, as worthwhile investments. There are still value-add opportunities in some of the older neighborhoods. People have options. What can one do to get started on the Israel property journey? Contact The Getter Group today. This is the best way of ensuring that not only do you get the greatest value for your money, but you also maximize your rights and personal interests and you do it without headache or heartache. Mr. Shia Getter will be in Miami from January 15th 18th and New York February 12-16 meeting with clients, building personalized purchase plans, addressing concerns and hesitations, and clarifying the purchase process. To reserve a meeting with Mr. Getter, contact The Getter Group at one of the numbers below. Contact: Baila Miro | IL : 077-234-6011 | US : (718) 473-3950 |UK : (020) 8150-6082 | WhatsApp +972 58-318-0000 | [email protected] CLICK here for Whatsapp Sponsored Content Annual Legislative Breakfast Draws Record 750 Guests On Sunday, Teach Florida a project of the Orthodox Union hosted its annual legislative breakfast in Davie, Fl. The event drew a record 750 guests, including state legislators and Jewish community leaders. Teach Florida is a member of the Teach Coalition, the education advocacy organization for nonpublic schools. At the breakfast, Florida Jewish community leaders had an opportunity to connect with elected officials who make critical decisions about state scholarships and security funding. The event also showed elected officials how important the issue of scholarship and security funding is to the Jewish community and expressed gratitude for the $60 million in 2022 state funding that enabled Jewish families to send their children to Jewish day schools. Left to right: Senator Alexis Calatayud; Teach Florida Executive Director Danny Aqua; Chairman of Teach Florida Dr. Allan Jacob; Member of the Florida House of Representatives Chair Randy Fine; and Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives Paul Renner Teach Florida advocates for expanded state scholarship funding for all students. Today, Florida leads the nation with more than 242,000 children receiving a state scholarship including a record 7,200 in Jewish day schools. More than 50 percent of Florida Jewish day school students receive a state scholarship. Since 2011, Teach Florida has secured more than $253 million in state funding for Jewish day school families. Among those who spoke at the event were Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives Paul Renner; Member of the Florida House of Representatives Chair Randy Fine; Chairman of Teach Florida Dr. Allan Jacob; Executive Director of Teach Florida Danny Aqua; Teach Florida Funding Specialist Malka Rhodes; and Teach Florida Engagement Director Melissa Glaser. In his address, Speaker Renner said, With Florida being the third largest state in the country, what we do here in this space when we create our scholarship programs has a powerful influence over what happens in education nationally and even globally, during his address. With those dollars, you can have innovative education entrepreneurs that are looking for new ways to serve the needs of the children that are represented by the families in this room. Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives Paul Renner addresses the 750 guests in attendance at Teach Floridas annual legislative breakfast House of Representatives Chair Randy Fine said, What Im hopeful we are going to do over the next two years is to see that every student gets every dollar for every method of education that they so choose. When we do that, that is when the mission of expanding school choice will be done. Teach Florida Executive Director Danny Aqua said, Our theme this year is changing lives, one scholarship at a time, because every child matters. We are so grateful to our elected officials for creating and expanding these incredible scholarships that are helping thousands of children in our community. Contact: Danny Aqua, Executive Director, Teach Florida [email protected] About Teach Florida/Teach Coalition: Teach Florida, a member of Teach Coalition, has a goal to solve the tuition crisis facing the nonpublic school community. Teach Coalition advocates for equitable government funding for nonpublic schools and counts nearly 150 schools nationwide as official members. Through direct application assistance, political advocacy, and grassroots activism, Teach Coalition is committed to making nonpublic schools better, safer and more affordable. About Orthodox Union: Founded in 1898, the Orthodox Union (OU) serves as the voice of American Orthodox Jewry, with over 400 congregations in its synagogue network. As the umbrella organization for American Orthodox Jewry, the OU is at the forefront of advocacy work on both state and federal levels, outreach to Jewish teens and young professionals through NCSY and Birthright Israel/Israel Free Spirit trip organizer, and Yachad, the National Jewish Council for Disabilities, among many other divisions and programs. For more information, visit www.ou.org. Amazon has unveiled plans to shut three UK warehouses, which will hit 1,200 jobs. The company has launched consultations over the closure of sites in Hemel Hempstead, Doncaster, and Gourock in the west of Scotland. All workers at the sites will be offered roles at other Amazon locations. Jobs threat: Amazon has launched consultations over the closure of sites in Hemel Hempstead (pictured), Doncaster, and Gourock in the west of Scotland The online technology giant also revealed plans for two giant warehouses in Peddimore in the West Midlands and Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham, which will create 2,500 jobs over the next three years. An Amazon spokesman said: All employees affected by site closure consultations will be offered the opportunity to transfer to other facilities. 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. One of the drawbacks of the 8-Track tape format is that they played on an infinite loop, automatically switching through the four stereo tracks and then starting over again. Often, the switchoverheard as a click and then pausewould happen in the middle of a song so engineers would just fade out the song in the middle and then fade it back in. Also frequently, artists and engineers would change the song sequence compared to LP or cassette releases to better align with the 8-track format. On Animals (1977), Pink Floyd took it a step further by adding a guitar solo specifically as a bridge between Pigs on the Wing Part 1 and Part 2, making them essentially a single song. That guitar solo would be heard nowhere else until the Internet. From The Blind Man Sees All: Given the nature of the 8-track format, the band decided to record a guitar solo that would connect the 2 halves of the song and explicitly bring the album back full circle. Floyd associate Snowy White was assigned the task after David Gilmour's take was accidentally erased, and the resulting "complete" version of "Pigs on the Wing" was included exclusively on British and American pressings of the 8-track tape when the album was released. As time passed and the 8-track went extinct, though the Floyd remained as popular as ever well on through the beginning of the CD era, this solo slipped out of the discography as the catalog was standardized to reflect the more familiar tracklisting associated with the original LP. As time went by, Snowy White's solo took on mythic stature among the band's fanbase, particularly as reissues continued and it became the only commercially unavailable piece of music the band had ever officially released. After hundreds of police stood by as a gunman killed 19 children and two adults in an elementary school classroom in Uvalde, Texas, schools police chief Pedro "Pete" Arredondo told investigators that he prioritized the lives of those outside the room over those inside it: "There's probably going to be some deceased in there, but we don't need any more from out here" His decision to treat the gunman as a barricaded subject and not confront him effectively left all the students and teachers in Classrooms 111 and 112 for dead. It was one of many times he did not follow the training and protocol for an active shooter. Arredondo stuck with that choice for over an hour, even when he thought he heard the gunman reloading and after it was confirmed children were trapped injured and alive as well as dead with the shooter. CNN tried to reach Arredondo for this story. His attorney George Hyde said he was not authorized to respond to media requests. "I have informed him of your request and it will be up to him from there," Hyde wrote in an email. If one cop had died to save a dozen kids, this man would have thought it a tragedy. 37% the town's general budget reportedly goes to its cops, and they still needed help to do nothing at all. Mike Buehlmann, a registered nurse at the Buffalo VA Medical Center, arrived at work at 7:30 a.m. Dec. 23 just in time for a historic blizzard that meant he couldn't go home. He said he ended up working for 66 hours, not leaving until early Monday morning. At one point, he didn't sleep for 23 hours. Another nurse he worked alongside that weekend was there 72 hours. "It was something you never forget, and it was not a fun time," he said. Buehlmann and several other nurses, represented by National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United, spoke to reporters Tuesday, across the street from the hulking medical center where they work. Buffalo firefighters, police officers and public works drivers press for new equipment in wake of blizzard Firefighters, police officers and public workers employees showed up at Buffalo's Common Council chambers in a show of support for resolutions filed by lawmakers aimed at making sure front-line workers are properly equipped during snow emergencies like last months blizzard. There, they blasted what they said was the administration's failure to prepare for the deadly holiday storm with a proper staffing plan, noting it's emblematic of a larger, and ongoing, problem: VA administrators who are not listening to their concerns about a chronic worker crunch. The VA Western New York Healthcare System, in a statement, said there is no shortage of nurses. "VA nurses have served on the front lines of veteran care, ensuring that each patient receives the quality health care and services they have earned and deserve," the system said in a statement. "They continue to work tirelessly providing the compassionate care VA nurses are known for. We could not be more proud of our nurses individual and collective contributions and sacrifices. While there is no shortage of nurses currently at our facility, we will continue to vigorously pursue multiple avenues to recruit and retain our nursing workforce." The nurses gathered Tuesday said they have attempted to work with administrators to help recruit and retain staff, but management has consistently not engaged in those talks. "These are ongoing issues that we have consistently tried to talk to management about, but it's just like falling on deaf ears," said Edith Nesbitt, a registered nurse and associate director of the union, which represents more than 400 nurses at the Buffalo VA Medical Center. Union officials said Tuesday they planned to file unfair labor practice charges with the Federal Labor Relations Authority, including refusal to bargain in good faith, direct dealing with employees and implementing policy changes without bargaining first. After the news conference, the nurses returned the medical center, where they held a nurses' forum that, they said, administrators were invited to attend. The VA healthcare system, which includes the Buffalo medical center, confirmed it provided space to the nurses for the forum but said media would not be able to attend. This is just the union's latest public action. The union held a protest Aug. 2 to highlight their patient safety and staffing concerns. Among their requests: more flexibility in nurse scheduling, noting that some nurses there would work 20 hours straight. In a statement last month, U.S. Rep. Brian Higgins' office said that under the current law, the VA can broadly regulate hours and conditions of employment for registered nurses, physicians, dentists and physician assistants. A bill cosponsored by the Buffalo Democrat seeks to expand the collective bargaining rights for health care professionals at the VA. An Office of Inspector General report on VA occupational staffing shortages released in July found the Buffalo VA Medical Center had 11 clinical occupation titles with shortages and six nonclinical titles with shortages. Practical nurse and nursing assistant were among the clinical occupational titles listed. Nicole White, a registered nurse in the float team at Buffalo VA Medical Center and a union leader, fights back against the phrase "nursing shortage." She notes it's more of a redistribution of nurses, with a shortage of nurses willing to work at the bedside as staffing conditions have deteriorated. "I'm asking you not to buy the narrative that there is a nursing staffing shortage," White said. "There is a crisis, but it's not what you think. There are plenty of nurses out there. They're just not willing to come to the bedside." And for Buehlmann, the nurse who was on site at the medical center for 66 hours during the blizzard, the staffing situation is as bad as he's seen it during his 13 years at the VA. "What I see today, and the last year or two, you would have never seen when I started back in 2010," he said. "Today's staffing is worse." The battle for Soledar raged in sub-zero temperatures on Wednesday, with Russias mercenary Wagner Group claiming to have taken control of the salt mining town in eastern Ukraine, as its fighters poured fire on a pocket of resistance in the centre. Kyiv said earlier its forces were holding out. The Ukrainian militarys morning summary made one mention of Soledar, listing the town as one of several being shelled in the Donetsk region. Reuters was unable to verify conditions on the ground. Russian commanders have made the capture of Soledar a key objective in a campaign to take the nearby strategic city of Bakhmut and Ukraines larger eastern Donbas region. Wagner units took control of the entire territory of Soledar. A cauldron has been formed in the centre of the city in which urban fighting is going on, Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said late on Tuesday, according to Russian news agencies. The number of prisoners will be announced tomorrow, he added, giving no further details. Russias capture of Soledar and its huge salt mines would have symbolic, military and commercial value for Russia. But the situation in and around Soledar appeared fluid. The British Defence Ministry earlier said Russian troops and Wagner fighters had probably taken control of most of Soledar after four days of advances. But Prigozhins comment that fighting continued in Soledars centre suggested Russian control was incomplete, despite his statement that all of the town was in Wagners grasp. 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. WAVES OF RUSSIAN FORCES Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and the military command did not mention control of Soledar on Tuesday evening. Zelenskiy 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 late on Tuesday, 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 onto positions in Soledar, withstanding assaults by wave after wave of Russian forces seeking their first battlefield victory for months. Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar on Tuesday evening said 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. Morning temperatures in the combat zone were put at around minus 12 Celsius (10.4 F). Earlier, some prominent Russian military bloggers urged caution about the situation in Soledar and said that intense combat in the towns centre and its outskirts continued during the night. RUSSIA SEEKS MAJOR WIN Ukraines military said its forces had repelled enemy attacks in the areas of 13 settlements in Luhansk, Kharkiv and Donetsk regions, including Bakhmut. Seizing Soledar would be Russias most substantial gain since August, after a series of humiliating retreats throughout much of the second half of 2022. Russian forces have been fighting for months to capture Bakhmut. 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. The Kyiv government 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 the Donetsk region, one of four provinces it claimed to have annexed three months ago. Near Bakhmut, a team of Ukrainian soldiers fired volleys of shells from a heavy anti-aircraft gun at what they said were Russian ground positions, across a barren snowy field. Were frying orcs, said one 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. Hours after German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock visited the northeastern city of Kharkiv, Russian strikes late on Tuesday hit a fireworks factory, the regional governor said, adding that no one was hurt. Russia began what it calls a special military operation in Ukraine on Feb. 24, claiming Ukraines 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. Canada said it will buy a U.S.-made National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) for Ukraine. Ukrainian troops were due to soon arrive in the United States to begin training on Patriot air defence missiles, which Washington promised to Kyiv last month, a U.S. official said. The decision of the U.S. defence department to organise a training course at Fort Sill in Oklahoma is yet another confirmation of Washingtons de facto participation in the Ukrainian conflict on the side of Kyivs Nazi criminals, Anatoly Antonov, Russias ambassador to Washington, said in a statement posted by his embassy. SOURCE: REUTERS Tigray forces, who fought a two-year war against Ethiopias 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 Ethiopias army but were not party to the truce. The conflict created famine-like conditions for hundreds of thousands of Tigrays 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. SOURCE: REUTERS The Chinese mainland has maintained the initiative and the ability to steer in cross-strait relations and united compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Straits to promote the development of cross-strait relations, making new progress in Taiwan-related work, Ma Xiaoguang, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said on Wednesday. Ma made his remarks when asked to review and summarize cross-strait relations in 2022 at a press conference. "We published a white paper titled 'The Taiwan Question and China's Reunification in the New Era' and held a forum to mark the 30th anniversary of the 1992 Consensus, aiming to clarify the historical ins and outs of the Taiwan question and the major policies concerning Taiwan to Taiwan compatriots and the international community," Ma said, adding that the Party's policies concerning Taiwan are more deeply rooted in people's hearts. Ma Xiaoguang, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, takes questions at a regular press conference, January 11, 2023. /CMG Ma Xiaoguang, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, takes questions at a regular press conference, January 11, 2023. /CMG Promote peaceful, integrated development of cross-strait relations Ma said the Chinese mainland practices the people-centered development philosophy, always respects, cares for, and benefits Taiwan compatriots, and constantly improves systems and policies that improve the well-being of Taiwan compatriots. "We actively advance cross-strait exchanges and cooperation and promote compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Straits to jointly carry forward the excellent traditional Chinese culture," he said. Noting that the "Taiwan independence" separatist activities and interference from external forces are the root causes of the current tense and turbulent situation across the Taiwan Straits, Ma said the Chinese mainland has taken a series of strong measures to smash all forms of "independence" provocations and external interference attempts. "We further grasped the strategic initiative to achieve China's complete reunification, and consolidated the international community's adherence to the pattern of one China," he added. 'Taiwan independence' separatist forces doomed to fail Noting that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities in Taiwan wantonly colluded with external forces to provoke "independence" in 2022, Ma said the anti-China forces in some countries attempt to use the Taiwan question to curb China's development, and hinder the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. "There's only one China, and Taiwan is part of China," Ma reiterated, adding that any attempts to separate Taiwan from China cannot succeed. The Chinese mainland urges some related countries to adhere to the one-China principle and stop sending wrong signals to "Taiwan independence" separatist forces. "We will firmly safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity in 2023, resolutely smash any provocation from 'Taiwan independence' separatist forces and external interference schemes," Ma said, calling for safeguarding the fundamental interests of the Chinese nation and the vital interests of compatriots on both side of the Taiwan Straits. DPP authorities must be liquidated for seeking political self-interest Noting that the U.S. and the DPP authorities will start a face-to-face negotiation on the so-called "U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade," Ma said the Chinese mainland firmly opposes the U.S. negotiating any agreement with China's Taiwan region that has sovereign implications or official nature. "We urge the U.S. to abide by the one-China principle and the regulation of the three China-U.S. joint communiques with practical actions," he said. Ma said the evil acts of the DPP authorities colluding with external forces and betraying the interests of the people in Taiwan under the guise of trade and economic cooperation will and must be liquidated. Cindy Voelker has been in the behavioral health field for about four decades, starting as a psychiatric nurse and eventually rising to become the president and CEO at Spectrum Health and Human Services. And in that time, she's seen more than a few government proposals for behavioral health, which mostly proved disappointing. So as she listened to Gov. Kathy Hochul's State of the State address on Tuesday, which laid out a $1 billion plan "to fix" the state's continuum of mental health care, Voelker couldn't help but feel a little optimistic. "I was really impressed and just thrilled to hear that she was really living up to a lot of things that she's told us over the last few years," Voelker said. "To see it actually happen that she really understands the situation and really has ideas that make sense and that could really help was the most positive thing I've seen in the last few years." Gov. Kathy Hochul's State of the State focuses on housing, crime, mental health In her first State of the State address as an elected governor, Kathy Hochul laid out a "groundbreaking strategy" to spur housing development across New York one in which state government would seek to override local governments that prove resistant. Hochul is aiming to build 800,000 units of housing across the state over the next decade, and laid out a plan that almost certainly will face resistance from local governments and homeowners who dont want new development. Over the past decade, New York built just half the amount of Hochul's goal. That sense of optimism is different from what she's experienced over the years. Voelker has seen plans that eliminate inpatient beds and that fail to ensure enough of the cost-savings are reinvested in community care. At times, she's seen the mental health system ignored. Many Western New York behavioral health providers echoed those same thoughts. Hochul unveiled several health care proposals in her 277-page State of the State Book released Tuesday, but the focus on the mental health system was, by far, the headline. Behavioral health providers in Buffalo Niagara and across the country have seen increased demand since the Covid-19 pandemic hit. According to Hochul's office, more than one in three New Yorkers has either sought mental health care or knows someone who has since the onset of the pandemic. At the same time, providers are struggling to recruit and retain employees, which means fewer workers are scrambling to meet higher demand. In her comments Tuesday, Hochul said the state has underinvested in mental health care for too long, which has allowed the situation to become so dire. "Today marks a reversal in our state's approach to mental health care," Hochul said. "This is a monumental shift to make sure no one falls through the cracks. This will be the most significant change since the deinstitutionalization era of the 1970s." There is, of course, a long way to go. Hochul will unveil her state budget proposal in the coming weeks, which will contain all the crucial fine print and kick off months of discussions with state legislators in advance of the state budget deadline of April 1. Bob McCarthy: Gov. Kathy Hochul's speech recognizes legislative tightrope that awaits A legislative tightrope awaits Gov. Kathy Hochul, reflected in a speech alternately calling for strengthening the public safety concerns that propelled her GOP opponent last November with others sure to generate genuine Democratic enthusiasm, Bob McCarthy writes. But so far, behavioral health providers are encouraged by what has been released about Hochul's plan for the mental health system. That includes expanding insurance coverage for mental health services, boosting mental health services in schools by increasing Medicaid payment rates for school-based clinics and bolstered planning so that high-risk, high-need patients who are discharged are immediately connected to wrap-around services. "The Governor's commitment to increasing funding for behavioral health treatment and supports is encouraging and a step in the right direction," said Elizabeth Woike-Ganga, president and CEO of BestSelf Behavioral Health. "These dollars are sorely needed to ensure that our sector, which is seeing increased demand and inadequate resources, can provide immediate access to high-quality mental health and substance abuse treatment, as well as services such as supported housing, to our most vulnerable community members," she said. Hochul's plan also includes adding 1,000 inpatient psychiatric hospital beds across the state, which would involve directing community hospitals to immediately bring back 850 psychiatric beds that had been offline. Further, the governor's plan includes opening 150 new adult beds in state-run psychiatric hospitals, with 100 of those in New York City, and the remaining 50 outside of it. Since 2014, the the number of inpatient psychiatric beds in New York has declined by 20%, from 9,320 to 7,421. Bringing 1,000 of those beds back, Hochul said, could serve more than 10,000 New Yorkers each year and restore the capacity to respond to the most serious cases of mental illness. Hochul also vowed to expand outpatient services, which she said would boost access, reduce waiting times and ensure appropriate levels of care. Buffalo's lone mental health ER overwhelmed as patients, families question conditions The Buffalo News interviewed several patients in recent weeks who painted a stark portrait of what they experienced at ECMC's Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program. Within that, Hochul's plan includes adding 12 new sites across the state with comprehensive psychiatric emergency programs, which provide hospital-level crisis care. Those kinds of emergency programs could help relieve some pressure on Erie County Medical Center's overwhelmed CPEP unit, which is the Buffalo Niagara region's largest "safety net" mental health emergency department. In a series of stories over the last month, CPEP staffers and patients have described to The Buffalo News a program that is severely overburdened, with some patients waiting for up to three days to see a psychiatrist. In a statement, ECMC applauded Hochul's multi-year plan to boost mental health services, noting it has advocated for more funding and greater access to outpatient services and long-term psychiatric beds for years. "In order for ECMC and other hospitals across the state to increase capacity, significant increases are needed for inpatient reimbursement, as well as state funding for capital improvements to achieve that goal," the Buffalo hospital said. "We look forward to the efforts of the state to provide these resources to hospitals. Gov. Hochul's plan addresses increased access, which is critical to reducing overcrowding in psychiatric emergency rooms across the state." The wild card in all these plans, of course, surrounds staffing constraints. Inside the critical need for mental health, addiction workers in WNY: 'We've had high caseloads nonstop' Trying to find mental health and addiction workers is a daunting, but pressing, task, given the demand for mental health and substance use counseling skyrocketed during the Covid-19 pandemic. It stands to reason that more mental health programs and more inpatient beds will require more staff. "I think addressing the workforce issue is something that has been a focus and needs to continue, because that's the other part of the problem," said Voelker, of Spectrum Health. And it is a problem for many others in health care, too. Here's a brief look at some of Hochul's other health care proposals: Health care's future Health care is a challenged industry, struggling with workforce needs and trying to keep up with a rapidly evolving care delivery system. For that reason, Hochul wants to establish a Commission on the Future of Health Care, which will provide strategic guidance to transform the state's health care system. The commission's goals would include improving access to and the quality of care as well as health outcomes. The commission also would identify ways to eliminate waste in the system and create long-term stability, including a plan for struggling hospitals and Western New York has plenty of those. Travel nurse agency reform Throughout the pandemic, health care providers that were short on staff found themselves relying heavily on traveling nurses, who could make three to four times the hourly pay of a permanent staff nurse. Some providers claimed the staffing agencies were, at times, price-gouging. A road increasingly traveled: Fed-up nurses turn to lucrative travel work. But how long can it last? Perhaps no current issue looms larger for WNY's hospitals, paying huge costs to travel agencies amid a staffing pinch and desperately searching for permanent employees to lessen their reliance on high-priced temporary workers. Hochul plans to introduce legislation to require staffing agencies to register and report key data about their operations. The goal, Hochul's office said, is to increase transparency into the use and cost of contract labor. The data would then be used to explore "options to remedy the dependence upon, and escalating costs related to, agency staffing." Bea Grause, president of the Healthcare Association of New York State, which represents hospitals, nursing homes and other health care organizations, in a statement lauded several of Hochul's health care proposals, including "proposing measures to reform traveling nurse staffing agency practices." [January 11, 2023] To help make entrepreneurial ambitions a reality, CIBC and Pollinate select Elavon to deliver Tyl by CIBC As Canada's 1.2 million small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) look to grow, Elavon to provide payment processing for CIBC acceptance and merchant services platform TORONTO, Jan. 11, 2023 /CNW/ - Meeting the needs of small-and medium-sized businesses, CIBC, together with Pollinate, announced today that Elavon has been chosen as the payment processor to power payment processing on a platform called Tyl by CIBC that will provide products, services and tools for business banking clients. Tyl by CIBC will support startups, small businesses, and entrepreneurs with side hustles to make their ambitions a reality. Entrepreneurs work hard to realize their ambitions, and this platform is uniquely positioned to meet their needs. A cloud-based, digital-first platform, Tyl by CIBC enables safe and secure payments acceptance, provides easy point-of-sale technology, and offers a range of additional services and capabilities such as allowing for merchants to offer loyalty programs to their customers. "With Tyl by CIBC we are delighted to help entrepreneurs and business owners achieve their ambitions and grow. By bringing an integrated bank-based acquiring solution to them working with Elavon to underpin the platform they can have the innovation they need with the security and backing of a leading bank." said Chris Sweetland, Senior Vice-President, Payments, Strategy and Tranformation at CIBC. "As we support the ambitions of entrepreneurs and business owners across Canada, Tyl by CIBC will help them process their customer payments but also provide other tools and products to effectively run their business." Elavon is one of the world's largest payments processors, handling more than five billion transactions for clients every year. "Elavon is proud to be the partner of choice to help deliver Tyl by CIBC to Canadian small businesses," said Jamie Walker, CEO of Elavon. "Elavon works with millions of businesses worldwide and shares CIBC's commitment to providing simple, innovative solutions that ensure customer satisfaction." In launching Tyl by CIBC, the bank joins a global alliance of tier one banks focused on creating powerful, integrated experiences for their SMB clients, starting with acquiring. Other banks in this alliance include NatWest and National Australia Bank. "Small businesses worldwide are facing unprecedented challenges, and it is an honour to work with banks so committed to their success," said Fiona Roach Canning, Co-founder of Pollinate. "We continue to see consistent trends in the needs of SMBs across countries and are delighted to partner with Elavon in Canada as we serve merchants everywhere together." About CIBC CIBC is a leading North American financial institution with 13 million personal banking, business, public sector and institutional clients. Across Personal and Small Business Banking, Commercial Banking and Wealth Management, and Capital Markets businesses, CIBC offers a full range of advice, solutions and services through its leading digital banking network, and locations across Canada, in the United States and around the world. About Pollinate Pollinate enables banks to offer cutting-edge digital tools to their small business customers and to consumers, transforming the profitability of a traditional acquiring business. Pollinate has built a Global Alliance of like-minded banks, committed to harnessing the power of data to create powerful digital experiences. Partners and investors include NatWest, National Australia Bank, CIBC, Insight Partners, Fiserv and Mastercard. About Elavon Elavon is a leading global payments company with more than 4,300 employees and operations in 10 countries. Elavon is wholly owned by U.S. Bank (NYSE: USB), the fifth-largest bank in the United States, and provides end-to-end payment processing solutions and services to more than 2 million customers in the United States, Europe, and Canada. As the leading provider for airlines and a top five provider in hospitality, healthcare, retail, and public sector/education, Elavon's innovative payment solutions are designed to solve pain points for businesses from small to the largest global enterprises. SOURCE CIBC [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 11, 2023] Lakeside Lightning Semiconductor Announces Plan for 12" OLED Manufacturing Line to Launch the World's Largest 1.31-inch 2.6k x 2.6k Display in Partnership with Kopin Corporation Lakeside Lightning Semiconductor (LLS), an OLED microdisplay manufacturer based in Jiangsu, China, announced at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) its 12" OLED manufacturing plan to commercialize ultra-high-definition and high-brightness silicon-based OLED Microdisplays including the world-leading 1.31-inch 2.6K x 2.6K display in close partnership with the US-based Lightning Silicon Technology, Inc. (Lightning Silicon), a newly announced partial OLED spin-out of Kopin Corporation (Kopin). The CES opened in Las Vegas USA on January 5, 2023. The whole exhibition lasted for 4 days. It is reported that this year's CES exhibition attracted 3,100 well-known industry companies from 174 countries. As the world's largest consumer electronics technology industry event, CES is the best venue to the latest trends in consumer electronics. Mr. Wu Di, chairman of LLS held in-depth and fruitful discussions with core technology and key business eco-system partners and investors from around the world. LLS manufactured industry-leading 1.31-inch ultra-high-definition, high-brightness silicon-based OLED microdisplays successfully in its current 8" OLED manufacturing facility after spending over 3 years R&D. LLS technical team has successfully developed a stacked OLED device technology that has advantages of higher efficiency and longer life. Combined with Kopin's advanced silicon backplane chip design with voltage drive, the LLS OLED technology produces microdisplays with ultra-low power consumption and movie-level wide color gamut (90% DCI-P3) level, and thus filled the gap of other manufacturing counterparts. As early as June 2022 at the Silicon Valley AWE exhibition, LLS's 1.31-inch microdisplays was highly regarded by leading VR companies in the United States and Japan. The market is in urgent need of large-scale high-yield 12-inch production lines. According to public infrmation, global giants SONY, Samsung and LG have planned to invest in the 12-inch silicon-based production lines for OLED microdisplays, indicating the huge demand of potential market. The 1.31-inch OLED microdisplay launched at CES is the only mass-produced, the largest, and the highest resolution product in the world. It can achieve a viewing angle of FOV of 100 degrees or more as well. The next-generation smart VR glasses by the global giants Panasonic are also unveiled at CES. While supplying 2.6k resolution silicon-based micro-display products for Panasonic smart VR glasses, LLS and Lightning Silicon will soon step up to a 4k or higher resolution. Dr. John C.C. Fan, Chairman of Lightning Silicon, an early pioneer of Micro LED displays and a member of the American Academy of Engineering, commented, "Silicon-based microdisplays is one of the core technologies required for the Metaverse. The technical barriers to mass production of 1.31-inch silicon-based microdisplay is very high and needs state of the art production facilities. LLS has acquired 119 acres land in Yixing Environmental protection technology industrial park of China for 12-inch silicon microdisplay mass production lines for fabricating 1.31-inch ultra-high-definition, high brightness silicon-based OLED microdisplays." For the silicon-based micro-display (Micro OLED, Micro LED) in which LLS is engaged, it is a product extension of IC industry chain and a key component of the "Metaverse" which is among strategic emerging industries. In March 2021, Roblox of United States included "Metaverse" into its prospectus for the first time. This attracted the attention of many industrial sectors. In October same year, Facebook changed its name to Meta. Metaverse thus triggered the second wave of VR/AR. Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Google and other major companies have initiatives in this industry. Mr. Wu Di, Chairman of LLS, a professor of Shenzhen-Hong Kong Institute of Microelectronics (National Level) stated, "Jiangsu Province highly pay attention into the development of strategic emerging industries. Silicon-based Microdisplay is one of the most important industrial development direction in the future. Lakeside Lightning Semiconductor will full focus on build up a 12-inch producing line under low-cost and high-yield to provide global customer silicon-based microdisplays with low cost and excellent performance, so that customers can produce their VR end-user product with better experience." About Lakeside Lightning Semiconductor (LLS) Co., Ltd. LLS is an OLED technology developer and OLED microdisplay manufacturer having an 8" factory in Changzhou, China and building a 12" factory in Jiangsu, China. For more information, please visit LLS's website at www.hupanoled.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005337/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 11, 2023] The Logistics Industry in Malaysia is expected to contribute more than $350 Bn by 2027F owing to the Government Initiatives to Improve Cross Border Infrastructure and Malaysia's growing FTAs: Ken Research GURUGRAM, India, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Malaysia's Logistics Market is in the growing stage, being driven by rising demand from manufacturing industries. There are several players in the Malaysia Logistics market some of which are DHL, TASCO, Nippon Express, CEVA, DB Schenker, Kuehne + Nagel, Tiong Nam, UPS, and FedEx. Strengthening the connectivity in NorthSouth of the West Coast and East Coast Corridor by the government of Malaysia will boost the efficiency of road transportation in the country. will boost the efficiency of road transportation in the country. Rapidly modernizing retail, e-commerce, and a growing automotive sector to provide opportunities for contract logistics and express providers. Demand for Pharmaceutical products along with FMCG and Food products during the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to the high growth of Land Transportation during 2020. Improving Road Transportation and Warehousing Infrastructure: As major players adopt robotics technology, the warehousing industry will see an increase in the use of technology and automation. EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) and RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology will aid in efficient inventory management. To enhance the technological capacity of the logistic market the Malaysian government's investments and initiatives in infrastructure connecting the country with Lao PDR and various parts of China would fuel the future growth of road and rail freight services. High Demand for Road and Sea Transportation: Road Transport in Malaysia is the most preferred mode of transportation and will continue to be so in 2027F. Water transportation is also expected to grow in the future as high infrastructure investment is undertaken by the government to improve the state of maritime logistics in the country. Demand for Road transportation from manufacturing sector, FMCG companies, and automotive players is rapidly increasing in Malaysia due to increasing production capacities by top players in the country. Moreover, many new players are expected to enter the market while the existing players are expected to expand their current revenue share. The freight forwarding companies in Malaysia are also expected to improve their supply chain and technology in the future. Increasing Inflow of Investments: In the upcoming years due to the increase in outsourcing by various businesses and the quick delivery options offered by 3PL providers, the market is anticipated to expand at a significant rate. The supply chain's optimization and corporate efforts to reduce costs are anticipated to fuel market expansion. Additionally, a supportive environment for 3PL businesses in Malaysia is expected to draw more foreign competitors, fostering competitiveness and opening up new market prospects. Analysts at Ken Research in their latest publication "Malaysia Logistics Market Outlook to 2027F- Driven by the Rising Demand from Manufacturing, F&B, Retail, and other industries along with increasing Government Initiatives to Strengthen the Logistics Infrastructure" observed that Malaysia Logistics Market is in its growing phase. Increasing demand for food, beverages, and manufacturing products in Malaysia, Government support through Third Industrial Masterplan (IMP3) and the Logistics and Trade Facilitation Masterplan are some of the factors that will contribute to the Malaysia Logistics Market growth over the period of 2022-2027F with a CAGR of 7.8%. Key Segments Covered in the report:- Malaysia Logistic Market Market Segmentation by Services Freight Forwarding Warehousing Courier and Parcel Activities Value Added Services Malaysia Freight Forwarding Market By Mode of Transport Land Transport Water Transport Air Transport Malaysia Land Transportation Market By Mode of Transport Road Rail By Mode of Shipment Domestic International By Load Type FTL LTL To learn more about this report Download a Free Sample Report By 3PL and Integrated Integrated 3PL Malaysia Warehousing Market By Business Model Industrial Freight/Retail Container Freight Cold Storage Agriculture and Others Industrial warehoues bifurcation Grade A Grade B Grade C By Region Central Northern Southern Eastern Coast & East Malaysia By Type of Warehouses Unorganized Organized By 3PL and Integrated Integrated 3PL Visit this Link Request for custom report By End Users Food and Beverages Pharmaceutical/Healthcare Electronics Automotive Manufacturing Others Malaysia 3PL Market By Service Mix Road Freight Warehousing By End Users Food & Beverage Manufacturing Electronics Retail Healthcare Automotive (Spare Parts, Components) Others Malaysia Courier and Parcel Market By International and Domestic Shipments Domestic International By Air and Ground Express Ground Express Air Express By Delivery Period One Day Delivery Two Day Delivery Three Day Delivery More than three-day delivery By Delivery Period B2B B2C C2C By Region Central Southern Northern Eastern Coast and East Malaysia Key Target Audience Total Logistics Companies Contract Logistics Providers E-commerce Companies Third-Party Logistic Providers Potential Market Entrants Freight Forwarding Companies Warehousing Companies Cold Storage Companies Industry Associations Consulting Agencies Government Bodies & Regulating Authorities Time Period Captured in the Report:- Historical Period: 2017-2022 2017-2022 Base Period: 2022 2022 Forecast Period: 2022-2027F Companies Covered:- DHL TASCO Nippon Express CEVA DB Schenker Kuehne + Nagel Tiong Nam UPS FedEx POS Malaysia CJ Logistics GD Express JSI Logistics City-Link Express FM Logistics Key Topics Covered in the Report:- Comparative Analysis of Malaysia Logistics Market Malaysia Logistics Market Size (2017-2022) (2017-2022) Growth Drivers for Malaysia Logistics Market Major Challenges in Malaysia Logistics Market Logistics Market SWOT Analysis of the Logistics Market in Malaysia Malaysia Logistics Future Market Size (2022-2027F) Logistics Future Market Size (2022-2027F) Malaysia Transportation Market, 2017 2027F Ecosystem Transportation Market in Malaysia Transportation Industry Market Size and Segmentation, 2017-2022 Malaysia Warehousing Market, 2017 2027F Ecosystem and Overview of Warehousing in Malaysia Market Sizing and Segmentation of the Warehousing Market in Malaysia , 2017-2022 , 2017-2022 Market Sizing Analysis of 3PL Market in Malaysia , 2022-2027 , 2022-2027 Malaysia Courier, Express and Parcel Market Ecosystem Market Sizing Analysis of Malaysia Courier and Parcel Market, 2017-2022 Snapshot on Co-Packing Industry in Malaysia Cross Comparison of Major FMCG Players in Malaysia Logistics Market Logistics Market Competition Analysis for Road Freight and Warehousing Players Analyst Recommendation For more insights on the market intelligence, refer to the link below:- Malaysia Logistics Market Related Reports By Ken Research:- Philippines Logistics Industry Outlook to 2027F-Driven by Infrastructural Developments, Technological Advancement and Government Support The Philippines Logistics Market is expected to witness significant growth during the period 2022P-2027F, owing to new players entering the market and various technological advancements like robots. The revenue of the logistics market in the Philippines is expected to increase over the forecasted period due to high demand for e-commerce, tech-enabled warehouses and cold storage services. Also, strong initiatives by the government to improve transportation and connectivity in the region will boost the logistics market in the country. Netherlands Logistics Market Outlook to 2027F- Segmented by Type of End Users by revenue (Food and Beverage, Industrial & Construction, Retail, Automotive and Engineering, and Others), Type of Warehousing Space (Tech/ Non-Tech, Organized/ Unorganized, and Racked/ Unracked), Type of Domestic/ Inte The Netherlands Logistics market is projected to witness a robust CAGR during 2022 to 2027F. Driven by world-class seaports, centrally located airports, and an extensive, and modern network of roads and highways, the Netherlands Logistics Industry will witness growth in the coming years. Moreover, the country's geographical location makes it possible to reach around 170 million consumers within 24 hours. These factors support the growth of the freight logistics and transport sector. Pakistan Logistics Market Outlook to 2027F- Segmented by Type of End Users (F&B, Industrial & Construction, And Others), Type of Warehousing Space (Tech/ Non-Tech, Organized/ Unorganized, And Racked/ Unracked) The Pakistan Logistics Market is projected to show a significant growth, to contribute ~ Bn by 2027F with increase in demand, and government initiatives. The growth rate of total fleet size is anticipated to increase over the period with surge in working class population along with government incentives and policies. Thailand E-Commerce Logistics Market Outlook 2026F- Driven by Change in Consumption Pattern of Consumers, Government Initiatives and Innovation of Advanced Technologies The Thailand E-Commerce Logistics Market witnessed significant growth during the period 2017-2021, largely due to growth in online shopping and entry of new players. The growth of Thailand's logistics sector is also being supported by booming exports with automotive, agribusiness, chemicals and electronics being in-demand industries at the moment. South Korea E-commerce Logistics Market Outlook to 2026F- Driven by Growth in Online Shoppers along with Introduction of New Age Technologies by Logistics Players According to Ken Research estimates, the South Korea E-Commerce Logistics Market which grew from approximately $ ~12 Bn in 2018 to approximately $ ~13 Bn in 2021 is forecasted to grow further into $ ~16 Bn opportunity by 2026F, owing to internet penetration, government initiative, time spend on internet and improved logistics. Follow Us LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube Contact Us:- Ken Research Private Limited Ankur Gupta, Director Strategy and Growth [email protected] +91-9015378249 Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1954972/Ken_Research_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-logistics-industry-in-malaysia-is-expected-to-contribute-more-than-350-bn-by-2027f-owing-to-the-government-initiatives-to-improve-cross-border-infrastructure-and-malaysias-growing-ftas-ken-research-301718980.html SOURCE Ken Research [January 10, 2023] Yuan Yuan Start Business In the Chinese Mainland BEIJING, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- A new report by China.org.cn on Business: Hi everyone, I am Yuan Yuan, I was born and raised in Taiwan. I will graduate from university this year and I wish to start my own business. My family told me there are many people from Taiwan achieved entrepreneurial success on the mainland. Besides, the Chinese mainland has implemented preferential policies to benefit Taiwan enterprises and compatriots. I am going to the mainland to learn the "startup experience" from those Taiwan entrepreneurs! The government has issued a series of policies to support Taiwan compatriots in applying for the establishment of individual businesses in the Chinese mainland. Since 2018, the Chinese mainland has unveiled measures to further promote economic and cultural exchanges and cooperation across the Taiwan Strait, which known as the "31 measures" which known as the "31 measures" and the "26 measures". Other measures include the "11 measures" to promote the development of Taiwan enterprises and compatriots, the "22 measures on agriculture and forestry," and policies to expand the fields for Taiwan compatriots to register and operate individually-owned businesses in the Chinese mainland. These measres help ensure that Taiwan enterprises and compatriots share more opportunities, and enjoy the same treatment as mainland residents. An increasing number of Taiwan compatriots now find opportunities for development on the mainland. For those Taiwan compatriots who wants to pursue their dreams in the Chinese mainland, they could apply for national-level technology business incubator program through 78 bases and demonstration platforms for cross-Strait youth entrepreneurship and employment Taiwan compatriots who works inside the Chinese mainland could also apply for National Animation Award. Students and teachers from Taiwan who are currently studying or lecturing in universities in the Chinese mainland can apply for government-sponsored overseas study with their residence permit for Taiwan residents. Such measures create bigger and better stages for young people from Taiwan to show their talents, and bring tangible benefits to Taiwan compatriots and businesses. The mainland supports Taiwan compatriots and businesses participating in China's major development strategies to help Taiwan businesses expand domestic demand on the mainland. Besides, the mainland has provided several measures for Taiwan compatriots and ensure they enjoy equal treatment, including issuing residence permits for Taiwan residents, removing work permits for Taiwan compatriots working on the mainland, expanding trials to allow more Taiwan compatriots to work in public institutions, increasing enrollment for Taiwan compatriots, ensuring their access to professional qualification examinations and social security on the mainland, among other benefits. The implementation of these measures reassure Taiwan compatriots to start business on the mainland. An old Chinese saying goes, "compatriots should help each other". People on both sides of the Taiwan Straits share the bonds of kinship and we treat our compatriots in Taiwan as equals. Looking forward, the mainland will introduce more preferential policies and measures for Taiwan compatriots. the policy of equal treatment will be deepened and refined to support more Taiwan compatriots to pursue, build, and achieve their dreams on the mainland. My fellow compatriots in Taiwan, I will be waiting for you in the Chinese mainland. Together we could achieving our entrepreneurial dream. Yuan Yuan Start Business In the Chinese Mainland http://news.china.com.cn/txt/2023-01/09/content_85046925.htm SOURCE China.org.cn [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 11, 2023] ThriveDX and Exclusive Networks Unveil Strategic Plan to Bridge the Cyber Talent Shortage and Skills Gap in Europe ThriveDX, the global leader in cybersecurity and digital skills training, is launching a road tour across Europe from Jan. 11 to Feb. 23, 2023 to introduce the company's best-in-class human factor security solutions to Exclusive Networks' ecosystem of more than 25,000 partners and to address the cybersecurity talent shortage, skills gap and lack of diversity and inclusion in the industry. In October 2022, ThriveDX and Exclusive Networks announced their strategic partnership, following Exclusive Networks' participation as a founding partner in the ThriveDX Cyber Talent Hub. Now, building off that momentum, throughout January and February, ThriveDX Enterprise CEO, Roy Zur, is launching the full suite of human factor security solutions to Exclusive Networks' European ecosystem, specifically in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden, Poland and additional countries. ThriveDX provides a 360 approach to human-factor security with employee education, training and simulations that goes beyond traditional security awareness programs, offering relevant cyber training for every position in the organization, including application security for developers and engineers, beyond awareness training for non-technical roles, specialized executive training, as well as cybersecurity bootcamps and talent solutions. ThriveDX recently conducted a Global Cybersecurity Awareness Study with 1,900 CISOs and some of the results indicated that 97% of respondents are convinced that cybersecurity awareness training leads to greater corporate security. The timing for ThriveDX and Exclusive Networks strategic partnership is perfect because the study also indicated that 99% of the respondents recognize a positive influence on the culture of errors in the company with security awareness training. "Executives and security professionals globally are realizing that technology alone cannot keep their enterprises safe from increasing cyber threats. Rather, they need solutions that directly address the role of the human factor as the weakest link in cybersecurity. ThriveDX is the only company providing a 360 approach to solving the human risk factor, going beyond awareness with effective solutions to address the lack of skills," said Roy Zur, CEO, ThriveDX Enterprise. "We look forward to working with thousands of our current and new European partners and customers and creating a human firewall across their organizations." ThriveDX serves customers in more than 60 countries globally and already has millions of users in Europe including Fortune-500 companies and top European banks, tech companies, manufacturers, health care providers, universities, governments and more. Exclusive Networks chose the company after an extensive review, determining that ThriveDX's solutions will effectively solve human factor security challenges of their partners and end customers and address the first line of defense, the human risk factor. To learn more about the upcoming tour, including locations and dates visit Exclusive Networks' and ThriveDX's information here. About ThriveDX ThriveDX is the global leader in cybersecurity education, and an expert in providing cybersecurity training to upskill and reskill lifelong learners. Our teams are made up of military trained cyber experts, industry veterans and seasoned educators united to close the worldwide skills and talent gap in cybersecurity. ThriveDX's award-winning solutions exist to bridge the skills gap and impact the talent shortage in the cybersecurity and overall tech industry. The Education sector partners with top-tier academic institutions, enterprises, and government branches globally to offer advanced, professional development programs in cybersecurity and digital technology. The Enterprise branch (formulated by companies formerly known as Cybint Solutions, Kontra Application Security, Lucy Security, ThriveDX Labs, and HackerU Pro), is a suite of products and services that cater to non-technical employees, developers, IT professionals and anyone in between. For more information, visit https://thrivedx.com/. About Exclusive Networks Exclusive Networks is a global trusted cybersecurity specialist for digital infrastructure helping to drive the transition to a totally trusted digital future for all people and organizations. Our distinctive approach to cybersecurity gives partners more opportunity and more customer relevance. Our specialism is their strength - equipping them to capitalize on rapidly evolving technologies and transformative business models. The Exclusive Networks story is a global one with a services-first ideology at its core, harnessing innovation and disruption to deliver partner value. With offices in 46 countries and the ability to service customers in over 170 countries across five continents, Exclusive Networks has a unique 'local sale, global scale' model, combining the extreme focus and value of local independents with the scale and service delivery of a single worldwide cybersecurity powerhouse. Exclusive Networks is listed on the Euronext Paris stock exchange (Ticker: EXN). For more information visit www.exclusive-networks.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110005989/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 11, 2023] McGraw Hill Expands Engagement with Two Prominent Egypt Schools to Advance Digital Learning Rajac International School and OWN Heliopolis School to license content and adaptive learning platforms, including McGraw Hill's ConnectEd and Online Learning Platform (OLP) CAIRO, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- McGraw Hill today announced that two prestigious institutions in Egypt, Rajac International School and OWN Heliopolis School, intend to expand their use of McGraw Hill's state-of-the-art digital content for students in grades kindergarten through 12. The new agreements expand existing engagements with the institutions, which already use McGraw Hill's Inspire Science, Reveal Math, and Wonders reading programs with their students. These multi-year agreements bring personalized learning experiences to the schools' students through McGraw Hill's digital learning platforms, including ConnectEd and Online Learning Platform (OLP). Rajac International School strives to provide the best quality educational experience in order to upbring a generation of youth that is mentally, physically, and socially capable of meeting the challenges of a rapidly changing and highly demanding world. The signing ceremony for the agreement with Rajac International School included the presence of Shereen Kassem, School Principal, senior representatives from McGraw Hill and Modern English Bookshop, a key delivery partner for McGraw Hill in Egypt, who was instrumental in putting this deal together. "We are honored to have been working with McGraw Hill for over three years," said Shereen A. Kassem, American School Principal at Rajac International School. "We have been using their platforms on a daily basis for class activities, learning instruction, and assessment of students' performance to enhance their skills and concepts. In addition, McGraw Hill's professional development is strongly aligned with the 21st century learning skills and has benefitted us greatly in improving our teachers' knowledge and learning styles." OWN Heliopolis School is dedicated to a student-centered program that promotes academic excellence through enriched, inter-disciplinary curriculum, ensuring that students become critical thinkers, active problem-solvers, interested readers, thorough researchers and creative writers. The agreement with OWN Heliopolis School was signed at a ceremony in the presence of Mr. Hany Sedrak, Chairman of OWN Heliopolis School, along with senior representatives from McGraw Hill and Modern English Bookshop. "McGraw Hill has been a strategic educational partner for OWN Heliopolis School for many years. The two organizations have decided to deepen their partnership with a multi-year agreement that brings McGraw Hill resources and the benefits of exemplary professional development to our teachers," said Mark Sdrak, School Director at OWN Heliopolis School. "Rajac International School and OWN Heliopolis School made bold moves in recent years, introducing digital content to their students in math, science and reading," said Kareem Kirollos, Sales Director at Modern English Bookshop. "Several years into that project, their digital transformation has matured and paved the way for an expansion of their work with McGraw Hill. We are proud to have been part of this journey at both schools." "Rajac International School and OWN Heliopolis School are well-established and respected players in the Egyptian international education landscape across grades K through 12, and we are delighted to see our partnership with them grow and flourish," said Nanice Khalil, Sales Director for EASTMED at McGraw Hill. "Over the last three years, we've enjoyed great success in implementing digital learning for math, science, and English language across all school grades. We are excited about the future of these partnerships and how we can continue to improve learning outcomes by leveraging technology and investing in professional development." McGraw Hill McGraw Hill is a leading global education company that partners with millions of educators, learners and professionals around the world. Recognizing their diverse needs, we build trusted content, flexible tools and powerful digital platforms to help them achieve success on their own terms. Through our commitment to equity, accessibility and inclusion, we foster a culture of belonging that respects and reflects the diversity of the communities, learners and educators we serve. McGraw Hill has over 40 offices across North America, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East and South America, and makes its learning solutions for PreK-12, higher education, professionals and others available in more than 80 languages. Visit us at mheducation.co.uk or find us on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter. Rajac International School At Rajac, we strive to an education that meets the needs of all students. We offer a wide and varied curriculum taught by enthusiastic, talented staff. We acknowledge that academic success is not something all students find easy. However, our goal is to have all students realize their potential. We promote the vision that academic success is not enough to meet the needs of today's students. We encourage involvement in sport, music and the arts. Because we believe students in today's world need skills to express themselves. Rajac American School is accredited by Cognia, a prestigious, international board of education. Their assessment ensures that we maintain the most update, pedagogical approaches to teaching and learning. Rajac family takes great pride in providing our students with strong academic, loving and safe environment, and the opportunity to excel in life. OWN Heliopolis School For many years OWN Heliopolis has provided high quality international education to students in Egypt. Numerous generations of OHS graduates have attended some of the world's leading universities in the Egypt and elsewhere. Our vision at Own Heliopolis International School is to provide a safe, nurturing, and positive learning environment where all students will learn and achieve their maximum potential. We prepare our students to be lifelong learners, leaders of the future, and productive contributing members of our world by developing their analytical, critical and creative thinking. The mission of our school is to provide all students with a high-quality education by instilling 21st century skills and inspiring lifelong learning where each individual can grow intellectually, socially, and emotionally. At Own Heliopolis International School, we not only foster each student's self-esteem through positive relationships with students and staff but also strive to have our parents, teachers, and community members actively involved in our students' learning. Contacts: Tyler Reed McGraw Hill (914) 512-4853 [email protected] Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1305952/McGraw_Hill_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/mcgraw-hill-expands-engagement-with-two-prominent-egypt-schools-to-advance-digital-learning-301716761.html [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 11, 2023] KUPU Celebrates 2022 Milestones with New Plans Announcement for 2023 Empowering over two million job seekers, KUPU has marked 2022 as the year of breakthrough and advancement. Through a series of innovations, KUPU will continue its growth with exciting goals in 2023. JAKARTA, Indonesia, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- KUPU, an AI-driven platform that matches the labor market via dynamic skill-based profile progressions, is welcoming 2023 with optimism as it has successfully achieved many milestones in 2022. To further empower the Indonesian workforce, KUPU will launch new updates in its application and continue to hold work readiness training in schools. New year, new opportunities: KUPU 2023 plans In 2023, KUPU will develop itself as a video-centric social hiring platform. The recent update encourages job seekers and providers to upload video profiles of job seekers showcasing their talents and job providers showing their working environment. This video-centric feature will make the hiring and job-seeking process more immersive, interactive, and engaging. Furthermore, KUPU Academy will slowly transition into video-based bite-sized content incorporating animated elements to increase users' interests and engagement. KUPU will also build on its successes with new social commerce features to make the platform even more rewarding. There will also be a renewed focus on SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises), supporting them in contributing to national economic growth. The youth empowerment program, KUPU Goes to School, will also continue across 100 vocational schools in Jakarta, focusing on business management and hospitality students. As KUPU seeks to go nationalin the new year, its popular events and programs will also expand to locations outside the Greater Jakarta (Jabodetabek) area. "We hope that users are as excited as we are at the announcement of our plans for 2023. In the coming months, we will release more details on our plans for expansion and the roll-out of new and exciting features," said Andry The, KUPU Chief Information Officer. Celebrating 2022 as the year of accomplishment Throughout 2022, KUPU has shown powerful performance and has overcome many obstacles. One of KUPU's milestones is proven by successfully empowering over two million users. In August, KUPU closed a $5 Million strategic investment from Smartfren to expand its operations. Afterward, by partnering with the Provincial Education Department of DKI Jakarta (DIKNAS DKI) & Special Employment Exchange (BKK), the "KUPU Goes to School" program has successfully trained more than 19,000 students through workshops in over 235 vocational schools. The program, which has run for four months, aims to equip students with the necessary skills and knowledge for workplace readiness. Constantly looking to innovate and improve, KUPU also launched its video-centric application update in December. The updated feature enables job providers and job seekers to upload short videos displaying their skills or other work-related content. These features can accelerate, enhance, and clarify the complicated recruitment process. "KUPU was established with the vision of building a flexible and inclusive digital platform to enable jobseekers to stand out from the crowd even with minimal background and resume; thus, in KUPU, we constantly reinvent ourselves. We have set ambitious plans for 2023, with new courses, features, and functions aimed at helping even more job seekers, business, and human resources professionals," Andry added. To learn more about KUPU and stay up to date with the latest trends, courses, and updates, please visit https://www.kupu.id/ or download the KUPU application on Google Play or App store. About KUPU Founded in 2021, KUPU is a mobile recruitment platform connecting job providers and seekers. The platform provides upskilling courses to increase employment visibility and ensure that each user has an equal opportunity. KUPU is expanding its following throughout Indonesia and is looking to collaborate with initiatives from the public and private sectors to strengthen the employment industry further. SOURCE KUPU [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] IH says program has reduced hospitalizations Working in the emergency department over the years, there have been times when Dr. Anthony J. Billittier IV has grown frustrated with the nation's health care system. He sees a system that isn't customer focused and isn't delivering care the way patients want it and certainly isn't always providing the right care at the right time in the right place. Emergency departments are busy, he notes, because they're often the most accessible option open 24/7, with no appointment required. Seeing a system in need of change is why Billittier is excited with the growth Independent Health has seen with its Care for You program, which launched in late 2021 and brings health care directly into the home of the health plan's Medicare Advantage members with chronically complex medical conditions. Billittier, chief medical officer of Independent Health, said the program has helped keep members out of the hospital, allowing them to receive care at home and stay healthier while also lowering costs and decompressing overburdened hospitals. And the program similar to ones offered by Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield of Western New York and Univera Healthcare has now launched for Medicaid members and is eyeing entering the health plan's commercial line of business soon. "We need to reinvent the health care system," Billittier said. "So I think that's what you're seeing here. And I think as a nation, you're going to see more and more of this sort of alternate care, without bricks and mortar, continue to expand because it has to. "This is really just the start of the next wave. It has to be." How is it going? Independent Health officials said the Care for You program is performing better than expected in more ways than one. The health plan now has more than 2,200 Medicare members enrolled in the program, exceeding its forecast of 1,800 members by the end of the first year. And members enrolled in the program are staying out of the hospital more often. Specifically, preventable admissions are down by 54%, while readmissions have declined by 45%. Further, emergency room visits were reduced by 23%, while all inpatient hospital stays have dropped by 33%. "We've had a big impact," said Mike Reilly, senior vice president and chief healthcare innovation and strategy officer at Independent Health. "This is really about treating the patient in a way that they want to be treated, and they don't want to go to the hospital." From May through December, Reilly said, Independent Health received more than 80 unsolicited phone calls, emails or letters with positive feedback about the program. Over the course of the whole year, he said, they've had just nine complaints. Hiring success Independent Health formed an affiliated company to launch the Care for You program. It created WNY Coordinated Medical Care, which is a team of physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, pharmacists and other professionals who work with primary care doctors to manage health care for members in the Care for You program. Reilly said WNY Coordinated Medical Care has grown to 70 employees. He said Independent Health has found success in hiring, partly because he believes this patient-centric care is what many health care professionals want to provide. "Everybody's complaining about staffing issues," Reilly said. "We have over 30 nurses in the program, and no difficulty recruiting because this is the kind of care everybody wants to provide. And where did the nurses come from? They came from everywhere. They came from hospitals. They came from home care. They came from hospice." What's next? When Independent Health launched the program in late 2021, it had identified about 6,000 members or about 10% of its total Medicare Advantage membership with three to five chronic conditions who would be a good fit for Care for You. Reilly believes more than 4,000 members could be in the program by the end of 2023. And Independent Health in December launched the program for its Medicaid members and has started enrolling people. In accordance with that launch, the health plan also hired two more social workers. Initially, Reilly said the health plan has identified about 600 Medicaid members who could be a good fit for the program. Independent Health also plans to bring the Care for You program to its commercial line of business, possibly sometime in February. "We're going to be in all lines of business here at the end of the first quarter," Reilly said. 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: Nurses at the Veterans Administration hospital in Buffalo say management there needs to do better planning for disasters, like last month's blizzard, and to boost staffing. People Inc. named a new CEO. Delaware North bought a hotel near the Grand Canyon. 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. 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 Buffalo Next Editor David Robinson at 716-849-4435. Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up to get the latest in your inbox five days a week. [January 11, 2023] Rockwell Automation information, control & safety solutions sit at the operational heart of new Petrobras FPSO vessel Highly demanding oil and gas application will thrive on the seamless integration delivered at every level and every stage of the vessel's operations BRUSSELS, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE: ROK), the world's largest company dedicated to industrial automation and digital transformation, today announced that it has been chosen to supply the automation and Integrated Control and Safety Systems (ICSS) systems for P-79, an FPSO vessel in the Petrobras fleet. Through close support from Sensia Rockwell's joint venture with SLB and cooperation with the P-79 vessel's builder Saipem/DSME, Rockwell Atomation technology and Sensia solutions were selected for their proven track records in the oil and gas industry, as well as for their robust interconnectivity. "We are specialists, both in terms of technology and domain expertise, in the supply of automation and safety solutions for the oil and gas industry," explains Barry Elliot, vice president, global industry, Rockwell Automation. "Typical Floating Production, Storage, and Offloading (FPSO) vessels comprise 15 to 20 major process modules, most of which rely on our solutions for their automation, process and information capabilities, and P-79 is no different. By leveraging our control solutions at the higher level, even greater performance can be extracted, and greater yield realized." The P-79 project win follows the similar P-78 FPSO project, which also has Rockwell Automation at the core of its automation and ICSS. 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. SOURCE Rockwell Automation [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 11, 2023] Amagi's latest Global FAST Report confirms significant growth for Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV (FAST) in Europe LONDON, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Amagi, the global leader in cloud-based SaaS technology for broadcast and connected TV, today released its latest report on the state of the free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) space which confirms that year-on-year growth in FAST continues to outpace industry predictions. The sixth edition of its Quarterly Global FAST Report reveals that growth in Q3 (Jul-Sep) 2022 compared to Q3 (Jul-Sep) 2021 in Europe saw an increase of 99.97% in ad impressions and over 51% in Hours of Viewing. This edition of the report aggregates data from the company's proprietary viewership and ad analytics platform, Amagi ANALYTICS, which brings together data and insights from 50+ platforms and over 2,000 channels that run on Amagi's SSAI platform, Amagi THUNDERSTORM. These findings are further supplemented by data gathered from the Amagi Consumer Survey October 2022 an online survey of ~600 UK households who watched TV at least once in the previous week. The availability of Connected TV (CTV) is a key marker of FAST channels adoption in a market and Amagi's research shows that Western Europe with 70% CTV coverage is gaining ground on the US whose coverage is about 80%. In Central and Eastern Europe, this figure stands below 50% though this is still fueling a huge FAST viewership spike of over 1,500% across these regions in Q3 2022 when compared to Q3 2021. UK leads in CTV adoption The UK is the most advanced country when it comes to CTV adoption with rates as high as ~85%, making it possible to reach almost 94% of internet users via connected devices. Amagi ANALYTICS data showed between Q3 2022 and Q3 2021, the total Hours of Viewing grew by 37.44%, while ad impressios saw an impressive 60.80% rise. Combining findings from Amagi ANALYTICS with UK-specific insights from its Consumer Survey, the Amagi team attributes the growth to three major factors: the higher cost of living driving audiences to cheaper or free sources of high-quality content which FAST readily offers; the ever-improving quality of content available on FAST platforms; and the entry of more prominent content brands into the FAST landscape. Growth continues in Europe Amagi's research also confirmed that it is not just in the UK where such positive growth is happening. Looking at the increase in total Hours of Viewing for the Top 7 European countries, France with 120.77% and Italy with 111.54% both showed triple digit growth in Q3 2022 over the same period in 2021. Analyzing ad impressions, for the same period Italy tops the list with 501.98% year-on-year growth, France is second at 312.66%, Spain is at 260.06%, Austria at 124.23%, and the Netherlands at 106.23% making up the Top 5. "Recent global events have contributed to a difficult economic climate in Europe and across the world. Against this backdrop, the FAST sector has displayed the type of strong performance our Global FAST Report Edition 5 had predicted," said Srinivasan KA, Co-founder & Chief Revenue Officer, Amagi. "We see FAST continuing to accelerate in a challenging macro environment, and we anticipate the trend to continue, making it an attractive time for content owners to get into this market." For more information about Amagi and its streaming TV solutions, visit www.amagi.com . About Amagi Amagi is a next-generation media technology company that provides cloud broadcast and targeted advertising solutions to broadcast TV and streaming TV platforms. Amagi enables content owners to launch, distribute and monetize live linear channels on Free Ad-supported Streaming TV and video services platforms. Amagi also offers 24x7 cloud-managed services bringing simplicity, advanced automation, and transparency to the entire broadcast operations. Overall, Amagi supports 700+ content brands, 800+ playout chains, and over 2100 channel deliveries on its platform in over 40 countries. Amagi has a presence in New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, London, Paris, Melbourne, Seoul, Singapore, and broadcast operations in New Delhi, and an innovation center in Bangalore. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/amagis-latest-global-fast-report-confirms-significant-growth-for-free-ad-supported-streaming-tv-fast-in-europe-301718888.html SOURCE Amagi Media Labs Pvt. Ltd. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 11, 2023] Kingsley Gate Partners Expands Global Footprint with Acquisition of The Omerta Group Kingsley Gate Partners, an executive search firm that is tech-enabled, global, and backed by private equity firm Crescent Cove Advisors, announced today that it has increased its international presence by adding The Omerta Group (TOG), a leading executive search firm specializing in financial services, to its existing operations. Headquartered in London, The Omerta Group has a longstanding presence and a strong reputation in global financial services. "To have a truly global financial services practice, you must be in three locations: New York, London, and Hong Kong. This acquisition strengthens our position in these key markets," said Umesh Ramakrishnan, Kingsley Gate Partners' Chief Executive Officer. The Omerta Group will complement Kingsley Gate Partners' strength in the United States and will accelerate the firm's growing footprint across the United Kingdom, continental Europe, the Middle East, and Asia/Pacific. The addition of 50 highly experienced global financial services specialists also builds on Kingsley Gate Partners' existing financial services expertise, particularly in asset management. "Jason Mort and The Omerta Group have built a highly recognizable name in many of the key growth sectors within global financial services; we are thrilled to welcome them to Kingsley Gate Partners," said Paige C. Scott, Senior Partner at Kingsley Gate Partners. "The infusion of their geographic and subject matter expertise, especially in capital markets, represents a critical inflection point for the growth of our existing Financial Services Practice. By combining forces, we can bring our clients and our candidates the best regionalized experience in financial services search with a highly integrated global platform." Kingsley Gate Partners and The Omerta Group share a performance-driven and entrepreneurial mindset. They both have complementary rosters of blue-chip clients and reputations for effective, transparent, high-qality approaches to executive search. The Omerta Group's tried and tested processes are also congruent with Kingsley Gate Partners' proprietary and tech-enabled search platform. Jason Mort, founder and CEO of The Omerta Group, will serve as Leader of Kingsley Gate's Global Financial Services Practice and has also been appointed to the firm's Global Leadership Team. Ramakrishnan continued, "I'm delighted to welcome Jason to our leadership team and to announce that he will also be responsible for our Global Financial Services Practice. We are, of course, all really looking forward to getting to know our new colleagues." Commenting on this significant announcement for both businesses, Jason Mort, CEO of The Omerta Group said: "I am excited by the opportunities ahead. Kingsley Gate Partners and The Omerta Group, backed by Crescent Cove Advisors is a powerful combination. Following a period of exceptional growth at The Omerta Group, we felt it was the right time and the optimal way of delivering on our ambition to expand our presence in the US and developing further in our home markets." He continued, "I have always been a strong advocate for how technology can positively impact executive search. Industry consolidation in a highly fragmented industry and growth capital are also important factors and, with our new colleagues, we are well placed to take advantage of this growth opportunity. I am extraordinarily proud of The Omerta Group and what we have achieved together in our 20-year history and look forward to continuing the journey as part of the Kingsley Gate Partners team." About Kingsley Gate Partners Transforming the world of retained executive search, Kingsley Gate Partners leverages its proprietary and tech-enabled search platform and a world-class cadre of consultants to provide greater accountability, accuracy, velocity, and transparency to the search process in a manner that ensures a lasting strategic fit between executives and clients. The firm's search consultants operate globally with expertise in all major industries and markets. Kingsley Gate Partners serves best-of-breed organizations in over 30 countries. Since February 2022, the firm has been backed by private equity firm Crescent Cove Partners LP. For more information, go to www.KingsleyGate.com. About The Omerta Group Founded in 2002, The Omerta Group (TOG) is a leading international financial services-focused executive search firm headquartered in London with regional offices in New York and Hong Kong. Clients include Investment Banks, Investment Managers, Private Equity, Hedge Funds, Quantitative Trading Platforms, Exchanges, Sovereign Wealth Funds, Commodity Trading Houses, and firms within the Digital Asset & Blockchain ecosystem located across Asia, Europe, and The Americas. TOG is recognised by clients and industry professionals for best-in-class execution and for helping clients navigate competitive and complex markets with a robust, inclusive hiring methodology and selection process. The business will continue to operate under The Omerta Group brand, as a Kingsley Gate Partners company. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230109005565/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 11, 2023] NorthStar Earth & Space signs partnership with Axelspace to provide world's first combined Ground & Space SSA services NorthStar will combine data from multiple ground and space-based sensors to deliver more complete high precision SSA services to operators MONTREAL, Jan. 11, 2023 /CNW Telbec/ - NorthStar Earth & Space Inc. ("NorthStar"), the first commercial enterprise to offer complete SSA services to monitor all near-Earth orbits from space is pleased to announce an agreement with Axelspace, the Japan-based frontrunner in the Japanese microsatellite market. Starting in January '23, this collaboration will allow NorthStar to leverage Axelspace's operational AxelGlobe constellation of 5 Earth Observation LEO satellites to provide complementary data for Space Situational Awareness (SSA) and deliver a more comprehensive coverage of the space domain. "Sustainability of the space environment is in everyone's interest. Making use of existing sensor data from AxelGlobe with NorthStar's proprietary algorithms is an extremely efficient means to improve the quality of commercial SSA services available to operators" said Stewart Bain, Founder & CEO of NorthStar. "NorthStar's ability to work with leading-edge companies such as Axelspace highlights our unique capabilities to combine data from ground and space sensors and emphasizes our commitment to work collaboratively to solve the most urgent environmental challenges in Space." NorthStar is the first commercial enterprise o monitor all near-Earth orbits from space and combine data from a variety of ground-based sensors to provide more extensive coverage. The company's high precision, next generation navigation and tracking services enable all satellite operators to manage their fleets more effectively, enhance spaceflight safety, avoid collisions, and promote space sustainability. "The AxelGlobe constellation is composed of Axelspace's GRUS microsatellites. These are equipped with strong attitude control functionality to respond flexibly to diverse imaging needs. We were consequently able to meet NorthStar's request to capture near-Earth space data by updating the onboard software of the satellites," said Yuya Nakamura, the president and CEO of Axelspace. "I am very proud that the advanced capabilities of GRUS are utilized to monitor the orbital environment, a rapidly emerging need in today's space sector, through close collaboration with NorthStar. Axelspace will continue to contribute actively to expanding the use of microsatellites through partnerships with innovative companies and organizations." About NorthStar NorthStar is the first commercial service to monitor all near-Earth orbits from space. Our unparalleled suite of high-speed information services accurately tracks and predicts the position of space objects to enable safety in spaceflight. With a head office in Montreal, Canada, European headquarters in Luxembourg and subsidiary offices in McLean, Virginia, the company is solving the ever-growing threat of space collisions and, ultimately, empowering humanity to preserve our planet. For more information on NorthStar, visit northstar-data.com About Axelspace Corporation Axelspace provides solutions on the basis of its unique microsatellite technology. The company's main business activities comprise the AxelGlobe Earth Observation platform and the AxelLiner one-stop service to enable customers to realize their own microsatellite missions. The company offers microsatellite-based solutions for the Earth Observation business and the design, manufacturing, launch organization, operational support and commissioning of microsatellites and related components. URL: https://www.axelspace.com/ AxelGlobe https://www.axelglobe.com/en/ SOURCE NorthStar Earth & Space Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 11, 2023] Global Blue Releases the Monthly Tax Free Shopping Business Update for December 2022 Fresh data from Global Blue shows the dynamic recovery for Tax Free Shopping has been accelerating across Continental Europe and Asia Pacific. In Continental Europe, issued sales in store like-for-like reached a recovery of 107%1 in December vs. the same period in 2019. US nationals continue to lead this recovery. In Asia Pacific, the dynamic recovery continues to propel, reaching 90%1 in December vs. the same period in 2019. Issued sales in store on a like-for-like basis in Japan have surpassed 2019 levels. In China, the government has officially reopened its borders and eased travel restrictions as of January 8, 2023. Recovery in Continental Europe reaches new heights In Continental Europe, recovery has reached 107%1 in December 2022 vs. the same period in 2019. Within reopened travel corridors2, the recovery reached 145%1. In terms of origin markets, Global Blue data shows a sustained recovery across most nationalities. US nationals' recovery reached 244%1 vs. the same period in 2019, while Gulf Cooperation Council citizens reached 207%1 vs. the same period in 2019. Asian shopper recovery continues to progress with South East Asia shopper recovery reaching 142%1 vs. the same period in 2019. Hong Kong and Taiwanese shopper recovery reached 80%1 vs. the same period in 2019. This development follows the loosening of quarantine restrictions for return travelers. Regarding destination markets, the recovery dynamic remains firm across many European destinations. The recovery was predominantly led by Portugal at 148%1, Greece at 134%1, France at 131%1, Switzerland at 114%1, Spain at 109%1 and Italy at 94%1. Recovery in Asia Pacific continues to propel The removal of sanitary measures in Japan and South Korea has contributed to a rapid recovery in the Asia Pacific region. In December, this recovery reached 90%1 vs. the same period in 2019. Within reopened travel corridors2, the recovery reached 151%1. In terms of origin markets, Hong Kong and Taiwan nationals are fueling the recovery at 381%1 in December vs. the same period in 2019. This was followed by North East Asia nationals at 174%1 and South East Asia nationals at 132%1. This development for Asian shopper nationalities is thanks to the reopening of all corridors (excluding mainland China). Regarding destination markets, Japan is leading the recovery with 107%1. After Japan, recovery was closely followed by Singapore at 74%1 and South Korea at 65%1. Travel restrictions eased as China reopens borders On January 8, 2023, China re-opened its borders, ?ending a three-year hiatus on outbound tourism. The developments include removing the requirement for inbound travelers to quarantine and test upon arrival if they have undergone a test within 48 hours before departure. Resuming passport issuance for Chinese nationals and the removal of limitations of international passenger flights are also key changes. APPENDIX Glossary - Gulf Cooperation Council countries include: Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman - South East Asia include: Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore - North East Asia include: Japan, South Korea YTD Data Issued SIS L/L recovery2 (in % of 2019) December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 Q4 2022 Q3 2022 Q2 2022 Q1 2022 Continental Europe 107% 102% 102% 104% 101% 75% 53% Asia Pacific 90% 81% 68% 80% 51% 39% 16% TOTAL 101% 96% 93% 97% 89% 65% 40% ABOUT GLOBAL BLUE Global Blue pioneered the concept of Tax Free Shopping 40 years ago. Through continuous innovation, we have become the leading strategic technology and payments partner, empowering retailers to improve their performance and shoppers to enhance their experience. Global Blue offers innovative solutions in three different fields: Tax Free Shopping: Helping retailers at over 300,000 points of sale to efficiently manage 35 million Tax Free Shopping transactions a year, thanks to its fully integrated in-house technology platform. Meanwhile, its industry-leading digital Tax Free shopper solutions create a better, more seamless customer experience. Helping retailers at over 300,000 points of sale to efficiently manage 35 million Tax Free Shopping transactions a year, thanks to its fully integrated in-house technology platform. Meanwhile, its industry-leading digital Tax Free shopper solutions create a better, more seamless customer experience. Payment services: Providing a full suite of foreign exchange and Payment technology solutions that allow acquirers, hotels, and retailers to offer value-added services and improve the customer experience during 31 million payment transactions a year at 130,000 points of interaction. Providing a full suite of foreign exchange and Payment technology solutions that allow acquirers, hotels, and retailers to offer value-added services and improve the customer experience during 31 million payment transactions a year at 130,000 points of interaction. Complementary RetailTech: Offering new technology solutions to retailers, including digital receipts and eCommerce returns, that can be easily integrated with their core systems and allow them to optimize and digitalize their processes throughout the omni-channel customer journey, both in-store and online. In addition, our data and advisory services offer a strategic advisory to help retailers identify opportunities for growth, while our shopper experience and engagement solutions provide data-driven solutions to increase footfall, convert footfall to revenue and enhance performance. For more information, visit http://www.globalblue.com/corporate/ Global Blue Monthly Speaker Notes Data, December 2022, Source: Global Blue 1Recovery rate is equal to 2022 Issued Sales in Store divided by 2019 Issued Sales in Store, like-for-like (i.e.: at constant merchant scope and exchange rates). 2Open corridor is defined as a travel line between two countries, where there is no more sanitary or visa restrictions to go in the destination country and to come back in the origin country. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005500/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 11, 2023] 77 per cent of business managers believe their organizations are likely to experience a data breach in the next three years according to survey More than three quarters (77 per cent) of IT decision makers across the United States and Canada believe their companies are likely to face a data breach within the next three years according to survey results released today by Adastra, the global Data and Analytics solution provider. The online survey was conducted by Forum Research between December 2-14, 2022 and consisted of 882 IT professionals throughout the United States (589) and Canada (293). Survey respondents ranked data security as the biggest game changer in 2023 as companies continue to bolster their cybersecurity preparedness-68 per cent of managers surveyed say their companies have a cybersecurity division and a further 18 per cent report they are in the process of creating one. Only 6 per cent of respondents reported having no cybersecurity division. "The increase in data breach incidents across North America is troubling and must be prioritized as employees continue to return in-person to their corporate offices," said Kuljit Chahal, Practice Lead, Data Security at Adastra North America. "During the pandemic many employees were hired virtually and, in combination with long absences from offices, introductions to and re-familiarization with security protocols will be critical." Awareness of data security best practices among employees is essential-according to the 2022 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report, 82 per cent of data breaches are caused by human error and companies of all sizes are at risk. "In our role as data security experts, we have found that some companies, especially smaller ones, can be lulled into a false sense of security believing that perpetrators will not bother with them-this is absolutely not the case," said Chahal. "The results of this survey should serve as a reminder that companies of all sizes must invest in data security protection, resources and education, particularly as we return to in-office activities," he said. In 2021 alone, Statistics Canada found that 41 per cent of data breaches occur in small and medium-sized companies with less than 250 employees and Canadian businesses impacted by cyber breaches spent a collective $600 million to recover. The cost of a breach can be significant and far more than what an audit from a data security firm will cost. A poll of this size is considered accurate +/- 3.3 per cent 19 times out of 20. 10 data security enhancements to consider as your employees return to the office: 1. Insider threats - employee re-education of systems and protocols The unauthorized disclosure of data isn't always the result of malicious actors. Often, data is accidentally overshared or lost by employees. Keep your employees informed with cyber security education. Employees who go through regular phishing tests may be less likely to engage with malicious actors over email or text messaging. 2. Know your inventory An inventory of software, hardware and data assets is essential. Having control over the assets with access to your corporate environment starts with an inventory. Inventories can be a part of the overall vulnerability management program to keep all assets up to date, including operating systems and software. Furthermore, a data inventory or catalogue identifies sensitive data, which allows appropriate security controls like encryption, access restrictions and monitoring to be placed on the most important data. 3. Delete redundant data Reducing your overall data footprint can be an effective way of reducing risk. Data that resides in multiple locations may not have equal protection in each environment. Understanding what data is required and what can be archived helps to keep control over data assets. 4. Early detection systems Detecting anomalies and suspicious activities can resolve issues before they become a breach. Today's XDR (extended detection and response) and EDR (endpoint detection and response) systems include automated responses to common attacks. For example, suppose an employee downloads a malicious email attachment. In that case, the EDR system can prevent the execution of the malware hidden inside and alert security staff. These detection systems can be monitored by internal cyber security staff or monitored by third-party security companies who can alert management of incidents as they occur. 5. Data back-ups Having a robust, immutable data backup plan can help an organization quickly recover from an incident. The frequency of the data backup depends on the risk the organization is willing to take. "Can we afford to lose a week's worth of data or a day's worth of data?" 6. Limiting staff access Employing the least privilege principle reduces overall risk by only allowing access to data and services required to perform specific duties. Establishing processes for provisioning and de-provisioning user access with approvals, audit trails, reports, and regular attestations can limit what an attacker may be able to access in the event of compromised credentials. It's not uncommon for end users to have unrestricted administrative access to their endpoint laptops. This allows users to install unauthorized software or be more easily targeted for malware attacks. 7. Hire a third-party company to conduct a security audit - know your vulnerabilities An outside assessment of your organization's security posture, based on established cyber security frameworks such as NIST or CIS, can provide a clearer picture of strengths and weaknesses and a roadmap to address your greatest vulnerabilities. 8. Establish new passwords with two-factor authentication Traditionally users are authenticated by one of three ways: What you know (password) What you have (card access or one-time passcode) What you are (biometrics) Adding a second factor to the ubiquitous password authentication adds another layer of security for access. 9. Update your computer programs with the latest security features Most data breaches occur because a known vulnerability was exploited. Establishing a vulnerability management program that regularly scans software assets and applies patches is one of the most crucial security activities a company can perform. 10. Physical security As employees return to the office, there will be employees who are coming back to the office for the first time. Reinforcing clean desk policies and reviewing physical access controls, including access to secure areas, may be required to ensure assets are not stolen or lost. Work-from-home employees who have company assets should be routinely educated on keeping those assets secure while at home as they would in the office. About Adastra For over two decades, Adastra Corporation has transformed businesses into digital leaders, helping global organizations innovate, achieve operational excellence, and create unforgettable customer experiences, all with the power of their data. At the forefront of Artificial Intelligence, Data, Cloud, Digital and Governance services, Adastra delivers solutions to enterprises to leverage data they can control and trust, connecting them to their customers - and their customers to the world. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005136/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 11, 2023] FrontWell Capital Partners Provides CAD 25 Million Senior Secured Credit Facility to Mara Technologies FrontWell Capital Partners Inc. ("FrontWell") today announced the closing of a CAD 25 million secured credit facility with Mara Technologies Inc. and Mara Technologies USA Inc. ("Mara"), a manufacturer of electronic boards and assemblies focused in infrastructure, broad band communications and power management systems. Mara is a subsidiary of the Invotek Group, a global leader in electronics manufacturing services based in Markham, Ontario. The facility, comprised of a revolver and a term loan, will be used by Mara to refinance its existing debt and will provide additional working capital liquidity to support Mara's growth and its expansion into the United States. Mara is in the process of launching a new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Holly, Michigan to accommodate a new contract with one of Mara's major existing customers and to add capacity in the United States for the ever-expanding battery power management market. "We are pleased to partner with Mara to provide a tailored financing solution that will enable the company to capitalize on significant growth opportunities," said Patrick Dalton, Chief Executive Officer of FrontWell. "This transaction is a testament to the strength of the FrontWell brand in a competitive lending environment, and I am proud of our team's hard work to deliver a creative, cross-border structure that addresses the unique capital needs of a ompany as innovative and promising as Mara." "FrontWell's Canadian presence and expertise in the middle-market were important factors in our decision to partner with them," said Paul LaCroix, Chief Executive Officer of Mara Technologies. "We appreciate FrontWell's responsiveness and collaborative approach to structuring a capital solution that will enable us to execute our business plans." About FrontWell Capital Partners Headquartered in Toronto, FrontWell Capital Partners provides transitionary senior debt financing to middle-market companies in the United States and Canada. With committed seed capital of more than USD $350 million, FrontWell offers financing solutions, including asset-based (ABL) and cash flow loans, to maximize liquidity support for borrowers that are looking beyond traditional sources of capital. FrontWell's rigorous approach to origination, underwriting and risk management generates current income while prioritizing the preservation of principal over the chase for yield. FrontWell partners with companies across several industries that display balance sheet capacity and require liquidity to support a transition in their business, including turnarounds, restructurings, acquisitions and changes in ownership or control. For more information, please visit frontwellcapital.com. About Mara/Invotek Group Inc. (IGI) IGI supports OEMs through its manufacturing and engineering centers in the United States, Canada and China. IGI's strategy is to work with customers to develop and engineer world class processes that deliver optimized performance in cost and quality. We do this through in-depth open book collaborative efforts with your design and engineering teams that ensures that we become "Your Factory". We have a long history with broadband electronics manufacturing and over the past twenty years have developed world-class capabilities with IoT product development and power management systems for the Electric Vehicle market. For more information, visit Invotek at www.invotekgroup.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005179/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 11, 2023] 77 percent of business managers believe their organizations are likely to experience a data breach in the next three years according to survey More than three quarters (77 percent) of IT decision makers across the United States and Canada believe their companies are likely to face a data breach within the next three years according to survey results released today by Adastra, the global Data and Analytics solution provider. The online survey was conducted by Forum Research between December 2-14, 2022 and consisted of 882 IT professionals throughout the United States (589) and Canada (293). Survey respondents ranked data security as the biggest game changer in 2023 as companies continue to bolster their cybersecurity preparedness-68 percent of managers surveyed say their companies have a cybersecurity division and a further 18 percent report they are in the process of creating one. Only 6 percent of respondents reported having no cybersecurity division. "The increase in data breach incidents across North America is troubling and must be prioritized as employees continue to return in-person to their corporate offices," said Kuljit Chahal, Practice Lead, Data Security at Adastra North America. "During the pandemic many employees were hired virtually and, in combination with long absences from offices, introductions to and re-familiarization with security protocols will be critical." Awareness of data security best practices among employees is essential-according to the 2022 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report, 82 percent of data breaches are caused by human error and companies of all sizes are at risk. "In our role as data security experts, we have found that some companies, especially smaller ones, can be lulled into a false sense of security believing that perpetrators will not bother with them-this is absolutely not the case," said Chahal. "The results of this survey should serve as a reminder that companies of all sizes must invest in data security protection, resources and education, particularly as we return to in-office activities," he said. The cost of a breach can be significant and far more than what an audit from a data security firm will cost. According to Statista, the average cost of a data breach in the United States grew to $9.4 million USD in 2022, up from $9 million USD in the previous year. A poll of this size is considered accurate +/- 3.3 percent 19 times out of 20. 10 data security enhancements to consider as your employees return to the office: 1. Insider threats - employee re-education of systems and protocols The unauthorized disclosure of data isn't always the result of malicious actors. Often, data is accidentally overshared or lost by employees. Keep your employees informed with cyber security education. Employees who go through regular phishing tests may be less likely to engage with malicious actors over email or text messaging. 2. Know your inventory An inventory of software, hardware and data assets is essential. Having control over the assets with access to your corporate environment starts with an inventory. Inventories can be a part of the overall vulnerability management program to keep all assets up to date, including operating systems and software. Furthermore, a data inventory or catalogue identifies sensitive data, which allows appropriate security controls like encryption, access restrictions and monitoring to be placed on the most important data. 3. Delete redundant data Reducing your overall data footprint can be an effective way of reducing risk. Data that resides in multiple locations may not have equal protection in each environment. Understanding what data is required and what can be archived helps to keep control over data assets. 4. Early detection systems Detecting anomalies and suspicious activities can resolve issues before they become a breach. Today's XDR (extended detection and response) and EDR (endpoint detection and response) systems include automated responses to common attacks. For example, suppose an employee downloads a malicious email attachment. In that case, the EDR system can prevent the execution of the malware hidden inside and alert security staff. These detection systems can be monitored by internal cyber security staff or monitored by third-party security companies who can alert management of incidents as they occur. 5. Data back-ups Having a robust, immutable data backup plan can help an organization quickly recover from an incident. The frequency of the data backup depends on the risk the organization is willing to take. "Can we afford to lose a week's worth of data or a day's worth of data?" 6. Limiting staff access Employing the least privilege principle reduces overall risk by only allowing access to data and services required to perform specific duties. Establishing processes for provisioning and de-provisioning user access with approvals, audit trails, reports, and regular attestations can limit what an attacker may be able to access in the event of compromised credentials. It's not uncommon for end users to have unrestricted administrative access to their endpoint laptops. This allows users to install unauthorized software or be more easily targeted for malware attacks. 7. Hire a third-party company to conduct a security audit - know your vulnerabilities An outside assessment of your organization's security posture, based on established cyber security frameworks such as NIST or CIS, can provide a clearer picture of strengths and weaknesses and a roadmap to address your greatest vulnerabilities. 8. Establish new passwords with two-factor authentication Traditionally users are authenticated by one of three ways: What you know (password) What you have (card access or one-time passcode) What you are (biometrics) Adding a second factor to the ubiquitous password authentication adds another layer of security for access. 9. Update your computer programs with the latest security features Most data breaches occur because a known vulnerability was exploited. Establishing a vulnerability management program that regularly scans software assets and applies patches is one of the most crucial security activities a company can perform. 10. Physical security As employees return to the office, there will be employees who are coming back to the office for the first time. Reinforcing clean desk policies and reviewing physical access controls, including access to secure areas, may be required to ensure assets are not stolen or lost. Work-from-home employees who have company assets should be routinely educated on keeping those assets secure while at home as they would in the office. About Adastra For over two decades, Adastra Corporation has transformed businesses into digital leaders, helping global organizations innovate, achieve operational excellence, and create unforgettable customer experiences, all with the power of their data. At the forefront of Artificial Intelligence, Data, Cloud, Digital and Governance services, Adastra delivers solutions to enterprises to leverage data they can control and trust, connecting them to their customers - and their customers to the world. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005139/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 11, 2023] Garnett Station Partners Recapitalizes Flagstop Car Wash, Providing Growth Capital for Continued Regional Expansion Garnett Station Partners, LLC ("Garnett Station"), a New York-based principal investment firm that manages $1.85 billion of assets, today announced it has partnered with CEO Jamie Nester and the management team of Flagstop Car Wash ("Flagstop" or the "Company"), a leading express car wash chain based in Richmond, Virginia, to recapitalize the Company and provide growth capital to continue building out the Flagstop platform. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Founded in 1981 in Chester, Virginia, Flagstop has grown to become the leading express car wash chain offering premium wash and membership services at 14 strong-performing units across the greater Richmond region. Garnett Station's investment will help accelerate the growth of Flagstop's premium car wash platform within its core geographies, with the expectation to double its current footprint through new unit development and acquisitions. "Jamie, Craig and Derek are pioneers in the car wash industry. They have built an extraordinary team and beloved brand, and we are really excited to partner together to further accelerate growth in Richmond and beyond," said Alex Sloane, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Garnett Station. Jamie Nester, CEO of Flagstop, added, "We're thrilled to partner with Garnett Station and to add both their financial support and operational expertise as we look to continu to strengthen and grow our express and membership-focused business model. The Garnett Station team shares our vision for growth and passion for building a leading car wash platform. I'm excited for this next chapter of growth for Flagstop." "With several new sites in development, we are excited to partner with Garnett Station to continue scaling our platform," added Craig Marable, Flagstop's VP of Operations & Derek Haynes, VP of Maintenance and Facilities. About Garnett Station Partners Garnett Station Partners is a principal investment firm founded in 2013 by Matt Perelman and Alex Sloane that manages $1.85 billion of assets. Garnett Station partners with experienced and entrepreneurial management teams and strategic investors to build value for its portfolio of growth platforms. The firm draws on its global relationships, operational experience and rigorous diligence process to source, underwrite and manage investments. Core sectors include food & beverage, health & wellness, automotive, consumer and business services. Garnett Station's culture is based on the principles of entrepreneurship, collaboration, analytical rigor and accountability. For more information, please visit www.garnettstation.com. About Flagstop Car Wash Flagstop Car Wash was founded over 40 years ago in Chester, Virginia by Bob Schrum. Jamie Nester, Craig Marable and Derek Haynes acquired the Company in late 2016 and have successfully grown Flagstop into the leading express car wash platform in the greater Richmond market with 14 existing locations. For the latest news from Flagstop as well as more information on the company's services, locations and hours, visit www.flagstopcarwash.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110006056/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 11, 2023] Hajj Expo 2023 Kicks Off, Under the Patronage of Makkah Governor H.R.H Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Advisor to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and Governor of Makkah Region, and H.R.H Prince Faisal bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Governor, Madinah Province inaugurated the 2023 conference and exhibition on Hajj and Umrah 'Hajj Expo'. Held in Jeddah, the second edition of Hajj Expo featured 81 speakers from public and private sectors, as well as high-level delegations of ministers of religious affairs, heads of Hajj missions and higher authorities from +57 countries. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005423/en/ H.R.H Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Advisor to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and Governor of Makkah Region touring the exhibition with H.E. Minister of Hajj and Umrah, D. Tawfiq bin Fawzan Al-Rabiah (Photo: AETOSWire) H.E. Minister of Hajj and Umrah, Dr. Tawfiq bin Fawzan Al-Rabiah welcomed the esteemed guests, noting that Saudi Arabia's top priority is to ensure that pilgrims can perform Hajj and Umrah safely and securely by enhancing the digital capabilities of services. "This is a historical commitment and an honor to be proud of for the Two Holy Mosques government," he said. Al-Rabiah reiterated the Ministry's keenness to enrich the Hajj and Umrah experience by developing services and solutions and introducing enhanced regulations and procedures. He praised the commitment of relevant authorities and the early signing of Hajj agreements as 'testament to the unrelenting keenness to provide better services to pilgrims and Umrah performers.' The event witnessed several agreements and MoUs between key entities, notably the General Authority for Awqaf (GAA), the Saudi Conventions and Exhibitions General Authority (SCEGA), the King Salman Global Academy for Arabic Language (KSAA), the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization (SASO) and the Media and Banking Awareness Committee for Saudi Banks. More than 57 Hajj service agreements were also signed, regarding Hajj pilgrim numbers, dedicated plans for the arrival of pilgrims, and health requirements and procedural instructions. Hajj Expo discussed ways to enhance quality of Hajj services in 10 keynote sessions, 13 panel discussions and 'Hajj Talks', as well as 36 workshops and other events and activities: the Islamic exposition, the Hajj and Umrah Challenge Area, and the Startup Zone. Hajj Expo aims at building an integrated and sustainable ecosystem of services and solutions to enhance the experience of pilgrims, anticipate future directions and establish opportunities for further collaborations, agreements, and local and international initiatives, while showcasing Saudi Arabia's efforts to enhance the sustainable development of pilgrim services. *Source: AETOSWire View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005423/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Firefighters, police officers and public workers employees showed up at Buffalo's Common Council chambers Tuesday in a show of support for resolutions filed by lawmakers aimed at making sure front-line workers are properly equipped during snow emergencies like last months Christmas weekend blizzard. Even though you cannot directly relate the age of the fleet to anything that happened (during the blizzard), we had rigs that were absolutely broken down. We had a ladder truck that was stuck up in the air for five days, said Vincent Ventresca, president of Buffalo Professional Firefighters IAFF Local 282. He was among about 100 union members of the Buffalo fire, police and public works departments who attended the Council session during which South District Christopher Scanlon detailed his resolutions. Council member calls for investigation into Buffalo's response to blizzard Fillmore District Council Member Mitch Nowakowski called for the creation of a panel to address questions and concerns about the city's actions and response to the blizzard. Scanlon asked for a full inventory of vehicles in the police, fire and public works fleets, which the council member described as antiquated to say the least. You have equipment that is nearing 20 years old in some of these departments, Scanlon said. In the Fire Department, theres equipment with "cracked frames and again theyre old," he said. "Same thing within the Department of Public Works, whether it is plows, packers and other equipment on both the streets and sanitations sides of the department. And weve all had these conversations for the last couple of years about the Police Department, as well. Scanlon has proposed using American Rescue Plan funds to purchase additional equipment for the fire, police and public works departments. He called for buying sidewalk snow removal equipment, fire trucks, SUVs with four-wheel drive for Buffalo police as well as snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles and "other necessary equipment to right-size the departments. The citys Finance Department should amend the plan and file purchase orders for the equipment no later than Feb. 2, he has said. If not, he wants the Common Council to reject any further spending of American Rescue Plan funds. Niagara Council Member David Rivera on Tuesday suggested looking into using FEMA money to purchase equipment. Equipment problems have been brought up before with the administration, Scanlon said. These are conversations that I have been having for years," Scanlon said. "Its equipment that these unions and the people in this room have been asking for for years. This equipment is broken. A lot of it is so old that if parts do break, they dont make the parts anymore. I fear that we are going to run into a situation where someone is horribly hurt or someone dies because of it. Ventresca said the older pieces of equipment pose risks. Its about every day," he said. "Its about the equipment that we have thats not capable of doing the job. We had multiple pumpers that couldnt even pump. The equipment is timing out, and its ancient and we had a fire on Glenwood Avenue Sunday night that the apparatus in the front couldnt operate. A generational blizzard leaves a changed and damaged shoreline in its wake From Hoover Beach to the Outer Harbor to Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Centennial Park and the Bird Island Pier, homes and recreation areas felt the brunt of the storm. The city has already purchased a new piece of equipment, an ASAP MedStat Ambulance, for the Fire Department. The mini-ambulance has tracking capabilities and can navigate side streets and hard-to-reach areas if a regular ambulance can't. The city approved the $100,000 purchase last November as part of the city's $26 million capital budget for 2023. Scanlons resolutions, adopted by the Council on Tuesday, will be further discussed in the Councils Community Development Committee next week. [January 11, 2023] Built In Honors Telesign in Its 2023 Best Places To Work Awards LOS ANGELES, Jan. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Telesign , the leading provider of customer identity and engagement solutions, today announced that the company was honored by Built In, the largest platform for technology professionals globally, in its 2023 Best Places to Work Awards. The annual awards program includes companies of all sizes, from startups to those in the enterprise, and honors both remote-first employers as well as companies in large tech markets across the U.S. At Telesign, we are committed to making our company the greatest place any of us have ever worked and we are unwavering in our commitment to creating a culture that embodies equity and inclusion, said Jamie Girouard, CPO of Telesign. We are dedicated to innovating new ways that elevate our employees whole selves and work experience through programs such as flexible working arrangements, our learning and development strategy (including a year-long subscription to MasterClass), a recent weeklong paid holiday break to rest and recharge, our corporate social impact focus on STEM equity and giving back in our communities, and our support of Employee Resource Groups to cultivate an inclusive culture. Telesign exists to make the digital world a more trustworthy place for everyone, and we start by creating trust in our people as we help them grow personally and as professionals. We are honored to be recognized by Built in as a 2023 Best Places to Work winner. Built In determines the winners of Best Places to Work based on an algoithm, using company data about compensation and benefits. To reflect the benefits candidates are searching for on Built In, the program also weighs criteria like remote and flexible work opportunities, programs for DEI, and other people-first cultural offerings. Its my honor to congratulate this years Best Places to Work winners, says Sheridan Orr, Chief Marketing Officer, Built In. These exemplary companies understand their people are their most valuable asset, and theyve stepped up to meet the modern professionals new expectations, including the desire to work for companies that deliver purpose, growth and inclusion. These winners set the stage for a human-centered future of work, and we cant wait to see that future unfold. About Built In Built In is creating the largest platform for technology professionals globally. Monthly, millions of the industrys most in-demand professionals visit the site from across the world. They rely on our platform to stay ahead of tech trends and news, learn skills to accelerate their careers and find opportunities at companies whose values they share. Built In also serves 2,000 customers, innovative companies ranging from startups to those in the Fortune 500. By putting their stories in front of our uniquely engaged audience, we help them hire otherwise hard-to-reach tech professionals. www.builtin.com About Built Ins Best Places to Work Awards Built Ins esteemed Best Places to Work Awards, now in its fifth year, honor companies across numerous categories: 100 Best Places to Work, 50 Best Startup Places to Work, 100 Best Midsize Places to Work, 100 Best Large Places to Work and Editors Choice: 100 Best Hybrid Places to Work. The program honors companies remote, hybrid and in-office with the best total rewards packages across the U.S. and in the following tech hubs: Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Colorado, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington DC. About Telesign Telesign provides continuous trust to leading global enterprises by connecting, protecting, and defending their digital identities. Telesign verifies over five billion unique phone numbers a month, representing half of the worlds mobile users, and provides critical insight into the remaining billions. The companys powerful AI and extensive data science deliver identity with a unique combination of speed, accuracy, and global reach. Telesign solutions prevent fraud, secure communications, and enable the digital economy by allowing companies and customers to engage with confidence. Learn more at?www.telesign.com?and follow us on Twitter at @Telesign. Media Contact Lauren Ward, Senior Manager of PR Telesign [email protected] +1 310-227-9801 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 11, 2023] Nerdio Appoints CPTO, CPO to Drive New Period of Product Development and Company Growth CHICAGO, Jan. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CHICAGO January 11, 2023 Nerdio, the premier solution for organizations of all sizes looking to deploy virtual desktops leveraging native Microsoft technologies, today announces the additions of Suresh Thirunavukkarasu and Andy Baker to the companys executive leadership team. Baker has been promoted to Chief People Officer and Thirunavukkarasu joins the company as Chief Product and Technology Officer. In addition to staffing changes at the executive level, Nerdio has brought on Susan Driscoll as VP, Customer Success, to build out the companys customer success organization. Details of each executives career background and position responsibilities include: Suresh Thirunavukkarasu , Chief Product and Technology Officer is responsible for Nerdios product, engineering, partner solutions, and support functions. An accomplished business and technology executive, Thirunavukkarasu joins with 20+ years of experience in product management, marketing, and IT from VMware, Cisco, and Yubico. Prior to Nerdio, he was Chief Product Officer at Yubico, where he led product management, business strategy, and technical documentation. During his time with the company, he was instrumental in growing the business by 300%, pivoting the company into a recurring revenue model, and building multiple hardware and software products, including a multi-tenant SaaS platform. , Chief Product and Technology Officer is responsible for Nerdios product, engineering, partner solutions, and support functions. An accomplished business and technology executive, Thirunavukkarasu joins with 20+ years of experience in product management, marketing, and IT from VMware, Cisco, and Yubico. Prior to Nerdio, he was Chief Product Officer at Yubico, where he led product management, business strategy, and technical documentation. During his time with the company, he was instrumental in growing the business by 300%, pivoting the company into a recurring revenue model, and building multiple hardware and software products, including a multi-tenant SaaS platform. Andy Baker, Chief People Officer is responsible for Nerdios development and execution of HR programs related to talent acquisition and onbording, training, corporate culture, employee retention and relations, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). He has led Nerdios HR function since 2016, supporting the companys official incorporation in 2020 and subsequent growth. Baker has held multiple senior HR leadership roles in organizations of all sizes, ranging from Fortune 100 companies to small startups. Additionally, he has been a trusted HR advisor and consultant in the Chicago area since 2013. Chief People Officer is responsible for Nerdios development and execution of HR programs related to talent acquisition and onbording, training, corporate culture, employee retention and relations, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). He has led Nerdios HR function since 2016, supporting the companys official incorporation in 2020 and subsequent growth. Baker has held multiple senior HR leadership roles in organizations of all sizes, ranging from Fortune 100 companies to small startups. Additionally, he has been a trusted HR advisor and consultant in the Chicago area since 2013. Susan Driscoll, VP, Customer Success is responsible for building out Nerdios customer success organization to best serve Nerdios partners and enterprise customers and expand Nerdios customer and partner base. Driscoll joins Nerdio having most recently served five years at VMware in customer-facing account management roles. It is amazing to look at all Andy has accomplished, and helped us to accomplish, as weve grown to serve new markets and use cases. He has believed in this company and our vision from the very beginning, said Vadim Vladimirskiy, CEO and co-founder, Nerdio. Today we have staff, customers, and partners all over the world and are able to bring on top tech talent like Suresh and Susan amid a competitive hiring market. We are excited about what this year holds in store for Nerdio with these driven and effective leaders on board. Nerdio currently is hiring for open positions related to marketing, sales, and product. Interested applicants can learn more via the companys Careers page at https://getnerdio.com/careers-nerdio/. ### About Nerdio Nerdio adds value on top of the powerful capabilities in Azure Virtual Desktop, Windows 365, and Microsoft Intune by delivering hundreds of features that simplify management, ensure efficient operations, and lower Azure compute and storage costs by up to 80% via automation and license optimization. Leveraging Nerdio, MSPs can manage customers cloud environments through streamlined, multi-tenant, workflow-powered technology that allows them to create and grow cloud-based recurring revenues. Enterprise IT professionals can deliver and maintain a wide range of virtual Windows endpoints across hybrid workforces with ease and fine-tune end-user computing (EUC) approaches for maximum effectiveness using powerful monitoring and analytics capabilities. For more information, please visit www.getnerdio.com. Haley Sullivan Nerdio hsull[email protected] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 11, 2023] VoIP-Pal's Patent Infringement Lawsuit Against Amazon Remains in the Western District of Texas WACO, Texas, Jan. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- VoIP-Pal.com Inc. (VoIP-Pal, Company) (OTCQB: VPLM) is pleased to announce the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) denied Amazons Petition for Writ of Mandamus challenging the decision of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas (WDTX) in Case No. 6:21-cv-00668-ADA to deny transfer of the case to the Northern District of California. In a unanimous order released on January 9, 2023, upholding the decision made by the district court, the three-judge panel of the CAFC stated, [t]he [district] court considered all the relevant factors and made reasonable findings based on the record. The CAFCs order can be viewed here. Recent Legal Developments December 1, 2022: the Company announced that Judge Donato stayed all of the pending VoIP-Pal patent litigations in the Northern District of California and terminated the pending motions for judgment on the pleadings under 35 U.S.C. 101 without prejudice to refiling after the January 26, 2023 status conferences. The cases are Case Nos. 3:21-cv-5275, 3:21-cv-9773, 3:22-cv-3199, 3:19-cv-3202, 3:22-cv-4279, and 3:22-cv-5419. Link to news December 22, 2022: VoIP-Pal announced the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) denied institution of all four petitions for Inter Partes Review (IPR) filed by Google against the Company's two Mobile Gateway Patents. On December 19, 2022, IPR2022-01072, and IPR2022-01073, fild against Patent No. 8,630,234; and IPR2022-01074, and IPR2022-01075, filed against Patent No. 10,880,721 were denied institution by the PTAB. Link to news December 28, 2022: the Company announced the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) denied institution of all four petitions for Inter Partes Review (IPR) filed by Amazon and T-Mobile against the Company's two Mobile Gateway Patents. On December 22, 2022, IPR2022-01178, and IPR2022-01179, filed against Patent No. 8,630,234; and IPR2022-01180, and IPR2022-01181, filed against Patent No. 10,880,721 were denied institution by the PTAB. To date VoIP-Pal.com has successfully defeated 20 IPR challenges against 8 of its patents by Amazon, T-Mobile, Google, Apple, AT&T and Unified Patents. Link to news January 9, 2023: the Company announced they received a favorable result in the Claim Construction Hearing that was held on January 4, 2023, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas (WDTX) in VoIP-Pals cases versus Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd et al 6:21-cv-01246-ADA-JTG. Link to news About VoIP-Pal.com Inc. VoIP-Pal.Com, Inc. (VoIP-Pal) is a publicly traded corporation (OTCQB: VPLM) headquartered in Waco, Texas. The Company owns a portfolio of patents relating to Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology that it is currently looking to monetize. Any forecast of future financial performance is a forward looking statement under securities laws. Such statements are included to allow potential investors the opportunity to understand managements beliefs and opinions with respect to the future so that they may use such beliefs and opinions as one factor among many in evaluating an investment. While the Company believes in the circumstances that legal action is needed to monetize its patents, patent litigation involves various risks and uncertainties that could affect its ability to monetize the patents. We recognize that it is impossible to predict the specific outcomes of litigation. Corporate Website: www.voip-pal.com IR inquiries: [email protected] IR Contact: Rich Inza (954) 495-4600 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 11, 2023] BOSagora(BOA) launches the official MainNet, 'Agora'. SEOUL, South Korea, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The BOSagora Foundation (President: In-hwan Kim) announced the launch of 'Agora', its own official mainnet. Agora MainNet is a decentralized and self-evolving public blockchain network based on smart contracts and the Congress Network, a decision-making system within the blockchain. The Congress Network, a decentralized group decision-making organization composed of the DAO, proposes and decides on public budget funding support that is the differentiated core element of the Agora network, including technical details. The Congress Network will approve and support it if it is determined by a majority ote to benefit BOSagora and the entire community. BOSagora has developed 'Votera', a decision-making tool that is used in the Congress Network's decision-making process. Votera stores decision data in blocks, which ensures transparency and clarifies responsibility. To maintain confidentiality, the hash of the voting data is stored in the block during the voting period for data verification. Voting data is stored in the block at the end of the voting period. Additionally, data on discussion and pre-evaluation are stored on a separate server for transparency so that participants can access it anytime. The Gasper algorithm was selected as Agora's consensus algorithm to support a highly versatile network. The validator is the node that runs the validator client and deposits the specified BOA. Gasper identifies how the verifier participated in the process of proposing and verifying the block and determines compensation and penalty imposition. When there are many blockchain forks, Gasper also specifies which fork should be used to create a block. BOSagora is developing a unique ecosystem called the 'Everyday Blockchain Platform', which focuses on linking with real-life businesses to revitalize the network ecosystem. Based on the X2E (X to Earn) ecosystem that pays for specific activities related to real life, it is planned to link all services participating in the BOSagora network ecosystem to daily life by grafting with kiosks that are installed and used by several affiliate companies all over the world. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bosagoraboa-launches-the-official-mainnet-agora-301718718.html SOURCE BOSAGORA [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 11, 2023] SAIC Awarded $2.6B Federal Aviation Administration IDIQ Contract to Support Programs Science Applications International Corp. (NYSE: SAIC) has been awarded a prime position to continue services through the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Systems Engineering and Technical Innovative Solutions (SETIS) indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract. "SAIC supports the FAA's mission to provide the safest and most efficient airspace through continuous improvements to communications, navigation and surveillance systems," said Bob Genter, president, Defense & Civilian Sector at SAIC. "Our focus is on delivering advanced solutions in systems engineering, research, management, development and analysis that enable the FAA's aviation programs." SAIC is one of 15 companies, including five large businesses and ten small businesses, selected for a prime position on the $2.3 billion shared-ceiling, multi-award indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract. The contract has a base period of performance of 36 months, followed by a three-year option and two two-year option periods. SAIC will perform work for this contract primarily in the metropolitan Washington, D.C. area and at the FAA Technical Center in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Since 2010, SAIC has provided the FAA with a broad range of research, service analysis, strategic planning, technical, financial, programmatic support and systems engineering on programs including air traffic control (ATC), avionics, communication, navigation and surveillance (CNS), modeling and simulation. SAIC also supports technology infusion for data science, artificial intelligence and machine learning, advanced air mobility, and unmanned aerial systems. In addition, the company provides services to support joint research programs, including the FAA and NASA UAS Traffic Management (UTM) program. About SAIC SAIC is a premier Fortune 500 technology integrator driving our nation's technology transformation. Our robust potfolio of offerings across the defense, space, civilian and intelligence markets includes secure high-end solutions in engineering, digital, artificial intelligence and mission solutions. Using our expertise and understanding of existing and emerging technologies, we integrate the best components from our own portfolio and our partner ecosystem to deliver innovative, effective and efficient solutions that are critical to achieving our customers' missions. We are approximately 26,000 strong; driven by mission, united by purpose, and inspired by opportunities. SAIC is an Equal Opportunity Employer, fostering a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion, which is core to our values and important to attract and retain exceptional talent. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, SAIC has annual revenues of approximately $7.4 billion.???? For more information, visit saic.com. For ongoing news, please visit our newsroom. Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements in this release contain or are based on "forward-looking" information within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by words such as "expects," "intends," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "guidance," and similar words or phrases. Forward-looking statements in this release may include, among others, estimates of future revenues, operating income, earnings, earnings per share, charges, total contract value, backlog, outstanding shares and cash flows, as well as statements about future dividends, share repurchases and other capital deployment plans. Such statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risk, uncertainties and assumptions, and actual results may differ materially from the guidance and other forward-looking statements made in this release as a result of various factors. Risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause or contribute to these material differences include those discussed in the "Risk Factors," "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and "Legal Proceedings" sections of our Annual Report on Form 10-K, as updated in any subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other filings with the SEC, which may be viewed or obtained through the Investor Relations section of our website at saic.com or on the SEC's website at sec.gov. Due to such risks, uncertainties and assumptions you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. SAIC expressly disclaims any duty to update any forward-looking statement provided in this release to reflect subsequent events, actual results or changes in SAIC's expectations. SAIC also disclaims any duty to comment upon or correct information that may be contained in reports published by investment analysts or others. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005072/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 11, 2023] XtalPi Names New COO for U.S. Operations, Bringing Its Autonomous Labs to Boston in Continued Global Expansion SHENZHEN, China, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- XtalPi, Inc., a pioneering pharmaceutical technology company powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and automation, announced that Dr. Sarah Trice has joined the company as chief operating officer of U.S. operations. Dr. Trice will report directly to XtalPi CEO Dr. Jian Ma, leading the company's growth strategy and corporate operations in the U.S. and European markets. Dr. Trice has spent over 17 years building a celebrated career across the life science and pharmaceutical sectors. Prior to joining XtalPi, Dr. Trice co-founded Entos, Inc., an AI-driven biotechnology company, where she oversaw all day-to-day operations and directed external business activities as the COO. Before starting her own venture, Dr. Trice worked at both Merck & Co. and Merck KGaA for over a decade, where she rose through a wide range of leadership roles across medicinal chemistry, chemical synthesis, AI software commercialization, and lab management. As an advocate for cross-disciplinary conversations between chemistry, AI, and new enabling technologies, she has fostered and maintained relationships with industrial and academic collaborators around the world. At XtalPi, Dr. Trice will be responsible for driving XtalPi's business expansion in the U.S. and European markets,including spearheading the establishment of a next-generation autonomous lab in the Greater Boston Area. This initiative will showcase and build upon the existing success of XtalPi's R&D digital twin system, with its AI platform and hundreds of experimental robotics workstations in Shenzhen and Shanghai forming an iterative closed loop to empower drug research at scale. "Pharmaceutical innovation is a global endeavor, which is why we have been striving to build an international team of talent with global perspectives, experiences and resources to better serve our clients and patients worldwide," said Dr. Jian Ma, CEO and co-founder of XtalPi. "We are delighted to welcome Dr. Trice, whose impressive depth of expertise and track record of stellar performance make her an ideal leader for our fast-growing business in the most innovative pharmaceutical markets." "I'm very excited to join XtalPi," said Dr. Trice, "I've always been impressed with XtalPi's AI technology platform and fast-growing team. As its autonomous laboratories continue to scale up, I believe the company is poised to show the world how it can significantly transform drug discovery." Reflecting on her successful career, Dr. Trice added, "From my beginning as a medicinal chemist, I have managed nearly all aspects of fast-paced, technology-based biopharma research, and I look forward to leveraging my expertise to execute XtalPi's plans for growth in the global market." Dr. Trice earned a doctorate in synthetic organic chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management. She mentors young female scientific business leaders and remains very active in the MIT community. About XtalPi XtalPi is a quantum physics and AI-powered pharmaceutical technology platform that provides integrated drug discovery solutions for global pharmaceutical companies. XtalPi has pioneered a new model for drug R&D that leverages a tightly interwoven trifecta of AI, autonomous labs, and expert domain knowledge. The company applies this three-pronged approach in its R&D platform to accelerate the drug discovery and development process and address unmet needs for patients worldwide. Media contact: Ruyu Wang [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/xtalpi-names-new-coo-for-us-operations-bringing-its-autonomous-labs-to-boston-in-continued-global-expansion-301719012.html SOURCE XtalPi, Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 11, 2023] Censinet Secures $9M in New Funding to Accelerate Third Party Risk Management in Healthcare Censinet, the leading provider of healthcare risk management solutions, today announced $9 million in funding led by MemorialCare Innovation Fund including Rex Health Ventures and Ballad Ventures, bringing the Company's total funding to more than $22 million. Existing investors LRVHealth, HLM Venture Partners, Schooner Capital, Excelerate Health Ventures, and Cedars Sinai, participated in the round as well. "Censinet's mission is to take the risk out of healthcare," said Ed Gaudet, CEO and Founder at Censinet. "With the number of breaches escalating and ransomware now a direct threat to patient safety, the need for the healthcare industry to transform cyber risk management has never been more urgent. Censinet's unique risk exchange enables providers, payers, and vendors to collaboratively manage third party and enterprise risk, continuously improving risk posture in real-time and strengthening cybersecurity across all healthcare organizations." Purpose-built for healthcare, Censinet RiskOpsTM is the world's first and only cloud-based, HIPAA-secure risk exchange that enables healthcare organizations to share and manage risk data to strengthen cybersecurity. With close to 40 customers across health systems, health plans, and vendors, and 100% ARR growth year-over-year through Q3 2022, the company is undergoing record growth and has never lost a customer. This new funding round is earmarked for continued investment in sales and marketing, product development, and customer success to raidly expand Censinet's customer base; drive ACV expansion through new product modules and capabilities; and expand our core offering into adjacent markets and verticals. "Healthcare is under siege from bad actors, with patient safety and care operations directly in the crosshairs," said Caleb Winder, Managing Director, MemorialCare Innovation Fund. "With hospitals and health systems facing narrowing margins and an acute talent shortage, Censinet has cracked the code on cyber risk management, delivering an affordable, fully automated solution that rapidly force-multiplies productivity and successfully brings providers, payers, and vendors together on a collaborative risk exchange to share cyber risk data. Our investment enables Censinet to scale that information exchange and to bring its offering to more industry participants, strengthening cybersecurity and safeguarding patient care for the long run." "The Censinet network collaborative is designed to protect patient safety by reducing risks associated with cybersecurity and operational threats," said Anita Watkins, Managing Director at Rex Health Ventures. "Our investment in Censinet is driven by its experienced team, its proven track record working with global health organizations and its esteemed partner network." "The company's two-sided network approach for third-party risk assessment is invaluable - to our information technology teams and team members throughout the health system, to our third-party vendors and, most importantly, to the patients and community we serve," said Pam Austin, chief information officer for Ballad Health & senior IT advisor for Ballad Ventures. "The collaboration, automation and risk mitigation made possible through Censinet are tremendous, and we're excited to work with this platform going forward to bolster our internal efficiencies, lessen threats and, ultimately, create a safer, more conducive environment for our patients." The company's flagship offering Censinet RiskOpsTM delivers total automation across all third party and enterprise risk management workflows, processes, and insights. With a Digital Risk CatalogTM of over 34,000 vendors and products, automated corrective action plans, real-time portfolio management, and Board-ready reporting with actionable insights, Censinet customers manage and mitigate third-party risk across the entire vendor and product lifecycle with assessment completion time of less than 10 days, the industry's fastest solution. The company recently announced a landmark initiative, The Healthcare Cybersecurity Benchmarking Study, co-sponsored by the American Hospital Association and KLAS Research, to establish and validate robust benchmarks across cybersecurity program KPIs as well as program coverage of NIST Cybersecurity Framework (NIST CSF) and HHS Health Industry Cybersecurity Practices (HICP). About Censinet Censinet, based in Boston, MA, takes the risk out of healthcare with Censinet RiskOps, the industry's first and only cloud-based risk exchange of healthcare organizations working together to manage and mitigate cyber risk. Purpose-built for healthcare, Censinet RiskOpsTM delivers total automation across all third party and enterprise risk management workflows and best practices. Censinet transforms cyber risk management by leveraging network scale and efficiencies, providing actionable insight, and improving overall operational effectiveness while eliminating risks to patient safety, data, and care delivery. Censinet is an American Hospital Association (AHA) Preferred Cybersecurity Provider. Find out more about Censinet and its RiskOps platform at censinet.com. About MemorialCare Innovation Fund MemorialCare Innovation Fund (MCIF) brings strategic investment funding to accelerate the development of companies in the healthcare information technology, healthcare services, and medical device sectors that can advance high-quality, effective healthcare. MCIF is focused on companies offering innovative products, services and technologies which help healthcare systems significantly improve performance and outcomes and achieve their community missions. Visit www.MemorialCareInnovationFund.com for more information. About Rex Health Ventures Rex Health Ventures (RHV) was established in 2012 by UNC REX Healthcare in Raleigh, N.C., as part of its commitment to innovation. RHV enables groundbreaking work by investing in and fostering companies and technologies that advance the future of health and improves patient care. RHV has partnered with a dozen emerging companies throughout North Carolina and the U.S., and leverages the talent and subject matter experts across the UNC REX and UNC Health Care network. To learn more, visit https://rexhealthventures.com/. About Ballad Ventures Ballad Ventures is a venture capital platform focused on investing in innovative ideas that transform healthcare experience, cost, access and outcomes for the better. As the venture capital arm of Ballad Health - an integrated community health improvement organization serving 29 counties of the Appalachian Highlands in Northeast Tennessee, Southwest Virginia, Northwest North Carolina and Southeast Kentucky - we seek opportunities that drive the mission, vision and strategic initiatives of the organization, such as leading in the adoption of value-based payments, addressing health-related social needs, funding clinical and health systems research and committing to long-term investments in strong children and families. To learn more, visit www.balladventures.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005526/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 11, 2023] Infleqtion Enters 2023 on Heels of Milestone Year Global quantum ecosystem leader to continue record growth in 2023, powered by deep bench of industry experts, technical milestones and revenue-generating customers BOULDER, Colo., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Infleqtion , the global quantum ecosystem leader, today announced the completion of an impressive 2022, with momentum across all business units, including revenue, headcount, technical milestones, industry partnerships, leadership expansion and more. "The quantum industry continues to mature, and we're not just growing alongside it - we're powering its evolution at a rapid clip," said Scott Faris, CEO, Infleqtion. "Infleqtion cemented its reputation as the global quantum ecosystem leader in 2022 highlighted by a new round of funding, and numerous product accolades. These accomplishments will help move quantum beyond research and development to bring commercialized quantum solutions to the world." The company, formerly known as ColdQuanta, recently launched a new umbrella brand, Infleqtion, which reflects the maturation and evolution of the company and industry towards commercialization. The introduction of the Infleqtion brand marked the culmination of a year of major milestones with $110 million in Series B funding , including A$29 million investment from Breakthrough Victoria to create the ColdQuanta-Swinburne Quantum Technology Centre in Australia. The company also acquired Super.tech, a world leader in quantum software application and platform development. Noteworthy milestones for 2022 include: Customers Won 5-year subcontract in response to an Ofice of Naval Research Broad Area Announcement (BAA) to develop portable atomic clocks in response to an Ofice of Naval Research Broad Area Announcement (BAA) to develop portable atomic clocks Announced a collaboration with Morningstar to integrate SuperstaQ, Infleqtion's flagship quantum software, into Morningstar Direct SuperstaQ, Infleqtion's flagship quantum software, into Morningstar Direct Awarded two projects in the commercialising quantum technologies challenge from the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI): Ultracold quantum memories and TALENT: Tapered AmpLifiErs for quaNtum Technologies Ultracold quantum memories and TALENT: Tapered AmpLifiErs for quaNtum Technologies Technical milestones and honors Won 2022 Prism Award, Quantum from SPIE Photonics West and Photonics Media for Albert, ColdQuanta's quantum matter platform from SPIE Photonics West and Photonics Media for Albert, ColdQuanta's quantum matter platform Won 2022 Best of Sensors Award for Maxwell, a high performance test and calibration instrument for Maxwell, a high performance test and calibration instrument Albert named one of TIME's Best Inventions of 2022 one of TIME's Best Inventions of 2022 Infleqtion, Riverlane and University of Wisconsin-Madison successfully demonstrated algorithms on a programmable neutral atom quantum computer successfully algorithms on a programmable neutral atom quantum computer Received first and second place in Electric Power Research Institute Quantum Challenge for papers on quantum computing and atomic clocks, respectively Dr. Fred Chong , Chief Scientist for Quantum Software named IEEE Fellow for his Enabling Practical-scale Quantum Computing (EPiQC) project , Chief Scientist for Quantum Software IEEE Fellow for his Enabling Practical-scale Quantum Computing (EPiQC) project Unveiled SupercheQ : Quantum Advantage for Distributed Databases, a scientific advance that extends the power of quantum computation to new applications : Quantum Advantage for Distributed Databases, a scientific advance that extends the power of quantum computation to new applications Recognition of business and technical leadership Dr. Fred Chong , Chief Scientist for Quantum Software named IEEE Fellow for his Enabling Practical-scale Quantum Computing (EPiQC) project , Chief Scientist for Quantum Software IEEE Fellow for his Enabling Practical-scale Quantum Computing (EPiQC) project Dr. Bob Sutor , Vice President and Chief Quantum Advocate testified at the Senate committee hearing, "Securing U.S. Leadership in Emerging Compute Technologies" in Washington, D.C. , Vice President and Chief Quantum Advocate at the Senate committee hearing, "Securing U.S. Leadership in Emerging Compute Technologies" in Innovative partnerships with Classiq , The University of Colorado Boulder's CUbit Quantum Initiative About Infleqtion Infleqtion is building an ecosystem of quantum technologies and commercial products for today, that will drive the company and the entire industry toward tomorrow. The company believes in taking quantum to its limit and leading from the edge. Infleqtion is built on 15 years of pioneering quantum research from ColdQuanta. Its scalable and versatile quantum technology is used by organizations around the globe and deployed by NASA on the International Space Station. Infleqtion is based in Boulder, CO, with offices in Chicago, IL; Madison, WI; Melbourne, AU and Oxford, UK. Find out how Infleqtion is building the future at www.Infleqtion.com . View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/infleqtion-enters-2023-on-heels-of-milestone-year-301718370.html SOURCE Infleqtion [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 11, 2023] Nokia Canada momentum accelerates with new sustainable office in downtown Toronto New office and employee growth strategy shows commitment to customers and partners across Ontario and Canada and Canada Modern workplace facilitates collaboration through hybrid work environment TORONTO, ON, Jan. 11, 2023 /CNW/ - Nokia today announced the opening of a sustainable, modern office in downtown Toronto's Harbourfront community. The new office, as well as the recently announced R&D center in Ottawa, are part of Nokia's ongoing efforts to expand its presence in Canada and support increased demand from Canadian customers and partners. Today's announcement highlights Nokia Canada's commitment to its employees and to next-generation networking, as the company continues its positive employee growth strategy across the country. Jeffrey Maddox, President of Nokia Canada, said: "We are excited to open our new office in downtown Toronto, the heart of Canada's financial center. This vibrant workspace exemplifies the best in a hybrid workplace and was designed to encourage collaboration and inspire the next wave of innovation. Our growing presence across Canada maps to the increased demand we are seeing from customers and partners and will enable us to deliver secure, high performing, and trusted critical networking solutions." Toronto Mayor John Tory said: "Toronto is global tech and innovation hub, and I'm so thrilled to see Nokia Canada recognize this asthey open an office on our waterfront. Toronto is a vital economic engine in our country, and we are proud to support growth in this sector, encouraging more companies and workers to come to our city. With Nokia Canada's new office bringing more workers into the downtown core, I look forward to seeing what they accomplish as we recover and grow in the years ahead." As part of Nokia Canada's flexible work model, many of the company's Toronto-based employees have the option to work remote, hybrid, or be office-based. Located at 100 Queens Quay East, the new office provides a modern, hybrid workplace where teams can come together and share ideas in person, while also taking advantage of collaboration technologies that enable virtual teams to work together seamlessly. These employees have roles in software development, customer service, and sales, and help support Nokia's expanding global customer base, as the company continues to roll out new product innovations. The team is focused on supporting growing demand for Nokia's 5G, high speed broadband, mission-critical routing, optical, and private wireless solutions. Nokia is committed to minimizing its environmental footprint and chose the Queens Quay office building, part of the Sugar Wharf redevelopment, for its focus on sustainability and Class "AAA" LEED and Energy Star certifications. Centrally located on the waterfront, the office provides employees with access to world-class amenities and public transportation, helping to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, the space includes many nods to Canadian and Toronto history with artwork from local artists and spectacular views of Lake Ontario. As part of Nokia Canada's continued momentum, the company recently announced plans to build a world-leading, sustainable R&D hub in Ottawa that will that significantly expand Nokia Canada's capacity in next-generation information and communications technology (ICT) and cyber security innovation. The R&D hub is expected to add 340 new high-value jobs and help Nokia attract highly skilled, global talent to Canada's tech ecosystem. Nokia provides critical networks to the major service providers and leading operators, as well as enterprises, webscalers, and government organizations in Canada. ?The company's connectivity solutions form the critical foundation for major Canadian industries and infrastructure, including transportation, utilities, smart cities, government services and natural resources. Nokia's advanced networking portfolio includes 5G radio and core, fiber-to-the home, IP-routing, optical networks, cyber security, submarine cable and network management software. About Nokia At Nokia, we create technology that helps the world act together. As a trusted partner for critical networks, we are committed to innovation and technology leadership across mobile, fixed and cloud networks. We create value with intellectual property and long-term research, led by the award-winning Nokia Bell Labs. Adhering to high standards of integrity and security, we help build the capabilities needed for a more productive, sustainable, and inclusive world. SOURCE Nokia [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 11, 2023] Aware Welcomes Kevin Bobowski as Chief Marketing Officer Market Innovator Appoints SaaS Industry Veteran to Accelerate Growth and Market Leadership COLUMBUS, Ohio, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Aware, the leading collaboration intelligence platform, welcomes Kevin Bobowski as Chief Marketing Officer, effective immediately. Bobowski brings nearly 20 years of SaaS experience building world-class brands, developing high-performing teams, and driving business impact. He leads Aware's go-to-market strategy, including brand marketing, product marketing, demand generation, field marketing and sales development for Aware's full suite of collaboration solutions. "Our cutting-edge organizational and risk intelligence platform generates incredible insights and solves important business challenges that protect companies and their most valuable assettheir people," said Jeff Schumann, CEO of Aware. "I'm thrilled to have Kevin Bobowski join our executive leadership team and lead the charge in sharing our story with the world. His proven track record of success will strengthen Aware's go-to-market strategy and position as a market innovator." Most recently, Mr. Bobowski was the CMO of Siteimprove, a leading enterprise platform that turns content into revenue. Prior to Siteimprove, Bobowski served as the Senior Vice President of Marketng at Aurea Software, where he and his organization operated a marketing center of excellence for Aurea Software and other ESW Capital portfolio companies. Previously, Bobowski served as the SVP of Marketing at BrightEdge, the CMO at Act-On Software, and led demand generation at ExactTarget and Salesforce.com, where his team fueled the company's growth through a successful IPO in 2012 and acquisition by Salesforce for $2.5 billion. "With its ambitious vision and cutting-edge platform, Aware is perfectly positioned to enable enterprises to unlock value from the massive volume of digital conversations happening in today's workplace," said Bobowski. "Aware has quickly become mission-critical for any digital transformation and is on a trajectory to revolutionize the enterprise collaboration market in a way that observability platforms such as Datadog, Splunk and Elastic have reshaped their markets." For more information about Aware and its solutions, please visit www.awarehq.com. About Aware Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, Aware is a global leader in collaboration intelligence that identifies and reduces risk, maintains compliance, and uncovers new business insights from conversations at scale. Consolidate, enrich, search, and manage data across tools like Slack, WorkJam, Teams and Zoom for immediate visibility across the organization. Aware's comprehensive platform empowers executives with organizational insights, while also helping legal, compliance, information security, and IT professionals to address the modern challenges of enterprise collaboration: archiving, monitoring, DLP, eDiscovery, retention and legal holds. Aware is a strategic platform integration partner to Microsoft, Slack, and Workplace from Meta. AstraZeneca, Memorial Health System, Sun Life Financial, BT Group, Farmers Insurance and Mercado Libre are among the global business leaders that trust Aware for collaboration intelligence. Aware is consistently recognized by Gartner analysts as a market leading vendor, distinguished in 2022 reports: Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Information Archiving; Market Guide for Insider Risk Management Solutions; Market Guide for Voice of the Employee Solutions; Vendor Identification for Data Loss Prevention Toolkit. Learn more at www.awarehq.com. Media Contact Dex Polizzi Lumina Communications on behalf of Aware [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aware-welcomes-kevin-bobowski-as-chief-marketing-officer-301718855.html SOURCE Aware [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Federal prosecutors can delay revealing the names of some witnesses in a bribery and drug and human trafficking trial that stems from a federal organized crime investigation for now. U.S. District Judge John L. Sinatra Jr. ruled Monday that prosecutors may identify some witnesses only as "protected witness" because of concerns about their safety until May 10, and perhaps beyond then. Cheektowaga strip club owner Peter G. Gerace Jr. and retired U.S. Drug Enforcement Administrative Agent Joseph S. Bongiovanni are scheduled to go on trial June 21 in Buffalo. Bongiovanni is charged with taking $250,000 in bribes to help protect Gerace and others whom he believed were associated with Italian organized crime. Gerace, who owns Pharaohs Gentlemens Club, is charged with bribing Bongiovanni and conspiring to engage in drug trafficking and human trafficking at his strip club. Gerace is the nephew of Joseph A. Todaro, whom prosecutors and federal agents have identified in court documents as the leader of Buffalos Italian Organized Crime organization. Todaro, the owner of La Nova Pizza, is not charged in the case and has denied being involved in organized crime. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph M. Tripi told the judge in court on Friday that there are safety concerns about seven, eight or nine of the approximately 100 people he expects to call as witnesses at the trial. He made no allegations that anyone has been threatened, but said some witnesses could face danger if local criminals find out they are cooperating with law enforcement. Defense attorney Steven M. Cohen, who represents Gerace, said Tuesday that the judge's ruling is a step in the right direction because it does require the prosecution to start sharing its evidence with the defense. "My client still is terribly disadvantaged. I dont know the name of a single witness, a single victim, a single transaction for which my client has been indicted. That is ludicrous," he said. "Mr. Tripi continues to say my client is a danger. He hasnt been able to point to a single instance where my client has threatened anyone directly or indirectly," Cohen said. James P. Harrington, who represents Bongiovanni, said Tuesday he believes the prosecution will tell defense attorneys the identities of the "protected witnesses" before the trial begins. Typically, he said, the government does provide that information to defense attorneys before trials begin to avoid delays in the middle of trials. But under the federal rules of evidence, the prosecution doesn't have to provide the defense with evidence of prior statements by witnesses until after a witness testifies, he said. Sinatra also ruled that prosecutors can file under seal so that they are not available to the public its pre-trial memos, witness list, exhibit list and prior statements by witnesses. The court and defense attorneys would have access to those documents. But the defense attorneys would be barred from sharing with Gerace and Bongiovanni the contents of witnesses' prior statements to law enforcement until May 10 42 days before the start of the trial. "That's abnormal. That's not the usual situation," Harrington said. Under the judge's ruling, defense attorneys would also be barred from sharing the identities of witnesses or their prior statements with anyone outside the defense team. Tripi and the U.S. Attorney's Office did not respond Tuesday to a request for comment. [January 11, 2023] AVANT Outlines Key Growth Strategies for Trusted Advisors in 2023 CHICAGO, Jan. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AVANT, a platform for IT decision-making and the nations premier Technology Services Distributor, identified four ways channel partners can win new business and close deals faster, expand their share of wallet, and optimize the customer experience in 2023. Included in this outlook is the following guidance: Make the Right Investments at the Right Time in People, Process and Platforms Embrace As a Service and Prioritize Sustainability Omni-channel Communications to Drive Growth in CCaaS Use Security Solutions and Services to Unlock More Revenue In 2022, AVANT doubled down on increasing the depth and breadth of our portfolio of solutions and talent. These core differentiators, along with the resources provided to our Trusted Advisors, enhanced their expertise, and positioned our partners to grow and drive more revenue for their business, said Ian Kieninger, CEO and Co-Founder, AVANT. Additionally, our acquisition of PlanetOne and the launch of our Security Practice in Spring 2022 helped us generate more business value for our Trusted Advisors and welcome new faces to our community. In 2023, we will move even faster to empower our employees and Trusted Advisors to successfully navigate the evolving technology landscape through our relationships with leading global technology providers, our world-class research and Pathfinder Technology, and our training and education programs. Making the Right Investments at the Right Time in People, Process and Platforms Pulling from its own playbook, AVANT sees mergers and acquisitions continue within the channel in 2023 and encourages Trusted Advisors to maintain focus on their team and their customers with an eye on culture, creativity, inclusion, and collaboration. Bringing our team together with the PlanetOne teamincluding one of the original pioneers of the agency business model, Ted Schuman, and 2022 Channel Influencer of the Year, Chris Werpyhas already reaped a number of key benefits for us and our Trusted Advisors, said Drew Lydecker, Co-Founder and President, AVANT. Also, the knowledge and expertise the PlanetOne team brings to the table from a project management perspective is helping us to enhance the back-office and post-sale experience. This is something that cant be underestimated and will continue to be a significant focus for us in the coming year. Embrace As-a-Service and Prioritize Sustainability During 2022, an increasing number of AVANT Trusted Advisors challenged traditional thinking by embracing As-a-Service. Nobody can help a business digitize faster than a Trusted Advisor, said Lydecker. Businesses that arent already migrating to the As-a-Service model are running to catch up and savvy Trusted Advisors know this. The opportunities have never been bigger, and there is an incredible opportunity in play right now for Trusted Advisors to guide their customers in making the right choices. Lydecker also points out that higher customer expectations are driving the need to look at the business value of a solution, and that demand for solutions including Disaster Recovery-as-a-Service (DRaaS), Contact Center-as-a-Service (CCaaS) and Unified Communications-as-a-Service (UCaaS) are creating opportunity. In 2023, we will see the continued acceleration of CCaaS and UCaaS, businesses will also lok more to DRaaS, something that has traditionally been a big miss in IT, but will become more prevalent, Lydecker added. He continued, Sustainability will also be a key focus for Trusted Advisors and something they will need to address with their customers as pressure from consumers and governmental organizations increases. There will be greater emphasis placed on the disposal of hardware and the protection of data as traditional hardware solutions are increasingly displaced by As-a-Service. This is an area where Trusted Advisors can benefit from leveraging AVANTs training and research geared toward the C-level buyer to educate their customers and partners. Omni-channel Communications to Drive Growth in CCaaS Over the past twelve months, consumer communication preferences have evolved as the spending power of Millennials and Gen Z increases. We have seen significant growth in CCaaS as more businesses adopt omni-channel communication approaches that include phone, but also text, chat, and video to enable the self-service capabilities often preferred by younger consumers, said Brent Wilford, Senior Director, CX and Unified Communications, AVANT. With the use of all of these technologies, however, come certain challenges, not the least of which is protecting the security and adhering to customer privacy rules and regulations. For AVANT Trusted Advisors, this growing complexity is creating opportunity for them to guide their customers in selecting the right technologies and services based on their business and its customer service use cases and target audiences. We are proud to rank #1 or #2 with the industrys top CCaaS providers and will continue to make investments in 2023 in helping our Trusted Advisors capture spend in this area, added Wilford. Organizations can successfully pivot to self-service and at-your-service models by taking inventory and selecting CCaaS providers whose technology adds value to their business, hiring resources and investing in their staff, as in the end an optimal employee experience equals a better customer experience. Use Security Solutions and Services to Unlock More Revenue Today, businesses are prone to think about security as a cost of doing business, but according to AVANT Senior Director of Security, Stephen Semmelroth, Businesses should instead be looking at security as a way to unlock revenue. Semmelroth offers this advice to Trusted Advisors: 1) Explain security in the context of The Heros Journey. Employees are the hero in their organizations cybersecurity journey. When they seek out and apply what theyve learned to their own behavior or routines at work, they are embarking on a journey to help their organization protect itself and other employees from potential security threats. 2) Think like an adversary. For Trusted Advisors, this should be one of the main goals in leading security conversations with customers. The key is to overcome imposter syndrome and think like a hacker. By thinking like a hacker and seeing the vulnerabilities within their customers businesses, Trusted Advisors can acutely understand what specific technologies and features are necessary to shore up the organization against security threats. 3) You dont have to be a wizard to sell security. Again, this is where the imposter syndrome comes into play. Its impossible for a single person to go both deep and wide in every security discipline. A Trusted Advisor does NOT have to be an engineer. They can be a non-technical business leader in the security industry. 4) Invest in the right technologies. A Trusted Advisor should start with what they know best. Key investment areas should include, in this order DDoS protection; Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery (BC/DR); incident response, managed detection and response (MDR); Identity Access Management (IAM); Privileged Access Management (PAM); Extended Detection and Response (XDR); Secure Service Edge (SSE); outsourcing; network security; and patching. Its important for Trusted Advisors to remember that security problems do not exist because of threats, the threats exist because of security problems, said Semmelroth. This is why Trusted Advisors can add such tremendous value for their customers with the training, education and resources we provide them here at AVANT. For AVANT and its Trusted Advisors, 2023 will be about making the right investments and embracing the As a Service model, including omni-channel communications strategies and security offerings, to unlock more revenue and drive business growth. To enable and guide Trusted Advisors on this journey, AVANT offers a number of resources including AVANT Analytics, training and educational events, AVANT Technology Insights, and Pathfinder. About AVANT AVANT is a platform for IT decision-making and the nations premier distributor for next-generation technologies. AVANT provides unique value to its extensive network of Trusted Advisors with original research, channel sales assistance, training, and tools to guide decision-making around IT services that promote business growth. From complex cloud designs to global wide-area network deployments to the latest in security services, AVANT sets the industry standard in enabling its partners and clients to make intelligent, data-driven decisions about services, technology and cost-effective communications. For more information, visit www.goavant.net, or connect on Twitter and LinkedIn. Media Contact: Suzanne Collier WhiteFox PR (for AVANT) [email protected] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 11, 2023] MOBILion Systems Demonstrates Integration of SLIM Technology with Orbitrap Technology Yielding Sensitivity Gains Proof of Concept Presented at HUPO Integrates SLIM Technology with Thermo Scientific Orbitrap Exploris 480 Mass Spectrometer to Provide Significant Signal Enhancement CHADDS FORD, Pa., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- MOBILion Systems, Inc., a life science tools and instrumentation company, presented at the Human Proteome Organization (HUPO) World Congress the first of its kind proof of concept integrating their SLIM (structures for lossless ion manipulation) technology with the Thermo Scientific Orbitrap Exploris 480 mass spectrometer. We are excited about the debut of this second iteration of SLIM technology to advance separation science. A project involving MOBILion and Thermo Fisher aims to address the industry's current limitations in sensitivity, including challenges in detecting low abundance analytes. In a co-authored presentation at the HUPO 2022 World Congress in Cancun, Mexico last month, the research teams demonstrated the use of SLIM technology to enhance signal intensities on the Orbitrap Exploris 480 mass spectrometer system up to 200x. This signal increase was shown for low abundance peptide signals typically observed in proteomic workflows. The ability o reliably detect and identify peptides and proteins from single isolated cells represents the next frontier in proteomics that warrants an ultra-high sensitivity technological solution. Further details regarding this proof of concept can be seen here. MOBILion is proving its SLIM technology is a platform technology well-suited for customization, allowing it to be tuned to a variety of mass spectrometer platforms. In this most recent iteration, MOBILion designed the SLIM prototype to split ions into packets that are fed into the Orbitrap in a uniquely customizable way that only the SLIM technology can accomplish, increasing the sensitivity to capture more low abundance proteins and ultimately increase the number of proteoforms characterized per experiment. In 2021, MOBILion introduced its first SLIM-based commercial product, MOBIE, a result of its partnership with Agilent Technologies. MOBIE was designed to provide fast, efficient, highly reproducible High Resolution Ion Mobility (HRIM) separations to separate and identify molecules that conventional liquid chromatography either fails to separate, or require prohibitively long separation workflows. The instrument accelerates and simplifies workflows for a variety of analyte classes, including peptides, proteins, lipids and glycans, with analysis that is 5 to 60 times faster and significantly more reproducible than conventional separation methods. "We are excited about the debut of this second iteration of SLIM technology as another demonstration of how we are able to advance separation science. The early feedback from KOLs following the proof of concept integration with the Orbitrap platform has been overwhelmingly positive. We are looking forward to continuing to work with Thermo Fisher to advance the concept even further and improve the performance of the Orbitrap platform of mass spectrometers," says Dr. Melissa Sherman, CEO of MOBILion Systems Inc. To learn more about MOBILion Systems and its separations technology, including MOBIE, visit www.mobilionsystems.com. About MOBILion MOBILion Systems Inc. is advancing separation science and unraveling complex analyses with the commercialization of products based on Structures for Lossless Ion Manipulation (SLIM) platform technology. MOBILion's products provide deeper level characterization than what is possible with incumbent approaches, revealing what others leave unseen. When integrated with mass spectrometry, MOBILion's separation technology provides higher resolution, faster and more reproducible analysis to reveal molecules most important in characterizing biologic therapeutics, discovering biomarkers, improving the accuracy of diagnostics tests, and ensuring food and environmental safety. Processing population-scale samples in weeks versus years and detecting molecules other instruments miss, make treatments safer and more effective, accelerate disease prediction and diagnosis, and enhance the development of new therapies. The company is headquartered in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania within the Philadelphia biopharmaceutical and medical innovation corridor. Connect with us on LinkedIn or visit www.mobilionsystems.com View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mobilion-systems-demonstrates-integration-of-slim-technology-with-orbitrap-technology-yielding-sensitivity-gains-301718732.html SOURCE MOBILion Systems [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 11, 2023] FAMEEX Expands Global Agent Partnership and announces VIP5 Benefits Melbourne, Australia, Jan. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Recently, The founder of FAMEEX has proposed a plan to expand Global Agent Partnership by inviting global cryptocurrency enthusiasts to join and to develop together in 2023. Besides, FAMEEX also announced its VIP campaign for new users, "Straight to VIP5: Register Now to Enjoy More Privileges." As part of its ongoing efforts to build and develop the FAMEEX, FAMEEX has already reached the agreement with over 200 influencers and is actively recruiting and collaborating with more. As for the VIP5 Event, It will take place from January 7th to January 14th, aims to provide attractive VIP level 5 privileges to new users, boost market sentiment, and restore confidence in the cryptocurrency industry. The event offer is only available to a select group of FAMEEX global agents, and the users they invite will be able to enjoy exclusive VIP5 benefits. Newly registered users who complete Primary KYC verification and deposit more than 10 USDT within 24 hours of registering on FAMEEX during the event period will be able to become straight to VIP level 5 users and enjoy exclusive benefits. VIP level 5 users on FAMEEX will enjoy a maker trading fee of just 0.01% and a taker fee of 0.027% in USDT perpetual futures trading. Theseprivileges will extend to spot trading as well, with a maker fee of 0.04% and a taker fee of 0.05%. This offer is limited to the first 1000 new users. However, users who meet the basic trading requirement of more than 10,000 USDT per month will be able to continue enjoying these privileges indefinitely. In an effort to engage and attract new users globally, FAMEEX has enlisted over 200 global agents and utilized multiple promotion channels to increase visibility. FAMEEX exchange is also actively recruiting global agents with over 5000 followers and crypto influencers to join its community. These initiatives are part of FAMEEX's ongoing effort to reassure investors and provide benefits to its users through various initiatives that facilitate the connection between the cryptocurrency world and new users. Earlier this month, FAMEEX was listed on CoinGecko and implemented several measures to enhance trust and credibility among consumers, including this VIP event for new users. FAMEEX exchange has also announced its plans to expand its global strategy through new hiring and registration of new users. About FAMEEX Launched in 2020. FAMEEX is a global cryptocurrency exchange that currently provides fiat-crypto, crypto-crypto, grid trading, futures, options, margin, spot and a hugely popular referral and affiliate program. With more than 300,000 users across 50 countries and regions. FAMEEX provides a secure, stable and efficient 24/7 trading platform. Currently, FAMEEX is undergoing rapid expansion of the user base and is a reliable crypto exchange broker which operates under a policy of transparency and fairness. Moreover, the trading platform offers a high level of sophistication, with plenty of engaging trade choices to help traders accomplish their goals. In addition, FAMEEX keeps pushing the boundaries of the crypto exchange industry, exploring frontier growth opportunities and strengthening core competencies, expanding into adjacent product offerings and developing innovative business models that lead the way in bringing Web3 solutions into the crypto ecosystem including recruiting more Web3 developers and researchers to enrich the Web3 product that will support those visionary traders. Find FAMEEX on: Twitter: https://twitter.com/FameexGlobal Telegram: https://t.me/fameexgroup Website: https://www.fameex.com/ Trade on-the-go with the FAMEEX app (iOS/Android) Mia Shi FAMEEX mia-at-mail.fameex.info [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 11, 2023] Built In Honors Vendr in Its Esteemed 2023 Best Places To Work Awards Built In today announced that Vendr, the world's first SaaS buying platform, was honored in its 2023 Best Places To Work Awards. Specifically, Vendr earned a place on Best Startups to Work For in Boston. The annual awards program includes companies of all sizes, from startups to enterprise, and honors both remote-first employers as well as companies in large tech markets across the U.S. "2022 was an incredible year for Vendr with tremendous growth, and we're thrilled to be recognized as Boston's Best Startups to Work For on Built In's Best Places to Work List," said CEO and Co-founder, Ryan Neu. "We're incredibly proud of the culture we've built at Vendr, which is rooted in putting our customers first, enabling our employees to do their best work, and fostering kindness. We're committed to building an inclusive work environment where every employee feels value in their work." Vendr is headquartered in Boston with a second location in Charleston, South Carolina, and additional employees across the globe. With a commitment to mental health, Vendr understands that the wellbeing of the team is critical to the organization's success. The company offers unlimited PTO, 13 paid company holidays, a wellness/gym reimbursement, paid Calm app subscription, virtual Wellness Wednesday Yoga" sessions, and more. Built In determines the winners of Best Places to Work based on an algorithm, using company data about compensation and benefits. To reflect the benefits candidates are searching for more frequently on Built In, the program also weighs criteria like remote and flexible work opportunities, programs for DEI and other people-first cultural offerings. "It's my honor to congratulate this year's Best Places to Work winners," says Sheridan Orr, Chief Marketing Officer, Built In. "These exemplary companies understand their people are their most valuable asset, and they've stepped up to meet the modern professional's new expectations, including the desire to work for companies that deliver purpose, growth and inclusion. These winners set the stage for a human-centered future of work, and we can't wait to see that future unfold." ABOUT BUILT IN Built In is creating the largest platform for technology professionals globally. Monthly, millions of the industry's most in-demand professionals visit the site from across the world. They rely on our platform to stay ahead of tech trends and news, learn skills to accelerate their careers and find opportunities at companies whose values they share. Built In also serves 2,000 customers, innovative companies ranging from startups to those in the Fortune 500. By putting their stories in front of our uniquely engaged audience, we help them hire otherwise hard-to-reach tech professionals. www.builtin.com ABOUT BUILT IN'S BEST PLACES TO WORK Built In's esteemed Best Places to Work Awards, now in its fifth year, honor companies across numerous categories: 100 Best Places to Work, 50 Best Startup Places to Work, 100 Best Midsize Places to Work, 100 Best Large Places to Work and Editor's Choice: 100 Best Hybrid Places to Work. The program honors companies - remote, hybrid and in-office - with the best total rewards packages across the U.S. and in the following tech hubs: Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Colorado, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington DC. ABOUT VENDR Vendr is changing how companies find, buy and manage SaaS. The first of its kind, Vendr's SaaS buying platform offers both a product and people-powered service to enable the world's fastest-growing companies to purchase software quickly and with guaranteed savings. Today, Vendr has facilitated over $1B+ in SaaS purchases across 1,200+ suppliers for Finance and Procurement teams at HubSpot, Brex, Canva, Reddit, Toast, and more. Headquartered in Boston with a second location in Charleston, Vendr was founded in 2019 by Ryan Neu and co-founders Ariel Diaz and Aaron White, who joined the team through the acquisition of Blissfully in 2022. The company has over 250 employees globally. Learn more at vendr.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005582/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 11, 2023] Martin Luther King III and his family share reading list to celebrate 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day List part of global library resources on WorldCat.org DUBLIN, Ohio, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Martin Luther King III and his family share their reading list about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on WorldCat.org just in time for the 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. WorldCat.org, the only website that connects online searchers to the world's libraries, has published a topic page dedicated to resources about Martin Luther King, Jr. in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on January 16. The topic page enables visitors to tap into 10,000+ libraries around the globe to explore a variety of resources, including books, academic papers, sound recordings, news articles, photographs, and historical documents. The Martin Luther King, Jr. topic page includes: The King family reading list from Martin Luther King III , Arndrea King , and Yolanda King , , and 6,900 open access resources Theses, dissertations, archives, and encyclopedia materials Curated reading lists from: Charleston Syllabus TheArchive . com com Colleges and universities Most popular searches on WorldCat .org These resources are intended to provide educators, parents, students, and the general public an understanding of the most important and meaningful resources for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and beyond. In addition to marking 40 years since President Ronald Reagan/span> signed into law the recognition of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as a federal holiday, 2023 also marks the 60th anniversary of the Birmingham Campaign and the March on Washington, and the 55th anniversary of the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 and Dr. King's tragic assassination. To learn more about the Nobel Peace Prize-winning civil rights leader who advocated for nonviolence and racial equality, visit the Martin Luther King, Jr. topic page on WorldCat.org at https://www.worldcat.org/topics/martin-luther-king-jr. About WorldCat.org Since 2006, WorldCat.org has been the window to the collections and resources of more than 10,000 libraries in more than 100 countries around the world. WorldCat.org is a unique destination, representing the world's largest library community on the web. WorldCat.org is an innovation of OCLC, a nonprofit global library organization that provides shared technology services, original research, and community programs to member libraries and the library community at large. OCLC, member libraries, publishers, and other partner organizations collaboratively maintain WorldCat.org. Explore WorldCat.org on the web. About OCLC OCLC is a nonprofit global library organization that provides shared technology services, original research, and community programs so that libraries can better fuel learning, research, and innovation. Through OCLC, member libraries cooperatively produce and maintain WorldCat, the most comprehensive global network of data about library collections and services. Libraries gain efficiencies through OCLC's WorldShare, a complete set of library management applications and services built on an open, cloud-based platform. It is through collaboration and sharing of the world's collected knowledge that libraries can help people find answers they need to solve problems. Together as OCLC, member libraries, staff, and partners make breakthroughs possible. For more information: Contact Bob Murphy at [email protected] or +1-614-761-5136 OCLC, WorldCat, and WorldShare are trademarks and/or service marks of OCLC, Inc. Third-party product, service and business names are trademarks and/or service marks of their respective owners. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/martin-luther-king-iii-and-his-family-share-reading-list-to-celebrate-40th-anniversary-of-martin-luther-king-jr-day-301718716.html SOURCE WorldCat.org [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 11, 2023] Catchpoint Announces the World's First Complete Solution to Monitor and Protect the Internet's Leading Companies from BGP Incidents in Seconds NEW YORK, Jan. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Catchpoint, The Internet Resilience Company, releases major enhancements to its industry-leading Network Experience solution. These enhancements include network reachability, engineering & traffic routing improvements, as well as comprehensive monitoring for SASE, VPN, and the entire Internet stack. This makes it even easier for IT professionals to catch issues before they impact the business. The latest release includes a wide range of enhancements to Catchpoints Network Experience solution including: The worlds largest observability network with over two thousand vantage points around the world. This includes the worlds most extensive global BGP coverage with over a thousand vantage points around the globe from more than 400 ASNs and support for both IPv6 and IPv4 real-time global data: 143 Catchpoint peers 388 University of Oregon Route Views Project peers 744 RIPE NCC RIS peers with over two thousand vantage points around the world. This includes with over a thousand vantage points around the globe from more than 400 ASNs and support for both IPv6 and IPv4 real-time global data: An improved BGP Smartboard to identify incidents and root cause faster and with fewer clicks for improved MTTR. The new Smartboard lets IT teams investigate BGP peer event data across selected timeframes, view announcements and withdrawals, then drill down to the details of each event. The result is faster and more effective troubleshooting. to identify incidents and root cause faster and with fewer clicks for improved MTTR. The new Smartboard lets IT teams investigate BGP peer event data across selected timeframes, view announcements and withdrawals, then drill down to the details of each event. The result is faster and more effective troubleshooting. An enhanced BGP Dashboard & Score Metrics to see the health of the networks you rely upon at a glance. Information presented includes visibility for reachability, hijacks, peer visibility, mass withdrawals, RPKI status, and BGP data by region. to see the health of the networks you rely upon at a glance. Information presented includes visibility for reachability, hijacks, peer visibility, mass withdrawals, RPKI status, and BGP data by region. Route Hijack Detection via the updated control center library, which stores a list of customer ASNs. The BGP Overview Dashboard flags any prefix announced from unexpected ASNs, so IT is immediately alerted to potential hijacks. via the updated control center library, which stores a list of customer ASNs. The BGP Overview Dashboard flags any prefix announced from unexpected ASNs, so IT is immediately alerted to potential hijacks. Network Mesh/Node-to-Node General Availability testing to continuously monitor the availability & performance of the network, including jitter, latency and packet loss. This ensures an always-on, high-quality network experience. to continuously monitor the availability & performance of the network, including jitter, latency and packet loss. This ensures an always-on, high-quality network experience. Traceroute enhancements , including Path MTU and TCP MSS features for more effective network path visualization and troubleshooting. , including Path MTU and TCP MSS features for more effective network path visualization and troubleshooting. A DNSSEC Custom Monitor that authenticates the resolution of IP addresses with a cryptographic signature and ensures that answers provided by the DNS server are valid and authentic. To learn more about these updated features, please oin us on January 18, 2023 for our upcoming webinar Catchpoint Launches New Capabilities to Power Internet Performance Monitoring. View and Pinpoint All BGP Issues from One Dashboard All these capabilities are available via the Catchpoint Platform. The market leader in Internet Performance Monitoring (IPM), Catchpoint provides deep visibility into every aspect of the Internet stack that impacts your business. Only Catchpoint offers the breadth and depth of IPM solutions to help make IT, Network Operations, and SREs jobs easier and ensure Internet Resilience with fewer resources. With this release, Catchpoint helps our customers uncover BGP issues with more confidence and in less time. We now deliver more detailed real-time information from three distinct BGP peer sources that we are able to collect from over 1000 BGP peers worldwide. By comparison, our nearest competitor monitors less than 100 peers and provides data that is at least 15 minutes old. That 15-minute delay is a lifetime when youre dealing with an issue like a BGP hijack, and you dont know where your data is going! said Catchpoints EVP of Product, Matt Izzo. Catchpoints customers agree. We were never able to monitor reachability in this detail before using the Catchpoint solution. Now we can figure out whether an issue is related to a BGP announcement, routing, or something else instead of blindly trusting our partners that everything is working as it should, said Andreas Lunz, Chief Technology Officer, Team Internet. The top websites in the world rely on Catchpoint as their main platform to monitor, detect, and mitigate BGP incidents, as well as any other incidents in their Internet stack, said Dritan Suljoti, CTO and co-founder of Catchpoint. Today, all businesses rely on the Internet to survive, and there is really no other platform that comes close to what we have developed over fourteen years of dedication to Internet Performance Monitoring. Learn More Read more about Catchpoints Network Experience Solution at catchpoint.com/network-experience . . Dive into our Comprehensive Guide to BGP. Join us at our upcoming webinar, Catchpoint Launches New Capabilities to Power Internet Performance Monitoring on January 18, 2023. on January 18, 2023. Watch a brief but helpful demo on BGP. on BGP. Request an evaluation of the Catchpoint platform. About Catchpoint Catchpoint is the Internet Resilience Company. The top online retailers, Global2000, CDNs, cloud service providers, and xSPs in the world rely on Catchpoint to increase their resilience by catching any issues in the Internet stack before they impact their business. The Catchpoint platform offers synthetics, RUM, performance optimization, high fidelity data and flexible visualizations with advanced analytics. It leverages thousands of global vantage points (including inside wireless networks, BGP, backbone, last mile, endpoint, enterprise, ISPs and more) to provide unparalleled observability into anything that impacts your customers, workforce, networks, website performance, applications, and APIs. Learn more at www.catchpoint.com . Connect with Catchpoint Twitter:? @Catchpoint LinkedIn:? Catchpoint Press Contact: Holly Hagerman Connect Marketing 801.373.7888 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 11, 2023] ??Accredible Named to the 2023 GSV 150 Accredible, the world's leading digital credentialing platform, today announced it has been named to the GSV 150, a list of the world's most transformative private companies in education. Accredible, which counts some of the world's most prolific academic institutions among its partners, was chosen from over 4,000 venture capital and private equity-backed private companies revolutionizing the world of education technology. GSV estimates that together these 150 companies reach roughly 3 billion people - almost half of the global population- and generate approximately $25 billion in revenue. For Accredible, the honor comes as the company celebrates a year of tremendous growth and opportunity, having been named to the Deloitte Technology Fast 500, surpassing 1,800 global customer partners, and now issuing 120,000 credentials a day. "This prestigious recognition verifies the strength of our mission to bridge the skills gap by making it easier for learners to find and obtain the certifications that will propel their careers," said Danny King, CEO and co-founder of Accredible. "GSV is one of the great changemakers in the global edtech industry, and we are honored to have them identify Accredible as one of the most transformative companies driving innovation in education technology." "We are excited to release the annual GSV 150, a selection of the leading private companies in digital learning and workforce skilling," said Alexandra Argo, investor at GSV Ventures. "As we enter into what we call a 'Brave New World,' it is clear that you can't use an old map to navigate a new world. This impressive group of companies continues to grow and evolve to meet the needs of learners and businesses at scale. After evaluating over 4,000 companies globally, we are proud to present the list of the 150 most impactful companies in digital learning that are leading the charge in providing ALL people equal access to the future." Ater a rigorous assessment of over 4,000 venture capital- and private equity-backed companies, that met the following criteria: VC or PE-backed companies in digital learning and workforce skills, excluding public and nonprofit companies Companies that have achieved meaningful scale, and primarily, but not exclusively, those that are post-Series A in their development Companies experiencing solid, organic top-line growth The final selection was determined by GSV's proprietary scoring system, which applies scores across several KPIs such as revenue scale, revenue growth, active learner reach, international reach, and margin profile. The GSV 150 is distributed across Pre-K to Gray, covering early childhood, K-12, higher education, adult consumer learning, and workforce learning. Of these companies, 33% focus specifically on lifelong learning (which includes adult consumer learning and workforce learning), 32% focus on early childhood and K-12 education, and 5% focus solely on higher education. More and more companies are extending their reach across the lifetime learning cycle, with 30% of the 150 expanding across multiple categories from Pre-K to Gray. North America - primarily the United States - is the most represented region, accounting for 60% of the GSV 150. India is also a significant contributor to the list, with 14% of the companies coming from that market, which has continued to experience rapid growth. Europe and Latin America each account for 11% and 7% of the GSV 150, respectively. The remaining 8% of companies are dispersed throughout MENA, Africa, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. See the fill GSV 150 list www.asugsvsummit.com/edtech-150 About Accredible Accredible is the industry-leading digital credentialing platform that securely issues, manages, tracks, and verifies millions of high-stakes credentials across the globe. Accredible integrates with leading learning software including Canvas, D2L Brightspace, Kajabi, Kryterion Webassessor, Moodle, Thinkific, and more. Over 1,800 leading Universities, associations, and technology companies such as Google, Skillsoft, Slack, Chartered Banker Institute, Rosetta Stone, University of Cambridge, NACE, Zendesk, Hootsuite, IEEE, McGraw-Hill, INSEAD, IAPP, UC Berkeley, and The Digital Marketing Institute rely on Accredible to create, deliver and manage digital certificates and open badges. Learn more at accredible.com. About ASU+GSV Summit The ASU+GSV Summit is the premier global event focused on technology innovation in education and skills. We believe that ALL people deserve equal access to the future. Started in 2010 with a collaboration between Arizona State University (ASU) and Global Silicon Valley (GSV), the annual Summit connects leading minds focused on transforming society and business around learning and work. Educators, investors, industry leaders, and entrepreneurs from around the world come together to innovate the future of education for all. Hosted in San Diego, over 5,300 people attended in April 2022. Speakers from previous years include President Barack Obama, President George W. Bush, Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, John Legend, Common, Marian Wright Edelman, Bill Gates, Sandra Day O'Connor, Reed Hastings, President Vicente Fox, Malcolm Gladwell, Gloria Steinem, Tony Blair, and Howard Schultz. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005222/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 11, 2023] Harris Williams Advises RoadOne IntermodaLogistics on its Recapitalization by Ridgemont Equity Partners Harris Williams, a global investment bank specializing in M&A advisory services, announces it advised RoadOne IntermodaLogistics (RoadOne), a portfolio company of Nonantum Capital Partners (Nonantum), on its recapitalization by Ridgemont Equity Partners (Ridgemont). RoadOne is a single source intermodal, distribution and logistics services company. The Harris Williams team that advised RoadOne was led by Jason Bass and Nick Petrick of the Transportation & Logistics (T&L) Group. "We are proud to have partnered with RoadOne multiple times, including on its two most recent transactions. The team there has built an industry-leading platform focused on diverse intermodal, port, distribution, transloading and related services that are integral to the supply chains of demanding blue-chip shippers. The Nonantum team has been a great partner for RoadOne and we look forward to supporting management and its new partner over the years to come," said Jason Bass, a managing director at Harris Williams. RoadOne is North America's premier, full-service intermodal transportation and related logistics company. With locations across the country, RoadOne offers industry-leading solutions including port and rail container drayage; terminal operations; dedicated truckload sevices; and transloading, warehousing, and distribution solutions. With a fleet of professional drivers and technological streamlining solutions, RoadOne offers an integrated service that is unsurpassed in the industry. Founded in 2018 by a team of experienced private equity and management executives as a spin-out from Charlesbank Capital Partners, Nonantum is a Boston-based middle market private equity firm. Nonantum focuses on investing in family- and founder-owned businesses, corporate carve-outs, and complex situations where personal partnership is critical and opportunities exist for significant equity value creation. Ridgemont is a Charlotte, North Carolina-based middle market private equity firm that has provided buyout and growth capital to industry-leading companies in the business and tech-enabled services, industrial growth, and healthcare sectors for nearly three decades. The principals of Ridgemont have refined a proven, industry-focused model focused on building distinctive middle market companies. Harris Williams is a global investment bank specializing in M&A advisory services. Clients worldwide rely on us to help unlock value in their business and turn ambitious goals into reality. We approach every engagement with boundless collaboration, pooling expertise and relationships across industries and geographies to uncover the unique story of each company. For over 30 years, our clients have trusted us to think strategically, execute precisely, and deliver premium outcomes through M&A. The Harris Williams T&L Group serves as a trusted partner to investors and company leaders worldwide, helping them to unlock value in their businesses. Our clients count on our deep experience and thoughtful advice to understand the transportation and logistics M&A landscape so that they can turn ambitious goals into reality. Whether it's the recession-resistant automotive aftermarket or the cross-industry criticality of third-party logistics providers (3PLs), our industry offers value creation opportunities for a wide range of investors. We have deep expertise across a broad range of sectors such as the automotive and heavy-duty aftermarket, third-party logistics, and transportation infrastructure. Harris Williams LLC is a registered broker-dealer and member of FINRA and SIPC. Harris Williams & Co. Ltd is a private limited company incorporated under English law with its registered office at 8th Floor, 20 Farringdon Street, London EC4A 4AB, UK, registered with the Registrar of Companies for England and Wales (registration number 07078852). Harris Williams & Co. Ltd is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Harris Williams & Co. Corporate Finance Advisors GmbH is registered in the commercial register of the local court of Frankfurt am Main, Germany, under HRB 107540. The registered address is Bockenheimer Landstrasse 33-35, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany (email address: [email protected]). Geschaftsfuhrer/Directors: Jeffery H. Perkins, Paul Poggi. (VAT No. DE321666994). Harris Williams is a trade name under which Harris Williams LLC, Harris Williams & Co. Ltd and Harris Williams & Co. Corporate Finance Advisors GmbH conduct business. For media inquiries, please contact Julia Moore at [email protected]. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005673/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 11, 2023] Built In Honors Workato in Its Esteemed 2023 Best Places To Work Awards Built In today announced that Workato, the leading enterprise automation platform, was honored in its 2023 Best Places To Work Awards. Specifically, the EiPasS automation leader earned a place on Best Midsize Places to Work in Seattle. The annual awards program includes companies of all sizes, from startups to those in the enterprise, and honors remote-first employers and companies in large tech markets across the U.S. "Our team is thrilled to be honored as one of Built In's Best Places to Work in 2023. To shine a light on the culture and benefits Workato offers is another celebrated milestone as we consider the employee experience a top priority," said Carle Quinn, Chief People Officer at Workato. "We thank every Workato employee for this honor and look forward to breaking new ground in 2023." Built In determines the winners of Best Places to Work based on an algorithm, using company data about compensation and benefits. To reflect the benefits candidates search for more frequently on Built In, the program also weighs criteria like remote and flexible work opportunities, programs for DEI, and other people-first cultural offerings. "It's my honor to congratulate this year's Best Places to Work winners," says Sheridan Orr, Chief Marketing Officer, Built In. "These exemplary companies understand their people are their most valuable asset, and they've stepped up to meet the modern professional's new expectations, including the desire to work for companies that deliver purpose, growth, and inclusion. These winners set the stage for a human-centered future of work, and we can't wait to see that future unfold." This honor follows a year of milestones for the company which includes being recognized as a CNBC Disruptor, launching the first Automate World Tour, and releasing two industry reports, The Work Automation Index and the vendor-neutral State of Business Technology Report. In addition to being named in Gartner, Workato also secured placement on this year's Deloitte Technology Fast 500 and the Forbes Cloud 100 rankings. To learn more about the future of enterprise automation, visit www.workato.com. ABOUT BUILT IN Built In is creating the largest platform for technology professionals globally. Monthly, millions of the industry's most in-demand professionals visit the site from across the world. They rely on our platform to stay ahead of tech trends and news, learn skills to accelerate their careers and find opportunities at companies whose values they share. Built In also serves 2,000 customers, innovative companies ranging from startups to those in the Fortune 500. By putting their stories in front of our uniquely engaged audience, we help them hire otherwise hard-to-reach tech professionals. www.builtin.com ABOUT BUILT IN'S BEST PLACES TO WORK Built In's esteemed Best Places to Work Awards, now in its fifth year, honor companies across numerous categories: 100 Best Places to Work, 50 Best Startup Places to Work, 100 Best Midsize Places to Work, 100 Best Large Places to Work, and Editor's Choice: 100 Best Hybrid Places to Work. The program honors companies - remote, hybrid, and in-office - with the best total rewards packages across the U.S. and in the following tech hubs: Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Colorado, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington DC. ABOUT WORKATO The leader in enterprise automation, Workato helps organizations work faster and smarter without compromising security and governance. Built for Business and IT users, Workato is trusted by over 17,000 of the world's top brands, including Broadcom, Intuit, and Box. Headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., Workato is backed by Altimeter Capital, Battery Ventures, Insight Venture Partners, Tiger Global, and Redpoint Ventures. For more information, visit workato.com or connect with us on social media: Blog: https://www.workato.com/the-connector/ Business Systems Community: https://systematic.workato.com/ Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/workato LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/workato View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005676/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 11, 2023] Opportune LLP Announces the Promotion of Trent Determann to Partner and Appoints Two More to Principal Opportune LLP, a leading global business advisory firm with preeminence in energy, is honored to announce the promotion of Trent Determann to Partner. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005162/en/ Trent Determann, Partner, Opportune LLP (Photo: Business Wire) Mr. Determann previously served as Managing Director and President of the firm's Outsourcing practice, where he focused on an array of business-related activities, including but not limited to financial reporting, back-office accounting, and business analytics. Predating his time at Opportune, he served as Vice President of Finance at Gastar Exploration Inc. before accepting the role of Chief Financial Officer at Rbellion Energy II LLC. "Trent's rapid achievement within the firm should come as no surprise to those who have had the privilege of working with him," stated David Baggett, Managing Partner of Opportune. "His breath of expertise in financial energy will continue to add significant value to our clients." With this recent promotion, Mr. Determann will take on the accolade of youngest appointed Partner in the firm's history. "It's an honor to be asked to join the firm's Partnership, and I look forward to seeing where my future at Opportune takes me. I will always remain committed to focusing on Opportune's mission - add value to clients, people, and the community," added Mr. Determann. Mr. Determann was previously selected as an honoree for Hart Energy's 2017 "Forty under 40" in recognition of his varied achievements during his time at Gastar. He holds a B.S. in Finance from Louisiana State University. In addition, Opportune is pleased to announce the promotion of the following individuals to Principal: Kevin Cannon - Mr. Cannon has more than 20 years of client service experience and specializes in working with clients within the energy industry including upstream, midstream, and services companies. Prior to joining Opportune, Mr. Cannon was a Director within PwC's Transaction Services group where he worked extensively with clients throughout the energy, business services, and industrial manufacturing industries. Teresa Kroh - Ms. Kroh has over 30 years of experience in software implementation, project management, IT management, and software design and development. For over twenty years, she has put her primary focus on ION Right Angle, with an emphasis on trading and risk management. Before starting at Opportune, Ms. Kroh was a Business Analyst and Project Manager at SolArc. "Kevin and Teresa are well respected within the firm and amongst our clients. Their varied experience in their service lines will make them an excellent addition to the firm's leadership team," stated Mr. Baggett. Opportune LLP is a leading global business advisory firm focused on adding value to clients across multiple industries with preeminence in energy. Opportune's practice areas include business transformation, complex financial reporting, disputes and litigations, investment banking, outsourcing, process and technology, reserve engineering and geosciences, restructuring, tax, transactional due diligence, and valuation. For more information, please visit our website at www.opportune.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005162/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The Brown administration and a Common Council member said at a public hearing Tuesday that the city needs to seize deteriorating 19th-century Cobblestone District properties by eminent domain, but the recent blizzard and a housing court judge could seal the buildings' fate first. Gusting winds and heavy snowfall from the blizzard have further eroded the brick structure at 110 South Park Ave., buckling a part of the roof, knocking the remainder of a wall down and resulting in more masonry damage in an area blocked off from the public. Meanwhile, Housing Court Judge Patrick M. Carney, after years of the six buildings at the two addresses being in court over neglect charges against principal owner Darryl Carr, told The News he will render a decision Jan. 20 on Carr's request for an emergency demolition of 110 and 118 South Park. Five of the nine Common Council members were present at Tuesday's public meeting in the Council chambers, a necessary step before a decision on eminent domain can be rendered. Carr defended his contention that the buildings aren't safe and need to come down. He also promoted his vision for a 55-story skyscraper, featuring housing, a hotel, shops and more run on alternative energy. Carr has discussed the plan for years, but has yet to present it to the Buffalo Planning Board. Carr, who owns Cobblestone Bar & Grill on the same block, told the more than 30 people on hand, and those watching online, that the city's attempt to take his properties would violate multiple laws, and promised to mount a strenuous fight in the courts if the city goes forward. "I object to the proposed taking as being beyond the city's lawful powers, and in violation of the eminent domain procedure law, the State Environmental Quality Review Act and the New York State and United States constitutions," Carr said. Catherine Amdur, the city's commissioner of permit and inspection services, and Lisa Hicks, director of development for the city's Office of Strategic Planning, urged the Council to support what would be a rare granting of eminent domain. "We have been in housing court for well over a decade. It's shocking," Amdur said. "There has been no significant effort to maintain or stabilize these buildings, "The owner's path has been demolition by neglect. We are out of enforcement techniques, and these blighted conditions are worsening." Fillmore Council Member Mitchell Nowakowski also argued for eminent domain, taking aim at Carr. "Mr. Carr's testimony is a farce, a charade laid out in court for over a decade," Nowakowski said. "Quite frankly, I'm sick and tired of it." There is also sharp disagreement on just how salvageable the buildings are. John Banaszak, a civil and environmental engineer who examined the six buildings in 2010 and 2021 and has called for their demolition, described bricks of poor quality, failing mortar and unusable wood at a Housing Court hearing on Dec. 20. He also raised concerns about contamination from a foundry that operated for 38 years. But under cross-examination by city attorney Michael Perley, Banaszak conceded that while he didn't think it was financially feasible to repair the buildings, he said it could be done. That would require almost all new materials though, he said, since he didn't believe the original ones were usable. Paul McDonnell, president of the Campaign for Greater Buffalo History, Architecture & Culture, said he inspected the buildings last year and felt they could be saved, as other historic buildings have been. "The Webb Building next to Pearl Street had a collapsed roof and was ready to be demolished and was renovated by Rocco Termini," McDonnell said. "The White Livery Stable on Jersey Street that collapsed was rebuilt by Sam Savarino. And we saw 55 Chicago St., where Resurgence Brewery is, totally rebuilt and that was, in my opinion, in even worse shape." [January 11, 2023] Government of Canada invests in the revitalization of Port Colborne PORT COLBORNE, ON, Jan. 11, 2023 /CNW/ - A well-functioning supply chain is critical for Canada's economy. The Government of Canada is committed to ensuring our supply chains are efficient and reliable to support Canada's economic growth while ensuring they are resilient and adapt to the impacts of climate change. Today, the Minister of Transport, the Honourable Omar Alghabra, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indigenous Services and Member of Parliament for Niagara Centre, Vance Badawey, and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Member of Parliament for St. Catharines, Chris Bittle, announced an investment of up to $22.7 million to support improvements for the Welland Canal under the National Trade Corridors Fund. This investment will have important benefits for the region, such as relieving supply chain congestion and facilitating the movement of goods at the port. The $45.3 million project will support the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation in the reconstruction and rehabilitation of three wharves located at the Welland Canal in Port Colborne, Ontario. The project aims to revive these wharves, which are currently out-of-service, to support operations and increase capacity of the trade corridor. The Government of Canada is investing to help bolster Canada's economic capacity and the opportunities for our businesses to expand into global markets. This represents a long-term commitment to work with stakeholders on strategic infrastructure projects to address transportation bottlenecks, vulnerabilities, and congestion along Canada's trade corridors. Quotes "Investing in the rehabilitation of existing infrastructure to improve the quality and the efficiency of our supply chains is crucial to Canada's economic success and sustainable development. Our government's investment in the Niagara region will help ensure that the supply chains here in Ontario and throughout our country remain efficient and reliable for future generations." The Honourable Omar Alghabra Minister of Transport "This announcement brings the world to Port Colborne a game changer for Niagara. The dynamic resources of the Niagara Region are being rediscovered as we chart our future economic path. New business and new opportunities are being created on once-abandoned lands along the Welland Canal and today our government is taking a bold step in strengthening the Niagara Ports Trade Corridor while also opening the door to an expansion of Niagara's world class tourism market." Vance Badawey Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indigenous Services and Member of Parliament for Niagara Centre "Today's announcement is a good example of how the Government of Canada, along with partners such as the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation, continues to improve our infrastructures while supplying Canadians and supporting businesses. The rehabilitation of the wharves will improve multimodal connectivity along trade routes by being close to railways and allowing access to international markets." Chris Bittle Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Member of Parliament for St. Catharines "The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation welcomes this support from the National Trade Corridors Fund. We look forward to working with all partners to bring these wharves back into service with the goal of adding more fluidity to Canada's supply chain and strengthening our connection to global markets. Once the work is completed, capacity to handle freight will increase by a million tonnes per year and new marine shipping opportunities will be created for Canadian exporters, along with a dock for cruise ships and the possibility of reduced greenhouse gas emissions." Terence Bowles President and CEO, The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation 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, and 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 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 11, 2023] AvSight Announces $20mm Strategic Growth Equity Investment with Arcadea Group. AvSight, a leading provider of cloud-based, full-suite ERP and operations management software to MRO, Parts, and Leasing businesses within the aviation software market, has completed a major growth equity investment with Arcadea Group, a long-hold, permanent capital software investor focused on industry-leading SaaS vendors around the world. As part of the transaction, Founders Scott Loescher and Fermin Gonzales, along with key leadership including Andrew Valley and Frank Scales, will continue in their roles while also maintaining significant equity interests in the business. Founded in 2016 by Scott Loescher, CEO, and Fermin Gonzalez, CTO, AvSight is the only truly cloud-native product in the market, providing end-to-end business management software for customers with 5 to 2,000+ employees in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Australia, New Zealand, and South America. The Company will use the growth equity investment to accelerate its product roadmap while bolstering services, delivery, and customer service, all in support of the Company's tremendous growth. "For a long time, the aviation aftermarket space has been dominated by legacy technology solutions. More and more, we're seeing that forward thinking customers are tired of being held back by their software and are ready to embrace the modern digital solutions that AvSight offers. We're excited about the opportunities for continued growth and product enhancements that this partnershp will open up for us and the benefits it will bring to our customers." said Loescher. He went on to mention, "Partnering with Arcadea was the obvious choice due to their deep software expertise in areas of product expansion and operational scaling, in addition to their existing presence in the aviation SaaS market." "We're thrilled to partner with the AvSight team," said Paul Yancich, Managing Director of Arcadea Group. He added, "Many vertical markets, including aviation MRO, are served by either fragile in-house systems or legacy offerings that are essentially digitalized paper. In contrast, the AvSight team have paired deep domain expertise with modern, cloud-based technologies that in combination materially advance how customers can do business. We're excited to support the company's ambitious product roadmap and help them support customers for decades to come." Daniel Eisen, Managing Director of Arcadea, said, "We're lucky to be teaming up with Scott, Fermin and the entire AvSight team in support of their long-term growth objectives." Ryan Beaver, Managing Director & Head of Value Creation at Arcadea, added, "The business is a perfect representation of the type of software businesses we focus on: capital efficient, vertically focused, and customer centric, with strong growth and the desire to change the markets they serve over the long-term." About AvSight Established in 2016, AvSight is aviation's most innovative complete software platform. This revolutionary cloud-based solution was designed by industry veterans specifically to meet the needs of aviation aftermarket suppliers and MRO facilities. AvSight combines inventory management, quotes, repairs, sales orders, and accounting into one seamless flexible application. For more information on AvSight, visit avsight.net. About Arcadea Group Arcadea Group invests in high-quality, capital efficient, typically founder-controlled software companies over ultra-long-term durations. Based in Toronto, Canada and Orlando, Florida and investing globally, Arcadea leverages its permanent capital structure and unmatched operating know-how to support with long-term growth potential and ambitions. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005613/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 11, 2023] Koddi's Dynamic Pricing Improves Yield for Commerce Media Networks FORT WORTH, Texas, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Koddi, the commerce media platform for publishers and advertisers, today announced the launch of Dynamic Pricing its newest yield management feature for commerce media publishers leveraging its Koddi Ads product. With Dynamic Pricing, brands are able to price media inventory based on their own science and intelligence in addition to Koddi's own signals - pricing for a specific user, session, search, product, or any combination in a privacy-first environment - all in real time. Commerce media publishers can use Dynamic Pricing to better optimize user experiences and advertising yields in ad auctions across their digital marketplaes. This release marks the latest innovation by Koddi to minimize the cost, risk, and technical challenge of building a successful commerce media program. Commerce media publishers using Koddi Ads can leverage Dynamic Pricing through a simple API integration and see an improvement in yield immediately. Eric Brackmann, Head of Commerce Media at Koddi, said, "In 2023 we expect to see a shift in the marketplace toward media networks that can prove efficiency for advertisers. Dynamic Pricing gives our retail and commerce media publishers the tools to drive that efficiency for their advertisers, while also maximizing the value of their audiences within a privacy-first framework. We're excited to drive even better results for our partners." Dynamic Pricing entered beta testing in mid-2022, giving publishers a finer degree of control over placement performance, with some publishers seeing immediate yield increases of up to 10% in live environments. The feature has now entered into general availability. "A constant challenge we hear with commerce media is the balance between revenue from the organic experience and the newly introduced ad revenue. In the past, this balance was broadly interpreted on holistic site performance, without the intricacies of individual inventory differences across pages, users, and markets," said Tyler Rospond, Product Management Director at Koddi. "With Dynamic Pricing, publishers have more control than ever to ensure that every page visit is maximizing site revenue with relevance - a safety net to ensure your commerce media business is accretive to your core business." About Koddi Koddi is a leading commerce media partner with advertising technology software and services designed to improve data-driven marketing and empower marketplace monetization for brands and publishers. The company's award-winning SaaS platform provides comprehensive solutions for brands and publishers to generate more actionable business intelligence and drive more commerce media revenue, accelerating speed to value without sacrificing experience. Based in Fort Worth, Texas, Koddi has offices in Austin, New York, Ann Arbor and Dusseldorf. Backed by Koddi's people-driven approach, marketers and engineers can fuel their growth and harness an enterprise-class advertising platform to drive informed decision-making across media and marketing activities. For more information, please visit koddi.com . View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/koddis-dynamic-pricing-improves-yield-for-commerce-media-networks-301719419.html SOURCE Koddi [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 11, 2023] Highline Grows Subscribers 56 Percent and Boosts CSAT Rating 12 Percent With Calix Revenue EDGE Managed Services Calix, Inc. (NYSE: CALX) today announced that broadband service provider (BSP) leader Highline is leveraging Calix Revenue EDGE managed services to accelerate growth. In 2022 Highline increased subscribers by 56 percent, doubling the subscribers using Calix GigaSpire BLAST systems. Over the next five years, Highline plans to continue growing across Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, Michigan, Nebraska, and Texas. By leveraging Revenue EDGE-including Calix Cloud, GigaSpire BLAST systems, and managed services-Highline easily builds subscriber experiences that increase loyalty and differentiate in competitive broadband markets. The subscriber experience is core to Highline's growth strategy. In 2022, Highline launched ProtectIQ home network security and ExperienceIQ advanced network controls to all subscribers, furthering their mission to provide safe and exceptional Wi-Fi experiences. Both managed services are easily accessed in the Highline-branded mobile app, built on the personalized Calix CommandIQ. Highline added these managed services at no extra charge for all subscribers that use a GigaSpire BLAST. They now protect subscribers from approximately 20,000 monthly digital threats. "The Highline team works to create subscriber experiences that people rave about, and that goes way beyond just providing high-speed internet," said Lynn Hall, chief marketing officer at Highline. "We want to give our subscribers a superior whole-home experience, so the award-winning network protection of ProtectIQ and the controls of ExperienceIQ were a no-brainer. Because we invested in the Revenue DGE platform, we were able to quickly launch managed services last year. Now we are exploring new services to bring to our subscribers in 2023, like Bark social media monitoring and Arlo Secure connected home security solutions. We are excited to continue working closely with Calix to unveil exceptional subscriber experiences as we meet our growth goals over the next five years." To help spread the word about their new app and managed services, the Highline marketing and customer support teams engaged with Calix Premier Customer Success (Premier Success). They met with customer success managers (CSMs) biweekly to focus on best practices that drive high app adoption. By the end of 2022, 95 percent of new subscribers and 53 percent of their total subscribers were on the BSP-branded app. Highline subscribers responded with excitement. Their customer satisfaction (CSAT) rating soared in 2022, ending the year at 93-well above their goal. Highline leadership created a formula for the successful launch of managed services that increased subscriber satisfaction and contributed to rapid business growth by: Reducing time to market to seamlessly launch new managed services. Because Highline uses the Revenue EDGE platform, their team has access to launch support like deep marketing analytics and agency-quality materials that help reduce time to market tremendously. Highline worked with Calix CSMs to leverage the Electronic Content Builder (ECB) from the Calix Market Activation Program (MAP) to easily produce agency-quality marketing materials designed to communicate the benefits of managed services. Because Highline uses the Revenue EDGE platform, their team has access to launch support like deep marketing analytics and agency-quality materials that help reduce time to market tremendously. Highline worked with Calix CSMs to leverage the Electronic Content Builder (ECB) from the Calix Market Activation Program (MAP) to easily produce agency-quality marketing materials designed to communicate the benefits of managed services. Increasing CSAT rating by 12 percent thanks to regular measurement and actionable feedback. As Highline introduces new services, subscriber feedback is more important than ever. Highline developed a proprietary CSAT survey based on a 1-4 rating that encourages subscribers to share detailed feedback. They distribute it early and often-after installation and truck rolls. Highline ended 2022 with a rating of 93, eight points over their goal. As Highline introduces new services, subscriber feedback is more important than ever. Highline developed a proprietary CSAT survey based on a 1-4 rating that encourages subscribers to share detailed feedback. They distribute it early and often-after installation and truck rolls. Highline ended 2022 with a rating of 93, eight points over their goal. Driving more than half of subscribers to the new app in less than a year. The Highline team immediately saw how managed services improved the new subscriber experience from early feedback. This informed their tailored approach to introducing these services to their legacy GigaSpire BLAST subscribers. Working with CSMs, Highline launched sweepstakes that engaged subscribers on the Highline app. As a result, more than half of the BSP's subscribers were on the app using managed services by the end of the year. "Highline is a prime example of how any BSP can drive sustained growth with managed services," said Matt Collins, chief commercial operations officer at Calix. "Supported by managed services launch best practices from Calix Premier Success, they successfully drove adoption of the Highline mobile app. By establishing this direct line of communication, Highline continuously reminds new and existing subscribers of the value they provide. With this foundation in place, Highline is in an excellent position to achieve their goals for rapid expansion and overall growth. We will be with Highline every step of the way as they continue to build a legacy that will last for generations in the communities they serve." Register to attend the webinar, "Drive Loyalty by Helping Subscribers Build a Connected Home," to learn more about BSPs leveraging the Revenue EDGE platform to create exceptional subscriber experiences that win markets. About Calix Calix, Inc. (NYSE: CALX)-Calix cloud and software platforms enable service providers of all types and sizes to innovate and transform. Our customers utilize the real-time data and insights from Calix platforms to simplify their businesses and deliver experiences that excite their subscribers. The resulting growth in subscriber acquisition, loyalty, and revenue creates more value for their businesses and communities. This is the Calix mission: To enable broadband service providers of all sizes to simplify, excite, and grow. This press release contains forward-looking statements that are based upon management's current expectations and are inherently uncertain. Forward-looking statements are based upon information available to us as of the date of this release, and we assume no obligation to revise or update any such forward-looking statement to reflect any event or circumstance after the date of this release, except as required by law. Actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from current expectations based on risks and uncertainties affecting Calix's business. The reader is cautioned not to rely on the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Additional information on potential factors that could affect Calix's results and other risks and uncertainties are detailed in its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC and available at www.sec.gov. Calix and the Calix logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Calix and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. A listing of Calix's trademarks can be found at https://www.calix.com/pages/trademarks.html. Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005277/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 11, 2023] Inszone Insurance Services Announces Entry into Michigan Market with the Acquisition of Brinch Agency Insurance Inszone Insurance Services: a rapidly growing, national provider of benefits, personal and commercial lines insurance, announced today the acquisition of Brinch Agency Insurance. Brinch Agency Insurance was founded in 2001 by Chris and Kathy Brinch after managing a family-owned agency in Eastpointe for over 2 decades. Formed and located in Roseville, MI, Brinch Agency provides personal, commercial and health insurance to Macomb County and the surrounding areas. The team at Brinch Agency prides themselves on being friendly and knowledgeable about the products available across multiple insurance companies, giving them the flexibility to offer clients affordable prices and individualized policy options. The acquisition of Brinch Agency provides Inszone Insurance with its first location in the State of Michigan as well as expands the agency's presence in the Midwest Region of the United States. Clients of Brinch Agency will continue to be serviced by the team in the Roseville, I office, now working under Inszone Insurance brand. "Bringing the Brinch Agency team under the Inszone umbrella provides a base as Inszone enters the market in Michigan," said Chris Walters, CEO of Inszone Insurance Services. "This team has been doing phenomenal work in the area, and Inszone is excited to expand on that legacy, providing access to new resources and support. We look forward to expanding further in the state." Inszone Insurance is expected to announce a number of important acquisitions in the upcoming months as it continues to build its national presence. 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 37 locations across California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Michigan, 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/20230111005020/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 11, 2023] Minister Wilkinson Announces an Investment for the Nunavut All-of-Government Energy Forum IQALUIT, NU, Jan. 11, 2023 /CNW/ - Across the country, Canadians are feeling the impacts of climate change. Investments in renewable energy initiatives that support energy independence and economic development will ensure we build a clean energy future that strengthens the economy, creates good, middle-class jobs and supports the natural resource sectors. Today, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Natural Resources, announced an investment of more than $455,000 to the Nunavut Economic Developers Association to host the Nunavut All-of-Government Energy Forum, being held January 1112, 2023, in Iqaluit. This funding comes from the capacity-building stream of the Smart Renewables and Electrification Pathways Program. The Forum will bring together senior government officials from multiple departments, ministries and municipalities, and senior utility officials. This is an opportunity to work together to identify policy and legislative barriers around clean energy transition, its implications, and impacts on all territorial departments and service delivery, and learn about funding programs available. It will ensure Inuit communities in Nunavut are able to carry out their energy plans to create sustainable community development while addressing critical needs such as housing, health and education. These investments demonstrate the Government of Canada's ongoing commitment to supporting innovative projects in energy sectors toward a clean, sustainable and competitive energy and resource industry while reducing greenhouse gas emissions, advancing economic reconciliation and fighting climate change. Quotes "Across Canada, we are seeing the impacts of our changing climate, and nowhere is this clearer than in the North. Working in close partnership with governments, local communities and Indigenous Peoples, we are committed to lowering emissions and building a clean energy future for the North one that protects biodiversity, creates meaningful economic opportunity and preserves northern communities' heritage and way of life." The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson Minister of Natural Resources Canada "Nunavummiut are on the frontlines of climate change. Its impacts on sea ice, coastlines, wildlife and much mor are affecting the Inuit way of life. Our government is committed to working with all partners in fighting climate change. By working in partnership with Nunavummiut, we will build a greener, more sustainable and more prosperous future for generations to come." The Honourable Dan Vandal Minister of Northern Affairs, Minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada and Minister responsible for the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency "NEDA's members, Community Economic Development Officers (CEDOs) and economic development professionals in the Territory shared their community's challenges in participating in the clean energy transition. NEDA is thankful for the federal government's investment through Natural Resources Canada to facilitate all parties in developing a path forward for the energy transition that fosters sustainable economic development opportunities for Inuit communities." Geoff Byrne President, Nunavut Economic Developers Association Quick Facts Federal funding for this project is provided by Natural Resources Canada's Smart Renewables and Electrification Pathways (SREPs) program , a $1.56-billion program that provides support for smart renewable energy and electrical grid modernization projects, including projects that support capacity building. This program will significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions by enabling increased renewable energy capacity that will provide essential grid services while supporting Canada's ongoing transition to a net-zero economy by 2050 as well as Canada's commitment to achieving a 100-percent net-zero-emitting electricity system by 2035. , a program that provides support for smart renewable energy and electrical grid modernization projects, including projects that support capacity building. This program will significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions by enabling increased renewable energy capacity that will provide essential grid services while supporting ongoing transition to a net-zero economy by 2050 as well as commitment to achieving a 100-percent net-zero-emitting electricity system by 2035. The Nunavut Economic Developers Association (NEDA) is an active, membership driven organization assisting Community Economic Development Officers (CEDOs) and economic development professionals in Nunavut . Its mandate is to support its members through professional development, networking, advocacy and the exchange of information and ideas. In partnership with the Government of Canada and the Government of Nunavut , NEDA is a leader in economic development within the territory. Associated Links Nunavut Economic Developers Association Smart Renewables and Electrification Pathways Program (SREPs) Climate Change in Indigenous and Northern Communities Northern REACHE program Follow us on Twitter: @NRCan ( http://twitter.com/nrcan ) SOURCE Natural Resources Canada [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 11, 2023] MobileCoin Announces Moby (feat. PrivatePay) Public Launch Bringing Self-Custody and Global Peer-to-Peer Payments to the Masses Moby (feat. PrivatePay), an app powered by MobileCoin, a Series-B startup based in San Francisco, announced its public launch today, allowing customers around the world to take advantage of a simpler way to self-custody funds and pay privately. Customers on the waitlist can now use Moby to pay just about anyone they can text. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005765/en/ Moby App Preview Many wallets on the market today intend to address issues with traditional payment systems, but suffer from usability issues leading to frustration and skepticism around what a blockchain-based payment system can deliver. Self-custody requires that someone memorize or securely store their 24-word recovery phrase. Failure to do this correctly puts customers at risk of losing their funds altogether. Sending a payment has also proven cumbersome with existing wallets. Typing in complex wallet addresses as payment destinations, triple checking that the wallet address is correct, and waiting up to 10 minutes for a transaction to complete doesn't deliver the instant payment experience needed to power commerce or fuel a global, peer-to-peer payment experience . Privacy also suffers as transactions published on a global ledger reveal a customer's entire transaction history and balance. Attemptingto buy a latte at a coffee shop means that the latte would be ready before a payment goes through and exposes a person's location and purchase history in real-time. Moby closes these gaps by delivering a world-class experience that combines an easier way to self-custody funds and pay without exposing customers to the complexities of the blockchain. Customers can back up their wallet with a short PIN using Secure Value Recovery (SVR) without having to store their keys on a third-party system. Instead, their PIN is used to generate a series of encrypted keys that allow our customers to privately recover their wallets without exposing their private keys to our systems. Customers enter contact names, instead of wallet addresses, using PrivatePay. PrivatePay protects customer data so that only the sender and receiver have knowledge that the payment occurred. This is made possible by a set of innovations that work together behind the scenes to allow customers to transact with peers without ever exposing their data to MobileCoin's systems. Bob Lee, MobileCoin's Chief Product Officer said, "so many wallets in the market ask customers to adopt machine-like behavior if they want to pay someone privately. We challenged ourselves to rebuild payments from the ground up so that people don't have to go through a steep learning curve to protect their data. Using breakthroughs in zero-knowledge encryption to set a new standard for privacy, Moby protects customers from criminals and predatory corporations alike with a best-in-class customer experience free of compromise." In a few taps, customers can create and fund their wallet in Moby. Sending a payment is as easy as entering an amount, adding a contact, and confirming the payment. Moby supports payments in $MOB, MobileCoin's native cryptocurrency. Additional currencies, like eUSD, our privacy-focused stablecoin, will also be available soon to customers globally. To learn more about Moby (feat. PrivatePay), check out their latest blog post and download Moby (feat. PrivatePay) by visiting get.moby.app. Questions? You can reach us at [email protected]. About MobileCoin: Founded in 2017, MobileCoin is a layer 1 blockchain that is focused on fast, secure, frictionless payments compatible with mobile devices. MobileCoin went live on mainnet in 2020. Additionally, the Moby App is now live globally. For more information please visit our website at get.moby.app. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005765/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 11, 2023] With a Powerful Combination to Further Explore Its Field in New Energy Technology, Chery Joins Hands with CATL to Seek a New Chapter CANBERRA, Australia, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Recently, Chery Group signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement with Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited. (CATL), and the two sides will carry out all-round cooperation in various fields, such as products, commerce and market promotion. As the largest power battery manufacturer in the world, CATL provides power batteries for many famous automobile enterprises, including Mercedes Benz, BMW, Tesla, etc. It has occupied more than 30% of the global market share for a long time, and has won the first place for five consecutive years. While in terms of Chery, it has been engaged in the research and development of new energy technology as early as 1999. More than two decades of technological accumulation witnessed that Chery has made major breakthroughs in the core areas such as EIC technology and lightweight technology. By now, Chery has declared more than 900 patents in the feld of new energy and obtained more than 600 authorized patents, ranking first in China's automobile enterprises and third globally. Thanks to its strong technical strength, Chery eQ1 ranks first in the market segment with a sales volume of 300,000 units. Moreover, Chery's full-function hybrid configuration DHT is even leading the development of global hybrid technology. The first 10 months of this year witnessed that Chery's sales volume of new energy products exceeded 210,000 units, with a year-on-year growth of 182%, far beyond the overall growth rate of the automobile industry. Chery's joining hands with CATL this time will set a new climate of strong cooperation and coordinated development. Chery will continue to develop new energy and practice the enterprise concept of green development, and promote the sustainable development of the new energy industry and the popularization of electric vehicles with its partners, so as to achieve the goal of "carbon peaking and carbon neutrality". By virtue of its unique geographical advantages and developed economy, Australia is a hub for sea-land-air transportation and communication in Oceania, as well as a strategic market which Chery Automobile attaches great importance to. Looking forward, Chery will continue to develop the Australian market. In light of this, Chery will introduce more new energy technologies and achievements into the Australian market, so as to provide more green and environmental travel solutions for the local consumers. SOURCE Chery [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 11, 2023] DFIN Named One of the Best Places to Work for 2023 DFIN Earns Honor Four Years in a Row CHICAGO, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Donnelley Financial Solutions (NYSE: DFIN), a leading global risk and compliance solutions company, today announced that it has been recognized by Built In as one of the 2023 Best Places to Work in Chicago and in the U.S. DFIN ranked in the following categories: Chicago Best Large Places to Work Chicago Best Places to Work U.S. Best Large Places to Work Built In recognizes the top employers across the country with the best total rewards packages, focusing on the benefits that candidates most frequently search for on its platform: remote and flexible work opportunities, programs for DEI, and other people-first cultural offerings. Our investment in the total wellbeing of our employees is an ongoing strategy for us. "I am deeply honored to receive this award for the fourth year in a row," said Kirk Williams, Chief Human Resources Officer at DFIN. "It serves as validation that the improvements we've continued to make in our benefits and compensation offerings are resonating in the marketplace. Our investment in the total wellbeing of our employees is an ongoing strategy for us." In congratulating this year's winners, Built In Chief Marketing Officer Sheridan Orr said, "These exemplary companies understand their people are their most valuable asset, and they've stepped up to meet the modern professional's new expectations, including the desire to work for copanies that deliver purpose, growth, and inclusion. These winners set the stage for a human-centered future of work, and we can't wait to see that future unfold." About Donnelley Financial Solutions (DFIN) DFIN is a leading global risk and compliance solutions company. We provide domain expertise, enterprise software and data analytics for every stage of our clients' business and investment lifecycles. Markets fluctuate, regulations evolve, technology advances, and through it all, DFIN delivers confidence with the right solutions in moments that matter. Learn about DFIN's end-to-end risk and compliance solutions online at DFINsolutions.com or you can also follow us on Twitter @DFINSolutions or on LinkedIn. About Built In Built In is creating the largest platform for technology professionals globally. Monthly, millions of the industry's most in-demand professionals visit the site from across the world. They rely on our platform to stay ahead of tech trends and news, learn skills to accelerate their careers and find opportunities at companies whose values they share. Built In also serves 2,000 customers, innovative companies ranging from startups to those in the Fortune 500. By putting their stories in front of our uniquely engaged audience, we help them hire otherwise hard-to-reach tech professionals. http://www.builtin.com About Built In's Best Places to Work Built In's esteemed Best Places to Work awards, now in its fifth year, honor companies across numerous categories: 100 Best Places to Work, 50 Best Startup Places to Work, 100 Best Midsize Places to Work, 100 Best Large Places to Work and Editor's Choice: 100 Best Hybrid Places to Work. The program honors companies remote, hybrid and in-office with the best total rewards packages across the U.S. and in the following tech hubs: Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Colorado, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington DC. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dfin-named-one-of-the-best-places-to-work-for-2023-301719644.html SOURCE Donnelley Financial LLC [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 11, 2023] PatientFi Named to Built In's 2023 Best Places To Work Awards PatientFi, a point-of-sale technology platform offering patients a friendly way to pay for medical and dental procedures, today announced its inclusion on Built In's annual list of 2023 Best Places to Work in the U.S. list. The annual awards program includes companies of all sizes, from startups to those in the enterprise, and honors both remote-first employers and companies in large tech markets across the U.S. "PatientFi is committed to creating a workplace where our employees can thrive and be rewarded," said PatientFi CEO and Co-Founder Todd Watts. "We are honored to be recognized in the Best Places to Work list for 2023." Built In determines the winners of Best Places to Work based on an algorithm, using company data about compensation and benefits. To reflect the benefits candidates are searching for more frequently on Built In, the program also weighs criteria like remote and flexible work opportunities, programs for DEI and other people-first cultural offerings. PatientFi's dedication to a collaborative and supportive work environment, coupled with its extensive professional development and cultural benefits, ensured its placement on the list. From paid industry certifications to company equity and workplace amenities, PatientFi prioritizes employee well-being and security. "It's my honor to congratulate this year's Best Places to Work winners," says Sheridan Orr, Chief Marketing Officer, Built In. "These exemplary companies understand their people are their most asset, and they've stepped up to meet the modern professional's new expectations, including the desire to work for companies that deliver purpose, growth and inclusion. These winners set the stage for a human-centered future of work, and we can't wait to see that future unfld." ABOUT PATIENTFI PatientFi is a point-of-sale platform used by healthcare providers to seamlessly offer their patients a friendly financing alternative to pay for out-of-pocket healthcare expenses. The Company's mission is to make life-changing procedures and treatments more accessible to more patients, and bring friendly, easy, and flexible financing to the forefront of healthcare practices. Today, PatientFi serves a broad national network of healthcare providers across plastic surgery, dermatology, dentistry, fertility, audiology and ophthalmology. For more information, visit www.PatientFi.com and follow PatientFi on Instagram and LinkedIn. ABOUT BUILT IN Built In is creating the largest platform for technology professionals globally. Monthly, millions of the industry's most in-demand professionals visit the site from across the world. They rely on our platform to stay ahead of tech trends and news, learn skills to accelerate their careers and find opportunities at companies whose values they share. Built In also serves 2,000 customers, innovative companies ranging from startups to those in the Fortune 500. By putting their stories in front of our uniquely engaged audience, we help them hire otherwise hard-to-reach tech professionals. www.builtin.com ABOUT BUILT IN'S BEST PLACES TO WORK Built In's esteemed Best Places to Work Awards, now in its fifth year, honor companies across numerous categories: 100 Best Places to Work, 50 Best Startup Places to Work, 100 Best Midsize Places to Work, 100 Best Large Places to Work and Editor's Choice: 100 Best Hybrid Places to Work. The program honors companies - remote, hybrid and in-office - with the best total rewards packages across the U.S. and in the following tech hubs: Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Colorado, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington DC. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005832/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] More than a dozen flight departures were delayed and at least 15 arrivals were listed as delayed Wednesday morning at Buffalo Niagara International Airport following a Federal Aviation Administration computer outage, according to the airport's website. Several afternoon arrivals were delayed as much as two hours, but most were on time by evening. "It didn't impact our airport significantly," NFTA spokeswoman Helen Tederous said Wednesday evening. She noted that only two flights were canceled. FAA officials said Wednesday that the system was shut down in the morning to reboot the air traffic control computer system after a corrupt file was discovered Tuesday. The FAA at 7:19 a.m. announced on Twitter that the agency "ordered airlines to pause all domestic departures until 9 a.m. Eastern time to allow the agency to validate the integrity of flight and safety information." At 8:50 a.m., the FAA said on Twitter "normal air traffic operations are resuming gradually" across the country. "The ground stop has been lifted," the agency said. Nevertheless, delays and cancellations accelerated rapidly across the country, with more than 3,700 stuck on the ground around 8:30 a.m. more than all the delayed flights for the entirety of the previous day, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware, the Associated Press reported Wednesday morning. The groundings affected almost all aircraft, including shipping and passenger flights. As of 5 p.m., more than 9,200 flights nationwide had been delayed, according to FlightAware, and more than 1,300 were canceled. Airports in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Atlanta saw 30% to 40% of flights delayed, the AP reported. More than 21,000 flights were scheduled to take off in the U.S. during the day, mostly domestic trips, and about 1,840 international flights expected to fly to the U.S., according to aviation data firm Cirium, the AP said. An FAA communication system is experiencing issues this morning, impacting flights across the country . Please check with your airline directly for the most up-to-date flight information prior to travel. Buffalo Airport (@BUFAirport) January 11, 2023 So far, the numbers haven't sparked concern and the public seems to be getting back to normal. On the horizon, word of widespread sickness and death in China has sparked concerns along with rising confirmed numbers of "variants" in Europe. This morning: Biden administration extends Covid public health emergency as highly infectious omicron XBB.1.5 spreads Accordingly, here's the local note . . . In the three years since, a recorded 2.7 million people have come down with the virus in Kansas and Missouri, and more than 31,000 people have died. The average life expectancy in the United States dropped to 76.4 in 2021, the lowest since 1996. Beyond the numbers, Kansas City health officials saw changed approaches to health matters, deteriorating trust in public health agencies, and a burgeoning capacity crisis in area hospitals. The politicization of the pandemic has, at times, hindered their mission to minimize its spread. Overall, case numbers have leveled off from the worst periods of the pandemic. But with the rise at-home tests, which are not automatically publicly recorded, experts believe the actual case totals may be anywhere from two to five times higher. Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . . A quick roundup of today's police action, crime reporting, ALLEGED misdeeds & more . . . Check TKC news gathering . . . Afternoon Shooting in Raytown January 10th, 2023 By Communication Technician Mallory Harrison, Raytown PD Raytown, MO - On Tuesday, January 10th at 12:11 PM, Raytown Police received a call from an adult female stating she was shot at QuikTrip, 9323 E 350 Highway. Officers arrived locating the adult female with apparent gunshot wounds; she was transported to a local area hospital. Second person dies from crash following KCK police chase KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A second person has died from injuries sustained in a crash during a Kansas City, Kansas police chase earlier this week. Just after 2 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 8, KCK police officers were involved in a chase with a suspect of a GMC Terrain taken in an aggravated armed robbery/carjacking near N. Police say a man has been found dead in a creek in Olathe, Kansas The Olathe, Kansas Police Department is investigating after a man was found dead in a creek Tuesday afternoon. Officers were called to a creek near North Somerset Terrace and North Mur-Len Road around 2:11 p.m.When officers arrived, they found a man dead in the water.Police are investigating the incident but say at this time, no foul play is suspected.The man's identity has not yet been released. Retired Missouri priest sentenced for possessing child porn ST. LOUIS (AP) - A retired Catholic priest in St. Louis who used thousands of images of child pornography to make PowerPoint presentations for several years was sentenced Tuesday to five years in prison. James T. Beighlie, 72, pleaded guilty in October to two counts of possession of child pornography. Kansas Democrat says she has bipartisan support to end statute of limitations for sex crimes Sen. Cindy Holscher, D-Overland Park, says she'll introduce legislation this week to get rid of the statute of limitations for crimes involving sexual misconduct and abuse. She also criticized leaders of the Catholic Church for failing to support previous efforts to do so. KCPD giving extra focus to the fight against human trafficking Kansas City, Missouri, police are giving extra focus this week to fighting human trafficking.Kansas City police are doing this as part of the National Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance Trafficking Awareness Initiative. Kansas City, Missouri 2023 homicide tracker KANSAS CITY, Mo. - FOX4 is tracking homicide cases in Kansas City, Missouri following the previous three deadliest years on record in 2020 (179), 2021 (157), and 2022 (169). In 2022, Kansas City surpassed 2020's homicide count in December, setting a second-worst year for homicides. Thieves steal copper from AT&T phone lines in Independence AT&T workers are running new wire along Bundschu Road in Independence, Missouri, after thieves stole copper from the lines. It is the second time in two days, according to local residents, who have gone without internet and phone since last Friday.On Tuesday, KMBC 9 saw workers at two different points along Bundschu road restoring wire. Attorney who represents sexual abuse victims reacts to KBI report on Catholic clergy KANSAS CITY, Mo. - On Friday, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation released a report which identified dozens of Catholic clergy who may have committed sex crimes against children. KSHB 41 News spoke with an attorney who tried and won many cases in Kansas and Missouri on behalf of sexual assault survivors of the Catholic church. Independence Police hope to build new, state-of-the-art safety campus INDEPENDENCE, Mo. - Independence police are pushing for a new public safety campus because they say their current building is old and not safe. The building was built in 1973 and police say the conditions of the headquarters have only gotten worse, making a difficult job even tougher. Woman killed in one of Kansas City's 1st homicides of 2023 was mother to 5 children The first fatal shooting of 2023 in Kansas City claimed the life of a mother of five. Police on Tuesday identified the victims in Sunday's double homicide as Tanisha Williams, 35, and Charles Martin, 46. No arrests have been made in their killings, a Kansas City Police Department spokesperson said Tuesday. New Year's celebratory gunfire hit Kansas City police building's roof KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Celebratory gunfire on New Year's Eve got a little too close to home for the Kansas City Police Department. The department posted photos on Facebook of a spent bullet and a hole in the roof of their Helicopter Unit building. Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department deputy chief is 2nd Hispanic officer to hold title KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department is turning a new page in leadership. This month the department swore in its highest ranking Hispanic police officer, Luis Ortiz, as deputy chief. Ortiz is only the second hispanic officer to the hold the title has been with the department for more than 20 years. Developing . . . Cruzeiro Safaris Kenya Offers Professional Safari Vacations in Kenya to the most popular wildlife national parks and Luxury Accommodations in Nairobi, Masai Mara, Samburu, Amboseli, Tsavo, Lake Nakuru, Nyeri Aberdares, Nanyuki and around Mount Kenya. Cruzeiro Safaris also helps last minute traveler and transit travelers book short day tours and trips in Nairobi. 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Sean Ryan, who was appointed last week to lead a committee overseeing more than $4 billion in annual economic development spending, wants to use the position to ensure tax dollars are spent to create not just jobs, but good-paying ones. The Buffalo Democrat described some of his plans for the Senate Committee on Commerce, Economic Development and Small Business in an interview on Wednesday. For the past four years, the committee had been led by a Democrat from Long Island, Anna Kaplan, who lost her re-election bid in 2022. That opened up the position for Ryan, who believes having a chairperson from Western New York will benefit the region. Im really pleased that Senate leadership appointed me, Ryan said. Its a big committee. The committees principal role is overseeing more than $2.5 billion in annual spending by Empire State Development Corp., the economic development arm of Gov. Kathy Hochuls administration. Under former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, lawmakers at times criticized the agencys initiatives as wasteful. Under the Cuomo administration, these programs too often missed the mark, Ryan said. Before winning elected office, Ryan worked at a nonprofit development entity called the Buffalo Neighborhood Stabilization Co. Inc., where he was executive director and general counsel and created a redevelopment plan for a section of the West Side. That background has shaped his plan for the committees priorities. The largest problem in the Western New York economy is a lack of high-paying jobs, Ryan said. Theres not enough of them to get people out of poverty and that has really helped focus my attention on the types of companies we should be giving subsidies to. For a long time, we just kind of looked past that and said, Were very happy theyre offering X number of jobs. But nobody asked if people in those communities could afford to live on that salary. Ryan pointed to the Buffalo Billion program under Cuomo, which brought a Tesla solar cell factory to Riverbend, but created jobs paying workers a below-average wage for industrial work in Western New York, he said. Ryan also plans greater scrutiny of industrial development agencies, entities formed by local governments to promote economic development. As another example of the government subsidizing low-wage work, Ryan points to tax incentives given the retail giant Amazon, such as $6.85 million granted by the Hamburg Industrial Development Agency in 2021. There are a lot of taxpayer dollars going to Amazon for them to come in, but those jobs are paying around minimum wage, Ryan said. Ryan wants to continue attempting to curb the practice of companies shopping for tax subsidies between various jurisdictions, which was a focus of a 2019 report released by the Senate Committee on Investigations and Government Operations. Ryan has a much more positive view of the Green CHIPS bill that Hochuls administration pushed through the Legislature last June, which then induced Micron to commit to building the largest semiconductor fabrication facility in the history of the United States in Onondaga County. Micron promises nearly 50,000 New York jobs, including approximately 9,000 high-paying Micron jobs. The company is eligible to receive $9 billion in federal, state and local incentives if Micron makes good on its promise to spend up to $100 billion building chip plants. Another important aspect of the committee, according to Ryan, is focusing attention on job-training programs that will prepare workers for the needs of companies that are already in New York, training and upskilling people that are already in the workforce. Nearly 500 women-owned businesses rejected from MWBE program, but NY denies fraud concerns State officials deny they are "cracking down" on phony woman-owned business applications, but their own statistics show they are denying applications for WBEs at more than twice the rate of certification applications for minority-owned businesses. For economic development, job training has become more important than luring companies from other states with tax breaks, he said. Definitely, the paradigm has shifted, Ryan said. Ensuring that federal stimulus funds are spent effectively to build out rural broadband Internet capacity is another priority. And Ryan is interested in getting to the root of the delays women- and minority-owned businesses face in being certified as such by Empire State Development, pointing to a March article in The Buffalo News on the topic. Twenty-five years ago, on a snowy day in early January, Zohreh BayatRizi entered Canadaa country half the world away from Iran. She only came to Canada to pursue a masters degree at University of British Columbia and did not intend to stay. But one year turned into two years, five years and twenty-five years. Fifteen of these years have been spent at the University of Alberta as a faculty member. She still feels that her presence in Canada is temporary; a quarter century of temporary life. For, like millions of other Iranians, the decision to leave was not made wholly by choice. On this important personal anniversary, she and her team of graduate students write in the memory of the victims of the Ukrainian Flight PS752, which was shot down over Tehran on January 8, 2020 carrying 176 passengers and crew, mostly of Iranian origin. These victims were in many ways like us. They were forced out of their homeland but never really stopped caring about it. Those who shot down the airplane and then decreed we not make a big fuss over it could not have even imagined the grave consequences of what they had done. That airplane was carrying a nation. The Iranian passengers on that airplane were not political activists. They were ordinary people going about their own lives; people who had been forced to leave but their hearts remained in Iran and beat for it. For this reason, a large part of the Iranian nation inside and outside Iran saw themselves in these passengers. They saw that even if they go to the other side of the world, they are still not truly freejust like the characters of Bahram Beyzayis 1991 critically acclaimed film The Passengers, who were condemned to an inevitable, collective fate. The Passengers, an allegorical film about life, death, and hope, informed the research we conducted in 2020 and 2021 in the Iranian community in Edmonton about the effects of the Flight PS752 tragedy on the community. Many respondents reported strongly identifying with the victims to the point of vividly imagining themselves on that airplane and dying. The idea of the research came from Rezvaneh, a PhD candidate in Sociology, who helped conduct the project along with Samira, a PhD candidate in Anthropology. Supported with funding from the Faculty of Arts and the Department of Sociology, the research focused on exploring how Edmontonians of Iranian heritage experienced and coped with the tragedy. They reported complex and strong emotional experiences, including grief, anger, shock and even shame. Most surprising, perhaps, many reported vividly imaging that they had been on that airplane and killed along with the passenger; an experience that we named vicarious death and which stems from their intense identification with the victims. The downing of Flight PS752 and the actions that followed it, including harassing the grieving families, became a turning point in Iran's contemporary history. A new sense of solidarity was created between millions of Iranians abroad and those in Iran who felt they shared the same destiny. We saw this emerging solidarity in our research where many of our respondents expressed frustration at the fact that the government in Iran affects their physical and emotional lives even halfway around the world. This solidarity inside and outside Iran has shown its effects in the widespread activity of Iranians abroad since the death of Mahsa Amini and the beginning of the Women, Life, Freedom movement, in the great march in Berlin in October and in putting aside past differences and uniting around key objectives. The Association of the Families of Flight PS752 Victims based in Toronto, Ontario has played a major role in these events. This solidarity in the uprising evokes the hopeful end of the film: the passengers have come back to life, carrying a mirror that shines light on the mourning ceremony and turns it into a celebration. About Zohreh, Rezvaneh and Samira Dr. Zohreh BayatRizi is an associate professor in the Department of Sociology in the Faculty of Arts in the College of Social Sciences and Humanities. Her research interests include sociology of death and grief, sociology of Iran, history of sociology, law and society and medical sociology. Since 2020, she has been developing a research program on the interplay between grief, identity, and belonging, addressing how relations of force and inequality impact the experience of grief. Rezvaneh Erfani is a SSHRC Vanier scholar, Killam doctoral fellow and PhD candidate in Sociology. Her primary research is focused on environmental and climate activism and democracy in the Middle East with a focus on Turkiye and Egypt. Samira Torabi is a PhD candidate in Anthropology. Her research interests include sexuality, gender and the anthropology of Iran. Her PhD project examines the mutually transformative intersection of piety and public expressions of sexuality on Iranian social media platforms. She is also the recipient of the Mojgan Daneshmand Pedram Mousavi and Flight PS752 Memorial Graduate Scholarship. By Jeff Murphy, January 11, 2023 WARRENSBURG, MO UCM Magazine, a biannual publication with a print distribution to 25,000 University of Central Missouri alumni and supporters, is being recognized with a 2022 Best of District award by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). A representative of the UCM Alumni Foundation will accept the award during the CASE District VI Annual Conference in Denver, Colorado, Feb. 57. The UCM Alumni Foundation works in cooperation with the universitys Office of Integrated Marketing and Communications (IMC) to produce the publication. It was judged by a panel of communications professionals against entries from public and private four-year institutions of higher education in the Midwest region, comprising Missouri, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming. UCM Magazine and publications from two other institutions were selected as Best of CASE District VI Award winners in the category for alumni/general interest magazines printed twice a year. While the award recognizes the quality of the publication among other colleges and universities in the eight-state Midwest district, its impact extends much further. Changes within the awards program placed district awards within CASEs global competition. Instead of choosing many winners at the district level (one Grand Gold and multiple Gold, Silver, and Bronze awards), as has been previously done, the top three scores in the global competition that did not receive global recognition are now recognized as Best of District winners. The Best of CASE District VI Award showcases the passion of staff members whose work exemplifies the best of the advancement profession in their district or region, and serves as an inspiration for all advancement professionals. The same kind of passion also is reflected among university faculty, staff, students and, particularly, alumni who are featured in UCM Magazine. It is our privilege to reflect in UCM Magazine the talent, diversity and service-oriented spirit of our alumni community, said Kathy Strickland, the magazines executive editor. Every graduate of the University of Central Missouri has a story to tell, and these stories are all connected by a common thread dating back 150 years to the founding of our institution. It is our hope that the magazine and this latest award invoke a sense of nostalgia and pride in what UCM students, faculty and alumni have accomplished and continue to achieve in service to our world. Strickland said two issues of UCM Magazine, Fall 2020 and Fall 2021, were submitted for judging. They provided examples of what readers have come to expect from the publication, including content such as the Alumni Foundation Annual Report, stories about Distinguished Alumni Award recipients, and many other articles featuring interesting people, initiatives and accomplishments that are UCM focused. Judges scored nominations in five areas: content, writing, and editing; overall concept and creativity; design and layout; audience engagement; and use of resources (budget, people and time) and return on investment. Judges also considered special circumstances/overcoming adversity and the quality and clarity of nomination and supporting materials. Strickland noted that UCM Magazine is always created with the reader in mind. This drives content decisions that strive to represent all sides of a story through interviews with current students, faculty/staff members and alumni who present diverse perspectives. The magazine as a whole seeks to invoke nostalgia, fond memories and pride in the reputation current and future accolades bring to the institution and to the value of the hard-earned degrees of our alumni audience, Strickland stated. Individuals who want to view the magazine online can do so at ucmfoundation.org/magazine. Amanda Shelley was sitting in her dentist's waiting room when she received a call from the police. A local teenage girl had been sexually assaulted and needed an exam. Shelley, a nurse in rural Eagle County, Colorado, went to her car and called a telehealth company to arrange an appointment with a sexual assault nurse examiner, or SANE. The nurse examiners have extensive training in how to care for assault survivors and collect evidence for possible criminal prosecution. About an hour later, Shelley met the patient at the Colorado Mountain Medical urgent care clinic in the small town of Avon. She used a tablet to connect by video with a SANE about 2,000 miles away, in New Hampshire. The remote nurse used the video technology to speak with the patient and guide Shelley through each step of a two-hour exam. One of those steps was a colposcopy, in which Shelley used a magnifying device to closely examine the vagina and cervix. The remote nurse saw, in real time, what Shelley could see, with the help of a video camera attached to the machine. The service, known as "teleSANE," is new at Shelley's hospital. Before, sexual assault patients faced mountains of obstacles literally when they had to travel to a hospital in another county for care. "We're asking them to drive maybe over snowy passes and then (be there) three to four hours for this exam and then drive back home it's disheartening for them," Shelley said. "They want to start the healing process and go home and shower." To avoid this scenario, teleSANE services are expanding across the country in rural, sparsely populated areas. Research shows SANE programs encourage psychological healing, provide comprehensive health care, allow for professional evidence collection and improve the chance of a successful prosecution. Jennifer Pierce-Weeks is CEO of the International Association of Forensic Nurses, which created the national standards and certification programs for sexual assault nurse examiners. She said every sexual assault survivor faces health consequences. Assaults can cause physical injuries, sexually transmitted infections, unwanted pregnancies and mental health conditions that can lead to suicide attempts and drug and alcohol misuse. "If they are cared for on the front end, all of the risks of those things can be reduced dramatically with the right intervention," Pierce-Weeks said. Pierce-Weeks said there's no comprehensive national data on the number and location of health care professionals with SANE training. But she said studies show there's a nationwide shortage, especially in rural areas. Some rural hospitals struggle to create or maintain in-person SANE programs because of staffing and funding shortfalls, Pierce-Weeks said. Training costs money and takes time. If rural hospitals train nurses, they still might not have enough to provide round-the-clock coverage. And nurses in rural areas can't practice their skills as often as those who work in busy urban hospitals. Some hospitals without SANE programs refer sexual assault survivors elsewhere because they don't feel qualified to help and aren't always legally required to provide comprehensive treatment and evidence collection. Avel eCare, based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, has been providing telehealth services since 1993. It recently added teleSANE to its offerings. Avel provides this service to 43 mostly rural and small-town hospitals across five states and is expanding to Indian Health Service hospitals in the Great Plains. Native Americans face high rates of sexual assault and might have to travel hours for care if they live in one of the region's large, rural reservations. Jen Canton, who oversees Avel's teleSANE program, said arriving at a local hospital and being referred elsewhere can be devastating for sexual assault survivors. "You just went through what is potentially the worst moment of your life, and then you have to travel two, three hours away to another facility," Canton said. "It takes a lot of courage to even come into the first hospital and say what happened to you and ask for help." Patients who receive care at hospitals without SANE programs might not receive trauma-informed care, which focuses on identifying sources of trauma, determining how those experiences may affect people's health, and preventing the retraumatizing of patients. Emergency department staffers may not have experience with internal exams or evidence collection. They also might not know about patients' options for involving police. Patients who travel to a second hospital might struggle to arrange for and afford transportation or child care. Other patients don't have the emotional bandwidth to make the trip and retell their stories. That's why some survivors, like Ada Sapp, don't have an exam. Sapp, a health care executive at Colorado Mountain Medical, was assaulted before the hospital system began its SANE program. She was shocked to learn she would need to drive 45 minutes to another county for an exam. "I didn't feel comfortable doing that by myself," Sapp said. "So, my husband would have had to come with me, or a friend. The logistics made it feel insurmountable." Sapp's experience inspired her to help bring SANE services to Colorado Mountain Medical. Shelley and several other of the hospital system's nurses have SANE training but appreciate having telehealth support from the remote nurses with more experience. "We are a rural community and we're not doing these every single day," Shelley said. A remote "second set of eyes" increases the confidence of the in-person nurse and is reassuring to patients, she said. A brief look at American health cares long, complicated history A brief look at American health cares long, complicated history 1781: First medical society established 1865: Medical division of Freedmen's Bureau is established 1929: First employer-sponsored health care plan in the US is made available to teachers 1943: IRS makes employer-sponsored health insurance tax-free 1945: Harry Trumans proposal for a national health insurance fails 1950-1960s: American Medical Association lobbies against single-payer systems 1965: Medicare and Medicaid programs established 1970s: First bills for single-payer system are proposed in Congress 1996: Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act passes 2010: Affordable Care Act passes One civilian has been killed and one injured in Russias shelling of the Donetsk region over the past day. The relevant statement was made by Donetsk Regional Military Administration Head Pavlo Kyrylenko on Telegram, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. On January 10, 2023, Russians killed one civilian in the Donetsk region, namely in Bakhmut. One more person was injured, Kyrylenko wrote. Additionally, it is now impossible to count the exact number of casualties in Mariupol and Volnovakha, Kyrylenko noted. A reminder that, on January 10, 2023, Russian invaders launched six missile strikes and 16 air strikes, and opened fire with multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) about 50 times, namely on civil infrastructure across such regions as Kharkiv, Donetsk and Kherson. Photo: Pavlo Kyrylenko, Telegram mk Russia has already lost about 112,960 troops in Ukraine (+490 over the past day). The relevant statement was made by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. Between February 24, 2022 and January 11, 2023, the enemys total combat losses included also 3,094 tanks (+10 over the past day), 6,159 armored fighting vehicles (+5), 2,078 artillery systems (+5), 437 multiple launch rocket systems (+3), 217 anti-aircraft warfare systems, 285 aircraft, 275 helicopters, 4,826 motor vehicles and fuel tanks (+9), 17 warships/boats, 1,862 unmanned aerial vehicles (+2), 184 special equipment units (+1). A total of 723 enemy cruise missiles were shot down. The data are yet to be updated. A reminder that, on January 10, 2023, the Armed Forces of Ukraine repelled enemy attacks near 13 settlements. Photo: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine mk The Russian invaders intend to attack one of the healthcare facilities in Luhansk region to blame the Armed Forces of Ukraine for it. As the National Resistance Center reports, the humanitarian crisis has worsened in the occupied territories as the Russian servicemen are being treated in the healthcare facilities of the region on a top-priority basis. Civilians cannot get medical help in hospitals in time, so the occupation administrations have problems with the population sentiments. "In order to discredit the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the occupiers could strike one of the hospitals in the region where civilians still stay. According to the information from the underground, the Russians plan to hit particularly a unit with civilians," the report says. As reported, over the past day, Ukraines Air Force launched 14 strikes on the enemy personnel, weapons, and military equipment clusters, as well as four strikes on the enemy positions of anti-aircraft missile systems. ol Serhii Cherevaty, Spokesman for the Eastern Group of Troops of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, denied the statements made by the Russian military about their alleged capture of the town of Soledar, Donetsk region. "The Russians say that Soledar is under their control. It is not true. Wait for the details in the General Staffs report," Cherevaty said, Suspilne media outlet reports. For its part, the Strategic Communications Department at the Armed Forces of Ukraine denied the authenticity of photos published by the press service of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the owner of Wagner PMC, as "confirmation" of the capture of the town by the Russian invaders. "It seems that Prigozhins location does not correspond to reality, and he is not in the Soledar [salt] mines. Its an information warfare operation element from Prigozhin's PR staff aimed at the internal audience to at least somehow justify the crazy losses among the prison inmates [recruited by Wagner PMC]," StratCom posted on Telegram. As reported, heavy battles for Soledar are ongoing. The enemy keeps assaulting the town despite heavy losses. ol Italy's Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani has said that Italy is ready to send a new batch of military aid to Ukraine to help defend itself against Russian troops who are carrying out a full-scale invasion of the country. That's according to ANSA, Ukrinform reports. "We are doing everything we can for Ukraine. We are ready to send more weapons. [...] Obviously, the parliament will be informed before we do so. We have sent over 50 tonnes of electrical material for the reconstruction of the power grid destroyed by the Russian attacks," Tajani said. According to him, the Italian side is currently in talks with France about air defense weapons for Ukraine. "We also reiterated our intention to support the total independence of Ukraine in yesterday's meeting between Premier Giorgia Meloni and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida," Tajani said. Tajani said on January 10 that Italy intends to supply Ukraine with an air defense system to protect against Russian attacks, but Rome needs to resolve technical issues before it is sent. Photo: ANSA Heavy fighting is going on in the town of Soledar, Donetsk region. Ukraine's Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said this in a post on Telegram, Ukrinform reports. "After the losses suffered, the enemy once again replaced their units, increased the number of Wagner mercenaries and is attempting to break through the defenses of our troops and completely capture the town, but they have no success," Maliar said. Read also: Enemy opens fire on Ukrainian positions 249 times in Bakhmut direction Serhii Cherevatyi, spokesperson for the Eastern Group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, earlier denied claims by the Russian military that they allegedly captured the town of Soledar. Polish President Andrzej Duda has said that Poland will send a company of German-made Leopard main battle tanks to Ukraine. The office of the Polish president said this on Twitter, Ukrinform reports. Prezydent @AndrzejDuda w #Lwow: Kompania czogow Leopard dla Ukrainy zostanie przekazana w ramach budowania koalicji miedzynarodowej. Taka decyzja jest juz w Polsce. Kancelaria Prezydenta (@prezydentpl) January 11, 2023 "A company of Leopard tanks will be transferred as part of the creation of a coalition. But for this, it is necessary to fulfill a whole set of formal requirements, approvals and so on. However, first of all, we want it to be an international coalition," Duda said at a press conference in Lviv on Wednesday following the second summit of the Lublin Triangle. He said that as part of this international coalition, Poland decided to provide "the first tank package - a Leopard tank company." He expressed hope that Ukraine would soon have companies of Leopard tanks and other types from other international partners to strengthen the country's defense. "Such a decision has already been made in Poland," Duda said. The Polish leader also added that ending the war in Ukraine is "one of the biggest challenges for the free world" that has happened in the last few decades. Duda called on the leaders of other countries to continue helping Ukraine. He said that Poland was the first country to provide Ukraine with "extremely large help amid Russian aggression." He noted that the equipment transferred by Warsaw to Kyiv since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion includes tanks, ammunition, Grot automatic rifles, Krab self-propelled howitzers, etc. Duda did not specify exactly how many tanks Poland would transfer to Ukraine, but according to the structure of the Polish army, a tank company consists of 14 tanks. Lithuania will transfer air defense and anti-aircraft systems to Ukraine. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said this at a joint press conference with Presidents Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine and Andrzej Duda of Poland in Lviv on January 11, according to an Ukrinform correspondent. "Today I brought good news for Ukraine - we are handing over air defense systems and certain anti-aircraft systems that should help you in the fight [against Russian aggression]," Nauseda said. He added that there are political disputes in Lithuania on various issues, but there have never been any discussions about support for Ukraine. "All political parties fully agree that the aid should be maximal, and [Ukraine's] victory should be as quick as possible," Nauseda said. Earlier, Presidents Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, Andrzej Duda of Poland and Gitanas Nauseda of Lithuania signed a declaration at the Lublin Triangle summit in Lviv on January 11, which says that Lithuania and Poland support Ukraine's membership in NATO and seek consensus on this issue among Allies. Photo: Office of the President of Ukraine President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky denied Russian reports about the capture of Soledar in Donetsk region. Now the terrorist state and its propagandists are trying to pretend that some part of our city of Soledar a city that was almost completely destroyed by the occupiers is allegedly some kind of Russias achievement. They will present and are already presenting this to their society in such a way as to support mobilization and to give hope to those who support aggression. But the fighting continues. The Donetsk direction is holding out. And we do everything, without stopping for a single day, to strengthen Ukrainian defense, the President said in his evening address. As reported, Serhii Cherevaty, Spokesman for the Eastern Group of Troops of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, denied the statements made by the Russian military about their alleged capture of the town of Soledar, Donetsk region. ol Reports about Turkeys supply of cluster bombs to Ukraine are not true and are aimed at undermining relations between Turkey and Ukraine, creating a negative international image for the countries. Ambassador of Ukraine to Turkey Vasyl Bodnar told this to the new agency Anadolu, when commenting on media reports that Turkey is allegedly supplying Ukraine with cluster munitions. I fully deny it, it is not true. The information was specifically constructed as psychological information warfare weapons, just to undermine the relationship between Ukraine and Turkiye and try to create the wrong image of Ukraine and Turkiye, he said. Bodnar stressed that international law prohibits cluster bombs and ammunition, and that Kyiv complies with international rules in its war to hold back Russia. He said that he believed the allegation was part of a Russian propaganda machine against both Turkey and Ukraine. As Ukrinform reported, the publication Foreign Policy wrote that at the end of last year, Turkey began secretly supplying Ukraine with Cold War-era cluster munitions. iy ATHENS, Greece Constantine, the former and last king of Greece, who won an Olympic gold medal before becoming entangled in his country's volatile politics in the 1960s as king and spent decades in exile, has died. He was 82. Doctors at the private Hygeia Hospital in Athens confirmed to The Associated Press that Constantine died late Tuesday after treatment in an intensive care unit but had no further details pending an official announcement. When he acceded to the throne in 1964 as Constantine II at age 23, the youthful monarch, who already achieved glory as an Olympic gold medalist in sailing, was hugely popular. By the following year, he had squandered much of that support with his active involvement in the machinations that brought down the elected Center Union government of Prime Minister George Papandreou. The episode involving the defection from the ruling party of several lawmakers, still widely known in Greece as the "apostasy," destabilized the constitutional order and led to a military coup in 1967. Constantine eventually clashed with the military rulers and was forced into exile. The dictatorship abolished the monarchy in 1973, while a referendum after democracy was restored in 1974 dashed any hopes that Constantine had of ever reigning again. Reduced in the following decades to only fleeting visits to Greece that raised a political and media storm each time, he was able to settle again in his home country in his waning years when opposing his presence no longer held currency as a badge of vigilant republicanism. With minimal nostalgia for the monarchy in Greece, Constantine became a relatively uncontroversial figure. Constantine was born June 2, 1940 in Athens, to Prince Paul, younger brother to King George II and heir presumptive to the throne, and Princess Frederica of Hanover. His older sister Sophia is the wife of former King Juan Carlos I of Spain. The Greek-born Prince Philip, the late Duke of Edinburgh and husband of the late Queen Elizabeth II, was an uncle. The family, which ruled in Greece from 1863 apart from a 12-year republican interlude between 1922 and 1935, was descended from Prince Christian, later Christian IX of Denmark, of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glucksburg branch of the Danish ruling family. Before Constantine's first birthday, the royal family was forced to flee Greece during the German invasion in World War II, moving to Alexandria in Egypt, then South Africa and back to Alexandria. King George II returned to Greece in 1946, following a disputed referendum but died a few months later, making Constantine the heir to King Paul I. Constantine was educated at a boarding school and then attended three military academies as well as Athens Law School classes as preparation for his future role. He also competed in various sports, including sailing and karate, in which he held a black belt. In 1960, aged 20, he and two other Greek sailors won a gold medal in the Dragon Class now no longer an Olympic class at the Rome Olympics. While still a prince, Constantine was elected a member of the International Olympic Committee and became an honorary member for life in 1974. King Paul I died of cancer on March 6, 1964, and Constantine succeeded him, weeks after the Center Union party triumphed over the conservatives with 53% of the vote. The prime minister, George Papandreou, and Constantine initially had a very close relationship but it soon soured over Constantine's insistence that control of the armed forces was the monarch's prerogative. With many officers toying with the idea of a dictatorship and viewing any nonconservative government as soft on communism, Papandreou wanted to control the ministry of defense and eventually demanded to be appointed defense minister. After an acrimonious exchange of letters with Constantine, Papandreou resigned in July 1965. Eventually, Constantine made a truce of sorts with Papandreou and, with his agreement, appointed a government of technocrats and, then, a conservative-led government to hold an election in May 1967. But, with the polls heavily favoring the Center Union and with Papandreou's left-leaning son, Andreas, gaining in popularity, Constantine and his courtiers feared revenge and with the aid of high-ranking officers prepared a coup. However, a group of lower-ranking officers was preparing its own coup and proclaimed a dictatorship on April 21, 1967. Constantine was taken by surprise. He pretended to go along with the new rulers while preparing a counter-coup. On Dec. 13, 1967, Constantine and his family flew to the northern city of Kavala with the intention of marching on Thessaloniki and setting up a government there. The counter-coup, badly managed and infiltrated, collapsed and Constantine was forced to flee to Rome the following day. He would never return as reigning king. For most of his years in exile he lived in London and was said to be especially close to his second cousin, now King Charles III. He is survived by his wife, the former Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark; five children, Alexia, Pavlos, Nikolaos, Theodora and Philippos; and nine grandchildren. Important news for Ukraine was announced during the Summit of the Lublin Triangle in Lviv today - Poland will send tanks to Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelensky said this in his traditional video address to the nation, Ukrinform reports. The full text of the address is provided below: I wish you health, dear Ukrainians! Today, here in Lviv, important news for Ukraine was announced during the Summit of the Lublin Triangle, our special format with Poland and Lithuania. Poland has decided to provide tanks for Ukraine - I am grateful for this. I thank President Duda, the Government of Poland, all our Polish friends. Lithuania provides anti-aircraft systems to our country - the weapons we need to protect ourselves from Iranian drones - to protect our energy sector. I thank Gitanas for another demonstration of unwavering and principled support for Ukraine, which began even before February 24 and will continue until our victory. Today, I heard this confidence once again from both Andrzej and Gitanas - we will go all the way together to restore security of Ukraine and the whole of Europe, to restore our territorial integrity, to restore peace. Russian aggression must fail - and it will. Today, we have discussed the issue of our integration into the EU and NATO in a very meaningful way. This year, we must achieve tangible progress in European integration. This concerns, first of all, the start of negotiations on membership. Poland and Lithuania are equally and comprehensively ready to support us, see us fully integrated into the European and Euro-Atlantic structures. Together with our other partners on the continent and in the Alliance, we have to transform this readiness, this energy into real institutional movement, into real decisions. Of course, today we also talked about the situation on the battlefield. In particular, that Russian aggression will be depleted only when Russian ambitions have no other alternative except for the defeat. All Russian ambitions - on the front, in politics, in economy, in the legal sphere. Now the terrorist state and its propagandists are trying to pretend that some part of our city of Soledar - a city that was almost completely destroyed by the occupiers - is allegedly some kind of Russias achievement. They will present and are already presenting this to their society in such a way as to support mobilization and to give hope to those who support aggression. But the fighting continues. The Donetsk direction is holding out. And we do everything, without stopping for a single day, to strengthen Ukrainian defense. Our potential is growing. And I thank all our partners who help in this. Western-type tanks are the work of our entire anti-war coalition and this is a new level of our potential. Today, in Lviv, I also held a meeting on the security situation in our western regions and on our state border. We take into account all threats, strengthen all elements of the security of our regions. Glory to all who fight for Ukraine! I thank everyone who works for our victory! I thank everyone who helps us restore security! Glory to Ukraine! Ukraine and Italy are planning to launch a new bilateral energy partnership aimed at contributing to the implementation of modern energy-efficient and carbon-free technologies and projects in the course of post-war reconstruction of Ukraine. These issues were discussed during an online meeting between Minister of Energy of Ukraine German Galushchenko and Minister of Environment and Energy Security of Italy Pichetto Fratin, Ukrinform reports with reference to the ministry's website. "I am especially grateful for the Italian governments latest decision to allocate EUR 10 million for assistance to Ukraine. This is a significant contribution to the support of our country in these difficult times, when Russia does not stop its barbaric actions and has been shelling the civilian energy infrastructure of Ukraine for more than three months," Galushchenko said. He thanked the Italian side for the assistance provided to Ukraine in restoration and repair works. In turn, Pichetto Fratin expressed full support and solidarity with the people of Ukraine in the fight against the Russian aggression. He assured that Italy would continue to support Ukraine, including Ukraines recovery and post-war reconstruction. In particular, the Italian side expressed readiness to cooperate on projects related to decarbonization, sustainable development and energy efficiency. During the meeting, the ministers also discussed the initiative to sign a memorandum of cooperation to strengthen the cooperation of both ministries in achieving the goals of climate neutrality and implementing sustainable development projects. iy The ambassadors of the countries of the Group of Seven expect the appointment of eight new members of the High Council of Justice by the 19th Extraordinary Congress of Judges and the earliest possible start of its work. G7 ambassadors look forward to the Congress of Judges appointing 8 new members of the High Council of Justice from the pool of candidates vetted by Ethics Council. Making the HCJ operational ASAP is an important step in Ukraines judicial reform, in line with its European path, the diplomats posted on Twitter. As reported, the 19th Extraordinary Congress of Judges of Ukraine will be held on January 11-13. There will be two main issues on the agenda: the election of eight members of the High Council of Justice and two judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine upon recommendation of the Congress of Judges. ol Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has held a coordination meeting to discuss the protection of the state border and the current security situation in Ukraine's northwestern regions. The meeting took place as part of a working trip of the head of state to the Lviv region, Ukrinform reports, referring to the presidential press service. The participants in the meeting discussed the operational situation on the border with Belarus and counter-subversive activities in the respective territories. According to the Office of the President, the head of state was briefed on the condition and strengthening of fortifications on the border, as well as on financial support for border guards and military personnel in the regions bordering Belarus. "We understand that, apart from powerful statements, we don't see anything powerful there, but we have to be ready both at the border and in the regions," Zelensky said. The meeting participants also heard information on ensuring the protection and reliable functioning of the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant. The president said that protection from external risks would contribute to the smooth functioning of the economy of these regions. "The morale of the population is important, how people work depends on it, and how we support the army and our defenders depends on their work," he said. Photo: Office of the President of Ukraine Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has thanked Poland for the decision to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine and Lithuania for anti-aircraft systems to protect the country's energy sector. He said this at a press conference following the second summit of the Lublin Triangle in Lviv on Wednesday, Ukrinform reports. "Today I can say an important word for our defense, our state, for our army of the joint defense of Ukraine and all of Europe. This word is 'tanks.' I welcome this decision adopted by Poland, adopted by Andrzej [Duda], the Polish government, and I think Mr. President [Duda] will provide all the details," Zelensky said. He also thanked Lithuania for the decision to transfer anti-aircraft systems to Ukraine, which, according to him, will strengthen the protection of the country's energy system, in particular, against attacks by Iranian-made drones. According to Zelensky, the declaration signed at the Lublin Triangle summit in Lviv envisages the promotion of the Ukrainian peace formula, the inalienable right of Ukraine to protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity, assistance to Ukraine on its way to membership in the EU and NATO, and security issues. Zelensky is on a visit to Lviv on Wednesday. Presidents Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, Andrzej Duda of Poland and Gitanas Nauseda of Lithuania signed a declaration at the Lublin Triangle summit in Lviv on January 11, which says that Lithuania and Poland support Ukraine's membership in NATO and seek consensus on this issue among Allies. That's according to the press service of the President of Lithuania, Ukrinform reports. The declaration also states that the countries will continue trilateral consultations with the aim of strengthening Ukraine's security. The presidents welcomed Ukraine's obvious progress on the path of Euro-Atlantic integration, especially its rapid progress towards cooperation with NATO. The participants in the second summit of the Lublin Triangle also stressed the importance of the centuries-old strategic partnership between Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine, as well as the determination of Lithuania and Poland to provide Ukraine with all possible assistance to protect it from Russia's military aggression. "Lithuania and Poland confirmed their determination to continue providing military, political, diplomatic, economic and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. The war in Ukraine is our common war. The war of the free world against the dictator. We will be with Ukraine until victory for as long as it takes," Nauseda said. Duda, in turn, posted a video on his Twitter account with the caption that "a Joint Declaration of the Presidents of the Lublin Triangle was signed today in Lviv." Lublin Triangle is a platform for political, economic and cultural cooperation between Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine. Created in 2020, it is aimed at strengthening regional cooperation. The first summit of the Lublin Triangle took place in December 2021. Ahead of the Russian military invasion of Ukraine, on February 23, 2022, another meeting of the heads of states of the Lublin Triangle took place in Kyiv. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in a phone call on Wednesday discussed support for Ukraine from NATO Allies. Stoltenberg said this on his Twitter account, Ukrinform reports. "Good call with Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on the vital support that NATO Allies are providing Ukraine in its brave fight against Russia's invasion. Timing is critical. We need to provide more advanced equipment faster," he wrote. Stoltenberg earlier stated that NATO countries were increasing defense production in order to defend themselves and help Ukraine. The joint declaration signed by the presidents of Ukraine, Lithuania, and Poland following the second summit of the Lublin Triangle supports holding the Global Peace Formula Summit, creating a special international tribunal to prosecute Russia, giving Ukraine EU and NATO membership prospects, and continuing security assistance to Ukrainians. "The Joint Declaration is the result of the negotiations. It reflects the key political, humanitarian and other conclusions of today's meeting," Zelensky said, the press service of the Head of State informs. According to the Presidents Office, the Joint Declaration confirms the centuries-old historical ties between Ukraine, Lithuania, and Poland, as well as defines the priority areas of cooperation of the Lublin Triangle, in particular in the framework of the strategic course of our country to acquire full membership in the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The document reaffirms the intention of Lithuania and Poland to continue providing powerful military, technical, defense, humanitarian and other support to Ukraine. The Joint Declaration highlights support for convening the Global Peace Formula Summit to consolidate international support for the peace plan presented by President Volodymyr Zelensky. The support for the establishment of a special international tribunal to prosecute the Russian Federation for the crime of aggression against Ukraine is confirmed. The document praises the expansion of the Black Sea Grain Initiative to other seaports of Ukraine and the importance of continuing the Grain from Ukraine program to strengthen global food security. The signing of the Joint Declaration at the level of the Presidents of Ukraine, Lithuania, and Poland enshrines the support of the Lithuanian and Polish parties for the prospect of Ukraine's membership in the EU and NATO as soon as the conditions allow, the Presidents Office informs. As reported, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky meets with President of Poland Andrzej Duda and President of Lithuania Gitanas Nauseda in Lviv on Wednesday. The leaders held the second summit of the Lublin Triangle and signed a joint declaration. Photo: Presidents Office ol President Volodymyr Zelensky considers it expedient for NATO to initiate a mechanism for accelerating Ukraine's integration into NATO. "We are preparing for new steps that will increasingly combine Ukrainian defense experience, our strength, and the strength of the entire Euro-Atlantic community. The decision of NATO member states to initiate a mechanism for accelerating Ukraine's integration into NATO would be most effective and consistent with reality and our defense potential as was the case with Sweden and Finland," Zelensky said during a press conference following the 2nd Lublin Triangle Summit in Lviv, Ukrinform reports. He noted that Ukraine has the full support of Lithuanian and Polish partners for Euro-Atlantic integration and expects "tangible progress" in this area at the Vilnius NATO Summit already this year. "As for Vilnius [where the NATO summit will be held in July this year], simply supporting Ukraine and simply supporting us in the form of open doors rhetoric is not enough for Ukraine, namely, it is not enough for the motivation of our state, to be more precise, it is not enough for the motivation of our soldiers. That's why we need steps forward... The decision will be in Vilnius, we really expect powerful steps, we expect something more than just open doors, so this will be an important signal," the Head of State said, answering a question about his expectations from Vilnius NATO Summit. Zelensky added that, for example, the prospect of EU membership motivates Ukraine and society. As reported, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky meets with President of Poland Andrzej Duda and President of Lithuania Gitanas Nauseda in Lviv on Wednesday. The leaders held the 2nd Lublin Triangle Summit and signed a joint declaration. On September 30, Ukraine signed an application for fast-track accession to NATO. The next NATO summit will be held in Vilnius on July 11-12. ol Ukrainian Minister of Defense Oleksiy Reznikov discussed with his Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar further steps to ensure regional security. This was reported by the press service of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense on Telegram, according to Ukrinform. Glad to have a conversation with a great friend, Minister of National Defence of Turkey Hulusi Akar. We discussed our next steps to ensure regional security. I thanked Turkey for its constant support of Ukraine and for its commitment to Turkish-Ukrainian cooperation," the ministrys press service cited Reznikov as saying. As Ukrinform reported, on January 11, Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Turkey supports the peace formula offered by Ukraine to end the war. iy (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) Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets met with Russia's human rights commissioner Tatiana Moskalkova in Turkey. They discussed humanitarian issues related to the provision of human rights assistance to citizens of the two countries. "Night of negotiations: a meeting was held with Russia's human rights commissioner Tatiana Moskalkova within the framework of previously reached agreements. We discussed a wide range of humanitarian problems and cases related to the provision of human rights assistance to citizens of the two countries. We also exchanged specific proposals," Lubinets posted on Facebook. As reported, on January 7, Lubinets said that his meeting with Moskalkova would take place in the territory of Turkey and the return of Ukrainian POWs would be the main issue raised. On January 10, Lubinets noted that the meeting with Russia's human rights commissioner in Ankara would be held in a tripartite format with the participation of Turkey. Photo: Facebook/Dmytro Lubinets ol During his visit to Ankara, Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets discussed the return of Ukrainian service members and civilians from Russian captivity with President of the Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan. As the Ombudsman posted on Telegram, the parties discussed the release of Kremlins prisoners, arbitrarily detained and imprisoned in Russia for alleged criminal offenses in the territory of Crimea, and the return home of seriously wounded Ukrainian service members who currently stay in the territory of the Russian Federation. The return of Ukrainian civilians, who have been serving long prison terms in Russia and in the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions since 2014, and Ukrainian civilians illegally detained and held in Russia since February 24, 2022, was also discussed. During the meeting, the parties drew attention to the importance of finding a legal mechanism that would help bring home all civilian hostages held in Russian prisons. The Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights thanked Erdogan and the people of Turkey for their unwavering position on the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, comprehensive support and assistance. ol During the 19th Extraordinary Congress of Judges of Ukraine, five members of the High Council of Justice were elected under the quotas of courts of various jurisdictions. "According to the results of secret voting, the elected members of the High Council of Justice are Alla Kotelevets, judge of the Kharkiv Court of Appeal; Hryhoriy Usyk, judge of the Civil Cassation Court as part of the Supreme Court; Oleksandr Sasevych, judge of the Lviv District Administrative Court; Yulia Bokova, judge of the Donetsk Region Commercial Court; Olha Popikova, judge of the Northern Commercial Court of Appeal," the Council of Judges of Ukraine informs. It is noted that 16 candidates for the position of a member of the High Council of Justice, divided according to the quota principle, were on a ballot. Bohdan Monich, the Head of the Council of Judges of Ukraine, presiding over the congress, announced the voting results. The newly elected members of the High Council of Justice took the oath of a member of the High Council of Justice. As reported, today, January 11, the 19th Extraordinary Congress of Judges of Ukraine began which is to elect eight members of the High Council of Justice. Photo: Council of Judges of Ukraine ol facebook like button Tweet tweet button for twitter Published January 10, 2023 MONROE, LA On Saturday, January 21, the ULM School of Visual and Performing Arts will host the First Annual Louisiana Horn Day. This free event will include performances, masterclasses, and exhibits dedicated to the horn and horn playing. The Guest Artist and Clinician will be Brett Hodge, Principal Horn of the Omaha Symphony and Third Horn of the Grant Park Music Festival. Exhibits will be provided by Houghton Horns of Keller, Texas. According to ULM Professor of Music James Boldin, Louisiana Horn Day was created to serve a three-fold purpose: to provide a state-level conference dedicated to the horn, to feature guest artists as well as students, university faculty, and professional musicians from around the state, and to promote membership in and awareness of the International Horn Society, the official organization for horn players worldwide. Registration for Louisiana Horn Day will begin at 9:00 AM in the lobby of Emy-Lou Biedenharn Recital Hall. For registration information and a detailed schedule, visit https://www.ulm.edu/music/lahornday.html By Fang Xiaozhi The US DoDs recent revelation of a so-called defense plan for Guam that comprises the Standard Missile (SM), Patriot, and Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile systems to enhance Guams anti-missile capability has captured extensive attention in the international community. The Guam base assumes a vital position in Americas West Pacific military base system and is a strategic pivot for its implementation of the so-called major power competition. Recently the country has stepped up fortifying the anti-missile capabilities there on the grounds that Guam may be subject to missile attacks. Consistent construction of island base cluster The US military has kept fortifying the military equipment at Andersen AFB in Guam in recent years. Since 2004, it has successively assigned the Expeditionary Bomb Squadron, including B-1B, B-2A and B-52H strategic bombers, to rotate in Guam, making it a normal practice. Starting from 2010, it has deployed the Global Hawk UAVs and F-35 fighters on the island. In addition to fortifying existing bases, the US military has invested to expand new ones following the concept of distributed operations. Analysts said when the expansion is completed, the US military may make deployments eastward along Guam, Tinian Island, Saipan, Wake Island and Hawaii to create an island base cluster in which the bases can coordinate with each other with a certain depth. Establishment of all-round air-defense fire-attack network According to American media, despite the US militarys long-year efforts, the fire attack network in Guam isnt that perfect and the THAAD anti-missile system has limited capabilities. In a recent interview with American website Defense News, director of the Missile Defense Agency Jon Hill said they will build up an all-round, multi-layered anti-missile fire-attack network on the island. In the declassified version of the Missile Defense Review released in October 2022, the US underscored the air-defense and anti-missile fortifications in Guam and the necessity to put in place a complete defense system there, calling the island a major military aircraft and ship logistics center and base in the Asian Pacific. The recently passed National Defense Authorization Act for the Fiscal Year of 2023 also said the US will set up a separate agency to evaluate the so-called Guam Defense Plan. The Guam Defense Plan released this time showed that the anti-missile systems deployed in Guam will consist of the US Navys SM-3 and SM-6, US Armys Patriot-2 and Patriot-3, and the THAAD system. They will be connected through the US Armys unified combatant command system to form a multi-layered, distributed and mobile air-defense and anti-missile network for Guam. Possibility to head into a strategic dead end The US has continuously optimized its overseas deployments, dispatch of elite forces, and distribution of advanced equipment in recent years with the so-called major-country competition as its priority strategic goal. On that basis, it has also adjusted the forward deterrence deployments in the West Pacific that rely on the island chain and the forward stationing of heavy troops. The latest round of adjustment has seen the US military shift the focus of deployment to the second island chain and pay more attention to Guams role as a strategic pivot. At the same time, it is strongly pushing dynamic deployment and trying all means to obtain the right to temporarily use military bases and key infrastructure in Southeast Asian countries and Pacific island countries. All these moves are aimed to spread its forces widely across different geographical spaces to weave a multi-node, dispersed and resilient network of bases, and continue to upgrade the integrated theater command capability, thus creating a West Pacific combat system with wide geographical coverage. While the US intends to enhance Guams overall air-defense and anti-missile capability through the defense plan, in reality, it may well make the island more vulnerable in security. Analysts pointed out that if the US, instead of forsaking the hegemonistic mindset, continues to pursue superiority in so-called major-power competition by force, it will eventually head into a strategic dead end. (The author is an associate professor at the School of International Relations, National University of Defense Technology) By Rocky Swift TOKYO (Reuters) - Uniqlo parent Fast Retailing Co Ltd on Wednesday said it would raise wages by as much as 40%, a clear sign that Japan's rock-bottom salaries may be starting to budge after decades of deflation and cost-cutting. The move by the casual clothing giant is likely to heighten focus on worker pay ahead of annual spring labour negotiations, although it looks unlikely that the rest of Japan Inc will deliver increases on the same scale. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has repeatedly called for companies to increase wages, a plea that has gained urgency as prices have surged, leading to once-unthinkable increases in the cost of everything from food to fuel. The poor state of pay has become arguably the greatest problem for the world's third-largest economy. In dollar terms, average annual pay in Japan was $39,711 in 2021, well below the OECD average of $51,607 and little changed from the early 1990s. "Fast Retailing aside, there have been a number of companies that up to last year have significantly boosted their rate of pay increases. That's a positive factor for the Japanese economy," said Taro Saito, executive research fellow at NLI Research Institute. Still, he cautioned that Fast Retailing's case was that of one company with the wherewithal to afford sharp increases, which was not true of many other Japanese companies. Fast Retailing's move marked the first time in at least 20 years that the company, which operates more than 3,500 clothing stores worldwide, would revise remuneration across its entire group, said spokesperson Pei Chi Tung. The change was aimed at making the company's work style and remuneration more globally competitive, she said, adding that there was an "urgent need" to raise pay in Japan, where it has remained low compared with overseas operations. From March, new graduate employees would be paid 300,000 yen ($2,300) a month, compared with 255,000 yen now, representing an annual increase of around 18%, the company said. New store managers will see an increase of around 36% to 390,000 yen a month, it said. Story continues PRICE HIKES The wage announcement comes a year after the company said it would have to raise prices for some products due to higher costs for materials and shipping. This year it increased prices of fleece goods and down jackets in its autumn-winter product lines, in what was seen as something of a turning point for consumers. Uniqlo's ability to meet Japanese consumers' zealous demand for both relatively high quality and low prices has made it known for its "cosupa" - cost performance - turning the maker of 2,990 yen fleece jackets and 3,990 yen selvedge jeans into a global retailer and making founder Tadashi Yanai Japan's richest man. But, like other Japanese companies, it is also grappling with a shrinking labour pool at home. "We believe this is probably down to inflation and Japan's tight labour market," said Oshadhi Kumarsasiri, an analyst at Lightstream Research who publishes on the Smartkarma platform. "In addition, the company's aggressive expansion plans in markets such as the U.S. and Europe would mean that they will need to deploy some of the trained senior staff from Japan into those markets." Fast Retailing's overall personnel costs in Japan would rise about 15% from the previous year, taking into account a previous hourly wage hike for part-time workers, with the expense absorbed by productivity improvement, Tung, the spokesperson, said. Meanwhile, drinks maker Suntory Holdings has said it is looking at raising wages more than 6%, while Honda Motor Co Ltd has said it wants to tackle wage increases "aggressively". The question is whether overall increases will be enough to compensate for recent spikes in food and other consumption items. "We welcome reports of companies that have announced aggressive wage hike policies," Hirokazu Matsuno, the government's top spokesperson, told a news conference. "We believe that the best way to address the current increase in prices is to realise continuous increases in wages." Fast Retailing is due to post first-quarter earnings on Thursday. It reported record profit for the year through to August, as growth in North America and Europe compensated for a slump in its largest overseas market, China, which had been slowed by pandemic containment measures. The company's share price rose 1.4% in Tokyo trade, versus a 1% advance in the benchmark Nikkei index. ($1 = 132.4400 yen) (Reporting by Rocky Swift; Additional reporting by Maki Shiraki, Daniel Leussink and Miyoung Kim; Editing David Dolan and Bradley Perrett) FILE PHOTO: Tesla China-made Model 3 vehicles are seen during a delivery event at its factory in Shanghai (Reuters) - Tesla Inc is nearing a preliminary deal to build production facilities in Indonesia with a capacity of one million units, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter. Chief Executive Elon Musk tweeted on Wednesday, "Please be cautious about writing articles citing 'unnamed sources', as they are frequently false," in a comment on a tweet referencing the report. Indonesia's senior cabinet minister Luhut Pandjaitan, who has been leading the talks with Tesla, said negotiations were still ongoing, but declined to say more citing a non-disclosure agreement. The electric-vehicle maker did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment. Musk last month said Tesla was close to picking the location of its new "Gigafactory" following media reports that the automaker could announce a new factory in the northern Mexican state of Nuevo Leon as soon as December. In November, Musk said South Korea was among its top candidate locations for a factory it plans to build in Asia for making EVs, according to South Korea's presidential office. Tesla makes its electric cars in China's Shanghai, Germany's Berlin, and Austin and Fremont in the United States. The latest report said the Indonesia talks include plans for production facilities and to facilitate the company's supply chain. Tesla has signed contracts worth about $5 billion to buy materials for batteries from nickel processing companies in Indonesia, Luhut told CNBC Indonesia last year. Indonesian President Joko Widodo urged the electric vehicle maker to manufacture its cars, as well as batteries, in the country, in comments made to Bloomberg News in August. (Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru, Hyunjoo Jin in Seoul, and Bernadette Christina Munthe in Jakarta; Editing by Shailesh Kuber, Ed Davies) January 11 2023 East Lothian Council has cleared a new primary school in the rapidly growing village of Whitecraig to commence construction this summer in response to a rising school-age population. The project will see the current 1959 building replaced to boost capacity together with upgrades to Whitecraig Road to cope with increased traffic. Landscaped spaces around the new school are designed to improve pedestrian and cyclist safety with a dedicated community entrance provided to the northeast. Built on land adjacent to the current school the new building combines eight classrooms with an integrated early learning facility behind a facade of charcoal grey brick and copper cladding. In their design statement, the authority wrote: "The approach taken to materiality is to create a simple, elegant yet bold building which embodies a strong sense of identity; a robust, durable building acting as a focal point within a central location of the expanded Whitecraig community." Upon completion of the new school in 2025 the old building will be demolished. (@Abdulla99267510) The Finance Minister says the foreign exchange held with the commercial banks indeed is the property of the citizens and clarified that there is no such move under consideration of the government ISLAMABAD: (UrduPoint/UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News-Jan 11th, 2023) Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has categorically denied any of government's consideration to have an access to foreign exchange held with the commercial banks. Taking to Twitter, Ishaq Dar said the foreign exchange held with the commercial banks indeed is the property of the citizens and clarified that there is no such move under consideration of the government. The Minister said national foreign exchange reserves always include forex held with the State Bank of Pakistan and Commercial Banks. He said he recently quoted the forex reserves figure based on this principle, but some vested elements that ruined this country's economy in the past, gave it a deliberate twist and started a campaign as if government is considering taking over the foreign exchange held with commercial banks. Ishaq Dar further tweeted that misconstrued, misinterpreted and malafide, propaganda should be ignored. He said Pakistan is moving towards improvement in its forex reserves position in the near future. Minister for Finance and Revenue Ishaq Dar on Wednesday said the government was not considering access to foreign exchange reserves held with the commercial banks which, he said, were the property of the citizens ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th Jan, 2023 ):Minister for Finance and Revenue Ishaq Dar on Wednesday said the government was not considering access to foreign exchange reserves held with the commercial banks which, he said, were the property of the citizens. "I have already said that Pakistan's reserves are $10 billion. The figures I quoted were based on the principle that national foreign exchange reserves always include forex held with SBP and commercial banks", he said while replying to a question during a press conference held here along with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. He said earlier, every cent was transferred to the central banks' accounts, not to the commercial banks but in 1999, when he was finance minister, a system was devised under which a substantial amount was proposed to remain with the commercial banks. So, he added, wherever the figures were quoted at the international level, a breakdown of the reserves was given. Dar said some vested elements, who ruined the country's economy in the past, deliberately twisted the reserves situation and started a campaign as if the government was considering access to foreign exchange held with commercial banks. "It is categorically denied and clarified that there is no such move under consideration of the government. Therefore, said misconstrued, misinterpreted and malafide propaganda should be ignored. Pakistan is moving towards improvement in its forex reserves position in the near future, InshaAllah!," he said. With respect to the pledges made in the Resilient Pakistan Conference held in Geneva, the minister said the project loan financing announced by the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank, and the Asian Infrastructure Bank had already crossed already $8 billion, while the $1 billion announced by the Saudi Development Bank was not clear whether it was a programme lending or the project loan. With respect to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Ishaq Dar said he and his team had a detailed meeting with the IMF on the sidelines of the conference in Geneva earlier this week where the IMF was informed that Pakistan was on track on the power and gas sectors reforms. The 10 percent special tax, he said, was delayed due to the stays from the high court and the matter would be resolved soon. He said despite the delays in the 10% special tax, the government managed to overrun the tax collection target in the first five months of the current fiscal year. "But in December 2022, he said the target was missed, still the government was confident of achieving the yearly target." "But on the safe side, they (IMF) think that even then we will have to take fiscal measures, and (withdraw) some un-budgeted subsidy such as Kissan package and the one that was given to the exporters," he said, adding that to achieve the target, the government had already identified some tax measures which would not affect the common man. The minister recalled that back in 2016, the country had become part of the top 24 economies of the world and in 2030, it was going to become part of G-20, but due to the bad governance of PTI, the country's ranking went down to 47 number last year. A price cap on Russian oil, imposed by the West in response to Moscow's military operation in Ukraine, will likely reduce the country's oil revenues, though not in a major way, while potentially undermining its energy position in the long-term, energy expert Ole Gunnar Austvik told Sputnik MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 11th January, 2023) A price cap on Russian oil, imposed by the West in response to Moscow's military operation in Ukraine, will likely reduce the country's oil revenues, though not in a major way, while potentially undermining its energy position in the long-term, energy expert Ole Gunnar Austvik told Sputnik. The World Bank suggested on Tuesday that the drop in Russian exports associated with the G7 oil price cap will be smaller than initially anticipated. "Given an effective price cap ban and reduction of Russian oil export, Russian revenues will most likely be reduced, albeit not in a fundamental way. Some oil may be redirected to Asia and other parts of the world, and mitigate the volume effect. Exemptions from the ban may also be given," Austvik, a professor of political economy and petroleum economics at the Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, said. At the same time, the expert warned that the cap could have negative repercussions for Russia in the long run. "Taken together with sanctions on technology and finance, a ban may contribute to hamper investment in new Russian projects and weaken the country's long-term energy position, even if more self-sufficiency in relevant areas supporting the industry can mitigate the challenge over time," Austvik added. Western countries have been seeking ways to limit Russia's income from oil and gas exports, as well as their dependence on Russian fuel since the country launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24. On December 5, the European Union placed a price cap of $60 per barrel on Russian crude oil, joined by the G7 nations and Australia. In late December, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree banning supplies of Russian oil and petroleum products if contracts directly or indirectly provide for a price cap. According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the Russian president did not consult with OPEC+ allies before signing off on the response measures. Parks Canada operates Banff National Park. (Helen Pike/CBC - image credit) When it comes to tackling congestion, Town of Banff officials are an eager partner waiting for Parks Canada to step up to the plate and act on recommendations released last month by a panel of experts. Parks Canada commissioned a panel made up of planners, transit engineers and park management experts to come up with a strategy that will help ease Banff National Park's longstanding congestion issues back in 2021. Last month, the panel released its report: Moving People Sustainably in the Banff Bow Valley. The document has pages of ideas and suggestions, the majority centring around a common goal: keeping personal vehicles out of the park by encouraging visitors to make alternative plans like hopping on mass transit. The Town of Banff has been working toward this goal on its own for years. But councillors and officials say to make the biggest impact, they can't do it alone. "For far too long the town of Banff has basically been left to fend for itself to deal with congestion," said Councillor Grant Canning during a town meeting, Monday. "We have tried so many things over the years to do just that and it is getting increasingly harder and harderthe fact is congestion within the town of Banff is not just a town of Banff problem, it is a Banff National Park problem." A report to councillors Monday outlined the Town of Banff's response to the panel report, which is currently out for public feedback until Feb. 5th. Parks Canada will compile a "what we heard" report and wrap up its internal study of various strategies outlined in the document before revealing next steps. Scott Crowson/CBC According to the Town of Banff, based on projected demands calculated back in 2016 they need 1,000 parking stalls at each of Banff's entryways by the year 2045 to accommodate visitor demands. Currently, the town has made strides on what they call an intercept lot located at the Norquay Road exit, where a 500-stall lot encourages people to abandon their vehicles for free and take transit instead of circling the town for limited parking stalls in the peak summer season. Story continues The town's paid parking program, which was put into effect in 2021 is already paying for several mobility and environmental projects, and stats have shown a major shift to transit in 2022. Town wants drivers to pay to park on Sulphur Mountain Councillors like Canning want to see Parks Canada help deter more drivers with a paid parking approach on Sulphur Mountain, the town's biggest attraction and bottleneck. Those parking lots are outside of the town's jurisdiction. "Given all the changes that are being done within the Lake Louise area, I'm still trying to understand why Parks Canada has not even entertained the thought of doing some sort of pay parking system on Sulphur Mountain," Canning said. One of the reasons, Enns said, Parks Canada was able to decide to remove personal vehicles from Moraine Lake and charge for parking at Lake Louise is because the nearby ski hill now has approvals in place to expand its parking lots to accommodate more stalls and act as a park and ride. "That's an alternative that exists to enable people to do the right thing. In the town of Banff, we do not have that alternative right now," Enns said. Terri Trembath/CBC Banff is already working toward transit-only lanes paired with a multi-use pathway that would take their buses out of traffic on Mountain Ave, leading to the hot springs and gondola parking lots. According to a December report, administrators say Roam Transit buses idle for approximately 83 hours trying to trek to those attractions during the busy summer months. Enns told councillors that within the report some suggestions could take years, or even decades to complete while others could be quick projects for the town. "When it comes to areas like mobility hubs, that's a topic that we have spent an expansive amount of time thinking through," he said. "We'd like to at least commence that visioning exercise as soon as possible we will be indicating our willingness and availability to meet at the drop of a hat to discuss that concept." In terms of contributing to that report, the town had its own town manager, Kelly Gibson, selected as an expert on the panel. "I think it was really valuable to have the town of Banff's perspective there, not only at a high level but at a granular level," said Mayor Corrie DiManno. "I think that shows within this report." At the end of the day, the expert panel's recommendations are just that: ideas from planning experts on how to move people through the busiest National Park in Canada what gets implemented, when, and how, is up to Parks Canada. (@ChaudhryMAli88) ABU DHABI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 11th Jan, 2023) Abdulla Mohamed Alblooki, Acting Assistant Under-Secretary for Protocol Affairs at the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, received a copy of the credentials of Ivan Jordanov, Ambassador of the Republic of Bulgaria to the UAE. Alblooki wished the new Ambassador success in the performance of his duties and in enhancing bilateral relations and cooperation between the UAE and his country. The newly appointed Bulgarian Ambassador expressed his pleasure at representing his country in the United Arab Emirates, which enjoys a prestigious regional and international position under the visionary policy of President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. WAS HINGTON, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th Jan, 2023 ) :Speakers at a reception in Sacramento, California, hosted for a visiting Pakistani delegation, said Tuesday that the sister province agreement between California and Punjab marked a significant development towards strengthening US-Pakistan relations. Former Prime Minister Senator Yousaf Raza Gillani said the accord would deepen mutual cooperation in areas such as trade, agriculture, businesses, technology and environment and promote people-to-people contacts. In his remarks, Pakistan's Ambassador to the United States Masood Khan called it an important milestone in strengthening the linkages between California and the largest populated province of Pakistan that would bolster US-Pak ties. The reception, held at the Governor's mansion to celebrate the landmark accord, was attended, among others, by the Lieutenant Governor of California, the Speaker and a large number of California State Assembly members along with Pakistani-American community leaders. Senator Gillani expressed the hope that the agreement would be instrumental in tapping the untapped potential existing between the two countries. "Pakistan considers the US as its close ally, and hopes to further strengthen its bilateral relations with the US through frequent parliamentary and people-to-people exchanges," he said. Dr. Asif Mahmood, a prominent Pakistani-American activist, who recently contested the election from California for the US House of Representatives, played a pivotal role in the establishment of a sister province relationship between California and Punjab, a press release issued by the Pakistani embassy said. He has been working with the California assembly's leadership and lawmakers to gather support for establishing the California-Punjab partnership, it was pointed out. California State Assembly member Chris Holden, a veteran parliamentarian, piloted the resolution and developed bi-partisan consensus for its passage. Addressing the gathering, Lieutenant Governor of California Eleni Kounalakis said that the agreement would help the two sides to expand and solidify ties between California and Punjab. She said the state of California fully realizes the potential of cooperation between the two critically important provinces. She also acknowledged the important role of the Pakistani-American community of Punjabi descent in the economic development of California. "They are contributing a lot in diverse sectors especially agriculture, health, IT and entrepreneurship," Ms. Kounalakis said. Assembly member Chris Holden, in his remarks, stated that people-to-people contacts and parliamentary exchanges are vital to ensure an enduring and long-term relationship. Ambassador Masood Khan paid rich tribute to assembly member Chris Holden for linking California and Punjab and working hard for the adoption of the resolution at the California assembly. He also thanked lawmakers for their bi-partisan support to signing of the historic agreement. Masood Khan said that Pak-US relations were on an ascending curve. This, he observed, was the most appropriate time for signing the agreement. "There are natural complementaries between Pakistan and the United States, particularly Punjab and California," he said. Referring to the recent spurt in Pak-US bilateral trade volume especially IT services exports to the United States, amounting to $1.4 billion, the Ambassador said that 80% of IT services from Pakistan were being exported to California. "The recent spike in exports particularly in the IT sector is satisfactory yet there exists a huge potential to enhance them to $5 billion in the near future. The agreement today would pave the way for realizing the existing potential," he added. The Ambassador underscored the need for promoting university-to-university partnerships that he said would provide an underpinning to cement this relationship. Pakistani delegation also invited the leadership of California to visit Pakistan which they gladly accepted. A bipartisan delegation is expected to visit Pakistan in the near future. Earlier, former Prime Minister Senator Yusuf Raza Gillani visited California State University Northridge and the University of California Davis to discuss educational cooperation between Pakistan and the United States, especially in the field of agriculture. New York, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Jan, 2023 ) :Thousands of flights were canceled or delayed in the United States Wednesday following an hours-long nationwide grounding of departures due to an outage of a key computer system used by pilots. The Federal Aviation Administration said normal operations were being restored, but the early morning halt created knock on effects that were expected to snarl travel throughout the day. "Normal air traffic operations are resuming gradually across the US," the Federal Aviation Administration said on Twitter. "The ground stop has been lifted. We continue to look into the cause of the initial problem." The agency had identified an issue with the Notice to Air Missions system (NOTAM), which provides information to flight crews about hazards, changes to airport facilities and information that can affect flights. But the outage was creating yet another hellish day for US travelers less than a month after a bad winter storm roiled the system. "I just learned that my flight was delayed again," Vince Hamilton said at Reagan National Airport near Washington of a planned trip to Chicago. "Then I go to St. Louis, and I have to catch a bus that I'm probably going to miss." Near 1900 GMT, some 1,200 flights in and out of the United States had been canceled, with more than 7,900 suffering delays, according to flight tracking website Flight Aware, which does not publish data on domestic flights alone. The difficulties sparked fresh criticism on Capitol Hill and throughout Washington of the FAA, which has had no confirmed administrator since March. - Cause unknown - The FAA announced the problem on Twitter at 6:29 am eastern time (1129 GMT), saying it was working to restore the NOTAM system, announcing 50 minutes later that it ordered a pause on all domestic departures until 9:00 am. Flying experts say the system contains a range of highly relevant details, such as a closed runway to less significant matters, like the presence of a crane somewhere in or near the airport. About 30 minutes after the FAA lifted the stop order, a screen at Reagan National Airport was overwhelmingly red with flight delays and just a handful of departures. "Customers may continue to see some delays and cancellations as we work to restore our schedule," United Airlines said shortly after the FAA stop order was lifted, adding it would refund customers who no longer wished to travel. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre tweeted that "there is no evidence of a cyberattack at this point." "The President directed DOT to conduct a full investigation into the causes. The FAA will provide regular updates," she said, referring to the Department of Transportation. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the probe would uncover "root causes" and point towards "next steps." Senator Maria Cantwell, the Democratic Chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, also plans follow up. "We will be looking into what caused this outage and how redundancy plays a role in preventing future outages. The public needs a resilient air transportation system," Cantwell said. Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas called the outage "completely unacceptable," adding that "this incident also highlights why the public needs a competent, proven leader with substantive aviation experience leading the FAA." The White House last week renominated Phillip Washington as chief of the aviation safety regulator, replacing former head Stephen Dickson, who left office on March 31. Washington was originally nominated in July, but the Senate did not schedule a confirmation hearing on Washington, with some lawmakers questioning his lack of background in aviation. Washington served as head of Denver International Airport in 2021 after a long career in the US Army that was followed by other non-aviation transportation posts. Travel industry officials said Wednesday's crisis points to key vulnerabilities in US infrastructure. "Today's FAA catastrophic system failure is a clear sign that America's transportation network desperately needs significant upgrades," said US Travel Association President Geoff Freeman. The halt comes in the wake of a large-scale aviation meltdown in the United States over the Christmas holiday, as a storm brought unseasonably cold temperatures to the majority of the country and caused chaos, with thousands of flights delayed or canceled. Hard-hit Southwest Airlines canceled more than 15,000 flights over eight days after what it said was a breakdown in its scheduling systems. That mishap is also expected to be spotlighted in congressional hearings. (@ChaudhryMAli88) Mexico City, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th Jan, 2023 ) :The leaders of the United States, Mexico and Canada pledged Tuesday to deepen regional economic integration and boost cooperation in clean energy, setting aside simmering trade tensions. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador welcomed his US counterpart Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the National Palace in Mexico City for what is known as the "Three Amigos" summit. The three countries were working "to strengthen our cooperation on supply chains and critical minerals ... to build the technologies of tomorrow right here in North America," Biden said afterward. North America could become a "clean energy powerhouse" and a "global leader in addressing the climate crisis" through cooperation in areas such as electric vehicles, he added. Trudeau said that the region had an "enormous opportunity" to boost its economic resilience by building a "clean economy." Biden revived the "Three Amigos" talks in 2021, seeking to restore normalcy to the three-way partnership after his predecessor Donald Trump shelved the regional summit. But relations between Lopez Obrador and Biden have not been entirely smooth. Mexico faces a formal trade complaint from the United States and Canada under a North American trade deal. Washington and Ottawa say Lopez Obrador's push to boost the state's role in the energy industry hurts foreign investors and hinders the development of clean energy. At their talks on Tuesday, however, the leaders put on a united front, emphasizing the potential for cooperation. Lopez Obrador said the countries had agreed to work on becoming "increasingly self-sufficient" by boosting regional trade to reduce their reliance on imports from other parts of the world. The White House announced ahead of the summit that the three countries would organize "the first-ever trilateral semiconductor forum" to shape government policies and increase investment in supply chains. They will also expand resource mapping to gather details on minerals vital for clean energy technologies. Biden said that strengthening regional supply chains would mean "that no one can arbitrarily hold us up or a pandemic in Asia cause us to not have access to critical elements that we need to do everything from build automobiles to so many other things. " Other steps include drawing up a plan for operating standards and the installation of electric vehicle chargers along international borders and developing a North American clean hydrogen market. On Monday signs of discord emerged between the United States and Mexico in their approaches to dealing with surging migrant arrivals at their shared border. At the start of bilateral talks, Lopez Obrador called for increased US investment, which should help stem migration. "It is time to end this oblivion, this abandonment, this disdain for Latin America and the Caribbean," Lopez Obrador said. 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. "Unfortunately, our responsibility just doesn't end in the Western Hemisphere," he added. Near the summit venue, police scuffled with protesters holding placards with slogans including "Migration is a human right" and "No more mass deportations." Amnesty International urged the North American leaders to make the rights of refugees and migrants a "top priority" at their talks and to "stop implementing inhuman shared migration policies." "As the number of people fleeing violence and persecution continues to grow, protecting the human rights of migrants and refugees is of critical importance," said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Amnesty's Americas director. Last week Biden announced an expansion of powers to expel people showing up at the border without clearance. At the same time, a legal, strictly enforced pathway will be created for up to 30,000 migrants a month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela. Another priority for Biden is tackling what he called "the plague of fentanyl," referring to the often-deadly opioid smuggled across the border by Mexican drug cartels. Biden and Trudeau also discussed the situation in Haiti, whose government has appealed for an international intervention force as armed gangs take over large swaths of the poverty-stricken Caribbean nation. "The two leaders committed to continue coordination with partners on the UN Security Council on next steps to support stability to Haiti, including support to the Haitian National Police," a White House statement said. (@ChaudhryMAli88) Puno, Peru, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th Jan, 2023 ) :Peru on Tuesday announced a curfew in the southern Puno region in a bid to suppress violent protests, a day after 18 people were killed in clashes between demonstrators and security forces. Prime Minister Alberto Otarola said the three-day nighttime curfew would run from 8:00 pm to 4:00 am (0100 to 0900 GMT). In total 40 people have been killed over a month of protests demanding the departure of President Dina Boluarte, who took over after the ouster and arrest of then president Pedro Castillo on December 7. On Tuesday Peru's prosecutor's office said it was opening a genocide investigation against Boluarte and other top officials as a result of the deaths. The Puno region that borders Bolivia and is home to many Aymara Indigenous people has become the epicenter of the protest movement led by Castillo supporters. Overnight, protesters looted shops and attacked police vehicles in the region. Most of the bloodshed there took place when protesters tried to storm the airport in the city of Juliaca that was being guarded by security forces. Fourteen people were killed, many having suffered gunshot wounds, according to an official at a Juliaca hospital. Three more people died during the ransacking of a shopping center in Juliaca while the last known victim was a police officer who the United Nations said died after his vehicle was set on fire. The government has defended the actions of the security forces in Juliaca, claiming those guarding the airport faced down an organized attempted "coup" by thousands of demonstrators. But UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Marta Hurtado called on authorities "to carry out prompt, impartial and effective investigations into the deaths and injuries, holding those responsible to account and ensuring victims receive access to justice and redress." Protests erupted a month ago when leftist Castillo -- who was facing several graft investigations -- was forced from office and arrested on charges of rebellion after attempting to dissolve parliament and rule by decree. Tension had since been mounting in the cities of Puno and Juliaca where a week-long general strike has forced businesses to close. Both cities are at elevations of around 3,800 meters (12,500 feet) near the high Andean border with Bolivia. Demonstrators have set up road blocks in six of the country's 25 departments. Officials say there are 53 separate road blocks. In the southern Andean region of Ayacucho, thousands marched through the streets of the city of Huamanga demanding Boluarte's resignation and new elections, which have already been brought forward from 2026 to April 2024. (@Abdulla99267510) Masood Khan says landmark agreement is an important milestone in strengthening linkages between California and the largest populated province of Pakistan at all levels and would serve as a force multiplier in efforts to strengthen Pak-US relations. WASHINGTON: (UrduPoint/UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News-Jan 11th, 2023) Pakistan Ambassador to the United States Masood Khan has said that Sister Province Agreement between California and Punjab would open up vistas of opportunities in deepening mutual cooperation in diverse fields. He was addressing a high level reception hosted by the leadership of Californian State Assembly in the honor of visiting delegation from Pakistan at the Governors mansion. He said landmark agreement is an important milestone in strengthening linkages between California and the largest populated province of Pakistan at all levels and would serve as a force multiplier in efforts to strengthen Pak-US relations. Masood Khan said that Pak-US relations are on ascending curve and is the most appropriate time for signing the agreement. He said there are natural complementaries between Pakistan and the United States particularly Punjab and California. Referring to recent spurt in Pak-US bilateral trade volume especially IT services exports to the United States, amounting to $1.4 billion, the Ambassador noted that 80 percent of IT services from Pakistan were being exported to California. The reception was organized to celebrate landmark agreement between California and Punjab and was attended among others by the Lieutenant Governor of California, Speaker and large number of California State assembly members along Pakistani-American community leaders. Addressing the event former Prime Minister Senator Yousuf Raza Gillani expressed the hope that the agreement would be instrumental in tapping untapped potential existing between the two federating units. He said He Pakistan considers the US as its close ally, and hopes to further strengthen its bilateral relations with the US through frequent parliamentary and people-to-people exchanges. Prominent Pakistani-American leader Dr. Asif Mahmood, played a pivotal role for the establishment of sister province relationship between California and Punjab. Addressing the gathering, Lieutenant Governor of California Eleni Kounalakis said that that the agreement would help the two sides to expand and solidify ties between California and Punjab. She said the state of California fully realizes the potential of cooperation between the two critically important provinces. Earlier, former Prime Minister Senator Yusuf Raza Gillani visited California State University Northridge and University of California Davis to discuss educational cooperation between Pakistan and the United States, especially in the field of agriculture. MINSK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 11th January, 2023) Belarus and Russia have bolstered the air defense forces of the Union State's joint regional military detachment, the Belarusian Defense Ministry said on Wednesday. "Reinforcement of air defense forces of the regional military grouping of Belarus and Russia was carried out according to the plan of the Commander of Belarus' Air Force and Air Defense (Andrey Lukyanovich)," the ministry said on Telegram. The ministry noted that air defense missile units had already reached their designated areas and took up combat duty. The Belarusian defense ministry said last week that the joint regional military grouping of Belarus and Russia was gradually building up forces in order to ensure the military security of the Union State. Personnel, weapons, military and special equipment of the Russian armed forces continue to arrive in Belarus. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on October 10, 2022, that Minsk and Moscow had agreed on deploying a joint military group as the security situation was declining on the western border of the Union State with Ukraine. The Union State is a supranational union between Belarus and Russia founded in 2000. WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 11th January, 2023) Canada purchasing the US-manufactured National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) for Ukraine is another demonstration of how Ottawa funnels money to fuel the Ukraine war amid numerous pressing domestic issues, Russian Ambassador to Canada Oleg Stepanov told Sputnik. "Prime Minister Trudeau's cabinet funneling money to fuel up war and support an illegitimate regime thousand kilometers away from Canada looks ridiculous," Stepanov said on Tuesday. "Ridiculous, in particular, against the backdrop of all the problems Canada suffers domestically. This is just an amused bystander observation. Of course, it's up to the Canadians to decide if this policy is adequate." Earlier on Tuesday, the Canadian government announced that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told US President Joe Biden that Ottawa will purchase NASAMS for Ukraine. The two leaders held a bilateral meeting on the margins of the North American Leaders' Summit in Mexico City. Defense Minister Anita Anand said that the purchase of NASAMS is the first Canadian donation of an air defense system to Ukraine. WARSAW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th January, 2023) The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has lifted a ban that prohibited Poland from sending migrants coming to the country from Belarus back to its Eastern neighbor, the Polish Border Guard said on Wednesday. In December 2021, the ECHR temporarily banned Poland from deporting migrants who had already come to Poland from Belarus and appealed to the court. The decision concerned 40 applications from over 90 migrants that arrived in Poland after illegally crossing the Polish-Belarusian border. "After reviewing the materials provided by Poland and migrants' representatives, the court has terminated or has not prolonged a temporary measure on all 40 cases," the guard said in a statement. The border guard stated that the court had stopped considering applications in 25 cases as no contact with applicants could be established, with some of them moving outside of Poland to other EU states. Representatives of some migrants appealed to the ECHR long before these foreigners illegally crossed the border and, thus, abused the ruling made by the court, the Polish authorities said. Relations between Belarus and its European neighbors have soured due to the migrant crisis that unfolded last year, with Poland, Latvia and Lithuania accusing Minsk of facilitating the transfer of migrants across its borders. Minsk denied all accusations and said it could no longer deal with the inflow of migrants due to European sanctions. The fate of Soledar in east Ukraine was unclear on Wednesday, with Russian mercenary group Wagner claiming to control the gateway town while the Kremlin cautioned against declaring victory prematurely Kramatorsk, Ukraine, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th Jan, 2023 ) :The fate of Soledar in east Ukraine was unclear on Wednesday, with Russian mercenary group Wagner claiming to control the gateway town while the Kremlin cautioned against declaring victory prematurely. The Russian defence ministry poured cold water on Wagner's claims saying fighting in the war-battered salt mining city was ongoing and Kyiv denied any Russian takeover. Both Moscow and Kyiv have said the battle for Soledar has been long and bloody, and its fall to Moscow's forces would mark Russia's first significant territorial gain in Ukraine in months. The town in the eastern Donetsk region lies 15 kilometres (nine miles) from Bakhmut, a larger urban hub that Russia has been trying to seize for months. The head of Wagner Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed in the early hours of Wednesday that his forces had "taken control of the whole territory of Soledar". "Urban battles are being fought in the city centre," he added. A German mother accused of keeping a young Yazidi woman as a slave after travelling to Iraq to join the Islamic State (IS) was due to go on trial today. The 37-year-old woman allegedly spent more than four years as a member of the terrorist group and is charged with offences including crimes against humanity and aiding and abetting genocide. Prosecutors say she left Germany with her husband in December 2014 and stayed in different places in Syria before moving to Mosul in Iraq. While she is said to have fulfilled the role IS demands of wives - running the household and bringing up their two daughters, who were born in 2015 and 2018 - her husband worked as a doctor and treated fighters. After their arrival in Mosul, the accused - who cannot be named due to German laws - and her husband allegedly occupied a house whose legal inhabitants had fled from IS or had been driven out by it. They are said to have set up a reception centre for single female members of IS there. The husband and wife allegedly not only provided accommodation and food for the women, but also assisted them in marriages or divorces before the Sharia court. Prosecutors say they also stored a large number of explosives and weapons, including hand grenades, assault rifles and a pistol in the house. In April 2016, the woman's husband allegedly brought a 22-year-old Yazidi woman into their home as a slave. She is believed to have been previously been captured by members of IS during the storming of her home village in the Sindjar region in August 2014. She was allegedly enslaved and made available to various IS members who could force her to do household duties and have sex. Read more: 'Blink and suddenly ISIS will be back' Islamic State leader blew himself up after being surrounded The woman is alleged to have been obliged to cook, clean, take care of the animals, feed the accused's daughters and change their nappies from morning to night. The husband allegedly regularly raped and beat the Yazidi woman with the knowledge of the accused. Story continues The accused herself allegedly helped ensure her slave could not escape. Among other things, she is accused of taking the woman's black clothes, without which she could not leave the house in IS territory. On 8 March 2019, the accused, her husband, both daughters and the Yazidi woman were allegedly arrested by Kurdish forces during their escape from the last IS stronghold of Baghuz in Syria. It was only in the course of this escape attempt that the woman's husband allegedly informed the Yazidi woman, who is said to still be suffering from the tortures she had endured, that she was now "free". Since then, the accused and her daughters had been in captivity with Kurdish forces in Syria. In the course of her re-entry into Germany, she was arrested on 31 March 2022 and has been in pre-trial detention continuously since then. She was due to appear at a court in Koblenz on Wednesday afternoon for a trial expected to last at least several weeks. MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 11th January, 2023) Japan has lodged a protest after China suspended visas to Japanese citizens in connection with Tokyo's requirement for Chinese travelers to submit negative PCR tests, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said on Wednesday. "For the purpose of COVID-19 countermeasures, without stopping flow of the people as much as possible, we are taking border measures, whereas China, other than the COVID-19 measures, unilaterally suspended issuance of visas. It is highly regrettable. Through diplomatic channels we have made a protest and we asked them to retract the measures," Matsuno said during a press conference. On January 10, China stopped issuing ordinary visas to Japanese citizens traveling to the country. The decision came after Japan announced stricter entry requirements for those arriving from China due to a surge in COVID-19 cases there. These include mandatory COVID-19 testing and limiting to four the number of Japanese airports accepting flights from China. Beijing considered such requirements discriminatory. In December 2022, China's government started to gradually ease its "zero tolerance" policy toward COVID-19 cases, which had been the strictest in the world for almost three years. On January 8, obligatory PCR testing and centralized isolation for people arriving in China were canceled. At the same time, the country has faced an increase in COVID-19 infections, forcing a number of countries, including the United States, Italy, Japan, and South Korea to impose entry requirements on passengers arriving from China. Poland will provide a company of Leopard tanks to Ukraine as part of the international coalition, Polish President Andrzej Duda said on Wednesday WARSAW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 11th January, 2023) Poland will provide a company of Leopard tanks to Ukraine as part of the international coalition, Polish President Andrzej Duda said on Wednesday. "A company of Leopard tanks will be transferred within the framework of the international coalition. Poland already made such a decision," Duda said, as broadcast by Polish television. Russia provided assistance to foreign aircraft during the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) computer system outage, Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia) said on Wednesday MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 11th January, 2023) Russia provided assistance to foreign aircraft during the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) computer system outage, Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia) said on Wednesday. "Today, during a global failure in the crew notification system in the United States, the main center of the Unified Air Traffic Management System, guided by the principles of international mutual assistance, the system's regional centers in St. Petersburg and Magadan provided the necessary assistance to the crews of aircraft performing transit flights through the border of the flight information region of these centers with the area control center in Anchorage (Alaska)," the statement says. Transit flights served included those flying from the middle East and Southeast Asia to the United States and Canada through the Anchorage control center and were in the air at the time of the system failure. Earlier on Wednesday, the FAA reported that it was performing validation checks and repopulating the pilots' alert system NOTAM after the outage. The FAA said flights departing from the United States would gradually resume as work on resolving the overnight computer outage was making progress. The number of delayed flights has exceeded 3,700 and more than 600 flights have been canceled, according to FlightAware data. MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 11th January, 2023) Russian Commissioner for Human Rights Tatiana Moskalkova said on Wednesday that she has met with her Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Lubinets, and discussed the delivery of humanitarian assistance to citizens of both countries. "The previously scheduled meeting with Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets was held today. (We) have discussed issues of delivery of humanitarian assistance to citizens of the two countries," Moskalkova said on Telegram. Moskalkova announced Monday that she was planning to meet with Lubinets in Turkey on January 12-14. Lubinets said last week that he was planning the meeting with Moskalkova in the near future. (@FahadShabbir) MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 11th January, 2023) The Soyuz MS-23 rescue spacecraft will be sent to the International Space Station (ISS) via unmanned mode on February 20, the Soyuz MS-22 with a damaged cooling system will return to Earth without a crew, Russian state space agency Roscosmos said on Wednesday. On December 15, 2022, a leak in the cooling system of Soyuz MS-22 occurred due to damage to the spacecraft's outer skin. "Experts concluded that the Soyuz MS-22 should descend to Earth without crew. The launch of Soyuz MS-23 is scheduled for February 20, 2023 via unmanned mode," the statement said. (@ChaudhryMAli88) MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 11th January, 2023) The Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist group (banned in Russia) shelled Syria's Idlib de-escalation zone once 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. "One shelling attack from the positions of the Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist group was registered in the Idlib de-escalation zone over the past day," 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. Its tasks include the signing of agreements on illegal armed groups and individual settlements joining the regime of cessation of hostilities, as well as coordinating the delivery of humanitarian aid. HELSINKI (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 11th January, 2023) The Finnish government will consider the delivery of Leopard tanks to Ukraine should there be a group of countries supporting the delivery of these tanks, local media reported on Tuesday. Politico reported on Monday that France and Poland were pushing Germany to equip Kiev with its powerful Leopard 2 tanks. The Yle broadcaster reported, citing sources, that Finland has yet to make any decisions on the delivery of Leopard to Ukraine. However, if there is a group of countries that supports the delivery of tanks, Finland will consider its participation in the delivery of equipment. The Finnish government is waiting for decisions from Germany and other major countries and will not be the first to decide on the delivery of Leopards. The delivery of German-made Leopards will require Berlin's re-export license, the report said. Finland has over 200 Leopard 2 tanks, according to the news outlet, however, only few of them can be given to Kiev. Besides, the Ukrainian army might face difficulties in servicing these tanks, which will create a strong need for additional supplies of parts and reorganized maintenance procedures. Since Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine on February 24, Western countries have been providing Kiev with humanitarian, military, and financial aid. Moscow has denounced the flow of weapons to Ukraine from its Western allies, saying it adds fuel to the fire. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov repeatedly noted that any cargo containing weapons for Ukraine would become a legitimate target for Russia. WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 11th January, 2023) The Pentagon's decision to train the Ukrainian military to operate Patriot missile defense systems confirms the involvement of the United States in the conflict in Ukraine, Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov told reporters. "The decision of the US Department of Defense to organize a training course at Fort Sill in Oklahoma is another confirmation of Washington's de facto participation in the Ukrainian conflict on the side of Nazi criminals from Kiev," Antonov said while commenting on the upcoming training course in the United States for Ukrainian servicemen to operate Patriot missile defense systems. Defense Department Press Secretary Pat Ryder said on Tuesday the United States will begin training Ukrainian troops on the Patriot surface-to-air missile system at Fort Sill in the US state of Oklahoma as soon as next week. The training, which teaches operational and maintenance skills in classroom and simulation settings, will prepare 90-100 Ukrainian soldiers over the next several months, Ryder said. Ukrainian presidential office advisor Mykhailo Podolyak said Ukrainian troops will start using Patriot systems supplied by the West by early or mid-spring. In December 2022, the United States committed one Patriot missile system to Ukraine. That commitment was followed by another one made by Germany earlier this month. The Patriot system will be delivered to Ukraine following the training course, Ryder said, noting that the delivery will not be announced in advance. The Pentagon has focused recent security assistance packages for Ukraine on air defense capabilities amid frequent Russian missile and drone strikes. Last week, the Biden administration announced a new $3.75 billion aid package for Ukraine, including RIM-7 "Sea Sparrow" air defense missiles. Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine on February 24, 2022 in response to calls by the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics for protection from Ukrainian troops. The Russian Defense Ministry said the operation, which targets Ukrainian military infrastructure, aims to "demilitarize and denazify" Ukraine, and to completely liberate Donbas. Western nations have imposed numerous sanctions on Russia and have been supplying weapons to Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said any cargo that contains weaponry for Ukraine will become a legitimate target for Russia. WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th January, 2023) The United States has issued a sanctions waiver authorizing US transactions with Venezuela's opposition-controlled National Assembly, the Treasury Department said in a notice on Monday. "US persons are authorized to engage in all transactions prohibited by EO 13850, as amended by EO 13857, and incorporated into the VSR (Venezuela Sanctions Regulations), involving any person appointed or designated by, or whose appointment or designation is retained by, the IV National Assembly, its Delegated Commission, or a IV National Assembly Entity to the board of directors (including any ad hoc board of directors) or as an executive officer of a Government of Venezuela entity (including entities owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by the Government of Venezuela)," the notice said. However, the Treasury Department said the sanctions waiver does not apply to any transaction involving the Venezuelan National Constituent Assembly convened by President Nicolas Maduro or the National Assembly seated on January 5, 2021, including their respective members and staff. Contacts between the United States and Venezuela resumed to some extent in March 2022, when President Joe Biden sent a delegation to Caracas to negotiate with the Maduro government on the issue of oil supplies amid the energy crisis amplified by Western sanctions against Russia. Talks about a possible thaw in US-Venezuela relations started following reports that the Venezuelan opposition was ready to oust Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, and the United States indicated it would not interfere in the process. On Friday, the Venezuelan opposition supported, in a second hearing, the elimination of the self-proclaimed "interim government" that Guaido had led since 2019. Ken Lee, 59, died in hospital after he was allegedly beaten and stabbed by a group of teenage girls in December. (Toronto Police Service handout - image credit) Police have identified a man killed in an alleged "swarming" attack by eight teenage girls in Toronto last month as Ken Lee. Lee, 59, was pronounced dead in hospital after he was allegedly beaten and stabbed by the group of girls outside a downtown shelter in the early morning hours of Dec. 18, 2022. Investigators said at the time they were working to notify Lee's next of kin of his death. Lee was from Toronto, police said in a news release Tuesday. All eight girls, who range in age from 13 to 16 years old, were charged with second-degree murder. One was granted bail in late December, while the rest have bail hearings scheduled for later this month. Their identities are protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. At a Tuesday ceremony at the Toronto Homeless Memorial outside the Church of the Holy Trinity in the city's downtown core, Diana Chan McNally, harm reduction case manager at All Saints Toronto, said Lee's death is incomprehensible. "Hearing something like that and the people who were involved, it's just something that's completely beyond my understanding," she said. She said anecdotally, she is seeing an increase of violence against people who are actively living on the street. "This is the most extreme example of that, but we see it all the time. I get people coming in with all kinds of injuries from being beat up by complete strangers," she said. "This isn't something that's new, it's ongoing, but I see it more and more. "I think there's just so much hatred and dehumanization of people who are unhoused." Muriel Draaisma/CBC Doug Johnson Hatlem, a street pastor and spokesperson for Sanctuary Toronto, which works with the homeless, said he learned that Lee had immigrated from Hong Kong and was working to get housing. Those who knew Lee said he was a quiet man who had been defending a friend when the group of teens allegedly attacked, he said. "Nobody was surprised that he would stick up for somebody like that," Johnson Hatlem said. Story continues Gru, a former homeless individual who organized Tuesday's memorial, said he and others living on the streets had one thought come to their mind after hearing about Lee's death. "That could be me," he said. "Most unhoused people will tell you personal stories of being chased by people who are looking to beat them up ... We all know someone who died, we all know someone who was attacked." Evan Mitsui/CBC Police believe liquor bottle theft involved A friend of Lee's who saw his alleged attack previously told CBC Toronto the girls had tried to take a liquor bottle from her and Lee had tried to stop them. The lead detective on the case later confirmed that police believe there was an attempted theft "likely of a liquor bottle" during the initial phase of the deadly encounter. The attack happened at about 12:15 a.m. local time, near the corner of York Street and University Avenue, just steps from Union Station. Det.-Sgt. Terry Browne said in December that police chose to charge all of the teens with second-degree murder because each girl "played a role" in the slaying. "All eight were together. All eight were involved," he said. "I won't say what each one individually did, but all eight were together and participating in this event, which is disturbing." He described the attack as a "swarming," which normally involves selecting a target to victimize. Australian Bishops react to news of passing of former Prefect of the Vatican Secretariat for the Economy on January 10. By Vatican News staff writer Church leaders in Australia, and beyond, are paying tribute to late Cardinal George Pell, remembering his deep faith and strong and clear leadership within the Catholic Church in Australia. Read also 11/01/2023 Cardinal George Pell dies in Rome Australian Cardinal George Pell died on Tuesday evening, following complications after a hip operation. He was 81 years old. He had been prefect emeritus of the Secretariat for the ... The former Prefect of the Vatican Secretariat for the Economy died unexpectedly on Tuesday evening in Rome, at the age 81, after suffering complications following hip replacement surgery. Archbishop Costelloe In a statement released on Wednesday, the President of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC), Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB, remarked that his impact on the life of the Church in Australia and around the world will continue to be felt for many years, and asked Catholics and other people of goodwill to join in praying for for the repose of his soul. His many strengths were widely recognized, both in Australia and around the world, as his Vatican appointments as Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy and as a member of the Council of Cardinals, an advisory group to Pope Francis, testify, the statement said. Read also 11/01/2023 Pope mourns passing of Cardinal Pell, upholds his cooperation with Holy See Pope Francis sends a telegram of condolences upon the death of Cardinal George Pell who, he says unwaveringly followed his Lord with perseverance even in the hour of trial. Archbishop Fisher(Sydney): Australias most prominent churchman His words were echoed on Wednesday by Archbishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney who in comments and a homily given during Mass at St Marys Cathedral described his predecessor as Australias most prominent ever churchman, having provided strong and clear leadership within the Catholic Church in Australia, as Archbishop of Melbourne and Archbishop of Sydney. As a member of the Bishops Conference for more than 25 years, it will be for historians to assess his impact on the life of the Church in Australia and beyond, but it was considerable, and will be long-lasting, Fisher added. Archbishop Comensoli (Melbourne): a strong leader Cardinal Pells strong leadership and good governance was also recalled by Archbishop Peter A Comensoli of Melbourne, the Archdiocese he had led from 1996 to 2001 before being transferred to Sydney and then to Rome. Archbishop Coleridge (Brisbane): unusual gifts of leadership In a reflection published on The Catholic Reader, Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane highlighted the extraordinary life and strong personality of the late Australian Cardinal. Though a polarizing figure, he said, Cardinal Pell had unusual gifts of leadership is certain intelligence, courage, conviction, self-confidence, political nous and tenacity among them. Nicaraguan Bishop Rolando Jose Alvarez Lagos is set to face trial for alleged conspiracy on a date which has not been specified, as he remains under house arrest. By Vatican News staff reporter Bishop Rolando Jose Alvarez Lagos of Matagalpa was indicted on charges of conspiracy during a pre-trial hearing on Tuesday in which he was ordered to remain under house arrest. The Nicaraguan bishop, who doubles as Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Esteli, is accused of "crimes of conspiracy to undermine national integrity and propagation of false news through information and communication technologies to the detriment of the Nicaraguan state and society. The judge has also confirmed the arrest warrant against Fr. Uriel Antonio Vallejos, pastor of the Jesus de la Divina Misericordia parish in the city of Sebaco, who is currently in exile, on the same charges. Read also 08/08/2022 Bishops in Nicaragua close to Bishop Alvarez under house arrest In a statement released on Sunday, the Nicaragua's Catholic Bishops express their fraternal closeness to the Bishop of northern Nicaraguan Diocese of Matagalpa, who has been stuck ... Arrested on August 19, 2022 Alvarez is the first bishop to be arrested and indicted since President Daniel Ortega returned to power in Nicaragua in 2007. He was taken into custody by police officers on August 19, along with priests, seminarians and lay people, after being forcibly imprisoned for two weeks in the Curia for allegedly having attempted to "organize violent groups" with "the aim of destabilizing the Nicaraguan State and attacking the constitutional authorities". The Bishop was subsequently transferred to his private residence in Managua under house arrest, while the other people arrested were taken to a police station in the capital. Growing tensions between Church and government in Nicaragua The charges against Bishop Alvarez come amid tense relations between the Catholic Church and Ortegas Sandinista government, that began in April 2018, when the Central American country was rocked by huge protests against controversial government reforms. Ortega accused the bishops of being complicit in an alleged coup. Following the events, several Bishops' Conferences and organizations across the world, have expressed their solidarity with the Nicaraguan Church. Read also 21/08/2022 Pope expresses sorrow for Nicaragua, says dialogue should be basis for a respectful coexistence At the Sunday Angelus, Pope Francis expresses his sorrowful concern as tensions continue to rise in Nicaragua, where the government is imposing further restrictions on the local ... Popes concern for Nicaragua Pope Francis referred to the situation in Nicaragua during the Angelus prayer on Sunday, 21 August, 2022, saying he was closely following developments with concern and sorrow, and expressing his hope that, through an open and sincere dialogue, the basis for a respectful and peaceful coexistence might still be found. Even UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, has expressed dismay at the crackdown of the Nicaraguan government on civil society organizations, including those of the Catholic Church. BIDEN: It's unclear precisely how many classified materials have been obtained from Biden's office and home. Richard Sauber, special counsel to the president, said Monday that "a small number of documents with classified markings" were discovered on Nov. 2, 2022, in a locked closet at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement, a think tank in Washington, as Biden's personal attorneys were clearing out the offices. Biden kept an office at the Penn Center after he left the vice presidency in 2017 until shortly before he launched his 2020 presidential campaign. It was affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania and continued to operate independently of the Biden administration. On Thursday, Sauber said a second batch of documents with classified markings a "small number," he said had been found in a storage space in Biden's garage near Wilmington, Delaware, with one document being located in Biden's personal library in his home. On Saturday, Sauber said that a total of six pages of classified documents were found earlier in the week during a search at Biden's home and were handed over to Justice Department officials. TRUMP: Roughly 300 documents with classification markings including some at the top secret level have been recovered from Trump since he left office in January 2021. In January 2022, the National Archives and Records Administration retrieved 15 boxes of documents, telling Justice Department officials they contained "a lot" of classified material. In August, FBI agents took about 33 boxes and containers of 11,000 documents from Mar-a-Lago, including roughly 100 with classification markings found in a storage room and an office. How quickly were the classified documents turned over? BIDEN: After the materials were discovered at the think tank, Biden's personal attorneys immediately alerted the White House counsel's office, which notified NARA, which took custody of the documents the next day, Sauber said. "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 in a statement. Part of that cooperation, Sauber said this week, included Biden's personal lawyers examining other locations where records might have been shipped after Biden left the vice presidency in 2017. That search concluded Wednesday night, Biden told reporters at the White House on Thursday, though he did not say when the second batch of documents was found. But Sauber revealed on Saturday that he traveled to Biden's home near Wilmington on Thursday and retrieved a total of six pages of classified documents. He made the trip after Biden's personal lawyers discovered one document with a classified marking consisting of one page in a room adjacent to the garage the previous evening. The president's personal attorneys, who do not have active security clearances, suspended their search after coming upon the document. Sauber, who does have a security clearance, subsequently found the additional classified pages. Sauber said the Justice Department was "immediately notified" after the documents were found at Biden's home and that department lawyers took custody of the records. On Wednesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre dodged questions about Biden's handling of classified information and the West Wing's management of the discovery. She said the White House was committed to handling the matter in the "right way," pointing to Biden's personal attorneys' immediate notification of the National Archives. TRUMP: A Trump representative told NARA in December 2021 that presidential records had been found at Mar-a-Lago, nearly a year after Trump left office. Fifteen boxes of records containing some classified material were transferred from Mar-Lago to NARA in January. A few months later, investigators from the Justice Department and FBI visited Mar-a-Lago to get more information about classified materials taken to Florida. Federal officials also served a subpoena for some documents believed to be at the estate. In August 2022, FBI agents conducting a search retrieved 33 boxes from Mar-a-Lago. The search came after lawyers for Trump provided a sworn certification that all government records had been returned. Could either president face charges related to the discovery of the documents? BIDEN: Despite the discovery of classified materials, there is no indication Biden himself was aware of the existence of the records before they were turned over. The administration has also said that the records were turned over quickly, without any intent to conceal. That's important because the Justice Department historically looks for willfulness, or an intent to mishandle government secrets, in deciding whether to bring criminal charges. But even if the Justice Department were to find the case prosecutable on the evidence, the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel has concluded that a president is immune from prosecution during his time in office. Former special counsel Robert Mueller cited that guidance in deciding not to reach a conclusion on whether Trump should face charges as part of his investigation into coordination between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia. On Thursday, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel to investigate. Robert Hur, the former Trump-appointed U.S. attorney in Maryland, will lead the investigation. He is taking over from the top Justice Department prosecutor in Chicago, John Lausch, who recommended to Garland last week that a special counsel be appointed. TRUMP: The former president possibly faces exposure for obstruction over the protracted battle to retrieve the documents. And, since he's no longer in office, he wouldn't be afforded protections from possible prosecution that would apply to a sitting president. In November, Garland appointed Jack Smith, a veteran war crimes prosecutor with a background in public corruption probes, to lead investigations into Trump's retention of classified documents, as well as key aspects of a separate probe involving the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and efforts to undo the 2020 election. What did the presidents have to say about the discovery of the documents? BIDEN: Answering questions from journalists at the North American Leaders Summit in Mexico on Tuesday, Biden said he was "surprised to learn" that documents had been found at his think tank. He said he didn't know what was in the material but takes classified documents "very seriously." He said his team acted appropriately by quickly turning the documents over. "They did what they should have done," Biden said. "They immediately called the Archives." On Thursday, Biden told reporters at the White House that he is "cooperating fully and completely" with a Justice Department investigation into how classified information and government records were stored. As vice president, Biden would have had the power to declassify some documents, though he hasn't said that he declassified the ones found in his think tank offices or Delaware home. In September, speaking of the situation with Trump, Biden told CBS' "60 Minutes" that the discovery of top-secret documents at Mar-a-Lago raised concerns that sensitive data was compromised and called it "irresponsible." TRUMP: Trump, who had the ability when he was a sitting president to declassify documents, has claimed at times that he did so regarding the documents that he took with him though he has provided no evidence of that. He said in a Fox News interview in September that a president can declassify material "even by thinking about it." The former president has called the Mar-a-Lago search an "unannounced raid" that was "not necessary or appropriate" and represented "dark times for our Nation." Of Biden, 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?" What are the political implications of the discovery of the documents? BIDEN: Biden's document disclosure could intensify skepticism among Republicans and others who are already claiming that politics is the basis for the probes of the former president. There are also possible ramifications in a new, GOP-controlled Congress where Republicans are promising to launch widespread investigations of Biden's administration. Of the latest news, new House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, said, "I think Congress has to investigate this." Contradicting several fellow members of his party, he added, "We don't think there needs to be a special prosecutor." The top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, Ohio Rep. Mike Turner, has requested that intelligence agencies conduct a "damage assessment" of potentially classified documents. TRUMP: In its immediate aftermath, Trump and his supporters seized on the Mar-a-Lago search as a partisan attack from Democrats who had long been desirous of removing him from office. During his 2024 campaign launch in November, at the same club agents had searched months earlier, Trump referenced the probes against him, casting himself as "a victim" of wayward prosecutors and the "festering, rot and corruption of Washington." An explosion near the Foreign Ministry in Afghanistans capital, Kabul, on Wednesday killed at least five people and wounded at least 40 others. Khalid Zadran, a spokesman for the Kabul city police, confirmed the death toll and condemned what he called a cowardly act targeting Afghan civilians. An Italian-based charitable hospital, EMERGENCY, in Kabul is treating many of the wounded. We have received more than 40 patients in the hospital; it is difficult to draw up a final number. We are continuing to respond, said Stefano Sozza, the country director of the charity. This is the first mass casualty in 2023, but certainly one of those with the most patients since the beginning of 2022. So much so that we have also set up beds in the kitchens and canteen, Sozza added. Zadran did not say whether the attack was the work of a suicide bomber or if a planted device caused the blast. The violence took place in a heavily fortified area housing several embassies and Afghan ministries. The perpetrators will be found and punished for their subversive actions, Zadran told VOA in written comments shortly after the attack. The regional affiliate of Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack later Wednesday on the groups Amaq news agency, according to an affiliated Telegram channel. Kabul has experienced a spate of high-profile attacks in recent weeks, mostly claimed by the Afghan affiliate of Islamic State known as Islamic State-Khorasan. The violence included an assassination attempt on Pakistans ambassador in the country, a gun-and-bomb raid on a downtown Kabul hotel that injured five Chinese nationals staying there, and a suicide bombing at the entrance to the military airport in the city, which reportedly killed several Taliban security forces. The Islamist Taliban seized control of Afghanistan in August 2021 and have since conducted repeated counterterrorism operations against hideouts of Islamic State-Khorasan. Last week, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said their special forces had raided several hideouts of the terror group in the Afghan capital and beyond, killing 11 militants and capturing seven others. Mujahid announced the details in a statement, saying the slain men included several foreigners and that they played a role in attacks on the Pakistani diplomat, Chinese nationals and the military airport, claims that could not independently be verified. No country has yet formally recognized the Taliban government. Several regional countries, including China, Iran, Pakistan, Qatar, Russia and Turkey, have kept their embassies open in Kabul. Western nations, including the United States, moved their diplomatic missions to Qatars capital, Doha, just days before the Taliban takeover and withdrawal of all international forces from Afghanistan. Calls are mounting for the Biden administration to revoke the visa of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who is currently staying in Florida, following riots in Brazil by his supporters. But experts warn that efforts to force his return involuntarily, especially through extradition, could face legal challenges that could drag on for years. Bolsonaro has been in Orlando, Florida, since late December. He left Brazil just days before the inauguration of his successor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who defeated Bolsonaros reelection bid in last years election by 1.8% of the vote. Bolsonaro never conceded defeat and, in an echo of former U.S. President Donald Trump, had long told his supporters that the election would be rigged against him. His supporters spent weeks camped outside army bases in Brazil, urging the military to mount a coup to prevent the January 1 inauguration of Lula, as the new president is commonly called. No coup emerged. A week after Lulas inauguration, a mob of thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed the buildings that house Brazils presidential palace, congress and supreme court. Hundreds were arrested after authorities eventually reasserted control over the buildings. Comparisons were immediately made to the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters who tried to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Broad denunciations From Florida, Bolsonaro tweeted a condemnation of the violence but was still widely condemned by politicians in Brazil and other countries, many of whom blamed him for planting the seeds of distrust of the election results. Bolsonaro checked into an Orlando hospital on Monday, complaining of intestinal pain. According to the Reuters news agency, he was diagnosed with an intestinal blockage that is not considered serious. After footage of the riot in Brasilia was broadcast around the world, some critics in the U.S. began calling for the Biden administration to send Bolsonaro back to Brazil. Bolsonaro should not be in Florida, Democratic Congressman Joaquin Castro said in an appearance on CNN. 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. Nearly two years to the day the U.S. Capitol was attacked by fascists, we see fascist movements abroad attempt to do the same in Brazil, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, also a Democrat, wrote on Twitter. The U.S. must cease granting refuge to Bolsonaro in Florida. Immigration status vague Bolsonaros current immigration status is unclear. If he entered the U.S. on a diplomatic visa, his travel authorization would have ended with his term as president, giving him 30 days to return home or to seek a different immigration status. A tourist visa might make him eligible to stay in the U.S. for 30 or 60 days but is subject to revocation at the State Departments discretion. The State Department has declined to say what kind of visa Bolsonaro used to enter the country. Biden called the attack on Brazils center of government outrageous, but White House officials have been very cautious about saying how the administration intends to handle Bolsonaros presence in the U.S. In a press conference in Mexico City on Monday, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said, We have not, as of now, received any official requests from the Brazilian government related to Bolsonaro. Of course, if we did receive such requests, wed treat them the way we always do wed treat them seriously. If Bolsonaros visa is revoked, he would be required to leave the U.S. but could travel to a third country if he prefers not to return to Brazil. Extradition complicated Bolsonaro is under investigation for alleged illegal activities undertaken while president. If charges are brought against him, he could be the subject of a formal extradition request by the Brazilian government, which has an extradition treaty with the U.S. Jacques Semmelman, a partner at New York law firm Katten Muchin Rosenman, has handled many international extradition cases and told VOA the process can be very time-consuming, especially if the individual contests it. Any country that seeks extradition from the United States of a particular individual must submit a request for extradition that satisfies various requirements, Semmelman said. Among the requirements is that there has to be a formal criminal charge, or charges, against the individual sought. And those charges have to be supported by evidence showing that there is probable cause to believe that the person committed the crimes. The initial request goes to the State Department, which examines it to see if it complies with the most basic requirements of extradition. It is then forwarded to the Justice Department, which assigns the case to the U.S. attorneys office in the jurisdiction where the individual resides. The U.S. attorneys office then starts a judicial proceeding meant to establish whether or not the person is extraditable under the law. If the court determines the person is extraditable, the issue is referred back to the State Department, where the secretary decides whether or not to follow through with the extradition. Semmelman said there are a number of potential defenses against extradition that can turn the proceeding into a lengthy court battle. "If the extradition is contested by the accused person, the extradition process within the judicial system can take many, many months and often several years," he said. "It's a long process and a complex process. There are a lot of issues that could be raised." Fishing boats arrive back at Idenau, a coastal village near Cameroon's western border with Nigeria. Authorities say there are several hundred fishers in Idenau and most of their catch is exported to neighboring states like Nigeria as well as to Europe. But fishing authorities say many of the fishers operating in Cameroons waters in the Gulf of Guinea are not registered and not from Cameroon. Thats why fishers in Cameroon are urging authorities to crack down on hundreds of illegal fishers and fish farmers operating in the Gulf of Guinea after the EU banned imports of Cameroons seafood. The EU announced the ban last week saying Cameroon was not cooperating in the fight against illegal and unregulated fishing and fish farming. Beninese fisher Thomas Wessie, 45, said he left his town of Djougou in 2017 to fish in Cameroons Southwest region, where Idenau is located. Wessie said his company has seven medium-size vessels for semi-industrial fish farming. He said besides Cameroonians, Togolese, Beninese, Ghanaians and Nigerians, the Chinese are very involved in either semi-industrial or industrial fish farming in Cameroon's part of the Atlantic Ocean. Wessie said boats prefer fishing in Cameroons waters because neighboring Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Nigeria have firm military controls to stop illegal fishing. The EU on January 5 banned Cameroon-caught seafood, citing a zero-tolerance policy for illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing that threatens ocean resources. Cameroons Fish Farmers Associations met Wednesday in the capital, Yaounde, to discuss the issues. Koulou Boulou Pierre, a member of the association, said most illegal fishers in Cameroons waters are from Africa and China. He said the illegal fishers operate through corrupt government officials and ignore prohibited fishing zones. Pierre said there is a lack of political will to stop high waves of corruption that are responsible for the proliferation of illegal fishing firms all over Cameroon. He said if the government does not take measures for the EU ban to be lifted, Cameroon's economy will be severely hurt as much of the 8,000 tons of shrimp and prawns for export will not get to European markets. Last year, the EU said it found many shortcomings in Cameroons fishing industry, including allowing foreign boats that fish illegally to fly Cameroons flag. The EU Commission said it will lift the ban against Cameroon if the country improves its fisheries governance and meets international obligations in fighting illegal and unregulated fishing. Adrian Ngo'o Bitomo is coordinator of Agropole, a Cameroon government project to promote agro-industrial products including fish. Speaking to Cameroon's state broadcaster CRTV Wednesday, he said quick action is needed or the EU ban will disrupt plans to export 200,000 tons of fish this year. Bitomo said Cameroon should clear its south Atlantic and Gulf of Guinea maritime zones of hundreds of illegal African and Chinese fish firms that refuse to respect international regulations aimed at ensuring sustainability. Bitomo said by stopping illegal fishing, the Cameroon government will ensure that the present generation does not deprive future generations of their right to natural resources through overfishing and catching immature fish. Cameroons Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industries did not respond to VOAs request for comment on the EU ban and allegations of corruption. China has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and said it has tightened oversight of deep-sea fishing boats. Chinas ambassador to Australia said in rare public comments that relations between the two nations have reached a period of stability. Xiao Qian suggested the improving relationship might give Chinese companies more confidence to resume imports from Australia and that bans on coal shipments to China might be lifted. Chinas ambassador made the remarks Tuesday during a news conference in Canberra. He told reporters that differences should not be allowed to hijack their relationship, saying the Chinese Year of the Rabbit was a chance to "jump over obstacles" that had emerged in recent times. Geo-political and trade disputes have soured Australias relationship with China, its biggest trading partner, in recent years. Canberras call in 2020 for a global inquiry into the origins of COVID-19 was seen in Beijing as a criticism of its handling of the early days of the pandemic. But Xiao said the election of a center-left government in Canberra last May was a turning point as Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has sought to rehabilitate bilateral ties. Albanese has said previously that while there would be disagreements, Australia sought a stable, constructive relationship with China. Xiao said China also seeks cooperation and stability. We do have differences in certain respects, disputes in certain areas like trade disputes, Xiao admitted, But both sides agree to address these differences in a constructive manner. He clarified that, By that I mean we can address the differences in a way that will not allow the differences to hijack our relationship between the two countries (and) not allow them to hijack the cooperation between our two countries. Xiao outlined a key area of disagreement. He criticized the AUKUS defense pact between Australia and its traditional allies the United States and Great Britain. He told reporters that Australia's push for nuclear-powered submarines was confrontational. The ambassador, however, declined to criticize Australia's mandatory COVID-19 tests for Chinese travelers, saying only that he hoped the measures were based on science. Analysts have said that other governments in the Indo-Pacific region are skeptical of the apparent rapprochement between Australia and China. Japan's ambassador to Canberra, Shingo Yamagami, told The Australian newspaper Monday that both Australia and Japan needed to remain "vigilant" as China continued to behave aggressively toward other countries in the region despite taking a softer public stance. One of Chinas most combative and recognizable spokesmen is now in an obscure position without explanation, prompting widespread speculation about what he might have done to annoy the nations political leadership, or whether he might have volunteered to step down. Until this week, Zhao Lijian had been the model of a diplomatic wolf warrior, castigating the nations critics at daily Foreign Ministry briefings while building an online audience of 1.9 million followers on Twitter and almost 7.7 million on Weibo, the Chinese counterpart. By Tuesday, he was settling into a new role as deputy director-general in the Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs, a little-known agency with limited responsibilities and virtually no public profile. Zhaos new post was announced at Tuesdays Foreign Ministry press briefing in Beijing by Wang Wenbin, one of the ministrys three official spokespersons. Comrade Zhao has assumed a post in exchange in accordance with needs, Wang said in response to a question from a Reuters reporter. The change in Zhaos fortunes was swift and unceremonious. As of 3:55 a.m. in Beijing on Wednesday, the Foreign Ministry website still listed Zhao along with Wang, Hua Chunying, and the newly appointed Mao Ning as spokespersons for the ministry. Two minutes later, Zhaos name could no longer be seen on the page. His Twitter profile still shows the same youthful-looking man with a sort of crew cut, nondescript eyeglasses, head bent down slightly, a smile showing teeth. While Twitter identifies him as a Chinese governmental official, a common practice by the platform, Zhao has changed his title to reflect his new post. Zhao made his first appearance as a spokesperson on February 24, 2020, and quickly became a fixture in the post. He remained in good standing as of late last year, handling the briefing every weekday from November 1 to 11 and from November 28 to December 2. Some analysts speculated that the sudden demotion may signal a desire by Beijing to back away from its aggressive diplomacy of recent years and soften its image in the face of economic headwinds and growing friction with important trading partners. That theory holds little merit for Bob Fu, a Chinese human rights activist who heads the Texas-based non-profit China Aid. So long as [Chinese President] Xi Jinping remains in power and stays his course, the wolf content of Chinas diplomacy will remain unchanged, Fu said in a telephone interview with VOA. He pointed to former President Hu Jintaos extraordinary, televised removal from the podium at the Communist Party congress in October, as well as Xis lecturing of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, also on camera, as more reliable examples of Chinas official conduct. He also noted that Qin Gang, who recently rose to the job of foreign minister from his post as ambassador to Washington, has never shied away from the wolf warrior branding. Given the de facto demotion, one can assume that Zhao more likely was found to have been politically incorrect in one way or another, Fu said. One possible explanation lay in Zhaos response to a question at a November 29 briefing, just as Beijing was preparing to pivot from its long-held zero-COVID policy in the face of widespread protests across the country. Asked by a Reuters reporter whether such a shift was under consideration, Zhao paused for about 30 seconds, silently shuffling papers before asking the reporter to repeat the question. After another long pause, he finally said, The situation you described is inconsistent with facts. Asked about the incident at the time, Fu suggested the pause could have been deliberate. Maybe that was him raising a piece of blank paper, Fu said. Others suggested Zhao was at an uncharacteristic loss for words to defend the existing policy. There has also been speculation on Chinese social media that Zhaos downfall may have to do with his wife, Tang Tianru, a surprisingly candid writer who has described the couple on her Weibo account as big smarty pants and silly country girl. While Chinese were still facing strict lockdowns and obsessive testing last year, Tang posted pictures from a trip to Germany commenting, with a hint of appreciation, that what she saw there was normal life. More recently she has complained on social media about how hard it is to find fever-reducing medicines since Beijing abandoned its zero-COVID measures and caseloads surged. VOA Mandarin Service contributed to this report. American soldiers to begin training their Ukrainian counterparts. A look at the eastern Ukrainian city of Soledar and who is in control there. Plus a conversation with a former Ambassador about Putins motivations and any hope for peace. Wayne Chiang Wan-an, the ostensible great-grandson of Chiang Kai-shek who was sworn in as mayor of Taipei City late last month, is the latest scion of an Asian political dynasty to assume public office. From President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in the Philippines to Hun Manet, the son of longtime leader Hun Sen, in Cambodia and even Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar, second, third and even fourth generation legacies wield major political influence across the region. Analysts say Chiang Wan-an cuts a slightly different image from other dynastic politicians as a young, moderate and American-educated member of the Nationalist Party (KMT), who worked as a corporate lawyer in Palo Alto, California, focusing on venture capital before entering politics more than a decade ago. The new mayor did not respond to Voice of Americas request for comment. Where other politicians in Asia have used their family names to their advantage, Chiang Wan-ans has been a double edged sword, said Hsiao-ting Lin, a research fellow and curator of the Modern China and Taiwan Collection at the Hoover Institution. In the recent mayoral election, Chiang downplayed his family ties, he said. He wants to demonstrate that he was able to win the election by telling people he has the capability to be a mayor rather than under the huge umbrella of the Chiang dynasty, Lin told VOA. Whether or not his connection to the former leaders of Taiwan, formally known as the Republic of China, is bona fide is another matter. Chiang Wan-ans dynastic claims come from his father, legislator Chiang Hsiao-yen, who claims to be the illegitimate son of Chiang Kai-sheks only son, Chiang Ching-kuo. The main branch of the Chiang family has recognized neither father nor son, but the association helped Chiang Hsiao-yen climb the ranks of Taiwans foreign service and the KMT in the 1980s and 1990s. Since democratization in the mid 1990s, both the Chiang legacy and that of the KMT have been reassessed in a more negative light, but both still hold sway over families who fled from China in the 1940s with the exiled Republic of China government. Chiang Ching-kuo, who ruled Taiwan from the late 1970s until his death in 1988, is remembered somewhat more favorably than his authoritarian father for lifting martial law and leading Taiwan through its economic boom of the 1970s and 1980s. Other Taiwanese, however, remember him better for leading Taiwans secret police in the 1950s and 1960s. Separating contemporary politicians from their family legacies is a complicated task and one that some countries are more willing to do than others, said James Lin, an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Washington who specializes in Taiwans history. Voters have looked past those ties in Asian countries like the Philippines, where the Marcos family was restored to power after former President Ferdinand Marcos had been forced into exile in the 1980s, and South Korea, where voters elected the daughter of former dictator Park Chung-hee as president in 2012. The generation that saw democracy [emerge in Taiwan] soundly rejected the Chiang family, but maybe with time that memory has begun to fade away. I think that may be a case for the Philippines and South Korea, Lin said. But I dont think in Taiwan it has faded away because young people are educated about the martial law period. Chiang Wan-ans relative youth at age 44, however, has helped to set him apart from both his family baggage and the political burden of supporting unification with China, said the Hoover Institutions Lin. This long-term KMT goal is supported by only a very small minority of older party members, but disavowing in public is still a dangerous proposition for fear of angering Beijing, which claims Taiwan as a province. Instead, younger party members have quietly sidestepped the issue and the partys official support for the so-called 1992 Consensus between Beijing and Taipei, which says there is one China but leaves unsaid which government should lead it. Dennis Lu-Chung Weng, a former Taiwanese journalist and political scientist at Houston State University in Texas, said he suspected many young KMT members secretly support Taiwanese independence or view the democracy as de facto independent already, much in line with the greater Taiwanese public. The KMT has a big generational gap. The senior people in the KMT believe that reunification with China is the only way. But the younger generation like Chiang wan-an and people under 50, including the former [KMT] chairman Chiang Chi-chen, are pro-Taiwan, Weng said. In the rigidly hierarchical KMT, however, it will be many years before the younger generation takes control of the party, he said, not unlike how the Chinese Communist Party is structured. Whether Chiang Wan-an can ascend to party leadership will first depend on his track record as mayor of Taipei City. The new mayor has experience as a legislator, but he must now show whether or not he can handle daily executive power, Weng said, and the day-to-day grind of leadership. As mayor of Taiwans fourth largest city, he will face some politically thorny issues, including the future of Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, a monument erected in the late 1970s to honor the former president. Since democratization, hundreds if not thousands of statues of Chiang Kai-shek have been taken down across Taiwan, but the memorial remains as a popular tourist hotspot and iconic Taipei building. Some Taiwanese, however, want the statue removed. If Chiang Wan-an can survive without any major political scandals, experts say Taiwanese could see him on a national ballot in the future but analysts say not for at least eight to 12 years. The Chiang name can carry him far with some Taiwanese voters, they say, but it cannot carry him alone. The URL has been copied to your clipboard The code has been copied to your clipboard. Since Russias invasion of Ukraine, Russian shells have been a part of daily life in the city of Odesa. But a determined set of locals is fighting back, from hairdressers to police officers who are part of a territorial defense effort. Anna Kosstutschenko reports. Camera: Pavel Suhodolskiy For months the gaze of U.S. counterterrorism officials has been shifting, moving from scrutiny of foreign terrorist organizations to individuals in the United States seeking out ideologies to justify their use of violence. The most likely attackers, according to the government's most recent terrorism advisory, are lone actors or small groups motivated by a wide array of beliefs and personal grievances who pose a "persistent and lethal threat to the homeland." But while attacks like the May 2022 mass shooting that killed 10 Black shoppers in Buffalo, New York, continue to grab headlines and the attention of officials, the top U.S. counterterrorism official cautions that jihadi groups, such as al-Qaida and Islamic State, cannot be forgotten. "We have still got to be really vigilant about the threat posed by those organizations that are based overseas that want to conduct attacks against Americans here in the homeland," National Counterterrorism Center Director Christine Abizaid said Tuesday at an event hosted by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "The al-Qaida- and ISIS-inspired threat is still there," she said, using an acronym for the Islamic State group, which is also known as IS or Daesh. Years of counterterrorism pressure by the U.S. and its partners have taken a toll on the two groups, whittling away each group's core leaders. Islamic State IS has been especially hard hit, losing two emirs over the past 12 months Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi during a raid by U.S. special forces in northwest Syria last February and Abu al-Hassan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi during an independent operation by the Free Syrian Army this past October. In the months between those two deaths, the U.S. and its partner forces in Syria and Iraq, as well as allies like Turkey, killed or captured another 10 senior IS leaders. But the victories against IS appear to have done little to dampen overall enthusiasm for the group and its affiliates. "ISIS is actually a very dynamic group that continues to be led from this core in Iraq and Syria, continues to have interest in not just their sort of territorial integrity but in the notoriety and the brand expansion and attacks against the West," Abizaid said. "We see ISIS's expansion across the African continent. We see concerning indications of ISIS-Khorasan in Afghanistan and its ambition that might go beyond that immediate territory," she added, calling the IS Afghan affiliate the "threat actor I am most concerned about," while declining to estimate how soon it could threaten interests outside Afghanistan. Al-Qaida Al-Qaida, too, has been dealt some severe blows, perhaps none so important as the death of longtime leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in a U.S. drone strike in Kabul in August. "Zawahiri was the center of gravity for that network," Abizaid said. "He was both symbolically important but also strategically important for what was a diverse network of affiliates." And according to the most recent U.S. intelligence estimates, more than six months after his death, al-Zawahiri has still not been replaced. "The question for al-Qaida, that it hasn't answered for itself, is who follows," Abizaid said. "The best candidates are Saif al-Adel and Abdul Rahman al-Maghrebi, that are sitting in Iran What does that mean for their credibility? What does that mean for their ability to lead?" U.S. intelligence also suggests other parts of the Afghanistan-based al-Qaida organization have been further marginalized, perhaps by design at the direction of the Taliban or the Haqqani network, with Abizaid saying the affiliate known as al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent, once thought to have a few hundred fighters in the country, is now "defunct." She warned, however, it would be dangerous to write off al-Qaida just yet. "The al-Qaida problem there is a problem," Abizaid said of Afghanistan. Syria There are also concerns about al-Qaida's remnants in Syria, most notably the faction known as Hurras al-Din, a group with 1,000 to 3,000 fighters whose leaders have been targeted by U.S. airstrikes in the past. "Their stature, some of the interconnectivity with other aspects of the al-Qaida network, I think, are important and really resonant in the Hurras al-Din presence," according to Abizaid. And she warned that the overall environment in Syria makes it a cauldron of potential terrorist activity poised to benefit al-Qaida, IS or eventually some other group. "You have significant population of radicalized individuals in IDP [internally displaced person] camps, in prisons scattered throughout Syria, that represents the potential of a future threat if not appropriately engaged and handled," Abizaid said. Iran In addition to IS and al-Qaida, Abizaid said Iran and its proxies, active across the Middle East and even in Afghanistan, have become ever more open in their willingness to conduct terrorist attacks. "I would describe Iran's interest in conducting terrorist attacks overseas as one of the most striking developments," the NCTC director said. "What I see is a pretty brazen Iranian threat network that is willing to explore avenues for attack internationally and in the region." While some Iranian proxies, like Lebanese Hezbollah, have been increasingly vocal, Abizaid warned, "it's not just a proxy battle." "Iran is leveraging its own capability to threaten various actors," she said. "That we have actual evidence of them trying to pursue that interest inside the United States is a real concern," she said, noting the Iranian plot to kill former U.S. national security adviser Ambassador John Bolton. "The threats against Iranian activists and journalists here in the United States are also persistent and concerning," Abizaid said. 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 oil revenues are falling because of the price cap that Western countries imposed on its crude oil shipments and, ahead of further caps on Russia's oil products, Europe is well positioned to manage any price pressures, Reuters reported, citing a U.S. Treasury official said on Wednesday. The Group of Seven countries, Australia and the European Union will extend sanctions on Russia over its war in Ukraine by putting a price cap on its oil products, such as gasoline and diesel, on February 5. The coalition placed a $60 per barrel limit on sea-borne Russian crude oil sales late last year. Russia is losing a great deal of money daily because of the cap, the senior Treasury official told reporters in a teleconference. "For every dollar Russia is not getting in revenue, that's one less dollar they can use propping up their economy, or investing into weapons they need to fight this illegitimate war in Ukraine," the official said. 1o p.m.: 9:32 p.m.: The Joint Coordination Center reports that no vessels left Ukrainian ports and no vessels transited through the maritime humanitarian corridor heading toward Ukrainian ports Wednesday under the Black Sea Grain Initiative because of bad weather conditions. Currently, 28 vessels are waiting for inspection: Eight of them waiting to move into Ukrainian ports and 20 are loaded with cargo waiting to sail to their global destinations. As of Wednesday, the total tonnage of grain and other foodstuffs exported from the three Ukrainian ports remains 16,945,661 metric tons. A total of 1,269 voyages (636 inbound and 633 outbound) have been enabled so far. 8:33 p.m.: Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed energy and transport projects with Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi in a telephone call on Wednesday, Reuters reported, citing the Kremlin. Moscow and Tehran have moved to forge closer relations after Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine last February, prompting sweeping Western sanctions. Russia and Iran, which is also under Western sanctions, are among the world's largest oil exporters. In a readout of the call, the Kremlin said that the two countries hoped for a "normalization" of the situation in Syria, and to "restore" the country's territorial integrity. 7:51 p.m.: Jailed Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny said Wednesday that he is being refused access to hospital treatment by prison officials after falling sick, in what his team called an underhand attempt to kill him, Agence France-Presse reported. Navalny, the most prominent opponent of President Vladimir Putin, said he had flu symptoms including a fever but was being kept in a punishment cell at his maximum-security prison outside Moscow. He also requested during a court hearing on Wednesday that it be postponed because of his illness. 6:54 p.m.: 6 p.m.: Britain's Royal Navy said on Wednesday it was tracking the movements of a Russian warship armed with missiles sailing in international waters in the North Sea, close to Britain, Reuters reported. Escorting warships in UK territorial waters and the adjacent sea areas is routine activity for the Royal Navy," the British frigate HMS Portland's Commanding Officer, Commander Ed Moss-Ward, said in a statement. By maintaining a visible and persistent presence, the Royal Navy ensures compliance with maritime law and deters malign activity." 5:01 p.m.: Russia has again replaced its top commander in Ukraine, putting army chief of staff Valery Gerasimov in charge of its forces in the conflict, Agence France-Presse reporting, citing the defense ministry on Wednesday. "Army General Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian armed forces, has been appointed Commander of the Joint Grouping of Troops (Forces)," the ministry said. Sergei Surovikin, the commander of Russia's forces in Ukraine for the past three months, will become Gerasimov's deputy. Surovikin will work alongside two other generals, Oleg Salyukov and Alexei Kim, according to the statement. 4:20 p.m.: Ukraine would be able to win the war in 2023 if it receives more Western weapons, particularly long-range missiles and heavy tanks, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhaylo Podolyak told AFP Wednesday. Otherwise, the war will grind on "for decades," Podolyak said, pointing to the bloodiest fighting taking place in eastern Ukraine in Bakhmut and Soledar. "Only missiles with a range of more than 100 kilometers will allow us to significantly accelerate the de-occupation of our territories," he told AFP in an interview. The United States last year supplied Ukraine with missile systems with a range of around 80 kilometers that were credited with turning the tide of the conflict in Kyiv's favor on several fronts. Kyiv has also recently received similar French systems. But it is putting pressure on Washington to deliver U.S. ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile System) missiles, which boast a range of around 300 kilometers. These systems would allow Ukrainian forces to target Russian arms depots deep inside Ukrainian territory controlled by Moscow but currently out of range of the weapons in Kyiv's arsenal. 3:27 p.m.: Brokering a deal on a safe zone around Ukraine's Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is getting harder because of the involvement of the military in talks, the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Wednesday, according to Reuters. The Soviet-era plant, Europe's largest, was captured by Russian forces in March, soon after their invasion of Ukraine. It has repeatedly come under fire in recent months, raising fears of a nuclear disaster. "I don't believe that (an agreement) is impossible, but it is not an easy negotiation," International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi said in an interview with Italian public television RAI. Grossi, who previously said he hoped to broker a deal on protecting the plant before the end of 2022, said talks with Kyiv and Moscow had become more complicated because they involve not just diplomats, but also military officers. 2:30 p.m.: Rear Admiral Michael Studeman, the commander of Office of Naval Intelligence and director of the National Maritime Intelligence-Integration Office, spoke virtually with the Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA) on Wednesday, VOAs national security correspondent Jeff Seldin reported. Studeman spoke about a number of topics and shared several assessments about Russias naval capabilities and its use of naval forces against Ukraine. Seldin shared details of the briefing on Twitter. 2:10 p.m.: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged NATO on Wednesday to do more than just promise Ukraine its door is open at a July summit, saying Kyiv needs "powerful steps" as it tries to join the military alliance, Reuters reported. Kyiv requested fast-track NATO membership last September, seven months after Russia invaded Ukraine. NATO says it has an s open-door policy to Ukraine but has not said whether it will accelerate moves towards Kyiv's possible accession. Such a move would be likely to touch a nerve in Moscow which casts NATO as a hostile military bloc bent on encroaching on Russia's sphere of influence. "For today, just support for Ukraine from colleagues in NATO and support in the form of rhetoric about open doors is not enough for Ukraine. Namely, not enough to motivate our state ... our soldiers," Zelenskyy said in the western city of Lviv after talks with the presidents of Lithuania and Poland. 1:40 p.m.: Radio Free Europe/Radio Libertys Ukrainian Service was given access to the Kyiv Heart Institute, where surgeons continue to perform life-saving operations despite blackouts. Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, the institute has had to prepare for all kinds of disasters, including using multiple diesel-powered generators and digging a well to guarantee the supply of water for patients and essential medical services. Despite the challenges, the Kyiv Heart Institute says it performed a record number of surgeries in 2022. 1:05 p.m.: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced his revocation of the citizenship of four Ukrainian lawmakers suspected of treason, including three from a banned pro-Russian party, and signaled more bans were still to come, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported Wednesday. He said late on January 10 he took the unusual move against Andriy Derkach, Taras Kozak, Renat Kuzmin, and Viktor Medvedchuk "based on materials prepared" by the Ukrainian Security Service and the State Migration Service. At least three are outside the country and all have been the target of legal proceedings alleging treason since Russia's unprovoked full-scale invasion began in late February. "If people's elected representatives choose to serve not the people of Ukraine, but the murderers who came to Ukraine, then our actions will be appropriate," Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address to the nation. He added that these were "not the last such decisions." 12:25 p.m.: The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) said on Twitter Wednesday that it is helping to fund a program aimed at supporting Ukrainian children recover from the trauma of war. 11:50 a.m.: Poland has decided to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine as part of an international coalition, the Polish president said on Wednesday, as Warsaw seeks to play a leading role in reaching a consensus among Western allies on such support, Reuters reported. Kyiv has been requesting heavy military vehicles such as the German-made Leopard 2, which would represent a significant step-up in Western support to Ukraine. A company of Leopard tanks will be handed over as part of coalition-building, Andrzej Duda said during a visit to the western Ukrainian city of Lviv. We want it to be an international coalition. A company typically consists of 14 tanks. Duda said that he hoped that the Polish tanks, together with tanks from other countries, would soon travel to Ukraine. Speaking alongside Duda, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that a joint decision was necessary, as one country would not be able to provide Kyiv with a sufficient number of tanks. 11:30 a.m.: 11:05 a.m.: Roughly eight out of 10 people seeking protection in Germany last year came from Ukraine as part of the largest flight of people in Europe since World War Two, the interior ministry said on Wednesday, according to Reuters. After Russia's invasion in mid-February, 1,045,185 people who fled Ukraine were registered in Germany, it said, adding that most of them were women and children. Russian President Vladimir Putin's "criminal war of aggression against Ukraine has triggered the largest flight movement in Europe since World War Two," said Interior Minister Nancy Faeser in a statement. In addition to the Ukrainian refugees, who do not need to go through an asylum procedure, over 244,000 people filed an asylum application last year, 27.9% more than the year before. The majority of asylum applications came from people from Syria, followed by nationals of Afghanistan, Turkey and Iraq. 10: 35 a.m.: 10:10 a.m.: A price cap and European Union embargo on most Russian oil have cut into Moscows revenue from fossil fuels, but the Kremlin is still earning substantial cash to fund its action in Ukraine because the $60-per-barrel cap was too lenient, The Associated Press reported, quoting the Helsinki-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that he would view such assessments with skepticism. Peskov noted that in case of lowering the cap, Russia will do everything to protect its interests. Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said at a Cabinet meeting Tuesday that last years revenue was higher than planned thanks to oil and gas prices exceeding expectations. He said the government used the extra revenue to increase social spending. Western governments have struggled to find a way to cut into the fossil fuel income that is the main funding source for Russias government budget and its military action in Ukraine. 9:20 a.m.: 8:45 a.m.: Russia said on Wednesday that the European Union was becoming a vassal of NATO, citing the signing of a joint declaration in which the two organizations pledged to deepen their cooperation in response to Russia's war in Ukraine, Reuters reported. In the declaration on Tuesday, NATO and the EU stated: "Today, we are faced with the gravest threat to Euro-Atlantic security in decades. Russias brutal war on Ukraine violates international law and the principles of the U.N. Charter." They pledged to "take our partnership to the next level" in response to the growing threats and challenges. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the move "confirms the complete subordination of the European Union to the tasks of the North Atlantic bloc, which is an instrument to guarantee U.S. interests by force." She said the Europeans faced "the unenviable fate of an American vassal, losing their positions in world politics and economics, falling into increasing dependence on Washington with every step." The statement was in line with Moscow's efforts to cast the war in Ukraine as part of an existential struggle with Western nations it says are bent on Russia's destruction. The United States has denied Moscow's claims that it wants to destroy Russia. 8:20 a.m.: 8 a.m.: NATO and the EU are launching a task force to boost protection of critical infrastructure in response to last year's attack on the Nord Stream gas pipelines and Russia's "weaponizing of energy," the organizations' leaders said on Wednesday. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the sabotage of the Russia-to-Germany pipelines in the Baltic Sea last September showed the need "to confront this new type of threat." "This is a task force where our experts from NATO and the European Union will work hand-in-hand to identify key threats to our critical infrastructure, to look at the strategic vulnerabilities that we do have," she said in Brussels, speaking alongside NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. Western and Russian officials have traded accusations over the Nord Stream blasts, but officials in Sweden and Denmark investigating the attack have not named any possible culprits. 7:50 a.m.: Estonia has told Russia to reduce the number of diplomats at its embassy in Tallinn by February, the Baltic country's foreign ministry said on Wednesday, according to Reuters. It said in a statement Russia should lower the number of diplomats to eight, which equals the number of Estonian diplomats in Moscow, Reuters reported. The Russian embassy in Tallinn on its website lists 17 diplomats. Since the Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Estonia has already expelled three diplomats. "In light of the fact that during the war of aggression, the staff of the Russian embassy is not engaged in advancing Estonian-Russian relations, it is our view that there are no grounds for the current size of the Russian embassy," the ministry said on Wednesday. 7:40 a.m.: 7:15 a.m.: Ukraine must "be ready" at its border with Russian ally Belarus even though it sees only "powerful statements" coming from its neighbor, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday. Reuters reported that Zelenskyy made his comments after visiting the Lviv region, where he discussed border protection and the security situation in northwestern Ukraine. Kyiv has warned that Russia may try to use Belarus to launch a new ground invasion of Ukraine from the north. Zelenskyy made no reference to such warnings in comments on the Telegram messaging app after taking part in what he described as a coordination meeting on security matters in the Lviv region. "We discussed state border protection, the operational situation on the border with the Republic of Belarus, and counter-subversive measures in these territories," he said. "We understand that apart from powerful statements, we do not see anything powerful there, but nevertheless we must be ready both at the border and in the regions." 6:45 a.m.: 6:30 a.m.: The fate of Soledar, a devastated salt-mining town in eastern Ukraine, hung in the balance Wednesday as Ukraine said its forces were holding out against a furious Russian onslaught in what has become one of the fiercest and most costly battles in the almost 11-month war, The Associated Press reported. Though unlikely to provide a turning point in the war, Soledars fall to Russian forces after months of Ukrainian defense would be a prize for the Kremlin. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that Russian forces had positive dynamics in advancing in Soledar, but he stopped short of declaring its capture when asked about the claims that it has come under Russian control. Lets not rush and wait for official statements, he said. Soledar, known for salt mining and processing, lies in the Donetsk region and has little intrinsic value. But it lies at a strategic point 10 kilometers (6 miles) north of Bakhmut, which Russian forces are aiming to surround. 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. Soledars fall would make holding Bakhmut much more precarious for Ukraine, Michael Kofman, the director of Russia Studies at the CAN nonprofit research organization in Arlington, Virginia, noted Wednesday. The costly war of attrition, with expected heavy casualties, may make Russias victory as costly as a defeat, however. 6:15 a.m.: 6 a.m.: Russia's human rights commissioner said on Wednesday that "important words about the need for a ceasefire" had been said during a meeting with her Turkish and Ukrainian colleagues in Ankara, Russian state-owned news agency RIA reported. Reuters reported that Tatiana Moskalkova said that a ceasefire was necessary to stop human rights violations, and that she had also asked Turkey to stop supplying arms to Ukraine. 5:30 a.m.: Belarus's defense ministry said on Wednesday that joint Russian-Belarusian air defense forces had been reinforced, with new missile units moved into position, according to Reuters. "Anti-aircraft missile units advanced to designated areas and took up combat duty," the ministry said in a brief statement. Belarus is a close ally of Russia and allowed President Vladimir Putin to use its territory as one of the launchpads for his February 24 invasion of Ukraine. The two countries plan to hold joint aviation drills in the second half of January, beginning next Monday. Ukraine has repeatedly warned that Putin may try to use Belarus to launch a new invasion of Ukraine from the north, a step that would open a major new front in the war. 5:05 a.m.: Reuters reported that Ukraine's military denied on Wednesday that Russian forces had taken control of the eastern town of Soledar, and said the intensity of battles in the area could be compared to fighting in World War II. Serhiy Cherevatyi, spokesperson for the eastern military command, told Ukrainian television that Ukrainian forces had not allowed Russian forces to break through front lines. "The town is not under the control of the Russian Federation. There are fierce battles going on now," he said. "There is a complicated situation there." He said the military command was "working now on how to stabilize the situation with the maximum impact for the enemy and minimum losses for Ukraine." Russian mercenary group Wagner has said it has taken control of Soledar, a salt-mining town near the city of Bakhmut where fighting has also been fierce as Russia tries to capture the entire Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. "The intensity of battles near Bakhmut can be compared with World War Two," Cherevatyi said. Reuters was unable to independently verify the situation on the ground in Soledar. Cherevatyi said Russian forces still had a lot of Soviet-era weapons and were using Soviet-era armored vehicles with some modernized elements. "Our partners are providing us with more modern weapons," he said, adding that Western weapons were more precise and gave Ukraine an advantage. 4:40 a.m.: Reuters reported that Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatiana Moskalkova said on Wednesday that Ukraine and Russia had agreed on an exchange of 40 prisoners of war after meeting her Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Lubinets. 4:25 a.m.: Ukraine's human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets commented on the Wednesday meeting he held in Turkey with Russian counterpart Tatyana Moskalkova, Agence France-Presse reported. They "discussed a wide range of humanitarian problems and issues related to the provision of human rights assistance to citizens of the two countries," Lubinets said on Facebook, while Moskalkova said in a separate statement that they discussed "humanitarian aid to citizens of both countries." Reuters reported that they were later expected to visit the Turkish presidential palace, where President Tayyip Erdogan is scheduled to make a speech for the conference at 1130 GMT. A Turkish source said Moskalkova and Lubinets were expected to possibly discuss a humanitarian corridor and the situation of children who fled the war. Issues such as the Black Sea grains corridor or a potential prisoner swap would be discussed at higher levels, the source said. Russia and Ukraine have conducted numerous prisoner swaps most recently on Sunday in the course of the war, which is now in its 11th month. 3:40 a.m.: Agence France-Presse reported that Kyiv denied Wednesday that forces from Russian mercenary group Wagner had taken the important gateway town of Soledar in east Ukraine, whose capture would pave the way for further gains in Donbas. "Soledar was, is and will be Ukrainian," the strategic communications branch of the Ukrainian military said in a statement, saying pictures released by the Wagner fighting group that Russian media said were taken in Soledar had been taken elsewhere. 3 a.m.: The fate of the Ukrainian city of Soledar was unclear on Wednesday, with Russian mercenary group Wagner claiming control of it while also saying "urban battles" were still being fought, Agence France-Presse reported. Both sides have said the battle for Soledar, known for its salt mines, has been intense and bloody. Its fall would mark a significant victory for Moscow's forces. Soledar, in the Donetsk region, lies 15 kilometers (nine miles) from the city of Bakhmut, which Russia has been trying to seize for months. Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of Russia's controversial mercenary Wagner group, claimed in the early hours of Wednesday that his fighters seized control of the town. "Wagner units have taken control of the whole territory of Soledar," Prigozhin alleged on social media. But the Kremlin-linked businessman added that "urban battles are being fought in the city center." He also said "the number of captives" will be announced Wednesday. He posted a photograph of himself in military attire, surrounded by Wagner fighters, without saying where it was. Russian state news agency RIA Novosti published another photograph of Prigozhin with armed fighters, saying it was taken in the salt mines of Soledar. Prigozhin has said Soledar had been stormed "exclusively" by Wagner units. The Russian army has not yet commented. Ukraine said this week its fighters were holding out against intense assaults on the city. "Even after suffering colossal losses, Russia is still maniacally trying to seize Soledar," Kyiv's defense ministry said late on Tuesday. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said there was a "difficult situation" in the Donetsk region in his daily night address on Tuesday. He praised the "bravery" of Ukrainian soldiers defending Soledar. Earlier this week he said Soledar had been flattened by fighting: "Everything is completely destroyed." The U.K. said Tuesday that Moscow's forces were "likely in control" of Soledar. 2:42 a.m.: 2:05 a.m.: Reuters reported that Russia's Gazprom said that it would ship 35.5 million cubic meters of gas to Europe via Ukraine on Wednesday, a volume broadly in line with recent days. 1:30 a.m.: 1:15 a.m.: 12:55 a.m.: Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatiana Moskalkova said on Wednesday that she discussed humanitarian assistance with her Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Lubinets, Reuters reported, citing Moskalkovas post on the Telegram messaging app. "We discussed issues of providing humanitarian assistance to citizens of the two countries," Moskalkova said Telegram. Lubinets said before the meeting in Turkey that the main issue for the talks was to be "the return of our heroes and heroines," a reference to prisoner exchanges. 12:25 a.m.: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday said his government would purchase a U.S. air defense system to donate to Ukraine, Agence France-Press reported. The U.S.-built air defense system is worth $302 million, Defense Minister Anita Anand said. The announcement was made after a bilateral meeting between Trudeau and U.S. President Joe Biden in Mexico City. Canada is offering the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) to Ukraine to counter Russia's massive bombardment of its critical infrastructure, Anand said. "Canada will continue to stand with the Ukrainian people as they fight against Russia's illegal and unjustifiable invasion," Anand tweeted. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded that Canada had "vividly proven" its support. "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," Zelenskyy tweeted. 12:01 a.m.: The United States will gather its allies in Germany next week for a new round of talks on backing Ukraine militarily, Agence France-Presse reported Tuesday, citing the U.S. airbase in Ramstein. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will host an in-person meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting at Ramstein on January 20, the base said in a statement. The Ukraine Defense Contact Group includes some 50 countries supporting Ukraine's war effort against Russia. NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said earlier that Kyiv's Western backers would meet next week with Ukraine's defense minister "to discuss exactly what types of weapons are needed and how can allies provide those weapons." Some information in this report came from Agence France-Presse, The Associated Press and Reuters. Nigerian activists have welcomed the release of nine protesters who took part in 2020 demonstrations against police brutality. They were released along with 32 prisoners held at Agodi custodial center in southwestern Oyo state. The protesters had been held since October 2020 without trial, after they were arrested during the nationwide protests against the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, the SARS unit of the Nigerian police. Their clemency was part of the state authorities' three-day tour to the state prisons in a bid to decongest them. A total of 99 prisoners were released across the state based on age, health status and length of detention. The Oyo state chief judge, Justice Munta Ladipo Abimbola, said, "everyone should lay to rest the trouble and heartbreaks associated with the dark times in the country's history." End-SARS activist Obianuju Iloanya welcomed the protesters' release. "It's a good thing that they have been released, at least they can now get back to their lives. What I think is important for us to note in all of this is the steep punishment that comes with advocating," Iloanya said. "This is why when you tell people, 'let's go out, let's demand for better,' it seems like Nigerians are docile, but that's not the truth. People are scared of these high punishments." In October 2020, thousands marched for days demanding authorities disband the SARS police unit. The unit was often accused of extrajudicial killings, torture and extortion. The protests ended in the deadly shooting of at least 11 people by Nigerian security forces the night of October 20, and police say more than 20 officers were killed. Nigerian authorities also arrested and detained dozens of protesters. About 30 are yet to be freed. Oyo state-based human rights lawyer, Hussein Afolabi, said SARS officers still need to face the law. "So many officers who were named as very corrupt and terrible officers, they just left. Where? They're still in the Nigerian police force committing more atrocities, killing, raping, maiming, extorting, they're still there," Afolabi said. Last October, Nigerian Interior Minister Rauf Aregbesola said about 70 percent of inmates in various Nigerian prisons have never faced trial. This leads to overcrowding of detention centers. As a result, End-SARS activists are hoping authorities will soon free other protesters being held. Dave Zweifel is editor emeritus of The Capital Times. dzweifel@captimes.com, 608-252-6410 and on Twitter @DaveZweifel. Share your opinion on this topic by sending a letter to the editor to tctvoice@madison.com. Include your full name, hometown and phone number. Your name and town will be published. The phone number is for verification purposes only. Please keep your letter to 250 words or less. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif praised the international community Wednesday for pledging $9.7 billion at this week's conference in Geneva supporting Islamabad's recovery efforts from devastating climate-induced summer floods. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Sharif co-hosted the day-long conference on Monday, with delegates from dozens of countries, international financial institutions and private donors in attendance. Sharif told a news conference in Islamabad the final tally of pledges had exceeded a target for foreign donors to meet half of the $16.3 billion needed over the next three years to recover and rebuild from flooding. He said the rest of the funds would come from domestic resources. The Islamic Development Bank, the World Bank, Saudi Arabia, France, the United States, China and the European Union were among some of the biggest donors. Pakistani officials said almost 90% of committed pledges are project-financing loans. The flooding, triggered by unprecedented erratic monsoon rains between June and August last year, affected 33 million people, displaced 8 million, killed more than 1,700, and pushed an additional 9.1 million people below the poverty line, according to U.N. and Pakistani officials. "The faster we can design and create feasibilities and impress [donors], the faster these pledges will materialize," the prime minister said when asked how soon Pakistan expects to receive the money. Sharif thanked the U.N. chief Wednesday for his "pivotal" role in making the Geneva conference a "resounding success" and fighting for the flood victims "like a Pakistani." Guterres opened Monday's event with an impassioned plea for aid on behalf of millions of Pakistanis whose lives and livelihoods were upended by the flooding. He described the crisis as a "climate disaster of monumental scale" and noted that one-third of Pakistan remained under water more than six months after floods hit the country. Sharif reiterated that effective monitoring and evaluation mechanisms will be put in place to ensure transparency in funding allocation and spending, which will be combined with public communications on the recovery progress. Critics note that pledges made at international conferences often do not entirely materialize because of multiple factors, including inflated project costs, corruption and fraud by authorities in recipient nations. Previous independent investigations in Pakistan have confirmed massive corruption and fraud in relief programs that were undertaken after a devastating earthquake in 2005 and a 2010 monsoon flooding disaster. Britains independent charitable organization Oxfam commissioned an investigation into one of its programs in flood-hit southern Sindh province and concluded there was a loss from fraud of up to $220,000. Invoices were found to be falsified; and there was extensive manipulation of checks to suppliers, the organization said in its study released in August 2011. President Joe Biden said he was surprised to learn his lawyers found government records in his former office at a Washington think tank and said he does not know what information is contained in the classified documents. My lawyers have not suggested I asked what documents they were. I've turned over the boxes they've turned over the boxes to the [National] Archives, and we're cooperating fully with the review, which I hope will be finished soon and will be more detail at that time, Biden said at a press conference in Mexico City with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau following their meeting. On Monday, Biden's personal lawyers disclosed that in November, a batch of documents from the time Biden was vice president, some of them classified, were found at the offices of the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement, an institute named after Biden and affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania that the White House said Biden used at times between 2017 to 2020. Republican lawmakers have launched inquiries into the matter. On Tuesday, incoming House Intelligence chair Mike Turner sent a letter to Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines requesting an "immediate review and damage assessment." Turner said the discovery would put Biden in potential violation of laws protecting national security, including the Espionage Act and Presidential Records Act, two laws that the Justice Department cited as the basis of their search of former President Donald Trump's home in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, last year. Trump had for months refused the National Archives' request to hand over classified documents suspected to be in his possession, until a search conducted by FBI agents in August found hundreds of documents, dozens of them top secret. "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 asked via the Truth Social platform Monday evening. Richard Sauber, special counsel to the president, said that following the discovery of the material they immediately notified the National Archives, the agency in charge of handling such presidential documents. "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," Sauber said in a statement. Sauber said the documents were discovered when the attorneys were packing files "housed in a locked closet" to prepare to vacate office space and that the Archives took possession of the materials the following morning. He said Biden attorneys are working to ensure that "any Obama-Biden Administration records are appropriately in the possession of the Archives." Not uncommon Given its nature, any mishandling of classified material raises serious concerns, but such incidents are not uncommon and routinely handled through administrative proceedings, said Mark Zaid, an attorney focusing on national security law. "A thorough factual investigation will be in everyone's interests and presumably that will help identify whether any individual(s) are culpable," Zaid told VOA in an email. "At this point, there does not seem to be any evidence that President Biden had any knowledge or involvement with the records in question, but we need to wait to learn more." Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed John Lausch, a Trump-appointed U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, to investigate the matter. But even with the investigation, the White House is now in the uncomfortable position of having to explain why Biden may be committing the same transgression he had criticized Trump for. Referring to the Mar-a-Lago documents, Biden questioned how "anyone could be that irresponsible" during a September interview on CBS News' "60 Minutes," and said he follows strict protocols governing sensitive material. Republicans were quick to point out what they see as a double standard. "If then-Vice President Biden took classified documents with him and held them for years and criticized former President Trump during that same time that he had those classified documents I wonder why the press isn't asking the same questions of him as vice president taking classified documents that they were asking President Trump," House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said to reporters on Tuesday. David A. Sklansky, former federal prosecutor and a professor of criminal law at Stanford University, said Biden's case "isn't remotely comparable" to Trump's. "What made the situation at Mar-a-Lago so serious wasn't that classified documents were found there," Sklansky told VOA. "It was the stonewalling and deception about those documents, and the repeated obstruction of the government's efforts to recover the documents. There is no evidence of any of that here." Democratic lawmaker Pete Aguilar called Republicans' move to investigate the president "hypocrisy at its finest," saying that Republicans did not consider investigating the hundreds of documents found in Trump's home to be a priority at the time. "What President Biden did was disclose this to the Archives, let law enforcement know," he said. "That is exactly the way that you should handle this." The White House has not confirmed whether the classified documents found at the Biden Penn Center include U.S. intelligence memos and briefing materials that covered topics including Ukraine, Iran and the United Kingdom, as reported by CNN. The Department of Justice and the FBI declined VOA's request to comment, while Lausch's office and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence have not responded to VOAs queries. Katherine Gypson and Masood Farivar contributed to this report. The Russian and Ukrainian militaries said there was heavy fighting Wednesday in Soledar, countering an earlier claim by Russias mercenary Wagner Group that it had taken control of the town in eastern Ukraine. Hours after the Wagner Group claim, the Russian military said fighting was ongoing with Russian airborne units surrounding the town on the north and south. A spokesman for Ukraines eastern military command told Ukrainian television that the situation in Soledar was complicated. The area is one of the most active in the conflict, making it difficult for an independent assessment of the situation. Britains defense ministry said Tuesday that Wagner and Russian forces were probably in control of most of Soledar, which is located near Bakhmut, one of Russias major targets at this stage of its invasion. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at a news briefing Wednesday that Ukraines defense in the Bakhmut area shows once again the bravery of Ukrainian forces as they fight to defend their homeland, and how vital it is to boost military support for Ukraine. "Our support makes a real difference on the ground and at this key juncture of the war we must do even more even faster, Stoltenberg said. Patriot training Russias ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, said late Tuesday a U.S. decision to train Ukrainian troops on the use of the Patriot missile defense system at Fort Sill in Oklahoma confirms Washingtons de facto involvement in the Ukrainian conflict. The real goal of the administration is to inflict on Russia as much damage on the battlefield as possible, using Ukrainians as proxies, Antonov told reporters, according to a statement posted by the Russian embassy. 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 that Ukrainians could return to the battlefield as quickly as possible. Last week, the Pentagon announced 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. No world war Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made further pleas for Western military aid in his nightly address Tuesday, saying it is important to bolster Ukraines forces before a Russian escalation. The free world has everything necessary to stop Russian aggression and bring the terrorist state to a historic defeat, Zelenskyy said. And it is important not only for us. It is important for global democracy, for all those who value freedom. He also made an appearance at Tuesday nights Golden Globes awards ceremony, saying in a separate video message to television and movie stars gathered in California, There will be no third world war. Zelenskyy expressed confidence his country will prevail, saying the tide is turning and it is already clear who will win. Ukraine will stop the Russian aggression on our land, we will make it together with the whole free world, he said. And I hope that all of you will be with us on the victorious day, the day of our victory. Some information for this report came from Agence France-Presse and Reuters. Authorities in France say an attacker armed with a knife wounded six people Wednesday morning at a busy train station in Paris. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told reporters police shot the attacker, who was between life and death after being taken to a hospital. The attack happened at the Gare du Nord station, one of the busiest in Europe. The motive for the attack was unclear, and authorities say they have opened a criminal investigation. Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters. A Spanish journalist whose cellphone was targeted by Pegasus spyware is fighting a civil lawsuit after Morocco demanded that he retract accusations that it spied on him. The complaint against Ignacio Cembrero, an expert on Spanish-Moroccan relations and contributor to the Spanish news website El Confidencial, will be heard by a court in Madrid in December. In 2021, an investigative journalism project found the Israeli-made spyware Pegasus installed on the devices of journalists, activists and opposition figures in dozens of countries, including several who either report on or live in Morocco. The spyware, which the Israeli company NSO Group markets to government agencies, infiltrates mobile phones to extract data or to activate a camera or microphone to spy on their owners. Cembrero had reported in El Confidencial about being targeted through Pegasus, apparently by Rabat. The Moroccan government denied the allegations, saying there was no proof it is a client of NSO Group. According to the legal complaint seen by VOA, Morocco is demanding that Cembrero withdraw his allegations and pay legal costs. "Morocco is not involved in spying on Ignacio Cembrero nor on any other citizen" and "does not have the Pegasus program," Ernesto Diaz-Bastien, the lawyer representing the Moroccan government, told AFP. When VOA approached Diaz-Bastien for a comment, a spokeswoman for the lawyer said he "did not comment on professional matters." Cembrero sees the case as a political trial. The journalist is well known for his reports on King Mohammed VI and the Moroccan secret services, which have at times embarrassed Rabat. "Morocco is taking me to court for accusing it of spying with Pegasus. The lawyers for Morocco know that they cannot take me to court for defaming a state as there is no such charge admissible under European law," he told VOA. The journalist, who is based in Madrid, said, "This legal action is political, and they are trying to curtail journalists' freedom of expression. I will not back down." The Moroccan Embassy in Madrid did not reply to telephone calls and emails from VOA asking for comment. Alfonso Bauluz, president of Reporters Without Borders in Spain, said the lawsuit is an "attempt at intimidation." "We hope that the courts follow the example of France and they throw out this case," Bauluz told VOA, referring to earlier failed efforts by Morocco over spyware claims. "It is not possible to defame a state under European law, only a person. It seems an abuse of law to try to attack this journalist." The Pegasus investigation by the French media nonprofit Forbidden Stories and rights group Amnesty International found Pegasus had been used to infiltrate the telephones of several activists and journalists in Morocco, and that King Mohammed VI's phone details also appeared in records. Rabat denied claims that it was involved and filed defamation cases in France against Amnesty and Forbidden Stories. But the claims were ruled inadmissible by French courts in March last year. Forbidden Stories said that NSO Group did not answer its questions on those targeted, but that it said it "will continue to investigate all credible claims of misuse and take appropriate action based on the results of these investigations." The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal by NSO Group against a lawsuit that the WhatsApp messaging service filed against it, the Associated Press reported. NSO wanted to be recognized as a foreign government agent, which would entitle it to immunity under U.S. laws that limit lawsuits against foreign countries. Freedoms curtailed Morocco already has limited environment for media, rights experts say. "Morocco controls critics well. Being a Spanish journalist in Morocco is very difficult," Bauluz said. Some Spanish lawmakers and MEPs have questioned whether Morocco is using legal action against journalists to silence freedom of expression. In a written question to the Spanish parliament, Jon Inarritu, of the Basque separatist party Bildu, asked if Madrid "considered the Kingdom of Morocco was trying to curtail the freedom of expression of journalists through these court cases?" The Spanish government said it supported free speech but as the case was going through the courts it could not comment on an individual case. Maite Pagazaurtundua, an MEP for the Renew Europe party, asked the European Commission whether Brussels would bring in measures to prevent strategic lawsuit against public participation (known as SLAPPs) being used by governments and companies to curb press freedom. "Does the [Commission] intend to prioritize the adoption of the directive on strategic lawsuits (SLAPPs) against journalists and human rights defenders?" Pagazaurtundua asked in a written question in December. The European Commission has not replied. Morocco's case against Cembrero is not a first for the journalist. In 2014, Morocco launched two legal cases against Cembrero for allegedly inciting terrorism in articles for the newspaper El Pais. Both criminal cases were dismissed by the Spanish courts. A year later, Ahmed Charai, a Moroccan businessman, brought a case against Cembrero for civil defamation over an article published in El Mundo newspaper. Charai lost the case after a trial. Spain's government had previously revealed in May 2022 that the mobile phones of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and several other key ministers were hacked using Pegasus software. The government said it did not know what information was extracted or who was behind it, but authorities are convinced that it was an "external attack." Foreign affairs analysts at the time noted that the hacking took place during a diplomatic row between Spain and Morocco in 2021, which was resolved only when Madrid supported Rabat's claim on the disputed territory of Western Sahara. Some information in this report is from AFP. Ethiopias military says Tigrayan forces have started handing over heavy weapons as part of the peace deal to end the two-year civil war. Ethiopias federal defense force in a statement Wednesday confirmed Tigray forces have started handing over heavy weapons the latest progress in line with a November peace deal. The statement said the first round of weapons were transported on Tuesday in Agula camp, 36 kilometers from Tigrays capital, Mekelle. Ethiopian Army Commander Lieutenant Colonel Aleme Tadele said the arms transfer included tanks, rockets, and mortars. The statement said observers from the African Union and various countries militaries were present to verify the transfer from the Tigray Peoples Liberation Army. The confirmation came after TPLF spokesman Getachew Reda early Wednesday tweeted news of the handover. He said they hope and expect this will go a long way in expediting the full implementation of the agreement. The AU-brokered peace deal, signed in South Africa, saw the two sides agree the TPLF would disarm in return for restoration of aid and services to Tigray and the withdrawal of foreign forces. The deal came after two years of devastating war that saw Tigray largely cut off from the rest of the world, hundreds of thousands of people killed, and millions displaced. The two sides have met a few times in Kenyas capital, Nairobi, to discuss implementing the deal. Since December, Ethiopia has allowed humanitarian aid to enter Tigray and restored power, water, banking, and telecommunications to the region. Witnesses say in late December Eritrean troops who fought on the side of federal forces withdrew from two cities in Tigray. However, the TPLF accuses Eritrean troops of committing atrocities during the conflict and says they are still active in some areas of Tigray. Rights groups say all sides in the conflict are guilty of rapes, torture, and extra-judicial killings that could amount to war crimes, and cite evidence of ethnic cleansing against Tigrayans. While the rapid progress on implementing the peace deal has been welcomed internationally, its not yet clear what action, if any, will be taken to see justice for the victims. The World Health Organization declared Uganda free from Ebola on Wednesday, 42 days since the last infection was recorded. The outbreak of the Sudan strain of the virus, which started in September, has left 55 people dead. The declaration was made at a function in Mubende district, now known as the epicenter of the fifth outbreak of the Ebola Sudan virus in Uganda. Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng, Uganda's health minister, noted that the major drivers of transmission were household infection and gatherings at private facilities. The three main portals of transmission were physical contact, sexual contact and trans-placental transmission. "I now confirm that all transmission chains have been fully interrupted," Aceng said. "And take this opportunity to declare that outbreak is over and Uganda is now free of active Ebola transmission." The Mubende district registered the highest number of confirmed cases with 64 patients and 29 deaths. At the onset of the Ebola outbreak, Naiga Juliet worked her usual routine as a laboratory attendant at Mubende Referral Hospital. With about seven health workers dying due to Ebola, many people were afraid to approach patients. Juliet, who later was to be the Ebola laboratory sample coordinator, recalled that on September 17, a patient was admitted who tested positive for Ebola the next day. That was the start of the Ebola outbreak, and a followup of contacts was quickly carried out. "I took off those samples. They were eight patients, six turned out positive. I was in panic," Juliet said. "I had to notify my lawyers and my family about what might happen. I was traumatized, psychologically tortured. Because even my colleagues feared and they didn't even enter there. But me, actually, I knew how to put on the PPE [Personal Protective Equipment], practicing infection, prevention and control. That's what saved me." By the end of October, the neighboring Kassanda district registered 12 cases within two days, prompting health authorities to open up an Ebola treatment unit there. Nabuuma Maska, a resident of Kassanda district, has adopted a third name, Kawonawo, literally meaning survivor. Maska said she visited a sick relative, unaware that the relative had Ebola and would die soon after from the virus. Maska told VOA that three days later, she showed symptoms of Ebola, including severe headache, bleeding through the nose, diarrhea and vomiting. She said she called the ambulance and was taken to hospital, then lost consciousness for three weeks. When she regained her senses, she said she was greeted with health workers saying, "welcome back, welcome back." Maska said she has since faced social stigma in her village. She said her family suddenly ran away from her, and her landlord kicked her out of her house for failure to pay her rent. She said she used to own a business but lost it, and now can't afford to buy food or pay for shelter. By the end of the pandemic, Kassanda district registered 49 confirmed cases and 21 deaths among the 143 cases and 55 deaths countrywide. Ugandans have been urged to continue being vigilant and report any person in the community that displays Ebola-like symptoms. The Health Ministry, working with international partners, said it continues to look for the possible source of the outbreak and the reason why Uganda tends to suffer from Ebola outbreaks from July to October. The U.N.s top human rights official warns the U.S. governments new border enforcement measures risk undermining peoples basic rights to seek asylum. U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk says he fears the new border policy will undercut the basic foundations of human rights and refugee law to protect the lives of people fleeing for safety. Turks spokeswoman, Ravina Shamdasani, tells VOA the High Commissioner is concerned the measures will lead to an increase in collective expulsions without having protection needs assessed individually. She adds that people who undertake these dangerous journeys are fleeing very difficult circumstances in their home countries. The new U.S. policy would allow some 30,000 individuals from Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti, and Nicaragua to come to the United States every month for a limited period of two years. Shamdasani says the High Commissioner welcomes measures that would create and expand regular safe pathways for migration. However, we are worried that these are very restrictive and that those who are most vulnerable, and those who are most in need of asylum, are unlikely to meet the requirements to be granted this humanitarian parole," said Shamdasani. "For example, one of the requirements is that you have to have a financial sponsor in the U.S. Now, obviously, those who are most vulnerable would not be in a position to provide that. Shamdasani says the announced changes to the so-called public health order known as Title 42 are also of concern. That policy, she says, will be expanded to include increased use of expedited removals of migrants from the United States. She says Title 42 will permit the fast-track expulsion to Mexico of some 30,000 Venezuelans, Haitians, Cubans, and Nicaraguans each month. You may be aware that Title 42 has already been used some 2.5 million times at the southern border of the United States to expel people to Mexico go back to their home countries without an individualized assessment of their protection needs. This is of obvious concern to us, she said. High Commissioner Turk reiterated his call for the human rights of all refugees and migrants to be respected and protected at international borders. While there is a great deal of talk about migration crises, he says, the reality is that it is those who are migrating who often are the ones truly in crisis. The United States and Japan deepened their strategic alliance and outlined actions in a joint statement Wednesday designed to deter intensifying Chinese military threats in the East China Sea and around Taiwan. Those actions include plans to reorganize U.S. Marine Corps units based in Okinawa and new agreements to cooperate on space and advanced military technologies. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin took part in Wednesdays so-called 2+2 talks with Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa and Japanese Defense Minister Hamada Yasukazu. While China attempts to establish a new normal in the Taiwan Strait by ramping up provocative military activities, Austin said it does not equal a sign of an imminent Chinese invasion of Taiwan. "We've seen increased aerial activity in the Strait, we've seen increased surface vessel activity around Taiwan," Austin told reporters during a joint press conference. "But whether or not that means that an invasion is imminent, you know, I seriously doubt that." Blinken said China has tried to undermine the long-standing status quo that's maintained peace and stability (in the Taiwan Strait) for decades while the U.S. wants to bolster it. We will continue for a calm, resolute approach to uphold peace and stability, said the top U.S. diplomat. In the joint statement issued Wednesday evening, the United States and Japan said they will advance initiatives to build a more capable, integrated, and agile Alliance that bolsters deterrence. Both nations also will optimize the force postures in the Indo-Pacific, creating a new Marine Littoral Regiment in Okinawa by 2025. Officials said the new regiment will be equipped with anti-ship and other advanced capabilities. Foreign Minister Hayashi said both countries will take joint initiatives at peacetime to deter armed attacks that undermine regional stability. Defense Minister Hamada added that the two allies will expand joint use of the facilities of Japan, while increasing joint exercises and trainings of forces. Austin and Hamada will meet again Thursday at the Pentagon. On Friday, U.S. President Joe Biden will host Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. A senior administration official told Reuters the two leaders are expected to discuss security and global economy issues, as well as semiconductor exports to China. Earlier Wednesday, Rear Admiral Michael Studeman, the commander of the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence, said during a virtual event that the Peoples Republic of China continues to pressure Taiwan through increasing military activities. "The Chinese continue to put a lot of aircraft and patrollers in all axes around Taiwan as they attempt to pressure both Taiwan and signal to the United States and other allies about where they stand on things, Studeman said. The stakes have gone up and the danger level is something that we need to take very seriously. A recent report by Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies said the United States must be able to use its bases in Japan for combat operations in the event of a Chinese invasion in Taiwan. Without the use of U.S. bases in Japan, U.S. fighter and attack aircraft cannot effectively participate in the war, said the CSIS report. The talks between the nations diplomatic and defense chiefs come two days before U.S. President Joe Biden is set to host Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the White House. The deepening of U.S.-Japan strategic alliance follows the release of Japans new National Security Strategy under which it will roughly double defense spending over the next five years and for the first time deploy missiles that can hit military targets in other countries. Japan and the United Kingdom also pledged more security cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region on Wednesday. Kishida, whos visiting London, signed a landmark defense agreement with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. The agreement allows UK forces to be deployed to Japan. British officials said it is the most significant defense agreement between the two countries in more than a century. There were 18 weather and climate disaster events in the United States last year that each exceeded $1 billion in losses, making 2022 the third-costliest year in records spanning more than four decades, a federal report showed on Tuesday. Last year was also the third-highest disaster count ever, the Assessing the U.S. Climate in 2022 report by the National Centers for Environmental Information said. The centers counted six severe storms, three tropical cyclones, three hail events, two tornadoes and one each for drought, flood, winter storm, and wildfire events in 2022, resulting in the deaths of 474 people. Hurricane Ian, which devastated parts of Florida in September, was billed as the third-costliest U.S. hurricane on the 43-year record, costing $112.9 billion, while the western-central U.S. drought and heat wave was also one of the more costly droughts on record, tallying up to $22.2 billion. An eventful year Worldwide, three of the decade's costliest disasters, including Hurricane Ian, happened in 2022. "There are lots of success stories in 2022 that should be highlighted. Even with Ian we saw building codes work in some of the hardest hit areas, but damage from water is still a pain point," said Andrew Siffert, senior vice president of catastrophe analytics at re-insurance broker BMS Group. "Another area of positive news was the California wildfire season, which saw minimal loss and relatively few large fires causing insured loss. The current rain is short-term good news, but will no doubt raise the future wildfire risk with fine fuel growth once the rains stop," Siffert added. At the U.N. climate conference in Egypt, COP27, countries reached a landmark agreement on a loss-and-damages fund to help poorer countries cope with climate-disaster costs, but there are no further details yet on the size of the fund. In 2023, countries plan to meet again at the next U.N. climate summit, COP28, in Dubai, under increased pressure to hold global warming to within 1.5 degrees Celsius. TURTLE LAKE A 56-year-old man has died in a Monday evening fire in Turtle Lake, according to the Barron County Sheriffs Department. The Barron County 911 Center received a call at 5:57 p.m. Monday of a structure fire at 1285 second St., Turtle Lake, said Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald. The caller said a man was likely still in the home. Deputies from the Barron County Sheriffs Department along with the Turtle Lake Fire Department, Cumberland Ambulance, Turtle Lake Police Department and the Wisconsin State Patrol all responded to the scene. The Turtle Lake Fire Department upon arrival started an immediate attack on the fire and search for the male subject, Fitzgerald wrote in a press release. They were met with heavy smoke and heat which hindered the search. About one hour into the attack, a male subject was found deceased in the residence as well as a family pet. The deceased man was owner of the residence. His wife had escaped the fire and called in the fire. She was treated and released at the scene for smoke inhalation. The fire remains under investigation by the Barron County Sheriffs Department, Turtle Lake Fire Department and Rusk County Sheriffs Department Certified Fire Investigator. No foul play is suspected. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and the name is not being released pending family notification, Fitzgerald said. IN PHOTOS Fire Chief Lee Douglas Chief Douglas Douglas Chippewa Falls Fire Station No. 1 Chippewa Falls Fire Bell Chippewa Falls ambulance Chippewa Falls Fire Station No. 1 emblem Fire Chief Douglas Douglas 2 Douglas 3 Chief Douglas Douglas Fire Chief Douglas The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday normal air traffic operations are gradually resuming across the United States after a malfunction affected one of its computer systems, delaying 5,400 flights and cancelling another 900. The FAA had earlier ordered airlines to pause all domestic departures for several hours due to an issue with its Notice to Air Missions System but now says the ground stop has been lifted. Military flights in the U.S. were not affected. The White House initially said that there was no evidence of a cyberattack. But President Joe Biden said "we don't know" the cause of the computer outage. He told reporters he's directed the Department of Transportation to investigate the cause of the disruption. Biden early Wednesday said he had just been briefed by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who told him they still had not identified what went wrong. "I just spoke to Buttigieg. They don't know what the cause is. But I was on the phone with him about 10 minutes," Biden said. "I told him to report directly to me when they find out. Air traffic can still land safely, just not take off right now." We continue to look into the cause of the initial problem, the FAA tweeted. I have been in touch with FAA this morning about an outage affecting a key system for providing safety information to pilots, Buttigieg tweeted after the problem was first reported. Before taking off, pilots are required to consult NOTAMs, or Notice to Air Missions, which list potential adverse impacts on flights, from runway construction to the potential for icing. The system once was telephone-based, with pilots calling dedicated flight service stations for the information but has now moved online. Breakdowns in the NOTAM system appear to be rare. "I don't ever remember the NOTAM system going down like this. I've been flying 53 years," John Cox, a former airline pilot and now an aviation-safety consultant, told The Associated Press. According to FAA advisories, the NOTAM system first failed at 8:28 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday, which prevented new or amended notices from being distributed to pilots. The FAA resorted to a telephone hotline to keep departures flying overnight, but as daytime traffic picked up it overwhelmed the telephone backup system. Watch related video by Patsy Widakuswara: Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said the U.S. military flights were not impacted because the military has its own NOTAMS system separate from the FAA system and the military's system was not affected by the outage. European flights into the U.S. appeared to be largely unaffected. Geoff Freeman, president of the U.S. Travel Association, which represents all components of the travel industry, said in a statement, Todays FAA catastrophic system failure is a clear sign that Americas transportation network desperately needs significant upgrades. Americans deserve an end-to-end travel experience that is seamless and secure, he said. And our nations economy depends on a best-in-class air travel system. We call on federal policymakers to modernize our vital air travel infrastructure to ensure our systems are able to meet demand safely and efficiently. Some information for this report came from The Associated Press. A Chinese national who has been studying in Boston has been indicted by a U.S. federal grand jury for allegedly stalking and threatening another Chinese citizen for posting fliers that support democracy in China. The U.S. Justice Department said Tuesday that 25-year-old Xiaolei Wu, a student at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, was indicted on one count of cyberstalking and one count of interstate transmissions of threatening communications. He was arrested in December on a single count of stalking. The department says an individual posted a flier either on or near the Berklee campus in mid-October written with pro-democracy slogans We Want Freedom and We Want Democracy. Wu allegedly harassed the individual through social media, even threatening to chop off the persons hands if any more fliers were posted. He also allegedly told the target that he had informed security authorities in China about the fliers and that agents would visit the victims family. Prosecutors also say Wu discovered the victims email address and posted it online to trigger further harassment. Wu faces up to five years in prison on each charge of cyberstalking and interstate transmissions of threatening communications, along with a fine of up to $250,000 for each charge. VOAs Mandarin Service says the Berklee College of Music has temporarily canceled Wus student status. According to VOAs Mandarin Service, Wus alleged harassment efforts began shortly after an October incident in Beijing in which a man identified online as Peng Zaizhou hung a banner on the citys Sitong Bridge opposing President Xi Jinpings strict "zero-COVID" lockdown policy. His stance resonated with Chinese students overseas, who began putting up pro-democracy posters. But the posters were often torn down by Chinese students loyal to Beijing and that some of the Chinese students were harassed to varying degrees. The Chinese Students' and Scholars Association, which has close ties to Chinese embassies and consulates, has been blamed for the on-campus harassment. A report by the Hoover Institution, a U.S.-based research center, accuses the CSSA of undermining the academic freedom of other Chinese students and scholars on U.S. campuses. Some information for this report came from VOAs Mandarin Service. A congressional reassessment of American policy toward China is expected to get under way in earnest early next month. In a 365-65 vote, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution Tuesday creating a special Select Committee on China. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has tapped Republican Representative Mike Gallagher to chair the committees work. "A lot of people are interested. I spoke to the Republican caucus this morning, and a lot of people have expressed interest. I'm optimistic that we're going to have a pretty serious group of members with a broad range of experience that's relevant to the issues we're facing right now, Gallagher said in an interview with VOA Mandarin. Gallagher told VOA the committee expects to hold its first hearing in early to mid-February and will comprise a bipartisan group of lawmakers. The Democrats who have expressed interest in joining me are people I respect and have experience that would be a good fit for this committee, he said. White House response The White House said Wednesday it looked forward to working with Democrats and Republicans on the committee regarding an issue that is a top priority for the administration. Under President Biden we are more prepared to outcompete China, protect our national security and advance a free and open Indo-Pacific than ever before, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. In a floor speech ahead of the vote, McCarthy said, "We spent decades passing policies that welcomed China into the global system. In return, China has exported oppression, aggression and anti-Americanism. Today, the power of its military and economy are growing at the expense of freedom and democracy worldwide. McCarthy said the committee will be scrutinizing policies that should be changed. It didnt start under this administration, but the current administration has clearly made it worse. Their policies have weakened our economy and made us more vulnerable to threats from the CCP, he said, referring to the Chinese Communist Party. But heres the good news there is bipartisan consensus that the era of trusting Communist China is over. A spokesperson for Chinas Foreign Ministry had a muted response Wednesday to the creation of the committee. Wang Wenbin told reporters at a routine news conference that he hopes U.S. politicians will view relations with Beijing in an objective and rational way and will work on policies benefiting both countries. A commentary published Wednesday in the state-backed Global Times newspaper took a more skeptical view, accusing the committee of having a strong ideological undertone and worried it could stoke anti-China public opinion. Bipartisan support The new speaker said the idea for a bipartisan committee to investigate all aspects of the U.S. relationship with China from economics to COVID-19 came to him while on a diplomatic trip commemorating the 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion, a key turning point in World War II. The resolution creating the committee passed with significant support from Democrats. House Democrats will work in a serious, sober and strategic manner to evaluate our relationship with the Chinese government and to address the rise of authoritarianism globally, said Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries in a statement after the vote. House Democrats will firmly speak out against xenophobic rhetoric and conspiracy theories should this committee devolve into extreme MAGA Republican talking points that further anti-Asian hate crimes in this country. Jeffries succeeded former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi as leader of House Democrats at the start of the 118th Congress. In a statement Tuesday, House Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul said the committee would build on the work undertaken by Republicans during the 117th Congress on the House China Task Force. The Republican House is laser-focused on the CCP as an existential threat to our nation, he said. The select committee is also an opportunity for House Democrats to finally join bipartisan efforts to counter the CCP, which they declined to do on the China Task Force. VOA Mandarin journalist Yi-Hua Lee contributed to this report. The U.S. Navy said Tuesday it intercepted a shipment of assault rifles last week bound for Yemen that it believes came from Iran. A statement from the U.S. 5th Fleet said 2,116 AK-47 assault rifles were found on a fishing vessel in the Gulf of Oman that was traversing a route historically used to traffic illicit cargo to Yemens Iran-backed Houthi rebels. The statement said U.S. forces had intercepted two other fishing vessels in the same area during the past two months that were also carrying weapons from Iran to Yemen. 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. Iran has repeatedly denied arming the Houthis, while independent and U.N. experts have traced components from seized shipments back to Iran. Yemen erupted into conflict in late 2014 when the Houthis seized the capital. The fight escalated in early 2015 with the entry of a Saudi-led coalition fighting on the side of Yemens exiled government. A six-month cease-fire expired in October, and the years of fighting has left millions in Yemen in need of humanitarian aid. Some information for this report came from The Associated Press. On January 3, while Republicans in the House of Representatives were deadlocked over electing a speaker of the house, Democratic Senator Patty Murray was briefly second in line to the U.S. presidency. That's because the longtime Democratic senator from Washington state made history when she became the first woman to serve as Senate president pro tempore, a largely ceremonial role that will see Murray filling in as head of the Senate whenever Vice President Kamala Harris is absent. In Latin, "pro tempore" means "for the time being." "The significance of this moment is certainly not lost on me," Murray, who was first elected to the Senate in 1992, said in a statement. "As the first woman to serve as President Pro Tempore, I will be the first woman to sign the bills we send to President Biden's desk for his signature and to be designated to preside over the Senate in the absence of the Vice President. It's a responsibility I am deeply honored to take on for my country and for Washington state." Murray's colleagues elected her to the position, which is traditionally based on seniority. Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, the most senior member of the majority party, did not seek the job. Murray's rise to the leadership position that puts her third in line to the presidency took decades, underscoring how long the road to progress can be. "It's a big deal, and it's a historic moment, and it's one that's been very long in coming," says Jean Sinzdak, associate director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers. "That's not surprising, because the Senate is an institution that doesn't turn over very often. So, when it comes to positions of leadership, which are given by seniority the pace of change is incredibly slow. But it's still a huge moment." If the commander in chief cannot serve, the order of presidential succession is vice president, followed by speaker of the house and then president pro tempore of the Senate. In the last Congress, two women Harris and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi were the top two people in line for the presidency. "It's huge that we have women in these positions of leadership. What I would want to be clear about, though, is that does not mean we're anywhere close to parity," Sinzdak says. "We have to celebrate these accomplishments but still acknowledge that there's work to be done to get closer to equal representation." There are now 25 women one in four members in the U.S. Senate. In the House of Representatives, fewer than one-third of the members are women. Having women in leadership positions upends traditional notions of who can and should be in those positions, Sinzdak says. "As we see more and more women serving, it becomes clear women are just as able to serve in those positions as men are, and it normalizes women's leadership. So, there's definitely a role modeling effect," she says. "And I think it also influences other women who may be considering running for office someday. It helps when you see people you can identify with serving in those positions." As Russia's war on Ukraine approaches its one-year anniversary, Moscow is increasingly suspected of manipulating its official death toll, diminishing its own losses and exaggerating Ukraine's. Russia's defense minister said last September that 5,937 Russian troops had been killed in the war. In November, U.S. officials estimated that Moscow's casualties were "well over 100,000 Russian soldiers killed and wounded." At the time, American officials estimated that Ukraine's armed forces "probably" suffered a similar number and that as many as 40,000 Ukrainian civilians had been killed. Especially high in Russia's numbers: casualties among international volunteers fighting for Ukraine. Ukraine says more than 20,000 foreign volunteers from 52 countries have answered President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's call to help fight Russian forces. Most foreigners fighting in Ukraine are doing so for ideological reasons, though Russia routinely brands them "mercenaries" a designation that excludes them from the protections guaranteed under the 1949 Geneva Conventions. Chuck Pfarrer is a writer and former U.S. Navy SEAL who is closely monitoring the situation in Ukraine and maintains contact with American and other foreign volunteers on the ground. He also has covered the conflict for the Kyiv Post. Pfarrer is the author of "SEAL Target Geronimo: The Inside Story of the Mission to Kill Osama Bin Laden," a New York Times bestseller, which disputed parts of the White House's description of the mission and was called a "fabrication" by a spokesperson for U.S. special operations command. Pfarrer has defended his reporting and said the government was covering up unflattering details. Pfarrer told VOA on January 3 that Russia's manipulation of statistics is part of a Kremlin disinformation narrative to justify military aggression in Ukraine. "Putin desperately wants Russian citizens to think that Russia is 'fighting NATO' in Ukraine," Pfarrer said. "The more 'international' deaths Russia can claim, the easier it will be for him to sell this fantasy." This interview has been edited for length and clarity. VOA: Since the beginning of its full-fledged invasion last February, the Russian Defense Ministry has announced daily heavy losses delivered to Ukrainian troops. Do you believe these numbers are trustworthy and verifiable or more likely false and exaggerated? Pfarrer: The Russian numbers are suspect for several reasons. Russian offensive operations have achieved only limited success in the last several months, with gains often measured in meters instead of kilometers, especially in heavily contested areas such as Bakhmut. [First], "official" Russian accounts of Ukrainian [and/or] international casualties are suspect because an accurate count would presume that Russia had captured significant swaths of territory. Second, [Russia's claim] that Ukrainian soldiers had abandoned their dead on the battlefield. Third, that recovered bodies carried passports or other documents to indicate that they were foreign volunteers. But Russian gains have been small, and Ukraine has been scrupulous about recovering their dead and wounded. Thus, Russian claims are greatly exaggerated. VOA: Why do you think Russia exaggerates Ukrainian losses, and is it possible to assess how significant these manipulations are? Pfarrer: The pressure for Russian military command to exaggerate Ukrainian casualties is intense. Despite massive numbers of Russian dead and the loss of thousands of tanks, armored vehicles, artillery systems and hundreds of aircraft, Russia is no closer to subduing Ukraine than it was at the beginning of its "special military operation" in February of last year. Ukraine has reported more than 108,190 Russian troops have been killed in action. A rough estimate of the number of Russian soldiers wounded in this period would be north of 324,000. With Russian casualties approaching half a million, the need for Russia to report substantial Ukrainian losses is imperative, but the numbers of Ukrainian dead and wounded are only a fraction of Russian casualties. Four-hundred-and-fifty thousand Russian casualties might seem high, but this estimate is bolstered by Russia's need to hastily mobilize 300,000-plus men during the last part of 2022. A second mobilization is slated to occur in the next two weeks. This one, as well, will call more than 300,000 Russian men to military service. These mobilizations are made necessary by heavy Russian casualties and tactical failure on the battlefield. VOA: Ukraine does not announce its daily losses, but occasionally confirms total casualties. How accurate are their numbers? Pfarrer: True, Ukraine, as a rule, does not confirm daily losses. But an estimate by the U.S. Military's Joint Chiefs of Staff earlier in the war put the number of Ukrainian casualties at approximately 100 per day. Using a standard ratio of "one killed [out of] three wounded," that would suggest perhaps 30 Ukrainian soldiers are killed and approximately sixty wounded per day. These numbers, of course, can vary widely. Three-hundred-and-fourteen days in, one might project upwards of 10,000 Ukrainian dead and [at least] 19,000 wounded. These are very rough estimates, but certainly a good approximation. As for the Ukrainian stats of Russian personnel losses: Military sources in NATO and Ukraine have told me that the actual number of Russian casualties exceeds the numbers given in Ukrainian briefings. Frankly, Russian intelligence has not been good enough to identify Ukrainian military targets like barracks or troop assembly areas. On the other hand, Ukraine's battlefield intelligence has been excellent human intelligence, signals intelligence, electronic intelligence and overhead imagery allows Ukraine to prosecute high value Russian targets like ammo storage areas, HQ elements and Russian troop concentrations on a daily basis. HIMARS allows them to strike deep behind the line of contact. Partisans and deeply inserted Ukrainian Special Operations Forces provide up-to-the-minute targeting information for Ukrainian HIMARS batteries and precision strike munitions. VOA: As you follow closely the events unfolding in Ukraine while the country defends itself from the Russian aggression, what is your own assessment of the casualties among the foreigners who joined Ukrainian forces? Pfarrer: Social media, especially Twitter, is quick to report on the death or wounding of international volunteers, much more often than the deaths of Ukrainian soldiers. Most sources agree that approximately 20,000 foreign volunteers from 52 nations are now in Ukrainian military service. Several hundred additional troops are likely integrated into regular Ukrainian units and do not serve as members of the International Legions. There are approximately 270,000 men and women in service with the Ukrainian military, with about 100,000 more in reserve units. By this ratio, international volunteers make up only about 6% of [Ukrainian] forces, and a significant percentage of international volunteers do not serve in front line units but in other capacities. About five to 10 international volunteer casualties are reported on social media per week and, again, reported casualties are three times as likely to be reported wounded as killed. Russian claims of hundreds of foreign volunteers killed daily are absurdly high. Putin desperately wants Russian citizens to think that Russia is "fighting NATO" in Ukraine. The more "international" deaths Russia can claim, the easier it will be for him to sell this fantasy. In March, Russia claimed to have killed 180 "foreign mercenaries" in a single engagement in Yavoriv. In June, Russia claimed 162 Canadians had been killed to date in Ukraine. Earlier, during the battle of Mariupol, Russia claimed alternatively to have captured or killed a U.S. Marine Corps major general. None of those claims were true. The Russian and Ukrainian militaries said there was heavy fighting Wednesday in Soledar, countering an earlier claim by Russias mercenary Wagner Group that it had taken control of the town in eastern Ukraine. Hours after the Wagner Group claim, the Russian military said fighting was ongoing with Russian airborne units surrounding the town on the north and south. A spokesman for Ukraines eastern military command told Ukrainian television that the situation in Soledar was complicated. The area is one of the most active in the conflict, making it difficult for an independent assessment of the situation. Britains defense ministry said Tuesday that Wagner and Russian forces were probably in control of most of Soledar, which is located near Bakhmut, one of Russias major targets at this stage of its invasion. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at a news briefing Wednesday that Ukraines defense in the Bakhmut area shows once again the bravery of Ukrainian forces as they fight to defend their homeland, and how vital it is to boost military support for Ukraine. "Our support makes a real difference on the ground and at this key juncture of the war we must do even more even faster, Stoltenberg said. Patriot training Russias ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, said late Tuesday a U.S. decision to train Ukrainian troops on the use of the Patriot missile defense system at Fort Sill in Oklahoma confirms Washingtons de facto involvement in the Ukrainian conflict. The real goal of the administration is to inflict on Russia as much damage on the battlefield as possible, using Ukrainians as proxies, Antonov told reporters, according to a statement posted by the Russian embassy. SEE ALSO: 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 that Ukrainians could return to the battlefield as quickly as possible. Last week, the Pentagon announced 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. No world war Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made further pleas for Western military aid in his nightly address Tuesday, saying it is important to bolster Ukraines forces before a Russian escalation. The free world has everything necessary to stop Russian aggression and bring the terrorist state to a historic defeat, Zelenskyy said. And it is important not only for us. It is important for global democracy, for all those who value freedom. He also made an appearance at Tuesday nights Golden Globes awards ceremony, saying in a separate video message to television and movie stars gathered in California, There will be no third world war. Zelenskyy expressed confidence his country will prevail, saying the tide is turning and it is already clear who will win. Ukraine will stop the Russian aggression on our land, we will make it together with the whole free world, he said. And I hope that all of you will be with us on the victorious day, the day of our victory. Some information for this report came from Agence France-Presse and Reuters. TUESDAY, Jan. 10, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Despite routine use of a childhood vaccine, the United States still sees outbreaks of mumps. Now, a new study reinforces the belief that it's due to waning immunity post-vaccination. Mumps is a viral infection best known for causing puffy cheeks, a swollen jaw, fever and general misery. While it's usually relatively mild, mumps occasionally causes serious complications like brain inflammation and hearing loss. Because of that, children in the United States are routinely immunized against mumps, using the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine. Yet mumps has seen a resurgence in the past two decades. Since 2006, there has been an uptick in annual cases -- often among college-age adults who were vaccinated as children, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Similar patterns have been seen in other countries where vaccination rates are high, leading to two theories on why: waning immunity to mumps in the years after vaccination; or the emergence of new mumps strains that evade the vaccine-induced immune response. The new study published Jan. 9 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences supports the waning-immunity view. Using mathematical modeling, researchers found that waning immunity could largely explain the resurgence of mumps in the United States in recent years. They also estimated that about one-third of vaccinated kids start to lose their mumps immunity by age 18. But experts who were not involved in the study stressed there is no reason to doubt the strong protection provided by the MMR vaccine. For one, while the United States does record mumps outbreaks in certain settings, like universities, the numbers pale in comparison to the pre-vaccination era. Yearly case numbers have varied since 2006, according to the CDC -- ranging from a few hundred to around 6,000. That compares with more than 100,000 mumps cases per year in the pre-vaccine days. "These outbreaks are still distinctive and rather unusual events," said Dr. William Schaffner, medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases. Beyond that, he said, "waning immunity" means there's a partial -- not total -- loss in the immune response. People who received the recommended two doses of the MMR would still have good protection from becoming severely ill, according to Schaffner, who is also a professor at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn. Dr. Aaron Glatt, a spokesman for the Infectious Diseases Society of America, agreed. "The vaccine isn't perfect, but it's great," he said. The MMR is so highly effective, Glatt noted, that measles was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000 -- meaning the disease is no longer constantly present. (Outbreaks do continue to happen when the virus is "imported" from a traveler who interacts with unvaccinated people.) So, the bottom line for parents remains the same as always, Glatt said: Make sure your child receives both MMR vaccine doses. It has long been known, both doctors noted, that the mumps component of the MMR is the relative weak link. The two-dose regimen given in childhood slashes the risk of contracting measles or rubella by about 97%, versus being unvaccinated, according to the CDC. By comparison, it cuts mumps risk by a still substantial 88%. It's also widely accepted, Schaffner said, that mumps immunity gradually fades, while immunity against measles and rubella persists. He said the debate over whether mumps outbreaks are due to waning immunity or new viral strains is largely one between U.S. and European scientists -- with those in the United States favoring the waning-immunity side. The new study, led by Deven Gokhale at the University of Georgia in Athens, adds more evidence for that. The researchers used CDC figures on decades' worth of mumps cases in the United States, along with other data sources, to construct mathematical models testing the two mumps theories. Overall, they found, waning immunity appeared to explain the resurgence of the disease in more recent years. Does that mean adults should get MMR boosters? No, both Glatt and Schaffner said. In fact, Schaffner said, the CDC has already examined that question and concluded that boosters should be used only strategically. If there's an outbreak on a college campus, for example, the local health department can offer boosters there. In general, Schaffner noted, mumps does take close contact to spread. It's transmitted through direct contact with saliva or respiratory droplets, and is often passed by sharing items like water bottles or cups, or during activities like sports. More information The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a primer on mumps. SOURCES: Aaron Glatt, MD, chief, infectious diseases and hospital epidemiologist, Mount Sinai South Nassau, Oceanside, N.Y., and professor, medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York City; William Schaffner, MD, medical director, National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, Bethesda, Md., and professor, medicine and preventive medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tenn.; Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Jan. 9, 2023, online 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 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. The NATO-EU strategic partnership is founded on our shared values, our determination to tackle common challenges and our unequivocal commitment to promote and safeguard peace, freedom and prosperity in the Euro-Atlantic area. Today, we are faced with the gravest threat to Euro-Atlantic security in decades. Russias brutal war on Ukraine violates international law and the principles of the UN Charter. It undermines European and global security and stability. Russias war has exacerbated a food and energy crisis affecting billions of people around the world. We condemn in the strongest possible terms Russias aggression. Russia must immediately stop this war and withdraw from Ukraine. We express our full solidarity with Ukraine and reiterate our unwavering and continued support for its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders. We fully support Ukraines inherent right to self-defence and to choose its own destiny. Authoritarian actors challenge our interests, values and democratic principles using multiple means political, economic, technological and military. We live in an era of growing strategic competition. Chinas growing assertiveness and policies present challenges that we need to address. Persistent conflict, fragility and instability in our European neighbourhood undermine our security and provide fertile ground for strategic competitors, as well as terrorist groups, to gain influence, destabilise societies and pose a threat to our security. As underlined by both the NATO Strategic Concept and the EU Strategic Compass, this is a key juncture for Euro-Atlantic security and stability, more than ever demonstrating the importance of the transatlantic bond, calling for closer EU-NATO cooperation. NATO remains the foundation of collective defence for its Allies and essential for Euro Atlantic security. We recognise the value of a stronger and more capable European defence that contributes positively to global and transatlantic security and is complementary to, and interoperable with NATO. Our mutually reinforcing strategic partnership contributes to strengthening security in Europe and beyond. NATO and the EU play complementary, coherent and mutually reinforcing roles in supporting international peace and security. We will further mobilize the combined set of instruments at our disposal, be they political, economic or military, to pursue our common objectives to the benefit of our one billion citizens. Building on the 2016 Warsaw Joint Declaration and the 2018 Brussels Joint Declaration, which significantly expanded the breadth and depth of our partnership established more than twenty years ago, we have achieved unprecedented progress across all areas of cooperation. We have reached tangible results in countering hybrid and cyber threats, operational cooperation including maritime issues, military mobility, defence capabilities, defence industry and research, exercises, counter terrorism, and capacity-building of partners. As the security threats and challenges we are confronted with are evolving in scope and magnitude, we will take our partnership to the next level on the basis of our long-standing cooperation. We will further strengthen our cooperation in existing areas, and expand and deepen our cooperation to address in particular the growing geostrategic competition, resilience issues, protection of critical infrastructures, emerging and disruptive technologies, space, the security implications of climate change, as well as foreign information manipulation and interference. In signing this declaration we will take the NATO-EU partnership forward in close consultation and cooperation with all NATO Allies and EU Member States, in the spirit of full mutual openness and in compliance with the decision-making autonomy of our respective organisations and without prejudice to the specific character of the security and defence policy of any of our members. In this context, we view transparency as crucial. We encourage the fullest possible involvement of the NATO Allies that are not members of the EU in its initiatives. We encourage the fullest possible involvement of the EU members that are not part of the Alliance in its initiatives. We will assess progress on a regular basis. After months of meetings, a bipartisan group of legislators is finalizing several measures designed to increase employment opportunities for people with criminal convictions. Among the measures under consideration by the legislative study committee seeking to increase job access to criminally convicted people are bills to establish a job hotline for employers interested in hiring people with convictions and to expand early release programs for inmates who complete an employment readiness training program. The committee, which includes lawmakers and offender advocates, began working last summer as its chair, Sen. Mary Felzkowski, R-Irma, highlighted the potential for hiring people with criminal convictions to help address statewide labor shortages. In an interview, Felzkowski noted the employment barriers for criminally convicted people. You miss two weeks of high school when youre a kid and it seems like you dont even know whats going on in the world anymore, she said. So now take me out of the world for a year, two years, five years, 10 years, 20 years. When (you) walk out that door ... you have generalizations, but its very hard to know where to go and what to do. A third preliminary measure would require the Department of Corrections to create a community reentry center program and contract organizations to operate at least one center, where people released from prison would have access to a broad array of services pertaining to health, finances, housing, employment and more. Another measure would require the DOC to include rental readiness training in pre-release programming in prisons, including a certification for people who complete that training. It would authorize the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority to administer a bond program to fund repairs for property damages caused by the certificate holder. That measure would also include a provision providing landlords immunity from civil liability for death or injury caused by the certificate-holding tenant. What were doing here is the tip of the iceberg, Felzkowski said, adding that Wisconsin has very antiquated ways of how we handle our criminal justice system compared to other states. The bills, which are not yet finalized, are being written by Legislative Reference Bureau staff at the direction of the legislators and other committee members. Felzkowski said the measures will probably not be introduced formally until around April or May. The governor supports the committees efforts and looks forward to their continued work in close consultation and collaboration with the Department of Corrections to ensure any legislation offered by the committee provides the staffing and resources necessary to implement their recommendations, Gov. Tony Evers spokesperson Britt Cudaback said in a statement. Spokespeople for Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, and Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, did not respond to requests for comment on whether they would support the measures. A top priority Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have pointed to the states workforce shortage issue as one of the top priorities in the upcoming legislative session and biennial budget process. Eighty-five percent of employers are struggling to hire workers, according to the Wisconsin Employer Survey conducted this summer by Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce. Among employers facing those challenges, 45% cited a lack of qualified applicants and 36% cited labor shortages for the ongoing hiring difficulties. At the same time, theres a high percentage of people with criminal convictions who dont have jobs. The U.S. Department of Justices Bureau of Justice Statistics found in 2021 that 33% of people released from prison in 2010 didnt become employed in the four years following their release. But the stigma of having a criminal record combined with lower education levels typical among ex-offenders makes joining the labor force particularly difficult, a report by the Brookings Institution states. Employing people with criminal convictions could not only address the states labor shortage but also reduce recidivism. Researchers in the Netherlands found that about 26% of employed ex-prisoners committed a new crime within six months following their release, compared with 37% for unemployed ex-prisoners. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida departed from Tokyo Haneda Airport by special plane to visit five member countries of the Group of Seven (G7) including France, Italy, the UK, Canada, and the US, on January 9, local time. In response to the Russia-Ukraine conflict and China's movement, one of the main contents of Kishida's visit is to strengthen security cooperation with other G7 members, especially with the US. Recently, Japan has introduced three policy documents related to national security, announced that it will double its defense budget, and claimed to "have the counterstrike capability." In this regard, German International Politics and Society stated that Japan is breaking the pacifist tradition of more than 70 years after World War II, and its national security strategy has shifted from pure defense to military build-up and offense. Many critics believe that Japan will return to the dark militarism of its past. Professor Liu Jiangyong of the Department of International Relations of Tsinghua University said on January 9 that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's visit to the five G7 countries is an important step in his diplomacy in 2023. First, the G7 summit will be held in Kishida's hometown, Hiroshima and he hopes to consolidate and improve his ruling status in Japan through this summit, and at the same time increase Japan's international influence. Second, the visit happened after the Japanese government released a new version of the three security documents, which marks a fundamental change in Japan's postwar strategy toward China. Japan has positioned China as "the biggest strategic challenge so far", which is the most aggressive among G7 members. Japan hopes that its positioning of China can help gain international support. The G7 countries may further reach a consensus on thisat the summit to be held in May. During Kishida's visit, unlike his bilateral talks with the leaders of France, Italy, and the UK, he attached special attention to the talks with US President Joe Biden. He defined the Japan-US summit as a "precious opportunity." The Associated Press reported that the key focus of Kishida'svisit is to highlight the strength of the Japan-US alliance and how the two countries can work more closely under Japan's new security strategy. In this regard, Liu said that Kishida's visit is the first strategic coordination between the leaders of Japan and the US after Japan releasing the new security documents. Japan and the US will strengthen coordination in a series of major changes in military affairs and strategy. In the US-Japan alliance in the past, Japan could only coordinate with the US in combat operations. Now, this traditional post-war Japan-US military division of labor has undergone qualitative changes. Liu believes that in terms of relations with China, Japan is more eager than the US to prevent China's peaceful development, prevent China's complete reunification, and prevent China from exerting influence in the international arena because of its geostrategic needs and a series of entanglements with China, such as territorial issues and historical issues. At the same time, Japan needs to expand the strategic contradiction between China and the US, so as to seek its own interests. This may cause Japan to shift from a post-war country with peaceful development in East Asia to a road of military expansion with offensive capabilities and beggar-thy-neighbor. This is a warning sign for the Asia-Pacific region. Lyu Chao, dean of the Institute of American and East Asian Studies at Liaoning University, said that one of the important purposes of Kishida's visit to the G7 countries is to target China and contain China's development. Kishida intends to make use of this visit and act as a pawn for the US's Indo-Pacific strategy. In return, Kishida hopes that the US can agree to loosen restrictions on Japan's military expansion. Kishida also wants to win the support of European countries, so that they can back up Japan's confrontation against China in the Asia-Pacific region, and remove obstacles for the US to promote the Indo-Pacific Strategy. Under the current international situation, how to deal with the impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict is a major issue facing the West, especially European countries. Kishida obviously takes this opportunity to further express Japan's position on the Russia-Ukraine issue, and to support European countries' decision to strengthen sanctions against Russia, in exchange for Europe's full support in the so-called "Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy". The Russian Sputnik News reported that Japan's recent series of actions have shown that it follows the US and acts as a pawn for the US's global strategy. The report quoted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko in an interview with Russian media a few days ago, saying that Japan's various moves to strengthen its military power not only pose a serious challenge to Russia but also a threat to all Asia-Pacific countries. Russia will take reciprocal response measuresif Japan does not stop. Editor's note: Originally published on huanqiu.com, 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. BOLINGBROOK, Ill. A small plane made an emergency landing on a suburban Chicago tollway, authorities said. No injuries were reported. The pilot was the only person aboard the plane, Bolingbrook fire officials said. The Beechcraft Bonanza plane landed on the right shoulder of southbound Interstate 355 near Bolingbrook around 2 p.m. CST, Illinois State Police said. The plane did not strike any vehicles or fixed objects on the ground, police said. However, it caused traffic to back up just before the start of the afternoon rush hour. The plane, based in Denver, Colorado, was traveling from Middleton, Wisconsin, to Brookeridge Air Park in Downers Grove, Illinois, according to the plane tracking website FlightAware.com. The Bolingbrook Fire Department said on its Facebook page the plane experienced engine failure. No further details were immediately available. Worst blizzard ever: Remembering the 'Big Snow' of 1881 Snow bank in Sheboygan Just enough room Massive drifts in Sheboygan Scene in Whitewater After "the big snow" Buried railroad tracks Digging by hand 10 to 12 feet high Posing among the banks Headline from the March 4, 1881, State Journal State Journal front page March 4, 1881 Pell's 2018 conviction for child sex abuse was later overturned. Cardinal George Pell, Australias highest ranking Catholic prelate, died in Rome on Tuesday evening at the age of 81. Pell was the most senior Catholic official to be convicted of child sex abuse, spending 404 days in prison in Australia, before the ruling was overturned in 2020. The cardinal, who served as the Vatican treasurer from 2014 to 2019, died from heart complications following a hip operation at a Rome hospital, according to the National Catholic Register. A memorial service for Cardinal Pell will be held at St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney where his remains will be buried, Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese has confirmed. For many people, particularly of the Catholic faith, this will be a difficult day, and I express my condolences to all those who are mourning today, Albanese said. A divisive figure in Australia, Pell was regarded as a formidable, no-nonsense character and was well known for his outspoken views on conservative and doctrinal matters. Many people on social media have marked his death by expressing their support for survivors of child sex abuse. In 2014 Pope Francis appointed Pell to lead the newly established Secretariat for the Economy to oversee the Vatican's economic and administrative affairs. Pell served in that role until 2019 when he was called back to Australia to face allegations of historical sex abuse, charges he denied strenuously, in a high-profile case rocked the Roman Catholic Church worldwide. He was convicted of those charges and served 13 months in prison before Australias High Court quashed his conviction in April 2020. He subsequently returned to Rome and was welcomed by Pope Francis. Born in 1941 in Ballarat in the state of Victoria in southeastern Australia, Pell became a bishop in 1987 and was made a cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 2003. He served as Archbishop of Sydney (20012014) and Archbishop of Melbourne (19962001) before taking on the role of Vatican treasurer and initiating a series of financial reforms. Pell was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the papal conclaves that elected Pope Benedict XVI in 2005 and Pope Francis in 2013. Pell's death in Rome came just five days after he concelebrated the funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI at the Vatican. Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share Attracting big-name activist shareholders comes easy to Bayer AG, the drugmaker known for its disastrous $66 billion acquisition of Monsanto in 2018. Following in the footsteps of Elliott Management Corp. nearly four years ago, Inclusive Capital Partners LP this week disclosed a sub-1% holding, while Bloomberg News revealed that Bluebell Capital Partners has also amassed a stake. The challenge, as ever, will be to get other shareholders to care half as much about Bayers potential. Many gave up long ago. The Monsanto deal landed the company a protracted legal battle over claims that herbicide products that contained glyphosate cause cancer. The chief executive officer who spearheaded the transaction, Werner Baumann, remains in place. But his contract expires next year and the board has started seeking a successor, Bloomberg New reported in September. Youd expect shareholders to try influencing the process, or to use the transition period to set the agenda. Advertisement Inclusive Capital is not your regular activist. Its focus is on ESG. That explains its interest in a company whose strategy is in part built on delivering food security. The environmental and social aspects of the ESG moniker should be central to Bayers purpose. Sustainable farming is a critical priority. And good governance the G is the key to delivery. Bluebells interest looks more conventional for an activist. Its seeking the oft-mooted fix a breakup that undoes an unusual model that combines crop science and pharmaceuticals. For the market, the focus is on the Monsanto litigation legacy. An initial $11 billion settlement left some uncertainty over the final bill for ending claims. (Bayer says it stands fully behind the safety of our glyphosate products.) Bayer is Europes cheapest major pharmaceutical stock, trading at less than 7 times estimated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) in 2023 within a sector commanding around 12 times. The market capitalization would be around 21 billion euros ($23 billion) higher than its 53 billion euros at Tuesdays close if the shares traded at brokers average price target. Advertisement The rosy analyst targets reflect a high theoretical valuation for the companys constituent parts. The crop and pharma businesses are expected each to generate more than 6 billion euros of Ebitda in 2023, with the smaller consumer healthcare business set to make around 1.4 billion euros, according to forecasts complied by Bloomberg. The back-of-the-envelope valuation involves applying peer valuation multiples to these profit streams say around 13 times for crop science, a conservative 8 for the pharma business, and 11 for consumer health. That would suggest an enterprise value of roughly 145 billion euros. Deduct net debt, the pension deficit, remaining glyphosate litigation provisions, and shared costs, and you could have an equity value of around 90 billion euros before applying a conglomerate discount. A weak stock price is a problem: It hampers managements ability to get things done. But breaking up the business, with all its disruption, does not seem the immediate way forward. Jeff Ubben, the former ValueAct activist behind Inclusive Capital, told the Financial Times this should be an option rather than a necessity. That makes sense. Advertisement A full-blown dismantling would be costly in terms of both fees and management distraction. One of the separated businesses would have to rebuild central functions that are currently shared. Ring-fencing glyphosate liabilities in one part of the business wouldnt rid shareholders of the exposure. Bayers domestic peer Merck KGaA has more than doubled in value in the last five years even though its business combines pharmaceuticals with chemicals. True, some less radical corporate finance surgery would help Bayer, notably a sale or listing of the consumer healthcare business (one of Bluebells proposals.) The proceeds could cut debt. Investors are already aware of Bayers sum-of-the parts valuation. A breakup would not in itself address its core problems the ongoing uncertainty about the Monsanto liability and the shortage of management credibility. The former will become clear in time. As for the latter, its hard to see how leadership with links to the past can regain investor confidence. Small wonder Ubben wants an external appointment to replace Baumann. For its part, Bluebell wants a new chairman, Bloomberg News reported. Advertisement Under German corporate law, CEOs have tremendous power to act without consulting shareholders. Baumann was able to do the Monsanto deal without having a shareholder vote. He was also able to survive protest votes against his leadership. Hence the premium now on management credibility. Bayer needs a break with the past not a breakup. More From Bloomberg Opinion: Tinder Finally Wants to Define the Relationship: Chris Bryant Its Time for the French to Work Longer and Retire Later: Lionel Laurent American and British Conservatives Are Frozen in Failure: Clive Crook This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Chris Hughes is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering deals. Previously, he worked for Reuters Breakingviews, the Financial Times and the Independent newspaper. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion 2023 Bloomberg L.P. GiftOutline Gift Article Its the battle that will define the US oil market this decade. On one side, the combination of rising sales of electric vehicles, more efficient conventional cars, and the impact of working-from-home is pushing down gasoline demand; on the other, the ever-growing popularity of plastics combined with a growing population is boosting consumption of petrochemicals.In short, one can call it Tesla against the plastic industry.If Tesla and its electric-vehicle rivals win the battle, oil demand will peak soon, helping to meet global climate change goals by reducing consumption of fossil fuels. For now, however, plastics have the upper hand, keeping overall oil demand growing.On Tuesday, the Energy Information Administration, the statistical arm of the US Department of Energy, released its first forecast for the 2024 oil market. The look is tentative but provides early clues about its direction. Every January, the EIA is the first of the three major public bodies to publish its outlook for the next year. The International Energy Agency will release its take in June, and OPEC will follow up a month later.The EIA analysis shows that US oil demand will rise next year to 20.63 million barrels per day, surpassing the most recent peak, set in 2018 and 2019, and within a whisker of the all-time high set between 2004 and 2007 when demand averaged 20.7-20.8 million barrels per day just before the onset of the global financial crisis. Strikingly, American oil demand will rise to near-record levels in 2024 despite a significant drop in gasoline use, which in the past was the engine of US oil consumption. Its an indication that electric-vehicle sales would need to grow significantly before they force overall oil demand down. The EIA estimates that by 2024, American gasoline demand will drop to 8.73 million barrels per day, or about 600,000 barrels a day lower than it was in 2018. Thats equal to the total oil consumption of a medium-sized European nation like Belgium. All suggest that the heyday of American gasoline demand is in the rear-view mirror. But the fall would be more than offset by rising consumption of the feedstock used in the petrochemical industry to produce plastics, which will hit a record high of about 4 million barrels per day by 2024, up more than 700,000 barrels from 2018.The US trends are mirrored elsewhere in the world, with plastic consumption soaring in emerging markets like India and China. The EIA anticipates that global oil demand will hit an all-time high of 102.2 million barrels a day in 2024, up 1.7 million barrels a day from 2023 and above the pre-Covid peak set in 2019 of 100.8 million barrels a day. In projecting another year of strong consumption growth, the EIA is further postponing peak oil demand.If a peak in oil demand is near, its not showing up in any contemporaneous data or reliable short-term forecast. Only long-term models rather than forecasts point to a peak within the next few years. Everything else shows steady-as-it-goes consumption. The 2024 EIA forecast is a case in point: Not only is global oil demand heading toward another record, but the rate of growth isnt moderating. Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share There is no law or treaty to prevent a private company from tinkering with geoengineering in this case, releasing sulfur dioxide high in the stratosphere in order to alter the climate. And so there will be no fines or arrests following the recent news that a startup quietly pulled off such a release last year by launching two balloons over Mexico. This sort of environmental manipulation can alter the energy balance between the sun and Earth. In the upper atmosphere, sulfur dioxide forms suspended particles of sulfuric acid that act to scatter sunlight and cool the planet. The Clean Air Act isnt set up to deal with this sort of thing its focused on power plants, cars and regional air-quality standards, said UCLA environmental law professor Edward Parson. The startup responsible is called Make Sunsets, and their plan, according to MIT Technology Review, was to use this scheme to counter global warming. Theyd make money by selling carbon credits companies emitting greenhouse gases could pay them to release cooling particles that would allegedly nullify their emissions. According to the plan, each gram of sulfur would cost $10 and offset one ton of CO2. Advertisement The main problem is that it wouldnt work. Sulfuric acid particles can only mask global warming for a year or so. Then they settle out of the atmosphere while the carbon stays up there for thousands of years. And there are likely going to be side effects from doing this at any useful scale. Parson called it a case of a rogue pseudo-scientist claiming to help the environment. Luke Iseman, the chief executive of Make Sunsets, told me he became obsessed with the idea of geoengineering after reading the science fiction novel Termination Shock by Neal Stephenson, in which a Texas billionaire launches sulfur into the stratosphere. He says he understands the scientists criticisms that the effects of the sulfur dont negate emissions, but he believes its the only feasible way to buy the time needed to stay below a catastrophic level of climate change. He said he plans to make two more launches this month from Mexico, and that his ultimate vision is to spend the next 20 years releasing as much as I possibly can while doing it safely. But theres no scientific consensus that geoengineering is the only way to avoid catastrophe. Scientists, including several panels assembled by the National Academy of Sciences, have looked at the possibility of using geoengineering to battle global warming, but no field experiments have been carried out. Advertisement What we know so far comes from a couple of a natural and unintentional experiments. Volcanic eruptions, such as the one at Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines in 1991, can trigger a year of cool weather, and scientists have calculated that components of smog are holding down the global temperature about 1 degree Celsius, though smog also causes millions of deaths from respiratory illness. The good news is that the releases from Make Sunsets are too tiny to cause any harm. But the bad news is that it wont advance science. For years, scientists have been trying to do a small release they could track. But so far, doing this through official channels has run into resistance. Scientists have tried to run an experiment called SCoPEx from Mexico and Sweden but been blocked by environmental groups. Carefully monitored scientific experiments might give us useful knowledge about how natural and human-generated sulfur works in the atmosphere and under what circumstances it might be a reasonable thing to release say, if it gets so hot in India that tens of millions of people are likely to die, a scenario described in Kim Stanley Robinsons 2020 novel The Ministry for the Future. Advertisement Harvard physicist David Keith, who has studied the prospects of geoengineering, said its possible to calculate how many lives you could save from heat and extreme weather, balanced with lives that might be lost to geoengineerings side effects. But of course, there are unknown unknowns, and geoengineering is a very bad substitute for technologies that reduce emissions or capture carbon. One past incident that vaguely resembles this one happened in 2012, when California businessman Russ George dumped iron into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of British Columbia with the goal of fertilizing an algae bloom that was supposed to absorb carbon and feed salmon. George claimed the iron caused the salmon to rebound the following year, but since it wasnt a controlled scientific experiment and salmon populations fluctuate normally, there was no way to know if his actions had any effect. Perhaps this sort of thing comes with the startup culture of the 21st century the flow of vast quantities of money around Silicon Valley, the hubristic sense that the private sector can solve a problem that has stymied governments, and a fashion for looking like youre doing good for the planet. Advertisement Parson, the environmental lawyer, says the most important thing right now is to make sure this companys plan to use sulfur releases to sell bogus carbon credits doesnt get any traction. And after that, we need a rational discussion about geoengineering. Who gets to say its okay to do this, and if its done, how much is done and where and under what protections and with whom in charge? asks Parson. These are unexplored questions. The upper atmosphere has no regional or national boundaries. What happens in one place affects everything. Thats true of many activities now from cutting down rain forests to activities that risk releasing on viruses. Move fast and break things might be a motto that works for startups, but it doesnt inspire confidence when were talking about our one and only planet. Advertisement More From Bloomberg Opinion: Why the Future of Technology Is So Hard to Predict: Faye Flam Noncompete Contracts Can Help Both Workers and Firms: Tyler Cowen Want to Avoid Death? Maybe Cryonics Isnt Crazy: Parmy Olson This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Faye Flam is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering science. She is host of the Follow the Science podcast. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion 2023 Bloomberg L.P. GiftOutline Gift Article Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share 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. The federal US Consumer Product Safety Commission is researching emissions from appliances and looking for ways to reduce related indoor air-quality dangers. 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. Advertisement 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. Commissioner Richard Trumka Jr. said in an interview that the agencys options include barring the manufacture or import of gas stoves and setting standards on emissions from the appliances. Alexander Hoehn-Saric, the head of the agency, said it had no plans for a ban. 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. Advertisement 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 More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com 2023 Bloomberg L.P. GiftOutline Gift Article Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share Fresh off a leadership election that transfixed the world, the United States House of Representatives is, supposedly, getting down to business. High on the agenda: a bipartisan committee that will examine the possible sources of Chinas competitive edge over the US. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight I can save the House some time. That committee, if it does its job well, will quickly discover that a large part of the problem is the U.S. Congress. And, as the past weeks dysfunction showed, that problem is going to get worse. The biggest reason China remains central to the economic architecture in much of the world, especially the Indo-Pacific, is the lack of any alternative. Even countries concerned by Chinas heavy-handed foreign policies recognize that the country is an essential trading partner. As a source of investment, as an efficient producer and as a potential market, the worlds second-largest economy is impossible to ignore. Advertisement And it doesnt help when the largest seems to have decisively turned its back on economic integration. Forget new trade deals: The US is building walls even against partners in the developing world that it has cultivated for decades. Chinas real competitive advantage over the U.S. is that it is the only one competing, while the US closes itself off. Emblematic of these big, beautiful new American walls is the failure to renew trade measures such as the Generalized System of Preferences and the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill, which singled out countries and sectors for easier tariff treatment. Both measures expired in 2020, costing US businesses billions. Trade legislation requires experienced advocates in Congress who are willing to work across the aisle and strong party leaders who dont have to answer to every maverick or lobbyist. After the chaos in the House, the rest of the world would be safe in assuming that neither bipartisanship nor leadership will be much in evidence over the next two years. Advertisement Many in Washington dont care. The age of trade is over, they insist. The Donald Trump wing of the Republican party shares the former presidents doubts about trade deals. Meanwhile, influential Democrats are calling for a new economic patriotism. Many of them presumably think the rest of the world has similarly soured on freer trade. In fact, other countries including many the US hopes to enlist in its efforts to shore up the liberal world order do not agree. Despite doubts about the uneven benefits of globalization over the past two decades, other nations have by and large forsworn higher tariff barriers. The European Union continues to push for new or updated trade deals, including with Mexico, Chile and India. New Delhi, long skeptical of trade pacts, has concluded new agreements with Australia and the United Arab Emirates. The African Continental Free Trade Area is chugging along towards implementation. Expanding membership in the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership remains at the top of Japans geo-economic agenda. And post-Brexit Britains hunger for trade agreements with anyone on anything is palpable. Trade skeptics in Washington cannot claim that they are merely acting in line with global trends. Advertisement Central to all these efforts is a recognition that global integration is critical to increasing competitiveness and prosperity at home. Leaders in all these nations understand that economic walls promote stagnation and reduce ordinary citizens purchasing power. Unfortunately, too many in the US political class seem to have forgotten that lesson. And their leaders are either, like US President Joe Biden, unwilling to lift a finger for freer trade or, like the GOPs new House Speaker, too insecure to do so. The same Kevin McCarthy who, as majority leader in 2016, refused to back Trumps tariffs has now been forced by the anti-woke fringe of his party into refusing even to take a meeting with the pro-trade US Chamber of Commerce. If Washington cant agree on an economic proposition to offer the world, the field lies open for China. One analysis of trade data in recent years found that Chinas total trade with significant Asian neighbors grew 71% after the Trump tariffs kicked in. Yes, trade with the US also grew during the pandemic, in many cases more than with a locked-down China. Advertisement But, if the US political class is serious about containing Chinese influence in the coming decade, it cannot afford to ignore the most potent weapon in its arsenal. China knows how to use its position at the center of the worlds trading networks to increase its power. An isolationist US leadership will only ensure America steadily loses both partners and influence. More From Bloomberg Opinion: Europes Plan to Tax Carbon at the Border Needs Work: Editorial North Americas Three Amigos Are Out of Tune: Eduardo Porter China Finds a Place in the US Battery Belt: Anjani Trivedi This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Mihir Sharma is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. A senior fellow at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi, he is author of Restart: The Last Chance for the Indian Economy. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion 2023 Bloomberg L.P. GiftOutline Gift Article Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share Regardless of how you feel about the Internal Revenue Service its dysfunctional, its underfunded, or both theres a basic point thats hard to refute: The current system to ferret out wrongdoers is terrible. And in a move that will only make it worse, House Republicans voted Monday to block new funding allocated for the agency by the last Congress. Consider that the tax gap, or the difference between what taxpayers owe and what they actually pay, averaged $496 billion from 2014 through 2016 (the agencys most recent estimates). Even after audits and enforcement actions, the agency collected just 14% of total taxes owed but not paid, or $68 billion. Part of the problem is that audits are barely happening for the people who owe the most. The agency just doesnt have the money to conduct such audits, thanks to funding cuts over the last decade. For individual taxpayers making at least $1 million, the audit rate dropped from 8.4% in 2010 to just 2.4% in 2019. Almost all of the biggest corporations were subject to audits in 2010 compared with just half in 2019. Advertisement And when it does conduct audits, the IRS often picks the wrong targets or finds itself outmaneuvered by sophisticated attorneys. Almost 40% of audits of large corporations resulted in no change in 2019, meaning whatever had been reported on tax returns was substantiated, according to Congressional testimony by Janet Holtzblatt, a senior fellow at the Urban Brookings Tax Policy Center. About 38% of individual taxpayers with income in excess of $1 million either had no change or received a refund. That means the money spent on the audits didnt recoup any revenue. Even worse, audits dont make much of a difference when it comes to future behavior. Studies have found some taxpayers become more brazen tax cheats after being audited because they think being targeted once reduces their chances of being investigated again. Republicans use these facts to say the IRS is inept and shouldnt get any more money to mishandle thus one of House Republicans first orders of business was to nix the agencys $80 billion in funding that had been approved by the Joe Biden administration. The GOP would allow the IRS to keep $4.8 billion to upgrade its aging technology, but without the $25 billion that had been allotted to support ongoing operations, that money would be rendered pretty useless. Advertisement Moreover, the Congressional Budget Office estimated this week that the House Republicans bill would cut government revenue by almost $186 billion and increase the budget deficit by $114 billion over the next 10 years. Serious, long-term money for technology is the only thing that can help the IRS to overhaul its auditing system and have any chance at reclaiming the billions, if not trillions of dollars that go uncollected every year. Thats because the key to better tax compliance isnt going to come just from conducting more audits it has to come from smarter use of taxpayer data. When the IRS can match tax filings to third-party data on income, such as a W-2 tax form sent to it from an employer, compliance rates are close to 99%. When it cant, the compliance rate drops to 50%. The biggest culprits of underreporting tend to be business owners. Its difficult, not to mention time-consuming, for the IRS to verify what theyre reporting through its current audit process and technology system. And Im not talking about mom-and-pop small business owners. A sizable chunk of the tax gap is estimated to come from sophisticated pass-through business owners (sole proprietors who report business income on their personal tax returns) who report well above $400,000 in income, according to Charles Rossotti, who served as IRS commissioner in the late 1990s. Advertisement Remember, better technology doesnt mean the IRS will be getting its hands on any new data. This is all information the agency has on hand already, but doesnt have the ability to sift through. Rossotti estimates the IRS currently has about 2 billion tax information reports on about $18 trillion worth of income, but uses just a fraction of that data due to funding constraints and outdated technology. For example, the IRS has about 30 million K-1 forms, which show income from businesses structured as partnerships, totaling $1.2 trillion of income, but is basically blind to it. If it had the technology to systematically use the data on K-1s and match it with whats reported on income tax returns, it could go a long way toward identifying tax scofflaws. These sorts of changes would have a deterrent effect. If high-earning business owners and savvy tax planners know the IRS is starting to harness its data, theyll change their behavior. Advertisement Yes, there will always be smart tax lawyers and accountants who will be able to manipulate the tax code and minimize their clients taxes in the grey area where its not quite evasion, but not quite fair, either. Thats the responsibility of lawmakers to address, not the IRS. But in the meantime, give the agency the money it needs to enforce the laws already on the books. More From Bloomberg Opinion: The Houses Republican Rebels Have a Point: David A. Hopkins The IRS Has Problems $80 Billion Wont Solve: Tyler Cowen The Concession McCarthy Shouldnt Have Made: Jonathan Bernstein This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Alexis Leondis is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering personal finance. Previously, she oversaw tax coverage for Bloomberg News. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion 2023 Bloomberg L.P. GiftOutline Gift Article 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. Global Semiconductor Sales Decrease 2.9% in November Published: 11 January 2023 by Tyler Hanes by Tyler Hanes WASHINGTON Global semiconductor industry sales were $45.5 billion in November, a decrease of 2.9% compared to October's total of $46.9 billion and 9.2% less than the November 2021 total of $50 billion, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA). "Global semiconductor sales decreased in November, largely due to market cyclicality and macroeconomic headwinds," said John Neuffer, SIA president and CEO. "Sales into the Americas were up compared to November 2021, while sales into China decreased sharply on a year-to-year basis." Regionally, year-to-year sales increased in November in the Americas (5.2%), Europe (4.5%), and Japan (1.2%), but decreased in Asia Pacific/All Other (-13.9%) and China (-21.2%). Month-to-month sales were down across all regions: Europe (-1.0%), Japan (-1.2%), the Americas (-1.4%), Asia Pacific/All Other (-3.0%), and China (-5.3%). Additionally, a recent World Semiconductor Trade Statistics Organization (WSTS) industry forecast endorsed by SIA projects annual global sales will increase 4.4% in 2022 and decrease 4.1% in 2023. The forecast projects the industrys worldwide sales will be $580.1 billion in 2022, up from the 2021 sales total of $555.9 billion. In 2023, global sales are projected to reach $556.5 billion. Comment on this story Comment Gift Article Share Fiction 1 IT ENDS WITH US (Atria, $16.99). By Colleen Hoover. A woman questions her relationship with a commitment-phobic partner when her old flame appears. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight 2 THE SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO (Washington Square Press, $17). By Taylor Jenkins Reid. A Hollywood icon recounts the story of her glamorous life to a young reporter, and both discover the cost of fame. 3 THE MAID (Ballantine, $18). By Nita Prose. A hotel maid cleaning a room finds a dead body and becomes the lead murder suspect. 4 IT STARTS WITH US (Atria, $17.99). By Colleen Hoover. After separating from her abusive husband, a woman considers whether to rekindle her first love. 5 THE SONG OF ACHILLES (Ecco, $17.99). By Madeline Miller. The legend of Achilles retold through the lens of his friend Patroclus. 6 VERITY (Grand Central, $16.99). By Colleen Hoover. A writer hired to complete an incapacitated best-selling authors manuscript learns disturbing secrets. Advertisement 7 LEGENDS & LATTES (Tor, $17.99). By Travis Baldree. A mercenary hangs up her sword and opens a coffee shop. 8 CLOUD CUCKOO LAND (Scribner, $20). By Anthony Doerr. An ancient story survives millennia stewarded by young people in the past, present and future. 9 CIRCE (Back Bay, $16.99). By Madeline Miller. This follow-up to The Song of Achilles is about the goddess who turns Odysseus men to swine. 10 A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES (Bloomsbury, $19). By Sarah J. Maas. A threat is growing over a magical land where a huntress is being held captive. Nonfiction 1 ALL ABOUT LOVE (Morrow, $15.99).By bell hooks. The first volume in the feminists Love Song to the Nation trilogy considers compassion as a form of love. 2 BRAIDING SWEETGRASS: INDIGENOUS WISDOM, SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE AND THE TEACHINGS OF PLANTS (Milkweed Editions, $18). By Robin Wall Kimmerer. Essays by an Indigenous scientist offer lessons in reciprocal awareness between people and plants. Advertisement 3 THE BODY KEEPS THE SCORE (Penguin, $19). By Bessel van der Kolk. A scientific look at how trauma can reshape a persons body and brain. 4 THESE PRECIOUS DAYS (Harper Perennial, $18). By Ann Patchett. Essays from the best-selling writer highlight important relationships in her life. 5 THE JANUARY 6 REPORT (Harper Paperbacks, $19.99). By the January 6th Committee. The official report on the investigation of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, with a forward by Ari Melber. 6 THE FOUR AGREEMENTS (Amber-Allen, $12.95). By Don Miguel Ruiz. The self-help classic reveals four principles to follow for a happier life. 7 HOW THE WORD IS PASSED (Little, Brown, $18.99). By Clint Smith. American historical landmarks are examined through the lens of slaverys legacy. 8 THE 2023 OLD FARMERS ALMANAC (Old Farmers Almanac, $8.95). The classic reference guide forecasts culture, weather and trends. Advertisement 9 THE YEARS (Seven Stories Press, $19.95). By Annie Ernaux, Alison L. Strayer (Transl.). The Nobel Prize winners memoir spans her life in France from 1941 to 2006. 10 DOPAMINE NATION (Dutton, $18). By Anna Lembke. A psychiatrist explains how to avoid overconsumption by balancing pleasure with pain. Rankings reflect sales for the week ended Jan. 8. The charts may not be reproduced without permission from the American Booksellers Association, the trade association for independent bookstores in the United States, and indiebound.org. Copyright 2023 American Booksellers Association. (The bestseller lists alternate between hardcover and paperback each week.) GiftOutline Gift Article A note to our readers We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Renovations are set to be underway at Platte Center Elementary School this upcoming summer. The Lakeview Community Schools Board of Education approved at its regular meeting Jan. 9 approximately $268,000 in updates to the school, 155 Platte St. in Platte Center. The bulk of those costs comes from the remodeling of the two student restrooms and the addition of a restroom in the teachers lounge. Superintendent Aaron Plas said there are two student restrooms in Platte Center, one in the south hallway and one in the west hallway. The buildings teacher lounge currently does not have restrooms, and staff must use student restrooms, he added. The boards buildings and grounds committee has been considering what summer improvement projects the school district should complete in 2023. Plas said the committee looked at remodeling the teachers lounge to include a restroom, which lead to the idea of also remodeling the student restrooms. The west student restroom remodel is $96,599. We think it's been since the 90s since it's been updated. So it is showing some age in there, Plas said. This would update the tile, the partitions, the fixtures, paint the walls, do a drop-down ceiling with LED lighting, so it would really modernize the space. The same improvements would be done to the south restroom. The cost of the south restroom remodel is $77,372. In addition on the west restroom, it's ADA compliant under when it was put in, but it would bring it up to code for ADA compliance as well, Plas said. The cost of the teachers lounge remodel is $77,486. Right now there is a sitting area, a wall and then behind it's a little bit like a testing room/storage room type area, Plas said. What we propose is taking half of the storage room area and turning that into the restroom. The other half doing like a small kitchenette area where they can put the fridge and microwave and have a sink just to make the space a little bit nicer for our teachers as well. That is a good spot for the sink as it would be next to a janitorial supply closet containing a water heater, he said. One of our concerns was the back storage area is occasionally used for testing, especially during times when we have higher testing numbers but Mr. (Brandon) Nygren (Platte Center principal) thinks that we're going to be just fine, Plas said. We can repurpose a couple of spaces for when we need it again. It's not an everyday thing, its when we're at a season when we're doing a lot of testing. Also at Platte Center, the school district will be replacing an air conditioner in the music room, which has stopped functioning correctly. The cost is $11,120. A classroom model, estimated to cost $6,000, was approved as well. We remodel one classroom at Platte Center every year. And this year (were) down to the first grade class, School Board President Keith Runge said. The school district also alternates between the south and west wings at Platte Center each year. Plas told board members he was excited they approved the improvement projects for the elementary school. In the last six, seven years, you've updated about half the classrooms, hallways, lights, commons, gym. We redid the roof. We remodeled the preschool side, Plas said. The investment within the buildings has been really exciting. Our parking lot as well. It's been nice to continue to invest in that building (Platte Center elementary) as well. At Shell Creek Elementary, 16786 280th Ave. in Columbus, the board OKd a $6,588 bid for concrete repairs. Right behind where the kitchen is where our grease trap of the kitchen is located, and the concrete over there has been heaving between five to eight inches, they're estimating, Plas said. They are not sure whats causing the damages, he said, with board members noting it could be an issue from when the concrete was originally poured. Plas said they are optimistic its nothing serious but they will know for sure once the concrete is removed. The grease trap gets cleaned regularly, he added. As for Lakeview Junior-Senior High School, 3744 83rd St. in Columbus, two skylights have been leaking for a number of years. There are a total of eight skylights at the building. We've tried a few different interventions with different contractors. Each one has been unsuccessful, Plas said. I think we're at a point where they believe there are small cracks within the glass that we're not able to get repaired. The cost for the skylight replacements is $4,225. In other news, the board approved a $38,765 purchase for a 2023 minivan. This is intended to replace a 2009 minivan the school district uses for special education, Plas said. They decided not to trade the old one in, Plas added, as its still working OK for now and doesnt have much trade-in value; it can be used as a backup vehicle. Additionally, Plas updated the board on the search for a 10-passenger van. This is the second year the school district has been trying to locate one, he added. Plas said Lakeview is at the top of a list at a local car dealership to be notified when orders are open for a 10-passenger van. Once orders are open, he said, it can take six to 12 months for the vehicles production. Runge suggested the school district call larger car dealerships to check on the availability of a 10-passenger van. I know that happens on four-wheelers and side by sides. If you go to one of the big ones in Lincoln, they can get them sometimes when the little ones cant, and it isnt fair but that's the way it is right now, Runge said. At their regular meeting in February, board members will consider giving Plas the OK to purchase a 10-passenger van when they become available for order. During the 1940s and 50s, the preeminent creator of Broadway hits was the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein III, who rolled out a series of legendary musicals including The Sound of Music, The King and I, South Pacific and Oklahoma! An impressive resume, no doubt, and one that may have overshadowed another gifted pair: Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe. Their accomplishments included Camelot, Brigadoon and My Fair Lady, an enduring hit that continues to be staged worldwide more than six decades after its 1956 Broadway debut. A lavish touring production of My Fair Lady will be on stage at Hershey Theatre from Jan. 17 through the 22. This national tour produced by New York Citys Lincoln Center Theatre features fresh faces such as Madeline Powell and Jonathan Grunert, who will play the lead roles of Eliza Doolittle and Professor Henry Higgins, respectively. Those roles originally featured Julie Andrews and Rex Harrison, who both earned Tony Awards for their performances. The show ran for more than 2,700 performances on Broadway a record at the time and also earned the 1957 Tony for Best Musical. Big shoes to fill, but this touring cast are helped along by high production values and a sturdy fish-out-of-water plot. Not to mention a plethora of memorable songs that includes I Could Have Danced All Night, The Rain in Spain, Wouldnt It Be Loverly? and Ive Grown Accustomed to Her Face. Based on George Bernard Shaws 1913 play Pygmalion, the show tells the often misogynistic tale of cynical Professor Higgins, who bets a colleague he can remake Cockney flower girl Eliza into a grand lady of society by dressing her in gowns and training her to speak perfect English. Higgins treats her with considerable disrespect at times, but he succeeds so well that eventually the tables turn and he finds himself falling in love with the charming Doolittle. Murder mystery Oyster Mill Playhouse is also delving into the classics this month, bringing back a 1958 Agatha Christie play that is something of a departure for the much-loved queen of the murder mystery. Christie fans may be relieved to know that Verdict does indeed feature a murder, but its not one that needs to be solved in the classic deductive way by sleuths like Hercule Poirot and Jane Marple. Thats because the murder takes place on stage, pretty much eliminating the whodunit aspect for which Christie is most famous. Instead, Verdict becomes an examination of unrequited love and its power to make people reckless and even violent. The story revolves around a college professor who fled to England with his invalid wife to avoid his unspecified home countrys tyranny. The wife, who hates her life in England and has often threatened suicide, is murdered by one of the professors students, who tries to make it look as if she took her own life. In typical Christie fashion, complications pile up when the professor decides not to turn the student over to the police, thinking he may somehow have encouraged the young student to commit her heinous an act. When the student, yes, gets hit and killed by a truck, suspicion falls on the wifes former caretaker, who also harbors feelings for the professor. Verdict is more melodrama than murder mystery, providing a different perspective on Christies writing while still providing the plot twists and ah-ha moments for which the great writer was justly famous. The production opens Friday night and runs through Jan. 29 at the community theater in East Pennsboro Township. Local playwright York County native Ken Ludwig, a Tony Award-winning playwright with a long list of Broadway hits, supplies the grist for Little Theatre of Mechanicsburgs next offering, a cross-dressing, Shakespeare-adjacent farce titled Leading Ladies. Ludwig likely did not need to do a lot of research on his setting, which is Southcentral Pennsylvania and, specifically, the city of York. Leading Ladies, which made its premiere in 2004, features Leo and Jack, two down-on-their-luck Shakespearean actors who have been reduced to performing on what is known as the Moose Lodge Circuit in Pennsylvanias Amish country. When they hear about an elderly and quite wealthy woman who is seeking two long-lost nephews to share in her fortune, they decide to impersonate the missing heirs in hopes of cashing in. With the plot in motion, Jack and Leo suddenly realize that the sought-after nephews are in fact nieces, and they dont hesitate to put their acting skills to work by switching genders, setting off a farcical chain of events as they try to pull off their fraud. Complications pile up: Leo and Jack both fall in love with women they meet along the way, but romance is made difficult on several levels by their feminine disguises. Then, when the real missing heirs abruptly show up at the dowagers estate, the tempo becomes frantic. I think of it as Some Like It Hot meets Twelfth Night, Ludwig, whose other works include Lend Me a Tenor and Moon Over Buffalo, said in an interview about Leading Ladies. It is a really muscular comedy. LTMs production opens Jan. 27 and runs through Feb. 12. Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Save articles for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. Got it Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Authenticity is one of the big issues of our time. Stories and who gets to tell them, the real or authentic voices movement, and concern around cultural appropriation are a significant focus in publishing, particularly when it comes to food. But who gets to decide what is authentic? For Yotam Ottolenghi, its not black and white; the discussion is far from straightforward. If you ask me, I think the word authentic is really misused a lot because in the general understanding, the word means very little, he says. Before you say authentic, you must ask authentic to whom? Authenticity assumes that there is a basic line from which we draw inspiration, that every culture has a particular set of recipes that are cooked in one particular way, and this is just not the case. Every family has a different way of cooking certain recipes, and traditional dishes are played around with, and they change and evolve. The Israeli-born, London-based chef is responsible for spearheading the vegetable revolution, placing them centre stage in his sumptuous recipes rather than sides; he has two restaurants and five delis across London. Together with Bahraini-born chef Noor Murad, he has just released his 10th book, Ottolenghi Test Kitchen: Extra Good Things. Extra Good Things from the Ottolenghi Test Kitchen was written by Noor Murad and Ottolenghi. Credit:Elena Heatherwick Speaking ahead of a visit to Australia later this month, he argues it all depends on perspective, on how and what you choose to see. Traditionalists might look at a dish and say theres only one way to make it, others would argue its absurd to think food like all other fashions would not evolve and change over time. Jamie Oliver got into terrible trouble when he added chorizo to paella. I think this is just petty, Ottolenghi recalls, referring to the outcry over Olivers variation on the classic dish in 2016. I dont think anything is really at stake if someone wants adds chorizo to paella. If they want to eat it that way, there is no harm in this interpretation of one version of a Spanish dish. I think these conversations can become quite circular, and they are not very helpful. Advertisement For him, its all about being playful. We should be playful with food and cooking and each should be authentic to a person rather than a culture or a group. Authenticity should be relevant to what youve gone through, what is relevant to you. Context is significant though, says the 54-year-old chef, who argues its important to tell the story of a dish. If you do draw inspiration from somewhere, if something has a particular origin, if its from a particular part of the world, its really good to tell that story, so nobody feels hard done by when you talk about it. Its about measure and how you convey. There is that sense that food has been relegated to ... a necessity rather than something sensual that needs to be celebrated. Yotam Ottolenghi Growing up in Israel, Ottolenghi was born into and influenced by several cultures; his parents were both Jewish, his mother from Germany, his father from Italy. Then there were the particular Jewish and the Palestinian cultures of his hometown Jerusalem. His first food memories visits to the fruit and vegetable markets in West and East Jerusalem, which he describes with palpable excitement have coloured his vision for food in the long term. These are the markets that we know in our minds how they work. Theres incredible, beautiful produce, fruit and vegetables piled up, incredible herbs like dill and coriander and mint, eggplant and beautiful fruit like peaches, strawberries, you know, everything that grows in the country is presented and beautiful. Turmeric fried eggs with tamarind dressing from Extra Good Things, from the Ottolenghi Test Kitchen, by By Noor Murad and Yotam Ottolenghi. Credit:Elena Heatherwick The pungent aroma of the herbs, intensified as they were often sprayed with water by the stallholders to keep them fresh, stays with him today. Jerusalem then and now has really good produce, cheeses and meat, halva and tahini, he says, seeming to savour the idea as he pictures it in his mind. The Jerusalem of my childhood and still today is divided into west and east; the west is mostly Jewish, and the east is mostly Palestinian and these two communities often dont get on but the food in both sides is quite incredible. Advertisement At that time, not long after the 1967 war, Jerusalem was slightly more peaceful. In the 1970s and 1980s, the realities of the occupation and the conflict had not really fully been realised, he says. It was before the Israelis took over the West Bank... Im probably of the last generation who felt that there was a chance it was going to be OK. We spent a lot of time visiting wonderful places in the West Bank like Bethlehem and Jericho, those were fantastic places both in terms of the landscape and the food and the people who we met were incredibly open, hospitable and friendly. It wasnt like people lived together in harmony side by side but it was a relatively peaceful reality and when it was like that it was pretty magical. You could go to East Jerusalem and get wonderful Palestinian mezze, fried cauliflower and labne, and eggplant dishes like babaghanoush, and in West Jerusalem, you would have restaurants for Jews who had just recently arrived from all over the world Iraqi, North African, Eastern European, Moroccan, a really incredible array of food. All of that was the food I grew up within the wider community. A young Ottolenghi at a market in Jerusalem. At home, meals were mostly European. His dad loved making fresh polenta, salads and pasta dishes, cooked in the northern Italian way, with minimal intervention. Its interesting thats what he grew up with, when his food is almost the opposite. He laughs, agreeing his preferred MO is definitely maximalist. Why are some cultures so into food and others not, I wonder. Some approach food as sustenance and necessity whereas for others it is inherently celebratory. Its a really good question. I think deep down inside, all cultures are into food. In the modern world, unfortunately, there were historical reasons for which some cultures forgot their food, or [for which] cooking has become less important, he says. In the Anglo-Saxon, English-speaking world its a gross generalisation but there is that sense that food has been relegated to ... a necessity rather than something sensual that needs to be celebrated as all the sensual things we can experience in the world. Advertisement To Ottolenghis mind, in industrialised countries people often forget the importance of sitting down to eat. Youre in the office, youre busy, you go grab a sandwich, whereas in France, its the opposite, every meal is a meal. It is a very cultural thing and I would really love it to come back as a family ritual. My kids in the last few years have become more willing to try different things. I dont even take credit for that. Yotam Ottolenghi That said, the pandemic has helped many people rediscover the importance of sitting down to a meal. It was one of the few things we looked forward to, that provided punctuation and interest in our day. We had to replace our modern rituals with older rituals and people discovered how wonderful those older things are, he says. You had to divide the day and food and meals are so fundamental in that. Together with husband Karl Allen, Ottolenghi has two young boys Max, 9, and Flynn, 7. Does one of the most famous chefs in the world have issues getting his kids to eat good food? How do they respond to his vegie-forward feasts? TAKE 7: THE ANSWERS ACCORDING TO YOTAM OTTOLENGHI Worst habit? Stealing pillows in the night. [My husband and I] might start with two each, but we end with four-zero in my favour. Greatest fear? Losing my mind. The line that stayed with you? When I was maybe four or five years old, I asked my father, What is work? It was a philosophical question. He said, The only thing that is not work is lying on your back. Biggest regret? Not cooking with my grandmothers. I got interested in food later I always loved eating but not cooking so I missed out on some opportunities. Favourite room? The bedroom with all the pillows. I also use it often as an office; I find it very comfortable and nice. The artwork/song you wish was yours? The TV series The White Lotus. Its incredible, I love watching it and wish Id made it. If I could solve one thing... World politics. Just one little thing. Its always tricky, it comes in waves; its never what you think it would be. So one time you think youve mastered it and your kids are super-adventurous and then, something changes, and they are not quite as adventurous as they were the other day, he says with a laugh. My kids in the last few years have become more willing to try different things. I dont even take credit for that, I think its just part of the normal process of opening up to the world and being more adventurous. Advertisement 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. 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]. HARRISBURG A Mercer County horse who would be 93 in human years won first prize Tuesday in the heavyweight division of the 107th Pennsylvania Farm Show Pony Pulling Contest. Ponies Jack, 33, and Fred, 10, beat three other heavyweight pony teams by hauling 6,500 pounds of cider blocks 13 1/2 feet. Driver Doug Blake of Volant, winning for the first time in his 15 years of Farm Show competition, said he wasnt surprised. Jack works every day, Blake said of the horse owned by his older brother, Harley. He goes on the track and pulls a sled. He hauls manure when we spread it too. He said the aged horse has the energy of a 6-year-old. Horse pulling has been an event at the Farm Show since 1939. Now, the event fills a day, starting with miniature horses, continuing with ponies and ending with draft horses. The demonstration of true horsepower is held in the New Holland Arena on the fourth day of the Farm Show. All three competitions required a pair of equines to be guided by a driver as they pull a sled of concrete blocks for a certain distance. The weight gradually is increased until the team pulling the heaviest load the farthest wins. Miniature ponies can pull seven times their weight while draft horses can pull five times. The day began with six miniature horse teams in classes of 34 inches, 35 inches and 38 inches. Miniature horses are required to pull the sled of cinderblocks 10 feet. Next came pony pulling with two teams in the middleweight division of 1,526 to 1,825 pounds and four teams in heavyweight, which is 1,826 to 2,125 pounds. Blake said he was delighted to win the $400 prize. Ill give the ponies hay and then well make the 5 1/2 hour drive home, he said. The Farm Show traditional horse pulling competition, considered the World Series of the sport, began in midafternoon. Here, horses showed brute strength, teamwork and spirit. Hardworking teamsters and their strong Belgians took on a heavy sled loaded with hundreds of 35-pound cinderblocks. They were required to pull it 27 1/2 feet. After each pull, more weight was added. Horse pulling includes lightweight teams weighing 3,325 pounds and heavyweight teams weighing more than that. Photos: Scenes from the 107th Pennsylvania Farm Show Tuesday in Harrisburg HARRISBURG Sierra Few has found a hobby that she figuratively can sink her teeth into. The Newville woman, an equine dental technician who loves all things horse, has been entering horse pulling competitions for more than a year. On Tuesday, she competed in the 107th Pennsylvania Farm Show Horse Pulling contest with a pair of 5-year-old Belgians named Dick and Diamond. Dick is strong, cool and collected, Few said, stroking the sturdy brown draft horse. Diamond is strong but has an attitude. The horses are owned by her friends Scott and Meg Enslin of Benchfield Farms in Upper Mifflin Township. Ive been in seven or eight horse pulls with them at county fairs although this is my first time pulling at the Farm Show, Few said. Theyre doing well. I like Belgians because of their easy temperament. The horse pulls featured all Belgians, docile, patient and hard-working draft horses with well-muscled heavy bodies. The competition pitted teamsters and horses against a heavy sled loaded with hundreds of 35-pound cinderblocks, Teams were required to pull the sled of concrete blocks 27 1/2 feet. The weight gradually was increased until the team that pulled the heaviest load the farthest wins. The competition at the Farm Show, dating to 1939, is considered the World Series of horse pulling. Few said she was thrilled to be part of it. I bathed Dick and Diamond before we got here, she said. Now its time to work. Assisted by her pit crew of teamster Bobby Howard of Acme and Averi Bassett of Shermans Dale, Few took her horses out on the New Holland Arena floor. She then competed against five other heavyweight division teams, each pair weighing more than 3,325 pounds. The competition began with 5,450 pounds of cinderblocks in the sled. When all six teams made the pull, the weight was increased to 6,600 pounds. Scott Enslins team didnt complete the pull and came in fifth. Fews team had trouble when the weight reached 7,850 pounds. Despite three attempts, they could only pull the sled 10 feet and 1 inch. Few said she wasnt disappointed to finish fift. It was a good contest, she said. Ill be back. The other teams battled it out as the weight increased to 8,150 pounds, then 9,050 pounds and finally 9,650 pounds. By then a pair of Westmoreland County brothers Keith and Scott Brown of Acme battled it out while two of their other brothers, Rick and Charlie, served as pit crews for both. In the end, Scott Browns team of Pistol and Jerry made the full pull while Keith Browns team of Cap and Hank could only pull 18 feet 10 inches. The brothers, whose horse pulling skills have made them a Farm Show horse pulling family dynasty, congratulated each other. We all grew up with horses, Scott Brown said. We help each other and root for each other. As one teamster said, teamwork and spirit count but it takes brute strength to win. The Brown horses and teamsters certainly have that. Photos: Scenes from the 107th Pennsylvania Farm Show Tuesday in Harrisburg With the start of the new year, Mineral Area College is preparing to open an Early Learning Academy later this month for children ages 2-5. Located outside the main entrance to the Park Hills-based community college, Director Jennifer Sikes describes the academy as an innovative new preschool. Located between the Missouri State Highway Patrol and Serenity HospiceCare, the facility will utilize a play-based curriculum. We are still planning on opening in January, said Sikes. Our target date is Jan. 17th, but we have to wait to meet with our compliance officer on Jan. 9th to receive the all clear. Sikes explained that current research shows that children who play have brains that are 20% larger than students who do not play. At the academy, children will develop a sense of responsibility for each other and their natural environment. Our highly-qualified teachers will be prepared to support children at all levels of learning with the ability to make accommodations in order to help each child build confidence in their own unique gifts, Sikes said. At a recent open house held at the academy, guests were given a chance to tour the recently remodeled, ADA-compliant facility designed to meet the needs of all children. Our three classrooms each feature multiple learning and activity areas, high-tech Promethean interactive learning displays and reading nooks, Sikes said. Our flexible common area serves as a group learning space for meditation and will then become our dining space, where meals will be served family-style to help children develop important life skills. Plus, children love our child-sized sinks and restroom facilities. Following the tour of the facilities, Dr. Gilgour explained how the Early Learning Academy came to be. MAC just turned 100, and were now starting our second century of serving this community. In my mind, its not only a new century, but its a new era at MAC. You drive around this campus, and you see all the things that are happening, all the things that are going on. It really happened because of the people we have here that have ideas, that have plans, that have visions of what this place is going to look like. This is a great example of it because Ive been here three-and-a-half years now, and not too long after I started, Jennifer [Sikes] came into my office and said she had a plan. You know, a lot of people come into my office, and they have plans. Theyre not developed too much theyre just ideas. This was a plan. Jennifer had every aspect of this place worked out to the letter. She had every question answered that I had. She had all kinds of documents and budget information and all kinds of things to make this a reality. For me, its just been three years, and just to see this is really impressive and really, again, speaks to what is happening at MAC and the difference that were making in this community. Sikes said, Were excited about the innovative curriculum we have here and all of the opportunities for families to stay connected and be involved and make sure were giving high-quality instruction and high-quality learning and being intentional with it and just growing a beautiful culture here at MAC and the learning academy. We are still accepting enrollment and it is for community, personnel, or students in need of high quality care for their children ages 2-5 years old who have been potty-trained. The learning academys hours are 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday-Friday. Extended Care continues through 6 p.m. Extended Care is $25 weekly, with all children to be picked up by 6 p.m. A limited number of childcare subsidies will be accepted. For more information, contact Jennifer Sikes, director, at 573-518-2142 or email EarlyLearning@MineralArea.edu. The East Missouri Action Agency (EMAA) is missing a passenger bus, and thousands of dollars worth of tools after thieves reportedly visited the organization's private backlot on Parkway Drive in Park Hills on Sunday. Police said video surveillance captured the thefts and other EMAA vehicles being damaged. EMAA is one of several recent theft victims in a string of related instances, and authorities believe multiple individuals could be involved. Officials are looking for information leading to the person or persons responsible. EMAA Executive Director Keri McCrorey said the burglary occurred Sunday morning, with the suspects returning to the property a second time a few hours later in another stolen automobile. At about 8:33 a.m. on Sunday, McCrorey said EMAAs security cameras captured a person driving a stolen Ford F-250 truck into the agencys private backlot. The male could reportedly be seen on video breaking out windows of EMAA vehicles, prying open trailers/campers, and stealing tools used by the non-profit organization for maintenance on area homes. McCrorey estimated the stolen tools to be valued at $3,000-$4,000. According to police, a passenger bus donated to EMAA for use in transporting residents of their community shelter was taken by the criminals. Staff at EMAA reported that the person returned to the property around 12:15 p.m., this time driving a Toyota 4Runner SUV. Park Hills Police Chief Richard McFarland said the subjects responsible for stealing the bus left a stolen Ford F-250 truck in EMAAs parking lot and left the lot in a stolen SUV, a Toyota 4Runner. The SUV was later recovered in the area of Wash and Watts streets in Park Hills, according to the chief. He said officers found the Toyota with license plates stolen from a local church. McFarland noted that the church had recently reported a van and trailer stolen. Police later recovered the van in Wortham. McFarland said things got more convoluted as officers took a report of a stolen green Ford F-250, different from the one left at EMAAs lot. The second Ford truck was reportedly taken from the church adjacent to the Park Hills address where the Toyota 4Runner was found. That F-250 was involved in stealing a blue Ford Explorer in Bonne Terre on video, the chief explained. Then that blue Ford Explorer was pulled over, and the driver was arrested in Sauget, Illinois. And inside that Explorer were items that belonged to the gentleman that had the first F-250 stolen from the church. Basically, what Im saying is it links all these thefts together, McFarland added. So far, the chief said they have recovered the Toyota 4Runner, one of the two Ford F-250 trucks, along with another vehicle. So we have recovered three vehicles, two of which were stolen out of Jefferson County from the same person at the same time, he said. So there's obviously a theft ring going on. There are multiple people involved. The one person that was arrested [in Sauget, Illinois] had an address out of Cahokia, Illinois, McFarland mentioned. And there's a detective from the St. Francois County Sheriff's Department who's going to go up and speak to him tomorrow (Thursday). It's been kind of a joint effort from all of our local agencies, which is fantastic because we've all been hit by these guys, he said. So it's nice when we all work together and share information and try to get these resolved for these victims. McFarland urged anyone with information that could aid in the investigation to contact the Park Hills Police Department at 573-431-3122 or through Central Dispatch at 431-3131. Colonel Eric T. Olson, superintendent of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, announces that 19 troopers graduated from the Patrols Law Enforcement Academy Dec. 22. The 115th Recruit Class reported to the Academy on July 5. The new troopers report to duty in their assigned troops on Jan. 9. Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe provided the keynote address. Director Sandra K. Karsten, Missouri Department of Public Safety, and Colonel Eric T. Olson also addressed the class during the graduation. The Honorable Patricia Breckenridge, Supreme Court of Missouri, administered the Oath of Office to the new troopers. Among those troopers are Russell Matthews of Fredericktown who will be assigned to Troop H Zone 1, Atchison/Holt Counties. After nearly a week behind bars for allegedly stealing textbooks from a lecture hall at the University of Virginia engineering building, Charles Lewis Hickman, 62, emerged from jail Tuesday afternoon. UVa police allege that Hickman used a key to enter a room in Thornton Hall on the night of Jan. 4 and take eight textbooks valued at $1,250. In addition to a misdemeanor trespassing charge, the Madison County resident has been charged with three felonies: burglary, grand larceny, and larceny with intent to sell. In Virginia, theft of property worth more than $1,000 is considered grand larceny, a felony. Appearing on a video link from the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail Tuesday morning, Hickman appeared calm as he listened to his defense attorney, Jonathan Packard from the Office of the Public Defender. He has no violence in his history, Packard told retired Judge William Barkley, who was substituting in Albemarle General District Court. Prosecutor Susan Baumgartner offered no objection as Judge Barkley set a $5,000 surety bail, which required no cash to be posted by the man, a self-employed landscaper. Hickman left the jail 12 minutes after noon Tuesday, according to the jails records department. The arrest report by UVa police officer Beckett Thelen alleges that Hickman used a key to gain access to room no. 303 in Thornton Hall, which is a 100-person lecture hall in the engineering school. The report alleges that an officer debriefed but did not detain Hickman after getting a call about the incursion from someone watching surveillance video from home. But after professor Zongli Lin reviewed the video, Hickman was again approached, this time near the intersection of Ivy Road and Emmet Street, the report alleges. Officer Thelen noted that he then read Hickman his Miranda rights and found a cooperative subject who directed the officer both to the missing books and to a set of keys. During an initial bail hearing last week, another judge, citing Hickmans five-year probation on a year-ago burglary conviction in Harrisonburg/Rockingham Circuit Court, declined to offer an immediate bail. It could be a blessing in disguise, said legal analyst David Heilberg, a veteran of the local courts. Sometimes locking someone up for a few days sends a message. Bail conditions include a directive to stay away from UVa and the professor and require Hickman to register with Offender Aid and Restoration, a non-profit group that supports people charged with crimes. Upon their exit from the courtroom Tuesday, Hickmans wife and his attorney declined comment. Casting has been unveiled for the new touring production of The Time Machine. A retelling of the novel by H.G. Wells, written by Steven Canny and John Nicholson, the Original Theatre and New Wolsey Theatre production will open in late February in Ipswich before a national tour. The UK premiere production is directed by Orla O'Loughlin, with Fred Meller acting as designer. Further creatives are to be revealed for the piece, which combines science fiction with science fact. Set to star in the show are Dave Hearn, founding member of the award-winning company Mischief (The Play That Goes Wrong), as well as Amy Revelle (Offside) and award-winning performer Michael Dylan (Wilf). After opening at the New Wolsey the show will visit Derby, York, Eastbourne, Malvern, Bolton and Bath. Hit musical Eugenius! is set to return in a brand-new form this spring. The show, penned by Ben Adams and Chris Wilkins, has been seen in many different forms over the years, with productions at The London Palladium and two runs at The Other Palace in Victoria. Billed as a love-letter to comic-book culture and '80s nostalgia, the piece's album has already proved a major hit on streaming platforms. It was nominated for five WhatsOnStage Awards including Best New Musical in 2019, and in 2020 was streamed online to raise funds for charity. The new run of the reworked iteration of the show opens in previews at the Turbine Theatre in Battersea on 17 March 2023, with gala nights on 21 and 22 March. The run is set to end on 28 May 2023. Casting and creative team for the musical are to be revealed. Brigadier General Bruno Helluy, chief of staff of UNIFIL, tries to write with a Chinese writing brush. BEIJING, Jan.11 -- On January 8, local time, Brigadier General Bruno Helluy, chief of staff of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), leading a 30-member delegation, came to the Chinese camp stationed in the south Lebanese village of Hinnieh to celebrate the upcoming Chinese lunar new year. He communicated with the Chinese peacekeepers, learnt about the Chinese Spring Festival in terms of origin and customs, and watched their performances of Chinese dragon dance, lion dance, martial arts and Chinese tea-cooking art on the spot. After that, he wrote Spring Festival couplets, made paper-cuts for window decorations, and wrapped dumplings together with the Chinese peacekeepers. Brig. Gen. Bruno Helluy expressed his joy in visiting the Chinese camp and participating in those activities, from which he had a deeper understanding of Chinese culture. This is a good platform for people from different countries to get together, exchange and learn from each other, he said. A Russian peacekeeping officer working in the UNIFIL learns to make dumplings. Flights out of Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport were delayed as long as three hours Wednesday morning after an overnight system outage roiled Federal Aviation Administration operations nationwide. More than 9,000 flights to, from and within the U.S. were delayed due to a failure within the FAAs Air Missions System, which allows airports to send alerts to pilots and engineers. The FAA has said that, while an investigation is ongoing, the outage appears linked to a corrupted computer file. The FAA said in a statement issued at 7:15 a.m. on Wednesday that it had grounded all flights as a result of the outage. This is unprecedented, Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport CEO Melinda Crawford told The Daily Progress Wednesday. There hasnt been a nationwide ground stop since 9/11. Four out of 16 flights scheduled to depart from CHO Wednesday morning were delayed from 45 minutes to three hours before regular air traffic resumed, the airport said. Although nationwide groundings are rare, Crawford said there are best practices in place to help travelers. The protocol for when that happens is for us to make sure that the restaurant and gift shops are staffed and that concessionaire is there, Crawford said. We also have our staff and customer service individuals out and ready to help, although they cannot answer questions for the airline. Normal operations at most of the nations 19,200 airports began to resume by late Wednesday morning. However, several of the larger airports with connections to CHO were reporting delays and cancellations well into the afternoon. Those included LaGuardia Airport in New York, Dulles International Airport outside of Washington, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Charlotte Douglas International Airport. President Biden ordered the Department of Transportation to conduct a full investigation into the causes of the FAA outage, the presidents press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a tweet Wednesday morning. Jean-Pierre also said that there is no evidence of a cyberattack. By Wednesday evening, the FAA said early evidence suggested a damaged database file was behind the system failure. The FAA is continuing a thorough review to determine the root cause of the Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system outage, the agency said in a statement. Our preliminary work has traced the outage to a damaged database file. At this time, there is no evidence of a cyberattack. The FAA is working diligently to further pinpoint the causes of this issue and take all needed steps to prevent this kind of disruption from happening again. The investigation is ongoing. Lillian Hellman's 1941 call to arms Watch on the Rhine hasn't been seen in London for 40 years. It is a fascinating play but a profoundly problematic one and it is to the Donmar's enormous credit that it has brought it back into the light, in all its knotty difficulty. Its plot is relatively simple. Sara (Caitlin Fitzgerald), the daughter of a wealthy Washington family, returns home from Germany after 20 years away. She brings with her a German husband Kurt (Mark Waschke), and three preternaturally sophisticated children. While her mother Fanny (played with anxious hauteur by Patricia Hodge) and brother David (Geoffrey Streatfeild) greet her with wary affection, another refugee in the house, a Romanian count Teck (John Light) down on his luck encounters them with suspicion. While his wife (Carylss Peer) is confessing her love for David, Teck is playing poker with fascist sympathisers and keeping an eye on the main chance. He quickly sees a way of improving his fortunes by passing on information on Kurt, an anti-fascist who is deeply involved in the German resistance to Hitler. What unfolds is both a physical and a moral conflict about the need to take a stand a clear metaphor for America's reluctance to involve itself in the Second World War. Black and white slides at the beginning and end of the production make the play's significance chillingly clear. The date it is set is crucial: the action takes place in July 1940 and the US only enters the war in December 1941. All of this makes Watch on the Rhine pertinent historical viewing. It is riveting to see Hellman without the benefit of hindsight, making her plea for her country to fight against fascism and to choose good over evil, via Kurt's noble stance and his heroic commitment to put his own life and family in the balance. "My children are not the only children in the world," he says. Patricia Hodge in Watch on the Rhine Manuel Harlan The play still feels urgent, but its difficulties arise because of its form and the way Hellman chose to handle the subject matter. She was both Jewish and Communist, yet the only time Jewishness is mentioned in her play is to explicitly explain that Kurt is not Jewish. He has somehow to stand for all the resistance to Hitler without ever mentioning a prime reason to fight. This too springs from the circumstances of the writing Hellman did not want to be accused of special pleading, especially since a strong strand of antisemitism was part of the reason that America was holding its neutral position. But it surrounds the play with a whiff of untruth, which subtly undermines its powerful warnings about the dangers of unopposed extremism. It's also written very much as a drawing room comedy which gradually morphs from a family drama about a homecoming after a period of estrangement full of witty lines from the all-knowing servant Anise (an excellent Kate Duchene) and fractious squabbling between mother and son into a more melodramatic and tragic struggle. Director Ellen McDougall doesn't quite resolve the tension; there are moments when you sense her struggle in matching her commitment to the play's subject matter with its inert, traditional form. Basia Binkowska's setting almost makes the issue concrete, combining an elegant drawing room, covered with a wallpaper view of the Rhine, with a more stylised frame. But there are excellent performances from Streatfeild as the unhappy son, and from Waschke, bringing shafts of realism to the heavily metaphorical Kurt. Fitzgerald too as Sara has to be unrealistically self-sacrificing and self-possessed which she does with some conviction while David Webber weaves something out of absolutely nothing as the black butler Joseph. For all its oddity, and over-writing, the play grips. It's rare to feel you are watching a plea from the frontline of history. This alone makes Watch on the Rhine worth reviving. It may not come back for another 40 years, but it feels like an important piece in the history of theatre. Thank you for reading! To read this article and more, subscribe now for as little as $1.99. | COLUMBIA HOUSING AND REDEVELOPMENT CORPORATION The CHRC 2023 Board Meeting schedule is as follows: The CHRC Board Meetings convene on the Fourth Thursday at 4:30p.m. in the CHRC Board Room unless otherwise scheduled. Please check the CHRC website www.chrc-tn.org for the most current meeting information. JANUARY 26TH 4:30 PM FEBRUARY 23TH 4:30 PM MARCH 23TH 4:30 PM APRIL 27TH 4:30 PM MAY 25TH 4:30 PM JUNE 22ND 4:30 PM JULY 27TH 4:30 PM AUGUST 24TH 4:30 PM SEPTEMBER 28TH 4:30 PM OCTOBER 26TH 4:30 PM NOVEMBER 16TH 4:30 PM (3RD THURSDAY, DUE TO HOLIDAY) DECEMBER 14TH 4:30 PM (3RD THURSDAY, DUE TO HOLIDAY) | PUBLIC NOTICE Regular meetings of the Maury County Chamber & Economic Alliance Board of Directors will be held at 8:00 AM, as follows: February 9, 2023 Williams Funeral Home 2517 Trotwood Ave, Columbia, TN 38401 May 11, 2023 Mt Pleasant Grille 100 S Main St, Mt Pleasant, TN 38474 August 10, 2023 Hampton Inn Spring Hill 2052 Crossings Blvd, Spring Hill, TN 37174 November 9, 2023 Williams Funeral Home 2517 Trotwood Ave, Columbia, TN 38401 The Meetings are open to the public. Russ Adcox, Chairman Maury County Chamber & Economic Alliance | LEGAL NOTICE TO DELINQUENT 2021 TAXPAYERS CITY OF MOUNT PLEASANT You are advised that after February 1, 2023, additional penalties and costs will be imposed in consequence of suits to be filed for enforcement of the lien for taxes against land for prior tax years and for costs for special assessments. Until the filing of such suits, taxes and costs may be paid to the City of Mount Pleasant at City Hall, 100 Public Square, Mt. Pleasant, TN 38474. This the 11th day of January, 2023. CITY OF MOUNT PLEASANT, TENNESSEE By: Kori Bledsoe Jones, City Attorney Jan 11, 18 2tc | CITY OF MT PLEASANT 2023 GARBAGE PICKUP HOLIDAY SCHEDULE CITY HOLIDAY HOLIDAY DATE TRASH WILL BE COLLECTED ON: Martin Luther King Day Monday January 16, 2023 Tuesday, January 17, 2023 Presidents Day Monday February 20, 2023 Tuesday, February 21, 2023 Good Friday Friday April 7, 2023 Thursday, April 6, 2023 Memorial Day Monday May 29, 2023 Tuesday, May 30, 2023 Juneteenth Monday June 19, 2023 Tuesday, June 20, 2023 Independence Day Tuesday July 4, 2023 Tuesday, July 5, 2023 Labor Day Monday September 4, 2023 Wednesday, September 6, 2023 Veterans Day Friday-November 10, 2023 Thursday, November 9, 2023 Thanksgiving CITY HALL CLOSED Thursday & Friday Monday & Tuesday routes picked November 23 & 24, 2023 up on Monday, November 20, 2023; Wednesday & Thursday routes picked up on Tuesday, November 21, 2023; Friday routes picked up on Wednesday, November 22, 2023. Christmas CITY HALL CLOSED Friday & Monday Friday routes will be picked up on December 22 & 25, 2023 Thursday, December 21, 2023. Monday routes will be picked up on Tuesday, December 26, 2023. New Years Day CITY HALL CLOSED Monday January 1, 2024 Monday routes will be picked up on Tuesday, January 2, 2024 | Maury County Chancery Court 41 Public Square Columbia, TN 38401 (931)-375-1307 Notice to Creditors As Required by TCA 30-2-306 Case Number 60CH1-2022-PR-368 Estate of Talmas Lee Gray, Sr., Deceased Notice is hereby given that on December 4 of 2022, Letters Testamentary (or of Administration as the case may be) in respect of the estate of Talmas Lee Gray, Sr, who died 11/13/2022 were issued to the undersigned by the Maury County Chancery Court of Maury County, Tennessee. All persons, resident and non-resident, having claims, matured or unmatured against the estate are required to file the same with the Clerk of the above named Court on or before the earlier of the dates prescribed in (1) or (2), otherwise claims will be forever barred: (1) (A) Four (4) months from the date of the first publication (or posting, as the case may be) of this Notice if the creditor received an actual copy of the Notice to Creditors at least sixty (60) before the date of the date that is four (4) months from the date of the first publication (or posting); or (B) Sixty (60) days from the date of the creditor received an actual copy of the Notice to Creditors, if the creditor received the copy of the Notice less than sixty (60) days prior to the date that is four (4) months from the date of the first publication (or posting) as described in (1)(A); or (2) Twelve (12) months from the decedents date of death. This the 4th day of December, 2022 Talmas Lee Gray, Jr. Executor, Administrator, Personal Representative Estate of Talmas Lee Gray, Sr., Jennifer F. Franks Attorney Larry M. Roe, Jr. Clerk & Master/Deputy Clerk 01/11/2023 01/18/2023 | Maury County Chancery Court 41 Public Square Columbia, TN 38401 (931)-375-1307 Notice to Creditors As Required by TCA 30-2-306 Case Number 60CH1-2022-PR-373 Estate of Fate Tommy Hanvy, Deceased Notice is hereby given that on December 8 of 2022, Letters Testamentary (or of Administration as the case may be) in respect of the estate of Fate Tommy Hanvy, who died 12/07/2022 were issued to the undersigned by the Maury County Chancery Court of Maury County, Tennessee. All persons, resident and non-resident, having claims, matured or unmatured against the estate are required to file the same with the Clerk of the above named Court on or before the earlier of the dates prescribed in (1) or (2), otherwise claims will be forever barred: (1) (A) Four (4) months from the date of the first publication (or posting, as the case may be) of this Notice if the creditor received an actual copy of the Notice to Creditors at least sixty (60) before the date of the date that is four (4) months from the date of the first publication (or posting); or (B) Sixty (60) days from the date of the creditor received an actual copy of the Notice to Creditors, if the creditor received the copy of the Notice less than sixty (60) days prior to the date that is four (4) months from the date of the first publication (or posting) as described in (1)(A); or (2) Twelve (12) months from the decedents date of death. This the 8th day of December, 2022 Lorenza Dressel Hanvy Executor, Administrator, Personal Representative Estate of Fate Tommy Hanvy, Jerry A. Bridenbaugh Attorney Larry M. Roe, Jr. Clerk & Master/Deputy Clerk 01/11/2023 01/18/2023 | Maury County Chancery Court 41 Public Square Columbia, TN 38401 (931)-375-1307 Notice to Creditors As Required by TCA 30-2-306 Case Number 60CH1-2022-PR-374 Estate of James Paul Moser, Deceased Notice is hereby given that on December 8 of 2022, Letters Testamentary (or of Administration as the case may be) in respect of the estate of James Paul Moser, who died 11/10/2022 were issued to the undersigned by the Maury County Chancery Court of Maury County, Tennessee. All persons, resident and non-resident, having claims, matured or unmatured against the estate are required to file the same with the Clerk of the above named Court on or before the earlier of the dates prescribed in (1) or (2), otherwise claims will be forever barred: (1) (A) Four (4) months from the date of the first publication (or posting, as the case may be) of this Notice if the creditor received an actual copy of the Notice to Creditors at least sixty (60) before the date of the date that is four (4) months from the date of the first publication (or posting); or (B) Sixty (60) days from the date of the creditor received an actual copy of the Notice to Creditors, if the creditor received the copy of the Notice less than sixty (60) days prior to the date that is four (4) months from the date of the first publication (or posting) as described in (1)(A); or (2) Twelve (12) months from the decedents date of death. This the 8th day of December, 2022 James Paul Moser, II Executor, Administrator, Personal Representative Estate of James Paul Moser, Mark Free Attorney Larry M. Roe, Jr. Clerk & Master/Deputy Clerk 01/11/2023 01/18/2023 | Maury County Chancery Court 41 Public Square Columbia, TN 38401 (931)-375-1307 Notice to Creditors As Required by TCA 30-2-306 Case Number 60CH1-2022-PR-375 Estate of Gary Lee McKennon Jr, Deceased Notice is hereby given that on December 13, of 2022, Letters Testamentary (or of Administration as the case may be) in respect of the estate of Gary Lee Mckennon Jr, who died 11/29/2022 were issued to the undersigned by the Maury County Chancery Court of Maury County, Tennessee. All persons, resident and non-resident, having claims, matured or unmatured against the estate are required to file the same with the Clerk of the above named Court on or before the earlier of the dates prescribed in (1) or (2), otherwise claims will be forever barred: (1) (A) Four (4) months from the date of the first publication (or posting, as the case may be) of this Notice if the creditor received an actual copy of the Notice to Creditors at least sixty (60) before the date of the date that is four (4) months from the date of the first publication (or posting); or (B) Sixty (60) days from the date of the creditor received an actual copy of the Notice to Creditors, if the creditor received the copy of the Notice less than sixty (60) days prior to the date that is four (4) months from the date of the first publication (or posting) as described in (1)(A); or (2) Twelve (12) months from the decedents date of death. This the 13th day of December, 2022 Courtney Denea McKennon Executor Estate of Gary Lee McKennon Jr, Alan C. Betz Attorney Larry M. Roe, Jr. Clerk & Master/Deputy Clerk 01/11/2023 01/18/2023 | Maury County Chancery Court 41 Public Square Columbia, TN 38401 (931)-375-1307 Notice to Creditors As Required by TCA 30-2-306 Case Number 60CH1-2022-PR-378 Estate of Kenneth L. Jenkins, Deceased Notice is hereby given that on December 18, of 2022, Letters Testamentary (or of Administration as the case may be) in respect of the estate of Kenneth L. Jenkins, who died 11/05/2022 were issued to the undersigned by the Maury County Chancery Court of Maury County, Tennessee. All persons, resident and non-resident, having claims, matured or unmatured against the estate are required to file the same with the Clerk of the above named Court on or before the earlier of the dates prescribed in (1) or (2), otherwise claims will be forever barred: (1) (A) Four (4) months from the date of the first publication (or posting, as the case may be) of this Notice if the creditor received an actual copy of the Notice to Creditors at least sixty (60) before the date of the date that is four (4) months from the date of the first publication (or posting); or (B) Sixty (60) days from the date of the creditor received an actual copy of the Notice to Creditors, if the creditor received the copy of the Notice less than sixty (60) days prior to the date that is four (4) months from the date of the first publication (or posting) as described in (1)(A); or (2) Twelve (12) months from the decedents date of death. This the 18th day of December, 2022 Debbie Huffman and Reba McCoy Executor, Administrator, Personal Representative Estate of Kenneth L. Jenkins, C. Anthony Edwards Attorney Larry M. Roe, Jr. Clerk & Master/Deputy Clerk 01/11/2023 01/18/2023 | Maury County Chancery Court 41 Public Square Columbia, TN 38401 (931)-375-1307 Notice to Creditors As Required by TCA 30-2-306 Case Number 60CH1-2022-PR-379 Estate of Nancy L. Penrod, Deceased Notice is hereby given that on December 18, of 2022, Letters Testamentary (or of Administration as the case may be) in respect of the estate of Nancy L. Penrod, who died 11/24/2022 were issued to the undersigned by the Maury County Chancery Court of Maury County, Tennessee. All persons, resident and non-resident, having claims, matured or unmatured against the estate are required to file the same with the Clerk of the above named Court on or before the earlier of the dates prescribed in (1) or (2), otherwise claims will be forever barred: (1) (A) Four (4) months from the date of the first publication (or posting, as the case may be) of this Notice if the creditor received an actual copy of the Notice to Creditors at least sixty (60) before the date of the date that is four (4) months from the date of the first publication (or posting); or (B) Sixty (60) days from the date of the creditor received an actual copy of the Notice to Creditors, if the creditor received the copy of the Notice less than sixty (60) days prior to the date that is four (4) months from the date of the first publication (or posting) as described in (1)(A); or (2) Twelve (12) months from the decedents date of death. This the 18th day of December, 2022 Michael D. Penrod Executor, Administrator, Personal Representative Estate of Nancy L. Penrod, Jennifer F. Franks Attorney Larry M. Roe, Jr. Clerk & Master/Deputy Clerk 01/11/2023 01/18/2023 | Maury County Chancery Court 41 Public Square Columbia, TN 38401 (931)-375-1307 Notice to Creditors As Required by TCA 30-2-306 Case Number 60CH1-2022-PR-383 Estate of Norma Jean Hughes, Deceased Notice is hereby given that on December 28, of 2022, Letters Testamentary (or of Administration as the case may be) in respect of the estate of Norma Jean Hughes, who died 11/20/2022 were issued to the undersigned by the Maury County Chancery Court of Maury County, Tennessee. All persons, resident and non-resident, having claims, matured or unmatured against the estate are required to file the same with the Clerk of the above named Court on or before the earlier of the dates prescribed in (1) or (2), otherwise claims will be forever barred: (1) (A) Four (4) months from the date of the first publication (or posting, as the case may be) of this Notice if the creditor received an actual copy of the Notice to Creditors at least sixty (60) before the date of the date that is four (4) months from the date of the first publication (or posting); or (B) Sixty (60) days from the date of the creditor received an actual copy of the Notice to Creditors, if the creditor received the copy of the Notice less than sixty (60) days prior to the date that is four (4) months from the date of the first publication (or posting) as described in (1)(A); or (2) Twelve (12) months from the decedents date of death. This the 28th day of December, 2022 Janet E. Webb Executor, Administrator, Personal Representative Estate of Norma Jean Hughes, Beverly Rayburn Attorney Larry M. Roe, Jr. Clerk & Master/Deputy Clerk 01/11/2023 01/18/2023 | Maury County Chancery Court 41 Public Square Columbia, TN 38401 (931)-375-1307 Notice to Creditors As Required by TCA 30-2-306 Case Number 60CH1-2022-PR-384 Estate of Jack Clarke, Deceased Notice is hereby given that on December 28, of 2022, Letters Testamentary (or of Administration as the case may be) in respect of the estate of Jack Clarke, who died 02/19/2022 were issued to the undersigned by the Maury County Chancery Court of Maury County, Tennessee. All persons, resident and non-resident, having claims, matured or unmatured against the estate are required to file the same with the Clerk of the above named Court on or before the earlier of the dates prescribed in (1) or (2), otherwise claims will be forever barred: (1) (A) Four (4) months from the date of the first publication (or posting, as the case may be) of this Notice if the creditor received an actual copy of the Notice to Creditors at least sixty (60) before the date of the date that is four (4) months from the date of the first publication (or posting); or (B) Sixty (60) days from the date of the creditor received an actual copy of the Notice to Creditors, if the creditor received the copy of the Notice less than sixty (60) days prior to the date that is four (4) months from the date of the first publication (or posting) as described in (1)(A); or (2) Twelve (12) months from the decedents date of death. This the 28th day of December, 2022 Betty Jo Clarke Executor, Administrator, Personal Representative Estate of Jack Clarke, Elizabeth R. Sykes Attorney Larry M. Roe, Jr. Clerk & Master/Deputy Clerk 01/11/2023 01/18/2023 | Maury County Chancery Court 41 Public Square Columbia, TN 38401 (931)-375-1307 Notice to Creditors As Required by TCA 30-2-306 Case Number 60CH1-2022-PR-386 Estate of John Allen Elias, Deceased Notice is hereby given that on December 28, of 2022, Letters Testamentary (or of Administration as the case may be) in respect of the estate of John Allen Elias, who died 11/14/2022 were issued to the undersigned by the Maury County Chancery Court of Maury County, Tennessee. All persons, resident and non-resident, having claims, matured or unmatured against the estate are required to file the same with the Clerk of the above named Court on or before the earlier of the dates prescribed in (1) or (2), otherwise claims will be forever barred: (1) (A) Four (4) months from the date of the first publication (or posting, as the case may be) of this Notice if the creditor received an actual copy of the Notice to Creditors at least sixty (60) before the date of the date that is four (4) months from the date of the first publication (or posting); or (B) Sixty (60) days from the date of the creditor received an actual copy of the Notice to Creditors, if the creditor received the copy of the Notice less than sixty (60) days prior to the date that is four (4) months from the date of the first publication (or posting) as described in (1)(A); or (2) Twelve (12) months from the decedents date of death. This the 28th day of December, 2022 Leah E. Fuller Executor, Administrator, Personal Representative Estate of John Allen Elias, Leah E. Fuller- Pro Se Attorney Larry M. Roe, Jr. Clerk & Master/Deputy Clerk 01/11/2023 01/18/2023 | Maury County Chancery Court 41 Public Square Columbia, TN 38401 (931)-375-1307 Notice to Creditors As Required by TCA 30-2-306 Case Number 60CH1-2022-PR-387 Estate of Edith Doromal Smith, Deceased Notice is hereby given that on December 28, of 2022, Letters Testamentary (or of Administration as the case may be) in respect of the estate of Edith Doromal Smith, who died 08/23/2022 were issued to the undersigned by the Maury County Chancery Court of Maury County, Tennessee. All persons, resident and non-resident, having claims, matured or unmatured against the estate are required to file the same with the Clerk of the above named Court on or before the earlier of the dates prescribed in (1) or (2), otherwise claims will be forever barred: (1) (A) Four (4) months from the date of the first publication (or posting, as the case may be) of this Notice if the creditor received an actual copy of the Notice to Creditors at least sixty (60) before the date of the date that is four (4) months from the date of the first publication (or posting); or (B) Sixty (60) days from the date of the creditor received an actual copy of the Notice to Creditors, if the creditor received the copy of the Notice less than sixty (60) days prior to the date that is four (4) months from the date of the first publication (or posting) as described in (1)(A); or (2) Twelve (12) months from the decedents date of death. This the 28th day of December, 2022 Susan Marie Thomas Executor, Administrator, Personal Representative Estate of Edith Doromal Smith, Kate Nyquist Attorney Larry M. Roe, Jr. Clerk & Master/Deputy Clerk 01/11/2023 01/18/2023 | Maury County Chancery Court 41 Public Square Columbia, TN 38401 (931)-375-1307 Notice to Creditors As Required by TCA 30-2-306 Case Number 60CH1-2022-PR-388 Estate of Lester R. Rowlett, Deceased Notice is hereby given that on December 28, of 2022, Letters Testamentary (or of Administration as the case may be) in respect of the estate of Lester R. Rowlett,, who died 11/21/2022 were issued to the undersigned by the Maury County Chancery Court of Maury County, Tennessee. All persons, resident and non-resident, having claims, matured or unmatured against the estate are required to file the same with the Clerk of the above named Court on or before the earlier of the dates prescribed in (1) or (2), otherwise claims will be forever barred: (1) (A) Four (4) months from the date of the first publication (or posting, as the case may be) of this Notice if the creditor received an actual copy of the Notice to Creditors at least sixty (60) before the date of the date that is four (4) months from the date of the first publication (or posting); or (B) Sixty (60) days from the date of the creditor received an actual copy of the Notice to Creditors, if the creditor received the copy of the Notice less than sixty (60) days prior to the date that is four (4) months from the date of the first publication (or posting) as described in (1)(A); or (2) Twelve (12) months from the decedents date of death. This the 28th day of December, 2022 Tammy Adamson Executor, Administrator, Personal Representative Estate of Lester R. Rowlett, L. Robert Grefseng Attorney Larry M. Roe, Jr. Clerk & Master/Deputy Clerk 01/11/2023 01/18/2023 | Maury County Chancery Court 41 Public Square Columbia, TN 38401 (931)-375-1307 Notice to Creditors As Required by TCA 30-2-306 Case Number 60CH1-2022-PR-389 Estate of Knoxie J. Goad, Deceased Notice is hereby given that on December 28, of 2022, Letters Testamentary (or of Administration as the case may be) in respect of the estate of Knoxie J. Goad, who died 11/14/2022 were issued to the undersigned by the Maury County Chancery Court of Maury County, Tennessee. All persons, resident and non-resident, having claims, matured or unmatured against the estate are required to file the same with the Clerk of the above named Court on or before the earlier of the dates prescribed in (1) or (2), otherwise claims will be forever barred: (1) (A) Four (4) months from the date of the first publication (or posting, as the case may be) of this Notice if the creditor received an actual copy of the Notice to Creditors at least sixty (60) before the date of the date that is four (4) months from the date of the first publication (or posting); or (B) Sixty (60) days from the date of the creditor received an actual copy of the Notice to Creditors, if the creditor received the copy of the Notice less than sixty (60) days prior to the date that is four (4) months from the date of the first publication (or posting) as described in (1)(A); or (2) Twelve (12) months from the decedents date of death. This the 28th day of December, 2022 Donald J. Goad and Daniel P. Goad Executor, Administrator, Personal Representative Estate of Knoxie J. Goad, Tracy W. Moore Attorney Larry M. Roe, Jr. Clerk & Master/Deputy Clerk 01/11/2023 01/18/2023 | Maury County Chancery Court 41 Public Square Columbia, TN 38401 (931)-375-1307 Notice to Creditors As Required by TCA 30-2-306 Case Number 60CH1-2022-PR-390 Estate of Orville Grubb, Deceased Notice is hereby given that on December 28, of 2022, Letters Testamentary (or of Administration as the case may be) in respect of the estate of Orville Grubb, who died 07/21/2022 were issued to the undersigned by the Maury County Chancery Court of Maury County, Tennessee. All persons, resident and non-resident, having claims, matured or unmatured against the estate are required to file the same with the Clerk of the above named Court on or before the earlier of the dates prescribed in (1) or (2), otherwise claims will be forever barred: (1) (A) Four (4) months from the date of the first publication (or posting, as the case may be) of this Notice if the creditor received an actual copy of the Notice to Creditors at least sixty (60) before the date of the date that is four (4) months from the date of the first publication (or posting); or (B) Sixty (60) days from the date of the creditor received an actual copy of the Notice to Creditors, if the creditor received the copy of the Notice less than sixty (60) days prior to the date that is four (4) months from the date of the first publication (or posting) as described in (1)(A); or (2) Twelve (12) months from the decedents date of death. This the 28th day of December, 2022 Deborah ORourke Executor, Administrator, Personal Representative Estate of Orville Grubb,, Jake Hubbell Attorney Larry M. Roe, Jr. Clerk & Master/Deputy Clerk 01/11/2023 01/18/2023 | IN THE CHANCERY COURT FOR MAURY COUNTY, TENNESSEE AT COLUMBIA IN RE: ESTATE OF BUFORD KELLEY CASE NO. p-391-22 (DECEASED) PETITION REQUESTING PROBATE OF WILL AND APPOINTMENT OF EXECUTRIX Your Petitioner, Libby Heflen, would respectfully state unto the Court as follows: 1. That the decedent died testate a resident of Maury County, Tennessee on September 5, 2022, at the age of 82 having been born on February 12, 1940. 2. There is filed herewith and attached to this petition as Exhibit 1 a copy of the Last Will and Testament, the same being dated July 6, 2022 and attested by Aimee M. Anderson and Molly A. Murphy in which Libby Heflen was appointed Executrix without bond, and under which Libby Heflen, David Heflen, Cecil Kelley, Dan Goldman, Donna Goldman, Larry Heflen are the sole heirs of the estate. There is further filed herewith and attached hereto as Exhibit 2 to this petition a proposed order of probate. 3. As provided under Rule 37.01 of the Twenty-second Judicial Circuit, the following information with respect to property owned by the decedent is submitted: (a) The decedent owned real estate valued at $75,000.00. (b) The decedent owned the following personal property: 1) Checking account and coins valued at $10,850.00 2) 2006 Nissan Sentra valued at $2,000.00 3) Furniture valued at $3,300.00 4) Guns valued at 2,800.00 5) Pocket watch valued at $200.00 The personal property is thus held with the value as shown totaling $19,150.00 and real estate valued at $75,000.00 for a total estate value of $94,150.00. 4. Libby Heflen state that she has not been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor. Libby Heflens address is 1605 Columbia Ave., Columbia, TN and her birthdate is August 9, 1959. WHEREFORE, PREMISES CONSIDERED, PETITIONER PRAYS: 1. That at a hearing of the Last Will and Testament of Buford Kelley the copy of the Last Will and Testament be admitted to probate in common form and that Libby Heflen be appointed Executrix of the Estate without bond. 2. That the Petitioner have such other, further and general relief to which she may be entitled. Libby Heflen STATE OF TENNESSEE COUNTY OF MAURY Libby Heflen, being duly sworn, makes oath that the matters stated in the foregoing petition are true to the best of his knowledge, information, and belief. Libby Heflen Sworn to and subscribed before me on this the 20 day of December,2022. Beverly Kay Rayburn Notary Public My Commission Expires Nov. 20, 2024 | Preserved DNA evidence has allowed police to solve a 15-year-old sexual assault case in La Crosse, according to a criminal complaint filed Jan. 5 in La Crosse County Circuit Court. Mitchell Lisowski, 38, Blair, was charged with a single felony count of third-degree sexual assault. According to the complaint, a woman told La Crosse police in 2007 that she met Lisowski on a Safe Ride bus. She said Lisowski told her he was from Eau Claire, had gotten separated from friends and needed help relocating them. The woman said she allowed Lisowski into her apartment. After the two started kissing, she said Lisowski made unwanted sexual advances before forcing her into sexual intercourse despite her repeated objections. The woman went to a local hospital and submitted to a SANE exam. Police collected evidence from the scene, including a condom, and developed a DNA profile of a male but found no matches in state and local data bases. The complaint says a 2019 Dane County incident led to the DNA match. Lisowski was charged with criminal damage to property, criminal trespass and disorderly conduct but reached a deferred prosecution agreement in 2021. He was dismissed from the program a year later for failing to maintain contact, and the case was reopened. Lisowski pleaded guilty to two of the charges in April 2022 and was required to give a DNA sample as part of the plea. The La Crosse Police Department was notified in May 2022 that Lisowskis DNA matched the profile taken from the condom. Lisowski agreed to meet with police Oct. 26, 2022. The complaint says he waived his Miranda Rights. He told police he traveled often from Eau Claire to La Crosse in 2007 to meet with friends and likely had sexual intercourse with several different women during that span. He said carrying a condom was something he would have done at the time. The complaint says Lisowski was unable to recall a specific incident about meeting a woman on a bus and heading to her apartment. He told police he was a good person and wouldnt sexually assault anyone. When police informed him of the DNA match, the complaint says Lisowski began shaking and said, Im going to prison. Police notified the alleged victim about the DNA match. She told police she didnt want to pursue charges. Lisowski is free on a signature bond. His next court date is a Jan. 18 preliminary hearing. In Photos: The Great River Road in Wisconsin and Minnesota The Winona Human Rights Commission is sponsoring an essay contest for all area students in grades 9 through 12. The essay topic this year is Juneteenth. Prizes will be awarded as follows first place: $100; second place: $50; and third place: $25. The contest rules and entry form have been sent to teachers in the local schools, and are available on the city of Winona website. JUNEAU It may seem logical to adopt a strategic plan and then pursue the details, but some members of the Dodge County Board want both at once. The Executive Committee met Monday afternoon to decide what the next steps might be, and how to implement its new plan. Work on the plan began in May of 2021. Brett Remington of Blue Rock, WI, a consulting firm based in Mukwonago, led the discussion at meetings which were held monthly. The cost of the service was $12,000. Remington presented the countys strategic plan on Sept. 20, 2022. At that time it was postponed indefinitely amid a flood of questions related to the specifics of who, what, when, where, why and how. Although all board members are involved as a committee of the whole, incumbents and newly elected supervisors seemed at odds about what the next step should be. The purpose of the plan is to create a guide to identify the things that the county needs to do to become successful in the future, Remington summarized. Having a plan with a great set of ideas, absent accomplishment, is meaningless. The committee session on Monday began with an outline by County Administrator Cameron Clapper. The strategic plan maps a tentative route, he read. Further refining and development of detail will happen once Dodge County begins moving forward along the route. Some metrics for determining success are not yet included. These should be determined with the help of staff with expertise in the field. Once the county board moves to adopt this plan, staff will be able to dedicate time to finalizing these metrics for the board. He indicated that three top strategies were identified by the Executive Committee on Nov. 7. They include: coordinating cooperation of fire and Emergency Medical Services; funding and designing future highway projects; and organizing drug prevention, treatment and rehabilitation services relative to opioid addiction settlements. There are 11 total strategies outlined in the plan. They include: deploying county-wide, affordable fiber-optic broadband coverage; supporting childcare, daycare availability; and addressing the countys housing supply and demand. All goals will be pursued as time and funding allow. Some of these things were already working on, said committee member Rob Boelk. Clapper added, For example, work on Strategy 4 (Parks and Recreation) is well underway with the recent approval of American Rescue Plan Act (COVID-19 relief) to expand Ledge Park, a budgeted facility upgrade to other parks and forward movement on an update to the Dodge County Park and Open Space Plan. A form listing previous actions, financial impact, staff recommendations and attachments is included with Clappers draft document, giving a framework for recording progress. Where we need to be today is to affirm the three priorities that have been identified, to give Cameron some direction in how he drafts this document and to answer some of the questions that may come from the board about the plan, said committee chairman Dave Frohling. The process begins with a plan, not an action. The department heads become involved as we put the plan into action. They do the actual work of implementing the plan. Its a plan for the county board, added Donna Maly. It is not a plan for the department heads. That was a point of contention over and over when this was being developed. It will have an impact county-wide, but the plan is not for the county as a whole. I think an update to the board about where we are is quite appropriate, said Frohling. The board needs to know what has happened, what our challenges are and what we need to do to keep it on track. The strategic plan, with an outline for goal implementation, will be presented at the Jan. 17 board meeting. JUNEAU A Fond du Lac man was found guilty on Tuesday to multiple charges including holding a nurse hostage when he was being housed in Dodge County Jail and urging another woman to contact the nurse and persuade the nurse not to testify against him. Travis Bruemmer, 34, currently being housed in Columbia Correctional Institution, entered into a plea agreement with the Dodge County District Attorneys Office where he entered pleas to the three open cases against him in Dodge County. Bruemmer entered no contest pleas to a felony count of robbery with threat of force, felony count of false imprisonment, felony count of second degree recklessly endangering safety, felony count of battery by a prisoner, and felony intimidation of a witness. Dodge County Circuit Court Judge Kristine Snow found Bruemmer guilty and scheduled a telephone scheduling conference on Jan. 26. According to the criminal complaint: Bruemmer, who was being housed in the Dodge County Jail after being charged with felonies including robbery, was in contact with a health professional at Dodge County Jail May 19, 2021, when he attacked her. The health professional said Bruemmer had told her a day earlier that he did not feel he could make it through a 14-day quarantine in his cell alone. Bruemmer allegedly admitted to using methamphetamines and said he did not remember attacking the health professional. He said his last memory was leaving his cell to take a shower. Bruemmer allegedly mailed an envelope in August of 2021 to his mother and inside the envelope was an additional letter to his girlfriend. In that letter, Bruemmer asked the woman to make contact with the nurse and ask her not to show up to court and drop the charges. A murder-suicide in Aurora left two people dead and two children without their mother last week. Aurora Police responded to a domestic violence call at 3 p.m. Friday in the 3500 block of South Pitkin Circle, according to a news release. Responding officers found a 42-year-old man and 42-year-old woman in the driveway of the home with gunshot wounds. Both were pronounced dead at the scene. The Arapahoe County Coroner's Office identified the woman as Katherine Lee Peters, manner of death homicide, and the man as Robert Childers. The investigation is ongoing, but the Coroner's Officer said Childers' manner of death appears to be suicide. Peters leaves behind a 17-year-old daughter and 14-year-old son, according to police. In a press conference, Aurora Police Chief Art Acevedo said it appeared as though Childers, the children's stepfather, and Peters had a verbal argument that turned into a shooting. This incident is indicative of a widespread domestic violence issue across Colorado, Acevedo said. He urged victims to come forward so police can help them before it gets worse. "Why do we have a young girl a young boy who now have to bury their mother because of domestic violence?" Acevedo said. "It's an alarm for all of us out there. If you are in a relationship that is not a good relationship, please, I urge you to seek help." In an area with a large immigrant community, many members of which are undocumented, domestic violence victims are often afraid to come forward, Acevedo said. "Too often victims of domestic violence are afraid to come forward because they think we are ICE agents. We are not," Acevedo said. "We are here to secure safety for the community." The removal of guns and firearms from homes where they shouldn't be through the use of Colorado's red flag law is an important step in reducing serious domestic violence incidents, Acevedo said. "One of the things we have to do better is, when you have these volatile relationships, assessing the removal of firearms from homes with our red flag laws," Acevedo said. "Guns and firearms in unhealthy relationships really raise the risk." This statement comes shortly after the shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs that shed new light on conversations about Colorado's use, and lack thereof, of its red flag law. The law, passed in 2019 and enacted in January 2020, allows family members, household members or law enforcement officers to petition the court for a temporary Extreme Risk Protection Order against a person who poses an imminent threat to themselves or others "by having in his or her custody or control a firearm or by purchasing, possessing, or receiving a firearm." Since the law was implemented three years ago, hundreds of red flag petitions have been filed in Colorado, although its implementation appears uneven, varying by jurisdiction. Colorado has one of the lowest use rates of its red flag law, according to an Associated Press analysis from September. Colorado issued only 3.3 protection orders per 100,000 adult residents through 2021, ranking the sixth lowest among 19 states that have red flag laws. In comparison, the highest use rate was in Florida with 33.6 protection orders per 100,000 adult residents. The case also fit the pattern identified recently by the Colorado Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board report that showed that 81% of domestic violence fatalities involve guns, and 90% of aggressors are male. Ninety-one people died in 61 incidents in 2021, the highest number classified as domestic violence-related fatalities by the review board chaired by Attorney General Phil Weiser since its creation in 2016. Of those, 45 were the primary victims of the domestic violence identified, 32 were the perpetrators and 14 were collateral victims. Four were children. Denver Gazette reporters Hannah Metzger and Julia Cardi contributed to this story. The Asian continent's cultural diversity is perhaps only rivaled by its rich geographical landscapes, of which mountains constitute a significant portion. From the famed peaks of the Himalayas to the mineral-rich range of the Urals, Asia's mountain ranges reveal a great source of wonder, natural beauty, and essential resources. The Himalayas A Himalayan village in Nepal. Home to the world's highest peak, the iconic Mount Everest (8,848.86 m), the Himalayan Mountain Range also has over 100 peaks with an elevation of at least 7,000 m! Stretching a length of some 2,400 kilometers across the five countries of India, Nepal, Bhutan, China, and Pakistan, the Himalayas creates a natural divider between the plains of the Indian subcontinent in the south and the vast Tibetan Plateau to the north. The Himalayas is well known for its resplendent natural beauty, including waterfalls, an eclectic range of wildlife, and numerous tall peaks. And, of course, the challenge of scaling any of the peaks, particularly Everest, has fascinated the public for generations. Many rivers rise from the Himalayan glaciers and support millions of human lives downstream. The Himalayas also host great biodiversity, with the Eastern Himalayas covering northeastern India being among the world's top biodiversity hotspots. Read More10 Highest Mountains In The World Altay Mountains Picturesque landscape of the Altai Mountains in Russia. Located near the southern portion of the Russian region of Siberia, the Altay Mountains cover a vast area that includes the nations of Russia, Kazakhstan, China, and Mongolia. In addition, the Ob and Irtysh Rivers originate in these mountains that stretch for around 2,000 kilometers. A natural habitat for the snow leopard, the Altay Mountains are a jagged and complex winding system of peaks. Its highest mountain is Belukha which reaches an elevation of 4,506 m. The area hosts a sparse but ethnically-diverse population of primarily semi-nomadic people practicing activities like agriculture, animal husbandry, and forestry. Kunlun Mountains A yurt village in front of Karakul Lake in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region of China with Muztagh Ata peak of the Kunlun mountains in the background. The longest mountain range in Asia, the Kunlun Mountains, extend for more than an astonishing 3,000 kilometers! Stretching from the Tibetan Plateau to Western China, the Kunlun Mountains also share a border with the Gobi Desert (the sixth desert largest in the world). The range's highest peak Liushi Shan (also known as the Kunlun Goddess), reaches an elevation of 7,167 m and is situated on the border between China and the autonomous region of Tibet. Ural Mountains The Middle Ural mountains in Russia. The Ural Mountains extend for some 2,500 kilometers and run through much of Western Russia into northwestern Kazakhstan. Forming a natural border between the European and Asian portions of Russia, the Urals are rich in minerals, with more than 1,000 varieties of precious materials found there. These deposits have historically been significant to the Russian economy, particularly during the days of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. The Ural's highest point is Mount Narodnaya, with an elevation of 1,895 m. Tian Shan Mountains Alatau Plateau in the Tian Shan mountains in Karakol, Kyrgyzstan. From the Mandarin Chinese for "Mountains of Heaven," the Tian Shan Range is one of the most prominent geologic features of Central Asia. Running a distance of some 2,500 kilometers and passing through China, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan, these mountains are home to several glacier peaks, mountain lakes, and stunning valleys. Renowned for its picturesque beauty, portions of the Tian Shan Mountains were listed as a World Heritage Site in 2013. The highest peak here is the Jengish Chokusu, at an elevation of 7,439 m. Indeed for anyone scaling these mountains, stunning panoramic surroundings will surely be found, creating a most beautiful and inspiring excursion. Zagros Mountains Road through the Zagros Mountains in South Iran. With a total length of 1,600 kilometers, the Zagros Mountains span three nations: southeastern Turkey, northern Iraq, and Iran. Ending at the Strait of Hormuz, this mountain range is well known for its plant life diversity, including grains like barley and lentil and fruit trees like apricot, plum, and grape. Long inhabited by numerous nomadic peoples and farmers throughout the centuries, the Zagros Mountains are as culturally diverse as they are geologically beautiful. The highest peak of these mountains is Mount Dena, which reaches a height of 4,409 m tall. Western Ghats Monsoon hikes in the Western Ghats is a popular activity as the region appears most beautiful and green during this time. Editorial credit: sugitas / Shutterstock.com Covering an area of roughly 160,000 square kilometers and stretching for nearly 1,600 kilometers, the Western Ghats runs parallel to the Indian peninsula's west coast. A wide range of wildlife can be found within its peaks, valleys, and lakes. One of the few natural wonders to be named a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Western Ghats is also one of the world's 36 biodiversity hotspots. Many species found here are endemic, meaning they are found nowhere else in the world. Many tourist destinations are present here, ranging from spectacular hill stations to beautiful waterfalls to dense forests with tigers. And at an elevation of 2,695 m, Anamudi is its highest peak within the Eravikulam National Park. Read MoreWhat Is A Biodiversity Hotspot? Eastern Ghats The Nilgiri tahr, an endangered and endemic species in the Eastern Ghats. The Eastern Ghats run parallel to the eastern coast of India discontinuously. Like the Western Ghats, this mountain range also hosts a rich collection of flora and fauna. Major rivers of southern India, the Mahanadi, Krishna, Godavari, and Kaveri, cut through this range to drain into the Bay of Bengal to the east. Many national parks and wildlife sanctuaries located in this mountain range attract tourists to the region all year round. The 1,822 m tall Kattahi Betta is the highest peak in this range. Pamir Mountains The Pamir Mountains in Tajikistan. Also known as the "Roof of the World," the Pamir Mountains traverse the nations of Tajikistan, China, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Kyrgyzstan but with a majority of the range located in Tajikistan. Other major mountain ranges like the Himalayas, Tian Shan, Kunlun, and the Hindu Kush surround the Pamirs. The area has many beautiful valleys and lofty snow-covered peaks. The 77 km Fedchenko Glacier, the longest glacier outside the polar regions, is found here. The highest peak in the Pamirs is Kongur Tagh, which at an elevation of 7,649 m, is the 37th highest in the world. Hindu Kush Mountains Aerial view of the Hindu Kush Mountains. Part of the larger Himalayas Range, the 800-kilometer-long Hindu Kush Mountains remain an impressive site in their own right. Spanning an area that includes the countries of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan, the Hindu Kush range starts to the west of the Himalayas and eventually melds into the Pamir Mountains forming a rocky border with Pakistan and Afghanistan. The highest peak here is Terich Mir, the 33rd highest mountain in the world at an elevation of 7,708 m. In addition, this range was well known for its presence of several Buddhist shrines and monasteries and has served as an important trading route for centuries. Asia's mountain ranges are fine examples of the continent's rich and diverse natural beauty. Indeed, from the Himalayas to the Urals, to the "heavenly" Tian Shan ranges, these Asian mountain ranges are not only important parts of the geographic landscape but also of the cultural mosaic that makes up the continent. Articles Sorry, there are no recent results for popular articles. ormer Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg was sentenced to five months in prison on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023, for his role in the company's sweeping 15-year tax fraud scheme. Four adults, one juvenile arrested in connection to southern Illinois drive-by shootings, sheriff's office says Hacksaw, apparent bloodstains recovered by investigators combing through trash in connection with Ana Walshe's disappearance, sources say Russia caused US$1.79 billion worth of damage to the Ukrainian telecoms sector, according to the ITU, which detailed that Russia had either "destroyed completely or seized" telecoms infrastructure in the war-torn country. Reuters reported, the body was appointed to assess the damage in the six months since Russia invaded in February 2022. The ITU found Russia caused considerable damage and destruction to more than 10 of the 24 regions in Ukraine. The ITU said in its report: "Since the beginning of military attacks, with the purpose of using the facilities in its interests and for its own needs, the aggressor either destroyed completely or seized the regular operation of public and private terrestrial telecommunication and critical infrastructure in the temporarily occupied and war-affected territories of Ukraine. It also accused Russia of switching Ukrainian dialling codes to Russian ones and conducting 1,123 cyber-attacks against Ukraine. A Russian diplomat dismissed the ITUs report. Asheville Police Deputy Chief Jim Baumstark is part of a lawsuit filed by a victim of sex trafficking who alleges he was part of a cover-up involving the Fairfax County Police Department. As Americans watched the U.S. House struggle to elect a leader, Alaskans may soon see a similar situation develop in the state House of Representatives. These proceedings back east, its a stark reminder to a lot of us that we could be going through the same thing, said Independent Rep. Bryce Edgmon, of Dillingham. With just a week before the Legislature convenes in Juneau, the state House has yet to organize, with both the Houses existing mostly Democratic-led coalition majority and the Republican caucus short of the required 21-vote majority. Lawmakers say its too early to tell whether the Alaska House will definitely resemble the U.S. House on Jan. 17, the first day of session. Most members will arrive in Juneau this week, allowing in-person leadership negotiations. Legislators say their goal is to avoid what happened in 2019 and 2021, when the House didnt elect a leader until a month after the start of the session. For the moment, said Independent Rep. Dan Ortiz, of Ketchikan, were still in the probing phase. When we talk from one side to the other, were still filling each other in as to what groups could live with, and relationships and numbers. Republican members of the House are optimistic about the prospect of forming a predominantly Republican coalition majority as early as this week. While unwilling to discuss any cross-party deals that may be planned, they said their main advantage is that they are united in a way that isnt the case in the U.S. House. I dont see our Republicans as being fractured like that, said Palmer Rep. DeLena Johnson. Were not fighting over whos going to be the speaker in that same way. What were dealing with is just not having a clear majority from one party or the other. In November, Alaskans elected 21 Republicans, 13 Democrats and six independents (including undeclared and nonpartisan candidates) to the 40-person state House. While those numbers give Republicans a minimal majority, the reality is more complicated. One Republican, Kodiak Rep. Louise Stutes, has been speaker of the House for the past two years, overseeing a 21-person coalition majority that included independents, mostly Democrats and two Republicans. One of those Republicans, Kelly Merrick, of Eagle River, is now in the Senate. Since the November election, Stutes hasnt caucused with the other 20 Republicans. Another Republican, Wasilla Rep. David Eastman, has also been excluded from the Republican caucus. Eastman repeatedly criticized his Republican colleagues during prior legislative sessions and recently survived a legal challenge that threatened to have him disqualified from the Legislature for alleged disloyalty to the United States. Hes also defending himself against an ethics investigation. Were basically at 19 and 19, Ortiz said of the two groups, excluding Stutes and Eastman from the Republican total. I just dont see either side effectively moving forward without the help of the other side, he said. The coalitions total also isnt certain. Including Stutes would raise it to 20, but several independent representatives-elect said theyre willing to consider offers from the House Republican caucus and shouldnt be considered a guaranteed vote for the existing coalition. Ortiz is one of those. Sitka Rep.-elect Rebecca Himschoot is another. Elected as a nonpartisan, she said she supports looking at organization from all angles. Several lawmakers are looking more closely at organizing around particular legislation or a particular goal, rather than the traditional party divide. Reps. Josiah Patkotak of Utqiagvik and Calvin Schrage of Anchorage are independents who said they are keeping an open mind. What are you going to get 21 people to unify around? Schrage said, suggesting that agreement on issues like education funding and resource development could lead to agreement on a House leadership structure. My general assessment is that at the end of the day, with whatever happens with organization, youre going to be left with a moderate group that isnt going to be able to do everything that some of the most progressive or conservative members might want to achieve. I think the political realities and the numbers necessitate a moderate agenda, he said. The Alaska Beacon is an independent, donor-funded news organization. Alaskabeacon.com. Alaskas population rose in 2022 according to new estimates released Jan. 5 by the Alaska Department of Labor, marking a second consecutive year of increases after four years of declines. The new Alaska population estimate, 736,556, is the highest since 2018, but the state continues to see more people moving out than moving in, and 2022 marked the 10th consecutive year of negative net migration, said state demographer David Howell. The state gained about 450 people despite that migration loss because the number of births was greater than the number of deaths and the out-migration. Nolan Klouda, director of the University of Alaska Center for Economic Development, said the glass half-full argument is that the outmigration rate is dropping. We could say thats a good thing. But its still a far cry from being in neutral territory or net positive migration, he said. Population figures are a gauge of the states economy and are critical for measuring future demand for services like hospitals, ferries, roads and schools. Its a pretty important indicator of economic health, Klouda said. People do tend to vote with their feet and move to a place that sees more economic opportunity, has more job growth and more opportunity in general. In Anchorage, arguments over school closures have included discussions of the states declining school-age population, something that may also feature in legislative discussions of the states student-funding formula. The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant effect on state demographics, according to the new demographic report, which is published annually in January and estimates population as of July 1 the preceding year. During the pandemic, just less and less people moved, Howell said. The report shows last year had the most in-migrants since 2012-2013 and the most out-migrants since 2016-2017. Subtracting the departures from the arrivals results in a loss of 2,489 residents in 2022. Despite that loss, the state gained population because there were 9,364 births and 6,424 deaths, a natural increase of 2,940 more than the number of people who left. Twenty-four states had more deaths than births, and Alaska is trending in that direction, too. The states fertility rate the number of births per woman of reproductive age is above the national average but has been declining for years. Conversely, the states death rate has been climbing as the states average age rises. In the new report, the number of deaths is the most on record, jumping by almost 1,000 from the previous year, which also was the record. Deaths from COVID-19 account for some of that rise, but not all of it. This month, the Department of Labors monthly trends report shows elderly Alaskans those at least 71 years old now make up more than 7% of the states population, an all-time high. Children those under 15 are now just 22% of the population, down from 29% in the early 1990s. Most cities and boroughs recorded small population declines between 2021 and 2022, the state estimated. The Matanuska-Susitna Borough and the Kenai Peninsula Borough were notable exceptions. The Fairbanks North Star Borough is down by more than 1,000 residents. Anchorage, which remains the states largest city, dropped below 290,000 residents, in part because of out-migration and because of residents moving to the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, which has a lower cost of living and more available housing. Some rural Alaska communities have had stable populations because a high birth rate counteracts long-term outmigration. But with declining birth rates, that effect is fading. The Nome Census Area, North Slope Borough and Northwest Arctic Borough all posted lower populations. Wrangells population continued its steady decline, the state report said, from 2,369 in the 2010 U.S. Census to 2,127 in the 2020 census, down to 2,084 in the state estimate for July 2022. The Alaska Beacon is an independent, donor-funded news organization. Alaskabeacon.com. The long-awaited scrapping of roaming charges between Brazil and Chile, promised by a free trade agreement between the two countries some years ago, finally looks like happening. As Brazilian news service Teletime reports, mobile operators and MVNOs that offer international roaming services to users passing through Chile will soon be obliged to supply them with the same tariffs and prices as they offer in Brazil whether for calls, SMS or mobile data use. According to TeleGeography's CommsUpdate, Brazilian mobile operators have until 25 January two weeks to adapt their international roaming offers so that there are no longer roaming charges between Brazil and Chile. The deadline was confirmed by the board of directors at the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) earlier this week. The Brazilian regulator has indicated that it intends to closely monitor compliance with the new rules, though how and when that will happen has yet to be defined. The decree making this effective was published almost a year ago, on 26 January 2022. It noted that roaming charges must be cancelled within one year of the decree being signed hence the late January deadline set by Anatel. How and when Chile will reciprocate does not seem to have been announced yet. This decree itself was a consequence of the signing of a free trade agreement between Brazil and Chile in Santiago in late 2018. Support does seem to be growing for an end to roaming charges in Latin America, as we have been reporting. However, if this initiative proves successful, the process could receive a massive boost. The following statement was issued by the University of California Rank-and-File Strike Committee. To join the committee, email ucstrikerfc@gmail.com. We, the UC Rank and File Strike Committee (UCRFSC), reject as illegitimate the recent announcement of ratification of the Tentative Agreement (TA) which was put before 36,000 of us in Local 2856 and SRU-UAW. The TA was presented to us in a snap vote purposefully called over the Winter holiday break. Thousands of us were away and large numbers were out of the country with limited internet access and not checking emails. Once the TA was announced, members of the UAW bargaining team actively worked to suppress the opposition of a strong rank-and-file led No Vote campaign, and used our dues money to push for a yes vote, hiring a boutique PR firm, BrightLine Communications, with close ties to the Democratic Party to churn out misinformation that undermined our strike. They pitted different sections of the workforce against each other based on university location and job type. University of California Irvine graduate students picketing at the Engineering Department on November 29, 2022. [Photo: WSWS] Based on these anti-democratic tactics, the very numbers and percentages it has released proclaiming the unpopular TA ratified are themselves highly suspect, with the union officials claiming the TA passed with 68 percent yes votes by SRU members and 61 percent by members of local 2865. We struck for five weeks to put an end to our poverty. We will not be toyed with in undemocratic maneuvers by the UAW apparatus to push through this agreement that only benefits UC. What has become crystal clear is that the membership has been betrayed by the UAW bureaucracy and we must organize now and build our own organizations of rank-and-file power to demand a re-vote. We call on all our coworkers across all UC campuses to join the UCRFSC to set up committees at their departments and universities to demand: A re-vote on the tentative agreement with full participation and fair use of union resources by opponents of the TA. The election of rank-and-file representatives from each campus to oversee the revote and guard against voter suppression and ballot stuffing. If the contract is voted down, the rank-and-file must be given the right to draw up a new contract based on our non-negotiable demands, including $54,000 base pay and COLA to end our rent burden, for an end to NSRT fees, for $2,000/month reimbursement for childcare, an end to the red tape for disabled workers, COVID protections, and healthcare for our families. The contract was voted on under undemocratic conditions of fear mongering and intimidation, where strikers were given the option to approve the sellout contract or remain on strike without adequate strike pay or a strategy. Campuses where BT members opposed the contract had a substantially higher no vote turnout as workers were exposed to criticism on the agreement. Rank-and-file control over a re-vote is necessary because the UAW bureaucracy has a long history of undermining the democracy of workers and cannot be trusted. Almost the entire past leadership was sent to prison for accepting bribes from the big three auto companies to impose sweetheart contracts on the workers. The corporations gave the UAW officials luxury items, plane tickets and vacations in exchange for driving down the livelihoods of auto workers and imposing on them the hated tier system. The massive UAW apparatus has over 450 officials who do nothing to help the rank-and-file and who make over $100,000 a year from our dues money. At the last UAW convention, these bureaucrats opted to award themselves raises while cutting strike pay. Time and time again, this apparatus has tried to stop workers from having any say over our working conditions and our lives. For example, many UC UAW members were never even informed that there was an election for UAW national leadership held in the Fallthe first direct election in UAW history that a federal court ordered the UAW to conduct as a result of widespread corruption. This is yet another confirmation of the hostile class division which exists between the apparatus and the rank-and-file. On December 18, the day before our ratification vote, socialist autoworker and candidate for UAW president Will Lehman filed a formal protest to the monitor overseeing the election. The protest clearly demonstrates that the UAW bureaucracy systematically suppressed voting by rank-and-file workers. The leaderships of the two UC locals suppressed knowledge of the election and did nothing to inform us of our right to vote. Turnout for locals 5810 and 2865 in the election was 2.6 percent. Turnout among our brothers and sisters at the California State University system was 0.26% (29 votes out of over 11,000 members) and at the University of Washington turnout was 0.78% (72 votes out of 9,195 ballots sent) UC members have filed an appeal within the UAW to demand a new ratification vote. The rank-and-file has every right to pursue all legal options for overturning the fraudulent ratification vote. However, it must be said frankly that such appeals will go nowhere if directed internally at the Public Review Board (PRB). The PRB is a part of the apparatus that has revealed itself as our opponent. During the 2015 Ford-UAW contract ratification, UAW members provided hard evidence that the UAW committed fraud to stuff the ballots and force through a sellout contract. The UAWs PRB board acknowledged that five hundred yes ballots were suspiciously not accounted for, but ruled against holding a re-vote. Many autoworkers suspected vote tampering and fraud at the hands of the UAW top officials and a legal appeal was filed. However, the PRB dragged its feet and after a lengthy review period of two years, rejected the legal appeal for a new ratification under the claim that calling a revote would disenfranchise the members who voted to ratify the agreement and thereby violate the very democratic practices we are charged with preserving. Instead, the rank-and-file must take control of this process ourselves. We are confronting not only the UAW bureaucracy but their allies in the Democratic Party. All of the powers that be, from Gavin Newsom, the UC Regents, the courts, mediators like Darrell Steinberg, are aligned against us. The UC system is being transformed into a for-profit outfit that is increasingly responsible for impoverishing broader sections of the working class in the state. For example, UC recently signed a massive $4 billion deal with the predatory Blackstone Group, the largest landowner in the country, to develop properties, raise rents, which will lead to a rise in homelessness and evictions. In the end, UC represents the interests of the capitalist class. But we, the rank-and-file, have tremendous power, as evidenced by the strike itself. Our task is not to put our faith in the UAW apparatus or the Democratic establishment, but to activate and mobilize our own independent strength to overcome the weight of the bureaucracy and fight for our rights and the rights of working people everywhere. There is a global movement of the working class emerging on every continent, from railroad workers in the United States to mass working class movements in Peru, Ecuador, Sri Lanka, Turkey and elsewhere. We must link up with this emerging global movement, whose most conscious leadership is the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-file Committees (IWA-RFC), of which the UCRFC is a part. The millionaire UC Regents and the UAW apparatus may think this issue is settled, but we are here to make clear that nothing is resolved and nothing is settled. Elect rank-and-file committees and organize for a re-vote of both the ratification vote and the national officers election! There must be rank-and-file oversight of both elections! Contact us today to join or establish a committee at your university. To join the committee, email ucstrikerfc@gmail.com. The German government is pursuing the declared goal of transforming Germany into Europes leading power and the Bundeswehr into the most powerful army in Europe. Thisand not its purported concern for freedom and democracyis why it is fueling the Ukraine war and pouring an additional 100 billion into rearmament. Germanys war policy is not limited to Ukraine; it is also setting the Balkans on fire again. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic at the EU Western Balkans Summit in Tirana [Photo by Bundesregierung/Bergmann] In December, Serbia and Kosovo were on the brink of a military conflict that had the potential to turn into a major conflagration. An attempt by the Albanian-dominated Kosovo government to assert its authority in the Serb-populated north sparked violent protests. Ten members of parliament, 500 police officers and numerous judges and local politicians from the Serb minority resigned in protest. Demonstrators set up roadblocks and exchanged fire with the Kosovo police. The Kosovo administration closed border crossings to Serbia, and Kosovo Premier Albin Kurti called upon NATO to send more troops to the country and increase its Kosovo Force (KFOR) mission, which has been deployed in the region since 1999. The KFOR contingent currently consists of 3,800 troops from 28 countries. For his part, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has placed Serbian armed forces on alert and asked NATO permission to send his own troops to the area. According to Igor Simic, the former vice president of the Kosovo parliament, it was the most explosive situation since the end of the war over twenty years ago. In the meantime, the situation has eased somewhat, but observers anticipate that it is only a matter of time before the conflict flares up once again. Background to the conflict As usual, Western propaganda has ignored the background of the conflict and instead identified a single villain responsible: Aleksandar Vucic, the president of Serbia, the country which has the closest ties to Russia of all the Balkan states. Serbia, like all other Balkan states, is seeking membership in the European Union and has condemned Russias military action against Ukraine. It has not, however, severed its ties with Russia and refuses to go along with the European Unions sanctions. In fact, the renewed escalation of the Kosovo conflict is a direct result of the aggressive policy of the European Union, which is using the Ukraine war to reinforce its political and economic dominance over the Western Balkans. Germany is playing the leading role in this process. Since the European Union and the United States provided political and military support for the breakup of Yugoslavia into seven small states in the 1990s, the EU has admitted two of those states, Slovenia and Croatia. The admission into the EU of the remaining five, as well as Albania, is envisaged but has been repeatedly delayed. France in particular opposed admission, fearing that further expansion of the 27-member EU would render it incapable of acting in foreign policy and further strengthen Germanys weight. In 2019, President Emmanuel Macron vetoed the opening of accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia, a move which led to serious disagreements between Berlin and Paris. With the Ukraine war, the EU's stance has changed. Berlin in particular is now pulling out all the stops to speed up the integration of the Western Balkan states into the EU. Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Kosovo, Serbia and North Macedonia in June last year. At the beginning of November, he invited the heads of government of these three countries, as well as Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro and Albania to a Western Balkans Summit in Berlin, which was also attended by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Then, on December 6, the first EU-Western Balkans Summit took place in Albania, with all heads of state and governments of the 27 EU member states and EU leaders travelling to Tirana. The aim of both summits was to accelerate the integration of the Western Balkans into the EU. Several agreements were reached to facilitate the movement of goods and people and speed up accession negotiations. Bosnia-Herzegovina was given the status of a candidate country. Germany and the EU want to achieve several goals with this. In terms of foreign policy, the Western Balkans are to be firmly integrated into the war front against Russia, and economically cut off from the influence of Russia and China. China has financed numerous infrastructure projects in the region and is trying to gain better access to Europe via the port in Piraeus, Greece. An EU enlargement towards the East is a clear gain in terms of our geopolitical interests, declared a document drawn up by the Seeheim Circle, a grouping consisting of 91 members of Chancellor Scholzs SPD in the Bundestag. Serbia, which agreed to a three-year gas supply contract with Russia last summer and an agreement on foreign policy consultations with Moscow in September, is seen as the main obstacle. The admission of the Western Balkan states to the EU, some of which have had candidate status for years, is also intended to create the preconditions for the admission of Moldova and Ukraine, which the EU favours for geopolitical reasons. Another motive of the EU is to seal off the Balkan route, through which refugees from war zones in the Near and Middle East attempt to reach Europe. Serbia and Albania, for example, have so far allowed visa-free entry to nationals of several countries who then try to enter the EU-Schengen area. Admission to the EU is linked to an extensive procedure that obliges candidates, among other issues, to abide by budgetary discipline, a demand which can only be met by massive savings at the expense of an already impoverished working class. To this end, Brussels and Berlin are working closely with the elites of the Balkan statesas they did in the break-up of Yugoslaviaand are playing off different nationalities against each other along the lines of divide and rule. The Kosovo Conflict Kosovo plays a key role in this regard. It already provided the pretext for the war in 1999 against Serbia, which stood in the way of Germany and the US at that time. On the contrived pretext that it was committing genocide in Kosovo, NATO commenced a war against Serbia without UN backing, forcing Kosovo to secede in the process. Although the province with its nearly 1.8 million inhabitants clearly belonged to Serbia under international law, the major powers placed Kosovo under international administration. In 2008 Kosovo declared its independence and in 2013 it was recognised as an independent state by the US, Germany and most European powers. In order to achieve this end, Washington and Berlin collaborated with forces responsible for major war crimes and maintained close links to organised crime. Several commanders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK) have since been sentenced to long prison terms by a special court in The Hague. Hashim Thaci, who served as a key witness to US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer to justify the war and later became head of government and president of Kosovo, is now also on trial in The Hague for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The inviolability of state borders, invoked as a sacred principle after the Russian annexation of Crimea, was simply swept aside in the case of Kosovo. The parallels between Kosovo and Crimea are so obvious that five EU member states still refuse to recognise Kosovos independence. These include the governments of Spain, Cyprus and Greece, which fear that any such recognition would legitimise separatist movements in their own countries. Ukraine has not officially recognised Kosovo for the same reason, although Kosovo is one of Ukraines most ardent supporters in the war against Russia. For German foreign policy, such double standards play no role. In 1999, the NATO war against Serbia served as a welcome opportunity for the country to ditch its abstinence from foreign military interventions enforced following the crimes carried out by the Nazis in World War II and to participate in an imperialist war for the first time since 1945. Now the German government, once again headed by a Social Democrat and including the Green Party, is using the regime in Pristina to put pressure on Serbia and increase its influence in the Balkans. Berlins recent advance has encouraged Kosovo Premier Albin Kurti to reassert his claim to the Serb-populated north of the country. Serbia, which continues to consider Kosovo as part of its territory, had concluded a normalisation agreement in 2013 under pressure from the EU that provided extensive self-government rights for Serb majority communities. In return, Serbia respected Kosovar institutions. While Serbia largely fulfilled the agreement, the Kosovar side did so only in part. For example, the law on Serb majority municipalities was passed but never put into force. In fact, an unstable equilibrium prevailed. The Serb minority, estimated at between 100,000 to 200,000 depending on the source, largely administered itself and maintained close relations with Serbia, while Belgrade and Pristina made makeshift arrangements. With his decision to no longer tolerate Serb car number plates in the Serb-populated north of Kosovo from the first of November, Kurti deliberately torpedoed this status quo. It was a provocation intended to subject the Serb majority communities to Pristinas dictatesand was understood as such. In so doing Kurti had the backing of Berlin. On December 11, as the conflict escalated, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Green Party) demonstratively gave him her backing. She declared on Twitter that Kosovo had reduced tensions, while Serbias rhetoric was having the opposite effect. Serbias proposal to send its troops to Kosovo was completely unacceptable. This turns reality on its head. Even the conservative German daily FAZ, which usually supports the aggressive foreign policy of the German government, had to admit that in Brussels it was noted attentively that the Serb [Vucic] behaved constructively in the recent dispute over number plates, while Prishtina sought to provoke. The arrogance with which Germany acts against Serbia and other countries that stand in the way of its geopolitical interests is also shown by a commentary that appeared in the weekly Die Zeit on 4 January. In language reminiscent of Kaiser Wilhelm IIs infamous Hun speech and the war rhetoric of Hitlers propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, it read: Punish Serbia, of course that sounds harsh and very imperialistic. But the EU has learned, especially in the past year, and somewhat involuntarily, that it is only taken seriously when it can also get tough and is prepared to inflict pain on others. Toughness against Russia, toughness against China and toughness against EU member Hungary are part of the Unions necessary geopolitical coming of age. And getting tough with Serbia is overdue. In the footsteps of the Nazi regime As is the case in the Ukraine war, where Berlin has lined up against Russia alongside admirers of such Nazi collaborators as Stepan Bandera, the German government is also following the criminal footsteps of the Nazi regime in the Balkans. Its most important ally in the Balkans during World War II was the fascist Ustasha dictatorship of Ante Pavelic in Croatia which murdered almost a million Serbs, Jews, Roma and anti-fascist Croats. It maintained its own death camp in Jasenovac and had men, women and children burned alive. The Yugoslav partisans organised themselves under the leadership of Josip Titos Communist Party to fight against this barbarism and the German occupation and were persecuted by the German Wehrmacht with indescribable brutality. The strength of the partisan movement was based on the fact that it united all the oppressed of Yugoslavia, regardless of their national and ethnic backgrounds, in a common struggle. Out of this united struggle emerged the Yugoslav state after World War II, which enjoyed great support among the working class. Tito, however, had never broken with the political conceptions of his Stalinist past. He rejected linking the future of Yugoslavia to the international expansion of the proletarian revolution but tried to find a middle course between Moscow and Washington. He reacted to growing economic and social problems by strengthening nationalist currents in various different regions of the country. The representatives of the Ustasha, who had found refuge abroad in the West with the support of the Vatican, regained influence. The German foreign intelligence service BND developed close ties with Croatian nationalists as early as the 1970s. When Yugoslavia broke apart in 1991, the government of Helmut Kohl (CDU) recognised the independence of Slovenia and Croatia at a pace that met with reservations even from its American, French and British allies. The German initiative set in motion the nationalist fury that was subsequently supported by the US and other European powers in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Hundreds of thousands of Serbs, Bosnian Muslims and members of other minorities suddenly found themselves living in states where they had no rights. Germany itself worked closely with Franjo Tumans regime in Croatia, which revived the traditions of the Ustasha. With the escalation of NATOs proxy war against Russia in Ukraine, the wars in the Balkans and the Middle East unleashed by the US and its European allies in the past decades are breaking out once again. This confirms that these wars were never about terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, freedom or democracy, as official propaganda claimed. They arelike the First and Second World Warsimperialist wars for the redivision of the world between the great powers, which will lead to nuclear destruction if not stopped by the intervention of the working class. The Socialist Equality Party (SGP) and its affiliated parties in the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) are building a mass socialist movement of youth and the working class against war, based on the overthrow of its root cause, capitalism. This goal is at the heart of the SGPs current election campaign in Berlin. The Cuban government pays the US a record amount for chicken, but families still face shortages The new system of rationed distribution of this and four other basic products in Havana suffers from a 'lack of availability'. Last November, the Cuban government paid US producers a record amount for the purchase of chicken meat, and the recently concluded 2022 was the second year of increased importation by Havana of this product which, despite the numbers, continues to be scarce on the island. "November 2022 registered (an) all-time record figure for chicken meat exported by the United States to Cuba: $32.06 million. It was a 'good month' for U.S. exporters, with extraordinary increases of 56% in value exported and 70% in tons supplied," reported economist Pedro Monreal on his Twitter account. "Even without the data for December 2022, it was already the second best year (after 2021) for U.S. chicken meat exports to Cuba, both in value and tons," he added. In Monreal's view, this is "one of the best case studies of the ineffectiveness of Cuba's agricultural policy. "The per-kilogram value of U.S. chicken exported to Cuba in November 2022 ($1.18) was 8.5% lower than in October ($1.29), though it remains at relatively high levels," the expert specified. "The price reduction may have favored the November surge, offsetting the drop in October,'" the economist noted. Exports of chicken meat from the United States to Cuba saw a drop in October (20.54 million dollars and 15,980 tons), which coincided with the massive lines that Cubans had to wait in to acquire one of the few proteins they have available to them. Despite the embargo, Cuba became the 55th market for U.S. agricultural and food exporters in September among more than 200 countries that make such purchases, after U.S. sales to the island were up 88.2% from August. In November, U.S. congressmen traveled to the island to meet with Cuban farmers and local authorities, with whom they discussed the current state of Cuban agriculture and the food supply, but no agreements were reported in the official press. Still not enough chicken for all Cuban families This weekend Havana's State Directorate of Commerce admitted problems with the new controlled distribution system for the sale of five basic products, including chicken, to the capital's population. A statement quoted by the official Cuban News Agency stated that "due to a lack of availability, the first sales cycle has not been completed in all municipalities." According to information reported by the official newspaper Granma, "the CIMEX chain of stores plans to conclude the first stage of commercialization on January 10, with chicken, mincemeat and oil. In the case of sausage and detergent, it will be finalized later." "The pending locations will be fully covered for the first cycle. For the second cycle, up to five kilograms (kg) of chicken, two packages of mincemeat, one package of sausages, one liter of oil and 1 kg of detergent will be offered, depending on their composition," he added. "Tiendas Caribe completed the first cycle of sales at the locations linked to its establishments, which allowed it to begin the second cycle in the municipalities of Old Havana, Regla and Central Havana; and in the coming days it will continue progressively in the rest of the districts; this amid criticism by Cubans for the chaos it has caused in many businesses. This system was implemented on December 1, 2022 in Havana, which allows the population to buy chicken, mincemeat, oil, sausages and detergent in a rationed manner at Tiendas Caribe stores and the CIMEX chain. The sales model, which requires the buyer to present their rationing book, a ticket, ID and even a signature for a food module, was a mess at stores such as TRD Caribe located in Calzada de Vento and Avenida de Acosta, Cerro. The newspaper Tribuna de La Habana recently cited "disorganization, disorder, misinformation and many other things," at this state-owned store. These incidents, according to complaints from the readers of the official media source, were repeated at most of the stores included in the system. Shortage problems in Cuba, inherent to a political and economic system where illegalities and corruption abound, remain unsolved. The measures adopted from one day to the next end in failure, as the populace's agony grows. On Sunday, China fully reopened its borders to international travel after three years of border restrictions that formed a key component of the Zero-COVID policy. Going forward, travelers will no longer undergo quarantine, although a negative COVID-19 test within 48 hours of ones flight will still be enforced. The emergency ward of a hospital in China, January 3, 2023. [AP Photo/Andy Wong] The ditching of these final restrictions takes place two weeks before the Lunar New Year holiday begins on January 21, in what is historically the largest annual human migration. Approximately 2.1 billion domestic journeys are expected to take place during the 40-day travel season, according to Chinese government estimates. It is widely known that this mass travel will deepen the dire surge of COVID-19 infections and deaths across China. Many of the press reports on the resumption of travel to China have a jubilant tone, thrilled to see the lifting of the countrys final public health constraints. They universally claim that Zero-COVID was sheer folly that only harmed Chinas economic standing and its population. Tickets to vacation destinations like Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia are selling fast. Ctrip, a Chinese travel booking platform, reported that visas for Singapore are up 30-fold from December 27. Hotel reservations at resorts in Malaysia and Thailand by Chinese vacationers have more than doubled. Other major destinations include Australia and Japan. Japanese financial firm Nomura reported, The Tourism Authority of Thailand recently raised its full-year target to 25 million inbound tourist arrivals [five million passengers from China], driven by the earlier than expected reopening after Beijings recent border rules relaxation. Considering these economic windfalls for Thailands tourist industry, on Monday the health ministry revoked the rule requiring foreign travelers to carry proof of COVID-19 vaccination after protests from business leaders. Last year, Thailand, Southeast Asias second largest economy, had only 11.5 million foreign visitors. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, that figure stood at 40 million, with a quarter of those from China. Bloomberg News recently observed, [The] influx of travelers heading into the country is unlikely to be matched by a surge in demand for overseas trips. The flow of Chinese tourists, previously a $280 billion spending force in global holiday hotspots from Paris to Tokyo, will take months if not years to recover to its pre-pandemic level. Not one report mentions the calamity that befell Hong Kong last February when Omicron decimated the elderly and, for a few weeks, produced one of the highest death tolls among any country throughout the pandemic. Nor do they raise the important fact that the maintenance of Zero-COVID in Shanghai last March eliminated Omicron and kept deaths to around 500. Such public health successes are meaningless in terms of profit margins and quarterly earning figures that financial institutions pore over. According to health officials in China, many of the countrys most populous regions are now passing or have passed through the peaks of COVID-19 infections. Kan Quancheng, director of the provincial health commission, noted that Henan Province in central China, home to 100 million residents, had an infection rate of 89 percent. Similar estimates have been provided by health officials for Guangdong, Jiangsu and the capital city of Beijing. UK-based health data firm Airfinity has estimated that cumulative deaths across China due to COVID-19 from December 1 to the end of the year had likely reached 100,000, with the death toll reaching a peak of 9,000 per day. They also modeled that a peak in daily new infections would reach 3.7 million cases per day on January 13. Given the lag in deaths, this would translate to 25,000 fatalities per day by January 23, with a cumulative death toll of around 584,000 by the end of this month. Absurdly, Chinese official figures place COVID-19 deaths at fewer than 40 since December 7. With the arrival of the Lunar New Year holidays, many epidemiologists have warned of a second major peak in infections and deaths as the pandemic in China finds its way into poorly resourced rural regions of the country. Testing has essentially stopped and the elderly infected wait at home, with very few able to procure oxygen tanks for breathing support. Given the complete obscurity in statistical terms on the state of the health crisis, the Washington Post published a report on Monday on the use of satellite imagery that show crowds gathering at crematoriums and newly expanded parking lots to accommodate mourners. In collaboration with imagery captured by Maxar Technologies, the Post wrote that they have seen a significant uptick in activity at funeral homes across six different cities, from Beijing in the north to Nanjing in the east, to Chengdu and Kunming in the southwest. A receptionist at the Jiangnan Funeral Home in Chongqing, speaking under conditions of anonymity, told the Post, I have worked here for six years, and it has never been this busy. The phone has basically not stopped ringing. She added that since the Christmas holidays, the line of cars has continued, the freezers have been packed full and the incinerators have operated non-stop. Many funeral homes have stopped accepting the deceased except to perform only the briefest of services and are offering only storage or cremation. In a particularly cynical and hypocritical photo report on the state of the pandemic in Shanghai published in the New York Times yesterday, they wrote that around 70 percent of the citys 26 million people have recently been infected, health systems remain inundated with older people and funeral homes are at capacity. In opening their report, the Times wrote, 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. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) must be held accountable for the public health travesty that has befallen their population. But a significant share of the criminal responsibility also falls on the shoulders of the bourgeois press and the Times in particular, which repeatedly demanded that China abandon Zero-COVID, which they portrayed as cruel and inhuman, and lift all obstacles to the production of profits. During the two-month lockdown in Shanghai, which successfully suppressed the largest outbreak until then, the Times brayed for the lifting of Zero-COVID, knowing full well the catastrophe that would unfold, which they are now presenting as inevitable. The truth is that Zero-COVID was a highly effective policy based on the deployment of all available public health measures, which kept fatalities in China to an enviably low level after the initial wave of infections and deaths in the first few months of 2020. Furthermore, for the vast majority of the pandemic, the entire Chinese population was mobile and free to interact in public due to the suppression of viral transmission. Indeed, when opened its doors once more at the end of May in 2022, having conquered Omicron, this was a triumph of public health. The CCP lifted Zero-COVID under economic pressures from global finance capital, which would not tolerate further restrictions placed on them by public health inconveniences. Their threats of moving production out of China were the decisive factor in the CCP abandoning Zero COVID. Given the emergence of the XBB.1.5 Kraken sublineage of the Omicron subvariant, alongside the mass infection of the Chinese population, viral evolution will continue unhindered, with the possibility that an even more concerning and horrific pathogen could evolve at any time. Rather than taking a proper accounting of the dangers posed by these evolutionary leaps made by SARS-CoV-2, the corporate media and capitalist politicians throughout the world instead celebrate these reckless policies. Last week, the German government announced it would deliver at least 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles and a Patriot missile system to Ukraine. According to official statements, Ukrainian soldiers will be trained on the weapons systems, which will be deployed to the front lines within the next three months. The measures represent a massive escalation of the proxy war NATO is waging in Ukraine against Russia. They form part of a spiral of escalation that raises the threat of a third nuclear world war. German politicians and media outlets are waging an aggressive campaign to now provide the Ukrainian army with battle tanks and other heavy warfare equipment. Leopard 2 main battle tank [Photo by Bundeswehr/Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0 We should do everything possible and deliver. This includes Leopard tanks, Bundestag (federal parliament) Vice President Katrin Goring-Eckardt (Greens) told Funke Media Group. The chairwoman of the defence committee, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann (Liberal Democrats, FDP), drooled on Twitter, Our efforts have worked. But we are not letting up. After the Marder comes the Leopard. Saskia Esken, co-chair of the chancellors Social Democrats (SPD), which met in Berlin over the weekend, also held out the prospect of further arms deliveries. She said Ukraine would continue to receive humanitarian, financial and military support. However, it remained the case that one coordinated with international partners regarding sanctions and arms deliveries, she said, especially with the United States of America. It is clear what this means. After the joint German-American announcement to deliver infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine, the deployment of battle tanks is only a matter of time. On Sunday, Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) hinted on broadcaster ARDs Report from Berlin program that the decision on battle tanks and further arms deliveries has already been made behind the scenes. Last week had shown that the German government, together with the other friendly allied states, always adapts its decisions to the situation on the ground on the battlefield in order to provide maximum support to Ukraine, Habeck declared. After all, if you trace the long path from the first still controversial decisions for anti-tank missiles, to self-propelled howitzers, and now the Marders, you have an enormous dynamic also in the decisions of the German government. And I think that dynamic will continue as long as this war continues to develop dynamically. When asked specifically by ARD whether this meant he did not rule out delivery of Leopard 2 and Leopard 1 battle tanks, Habeck replied, No, of course its not ruled out. He added that the situation was always being examined, we are coordinating with the other countries and decisions will continue to be made within this corridor. The decision on the Marders was long overdue and it was good that it was made. He added that they would now watch to make sure these things got there and see how the debate develops. In reality, it is not a debate, but nonstop war propaganda aimed at further escalating the conflict. The Greens, who more than any other party speak for war-loving affluent middle class layers, are playing a particularly aggressive role. Their leading representatives are calling not just for dozens, but thousands of battle tanks for Ukraine. At a Berliner Zeitungevent in December, Green Party European politician Anton Hofreiter demanded that Ukraine either be admitted to NATO or that 3,200 (!) Leopard main battle tanks be delivered to Kiev. What sounds like pure madness, Hofreiter obviously meant seriously. In its report on the event, the Berliner Zeitung writes that the Green politician defended his demand even in response to critical questions; among others, with the statement that Putin was like a street thug who only backs down when his nose is broken. This is fascistic language. Despite the official propaganda of freedom and democracy, current German war policy stands in the dark tradition of German imperialism. 82 years after the Nazi war of extermination against the Soviet Union, in which almost 30 million people fell victim, German tanks are again rolling against Russia. In its its statement No tank deliveries to Ukraine! Stop the threat of a third world war! the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (Socialist Equality Party, SGP) writes of the German war aims: Since reunification, the ruling class has been systematically working to organize Europe under German leadership in order to advance its geostrategic and economic interests worldwide.... Now it is using Russias reactionary invasion of Ukraine as a pretext to launch the biggest rearmament since Hitler and to strike again against Russia. German imperialism is concerned not only with geostrategic interests and Russias vast reserves of raw materials, it is also driven by the desire for retribution for its war defeats in the 20th century. German generals are again ranting about a full-scale German tank war against Russia. In a commentary for Die Welt titled Finally, Chancellor! But now also [send] battle tanks for Ukraine, retired Brigadier General Klaus Wittmann writes: But now the German government should regard its decision as a liberating blow and not hesitate any further regarding battle tanks either. It is obvious that besides air defence and artillery, Ukraine urgently needs armoured combat vehicles if it wants to make further progress in pushing back Russian troops and retaking stolen territory. Combat, infantry, and transport tanks are at stake. Germany, he said, must take the lead in enabling the Ukrainian army to mount a counteroffensive. If Germany finally took the initiative here, many would follow, and it would be a concerted action of enormous impact, Wittmann writes. Although tracked vehicle operations are possible even now on frozen ground, he adds, armoured combat vehicles should be available in sufficient numbers and with trained crews for effective major counteroffensives by spring at the latest. By now, the media is openly stating what has long been the case: the NATO powers are at war with Russia in Ukraine, pursuing the goal of militarily defeating the nuclear-armed power. On January 6, Germany entered the Russian-Ukrainian war, it is a proxy war. Ukraine must win it, or (also) Germany will lose it, writes Nikolaus Blome, head of the politics department at broadcasters RTL and n-tv. His guest commentary for Der Spiegel is titled: Marder tanks for Ukraine: Olaf Scholz is now party to the war. Scholz, Blome and the other warmongers in politics and the media should explain what the consequences of their escalation policy are. How many hundreds of thousands or millions of lives are they willing to sacrifice for a conventional military victory over Russia? What is clear is that a nuclear escalation of the conflictthe danger of which increases with every arms deliverywould not only turn Europe into a nuclear desert, but would place the survival of the entire human race in question. The only way to stop this madness is to build an international mass movement against war and its source, capitalism. While the ruling classes are losing all inhibitions and preparing a bloodbath, the mood among workers and youth is completely different. According to a current ARD-Deutschland survey, only 25 percent of the population think the current support of Ukraine with weapons does not go far enough. In other words, 75 percent reject the tank deliveries that have now been decided. The Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei is running in the Berlin state elections to provide this opposition with a voice and a socialist perspective. Become active now, support our election campaign and vote SGP on February 12! For more information on the SGP and to join our campaign, visit www.gleichheit.de/ The United States and Germany have announced they will expand their training of Ukrainian troops inside their own borders, further embroiling them in a war with Russia. The Pentagon announced Tuesday that it will train Ukrainian troops at Fort Sill, Oklahoma on how to operate the Patriot missile system, the most advanced weapon sent to Ukraine to date. The Pentagons announcement is, in the words of the Washington Post, the latest test of Russian President Vladimir Putins threshold for Western intervention in the conflict. Last month, the Biden administration announced that it would send a Patriot missile battery, capable of downing Russian aircraft flying over Russian territory, to Ukraine. Last week, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz officials announced they would send another battery of their own. Training for Ukrainian forces on the Patriot air defense system will begin as soon as next week at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said on Tuesday. 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. Pointing to the extent of interoperability that already exists between the NATO military command structure and the Ukrainian military, Ryder added, There has been training of Ukrainian forces in the United States before, as well as development. Ukrainians have attended our professional military education schools, they have embedded in headquarters of some of our units. The Pentagon official also confirmed that the US aims to train approximately 500 troops at a time at a US military facility in Germany on combined arms warfare involving both the Bradley infantry fighting vehicles that that are already being sent to Ukraine and the main battle tanks that NATO is expected to provide in the near future. Ryder implied the Ukrainian troops sent to the US Army Garrison Bavaria in Germany will be training with some of the same armored vehicles that will subsequently be sent alongside them into the battlefield. So the Bradleys should be available at Graffenwoehr and that will be part of the training, the combined arms training that they do in Germany. The Pentagons announcement comes after US President Joe Biden announced a $3 billion arms shipment to Ukrainethe largest to dateand after Congress passed a bill allocating another $50 billion to the war. The latest weapons package included the deployment of dozens of Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, which essentially function as small tanks. Even as they pour unprecedented amounts of weapons into Ukraine, the NATO powers are preparing to even further escalate their involvement in the war. A major inflection point is expected to come with the January 20 summit of the Ukraine Contact Group in Ramstein, Germany. Commenting on the upcoming summit, the Guardian wrote, A key moment is expected to come next week when western defense ministers meet on 20 January for the next Ukraine contact group meeting to discuss future military aid. Reports suggest the US is now considering announcing at that meeting it will send Stryker armored combat vehicles. On Tuesday, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock visited Ukraine, declaring Germanys solidarity and support, which includes further arms deliveries. Last week, Germany announced that it would send 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles into combat. Poland and Lithuania have announced that they plan to send Leopard 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine, but that this would require Germanys permission, as these country signed export agreements as a condition of receiving the tanks. After meeting with Baerbock, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba commented, Every minute during the visit, the topic of Leopards invisibly accompanied us. He added, I think that the German government, somewhere deep down, understands that this decision will be made, and the tanks will be transferred to Ukraine. Commenting on the discussions about sending main battle tanks, a US official told Politico, If they want to take back territory they need tanks. To date, the war in Ukraine has killed or injured over 200,000 Ukrainians and Russians, according to statistics cited by US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Mark Miley. But as the war intensifies in ferocity, it risks directly drawing in NATO members in Eastern Europe. In an interview on Tuesday, Polands Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak announced the formation of a new infantry division in the Eastern part of the country specifically targeting Russia. We know who threatens us and where For Poland, the main threat is Russia and its imperial tendencies. That is why more troops are needed in the east of the country and thats why a new division is being set up. Poland, he said, is in direct contact with the war. He concluded, We take on a lot of responsibility, but we do it consciously because the further we manage to push Russia away and the greater the losses inflicted on itthe better it is for us and for the future of the democratic world. Expressing the reality of the growing involvement by NATO in the war, Nikolai Patrushev, a security adviser to Russian president Vladimir Putin, said the conflict is not a clash between Moscow and Kyiv, but a military confrontation between NATO, and above all the United States and England, with Russia. Canadas Liberal government announced Tuesday that Ottawa will purchase a National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) for Ukraine. The announcement followed a bilateral meeting between Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the three Amigos summit in Mexico City, which brought Biden and Trudeau together with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. Ottawas purchase of the missile defence system is a further escalation of the US-led NATO war on Russia. Coming in the wake of the Biden administrations pledge to send Patriot missiles to Ukraine and rapid-fire announcements from France, Germany and the US that they will provide Kiev with tanks, Ottawas supplying of a NASAMS battery underscores that the chief NATO powers, Canada included, are parties to the Ukraine war, and adds to the likelihood of a direct clash between Russia and the imperialist powers. US President Joe Biden, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meet at the 10th North American Leaders' Summit at the National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico, Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. [AP Photo/Andrew Harnik] NASAMS batteries, according to the systems co-designer Raytheon, provide 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. The US has already supplied two NASAMS batteries to Ukraine, with a further six in the pipeline. Each NASAMS battery is worth approximately US$200 million, based on a Pentagon contract with Raytheon from late November for six NASAMS worth $1.2 billion. Tuesday mornings bilateral meeting between Biden and Trudeau underscored the aggressive character of the Canada-US imperialist alliance. Stretching back over eight decades, Washington and Ottawas military-strategic partnership is being modernized and expanded to wage the wars of the 21st century, including by guaranteeing the US war machine access to Canadian critical minerals and deepening military cooperation between the two countries from the Arctic to the South China Sea. On the eve of the North American leaders summit, Canada confirmed its purchase of 88 F-35 fighter jets from US producer Lockheed Martin at a cost of C$19 billion (US$14.2 billion). The supersonic fifth generation aircraft, which has gained notoriety in recent years due to several serious design flaws, costs US$36,000 for every hour of flight time and over US$7 million for the annual maintenance of each plane. The purchase is one of the headline moves in Ottawas largest rearmament program since World War II. This program includes a more than 70 percent increase in defence spending between 2017 and 2026, the purchase of new fleets of warships and warplanes, and the modernization of the bilateral North American Defence Command (NORAD) to prepare for the waging of war with hypersonic missiles and nuclear weapons. The White House readout of the Trudeau-Biden meeting made special mention of NORAD modernization, noting that the bilateral alliance is critical for ensuring the continued defence and security of North America. Since the Ukraine war erupted last February, Canada has committed $3.4 billion in aid to the right-wing regime in Kiev, including over $1.1 billion in military assistance. Canada was also in the front rank of the imperialist powers who goaded Russian President Vladimir Putin into launching his reactionary invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Along with the US and British militaries, Canadian Armed Forces personnel were instrumental in reorganizing and training Ukraines military for war between 2014 and 2022. This included helping integrate the far-right Azov Battalion and other fascist forces into the Ukrainian military and para-military National Guard. Recognizing the importance of Canadas involvement, the White House readout noted that Biden thanked Trudeau for providing security, economic and humanitarian assistance for Ukraine. The pair also discussed further integration of Canada into Washingtons strategic offensive against China, which US imperialism currently views as the greatest threat to its global hegemony. According to the Prime Ministers Office, the meeting included discussion of China and a coordinated approach to the Indo-Pacific. Recent months have seen Ottawa significantly deepen its support for Washingtons all-sided diplomatic, economic and military drive to isolate and prepare for military conflict with China. In late November, the Trudeau government released its long-delayed Indo-Pacific strategy, which it emphasized was drafted in close consultation with Washington. The document labelled China an increasingly disruptive global power and provocatively pledged to step up Canadas multifaceted engagement with Taiwan. In effect, Canada has declared its support for Washingtons de facto abandonment of its decades-long one China policy, which recognized Chinas historic claim to sovereignty over the island. No corner of the globe is spared from US and Canadian imperialist meddling. Biden pressed Trudeau Tuesday for Canada to lead a military and police intervention to prop up the pro-imperialist puppet regime in Haiti. The Western hemispheres most impoverished country, Haiti has experienced a calamitous social crisis over recent years, as armed gangs with close ties to the countrys security forces and traditional elites have terrorized large swathes of the country. A lack of food combined with a cholera outbreak and the virtual collapse of the economy have left the vast majority of the countrys 11 million population in destitution. Critical to the predatory geopolitical ambitions of North Americas twin imperialist powers is their consolidation of control over key raw materials vital for future economic development, including green and computer technology, and the production of advanced weapons and weapons systems. In 2019, the Trump administration and Trudeau government initiated the Canada-US Critical Minerals Action Plan, an agreement to coordinate access to 17 rare earths and critical minerals deemed essential for the military and economic dominance in the decades to come. In March 2021, at their first official meeting, Biden and Trudeau agreed to a Roadmap for a Renewed US-Canada Partnership, which included a detailed section on strengthening the action plan and North American supply chains. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland spoke on this theme extensively last fall. At an October keynote speech at the Brookings Institution in Washington, she advocated a policy of friend-shoring, i.e., an economic nationalist and protectionist plan aimed at confronting Washingtons and Ottawas chief global rivals, above all China. Canada would focus on fast-tracking, for example, the energy projects our allies need to heat their homes and to manufacture electric vehicles. These policies, dressed up with bogus commitments to defending democracy, supporting green energy and tackling climate change, are aimed squarely at Russia, one of the worlds largest oil and natural gas producers, and China, which has a strong position in the market for raw materials required for EV production. Underscoring this fact, the Trudeau government moved just weeks after Freelands speech to tighten regulations for investors in Canadas critical minerals sector. The changes block state-owned enterprises, a euphemism for Chinese businesses, from investing in many energy and mining projects. The new rule allows the government to trigger a provision in the Investment Canada Act that gives them the power to declare investments injurious to national security. Following the change, Ottawa forced three Chinese companies to divest their investments in Canadian lithium mines. A joint statement by the chambers of commerce of Canada, Mexico and the United States urged the Three Amigos summit to adopt an agenda to make North America the world leader in electric vehicle production based on the competitive advantage provided by cheap labour in Mexico, and Canadas rich deposits of raw materials. As Flavio Volpe, head of the Canadian Automotive Parts Manufacturers Association, put it, The US has capital, Mexico has human capital and Canada has lithium, cobalt, graphite and nickel. Canadian and US imperialism are determined to pursue their economic interests just as ruthlessly against their supposed allies as against Russia and China. Washington and Ottawas North America First agenda for EV production and other clean energy initiatives has prompted criticism from the European imperialist powers, who fear being sidelined in the key economic industries of the coming decades. At the North American leaders summit, Ottawa and Washington continued their sustained push to compel Lopez Obrador to reverse course on his plan to strengthen the position of state-controlled companies in Mexicos energy sector. Billions of dollars in investments and massive profits are at stake for American and Canadian big business, with Canadian companies holding C$13 billion in investments in the sector. Last July, the Trudeau and Biden governments launched a dispute resolution procedure under the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), the successor to NAFTA, to compel Mexico to make concessions. The trade union bureaucracy, which has systematically suppressed the class struggle as worker opposition has mounted to the austerity policies demanded by the ruling elite to pay for wars abroad, is fully integrated into Canadian imperialisms North America First militarist and protectionist agenda. When the Trudeau government unveiled in June 2022 its Indo-Pacific Advisory Committee, which assisted in the preparation of the governments strategy document, one of its most prominent members was Hassan Yussuff, the former head of the Canadian Labour Congress. Unifor, Canadas largest private-sector union, was intimately involved in the USMCA negotiations, during which its subsequently disgraced president Jerry Dias served as a semi-official government adviser. The involvement of the union bureaucracy demonstrates the capitalist ruling elites recognition that the massive mobilization of resources to wage war abroad will only be possible through the suppression of working-class struggles at home. They view the unions, which have decades of experience in this task, as their best mechanism to block strikes and protests for wage increases, improved working conditions, and more social spending. no existe un mundo poshuracan: Puerto Rican Art in the Wake of Hurricane Maria, an exhibition at the Whitney Museum, New York City, November 23, 2022April 23, 2023 The anniversary of a catastrophic event often serves a dual purpose, as an occasion for remembrance and mourning, but also as a reckoning. Art can play an important role in both regards, as demonstrated by the exhibition at the Whitney Museum in New York (no existe un mundo poshuracan: Puerto Rican Art in the Wake of Hurricane Maria) of more than fifty artworks made over the last five years by an intergenerational group of more than fifteen artists from Puerto Rico and the diaspora. dawn chorus ii/ el niagara en bicicleta, Sofia Cordova Many of the pieces powerfully convey the intensity of Hurricane Maria, the Category 5 hurricane that struck the island in September 2017. Others take up, at least in part, the questions that still demand answersthe causes of not just a natural disaster, but a social crime of this magnitude. For two weeks in September 2017, the Caribbean island was pummeled by what was the tenth-most powerful Atlantic hurricane on record. The power grid PREPA failed, affecting up to three million inhabitants who were flooded out of their homes, and remained in the dark, often without food or drinking water, for up to months afterwards. Winds that reached 175 miles per hour virtually stripped parts of the island of vegetation, irrevocably changing its ecosystem. Nearly 5,000 people died. The devastation has yet to be fully repaired, five years on. In terms of communicating the intensity of the storm itself, the most successful piece in the exhibition is a two-channel video by Sofia Cordova, dawn chorus ii: el niagara en bicicleta (2018.) Screened on a large scale at the entrance to the exhibition, the video opens with footage from the filmmakers aunts cellphone, recorded just as the storm strikes and the lights go out. Through the course of the video, we ride out the storm, peering fearfully through shuttered windows as the winds lash the deserted street. The piece also includes conversations with people in what remains of their homes after the storm has passed, interspersed with sequences of a mysterious masked woman beckoning us to follow her through ruins overgrown with tropical vegetation. Because of its unstructured length of over an hour, however, the video is more evocative than informative. Some of the strongest pieces in the exhibition are included in the section entitled Fractured Infrastructure, which accurately presents Maria as a manmade disaster, not simply a natural one. Figure 1832, Gamaliel Rodriguez One hundred and twenty years after it was forcibly liberated from Spain, Puerto Rico remains an unincorporated territory of the United States (like Guam, American Samoa and the US Virgin Islands), considered a part of the US in some ways and not in others. Puerto Ricans do not vote for president and vice president, and have no representatives in Congress (there is a nonvoting representative, called a resident commissioner, elected every four years). A longstanding pattern of underfunding and lack of investment outside of tourist areas was exacerbated by the financial crisis set off by the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008. While Wall Street was rescued by the Obama administrations intervention to buy up government debt through quantitative easing, i.e., the printing of money, and other measures to shore up the stock market, no such largess was extended to Puerto Ricoor to US municipalities like Detroitwhich due to predatory lending practices were deeply in debt when the artificially inflated financial markets collapsed. By 2016, financial oversight boards were set up to impose austerity measures in these largely working class areas. In the case of Congress so-called Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act (or PROMESA, which in Spanish means promise), public funding was diverted to pay off the banks rather than invested in necessary infrastructure and public services. This left the island even more vulnerable to hurricanes like Maria, as well as to the tropical storms and earthquakes that regularly impact particularly the poorer areas outside San Juan. Maria was the eighth consecutive hurricane and the second Category 5 hurricane of the 2017 season. Puerto Rico was still recovering from the damage of Hurricane Irma one month before, which had already depleted FEMA emergency supplies and left it without necessary resources to respond to yet another storm. ID. Escuela Tomas Carrion Maduro, Santurce, Puerto Rico - New on the Market, Rogelio Baez Vega The scale of destruction and environmental impact revealed in the aftermath of the storm are forcefully depicted in Rogelio Baez Vegas surreal landscapes of deserted or partial buildings with trees growing through them as in ID. Escuela Tomas Carrion Maduro, Santurce, Puerto RicoNew on the Market (2021). Or the overgrown remnants of a Mobil gas station in Paraiso Movil, (2019.) Likewise Gamaliel Rodriguezs magenta ink drawings of once-busy air traffic control towers being subsumed by topical vegetation have a post-apocalyptic quality. (Figure 1832 PSE and Figure 1828 LMM, both 2018.) And the utter inadequacy of the power infrastructure is indicated by Gabriella Torres-Ferrers Untitled (Valora tu mentira americana), (2018). With the literalism characteristic of conceptual art, an actual storm-ravaged utility pole is suspended overhead in the gallery with dangling severed wires and a tattered pro-statehood poster. The ironic subtitle, which translates to value your American lie is one of many indications of support for Puerto Rican independence in the exhibition. While the needs of the population have been neglected or ignored, several of the pieces call out the exploitation of the territorys natural beauty by the tourist industry. Sofia Gallisa Murientes video B-Roll, spliced together from the out-takes of advertising footage, showcases how the island is marketed as a tropical paradise to the highest bidder. The profligate nature of these luxury resorts is captured in another conceptual piece, Yiyo Tirado Riveras La Concha (2022), a sandcastle-style model of the 1950s tropical modernist San Juan hotel actually made of sand, which will crumble over the course of the exhibition. Some pieces in the exhibition examine the experience of the hurricane through a more personal lens. In Ojala nos encontremos en el mar (Hopefully, well meet at sea), (2018) Gabriella N. Baez memorializes her father, who committed suicide after Maria, by stitching old photos of the two of them together through their eyes with long red threads, thus creating a fragile, posthumous bond. Untitled (Valora tu mentira americana), Gabriella Torres-Ferrer Notwithstanding the sincerity of many of the artists, however, the unequivocal Puerto Rican nationalism and identity politics that shape the exhibition detract from its impact. In ways that are subtle, and some not so subtle, curators Marcela Guerrero, Angelica Arbelaez, and Sofia Silva have tailored the show to advocate a pro-independence agenda. The presentation suggests that such disasters are unique to or uniquely bad in Puerto Rico because of US colonialism, in the words of the wall captions, which oppresses the territorys native population of color. Everything is done to separate the experiences of the Puerto Rican working class from that of the global and North American working class as a whole. So for instance, it is notable that not a single piece in the exhibition included a blue tarp (tarpaulin), which has become a ubiquitous presence, even unofficial symbol, of natural disasters. It has been incorporated in the artwork of multiple artists and designers beginning after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Only 12 years before Maria, New Orleans witnessed a similar abandonment of an entire city to the destruction of a hurricane by all levels of the political establishment of both political parties, from Mayor Ray Nagin up to President G. W. Bush. Though at 1,800 Katrinas death toll was far lower than Marias, it likewise exposed in the starkest of terms that the underlying class inequality of a social system was the decisive factor in who survived and who did not. The omission in particular of the work by Puerto Rican artist Daniel Lind-Ramos, who used the blue tarp to powerful symbolic effect in his sculpture Maria Maria (2019), is all the more noticeable because he had been selected for the Whitneys own Biennial by the same curator. Perhaps after receiving a $625,000 MacArthur Genius award in 2021, his work simply was not available. But the absence of even a reference to Katrina serves to reinforce the exhibitions insistence on Puerto Ricos uniqueness. Several of the pieces address the mass political protests that erupted in the summer of 2019 and forced the resignation of Gov. Ricardo Rossello, though the full implications of this social upheaval were barely touched on by the art itself. The explicitly political pieces include a wall-sized array of printed posters that had been posted on Instagram by Garvin Sierra Vega (201922) and a standing row of black and white metal shields in the shape of the Puerto Rican flag by Miguel Luciano (Shields/Escudos, 2020.) 'Ojala nos encontremos en el mar' ('Hopefully, well meet at sea), Gabriella N. Baez In her catalog essay, curator Marcela Guerrero describes the protests as much an aesthetic rally as an attempt to rebuild the nation. Groups of mostly feminist, queer, Black, and working-class people were the architects of that blissful summer, which saw people dancing perreo in the Catedral de San Juan Bautista, a cavalcade of horseback riders descending on the capitol, and near the governors mansion, a yoga session serenely clamoring for Rossellos resignation. Far more than just a colorful yoga fest, the involvement of tens of thousands of people of different skin colors, genders and sexual orientations in the months-long popular protests was highly significant. They succeeded in ousting both a hated Wall Street stooge and his replacement in quick succession, a fact anxiously noted in governors mansions across the US, as well as in the Trump White House and Democratic Party circles. If it hadnt been for the petty bourgeois nationalist outlook of the protests leaders and the political forces behind them that sought to isolate the protests within Puerto Rico, this rallying cry would have found a broad sympathetic hearing. The working class on the mainland is no less familiar with the rapacious lending of the banks, and the ineptitude and rampant corruption of local politicians. Nor is the ruling elites blatant indifference to the loss of life, particularly of poorer, working class layers of the population in natural disasters like floods, blizzards, wildfires and earthquakes exclusive to Puerto Rico, though this was indeed a damning exposure. The death toll from Maria was covered up by Rossellos administration for almost a year, as it absurdly maintained that only 65 people had been killed until independent studies forced it to acknowledge that the true death toll was at least 4,645. The governments failure to secure adequate aid had already had its consequences; the dead were jokingly referred to among Rossellos cronies in text messages as food for crows. However, the exhibition makes no connection to the same process of enforced bankruptcy and receivership as PROMESA being carried out, for example, in Detroit in 2013, let alone the international context of Syrizas austerity measures in Greece being challenged by mass protests in 2011. Instead, the exhibition attributes the social aspects of Marias destruction and subsequent loss of life almost exclusively to Puerto Ricos commonwealth status. Acquired as part of the spoils in the aftermath of the one-sided Spanish-American war in 1898, the US government continues to maintain Puerto Rico in a semi-colonial limbo, which has allowed it to exploit its resources and profit from its cheap labor force, a substantial portion of which regularly emigrates to escape the economic hardship of the island in search of better employment opportunities on the mainland. Collapsed Soul, Gamaliel Rodriguez Something of this history is obliquely referenced by Gamaliel Rodriguezs Collapsed Soul (2020-21), a striking blue and black painting of a ship exploding at sea. The actual incident depicted is the 2015 sinking, in a hurricane, of an antiquated US cargo vessel on its way from Florida to San Juan with food, building materials and medical supplies. However, the image likewise recalls the bombing of the USS Maine in February 1898, which was used as a pretext (Remember the Maine) for US imperialism to launch the Spanish-American War in order to liberate the Spanish colonies of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Hawaii and the Philippines. Though the US was unable to maintain direct control of Cuba and the Philippines, Puerto Rico and Hawaii were annexed as territories, with Hawaii admitted to statehood in 1959. However it is not simply colonialism, as the exhibition curators would have it, but the capitalist system itself that keeps the Puerto Rican population in social misery. More than a hundred years on, American imperialism is no longer emergent, but in a state of terminal crisis. The American establishment has presided over a homicidal pandemic policy, along with multiplying and worsening climate-related disasters. The ruling class has poured billions of dollars into its proxy war with Russia in Ukraine. To pay for all its catastrophes the American bourgeoisie will impose austerity measures not only on the Puerto Rican, but the working class in every state and territory. The privileged, petty bourgeois outlook expressed by the exhibition officialdom, on the other hand, calls for Puerto Rican sovereignty and the promotion of Puerto Rican entrepreneurs and local businesses, all the better for this layer to get rich by exploiting its own working class. It will be no more inclined or equipped to respond to hurricanes or any other climate, or economic, catastrophes that are on the agenda. President Biden visited Mexico City on Monday and Tuesday to meet with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of Mexico and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada at the North American Leaders Summit in Mexicos capital city. US President Joe Biden is greeted by Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador as he arrives at the National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico, January 9, 2023. [AP Photo/Andrew Harnik] While the stated topics of discussion at the gathering included economic partnership and cooperation, stopping drug and human trafficking, promotion of clean energy and addressing the humanitarian crisis at the US-Mexico border, the agenda subordinated all of these issues to the strategic interests of US imperialism, with Canada playing a supporting role. The relationship of Mexico to the US emerged at the very beginning of the meetings when Lopez Obrador told Biden at a Monday session in the National Palace, End with this forgetfulness, this abandonment, this disdain toward Latin America and the Caribbean. Of course, the Mexican President made his fundamentally truthful description of the treatment of the countries in the region by the USarising from more than a century of imperialist economic exploitation, support for brutal dictatorships and military interventionnot because he was planning to actually do anything about it. Instead, the bourgeois nationalist Lopez Obrador followed up his comment by pleading with Biden, saying to the American leader, you hold the key in your hand. For his part, Biden responded by boasting about the paltry tens of billions of dollars the US had invested in Latin America over the past fifteen years, including donating more than any other country globally. First of all, any investment made in Latin America is aimed at preserving US interests and maintaining corporate control over the natural and labor resources of the region. For example, a program of private investment announced by Vice President Kamala Harris last Juneincluding pledges totaling approximately $3.2 billionwas to be made in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras as part of the Biden administrations strategic effort to reduce migration to the US from these oppressed and impoverished countries. The companies offering up investment include clothing manufacturers such as Gap, Inc., whose executives are warming their hands over an opportunity to employ as many as 500,000 women and girls in their sweatshop factories at poverty wages. Biden arrived in Mexico on Sunday evening following a stop in El Paso, Texas where he had a friendly chat with Republican Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, a leading proponent of anti-immigrant policies in the US. The President did not go to the US town that borders Ciudad-Juarez to speak with migrant workers and their families and learn about the reasons they decided to make the dangerous journey to the US. He went there to show that the Democratic Party and the White House are adopting the closed border policies of the xenophobic right and Bidens fascistic predecessor Donald Trump. Bidens trip is the first by a US president to Mexico since 2014. Since that time, there has been a dramatic rise in the number of migrants arriving at the border seeking entry into America under asylum rules. In 2022, a record number of more than 2.3 million migrants were arrested at the US border, up from 1.7 million in 2021, a large number of whom were returned to Mexico or their home country under Title 42 public health expulsion provisions. Title 42 was invoked during the Trump administration, which exploited the coronavirus pandemic as a means of blocking asylum seekers from coming into the US legally until their cases could be reviewed by immigration authorities. The Biden administration has used Title 42 to carry out the exact same policy as Trump, while claiming that they are opposed to it. In the week before the summit, Biden announced a new exclusion policy migrants arriving from Nicaragua, Cuba and Venezuela not covered by Title 42 because these regimes do not have repatriation agreements with Washington. While the future of Title 42 expulsions are uncertainit has been temporarily upheld by the Supreme Court as it is being reviewed by the court, with a ruling expected later this yearthe Democrats are seeking additional means of blocking migrants from entering the US. With these considerations in mind, Bidens discussions with Lopez Obrador were to demand that Mexico actively stop migrants from coming to the US border. According to a CNN report, Homeland Security officials have repeatedly stressed coordination with Mexico in efforts to stem the flow of migration to the US-Mexico border through patrols and sharing of information. An unnamed Homeland Security official said Biden was going to Mexico to reinvigorate those discussions. Using coded language in his closing remarks at the summit, Biden made clear that the US expects Mexico to support the intensification of the attacks on immigrant workers and their families. He talked about the expansion of safe and legal pathways for immigrants from Nicaragua, Cuba and Haiti to enter the US. This policy means that workers who are leaving their home countries because of desperate economic conditions must stay where they are. Biden also thanked Lopez Obrador, for stepping up to receive into Mexico those not following the lawful pathways weve made available, instead of attempting to unlawfully cross the border between our countries. Amid the intensification of its NATO-backed war with Russia, the government of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has passed a bill that grants Ukraines National Council of Broadcasting sweeping and arbitrary powers of censorship over nearly all of the countrys media. The 279-page bill, which has existed in various forms since Zelensky first ordered its creation in 2019, essentially permits the National Council of Broadcasting to censor television, print and online journalism, as well as social media and search engines such as Google. News sites that fail to officially register as media with the right-wing Ukrainian government may be shut down without a court ruling. Moreover, the National Council of Broadcasting itself will be filled with appointees by Zelensky and the Ukrainian parliament, which is currently dominated by the presidents Servant of the People party. While the bill was passed under the guise of media reform to comply with EU press freedom standards, the law violates the most basic democratic freedoms. Both the European Federation of Journalists and the Committee to Protect Journalists have opposed the measure, and in September Ukraines own National Union of Journalists called the law the biggest threat to press freedom in (Ukraines) independent history. Earlier in July, the European Federation of Journalists denounced the law, writing that it proposes to give arbitrary and disproportionate regulatory powers to the national regulator, the National Council of Broadcasting, which would have authority not only over audiovisual media, but also over print and digital media. The coercive regulation envisaged by the bill and in the hands of a regulator totally controlled by the government is worthy of the worst authoritarian regimes. It must be withdrawn. A state that would apply such provisions simply has no place in the European Union, Ricardo Gutierrez, general secretary of the federation, said at the time. While such organizations express consternation at Zelenskys blatant attempt to control Ukraines media, in reality, censorship and the attack on democratic rights have long been integral to the Kiev regimes rule. They have only intensified as the Ukrainian state has moved towards war with Russia, backed by NATO. After coming to office in 2019 due largely to widespread disillusionment with the xenophobic and militarist policies of former President Petro Poroshenko, Zelensky shifted sharply to the right by prosecuting Russia-friendly political opponents and escalating tensions with Moscow. As his approval ratings fell in February of 2021, Zelensky took the unprecedented step of closing down three popular, opposition-affiliated TV channels112, Newsone and ZIKon the grounds of national security. Later that same month his government imposed sanctions on Viktor Medvedchuk, leader of the pro-Russian Opposition for Life party, the second largest political party in the Ukrainian parliament at the time. Medvedchuk was later indicted on charges of embezzlement and high treason and placed under house arrest. At the time, the move was a clear signal to Moscow that the Zelensky government had no interest in a negotiated settlement to the ongoing civil war in eastern Ukraine, which had killed over 14,000. The arrest was also viewed as a provocative escalation in the drive to war by Zelensky and his backers in the Biden administration, who publicly applauded his crackdown on domestic, pro-Russian political opposition. In August 2021, on the eve of his infamous Crimea Platform summit, the Zelensky government banned the popular opposition website strana.ua by decree. The site was one of the few major media outlets in Ukraine that reported on the violent exploits of the countrys various militant far-right nationalist groups and corruption within the Ukrainian government. Hypocritically, the Crimea Platform denounced Russia for supposedly limiting fundamental freedoms in Crimea, such as the right to peaceful assembly, the rights to freedoms of expression and opinion, religion or belief, association, restrictions on the ability to seek, receive and impart information, as well as interference and intimidation that journalists, human rights defenders and defense lawyers face in their work. Following Russias invasion of the country in February 2022, the Zelensky government doubled down on political oppression and censorship by banning 11 collaborationist political parties, prohibiting the import of Russian books, canceling Russian language education, and consolidating all of the countrys television and radio reporting into one single government-approved program. Such reactionary policies have been backed by Ukraines Minister of Culture Oleksandr Tkachenko, who in December wrote an op-ed in The Guardian urging a worldwide boycott of The Nutcracker by Russian composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky. Last week Tkachenko announced the introduction of a law in the Ukrainian parliament that will accelerate its reactionary de-Russification policies by renaming streets currently dedicated to Russian cultural figures, such as Alexander Pushkin, and simplifying the removal of statues. Speaking to the National News Agency of Ukraine, Tkachenko proudly reported that the law will permit the government to continue the fight against hundreds of streets named after Pushkin, which already started last year. Such reactionary measures expose the true nature of the right-wing and undemocratic NATO-backed Zelensky government. Rather than seeking to end a bloody and disastrous war that has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians and Russians, the Zelensky government is dedicated to undemocratic and xenophobic political and cultural censorship to divide the Ukrainian and Russian working class and impose its war policies on the population. German public retirement insurance issuers generated a 2.1 billion euro surplus last year. A major contributor was the fact that an above-average number of pensioners died of COVID-19. This once again confirms the warnings of the World Socialist Web Site, which has called the official mass infection policy social murder. A woman waits for her vaccination at a vaccination Drive-in center in Cologne, Germany, Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner) Contrary to many expectations, the statutory pension insurance will end this year of the crisis with a remarkable plus of 2.1 billion euro, the outgoing managing director of the Deutsche Rentenversicherung (the German public pension insurance society), Matthias Forster, said December 16 at an insurers meeting. The president of the Rentenversicherung, Gundula Robach, spoke similarly in an interview with Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) in Berlin on December 27. Just a year ago, a deficit of several billion euros had been expected, Robach said. As one reason for the unexpected surplus, she explicitly named the coronavirus pandemic, which has led to an increase in mortality, especially among older people. These reports quickly disappeared from news feeds. The bourgeois media raised no outcry. Journalists who commented on the news were not alarmed but delighted that the pension fund was on a solid financial footing. What went unmentioned was the extent of the grief, pain and suffering this development dealt those affected and their families. The alarming extent of excess mortality in recent months is documented by the Federal Statistical Office on its official press portal. According to the report, in October 2022, when coronavirus mortality was particularly high, the number of deaths was 19 percent, or nearly 15,000 people, above the mean value (median) of the years 2018 to 2021. In November, when COVID-19 cases declined slightly, the number of deaths was still seven percent, or nearly 6,000, above the median of the previous years. In the first two weeks of December, excess mortality increased again, and deaths were about 12 percent above the previous means, exacerbated by an unusually strong flu epidemic and rampant respiratory illness. The World Socialist Web Site has reported the strikingly high excess mortality in 2022. Death rates that year averaged nine percent higher than the median for the previous four years, 2018-2021. Officially, 162,688 coronavirus patients have died in Germany as of January 8, but the number of unreported cases is undoubtedly higher since the data is unreliable. The WHO puts the number of coronavirus deaths worldwide at just under 6.7 million, while experts give informed estimates of more than three times that number. By those estimates, more than 21 million people worldwide have died directly or indirectly from COVID-19. The World Socialist Web Site's New Years Statement declares: More than 10 million children worldwide have lost a parent or primary caregiver from COVID-19. (...) A recent study on excess deaths by the World Health Organization found that COVID-19 was the third-leading cause of death globally in 2020 and the worlds leading cause of death in 2021. There were approximately 5.1 million excess deaths globally in 2022, making the mild Omicron variant the third-leading cause of death. Life expectancy is falling for the first time since World War II as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. It had been rising steadily until 2019, at least in Germany, but SARS-CoV-2 has put an end to this trend. In 2020, life expectancy fell by an average of 0.2 years for men and 0.1 year for women, and in 2021 it fell another 0.4 years for men and another 0.3 years for women. The figures vary greatly depending on the region. Accordingly, life expectancy for men in the German states of Thuringia, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt fell by at least 1.5 years from 2019 to 2021! This is a completely unusual development for peacetime. But it is deliberate. Even at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, when the government refused to protect the population with a sensible lockdown, then-Bundestag (Federal Parliament) President Wolfgang Schauble (Christian Democratic Union, CDU) found an unmistakable formulation. In his infamous commentary on German Basic Law, Schauble declared, '[W]hen I hear that everything must take second place to the protection of life, then I must say: that is not correct in such an absolute sense.' To justify opening up the economy and ruthless back-to-work policies, Schauble argued pointedly, Fundamental rights are mutually limiting. If there is one absolute value in our Basic Law, then it is human dignity. It is sacrosanct. But that does not exclude us from having to die. Shortly before, the same Schauble had demanded in a keynote speech on foreign policy that, in the interests of security, Germany had to be prepared to intervene in Europe and around the world, and that this would include ultimately, the willingness to use military force. Since then, the German government has found a welcome pretext in the Ukraine war for massively rearming the state both domestically and for foreign conflicts. There is a direct connection between the calls for war and violence and the demand to place alleged dignity above life, as the WSWS explained at the time, To advance its foreign and domestic interests in the deepest crisis of capitalism since the 1930s, the ruling class is again literally willing to walk over corpses. It was precisely the time, at the end of April 2020, when the government, together with businessmen, bankers and shareholders, sent hundreds of thousands of workers back to the factories and workplaces unprotected, despite the risk of infection. Since then, the official line has been that we must all learn to live with the virus. More correct would be die with the virus, because to this day it means nothing other than allowing ever new waves of infections, reinfections, and deaths, which could have been avoided, to wash over the population, harming entire generations through long-COVID. In the meantime, many leading politicians only speak about the pandemic in the past tense. At the turn of 2022-2023, state government after state government is repealing the last protective measures. In Schleswig-Holstein, Bavaria and Saxony-Anhalt, the mask requirement in public transport has been abolished and most of the other German states plan to follow suit in the coming weeks. At the same time, the latest, extremely easily transmitted coronavirus variant, XBB.1.5, is spreading out from the northeastern United States to Europe and the entire world. On January 7, Bavarian broadcaster BR24 quoted Bremen epidemiologist Hajo Zeeb as saying, One can say with some prognostic certainty that the variant will also become the dominant variant in our country. With the start of the new year, vaccination requirements for employees in health care facilities and homes for the elderly will also be struck. This requirement was never consistently implemented. As the Arzte-Zeitung reports, the nearly 270,000 reported violations of this rule were offset by only 1,275 activity bans, which is not even half a percent. Just under 7,000 other violations were punished with fines while the rest went without consequences. Seven federal states stated that they had not levied a single fine. The mendacious half-heartedness in the way such measuresvital for old peoples and nursing homesare handled is revealing. It confirms what was evident in the disgracefully positive reaction to the unexpected surplus in the pension funds: the politicians did not decide in favor of mass infection solely because they wanted to keep the economy open at all costs in the interests of short-term profits. They also see it as an effective means of reducing the pensioner overhang and relieving the government of pension subsidies long term. The World Socialist Web Site recently spoke with a 34-year-old teacher in Auckland, New Zealand, about his experience with Long COVID and his months-long struggle to obtain a diagnosis and medical support. The interview was conducted as part of the Global Workers Inquest into the pandemic, which is being undertaken by the International Committee of the Fourth International to expose the negligence and outright criminality of governments around the world in allowing the coronavirus to spread. Medical staff test shoppers who volunteered at a pop-up community COVID-19 testing station at a supermarket carpark in Christchurch, New Zealand, 2022. [AP Photo/Mark Baker] More than 20 million people have died over the past three years from COVID-19. At the same time, the virus has left tens of millions more with debilitating long-term conditions known as Long COVID. Tom (not his real name) teaches Chinese, Japanese and Korean languages. Originally from China, he has lived and worked in New Zealand for several years. He contracted COVID-19 in July 2022 and believes it was probably from someone at school. I remember teaching and one of the kids was very sick, and three days later I started to develop symptoms, he said. Schools have been central to the spread of COVID internationally, including in New Zealand. The Labour Party-led government reopened all schools last year for in-person classes after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced an end to the countrys elimination strategy. At the start of 2022, New Zealand had recorded only 59 deaths from COVID, thanks to a relatively strict zero COVID policy. Following the reopening of schools and businesses, and the progressive removal of mask mandates and other public health measures, the countrys death toll from the virus has soared to approximately 2,900. Tom commented that every government is letting the virus spread in the community. We are living in a civilised society, we have a lot of means to prevent COVID from spreading. Regarding Long COVID sufferers, he said, the government wants to ignore us and sacrifice our health. State agencies are not keeping any record of the number of people with Long COVID. With more than 2.1 million recorded infections in New Zealand, there are likely to be hundreds of thousands of people with long-term conditions due to the coronavirus. There are no specialist clinics for Long COVID and there is widespread ignorance about the condition, including among medical professionals. Tom said he did not expect any complications when he initially contracted COVID-19 because of his healthy, energetic lifestyle. Before getting the virus, he played badminton and did high-intensity tactical training (HITT) exercises several days a week. Every time I got the flu, I would recover in a few days, Id never been sick for longer than one week, he said. At first, Toms COVID symptoms were very mild, and after one week, I thought I had recovered. I went back to HITT. After just three minutes of exercise, his heart rate accelerated sharply. I felt almost like I would die, I thought I had damaged my heart, he said. The next day I went to the emergency department and checked everything. Doctors said everything was normal. I still felt my heart was not normal. Tom went to three different cardiologists, who identified his heart palpitations and tachycardiaan irregular, rapid heartbeat above 100 beats a minute, which is a common symptom among Long COVID sufferers. The doctors said these symptoms were not due to heart damage but they didnt know where they came from. Later, Tom went to a neurologist and, after he began rapidly losing weight, a gut specialist. They looked at my stomach, my guts, and said everything was normal. I thought I had a tumour, cancer or something, but there was nothing. Tom lost a total of 13 kilograms in four months. Toms symptoms included fatigue, constant headaches, dizziness, chest pain, heart discomfort and numbness. He would wake up frequently at night due to rapid heart palpitations and panic attacks. Periods of brain fog meant he would suddenly forget how to speak English which made it impossible to read anything. Two general practitioners (GPs) separately told Tom he was suffering from mental health issues including anxiety and he was prescribed sleeping pills for his insomnia. I told them, Im a very healthy person and didnt have any mental health problems. I told them I had Long COVID, take it seriously, Im really sick. They didnt listen to me. They said: youre fine, youre healthy, you can go back to work whenever you want. The sleeping pills made my symptoms worse because I got addicted to them and I had vomiting, diarrhoea and headaches. He was bed-bound for two weeks. I lost my hope, my parents were quite worried and flew to New Zealand to support me, he said. Finally, after two months of worsening symptoms, a third GP diagnosed Tom with Long COVID and said he would recover with time. This doctor had just returned to New Zealand after working in the UK during the pandemic, where she had seen many Long COVID patients, including some of her colleagues. During the worst period of his symptoms about two months ago, Tom said, Honestly, I thought I would die. At night, my heart palpitations went to about 170 beats per minute, every night I would wake up more than three times, I got shortness of breath and diarrhoea. You cant eat anything, you cant think, you cant speak properly. I told my partner about how to deal with my property and my belongings if I died. In the past month, Toms symptoms have begun to improve and he feels like he has regained 60 to 70 percent of his pre-COVID level of health. He can sleep better and is able to go for walks, but still cant do intense exercise. I dont know why the government doesnt do more to let people know that if you have COVID you have the possibility of getting Long COVID, and if you get Long COVID, where you can get support. In New Zealand, even medical professionals dont know about it, Tom said. They need to have Long COVID clinics and specialists to support patients. I think the UK, America, Australia do. Why not New Zealand? If my first two GPs had some basic knowledge about Long COVID they wouldnt have ignored my symptoms and sent me home with sleeping pills that made my symptoms worse and made me bed-bound for two weeks. Until recently, Tom said, I thought that if I recovered I would go back to China, because they had a zero tolerance policy for COVID, but unfortunately last month they reopened, and COVID has spread. The medical system in China is horrible, its a disaster, a lot of people have passed away. A lot of people are locking themselves at home, they dont want to go out. I know a lot of my friends parents or grandparents have passed away during the last two months. I know of a PhD student, a friend of a friend, who passed away who was only 31 years old. He died just four days after getting COVID because of myocarditis. He was a very healthy person. The WSWS explained that New Zealand, China and Australia proved during the early stages of the pandemic that COVID-19 can be eliminated, saving thousands of lives and preventing mass illness. The removal of public health restrictions in all these countries, at the insistence of big business, has not only led to thousands of preventable deaths, it has also created further opportunities for the virus to evolve more infectious and vaccine-resistant variants. Tom said: As a Long COVID patient, I totally agree that if the world eliminated COVID it would be better, because I know I am very vulnerable to this virus. He is very worried about being reinfected. In recent weeks, more than 40 percent of new COVID cases in New Zealand are in people who have had COVID more than once. I read some research saying that the more you get infected, the more likely it is that you will get Long COVID. Because COVID is a vascular illness, each time you are infected your vascular system is more vulnerable. Despite these concerns, Tom expects to return to teaching in the classroom when the school year begins at the end of January. I will need to face more than 100 students per day. Its very risky, but I have no choice, I have a mortgage to pay. My colleagues dont understand Long COVID. Some of them have been infected for a second time but they dont understand the risks. But they dont think Im being dramatic. They know I was a very hard working person before and so they know something happened to me. Tom criticised the removal of public health measures in schools, saying: At least wearing a mask in school, protecting teachers and students, is necessary. I dont want anyone to have the Long COVID experience like me. Its horrible. WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said: I thank Germany for its generous and longstanding support to developing countries and LDCs in strengthening their compliance with sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures. When farmers are empowered to meet these standards, it improves access to global and regional markets, paving the way for increased sales and incomes. Enhanced SPS capacity also means more sustainable, resilient food systems, which contributes to food security at home and globally. Germany's Ambassador to the WTO, Dr Bettina Waldmann, said: More than ever, it is time to show that WTO members help each other to fulfil their obligations, strengthen their know-how and further develop their trade capacities. Germany is pleased to see the STDF working fruitfully in the interest of all, enhancing everybodys health and promoting sustainable agriculture. Germany's contribution to the STDF will improve food safety systems by enhancing SPS capacity, reducing trade barriers and trade costs in developing countries. The funding will also strengthen the STDF's knowledge platform, which connects diverse stakeholders from across agriculture, health, trade and development to identify and disseminate good practice. This encourages exchange of information about innovative and collaborative approaches to enhance SPS work globally. Developing countries and LDCs are encouraged to apply to the STDF for SPS project and project preparation grants. The next deadline for submission of funding proposals is 24 February 2023. Information on how to apply is available here. To date, Germany has contributed approximately CHF 32.5 million to various WTO trust funds since 2002, including more than CHF 5.7 million to the STDF. Germany contributed EUR 150,000 to the STDF in 2022 through its Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture. The STDF is a global multi-stakeholder partnership to facilitate safe and inclusive trade, established by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Organisation for Animal Health, the World Bank Group, the World Health Organization and the WTO, which houses and manages the partnership. The STDF responds to evolving needs, drives inclusive trade, and contributes to sustainable economic growth, food security and poverty reduction, in support of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. A few years back when my mother was in the hospital, I rushed to the nurses station and breathlessly instructed a nurse to check the heart monitor. Turned out the woman wasnt a nurse at all she was the cardiologist. The problem is, its hard to tell these days. Like most everything, nursing has changed over the years. In the early days, the graduating RNs went through a Capping Ceremony. Each school had a different style cap, and registered nurses were the only ones who wore the little hats. You could tell by the headdress whether a nurse was an RN or an LPN. Now they use pins, and everybodys wearing all sorts of colorful smocks. Its hard to tell a nurse from a receptionist or a cleaning lady from a surgeon. Dress isnt the only thing thats changed. I came across a nurses manual written in l887 and found that in addition to caring for 50 patients, each nurse was expected to: Daily sweep and mop the floors of your ward, dust the furniture and windowsills. Maintain an even temperature in your ward by bringing in a scuttle of coal. Fill kerosene lamps, clean chimneys, and trim wicks daily. Wash windows weekly. Notes are important. Make your pens carefully; whittle nibs to your individual taste. Nurses on day duty will report at 7 a.m. and leave at 8 p.m. Each nurse should lay aside from each pay day a goodly sum of her earning for her benefits during her declining years so that she will not become a burden to her family. The nurse who performs her labors and serves her patients and doctors without fault for five years will be given an increase of 5 cents a day, providing the hospital has no debts outstanding. In the early 1900s, when my mother was just a tiny girl, her oldest sister, Alma, decided to become a nurse. Her aunt was horrified, and told her, Nice girls arent nurses. But her Papa said, Ill have you know my daughter can be a nurse and a lady. So, Aunt Alma packed her bags and headed to Birminghams South Highlands Infirmary for training. When she got there, an epidemic of typhoid fever had just broken out. It was so hot that many patients were almost dying from the heat, so Alma spent 12 to 16 hours a day wetting sheets, wringing them out, and hanging them in the rooms to cool things down. Those two weeks were so physically draining, she almost quit. But, she stuck it out and later became director of nurses at a large hospital in Charleston, West Virginia. And, she paved the way for two younger sisters, Mary and Theresa, to become accomplished nurses. The three sisters all told tales of the hardships and rigors of that pre-penicillin era of nursing. Nurses these days still work long, grueling hours. But, the old days of nursing could hardly be called the good old days. In fact, those nurses probably needed a doctor. Andrew Tate, the controversial former kickboxing world champion turned social media influencer, has lost his court appeal against his detention in Romania over rape and human trafficking charges. Eugen Vidineac, a lawyer representing the 36-year-old and his brother Tristan, who has also been detained, has insisted that there is not a single piece of evidence apart from the victims statement to back up the allegations. Mr Tate has amassed millions of followers across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and TikTok over the past decade. But he has also seen his accounts banned over inflammatory statements he has made, often appearing to advocate violence against women, which the platforms ruled violated their policies. Frequently accused of embodying toxic masculinity and misogyny, having claimed that women cannot drive, belong in the home and are a mans property, Mr Tate has made inconsistent statements on the subject. He told the Anything Goes with James English podcast in June 2021 that he was absolutely sexist and absolutely a misogynist, only to then claim on Piers Morgan Uncensored more recently that he was absolutely not. He has also claimed that his remarks, viewed by millions online, are made in the persona of a comic character and have been unfairly taken out of context. I play an online character and am brash and bravado but my views are pure and simply say to find the highest value men and women you can with good hearts, he told The Independent in response to criticism from the domestic violence organisation White Ribbon. Mr Tate has also made claims about the extent of his personal wealth and his online popularity that have not been substantiated. But he has found an eager audience online for his messages of male empowerment, with teachers increasingly coming forward to express concern about his potentially radicalising influence on impressionable teenage boys, fearing they could take the wrong lessons from pronouncements like the 41 Tenets on his website. Story continues I believe that men have the divine imperative to become as capable, powerful, and competent as possible in this life, states the first. Here is a brief introduction to the life and times of Andrew Tate. 1986 Emory Andrew Tate III was born in Washington, DC, on 1 December to Emory Tate Jr, a sergeant of the US Air Force and a chess International Master, and his English wife Eileen, a catering assistant. Initially raising their children in Chicago, Illinois, the couple divorced in 1997, at which point Eileen Tate relocates to a council estate in Luton, Bedfordshire, with her young family, where she reportedly still lives. Tate has described his mother as my hero but says they were broke as a joke during his childhood. Of his father, he told The Times last September he would be away from home for extended periods while serving but would say to his son upon returning: Look, your mother has to do the day-to-day stuff. Im a man. I have to make sure youre protected. 2005 The young Andrew Tate starts boxing and martial arts training while reportedly also working as a TV producer. 2009 Earns his first kickboxing championship when he wins the British ISKA Full Contact Cruiserweight Championship in Derby, going by the name King Cobra. 2011 Wins his first ISKA world title by beating Jean-Luc Benoit via knockout. As his celebrity begins to grow, Tate joins Twitter, initially as @Cobratate. 2012 Tate and his brother Tristan begin their first adult webcam business employing lingerie-clad models to engage in chat sessions with men. In a later interview with The Mirror in March 2022, the brothers joke that their webcam ventures, which charge customers $4 (3.30) an hour, are a total scam because the models featured often tell lonely male callers fake sob stories to elicit sympathy and earn larger tips. Tristan Tate tells the newspaper the brothers are protected by two lines in their terms and conditions: One is broadcasting is for entertainment purposes only. That means if a model says she has a sick dog or a sick grandma it doesnt have to be true. The next is that all cash given to models is a voluntary sign of gratitude for their time broadcasting. 2013 Wins his second ISKA world title in a 12-round match against Vincent Petitjean. 2016 Invited onto the 17th season of the reality TV show Big Brother, Tate quickly attracts scrutiny over his track record of controversial statements. He is removed from the house after just six days when a video surfaces showing him hitting a woman with a belt. Andrew Tate promotes Big Brother (Channel 5/PA) In a statement, both he and the woman featured in the clip say they are friends and that the actions depicted were consensual. 2017 Moves to Bucharest, Romania, with Tristan, setting up home in a heavily-fortified suburban compound and claiming the UK has gone downhill. He said the prospect of avoiding rape charges more easily was probably 40 per cent of the reason for moving to Central Europe, adding: Im not a f***ing rapist, but I like the idea of just being able to do what I want. I like being free. If youre a man living in England or Germany or America or any of the Western world right now youve decided to live in a country where any woman at any point in the future can destroy your life. He later tells The Times this was intended as an attack on litigation culture, commenting: A dying empire adopts laws like a sick man adopts medicine. Having already stirred controversy on Twitter by claiming depression isnt real, Tate is permanently suspended from the platform after saying on 18 October that women should bear some responsibility for being sexually assaulted, part of a thread commenting on the Harvey Weinstein affair. I dont agree with being banned, people get banned from Twitter all the time and make new profiles, he said subsequently. Im not inciting violence, promoting terrorism or harassing anyone. This is censorship of free speech. Ive never had specific tweets banned or been cautioned. The controversy boosts his profile among far-right conservatives, bringing him into the company of Alex Jones, Paul Joseph Watson and Donald Trump Jr in America and Nigel Farage and Tommy Robinson in the UK August 2022 Having continued to build his following on social media and in right-wing media, a campaign to de-platform Tate resulted in his being banned from Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. In a final video, Tate claims that many of the criticisms levied at him are based on clips that have been misrepresented. I have some responsibility to bear. I still blame myself, because my rise has been so meteoric and I became so famous so quickly, he said. Andrew Tate posts his response to Greta Thunberg (Andrew Tate/Twitter) My responsibility is that any negative connotations in my videos are removed. The way you say things in a video that gets 500 views is very different from the way you say things in a video that gets 50 million views the more people you reach, the more important it is that people dont take things out of context. If there was as many people cutting up videos like they did mine and those people had a negative agenda, they could make Mickey Mouse look evil, you could make anyone look bad. His message is dismissed by Hope Not Hates research director, Joe Mulhall, who tells The Independent the clip attempts to completely rewrite his behaviour, justify the unjustifiable, and takes no responsibility. That same month, financial services company Stripe pulls out of processing subscriptions for Hustlers University, another Tate business billed as an online academy where members pay a monthly membership fee in exchange for advice on how to make a passive income from online industries such as cryptocurrency. The venture reportedly has around 100,000 paying subscribers who are charged around $49 (40) per month but Stripes decision prompts it to shut its affiliate marketing programme, which had encouraged the spread of Tate videos across social networks. October 2022 After a video of Tate praying at a mosque in Dubai with MMA fighter Tam Khan goes viral, he announces he has converted to Islam in a post on Gettr. November 2022 Tate is reinstated on Twitter by new owner Elon Musk, along with other previously banned right-wing figures including Donald Trump, Kanye West and Jordan Peterson. 28 December 2022 Shortly after Christmas, Tate posts his now-infamous tweet to Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, boasting about his Bugatti and Ferraris and asking for her email address so he can send a complete list of my car collection and their respective enormous emissions. Yes, please do enlighten me, she responded. Email me at smalldickenergy@getalife.com. yes, please do enlighten me. email me at smalldickenergy@getalife.com https://t.co/V8geeVvEvg Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) December 28, 2022 The internet duly erupts, prompting Tate to respond initially rather weakly by asking How dare you?!. He then returned with a video of himself sporting a dressing gown and smoking a cigar claiming to believe the joke has backfired on Thunberg and accusing the global matrix of deploying a bot farm to send her tweet viral. 29 December A day later, Tate and his brother are detained in Romania for 30 days, along with two women, on suspicion of human trafficking, rape and forming an organised crime group. Prosecutors say they have found six women who claim to have been sexually exploited by the suspects for the purpose of creating internet pornography. An investigation has reportedly been underway since April. 30 December As excitable social media rumours suggest that a Jerrys Pizza box featured in Tates video inadvertently revealed his location to the authorities, Thunberg tweets about him again, declaring: This is what happens when you dont recycle your pizza boxes. this is what happens when you dont recycle your pizza boxes Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) December 30, 2022 3 January 2023 Tates valuable luxury car collection is seized by the Romanian authorities. 8 January One of the two Tate brothers is allegedly hospitalised after a medical check-up in jail, according to Antena 3, a CNN-partnered Romania news site. A cryptic tweet follows from Tates account, although it is unclear if he wrote it himself, which states: The Matrix has attacked me. But they misunderstand, you cannot kill an idea. Hard to Kill. 10 January Tate appears in court in Bucharest to appeal his detention, arriving wearing handcuffs and bearing a copy of the Quran. His lawyers insist there is no evidence against him but the judge rules against him. DANIEL MIHAILESCU/Getty Images Andrew Tate's seized luxury cars could be used to pay victims if he is convicted. Romanian authorities seized 11 cars belonging to Tate and his brother last week. The brothers were arrested on December 29 and face allegations of sex-trafficking. Andrew Tate's seized luxury properties including several cars could be used to compensate victims if he is convicted in a Romanian court, a spokesperson for Romania's Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) told Insider. "It's in order to assure that if the victims have claims, financial claims, they can be covered by the cost," Ramona Bolla, the DIICOT spokesperson, said. "And, of course in order to serve, for the purpose of being taken by the state, if we can prove that they have gained this money from human trafficking. And in order to sustain the price of the trial, the cost of the investigation." Romanian authorities seized at least 11 luxury cars owned by Tate and his brother, Tristan, last week following their December 29 arrests, Bolla told Insider last week. While Bolla did not reveal to Insider the makes and models of the seized vehicles, Romanian news outlet Gandul published photos it said showed the seized cars. Getty Images also published photos of the reported cars. Cars from Andrew Tate's cars collection, which were was seized by Romanian authorities, are seen at his home on January 10, 2023 in Bucharest, Romania. British-US former professional kickboxer and controversial influencer Andrew Tate and brother Tristan Tate attend the hearing on their appeal against pre-trial detention for alleged human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal organisation. Andreea Campeanu/Getty Images One of Tate's alleged cars is a Rolls-Royce Wraith from the carmakers Black Badge range, and Insider previously reported that Tate seemingly bought it on a whim while walking through London a few months ago. According to TopGear.com, the car costs at least $300,000. An Aston Martin Vanquish S Ultimate was also reportedly seized from the Tate brothers, a car that costs around $250,000, according to TopGear.com. The brothers were arrested in Romania and accused of sex trafficking and exploiting women to make porn. DIICOT prosecutors allege that six women were forced to make porn for Tate's online business, according to a press release from the agency. The prosecutors allege that at least one of the women was raped. Story continues Tate has been held in jail since his arrest and lost an appeal on Tuesday requesting his release from custody. He was initially held for 24 hours before a Romanian court ruled that should be extended to 30 days. The judge who denied his appeal cited Tate's wealth as the reason for keeping him in jail while the investigation into him carries on, saying it made him a flight risk. Read the original article on Insider 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. Story continues 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 New Hampshire authorities announced this week that they had finally identified the body of a woman discovered in a wooded area in the southern part of the state in 1971. The body discovered in a then-wooded area of Bedford, New Hampshire about 20 miles north of the Massachusetts border just off the Everett Turnpike in the fall of 1971 has been identified as Massachusetts woman Katherine Ann Alston, 26, New Hampshire Attorney General John M. Formella said in a press release. Alston, who was born and raised in Boston, went missing in 1971. Her parents and siblings had decided to move to Texas, where her father's family was from, and she'd made plans to see them off at Boston's Logan Airport but never showed up. They never heard from her again. At that time, Alston who had gotten married to fellow Boston University classmate Ralph Lawson Garrett, Jr. in 1967 but was amicably divorced at the time of her disappearance was living with a roommate named David Cormier on Beacon Street near the Massachusetts State House in Boston, some 50 miles from where her body was found. RELATED: New Details On Human Foot Found In Yellowstone Geyser That's Been Linked To Missing 70-Year-Old Los Angeles Man There are no records that show that he or her family officially reported her missing. Her ex-husband has since died. A handout photo of cold case victim Katherine Alston Cold Case victim Katherine Alston Photo: New Hampshire DOJ A then-unidentified woman's body was discovered in New Hampshire on Oct. 6, in a then-wooded area in Bedford off what was then one of the major roads leading from Boston to Manchester. Police thought she was 25-35 years old and she'd been dead for between one and three months, but could not determine a specific cause of death because of how long her body had been outside. Her manner of death was determined to be a homicide. They estimated she'd been between 5'1 and 5'4" tall, and knew she had brown hair. She was found in a maroon, pullover shirt with a lace collar, hip-hugging denim Daisy Duke-style shorts and size 7 sandals. There was no identification with her body. Story continues Missing woman Ana Walshe In 1993 and 2006, New Hampshire State Police and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner worked with experts to develop clay reconstructions of the Jane Doe's face and, in 2020, they attempted a digital reconstruction in order to identify her. None were successful. After the final facial reconstruction failed to turn up any new leads, the New Hampshire State Police Major Crime Unit worked with the DNA Doe Project to use genetic genealogy, and ultimate connected a DNA profile obtained from the Jane Doe with a profile submitted by a member of Alston's family in Texas to a direct-to-consumer DNA database. Further testing confirmed the 1971 Jane Doe was Kathy Alston. Oxy App Investigators are now trying to determine her killer. New Hampshire police are looking to speak to Alston's roommate at the time of her disappearance, David Cormier, and anyone who knew either Alston or Cormier in Boston, Dorchester or Somerville between 1963 and the fall of 1971, including former Boston University students who were on campus between 1963 and 1967. Anyone with this information, or any other information, can contact investigators at the New Hampshire Cold Case Unit by phone (603-271-2663), at coldcaseunit@dos.nh.gov or by using the online tip form at www.doj.nh.doj/criminal/cold-case. 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. Story continues 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 FORT EUSTIS, Va. Based on the initial success of the Future Soldier Preparatory Course pilot at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, the Army will expand the course in January 2023 to help increase the quality of individuals entering basic training and provide additional opportunities to serve in our all-volunteer force. The pilot program stood up in August 2022 to help Americas youth overcome academic and physical fitness barriers to service and meet or exceed the Armys accession standards. A total of 3,206 students have attended the course as of the end of 2022, of which 2,965 students have already graduated and are continuing to basic combat training. In the academic track of the course, 95 percent of students increased at least one test category within their first two attempts, increasing their test score by an average of 17 points. In the fitness track, 87 percent of students graduated within their first three weeks of the course, with an average weekly body fat loss of 1 percent. The initial results of the Future Soldier Preparatory Course have been very encouraging and demonstrate the Armys unparalleled ability to unlock a persons true potential, said Gen. Gary Brito, the commanding general for U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command. These programs are providing recruits an opportunity to serve and are preparing them not just for the rigors of basic training, but for a life through Army service. Based on the initial success of the pilot, the Army will add two additional companies at Fort Jackson for recruits who score between 21-30 on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test. Fort Jackson will also still host all recruits who attend the fitness track of the Future Soldier Preparatory Course. These recruits will have up to 90 days to meet the Armys desired accession standards. Additionally, recruits who score between 31-49 on the ASVAB will now be able to volunteer to attend the academic track of the course at Fort Benning, Ga. And offered the opportunity to select the new MOS based on the needs of the Army. Recruits in this new academic track who do not improve at least one test category will ship to basic training based on their original contract. A Training and Doctrine Command proof of concept earlier this year showed 87 percent of volunteers with an ASVAB score between 31-49 increased at least one test category after a single test, increasing their test scores by an average of 15 points. These results informed the decision to give volunteers attending this new academic track at Fort Benning one opportunity to raise their ASVAB scores. The Army will carefully monitor the Future Soldier Preparatory Course expansion and determine if it should be implemented at other Army Training Centers in the future. We will continue to assess and scale the Future Soldier Preparatory Course to ensure we are successfully preparing and building quality recruits who have the desire and ability to meet our standards and serve honorably in our all-volunteer force, said Brito. The Army will not sacrifice quality for quantity. We are confident that given the right instruction and support, these recruits will be able to perform successfully and meet or exceed the standards expected of every soldier. Blonde-sAn instructor helps a student work through a math problem at the U.S. Army Future Soldier Preparatory Course at Fort Jackson, S.C. on Dec. 14, 2022. The Future Soldier Preparatory Course provides focused academic and fitness instruction to help future Soldiers overcome barriers to serve in our all-volunteer Army. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Sarah Horne) Students in the academic track of the U.S. Army Future Soldier Preparatory Course attend classes at Fort Jackson, S.C. on Dec. 14, 2022. The Future Soldier Preparatory Course provides focused academic and fitness instruction to help future Soldiers overcome barriers to serve in our all-volunteer Army. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Keion Jackson) The J. Marvin Jones Federal Building and Mary Lou Robinson United States Courthouse in Amarillo. A former biologist with West Texas A&M University was sentenced Tuesday to six months in a federal prison for illegally importing wildlife merchandise and storing them on campus. Richard Kazmaier faced up to five years in prison after he pleaded guilty in September to a count of Lacey Act Trafficking. On Tuesday, he appeared before U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk for a sentencing hearing. Kazmaier admitted to smuggling into the United States wildlife merchandise such as taxidermy mounts, skeletons, bones and feathers without declaring them to customs authorities and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. University officials by Friday were unable to confirm if Kazmier was still employed by the school where he was an associate professor. WT was not mentioned in the indictment, however, Kazmier did store the contraband on campus, the documents state. According to plea documents, Kazmaier will also pay as part of his plea $5,000 to the Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund, which is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The fund pays out tips for information that leads to an arrest, criminal conviction, civil penalty assessment, or forfeiture of property for any violation of the Lacey Act or its regulations, as well as the costs incurred by persons who provide temporary care for fish, wildlife, or plants pending the disposition of any civil or criminal Lacey Act proceeding. Kazmaier's charge stems from a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services Office of Law Enforcement investigation as part of Operation Global Reach, which focused on the trafficking of wildlife from Indonesia to the United States. Kazmaier bought wildlife items from the internet through websites including eBay, where he operated an account since 2000 under the user name, Tortuga Tex. Investigators found that from March 2013 to February 2020, Kazmaier imported approximately 358 wildlife items into the United States with a market value of $14,423. The items came from Bulgaria, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Indonesia, Latvia, Norway, Russia, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Uruguay, according to court documents. Story continues Kazmaier did not declare any of the wildlife items he shipped except on three occasions when USFWS inspectors intercepted the shipments and gave him an opportunity to file a retroactive declaration. The United States and 183 other countries are signatories to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, which regulates the trade of endangered or threatened species through permit requirements. Among the 14 species Kazmaier shipped that required permits were a golden jackal, caracal, Eurasian otter, Vervet monkey, mountain weasels, African harrier hawk and a greater naked-tailed armadillo. Kazmaier did not resell the items, but traded or gifted them to other professors, collectors and WT students. This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Former WTAMU sentenced for Endangered Species Act violation WASHINGTON House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has vowed to bar Democrats Adam Schiff, Eric Swalwell and Ilhan Omar from serving on House committees. The threat, which McCarthy repeated this week, is retaliation for Democrats having removed Reps. Paul Gosar of Arizona and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia from their committee assignments in 2021 for highly inflammatory statements, including about Omar. The putative reasons for Omars prospective committee ban are a little more hazy. A refugee from Somalia and the first African-born member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Omar is a frequent target for members of the GOP. Republicans have often claimed Omar, who has represented Minnesotas 5th District since 2019, is an antisemite. But Omar said she believes McCarthy wants her off committees because shes Muslim. I do not actually think that he has a reason outside of me being Muslim and thinking I should not be, Omar told HuffPost. If you look at the comments from Republicans, its precisely for only that reason. For years, Republicans have targeted Omar and espoused conspiracy theories about her, while shrugging off egregious behaviors and comments from members of their own party, such as when Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) repeatedly described Omar as a terrorist who might blow up the Capitol. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) said Tuesday that Republicans would consider removing people from committees because Democrats had done it. The Democrats set a precedent that we urged them strongly not to go down last Congress, Scalise said. They decided they would break the precedent that had been in place for over 200 years and remove members of the opposing party that our party selected to be on committees, so that was a practice they set. But Scalise declined to say any Democrats would definitely get booted since neither party had made committee appointments yet. Rep. Pete Aguilar (Calif.), a member of Democratic leadership, said Tuesday that Democrats were working on their committee assignments and refused to get into a hypothetical question about what would happen if McCarthy blocked members. Story continues House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has vowed to remove Rep. Ilhan Omar (center above) from the House Foreign Affairs Committee. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has vowed to remove Rep. Ilhan Omar (center above) from the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Republicans Gosar and Greene were stripped of their committee assignments in the previous Congress. In 2021, Gosar posted a video on social mediadepicting violence against President Joe Biden and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), while Greene has repeatedly posted racist and antisemitic conspiracy theories and advocated for executing top Democrats, including Omar. McCarthy said last year that he would allow Greene and Gosar to return to their committees when Republicans regained control of the House a statement made the same week the pair participated in an actual white nationalist conference. McCarthy can unilaterally block Swalwell and Schiff (both from California) from returning to the House Intelligence Committee because its a select committee over which the speaker has more control than regular standing committees. Republicans have criticized Schiff for hyping what turned out to be bogus information about Donald Trump in a discredited spy dossier. Swalwell had contacts with an alleged Chinese spy who tried to help his political career from 2011 to 2015, though Swalwell was not accused of any wrongdoing. But removing Omar from the House Foreign Affairs Committee, should Democrats place her back on it, would likely require a majority vote by the entire House. Omar has faced a number of allegations of antisemitism for her highly inflammatory criticism of the Israeli government. In 2019, the congresswoman apologized for her its all about the Benjamins tweet which she said was meant to criticize pro-Israel lobbying groups. Since then, House Republicans swiftly began calling for Omar to be removed from Foreign Affairs, a vow McCarthy said in November that hed uphold. I promised you last year that as speaker she would no longer be on Foreign Affairs, and Im keeping that promise, McCarthy told the Republican Jewish Coalition. A number of progressive Jewish organizations published their own letter a few weeks later opposing McCarthys vow, writing that the groups categorically reject the suggestion that any of her policy positions or statements merit disqualification from her role on the committee. As crude and as cynical as it is for the nativist factions in our government, targeting Muslims is reliably good politics, said Sumayyah Waheed, senior policy counsel at Muslim Advocates, a national civil rights group based in Washington, D.C. By stripping Rep. Omar of her committees, McCarthy kills two birds with one stone: He attempts to silence an effective, principled voice on the Foreign Affairs Committee, and he stokes the ugly culture of anti-Muslim hate for cheap political points, she added. Omar, who is one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress, has long been targeted by Republicans in a series of Islamophobic attacks and has been the subject of death threats. In March 2019, a poster of Omar and the Sept. 11 attacks was posted at an event sponsored by the Republican Party of West Virginia. That same year in July, then-president Donald Trump said the four progressive congresswomen of color known as the Squad, including Omar, should go back and help fix the totally broken and crime-infested places from which they came. To date, the Republican Party leadership has done nothing to condemn and hold their own members accountable for repeated instances of anti-Muslim hate and harassment, Omar said in November 2021 after Boebert refused to apologize directly to the congresswoman after suggesting she was a terrorist. This is not about one hateful statement or one politician; it is about a party that has mainstreamed bigotry and hatred. It is time for Republican Leader McCarthy to actually hold his party accountable. Related... After several months of contentious debate and pressure from Muslim residents, Hamtramck City Council voted Tuesday night to allow the religious sacrifice of animals on residential property. Muslims often slaughter animals during the holiday of Eid al-Adha and Hamtramck has one of the highest percentage of Muslim residents among cities in the U.S. The all-Muslim city council voted 3-2, with Mayor Amer Ghalib casting an additional vote in favor making it 4-2, to amend a city ordinance to allow religious sacrifice of animals at home. After the vote to approve, applause broke out from members of the public, who packed the meeting to speak out before the vote. "If somebody wants to do it, they have a right to do their practice," Councilman and Mayor Pro Tem Mohammed Hassan said at the meeting, which was livestreamed. Some residents and animal rights advocates have expressed opposition to the ordinance changes, saying they will lead to animal cruelty and sanitation problems in Hamtramck, one of the most densely populated cities in Michigan. They said they worry about people being traumatized by seeing the throats of goats, lambs and cows being slit in backyards, with blood splattering and entrails falling out. But Hassan said allowing animal slaughter will not make the city "blow up with the nasty blood, contamination." At a Jan. 10, 2023 City Council meeting, Hamtramck speakers discuss changing a city ordinance to allow religious animal slaughter, which Muslims often perform during the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha. The council voted to approve amending the ordinance to allow it. Still image from livestream. Ghalib and other supporters of the new ordinance say state and federal law protect their religious rights under the U.S. Constitution, noting a Supreme Court decision 30 years ago that prohibited city bans on animal sacrifice practiced by followers of the Santeria religion. They also note some in the Jewish community perform animal sacrifices during holidays, including a group of Orthodox Jews who travel to Hamtramck every year on the eve of Yom Kippur to slaughter chickens at a halal butcher run by Muslims. Ghalib said banning animal slaughter could prompt lawsuits against the city alleging civil rights violations. The city attorney also said the ordinance changes are legal and that banning sacrifice could risk lawsuits. Story continues The passing of the amendment is an example of the growing political and cultural clout of the city's Muslim population, most with roots in Yemen or Bangladesh. At Tuesday's meeting, some also expressed objections to the flying of a LGBTQ Pride flag on city property along Jos. Campau Avenue, saying it clashes with their faith. Some residents have accused the city of trying to undermine their religion with the flag and by trying to restrict animal sacrifices. More:Hamtramck debates allowing animal slaughter for religious holidays More:LGBTQ and faith communities struggle for unity in Dearborn, Hamtramck Councilman Khalil Refai, who had previously opposed allowing animal sacrifices, was not present at Tuesday's meeting and did not vote. City Councilwoman Amanda Jaczkowski, who also previously opposed allowing animal slaughter, flipped her position and voted Tuesday in favor of it. In December, Jaczkowski had voted in favor of the city continuing its ban on animal slaughter; the council had voted 3 to 2 last month to ban animal slaughter. "The majority of people, including the majority of Muslims that I know, do not want slaughter to be allowed in the city of Hamtramck," Jaczkowski had said last summer. But at Tuesday's meeting, she said she has to follow the legal advice of the city. "Do we want to risk the city getting sued?" she asked. The controversy arose last summer after the city had revised its animal ordinance to deal with the issue of how to feed cats. During that revision, some on the council recommended the city add a sentence that would prohibit animal slaughter. Hamtramck City Council on Jan. 10, 2023 voted to allow animal sacrifices for religious reasons. Left to right: Councilman Mohammed Alsomiri, who voted, No; Councilwoman Amanda Jaczkowski, who voted, Yes; Councilman and Mayor Pro Tem Mohammed Hassan, who voted, Yes; Mayor Amer Ghalib, who voted, Yes; Councilman Nayeem Choudhury, who voted, Yes; Councilman Muhith Mahmood, who voted, No. Councilman Khalil Refai was not present. Still image from livestream of meeting. That proposal drew outrage from some Muslim residents, who raised concerns on Facebook and at council meetings. The council then struck that proposal to ban the slaughter and moved to make additional revisions ensuring the right to animal slaughter. Hassan on Tuesday criticized the subcommittee that sought to ban animal slaughter last year. "Our committee tried to prohibit what was already there," Hassan said. "They tried to close the door for us." Goats shipped from a Texas ranch in the holding section of the ENA Meatpacking facility in Paterson, New Jersey before they are to be slaughtered. ENA, one of the largest Halal slaughterhouses in the United States, is a family-run business that slaughters and prepares goats, lambs, cattle and chickens, serving the Muslim community for Eid al Adha, the Feast of the Sacrifice, one of two major Muslim holidays. The current animal ordinance in Hamtramck appears to ban religious slaughter done by individuals at home, reading: "No person shall slaughter any animal in the City except for properly licensed commercial facilities in the business of food preparation or police in the course of their duties or as permitted by law." Hamtramck has some businesses that perform animal slaughter for customers who like consuming halal chickens and other types of meat. An earlier version of the proposed additions to the ordinance had rules governing religious slaughter - such as requiring a fee, notifying the city, and blocking it from public view - but those sections were later removed before the council voted on it, Jaczkowski said. According to a copy of the new animal ordinance provided Wednesday by Hamtramck Clerk Rana Faraj, the city ordinance changes approved Tuesday by the council include: A sentence was added to a section prohibiting local ownership of various animals such as cows, sheep and goats that reads: "This section does not apply for temporary religious sacrificial purposes as permitted by law." A new section was added that is titled "Religious Animal Sacrifice." It says that the other parts of the ordinance, which prohibit animal cruelty, can't be used to "hinder the religious freedom of any person or group." It also says animals slaughtered must be killed in a humane way, whether by mechanical or electrical means; or by means often used in kosher and halal practices, "whereby the animal suffers loss of consciousness by anemia of the brain caused by the simultaneous and instantaneous severance of the carotid arteries with a sharp instrument. " Residents doing animal sacrifices need to "dispose of all waste in accordance with local, state, and federal law." About 30% to 38% of Hamtramck's residents are of Yemeni descent, and 24% are of Asian descent, largely Bangladeshi, according to 2020 census data. A majority of the two groups are believed to be Muslim. Last year, Hamtramck became the first city in U.S. history where Muslims make up the entire elected city council. Also, Ghalib became the first Muslim mayor of Hamtramck, which previously had only Polish American mayors in its history. The council's decision was praised by Dawud Walid, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations Michigan, who said in a statement: "We welcome the Hamtramck City Council's vote, which blocked those who sought to place undue burden on Muslim residents who uphold their sincerely held religious practice in conjunction with Eid al-Adha." Ghalib said at the meeting he is open to revising or even rescinding the changes if they don't work out. He said the city will observe how the sacrifices play out this year. "If it's allowed by the state and the federal (law) ... then follow our legal advice ... give it a try," Ghalib said at the meeting. More:Immigrants' trip to buy slaughtered cattle near Adrian turns into dispute with farmer Ghalib and Hassan said some have proposed donating money to help with the sacrifices. Hassan said a potential donor spoke of spending $1,000 on a large container to dispose of the animal parts that could be placed on a corner at a set time around the Eid holiday. Councilman Nayeem Choudhury said this is an issue of religious freedom. "Our rights come first," he said. I was "born ... Muslim, and that's my faith, and I will stick with my same faith." Contact Niraj Warikoo:nwarikoo@freepress.com or Twitter @nwarikoo This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Hamtramck City Council approves religious animal sacrifices at home Two new House committees will focus on child care and housing in the 2023 legislative session. House Speaker Sherman Packard will launch special legislative committees on housing and child care next year, bringing new focus to two persistent issues for the state. The special committees will join the Houses 24 existing standing committees and will take up relevant bills and recommend whether they should be passed or amended, Packard announced last week. Rep. Joe Alexander, a Goffstown Republican, will chair the housing committee, while Rep. Ross Berry, a Manchester Republican, will head the child care committee. New Hampshire residents and businesses have struggled with shortages of both housing and child care in recent years. The states low housing stock helped drive home prices up during the pandemic, pricing out many first-time homebuyers and dissuading some new employees from moving into the state. And the scarcity of affordable child care has forced some parents to give up job opportunities in order to take care of their families, another barrier to hiring efforts. We just need to increase the supply of housing, Alexander said in an interview. We have to break down barriers government interference As far as Im concerned, property rights are an issue: We need to let people have control over what their property is and loosen regulation. The new committees will not lead to new legislation on their own; housing and child care related bills will still need to pass the full House, and will potentially appear before additional committees. But Alexander said the creation of the housing committee would allow its members to examine legislation with an eye to expanding the states housing supply. Previously, many housing bills passed through the House Municipal and County Government Committee, whose members have in recent years opposed bills to overhaul local zoning codes and expand housing. Im excited to chair it because we have the opportunity to look at each and every bill on its merits, and it can all come to one place, Alexander said. I think it will help streamline it and put all the (housing) expertise on our committee. Story continues The housing committee will include 10 members appointed by the speaker, with five members from each party, Alexander said. Democratic Rep. Ben Baroody of Manchester will be the vice chairman of the housing committee, and Republican Rep. Debra DeSimone of Atkinson will be the child care committees vice chairwoman. Packard also announced the creation of a committee to review commissions: the panels of state officials and experts that meet for months or years to study specific topics. Those commissions are intended to help develop recommendations for complex legislation such as school funding or cannabis legalization but some lawmakers argue they are too numerous and wasteful. The Special Committee on Commissions will review active statutory committees and commissions to verify they are still useful and in compliance with RSA 91-A, Packard said in his statement. This story was originally published by New Hampshire Bulletin. This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Housing, child care to get special attention in New Hampshire House Ke Huy Quan accepts an award onstage at the 80th Annual Golden Globe Awards held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 10, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California. Rich Polk/NBC via Getty Ke Huy Quan is having an emotion-filled evening at the Golden Globes. The star, 51, won best supporting actor on Tuesday for his performance in Everything Everywhere All at Once. This is his first nomination and win. The other nominees in the category included Brendan Gleeson (The Banshees of Inisherin), Barry Keoghan (The Banshees of Inisherin), Brad Pitt (Babylon) and Eddie Redmayne (The Good Nurse). "I was raised to never forget where I came from, to always remember who gave me my first opportunity," Quan said while accepting his honor. "I am so happy to see Steven Spielberg here tonight. Steven, thank you. When I started my career as a child actor in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, I felt so very lucky to have been chosen. As I grew older, I started to wonder it that was it, if that was just luck." 80th Annual Golden Globe Awards - Arrivals Frazer Harrison/WireImage RELATED: Harrison Ford Was 'Glad' to Reunite with Indiana Jones Costar Ke Huy Quan: 'I'm So Happy for Him' Quan admitted he almost gave up on an acting career after finding fame so young. For more on the 2023 Golden Globe Awards, listen below to our daily podcast PEOPLE Every Day. "For so many years, I was afraid I had nothing more to offer that no matter what I did, I would never surpass what I did as a kid," he continued. "Thankfully, more than 30 years later, two guys thought of me. They remembered that kid. And they gave me an opportunity to try again." REALTED VIDEO: Harrison Ford Shares Indiana Jones 5 Release Date and First Look During Star Wars Celebration While fighting back tears, Quan shouted out Everything Everywhere writers and directors Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert. "Thank you so, so much for helping me find my answer. You have given me more than I could have ever hoped." Quan also recognized his wife, who he referred to as "the most important person in my life." "I love you with all my heart," he said from the podium. 2023 Golden Globes Portraits Hunter Abrams/Shutterstock The actor, known for his childhood roles in Indiana Jones and The Goonies, told PEOPLE in April about his Everything Everywhere role of Waymond Wang, a loving husband who hops through universes trying to help his wife (Michelle Yeoh) save the world. Story continues Ke Huy Quan rollout MPTV RELATED: See the Full List of 2023 Golden Globe Nominations "When I read the script I thought it was written for me because they are me. I understood every single one of them," he said. "I don't think I could have played Waymond had you given me the role 10, 15 years ago," he added. "Looking back upon my life, all the highs and lows, I reached deep within me to pour my entire life into these three different characters." 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. The 80th Golden Globe Awards ceremony is airing live on NBC and Peacock. Ke Huy Quan won the Golden Globe for best supporting actor for his performance in Everything Everywhere All at Once. The first-time Golden Globe nominee was emotional when he took the stage, thanking his Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom director Steven Spielberg. More from Variety I was raised to never forget where I came from, and to always remember who gave me my first opportunity. I am so happy to see Steven Spielberg here tonight, Quan said. When I started my career as a child actor in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, I felt so very lucky to have been chosen. As I grew older, I started to wonder if that was it, if that was just luck. For so many years, I was afraid I had nothing more to offer. No matter what I did, I would never surpass what I achieved as a kid. Thankfully, more than 30 years later, two guys thought of me. They remembered that kid, and they gave me an opportunity to try again. Quan continued, Everything that has happened since has been unbelievable. [Everything Everywhere directors] Dan Kwan, Daniel Scheinert, thank you so, so much for helping me find my answer. You have given me more than I could have ever hoped. This is Quans first acting nomination and win at the Globes, and he is the second actor of Asian descent to win the Globe for supporting actor (the first was Haing S. Ngor for his role in The Killing Fields). Quan, who began his acting career playing Data in Goonies and Short Round in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, was also nominated with his cast mates Michelle Yeoh and Jamie Lee Curtis. Directors Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan were triple-nominated for directing, screenplay and best picture. Story continues Quans role in EEAAO as Waymond Wang ignited a firestorm of positive reviews for his performance. Playing the sweet husband to Yeohs Evelyn, the two run a laundromat together in the Daniels wild multiverse. The actor has earned lots of recognition for his part in the A24 picture, and has already taken home hardware from the Gotham Awards, National Society of Film Critics, Los Angeles Film Critics Association and New York Film Critics Circle. Next up, Quan will appear in The Electric State and Marvels Loki. Watch his speech below. Best of Variety Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. Its not easy being a veteran on the Navajo Nation. Bernadine Tyler, an Army veteran who was raised in Shiprock on the Navajo reservation, knows the reality of the great barriers plaguing Navajo warriors all too well. Its why shes stepped in to help over 14,000 Native American veterans living on 27,413 square miles across three states. Tyler is the program lead for the Dine Naazbaa Partnership, which works to improve veterans quality of life. Dine Naazbaa translates to Navajo warrior. We have veterans facing loneliness and isolation that live in desolate areas, which makes it hard to connect with them, Tyler told USA TODAY. Cellphone service is scarce in rural areas, Tyler said, and lack of electricity and running water hinders the staples of daily life such as storing refrigerated food. They also deal with increasing poverty, substance abuse, transportation issues and mental illness, according to Tyler. Studies have shown that suicide is a rising problem among Native American veterans. Its tough, Tyler said. Bernadine Tyler, program lead for the Dine Naazbaa Partnership, says her veteran-focused organization takes a four-step approach to helping Navajo veterans: connect, educate, advocate and collaborate. After serving active duty for five years and in the Army Reserves for three years, Tyler took on the role of the Dine Naazbaa Partnership's program lead to better understand and address the needs of struggling Navajo veterans. America's Warrior Partnership, focused on preventing veteran suicides, started the Dine Naazbaa Partnership as part of their organization. Community is the real key to helping veterans, Tyler said. It's amazing to see us unite in ways that we can give back to them whether it's chopping wood for them, transporting them to meetings where they can apply for assistance, taking them to the medical appointments at VA facilities, running errands for them or buying their groceries. Connecting veterans to needed support Extending across New Mexico, Arizona and Utah, the Navajo Nation is the countrys largest reservation but its also one of the least supported in terms of infrastructure, according to the DNP. Story continues The Navajo people serve their nation at a higher rate than any other demographic in the U.S. but dont return home to the same access to resources other U.S. veterans might have, according to Jim Lorraine, president and CEO of America's Warrior Partnership. GOOD NEWS: Through tears and giggles, this teen blew out the candles on his first ever birthday cake MAKING A STRANGER'S DAY: Kindness-focused coffee shop hits unsuspecting pedestrians with 'drive-by' compliments It's important to recognize that culturally, there's a difference between Native communities and non-Native communities, Lorraine told USA TODAY. Unless you're from that culture, I think it's difficult to grasp it. As part of the Navajo culture, he said Tyler uses that connection to reach veterans, educate them and advocate on their behalf. America's Warrior Partnerships role is to support Bernie, said Lorraine, who served 22 years in the U.S. Air Force as a flight nurse and deputy command surgeon for the U.S. Special Operations Command. Tyler estimates over a third of the Navajo people, including veterans and their families, live without power, paved roads, housing and other essentials of modern life. Four steps to improved quality of life As part of a two-woman team DNPs case coordinator works with her from Arizona Tyler meets the veterans where they are, whether its local chapter meetings, conferences, food drives and community events. Its Tyler's responsibility to initiate DNPs four-step plan to help veterans: connect, educate, advocate and collaborate. AMIR'S HERO: An Ohio mom couldn't find a home care nurse for her preemie baby so she's becoming one GIFT OF A LIFETIME: Grandpa builds grandkids a sledding track for the ages The first step of connecting uses a "one-size-fits-one approach" for each persons situation since each veteran is unique, Tyler said. We focus on just that person, and once a strong connection is made and that assistance is rendered, then we move on to the next warrior, she said. Educators teach veterans about the services the DNP assists with as well as other organizations that also serve veterans in step two. The third step of advocating focuses on speaking for the veterans who may not speak English or who may encounter language barriers, according to Tyler. Collaborating, the last step, involves partnering with other organizations seeking to assist veterans, she said. This step has allowed me to meet an endless network of people, Tyler said. "Getting out there, meeting the different partners and meeting individual veterans is always the highlight of our program. It's what we do on a daily basis." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How one Army vet boosts quality of life for Native Americans veterans ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) Minnesota's chief elections officer called on state lawmakers Monday to make it easier for residents to vote while protecting elections officials from threats and intimidation. Key elements of Secretary of State Steve Simon's agenda are included in an elections package that fellow Democrats in the state House and Senate introduced last week. Others will be covered in separate legislation. As legislatures convene across the country, lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle are bracing for new fights on election-related legislation amid the continued false claims by former President Donald Trump and his allies that the 2020 election was stolen. Republicans are eager to tighten election rules further, whereas Democrats are seeking to make it easier to vote. Simon who won more votes than any other candidate on Minnesota's statewide ballot as he fought off a GOP challenger who claimed the 2020 election was rigged said Minnesota consistently has one of the highest turnouts in the country by promoting voter access while balancing it with security measures that keep fraud at microscopic levels. Minnesotans agree: Democracy was on the ballot in 2022, Simon said at a news conference. "The voters of Minnesota had a chance to make their voices heard on elections and voting issues. They spoke loudly and clearly. Democrats are moving quickly to take advantage of their new majorities in both chambers of the Minnesota Legislature to pass priorities that Republicans blocked when they controlled the state Senate. Simon's priorities include restoring the voting rights of felons when they get out of prison, automatic voter registration when people obtain or renew driver's licenses, and allowing 16- and 17-year-olds to preregister so they can vote as soon as they turn 18. Measures that would restore voting rights and allow preregistration are set to get their first House hearings Wednesday. Story continues Simon's other priorities include adding criminal and civil penalties for threatening or intimidating election workers; removing an unusual requirement that lawmakers approve the use of federal election security money, which Republicans used previously as leverage over Simon; and fuller reimbursements to local governments for the costs of administering presidential primaries. Some Republican-led states are heading in the opposite direction. In Ohio, for example, Republican Gov. Mike DeWine signed a sweeping package Friday that includes his states first photo ID requirement and a prohibition on curbside voting, except for those with disabilities. Elizer Darris, co-executive director of the Minnesota Freedom Fund, a nonprofit that helps people post bail, said he's helped to get thousands upon thousands of voters to the polls, and he's run election campaigns. He said he's law-abiding and pays lots of taxes. He's been out of prison for almost seven years, after serving time for killing a man when he was a juvenile. But despite turning his life around, he still can't vote. We're calling upon the Legislature, and the governor, to pass the bill and to sign the bill and to open up democracy for all of us, so that we can all be part of this wonderful democratic experience, fully and wholly," Darris told reporters. Darris said more than 50,000 convicted felons in Minnesota would regain the right to vote if the legislation passes, and he hopes that other states will follow. Simon added that 21 states and the District of Columbia have already done restored voting rights for felons. Katie Taffe, a senior at Hermantown High School, proudly held up the confirmation card that she received in the mail shortly after she registered online on her 18th birthday last month. By allowing teens to preregister to vote, we have the opportunity to get more eligible Minnesotans involved in democracy while they are still in school, she said. Out-of-power Senate Republicans are already feeling left out. Minnesota has long-standing practice of only changing election laws on a bipartisan basis, and the fact that my colleagues across the aisle are more interested in passing their hyper-partisan wish lists than they are in finding common ground on our elections is a disservice to all voters, state Sen. Mark Koran, of North Branch, said in a statement Friday. Simon, disputed that, calling his proposals nonpartisan in origin and in effect, saying many have already been adopted by Republican lawmakers in GOP-led as well as Democratic-led states. I will work with anyone of any political affiliation, from any background, from any part of our state, to protect and strengthen and defend the freedom to vote in Minnesota, Simon said. Simon has the enthusiastic support of Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, who was reelected with more than 33,000 fewer votes than Simon. He said Simons wish list mirrors his own. People spoke very strongly, Walz said in an interview with The Associated Press. I think it shows you that both Steve is an incredible guy and he has great support in Minnesota, but it also shows you how important that issue of voter security is to people, and election security. This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: Minnesota elections chief seeks to make voting even easier Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed extending tax credits for the TV and film industry, hoping to encourage filmmakers to stay in California. In his 2023-24 state budget, Newsom proposed on Tuesday that filmmakers be allowed tax credits of more than $330 million per year through 2031. The proposed budget extends the Film and Television Tax Credit Program, in place since 2014. The current tax break is set through fiscal 2025-26, and Newsom proposes to extend it another five years. The plan comes at a time when the state is trying to cut costs to manage a projected $22.5 billion budget deficit. The Newsom plan continues a policy of trying to keep the massive film industry, and its high-paying jobs, in state while Georgia, New York and Canada try to lure filmmakers away with huge tax incentives. Also Read: Female Showrunners and Documentarians Discuss the Dangers of Shooting in Abortion-Hostile States (Video) Newsoms budget proposes $297 billion in state spending for 2023-24, and projects a $22.5 million shortfall. The governor has consistently emphasized the importance of retaining the states film industry, for the tax revenues it pays and the quality jobs it provides. Film projects in the tax credit program spent $2.3 billion in California last year, according to the California Film Commission. Motion Picture Association chairman and CEO Charles Rivkin praised the proposed budget, saying said it underscores the importance of funding programs that stimulate our economy and support job creation. He added: We look forward to working with leaders in the legislature alongside our union, guild, and other industry partners to pass this important extension that will bolster the creative economy and keep California the home of motion picture production. California Film Commission Executive Director Colleen Bell also praised Newsoms leadership in ensuring Californias Film and TV Tax Credit Program evolves and continues to deliver on our goal of retaining and growing in-state production. Story continues Bell said the five-year extension and provision to make tax credits refundable gives the industry leaders more options on keeping long-term investments here in California. This will translate into more production-related jobs, spending and opportunity, Bell said. Also Read: C-SPAN Calls on Kevin McCarthy for Transparency and Greater Access to Cover House Floor Proceedings ENTERPRISE Outgoing 12th Judicial Circuit District Attorney Tom Anderson was named to supernumerary status by Gov. Kay Ivey Monday, making him the first supernumerary to serve Coffee and Pike counties since longtime public servant Joel Folmar passed away in 2008. Anderson said Tuesday that he received Iveys letter stating that he has qualified for supernumerary status, which indicates that he has retired from the full-time post but will continue to work for the DAs office where he has served for 19 years on a part-time basis. A supernumerary district attorney is essentially a retired status with strings attached, he said. A supernumerary can be called upon any time to prosecute cases statewide. The governor will appoint Andersons successor and the appointing process has begun, he said. The only way an interim district attorney would be appointed is if a decision is not made by the governors office by Jan. 17. Anderson was first elected district attorney in 2010 for the 12th Judicial Circuit, which includes Coffee and Pike counties. Prior to that, he had served as an assistant district attorney in the circuit for nearly seven years. He was reelected in November 2022 for a third term, which was set to begin Jan. 17. He will instead step down that day, which is the same day that his supernumerary status starts. A week later, Anderson begins a new chapter in his legal career as he starts with the Dothan-based law firm of Cherry and Irwin Jan. 23. I am excited about pursuing the civil avenue of law, Anderson said. Ben and I have had criminal and civil cases over the years that have overlapped and we became friends. I have a great deal of respect for him and the attorneys at that firm and look forward to working with them. Anderson said that the decision to leave public service was a difficult one. I do feel good about the decision right now, but it was a difficult decision to make because Ive been a full-time prosecutor for 19 years, he said, adding that the decision to take the leap was made after consulting with his wife and after a great deal of prayer. A military brat who graduated from Enterprise High School in 1996, Anderson said hed lived in five places by the time he was 5 years old. My father was stationed at Fort Rucker, which is what brought us to the area, Anderson said. Growing up in Enterprise, Anderson attended Holly Hill School, Coppinville Junior High School, and Dauphin Junior High School before graduating from EHS and then attending Enterprise State Junior College for a year prior to earning an undergraduate degree from Birmingham-Southern College and his law degree from the University of Alabama School of Law. He and his wife came right back home to Enterprise where they have raised their three children, one an EHS junior, one an EHS freshman and a sixth grader at Holly Hill Elementary. The son of the late Foy and retired Col. Dr. Jack Anderson of Enterprise said he was a in private practice in Elba, practicing law for about seven months, fresh out of law school in 2004 when he was asked to lunch by retired Circuit Judge and then Coffee-Pike counties District Attorney Gary McAliley. He told me he was losing an assistant district attorney and when I asked him who he was thinking of replacing that person with, he told me it was me, Anderson said. I had never considered prosecution whatsoever, he said. But then I asked myself why this opportunity was being given to me and my wife and I prayed about it before deciding to accept the opportunity. Essentially, I walked into this a fairly new attorney, wet behind the ears, Anderson said. Judge Mac took me under his wing, and I started trying cases from the get-go. This most recent decision Anderson calls an opportunity that is best for his family. It also turns a page to a new chapter in our lives and gives me the opportunity to dive into another area of law, he said. Being a prosecutor got into my blood, it became a part of me, Anderson said. I have told my staff that Ill always be a prosecutor and when I am called upon, I will serve. WASHINGTON As pressure mounts for embattled freshman Rep. George Santos to resign, Speaker Kevin McCarthy said it's up to the New Yorkers who put him in office to decide. "The voters elected him to serve," McCarthy told reporters at the Capitol Wednesday afternoon in an exchange shown on CNN. "He has to answer to the voters." He also said Santos, who voted last week to install McCarthy as speaker, would be placed on committees but did not elaborate. His comments come hours after Nassau County Republicans called on Santos to resign for telling a litany of lies that are "too numerous to count." Santos has been facing scrutiny after multiple reports revealed he lied about his personal story and professional resume in his bid for a congressional seat. The new Congress: McCarthy's secret deal, George Santos, Biden and Trump docs, abortion prompt fiery debate in new Congress Rise of the GOP right: How the GOP got here: The rise of ultra conservatives from Barry Goldwater to Donald Trump "He's not welcome here," Nassau committee GOP Chairman Joseph Cairo said of the county's Republican headquarters. "We do not consider him one of our congresspeople." One of the most egregious lies he told, according to the county Republicans, is that he was Jewish from a family of Holocaust survivors. Many residents of his district are Holocaust survivors, and the children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors. Santos has since walked back his statement that he's Jewish to say he meant "Jew-ish." "He's not a normal person," said County Executive Bruce Blakeman. "He needs to get help." New York State Sen. Jack Martins, center, speaks during a news conference, Wednesday in Westbury, N.Y. Local Republican leaders Wednesday called for the resignation of their new GOP congressman George Santos, who is facing multiple investigations by prosecutors over his personal and campaign finances and lies about his resume and family heritage. Blakeman said America is forgiving, particularly when people atone for their mistakes and get help, but vowed the county would not work with Santos until he corrects course. A fellow congressman from New York, Rep. Anthony D'Esposito, also called for Santos to step down and said he will not associate with Santos in Congress. D'Esposito said he will encourage other members to shun him as well. Story continues Meanwhile, a defiant Santos told reporters he "will not" resign. At about 1 p.m., he issued a similar statement on Twitter: "I was elected to serve the people of #NY03 not the party & politicians, I remain committed to doing that and regret to hear that local officials refuse to work with my office to deliver results to keep our community safe and lower the cost of living. I will NOT resign!" Santos, who was sworn in early Saturday morning, is facing backlash and criminal scrutiny related to campaign finances and alleged lies about his personal and professional resume. The Nassau County Republicans, who on Wednesday called for Santos' resignation during a news conference on Long Island, also blamed themselves and their vetting process. When Santos approached the county committee in 2020 to seek their endorsement, they believed the resume he submitted was "totally truthful," but much of it was "untrue," Cairo said. Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., waits for the start of a session in the House chamber as the House meets for the fourth day to elect a speaker and convene the 118th Congress in Washington, Friday, Jan. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) ORG XMIT: DCAB169 "Shame on me for believing people," he said. Cairo said the Santos campaign was full of fabrications, including that he was a volleyball star at a college he never attended. "He deceived voters," he said. "His lies were not mere fibs. He disgraced the House of Representatives." More: What can Congress do about Rep.-elect George Santos, who lied ahead of winning his election? The latest call follows action Tuesday from New York Democratic Reps. Dan Goldman and Ritchie Torres, who filed a complaint with the House Ethics Committee and requested an investigation. During a news conference yesterday morning, Scalise said the matter was being handled through internal discussions. The New York Conservative Party is also joining the calls for Santos to resign. "Mr. Santos's profound use of mistruths as a candidate morally disqualifies him from serving in public office and exposes him to potential legal action, seriously compromising his ability to represent his constituents," party Chairman Gerard Kassar said in a statement. The options: What can Congress do about Rep.-elect George Santos, who lied ahead of winning his election? The first week: McCarthy's secret deal, George Santos, Biden and Trump docs, abortion prompt fiery debate in new Congress Contributing: Ledyard King Candy Woodall is a Congress reporter for USA TODAY. She can be reached at cwoodall@usatoday.com or on Twitter at @candynotcandace. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NY GOP wants George Santos to resign, McCarthy says it's up to voters https://twitter.com/colbertlateshow/status/1612948555777609730?s=20&t=pSxgah52EZEHeSh4b8iFkw The Late Show @colbertlateshow "Without a doubt, the most dangerous lie that they have told, is that I somehow boasted about the number of people I killed in Afghanistan." Prince Harry tells #Colbert, adding that his "words are not dangerous," but the spin on his "words are very dangerous." #Spare CBS Prince Harry is setting the record straight. During an appearance on CBS' The Late Show with Stephen Colbert that will air in full Tuesday night, Harry addressed reports that he bragged about killing 25 people while in Afghanistan in his memoir Spare. "Without a doubt, the most dangerous lie that they have told is that I somehow boasted about the number of people that I killed in Afghanistan," Harry, 38, told the talk show host, 58. He continued, "If I heard anyone boasting about that kind of thing, I would be angry. But it's a lie. And hopefully now that the book is out, people will be able to see the context. It's really troubling and very disturbing that they can get away with it. They had the context. It wasn't like, 'Here's just one line.' They had the whole section, they ripped it away and just said, 'Here it is. He's boasting on this.' ... And that's dangerous." RELATED: Prince Harry Tells PEOPLE: 'Spare' Is a Raw Account of the 'Good, the Bad and Everything in Between' "Without a doubt, the most dangerous lie that they have told, is that I somehow boasted about the number of people I killed in Afghanistan." Prince Harry tells #Colbert, adding that his "words are not dangerous," but the spin on his "words are very dangerous." #Spare pic.twitter.com/FnjEZ0QnQl The Late Show (@colbertlateshow) January 10, 2023 Harry said, "My words are not dangerous, but the spin of my words are very dangerous." Asked by Colbert if it's "dangerous" because it causes him and his loved ones to be an "increased target," Harry responded, "And that is a choice that they've made." Pointing out that Harry's revelations aren't "new information," Colbert referenced a decades-old Reuters article that noted he killed Afghans and members of the Taliban while at war. Story continues "Almost 10 years to the date," said Harry. "My face was splattered all over the front pages because someone asked me a question, while I was still in Afghanistan, if I had killed anybody from an attack helicopter, and I said yes." Harry concluded, "I think the most important thing here is, not only the context, but the reason why I decided to share this in my book. To the vets here and to the civilians here which this may feel as though this is slightly a weird conversation to have, especially on this show of all shows I made a choice to share it because having spent nearly two decades working with veterans all around the world, I think the most important thing is to be honest and to be able to give space to others to be able to share their experiences without any shame." He left the audience and Colbert with one final note: "My whole goal and my attempt with sharing that detail is to reduce the number of suicides." RELATED: Prince Harry Says 'Nothing I've Done Has Been with Intention to Harm or Hurt' Royal Family Prince Harry cover rollout Jenna Jones In Spare, Prince Harry said he wanted to leave the war in Afghanistan with his "conscience intact." "I made it my purpose, from day one, to never to go to bed with any doubt whether I had done the right thing...whether I had shot at Taliban and only Taliban, without civilians in the vicinity. I wanted to return to Great Britain with all my limbs, but more than that I wanted to get home with my conscience intact," Harry wrote. With videos taken from the Apache helicopters and relayed to the base, he was able to "say with exactness how many enemy combatants I had killed. And it seemed to me essential not to be afraid of that number," he wrote. "So my number is 25. It's not a number that fills me with satisfaction but nor does it embarrass me." In this week's exclusive PEOPLE cover story, the Duke of Sussex addresses how he reconciles the ethical impacts of war, including the lives that are lost and taken. "I don't know that you ever fully reconcile the painful elements of being at war. 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," Prince Harry told PEOPLE. "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," he added. RELATED VIDEO: Prince Harry Wants Archie and Lilibet to 'Have Relationships' with Royal Family Can't get enough of PEOPLE's Royals coverage? Sign up for our free Royals newsletter to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more! "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," he said. "There's truly no right or wrong way to try and navigate these feelings, but 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." Harry graduated from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 2005 and served in the British Armed Forces for a decade, deploying twice to Afghanistan and completing elite training to fly Apache helicopters. He launched the Invictus Games, an international adaptive sports tournament for injured, sick and wounded service personnel and veterans, in 2014, and left operational military service the following year. Harry held the honorary military titles of Captain General of the Royal Marines, Honorary Air Commandant of RAF Honington and Commodore-in-Chief, Small Ships and Diving, Royal Naval Command before he and Meghan Markle stepped back from their senior royal roles. Tune in for the rest of Prince Harry's interview with Colbert Tuesday at 11:35 p.m. ET/PT on the CBS Television Network. Stephen Kunz, one of the lead prosecutors in the public corruption cases against former Tallahassee Mayors Andrew Gillum and Scott Maddox, has retired after a decades-long and at times controversial career. Kunz, who served as assistant U.S. attorney in the Northern District of Florida following other assignments elsewhere, stepped down at the end of 2022. His retirement surfaced in court documents in an explosive Lynn Haven corruption case marked by accusations from the defense of government wrongdoing. He played a key role in the prosecution of all five people charged thus far in Operation Capital Currency, the FBI probe that saw undercover agents posing as crooked developers penetrate the dark side of Tallahassees political scene. In 2017, Kunzs name appeared on the first federal grand jury subpoenas in the investigation at City Hall. In 2021, he delivered opening statements in the bribery trial of Maddox co-defendant John J.T. Burnette, summing up both the case and white-collar crime in general. The ABCs of a corruption case:Your guide to the businesses and people linked to Scott Maddox Stephen Kunz, attorney for the prosecution, questioned Charles Simon who was helping with a possible sale involving the DoubleTree Hotel at the trial of J.T. Burnette on Thursday, July 15, 2021. Subscriber exclusive:Torn from the Andrew Gillum indictment: Five key takeaways from the federal corruption case Ladies and gentlemen, this is a case about corruption in the city of Tallahassee, he said. The motivation of the corrupt activity is something as old as man has been on Earth: Greed. Pure, unadulterated desire for money. Kunz and fellow prosecutors scored convictions against the first three defendants charged in the investigation: Maddox and his aide Paige Carter-Smith, who pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate in 2018, and Burnette, who was found guilty at trial. All three were sentenced to federal prison. The government has had a far rockier time in its prosecution of former Lynn Haven Mayor Margo Anderson and others on public corruption charges involving hurricane recovery funds and other matters. Numerous counts have been tossed in the case amid a string of faulty indictments and accusations by the defense of misconduct by Kunz and a now-retired FBI agent. Among other things, the defense alleged Kunz misled the federal grand jury and improperly pressured witnesses. Story continues From the Panama City News Herald:FBI: Company led by ex-Florida House speaker bilked 'millions' for Hurricane Michael cleanup In June, U.S. District Judge Mark Walker said the governments reckless, haphazard approach in the case was testing this courts patience and warned that prosecutors were approaching a point in which the defendants would be so prejudiced that he would have no choice but to dismiss the indictment. Last month, Walker asked the defense to identify all bad acts and alternative sanctions besides dismissal in case he decides not to take that step. The U.S. Attorneys Office had no comment on Kunzs retirement. However, the defense in the Lynn Haven case mentioned it in recent court filings, which prompted a response from federal prosecutors in a Friday motion that included confirmation of his retirement. AUSA Kunz retired at the end of 2022 after 46 years of service as a state and federal prosecutor, which retirement had been long planned for many months for reasons unrelated to this case, prosecutors wrote. The government motion noted that a retirement event was planned for Kunz and that invitations were sent to a number of local criminal defense lawyers. It also accused the defense of trying to generally put the investigation and prosecution on trial, including purposefully smearing the former, retired lead prosecutor and the former, retired case agent before the trial jury. Kunz, a 1976 graduate of New York Law School, joined the U.S. Attorneys Office in the Northern District of Florida in 2002 as an assistant U.S. attorney in the criminal division. He served in several important positions, including anti-terrorism coordinator, senior litigation counsel and chief of the criminal division. Before that, he worked as a federal prosecutor and supervisor in the Middle District of Florida, where his cases included the 1997 disappearance of toddler Sabrina Aisenberg. Kunz went after the parents, wrongly asserting they could be heard incriminating themselves in secretly recorded conversations that proved largely inaudible. The government dropped all charges and was later ordered to pay more than $1.5 million in attorney fees. Kunz, given the option of working only on civil cases or finding a job elsewhere, quit and landed in Tallahassee. The Florida Bar admonished him for his conduct in the case, which defense lawyers in Lynn Haven have cited in their motions. From the Tallahassee Democrat archives:Prosecutor in Tallahassee FBI probe was disciplined for misconduct Kunzs departure means he will not be in the courtroom when the Gillum case is finally resolved. Gillum, a Democrat who narrowly lost the 2018 race for Florida governor, and his co-defendant, Sharon Lettman-Hicks, are set to go on trial in April on charges that they illegally diverted campaign donations to the former mayor. Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Grogan, who served as lead with Kunz in the Gillum case, is expected to continue handling the prosecution along with Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Milligan. Stephen Webster, a Tallahassee criminal defense lawyer who represented Carter-Smith, said he always appreciated Kunz's courteousness and kindness in their interactions. "Working as a prosecutor it's a tough business," Webster said. "And obviously the stakes are always high. But in my dealings with Mr. Kunz, he was always extremely professional and a very effective advocate." The latest:Gillum request for separate trial denied as feds say race, Trump weren't factors in prosecution Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com and follow @JeffBurlew on Twitter. This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Stephen Kunz, prosecutor in Tallahassee's public corruption cases, retires Linnea Grim PORTSMOUTH Strawbery Banke Museum announced Linnea Grim has been appointed its next president and chief executive officer. Grim will come to Portsmouth from the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, where she is vice president of guest experiences for the private nonprofit that owns and operates Monticello in Virginia. She will begin her new role March 6, succeeding Lawrence J. Yerdon, who is retiring after 18 years. I am truly honored to be the next leader of Strawbery Banke Museum, Grim said. The Board of Trustees and the staff have already impressed me with their commitment to bringing more than 300 years of history to life in the Puddle Dock neighborhood and being a vibrant part of the Portsmouth community. I can't imagine a more exciting time to join the team than during the city's 400th anniversary. More:Portsmouth 400th lights up city with start of year of events Grim has 23 years of experience working in leadership positions at nationally relevant historic sites, history organizations, and in the Office of the Curator at the Supreme Court of the United States, according to the museum's announcement of her hiring. She spent 16 years at Monticello serving as director of education and visitor programs and manager of interpretive programs prior to joining Monticellos executive team in 2021. She has a bachelor of arts degree, magna cum laude, from the College of William and Mary, and a masters degree in history museum studies from The Cooperstown Graduate Program. Linneas substantial experience at prestigious institutions will be invaluable in moving the museum forward into its next chapter and continuing to engage visitors in innovative and exciting ways with local history in the Puddle Dock neighborhood, Yerdon said. A search committee, chaired by Cynthia Fenneman, chair of the Board of Trustees and CEO of American Public Television, worked with a consultant in the search. Search committee members included two former museum board chairs, Jeff Gilbert, current board secretary and managing director, W.J.P. Development, LLC; and Martha Fuller Clark, current trustee, recently retired state senator and historic preservation activist; current trustees Matt McFarland, vice chair of board and principal and portfolio manager, R.M. Davis; Kathy Kane, treasurer of the board and president and founder for The Maestro Fund; Joanna Kelley, current trustee and Portsmouth assistant mayor and Cup of Joe Cafe & Bar owner; and Jane Nylander, former director of Strawbery Banke Museum and president emerita of Historic New England. Story continues While there were many wonderful candidates, it became clear that Linneas background and skillset would make her the candidate Strawbery Banke would select as its next president and CEO, Fenneman said. Her proven success in organizational leadership, change management, innovative and diverse revenue streams, and lasting partnerships are the qualities the leader of Strawbery Banke must embody to help achieve its mission that values both individual stories and the power of community. Information: StrawberyBanke.org This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Strawbery Banke Museum names Linnea Grim next president and CEO Supermodel Tatjana Patitz has died at age 56. Vogue, which helped launch Patitz's career in the 1980s, announced news of her death on Jan. 11. Her cause of death was not initially made public, but was later confirmed by her agent to be breast cancer. Considered one of the original supermodels, the Germany-born, Sweden-raised Patitz entered her first modeling contest at age 17 in Stockholm. Though she took home third place, it wasn't until famed photographer Peter Lindbergh photographed her a few years later in 1988 that her career started to blossom. One of Patitz's most memorable appearances came after she modeled for British Vogue in 1990 George Michael cast her for his "Freedom '90" music video alongside Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington, Naomi Campbell and Linda Evangelista. RELATED: Paying Tribute to the Celebrities Who Have Died in 2023 Tatjana Patitz walks the runway during the Chanel Haute Couture show as part of Paris Fashion Week Fall/Winter 1991-1992 Victor VIRGILE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images) Patitz told The New York Times in 2016 that Michael was one of her "first teenage crushes," so she was starstruck when she first met him. The two worked together a few times, though, she said, and she always had a good experience with him, including on the "Freedom '90" video. She noted, though, that the musician actually wasn't even on set the day she filmed her portion of the video. Patitz flew in and out of town for the day and didn't even cross paths with Michael. "I was in my own zone," she said of filming. "I had to kind of slide up and down the wall for part of the day. The feel of the set was so run-down, this big, loft kind of vibe. There was another setup with me laying on a chaise lounge with a black smoking jacket. I think I may have had a bustier on. And I was smoking, even. People still smoked in videos then and even in films." Never miss a story sign up for PEOPLE's free weekly newsletter to get the biggest news of the week delivered to your inbox every Friday. 11/8/97 Los Angeles, CA. Supermodels Helena ChristEnsen and Tatjana Patitz taping a public service announcement for "A Very Special Christmas 3" compilation album. Brenda Chase/Hulton Archive/Getty Once Patitz's career started to take off in the 1990s, she set down roots in California and also made a home for herself in the pages of the various editions of Vogue, as well as other magazines like Marie Claire and Cosmopolitan. Story continues Along with frequently working with Lindbergh, Patitz often shot with well-known photographers Herb Ritts and Patrick Demarchelier as well. She built close relationships with the photographers, who continued to help elevate her career. "People always said that I looked special; that I didn't look like anyone else," Patitz told Vogue in 1988. "And I was going to make it because of that." A 1990 feature on Patitz in Harper's Bazaar confirmed the model's uniqueness in her beauty. "Indeed, Patitz's features almost confuse. Like Garbo or the Mona Lisa, the inexplicable gifts of line and luminescence defy definition," the magazine reads, after attributing similar sentiments to hairstylist Oribe and makeup artist Gary Berkowitz. During her career, Patitz modeled for the likes of Chanel, Donna Karan, Vivienne Westwood and many more. Her final runway show was at Milan Fashion Week in 2019 with Etro for the fashion house's Autumn/Winter 2019/20 presentation. "Tatjana was always the European symbol of chic, like Romy Schneider-meets-Monica Vitti," said Anna Wintour, chief content officer of Conde Nast and global editorial director of Vogue, after the news of Patitz's death. "She was far less visible than her peersmore mysterious, more grown-up, more unattainableand that had its own appeal." In her career, Patitz appeared on the cover of Vogue six different times, making her a legacy at the fashion magazine. Tatjana Patitz walks the runway at the Etro Ready to Wear Fall/Winter 2019-2020 fashion show at Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2019/20 on February 22, 2019 in Milan, Italy. Victor VIRGILE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Tatjana Patitz walks the Etro runway in 2019 Patitz's son Jonah Johnson followed in his mother's footsteps to become a model in his own right even posing with his mother for Vogue. The two appeared in the fashion magazine more than once, most recently in 2019. She told Vogue in 2022, "Jonah is my source of happiness." Patitz's last red carpet appearance was with Jonah at the Tribute to Bambi in Berlin, Germany, last October. For the event, the two coordinated in all-black suits to walk the carpet together. Tatjana Patitz and Jonah Patitz attend the Tribute to Bambi 2022 at Hotel Berlin Central District on October 5, 2022 in Berlin, Germany. Gerald Matzka/Getty Tatjana Patitz and her son Jonah Patitz at an event in Berlin in Oct. 2022 Patitz was born on March 25, 1966, in Hamburg and welcomed her son, Jonah, in November 2004. She had a deep love of all animals but especially horses, according to Vogue, and was an ambassador for the American Wild Horse Sanctuary. She often shared photos of her animals on Instagram, including in her last social media post in August. She celebrated National Dog Day with two sweet snaps of her pups, Matilda and Gatsby. Patitz also often shared throwback shots from her career, sharing praise for the teams she's worked with over the years. Patitz lived a private life while not on a runway or red carpet, choosing to raise her son out of the spotlight. Her iconic work will live on as her legacy. "In front of the lens, she's it! It's clear why she's in such demand," hairstylist Sally Hershberger told Harper's Bazaar in the same 1990 feature that touted Patitz's beauty. "She's the most beautiful of them all." Federal investigators saw Idaho quadruple murder suspect Bryan Kohberger throw out garbage into neighbors' trash bins in the middle of the night as they surveilled him in Pennsylvania in the days leading up to his arrest, a law enforcement source told ABC News. Kohberger, 28, was arrested on Dec. 30 in his home state of Pennsylvania. Kohberger, a Ph.D. student in Washington State's department of criminal justice and criminology at the time, was visiting his family in Pennsylvania over winter break. PHOTO: Bryan Kohberger is seen in his booking photo after his arrest by Pennsylvania State Police in Monroe County, Dec. 30, 2022. (Monroe County Correctional Facility via AP) MORE: Idaho murders: Roommate saw killer in mask leaving the house, docs say The local FBI field office was first made aware of Kohbergers presence in the region on Dec. 22, the source said. FBI agents surveilled his parents' home in Albrightsville for four days before he was arrested, the source said. Kohberger, who has since been extradited back to Idaho, was charged with first-degree murder and burglary for the killings of four University of Idaho students. PHOTO: Bryan Kohberger is shown in this undated photo. (Washington State University) Roommates Xana Kernodle, Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen, as well as Kernodle's boyfriend Ethan Chapin, were all stabbed to death in the girls' home between 4 a.m. and 4:25 a.m. on Nov. 13. Two other roommates survived. MORE: Idaho murders: What we know about the suspect One of the survivors told police that night "she heard who she thought was Goncalves say something to the effect of 'there's someone here,'" according to court documents. But that could have been Kernodle on her phone because records showed she was on TikTok at about 4:12 a.m., the document said. The roommate said "she looked out of her bedroom but did not see anything when she heard the comment about someone being in the house," the documents said. "She opened her door a second time when she heard what she thought was crying coming from Kernodle's room." The roommate "then said she heard a male voice say something to the effect of 'it's ok, I'm going to help you,'" according to the documents. MORE: Idaho college murders: Timeline of events Story continues The roommate said she opened her door again when she heard the crying, and that's when she saw a man in black clothes and a mask walking past her in the house, according to court documents. The roommate locked herself in her room after seeing him, the documents said. Kohberger has not entered a plea. His next status hearing is Jan. 12. Idaho murders: Suspect threw out trash in neighbors' bins in middle of the night, source says originally appeared on abcnews.go.com ABC News Alexander Hoehn-Saric, chair of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, sent letters Wednesday to Meta, the parent company of Facebook, and Mattel, the maker of the Fisher-Price Rock 'n Play sleeper, calling on the companies to do more to make sure the sleeper, recalled since 2019, is not used by consumers. In the letters, Hoehn-Saric said his agency has found that hundreds of recalled Rock 'n Play sleepers are sold every month on Facebook Marketplace and other secondhand sites. The CPSC issued an initial recall of Rock 'n Play sleepers in 2019 after 30 children were reported to have died after they were placed in a sleeper and "rolled from their back to their stomach or side while unrestrained, or under other circumstances," according to the agency. Katie Hobbs Members of Arizonas Freedom Caucus announced that they will be filing a lawsuit to block Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs new executive order banning employment and hiring discrimination. The actual executive order sounds pretty innocuous (if youre against discrimination, that is). Most notably, it reinforces current state non-discrimination laws and directs state agencies to adopt policies to ensure hiring, promotion, recruitment, compensation, and tenure is on the basis of merit and qualifications. Read more The order also mandates that provisions in all new state contracts and subcontracts have to prohibit, among other things, discrimination based on race, color, sex, pregnancy... sexual orientation, gender identity or expression. So what exactly has Arizona Republicans freaked out? Well, the executive order is primarily targeted at protecting LGBTQ workers from discrimination. Specifically, they seem to be accusing Gov. Hobbs of trying to legislate from the Governors office. Because nothing says Democracy is dying, quite like making sure people cant get fired just for being gay. If Katie Hobbs wants to legislate, she needs to get her butt out of the Governors Office and run for the legislature and come back and join us and do that job, State Rep. Jake Hoffman told reporters, according to the Arizona Mirror. Hoffman and his friends at the Arizona Freedom Caucus, who, according to the Arizona Mirror, plan on suing over the law, said they would, stand in (Hobbs) way in every step of the process. Its not totally clear if the Arizona Freedom Caucus will be successful in blocking Hobbs executive order. Republicans have certainly gotten good at wielding the judiciary against liberal policy goals. (I mean, look at what happened to Bidens student loan forgiveness program). Story continues So, itll be worth watching what exactly goes down in Arizona as Hobbs battles it out against her right-wing detractors. More from The Root Sign up for The Root's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. Actor Ke Huy Quan and director Steven Spielberg at the 2023 Golden Globes and at the Guild's Publicists Awards in 1985. Christopher Polk/NBC via Getty Images, Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images The 2023 Golden Globes took place at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in California on Tuesday. There were plenty of memorable moments, like Michelle Yeoh's acceptance speech for best actress. Off-camera, there were plenty of other noteworthy moments. Check out some of the best below. Michelle Yeoh and Andrew Garfield had a wholesome moment on the red carpet ahead of the ceremony. "Wednesday" star Jenna Ortega and Selena Gomez, who were both nominated for best performance by an actress in a musical or comedy TV series, had a Disney Channel reunion on the red carpet. Golden Globe Awards (@goldenglobes) January 11, 2023 Colin Farrell sweetly offered Jennifer Coolidge his arm and walked her to the stage as she picked up the award for best performance by an actress in a supporting role in a limited series for "The White Lotus." Jennifer Coolidge and Colin Farrell at the 2023 Golden Globe Awards. Christopher Polk/NBC via Getty Images Ke Huy Quan thanked Steven Spielberg for discovering him in "Indiana Jones" in his speech after receiving the best supporting actor prize for his role in "Everything Everywhere All at Once." Later, they posed together, recreating a photo taken of them in 1985. Actor Ke Huy Quan and director Steven Spielberg at the 2023 Golden Globes and at the Guild's Publicists Awards in 1985. Christopher Polk/NBC via Getty Images, Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images Quan wore a single googly eye on the lapel of his suit as a nod to "Everything Everywhere All at Once." Ke Huy Quan at the engraving table at the 2023 Golden Globe Awards. Michael Buckner/Billboard via Getty Images ASAP Rocky and first-time Golden Globe nominee Rihanna missed the red carpet and the beginning of the ceremony but turned up halfway through. ASAP Rocky and Rihanna at the 2023 Golden Globe Awards. Christopher Polk/NBC via Getty Images On his way to the stage to accept the award for best actor in a motion picture, "Elvis" star Austin Butler received a hug from Brad Pitt, who he then called one of his "heroes" in his speech. Austin Butler and Brad Pitt at the 2023 Golden Globes. Rich Polk/NBC via Getty Images Billy Porter and Angela Bassett looked delighted as they greeted each other on the floor. Bassett won the award for best supporting actress in a motion picture. Billy Porter and Angela Bassett at the 2023 Golden Globe Awards. Christopher Polk/NBC via Getty Images While Bassett was accepting the award for her role in "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," her husband Courtney B. Vance was seen adorably filming her speech on his phone. Story continues Jamie Lee Curtis had the best reaction to her "Everything Everywhere All at Once" costar Michelle Yeoh's win for best actress in a musical or comedy motion picture. She flung her arms up in the air and cheered as Yeoh's name was read out. Zoe Rose Bryant (@ZoeRoseBryant) January 11, 2023 "Banshees of Inisherin" star Barry Keoghan received a kiss from Jamie Lee Curtis as the two caught up on the red carpet. Jamie Lee Curtis and Barry Keoghan at the 2023 Golden Globes. FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images Henry Winkler and Hilary Swank had a moment at the event, with Winkler cupping Swank's hands as they talked across a barrier. Swank is preparing to give birth to twins. Henry Winkler and Hilary Swank at the 2023 Golden Globe Awards. Christopher Polk/NBC via Getty Images Read the original article on Insider Ian Kar was already at the airport Wednesday morning when he learned his Southwest Airlines flight, which was scheduled to depart Los Angeles to San Francisco at 10:15 a.m. local time, was delayed by an hour. Kar said he wasn't notified of the delay by the airline but "found out when I sat down in the waiting area," he told USA TODAY. He found the lack of communication to be "annoying" and because of the delay, he has had to reschedule some work meetings. More than 8,609 U.S. flights had been delayed and more than 1,251 others had been canceled by 3:30 p.m. EST Wednesday, according to FlightAware, which tracks flight status in real-time. Flights around the country are slowly returning to normal after a Federal Aviation Administration computer outage triggered a massive wave of delays and cancellations Wednesday morning, but that's little comfort to travelers whose plans have already been wrecked for the day. Every person whose flight was canceled is entitled to a full refund, according to Department of Transportation guidelines. Several airlines are also offering customers various waivers for rebooking flights, but they need to act quickly. Flight delayed or canceled?: What you need to know and what airlines owe travelers Experts: Southwest flight cancellations meltdown may not be the last for any airline A display shows flights, many delayed, at LaGuardia Airport in New York, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023. Alaska Airlines Alaska Airlines tells USA TODAY they've had minimal cancellations or delays related to the FAA outage. "We're working to get our guests to (where) they need to go today as safely and efficiently as possible," the airline said in a statement, without additional details. American Airlines American Airlines hasn't released specific details either, but tells USA TODAY, "To support our customers whose travel was affected by the FAA system issue, were providing additional flexibility to rebook their travel plans today and tomorrow without any additional fees." Customers are advised to check the airline's website. Story continues Delta Air Lines All Delta customers with flights scheduled for Wednesday may rebook their flights for travel no later than Friday, in their original class of service, without having to pay any difference in fares. If they aren't able to travel by Friday, customers may cancel their flights for flight credit that can be used for up to a year, but they would then be responsible for any fare differences. Details can be found on Delta's website. Southwest Airlines All customers with flights scheduled for Wednesday may rebook or fly standby within 14 days of their original travel dates without paying any extra fees. Travel is limited to their originally booked cities. Details can be found on Southwest's website. United Airlines Customers who had flights scheduled to or from the following airports Wednesday may rebook flights without paying fees or fare differences, as long as they fly by no later than Monday, through their original cities and in their original class of service. Details can be found on United's website. Boston Logan International (BOS). Chicago O'Hare International (ORD). Cleveland Hopkins International (CLE). Denver International (DEN). Antonio B. Won Pat International in Guam (GUM). Daniel K. Inouye International in Honolulu (HNL). George Bush International in Houston (IAH). Los Angeles International (LAX). Newark Liberty International (EWR). San Francisco International (SFO). Washington Dulles International (IAD). USA TODAY has reached out to every major U.S. airline to see what they're offering travelers affected by the FAA outage. While not specifically outage-related, travelers can find airlines' policies around cancellations and disruptions in general on the Transportation Department's Airline Customer Service Dashboard. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Airlines issuing travel waivers after FAA outage: Details, deadlines OZARK The Dale County Commission presented the Rev. Boyd Fuller of St. Mark AME Zion Church in Ozark with a proclamation Tuesday recognizing the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as one of the most effective civil rights leaders in the country. King demonstrated the quest for racial equality by way of leading non-violent demonstrations and sit-ins all over the country, and by preaching universal love and brotherhood for all humankind, said Dale County Commission Chairman Steve McKinnon, reading from the proclamation during the commission meeting. The multiracial future will require us to explain the philosophies and ideals that Dr. King exemplified, and which became the engine that drove social change. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day in Ozark will be commemorated with a program at Greater Sardis Missionary Baptist Church located at 707 West Reynolds St. at 11 a.m. Monday. Enterprise Mayor William Cooper is the keynote speaker at the event and Ozark Mayor Mark Blankenship will present a proclamation from the city declaring Jan. 16 as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the city, urging all citizens to Remember, Celebrate and Act in appreciation and gratitude for the ideals of King. The theme of this years event is Keeping the Dream Alive, said Fuller, president of the Ozark-Dale County Ministerial Alliance. We want to thank Mayor William Cooper, our guest speaker from the city of Enterprise and past president of the Ozark-Dale County Ministerial Alliance Rev. Dr. Fred Flowers. The MLK Ozark Community Mass Choir will perform at the event hosted by Rev. Dr. S.C. Hudson and the Greater Sardis Missionary Baptist Church and organized by the Ozark-Dale County Ministerial Alliance pastors and churches. Heres another reserve/future contract signing for the New Orleans Saints. The Saints announced Wednesday that offensive lineman Koda Martin signed with them to join their 90-man offseason roster, bringing more depth up front. Thats key for a unit facing more upheaval during the 2023 offseason with starters like left guard Andrus Peat looking like a potential salary cap casualty. Martin, 29, hasnt seen many reps in the NFL since signing with the Los Angeles Chargers as an undrafted free agent back in 2019, though he played a handful of snaps on the field goal units and at right guard for the Arizona Cardinals in 2021. He finished his collegiate career at Syracuse, where he started all 13 games at right tackle as a senior in 2018; thats after transferring from Texas A&M, where he started at left tackle as a junior. So he has experience lining up on each side of the line and hes moved inside as a pro. That could help his case for a roster spot over the summer, though hell be competing with other players like second-year backup Lewis Kidd for snaps in practice. The more competition, the better off this Saints team will be. Story originally appeared on Saints Wire WASHINGTON The new Congress is off to a fiery start, wasting no time before diving into heated debates about the "secret deal" that helped Speaker Kevin McCarthy win after 15 rounds of voting, embattled Republican Rep. George Santos and former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden's handling of classified documents. Those faceoffs come on top of the other more routine debates between Republicans and Democrats in Congress, who often disagree on government spending, the debt ceiling and abortion. Here are the main points of contention: McCarthy's 'secret deal' U.S. House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., talks to Rep.-elect Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., in the House Chamber during the fourth day of elections for Speaker of the House at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 06, 2023. Democrats used much of their weekly news conference Tuesday to rail against Republican leadership for chaos, confusion and a "secret deal" McCarthy cut with conservative hard-liners to secure the speakership. Criticism has also been raised publicly by some members of his own party, including from Reps. Tony Gonzales of Texas and Nancy Mace of South Carolina. Some of McCarthy's concessions were in the rules package that passed Monday night. Other agreements were part of a handshake deal. "There's still some questions that I think many of us have about what side deals may or may not have been made, what promises are made, what handshakes are made," Mace said to reporters. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said in a news conference Tuesday morning that McCarthy "laid that out today to the membership" during a Republican meeting. He said some things, such as which members will serve on committees, haven't been decided yet. That's the work of the Steering Committee. Meanwhile, Democrats say McCarthy offering concessions to conservative hard-liners puts government spending and transparency at risk. In a floor speech on Monday and on Twitter, Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., said McCarthy's speakership is weaker because of it. "Speaker McCarthy may have the gavel, but he gave the election deniers and MAGA extremists all the power," he said. Story continues How the GOP got here: The rise of ultra conservatives from Barry Goldwater to Donald Trump What's happening with George Santos? Rep.-elect George Santos, R-N.Y., sits in the House chamber for the fifth ballot as the House meets for a second day to elect a speaker. Two New York Democrats, Reps. Ritchie Torres and Dan Goldman, filed a formal complaint Tuesday with the House Ethics Committee accusing Santos of violating the Ethics in Government Act, saying he must be held accountable for "defrauding both Congress and the public." That's on top of a Federal Election Commission complaint that accuses Santos of illegally using campaign money for personal expenses. Santos told reporters Tuesday, "I have done nothing unethical." There should be repercussions for Santos' apparent lies, but he probably won't face any consequences in the House, according to Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., who said McCarthy needed Santos' vote to win the speaker's seat. "Kevin McCarthy owns George Santos, lock, stock and barrel," Aguilar said. "The only reason why he was seated is to give George Santos that ability to vote for Kevin McCarthy." Republicans say the matter is "being handled internally." "Obviously there were concerns about what we had heard, and so we're going to have to sit down and talk to him about it, and that's something that we're going to deal with," Scalise said Tuesday. Closer look: What can Congress do about Rep.-elect George Santos, who lied ahead of winning his election? Biden, Trump and classified docs President Joe Biden speaks about border security in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) ORG XMIT: DCPS101 Republicans and Democrats faced questions Monday evening and all day Tuesday after the parties tried to find similarities and differences in the way classified documents were handled by Joe Biden after he was vice president and Donald Trump after he was president. Reports Monday showed less than a dozen classified documents were found in a locked closet in Biden's former private office at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a visiting professor. The reports come five months after a search at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate when more than 100 classified documents were found by FBI agents. A key difference is that Biden is cooperating with federal authorities and the National Archives. Trump did not, according to authorities, and is being investigated for possible obstruction of justice. Rep. Mike Turner, an Ohio Republican and House Intelligence Committee chair, called for an "immediate review and damage assessment" in a letter Tuesday to national intelligence director Avril Haines. Turner is seeking more information on documents marked "sensitive compartmented information," which he said is "the highest classification and most sensitive intelligence information in our government." Democrats said there are many differences between Trump's handling of classified documents and Biden's handling of them, especially that Biden has cooperated with investigators. "There is a process to handling documents," Aguilar said. "The president is handling it the way he should." President Joe Biden classified documents: What we know and how discovery compares to Trump Who's on House committees, and who's ousted? Marjorie Taylor Green (R-Ga) takes a selfie with the newly elected speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy. The House of Representatives reconvened on Friday, Jan. 6, 2023, to elect a speaker of the House. The first big bipartisan win for McCarthy also has been a source of contention: committees and who will and won't serve on them. House members created a Select Committee on U.S. Competition with China by a 365-65 vote Tuesday afternoon. One hundred forty-six Democrats joined Republicans in the vote, giving McCarthy his first bipartisan victory. But a vote right after that to create a "weaponization of government" subcommittee was decided along party lines, 221-211. Republicans say the committee, which will review ongoing investigations within the FBI, the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security, is necessary to stop what they describe as a politicization of federal agencies. Democrats are calling it the "tin foil hat committee," said Aguilar, who added that it is born of conspiracy theories. Committees have been a point of contention this week for Democrats and Republicans as McCarthy has vowed to remove three members and restore two. 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 intends to restore Reps. Paul Gosar and Marjorie Taylor Greene to committee seats. Gosar was censured and removed from committees in November 2021 after posting an animated video that depicted violence against Biden and the killing of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. He was stripped of his seats on the Natural Resources and Oversight & Reform committees. Greene was removed in February 2021 when her prior embrace of QAnon conspiracy theories came to light, including past comments that 9/11 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 Santos. Investigating the investigators: GOP creates panels to probe DOJ, China Top priorities Republicans have largely been focused on messaging votes in their first acts of business, moving bills on abortion and plans to defund a plan to add 87,000 IRS workers. All these measures are highly likely to fail in a Democrat-led Senate and be rejected by the White House. Another priority for Republicans, which will see a lot of debate this year, is cutting federal spending. Speaking about the debt ceiling, Scalise warned Tuesday that the nation's credit card is at its limit and that Republicans believe a cycle of raising the limit and maxing it out is the wrong move. "Shouldn't we have an honest conversation about how to start living within our means, how to make sure we're not spending money that we don't have before that comes up?" Scalise said. Democrat Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania, the ranking member of the Budget Committee, called it hypocrisy. "You can always tell when there's a Democrat in the White House; our Republican colleagues suddenly become concerned again about deficit and debt," he said. "When there's a Republican in the White House, they conveniently forget that topic." Candy Woodall is a Congress reporter for USA TODAY. She can be reached at cwoodall@usatoday.com or on Twitter at @candynotcandace. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Secret McCarthy deal, Santos, classified docs: new Congress takeaways In-N-Out Burgers with animal-style fries on tray Brace yourself, because Im about to say something way out of line: Ive never had an In-N-Out burger. No, Im not a vegetarian, nor am I a health nut. For meand presumably most other people who have never eaten thereits purely a matter of logistics. Ive lived on the east coast my entire life; the farthest west Ive ever traveled was to San Antonio for a high school journalism conference. Apparently, San Antonio has three In-N-Out locations, but theyre a bit far from where my 17-year-old self wouldve been allowed to roam unsupervised. At this point, the closest Ive ever gotten to In-N-Out Burger was when someone found an intact Double-Double on a New York City sidewalk in 2019. But that might soon change. In-N-Outs owner has previously stated that in an effort to maintain both its quality and uniqueness, the chain had no plans to expand east of Texas. But now, the tide appears to be turning, as In-N-Out has announced plans to expand eastward into Tennessee. In a press release, the company stated its plans to open not just restaurants, but an Eastern territory office in the state. Read more The office will be in Franklin, Tennessee, just outside of Nashville. And fans of animal-style burgers and fries arent the only people who are excited about it: In-N-Outs plan to invest over $125 million in its new office is expected to create 277 jobs, which is exciting for Tennessees government officials. We thank In-N-Out for planting roots in Williamson County and creating new jobs for Tennesseans, the states governor, Bill Lee, said in a press release. Why In-N-Out is coming to Tennessee Tennessee may seem like a slightly random place for In-N-Out to expand, but theres a logistical reason: proximity to the chains Texas warehouse. The companys ethos has always been one of quality over quantity, as Forbes detailed in 2018 profile of the companys owner, Lynsi Snyder. In-N-Out doesnt franchise and intentionally maintains a limited menu that rarely changes, both of which allow for greater control of the product and thus the customer experiencethink of it as the Apple of fast food chains. With the companys warehouse just a few states away from its the new office in Franklin, In-N-Out can expand while staying true to its local, family-owned culture. Story continues The office and first restaurant location arent expected to open until 2026, so if youre a Tenneseean who needs your In-N-Out fix right now, youll still have to go on a road trip to Texas. And if youre not a Tenneseean, dont think that youre SOL. Snyder hinted to the Associated Press that other states, presumably in the southeast, could be getting In-N-Out soon, too. More from The Takeout Sign up for The Takeout's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. The U.S. Navy seized over 2,100 assault rifles that were being smuggled on a fishing vessel from Iran to Yemen, the maritime service branch announced on Tuesday. Last Friday, a team from the USS Chinook, with the support of USS Monsoon and guided-missile destroyer USS The Sullivans, discovered and seized weapons from the vessel in the Gulf of Oman that was using a route that the Navy said is "historically used to traffic illicit cargo to the Houthis in Yemen." In total, the U.S. discovered 2,116 AK-47 assault rifles being smuggled on the vessel, which was crewed by six Yemeni nationals, officials said. The U.S. Navy seized over 2,100 assault rifles they suspect came from Iran from a fishing vessel in the Gulf of Oman to Yemen / Credit: NAVCENT Public Affairs According to the Navy, "the direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer of weapons to the Houthis violates U.N. Security Council Resolution 2216 and international law." The U.S. is currently in the process of repatriating the vessel and its crew, officials said. "This shipment is part of a continued pattern of destabilizing activity from Iran," Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, U.S. 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces said. "These threats have our attention. We remain vigilant in detecting any maritime activity that impedes freedom of navigation or compromises regional security." This is the third fishing ship in the past two months that the U.S. 5th Fleet has intercepted in the Gulf of Oman and discovered was smuggling lethal aid from Iran to Yemen, the Navy said. On December 1 forces seized more than 50 tons of ammunition rounds, fuses and propellants for rockets, and prior to that on November 8, forces intercepted more than 70 tons of ammonium perchlorate, an oxidizer commonly used to make rocket and missile fuel, as well as 100 tons of urea fertilizer, officials said. Evacuations ordered as deadly storm hits California Foundation encourages heart screenings for young athletes after Damar Hamlin scare George Santos faces ethics complaint from House Democrats "Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below." Yellowstone, the most-watched show on cable television, received its first Golden Globe nomination this year, but its star actor won't be on hand to receive the award if he wins. Kevin Costner has been nominated for 7 Golden Globes, with wins for Hatfields & McCoys and Dances with Wolves. Still, the actor was emotional over his nomination for his portrayal of John Dutton in Yellowstone. He was planning on attending the awards show with his wife, Christine Baumgartner. But the devastating flooding in California prevented him from making the trip. Kevin released a statement on Instagram explaining the news to his fans. He said, "Hi everyone, look, I'm so sorry for everyone who might've been turning into watch the golden globes. Chris and I aren't going to be able to be there. Yesterday, we had to pull the kids out of school in Santa Barbara. For the second time in 5 years, the freeways are flooded out...We couldn't get back to the house with the freeways closed. No one is sadder than us that we can't be there at the Golden Globes. "Chris had a beautiful dress, and I was looking forward to walking down the red carpet with her and the people of Yellowstone, my castmates, directors... "Just so sorry that I can't be there. I really wanted to, and I know how bad Chris wanted to support me. She went out and bought me some gold, yellow, black, and silver balloons, so we're going to sit and watch on television and see what happens. But thank you for your support, and I'm really sorry to the Golden Globes and the International Press." Fans left comments of support like "Best to stay home and be safe! Hope Yellowstone wins " and "Hollywood royalty and total class act. Sorry you are missing your big night! Glad your family is safe. Good luck tonight!! Best show on tv! And youre the best actor by far." Story continues The Golden Globes air on January 10 at 8 EST on NBC. Stream the ceremony on Peacock. You Might Also Like 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 when all is said and done. The effort, which aimed to fill holes in border fencing along the southern U.S. border, is being torn down after Ducey bowed to federal pressure and agreed to remove the makeshift barriers in late December. Contracts and projections shed light on a $200 million effort from the initial construction of the barrier to the costs of tearing it down and moving the containers. It will cost more than $76 million to tear down the double-stacked shipping container barriers in Yuma and Cochise counties. The bill to remove the containers was first reported by Capitol Media Services. It's set to cost another $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. On top of that, separate costs to move shipping containers from a Sierra Vista staging area to Tucson are projected at about $9.8 million. THE WALL: Explore more about how a border wall impacts the US 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. Story continues 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. 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. Administration officials with newly elected Gov. Katie Hobbs 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, a Democrat who was sworn in earlier this month, 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. 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 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. 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 and camped 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 fencing 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. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona's shipping container border wall to cost taxpayers over $200M Months after the unprecedented leak of the U.S. Supreme Court draft opinion that overturned Roe v. Wade, lawmakers in North Dakota considered and struck down a bill to criminalize court leaks on Tuesday. Introduced by the North Dakota Supreme Court, the bill would have let prosecutors charge people with misdemeanors for leaking information on pending court decisions in the state. Republican Rep. Landon Bahl, of Grand Forks, said the bill was a direct response to the leak of the Dobbs decision. But he also said during the debate that lawmakers weren't aware of any court leaks in North Dakota. Our state does not face these issues, Bahl said. If these issues arise in the future, they can be dealt with internally, as most professionals sign confidentiality agreements or are governed by ethics boards. The bill failed on a 43-49 vote in the House. Majority Republicans were divided on the issue. We dont have to wait around for the issue to happen. We have to send the message now that this is unacceptable, Rep. Austen Schauer, of West Fargo, said before voting in favor of the bill. Rep. Bernie Satrom, of Jamestown, also voted in favor. All of our judges should have the freedom to deliberate and make lawful decisions without concern for being threatened, harassed or intimidated," he said. But Rep. Lawrence Klemin, of Bismarck, voted against the bill. He told lawmakers a media representative had testified earlier that the bill would put undue pressure on journalists to disclose the identities of leakers. The bill is expected to die unless a majority of House members agree to bring it back for reconsideration Wednesday, Klemin said in an email to The Associated Press. After the leak of the U.S. Supreme Court's draft decision that ultimately stripped away constitutional protections for abortion rights, Chief Justice John Roberts and other conservative justices were the subject of protests and threats. The security concerns reached alarming levels in early June, when police arrested an armed man near Justice Brett Kavanaughs house after he called 911 and said he was going to kill Kavanaugh. Story continues The nation's highest court has said little since then about its investigation and whether anyone has been identified for leaking the draft last May. ___ Trisha Ahmed is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow her on Twitter: @TrishaAhmed15 SPRINGFIELD, MISSOURI - A former New Brunswick man who was found guilty of murdering three people and injuring two others during a two-day span in 2018 was sentenced Friday to five consecutive life sentences. Luis Perez, 27, was sentenced by Judge Thomas Mountjoy, who presided over Perez's trial and found him guilty in October of three counts of first-degree murder and two counts of assault. The case drew national attention when days after Perez was charged with the killings, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued a scathing news release criticizing Middlesex County authorities for not holding Perez in jail in December 2017 when he was arrested on suspicion of multiple felonies, including assault, aggravated assault and child abuse. ICE said it had asked that Perez be held in jail while it started deportation proceedings against him since he is originally from Mexico and was in the country illegally. Earlier:Former New Brunswick man found guilty of murdering 3 people in 2 days According to its website, Middlesex County had a policy of declining requests by ICE to detain some inmates, if those people have not been convicted of certain serious offenses. Perez came to Springfield from New Jersey not long before the killings. Perez's attorney said Friday that although Perez was born in Mexico his family moved to the United States when he was 18 months old. Court documents say the case started when Perez was kicked out of a home in the 900 block of East Locust Street. Police say Perez returned to the home early on Nov. 1, 2018 and opened fire on his ex-roommates, killing Steven Marler and Aaron "Joshua" Hampton and injuring two others. The next day, police say, Perez killed Sabrina Starr, a 21-year-old woman who had provided him with the gun he used in the other two killings. Greene County Prosecutors initially announced they would seek the death penalty before later changing course. Life in prison without the possibility of parole is the only other punishment for a first-degree murder conviction in Missouri. Story continues Friday's hearing centered around whether the sentences should be imposed concurrently or consecutively and how much prison time Perez should get for the non-fatal shootings. Assistant Greene County Prosecutor Phil Fuhrman argued Perez should not get any breaks. "Mr. Perez is dangerous, he is violent and he is deserving of the maximum sentence," Fuhrman said. Judge Mountjoy said he was "struck by the magnitude of the violence" in this case in choosing to run the sentences consecutive to one another. "The magnitude speaks to requiring the most severe sentence that the law would structure," Mountjoy said. This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Former New Brunswick man given five consecutive life sentences for Missouri murders Wallace Community College-Dothan (WCCD) recently received a $373,400 grant from the state Community College System (ACCS) to address an increased need for criminal justice, public safety, and small unmanned aircraft system training and equipment. This grant will allow the college to create a pipeline of better trained law and public safety personnel who can enforce laws, prevent crime, deliver emergency response, and provide support services for communities. Wallace is expanding our Associates degree program with the Criminal Justice Drone Pilot emphasis, said Martha Compton, WCCD Career and Technical associate dean, in a news release from the college. This emphasis will introduce students to the field of criminal justice with the use of advanced technology and the use of drones in crime prevention and crime scene investigation. The expanded curriculum will prepare students for an FAA Remote Pilot License. The new technology and equipment purchased through the grant will expand training opportunities, not only for enrolled students on a public safety career pathway but our local law enforcement agencies whose partnerships are vital to our programs success, said Jason Owen, WCCD Criminal Justice/Automotive Technology/Welding Technology Division director. Equipment to be purchased with grant funds includes a patrol vehicle, driving simulators, fingerprint technology, crime scene mapping software, and two drones. This equipment will provide opportunity to immerse participants in simulated life-threatening situations and provide opportunity to increase decision making and technical training. The project will ensure that participants are skilled in making sound judgment calls in keeping with appropriate safety techniques. To meet the need in the law, public safety and corrections sector, WCCD will expand program offering and implement new technologies in program training. The WCCD Criminal Justice Program supports the efforts of local and state law enforcement in training and criminal investigations involving electronic devices, as well as provides technological support to all divisions of the Office. The main goal of the project is to increase officer safety and training through updated technology purchases. For more information about WCCDs Criminal Justice program, please visit wallace.edu or contact Jason Owen at jowen@wallace.edu or 334-983-3521 ext. 2247. Ben Affleck was seen working at a Dunkin Donuts today in the Boston area. No, hes not dazed and confused, hes reportedly filming a commercial for the company. Today in health, we look at the House Republicans focus on investigating the COVID-19 pandemic, its origins and how the federal government responded. Welcome to The Hills Health Care roundup, where were following the latest moves on policy and news affecting your health. Were Nathaniel Weixel and Joseph Choi. Someone forward you this newsletter? Close Thank you for signing up! Subscribe to more newsletters here The latest in politics and policy. Direct to your inbox. Sign up for the Health Care newsletter House GOP looking at virus origins, pandemic funds 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 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. 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. Late 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. 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. Story continues Read more here. Sanders: Moderna planned vax price hike is greed Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is calling on Moderna not to quadruple the price of its COVID-19 vaccine, saying Tuesday 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. 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. Read more here. CANNABIS-RELATED ER VISITS AMONG SENIORS ON THE RISE IN CALIF. The number of seniors visiting emergency rooms in California for cannabis-related issues is growing, according to new research. Cannabis is currently legal for both medicinal and recreational use in California. The state became the first in the country to legalize medical marijuana in 1996, while the substance was not approved for recreational use there until November 2016. From 2005 to 2019, the states emergency departments saw a 1,808 percent relative increase in the rate of cannabis-related trips among those aged 65 and older. The study found that cannabis-related emergency department visits in California rose sharply among seniors from 2013 to 2017, but leveled off after 2017 following implementation of the states legalization program. Based on those findings, researchers noted legalization of recreational marijuana does not appear to correlate with higher emergency department visits among elderly adults. Data from the Department of Healthcare Access and Information shows the number of emergency department visits by seniors in California related to cannabis use rose from 20.7 per 100,000 visits in 2005 to 395 per 100,000 visits in 2019. Read more here. 100 DEATHS NOW LINKED TO RECALLED FISHER-PRICE INFANT SLEEPERS At least 100 deaths have been linked to Fisher-Prices now-recalled Rock n Play Sleepers, the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced Monday, a figure that more than triples the initially reported fatalities. A note to consumers on the commissions website says they should stop using the Rock n Play immediately and contact Fisher-Price for a refund or voucher. It is illegal to sell or distribute the recalled sleepers, the commission added. A recall was issued by the childs toy production giant in April 2019. At the time, more than 30 deaths had been linked to the product. The commission said the deaths had occurred after infants rolled from their back to their stomach or side while unrestrained, or under other circumstances. Since the initial recall, about 70 more deaths have been linked to the product. At least eight of those deaths were reported to have occurred after the initial recall announcement. Read more here. Officials turn Medicare, Social Security talks against GOP The White House is turning the tables on House Republican lawmakers when it comes to conservative-led spending proposals that Democrats warn could mean cuts to crucial programs like Medicare and Social Security. The Biden administration is already building on a strategy it deployed during the midterm election season in which it highlighted talk from multiple GOP congressional lawmakers about how they plan to use their new House majority to consider cuts to entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare. Strategists and White House officials believe a possibility of Republicans holding the debt ceiling hostage in exchange for spending cuts is both economically dangerous and a political loser for the GOP. When it came to the speakership battle, seven hardline Republicans included requests to cap spending as part of their many demands last month of Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). But some Republicans are adamant that Medicare and Social Security will not be touched, just as many conservatives distanced themselves from a proposal by Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) last year to put funding for those programs up for a vote every five years. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) said on Sunday that while Republicans want to balance the budget and make spending cuts, that includes every area of state government except Social Security and Medicare. Read more here. WHAT WERE READING For new GOP house majority, a focus on abortion messaging (Roll Call) An FDA pathway to clear medical devices is putting patients at risk, research suggests (Stat) Hospitals use of volunteer staff runs risk of skirting labor laws, experts say (Kaiser Health News) STATE BY STATE Nurses extend strike to second day at 2 major New York City hospitals (New York Times) California Senates new health chair to prioritize mental health and homelessness (Los Angeles Times) Lawsuit challenges use of old lethal injection drugs as Texas prepares to execute Robert Fratta (Texas Tribune) OP-ED IN THE HILL Nurses deserve better, but strikes arent the answer Thats it for today, thanks for reading. Check out The Hills Health Care page for the latest news and coverage. See you tomorrow. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. 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. Breaking news Memphis The man whose arrest is under investigation by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation into allegations of "use of force" by Memphis Police officers has died, Shelby County District Attorney Steven Mulroy confirmed to The Commercial Appeal Tuesday evening. Tyre DeAndre Nichols, 29 at the time of his death, was taken to the hospital Saturday night after officers from the Memphis Police Department say they made an 8:30 p.m. traffic stop for reckless driving. The cause of Nichols' death was not confirmed Tuesday, with Mulroy citing the active TBI investigation. TBI also confirmed Nichols' death in a Twitter statement. "Today, the individual involved in the use-of-force incident with officers from the Memphis Police Department on Saturday, Tyre D. Nichols of Memphis, succumbed to his injuries," the TBI statement read. "This remains an active and ongoing investigation." The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation confirmed that Tyre D. Nichols died two days after being taken to the hospital after a confrontation with Memphis Police officers. According to police, the person ran away after "a confrontation occurred." MPD did not give additional details about the confrontation. Nichols was eventually caught after officers say they pursued him. According to MPD, another confrontation occurred at the point of his arrest. "Afterward, the suspect complained of having a shortness of breath, at which time an ambulance was called to the scene," MPD said in a statement. Nichols was taken to St. Francis Hospital in critical condition. Mulroy asked TBI to investigate the "use of force" allegation Sunday. MPD declined to respond when asked Sunday morning if the incident led to a report for excessive force by an officer. The officers involved have been relieved of duty pending the outcome of the investigation, police said. The Shelby County District Attorney's Office referred The Commercial Appeal to TBI when asked to clarify the circumstances of the investigation Sunday, later elaborating that "(District Attorney Gen. Steve) Mulroy called in the TBI because of the severity of injuries to the suspect." TBI released a statement about the incident Sunday afternoon, stating "special agents are conducting a use-of-force investigation surrounding the arrest." The agency did not have a press conference Sunday, nor has one been hosted since the statement. Story continues This is the second TBI investigation in Shelby County since the start of the year. The agency was called in earlier this month to investigate Collierville police for shooting at teens during an attempted arrest. Nobody was reported as being hurt in that shooting. Four TBI investigations were launched into the Memphis Police Department in December 2022 after officers fired their weapons. Three of them resulted in deaths. Education reporter Laura Testino contributed to this report. Lucas Finton is a news reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at Lucas.Finton@commercialappeal.com and followed on Twitter @LucasFinton. This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Man arrested by MPD dies, TBI still investigating 'use of force' EXCLUSIVE: Portugal has become the latest territory to order a local version of CBS Lets Make a Deal. The show will broadcast daily in access primetime on local network TVI and marks the latest territory expansion for a format that has been given a shot in the arm since its underlying IP was acquired by Marcus Lemonis and Nancy Glasss fledgling Marcus / Glass Productions. More from Deadline Fremantle Portugal will produce the Portuguese version and Pedro Texeira will helm. In Lets Make a Deal, which has been running on and off for 50 years in the U.S. and on CBS for the past 14, select members of the studio audience make deals with the host. These traders are offered something of value and given a choice of whether to keep it or exchange it for a different item, while the other item is hidden from the trader until that choice is made. Cant Stop Media struck the Portugal deal and the sales outfits International & Development Partner Matthieu Porte said he will finalize many more local commissions this year. Deadline revealed the launch of Marcus / Glass Productions in late 2021, which acquired the Hatos-Hall Productions gameshow catalog including Lets Make a Deal, and the show has since sold to Germany, Hungary and Indonesia. Local versions are also in development in the UK, France, Italy, Poland, Greece, Argentina and Chile. Best of Deadline Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. Passengers traveling on an Amtrak Auto Train from a Washington, D.C., suburb Monday evening expected to arrive in the Orlando area by Tuesday morning. But their planned 17-hour journey experienced significant delays caused by a freight derailment. The train rolled into the station in Sanford, Florida, on Wednesday morning, ending the 37-hour trip. The 563 passengers and 333 vehicles onboard had been delayed by almost 20 hours. The southbound Amtrak Auto Train was detoured off its normal route due to the derailment of a CSX freight Monday night and was stopped in Denmark, South Carolina, while waiting for a new crew to arrive, Amtrak said. "The train was detoured off its normal route in order to continue operating south," Amtrak told ABC News late Tuesday, confirming that the train was moving again. "We have been providing regular updates to customers, along with meals, snack packs and beverages," it said. "The onboard staff is working with pet owners to provide bathroom breaks." PHOTO: An Amtrak train sits at a station stop in Union Station, Dec. 9, 2021, in Los Angeles. (Mario Tama/Getty Images, FILE) MORE: Southwest CEO apologizes to passengers, staff after flight cancellation chaos The Amtrak Auto Train train, which departed Lorton, Virginia, at 5 p.m. Monday, was initially scheduled to arrive in Sanford, Florida, by 10 a.m. Tuesday. Only a few certified crews are able to operate the Auto Train, which carries passengers and their vehicles daily between the two destinations. The CSX freight train collided with an unoccupied vehicle on the tracks in Lake City, South Carolina, shortly before 11 p.m. Monday, CSX said in a statement. No injuries were reported. Auto Train service on Tuesday was canceled, while Silver Meteor and Silver Star trains that departed on Monday are operating on a detour and missing stops due to the derailment, Amtrak said. MORE: Residents in Louisiana parish evacuated after train derailment causes acid leak Passengers were apparently calling 911 from the train when it was stuck, according to several videos obtained by ABC News in which a conductor can be heard asking people to stop calling police. Story continues "For those of you that are calling the police, we are not holding you hostage," a conductor can be heard over the loudspeaker. "We are giving you all the information in which we have. We are sorry about the inconvenience." The conductor can also be heard telling people not to open their windows to smoke on the train. Delayed Amtrak Auto Train arrives 37 hours after departure originally appeared on abcnews.go.com AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A large number of U.S. army tanks and military vehicles began arriving at the Dutch port of Vlissingen on Wednesday, before heading to Poland and Lithuania as part of efforts to strengthen NATO's eastern flank. "There's about 1,250 pieces of military equipment coming into this port," said Col. Robert Kellam, overseeing the operation on the U.S. side. The equipment includes M-1 Abrams tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, of Fort Hood, Texas. Dutch armed forces are helping with marine security and guarding the port area where the vehicles will be housed before they continue east. Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, NATO has been strengthening its battle groups in states from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Black Sea in the south. (Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Bernadette Baum) [Source] Before you read: A Chinese invasion of Taiwan will result in defeat but at a huge cost to all parties involved, including the U.S. and Japan, according to a war game analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). The Washington, D.C.-based think tank brought together military experts to predict possible outcomes for the hypothetical conflict, which remains a global concern amid persisting strait tensions and Chinas ultimate goal of reclaiming the self-governed island by force if necessary. In a total of 24 war game simulations, the CSIS found that China experienced the most casualties, suffering losses of about 10,000 troops, 155 combat aircraft, 138 major ships and imprisonment of some 30,000 Chinese survivors on the island. Such a failure, as well as counterattack damages in mainland territories, could destabilize the ruling Communist Party, the experts said. More from NextShark: Influencer Earns $16K on Twitch by Streaming Himself Sleeping Still, Chinas military might is expected to cripple the victors for a long time. Taiwan is expected to lose around 1,100 troops, as well as all of its destroyers and warships; Japan, acting as a U.S. base and reinforcement, is bound to lose 112 aircraft and 26 warships; and the U.S. could lose 3,200 troops, 270 aircraft and 17 warships. Such losses would damage the U.S. global position for many years, according to CSIS, leaving Washington with a pyrrhic victory in which it suffers more in the long run than the defeated Chinese. We reached two conclusions, said Eric Heginbotham, report co-author and security expert at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, according to AFP. 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. More from NextShark: Yuh-Line Niou Endorsed by Senator Elizabeth Warren for Re-Election in NYC The CSIS report also noted that there is no Ukraine model for Taiwan. The islands victory hinges on a few factors: its determination to fight back, Japans permission to allow the U.S. to use its territories and Washingtons ability to strike the Chinese fleet rapidly and en masse from outside the Chinese defensive zone. Story continues Once the war begins, its impossible to get any troops or supplies onto Taiwan, so its a very different situation from Ukraine where the United States and its allies have been able to send supplies continuously to Ukraine, said Mark Cancian, co-author and senior adviser with the International Security Program at the CSIS, as per CNN. Whatever the Taiwanese are going to fight the war with, they have to have that when the war begins. In October 2022, Chinese President Xi Jinping set a goal of modernizing the Peoples Liberation Army by 2027. Last month, U.S. President Joe Biden signed the National Defense Authorization Act, which includes providing $10 billion worth of assistance to Taiwan in the next five years. More from NextShark: Martial Arts Teacher Run Over Multiple Times Until Dead After Argument at Store in Stockton Read the full report here. Related stories: More from NextShark: California man charged for driving through Stop Asian Hate rally, yelling racial slurs Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Getty/Instagram Hayley Willette says she had not been closely following the latest developments in the case of the four University of Idaho students who were murdered inside their campus home when she came across a news article last week about the grisly crime. As Willette was reading the story in a small Pennsylvania news outlet, detailing the scene where Bryan Kohberger had been arrested on Dec. 30, the 26-year-old OB/GYN nurse stumbled upon the suspects mugshot. Thats when she says she realized that Kohberger was the same man she went on an uncomfortable December 2015 Tinder date with when she was in college. As soon as I saw his mug shot, I knew. He just has an unforgettable face, Willette told The Daily Beast. Willette said that after matching on Tinder, the pair went to go see an action movie before Kohberger drove her back to her dorm at Penn State Hazleton. Once back on campus and briefly talking inside his car, she said, Kohberger started being really pushy about coming into her room to watch another movie. She said that while she initially agreed, she later pretended to loudly throw up in the bathroom before Kohbergerwho she said was waiting for her outside the bathroom doorleft. After an hour or so of him being gone, he messaged me and said I had good birthing hips and I just never messaged back, she added. Willette first detailed her story about a strange date with one of the most notorious murder suspects in America in a series of TikToks beginning on Sunday evening. Kohbergers lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this story. Classmates: Normally Chatty Kohberger Completely Silent on Idaho Student Murders Authorities allege Kohberger, 28, murdered four studentsKaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, and Madison Mogenon Nov. 13 around 4 a.m. in Moscow, Idaho. The first-year Ph.D. student in criminology at Washington State University was extradited back to Idaho last week from Pennsylvania and is facing four counts of murder in the first degree and a burglary charge. Story continues But seven years before prosecutors say Kohberger committed the harrowing crimes, Willette says he was a quiet but not shy psych major who had matched with her on the dating app one morning. Kohberger graduated from Northampton Community College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, with an associate degrees in psychology in 2018. Property records show that the Kohbergers have been living in their Lamsden Drive home since at least 2014. If Kohberger was living at his parents house at the time, he would have been approximately 45 minutes from Willettes Hazleton dorm room. Willette provided The Daily Beast with texts she sent two of her friends on Jan. 2 after learning of Kohbergers arresta conversation in which one friend responded that she remembered the nurse telling her about the date in question previously. Willette told The Daily Beast that she chatted with Kohberger all morning and afternoon on the day of their date before he mentioned he wanted to go to the movies and asked if Id like to go with him. After agreeing to the date, she said Kohberger had a movie in mindand while she does not remember the title, she said she didnt really care to see whatever it was. I got off work and met him at the theater, she said. He paid for my movie ticket but he didnt want popcorn, so I ended up buying some for myself. We watched the movie and then he said he would take me back to my dorm. After driving her back to her dorm, Willette said, Kohberger ended up parking his car in a move she figured meant he just wanted to talk, because we couldnt really talk during the movie. While she does not remember exactly what they discussed, she said that after chatting for a while, she told Kohberger she wanted to go back up to her dorm room and check to see if my roommate needs me, and he said he would come with. (Willette said that her roommate was not in their dorm room at the time and did not see Kohberger.) Back inside her dorm room, the pair sat down to start picking another movie to watch together, Willette said. In her TikTok describing the date, she also claimed that Kohberger kept trying to rub her shoulders and tickle her. When she asked him why he was touching her, Willette said in her video that he got super serious and denied he was doing so, which she described as gaslighting. She told The Daily Beast that Kohberger later followed her to the communal dorm female bathroom and waited outside the door. I thought that was the weirdest thing so I was like, I need to get this guy to leave but I didnt wanna be mean, so I started to pretend to loudly throw up, she said. After a minute or two, he messaged me on Tinder saying he was going to go. The two never spoke again, she said, after Kohberger sent her the curious follow-up text about her hips. She said that while Kohberger was very polite and nice during the date, he completely changed gears when the pair got to her dorm. He just seemed very different, she said. Definitely felt uncomfortable when he decided he needed to wait outside of the bathroom for me. Willette said in her TikTok that she decided to come forward with her story about Kohberger after seeing false information about herself online and to warn others about who they are meeting up with and maybe save another 19-year-old girl from being stupid. It was shocking for sure, Williette said about seeing Kohbergers mugshot. I dont know if Im a good judge of character either way, but I dont feel surprised that he was arrested for it, either. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. Amtrak Train Getty Images Amtrak train More than 500 passengers onboard an Amtrak Auto Train just experienced the journey of a lifetime for all the wrong reasons. The train, which left Lorton, Virginia, at 5:30 p.m. Monday on a nonstop schedule with 563 people and 333 vehicles, was scheduled to arrive in Sanford, Florida, at around 10 a.m. Tuesday, reported The Washington Post. Unfortunately, it was diverted due to the derailment of a CSX freight train in South Carolina and then came to a halt in a wooded area near the city of Denmark in Bamberg County where it remained for 20 hours. "Just before 11:00 p.m. Monday, a CSX freight train came in contact with an unoccupied vehicle on the tracks at Charles Street in Lake City, S.C., resulting in the derailment of 25 rail cars and two locomotives, which remained upright," CSX said in a statement. "There were no injuries to the crew of the train and no hazardous materials involved. CSX crews are on site working to safely clear the tracks and restore the area." RELATED: Flights Across U.S. Grounded By FAA Computer Outage Amtrak train Getty Images Amtrak train RELATED: Disney's New TRON Lightcycle Roller Coaster Opening April 4 at Magic Kingdom Washington, D.C.'s ABC 7 reported that passengers had to endure the long wait because the Amtrak crew was timed out and not legally able to run the train. So their only option was to sit tight until a certified backup crew arrived. Despite this, passengers began to take matters into their own hands by calling 911 from the train during the delay, reported ABC News, citing onboard footage in which a conductor can be heard asking people to stop calling the authorities. "For those of you that are calling the police, we are not holding you hostage," the Amtrack staffer can be heard over the loudspeaker. "We are giving you all the information which we have. We are sorry about the inconvenience." 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. ABC News reported the conductor could also be heard telling people not to open their windows to smoke on the train. According to ABC 7, the Amtrak Auto Train is special in that it requires passengers to bring a car with them on the train. Many passengers book rooms with chairs that fold into beds while others book traditional seats, the outlet added. An Amtrak spokesperson told the outlet Wednesday that passengers were given regular updates, plus meals, snack packs and beverages, and that food from local businesses was provided during the trip. Despite this, ABC7 noted the train was stocked with a limited food supply of just 1.5 meals per passenger. Boston Globe The Massachusetts man whose wife mysteriously vanished on New Years Day was taught to lie and hide as a child, his now-missing spouse said in a 2021 letter trying to keep the convicted art fraudster out of prison. Ana Walshe, a 39-year-old real estate executive who went missing after leaving her familys Cohasset home on Jan. 1, submitted the letter to the court in support of her husband Brian, detailing what she claimed was a horrific childhood. She said she saw suffering in his life when they first met, attributing his fragile mental state to his upbringing. He was taught to lie and hide, Ana wrote. He was told that he was a loser, that his parents should not have had him, that he had no chances of making anything of himself in life, and that he was a lost cause. A deep sense of shame governed his life. The trauma has been ever-present in her husbands life, brought deep sadness for years, and was the determining factor for how he showed up for himself and others in the past, the letter said. Others who knew Walshe described him as a sociopath. Art Dealer Scammed by Missing Execs Hubby Speaks Out: Hes Very Calculated As a student at Carnegie Mellon University, Walshe checked himself into a psychiatric in-patient treatment facility for depression, anxiety, and anger that left him unable to function, his psychiatrist wrote to the judge. However, it says Walshe was forced to leave early when his parents each thought the other should pay for his treatment and neither one of them would. He subsequently dropped out of school and never finished. Brian felt neglected, unloved, and emotionally damaged from being used as a pawn by his parents in their acrimonious marital relationship, Anas letter said. Walshe was arrested earlier this week on charges of impeding a police investigation into Anas sudden, unexplained disappearance. He had been under home confinement for several months while awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty in 2021 to selling a pair of fake Andy Warhol paintings to an unsuspecting art dealer in Los Angeles. He is now jailed on $500,000 bond. Story continues In a separate letter submitted to the judge on behalf of Walshe by his defense lawyers in the art fraud case, the convicted con artists upbringing was laid out in detail. He has lived with the impediment of having a mental illness since the age of 7 as a result of his being born into a dysfunctional family situation, it says. Walshes late father was a well-respected Boston neurologist who enjoyed partying with mere acquaintances, according to the letter, while his mother, who was described in the letter as a recluse with a strong distrust of strangers, remains totally dependent on her son for her emotional and physical needs. Walshes mom, Diana could be confrontative, a close family friend told The Daily Beast, conceding, There were aggressions sometimes. However, the friend said, I never heard of [the household] being violent. After allegedly stealing more than $800,000 from his father, Walshe and the older man became estranged. In his absence, Walshe began doting on his mother, who lived nearby, his lawyers letter reveals. Brian forgave his mother for her shortcomings and became her lifeline, it says. Although Brian changed, his mother did not. She remains a recluse and is totally dependent on her son for her emotional and physical needs. In her own letter to the court, Diana Walshe wrote, My son is the only reason I get up in the morning. He is the ONLY person to take care of me and is always there for me. Diana said in court filings that she does not have a good relationship with her daughter-in-law Ana Walshe, saying the tensions were perhaps due to cultural differences, without further explanation. Walshe has in the past apparently acted out in a number of ways, including an episode in which Walshe was incredibly rude to a server while out to dinner with his yoga instructor, states a letter the man sent to the court that same month in support of his friend and student. When I met Brian, he very much seemed to be a man in transition, the teacher wrote. At the time of our meeting, he had spent many years in the fast-paced business world, and I was initially surprised to discover that he had decided to engage in yoga at all. Walshe has since made improvements, although his journey has not always been linear (few journeys to overcome mental illnesses are) but took a sharp turn for the better after having participated in a self-reflection, self-improvement program through Boston Breakthrough Academy in 2020, the letter continues. Since that time, Brian Walshe has devoted himself to his family, including his mother with whom he had a difficult relationship in his youth, and his three young children, and to others by raising much needed funds for worthy charities providing food and shelter to people hard hit by the Covid epidemic. On the other side of the coin, prosecutors filed a memo during the proceedings citing passages from Walshes personal diaries, which, they argued, showed his longstanding intent to betray the people who trusted him. Walshe has a history of swindling family and friends that goes back to 2011, according to prosecutors in the art fraud case. The fake art he sold in 2016 began with the theft of real art, which he stole from a close friend with whom he was staying in Seoul. He then had them copied by an art forger in New York City, sold the real pieces to a collector in France, and fobbed off the fakes on Ron Rivlin, a Los Angeles gallery owner. (Rivlin described Walshe to The Daily Beast in an earlier interview as very calculated. Ana Walshes whereabouts are still unknown. On Wednesday, the New York Post published photographs of a note she wrote to her husband before disappearing. Wow! 2022What a year! it read. And yet, we are still here and together! Lets make 2023 the best one yet! We are the authors of our livescourage, love, perseverance, compassion, and joy. Love, Ana. Walshes attorney, Tracy Miner, declined to comment to The Daily Beast, saying in an email that her focus is on defending Mr. Walshe in court. Read more at The Daily Beast. Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. Neil Perry of The Band Perry Is Engaged! Dominik Bindl/Getty Neil Perry Neil Perry is soaking in the "happiest day of my life." On Tuesday, The Band Perry member announced his engagement to Sofia Sclafani by sharing photos from the proposal on social media. "forever kind of love, 1.2.23," Neil, 32, captioned the post, which features sweet photos of the couple in the snow in Utah, the ring and their cabin. He also thanked the people who made the engagement possible. "shoutout to @larryflowersjewelry for creating the most beautiful ring for the most beautiful girl! and can't thank @marstakesphotos enough for capturing the happiest day of my life on film!" he concluded. RELATED: The Band Perry's Kimberly Perry Reveals She Secretly Married Johnny Costello in June: 'Wild and Wonderful' Neil who has largely kept his relationship under wraps will be the second in his band, which also includes siblings Kimberly and Reid, to get married. Kimberly, 39, revealed she secretly married Johnny Costello in 2019 through an Instagram post. Wishing everyone a very MARRIED Christmas," wrote Kimberly, who was previously married to MLB player J.P. Arencibia before filing for divorce in 2018. "Today my love, @juannycostello, and I are celebrating 6 months since 'I do!' " Perry added that she and her husband hopped in a black Corvette on June 17, 2019 and ventured from L.A. to Las Vegas to get married at midnight. "It was wild and wonderful and reminded me all over again that God is the most glorious creator and the master of the most beautiful blueprint for our lives!" she wrote in the caption. "I love you Johnny and can't wait for forever," Perry concluded. ", Mrs. Costello." As for the band's music, their latest release was 2019's "Nite Swim" and "The Good Life." Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/Getty Once again, Benjamin Netanyahu is Israels prime minister. His return, however, has not heralded political resurrection. Instead, in less than two weeks, he has rejuvenated the countrys center and left in ways their own recent campaigns failed to do. His embrace of the radical right and religious hardliners is now exacting a steep price at home and abroad. By the numbers, one recent poll shows Netanyahu and his coalition partners losing six seats and control of the Knesset, the countrys parliament. Fortunately for him and his allies, elections are not on the horizon. Netanyahus latest tenure is shaping up as a series of self-induced headaches and missteps, the product of his all-out effort to short-circuit his ongoing bribery and corruption trial. Practically speaking, he has ceded control of the government to Israels extremes. Israel Is Now a Province of Red State America Think my country for a horse meets letat, cest moi, and you get the picture. Only Kevin McCarthy acts more desperate. Earlier this month, Netanyahu waived his objections to Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israels minister of public security (and a disciple of the late racist extremist and convicted terrorist Meir Kahane) visiting the Temple Mount. Suffice to say, Ben-Gvirs walk on the wild side went badly, earning Netanyahu and Israel a trip under a global microscope. Days later, the prime ministers office advised that Netanyahu would not be traveling to the United Arab Emirates in the near future, blaming the about-face on logistics. On top of that, the UAE and China, two of Netanyahus much-vaunted friends, bluntly reminded him that their affection came with strings attached. Specifically, the pair called for the recent UN Security Council meeting that focused on Ben-Gvirs controversial stroll in the shadow of the Dome of the Rock. For its part, Oman, once thought to be the next signatory of the Abraham Accords, has criminalized relations with Israel since Netanyahus election. Story continues The mishigas emanating from Jerusalem appears to be getting on the nerves of the Biden administration. Already, the president has warned the prime minister against policies that contradict our mutual interests and values. Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is planning to visit Netanyahu later this month. To be sure, internal Israeli pushback and pressures are rising, too. Netanyahu & Co.s attack on the independence of the countrys judiciary, coupled with their embrace of a wholesale exemption from military service for the countrys burgeoning ultra-Orthodox Jewish population, are decidedly unpopular. Bibis Israel Is Turning Into a High-Tech Version of Hungary Three in five Israelis awarded Netanyahu poor grades for his handling of coalition negotiations. Little more than half believed the new government would worsen Israels international standing. People have taken to the streets. This past Saturday night, thousands protested against the government in Tel Aviv, the countrys commercial center, earning Ben-Gvirs ire in the process. Placards comparing Israel to late Weimar Germany and the current justice minister to Hitler made their debuts. A day later, Alan Dershowitz, the Harvard Law School professor emeritus (a steadfast defender of the state of Israel), let the world know that he backed the demonstrations. Theres a direct conflict between pure democracy and the rights of minorities and civil rights, he said. On Monday, Israels establishment delivered a one-two punch of its own against Netanyahu and his friends. If you continue on the path you are following, you will be responsible for civil war in Israeli society, Benny Gantz, a retired general who had served as defense minister and deputy prime minister, thundered. This is the time to go out en masse and to demonstrate, the time to make the country tremble. Ehud Barak, a former prime minister and retired general, was similarly unsparing in his criticism. He castigated Netanyahu in a tweet for capitulating to Ben Gvir, whom he characterized as a blackmailer. Barak had previously opined that Netanyahus government had shown signs of fascism and suggested that a mass non-violent revolt may be needed. To be sure, Netanyahu is not amused. Someone who does not condemn the comparison of the justice minister to a Nazi and of the government of Israel to the Third Reichhe is the one who is planting the seeds of disaster, he ripped Gantz. For good measure, Netanyahu also accused his one-time deputy of fomenting sedition from within the Knesset. Israels Rising Far-Right Can Thank the Youth Vote Not to be outdone, Tzvika Fogel, chairman of the Knessets police committee and an ally of Ben Gvir, has since called for the arrest of Gantz and Yair Lapid, a former prime minister and Netanyahus immediate predecessor, on treason charges. In that same vein, Eli Dallal, a Knesset member from Netanyahus own Likud Party lamented that Israel was too democratic. Apparently, dissent is for the privileged, not the many. On cue, the bond-rating agencies have weighed in. Maxim Rybnikov, director of sovereign ratings at Standard & Poors, warned that the Netanyahu governments plans to weaken the states institutions might jeopardize Israels credit rating. His words will likely garner attention. Eli Cohen, Israels foreign minister, is an S&P alumnus. As for Netanyahu, an MIT graduate, he launched his career at Boston Consulting Group. They both understand the force of markets. Yet for Netanyahu, winning a get-out-of-jail card appears paramount. The drama will continue to unfold with Washington bewildered, the world watching, and Israel in the middle. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. MEXICO CITY President Joe Biden said Tuesday he was surprised to learn that classified documents had been found in a private office he used prior to his presidential campaign and that he doesn't know what's in them. "People know I take classified documents, classified information, seriously," Biden said at a news conference in Mexico City at the conclusion of a summit with the leaders of Mexico and Canada. He added: "'I was surprised to learn that there are any government records that were taken there to that office." Biden said he was briefed about the documents as soon as they were discovered in a box last fall by his lawyers, who were cleaning out the office. When they realized there were several classified documents in the box, "they did what they should have done," Biden said. "They immediately called the (National) Archives and turned them over to the archives." The White House confirmed Monday that the Justice Department is reviewing a number of classified documents recovered in a storage closet connected to an office used by Biden prior to his presidential campaign. Biden's personal attorneys discovered the undisclosed number of records in a locked closet on Nov. 2 as they were preparing to vacate a Washington office space known as the Penn Biden Center, which was used by the then-former vice president from 2017 until the launch of the 2020 presidential campaign. Richard Sauber, a special counsel to the president, said the documents were immediately turned over the National Archives. Since that time, Biden's personal attorneys have been cooperating with the National Archives and a Justice Department review headed by U.S. Attorney John Lausch Jr. of Chicago. "We are cooperating fully cooperating fully with the review, which I hope will be finished soon," Biden said. Classified documents found: DOJ reviewing classified documents found at Biden facility from time as VP President Joe Biden The discovery of the documents comes as the Justice Department is weighing whether to bring political charges against former President Donald Trump, who kept classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago private club in Florida. Story continues Trump resisted returning 11,000 administration documents despite repeated requests from the National Archives under the Presidential Records Act. The FBI seized the documents last August during a search of Mar-a-Lago for evidence of violations of the Espionage Act or obstruction of justice. The seized documents included about 100 classified records. When is the FBI going to raid the many homes of Joe Biden, perhaps even the White House? Trump asked on his social media platform Truth Social after the discovery of the classified documents stored in the storage closet connected to Bidens former office. Congressional Republicans are vowing to investigate what they contend is different treatment between GOP and Democratic presidents Rebecca Morin and Michael Collins cover the White House. Follow Morin on Twitter @RebeccaMorin_ and Collins @mcollinsNEWS. Contributing: Kevin Johnson, Bart Jansen and Josh Meyer President Joe Biden classified documents:What we know and how discovery compares to Trump Trump records investigation: From early red flags to the search at Mar-a-Lago Trump claim breaks with custom: Presidents alone don't usually declassify documents This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden addresses classified documents while in Mexico for summit President Joe Biden on Tuesday addressed the discovery of classified documents at a private office he used during his days in the Obama administration, saying he was surprised by the findings and does not know what the records contain. I was briefed about this discovery and surprised to learn that there were any government records that were taken there to that office, he said during an address in Mexico City. But I dont know what was in the documents. My lawyers have not suggested I ask what documents they were. The White House announced the document discovery on Monday, saying that in November, Bidens lawyers found a small collection of Barack Obama-era materials in a locked closet at the Penn Biden Center a Washington think tank that he used as an office from 2017 to 2020. The White House said Bidens administration immediately contacted the National Archives, which maintains government documents, and turned them over a day later. People know I take classified documents, classified information seriously, Biden said Tuesday. Sources familiar with the matter told CBS News, which was the first to report on the documents, that there were about 10 records found in total, none of which contained nuclear secrets, one source said. Thats a tiny fraction of the 10,000-plus documents found during an FBI raid at former President Donald Trumps private Florida residence last summer, more than 100 of which were marked as classified. Richard Sauber, the special counsel looking into Bidens files, rejected comparisons between the two incidents, saying Monday that the documents at the think tank office were not the subject of any previous request or inquiry by the archives. Since that discovery, he continued, 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. Story continues That hasnt stopped Republicans, including Trump, from pouncing on the news. When is the FBI going to raid the many houses of Joe Biden, perhaps even the White House? Trump wrote on his social media network, Truth Social. These documents were definitely not declassified. Related... Bulgari is looking to offer you even more of its extravagant gems. Last October, the luxury jeweler announced that it would expand its manufacturing plant in Valenza, Italy, to double the sites production capacity by 2025. The brand is also planning to reopen its flagship boutique in Milan by 2024, which will feature larger interiors. With more means to create and sell the houses intricate watch and jewelry designs, Bulgari collectors and employees stand to benefit from the changes in more ways than one. More from Robb Report The massive factory expansion began last year and is expected to leave the Italian jeweler with nearly 189,000 square feet to play with. Having a ton of surface area is nothing new for the brand: Five years before news of its addition hit, the site was billed as the largest manufacturing plant in Europe. Renovations to the space would push Bulgari to the No.1 slot once again, this time as the largest jewelry manufacturer in the world (as of now, at least). The updated hub will include two new buildings, an external suspended bridge and a central part spanning 49,519 square feet. The largest building on site, covering 138,780 square feet, will be dedicated to production. I never thought we would have to expand the plant so soon; the idea was that it would be adequate to carry on for 10 or 12 years, Bulgari CEO Jean-Christophe Babin told WWD. But demand has surged more than expected, and we absolutely have to increase our in-house capabilities. A major Bulgari recruitment program, which includes a plan for employer branding and talent scouting, looks to hire around 650 new staff members, will round out the expansion project. Decreased water consumption, sustainable mobility, use of materials from nearby areas and renewable energy are all being factored into development for minimal environmental impact. Story continues Meanwhile, Bulgaris Milan flagship, located on Via Montenapoleone, is being renovated to feature much larger spaces. The former boutique spanned a total of nearly 3,300 square feet and will reopen with 7,534 square feet of space. As of now, details have yet to been shared on exactly what interior changes youll find inside the location or its offerings outside of jewelry. But given the opulence of its former design, laced in marble and gold with Art Poplike paintings hanging throughout, the store is sure to hold your focus while you peruse its displays. News of the expansion places Bulgari alongside other high-end jewelers such as Cartier, Prada and Tiffany & Co. who also shared plans in the past year to either expand their factories or add new product lines to help reach a variety of consumers, including Gen Z. Best of Robb Report Sign up for Robb Report's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. Kenyon Adams is the new director of public programs at the Blanton Museum of Art. In March 2020, I sat down to lunch with Bob Bursey, the incoming head of Texas Performing Arts, the gigantic creative complex at the University of Texas. The previous year, Bursey had won a Tony Award for best revival of a musical as one of the producers of a radically inclusive staging of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Oklahoma!" Long a visionary who had helped to create more than 100 new works, Bursey spoke softly and thoughtfully while he listened with a depth of curiosity not altogether common for ringmasters of such big theatrical ventures. I thought: Austin just won the artistic lottery. Another key group has hired an insightful leader who fits into the local culture and will help shape the future of this city's dynamic arts scene. A few days after our lunch, Austin and the rest of the country shut down because of COVID-19. Bruce, Janet, SZA and the CMT Awards: Your guide to live music in Austin for 2023 Instead of seeing what fresh confabulations Bursey could usher into the world, I watched instead as he dealt with the crash of the country's touring circuit including the lucrative Broadway in Austin series as well as unnerving health protocols, the early retirement of veteran university employees and a redesign of Bass Concert Hall, the main venue in the complex. Bursey was not alone. Several new arts leaders followed him to Austin during the pandemic. Not all dealt with the same issues, but all had time to wonder: What do we do next? Even: Exactly why do we do this? Recently, as pandemic conditions improved, I contacted six relatively new captains of the arts. First I asked about particular shows they really wanted to see in 2023. Then I asked them to spot new trends. They talked about new audiences, wider accessibility, deeper audience engagement, authentic connections, unheralded partnerships with other arts groups and more stable finances. They also talked about their unvarnished feelings. That's what I liked best. Story continues "People are tired of being tired or maybe I am projecting," says sharon maidenberg, executive director and CEO of The Contemporary Austin (maidenberg does not capitalize her name). "I think well start to see, I hope, more exhibitions that celebrate joy shows imbued with energy and color that are sort of a call to wake up." 'New tastemakers will and have emerged' An artist's rendering of the new grounds for the Blanton Museum of Art, due to open in the spring. Who: Kenyon Adams is director of public programs for Blanton Museum of Art. Originally from Florida, and most recently from Brooklyn, Adams is a senior fellow at the Hannah Arendt Center for Politics and Humanities and an artist in residence at Texas Performing Arts, and he formerly served as the founding arts initiative director at Grace Farms and the SANAA-designed River Building. He has also served as a strategic advisor to Austins Fusebox Festival. Looking forward to: "I'm most excited about the opening of the Blanton's new grounds, designed by Snhetta, a favorite architectural firm whose work I've long admired. In spring 2023, there will be so many enjoyable features of the new space, including the unveiling of new permanent installations among them a commissioned mural by artist Carmen Herrera, the Butler Sound Gallery, the Moody Patio and the newly restored destination artwork, 'Austin'by Ellsworth Kelly." Trends to watch: "I think one thing we can expect to see is a push for new arts audiences. Diverse communities are really present in Austin, and our city's arts institutions would be wise to perceive a growing group of new arts patrons. This will eventually mean that new tastemakers will and have emerged, with the audiences and patrons to affirm their fresh perspectives. This might feel like a power shift, or at the very least a cultural one which, in my view, anticipates the maturation of Austin's burgeoning prowess as an international cultural center, and indeed, a metropolis. I want to see arts audiences from the greater Austin metro area being pursued and welcomed with more serious intention. The best of Austin is for all its communities." 'Theater is uniquely positioned as an art form' Jamie Herlich McIalwain is the new managing director of Zach Theatre in Austin. Who: Jamie Herlich McIalwain is managing director for Zach Theatre. Herlich McIalwain is a Seattle native whose background includes roles at Seattle Rep, Seattle Opera, New Century Theatre Company and Edmonds Center for the Arts. Most recently, she served as the chief advancement officer at Seattle Rep, and she relocated to Austin in September 2022. Looking forward to: "Personally, I like to be both entertained and intellectually engaged by work on stage, so I'm particularly excited by our upcoming production of 'Roe' (April 5-30) by Lisa Loomer. I saw this show a few years ago, and realized that, while I was obviously familiar with the (Roe v. Wade) case, I had no idea how it came to be, who was involved in it, and what motivated them. This play opened that up to me and was fascinating. What I'm most excited by now is both the timeliness of it given current events and the fact that the story itself is deeply tied to Texas and Austin in particular. Theater is uniquely positioned as an art form with a storytelling imperative that sets it apart from other disciplines and I'm really excited for Zach to lean into that in big ways with this production." Sara Bruner, from left, Sarah Jane Agnew and Susan Lynskey perform in a previous production of "Roe" at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. The show will come to Zach Theatre this year. Trends to watch: "The pandemic has fundamentally changed our field. We are still in a process of discovery about what the future may look like, but I anticipate that all arts organizations will be considering programming choices more deeply than ever. We need to do work that inspires people to spend their most precious resource time with us. I think we'll see more attention paid to building out a thoughtful experience for patrons, whether that's deeper engagement with the work itself or the wrap-around experience of being at the venue before and afterwards." More:Jo Carol Pierce, 'one of Texas' best storytellers of all time,' dies at 78 'Community is made whole with accessibility' Claudia Chapa is curator of Hispanic and Latinx programming at Austin Opera. Who: Claudia Chapa is curator of Hispanic and Latinx programming for Austin Opera. Originally from Mexico, Chapa trained at the University of Texas Butler School of Music. The mezzo-soprano has sung roles across the country, recently in The Barber of Seville" for Austin Opera. Looking forward to: "Hands down, Im most looking forward to our biggest community-centered event, 'Bella Noche de Musica,' at Waterloo Parks Moody Amphitheater on April 4. ... This event will be a meaningful step toward launching our Hispanic and Latinx programming initiative. When I curate, a main focus of mine is to bridge the gap between two musical worlds. The music highlighted in this concert flows between grand operatic singing and intimate vocal showcasing. Im excited for the artists to share their dynamic range of storytelling. Another great aspect of this event is that Moody Foundation has made a generous donation that will provide 3,000 free tickets to the Austin community. This incredible gift increases our effort to make 'Bella Noche de Musica' accessible for everyone." See Bella Noche de Musica" at Waterloo Parks Moody Amphitheater on April 4. Trends to watch: "I foresee a greater demand for authentic connection and engagement with our community. There is an indescribable feeling that only live performance can provide especially when there is a sense of community. Throughout my career, a personal mission of mine has been to show that opera and the arts in general are for everyone. Accessibility is key; community is made whole with accessibility." More:Austin performers sing and sign heartbreaking tale 'The Last Five Years' Collaboration: 'Its how to sustain the arts ecosystem' Bob Bursey is executive and artistic director of Texas Performing Arts. Who: Bob Bursey is executive and artistic director for Texas Performing Arts. A Tony Award-winning producer, Bursey has helped create more than 100 new dance, theater and music productions. At Texas Performing Arts, he leads Broadway in Austin, curates a season of international performing arts, and brings comedians, concerts and family attractions to Bass Concert Hall. He came to Austin after more than 20 years in New York. Looking forward to: "On April 19, were presenting Vuyani Dance Theater from South Africa. Theyll perform a stunningly beautiful production. I saw it in New York just before the pandemic and its stayed with me ever since. Bringing it to Austin has been a dream since then. The choreography is by Gregory Maqoma, a star of the international dance world. The music is performed live by an a capella choir. They sing the South African style of vocal music that was made internationally famous by the harmonies on 'Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes' from Paul Simons 'Graceland.' The singing is such a key part of it. Were doing the project together with Austin Opera as part of their Opera ATX series." On April 19, Texas Performing Arts will present Vuyani Dance Theater from South Africa. Trends to watch: "Partnerships. My sense as a relative newcomer is that there is a lot of opportunity for Austins arts organizations to work together to do things that are bigger or more adventurous. I love that theres a new generation of arts leaders in Austin who are collaboratively minded. Museums, theaters and music spaces across the country are trying to figure out how to flourish in the post-pandemic world. I think collaborative projects and partnerships are the path forward. Its how to sustain the arts ecosystem and create incredible experiences. Were cooking up some exciting ones for this year. I hope its something well see a lot of in the future." More:Austin indie bookstore Malvern Books, a hub for writers, to close 'New layers of dimension and energy' The executive director and CEO of The Contemporary Austin, sharon maidenberg, came to town in 2020. Who: sharon maidenberg is executive director and CEO of The Contemporary Austin. Originally from the East Coast, sharon and her family moved to Austin in the summer of 2020 after having lived in the California Bay Area for 20 years. Looking forward to: "Our spring exhibition, 'Eamon Ore-Giron: Competing with Lighting / Rivalizando con el Relampago.' The show brings together paintings from the last 20 years by Eamon, who is an artist, musician, DJ and performer. His work is really dynamic his practice moves from figuration and abstraction and pulls inspiration from Mesoamerican deities, the American Southwest, Indigenous and craft traditions, and even Russian suprematism. The work is almost restless, which I think is something everyone can relate to right now. And because Eamons practice is both aesthetically beautiful and also inspires programs, there will be a host of opportunities to engage with the project. Ive known Eamon personally for years and I am selfishly excited that were bringing his work to Austin." Images from "Eamon Ore-Giron: Competing with Lighting / Rivalizando con el Relampago," coming to The Contemporary Austin. Trends to watch: "I think performance and interdisciplinary artwork will be a huge factor in exhibitions next year, adding in new layers of dimension and energy to our work as arts stewards. I also foresee more Austin institutions featuring work by more local and regional artists of many diverse voices and points of view. At The Contemporary Austin, we will continue to center thought-provoking and under-sung artwork and programs in 2023 and beyond." 'Dazzling brilliance': Austin-raised 'Julie & Julia' author Julie Powell dies at age 49 'We have to get even more creative' David Pratt is CEO and executive director of the Austin Symphony Orchestra. Who: David Pratt is CEO and executive director of Austin Symphony Orchestra. A native of Australia, Pratt has led multiple music organizations with diverse teams, delivering significant community impact and balanced budgets ranging from $1 million to $18 million. His most recent previous post was at the Savannah Music Festival. Looking forward to: "Our concert on April 6: 'Brahms X Radiohead.' The best way to describe it is an epic symphonic synthesis of Radioheads album "OK Computer" and Brahms First Symphony. Radioheads album 'OK Computer' is often described as one of the best rock albums ever produced. Equally, Brahms First Symphony is hugely popular amongst classical music lovers. I am a big fan of these types of concerts where different music genres are blended and performed by an orchestra. It provides an entirely new experience for an array of music aficionados. "Steve Hackman, who is a visionary composer, conductor, producer and songwriter, created this show. He has produced concerts for symphonies that fuse different genres of music, and does it in a way that is thrilling and exciting for the listener. When I first watched this concert an agent sent me a video link to watch in 2021 I was taken by how seamlessly he integrates the music of Radiohead with Brahms and at times, I am, like, is that Brahms or Radiohead? This is an experience that all music fans will enjoy, and I am happy we are doing this in a venue we have not performed in before the Moody Amphitheater at Waterloo Park." Andrew Lipke, from left, Bill Prokopow, Keren Tayar and Steve Hackman join Austin Symphony for "Brahms X Radiohead." Trends to watch: "It has been a challenging time for the performing arts in Austin and around the country, first dealing with a pandemic over the past few years, and now what can only be described as an unstable economic climate. While we are not officially in a recession, I am seeing recession-like behavior by patrons and the ticket-buying audience. What does this mean? We have to get even more creative in what we present and how we communicate offerings to current and potential audiences. In looking ahead, I think we will see more and more exhilarating and imaginative music and concert experiences that match the diversity and demographics of Central Texas." Michael Barnes writes about the people, places, culture and history of Austin and Texas. He can be reached at mbarnes@gannett.com. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: What's next in Austin theater, art, opera and music in 2023 Christina Hall's husband is defending her in IG comments Christina Hall Christina Hall has her future all laid out. The Christina on the Coast star, 39, says she and husband Josh Hall, 41, will spend their golden years in Tennessee, where she recently purchased a vacation home. "It's the best," Christina tells PEOPLE in this week's issue of her country getaway. "It's definitely where we'll retire. I would love to do the opposite [of what I do now]: I would love to live there full time and then have a cute little beach cottage in California, in La Jolla, that we hop back to." The HGTV star currently has her primary residence in Newport Beach, California, and makes regular trips to Nashville. "This is down the road when the kids are out of high school. But that's the ultimate plan," she adds The designer's new series Christina in the Country follows the couple as they settle into life at their second home and expand her home renovation business. "I've been in California my whole life, and this was truly a fresh start," says Christina, who shares daughter Taylor, 12, and son Brayden, 7, with her first husband Tarek El Moussa, and 3-year-old son Hudson with her second husband Ant Anstead. "The combination of having privacy and the family values of the people there feels very different." Josh Hall on Working with Wife Christina Josh Hall Instagram The home reno star shares that she's also making some additions to her home in the country. She already has chickens on the property but will soon have mini donkeys and goats. "They're extra cute," she says. "But they also keep the chickens safe and control the foliage on the property." As she and Josh, with whom she tied the knot in 2022, work together on growing her business, Christina says they make a great team in marriage and business. Christina Hall rollout Discovery, Inc. "We just have a true partnership, true teamwork. We have the same goals as far as everything we want for our future and our end game," she says. Josh previously lived in both Texas and California, but "has very Southern values," says Christina. "And that's been really good for [Brayden and Hudson] too. Really getting them outdoors." She notes her boys "idolize" their step dad, who chops down trees and is "very hands-on." at the farmhouse. "The boys just love being involved, especially Hudson. He just follows Josh around asking, 'Hey, what are we doing now? What can I help you with?'" Coca-Cola Vietnam set a world record for the largest Vietnamese Tet meal table with the participation of 1,000 multi-generation families in Ho Chi Minh City on January 8. The meal was recognized as a record-setting event by the World Records Union (Worldkings). This record honors the tradition of family reunions over Tet meals and conveys the message that Tet may change, but the magic remains. A total of 436 tables were arranged into the shape of two Coca-Cola bottles at Hoa Lu Stadium. More than 3,000 people from 1,000 Vietnamese families were seated around the tables to enjoy a Tet party with a variety of traditional dishes and share memories of past family reunions. After two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Coca-Cola's Tet event has returned, highlighting the meaning of family reunion that Coca-Cola wishes to bring to Vietnamese consumers. Coca-Cola Vietnam wins a world record for the worlds largest Vietnamese Tet meal table. Photo by Coca-Cola Vietnam 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." 1,000 multi-generation families gather at Hoa Lu Stadium to set a world record of the largest Vietnamese Tet table. Photo by Coca-Cola Vietnam Also in this event, Coca-Cola together with partner Al's Fresco set the record for "The organization that gives away 1,000 pizzas to serve the most families in the same event in Vietnam." The record was officially recognized by the World Records Union (Worldkings). Proud to be part of the Tet meals of millions of Vietnamese families, Coca-Cola is also striving to preserve and promote the values of friendship and community every Tet season. This year, Coca-Cola Vietnam has supported more than 5,400 underprivileged people across Vietnam with a total value of VND5.3 billion to help them celebrate Tet. This was achieved thanks also to the contribution of the community, the companion of associations, unions, strategic partners of the company as well as local authorities. Leonardo Garcia, General Director of Coca-Cola Vietnam and Cambodia. Photo by Coca-Cola Vietnam Early on, Coca-Cola launched a campaign to contribute VND15,000 to the Vietnam Red Cross Tet Fund each time consumers interacted with the brand on its website. Coca-Cola and Vietnam Red Cross have supported 3,000 underprivileged people across the country through "0 VND Tet Market." Under the campaign, more than 4,000 chung and tet cakes 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 with Vietnam Red Cross, this year, Coca-Cola has continued its tradition of handing out Tet gifts to families and disadvantaged people in the neighborhood of its factories. The program is supported and accompanied by the local People's Committee, Women's Unions and Departments of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs to present 2,400 Tet gifts to underprivileged people and families in 13 provinces and cities. Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty Ineitha Lynette Hardawaybetter known as Diamond from the pro-Trump broadcasting duo Diamond and Silkpassed away this week, leaving the future of the pairs popular act in limbo. In this weeks episode of Fever Dreams, hosts Will Sommer and Kelly Weill speculate on what comes next for Silkwho was never really the groups frontman, so to speak. Their whole schtick was that Diamond would talk a lot, and then Silk was always there to say, Yep, mm-hmm, Tell it Diamond, Sommer said. Diamond was kind of the main talker. Enter Roger Stoneright wing operative and self-described dirty tricksterwho within an hour of Diamonds death being announced had offered up his services as a replacement host for the pairs show, which had been airing on pillow millionaire and 2020 Big Lie dead-ender Mike Lindells website. Stone even thought to give himself first billing on the shows name, tweetingthen deletinghis request for Silk to team up for a project called Stone & Silk. Stone never misses a trick in terms of a chance to promote himself, Sommer said. That's exactly what we needa Roger Stone podcast to fill the void, Weill added. Then, the pair tackle Brazils own Capitol riot, which came nearly two years to the day after Jan. 6. In terms of pure aesthetics, the two scenes were incredibly reminiscent of each other: They had the flags, they had the marching groups, they had the people walking through government chambers, trashing things, Weill said. But even as this was all going on, former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been camped out in Florida at the home of an MMA star, signing autographs and meeting with American fans of his Trumpian governing style. The state has become a new nexus for the worlds various right-wing movements in recent years, according to Fever Dreams guest and The Daily Dot political reporter Claire Goforthand it appears Bolsonaro is angling to stay there and trade on his popularity with the MAGA base rather than face the music back at home. Story continues I wouldnt even say its a melting pot, I would say its like a magnet or just a giant suction thats pulling all these right-wing figures to Florida, Goforth said. And while this may feel like a recent development to us who are following it these past few years, Florida actually has a very long history of attracting extremist figures. Another right-wing Brazilian, Rep. George Santos (R-NY) is also garnering headlines with an eye-popping list of biographical liesand the Fever Dreams hosts have some predictions about how the Republican Party is going to deal with the obvious public relations nightmare that is his tenure. It seems like this week, now that the dust has settled over the House speakers race, were sort of headed into the big Republican brush-off: Yeah, get over it. Hes a pathological liar, whatever, who cares? Listen, and subscribe, to Fever Dreams on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. In womens college basketball, it doesnt get much bigger than UConn-Tennessee. Case in point? ESPNs College GameDay is headed there. The popular pregame show will be live ahead of the Huskies matchup with the Volunteers in Knoxville on Jan. 26. It will be the first of three womens college basketball-focused shows in 2023, according to ESPN PR. The show will begin at 7 p.m. on ESPN with the game tipping off at 8 p.m. ET. UConn (13-2) is currently ranked No. 4 in the nation while Tennessee (12-6) has dropped out of the national polls. The Huskies have won three straight in their legendary series with the Volunteers, and Tennessee hasnt beaten them since a 70-64 win in Hartford in 2007. The two schools renewed their rivalry in 2020 and have played on a yearly basis since then. This game is part of ESPNs annual We Back Pat initiative honoring late womens basketball coaching legend and Tennessee head coach Pat Summitt and bringing awareness to the Pat Summitt Foundation, dedicated to finding a cure for Alzheimers disease. Summitt and her son Tyler launched the foundation in 2011 after her diagnosis of early onset dementia, Alzheimers type, at 59. UConn head coach Geno Auriemma was the first to donate to the organization when he contributed $10,000 in 2012. Elle Duncan will host the show from inside Tennessees Thompson-Boling Arena, alongside commentators Rebecca Lobo, Andraya Carter, Carolyn Peck and Holly Rowe. Lobo and Rowe will join play-by-play announcer Ryan Ruocco on the game broadcast. We are thrilled to continue integrating womens college basketball into the College GameDay brand with additional shows this season, Patricia Lowry, ESPN vice president of production, said in a release. UConn-Tennessee is one of the preeminent rivalries in womens college basketball and Pat Summitt remains the sports north star, while Geno Auriemma continues his historic run with the Huskies. Having the first show of 2023 at Tennessee for this matchup while supporting We Back Pat, with one of Summitts former players, Kellie (Jolly) Harper, now leading the Lady Vol program, it couldnt be more fitting. We are excited to welcome ESPNs College GameDay back to the University of Tennessee and make our third all-time womens appearance as we host UConn, Harper said. It just feels right to have College GameDay here to showcase one of the most historic rivalries in sports, and I know the atmosphere inside Thompson-Boling Arena and the energy of our fans will be incredible. 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. 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 Gabriela Hearst has entered the South Korean market via a residence within Hyundai Department Store Apgujeong Main Branch in Seoul. This marks Hearsts first shop in Asia. Hyundai Main will be the exclusive retailer for all Gabriela Hearst handbags including the Nina, the Demi, the Diana, the Baez and the Nostalgia in the region. In addition, the 895-square-foot shop features Hearsts womens collections, including ready-to-wear, knitwear and footwear. More from WWD We always had a demand for our bags in this market; we saw this from the beginning when we did one of our installations in Hong Kong at Lane Crawford and it was really successful, said Hearst in a telephone interview. She said the brand has had this project to open a store in Asia in mind for a long time. Because of COVID-19, it became impossible to do something in China, but then the opportunity of Korea came. We started to see there was this demand in Korea. Korea has become the market for looking at trends and what is happening, said Hearst. Currently, Hearst has freestanding stores in New York and London, as well as a store within Harrods in London. She plans to open another store in Korea at Hyundai Pangyo in March and a store in Los Angeles next September or October. She said Japan is always a goal, but there are no plans at this time. The day we opened in Korea was the [most] record sales we ever had, times seven, compared to stores that we opened on the first day, said Hearst. This is without any marketing campaign. This is just opening the store, people reacting to the product and having a relationship with the product and letting the product speak for itself. She attributed that to the aesthetic and a craftsmanship thats highly appreciated. Footwear and handbags on display at the new store. Theres a sense that theres a modernity to the look that has an urban feeling, she said. Theres a timeless aspect that comes from my ranching background that every civilization has a rural civilization, said Hearst, a Uruguayan-born designer who grew up on a 17,000-acre ranch there and launched her business in 2015 with a commitment to sustainability. Story continues Since opening in Korea last month, bestsellers have been the bags, the knitwear and the tailoring. Hearst said she decided to go with Hyundai Main, rather than open a store on her own, because of the distance. At Gabriela Hearst, we keep a tight structure on purpose. We want all our efforts to go to the products. Everybody in our company does five jobs. The point is to have a partnership that gives you that ability to have extra manpower without having to increase your structure and still take you to a market that would have been very difficult to do independently. It is still under the umbrella of our retail department, so I have to approve all the visuals of the store. I look at the visuals of every store that we have every week. Theres a unison to what we do. Its important to me that theres a cohesiveness, she said. A view of the Nomad furniture in the shop. Hyundai Main opened its doors in 1985 and is considered one of the leaders of upscale shopping in Korea, featuring international brands such as Prada, Tiffany, Hermes, Fendi and Christian Dior. Hearst has commissioned New York-based makers Benji Gavron and Antoine Dumas to create a collection of fine furniture called Nomad that is featured in the store. Each piece is crafted by local artisans, using only local timbers that have fallen naturally or are upcycled from prior uses. Hearst has been working with them for a year and a half. They worked together on the redo of the Chloe store in downtown New York. They are a rocket ship, she said. Im just a little spark on where they are going to go. I will not be surprised if they will be some of the best interior designers in the next 10 years. They are incredible. Hearst has also worked with Gavron and Dumas for her brands retail installations in Aspen in partnership with Max in 2021 and in Le Bristol Paris last year, as well as shops with major U.S. retailers. She said their designs are original and timeless. They build the things so well that 10 years from now, youre not going to get tired of seeing that piece of furniture, said Hearst. Hyundai Main is the first location where a large majority of the Nomad collection is being displayed. It consists of 21 handcrafted pieces of wood and leather furniture. The furniture is not for sale. The lumber used is zelkova, a Korean timber, a traditional local lumber used in high-end furniture. The leather is a fully traceable material from Europe. Gavron and Dumas collaborated with three different Korean-based woodworking studios. Each studio crafted parts of the collection from technical drawings, and each collaborated on aspects of joinery and engineering. I am very lucky that I work with some of the best creatives in the world. I can say it seldom happens when somebody understands you intrinsically and your aesthetic. It was instantaneous with Antoine and Benji, said Hearst. Gabi gave us complete creative freedom within the parameters of making what Gabriela Hearst stands for, crafted locally with local timbers that have fallen naturally, or are upcycled from prior functions. This projects aesthetic uses ornamental detailing such as leather inlays, and complex wood shaping to emphasize the beauty of the timber and the outstanding skills of the local Korean artisans, said Dumas and Gavron in a statement. Gabriela Hearsts handbags. In describing the stores aesthetic, Hearst said the company has three guides for opening any store. One, it has to be environmentally made. Two, it has to be our take on luxury; theres no monograms, theres no window displays, theres a very calm environment that makes the product speak for itself. And number three, I want the client who comes to our stores to feel inspired, calm and not intimidated. I dont want our stores to feel snobby. It has to be inviting, welcoming and warm, she said. Hearst officials declined to give a first-year sales projection for the new Korean shop. The shop is a long-term permanent residence. A view of the handbag display. Meantime, Hearst is getting ready to show the Gabriela Hearst collection in New York on Feb. 14 and the Chloe collection, where she is creative director, in Paris on March 2. Hauser played suspected serial killer Larry Hall in the Apple TV+ series Hauser played suspected serial killer Larry Hall in the Apple TV+ series "Black Bird." Actor Paul Walter Hauser used his Golden Globe acceptance speech on Tuesday night for a rousing tribute to his Black Bird co-star Ray Liotta that had the audience on its feet. Hauser, who won Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series, took the Beverly Hilton Hotel stage and thanked the cast, Greg Kinnear, Sepideh Moafi, Joe Williamson, Jake McLaughlin before passionately lauding Ray Li-freaking-otta. Ray Li get up! Come on! Ray Liotta! Ray, Liotta, baby! Hausers fellow actors responded with cheers, whistles and applause to honor Liotta, who died in his sleep at age 67 in the Dominican Republic in May. Liotta also was famed for roles in Field of Dreams and Goodfellas. Black Bird is based on the story of James Jimmy Keene, played by Taron Egerton in the series. The real-life Keene was serving a drug-related prison sentence when the FBI asked him to go undercover to elicit a confession from fellow inmate Larry D. Hall (played by Hauser) a suspected serial killer in exchange for a commuted sentence. Egerton, who played Liottas son in the Apple TV+ crime drama, curiously wasnt mentioned in Hausers rousing speech. The actor, who won a Globe himself in 2020 for the Elton John biopic Rocket Man, was nonetheless seen in the audience, clapping at Liottas mention. Hauser concluded his speech with a shoutout to my brother and my king, Jesus Christ, and inscrutably telling his manager Brian Walsh to get the tables. Language in this article has been updated to clarify details of Keenes story. Related... FRAMINGHAM During her first visit to Framingham as governor on a cold but clear day on Wednesday, Maura Healey had plenty to say about weather. She and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll first received a winter and emergency preparedness briefing at the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency bunker on Route 9. Then, shortly after noon, they arrived at the city's Department of Public Works headquarters on Western Avenue to both thank workers and announce their intention to add to their ranks at the state level. "We can't do this work without you, and so many people count on you," Healey said in remarks directed at DPW workers. "These are really hard jobs, one thing we know is across the state we have a shortage of workers." Gov. Maura Healey, right, and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll are greeted by Framingham Mayor Charlie Sisitsky before a press conference inside the Framingham DPW facility, Jan. 11, 2023. Later, in an exclusive interview with the Daily News, Healey said that as governor, she will ensure that a climate-related agenda is a point of emphasis for her administration. A day after her inauguration on Jan. 5, she signed an executive order naming Melissa Hoffer the state's first "climate chief." "Climate is an issue of economic security, of public safety, of energy, of food and housing security it really touches all aspects of our lives," Healey said. "You really see how it is playing out with some of the weather and the consequences it has for families in our communities." Through the years: A look at Maura Healey's rise in Massachusetts politics The governor said Hoffer's job will be to "make sure we are doing everything we can do as a state to address issues of climate." "That goes to issues of sustainability and resilience, it goes to reducing our emissions and our carbon footprint, and this person is going to be responsible that is happening, and will be reporting directly to me," Healey said. Gov. Maura Healey speaks with Framingham Highway Department lead driver Joe Pineau, center, and Sanitation Operations Manager Darren Guertin before a press conference inside the Framingham DPW headquarters, Jan. 11, 2023. During her press conference, Healey said she came to Framingham at the invitation of Mayor Charlie Sisitsky, and spoke about the importance of working with local communities when it comes to responding to extreme weather events. Story continues "We were just earlier today at the bunker getting a briefing on emergency weather preparedness, and we wanted to make a point of coming here to Framingham and we appreciate the invitation, Mr. Mayor because we know that everything starts and ends at the local level," Healey said. "With a storm or anything else, it's the state's responsibility to be a great partner and we are here today in that spirit." Earlier visit: Then-candidate Maura Healey visits Framingham to tout mental health care Healey praised the cleanliness of the Framingham site and spent time introducing herself to various DPW staff members who were on hand. Other guests included state Senate President Karen Spilka and state Reps. Priscila Sousa, Jack Patrick Lewis and Kate Donaghue. "Folks out there able to drive the plows and guide the machinery, some of the workforce issues that we have is something that we have a focus on, and for those of you who are out here doing that work, we really appreciate it," she said. Gov. Maura Healey speaks during a press conference inside the Framingham Department of Public Works headquarters, Jan. 11, 2023. Healey also announced the appointment of Lauren Jones as secretary of Labor and Workforce Development, noting that part of her focus will be working on getting more DPW workers and plow drivers employed in Massachusetts communities. "It's a real issue, (because) we know numbers are down at the state and we are sure they are down at local levels," Healey said. "It's one of the things we have to work on. (Jones) will be responsible for, among other things, making sure we are driving that pipeline, recruiting, training, retraining and holding onto workers and supplying extra assets to support the great workforce we have in this state." This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Gov. Maura Healey visits Framingham to talk climate, labor challenges Activity in the self-driving car industry, frenetic for years, has somewhat stalled in more recent times, but a handful of the most promising companies are continuing to see their businesses grow and attract investment in the process. In one of the more recent developments, Oxbotica, a startup out of England that develops software to power autonomous vehicles, has closed a Series C round of $140 million, money that it will be using to continue building out services for existing clients and to drum up new business in that wake. The size of the round is big by any terms, but its a signal of how AI startups especially continue to fare well at the moment. It also shows the kinds of companies that are working with, and looking to back, startups breaking new ground in the space of autonomous driving. The basic model for Oxbotica -- eight years old and based out of Oxford, England -- is B2B: It sells and customizes its autonomous software, which it dubs "Universal Autonomy," for a range of enterprise customers. Its premise is that its flexible technology can power whatever it is that a customer needs: navigation, perception, user interfaces, fleet management or other features needed to run self-driving vehicles in multiple environments, regardless of the hardware being used and in integration with whatever other software its customers are using. Underscoring its traction with that premise, this latest funding is coming from a mix of investors that include some of those strategic backers and customers. Japan's Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance Co., Ltd., and ENEOS Innovation Partners, the corporate VC of the mining conglomerate Eneos, are among its new investors; previous backers in this round include BGF, safety equipment group Halma, hospitality and recreation investor Hostplus, climate fund Kiko Ventures (IP Group), the online shopping company Ocado Group, internet giant Tencent, Venture Science and automotive component maker ZF. Several of these companies also invested in Oxbotica's last round, a Series B in January 2021 of $47 million. This round brings the total raised by Oxbotica to $225 million. The startup is not disclosing its valuation, but Paul Newman, the company's CTO and co-founder, noted that the fact that it was one of the autonomous startups that's raising big right now, and the current appetite for artificial intelligence startups that are building applications around their innovations, have contributed to a healthy number. "You should take it to be in a space that investors are valuing greatly," he said. At a moment when businesses, consumers, investors and startups themselves are reassessing things like self-driving technology through a more pragmatic lens, asking questions about unit economics and commercial and technical viability, Oxbotica, he said, has emerged as a leader in "the application of autonomy where the world needs it." That translated also into much shorter conversations with investors, the kind that are generally not happening across other sectors in tech. "It didnt take that much time at all to show you can solve what is really needed versus what is not a problem at all," CEO Gavin Jackson added. "It was a distinction investors understood quickly in the first 30 seconds of us talking to them." Indeed, while some of the more ambitious efforts around self-driving vehicles for consumers have been shelved or faced some tragic mishaps, it's emerged that campus-style, closed environments where it's either more dangerous and/or less efficient to employ humans to navigate vehicles have shaped up to be some of the most popular use cases for it and others building autonomous systems. In addition to the industries of its strategic investors, other use cases where Oxbotica is building services include agriculture, airports, energy and shared passenger transportation. Not to say that things are perfect. Some (and perhaps all) of its actual commercial deployments appear to be quite medium- to long-term. One of its big milestones from this year was in May 2022, when it ran Europe's first zero-occupancy trial (note the word trial) on a publicly accessible road. It also worked on "metaverse-based testing" and forged alliances with insurance companies. Newman admits what he described in our interview as "sticking points" that still need addressing in the very complex world of building autonomous vehicles and systems. "It's exhilarating when we can connect fleet management to our operating system," he told me. In its favor, once something is solved, it's solved for everyone. A mining company's need to integrate Oxbotica with its system to dispatch drivers into mines is the same that Ocado will have for connecting its delivery vehicles. The amount that it has proven, meanwhile, has convinced customers and backers that it's not a matter of "if" anymore, but rather when this comes to fruition. "Oxbotica really sets itself apart from its competitors thanks to its ambitious vision to unlock Universal Autonomy," said Mitsuru Yamaguchi, senior managing executive officer at Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance, in a statement. "We are excited to combine Oxboticas world-class AI and robotic techniques with our own pioneering expertise in the telematics insurance arena. This will leave us well placed to develop innovative insurance products and services which will create a safer, greener and more secure society for everyone. We are excited to grow our investment in Oxbotica, which has become a global leader in autonomous vehicle software," added Erin Hallock, managing partner at bp ventures. "Our sustained support is a great example of bp ventures continued investment in game-changing technology companies. By leveraging automation and digital technology we believe the team can improve safety and increase efficiency across a wide range of vehicles, and support bps ambition to accelerate the global revolution in mobility. Toubani Resources, Inc. TORONTO, Jan. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Toubani Resources, Inc. (ASX: TRE; TSX-V: TRE) (Toubani Resources or the Company) is pleased to announce the appointments of Bill Oliver and Kerry Griffin to its technical management team, effective immediately. Both Bill and Kerry bring a wealth of experience to Toubani and will be instrumental in driving the exploration and resource development strategy as the Company initiates a concerted effort to unlock the significant geological potential at the Kobada Gold Project in Southern Mali. Chief Executive Officer, Phil Russo commented: I am excited to welcome Bill and Kerry to Toubani, who both have extensive experience in birimian orogenic gold deposits similar to Kobada. Their proven ability to execute multi-phase drilling campaigns in Mali will be invaluable to the Company, where significant exploration endeavours outside the main Kobada deposit are underway. The Company is fortunate to be able to attract experienced professionals of the caliber of Bill and Kerry with their demonstrated track record for discovery and resource development. I look forward to building on the recent exploration successes at Kobada as Toubani begins its next phase of growth following our recent listing on the ASX. Bill Oliver Biography Mr Oliver is a geologist with over 20 years of experience in the international resources industry working for both major and junior companies. Mr Oliver has spent recent years in the development of projects across Africa including being responsible for the identification, acquisition, development and into production of the Konongo Gold Project in Ghana as the Managing Director of Signature Metals Ltd. Mr Oliver was the General Manager, Geology and Exploration for Firefinch, overseeing delineation of 3.5 million ounces in Mineral Resources at the Morila Gold Project in Mali. Mr Oliver has an enviable track record in project evaluation and has been involved in several transactions involving assets across a range of commodities. He also has substantial experience in all aspects of exploration, in the design, evaluation and implementation of resource definition programs as well as resource modelling and inputs into all levels of mining and feasibility studies. In addition, Mr Oliver has served as a director of a number of ASX listed companies. Story continues Mr Oliver is a member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgists and the Australian Institute of Geoscientists. Kerry Griffin Biography Mr Griffin is a geologist and has over 27 years experience in Australia, Africa, South/Central America, Central and SE Asia in various senior and management positions. Mr Griffins experience includes corporate development, mining, mine geology, mine development and management, as well as designing and managing large scale exploration and resource drilling programs, resource modelling and estimation, management and training of geological/technical teams. Mr Griffin is a Member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists, the Society of Economic Geologists and is a Competent Person under JORC and a Qualified Person for 43-101 reporting. About Toubani Resources Inc Toubani Resources (ASX: TRE; TSX-V: TRE) is an exploration and development Company with a focus on creating Africas next gold producer. The Company has a highly experienced Board and management team with a proven African track record in advancing projects through exploration, development and into production. For more information regarding Toubani Resources visit our website at www.toubaniresources.com. For more information: Phil Russo Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director +(61) 478 138 627 Phil.Russo@toubaniresources.com Daniyal Baizak Vice President, Corporate Development +1 (647) 835 9617 Dbaizak@toubaniresources.com Jane Morgan Investor and Media Relations + 61 (0) 405 555 618 jm@janemorganmanagement.com.au Cautionary statements This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements regarding the listing on the Australian Stock Exchange, the expansion of mineral resources and reserves, and drilling and exploration plans of the Company. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as plans, expects or does not expect, is expected, budget, scheduled, estimates, forecasts, intends, anticipates or does not anticipate, or believes, or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, might or will be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including but not limited to: receipt of necessary approvals from Canadian and Australian regulatory authorities; general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; future prices of mineral prices; accidents, labour disputes and shortages; available infrastructure and supplies; the COVID-19 pandemic and other risks of the mining industry. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking 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. NEITHER TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. "This 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 mobilization plan," Khalidi said in an interview with Vietnam News Agency. 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. UNDP Resident Representative in Vietnam Ramla Al Khalidi. Photo by UNDP 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 Program 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. 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. A solar power complex in Vietnam's southern province of Tay Ninh. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran In terms of technical assistance, Khalidi said the UNDP is introducing more innovative and integrated solutions to accelerate the implementation of prioritized 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. The Oscars declined to give a platform to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last year, but the Golden Globes made up for it Tuesday, offering him an opportunity to speak directly to an American and world audience. In taped remarks introduced by Sean Penn, the Ukrainian leader expressed optimism about his countrys efforts to repel the invasion by Russia, which began last February. More from Deadline Related Story Golden Globes: The Fabelmans Wins Best Motion Picture Drama Complete List Related Story Golden Globes TV Review: Ceremony Takes Chance With Weeknight Broadcast, But Snark Replaced With Saccharine In Low-Energy Show Related Story Eddie Murphy "Absolutely Would Go Back" To Host 'SNL', Hasn't Spoken To Will Smith & Chris Rock About Oscar Slap Golden Globes Backstage The war in Ukraine is not over yet, but the tide is turning and it is already clear who will win, Zelenskyy said, while adding a note of caution. There are still battles and tears ahead. China, Iran and North Korea have given material support to Russias invasion. Ukraine, meanwhile, has received billions of dollars in aid and weaponry from the U.S. and other Western countries, but Zelenskyy said the conflict shouldnt be perceived as another World War. RELATED: Golden Globes Photos: The Best Looks From The Red Carpet There will be no Third World War. It is not a trilogy, Zelenskyy insisted. Ukraine will stop the Russian aggression on our land. We will make it together with a whole, free world. And I hope that all of you will be with us on the victorious day, the day of our victory. Slava Ukraini [Glory to Ukraine]. Story continues In his introduction, Penn saluted the women of Iran who have led a major protest against the Islamic Republics regime that erupted after the death in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was arrested for violating Irans laws that control how women dress. Penn also praised the women of Afghanistan for resisting efforts by the Taliban to deprive them of liberty and access to education. Sean Penn speaks onstage at the Golden Globes on Tuesday We are reminded in no uncertain terms that the freedom to dream is not simply a human luxury, but rather a human need that must be fought and sacrificed for, Penn said in solemn tones, his voice appearing to quaver. RELATED: Golden Globes TV Review: Ceremony Takes Chance With Weeknight Broadcast, But Snark Replaced With Saccharine In Low-Energy Show Penn has visited Ukraine several times since the war began, and in November handed one of his two Oscars to Zelenskyy while in Kyiv. On that occasion, the actor said, Its just a symbolic silly thing, but if I know this is here then Ill feel better and strong enough for the fights. When you win, bring it back to Malibu, because Ill feel much better knowing theres a piece of me here. RELATED: Golden Globes Photos: The Best Looks From The Red Carpet In his intro to Zelenskyy tonight, Penn noted, If the freedom to dream were a spear, I proudly present a human being who tonight represents that spears most honed tip. Best of Deadline Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. Bald Eagles perch on power poles near Cedar City in January 2020. Winter is the best time of year to see one of America's most iconic birds in Utah, and this year is no exception. Bald eagles fly into Utah in winter to find food and escape the colder conditions of their habitats to the north, coming as far south as Washington County. By the time February arrives, hundreds of eagles can be found across the state, according to wildlife officials. Finding the best spot to safely view the birds in the wild can be tricky, though. That's why the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources has scheduled four viewing events across the state in the coming weeks, offering residents a chance to come see the eagles and learn more about them from qualified wildlife experts. In southwestern Utah, the scheduled viewing event is slated for Jan. 14, from 8 a.m. to noon at Rush Lake Ranch, located at 9600 N. Minersville Highway (State Route 130). The ranch is located about 12 miles north of Cedar City. Eagle taking flight barley skimming the snow. To reach the site, take exit 62 off I-15 and head north on State Route 130. Drive approximately 10 miles, and the viewing event should be visible along the side of the highway. DWR staff is scheduled to be available to answer questions and to help spot bald eagles nearby. Spotting scopes will be available to use, but those who come are encouraged to bring their own binoculars if they have them. While the event is free, participants are encouraged to register in advance on Eventbrite. These events could be canceled if the weather creates hazardous driving conditions, and registered participants will be notified via email. Dependent primarily on fish for food during the breeding season, bald eagles move south from their northern breeding grounds in Canada and Alaska by late October each year. Bald eagles are found throughout Utah during the winter and typically begin arriving in November. The highest numbers of bald eagles occur here in January and February, and most begin heading north again in March. Bald eagles in Des Moines on Jan. 30, 2022. Federal protections for bald eagles Eagles and their nests are federally protected under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Story continues Under the Eagle Protection Act, wounding or killing an eagle can result in a fine of $100,000 and one year in prison for a first offense, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. A second violation is a felony and carries heftier punishments. Bald eagles are America's national symbol but were persecuted and unprotected for much of the country's history. Through the 20th century, the population of bald eagles dropped to fewer than 1,000 in the United States because of unregulated hunting, poisoning and then, in the post-World War II era, the use of DDT and other chemicals. DDT caused eagles and many other birds to lay thin-shelled eggs that broke before the chick hatched. With meager recruitment rates, eagle numbers plummeted. Population rebound in Utah But with additional protections, including the Endangered Species Act and a national ban on DDT starting in the 1970s, the species has rebounded in Utah and other states. Utah hosts one of the largest state populations of wintering bald eagles. More than 1,200 bald eagles havebeen counted in Utah during recent years. About 3,000 to 4,000 of the 13,000 bald eagles that winter in the lower 48 states occur west of the Rocky Mountains. Twenty-five to thirty percent of these western eagles spend the winter in Utah, showing the significance of Utah's winter habitat. This article originally appeared on St. George Spectrum & Daily News: How to find a wild bald eagle in southern Utah this winter Dine-in White Castle Valentine's Day Courtesy of White Castle White Castle wants to share the love on Valentine's Day. After a two-year hiatus, the burger chain is bringing back their Valentine's day dine-in dinner service. On Feb. 14 from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., White Castle will transform participating locations into sit-down "fine dining establishments," complete with hostess seating, tableside service, and holiday decorations. Reservations, which are required for the experience, are now available on OpenTable. "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 in a statement. "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." Dine-in White Castle Valentine's Day Courtesy of White Castle RELATED: Ben Affleck Seen Working a Dunkin' Drive-Thru in Massachusetts Patrons who can't snag a table at the chain's Valentine's day event can still get a piece of the festivities. On Feb. 14, White Castle is bringing back its love cube, a meal the burger company created in 2022 to keep the love alive on Valentine's day in spite of the constraints of the pandemic. The love cube features eight cheese sliders, two sharable sides and two small soft drinks and will be available exclusively on Valentine's day for dine-in or carry out. In addition to the special meal, White Castle is adding a new drink to its Coca-Cola freestyle machines. The Sprite love castle potion will only be available Feb. 14 and features the classic lemon-lime flavors of Sprite with a pop of cherry and a hint of vanilla. White Castle is also releasing some special Valentine's day merchandise to celebrate the one-day transformation into Love Castle, including sunglasses, T-shirts, and even a silk robe. Dine-in White Castle Valentine's Day Courtesy of White Castle RELATED: All the New Menu Items at Your Favorite Fast Food Restaurants White Castle has been offering tableside service on Valentine's Day since 1991, though it's looked a little different over the past few years. In 2021, the chain offered an outdoor variation. The restaurants turned their parking lots into old-fashioned drive-ins complete with carhop service. Customers with reservations pulled into a parking space, were greeted by a White Castle team member who took their order, and had their food delivered to them in their cars. Last year, the company scrapped reservations entirely for the event, choosing to instead offer the love cube to help couples celebrate the holiday at home. The York Daily Record Christmas Emergency Fund campaign raised $39,314.33 for the York County Food Bank this year thanks to the generosity of readers. This was second-highest total for the annual fundraising drive in the last decade. Each holiday season, YDR offers readers the opportunity to help the community through the Christmas Emergency Fund. In 2022, YDR chose the York County Food Bank as the beneficiary of the fundraiser because many area residents have struggled to put food on the table as inflation has driven up grocery costs, with some items costing upwards of 10% more this year. The new York County Food Bank warehouse, in Manchester Township, is busy with 35 volunteers packing 1080 boxes for the regular food distribution. More:Food bank volunteer: 'The best part is loading that box of food into someone's car' More:Inflation has created food insecurity for many: Here's how the York County Food Bank helps For more than 30 years, the York County Food Bank has espoused the principle that food is a basic human right, distributing millions of healthy meals each year. Traditions Bank has long partnered with YDR to collect and disburse mailed donations all free of charge so every penny goes to help local residents. We are incredibly grateful to the York Daily Record, Traditions Bank and all the generous donors who supported the Food Bank through the Christmas Emergency Fund, said Jennifer Brillhart, President and CEO of the York County Food Bank. Many families, children and seniors were able to enjoy holiday meals thanks to you, our amazing donors. I am so thankful to our readers for their generosity, said Scott Fisher, central Pennsylvania news director for the USA Today Network. Year after year, they come through to help people in our community who are in need. York County has a huge heart. Thanks especially to York Traditions Bank for working with us on this effort each year. This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: YDR Christmas Emergency Fund raises $40K for York County Food Bank NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 21: Blake Hounshell, Managing Editor, Washington and Politics, POLITICO speaks onstage during the 2021 Concordia Annual Summit - Day 2 at Sheraton New York on September 21, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Riccardo Savi/Getty Images for Concordia Summit) Riccardo Savi/Getty Blake Hounshell, a political journalist who worked for The New York Times, died on Tuesday. His family confirmed the news in a statement to the publication, adding that his death came "after a long and courageous battle with depression." A police official told The Times that authorities suspected he died by suicide. In a memo to employees, Joseph Kahn, The Times' executive editor and Carolyn Ryan, the newspapers' managing editor, said, "We are deeply saddened to share the tragic news that our colleague Blake Hounshell has passed away," according to Fox News Digital. The letter continued and saluted Hounshell's efforts after he began working at The Times in 2021. RELATED: John Mayer Says 'Grief Is a Journey' as He Remembers Friend Bob Saget 1 Year After He Died "Many of us worked closely alongside Blake since he joined The Times in 2021," it read. "Blake was a dedicated journalist who quickly distinguished himself as our lead politics newsletter writer and a gifted observer of our country's political scene. He became an indispensable and always insightful voice in the report during a busy election cycle." Kahn and Ryan continued, "Blake was devoted to his family and a friend of many on our politics and Washington teams, who have worked alongside him for many years. We will be in touch with more information on how to support his family soon." Hounshell, who lived in northwest Washington, leaves behind his wife Sandy Choi and children David and Astrid, per The Times. RELATED: Allison Holker Remembers Stephen 'tWitch' Boss as a 'True Beacon of Light' in Emotional Tribute Video Politicians and peers reacted to Hounshell's death on social media. Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman recalled, "Blake Hounshell was a fellow stroke survivor, and one of the first interviews I did when I returned to the campaign trail and struggled to find my words." "He showed compassion and humanity in a way few others had," Fetterman said. "This is heartbreaking." Story continues 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. Susan Glasser, a staff writer at The New Yorker, remembered Hounshell as a "friend, partner, and journalistic inspiration for many years through our time together at Foreign Policy and Politico," adding, "I will have more to say but for now I just want to say how much I will miss him. RIP, dear friend." New York Times writer Liam Stack shared a screenshot of Kahn's memo and said he was "shocked and so sad" about Hounshell's death. "I met him in Cairo when I was 22, on the day I got my very first newspaper job," Stack recalled. "I was excited when he joined The Times and wish I'd spent more time hanging out with him here." RELATED VIDEO: Adam Rich, Star of 'Eight Is Enough', Dead at 54 While at The Times, Hounshell ran the popular "On Politics" newsletter. Before joining the publication, he worked at Politico for eight years and served as the digital editorial director, managing editor for Washington and political news, along with the managing editor and editor-in-chief of Politico's website that he developed, according to The Times. After writing blogs for 15 years, he got his big break as the managing editor of Foreign Policy, where he worked from 2009 to 2013. During his tenure, the magazine garnered three National Magazine Awards, The Times noted. Hounshell, a Delaware and Pittsburgh native, earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Yale in 2002, and later learned Arabic while in Cairo, The Times said. Politico paid tribute to Hounshell, calling him "a witty and astute political observer who possessed a special knack for understanding the dynamics of internet journalism and became one of the driving forces behind POLITICO's success over nearly a decade." If you or someone you know needs mental health help, text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor. RFA/Health Care Access Reporter Santiago Ochoa is a bilingual journalist covering health care access at the Yakima Herald-Republic in Yakima, Washington. Before joining the Herald, Ochoa reported for Flint Beat in Flint, Michigan, covering the citys Latino populationhealth care, education, community building and more, and winning top honors in the Michigan Press Associations feature category. He served as photographer and later editor for his college newspaper, The Michigan Times. When hes not working, Ochoa enjoys cross-country trips on his motorcycle, going to the movies, reading and skiing. Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone pose for a photo in Vientiane, Laos on January 11, 2023. Photo by Nhat Bac Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and new Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone agreed to increase economic partnership and support each other in post-pandemic recovery on Wednesday. During a talk at the Lao Prime Minister's Office in Vientiane, Chinh and Siphandone affirmed that the two countries have always attached the highest priority to consolidating and cultivating friendship and comprehensive cooperation between the two nations. In addition to strengthening political trust, the two countries agreed to elevate economic cooperation, support each other in post-pandemic recovery and build a socialist-oriented, independent and self-reliant market economy with deep, broad and effective international integration. The two countries will strengthen economic connectivity, from infrastructure in transport, telecommunications, and energy, to soft infrastructure such as institutions, policies, e-commerce, digital economy, banking and finance. The two sides reached an agreement on continuing to maintain a trade growth of 10-15% per year.Long-term relationshipEconomic, trade and investment cooperation between Vietnam and Laos continued to progress positively last year, according to statistics. Vietnam launched five new projects in Laos and increased investment in four others with a total value of $70 million, up nearly 50% from 2021. Trade was a bright spot in 2022 Vietnam-Laos relations as total bilateral turnover reached nearly $1.7 billion, up 21% from 2021, exceeding the growth target of 10-15%. Chinh and Siphandone also agreed on the importance of implementing the Vietnam - Laos Strategic Cooperation Agreement for the 2021-2030 period. The two leaders also signed several agreements in different fields. The two great nations will continue to closely coordinate and enhance information exchange while supporting each other in regional and international multilateral forums, including the United Nations and ASEAN. After the talks, the two Prime Ministers witnessed the signing ceremony of 10 cooperation documents in areas such as digital partnership, civil legal assistance, transportation, and healthcare. On Wednesday afternoon, PM Chinh met with General Secretary and President of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith. He also met with President of the Lao National Assembly Saysomphone Phomvihane. Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Lao General Secretary and President Thongloun Sisoulith shake hands in Vientiane, Laos on January 11, 2023. Photo by Nhat Bac Vietnam and Laos established relations in September 1962. In February 2019, the two sides agreed to raise the level of "traditional friendship" to "great friendship". "The great friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries have been consolidated and deepened," PM Chinh said at the closing ceremony of the Year of Vietnam-Laos and Laos-Vietnam Friendship Ties at the Laos National Convention Center Wednesday morning. On Wednesday and Thursday PM Chinhs official visit will include attending the 45th meeting of the Vietnam - Laos Intergovernmental Committee.This is his first official visit to Laos as head of the Vietnamese government. He is also the newly-inaugurated PM Siphandones first official foreign guest. Today Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Low 63F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Tonight Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Low 63F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Tomorrow Some clouds in the morning will give way to mainly sunny skies for the afternoon. High 82F. Winds W at 10 to 20 mph. Our directory features more than 18 million business listings from across the entire US. However, if we're missing your business, add your business by clicking on Add Your Business. The before and after images of a Vietnamese girl with alopecia totalis, calcinosis cutis and hyperthyroidism, with the rightmost picture showing her hair growing back after treatment. Photos obtained by VnExpress An 11-year-old girl in Vietnam has calcinosis cutis, alopecia totalis and hyperthyroidism without Down syndrome, a combination of conditions that has never been recorded in medical history. The girl, who lives in the southern province of Binh Phuoc, began to lose her hair at the age of 2, and was complete bald by the age of 8, according to her family. She also had a bump on her neck, as well as yellow papules around her neck, armpits and arms. In August 2021, she went to Nguyen Tri Phuong Hospital in HCMC to have her neck bump diagnosed, and testing showed that she had calcinosis cutis and alopecia totalis. After doctors got her neck bump under control, she was transferred to the Ho Chi Minh City University Medical Center in March 2022. Doctor Hoang Van Minh from the hospital's hemangioma center ordered genetic tests for the girl, which revealed mutations in her RBM28 gene. Most cases of calcinosis cutis have something to do with Down syndrome, and mostly affect child patients between age 6 and 13. There have only been six recorded cases of calcinosis cutis without the presence of Down syndrome, and the case of this Vietnamese girl, where mutations at the RBM28 gene, along with alopecia totalis and hyperthyroidism, are involved, has proven to be the first such case recorded in medical history, according to Minh. The case been reported to the American Academy of Dermatology and will be presented at an international conference on dermatology in March this year. The girl is currently under treatment and her hyperthyroidism is under control. After nine months of treatment, her hair has also begun to grow back. However, Minh warned that her conditions may recur if they are not monitored and treated frequently. YORK David Derr, 43, of Aurora, has pleaded not guilty to multiple counts in a case involving the possession of methamphetamine, tampering with evidence and second offense DUI. His arraignment was held this week in York County District Court, before Judge James Stecker. According to court documents, a deputy with the York County Sheriffs Department was on regular patrol on South Lincoln Avenue when he saw a pickup truck traveling north with a non-functioning taillight. According to court documents, the deputy saw the pickup go onto the shoulder several times before he initiated a traffic stop in the area of Highway 81 and West Fourth Street. Deputies conducted a field sobriety test, which they say indicated a breath alcohol content of over .08. They say Derr later submitted to a chemical test at the jail, which indicated the same. During a routine search of his person at the jail, court documents indicate corrections officers found a bag containing 2.2 grams of methamphetamine protruding from a personal cavity area of his body. It was noted in court documents that Derr has an extensive criminal history including being a multi-state offender, convicted felon, and a registrant of the Nebraska Sex Offender Registry. He has a conviction in Oklahoma for domestic assault. In Nebraska, his criminal history shows charges of failure to appear or comply, violating a harassment protection order, being a fugitive of justice, failure to appear, sexual assault which began as first degree but was later amended to attempted third degree sexual assault, a sex offender registry violation, a probation violation and possession of a controlled substance. He also has one prior DUI conviction out of Hall County. He was also out on bond for a second offense DUI case in Hamilton County and he was also on probation. Per his not guilty pleas this week, in District Court, Judge James Stecker set a jury trial date for late April. FAIRMONT Since the early 18th century, grain elevators have become the checkpoint between farm and table, field to feedlots. Especially in Nebraska, elevators are important in the agriculture industry, allowing farmers to unload, store and sell to get the best per bushel price. The Andersons Food Corn Processing Facility in Fairmont is a farmer-centric company, providing local farmers with cost analysis, crop transition plans and profitability from white and yellow corn, GMO and non-GMO. The company has been a main supplier for the food corn industry, producing high quality food-grade corn for the Snack Food Association, representing 400 companies worldwide and the Tortilla Industry Association. According to The Andersons, of the 50 million bushels of cleaned corn supplied for domestic masa production, 24 million bushels are contract grown for PepsiCo, who does their own cleaning. Of the remaining 26 million bushes, the Andersons have 31% of that market share. Nicole Zelenka, processing supervisor, said the grain and storage facility was once OMalley Grain Incorporated, founded in 1981 before being acquired by The Andersons in the spring of 2010. OMalley Grain Inc. also supplied food-grade corn to the snack food and tortilla industries. Zelenka said, The business started in the 80s with my former boss, Dale Byrkit from Clay Center, who was outsourcing white corn. He sold his book of business to OMalley Grain who constructed this facility in 1997. He saw Fairmont as a location with abundant irrigation and consistent crops, so he expanded his business. He was the plant manager from 1997 until he retired in 2018. The purchase of OMalleys in both Fairmont and their sister elevator in Mansfield, Illinois was a natural extension for The Andersons, looking to expand their service in providing specialty grain to food producers. There are multiple components that keep the elevator in business. This niche operation involves the growing, cleaning, sorting, handling and shipment of products to consumer packaged food companies. The grain storage capacity of the elevator totals 709,000 bushels of corn. When picking their growers, Zelenka said, We send out our grower agreements, which have all of our standards for quality corn. We have a lot of growers who have been with us for many years, and as we get new ones, we like to see samples of the grain and the quality before selecting. We dont go to growers, but local growers come to us, and we are always looking for new ones. What makes The Andersons unique compared to cooperatives is that they are able to offer an array of contract options for their farmers, including flat price, acre and bushel contracts, forward pricing contracts and premium offer programs. Zelenka said, I think weve had a lot of success. Weve always offered higher premiums because we expect better quality. Now, things have changed in this area because you have your other grain companies and facilities sourcing the same thing. With these other companies, were all competing to buy in those bushels, so it is obviously going to drive that base price up. After the corn is grown, harvested and hauled to The Andersons, the corn is cleaned and separated from impurities like cobs, stalks, sticks and stones. In October of 2022, they installed two optical color sorters to help improve quality and efficiency. I know weve struggled in the past, getting the corn in and through quickly, said Zelenka. Right now, our loading and receiving are at the same place, so by splitting off our receiving end, well have a completely separate pit for that. This should drastically decrease the wait time for unloading from what it is currently. Operations supervisor Eli Nuss said, From the cleaners it goes through two optical color sorters. Then, we can designate the corn to go to our truck side, rail side, or packaging side to ship from our facility. They load semi-trucks with either 50-pound bags or 2,700-pound totes. They also load bulk rail cars, which is another aspect that makes The Andersons distinctive in the agricultural industry. We ship all the way to Canada to Texas and out to California, said Zelenka. The white corn, high in starch, fiber and vitamin content, is used for cornbread, chips, tortillas, taco shells, snack foods and grits. Similar to white, yellow corn is high in Vitamin A and can be used for baked goods, corn chips, tortillas, cereal and as a crisping agent. Oil made from yellow corn can be used in foods and beverages as well. Zelenka said, I think its important for people to know and be aware that we have a different market here. Its not all cattle feed. The Andersons are looking forward to making significant investments at the Fairmont facility this year and beyond to increase their volume and capacity to grow their business. Nebraska generally responds well to a loss. But after a win, it goes the other way. Fred Hoiberg says his team needs to figure it out, quickly. A Delhi court has denied bail to Shankar Mishra, accused of urinating on an elderly woman passenger on an Air India New York-Delhi flight on November 26, 2022. Metropolitan Magistrate Komal Garg dismissed the bail application of the accused, saying it was not appropriate to release him on bail at this stage. A magisterial court had sent Mishra to 14-day judicial remand on Saturday, denying police his custody. The court called the act "utterly disgusting and repulsive" and Metropolitan Magistrate Komal Garg said the act has shocked the civic consciousness of people and needed to be deprecated. "The alleged act of accused of relieving himself upon the complainant is utterly disgusting and repulsive. The alleged act in itself is sufficient to outrage the modesty of any woman. Egregious conduct of the accused has shocked the civic consciousness and needs to be deprecated," the judge said. The alleged act in itself prima facie reflects the intention of the accused, she said, while declining the relief to Mishra, who is lodged in jail. The judge noted that as per the record, the accused had failed to join the investigation even after a notice was issued to him under section 41A CrPC and his presence could be secured only upon the execution of the non-bailable warrant. "Therefore, the conduct of the accused does not inspire confidence. It has also come on record that accused has tried contacting the victim and the possibility of accused influencing the witnesses cannot be ruled out," the judge noted. Further, as per the report of the investigating officer, other witnesses are yet to be examined and the probe is at a very initial stage, the judge noted. "Considering the above facts and circumstances, this Court does not deem it appropriate to release the accused on bail at this stage. Accordingly, the present application stands dismissed," the judge said in the order. The alleged incident had occurred on November 26 last year when a drunk Mishra walked up to the woman's seat in the business class on an Air India New York-New Delhi flight, exposed himself and urinated on her. The police opposed the bail application, saying it was highly probable that if released on bail, he will influence the complainant since he is from an influential and rich background. "(His) Mother and sister tried to contact the complainant," police told the court. The police also informed the court it has filed a revision petition against the denial of the accused's custody. "Many witnesses are to be examined, including the captain and cabin crew," it said. A sessions court is likely to take up the matter tomorrow. The counsel appearing the the complainant, however, alleged the accused offended her, "and has the audacity to say I was not a victim. I had sought FIR. It was based on his influence that the FIR was not registered." He added that the complainant is unable to stay in Bangalore. "They're threatening me. Not only by messages but by coming to my house," her counsel alleged. The counsel for the accused, however, contested the claim of threat made by the complainant's lawyer. "Her (the victim woman's) son-in-law, a New York-based professor, wrote me a mail saying I was to pay the full plane fare. I had paid for dry cleaning. But after the mail from son-in-law, the money (the accused had paid by way of compensation) was returned," Mishra's counsel said. A magisterial court had sent Mishra to 14-day judicial remand on Saturday, denying police his custody. With PTI inputs An unusual incident took place on January 9, when the Goa-bound Azur Air flight was diverted to Jamnagar, Gujarat following a bomb threat. The flight carrying 235 passengers made a landing at an IAF airbase. However, the National Security Guard (NSG) found nothing suspicious in the aircraft, still as a precautionary measure, the aircraft was taken to an isolated location at the military airport. The Indian Air Force (IAF) activated the security protocols at the Jamnagar airport as soon as the agencies received inputs about the possible bomb scare on the Goa-bound Russian Azur Air aircraft. IAF just had 50 minutes of response time to make the required preparations for the landing of the plane. "After taking the aircraft to an isolated location at the military airport which is mainly responsible for the safety of the industrial hub, the IAF officials instructed the ground staff and Garud Special Forces personnel to help in the safe evacuation of passengers on board," defence officials said. Also read: Moscow-Goa flight takes-off from Jamnagar Airport after bomb threat turns out hoax, IAF shares video: WATCH After parking the aircraft safely in the isolation bay, the IAF staff evacuated 236 passengers to safety from the plane, they said. IAF officials led by Air Commodore Anand Sondhi provided immediate hospitality to make the passengers comfortable there. Soon after, the National Security Guard (NSG) bomb squad was flown in a special Air Force aircraft to scan the Azur Airplane and personal baggage before clearing the flight for departure to its final destination - Dabolim airport, Goa. #NSG bomb disposal teams flown in by IAF aircraft scanned the aircraft & personal baggage before clearing the flight for departure to its final destination - Dabolim Airport, Goa. (3/3) pic.twitter.com/FljiQOmgPs Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) January 10, 2023 The top IAF brass from air headquarters was continuously keeping a close watch on the late-night developments. At the same time, officials on the ground ensured a quick evacuation of passengers from the plane. The officials said such emergencies are generally handled by airports run by the Union Civil Aviation Ministry but this time there was not much time for the aircraft to be allowed to move to Mumbai, Goa, or Ahmedabad and Jamnagar was chosen for ensuring the safety of passengers. The Moscow-Goa charter flight made an emergency landing in Gujarat`s Jamnagar on Monday after a bomb threat. The flight arrived at its destination at Dabolim airport on Tuesday (January 10) afternoon. 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 are inspecting the aircraft," said the Russian Embassy in a statement. (With inputs from ANI) Another urinating incident gathered attention when a man was found urinating publicly at the national capitals airport. Jauhar Ali Khan scheduled to depart from Delhi on a flight to Dammam was found urinating publicly in front of Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport T3 on January 8. Khan who was then taken into custody was found in an intoxicated state. He also abused other passengers. Delhi Police did put him behind the bars, but was later released on bail. Drunk passengers have created a ruckus on flights, making it tough for fellow passengers, cabin crew, and the airlines. This is the third such incident that has gathered attention. Air India recently reported two incidents onboard flights. In one incident, a drunk passenger was caught smoking in the lavatory and was not listening to the crew. In the second incident, another passenger allegedly relieved himself on a vacant seat and blanket of a fellow female passenger when she went to the lavatory. Also read: 'Bro I think I am in...': Shankar Mishra's first reaction after peeing on Air India flight, here's how the events unfolded Aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued a show cause notice to Air India after finding the airline's response as "lackadaisical and delayed" regarding two passenger misbehaviour incidents onboard a flight from Paris to New Delhi last month. One Jauhar Ali Khan, scheduled to depart from Delhi on a flight to Dammam was urinating publically in front of departure gate 6 at IGI Airport T3 on Jan 8. Khan, who seemed to be inebriated, also abused passengers. He was arrested & later released on a bail bond: Delhi Police ANI (@ANI) January 11, 2023 The aviation watchdog has issued the show cause notice to the accountable manager of Air India as to why enforcement action should not be taken against them for dereliction of their regulatory obligations. On January 8, Tata Group Chairman N Chandrasekaran admitted that Air India's response to the incident of a drunk passenger urinating on a woman on one of its international flights last year should have been "much swifter". "We fell short of addressing this situation the way we should have," he said in a statement. Meanwhile, in the statement issued on Monday, DGCA also mentioned the existing norms related to reporting and acting against unruly passengers. Under DGCA rules, the airline concerned is responsible for informing the regulator within 12 hours of the landing of the aircraft in case of any incident of unruly passengers/ passenger rage/passenger misconduct reported in their flight, the statement said. New Delhi: Achieving professional success at a young age is an impressive feat that requires hard work, dedication, and a commitment to excellence. To make it happen, young entrepreneurs must have a clear vision of their goals and a willingness to take risks. They need to be creative and resourceful, utilizing any and all resources they have available to them. Additionally, they must have a strong network of mentors and advisors to help them along the way. Alex Bakita is one such name who at a young age has established himself as a business leader, owning multiple businesses, achieving success in a short period of time. His diverse experience and hardworking attitude has seen him take on challenges and come out successful. When asked about how did he manage to attain such levels of success, and what does it take to attain a glorious career at a young age, he says, "young entrepreneurs must also be prepared to face many of the common challenges associated with starting a business. These include developing a comprehensive business plan, obtaining funding, finding the right employees, and managing the day-to-day operations of the business. Furthermore, they must be able to effectively market and promote." Alex started his entrepreneurial journey at a young age, gaining adequate knowledge and experience over the years which gave him the confidence to launch his own business, which he further multiplied into several spanning across distinct industries. Each of these business ventures has seen him create something from nothing. By applying his knowledge and experience to the business, he has been able to successfully launch and manage them. Today, at 24, he has expanded his businesses rapidly and has managed to maintain their growth. "You need to identify and take advantage of the opportunities that come along and use them to expand your reach even further," says Alex whose innovative ideas have made his businesses stand out and lead from the front. New Delhi: Ever since the first look of Kartik Aaryan's highly anticipated action drama 'Shehzada' has come out, it has ignited the excitement of the audience to witness the young superstar in a never seen before action avatar. While the audience is eagerly waiting to see more from their favorite superstar, the actor has finally here with the poster of Shehzada featuring him in a Gamcha shot. While taking to his social media, Kartik shared the poster of Shehzada in which he is looking super cool and full of swag in his blue shirt and tying a Gamcha on his head, and riding a Vespa with a cigarette in his mouth. He jotted down the caption writing, "#Shehzada Aa Raha Hai Trailer out Tomorrow." Fans could not control their excitement as soon as they saw the poster and started showering their love in the comments section. AGAIN KARTIK AARYAN IS READY TO BLOW MINDS N WIN HEARTS WITH HIS VERSATILITY!!, a user commented. You look so good, added another user. See the poster here The man who has a super successful 2022 looks like he is going to rule the box office in 2023 also with his first-ever outing in a full-on action and family masala entertainer. While Shehzada is one of the most awaited films of the year, it also marks Kartik's debut as a producer, so we can say that the film is well-studded with many things for his fans to look forward to. On the work front, besides Shehzada, Kartik has Satyaprem Ki Katha lined up for this year and will also be seen in the 3rd installment of Aashiqui. He also has Kabir Khan's untitled film in his kitty. New Delhi: Ashneer Grover, a co-founder of BharatPe, participated in Season 1 of Shark Tank India as an investor. But as he prepares to captain the ship of his new company, he has returned to stage one of launching a startup. Grover announced the announcement of his new venture, Third Unicorn, and disclosed that it is exclusively "Desi," self-generating capital, and accepting new hires. Additionally, he is advising potential investors to get in touch with him directly if they are interested in funding his new business. Ashneer and his wife Madhuri Jain Grover are constructing the Third Unicorn. On his 40th birthday in June of last year, he established the groundwork for this new business. Grover published a brief teaser showcasing the structure of Third Unicorn and announcing the launch of the business on LinkedIn. "We at Third Unicorn have been constructing a company that is reshaping the market invisibly and silently. Bootstrapped. without the spotlight. And we are acting in a unique way. Quite differently "He stated this in his post on the social networking site dedicated to jobs. Grover also released a slideshow featuring a sneak preview of his new business and explained how it will only have 50 employees at first. He also urged those who were interested to apply for jobs in order to be hired. "Here is a sneak glimpse of HOW we are building, so check it out if you want to be a part of the next TODU-FODU affair! The million-dollar question is still WHAT we are building!, "Added he. Additionally, if an employee stays with Third Unicorn for five years, Grover offered to give them a Mercedes. He said, "Gratuity to bezzati liye hoti hai." Build Your Dreams (BYD) has brought forth the BYD Seal electric vehicle at the Auto Expo 2023. The new electric vehicle will expand its model lineup with the inclusion of the new vehicle. It is to be noted that the brand already has models like BYD Atto 3 and BYD e6 in India, making Seal the third of its lineup. It is to be noted that the company has plans to launch multiple other models in the country to improve its presence in the market. The company is set to launch the electric sedan in the second quarter and deliveries to begin in October. The BYD Seal offers a premium look with multiple unique design elements. It gets an aerodynamic design with a smooth-looking front end with sleek headlights. Flush door handles and diamond-cut alloy wheels further aid the design. Similar details can be seen on the rear end with a full-width LED light bar running across the body. Also read: Auto Expo 2023: Kia EV9 Concept SUV debuts in India; Check design, features and more The BYD Seal, like the Atto 3, features a rotating 15.6-inch infotainment display in the centre console, as well as a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster for the driver. The primary touchscreen is surrounded by air conditioning vents, while a scroll wheel and driving mode selection are located below it. Two wireless charging pads and normal buttons for features like the heated windscreen and audio volume are also located on the central console. BYD Seal gets a 61.4 kWh battery pack with the option of an 82.5 kWh battery pack. The former has a range of 550 km, while the latter can go 700 km. The car can accelrate from 0-100 in 3.8 seconds. Travelers disembark from an airplane at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 in Selangor, Malaysia, April 1, 2022. Photo by Reuters Malaysian immigration authorities will provide special lanes at its international entry points for arrivals from China in an effort to contain the spread of Covid-19, according to The Star newspaper. Travelers from China who are symptomatic will be referred to health officials and must then undergo throat swabs as well as RTK-Antigen Covid-19 tests, said Malaysia's Health Ministry. Malaysia has also stepped up screening measures for all travelers. Visitors entering Malaysia will be screened through a thermal scanner and those who are found to be ill or symptomatic, or who have made self-declarations, will undergo further examination. The new measure came after China reopened its borders on Sunday after three years of a strict zero-Covid policy. Before the pandemic, China was the third largest source of tourist arrivals in Malaysia, receiving about 3.1 million Chinese tourists in 2019, according to data from Tourism Malaysia. Thailand, Southeast Asia's second largest economy, on Monday welcomed the first group of Chinese tourists post reopening, without any restrictions reported. Vietnam's Lang Son Province has announced to take test samples from people crossing the border from China if they have any symptoms such as fever, coughing or difficulty breathing. Chennai: AIADMK MLAs, led by former chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, on Wednesday reached the Tamil Nadu Assembly in black shirts as a mark of protest against the DMK government and Speaker Appavu.The AIADMK MLAs condemned the DMK government over law and order while slamming Speaker Muthuvelayudha Perumal Appavu over a row over the seating arrangement for Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam. Even as fellow party MLAs were seen arriving at the Assembly in black shirts, OPS was pictured entering the Assembly compound clad in white.The Assembly went into session at 10 am on Wednesday. The session commenced with a debate on the Motion to Thanks to Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi for delivering his customary address in the House.The debate will continue for two days -- January 11 and January 12. Chennai, Tamil Nadu | AIADMK MLAs, including Edappadi K. Palaniswami, arrive at the State Assembly in black shirts, as a mark of protest against the DMK govt over the law and order issue and Speaker Appavu over the seating arrangement row between Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam. pic.twitter.com/wG7Y4rcNrP ANI (@ANI) January 11, 2023 Chief Minister MK Stalin will address the House on January 13.Earlier, on Tuesday, the Tamil Nadu Assembly was adjourned till Wednesday morning after the House adopted a condolence resolution on the demise of sitting Congress MLA Thirumahan Eveera and other prominent personalities.Speaker Appavu announced the adjournment of the House till Wednesday morning. Aligarh: Amid the panic over cracks in over 600 homes in Joshimath, residents of Kanwariganj in Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh have reported sudden cracks in their houses, causing panic among the locals. "For the last several days, cracks have appeared in some of our houses due to which we are forced to live in panic," Shashi, a local resident told ANI. "We have also complained about it but the Municipal Corporation authorities are not taking any concrete action and are only giving assurance. We are afraid that the houses may collapse," added Shashi. Residents blame 'leaking' pipeline The residents are blaming a leaking pipeline laid by the government under the Smart City scheme as the cause. "It has been 3-4 days. We have intimated about the same to the department, but no assistance has been provided so far. We are being forced to live in terror," said Afsha Mashroor, another local resident. In the photos, huge cracks could be seen on the walls of homes, similar to the ones in Uttarakhand's Joshimath. Take a look at the visuals of the cracked homes: Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh | Just received information that cracks have developed in few houses in Aligarh. Will send our team and a probe will be conducted into why this has happened: Rakesh Kumar Yadav, Additional Commissioner, Municipal Corporation pic.twitter.com/T8j8H5heRZ ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) January 10, 2023 Meanwhile, the Additional Commissioner of Municipal Corporation, Rakesh Kumar Yadav, took cognisance of the issue and said that necessary action will be taken by the department. "We have just received the information that there have been cracks in some houses in the Kanwariganj area. The matter has not yet come to full notice. We will now send our team to the site and the necessary action will be taken by the Municipal Corporation," assured Yadav as quoted by ANI. Bengaluru: A case has been registered against Nagarjuna Construction Company (NCC), five of its officials and two of Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), a day after an under-construction metro pillar collapsed leaving a woman and her toddler son dead. Confirming the development, Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra on Wednesday asserted that the government will take action against the accused. "There are 8 accused, including Nagarjuna Construction Company (NCC), its director Chaitanya, supervisor Lakshmipathi and JE Prabhakar. We'll take action for sure. It's utter negligence by the company," Karnataka Home Minister told news agency ANI. Bengaluru under-construction metro pillar collapse | There are 8 accused, including Nagarjuna Construction Company (NCC), its director Chaitanya, supervisor Lakshmipathi and JE Prabhakar. We'll take action for sure. It's utter negligence by the company: Karnataka HM A Jnanendra pic.twitter.com/vT6sALM19m ANI (@ANI) January 11, 2023 Bengaluru police sources also said that NCC is named as first accused (A1), followed by its officials. A BMRCL deputy chief engineer and executive engineer are A7 and A8 respectively. The company was the contractor that was carrying out the work. The incident happened when the deceased were passing through the site of the Metro construction. The deceased were 25-year-old Tejaswini and her two-and-a half-year-old son Vihan. They were travelling on a bike with her husband and another child. Madan Kumar, the father of the deceased woman, on Wednesday said that he would not take the body of his daughter until the contract is cancelled. He said, "Till the contractor's license is not cancelled, I won't take the body." The Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) has announced Rs 20 lakh as compensation to the family of the mother-son who lost their lives due to the collapse of as iron pillar at a Metro work site in Bengaluru. The BMRCL also issued notices to the contractor and the engineers. The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has been requested to investigate and give a report. An internal technical team will also probe the matter, the official statement said. The BMRCL is deeply saddened by the unfortunate incident and stands with the distressed family, the corporation stated. The negligence of the BMRCL was flayed by the family of the deceased and the public. The family of the victims lodged a complaint against the contractor and the Nagarjuna Construction Company (NCC). DCP (East) Bheemashankar Guled has confirmed that the police have received the complaint. Opposition Congress also raised the issue and pointed out that this is the result of the '40 per cent commission' government holding the Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP government responsible for the incident. Punjab Congress leadership is upbeat over Rahul Gandhis visit to Amritsar ahead of the beginning of the Punjab leg of the Bharat Jodo Yatra but the same has given much-needed ammunition to the opposition political parties especially the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) to censure the Congress leaders for continuously rubbing the salt on wounds of Sikhs. Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday surprised everyone with his sudden visit to Amritsar when he went to Sri Harmandir Sahib ( the Golden Temple) supporting a saffron turban and his signature style white t-shirt. Standing in a queue, he not only went inside the sanctum sanctorum of Sri Harmandir Sahib and paid obeisance but listened to kirtan sitting behind the Ragis and was also photographed. The look and the timing of Rahul Gandhis visit to the Golden Temple attracted media attention though he was ignored by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee which neither welcomed him nor provided security for its task force. Political pundits are of the view that Congress leadership is out on roads not to unite India but to further their own political interest and to prevent the grand old party from sinking which has already been deserted by various prominent Congress leaders in Punjab. To name a few prominent erstwhile Congress leaders from Punjab who joined other political parties are former Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, former Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Sunil Jakhar, former ministers Raj Kumar Verka , Balbir Singh Sidhu, Gurpreet Singh Kangar, Amritsar Mayor Karamjit Singh Rintu, etc. As expected, the SAD fumed over Rahul Gandhis visit to the Golden Temple. Harsimrat Kaur Badal, wife of party president Sukhbir Singh Badal and former union minister even quipped at the Congress leaders for welcoming Rahul Gandhi alleging that the Gandhi family had betrayed the Sikhs and Punjab and the Gandhi family never apologized even. Rahul Gandhis visit to Golden Temple may have given an opportunity to the Congress party to momentarily bask in the applause of a section of the Sikh community but the opposition Sikh leadership especially Akalis and BJP are of the view that the wounds allegedly inflicted by the Congress leadership in past wouldnt be healed with such gestures. Questions are also being asked as to why the Congress think tanks and strategists didnt include Amritsar in Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra in Punjab even as he began the Punjab leg on Wednesday from Sirhind after paying obeisance at Gurdwara Fatehgarh Sahib and would address a rally at Pathankot on January 19. Rahul is also seeking the Congress leader's opinion in every state he is passing during Bharat Jodo Yatra on how to take forward the Gandhi familys legacy and bring it back to power under the present circumstances and Punjab is one of the significant states where the party had good presence but also lost a good number of leaders. Though Rahul has emerged as an idealistic face of the party which groomed him all through these years yet it is not going to be an easy task but an enduring strain for him. A large number of police personnel allegedly assaulted farmers in Bihar's Buxar district, who had been protesting for the last 85 days against a thermal power company, while they were sleeping in their homes. The incident occurred at the Banarpur village in Chausa sub-division of the district. The police personnel forcefully entered the house and beat up a farmer who was protesting, demanding proper compensation for the acquired land. Even women were also not spared. It rained sticks in the house itself. A video of the police attack has gone viral on social media, leading to outrage in the region. Seeing the furious crowd, the police tried to disperse the crowd by firing in the air. Now the entire area has been converted into a police cantonment. During this time, stone pelting also took place between the farmer and the police. At present, the police are trying to control the situation. Earlier on the Tuesday, the farmers had locked the main gate of the company's office and demanded adequate compensation for the lands it had acquired for the thermal power project. Around midnight while they were sleeping in their homes, the police personnel came and started knocking on the doors, the farmers claimed. When they opened the doors, the personnel started beating them with batons and also misbehaved with some women who were present at the scene, they added. Following the attack, the farmer intensified their protests on Wednesday which turned violent after they set fire to police vehicles. The villagers also pelted stones on the police party. The situation is currently tense in the village prompting the district police have deployed a large number of forces. The district police claimed that they have arrested four persons for creating arson in the village. Mumbai: The Dhirubhai Ambani School in Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai received a bomb threat call, the Mumbai Police said on Wednesday, according to news agency ANI. They stated that the call was received approximately 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. According to Mumbai Police, a complaint has been registered under Indian Penal Code Sections 505 (1)(B) and 506, and the caller has been located and would be detained soon. The caller claimed to have planted a time bomb at the school. After this, the caller disconnected. Soon after, the school informed the local police. A case under Sections 505 (1)(B) and 506 of IPC registered after Dhirubhai Ambani school in Bandra Kurla Complex area received a bomb threat call yesterday at around 4.30pm. The caller has been identified and will be arrested soon: Mumbai Police ANI (@ANI) January 11, 2023 Based on the school`s complaint, a case was registered against the unknown caller under sections 505 (1) (B) and 506 of the IPC at BKC police station. Police have started an investigation. Meanwhile, Mumbai Police said it has traced the caller and will arrest the accused soon. In October last year, a threat call was received at HN Reliance Foundation Hospital during which the unknown caller threatened to blow up the hospital and issued death threats to the Ambani family. (With inputs from ANI) New Delhi: All India Congress Committee general secretary Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday said that party president Mallikarjun Kharge has invited chiefs of 21 "like-minded" parties to join the concluding function of the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Srinagar on January 30.T he yatra, which started from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu on September 7, will end at Srinagar on January 30, with Rahul hoisting the Tricolour there. "Congress President Shri Mallikarjun Kharge has written to presidents of 21 like-minded parties inviting them to the concluding function of the #BharatJodoYatra on January 30th," Ramesh tweeted. The function is dedicated to the memory of Mahatma Gandhi who was assassinated on January 30 (in 1948), Kharge said in the letter tweeted by Ramesh. "From the beginning of the Yatra we have invited the partcipation of every like-minded Indian. At the invitation of Shri Rahul Gandhi, MPs of several political parties have also walked in the Yatra at different stages," Kharge said in the letter. Also Read: 'BJP using Governors as 'karyakartas'...' Mallikarjun Kharge slams centre amid Tamil Nadu vs Thamizhagam row "I now invite you to personally join the concluding function of the Bharat Jodo Yatra to be held in Srinagar on January 30th at noon," Kharge said. At the event "we will commit ourselves to fighting hatred and violence" to spread the message of truth, compassion and non-viloence, and to defend the Constitutional values of liberty, equality, fraternity and justice for all, the letter stated. "I look forward to your positive response," he ended the letter, requesting the chiefs of 21 like-minded parties "to meeting you in Srinagar." NEW DELHI: Delhi's Karkardooma Court on Wednesday framed the charges against former MCD councillor Tahir Hussain in connection with violence in North East Delhi in 2020. According to reports, Tahir Hussain has been charged with the offence of funding the riots using money laundered through illegal means. The former MCD councillor has not pleaded guilty, according to ANI. According to investigators, Hussain allegedly conspired to engage in money laundering and the proceeds generated from the crime were used in the riots in northeast Delhi. 2020 North East Delhi violence | Delhi's Karkardooma Court today framed the charges against ex-MCD councillor Tahir Hussain in a money laundering case. He has been charged with the offence of funding the riots using alleged laundered money. He has not pleaded guilty. ANI (@ANI) January 11, 2023 Hussain has been earlier booked under various charges, including the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, in three separate cases in connection with the violence in Delhi in February 2020. The violence claimed 53 lives and hundreds were injured. The majority of those killed were Muslims. On October 14 last year, Hussain, along with six others, was charged with rioting and murder in one of the cases related to the riots. Prior to this, he was charged with criminal conspiracy, rioting, mischief causing damage, mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to destroy the property, and dacoity in another case on May 6. The money laundering case being probed by the Enforcement Directorate is also based on one of the first information reports registered against Hussain by the Delhi Police. On the eve of February 23, riots broke out in Northeast Delhi between Anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and pro-CAA protestors. The violence took a communal turn and led to the death of over 53 people over the course of the next 10 days. More than 200 were left injured. Shops and houses were burnt down and even places of worship were attacked. Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Wednesday cautioned pilgrims coming to the state not to pay heed to any rumour or fake news to avoid any untoward incident during the coming Gangasagar Mela. She assured the pilgrims that her government has made arrangements so that they do not face any problem during the annual festival. Banerjee said that apart from senior ministers and state government officials about one lakh a huge number police and disaster management personnel, civic volunteers, NGO workers and doctors will be present at the Sagar Island, the site of the holy dip at the confluence of the Hoogly and the Bay of Bengal, to help the pilgrims. "Fake news and rumours cause chaos, so be careful .. Do not pay heed to them to avoid any untoward stampede-like situation," she said inaugurating the Gangasagar Mela from the city's Outram Ghat transit point. "Do not try to do anything in haste as it may be dangerous ,. We have made all arrangements for you to ensure a hassle-free Gangasagar Mela. Listen to government announcements, which will be made also be in Hindi. If you want to alert people about certain information, reach out to the police. Police are there to help you," Banerjee said and conveyed her good wishes to the pilgrims who had gathered there from various parts of the country. Referring to "fake" reports in a section of the media of stone pelting on the Vande Bharat Express in Bengal, she said in reality it had happened in Bihar and asked journalists to be responsible while presenting news. Banerjee had earlier warned of strict legal actions against scribes who reported that the stone pelting had taken place in the state. Following it Kolkata Police had lodged an FIR at a city police station against a few journalists belonging to reputed media houses. She had visited Gangasagar Island last week and personally reviewed the arrangements at Sagar Island. The state government has claimed that 70 lakh pilgrims will visit the annual Ganga Sagar Mela. At the Outram Ghat programme, Banerjee instructed city mayor Firhad Hakim to start preparations for the proposed Ganga Aarti, similar to the one held in Varanasi at Babughat. "Since there is no ghat like Varanasi here, Ganga Aarti will be held on a wooden platform. The preparation for it will start on Thursday. Ganga Aarti will be done only after all the preparations are complete," she said adding powerful lights will be installed at the place. Banerjee along with cabinet ministers and senior government officials earlier visited the nearby areas to choose the spot. New Delhi: A day after Rahul Gandhi attacked the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Tuesday (January 10, 2023) said even Congress leaders are perplexed by their former chief's remarks. On Monday, Rahul called RSS members the "21st century Kauravas". On Gandhi's remarks, Khattar told reporters, "The kind of remarks he makes, one does not understand what philosophy he follows." "Sometimes he becomes Shiv Bakht (Lord Shiva follower) and then asks who raises (Har Har Mahadev) Jaikara, sometimes he targets Pujaris. One is not able to understand what is his direction... It is not that only we are perplexed, even Congress people are perplexed," Khattar said. "Anyway, he remains a Pappu," Khattar said referring to the term which means naive and ignorant and is often used by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders to target Rahul Gandhi. Slamming the RSS during a corner meeting in Ambala as part of his Bharat Jodo Yatra on Monday, Rahul had alleged that Sangh's members never say "Har Har Mahadev" and "Jai Siya Ram" as they are against India's values and "tapasya". Rahul Gandhi should go to RSS 'Shakha' for a few days: Haryana Home Minister Meanwhile, Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij also hit out at Rahul Gandhi and said that the Congress leader should attend an RSS 'shakha' for a few days as he knows nothing about the organisation. "He has no right to comment on RSS about which he knows nothing," the BJP leader said, adding that "today the country stands because of RSS". Rahul Gandhi should go to an RSS 'Shakha' for a few days to know about RSS, he said. ALSO READ | 'Which Pandava kisses sister in public gathering...': UP Minister as Rahul Gandhi calls RSS 'Kauravas' Vij also took a swipe at Gandhi for saying he decided to wear only T-shirts during the foot march after meeting three poor girls "shivering in torn clothes" in Madhya Pradesh. "Rahul Gandhi should have at least gone to the house of those girls to see how they live, where they sleep... He sleeps in a palace on wheels, which has all luxuries and is part of a fleet of vehicles that accompany him," he said. Vij said millions of rupees are being spent on his travel and asked about the source of the funds. On a working trip in Quang Tri, Knapper paid tribute to martyrs at the National Martyrs Cemetery Road 9 in Dong Ha Town. This was his first visit to a Vietnamese martyr cemetery. In August 2019, then U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Daniel Kritenbrink visited Truong Son National Martyrs Cemetery, also in Quang Tri, marking the first time an American ambassador visited a martyrs cemetery in Vietnam. New Delhi: A woman and her half-a-year-old son were killed after an under-construction pillar of the "Namma Metro" (Bengaluru Metro) collapsed on Tuesday (January 10, 2023). The incident took place on Outer Ring Road near HBR Layout in Bengaluru when the TMT bars erected for the construction of a pillar fell on their scooter. The height of the pillar is said to be over 40 feet and weighs several tonnes. The duo was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital by the bystanders, but the woman and her toddler succumbed to their injuries. The woman's husband and another child, who were injured, are doing fine. "Both suffered head injuries, we tried our best to save them. There was a lot of blood loss already and also a fall in blood pressure," doctors who treated them said. Karnataka | Two people dead in under-construction Metro pillar collapse near Nagavara on the outer ring road in Bengaluru pic.twitter.com/zvRB2sbG0Z ANI (@ANI) January 10, 2023 Meanwhile, Madan Kumar, the father of the deceased, demanded the cancellation of the construction work and said that he would not take her body till the contract is not cancelled. "Till the contractor's license is not cancelled, I won't take the body. Who gave them permission to build such tall pillars? The tender should be cancelled and the work should be stopped. I will see what is to be done in court," Kumar said. Take precautions to avert any such occurrence in future: Husband of woman killed in Bengaluru mishap tells govt Lohit, the husband of the woman who died in the incident, asked the government to take safety measures and precautions to avert any such occurrence in the future. "What should I tell the government, I have lost everything. The government should only ensure that such incidents do not occur in the future. All the safety and precautions should be taken so that others do not have to face this situation," he said. Narrating the ordeal of the incident, he said, "We were travelling in a two-wheeler. I was supposed to drop them to a concerned place and then leave from there. But this incident happened within a fraction of a second. As I looked back, my wife and kid had fallen." Basavaraj Bommai govt announces compensation to family of woman killed in Bengaluru Metro pillar collapse The Basavaraj Bommai-led Karnataka government and Namma Metro have announced a compensation of Rs 20 lakh each to the affected family. Addressing reporters in Dharwad, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai assured an inquiry into the incident and announced compensation to the bereaved. "I just got to know about it, we will get it investigated... We will ascertain the reason for the collapse of the pillar and provide compensation," he said. He called the incident "unfortunate" and said an inquiry will be done and a case will be registered against those responsible. 20 , 10 . 2/2 Basavaraj S Bommai (@BSBommai) January 10, 2023 Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation (BMRCL) Managing Director Anjum Parvez, who visited the spot, described the incident as unfortunate. "According to a report by our engineer all the safety measures were taken as per the standard protocol, but still the incident has happened, so we will have to do the fact finding. Whether there was any manual negligence or technical problem we will get to know from the report. If there was any manual negligence action will certainly be taken against those responsible," he said, adding that Rs 20 lakh compensation will be given to the family by the Metro rail administration. (With agency inputs) J&K: A man was apprehended by police for carrying over fifty-seven lakh cash hidden in a geyser in the North Kashmir Handwara area of Kupwara district. SP Handwara Sheema Qasba said Today during checking at Braripora Handwara, one person named Syed Irfan Abdullah, Handwara was apprehended carrying cash concealed in a geyser. On counting the recovered cash in presence of the Magistrate, the recovered amount was over 57 lakh". She added that the police have taken Cognisance. Confirming the recovery, a police officer registered FIR under relevant sections for further investigations. Yesterday in a similar incident a man was arrested in the Srinagar district hub with a huge amount of money and narcotics. Srinagar Police in a tweet said "One Terror associate of LeT Farzan Farooz arrested on a Naka. Proceeds of terror worth Rs 9,95,000, 450 grams of Heroin, letter pads of LeT, Matrix sheets, Bike, etc were recovered. Jharkhand: Six personnel of CRPF's elite COBRA battalion were injured on Wednesday in a bomb blast after an encounter with the outlawed CPI(Maoist) at Tumbahaka forest in Jharkhand's naxal-affected West Singhbhum district, a senior police official said here. However, none of them were injured seriously and they were airlifted to a Ranchi hospital, West Singhbhum superintendent of police Ashutosh Shekhar told PTI. The left wing extremists triggered the blast when personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), its Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (COBRA), Jharkhand Jaguar of the state police and the district armed police were conducting an anti-naxal operation in the forest, he said. The LWEs opened fire at the security forces when they advanced toward them. This prompted the security forces to retaliate and the naxals, forced to retreat triggered the blast. A massive search operation is on to track down the extremists, the SP added. The West Singhbhum district police is carrying out an intensified operation against LWEs for the past several weeks in naxal-dominated areas which forced a number of them to lay down arms, Shekhar said. Also Read: Maoists uprooted from Buddha Pahad in Jharkhand; Amit Shah calls it 'historic milestone' in internal security Among those who surrendered to the police were eight extremists considered to be close to top Maoist leader Misir Besra, who carries a bounty of Rupees one crore on his head. The police have appealed to the youths who have joined the LWEs to take advantage of the government's surrender and rehabilitation policy and lay down their arms. New Delhi: Joshimath, the 'sinking' hill town in Uttarakhand, is facing land subsidence and many buildings in the area have become unsafe for habitation as a result. Protests are now ongoing in the town as residents demand compensation for their damaged homes. Panic arose when cracks appeared in over 600 homes and then residents were asked to move out to safe shelters in case of further damage to their homes. Residents are expressed to be emotionally disturbed by the sudden displacement from their homes. Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand, on Tuesday (January 10), held a meeting at the secretariat to discuss the landslides in Joshimath. He instructed the District Magistrate of Chamoli to closely monitor the situation as per ANI. The Chief Secretary emphasized the importance of taking steps to prevent loss of life and property caused by landslides, suggesting the immediate relocation of families to safer areas and the demolition of buildings considered at high risk as priority measures. Report on Joshimath by Mishra Committee in 1976 Joshimath is currently facing a grave threat from land subsidence. According to a report by the Mishra Committee in 1976, Joshimath lies on an ancient landslide deposit of sand and stone, and not on the main rock. So, this means that it resides on landslide debris. The report also highlighted the undercutting by river currents of Alaknanda and Dhauliganga as contributing factors to the landslides. Geographically, the area is characterized by scattered rocks covered with old landslide debris consisting of boulders, gneissic rocks, and loose soil, with a low bearing capacity as per the report. These gneissic rocks are highly weathered and have a low cohesive value, making them susceptible to high pore pressure when saturated with water, particularly during monsoons. Increased construction, and hydroelectric projects made land subsidence worse The situation in Joshimath has been exacerbated by increased construction activities, hydroelectric projects, and the widening of the National Highway in the past couple of decades. These activities have made the slopes highly unstable and vulnerable to landslides. The running streams from Vishnuprayag and sliding along natural streams are also cited as other reasons for the city's fate. Several experts said that a complete shutdown of development and hydroelectric projects in the region would be the suitable step now. However, the immediate need is to relocate the residents to a safer place and then reimagine the town's planning to accommodate the new variables and changing geographical factors. Drainage planning is one of the most critical issues that need to be studied and redeveloped. The city is suffering from poor drainage and sewer management, leading to more waste seeping into the soil, loosening it from within. The irrigation department has been asked by the state government to look into the issue and create a new plan for the drainage system. (With agency inputs) Joshimath: The Uttarakhand government has announced an interim relief of Rs 1.5 lakh to affected families affected by land subsidence in Joshimath. According to officials, cracks have appeared in 723 buildings in the town and so far 131 families have been shifted to safer locations. Secretary to Uttarakhand Chief Minister R Meenakshi Sundaram stated that "apart from the two hotel buildings which are marked 'unsafe', no other building is being demolished." District Magistrate, Chamoli, Himanshu Khurana said that the central team will survey the damage to properties due to the land subsidence and suggest a way forward while coordinating with the local administration in relief and rescue efforts. Also Read: Joshimath crisis: The 1976 report that warned 'sinking' town has fragile geology 131 families shifted to relief centres "We are in touch with local representatives and asked them to bring it to our notice if new cracks appear. 131 families have been shifted to relief centres," District Magistrate, Chamoli, Himanshu Khurana told ANI. Locals in Joshimath have protested against the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) demanding its withdrawal from the state. District officials have asked people to vacate homes and other establishments that have been identified for demolition which have developed cracks and have been identified as "unsafe". Hotel Malari Inn, Hotel Mount View marked for demolition The owners of Hotel Malari Inn and Hotel Mount View have been marked for demolition, but the process of dismantling was halted after protests by the owner of Malari Inn and some locals. The protestors demanded compensation as per the rates listed under the Badrinath Dham redevelopment master plan. Speaking to ANI, Thakur Singh Rana, the owner of Hotel Malari Inn said, "My son stays in France. I can move there. But I am sitting in protest instead in solidarity with fellow (Joshimath) residents."His wife said, "We need to be compensated as those affected by the ongoing Badrinath redevelopment work. We are even prepared to sit out in the freezing cold till our demand is met." (With ANI inputs) After conducting an inspection survey of the upstream and downstream region near the Joshimath area, which is affected by landslide and land-subsidence, Prof Rajeev Sinha, team head of Kanpur IIT Geological Research, said the situation in Joshimath could worsen if there is a spell of rain or an earthquake. "The cracks and destruction had started earlier. It`s winter season. But after a spell of rain or if an earthquake hits this area, the situation would be beyond control," said Prof Sinha. The Professor cited three main reasons behind the present tragedy of Joshimath: "Firstly, this is an active zone and comes in zone 5. Secondly, this area is earthquake and landslide-prone. Thirdly, the whole area is built on the debris of old landslide and whatever development has happened after that, the foundations of the houses have been unplanned and they have been built in a clumsy way." The Professor also said, "The water flow amid the cracks of the stones is increasing and the water flow pressure is making the situation further worse." The IIT`s survey team conducted a survey near Alakananda and Dhauliganga."We have conducted a survey near Alakananda and Dhauliganga for an NTPC plant for two years. We have seen many changes in Vari district." Taking note of the situation, the Centre constituted a team of experts from seven different organisations to study and submit its recommendations after a high-level meeting on Joshimath. The experts from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), National Institute of Disaster Management, Geological Survey of India, IIT Roorkee, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, National Institute of Hydrology and Central Building Research Institute have been tasked with assessing the situation and giving recommendations on preserving the holy town. The decision to set up the expert team was taken in a high-level review meeting chaired by Principal Secretary to Prime Minister PK Mishra. New Delhi: Lal Bahadur Shastri served as the second Prime Minister of India, from 1964 until his sudden death in 1966. He is best known for his leadership during the 1965 India-Pakistan War, and for coining the slogan "Jai Jawan Jai Kisan" (Hail the Soldier, Hail the Farmer). Shastri died on January 11, 1966, in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, where he had gone to sign a peace agreement with Pakistan. His death remains a subject of debate as conspiracy theories suggest that he was murdered. However, these theories lack concrete evidence, and the Indian government's official position is that Shastri died of a heart attack. Lal Bahadur Shastri's death was a great loss for the nation, as he was a popular leader who had earned the respect and admiration of the people. His death anniversary (January 11) is observed every year with great reverence, and various programs are organized by the government and non-governmental organizations to honor his memory. Take a look at some must-know facts about the 2nd Prime Minister of the country Lal Bahadur Shastri who played a pivotal role in the freedom movement, joined the government after India gained independence. He held positions as Railways minister and Home Minister under Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. He played a key role in promoting the "White Revolution," a campaign aimed at increasing milk production and supply in the country, by supporting the Amul milk cooperative in Gujarat and creating the National Dairy Development Board. He also promoted the "Green Revolution" in India, which led to an increase in food grain production, particularly in the states of Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh. He was honored posthumously with the Bharat Ratna award and a memorial was constructed in his honor in Delhi called "Vijay Ghat." Lal Bahadur Shastri passed away in Tashkent on January 11, 1966, shortly after signing a peace treaty to end the 1965 Indo-Pakistan War. Shastri's ideas and political philosophy were heavily influenced by the works and teachings of leaders such as Swami Vivekananda, and Mahatma Gandhi. Shastri is remembered as a great leader, who served the nation with selfless dedication. He played a vital role in India's socio-economic development, and many of his policies, such as the "Green Revolution," continue to have a positive impact on the country today. Bengaluru: The Congress party began their 'Prajadhwani Yatra' in Karnataka on Wednesday (January 11) as part of their campaign for the Assembly elections 2023. The bus yatra was led by Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) President DK Shivakumar, followed by senior leader Siddaramaiah and others. The yatra will travel through different parts of the state to campaign for the party in the BJP-ruled state. While speaking about the yatra, DK Shivakumar pledged to make the people aware of the BJP government's failure in Karnataka through the campaign. He told ANI, "BJP government has failed in three years. We have started this yatra to make people aware of the government's failures. This is our public voice. This is the voice of the citizens. " Congress Party kickstarts its election campaign for the 2023 Karnataka Assembly Polls as party's state president DK Shivakumar and former CM Siddaramaiah begin party's "People's Voice Yatra" from Belagavi today pic.twitter.com/gDYBx0wpwf ANI (@ANI) January 11, 2023 Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, donning a turban, paid obeisance at Gurdwara Fatehgarh Sahib on Wednesday morning before formally beginning the Punjab leg of the 'Bharat Jodo Yatra'. He sported a turban and wore a half-sleeved T-shirt to the place of worship. The Gandhi scion was accompanied by Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring and other party leaders. Later, he launched a fresh attack on the Centre, saying the general ambience in the country had deteriorated with castes and languages being pitted against one another."They are trying to pit one caste against another and one language against another. They have ruined the general ambience in the country," the former Congress president leader said. (Rahul Gandhi in Fatehgarh Sahib/ Credit: PTI) The yatra, which started from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu on September 7, will conclude in Srinagar by January 30, with Gandhi hoisting the national flag in the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir. The march has so far covered Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Haryana. (With ANI inputs) NEW DELHI: National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI) chairperson Dr NK Arora has reassured that there is no need to panic over the Covid-19 situation in the country but need to keep a close watch on the surge in coronavirus infections in foreign countries to contain the spread of the deadly virus. Dr Arora also confirmed that authorities in India have stepped up genomic surveillance and started airport screening. The NTAGI chief informed that the testing of the sewage samples has not identified any new variant of Covid-19 while also adding that it means that the possibility of an upsurge of the cases is very less. "The sewage sampling is being done and there also we are not getting any indication that either a new variant is here or there is a possibility of the upsurge of cases in the coming days or weeks," the top health expert said. Dr Arora said that India has maintained to be in a "reasonably comfortable position" during the last 12 months. "Our genomic surveillance system has identified almost 300 plus sub-variants of Omicron and they are spread all over the place. From time to time a certain sub-lineage becomes dominant. But the important point is that throughout the years we did not have any massive increase or surge in hospitalizations or deaths," he said. Another important point is that the Omicron variants we are seeing in India are very much the same which are seen in any other parts of the world. And the second point is that they are not able to gain a foothold, or cause hospitalisation or severe disease," the top health official added. Dr Arora said that the country need not panic about the overall COVID situation, however, he suggested keeping a close watch. "I would say the overall situation is something which we need not get panicky about. But the important point is that we have to keep a very close watch, in view of an upsurge in some of the other countries, European North American and East Asian countries," he said. On Monday Union Health Ministry also said that "Sentinel sequencing of 324 COVID Positive Samples reveals the presence of all Omicron Variants in Community. No mortality or rise in transmission was reported in areas where these variants were detected". New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate has attached a house worth Rs 3.64 crore of Archana Nag, prime accused in an alleged sextortion case of Odisha, under the anti-money laundering law, the federal agency said on Wednesday. ''A luxurious house of the prime accused Archana Nag worth Rs 3.64 crore has been attached in connection with ongoing money laundering investigation into the high-profile sextortion racket being run in and around the city of Bhubaneswar,'' the agency said in a statement. The ED said the state police complaint states that the lady blackmailer namely Archana Nag, and her husband (Chand) with the assistance of Shradhanjali Behera and Khageswar Patra generated properties worth crores of rupees through extortion by way of honey trapping high profile and rich people and secretly making their videos and threatening and blackmailing them for lodging false police cases against them and making viral of their videos in social media. Earlier, the ED seized two high-end vehicles worth Rs 56.5 lakhs under section 17 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. ED had recorded an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) for taking up an investigation under the provisions of the PMLA against Archana Nag, her husband Jagabandhu Chand, Shradhanjali Behera, and Khageswar Patra on the basis of two separate FIRs registered by Bhubaneshwar Police. The central agency is probing the assets and cash amassed by alleged blackmailer Archana Nag, her husband Jagabandhu Chand and their associates, over a few years. The ED has traced Rs 2.5 crore deposits in the bank accounts of Archana and Jagabandhu between 2017 and 2022 and investigating the matter. Archana Nag belongs to Kalahandi and she is accused of amassing over Rs 30 crore along with her husband between 2018 and 2022 by blackmailing and threatening some politicians and affluent people. Bhubaneshwar Police arrested Archana, her husband and her Associate Khageswar on the charges of blackmailing and are now lodged in Bhubaneshwar jail. Further investigation, in this case, is under progress. The U.S Department of State awarded four U.S. companies the Award for Corporate Excellence. Established in 1999, the Award recognizes the crucial role U.S. companies are playing in showcasing high standards of business conduct in a variety of categories. Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Jose Fernandez handed the first award to Intel for addressing the challenge of inequity. We all know that when we broaden access to economic opportunities . . . we help to unlock the full potential of our peoples and our societies, he said. Thats what employees at Intel in Costa Rica have done, and thats what they wanted to do. They started a program for young people interested in STEM, focusing on students in the historically underserved region of Costa Rica, Limon. Through the program, young people can learn STEM skills like computer programming, improving their English, and finding internships in other tech companies. The second award went to Drinkwell, a company that is helping supply Bangladesh with safe drinking water, announced Undersecretary Fernandez: One of Drinkwells founders developed a water purification system thats cheaper and thats more efficient and its easier to operate than other models. The company has also created a new delivery method, ATM-style machines that sell and dispense clean water in Bangladesh and are more accessible for people whose homes arent connected to water pipes. Gap in India is proving that they can do good business while also doing right by their employees and their community, said Undersecretary Fernandez: Throughout Gaps supply chain and across the countrys apparel industry, Gap has implemented policies for their vendors to help prevent and address gender-based violence in the workplace, and they have also created training programs that have benefitted more than half a million women and girls in India since 2007. Anova, a company in Indonesia, received the final award for leading the way in producing seafood that meets high standards for quality and safety, and its doing so ethically. These four companies . . .are more than just places of business, declared Undersecretary Fernandez. Theyre champions of our countrys highest principles and values, and partners in tackling the most vexing global challenges in our time. And theyre helping make real the vision of a world thats open, free, secure, and prosperous. Varanasi: The Ganga Vilas luxury cruise, which left Kolkata on December 22, reached Ramnagar Port in Varanasi on Tuesday. The cruise which was scheduled to reach Varanasi on Saturday arrived late due to bad weather, said sources. The cruise will move from the Ramnagar port to Sant Ravidas Ghat where it will be given a grand welcome. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually flag off the MV Ganga Vilas Cruise Yatra on January 13. The luxury triple-deck cruise will travel on the world`s longest waterway from Varanasi to Dibrugarh in Assam. The cruise will have a capacity of 80 passengers with 18 suits. This cruise will go on an adventurous journey for 51 days and pass through Bangladesh for 15 days. Following this, it will go to Dibrugarh through the Brahmaputra river in Assam. The luxury cruise will cover a distance of more than 3,200 kms and pass through 5 states in India and Bangladesh. This cruise will pass through a total of 27 river systems of UP, Bihar, West Bengal, Bangladesh, and Assam. Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh | The Ganga Vilas luxury cruise, which left Kolkata on December 22, reached Ramnagar Port in Varanasi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually flag off the MV Ganga Vilas Cruise Yatra on January 13. pic.twitter.com/vKRLAi5tML ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) January 11, 2023 The cruise will pass through three major rivers Ganga, Meghna, and Brahmaputra.The cruise will enter the Bhagirathi, Hooghly, Bidyavati, Malata, and Sundarbans river systems in Bengal. In Bangladesh, it will pass through Meghna, Padma, and Jamuna in Bangladesh and then enter the Brahmaputra in Assam. According to an official statement, the 51 days cruise is planned with visits to 50 tourist spots including World Heritage Sights, National Parks, river Ghats, and major cities like Patna in Bihar, Sahibganj in Jharkhand, Kolkata in West Bengal, Dhaka in Bangladesh and Guwahati in Assam. New Delhi: A court in the national capital on Tuesday (January 10, 2023) extended the judicial custody of Aaftab Amin Poonawala, who is accused of killing his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar, for two weeks. The 28-year-old was produced before Metropolitan Magistrate Aviral Shukla in the court lockup. The court had extended Poonawala's judicial custody by four days last Friday and had sought his physical production. Poonawala allegedly sawed Walkar's body into 35 pieces and kept them in a 300-liter fridge for almost three weeks at his residence in Delhi's Mehrauli before dumping them across the capital over several days in May last year. Meanwhile, 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, his counsel MS 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 added. "The jail authorities submitted that they will provide him with the books he has requested," Khan said. Poonawala had also moved an application for releasing his credit and debit cards from the custody of Delhi Police. His plea submitted that the accused had been in custody since November and that 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 Delhi 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. The court, however, directed the prison authorities concerned to provide Poonawala with warm clothes. Earlier last month, the Tihar jail authorities had provided Aaftab Poonawala with Paul Theroux's railway odyssey 'The Great Railway Bazaar' following his request. New Delhi: The trial in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case against accused Ashish Mishra, according to a report will take five years to conclude, the Supreme Court noted on Wednesday. The bench of justices Surya Kant and V Ramasubramanian made the observations while hearing the plea filed by Ashish Mishra, challenging the Allahabad High Court order which denied him bail in connection with the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case. 208 witnesses in Lakhimpur Kheri violence case The report of Additional Sessions Judge Lakhimpur Kheri said it will take 5 years for the trial to conclude as there are 208 witnesses in the case, the bench noted. The report was filed in pursuance to the direction issued by the Supreme Court to Additional Sessions Judge at Lakhimpur Kheri to apprise top court how much time the trial of Lakhimpur violence case is likely to take without compromising with other pending matters. Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh government apprised the court that charges have been framed against the accused in the case. The court sought to know if the co-accused in the case are in custody. Due to the unavailability of the complainant's counsel in the matter, the court on Wednesday adjourned the matter for January 19, asking the UP government to inform it whether the accused in the matter are still in custody. The complainant`s counsel, Prashant Bhushan, urged the court to hold the trial on a day-to-day basis and deal with the material witnesses first. Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi appeared for Mishra in the matter. Ashish Mishra, the son of Union Minister Ajay Mishra, moved Supreme Court challenging Allahabad High Court which denied bail to him in connection with the Lakhimpur Kheri violence caseOn July 26, 2022, the Allahabad High Court denied bail to Ashish Mishra, the son of Union Minister Ajay Mishra, in connection with the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case. The bail was rejected by the Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court. The said order is challenged by Ashish Mishra in the Supreme Court filed through advocate on record T Mahipal. Four farmers died in the Lakhimpur case and the accused and the accused's car was present there. This case comes under the category of a heinous crime, said the High Court had said earlier. Allegations against Ashish Mishra in Lakhimpur Kheri violence Mishra is facing a case of murder for the incident that took place on October 3, 2021, in which eight people, including four farmers, were killed in Lakhimpur Kheri. Mishra allegedly ran over the farmers who were protesting against the Centre`s three farm laws. He was arrested on October 9 and granted bail in February 2022. Mishra, again moved to the High Court as its earlier order was set aside by the Supreme Court in April 2022 and had ordered fresh consideration of his bail plea. The top court, earlier, set aside the Allahabad High Court order dated February 10, 2022, and remitted the matter back to the High Court. The top court had said that the order of the Allahabad High Court cannot be sustained and had to be set aside and the bail bonds of the respondent/accused are cancelled. The court had directed Ashish Mishra to surrender within a week. Family members of the victims of the Lakhimpur Kheri incident moved the Supreme Court challenging the Allahabad High Court order, which granted bail to Ashish Mishra. The top court cancelled the bail plea of Mishra. Earlier, the Supreme Court had appointed a committee headed by retired Punjab and Haryana high court judge Rakesh Kumar Jain to monitor the probe into the Lakhimpur Kheri violence. Lucknow: In a major road accident, six vehciles piled up due to low visibility amid dense fog on the Agra-Kanpur National Highway in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday morning. Trucks, buses and cars collided on the highway, leaving several people injured in the accident. According to the witnesses, officials of the state government`s Mining Department had stopped a dumper truck for checking, which led to the pile-up. Also Read: Dense FOG engulfs Delhi-NCR: Here's how to avoid road accidents and drive safe? Tips and Tricks An Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) bus en route from Etawah to Mathura, carrying around 50 passengers, was also part of the pile-up. No casualties have been reported so far. (With agency inputs) New Delhi: Fatima Sana Shaikh is turning a year older today and as she marks a new year in her life, it's time that its discussed how she is out and out as a directors actor. Fatima has time and again proved her phenomenal potential with a variety of performances and characters. Be it 'Dangal', 'Ludo', or 'Modern Love, Fatima has always entertained the audience. The actress has worked with a variety of directors, creating layered and relatable characters. Listing down the multiple directors with whom Fatima has worked with: Working with Nitesh Tiwari in Dangal In her debut film, Dangal, Fatima joined hands with director Nitesh Tiwari as she essayed the character of Geeta Phogat. Her role needed hours of training and practicing and she put in a lit of efforts to shape up for the character. Her dedication is second to none. Working with Shonali Bose in Raat Rani Modern Love Mumbai's anthology, Raat Rani features Fatima Sana Shaikh directed by Shonali Bose. Shonali Bose who is a director of 'Raat Rani' expressed her views about Fatima's character and comparisons to the original series. She compared Fatima to Hollywood star Anne Hathway, who was a part of Modern Love, the US original anthology series. Fans also couldn't stop lauding the actor for her performance. Working with Anurag Basu in Ludo The actress delivered a power-packed performance in Ludo, her performance in the film has garnered appreciation from the masses. Playing the character of a mother yet being badass, the young actor has simply nailed it. Fatima Sana Shaikh on working with Shashank Khaitan in Ajeeb Daastaans Fatima Sana Shaikh was seen as Lipakshi in Ajeeb Daastaans. The actress leaves a mark as the bosom-heaving lonely wife. Her performance was highly applauded by the audience. Working with Meghna Gulzar in Sam Bahadur Fatima will be now seen next in the film 'Sam Bahadur' essaying the role of former late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. She has hailed the latter as a maverick director and feels blessed to be directed by her. The actress revealed how she is preparing to play India's first woman Prime Minister, which includes reading a lot of material on. We are supremely excited to see her look for the film. New Delhi: Popular television and film actress Mahekk Chahal was hospitalised recently after she collapsed and couldn't really breathe. The Naagin 6 star shared her horrifying health scare experience and added that she is still in hospital to avoid a 'relapse'. Mahekk is currently stable and on recovery mode. She told Hindustan Times, "I got pneumonia. I was in the ICU for 3-4 days. I was on an oxygen ventilator. I just collapsed on January 2 and it was like knives in my chest. I couldnt take a single breath. I was rushed to the hospital and admitted immediately. A CT scan was taken. Im still hospitalised, its been eight days, though Im in the normal ward. I have improved a lot, the oxygen still goes up and down. Both my lungs were infected. Mahekk Chahal shared, "I was super scared because I have never come to a point in my life where I cant take a breath and Im about to faint. Every time I was coughing it was painful, I was thinking, What is going on? as we had no clue." "I thought I had a normal cold, so I was doing all the remedies. I didnt realise that the cold and the cough were so severe. Now I dont want to take any chances, so I want to get 100% fit and then get discharged," she said. Mahekk Chahal was one of the most talked-about contestants in Bigg Boss season 5 and was also seen in adventure show 'Khatron Ke Khiladi 11'. New Delhi: Controversial celebrity and reality TV star Rakhi Sawant was recently seen at her top game in Bigg Boss Marathi 4. However, after bagging the slot in the top 5 finalists, Rakhi opted to take the Rs 9 lakh amount and leave the show. Once out, she got the unfortunate news of her mother Jaya Bheda's critical illness. Rakhi's mother has been diagnosed with a brain tumour and cancer. Rakhi shared a video on Instagram, showing a glimpse of her ailing mother in the hospital. The Bigg Boss star was inconsolable as she urged fans to pray for her mother's recovery. Sharing the post, Rakhi wrote in the caption, Mom is in hospital. She is not well pray for her." Rakhi said, "Hi everyone, I came out from Bigg Boss Marathi Season 4 last night. My mom is not well, she is in hospital. Please pray for her, she is not feeling her best." Her boyfriend Adil Khan Durrani and her brother Rakesh are also seen with her in the video shared online. "She is fighting a battle with cancer. We just came to know that she has brain tumour with cancer," said Rakhi. Her mother is admitted at Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital in Mumbai. In 2021, during her Bigg Boss 15 stint Rakhi Sawant had revealed on the show that her mother Jaya Bheda is battling cancer and needs to be operated soon. After the reality show got over, Rakhi's first post on social media was her ailing mother's heart-breaking pictures as she had shaved off her head. Jaya Bheda had a tumour of the gallbladder which turned cancerous. Meanwhile, viral photos of Rakhi Sawants secretly getting married to boyfriend Adil Durrani have surfaced online. In the photos, their registered marriage document can be seen with the couple posing for cams. Rakhi or Adil have not yet offically shared the wedding update as of now. Greater Noida: Actor Shah Rukh Khan, on Wednesday, arrived in Greater Noida to attend the Auto Expo 2023.During the media interaction, the `Chak De India` actor was seen singing the song `Tujhe Dekha To Ye Jaana Sanam` from his blockbuster hit film 'Dilwale Dulhaniyaa Le Jayenge' in front of the paps which made the fans go crazy. The `Dilwale` actor`s fan club shared a video of him singing at the event and wrote, "Awwwwww I loovee him singing!!" Watch the viral video here SRK`s videos and pictures from the event got viral on social media. In one of the videos, the `Chennai Express` actor could be seen giving his iconic romantic pose, extending his hands while leaning to one side, at the event. Shah Rukh was seen donning a stylish black suit and a plain white shirt and accessorized his look with black shades. The `Kuch Kuch Hota Hai` actor arrived at the Auto Expo 2023 to launch the Hyundai motors first all-electric IONIQ5 SUV. Talking about the car, Shah Rukh joked with the company`s team during the media interaction and said "I would request the wonderful set of people to make it a company policy ki jabbhi main Delhi aayu, nayi gaadi launch karne k liye, toh yeh gaadi main free mein ghar le kar jau (whenever I come to Delhi to launch a new car, I should be able to take it home for free). For the rest of you, I wish you a great morning, and a Happy New Year. I wish you all the goodness in the world, a very healthy life." Watch the video of his iconic DDLJ pose here Meanwhile, SRK finally unveiled the official trailer of his upcoming action thriller film `Pathaan` on Tuesday, which received massive responses from the fans. Helmed by Siddharth Anand, the film also stars Deepika Padukone and John Abraham and is all set to hit the theatres on January 25, 2023. New Delhi: Young Bollywood star Bhumi Pednekar, who has become a force to reckon with in Indian cinema with her powerful performances, always takes a break to travel and rejuvenate between her film shoots. Bhumi finds it extremely therapeutic and says she wants to promote the idea of traveling among people because it can do wonders for ones mental well-being. Bhumi says, For me, travel is extremely therapeutic. I make it a point to take a break after my hectic work schedule and travel to someplace new because I love to make new memories with my loved ones and also learn about the culture, traditions and food of these places. I feel I have grown as a human being because of my travels. These trips have enriched me, satiated my heart, rejuvenated my mind and anchored me. She adds, I would love to speak more about the need for travel and how it can help us mentally in the coming years. Im glad I got the time to fly to Mexico and recharge my batteries before I take on the new year! Bhumi has an intense year ahead of her with six film releases in 2023, the most for any actor in India! She says, I have six back to back releases, plus new shoots. So, this trip was essential for me because I know I wont get the time this year to do a big trip that will inspire me and fascinate me. But Im not complaining. Bhumi adds, I love to work and Im fortunate that I have a packed year of releases. This is exactly how I want my years in cinema to be - choosing and being a part of the best cinema of our country. On the work front, Bhumi will be seen in films like Anubhav Sinhas Bheed, Ajay Bahls The Ladykiller, Sudhir Mishras Afwaa, Gauri Khan produced Bhakshak, Mudassar Azizs Mere Husband Ki Biwi and a couple of more unannounced projects that will push the bar for cinema. Benin and Niger signed a regional compact during the recent U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington. The compact is designed to reduce transportation costs along the corridor between the Port of Cotonou in Benin and Nigers capital city of Niamey. Millennium Challenge Corporation will invest $202 million in Benin and $302 million in Niger. These investments will be further supported by $15 million in contributions from both Benin and Niger and are expected to benefit an estimated 1.6 million people. Benin and Niger are two of the fastest growing economies in Sub-Saharan Africa. Their partnership will support growth, strengthen trade and transportation infrastructure, and connect their nations, their industries, and their people, said Secretary of State Antony Blinken: The port in Benin is critical to the economy of West Africa, the Cotonou port. For Benin, its a major source of revenue, facilitating international trade, allowing the export of its products. For neighboring countries like Niger, this port is the main gateway for exporting goods to markets around the world, as well as for importing vital products, including food and cooking oil. The MCC compacts will invest more than half a billion dollars in that infrastructure, and theyll do it with grants, which means that they wont saddle governments with debt, said Secretary Blinken. The projects will bear the hallmarks of Americas partnership. Theyll be transparent, theyll be high quality, theyll be accountable to the people that they mean to serve, and theyll also support good governance. When completed, these projects will make it faster and safer to transport goods along roads and across borders, and theyll connect Benin and Niger to bigger markets and greater opportunities, he said. These are developments that in turn can help economies grow sustainably and equitably and deliver meaningful pathways to prosperity for hundreds of thousands, if not more, people. At the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, weve made it a priority to mobilize these kinds of investments because we know that this is how you create real, tangible benefits for people on both sides of the Atlantic, said Secretary Blinken. The Benin-Niger Compact is a milestone; this is innovation, declared Secretary Blinken. I think it points the way forward. . .for Africa and for our friends in Benin and Niger. New Delhi: Apple's upcoming iPhone 16 Pro model will reportedly feature under-display Face ID technology to provide a more usable display area. The tech giant is likely to place the parts needed for Face ID authentication directly under the iPhone's display next year, reports MacRumors. The TrueDepth camera for Face ID won't be visible under the display when it is not in use, instead, it will appear seamlessly blended with the surrounding screen area. The hole in the display for the front camera is expected to remain on the iPhone 16 Pro, however, the overall display area and sense of immersion are likely to be improved. (Also Read: Samsung Galaxy S23 5G series launch event: Check how & where to watch the live event, price, release date in India, other key details) Since the under-display technology is not yet ready, the display cutouts will not change from the iPhone 14 Pro to the iPhone 15 Pro later this year. The iPhone maker is likely to adopt an under-panel camera (UPC) once it implements under-display Face ID technology, thereby eliminating all of the display cutouts on the iPhone currently in use, the report said. (Also Read: BharatPe co-founder Ashneer Grover offers Mercedes to employees to stay in his new startup for 5 years) Meanwhile, in August last year, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that "high-end iPhones in 2024 would adopt an under-display front camera alongside the under-display Face ID". San Francisco: Tech giant Google has released the Android 13 QPR (Quarterly Platform Release) Beta 2 update for Pixel devices which comes with multiple bug fixes and also brings support for Unicode 15 emojis. According to SamMobile, the beta update brings 21 emoji, ranging from new animals to a bunch of other characters. The update introduced new animal emojis -- donkey, moose, goose, and jellyfish, as well as a wing. Moreover, the blackbird replaces the already existing bluebird, and the update also brings ginger, hyacinth, and pea pod emojis, according to the report. New coloured hearts -- pink, light blue, and grey -- are also included. The list of new emojis is further joined by a shaking face, a hand pushing toward the right, and a hand pushing to the left, and these hand emojis come available in different skin tones, said the report. Other emojis include a folding hand fan, hair pick, flute, maracas, khanda, and wireless. These new emojis do not appear on Gboard yet, however, users can use these new emojis available with the Android 13 QPR Beta 2 update by copying and pasting, the report added. Meanwhile, the Android 13 update is also bringing the once Pixel-exclusive Personal Safety application to more smartphones. Currently, on Google Pixel phones, the Personal Safety application includes several features designed to make sure that users are ready for any type of disaster strike. New Delhi: Having hosted Bigg Boss for almost 12 years, Salman Khan is that one host who shares a great bond not just with the contestants but with their family members too. There have been many contestants who came on the show and everyone shared a great bond with Salman Khan. As he is the one who enjoys a crazy amount of love from all across the globe, evidence of the same has been time and again witnessed in the house of Bigg Boss when Salman khan was seen sharing heartwarming moments with the family members of the contestants of the show. Here are some moments when Salman khan was seen sharing some really heartwarming moments with the families of the contestants. 1. Salman Khan makes Shiv's mother comfortable In Bigg Boss season 16, when Shiv Thakare's mother entered the house it was indeed an emotional moment for the contestant to have his mother in the house. As he also went on to break down in tears to see his mother after a long time, Salman khan stepped up to comfort his mother and make her feel good. 2. Salman Khan's fun banter with Shehnaaz Gill's brother It was Bigg Boss season 13 when Shehnaaz Gill's brother Shehbaz Gill entered the house. While Salman Khan also entered the show with him, Shehbaz made Salman khan laugh with his fun activities. 3. Salman Khan with Hindustani Bhau's son While Hindustani Bhau was in the house of Bigg Boss in season 13, he called his son onto the stage. While Hindustani Bhau's son was on the stage, Salman Khan had a fun conversation with him as he teased him and asked him to share something about his father. Salman Khan was also seen saying Hindustani Bhau that 'Your son is fully gone on you'. 4. Salman Khan reunites Rashami Desai with her mother Rashami Desai has been part of Bigg Boss 13. While her equation inside the house has been much talked about, her equation with her mother outside the house had also been in talks. As Rashami and her mother were not talking for a few years, during the grand finale Salman Khan called her mother and acted as a mediator to resolve the talks between them. 5. Salman Khan's fun banter with Sidharth Shukla's family Sidharth Shukla had been part of Bigg Boss 13. When he was entering the show, Salman was seen asking his sister and mother whether he does the work at home or not. It was indeed a fun talk when Salman khan was pulling his legs in front of his family. Paris: Several people have been stabbed by a knife-wielding man who attacked several passengers at the Paris central railway station on Wednesday, according to French media reports. France's Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin was quoted by media reports as saying that several people were injured in the attack before the police 'rapidly neutralised' the attacker. Media reports, quoting unnamed police sources, said police opened fire early on Wednesday on the attacker who was armed with a knife and injured several people. The suspect was shot by police multiple times and arrested after the attack at Gare du Nord at around 6.45 am. Interior Minister Darmanin initially confirmed that the attacker injured several people at the station through a tweet but gave no other details on their number or the extent of the injuries. Paris police said the incident at the Gare du Nord station is now over but offered no other immediate details. The man's motivations were not immediately clear, the Paris police added. Pictures shared by social media users showed armed police guarding a cordon on the station concourse. The transport hub is one of the busiest in Europe, with Eurostar trains to London and others to northern Europe. Some rail departures have resumed since the stabbing, which saw the station evacuated and a security perimeter established, the French train firm SNCF said on its website. The fresh knife attack comes after another attack at Gare du Nord last February, when French police shot and killed a man who stabbed two officers, giving them minor injuries. It was not thought to be terror-related. Beijing: 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". 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. It was a pleasure to felicitate Chinas new foreign minister H.E. Qin Gang & reaffirm time-tested strategic cooperative partnership. I look forward to working with him to take our friendship to new heights. @AmbQinGang @mfa_china pic.twitter.com/xSp3rTFsGD BilawalBhuttoZardari (@BBhuttoZardari) January 9, 2023 The security of hundreds of Chinese personnel working on various projects of the USD 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 China's 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 China's 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 Pakistan's 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 USD 27 billion, of which Chinese debt is worth about USD 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. Pakistan: As heated arguments continued inside the Punjab Assembly, a shoe was tossed Tuesday at the windscreen of Home Minister Rana Sanaullahs vehicle outside the legislative. When the incident happened, the minister was sitting in the front passenger seat while his driver drove the car passing by a group of journalists. In a video of the incident that is going viral on social media, the shoe, which appeared to be aimed at Sanaullah, was allegedly launched by an unknown man. It came flying towards his vehicle as the minister prepared to leave the provincial assemblys premises. Sanaullahs driver stopped the car for a moment, when the shoe was thrown but moved on once it flew past the vehicle. According to media reports, the shoe was allegedly thrown by the driver of Imran Khan's party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) member (MPA) Rashid Hafeez in the Punjab Assembly. Shoe hurled at the car of Rana Sanaullah outside Punjab Assembly. pic.twitter.com/PikUHRQ6av January 10, 2023 Earlier today, the minister along with Special Assistant to Prime Minister Attaullah Tarar and other party leaders were barred by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) controlled Punjab government. As per the details, the police and the assembly staff stopped the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmakers and leaders from entering the premises of the building; however, some of the members forced their way into it. Sanaullah, addressing a press conference with other party leaders, said the security agencies were also told not to let them (PML-N leaders) enter the assembly; however, they refused to follow the "illegal" orders. "The IG Punjab was also asked to prevent us from entering the building but he refused to implement the orders," said the PML-N leader, adding they (the Punjab government) were using these tactics because they knew they did not have the numbers for the vote of confidence. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Punjab's coalition government have been at loggerheads for several days as the political turmoil intensifies over Punjab Chief Minister Parvez Elahi's vote of confidence. Lima: Peru Prime Minister Alberto Otarola on Tuesday imposed a nighttime curfew in the southern Puno region after clashes between protesters and security forces which claimed the lives of 18 people on Monday, Anadolu Agency reported. Alberto Otarola said the three-day nighttime curfew will last three days and run from 8 pm to 4 am (local time) in Puno. The decision of Peru`s PM comes after a mob of some 2000 people tried to enter the airport in the city of Juliaca in the Puno region. Protests have been taking place in Peru since December 7, when the country`s President Pedro Castillo was ousted and arrested after he tried to dissolve congress in an effort to avoid impeachment over allegations of corruption, as per the news report. Pedro Castillo`s removal from office sparked protests which left at least 47 people dead. Protesters have called for early elections and the release of Castillo. Pedro Castillo has been serving 18 months of pre-trial detention. On Monday, Peru President Dina Boluarte said that she has already proposed to Congress to bring forward the elections. as per the Anadolu Agency report. She stressed that violence and chaos can make things "harder" and anything can be achieved during peace. Peru Prime Minister Alberto Otarola regretted the death of people. "The only thing in my hands is bringing forward elections and we have already proposed it," Anadolu Agency quoted Dina Boluarte as saying. "During peace, anything can be achieved, but amid violence and chaos it gets harder," she added. Kyiv: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who appeared virtually at the annual Golden Globe Awards 2023 ceremony, has said that "there will be no third World War" as the tide is changing in Ukraine`s ongoing conflict with Russia. At Hollywood`s 80th Golden Globe Awards, which was telecast live, Zelenskyy said "The first World War claimed millions of lives. The second World War claimed tens of millions of them. There will be no third World War, it is not a trilogy." "Ukraine will stop the Russian aggression on our land" with the help of the free world, he said. "It is now 2023; the war in Ukraine is not over yet, but the tide is turning," Zelenskyy said. "And it is already clear who will win," said the Ukrainian President. At the beginning of his address Zelenskyy pointed out that the award show originated in 1943 when the World War II was nearing its end and it was clear who would win but there were still some battles to be fought. "The awards were born at a special time. The second World War wasn`t over yet, but the tide was turned all knew who would win. There were still battles and tears ahead. It was then when the Golden Globe Awards appeared to honor the best performers of 1943." He thanked those who supported the freedom of Ukraine, saying "our common struggle for freedom, democracy, for the right to live, for the right to love" is unifying. The audience cheered when President Zelenskyy announced his projected victory. He concluded, "We will make it together with a whole, free world, and I hope that all of you will be with us on the victorious day -- the day of our victory. Slava Ukraini." Zelenskyy was introduced by actor-director Sean Penn, best known for his Academy Award-winning performances in 2003`s "Mystic River" and 2008`s "Milk." The "Gaslit" star met with Zelenskyy in Kyiv this past November to express his support for the war-torn country, where he had been filming a documentary for Vice Studios earlier in the year. "From the other-worldly courage of young Iranians rising up," Penn said to the crowd. "To the ever persevering women`s movement of Afghanistan. We are reminded, in no uncertain terms, that the freedom to dream is not simply a human luxury but rather a human need that must be fought and sacrificed for. If the freedom to dream were a spear, I proudly present a human being who tonight represents that spear`s most honed tip." As a gift, Penn had given Zelenskyy one of his Oscar trophies in an exchange that was shared on Twitter by Anton Gerashchenko, the advisor to the minister of internal affairs of Ukraine. In return, Penn received an Order of Merit honouring his passionate solidarity with Ukraine. Zelenskyy`s Golden Globes appearance comes one week after the White House committed to sending USD 3.75 billion in military aid to Ukraine and adjacent NATO countries -- the largest assistance package to date from the US amid the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. Last year Zelensky had made a surprise appearance at the Grammys appearing virtually from a bunker and continues to speak at public events advocating for his country in its fight against Russia. New Delhi: The World Health Organization (WHO) will decide this month whether the Covid-19 pandemic still represents a global emergency, a spokesperson said on Tuesday (January 10, 2023). At a press briefing, WHO spokesperson Carla Drysdale said that the UN agency committee will decide on the coronavirus emergency on January 27, three years after it was first declared. 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, the UN agency's highest level of alert. The emergency designation helps international organizations prioritize funding and assistance for research, vaccines and treatments. According to several leading scientists and WHO advisers, it may be too early to declare the end of the pandemic emergency phase because of the rapid surge of infections in China. Alongside the risks for China, some global health figures have also warned that allowing the virus to spread domestically could also give it space to mutate, potentially creating a new variant in line with how it has evolved when allowed to spread in other regions. It is notable that in September last year, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had said "the end is in sight" for the pandemic. Two months later, he had told reporters that he was "hopeful" of an end to the emergency some time next year. However, with the current global pandemic situation, it is unlikely that the UN health body will declare that Covid-19 is not a global emergency. ELKO Please join the Elko Area Chamber for a morning of conversation, food, drink, and raffle prizes at Business Before Hours on Thursday, Jan. 12, with Elko Replenish Med Spa at 1825 Pinion Road, Suite E starting at 8 a.m. Business Before Hours is a free, open to the public event that provides the opportunity to network in order to create/maintain business and community relationships, generate referrals and learn about upcoming events in our community. Elko Replenish Med Spa aims to deliver a non-judgmental practice dedicated to providing the Elko community with convenient care; by administering therapies that best fit your needs, they nurture every single body with holistic care. Their professional health care team offers IV Vitamin Hydration, Hormone Replacement Therapy, Testosterone Replacement, Weight Loss, Joint Injections and Botox. Elko Replenish Med Spa can help you return to optimum health at the best affordable prices in Elko, Nevada. For more information or to schedule an appointment, please call 775-400-1660 or visit their website at elkoreplenishmedspa.com. We hope to see you there, and for any questions, please contact the Chamber at 775-738-7135. Nevada Health Centers has been distributing the Elko Area Resource Guide in northeastern Nevada. This guide, created in partnership with PACE Coalition and supported by a grant from the Community Foundation of Elko County, highlights a selection of medical, behavioral/mental health, and social service providers in and around the Elko region. Nevada Health Centers is the states largest community health center program, offering primary care, behavioral/mental health, dentistry, and pharmacy services at various location in Nevada. We operate 18 community health centers; three mobile health programs; and seven Women, Infants, and Children offices in southern Nevada. Our Elko Family Medical and Dental Center, located at 762 14th St., provides primary care, behavioral/mental health, dentistry, and pharmacy services to anyone in need, regardless of ability to pay. Our mission is to provide access to quality healthcare services throughout Nevada. Katie Neddenriep, Chair of the Fund Advisory Committee for the Community Foundation of Elko County, said Our Committee has identified mental health resilience as an area of focus for our last two grant cycles. It has been wonderful to see Nevada Health Centers taking the lead in bringing organizations together and presenting a resource to serve the entire area. Our hope is the community will utilize this guide to connect with the resources and services as needed. PACE Coalition partnered with Nevada Health Centers on the project, providing the initial contact information for the various resources listed in the guide. PACE is a nonprofit coalition of parents, educators, business leaders, law enforcement, and people from many community sectors who work to strengthen families in Elko, Eureka, and White Pine counties and to keep youth substance free. If you or a loved one needs behavioral/mental health services or support, please call us at 775-738-5850. The Rhyolite Ridge lithium mine of the Ioneer Corporation is now in for its final review at the BLM. Having taught U.S. Energy Policy for 18 years at the University of Nevada in Reno and Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Policy for five years, I am very enthusiastic about this lithium mine and I have visited the mine site and the Buckwheat site the so-called environmentalists are talking about in their attempts to stop the mine. They are on the same ridgeline but the mine site was moved further away to ensure the mine did not hurt the buckwheat or change the environment around it. This mine is very environmentally friendly. They will recycle the water they use and put the land back like it was before. The lithium they produce over 40 years will help save the buckwheat by powering 400,000 plus electric cars a year for 40 years. As we all know, especially the BLM, the environment is rapidly changing for the worse. If we dont electrify a massive number of electric vehicles and clean up our power production, the Greenhouse Gases we continue to produce will ensure the destruction of the buckwheat through frequent droughts and wildfires. This mine helps save the environment and the licensing should be expedited to help save our country and enable the BLM to continue to do a great job preserving our country. True environmentalists support this mine and the opening up of as many other lithium mine sites as soon as possible. I am an environmentalist and hike frequently in the mountains in the region and am a longtime member of the Sierra Club. As an environmentalist and as a retired professor with great knowledge of both Energy Policy and Climate Change Policy, I urge the rapid licensing for environmental reasons. There is one more good reason to authorize the mine. Our energy security is threatened by our need to import 70% of the lithium we use from China. The lithium is mined in Chile and Australia and then shipped to China. China then processes it and exports the final product to the U. S. The electric car industry will grind to a halt if China cuts off the lithium for political reasons. And it will affect any industry that uses lithium in batteries, such as the cellphones. We need to expedite lithium mining and domestic processing for both environmental and energy security reasons. 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 Goal1:Endpovertyinallitsformseverywhere. 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 societyin 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. The Consulate General of Japan in Ho Chi Minh City and the Department of Tourism of Ho Chi Minh City sign a cooperation agreement. (Photo: hcmcpv.org.vn) Speaking at the signing ceremony, Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa, Director of the City Department of Tourism, said that at present, the total number of tour guides issued with cards in Ho Chi Minh City is 7,340 people, including 4,360 international tour guides and 2,980 domestic tour guides. In which, the number of tour guides using Japanese is still modest at about 0.39%. The city's tourism industry identifies human resource development as a key task, especially focusing on training and fostering tour guides with foreign language skills that are lacking, such as Korean, Japanese, Thai, and Spanish and German languages. The signing program aims to strengthen the good and lasting friendship and solidarity between the two countries, and practically celebrate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Japan (September 21), and foster Japanese foreign language for cadres and civil servants in tourism in Ho Chi Minh City, the staff, employees working in restaurants - hotels and especially tour guides in the city, thereby serving the Japanese market well and contributing to achieving the goal and target of welcoming international visitors in 2023. It also contributes to improving the quality of human resources to better serve the Japanese tourist market, which is one of the key traditional markets of Vietnam tourism, as well as Ho Chi Minh City tourism. It helps tour guides to be more confident in communication, improving their handling skills with Japanese-speaking tourists to visit and experience various types of tourism in Vietnam. Previously, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism coordinated with the Korean Consulate General and the Korean Language Center in Ho Chi Minh City to organize two free Korean language training courses for state management officials and employees in tourism in the city; the staff, employees working in restaurants - hotels and especially the team of tour guides in the city. The City Department of Tourism is recruiting students for a free, beginner level Spanish language training class, scheduled to start from February 2023./. Kernel has signed an agreement with its creditors, in particular with Natixis, ING, the EBRD and the EIB, on the release from redemption until June 30, 2023, of two tranches of guaranteed bonds of $300 million each with a rate of 6.5% and a term of repayment in 2024 and 2027, respectively. The holding reported on the Warsaw Stock Exchange's website that the reason for the postponement of debt payments is the difficulties associated with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as well as with the logistics for the supply of grain and sunflower oil. It is specified that Kernel will continue to pay interest accrued on loans in accordance with the terms of loan agreements. At the same time, the group of companies emphasized that the postponement of the loan repayment will provide the necessary financial stability to work in the conditions of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In addition, the holding will continue to analyze the consequences of Russian aggression in the country and inform all parties interested in its activities about updates and changes in working conditions. "The situation in Ukraine remains highly uncertain and the group continues to face a difficult operating environment. Normal business processes have been disrupted by the Russian blockade of Black Sea ports. This has resulted in a decline in grain and sunflower oil exports since February 24, 2022. The group welcomes the agreement to allow exports grain from the Ukrainian Black Sea ports, there are still many obstacles preventing the full resumption of exports to pre-war levels," Kernel stated. Before the war, Kernel ranked first in the world in sunflower oil production (about 7% of world production) and its export (about 12%). It was also the largest producer and seller of bottled sunflower oil in Ukraine. In addition, the holding was engaged in the cultivation of other agricultural products and their sale. The Energy Ministry of Ukraine is counting on an increase in electricity imports from Europe, which have already been in small volumes since the beginning of the year thanks to the government's recent decision to guarantee energy supplies to consumers of expensive imported electricity, Energy Minister Herman Haluschenko said. "At present, imports are small, but they have been coming since January 1. Moreover, we have made it possible for enterprises to purchase, and this will accordingly affect supplies and their possible limitation in supplies," he told reporters in Kyiv on Wednesday. Commenting on the possible volumes of exports, the minister noted that they would depend on the situation with repairs and the entry into operation of the energy system of the units in the coming days. "Much will depend on future shelling of the energy system, what damage will be, but, of course, we are also counting on imports," he added. According to him, many traders are now dealing with the issue of imports - not only the state-owned ECU, but also private ERU, DTEK Group. As previously reported by the Ministry of Energy, to date, the agreed commercial flows between the EU countries and Ukraine (together with Moldova) amount to 0.7 GW at night and 0.6 GW during the day. These volumes are not enough to fully cover the capacity deficit during the evening peak hours, however, attracting imports will significantly reduce the volume of imbalance. Since the beginning of the full-scale aggression of the Russian Federation, the Ukrainian Red Cross Society (URCS) has provided assistance to almost 10 million Ukrainian citizens. "This is not only the provision of humanitarian aid with food, hygiene products and other essentials, but also assistance in restoring damaged housing, equipping shelters with household appliances, building temporary housing for temporarily displaced persons, restoring electricity networks," the URCS said on Facebook on Tuesday. The Ukrainian Red Cross Society also implements programs of voucher support for vulnerable segments of the population who were forced to leave their homes due to the war. "Our volunteers are on duty at railway stations, border checkpoints, meet evacuation trains, transport people with limited mobility, participate in the evacuation of the population from hot spots and provide assistance at the sites of liquidation of the missile strikes aftermath," the URCS said. The first Red Cross centre on the territory of Ukraine was open in 1867 in Simferopol, the second one in December of the same year in Kamianets-Podilsky. As an independent national society, the Ukrainian Red Cross Society started to function right after the Founding Congress held in 1918 in Kyiv. However, at that time the Society failed to achieve international recognition of its independence and already in 1923-1925 the Ukrainian Red Cross Society officially became part of the Union of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies of the USSR. More than a year after the collapse of the USSR (1992), the president issues a decree "On the Ukrainian Red Cross Society," according to which the URCS is the only national Red Cross Society in Ukraine, and its main task is to assist the public authorities of Ukraine in their activities in humanitarian sphere. In 1993, the Society receives official recognition from the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva and becomes a full member of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. The legal status and legal basis for the activities of the URCS is regulated by the law "On the Ukrainian Red Cross Society" passed by the Verkhovna Rada in 2002. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has decided to terminate the citizenship of Andriy Derkach, Viktor Medvedchuk, Taras Kozak and Renat Kuzmin. "Based on the materials that were prepared by the SBU and the State Migration Service and in accordance with the Constitution, I decided to terminate the citizenship of four persons - Andiy Leonidovych Derkach, Viktor Volodymyrovych Medvedchuk, Taras Romanovych Kozak, Renat Ravilievych Kuzmin," he said in a video address on Tuesday. Medvedchuk is the former head of the Opposition Platform - For Life party and a businessman. Earlier, Medvedchuk was notified of suspicion under Part 1 of Article 111 (high treason), Part 1 of Article 258-3 (assistance to a terrorist organization) and Part 1 of Article 438 (looting of national values) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. In April 2022, he was arrested, and in September he was exchanged for Ukrainian soldiers who were in Russian captivity. Derkach is a pro-Russian MP. In August 2021, the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine imposed personal sanctions against MP Derkach (not a member of any parliamentary faction) and a number of individuals against whom sanctions were imposed by the United States. According to the SBU, he was the head of the intelligence network of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Federation (GRU), which was supposed to assist the Russian Federation in the seizure of Ukraine. Kozak is a pro-Russian media tycoon, a member of the former Opposition Platform - For Life faction. Since January 20, 2022, it has been under US Treasury sanctions. Kuzmin is MP. According to the State Bureau of Investigations, as part of the pretrial investigation, it was established that Kuzmin, on the eve and after the start of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, placed propaganda materials in the media to the detriment of Ukraine. On October 5, 2022, he was notified of suspicion of high treason. The amount of assistance from the Ukrainian Red Cross Society (URCS) to temporarily displaced persons in Kirovohrad region amounted to almost UAH 70 million since the beginning of Russia's armed aggression, According to the URCS official page on Facebook. "In total, during the period of hostilities, we transferred to temporarily displaced persons assistance in the amount of more than UAH 69 million," Valeriy Yurchenko, head of the URCS Kirovohrad regional organization, said. According to him, there are currently about 100,000 temporarily displaced persons in Kirovohrad region. Since mid-July last year, the Home Care program has also been operating in the region - social support and assistance to people over 65 years old. Under this program, more than 160 elderly people receive the help and support of social workers. There are 18 branches of the Ukrainian Red Cross Society in Kirovohrad region. The first Red Cross centre on the territory of Ukraine was open in 1867 in Simferopol, the second one in December of the same year in Kamianets-Podilsky. As an independent national society, the Ukrainian Red Cross Society started to function right after the Founding Congress held in 1918 in Kyiv. However, at that time the Society failed to achieve international recognition of its independence and already in 1923-1925 the Ukrainian Red Cross Society officially became part of the Union of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies of the USSR. More than a year after the collapse of the USSR (1992), the president issues a decree "On the Ukrainian Red Cross Society," according to which the URCS is the only national Red Cross Society in Ukraine, and its main task is to assist the public authorities of Ukraine in their activities in humanitarian sphere. In 1993, the Society receives official recognition from the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva and becomes a full member of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. The legal status and legal basis for the activities of the URCS is regulated by the law "On the Ukrainian Red Cross Society" passed by the Verkhovna Rada in 2002. Source: (20+) Ukrainian Red Cross Society | Kyiv | Facebook https://redcross.org.ua/about-urcs/history/ Samsung Electronics Ukraine provided the Ukrainian Red Cross Society with $6 million in assistance for vulnerable segments of the population. According to the Ukrainian Red Cross Society (URCS) statement on its Facebook page, these funds, in particular, purchased almost 32,200 units of medical supplies (materials for operations, X-ray systems, anesthesia and respiratory devices, ultrasound, incubators for newborns, children's beds), basic necessities (some 77,400 food packages and some 6,800 food voucher packages). In addition, about 1,000 social and health institutions are provided with 3,367 pieces of equipment: washing machines, refrigerators, microwave ovens, and medical freezers. As part of the government social housing program, URCS, with the support of Samsung, equipped apartments for temporarily displaced persons with necessary household appliances, who were also provided with dishes and bed linen. Statements about capture of Soledar by Russians are not true AFU Eastern group's spokesman Statements by the Russian military about the capture of Soledar do not correspond to reality, spokesman for the Eastern Group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Serhiy Cherevaty said in a commentary to Suspilne. "The Russians say Soledar is under their control, this is not true. Details are in the report of the General Staff, wait," he said. Earlier, Russian media reported that allegedly the entire territory of the town of Soledar was taken under control by fighters from the Wagner PMC. Prime Minister of the Swedish Presidency of the European Union Ulf Kristersson says the top priority on the agenda of the country's Presidency of the European Union will be to support Ukraine in its defensive war against Russian aggression. He said this at a press conference in Stockholm on Wednesday. The Prime Minister of Sweden said the real top priority is, quite obviously, Ukraine, to keep working to ensure that the European Union remains united in terms of support for Ukraine, in terms of sanctions against Russia, in terms of military, economic and political support. But also to remain united between the European countries and the USA. This unity is the key, he said. Kristersson said how the day before the start of the war, on February 23, 2022 he met in Helsinki with the Prime Minister of Finland. He said this is about the obvious risk of a war that could start at any time, any day. The minister said the officials have seen and we have discussed the very obvious risk of division that war will create between European countries, as well as cause division between European countries and allies around the world, in particular the United States. War has come, but what has not come is division. Last week Kristersson was in Paris and had a lengthy discussion with President Macron about the values of creating this extraordinary unity of the EU and between Europe and the United States when war threatens the EU, he said. The Prime Minister of Sweden said that during the presidency of the EU, Stockholm, first of all, we will continue to promote EU support for Ukraine in all respects. He said Ukraine's victory in this war is of vital importance to other countries. Unity in Europe and unity between Europe and the United States is and will continue to be the most important resource during our presidency, Kristersson said. He also said that in terms of arms supplies to Ukraine, his country wants to do more, synchronizing these efforts with partners. According to him, the decision will be made in January. The officials agreed that they will continue to help Ukraine, the Prime Minister said. At the same time, he refused to specify what kind of weapons he was talking about. They will return to this issue when the decision is made. It is important to say that we have a common European responsibility, Kristersson said. Russia has imposed restrictions on citizens fit for military service to leave the country. The order was sent by the Russian FSB to all border departments of the country, the Main Intelligence Agency of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine has said. "The text states: 'From January 9, 2023, from 00:00, the border department of the FSB of Russia will ensure that citizens who have a conclusion about readiness for military service from categories 'A,' 'B' and 'C' leave the territory of the Russian Federation," the agency's press service said. For these categories of citizens, the possibility of leaving at all checkpoints in all directions will be closed. At the same time, as follows from the order, citizens of category "B," that is, those who are limitedly fit for military service, will also be banned from leaving. Conscripts belonging to this category are exempted from conscription in peacetime, exempted from military duties and referred to the reserve. The Main Intelligence Agency of the Ministry of Defense said it had previously been reported that a new wave of mobilization was being prepared in Russia. "At the same time, it was noted that the main emphasis will be placed on the quantity, and not the quality, of the mobilized people and the equipment provided to them. It will take about two months to equip and prepare the initial replenishment," the intelligence said. Ukraine to be provided with company of Leopard tanks within framework of intl coalition Duda Ukraine will be provided with a company of Leopard tanks as part of an international coalition of allies, one of which will be Poland, Polish President Andrzej Duda has said. "Recently, we really decided to transfer such support [tanks] to Ukraine from Poland. A company of Leopard tanks will be provided within the framework of the coalition," Duda said at a press conference with the presidents of Ukraine and Lithuania in Lviv as part of the Lublin Triangle. According to him, the decision on the formation of such an international coalition has already been made. "You know that it is necessary to obtain certain official agreements and consents. But first we need to create an international coalition. And we have decided to form this international coalition," Duda said. The Polish President also expressed the hope that the first company of Leopard tanks, along with other types of tanks, will be provided by the coalition member states very soon. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that if the German government cannot independently make an important decision on the supply of Leopard tanks, it could give the green light to countries that are ready to provide these tanks to Ukraine. We rely on Germany because Germany is one of the few countries that can really provide supplies. And after all the discussions about the supply of German weapons, the main battle tanks were left for the last time. There is movement and progress on all other issues. And we understand that if you, as a government, cannot make this last important decision yourself, then at least give the green light to the countries that have your tanks and are ready to provide us with these tanks. But for this they need your permission, Kuleba said in an interview with the German ADR TV channel. Speaking about the course of the government of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, not to act alone on this issue, Kuleba stressed that every day spent on decision-making processes in Berlin or other capitals also means that someone is dying at the front due to lack of weapons. This means that the Russian Wagner mercenaries will continue the offensive and will be able to capture our trenches. This means that another village or city in Ukraine will be under Russian occupation for another day ... it is also a day of fear, suffering, pain, and sometimes death for Ukrainian civilians and soldiers. I think everyone should understand this. Not only in Berlin, but in all capitals of the world, the minister said. At the same time, Kuleba stressed that Germany supplied Ukraine with a lot of necessary weapons, which only strengthened Germany's reputation at the international level and helped the Ukrainian forces to push back the enemy. So I don't see any negative consequences for Germany if the government decides to deliver the main battle tanks to Ukraine. And if there are no negative consequences, then why not do it?he added. Minister Kuleba also noted that the longer the war lasts, the higher the costs - both for Ukraine and for Germany. Therefore, everyone should be interested in a quick victory for Ukraine. Secondly, the argument is not new to us. When we first asked about any weapons, we were told: we cannot do this because it will lead to escalation. Then we got weapons and asked for self-propelled howitzers. And again there was a dispute about escalation. And nothing happened. Russia is escalating regardless of the type of weapons and the number of weapons delivered to Ukraine, the Foreign Minister assured. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Lithuania Gitanas Nauseda, and President of Poland Andrzej Duda signed the Joint Declaration following the Second Summit of the Lublin Triangle held in Lviv, the press service of the Office of the President of Ukraine has said. The Joint Declaration confirms the centuries-old historical ties between Ukraine, Lithuania and Poland, as well as defines the priority areas of cooperation of the Lublin Triangle, in particular in the framework of the strategic course of our country to acquire full membership in the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. "The document noted the intention of Lithuania and Poland to continue providing powerful military, technical, defense, humanitarian and other support to Ukraine. The Joint Declaration highlights support for convening the Global Peace Formula Summit to consolidate international support for the peace plan presented by President Volodymyr Zelensky," it said. "Also, the support for the establishment of a special international tribunal for the crime of aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine has been confirmed. The document specifically noted the expansion of the Black Sea Grain Initiative to other seaports of our country and the importance of continuing the Grain from Ukraine program to strengthen global food security," the press service said. The signing of the Joint Declaration at the level of the Presidents of Ukraine, Lithuania and Poland enshrines the support of the Lithuanian and Polish parties for the prospect of Ukraine's membership in the EU and NATO as soon as the conditions allow. Zelensky: People who have Russian citizenship should not have Ukrainian - let them live in Russia President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Ukrainians who have Russian citizenship should not have Ukrainian citizenship, adding: "let them live in Russia." "Our task is to ensure that all people who today have dual or triple citizenship, including citizenship of the Russian Federation and who have political or spiritual influence on our state - so that all these people necessarily have one citizenship - the Russian Federation, if they also have it. I think they should live in the corresponding state with this citizenship. It seems to me that this is absolutely fair," Zelensky said at a press conference with the heads of Lithuania and Poland in Lviv on Wednesday. This is how he answered a press question about what decisions regarding the deprivation of Ukrainian citizenship to expect ahead against the background of the recent suspension of citizenship of four MPs of Ukraine, including Viktor Medvedchuk, Taras Kozak, Andriy Derkach and Renat Kuzmin. Answering the question on what basis the procedure of deprivation of citizenship of these persons took place, he noted that "some of these persons were deprived of it precisely because of the citizenship of other states in accordance with the legislation and according to the Constitution of Ukraine." At the same time, he noted that he could not disclose all the details with which the SBU provides security in Ukraine. Zelensky speaks in favor of accelerating Ukraine's integration into NATO following example of Sweden, Finland President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky spoke in favor of accelerating the country's integration into NATO. "The decision of NATO members to accelerate the integration of Ukraine into the Alliance would be most effective and in line with reality and our defense potential, as was the case with Sweden and Finland," he said at a press conference following talks with the presidents of Poland and Lithuania in Lviv on Wednesday. "Today, just support for Ukraine from NATO colleagues and just support in the form of rhetoric is not enough. Not enough to motivate our nation, motivate our defenders. We need steps forward. We are looking forward to powerful steps in Vilnius at the NATO summit," Zelensky said. He also noted that decisions on the supply of weapons to Ukraine are made within the framework of the Lublin Triangle. "This proves once again how important cooperation between our states is," he said. "The focus was on safety. I informed about the situation on the front line, about Russia's preparations for a new escalation at the front. We will respond. The main thing is that any escalation should bring the end of the terrorist state closer," Zelensky said. "Considerable attention was paid to our further integration into the EU and NATO. We are preparing for the Ukraine-EU summit and the start of negotiations on Ukraine's membership in the EU, which should take place, we hope, already this year," the head of state said. He also thanked the presidents of Poland and Lithuania for supporting "our people who today have found a temporary home and shelter in your land. The Ukrainian people will always remember that you helped us in difficult times." The Swedish Presidency of the Council of the European Union will support the process of further integration of Ukraine into the EU, Foreign Minister of Sweden Tobias Billstrom has said. To an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent's question about possible start of talks on Ukraine's accession to EU this year, he said that this process should be carried out step by step. As soon as the European Commission presents its report on Ukraine's progress in the implementation of the European Commission's recommendations given within the framework of granting it the status of candidate for EU membership, the Council of the EU will review the progress, Billstrom said, adding that the role of the Presidency is to support this process. Billstrom emphasized that Sweden welcomes the efforts taken by Ukraine during the war. He also said that the EU will continue to support Ukraine on its path to future membership in the EU. When asked about future sanctions against Russia, the minister said that it is necessary to consider how should collective pressure on Russia be strengthened in order to put an end to this war of aggression and make Russia withdraw its troops from Ukraine and restore Ukraine's territorial integrity. The EU will continue to make sanctions even tougher, he said, adding that another priority of their further work will be the effective implementation of the adopted sanctions and the prevention of bypassing them. 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. 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 cyber attack 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". Search Keywords: Short link: The European Union said on Wednesday, that in light of Israels demolition of EU-funded structures in the occupied West Bank, it is considering adopting restrictive measures against Israel, Wafa news agency reported. "The EU has consistently reiterated its strong opposition to Israel's settlement policy and illegal actions taken in this context. It has repeatedly reminded Israel of the need to meet its obligations under international law, and especially international humanitarian law, towards the Palestinian population in the occupied West Bank, including in Area C and East Jerusalem. Moreover, the EU is engaging in public advocacy that includes frequent visits of various sites in the occupied Palestinian territory by the EU and its Member States representatives," EU said in a statement. Adding, "the Commission is keeping track of all demolitions and confiscations of donor-funded structures, including EU-funded assets and the related financial damage." "The EU continues to use a variety of diplomatic and political channels in order to enhance its stance and the effectiveness of the overall EU support," the statement read. In July and August 2022, the Israeli authorities demolished, seized or forced people to demolish 202 Palestinian-owned structures across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Twenty-nine (29) of these had been provided as donor-funded humanitarian aid. As a result, 216 people, including 105 children, were displaced, and the livelihoods or access to services of over 1,200 others were affected. Search Keywords: Short link: At least 12 soldiers died in clashes with jihadists in central Mali, army and police officers said on Wednesday. The fighting on Tuesday between the towns of Mopti and Segou also left seven jihadists dead, the army said overnight, giving an earlier toll of three killed and five wounded. The clashes occurred after the security forces came under attack from several improvised explosive devices (IEDs), the army said in its statement, published on social media. An army officer in Segou, speaking on condition of anonymity, told an AFP reporter, "the toll from the ambush yesterday (was) 13 dead. "This morning, a seriously wounded (soldier) died from his injuries, which makes 14 dead, including a captain who was commanding the escort," the officer said. A local gendarmerie officer, also asking not to be identified, said the unit's commander "and all his team died in the ambush. We have lost more than 12 men." He also said 30 soldiers were wounded and others were listed missing, while more than 30 jihadists had been killed. Mali is in the throes of a nearly 11-year-old security crisis triggered by a regional revolt in the north that developed into a full-blown jihadist insurgency. Thousands have died, hundreds of thousands have fled their homes and devastating economic damage has been inflicted to one of the world's poorest countries. Central Mali, an ethnic mosaic, is one of the most troubled regions, and in 2015 became the springboard for an extension of the insurgency into neighbouring Niger and Burkina Faso. Since August 2020, Mali has been ruled by the military, leading to a bustup with France, the country's traditional ally, and close ties with Russia. A UN report presented to the Security Council on Tuesday said the security situation has "continued to deteriorate in (the) central Sahel, notably in Burkina Faso and Mali." "In Mali, following the departure of international forces, armed groups have advanced in the east, gaining control of large areas bordering the Niger," the report said. Search Keywords: Short link: Poland has decided to send a company of Leopard tanks to help neighboring Ukraine in the war with invading Russia, President Andrzej Duda said Wednesday. But Duda, on a visit to Lviv, said that the move would be possible only as an element in a larger international coalition of tank aid to Kyiv. Poland's leaders have been indicating that they were in talks with other countries over a potential international coalition that would send the German-made Leopard tanks to Ukraine. They haven't named the countries. Within this potential international coalition, "we have taken the decision to contribute a first package of tanks, a company of Leopard tanks, which, I hope, together with other companies of Leopard and other tanks that will be offered by other countries will .... be able to strengthen Ukraine's defense,'' Duda told a news conference in Lviv. A company consists of 14 tanks. Duda and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Lviv within the so-called Lublin Triangle of mutual cooperation. Zelenskyy said that Ukraine needs tanks to win the war and is "awaiting a joint decision'' on the subject because" one country cannot provide us with a sufficient number of them.'' The three leaders also discussed further strategic partnership between their countries. "Lithuania and Poland have confirmed their determination to continue providing military, political, diplomatic, economic and humanitarian support to Ukraine,'' Nauseda said. "The war in Ukraine is our war, the war of the free world against a dictator. We will stand with Ukraine until victory,'' he said. In Britain, another staunch ally of Ukraine, the spokesman for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that "battle tanks could provide a game-changing capability to the Ukrainians.'' Spokesman Max Blain said that Sunak has instructed Defense Secretary Ben Wallace to work with allies on what vehicles were best to send. He said no final decision has been made. The UK has been considering whether to send Challenger 2 battle tanks to Ukraine, which has been battling Russia's full-scale invasion since Feb. 24. Search Keywords: Short link: Russia has again replaced its top commander in Ukraine, putting army chief of staff Valery Gerasimov in charge of its forces in the conflict, the defence ministry said Wednesday. "Army General Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian armed forces, has been appointed Commander of the Joint Grouping of Troops (Forces)," the ministry said. Sergei Surovikin, the commander of Russia's forces in Ukraine for the past three months, will become Gerasimov's deputy. Surovikin will work alongside two other generals, Oleg Salyukov and Alexei Kim, according to the statement. "The increase in the level of leadership of the special operation is linked to the expansion of the scale of the tasks at hand and the need to organise closer interaction between troops," the ministry said. One of Russia's main Telegram channels in support of the offensive, Rybar, was sceptical about whether the switch could help Moscow's troops have more to show from the lengthy operation. "Moving components around doesn't change the overall sum," Rybar said on messaging app Telegram, adding "we want to believe in a miracle in the 11th month of the special operation." Surovikin, an army veteran with a reputation for ruthlessness, was tasked with turning the tide in Ukraine in October as the Russian army faced a series of battlefield defeats. Two days after Surovikin's nomination, the Russian army signalled a strategic change by unleashing a wave of drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure targets, causing electricity blackouts and water outages in several cities. Just about a month after his appointment, Russia retreated from the southern city of Kherson, the only regional capital it held. The frontline has globally stabilised since. Moscow's forces are also leading a long and bloody battle in the east around Bakhmut and Soledar, where the situation was unclear on Wednesday. Russian mercenary group Wagner claimed to control the gateway town of Soledar, while the Kremlin cautioned against declaring victory prematurely. Rybar said that Surovikin's results were "controversial" and that any immediate successes, including a potential win in Soledar, would now be credited to "the new-old commander" Gerasimov. "Only time will tell" if the "unsinkable" general Gerasimov would also be demoted if Russia suffered new setbacks, he said. Search Keywords: Short link: 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 Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, a Navy spokesman said Tuesday. It was the latest capture of weapons allegedly heading to the Arab world's 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 Navy's Mideast-based 5th Fleet. Experts examining photos released by the Navy later said the weapons appeared to be Chinese-made T-56 rifles and Russian-made Molot AKS20Us. Type 56 rifles have been found in previously seized weapons caches. Similar green tarping also has been used. The Chinook, along with the patrol boat USS Monsoon and the guided missile destroyer USS The Sullivans, took possession of the weapons. ``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 to a government-controlled part of Yemen. A United Nations arms embargo has prohibited weapons transfers to the Houthis since 2014, when Yemen's 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. Iran's mission to the United Nations did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday. The Houthis seized Yemen's 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 Yemen's exiled government in March 2015. Years of inconclusive fighting has pushed the Arab world's poorest nation to the brink of famine. A six-month cease-fire in Yemen's war, the longest of the conflict, expired in October despite diplomatic efforts to renew it. That's 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. Search Keywords: Short link: Two Palestinians were killed Wednesday in separate Israeli attacks in the occupied West Bank, the latest deadly confrontation after the most right-wing and religiously conservative government upends Israeli politics. Wednesday's violence was the latest in a surge in attacks in the West Bank, following the deadliest year for Palestinians in the territory in 18 years. During a pre-dawn Israeli military incursion into the hardscrabble Balata refugee camp in the city of Nablus, Israeli forces shot 21-year-old Ahmed Abu Junaid in the head and he died several hours later, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. In this context, the Israeli occupation reported several arrest raids across the West Bank including in the Balata refugee camp where a gunfight allegedly erupted between Palestinian militants and Israeli forces, the army said, acknowledging that a Palestinian was hit. Palestinian health officials said that Israeli forces surrounded a house in the congested camp during the arrest operation and unleashed live fire, tear gas and stun grenades at a crowd of young men. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, an armed militia affiliated with Fatah, the secular political party that controls the Palestinian Authority, claimed Abu Junaid as a fighter. Also Wednesday, a Palestinian was shot and killed by an Israeli passer-by while carrying out what Israeli described as a stabbing attack on a Jewish settler at a settlement in the southern West Bank. The attack took place at the Havat Yehuda outpost, an illegal settlement near the flash point city of Hebron. Israel has constructed dozens of Jewish settlements that are home to around 500,000 Israelis who live alongside around 2.5 million Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. The Palestinians and the international community view the settlements as a violation of international law. Today's deaths bring the toll of Palestinians killed by Israeli fire so far in 2023 to six. This comes as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doubled down on violations of international law with his new government promising to ramp up the expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank only within days of seizing power. The new government considered the most hard-line and religious government in Israel's history has already started taking punitive steps towards the Palestinian people, withholding some $40 million in tax revenues directed towards the development of Palestinian villages in the West Bank. Other steps include revoking entry permits of top Palestinian officials, banning the display of the Palestinian flag and imposing wider restrictions on those entering, exiting and moving within the occupied territories. The ban is "a shameless attempt to legitimise racism", rights group Amnesty International. Amnesty called the the new measure "repressive" and an "audacious attack on the rights to nationality, freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly", in a statement sent to AFP. Israeli authorities over the weekend even broke up a meeting of Palestinian parents discussing their children's school conditions in east Jerusalem. Israel claimed the meeting was funded by the Palestinian Authority but provided no supporting evidence. Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh on Monday accused Israel of trying to "topple the (Palestinian) authority and pushing it to the brink, financially and institutionally.'' Former Supreme Court President Aharon Barak warned that the plan would turn Israel into a hollow democracy." While Benny Gantz, a former defense minister said on Monday that Netanyahu was pushing Israel toward a civil war." Earlier this month, Israel's extreme-right firebrand Itamar Ben-Gvir visited Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound, enraging Palestinians who see the move as a provocation and drwaing wave of international condemnation. However, Netanyahu warned in an Israeli faction meeting on Monday that his new government received a clear mandate from the public," adding that his government will carry out what he promised in the elections. That's what we will do," he asserted. Israeli military raids have surged in the West Bank since last March. At least 146 Palestinians were killed by Israeli security forces in 2022 in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, according to Israeli human-rights group B'Tselem. Last year's death toll was the highest since 2004, during a wave of intense violence known as the Second Intifada, or Palestinain uprising. * This story has been edited by Ahram Online Search Keywords: Short link: Brazil's capital prepared for the possibility of more violent demonstrations Wednesday by people seeking to overturn the presidential election, with local security officials blocking access to buildings trashed four days earlier by a horde of rioters. A flyer promoting a "mega-protest to retake power'' circulated on social media platforms, particularly Telegram, and urged protesters to turn out in two dozen cities, including the capital. It was unclear how large or violent such demonstrations might shape up to be, but skittish authorities took no chances. Speaking to journalists in Brasilia, the federal appointee who has assumed control of the capital's security said police were shutting down the main avenue to traffic and limiting pedestrian access with barricades. They are blocking all access to the square that was the site of Sunday's mayhem, said the official, Ricarado Cappelli. He said a small area on the avenue has been reserved for peaceful demonstrations, but will be surrounded by police and the national guard and all protesters searched upon entry. "The right to protest freely will always be respected and cannot be confused with terrorism,'' Cappelli said. Citing the call to action on social media, a Supreme Court justice ordered local authorities in cities across Brazil to prevent protesters from blocking roads or occupying public spaces and buildings. Justice Alexandre de Moraes also ordered arrests and fines for people and companies who participate or help with logistics and funding. The nation remains on edge after supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro rampaged through Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential palace on Sunday, laying ruin to the government's three most important buildings. Officials arrested or detained some 1,500 people by the following morning, hundreds of whom were sent to prison. Though there is no evidence of fraud in the Oct. 30 presidential election, the protesters have claimed the true winner was far-right Bolsonaro. He has fired up his base about the vulnerability of electronic voting machines despite independent experts' assurances they are closely scrutinized. Bolsonaro also has warned his supporters that the election's leftist victor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, would impose communism. The fresh call for an uprising Wednesday sparked concern that the crackdown hadn't damped the will of radicals. Among those who vow to continue struggling is Daniel Bressan, 35, who traveled some 300 miles from the interior of Parana state to join Sunday's protest in Brasilia. He was detained by police the next morning, though he denies participating in any of the vandalism. "A lot of people are going to be afraid to go to the streets and be arrested, I myself fear persecution by the legal system, but I'm not going to stop fighting and I'm not going to get discouraged,'' Bressan said by phone from the federal police's temporary holding center. "I'm ready for everything. Our freedom is worth more than our lives.'' Jailing rioters represents only part of the government's effort to hold people responsible, with authorities also seeking to track down those who enabled the uprising. That includes organizers who summoned protesters to the capital and paid their way as well as local security personnel accused of either standing by and allowing the destruction to occur, or even cooperating. Justice Minister Flavio Dino told local press this week that authorities have identified some of the protest's financiers. He said they are based in the south and center-west regions that Bolsonaro carried in the election. Without identifying individuals, he said they are members of the agribusiness sector, local business owners and people registered to own firearms. Dino previously said the riot was apparently intended to spark a domino effect around the country. He has referred to the encampments that had been set up by Bolsonaro supporters outside military buildings to call on the armed forces to overturn election results as "incubators of terrorists.'' Authorities cleared away the camps in Brasilia and other cities after the rioting. In November, the Supreme Court froze 43 bank accounts of people accused of having financed roadblocks that disrupted highway traffic in the wake of Lula's victory. At least 30 were in the center-west state of Mato Grosso, Brazil's top soybean producer. De Moraes, the Supreme Court justice, also ordered preventative detention for the men who were serving Sunday as head of the federal district's security and military police chief, as well as searches of their residences. Both men have been fired since the rioting. "Absolutely NOTHING justifies the omission and collusion of the security secretary and the military police commander,'' de Moraes wrote in his decision, which was made public late Tuesday. The justice also denounced the protest encampments sponsored by diverse financiers. "There are strong indications that the conduct of criminal terrorists could only have occurred with the willful participation or omission _ which will be determined in these investigations _ of the aforementioned public authorities,'' de Moraes wrote. The fired security secretary, Anderson Torres, had been Bolsonaro's justice minister. Cappelli, the federal appointee who now controls the secretariat, said Wednesday that Torres assumed his new position, immediately fired subordinates and then traveled to Florida. Cappelli previously told local media there were signs Torres' actions amounted to intentional sabotage of security ahead of Sunday's violence. Torres said Tuesday night on Twitter that he was interrupting his vacation and returning to Brazil to present his defense. He said ethics and legality had always governed his actions. Search Keywords: Short link: On his first visit to the region since his appointment as the UK Minister for the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia and United Nations, Lord Tariq Ahmad visits on Wednesday, the Occupied Palestinian Territories and met Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Riyad al-Malki. During a meeting at his Ramallah office, al-Malki briefed Lord Ahmad on the latest developments in Palestine and the daily Israeli killing of Palestinians, abuse of prisoners, arrests, demolition of homes and structures, and the displacement of Palestinian families, Wafa News Agency reported. Malki stressed the importance of the international community taking the necessary measures to provide protection for the Palestinian people and to ensure the cessation of Israeli violations against them. He also confirmed the commitment of the State of Palestine to the two-state solution, and the importance of rebuilding trust between the two sides, hoping for a real partner from the other side to strive towards achieving peace and stability. For his part, the British minister stressed Britain's firm position on the two-state solution and the importance of reopening channels of dialogue between the two parties to ensure peace and security in the region. "I stressed our commitment to the Palestinian people & the bilateral relationship, & emphasised our concern at recent violence in the OPTs that fuels instability," Lord Ahmad wrote on his official twitter account. According to statement published by the British government, Lord Ahmad during his visit will meet with key humanitarian partners and announce 3.7m of additional funding to UNRWA to support food assistance to 1.2 million of the most vulnerable Palestinian refugees in Gaza. Ahead of his visit, Lord Ahmad said, "My visit comes at a difficult but important time for the Palestinian people, and I want to re-emphasise UK support to the Palestinian people and our unwavering commitment to a negotiated two-state solution as the only means of ending this conflict." Adding, "Visits to various parts of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem will allow me to witness first-hand the challenges facing Palestinians as well as to see the impact of UK funding to some of the most vulnerable." Lord Ahmad held also bilateral meetings with the Israeli Foreign Minister, Eli Cohen, and discussed regional security issues including Iran, Russias invasion of Ukraine, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the opportunities presented by the Abraham Accords, said the Foreign office on its website. Search Keywords: Short link: An attacker wounded six people in an unprovoked blade attack in Paris' busy Gare du Nord train station Wednesday morning before being shot and wounded by police, France's interior minister said, praising the swift intervention of police for helping prevent any fatalities. The suspect attacked several people, including a police officer, with a "bladed weapon'' during the morning rush hour, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told reporters at the scene, flanked by Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo. He said the unnamed assailant was currently "between life and death'' in hospital after being shot in the chest, according to French media. Darmanin thanked the police "for their effective and courageous reaction.'' "Without the extremely rapid intervention, there would surely be deaths,'' he said, detailing how the suspect was neutralized within one minute of attacking his first victim. "At 6:42, the first acts were described. At 6:43, the police used their administrative weapon after his passage of violence," he said. Darmanin said the attacker's weapon was "not a knife'' but likely a homemade weapon. He said the suspect was reported not to have said anything during the assault and that investigators have not discovered any extremist links. According to French media reports, the suspect first threw himself upon a man in front of the train station, stabbing him 15 times and seriously wounding him. The assailant then entered the station and attacked four civilians and a police officer, the media reports said. Screams alerted two other police officers who intervened while the suspect was attacking the officer. The officer for France's border guard was stabbed in the back but not seriously wounded because of a bulletproof vest, Darmanin said. The man stabbed outside the station was the only person who sustained serious wounds in the attack, officials said. Police opened an investigation into whether the attack merited attempted assassination charges. Video of the Gare du Nord, one of the French capital's busiest commuter stations, showed an eerie calms as dozens of police huddled nearby the Eurostar terminal entrance in areas cordoned off from the public. No specific motive has currently been suggested by authorities. France remains jittery following a spate of deadly terror attacks since 2015. The commotion also caused serious disruptions to train services at the station _ Europe's busiest rail artery _ in the early morning rush hour, according to the national railway company SNCF. Search Keywords: Short link: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will visit France on March 10 for the first British-French summit in more than four years, the French presidency and Downing Street said Wednesday. The planned trip comes amid signs Sunak is trying to put UK relations with the European Union on a surer footing following Brexit and years of rocky ties between France and the UK. "It will be the first meeting of its kind since 2018," the French presidency and a Sunak spokesman said. It would be "an opportunity for the leaders to deepen cooperation between the UK and France in a huge range of areas, including security, climate and energy, the economy, migration, youth and shared foreign policy goals." The two countries have enjoyed warmer ties since Sunak took the helm, after years of acrimony under his predecessors Boris Johnson and Liz Truss. Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron held a cordial first meeting in early November on the sidelines of the UN climate summit in Egypt. Paris and London have since signed a deal for Britain to pay France more than 72 million euros ($77 million) to increase the number of security forces patrolling France's northern beaches and prevent migrant boat crossings in the Channel. A record 45,000 migrants crossed one of the world's busiest shipping lanes in dinghies from mainland Europe to the UK in 2022, British authorities say. The issue has become a huge political problem for the Conservative government, which has promised to bring down illegal immigration and crack down on the smuggling gangs organising the crossings. During the March 10 summit, "you can certainly expect that issue of small boats given it's high on the priority list for the prime minister," Sunak's spokesman told reporters. One of the worst public rows between Johnson and Macron came in November 2021, when 27 migrants drowned in the Channel. Tensions had already soared months earlier when Britain struck an alliance with the United States and Australia that saw Sydney cancel a lucrative order for French submarines. But Macron in November said he hoped to reinforce defence cooperation with the UK. Britain and France in February last year signed a deal to jointly develop new cruise and anti-ship missiles, a plan that had been on the cards since a 2010 treaty on close defence ties. Search Keywords: Short link: 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 Search Keywords: Short link: Egypt's Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry headed on Wednesday to Saudi capital Riyadh to take part in the fifth session of the political follow-up committee between Egypt and Saudi Arabia at the level of the foreign ministers. Foreign ministry's spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said the meeting, that will be held on Thursday, reflects the two sides' keenness on continued consultations and coordination on regional and international issues of mutual concern. The committee was established upon a memo of understanding signed in Cairo in 2007, cocluded the spokesman. Search Keywords: Short link: 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 Brazil's Congress, Supreme Court and presidential palace. The protesters were calling for a military coup to overturn Bolsonaro's 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 Year's 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. China on Tuesday suspended short-term visas for Koreans in retaliation against what it claimed are "discriminatory" COVID measures taken by Korea. The abrupt suspension came without prior notice, disrupting plans for many who were about to visit the country. Among many countries who restricted entry for travelers from China amid a surge of COVID infections there, Korea and Japan were singled out for retaliation. Kyodo News reported that China also suspended short term-visas for Japanese travelers. The move came after Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said, "It is regrettable that a small number of countries still insist on adopting discriminatory entry restrictions against China in disregard of scientific facts and the actual situation of the pandemic in their own countries. China firmly opposes this and will take reciprocal measures." The Korean government expressed "regret" over the move. A Chinese Embassy staffer here said, "The tit-for-tat measure can be adjusted if discriminatory entry restrictions taken by Korea against China are canceled." Seven out of 10 younger South Koreans support the idea of their country getting its own nuclear weapons, according to a survey. UniKorea Foundation and Seoul National University's Institute for Social Development and Policy Research polled 1,000 people aged 20 to 39 last November and found that 68.1 percent support South Korea possessing nuclear weapons. Asked why, 39.2 percent ticked countering North Korea's nuclear threat, followed by maintaining national stability (37.3 percent) and increased international influence (23.3 percent). Among the opponents, 40.1 percent ticked fear of international sanctions, while 26.3 percent worried about an escalating nuclear arms race among neighboring countries, 18.5 percent worsened relations with North Korea and 14.7 percent said support from the U.S. nuclear umbrella is enough. An overwhelming 89.2 percent said they feel threatened by North Korea's nuclear weapons, and 85.4 percent said they do not think North Korea will abandon them. Some 81 percent said North Korea is capable of launching a nuclear provocation, up from 67 percent in May of 2018, when inter-Korean and U.S.-North Korea talks were in progress. Six out of 10 said North Korea is likely to use its nuclear weapons, while only 35.8 percent doubted it. President Yoon Suk-yeol will visit the UAE and Switzerland next week, the presidential office said Tuesday. Yoon will tout for business in the Gulf federation, discussing exports of defense equipment and nuclear power plants with leaders there before attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, an annual gathering of global leaders and businesspeople. He will be accompanied by an entourage of businessmen from about 100 companies. Tycoons from major businesses will be included, but about 70 percent are from small and medium-sized companies. The UAE visit, at the invitation of ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, will be the first state visit to the Gulf country by a Korean president since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1980. National Security Adviser Kim Sung-han told reporters the visit "reflects Yoon's firm determination to put his diplomatic focus on revitalization of the economy through expansion of exports." He will also attend a business forum in Abu Dhabi. KYODO NEWS - Jan 11, 2023 - 23:45 | All, World, Japan, Coronavirus China on Wednesday suspended visa-free stays in the country for Japanese and South Korean citizens heading to a third nation, introducing additional measures to counter tighter border controls implemented by the two Asian neighbors. The move comes one day after Beijing suspended issuing visas to Japanese and South Korean nationals. Tokyo has protested the suspension and urged Beijing to repeal it, while Seoul has also defended its border controls targeting travelers from China as "science-based and objective." Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang said Wednesday that Japan and South Korea have taken "discriminatory measures" against Chinese travelers, causing difficulties and obstacles to personnel exchanges and that China has reasons to respond, according to Chinese media. "It is extremely regrettable that China is restricting issuing visas for reasons besides novel coronavirus countermeasures," Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a regular news conference earlier on Wednesday, adding Tokyo has protested through diplomatic channels. Late last year, Japan tightened border controls for travelers from mainland China as a temporary measure, requiring them to test for COVID-19 upon arrival amid a surge in cases and fears that a new coronavirus variant could emerge there. As Beijing reopened the country's borders and abandoned quarantine measures on Sunday, Tokyo further beefed up Japan's border controls for travelers whose trips originated in China, requiring proof of a negative COVID-19 test before departure. Matsuno, the top Japanese government spokesman, defended the government's decision, saying the measures are "temporary steps designed to avoid a rapid influx" of infected people into Japan. Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi separately said, "(The measures) have been put in place so as not to hinder as much as possible the global movement of people," speaking to reporters on Tuesday in Argentina. "We will examine the COVID-19 conditions in China and how the country discloses information and act accordingly," said Hayashi, who is on a trip across the Americas. The Japanese Embassy in Beijing tweeted in Chinese that Beijing's approach "completely lacks reciprocity" as Tokyo has not restricted the issuance of visas for Chinese citizens intending to visit Japan. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin defended the measures against Japanese and South Korean citizens as "legitimate and reasonable," saying they were introduced to "protect the legitimate rights of Chinese citizens and to uphold the environment necessary" for the exchange and cooperation between countries. At a press conference in Beijing Wednesday, Wang urged relevant countries to adopt "science-based and proportionate" steps and "avoid politicizing the issue." The spokesman indicated tighter border controls only targeting travelers from China are not necessary, introducing experts' comments that virus variants circulating in China have been found elsewhere. He also said threats to the health system could come from anywhere, referring to the rapid increase of the XBB.1.5 Omicron subvariant in the United States. China's decision to suspend the issuance of new visas is a worrying development for Japanese businesspeople and students who are planning to study in China, as Beijing has not set an expiration for the measure. Many Japanese company officials were concerned about the visa suspension as it would make planned personnel reshuffles and business trips difficult, affecting their operations. There are more than 30,000 operation bases of Japanese firms in China, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry. An official of electronic component maker Murata Manufacturing Co., which has production bases in China, said, "If the same situation continues for two to three months, then it may start affecting our staff rotation and production at our factories in China." "Unless business predictability is ensured, we cannot chart a growth strategy," a senior Japanese automaker official said. At the Chinese Visa Application Service Center in Tokyo, an official explained to some 30 people who lined up Wednesday morning to file documents that visas would be granted only on "humanitarian grounds," such as death or critical illness of immediate family members. A Japanese woman, 60, whose parents are in their 90s, living in Beijing and have contracted the coronavirus, was denied entry to the center, as she did not have certificates showing they were critically ill. "I came here thinking there could be a chance for me, but I wonder how I can prove my parents have been in a critical condition," she said. The Chinese visa suspension is "not a border control step, just harassment," another woman, who was prevented from filing an application, said angrily. Since late last year, China has significantly relaxed its stringent antivirus rules, including no longer restricting people's movement, in a complete departure from its strict "zero-COVID" policy involving lockdowns and isolation measures. The drastic shift triggered an explosion in coronavirus cases across the country, creating fear among other nations of an influx of infected people from China amid a lack of verified data on the spread of the virus. Related coverage: China suspends visa issuance to Japanese, S. Korean travelers Japan starts requiring negative COVID tests for travelers from China China warns of countermeasures for COVID entry restrictions KYODO NEWS - Jan 11, 2023 - 22:46 | All, Japan Japan's alcoholic beverage maker Takara Holdings Inc. said Wednesday it has taken a stake in a Japanese sake startup with special processing techniques for 500 million yen ($3.8 million) to cooperate in brewing for its U.S. business. Sake brewery Wakaze, established in 2016 in Yamagata Prefecture, aims to expand its sales outside Japan by utilizing Takara's overseas sales networks. The alcohol producer did not clarify how much of a stake it now holds in the startup. At a brewery in the suburbs of Paris, Wakaze uses French hard water, cooking rice and wine yeast to create sake that meets local needs. Soft water and sake rice are used in traditional sake brewing process. Takara Holding aims to use Wakaze's techniques at its U.S. brewery to create sake tailored for local needs. "We will combine our traditional methods with Wakaze's innovative techniques to spread new Japanese sake's appeal to the world," Mutsumi Kimura, president of Takara Holdings, said at a press conference. Related coverage: Sake plant in N.Y. seeks to make new cuisine trend brew in U.S. FEATURE: Sake brewers building brand cachet by cultivating bespoke rice crops FEATURE: Brewer releases ultra-expensive sake made from hand-cultivated rice KYODO NEWS - Jan 11, 2023 - 15:41 | All, Japan A father in western Japan was arrested Wednesday for allegedly inflicting injuries on his five-month-old son in 2021 that left the child with severe and likely permanent brain damage. Yudai Arata, 26, is accused of causing his second-born son to suffer severe head trauma by unknown means at the family's home in Izumiotsu, Osaka Prefecture, on Dec 4, 2021. The now 1-year-old child sustained injuries including subdural bleeding and has been unconscious since the incident, Osaka prefectural police said. His prospects for recovery are slim, police believe. The child was possibly shaken violently, resulting in the condition known as shaken baby syndrome, with police also saying they will investigate whether the abuse happened on multiple occasions. Arata called emergency services on the night of the incident saying that his son was vomiting milk and had become pale. The baby was taken to hospital in a state of cardiac arrest. He told police that the child's injuries were caused when he accidentally hit the boy's head while placing him on the floor to attempt heart resuscitation. Arata, who has refused to comment on the allegations, has already been indicted for abuses and injuries inflicted on his eldest son when the child was eight months old. He has been charged with biting the child on the elbow and throwing him onto a bed sometime between December 2019 and February 2020. Video footage of Arata assaulting his eldest son was found on his smartphone. In a separate case, a 25-year-old mother was arrested Wednesday in Yokohama near Tokyo for allegedly severely burning her three-year-old daughter in 2019 by pouring boiling water on her back. The woman, named Kaho Hashimoto, has denied the accusation. At the time of the incident, she explained she had mistakenly directed hot shower water at her daughter. But police arrested Hashimoto after consulting physicians and determining that the act, which occurred sometime between Feb. 28 and March 1, 2019, was intentional. KYODO NEWS - Jan 11, 2023 - 18:48 | World, All Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Wednesday acknowledged and expressed regret over gross human rights abuses occurring in the Southeast Asian country in past decades and promised restitution for the victims. Voicing deep sympathy for the victims of 12 past atrocities, as well as their families, Widodo said at a press conference, "I and the government will try to restore the rights of the victims in just and wise ways without putting aside any judicial settlement." The abuses included the massacre of those accused of being communists and their sympathizers between 1965 and 1966, led by the military and supported by the public, including the Ansor Youth Movement, a wing of the country's largest Muslim group Nahdlatul Ulama. International human right activists say at least 1 million people were killed during the massacre. In 1999, then President Abdurrahman Wahid, who was a former Nahdlatul Ulama chairman, apologized for the role of Ansor. But Nahdlatul Ulama and Ansor retracted his apology after he died in 2001. In 1999, Wahid's predecessor, B.J. Habibie, apologized for gross human rights violations in the northernmost province of Aceh when it was under military emergency status from 1989 to 1998. The status was imposed by the late strongman Suharto and revoked by Habibie. In 2019, when Habibie died, the people in Aceh hoisted flags at half-mast in his honor. Since being elected as president, Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi, promised to seek a just settlement of the gross human right violations in the past. Last year, he set up a team to resolve the 12 cases in an effort to find nonjudicial resolutions. Human rights activists, however, accused him of trying to close the cases and absolve the perpetrators of any guilt. Related coverage: Indonesia releases on parole bomb maker in 2002 Bali bombing attacks Suicide bomber attacks police station in Indonesia, kills 1 Death toll in Indonesia earthquake surpasses 300, 24 still missing KYODO NEWS - Jan 12, 2023 - 12:56 | All, Japan, World Japan and Britain signed a bilateral defense cooperation agreement Wednesday aimed at facilitating joint military drills amid the increasingly severe security situation in the Indo-Pacific region due partly to China's growing military clout. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his British counterpart Rishi Sunak held talks in London on the Reciprocal Access Agreement, which sets rules on the transportation of weapons during joint exercises or disaster relief operations in each other's countries. Kishida's visit to the British capital was the third stop on his weeklong tour of Group of Seven countries in Europe and North America for talks with their leaders in the run-up to the group's summit in Hiroshima in May. After the meeting, Kishida told reporters that Sunak, France's Emmanuel Macron and Italy's Giorgia Meloni had agreed to discuss nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation at the upcoming summit in the city devastated by a U.S. atomic bombing in 1945. Hailing the signing of the RAA, the Japanese prime minister said it "will elevate Japan-Britain security cooperation to a new high." The British prime minister's office said in a statement the "landmark" defense pact, agreed in principle in May, will rapidly accelerate defense and security cooperation, and allow both Tokyo and London to deploy forces in one another's countries. Japan signed such a treaty with Australia a year ago and the statement said Britain will be the first European country to have an RAA with the Asian nation, describing it as "the most important defense treaty" between Britain and Japan since 1902, when they signed the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. "This Reciprocal Access Agreement is hugely significant for both our nations -- it cements our commitment to the Indo-Pacific and underlines our joint efforts to bolster economic security," Sunak said in the statement. Japan and Britain will start respective domestic procedures necessary to implement the RAA as early as possible. As part of efforts to boost security cooperation, the countries have also teamed up with Italy to develop a next-generation fighter jet by 2035. During the meeting at the Tower of London, Kishida and Sunak agreed to arrange a so-called two-plus-two security meeting involving their foreign and defense ministers. The two prime ministers also confirmed that they will promote negotiations for Britain's accession to a Pacific free trade pact, known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. Britain views Japan as a key East Asian ally in its "Indo-Pacific tilt," especially after its exit from the European Union in 2020. With Japan holding the presidency of the G-7 this year, Kishida is paving the way for a successful summit by visiting its member nations that also include Canada and the United States, where he is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and President Joe Biden, respectively. Kishida, whose constituency is in Hiroshima, is hoping to promote his vision of a world without nuclear weapons at the G-7 summit, amid concern Russia may use a nuclear weapon in its invasion of Ukraine, launched last February. Related coverage: Japan, Italy to launch talks to boost security ties Japan vows to further beef up ties with Brazil under new president Japan, France agree to join hands to achieve successful G-7 summit KYODO NEWS - Jan 11, 2023 - 22:53 | All, World, Japan The Japanese branch of Taiwan's Starlux Airlines Co. said Wednesday a Jan. 2 flight from Taipei to Narita airport near Tokyo was subject to a bomb threat. The development comes after a domestic flight operated by Jetstar Japan Co. leaving Narita for Fukuoka made an emergency landing on Saturday at an airport near Nagoya following a threat claiming a bomb had been planted on the aircraft. A police search of the Starlux plane after its arrival did not turn up any suspicious objects, the airline said. The police are investigating whether the two cases are linked under suspicion of forced obstruction of business. Starlux said that Narita airport's operator, Narita International Airport Corp., received a call claiming a bomb had been planted on the flight and demanding money. The caller spoke in English, investigative sources said. The departure of the airline's subsequent flight to Taipei was delayed by around an hour and a half due to police checks after landing. In the Jetstar case on Saturday, Narita airport's information center received a call in English at 6:18 a.m. claiming a bomb had been planted on a flight that took off at 6:36 a.m. The aircraft was diverted after the airport operator informed Jetstar of the threat at 6:53 a.m. Multiple passengers sustained minor injuries when evacuating via the airplane's inflatable slides following its landing at Chubu airport in Aichi Prefecture. Narita's operator declined to comment on whether the Jan. 2 call occurred, citing "security reasons." Regarding information sharing with Jetstar in Saturday's case, it said, "We think we did everything possible in our response." Related coverage: Jetstar plane makes emergency landing in Japan after bomb threat 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. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks at a press conference at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, Jan. 10, 2023. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU) signed the third Joint Declaration on cooperation on Tuesday that aims to further expand their strategic partnership collaboration and strengthen collective European defense. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong) BRUSSELS, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU) signed the third Joint Declaration on cooperation on Tuesday that aims 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 will deepen the already excellent cooperation between the Union and the alliance. Von der Leyen stated that Europe's security was "challenged" and "under threat" by the conflict in Ukraine. She warned that the EU will impose new sanctions on Belarus and extend measures to those countries that support Russia. Stoltenberg emphasized that the transatlantic partnership and support for Ukraine will continue to strengthen in 2023. He highlighted the importance of the declaration, stressing the crucial role of NATO in Euro-Atlantic security. He noted that this declaration builds upon two previous joint declarations in 2016 and 2018. Stoltenberg touched upon the prospect of Norway and Sweden joining NATO, stating that this would result in the alliance protecting 96 percent of EU citizens. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks at a press conference at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, Jan. 10, 2023. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU) signed the third Joint Declaration on cooperation on Tuesday that aims to further expand their strategic partnership collaboration and strengthen collective European defense. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong) European Council President Charles Michel speaks at a press conference at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, Jan. 10, 2023. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU) signed the third Joint Declaration on cooperation on Tuesday that aims to further expand their strategic partnership collaboration and strengthen collective European defense. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong) European Council President Charles Michel (L), NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (C) and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen leave a press conference at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, Jan. 10, 2023. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU) signed the third Joint Declaration on cooperation on Tuesday that aims to further expand their strategic partnership collaboration and strengthen collective European defense. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong) NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (L), European Council President Charles Michel (C) and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen attend a press conference at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, Jan. 10, 2023. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU) signed the third Joint Declaration on cooperation on Tuesday that aims to further expand their strategic partnership collaboration and strengthen collective European defense. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong) European Council President Charles Michel (L), NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (C) and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen attend a press conference at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, Jan. 10, 2023. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU) signed the third Joint Declaration on cooperation on Tuesday that aims to further expand their strategic partnership collaboration and strengthen collective European defense. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong) European Council President Charles Michel (L), NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (C) and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen attend a press conference at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, Jan. 10, 2023. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU) signed the third Joint Declaration on cooperation on Tuesday that aims to further expand their strategic partnership collaboration and strengthen collective European defense. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong) NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (L) and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen attend a press conference at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, Jan. 10, 2023. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU) signed the third Joint Declaration on cooperation on Tuesday that aims to further expand their strategic partnership collaboration and strengthen collective European defense. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong) The Chinese economy demonstrated remarkable resilience in a tough year of 2022, boosting global confidence in China's economic outlook for 2023. Produced by Xinhua Global Service QUITO, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- A nine-year-old girl in central Ecuador has been infected with the A-H5 strain of avian influenza, becoming the first human infected with the avian flu strain in the country, the Ecuadoran Ministry of Public Health confirmed on Tuesday. The case, which was reported in the central province of Bolivar, has presumably occurred through direct contact with birds that carried the virus, said the ministry. "So far no other cases of human infection have been recorded," said the ministry, adding that measures are kept in place to prevent the transmission and spread of the avian influenza virus. Ecuador declared a 90-day animal health emergency on Nov. 30, 2022, after the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus was detected in poultry farms. Vaccinations against human influenza have been carried out among people in contact with poultry and the population have been advised to use masks. After normal travel between mainland and Hong Kong resumed, an 84-year-old Hong Kong resident went to Guangzhou to meet up with friends, and experienced the convenience of cashless payments. Produced by Xinhua Global Service Zheng Qinwen serves during her second round match against Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic at the Adelaide International on January 11, 2023. (Photo courtesy of WTA) CANBERRA, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- China's Zheng Qinwen has withdrawn from the Adelaide International in order to prepare for the Australian Open. Zheng pulled out of the second tournament in Adelaide on Wednesday after losing the first set of her second round match against two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova 7-6 (6). The 20-year-old Chinese appeared to pull her left thigh in her 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 win over Shelby Rogers of the United States in the first round and showed up in Wednesday's second round match with bandages wrapped around her thigh. It was the rising Chinese star's sixth match in eight days ahead of the Australian Open, which starts on Monday. Kvitova saved three set points in the tie break before winning the opener. The walkover means the Czech, currently ranked 16th in the world, remains undefeated in four matches in 2023 - her most successful start to a year since 2011. Kvitova celebrates winning a point during the match. (Photo courtesy of WTA) "Of course, this gives me some good confidence," Kvitova said. "I'm happy that my wrist is much better than this time last year. That's great news. I hope I'm going to stay healthy, but so far it's okay." The match was followed on center court by eight seed Belinda Bencic's 6-3, 6-3 win against Anna Kalinskaya. Bencic, the reigning Olympic gold medalist, broke serve five times in the victory and has lost only two sets in her last eight matches. "I'm really strong in the most important matches and in tight moments, so I definitely feel very confident about that. It's just really something about when you have a lot of matches you also feel better, and you have to believe in yourself in the tight moments," she said on Wednesday. The Swiss will play either world number four Caroline Garcia or Katerina Siniakova in the quarter-finals while Kvitova will face the winner between Daria Kasatkina and Barbora Krejcikova. BEIJING, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- COVID-19 patients in China are still able to apply for reimbursements for Paxlovid, a COVID-19 treatment medicine from Pfizer, as of March 31, an official said on Wednesday. Huang Xinyu, an official of the National Healthcare Security Administration, made the remarks at a press conference in response to public concerns over medication supplies, as Paxlovid was not added to China's medical insurance catalog in Pfizer's latest talks with the country's healthcare authorities. An official document has renewed an ad hoc reimbursement policy for COVID-19 medicines that are not on the catalog, Huang said. Ever since the epidemic began in 2020, China has made such medicines reimbursable under its medical insurance plan, as a temporary measure to ensure payments for treatment. Huang also noted that there are more than 600 medications used to treat COVID-19 in the current medical insurance catalog, which means those who test positive have multiple options. Authorities will continue monitoring and regulating the prices of COVID-19 medications to ease the financial burden on patients, Huang said. The Ministry of Defense issued a statement regarding Buk systems and said that Georgia did not receive them from Ukraine free of charge."With the mentioned multi-million dollar purchase, the Buk system was received by the Ministry of Defense in 2007. It was carried out under a secret agreement, which is why we are deprived of the opportunity to specify more details.We would like to explain to the public that tens of millions of dollars were also paid by the Ministry of Defense in 2017 for the purchase of anti-tank systems "Javelin" from the USA," the statement reads.According to them, Georgia firmly continues its humanitarian and political support to Ukraine, based on its available capabilities.According to General Ben Hodges, the former commander of US ground forces in Europe, if Russia succeeds in Ukraine, Georgia will never regain Abkhazia and Tskhinvali.Hodges said that Georgia should join the economic sanctions against Russia and use all diplomatic means to say that Russia's actions are illegal."Georgia's economy is directly linked to security and stability in the Black Sea region, so if Russia's illegal aggression against Ukraine is successful, if it has the opportunity to seize Crimea, it will completely shake the order based on the so-called international rules. If Russia succeeds in Ukraine, Georgia will never take back Abkhazia and Tskhinvali.In my opinion, Georgia should be on the side of Ukraine, not with troops, but should engage in all economic sanctions and by all legal and diplomatic means to say that what Russia is doing is illegal," Hodges said. AMMAN, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Jordan's Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh announced on Tuesday a plan to build a new city in the north of the kingdom, as part of its economic and administrative modernization efforts. The city, which is expected to be located about 40 km from the Jordanian capital of Amman and 31 km from Zarqa city, will be built on and surrounded by state-owned lands, thus facilitating the project's decision-making, the state-run Petra news agency quoted Khasawneh as saying. Research and planning of the project are expected to be completed in two years, while infrastructure construction will begin in 2025, Petra reported. Khasawneh added that a ministerial committee had been set up to supervise the project's progress, noting that a government-owned company would later handle the management and follow-up on the implementation of the project. The city would be based on a public-private partnership, and a number of buildings and facilities would be constructed on a build-operate-transfer basis, he said. Khasawneh expected the first phase of the project, which includes the planning, to be concluded by early 2025, and infrastructure building, which is part of the project's second phase, would start in the same year. Minister of Government Communication Faisal Shboul said the city's population would exceed 157,000 in the first phase and reach 1 million at the final stage by 2050. Shboul predicted that the new city would create 90,000 jobs and benefit the labor and construction sectors while it was being built. During a meeting on Tuesday, Khasawneh briefed King Abdullah II of Jordan on the project. The king asked the government to form an advisory committee made up of specialists and experts for the city's planning, to ensure that the city will become an architectural and urban model that meets the sustainability needs for resources, energy, water and environment. ISTANBUL, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- A suspect involved in a deadly terrorist attack in Istanbul in November last year was apprehended in Bulgaria and extradited to Turkiye, local media reported Wednesday. The suspect Hazni Golge was captured after Turkish authorities tipped off their Bulgarian counterparts on Jan. 7 that he was staying at the Imperial Palace Hotel in the town of Svilengrad, according to state-run Anadolu Agency. On Tuesday, he was deported to Turkiye's northwestern border city of Edirne and later transferred to Istanbul by Istanbul Police Department's anti-terrorism teams. Golge is suspected of assisting Bilal Hassan, one of the planners of the attack, in fleeing Turkiye following the bombing on Istanbul's busy Istiklal Avenue, which killed six and injured 81 others on Nov. 13, Anadolu said. "We discussed the issue with (authorities in) Bulgaria. They delivered him (Golge) to us in Edirne ... We thank Bulgaria for the cooperation," Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said in a televised speech. This is not the first cooperation between the two countries regarding November's attack. In the week following the bombing, Bulgarian authorities detained five suspects involved with logistical support. A total of 61 suspects have been detained for being involved in the attack, including Ahlam Albashir who set off the bomb, according to Anadolu. Turkish police said Albashir confessed that she received the attack order from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party and its offshoot in Syria, the People's Protection Units. Both are listed as terrorist organizations by Turkiye. BEIJING, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- Beijing is eyeing new momentum in reform and opening-up at a higher level, science and technological innovation, and high-quality development in 2023, said Yin Yong, acting mayor of Beijing, in an interview with Xinhua. "The city will grasp the opportunity presented by the construction of the Integrated National Demonstration Zone for Opening up the Services Sector and the China (Beijing) Pilot Free Trade Zone, introduce a 2.0 construction plan for the demonstration zone, promote the iterative upgrading of the country's business environment, and build a high-level institutional bridgehead for opening-up," Yin said. Beijing will focus on serving China's opening-up and development better, and continue holding the China International Fair for Trade in Services, the Zhongguancun Forum and the Financial Street Forum. "Beijing will make greater efforts to attract and utilize foreign investment," he said. Beijing will build the International Center for Science & Technology Innovation, he said. "The city will build state laboratories at a high standard, continue to support the development of world-class new research and development institutions, and focus on tackling key technologies." Efforts will also be made to promote the management system reform at Zhongguancun Science Park, and accelerate the construction of the world's leading science and technology park, he said. "Beijing will make greater efforts to promote the healthy development of the digital economy by building a global benchmark city for the digital economy. It will systematically promote the development of new infrastructure such as edge computing systems, and accelerate the development of blockchain and public artificial intelligence computing platforms," he said. The city will also make efforts to boost high-quality development. "In 2023, Beijing aims to achieve the recovery of its accommodation, catering, transportation and tourism industries to the level seen in 2019, and increase its total consumption by 5.5 percent," he said. "The city's fixed-asset investment continues to maintain a sound growth momentum after fixed-asset investment of 800 billion yuan (about 118 billion U.S. dollars) was secured last year, and Beijing will strive to achieve a fixed-asset investment increase of over 4 percent in 2023," he said. The city will continue to advance the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, optimize the functions essential to its role as the Chinese capital, and promote its high-quality development from a broader perspective, according to Yin. He said that Beijing will also address the most important concerns of its citizens, increase investment in community health services, and improve medical facilities and rescue capabilities. It will focus on boosting employment and incomes, planning to create 260,000 new urban jobs and help 100,000 urban and rural people who have difficulty finding jobs in 2023. JERUSALEM, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Israeli defense electronics company Elbit Systems said Tuesday that it will provide a new mission training center (MTC) for the F-15 and F-16 fleets of Israeli Air Force. The contract, worth 180 million U.S. dollars, will be delivered over a three-year period with an additional 15-year period that will include operation and maintenance services, Elbit said in a statement. The new training center will operate alongside an existing center, both at a southern air force base. The two MTCs will improve the quality of aircrew training, doubling the number of training sorties for the F-15 and F-16 aircrew, the statement said. The new center will include 10 simulators with advanced high-resolution displays, accurate weapon simulation, and Elbit's arena generator, which combine to enable simulation of current and future battlefield environments, it added. BEIJING, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- A particle detector has been installed on the extravehicular platform of China's space station to obtain key data used for the space station's safety, extravehicular activities of the astronauts, biological experiments, and the study of space material. The energy particle detector in Wentian lab has been transported via the cargo airlock cabin, assisted by a robotic arm. The detector used a new material called CLYC for the first time in the world that can achieve high-efficient neutron detection. The newly-mounted device can monitor the energy and orientations of high-energy protons and electrons, heavy ions and neutrons in the space station's orbit, according to the National Space Science Center under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. China, on July 24, 2022, launched the Wentian lab module, the space station's first lab, which consists of a work cabin, an airlock cabin, and a resource cabin. The airlock cabin is equipped with a larger door, which makes it more convenient for the astronauts to enter and exit the spacecraft as well as transfer tools and maintenance equipment. LIBREVILLE, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- Gabonese Minister for the Promotion of Investments Hugues Mbadinga Madiya has said that Gabon looks forward to more Chinese investments to boost bilateral trade and revitalize its economy impacted by the pandemic. Mbadinga Madiya made the remarks in a recent interview with Xinhua. In the eyes of the minister, investments from China contribute greatly to the socio-economic development of his country. Noting China's recent announcement to ease restrictions on international travel, Mbadinga Madiya said it will facilitate personal exchanges and accelerate the recovery of the world economy. Produced by Xinhua Global Service Ma Xiaoguang, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, gestures at a press conference in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 11, 2023. (Xinhua/Chen Yehua) BEIJING, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- The year of 2022 saw new progress in advancing exchanges between people of the Chinese mainland and Taiwan despite difficulties caused by COVID-19 and obstructions made by Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities, a Chinese mainland spokesperson said Wednesday. Momentum has been maintained in developing cross-Strait exchanges and cooperation, particularly between young people, said Ma Xiaoguang, a spokesperson with the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, at a press conference. More than 1,000 exchange activities were held by various sectors across the Taiwan Strait throughout the past year, including culture, education, science and technology, health, and sports, Ma said. Support has been offered to young people from Taiwan to pursue education, take up internships, find jobs or start businesses on the mainland. "A growing number of Taiwan compatriots have found their careers on the mainland and contributed to Chinese modernization," Ma said. Efforts will be intensified to promote cross-Strait exchanges and cooperation in different fields and deepen integrated development of the Chinese mainland and Taiwan in 2023, Ma said. He urged the DPP authorities to remove the barriers to cross-Strait travel and exchanges. ZAGREB, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- Croatia will not impose restrictive COVID-19 measures on Chinese passengers entering the country, Bernard Kaic, head of the Department for Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases at the Croatian Institute of Public Health (HZJZ), said on Wednesday. "Since we do not consider mandatory inspections an efficient method for the prevention of the COVID-19 variants into the country, we do not intend to impose mandatory inspections, as long as it is not a requirement of all EU (European Union) member states," Kaic, authorized by the Croatian Ministry of Health, told Xinhua in an interview. Croatia will not follow the examples of some Western European countries to take restrictive COVID-19 measures on Chinese passengers, Kaic said, noting that the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has said that it is "unjustified" and unnecessary to impose mandatory inspections on passengers from China. As the COVID-19 virus is already present in Croatia and all over the EU, "it is no big deal if a Chinese passenger with COVID-19 virus enters Croatia," Kaic noted. Croatia welcomes Chinese tourists and "we look forward to their arrival and there are no obstacles for that," Kaic added. "We warmly welcome Chinese tourists, because they are our dear guests," said Kristijan Stanicic, director of the Croatian National Tourist Board (CNTB), adding that the CNTB will do everything to facilitate the arrival and stay of Chinese tourists in Croatia. TIANJIN, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- The health center of Chuanfangyu Township recently saw villagers trickling in daily, and about one-third of the outpatients suffer from respiratory diseases. The health center, located in the Jizhou District of north China's Tianjin Municipality, is one of the grassroots medical institutions in the country's vast rural areas, playing a vital role in providing tiered, timely, and convenient medical services for rural residents. Guo Yanli has contracted the coronavirus for a dozen days. "I have a cough and a little pain in my chest when I breathe. I bought some cough herbs here, and it took effect in about three days. I'm almost good now," the villager said. Guo said that she also checked her lungs at the health center. The results showed her lungs were clear. Villager Lyu Shuangshuang visited the health center recently for the antitussive drug. Lyu said her family had all been infected with COVID-19 but recovered after taking antipyretics, cold medicine, and antiviral medicine. "Our drug reserves are sufficient to ensure the needs of patients in the area," said Sun Hongsheng, a physician at the health center. Sun added the center also provides traditional Chinese medicines for patients and infected medical staff. Liu Hongliang, head of the health center, said there was a small increase in the number of COVID-19 patients in mid-to-late December, but the figure began to fall at the end of December. Most of them were mild cases. Chuanfangyu Township has a population of more than 12,000. Besides the town's health center, village clinics also protect rural residents' health. "The medication supply was tight at the beginning. Thanks to the help of the local health commission and pharmaceutical companies, we have increased our stockpile," Liu said. Unlike the rapid rise in the number of people infected in big cities, the infection rate among villagers in the town was significantly slower, said Liu, adding that rural residents are scattered, and their awareness of self-protection has improved. Apart from outpatient services, doctors in the health center also make house calls and home visits. During a recent home visit, Liu found that Li Zeng, an 81-year-old villager, was not in good spirits, with a severe cough and respiratory symptoms. The elder was later admitted to the health center. "My father is old, and big hospitals are very far. Therefore, we chose the small health center since we are familiar with the doctors. It is convenient and near our home, and the medical facilities are good here," said Li Zeng's daughter Li Haiyan. The village clinic of Daxin, under the jurisdiction of Chuanfangyu Township, provides medical services for two nearby villages with more than 2,000 residents. "The number of COVID-19 patients is declining, and the medicine is sufficient so far," said Liu Huaichen, a doctor at the clinic. "Our country has exerted great efforts and done a good job in COVID-19 prevention over the past few years. Rural residents also attach importance to protection measures," he added. ATHENS, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Greece's former King Constantine II passed away Tuesday in Athens at the age of 82, Greek national broadcaster ERT reported. The last monarch of Greece had been hospitalized for several days in a local hospital, the report said. Constantine II became king in 1964. He was forced into exile after a failed countercoup against the military dictatorship which took over in 1967, Greek national news agency AMNA reported. The military junta abolished the Greek monarchy in 1973. The former king had lived in London for decades and returned to Greece a few years ago following lengthy legal disputes with the Greek state over seized properties. Xinhua News Agency: Foreign Minister Qin Gang is visiting Africa just after assuming his new post. We noticed some of his activities in Ethiopia yesterday. Could you share more information? Wang Wenbin: On January 10, Foreign Minister Qin Gang arrived in Ethiopia for a seven-day visit to Africa. For 33 years, Chinese foreign ministers have made Africa the destination of their first overseas visits each year. This speaks volumes about the high importance China attaches to growing its traditional friendly relations with Africa. Ethiopia is a major African country with important influence. It is Chinas comprehensive strategic cooperative partner in Africa and an important partner for China-Africa Belt and Road cooperation. Foreign Minister Qin Gang chose the country for his first overseas visit in his new capacity. This speaks to the close friendship between our two countries and the importance China attaches to growing ties with Ethiopia. The visit is aimed at implementing the common understandings on deepening bilateral relations reached by leaders of both countries, consolidating traditional friendship, enhancing political mutual trust, seeking synergy between respective development strategies, advancing cooperation in various areas, and further enriching the China-Ethiopia comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership. During the visit, Foreign Minister Qin paid a courtesy call on Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali and held talks with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Demeke Mekonnen Hassen. The two sides held in-depth exchange of views on bilateral relations and international and regional issues of mutual interest and reached important common understandings. The Chinese side has released readouts on them. Both sides expressed satisfaction with the current state of bilateral ties and confidence in their prospects. Both agree that as major developing countries sharing similar visions and fellow travelers on the path to modernization, China and Ethiopia should be partners that firmly support each other, pursue common development and uphold international fairness and justice. China-Ethiopia relations are embracing new opportunities and bright prospects. Foreign Minister Qin also shared the progress made under the Outlook on Peace and Development in the Horn of Africa in Ethiopia. He noted that China had put forward the outlook to support countries in the region in seeking strength through unity and achieving prosperity and stability. China supports the convening of the inaugural Horn of Africa peace conference, which contributed to building consensus among all parties and promoting peace and development in the region. With a view to enhancing cooperation between the two foreign ministries, the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding on political consultation between the two foreign ministries. AFP: The UK and Japan are expected to sign a major defence deal today. The deal is allowing UK troops to deploy in Japan. This is part of Japans efforts to face what they call the challenges posed by China. Does China plan to protest officially to the UK and Japan? Wang Wenbin: The Asia-Pacific is an anchor for peace and development, not a wrestling ground for geopolitical competition. China is a cooperation partner for all countries and poses no challenge to anyone. The defense cooperation between relevant countries should be conducive to enhancing mutual understanding, trust and cooperation between countries. It should not target any imaginary enemies, still less replicate the obsolete mindset of bloc confrontation in the Asia-Pacific. Fuji TV: With regard to the Japan-related restrictive measures issued by China yesterday, the Japanese government has expressed regret. Japans measures against China include nucleic acid test and proof of negative result. Those are completely different from Chinas measures of suspending issuance of ordinary visas and the measures of the two sides are not reciprocal. What is your comment? Wang Wenbin: We have pointed out many times that a handful of countries, in disregard of science and their actual epidemic situation, have insisted on taking discriminatory entry restriction measures against travelers arriving from China. China responded to certain countries discriminatory action with reciprocal measures. This is to protect our fellow citizens legitimate rights and interests and make sure the environment is suitable for normal exchange and cooperation between countries, which is fair and legitimate. We would like to take this opportunity to share more of the relevant facts with you. Health experts and epidemiologists from many countries have pointed out that tightening entry policy towards travelers from China is neither science-based nor necessary. The Health Minister of Singapore said recently that imported cases from China accounted for less than 5% of Singapores total imported infections in the four weeks running up to January 1, which was far lower than the proportions of imported infections from other countries and regions. There is no need to impose new restriction measures against China at the moment. WHO Regional Director for Europe Dr. Hans Henri P. Kluge noted recently that China has been sharing virus sequencing information with the international community; the SARS-CoV-2 virus variants circulating in China are those that have already been seen in Europe and elsewhere; the situation in China is not anticipated to significantly impact the COVID-19 epidemiological situation in Europe at this time; and precautionary travel measures should be rooted in science, proportionate and non-discriminatory. He also said that the new XBB.1.5 recombinant virus has already been spreading rapidly across the US, and that a threat could come from a new variant of concern, anywhere, anytime. We once again call on relevant countries to make sure that their COVID response measures are fact-based, science-based and proportionate. All parties need to work together to create enabling conditions for normal cross-border travel and people-to-people exchange and cooperation. CCTV: Recently many countries have introduced measures welcoming Chinese tourists. Do you have any comment? 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 said that they warmly welcome Chinese tourists and will not place entry restrictions on travelers from China. In Thailand, the Deputy Prime Minister and other government officials greeted passengers from China at the airport and gifted them with health bags and garlands. The head of the Tourism Authority of Thailand said in Chinese to the tourists that China and Thailand are one family. The foreign ministry of Maldives said on its official website and Twitter that Maldives welcomes Chinas refinement of exit and entry measures and looks forward to receiving Chinese tourists soon. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen expressed the hope of receiving two million Chinese tourists in 2023. Indonesia and other countries have arranged for Chinese-speaking staff to assist in relevant work. Chinese restaurants in travel resorts like Bali that were temporarily closed due to COVID-19 have gradually resumed business. Local travel agencies have launched Spring Festival tours one after another. Friendly countries with hospitable hosts fill Chinese tourists hearts with warmth and happiness and will naturally become favored destinations. There will be efforts to make it easier for Chinese tourists to get to those places including by increasing the number of direct flights. We also remind Chinese travelers to take extra care with their health management and monitoring to make sure they can have a smooth and pleasant trip overseas. China will continue to adapt its COVID response measures to the evolving epidemic situation and work with all sides to ensure safe, unhindered and orderly cross-border travel and contribute to international solidarity against the pandemic and world economic recovery. Kyodo News: In response to the restriction measures adopted by the ROK and Japan, China took reciprocal measures. But the US and some European countries also adopted restriction measures targeting China. Why hasnt China taken reciprocal measures against them? Wang Wenbin: We have made it clear that China has taken reciprocal measures in response to relevant countries actual discriminatory measures against China. Bloomberg: The Philippine Supreme Court has nullified a 2005 agreement that allowed the Philippines, China and Vietnam to jointly explore for oil resources in the South China Sea. How does this affect the Philippines and Chinas plan to restart discussions on oil and gas exploration in that body of water following a meeting between President Marcos and President Xi last week? When does China expect to resume talks with the Philippines on oil and gas exploration in the South China Sea? Is China looking at a definite timeline? Wang Wenbin: National oil companies from China, the Philippines and Vietnam signed the Tripartite Agreement for Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking in the Agreement Area in the South China Sea in 2005 and conducted joint seismic undertaking in some parts of the South China Sea. It was an important step by the three countries to implement the DOC and a useful experiment for maritime cooperation between parties to the South China Sea. It played an important role in promoting stability, cooperation and development in the region. China remains committed to properly handling maritime disputes in the South China Sea with countries directly concerned, including the Philippines, through dialogue and consultation, and to actively exploring ways for practical maritime cooperation including joint exploration. During Philippine President Marcoss recent visit to China, the two sides agreed to bear in mind the spirit of the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation on Oil and Gas Development signed in 2018 and resume discussions on oil and gas development at an early date, building upon the outcomes of the previous talks, with a view to benefiting the two countries and their peoples. Tokyo News: A group of Lithuanian lawmakers are on a visit to Taiwan and will meet with Tsai Ing-wen. Whats your comment? Wang Wenbin: We have pointed out repeatedly that Lithuania violated its commitment made upon the establishment of diplomatic ties with China and blatantly created the false impression of one China, one Taiwan in the world. This contravenes the basic norm governing international relations. We urge Lithuania to abide by its commitment made upon the establishment of diplomatic ties with China and return to the one-China principle as soon as possible. Bloomberg: The new House of Representatives has set up a committee to come up with ways to what it said was counter Chinas growing economic and strategic power. This was a bipartisan committee and it received overwhelming support for its establishment. Does the foreign ministry have a response to this committee being formed? Wang Wenbin: We hope the relevant US politicians view China and the China-US relations in an objective and reasonable light, proceed from the USs own interests and the common interests of China and the US, head toward the same direction with China and promote the development of the China-US relations based on mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation. Fuji TV: Do you think the restrictive measures Japan and China have taken against each other are reciprocal? Wang Wenbin: The measures weve taken are entirely justified and reasonable. We once again call on relevant countries to follow the principle of science and make sure that their COVID response measures are science-based and proportionate. BEIJING, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- Chinese equities kicked off 2023 with remarkable gains and continued capital inflows amid the renminbi's bullish momentum. This reflects the global investors' positive outlook on China's economic growth and their confidence in the country's economic fundamentals. China's fast economic recovery will attract more inflows of northbound capital, or the amount that overseas investors pump into A-shares via the Stock Connect program linking Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong bourses. As of Tuesday, the net inflow of northbound capital neared 33.52 billion yuan (4.94 billion U.S. dollars) this year, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gained 2.6 percent, and the Shenzhen Component Index expanded 4.46 percent from the end of last year. A report released by CITIC Securities showed that Chinese assets will gather greater appeal in 2023, and the net inflow of capital will exceed 100 billion yuan amid the steady appreciation of the renminbi. Goldman Sachs said that overseas capital's increase in A-shares represented a trend and the logic behind it is that A-shares provide a relatively safe haven during the global market turbulence. Analysts also believed overseas investors have been attracted to the A-share market for its lower price-to-earnings ratio, a widely watched measure of valuation on whether the market (or a stock) is overvalued, fairly valued, or undervalued. The capital inflows can also facilitate the renminbi to improve its performance in the currency market. The central parity rate of the renminbi 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 renminbi 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. 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, enabling quarantine-free global travel and easing other curbs. Global observers speak highly of China's prospects. Swiss private bank Pictet said China's economy is to expand in 2023, and Chinese equities are expected to yield a higher return. "We believe that the Chinese economy will improve in 2023. We think that a growth of 5 percent is possible and achievable thanks to the reopening of the economy," said Luca Paolini, chief strategist at Pictet Asset Management. In a recent report on the global economic outlook, Goldman Sachs predicted China's GDP growth to rise from 3 percent in 2022 to 4.5 percent in 2023. According to J.P. Morgan Asset Management's forecast, China's GDP growth may rebound to over 5 percent this year, while Morgan Stanley's outlook on growth has risen to 5.4 percent. Gabonese Minister for the Promotion of Investments Hugues Mbadinga Madiya has said that Gabon looks forward to more Chinese investments to boost bilateral trade and revitalize its economy impacted by the pandemic. Mbadinga Madiya made the remarks in a recent interview with Xinhua. In the eyes of the minister, investments from China contribute greatly to the socio-economic development of his country. Noting China's recent announcement to ease restrictions on international travel, Mbadinga Madiya said it will facilitate personal exchanges and accelerate the recovery of the world economy. Produced by Xinhua Global Service Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang (L) and Ethiopian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Demeke Mekonnen attend a press conference after their talks in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Jan. 10, 2023. (Xinhua/Wang Ping) ADDIS ABABA, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang on Tuesday addressed members of the press along with Ethiopian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Demeke Mekonnen, after their talks in Addis Ababa. When asked about China's views on the peace agreement in Ethiopia and the progress of the China-proposed "Outlook on Peace and Development in the Horn of Africa" in Ethiopia, Qin said that Ethiopia is the common home of all Ethiopian people, including those from Tigray. Ethiopia has now entered a new stage of looking forward to peace and focusing on development after the recent signing of a ceasefire agreement between the federal government of Ethiopia and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), which has been gradually implemented, he said. China is sincerely glad to see this and extends warm congratulations to the government and people of Ethiopia, Qin said. He said China has always taken the view that the conflict in Tigray is an internal affair of Ethiopia and that the Ethiopian people have the wisdom and ability to independently resolve their internal differences. China has all along respected Ethiopia's sovereignty and territorial integrity and supported the Ethiopian government and people in their efforts to achieve national peace, unity and development, Qin said. China has always supported Africans in solving African problems in African ways, he added. Qin said the strategic location of the Horn of Africa is of great significance to the peace and stability of Africa and even the Middle East, and that China has put forward the "Outlook on Peace and Development in the Horn of Africa" to support countries in the region to seek strength through unity and achieve prosperity and stability. Recalling Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa Affairs of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Xue Bing's visit to many countries in the region, Qin said China supported the convening of the inaugural Horn of Africa peace conference that made a positive contribution to building consensus among all parties and promoting peace and development in the region. He noted that China has provided batches of food, vaccines and other humanitarian supplies to Ethiopia to help improve the livelihoods of people in conflict-affected areas. China will continue to do so and will actively participate in the reconstruction of conflict-afflicted areas, Qin said, urging the international community to also increase humanitarian assistance to Ethiopia and support the reconstruction and economic and social development of the affected regions. RIYADH, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- The Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) and the Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma'aden) announced on Wednesday that they would jointly establish a new company to invest in global mining assets. The company's capital will amount to 50 million U.S. dollars and aims to initially invest in iron ore, copper, nickel, and lithium as a non-operating partner taking minority equity positions. The new company will significantly contribute to strengthening Saudi Arabia's strategic position as an important link in the global supply chain in line with PIF's strategy to grow key industries further, said Deputy Governor and Head of MENA Investments at PIF Yazeed Alhumied. Soldiers are seen in the territory of Masisi on Jan. 8, 2023. The plot thickens in the northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as the rebels of the March 23 Movement (M23) are still active in the northeastern North Kivu province, despite their recent withdrawal from several captured villages. (Photo by Alain Uaykani/Xinhua) GOMA, DR Congo, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- The plot thickens in the northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as the rebels of the March 23 Movement (M23) are still active in the northeastern North Kivu province, despite their recent withdrawal from several captured villages. After the territory of Rutshuru, which the M23 conquered and where it occupies almost all the towns and villages, the rebels, deemed as "terrorists" by the DRC government, are now on the offensive in the territory of Masisi, in order to take control of the minerals that abound, General Sylvain Ekenge, spokesperson for the DRC Armed Forces (FARDC), told Xinhua. THE M23 STILL ADVANCES Over the past week, the M23 has occupied several villages in the Masisi territory, where fighting rages towards the town of Ishasha, which is lying on the border between the DRC and Uganda and is now still under the control of the Congolese government. The fighting in Masisi territory has displaced thousands of civilians, seeking to find refuge in the Masisi-center region where the army has reinforced its presence to push back the rebels. "We are scared about the ongoing situation in the villages around. There are displaced people who arrive here every day because their villages have been attacked by the rebels who are also advancing here. We really hope that the army will reinforce its workforce to stop the advance of the rebels," Marie Mugole, a resident of the city of Mushaki in Masisi, told Xinhua. Fighting is also raging around the town of Kitchanga, also in Masisi, where the rebels have been trying for several days to take control of the roads linking the two territories of Masisi and Rutshuru. The Congolese army has accused the M23 rebels of fueling inter-ethnic conflicts to justify its advance in Masisi. The rebels on the other hand have accused the army of being behind the alleged killings of members of certain Rwandophone communities. Both sides deny the accusation. QUESTIONABLE WITHDRAWAL M23's new moves in Masisi coincided with its recent withdrawal from two conquered areas. On Nov. 23, a mini-summit in Luanda, the Angolan capital, set a timetable that demanded an immediate ceasefire and above all an ultimatum asking the M23 rebels to leave the occupied areas in order to allow a diplomatic solution to the ongoing crisis. In late December 2022 and early January 2023, the M23 rebels successively withdrew from the town of Kibumba and the military base of Rumangabo, the latter is currently under the aegis of the regional force of the East African Community (EAC). More than six weeks after the Luanda peace summit, however, the M23's withdrawal remains questionable, as the rebellion still holds more than 100 villages in Rutshuru territory alone, according to local residents contacted by Xinhua. During the handover ceremony of the Rumangabo military base on Jan. 6, the commander of the M23 movement, John Nzenze, told Xinhua that their movement had made many efforts to end the hostilities. The DRC government has made it clear that it refuses any direct talks with the M23 until it respects the full withdrawal set out in the Luanda accord. "There will be no dialogue with the M23 if it (M23) does not withdraw from Congolese soil," insisted the Congolese Minister of Communication and Media Patrick Muyaya, also a government spokesman, in November 2022. ARMY REINFORCEMENT Faced with the current situation, the Congolese army has heavily reinforced its presence in Rutshuru and Masisi to thwart the advance of the rebels, observed Xinhua on the spot over the past weekend in the locality of Mushaki, located in Masisi. During an interview in Mushaki last Thursday, elements of the FARDC reassured the military presence and called on the population to calm down and to trust the FARDC, which is doing a remarkable job on the ground. "We are present on the ground, and our men are containing the advance of the rebels in several areas. We will continue to defend our positions and bring the aggression back to where it came from once and for all," Ndjike Kaiko, spokesman for the military governor of North Kivu, told Xinhua, adding that the number of soldiers will be increasingly reinforced in Masisi. The fighting between the army and the M23 rebels has already pushed thousands of people to leave the territory of Rutshuru to find refuge in several sites erected on the outskirts of the city of Goma, the capital of the North Kivu province. JUBA, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- The South Sudan People's Defense Forces (SSPDF) said it has dislodged the White Army militia in Upper Nile State and Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA). SSPDF spokesperson Lul Ruai Koang told journalists in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, that calm has since returned to Upper Nile and GPAA after they pushed out the White Army, predominantly made up of Lou-Nuer fighters from Jonglei State. "Regarding Upper Nile in Chollo Kingdom, we were able to deploy the regular unit from SSPDF and it successfully confronted the White Army that crossed from Jonglei to Chollo Kingdom," Koang said Tuesday evening. He added that he was able to see humanitarian organizations distributing non-food items to displaced people. Koang said the SSPDF have also driven out Lou-Nuer fighters in Greater Pibor. In November 2022, the White Army attacked Fashoda County of Upper Nile State, displacing more than 30,000 civilians. President Salva Kiir ordered for the safe evacuation to Juba of the Chollo King on Dec. 1 last year following threats on the latter's life. On Dec. 24, thousands of members of the White Army stormed Lanam village, Gumuruk town and Lekuangole in GPAA in a revenge attack that left more than 57 people dead and over 40,000 civilians displaced. Some political observers of South Sudan have warned that rampant communal violence threatens to scuttle a fragile revitalized peace agreement signed under international pressure. TUNIS, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- Tunisian Foreign Affairs Minister Othman Jerandi held a phone conversation Tuesday with Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani to discuss bilateral ties and the issue of irregular immigration. Jerandi confirmed the dynamism of Tunisian-Italian relations, within the framework of supporting the strategic partnership between the two countries, according to a ministry statement. Since 2021, Italy has become Tunisia's top investor in energy and the second-largest foreign investor, with 901 Italian companies operating in Tunisia with high capacity, said Jerandi. The two countries' cooperation was strengthened by the announcement of an electricity interconnection project by sea between Tunisia and Italy, known as the ELMED Mediterranean power interconnector project, whose funding amounts to 307.6 million euros (330.793 million U.S. dollars). The two ministers also discussed opportunities for closer cooperation against illegal immigration and setting up mechanisms to encourage regular migration. LUANDA, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- China will provide financial support for the Angolan national broadband network project under a concessional loan framework agreement signed here on Wednesday. Under the agreement, the Export-Import Bank of China will provide funding to the tune of about 249 million U.S. dollars to build a 2,000-kilometer terrestrial optical cable in Angola as well as a submarine line connecting the enclave of Cabinda, and upgrade the country's telecommunications network. The agreement was signed by the Chinese Ambassador to Angola, Gong Tao, and Angolan Minister of Finance Vera Daves de Sousa in Luanda, the capital of Angola. The national broadband project will bring high-speed network services to Angola's remote areas, lower access costs, and boost the country's digital economy. The Angolan finance minister said that the framework agreement will further develop the friendly relations between Angola and China and promote economic and technical cooperation between the two countries. SYDNEY, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- Health authorities of Australia's New South Wales (NSW) urged local residents to be cautious with mosquito bites on Wednesday as Murray Valley encephalitis (MVE) virus was detected in inner west of the state. Richard Broome, executive director of Health Protection NSW, said most people who are infected with the virus that causes MVE do not have any symptoms, but a small proportion of people infected will experience symptoms, including fever, headache, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, diarrhoea and muscle aches. "Among those who get a severe infection, some may die or have lifelong neurological complications," Broome said. According to NSW Health, the MVE virus, a nationally notifiable disease in Australia, is spread by mosquitos from infected animals to humans. The virus can not be transmitted between humans, and people can not get the virus by touching an infected animal or eating animal products. "There is no vaccination or specific treatment for MVE and the best way to avoid infection is to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes, which are most active between dusk and dawn," Broome said. "Avoiding mosquito bites will also protect against other mosquito-borne infections including Japanese encephalitis, Ross River Fever and Barmah Forest virus." The health authorities also recommended some tips to prevent mosquito bites such as wearing light, loose-fitting long-sleeved shirts, long pants and covered footwear and socks, especially around dusk and dawn; removing items that might collect water outside houses and improving the properties' drainage so as not to create environment for mosquitoes breeding. According to the health department of the Victoria state, MVE virus is endemic in northern Australia and Papua New Guinea, where sporadic cases or small outbreaks of MVE occur every few years, usually at the end of the wet season. Seven outbreaks of MVE have occurred at irregular intervals in southeastern Australia since 1917. NEW DELHI, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- India won its first-ever Golden Globe award on Wednesday for the Telugu action film RRR's catchy musical number, Naatu Naatu. Naatu Naatu was awarded the best original song. S.S. Rajamouli's blockbuster was nominated for two categories, best original song and best picture-non English. However, it lost the best picture award in a foreign language to Santiago Mitre's historical drama Argentina, 1985. Indians, especially people associated with cinema, expressed their joy at the news. Oscar-winning music composer A.R. Rahman called the film's win a "paradigm shift". "Incredible. Paradigm shift. Congrats Keeravani Garu from all Indians and your fans! Congrats S.S. Rajamouli, Garu and the whole RRR team!" Rahman tweeted. Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan also took to the social media writing that he "woke up and started dancing to Naatu Naatu" to celebrate the news. RRR, which stands for Rise, Roar, Revolt, is an action thriller about two revolutionaries who fight against British rule in India. The film is written and directed by Rajamouli. The film turned out to be a huge box-office hit, not just domestically but also in foreign countries. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi described winning of the Golden Globe as a very special accomplishment and extended compliments to people associated with the film. "This prestigious honor has made every Indian very proud," Modi wrote on Twitter. By Azernews By Laman Ismayilova The Arts Council Azerbaijan invites talented photographers to capture amazing shots of Baku, Azernews reports. Initiated by the head of Arts Council Azerbaijan, Dadash Mammadov, the project aims at demonstrating Baku's tourism potential. The project organizers will select some of the best photos to be included in the exhibition-themed "Baku-Tourist Paradise". Anyone can take part in the photo exhibition, regardless of age. Those who wish to participate can send their photos until January 22, 2023, to the email address [email protected] The Arts Council Azerbaijan is an international and independent art platform, aimed at promoting Azerbaijani culture and art. The organization is the head of the International Arts Council Network operating in different countries around the world since 2006, Arts Council Azerbaijan is headed by artist Dadash Mammadov. Many projects have been operating for many years under the auspices of the organization. Among them are Art Gazette, Production Studio, the Nazim Mammadov Azerbaijani Animation Museum, the Art School Drawing School, Under open air, Art Residence, and Youth Network. MOSCOW, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- Russia will focus on its development despite any external pressures, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday during his first meeting with government members this year. "In the near future, we certainly need to find (solutions) to issues related to sovereign and independent development, despite any external pressure or threats," Putin said, according to a statement published by the Kremlin. He noted that it is important to continue ensuring Russia's security and protecting its interests, adding that it is necessary to strengthen the country's defense capabilities, and solve all existing issues related to the support of the armed forces involved in its special military operation in Ukraine. At the same time, a priority would be the implementation of large-scale social and economic programs, which aim to improve the welfare of the people, "unlock Russia's enormous potential," and expand international ties, he said. PARIS, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne laid out on Tuesday details of the country's controversial pension reform plan, progressively raising the legal retirement age to 64 and proposing a minimum pension for all retirees. Speaking at a press conference, Borne announced that France planned to raise, from Sept. 1, the legal retirement age entitled to a full pension, from the current 62 to 64 by 2030 at a progressive rate of three months per year. Also, she added that starting from 2027, future retirees could receive a full pension if they would have contributed for 43 years. Borne pointed out that the current pension reform plan would allow people to have a minimum pension of 1,200 euros (about 1,288 U.S. dollars) per month. "Employees and the self-employed ... who have contributed all their life with income around the SMIC (French minimum monthly wage) will now leave with a pension of 85 percent of the net SMIC," she explained. Speaking to French TV channel France 2, Borne explained that the government's objective was to "balance our pension system in 2030." "We conducted several months of consultation, we listened and we were able to see that there was another way to achieve this objective of balance in 2030," she said. According to the government, pushing back the legal age to 64 by 2030 while accelerating the extension of the contribution period will free up 17.7 billion euros (about 19 billion U.S. dollars) for the pension system. The government's initial plan was to raise the legal retirement age to 65. If the pension reform plan were to be passed by the French National Assembly and Senate, the first generation concerned by the postponement of the retirement age will be those born in and after September of 1961. Angered by the pension reform plan, major unions have already announced a major strike on Jan. 19 across the country. In his New Year address, French President Emmanuel Macron said that the pension reform was necessary to balance the pension system for the decades to come. In 2021, France's expenditure on the pension system equaled 13.8 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). However, the country's Pensions Advisory Council (COR) said that the share of pension expenditure would rise sharply due to the sharp contraction in GDP and would vary between 14.2 percent and 14.7 percent between 2027 and 2032. In a report published by the COR in September 2022, the pension system watchdog said that from 2022 to 2032, the country's pension system would be in deficit. (1 euro = 1.07 U.S. dollar) ISTANBUL, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- Turkiye's cultural and financial heart, Istanbul, the only city in the world spanning Europe and Asia, is preparing for the arrival of Chinese tourists. Soon after China downgraded its COVID-19 measures on Jan. 8, easing international travel, tourism representatives in the city started discussing ways to attract more Chinese travelers with a wide range of promotional activities. "The opening of the Chinese market is essential to us," Murat Arslan, general manager of CVK Park Bosphorus Hotel, told Xinhua in an interview. "We know Chinese people travel a lot in Istanbul. Rather than sea, sand, and sun, they have a more cultural and gastronomic experience-oriented travel understanding," Arslan noted. According to Arslan, Istanbul offers a lot for Chinese tourists, including boat tours on the Bosphorus Strait flowing between the European and Asian sides; the historical peninsula of Sultanahmet; ancient palaces, churches and mosques; and a vivid nightlife with numerous restaurants and bars. The hotel manager said travel representatives have sped up efforts to offer a unique experience to Chinese visitors to the city. Meanwhile, Arslan's teams are updating the hotel's menus to introduce a wide range of Turkish delicacies. "We are also considering a trip to China soon. Again, we continue to work nonstop on Turkish tourism to get a larger share of the cake from China's market," he said. Ali Can Aksu, head of the Turkish Hotel Managers Association, told Xinhua that the Chinese travelers are significant for global tourism. "The entire world measures the needs of Chinese tourists and acts accordingly. It is also followed very closely by Turkiye," Aksu said. In Aksu's view, the Chinese should not be perceived as tourists. They have the spirit of a traveler. "They have a different understanding of tourism and want to explore new adventures and discover new places, areas, and destinations. So, as a country, we attach great importance to them." According to Aksu, Turkiye's tourism sector wants to attract 1 million travelers from China. After hosting over 420,000 Chinese tourists in 2019, Turkiye had initially projected to attract nearly 1 million by the end of 2020. However, most activities were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. "We are waiting for our Chinese brothers and sisters, and we intend to give them a taste of Turkiye's vast unexplored paradise," Aksu said. "We are doing all our preparations for them." ISTANBUL, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- A resort town along the western Mediterranean coast of Turkiye is all geared up for the return of Chinese tourists as China eased its travel restrictions on Jan. 8. "That's excellent news, and we were thrilled," said Celal Yildiz, owner of a travel agency in Fethiye, a district of the Mugla province famed for its valleys, beaches, and extreme sports. The region became a top-rated and eye-catching destination for Chinese travelers after a batch of Chinese influencers visited Fethiye for a program shooting in 2015 and shared their paragliding experiences with the Chinese audience. Touted as one of the best spots for paragliding, the 2,000-meter-high Babadag mountain stands perpendicular to the sea and provides perfect weather conditions to fly all year round. Adventurers can take off from the mountain and glide to the sandy beach of Fethiye's small town of Oludeniz. Lots of Chinese people, especially the young generations, came here to experience the sport over the breathtaking view of the Oludeniz lagoon. "I have friends from China, and we always chatted on WeChat," said Yildiz, emphasizing the good friendships he and Chinese visitors established. "If everything goes on track, we will have a big explosion (in the number of Chinese guests visiting Fethiye in 2023)." Ozgen Uysal, head of the Western Mediterranean Regional Representatives Board at the Turkish Travel Agencies Association, said that before the pandemic in 2019, the paragliding companies in Fethiye carried out approximately 166,000 flights, among which, 40 percent were done by Chinese guests. "That is a very high figure for us," Uysal told Xinhua. Recently, the area has started to receive increasing Chinese travelers. Among the approximate 100 flights per day, 15-20 of them were from Chinese guests, according to Uysal, who is optimistic for this year. Mustafa Argin, the owner of three boutique hotels in Fethiye, told Xinhua that the entire region, incredibly keen on Chinese tourists, is eagerly preparing to welcome them. "We are very familiar with the preferences of our Chinese guests," Argin told Xinhua, explaining that they filled breakfasts with food items suitable for Chinese tastes and hire about 70 percent of his staff who have an intermediate level of the Chinese language. "Fethiye loves China, while the Chinese also love Fethiye, and the region is harmonious with them," Argin said. WARSAW, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- Poland has decided to send German-made Leopard tanks to Ukraine, the country's President, Andrzej Duda, said on Wednesday. On a visit to the city of Lviv in western Ukraine, Duda held talks with his Ukrainian and Lithuanian counterparts, Volodymyr Zelensky and Gitanas Nauseda, respectively, in the so-called Lublin Triangle format (a regional alliance of the three countries). After the meeting, Duda told journalists that "A company of Leopard tanks will be handed over as part of building an international coalition," he was quoted by the Polish Press Agency (PAP) as saying. "The decision has already been made in Poland," Duda said, adding that he expected more countries to soon join the effort. A company typically consists of 14 tanks. Any re-export of Leopard tanks requires approval by the government in Berlin. MOSCOW, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi discussed bilateral cooperation and the situation in Syria in a phone call Wednesday. The leaders stressed the need to further develop bilateral cooperation in all spheres, including through the implementation of "mutually beneficial" projects in the energy, transport and logistics sectors, the Kremlin said. Putin and Raisi both welcomed the joint work carried out within the framework of the Astana process, which plays a key role in the Syrian settlement process. The presidents agreed on the importance of continuing cooperation to normalize the situation in Syria and restore the country's territorial integrity, according to the Kremlin. LOS ANGELES, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Los Angeles County, the most populous county in the United States, approved a motion on Tuesday to declare a state of emergency over its homeless crisis. Homelessness is a specific and prolonged emergency impacting more individuals than other emergencies, said the motion co-authored by L.A. County supervisors Lindsey Horvath and Kathryn Barger. "Homelessness is a complicated and multifaceted issue that requires, among other things, the development of new affordable housing, including land-use policy decisions to permit such housing," said the motion, calling for the county, home to over 10 million residents, to provide critical services to unhoused individuals, including general health, mental health and substance abuse treatment services. As of early 2022, L.A. County had 69,144 unhoused residents, including 70 percent unsheltered, the highest number of unsheltered persons in the country. Since 2015, the number of unhoused individuals in the county has increased by 55 percent, said the motion. On her first day as Los Angeles mayor on Dec. 12, 2021, Karen Bass declared a local emergency related to homelessness in the city, the county seat of L.A. County. County officials said the reasons for homelessness are complex. "Those that become unhoused are frequently rent-burdened, live paycheck-to-paycheck, and many report suffering from serious mental illness or substance abuse issues. One-time events such as job loss, medical incidents, significant unforeseen costs, and no-fault evictions, also often lead individuals to become unhoused." The declaration of a state of emergency over the county's homeless crisis will expedite supportive and material services for those unhoused, they said. Still, many living on downtown Los Angeles' 6th Street said they have no clue about the motion's impact on them. Some thought it means housing placements. A man in his 60s, who refused to give his name, told Xinhua he has been allowed by officials to live in a tent on one sidewalk of the street if he can clean the portion of the sidewalk he lives. The man said he is worried about his chance to apply for a place in a shelter because of his past criminal record. Alex Mecl, founder and chairman of Californian nonprofit organization Ribbon for Humanity, told Xinhua the motion is "the first step in the right direction to bring public attention to this escalating crisis in the United States." "It will take a collective effort and collaboration between public and private interest groups and organizations to help work towards solving this insurmountable problem facing our country," he added. The homeless crisis is a serious problem for the county, for California, and for the country, said Maggie Wang, co-founder and president of the organization. "The solution to homelessness should be more than a campaign slogan," Wang said. U.S. federal data showed more than 580,000 people were experiencing homelessness in the country in January 2022. Los Angeles and New York, the two most populous U.S. cities, reportedly have the largest concentrations of homeless people. Homeless people stand in the rain in the Skid Row Park in downtown Los Angeles, California, the United States, on Jan. 10, 2023. Los Angeles County in the United States approved a motion on Tuesday to declare a state of emergency over the region's homeless crisis. (Xinhua) LOS ANGELES, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Los Angeles County in the United States approved a motion on Tuesday to declare a state of emergency over the region's homeless crisis. Homelessness is a specific and prolonged emergency that is impacting more individuals than other emergencies, said the motion co-authored by L.A. County supervisors Lindsey Horvath and Kathryn Barger. "Homelessness is a complicated and multifaceted issue that requires, among other things, the development of new affordable housing, including land-use policy decisions to permit such housing," said the motion. The motion called for the L.A. County to provide critical services to unhoused individuals, including general health, mental health, and substance abuse treatment services. As of early 2022, Los Angeles County had 69,144 unhoused residents, including 70 percent that were unsheltered, the highest number of unsheltered persons in the country, according to the motion. The declaration of a state of emergency over the region's homeless crisis will expedite supportive and material services for people who are unhoused, according to county officials. Tents of homeless people are seen in the rain in downtown Los Angeles, California, the United States, Jan. 10, 2023. Los Angeles County in the United States approved a motion on Tuesday to declare a state of emergency over the region's homeless crisis. (Photo by Zeng Hui/Xinhua) A homeless person walks in the rain along the 6th Street in downtown Los Angeles, California, the United States, Jan. 10, 2023. Los Angeles County in the United States approved a motion on Tuesday to declare a state of emergency over the region's homeless crisis. (Xinhua) A homeless woman is seen in the rain in downtown Los Angeles, California, the United States, Jan. 10, 2023. Los Angeles County in the United States approved a motion on Tuesday to declare a state of emergency over the region's homeless crisis. (Xinhua) Photo taken on March 12, 2019, shows operating oil pumps in Luling of Texas, the United States. (Xinhua/Wang Ying) As for crude oil prices, the Brent crude oil price is forecast to average 83 U.S. dollars per barrel in 2023, down 18 percent from 2022, and continue to fall to 78 dollars per barrel in 2024 as global oil inventories build, putting downward pressure on crude oil prices. HOUSTON, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Global oil inventories will increase over the next two years with more global oil production than consumption, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecast on Tuesday. Partly as the result, crude oil prices will further go down, the EIA said in its January Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) report. The report forecast that global production of liquid fuels will reach an average of 102.8 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2024, up from 100 million b/d in 2022, driven by large growth in non-OPEC production. However, uncertainty over Russia's oil supply will persist, particularly in early 2023, the report noted, expecting global consumption of liquid fuels will rise from an average of 99.4 million b/d in 2022 to 102.2 million b/d in 2024. The EIA said that ongoing concerns about global economic conditions as well as the easing COVID-19 restrictions in China raised the uncertainty of the outcomes of its demand forecasts. As for crude oil prices, the Brent crude oil price is forecast to average 83 U.S. dollars per barrel in 2023, down 18 percent from 2022, and continue to fall to 78 dollars per barrel in 2024 as global oil inventories build, putting downward pressure on crude oil prices. Gasoline prices will also decline as both wholesale refining margins and crude oil prices fall, said the report, forecasting U.S. gasoline refining margins to fall by 29 percent in 2023 and by 14 percent in 2024, leading to retail gasoline prices averaging around 3.30 dollars per gallon in 2023 and 3.10 dollars per gallon in 2024. A man pumps gasoline into his car at a gas station in Millbrae, California, the United States, May 16, 2022. (Photo by Li Jianguo/Xinhua) U.S. refining margins for diesel are expected to fall by 20 percent in 2023 and by 38 percent in 2024. The EIA forecast retail diesel prices to average about 4.20 dollars per gallon in 2023, down 16 percent from 2022, and continue to fall in 2024, averaging near 3.70 dollars per gallon. In the EIA forecast,the Henry Hub natural gas spot price averages slightly less than 5 dollars per million British thermal units (MMBtu) in 2023, down close to 25 percent from last year, as domestic consumption declines and liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports remain relatively flat. In 2024, natural gas prices will again average slightly below 5 dollars per MMBtu, as dry natural gas production outpaces an increase in LNG exports that results from rising LNG export capacity. The report expected U.S. natural gas production in both the Permian and Haynesville regions to grow with the completion of pipeline infrastructure expansions in 2023 and 2024. The EIA also forecast that the share of U.S. electricity generation from coal will fall from 20 percent in 2022 to 18 percent in 2023 and 17 percent in 2024. As an offset, the share of combined utility-scale solar and wind generation will surge from 16 percent in 2023 to 18 percent in 2024. WASHINGTON/MEXICO CITY, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that he was "surprised" that government records were taken to one of his former private offices. "I was surprised to learn there were any government records that were taken there to that office," Biden told reporters in Mexico City where he had a trilateral summit with the leaders of Mexico and Canada. Biden said he doesn't know "what's in the documents" that were found in a locked closet when his attorneys were vacating office space at the Penn Biden Center in Washington, D.C. The Penn Biden Center is a think tank not far from the White House, affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania and named for Biden, a veteran Democrat who served as U.S. vice president from January 2009 to January 2017. White House special counsel Richard Sauber issued a statement on Monday, saying that Biden periodically used this space from mid-2017 until the start of his 2020 presidential campaign. This discovery of "what appears to be Obama-Biden Administration records, including a small number of documents with classified markings" was made in early November of 2022, according to the statement. "They found some documents in a box in a locked cabinet, or at least a closet. And as soon as they did, they realized there were several classified documents in that box," Biden said on Tuesday. The attorneys "did what they should have done" by immediately calling the National Archives, he added. The classified documents found inside the Penn Biden Center closet are reportedly U.S. intelligence memos and briefing materials that covered topics including Ukraine, Iran and Britain. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland is said to have tasked the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois John Lausch Jr. with reviewing the matter. U.S. Congressman James Comer, a Republican who chairs the House Oversight Committee, told CNN that he plans to press the National Archives, which his committee oversees, for information about the classified documents. The U.S. Department of Justice is also investigating former President Donald Trump's handling of a trove of classified documents seized from his estate in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, by federal agents in the summer of 2022. Trump, a Republican, responded to the news of classified documents found at the Penn Biden Center, posting on social media on Monday that "when is the FBI going to raid the many homes of Joe Biden, perhaps even the White House?" "President Biden has been very critical of President Trump mistakenly taking classified documents to the residence or wherever, and now it seems he may have done the same," Comer said. "How ironic." The Presidential Records Act requires all presidential and vice-presidential documents to be turned over to the National Archives. By Azernews By Laman Ismayilova The Azerbaijani National Library has presented digital copies of Nizami's manuscripts, Azernews reports. The National Library has obtained digital copies of a total of 156 rare manuscripts as part of the project "Return of national and spiritual values to Motherland". Nizami's "Poetry collection" (Tehran, 1295) is of special attention as it is probably the first manuscript containing the ghazals of the Azerbaijani writer and philosopher. Copies of his poem "Khosrov and Shirin" are also unique and noteworthy. Speaking at the event, the director of the National Library, Prof Karim Tahirov, stressed Nizami's role in Azerbaijani literature. He recalled that the poet's manuscripts were exported abroad over the past historical period. Furthermore, these manuscripts were included in the collections of world-famous museums and libraries. The Azerbaijani National Library in partnership with the Heydar Aliyev Foundation transferred digital copies of the manuscripts of Azerbaijani classics stored in the biggest libraries in the world. The National Library started to work on obtaining digital copies in 2021 within the Year of Nizami Ganjavi. The library will further continue work in this direction. The library director also spoke about the project to create a joint commission with the Institute of Manuscripts. The joint work implies research and manuscript publication. Among the manuscripts discovered as a result of research in the last year are copies of Nizami's works (1295) and the oldest manuscript of "Khamsa" (1312). One copy of each 30 manuscripts has been included in the National Library's Rare Books Fund. During the event, the event participants were presented with an electronic database "Manuscripts of Nizami Ganjavi in the libraries of the world". In their remarks, Director-General of the Institute of Manuscripts Teymur Karimli, Secretary of the Union of Writers Ilgar Fahmi, head of the Ancient Manuscripts Department at the Institute of Literature, Professor Imamverdi Hamidov, Scientific Secretary of the Institute of Literature Aygun Bagirova, Scientific Secretary of the Institute of Manuscripts, Associate Professor Azizagi Najafov and others highlighted Nizami's contribution to Azerbaijani literature. They outlined the significance of manuscripts for literary critics and the work done by the National Library in this direction. The presentation participants expressed their gratitude to the Azerbaijan National Library for discovering and placing at the disposal of specialists ancient manuscripts, hitherto unknown to Azerbaijani science. In conclusion, the participants got acquainted with the exposition of Nizami's manuscripts published for the National Library collection. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador speaks at a news conference at the end of North American Leaders' Summit in Mexico City, Mexico, Jan. 10, 2023. It is time to abandon "hegemonic interventionism" and opt for greater cooperation, Lopez Obrador said on Tuesday at the end of North American Leaders' Summit.(Xinhua/Francisco Canedo) MEXICO CITY, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- It is time to abandon "hegemonic interventionism" and opt for greater cooperation, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Tuesday at the end of North American Leaders' Summit. The summit gathered U.S. President Joe Biden, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Lopez Obrador in Mexico City. Besides the priority issue of achieving economic integration on the entire American continent, the leaders discussed the well-being of the people, the new ties of cooperation and the abandonment of hegemonic interventionism, said Lopez Obrador at a joint press conference following the trilateral meeting. The three countries agreed to create a joint committee to promote planning and import substitution in North America, said Lopez Obrador while calling for equal treatment between the countries. The summit also addressed immigration, the fight against fentanyl trafficking, and climate change. The Mexican president called on Biden to work with U.S. legislators to regulate the immigration status of millions of undocumented Mexicans who have been living and working in the United States for years. Biden acknowledged more work must be done to tackle drug smuggling and human trafficking across the U.S.-Mexico border, and recommended X-ray scanners be widely used for the many vehicles that cross the border every day, mainly for legal trade. Trudeau said the way to achieve greater economic resilience in the region is through promoting clean energy and strengthening supply chains, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. The North American Leaders' Summit has been held since 2005 as a way to resolve differences between regional partners at the highest level. U.S. President Joe Biden (L), Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (C) and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attend a news conference at the end of North American Leaders' Summit in Mexico City, Mexico, Jan. 10, 2023. It is time to abandon "hegemonic interventionism" and opt for greater cooperation, Lopez Obrador said on Tuesday at the end of North American Leaders' Summit. (Xinhua/Francisco Canedo) U.S. President Joe Biden (L), Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (C) and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attend a news conference at the end of North American Leaders' Summit in Mexico City, Mexico, Jan. 10, 2023. It is time to abandon "hegemonic interventionism" and opt for greater cooperation, Lopez Obrador said on Tuesday at the end of North American Leaders' Summit. (Xinhua/Francisco Canedo) Beijing: Nepal's new Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal alias Prachanda, who is said to be close to China, has started fuelling anti-India nationalism as soon as he comes to power. Nepal's ruling Dahal government has promised to take back Limpiyadhura, Kalapani, and Lipulekh located in India's Uttarakhand state. Nepal has been claiming these areas along the border. This has been revealed in a document released under the Common Minimum Program of the Government of Nepal. According to the report, the document states that India has encroached on Kalapani, Lipulekh, and Limpiyadhura areas and the new government will make strong efforts to take back these areas. The special thing is that in the political map of the year 2019 and 2020, India has described the areas that Nepal wants to occupy within its boundaries. At that time, there was a fierce dispute between Nepal and India. Under the Common Minimum Programme, the Government of Nepal aims to strengthen territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence. Surprisingly, under this program, India is the target of the Prachanda government, but China is not even mentioned in it regarding any dispute related to the border. "What madness looks like": Russia escalates its attack on Bakhmut Pentagon removes COVID-19 vaccination requirement for soldiers Brazilian judge orders the ex-minister of Bolsonaro to be detained after a riot in Brasilia ISW says Russians claim to have captured Soledar false, Bakhmut not under encirclement threat 11 January, 11:50 AM Satellite image of Soledar as of January 8, 2023 (Photo:Sentinel-2 images) Invading Russian forces have not captured the entirety of the town of Soledar, Donetsk Oblast, despite several false Russian claims that the town has fallen and that the town of Bakhmut risks imminent encirclement, U.S. think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said in a Jan. 10 report. ISW reiterated that several Russian sources had claimed that Wagner Group forces advanced into the west of Soledar on Jan. 10. However, Wagner Group financier Yevgeny Prigozhin refuted these claims, remarking that Wagner Group forces are still fighting against concerted Ukrainian resistance. ISW said it had only observed visual confirmation of Wagner Group forces in central Soledar as of Jan. 10. Video of day The reality of block-by-block control of terrain in Soledar is obfuscated by the dynamic nature of urban combat, however, and Russian forces have largely struggled to make significant tactical gains in the Soledar area for months, reads the report. Even taking the most generous Russian claims at face value, the capture of Soledar would not portend an immediate encirclement of Bakhmut. Control of Soledar will not necessarily allow Russian forces to exert control over critical Ukrainian ground lines of communication into Bakhmut, as ISW has previously assessed. Other key takeaways by ISW analysts: Russian media reported on Jan. 10 that Colonel General Aleksandr Lapin, former commander of the Central Military District and Russian forces in Kharkiv and northern Donetsk oblasts during Russias significant losses in September 2022, has been appointed Chief of Staff of the Russian Ground Forces; The news of Lapins appointment is generating further schisms in the already-fragmented pro-war Russian information space; Former handler for the Donetsk puppet authority and prominent milblogger Igor Girkin heavily implied that he would support the removal of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin from office, suggesting that a willingness to reduce self-censorship and directly criticize Putin may be growing among some milbloggers; The Ukrainian General Staff deviated from its normal reporting pattern about Russian forces in Belarus and near Ukraines northern border on Jan. 10, an indicator of possible Russian preparations for an offensive in northern Ukraine, though ISW assesses this course of action remains unlikely at this time; Ukrainian forces continued to make gains along the Svatove-Kreminna line; Russian forces conducted ground attacks across the Donetsk Oblast frontline and made gains around Soledar but have not captured the settlement, despite false claims; Read also: Ukrainian photographers share story of girl from Soledar whose parents refuse to evacuate The Kremlin continues to deny that Russian authorities are preparing for another wave of partial mobilization; Russian occupation authorities are struggling to contain an effective partisan movement in occupied territories. Infographics: ISW Infographics: ISW Infographics: ISW Infographics: ISW Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Google News Russia is preparing a new offensive: Where they are coming from and what to expect 11 January, 11:10 AM The acceleration and expansion of aid is due to the obvious threat of a Russian offensive There is now growing concern, and serious concern, that in the coming weeks, Russia may move to attempt another offensive, at least on one front. Most likely, however, there will be pushes in several directions at the same time. It is obvious that it was the threat of such a scenario which prompted our partners to speed up the decisions long in progress to provide offensive weapons to Ukraine. Video of day Is this aid enough to ward off future blows? I will stick to banal things. Such help can never be completely enough. This is not only a matter of military affairs, since the request (when the budget is formed, for example) always exceeds the possibilities that the state can provide. Accordingly, the goals then set are adjusted. If we talk about the limiting factors for the West regarding the supply of weapons to Ukraine, there are two main ones. First technical/resource limitations. The ability of our partners to provide these weapons depends on what they have in their stocks, what they have in surplus, and what they can afford to withdraw from their combat units, plus what their industry can produce. Second political restrictions, which, unfortunately, still have a great influence on our partners decisions. Here the key problem is now this conflict of goals. Figuratively speaking, it is a matter of figuring out how to make sure that both the sheep are whole and the wolves are full (we will not say who are the wolves and who are the sheep). While on the one hand, there is a desire to prevent the defeat of Ukraine, and on the other, there are fears that if Russia suffers a decisive military defeat, then processes could begin which would negatively affect their national, regional, or global security. The Russian leadership has the privilege of a people who are not afraid of losses The military aid in offensive weapons (even if there are no tanks here yet), which was announced last week is aimed specifically at helping Ukraine fight off another Russian offensive. I'm afraid that this is exactly how it should be interpreted at the moment. And so far, the West is following a pattern of one step forward, then, if not back, then a certain pause. Let me repeat: this acceleration and expansion of aid is due to the obvious threat of a Russian offensive. But on the other hand, this political factor to prevent too rapid an advancement of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and a sudden Russian defeat still restrains the West. What will Russia attack with? From the information that is now publicly available, the key risks are that Russia has significantly larger manpower resources than Ukraine. This is not just a numerical indicator, but also their pain threshold for losses. In Russia, despite our hopes or the hopes of our partners that the flow of "cargo 200" may cause some internal destabilization in Russia, this is not happening. The Russian leadership has the privilege of a people who are not afraid of losses. This is the main component of Russia's military potential. As for technical capabilities, if we leave Russia's main trump card nuclear blackmail then it also has quite a stockpile of outdated but deadly weapons. These are older-model tanks that will be removed from storage. What their level of quality is and how many of them will be able to reach the front line is still a big question. However, this resource is available. The other day, Minister of Defense Oleksiy Reznikov and HUR published certain data on the Russian stockpile of missiles. But these are also estimates. In no case can we be reassured by the fact that these reserves are running out, since they are still powerful. In addition, there is the threat of Iran transferring ballistic missiles or new batches of drones to Russia. That is, Russia has a certain resource, and it still remains powerful, despite all the problems we know about. It is obvious that Russia, while planning a possible offensive, is also keeping in reserve an intact supply of high-precision cruise or ballistic missiles. At the same time, it is unlikely that during this time Russia was able to solve its key problem in effectively using aviation. The very first weeks of the war demonstrated that aviation is a serious Russian weak point. Everyone saw what they had: a tenfold advantage in aircraft, plus a qualitative advantage in their aircraft, plus air control points and space assets. But with all that, Russia was still unable to gain dominance in Ukrainian airspace. To date, Russian tactical aviation practically never crosses the front lines. I think that Russian air capabilities have only deteriorated since the beginning of the war, including as a result of the effective action of Ukrainian air defense forces. Therefore, I do not see a significant threat from the Russian Aerospace Forces. We now see training taking place in Belarus not only of the air force, but also with ground maneuvers. In my opinion, their task is information warfare. Pointing to this conclusion is the fact that, in contrast to how Russia and Belarus tried in every possible way to fight against bloggers and the uncontrolled leakage of information, with people literally being punished for some photo or post on social networks, now it seems that they are instead trying to make military preparations as public as possible. And this calls into question whether their true intentions are to prepare for a real strike. This more likely is an attempt at informational influence in order to make us believe that the main blow will come from Belarusian territory. That is, if we are talking about the situation as of now, then there is an imitation of preparations for a strike from the North. But this situation can change, because the Russians are learning. This is one of the most successful methods the Ukrainian Armed Forces have used simultaneously preparing the battlefield in several directions and then choosing one of them. Perhaps the Russian command has learned this lesson and will try to apply it in the course of preparing for its offensive that is, choosing one main direction with several spares. Belarus could also be considered for them as a backup plan. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Google News People gather in front of Singhadarbar to celebrate National Unity Day [Prithvi Jayanti], in Kathmandu, on Thursday, January 11, 2018. Today marks the 300th birth anniversary of the late King Prithvi Narayan Shah, the countrys founding father. The nation celebrates the day as Prithvi Jayanti, which is also called National Unity Day. Restarting this year, the government has given a public holiday on the occasion, which was halted following Nepals transformation into a republic in 2008. But, Unity Day is dividing the nation again as many believe King Prithvi Narayan Shah was not the unifier but a conqueror who imposed an authoritarian monarchy over dozens of independent principalities. It means regardless of the public holiday announcement as National Unity Day, Prithvi Jayanti has always been a matter of debate in Nepali politics, with people virtually divided over the contribution of the king born three centuries ago. King Prithvi Narayan Shah: Unifier or murderer? A portrait of King Prithvi Narayan Shah While there are people who celebrate Prithvi Jayanti by worshipping Prithvi Narayan Shahs statue, there are also political organisations like the Mongol National Organisation that mark the day by calling for a boycott of the history created under his leadership. As reported, the pro-monarchy Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) pressed the new prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal to announce a public holiday on the occasion as the party says the nation should respect Prithvi Narayan Shahs contribution. Undoubtedly, he has established the identity of our country, says Sharad Raj Pathak, an RPP general secretary, But lately some deviated leftists are seen against Prithvi Narayan Shah and Prithvi Jayanti. They want to create instability and jeopardise existing harmony in the country. Nonetheless, Ang Kaji Sherpa, an indigenous community activist, says King Prithvi Narayan Shah was a murderer. In the name of unification, Shah killed thousands of innocent lives. But, Pathak says the voice of people like Sherpa should be ignored as their hatred does not carry any weight. There are many people who, with their little knowledge, are following the leftists who deviate from their principles. But, it is our responsibility to make those people aware of the fact. Activist Sherpa contradicts Pathak as he says that King Prithvi Narayan Shah does not deserve to get such respect because he just unified the land but not the languages, cultures and religions that people had. He says, Just because he unified land, he can not be considered the symbol of national unity. Sherpa believes his unification gave priority to a single language, culture and religion and posed indifference to minority groups. Hence, such a kind of unification is against the spirit of a country like Nepal having people from diverse religions and cultures. Holiday or no holiday? A Nepal Army troop begins a trek along the unification trail of Prithvi Narayan Shah, in Gorkha, on Tuesday, January 5, 2021. People say Nepali politicians and their leaders tend to politicise every sector to meet their vested interests, and Sherpa says this is true in the recent decision to observe a public holiday on the occasion of Prithvi Jayanti also. The holiday has been announced for the sake of securing the vote of confidence from the Rastriya Prajatantra Party, according to him. The RPP had proposed the Prithvi Jayanti holiday as a precondition for its support to the Pushpa Kamal Dahal-led government. Therefore, the government decided on the holiday on the eve of Dahals vote of confidence held on Tuesday afternoon. Speaking in the House meeting before extending his support to Dahal during the vote of confidence yesterday, RPP chairman Rajendra Lingden talked about Prithvi Jayanti although it was not necessary. He even managed to invite other parties to a tea party that his party is hosting on the occasion. But, Pathak says there is no vested interest as it was meant to honour the glory of King Prithvi Narayan Shah and the history he created. He demands the holiday continue in the next years also. But, Sherpa doubts if the decision would continue once the RPP gets weaker. If the RPP hadnt won considerable seats in the House now, there would not have been any holiday today, he says. (Adds detail, background) PARIS, Jan 11 (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron has invited Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to France on March 10 in order to hold a bilateral summit, the Elysee said on Wednesday, as the two countries seek to revive their ties after recent tensions. "It will be an opportunity for the two leaders to deepen cooperation ... in a range of areas, including security, climate and energy, the economy, migration, youth and foreign policy", the French presidency said in a statement sent to Reuters. Relations between France and Britain have come under stress in recent years, in particular since Britain left the European Union in early 2020. The countries have often traded blame for an array of problems, including fishing disputes and the failure to stem a flow of clandestine migrants across the English Channel. Macron and Sunak had already held talks in November on the sidelines of the COP27 climate change summit in Egypt. At the time, the two leaders had pledged 'ambitious co-operation' in the field of nuclear energy to cope with the impact on energy supplies of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and better co-ordination on migration. (Reporting by Elizabeth Pineau; Writing by Tassilo Hummel; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta) ABN AMRO ABN AMRO CFO Lars Kramer to step down on 30 April 2023 ABN AMRO Bank N.V. today announced that its Chief Financial Officer, Lars Kramer, has decided to step down from his position and leave ABN AMRO on 30 April 2023 to pursue another opportunity outside ABN AMRO. The succession process of finding a new Chief Financial Officer has been initiated. Robert Swaak, CEO of ABN AMRO: I would like to thank Lars for his leadership and the hard work he has done for ABN AMRO. I see his leaving as a regretted loss for the bank, though at the same time I respect his choice to pursue this option outside our bank. Until his departure Lars will be fully committed to ABN AMRO to ensure a smooth transition. I wish him all the best on his future career path. Lars Kramer: I am excited about this new opportunity in my career, but at the same time I will be sad to leave so many strong and dedicated professionals Ive had the pleasure of working with. ABN AMRO has an inspiring purpose and a clear strategy, and I believe all the levers of success are present to deliver value for all our stakeholders. I am convinced that ABN AMRO will continue to be successful as a personal bank in the digital age. ABN AMRO Press Office Jarco de Swart Senior Press Officer pressrelations@nl.abnamro.com +31 20 6288900 ABN AMRO Investor Relations Ferdinand Vaandrager Head of Investor Relations investorrelations@nl.abnamro.com +31 20 6282282 This press release is published by ABN AMRO Bank N.V. and contains inside information within the meaning of article 7 (1) to (4) of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 (Market Abuse Regulation) Attachment Image Industry leader in remote patient monitoring recognized for innovative technology to meet the changing needs of healthcare providers Accuhealth logo Accuhealth logo MCALLEN, Texas, Jan. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Accuhealth today announced it has been named a winner in the 2023 BIG Innovation Awards presented by the Business Intelligence Group. Accuhealth delivers remote patient monitoring (RPM) solutions to clinics and enterprises and is the only RPM vendor with a full suite of easy-to-use, 4G cellular-connected devices for patients enabling physicians to track real-time biometric data from the comfort of the patient's home. Accuhealth's proprietary AI-enhanced software Evelyn provides a dashboard of data serving as the central hub between providers and patients. Evelyn predictively analyzes patient behaviors, speech, and response time, which, coupled with sentiment analytics, will profile patient conversations and rank patients based on criticality of attention required by physicians proving crucial to further reducing hospital visits and total cost of care. "We are proud to be recognized by the Business Intelligence Group for our work in healthcare and artificial intelligence, which have resulted in significant cost savings and better health outcomes. Accuhealth is America's largest provider of remote patient monitoring services due in large part to our ability to innovate, correlate and produce actionable results for both patients and providers," said Accuhealth CEO Stephen Samson. "Innovation is an integral part of our business strategy as a fully managed, turnkey remote patient monitoring solution. This award belongs to the entire Accuhealth team, whose hard work and commitment to developing groundbreaking new technology and bringing new ideas to life continues to impress me. We are excited to be seen as innovators in healthcare technology and have some BIG announcements coming in 2023." "Innovation is 'business critical' in today's society," said Maria Jimenez, chief operating officer of the Business Intelligence Group. "We are thrilled to be honoring Accuhealth as they are leading by example and improving the lives of so many." Story continues Organizations from across the globe submitted their recent innovations for consideration in the BIG Innovation Awards. Nominations were then judged by a select group of business leaders and executives who volunteered their time and expertise to score submissions. About Accuhealth Accuhealth empowers physicians with the right data to stay ahead of negative health outcomes to keep patients healthy, happy, and out of the hospital. Founded in 2018, Accuhealth is a leading healthcare technology provider of turn-key remote patient monitoring solutions worldwide, providing hardware, software, and first-line 24/7/365 clinical monitoring to physicians with real-time vital information and AI-enhanced data. Accuhealth's services yield improved outcomes, increased patient satisfaction, reduced costs for payers, and increased revenue for clinics. Accuhealth's touchpoints as a service has set a new standard of care, making remote monitoring simple to use and easy to understand for both patients and providers. Remote patient monitoring and chronic care management made easy and done right. Visit www.accuhealth.tech for more information. About Business Intelligence Group The Business Intelligence Group was founded with the mission of recognizing true talent and superior performance in the business world. Unlike other industry award programs, these programs are judged by business executives having experience and knowledge. The organization's proprietary and unique scoring system selectively measures performance across multiple business domains and then rewards those companies whose achievements stand above those of their peers. Contact Information: Carla McCormick PR Coordinator, Accuhealth info@accuhealth.tech (213) 270-1175 Related Images Image 1: Accuhealth logo This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. Attachment ReportLinker The Global Aerostructures Market size was estimated at USD 44.75 billion in 2021 and expected to reach USD 48.12 billion in 2022, and is projected to grow at a CAGR 7.78% to reach USD 70.18 billion by 2027. New York, Jan. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Aerostructures Market Research Report by Component, Material, Platform, End Use, Region - Global Forecast to 2027 - Cumulative Impact of COVID-19" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06307749/?utm_source=GNW Market Statistics: The report provides market sizing and forecast across 7 major currencies - USD, EUR, JPY, GBP, AUD, CAD, and CHF. It helps organization leaders make better decisions when currency exchange data is readily available. In this report, the years 2018 and 2020 are considered as historical years, 2021 as the base year, 2022 as the estimated year, and years from 2023 to 2027 are considered as the forecast period. Market Segmentation & Coverage: This research report categorizes the Aerostructures to forecast the revenues and analyze the trends in each of the following sub-markets: Based on Component, the market was studied across Doors & Skid, Empennage, Flight Control Surfaces, Fuselage, Nacelle & Pylon, Nose, and Wings. Based on Material, the market was studied across Alloys & Superalloys, Composites, and Metals. Based on Platform, the market was studied across Advanced Air Mobility, Fixed Wing, Rotary Wing, and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Based on End Use, the market was studied across Aftermarket and OEM. Based on Region, the market was studied across Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, Middle East & Africa. The Americas is further studied across Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and United States. The United States is further studied across California, Florida, Illinois, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas. The Asia-Pacific is further studied across Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. The Europe, Middle East & Africa is further studied across Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Poland, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and United Kingdom. Cumulative Impact of COVID-19: COVID-19 is an incomparable global public health emergency that has affected almost every industry, and the long-term effects are projected to impact the industry growth during the forecast period. Our ongoing research amplifies our research framework to ensure the inclusion of underlying COVID-19 issues and potential paths forward. The report delivers insights on COVID-19 considering the changes in consumer behavior and demand, purchasing patterns, re-routing of the supply chain, dynamics of current market forces, and the significant interventions of governments. The updated study provides insights, analysis, estimations, and forecasts, considering the COVID-19 impact on the market. Cumulative Impact of 2022 Russia Ukraine Conflict: We continuously monitor and update reports on political and economic uncertainty due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Negative impacts are significantly foreseen globally, especially across Eastern Europe, European Union, Eastern & Central Asia, and the United States. This contention has severely affected lives and livelihoods and represents far-reaching disruptions in trade dynamics. The potential effects of ongoing war and uncertainty in Eastern Europe are expected to have an adverse impact on the world economy, with especially long-term harsh effects on Russia.This report uncovers the impact of demand & supply, pricing variants, strategic uptake of vendors, and recommendations for Aerostructures market considering the current update on the conflict and its global response. Competitive Strategic Window: The Competitive Strategic Window analyses the competitive landscape in terms of markets, applications, and geographies to help the vendor define an alignment or fit between their capabilities and opportunities for future growth prospects. It describes the optimal or favorable fit for the vendors to adopt successive merger and acquisition strategies, geography expansion, research & development, and new product introduction strategies to execute further business expansion and growth during a forecast period. FPNV Positioning Matrix: The FPNV Positioning Matrix evaluates and categorizes the vendors in the Aerostructures Market based on Business Strategy (Business Growth, Industry Coverage, Financial Viability, and Channel Support) and Product Satisfaction (Value for Money, Ease of Use, Product Features, and Customer Support) that aids businesses in better decision making and understanding the competitive landscape. Market Share Analysis: The Market Share Analysis offers the analysis of vendors considering their contribution to the overall market. It provides the idea of its revenue generation into the overall market compared to other vendors in the space. It provides insights into how vendors are performing in terms of revenue generation and customer base compared to others. Knowing market share offers an idea of the size and competitiveness of the vendors for the base year. It reveals the market characteristics in terms of accumulation, fragmentation, dominance, and amalgamation traits. Competitive Scenario: The Competitive Scenario provides an outlook analysis of the various business growth strategies adopted by the vendors. The news covered in this section deliver valuable thoughts at the different stage while keeping up-to-date with the business and engage stakeholders in the economic debate. The competitive scenario represents press releases or news of the companies categorized into Merger & Acquisition, Agreement, Collaboration, & Partnership, New Product Launch & Enhancement, Investment & Funding, and Award, Recognition, & Expansion. All the news collected help vendor to understand the gaps in the marketplace and competitors strength and weakness thereby, providing insights to enhance product and service. Company Usability Profiles: The report profoundly explores the recent significant developments by the leading vendors and innovation profiles in the Global Aerostructures Market, including AAR Corporation, Aernnova Aerospace S.A., Airbus SE, Arconic Corporation, Bombardier Inc., Collins Aerospace, Cyient Ltd., Elbit Systems Ltd., FACC AG, GKN Aerospace, Israel Aerospace Industries, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd., Leonardo S.p.A., Magellan Aerospace Corporation, RUAG Holding, Saab AB, Safran S.A., Sonaca Group, Spirit AeroSystems Inc., The Boeing Company, The NORDAM Group LLC, and Triumph Group Inc.. The report provides insights on the following pointers: 1. Market Penetration: Provides comprehensive information on the market offered by the key players 2. Market Development: Provides in-depth information about lucrative emerging markets and analyze penetration across mature segments of the markets 3. Market Diversification: Provides detailed information about new product launches, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments 4. Competitive Assessment & Intelligence: Provides an exhaustive assessment of market shares, strategies, products, certification, regulatory approvals, patent landscape, and manufacturing capabilities of the leading players 5. Product Development & Innovation: Provides intelligent insights on future technologies, R&D activities, and breakthrough product developments The report answers questions such as: 1. What is the market size and forecast of the Global Aerostructures Market? 2. What are the inhibiting factors and impact of COVID-19 shaping the Global Aerostructures Market during the forecast period? 3. Which are the products/segments/applications/areas to invest in over the forecast period in the Global Aerostructures Market? 4. What is the competitive strategic window for opportunities in the Global Aerostructures Market? 5. What are the technology trends and regulatory frameworks in the Global Aerostructures Market? 6. What is the market share of the leading vendors in the Global Aerostructures Market? 7. What modes and strategic moves are considered suitable for entering the Global Aerostructures Market? Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06307749/?utm_source=GNW About Reportlinker ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place. __________________________ Story continues CONTACT: Clare: clare@reportlinker.com US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001 By Azernews Fatima Hasanova The Nizami Ganjavi International Center (NGIC) will host the X Global Baku Forum in March 2023, Azernews reports via a tweet of the center. The X Global Baku Forum, under the topic, "The World of Today: Challenges and Hopes," will take place in Baku from March 9 to 11, the report elaborates. The Nizami Ganjavi International Center was established at a special meeting held in Nizami Ganjavi's hometown of Ganja as part of the 870th anniversary of the birth of the great Azerbaijani poet on 30 September 2012. Continuing its activities with the Azerbaijani president's support, this international non-governmental organization brings together former heads of state and government, foreign ministers, and prominent international scholars from over 50 foreign countries. The main governing body is the Board of Trustees, which consists of influential public and political figures from around the world. The board includes 18 former leaders. The center also includes 53 prominent members from 25 countries in Europe, six from three countries in the Americas, 15 from 12 countries in Asia, and five from four countries in Africa. The co-chairs of the Center are the former President of Latvia (19992007), Vaira Vike-Freiberga, and the former Vice-President of the World Bank (19922000), Dr. Ismail Serageldin. The NGIC hosts the Global Baku Forum each year, which has already established itself as the premier event in Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Middle East, bringing together distinguished leaders and thinkers to discuss the ways and means to address some of the world's most pressing challenges. Islamic State US Stuck in Syria (ASSOCIATED PRESS) A woman who ran away from home in Alabama at the age of 20, joined the Islamic State 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 extremists. In a rare interview from the Roj detention camp in Syria where she is being held by US-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. 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 US-based outlet The News Movement. Im hoping my government looks at me as someone young at the time and naive. It's a line she's repeated in various media interviews since fleeing from one of the extremist group's last enclaves in Syria in early 2019. But four years earlier, at the height of the extremists' power, she had voiced enthusiastic support for them on social media and in an interview with BuzzFeed News. IS then ruled a self-declared Islamic caliphate stretching across roughly a third of both Syria and Iraq. In tweets from 2015 she called on Americans to join the group and carry out attacks in the US, 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 IS supporters. Muthana was born in New Jersey to Yemeni immigrants and once had a US passport. She was raised in a conservative 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 born a rare revocation of birthright citizenship. Her lawyers have disputed that move, arguing that the father's diplomatic accreditation ended before she was born. Story continues 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. US courts have sided with the government on the question of Muthana's citizenship, and last January the Supreme Court declined to consider her lawsuit seeking re-entry. That has left her and her son languishing in a detention camp in northern Syria housing thousands of widows of Islamic State fighters and their children. Some 65,600 suspected Islamic State members and their families both Syrians and foreign citizens are held in camps and prisons in northeastern Syria run by US-allied Kurdish groups, according to a Human Rights Watch report released last month. Women accused of affiliation with IS and their minor children are largely housed in the al-Hol and Roj camps, under what the rights group described as life threatening conditions. 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 IS 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 IS' 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 foreigners mostly women and children have 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 US has repatriated a total of 39 American nationals. It's unclear how many other Americans remain in the camps. These days, Muthana portrays herself as a victim of the Islamic State. 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. 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. FILE PHOTO: Amazon Prime Delivery logo on the trailer of a truck outside the company logistics center in Lauwin-Planque (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) Airsupra is the first and only rescue medication approved in the US for as-needed use to reduce risk of asthma exacerbations Approval based on successful Phase III trial programme conducted by Avillion in more than 4,000 patients under an exclusive clinical co-development agreement with AstraZeneca Continues Avillion's 100% success rate in clinical co-development partnerships across multiple therapeutic areas LONDON, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Avillion LLP, a drug development company focused on the co-development and financing of pharmaceutical candidates from proof-of-concept through to regulatory approval, announces that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved AstraZeneca's Airsupra (albuterol/budesonide, formerly known as PT027) for the as-needed treatment or prevention of bronchoconstriction and to reduce the risk of exacerbations in people with asthma aged 18 years and older. Airsupra is a first-in-class, pressurised metered-dose inhaler (pMDI), fixed-dose combination rescue medication containing albuterol, a short-acting beta2-agonist (SABA), and budesonide, an anti-inflammatory inhaled corticosteroid (ICS). The US approval was based on positive results from a global Phase III clinical trial programme for Airsupra comprising four studies involving more than 4,000 patients (including the MANDALA and DENALI trials1,2), which was conducted successfully by Avillion under an exclusive clinical co-development agreement with AstraZeneca. Under its 2018 agreement, Avillion had regulatory responsibility including filing the New Drug Application (NDA) through to FDA approval in the US. Following this approval, AstraZeneca has the option, upon making certain financial payments to Avillion, to commercialise Airsupra in the US. This milestone continues Avillion's 100% successful rate in clinical co-development partnerships for the global pharmaceutical and biotech industry. In MANDALA, Airsupra significantly reduced the risk of severe exacerbations compared to albuterol in patients with moderate to severe asthma when used as an as-needed rescue medication in response to symptoms.1 The results from the MANDALA trial were published in the New England Journal of Medicine in May 2022.1 In DENALI, Airsupra significantly improved lung function compared to the individual components, albuterol and budesonide, in patients with mild to moderate asthma.2 The safety and tolerability of Airsupra in both trials were consistent with the known profiles of the components,1,2 with the most common adverse events including headache, oral candidiasis, cough and dysphonia.3 Story continues The co-development partnership between AstraZeneca and Avillion has recently expanded to include the BATURA study, a randomised Phase IIIb decentralised trial to further assess the role of Airsupra in reducing the risk of asthma exacerbations. The Airsupra clinical co-development programme was funded by Blackstone Life Sciences, Royalty Pharma and Abingworth. Bradley E. Chipps, Past President of the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology and Medical Director of Capital Allergy & Respiratory Disease Center in Sacramento, US, said: "People with asthma are at risk of severe exacerbations regardless of their disease severity or level of control. Current albuterol rescue inhalers alleviate acute symptoms, but do not treat the underlying inflammation in asthma. The approval of Airsupra means that, for the first time, adults with asthma in the US have a rescue treatment to manage both their symptoms and the inflammatory nature of their disease." Allison Jeynes, MD, Chief Executive Officer of Avillion, said: "We're delighted that our clinical co-development programme with AstraZeneca has been successful and that Airsupra has been approved in the US as a new treatment option for asthma patients. The Airsupra approval continues our 100% success rate facilitating clinical co-development programmes with pharma companies, demonstrating the strong value our innovative model can provide to partners and the excellence and dedication of our international team. We've had an excellent working relationship with AstraZeneca and are excited to continue our partnership with the BATURA Phase IIIb study, which is looking to continue building the evidence base of Airsupra to reduce the risk of asthma exacerbations." The full press announcement from AstraZeneca on the US approval of Airsupra can be found here. Notes Asthma Asthma is a chronic, inflammatory respiratory disease with variable symptoms that affects as many as 262 million people worldwide,4 including over 25 million in the US.5 Patients with asthma experience recurrent breathlessness and wheezing, which varies over time, and in severity and frequency.6 These patients are at risk of severe exacerbations regardless of their disease severity, adherence to treatment or level of control.7,8 There are an estimated 136 million asthma exacerbations globally per year,9 including 10 million in the US;5 these are physically threatening and emotionally significant for many patients11 and can be fatal.4,11 Inflammation is central to both asthma symptoms7 and exacerbations.12 Many patients experiencing asthma symptoms use a SABA (e.g. albuterol) as a rescue medicine;13-15 however, taking a SABA alone does not address inflammation, leaving patients at risk of severe exacerbations,16 which can result in impaired quality of life,17 hospitalisation18 and frequent oral corticosteroid (OCS) use.18 Treatment of exacerbations with as few as 1-2 short courses of OCS are associated with an increased risk of adverse health conditions including type 2 diabetes, depression/anxiety, renal impairment, cataracts, cardiovascular disease, pneumonia and fracture.19 International recommendations from the Global Initiative for Asthma no longer recommend SABA alone as the preferred rescue therapy.6 MANDALA, DENALI and the CREST (Combination REliever STudies) programme The CREST clinical trial programme studied the efficacy and safety of PT027 and included the MANDALA,1,20,21 DENALI2,22,23 and TYREE25 Phase III trials. MANDALA1,20,21 was a Phase III, randomised, double-blind, multicentre, parallel-group, event-driven trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of Airsupra compared to albuterol on the time to first severe asthma exacerbation in 3,132 adults, adolescents, and children (aged 411 years) with moderate to severe asthma taking ICS alone or in combination with a range of asthma maintenance therapies, including long-acting beta2-agonists (LABA), leukotriene receptor antagonists (LTRA), long-acting muscarinic antagonists (LAMA) or theophylline. The trial comprised a two-to-four-week screening period, at least a 24-week treatment period and a two-week post-treatment follow-up period. Patients were randomly assigned to one of the following three treatment groups in a 1:1:1 ratio: Airsupra 180/160mcg (excluding children aged 411 years), albuterol/budesonide 180/80mcg or albuterol 180mcg, taken as an as-needed rescue medicine. Airsupra and the albuterol comparator were delivered in a pMDI using AstraZeneca's Aerosphere delivery technology. The primary efficacy endpoint was the time to first severe asthma exacerbation during the treatment period. Secondary endpoints included severe exacerbation rate (annualised), total systemic corticosteroid exposure (annualised), asthma control and health-related quality of life. Results from the positive MANDALA Phase III trial showed that Airsupra demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in the risk of a severe exacerbation versus albuterol rescue in patients with moderate to severe asthma1,21. Compared with albuterol rescue, Airsupra at the 180mcg albuterol/160mcg budesonide dose reduced the risk of a severe exacerbation by 27% (p<0.001) in adults and adolescents1,21. Primary and secondary endpoint results in adults and adolescents1,21 (pre-planned on-treatment efficacy analysis) Treatment Group Comparison versus albuterol 180mcg Time to first severe exacerbation n Number (%) of Patients with a Severe Exacerbation a, b Hazard Ratio (95% CI) p value (2sided) Airsupra 180/160mcg 1013 207 (20.4) 0.73 (0.61, 0.88) <0.001 Albuterol 180mcg 1014 266 (26.2) Annualised severe exacerbation rate (rate ratio) n Number of Severe Exacerbations a, b Annualised rate (95% CI) Rate Ratio (95% CI) Airsupra 180/160mcg 1013 334 0.45 (0.34, 0.60) 0.76 (0.62, 0.93) Albuterol 180mcg 1014 413 0.59 (0.44, 0.78) Annualised total SCS dose (mg/year) n Mean (SD) b % reduction in mean Airsupra 180/160mcg 1012 86.2 (262.86) 33.4 % Albuterol 180mcg 1011 129.3 (657.19) aDeterioration of asthma requiring use of SCS for 3 days, or inpatient hospitalisation, or emergency room visit, that required SCS. bBefore discontinuation of randomised treatment or change in maintenance therapy. CI, confidence interval; SCS, systemic corticosteroid; SD, standard deviation Primary endpoint results in adults, adolescents, and children1,21 (pre-planned on-treatment efficacy analysis) Treatment Group Comparison versus albuterol 180mcg Time to first severe exacerbation n Number (%) of Patients with a Severe Exacerbation a, b Hazard Ratio (95% CI) p value (2sided) Albuterol/budesonide 180/80mcg 1054 241 (22.9) 0.83 (0.70, 0.99) 0.041 Albuterol 180mcg 1056 276 (26.1) aDeterioration of asthma requiring use of SCS for 3 days, or inpatient hospitalisation, or emergency room visit, that required SCS. bBefore discontinuation of randomised treatment or change in maintenance therapy. CI, confidence interval Adverse events (AEs) were similar across the treatment groups in the trial and consistent with the known safety profiles of the individual components, with the most common AEs including nasopharyngitis and headache.1,22 DENALI2,23,24 was a Phase III, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicentre, parallel-group trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of Airsupra compared to its components albuterol and budesonide on improvement in lung function in 1,001 adults, adolescents, and children aged 411 years with mild to moderate asthma previously treated either with SABA as-needed alone or in addition to regular low-dose ICS maintenance therapy. The trial comprised a two-to-four-week screening period, a 12-week treatment period and a two-week post-treatment follow-up period. Patients were randomly assigned to one of the following five treatment groups in a 1:1:1:1:1 ratio: Airsupra 180/160mcg four times daily (excluding children aged 411 years), albuterol/budesonide 180/80mcg four times daily, albuterol 180mcg four times daily, budesonide 160mcg four times daily (excluding children aged 411 years) and placebo four times daily. Airsupra, the albuterol and budesonide comparators and placebo were delivered in a pMDI using AstraZeneca's Aerosphere delivery technology. The dual primary efficacy endpoints were change from baseline in FEV1 area under the curve 0-6 hours over 12 weeks of Airsupra compared to budesonide to assess the effect of albuterol and change from baseline in trough FEV1 at Week 12 of Airsupra compared to albuterol to assess the effect of budesonide. Secondary endpoints included the time to onset and duration of response on day one, number of patients who achieved a clinically meaningful improvement in asthma control from baseline at Week 12 and trough FEV1 at Week 1. In the trial, Airsupra demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in lung function measured by forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), compared to the individual components albuterol and budesonide, and compared to placebo in patients with mild to moderate asthma aged 12 years or older. Onset of action and duration of effect were similar for Airsupra and albuterol. The safety and tolerability of Airsupra in DENALI was consistent with the known profiles of the components. About Avillion Avillion offers pharma partners an innovative model providing additional funding and clinical development expertise, to maximise the potential of new and existing assets. With deal sizes ranging from $50M$600M, Avillion takes on the full clinical and regulatory risk, focusing on the speed and quality of trial execution. Typically supporting programs post proof-of-concept through to registration and with an agnostic approach to therapy area, Avillion prides itself in adding value around operational expertise while being backed by established long-term investors. Avillion was founded in 2012 and is backed by Abingworth and Blackstone Life Sciences (previously Clarus Ventures). The Airsupra clinical co-development programme was funded by Blackstone Life Sciences, Royalty Pharma and Abingworth. For more information, please visit us at www.avillionllp.com Contacts Allison Jeynes, CEO +44 (0)203 764 9530 avillion@avillionllp.com Mark Swallow, George Underwood MEDiSTRAVA Consulting +44 (0)203 928 6900 avillion@medistrava.com References Papi A, et al. AlbuterolBudesonide Fixed-Dose Combination Rescue Inhaler for Asthma. N Engl J Med 2022; 386 (22): 2071-2083. Chipps BE, et al. Efficacy and safety of albuterol/budesonide (PT027) in mild-to-moderate asthma: Results of the DENALI study. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2022; 205: A3414. Abstract. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1164/ajrccm-conference.2022.205.1_MeetingAbstracts.A3414 [Last accessed: November 2022]. Airsupra (albuterol/budesonide) US prescribing information; 2023. The Global Asthma Network. The Global Asthma Report 2022. [Online]. Available at: http://globalasthmareport.org/index.html [Last accessed: November 2022]. CDC. Most Recent National Asthma Data. [Online]/ Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/asthma/most_recent_national_asthma_data.htm. [Last accessed: November 2022]. Global Initiative for Asthma. Global strategy for asthma management and prevention, 2022. Available at: https://ginasthma.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/GINA-Main-Report-2022-FINAL-22-07-01-WMS.pdf. [Last accessed: November 2022]. Price D, et al. Asthma control and management in 8,000 European patients: the REcognise Asthma and LInk to Symptoms and Experience (REALISE) survey. NPJ Prim Care Respir Med. 2014; 24: 14009. Papi A, et al. Relationship of inhaled corticosteroid adherence to asthma exacerbations in patients with moderate-to-severe asthma. J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract. 2018; 6 (6): 1989-98.e3. AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals. Data on File. Budesonide/formoterol Data on File: Annual Rate of Asthma Exacerbations Globally. (REF-173201) Sastre J, et al. Insights, attitudes, and perceptions about asthma and its treatment: a multinational survey of patients from Europe and Canada. World Allergy Organ J. 2016; 9: 13. Fernandes AG, et al. Risk factors for death in patients with severe asthma. J Bras Pneumol. 2014; 40 (4): 364-372. Wark PA, et al. Asthma exacerbations 3: pathogenesis. Thorax. 2006; 61 (10): 909-15. Johnson DB, et al. Albuterol. 2022 May 1. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2022 Jan. PMID: 29489143. Montemayor T, et al. Albuterol: Often Used and Heavily Abused. Respiratory Care November 2021, 66 (Suppl 10) 3603775 ClinCalc.com. Albuterol: Drug Usage Statistics, US 2013 2020. Available at: https://clincalc.com/DrugStats/Drugs/Albuterol. [Last accessed: November 2022]. Nwaru BI, et al. Overuse of short-acting 2-agonists in asthma is associated with increased risk of exacerbation and mortality: a nationwide cohort study of the global SABINA programme. Eur Respir J. 2020; 55 (4): 1901872. Lloyd A, et al. The impact of asthma exacerbations on health-related quality of life in moderate to severe asthma patients in the UK. Prim Care Respir J. 2007; 16 (1): 22-7. Bourdin A, et al. ERS/EAACI statement on severe exacerbations in asthma in adults: facts, priorities and key research questions. Eur Respir J. 2019; 54 (3): 1900900. Price DB, et al. Adverse outcomes from initiation of systemic corticosteroids for asthma: long-term observational study. J Asthma Allergy. 2018; 11: 193204. Chipps BE, et al. Evaluation of the Efficacy and Safety of As-Needed PT027 Budesonide/Albuterol MDI) Compared to As-Needed Albuterol MDI in Adults and Children 4 Years of Age or Older with Uncontrolled Moderate to Severe Asthma: Design of the MANDALA Study. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2020; 201: A3015. Papi A, et al. Efficacy and safety of as-needed albuterol/budesonide versus as-needed albuterol in adults, adolescents and children aged 4 years with moderate-to-severe asthma: Results of the MANDALA study. American Thoracic Society International Conference 2022. Oral Presentation. Abstract A3413 during B93. BREAKTHROUGHS IN PEDIATRIC AND ADULT ASTHMA CLINICAL TRIALS Clinicaltrials.gov. A Study to Assess the Efficacy and Safety of Budesonide/Albuterol Metered-dose Inhaler (BDA MDI/PT027) Used 4 Times Daily in Adults and Children 4 Years of Age or Older With Asthma (DENALI). Available at https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03847896. [Last accessed: November 2022]. AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals. Data on File. DENALI clinical trial protocol Data on File (ID: 121792). LaForce C, et al. Albuterol/budesonide for the treatment of exercise-induced bronchoconstriction in patients with asthma: The TYREE study. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2022; 128: 169-177. Cision View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/avillion-announces-us-approval-of-astrazenecas-airsupra-pt027-as-new-rescue-treatment-for-asthma-301719122.html SOURCE Avillion LLP BRUSSELS, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Belgium is summoning the Iranian ambassador after Iran sentenced Belgian citizen Olivier Vandecasteele to 40 years of prison and 74 lashes, Foreign Affairs Minister Hadja Lahbib said Tuesday in a statement. Vandecasteele was convicted of spying, cooperating with the United States against Iran and money-laundering, charges he has all denied. (Reporting by Charlotte Van Campenhout; Editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten) BOK Financial Corporation Members represent diverse perspectives, backgrounds TULSA, Okla., Jan. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BOK Financial has added three new members to its Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Council. The members will support the companys efforts to excel and grow by valuing and leveraging the power of diversity and inclusion. The new members are: Ben Suh, senior vice president, Energy underwriting; Colorado Linda Cooper, senior vice president, Consumer delivery; New Mexico Kevin Kramer, market CEO; Kansas City These three will fill vacancies left those members whose terms have expired: John Barela, Jo Ann Stall and Christine Nowaczyk. These employees have been tremendous champions for DE&I during their time on the Council and I am confident they will continue to champion and support our efforts, said Janet Huber, director of diversity and inclusion for BOK Financial. As we reflect on where we started a few years ago, we take great pride in the journey and what has been accomplished along the way. The Council works to ensure that BOK Financial fosters and supports an environment that reflects the entirety of the companys values. Council members serve three-year terms, and membership comprises leadership and influencers from throughout the companys operations. Diversity and inclusion are essential to our companys vision and purpose and a core leadership competency at BOK Financial, said Stacy Kymes, president and chief executive officer. Our vision is to continually foster and support the principles and values of our company by promoting an environment that is inclusive of the diverse values, opinions, experience, culture and needs of our employees, clients and communities. BOK Financial is a signatory of the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion, the largest CEO-driven business commitment to advance diversity and inclusion in the workplace. The company was recognized as one of the nations top regional companies for diversity and inclusion by DiversityInc. Story continues Media Contact Cydney Williams CONTACT: C.Williams@bokf.com Drilling results from two step out holes, APC-22 and APC-23, have expanded the copper-silver-gold footprint of the Main Breccia discovery at the Apollo target to the north and east. Step-out drill hole APC-22, which expanded the system more than 100 metres to the north, intersected 426 metres @ 1.51 g/t gold equivalent. Near the beginning of hole APC-22, two shallow zones of high-grade mineralization were encountered highlighted by 47.25 metres @ 5.45 g/t gold equivalent from 60 metres vertical. APC-22 was terminated at 734 metres depth due to rig capacity and bottomed while still in mineralization averaging 3.3 metres @ 0.48 g/t gold. Step-out drill hole APC-23, which intersected a mix of continuously mineralized angular breccia (higher grade) and flour breccia (lower grade), expanded the system to the east by intercepting 71.7 metres @ 1.01 g/t gold equivalent. Assay results are still pending for holes 25 through 30 drilled into the Main Breccia system at the Apollo target with the 2023 program set to kickoff over the coming days. Ari Sussman, Executive Chairman commented: "APC-22 is an important drill hole for the Company. Firstly, it significantly expanded the mineralized footprint of the system to the north-northeast and remains completely open for further expansion. Secondly, the near surface high-grade intercept in the hole, which was enriched by both porphyry style copper and gold and low sulphidation derived precious metals flooding the breccia matrix, opens up a new high-grade area for drilling. Drill hole APC-29, for which we do not yet have assay results and was drilled from the same pad, intersected similar style mineralization near surface at even greater intensity than APC-22. We believe that we have a "tiger by the tail" and that the system will continue to grow both in grade and scale with further drilling." TORONTO, Jan. 11, 2023 /CNW/ - Collective Mining Ltd. (TSXV: CNL) (OTCQX: CNLMF) ("Collective" or the "Company") is pleased to announce assay results from two step-out holes and one shallow hole drilled into the Main Breccia discovery at the Apollo target ("Apollo"), which is part of the Guayabales project located in Caldas, Colombia. The Main Breccia discovery is a high-grade, bulk tonnage copper-silver-gold porphyry-related system, which owes its excellent metal endowment to multiple phases of mineralization which includes older copper-silver-gold porphyry mineralization and younger, overprinting, precious metal rich sheeted carbonate base metal vein systems. Story continues Details (See Table 1 and Figures 14) Assay results for twenty-five diamond drill holes have now been announced at Apollo with results for a further six holes expected in the near term. This press release deals with results from two step out holes drilled to extend the deposit northwards and eastwards, and a shallow hole drilled on the western side of the deposit. Results and details of three drill holes are summarized below. APC-22 is a step out hole drilled to the north-northeast from Pad 3 to a maximum depth of 734.8 metres and intercepted three mineralized zones. The two shallow zones are located directly beneath surface outcrops with the initial 47.25 metre intercept commencing at 89.25 metres downhole (60 metres vertical), and a second zone starting at 167 metres downhole with 16.80 metres of mineralization (100 metres vertical). Mineralization in these shallow zones is hosted within the matrix of angular quartz diorite breccia with sulphides consisting of chalcopyrite (1%-2.5%), pyrrhotite (1%) and pyrite (1%-1.5%). Finally, the third zone, which starts at 308.80 metres downhole (276 metres vertical) hit 424.10 metres of continuous mineralization until the end of the drillhole at 734.80 metres in length (650 metres vertical). This long and continuous zone of mineralization consists of chalcopyrite (0.5%) and pyrite (1%-2%) in the breccia matrix which is in turn overprinted by multiple zones of sheeted carbonate base metal ("CBM") vein material, which are predominantly sphalerite rich with minor galena. The hole bottomed in mineralization due to the limitations of the drill rig with assay results as follows: 47.25 metres @ 5.45 g/t gold equivalent consisting of 4.65 g/t Au, 22 g/t Ag, 0.39% Cu and 30 ppm Mo from 89.25 metres downhole (60 metres vertical depth). 16.80 metres @ 4.56 g/t gold equivalent consisting of 2.59 g/t Au, 79 g/t Ag, 0.50% Cu and 20 ppm Mo from 167.0 metres downhole (100 metres vertical depth). 426.0 metres @ 1.51 gold equivalent consisting of 1.05 g/t Au, 23 g/t Ag, 0.08% Cu and 10 ppm Mo from 308.80 metres downhole (276 metres vertical depth) and includes; 64.85 metres @ 3.67 g/t gold equivalent, 25.8 metres @ 2.59 g/t gold equivalent and 15.55 metres @ 2.04 g/t gold equivalent. Hole APC-23 was drilled south from pad 5 to a maximum downhole length of 454.9 metres. This step- out hole aimed to test for an eastern extension to the Main Breccia system. The hole intercepted mineralization over 71.7 metres begining at 311.4 metres downhole. Mineralization in this eastern area occurs in both angular (higher grade) and fluid breccia (lower grade) morphologies and is associated with sulphide cement containing both pyrite and pyrrhotite with some overprinting CBM veins with assay results as follows: 71.70 metres @ 1.01 g/t gold equivalent, including 17.3 metres grading 1.69 g/t gold equivalent. Hole APC-24 was a shallow hole drilled south-southwest from Pad 4 to test for western extensions to the main breccia. The hole drilled to a maximum downhole length of 349.9 metres and only intersected mineralized crackle breccia from 101 metres (85 metres vertical depth). Gold and silver mineralization relates to matrix sulphides including pyrite (1%) and pyrrhotite (0.5%) with overprinting CBM veinlets containing sphalerite and some galena. The crackle breccia locates peripherally and above the Main Breccia system. Steeper drilling is thus required in this area to intersect the Main Breccia body. Nevertheless, mineralization was observed in the crackle breccia and returned the following results: 50.60 metres @ 1.28 g/t gold equivalent from 101 metres downhole depth (85 metres vertical) including 10.15 metres @ 2.25 g/t gold equivalent. In 2022, a total of 14,975 metres (31 holes) were drilled at the Apollo target. To date assay results have been released for 25 holes with results for the holes that remain outstanding expected in early 2023. The Company's 2023 drill program will begin in the coming days and will focus on targeting the high-grade subzones within the Main Breccia system while simultaneously expanding the potential size of the system. Additionally, the Company will remain aggressive in testing new targets at Apollo including the newly generated copper and molybdenum porphyry target located 150 metres south of the Main Breccia system. The Apollo target area, as defined to date by surface mapping, rock sampling and copper and molybdenum soil geochemistry, covers an 1,000 metres X 1,200 metres area. The Apollo target area hosts the Company's Main Breccia discovery plus a vein system located above and on the eastern flank of the Main Breccia discovery. Multiple additional untested breccia, porphyry and vein targets have been generated with drilling to begin testing these targets in Q1, 2023. The overall Apollo target area also remains open for further expansion. Table 1: Apollo Target Assays Results for Holes APC-22 to APC-24 HoleID From (m) To (m) Intercept (m) Au (g/t) Ag (g/t) Cu % Mo % AuEq (g/t)* APC-22 89.25 136.50 47.25 4.65 22 0.39 0.003 5.45 167.00 183.80 16.80 2.59 79 0.50 0.002 4.56 and 308.80 734.80 426.00 1.05 23 0.08 0.001 1.51 Incl 406.15 471.00 64.85 3.16 33 0.08 0.001 3.67 568.10 593.90 25.80 2.23 25 0.05 0.001 2.59 665.85 681.40 15.55 1.59 26 0.07 0.001 2.04 APC-23 311.35 383.05 71.70 0.86 10 0.02 0.001 1.01 359.1 376.4 17.30 1.47 14 0.04 0.001 1.69 APC-24 101.00 151.60 50.60 1.15 10 0.02 0.001 1.28 Incl 110.05 120.20 10.15 2.19 8 0.01 0.003 2.25 128.75 134.75 6.00 2.04 11 0.02 0.001 2.15 and 316.25 317.65 1.40 4.85 26 0.08 0.001 5.15 *AuEq (g/t) is calculated as follows: (Au (g/t) x 0.95) + (Ag g/t x 0.016 x 0.95) + (Cu (%) x 1.83 x 0.95)+ (Mo (%)*9.14 x 0.95) and CuEq (%) is calculated as follows: (Cu (%) x 0.95) + (Au (g/t) x 0.51 x 0.95) + (Ag (g/t) x 0.01 x 0.95)+ (Mo(%)x 3.75 x 0.95) utilizing metal prices of Cu US$4.00/lb, Ag $24/oz Mo US$20.00/lb and Au US$1,500/oz and recovery rates of 95% for Au, Ag, Mo and Cu. Recovery rate assumptions are speculative as no metallurgical work has been completed to date. ** A 0.2 g/t AuEq cut-off grade was employed with no more than 15% internal dilution. True widths are unknown, and grades are uncut. Figure 1: Plan View of the Main Breccia Discovery at Apollo Highlighting Drill Holes APC-22 & APC-23 and Outstanding Holes Which May Expand the Main Breccia Mineralized Footprint Figure 1: Plan View of the Main Breccia Discovery at Apollo Highlighting Drill Holes APC-22 & APC-23 and Outstanding Holes Which May Expand the Main Breccia Mineralized Footprint (CNW Group/Collective Mining Ltd.) Figure 2: Plan View of the Guayabales Project Highlighting the Apollo Target Figure 2: Plan View of the Guayabales Project Highlighting the Apollo Target (CNW Group/Collective Mining Ltd.) Figure 3: Apollo Target: Main Breccia Cross Section with Core Photo Highlights from APC-22 Figure 3: Apollo Target: Main Breccia Cross Section with Core Photo Highlights from APC-22 (CNW Group/Collective Mining Ltd.) Figure 4: Apollo Target: Core Photo Highlights from APC-23 Figure 4: Apollo Target: Core Photo Highlights from APC-23 (CNW Group/Collective Mining Ltd.) About Collective Mining Ltd. To see our latest corporate presentation and related information, please visit www.collectivemining.com Founded by the team that developed and sold Continental Gold Inc. to Zijin Mining for approximately $2 billion in enterprise value, Collective Mining is a copper, silver and gold exploration company based in Canada, with projects in Caldas, Colombia. The Company has options to acquire 100% interests in two projects located directly within an established mining camp with ten fully permitted and operating mines. The Company's flagship project, Guayabales, is anchored by the Apollo target, which hosts the large-scale, bulk-tonnage and high-grade copper, silver and gold Main Breccia discovery. The Company's near-term objective is to continue with expansion drilling of the Main Breccia discovery while increasing confidence in the highest-grade portions of the system. Management, insiders and close family and friends own nearly 35% of the outstanding shares of the Company and as a result, are fully aligned with shareholders. The Company is listed on the TSXV under the trading symbol "CNL" and on the OTCQX under the trading symbol "CNLMF". Qualified Person (QP) and NI43-101 Disclosure David J Reading 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. Mr. Reading has an MSc in Economic Geology and is a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining and of the Society of Economic Geology (SEG). Technical Information Rock and core samples have been prepared and analyzed at SGS laboratory facilities in Medellin, Colombia and Lima, Peru. Blanks, duplicates, and certified reference standards are inserted into the sample stream to monitor laboratory performance. Crush rejects and pulps are kept and stored in a secured storage facility for future assay verification. No capping has been applied to sample composites. The Company utilizes a rigorous, industry-standard QA/QC program. Information Contact Follow Executive Chairman Ari Sussman (@Ariski) and Collective Mining (@CollectiveMini1) on Twitter FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This news release contains certain forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, statements about the drill programs, including timing of results, and Collective's future and intentions. Wherever possible, words such as "may", "will", "should", "could", "expect", "plan", "intend", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "predict" or "potential" or the negative or other variations of these words, or similar words or phrases, have been used to identify these forward-looking statements. These statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on information currently available to management as at the date hereof. Forward-looking statements involve significant risk, uncertainties, and assumptions. Many factors could cause actual results, performance, or achievements to differ materially from the results discussed or implied in the forward-looking statements. These factors should be considered carefully, and readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based upon what management believes to be reasonable assumptions, Collective cannot assure readers that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and Collective assumes no obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances, except as required by law. 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 news release. SOURCE Collective Mining Ltd. Cision View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/January2023/11/c5199.html Expanded office space will enable firm to add new talent to serve more clients ORLANDO, Fla., January 11, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Conti Federal Services, a leading U.S. government construction and engineering firm specializing in military and secure construction, critical infrastructure, environmental remediation, and disaster response and recovery projects, has expanded its headquarters in Orlando. Conti Federals reputation for helping clients meet mission-critical requirements continues to grow and, with numerous project awards last year and more in the pipeline, the company has quickly outgrown its original space. The companys offices remain in the same building, having moved into a space that is more than 70 percent larger to accommodate the firms projected growth for 2023 and beyond. In 2021, just 18 months ago, Conti Federal moved its headquarters from Edison, New Jersey to Orlando. Conti Federal CEO Peter Ceribelli continues to be pleased with the decision to relocate. "Relocating to the Orlando region has proven to be a great decision for us," he explains. "The region is known for supporting the national defense industry, which aligns with our expertise. In addition, there is tremendous engineering and construction talent in this area, and weve had the opportunity to work with many of these individuals. Were excited to continue to expand our presence here while assisting our clients to get the job Done Once, Done Right." Conti Federal focuses solely on supporting the U.S. federal government on its most mission-critical projects worldwide. Recent awards include a $140.9 million construction contract at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming and a $69.4 million renovation contract at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, North Carolina. With this expansion, Conti Federal is continuing to hire top talent. The firm has been recognized as one of the 2022 Best Workplaces in Construction by Great Place to Work and Fortune. Story continues About Conti Federal Services Conti Federal Services is a leading global construction and engineering company with roots dating back to 1906. The company has delivered some of the most demanding projects for the U.S. federal government, specializing in military and secure construction, critical infrastructure, environmental remediation, and disaster response and recovery. Conti Federal is dedicated to ensuring clients meet mission success while committing to its core values of safety, integrity, and compliance. To learn more, visit www.contifederal.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005193/en/ Contacts Meredith Koons Director of Marketing and Small Business Programs mkoons@contifederal.com 732-540-9478 VANCOUVER, BC, Jan 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The digital transformation market size reached USD 492.43 Billion in 2021 and is expected to register a CAGR of 20.8% during the forecast period, according to latest analysis by Emergen Research. Growing demand for big data, cloud computing, and other technologies is the key factor driving market revenue growth. Emergen_Research_Logo Digital transformation refers to the incorporation of digital technology in all areas of a business, fundamentally changing how it operates and delivers value to customers. This process of transformation has been accelerated in recent years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has resulted in a shift towards remote work and increased reliance on digital tools and platforms. Many businesses have had to quickly adopt digital technologies to continue operating and serving their customers. This growing demand for digital technologies has contributed to the revenue growth of the digital transformation market, which is expected to continue expanding in the coming years. Request Free Sample Copy (To Understand the Complete Structure of this Report [Summary + TOC]) @ https://www.emergenresearch.com/request-sample/1504 Drivers: The increasing demand for big data and cloud computing has played a significant role in the growth of digital transformation. Big data refers to large, complex datasets that require advanced processing power and analytics tools to extract value from them. Cloud computing refers to the delivery of computing services such as storage, networking, analytics, and intelligence over the internet rather than using local servers or personal devices. Both big data and cloud computing have become critical components of digital transformation as they enable businesses to store, process, and analyze large amounts of data in real time, allowing for more informed decision-making and greater efficiency. Additionally, the growing adoption of these technologies has led to the development of other technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and the Internet of Things, which further contribute to the revenue growth of digital transformation market. Various companies are now adopting these technologies in recent years. In January 2023, for instance, HDFC Bank, the largest private sector bank in India, is collaborating with Microsoft as it continues its digital transformation efforts. Story continues The partnership aims to help the bank unlock business value by modernizing its operations and leveraging digital technologies to better serve its customers. In December 2022 Intel and ETCIO.com recently hosted an event called Intel ConnectiON, which was focused on the theme "Digital Transformation Unleashed." The goal of the event was to explore innovative strategies and help businesses establish a successful future through digital transformation. Intel ConnectiON was a conference that helped to bring together industry leaders to share their experiences and insights on digital transformation. The event highlighted how businesses can cost-effectively, and seamlessly accelerate their digital transformation to thrive in an era of disruption. Emergen Research is Offering Limited Time Discount (Grab a Copy at Discounted Price Now) @ https://www.emergenresearch.com/request-discount/1504 Restraints: One of the challenges that businesses may face when implementing digital transformation is the integration of data from various data silos. Data silos refer to isolated or separate systems or departments within an organization that stores and manage data independently. This can make it difficult to access and analyze data from different parts of the organization, as it may be stored in different formats or systems. Integrating data from data silos can be a complex and time-consuming process, as it requires the use of specialized tools and resources. Additionally, there may be challenges related to data quality, security, and compliance when attempting to bring data from different sources together. All of these are expected to restrain revenue growth of the market. Growth Projections: The digital transformation market is expected to register a CAGR of 20.8% over the forecast period and revenue is projected to increase from USD 492.43 Billion in 2021 to USD 2,669.48 Billion in 2030. Growing adoption of 5G technology in recent years is expected to drive the revenue growth of the market. Current Trends and Innovations: The increased speed and capacity of 5G networks have made it possible for businesses to adopt new technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence, and edge computing, which is expected to drive digital transformation market revenue growth during the forecast period. For example, the IoT enables businesses to collect and analyze data from connected devices in real time, which can be used to optimize operations and improve decision-making. Artificial intelligence and machine learning can be used to automate tasks and improve efficiency, while edge computing allows for data processing and analysis to be performed closer to the source of data, reducing latency, and enabling faster decision-making. In addition, the increasing adoption of 5G technology contributed to the revenue growth of digital transformation by enabling businesses to deliver new and enhanced services to customers. For example, 5G networks can support high-definition video streaming and virtual reality applications, which can be used to deliver immersive customer experiences. In the United States, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has made the mid-band spectrum for 5G available for businesses to license and use for private networks. This and other efforts are helping to make the adoption of 5G more widespread and supporting revenue growth of the market. Browse Full Report Description + Research Methodology + Table of Content + Infographics@ https://www.emergenresearch.com/industry-report/digital-transformation-market Strategic Initiatives: Major companies included in the market report are IBM, SAP SE, Oracle, Microsoft Corporation, Accenture, Google LLC, HCL Technologies Limited, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP, Cisco Systems, Inc., Alibaba Cloud, Broadcom, Marlabs, Cognizant, and Capgemini. On January 5, 2023, Leidos partnered with Accenture to modernize the cloud infrastructure of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC). As part of the partnership, Leidos assists the CDC in evaluating its applications and migrating them to the cloud as part of the agency's digital transformation efforts. Accenture Federal Services has enlisted the help of Leidos, a company that offers engineering, science, and technology services to various sectors including defense, intelligence, and healthcare, to assist with its cloud migration efforts for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Scope of Research Report Details Outcome Market size in 2021 USD 492.43 Billion CAGR (20222030) 20.8 % Revenue forecast to 2030 USD 2,669.48 Billion 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 Component, deployment, organization size, end-use, and region Regional scope North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, 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, Rest of MEA Key companies profiled IBM, SAP SE, Oracle, Microsoft Corporation, Accenture, Google LLC, HCL Technologies Limited, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP, Cisco Systems, Inc., Alibaba Cloud, Broadcom, Marlabs, Cognizant, and Capgemini 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/1504 Emergen Research has segmented global digital transformation market on the basis of component, deployment, organization size, end-use, and region: Component Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion; 2019-2030) Deployment Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion; 2019-2030) Organization Size Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion; 2019-2030) End-Use Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion; 2019-2030) Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion; 20192030) Latest Research Reports Published by Emergen Research: Perimeter Defense System Market, By Type (Infrared Contrast, Laser Beam, Electric Fence, Microwave Contrast, Leaky Cable, Tension Fence, and Vibration Cable), By Application, and By Region Forecast to 2030 Electrocardiogram Cables and Lead Wires Market, By Product Type, By Material Type, By Usability Type, By End-Use, and By Region Forecast to 2030 Companion Animal Diagnostics Market, By Technology Type, By Animal Type, By Application, By End-Use, and By Region Forecast to 2030 Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography Market, By Product (Endoscopes, Visualization Systems, and Others), By Procedure (Biliary Dilation and Pancreatic Duct Stenting), By End-use, and By Region Forecast to 2030 Failure Analysis Market, By Equipment (Optical Microscope, SEM, TEM, SPM, FIB System, Dual Beam System, Others), By Technology (EDX, SIMS, BIM, RIE, Others), By Application (Electronics & Semiconductor, Industrial Science, Material Science, Bioscience), By Region Forecast to 2030 Stentless Bioprostheses Market By Type (Xenograft, Allograft and Autograft), By Application (Aortic, Bicuspid, Tricuspid, Pulmonary and Endobronchial), By End-Use, and By Region Forecast to 2030 Turret System Market, By Platform (Land, Airborne, and Naval), By Type (Manned and Unmanned), By Component (Turret Drive, Turret Control System, and Stabilization Unit), and By Region Forecast to 2030 Natural Language Processing Market By Component (Solutions and Services), By Type (Rule-Based, Statistical, and Hybrid), By Application, By Vertical, and By Region Forecast to 2030 About Emergen Research Emergen Research is a market research and consulting company that provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. Our solutions purely focus on your purpose to locate, target, and analyze consumer behavior shifts across demographics, across industries, and help clients make smarter business decisions. We offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across multiple industries, including Healthcare, Touch Points, Chemicals, Types, and Energy. We consistently update our research offerings to ensure our clients are aware of the latest trend's existent in the market. Emergen Research has a strong base of experienced analysts from varied areas of expertise. Our industry experience and ability to develop a concrete solution to any research problems provides our clients with the ability to secure an edge over their respective competitors. Contact Us: Eric Lee Corporate Sales Specialist Emergen Research | Web: www.emergenresearch.com Direct Line: +1 (604) 757-9756 E-mail: sales@emergenresearch.com Emergen Research Media Citations: https://www.emergenresearch.com/media-citations Visit for More Insights: https://www.emergenresearch.com/insights Explore Our Custom Intelligence services | Growth Consulting Services Read our Press Release @ https://www.emergenresearch.com/press-release/global-digital-transformation-market Trending Titles Rotator Cuff Injury Treatment Market | Soft Tissue Repair Market Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1579538/Emergen_Research_Logo.jpg Cision View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/digital-transformation-market-size-to-reach-usd-2-669-48-billion-in-2030--emergen-research-301719327.html SOURCE Emergen Research SHENZHEN, China, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- ESY SUNHOME ("ESYSH"), a new energy storage product company, is preparing to release its all-in-one energy storage system, HM6, on January 14. The new product reflects the result of a two-year journey of discovery for the company as it embarked on a path motivated by the goal of introducing environmental protection concepts in homes globally. ESYSUNHOME HM6 Launches on January 14th. "Our new product development concept regarding home energy storage equipment helps to promote environmental protection at home for the benefit of younger generations," said Mr. Lee, the Founder of ESYSH. "Facilitating photovoltaic energy storage equipment in every family will provide the next generation of young children with the earliest exposure possible to energy technology, benefitting the environmental protection efforts." The ESYSH HM6 primarily takes on the role of a new home appliance that enhances people's quality of life through power supply, similar in convenience to such appliances as refrigerators and washing machines. Product installation is extremely simple; all it takes is stacking the battery modules together to enable normal use, thereby removing the potential for installation errors and saving 60-70% on labor-based installation fees. The IP66 waterproof and dustproof performance ensures the operation of HM6 is unaffected by violent storms. Extreme temperatures are also no problem, with no need for the product to be pre-warmed even in -20 degrees Celsius conditions. In case of a sudden power failure, the HM6 automatically activates, seamlessly ensuring there is no disturbance due to any power failure. Users can also leverage the company's APP to conveniently monitor the product's working status 24 hours a day. The APP includes three levels of early warnings and an alarm to ensure user safety and contact the after-sale maintenance team in time. ESYSH was originally formed as a lithium battery business, driven by world-leading protection systems and a highly professional R&D team. These were essential technical foundations as the founder looked to shore up his brand mission and vision. Mr. Lee was concerned that there were not many energy storage products available to households worldwide. Meanwhile, he was struck by the potential link between lithium batteries and photovoltaic energy storage solutions. Story continues He subsequently embarked on a journey of in-depth research and industry studies over two years, setting up an efficient, highly qualified professional team of R&D, manufacturing, and quality management personnel. The team's two years of efforts have culminated with the launch of the HM6 on January 14. As a father himself, Mr. Lee is mindful of the environmental situation and troubling scenarios that his children could face as they grow older. This has also inspired the brand's mission to instill in incoming generations a solid awareness of environmental protection that starts in their own home and involves the family activities that they grow up with. ESYSH has established branches in Sydney, Australia and Munich, Germany. With the release of the new products, the brand has officially started its global business expansion journey. Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/esy-sunhome-to-release-hm6-all-in-one-energy-storage-product-on-jan-14-301718628.html SOURCE ESYSUNHOME STOCKHOLM, Jan 11 (Reuters) - The European Union is prepared for a long war in Ukraine and will support Kyiv against Russia's aggression as long as it takes, Sweden's foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom, whose country holds the EU's presidency, said on Wednesday. "Despite Russia's continued attempts to divide us, unity within the EU and across the Atlantic has been strong. The EU is prepared for a long war and will continue to stand by Ukraine's side with political, economic, military and humanitarian support for as long as it takes," Billstrom told a news conference. He said the EU would continue working on more sanctions against Moscow over the invasion of Ukraine after nine packages of measures passed by the 27-nation bloc since the start of the invasion in February 2022. (Reporting by Jan Strupczewski; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel) By Azernews Sabina Mammadli Azerbaijan has provided a total of 122,000 family members of martyrs and Karabakh war veterans with social services in the post-war period, Azernews reports via the Labor and Social Protection Ministry. The social support package provided a total of 264,000 services to war vets and the families of martyrs. According to the ministry, the social support package includes: - monthly social benefits to 102,000 individuals; lump sum payment to 16,800, and insurance payment to 3,100 individuals; - a 60-percent increase in the pension of family members of martyrs, disabled war veterans, and national heroes since the beginning of 2021, and a 60 percent increase in social benefits since the beginning of 2022; - a fivefold increase in the housing program for family members of the martyrs and disabled war veterans; 4,500 apartments and private houses for them, as well as 324 cars for disabled war veterans; - providing 36,700 socio-psychological support and rehabilitation services to 11,000 family members of the martyrs and war participants; - providing 30,700 rehabilitation facilities to 1,800 disabled war veterans and 403 high-tech modern prostheses to 387 people; - employing 16,500 family members of martyrs and war veterans, including recruiting 9,500 people for the self-employment program; - provision of services to 71,700 family members of martyrs and participants of the war in single coordination centers. Azerbaijan has been taking consistent measures to provide social support to vulnerable groups of the population, including martyrs families, war veterans, and civilians affected by the war. To recall, a total of 3,000 families of martyrs and war veterans were provided with apartments and private houses in 2021. NEW YORK, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- According to Technavio, the global gas compressors market size is estimated to grow by USD 2,506.92 million from 2022 to 2027. The market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 4.93% during the forecast period. Moreover, the growth momentum will progress. APAC will account for 52% of the global market's growth during the forecast period. Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Gas Compressors Market 2023-2027 For more insights on market size, Request a sample report Global gas compressors market - Five forces The global gas compressors 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 gas compressors 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 gas compressors market - Segmentation assessment Segment overview Technavio has segmented the market based on product (PD compressors and roller crushers) and end-user (oil and gas, power generation, chemicals and petrochemicals, mining, and others). The PD compressors segment grow at a significant rate during the forecast period. PD compressors such as reciprocating piston compressors, rotary screw compressors, and rotary vane compressors capture a certain volume of air in a chamber and then shrink the chamber to compress the air. These products are penetrating both small and large markets, which will drive its growth during the forecast period. Geography overview Based on geography, the global gas compressors market is segmented into APAC, North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and South America. The report provides actionable insights and estimates the contribution of all regions to the growth of the global gas compressors market. Story continues APAC is estimated to account for 52% of the growth of the global market during the forecast period. The growth potential of gas compressors in the region is high, especially in developing countries such as India and China. China is the largest contributor to the gas compressor market in APAC due to its growing natural gas infrastructure. During the forecast period, the country will invest approximately USD 160 billion in shale oil development. Thus, with growth opportunities from prominent end-user sectors, the demand for gas compressors in the region is expected to increase during the forecast period. Download a sample report Global gas compressors market Market dynamics Key factor driving market growth The need for energy-efficient compressor systems is driving the growth of the market. The oil and gas industry needs to adhere to strict energy efficiency guidelines to reduce emissions. This can be achieved by adopting compressors with efficient and reliable controls. As a result, old gas compressors are being replaced with new energy-efficient gas compressors. These factors will propel the overall market growth during the forecast period. Leading trends influencing the market Technological developments will be a trend in the gas compressors market during the forecast period. In an industrial compressor, a majority of the electrical energy consumed is dissipated as heat energy, which can be reused for other purposes such as water heating in plant operations. Compressed air is critical to various end-users, such as the oil and gas industry. Developments in system controllers have enabled the users of industrial compressed air to increase the overall efficiency of the system through load sharing and leveling the running hours. These factors will support the growth of the market during the forecast period. Major challenges hindering the market growth The volatility in oil and gas prices will challenge the global gas compressors market. The fall in crude oil prices will impact NGV sales worldwide, which will affect the setting up of CNG refueling stations. This, in turn, is expected to hinder the demand for gas compressors in refueling stations. Oil prices declined from USD 63.96 per barrel in February 2019 to USD 56.21 per barrel in February 2020. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic was one of the main reasons for the fall in the prices of oil, which led to a decline in the sales of NGVs. These factors will hinder the growth of the global 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 gas compressors market report? CAGR of the market during the forecast period Detailed information on factors that will drive the growth of the gas compressors market between 2023 and 2027 Precise estimation of the size of the gas compressors market and its contribution to the parent market Accurate predictions about upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior Growth of the gas compressors market across APAC, North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and South America A thorough analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information about vendors Comprehensive analysis of factors that will challenge the growth of gas compressors market vendors Gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports. Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Related Reports: The industrial gas storage cabinets market size is expected to increase by USD 372.7 million from 2021 to 2026, and the market's growth momentum will accelerate at a CAGR of 4.29%. This report extensively covers market segmentation by end-user (oil and gas industry, chemical industry, and others) and geography (North America, Europe, APAC, Middle East and Africa, and South America). The industrial gas phase filtration system market size is expected to increase by USD 573.64 million from 2021 to 2026, and the market's growth momentum will accelerate at a CAGR of 4.65%. This report extensively covers market segmentation by end-user (W and WW, pharmaceutical, chemical, oil and gas, and others) and geography (North America, APAC, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and South America). Gas Compressors Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 176 Base year 2022 Historic period 2017-2021 Forecast period 2023-2027 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 4.93% Market growth 2023-2027 USD 2,506.92 million Market structure Fragmented YoY growth 2022-2023 (%) 4.04 Regional analysis APAC, North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and South America Performing market contribution APAC at 52% Key countries US, China, India, Germany, and UK Competitive landscape Leading Vendors, Market Positioning of Vendors, Competitive Strategies, and Industry Risks Key companies profiled Accudyne Systems Inc., Aerzener Maschinenfabrik GmbH, Ariel Corp, Atlas Copco AB, BAUER COMPRESSORS INC, BOGE KOMPRESSOREN GmbH and Co. KG, Burckhardt Compression Holding AG, Ebara Corp., Elgi Equipments Ltd, General Electric Co., Hitachi Ltd., IDEX Corp., Ingersoll Rand Inc., J.P Sauer and Sohn Maschinenbau GmbH, KAESER KOMPRESSOREN SE, Kobe Steel Ltd., Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., Siemens Energy AG, and Sulzer 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. Browse for Technavio's industrials market reports 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 gas compressors market 2017 - 2021 4.2 Product Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021 4.3 End-user 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 Product 6.1 Market segments 6.2 Comparison by Product 6.3 PD compressors - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 6.4 Roller crushers - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 6.5 Market opportunity by Product 7 Market Segmentation by End-user 7.1 Market segments 7.2 Comparison by End-user 7.3 Oil and gas - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 7.4 Power generation - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 7.5 Chemicals and petrochemicals - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 7.6 Mining - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 7.7 Others - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 7.8 Market opportunity by End-user 8 Customer Landscape 8.1 Customer landscape overview 9 Geographic Landscape 9.1 Geographic segmentation 9.2 Geographic comparison 9.3 APAC - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 9.4 North America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 9.5 Europe - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 9.6 Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 9.7 South America - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 9.8 China - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 9.9 US - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 9.10 Germany - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 9.11 India - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 9.12 UK - 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 Aerzener Maschinenfabrik GmbH 12.4 Ariel Corp 12.5 Atlas Copco AB 12.6 Burckhardt Compression Holding AG 12.7 Ebara Corp. 12.8 General Electric Co. 12.9 Hitachi Ltd. 12.10 IDEX Corp. 12.11 Ingersoll Rand Inc. 12.12 J.P Sauer and Sohn Maschinenbau GmbH 12.13 KAESER KOMPRESSOREN SE 12.14 Kobe Steel Ltd. 12.15 Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. 12.16 Siemens Energy AG 12.17 Sulzer 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 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 Gas Compressors Market 2023-2027 Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/gas-compressors-market-2023-2027-a-descriptive-analysis-of-five-forces-model-market-dynamics-and-segmentation---technavio-301716441.html SOURCE Technavio ReportLinker The Global Geotextile Tubes Market size was estimated at USD 1,888.79 million in 2021 and expected to reach USD 2,005.71 million in 2022, and is projected to grow at a CAGR 6.52% to reach USD 2,759.65 million by 2027. New York, Jan. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Geotextile Tubes Market Research Report by Type, Material, Application, Region - Global Forecast to 2027 - Cumulative Impact of COVID-19" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06303923/?utm_source=GNW Market Statistics: The report provides market sizing and forecast across 7 major currencies - USD, EUR, JPY, GBP, AUD, CAD, and CHF. It helps organization leaders make better decisions when currency exchange data is readily available. In this report, the years 2018 and 2020 are considered as historical years, 2021 as the base year, 2022 as the estimated year, and years from 2023 to 2027 are considered as the forecast period. Market Segmentation & Coverage: This research report categorizes the Geotextile Tubes to forecast the revenues and analyze the trends in each of the following sub-markets: Based on Type, the market was studied across Nonwoven and Woven. The Nonwoven is further studied across Civil Nonwovens, Environmental Nonwovens, Needlepunched Nonwovens, and Spunbonded Nonwovens. Based on Material, the market was studied across Natural Fibres, Polyamide, Polyester, Polyethylene, and Polypropylene. Based on Application, the market was studied across Agricultural Engineering, Construction, Environmental Engineering, and Marine & Hydraulic. Based on Region, the market was studied across Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, Middle East & Africa. The Americas is further studied across Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and United States. The United States is further studied across California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Washington. The Asia-Pacific is further studied across Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. The Europe, Middle East & Africa is further studied across Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Poland, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and United Kingdom. Cumulative Impact of COVID-19: COVID-19 is an incomparable global public health emergency that has affected almost every industry, and the long-term effects are projected to impact the industry growth during the forecast period. Our ongoing research amplifies our research framework to ensure the inclusion of underlying COVID-19 issues and potential paths forward. The report delivers insights on COVID-19 considering the changes in consumer behavior and demand, purchasing patterns, re-routing of the supply chain, dynamics of current market forces, and the significant interventions of governments. The updated study provides insights, analysis, estimations, and forecasts, considering the COVID-19 impact on the market. Cumulative Impact of 2022 Russia Ukraine Conflict: We continuously monitor and update reports on political and economic uncertainty due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Negative impacts are significantly foreseen globally, especially across Eastern Europe, European Union, Eastern & Central Asia, and the United States. This contention has severely affected lives and livelihoods and represents far-reaching disruptions in trade dynamics. The potential effects of ongoing war and uncertainty in Eastern Europe are expected to have an adverse impact on the world economy, with especially long-term harsh effects on Russia.This report uncovers the impact of demand & supply, pricing variants, strategic uptake of vendors, and recommendations for Geotextile Tubes market considering the current update on the conflict and its global response. Competitive Strategic Window: The Competitive Strategic Window analyses the competitive landscape in terms of markets, applications, and geographies to help the vendor define an alignment or fit between their capabilities and opportunities for future growth prospects. It describes the optimal or favorable fit for the vendors to adopt successive merger and acquisition strategies, geography expansion, research & development, and new product introduction strategies to execute further business expansion and growth during a forecast period. FPNV Positioning Matrix: The FPNV Positioning Matrix evaluates and categorizes the vendors in the Geotextile Tubes Market based on Business Strategy (Business Growth, Industry Coverage, Financial Viability, and Channel Support) and Product Satisfaction (Value for Money, Ease of Use, Product Features, and Customer Support) that aids businesses in better decision making and understanding the competitive landscape. Market Share Analysis: The Market Share Analysis offers the analysis of vendors considering their contribution to the overall market. It provides the idea of its revenue generation into the overall market compared to other vendors in the space. It provides insights into how vendors are performing in terms of revenue generation and customer base compared to others. Knowing market share offers an idea of the size and competitiveness of the vendors for the base year. It reveals the market characteristics in terms of accumulation, fragmentation, dominance, and amalgamation traits. Competitive Scenario: The Competitive Scenario provides an outlook analysis of the various business growth strategies adopted by the vendors. The news covered in this section deliver valuable thoughts at the different stage while keeping up-to-date with the business and engage stakeholders in the economic debate. The competitive scenario represents press releases or news of the companies categorized into Merger & Acquisition, Agreement, Collaboration, & Partnership, New Product Launch & Enhancement, Investment & Funding, and Award, Recognition, & Expansion. All the news collected help vendor to understand the gaps in the marketplace and competitors strength and weakness thereby, providing insights to enhance product and service. Company Usability Profiles: The report profoundly explores the recent significant developments by the leading vendors and innovation profiles in the Global Geotextile Tubes Market, including ACE Geosynthetics Inc., Erosion Control Products, Flexituff Ventures International Ltd., Flint Technical Geosolutions, Geofabrics Australasia Pty Ltd., Ha Noi Industrial Textile JSC, HUESKER Group, Low & Bonar, LRK Geovision LLC, Northwest Linings & Geotextile Products, Inc., Officine Maccaferri S.p.A., One Clarion, Suntech Geotextile Pvt. Ltd., TechFab India Industries Ltd., TenCate Geosynthetics, Terrafix Geosynthetics Inc., Thrace Plastics Co S.A., Titan Environmental Containment, US Fabrics, Inc., and Willacoochee Industrial Fabrics, Inc.. The report provides insights on the following pointers: 1. Market Penetration: Provides comprehensive information on the market offered by the key players 2. Market Development: Provides in-depth information about lucrative emerging markets and analyze penetration across mature segments of the markets 3. Market Diversification: Provides detailed information about new product launches, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments 4. Competitive Assessment & Intelligence: Provides an exhaustive assessment of market shares, strategies, products, certification, regulatory approvals, patent landscape, and manufacturing capabilities of the leading players 5. Product Development & Innovation: Provides intelligent insights on future technologies, R&D activities, and breakthrough product developments The report answers questions such as: 1. What is the market size and forecast of the Global Geotextile Tubes Market? 2. What are the inhibiting factors and impact of COVID-19 shaping the Global Geotextile Tubes Market during the forecast period? 3. Which are the products/segments/applications/areas to invest in over the forecast period in the Global Geotextile Tubes Market? 4. What is the competitive strategic window for opportunities in the Global Geotextile Tubes Market? 5. What are the technology trends and regulatory frameworks in the Global Geotextile Tubes Market? 6. What is the market share of the leading vendors in the Global Geotextile Tubes Market? 7. What modes and strategic moves are considered suitable for entering the Global Geotextile Tubes Market? Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06303923/?utm_source=GNW About Reportlinker ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place. __________________________ Story continues CONTACT: Clare: clare@reportlinker.com US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001 Zion Market Research [288 + Pages Research Study] According to a market research study published by Zion Market Research, the demand analysis of Global Cervical Total Disc Replacement Device Market size & share revenue was valued at around USD 1.7 billion in 2021 and is estimated to grow about USD 7.8 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of approximately 18.5% between 2022 and 2030. The key market players are listed in the report with their sales, revenues and strategies are Dynamic Spine Inc., Applied Spine Technologies Inc., Stryker Corporation, Abbott Laboratories, Medtronic Inc., Globus Medical Inc., Synthes AG, Johnson & Johnson, Innovative Spinal Technologies Inc., Zimmer Inc., among others. Houston, TX, Jan. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to Zion Market Research has published a new research report titled Global Cervical Total Disc Replacement Device Market By Disc Type (Metal On Metal And Metal On Biocompatible), By Material (Polyethylene, Stainless Steel, Titanium, Cobalt-Chrome, Polycrystalline Diamond, And Others), By Design (Constrained, Semi-Constrained, And Un-Constrained), By End User (Hospitals, Ambulatory Surgical Centers, Private Clinics, And Others) And By Region - Global And Regional Industry Overview, Market Intelligence, Comprehensive Analysis, Historical Data, And Forecasts 2022 2030 in its research database. According to the latest research study, the demand of global Cervical Total Disc Replacement Device Market size & share in terms of revenue was valued at USD 1.7 billion in 2021 and it is expected to surpass around USD 7.8 billion mark by 2030, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 18.5% during the forecast period 2022 to 2030. What is Cervical Total Disc Replacement Device? How big is the Cervical Total Disc Replacement Device Industry? Cervical Total Disc Replacement Device Report Coverage & Overview: The cervical spine comprises seven vertebras, which are separated by an intervertebral disc from each other. Cervical discs are helpful in the movement of the neck and back; they allow sideward and bending movement of the body. They are also useful in neck stabilizing and shock absorbing. Cervical discs stop functioning owing to disc herniation, which is caused by degenerative diseases or trauma. Disc herniation can be recognized by symptoms such as a headache, weakness, shoulder pain, numbness, and neck pain. Degenerative disc disease results in pain, stiffness of the neck, and less flexibility. Initially, these diseases are tackled with anti-inflammatory medications, spine injections, physical therapy, and cold or heat therapy. However, surgical treatments are recommended when these conventional treatments fail to recover. Story continues Get a Free Sample PDF of this Research Report for more Insights with a Table of Content, Research Methodology, and Graphs - https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/sample/cervical-total-disc-replacement-device-market (A free sample of this report is available upon request; please contact us for more information.) Our Free Sample Report Consists of the Following: Introduction, Overview, and in-depth industry analysis are all included in the 2022 updated report. The COVID-19 Pandemic Outbreak Impact Analysis is included in the package About 288+ Pages Research Report (Including Recent Research) Provide detailed chapter-by-chapter guidance on Request Updated Regional Analysis with Graphical Representation of Size, Share, and Trends for the Year 2022 Includes Tables and figures have been updated The most recent version of the report includes the Top Market Players, their Business Strategies, Sales Volume, and Revenue Analysis Zion Market Research research methodology (Please note that the sample of this report has been modified to include the COVID-19 impact study prior to delivery.) Global Cervical Total Disc Replacement Device Market: Growth Dynamics The market for cervical total disc replacement devices is anticipated to expand as a result of an increasing number of providers making investments in clinical trials for new devices as well as better next-generation cervical total disc replacement devices like Secure-CR cervical artificial disc. The global cervical total disc replacement device market, which has expanded significantly in recent years, will also be driven by an aging population and spinal injuries from car accidents. The market for cervical total disc replacement devices will expand due to the rising prevalence of degenerative disc conditions. However, the high cost associated with the cervical total disc replacement device is expected to hamper the market growth during the forecast period. Directly Purchase a copy of the report with TOC @ https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/buynow/su/cervical-total-disc-replacement-device-market Report Scope Report Attribute Details Market Size in 2021 USD 1.7 billion Projected Market Size in 2030 USD 7.8 billion CAGR Growth Rate 18.5% CAGR Base Year 2021 Forecast Years 2022-2030 Key Market Players Dynamic Spine Inc., Applied Spine Technologies Inc., Stryker Corporation, Abbott Laboratories, Medtronic Inc., Globus Medical Inc., Synthes AG, Johnson & Johnson, Innovative Spinal Technologies Inc., Zimmer Inc, among others. Key Segment By Disc Type, By Material, By Design, By End User and By Region Major Regions Covered North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East &, Africa Purchase Options Request customized purchase options to meet your research needs. Explore purchase options For Infographics: https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/content/uploadedimages/global-cervical-total-disc-replacement-device-market.png Cervical Total Disc Replacement Device Market: Segmentation Analysis The global cervical total disc replacement device market is segmented based on the disc type, material, design, end user, and region. Based on the end user, the market is segmented into hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, private clinics, and others. The hospital's segment held the largest market share in 2021 and it is expected to continue the same pattern during the forecast period. The growth in the segment is attributed to the presence of a vast number of hospitals, especially those dealing in orthopedic surgeries. Moreover, the insurance provides coverage for the predominant hospital procedures. On the other hand, the ambulatory surgical centers segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR over the forecast period. The segmental growth is owing to the numerous policies adopted by nations like the US, which encourage patients to use ASCs. Additionally, the American rescue plan has given the ASCs segment higher attention. The US government projects that using the ASC model will save about $32 billion by 2022. The global Cervical Total Disc Replacement Device market is segmented as follows: By Disc Type Metal on Metal Metal on Biocompatible By Material Polyethylene Stainless Steel Titanium Cobalt-Chrome Polycrystalline Diamond Others By Design Constrained Semi-Constrained Un-Constrained By End User Hospitals Ambulatory Surgical Centers Private Clinics Others Browse the full Global Cervical Total Disc Replacement Device Market By Disc Type (Metal On Metal And Metal On Biocompatible), By Material (Polyethylene, Stainless Steel, Titanium, Cobalt-Chrome, Polycrystalline Diamond, And Others), By Design (Constrained, Semi-Constrained, And Un-Constrained), By End User (Hospitals, Ambulatory Surgical Centers, Private Clinics, And Others) And By Region - Global And Regional Industry Overview, Market Intelligence, Comprehensive Analysis, Historical Data, And Forecasts 2022 2030 Report at https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/cervical-total-disc-replacement-device-market Competitive Landscape Some of the main competitors dominating the global Cervical Total Disc Replacement Device market include - Dynamic Spine Inc. Applied Spine Technologies Inc. Stryker Corporation Abbott Laboratories Medtronic Inc. Globus Medical Inc. Synthes AG Johnson & Johnson Innovative Spinal Technologies Inc. Zimmer Inc. Key Insights from Primary Research: According to the analysis shared by our research forecaster, the Cervical Total Disc Replacement Device market is likely to expand at a CAGR of around 18.5% during the forecast period (2022-2030). In terms of revenue, the Cervical Total Disc Replacement Device market size was valued at around US$ 1.7 billion in 2021 and is projected to reach US$ 7.8 billion by 2030. The market is expected to rise as a result of technological developments, rising product approval rates, company and product acquisitions by major players, and other factors. Based on the disc type, the metal on biocompatible is expected to grow significantly over the forecast period. Based on the material, the cobalt-chrome held a substantial market share in 2021. Based on region, the North American region is expected to dominate the market during the forecast period. Have Any Query? Ask Our Experts: https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/inquiry/cervical-total-disc-replacement-device-market Key questions answered in this report: What is the market size and growth rate forecast for Cervical Total Disc Replacement Device industry? What are the main driving factors propelling the Cervical Total Disc Replacement Device Market forward? What are the leading companies in the Cervical Total Disc Replacement Device Industry? What segments does the Cervical Total Disc Replacement Device Market cover? How can I receive a free copy of the Cervical Total Disc Replacement Device Market sample report and company profiles? Key Offerings: Market Size & Forecast by Revenue | 20222030 Market Dynamics Leading Trends, Growth Drivers, Restraints, and Investment Opportunities Market Segmentation A detailed analysis By Disc Type, By Material, By Design, By End User and By Region Competitive Landscape Top Key Vendors and Other Prominent Vendors Request for Customization on this Report as per your requirements - https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/custom/594 (We tailor your report to meet your specific research requirements. Inquire with our sales team about customising your report.) Regional Analysis: North America holds the largest market share in the global cervical total disc replacement device market. The higher percentage of the aging population living in this region is anticipated to boost global market growth. Besides, the Asia Pacific is emerging as the second largest market for cervical total disc replacement as healthcare industries are growing at a faster rate, which in turn may fuel the global cervical total disc replacement device market. In addition, China and India are major competitors in the global cervical total disc replacement device market. Moreover, rising government funding and a large pool of patients are expected to propel the global market growth in the future. By Region North America U.S. Canada Rest of North America Europe France UK Spain Germany Italy Rest of Europe Asia Pacific China Japan India South Korea Rest of Asia Pacific The Middle East & Africa Saudi Arabia South Africa Rest of the Middle East & Africa Latin America Brazil Argentina Rest of Latin America Recent Developments In October 2022, Centinel Spine, LLC, a leading global medical device company addressing cervical and lumbar spinal disease through anterior surgical access, announced the continued expansion of the availability of the prodisc Cervical Total Disc Replacement (TDR) portfolio that allows the disc to be matched to patient anatomy. In July, the company received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for 1-level indications for prodisc C Vivo, prodisc C SK, and prodisc C Nova. Along with the currently available prodisc C implant, which remains the most studied TDR technology, Centinel Spine now has the broadest offering in the world of cervical TDR solutions to address surgeon preference and individual patient anatomy. To know an additional revised 2022 list of market players, request a brochure of the report: https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/requestbrochure/cervical-total-disc-replacement-device-market Browse Other Related Research Reports from Zion Market Research: Soft Tissue Allografts Market Size and Share: https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/soft-tissue-allograft-market Connected Drug Delivery Devices Market Size and Share: https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/connected-drug-delivery-devices-market Vascular Patches Market Size and Share: https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/vascular-patches-market Medical Dynamometer Market Size and Share: https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/medical-dynamometer-market Hospital Stretchers Market Size and Share: https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/hospital-stretchers-market Advanced Wound Dressing Market Size and Share: https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/advance-wound-dressing-market Surgical Snare Market Size and Share: https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/surgical-snare-market Hernia Mesh Devices Market Size and Share: https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/hernia-mesh-devices-market Interactive Wound Dressing Market Size and Share: https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/interactive-wound-dressing-market Walking Assist Devices Market Size and Share: https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/walking-assist-devices-market About Zion Market Research: Zion Market Research is a leading market research organization offering industry expertise and scrupulous consulting services to clients for their business development. 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Most Read from Bloomberg Its clear that we experienced a highly sophisticated cyber attack involving unauthorized third-party access to parts of our network, which appears to have been triggered by a phishing attack, said Chief Executive Officer Anna Bateson and Editor-in-Chief Katharine Viner in the message. The attack affected many of our key systems, our IT network and some of our data. Compromised data may include staff names, addresses, bank accounts, salaries and identity documents such as passports, meaning the potential for identity fraud, the message said. A spokesman for the Guardian confirmed the contents of the email. The business has roughly 1,500 global staffers, mostly based in the UK, he added. The company believes the data of US and Australia staff is not affected but its review is ongoing. Guardian Media, best known for its British newspaper, disclosed the attack on Dec. 21. The latest email included new details about the scale and implications of the incident. Executives have also reported the incident to the UK Information Commissioners Office Britains data watchdog and law enforcement. The papers offices have been closed since Dec. 21, the day after the incident. The return to the workplace will be postponed until early February, the note said. --With assistance from Greg Ritchie. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2023 Bloomberg L.P. NEW YORK, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The global hair dryer market size is estimated to increase by USD 1,962.02 million between 2022 and 2027. The market's growth momentum will progress at a CAGR of 5.01% - Request a sample report Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Hair Dryer Market 2023-2027 Global hair dryer market Vendor analysis Vendor offerings - Beauty by Imagination Inc. - The company offers hair dryers under two brands, namely Bio Ionic and Salona. Conair Corp. - The company offers hair dryers such as natural texture styling system, turbo dryer, comabt dryer, shine dryer, frizz-free pro dryer, double ceramic dryer, and full body and shine pro hair dryer. Dolphy India Pvt. Ltd. - The company offers wall and table-mounted hair dryer and black ABS hair dryer. Dyson Technology India Pvt. Ltd. - The company offers supersonic hair dryer for various hair styling purposes in colors such as blue and pink. For details on vendors and their offerings Buy the report! Vendor landscape - The global hair dryer market is fragmented, with the presence of a substantial number of international players as well as a few small-scale regional players. A few prominent vendors that offer hair dryer in the market are Beauty by Imagination Inc., Bio Ionic , Conair Corp., Dolphy India Pvt. Ltd., Dyson Technology India Pvt. Ltd., Elchim Spa, Havells India Ltd., IkonicWorld, John Paul Mitchell Systems, Koninklijke Philips NV, Ligo Electric SA, Orchids International, Panasonic Holdings Corp., Parlux Spa, Revlon Consumer Product Corp., Skyline Home Appliances, Spectrum Brands Holdings Inc., Syska Led Lights Pvt. Ltd., T3 Micro Inc., and Procter and Gamble and others. The market will witness the entry of several new players during the forecast period. This, in turn, will intensify the level of competition among the existing players at a moderate rate during the forecast period. Global hair dryer market - Customer landscape To help companies evaluate and develop growth strategies, the report outlines Story continues Key purchase criteria Adoption rates Adoption lifecycle Drivers of price sensitivity Global hair dryer market - Segmentation assessment Segment overview Technavio has segmented the market based on product (corded hair dryers and cordless hair dryers) and end-user (professional usage and individual usage). The market share growth of the corded hair dryers segment will be higher than the other segments during the forecast period. The popularity of corded hair dryers is increasing due to factors such as product innovation and design, low cost, low weight, improved results, and low time and power consumption. This, in turn, will drive the market's growth during the forecast period. Geography overview Based on geography, the global hair dryer 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 hair dryer market. APAC is estimated to account for 38% of the growth of the global market during the forecast period. The beauty and salon industry is growing at a significant pace in several countries across APAC owing to the entry of global players such as Toni and Guy, Jean-Claude Biguine Salon and Spa, and Saks Hair and Beauty salons. In addition, manufacturers are introducing advanced hair dryers in the region. These factors will drive the regional market growth during the forecast period. Download a sample report Global hair dryer market Market dynamics Leading drivers - The increasing demand for low-cost hair dryers is driving the growth of the global hair dryers market. Many small players are manufacturing low-cost hair dryers that are comparable with branded hair dryers. They are mostly available at drugstores and online stores. These hair dryers are generally preferred used by individual users. Therefore, the rise in the number of affordable and advanced hair dryers is fueling the hair dryer market during the forecast period. Key Trends - The growing popularity of tourmaline hair dryers is a key trend in the market. Tourmaline is a semi-precious stone that has natural ionic and infrared properties. It is generally used in irons, curling irons, and hair dryers and saves time and energy. The popularity of tourmaline hair dryers is increasing, as they are suitable for all hair types and are lightweight. In addition, manufacturers are introducing newer models of tourmaline hair dryers in various price categories. Therefore, the growing popularity of tourmaline hair dryers is supporting the growth of the market. Major challenges - A fragmented market with slow industry growth is a major challenge for the global hair dryer market's growth. The global hair dryer market is highly fragmented and unorganized, with the presence of a few global players and many local players. This leads to price wars among sellers. Global players face competition from local players in emerging and developing markets. The global dryer market has matured in developed countries such as the US, Germany, France, Canada, South Korea, and Italy. The growth of the market in these countries is slow due to the early penetration of hair dryers. Moreover, the replacement rate of hair dryers is also low, as the average life of a hair dryer is 2- 4 years. These factors restrict the growth opportunities for sellers in developed countries. 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 hair dryer market report? CAGR of the market during the forecast period Detailed information on factors that will drive the growth of the hair dryer market between 2023 and 2027 Precise estimation of the size of the hair dryer market and its contribution to the parent market Accurate predictions about upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior Growth of the hair dryer market across APAC, North America, Europe, 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 hair dryer market vendors Gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports. Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Related Reports: The hair styling equipment market size is expected to increase by USD 4.30 billion from 2021 to 2026, and the market's growth momentum will accelerate at a CAGR of 5.5%. This report extensively covers market segmentation by distribution channel (offline and online), end-user (professional and individual), product (dryer, straightener, and styler), technology (corded and cordless), and geography (APAC, Europe, North America, Middle East and Africa, and South America). The growth momentum of the electric fans market will accelerate at a CAGR of 3.09%, and the market size will increase by USD 2.70 billion from 2021 to 2026. This report extensively covers market segmentation by product (ceiling fans, floor fans, and wall mounted fans) and geography (APAC, Europe, North America, South America, and Middle East and Africa). Hair Dryer Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 160 Base year 2022 Historic period 2017-2021 Forecast period 2023-2027 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 5.01% Market growth 2023-2027 USD 1,962.02 million Market structure Fragmented YoY growth 2022-2023 (%) 4.2 Regional analysis APAC, North America, Europe, South America, and Middle East and Africa Performing market contribution APAC at 38% Key countries US, China, Japan, Germany, and Brazil Competitive landscape Leading Vendors, Market Positioning of Vendors, Competitive Strategies, and Industry Risks Key companies profiled Beauty by Imagination Inc., Bio Ionic , Conair Corp., Dolphy India Pvt. Ltd., Dyson Technology India Pvt. Ltd., Elchim Spa, Havells India Ltd., IkonicWorld, John Paul Mitchell Systems, Koninklijke Philips NV, Ligo Electric SA, Orchids International, Panasonic Holdings Corp., Parlux Spa, Revlon Consumer Product Corp., Skyline Home Appliances, Spectrum Brands Holdings Inc., Syska Led Lights Pvt. Ltd., T3 Micro Inc., and Procter and Gamble 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 discretionary market reports 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 hair dryer market 2017 - 2021 4.2 Product Segment Analysis 2017 - 2021 4.3 End User 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 Product 6.1 Market segments 6.2 Comparison by Product 6.3 Corded hair dryers - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 6.4 Cordless hair dryers - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 6.5 Market opportunity by Product 7 Market Segmentation by End-user 7.1 Market segments 7.2 Comparison by End-user 7.3 Professional usage - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 7.4 Individual usage - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 7.5 Market opportunity by End-user 8 Customer Landscape 8.1 Customer landscape overview 9 Geographic Landscape 9.1 Geographic segmentation 9.2 Geographic comparison 9.3 APAC - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 9.4 Europe - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 9.5 North America - 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 Japan - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 9.11 Germany - Market size and forecast 2022-2027 9.12 Brazil - 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 Beauty by Imagination Inc. 12.4 Conair Corp. 12.5 Dolphy India Pvt. Ltd. 12.6 Dyson Technology India Pvt. Ltd. 12.7 Elchim Spa 12.8 Havells India Ltd. 12.9 IkonicWorld 12.10 John Paul Mitchell Systems 12.11 Koninklijke Philips NV 12.12 Ligo Electric SA 12.13 Orchids International 12.14 Panasonic Holdings Corp. 12.15 Parlux Spa 12.16 Revlon Consumer Product Corp. 12.17 Procter and Gamble 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 Hair Dryer Market 2023-2027 Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hair-dryer-market-size-to-grow-by-usd-1-962-02-million-from-2022-to-2027-a-descriptive-analysis-of-customer-landscape-vendor-assessment-and-market-dynamics---technavio-301716501.html SOURCE Technavio Hill International, Inc. PHILADELPHIA and MADRID, Spain, Jan. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hill International, delivering the infrastructure of change, announced today it was selected by the Madrid Health Service to provide Support to the Technical Control Unit, TCU (Unidad Tecnica de Control, UTC) of the Madrid Department of Health. The purpose of this contract is the provision of technical support services to the Technical Control Unit (UTC) which has, among other things, the responsibility of monitoring, controlling, and evaluating the outsourced facility management services against the key performance indicators in the contracts of the hospitals managed under concessions and of the services managed centrally in the hospitals of the Madrid Department of Health. Hill was awarded these services for a competitively tendered fee of 2,96MM euros and will render them over the course of the next three years. Hill Vice President and Managing Director, Western Europe, Alex Ramos, said of the award: Hills Technical Support specialists in Spain and across Europe have a proven track record of supervising contractual, billing, and other services for large healthcare clients like Madrid Health Service. We will leverage the best practices and lessons learned of this work to continue to benefit the Madrid Health Services operations wherever we can. Raouf Ghali, Hill CEO, added: The economic landscape of healthcare projects continues to evolve, and our technical specialists are ready to assist our clients in navigating the challenges and opportunities inherent in these new arrangements. Im excited to see the innovations and support Alex and his team will deliver to Madrid Health Service, and to continue our relationship with this important client. About Hill International Hill International, with more than 3,200 professionals in over 100 offices worldwide, provides program management, project management, construction management, project management oversight, dispute resolution, advisory, facilities management, and other consulting services to clients in a variety of market sectors. Engineering News-Record magazine recently ranked Hill as one of the largest construction management firms in the United States. For more information on Hill, please visit our website at www.hillintl.com. Story continues Hill is exclusively a program, project, and construction management provider, meaning we have one focus as a company: protecting client interests. Free of any potential conflicts, our entire business is geared towards helping clients achieve their desired outcomes. We are dedicated to exceeding expectations throughout the entire construction project lifecycle and adapt to the needs of each assignment to develop tailored approaches and solutions to meet those needs. Hill is a proud member of the Global Infrastructure Solutions, Inc. family of companies. Learn more about GISI at www.gisi.com. Hill International, Inc. Elizabeth J. Zipf, LEED AP BD+C Senior Vice President (215) 309-7707 elizabethzipf@hillintl.com BEVERLY HILLS, Mich., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Gala & Associates, Inc., announced that Hussein Elhage, former Sr. Vice President, will assume the position of President as founder Chuni Gala steps into a new role as Executive Advisor and Director. Hussein Elhage, former Sr. Vice President, named President of Gala and Associates, Inc. Gala & Associates, Inc., announced that Hussein Elhage, former Sr. Vice President, will assume the position of President "Hussein has been with Gala since the inception. He will continue the traditions and legacy of Gala & Associates into the future, providing continuity, stability, and sound leadership," said the outgoing President and founder of Gala & Associates, Inc., Chuni Gala. "Hussein is well respected throughout the industry, and his name is synonymous with Gala & Associates." "The depth of leadership experience within Gala & Associates is one of the reasons The Austin Company was drawn to acquiring the company," said President and CEO of Austin, Mike Pierce. "Hussein has been with Gala since the beginning. He has progressively grown with the company, taking on additional leadership responsibilities, assisting in the development of Gala's scope of services throughout the U.S. and into Mexico, mentoring young engineers, and overseeing Gala's data and technology departments." "I am honored to be able to continue to grow the relationships we have built over the past 35 years and lead Gala into the future. I am proud of the company we have built, the team we have assembled, and I look forward to the future," said Elhage. Hussein holds a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering and a master's degree in Civil Engineering from Wayne State University. He is a licensed professional engineer in multiple states. Gala provides architectural engineering, design, and project management services for automotive assembly and heavy industrial facilities. Established in 1987, Gala is headquartered in Beverly Hills, Michigan (a Northern suburb of Detroit, Michigan). Austin took ownership of Gala in 2022. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Austin has offices in Atlanta, Georgia; Irvine, California; Kalamazoo, Michigan; Merritt Island, Florida; San Luis Potosi, Mexico; and London, United Kingdom. The Austin Company is a subsidiary of Kajima. Story continues Gala & Associates, Inc. (PRNewsfoto/The Austin Company) Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hussein-elhage-promoted-to-president-of-gala--associates-as-founder-chuni-gala-takes-on-new-role-as-executive-advisor-and-director-301719389.html SOURCE Gala & Associates, Inc. Michigan Becomes the 9th State with a Physical Presence for Inszone Insurance SACRAMENTO, Calif., January 11, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Inszone Insurance Services: a rapidly growing, national provider of benefits, personal and commercial lines insurance, announced today the acquisition of Brinch Agency Insurance. Brinch Agency Insurance was founded in 2001 by Chris and Kathy Brinch after managing a family-owned agency in Eastpointe for over 2 decades. Formed and located in Roseville, MI, Brinch Agency provides personal, commercial and health insurance to Macomb County and the surrounding areas. The team at Brinch Agency prides themselves on being friendly and knowledgeable about the products available across multiple insurance companies, giving them the flexibility to offer clients affordable prices and individualized policy options. The acquisition of Brinch Agency provides Inszone Insurance with its first location in the State of Michigan as well as expands the agencys presence in the Midwest Region of the United States. Clients of Brinch Agency will continue to be serviced by the team in the Roseville, MI office, now working under Inszone Insurance brand. "Bringing the Brinch Agency team under the Inszone umbrella provides a base as Inszone enters the market in Michigan," said Chris Walters, CEO of Inszone Insurance Services. "This team has been doing phenomenal work in the area, and Inszone is excited to expand on that legacy, providing access to new resources and support. We look forward to expanding further in the state." Inszone Insurance is expected to announce a number of important acquisitions in the upcoming months as it continues to build its national presence. 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 37 locations across California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Michigan, Missouri, Texas and Illinois, the company is looking to further expand throughout the United States. Story continues For more information about Inszone, please visit www.inszoneinsurance.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230111005020/en/ Contacts Inszone Insurance Chris Walters CEO 714-619-5620 cwalters@inszoneins.com Niles-Maine District Library Treasurer Joe Makula has lost his lawsuit arguing that fellow Trustee Becky Keane was illegally appointed to her seat on the library board, according to court documents obtained by Pioneer Press Wednesday. The resolution of the lawsuit means Keane will continue unimpeded in her service as a library trustee. She has served continually since October 2020. A Cook County Circuit Court summary document shows Cook County Circuit Court Judge Thaddeus Wilson on Dec. 13 rejected Makula and his attorney Dan Kelleys argument that Keane was unlawfully appointed to the board due to violations of the Open Meetings Act. The complaint, which Makula filed in late 2021 alongside Gerald Szczepanski and Robert Zalesny, sought Keanes removal from the library board. Makula and Keane have been on opposite sides of a 3-3 voting deadlock on the board, so forcing her to step down would have given Makulas side an advantage. Im grateful that common sense and justice have prevailed and that I won my case against Treasurer Makula, Keane said in a statement to Pioneer Press. By bringing about this lawsuit, Treasurer Makula has brought shame to our board and library. It is high time for him to stop his litigious games and accept the reality that Umair Qadeer and I are (or soon will be) trustees of [the library]. Keane said the librarys insurance policy would cover her legal costs and predicted the library would see increased insurance premiums due to the suit. Makula and his co-plaintiffs argued that the meeting agenda for the April 2021 meeting where Keane was sworn in was ambiguous and vague and thus constituted a violation of the Open Meetings Act. Wilson stated that this argument was unpersuasive. Plaintiffs fail to offer any authority supporting their remaining proposition that, in order to satisfy section 2.02(c) of the Open Meetings Act, the April 21, 2021 meeting agenda needed to include explicit reference to any specific Board vacancies, a reference to the resignation of any trustees by name, exhibits or attachments linked to the agenda that might provide notice of the meetings relevant events, or all of the above, he wrote. Story continues Keane was appointed to the board in April 2021 to fill the seat vacated by now-Maine Township Supervisor Karen Dimond, according to previous reporting. Prior to that, she had been appointed in October 2020 to fill the seat of former trustee Sue Wilsey. Makula also made another attempt to unseat Keane in early 2022 when he filed for a temporary restraining order against her that argued the actions and repeated violations of Illinois statutes by [Keane] have caused and will continue to cause immediate and irreparable injury to the Plaintiffs, specifically, and the residents and taxpayers of the Niles-Maine Library District. The restraining order was not granted and Keane has continued working on the board as a vocal opponent of Makula, President Carolyn Drblik and Secretary Suzanne Schoenfeldt as they seek to make drastic cuts to library spending, including preventive maintenance of the building. Earlier this year, Makula also filed for and was granted a restraining order against Secretary of State Jesse White, who appointed attorney Umair Qadeer to the seat vacated more than a year prior by former Trustee Olivia Hanusiak. The Illinois General Assembly passed legislation this fall that will clear the way for Qadeer to soon be appointed to the board. Makula and Keane each filed to run for another term on the library board Monday morning. Makula did not respond to a request for comment from Pioneer Press. GreyViews Lead Stearate Market Size By Form (Submicron and Nano Powder), By Application (Petroleum Industry, Ink, Oil & Paints, Electrical Industry, Plastic Industry, and Rubber Industry), Regions, Segmentation, and forecast till 2030. Pune India, Jan. 11, 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 Lead Stearate market is operating and is predicted to expand soon. The manufacturers and suppliers involved in the Lead Stearate market are present across various countries in the above-mentioned regions. Get Sample Copy of This Report @ https://greyviews.com/reports/lead-stearate-market/341/request-sample The report provides a detailed understanding of the market segments which have been formed by combining different prospects such as Form, 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 Lead Stearate market are WSD Chemical, American Elements, AIVIT Group, Pratham Stearchem, POCL, Beijing Yunbang Biosciences, Shristab, Chongqing Changfeng, Hunan Shaoyang Tiantang Auxiliaries Chemical, Tianjin Langhu Technlogy, among others. To achieve a substantial market share in the worldwide Lead Stearate market and strengthen their position, manufacturers are pursuing expansion methods such as current developments, mergers and acquisitions, product innovations, collaborations, and partnerships, joint ventures. The electronics industry, which has grown significantly in recent years as a consequence of several advances, product breakthroughs, and product improvements, also uses lead stearate. The electronic industry has had constant expansion throughout the years and is anticipated to do so in the years to come. This factor is predicted to enhance demand for lead stearate due to its use as cable coatings and lubricants. Lead compounds are the most widely used stabiliser in wire and cable across the world due to their accessibility and outstanding electrical insulating properties. Lead compounds in their natural forms are exceedingly dangerous. Manufacturers of lead stearate are subject to tight regulations since lead-containing compounds are extremely hazardous. Because end users like PVC manufacturers and the electronics industry must adhere to strict lead stearate or other lead compound quantities criteria, lead stearate is currently used less frequently in the production of PVC. One such business is PVC, which helps a number of downstream sectors, including those in housing, sanitation, infrastructure, and agriculture. Lead stearate is frequently used as a PVC stabilizer. A number of industries, including those in agriculture, infrastructure, and housing, to name a few, are impacted by rising urbanization and population. As a result, it is anticipated that demand for PVC products and lead stearate, a stabilizer used in PVC production, will increase. Enquiry Before Buying This Report @ https://greyviews.com/inquiry/341 Story continues Scope of Lead Stearate Market Report: Report Metric Information Study Period 2022-2030 Base Year 2022 Forecast Period 2023-2030 Market Share Unit USD Billion Segments Covered Form, Application, and Region Regions Covered North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America, and Middle-East and Africa Major Players WSD Chemical, American Elements, AIVIT Group, Pratham Stearchem, POCL, Beijing Yunbang Biosciences, Shristab, Chongqing Changfeng, Hunan Shaoyang Tiantang Auxiliaries Chemical, Tianjin Langhu Technlogy, among others Segmentation Analysis Nano Powder are expected to be the fastest-growing segment in 2022. The Form segment is Submicron and Nano Powder. Nano Powder is expected to be the fastest-growing segment in 2022. When used as a Drier, the white powder speeds up the polymerization and oxidation processes in oil paints and varnishes. Lead stearate is also used in petroleum products as an extrusion lubricant, a vinyl polymer stabiliser, and a corrosion inhibitor in Nano Powder form. The demand for them is predicted to rise even more during the course of the forecast period. Electrical Industry is expected to be the fastest-growing segment in 2022. The Application segment is Petroleum Industry, Ink, Oil & Paints, Electrical Industry, Plastic Industry, and Rubber Industry. Electrical Industry is expected to be the fastest-growing segment in 2022. PVC production uses lead stearate as a high-temperature lubricant, and several electronic applications use it as a heat stabiliser. Lead stearate is widely employed in long production processes at high temperatures. Estimates indicate that the product is being used more frequently in the electrical industry. Regional Analysis The regional analysis provides a detailed perception of the key regions and the countries. Some of the key countries analyzed for Lead Stearate 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 North America region witnessed a major share. The region is anticipated to maintain its dominance over the projected period as a result of the substantial demand for lead stabilisers from a number of end-use sectors, including the construction and automotive industries. Rising environmental concerns over waste disposal are also expected to drive product demand in North America throughout the forecasted timeframe. Country Analysis Germany Germany's Lead Stearate 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. This is a result of the predicted increase in building in the area. In Germany, a steady growth is foreseen throughout the predicted years. Germany's huge construction projects are anticipated to increase demand for lead stearate in the country. China Chinas Lead Stearate Market size was valued at USD 0.19 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach USD 1.3 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 6.5% from 2023 to 2030. Asia-Pacific is the region where the electrical and electronics industry is concentrated, with China leading this market. Another development engine for the lead stearate industry in the China region is the requirement for lead stearate in the manufacturing of PVC. India India's Lead Stearate 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. In the plastic and rubber sector, India is predicted to take the lead. As the plastic and rubber industry develops, more Lead Stearate will likely be used in interior and exterior parts. The country is also growing in the building industry. 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 an increase in the demand for lead stearate as a stabilizer. Buy Now Full Report @ https://greyviews.com/checkout/341/single_user_license Contact Us Rocky Shah GreyViews Pune India Phone: (+44) 162-237-1047 Email: sales@greyviews.com Web: https://greyviews.com/ Follow Us: LinkedIn | Twitter Browse Related Reports: Surface Protection Services Market Size By Product Type (Corrosion Protective Rubber Lining, Corrosion Protective Coating Systems, Acid Proof Lining), By Application (Process Vessels, Equipment & Rigs, Collection Basins & Tanks, Pipelines), By End-User (Electronics, Construction & Interiors, Healthcare, Automotive, and Others), Regions, Segmentation, and Projection till 2030 https://greyviews.com/reports/surface-protection-services-market/383 Biocides Market Size By Product (Halogen Compounds, Metallic Compounds, Organosulfur, Organic acids, Quaternary Ammonium Compounds, Phenolic, Nitrogen, and Glutaraldehyde), By Application (Water Treatment, Food and Beverage, Personal care, Wood Preservation, Paints and coatings, Plastics, and Others), Regions, Segmentation, and Projection till 2030 https://greyviews.com/reports/biocides-market/363 Biopesticides Market Size By Type (Bio-fungicides, Bio-insecticides, Bio-herbicides, Bio-nematicides and Others), By Source (Biochemical, Plant-Incorporated and Microbial), By Mode of Application (Seed Treatment, Foliar Spray, Root Treatment and Others), Regions, Segmentation, and Projection till 2030 https://greyviews.com/reports/biopesticides-market/349 Melamine Foam Market Size By Type (Rigid melamine foam, Semi-rigid melamine foam, and Flexible melamine foam), By Application (Aerospace, Railways, Industrial, Automotive, and Others), Regions, Segmentation, and Projection till 2030 https://greyviews.com/reports/melamine-foam-market/344 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 Projection till 2030 https://greyviews.com/reports/leather-tanning-chemicals-market/343 Lead Stearate Market Size By Form (Submicron and Nano Powder), By Application (Petroleum Industry, Ink, Oil & Paints, Electrical Industry, Plastic Industry, and Rubber Industry), Regions, Segmentation, and Projection till 2030 https://greyviews.com/reports/lead-stearate-market/341 Isothermal Bags & Containers Market Size By Material (Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), Polypropylene (PP), Polystyrene (PS), Polyurethane (PU), Nylon, and Others), By Application (Pharmaceuticals, Food, Chemical, and Others), Regions, Segmentation, and Projection till 2030 https://greyviews.com/reports/isothermal-bags-containers-market-size/340 Inorganic Chemical Packaging Market Size By Material (Metal and Plastic), By Packaging Format (Intermediate bulk containers (IBCs), Flexitanks, Drums, Pails & Jerry Cans, Bags & Sacks, and Others), and Regions, Segmentation, and Projection till 2030 https://greyviews.com/reports/inorganic-chemical-packaging-market/320 Air Duct Cleaning Chemicals Market Size By Application (Fungicide, Bactericide, Algaecide, Deodorizers, and Others), By End-user (Residential, Commercial, and Industrial), Regions, Segmentation, and Projection till 2030 https://greyviews.com/reports/air-duct-cleaning-chemicals-market/303 Bulk Chemical Drums Market Size by Product Type (Fiber Drum, Steel Drum and Plastic Drum), By End-User (Building & Construction, Food & Beverage, Pharmaceuticals, Chemical & Fertilizers and Others), Regions, Segmentation, and Projection till 2030 https://greyviews.com/reports/bulk-chemical-drums-market/294 By Azernews Fatima Hasanova The Antalya Declaration was adopted at the 13th plenary meeting of the Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA) in Antalya, Turkiye, on January 10, Azernews reports. The Azerbaijani parliamentary delegation made up of the chairperson of the parliamentary culture committee, Ganira Pashayeva, and MPs Aydin Huseynov, Ilham Mammadov, and Anar Mammadov participated in the plenary session and meetings of the APA standing commissions. At the meeting of the Standing Committee on Social and Cultural Affairs, held with the participation of the Azerbaijani MPs, draft resolutions On measures to promote cultural diversity and protect cultural values in Asia, On integration processes in Asia through information and communication technologies, "On cooperation to ensure equality in healthcare in Asia", "Asian parliamentarians against corruption", "Asian Inter-Parliamentary Assembly on Women Parliamentarians" and a number of other issues were submitted for discussions. At the meeting of the Standing Committee of the Assembly on Political Affairs, the draft resolutions Towards the Asian Parliament, On Good Governance, On the Rule of Law and the Judiciary, Good Parliamentary Practice and other issues were also discussed. At the meeting of the Standing Committee of the Assembly on Economy and Sustainable Development, relevant decisions were made related to the draft resolutions "Creation of the energy market and environmental issues", "Financial issues and the elimination of poverty", "The role of APA parliamentarians in supporting the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals" and a number of others questions. Members of the Azerbaijani parliamentary delegation voiced their proposals on topics discussed in the standing committees. Chairwoman of the parliamentary culture committee Ganira Pashayeva was elected a chair of the Standing Committee on Social and Cultural Affairs committee as well as the deputy chair of the assembly. The adoption of the Antalya Declaration marked the conclusion of the plenary session's proceedings. 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. GURUGRAM, India, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Malaysia's Logistics Market is in the growing stage, being driven by rising demand from manufacturing industries. There are several players in the Malaysia Logistics market some of which are DHL, TASCO, Nippon Express, CEVA, DB Schenker, Kuehne + Nagel, Tiong Nam, UPS, and FedEx. Ken Research Logo Strengthening the connectivity in NorthSouth of the West Coast and East Coast Corridor by the government of Malaysia will boost the efficiency of road transportation in the country. Rapidly modernizing retail, e-commerce, and a growing automotive sector to provide opportunities for contract logistics and express providers. Demand for Pharmaceutical products along with FMCG and Food products during the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to the high growth of Land Transportation during 2020. Improving Road Transportation and Warehousing Infrastructure: As major players adopt robotics technology, the warehousing industry will see an increase in the use of technology and automation. EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) and RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology will aid in efficient inventory management. To enhance the technological capacity of the logistic market the Malaysian government's investments and initiatives in infrastructure connecting the country with Lao PDR and various parts of China would fuel the future growth of road and rail freight services. High Demand for Road and Sea Transportation: Road Transport in Malaysia is the most preferred mode of transportation and will continue to be so in 2027F. Water transportation is also expected to grow in the future as high infrastructure investment is undertaken by the government to improve the state of maritime logistics in the country. Demand for Road transportation from manufacturing sector, FMCG companies, and automotive players is rapidly increasing in Malaysia due to increasing production capacities by top players in the country. Moreover, many new players are expected to enter the market while the existing players are expected to expand their current revenue share. The freight forwarding companies in Malaysia are also expected to improve their supply chain and technology in the future. Story continues Increasing Inflow of Investments: In the upcoming years due to the increase in outsourcing by various businesses and the quick delivery options offered by 3PL providers, the market is anticipated to expand at a significant rate. The supply chain's optimization and corporate efforts to reduce costs are anticipated to fuel market expansion. Additionally, a supportive environment for 3PL businesses in Malaysia is expected to draw more foreign competitors, fostering competitiveness and opening up new market prospects. Analysts at Ken Research in their latest publication "Malaysia Logistics Market Outlook to 2027F- Driven by the Rising Demand from Manufacturing, F&B, Retail, and other industries along with increasing Government Initiatives to Strengthen the Logistics Infrastructure" observed that Malaysia Logistics Market is in its growing phase. Increasing demand for food, beverages, and manufacturing products in Malaysia, Government support through Third Industrial Masterplan (IMP3) and the Logistics and Trade Facilitation Masterplan are some of the factors that will contribute to the Malaysia Logistics Market growth over the period of 2022-2027F with a CAGR of 7.8%. Key Segments Covered in the report:- Malaysia Logistic Market Market Segmentation by Services Freight Forwarding Warehousing Courier and Parcel Activities Value Added Services Malaysia Freight Forwarding Market By Mode of Transport Land Transport Water Transport Air Transport Malaysia Land Transportation Market By Mode of Transport Road Rail By Mode of Shipment Domestic International By Load Type FTL LTL To learn more about this report Download a Free Sample Report By 3PL and Integrated Integrated 3PL Malaysia Warehousing Market By Business Model Industrial Freight/Retail Container Freight Cold Storage Agriculture and Others Industrial warehouses bifurcation Grade A Grade B Grade C By Region Central Northern Southern Eastern Coast & East Malaysia By Type of Warehouses Unorganized Organized By 3PL and Integrated Integrated 3PL Visit this Link Request for custom report By End Users Food and Beverages Pharmaceutical/Healthcare Electronics Automotive Manufacturing Others Malaysia 3PL Market By Service Mix Road Freight Warehousing By End Users Food & Beverage Manufacturing Electronics Retail Healthcare Automotive (Spare Parts, Components) Others Malaysia Courier and Parcel Market By International and Domestic Shipments Domestic International By Air and Ground Express Ground Express Air Express By Delivery Period One Day Delivery Two Day Delivery Three Day Delivery More than three-day delivery By Delivery Period B2B B2C C2C By Region Central Southern Northern Eastern Coast and East Malaysia Key Target Audience Total Logistics Companies Contract Logistics Providers E-commerce Companies Third-Party Logistic Providers Potential Market Entrants Freight Forwarding Companies Warehousing Companies Cold Storage Companies Industry Associations Consulting Agencies Government Bodies & Regulating Authorities Time Period Captured in the Report:- Historical Period: 2017-2022 Base Period: 2022 Forecast Period: 2022-2027F Companies Covered:- DHL TASCO Nippon Express CEVA DB Schenker Kuehne + Nagel Tiong Nam UPS FedEx POS Malaysia CJ Logistics GD Express JSI Logistics City-Link Express FM Logistics Key Topics Covered in the Report:- Comparative Analysis of Malaysia Logistics Market Malaysia Logistics Market Size (2017-2022) Growth Drivers for Malaysia Logistics Market Major Challenges in Malaysia Logistics Market SWOT Analysis of the Logistics Market in Malaysia Malaysia Logistics Future Market Size (2022-2027F) Malaysia Transportation Market, 2017 2027F Ecosystem Transportation Market in Malaysia Transportation Industry Market Size and Segmentation, 2017-2022 Malaysia Warehousing Market, 2017 2027F Ecosystem and Overview of Warehousing in Malaysia Market Sizing and Segmentation of the Warehousing Market in Malaysia, 2017-2022 Market Sizing Analysis of 3PL Market in Malaysia, 2022-2027 Malaysia Courier, Express and Parcel Market Ecosystem Market Sizing Analysis of Malaysia Courier and Parcel Market, 2017-2022 Snapshot on Co-Packing Industry in Malaysia Cross Comparison of Major FMCG Players in Malaysia Logistics Market Competition Analysis for Road Freight and Warehousing Players Analyst Recommendation For more insights on the market intelligence, refer to the link below:- Malaysia Logistics Market Related Reports By Ken Research:- Philippines Logistics Industry Outlook to 2027F-Driven by Infrastructural Developments, Technological Advancement and Government Support The Philippines Logistics Market is expected to witness significant growth during the period 2022P-2027F, owing to new players entering the market and various technological advancements like robots. The revenue of the logistics market in the Philippines is expected to increase over the forecasted period due to high demand for e-commerce, tech-enabled warehouses and cold storage services. Also, strong initiatives by the government to improve transportation and connectivity in the region will boost the logistics market in the country. Netherlands Logistics Market Outlook to 2027F- Segmented by Type of End Users by revenue (Food and Beverage, Industrial & Construction, Retail, Automotive and Engineering, and Others), Type of Warehousing Space (Tech/ Non-Tech, Organized/ Unorganized, and Racked/ Unracked), Type of Domestic/ Inte The Netherlands Logistics market is projected to witness a robust CAGR during 2022 to 2027F. Driven by world-class seaports, centrally located airports, and an extensive, and modern network of roads and highways, the Netherlands Logistics Industry will witness growth in the coming years. Moreover, the country's geographical location makes it possible to reach around 170 million consumers within 24 hours. These factors support the growth of the freight logistics and transport sector. Pakistan Logistics Market Outlook to 2027F- Segmented by Type of End Users (F&B, Industrial & Construction, And Others), Type of Warehousing Space (Tech/ Non-Tech, Organized/ Unorganized, And Racked/ Unracked) The Pakistan Logistics Market is projected to show a significant growth, to contribute ~ Bn by 2027F with increase in demand, and government initiatives. The growth rate of total fleet size is anticipated to increase over the period with surge in working class population along with government incentives and policies. Thailand E-Commerce Logistics Market Outlook 2026F- Driven by Change in Consumption Pattern of Consumers, Government Initiatives and Innovation of Advanced Technologies The Thailand E-Commerce Logistics Market witnessed significant growth during the period 2017-2021, largely due to growth in online shopping and entry of new players. The growth of Thailand's logistics sector is also being supported by booming exports with automotive, agribusiness, chemicals and electronics being in-demand industries at the moment. South Korea E-commerce Logistics Market Outlook to 2026F- Driven by Growth in Online Shoppers along with Introduction of New Age Technologies by Logistics Players According to Ken Research estimates, the South Korea E-Commerce Logistics Market which grew from approximately $ ~12 Bn in 2018 to approximately $ ~13 Bn in 2021 is forecasted to grow further into $ ~16 Bn opportunity by 2026F, owing to internet penetration, government initiative, time spend on internet and improved logistics. Follow Us LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube Contact Us:- Ken Research Private Limited Ankur Gupta, Director Strategy and Growth Ankur@kenresearch.com +91-9015378249 Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1954972/Ken_Research_Logo.jpg Cision View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-logistics-industry-in-malaysia-is-expected-to-contribute-more-than-350-bn-by-2027f-owing-to-the-government-initiatives-to-improve-cross-border-infrastructure-and-malaysias-growing-ftas-ken-research-301718980.html SOURCE Ken Research OTTAWA, ON, Jan. 10, 2023 /CNW/ - Today, the Honourable Marc Miller, Minister of CrownIndigenous Relations, convened a national roundtable with Indigenous leaders and partners and federal, provincial and territorial governments on missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people. The Government of Canada is committed to accelerating its efforts to implement the National Action Plan, the Federal Pathway, and the Calls for Justice. Ending this national crisis requires an approach across governments and across Canada. The national roundtable plays a critical role in facilitating collaboration across local, regional and national levels to address the ongoing violence against Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people. The collective knowledge and lived experiences that were shared today will help support the implementation of priorities that are still needed to make constructive and meaningful change, with the voices of Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people at the forefront of these efforts. Federal, provincial and territorial ministers and government representatives had an opportunity to highlight their recent actions to advance work to prevent and end violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people. Ministers and government representatives noted the importance of: understanding the priorities of Indigenous women, girls, 2SLGBTQI+ people, survivors and families; continuing to deliver and develop tailored programs and services that are both sustainable and reliable, as well as providing support for urban initiatives; ensuring survivors, families, grassroots and Indigenous organizations are included in discussions about violence against Indigenous women and girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people; and ensuring federal, provincial and territorial departments and agencies work together to better coordinate efforts in addressing racism, discrimination and gender bias and race-based violence, while recognizing and upholding Indigenous rights. Story continues Federal ministers and government representatives committed to pursue future opportunities to collaborate with Indigenous leaders, provincial and territorial governments and other partners to work towards implementing the identified key priorities to support Indigenous women, girls, 2SLGBTQI+ people, survivors, families and their communities. Quotes "The ongoing violence against Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people must stop, and that will require addressing the root causes of violence and concerted attention from us all. The national roundtable gave us an opportunity to focus on our collective efforts on the actions needed to urgently address the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. All of us the federal government, Indigenous partners, provinces and territories need to work better togetherwith the voices of families, survivors, Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people at the centre of our efforts. We will continue working on concrete solutions, to put an end to this crisis." The Honourable Marc Miller Minister of CrownIndigenous Relations "Ending the crisis of violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people requires continued action and cooperation from all partners so that everyone is safe, and can feel safe. It means investing in Indigenous-led 24/7 emergency shelters, safe spaces, mental wellness programs, and in the foundations of community wellbeing. Indigenous Services Canada and the federal government are partners in this work, and we know there is much more still to do. This national roundtable is an important way to bring everyone to the table, and move this critical work forward." The Honourable Patty Hajdu Minister of Indigenous Services "Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people deserve a justice system that protects them. We continue in our efforts to address systemic discrimination and overrepresentation of Indigenous Peoples in the justice system, with the urgency this critical work deserves. Together with Indigenous partners, provinces, and territories, I am confident we can improve Canada's justice system to ensure the rights of Indigenous Peoples are upheld, and Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people are protected now and in the future." The Honourable David Lametti Minister of Justice "The high rates of violence against Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people are alarming. To have a real and meaningful impact, it's extremely important to understand how violence is amplified and to address this tragedy through every level of government, working alongside Indigenous partners, front-line workers, victims and survivors of gender-based violence, and their families. Today, we reaffirm our commitment to end violence against Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people and to build safer communities for all." The Honourable Marci Ien Minister of Women and Gender Equality "Advancing Indigenous-led approaches to public safety is a cornerstone of reconciliation. Through renewed relationships, and consultations based on respect, we are continuing our work with communities from across Turtle Island to pursue and implement community-oriented and policing to protect those disproportionally affected by crime and violence, especially women and girls." The Honourable Marco Mendicino Minister of Public Safety "Understanding the role that culture plays in the safety of Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people is critical. Today, we reaffirmed our commitment to support and uphold Indigenous languages and diverse forms of cultural expression and knowledge. We will stand together to combat anti-Indigenous racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia and online hate. We will also work closely with Indigenous partners to implement the National Action Plan and to evaluate our efforts in terms of meaningful outcomes and positive change for Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people. It is only by creating strong partnerships with Indigenous families, survivors, and representatives that we can begin to move closer to a Canada that is safe for future generations." The Honourable Pablo Rodriguez Minister of Canadian Heritage "Each and every Canadian has a responsibility to speak out against anti-Indigenous racism and misogyny when we witness it. It will take every single one of us to stop violence against Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people. As a government, we have the responsibility to continue our urgent work together, with partners, to break down the many systemic barriers that affect our progress. Today's national roundtable provided a collaborative space for discussions on moving forward collectively to address this senseless violence." The Honourable Dan Vandal, P.C., M.P. Minister of Northern Affairs, Minister responsible for PrairiesCan and CanNor Quick facts Indigenous partners and leaders, including those from the National Family and Survivors Circle, 2SLGBTQQIA+ working group, National Indigenous Organizations, Indigenous women's organizations, and some regional organizations, participated in the national roundtable alongside representatives from federal, provincial and territorial governments. The 2021 Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People National Action Plan was 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. The Federal Pathway is Canada's contribution to the National Action Plan. It is supported by historic investments of over $2.2 billion in Budget 2021. Budget 2022 provides additional investments towards addressing some of the root causes of this crisis, including racism, housing, education, mental wellness and health care, and economic development and employment. 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 Cision View original content: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/January2023/10/c6641.html GreyViews Paper Cups Market Size By Type (Hot Paper Cups and Cold Paper Cups), By Wall Type (Single- Walled and Double-Walled), By End-User (Commercial, Industrial, and Household), Regions, Segmentation, and forecast till 2030. Pune India, Jan. 11, 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 paper cups market is operating and is predicted to expand soon. The manufacturers and suppliers involved in the paper cups market are present across various countries in the above-mentioned regions. Get Sample Copy of This Report @ https://greyviews.com/reports/paper-cups-market/359/request-sample The report provides a detailed understanding of the market segments which have been formed by combining different prospects such as the type, wall type, end-user, and regions. 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 paper cups market are Conver Pack, Inc, Dart Container Corporation, Georgia-Pacific, F Bender limited, Huhtamaki, Konie Cups International, Inc, Genpak, LLC, Graphic Packaging International LLC, Kap Cones Pvt. Ltd., Grupo phoenix, Jiangsu Xinyu Bio-Tech Co., Ltd., Eco-Products Inc, International Paper, Detmold among others. To achieve a substantial market share in the worldwide paper cups market and strengthen their position, manufacturers are pursuing expansion methods such as current developments, mergers and acquisitions, product innovations, collaborations, and partnerships, joint ventures. The paper cup is a disposable cup that is typically used to consume food and beverages such as tea, coffee, soft drinks, and soups. In order to increase the durability and performance of these cups, polyethylene, the most common plastic resin, with which the paper cup is coated, prevents condensed moisture from soaking in and retaining flavour. Globally, disposable paper cups are preferred by consumers because of the hygiene factor, easy disposal, and the increase in on-the-go consumption. In order to meet the demand for eco-friendly and completely biodegradable disposable paper cups, paper cup manufacturers have been focusing on product innovation and expansion through sustainable manufacturing methods, resulting in a growing market for biodegradable paper cups in cafeterias, quick-service restaurants, and other catering services. Additionally, quick-service restaurants are partnering with food chains, generating a larger demand for paper cups. The global market for smart packaging solutions is expected to grow rapidly over the forecast timeframe, resulting in bright market opportunities. The technology used in smart packaging includes antimicrobial materials and temperature control packaging, desiccants and oxygen scavengers, labels, and devices that monitor the environmental conditions to ensure the product's safety, creating new opportunities for the market growth across the world. Story continues Enquiry Before Buying This Report @ https://greyviews.com/inquiry/359 Scope of Paper Cups Market Report: Report Metric Information Study Period 2022-2030 Base Year 2022 Forecast Period 2023-2030 Market Share Unit USD Billion Segments Covered Type, Wall Type, End-User and Regions. Regions Covered North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America, and Middle-East and Africa Major Players Conver Pack, Inc, Dart Container Corporation, Georgia-Pacific, F Bender limited, Huhtamaki, Konie Cups International, Inc, Genpak, LLC, Graphic Packaging International LLC, Kap Cones Pvt. Ltd., Grupo phoenix, Jiangsu Xinyu Bio-Tech Co., Ltd., Eco-Products Inc, International Paper, Detmold among others. Segmentation Analysis Hot beverage paper cups are expected to be the fastest-growing segment in 2022. The type segment is hot beverage paper cups and cold beverage paper cups. The hot beverage paper cups segment is expected to witness the highest growth rate during the forecast period. Over the forecast period, hot paper cups are expected to dominate the global market owing to the growing demand for coffee, tea, and hot chocolate worldwide. These paper cups are partly coated with PE resins to make them anti-blocking and thermally insulating. Double-walled is expected to be the fastest-growing segment in 2022. The wall-type segment includes single-walled and double-walled. The double-walled segment is expected to witness the highest growth rate during the forecast period. The double-walled cup is more comfortable to handle when serving hot liquids, such as tea or coffee, as it has two layers of paper and an air gap between them. Thus, double-walled paper cups are frequently used to serve hot beverages, and their use is on the rise as hot beverage consumption increases. The commercial is expected to be the fastest-growing segment in 2022. The end-user segment includes commercial, industrial, and household. The commercial segment is expected to witness the highest growth rate during the forecast period. As a result of the increasing penetration of quick-service restaurants and popular coffee chains throughout the world, the commercial segment led the global paper cup market with remarkable revenue share, which is expected to continue throughout the forecast period. Regional Analysis The regional analysis provides a detailed perception of the key regions and the countries. Some of the key countries analyzed for the paper cups market 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. The paper cups market is mostly driven by Asia Pacific's growing population, rising disposable income, and increased demand for food and beverage goods. Paper cups are expected to see an increase in sales as a result of increasing government initiatives to reduce the environment associated with plastic, such as banning plastic packaging for the food industry, growing consumer awareness about the importance of paper cups, and a growing food and beverage industry. Country Analysis Germany Germany's paper cups market size was valued at USD 0.46 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach USD 0.66 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 4.7% from 2023 to 2030. Paper cup carriers are expected to be significantly influenced by the beverage industry, which is expanding and becoming more active in the country, in the next few years. A variety of well-known businesses is offering a selection of paper cup carriers to meet the growing demand for beverages to be consumed on the go throughout the country. China Chinas paper cups market size was valued at USD 0.59 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach USD 0.86 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 4.9% from 2023 to 2030. As a way to reduce their carbon footprint, leading coffee and tea houses in China are promoting the use of biodegradable cold and hot beverage cups. A growing awareness of the harmful effects plastic has on the environment in China has created a conducive environment for the growth of paper cup markets. India India's paper cups market size was valued at USD 0.45 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach USD 0.65 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 4.8% from 2023 to 2030. India's market is growing because of global travel, which has resulted in major automobile manufacturers increasing production over the past years, due to the excellent properties of wire insulation and jacketing compounds, such as their hardness and recyclable properties, which are used in various automotive applications. 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 owing to the rising demand for biodegradable cups in order to protect the environment from the harmful effects of plastic cups, propelling the growth of the market across the countries. Buy Now Full Report @ https://greyviews.com/checkout/359/single_user_license Contact Us Rocky Shah GreyViews Pune India Phone: (+44) 162-237-1047 Email: sales@greyviews.com Web: https://greyviews.com/ Follow Us: LinkedIn | Twitter Browse Related Reports: Temperature Controlled Packaging Solutions Market Size By Product (Insulated container and Insulated shipper), By Application (Food & beverage, Healthcare, and Others), Regions, Segmentation, and Projection till 2030 https://greyviews.com/reports/temperature-controlled-packaging-solutions-market/386 Pharmaceutical Packaging Equipment Market Size By Material (Glass and Plastic), By Product Type (Syringes, Bottles, Filling Machine, Tube, Vials and Ampoules, Caps and Closures, and Labels), Regions, Segmentation, and Projection till 2030 https://greyviews.com/reports/pharmaceutical-packaging-equipment-market/374 Paper Cups Market Size By Type (Hot Beverage Paper Cups and Cold Beverage Paper Cups), By Wall Type (Single-Walled and Double-Walled), By End-User (Commercial, Industrial, and Household), Regions, Segmentation, and Projection till 2030 https://greyviews.com/reports/paper-cups-market/359 Hair Texturizer Products Market Size By Source (Natural and Conventional), By Product Type (Dry Shampoo, Hair Cream, Hair Gel, Hair Mousse, Hair Pomade & Paste, Hair Spray, and Hair Protectant), Regions, Segmentation, and Projection till 2030 https://greyviews.com/reports/hair-texturizer-products-market/331 Rigid Plastic Packaging Market Size By Material (Polyethylene (PET), Polypropylene (PP), High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE), and Others), By Production Process (Extrusion, Injection Molding, Blow Molding, Thermoforming, and Others), By End-user (Food and Beverage, Personal Care, Household, Healthcare, and Others), and Regions, Segmentation, and Projection till 2030 https://greyviews.com/reports/rigid-plastic-packaging-market/329 Pre-treater laundry products Market Size By Product (Liquid, Powder, and Gel), By Application (Household and Industrial), Regions, Segmentation, and Projection till 2030 https://greyviews.com/reports/pre-treater-laundry-products-market/323 Brush & Dauber Caps Market Size By Cap Material Type (Metal, Aluminum, Stainless Steel, Tin Plate, Plastic, Polyethylene Terephthalate, Polypropylene, and Polyvinyl Chloride), By Dauber Material Type (Cotton, Nylon, Natural filament, and Others), By End-User (Pharmaceuticals, Personal Care & Cosmetics, Automotive, and Others) Regions, Segmentation, and Projection till 2030 https://greyviews.com/reports/brush-dauber-caps-market/317 Nail Care Products Market Size By Product (Artificial Nails & Accessories and Nail Polish), By End-User (Household and Salon), Regions, Segmentation, and Projection till 2030 https://greyviews.com/reports/nail-care-products-market/311 Bottled Water Market Size By Product (Spring Water, Purified Water, Mineral Water, and Others), By Distribution Channel (Off-Trade and On-Trade), Regions, Segmentation, and forecast till 2030 https://greyviews.com/reports/bottled-water-market/305 Biobased Biodegradable Plastics Market Size By Product Type (Starch Blends, Polylactic Acid, Cellulose, Polyester, Polyhydroxyalkamoate, and Others), By Application (Packaging, Healthcare, Fibers, Agriculture, and Others), Regions, Segmentation, and Projection till 2030 https://greyviews.com/reports/biobased-biodegradable-plastics-market/299 Finance software startup Quartr signs a breakthrough deal with Sweden's largest online broker Avanza. Through this deal, Avanza, with almost two million customers, gets access to Quartr's database. This means that Avanza will be able to offer its customers crucial company information such as earnings calls, reports, and slide decks directly through its online brokerage platform. STOCKHOLM and NEW YORK, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Quartr (www.quartr.com) has passed a significant milestone on its mission to bring the financial community closer together by signing a breakthrough API deal with Sweden's largest online broker. This means that Avanza, with almost two million customers, will be able to offer crucial information such as earnings calls, accompanying documents, reports, and slide decks directly through its online brokerage platform. The Quartr API will help Avanza build stronger relationships with their customers and lead to increased transparency in the market. "This is a very encouraging deal for both Avanza's almost two million customers and us. First-party information like this is considerably more valuable than noisy news feeds with contradictory analyst comments - certainly if you want to make rational investment decisions. We are convinced that our API solution will be value-creating for both investors and online brokers worldwide, and not least for public companies, as this enables them to get their equity stories told to a much wider audience," comments Sami Osman, CEO & Co-founder of Quartr. "We are convinced that better information leads to more well-thought-out investment decisions. Here, Quartr adds an important puzzle piece - therefore, it will be very exciting to see what we can do together to give investors better and more successful results," comments Nicklas Andersson, spokesperson and savings expert at Avanza. CONTACT: Sami Osman, CEO & Co-founder, Quartr sami.osman@quartr.com The following files are available for download: Story continues https://mb.cision.com/Public/21895/3696027/8e985b688a304604.pdf Pressrelease Quartr Avanza 11jan2023 https://news.cision.com/quartr---investor-relations-made-accessible/i/1156x708-quartr-avanza,c3132389 1156x708 Quartr+Avanza https://news.cision.com/quartr---investor-relations-made-accessible/i/1156x1156-quartr-avanza,c3132388 1156x1156 Quartr+Avanza https://news.cision.com/quartr---investor-relations-made-accessible/i/quartr-logo-white,c3132386 Quartr Logo White https://news.cision.com/quartr---investor-relations-made-accessible/i/quartr-logo-black,c3132387 Quartr Logo Black Cision View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/quartr-signs-breakthrough-deal-with-swedens-largest-online-broker-avanza-301719017.html SOURCE Quartr - Investor Relations made accessible VANCOUVER, BC, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Revolve Renewable Power Corp. (TSXV: REVV) ("Revolve" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the sale of its 250MW Parker Solar and Storage Project (the "Parker Project") and the 1,000MW Bouse Solar and Storage Project (the "Bouse Project") (together referred to as the "Projects") to ENGIE IR Holdings LLC a wholly owned subsidiary ENGIE S.A. ("ENGIE"), a global leader in the energy sector. The sale of the Projects was completed pursuant to a share purchase agreement dated January 10, 2023. ENGIE is listed on the Paris and Brussels stock exchanges (ticker: ENGI) and has extensive renewable energy operations across the US, Mexico and Canada. Revolve Renewable Power Corp. Logo (CNW Group/Revolve Renewable Power Corp) The Transaction The total consideration payable by ENGIE is within the range of guidance previously provided by the Company for the sale of utility scale development assets. It includes an upfront payment of US$2,000,000 (inclusive of the reimbursement of development costs), which has been paid on completion of the transaction. The remaining consideration is linked to each of the Projects successfully completing the following development milestones: completion of further interconnection studies; Issuance by ENGIE of a Notice To Proceed (an " NTP ") construction works to the applicable EPC contractor; and on the Commissioning Date (the "COD"), with such date being the date that a project has been synchronized to the grid and is capable of delivering all of its installed capacity to the grid. The first of these milestones is expected to be achieved in 2023 when further interconnection studies are issued. On completion of the transaction ENGIE acquired 100% of the shares in Revolve Renewable AZ LLC and Revolve Parker Solar LLC on a cash and debt free basis. ENGIE will be responsible for the further development of the Projects including all future development costs and other financial liabilities. As part of the transaction the parties have entered into a put option agreement (the "Put Option") allowing ENGIE to sell the Projects back to the Company for a limited period following receipt of the results of the next interconnection studies due for each project. Should ENGIE exercise this put option, the Company will repurchase the respective project, while also refunding ENGIE and development expenses incurred or reimbursed. Story continues Steve Dalton, CEO of Revolve commented: "We are delighted to announce the sale of our Bouse and Parker solar & storage projects to ENGIE. This is a significant transaction for the Company and marks the sale of our first utility scale projects from our US development portfolio. It successfully demonstrates our development approach as well as our strategy in working with experienced utility partners to deliver significant returns for our shareholders. The transaction will also provide the Company with additional resources to advance its remaining development portfolio, while also evaluating opportunities to add further greenfield project opportunities to its active development portfolio in the near term. We look forward to continuing to supporting the team at ENGIE in developing the projects to a construction ready stage." Agentis Capital acted as exclusive financial adviser to the Company on the Transaction, while Baker Botts acted as the Company's U.S. legal counsel and Miller Thomson LLP acted as the Company's Canadian legal counsel. The Projects The Bouse Project is a 1,000MW solar and battery storage project, located on approximately 6,155 acres of land wholly managed by the BLM in La Paz County 27 miles east of Quartzsite, Arizona. The entire project site is located in a solar variance area as identified in BLM's Solar PEIS and Record of Decision (ROD) (BLM/DOE 2012, BLM 2012a). The Bouse Project has the capacity to provide electricity to an equivalent of approximately 1.2 million homes. The Company commenced the greenfield development of the Bouse Project in early 2021. The Parker Project is a 250MW solar and storage project, located on approximately 1,530 acres of land wholly managed by the Bureau of Land Management (the "BLM") in La Paz County, Arizona. The Project is near existing transmission infrastructure and easily accessed through existing state road network. It has the capacity to provide electricity to an equivalent of approximately 300,000 homes. The Company commenced the greenfield development of the Parker Project in mid 2021. About ENGIE ENGIE IR Holdings LLC, is a wholly owned subsidiary of ENGIE North America Inc., and serves as the holding company for all ENGIE's North American solar development pipeline, which includes projects both in construction and pre-construction prior to a project's respective tax equity close. In 2020, ENGIE family of companies had an annual revenue more than US$68.2 billion and EBITDA of US$11.3 billion. ENGIE S.A., the parent company, is listed on the Paris and Brussels Stock Exchanges (ticker: ENGI) and represented in the main financial indices. About Revolve Revolve was formed in 2012 to capitalize on the growing global demand for renewable power. Revolve develops utility-scale wind, solar and battery storage projects in the US and Mexico with a portfolio of approx. 2450MW under development. The Company has a second division, Revolve Renewable Business Solutions which installs and operates sub 20MW "behind the meter" distributed generation (or "DG") assets. Revolve Renewable Business Solutions currently has an operating portfolio of 2.85MW with an additional 6.2MW under construction phase. Revolve has an accomplished management team with a demonstrated track record of taking projects from "greenfield" through to "ready to build" (or "RTB") status and successfully concluding project sales to large operators of utility-scale renewable energy projects. To-date, Revolve has developed and sold over 300MW of projects. Going forward, Revolve is targeting 5,000MW of utility-scale projects under development in the US and Mexico, and in parallel is rapidly growing its portfolio of revenue-generating DG (distributed generation) assets. Forward Looking Information Although Revolve believes, considering the experience of its officers and directors, current conditions and expected future developments and other factors that have been considered appropriate that the expectations reflected in this forward-looking information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them because Revolve can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. When used in this press release, the words "estimate", "project", "belief", "anticipate", "intend", "expect", "plan", "predict", "may" or "should" and the negative of these words or such variations thereon or comparable terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements and information. The forward-looking statements and information in this press release include information relating to the business plans of Revolve and Revolve's management's expectation on the growth and performance of its business in the United States and Mexico, including the planned MW capacity of its projects; its expansion into the distributed generation market; potential opportunities in the distributed generation market; the completion and timing of the development of its planned portfolio of distributed generation projects; potential revenues and cashflows generated from its DG division; the Company's plans to develop, construct and finance rooftop solar, battery storage and energy efficiency projects of up to 5MW and enter into long term power purchase agreements for the sale of electricity from the projects with the underlying customers; Revolve's long-term funding plans and plans to establish a new renewable energy development platform; completion of interconnection studies on each of the Projects; receipt of an NTP on each of the Projects; completion of the COD for each of the Projects; payment of deferred consideration by ENGIE upon the occurance of each of the forgoing development milestones for the Projects; exercise of the Put Option by ENGIE; the MW of the Bouse Project and its capacity to provide electricity to an equivalent of approximately 1.2 million homes; and the MW capacity of the Parker Project and its capacity to provide electricity to an equivalent of approximately 300,000 homes. Such statements and information reflect the current view of Revolve. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based on current expectations, estimates, projections and assumptions, having regard to the Company's experience and its perception of historical trends, and includes, but is not limited to, expectations, estimates, projections and assumptions relating to the extent of regulations pertaining to the Company's projects, the receipt of regulatory approvals and Revolve's ability to continue as going concern. Risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in those forward-looking statements and information, including but not limited to: the effects of weather, catastrophes and public health crises, including COVID-19; labour availability; disruptions to the Company's supply chains; changes to regulatory environment, including interpretation of production tax credits; armed hostilities and geopolitical conflicts; failure to obtain necessary regulatory approvals in a timely fashion, or at all; risks related to the development and potential development of the Company's projects; conclusions of economic evaluations; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; the availability of tax incentives in connection with the development of renewable energy projects and the sale of electrical energy; as well as those factors discussed in the sections relating to risk factors discussed in the Company's continuous disclosure filings on SEDAR. Such statements and information reflect the current view of Revolve. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking information contained in this press release represents the expectations of Revolve as of the date of this press release and, accordingly, is subject to change after such date. Readers should not place undue importance on forward-looking information and should not rely upon this information as of any other date. Revolve does not undertake to update this information at any particular time except as required in accordance with applicable laws. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/revolve-announces-sale-of-1-250mw-of-utility-scale-solar-and-storage-projects-301718698.html SOURCE Revolve Renewable Power Corp Flexible financing helps drive GTV & equipment pricing through increased marketplace penetration VANCOUVER, BC, Jan. 11, 2023 /CNW/ - For the first time in its 11-year history, Ritchie Bros. Financial Services surpassed US$1 billion in annual funded volume, helping tens of thousands of customers around the world purchase used equipment, vehicles, and other industrial assets in 2022. "Ritchie Bros. Financial Services continues to drive industry-leading customer experience with our innovative, flexible financing and leasing solutions, combined with a fast and efficient approval process," said Chris Quinn, Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Ritchie Bros. Financial Services. "In 2022, more than half of our funded volume came from repeat customers. At the same time, we are attracting new customers every single day. Last year, we also saw approval rates above 80%, which is a new record, and the percentage of transactions funded on the Ritchie Bros. marketplace increased by 15%, helping facilitate more transactions for buyers and create better pricing for sellers." Ritchie Bros. Financial Services offers several different solutions to its customers, including PurchaseFlex Financing, which enables customers to get pre-approved for financing for any type of equipment, regardless of brand or asset type. This is unique to RBFS, as most traditional lenders require exact equipment details prior to approval, which limits your options on auction day. This increased flexibility, along with the ease and speed of approvals, has made RBFS a preferred choice for customers acquiring used equipment. PurchaseFlex Financing also offers $0 down and 90- or 120-day payment deferment options. Ritchie Bros. Financial Services has also seen approximately 40% growth in the funding of private sale purchases, through online listing sites like Ritchie List, and equipment dealerships. With its PurchaseSafe product, Ritchie Bros. Financial Services will help facilitate the purchase between buyer and seller by securing the transfer of funds, dealing with any taxation issues, lien search, and payout coordination. Story continues "PurchaseSafe provides customers a secure and safe buying experience, so they can shop privately with the same confidence they do when buying at Ritchie Bros.," added Mr. Quinn. "Today, approximately 60% of our total funded volume comes through dealer and private sales. Customers rely on Ritchie Bros. Financial Services regardless of where they are shopping." To learn more about Ritchie Bros. Financial Services, visit rbfinance.com. About Ritchie Bros.: Established in 1958, Ritchie Bros. (NYSE and TSX: RBA) is a global asset management and disposition company, offering customers end-to-end solutions for buying and selling used heavy equipment, trucks and other assets. Operating in a number of sectors, including construction, transportation, agriculture, energy, mining, and forestry, the company's selling channels include: Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers, the world's largest industrial auctioneer offering live auction events with online bidding; IronPlanet, an online marketplace with weekly featured auctions and providing the exclusive IronClad Assurance equipment condition certification; Marketplace-E, a controlled marketplace offering multiple price and timing options; Ritchie List, a self-serve listing service for North America; Mascus, a leading European online equipment listing service; Ritchie Bros. Private Treaty, offering privately negotiated sales; and sector-specific solutions GovPlanet, TruckPlanet, and Ritchie Bros. Energy. The Company's suite of solutions also includes Ritchie Bros. Asset Solutions and Rouse Services LLC, which together provides a complete end-to-end asset management, data-driven intelligence and performance benchmarking system; SmartEquip, an innovative technology platform that supports customers' management of the equipment lifecycle and integrates parts procurement with both OEMs and dealers; plus equipment financing and leasing through Ritchie Bros. Financial Services. For more information about Ritchie Bros., visit RitchieBros.com. Cision View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ritchie-bros-financial-services-funds-us1-billion-in-equipment-and-vehicle-purchases-in-2022-301718874.html SOURCE Ritchie Bros. Cision View original content: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/January2023/11/c7504.html The ultra-not-expensive airline heats up 2023 with new non-stop flights between Toronto and Varadero TORONTO, Jan. 11, 2023 /CNW/ - Today, Swoop, Canada's leading ultra-low-cost airline, celebrated its inaugural service between Toronto's Lester B. Pearson International Airport (YYZ) and Juan Gualberto Gomez International Airport in Varadero, Cuba (VRA). Swoop flight WO652 took off from Toronto this morning at 9:10 a.m. ET and arrived in sunny Varadero at 12:50 p.m. local time. Swoop logo | FlySwoop.com (CNW Group/Swoop Inc.) "As Canada's favourite sun and fun ultra-low-cost carrier, we are thrilled to celebrate our launch into Cuba," said Bob Cummings, President of Swoop. "Varadero is widely known as a Canadian favourite for affordable beach vacations, and so we're proud to provide Torontonians a new ultra-convenient, ultra-not-expensive option for travel to Playa Azul." Ontarians looking for a pre-packaged vacation to an all-inclusive beach resort can access WestJet Vacations Packages with Swoop flights through their favourite Travel Agent, online with a travel website, be available shortly on WestJetvacations.com. "We are thrilled to have Swoop flying to Cuba, it means additional air lift to our country and a growth opportunity to the destination. There is a large part of the market that like to explore Cuba on their own and now they can take advantage of these affordable prices and satisfy their travel needs" - Lessner Gomez, Director of Cuba Tourist Board in Toronto "With over two months of winter still remaining, travellers now have more choice for sun destinations served out of Toronto Pearson," said Janik Reigate, Director of Strategic Customer Relationships, Greater Toronto Airports Authority. "We're proud to partner with Swoop to help our valued passengers break up the cold and snow with a bit of sun and fun this winter season." In addition to today's Varadero inaugural flight, Swoop also began new, non-stop service between Hamilton and Punta Cana. The ultra-not-expensive airline will operate over 100 flights per week to 13 vacation destinations across the U.S., Mexico and the Caribbean this winter season. With one-way all-in prices starting at $99 CAD for flights and WestJet Vacations packages starting at $356 CAD, there's never been a better time to escape winter. Story continues Route Lowest 7- day WestJet Vacation Package Price (CAD) Lowest one- way total price (CAD) Base Fare (CAD) Taxes & Fees (CAD) Operating Days Toronto to Varadero $842 $159 $46.99 $113.01 Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays Toronto to Cancun $1,470 $159 $50.02 $108.98 All Toronto to Las Vegas $356 (3 nights) $105 $3.52 $101.48 Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays Hamilton to Punta Cana $1,309 $199 $90.68 $112.27 Wednesdays and Saturdays Hamilton to Cancun $1,439 $139 $41.32 $97.68 Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Saturdays Hamilton to Las Vegas $401 (4 nights) $99 $8.57 $90.43 Thursdays and Sundays Hamilton to Montego Bay $1,173 $159 $47.33 $111.67 Wednesdays and Saturdays Package prices are per person, based on double occupancy and may differ based on departure dates. For travel between February 1, 2023 - February 28, 2023. | Fares are valid until Wednesday, January 12, 2023 (11:59 p.m. MT) or while seats last. | Prices displayed above are subject to change and are not guaranteed until payment is made and accepted. About Swoop Swoop is on a mission to make travel more affordable and accessible for all Canadians. Established in 2018 as an independent subsidiary of the WestJet Group of Companies, Swoop is Canada's ultra-not-expensive airline. Offering scheduled service to destinations in Canada, the U.S., Mexico and the Caribbean, Swoop's unbundled fares put travellers in control of purchasing only the products and services they desire. Swoop's fleet of ten Boeing 737-800 NG aircraft and expanded in 2022 to add six Boeing MAX-8 aircraft, for a total of 16 aircraft. At FlySwoop.com travellers can quickly and easily book flights, manage bookings, check-in, view boarding passes, and track flights. SOURCE Swoop Inc. Cision View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/January2023/11/c8244.html GURUGRAM, India, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Cold chain market is slightly consolidated with the presence of some big market leaders catering to main end users as Meat and Seafood, Fruits and Vegetables industry. The major growth supporting factors in Thailand cold chain market was the growing export of seafood, fruits and vegetables requiring cold storage and transportation facilities to remain fresh and healthy. Ken_Research_Logo Cold chain operators are catering to the energy-intensive requirements of products while minimizing the pressure on natural resources. Change in Lifestyle and Urbanization led to Rising Domestic Consumption of Processed food. Adoption of new and advanced technologies like WMS, Robotics, ASRS automation, Internet of Things. Growth of retail, frozen food, e-commerce Industry: Fast paced lifestyle and rise in per capita income in the Thailand has increased the demand for frozen ready-to-cook food. Thailand is the home of top e-commerce retails of Southeast Asian region like Shoppe, Lazada, JIB etc. The major retail players like Tesco Lotus, 7-Eleven, Tops Super Market, Big C have expanded their geographical presence in the country. Shortage of cold storage Space: In the present situation, there is a shortage of cold storage space as compared to the demand, hence creating a supply gap. This creates huge expansion opportunities for companies to increase their capacity and capitalise on the unmet demand. For example: Bangkok cold storage service and k line container service will establish new warehouses in Bang na district near Bangkok. High Operational Cost Associated with Logistics: Rising cost of electricity and fuel are driving the operational cost of cold storage and transportation services, further narrowing down the margins. Currently, the cost of per Kilowatt hour (Unit of ) Electricity is 4.72 Baht aa t record high level. Iot-Enabled Temperature Monitoring: Iot-Enabled Temperature Monitoring helps in monitoring goods round the clock, temperature logging has become way easier than manual methods, previously undertaken. This has resulted in increasing demand for data cold chain monitoring during the pandemic. Story continues Analysts at Ken Research in their latest publication- "Thailand Cold Chain Market Outlook to 2026F - Driven by Rising Import-Export Trade Volume and Domestic Consumption of Meat, Seafood and Popularity of Ready to Eat Frozen Processed Food" by Ken Research provides a comprehensive analysis of the potential of Cold Chain Industry in Thailand. With the rising demand for meat and other cold storage items among the population, along with Government initiatives to better roads, ports and transportation facilities, the Cold Chain market has shown significant growth during the current period. Key Segments Covered: Thailand Cold Chain Market By Revenue Split Cold Transport Cold Storage By End User Meat and Seafood Dairy Products Processed Frozen Foods Vaccination and Pharmaceuticals Fruits and Vegetables By Ownership 3PL Cold Chain Facilities Owned To learn more about this report Download a Free Sample Report Thailand Cold Transport Market By Truck Type Reefer Vans/Trucks (1 to 10 Tons) 20 foot reefers (10 - 20 Tons) 40 foot reefers and others (more than 20 tons) By Mode of Transportation Land Sea Air By Location Domestic International By Vicinity Inter-city Intra-city By End User Meat and Seafood Dairy Products Vaccination and Pharmaceuticals Processed Frozen Foods Fruits, Vegetables and others Thailand Cold Storage Market By Temperature range (by number of pallets) Frozen Chillers Ambient Visit this Link: Request for custom report By Automation (by pallets) Automated Pallets Non-automated Pallets By End User Meat and Seafood Dairy Products Vaccination and Pharmaceuticals Processed Frozen Foods Fruits, Vegetables and others By Region Bangkok (Including Samut Prakan and Samut Sakhon) Chonburi ChiangMai Others Key Target Audience: Cold Storage Companies Cold Chain Companies Cold Transport Companies Captive Cold Storage Companies Captive Cold Chain Companies Logistics Companies Non-captive Companies Cold Chain Associations Logistics Associations Private Equity Firms Venture Capitalists Time Period Captured in the Report: Historical Year: 2016-2021 Base Year: 2021 Forecast Period: 2022P 2026F Companies Covered: JWD Infologistics Thai Yokorei co Ltd Sinchai Cold Storage Konoike Cool Logistics (Thailand) Bangkok Cold Storage Service ltd. CTD Cold Storage Thaimax Cold Storage SCG Nicherei Logistics Lucky Star Mon Logistics Mobile Logistics Piti Cold Storage Interexpress Kerry Cool Logistics Chomthana Key Topics Covered in the Report: Thailand Cold Chain Market Overview Thailand Market Overview Ecosystem of Thailand Cold Chain Market Business Cycle and Genesis of Thailand Cold Chain Market End User Analysis of Thailand Cold Chain Market Flowchart of Thailand Cold Chain Market Industry Analysis of Thailand Cold Chain Market SWOT Analysis of Thailand Cold Chain Market Major Challenges and Bottlenecks in Thailand Cold Chain Market Regulatory Framework in Thailand Cold Chain Market Competitive Landscape in in Thailand Cold Chain Market Market Share of Major Cold Storage Services in Thailand Cold Chain Market Detailed Analysis on Thailand Cold Chain Market (Market Size and Segmentation, 2016-2022; Future Market Size and Segmentation, 2022-2027F) Market Opportunity and Analyst Recommendations For more insights on the market intelligence, refer to below link: Thailand Cold Chain Market Related Reports By Ken Research: Indonesia Cold Chain Market Outlook to 2026F-- Driven by Rising Fisheries Industry & Convenience Food Consumption Owing to Growing Population and Infrastructural Development The Indonesia Cold Chain Market witnessed a growth during the period 2016-2021 and the market would continue to grow owing to increasing demand for temperature- controlled products in the country, entry of several new players. The nation has also started projects to bring down supply chain and logistics expenses, notably by creating a national logistics platform and a sea toll program. As the demand for transporting refrigerated products is increasing, so will the demand for value-added services such as repackaging and consolidation, which will increase the demand for 3PLs in the country. In addition, a 3PL can offer customized warehouses based on customer needs. Singapore Cold Chain Market Outlook to 2026F-- Driven By Rising Meat and Seafood Consumption Coupled With Demand for Temperature Sensitive Health Care Products According to Ken Research estimates, the Singapore Cold Chain Market which grew from approximately SGD ~10.0 Bn in 2016 to approximately SGD ~14.0 Bn in 2021 is forecasted to grow further into SGD ~19.0 Bn opportunity by 2026F, owing to the rising household expenditure on food products and investments in the health care sector. Brazil Cold Chain Market Outlook to 2027- Driven by increasing exports and imports and consolidation of the market by large players The evolution of Cold Chain is being driven by the appearance of new companies with a vision of opportunity in the business and aim to capture market share. The Cold Chain market in Brazil is emerging with key projects due to high exports of fruits and vegetables. Brazil Cold Chain Market is currently at the growth stage and the market is currently increasing at a double digit CAGR owing to rising growth in export of meat products and import of pharmaceuticals. Nigeria Cold Chain Market Outlook to 2026 Driven by high food produce wastage due to lack of cold chain infrastructure, solar-focused start-ups, and increased disposable income of consumers Nigeria Cold Chain Market is Expected to grow at a CAGR in double digits between 2021 and 2026F, one of the major determinants for the surging growth in coming years is the development of infrastructure, Improvement of pharmaceutical cold chain, Government Efforts and big Investments like, Triple I, an investment fund that invests in Sub-Saharan businesses to drive social impact decided to make an investment in the cold chain industry of Nigeria. The president of Organization for Technology Advancement of Cold Chain in West Africa, has recently urged all the state(s) and federal governments to invest in cold chain to reduce food wastage. Vietnam Cold Chain Market Outlook to 2026F- Driven by Rising Meat and Seafood Consumption Owing to Growing Millennial Population Albeit Infrastructure Challenges Vietnam cold chain market was evaluated to grow at a double-digit CAGR during 2016-2021.The market is currently in the growth stage owing to rising domestic consumption of meat and seafood along with increasing government initiatives and investments in the sector. Correspondingly, the Vietnam Cold Chain Industry Ecosystem is driven by large-scale 3PL companies with Real Estate companies investing in logistics services. The occupancy rate in the cold storage market has been increasing owing to undersupply of cold storage warehouses, especially in the major cities and ports where demand for cold storage is exceeding the supply. Other factors affecting prices also include the increasing demand for citrus, meat, and seafood. Follow Us: LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube Contact Us: Ken Research Private Limited Ankur Gupta, Director Strategy and Growth Ankur@kenresearch.com +91-9015378249 Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/661352/Ken_Research_Logo.jpg Cision View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/thailand-cold-chain-market-is-expected-to-generate-more-than-thb-20-bn-in-2026f-due-to-growing-demand-for-frozen-food-products-growth-in-food-delivery-business-ken-research-301718973.html SOURCE Ken Research By Azernews Fatima Hasanova OSCE Chairman-in-Office Bujar Osmani will visit Azerbaijan and Armenia, Azernews reports via OSCE. The 2023 OSCE Chairman-in-Office, North Macedonian Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani, held two separate telephone conversations with Azerbaijani and Armenian Foreign Ministers Jeyhun Bayramov and Ararat Mirzoyan respectively. Osmani reaffirmed his willingness to participate personally in efforts to reduce tensions and advance efforts for lasting peace. Additionally, he declared that he would pay separate visits to Azerbaijan and Armenia in the future. Azerbaijan joined the CSCE (renamed to OSCE on January 1, 1995) on January 30, 1992. This was the first European organization for Azerbaijan to join. Since February 1992, the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict has become the focus of OSCE in line with the principles of this organization. The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries of Russia, the USA, and France had mediated a peaceful solution to the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict since the signing of the volatile cease-fire agreement in 1994. The Minsk Groups efforts resulted in no progress as Armenia refused to abide by the UN Security Council Resolutions (822, 853, 874, and 884) demanding the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of its troops from Azerbaijani territories, which was the main obstacle to the resolution of the conflict. The trilateral ceasefire deal, signed by the Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian leaders on November 10, 2020, ended the three-decade-long conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which along with the seven adjacent regions came under the occupation of the Armenian armed forces in the war at the outset of 1990s. GURUGRAM, India, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Thailand Dental Services Market is at a growing stage and has highly fragmented market with MOS Dental as the market leader. Country has 200+ organized clinics and 5,000+ unorganized clinics. Thailand dental services market is in growth stage as there is moderate growth owing to rising independent dental clinic chains and dental tourism. Ken_Research_Logo The Kingdom of Thailand wants to stimulate its economy by becoming an international hub for medical and dental treatment. Cosmetic dentistry and implants are the growing field in the near future. This is because cosmetic dentistry is usually expensive but travelling to a dental hub like Thailand saves a lot of cost. The government is also increasing insurance coverage for dental care services through their public health schemes which would further increase demand for dental services. Rising Dental Services Market: The rising age of the population is gearing them towards better oral health practices as well as increasing their demand for dental treatments. Dental services market is anticipated to witness significant growth over the forecast period due to the increasing accessibility, rising dental tourism and government initiatives. Rise in the number of Dentists: The number of dentists is expected to rise in the coming years owing to the new opportunities in the dental services market. The increase in the overall population and dental tourism are considered to be the factor for these developments. The total number of Dentists in Thailand was 17,738 in 2021 growing with expected CAGR of more than 9 % over the period 2021-2026F. By 2025, the Thai population per dentist is expected to be around 2,500 people. New Government Policies: The government provides dental coverage in its national insurance schemes for simple procedures and has introduced initiatives to expand access and awareness. The Thailand National Digital Healthcare Workforce Development Initiative (WDI) was officially launched to focus on the development of a three-year work plan to address the demand of patients for digital healthcare services in light of the Thailand 4.0 digitization journey. Story continues Analysts at Ken Research in their latest publication "Thailand Dental Services Market Outlook to 2026F- Driven By Rising Dental Awareness, Dental Tourism, Lower Dental Services Cost and Government's Strong Initiatives in Healthcare System" by Ken Research observed that Dental Services market is an emergent healthcare market in Thailand at a rebounding stage from the economic crisis after pandemic. The rising government policies and demand for cosmetic dentistry, dental consciousness among the population along with government initiatives is expected to contribute to the market growth over the forecast period. The market is expected to grow at a 7.1% CAGR during 2021-2026F owing to increasing accessibility, rising dental tourism and government initiatives. Key Segments Covered in the report:- Malaysia Dental Services Market By Type of Services Endodontics Orthodontics Prosthodontics Cosmetic Dentistry Periodontics Others By Institutions Hospitals Dental Clinics By Dental Clinics Organized Clinics Unorganized Clinics By Revenue International Revenue Domestic Revenue To learn more about this report Download a Free Sample Report By Cities Chonburi Bangkok Mueang Nonthaburi Udon Thani Other Cities Key Target Audience Dental Clinics Dental Equipment Manufacturers and Distributors Dentists Hospitals Market Research and Consulting Firms Healthcare Companies Pharmaceutical Companies Tourism Agencies Government Bodies & Regulating Authorities Time Period Captured in the Report:- Historical Period: 2018-2021 Forecast Period: 2021-2026F Visit this Link Request for custom report Companies Covered:- LDC Dental Clinic MOS Dental Clinic Delta Joy Smile Signature Thantakit Siamdent BFC Dental Sea Smile Beauty Smile Bangkok New Smile Thantakit International Zenitoni Smile Dental Group Pattaya Key Topics Covered in the Report:- Thailand Healthcare Overview Thailand Dental Services Market Overview Ecosystem, Business Cycle and Genesis of Thailand Dental Services Market Thailand Dental Services Market Size by Revenue, 2018-2021 Thailand Dental Services Market Segmentation (By Type of Services, By End Users, By Dental Clinics, By Revenue Division, By Cities), 2021 End User Analysis of Thailand Dental Services Market Industry Analysis of Thailand Dental Services Market Key Growth Drivers in Dental Service Market in Thailand Trends Driving Adoption of Digital Innovation Major Challenges and Bottlenecks in Thailand Dental Services Market Regulatory Framework in Thailand Dental Services Market Competition Framework for Thailand Dental Services Market Market Share of Major Dental Services Providers in Thailand Dental Services Market Cost Sheet of Major treatments and Price List of major Players Impact of Covid-19 on Thailand Dental Care Market Future Outlook and Projections of the Industry, 2026F Market Opportunities and Analyst Recommendations For more insights on the market intelligence, refer to the link below:- Thailand Dental Services Market Related Reports By Ken Research:- UAE Dental Services Market Outlook to 2027F- Rising Awareness for Overall Aesthetics and Adoption of New Technology by Dentists is Driving the Dental Services Market The UAE Dental Services Market witnessed significant growth during the period 2022-2027F owing to a rise in general awareness about dentistry and rising general dental check-ups. The rising Dental consciousness among the Emiratis along with the increased spending on oral health is expected to contribute to the market growth over the forecast period. The dental services market is anticipated to witness significant growth due to the improvements in already existing services along with the introduction of new improved technologies and supportive government policies. KSA Dental Services Market Outlook to 2027F- Driven by Rising Oral Health Awareness, Demand for Aesthetics among Saudi Arabians and Government Initiatives According to Ken Research estimates, the KSA Dental Services Market grew from ~$1.7 Bn in 2018 and ~$ 2 Bn in 2022P owing to the rise in oral health awareness, inclination towards a healthier lifestyle and rising demand for aesthetics and is forecasted to grow further ~$ 3 Bn by 2027F due to improvements in the Saudi healthcare sector by KSA government. Philippines Dental Services Market Outlook to 2026F- Driven By Rising Oral Health Awareness, Growing Economy and Dental Tourism in the Philippines According to Ken Research estimates, the Philippines Dental Services Market which grew from approximately $ ~1200 Mn in 2018 to approximately $ ~1300 Mn in 2021 is forecasted to grow further into a $ ~1750 Mn opportunity by 2026F, owing to the growth in the urban population, inclination towards a healthier lifestyle, rise in general awareness related to oral health care, and a growing economy. India Dental Services Market Outlook to FY'2027F Driven By Rising Dental Awareness, Dental Tourism, Lower Dental Services Cost and Government's Strong Initiatives in Healthcare System India has well-equipped hospitals and dental clinics offering high quality services. India Dental Services market is currently at the growth stage owing to rising personal attention, demand for cost efficiency and technological advancements. India Dental Service Market is a highly fragmented market with Clove Dental as the market leader in the market owing to their highest number of dental clinics and number of dentists and employees per clinic across India. Other players in the market includes Partha Dental Skin & Hair, Orthosquare Dental Clinic, Sabka Dentist, Apollo White Dental. The market is expected to grow at a robust CAGR of 9.6% over the period 2022-2027F owing to Government initiatives as well as the increase in private practices and specialty chains across the country. The affordable cost and high quality of treatments will increase the market share of international tourists in the forecasted period. Follow Us LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube Contact Us:- Ken Research Private Limited Ankur Gupta, Director Strategy and Growth Ankur@kenresearch.com +91-9015378249 Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1954972/Ken_Research_Logo.jpg Cision View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-thailand-dental-services-market-is-expected-to-contribute-1-7-bn-owing-to-ageing-population-rising-dental-tourism-and-governments-initiatives-in-healthcare-ken-research-301719013.html SOURCE Ken Research PARIS and BERLIN, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Valiantys today announced it is expanding into Germany through the acquisition of kreuzwerker's Atlassian consulting business. Valiantys Logo kreuzwerker is one of the leading Atlassian Platinum Solution Partners in the German market, being the first to achieve the ITSM and Cloud specializations, and recently recognized as "Atlassian Partner of the Year 2021" in "Customer Experience". Valiantys has already strengthened its leading position as a global Atlassian partner through recent acquisitions including Addteq's consulting services and Expium. Valiantys has a significant presence in Europe and North America, with ambitions to continue expanding and growing its talent base. This combination will bring together Valiantys' global operations and deep expertise in Agile at Scale transformations and managed services, thanks to kreuzwerker's strong presence in the German market for Enterprise Service Management. "The DACH region is absolutely strategic to Valiantys' future and is one of Atlassian's largest markets," said Lucas Dussurget, CEO, Valiantys. "kreuzwerker's team is world-class and we're very excited to see them join our Swiss team to establish Valiantys as a leading Atlassian Solution Partner in the DACH region1." "We are delighted to be joining Valiantys. With their support and existing capabilities, we will be able to serve our DACH customers even better with a global presence as well as access to specialists on Cloud Migrations, ITSM, Agile at Scale and Work Management," said Tilman Muerle, Managing Director Atlassian, kreuzwerker. "In Valiantys we have found kindred spirits who are fully aligned with our culture, and our passion for delivering ambitious transformations using Atlassian solutions." "Valiantys' acquisition of kreuzwerker's Atlassian consulting services is an exciting step forward in their EMEA strategy," said Cameron Deatsch, Chief Revenue Office at Atlassian. "The combined efforts of these partners will empower more customers in the DACH region to harness the full potential of teamwork." Story continues This acquisition will be made possible by the investment and operational support of: Keensight Capital, one of the leading private equity managers dedicated to international Growth Buyout investments 2 , and Valiantys' majority shareholder; Tercera, a growth equity firm specializing in cloud professional services, has made a minority investment with a specific focus on expanding in the Americas and other key regions About Valiantys Valiantys is a leading global consulting and services firm dedicated to Atlassian. The company accelerates business transformation by digitizing processes and modernizing teamwork, using the best agile methods and tools. Its Atlassian technical expertise is unparalleled and Valiantys supports its customers across the entire spectrum of projects on those platforms. As a recognized Agile at Scale, ITSM, and Cloud Specialized Partner, Valiantys help organizations accelerate time to value with Agile at scale, cloud, and ITSM implementations. Because teamwork requires more than just tools, the firm bridges the gap between applications and strategic practices such as SAFe and ITIL. Over the last 15 years, Valiantys has helped more than 5,000 customers achieve their desired business outcomes at a reduced time to value, through improved team collaboration. More information about Valiantys can be found at https://valiantys.com/ Follow Valiantys on LinkedIn About Kreuzwerker kreuzwerker is a full-stack software consulting company founded in 2010. The company has been an AWS APN Advanced Consulting Partner since 2013 and was the first APN Partner in DACH to pass the AWS APN DevOps Competency. kreuzwerker experts have integrated cloud native software development into startup, SMB and enterprise environments for hundreds of clients including highly regulated industries. More information about kreuzwerker can be found at https://www.kreuzwerker.de Follow kreuzwerker on LinkedIn 1 Germany-Austria-Switzerland 2 Growth Buyout: investment in profitable, private companies experiencing strong growth, in minority or majority positions, with or without leverage, using a flexible approach tailored to the needs of individual entrepreneurs, in order to finance organic growth projects, acquisition strategies or provide historic shareholders with liquidity. Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1980997/Valiantys_Logo.jpg Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1980999/VALIANTYS_X_KREUZWERKER.jpg Valiantys sets strategy to strengthen its position in Europe by acquiring kreuzwerker's Atlassian consulting business Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/valiantys-sets-strategy-to-strengthen-its-position-in-europe-by-acquiring-kreuzwerkers-atlassian-consulting-business-301718684.html SOURCE Valiantys Increase in investments by market players to deploy high-speed networks, the growing internet penetration globally, and the increased use of satellite data in the development of smart cities and connected vehicles drive the global wireless infrastructure market. PORTLAND, Ore., Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "Wireless Infrastructure Market by Type (Satellite, 2G and 3G, 4G, 5G), by Platform (Government, Defense, Commercial), by Infrastructure (Small and Macro cells, Mobile Core, Radio Access Network, Distributed Area Network, SATCOM): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2031." According to the report, the global wireless infrastructure industry is estimated to generate $152.3 billion in 2021 and $386.5 billion by 2031, witnessing a CAGR of 10.0% from 2022 to 2031. The report offers a detailed analysis of changing market trends, top segments, key investment pockets, value chain, regional landscape, and competitive scenario. Allied Market Research Logo Download Free Sample Report - https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/32332 Drivers, Restraints, and Opportunities Rise in investments by market players to deploy high-speed networks, the growing internet penetration globally, the increased use of satellite data in the development of smart cities and connected vehicles, and rise in the demand for connected cars fuel the growth of the global wireless infrastructure market. However, high updating cost and lack of wireless infrastructure in developing and underdeveloped countries are likely to hinder the global market growth. On the other hand, consumers' inclination toward wireless connectivity and expansion of wireless communication networks in various applications will present new growth opportunities for the global wireless infrastructure market in the coming years. Covid-19 Scenario The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic impacted the global wireless infrastructure market negatively. The strict restrictions and lockdowns imposed by governments worldwide brought several challenges for the industry such as lowered production, non-availability of raw materials, logistics challenges, and others. As the pandemic progressed, governments and public & private organizations started implementing innovative technologies to tackle the pandemic. Story continues The 5G segment to exhibit progressive growth during the forecast period Based on type, the 5G segment contributed to the largest share of nearly half of the global wireless infrastructure market in 2021, and is expected to rule the roost during the forecast period. The same segment is projected to witness the fastest CAGR of 11.1% from 2022 to 2031. This is due to 5G's advantages such as high network bandwidth, better connectivity, and others. Interested to Procure the Research Report? Inquire Before Buying - https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/32332 The commercial segment to dominate in terms of revenue during the forecast period Based on the platform, the commercial segment held the largest share of nearly three-fifths of the global wireless infrastructure market in 2021, and is expected to maintain a prominent growth during the forecast period. The growth of the segment is attributed to the adoption of wireless infrastructure technology by manufacturers and corporates. However, the government segment is expected to exhibit the highest CAGR of 10.6% in 2031, owing to supportive government initiatives for enhancing the digital infrastructure of countries worldwide. The distributed area network segment to maintain its leadership during the forecast period Based on infrastructure, the mobile core segment held the largest share of nearly one-fourth of the global wireless infrastructure market in 2021. However, the distributed area network segment is expected to maintain a prominent revenue growth and also exhibit the highest CAGR of 10.8% in 2031, owing to the rise in adoption of distributed area network in the developing and underdeveloped countries. Asia-Pacific to garner the largest revenue and highest growth by 2031 Based on region, the market in Asia-Pacific was the largest in 2021, accounting for nearly two-fifths of the global wireless infrastructure market, and is likely to maintain its dominance during the forecast timeframe. The same market is likely to show the fastest CAGR of 10.5% during the forecast period. This is owing to the high number of internet users and high adoption of smart devices in the region. Leading Market Players Qualcomm Technologies Inc. Capgemini D-Link Corporation ZTE Corporation Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. Cisco Systems, Inc. Fujitsu Ltd. NEC CORPORATION NXP Semiconductors Ciena Corporation The report analyzes these key players of the global wireless infrastructure market. These players have adopted various strategies such as expansion, new product launches, partnerships, and others to increase their market penetration and strengthen their position in the industry. The report is helpful in determining the business performance, operating segments, product portfolio, and developments by every market player. Purchase Complete Report - https://bit.ly/3ivFbyF About Us Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions." AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain. We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Allied Market Research CEO Pawan Kumar is instrumental in inspiring and encouraging everyone associated with the company to maintain high quality of data and help clients in every way possible to achieve success. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry. Contact: David Correa 5933 NE Win Sivers Drive #205, Portland, OR 97220 United States USA/Canada (Toll Free): +1-800-792-5285, +1-503-894-6022 UK: +44-845-528-1300 Hong Kong: +852-301-84916 India (Pune): +91-20-66346060 Fax: +1(855)550-5975 help@alliedmarketresearch.com Web: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/reports-store/aerospace-and-defence Follow Our Blog: www.theinnovativereport.com Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/636519/Allied_Market_Research_Logo.jpg Cision View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/wireless-infrastructure-market-to-reach-386-5-billion-globally-by-2031-at-10-0-cagr-allied-market-research-301718810.html SOURCE Allied Market Research A Maryland man accused of shooting at his childs mother during an aborted child custody exchange Sunday has been charged with attempted murder and other offenses, police said. The shooting occurred Sunday evening in the area of Windsor Circle and Federal Drive in the Argyle Heights subdivision in southern Stafford County, Stafford Sheriffs Maj. Shawn Kimmitz said. The suspect, 28-year-old Almon L. Wheeler of Fort Washington, Maryland, was arrested Tuesday in King George County. According to Kimmitz, Wheeler rode with a woman and his 1-year-old child to the Dixon Street 7-Eleven in Fredericksburg Sunday to return the child to the mother. Before the mother could get the child, a disturbance erupted and the other woman drove off with Wheeler and the baby. The mother followed the car into Stafford and both vehicles stopped in Argyle Heights, Kimmitz said. The mother got out to again try to retrieve the child, and police said Wheeler fired shots at her. The mother was not struck, but there were two bullet holes in her car. Wheelers driver took off with him and the child. The child was later dropped off with a relative and returned to the mother unharmed, but Wheeler was not immediately located. King George detectives tracked Wheeler down Tuesday and took him into custody. Wheeler is also charged in Stafford with malicious shooting at a vehicle and possession of a firearm by a felon. He was already wanted on various charges in Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania County and King George. Wheeler was placed in the Rappahannock Regional Jail under no bond. Caroline High School will join 200 schools across the country in piloting an Advanced Placement African American Studies course, the division recently announced. We are really, really excited about it and proud of the fact that we are one of the schools to pilot this program, said Craig Reed, director of secondary instruction for Caroline County Public Schools. Caroline High School offers three sections of African American History as an elective course, Reed said, and all sections are full. The new AP course, which will begin in the fall, will be taught by the same teacher, Haley Randall, who was the divisions novice teacher of the year for 2021. The new course will draw from a variety of fields, including literature, the arts, political science, geography and science, to explore the contributions and experiences of African Americans over 400 years. It will be divided into four units: the African diaspora; enslavement, resistance, emancipation and reconstruction; the history of Jim Crow and the early Civil Rights movement; and the modern era from 1950 through the present. There will be assigned and student-selected reading from original sources and the course will include high levels of critical reading and writing, Reed said. Offering the course aligns with the divisions strategic plan in several ways. One of our goals focuses on making sure students get the best learning experience possible, Reed said. With that, this is an AP course that is going to push for deeper learning. We want students to be challenged academically and are always looking for more opportunities for advanced learning. Reed said the course is also intended to level the playing field and make advanced learning opportunities accessible to more of Carolines students, as well as build their cultural competency. One of the big values [attached to our strategic plan] is diversity, he said. Reed, Randall and the divisions history instructional specialist Courtney Lander worked on developing the course with support from superintendent Sarah Calveric, assistant superintendent Herbert Monroe and Caroline High School principal Joshua Just. The team gave a presentation on the intention and proposed outline of the course to the School Board early in the planning process, and Reed said everyone was excited and supportive. Im very confident this will be a course that will be successful, he said. Fredericksburg City Public Schools is working toward a March groundbreaking for the new middle school at 2201 Idlewild Blvd. Deputy superintendent Matt Eberhardt provided an update on the $77 million middle school project to the School Board during its first regular meeting of the year Monday. City Council approved the contract with design-build firm First Choice, LLC late last year. The firm has completed 65% of the design and the total cost estimate is tracking 100% on budget, Eberhardt said. First Choice also submitted a site plan to the city Dec. 22. Eberhardt said city and school division staff are aiming for a Feb. 27 approval of the plan so groundbreaking can begin in March. The anticipated opening is August 2025. We are doing everything to keep our eyes on the prize and the prize is Feb. 27, Eberhardt said. We need to keep on schedule. Eberhardt also gave the board a school safety update, announcing that Fredericksburg City Police and the school divisions maintenance team have worked to install breach kit lockers at the entrance to each school. One of the issues [in Uvalde] was a lack of access to breaching tools to get into spaces and break doors down, Eberhardt said. Those can be heavy and its not something readily carried by law enforcement. The kits are stored in secured metal lockers that have been bolted to the ground outside the entrances of all division schools. We believe we are probably the first in the area to do this, and this is all the police department, Eberhardt said. We have an excellent relationship with them, and they worked to get these materials and get them to the schools. Following last weeks shooting by a 6-year-old student at a Newport News elementary school, Eberhardt said the division will send home a letter reminding families to keep guns and ammunition, as well as medications, locked up and out of reach of children. He said each city school has a supply of locks and secured medication boxes to distribute to families that need these items. In addition, Eberhardt said the school division will host a daylong crisis management training event Jan. 20 for about 100 employees and first responders. Also at Mondays meeting, the board elected Ward 3 representative Jennifer Boyd to serve as chair and Ward 4 representative Malvina Kay to serve as vice chair this year. The Stafford School Board on Tuesday seated its first-ever student representatives in what Superintendent Thomas Taylor called a historic moment. Katherine Buckman, a junior at Mountain View High School, was chosen to be student representative to the board for 2023. Maraki Solomon, a junior at Brooke Point High School, will serve as alternate. We have our first-time student representatives that will be sitting up here with us, working with us, deciding with us and we are so excited for these two women, said newly elected School Board Chair Susan Randall after the board approved the appointment of Buckman and Solomon. The board late last year approved a new policy and regulation authorizing the selection of a student representative and alternate. The opinions and concerns of the students in the school division are important to the board, the new policy, 1124, states. The student representatives will serve in an advisory role, and cannot vote or attend closed meetings, according to the policy. Their purpose will be to establish a direct link between Stafford Schools students and the elected body that governs them, enabling the student body to have input into policies of the board and providing students with an opportunity to serve their community and learn about governance. The representatives are expected to attend all regular, open meetings and work sessions, and are selected through an application and interview process overseen by the superintendent and a selection committee. Buckman and Solomon received training on Tuesday afternoon prior to the School Board meeting, Randall said. She noted that the student representatives told the board that the top concerns of the student body are drugs, violence and social media. By contrast, the top concern of the Stafford parents and community members is growth. So you can see right away that we have a really nice opportunity here to work with our students, Randall said. While we do hear a parent perspective, [getting] a student perspective is actually quite a gift for us. Buckman will give a report during each regular meeting. On Tuesday she said she is [looking] forward to representing the voice of the student, which is absolutely critical and is beyond excited for the opportunity to serve. Also at Tuesdays meeting, the board approved a plan to install 26 modular classrooms to relieve crowding at six county elementary schools next school year. Four trailers will be installed at Falmouth Elementary, four at Hampton Oaks, four at Hartwood, six at Park Ridge, four at Stafford and four at Winding Creek. The division plans to purchase the trailers at a cost of about $3.2 million, to be appropriated from the capital improvement fund following approval by the Board of Supervisors. Taylor told the board that purchasing the trailers makes more financial sense than leasing them, since they will be in use for at least three years and hold potential resale value. The division is working toward opening two new elementary schools in August 2024. Were still advocating for elementary schools 18 and 19 to be built, said Rockhill representative Patricia Healy, who was elected vice chair for 2023. I dont want to lose sight of our quest and hoping our student reps can help us build community support for [the new schools]. VDOT crews cut down a popular roadside cedar tree that a Stafford County family had decked out the last two Decembers in Christmas lights, ornaments and colorful garland to the delight of passing motorists. Goodbye until next Christmas, little, faithful tree, Rob Hutchins posted on social media Dec. 30 after taking down this years decorations. You held on to as many decorations as you could through the tough December weather. But the 8-foot-tall white cedar couldnt withstand the saw. VDOT spokeswoman Kelly Hannon said the cedar had to be removed because it was located within the state right of way behind a guardrail in a zone that deflects when impacted. She said that could be a hazard for motorists. Trees and other objects located in this deflection zone can affect the ability of guardrail to perform as tested and save lives and are regularly removed as a part of ongoing maintenance activities, Hannon wrote. Hutchins and his family first decorated the tree after Thanksgiving in 2021. He was driving to Florida on a business trip Saturday when he got word that the tree had been taken down and left by the side of the road. Hutchins received the news before VDOTs Monday announcement and said he initially suspected vandals had committed the act. Im not going to stop because they took the tree away, Hutchins said Saturday. It so much reminds me of the actual Grinch story. Hannon said VDOT crews had previously spotted the cedar and targeted it for removal but didnt cut it until the end of the day Jan. 5. After workers cut down the small tree, they left it at the side of the road for the duration of the weekend. The truck bed was at capacity holding debris collected earlier in the day, so crews had to return this morning to collect the tree debris from the roadside, Hannon said. By Monday morning, all that remained at the site of the popular holiday symbol was a few sprinkles of sawdust and glitter. A stump almost level to the ground marked the spot where the tree once grew near a roadside guardrail on Centreport Parkway, just south of Mountain View Drive. I feel like the things been there for years and (VDOT) is just now noticing it? Hutchins said. Weve had road crews there doing paving plenty of times over the last two years and nobodys ever decided to cut that tree down. Hartwood Supervisor Darrell English said he visited the site in his district where the tree stood over the weekend after he was notified it had been taken down. Im upset with VDOT for not letting the public know they were going to do this, English said. If it really was a safety issue, why wasnt I notified? Hannon said since the tree was embraced by the community and decorated seasonally, she regretted VDOT did not provide the public advance notice of the trees removal. While the removal needed to occur for safety, it should have been scheduled in advance, with sensitivity for its place in recent celebrations, Hannon wrote. The debris should have been removed from the roadside at the time it was cut down. Hutchins said VDOTs response surrounding the removal of the tree still left several questions. He said handwritten notes left on the tree by passing motorists this past Christmas were brimming with public support, so he was surprised Saturday to learn the tree had been removed. What VDOT crew went past there at any point and didnt notice that it was dressed up like a Christmas tree for a month and decided to come back and pull that thing up? Hutchins asked. The tree drew the attention of passing motorists and several media outlets that carried the story this past Christmas season. People would stop and take pictures of it, put things on it, Hutchins said. To have had it make so many others happy is such a huge bonus. Hutchins, a government contractor and a U.S. Navy veteran, said his family first decorated the roadside tree two years ago after his then-15-year-old daughter remarked it looked like a Christmas tree. A couple of days went by and I was like, lets go decorate this thing, Hutchins said. So we did, and it kind of blew up on (social media). Hutchins said hes now willing to work with VDOT and plant a new tree, in a safe location, for the community to once again enjoy during the Christmas season. Lets figure out from (VDOT) where we can plant a new tree, Hutchins said. Whats acceptable and one they wont cut down again. Lets put something back. Roundabout planned for Spotsylvania intersection A public meeting is scheduled to cover plans for a mini roundabout at the intersection of Tuesdays public hearing for a proposed technology-based development in Spotsylvania County has been pushed back to later this month. The hearing was scheduled for Tuesday evenings Board of Supervisors meeting, but county Administrator Ed Petrovitch asked to hold the public hearing during the Jan. 24 meeting at 6 p.m., and the board agreed. 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. County staff and some residents have pointed out concerns about the developments traffic impacts. The applicant has agreed to a range of changes to address those issues, but the proffers have not been officially filed with the Board of Supervisors. In other business, the board unanimously approved $5.9 million in school system carryover funds and a water and sewer bond sale. The biggest portion of the school system funding ($3.1 million) will go toward a renovation project for Spotsylvania Middle School. Another $ 1 million will go toward covering increased costs for transporting special needs students. The other $1.7 million will be used to pay for increased utility costs, including electricity and fuel. Schools Superintendent Mark Taylor said the expected cost for the middle school is over budget and the renovation project might have to be scaled back. He said the school system will put the project out for bid soon, with work possibly starting in the summer. After a short public hearing, the board unanimously approved a water and sewer bond sale that amounted to $68.1 million. The bulk of the funds ($48.6 million) will pay for sewer improvements. Most of the remaining funds ($18.2 million) will pay for water system improvements. The remaining funds will cover other general system improvements and bond issuance costs. By Azernews Fatima Hasanova The sending of UN peacekeepers to Karabakh is up to Baku and Yerevan, Spokesperson for the Russian president Dmitriy Peskov told reporters on January 10 "The topic of sending UN peacekeepers to Karabakh has been on the agenda more than once, but any missions can only be involved with the consent of both sides - both Baku and Yerevan," said Peskov. Earlier, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan suggested that if Russia "is unable to fulfill its obligations," it might ask the UN Security Council to send a multinational mission to Karabakh. When asked about the discussions between the leaders of Russia and Armenia on this issue, Peskov reported on ongoing negotiations at various levels. "There are constant contacts at the working, at various levels. Of course, this topic has been repeatedly on the agenda. But it is clear that any missions can be sent only with the consent of both sides to the conflict," the spokesperson said. 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. A peaceful rally of Azerbaijans non-governmental organizations (NGO) on the Lachin-Khankandi road has been going on for over a month. Meanwhile, Yerevan regarded this as a provocation on the part of Baku, which is aimed at creating a humanitarian catastrophe in Karabakh. As Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated at a government meeting, food shortages began in Karabakh due to the blockade. On December 14, Armenia applied to the European Court of Human Rights with a demand to oblige Azerbaijan to unblock the Lachin road. In turn, the Azerbaijani media continues to disseminate information and footage of the free movement of vehicles along the Lachin-Khankandi road. Months after Gov. Glenn Youngkin tapped them to work on abortion legislation, Del. Kathy Byron, R- Bedford, and Sen. Steve Newman, R-Lynchburg, filed bills to ban most of the procedures after 15 weeks of gestation. Physicians who violate the law could be charged with a Class 4 felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $100,000 fine. Delegate Kathy Byron made good on Governor Glenn Youngkins promise to try to ban abortion in Virginia by introducing this proposed legislation, said Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia president Jamie Lockhart in a statement before Newman's bill was filed. She added that the proposed ban would hurt Virginians and put politicians where they dont belong: in control of peoples private medical decisions. In keeping with Youngkin's position Byron's bill and Newman's include exceptions for rape, incest and when the physician determines that continuing the pregnancy "will result in the death of the woman or substantially and irreversibly impair one or more of such woman's major bodily functions, not including psychological or emotional conditions." Organizations that oppose abortion celebrated Byrons bill. Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of SBA Pro-Life America thanked Byron, Sen. Steve Newman, R-Lynchburg, and Youngkin in a release Wednesday. We are ready to fight to protect babies from the pain of abortion and lawmakers will have to tell the voters where they stand, she wrote. Republicans hold a 52-48 edge in the House of Delegates and Democrats hold a 22-18 edge in the state Senate after flipping a Senate seat Tuesday night in a special election in Virginia Beach. House Speaker Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah, said this week that with divided control of the legislative chambers he does not expect substantive abortion measures to pass the legislature this year. Youngkin named Byron and Newman to work on abortion legislation alongside Del. Margaret Ransone, R-Westmoreland and Sen. Siobahn Dunnavant, R-Henrico. The Byron and Newman bills are among a handful of measures aimed at restricting or banning abortions. With the overturn of Roe vs. Wade, which federally protected access to the procedure for 49 years, states nationwide are seeking or already enacting bans and restrictions. All 140 legislative seats are up for election in November. Though there might not be movement on abortion restrictions this session, by 2024 there could be, pending the election results. Thats why Democratic legislators are proposing a constitutional amendment that could protect abortion access. A proposed constitutional amendment must pass both legislative chambers in consecutive years, with an election in between before appearing as on ballots in a statewide referendum. Such an amendment appears unlikely to pass with Republicans in control of the House. Meantime, Senate Democrats say they are holding the line to block abortion bills that clear the House. When the General Assembly short session begins today, abortion is going to be one of the most-discussed topics. We dont expect much to happen this year, mainly because Democrats control the Senate, and they are not likely to go along with Gov. Glenn Youngkins efforts to further restrict abortion in the state. What we will see, however, is the opening salvo in what promises to be a tense debate over the issue leading up to the 2023 elections. Redistricting has created a volatile situation in the General Assembly, as Mark Rozell explains in a commentary for the Richmond TimesDispatch. The Virginia Supreme Court, he wrote, redrew state legislative and congressional lines without regard to incumbents residences. It created 23 new House districts and 11 Senate districts in which no legislator lived. This means that when the General Assembly reconvenes in 2024, its membership will look radically different, and its anyones guess which party will hold power. Make no mistake, abortion is on the ballot this November. And its critical that the General Assembly reflect the voices of the majority of Virginians who support the right of women to control their own health care. Failure to do so will have devastating consequences for women in Virginia. We know this because of the consequences already observed in states that for years have been restricting womens health care rights. The Turnaway Study by researchers at the University of California San Francisco has done the best job of chronicling the damage to women who are denied the right to an abortion. This 10-year longitudinal study of 1,000 women who had either been denied an abortion or gone through with one, found that: Women who were denied an abortion were more likely to experience serious complications from the end of pregnancy, including eclampsia and death; more likely to stay tethered to abusive partners; and more likely to experience poor physical health for years after the pregnancy, including chronic pain and gestational hypertension, among other negative outcomes. Women who had an abortion were not more likely than those denied the procedure to have depression, anxiety, or suicidal ideation; and 95% of women report that having the abortion was the right decision for them five years after the procedure. Other studies found that women who are forced to carry unwanted fetuses often lack access to paid parental leave and affordable child care. In short, being forced to have children creates even more hardship for these women. And then there is the health of the pregnant women themselves. The United States already has the highest maternal death rate of any industrialized nation, and Black women die at a rate three times that of white women. Limiting abortion will only drive these numbers up, as life and death decisions hinge not on whats best for the mother, but whether the doctor and their hospital will be sued, or worse. In states with restrictive abortion laws prior to the Dobbs decision, these nightmare situations were already playing out. Heres the other reason to ensure that abortion stays safe and legal in Virginia: while Virginians overwhelmingly support a womans access to abortion, theres a paradox. The same poll shows that 51% say they would support a 15-week ban. Wason Center Research Director Rebecca BromleyTrujillo told Axios she reads the results in the context of broader fears about complete bans on abortion. Juxtaposed to those extreme stances, she says a 15-week ban could seem like the moderate take of the moment. Except its not. Abortions have been falling steadily in Virginia since at least 2009, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, from 17 out of 1,000 women age 1544 in 2009, to 9.2 in 2020. And the vast majority 97.5% of these abortions already occur at or before 15 weeks. By putting an abortion ban on the table, Youngkin is opening the door for the General Assembly to pass more-restrictive measures, up to a total ban, which some members of the General Assembly support. Would Youngkin sign a total abortion ban bill? We have little doubt that he would. Womens health care should be up to women. Voters must understand just how much is at stake in November. MANHATTAN, Kan. Cassidy Hartig has always had a heart for helping others with her talents. She is now able to serve people in places ranging from Malawi to Nicaragua through her involvement in a college organization. Hartig was elected president of the Engineers Without Borders (EWB) organization at Kansas State University in December. The Conestoga graduate will oversee the 44-member group throughout 2023. She said she was excited to lead fellow students on a series of domestic and international projects during the year. I am absolutely thrilled to be the new EWB-KSU president, Hartig said. Our chapter is part of a national, nonprofit organization dedicated to engineering solutions for local and international problems. Working with this team of volunteers devoted to leaving a lasting impact with their college careers is an incredible privilege, and I am eager to kick this year off. Kansas State students founded the universitys chapter of EWB in 2014. The organization has grown over the past nine years to become one of the top EWB groups in the Midwest. Kansas State members coordinated the second-annual Kansas Collegiate EWB Conference in 2022. Wichita State and University of Kansas students joined Hartig and her fellow Wildcats at the conference. Hartig learned about Engineers Without Borders during a campus event in Manhattan. She was eager to join the group but wondered what type of role she could play without having an engineering background. EWB students welcomed her with open arms after she expressed interest in becoming a new member. They said her speaking, writing and leadership skills would be valuable in many ways for the group. Hartig was valedictorian of the Class of 2020 and participated in speech, play production, marching band, concert band, pep band, volleyball, National Honor Society, Quiz Bowl and Future Business Leaders of America at Conestoga. I found EWB through one of K-States activity carnivals and was immediately drawn to the wonderful members and their passion for making a difference, Hartig said. Still, I was quick to tell them I wasnt who they were looking for. After all, engineers is in the title, and my English and pre-law majors are a far cry from that. I soon learned there was a lot more to do outside of designing, and my communication and writing skills were greatly appreciated. One of the chapters top goals in 2023 will be preparing for two major international engineering service projects. The first project involves designing three classrooms for 610 students attending a community school in Ifumbo, Malawi. The Wildcats will build a water well for residents of El Cascabel, Nicaragua, as part of their second project. Hartig said Kansas State students are looking forward to helping people in both countries. As president, I will guide the chapter as we continue to raise funds for the designs, begin travel plans and work to complete our projects, Hartig said. While I am not one of the seven to eight members traveling to Malawi or Nicaragua, I am working closely with the teams to ensure they are ready to fly this summer. The work never stopped these past few years, but with our organizations pandemic travel restrictions just lifting, we are taking our first trips since January 2020. Students began working with Malawi residents this past fall. Malawi is a landlocked country in the southern part of Africa. More than 80 percent of the countrys 20 million residents are employed in agriculture-based sectors of the economy. The town of Ifumbo is located in the northern part of the country near the border with Tanzania. The Kaseye River is one of the major sources of water for the town, which has a school and hospital near each other on its eastern edge. The Malawi project just opened this fall, so this trip is just the beginning of our partnership with the community, Hartig said. We will take a few more trips to the country and complete several phases of work before the project is finished. We are overjoyed to meet the community members for the first time face-to-face. Kansas State students are also planning to provide clean drinking water for El Cascabel residents. El Cascabel is a town of 250 people located in a forested area near the city of Somoto in Nicaragua. EWB members have collected information about the underground water sources and topsoil structure in the area. They will use these details to construct a water well that will help people. El Cascabel residents currently rely on 16 hand-dug wells and a nearby river for water. Our second travel group is finishing the well design this semester and will head to Nicaragua for the implementation trip, Hartig said. We are thrilled beyond measure to help this community finally achieve clean drinking water for all. EWB students are raising money for both projects this semester. They are also raising funds throughout the month of January to buy tables and chairs for a preschool in El Cascabel. They are planning to bring the new furniture for the local school when they install the water well. Hartig said she would encourage people of all ages to take leaps of faith and try new experiences in their lives. She said that has allowed her to share her helping heart with people across the world. I definitely recommend jumping out of your comfort zone and looking for opportunities in the least likely places, Hartig said. I almost brushed off the chance to help generations of people in other countries and meet some of my closest friends just because I didnt think I was the right fit. 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, Nebraska. 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 080821-owh-new-genoaschool-ar08.JPG 080821-owh-new-genoaschool-ar02.JPG 080821-owh-new-genoaschool-ar09.JPG 080821-owh-new-genoaschool-ar10.JPG flags 080821-owh-new-genoaschool-ar06.JPG 080821-owh-new-genoaschool-ar05.JPG 080821-owh-new-genoaschool-ar07.JPG 080821-owh-new-genoaschool-ar04.JPG 080821-owh-new-genoaschool-ar15.JPG 080821-owh-new-genoaschool-ar13.JPG 080821-owh-new-genoaschool-ar14.JPG 080821-owh-new-genoaschool-ar12.JPG 080821-owh-new-genoaschool-ar03.JPG 080821-owh-new-genoaschool-ar01.JPG 053022-owh-new-genoa-ar07.JPG 102922-owh-new-genoa-ar06.JPG 053022-owh-new-genoa-ar01.JPG 102922-owh-new-genoa-ar11.JPG 102922-owh-new-genoa-ar03.JPG 053022-owh-new-genoa-ar08.JPG 102922-owh-new-genoa-ar02.JPG 053022-owh-new-genoa-ar11.JPG 102922-owh-new-genoa-ar08.JPG 102922-owh-new-genoa-ar07.JPG 102922-owh-new-genoa-ar01.JPG 053022-owh-new-genoa-ar03.JPG 053022-owh-new-genoa-ar09.JPG 102922-owh-new-genoa-ar05.JPG 102922-owh-new-genoa-ar09.JPG 053022-owh-new-genoa-ar02.JPG 102922-owh-new-genoa-ar04.JPG 053022-owh-new-genoa-ar05.JPG 053022-owh-new-genoa-ar04.JPG 053022-owh-new-genoa-ar06.JPG 053022-owh-new-genoa-ar10.JPG 102922-owh-new-genoa-ar10.JPG Search dogs identify possible site of lost Genoa Indian School cemetery The dark history of Nebraska's Genoa Indian school Search team narrows in on possible site of Genoa Indian School cemetery Deb Hart remembers the grateful man. He was a senior citizen and a widower living in a rural community. His home had a leaky roof and he needed new windows, too. Thats where Rebuilding Together, Platte Valley East, was able to help and the man was very appreciative. He was so thankful and he got little tears in his eyes and said, I dont know what I would have ever done if you guys werent around, said Hart, who handles client services. He still comes in and visits. Rebuilding Together, PVE, is a local affiliate of a national, nonprofit organization that works with community and other partners to help improve the homes and lives of low-income homeowners. Recently, the local nonprofit received a $60,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture Housing Preservation grant to provide housing rehabilitation and repair services for people living in Dodge and Cuming counties. These particular funds are intended for rural communities and doesnt include Fremont, because this grant is not meant for metropolitan statistical areas, Hart said. The USDA grant is designed for communities with 10,000 or fewer people. The local affiliate, which has a Fremont office, serves people in Dodge and Cuming counties and includes towns such as North Bend, Hooper, Winslow, Scribner, Dodge, West Point and Bancroft. Brad Wiese, executive director of Rebuilding Together PVE, said the nonprofits board also has voted to make its service area include a 30-mile radius surrounding Fremont, which includes towns such as Arlington, Blair and Tekamah. It excludes the Omaha-metro area, which has its own services. Through Rebuilding Together, low- to moderate-income people who qualify can benefit from a host of projects, including roof replacement or repair, replacement of weak or unsafe floors and porches, bathroom and kitchen repairs that enhance safety accessibility, critical plumbing and electrical repairs and a host of other situations that may result in unsafe living conditions. The nonprofit also installs wheelchair ramps for qualified applicants. Hart said seniors, veterans and low-income families can benefit from the nonprofits work. The nonprofit can receive other funds to help with projects in Fremont, whereas the USDA grant is specifically for rural areas, Hart said. Were thrilled to have it, Hart said of the USDA grant. The rural areas are a lot of times neglected and thats where a lot of our seniors are that age in place. The grant will help keep those folks at home. Nursing homes and assisted living places have closed. We want to make sure those folks can stay in their homes. Kate Bolz, USDA state director for Nebraska, said the USDA is investing more than $1 million in housing, community facilities and higher education projects that will improve the lives of rural Nebraskans in small towns, tribal communities and those impacted by disasters. USDA Rural Development is committed to ensuring that people living in rural Nebraska have equitable access to the infrastructure and economic opportunities they deserve, Bolz said in a news release, Thats why Im proud to announce these projects that will have a meaningful impact and improve quality of life in communities across the state. Wiese said any grants the nonprofit receives mean it can help more people. Its so expensive, keeping a house maintained, especially with the cost of materials now, it becomes more and more difficult for income-challenged homeowners to maintain the homes they own, so this allows us to keep people in their homes, Wiese said. Wiese points out other benefits. It also helps communities by maintaining property values and maintaining properties that may end up being a little more run down or dilapidated so it really assists us with community revitalization, Wiese said. Grant funds help people with income challenges maintain an asset (their home), which can help keep families out of poverty. It gives them an asset they can grow some wealth for themselves or future generations, Wiese said. Wiese also said the nonprofit receives a grant through the Federal Home Loan Bank, in cooperation with First National Bank of Omaha (FNBO). FNBO, a member of Federal Home Loan Bank, works with Rebuilding Together so it can receive almost $600,000 in project funding. The agency learned in December that it received this funding. That helps with project funding, but it doesnt necessarily help to keep the doors open, Wiese noted, however. Weve got almost $750,000 in project funding, but if we dont have money to pay staff and to maintain an office then we cant use any of that money. Thats where donations from local entities help, along with other grants for which it can apply to receive program funding. Local support helps us to maintain the costs that these project grants dont pay for, Wiese said. Those whod like to donate may do so by visiting rebuildingtogetherpve.org. The site has a donate button. Contributors also can donate through Venmo, an American mobile payment service, at @rtpve or send a check to the Rebuilding Together office at 445 E. First St. in Fremont. Wiese said the nonprofit is taking applications from qualified homeowners and is also always in need of volunteer groups to help with projects. In the meantime, Hart continues to appreciate the stories of grateful homeowners like the older man who got tears in his eyes when expressing thanks for the help he received. Its those stories that make the job worth it, Hart said. More information about Rebuilding Together, PVE, can be found at 402-727-7047 or info@rebuildingtogetherpve.org. After industry backlash and bipartisan condemnation, Consumer Product Safety Commission Chair Alexander Hoehn-Saric said on Wednesday his agency is not looking to ban gas stoves. In a Jan. 9 interview with Bloomberg, Commissioner Richard Trumka, a Democrat, said the independent agency would consider a ban on gas stoves in order to address indoor air pollution, referring to it as a hidden hazard. However, in a statement acknowledging Trumkas comments had received considerable attention, Hoehn-Saric, also a Democrat, said a ban is not forthcoming. Research indicates that emissions from gas stoves can be hazardous, and the CPSC is looking for ways to reduce related indoor air quality hazards, Hoehn-Saric said. But to be clear, I am not looking to ban gas stoves and the CPSC has no proceeding to do so. This spring, the CPSC is expected to solicit public comment for information on how to make the appliances safer. Gas stoves are estimated to be installed in at least 40 million U.S. residences. The comments from Trumka, previously a staffer for the House Oversight Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy, drew immediate pushback from lawmakers. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Joe Manchin III, D-West Virginia, said in a statement that any regulation would be a recipe for disaster. The federal government has no business telling American families how to cook their dinner, said Manchin. If this is the greatest concern that the Consumer Product Safety Commission has for American consumers, I think we need to reevaluate the commission. House Energy and Commerce Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Washington, said it was the latest in a long line of power grabs. It is not about public safety, said Rodgers. It is about telling the American people the federal government knows best and will decide what kind of car they can drive, how they can heat their house, and now how theyre allowed to cook food for their families. Also on Wednesday, Republican Reps. Bill Huizenga of Michigan and Alex X. Mooney of West Virginia introduced legislation that would prohibit any federal agency from proposing, implementing or finalizing a rule that bans or restricts gas-powered stoves or cooktops. Americans should have the ability to choose the most affordable and most available way to cook food in their own home, Huizenga said in a statement accompanying the draft bill. It is absolutely ridiculous how out of control and out of touch the nanny state in Washington has become. While some treated the ban as imminent, Trumka had previously pushed for greater regulation of gas stoves with little success. In October, he called for the agency to direct staff to initiate rulemaking pertaining to gas stoves, but that proposed amendment to the agencys fiscal 2023 operating plan did not receive support from any other commissioner. He then introduced a second amendment calling for staff to issue a request for information to receive public input. Gas dangers Studies have found that gas stoves emit significant levels of nitrogen oxide, fine particulate matter and other pollution that, without proper ventilation, can raise indoor concentrations to unsafe levels. A study led by the environmental think tank RMI that was published last month in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health found that gas stoves are responsible for 12.7 percent of childhood asthma cases nationwide, a similar risk to exposure to secondhand smoke. After the study was published, Sen. Cory Booker, D-New Jersey, and Rep. Donald S. Beyer Jr., D-Virginia, led a letter to Hoehn-Saric encouraging the commission to consider additional regulations, including that gas stoves be sold with range hoods that meet mandatory performance standards. The American Gas Association has pushed back against the conclusions of this study, arguing the researchers ignored relevant literature and examples of real-life appliance usage, and said the CPSC and other regulators should not rely on the data. Attempts to generate consumer fears with baseless allegations to justify the banning of natural gas is a misguided agenda that will not improve the environment or the health of consumers and would saddle vulnerable populations with significant costs, the AGA said in a statement. Debates over the future of gas stoves and other gas-powered appliances have raged on the state and local levels in recent years. Some liberal jurisdictions have instituted bans on new natural gas hookups as part of a wider push towards electrification in response to climate change. However, in response many Republican-led states have instituted their own laws that prohibit localities from implementing such regulations. 5 most common causes of reported house fires 5 most common causes of reported house fires #5. Smoking materials #4. Intentional #3. Electrical distribution and lighting equipment #2. Heating equipment #1. Cooking On this version of Hot off the Wire: The latest in a relentless string of California storms is 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. At least 14 people have died since the storms began last week, including two people killed by falling trees. U.S. President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have pledged their resolve to promote prosperity for people through the hemisphere as they opened wide-ranging talks in Mexico City. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has been sworn in as Arkansas' 47th governor and the first woman to hold the office her father once held. Former Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg has been sentenced to five months in jail for dodging taxes. A nursing strike that has disrupted patient care at two of New York Citys largest hospitals has entered its second day. A person familiar with the negotiations says Carlos Correa has agreed to a $200 million, six-year contract that keeps him with the Minnesota Twins after failing to complete deals with the New York Mets and San Francisco Giants. After days of hype and leaks, readers have the chance to judge Prince Harrys book for themselves. Publisher Transworld Penguin Random House said 400,000 hardback, e-book and audio copies of Spare sold in the U.K. as the book went on sale around the world on Tuesday. Connecticuts first round of recreational cannabis sales for adults 21 and older have begun. Twenty-one states have legalized recreational marijuana for adults. The 988 mental health and suicide prevention helpline has quickly expanded its reach in the six months since it launched. It has received just over 2 million calls, texts and chat messages since July. 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? 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. By Trend The interview of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev given to the local TV channels yesterday offered unique insights into how Azerbaijan will proceed in many economic and political aspects in the next years. The Head of State covered numerous topics, which ranged from post-conflict peacebuilding to the future energy policy of Azerbaijan. The topic of the transport policy of Azerbaijan, however, deserves a significantly higher degree of attention for practical and theoretical reasons. The interview with President Aliyev offers a specific understanding of how Azerbaijan perceives transport cooperation, and how it fits into the national policy of the country. Finally, the answers offered by President Ilham Aliyev enable us to conclude on some of the steps taken during the previous years in the context of transport policy, in addition to understanding the reasons that turned the strategy of the Head of State into reality. Why is it relevant? Azerbaijan is located at the crossroads of the two major routes, the Middle Corridor and the North-South Corridor, which offer several unique opportunities to boost the transportation and logistics potential of Azerbaijan, in addition to creating opportunities in other fields. In his interview, President Aliyev noted that the key work to implement the above-mentioned routes is complete. Thus, all of the main activities related to the Middle Corridor and the North-South transport corridor in the territory of Azerbaijan have been completed, the Head of State added. The conclusion of the activities related to infrastructure construction and modernization means that Baku is a part of two major projects, which cater to the interests of different sides. From the political and economic perspective, Azerbaijans role and position in these projects is unquestionably advantageous. First, Azerbaijan will retain its key transportation role despite any regional or global geopolitical turbulence. Should any geopolitical issue with one of the transport routes appear, the other route will become more attractive. Consequently, the demand for the transit opportunities offered by Baku will always be present, due to the integrated nature of the global trade and supply chain. Second, Baku would be able to leverage its global transport role in its foreign policy. Being the centerpiece of two significantly important trade routes will offer Azerbaijan additional opportunities for exploring avenues for mutually beneficial political relations both with regional and global players. Third, Azerbaijan will generate a very diverse infrastructure and specialists in the field of transport. Baku will be able to generate specific know-how, which may be offered to partners from other countries. The above-mentioned elements are not the only benefits, however. It is obvious that Azerbaijan will enjoy certain economic advantages. The individual contribution of these routes to the national economy, however, is a bit challenging to forecast because several factors may impact the degree of their profitability. It is, however, important to remember that these transportation corridors are set up with a long timeframe in mind. Therefore, from an economic standpoint, time is on the side of the countries implementing the transport routes. The success of the transport policy is a key to understanding the national policy approach Two major takeaways in this context are the following. The first takeaway from President Aliyevs interview is that Azerbaijan is a fervent believer in liberal peace-induced economic relations. Consequently, Azerbaijan utilizes friendly relations with regional states to generate trade, as a way to further improve political relations with them. While this may seem trivial, or even irrelevant, this argument is rather flimsy. After all, a country like Armenia is excluded from regional projects due to its inability to have meaningful relations with Azerbaijan. This gives us valid grounds to conclude that Bakus ability to build and sustain solid relations with its neighbors transformed the country into a regional transportation hub. Second, the seeds of the national policy, which have been planted many years ago, start to bear fruit. For the last thirty years, Baku purposefully carried out policies and projects aimed at establishing vital transport connections and building the necessary infrastructure to become integrated into global trade. Now we start seeing Azerbaijan realizing this vision on a larger scale. And looking at the global situation, the transit capabilities of the country will improve significantly in the future, as both North-South and Middle Corridor routes gain traction. We believe that 15 million to 30 million tons of cargo can be transported from the territory of Azerbaijan through the North-South transport corridor alone. This is a very high figure. Currently, all of Azerbaijans transit opportunities make up a small percentage of that. Therefore, the North-South transport corridor is a project that can compete with the Middle Corridor, President Aliyev said. True, Azerbaijan was able to leverage its advantageous geographical location to become the cornerstone of these routes. However, it became possible because of the lasting friendly relationship between Azerbaijan and other nations involved in these projects, as well as Bakus conviction and understanding of the fundamental value of the future role of developing transport networks. We have been implementing projects in the field of transport for many years. The Russia-Ukraine war has enhanced the importance of our work. However, I want to say again that we have been investing in this area for many years, the Head of State noted. The interview of President Ilham Aliyev suggests that the vision of Azerbaijan is being realized entirely, and the future would be bright for the national transportation sector. Orange flooded the Denver City Council chambers Monday during a public hearing on a "wage theft" protection bill. The orange did not belong to fans of Denver Broncos, Clemson Tigers or Tennessee Volunteers, but to Carpenters Local 555 a labor union in Denver. "Wage theft" is pervasive in Denver, according to District 11 Councilwoman Stacie Gilmore. It has cost Denvers accommodations, service, manufacturing, construction and retail workers $728 million annually, Gilmore and District 5 Councilwoman Amanda Sawyer said, citing a report from the Colorado Fiscal Institute. The Colorado Fiscal Institute defines "wage theft" to include nonpayment, underpayment, employee misclassification, deduction violations, and "tipped job abuse." Backers of the proposal argue that it sends a message to workers that the city has their backs. Opponents, meanwhile, say they're skeptical that another regulation solves the issue. Many of the workers who spoke at the public hearing said they experienced wage theft first hand. Some said they confronted the person writing their checks head on, leading to heated or even exchanges where they said they sensed danger. Rejected personalized Colorado license plate requests: NOLUCK One of those workers is Michael Giznel, who said that he took a job three years ago at an apartment complex for a new contractor that a friend of his knew. After one week of work, Ginzel said he showed up to the worksite and found it abandoned. The contractor began dodging his calls and so he decided to speak with him in person, Ginzel said. He came out very startled and very aggressive, and thats when I felt like I was in a dangerous situation, Ginzel testified during the public hearing. So, this ordinance isnt just about doing whats right for the workers, its also about what we need to do to protect the workers from situations that can become hostile. Some people become desperate when theyre not paid for the time they worked, which can cause more hostility, he said. During past meetings, District 2 Councilman Kevin Flynn recalled hearing from employers, contractors and companies concerned about the penalties contained in the bill. Flynn said the solution is simple. Pay your workers every damn cent they earn, he said. Ive read the bill many times and I think Ive found a loophole for them." Many who attended the meeting cheered and whistled in support of the legislation, as council passed the bill unanimously with District 9 Councilwoman Candi CdeBaca voting with a hell yes." Sign up for free: News Alerts Stay in the know on the stories that affect you the most. Sign Up For Free View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters. Mark Thompson, a member of Local 555, said the bill's the passage is significant. Multiple pedestrian versus car crashes kills one, injures four others across Denver This is a very bold statement to the industry, to the working community and to workers that the City of Denver has our backs, Thompson said. This is huge, and the hope is that surrounding communities in the state of Colorado are going to see what was done here and follow suit. Thompson, who has been a carpenter for 35 years, said he started when he was 19-years-old after stumbling across an apprenticeship opportunity. Since then, carpentry has put food on his table, and he said hes grateful to the industry. Dan Ridgeway, another member of Local 555 who has been in the business for 49 years, said the bill will benefit the city even if that wasnt brought up during the hearing. They mentioned the wages, but what about taxes? He said. The citys hemorrhaging a huge amount of money on all these guys working for cash and not getting paid. Jessica Kostelnik, a senior government affairs manager for the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, said her group opposes the bill due to lingering concerns. Generally, we remain concerned about how this legislation will layer compliance with the Colorado wage theft law, as well as federal legislation, she said. As an organization, we are always skeptical of whether a new regulation is the right answer, especially before theres ample evidence to suggest that existing regulation is not going to be adequate. The chamber also said the bill's potential effect on small businesses is unknown. National Western Stock Show parade attracts thousands; longhorns lead the way Kostelnik said the chamber is looking forward to participating in the rule making process and expressed thanks to sponsors of the bill, despite the group's respectful opposition. After the meeting, Thompson looked to the future of carpentry and construction in Denver with optimism, saying people will see both as a good opportunity again. He hopes wages in Colorado become more competitive with other states, saying the comparison is not even close. He also took time to reflect on his 35 years in carpentry. "I knew I would never be rich being a carpenter," he said. "But I knew I should be able to live with dignity and provide for my family, and I have." Update: As of approximately 7 p.m. Wednesday evening, the Comcast service interruption has been resolved. El Paso County is experiencing an outage of comcast services due to an act of vandalism to the Comcast fiber located west of Memorial Park. Comcast is working with local law enforcement to investigate the incident. Outage reports stretch from Fountain to Manitou; Manitou Springs District 14 announcing a delayed start due to internet and phone outages. They have since instituted a cancellation. Approximately 20,000 residential and business customers were affected by the outage. Crews have been sent to the site and are working to repair the damaged fiber. There is currently no estimated time of repair available. Comcast reports that customers enrolled to receive automated messages have been notified directly and will continue to receive updates. Customers can also check their Xfinity app for updates regarding the outage. Colorado Springs voters will decide in April whether to extend a dedicated sales tax for trails, open space and parks. The City Council unanimously forwarded the question Tuesday so voters can decide whether to extend a 0.1% tax until 2045. The dedicated tax of 1 cent per $10 is set to expire in 2025. The majority of the proceeds of the tax are split between parks, trails and open space, with open space receiving 60% of funds. Colorado Springs will set aside 75% of the funds in the open space category for acquisition, and 25% will be set aside for stewardship. The dedicated tax raises about $9.5 million each year and it has funded the purchase of large parcels, such as Stratton Open Space. The city's commitment to set aside 75% of the open space category represents a compromise between parks advocates and city administration that advocates lauded during the meeting. "This measure has my wholehearted support," said Kent Obee, who has worked on numerous parks issues. Obee and others had concerns about an attempt to extend and increase the dedicated tax in November because they worried the new language would erode how much money was available for open space acquisition. The ballot question failed. Sign up for free: Springs AM Update Your morning rundown of the latest news from Colorado Springs and around the country overnight and the stories to follow throughout the day delivered to your inbox each evening. Sign Up View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters. At the meeting, most speakers supported the extension of the tax and pledged their support in the coming campaign. Steve Harris, a member of the city's parks advisory board, praised the question for its simplicity and said it had enthusiastic support from members of the board. "I think this will actually pass," he said. Resident Dana Duggan called for a breakdown of the spending of the tax so residents could more fully understand how much of the tax is being spent on maintenance versus acquisition. She also called for a provision that ensures protections in the ballot can't be changed later. Obee also noted that money for parks from the city's general sales taxes has never recovered from deep cuts during the Great Recession and that is a separate issue from the ballot question that needs to be addressed. A 2021 report found the parks department had a $270 million backlog after years of insufficient funding. The backlog is a priority for the new Parks Recreation and Cultural Services Director Britt Haley. On Tuesday Joe Roybal was officially sworn in as El Paso County's 29th sheriff, the first new face in the position in eight years, while familiar faces were also sworn into various other county offices. "My promise to you is that we will keep El Paso County safe for us, for our parents, and (we'll) hand it off to our children much better than we found it," Roybal said to a full crowd of law enforcement officials, elected representatives from across the Pikes Peak region, friends and family at New Life Church in northern Colorado Springs. Roybal, who has been a member of the El Paso County Sheriff's Office since 1995, succeeds former El Paso County Sheriff Bill Elder, who served in the role since 2014. Undersheriff Jeff Kramer, and the Sheriff's Office's sworn members and professional staff, also swore their oaths. They joined several other judges and county elected officials who were sworn in at a separate ceremony Tuesday morning at Centennial Hall in downtown Colorado Springs. Commissioners Holly Williams and Cami Bremer officially began serving their second terms on the Board of County Commissioners, representing the first and fifth districts, respectively. El Paso County Coroner and Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Leon Kelly and Surveyor Richard Mariotti were both sworn in to serve their second terms as several other officials took on new roles. Mark Flutcher, the county's former deputy assessor, officially became county assessor; Steve Schleiker, previously El Paso County assessor, took the oath of office as clerk and recorder; and Chuck Broerman, the county's former clerk and recorder, was sworn in as county treasurer. In a brief speech Tuesday, Roybal reflected on his childhood growing up as a "young Hispanic kid" in Colorado Springs' Stratton Meadows neighborhood who is "now elected sheriff of El Paso County." He thanked his family and wife for their support in his pursuit of that goal. In interviews after the ceremony, Roybal said he plans to address legislative challenges "out of the gate" in his tenure, including Colorado's controversial red-flag gun law that allows law enforcement officials and private residents to petition a court for permission to confiscate guns from people considered a danger to themselves or others. The mass shooting in late November at LGBTQ+ nightclub Club Q in Colorado Springs renewed debate over the contentious law on a national level. El Paso County officials did not pursue a red-flag order against the suspect in the shooting, Anderson Lee Aldrich, who was arrested in 2021 over a bomb threat that forced residents in Lorson Ranch, neighborhood southeast of Colorado Springs in unincorporated El Paso County, to evacuate from their homes for about three hours. Sign up for free: Springs AM Update Your morning rundown of the latest news from Colorado Springs and around the country overnight and the stories to follow throughout the day delivered to your inbox each evening. Sign Up View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters. No formal charges were pursued in that case. In a press conference in December, Fourth Judicial District Attorney Michael Allen said sheriff's officials had recovered guns at the scene of that incident in 2021, which were never returned to Aldrich. Allen criticized media and politicians who made statements on the Club Q shooting, whom he said claimed the District Attorney's Office didn't do enough to keep Aldrich off the streets. Allen has repeatedly refuted that assertion. Roybal said Tuesday it was his responsibility to balance safety with protecting people's rights. "It's my job to work with legislatures (and) lawmakers to keep the community safe and protecting (sic) those constitutional rights. I believe we can strike a balance and I hope level heads come together to solve that problem," he said. Roybal said he also plans to make good on his campaign promises to add new programs and incentives to bolster the number and quality of deputies in the department. Law enforcement has faced workforce losses and struggled to recruit and retain staff due to the COVID-19 pandemic and recent fracturing of the community's trust in law enforcement, he said. Roybal said his office will soon announce details surrounding the launch of a new program designed to "attract a wider workforce." He also said he's identified money in the department's budget to increase deputy salaries. Inmate and mental health care in the jail is "absolutely a priority," the sheriff said. Health care at the facility has been a constant challenge, and the Sheriff's Office has recently weathered criticism as it saw one of the state's largest coronavirus outbreaks among county jails and the office announced a spate of inmate deaths in 2022. Roybal also said he plans to implement a new jail program similar to the department's Behavioral Health Connect (BHCON) unit, which pairs a deputy and a licensed behavioral health clinician for coordinated responses in the community. "When one of our citizens (is) in crisis inside the facility, we have those personnel go there to hopefully de-escalate and prevent the use of force inside the jail," Roybal said. Calling his election as sheriff "a dream come true," Roybal said Tuesday's ceremony was "surreal." "For this to come to fruition, it means the world," he said. An El Paso County judge on Wednesday heard from attorneys representing former El Paso County Sheriff Bill Elder wanting to dismiss a contempt allegation against their client for allegedly leaking sealed document to the media. The allegations raised by the defense attorneys for Anderson Aldrich, the alleged Club Q shooter, were in regard to Aldrich's 2021 bomb threat case where Aldrich allegedly threatened to detonate a bomb and told their grandparents that they wanted to be "the next mass shooter." Aldrich's defense attorney Joseph Archambault argued that Elder, or someone working for the El Paso County Sheriff's Office, must have leaked sealed documents to the press while the seal order for the case was still active. In August 2022, Aldrich's case was dismissed and sealed by an El Paso County judge because Aldrich's mother and grandparents ignored subpoenas and refused to testify, according to 4th Judicial District Attorney Michael Allen. Archambault requested that Judge Robin Chittum set for a show-cause hearing to further investigate holding Elder in contempt of the court. Nathan Whitney, an attorney representing Elder and the El Paso County Sheriff's Office, argued that the motion filed by Aldrich's defense did not show sufficient proof that Elder or the sheriff's office were specifically to blame for information being leaked to media. Whitney also argued that because the sealing order had been lifted, there is no longer any jurisdiction to hold anyone in contempt for leaking documents that are no longer under a seal order. After hearing arguments from both parties, Chittum stated that while she agreed that "someone" had violated the sealing order from the court the defense had not shown sufficient proof that Elder or the El Paso County Sheriff's Office were specifically responsible, and thus could not be held in contempt. Sign up for free: Springs AM Update Your morning rundown of the latest news from Colorado Springs and around the country overnight and the stories to follow throughout the day delivered to your inbox each evening. Sign Up View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters. "This is a strange inquiry," Chittum said in reference to the motions filed by the defense. "I have never heard a contempt request that is so gray." As a result, Chittum denied the defense's request for a show cause hearing and approved the request from the attorneys representing Elder and the El Paso County Sheriff's Office to dismiss the motion to hold Elder in contempt of the court. Whitney confirmed to The Gazette following the hearing that there is no more pending litigation regarding contempt in Aldrich's 2021 bomb threat case. On Friday afternoon Aldrich will return to Colorado's 4th District Court to for a motions hearing on the 2022 shooting at the LGBTQ+ nightclub Club Q in Colorado Springs. Aldrich currently faces 305 criminal charges for allegedly killing five patrons of Club Q and injuring nearly two dozen more on Nov. 19, 2022. The Gazette reported on Monday that Allen filed a motion to add 12 new criminal charges to Aldrich's case. Allen proposed the new charges in connection with two victims who survived the attack. The amended charges include attempted murder, attempted assault and bias-motivated crime against each of the victims. The total charge count would rise to 317. The original charges included 10 counts of first-degree murder, 86 counts of attempted first-degree murder and 48 counts of bias motivated crime. Aldrich will have their preliminary hearing for the Club Q shooting next month on Feb. 22. Aldrich is currently in the El Paso County jail with no possibility of posting bond. Airports across the country are experiencing flight delays and cancellations following a computer outage, and Colorado Springs Municipal Airport is no exception. Between inbound and outbound planes, 16 flights at the airport were delayed, airport officials said. No cancellations are expected. The snowball of delays and cancellations nationwide was the result the Federal Aviation Administration issuing of a grounding order after a computer outage effected the necessary Notice to Air Missions System or NOTAMs. NOTAMs alerts pilots of potential adverse flight impacts such as runway construction or potential weather hazards, and is necessary for pilots to fly safely. Sign up for free: Springs AM Update Your morning rundown of the latest news from Colorado Springs and around the country overnight and the stories to follow throughout the day delivered to your inbox each evening. Sign Up View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters. The malfunction has impacted nearly all flights of passenger airlines and shippers. Flights restarted operations at the Colorado Springs Airport by 7 a.m., Dana Schield, senior public communications specialist for the airport, said. "Everything has resumed and now were just playing catch up," Schield said. A Denver International Airport spokesperson said the outage affected more than 60 flights out of the airport this morning. According to flight tracking site FlightAware, 62 flights were cancelled and 500 flights were delayed out of DIA as of 10 a.m. Jessica Van Dyne and Kyla Pierce contributed to this report. By Trend The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is assisting Turkmenistan in developing its capacity to work with refugees, UNHCR Representative for Central Asia, Hans Friedrich Schodder told Trend. "Since 1995, the UNHCR has been assisting Turkmenistan in developing its capacity to receive refugees, determine their status, and provide assistance, protection and integration. Thus, Turkmenistan has accepted, protected and integrated thousands of refugees, mainly from Afghanistan," the UNHCR representative said. He noted that the organization works closely with the Turkmen Government to support the eradication of statelessness, and also added that for this purpose, in January 2019, Turkmenistan approved a National Action Plan to End Statelessness. "UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is mandated by the UN General Assembly to support and monitor states protection, humanitarian assistance, and local integration of refugees. The organization is also instructed to provide support to both Turkmenistan and other countries in identifying, preventing and reducing statelessness, as well as in protecting stateless persons," the representative of the organization added. By Mimosa Spencer PARIS (Reuters) - LVMH Chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault has reshuffled top management at his luxury goods empire, tightening his family's grip with the appointment of his daughter Delphine to lead Christian Dior, and naming a new boss for Louis Vuitton. Pietro Beccari, who has been the head of Dior since 2018, is moving to replace long-time Louis Vuitton CEO Michael Burke, 65. "Both are well respected; logical promotions within the group," said Credit Suisse analyst Natasha Brilliant. Shares in LVMH, Europe's most valuable company at about 380 billion euros ($408 billion), rose as much as 2% to hit new highs. Shares in luxury companies have been boosted recently by the easing of COVID-19 restrictions in China, a key market. Delphine Arnault, 47, has worked at Louis Vuitton for the past decade alongside Burke and previously spent a dozen years at Dior. Burke, who is Bernard Arnault's longest-serving lieutenant and has also been chairman of jewellery label Tiffany, will continue to work alongside the Arnault senior, the company said in a statement, without detailing his new role. One of the fashion industry's most influential executives, Burke oversaw soaring growth at Louis Vuitton, the world's largest luxury label, playing a key role for example in elevating street styles to the realm of luxury in recent years. Beccari, meanwhile, who also previously led LVMH-owned label Fendi, increased sales at Christian Dior three-fold to 6.6 billion euros during his tenure, according to estimates from Citi. LVMH does not provide a breakdown of annual sales of its brands. RESORT STORES, STAR-STUDDED FASHION SHOWS Beccari pushed the label into new products, including beach accessories such as surfboards and hammocks, bringing them closer to clients by setting up temporary retail outlets in resort locations including Mykonos, Greece, and Santa Barbara, California. The executive steered a massive overhaul of the label's historic Avenue Montaigne address in Paris, transforming it into a hulking flagship with restaurants and a museum, reviving foot traffic in the neighbourhood. Dior catwalk presentations in Paris, which are attended by global stars such as K-pop singer Jisoo and Rihanna, draw crowds of screaming fans, and the brand lit up social networks with a show from menswear designer Kim Jones in Egypt last month, with the pyramids serving as a backdrop. Bernard Arnault is often spotted in the front row, flanked by his children. "Succession planning in strategic roles has been instrumental to the success of LVMH's key brands over the past 20 years, hence today's moves are significant," said Thomas Chauvet, analyst with Citi. SUCCESSION PLANS The announced changes, which come into effect in February, follow the recent appointment of Antoine Arnault, Bernard Arnault's eldest son, to head the family's holding company. The tightening of the family's hold on its empire also comes amid a wave of high-profile successions in other fashion companies in Europe, including at Prada and Zara owner Inditex. Bernard Arnault, 73, has shown no signs he plans to step down soon and the company last year raised the maximum age of its CEO to 80 from 75. All of his children hold management positions at brands in the group, carefully groomed by senior executives as they move up the ranks. Of the five, Delpine Arnault has been most involved in fashion, as head of the group's fashion prize for upcoming designers. Delphine and Antoine, 45, are children from their father's first marriage. Alexandre Arnault, 30, is in charge of products and communication at Tiffany, while Frederic Arnault, 28, is CEO of another group brand, TAG Heuer. The youngest child, Jean Arnault, 24, heads marketing and product development for Louis Vuitton's watches division. As part of the management changes, the company is also folding Tiffany into the watches and jewellery division, under management of Stephane Bianchi. GRAPHIC: LVMH shares sparkle - https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/dwpkdaarovm/LVMH.PNG ($1 = 0.9308 euros) (Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Mimosa Spencer; editing by Mark Potter and Jason Neely) By Trend Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had a telephone conversation with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, according to a statement by the Turkish Communications Directorate, Trend reports citing Turkish media. During the telephone conversation, the parties discussed the state of Turkish-Iraqi relations and regional issues. Erdogan expressed confidence in the further expansion of comprehensive cooperation between Ankara and Baghdad, both at the bilateral and regional levels. Underlining that for Turkiye, Iraq's peace, stability, and territorial integrity were as important as its own, Erdogan pointed to the need to "end the existence of the PKK terrorist organization in Iraq for the country's national security interests." 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. Sign up for free: Gazette Opinion Receive updates from our editorial staff, guest columnists, and letters from Gazette readers. Sent to your inbox 12:00 PM. Sign Up View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters. 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. By Azernews Sabina Mammadli Two Azerbaijani citizens attempting to violate the state border in the direction of Iran were detained at 0450 (GMT+4) on January 11, Azernews reports via Azerbaijan's State Border Service. The transgressors were detained on the service territory of the post of the Horadiz border detachment, located near Boyuk Fuzuli District's Bahmanli village. During the investigation, it was determined that the detainees are Elmaddin Jafarov and Seyfal Suleymanov of Barda District. Furthermore, during the initial interrogation, the detainees admitted that they intended to cross the state border in order to smuggle drugs from Iran. Operational and investigative activities are underway. By Trend Regular bus trips to the liberated territories of Azerbaijan are carried out according to the schedule, the Land Transport Agency under the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport of Azerbaijan told Trend. According to the agency, information spread by social media that regular bus trips to the liberated territories were postponed due to weather conditions, isnt true. Earlier the agency suspended bus trips to Gabala, Ismayilli, Oghuz, Guba, Gusar, Khachmaz, and Gadabay due to adverse weather conditions, but these trips have already been resumed. U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst says visiting all 99 Iowa counties every year helps her do her job better in Washington, D.C. Tuesday morning's stop at Heidelberg Materials' Mason City Cement plant illustrated the value of such visits for the Republican lawmaker. "The fact that they do use a lot of recycled materials, a lot of refuse, that goes into the energy process and how they're reducing their carbon emissions, it's very, very impressive," Ernst said. "I did not know that about this particular plant." Mason City Cement, formerly known as Lehigh Hanson, hosted an informational meeting and plant tour for Ernst. David Perkins, vice president of government affairs and communications North America for Heidelberg, said the company is committed to generating 50% of its revenue from sustainable products by 2030. Perkins and other company officials said they plan to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 50% by 2030. Ernst said reductions in carbon emissions can be driven by the free market as well as governmental pressure. "Obviously, the federal government does force a lot of that discussion and the actions by industry," she said. "But we also see consumers that are driving that process. Consumers want to know industries are going green." The Germany-based company employs more than 50,000 worldwide and about 8,500 in North America at its various businesses, including about 120 in Mason City. Perkins said cement, being produced on the north end since 1911, can sometimes be a misunderstood product. "Cement is really what holds everything together," he said. "Cement and concrete, you always here those two terms, and sometimes they're used interchangeably. Cement is like flour to a cake, it holds everything together." Perkins added that concrete is the second-most used building product in the world behind only water. Ernst said she and fellow U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley use their 99-county tours to inform their legislative decisions. "We try and take away any information that might be helpful to us at the federal level," she said. "We have lots of regulations that are pushed out by the federal government." Other issues In addition to talking about Mason City Cement and greenhouse emissions, Ernst spoke on a variety of other issues at the plant. She said her immediate priorities this session include agriculture, the military and negotiating with Democrats. "I anticipate that I'll be on the same committees that I served on in the last Congress," Ernst said. "We are working on the 2023 farm bill reauthorization, which is very impactful for the state of Iowa." Ernst said she hopes to continue her work on the Armed Services Committee to ensure the military is the best equipped in the world and to keep soldiers safe. She also is excited to serve on the Small Business Committee. "Overall, I'll hopefully be the ranking member of the Small Business Committee, and that is extremely impactful for Iowa because over 98% of our businesses in Iowa are small businesses," she said. Republicans took over the House of Representative after the November election but failed to win the Senate. One of the first things House Republicans did was block legislation to fund 87,000 new IRS employees. The Senate is not expected to pass a similar bill. "Now we have to negotiate, and I think that's OK," Ernst said. "I've heard a lot about those 87,000 new IRS agents, and we can use more workers that are processing behind the phone lines." She said businesses and individuals she has spoken with complain about long waiting periods when they attempt to contact the IRS. Last week it took House members 15 separate ballots over a number of days before finally electing Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the House. On Friday, U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks tweeted that, "Under Republican control, the House will run like a well-oiled machine." Ernst didn't directly answer whether she agreed with Miller-Meeks, but is optimistic moving forward. "I do think that Republicans do have good goals in mind, good objectives, and we can come together and make it work. I would say that the Iowa Republicans are a very well-oiled machine." Earlier Tuesday, Ernst stopped by the Original Saw Company in Britt. She later visited Northwood-Kensett and St. Ansgar high schools. Photos: North Iowa history book, 1800s-1930s North Iowa history: Fire prevention North Iowa history: Grant valentines North Iowa history: Henkel Construction North Iowa history: House explosion North Iowa history: Huxtable Drug North Iowa history: Federal Packing Co. North Iowa history: Boy Scouts North Iowa history: Pierce with kids North Iowa history: Woodward Auto Children at telephone office North Iowa history: Divers at Clear Lake Danville leaders are inviting the public to join Thursdays groundbreaking celebration of a project to revitalize the iconic White Mill building. Construction has started after many delays following the final piece of the financial puzzle last month. The project is a public-private partnership with the Danville Industrial Development Authority and The Alexander Company, based in Madison, Wisconsin. With construction now officially underway, we are excited to be one step closer to the day when this building is restored to its original beauty, and it will have new life, one where people will be living and others can work, shop and play, Mayor Alonzo Jones said in a statement Tuesday. As we celebrate this moment, let us also celebrate the partnerships in place and the work of so many behind the scenes to bring us to this point. This is another great day for Danville. According to a news release, construction crews started mobilizing on site last month. Also last month, the project received a $5 million boost from the state. The grant money will come from Virginias Industrial Revitalization Fund, which provides gap financing for construction projects aligned with local and regional development strategies, primarily in distressed communities, Gov. Glenn Youngkins office announced. Danville City Manager Ken Larking said the $5 million will help fill the gap that needs to be covered for the roughly $85 million White Mill project. The White Mill once part of the sprawling Dan River Inc. textile operation will be redeveloped into a multi-use project that will initially feature 147,000 square feet of commercial space and 150 apartments. Another 56 units are planned in a future phase. The 150 apartments will be built on the top three floors of western two-thirds of the building and will include one-, two,- and three-bedroom units. Some will be loft style. The future apartments will be built on the top floors of the eastern one-third of the building. You cant tell the story of Danville without White Mill, said Joe Alexander, president of The Alexander Company. Life and industry are returning to White Mill, and were proud to have the opportunity to be a part of that transformation. Members of the public are invited to join project partners and dignitaries from across the state at the groundbreaking Thursday to celebrate with an outdoor ceremony, an inside look at t he White Mill and the unveiling of the White Mills new identity, the news releases stated. A liability waiver will be required before entering the White Mill. The ceremony starts at 11 a.m. and is expected to come to completion by 12:30 p.m. Parking is available on site. EDEN Local police are asking the public for help identifying an armed robbery suspect who was caught on camera holding up Gills Corner store at 243 S. Hamilton Street on Jan. 9. The Eden Police Department Investigations Division is conducting the probe into the crime in which the suspect allegedly entered the store, brandished a semi-automatic pistol and demanded money from the clerk, the EPD said in a news release. The white male, who weighs about 200 pounds and stands at about 6-feet, fled in an unknown direction following the robbery with an undisclosed amount of money, the release said. He wore a black jacket with a hood over his head and a handkerchief-type bandana across his face, police said. No one was injured, police said. Anyone with information about the crime is asked to contact Det. Robert Hash or Sgt. Andrew Kenyi at 336-623-9755 (24hr) and 336-623-9240 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Anyone wishing to provide an anonymous tip may call Rockingham County Crimestoppers at 336-349-9683. The 80th anniversary of one of World War IIs strangest sagas the sinking of the USS Cythera off North Carolina came and went without notice in 2022, largely because the mystery remains unresolved. On May 2, 1942, a German U-boat sank the Cythera, then plucked two crewmen out of the Atlantic and took them to a POW camp in Prussia. Their fate is not the mystery, however. Its what became of the ship and 69 other sailors that puzzles historians. Its possible some bodies may still be in the shipwreck. For that reason alone, the Navys Underwater Archaeology Branch would like to see the ship located. The challenges are many, however, starting with figuring out where to start looking. We would be interested in discussing or coordinating with any group planning to search for the wreck, the branch said. A significant portion of the Navys ship and aircraft wrecks on the East Coast ... do not have verified locations, especially smaller vessels such as Cythera. As remote-sensing and ocean mapping technology has advanced, there has been a significant increase in the number of shipwreck discoveries in recent years. The probability of locating sites like Cythera improves as well. Finding the patrol yacht would be a historical coup, military historians say. The Cythera is 120 years old, built in 1906 as a 212-foot-long private yacht. Remembered not only as a civilian craft remade for war, it holds a rare distinction among U.S. Naval vessels for serving in both World War I and World War II. It also represents the only known instance of Americans being taken by Germans from the East Coast for imprisonment in Germany during WWII, the U.S. Navy says. However, the ships active service in WWII lasted just 24 hours. The Cythera was on its maiden voyage as a patrol vessel headed for Pearl Harbor when she was attacked by the German submarine U-402 roughly 115 miles east of Cape Fear. According to one report, the U-boat stalked the patrol vessel for at least two hours and finally submerged for attack. A third torpedo struck USS Cythera dead center. The ship immediately split in two, and the forward half rose steeply out of the water. The ship sank very quickly. James M. Brown of New Jersey and Charles H. Carter of Texas survived the explosion after being thrown off the ship. Brown recalled seeing at least two men going over the side just before he went overboard. I looked around and saw the last part of the ship, the bow-sprit, sink from sight, he wrote. A minute or so later I saw Carter ... sitting in a life raft about fifty feet away from me. ... We looked around in the water to see if we could see any other survivors. We could see none and only a very small amount of debris. The two tried hiding as the U-boat surfaced, but the moon gave away our position and the submarine closed and picked us up, Brown said, according to Navsource.org. While on the conning tower, Carter and I again looked around for other survivors before we were taken below. The German submarine personnel later told us that they had seen no other survivors or bodies. It wasnt until June, when the ship went overdue at the Panama Canal, that the Navy surmised the ship was lost and alerted families. Carter and Brown survived their time in prisoner-of-war camps and were to the U.S. If the Cythera is found any time soon, it will be by accident, possibly during an unrelated seafloor mapping expedition by scientists. NOAA has done multiple mapping projects off the Carolinas in recent years, but reports it is not actively looking for the Cythera. Anyone who stumbles upon the wreck and disturbs it will be breaking the law, the Navy says. All sunken military craft remain government property regardless of location or the passage of time, and are further protected from unauthorized disturbance under the Sunken Military Craft Act. The Navys Underwater Archaeology Branch is responsible for finding such wrecks, but the lack of a general location has made that task formidable with the Cythera. Depth is also an issue. Based on archival records, the Cythera may be in waters 11,000 feet deep. Therefore, keeping the ship lost is the next best option, partly because the Cytheras depth charges may remain potent, historians say. The Navy manages a collection of over 18,000 sunken ship and aircraft wrecks that are distributed worldwide and date from the American Revolution to the beginnings of the nuclear age, the Underwater Archaeology Branch says. These wrecksites are often the final resting places of sailors who paid the ultimate sacrifice in service of the nation." Citi Bahrain has celebrated the first anniversary of its Global Technology Hub, which is on track to employ 1,000 Bahraini coders over ten years. Currently, the Hub comprises 110 Bahraini employees, out of which 91 Bahrainis have started at the Citi Seef premises, with 19 additional hires set to join soon. Female participants at the hub make up 22% of the total Bahrainis, outperforming the average of females in other Citi tech hubs around the world. First anniversary When selecting a country for its Global Technology Hub, Citi conducted a rigorous technical coding test and interview process, with Bahraini talent showing the highest pass rate when compared to other regions. Even more encouraging was the level of female talent in Bahrain's candidate pool, as Bahrain ranks first globally in multiple subindices according to Meta's Inclusive Internet Index (2022), including female digital skills training and STEM education, open data policies, and privacy regulations. Commenting on the anniversary and the contribution of female participants in the hub, Shaikha Hessa bint Khalifa Al-Khalifa, Member of the Supreme Council for Women and Chairwoman of the Bahrain Women in Fintech Committee, said: "We are pleased to see Citi's achievements a year after the Hub's launch. Such initiatives contribute positively to achieving the goals of the Women in Fintech Committee working under the National Plan for the Advancement of Bahraini Women, and the National Gender Balance in Future Sciences Initiative, in line with the directions of Bahrain's Economic Vision 2030 as well as the kingdom's digital transformation initiatives. It makes us proud to see Bahraini women directly contributing to the operations and growth of Citi's Global Tech Hub." Furthermore, commenting on the occasion, HE the Governor of the Central Bank of Bahrain, Rasheed Mohammed Al Maraj, said: "The Financial services sector has progressed over the last decade, and we expect more changes in the coming years as the pace of digitisation increases. We are proud to see Bahraini talents and competencies benefiting and contributing in developing global centres affiliated with reputable financial institutions in order to promote digital solutions in the financial sector." Big impact According to Citi Bahrain's CEO, Michel Sawaya, Citi has witnessed great results since the launch. "The coders had a big impact on developing our digital platforms, such as Citi Velocity and CitiFX Pulse. Their positive contribution helped implement important features, and subsequently take part of bigger projects that have helped us serve Citi clients globally," he said. Citi launched its Global Tech Hub last year as part of a strategic partnership between Tamkeen, Bahrain's labour fund, and the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB), the kingdom's investment promotion agency. A first in the region, the Hub aims to develop and improve digital solutions for Citi's regional and global clients while creating 1,000 tech jobs for Bahrainis over ten years.-- TradeArabia News Service There we were, two hometown boys separated in age by 15 or 20 years, sitting in one of the last old-school, full-service gas stations in the world (or at least in the parameters of my world), talking about where things used to be. Needing a vehicle inspection for my truck, I pulled into Main Street Exxon on a new set of tires I had to break down and buy to pass that inspection and sauntered inside. Main Street Exxon, conveniently located on Main Street, is for sale. Its been there a while, long before Esso became Exxon. Ownership, according to various sources, some of which are reliable, went from two fellows who opened it in 1945, then to another fellow, then to Little John, then to Johnny, who recently decided it was time to slow down a bit and do something else. Back before previous owner Little John rode off into the sunset, he talked about the business in a newspaper story published a decade ago. We still pump our customers gas, clean their windshields and check their oil if they want, Little John said. We also do light repairs and oil changes. Thats the way weve always done things. Like they say, you cant teach old dog new tricks. He left out vehicle inspections, but thats what I needed that day and thats what I got, plus a pleasant conversation about where things used to be. I spoke with Johnnys son Caleb, told him the keys were in it and sat down in the office by the bays across from the only other person there, a well-dressed gray-haired gentleman some years my senior. How are you doing? I said in a friendly manner meant to assure him I wasnt there to rob the place. Its vehicle inspection time for me again. We dont have to do that in South Carolina anymore, he said, leading to a discussion about how it was a government racket designed to bilk hard-working taxpayers like us while failing to adequately compensate honest gas stations like the one in which were sitting for the time it takes fine fellows like Caleb to do it. What brings you here? I asked him. Someone told me I had a brake light out. Dont they fix those down in South Carolina? Maybe they ought to crank up those inspections again. They do, he said. Weve got a house just north of here. We split our time between South Carolina and here. He said he planned to move to that house full time once he finished up business in the Palmetto state, where he moved in 1984 when the textile industry was in a steep decline. Where did you grow up? he asked. Right down the road, I said. A house back up on the hill behind where Tri-County Oil Company used to be. Now where was that located? It was right beside where Marion Equipment used to be. Wait, I thought that was on down where the fish camp used to be? No, you are thinking of where the Ford place used to be. This was across the creek and up the hill from where Briscoes Trade Lot used to be. Finally, we got our used-to-bes in a row and I told him that Main Street Exxon was for sale, something he was not aware of. He said growing up, he worked there and nearly every other gas station in town, pumping gas, cleaning windshields and checking oil. Those were all used to be. I said I hoped whoever took it over would try to keep it like it is. It would be a shame to sit around talking about where one of the last old-school, full-service gas stations in the world (or at least in the parameters of my world) used to be. GREENSBORO The District 3 seat on the school board will remain vacant after the Guilford County Board of Education shot down the Republican nominee for the position for the second time on Tuesday night. The vote against longtime educator Michael Logan was 6-2 along party lines, with all six Democrats voting against him. The two Republicans on the board voted for Logan, commending him to their fellow board members. The situation has the potential to veer into a Groundhog Day scenario. Under the advice of their attorney, the board members will vote again on the matter at their work session on Jan. 26. School Board Chairwoman Deena Hayes-Greene said those votes could continue indefinitely, if there is not a majority to support him. Patrick Tillman, who previously represented District 3 on the school board, won an election Nov. 8 to represent the same district as a county commissioner and was sworn into that role earlier this month, leaving a vacancy. He had two years left in his four-year term. Because Tillman was elected as a Republican, state law requires the school board appoint the person recommended to fill out his term by the Guilford County Republican Party Executive Committees District 3 members. The appointment, attorney Jill Wilson said, has to be by majority vote of the board. So until or unless theres a majority vote in favor, the nominee cannot be sworn in. Until someone says I no longer have the right to vote, then I will exercise my right to vote, Hayes-Greene said. Hayes-Greene said she voted against Logan because she said he had shared misinformation or extremist views on topics like social and emotional learning, vaccination, masking and the murder of George Floyd. And, she said, she had been sent a voicemail from a former student who said Logan had made homophobic and racist comments. A few people who spoke in the comment public comment period at Tuesday nights meeting also criticized posts or comments they attributed to Logan and thanked board members for voting against him. Board member Linda Welborn called the criticism of social media posts nitpicking and commended Logan as a committed educator and frequent volunteer. We have a 25-year career teacher sitting out in that audience, she said. The person I have seen is nothing but dedicated to his students. David Gleeson, the chairman of the Guilford County Republican Party, spoke out at the meeting, asking school board members to do what he called their statutory duty to vote for Logan. We are very disappointed, Gleeson said. We dont agree. We will be studying the options available to us. ASHEVILLE New U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards of North Carolina says the office of his predecessor, Madison Cawthorn, left Edwards staff unaware of pending constituent requests and government casework before Cawthorn formally left the seat. Edwards was officially sworn-in over the weekend as a House member representing the 11th Congressional District. Edwards defeated Cawthorn, a pro-Donald Trump firebrand, in the Republican primary last May. In a news release on Monday, Edwards asked anyone with outstanding or unfinished casework to contact his office because it lacks such information. According to Edwards, Cawthorns office didnt transfer official constituent casework standard practice for a seat transition by a Dec. 23 deadline. Repeated attempts to reach Congressman Cawthorn and his staff were made over the past month, but no response or action was provided, the news release said. Cawthorn, who won the 11th District seat in 2020 at age 25, didnt respond to a text seeking comment Tuesday. Cawthorns two years in office were marked by a series of political and personal errors, including stops by police while driving; being caught with guns at airport checkpoints; calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a thug; and the release of videos showing him in sexually suggestive poses. He wrote last week on a social media post that he had moved to Florida. State Board of Elections data shows Cawthorn registered to vote in a western North Carolina county and that he voted on Election Day in November. It wasnt immediately clear if Cawthorn intends to reside permanently in Florida. Boeing Helena has donated $25,000 to the Helena Area Chamber of Commerces Helena WINS program, the largest gift in the programs history, and the money is slated to be used to help high school students studying trades. It was so humbling, Callie Aschim, president and chief executive officer of the chamber, said. She said Boeing Helena wants to be part of the good work that the Workforce Innovation Networks, also known as WINS, is doing in the community. The company said in an email that Boeing has a longstanding partnership with the Helena Area Chamber of Commerce and has invested in the Helena WINS Initiative since 2020 to support efforts to help local employers attract, retain and develop workforce talent. They said the $25,000 contribution will help strengthen the initiative by engaging local school districts in the education components of WINS and work with teachers and counselors to attract students to vocational careers. The program started in 2018 and is meant to help area employers attract, develop and retain workforce talent. It has also hosted retiree brunches to entice senior citizens to consider returning to the workforce, if only for a few hours a week. Aschim said the most incredible part of the gift is that Boeing Helena did not put stipulations on it. The gift will allow us to focus on accelerating programming, she said, and it will create an opportunity for the chamber to do out-of-the-box things. Boeings Helena facility specializes in complex machining of hard metals for Boeing Commercial Airplanes, including the 737 MAX, 767, 777X and 787. The Boeing Company said it was excited to work with the chamber and others in the program to create a pipeline of skilled manufacturing talent" as it fills positions at its Helena site. Aschim said the gift represents 50% of the operating budget for WINS in 2023. She said WINS is almost completely funded by grants and donations from people and area businesses. WINS is adding finance, IT, engineering, hospitality and service industry sectors into the program. "It's important to strengthen the workforce pipeline," Aschim said. "If we want to attract other service organizations to come here, we need to have service industries thriving here." McKinley Winkle, Helena WINS director, said plans were to put the money to use to work for the community. I dont think I can think of any other word but grateful, she said of the Boeing donation. I am thankful for their support. Christopher Hogeweide, 39, of Townsend, was sentenced in Broadwater County on Jan. 6 to 20 years in the Montana State Prison after pleading guilty to one count of felony sexual assault of a minor. He will be eligible for parole after 10 years and upon completing sex offender treatment phase one. On Oct. 23, 2021, a woman reported that a man, Christopher Hogeweide, had been inappropriately touching a minor. A forensic interview was conducted with the minor on Oct. 26, 2021. The minor told officials that since 2015, Hogeweide would cuddle with the child and touch private parts of the minor's body two to four times a week. According to court records, the minor reportedly told Hogeweide to stop and that what he was doing was inappropriate, but he wouldnt stop. Hogeweide was interviewed on Oct. 28, 2021, by law enforcement. He admitted to cuddling the minor but denied touching or groping the child's private parts. He was placed under arrest following the interview, said officials. During his sentencing, it was revealed that Hogeweide knew the minor had a history of sexual abuse. Statistically, we know that once a child has been sexually abused, theres sometimes a five times greater likelihood for them to be re-abused in the future, Dr. Robert Page, a Montana psychologist who specializes in forensic psychology, stated at the sentencing. In his sex offender risk assessment, Page scored Hogeweide as a tier-one or low-risk offender. Hogeweide has self-reported post-traumatic stress disorder from his 13 years in the military with two tours in Iraq, which couldnt be confirmed to have contributed to his mental state or why he abused the minor. As a clinician, I find it irrelevant whether PTSD exists or not in an offender who chooses to offend victims, stated Page. The minor read their victim impact statement aloud to the court. This is what I want the court to know, what happened and what he did has really affected me and hurt me as a person, stated the minor. I trusted him as a person to do what was right. He broke that. He made it to where I dont know who or what to trust. Now I have to start from scratch on how to trust people again because it was repeatedly broken. Hogeweide is required to pay the standard surcharges and court costs, which are usually around $80, and the presentence investigation fee of $50. He will have to register as a tier-one sex offender. I just want to apologize first off, said Hogeweide at the sentencing. I know I cant apologize enough because I cant fix whats been done. I just want to see people get to a healthy place and get to where we can all get back to some semblance of normal. Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy A Helena Regional Airport official on Tuesday formally announced the formation of the Helena Air Service Alliance, a group aimed at increasing flights and other business at the airport. Airport Director Jeff Wadekamper outlined the goals of the alliance at a lunch meeting at the airport attended by about 75 people and said it would be focused on maintaining and growing air service to the community through access to airline networks, job growth, economic development and local quality of life improvements. We all know that air service plays a lot of roles in a vital, healthy community, he said, adding the airport has been working with the alliances core groups for several years, but has never formalized it. We decided it was time to take it to the next step and form this group, move forward and take it to the next level, Wadekamper said. The four core stakeholders are the airport, the Helena Area Chamber of Commerce, the Helena Tourism Alliance and the Montana Business Assistance Connection. Its imperative we work as a group, he said, because there are a lot of things the airport cannot do by itself. Wadekamper said the airport cannot use airport funds for revenue guarantees, incentives and certain marketing. He said a lot of airports are working within their communities to raise cash that can be used for those local purposes. He said later he hoped to raise a $500,000 community-funded war chest in order to be proactive and get ahead of any unforeseen request. Wadekamper said they were asking for the Helena communitys help to move forward. He said one way people can help is by flying out of Helena. He said he understands people may find cheaper rates elsewhere, but he asked them to consider Helena and help keep the passenger numbers strong, which will go in Helenas favor. He also encouraged people to donate money to the alliance. He noted airports have no direct control over ticket prices. Callie Aschim, president and chief executive officer of the Helena Area Chamber of Commerce, said she appreciated the airport thinking outside the box in order to provide the community with local and convenient air travel. She said more information about the alliance would be forthcoming and encouraged people to consider making a donation. The airport said it would post information about the alliance at https://helenaairport.com/announcements/. Brian Obert, executive director of the Montana Business Assistance Connection, said years ago groups were struggling to find businesses interested in Helena. He said that is not the case today and businesses are expanding into Helena. We are somewhere and we are growing right now, Obert said, adding it is now our time in Helena to get our swagger back and be the capital city. We are at the point where we need to be the capital city and we need to take advantage of things, he said. We see this airport as being kind of the heartbeat. Obert said everyone is coming together and pulling at the same time, so now the question is how do we close the deal and get some things moving along? We think there is great opportunity right now, he said. Helena Regional Airport underwent $45 million in improvements from 2018-2022. Wadekamper said 17% of Helenas revenue is airline-related, which is unique, and he said most airports make all revenue on airlines and airport-related stuff. He said the airport is mostly self-sufficient financially. We have to continue to find new revenues, he said. The airport had 118,000 passengers in 2019, which was the sixth consecutive year of growth. COVID-19 led to that number dipping to 46,000 in 2020 and climbing to 71,000 in 2021 and 82,000 in 2022. The airport now has three commercial carriers: Alaska, Delta and United. Delta has two daily flights and Alaska and United each have one, making for four arrivals and four departures each day. Delta connects Helena to Salt Lake City, Alaska connects Helena to Seattle, and United flies to Denver. Wadekamper said efforts are underway to bring American Airlines to Helena and he is hopeful that will happen this year, making for all four network carriers. That would be pretty good for a community our size, he said. Theres not many non-tourism gateway communities and I am not saying we dont have tourism that can brag and say they have all four network airlines, so we would be unique in the respect. He said American has made lots of cuts in 2020, but they see Montana as an area for growth. We may see some benefit where they start service in Helena, Wadekamper said. He noted the competition among community airports is as fierce as it has ever been and will likely get worse. He said the Delta flight to Minneapolis which was lost in March 2020 is still missed. Wadekamper said the Federal Aviation Administration will let Helena Regional Airport offer its two-year no airport fee incentive to Delta if it brings its Minneapolis flight back. We have made sure they are aware of that, Wadekamper said. At some point we will see that flight back, its just a matter of when. He said they were also reaching out to other air carriers. Rest assured, if there is another airline out there we are talking to them, Wadekamper said. He said there have been some great conversations with Southwest. Airport trivia: How much does it cost to de-ice the runway at the Helena Regional Airport? Airport Director Jeff Wadekamper put the cost at $10,000-$12,000 for one time. That is usually followed by an airline making a landing and paying a $68 landing fee, he said. Montana would establish a new state veterans' cemetery in Columbia Falls under a bill the state House endorsed unanimously Tuesday. The nearest veterans cemetery, in Missoula, is projected to fill up by the end of 2025, according to the state Department of Veterans Affairs. House Bill 81 was requested by the Montana Department of Military Affairs, and would establish the new cemetery on 150 acres of state-owned land adjacent to the Montana Veterans Home in Columbia Falls. This legislation will cement and honor the legacy for the men and women that fought for our freedoms, said the bills sponsor, Rep. Braxton Mitchell, R-Columbia Falls. The construction costs would be funded by a grant from the National Cemetery Administration within the Department of Veterans Affairs. The state would use around $160,000 from cannabis tax collections each year to pay for a full-time groundskeeper and cemetery manager, plus the cost of equipment and supplies, according to the bill's fiscal note. Kelly Ackerman, the division administrator for veterans affairs, told the House State Administration Committee last week that the initial phase would develop 64 acres of plots for veterans residing in nine counties in western and north-central Montana. There are currently three other state veterans cemeteries in Montana, located in Missoula, Miles City and at Fort Harrison in Helena. There is also a federal veterans' cemetery in Yellowstone County and a tribal veterans' cemetery on the Crow Reservation. The bill still faces a final vote in the House before heading to the Senate. The 28th edition of the Dubai International Pharmaceutical Technologies Conference and Exhibition (Duphat), which got under way on January 10, is the largest-ever edition of the event and features more than 1,100 international firms. The three-day event, inaugurated by Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Media Council, is expected to have a record attendance of 26,000 from 82 countries and reflects Dubais emergence as a major global hub for the healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors. Multiple new products from top-name brands will be launched at the event. Abdul Rahman bin Mohammad Al Owais, Minister of Health and Prevention; Awadh Seghayer Al Ketbi, Director General of the Dubai Health Authority (DHA); Dr Abdul Salam Al Madani, Roving Ambassador for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean for the GCC and Executive Chairman of Duphat; Dr Ali Al Sayed Hussain, Director of the Pharmaceutical Services Department at the Dubai Health Authority and Chairman of Duphat; and Nasser Khalifa Al Badour, Assistant Undersecretary and Director of Dubai Medical District attended the opening event. Following the inauguration, Advanced products Sheikh Ahmed toured the exhibition which displays some of the most advanced products and technologies in the pharmaceutical industry. The event features 112 conference lectures and 15 workshops delivered by 140 experts and specialists. Duphat has attracted a large participation from the student community and universities. A total of 330 posters will display the latest breakthrough pharmaceutical and medical research at the event. Dr Al Madani said: Duphat 2023 is set to break all prior records this year in terms of attendance, participation, and size. The pharmaceutical industry in the UAE and the region is seeing a series of innovative breakthroughs that are bringing a range of medical benefits, while also opening new business opportunities. Major platform Over the years, Duphat has served as a major platform for diverse stakeholders in the pharmaceutical industry to launch new products, learn about new technologies and developments, acquire new scientific knowledge and network with their peers in the sector. The record participation in the event reflects Dubais emergence as a major global hub for both the healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors. Dr Al Sayed said: The rising demand for healthcare from a growing population and the rapid development of the healthcare system have made the pharmaceutical sector a vital player in the economy. The Duphat Conference and Exhibition provides a forum for sharing advanced knowledge and expertise that can help enhance the skills needed to accelerate growth in an evolving industry. Some of the largest and most influential companies in the industry including international powerhouses Pfizer, AstraZeneca, GSK, Gilead, Julphar, Axios, Haleon, AbbVie and Lilly are participating in the event. Julphar participation Also participating in the event is Julphar, one of the largest pharmaceutical manufacturing companies in the Middle East and Africa. Julphar operates 12 internationally accredited manufacturing facilities across the world and operates in 37 countries on five continents. Duphat this year has also attracted the participation of 25 companies from Turkey and features large Polish and Chinese pavilions. The Middle East and Africa pharmaceutical market was forecast to surpass $42 billion in value in 2022, with a projected CAGR of around 8%. Major global events such as Duphat, which bring together industry leaders and decision-makers to network and collaborate, are vital to accelerating the growth of the sector. Duphat 2023 is also hosting the Pharma Business Hub, which enables key decision-makers, potential buyers, suppliers, and manufacturers in the pharma sector to conduct pre-arranged one-to-one B2B meetings with top exhibitors to explore collaboration. The event will support stakeholders in tapping new opportunities for business growth in the pharmaceutical industry. Duphat is organised annually by INDEX Conferences and Exhibitions a member of INDEX Holding, and is supported by Dubai Health Authority, American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology, European Federation for Pharmaceutical Sciences, European Society of Clinical Pharmacy, and the European Society of Oncology Pharmacy.-- TradeArabia News Service A state Supreme Court order on Tuesday meant another turn in the road for a lengthy legal challenge over how transgender Montanans can update their birth certificates. A preliminary injunction remains in place to block a 2021 law requiring gender affirming surgery and a court order to make any changes to the document. And still standing is a judge's direction that the state revert to a simpler rule from 2017 that allowed people to use a form to make an update, the Supreme Court said. But the court also left room for the state health department to say it will re-enact a rule it established in 2022, after the injunction, that goes even further than the law did to limit the situations that allow for updating the vital record. That's because of a procedural issue in which the 2022 rule was never specifically challenged in court meaning it was off-limits for a judge to also stall, as was previously ordered in Yellowstone County District Court. The court ruled in a case involving transgender Montanans who wanted to update their birth certificates but were initially blocked from doing so by the 2021 law. The lawsuit was filed before the 2022 rule was issued first as an emergency rule and later adopted permanently. The ACLU of Montana has since asked Billings Judge Michael Moses to include the 2022 rule in their efforts to block the law and policy it aims to implement, but that was done after the state health department went to the Montana Supreme Court seeking to overrule Moses' actions. On Tuesday, ACLU issued a press release saying the Supreme Court's order "confirms that the preliminary injunction granted by the Yellowstone County District Court on April 21, 2022, which remains in effect, restored the 2017 rule that was in place prior to the states passage of (the 2021 law)." Their release, however, also acknowledged the direction from the Supreme Court that the 2022 rule needed to be challenged separately. "The Montana Supreme Court also held that the new 2022 rules promulgated by the Montana Department of Health and Human Services need to be challenged separately, which the Plaintiffs have already filed a motion in the case to do," the press release read. The state health department on Tuesday said following the Supreme Court order it would re-implement its 2022 rule. The department is pleased the Montana Supreme Court reaffirmed the rule of law, and given the courts decision, the department will follow and implement its 2022 rule," department Director Charlie Brereton said in a press release. It's not clear when Moses will rule on the ACLU's motion to challenge the 2022 rules. When the 2021 law was heard during that year's legislative session, transgender Montanans testified that not having documents that reflect their identity puts them at risk of harm. Studies show that transgender people are at higher risk of violence, and having conflicting documents can out a person as transgender. The bill's sponsor, Sen. Carl Glimm, argued for his legislation by saying it was about collecting accurate vital statistics. When Moses in April 2022 issued the preliminary injunction, he ordered the state to revert to the status quo in place before the 2021 law, which was a process set up by administrative rule in 2017 that allowed people to update their documents by submitting a form. After the preliminary injunction, the state then moved to implement a new administrative rule that said people could only update birth certificates if there was a data entry error on the original document. The rule was first issued under an emergency status and adopted later that year. When the plaintiffs asked the district court for clarification to halt that new rule, Moses again said his ruling meant the department had to revert to the 2017 rules. He said the department's claims of confusion over what they could do were "demonstrably ridiculous" and that "no serious argument" could be made that the newest rules constituted a return to the status quo. The state initially said it would defy that order, but later complied. Montana elder care is in crisis. However, we disagree on the solution presented in the Dec. 28 guest column from several Montana county commissioners entitled Fix reimbursement rate for Montana nursing homes. The column states that Montanas elder care economy is broken, and to fix it the Legislature must boost Medicaid reimbursement rates. Independence has always been a core belief of Montanans and failing to support our home and community-based services would be a travesty. Medicaid reimbursement rates fall dramatically short of what is needed but only addressing facility reimbursement rates disregards our critical in-home care and independent living services. The column states that in-home care is very expensive and rarely covered by private insurance or Medicaid. While it is true that private insurance rarely covers these expenses it is not correct to say that Medicaid does not cover them. Not only does Montana Medicaid cover care at home but the average cost of home and community-based services is significantly less than institutional care. Genworth.com cites the national median cost of in-home care to be $5,339 per month. The home care services provided by Ability Montana, a nonprofit serving people with disabilities, seniors and veterans in southwest Montana, average $1,200 per month. When compared to the current Montana Medicaid reimbursement of about $6,500 a month for nursing home care, its clear who the economic winner is. As many Montana families know the decision of how to best care for their loved ones is not all about money. The freedom to choose our outcomes and determine our futures is precious and shouldnt be handed to what are often for-profit institutions, where profit is the singular corporate motivation, and adequate standards of care are not achieved. Surveys of seniors, veterans and people with disabilities, which comprise a full 34.8% of the states population, affirm what Montanans have long known people want to remain in their homes. An overwhelming number of our elders have decided that their homes are where they belong and where they want to receive their care. Moreover, the column did not address that persons with a disability, seniors and veterans have the RIGHT to choose where and how they live out their lives. Federal regulation (79 FR 2947) and Supreme Court decision (Olmstead v. LC, 1999) dictate that home and community-based services are the first and preferred choice for long-term care, echoing the common sentiment of Montanans. Medicaid reimbursement rates are a problem, but the bigger problem is the preference of our state government for funding institutional care. Better options are available. Not surprisingly, the care provided in the home is superior, the outcomes for self-directed in-home services when the individual chooses who will give their care is also far superior. These community-based options that keep Montanans in their homes have been shown to result in greater levels of health and longer life expectancy, allowing our elders to be present for their families growth and prosperity. Montanas seniors, disabled and veterans all want the option to live and age in the comfort and security of the homes they spent their lives building. We urge Gov. Gianforte and members of the 2023 Montana Legislature to reimburse Medicaid services at the rates recommended in the study that they commissioned and make the reasonable move toward supporting the expansion of home and community-based services as the option most desired by Montanans and the most fiscally responsible use of Montana taxpayer monies. DECATUR The food system of tomorrow is coming to Decatur, and it all starts with flies. The black soldier fly, to be specific, which is the favored insect of French biotechnology company Innovafeed. On Tuesday the company broke ground on its flagship U.S. plant, which will be located in between Archer Daniels Midland Co. and Richland Community College in Decatur. The Decatur plant will be the largest insect protein facility in the world, company officials said. Today is meaningful not only because thats our first international project, but its very meaningful because its Decatur, said Clement Ray, co-founder and CEO of Innovafeed. Decaturs mix of manufacturing and agriculture makes the city a perfect fit for Innovafeeds insect breeding and processing, Ray said. The company looks forward to building roots in the Soy City, said Maye Walraven, Innovafeeds U.S. general manager. In Decatur weve found a lot of visionary people, Walraven said. People who value sustainability (and) innovation and who share our visions of what the future agriculture could also look like and share the slightly crazy idea that insects will be part of that future. The new Decatur plant will recreate the same processes conducted at Innovafeeds French headquarters, which consist of vertical fly aviaries where flies are bred to later be thermally shocked in the larvae stage and eventually ground into a sort of insect protein flour. The fly meal is meant to be a more sustainable alternative for feeding aquaculture, poultry and swine, and can even be used in domestic pet food. Sustainability is key to Innovafeeds mission. The company is partnering with ADM so the latter can provide its agricultural product and energy waste to help run the fly farms. This partnership, Innovafeed said, will help it reduce potential CO2 emissions by around 80%. And no part of the fly is spared; even the insect feces will be produced into fertilizer for agricultural crops. Nicole Bateman, president of the Economic Development Corporation of Decatur and Macon County, said the new plant is expected to add more than 280 direct and 400 indirect jobs to Decatur. (Innovafeeds) sustainable and pioneering processes are a model for the future of agriculture and add to Decaturs growing portfolio of global leaders, Bateman said. Innovafeed officials hope to complete construction on the plant by the end of this year and be in operation by 2024. By the end of 2024 the company hopes to have produced at least 15,000 tons of insect protein. Decatur Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe said Innovafeed is a welcome addition to the city, which she referred to as Americas agribusiness center. The city has been focused on revitalization efforts recently, whether that be our neighborhoods, our lakefront, our downtown area. And we are so excited to have this innovative facility right here in North America, Moore Wolfe said. So on behalf of the city council and the city of Decatur, we want to welcome you home to America. We wish you all the success in the world. Check out these historical photos of ADM's past in Decatur Tom Dahman Robert Coan Ray Mudd Grain dust Explosion Explosion - another look Frank Copenhaver Extracting Unit Lewis Jones Parker Post Unloading Soybeans Soviet Favorite Talking Shop Taste Test Researchers Plenty of variety Archer Daniels Midland Co. ADM clarifier Archer Daniels Midland Co. Outstanding Young Farmers Archer Daniels Midland Co. expansion Archer Daniels Midland Co. DECATUR The Decatur Airport was one of thousands of airports impacted by the Federal Aviation Administration's decision to halt air traffic across the country following a computer outage early Wednesday. The order was lifted before 8 a.m. after several hours. More than 3,700 flights were delayed and more than 640 were cancelled nationwide. According to Tim Wright, director of the Decatur Airport, the 8:55 a.m. Wednesday morning United Express flight was delayed approximately 30 minutes. The Chicago-bound flight flew from Joplin, Missouri, before landing in Decatur. It was delayed in Joplin before it got to us, Wright said. The Decatur Airport administration was notified by United Airlines about the outage early Wednesday. The airlines website also has information about the outage and its impact. You may continue to see delays and cancellations as we work to restore our schedule, the company stated. The stop order by the FAA impacted almost all flights of shippers and commercial airlines. More than 21,000 flights were scheduled to take off in the U.S. today, mostly domestic trips, and about 1,840 international flights expected to fly to the U.S., according to aviation data firm Cirium. Some medical flights could get clearance and the outage did not impact any military operations or mobility. While the White House initially said that there is no evidence of a cyberattack, President Joe Biden said we dont know and told reporters hes directed the Department of Transportation to investigate the cause of the disruption. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told the president they still had not identified what went wrong. Delays were concentrated along the East Coast, but they are spreading quickly to the West Coast. The FAA said it was working on restoring its Notice to Air Missions System. We are performing final validation checks and reloading the system now, the FAA said. Operations across the National Airspace System are affected. The agency said that some functions are beginning to come back on line, but that National Airspace System operations remain limited. Before commencing a flight, pilots are required to consult NOTAMs, or Notices to Air Missions, which list potential adverse impacts on flights, from runway construction to the potential for icing. The system used to be telephone-based, with pilots calling dedicated flight service stations for the information, but has now moved online. Breakdowns in the NOTAM system appear to be rare. I dont ever remember the NOTAM system going down like this. Ive been flying 53 years, said John Cox, a former airline pilot and now an aviation-safety consultant. According FAA advisories, the NOTAM system failed at 7:28 p.m. on Tuesday preventing new or amended notices from being distributed to pilots. The FAA resorted to a telephone hotline in an effort to keep departures flying overnight, but as daytime traffic picked up it overwhelmed the telephone backup system. The Associated Press contributed to this report. History photos: Decatur Airport and aircraft Decatur Initial flight New airport 1932 Airplane Airplane Hangar Stunts Airplane hangar Decatur Aerial Visitors Dorothy Pryor and Lois Borchers Development Wells and Walker Proposed Airplane and hangar Three passenger plane Stringing wires Plane parts Flying instructors Airport Construction Airport dedication DECATUR Caught by a female witness who threatened to set her dog on him, police say Brandon L. Buchen didnt try to hide the fact he was trying to steal expensive catalytic converters from a vehicle. Confronted by the 45-year-old woman, Decatur Police quote 21-year-old Buchen as telling her: We are in process of cutting a catalytic converter. A sworn affidavit from the cops said both Buchen and his accused partner in crime, Timothy J. Carr, 35, then beat a hasty retreat from the lot of Affordable Auto Repair, 805 N. Main St., on the night of Dec. 26. Arriving police patrols intercepted the pair before they had gotten very far, however, and both were arrested. Located inside Timothys brown overalls was a Sawzall and in his pockets were four Sawzall blades, said Officer Anna Oldham, who signed the affidavit. Located on Brandon was a headlamp, batteries and in a suitcase he carried a handsaw Affordable Auto Repair owner Jeremy Leathers is quoted as telling police he found two catalytic converters, part of a vehicles exhaust system, had been partially cutaway from under a box truck but not removed completely. Oldham said surveillance video watched by police showed the two suspects approaching the truck with Buchen sliding underneath the vehicle while Carr watches him before joining him. Questioned by officers, Buchen is quoted as telling them he has worked on cars for a few years but claimed he does not know what a catalytic converter is. Carr, however, is quoted as telling police he had been told how much catalytic converters are worth and that is why he was trying to steal them; he said he had a man he believed would buy them from him. Timothy stated this was the first time he has ever attempted to take a catalytic converter, said Oldham. Timothy said he did not finish cutting the converters because he realized it was a bad idea. Both men have since been charged with theft, criminal damage and possession of burglary tools. Buchen is due in Macon County Circuit Court Wednesday for a preliminary hearing while Carr is scheduled to be arraigned in court Jan. 26. Carr is free after posting a $2,500 bond on bail set at $25,000, while Buchen remained held in the Macon County Jail on Tuesday with bail set at $35,000, requiring him to post a bond of $3,500 to be released. Updated mugshots from the Herald & Review Joseph A. Williams William A. Hosea Randolph Hayes Byron D. Theus Jetrevius O. Jarrett Phillip Gehrken Emmanuel White Aaron L. Hand SPRINGFIELD Illinois lawmakers approved a resolution naming the portion of Interstate 72 between Decatur and Champaign for slain Champaign police officer Chris Oberheim. The resolution, approved unanimously by the Senate last April and in the House Tuesday evening, deems the stretch "Officer Oberheim Memorial Highway." It requests that the Illinois Department of Transportation "erect at suitable locations ... appropriate plaques or signs" acknowledging the designation. Oberheim was shot and killed while responding to a domestic violence call in Champaign in May 2021. He was 44. His death led to the creation of Peacemaker Project 703, which advocates for heightened respect for law enforcement officers. The group, led by his widow, Amber Oberheim, gets its name from Oberheim's badge number. The resolution "supersedes" an earlier House resolution that would have named South Side Drive in Decatur from U.S. 51 to Illinois 48 for Oberheim, according to state Rep. Dan Caulkins, R-Decatur, who sponsored both measures. PHOTOS: Honoring slain Champaign officer who began career in Decatur Christopher Oberheim 1 052021.JPG Christopher Oberheim 2 052021.JPG Christopher Oberheim 3 052021.JPG Christopher Oberheim 4 052021.JPG Christopher Oberheim 5 052021.JPG Christopher Oberheim 6 052021.JPG Christopher Oberheim 7 052021.JPG Christopher Oberheim 8 052021.JPG Christopher Oberheim 9 052021.JPG Christopher Oberheim 10 052021.JPG Christopher Oberheim 11 052021.JPG Christopher Oberheim 12 052021.JPG Christopher Oberheim 13 052021.JPG Christopher Oberheim 14 052021.JPG Christopher Oberheim 15 052021.JPG Christopher Oberheim 16 052021.JPG Christopher Oberheim 17 052021.JPG Illinois lawmakers on Tuesday approved a measure protecting Illinois' access to abortion from out-of-state meddling, making the state the latest to pursue such protections since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last June. The bill, ready for action by Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who supports it, would shield reproductive and gender-affirming health care patients and providers from legal action originating across state lines in a post-Roe world where some states are moving swiftly to restrict such procedures. In the words of Rep. Kelly Cassidy, the Chicago Democrat who sponsored the plan in the House, Democrats have faced down grave threats to the rights to privacy, reproductive care, and bodily autonomy. We are ensuring that Illinois will continue to serve the thousands of people traveling to our state every month to receive abortions and other reproductive and gender-affirming health care, which they can no longer access in their home states, Cassidy said in a statement. Abortion is legal in Illinois until the fetus can survive outside of the womb, which usually occurs around six months of pregnancy. Other states have also moved to protect abortion rights. The Democratic governors of Colorado, North Carolina and Hawaii issued executive orders to protect abortion providers and patients from extradition to states that have banned the procedure. And in November, voters in battleground Michigan enshrined abortion rights in their states constitution joining Democratic California and Vermont in taking that step. Planned Parenthood of Illinois said that since Roe was overturned, it has seen more out-of-state patients than ever. Before the high courts decision that replaced Roe and left abortion up to states, Planned Parenthood saw patients from 10 to 15 other states besides Illinois. Since then, its clinics have treated patients from 33 states. The legislation would also protect the Illinois licenses of health care providers licensed in multiple states who provide treatment legal in Illinois but which might cost them their license in a state where its not. And it would prevent insurers from charging more for out-of-network care when in-network providers object to treatment on moral grounds. Senate Democrats, led by sponsoring Sen. Celina Villanueva of Chicago, approved the proposal 41-16, but made changes to the initial proposal the House sent over. After ironing out differences, the House endorsed it 70-39. Proponents scrambled to win endorsement on the last day of its lame-duck session. A new General Assembly is sworn in Wednesday and the legislative process begins anew. Mary Kate Zander, who heads the anti-abortion group Illinois Right to Life, called on lawmakers to be more open in their debate. The Senate tacked its language onto an existing piece of legislation, so it didnt need the vetting required of a new bill, such as a public committee hearing. They know that the people in our state are not supportive of this type of legislation, because if they were, they would pass this legislation in a conventional way, Zander said. Republican state Sen. Darren Bailey, who lost the governors race to Democratic incumbent Pritzker in November but took great pains to assure voters he wouldnt try to reverse Illinois legal abortions, called the measure pure evil. This is wrong. God help us, he said. Ameri Klafeta, director of the Womens and Reproductive Rights Project for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, said the bill would help reinforce abortion protections in Illinois at a time when reproductive rights are under attack elsewhere in the country. We are not letting states like Texas, where there are attacks on abortion care and attacks on gender-affirming care, tell us in Illinois what care people can get in the state, she said. Pritzker, who was sworn in Monday for a second term as governor, used his inaugural address to propose a constitutional amendment guaranteeing abortion access. Photos: Pritzker sworn in for second term SPRINGFIELD On the first full day of his second term, Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Tuesday signed a bill banning the sale, distribution and manufacture of high-power assault weapons, .50 caliber rifles and ammunition, and large-capacity magazines while still allowing people who already own such weapons to keep them. Pritzker signed the bill during a ceremony in the Statehouse just hours after the final version of it cleared the House, making Illinois the ninth state in the nation to impose such a ban. Im signing this legislation tonight so that it can take immediate effect and we can end the sale of these weapons of war as soon as possible, Pritzker said. The House had passed a similar bill early Friday morning and sent it to the Senate, where it appeared over the weekend to run into roadblocks. But negotiations continued behind the scenes throughout the weekend and into Monday when a final deal came together just as Gov. JB Pritzker, who campaigned on a pledge to pursue an assault weapons ban, was being inaugurated into his second term in office. As recently as Sunday, the House and Senate seemed to be far apart, both on the weapons ban and a bill expanding access to reproductive health services, two of the biggest items being considered in a lame duck session that will conclude Tuesday. I will fight for the needs of Illinoisans and I will not accept a watered-down version of legislation that falls unacceptably short of the comprehensive solutions that the people of this state deserve, House Speaker Emanuel Chris Welch, D-Hillside, said in a statement released Sunday afternoon. But by Monday night, he, Pritzker and Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, announced that they were all in agreement on a final proposal. One of the key sticking points concerned a requirement that people who currently own such weapons register them with the Illinois State Police. Those individuals would be required to disclose the make, model and serial number of the specified weapons to obtain a special endorsement on their Firearm Owners Identification, or FOID card. The House had included that in the bill it passed shortly after midnight Friday morning, but an early draft of a Senate plan reportedly proposed dropping it. The final version of the bill, contained in a package of amendments to House Bill 5471, includes the requirement but extends the deadline for compliance to Jan. 1, 2024, instead of 180 days after the governor signs the bill into law, as the House had proposed. The Senate language was unveiled during a committee hearing Monday morning, only a few hours before inauguration ceremonies for the governor and other constitutional officers were about to begin blocks away in a downtown Springfield convention center. Other changes included a more up-to-date list of weapons that would fall within the banned category along with authority for the Illinois State Police to modify the list through administrative rules to capture new and copycat models as they come onto the market. The Senate bill also clarifies that any device that makes a semi-automatic weapon fire more rapidly whether it converts the weapon into a fully automatic one or merely increases the rate of fire will be illegal. And it defines large-capacity magazines as those capable of holding more than 10 rounds for a long gun or 15 rounds for a handgun. The Senate version also does not change the age limit to obtain a FOID card, meaning people between the ages of 18 and 21 will still be able to obtain one with the consent of a parent or guardian. The House had proposed eliminating that exception. It really is the House structure, Harmon said of the bill after a Monday committee hearing. We have been careful to be precise, that we are articulating the list of guns where an endorsement would require the make, model and serial number so that owners know exactly what they need to do. In an effort to ease concerns from hunters and sportsmen, the bill also contains a provision authorizing the Department of Natural Resources to adopt administrative rules exempting weapons used only for hunting that are expressly permitted under the Illinois Wildlife Code. That, however, was not enough to quell the opposition of gun rights advocates who argued that the weapons to be banned are commonly used weapons in American society and thus, under standards of recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings, will likely be deemed unconstitutional. I think folks at home need to know, and folks here in the chamber, that many of the commonly used semi-automatic shotguns will still have to be registered as assault weapons, Sen. Terri Bryant, R-Murphysboro, said during debate on the floor of the Senate. So even though some may come off, we're still going to have many commonly used shotguns that will be listed as assault weapons. Democrats pushed the bill through the Senate 34-20, sending it to the House, where it passed 68-41 on Tuesday afternoon with two Republican votes: outgoing House Minority Leader Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs, and Rep. Bradley Stephens, R-Rosemont. Otherwise, GOP members echoed Bryants sentiments. I can tell you that we will not comply, and youre not going to do a darn thing about it, Rep. Blaine Wilhour, R-Beecher City, said during House floor debate. Because the law, the constitution and the founding principles are on our side. During the debate, Welch, with his mother seated next to him, spoke of how his aunt was shot and killed in her car while leaving church in the mid-1980s, and how his mother ended up adopting her sisters three daughters. Lets end families having to change overnight, Welch said. Lets not lose any more brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, children to gun violence. 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. Photos: Scenes from historic speaker vote of 118th Congress Seatrade Maritime Logistics Middle East, the flagship event of the UAE Maritime Week, will put digitalisation in the maritime industry under the spotlight. The conference and exhibition, scheduled to be held on May 16 to 18 at the Dubai World Trade Centre, is being held under the patronage of the UAE Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure. The event will bring together some of the leading tech-solution providers from all around the world to enlighten the attendees about the benefits of using modern tools, and how they can revolutionise the industry. It will serve as the ideal platform to find solutions for operational challenges, environmental issues, and ever-increasing functional costs. Shaping the future of classification societies ABS is well positioned and continues to make the right investments in people, systems and technologies to drive and shape the future of Class in the Middle East region. We continue to make significant investments in digital technologies to advance safety and operational excellence in tandem with the industrys decarbonisation and sustainability ambitions, while moving towards a more condition-based approach to Class, said Chris Greenwood, ABS Regional Director of Business Development, Middle East & Africa. I am looking forward to attending Seatrade Maritime Logistics Middle East, and have some interactive discussions around the energy transition, new technologies trends, and regulatory compliance, Greenwood added. Addressing industry challenges In line with the IMOs goal of reducing GHG emissions by 50 per cent by 2050, Seatrade Maritime Logistics Middle East has placed decarbonisation at the top of its agenda. Advanced digital solutions will play a vital role in helping the sector achieve this target. Highlighting how technology can help the sector decarbonise, Scott Middleton, Regional Sales Director, Inmarsat said: Optimising and decarbonising ships require a variety of technologies. IoT-based ship-to-shore connectivity enables owners and operators to enhance fleet utilisation, streamline commercial processes and reduce CO2 emissions with full transparency. Using the Inmarsat IoT platform Fleet Data, for example, ship emissions data is collected, stored, and uploaded for monitoring and analysis in real-time, allowing owners and operators to demonstrate and document the effectiveness of their carbon emissions strategies. Speaking on how Seatrade Maritime Logistics Middle East will play a key role in bringing solution providers and seekers together to digitalise the industry, Chris Morley, Group Director, Seatrade Maritime said: These are exciting yet challenging times as the world, including the shipping industry, is evolving at a rapid pace. SMLME will play an integral role in providing a platform for the key opportunities to be explored and exploited by the regions fantastic maritime network. Whilst focussing on a broad spectrum of content at the 2023 event, decarbonisation and digitalisation will be at the centre of this next edition of our event. We believe that we will be able to effectively march towards our ambitious goals by discussing the main roadblocks facing the sector and deriving realistic solutions to our problems. Therefore, stepping into a greener and technologically advanced industry.--TradeArabia News Service Rep. George Santos appears to be a fraud whos lied about everything from his Jewish identity to his employment history. But that doesnt mean the first-term Republican from New York deserves to be kicked out of Congress. Democrats, naturally, see an opportunity to make hay about an embarrassing scandal by calling for him to resign. His predecessor, Tom Suozzi, goes further, arguing that Santos must be removed by Congress or by prosecutors since resignation isnt going to happen. Some current House Democrats have also demanded expulsion. One has even pledged to introduce the Stopping Another Non-Truthful Office Seeker Act (the SANTOS Act, get it?), which would require candidates to disclose under oath their employment, educational, & military history so we can punish candidates who lie to voters about their qualifications. The Santos story certainly has its amusing aspects, and represents a kind of joint failure of journalism, Democratic Party political operations and the Long Island voting public. But is it the kind of crisis that demands the extraordinary action of expelling a member of Congress, or altering the legal requirements for office? Further complicating the debate is the politics of the situation. Santos is holding down a seat in a somewhat Democratic-leaning district. If he were to resign, there would be a special election that Democrats would stand a strong chance of winning. Republicans, meanwhile, dont want to risk losing a seat, especially since they are struggling mightily to keep their narrow majority organized. Its hardly surprising, and not necessarily bad, that the parties are playing politics. But it would be a mistake to confuse this predicament for an actual threat to the republic. Its possible, of course, that Santos also engaged in criminal behavior. And though Brazilian authorities say they plan to look again at a 2008 case against him involving a stolen checkbook, so far no charges have been filed over the fabrications related to his campaign.For all Congress problems, there is actually a very good system for filtering out this kind of pathological lying: elections. Not only do candidates need to defeat opponents from the other party in a general election, but in many cases they also need to compete against fellow partisans in contested primaries, where the party has a strong incentive to winnow out poorly vetted, scandal-plagued candidates. It is genuinely strange that Santos Democratic opponent was not able to start unraveling his lies and its even odder that the GOP nominated him in the first place. There are plenty of experienced Republican office holders on Long Island. One of them should have been able to see through Santos lies and challenged him. As it turns out, neither of those things happened and then his wrongdoing was publicized after the election but before the start of the new Congress. If the truth had come out earlier, Santos wouldnt have won. And if the truth had stayed under wraps for longer, it would have emerged as a dominant issue in his reelection campaign, which he would lose. Santos is not, it almost goes without saying, the only politician whos ever said something untrue. What makes his case unique isnt that he fibbed its the breathtaking scale and scope of the lying. But its hard to make a rule that specifies how much dishonesty is unacceptable. If the Santos story had broken at almost any other time, it would have been clearly and universally seen as a problem to be addressed through the ordinary to-and-fro of electoral politics. The quirk of its timing is genuinely frustrating. But its also genuinely weird, and trying to make new rules or laws to prevent it from happening again would be a cure thats worse than the disease. The George Santos story is so compelling in part because it is so rare. Thats a good indication that the best approach is just to leave well enough alone. US presidents who were elected for a second term, ranked US presidents who were elected for a second term, ranked #21. Richard Nixon #20. George W. Bush #19. Grover Cleveland #18. Calvin Coolidge #17. Andrew Jackson #16. Ulysses S. Grant #15. Bill Clinton #14. James Madison #13. William McKinley #12. Woodrow Wilson #11. James Monroe #10. Lyndon B. Johnson #9. Barack Obama #8. Ronald Reagan #7. Thomas Jefferson #6. Harry S. Truman #5. Dwight D. Eisenhower #4. Theodore Roosevelt #3. Franklin D. Roosevelt #2. George Washington #1. Abraham Lincoln Vote now until noon on April 20th to support the businesses that you think are the best in the New Braunfels area. BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. The Sullivan County School Board voted 5-1 on Tuesday night in favor of a resolution requesting the Tennessee General Assembly amend the third-grade retention law to allow school districts to have local control over decisions to have students repeat third grade. Before voting, Randall Jones, the chairman of the Sullivan County School Board, emphasized he does not believe the reading proficiency section of a test should determine whether or not a student passes or fails third grade. One test on a given day should not in my opinion, determine whether or not a student passes or fails third grade, Jones said. I think teachers are with them spending 175, 176 days a year would know better whether or not they are ready to go up, to bring forward than a state legislator that says, here pass the test, or you fail the test Mary Rouse, a Sullivan County School board member, called on the Tennessee General Assembly to bring teachers into the conversation and give them the tools they need. If they really want to help, then let them talk to the educators. Its like everything else that comes out from Nashville. Let them talk to the people that are in the trenches to figure out what needs to be done, Rouse said. Kids need to know how to read by the third grade, but this is just throwing something at a problem rather than helping us fix it. On the opposite side of the discussion Mark Ireson, a Sullivan County School Board member, disagreed with his fellow board members and pointed out that what the resolution they are presenting to the Tennessee General Assembly is asking is essentially that they scrap the law, which only goes into effect this year. Im not saying its perfect, but I dont know if Ive ever read a piece of legislation thats perfect, Ireson said. If all were gonna do is say we want the LEA to be able to make that determination to send that child over. Then youre taking that piece of legislation and make it so it doesnt exist, and I really dont know that theyre going to do that. Evelyn Rafalowski, the Sullivan County director of schools, highlighted that under the new law, only 68% of Sullivan County third graders would pass the reading proficiency section of the test. The only students who would move on to fourth grade without any discussion are those who either meet the expectations or exceed them. The bulk of our students are in the approaching category, Rafalowski said. A body was found on Tuesday near a Denver home where a woman was shot and killed on Monday, according to a news release from the Lincoln County Sheriffs Office. Debra Ana Jackson, 35, of Denver, was shot and killed shortly before 3:30 p.m. on Monday, the sheriffs office said. A second body, found on Tuesday, had not been identified as of Tuesday afternoon, the sheriffs office said. Family members found Jacksons body in the front yard of her home on the 6300 block of Sherwood Lane. The relatives were looking for Jackson after Lincoln County Schools called to report that Jacksons children had not been picked up from school on Monday, the sheriffs office said. First responders, who were performing CPR, told deputies that Jackson was shot in the head. Deputies were also informed that someone may have been inside the residence. Armed with a search warrant, officers checked the residence but did not locate anyone, the sheriffs office said. On Tuesday, search teams discovered a body in a small pond located near the crime scene. Detectives are working to determine if the two deaths are related, the sheriffs office said. The last few years have featured tremendous division, strife and loss in America. Many of us feel isolated or just tired now that COVID-19 has eased. We are writing to invite you to be part of an event focused on showing grace and kindness in the midst of the challenges we face. Martin Luther King Jr. believed that we should grow as a society so that we value other people for the goodness of their character not because of external features like skin color. On Sunday at 3 p.m., in the Corinth Reformed Church sanctuary in Viewmont, we celebrate the life and goals of Dr. King by worshipping our God and considering how we can honor him and his servants by emulating Christ in our city. The two ministerial associations, the Greater Hickory Ministerial Alliance and Hickory Area Ministers, warmly invite you to join us to sing, pray, listen and share time in Gods presence. We really would love to have you. You dont need to call first or dress up. All are welcome. Food and drinks will be served at a reception after the service. Rev. Antonio Logan President of the Greater Hickory Ministerial Alliance Dr. Chris Simmons President of the Hickory Area Ministers Back in My Day is an Information Age series profiling some of our older ACS members and Information Age readers speaking about their early days in IT. This week, we speak with Warwick Boardman, aged 72, from Salter Point, Western Australia. What attracted you to computing? Ive always had a passion for understanding how things work, from the atomic level right up to the vastness of the universe, so I enrolled in a physics degree at the University of Western Australia (UWA) after finishing school. It was the early 70s and as computing courses started becoming available at UWA, I realised that this new field might provide greater career opportunities than physics and switched across to IT. Although this was back in the days of punched cards and batch jobs, I was inspired by the power and analytical capabilities of the technology and continued down this path, graduating with a computing qualification in 1973. How did you get into the industry? I began looking for work towards the end of my studies and saw a job in the newspaper classifieds with the WA Forestry Department (as it was then known), seeking a graduate programmer. This role especially appealed to me because of its connection with nature and because it involved statistical analysis and I was delighted to be appointed. Was the job what you expected? Not at first. The role of the team was to process native forest hardwood and pine plantation data that had been gathered by officers in the field to facilitate sustainable timber management. But my role, when I joined, involved sorting punched cards and other menial tasks. Thankfully, many months later, somebody left and I got their job. What kind of work were you doing? I was writing and maintaining Fortran programs that would process vast amounts of native forest and plantation data to estimate future timber yields. A big part of this was making regular trips to the WA Regional Computing Centre (WARCC) at UWA to submit the programming and data cards, and several days later Id return to collect the printed results from our L3 box in the foyer. It happened so often that, at one stage, I became known as L3 by the staff. A program I developed from scratch went through each tree in the sample plots and decided how much was millable and what kind of commercial log it was, thereby providing an estimate of how much timber of each type was available. Can you tell us about the technology being used? When visiting the WARCC, wed often use their card punch machines to make changes to our programs or to submit jobs, but eventually we were able to get a monitor and keyboard installed in our Como office, which was connected to the WARCC via a landline system. This allowed us to type in our programs and run them, but we still had to drop off the data cards, which were being externally punched. The first machine we were using at UWA was a DEC PDP-6. It was later upgraded to a CDC Cyber with much greater storage and computing power, which required a new building. Several years later in 1985, when our office moved from Como to Kensington, the department bought its own Perkin-Elmer computer, mainly to run commercial software, but it was also made available to us as scientific users. Eventually we ended up using Windows servers in a virtual machine environment. What software were you using in the department? Initially we used SPSS, the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences for doing statistical regressions, and then a new staff member recommended SAS, the Statistical Analysis System, so we switched to that. We also had access to MIDAS software which we used to build our own raster map overlay system that managed to outperform all the major commercial geographic information systems available at the time. The bulk of my work was in Fortran maintaining, improving and operating the timber analysis system Id created and given that I was the only person in the team who knew how it worked or could run it, the role still involved some menial tasks. I also worked with Oracle, building queries, support scripts, and procedures using Oracle SQL*PLUS and PL/SQL, and built and maintained small applications using Oracle Application Express. What was the diversity of the workforce in your team like? It was actually pretty good for that time! We had two women in the team, one of whom was a highly skilled programmer, and we also ended up having a man with a severe hearing impairment join the team, who did excellent work. How long did you stay with the Forestry Department? For my entire career of more than forty years, because I enjoyed my work and am passionate about the environment, even completing a Graduate Diploma in Natural Resources. Also, with the technology constantly changing I was able to learn new skills and respond to challenges, some of which involved working at night and on weekends to meet ambitious deadlines, but all of which were satisfying to achieve. In particular, I remember doing the analysis, design and programming of a new application that I just managed to get working the night before a deadline meeting of the departments corporate executive. I think I got PTSD from it for a while! Seeking a quieter life, and wanting to reignite my passion for physics, I ended up retiring in 2015. Looking back, what are some of your memories of the job? I fondly remember getting out into nature and going on field trips, often accompanied by highly skilled scientists providing explanations of the ecosystem and forest operations. A less happy memory is the data loss that occurred when the department outsourced some of its computing services and did a cleanup that involved trashing computer tapes no longer considered necessary. Unfortunately, a manager for whom Id worked, had insisted that I maintain a range of data entirely on one of his units tapes, which ended up being a casualty of the cleanup. Following on from this all data was kept online, with regular backups being run. What are some key learnings youve taken with you? The importance of being connected with the broader IT community, through membership of groups like ACS, and the need to challenge unrealistic deadlines. In one of my projects I adopted the Extreme Programming idea of building system components incrementally, in order of priority, to meet an ambitious deadline. This meant I had to exclude some features and resulted in my code being hard to follow and maintain. When errors were later found in the program, based on different parameter values, I had to make major changes but to my great relief I was able to get the system fully operational just before retirement. Whats your advice for someone considering IT as a career? Given the broad range of contexts in which IT is being used, try to choose one that matches your passions beyond IT. For me, the environmental connection was perfect. Alternatively, if IT is your sole passion, consider joining a software service provider that provides ongoing IT training, mentoring, and support. The US emerged as a top destination for refined petroleum products from India in November, much of it processed from Russian crude oil imported at a discount. According to data from the commerce ministry, Russia exported crude oil worth $3.08 billion in November to India, making it the second-largest exporter to India after Saudi Arabia.Meanwhile, the US imported oil products worth $588 million in November, raising imports to the highest levels this fiscal. Experts said that the imports increased amid the high demand for crude ahead of the US holiday season.The US has imported $3.62 billion worth of petroleum products in the eight months to 30 November, a 23% increase from the previous year and the highest in the past five years. Europes November imports of petroleum products from India also showed significant changes, with the UK, Spain and Romania significantly reducing imports from India, while Portugal, Belgium, and Italy increased imports by 1,600, 535, and 17 times, respectively. The Netherlands, a hub for oil storage, imported 45% more petroleum products compared to October.Indias purchases of Russian crude have soared after international prices surged since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. As Russian oil is banned in the US and Europe, India is able to purchase it at a significant discount. While the imported crude is primarily used to fuel Indias economy, local refiners have also sold the refined products in foreign markets. India is a key Asian refining hub, with an installed capacity of nearly 250 million tonnes per annum across 23 refineries. In November, the Netherlands was the topmost importer of petroleum products, including jet fuel, worth $1.26 billion. The UAE was the second largest buyer of refined products from India, importing products worth $667 million in the month.Oil imports have certainly jumped from Russia, and some part of it has been processed and sent to Europe. The Netherlands has emerged as the top importer of oil products from India. But it is worth noting that oil companies keep storing oil depending on the strategic requirement in different countries," Ajay Sahai, director general of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO).Sometimes they will store it in the Netherlands; sometimes it will be Singapore. It could be for the consumption of most European countries," Sahai said. Queries sent to the oil ministry, Russian, and the US embassies remained unanswered until press time.Experts said that both high imports of crude oil from Russia and the export of petroleum products by India would continue despite the price cap imposed by G7 and European Union. An official aware of the developments said that India has been getting cargo from Russia as the prices are largely lower than the price cap.India has been immune to the impact of the price cap and will continue to get oil from all possible sources, including Russia," the official said, requesting anonymity.A cap on the price of Russian oil, meant to ensure Moscow cannot fund its invasion of Ukraine from oil proceeds, kicked in last month. India, the worlds third-largest oil importer, has, however, said it wouldnt join the effort to cap the price of oil, currently placed at 5% below the market price.The price cap comes at a time when Russia has emerged as one of Indias top sources of crude oil this year. Traditionally, Russia has never been a supplier of significant quantities of oil to India. However, estimates suggest Indias appetite for Russian crude has risen to unprecedented levels, surpassing volumes from most West Asian suppliers. Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma'aden) has announced that it has entered into an agreement with US group Ivanhoe Electric (IE) to set up a joint venture company to explore minerals including copper, gold, nickel and silver in the kingdom. Ivanhoe Electric is a NYSE-listed mineral exploration and development company in the US that combines advanced mineral exploration technologies, renewable energy storage solutions and electric metals projects. As part of the deal, the Saudi group will acquire a 9.9% equity interest in the American group for $126 million. This is a vital investment for Ma'aden giving it strategic presence in a leading international mining company with its own proprietary technology and increasing its international exposure to critical minerals, said senior company officials at the Heads of Terms signing ceremony held on the sidelines of Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Under the transaction terms, Ma'aden will obtain the right to appoint one independent director to the Ivanhoe Electric's Board of Directors and will be issued with approximately 10.2 million new common shares in IE at a price of $12.38 per share. The Saudi mining group said the joint venture will explore 48,500 sq km of selected licenses areas that demonstrate excellent potential. Through the JV, Ma'aden will obtain royalty free access to IE's proprietary Typhoon technology, which conducts geophysical surveys using high powered transmitters to detect the presence of sulfide minerals containing copper, nickel, gold and silver. This will help accelerate, de-risk and advance Ma'aden's exploration lands being made available to the joint venture, thereby enabling Ma'aden to realize value from its exploration assets. CEO Robert Wilt said: "Ma'aden's strategic investment in Ivanhoe Electric is a critically important moment in our journey to become a leading supplier of strategic minerals, which will fuel global economic growth over the coming decade." "Through Ma'aden, Saudi Arabia is making an invaluable contribution to fast-developing new industries across the world characterized by technological advancement," he noted. Ivanhoe Electric's Executive Chairman Robert Friedland said: "We are proud to partner with Ma'aden and the amazing young motivated women and men of Saudi Arabia on this journey to explore the significant mineral wealth of the Kingdom, especially with the blessings our collaboration may bring to realizing Vision 2030." IE will commit $66 million from funds raised through the share subscription to the joint venture to fund the purchase of three new generation Typhoon machines and the exploration of prospective lands to be provided by Ma'aden for metallic minerals within the Kingdom, he added. Ma'aden said the deal is expected to be completed by the end of Q1. It is being advised in this transaction by M. Klein and Company.-TradeArabia News Service include_once "/home/jwreview/public_html/$theme/includes/sidebar.php"; ?> The January 6th anniversary observances by the Democrat-media class from Joe Biden down are sick-making even by the debased standards of American politics. I'm disinclined to join them. In the last twelve months, I've done multiple monologues on TV and radio about America's political prisoners, the weaponization of Officer Sicknick's death and the now routine FBI humbuggery about key evidence such as - ooooooh! - a Lego model of the Capitol on which the insurrectionists had plotted the whole thing. Which inevitably, like almost every FBI utterance these days, proved to be total bollocks. So instead I will merely reprise what I said in the immediate hours after the "insurrection". If you want the short version, here's the Washington Times headline: Mark Steyn rips media's 'citadel of democracy' framing of Capitol: 'It's a citadel of crap' If you're still interested in hearing the long version, first up was my appearance with Tucker as the "storming" of the Capitol was coming to a close: Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here. There has been much talk these last two months about the disconnect between Fox and its audience over the events of November 3rd, but they are as nothing to the disconnect between Fox and its audience over the events of January 6th. The media may be sentimental about the Capitol, but in my unscientific survey of my North Country neighbors the people aren't. Congress has an approval rating that falls somewhere between Isis and child pornographers. Pundits and politicians can wax mawkish about "the people's house" but you'd be hard-pressed to find one in a thousand citizens who's ever used those words in a non-contemptuous sense - and most of the other 999 would assume that the phrase referred to some long-term care facility Andrew Cuomo moves the old folks into for his Covid express checkout. So I found yesterday's coverage somewhat trying... The political class (represented by a Speaker who flies home to San Francisco on her own government plane) has been largely insulated from the pathologies they have loosed upon the land. For a few hours yesterday they weren't. During the early evening I found myself wondering why the pundits were so insistent on standing on the Capitol's dignity. The obvious reason is that, for the most lavishly protected legislature in the world (okay, make that "legislature"), it was a total security fiasco - culminating in the murder of an unarmed woman by a (to put it mildly) totally incompetent copper firing into a crowd (which an American couldn't do in, say, Kandahar). The rubbish about the "desecration" of the "sacred" "majesty", etc, etc, peddled by Democrats and Republicans alike is designed to evade the vile reality of that grotesque act. I returned to the subject the following morning: As I said earlier, I find myself at odds with virtually the entire politico-media class in my reaction to the "storming" of the US Capitol... I was surprised that even politicians and pundits could utter all that eyewash about "the citadel of democracy" and "a light to the world" with a straight face. It's a citadel of crap, and the lights went out long ago: ask anyone who needs that $600 "relief". I despise the United States Congress, and not merely for the weeks I had to spend there during the Clinton impeachment trial: My contempt pre-dates that circus. It dates to the moment I first realized, as a recent arrival to this land, that when Dick Durbin or some such is giving some overwrought speech on a burning issue he is speaking to an entirely empty chamber - because there are no debates, because most of these over-entouraged Emirs of Incumbistan are entirely incapable of debate: See, inter alia, Ed Markey. include_once "/home/jwreview/public_html/templates/double_ads.asp"; ?> But the fact that they might as well be orating in front of the bathroom mirror isn't why I despise it. It's that the American media go along with the racket, and there's only the one pool camera with the fixed tight shot so that you can't see the joint is deserted and the guy is talking to himself. The wanker press is so protective of its politicians that it's happy to give the impression that a boob like Markey is Cromwell in the Long Parliament... That leads easily to the next stage of decay - for why would a Potemkin parliament not degenerate further into a pseudo-legislature? The Covid "relief" bill is 5,593 pages. There is no such thing as a 5,593-page "law" - because no legislator could read it and grasp it. For purposes of comparison, the Government of India Act, which in 1935 was the longest piece of legislation ever drafted in British law and which provided for the government of what are now India, Pakistan and Burma, is 326 pages. Oh, I'm sure paragons of republican virtue will object that no Indian or Burmese citizen-representatives were involved in that piece of imperial imposition. Well, no American citizen-representatives were involved in the Covid "relief" bill. The legislation was drafted not by legislators, nor by civil servants, nor even by staffers or interns. Instead, a zillion lobbyists wrote their particular carve-outs, and then it got stitched together by some clerk playing the role of Baron von Frankenstein. The "legislators" voted it into law unread, and indeed even unseen, as the Congressional photocopier proved unable to print it: It was a bill without corporeal form, but the yes-men yessed it into law anyway. Whatever that is, it's not a republic. As beacons to the world go, stick it where the beacon don't shine... Whatever Sudan and Chad and Waziristan need, it's not the US Congress. I followed Marco Rubio on Tucker last night, and I was fairly seething by the time he'd said goodnight. To demonstrate what a regular citizen-representative he is, Marco said he knew the names of some of the Capitol Police charged with protecting the building. Really? Does he know the name of the officer who shot dead Ashli Babbitt, an unarmed woman and Air Force veteran? If so, perhaps he could tell his chums in the media, because none of them seem in the least bit interested. Indeed, on the evidence of the hourly radio bulletins I heard today, the courtiers of the American media have evidently agreed to avoid mentioning that Ms Babbitt died at the hands of the police. Gee, it's almost as if they're trying to give listeners the impression that she was killed by crazed Trump supporters. I would be interested in knowing more about the Capitol Police, which flunked its responsibilities totally yesterday and never more so than in that fatal shot fired into Ms Babbitt's neck. The Capitol Police rang a vague bell with me, and I eventually recalled the last time I'd written about them - seven years earlier, after their shooting of a young woman. Please read on to what I regard as the most repulsive aspect of this story: Congress's standing ovation for the Capitol Police's dispatch of that poor defenseless mom. This is the pertinent part: An unarmed woman was gunned down on the streets of Washington for no apparent crime other than driving too near Barackingham Palace and thereby posing a threat to national security. As disturbing as Miriam Carey's bullet-riddled body and vehicle were, the public indifference to it is even worse. Ms Carey does not appear to be guilty of any act other than a panic attack when the heavy-handed and heavier-armed palace guard began yelling at her. Much of what was reported in the hours after her death seems dubious: We are told Ms Carey was 'mentally ill', although she had no medications in her vehicle and those at her home back in Connecticut are sufficiently routine as to put millions of other Americans in the category of legitimate target. We are assured that she suffered from post-partum depression, as if the inability to distinguish between a depressed mom and a suicide bomber testifies to the officers' professionalism. Under DC police rules, cops are not permitted to fire on a moving vehicle, because of the risk to pedestrians and other drivers. But the Secret Service and the Capitol Police enjoy no such restraints, so the car doors are full of bullet holes. The final moments of the encounter remain a mystery, but police were supposedly able to extract Ms Carey's baby from the back of a two-door vehicle before dispatching the defenseless mother to meet her maker. Did I mention she was African-American? When a black teen dies in a late-night one-on-one encounter with a fellow citizen on the streets of Sanford, Florida it's the biggest thing since Selma. But when a defenseless black woman is gunned down by a posse of Robocops in broad daylight on the streets of the capital, the Reverend Jesse Jackson and the Reverend Al Sharpton and all the other bouffed and pampered grievance-mongers are apparently cool with it... In perhaps the most repugnant reaction to Ms Carey's death, the United States Congress expressed their 'gratitude' to the officers who killed her and gave them a standing ovation. Back in the Eighties, the Queen woke up to find a confused young man at the end of her bed. She talked to him calmly until help arrived and he was led away. A few years later, Her Majesty's Canadian Prime Minister, Jean Chretien, was confronted by an aggrieved protester. As is his wont, he dealt with it somewhat more forcefully than his sovereign, throttling the guy, forcing him to the ground, and breaking his tooth, until the Mounties arrived to rescue the assailant from the PM. But, had the London and Ottawa intruders been gunned down by SWAT teams, I cannot imagine for a moment either the British or Canadian Parliament rising to applaud such an outcome. This was a repulsive act by Congress. Miriam Carey is already forgotten, and the lawyer her family hired has now, conveniently, been jailed for a bad debt. I am not one for cheap historical analogies: My mother spent four of her childhood years under Nazi occupation, and it is insulting to her and millions of others who know the real thing to bandy overheated comparisons. But there is a despotic trend in American government. Too many of our rulers and their enforcers reflexively see the citizenry primarily as a threat. Which is why in Congress the so-called people's representatives' first instinct is to stand and cheer the death of a defenseless woman. And so it goes. (COMMENT, BELOW) Mark Steyn is an international bestselling author, a Top 41 recording artist, and a leading Canadian human rights activist. Among his books is "The Undocumented Mark Steyn: Don't Say You Weren't Warned". (Buy it at a 49% discount by clicking here or order in KINDLE edition at a 67% discount by clicking here. Sales help fund JWR) Republicans have spent two years demanding that President Joe Biden visit the U.S.-Mexico border. They wanted Biden to face the real-world consequences of his border policy and the burden it has placed on people not only in the border states but around the country. Now, the GOP has gotten its wish; Biden visited the border at El Paso, Texas, on Sunday. But there is bad news: The president used the occasion of his border visit to make things even worse. Here's the key difference between Republicans and Democrats on the border. With unprecedented numbers of illegal border crossers entering the United States, Republicans want policies that will stop, or at least dramatically reduce, the flow. Democrats want policies that will accommodate the flow. For evidence of that, just look at two moments in the events surrounding Biden's brief visit to a cleaned-up El Paso. (U.S. officials removed all the visual reminders of immigrants sleeping in the streets, overwhelming the city's ability to deal with them, so Biden would not have to see anything unpleasant.) The first moment came when Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott met Biden as Air Force One arrived. Abbott handed the president a letter outlining what needs to be done to solve the border crisis. Noting that Biden's destination "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," Abbott demanded that Biden enforce existing U.S. immigration law mandating the detention of illegal border crossers and that Biden also stop allowing illegal crossers to enter the country in huge numbers. Abbott called for the revival of former President Donald Trump's "Remain in Mexico" policy that required asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico while their asylum cases were adjudicated in the U.S. "On behalf of all Americans, I implore you: Secure our border by enforcing Congress's immigration laws," Abbott wrote. SIGN UP FOR THE DAILY JWR UPDATE. IT'S FREE. Just click here. That was one moment. The second moment came when Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas met reporters on Air Force One as Mayorkas accompanied Biden on the trip. Mayorkas explained the Biden administration's new policy in which would-be illegal border crossers can download a new, administration-created app called CBP One. They will use the app to make an appointment to enter the U.S. at a port of entry. Border officials will then let them in so much more efficient than wading across the Rio Grande and then quickly move them elsewhere inside the U.S. Having entered legally, they would stay in the U.S. and pursue an asylum claim. This is what Mayorkas said about the plan: "What we're trying to do is ... incentivize a safe and orderly way and cut out the smuggling organizations." There it is. The Republican official wants to stop the flow. The Democratic official wants to accommodate it. Biden seeks to put the smugglers out of business by letting everyone in immediately. Under the new program, the U.S. will grant the border crossers parole, the legal term for allowing an illegal immigrant to stay in the U.S., and entering the U.S. will be quick and easy. Biden and Mayorkas, writes former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy in National Review: are telling aliens the world over who want to come to the United States that they just need to let us know they're coming ahead of time. For this, they just need to use an app or avail themselves of various hubs in Mexico (and elsewhere, to be sure). The idea is that Biden will then purport to grant them parole before they get to the border. The fiction is that this way, when the alien hordes later show up at the border, they won't be "without legal authorization" anymore. The parole decreed by the chief executive will be treated as if it were a visa granted under legitimate American law. include_once "/home/jwreview/public_html/templates/double_ads.asp"; ?> "The illegal aliens will now apply for parole before they get here," McCarthy concluded, "so that when they arrive at the border voila! they are no longer illegal; they'll have their Biden parole codes." There will no longer be reports of hundreds of thousands of illegal crossers entering the U.S. because they'll all have the Biden seal of approval. Accommodate the flow. The problem is the president does not have the legal authority to do this. "It is both a gross violation of the narrow, statutory parole authority Congress has granted the executive branch for decades, and an unconstitutional usurpation by the president of Congress's power to set the conditions for lawful entry into the United States," McCarthy wrote. The administration also announced a second plan specific to illegal crossers from four countries Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. The plan would allow up to 30,000 of them into the U.S. each month with a quick and easy process. So that is Biden's response to the border crisis: Keep letting the illegal crossers in, only more quickly and smoothly. And call it legal. It took the president two years to come up with the new plan. During those two years, record numbers of illegal crossers poured into the country, and many were allowed to stay. Now, Biden is doing nothing to stem that flow but rather taking steps to make it faster and more efficient. You have to conclude that he is satisfied with millions of people crossing into the U.S., first illegally and then, under the new system, without much scrutiny or limit. That's why Biden has done so much to create the problem and so little to solve it. (COMMENT, BELOW) It was Coco Chanel who supposedly said: "The best things in life are free. The second-best things are very, very expensive." For Massachusetts legislators, there seems to be no end to the list of things that ought to be supplied at no charge. In that spirit, Senate President Karen Spilka opened the new legislative session last week with a call to make community college free for any Massachusetts resident. "This session, as part of the Senate's new Student Opportunity Plan, I am calling on us to make community college free for all students, and [to] dedicate more funds to public higher education institutions all across our state so that every young person can fulfill their dreams for their futures," Spilka proclaimed as her colleagues applauded. "It's beyond time. Let's make it free." Making valuable goods and services "free" is becoming standard operating procedure for Bay State lawmakers. Many legislators, for example, want to make phone calls free for incarcerated people; a provision doing so was added to the budget passed last summer. At the last minute, that rider was line-item vetoed by former governor Charlie Baker, but it is sure to be resurrected. The House and Senate approved legislation last year to continue making school lunches free for all students, regardless of household income. They approved a bill to require free menstrual products in most public bathrooms, including those in schools, jails, shelters, and housing facilities. Senators passed a bill to provide free ID cards to homeless persons. A number of lawmakers are pushing to make MBTA bus service free. That has the support of the state's new governor, Maura Healey, who said during the campaign that she is committed to "outlining a pathway to fare-free buses throughout the Commonwealth." SIGN UP FOR THE DAILY JWR UPDATE. IT'S FREE. Just click here. include_once "/home/jwreview/public_html/$theme/includes/sidebar.php"; ?> Maybe these are good ideas, maybe not we can have that discussion another day but plainly many Massachusetts legislators believe that some things are important enough that they should be provided for free. Allow me to suggest an addition to that list: legislators. Think about it: Why should the people of Massachusetts have to pay to be represented in the state Senate and House? If menstrual items and jailhouse phone calls are significant enough to be provided at no charge, then surely members of the Legislature are too. After all, the Massachusetts Constitution itself requires that there be a General Court comprising senators and representatives. Isn't it wrong to force the people to pay for something to which they have a constitutional right? And yet we do pay. We pay a lot and the price tag keeps increasing. For the past two years, the base pay for Massachusetts legislators was $70,537 per year, plus an expense allowance of $22,729 ($17,044 for those within 50 miles of Boston). On top of that, every state senator and almost two-thirds of state representatives about 70 percent of the Legislature collected hefty "leadership stipends" that augmented their compensation by at least 20 percent. In 2021-22 that stipend was worth between $17,039 to $90,876 annually. Bottom line: No senator or representative was paid less than $87,581; some collected as much as $178,457. include_once "/home/jwreview/public_html/templates/double_ads.asp"; ?> Last week, as the new legislative session began, all those numbers went up. As my Globe colleague Matt Stout reported last month, the base salary for legislators has jumped to $73,654, their expense accounts have risen to as much as $27,295, and the "leadership" payment will now add at least $20,617 to most lawmakers' yearly pay. But why should Massachusetts citizens have to shell out so much money for the services, if that's the right word, of the men and women elected to the Legislature. Virtually no other state pays its lawmakers anywhere near that kind of dough, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. What do we get for it? Almost no Massachusetts legislators have any sway, and the handful who do conduct nearly all their business in secret indeed, Massachusetts state government is notorious for its lack of transparency. Rarely is any serious legislative matter debated openly, and bills are typically passed or rejected in pro forma votes whose outcome is decided in advance. Bay State residents should not have to pay for such terrible representation or indeed, for any representation. Anyone who wishes to serve in the Legislature should do so for free or for only a nominal charge. In hundreds of towns across Massachusetts, there are thousands of selectmen and town meeting members who are paid no more than a small stipend, if that, for the work they do on behalf of their constituents. Most school committee members aren't paid either. State legislators should be treated no differently. As Massachusetts' neighbor to the north can attest, that's hardly an outrageous proposition. New Hampshire rejects the notion that legislating is a job for well-compensated professional politicians. It pays its lawmakers just $100 per year, and its 400-member House of Representatives attracts the participation of a remarkably diverse array of citizens. "Unlike Massachusetts, where many legislative candidates are attracted by the prospect of status, influence, money, and a stepping stone to higher office," I wrote in 2018, "New Hampshire's statehouse tends to attracts true citizen-lawmakers independent, civic-minded volunteers who choose to serve with no ulterior motive but good governance." In New Mexico, to take another example, state legislators are paid no salary at all not even the $100 that Granite State lawmakers get. Apart from a per diem of between $165 and $194 a day for the few weeks each year that the Legislature meets, New Mexico's state senators and representatives have always performed their jobs as volunteers. So should their counterparts in Massachusetts. No one, of course, is compelled to run for the Legislature. Those who choose to do so should not be motivated by the prospect of fat paychecks for little work. They should be attracted by the desire to serve the Commonwealth from a public-spirited interest in making Massachusetts better. While lawmakers keep coming up with new ideas for making things free, it is time that lawmakers themselves were free. We elect them; that's enough. We shouldn't have to pay for them too. Jeff Jacoby is a columnist for The Boston Globe, from which this is reprinted with permission." MATTOON Lifelong comedy fan Kari Jones said she nearly stopped being able to laugh as she grieved for her father, Gary Jones, after he passed away in 2017. Then, the Mattoon resident said she was talked into accompanying her mother, Connie, and two friends to watch a performance by comedian John Crist the following year at Life Foursquare Church in Decatur. (Crist) started his comedy show and I didnt remember I was grieving, Jones said. My face hurt so bad afterwards because I had been laughing so much for an hour and a half. Jones said that uplifting experience inspired her own journey to become a stand-up comedian with the mission of bringing laughter and hope to others dealing with heavy burdens on their hearts. She debuted on April 2 at the Mattoon American Legion and has been booking shows ever since, including as an opening act for David Scott at 8 p.m. Jan. 14 at the Cerro Gordo American Legion. Its great to see her up there on stage. It warms my heart to see her excited to share her gifts with the community, Connie Jones said, noting that her daughter has been involved in music and performing arts since grade school. Jones love of comedy began at a young age as she grew up in the Chicago suburbs. Jones said she enjoyed watching classic variety programs such as The Carol Burnett Show, Seinfeld and other sitcoms, and stand-up comedy specials. Jones said she also had fun telling jokes to her father and goofing off with him. One of the things my dad and I enjoyed sharing was laughter, Jones said. We loved a good laugh. Jones said she also acted in community theater, including in comedies, while she was living in Northern Illinois. Jones said she had experience as a comedic actress on which to draw, but she had no idea if she would be good at stand-up. She said stage comedies follow scripts and have audiences who are often familiar with the shows, so they anticipate their favorite funny scenes. (Stand-up comedy) is a lot more personal, Jones said. I am not sharing someone elses words, I am sharing my own and putting trust in it. To prepare for this style of comedy, Jones said studied the work of other comedians on video and at their live shows in the region. Jones said she also interacted with them at meet and greet events after their live shows and through social media. The comedian said her sister, Kendra Jones, subsequently surprised her by renting out the Mattoon American Legion auditorium on April 2 as a venue to try out her stand-up material. Jones said she was also pleasantly surprised when all 120 seats for the show were sold. Those were 120 people who were cheering on the girl from their hometown, Jones said, adding she she appreciates all the community support she has received. Jones said her professional development efforts also have included attending a Christian Comedy Association conference in June, during which she performed for three adrenaline inducing minutes on a comedy club stage. Jones said she is honored to call comedians June Colson, Rhonda Corey, Lee Hardin and Kristine Weber mentors as she continues to develop her clean comedy. As a comedian, Jones said she can perform her regular routine for bookings or customize it for special events. Jones said her long-term goals include appearing at the Dry Bar Comedy Club in Utah, taking the stage at Ryman Auditorium with the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, and performing as part of a Mike Huckabee Today broadcast. In addition, Jones said she wants to be available to help others interested in making audiences laugh through stand-up comedy. I want to pay it forward, Jones said. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. AUTHOR TOUR: Bookmarks will present the No. 1 New York Times bestselling author Brad Meltzer on tour for his new book, The Nazi Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill, at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 20 at Calvary Moravian Church at 600 Holly Avenue Northwest in Winston-Salem. This is a free event, presented in part with support from Kilpatrick Townsend, but registration is required. A book ticket option is available that includes attendance to the book talk, a hardcover copy of The Nazi Conspiracy and a front-of-the-line signing pass. For tickets, visit bookmarksnc.org/BradMeltzer. Newborn twins who were allegedly injured in late December by their father in a Thomasville hospital have been released from the hospital, authorities said Tuesday. The twins are in a licensed foster home, said Capt. Brad Saintsing of the Thomasville Police Department. Police were dispatched at 4:42 a.m. Dec. 24 to the Thomasville Medical Center after hospital staff called to report that the twins, who were less than 48 hours old, had been seriously injured, police said. The twins mother was recovering in the hospital, and the father and the babies were in her room, police said. Police believe the babies were injured then. Tristan Scott Strupe, 26, of Baxter Road is charged with two counts of felony child abuse, causing serious, according to arrest warrants. Strupe was being held Tuesday in the Davidson County Jail with his bond set at $65,000, the Davidson County Sheriffs Office said. Strupe is accused of bruising and tearing one childs ear and fracturing the skull and breaking the upper arm of the other baby, according to the arrest warrants. Afterward, the babies were taken to Forsyth Medical Center, where they were treated. Strupes attorney, Katie Hall of Lexington, declined to comment Tuesday. Adnec Group in cooperation with the UAE Ministry of Defence has held a meeting with a group of ambassadors and representatives of official diplomatic missions and military attaches in the UAE to brief them about Idex and Navdex. The events will be held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE from February 20 to 24, 2023, at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre. Adnec Group is organising the 16th edition of the International Defence Exhibition (Idex 2023) and the 7th edition of the Naval Defence & Maritime Security Exhibition (Navdex 2023), in cooperation with the UAE Ministry of Defence. Initiatives and preparations The meeting, attended by a number of ambassadors, representatives of diplomatic missions and military attaches in UAE, focused on the initiatives and preparations carried out by Adnec Group to host an exceptional edition of the events. The upcoming editions will coincide with the 30th anniversary of Idex and 12th anniversary of Navdex, the biggest events of their kind in the world, which aim to showcase the latest technologies and equipment developed by defence sectors from all over the world. The exhibitions serve as a global platform to highlight the latest innovative technologies and equipment developed by defence industries. They seek to shed light on the development of the UAEs national defence industries, and encourage partnerships with various participants and major global companies, which are specialised in defence and military industries. The meeting was attended by Major General Staff Pilot Faris Khalaf Al Mazrouei, Chairman of the Higher Organising Committee; Major General Dr Mubarak Saeed Ghafan Al Jabri, Deputy Chairman of the Committee; Humaid Matar Al Dhaheri, Managing Director and Group CEO of Adnec Group; and committee members and senior officials from a number of government entities. In his opening speech, Major General Al Mazrouei said: Our wise leadership places a major significance on Idex and Navdex as they support its efforts to accelerate the development of national industries, including defence industries, as an integral part of its future vision. In line with its aspirations to achieve the comprehensive and sustainable development of the nation in the next fifty years, our wise leadership aims to advance the UAE into an incubator for global creativity and an engine for innovation and development in several vital and promising sectors. Defence industry leader This years edition is an exceptional one as it marks the anniversary of 30 years since the launch of Idex, which has contributed throughout three decades to consolidating Abu Dhabis leading position as a leader in the global defence industries. I am confident that the next editions of Idex and Navdex exhibitions and the accompanying International Defence Conference will be successful on all levels. This will be possible through the efforts of all national entities that have contributed to organising the events in a way that strengthens the UAEs leading position on a regional and global scale, he added. He added: We look forward to welcoming people from all over the world to the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, the land of tolerance and the home of coexistence. Al Dhaheri said: This years edition, which is one of the largest in the history of the event, embodies a 30-year success story for the Idex exhibition and a 12-year milestone for the Navdex exhibition. These events come as part of Adnec Group's efforts to support economic diversification and provide opportunities that contribute to the development of vital sectors. The events also align with the pivotal role of Adnec Group in developing the national defence industries sector and in establishing Abu Dhabi's position as a destination for major events, in addition to providing an ideal platform for international companies to strengthen their presence in the regional markets. Record participation The upcoming edition of the exhibitions will receive record participation from major international companies, and will be attended by high-ranking official delegations. We at Adnec Group have carried out the necessary strategies and organisational plans that guarantee the success of the event in accordance to the highest international standards, by utilising all resources and work teams to host an exceptional edition on all levels, he added. Idex and Navdex exhibitions provide a world-leading platform for showcasing the latest innovations and technologies of the international defence sector, as well as the latest technologies and equipment developed by defence sectors from around the world. The previous edition of the two exhibitions in 2021 achieved remarkable success, as it had received more than 62,000 visitors and more than 900 local, regional, and international companies from 59 countries, in addition to 35 national pavilions.-- TradeArabia News Service An important issue I am writing this letter to bring attention to a very important issue: Term limits. More specifically, term limits for senators and representatives. I believe that it is important to have term limits because I feel people who are able to stay in Congress for 30 years become out of touch with the people. I believe that it shouldnt be allowed that people who are in power now are the same people who were in power when my dad, who is a 45-year-old man, was a kid. We need term limits so that every election cycle there is a new person who has been side by side with his or her fellow Americans in our everyday lives not someone whose time as a regular citizen was in the 1970s. Im not saying that experience isnt important; it is. However, we need someone who has the same experiences as us, someone who can relate and share that they understand what we go through in everyday life as an American. I know I havent said any facts or statistics throughout this letter, and Ive just stated my opinion, but I still think its important to share this thought process with anyone who reads this. Caleb Brummett Thomasville Too many Jan. 8 front-page headline: Still too many. Homicides, that is. One is too many! Benjamin C. Wilson Sr. Winston-Salem A sad dayWhat a sad day for bipartisanship and respect. We watched Congress hold a brief bipartisan memorial service on the steps of the Capitol on Friday. The ceremony was to mark the second anniversary of the insurrection on our nations democracy. Members of Congress honored the four officers who lost their lives as the result of the insurrection. Of the large crowd that gathered on the steps of the Capitol, just one Republican appeared to show up to the ceremony, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania. Two years ago, with sadness and horror, we watched rioters storm the Capitol building and call for the deaths of Vice President Mike Pence and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. We watched representatives hide under their chairs, put on gas masks, run from their offices and help barricade the chamber doors while the Capitol police did their best to protect them. Some of the same people chose not attend the memorial service because they decided to be on a conference call concerning the Speaker of the House election fiasco. What a sad day. Donna Sparks Clemmons No shame Where were the Republicans on Jan. 6 during what was intended to be a bipartisan event commemorating the Jan. 6, 2021, violent assault on the Capitol and democracy? Only one bothered showing up (2 years after Jan. 6, House speaker battle divides Congress again, Jan. 7). Over the past two years that Ive been outspoken about January 6th, I have tried to walk a fine line when it comes to condemning Republicans, former D.C. officer Michael Fanone told CNNs Jake Tapper during an interview. No one likes to be painted with a broad brush. Law enforcement certainly doesnt like that, and I dont believe that all Republicans are sympathetic to the MAGA agenda. That being said, its very difficult to defend the Republican Party when only one of their members takes the time to show up and show support for law enforcement that was there defending them that day. Its disgraceful. Its an embarrassment for their party, and its disgraceful behavior. As somebody who has previously supported Republican candidates, its shameful, the former police officer told Tapper. But they seem to be a party, at this point in time, that is without shame. I keep hearing this claim, that Republican legislators have no shame. They keep proving it to be true. Linda Patrick Winston-Salem SOUTH SIOUX CITY -- A Sioux City man has been arrested on charges of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl at her father's home on Christmas. Michael R. Brown, 33, was arrested Saturday and booked into the Dakota County Jail on charges of first-degree sexual assault of a child and child abuse. His bond has yet to be set. According to court documents, Brown, a friend of the girl's father, had sex with the girl in her room in the South Sioux City home on Dec. 25. The teen told a South Sioux City police officer Brown had tried to touch her in the past, and she and her cousin went to her room when he arrived. When interviewed by police, the girl's father said Brown had been texting him and asking him when the girl was going to be home. Top Journal Star photos for January 2023 Although Sen. Danielle Conrad says shes disappointed with the Legislatures swing toward partisanship since she left in 2015 and by a decision not to honor her request to return to a seat on the Appropriations Committee where she previously served for eight years, the Lincoln senator is looking ahead with enthusiasm now. Her appointment to the Education Committee and to the Government and Military Affairs Committee puts Conrad at the center of major battles in the 2023 legislative session that include proposed redistribution of state school aid and construction of voter photo ID requirements that were mandated by voter approval of a constitutional amendment. The increase in partisanship has been on display during early organization of the nonpartisan 2023 Legislature and approval of committee assignments, Conrad said Tuesday during an interview outside the legislative chamber. Its disappointing, but not surprising, she said. But Conrad said it will not deter her from her goals of championing working families and advocating for civil rights and civil liberties as well as doing what she can to protect the nonpartisan nature of the Legislature. Conrad wants to establish a child tax credit for Nebraska families and make sure working families have more resources to succeed. Thats the centerpiece of my personal agenda. And she intends to provide a strong voice for protecting Nebraska voting rights, a strong voice for protecting access to reproductive rights and a strong voice for criminal justice reform along with support for public education and open government. Conrad resigned as executive director of ACLU of Nebraska to seek the District 46 legislative seat representing northeast Lincoln. The increase in partisanship in the Legislature since she was last there is reflected by committee assignments that were finally approved after nearly six hours of often acrimonious debate, Conrad said, and thats disappointing. But Conrad said she is very impressed with Gov. Jim Pillens outreach to senators. The Republican governors contacts have been meaningful, frequent and authentic, the Democratic member of the Legislature said. Weve spoken five to 10 times and there have been texts and meetings. Its never personal for me, Conrad said. Its always about policy. Conrad said she is hopeful that senators will find common ground as the 90-day legislative session unfolds. Theres a lot of talent, a lot of heart here, she said. We all voluntarily ran to serve in a nonpartisan Legislature. We took an oath to protect the state constitution that requires that. It does not mean one side gets everything. It means we check our party labels at the door, Conrad said. Partisanship does not align with our framework. And I think protecting this institution is critical. But I am very clear-eyed as to how this institution has changed. Meet the Nebraska state senators making laws in 2023 This live event will begin at 9 a.m. Thursday. Gov. Jim Pillen announced Wednesday that he will appoint a successor to former Sen. Ben Sasse on Thursday with all signs pointing to the expected choice of former Gov. Pete Ricketts. Pillen and the appointee are scheduled to be together at a 9 a.m. news conference in the Governor's Hearing Room. Sasse resigned effective on Sunday as he prepares to assume the presidency of the University of Florida next month. Ricketts, who completed two terms as governor earlier this month, was an unsuccessful candidate for the Senate in 2006. Ricketts supported Pillen's candidacy to replace him as governor, helping him to emerge from a hotly contested primary. Sasse first announced his plans to leave the Senate in October, a month prior to Pillen's general election victory. Former state Sen. Brett Lindstrom, Nebraska Chamber of Commerce President Bryan Slone, Pinnacle Bank Chairman Sid Dinsdale and Greg Ibach, former director of the Nebraska Department of Agriculture, were among applicants for the open Senate seat, according to a story in the Nebraska Examiner. Pillen's appointee will serve for two years before a special election in 2024 to determine who will complete the final two years of Sasse's term. Photos: Ben Sasse through the years The latest attempt to increase Nebraska's abortion restrictions is on its way to the Legislature, this time focused on the heavily debated terminology commonly referred to as the "fetal heartbeat." State Sen. Joni Albrecht of Thurston announced Wednesday her intent to introduce two bills in the coming days, the first called the "Nebraska Heartbeat Act," and the other named the "Nebraska Pregnancy Help Act," which would provide a tax credit for donors supporting pregnancy centers that do not perform abortions. Neither bill has been officially introduced yet. Though the language hasn't been finalized, the first bill would require physicians to perform an ultrasound prior to performing an abortion to test for a "fetal heartbeat," which is typically detected around six weeks past fertilization, and would prohibit doctors from performing an abortion if one is detected. This would be significantly stricter than Nebraska's current law banning abortions at 20 weeks past fertilization. Albrecht estimated the bill would eliminate 85% of abortions in the state. The term "fetal heartbeat" is highly controversial. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said it isn't accurate to characterize an embryo's cardiac activity as a heartbeat until the chambers of the heart are developed around 17-20 weeks of gestation. However, two doctors that spoke in support of Albrecht's bill Wednesday argued the term is correct. "There's no question biologically or medically that these are two separate human beings," said Robert Plambeck, a Lincoln OBGYN. Opponents of the bill have already criticized it for being a thinly veiled attempt to ban all abortions. Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha, who led the filibuster that killed the full abortion ban proposed last year, noted that most women don't even realize they are pregnant until after the legislation would prohibit abortions. "This bill is about banning abortion, plain and simple," Hunt said in a Tweet. "It would ban abortions before most people even know theyre pregnant." Albrecht was pressed on this issue, and said she hopes women will understand the bill before it becomes law, and will know to seek medical help if they suspect they are pregnant. Under the new bill, a physician's medical license could be revoked if they perform an abortion after embryonic cardiac activity is detected. This differs from last year's proposed ban, which would have made it a criminal offense to perform an abortion. Neither bill would penalize the woman receiving an abortion. The bill bears more resemblance to another piece of legislation that failed to make it out of committee last year. The bill (LB781), introduced by Sen. Julie Slama of Dunbar, also would have required doctors test for embryonic cardiac activity, and would have made it a felony to perform an abortion if one was detected. Albrecht did not release a draft of the "Nebraska Pregnancy Help Act" Wednesday, but explained that it would provide up to $10 million in tax credits to individuals and groups that make donations to pregnancy support organizations that do not provide abortions. Andi Curry Grubb, executive director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Nebraska, criticized the legislation as an attempt to financially support anti-abortion religious groups. Its essentially a tax credit to churches, Curry Grubb said. The Nebraska Heartbeat Act includes several notable changes to last years full ban, which Albrecht also introduced. Albrecht said it was difficult for her to make those changes, but they were made because it was clear there was not enough support for a full ban. We listened to Nebraskans, Albrecht said. The bill covers many points of contention that opponents took issue with in Albrechts previous bill, including that it did not include exceptions for rape or incest, it would have unintentionally banned contraception and in vitro fertilization and would unfairly penalize doctors. The new bill includes exceptions for rape and incest, and clarifies the regulations do not apply to in vitro fertilization, ectopic pregnancies or life-saving medical procedures that terminate a pregnancy. The change in penalty from a felony charge to a license revocation will also likely move the bill to be considered by the Legislatures Health and Human Services Committee, rather than the Judiciary Committee which considered the full ban. Hunt said she suspected this change was made both to gain support from the medical community, and because the Health and Human Services Committee has a majority of Republican lawmakers, versus Judiciary, which has an equal split of Republicans and Democrats. Last years full ban failed because it was two votes short of the 33 needed for a filibuster-ending cloture motion. Hunt has promised to filibuster against abortion restrictions again this year, but she is uncertain whether that will be enough to stop the bills this time. The current Legislature is made up of 32 Republicans and 17 Democrats. However, Hunt said this does not mean Albrecht doesnt have the votes she needs. I have never seen 17 Democrats agree on anything, Hunt said. Sen. Mike McDonnell of Omaha, a Democrat, voted in support of the full abortion ban last year, and also was one of roughly 30 lawmakers who stood behind Albrecht Wednesday as she announced her new legislation. Albrecht said she believes she has the 33 votes for cloture. However, the political temperature surrounding abortion has also changed since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last summer, with voters in multiple Republican-dominated states rejecting attempts to pass abortion restrictions. Hunt said while she believes the overall opinion on abortion has shifted among conservatives in Nebraska, conservative state lawmakers are more extreme, and she doesnt expect any of them have changed their minds on the subject. This body is much more conservative and much more extremist than the average conservative Nebraskan, Hunt said. And so I would not expect a lot of independent thought coming from these lawmakers. Albrecht claimed that a majority of Nebraskans support her new bill, citing a new poll by market research group WPA Intelligence on behalf of the Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America nonprofit. The poll surveyed registered Nebraska voters, and found 58% somewhat or strongly supported protecting a baby with a beating heart. The poll directly conflicts with an ACLU poll released last year, reporting that 59% of Nebraskans did not support further abortion restrictions. Meanwhile, Wednesday morning two lawmakers introduced constitutional amendments that would protect abortion rights if placed on the ballot and passed by Nebraska voters. Hunt introduced a legislative resolution (LR18CA), which would include reproductive freedom with the rights to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness and the right to keep and bear arms in the first section of the state Constitution. She also introduced LR19CA, which would add a new section to the state Constitution protecting the fundamental right to reproductive freedom, which entails the right to make and effectuate decisions about all matters relating to pregnancy, including abortion care. Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln introduced LR20CA, which would add a section to the Constitution protecting the right of individual privacy and barring any infringement of that right without a compelling state interest. The U.S. Supreme Court based its 1973 decision legalizing abortion on the right to privacy that earlier rulings had found in the U.S. Constitution. Earlier this month, the South Carolina Supreme Court threw out that states ban on abortions after about the sixth week of pregnancy based on the right to privacy in the South Carolina Constitution. Curry Grubb said Planned Parenthood Advocates of Nebraska have not ruled out the option of seeking a ballot initiative to protect abortion access if Albrechts bill passes. Were exploring every tool in the tool box, she said. Photos: Nebraska Legislature begins 2022 session First day of the Legislature 2022 First day of the Legislature 2022 First day of the Legislature 2022 First day of the Legislature 2022 First day of the Legislature 2022 First day of the Legislature 2022 First day of the Legislature 2022 First day of the Legislature 2022 First day of the Legislature 2022 First day of the Legislature 2022 First day of the Legislature 2022 First day of the Legislature 2022 OMAHA -- An Omaha man reportedly shot and killed himself in the presence of police during a domestic disturbance Monday morning. According to the Omaha Police Department, police were called to a residence near 167th and Q streets for a domestic disturbance at 10:15 a.m. Monday. Upon arrival, they saw 41-year-old Loren Dexter in the front of the residence. Police observed Dexter walk away from the home and enter a car in the front driveway. Before officers got out of their cruisers, they heard a single gunshot, reports stated. 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 while being apprehended or in custody by law enforcement. A trip to Portland, Maine, by Lincoln Police Chief Teresa Ewins and city officials is a step toward ensuring the safety of our community and our police officers. The trip, funded as part of a U.S. Department of Justice grant, aimed to give the Lincoln contingent a first-hand look at Portland's cooperative response model, where a mental health clinician is part of a team dispatched to certain emergency situations. Clinicians also help train new officers on crisis intervention. Portland is about a quarter of the size of Lincoln, but the numbers are impressive. Between May of 2021 and May of 2022, the behavioral health unit had contact with residents 1,322 times, a quarter of those calls without an officer present. Clinicians had to call for police backup only twice, and only five incidents ended in arrests. Police officers saved time and were able to focus on public safety issues they were more adept at handling. And, presumably, fewer people were arrested or routed into the criminal justice system when what they really needed was help or treatment. When it comes to the growing incidence of crisis calls related to mental health issues, "The community is saying we don't want officers doing this work," Ewins told Journal Star reporter Andrew Wegley. "And we've been saying this for years in law enforcement. 'This is not our job.'" As an editorial board, we, too, have said this. Police have a hard enough job without having to become mental health experts. If this can ease the strain for current officers and help as recruiting tool for new officers, it will be an investment. And an investment it might take. The $150,000 grant funded an analysis of community policing efforts. Implementing them will cost someone something -- to be figured out as Lincoln's plan takes shape whether than involves hiring additional staff or contracting with existing mental health care providers. But assuming Lincoln builds a proportionate program -- through departmental hiring and community partnerships -- it will benefit both public safety, de-escalating certain types of situations, and the bottom line, diverting people who don't belong there from courts and jail. It's often easier to borrow good blueprints than to draw your own, so we hope that the Portland experience can help Lincoln ramp up its own program in a timely manner. We have officers and residents whose lives may depend on it. CALEDONIA The Village of Caledonia has long struggled to hire and retain public safety personnel due to a lack of funding. After trying various solutions to pay for positions within the villages police and fire departments, with none being successful in the long run, the Village Board has decided to ask voters to help determine the future of public safety. The Village Board at its meeting Tuesday approved with a 6-1 vote a resolution authorizing a binding referendum on the April election ballots asking to exceed the state imposed levy limit for hiring additional public safety personnel beginning with the 2023 levy, collected in 2024, and on an ongoing basis. Trustee Lee Wishau was the one board member who voted against the resolution. If the majority of voters bubble in yes on ballots on April 4 and the referendum passes, the village will be able to add eight police officers and six fire and rescue personnel per an increased tax levy at a cost to taxpayers of $57 per $100,000 worth of property value. If the majority of voters bubble in no and the referendum fails, the village will not be able to raise the tax levy and the police and fire departments would continue to be staffed as outlined in the 2023 budget. Caledonias levy in 2022, collected in 2023, was $16,480,315. Based on the percentage change in equalized value (1.96%) due to new construction less improvements removed, plus new debt service, the total allowable 2023 village tax levy, collected in 2024, would be $17,497,645. However, to hire and retain sworn first responder personnel, the village is hoping to increase the 2023 tax levy, collected in 2024, by 10.179%, which would increase the village levy by $1,781,000 over the past years levy, for a village tax levy of $19,278,645, and on an ongoing basis, include the increase of $1,781,000 for each fiscal year going forward. The results of the referendum are binding and certified to the Wisconsin Department of Revenue. If passed by voters, the village would legally be allowed to keep the tax levy where it currently is, or increase it by any amount up to that maximum allowed amount of $1.78 million. The village is planning on distributing public education materials about the referendum, including mailing information to residents and posting on the village website. The village also is scheduling listening sessions to provide information and answer questions residents may have. Addressing a longtime issue A total of about 20 members of the Caledonia Fire Department and Caledonia Police Department present during the meeting clapped at the end when the resolution was approved. Caledonia has 36 full-time sworn police officers, and eight additional police officers are required to maintain existing level of law enforcement services and/or enhance future services, according to village data. The village is to be served in 2023 by 43 full-time fire and rescue personnel, and six additional personnel are required to maintain the existing level of fire and rescue services and/or enhance future services. The increased costs necessary to add the additional required personnel to support the villages public safety present and future needs would exceed the villages maximum allowable levy. Village Administrator Kathy Kasper noted shes worked on four village budgets and sworn personnel staffing has been a consistent issue. Police Chief Christopher Botsch added staffing issues had gone on for years before that. This has been kind of a recurring theme, Kasper said. We finally got to a point in this last budget cycle where it was very clear that we have done all the maneuvering that we can do within the interior budget. We didnt have the capacity to raise taxes to maintain staffing in fire with the SAFER grant and increase staffing the way that we need to in both of these areas. The SAFER (Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response) grant is from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and was awarded to the village in March 2020 to hire new firefighters. The approximate $906,680 awarded will run out on March 9, cutting three firefighters. The village came to the conclusion that the referendum was what was needed to get the village to an adequate staffing level, Kasper said. The referendum is an exercise for Caledonia residents to see if this is what they want and if they are willing to pay what needs to be paid to support that proper public safety staffing that we feel that we need in this community, she said. Police and fire discussion One of the areas the CPD is lacking, compared to its peer communities, is officers per 1,000 people in population, Botsch said. Another area is officers per square mileage, and the CPD is the lowest in the area and among peer communities. He added CPD officers on duty are each responsible for 11.5 square miles. Additionally, call volume has been an issue. The board has done an excellent job in terms of listening to our concerns and doing what they can with regard to the budget that exists and has existed for the last several years, Botsch said. Our need is greater than our ability to pay at this point in time A referendum would allow us to get to a number that would allow us to effectively police the Village of Caledonia in a way that our citizens deserve. Fire Chief Jeff Henningfeld added the Fire Department has always felt understaffed. Losing three firefighters due to the expiration of the SAFER grant sets the Fire Department back quite a bit and is unable to staff a second ambulance at Station No. 12, the departments busiest firehouse. The second ambulance responds to numerous calls daily, and without it, ambulances on the western end of the village would have to respond to the calls, Henningfeld said. Call volume has increased 56% since 2015, and calls to assist geriatrics have gone up 200%. These calls are time consuming, taking ambulances out of service, and tie up our resources for other calls, requiring the need for a second ambulance at the station, Henningfeld said. The staffing that we are asking for assures us that second ambulance 24/7. Village Board discussion Trustee Fran Martin said it seems like the village is in a game of chicken with the state Legislature because villages safety staffing situation is due to the Legislatures refusal to increase revenue sharing. She said she supports the first responders and the village needs more of them, but theres a problem with the system. Thats not to say that Im opposed to the referendum, but it bothers me, the context of it really, really bothers me, Martin said. But the citizens have to decide if theyre willing to pay for it if its a vote no, then will the Legislature add a little bit more revenue sharing? We dont know. I dont know. So were sort of caught in this bind. And its unfortunate, but thats where we are. I dont think anybody in this room wants to go through a referendum, Kasper said, addressing the Village Board and other village staff. However, I dont want to be the community that doesnt do it on principle, and puts our citizens at risk. A motion to approve the resolution came from Trustee Tom Weatherston. He said its wrong to blame the state Legislature because the village has kept itself under the levy limit for years. Village President Jim Dobbs said village residents have had their taxes lower than their counterparts for many years, and its shown through village-owned infrastructure deficiencies and lack of staffing. He added its not ideal to cut a Fire Department ambulance and keep the Police Department understaffed. Weve done a fantastic job of squeezing the best we can, but we cant squeeze anymore. Done, Dobbs said. I dont like to have to do this either. But we all know that we have no other choice. Wishau, who voted against the resolution, said he could support increasing the village levy by a maximum of $1 million, but not by $1.78 million what this referendum is calling for. I think we need to take a more incremental approach to this, and thats my thinking, Wishau said. 36 photos and videos from the Holiday Train's return to Caledonia in 2022 Kim Kortendick with the Johnsonville Sausages Matching greens Pictures with the princesses a fan in the crowd Gwen Pazera Watching the show Tappin' along Autumn Madsen The Mister and Mrs. Train incoming The Holiday Train arrives The Canadian Pacific Holiday Train Lovely lights Aren't you supposed to be watching the train? The mean one Tell The Grinch what you want for Christmas this year Watching the concert What a show Mrs. Claus clapping along Photo op! "have you been a good boy this year" Kelly Preston Alan Doyle Busting a move Alan Doyle and the band Watching the show Getting a good view Furry friend A check for $3000 for The Racine County Food Bank is unvailed at The Holiday Train Flossing for santa Absolutely astonished Impassioned crowd All I want for Christmas is you Sealing the night with a kiss Father Christmas Approves And that's a wrap, folks! MOUNT PLEASANT A Kenosha woman has been accused of stealing checks from an Illinois high school and was allegedly found with multiple drugs in her car. Katherine M. Dixon, 36, of the 2200 block of 53rd Street, was charged with 26 felony counts of bail jumping, four felony counts of uttering a forgery, felony counts of fraud against financial institution between $500-$10,000, possession with intent to deliver narcotics, possession with intent to deliver between 1-5 grams of cocaine, possession with intent to deliver less than or equal to 3 grams of other schedule I controlled substances, possession with intent to deliver schedule IV drugs, possession with intent to deliver/distribute/manufacture less than or equal to 200 grams of marijuana and maintaining a drug trafficking place and misdemeanor counts of possession of drug paraphernalia and obstructing an officer. According to criminal complaints: At 5:49 p.m. on Aug. 22, an officer was sent to Check Into Cash at 5201 Washington Ave. for a fraudulent check. It was advised Dixon cashed 4 checks between Aug. 11-15. She used her personal ID on the checks. Upon arrival, the officer spoke with an employee who said there were four different occasions Dixon came in and deposited checks. On Aug. 11, she provided a check from Scoville Block Number 1 in Oak Park, Illinois, listed to pay her $989.91. She was given $970.11 in cash and the check was returned as returned, refer to maker. The next day she provided a check from Trinity High School in River Forest, Illinois, listed for $1,402.86. She was given $1,374.80 in cash and the check was returned as returned, refer to maker. On Aug. 13, she provided another check from Scoville Block Number one for $1,230 and was given $1,205.40 in cash. The check was returned as returned, refer to maker. Then on Aug. 15, she provided another check from Trinity High School for $3,200 and was given $3,104 on a Green Dot Visa card. The check was returned due to being altered/fictitious item/suspected counterfeit. In speaking with a representative from Trinity High School, the representative confirmed the two checks were stolen by Dixon. Scoville Block Number 1 also confirmed that the checks were stolen by Dixon. At 5:38 p.m. on Saturday, deputies conducted a traffic stop of a vehicle on Washington Avenue in Mount Pleasant. The operator of the vehicle was identified as Dixon and there was a front passenger as well as two children in the backseat. The deputy asked about the marijuana and Dixon handed a small baggie with marijuana in it weighing 5.1 grams. The vehicle was then searched and inside were multiple car titles and several license plates belonging to other vehicles. There was another baggie in the center console with 2.8 grams of marijuana. A backpack was found with the following: 19 small blue pills identified as Percocet 16 blue/white pills identified as Temazepam 5 pills of MDMA weighing 3.5 grams 13 tied up baggies of cocaine weighing 2.9 grams A digital scale with a razor blade and cocaine residue Identification for Dixon When asked why she gave the deputies a different name at first, she said she did not want to go to jail. She said everything in the backpack is hers and was going to the Excel Inn to sell the marijuana. When asked if she was selling everything, she said Basically, yes. Dixon was given $3,500 in cash bonds in Racine County Circuit Court on Monday. She has a preliminary hearing on Jan. 19 at the Racine County Law Enforcement Center, online court records show. The jury re-trial of Mark D. Jensen, the Pleasant Prairie man accused of poisoning and suffocating his wife to death in 1998, began Wednesday morning with opening statements from the prosecution and defense. MARK JENSEN DAY 3 Deputy District Attorney Carli McNeill gives the states opening statement while projecting an image of the late Julie Jensen behind her durin Opening statements in the high-profile trial began after the jury, made up of nine men and seven women who were selected after two days of questioning, was sworn in. Mark Jensen, who was convicted in February 2008 of the murder of 40-year-old Julie Jensen inside their Carol Beach home, is standing trial again in Kenosha County Circuit Court after years of appeals and battles in state and federal courts. Mark Jensen, now 63, is charged with first-degree intentional homicide, and he remains in custody on a $1.2 million cash bond in Kenosha. He faces life in prison. An early 2021 U.S. Supreme Court ruling paved the way for this trial, expected to last about five weeks. The nations highest court declined to hear the case after an appeal of a Wisconsin State Supreme Court ruling that Mark Jensen should receive a new trial without a letter used as evidence in the first trial. Mark Jensen, according to prosecutors, killed his wife by poisoning her with ethylene glycol, more commonly known as antifreeze, and then suffocating her while she lay in bed dying in order to be with a mistress, and out of anger over a previous affair. They also allege he searched the internet for ways to make her death look like a suicide and terrorized her for years. In 2008, Mark 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. Mark 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 Wednesday, Mark Jensen wore a dark suit. His mother sat behind him in the gallery. The original prosecutor, Robert Jambois, a former Kenosha County District attorney, is back as a special prosecutor before Judge Anthony Milisauskas, now the third Kenosha County Circuit Court judge to preside over the matter. Mark Jensen is represented by a team of defense attorneys led by Bridget Krause. The prosecutions opening statement lasted about an hour and was presented by Deputy District Attorney Carli McNeil. She opened with a photo on television monitors of Julie Jensen with her two young sons. McNeil said Julie Jensens family was everything to her and she did not die by suicide. In this case the evidence youre going to hear is that the defendant murdered his wife with ethylene glycol, that this was not Julie Jensen ingesting that substance to commit suicide, McNeill said. Youre going to hear that evidence about the ethylene glycol in Julie Jensens blood and in her stomach, and other evidence of that poisoning in her system. You may even see some photos from the autopsy showing evidence from the inside of her body. McNeil said the poison causes a slow and painful death because it destroys ones kidneys. McNeil also detailed some evidence that the state will present to the jury, including internet searches, emails and medical examiner reports. Although Julie Jensen had an affair during their marriage with a co-worker, McNeil said she immediately regretted it but that Mark Jensen never forgave her for it. The affair, according to McNeil, sparked a campaign of covert harassment against Julie Jensen by Mark Jensen in the years before her death. McNeil said Mark Jensen targeted his wife with pornographic images of males placed on their property, fake and harassing phone calls and disturbing emails. These days we have a word for it, McNeil said. We call it gaslighting. McNeil also said Julie Jensen stuck with Mark Jensen for the sake of the boys. Mackenzie Renner presented opening statements on behalf of the defense. Renner said Jensen was a distraught mess of a man in the moments after he found his wife dead with snot bubbling up and trouble standing. Renner said the Jensens were just like every other family that faced hardships. Renner also called Julie Jensen an unreliable narrator and said Julie Jensen said disturbing and inconsistent things to acquaintances before her death about Mark Jensen. Julie Jensen took her own life. The evidence will show as much, Renner said. Mr. Jensen is not a murderer. The first witness questioned after opening statements was Ruth Vorwald, a close friend Julie Jensen and who lived near the Jensen family. On the day of her death Vorwald said she wondered how is this possible? and believed that Julie Jensen was not suicidal. When she spoke with Mark Jensen that day and asked what happened to her close friend, Vorwald said Mark Jensen had no emotion. Vorwald also said Mark Jensen acted as if he was at a cocktail party during his wifes wake because he was laughing and chatting with people during the visitation. I was watching him to see how he was behaving, she said. Goodyear Tyre & Rubber Company has unveiled a demonstration tyre composed of 90% sustainable-materials. This demonstration tyre has passed all applicable regulatory testing as well as Goodyears internal testing. This demonstration tyre also tested to have lower rolling resistance when compared to the reference tyre, made with traditional materials. Lower rolling resistance means this demonstration tyre has the potential to offer better fuel savings and carbon footprint reduction. In addition, after announcing the capability to demonstrate a 70% sustainable-material tyre in January 2022, Goodyear, working with its supply base, plans to introduce a tyre with up to 70% sustainable-material content in 2023 as a limited run. Further collaboration Bringing a 90% sustainable-material tyre to market will require further collaboration with the companys supply base to identify the scale necessary for these innovative materials to produce that specific tyre at high volumes. We continue to make progress toward our goal of introducing the first 100% sustainable-material tyre in the industry by 2030, said Chris Helsel, senior vice president, global operations and chief technology officer. The past year was a pivotal one toward achieving this goal. We researched new technologies, identified opportunities for further collaboration and utilised our teams tenacity to not only demonstrate our capabilities to produce a 90% sustainable-material tyre, but to also produce a tyre with up to 70% sustainable-material content this year. Our team continues to showcase its innovation and commitment to building a better future. The shift to sustainable materials is evident in some of Goodyears current product lines. Today, eight product lines, and some racing tyres, include soybean oil. In addition, Goodyear has more than doubled its use of RHA silica in its product lines since 2018. With the introduction of a tyre with up to 70% sustainable-material content, Goodyear is demonstrating tangible commitment with in-market solutions to building a better future.-- TradeArabia News Service PLEASANT PRAIRIE The Pleasant Prairie Village Board approved a development agreement for Tax Incremental District No. 9 that will help redevelop a portion of the former We Energies power plant site in Kenosha County. In a pair of meetings Monday evening, the Pleasant Prairie Village Plan Commission and Village Board approved the agreement for the site, 8000 95th St. Several other ordinances and resolutions pertaining to those redevelopment efforts were also approved by the commission and board that same night. The development agreement, between the village and DPML 95th Street, LLC, outlined the phased construction of three or more commercial buildings, including the public and private infrastructure improvements for the LogistiCenter, a 198-acre industrial park that would sit on Lot 2 of three lots at the former power plant site. We are thrilled to see the TID 9 Development Agreement come to fruition, said Community Development Director Jean Werbie-Harris. Dermody Properties will be a valuable partner in bringing this project to life, and we appreciate their dedication to ensuring the project aligns with the needs and goals of our Village. Lot 1 and Lot 3, 102 and 100 acres respectively, will remain under Wisconsin Electrics ownership. During the meeting, Village President John Steinbrink thanked Dermody Properties Neal Driscoll for his work throughout the process. Pretty good undertaking for the village. Something I never thought Id see, Steinbrink said. In my time in Madison, we thought wed never see a power plant site actually be changed over. Dermody Properties plans to construct all improvements connected to the project, such as roadways and related water main, sanitary sewer and storm water improvements within the development area. The TID 9 agreement includes a Tax Increment Financing incentive that will reimburse Dermody for the costs associated with constructing public improvements that will benefit the villages public services and utilities. The tax financing incentive allows TID 9 time to generate the funds needed to reimburse the developer. It also aids the village by placing the responsibility of creating and paying for the upfront public infrastructure costs on the developer. The tax increment value over the life of TID 9 is estimated to be more than $230 million. Dermody Properties guarantees the evaluation with tax payment obligations based on the projects value creation schedule, which establishes a development value of $45 million by 2025, $96 million by 2027, and $187 million by 2029. The developer plans to spread out construction of three or more commercial buildings. The first facility is planned to be about 550,000 square feet, the second about 620,000 square feet, and the final building about 1.1 million square feet. Dermody Properties has also agreed to make a monetary contribution to the village to create a public park monument that memorializes the history of the We Energies project site. MOUNT PLEASANT The four challengers to the positions on the Village Board will appear on the April 4 ballot, according to the Mount Pleasant village clerk. In a statement issued Tuesday, Mount Pleasant Village Clerk Stephanie Kohlhagen ruled that despite the challenges issued to the four challengers Kelly Gallaher, Travis Yanke, Kim Mahoney and Eric Martinez still have enough signatures required to be placed on the April 4 ballot. The initial complaints were filed by Sam Whalen, a supporter of Dave DeGroot, incumbent village president, and a spokesperson for his campaign. Wahlens initial complaints against the candidates, which were filed Jan. 3, were dismissed by the village clerk for lack of notarization. While it was originally reported that the Wisconsin Elections Commission dismissed the challenge, the WEC was a consultant. Gallaher, who is running for village president against DeGroot, took aim at Whalen and the rest of the incumbents during Common Council Monday night. So whats next? Complaints one of us has too many horses? An extra shed in our yards? That one of our supporters egged your house? Gallaher asked. Since the filings, Gallaher also said that Wahlen has filed an ethics complaint against her for her campaigns website, stating that Gallaher hired a public relations firm and did not include it in her finance documentations. Gallaher, however, said she built the site herself and did not hire a public relations firm. Gallaher continues to say she and the other challengers are showing good faith in the incumbents by not filing any complaints against them as well. We submitted no challenges against our opponents, Gallaher wrote in a statement Tuesday. Not because they were perfect in fact, they contained many of the same things Wahlen took issue with us. We respect that the residents who signed their papers, did so in good faith. Gallaher stated, Travis Yanke, Kim Mahoney, Eric Martinez and I want to win in April because we have the best ideas, not because we play the most dirty tricks. The final house on the Foxconn property on the move Dino Paielli was, literally, born into the family bakery business. And after a century of turning out breads, rolls, cakes, pies and cookies, Paiellis Bakery celebrates its 100th anniversary on Saturday. Ive been here my whole life, Paielli said, recalling how he was born 90 years ago above his parents bakery. Paielli, who still comes to work, marvels at all the changes in the bakery business. Back in the 1950s, we had no machines, he said while chatting in the bakerys breakroom Monday morning. We had a small place, and we had to do the work all by hand. His father, Sante, moved and expanded the operation in the 1950s. My dad didnt like that he didnt have his own place, Dino Paielli said. So, in 1950, he bought the land and built this bakery. We opened our doors here in 1956. With 5,000 square feet, the bakery now a mainstay on the corner of 60th Street and 39th Avenue added a big oven so we could make more, and better, products, Paielli said. (That oven is still at the bakery, which now covers 20,000 square feet.) Adding the big oven was just one of the many additions and expansions to the bakery over the past 100 years. A lot of automation is how Mark Paielli, Dinos son, describes the changes in the business. He and his brother, Dave, have both been at the bakery for close to half a century, continuing the family legacy. New products If you visited Paiellis Bakery in the 1950s, Dino Paielli recalled, we made five bread items, plus a few cakes and pies, and no doughnuts. Those sweets developed over the years. (No Kringles then, either. Those ovals, too, came later.) Today, a big seller is the bakerys signature Cyclops doughnut. The doughnut named for the one-eyed giant Cyclops in Greek mythology comes covered in chocolate and packed with a rich creamy filling (the eye) in the middle. Theres no question the Cyclops is a favorite, but its origins remain shrouded in mystery. Anne Wasilevich, who worked at Paiellis during from 1975 to 77 during high school, said at a bakery reunion in August that our group of workers invented the Cyclops doughnut. We had a big tub of white frosting, she said, and we put it into the center of the doughnut to enjoy in the breakroom. However, Mark Paielli recalls two brothers who worked at the bakery coming back from a trip Up North and telling us about a doughnut they had seen there, called a Honeymooner, with frosting in the hole. Dave Paielli also looks for doughnut ideas when he travels. I like to go into little bakeries, he said, and see what they have. He recalls seeing a stop-and-go variation of the Cyclops in Florida, with red and/or green frosting in the eye of the doughnut. Hence, the stop-and-go name, referring to traffic lights. However the Cyclops came to be, it has since cemented its status at Paiellis. As for Dino Paielli, hes partial to our hard-crust rolls and bread. And I love our one-pound sliced Italian bread. It fits into the toaster just right. We even used to say our bakery was the toast of the town. Constantly changing To keep customers coming back, the bakery adapts to changing tastes, Dave Paielli said. We dont make as much of the old favorites, like Easter breads and stollen, because the younger generation doesnt want it. Grab-and-go is really what younger people want now. Adapting to change, the Paiellis said, is the key to surviving in a competitive business. Were learning new things all the time, said Mark Paielli, who sits on the board of directors for a bakery co-op group based in Appleton. It all goes back to our customers, Dino Paielli said. We try to never say no to a request. If we get calls for a different product, we try to develop it. A huge part of the business is one the customers at the front counter never see. We had two restaurant accounts in 1951, Dino Paielli said. That has really developed. Our wholesale business, supplying restaurants, is different from what you see in our bakery and at the grocery stores. Looking ahead A huge part of their success, all three Paiellis agree, is the bakerys employees. We work side-by-side with our employees, Dino said. A lot of them are still here after 30, 40 or 50 years, but others have gone on to start their own businesses. They learned how to work here. Mark recalls being mentored by my dad and Bob Santelli, who was a baker at Paiellis for more than 44 years. Mark and Dave Paielli are continuing a tradition started by Dino and his late brother, Dominic, who worked side by side for 45 years. We talked things over and made decisions together, Dino said of running a business with his brother. However, Dino said the bakery really owes its existence to his mother, Matilda. We wouldnt be here if she didnt know how to run the business, he recalled. When my dad was very ill in 1941, she kept everything going. She was the key. As for Dino Paielli, over the decades he learned every job and worked every shift here. Marks daughter, Nicole, works in the bakery office, and Dave, too, has children. So ... is the next generation in place? All three men hope the family bakery keeps going for the next century. And if co-founder Sante Paielli walked into the business today, with its 70-some employees and huge ovens and freezers (not to mention the array of doughnuts and Kringles), he would likely sigh and utter his signature phrase: I never saw such a thing. WATERFORD Library supporters are lashing out at funding cuts that have threatened staffing and programs, despite village contentions that the library is over-funded and under-utilized. Village of Waterford officials defended a $100,000 reduction in funding for the Waterford Public Library, during a Monday community meeting crowded with library backers who want the funding restored. About 200 people turned out at the Waterford Fire Department station, with many pushing for alternatives to preserve the library, which serves more than 100 people a day on average. Ingrid Hanson-Popp of the Town of Norway urged village officials to visit the library and to consider finding new revenue sources, if necessary, to fully fund the operation. The library reaches a wide mix of socio-economic groups with services ranging from after-school programs to job-search assistance, Hanson-Popp said. The library is a community place, she said. Try to see the value of it. Village officials said they, too, support the library. But the village is struggling with tight finances, they said, and the librarys spending in recent years has been excessive. Officials showed statistics showing that the librarys $800,000-a-year budget has continued going up while usage of the facility has declined. According to those statistics, library visits have dropped from 76,000 people a year to 52,000 people a year. Village President Don Houston told the crowd that he and other local officials are willing to work with library administrators to determine a future course of action. We only have so much money, Houston said. We have X amount of dollars, and we have to make that stretch. Located at 101 N. River St., the library operates in a village-owned building next door to Village Hall but it functions separately from the village and is governed by its own board of directors. The facility is open six days a week and has 16 employees, most of them part-time. The Waterford Village Board in November approved a $16.5 million budget for 2023 that reduces financial support for the library from $300,000 to $200,000. The library board responded by saying the cut would require laying off as many as 10 employees, and eliminating yoga, book clubs and other programs for both adults and children. The library also receives funding from Racine County, and other outside sources such as private donations. The funding issue has created controversy in the community, with library supporters saying that the villages budget cut is excessive, while village officials say the library has engaged in reckless spending and questionable fiscal management. Houston has said that library staffers demonstrated deviant behavior by presenting inaccurate financial reports to their board members. Library officials have denied such accusations, saying that village leaders are creating an us versus them environment to defend the budget cut. Village officials scheduled Mondays special public meeting to discuss the matter, holding the event in the fire station to accommodate a large crowd. Village Administrator Zeke Jackson told the crowd that the library ranks near the bottom when residents are surveyed about their priorities for village services. Jackson also said the village has been providing a disproportionate level of funding compared with other communities. Under the states formula for libraries, the county allocates funding on behalf of surrounding library users from Rochester, Norway and the Town of Waterford. Citing economic pressures on village revenues and expenses, Jackson said the 2023 budget imposed cuts elsewhere, including eliminating two positions in the village administration. Weve got big storm clouds on the horizon, he said of future budget prospects. During the two-hour firehouse meeting, village officials asked audience members to gather in smaller groups and brainstorm ideas regarding library funding. Among the suggestions were cutting village spending elsewhere, including borrowing, pay raises for administration, and funding for seasonal fireworks displays or ice-skating rinks. Others proposed creating new revenues by increasing fees for library services or fines for overdue library materials. Diane Norante, another resident from Norway, said the library is not to blame for the villages tight financial situation. Norante cautioned that program cuts at the library would lead to further decreases in statistics showing library usage. She urged village officials to help make the library a bigger public attraction, rather than cut support and undermine the facility. We need the village to partner with us, Norante said. We need to come together as a team. New Years is traditionally a time to make an effort to do better in the year ahead. Its a time to correct errors of the past, clean up mistakes and set sights on making improvements. Typically that applies to individuals making New Years resolutions, but this month we hope the U.S. Supreme Court takes it to heart and rolls back the pernicious practice of allowing judges to tack on additional prison time for defendants for crimes that juries found they didnt commit. The standard, called acquitted conduct was established in a Supreme Court ruling in 1997 that held a jurys verdict of acquittal does not prevent the sentencing court from considering conduct underlying the acquitted charge, so long as that conduct has been proved by a preponderance of the evidence. In practice, that standard has meant that for the past 26 years in courtrooms across America defendants have been getting stiffer sentences for lesser crimes even when a jury has found them not guilty on a more serious crime. It essentially supports judicial discretion and undercuts the decisions of a jury. Instead of a legal standard in a jury trial of proving a crime beyond a reasonable doubt, it substitutes a lesser standard of guilt and allows a judge to substitute his or her own judgment of a preponderance of the evidence when sentencing. That didnt work out so well for Dayonta McClinton, then 17, who was found guilty of robbing a CVS pharmacy in Indianapolis with a handful of armed cohorts in 2015. The take was a measly $68 worth of drugs and after one member of the robbers refused to share the proceeds he was shot in the back of the head and killed. The reputed leader of the group and other members testified against McClinton in the murder trial that followed as part of their bids for reduced sentencing. The jury didnt buy that and acquitted McClinton of the murder. But when it went to sentencing, instead of getting a six-year prison term that was more likely, the judge sentenced McClinton to 19 years in prison, finding it was more likely than not that McClinton was responsible for the killing. McClintons case and three other similar ones are being considered this month in private by the Supreme Court justices. The members of the high court have changed the past quarter of a century, so there is hope they will get it right this time. Justice Brent Kavanaugh, who was an appeals judge at the time, wrote in 2015, Allowing judges to rely on acquitted or uncharged conduct to impose higher sentences than they otherwise would impose seems a dubious infringement of the rights to due process and to a jury trial. Dubious? Its an abomination. It supplants the considered decision of a jury of peers with the whim of a judge who can then tack on additional prison years because he or she thinks the jury got it wrong without overturning their verdict. As the late Justice Antonin Scalia, a lion of the court, put it in a dissent when the court rejected an appeal on the use of acquitted conduct in 2014, This has gone on long enough. Indeed it has. We hope the high court gets it right this time. A more just justice system would be a good resolution for the New Year. Influential Supreme Court decisions decided by 1 vote Influential Supreme Court decisions decided by 1 vote Slaughter-House Cases Lochner v. New York Near v. Minnesota Everson v. Board of Education of the Township of Ewing Miranda v. Arizona Furman v. Georgia Miller v. California Plyler v. Doe Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc. Bowers v. Hardwick Tison v. Arizona Texas v. Johnson Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health United States v. Lopez Grutter v. Bollinger Roper v. Simmons Kelo v. New London Morse v. Frederick District of Columbia v. Heller Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission McDonald v. Chicago National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius Shelby County v. Holder United States v. Windsor Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. Obergefell v. Hodges Fisher v. University of Texas (2016) South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. Carpenter v. United States Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Council 31 Biden v. Texas 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 Hyundai Motor Company (HMC) has announced the appointment of D H Park as the new Head of Hyundai Motor Company Middle East and Africa Regional HQ. Park has assumed his duties at the regional headquarters in Dubai as of this week. He will oversee operations across the Middle East Africa region. Park said: Hyundai Motor Company is a top global carmaker, and our product line-up maintains its spot as a leader in many of the region's markets, supported by our extensive network of distributors. He added: We will work with our team to maintain our strong performance in this important region despite global challenges, and also in fulfilment of Hyundai Motor Companys global vision of Progress for Humanity with Mobility, Connectivity, and Carbon Neutrality. Park brings over 27 years of automobile experience with global leadership roles in various positions at Hyundai Motor Company. During his illustrious career at HMC, Park has worked in nearly every role related to marketing and sales and has extensive experience in countries such as Canada, Australia and Spain, where he served as President of Hyundai Motor in the country. Later, he went back to Hyundai HQ as the Head of the Asia & MEA Group. Park's previous position was at Hyundai Motor in India where he was the Executive Director of Sales, Marketing, and Services. -TradeArabia News Service From left, Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, and Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun. A 23-year-old La Crosse man has been charged in La Crosse County Circuit Court after he allegedly punched a woman in the face and fractured an orbital bone during a Dec. 28 domestic incident in the city. Tyron M. Riles faces a felony count of battery/intent of substantial bodily harm and misdemeanor counts of battery, bail jumping (two counts) and disorderly conduct (two counts). According to the criminal complaint, a woman told police that Riles punched her in the face multiple times during a Dec. 28 altercation at a Rose Street residence. She told police that Riles is a boxer and that he told her that his hands are registered. The complaint says the womans right eye was swollen. She told police she was diagnosed with an orbital fracture that could require surgery. The woman filled out a medical release statement for the police department to review. The woman also told police of a Dec. 26 incident on Interstate 90 near La Crosse. She said Riles initiated an argument and told her to let him get out of the car. She told him she wouldnt pull over on the interstate and that Riles responded by punching her in the face. She then came to a stop in the fast lane and let him out. Riles was arrested Jan. 3 on a probation warrant. He invoked his Miranda rights after police asked to interview him in the jail. He is free on a $1,000 signature bond. Throwback from Tribune files: Life in the La Crosse area in the 1970s 1970: Washburn Elementary School 1970: Johnson's Junior Miss Shop 1971: Behind the Brewery Gallery 1971: Kewpee Lunch 1971: Bridgeview Plaza Shopping Center 1972: King Cinema 1972: The Stereo Shop 1972: Viking Heritage 1972: Hoffman House Restaurant 1972: Louie Bantle's Restaurant 1973: Schaak Electronics 1973: Newburg's Menswear 1973: Book Exchange 1973: Union Prescription Center 1974: Caravel TV Sales 1975: Bodega Lunch Club 1975: Yellow Checker of La Crosse 1975: Patrick Zielke running for mayor 1976: New Villa 1977: Bert's Magic and Fun Shop 1978: Soell's King of Low Prices 1978: Shopko 1978: La Crosse Answering Service 1978: Lenny's Shoe Repair 1979: Carriage House of Fashion The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work. The big idea Students who work while enrolled in college are about 20% less likely to complete their degrees than similar peers who dont work, a large and meaningful decrease in predicted graduation rates. Among those who do graduate, working students take an average 0.6 of a semester longer to finish. This is mainly because students who work large amounts over 15 hours a week take fewer college credits per semester. These findings come from a new study in AERA Open, a peer-reviewed open-access journal published by the American Education Research Association. Nearly half of all full-time college students also work. SDI Productions via Getty Images To learn more about how work might affect a students chances of graduation, we examined 17 years of data 2001 to 2017 from the state of Tennessee. We matched college student records to employment records for about 600,000 students. We compared working students with those who did not work but were otherwise similar in terms of family income, high school GPA, location and demographic characteristics. We also looked at college progress for students who worked during some semesters but not in others, to see whether they were more successful in completing their classes in semesters when they did not work. Ultimately, we found that working students signed up for about one less credit on average per semester than students who dont work. This is likely because they had less time available for classes. Students who worked were every bit as successful in their classes after signing up, with similar course completion rates and similar GPAs. But because they signed up for fewer courses, their progression through college was slower, and they were less likely to graduate. Notably, we did not see a decrease in graduation rates among students who worked smaller amounts, especially less than eight hours per week. These students signed up for similar numbers of credits as their nonworking classmates, and they completed their degrees at similar rates. This suggests that smaller amounts of work may not affect a students progress toward graduation. Why it matters Working while in college is very common, especially with the rising price of college tuition and the burden of student loan debt. Recent estimates show that 43% of full-time students and 81% of part-time students work while enrolled in college. In Tennessee, we found that working is especially common among community college students, first-generation students and students returning to college as adults. With so many students trying to juggle work and school, colleges and policymakers could take more steps to support working students and help them meet their needs. If working students take longer to complete college, policymakers could extend access to financial aid for longer periods if needed. For example, students can access federal Pell Grants for only 12 semesters. This may leave some students without an important source of aid if their work causes them to take longer to finish their degree. Students should be aware of the challenges that work might pose in their college journey. Work may be crucial for paying bills and creating opportunities for professional development. However, when students work 15 hours or more, they could have a more difficult time earning a college degree, which can ultimately enable a person to get a higher-paying job in the future. What still isnt known One important question is whether certain jobs may work better for college students than others. Some research suggests on-campus jobs might be more convenient and help keep students focused on their classes. Students working in a job related to their major might find real-world connections between their jobs and classes like a nursing student working in a hospital. Given that work is a necessity for many students, educators can do more to guide students to jobs that might work best for their college success. Celeste K. Carruthers, associate professor of economics, University of Tennessee, received funding from an anonymous foundation to support this research. Carolyn Heinrich, professor of public policy, education and economics, Vanderbilt University, and Walter G. Ecton, assistant professor of education policy, Florida State University, 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. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. ACT scores have been declining for years. Could you pass the test? Vinci, a global player in concessions, energy and construction sector, has announced that one of its key subsidiaries Cobra IS, as part of a large consortium, has won a major windfarm energy project contract worth more than 4 billion ($4.3 billion) in the North Sea. The consortium, comprising 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, said a statement from Vinci. 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, it stated. 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 (a total of 4 GW), these platforms will be able to power a major city of 4 million people like Berlin, said the statement. 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.-TradeArabia News Service A legislative committee that reviews administrative rules is set to vote Thursday on a measure that, if passed, would suspend a recently implemented ban on the use of conversion therapy by counselors to attempt to change a persons sexual orientation or gender identity. The review by the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, which plans to take up the measure at 10:30 a.m. in the Capitol, is the latest in a more than two-year battle over the widely discredited practice. Based on a process launched in 2018 under former GOP Gov. Scott Walkers administration, the state Department of Safety and Professional Services board that licenses marriage and family therapists, counselors and social workers developed a rule in 2020 that includes a provision prohibiting conversion therapy. In 2021, the rules committee introduced a bill to block the rule. A few months later, the Republican-led Assembly and Senate sent the bill to committee, which effectively negated the rule for the rest of the Legislatures two-year session because it meant it wouldnt reach the desk of Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who would be able to veto it. Previous bills seeking to prohibit conversion therapy have failed to gain any traction in the GOP-led chambers. The DSPS boards original rule went back into effect last month after the conclusion of the previous legislative session, said Mike Mikalsen, a spokesperson for Sen. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, co-chairman of the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules. Mikalsen said the issue before the committee is not on the merits of conversion therapy itself, saying instead that DSPS and the counselors examining board do not have the statutory power to implement the rule. Agencies and boards they cannot on their own expand what they believe should be in statute, Mikalsen said. In this case, they decided they wanted to pick this fight, so they have. Sen. Kelda Roys, D-Madison, called that disingenuous at best. This is about whether or not professionals in these few regulated professions can basically hold their professional licenses and charge people money for what is basically an abusive, discredited practice, Roys said. A memo prepared by the Wisconsin Legislative Council in 2020 notes that state statutes likely provide significant authority to the DSPS board to promulgate the rule. In addition to suspending the rule, the rules committee is expected to vote Thursday to introduce a bill that would amend state statute to bar the DSPS board from promulgating any rule that says intervention to try to change a persons sexual orientation or gender identity amounts to unprofessional conduct. Even if such a bill were to make it through the Legislature, it would almost certainly be vetoed by Evers, who has strongly opposed the practice of conversion therapy. Evers signed an executive order in 2021 banning the use of state funds by the departments of Health Services, Children and Families, and Corrections for conversion therapy for individuals under the age of 18. Conversion therapy for minors has been banned in more than a dozen Wisconsin cities, including Milwaukee, Madison, Sun Prairie, West Allis, Shorewood, Cudahy, Glendale, Racine, Sheboygan, Appleton, Eau Claire and Superior. Roughly 20 states have also banned the practice. The Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ advocacy group, calls conversion therapy, also known as reparative therapy, dangerous and discredited and rejected by mainstream medical and mental health organizations for decades. Both the American Psychological Association and American Medical Association have also denounced conversion therapy. Conversion therapy is a horrible, harmful practice, said Marc Herstand, executive director of the Wisconsin chapter of the National Association of Social Workers. Every mental health and medical health profession has condemned it. It causes a terrible impact on LBGTQ youth, serious mental health issues, suicidality. LONDON In public, they present a united front always. But Prince Harry has a very different story to tell about the British royals and the way they operate. Harry's explosive memoir, with its damning allegations of a toxic relationship between the monarchy and the press, could accelerate the pace of change already under way within the House of Windsor following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Harry's description of royals leaking unflattering information about other members of the family in exchange for positive coverage of themselves is but one of the more tawdry allegations in his book, " Spare," published this week. The prince singled out King Charles III's wife, Camilla, accusing her of feeding private conversations to the media as she sought to rehabilitate her image after her longtime affair with Charles when he was heir to the throne. Far from the unity that is presented in public, the royal family and their staffs are depicted as scheming rivals, ready to stab each other in the back to make themselves or their bosses look better in the public eye. The palace that Harry describes resembles a modern version of the court of King Henry VIII, where courtiers jockeyed for the monarch's favor and some lost their heads. The book leaves the impression of a deeply dysfunctional British royal family whose members are so concerned about the tabloid press that they are forced to make deals with journalists, says Ed Owens, author of " The Family Firm: Monarchy, Mass Media and the British Public, 1932-53." And the public, when faced with this proposition, may think twice. "I think there needs to be some kind of reset, and we need to think carefully about what the monarchy is, what role it plays in society,'' says Owens, a historian. "Because this idea of 'we, the British taxpayers, pay and in return they perform' it's really a broken and corrupting kind of equation." Largely funded by taxpayers, the monarchy plays a mostly ceremonial role in British society these days masters of soft power. But supporters argue that the institution still serves a vital role, uniting the country behind shared history and traditions embodied in both the grandeur of royal ceremonies and the day-to-day work of royals as they open schools and hospitals and hand out honors to those who serve the nation. News coverage of the royal family generally falls into one of two categories: carefully orchestrated public appearances or sometimes chaotic stories about the private lives of royals based on unidentified sources. But change may be at hand. The history of colonialism so deeply intertwined with the crown is being re-examined around the world. Protesters have torn down or defaced statues in British cities, and internationally respected universities such as Oxford and Cambridge are changing their course offerings. It all adds up to one thing: An institution that was once the symbol of the British Empire is facing scrutiny as never before. Charles, who became king after the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September, faces the challenge of modernizing Britain's 1,000-year-old monarchy to guarantee its survival. He has already said he plans to reduce the number of working royals and reduce the cost of the monarchy. This has been a long time coming, perhaps, but was delayed by one key factor: Elizabeth herself. Personal affection for the queen meant that the monarchy's role in British society was rarely debated during her seven decades on the throne. Now that she's gone, the royal family is confronting questions about its relevance in a modern, multicultural nation that looks very different than when Elizabeth ascended the throne in 1952. In Elizabeth's world governed by the mantra "never complain, never explain" the sort of personal revelations in Harry's book would have been unthinkable. He describes his mental health struggles following the 1997 car accident that killed his mother, Princess Diana. He recounts a physical altercation with his older brother, Prince William, reveals how he lost his virginity and describes using cocaine and cannabis. "Spare" is the latest effort by Harry and his wife, Meghan, to tell their own story after they quit royal life and moved to California in 2020, citing what they saw as the media's racist treatment of Meghan and a lack of support from the palace. In the ghostwritten memoir, Harry, 38, alleges that Camilla forged connections with the British press and traded information on her way to becoming queen consort, essentially feeding unflattering stories on Harry and Meghan to the press in exchange for better coverage of herself. The allegations are particularly sensitive because of Camilla's role in the acrimonious breakdown of Charles' marriage to Diana. While many members of the public initially shunned Camilla, she has won fans by taking on a wide range of charitable activities and has been credited with helping Charles appear less stuffy and more in tune with modern Britain. Daily Mail columnist Stephen Glover leapt to her defense, arguing that Harry was just thin-skinned. "I daresay some members of the royal family have passed stories to the press through their courtiers over the years, but it is absurd and naive to infer that this was part of an orchestrated attempt to destabilize Harry and Meghan,'' he wrote. "Royals are not puppets of the press, since if they have any sense they realize they can be biffed as well as praised. The wise ones know how to take the rough with the smooth.'' But unlike Elizabeth, who famously issued a statement suggesting that "some recollections may vary'' when confronted with racism allegations after Meghan's interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021, Buckingham Palace has responded to the first major crisis of Charles' reign with silence. Photos: William and Harry through the years A jury has been selected in the re-trial of Mark D. Jensen, the Pleasant Prairie man accused of poisoning and suffocating his wife to death in December 1998. The jury consists of nine men and seven women from Kenosha County. The jury of 16 includes four alternates. The members are set to be sworn in Wednesday morning before opening arguments from the prosecution and defense. They were chosen after two days of jury selection in Kenosha County Circuit Court before Judge Anthony Milisauskas. Over 100 potential jurors were questioned about their ability to serve on a five-week trial and remain impartial. Jensen, who was convicted in February 2008 of the murder of 40-year-old Julie Jensen, is standing trial again 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. 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 allege 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. This is a developing story. 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. Fave 5: Reporter Kimberly Wethal shares her favorite stories of 2022 In the weeks before I joined the Wisconsin State Journal in September, I was told this: Remember that a higher education institution is like their own city. It has its own character and struggles, defined by the students who learn there and the faculty who teach them. I have seen this over and over again, and it was particularly clear when I visited UW-Platteville at Richland a week after the University of Wisconsin System ordered degree-fulfilling classes to cease because of low enrollment. During my visit, I found many of the devastated students to be emotionally invested in their campus community and committed to saving it. It's why Richland Center grieving the loss of its once-vibrant campus is my top story of 2022. UW-Madison has its own slate of issues. There, a growing population is pitted against on- and off-campus housing availability. I wrote about the tactics used to clear returning students out of the dorms to make room for freshmen, and the frenzy that ensued as students put their lives on hold to secure housing for next fall. At Madison Area Technical College, a key issue is how to alleviate barriers their students face just to get into the classroom. Finding adequate child care is one of them I wrote about the efforts to expand future access at the Goodman South Campus and its four rural campuses. Much of my beat is hard news, but some of my favorite stories are features of students who make up the character of campus. I wrote about Kirstan Gimse, the student commencement speaker who's achieving her dream of being a scientist that she saw as unattainable. I'm looking forward to diving deeper into the beat in 2023 and am so grateful for the support of State Journal subscribers that allows me to be one of the few reporters in the state dedicated solely to covering higher education. Dubais hospitality industry has made a strong post-pandemic rebound, with leisure and business trips, including MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events) on an upward growth trajectory in 2022, a report said. The latest KPMG Dubai Hospitality report revealed that Dubai registered the highest hotel occupancy rate in 15 years by the end of Expo, with the Emirates tourism sector contributing $29.4 billion to the economy in 2022. The Governments robust Covid-19 response plan and the hospitality industrys commitment to complying with government health and safety requirements elevated the UAEs position as one of the safest countries in the world, with 90% of surveyed respondents expressing confidence in the implementation of sensitization policies across hotels in Dubai. This enhanced guest sentiment is reflected in hotel occupancies, with 92% of consumers keen to stay in a hotel in Dubai in 2022, representing a 37% increase from the previous years results. Sidharth Mehta, Partner and Head of Real Estate, KPMG Lower Gulf, said: The Dubais hospitality industry has witnessed remarkable growth in 2022 driven by the Governments forward-thinking vision to address the needs of all hospitality stakeholders. Furthermore, the UAE is investing around $32 billion to acquire 48,000 more hotel rooms to bring it to a total of 200,000. These developments place the UAE in an enviable position to navigate travel and hospitality demands in 2023, equally driving economic growth by creating employment opportunities. The UAE also had the highest occupancy rate among GCC countries in 2022. For the year-to-date November 2022, Dubai's occupancy rate increased from 64.7% to 72.5%. Meanwhile ADR (average daily rate) grew significantly from AED550.87 ($150) to AED674.25, i.e. by 22%. RevPAR (revenue per available room) increased from AED356.42 to AED488.79, from YTD November 2021 to 2022. Among the other notable trends in 2022 were digitalization and sustainability, with operators indicating that they were priority areas for them. Many are also moving progressively away from plastic bottles, reducing carbon emissions, and promoting inclusion and diversity. Meanwhile, contactless check-in, with customers receiving their keys in their mobile phones, and other emerging technologies are set to dominate the hospitality industry in 2023. TradeArabia News Service A six-year-old student shot his teacher in a classroom in the American state of Virginia last week. Police Chief Steve Drew of Newport News, Virginia told reporters Monday that there was no fight, no physical struggle, and no warning. What we know today is that she was providing instruction. He displayed a firearm; he pointed it, and he fired one round, Drew said. The police chief said the teacher, 25-year-old Abby Zwerner, put her hand up to defend herself. The bullet went through her hand and into her upper chest. Her injuries were first thought to be life-threatening. But her condition has since improved and she is in stable condition at a hospital. Drew also said that the boy used a 9mm handgun in the shooting. The gun was legally purchased by his mother and was in the familys home. He said the boy brought it to school in his backpack the day of the shooting. Drew praised Zwerner for quickly moving her students out of the classroom after she was shot. He said a recorded video at the school shows she was the last person to leave her classroom. Drew said: She turned around [to] make sure every one of those students was safe. A school employee went into the classroom and restrained the boy after hearing the gunshot. Drew said the boy became a little combative and struck the employee. Police officers then arrived and brought him to a medical center under an emergency legal action. A judge will decide what the next steps are for the boy. Police have also talked with the boys mother. It is unclear whether she could face any charges. Questions remain As questions remained about the boy and his mother, a crowd gathered Monday night in Newport News to show support for the teacher. Lauren Palladini works with Zwerner at Richneck Elementary School. She told the crowd that Zwerner is sweet. Shes thoughtful. Shes caring. And shes been one of the most amazing teachers that Ive been blessed to interact with. Amanda Bartley, who teaches at another elementary school in Newport News, asked everyone to pray for Zwerner and to pray for the young man who did this. Bartley told The Associated Press that many questions remain unanswered. Among them: How did he get the gun? Why wasnt it locked up? A good gun owner knows that you lock up your weapon. You have a safety on. You keep the ammunition separate from the weapon itself. Gun owners can be charged under a Virginia law for leaving a loaded, unsecured gun that could harm or injure children under the age of 14. However, the state does not have laws giving details on how an unattended gun should be stored or requiring gun owners to lock up their weapons. Allison Anderman is the director of local policy at Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, a non-profit group. She said, Virginia definitely has a weaker law than many other states that have child access prevention laws. Legal experts said it is possible under Virginia law to criminally charge a 6-year-old child. But they believe it is highly unlikely that any government lawyer would even try. To be tried as an adult in Virginia, a person must be at least 14. In addition, common law in the U.S. known as the infancy defense holds that children under seven cannot be charged with a crime. The belief is that they are so young that they cannot form criminal intent. A judge would also have to find that a six-year-old could understand the legal action against him and assist in his own defense, said Andrew Block. He is a professor at the University of Virginia School of Law who was the director of Virginias Department of Juvenile Justice from 2014 to 2019. Its virtually impossible to imagine a 6-year-old being found competent to stand trial, Block said. Julie E. McConnell, a law professor at the University of Richmond in Virginia, has worked on youth legal cases for more than 25 years. She said government lawyers can appeal in cases that affect the childs well-being and physical safety. A judge could then order services to deal with the childs behavior or parents cooperation in treatment. The judge could also send a child to live with a relative, a child welfare agency, or a local social services agency. Im Mario Ritter, Jr. Hai Do adapted this Associated Press report for VOA Learning English. Quiz - Officials Consider How to Treat a Child Who Shot His Teacher Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz ____________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story stable adj. not getting or likely to get worse (especially related to medical condition) backpack n. a bag or container carried on the back amazing adj. causing wonder or surprise lock up v. (phrasal) to secure using a device like a lock access n. to ability to get or use something virtually adv. nearly competent adj. able to do or undergo something ____________________________________________________________________ We want to hear from you. We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: Write your comment in the box. Under the box, you can see four images for social media accounts. They are for Disqus, Facebook, Twitter and Google. Click on one image and a box appears. Enter the login for your social media account. Or you may create one on the Disqus system. It is the blue circle with D on it. It is free. Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here. The World Health Organization and several countries are calling on China to share more data on its COVID-19 outbreak. At least 10 governments require travelers from China to be tested for the virus. China has criticized the policy, saying it is not science-based and has threatened measures in return. Officials are especially worried that new variants could be developing in China. Here is a look at whats going on with Chinas COVID-19 data: What is China sharing? Chinese health officials publish a daily count of new cases, severe cases and deaths. The numbers represent officially confirmed cases. China only records deaths from pneumonia or respiratory failure among COVID patients as COVID deaths. In other words, infected people who die without suffering either of those conditions are not counted as COVID deaths. China is doing COVID sampling studies said Ray Yip, former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control office in China. However, Yip said, the government is not sharing its findings. The Chinese government reported last Thursday a total of 9,548 new COVID infections and five deaths. But, some local governments are releasing much higher estimates. Zhejiang, a province on the east coast, said Tuesday of last week that it was seeing about 1 million new cases a day. If a variant appears in an outbreak, it is found through a kind of study known as genetic sequencing. Since the pandemic started, China has shared 4,144 genetic sequences with GISAID, a global service for coronavirus data. The number represents only 0.04 percent of GISAIDs reported number of cases a rate more than 100 times lower than that of the United States and almost four times lower than neighboring Mongolia. What is known? So far, no new variants have shown up in the sequences shared by China. The viruses fueling infections in China are much like those reported in other parts of the world since July, GISAID said. Dr. Gagandeep Kang, who studies viruses at the Christian Medical College of Vellore in India, agreed. Kang said there was not anything unusually troubling in the data so far. That has not stopped at least 10 countries including the U.S., Canada, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia, the U.K., France, Spain and Italy from announcing virus testing requirements for passengers from China. The European Union had urged all its member states to take the action. Health officials have defended the testing as a safety measure to get more data about Chinas outbreak. This means countries can seek to identify changes in the virus without Chinas help. We dont need China to study that, all we have to do is to test all the people coming out of China, said Yip, the former public health official. Canada and Belgium said they will look for virus evidence in wastewater on planes arriving from China. It is like an early warning system for authorities to anticipate whether theres a surge of infections coming in, said Dr. Khoo Yoong Khean, a scientific director at the Duke-NUS Centre for Outbreak Preparedness in Singapore. Chinese officials have repeatedly said they are sharing information, pointing to the sequences given to GISAID and meetings with the WHO. But WHO officials have repeatedly asked for more not just on genetic sequencing but also on hospitalizations, ICU admissions and deaths. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed concern this week about the risk to life in China. Data remains essential for WHO to carry out regular, rapid and robust risk assessments of the global situation, the U.N. agency chief said. Im John Russell. Huizhong Wu and Aniruddha Ghosal reported on this story for Reuters. John Russell adapted it for VOA Learning English. _____________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story sample -- v. to test, study, or question (a group of people or things taken from a larger group) to get information authorities -- n. plural people who have power to make decisions and enforce rules and laws anticipate v. to think of (something that will or might happen in the future) rapid adj. happening in a short amount of time : happening quickly robust adj. successful or impressive and not likely to fail or weaken assessment n. the act of making a judgment about something : the act of assessing something Air travel across the US came to a standstill on Wednesday after a computer glitch was reported on Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) computer. The disruption stemmed from problems with the Notice to Air Missions system (NOTAM) leading to utter chaos at the US airports, said media reports. The United States NOTAM system, which provides airlines with real-time safety information for flight planning, failed at 2028Z. There was no immediate estimate for when it would be back, the website showed, though NOTAMs issued before the outage were still viewable. US President Joe Biden said he had been briefed on the situation and was in touch with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, reported CNN. "I just spoke with Buttigieg," he told reporters as he departed the White House. "They don't know what the cause is. But I was on the phone with him the last 10 minutes. I told them to report directly to me when they find out. Aircraft can still land safely, just not take off right now." He continued, "They don't know what the cause of it is. They expect in a couple of hours they'll have a good sense of what caused it and will respond at that time." Asked whether it was a cyberattack, Biden said: "They don't know. They will find out." Earlier, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement that there was "no evidence of a cyberattack at this point," but that Biden had ordered a Department of Transportation investigation. The US airlines association, Airlines for America, said its been notified about the disruptions, and that its working with the FAA and awaiting further information regarding when these issues will be resolved. A total of 1,230 flights were delayed within, into or out of the US as of 7.19 am ET (1219 GMT), flight tracking website FlightAware showed, without citing reasons. Another 103 within, into or out of the country were also canceled. Scores of passengers due to fly domestically began reporting delays on social media earlier Wednesday, and United Airlines Holdings said it would temporarily ground flights to all destinations. Flight tracking website FlightAware showed 1,230 delays for US flights at 7:22 a.m. New York time, a figure likely to grow. As the FAA scrambled to fix the system outage, the passengers were told to check with airlines for updates. Meanwhile flights already in the air were allowed to continue to their destinations. "Technicians are currently working to restore the system and there is no estimate for restoration the system at the times," an advisory by US Air Traffic Control System Command Center (ATSCC) said. The regulator ordered all airlines to delay departures until 9 a.m. Eastern time to allow the agency to validate the integrity of flight and safety information, according to an FAA tweet. There are nine flight delays reported Wednesday morning at the Portland International Jetport. Incoming flights from New York, New Jersey and Baltimore are delayed, as are flights scheduled to depart for New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania and North Carolina, according to the jetport website. Most delays were concentrated along the East Coast, but were beginning to spread west. Airlines have begun to delay flights in response to the outage. The FAA said it was working on restoring its Notice to Air Missions System. The agency said that some functions are beginning to come back on line, but that National Airspace System operations remain limited. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a tweet that he is in touch with the FAA and monitoring the situation. There is a potential for widespread disruption because of the outage. All aircraft are required to route through the system, including commercial and military flights. The agency said that it would provide frequent updates as it made progress. Emma Kaufman (New York University School of Law) has posted Territoriality in American Criminal Law (Michigan Law Review, Vol. 121, No. 353, 2022) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: It is a bedrock principle of American criminal law that the authority to try and punish someone for a crime arises from the crimes connection to a particular place. Thus, we assume that a person who commits a crime in some locationsay, Philadelphiacan be arrested by Philadelphia police for conduct deemed criminal by the Pennsylvania legislature, prosecuted in a Philadelphia court, and punished in a Pennsylvania prison. The idea that criminal law is tied to geography in this way is called the territoriality principle. This idea is so familiar that it usually goes unstated. This Article foregrounds and questions the territoriality principle. Drawing on a broad and eclectic set of sources, it argues that domestic criminal law is less territorial than conventional wisdom holds. Although the territoriality principle is central to criminal law ideology, territorialism is a norm in decline. In reality, over the past century, new doctrines and enforcement practices have unmoored criminal law from geographic boundaries. The result is a criminal legal system in which borders are negotiable and honored in the breach. Scholars have largely overlooked the deterritorialization of domestic criminal law, but the decline of the territoriality principle has striking implications. It undermines constitutional doctrines and academic theories built on the classic account of criminal law. It upsets foundational conceptual distinctions that structure public law. And it raises normative questions about just how far criminal laws should reach. This Article grapples with those questions and argues that borders are an underenforced constraint on the police power. Highly recommended. 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 TWIN FALLS Local officials want to know where the homeless will spend the night of Jan. 25. Volunteers will fan out across Magic Valley the week after that date, trying to get a handle on how many homeless people live here. Last year the count for people spending the night in an unsheltered environment, such as a car or outdoors, was 29, a figure even count organizers say is inaccurate. More volunteers expected to help this year could, however, bring a more accurate number, said Randy Wastradowski, community services director of the South Central Idaho Community Action. Each year, volunteers throughout Idaho and the nation go to locations where the homeless are known to congregate soup kitchens, parks and libraries and ask individuals where they spent the night of the last Wednesday in January, as a requirement for funding from a Housing and Urban Development Program for homeless assistance. This year, the date falls on Jan. 25, and volunteers do surveys in the days afterward. Its called a point in time count, meant to give a snapshot of the homeless situation. Whether the homeless count is accurate is subject to debate. Wastradowski, who is leading the effort in Magic Valley, told the Times-News that volunteers strive for an accurate count but believes numbers are undercounted. We think there are a lot more people who are unsheltered, Wastradowski said. John Spiers, executive of the transitional housing Valley House, agrees that there has been an undercount, saying the count is "way low." The unsheltered count for Magic Valley in 2021 was 35. Wastradowski said he hopes 30 people will help with the count this year, which will allow volunteers to put more focus on Blaine, Cassia and Minidoka counties. The count differentiates between unsheltered people living in places such as cars or tents, abandoned buildings or simply in a sleeping bag at a city park and sheltered those living in transitional housing or emergency shelters. If a homeless person stays that night at a motel or a friends house, they are not counted in the survey. The night of Jan. 26, 2022, the date of last year's point in time count, Wastradowski said, was a cold, cold, night the whole week was cold. Many people likely took extra precautions to stay somewhere sheltered, such at a friends house, he said. Of the 29 who were found to have spent that night in unsheltered environments, 23 were living in vehicles, five inside non-housing such as tents or RVs that werent hooked up to electricity and water, and one spent the night outdoors. From anecdotal evidence, Wastradowski said homelessness has likely increased in Magic Valley compared with last year. It hasnt lessened, he said. Nine of the 29 unsheltered people who were counted were 17 years old and younger. One veteran stayed at a shelter that night. And 116 children 17 and younger stayed in shelters or transitional housing. The number of people who spent Jan. 26 in sheltered environments in Region 4 is much higher than those in any other region of the state. While 242 people said they spent the night at a shelter or transitional housing in Magic Valley, the next-closest region was 78 in Region 2 (comprising Latah, Clearwater, Nez Perce, Lewis and Idaho counties). Region 3, with Adams, Washington, Payette, Canyon, Elmore, Gem, Owyhee, Valley and Boise counties, said 76 were in sheltered environments, while 495 were unsheltered. Our region has seen a 147.83% increase in sheltered homeless over the last two years which could be a reflection on the amount of people who have lost their housing due to rent increasing, landlords selling their properties and other reasons, Wastradowski said in an email to the Times-News. Earlier, the Supreme Court had said the issue of forced religious conversion is a very serious issue and emphasised that charity is welcome, but the purpose of charity must not be conversion. Sana Ejaz | TwoCircles.net NEW DELHI : On a plea seeking direction to the Central government and state governments to take action against forced religious conversions, the Supreme Court on Monday sought assistance of Attorney General R. Venkataramani. A bench, headed by Justice M.R. Shah, observed that religious conversion is a serious and important issue and it should not be given a political colour. The bench, also comprising Justice C.T. Ravikumar, sought the AGs assistance on a petition filed by advocate Ashwini Upadhyay against religious conversions by force, allurement etc. Justice Shah told the AG: We want your assistance also, as Attorney General for India it is a conversion matter, religious conversion by force, allurement or some other things, these are allegations we are not opining anything, whether it has actually happened or not, we are just considering. What should be done in such a case? there is a difference between right to freedom, right to religion, and right to convert anything by allurement, if that is happening, then what will happen, what should be done What further corrective measures can be taken we want assistance from AG, he added. Senior advocate P. Wilson, representing the Tamil Nadu government, submitted that the petition is politically motivated and argued that there was no question of such conversions in the state. At this, the bench said: You may have different reasons to be agitated like this. Dont convert court proceedings into other things. We are concerned with the entire country If it is happening in your state, it is bad. If not, then it is good. Do not make it political. The court was hearing a petition filed by Upadhyay seeking direction to the Centre and states to take tough steps to control fraudulent religious conversions. The top court scheduled the matter for further hearing on February 7. The top court also renamed the cause title as re: issue of religious conversion as lawyers object to the PIL filed by Upadhyay in his own name. On December 5, the Supreme Court had said the issue of forced religious conversion is a very serious issue and emphasised that charity is welcome, but the purpose of charity must not be conversion. The top court allowed the Centre to file a detailed counter after obtaining necessary response from various state governments in connection with anti-conversion laws and other relevant information. The Gujarat government, in its written response, said, It is humbly submitted that that the Act of 2003 (Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act, 2003) is a validly constituted legislation and more particularly the provision of section 5 of the Act of 2003, which is holding the field since last 18 years and thus, a valid provision of law so as to achieve the objective of the Act of 2003 and to maintain the public order within the state of Gujarat by protecting the cherished rights of vulnerable sections of the society including women and economically and socially backward classes. The state government said the Gujarat High Court stayed the operation of Section 5 of the Act of 2003, which is in fact an enabling provision for a person to get converted from one religion to another religion on his own volition. It said the high court failed to appreciate that by staying the operation of section 5 of the Act of 2003, the whole purpose of the Act effectively stands frustrated. It further added that Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act, 2021 was passed to strengthen the 2003 law. Upadhyay moved the apex court against fraudulent religious conversion and religious conversion by intimidation, threatening, deceivingly luring through gifts and monetary benefits, as it offends Articles 14, 21, and 25. (With IANS inputs) Sana Ejaz is an independent journalist from Bihar. She tweets @SanaEjaz_ TWIN FALLS A warming center expected to open later this month at a local church will provide a place for people to get out of the cold on chilly winter nights, sip a hot beverage and perhaps munch on a granola bar. The center will be open from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. at Taproot Church, 601 Shoshone St. N. in Twin Falls on nights when the temperature is expected to drop to 29 degrees or below. It is expected to open Jan. 24, said John Spiers, Valley House executive director. Although numbers are difficult to pin down, a significant number of homeless people in Twin Falls could benefit from the center, Spiers said. There are dozens of people living in their vehicles, he said. Hes unsure of how many people will come to the center but he says the number may depend on weather conditions. To meet city code, there wont be lines of cots awaiting weary heads, but the center will give people a chance to sit down and get out of the cold, Spiers said. No hot meals will be served, although snacks and thermoses filled with beverages will likely greet people using the center, a partnership between Valley House, Region 4 Homeless Coalition and Taproot Church. While the city was not involved in planning the center, the city council strongly supports that type of charitable service, spokesperson Josh Palmer said in a statement. The church is located in a spot where there are few houses, as the Twin Falls County Jail and courthouse are across the street, so city residents shouldnt be bothered. I dont anticipate any problems, Spiers said. Taproot Church didnt return phone calls from the Times-News. Want to help? Contact John Spiers at 208-432-2319 or valleyhouse.john@gmail.com if you are interested in volunteering at the warming center. The room that will be used for the center is more than 1,000 square feet, and additional space is available by opening a partition. Chobani has donated $15,000 for the warming center, and an anonymous donor has also contributed a significant amount of money, Spiers said. Some of the funding was used to make needed repairs to bathrooms to allow the center to open, he said. Spiers hopes to have three volunteers help at the center each night, adding that finding adequate numbers of potential volunteers has been difficult. An AmeriCorps group in eastern Idaho has been contacted to determine whether members there could help with staffing. The center will close at the end of February, he said. With experience gained this winter, he expects it to be fully staffed and ready to go when cold weather hits next winter. Hopefully we can give a little help this year, Spiers said, and a lot of help next year. With a few adjustments, City Council tweaked its annual wish list on Monday for the upcoming General Assembly session that convenes at noon today and is scheduled to adjourn on Feb. 25. The list of priorities are made known to the local legislative delegation and are divided into five categories: transportation, education, economic development, governance and United States Congress. Considered along with the legislative list is a project list of priorities filed with the West Piedmont Planning District Commission (WPPDC) that lists the most important projects to the city of Martinsville for the upcoming year that begins on April 1 and ends on March 31, 2024. There are 37 projects filed by the city of Martinsville with the WPPDC for the upcoming year. Vice Mayor Aaron Rawls asked City Manager Leon Towarnicki if the lists were given serious consideration by officials and legislators or are looked upon as a nuisance. We spend tons of time putting together legislative policy statements, said Towarnicki. You wonder what good it does. Ive always wondered whats the value of this. Whatever that value may be, all council members, Towarnicki, and Director of Community Development Mark McCaskill gave it about 90 minutes of their time at a work session held in council chambers on Monday night. Transportation Three items make up the group of transportation requests including the upgrading of U.S. 220 where it overlays I-73, improvements to U.S. 58, particularly between Stuart and Hillsville, and more funding to the Virginia Department of Transportation for road construction and repaving. Education Council endorses Sen. Bill Stanleys, R-Moneta, concept of statewide parity in state funding for schools and the agenda and priorities of both Martinsville and Henry County school systems. It is opposed to unfunded education mandates, continues to support funding for New College Institute (NCI), requests full funding for expenses related to Standards of Quality learning, encourages increased funding for Patrick & Henry Community College, requests incentives that would encourage the consolidation of school systems and continues to support funding for school resource officers. Rawls pointed out that NCI today is not what it started out to be, and given a three-part series on the Institute by the Martinsville Bulletin that had shed some light on problems at the Institute, the City should reexamine its continued support. We do not own the building, and theyre not putting out many four-year degrees. Most of the revenue is in continuing education, said Rawls. I wonder if this thing truly does have value. Maybe it should be a conference center. Council Member Kathy Lawson agreed with Rawls suggestion. The Bulletin put out this series of stories with a regional investigative journalist and after reading it, I believe these internal issues have got to be worked out before we ask for more money for this, Rawls said. I would nuke this request completely. Lawson suggested Council offer continued support for NCI to rebuild relationships it has had in the past but that it lost due to a change in direction. To me, they have missed their mission, said Lawson. The Foundation and the Board dont get along, so they should start there. They are missing the mark, and theyve got some work to do. Economic Development Council is requesting economic development incentives continue at current levels, requests that localities be given more authority to deal with blighted properties, requests more funding for the Virginia Museum of Natural History, asks for additional assistance when unemployment rates are high, supports tourism awareness, wants additional authority to designate Enterprise Zones, opposes the reopening of the Lower Smith River Wastewater Treatment Plant, supports grant expansion to fiscally stressed localities and supports the Virginia Grocery Investment Fund, an initiative that helps improve nutrition and access to quality food. I havent seen the contracts, but Ive been curious, said Rawls of the Henry County Public Service Authoritys intention to reopen a shuttered wastewater treatment facility. We can process all of the City and Countys sewage and were at 50% capacity, so its senseless to put that on the county taxpayers, said Lawson. It serves no purpose. Said Rawls: But is it our place to tell them (Henry County) what they should do? The costs will go up in the City and the County, said Towarnicki. Rawls suggested the reopening of the treatment facility may have gotten thrown in with a dispute between the City and the County over sewer lines. Towarnicki said it was in the best interest of the community for the closed treatment plant to remain closed and Lawson added that an additional sewer line was needed to make the plant operational and two sewer lines on either side of the Smith River would deter tourism. Governance There are 21 items listed under the topic of governance including several related to Martinsville reverting from a city to a town in Henry County. Others items support the continued funding of existing programs and the opposition of any attempts that would cause those programs to stop or be reduced. US Congress There was some discussion of larger cities entitled to money from the state because of their size, leaving smaller cities, like Martinsville, having to apply and compete with others for the same funding sources. Entitlement cities get a pot of money every year, but we have to apply and its always a competitive action, said McCaskill. We wanted it changed so that smaller communities could also qualify. Other federal funding requests were related to road construction, incentives to businesses located in areas disrupted by free trade agreements and the extension of better broadband. Younger professionals are landing here because of MiNet, said Rawls. They start looking somewhere else and find a lack of broadband and so theyve whittled their way into Martinsville. MiNet is a fiber internet and telephone service provider that is owned by the city of Martinsville. WPPDC By far, the largest item listed with the WPPDC is a $20.5 million fiber optic expansion project with MiNet. The other items in the top five are: $3.5 million for a Community Development Project on a city-owned site at the corner of Fayette and Beaver streets, $3.25 million for a Community Development Project to acquire and redevelop properties along an undisclosed commercial corridor, $3 million for upgrading at Southside Community Park, $3 million for curb and gutter in areas that are lacking them and $3 million for citywide stormwater projects. Towarnicki indicated the list would be adjusted and a cleaned-up list would be provided for Councils consideration at a regular meeting in February. Chinas new Foreign Minister Qin Gang is starting his term in office with a weeklong trip to five African countries, following in the footsteps of his predecessors over the last three decades, the Foreign Ministry announced. Like his predecessors, who have started each year with a trip to Africa, Qin Gang, who until recently was ambassador to the United States, will visit Angola, Benin, Egypt, Ethiopia and Gabon January 9-16. In Egypt, Qin is also expected to meet the Arab League secretary-general. It shows that China attaches great importance to the traditional friendship with Africa and the development of China-Africa relations, spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a daily media briefing. 56-year-old Qin was appointed foreign minister on December 30, succeeding Wang Yi who has now replaced Yang Jiechi as the governments top foreign policy official. The United States and France has been looking to rebuild relationships with Africa just as Russias sphere of influence is widening and China has sought to strengthen its foothold on the continent, becoming a major trading partner of the continent and investor in infrastructure and mining projects. Some commentators have called the China-Africa cooperation a symbiotic relationship from which both parties stand to gain. But there have also been controversies about a perceived debt trap and Chinas palace diplomacy funding huge infrastructure projects for African governments to secure influence within their ranks. 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: Spider plots with probability (in %) for different syndromes. Groups of patients are plotted together, and the respective correct diagnosis based on clinical criteria is written in red bold letters and framed within a box. Abbreviations: AD Alzheimers disease; bvFTD behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia; CBS corticobasal syndrome; lvPPA logopenic variant primary progressive aphasia; nfvPPA nonfluent variant primary progressive aphasia; PSP progressive supranuclear palsy; svPPA semantic variant primary progressive aphasia. Credit: NeuroImage: Clinical (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2023.103320 Researchers at MPI CBS and University of Leipzig Medical Center have used new artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning techniques to detect rare forms of dementia on MRI images. In their study, the researchers show that AI can automatically recognize patterns in patient imaging data that are specific to rare forms of dementia, enabling early diagnosis. They included Alzheimer's disease with memory impairment as well as many other diseases that may be characterized by changes in language, personality or motor function. Mr. M. noticed at the age of 40 that some words no longer occurred to him. This particularly affected rarely used words such as "flipper" or "filler." However, understanding language functioned in everyday professional and private life. He also could no longer remember the names of acquaintances and colleagues. His wife noticed that he no longer listened to her properly and could not switch off from work. What was wrong with him? In the hospital, a decrease in brain volume was detected in the temporal lobe. But what disease was Mr. M. suffering from? An Alzheimer's dementia, but did he have problems with his memory? Yet he was still relatively youngdidn't only older people have such diseases? The doctors found out that Mr. M. could not correctly name things shown to him, especially animals. He was unsure which characteristics were typical for certain things, e.g. whether a giraffe has fur or scales. There were also problems with memory. Matthias Schroeter, who conducts research at the MPI CBS and works as a consultant psychiatrist at the Clinic for Cognitive Neurology at University of Leipzig Medical Center, explains, "Questions such as those posed by Mr. M., a patient in our study, are typical in everyday clinical practice. First and foremost, the question arises as to the correct diagnosis so that the therapy can be adapted to each individual patient and their specific disease." "However, in addition to Alzheimer's dementia, which is the best-known neurodegenerative disease and is characterized by impairments in memory, there are very many other diseases that also require a different therapy. These so-called 'orphan diseases,' or rare diseases that can often occur at an early age, require specialized medical centers." In their study, Schroeter and his colleague Leonie Lampe used new artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques to automatically detect these diseases. The researchers used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to analyze the structure of the brains of patients at University of Leipzig Medical Center and from other clinical centers in Germany. They were able to show that rare forms of dementia can be detected early in this way. In addition to patients who had Alzheimer's disease with memory impairment, they also included many other diseases that can be characterized by a change in language, personality or motor skills. "Compared to previous studies, we were not only able to identify diseases very well when compared to healthy individuals, but in addition we were able to identify the specific disease compared to other dementia diseases. This is a decisive step on the way to tailored therapy adapted to each individual affected person and their disease," Matthias Schroeter summarizes. Mr. M. was eventually diagnosed with a disease of language functionsa semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia. Intensive therapy enabled him to compensate for his problems, so that he can continue to work in his profession as a salesman eight years after the diagnosis. "Even if the course of these diseases progresses, those affected in early stages of the disease can continue to work and manage their daily lives with support. This is why early diagnosis and individual adaptation of therapy measures are crucial," says Matthias Schroeter. The research is published in the journal NeuroImage: Clinical. More information: Leonie Lampe et al, Multiclass prediction of different dementia syndromes based on multi-centric volumetric MRI imaging, NeuroImage: Clinical (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2023.103320 Journal information: NeuroImage 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: Standardised Rainbow Trays like these could help reduce medication errors. Credit: University of Derby A simple change in the use of syringe trays could help reduce errors in complex clinical environments. This is the finding of research carried out by a team at the University of Derby. The University was approached by UVAMED, a health care innovation company based in Leicestershire. The company had produced Rainbow Trayscolor-coded compartmentalized syringe traysand wanted to have their effectiveness evaluated. Drugs used for anesthesia and sedation are prepared and administered in complex clinical environments and distracting conditions, which can lead to human error. Data suggests that drug-related errorssuch as accidental syringe swapsoccur in 1 in 133 anesthetic administrations. The teamDr. Edward Stupple, Professor Frances Maratos, Andrew Baird and Dr. Victoria Laxtonconducted independent objective trials on the trays. Based in realistic clinical skills suite environments at the University of Derby and a local NHS Trust hospital, the team used state-of-the-art eye-tracking technology, among other techniques, to test the trays' effectiveness. The team worked with consultant anesthetists to design the tasks, including medical condition scenarios. The results, which have been published in the British Journal of Anesthesia, revealed that using the Rainbow Trays improved efficiency measured by search time for trays with errors and search time for trays with no errorsthe trays helped make it quicker for users to make the correct choice first time. The eye-tracking data also demonstrated more efficient searching of the color-coded compartmentalized traysit was much easier for the Operating Department Practitioners and anesthetists to make a decision without having to study the trays in as much detail. Frances Maratos, professor of psychology and affective science at the University of Derby, says, "Our results are promising with respect to improving patient safety. For example, the organization of color-coded trays may facilitate secondary checks from theater staff such as Operating Department Practitioners, as an additional safety layer, with the aim of preventing drug errors in high-pressured environments such as operating theaters." Bev Fawdington, director of UVAMED, says, "This study provides clear evidence that a standardized system such as Rainbow Trays can reduce cognitive load and the risk of medication error during administration. These resultsdelivered on a project conducted almost entirely during the COVID pandemicillustrate the ingenuity, tenacity and dedication of the research team and NHS participants. They show that standardizing the presentation of anesthetic drugs can improve both clinicians' well-being and patient outcomes." More information: Victoria Laxton et al, Standardised colour-coded compartmentalised syringe trays improve anaesthetic medication visual search and mitigate cognitive load, British Journal of Anaesthesia (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.bja.2022.11.012 Journal information: British Journal of Anaesthesia 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: Theory to understand conspiratorial beliefs around COVID-19 in ethnic communities. Credit: British Journal of Health Psychology (2022). DOI: 10.1111/bjhp.12636 A belief that COVID-19 was a myth created to control ethnic populations, or a virus created to eliminate the Black community were among the conspiracy theories that caused a lower engagement of health prevention methods among UK Black communities, research by Kingston University experts has shown. The study, which involved in-depth interviews with participants of Black African and Caribbean heritage, found that these theories made sense to people of this background due to perceived contemporary and historical racial injustice and inequality. Belief in these theories were related to a reluctance to engage in measures to protect against COVID-19, such as the wearing of face masks, social distancing, testing and uptake of the vaccine. The perception of injustice was heightened by the Black Lives Matter movement and the Windrush scandal that saw hundreds of Commonwealth citizens wrongly detained by, deported from, or denied legal rights by, the UK. Professor of Health Psychology at Kingston University, Tushna Vandrevala, who led the research, said the interviews revealed the underlying issues that informed behaviors during the pandemic. "The participants said these issues of mistrust were not only about them, their family or COVID-19, but about a wider, global issue that everyone needed to stand up toit made people feel empowered to make their voices heard and take their own decisions about how they reacted to the pandemic. We cannot ignore the hundreds of years of colonialism and the fact people have felt discriminated against and feel powerlessit's a huge social justice issue." Published in the British Journal of Health Psychology, the study saw participants from across the UK interviewed during the second nationwide lockdown in the last few months of 2020 and early 2021. In addition to the issues of racial inequality and the historic and current mistrust of social institutions including the government, police, and healthcare systems, another barrier to engagement reported by interviewees was the public service health messaging, which was deemed confusing, inconsistent, and unrelatable. Participants referred to a lack of senior Black figures delivering guidance, they expressed upset that lockdown rules did not consider their living and working environments, and a general feeling health inequalities were not a part of the public health agenda. "The messaging wasn't representative of the Black community, it did not reflect their lives, the realities of being a migrant or indeed the difficulties they faced in following the guidance with their precarious working conditions. The media, the government consistently drew attention to the high rates of COVID among their communities, which made them feel alienated from other communities, or highlighted the low vaccine rates among the black community, without offering explanations for the often-justified reasons behind this," Professor Vandrevala said. Lecturer in social psychology at Kingston University, Dr. Kristin Hanson, who worked with Professor Vandrevala to evaluate the study data said some of the main conspiracy theories mooted surprised her. "The shocking conspiracy theories for me were that the vaccine rollout was viewed by the black community as intentionally trying to decrease the population of their ethnic community. Also, the distrust in medical staff and doctors, the belief that they were going to purposefully harm them." When reading some of the responses from participants Dr. Hanson said greater endorsement of conspiracy theories in the Black community were likely to be the result of the ethnic minority communities being disproportionately affected by COVID-19. "People from ethnic communities were the largest percentage of the population that were dying from the disease and that put them in the spotlight and made them feel stigmatized. They then had to rationalize and make sense of this. Suddenly, there's this situation of perceived uncontrollability and one of the reasons people believe in conspiracy theories is it gives them some feeling of control in an uncontrollable situation." The study showed more needs to be done to engage people early in the process, should another pandemic arise, Professor Vandrevala said. "We need to build relationships with communities rather than individuals. People working in settings within these communities can use resources to change hearts and minds of those having doubts and help them understand what is being asked of them. That way, we can begin to address the inequalities facing Black communities and make health information more accessible to them. We need to find new ways of building trust within our diverse communities." More information: Tushna Vandrevala et al, Unpacking COVID 19 and conspiracy theories in the UK black community, British Journal of Health Psychology (2022). DOI: 10.1111/bjhp.12636 Journal information: British Journal of Health Psychology 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: Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Chinese health officials said Wednesday it was "not necessary" to dwell on the exact number of COVID deaths in the country, days after the World Health Organization criticised authorities' accounting of a surge in cases there. China abruptly dropped its "zero-COVID" approach last month after three years of enforcing some of the harshest anti-pandemic restrictions in the world, unleashing a wave of infections that has packed hospitals and overwhelmed crematoriums. However, official figures have borne little resemblance to the situation on the ground and Beijing came under fire in December for drastically narrowing its definition of a COVID fatality. "I don't think it is necessary to look into the cause of death for every case at present. The key task during the pandemic should be treatment," epidemiologist Liang Wannian, head of a government-appointed expert panel, said during a news conference Wednesday. "If consensus can be reached globally, it would be the best," he said of the definition of COVID deaths. "If consensus cannot be reached, each country will classify it according to its own situation." Wang Guiqiang, head of the infectious disease department at Peking University First Hospital, suggested at the same news conference China could determine the number of COVID deaths after the fact by looking at the overall excess mortality rate. According to official figures, only 37 COVID-related deaths have been recorded in China since last month out of a population of 1.4 billion. Under the government's revised methodology, only those who die specifically of respiratory failure caused by the virus are recorded as COVID deaths, meaning many related fatalities go uncounted. The WHO last week criticised the new definition as "too narrow", with emergencies director Michael Ryan saying the body believed that "the current numbers being published from China under-represent the true impact of the disease". WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the organisation was continuing to "ask China for more rapid, regular, reliable data on hospitalisation and deaths, as well as... viral sequencing". Beijing, however, has insisted it has been transparent with the international community about its COVID data, urging the WHO to "uphold a scientific, objective and just position" on the matter. 2023 AFP 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: (A) A WSS map of dilated AA along with the three analysis planes and the extracted aortic sample subjected to histological (distal part) and biomechanical (proximal part) measurements are presented. (B) Media degeneration scoring was performed together with histological stainings to detect elastin, smooth muscle cells (-SMA, MYH10), and inflammatory cells (CD68, CD3) from the inner and outer curves of the AA. (C) Sample processing in the biomechanical measurements along with the measurement system and protocol. Credit: Frontiers in Physiology (2022). DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2022.934941 Prediction of aortic dissection or rupture of the thoracic aortic aneurysm is a challenge, and more accurate identification of high-risk patients and timing of repair surgery are required. A new collaborative study by the University of Eastern Finland and Kuopio University Hospital indicates that magnetic resonance imaging-derived wall shear stress values predict pathological changes in the aortic wall in patients with ascending aortic dilatation. The findings could be used for the identification of high-risk patients in the future. In ascending aortic dilatation, the aorta progressively dilates due to the weakening of the aortic wall structure leading to the formation of an aneurysm. This can lead to severe complications, such as aortic dissection or rupture. The main risk factors for ascending aortic dilatation are the bicuspid aortic valve and certain genetic factors or syndromes. Besides surgical intervention, no effective treatment exists. Typically, patients are asymptomatic, and an aneurysm is discovered incidentally, or only when a life-threatening complication occurs. After diagnosis, aortic dilatation is monitored regularly by computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging. Besides genetics, aortic vascular flow has been suggested to induce changes in the aortic wall structure and to contribute to disease progression. The new study from the University of Eastern Finland and Kuopio University Hospital shows for the first time the relation between wall shear stress, aortic wall strength, and site-specific cell composition in patients having ascending aortic dilatation. The results demonstrate that altered wall shear stress in patients regulates biomechanical properties, aortic degeneration, and cell-driven mechanisms. The study identifies a new molecular marker, MYH10, as an indicator of pathological changes in the aortic wall. These findings may be used for the identification of high-risk patients in the future. "Our research aim is to identify novel molecular targets for aortic dilatation that could be used to develop their therapeutics and diagnostics," says Academy Research Fellow Johanna Laakkonen of the University of Eastern Finland. "We aim to identify patients with a high risk of aortic dilatation or rupture and improve the follow-up of these patients, thus reducing the risk for life-threatening complications," says Professor Marja Hedman of the University of Eastern Finland and Kuopio University Hospital. The study, openly accessible in Frontiers in Physiology, was carried out by the Vascular Biology research group of Academy Research Fellow, Adjunct Professor Johanna Laakkonen at the A.I. Virtanen Institute for Molecular Sciences, and by the research group of Professor Marja Hedman at the School of Medicine, Institute of Clinical Medicine and Kuopio University Hospital Heart Center and Clinical Imaging Center. More information: Miika Kiema et al, Wall Shear Stress Predicts Media Degeneration and Biomechanical Changes in Thoracic Aorta, Frontiers in Physiology (2022). DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2022.934941 Journal information: Frontiers in Physiology The report by PUCL Karnataka elaborates the ways in which Muslim women students were denied their right to education by being forced to stay out of the classrooms. TCN Correspondent MUMBAI (MAHARASHTRA) Muslim women have dropped out of colleges and the classrooms have gotten polarized on the basis of religion, revealed a report released by human rights organization Peoples Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL) on January 9, Monday, marking one year of Hijab ban in Karnataka. The PUCLs Karnataka chapter undertook a study to investigate the impact of the imposed ban on the students and examine the role of authorities, administrative officials and police officials. The report explains that through conversations with students as well as authorities, and an analysis of events that transpired, it becomes visibly clear that Muslim women students were not only actively prevented from accessing their right to education, but also bore the brunt of a climate of hate, hostility and misinformation. Students have faced humiliation and harassment in their own classrooms at the hands of their faculty, college administration and classmates. Speaking to TwoCircles.net, Arvind Narrain, President of PUCL-Karnataka, said that as per a reply in the legislative assembly on September 22, 2022 to a question posed by MLA Sowmya Reddy, in the 1 and 2 PU Colleges the total drop outs of hijab wearing girls is 1010 because of hijab ban or other reasons. The PUCL report elaborates the ways in which Muslim women students were denied their right to education by being forced to stay out of the classrooms. Students have also recounted their experiences of loss, broken dreams and career aspirations, discrimination, segregation from other non-hijab wearing students and their feeling of fear and insecurity within the campuses of their colleges. The figures (of the government) indicate that the government has comprehensively failed to fulfil its constitutional mandate under Article 41 to ensure that the state has made effective provision for securing the right to education. This comprehensive failure is the result of a manifestly arbitrary government hijab policy which has instead of providing for the right to education, denied the right to education to a section of Muslim girl students. This is unconscionable. The report documents how vigilante groups of Hindutva organisations carried out a vilification campaign against hijab wearing students and how the inaction of the government and police gave implicit encouragement to these fundamentalist forces. Besides focusing on other major issues, the report reveals that educational bureaucracy, including college principals and authorities, district administration and the CDCs neither received written orders from higher authorities nor gave instructions to college administrators in writing. Their actions to counsel Muslim students and parents and their refusal to document their grievances or take legal action against Hindutva groups who harassed Muslim students, revealed their prejudiced and biased approach towards Muslims. College authorities too shared that they received strict orders and hence enforced a ban with immediate effect. They also treated students with disrespect and contempt. Zainab Gazali, Girls Islamic Organisation, ZAC Member Karnataka told TwoCircles.net that the unresolved Hijab issue is a challenge for the girl students of Karnataka. Many girls who belong to the low-income class are largely impacted by the ban, she said. Thousands of girls have switched their institutions. Elaborating on the role of the police and how they enabled a hostile environment of hate targetted against Muslim students, the PUCL report said that by going beyond their mandate and entering college campuses, forcing students to remove the hijab, taking pictures and videos of hijab-wearing Muslim women students and displaying a callous indifference to the harassment faced by the students, the police failed to fulfill their responsibility towards those who were made to be extremely vulnerable. The police also filed several FIRs to criminalise dissent from the Muslim community, denying them their constitutional right to freedom of expression. Investigating the development of the hijab discourse regarding gender, faith and empowerment, the report shows the multifarious ways in which Muslim women are asserting themselves and charting a distinct vision of assertiveness and identity. It also draws from the global narrative regarding the hijab as well as understandings coming from the local level, and also different perspectives from other students, academics, and global activists on the same. Documenting the organized hate campaign against Muslim women students and a systematic effort to deny Muslim students their right to education while wearing the hijab, the report details how vigilante groups from Hindutva organisations used social media and college WhatsApp groups to mobilise youth to claim that the hijab is anti-national, and a threat to all Hindus. The report also describes how the media played an active role in spreading inflammatory statements about the hijab and the protesting Muslim women students. The TV medias coverage, especially Kannada TV media, constantly pushed a dominant narrative that stereotyped Muslim students and grossly violated their Constitutional rights as well as the medias codes of ethics. Analysing the Karnataka High Court judgment, in Resham v the State of Karnataka, the report said the analysis shows that the judgment incorrectly focused on the question of the hijab as an Essential Religious Practice (ERP) and ignored the more immediate question surrounding the practice, which is whether students have a right to express themselves through the practice and what powers does the state have to regulate their form of expression. Gazali said, We demand a flexible uniform and head cover. The high court interim order disappointed the students. We had hope on supreme court. But the split verdict has further complicated the issue. She said this is about the future of girls education. The more this case holds on, it will result in a huge lose to the girls education. 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: A subpopulation of rats displayed compulsive cocaine use behavior. (A) Experimental timeline for identifying rats with compulsive cocaine use. (B) Hierarchical clustering based on t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (t-SNE) projection of parameters in punishment sessions 2 and 3 (P2 and P3) and t-SNE three-dimensional representation of clusters including resistant (cluster 1) and sensitive (cluster 2) rats. Behavioral performance included active nosepokes (A), inactive nosepokes (IA), futile nosepokes, and cocaine infusions. (C) Ratio of sensitive and resistant rats (left), and cocaine infusions obtained from baseline and the third punishment session (right). Sensitive rats had fewer infusions compared with resistant rats. Two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed a statistically significant interaction effect, F1,89 = 80.76, P < 0.001, post hoc analysis, ***P < 0.001 for sensitive versus resistant in P3, ###P < 0.001 for P3 versus baseline in sensitive or resistant group; n = 60 and 31, respectively. (D and E) Number of active nosepokes, inactive nosepokes, and cocaine infusions obtained from acquisition sessions. There was no difference between sensitive and resistant rats; two-way ANOVA showed nonsignificant main effects on groups, F1,89 = 0.53, P = 0.4671 for active nosepokes, F1,89 = 0.03, P = 0.8639 for inactive nosepokes, and F1,89 = 0.14, P = 0.7086 for infusions; n = 60 and 31, respectively. NS, not significant. Data are presented as mean values SEMs. Credit: Science Advances (2022). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abq5745 Drug addiction is characterized by compulsive drug use among individuals despite adverse consequences underlying such tendencies. However, the specific neural circuits underlying the mechanisms of addictive behavior remain unidentified. In a new study now published in Science Advances, Yang Chen and a research team in medical sciences, biomimetic drugs, and neuroscience in China conducted several experiments with animal models to understand specific neural mechanisms behind cocaine addiction. During the experiments, they implemented a footshock-triggered method of cocaine self-administration among the rats to assess the variability of rodent behavior during the process. The outcomes showed how rats with compulsively habitual cocaine use presented increased neural activity of the anterior insular cortex (aIC) when compared with non-compulsive rats. Chen and colleagues recognized the chemogenic manipulating activity of neurons in the anterior insular cortex (aIC), which received inputs from the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) during compulsive cocaine use. When they suppressed this OFC-aIC neural circuit, the rat behavior changed from triggered compulsive activity to display sensitivity. This work showed how the aIC glutamatergic neurons and the orbitofrontal cortex-anterior insular cortex facilitated a shift towards compulsive cocaine use, which can serve as a therapeutic target to prevent drug addiction. The insular cortex of the mammalian brain Compulsive drug addiction is characterized by persistent drug use regardless of negative consequences surrounding a user's addictive behavior. Epidemiological studies have revealed individual differences among users during the development of drug addiction. Neuroscientists have recognized the insular cortex to be involved in a spectrum of drug addictive behavior. Interestingly, smokers with insular cortex damage can undergo smoking disruption, allowing them to discontinue smoking. However, implications of the insular cortex during compulsive drug seeking behavior remain unknown. Hyperactive aIC neurons in shock-resistant rats. (A) Mapping of c-Fos across brain regions 90 min after the third punishment test. Unpaired t test, t11 = 2.24, *P = 0.046 for OFC; t10 = 4.21, **P = 0.005 for aIC; t12 = 2.50, *P = 0.039 for NAc core; t12 = 2.53, *P = 0.027 for NAc shell; t12 = 4.13, **P = 0.004 for DLS; t12 = 2.71, *P = 0.03 for CeA; n = 5 to 6 and 7 to 8, respectively. (B) Representative images of c-Fos immunofluorescence staining of aIC. Scale bars, 500 m (left) and 50 m (right). (C) Schematic of calcium photometry. Scale bar, 1 mm. (D and E) Heatmap and plot of z-scored aIC Ca2+ signals in no punish, sensitive, and resistant group; n = 5 for each group. (F) AUC of z-scored aIC Ca2+ signals in 0 to 2 s. One-way ANOVA, F2,12 = 17.58, P < 0.001, post hoc analysis, *P = 0.028 for sensitive versus resistant, ***P < 0.001 for no punish versus resistant. Number of events per minute of aIC neurons. One-way ANOVA, F2,12 = 36.00, P < 0.001, post hoc analysis, ***P < 0.001 for sensitive versus resistant and no punish versus resistant; n = 5 for each group. (G) Amplitude and frequency of sEPSCs of aIC neurons. Unpaired t test, t32 = 2.12, *P = 0.042 and t32 = 3.60, **P = 0.001, respectively; 13 neurons from 3 sensitive rats and 21 neurons from 5 resistant rats. Cg1, cingulate cortex area 1; Cg2, cingulate cortex area 2; PrL, prelimbic cortex; IL, infralimbic cortex; NAc core/shell, nucleus accumbens core/shell; MS, medial septum; DLS, dorsolateral striatum; BLA, basolateral amygdala; CeA, central amygdala; PVT, paraventricular thalamus; LHb, lateral habenula. Data are presented as mean values SEMs. Credit: Science Advances, DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abq5745 The insular cortex is a complex anatomical hubris in the mammalian brain, which includes an anterior insular cortex (aIC) and a posterior insular cortex (pIC). The researchers showed how the anterior insular cortex is associated with compulsive cocaine use. They demonstrated this by implementing a footshock-triggered cocaine self-administration procedure and combined the process with cluster analysis, immunostaining, fiber photometry, electrophysiology, and chemo-genetics. The outcomes showed how the glutamatergic neurons of the anterior insular cortex and orbitofrontal cortex-anterior insular cortex regions played a key role to regulate compulsive cocaine use. The outcomes provide hitherto unidentified anatomical and functional circuits to therapeutically mediate drug addiction. The rodent experiments The research team conducted experiments with the rats who were trained to self-administer cocaine across 12 days. Under the conditions of freely available cocaine use, rats learned to compulsively self-administer the drug. When the team introduced three days of an hour of footshock-triggered drug administration, they observed that approximately 34% of the rats were shock resistant, while 66% were shock sensitive. The cocaine-sensitive rats quickly reduced self-administration of the drug, while those resistant to the dose kept administering the drug despite the trigger. Further analysis showed the anterior insular cortex neurons of the shock-resistant rats to be hyperactive. The researchers performed specific neural activities to examine the activation of anterior insular neurons in the two groups of rats via trigger assays. Activation of aIC neurons was required and sufficient for compulsive cocaine use. (A) Experimental timeline and schematic of viral infusion to analyze compulsive cocaine use behavior after inhibition of aIC among resistant rats. Scale bar, 1 mm. (B) Cocaine infusions obtained from AAV-mCherry and AAV-hM4D group. Two-way ANOVA, F1,18 = 22.51, P < 0.001, post hoc analysis, ***P < 0.001 for P4, P5, and P6; n = 10 for each group. (C) Ratio of sensitive and resistant rats in AAV-mCherry and AAV-hM4D group before and after aIC inhibition; Fisher's exact test, ***P < 0.001. (D) Experimental timeline and schematic of viral infusion to analyze compulsive cocaine use behaviors after activation of aIC. Scale bar, 1 mm. (E) Cocaine infusion obtained from AAV-mCherry and AAV-hM3D group. Two-way ANOVA, F1,25 = 15.22, P < 0.001, post hoc analysis, ***P < 0.001 for P2 and P3; n = 14 and 13, respectively. (F) Ratio of sensitive and resistant rats in AAV-mCherry and AAV-hM3D group after aIC activation; Fisher's exact test, **P = 0.004. Data are presented as mean values SEMs. Credit: Science Advances, DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abq5745 Investigating different proteins of interest involved in cocaine addiction The team first studied the c-Fos protein expression specific to brain development in several nonspecific brain regions involved with drug addiction. The rats presenting with drug resistance had an increased number of c-Fos positive neurons in the anterior insular cortex, the orbital frontal cortex, nucleus accumbens and in the central amygdala, in comparison to sensitive rats. While the team positively stained neurons for this protein of interest, they could not be differentiated between drug resistant and sensitive rats in the parietal insular cortex, indicating their exclusion during compulsive cocaine use within the specific brain regions. The team additionally confirmed the relationship between the activated anterior insular cortex neurons and compulsive cocaine use with further experiments to highlight a connection between cocaine use and hyperactivity of the neurons. Additional experiments showed the activation of the anterior insular cortex neurons for compulsive cocaine use. During chemically induced inhibition of the anterior insular cortex, the team noted a significant reduction of compulsive cocaine use among resistant rats alongside a notable restoration of their sensitivity to triggers. However, similar inhibition of the same brain region in already sensitive rats did not affect their use of cocaine during triggers. The outcomes yet again highlighted the necessity of activating the anterior insular cortex for compulsive cocaine use. The aIC glutamatergic neurons bidirectionally modulated compulsive cocaine use. (A) Experimental timeline and schematic of viral infusion to analyze compulsive cocaine use behaviors after inhibition of aIC glutamatergic neurons among resistant rats. Scale bar, 1 mm. (B) Cocaine infusions obtained from AAV-mCherry and AAV-hM4D group. Two-way ANOVA, F1,16 = 9.89, P = 0.006, post hoc analysis, **P = 0.001 for P4, ***P < 0.001 for P5 and P6; n = 10 and 8, respectively. (C) Ratio of sensitive and resistant rats in AAV-mCherry and AAV-hM4D group before and after inhibition of aIC glutamatergic neurons; Fisher's exact test, ***P < 0.001. (D) Experimental timeline and schematic of viral infusion to analyze compulsive cocaine use behaviors after activation of aIC glutamatergic neurons. Scale bar, 1 mm. (E) Cocaine infusions obtained from AAV-mCherry and AAV-hM3D group. Two-way ANOVA, F1,24 = 6.42, P = 0.018, post hoc analysis, **P = 0.004 for P2, ***P < 0.001 for P3; n = 12 and 14, respectively. (F) Ratio of sensitive and resistant rats in AAV-mCherry and AAV-hM3D group after activation of aIC glutamatergic neurons; Fisher's exact test, *P = 0.014. Data are presented as mean values SEMs. Credit: Science Advances, DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abq5745 The role of the anterior insular cortex (aIC) glutamatergic neurons and the OFC-aIC axis Since previous investigations linked the aIC (anterior insular cortex) neurons with glutamatergic properties; glutamate is the major excitatory neurotransmitter in the nervous system, the researchers speculated that this region modulates compulsive cocaine use. They specifically tested this by inhibiting the characteristic neuron subset with a chemogenic assay, which reduced compulsive cocaine use, while inhibiting the aIC glutamatergic neurons among rats already sensitive to cocaine did not alter their drug use. The neuron subtype bidirectionally regulated compulsive cocaine use among the animal models. Further studies showed how the anterior insular cortex received direct inputs from the orbital frontal cortex (OFC-aIC axis). The team used a viral vector system to study the implications of the OFC-aIC pathway during compulsive cocaine use between sensitive and resistant rats. The outcomes highlighted the significance of activating the neural circuit for compulsive drug use. Glutamatergic projections from OFC to aIC were potentiated in resistant rats. (A) Experimental timeline and schematic of whole-cell patch-clamp recordings of aIC neurons that received inputs from OFC. Scale bars, 1 mm (left) and 100 m (right). (B) Amplitude and frequency of sEPSCs recorded from OFC-aIC neurons. Unpaired t test, t35 = 2.42, *P = 0.021 for amplitude; t35 = 10.71, ***P < 0.001 for frequency, 21 neurons from four sensitive rats and 16 neurons from four resistant rats. (C) Number of APs responding to increasing step current obtained from aIC neurons that received inputs from OFC. Two-way ANOVA, F1,187 = 297.4, P < 0.001, post hoc analysis, *P < 0.05 for 200 to 600 pA, 18 neurons from four sensitive rats and 19 neurons from three resistant rats. (D) Experimental timeline and schematic of whole-cell patch-clamp recordings of aIC neurons responding to a 470-nm laser (2 ms, blue bars). (E and F) The PPR of aIC neurons was significantly decreased in resistant rats compared with that in no punish and sensitive rats. One-way ANOVA, F2,45 = 4.66, P = 0.0145, post hoc analysis, *P = 0.0375 for sensitive versus resistant, and *P = 0.0199 for no punish versus resistant. (G and H) The A/N ratio of aIC neurons was significantly increased in resistant rats. One-way ANOVA, F2,45 = 54.36, P < 0.001, post hoc analysis, ***P < 0.001 for sensitive versus resistant and no punish versus resistant; 16 neurons from three no punish rats, 18 neurons from three sensitive rats, and 14 neurons from three resistant rats. Data are presented as mean values SEMs. Credit: Science Advances, DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abq5745 Outlook In this way, Yang Chen and colleagues used animal models to show the gating role of glutamatergic neurons of the anterior insular cortex (aIC) and the orbital frontal cortex- anterior insular cortex (OFC-aIC) circuit, during the regulation of compulsive cocaine use. The outcomes highlighted how patients with insula damage could easily quit smoking. The findings can add to the understanding of compulsive drug addiction and the design of related therapies to attenuate the tendency. More information: Yang Chen et al, An orbitofrontal cortexanterior insular cortex circuit gates compulsive cocaine use, Science Advances (2022). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abq5745 Billy T. Chen et al, Rescuing cocaine-induced prefrontal cortex hypoactivity prevents compulsive cocaine seeking, Nature (2013). DOI: 10.1038/nature12024 Journal information: Science Advances , Nature 2023 Science X Network 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: Nanoparticles entering neural retina. Credit: Gaurav Sahay, OSU College of Pharmacy Oregon State University College of Pharmacy scientists have demonstrated in animal models the possibility of using lipid nanoparticles and messenger RNA, the technology underpinning COVID-19 vaccines, to treat blindness associated with a rare genetic condition. Researchers developed nanoparticles able to penetrate the neural retina and deliver mRNA to the photoreceptor cells whose proper function makes vision possible. The study, led by OSU associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences Gaurav Sahay, Oregon State doctoral student Marco Herrera-Barrera and Oregon Health & Science University assistant professor of ophthalmology Renee Ryals, was published today in Science Advances. The scientists overcame what had been the main limitation of using lipid nanoparticles, or LNPs, to carry genetic material for the purpose of vision therapygetting them to reach the back of the eye, where the retina is. Lipids are fatty acids and similar organic compounds including many natural oils and waxes. Nanoparticles are tiny pieces of material ranging in size from one- to 100-billionths of a meter. Messenger RNA delivers instructions to cells for making a particular protein. With the coronavirus vaccines, the mRNA carried by the LNPs instructs cells to make a harmless piece of the virus' spike protein, which triggers an immune response from the body. As a therapy for vision impairment resulting from inherited retinal degeneration, or IRD, the mRNA would instruct photoreceptor cellsfaulty because of a genetic mutationto manufacture the proteins needed for sight. IRD encompasses a group of disorders of varying severity and prevalence that affect one out of every few thousand people worldwide. The scientists showed, in research involving mice and non-human primates, that LNPs equipped with peptides were able to pass through barriers in the eye and reach the neural retinawhere light is turned into electric signals that the brain converts to images. "We identified a novel set of peptides that can reach the back of the eye," Sahay said. "We used these peptides to act as zip codes to deliver nanoparticles carrying genetic materials to the intended address within the eye." "The peptides that we have discovered can be used as targeting ligands directly conjugated to silencing RNAs, small molecules for therapeutics or as imaging probes," Herrera-Barrera added. Sahay and Ryals have received a $3.2 million grant from the National Eye Institute to continue studying lipid nanoparticles' promise in the treatment of hereditary blindness. They will lead research into using LNPs to deliver a gene editing tool that could delete bad genes in the photoreceptor cells and replace them with correctly functioning genes. The research aims to develop solutions for the limitations associated with the current primary means of delivery for gene editing: a type of virus known as adeno-associated virus, or AAV. "AAV has limited packaging capacity compared to LNPs and it can prompt an immune system response," Sahay said. "It also doesn't do fantastically well in continuing to express the enzymes the editing tool uses as molecular scissors to make cuts in the DNA to be edited. We're hoping to use what we've learned so far about LNPs to develop an improved gene editor delivery system." More information: Marco Herrera-Barrera et al, Peptide-guided lipid nanoparticles deliver mRNA to the neural retina of rodents and nonhuman primates, Science Advances (2023). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.add4623. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.add4623 Journal information: Science Advances 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: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain More than 30 years ago, findings from the Harvard Medical Practice Study (HMPS) helped bring public awareness to the problem of patient safety. Since the publication of the HMPS results, new strategies for preventing specific types of adverse events have been put into place, but it has been challenging to measure the impact on patient care. To better understand what progress has been made in the last few decades, a team from Boston area hospitals conducted the SafeCare Study, which evaluated 11 hospitals in the region. Led by investigators from Mass General Brigham and sponsored by CRICO, the medical professional liability insurer for the Harvard medical community and its affiliated organizations, the study provides an estimate of adverse events in the inpatient environment, shedding light on the progress of two decades of work focused on improving patient safety and highlighting the need for continued improvement. Results are published in The New England Journal of Medicine. "The study clearly demonstrates a need for better tools, increased measurement of patient harm, and better implementation systems," said corresponding author David Westfall Bates, MD, medical director of Clinical and Quality Analysis for Mass General Brigham and chief of General Internal Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital. "While we looked at hospitals in Massachusetts, improving the delivery of safe care is a national issue, not one that is specific to one hospital, system, state, or region. It's valuable to know how much harm there is and for every institution to be aware of trends in adverse events so that they can take steps to mitigate and address issues within their walls." "Our work is a call to action for those from board to bedside to ensure reducing preventable patient harm is a top priority," said Elizabeth Mort, MD, senior vice president of Quality and Safety at Massachusetts General Hospital and a co-author of the study. "Keep in mind that our study looked at patient safety before the COVID-19 pandemic. We know that our industry is now facing economic, workforce and wellness challenges nationally. Given these pressures, remaining focused and committed to patient safety is more important than ever." The SafeCare study followed a similar methodology to the HMPS, performed in 1984, although ways of capturing levels of harm have improved in the ensuing decades. Through review of 2,800 inpatient charts from patient visits in 2018 to hospitals ranging from large to small, the research team identified at least one adverse event in 23.6% of admissions. Overall, 23% of these adverse events were judged to be preventable given what is known today, and 32% had serious or higher clinical severity. The leading causes of harm were medication related (39% of adverse events); surgery/procedural (30%); patient care, including falls and pressure ulcers (15%); and healthcare-associated infections (12%). The rates of harm detected in the new study were higher than those from the HMPS, though different definitions were used. The authors note that the healthcare delivery system itself has changed dramatically since HMPS was conducted, with the advent of electronic health records and movement of complex care to ambulatory sites, leaving the most severely ill patients in our acute care hospitals. These changes present both challenges and opportunities. "Because records are now computerized in nearly all hospitals, it should be possible to search them to make identification of these events much easier, which should in turn make it easier for hospitals to manage this area more effectively," said Bates. "Based on our study, we are now taking steps to ensure that key findings do not get lost. We are also evaluating technological solutions that may help us better detect changes in respiratory rates, a patient's pulse, and other early warning signs so that we can take steps to prevent or mitigate adverse events before they can cause harm." Bates and co-authors recommend that health care providers improve tracking of adverse drug effects, increase reliable and routine collection of data, deliver consistent and reliable care for healthcare-associated infections and work toward a culture that prioritizes safe, high-quality care. "It's important to do the work to identify adverse events if we're going to work to improve them," said Bates. "All organizations should have approaches for monitoring these things on a regular basis." Provided by Mass General Brigham 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: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain The menopause transition is often accompanied by a number of symptoms that can affect a woman's overall quality of life, including hot flashes, sleep disturbances, and depression. A new study suggests that women may already experience some of these symptoms several years before menopause, during the late-reproductive stage. Study results are published online today in Menopause. By 2025, an estimated 1.1 billion women worldwide will be postmenopausal. Yet, the number of women experiencing menopause-like symptoms will likely be much higher because there is growing evidence to suggest that women in the late-reproductive stage experience multiple symptoms often associated with menopause years before the official menopause transition. A new study involving more than 350 Spanish-speaking respondents is the latest to document the effect of various physiologic and psychosocial changes that affect women in the 4 to 10 years preceding the final menstrual period. A woman's late-reproductive stage is characterized by low antral follicle counts and subtle changes to menstrual cycle length, duration, and flow. It typically marks the time when fertility begins to decline and hormone patterns begin to change. This study sought to characterize and compare the symptoms Spanish-speaking women around the world report experiencing during the late-reproductive stage and the menopause transition. The new study identified a similar proportion of women in the late-reproductive stage and the menopause transition reporting 8 of 18 common menopause symptoms. Among other findings, women in the late-reproductive stage had lower age-adjusted odds of musculoskeletal pain and lower odds of decreased interest in sex. But both groups reported a similar interference with personal relationships and overall quality of life. Additional analyses are needed to assess how changes associated with reproductive aging affect quality of life. Study results are published in the article "Symptom experience during the late reproductive stage versus the menopausal transition in the Spanish-language Women Living Better survey." "This study in Spanish-speaking women not only adds to the evidence that women experience multiple symptoms typically associated with the menopause transition in their late-reproductive years but also highlights opportunities for anticipatory guidance that is culturally and linguistically appropriate," says Dr. Stephanie Faubion, NAMS medical director. More information: Symptoms experience during the late reproductive stage versus the menopausal transition in the Spanish-language Women Living Better survey, Menopause (2023). DOI: 10.1097/GME.0000000000002132 Journal information: Menopause 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: Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain A study from researchers at Brown University, Rhode Island Hospital and the University of Rhode Island found that pharmacistsnot just physicians at clinics and doctor's officescan safely and effectively start patients with opioid use disorder on the lifesaving medication buprenorphine. "With over 100,000 overdose deaths in 2022 and an opioid crisis impacting states across the country, improving access to buprenorphine is a critical and necessary next step," said Traci Green, lead study author and co-director of Rhode Island Hospital's Center of Biomedical Research Excellence on Opioids and Overdose, which was established in 2018 to research innovations to address the opioid epidemic. "Dramatically increasing capacity to provide good, lifesaving treatment for people with opioid use disorder through pharmacies is an approach that could be ramped up today," said Green, who is also an adjunct professor at Brown University's Warren Alpert Medical School. "It's a game-changer." The first-of-its-kind pilot study, published on Thursday, Jan. 12, in the New England Journal of Medicine, documents the experiences of 100 patients who started taking buprenorphine after visiting a specially trained pharmacist for their care. Once stabilized on the medication, 58 patients were randomly assigned to receive either continued care in the pharmacy or usual care in a clinic or physician's office. After one month, the patients in the pharmacy care group showed dramatically higher rates of retention: 25 patients (89%) continued to receive treatment in the pharmacy compared to five (17%) in the usual care group. "To have so many people in the pharmacy group continue on with their care was completely unexpected," Green said. "The results from this pilot study show how pharmacies can be an effective and viable pathway to treatment for opioid use disorder." A third of patients in the study identified as Black, Indigenous or persons of color, and almost half were without a permanent residence. "Considering overdose deaths are increasing the fastest among Black and Hispanic communities and over 1,500 Rhode Islanders are currently unhoused, pharmacy-based addiction care models could be a pathway to promote racial and economic equity in accessing addiction treatment," said study author Dr. Josiah D. Rich, a professor of medicine and epidemiology at Brown University. "Treatment with medications can only work if it is available and accessible in the community," said Rich, who is also an attending physician at the Miriam and Rhode Island Hospitals. "Opioid use disorder is too often a lethal disease, and it kills by stigma and isolation. Widespread, equitable access to effective treatment is the answer. Our study showed that the pharmacy treatment model increases access, which benefits a diverse patient population and increases equity." Buprenorphine is an opioid agonist/antagonist medication that has proven safe and effective in treating opioid withdrawal, Rich noted, and has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat opioid use disorder. Currently, patients with an opioid use disorder who are prescribed buprenorphine or naltrexone must see an approved physician or go to a U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency-approved opioid treatment facility for their care. Patients typically then have the medications dispensed at the clinic or go to the pharmacy to pick them up. Regulatory hurdles have prevented widespread use of buprenorphine, the researchers noted; a 2019 national survey found that 80% of people with substance use disorder never receive any evidence-based medication treatment. Those who are prescribed treatment often face barriers such as long-distance travel to clinics, inconvenient clinic hours, time-consuming paperwork and bureaucracy, stigma and more. "We have a serious treatment gapwe are missing 90% of the people with opioid use disorder who need and want treatment," said Jeffrey Bratberg, a study author and clinical professor of pharmacy practice at the University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy. "Pharmacists are an underutilized partner in the health care workforce, especially the behavioral health care workforce. There is a pharmacy within 5 miles of where 95% of Americans live." The study enabled pharmacists trained in the foundations of addiction treatment to instead be a convenient and community-located place for patients to go for care and access medication. At the "one-stop" community pharmacy visit, patients filled their prescriptions, obtained medication management and received follow-up care. Genoa Healthcare, a provider of specialized pharmacy care for behavioral health and substance use disorder communities, supported a team of 21 pharmacists to be trained in how to provide buprenorphine care at six of its community pharmacies in Rhode Island. Linda Rowe-Varone, one of the clinical pharmacists who provided buprenorphine to patients enrolled in the study, said one of her patients is a mother who lives near the Genoa Healthcare pharmacy in Providence. This patient told Rowe-Varone that she found the pharmacy hours to be much more convenient than the clinic she previously visited and that she felt safe and comfortable enough at the pharmacy to bring her children with her to treatment appointments. Rowe-Varone said she appreciated the opportunity to work with the individuals enrolled in the study. "I met people who could be my family members, my neighbors, people I work with, people I pass walking on the street, and they would come into our pharmacy for help," she said. "They wanted to become healthy againI feel as if we're right there for them." The opportunity to open pharmacies for addiction treatment is expanding in 2023, the researchers noted: Changes that President Joe Biden signed into law will make it easier and less cumbersome for trained health professionals to prescribe buprenorphine. Currently, 10 states allow pharmacists to obtain DEA authorization to prescribe controlled substances such as buprenorphine, which means the pharmacy treatment approach would be locally feasible. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of being able to quickly devise and implement new ways of delivering health care, Green said. "During the COVID-19 crisis, we were able to quickly figure out how to deliver immunizations on a mass scale, and pharmacies were an important part of that model," Green said. "The opioid crisis has been going on for some time, with over 100,000 people dying each year. There is an urgent need for new ways to get people the treatment they need." The study was a collaboration between Genoa Healthcare, the researchers, and leaders at the Rhode Island Health Department and the Rhode Island Department of Behavioral Health, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals, which created the legal and policy infrastructure to support the research and test the pharmacy care model. Green, Bratberg and Rich serve as expert advisors to the Rhode Island Governor's Overdose Prevention and Intervention Task Force. 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: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain The COVID-19 pandemic has been perceived in the national media as a largely partisan issue in the United States, with Democrats being portrayed as more concerned about the severity of the pandemic than Republicans. However, a new study by a University of Missouri researcher and colleagues suggests that while these political tendencies are still present on a local level, partisan beliefs do not seem to overshadow how people perceive the severity of the pandemic in their own communities. The study, published in the Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, was based on the analysis of survey responses from 1,000 participants who took the Cooperative Election Study (CES) in 2020. Jake Haselswerdt, an associate professor of political science in the Truman School of Government and Public Affairs, said the study found that even people who supported Republican candidates at the ballot box were aware of the severity of the pandemic in their local communities. "While there is definitely politics going on in terms of the way people perceive the COVID-19 pandemic, it's not drowning out what's happening in real life," Haselswerdt said. "The real public health trends are still getting through to people." Haselswerdt said the researchers also found people's perceptions of the pandemic do matter for what they would expectsupport for COVID-related policies. "Not surprisingly, we found people who believe the situation was more severe in their counties were more supportive of restrictions, like mask mandates and closing K-12 schools and businesses," Haselswerdt said. "On the other hand, we found no relationship between county-level perceptions of the pandemic and the way respondents say they voted in the 2020 election." Haselswerdt was also surprised to not find a filter bubble effectthe feeling that it doesn't matter what's going on because someone is not paying attention to itwith Republicans and viewers of Fox News Channel. He said while Americans with these political leanings did give significantly lower estimates of the pandemic's severity in their county, these estimates were still related to their actual county case rate, suggesting local public health information did still get through to them. "We were expecting to find [with Republicans and viewers of Fox News Channel] that 'it doesn't matter what the COVID-19 rate is in my county because I'm not paying attention to it, and maybe I don't even believe it anyway,'" said Haselswerdt, who has been interested in American politics since he was a child. "Or, 'I have information sources that I listen to telling me that it's no big deal, or masking and shutting down schools is a waste of time.' But that's not what we found, instead we found the real world still matters to people." The results from this study are similar to the findings of a previous study Haselswerdt and co-author Sarah Gollust from the University of Minnesota did on the opioid epidemic and political voting behavior. In the previous study, Haselswerdt said they also found public perceptions of the opioid epidemic on a local level did not translate to political behavior. Haselswerdt and Gollust are currently working with some of the data they collected for this study for a related project examining what kinds of people Americans think are most harmed by COVID-19, such as people with pre-existing conditions, the elderly, and different races and ethnicities. More information: Jake Haselswerdt et al, Awareness of COVID-19 at the Local Level: Perceptions and Political Consequences, Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law (2022). DOI: 10.1215/03616878-10351896 Journal information: Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law 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: Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain It's not just what we eat, but why we eat that's important for heart health, according to research published today in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology. The study found that emotional eating was associated with cardiovascular problems, and that stress contributed to this relationship. "Emotional eaters consume food to satisfy their brains rather than their stomachs," said study author Professor Nicolas Girerd, coordinator of the Clinical Investigation Center (CIC-P) and a cardiologist at the University Hospital of Nancy, France. "Mindful eating can help break this habit. It means taking time out to eat, either alone or with others, being in the moment and aware of what you are doing, and not being distracted by your phone or the TV." "Stress might be one of the reasons for eating in response to feelings instead of hunger," said lead author Dr. Sandra Wagner, a nutritional epidemiologist at the CIC-P. "We know that emotional eaters are less aware of hunger and satiety but mindful eating brings attention to these physical sensations. Physical activityeither a walk or more intense exerciseis another way to avoid emotional eating because it relieves stress and provides a replacement activity. Just 10 minutes a day of meditation or breathing exercises can also help to recenter and reduce stress. To sum up, use the three Ms to kick the habit of emotional eating: move, meditate and mindful eating." This was the first study to assess the association between eating behaviors in healthy individuals and cardiovascular damage 13 years later. The study included 1,109 participants of the STANISLAS cohort, which enrolled parents and adolescents in the Lorraine region of northeast France between 1993 and 1995. Emotional eating, which is the tendency to overeat in response to negative emotions such as sadness or anxiety, was assessed using the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire. Measures of cardiovascular damage included carotid-femoral pulse-wave velocity and diastolic dysfunction, which indicate stiffness in the arteries and heart, respectively. According to previous studies, rises in pulse-wave velocity, meaning stiffer arteries, are associated with higher risks of heart disease and stroke. Diastolic dysfunction, meaning the heart relaxes insufficiently after contraction, is correlated with a greater likelihood of developing heart failure. Associations between emotional eating and cardiovascular damage were analyzed after adjusting for age, sex, education level, diabetes, hypertension, the median age difference between measurement of eating behavior and cardiovascular damage, body mass index, blood lipid levels, physical activity, other measures of eating behavior, and the onset of cardiovascular disease during follow-up. Among the 916 adults, the median age at the time of eating behavior measurement was 44.7 years and nearly half (49.7%) were women. The median time between measurement of eating behavior and cardiovascular damage was 13.4 years. Emotional eating was associated with higher pulse-wave velocity (stiffer arteries) and a 38% increased risk of diastolic dysfunction (stiffer heart). The authors performed a mediation analysis to explore potential explanations for the associations. They found that stress level explained 32% of the association between emotional eating and diastolic dysfunction. "The reward system may be particularly involved in emotional eating, where eating may reduce anxiety and eating comfort foods may blunt the response to acute stress," states the paper. Energy intake was not a mediator of any associations. Professor Girerd explained, "We might expect that emotional eaters would consume high-calorie foods, which would in turn lead to cardiovascular problems but this was not the case. One explanation is that we measured average calorie intake and emotional eaters may binge when stressed and then eat less at other times. This yo-yo pattern may have negative effects on the heart and blood vessels compared with stable food intake." The authors concluded that efforts to prevent cardiovascular disease should address eating behaviors on top of nutritional content. Dr. Wagner said, "Techniques to tackle emotional eating are already used to help obese individuals. Our study suggests that these strategies should be extended to all emotional eaters, regardless of weight, to stop cardiovascular damage later in life." More information: Anfisa Puchkova-Sistac et al, Association between eating behaviour and 13-year cardiovascular damages in the initially healthy STANISLAS cohort, European Journal of Preventive Cardiology (2023). DOI: 10.1093/eurjpc/zwac287 Journal information: European Journal of Preventive Cardiology 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: Credit: CC0 Public Domain New research published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society indicates that social isolation is common among older U.S. adults, and it increases their likelihood of developing dementia. Among 5,022 participants of the National Health and Aging Trends Study, a longitudinal and nationally representative study of older adults in the United States, nearly one-quarter (1,172 participants, or 23.3%) were socially isolated. After adjusting for demographic and health factors, being socially isolated (versus not socially isolated) was associated with a 28% higher risk of developing dementia over 9 years, regardless of race or ethnicity. "Social connections are increasingly understood as a critical factor for the health of individuals as they age. Our study expands our understanding of the deleterious impact of social isolation on one's risk for dementia over time," said corresponding author Thomas K.M. Cudjoe, MD, MPH, of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "I hope this serves as a wakeup call for all of us to be more thoughtful of the role of social connections on our cognitive health." More information: Social isolation and 9-year dementia risk in community-dwelling Medicare beneficiaries in the United States, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (2023). DOI: 10.1111/jgs.18140 Journal information: Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 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: International Journal of Cardiology (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.ijcard.2022.09.047 A new study led by investigators at the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai found symptoms of the increasingly common cardiovascular condition known as ischemia with no obstructive coronary arteries (INOCA) can negatively impact a person's quality of life, with adverse effects on their physical, mental and social well-being. The findings, published in the International Journal of Cardiology, found patients' INOCA symptomswhich include chest pain, pressure, or discomfort and shortness of breathaffected not only their home life, social life and mental health but also their overall outlook on life, their sex life, their relationship with their partner or spouse, and their work life. Approximately three-quarters of the study's participants reduced their work hours or stopped working, 47.5% retired early, 38.4% applied for disability, and approximately one-third changed their job or role, resulting in lower pay. Living with INOCA was also associated with a significant reduction in functional capacity, comparable to losing the ability to do light housework; dress, bathe or use the toilet independently; or walk down the block. "As physicians, we need to better understand INOCA, how it affects patients, and the optimal treatments for them," said Martha Gulati, MD, lead and corresponding author of the study and director of Preventive Cardiology in the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai. "Equally important to note is how often this disease goes unrecognized. The survey results were clear on that: For most, it often took many years to get a diagnosis." More than 1,500 members of patient support group INOCA International were surveyed in late 2021 and asked to compare aspects of their daily lives before and after INOCA symptoms started. The responses of nearly 300 patients were included in the survey, for a response rate of 21%. Women, whom INOCA predominantly affects, made up 91% of respondents. Gulati, who also holds the Anita Dann Friedman Chair in Women's Cardiovascular Medicine and Research at Cedars-Sinai, said that previously there had been limited published literature on INOCA and quality of life. INOCA refers to various conditions in which there is reduced or restricted blood supply to the heart. Because traditional cardiology training advises physicians to look for blockages in coronary arteries when diagnosing coronary artery disease, INOCA is commonly overlooked as a cardiac condition. According to study investigators, it's estimated that at least 2 in every 5 patients with chest pain have nonobstructive coronary arteries. Although the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology chest pain guidelines recently expanded the definition of coronary artery disease to include both obstructive and nonobstructiveand included a pathway for diagnosing INOCAprogress in diagnosing and properly treating INOCA is slow. Almost half of the patients the investigators surveyed reported living with INOCA symptoms for up to 10 years before diagnosis, and more than half had at least three consultations beforehand. Nearly 78% were told their symptoms weren't cardiac, with 54% being told their symptoms were reflux related. About one-third had been referred to a psychiatrist for their symptoms, and nearly half had been prescribed an antidepressant. Once they were diagnosed, most reported having seen at least three cardiologists for treatment. Less than one-third of respondents had undergone proper testing to determine the best treatment for them. C. Noel Bairey Merz, MD, director of the Barbra Streisand Women's Heart Center and director of the Linda Joy Pollin Women's Heart Health Program at the Smidt Heart Institute, said she found the survey responses informative but not surprising. "We're still in the early stages of understanding INOCA, whereas we know much more about obstructive coronary diseaseso that's easier to treat," said Bairey Merz, who also is the Irwin and Sheila Allen Chair in Women's Heart Research at Cedars-Sinai. "We frequently see INOCA patients who were dismissed by physicians because of a lack of understanding of the disease and how to treat it. So, I'm not surprised that the survey respondents are living with such a burden." The next step in their work, Gulati and Bairey Merz said, is to increase patient awareness of INOCA as well as physician recognition and diagnosis of the condition, and to conduct clinical trials, which are necessary to develop evidence-based treatment guidelines for INOCA. As for clinical research, Cedars-Sinai is one of nearly 100 sites nationwide enrolling women with symptoms of INOCA in the WARRIOR randomized clinical trial to evaluate the effectiveness of treatment combinations versus the standard of care. Bairey Merz designed the WARRIOR trial and Gulati is the principal investigator at the Cedars-Sinai trial site. More information: Martha Gulati et al, Ischemia with no obstructive coronary artery disease (INOCA): A patient self-report quality of life survey from INOCA international, International Journal of Cardiology (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.ijcard.2022.09.047 Journal information: International Journal of Cardiology 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: Credit: CC0 Public Domain Results from the largest prospective study of its kind indicate that 24-hour rest-activity characteristics from wrist-wearable devices predicted adverse symptom outcomes in the 8 weeks after traumatic stress exposure. In a diverse group of individuals, variability in 24-hour activity based on wrist accelerometry reported greater pain severity. During the 8 weeks after trauma, changes in several rest-activity measures were also associated with changes in pain, sleep, and anxiety in this group of patients. Additionally, simple thresholds for these biomarkers identified individuals with good recovery for pain, sleep, and anxiety with high predictive value. Wrist wearables with accelerometry are easy to wear and commonly used among consumers, and this research, published in the JAMA Psychiatry, suggests that 24-hour rest-activity characteristics obtained from these devices might identify those who will recover from trauma in high-risk populations. "These findings are important both to identify specific individuals who are vulnerable to pain and mental health problems after trauma, and to test potential treatments focused on reducing these problems for individuals who have recently experienced traumatic events," said lead author Laura Straus, Ph.D., staff research psychologist at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and assistant professor of psychiatry at UC San Francisco. This research is part of the national Advancing Understanding of RecOvery afteR traumA (AURORA) Study. AURORA allows researchers to leverage data from patient participants who enter emergency departments at hospitals across the country after experiencing trauma, such as car accidents or other serious incidents. The ultimate goal of AURORA is to spur on the development and testing of preventive and treatment interventions for individuals who have experienced traumatic events. AURORA scientists have known that only a subset of trauma survivors develop long-term pain and mental health difficulties, and that this is especially true in individuals from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds. No objective assessment methods or biomarkers are available to determine who will recover from trauma versus who will develop long-term symptoms. To examine the question if any candidate biomarkers could be identified based on wrist-wearable data, participants wore a study watch for 8 weeks, beginning in the emergency department, and completed periodic smartphone-based assessments of neuropsychiatric symptoms. Straus and her colleagues derived and validated rest-activity characteristics that were associated with specific self-report symptom domains at a point in time, and changes in symptom severity over time. "We found that several rest-activity measures were associated with changes in pain over time. We also found that objective sleep/wake fragmentation was associated with changes in pain, self-reported sleep problems, and anxiety," said Thomas Neylan, a senior author on the paper and professor of psychiatry from UC San Francisco. "These findings highlight a potential use for wrist-wearables in identifying who may need further evaluation and support after a trauma." "These latest findings are very exciting because they suggest objective biomarkers from wearable devices could be used as screening tools to help patients and physicians identify whether symptoms are improving or worsening post-trauma," said McLean, a senior author on the paper. "Studies focusing on the early aftermath of trauma are critical because we need a better understanding of how adverse symptoms develop so we can prevent and treat them." More information: Laura D. Straus et al, Utility of Wrist-Wearable Data for Assessing Pain, Sleep, and Anxiety Outcomes After Traumatic Stress Exposure, JAMA Psychiatry (2023). DOI: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2022.4533 Journal information: JAMA Psychiatry The Muslim leaders maintain that the property in question belongs to the Waqf board. Sana Ejaz | TwoCircles.net NEW DELHI After a private house was reportedly converted to a mosque and donated to the Waqf board in Karnatakas Belagavi, Hindu groups and Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Sanjay Patil are demanding a mosque should not be allowed there. The Hindu groups allege that a house in Sarathinagar of Belagavi has been turned into the Fathima Masjid. The area comes under the Belagavi Rural Assembly constituency. A meeting was reportedly held with locals and a movement to vacate the masjid from the locality has been started under the leadership of Patil. Sri Ram Sena Founder Pramod Muthalik said he has no objection to building a mosque according to law. But, he cant agree with the conversion of a residential house into a mosque. He has given one weeks deadline for the mosque. As per IANS, locals alleged that the authorities have turned a blind eye to the development, accusing the Congress MLA of Belagavi Rural constituency Lakshmi Hebbalkar of pressurising the authorities not to take any action against the Fatima mosque. Locals said that complaints were raised for over one year, but no action was taken, IANS reported. As per the locals, the property was gifted by the owner to Moulana Abdul Kalam Educational and Charitable Society. However, it was converted into a mosque. A notice has been issued by the corporation regarding the building license violation and carrying out religious activities on the property meant for residence, reported the news agency. The corporation has now issued a notice regarding the building license violation and carrying out religious activities on the property meant for residents. The Muslim leaders, however, maintained that it was the property of the Waqf board. Notably, Belagavi is a stronghold of the ruling BJP. In the 2018 elections, the party won 10 of the 18 seats in the district. As the state is scheduled for assembly elections in May this year, the BJP will be trying to stay in power. Sana Ejaz is an independent journalist from Bihar. She tweets @SanaEjaz_ Montana bars and alcohol merchants are lining up behind a bill that would narrow the path for victims and their families of drunk driving accidents to sue taverns for over-serving customers. Senate Bill 107 would broadly reform the states current laws that determine when an establishment is liable for the actions of a person they served alcohol to. Generally, a bar or other business that sells booze can be found liable for damages if the plaintiffs prove the person was obviously intoxicated when the establishment served them. John Hayes told the Senate Business, Labor and Economic Affairs Committee that his company works with national insurance carriers to provide liability for establishments that sell alcoholic drinks. He described premiums on insurance policies in Great Falls, Three Forks and Havre that he said have doubled or nearly tripled in the last several years. This is all just mind-boggling to our clientele and to the people out in the field, and its basically due to the claims that are hitting these carriers, Hayes told the committee. Hayes and other proponents of the measure said that a growing volume of claims regardless of whether they ultimately prevail in court are pushing insurance carriers out of the state and causing bars to have to close their doors. The measure proposes new limits on the evidence that can and cant be shown to juries in those cases. Plaintiffs can bring evidence related to the visible and audible intoxicating indicators of the person to determine whether a bartender should have known they were already drunk, but they would be barred from introducing what the persons blood alcohol level was after the fact. The bills sponsor, Sen. Steve Fitzpatrick, R-Great Falls, said that the facts should only focus on what the bartender could reasonably infer based on how the customer was acting. But Al Smith, a lobbyist representing the Montana Trial Lawyers Association, argued that the proposal would make it extremely difficult to prove liability when a tavern over-served a customer. All the server has to say is, I didnt see anything, I didnt hear anything period, Smith said. And then this is used in summary judgment to get the case thrown out. He added that the science is established to allow experts to work backwards from the persons proven blood alcohol level to estimate what it was at the time of sale. SB 107 also requires that such lawsuits can only be brought under the portion of statutes that the proposal focuses on, also known as the dram shop laws. Sen. Steve Fitzpatrick, a Great Falls Republican who is sponsoring the bill, told the committee that change will push back against a recent state Supreme Court decision allowing plaintiffs to sue for damages under statutes that deal with premise liability. You dont get to start picking and choosing different theories of liability in order to find one that you like, Fitzpatrick said. Smith said that these types of claims generally deal with drunk driving crashes that result in death. He argued that several changes in the bill, including a requirement that the plaintiffs include evidence of intoxication they plan to use within 180 days of the incident, will prevent many of those lawsuits from being filed in the first place "Hopefully you never have a constituent that comes to you because a family member has been killed by a drunk driver that was negligently served by a provider," he told the committee, "but if you do, I hope you can look them in the eye and say, I voted against this bill that would have taken away your rights to bring an action against that negligent provider.'" John Iverson, a lobbyist who represents the Montana Tavern Owners Association, described Montanas current alcohol liability laws as similar to other states, but said the states courts have interpreted them broadly, to the detriment of bar owners in the state. We dont want to protect reckless operators, Iverson said. But what we want to do is create a marketplace thats available for good operators to access while still creating an opportunity where if theres a reckless operator they can still be sued and those people can be made whole. The committee didn't immediately take any action on the bill. Business committees in both chambers have gotten an earful about alcohol-related issues already this session. A slew of bills from the governors office are taking aim at those sections of state law as part of the Red Tape Initiative led by Lt. Gov. Kristen Juras. The Senate business committee on Tuesday did vote to advance three booze-related bills that would reduce special licenses for wineries, create new requirements for businesses to get alcoholic licenses and require out-of-state breweries and beer importers to obtain licenses. A bill to increase maximum payments for landowners participating in the popular Block Management program drew universal support Tuesday. Sen. Steve Hinebauch, R-Wibaux, is carrying Senate Bill 58. The bill would double the maximum cap a landowner could receive in Block Management payments from $25,000 to $50,000 at a time when land prices and higher operation costs could tip the scales away from allowing public access. When I look at this whole deal, I think Block Management is a win for everybody, Hinebauch said. Its a win for hunters, its a win for communities, its a win for landowners and its a win for conservation and I think its a great bill. Block Management currently pays landowners a $13-per-day impact fee for each public hunter allowed to hunt on their property. By law the program, which is funded by hunting license sales, is capped at $25,000, meaning any hunters allowed after 1,900 are uncompensated. More than 20 landowners now hit the cap, with some far exceeding it. Doubling the cap would allow landowner payments to increase in two ways. First, a landowner could receive impact fees up to $50,000. Second, the increase allows more room for Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks to increase the $13-per-day payment, another idea that has been widely supported. Both advisory committees and legislative interim committees have consider the proposal in the last year and also endorsed it. Pointing to leasing and VRBO-style hunting, the increase is necessary to compete, supporters say. We believe that it puts the program in a better standing when landowners have to consider all the option in keeping their operation viable and healthy in the future, and definitely those who have cooperated deserve that consideration, said Ed Beall, who chairs the Private Land/Public Wildlife Committee, which recommended the change. Both conservation and agriculture groups endorsed SB 58 on Tuesday. Jason Callahan with Green Diamond Resource Co. lauded the Block Management program used on hundreds of thousands of acres of the companys industrial timber lands. The program is unique compared to other states where the company operates, saying that beyond the payments, they appreciate FWPs presence and enforcement as it provides public access. The committee did not take immediate action on SB 58. A question was posed this year at Christmas dinner: What is the greatest challenge facing our country? Together, we agreed the answer was civility. Fortunately, it is potentially also our largest opportunity. Through civility, we put away the fear that divides and start solving problems that plague our families and communities. While the Legislature is a place where civility is sometimes strained, as elected leaders we must set the example, quashing internal hostilities that seek to tear us apart. We neednt agree on everything to deliver solutions for Montana, but we do need to listen to one another. Montanas 68th Legislature will need all the civility it can muster to address the surplus of approximately $2 billion. Make no mistake management of this surplus will be the most impactful issue of the session. Property tax relief, direct rebate, and key tax credits will be considered. The Legislature must also tackle the question: Is a simple return best or should we consider return of investment for taxpayers? For instance, is paying down the debt on state bonds, saving Montana taxpayers money in the long run, a wise tool for putting money back in the pockets of the people? There are dozens of considerations if we are to responsibly handle what is likely a once-in-a-generation occasion. There will be different opinions and impassioned political positions this session. Perhaps my grandmother Mary Kay Riedel, who once served as a Flathead County Justice of the Peace, said it best, Its a darn thin pancake that doesnt have two sides. Today, her advice rings true. Our country was built on a belief in the vigorous, respectful, and transparent debate of ideas. Through this process, we ensure liberty and uphold the constitutional promise of a representative republic; the people of Montana deserve no less. Theres no other way to put it, the Cabinet-Yaak grizzly population is going downhill fast which is the opposite of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's legal mandate to recover, not extinguish, endangered species. In 2018 the agency counted 54 grizzlies in its monitoring report. In 2019 only 50, down to 45 in 2020 and the 2021 estimate is only 42 bears. Thats a stunning crash of nearly one-quarter of the population in only four years! Given the precipitous population loss and the increasing threat of irreversible inbreeding the Alliance for the Wild Rockies and Native Ecosystems Council had no choice but to file a lawsuit on Jan. 6 to overturn the Kootenai National Forest's approval of the massive Black Ram logging and road-building project. Stretching from the Canadian border to the Yaak River, in northwest Montana, the Black Ram decision authorized clearcutting on an estimated 2,442 acres, 1,460 acres of additional commercial logging, 7,034 acres of burning, 3.5 miles of new road construction and reconstruction of 90.3 miles of existing logging roads in spite of the fact that most grizzly bears are killed near roads. Alarmingly, the Black Ram Project allows 2,199 acres of slashing and/or burning in the most secure habitat for grizzly bears, the Northwest Peaks and West Fork Yaak Inventoried Roadless Areas. The project also authorized 579 acres of logging in designated old growth forest despite President Bidens mandate to conserve old growth forests on federal lands and 123 acres of logging in recruitment old growth forest. Given the plummeting population, the Forest Service's strategy of bulldozing ever more logging roads and clearcutting in grizzly habitat is obviously not working. Even worse, the most recent monitoring report, released late in 2022, shows the mortalities include three female grizzlies between 2106 and 2021, and three more dead females plus an additional male mortality as of October 2022. According to published, peer-reviewed scientific literature, (Kendall et al. 2016), losing three Cabinet-Yaak female grizzlies in a single year will likely result in a population decline. Thats particularly troubling since scientists have determined that an increased loss of even one adult female bear every 2-5 years can dramatically escalate risks of population extirpation. Once a logging road is built, people keep using it even when the Forest Service closes it with a gate or builds a berm and claims the road no longer exists. In terms of all of the human uses that affect grizzly bears, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has long found that roads pose the most imminent threat to grizzly habitat today because roads provide humans with easy access into grizzly bear habitat, which leads directly to bear mortality from accidental shootings and intentional poaching. The bottom line is that the Cabinet-Yaak grizzly population is failing every recovery target and goal. It is failing the target for females with cubs; it is failing the target for distribution of females with cubs; it is failing the female mortality limit (which is 0 mortalities until a minimum of 100 bears is reached); and it is failing the mortality limit for all bears (also 0 mortalities until a minimum of 100 bears is reached). It is long past time for the Forest Service to recover grizzly bears by protecting their habitat as required by law instead of destroying it. Its unfortunate we have to take the Forest Service to court to force it to follow the law, but its either that or watch the agency log and road the Cabinet-Yaak grizzly population into extinction. As a new year begins, it is a good time to take stock of where we are in terms of Superfund. Given the public health and economic implications of the Superfund cleanup of Butte, where does Superfund stand now? Butte residents, particularly parents, are concerned whether or not the places where they live are safe from the threats posed by heavy metal contamination. Is Superfund a drag on economic development? Is environmental justice being promoted? Is cleanup progress occurring? The simple answer to these questions is positive. Butte is safer as a result of Superfund cleanup. Productive end land use is an integral part of the cleanups. Environmental justice is being promoted. Schools, non-residential day care centers, residences, parks and playgrounds1. In general, because the current levels of contamination are less than harmful, schools, parks, non-residential day care centers and playgrounds see little threat from heavy metals contamination. 2. The safety of these areas has been established because extensive testing/sampling using conservative and comprehensive approaches have been used on residences, schools, non-residential day care centers, parks and playgrounds and show these places have low levels of contamination. 3. The remediation action levels for these areas upon which cleanup is based are conservative in that they call for cleanup to residential levels, which is the strictest cleanup standard rather than the more permissive level of recreational use. Children do not live in schools, parks and playgrounds, so using a residential standard is particularly protective. 4. Buttes nationally recognized Residential Metals Abatement Program (RMAP) has been expanded to include schools, parks, non-residential day care centers and playgrounds. Those areas that do show excessive contamination, although few in number, have been or soon will be cleaned up. Particular attention is paid to the health risks for children. In those rare cases where contamination is found throughout a park or playground, the entire park or playground has been remediated, up to and including new topsoil for the whole area. Given that most of the schools, non-residential day care centers, parks and playgrounds are in low-income areas of Butte, there is an environmental justice need that has been recognized and addressed by using very protective action levels for cleanup. Recently, the RMAP program has been expanded to cover all of Butte. 5. To date the following has been accomplished by RMAP: a. All schools and non-residential day care centers have been sampled. b. Thirty-seven parks and playgrounds have been sampled. All parks and playgrounds will be sampled by 2024.Residential day care sampling has begun and will be completed by 2024 c. There are approximately 3,600 residences within uptown Butte. Soil sampling has been conducted at 2,711 residences, and attic sampling has been conducted at 1,420 residences. 546 soil abatements have been completed. 698 attics abatements have been completed. 60 interior dust abatements have been completed. 150 lead-based paint abatements have been completed. All lead-based paint abatements included indoor dust abatements as well. Those areas needing remediation either have been or soon will be cleaned up. Environmental justiceIn addition to health considerations, great progress has been made in incorporating environmental justice concerns into the cleanup. Every operable unit in Butte now has a fully developed environmental justice action plan that is being implemented. Also, environmental justice issues have been incorporated into the development of site-specific action levels. Economic developmentLand reuse options are now fully integrated into Superfund remediation in Butte. Brownfields, the Superfund Redevelopment Initiative and Superfund Land Revitalization Initiative are being integrated into cleanups. Action levels are developed and modified taking into consideration future productive land uses. There are numerous examples in Butte of the partnership between the EPA, Montana Department of Environmental Quality, local government and Atlantic-Richfield that have promoted economic growth and productive end land uses under the auspices of Superfund. Even given the progress, citizens must remain aware, involved and vocal in holding agencies accountable. But when you consider the above, we can see that tremendous progress has been made in promoting public health, environmental justice and productive end land uses of Superfund sites. The tired old complaints that Butte has received an inferior and lousy cleanup are specious. Superfund has made Butte a much safer place to live, work and recreate. By Alex Pologruto | Jan 11, 2023 Murray State University will host the McGaughey Lecture on Press Freedom and Responsibility on Tuesday, Feb. 14 at 7 p.m. in Lovett Auditorium located on Murray States campus MURRAY, Ky. Murray State University will host the McGaughey Lecture on Press Freedom and Responsibility on Tuesday, Feb. 14 at 7 p.m. in Lovett Auditorium located on Murray States campus. The lecture will bring noted political cartoonist Marc Murphy to the stage, and will be among the first events in the newly-remodeled auditorium. The event is free and open to the public. Established in 2020 through a generous bequest from the late Robert H. McGaughey (Doc McGaughey), the McGaughey Lecture was created by the McGaughey Fund for Excellence in Journalism and Mass Communication. Doc McGaughey was a devout believer in press freedom, said Kevin Qualls, chair of Murray State Universitys department of Journalism and Mass Communications (JMC). But he was equally devoted to the concept of press responsibility to public service, the dissemination of truth and protection of innocence. As a leader of the JMC faculty at Murray State University, he devoted his life to those principles in teaching and in practice. The 2023 lecturer, Marc Murphy, is a Louisville attorney with an ability to capture the essence of important ethical and political issues in his art. He is regularly published in The Courier Journal and USA Today. His cartoons have garnered numerous local and national awards. In colonial America, publishing political cartoons critical of government and its leaders was often a criminal offense, resulting in heavy fines and even jail, said Qualls. The First Amendment was ratified, in large part, to protect the right to dissent. This presentation will focus on the value of dissent. Dissent is important if we are to have a well-informed electorate. And Marc Murphy does it boldly while maintaining fair standards, said Qualls. Were fortunate to have Marc Murphy as our first McGaughey lecturer. McGaugheys association with the JMC Department began as an undergraduate staff member of The Murray State News. Following a tour of duty in Vietnam, he returned to Murray State as an advisor to the student paper and became the first student to graduate from JMCs Master of Science program. He earned his doctorate in mass communications at Ohio University before returning again to the Murray State JMC Department as a faculty member. In 1974, he became chairman of the newly formed department; formerly known as Journalism and Radio/TV. When Doc was inducted into the Kentucky Press Hall of Fame, he laid out the problems that would afflict our society without checks on press irresponsibility, said Robert Valentine, a long-time colleague of McGaughey. He was one of the first scholars to articulate the stress that comes from unchecked abuse of the privilege of free speech. Valentine said the McGaughey Fund for Excellence in Journalism is an extension of Doc McGaugheys life-long campaign to teach the responsible use of free speech in media while safeguarding the public good. It is among the greatest challenges we face today, adds Qualls. The lecture is intended to be an annual effort to encourage both dissent and responsibility. For more information please contact Murray State Universitys Department of Journalism and Mass Communications at 270-809-2387. WAPELLO The regular monthly meeting of the Louisa County Conservation Board on Monday focused primarily on the boards Fiscal Year 2024 budget proposal. LCCB Executive Director reviewed most of the proposed budget with the board members, who eventually approved the preliminary document to be presented to the board of supervisors later this month. One of the key issues facing the conservation board members was settling on the amount of raises to be included in the budget proposal. The members finally agreed to go with the percentage that is eventually approved by the supervisors for other county staff. The supervisors have not indicated how much they plan to provide. In the past, the percentage has generally been tied to the raises approved for most elected officials, but that may be difficult to match this year because of earlier action by the county compensation board. The compensation board has recommended 33% increases for the county sheriff and county attorney; 16% for the county recorder, county treasurer and county auditor; and 10% for the board of supervisors. The supervisors cannot raise the recommendation; and if they reduce the proposed raises, the reduction must be the same amount for all the positions. In addition to the compensation board recommendation, the supervisors often also consider the raises negotiated between the county and the union bargaining units of the secondary roads department and county sheriffs employees. During Mondays meeting of the LCCB, board member Joellen Schantz, who works as the office manager at the secondary roads department headquarters in Wapello, reported union negotiations were scheduled for Tuesday. The unions have proposed 15% salary increases, but the county has not yet presented its initial offer in an public meeting. Since the LCCB approved its budget with the motion to accept what the supervisors offer, Hammond indicated the board would not need to take any additional action on salaries. However, the board did approve one other salary-related proposal, which will raise operations supervisor Noah Robbs salary to 73% of Hammonds annual pay. His pay is currently at 72% of Hammonds. In other action, the board elected Josh Hardin as its chair; with Elizabeth Kling, vice chair; and Joellen Schantz as the secretary-treasurer. Hammond also announced the LCCB would be holding a special public meeting on Jan. 26, 3 p.m., in the main courtroom of the county courthouse for training on Iowas Open Meetings Law. The meeting is part of an informal settlement reached with the Iowa Public Information Board concerning an impromptu September 19 meeting that was not properly noticed to the public and other issues. Photos: Sarah Petersen is state runner-up to lead Clear Lake in Class VI Dance Solos MUSCATINE There will be no official decision Thursday evening, but during its monthly in-depth meeting the Muscatine City Council will discuss and give input on whether to add another roundabout to the city in the Carver Corner area. According to the agenda for the meeting, the council will consider using a roundabout to handle the traffic at the intersection of Green, Grandview and Hershey avenues. While planning the Mississippi Drive/Grandview reconstruction, it was determined that a roundabout would be the preferred method of traffic control. The design and construction of a roundabout in that area was delayed because of funding issues. The council is addressing the issue now because the roundabout will impact site elevations of the roadway and affect the entrances to the McKee Button Factory and the proposed Merge development. Construction does not need to be funded at this time, but a decision needs to be made so that design engineers for the private developments can prepare for the time the improvements to the intersection are made, the agenda says. If the decision is made to continue with a roundabout at this intersection, funding will be necessary to hire a consultant to begin the planning and design process so that the engineering firms can work together to plan for the construction of the intersection and their developments. The council will meet at 6 p.m. Thursday in the Muscatine City Hall council chambers. A roundabout is a circular intersection without signals. Muscatine already uses several roundabouts in town to control busy traffic. The Kent Corporation acquired the former McKee Button Company building. The plans are to initially transfer 53 employees to the building and also to create an additional 60 positions in the building for future growth. The building is expected to house about 115 office spaces. The council also recently approved plans from Merge Urban Development Group to develop Carver Corner. The Iowa Department of Transportation reports roundabouts have been used to reduce crashes, traffic delays, fuel consumption, air pollution and construction and maintenance costs. They have also been used to control speed in residential areas and have been accepted as one of the safest types of intersection designs. IDOT reports roundabouts have shown a 90% decrease in fatal crashes, a 76% decrease in injury crashes, a 30 to 40% reduction in pedestrian crashes, and a 10% reduction in bicycle crashes. MUSCATINE During Monday nights Muscatine Community School District Board of Education meeting, the board took some extra time to discuss it third Board targets. The goal is to provide kids a positive learning environment that offers high-quality learning materials and opportunities. Charles Netzer addressed this goal by discussing the German American Partnership Program and an 18-month timeline he hoped to propose to the board. There was once a German teacher at the Muscatine High School named Milaena Reade, Netzer said. She had a relationship with a school in Baden-Wurttemberg in the southwest of Germany. It is my object in this proposal to regenerate that exchange relationship. MHS would partner with the vocational and community apprenticeship-focused school, Georg-Goldstein-Schule, in the proposed exchange program. Netzer said he saw interesting parallels between this school and MHS. The exchange itself would use GAPP as the main program. According to Netzer, unlike most foreign exchange programs, GAPP is not-for-profit. The program has a high level of student safety incorporated into it, with 50 years of cooperation between the German Foreign Office and the State Department. He said that because it is funded by grants, the costs of the program are a fraction of what they could be for students. Netzel said the exchange would last for 14 days 10 days with a host family and five days in school and would be open for 10 to 20 students. Costs per student would range from $1,200 to $3,000. Group grants and individual scholarships would also be available for participants. If the proposal is accepted, participating students would go to Germany in June 2024. Students and teachers would also be part of a virtual classroom. Students who are unable to travel will still be able to participate in the digital portion of the exchange. Joelle McConnaha, Executive Director of Teaching and Learning, introduced the districts literacy curriculum resources pilot. With the most popular materials chosen in December 2022, she said the first pilot for these programs will start on Jan. 17 and conclude on Feb. 10. The districts kindergarten-5th grade teachers will pilot the Wonders curriculum while 6th-12th grade teachers will use My Perspectives. The teachers will then switch to the other potential programs, with the second pilot running from Feb. 21 through March 24. Kindergarten-6th grade teachers will use Amplify during this time while 7th-8th grade teachers will look at additional materials from the Springboard curriculum. Ninth-12th grade teachers, meanwhile, will test Into Reading. The pilot schools are Madison, McKinley and Franklin Elementary, Susan Clark Jr. High and Muscatine High School. Overall through this whole process, we will have close to 200 teachers who have served on either a selection committee, a recommendation committee or have piloted, so were really excited about having that much voice for our schools, McConnaha said, adding that results are expected to be shared with the board on April 17, alongside a recommendation for approval. Photos: Muscatine competes in Class X Dance Solos at Iowa State Dance Championships 2023 Rehman Rahis death on January 9 was mourned across Kashmir. Afnan Habib | TwoCircles.net SRINAGAR (JAMMU AND KASHMIR) Professor Abdul Rehman Rahi, a well-known Kashmiri poet, critic, and scholar, passed away at his residence in the Nowshera area of Srinagar city on Monday (January 9). He was 98. Here are ten facts about Kashmirs renowned poet, whose death was mourned across literary, social and political circles in Kashmir. 1. Born on May 6, 1925, Rehman Rahi published several poetry volumes and translated some of the most renowned poets works into the Kashmiri language. 2. He is the first Kashmiri author to receive the Jnanpith, the countrys highest literary honour for the year 2007, for his lyrical collection Siyah Rood Jaeren Manz (In Black Drizzle), which was published in 2004. 3. In 1948, he began working as a clerk in a government department. He then pursued his education and earned an MA in Persian and English in the 1950s and 1960s. 4. For his poetry collection Nawroz-e-Saba, Rahi received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1961. 5. Rehman Rahi received the highest literary distinction bestowed by Indias Sahitya Akademi, the Sahitya Academy Fellowship, in 2000. 6. Prof. Rehman Rahi was honoured with the Padma Shri award in the year 2000. 7. Prof. Rahi did a stellar job translating the original Punjabi Sufi poetry of Baba Farid into the Kashmiri language. 8. Rehman Rahi is credited for redeeming Kashmiri literature from Persian and Urdu languages, which had previously held sway over Kashmirs literary culture. 9. The emergence of an indigenous critical idiom for Kashmiri is credited to Rahis critical writings in Kahwat (Touchstone, 1980). This book won him the Best Literary Critic Award of the State Cultural Academy. 10. A large portion of Rahis poetry explores the themes of alienation, existential crisis, and human predicament on a personal, societal, and universal level. Afnan Habib is a freelance journalist based in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir. He tweets @afnanhabib_ EL PASO, Texas With a cheerful "soy Marcos" "I'm Mark," in Spanish Bishop Mark Seitz introduced himself to migrants eating soup in the shelter on the grounds of the Catholic Diocese of El Paso, less than two miles from the U.S.-Mexico border. The migration crisis roiling the borderlands is literally in the backyard of the new chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' migration committee, a ministry started a century ago. Seitz will be the first border bishop to serve in this role in at least two decades; he says it will allow him to bring "a new energy to this work from someone who sees it pretty much every day." "Immigrants have had the experience of leaving everything that helped them to feel at home and secure in this life behind, and to depend utterly on God as they journey," Seitz told The Associated Press a few days before Christmas. "They have so much to teach us about how God will accompany us on our journey." In the simple shelter that day, 65 migrants, mostly Nicaraguans, rested after being released by U.S. immigration authorities. Volunteers helped families make arrangements to reach sponsors across the United States from new clothing to plane tickets to shampoo packets small enough to carry past airport security. On both sides of the border, faith-based organizations have historically done most of the work caring for migrants. Their efforts are particularly visible when unprecedented numbers of new arrivals overwhelm local and federal authorities in cities like El Paso, leaving thousands in the streets. The Catholic Church often leads these humanitarian efforts. Ministering to migrants and refugees has been a priority for Pope Francis, who in December referred to the Virgin of Guadalupe, much-beloved among Latin American faithful, as "in the middle of the caravans who seek freedoms walking to the north." The Vatican, Catholic nonprofits and bishops' conferences across the world collaborate to advocate at all political levels "for just and humane policies," said Bill Canny, who leads the USCCB's Department of Migration and Refugee Services. Border bishops like Seitz are "critically important" to that mission because they provide "a real-time perspective," Canny added. The political advocacy of U.S. bishops stems from their mission to care for the most vulnerable, said Steven Millies, a professor at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. However, Millies said the USCCB tends to be most visible in its anti-abortion fight and other "culture wars," getting entangled in partisan divisions that can undermine its advocacy for other causes. To Seitz, who was chairman-elect of the migration committee for a year before starting his three-year term in November, a stronger and nuanced Catholic response to migration "can be something that brings the church to life." "I think most people would be surprised, and I hope pleasantly surprised, to see the degree of unanimity among the bishops on this question of immigration," Seitz said. "So many of the bishops have come up to me and expressed a concern about how we need to do better to welcome (migrants)." A Milwaukee native who served as bishop of El Paso for the past decade which saw three U.S. administrations struggle to manage surges of arrivals of families from Central America and beyond Seitz knows the challenges first-hand. As he spoke to the AP, he was notified the Supreme Court had issued a stay for pandemic-era restrictions on asylum-seekers. Seitz had been working with churches and civil authorities "for a scenario in which higher numbers may be coming across than we've ever seen" if restrictions were lifted as expected on Dec. 21 but the stay offered no relief. "These are, by definition, not the kind of people who can make an application and wait five years to be able to cross," Seitz said. "And we're not even asking those questions right now with Title 42. We don't ask, why did you come? We simply say, turn around and go back somewhere. And we're sending them into some of the more unstable and dangerous places in the world." Places like Ciudad Juarez, a sprawling metropolis just across the border from El Paso, where thousands of migrants were made to wait for their U.S. asylum appointments during the Trump administration and more have been waiting out Title 42 recently, amid organized crime cartels that routinely prey on them. Seitz created a relief fund that donated hundreds of thousands of dollars, notably for food and medicine, to shelters there. This fall, it helped open a medical clinic in Juarez's largest migrant shelter, said Dylan Corbett, director of Hope Border Institute, which manages the clinic. Even with Title 42 in place, U.S. officials apprehended and released more than 50,000 asylum-seekers in El Paso from the beginning of October, said the Rev. Michael Gallagher, a Jesuit priest and attorney. "Bishop Seitz urged parishes to open up empty spaces" like halls as temporary shelters, Gallagher added. His downtown church, Sacred Heart, has been hosting nearly 200 migrants nightly in the gym. His ministry extends beyond sheltering. In mid-December, he took a trip to Guatemala to learn from grassroots organizations what pushes so many people on their dangerous northward journey. That's an area where Seitz believes the bishops' conference can make an impact, providing guidance on how the United States can facilitate stability and job creation in origin countries. Another priority for Seitz focuses on the church's role in building better understanding between Americans far beyond the borderlands and new immigrants. "Why do we tend to look at them and say, 'I think they're probably criminals,' instead of to look at them and say, 'I think they're probably people in need'?" Seitz said, adding that he also sees a need for "a more orderly process for people to be able to cross." Photos: Scenes from the US-Mexico border as Title 42 decision looms The missing Florida toddler who was found dead in the mouth of an alligator last week was put in the lake by his father, police said. 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. Foodies, chefs and cooks all over the valley were saddened when venerable Shackfords Kitchen Store in Napa closed on Nov. 30, 2021 after almost 47 years, but they were delighted when it reopened a few weeks ago in a nearby location. But this reincarnation of Shackfords is different, reflecting the realities of todays market as well as the interests of its owner, Patrick Merkley. The new space is half the size of the old one a few doors away though it seems more spacious than the crowded aisles and stuffed shelves of the old store. Its stock is limited compared to the old store, partly a reflection of market changes but it still sells a vast array of products that will interest cooks. Most significantly, it contains a full commercial kitchen that Merkley uses for catering and plans classes and events there. Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help. Subscribe today! Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Napa Valley Register. A series of blows Merkley bought the store, both the business and the building, in 2018 from John Shackford. Shackford and his late wife Donna bought an old hardware store in 1975, but soon discovered it wasnt viable so they turned it into a source for the chefs and restaurants of Napa Valley as well as home cooks. Its comprehensive stock included popular lines such as KitchenAid, All-Clad and Cuisinart, and it also stocked accessories for them like pasta makers and spare bowls. He carried the supplies restaurants needed but it was also a paradise for food lovers. Stores in San Francisco even referred customers to Shackfords for repair parts and specialty items. However, Shackford had never computerized the stores inventory; he kept it all in his head, but knew the status of all 60,000 items. The store only adopted modern cash registers relatively recently, and still wrote receipts by hand. When Merkley took over, he planned to update its systems but also to add a kitchen for demonstrations. He soon encountered some serious issues. For one, it turned out to be prohibitively expensive to add a commercial kitchen to the old building. Meanwhile, the restaurant business was changing. Chefs and managers order online and they increasingly turned to specialty producers. In addition, vendors were turning to large chains and online to sell products, offering large discounts for quantity and discouraging smaller stores. Then COVID hit, said Alix Merkley, Patricks wife and partner in the store. It was devastating. The business was only open one year total of the four they owned it. They regretfully closed the business and went online. They sold the building for $2,171,500 to John Anthony Investments LLC. A love of food and wine That could have been the end of the story, but Patrick Merkley resisted. He had cooked since he was 13, and if that had been a viable option to him when he was 18, he probably would have become a chef but the food scene was different then. Chefs werent stars and celebrities. His father was a policeman, and Merkley went into respectable banking and reinsurance. Without him saying so, you can sense his regret for that path, but there was an upside. I got to travel a lot, he said, I was exposed to a wide variety of food all over the world. He and Alix moved to the valley 30 years ago, and Patrick started a catering company, often cooking for then fast-emerging wine clubs. He catered big auction dinners including crab feasts for St. Apollinaris Church. But he decided to return to the corporate world, retiring five years ago. He resumed catering, then bought Shackfords a year later. During 2019, he catered a couple hundred events, including at wineries and small groups and individuals. Hes the estate chef for the nearby Housley and Bazan winery tasting rooms. The new Shackfords Kitchen With his new commercial kitchen, Merkley has fulfilled his dream of expanding the role of Shackfords. Napa biz buzz: Shackfords Kitchen reopens in downtown Napa Napa biz buzz: Shackfords Kitchen has reopened in downtown Napa, just doors away from its original location. He plans to offer classes, dinners, wine pairing events, food tasting and similar activities at the shop in addition to catering. He also knows diverse chefs like Indonesian and Lebanese to offer unusual experiences. Among the experiences he plans at the store are classes with local chefs, a lunch time series, events like a paella or cioppino party. One of his specialties is adjusting the food to fit the wine, not finding wine to fit certain foods. He uses local and organic products, naturally. He can host about 20 people for an interactive dinner experience, more for a reception. The kitchen also allows him to test products before he stocks them. This is a kitchen store run by chefs, he said. The right tools make a huge difference. However, the changing environment means that he doesnt carry a lot of appliances like food processors or mixers. He said that giant and online stores can sell them at lower prices than he can get wholesale. As a result, he offers innovative products you wont find at Target or Walmart and the store is as much a treasure chest for cooks a the old Shackfords. And youll be soon be able to taste the results of those kitchen tools as well. He also will be offering some produce from farmers market vendors when the markets arent open. The store is easy to find, just a few doors south of the old Shackfords in the Wiseman Building near Hal Yamashita. Merkley will be announcing a schedule of classes and events soon, but in the meantime, you can stop by on most Saturdays and interact with chefs cooking in the kitchen. Info: Shackfords Kitchen Store, 1350 Main St., Napa, shackfords.com, 707-226-2132 The Napa Valley Museum in Yountville is expanding its hours and holding a family-friendly event celebrating the Old West from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 21. Old West Family Fun Day is themed to celebrate Susan Bridges exhibition Inside Heavens Gate, featuring photographs of the filming of Michael Ciminos film depicting 19th-century Montana. Admission is free for kids under 18, and free refreshments will be offered during the event. Activities will include Try Your Hand with a Lasso, Throw Some Horseshoes, Pose for a Hay Bale Photo Op and Play the Museum Scavenger Hunt and Win a Prize. This event will take place rain or shine. The museum is also expanding its hours. It is now open Wednesdays through Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. On exhibit in the Main Gallery: JEFF BRIDGES: Pictures, an exhibition exploring the work of the Oscar-winning actor, author and acclaimed photographer. Academy Award-winning actor Jeff Bridges is a giant of American cinema, with dozens of leading credits to his name, but he is also a renowned photographer whose work has been published in numerous books and exhibitions. For more than 30 years, Bridges has captured the creative world of moviemaking through scenes shot on a variety of film sets using his specialized Widelux F8 panoramic camera. On exhibit in the Spotlight and History Galleries: SUSAN BRIDGES: Inside Heavens Gate. This striking collection of photos brings the 19th century back to life in the 21st century. During the filming of the epic 1980 Western Heavens Gate, Susan Bridges took behind-the-scenes photos of the actors, sets and scenery. Her photos capture never-before-seen glimpses from the directors chair and intimate portraits shot on location near Glacier National Park in 1979. These exhibitions are presented with support from Bank of America, the Napa County Board of Supervisors, NVTID Yountville, and the members and supporters of the Napa Valley Museum. The museum is at 55 Presidents Circle in Yountville. For more information about the museums hours, exhibitions and programs, or to join the museum, visit napavalleymuseum.org. Photos: Jeff Bridges through the years JEFF BRIDGES Jeff Bridges Julianne Moore, Jeff Bridges, John Goodman Jeff Bridges John Goodman Honored with a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Fifth Annual Come Together: NYC LA Premiere of "Bad Times at the El Royale" Golden Globes-Jeff Bridges 76th Annual Golden Globe Awards - Arrivals 76th Annual Golden Globe Awards - Press Room 33rd Annual American Society of Cinematorgraphers Awards 33rd Annual American Society of Cinematorgraphers Awards 2020 Creative Arts Emmys Scripted Night Two People Jeff Bridges A series of Bay Area storms has overwhelmed sewers and prompted an emergency declaration, but so far St. Helena has been spared significant flooding. Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help. Subscribe today! Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Napa Valley Register. A weather station near the Pope Street Bridge received 7.17 inches of rain over the seven days between Jan. 4 and Jan. 10. Wednesday, Jan. 4, has been the wettest day so far at 2 inches. A dry Thursday was forecast before more rain arrives in Northern California on Friday and through the weekend. The Napa River near St. Helena peaked Monday morning at 16.7 feet, just short of its 18-foot flood stage. Sulphur Creek near Pope Street crested Monday morning at 5.6 feet, well short of its 10-foot flood stage. The flood project protecting Vineyard Valley Mobile Home Park and Hunts Grove Apartments is working according to plan. City Manager Anil Comelo said the flood beds between the Napa River and the levee were not full as of Tuesday morning, and no major flooding was anticipated in the next few days. St. Helena experienced two sewer backups during Mondays deluge, on Railroad Avenue and Fulton Lane, prompting Comelo to declare a state of emergency, which allows the city to seek state and federal reimbursement for storm-related expenses and damage. The council ratified the emergency proclamation on Tuesday. In one case, cleanup costs are likely to be over $250,000, Comelo said. Staff will seek reimbursement from the citys insurance pool and the state. St. Helena Public Works Director Joe Leach sought mutual aid from the Napa County, which provided two maintenance workers and a county truck to help city staff monitor manholes around town and keep an eye out for more sewer overflows. The Fulton Lane incident caused sewage to back up into a business. Comelo said the city has hired a contractor to sanitize the facility and install a new sewer backflow device. The current one apparently failed. Comelo called the response to the storm a team effort with employees from several departments pitching in to perform tasks. He also credited Public Works employees Leach, Clayton Church and Carlos Uribe for tireless work monitoring creeks and the Napa River over the last week. A fallen tree knocked out power Monday night at the water treatment plant near Bell Canyon Reservoir, Leach told the council on Tuesday. A backup generator kicked in, and Leach said theres no problem delivering potable water to customers. The reservoir is full and spilling. Due to stormwater infiltrating the citys faulty sewer pipes, the wastewater treatment plant is taking in 5 million gallons per day, which is about 10 times its normal dry weather flow. That is a significant impact on the ponds, the treatment system and the staff, Leach said. The heavy flow into the plant provides significant impetus to capital projects that would repair leaky pipes and create a tighter system that prevents infiltration, Leach said. A sinkhole was discovered on Tuesday near the Napa River at Dowdell Lane. Leach said it might have been caused by a failed pipe. The St. Helena Police Department briefly lost phone service Tuesday morning, but it was restored around 8 a.m. Tuesdays council meeting, originally scheduled to be held in person at Vintage Hall, was held virtually via Zoom so that staff and members of the public especially those living outside of town could stay off the roads and avoid potential flooding, high winds and other storm-related hazards. 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 The city of St. Helena is rushing to comply with a new state law removing local restrictions on accessory dwelling units. Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help. Subscribe today! Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Napa Valley Register. The City Council adopted an urgency ordinance on Tuesday amending its ADU policies. The new regulations make it easier for property owners to apply for and build the structures, also known as second units or granny units. ADUs can now be taller up to 18-25 feet, depending on their location and are no longer subject to front setback requirements under some circumstances. The city must approve or deny an ADU application within 60 days. A denial must be justified with detailed comments explaining how to remedy the applications deficiencies. Attorney Anne Branham, who is advising St. Helena and other jurisdictions on ADU policies, said the urgency ordinance will allow the city to maintain the small amount of local control the state has left you. Senate Bill 897, which took effect Jan. 1, is part of a wave of California legislation that limits the ability of local governments to regulate housing. Other limits on local control will be reflected in the citys new zoning code. Photos: Accessory dwellings get another look in tight housing market The city of St. Helena will pay a $147,000 fine after its wastewater treatment plant discharged effluent that failed to meet state standards. Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help. Subscribe today! Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Napa Valley Register. Some samples collected between February 2019 and February 2022 exceeded limits on copper, total coliform and total suspended solids, according to a notice of violation issued in October by the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board. One sample collected in January 2022 exceeded cyanide limits by 72%. Cyanide is a byproduct of ascorbic acid, which is used to dechlorinate treated wastewater. Another sample collected in December 2021 exceeded limits on residual chlorine. According to a report to the council by Assistant Public Works Director Eric Janzen, staff at the water treatment plant and the wastewater treatment plant conducted extensive evaluation of practices, including elimination of all copper-containing vegetation management chemicals. Copper kept showing up in the effluent, and staff is working to determine where its coming from. The City Council authorized payment of the fine on Tuesday. The money will come out of the citys wastewater fund, which is separate from the general fund. Located on Chaix Lane near the Napa River, the 1960s-era treatment plant was once considered a state-of-the-art facility that used sunlight and natural microbes to cleanse wastewater with minimal energy. The plant is no longer able to meet increasingly stringent California standards, and its been operating under a cease-and-desist order since 2016. Regulators have allowed the plant to stay in operation pending major upgrades that are scheduled to be complete in August. Crosswalks, finance vacancy In other action on Tuesday, the council: - approved plans for crosswalk improvements at Main/Pratt and Main/Elmhurst. The work includes new curb ramps that comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, rectangular rapid flashing beacons, crosswalk markings, and advance warning pavement markings. The project will now go out to bid. - authorized an increased salary range of $116,975 to $142,184 per year for the vacant position of finance manager, previously called assistant administrative services director. Offering a lower salary, the city went through two rounds of recruitment to fill the position and identified only one qualified candidate, who turned down the offer due the high cost of housing in the area. Places in the US that don't have access to clean water Flint, Michigan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Navajo Nation East Chicago, Indiana Airway Heights, Washington Puerto Rico Brady, Texas Baltimore, Maryland Milwaukee, Wisconsin Las Vegas, Nevada Uniontown, Alabama New York City, New York Martin County, Kentucky Tacoma, Washington Pretty Prairie, Kansas Tallulah, Louisiana West Virginia The city of Santa Rosa just received federal funds to cover most of the costs for repairs of their aging wastewater infrastructure. This is exactly what we need, so the cost isn't all on our residents. I really hope our city is working hard at getting federal funds for us. The St. Helena police arent just chasing down barking dogs and annoying leaf blowers. Theyre dealing with the same serious issues as any 21st-century law enforcement agency. Thats one of the lessons we drew from a recent interview with Police Chief Chris Hartley, a 24-year veteran of the department with extensive knowledge of the grim modern problems that lie concealed behind St. Helenas sunny, small-town facade. Lets start with fentanyl, the synthetic opioid thats up to 50 times stronger than heroin and killed more than 110,000 Americans from March 2021 to March 2022, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Fentanyl is here, and its killing St. Helenans, Hartley said. He said there was one confirmed death from a fentanyl overdose in 2021 and at least two in 2022. The biggest threat is to teens who set out to buy recreational drugs like ecstasy but risk ending up with a deadly dose of fentanyl. Thats because dealers cynically lace other drugs with fentanyl to make them more addictive. Fentanyls results are unpredictable because it doesnt distribute evenly when mixed with other drugs. Hartley used the analogy of a chocolate chip cookie. You might bite into a cookie and get no chocolate chips, or you might get four. The same applies to fentanyl-laced ecstasy. You might take an ecstasy pill and get little or no fentanyl, or you might take one with enough fentanyl to kill a horse. Its like Russian roulette. Each St. Helena police officer carries two doses of Narcan (naloxone) to treat fentanyl overdoses. Hartley said theyve used it, and it works. There are frustrating structural barriers to fighting the fentanyl epidemic. Thanks to a statewide effort to reduce incarceration, fentanyl addicts who commit minor crimes are let off with light penalties. Theyre not being incarcerated which Hartley says is not the answer when it comes to fentanyl addiction but theyre also not getting the medical and mental help they need to turn their lives around. Meanwhile, a backlog of toxicological reports at the state level makes it hard to pinpoint the extent of fentanyl overdoses. Hartley said results can take six to 12 months. Hartley said fentanyl is tied to a recent rise in catalytic converter and retail thefts. He said its even resulted in human trafficking in St. Helena as young people resort to desperate measures to feed their addictions. Fentanyl aside, the police department is tackling more mundane issues. The police log has been full of traffic citations lately, a sign that police are cracking down on speeding after letting it slide during the pandemic. Hartley said officers still issue far more warnings than citations, but repeat offenders are more likely to face fines. Hartley specifically called out speeding problems on Pratt Avenue and Spring Street, so if you use those streets (or any streets, really) ease up on the lead foot. The police department is also looking to move to the Napa Valley College Upper Valley Campus. The bulk of the department will move in May, but dispatch wont be able to move in until the new facility gets a backup power source. The department will no longer have use of a jail cell at the new site, which suits Hartley just fine. The current cell is only used as a drunk tank for light DUI offenders. Eliminating it and shipping people to the Napa County jail will reduce the departments legal liability. The department is in line to acquire three new police cruisers this year, in addition to the new electric Tesla Hartley has been driving a sign of the City Councils efforts to go green. Automatic license plate readers manufactured by Flock Safety are also set to come online this year. Hartley hopes they can help identify criminals who come to town to commit felonies. The police recently conducted an annual evacuation drill at Vineyard Valley Mobile Home Park, and theyre hoping to get the citys other congregate living facilities to participate by 2024. Notice what we havent mentioned: leaf blowers, yapping dogs, loose livestock, loud parties, and the other so-called St. Helena felonies that are sprinkled throughout the police log. Thats because, although the St. Helena Police Department gives those issues the attention they deserve, theyre not the departments main focus. The next time you encounter a member of our police force, remember that they are primarily concerned with keeping us safe. For that, they deserve our gratitude and respect. The Star invited local leaders to weigh in on whats ahead for their organizations in 2023. Here are some of their responses. Jenny Ocon, executive director, UpValley Family Centers Well have a continued focus on child, family and senior wellness. This means free parent-child play groups, continued school-based services including tutoring, mentoring, and prevention programs. We will work closely with local school districts to gather student and family input and design campus-based services based on identified needs. We will launch new senior wellness services, funded by Napa County Mental Health Services Act funds. Conversaciones con Los Abuelos is a cross-generational pilot project that will bring Latino youth and older adults together through coordinated activities; and well partner with Innovative Health Solutions and Blue Zones to offer nutrition and movement activities at senior mobile home parks. We will also focus on increased family and community resilience. UpValley Family Centers and Napa Valley Community Organizations Active in Disaster are partnering to ensure harder-to-reach populations are prepared for disasters. We are planning two town halls for target audiences including farmworkers, those speaking languages other than English, and older adults to understand concerns and provide information about resources. (We will help) connect low- and moderate-income households with resources that help them reside in the community, despite increased costs of living. These include helping people access both private and government-supported resources, as well as things like free tax preparation that ensure community members get access to refunds and credits and dont have to pay a fee for the service. Tony Albright, marketing and communications manager, Adventist Health St. Helena We are proud of our legacy as one of Californias most advanced not-for-profit rural hospitals, offering world-class care in a destination medicine locale. St. Helena Hospital has provided Napa Valley and the surrounding areas with acute and preventative care since 1878 (144 years). As we step into the new year, we do so on solid ground with a continued commitment to patient-centered quality care. From our award-winning programs in cardiac care, cancer care, well-being and orthopedics to national recognition for safety achievements from an A Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, five-star rating from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid, and Womens Choice award, our dedication to the highest level of care is unwavering. St. Helena Hospital is positioned to meet the changing needs of health care aligned with our commitment to provide our community with the future of health care delivery, today, says Dr. Steven Herber, St. Helena Hospital president. At. St. Helena Hospital, its not just a place to recover but to heal. As Napa Valleys trusted health care provider for more than a century, we remain committed to acting in the best interest of our patients and supporting the regions individual and community well-being. Maury Robertson, executive director, Rianda House At Rianda House, we believe that each passing year adds value to a person, like the rings of an old-growth tree. Our final years should be the richest, most connected, most productive. To discard this chapter is to chop off the blossom of life. Thanks to our supporters, Rianda House offers everything at no cost so that everyone, regardless of income, can remain strong in mind and body, connected in meaningful relationships, and giving from the overflow of their lives. Rianda House is an inclusive place. Our goal this year is to fill the house to overflowing while working with our partners to flip the script on toxic narratives about aging. Enjoy art, wine and a celebration of the 2023 Napa Valley Mustard Season at the opening night reception for "Find Your Heart in Yountville, a new exhibit presented by Yountville Arts, on Thursday, Jan. 12, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Yountville Community Center Gallery. The original idea was to bring together Napa Valley artists to "remind us that we all have 'heart' and to spread peace in a time when we all need it," said Ronda Schaer, a member of the Yountville Arts Commission. "The show grew into a heartfelt effort by all involved to spread immediate smiles and appreciation of the lifted spirit." Find Your Heart in Yountville showcases works by 30 artists who have a connection to Yountville. The theme of "hearts" was open to artist interpretation. Among the participating artists is Beverly Wilson, who designed the promotional poster for the the 2023 Napa Valley Mustard Celebration. The Mustard Celebration, taking place January through March throughout the valley, replaces the Napa Valley Mustard Festival, which began in 1994 as a way to bring tourists to the valley in the cold winter months. It ended in 2010. (The founders of the original festival retain the rights to that name.) Artist Jessel Miller led the effort to revive the celebration of the yellow flower that fills the valley in winter. The Art Commission developed this program specifically as part of the 2023 Napa Valley Mustard Celebration," said the gallery chairman Jim McDonald. "Were excited to have Beverly Wilson participate with us. We also have pieces from wonderful artists such as Frank Trozzo, Karen Ingalls and Jessel Miller. French artist and Napa resident Isabelle Maynard also will show her work. Vi Bottaro, a well-known photographer, who recently returned to the Napa Valley after living for a time in Austin, Texas, will also have her work, a photograph titled "Clouds, Grapevines and Mustards," in the show. Bottaro, formerly artist-in-residence for Chandon winery, now lives in Yountville. Find Your Heart in Yountville is presented by Yountville Arts. Yountville Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and weekends by appointment. The Gallery at the Community Center is at 6516 Washington St., Yountville. Info: yountvillearts.com. Forty film enthusiasts and members of World Affairs Napa Valley braved storm-filled skies to attend its 2023 kick-off event, the United Nations Association Film Festivals (UNAFF) Traveling Film Festival Napa Valley at the Yountville Community Center on Jan. 5. The evenings theme was, Fearless Filmmakers Changing the World, and attendees were treated to a series of compelling film trailers from seven different countries. The film topics were narrated by Stanfords Jasmina Bojic, founder of UNAFF, which is celebrating its 25th year since its founding on the anniversary of the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights. The UNAFF program illustrates to power of film to be a witness, depict events in remote parts of the world and portray human stories and universal themes that transcend geo-political and cultural boundaries. Bojic provided a sample of documentaries which are featured at U.N Film Festivals she organizes around the world. These included Writing With Fire, about courageous female journalists in India; Barbara Lee: Speaking Truth to Power; and Coup 53 on the CIAs 1953 overthrow of Irans government with never-before seen archive material. The Long Breakup illustrated Ukraines struggle to free itself from Russias grip. The Brothers-Los Hermanos covered two separated Cuban brothers, finally reunited through their music, and Us Kids depicted school-age youth taking on gun violence. Attendees were captivated by Bojics narration of trailers covering topics ranging from struggling musicians in Cuba, womens rights in Iran, urban violence and concluded with the airing of the film short, This Being Human. The dramatic documentary covered an Iraqi teenagers traumatic escape from the war zone, dodging explosions on his street after losing his family. The film traced his odyssey and how he remained optimistic. Ultimately, he was taken in by an American family and won a college scholarship to study psychology, intent on helping those damaged by the effects of war. The evenings presentation included a question and answer forum, a key feature of every World Affairs event. What was the most traumatic or upsetting documentary youve had? was one question for Bojic. Bojic replied, We screen films about conflict zones and revolutions, and perhaps the most upsetting documentary covered the ethnic war in Rwanda and Burundi. On the flip side, the feature about musicians in Cuba showed artists attempting to build an orchestra despite an embargo that prevented Cubans from getting instruments needed for a real symphony. With determination and helping hands, the orchestra ultimately gathered enough instruments to bring live classical music to Cuba. A heart-warming film. The program was followed by the Community Connection, sponsored by Tamber Bey Vineyards, during which attendees were encouraged to meet their neighbors interested in world affairs. Bojic was surrounded by people asking more questions about how to get involved. At the World Affairs Napa Valley table, conversations included ideas for future topics of interest to the community. Among these were: Chinas Belt and Road strategy, ocean pollution, world tourism and democracy movements. Former Napa High history teacher and author Henry Michalski signed copies of his new book, Torn Lilacs, a wartime love story about upheaval, displacement and anti-Semitism that his parents overcame during the Nazi onslaught in Poland and Kazakhstan, where Michalski was born. Upcoming World Affairs Forums include an Earth Day theme on April 13 that will include a panel of winegrowers, a climatologist and an international agriculture expert on ecology and climate adaptation in Napa Valley and other countries. The July 6 event will feature another panel titled, Locals Acting Globally, about humanitarian projects by Napa locals in Africa and Central America, how their initiatives made a difference in the lives of others, as well as their own. Best movies of 2022, according to film lovers Best movies of 2022, according to film lovers #50. The Whale #49. Babylon #48. Aftershock #47. Bones and All #46. Descendant #45. All That Breathes #44. Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes #43. Is That Black Enough for You?!? #42. The Woman King #41. Stutz #40. Retrograde #39. Cha Cha Real Smooth #38. Hit the Road #37. After Yang #36. Vortex #35. Happening #34. The Northman #33. Great Freedom #32. Navalny #31. Nope #30. Triangle of Sadness #29. The Territory #28. A Night of Knowing Nothing #27. The Janes #26. Women Talking #25. Avatar: The Way of Water #24. Decision to Leave #23. Pearl #22. Bad Axe #21. This Much I Know to Be True #20. All Quiet on the Western Front #19. Close #18. Moonage Daydream #17. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery #16. Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America #15. Fire of Love #14. Mr. Bachmann and His Class #13. The Quiet Girl #12. The Batman #11. Top Gun: Maverick #10. Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio #9. Tar #8. The Fabelmans #7. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed #6. The Banshees of Inisherin #5. RRR #4. Aftersun #3. Argentina, 1985 #2. Marcel the Shell with Shoes On #1. Everything Everywhere All at Once American Canyon Police officers on Sunday arrested a 39-year-old resident after he held his girlfriend hostage in a local home and threatened to set it on fire, the department reported. Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help. Subscribe today! Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Napa Valley Register. Shortly after 4 p.m., officers were called to the 100 block of Via Bellagio Drive after receiving a report of threats made at the home, American Canyon Police said in a news release. At the home, police learned that Aldwin Bulaun had his girlfriend locked with him in a back bedroom, was preventing her from leaving, and made a threat to burn down the house with her still inside, according to the department. As the woman yelled for help, police were able to evacuate the homes other occupants and negotiate with Bulaun to open the bedroom door, according to the police statement. Once Bulaun opened the door, officers were able to detain him. Bulaun was booked into the Napa County jail on a felony allegation of resisting arrest and a misdemeanor count of false imprisonment. He remained booked Tuesday afternoon on $50,000 bail. 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 The Napa Valleys forecast remains rain-soaked through the weekend, but county flood control officials do not expect the Napa River to approach its monitoring stage in the coming days. Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help. Subscribe today! Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Napa Valley Register. National Weather Service forecasts do not indicate the river will approach its 22-foot flood monitoring level, or the 20-foot mark that triggers a closure of the Oxbow Commons flood gates in downtown Napa, through the weekend, Napa County said in a Facebook announcement Tuesday morning. The Napa County Flood Control and Water Conservation District reopened the flood gates at noon Tuesday, nearly three days after shutting them ahead of a major Bay Area storm that carried 2 to 3 inches of rain into the county. The gates allow the Commons to serve as a relief channel for waters that otherwise would escape from the Napa River. North of the city, the Napa River ultimately peaked at 21.4 feet late Monday afternoon, more than 2 feet below earlier forecasts and safely below its 25-foot flood stage. Waters in the Commons lapped at walkways in the linear park but did not fill the channel. River and stream levels in the county remained below monitoring stage during overnight storms, which led to a high wind and lightning alert before sunrise and produced a brief burst of hail Tuesday morning. Rainfall for the 12 hours ending at noon Tuesday totaled 0.79 inch at the Napa city corporation yard, and as much as 1.46 inches in Calistoga. The latest wave in what forecasters have said will be a series of California storms is expected to bring 5/8 to 1 inches of new rain into Napa on Wednesday, according to the weather service. After a 30% chance of rain Thursday, rain will again be likely from Friday night into Monday. At least four road closures and restrictions resulting from the Sunday and Monday storms remained in Napa County Tuesday afternoon, officials announced. Old Lawley Toll Road outside Calistoga remained closed from the 3650 block to the Old Lawley livery stable. Chiles Pope Valley Road at Lower Chiles Pope Valley Road was reduced to one lane, as were Mount Veeder Road at milepost 3.75 and Dry Creek Road above Wall Road. Elsewhere, a privately owned pond along Las Amigas Road in the rural Carneros area is at risk of failing, county Public Works Director Steven Lederer told the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. The county closed this adjacent stretch of road where the water would flow, as a precaution. While local flooding risks eased Tuesday, windy overnight conditions contributed to an increase in the number of power outages across the Bay Area, according to Pacific Gas & Electric Co. Nearly 100,000 PG&E customers were still without power across the Bay Area as of Tuesday morning, including about 72,000 in the South Bay and along the Peninsula. In addition, 7,414 customers in the North Bay, 6,143 in San Francisco and 8,221 in the East Bay were also without power. Just 10,703 PG&E customers were without power as of 5 p.m. Monday. With reports from Napa Valley Register reporter Barry Eberling and Bay City News Service. 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 4:26 p.m. Wednesday The National Weather Service on Wednesday morning issued another flood watch for the North Bay region, including Napa County. The watch will remain in force until noon Thursday. Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help. Subscribe today! Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Napa Valley Register. A wind advisory also was declared in the Bay Area through 7 p.m. Wednesday. Renewed rainfall in Northern California may result in flooding of rivers, creeks and streams, as well as other low-lying areas, the weather services Bay Area bureau said in its flood watch announcement. Flooding may occur in urban areas and places with poor drainage. The Napa River was expected to rise later Wednesday, though not to its Monday peak of 21.4 feet, which was fed by runoff from more than 2 inches of rain that fell in 24 hours. Flood monitoring stage on the river north of the city of Napa is 22 feet, and flood stage is 25 feet. The river was expected to reach 20 feet at midnight starting Thursday, and 20.3 feet at 10 p.m. Saturday following more Bay Area rains expected later this week, according to the California Nevada River Forecast Center. The Napa County Flood Control and Water Conservation Districts manager Rick Thomasser said the district has no immediate plans to close the gates at the Oxbow Commons, which serves as an overflow channel for the Napa River downtown and had closed from Saturday to Tuesday. Curbside parking spaces will stay closed on McKinstry Street, which passes through the Commons, for the rest of the week, he said late Wednesday. In addition, the weather service issued a wind advisory for the Bay Area based on forecasts of southeast winds measuring 15 to 30 mph, with gusts peaking at 50 to 65 mph. Wind speeds were expected to be greater at higher elevations. The risk of tree limbs and poles toppling in high winds would be greater due to earlier rainstorms that have saturated and weakened soils in Northern California, forecasters said. Rainfall at Napa County Airport was expected to total to 1 inch during Wednesday, followed by as much as another quarter-inch overnight. 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 Without opioid painkillers to dull the ache in his knees and other joints, Arnold Wilson wouldnt be able to walk half a block. The 63-year-old former New York City nurse has crippling arthritis for which he takes OxyContin twice a day and oxycodone when he needs additional relief. For the past several years, hes kept another drug on hand as well: naloxone, an overdose reversal drug often referred to by the brand name Narcan. Although overdose deaths from illicit drugs sold on the street make headlines, the risk of overdose is just as real for patients who take opioids prescribed by their doctors. It gives me a sense of relief and security, said Wilson, who keeps Narcan nasal spray in his car and at home. His pain management doctor at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx prescribed the opioids in 2013, after a bout with meningitis exacerbated joint problems Wilson had as a result of two brain aneurysms and several strokes. His doctor urged him to start carrying Narcan in 2017. Naloxone, which begins to reverse an overdose within minutes, is typically administered by others. Though hes never needed it, Wilsons 18-year-old daughter knows how to use it. Ive instructed her how to do it, in case Im lethargic, he said. His girlfriend and friends know what to do, too. A recently enacted New York law aims to ensure that naloxone is available if needed by people like Wilson who take prescription opioids. Under the law, which took effect last summer, doctors must co-prescribe naloxone to certain patients who are at risk of an overdose when writing the patients first opioid prescription each year. Risk factors that would trigger the requirement include taking a high daily dose of an opioid (at least 90 morphine milligram equivalents, or MME); taking certain other drugs, like sedative hypnotics; or having a history of substance use disorder. At least 10 other states have similar laws, according to research by the Network for Public Health Law. Sometimes patients, especially if theyve been taking opioids for a long time, dont understand the risks, said Dr. Laila Khalid, co-director of the chronic pain clinic at Montefiore Medical Center. The clinic provides free naloxone to patients through the states opioid overdose prevention program. Someone may forget the timing of their last dose and inadvertently take too much, for example, or have a few extra drinks at a party, Khalid said. Alcohol and some medications, like benzodiazepines, amplify opioids effects. Drug overdose deaths continue to climb, as they have nearly every year for more than two decades, said Emily Einstein, chief of the Science Policy Branch at the National Institute on Drug Abuse. In 2021, Einstein noted, overdose deaths in the United States topped an estimated 100,000 for the first time, according to provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. According to this provisional data, Einstein said, the vast majority of those deaths over 80,000 involved opioids. While most opioid overdose deaths were attributable to illicit fentanyl, about 17,000 deaths involved prescription opioids, including methadone. Naloxone, available as either a nasal spray or injection, is considered safe and causes few side effects. Its not addictive. The CDC recommends that people at risk of overdose carry it with them so that a family member or bystander can administer it if necessary. Experts in drug policy point to a key statistic that laws like the one in New York aim to address: In nearly 40% of overdose deaths, another person is present, according to the CDC. If bystanders had had naloxone, most of those people wouldnt have died, said Corey Davis, director of the Harm Reduction Legal Project at the Network for Public Health Law. In every state, including New York, pharmacists are authorized to dispense naloxone, often under standing orders that allow dispensing without a prescription, typically to people who are at risk of overdose or are in a position to help someone at risk. So then why require physicians to write scripts? Mandating is more effective than recommending, experts said. By requiring physicians to prescribe the drug, more people who might need naloxone would have it on hand if they fill the prescription. But theres no guarantee they will. A prescription can also help remove the lingering stigma of asking for an overdose drug at the pharmacy counter. It removes friction points, said Davis. You just drive through the window and pick it up. In a 2019 analysis, pharmacists in states that required co-prescribing naloxone with opioids filled nearly eight times as many naloxone prescriptions per 100,000 people as those in states that didnt require it. Missouri doesnt have a co-prescribing law, but Danielle Muscatos pain management doctor recently suggested she carry Narcan. The 38-year-old civil rights activist, who lives in Columbia, takes the prescription opioid tramadol and several other drugs to keep her chronic severe lower back pain in check. Shes glad to have the nasal spray tucked in her purse, just in case. I think its a wonderful thing that people carry it and know how to use it, she said. I wish this was standard everywhere. LOS ANGELES William Shae McKay could have been in custody Dec. 29 in more than one case. Instead, the three strikes felon, already facing a life sentence, gunned down a Riverside County deputy before dying alongside a freeway in a hail of bullets. How was it that the 44-year-old violent criminal was free? By the time McKay encountered Deputy Isaiah Cordero in the traffic stop that would end Corderos life, he had been issued $500,000 bail in a third-strike case involving several felonies. Earlier, on Oct. 15, he was detained by Fontana police during a traffic stop. Police arrested him on suspicion of transporting narcotics and possessing ammunition as a felon. But the following day despite being out on bail in the third-strike case McKay was released again, on $50,000 bond, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriffs Department. It would be the last opportunity to keep him behind bars. On the afternoon of Dec. 29, Cordero pulled over McKays truck in a residential area of Jurupa Valley. McKay shot the 32-year-old motorcycle deputy as he approached the car, police say. Pursued by more than two dozen police cruisers, McKay died that day in an exchange of gunfire with at least 10 deputies who had tracked his truck, which was spewing smoke and had its tires stripped bald, to the shoulder of Interstate 15 in Norco. McKay had been out on $500,000 bail since early 2022. San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge Cara D. Hutson had reduced his bail from $950,000 over the objection of a San Bernardino County prosecutor, who asked that McKay be remanded into custody after being convicted of several felonies that made him eligible for a life sentence under Californias three strikes law. Hutson in November 2021 found McKay guilty of falsely imprisoning and threatening a woman, receiving stolen property and leading police on a high-speed chase. She acquitted him of more serious kidnapping charges. The judge delayed sentencing as McKays lawyer challenged the verdict and sought a new trial over revelations that the alleged victim the prosecutions key witness was herself facing federal charges of smuggling drugs into the U.S. from Mexico. Six days after he was arrested in Fontana in October 2022 and then released, McKay was supposed to come to court for a hearing on that request for a new trial. He did not show up. His $500,000 bond was forfeited and a warrant issued for his arrest, court records show. Records also show that, two months later, his $50,000 bail for the Fontana narcotics arrest was exonerated because the San Bernardino district attorneys office had not filed charges. The reason? Lab results were pending. When an individual is already out of custody, said Fontana Police Sgt. Chris Surgent, the DAs office will not consider the case for filing until the lab results for the narcotics are conducted, confirmed and sent over with the entire case. ... This is their policy, not ours. Jacquelyn Rodriguez, public affairs officer for the San Bernardino district attorneys office, said in a statement, Currently, there is no legislation that states that a post-convicted three-strikes felon out on bond cannot post bond on a subsequent offense. The failure occurred, Rodriguez said, when McKay was allowed out of custody early last year on reduced $500,000 bail as a three-strike felon awaiting sentence. Under the penal code, after any verdict, a defendant should be remanded and no bail be set unless the court weighs the seriousness of the offense, the risk to public safety and the likelihood of the defendant returning to court for sentencing, Rodriguez continued. In this case, unfortunately, those findings were not made. Former L.A. County prosecutor Dmitry Gorin said he had never before seen a criminal history such as McKays. In my 30 years or so as a defense attorney and prosecutor, Gorin said, I have never heard of a third-strike felon awaiting sentencing getting out on bail and then being arrested while out on bail and being released again. Hutson did not respond to questions submitted through a Superior Court spokeswoman, who directed reporters to McKays case file. Within hours of Corderos death at a hospital, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco blamed the judge. We would not be here today if the judge had done her job, Bianco said, without naming Hutson. The deputys mother called for Hutsons resignation during his funeral Friday. The comments by Rebecca Cordero received lengthy applause from the massive gathering of Southern California law enforcement officers. Judge Cara Hutson, Cordero said, my family is devastated. My son was a good man. My family, Isaiahs brothers and sisters, demand your resignation. After Corderos killing, San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson said in a statement that his prosecutor had objected to the $500,000 reduced bail after McKays conviction and, in July, to delaying sentencing in the third-strike offense. Our Office upheld our oath of pursuing justice by prosecuting convicted felon McKay in November of 2021, however, a failure in the process to separate McKay from society and hold him accountable for his crimes has resulted in the tragic loss of a law enforcement deputy. McKay, 44, had a long criminal history and a pattern of fleeing from police that led to violent confrontations, court records show. His first strike came in 1999, when he pleaded guilty to assault with a firearm and spent three years in prison. The second came in 2005, when he and an accomplice attacked a sleeping couple in their apartment, choking the man and smothering the woman with a pillow before stealing $3,700 from a safe. McKay was sentenced to 13 years in prison after pleading guilty to first-degree robbery and two counts of assault likely to produce great bodily injury. In 2021, a woman alleged that she had been held prisoner by McKay and two others from March 23 to 27. Lisa Little said shed been house-sitting for McKay while he was in custody in another case. When she left the house for a few hours, she said, it was burglarized. According to court records, she said McKay lured her back to the house; once there, he punched her several times in the face, told her he was going to kill her and her mother and duct-taped her wrists and ankles. He held her at the house until she escaped and fled to a nearby home, where she alerted San Bernardino sheriffs deputies, according to her statements in court records. Two days later, deputies tried to pull over McKay and an accomplice, Abrianna Valerie Gonzalez, who were near Hesperia in a stolen truck. McKay fled and drove for 20 miles, leading deputies into the desert. With their vehicle disabled, the pair ran until they were surrounded, and Gonzalez stabbed a police canine. She was sent to prison for 3 1/2 years. For McKay, a conviction in the holding of Little against her will would have been a third strike that carried a sentence of 25 years to life. McKay acted as his own attorney when the trial began Oct. 25. The critical witness, Little, testified on three days. Rather than a jury trial, McKay chose to have a bench trial, with Hutson hearing the evidence and issuing a verdict. On Nov. 8, 2021, Hutson found him guilty of false imprisonment, evading a peace officer, making criminal threats likely to result in death or great bodily injury and receiving stolen property. Hutson also found that McKay had two prior strikes and that this crime was his third. But after the nine-day trial, she found him not guilty of kidnapping. She also agreed to reduce his bail from $950,000 to $500,000, despite an objection by Deputy District Attorney Tess Ponce. The same day, the judge learned that federal prosecutors had charged Little with smuggling nearly 48 pounds of methamphetamine and 6.17 pounds of fentanyl across the U.S.-Mexico border in Calexico. In July 2020, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer discovered the drugs hidden in a concealed compartment of Littles silver 2009 Toyota RAV4, court records show. She admitted that a smuggler paid her $3,000 for the job and said shed done another run four or five days earlier, according to the federal complaint. Littles federal public defender said she was consumed by a methamphetamine addiction at the time of her arrest and was not aware that she had to appear for an arraignment on Nov. 6, 2020. When she missed that court date in El Centro, a judge issued a federal arrest warrant. When Little allegedly escaped from McKay in March 2021, the warrant was still out for her arrest. The prosecutor in McKays case was unaware of the warrant, and Little remained free until police in Seattle arrested her on Nov. 3, 2021 two days after she finished testifying in McKays trial. Her lawyer said in court papers that, after being held by McKay, Little moved to Oregon to be with her daughter, kicked a 20-year addiction to drugs and was unaware that she had to appear in court following her November 2020 indictment. He said she had agreed to appear during a drug-hazed jailhouse discussion without a lawyer. Ms. Little nor (Deputy District Attorney Tess) Ponce knew about the warrant, even though DDA Ponce ran Ms. Littles record before Ms. Little was called to testify, according to the federal court filing by her lawyer. Little subsequently entered a guilty plea to the federal charges and is serving 20 months in federal prison. Ponce later acknowledged that she was unaware of the federal charges until after the arrest in Seattle. McKay walked out of a San Bernardino County jail on March 23 after posting the $500,000 surety bond. His new attorney, David M. Goldstein, sought to remove the prior strikes, saying his client had waged a lifelong battle with drugs. The attorney argued that, as a young man, McKay made mistakes and associated with the wrong people. In July, Goldstein requested a new trial on McKays behalf, arguing that the judge had not adequately advised McKay about his right to a jury trial rather than a bench trial. On Oct. 18, the prosecutor asked to continue a hearing on that motion until December, when she would be returning from a medical leave. A few days later, McKay skipped a court appearance, and a judge issued the warrant for his arrest. LOS ANGELES When Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the CARE Act into law in September, he set the clock on seven counties to have the program with its signature courts up and running by Oct. 1, 2023. Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help. Subscribe today! Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Napa Valley Register. The graduated rollout gives the rest of the state, including Los Angeles County, until December 2024, but the Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment Act has already been hailed as a fix for the state's broken behavioral health system, a road to recovery for those who are severely mentally ill. Three months into implementing its provisions, however, mental health directors advise against setting expectations too high. They point to the logistical and financial challenges of launching a labor-intensive program from scratch, as well as the limiting effect of a decades-old law already on the books governing the treatment of mentally ill people in California. "The language attending the rollout of this has been heady and leaned into phrases like 'transformative,'" said Luke Bergmann, director of behavioral health services for San Diego County, which is working to meet the deadline. "But the changes will likely be incremental." Veronica Kelley, behavioral health director for Orange County, which has also been tagged for the early rollout, has been working with the National Alliance on Mental Illness "to make clear what CARE Court is and what it isn't." "There is no involuntary medicating" of people, she said. "This isn't a housing program. This is no one-and-done program." Though the tragedy playing out among those living with severe mental illness in homeless encampments throughout the state frequently elicits calls for immediate and declarative action, the complexity of the issue defies a quick fix by intent. The state's history of incarcerating mentally ill people in asylums through the 1960s still casts a long shadow from when it institutionalized up to 37,000 people in the mid-1950s, many of them indigent, vagrant the "hyper-marginalized," as Alex Barnard, assistant professor of sociology at New York University, has described them. Despite sweeping claims, the CARE Act like other attempts to legislate treatment for severe mental illness is constrained by the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, which was passed in 1967 as the state began closing down many of its state mental facilities after decades of neglect and abuse of patients. LPS as it is known defined how far the state can go toward forcing someone to be hospitalized and to take psychiatric medication. In an attempt to balance the need for treatment and respect for autonomy, it established criteria for conservatorship either by a family member or a public guardian. "The LPS Act was landmark legislation recognizing the complex intersection of mental illness and civil rights. It remains for the most part a widely accepted, precedent-breaking set of regulations," said Rod Shaner, who served as medical director for the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health from 1996 to 2018. Any attempt "to undermine its core foundation would likely be unsuccessful," Shaner said. "A wiser and more practical course would be to carefully re-sculpt limited areas and not bring in a new block of marble." Today, LPS' legacy is mixed. For some, it is a singular impediment. In 2020, then-state Sen. John Moorlach, R-Costa Mesa, introduced a bill to repeal and replace LPS. It died in committee. For others, LPS is a necessary safeguard against locking up people without due process. Disability Rights California, which opposes the CARE Act, argues that the legislation "is based on stigma and stereotypes of people living with mental health disabilities and experiencing homelessness and will disproportionately impact Black Californians furthering institutional racism." "There is a crisis, but what the Legislature often does is apply Band-Aids to problems as opposed to coming up with a big-picture solution because that is either too difficult or there isn't enough time or will," said Deb Roth, a senior legislative advocate for the organization. How successfully the CARE Act straddles these lines, experts say, will depend on both its implementation in the coming months and its interpretation once the courts open. How the CARE Act works As mental health agencies struggle to contain a crisis where homelessness is often the common fate for those with severe mental illness, the CARE Act was written as an attempt to increase pressure on those who might resist treatment, described by Newsom in his announcement as "people with the hardest-to-treat behavioral conditions." With 10 months to put all the pieces in place, Bergmann and Kelley have been meeting with behavioral health directors of the other five early counties Glenn, Riverside, Stanislaus, Tuolumne and San Francisco to help one another implement the law and meet its obligations by the October deadline. The logistics themselves are straightforward. Prior to the CARE Act, only trained professionals could petition a court to order county intervention for an individual with psychosis, but now a far wider range of petitioners notably families, domestic partners, roommates can appeal to the court. Once a petition has been received, a judge will direct an assessment team to conduct interviews and determine if criteria specified by the law, namely untreated schizophrenia or related psychotic disorders, are met. The team will then put together a treatment plan and seek voluntary compliance. Failing that, a hearing will be called, and the judge, working with the individual and a public defender, will make the necessary orders, review and update treatment and assess progress. The treatment plan can be ordered for 12 months and, if necessary, renewed for another year. For Bergmann, one of the challenges is related to budgeting, hiring and training. The California Health and Human Services Agency estimates that between 7,000 and 12,000 people may meet the CARE criteria, but "it is hard to anticipate how many petitioners there will be and how to scale the necessary infrastructure," he said. "We're already shorthanded." Like other counties in the state, San Diego County is facing an acute shortage of mental health workers. The county anticipates needing up to 18,000 more workers if it is to keep up with demand. Kelley said the courtroom structure of the CARE Act will borrow from what already exists in collaborative justice courts, where judges work with behavioral health officials and public defenders to come up with treatment options rather than jail time for offenders whose crimes were committed on account of mental illness or addiction. In addition, she said, "we also have AOT" as a logistical model for CARE Court. AOT, or assisted outpatient treatment, is the signature program to come out of the 2002 Laura's Law. It also requires individuals, who meet specific criteria for their mental illness, to stand before a judge who oversees a treatment plan. Because it too is constrained by the same LPS detention and treatment limitations, it is a good example of what the CARE Act can and can't accomplish. Laura's Law faces its own hurdles When Scott Harlan Thorpe killed three people and wounded two in a Sierra Nevada town northeast of Sacramento in January 2001, the tragedy highlighted for some the shortcomings of the LPS Act. The law had no provisions for treating those with severe mental illness who did not meet the established criteria for involuntary detention or public guardianship. Those criteria established that individuals who were a danger to themselves or others or "gravely disabled" unable to provide for the basic needs of food, clothing and shelter could be forcibly detained for a specific time depending on their response to treatment. Thorpe's condition lay outside those criteria. As much as his family tried to get him help for his deepening paranoia he thought the FBI was trying to poison him he refused. Concerned that LPS went too far toward respecting the autonomy of mentally ill people over their need for care, legislators began drafting Laura's Law, named for one of the victims. Their goal was to establish a court-ordered treatment program for individuals whose illness had led to a hospitalization or incarceration or had resulted in violent behavior. AOT would provide psychiatric care outside a mental health facility through outpatient conservatorship. But AOT, signed into law in 2002, did not fully realize the lawmakers' original intent, Shaner said. First, rather than being a sweeping reform, the legislation allowed each county in the state to decide if and when to implement AOT. Many, citing a lack of funding, held off; Los Angeles waited until 2014. (Not until 2020 were counties required by new legislation either to participate or to opt out. As of December 2021, a little more than half of the state had adopted AOT.) Second, patients could not be ordered to comply with a treatment plan. Instead, AOT relied on what is known as "the black robe effect," the presumption that standing in the presence of a judge is enough to compel adherence to a plan. Otherwise, the most recalcitrant could be held for 72 hours while being assessed for a longer hold, and if they didn't meet LPS criteria, they would be released to the street without additional help. "AOT didn't change the basic LPS detention criteria one iota," Shaner said, evidence of LPS' continuing reach. The CARE Act faces similar limitations. Though a judge may order the care and treatment plan for someone with schizophrenia or a related psychotic disorder, that individual cannot be forced into treatment or forcibly medicated unless they are subject to constraints defined by the LPS Act, according to a spokesperson for the California Health and Human Services Agency. Perhaps that is fine, said Barnard, at New York University. "The theory behind AOT and CARE Court is that not everyone needs to be hospitalized. Maybe they just need an incentive even if it is coercive, coming from a judge," he said, citing the black-robe effect. Even then, the effectiveness of such treatment programs involuntary, outpatient, even when overseen by a judge is being questioned. A recent UCLA study raised doubts about the effectiveness of AOT due to "inadequate resources, inadequate continuity of care and client attrition." Roth, with Disability Rights California, has similar reservations about the CARE Act. "If you look at what they are doing with CARE Court," she said, "it is unclear that there will be the resources that they say are needed to help people." She is also troubled that the prospect of bringing individuals with severe mental illness into a courtroom setting will introduce trauma into their lives and exacerbate their condition. "These are people who probably already have experienced trauma whether they have serious mental illness or not," she said. Despite these concerns, behavioral health directors Bergmann and Kelley see the CARE Act as a tool, like LPS and AOT, for trying to help those with the worst symptoms of mental illness. Bergmann, though, is under no illusions that this is all that's needed. "I worry about the logistical challenges," he said, "but what keeps me up at night are the larger challenges we face meeting the needs of people for many years into the future. Whatever success Care Court has, it won't look good if we don't figure out how to increase long-term care and that includes residential placements." Meanwhile, lawmakers in Sacramento are looking at ways to modify LPS so it better addresses the reality of mental illness and homelessness in the 21st century. Since 2018, Assemblymember Miguel Santiago, D-Los Angeles, has introduced a series of bills that would have expanded LPS' definition of grave disability to include the inability to seek treatment for serious medical conditions. None of them passed. States that recorded the biggest increase in their homeless populations States that recorded the biggest increase in their homeless populations How the sheltered homeless population has changed since 2007 #14. Arizona #13. South Dakota #12. Alaska #11. Maine #10. Virginia #9. California #8. Montana #7. Minnesota #6. Rhode Island #5. Colorado #4. Nevada #3. Arkansas #2. Delaware #1. Vermont The outcome of the elections to be held in Turkey will shape geopolitical and economic calculations in Washington and Moscow, as well as in capitals across Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa, Bloomberg reported. Ankaras influence in world affairs attests to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans achievements over his long stint at the helm. Even so, at home and abroad, his electoral prospects evoke mixed feelings. And those who wish him gone on June 19 cannot be sanguine about who, or what, will come next. Western leaders will be glad to see the back of Erdogan. He has undermined NATOs security by acquiring missile-defense systems from Russia, frustrated the alliance by blocking the membership of Sweden and Finland, repeatedly threatened to flood Europe with refugees and, in recent months, hurled increasingly bellicose rhetoric toward Greece. Ankaras relations with Washington have grown strained to the point where top Turkish officials routinely accuse the US of backing a coup against Erdogan and of complicity with terrorist groups. The US and Europe would be better off without Erdogans disruptive influence in world affairs, especially as their confrontation with Vladimir Putin intensifies. His utility as an interlocutor is limited: Although he helped to broker an agreement to ensure continued flows of grain and vegetable oil from Ukraine last summer, Erdogan has had no restraining influence on his dear friend Vladimir. Although many in the foreign-policy circles of Washington and European capitals cling to the hope that he can be lured back in from the cold, Erdogans worldview is far more radical than most Westerners think, says political analyst Selim Koru. Should Erdogan be defeated, says Sinan Ulgen, director of the Istanbul think tank EDAM, his successor will transform Turkey into a different foreign policy actor, more comfortable with its position as a Western nation. But even if that happens, nobody should expect a quick 180-degree turn. Erdogan has had 20 years to seed Turkish institutionsthe government, the military, academia, the religious establishment and the mediawith his radical worldview. If there is a new president on June 19, they will need to dismantle the edifice Erdogan has built. The task will be harder still because his AK Party will remain a substantial presence in parliament, one sure to resist change furiously. Its worth remembering that it took Erdogan the best part of a decade to undermine the secular deep state built by Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkeyand the AK Party had comfortable majorities in parliament throughout that period. A Hercules might balk at having to clean the Anatolian stables after his departure. Turks are of two minds about their president and his policies. A late October survey by Metropoll showed approval for Erdogan was up to 47.6%, from about 39% a year ago. This would be remarkable for any leader who has been around as long as he hasin democracies, anti-incumbent sentiment tends to grows with timebut it is downright astonishing for one who is presiding over an economic mess. Why, then, do many still look to Erdogan to correct Turkeys course? In part, its because they dont know who will challenge his hold on the reins. The main opposition parties have formed a united front known as the Table of Six, but less than six months to election day, they have not yet announced their presidential candidate. The two leading contenders are from the leading opposition party, CHP: Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu and the longtime party leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu. The Table of Six has also been slow to articulate a clear strategy to mend Turkeys economy. Early last month the CHP finally unveiled something resembling an agenda, but it was long on airy promises of big investments and short on detail. (The most notable thing about the event was the presence of Massachusetts Institute of Technology economist Daron Acemoglu. The Good Party, another of the Table of Six, counts Wharton professor of private equity Bilge Yilmaz among its leaders.) Erdogans preferred opponent would be Kilicdaroglu, a somewhat colorless veteran who has led the CHP for 12 years. Many Turkish political analysts say the younger, more charismatic Imamoglu would be the stronger challenger. He won the Istanbul mayorship in 2019 by running an inclusive, upbeat campaign, even after a rerun forced by Erdogans refusal to accept the results for the first vote. The president and his party have expended great energy to keep Imamoglu at bay. Last month, the mayor was convicted on the trifling charge of insulting election officials, but the verdict united the opposition behind him and may have boosted his chances of becoming the presidential candidate. There is now a strong narrative around Imamoglu, says Ayse Zarakol, professor of international relations at the University of Cambridge. The momentum is with him. (The election rules allow the mayor to run for president while his lawyers challenge the conviction.) But Erdogans still-strong numbers suggest he could hold off any challenger, especially if the economy shows signs of recovery in the spring. The president is counting on investments and bank deposits from the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, and on Putins promises of making Turkey a hub for Russian natural gas exports, to lift the gloom. Erdogan has also been talking up Turkeys own natural gas finds in the Black Sea, encouraging speculation of a revenue windfall. Last month, he announced increases in the minimum wage of 55%; last week, he boosted the salaries and pensions of civil servants. For good measure, he and his party have been invoking the old bogeymen of Kurdish terrorism and Western perfidy, as well as culture-war tropes about the dangers of homosexuality to family and Islamic values. The threats to Greece are directed at cranking up nationalistic fervor. These tactics have helped Erdogan win elections before. They might again. Until the Turks cast their votes, Western leaders will remain on tenterhooks, Bloomberg concluded. Moscow has long disbelieved Pashinyan irrespective of the fact that Russia has used Pashinyan and may still use him, but this does not mean that the interaction is at a high level, Armen Ashotyan, deputy chairman of the Republican Party of Armenia, said in a live broadcast on his Facebook page. "Regarding the sixth point of the statement of November 9, Armenia has no functions. But then why didn't the Armenian foreign minister go to Russia and declare it to Moscow and Baku? Is this the high level of relations?" he wondered. Ashotyan is sure that Pashinyan's statement on the threat of Russia's military presence fits into the logic of Pashinyan's driving to power and the process of expelling Armenians from Artsakh. All these are methods for the purpose of geopolitical reshuffling. "Does Pashinyan really think that the intelligence services of Western countries know that Russia and Armenia under the current authorities in Yerevan are jointly planning some kind of military operation against Azerbaijan? The CSTO is not the best politico-military coalition at this time, again with the current authorities. One example - in 2016, the same CSTO adopted a statement in the interests of Artsakh," the deputy head of the RPA noted. He called Pashinyan's attempt to justify the 44-day war with the four-day war in April unacceptable. "400 hectares in 2016 versus 10,000 square kilometers in 2020. In addition, at the end of the four-day war, Armenia achieved a diplomatic victory, which Nikol sold to Dushanbe. After coming to power, Pashinyan began to appoint exclusively loyalists to military positions, discredited the army, and purchased toy planes. Pashinyan says there have been no reforms in the Armenian Armed Forces since 1999, although he knows how much has been done since then. Why did he boast of having such a combat-ready army during the Tavush events?" said Ashotyan. EU monitoring mission in Armenia not present in the area when Azerbaijan attacked Armenia National Security Service Border Guard Troops commander dismissed Armenia MOD: Tegh village incident that led to undesirable consequences was due to deployment adjustment Mayor of Frances Lyon expresses unconditional support to people of Karabakh Pashinyan: Armenian side had recognized Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan Criminal proceedings launched into Armenia soldiers being killed, wounded by Azerbaijan near Tegh village Chairman-in-Office: OSCE supports continuation of Armenia-Azerbaijan direct contacts MFA: Russia asked Armenia to explain information about participating in joint military exercises with NATO Zakharova does not disclose details of Russian, Turkish FMs talks on Armenia-Turkey relations Russia MFA spox: CSTO mission deployment details can be talked about when Armenia is ready Zakharova: Russia favors complete unblocking of Lachin corridor Russia MFA: Other players engagement will lead to Armenia-Azerbaijan relations destabilization EU calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to intensify border delimitation talks, until then to respect 1991 line Russia MFA spox: Yerevan, Baku accepted proposal to hold another bilateral talks Pallone: This is another senseless provocation from Azerbaijani forces against Armenia Zakharova: Russia Border Guard Service, army took measures to de-escalate situation near Armenias Tegh village Armenia deputy defense minister on possible Azerbaijan provocations again: Nothing can be ruled out Armenia MP: Azerbaijanis demanded not to do engineering work, our soldiers responded, battle started from that Marukyan: This is continuation of attacks carried out against Armenia in May and November 2021, in September 2022 About 100 killed in airstrikes in rural Myanmar Criminal proceedings to be launched against Armenia opposition MP Mher Sahakyan Armenia MP: Army corps commander was there, talks were to be held but Azerbaijan resorted to provocation Mher Grigoryan, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State discuss security issues in Armenia, region Parliament observes minute of silence in memory of Armenia soldiers who died yesterday Newspaper: How Europe reacts to yesterday's provocation by Azerbaijanis? Anahit Manasyan is elected Armenia ombudsperson Armenia MOD: No significant ceasefire violations by Azerbaijan recorded at night MOD: 3 of wounded Armenia soldiers in satisfactory condition, other 3 in moderate, severe, critical condition RA MOD announces names of soldiers killed by Azerbaijani Armed Forces As of 10:15 p.m., the situation on the frontline is relatively stable. RA Ministry of Defense The destruction of Artsakh and Syunik is a key issue for Turkey and Azerbaijan. David Babayan Suren Papikyan interrupts his working visit and returns to Armenia Azerbaijans provocation is another encroachment on the territorial integrity of the Republic of Armenia. MFA Azerbaijan MOD publicizes data on own losses during latest Baku provocation Russia MOD: 2 ceasefire violations recorded in Karabakh The reason for Azerbaijan's aggression is not being sanctioned by the international community. Edmon Marukyan Four Armenian soldiers killed, six wounded because of Azerbaijani provocation. MOD Video shows how Azerbaijani soldiers approach and open fire at Armenian soldiers Armenia National Assembly cancels special session Legislature deputy speaker on Azerbaijani infiltration into Armenia: Not case where accountability is implied Azerbaijanis opened fire in direction of Sotk Armenia MOD: Azerbaijan army continues provocation, uses mortars Azerbaijani shooting resumes in direction of Armenias Tegh village Haykakan Zhamanak: Armenia Special Army Corps commander wounded in skirmish MOD: Armenian side has casualties and wounded, according to preliminary data Shots fired at Tegh village area, Armenia has casualty Armenia parliament vice-speaker: Turkey border shall be open for 3rd countries citizens at summers beginning Armenia lawmaker: Azerbaijan has violated mutual understanding on Karabakh issue Sargis Khandanyan: Armenia does not play football on CSTO issue Armenia Prosecutor General submits petition to parliament for consent to prosecute opposition MP Ruling force MP: Before sending mission, CSTO must record Armenia territorys occupation Photo traps of Armenias Khosrov Forest State Reserve capture grizzly bear again Peskov calls information about Egypt president's covert shipment of rockets to Russia sensational lie The Washington Post: Egypt planned to secretly send up to 40,000 rockets to Russia, leaked US document says Earthquake hits Iran-Turkey border zone, also felt in Armenia Sharm El Sheikh-Yerevan flight that landed in Turkey arrives in Armenia capital Bortnikov: Terrorists want to destabilize the situation in Caucasus 15 more people from Karabakh transferred to Armenia medical centers, 10 patients return Russia airspace to be closed for flights to Europe until 2029, Eurocontrol announces Armenia defense minister visits NATO Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (PHOTOS) North Korea leader announces strengthening of war deterrence forces AraratBank provides support to 100 children from underprivileged families Foreign Affairs: External threat may force Iran to enter into open conflict on Armenias side Foreigners make about 400 real estate sales transactions in Armenia in February Russia emergency service: UAV falls in Belgorod city airport territory on Monday Armenia becomes donor to International Development Association of World Bank Bitcoin rises nearly 7% to $30,200 Sharm El Sheikh-Yerevan flight lands in Turkey Karabakh authorities send proposal to hold meeting to Azerbaijani side shamshyan.com: Man, 57, found dead at downtown Yerevan churchyard Yerevan city council supposed to elect new mayor today but majority faction not attending session Armenia legislature kicks off regular 4-day session Newspaper: Armenia, Azerbaijan see further negotiations on Washington platform Next-generation Countryman crossovers first photos surface Scientific miracle: Atoms first photo is 5 years old shamshyan.com: Man who returned from Moscow dies suddenly at Yerevan international airport Woman who threw umbrella at Armenia PM is released from custody Turkey FM: We coordinate every step with Armenia with Azerbaijan Woman detained after throwing umbrella at PM Pashinyan in Armenia village Tokayev: Kazakhstan supports Azerbaijan-Armenia relations normalization process Aliyev: Work on peace treaty with Armenia not going very smoothly Turkey FM: It would have been difficult for Azerbaijan to take Karabakh if we had not manufactured UAVs Yerevan subway resumes normal operations Shamkhani: Any geographical change in South Caucasus will play into hands of enemies of regional security, stability Politico: EU mission in Armenia may cast shadow over Azerbaijan-EU natural gas deal Technical breakdown at Yerevan subway Philippines, US to hold largest joint military exercise in their history Azerbaijan arrests 4 more people suspected of collaboration with Iranian special services CNN: US wiretaps Zelenskyy telephone conversations MTS Armenia company to not be sold Sputnik Armenia: CSTO mission ready to arrive in Armenia, Russian ambassador says Aurora Humanitarian Initiative Selection Committee honorary co-chair Benjamin Ferencz passes Mayor of Frances Lyon pays tribute to Armenian Genocide victims, Karabakh wars martyrs US Navy destroyer illegally enters South China Sea, Beijing says Azerbaijanis found in Armenia rural community, they knock on house door MOD: Azerbaijan soldier found, detained in Armenia Armenia MFA: Azerbaijan goal is to subject Karabakh to ethnic cleansing even 35 years after Maragha crime EU mission presence in Armenia near Azerbaijan border worries Baku 2 Azerbaijan servicemen go missing Russia interior ministry notes countries whose citizenship is most often obtained by Russians, Armenia among them YEREVAN. Zhoghovurd daily of the Republic of Armenia (RA) writes: The RA Statistical Committee has publicized the amount of foreign investments made [into Armenia] in January-September of last year. According to that, total investments [into Armenia] have decreased significantly, from 156 billion 396 million drams implemented in the 9 months of 2021 to 75 billion 533 million drams. In 9 months of the previous year, there are countries that withdrew their direct investments from the country. Capital exported from Armenia to the United Kingdom amounted to 2 billion 405 million drams. For example, China withdrew its capital from Armenia in the amount of 54.1 million drams; instead, Georgia increased the amount of direct investments [into Armenia]. Germany has significantly reduced the direct amount [of investments into Armenia]. If in the 9 months of 2020 they amounted to 43 billion 25 million drams, then in the same period of the previous year direct investments were 6 billion 602 million drams. The Netherlands withdrew its capital in the amount of 20 billion 246 million drams from Armenia in January-September last year. Let us inform that the amount of Russian investments was exported from Armenia. In January-September 2021, the Russian Federation withdrew capital from Armenia in the amount of 7 billion 727 million drams, and in the 9 months of the previous year, it made an investment in the amount of 59 billion 864 million drams. It should be noted that [Armenian PM] Nikol Pashinyan emphasized on various occasions that positive conditions have been created for investments in our country because the equality of all people before the law has been established in Armenia, and there will soon be a boom in investments [into the country]. As you can see, the opposite is the case; investors are fleeing Armenia. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has started to make more and more unrestrained and uneasy statements. In an interview given to select mass media Tuesday, he expressed another "overindulgence." Speaking about the prospects of peace in the region, Aliyev said. "It will be on the table at some point. Then we will show special activeness. They [i.e., Armenia] don't want to, then its not needed. They don't want [border] demarcation, then its not needed. It means that the [Azerbaijan-Armenia] border will pass where we deem it necessary. However, I already have to use such terms. The border is not demarcated. Who said that it passes there and not here? I believe it goes through here. I have historical, cartographic justifications for that. Therefore, it is more in their interests than in ours." By "historical, cartographic justifications," Aliyev means the "documents" created by the Azerbaijani propaganda machine. From the moment of its creation at the beginning of the last century, the Republic of Azerbaijan immediately began to make claims to the historical territories of the Republic of Armenia. That's how Soviet Azerbaijan got Armenian Nakhichevan and Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). In order to "strengthen" its demands, the constitution and declaration on the independence of the Republic of Azerbaijan do not note its successor Azerbaijan SSR, but the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, which has existed for several years, whose maponly on paperincludes a part of the territories of the Republic of Armenia. In general, military exercises are conducted not to avoid challenges and threats, but to face them. Seyran Ohanyan, leader of the opposition "Armenia" Faction in the National Assembly (NA) and former defense minister of Armenia, told this to reporters at the NA Wednesdayand referring to the fact that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Tuesday announced that he declined from holding the CSTO military exercises in Armenia because they could cause tension in the region. "It is obvious that the Turkish-Azerbaijani tandem still remains a threat. If the CSTO system, if the Armenian-Russian relations are also for us to face the threats from Turkey, then the simple military exercises are also for us to face the threats that come from Azerbaijan. The main purpose of military exercises is to improve the training of the troops, and within the framework of the CSTO, it is also the exchange of international experience. Now I have a question. If we refuse the CSTO military exercises, it is equivalent to abandoning the highest peak form of training in the preparation of our armed forces where the field preparation for waging war is also improved. Second, is there an alternative or not to CSTO military exercises today? Of course there isnt. We [i.e., Armenia] have not left the CSTO, and such measures should be used in order to increase the readiness, capabilities of our armed forces," said the ex-defense minister. He noted that the PM's statement about creating possible tension by these military exercises indicates that the incumbent Armenian authorities have reached certain arrangements with the Azerbaijanis and Turks that they should not improve Armenias abilities not only within its army, but also with the military-political alliance within the framework of which Armenia works. "If he [i.e., Pashinyan] says that [these CSTO military exercises] can create tension in the region, it means that [Azerbaijani president] Aliyev's words that we should not allow the Armenian army to stand, that he does not accept well when the Armenian army acquires new weapons and ammunition from India, this means that this arrangement is a reality. Don't you see that the defeated [Armenian] authorities are constantly under pressure, directives?" said Ohanyan. The Secretariat of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) has not yet received official notification from Yerevan about the cancellation of the Inviolable Brotherhood 2023 military exercises to be held in Armenia, CSTO press secretary Vladimir Zaynetdinov said, RIA Novosti reports. "The necessity of holding these military exercises on Armenian soil this year was previously confirmed by Yerevan as well. At present, the CSTO Secretariat has not received official notifications from the Armenian side about the cancellation of these military exercises in the order established by the organization. We understand the current situation in the Republic of Armenia today, which may not allow the full implementation of the CSTO peacekeeping military exercises planned this year," Zaynetdinov told reporters. He specified that the CSTO Secretariat and the Joint Headquarters "are making every effort so that the combat-readiness programs of the troops (collective forces) approved by the organization's statutory bodies are fully implemented in order to strengthen their readiness to ensure the security of the CSTO member countries." Earlier, the joint headquarters of the CSTO announced that it had received information from the Armenian defense ministry about the inexpediency of conducting military exercises with the CSTO peacekeeping forces in 2023, and that the possibility of conducting these military exercises in some other countries is being discussed. STEPANAKERT. President Arayik Harutyunyan on Wednesday chaired a meeting of the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Security Council attended by representatives of all the political forces represented in the National Assembly. The meeting addressed the consequences of almost a month-long humanitarian crisis ongoing in Artsakh due to the blockade of the Lachin corridor by Azerbaijan, and high-level political statements made in recent days in that regard, the Artsakh President's office informs Armenian News-NEWS.am. Also, a statement of the Artsakh Security Council was adopted, the text of which is presented below. STATEMENT OF THE ARTSAKH REPUBLIC SECURITY COUNCIL It has been almost a month since a group of so-called eco-activists, with the full and outspoken support of the Azerbaijani authorities, blocked the only road connecting Artsakh to Armenia. Thus, the Azerbaijani side has practically deprived the population of the Artsakh Republic of the only opportunity to communicate with the outer world, keeping the 120,000 population in a total blockade, with all the resulting humanitarian, healthcare and economic consequences. The thoughts expressed by the President of Azerbaijan during the press conference held on January 10 of the current year proved once again that all this is nothing but an obvious manifestation of the threat of using force by the Azerbaijani authorities in the process of Karabakh problem settlement, which is a continuation of the 44-day war unleashed by Azerbaijan against the people of the Artsakh Republic in 2020. Within the context of these realities, a number of statements and opinions expressed by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia [(RA)] during yesterday's press conference raised concern, since they do not correspond to the ideas of the national struggle, as well as the position of the people and authorities of the Artsakh Republic. We are aware of all the consequences that follow the political line we have embarked on, and reaffirm our position that the sovereignty of Artsakh and the right to live freely and independently in the historical homeland are absolute values. No coercion or threat can deter us from our decision to continue the struggle. In this regard, we appeal to the international community to assume responsibility for preventing the terrorist actions undertaken by Azerbaijan, the planned ethnic cleansing and the impending new genocide. The people of the Artsakh Republic and the authorities are confident that the Armenians in the Diaspora will continue to support the decision made by their brothers and sisters in Artsakh, and urge the RA authorities to be guided exclusively by the position of promoting and advocating the right of the people of Artsakh to self-determination in international institutions, using all the opportunities and all the tools of the internationally recognized state. Minister of State and head of the Operational Headquarters of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), Ruben Vardanyan, on Wednesday chaired an extended consultation with the executive staff of state agencies. Presenting the current situation created as a result of Azerbaijan's blockade of Artsakh, Vardanyan noted that during these winter days, Azerbaijan actually obstructs the supply of energy from Armenia. "The situation is difficult. And I want to thank our society, which is enduring all the difficulties. We have many problems related to both food and medicine. In the last two days, the problem of electricity also was added. Azerbaijan not only does not allow food, medicines to be brought [to Artsakh], but also prevents the visit of specialists to the accident site in order to restore the electricity supply," said the state minister, emphasizing the economical use of domestic resources. The situation is also difficult in the private sector off Artsakh, as the latters economy is also in crisis due to the blockade, and many people are losing their jobs. According to the state minister's assessment, Azerbaijan's policy is clear: to achieve the de-Armenization of Artsakh through pressure. "But we are fighting for the right to live in our homeland, on our land. And it is very encouraging that our people accept this approach. But it requires us, as leaders, to be honest and sincere with the people, to understand the seriousness of the situation," Vardanyan said The Minister of State noted that the Artsakh government uses all toolsdiplomatic, legal, informationaland continues to make every effort to have the Lachin corridorwhich links Artsakh to Armeniareopened. But at the same time, he noted that as a government, they are obligated to be ready for all possible developments. He drew attention to the fact that the current blockade significantly changes the way of life of people, imposing savings and restrictions, and therefore the life of the Artsakh population cannot be the same as under normal conditions. The Minister of State underscored the carrying out of awareness and explanatory work among the population as well as the direct meetings and contacts of the Artsakh officials and members of the Operational Headquarters with people. A court found the president of the Turkish Medical Association guilty of spreading "propaganda for terrorist organizations" after a trial that human rights groups saw as an attempt to silence critics of authorities, AP reports. A court in Istanbul sentenced Dr. Sebnem Korur Fincanci to nearly three years in prison, but also ordered her released from custody pending trial while she appeals her sentence. Fincanci, 63, was arrested in October on charges of propaganda for the Kurdistan Workers' Party. The arrest followed a media interview in which she called for an independent investigation into allegations that the Turkish military used chemical weapons against Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq. Fincanci is the latest activist to be convicted under Turkey's broad anti-terrorism laws. She has devoted much of her career to documenting torture and ill-treatment, and served as president of the Turkish Foundation for Human Rights. During her trial, Fincanci denied accusations that she engaged in propaganda during the interview, claiming that she was expressing a professional opinion. The accusations stemmed from an interview she gave to the pro-Kurdish television channel Medya Haber and commented on a video showing the use of chemical weapons. She suggested that a toxic gas might have been released, but also called for an "effective investigation. UK Ambassador to Armenia John Gallagher says his country did not block the UN Security Council (UNSC) press statement that would advocate for the reopening of the Lachin Corridor that links Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) to Armenia. In written comments for Armenpress, Ambassador Gallagher said the UK worked in good faith through several rounds of negotiations to agree a text, but unfortunately it was not possible to construct a statement that was acceptable to all members of the Security Council. Mr. Ambassador, during the discussion on the blocking of the Lachin Corridor by Azerbaijan at the session of the UN Security Council, the representative of France announced that they presented a draft statement on the topic, which, however, was not adopted. This was followed by reports that the United Kingdom, among other countries, had blocked the statement. Azerbaijan also thanked the United Kingdom, Russia, Albania and UAE for failing to accept the statement. How would you comment on this information? While I cannot comment on private conversations between members of the UN Security Council, the UK was part of discussions aimed at producing a statement that would advocate for the reopening of the Lachin Corridor. I want to emphasise that the UK did not coordinate with Russia, Albania and the UAE on this, and can confirm that the UK did not block the UNSC press statement. We are extremely concerned about the humanitarian impact the closure of the road is causing and we have repeatedly called for it be reopened. We worked in good faith through several rounds of negotiations to agree a text but unfortunately it was not possible to construct a statement that was acceptable to all members of the Security Council. According to various reports, Azerbaijan has sold the right to exploit the mines of Nagorno Karabakh to the United Kingdom. How would you interpret this, considering that the Azerbaijanis blocking the corridor are protesting against the exploitation of these mines by Nagorno Karabakh? The agreement between the Anglo Asian Mining company and the government of the Republic of Azerbaijan is a private commercial matter. While Anglo Asian Mining is listed on the London Stock Exchange, the UK government does not own any shares in the company or sit on its management board. The dispute over rights to natural resources is an illustration of why it is so important for both Armenia and Azerbaijan to engage with each other to achieve a sustainable and peaceful settlement to the conflict. For 29 days now, Azerbaijan has closed the Lachin Corridor, as a result of which Nagorno Karabakhs population of 120,000 is on the verge of a humanitarian disaster. The calls of the international community to immediately unblock the corridor, as we can see, do not yield any results. What practical steps is the United Kingdom going to take to solve the problem and prevent the humanitarian disaster brewing in Nagorno-Karabakh? Is the question of applying sanctions against Azerbaijan being discussed with other international actors? The UK Government has made clear that blocking the Lachin corridor and disrupting gas supplies in winter risk severe humanitarian consequences. We continue to urge the governments of both Azerbaijan and Armenia to abide by all ceasefire commitments in good faith. This is consistent with our support for international efforts to facilitate a sustainable and peaceful settlement to the conflict. The Minister for Europe reinforced this position in calls with the Armenian and Azerbaijani Foreign Ministers in September, in recent meetings with senior officials from both countries, and in meetings in London with the Armenian and Azerbaijani Ambassadors to the UK. A lasting settlement can only be reached through peaceful, diplomatic means. The UK continues to support the internationally-led negotiation efforts that seek to secure stability and peace in the region. In 2022 Armenia exported more electricity to Georgia than in the past 10 years, Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Hakob Vardanyan said on January 11 at the sitting of the parliamentary standing committee on economic issues in the National Assembly. For example, Armenia exported 365 million kilowatt-hours to Georgia in 2022, compared to 242 million from 2012 to 2021 inclusive. "This is mainly due to the liberalization of the market, which started last year. The simplification has extended to exports as well. It used to be very difficult to get a permit. It was necessary to collect papers from Electricity System Operator, Electricity System Settlement Center, High Voltage Network of Armenia, as well as from the Public Services Regulatory Commission, which regulated the market," Vardanyan explained. According to him, while the power plants wishing to export received all these permits, the window of opportunity in the Georgian market was narrowing day by day. Now the procedure for obtaining a permit has become as simple as possible. So, any exporter, whether it is a power plant or its distributor, if it has free electricity that it has not committed to supply to the local market, can simply submit an application, attach an export contract with an hourly delivery schedule, and the System Operator, in turn, will have to allow or prohibit delivery within one day. In this case, the ban must be justified. "After that, the operator itself, automatically, instructs the high-voltage network to let the declared volume of electricity through abroad. Thus, as a result of the simplification of the above-mentioned procedures, in the first 8 months of 2022, the power line leading to Georgia was fully loaded," said a representative of the Government. Armenia is rumored to be "interested" in India supplying weapons and training pilots for its Russian-made Su-30SM "Flanker" fighters. While such an arrangement has not been confirmed, New Delhi could certainly make a marked improvement in Armenian aircraft. But is this really a priority for Yerevan? Paul Eden writes about this in his article for Forbes. "What makes the Indian Su-30MKI different from the Flankers operated across the world is that it is a beautiful integration of various weapons, sensors, and avionics from all over the world," an ace Indian fighter pilot told local media in January. The missiles include a variant of India's BrahMos supersonic air-launched cruise missile, giving the Su-30MKI a significant countermeasure capability, and the Astra air-to-air missile out of range (BRAAM), among others. Defense ties between India and Armenia have intensified markedly in recent months. Yerevan has become the first foreign customer for the Indian-made Pinaka multiple rocket launcher (MLRS), ordering four batteries worth about $250 million in 2022. In addition, the two countries are concerned about the growing trilateral military ties between Turkey, Azerbaijan and Pakistan. Therefore, it would make sense for them to cooperate to improve Armenia's Su-30 fleet. On the other hand, Yerevan may have doubts about additional investments in these aircraft. Armenia purchased four Su-30SMs in 2019. Nikol Pashinyan's government praised the purchase of modern fighters, saying the country was finally moving away from seeking cheap, low-tech second-hand systems from the Soviet era.His optimism proved fatally premature. Armenian flankers were inactive throughout the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict because they lacked critical weapons, especially air-to-surface guided munitions. Sending these jets into combat with unguided missiles would undoubtedly have resulted in casualties and almost no discernible gains on the battlefield. During that war, Azerbaijan destroyed several Armenian air defense systems using Israeli-made Harop bouncing munitions. Baku's successful use of such weapons amply demonstrated that Yerevan had made the fatal mistake of spending most of its limited military budget on a handful of flashy flankers at the expense of the nascent drone industry. Initially, Armenia had hoped to purchase at least a dozen Su-30SMs. On the other hand, selling the existing four aircraft back to Russia would likely prove impractical in light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Last March, Yerevan already denied rumors that it had transferred its flankers back to Moscow for use in the war. In addition, any purchase of additional Su-30s by Armenia could prompt Azerbaijan to respond by acquiring modern fighter jets. Baku could well use the Armenian purchase, which Yerevan cannot afford, as a pretext to finally acquire the JF-17 Thunder fighter jet that it has been eyeing for years, jointly developed by China and Pakistan. A dozen JF-17 Block 3 fighters armed with China's PL-15 BVRAAMs would significantly strengthen Azerbaijan's air force and likely negate any advantage that additional flankers would give Armenia. Therefore, Yerevan might settle for something in between. It can request Indian expertise and systems to improve its four flankers it already has, so that they can be something useful in the event of a new war with Azerbaijan, which is still possible. Indian engineers could modify the aircraft to equip it with Astra and even BrahMos, potentially allowing Armenia to strike targets deep inside Azerbaijan. Baku has already upgraded its Soviet Su-25 attack aircraft. Those aircraft are capable, among other things, of carrying Turkish-made weapons, including the SOM long-range cruise missile. Such an arrangement could help Armenia save face by proving that the initial acquisition of the Flanker was not a waste thanks to the unique capabilities India can provide. To many, Ambler Moss did not come across as a high-ranking diplomat. He was approachable, funny, and endearing. But engage him in a conversation about world affairs, and Moss could easily navigate the various issues at play in either English, Spanish, French, or Catalan, colleagues said. A professor and dean of Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Miami after a storied career in the U.S. State Departmentboth in the foreign service and as an ambassador to PanamaMoss passed away Dec. 27 at his Coral Gables home. He was 85. In his 37 years at the University, faculty members said Moss elevated its ties to Latin America and the world and helped entice students to join the foreign service. He had worked for both Republican and Democratic administrations at the State Department and served the U.S. and its interests with sobriety and balance, as well as a view to the long term, said David Abraham, professor of law emeritus, who specializes in Europe, immigration, and the political economy and often conversed with Moss as a colleague. He brought those same skills and approaches to the University. Moss came to the University in 1984 from Panama, at the encouragement of his college roommate from Yale, Edward Thaddeus Tad Foote II, who, as president of the University of Miami, wanted to expand the Universitys global reach. Soon thereafter, Moss became the founding dean of the Graduate School of International Studies. And since he had earned an interdisciplinary undergraduate degree at Yale with a global focus, Moss wanted to emulate the same type of education at a more advanced level for graduate students in Miami. Richard Weisskoff had taught at Yale and was lured by Moss creative vision and his kindness. So, he left the United Nations to teach international economics at the U. He was interested in peace and in bringing the world into his students lives and thats what Ambler did, said Weisskoff, who now chairs the Department of International Studies at the College of Arts and Sciences and served as an economist at the Graduate School of International Studies. He opened the University up to the world. Moss also was director of the Universitys Dante B. Fascell North-South Center from 1984 to 2003. Under his leadership, the center provided scholarships to international students and produced research about a range of inter-American issues, like democracy, trade and economic policy, sustainable development, migration, narcotics trafficking, security, and business and labor issues. Students came from all over Latin America to study here and then many of them went back to teach or to work in government or in businessit became an international center for students, Weisskoff added. Yet before moving to Coral Gables, Moss helped negotiate of the U.S.-Panama Canal Treaties and their ratification and was U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Congressional Relations. He also served as U.S. Ambassador to Panama from 1978 until 1982, after being appointed by both President Jimmy Carter and President Ronald Reagan. Moss also served as a member of the U.S.-Panama Consultative Committee from 1978 to 1982 and from 1995 to 2001. Prior to that, as a member of the foreign service, he served in Spain, in the U.S. Delegation to the Organization of American States, and as Spanish Desk Officer in the U.S. Department of State. During Moss early years in the service in 1967, he made a trip to his former Maryland boarding school, where he met Joaquin Roy. At the time, Roy was teaching at the Gilman School, but later, as University faculty members, the two became close friends and colleagues. They often shared research projects and participated in conferences together. He looked like your typical American diplomat, but then he turned around and started talking to me in Catalan, said Roy, the Jean Monnet chair of international studies, and director of the European Union Center of Excellence, referring to the language of Spains northeastern region. His knowledge of Catalan was astronomical. Roy said Moss was an unusual government official in that he truly knew and understood the culture of Spain and Europe, as well as Latin America. This helped him bridge the gaps between different constituencies because he pinpointed what could truly improve relations between the United States and those countries, Roy noted. He was not your typical diplomat trying to sell the United States as this big power, said Roy. He was really trying to understand other countries, and if he had to criticize his own country, he did. Andy Gomez, a leading Cuba scholar who took over as dean of the Graduate School of International Studies several years after Moss stepped down to focus on teaching, said Moss was a unique scholar, as well as a great mentor to him. Because he served as an ambassador to Panama, and in the U.S. Department of State, Ambler was able to teach his students both practice and theory, which is very rare and very needed in international studies, said Gomez, a former fellow, assistant provost, and co-founding director of the Universitys Institute for Cuban and Cuban American Studies. He was very well known in the consular corps in Miami, which helped place many students in internships in the consular offices and at the U.S. State Department, too, Gomez said. His friendship with Footewhose wife Roberta Bosey Fulbright Foote was the daughter of the late U.S. Sen. J. William Fulbright of Arkansasalso led Moss to encourage many students to apply for U.S. Fulbright Scholarships to travel abroad. The program thrived under his leadership at the University, Gomez indicated. But aside from teaching and diplomacy, Moss was also a lawyer. He earned his law degree in 1970 from George Washington University, and before that he served as an officer in the United States Navy, in their submarine division. From 1972 to 1976, he was a resident attorney with the law firm of Coudert Brothers in Brussels (Belgium) and practiced in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, European anti-trust law, international sales transactions, and international franchising transactions. In addition, he was of counsel to the law firm Greenberg Traurig in Miami from 1994 to 2010. Moss is survived by his wife Serena; his daughter Serena; and sons Ambler, Benjamin, and Nicholas; along with grandchildren Slater, Acadia, and Oliver. OSU Library receives $1.2M grant to process Senators papers Media Contact: Bonnie Cain-Wood | Manager, Library Communication Services | 405-744-7331 | bonnie.cain@okstate.edu The Oklahoma State University Library was awarded over $1.2 million by the Senate Historical Office. This preservation partnership grant will fund the supplies, personnel and space needed to process, archive and make publicly available the papers of U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe. Senator Inhofes career has helped shape todays Oklahoma and left a mark on national discourse, said Sheila Johnson, Dean of Libraries and Clerico Family Chair for Library Excellence. We are honored to serve as the repository for the senators papers. In late 2022, Inhofe announced that he had selected OSU as the repository for his archive. The senators papers document his public service from 1967 to 2023, covering his tenure in the Oklahoma State House of Representatives, Oklahoma State Senate, Mayor of Tulsa, U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate. The records contain constituent mail, Inhofes schedules, legislative, press and audio-visual files, awards and memorabilia. After learning that OSU would receive the senators papers, the Library was invited to apply for support. In 2022, the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee earmarked $10 million to assist with the proper archiving of official records. The purpose of the funding is to ensure the preservation of senators records and the donation of such records to research institutions to make them available to the public. Grants, like the one awarded to OSU, are one way the funding is being used. Our Special Collections and University Archives endeavor to gather and protect significant records that preserve our history and culture, Johnson said. Sen. Inhofes papers represent an important element of Oklahoma history, and this collection will serve as a valuable resource for researchers for generations to come. The Library has received about half the collection; the remainder should arrive in early 2023. Due to the massive size of the collection over 1,400 linear feet archivists anticipate it will take more than five years to process the collection. The collection will be held in the OSU Librarys Special Collections and University Archives and will be available by appointment. "After nearly three decades in the United States Senate, Sen. Jim Inhofes archives contain a wealth of historical context and information," OSU President Kayse Shrum said. "We are honored that he has chosen his alma mater, Oklahoma State University, to keep and curate this collection. We thank Sen. Inhofe for his many years of service to our state and nation and for this senatorial archive, which will serve as an invaluable learning tool for students interested in history, public service and more." For more information about the Senator Jim Inhofe Collection or to inquire about access to material in the collection once it has been processed, contact the OSU Library Special Collections and University Archives at 405-744-6311 or libraryhelp@okstate.edu. CDC a world leader in plant breeding Dr. Curtis Pozniak (PhD), a professor in USasks College of Agriculture and Bioresources and Crop Development Centre director. (Photo: Christina Weese) Plant geneticist and wheat breeder Dr. Curtis Pozniak (PhD), a professor in USasks College of Agriculture and Bioresources and CDC director since 2020, stressed the importance of support from the Ministry of Agriculture since CDCs inception 52 years ago. We are grateful for this significant ADF funding to support CDCs operations. It speaks to the provinces commitment to the CDCs mission, which is to improve the profitability of Saskatchewan and western Canadian growers, he said. This support is invaluable to achieving our vision of being global leaders in the area of plant breeding, pathology, and quality of the grain crops that we grow in Western Canada. The operating funds support the work of eight CDC scientists, grain quality testing, and field operations. Pozniak said CDC has developed more than 500 crop varieties across 40 different crop types over the past five decades, noting that high-yielding productive varieties are fundamental to a sustainable agriculture production system. Thanks to CDCs innovations, Saskatchewan is now the world leader in exporting peas, lentils, and chickpeas to fast growing markets such as India, Bangladesh, and northern Africa. An economic assessment of the CDC showed that for every dollar invested in the CDC, there was a $12 return to growers, he said. If one considers just pulse crops alone, such as lentils and peas, that return is a substantial $44 for each dollar invested. Over the next five years, we will continue our work to be globally recognized for research and crop development and build our capacity in terms of people and infrastructure so that we can expand the important work that we do at CDC, said Pozniak. Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], January 11 (ANI/PRNewswire): Mama Mia, India's oldest gelato brand, is shaking things up in the dessert segment with the launch of their new product: Gelato Macarons. This unique fusion of French macarons and Italian-style gelato is a first-of-its-kind in India and is sure to be a hit with sweet tooths everywhere. Founded by the dynamic duo of Adhiraj Thirani and Akshat Singhania, Mama Mia has seen tremendous success in their online business, firmly establishing themselves as the leader in the online premium dessert market in the eastern region of India. In fact, the company has registered close to 90 per cent year-over-year growth in the online delivery segment and has saturated the Kolkata market with over 93 per cent pin code coverage and an average delivery time of 8 to 20 minutes, with many orders being delivered within 15 minutes of pickup. And let's be real - who doesn't love a speedy delivery of dessert to their door? This success comes at a time when the ice cream market in India is experiencing strong growth. According to a report by IMARC Group, the ice cream market in India reached a value of INR 194.1 Billion in 2022. With a compound annual growth rate of 17.5 per cent forecasted during the period 2023-2028, the market is expected to reach a value of Rs 508.4 Billion by 2028. During the same time, the desserts market in India is expected to grow at a CAGR of 19 per cent. According to Adhiraj Thirani, Co-founder at Mama Mia, "The market is driven by changing consumer habits and rising disposable incomes, as well as heavy investment in product innovation and promotional campaigns by key players. In addition, the expansion of the food and beverage sector and the rise of online food delivery models along with e-fmcg are also contributing to the growth of the market." Mama Mia, with its focus on innovation and commitment to using only the best ingredients, is well-positioned to take advantage of this growth. The value proposition of Mama Mia, is well summed by Co-founder Akshat Singhania, "We offer a wide range of cakes, sundaes, brownies, ice cream cakes, cheesecakes, desserts in a jar, and innovative Italian style ice creams, making us a one-stop shop for all your sweet cravings. And with the added convenience of greeting cards and party props available to add on to your order, We are the perfect partner for any celebration". With plans to expand to other cities and towns in the region, and even considering newer geographies for expansion, Mama Mia is definitely a company to watch in the coming years. This story has been provided by PRNewswire. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/PRNewswire) Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India]/ Accra [Ghana], January 11 (ANI/BusinessWire India): Senator Dr Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA Germany, announced the names of candidates selected for her personal initiative, "I CAN - Mentorship Program" which is her contribution to empower women and youth in Africa. The winners are selected out of the Merck Foundation Alumni from the fields of healthcare, media, art, and fashion who applied for Dr Rasha Kelej Mentorship Program to benefit from her vast experience. Senator, Dr Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation expressed, "I am very happy to announce my selection of 12 Merck Foundation Alumni who applied for 'I CAN - Mentorship Program'. The aim of the program is to support and guide the selected Merck Foundation Alumni not only in their careers, but also in their personal lives. I will lead the selected mentees to explore their potential and help achieve their dreams by overcoming challenges and finding solutions with a never giving up attitude. My selected mentees will have an opportunity to interact with me in person, I will share my experience and knowledge with them to help them unleash their potential, set and achieve professional & personal goals. The end objective of this program is to help them reach their potential, fulfill their dreams, inspire others and transform under pressure in this ever evolving and competitive environment. Congratulations to the winners, I am confident that we will make this program a great success together. For the rest of applicants, wish you all great success and happiness in your career and life." Senator Dr Rasha Kelej has 29 years of experience in the international biotechnology industry and sustainable development. She is the First African Woman to be CEO of Merck Foundation and has been recognized as One of the 100 Most Influential Africans (2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022). She has been appointed as Senator at The Egyptian Senate (2020 - 2025) and plays an important role to advise with regards to African Health, Economic and Social Sustainable Development and collaboration opportunities. Senator, Dr Rasha Kelej selected the applicants for this program based on the evaluation of their applications and their needs. This program is a personal contribution from Dr Rasha Kelej which does not entail a reward or a job opportunity within the organization. The selected candidates for "I CAN - Mentorship Program" are: 1. Dr David, Mwesigye, Rwanda, Medical, Consultant Obstetrician, Gynecologist, and Fertility Specialist, Women's Health and Fertility Specialized Clinic, Merck Foundation Alumni 2. Dr. Ndikumana Sudi, Burundi, Medical, CEO and Founder, Shifaa Medical Centre, Merck Foundation Alumni 3. Efia Akese, Ghana, Media, Senior Reporter at The Mirror 4. Rorisang Mogojwe, Botswana, Media, News Anchor and Editor, Gabz FM 5. Diana Coker, Sierra Leone, Media, Production Assistant/Presenter, Community Media Network 6. Sharon Kavhu, Namibia, Media, Founding Editor, Africa Health & Climate Change (AHCC) and an Independent Journalist 7. Mokwe Welisane Nkeng, Cameroon, Media, Journalist, CRTV Cameroon 8. Veronica R. Mrema, Tanzania, Media, Independent Health & Science Journalist 9. Leticia Ashie Owusu, Ghana, Fashion Designer 10. Faith Mzungu-Vilakati, Eswatini, Media, Independent Journalist 11. Joel Musasa, Zambia, Fashion Designer 12. Kigongo Issa, Uganda, Media, News Reporter and Presenter, Radio Bilal, Channel 44 TV Dr David MWESIGYE, Merck Foundation Alumni from Rwanda said "Thank you Dr. Rasha Kelej for selecting me be an I CAN Mentee. I am grateful. I look forward to learn from you and your experience that will help me in fulfilling my dreams and aspirations in life." Efia Ekese, Media person from Ghana working at The Mirror shared "I am excited to be part of the first group of people to be selected by Senator Dr. Rasha Kelej and look forward to a fruitful period of learning from her years of experience and service. I am particularly delighted to be part of the 'I CAN - mentorship Program' as aside developing myself personally and for my journalism work, I will also get the opportunity to learn from Senator Dr. Kelej's wealth of experience." "I look forward to getting to know our Alumni more closely. I am very excited about this unique program to meet young enthusiastic talents across Africa," added Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej. Click on the link below to download Merck Foundation Apphttps://www.merck-foundation.com/MF_StoreRedirection Join the conversation on our social media platforms below and let your voice be heard Facebook: Merck FoundationTwitter: @MerckfoundationYouTube: MerckFoundationInstagram: Merck FoundationFlickr: Merck FoundationWebsite: www.merck-foundation.com This story is provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/ BusinessWire India) Union Minister of Road Transports and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday said the Indo-Japan Joint Working Group (JWG) will function together providing the best road infrastructure for commuters and freight movement and help India achieve its sustainable transport goals. The Twitter handle of the Union Minister tweeted about the outcome of a meeting with the Japanese delegation, that discussed road transport in the areas of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), and eco-friendly mobility. An intelligent transportation system (ITS) is an advanced application which aims to provide innovative services relating to different modes of transport and traffic management and enable users to be better informed and make safer, more coordinated, and 'smarter' use of transport networks. The Union minister also tweeted: "We will hold joint projects for a massive digital transformation in the areas of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), and eco-friendly mobility." Nitin Gadkari also said, "It was an immense pleasure to interact with the Japanese Delegation led by Mr. Koichi Hagiuda and Shri Hiroshi Suzuki to reiterate India's intense support towards cooperation with Japan in the sector of highways development, administration, and monitoring with the implementation of digital technology-enabled ITS services." The Indo-Japan Joint Working Group (JWG) will function together providing the best road infrastructure for commuters and freight movement and helping India achieve its sustainable transport goals, the Union minister said. The Union minister said, "Under the leadership of PM Shri Narendra Modi Ji, India has always placed the Indo-Pacific at the heart of its engagement with the countries of Southeast and East Asia vide India's Act East Policy." (ANI) Tamil Nadu IT Minister T. Mano Thangaraj on Wednesday announced the launch of Reliance Jio's 5G services in six cities in Tamil Nadu. Six cities namely Coimbatore, Madurai, Tiruchirappalli, Salem, Hosur and Vellore, have access to True 5G services, taking the total number of Jio True 5G cities to 101 across the nation. Speaking at the event in Coimbatore, Mano Thangaraj, said, "I am happy to launch Jio's True 5G services in Tamil Nadu. 5G services, in the long run, will bring transformational benefits for people of TN." "Tamil Nadu government has special focus on the startup ecosystem, and the advent of 5G services in the state will give a great boost to the start-ups here that are working on new technologies such as IoT (Internet of Things), blockchain, AI (artificial intelligence), machine learning and data analytics in Tamil Nadu," the minister said. A Jio spokesperson said the company invested over Rs 40,000 crore for deploying the 5G network in Tamil Nadu and provided employment to almost 1 lakh people in Tamil Nadu, directly and indirectly. "This shows our commitment towards the State." According to the company, Jio demonstrated the benefits of 5G in the field of health care, through Jio Community Clinic medical kit, and the revolutionary augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (AR-VR) device -- Jio Glass. Jio spokesperson said, "We are excited to expand Jio True 5G in six more cities in Tamil Nadu. Soon, Jio True 5G network will be present across the length and breadth of Tamil Nadu. By December 2023 every village and town of TN will have Jio's True 5G services." With the launch of Jio's True 5G services, the spokesperson said Tamil Nadu is not just getting the best telecommunication network, it will also open new growth opportunities in the areas of e-governance, education, health care, IT and the SME business. "Jio True 5G will also enable citizens and the government to remain connected on real-time basis and will assist the rapid reach of government schemes to the last mile user." Starting today, the company said Jio users in the six cities would be invited to the Jio Welcome Offer, to experience unlimited data at over 1 Gbps speeds, at no additional cost. (ANI) According to E! News, dressed in a purple floor-length gown, Cuoco graced the Golden Globes red carpet at The Beverly Hilton. Pelphrey was wearing a white tux jacket and black slacks. At this year's Golden Globes, hosted by Jerrod Carmichael, the 'Big Bang Theory' actor is nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy category for her performance in 'The Flight Attendant'. After Cuoco's 2023 nomination was announced, the actor expressed her happiness by writing, "SHOCKED IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT!" on Instagram. Other nominees in the category include Quinta Brunson for 'Abbott Elementary', Selena Gomez for 'Only Murders in the Building', Jenna Ortega for 'Wednesday', and Jean Smart got 'Hacks'. On personal front, Cuoco went through a divorce with ex-husband Karl Cook this year. Their divorce was finalized in June after three years of marriage. Meanwhile, this year, the Globes seek to re-establish itself as one of Hollywood's hottest awards ceremonies. For nearly the past two years, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association has faced backlash for lack of diversity among its membership and complaints of unethical business practices. Brendan Fraser, who starred in 'The Whale', is the sole nominee who has declared publicly that he will not attend due to his prior interactions with the HFPA. (ANI) Taking home the medal for 'The Fabelmans,' Steven Spielberg was awarded the best director at the 2023 Golden Globes on Tuesday night. Spielberg expressed his feelings after accepting the award for his autobiographical drama, he said, "I've been hiding from this story since I was 17 years old. I put a lot of things in my way of this story." He was quoted as saying in a Variety report, "I told this story in parts and parcels all through my career. 'E.T.' Has a lot to do with this story. 'Close Encounters' has a lot to do with this story. But I never had the courage to hit this story head-on until ['Fabelmans' co-writer] Tony Kushner [and I] were working on 'Munich' a long time ago, [and he] started telling me about all these stories about [his] life. And we started a conversation. And the conversation lasted all through 'Munich,' all through 'Lincoln' and 'West Side Story.' And my wife Kate was always saying, 'You have to tell this.' And during Covid, I didn't know if any of us were going to have the chance to tell any of our stories again in March, April, May of 2020." Spielberg added, "Everything I've done up to this point has made me ready to finally be honest about the fact that it's not easy to be a kid. The fact that everybody sees me as a success story... But nobody really knows who we are until we're courageous enough to tell everyone who we are. And I spent a lot of time trying to figure out when I could tell that story and I figured out when I turned 74 years old. I said, 'You better do it now.' And I'm really, really happy I did." According to Variety, James Cameron for 'Avatar: The Way of Water', Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert for 'Everything Everywhere All at Once', Baz Luhrmann for 'Elvis', and Martin McDonagh for 'The Banshees of Inisherin' are on the all-male list of nominees in the best director category. 'The Fabelmans', a semi-autobiographical tale about a cinema-obsessed youngster growing up in Arizona and Northern California, has received five nominations. Michelle Williams, who plays a fictionalised version of Spielberg's mother in the film, also received a nomination. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (which at the time had no Black member slack) diversity and other accountability issues led to a boycott of the 2022 ceremony by artistes, media and creatives. As a result, the ceremony didn't appear on television. (ANI) According to The Hollywood Reporter, a US-based news outlet, the 'Euphoria' star, however, was not present to accept the award at Tuesday's 80th Golden Globes. Presenters Jay Ellis and Glen Powell collected the award on her behalf. She was the first winner to skip the awards presentation on Tuesday evening. Following the uproar surrounding the Hollywood Foreign Press Association last year, the NBC decided not to cover the Globes ceremony, which saw a full house this year. The 2021 awards event was hosted remotely because of the pandemic. Zendaya, who has also won two Emmys for her performance in Euphoria, won her first Globe award. She triumphed over competitors Hilary Swank (Alaska Daily), Laura Linney (Ozark), Imelda Staunton (The Crown), and Emma D'Arcy (House of the Dragon) in the category. In addition to Luca Guadagnino's Challengers, which is set to be released this summer, Zendaya recently finished filming on Dune: Part Two, which will be released in November. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (which at the time had no Black member slack) diversity and other accountability issues led to a boycott of the 2022 ceremony by artists, media and creatives. As a result, the ceremony didn't appear on television. (ANI) Many may not be aware that RRR's Naatu Naatu song, which won a Golden Globe trophy, has a special Ukrainian connection. Yes, you read it right. 'Naatu Naatu' was shot in August 2021 in Ukraine and that too outside Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's official residence. The track was filmed a few months before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. https://www.instagram.com/p/CSHTotLFtxH/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=219f5dca-d908-4864-9517-30dda3a101ac During the promotions of 'RRR' in March 2022, the film's director SS Rajamouli recalled shooting for the song in Ukraine and also expressed sadness over the Russian-Ukraine war. "We had gone there to shoot some crucial scenes. When we were shooting, I had no idea about the issues that have now escalated into a war. It was only after I returned and looking at things now, did I understand the seriousness of the issue," Rajamouli was quoted as a saying. Meanwhile, on Tuesday night, Zelensky appeared virtually at the Golden Globe Awards to tell everyone that "there will be no third World War" as the tide turns in Ukraine's conflict with Russia, the Hill reported. Zelensky highlighted the award show's origins back in 1943, during World War II, and said Ukraine's fight against Russia's invasion symbolizes "the struggle for the right of the new generations to know about the war only from movies." "The First World War claimed millions of lives. The Second World War claimed tens of millions of them. There will be no third World War. It is not a trilogy," Zelensky said, promising that Ukraine "will stop the Russian aggression" with the help of the free world. "The war in Ukraine is not over yet, but the tide is turning and it is already clear who will win... We will make it together with the whole free world and I hope that all of you will be with us on the victorious day the day of our victory," Zelensky said. Zelenskyy was introduced by actor-director Sean Penn, best known for his Academy Award-winning performances in 2003's "Mystic River" and 2008's "Milk." Zelenskyy's Golden Globes appearance comes one week after the White House committed to sending USD 3.75 billion in military aid to Ukraine and adjacent NATO countries -- the largest assistance package to date from the US amid the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. Last year Zelensky had made a surprise appearance at the Grammys appearing virtually from a bunker and continues to speak at public events advocating for his country in its fight against Russia. (ANI) As Telugu film 'RRR' bagged a Golden Globe award on Wednesday, director Rajkumar Santoshi and actor Jackie Shroff congratulated the team for winning the Best Original Song award for the song 'Naatu Naatu'. Talking to ANI, Rajkumar Sanotshi said, "First of all I would like to congratulate the whole team. I am a very big fan of MM Keeravani. This moment should have come long back in his life because he has always given the best music, and Rajamouli sir is a very good director, so its their joint effort. Many many congratulations, they made the whole country proud, they got the award, it seems like the whole country has got the award." Jackie Shroff further extended best wishes to the team and said, "It's a proud moment for the Indian film industry that our song 'Naatu Naatu' is awarded for original composition. Many Many congratulations." 'Naatu Naatu' a dance number featuring stars Jr NTR and Ram Charan was pitted against Taylor Swift's 'Carolina' from Where the Crawdads Sing, 'Ciao Papa' from Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio, Lady Gaga's 'Hold My Hand' from Top Gun: Maverick, and 'Lift Me U' from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, performed by Rihanna. Naatu Naatu was shot in Ukraine over a period of 20 days. It took 43 retakes before the final cut of the song was approved. The song is composed by music director MM Keeravaani, and sung by Kala Bhairava and Rahul Sipligunj, with lyrics by Chandrabose. RRR's director SS Rajamouli and the film's lead stars Jr NTR and Ram Charan marked their presence at the ceremony along with Naatu Naatu's creator MM Keeravaani. The song has been watched more than 111 million times on YouTube.The Hindi version of the song 'Naacho Naacho' has received more than 217 million views. 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. This was Rajamouli's first project after the 2017 blockbuster 'Baahubali 2: The Conclusion', was released across the globe in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam simultaneously early this year. The film received a huge response in several countries, including the US and Japan. (ANI) 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. --IANS ss/vd ( 332 Words) 2023-01-10-22:30:05 (IANS) 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. --IANS smita/sha ( 182 Words) 2023-01-10-22:40:03 (IANS) 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 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? Senior advocate Harish Salve, representing Union Carbide, said there is a new set of documents. At this, the bench further queried the AG if any fresh documents can 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. As the AG sought that the court have a look at the settlement and if it did bring about a just conclusion, Justice Kaul asked him 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". He clarified he is not challenging the settlement but wants more compensation for the victims of the tragedy. The bench said that it is bound by 'maryada' of jurisdiction and the government cannot reopen a settlement arrived at with the company after over 30 years. It further observed that populism cannot be a basis for judicial review and queried the Centre's counsel that once a settlement is reached with the Indian government, how can it be reopened at a later stage? Justice Kaul asked why Rs 50 crore were lying undisbursed with the RBI. "This means that the people were not getting the money, and was the government responsible for the money not going to the people?" he asked. 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. During the daylong hearing, the bench stressed that there was a settlement which was arrived at between the parties and the court has approved it and now in curative jurisdiction, it cannot reopen that settlement, as it would have wide ramification. The AG argued that the fiduciary relationship concept has grown over a period of time and has been expanded by courts. The bench told the AG that the incident happened in 1984 and the settlement was arrived at in 1989. It further queried whether the court should conclude that the government and all its organisations were not aware of the number of people with minor injuries for whom Rs 1,000 crore is being sought now. The AG informed the top court that between 1992 and 2004, Rs 1,549 crore was disbursed by the RBI, and around Rs 1,517 crore was paid after 2004 as compensation. The top court was hearing a curative petition filed by the Centre in December 2010 for enhanced compensation for the victims of Bhopal gas tragedy. --IANS ss/vd ( 647 Words) 2023-01-10-23:04:02 (IANS) 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. --IANS sfl/arm ( 393 Words) 2023-01-10-23:08:01 (IANS) 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. --IANS ms/vd ( 673 Words) 2023-01-10-23:12:03 (IANS) 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." --IANS avr/sha ( 337 Words) 2023-01-10-23:16:01 (IANS) 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. --IANS arc/arm ( 466 Words) 2023-01-10-23:20:05 (IANS) A senior IAS officer in Bihar and a former Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MLA have been booked for allegedly raping a woman, the police said. A case under relevant sections of the IPC has been registered at Rupaspur police station in Patna following the order of a court at Danapur, said officials on Tuesday. A Bihar Court had on Sunday ordered the Patna police to register a rape case against senior IAS officer Sanjeev Hans and former RJD MLA Gulab Yadav in connection with the alleged rape of a woman at a Delhi hotel in 2021. IAS officer Sanjeev Hans and former MLA Gulab have been accused of gang rape at gunpoint of a woman. After hearing the petition filed by the victim's lawyer, the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) of Danapur Civil Court has ordered the registration of a rape case against both of them. The woman had filed this petition in the year 2021 after which the bench sought a preliminary inquiry report on the matter from the Patna police. Still, the report was not submitted failing which the court dismissed the case. The victim then challenged the order of the ACJM in the Patna High Court. The High Court ordered a re-hearing of the case and said in its ruling that on the complaint of the rape victim, the Patna Police has to present the preliminary investigation report of the matter to ACJM Danapur Court. The court also noticed the apathy of the Patna Police in this matter. On the order of the High Court, the hearing started again in the Danapur court. At the same time, in the investigation of the police, it has come to know that officers Sanjeev Hans and Gulab Yadav were present in a hotel in Delhi along with the victim woman. According to the information, the complainant in her complaint to Patna Police in 2021 alleged that the MLA Gulab Yadav had tempted her to make her a member of the Women's Commission. One day MLA Yadav called her to his flat in Rukanpura, Patna. During this, the MLA raped her and also made a video of her. After this the MLA started blackmailing her, the victim said. The woman said that Gulab Yadav blackmailed her threatening to make the obscene video viral and called her to a hotel in Delhi, where IAS officer Sanjeev Hans was also present. Both of them carried out the incident of rape with her at gunpoint. The complainant's advocate Ranjan Kumar Sharma alleged that in 2021 both of them had done this. The victim's lawyer said that Gulab Yadav was RJD's MLA from the Jhanjharpur assembly at that time and Sanjeev Hans was serving as the IAS officer in Patna. Advocate Ranjan Kumar Sharma said that the complainant gave several written complaints to the Patna Police in 2021 for registering an FIR but due to the high profile case, the police remained silent and did not take any action. Then she had requested to register an FIR in the court of ACJM of Danapur but it was dismissed there also on the ground that the police have not submitted the reports, the advocate said. "Now after receiving the orders from Patna High court the ACJM of Danapur Civil Court has ordered to register a rape case against both IAS officer Sanjeev Hans and MLA Gulab Yadav," he added. (ANI) The cruise which was scheduled to reach Varanasi on Saturday arrived late due to bad weather, said sources. The cruise will move from the Ramnagar port to Sant Ravidas Ghat where it will be given a grand welcome. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually flag off the MV Ganga Vilas Cruise Yatra on January 13. The luxury triple-deck cruise will travel on the world's longest waterway from Varanasi to Dibrugarh in Assam. The cruise will have a capacity of 80 passengers with 18 suits. This cruise will go on an adventurous journey for 51 days and pass through Bangladesh for 15 days. Following this, it will go to Dibrugarh through the Brahmaputra river in Assam. The luxury cruise will cover a distance of more than 3,200 kms and pass through 5 states in India and Bangladesh. This cruise will pass through a total of 27 river systems of UP, Bihar, West Bengal, Bangladesh, and Assam. The cruise will pass through three major rivers Ganga, Meghna, and Brahmaputra. The cruise will enter the Bhagirathi, Hooghly, Bidyavati, Malata, and Sundarbans river systems in Bengal. In Bangladesh, it will pass through Meghna, Padma, and Jamuna in Bangladesh and then enter the Brahmaputra in Assam. According to an official statement, the 51 days cruise is planned with visits to 50 tourist spots including World Heritage Sights, National Parks, river Ghats, and major cities like Patna in Bihar, Sahibganj in Jharkhand, Kolkata in West Bengal, Dhaka in Bangladesh and Guwahati in Assam. (ANI) A Communist Party of India (Marxist) member has been suspended from the party for allegedly transporting banned tobacco products in his vehicle. A Shanavas, Alapuzha municipality councilor and area committee member of CPIM has been suspended from the party post in connection with the case, the party leaders said. Police seized banned tobacco products that were being smuggled in lorries in Karunagapally, Kollam District on Sunday. One of the lorries that transported tobacco was found to be owned by Shanavas, they said. A meeting of CPIM leaders was held at the district secretariat in the presence of the Minister of Fisheries of Kerala Saji Cheriyan on Tuesday after which an announcement regarding the suspension was made. The party members said the lorry that transported the tobacco products belonged to Shanavas. They said that the explanation by Shanavas is that he had given the lorry on rent. A three-member committee has been formed to inquire about the allegations against Shanavas, they said. CPIM's Alapuzha District Secretary R Nazar said that party will conduct a detailed inquiry and will take further action if needed. "In the communist party, anyone who is engaged in such illegal activities will be removed from the party. That's our party. We will not help anyone like this. We will conduct a detailed inquiry and take further action accordingly. The person who has been found guilty has been dismissed from the party," Nazar said. (ANI) The accused named Farhan Farooz was arrested during a naka checking on Tuesday. Apart from the money, 450 grams of heroin, letter pads of the LeT, matrix sheets and a bike were also recovered from the accused. An FIR has been registered under the sections of UAPA and NDPS Acts at the Kotibagh Poilce Station. (ANI) Yusuf Sharif also known as KGF Babu, who was suspended from the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) for his anti-party remark, said on Tuesday that Congress can't win more than 80 seats in Karnataka. KGF Babu with his bodyguards visited the Congress office at Queens Road and spoke to reporters. He said that congress is in critical condition and is not considering real workers who are enthusiastic to work for the poor. He also said that he's ready to spend more than 300 crores for the benefit of the people in slums and he'll build houses for the slum people. He said that the former MLA of Congress from Chickapete constituency filed a complaint against him for his statement about building houses and spending money. "It's official that I'm ready to spend crores of rupees for the people, but congress doesn't consider real workers, it's unfortunate that the party which my whole family followed doesn't consider me," he added. KGF Babu was suspended from the Congress party on disciplinary grounds. "Congress leader KGF Babu embarrassed the party in the KPCC office several times with his statements against the congress Party and leaders," said K Rahman Khan, the chairman of the disciplinary action committee that suspended him from the party. (ANI) The AIADMK MLAs condemned the DMK government over law and order while slamming Speaker Muthuvelayudha Perumal Appavu over a row over the seating arrangement for Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam. Even as fellow party MLAs were seen arriving at the Assembly in black shirts, OPS was pictured entering the Assembly compound clad in white. The Assembly went into session at 10 am on Wednesday. The session commenced with a debate on the Motion to Thanks to Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi for delivering his customary address in the House. The debate will continue for two days -- January 11 and January 12. Chief Minister MK Stalin will address the House on January 13. Earlier, on Tuesday, the Tamil Nadu Assembly was adjourned till Wednesday morning after the House adopted a condolence resolution on the demise of sitting Congress MLA Thirumahan Eveera and other prominent personalities. Speaker Appavu announced the adjournment of the House till Wednesday morning. (ANI) The Health Department of Uttarakhand has successfully completed the trial of drone technology to deliver medicines and vaccines in a time-bound manner. To deliver medicines to remote areas of the state, the unique initiative by the health department to provide vaccines to the beneficiaries living in remote districts of the state through information technology proved successful in the shortest possible time. Secretary Uttarakhand Medical Health and Medical Education Department R Rajesh Kumar said the vaccine dose was successfully delivered from Dehradun to the border district of Uttarkashi in just 40 minutes by the health department using drone technology. Under the immunisation programme, 400 doses of Diphtheria Tetanus (DPT) and Penta have been delivered by drone to the Chief Medical Officer's office, Uttarkashi. Normally it takes 5-6 hours by road. Kumar said the road is used to deliver medicines or vaccines in the state, which takes a lot of time and sometimes there is difficulty in delivering medicines due to disaster. It is the endeavour of the Health Department that there should not be any delay in the distribution of medicines and medicines and vaccines should be available on time in all medical units and in such places and villages where there is no road facility, he added. In the near future, the facility of drone technology will prove to be a milestone in delivering first aid medicines and other materials on time in case of accident, disaster or any other critical situation, he said. "We will maintain the availability of vaccine in all the medical units of the state so that the vaccination of the eligible beneficiaries is easy," Kumar said. (ANI) India reported 171 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours informed the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Wednesday. With this, the country's active caseload stands at 2,342. According to the health ministry, a total of 4,41,47,322 people have recovered since the beginning of the pandemic, of which 148 recoveries were registered in the last 24 hours. The active cases comprise 0.01 per cent of the total infections and the recovery rate stands at 98.8 per cent. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 0.09 per cent while the weekly positivity was at 0.11 per cent, the ministry said. The country conducted 1,80,926 tests in the last 24 hours and so far a total of 91.25 crore tests have been done. Under the nationwide vaccination drive, more than 220.15 crore vaccine doses have been administered to eligible people across the country. In the last 24 hours, around 44,397 doses were administered. 220.15 crore Total Vaccine doses (95.14 cr Second Dose and 22.44 cr Precaution Dose) have been administered under Nationwide Vaccination Drive. Meanwhile, the testing of the sewage samples has not identified any new variant of COVID, a top health expert said on Tuesday. "The sewage sampling is being done and there also we are not getting any indication that either a new variant is here or there is a possibility of the upsurge of cases in the coming days or weeks," Chairman of COVID-19 working group NTAGI, Dr NK Arora told ANI. The official said that India has maintained to be in a "reasonably comfortable position" during the last 12 months. "Our genomic surveillance system has identified almost 300 plus sub-variants of Omicron and they are spread all over the place. From time to time a certain sub-lineage becomes dominant. But the important point is that throughout the years we did not have any massive increase or surge in hospitalizations or deaths," he said. On Monday Union Health Ministry also said that "Sentinel sequencing of 324 COVID Positive Samples reveals the presence of all Omicron Variants in Community. No mortality or rise in transmission was reported in areas where these variants were detected". (ANI) The India Meteorological Department tweeted on Wednesday, "Very dense fog observed in many places over Haryana; in some pockets over Punjab; in isolated pockets over West UP, West Rajasthan, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal & Sikkim; Dense fog in many places East UP and in some areas of Bihar around 8.30 A.M in the morning." Manmohan Mishra, a resident of Varanasi, said, "This has to be the coldest winter in Varanasi in eight years." Even the iconic Taj Mahal in Agra was not visible from a distance as a thick blanket of fog shrouded the landmark. A tourist told ANI, "The Taj Mahal isn't visible from a distance. One has to get closer to the landmark for it to be clearly visible." People were seen huddling around bonfires in the streets of Lucknow as well. Amid dense fog and coldwave, several trains were reported to be running late in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur on Wednesday. According to the official authorities, most trains were running late by six to seven hours. Passengers bore the brunt as the fog affected train services. "Around 5-6 trains were running late by 6-7 hours due to foggy conditions. Some trains were cancelled," said Vinod, a passenger at Kanpur Railway station. "The passengers are either huddled in waiting rooms or around bonfires outside the Central station," said Ghanshyam a passenger at Kanpur railway station. The official added that it had been announced earlier that some of the trains would be cancelled. (ANI) Two separate FIRs under Sections 307/34 of the Indian Penal Code were registered at the Jahangirpuri Police Station and a total of eight persons (mostly minor boys) have been apprehended. Police said they had received a PCR call around 6.45 pm on Tuesday evening about a fight at K-block area of Jahangirpuri. After rushing to the site, the police said they found the three boys lying bleeding and took them to a hospital. Delhi Police has registered an FIR in this case under attempt to murder, on the complaints of both groups. Further investigation is in progress. (ANI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that institutions and credible voices that tracked the global economy have unprecedented confidence in India. He said the same optimism is also exuded by global investors. Addressing the Madhya Pradesh Global Investors Summit virtually, the Prime Minister said, "Recently, a prestigious international bank conducted a survey and they found that a majority of investors preferred India." The Prime Minister said, "Optimism for India is driven by strong democracy, young demography and political stability. Due to these, India is taking decisions that boost the ease of living and ease of doing business. India has been on the path of reform, transform and perform since 2014. India has become an attractive destination for investment." PM Narendra Modi said, "This summit is taking place in MP (Madhya Pradesh) at a time when India's Azadi ka Amrit Kaal has begun. Together, all of us are working for making a developed India. When we talk of a developed India, it's not just our aspiration but the resolution of every Indian." He said, "India took the path of reforms, transform and perform since 2014." The Prime Minister added that today's New India was marching ahead and it trusts its private sector. "We have opened several strategic sectors like defence, mining, and space for the private sector," PM Modi said. To boost investors' confidence, the Prime Minister said, "IMF (International Monetary Fund) sees India as a relative "bright spot" in the world economy and further implementation of reforms would help unlock its growth potential." He also recalled that World Bank had said that India is better positioned to navigate global headwinds than other major emerging economies "OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) said India is set to be the second-fastest growing economy in the G20 in FY2022-23," he added. Morgan Stanley India was moving toward becoming the world's third largest economy in 4-5 years, the Prime Minister said. He said, "The CEO (chief executive officer) of McKinsey's has said that this is not only India's decade but India's century." Earlier in the day, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had urged NRIs, who arrived for the 'Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas' convention in Indore, to participate in the Global Investors Summit. Saying that the NRIs are the brand ambassadors of the state, he said, "Along with the Pravasi Bhartiya Sammelan, there is also a Global Investors Summit being hosted by the state. You must participate it that event as well. You are the brand ambassadors of Madhya Pradesh. You must invest in Madhya Pradesh and inspire others." He also mentioned that an executive committee would be formed for NRIs of Madhya Pradesh, who are also the "Friends of Madhya Pradesh". "The Global Investor Summit (GIS) is a global in true sense as representatives of 82 countries are participating and there are 10 partner countries in it. The President of two countries, several foreign ministers, finance ministers and mineral ministers of different countries will be participating in the summit. There are many international industries and trade organisations also participating in it," CM Chouhan said. The CM has left no stone unturned to make the Summit a success. He held road shows in Delhi, Mumbai, Pune and Bengaluru to invite investors to the state. He held regular one-to-one discussions with industrialists and also met industrialists every week. In addition, he also interacted with potential investors from different countries. "There are buyers, sellers, over 5000 industrialists, and 70 big industrial houses are participating in the summit. There is immense enthusiasm for investment in Madhya Pradesh, not only among domestic investors but investors across the world. I feel our efforts will bear fruit. I have to make the state a $550-billion economy by 2026 and this summit will be a milestone in this direction," Chouhan added. (ANI) An international passenger was arrested from the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport for allegedly urinating in front of the departure gate at Terminal 3 a few days ago, the Delhi Police informed on Wednesday, adding that he was later released on a bail bond. The arrest was in made on the heels of two separate peeing incidents onboard Air India flights. The police identified the accused as Bihar-based Jauhar Ali Khan (39). He was scheduled to depart from Delhi on a flight to Dammam in Saudi Arabia on January 8, the police said, adding that he allegedly urinated before departure gate 6 at IGI Airport Terminal 3. Police said the accused, who seemed to be inebriated, also abused the other passengers there. The Delhi police said they received a complaint from a Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel at Terminal 3 that Jain, who seemed to be in a drunken state, urinated at a public place, in full view of passengers and visitors, in front of departure gate No. 6. He created a nuisance by screaming and abusing people around him, it was further alleged. On the complaint, the police had registered a case under sections 294 and 510 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at the IGI Airport police station. He was later released on a bail bond, the police added. Shankar Mishra, a passenger on a New York-Delhi flight, was apprehended for allegedly urinating on the seat of an elderly woman passenger in a drunken state. Delhi Police registered an FIR against him on January 4 on a complaint by the 70-year-old elderly passenger. Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Monday issued a show cause notice to the Accountable Manager of Air India over the two incidents of passenger misbehaviour -- on the New York-Delhi flight and the AI-142 flight from Paris to New Delhi on December, last year. The notice said the national carrier to explain why enforcement action "should not be taken against them for dereliction of their regulatory obligations". (ANI) The trial in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case against accused Ashish Mishra, according to a report will take five years to conclude, the Supreme Court noted on Wednesday. The bench of justices Surya Kant and V Ramasubramanian made the observations while hearing the plea filed by Ashish Mishra, challenging the Allahabad High Court order which denied him bail in connection with the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case. The report of Additional Sessions Judge Lakhimpur Kheri said it will take 5 years for the trial to conclude as there are 208 witnesses in the case, the bench noted. The report was filed in pursuance to the direction issued by the Supreme Court to Additional Sessions Judge at Lakhimpur Kheri to apprise top court how much time the trial of Lakhimpur violence case is likely to take without compromising with other pending matters. Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh government apprised the court that charges have been framed against the accused in the case. The court sought to know if the co-accused in the case are in custody. Due to the unavailability of the complainant's counsel in the matter, the court on Wednesday adjourned the matter for January 19, asking the UP government to inform it whether the accused in the matter are still in custody. The complainant's counsel, Prashant Bhushan, urged the court to hold the trial on a day-to-day basis and deal with the material witnesses first. Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi appeared for Mishra in the matter. Ashish Mishra, the son of Union Minister Ajay Mishra, moved Supreme Court challenging Allahabad High Court which denied bail to him in connection with the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case On July 26, 2022 the Allahabad High Court denied bail to Ashish Mishra, the son of Union Minister Ajay Mishra, in connection with the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case. The bail was rejected by the Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court. The said order is challenged by Ashish Mishra in the Supreme Court filed through advocate on record T Mahipal. Four farmers died in the Lakhimpur case and the accused and the accused's car was present there. This case comes under the category of a heinous crime, said the High Court had said earlier. Mishra is facing a case of murder for the incident that took place on October 3, 2021, in which eight people, including four farmers, were killed in Lakhimpur Kheri. Mishra allegedly ran over the farmers who were protesting against the Centre's three farm laws. He was arrested on October 9 and granted bail in February 2022. Mishra, again moved to the High Court as its earlier order was set aside by the Supreme Court in April 2022 and had ordered fresh consideration of his bail plea. The top court, earlier, set aside the Allahabad High Court order dated February 10, 2022, and remitted the matter back to the High Court. The top court had said that the order of the Allahabad High Court cannot be sustained and had to be set aside and the bail bonds of the respondent/accused are cancelled. The court had directed Ashish Mishra to surrender within a week. Family members of the victims of the Lakhimpur Kheri incident moved the Supreme Court challenging the Allahabad High Court order, which granted bail to Ashish Mishra. The top court cancelled the bail plea of Mishra. Earlier, the Supreme Court had appointed a committee headed by retired Punjab and Haryana high court judge Rakesh Kumar Jain to monitor the probe into the Lakhimpur Kheri violence. (ANI) In an official statement, the Army informed that the personnel from the Dagger Division executed a prompt evacuation to help the woman -- Gulshan Begum -- from the remote Sumwali village in Buniyar Tehsil to the nearest Primary Health Care Centre, 20 km away from the village. "The patient was evacuated on foot by the soldiers, from Sumwali Village to Paro Detachment, where the vitals of the patient were checked by the Indian Army's Medical team. On checking and stabilising the vitals, the lady was immediately shifted to a waiting ambulance and driven to Boniyar PHC, over snow-covered roads," the statement by the Army read. Earlier, on November 25, last year, the Army carried an emergency evacuation of a distressed pregnant woman from the Sumwali village near the Line of Control (LoC). According to an official statement, the woman, identified as Atara (30), was experiencing severe abdominal pain when locals called and urged officials to provide medical assistance. "On 24 Nov at 2100 Hr the Indian Army Post at Nala received a distress call from the locals requesting for urgent medical assistance to a pregnant lady(two months) Mrs Atara Age 30 Yr W/O Mr Rashid who was having severe abdominal pain. The Army Medical team at Nala post checked the vitals and planned emergency evacuation," the Army said in a release. It added that the villagers rescued the woman from Sumwali to Chotali on a stretcher. She was shifted further from Chotali to PHC Boniyar in an Army vehicle, escorted by the Quick Response Team (QRT) of the Army's Torna Battalion. (ANI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off the world''s longest river cruise MV Ganga Vilas between Varanasi-Dibrugarh on January 13. Besides, prime minister Modi will also inaugurate the Tent City at Varanasi and lay the foundation stones for several other inland waterways projects worth more than Rs 1,000 crore via videoconferencing, Prime Minister''s Office said in a release on Wednesday. MV Ganga Vilas: MV Ganga Vilas will begin its journey from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and travel around 3,200 km in 51 days to reach Dibrugarh in Assam via Bangladesh, sailing across 27 river systems in India and Bangladesh. MV Ganga Vilas has three decks, 18 suites on board with a capacity of 36 tourists, with all the luxury amenities. The maiden voyage has 32 tourists from Switzerland signing up for the entire length of the journey. The MV Ganga Vilas cruise is curated to bring out the best of the country to be showcased to the world. The 51 days cruise is planned with visits to 50 tourist spots including World Heritage Sites, National Parks, River Ghats, and major cities like Patna in Bihar, Sahibganj in Jharkhand, Kolkata in West Bengal, Dhaka in Bangladesh, and Guwahati in Assam. The journey will give the tourists an opportunity to embark upon an experiential voyage and indulge in the art, culture, history, and spirituality of India and Bangladesh. In line with PM Modi''s endeavor to boost river cruise tourism, the huge untapped potential of a river cruise will get unlocked with the launch of this service and it will herald a new age of river cruise tourism for India. Tent City at Varanasi: Tent City has been conceptualized on the banks of the River Ganga to tap the potential of tourism in the region. The project has been developed opposite to city ghats which will provide accommodation facilities and cater to the increased tourist influx in Varanasi, especially since the inauguration of Kashi Vishwanath Dham. It has been developed by Varanasi Development Authority. The tourists will reach the Tent City by boats from different Ghats situated in the vicinity. The tent city will be operational from October to June every year and will be dismantled for three months due to rise in river water level in the rainy season. Inland Waterway projects: Prime Minister will inaugurate Haldia Multi-Modal Terminal in West Bengal. Developed under Jal Marg Vikas Project, Haldia Multi-Modal Terminal has a cargo handling capacity of around over 3 Million Metric Tonne Per Annum (MMTPA) and the berths are designed to handle vessels up to around 3000 Deadweight tonnage (DWT). Further, he will also inaugurate four floating community jetties at Saidpur, Chochakpur, and Zamania in Ghazipur district, and at Kanspur in Ballia district in Uttar Pradesh. Besides, a foundation stone will be laid for the five Community Jetties at Digha, Nakta Diyara, Barh, Panapur in Patna district, and Hasanpur in Samastipur district in Bihar. More than 60 community jetties are being constructed along river Ganga across the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, and West Bengal to boost economic activities and improve the livelihoods of local communities in the region. The community jetties would play a key role in improving the livelihoods of people by providing simple logistics solutions for small farmers, fishery units, unorganized farm-producing units, horticulturists, florists, and artisans focussing on economic activities in and around the hinterland of river Ganga. A Maritime Skill Development Centre for North East at Guwahati will also be inaugurated. It will help honing the rich talent pool in the North Eastern region and will provide for better employment opportunities in the burgeoning logistics industry. In addition to these, Prime Minister will also lay the foundation stone for a ship repair facility and an elevated road at Pandu Terminal in Guwahati. The Ship Repair facility at the Pandu Terminal will save a lot of valuable time as it takes more than a month for a ship to be transported to the Kolkata Repair facility and back. Moreover, it will also result in huge savings in terms of money as the transportation cost of the ship will also be saved. The dedicated road connecting the Pandu Terminal to NH 27 will enable 24-hour connectivity. (ANI) The Uttarkhand government on Wednesday announced Rs 1.5 lakh interim relief to affected families who have been shifted to safer locations after land subsidence in Joshimath led to houses and establishments to develop cracks. "Each family will be given immediate interim assistance of Rs 1.50 lakh. Apart from the two hotel buildings which are marked 'unsafe', no other building is being demolished. Till now, cracks have been noticed in 723 buildings," the Secretary to Uttarakhand chief minister R Meenakshi Sundaram said today. Cracks have appeared in 723 buildings in Joshimath town of Uttarakhand which has been affected by land subsidence and so far 131 families have been shifted to safer locations, according to the district administration. "We are in touch with local representatives and asked them to bring it to our notice if new cracks appear. 131 families have been shifted to relief centres," District Magistrate, Chamoli, Himanshu Khurana told ANI. The district magistrate said that a central team will survey the damage to properties due to the land subsidence and suggest a way forward while coordinating with the local administration in relief and rescue efforts. "A team of scientists from IIT Roorkee have been asked to inspect the buildings of the affected Bahuguna Nagar of Karnprayag where cracks were reported," Khurana had said. Today, RM Sundaram the Secretary to Uttarakhand chief minister along with district administration held a meeting with the people whose houses have suffered damages. A good thing is that water leakage near Jaypee Company is decreasing and it reached 250 LPM last evening. After January 7 no new cracks have developed and the old cracks have not increased. Two buildings that are unsafe need to be demolished and we appeal to the people to support us," the secretary to Uttarakhand chief minister said. Locals in Joshimath on Tuesday protested against National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) demanding its withdrawal from the state. District officials have asked people to vacate homes and other establishments that have been identified for demolition which have developed cracks and have been identified as "unsafe". These buildings have all been marked with red 'X' marks. Two hotels- Hotel Malari Inn and Hotel Mount View- have been marked for demolition and the process of dismantling was supposed to begin on Tuesday evening was stopped after protests by the owner of Malari Inn and some locals. The protestors demanded compensation as per the rates listed under the Badrinath Dham redevelopment masterplan. Teams of the Central Building Research Institute (CBRI) had been roped in to supervise the demolition process with personnel of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) on stand by. Speaking to ANI, Thakur Singh Rana, the owner of Hotel Malari Inn said, "My son stays in France. I can move there. But I am sitting in protest instead in solidarity with fellow (Joshimath) residents." His wife said, "We need to be compensated as those affected by the ongoing Badrinath redevelopment work. We are even prepared to sit out in the freezing cold till our demand is met." According to sources, the hotel owners will meet the district magistrate to push for compensation. "They will be dismantling these hotels for the safety of the 15-20 families still living here. Our houses have been destroyed," said Manmohan Singh Rawat, a local. (ANI) Hagiuda is the chairperson of the Policy Research Council of Liberal Democratic Party of Japan. He previously served as Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry from October 2021 to August 2022 and Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology from 2019 to 2021. He also served as Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary in former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's administration. He previously served as Abe's special advisor. BJP's Foreign Affairs Department in-charge Vijay Chauthaiwale said Japan and India have a strong partnership on several global bilateral issues and Hagiuda meeting Nadda will further enhance people-to-people outreach between the two countries. (ANI) The Delhi government announced an honorarium of Rs 1 crore for the family of the martyred Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Shambhu Dayal on Wednesday. The Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal publicly made the announcement on Twitter through a video. ASI Shambhu Dayal was allegedly stabbed multiple times by a man identified by police as Anish in Delhi's Mayapuri while he was arresting the accused on January 4. The Delhi Chief Minister acknowledged and appreciated Dayal and said, "There are very few officers left who put their lives at stake for the protection of the people and for the betterment of the society. The entire country is proud of him." "No value can be put on his life. Brave men like him were an asset to the country and he was beloved by his family. But in a situation like this, the Delhi government has decided to pay respect to the martyred police officer by honouring the family with Rs 1 crore," added Kejriwal. Delhi Police PRO Suman Nalwa on Wednesday stated that a case has been registered against the accused and they would ensure that he gets the maximum penalty. The Police registered a case under several sections of IPC against Anish. He was arrested after the attack as the police immediately reached the spot, overpowered him and recovered the knife. The Chief Minister offered his condolences to the family and prayed for them. ASI Shambhu Dayal was on duty on January 4 when a woman came to the police station to file a complaint against a man who snatched her husband's mobile phone. Dayal accompanied the woman and identified the man. When the police officer went closer to arrest him, the accused attacked him with a knife and stabbed him several times leading to his eventual death while being treated on January 8. (ANI) Snowfall in some areas in Lahaul-Spiti and Kinnaur will continue for the next three days, informed India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Wednesday. "Snowfall in some areas in Lahaul-Spiti and Kinnaur, it'll continue for 3 days. Moderate snowfall in upper reaches while light to moderate rainfall/snowfall in other areas. Shimla to get light rainfall and there's less probability of snowfall," said S Paul, IMD Shimla official. Earlier on January 6, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted a fresh western disturbance and snowfall between January 7 and 10, tourists and locals are waiting for heavy snowfall in Shimla's Kufri hills with bated breath. People involved in the travel and tourism business are also awaiting for fresh snowfall which will boost tourist inflow into the hills. "We have heard that it snows in January. I hope that we get to see fresh snowfall here. We expect a fresh snowfall in one or two days. We will leave for our home only after enjoying fresh snowfall," said a tourist from Gujarat. Some of the tourists have extended their stay in the hope of enjoying a fresh snowfall in Kufri. "We came from Gujarat's Ahmedabad. We haven't experienced fresh snowfall yet. We will wait even if we have to stay here for another five to six days," said another tourist. Tourists said that the hills are fascinating and expressed the wish to explore other parts of the hill state. Earlier on January 4, the steady dip in mercury levels in large parts of Himachal Pradesh, including Narkanda, Kufri and Chamba, prompted several locals to go under several layers of woollens while many huddled around bonfires as the intense cold wave continued sweeping through the hill-state. Most parts of the hill state recorded sub-zero temperatures on January 4. (ANI) The yatra, which started from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu on September 7, will end at Srinagar on January 30, with Rahul hoisting the Tricolour there. "Congress President Shri Mallikarjun Kharge has written to presidents of 21 like-minded parties inviting them to the concluding function of the #BharatJodoYatra on January 30th," Ramesh tweeted. The function is dedicated to the memory of Mahatma Gandhi who was assassinated on January 30 (in 1948), Kharge said in the letter tweeted by Ramesh. "From the beginning of the Yatra we have invited the partcipation of every like-minded Indian. At the invitation of Shri Rahul Gandhi, MPs of several political parties have also walked in the Yatra at different stages," Kharge said in the letter. "I now invite you to personally join the concluding function of the Bharat Jodo Yatra to be held in Srinagar on January 30th at noon," Kharge said. At the event "we will commit ourselves to fighting hatred and violence" to spread the message of truth, compassion and non-viloence, and to defend the Constitutional values of liberty, equality, fraternity and justice for all, the letter stated. "I look forward to your positive response," he ended the letter, requesting the chiefs of 21 like-minded parties "to meeting you in Srinagar." (ANI) While paying floral tribute to former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri on his 57th death anniversary, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday said that India had received a big jolt when Shastri had gone to Russia for a peace treaty with Pakistan. He further said that "suspicion" still haunts Shastri's death. "Shastri was one of the most influential prime ministers of the nation but his death was tragic. He died under mysterious circumstances in Tashkent in Russia for a peace treaty after India won a war against Pakistan. Suspicion still haunts his death. India had received a big jolt as Shastri had gone to Russia for a peace treaty with Pakistan," Bommai said while addressing the media here. Karnataka CM while hailing Shastri's tenure as PM, said that it gave "good governance" to the people. "Shastri led a simple life and did not have any inferiority complex. He gave good governance to the people and started many good things during his tenure. His life is always a source of inspiration for people. The real way of observing his death anniversary was to follow the path shown by him. Shastri's biggest contribution has been the 'Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan' slogan to give impetus to the country's safety, development, self-respect, and self-reliance," Bommai said. Meanwhile, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee also paid her tributes to the former PM. "I am remembering heartily the former Prime Minister on his death anniversary. His slogan 'Jai Jawan Jai Kisan' will always remain in our hearts," Banerjee said in her tweet. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge also remembered Shastri on his death anniversary as his ideal and quoted him, "In my understanding, the basic idea of administration is to keep the society united so that it can develop and move towards its goals." (ANI) The Jammu and Kashmir government will encourage and incentivize best-performing Municipalities through additional grant-in-aid in the form of the Urban Reform Incentive Fund (URIF) under the Aspirational Towns Development Programme (ATDP), said a press release on Wednesday. The ranking of the Municipalities across Jammu and Kashmir will be based on the performance as per the benchmarks prescribed under Jammu & Kashmir Municipal Development Index-2022 (J-K MDI-2022). Special funds will also be provided for building capacities and covering gaps in these Municipalities, added the press release. J-K MDI-2022 is a tool to assess the development of Urban Local Bodies across the Union Territory of J-K against the normative development benchmarks. While J-K MDI will act as a guide to evidence-based policymaking, catalyse action to achieve broader developmental outcomes, including the Sustainable Development Goals, assess and compare the outcomes achieved by municipal bodies, give citizens an insight into the functioning of local bodies and build a dialogue between the stakeholders, the URIF will provide a necessary financial incentive to Municipalities to undertake reforms, in their journey of becoming Aspirational Towns. Notably, J-K rolled out ATDP, the URIF to incentivize the undertaking of reforms in Municipalities and the Assessment Framework for rating various Municipalities. Since the 74th Amendment Act gave constitutional recognition to Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) as the third tier of governance in 1993, municipalities have become pivotal to urban governance. It is therefore apparent that the development and governance of the cities are determined by the functioning of Municipalities. They are the key agents that provide the enablers in making a city 'Smart, and Sustainable. The assessment framework examines the sectoral performance of Municipalities across a set of 7 verticals/pillars, namely Quality of Life and Services; Economic Ability; Technology; Urban Planning, Governance, Sustainability & Climate Resilience and Citizen Perception, which include 37 sectors/categories and 138 indicators. The Municipal Development Index will also act as a guide to evidence-based policymaking, catalyse action to achieve broader developmental outcomes including the Sustainable Development Goals, assess and compare the outcomes achieved by municipal bodies, give citizens an insight into the functioning of local bodies and hold them accountable. (ANI) Accused actor in the Tunisha death case, Sheezan used to give wrong medicines to her, claimed the advocate representing the late actress' family in the court on Wednesday. The government lawyer claimed that Sheezan had deleted several chats from his mobile, which are yet to be retrieved. "Sheezan has deleted several chats from his mobile. Some of those chats are still not retrieved. His phone also contains many crucial evidence. Both Sheezan and Tunisha had separate makeup rooms, so why she went to Sheezan's makeup room, remains to be found out, as Sheezan has not said anything clearly. He further said that it needs to be found out what exactly happened when Sheezan met Tunisha on the day of her death. "The whole incident is of those 45 minutes only when Sheezan Khan met Tunisha, but Sheezan is not answering properly, what exactly happened between him and Tunisha in those 45 minutes? The day, Tunisha died by suicide, she didn't eat anything, but Sheezan did. He also didn't give a proper statement to the police that day," he said. The government advocate also claimed that if Sheezan is given bail, he can incriminate the evidence related to the case. "Sheezan has been continuously changing his statements. Also, he is yet to register his statement in front of one magistrate. The investigation is going on and several things are to come up. In this case, the accused can't be given bail, until the investigation officers don't want. Because, if he gets out, he can incriminate the evidence," the advocate said. Tunisha's lawyer, Tarun Sharma also made several allegations against the accused Sheezan Khan and his family including giving the wrong medicines to Tunisha and taking her away from her family. "Sheezan's family was giving the wrong medicines and prescribed by some Jaipur-based doctor to Tunisha. The family was also taking Tunisha away from her family, as is also evident from the photos shown by Sheezan's family. She was not in depression, but only liked to stay clean. While Sheezan's lawyer tried to misguide everyone by calling this depression," he said. Sheezan Khan was reportedly dating Tunisha Sharma, who was allegedly found hanging at a TV serial set on December 24, a fortnight after the two allegedly broke up their few-months-long relationship. Within hours of the actress' demise, Sheezan Khan, who worked with the 20-year-old actor in 'Ali Baba Dastaan-E-Kabul', was arrested on charges of abetment to suicide. (ANI) Leading industrialists from the country and abroad took part in the Lucknow Roadshow at The Centrum Hotel on Wednesday, which is being held in the run-up to the Global Investors Summit in the state capital, the government said in a press release. "As part of its mission to develop the state of Uttar Pradesh into a $1 trillion economy and run up to the Global Investors Summit to be held in the state capital on February 10-12, the Government held the Lucknow Roadshow at the Centrum Hotel on Wednesday on the instructions of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Leading industrialists from the country and abroad took part in the roadshow while 79 of them signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) worth Rs 76,000 crore," the government said in the release. Industrial Development Department Minister Nand Gopal Gupta Nandi addressed eminent industrialists in the programme. He discussed with the entrepreneurs the changes that have taken place in the state in the last 5 years and the investment-friendly policies of the Yogi government while inviting them to invest in the state. As per the release, the investors who came to participate in the event appreciated the wind of change in the new Uttar Pradesh. The Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of Varun Beverages, the Global Investors Summit, said, "We have 7 plants in UP. The environment of UP is better than anywhere. We had to set up a plant in Gorakhpur. The allotment letter for the land arrived within two and a half months. The Uttar Pradesh government is doing great work. We will invest Rs 3400 crore in Uttar Pradesh." Haldiram Group's Manager of Commerce, Sanjay Singhania said that after coming to UP, he saw good governance, good policy and good law and order. "We started with one factory, today it has grown to five. We are signing three MoUs. For the first time, we have got such an atmosphere that we cannot compare with anywhere else," he said. Thanking the Government, he said that it supported entrepreneurs like him at every step, the release stated. Nand Kishore Agarwal, president of Crystal Crop Protection Limited, said that today there is a skilled resource in UP. "Keeping this in mind, we will invest Rs 200 to Rs 300 crore here. After Nagpur, Jammu, and Haryana, now we will set up plants in UP. For the first time after independence, such a government has come to Uttar Pradesh, which is taking the lead and inviting investors. Earlier, leaders used to take money. Today, they give to set up industry here. Now, there is no problem in UP," he said. Mahesh Gupta, President of Kent RO System, said that the Uttar Pradesh government is doing very good work. "Due to better law and order, today all the industrialists are willing to set up industries in Uttar Pradesh. Since 2017, there has been a lot of change in the policy of Uttar Pradesh. This is the reason that now investors are turning towards Uttar Pradesh," he said. Michael Tibolo, Minister of Mental Health and Addiction, Government of Ontario, Canada, remarked: "I am impressed to hear about the work being done in Uttar Pradesh as our country is also engaged in such innovations. Looking for ways to reduce taxes and providing better infrastructure to develop the market are very positive efforts in this regard", he said. "Six investors from different states of the country have made proposals for big investments in the Lucknow roadshow. These investors include City Gold Corporation (Rs 26000 crore), Nexon Energia (Rs 15000 crore), Varun Beverages (Rs 3400 crore), Haldiram (Rs 1310 crore), Dharampal Satyapal (Rs 900 crore) and Kent RO System (Rs 500 Crore)," the government further stated. (ANI) Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Karnataka, former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) terming the situation of the youth in the state as an "annihilation". Taking on Twitter, he said, "Welcome to Prime Minister @narendramodi, who is coming to the state to inaugurate the National Youth Festival to mock the state's youth community, which is suffering from unemployment, corruption in government appointments, neglect of the education sector and communal riots." He added, "Currently there are over 25 lakh unemployed people in Karnataka, 2.52 lakh jobs are lying vacant in government offices. 53,700 posts are unfilled in government schools and PU colleges. 83,190 men and women are unemployed due to closure of small scale industries." "In this situation, Prime Minister @narendramodi is coming to the state to inaugurate the Youth Festival. Is the Prime Minister inaugurating a youth festival or is it a youth annihilation festival?" he asked. "1.29 lakh youths have fallen victim to the PSI recruitment scam. Rs 50-80 lakhs were extorted from each candidate for AE and JE exams. Rs 22 crores looted by corrupt officials of Railways on false promises of recruitment," he added. He alleged that "1,129 people committed suicide in the state being fed up with the unemployment. This may be the Gujarat model that the Chief Minister @BSBommai and his associates often grumble about." "If the real story of the destruction of youth power in the state @BJP4Karnataka comes to the attention of the youth from other states, Karnataka should bow down in front of the whole country," he said. Attacking the BJP, he further said, "History will not forget the betrayal of central and state double engine @BJP4India government most importantly to the Kannadiga youth. By refusing to conduct the central recruitment test in the regional language, the Kannadiga youth have become orphans in the land of their birth." "Also only 6 pc of Kannadiga employees are employed in these banks as the rural banking exam has to be written only in Hindi and English language," he added. "Although the Constitution has given recognition to all Indian languages, examinations in Kannada cannot be written in any centrally owned institutions, including IBPS examinations. Because of this, thousands of Kannadigas are losing their jobs in the land of Kannada itself," he claimed. "Even after drowning a hundred times in Kaveri and Ganges, the heroes cannot escape from the curse of the afflicted Kannadigas @BJP4India," he said. "The state government is giving priority to decentralization of the education sector, textbook and extra-curricular activities and not paying attention to the development of educational infrastructure. In the last 3 budgets, the grant given to the education sector has not increased above 1.97 per cent," he further alleged. "According to the CAG report of 2022, 1.62 lakh students have dropped out of school in 2022. 1965 government schools have been closed during 2020-21 and 2021-22," he said. "The @BJP4Karnataka government, which was supposed to educate the youth and make them self-reliant and use the youth power for nation building, is going to deprive them of education and use them as pawns for communal activities for their political gain," he said. "163 youths have died in communal riots since@BJP4Karnatakacame to power in the state," he added. "By cancelling the Rs 4,600 scholarship given to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students, the students of this community who believe in it will cut their education in half," he said. Further attacking the BJP, he said "The promise @BJP4Karnataka made that Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe youth will be employed through a special recruitment scheme has been dashed." "Pre-SSL scholarship has been cancelled for students from classes 1 to 8. Due to the suspension of funding for the cycle scheme, there has been a decline in the attendance of about 5 lakh students in rural schools without cycle facilities," he said. "The government celebrating @BJP4Karnataka has not been able to provide revised textbooks to half of the students in the state," he said. "The Chief Minister @BSBommai often praises that the administration of the state @BJP4Karnatakais the inspiration of Hon'ble @narendramodi for eight years. A comparison of both regimes proves this @tatementto be true on the face of it," he further added. "@narendramodihad promised 2 crore jobs every year during the 2004 Lok Sabha elections. But in 8 years new job creation has been far from done, instead 12.5 crore jobs have been taken away and helpless people have been thrown onto the streets," he alleged. "By April 2022, the country's unemployment rate has risen to a record 10.79 per cent.50 lakh people have lost their jobs just because of the stupid decision of demonetisation. There are 62 lakh vacancies in central and state governments. 30 lakh jobs are vacant in central government alone," he said. "The Prime Minister @narendramodi, who has completely failed to eliminate unemployment, has been neglecting the education sector as well. During the period from 2014-15 to 2022-23, the grant given to the education sector has come down from 4.07 per cent to 2.64 per cent," he added. "India ranks 116 out of 174 countries in the World Bank Human Resource Index. It is poorer than Nepal and Bangladesh," he said. "Let the Prime Minister @narendramodi who has pushed the youth to the brink of destruction through unemployment and neglect of the education sector, question his conscience as to what morality he has to inaugurate the National Youth Festival," he further added. Notably, PM Modi will inaugurate the 26th National Youth Festival in Karnataka's Hubbali, on January 12 at around 4 pm. The programme is being held on National Youth Day, which is celebrated on the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekanand, to honour and cherish his ideals, teachings and contributions. (ANI) Congress leaders met Governor Thavarchand Gehlot and requested to conduct a judicial enquiry in the presence of a High Court judge or to form an SIT to probe into the government's failure to arrest Santro Ravi. On Monday, Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra dismissed former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy's allegation that he is related to Santro Ravi, an alleged kingpin of a human trafficking racket. "HD Kumaraswamy, who was the chief minister of the state, was lying when he said Santro Ravi counted money at my residence. The extent of his desperation, which led him to make such allegations, is shocking," Jnanendra told reporters on Sunday. "As the HomemMinister, I am visited daily by hundreds of people, including those belonging to the margins of society. It isn't possible to do a background check on every visitor," Jnanendra had further said.The minister 'challenged' Kumaraswamy to prove his allegations. "I don't know why he is after me. I don't know how this will benefit him. I dare Kumaraswamy to prove his allegations against me," the Home minister had said. He added that he has directed the police to investigate and inquire into the 'background' of Santro Ravi. Kumaraswamy had earlier alleged that Santro Ravi had counted the money at Jnanendra's residence. Meanwhile, intensifying their attack on the BJP by posting several images of party leaders and state ministers with 'Santro Ravi' alias KS Manjunath, the Congress claimed several ruling party leaders were closely linked to the alleged human trafficking accused. Posting an image of State Education Minister B C Nagesh along with Santro Ravi, Karnataka Congress posted on its official Twitter handle, "All the ministers of BJP are closely related to Santro Ravi in a prostitution racket, transfer racket. Is the Minister of Education B C Nagesh also a beneficiary of his racket? BJP government? Do pimps control the government? How many more brokers are there for the Commission government." Purported audio clips of 'Santro Ravi' bragging about his 'proximity' with government and police officers are also doing the rounds. On Saturday, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai had, "One can't draw such conclusions from an image. What is important is that a case has been registered against him. A girl lodged a complaint against him. I am sure there will be an investigation in all the cases against him." The CM had added that he had instructed the Mysuru police to conduct a thorough probe into the case and look into fresh complaints against Ravi. "The truth must come out," the CM added. It is alleged that Ravi is highly connected and the police will probe his background and antecedents and move legally against him, Bommai had informed. Hitting out at the Opposition, he had said, "Santro Ravi has connections not only with Opposition parties but with political leaders in the last 20 years. Only an investigation will bring out the truth." On former Karnataka CM and Janata Dal (Secular) leader Kumaraswamy releasing purported audio and video clips featuring Santro Ravi, Bommai had said all evolving developments in the matter will be part of the investigation. (ANI) "Six personnel of CRPF's elite COBRA battalion were injured on Wednesday in a bomb blast after an encounter with the outlawed CPI(Maoist) at Tumbahaka forest in Jharkhand's Naxal-affected West Singhbhum district," the police official said in a statement. At least five of the six jawans were airlifted and brought to the state Capital Ranchi for better treatment. According to the police, Naxals triggered the blast when personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), its Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (COBRA), Jharkhand Jaguar of the state police and the district armed police were conducting an anti-Naxal operation in the forest. According to the police, the Left Wing Extremists opened fire at the security forces when they advanced toward them. "This prompted the security forces to retaliate and the Naxals were forced to retreat triggering the blast. A massive search operation is on to track down the extremists," the police said. (ANI) In a hard-hitting attack on AIUDF leader Badruddin Ajmal following his remarks about party leaders, Congress on Wednesday termed him "mouthpiece for the BJP" and alleged that he had "worked out an understanding" with Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. In a statement, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said that Ajmal had made "most unacceptable and totally bogus remarks" against party leaders in Assam. Jairam Ramesh also said that Ajmal has "nothing whatsoever to do with the UPA". Noting that Congress and AIUDF had fought the previous assembly polls in Assam together, Ramesh said the "not easy" decision was taken in the belief that Ajmal will be a consistent and reliable partner. "Badruddin Ajmal, MP has made the most unacceptable and totally bogus remarks against the Congress leadership in Assam. These are blatantly defamatory," Ramesh said. "It is true that the Congress and the AIUDF fought the last assembly elections as an alliance. That decision had not been an easy one to take for the Congress. But it was taken in the belief that Ajmal will be a consistent and reliable partner and who would strengthen secular forces in the state and in the country," he added. The Congress leader alleged that after the election results "it became very clear that Ajmal had worked out an understanding with the Chief Minister of Assam". "The two worked out a relationship between themselves with the sole purpose of maligning and defaming the Congress and its leadership." Ajmal had alleged that Congress leaders had ties with Sarma and that "packets" were received by them. Jairam Ramesh said that Sarma and Ajmal "have mounted this latest attack shaken by the extraordinary success of Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra as well as that of the Bharat Jodo Yatra-Assam". "Ajmal is nothing but a mouthpiece for the BJP like some other parties like the AIMIM. He has nothing whatsoever to do with the UPA as he claims," the Congress leader said. (ANI) Referring to the land subsidence in Joshimath, he said it is vital to respect mountains. "They maintain the balance of the earth. Rivers and forests also maintain the earth's balance," he said, adding that the word development should be understood in its proper context. He said earth, water and air "are sources of energy". "It is our task to keep the earth and environment pure and pollution-free," he told ANI. Environmentalist Dr Anil Joshi told ANI that the Joshimath subsidence is a warning bell. He talked of the long-term risks of having settlements on debris that could be left by glaciers and other natural phenomenon decades or centuries back. He said land subsidence can also be caused by river erosion and suggested studies on population-bearing capacity of hill towns. (ANI) Ahead of a cabinet expansion, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday ruled out the appointment of another Deputy Chief Minister. He also made it clear that no more ministers will come from the JD-U quota, in a big jolt to those who were expecting a ministerial berth in the current government. "I don't know how the post of Deputy CM arose. At present, there is no place for another Deputy CM. We will do a cabinet expansion and accommodate legislators of the RJD and the Congress quotas. The posts were vacant from their sides so they will get the ministerial berths," he said. "During the previous government, they (BJP) had claimed two posts of Deputy Chief Minister and requested me to become the Chief Minister. I did not wish to hold the post of Chief Minister but they forced me. Now, we have a seven party alliance and they have mutual understanding in the participation of the government. So, how could a post of Deputy Chief Minister be created and given to any leader?" he added. There was buzz about JD-U Parliamentary Board President Upendra Kushwaha becoming the second Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, after he said that good news will be expected to come after Makar Sankranti. He further said that he is not here to stay in Math and he is not a saint (Sanyasi) either. --IANS ajk/vd ( 243 Words) 2023-01-11-20:12:04 (IANS) During their visit, the tourists observed the five-century old Temple carefully and got information about Sanatan Dharma from their guide. Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the world''s longest river cruise MV Ganga Vilas between Varanasi-Dibrugarh on January 13. MV Ganga Vilas will begin its journey from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and travel around 3,200 km in 51 days to reach Dibrugarh in Assam via Bangladesh, sailing across 27 river systems in India and Bangladesh. MV Ganga Vilas has three decks, 18 suites on board with a capacity of 36 tourists, with all the luxury amenities. The maiden voyage has 32 tourists from Switzerland signing up for the entire length of the journey. The MV Ganga Vilas cruise is curated to bring out the best of the country to be showcased to the world. The 51 days cruise is planned with visits to 50 tourist spots including World Heritage Sites, National Parks, River Ghats, and major cities like Patna in Bihar, Sahibganj in Jharkhand, Kolkata in West Bengal, Dhaka in Bangladesh, and Guwahati in Assam. The journey will give the tourists an opportunity to embark upon an experiential voyage and indulge in the art, culture, history, and spirituality of India and Bangladesh. In line with PM Modi''s endeavor to boost river cruise tourism, the huge untapped potential of a river cruise will get unlocked with the launch of this service and it will herald a new age of river cruise tourism for India. (ANI)